#Tried to build one in excel but idk how to make it both easy to use and mobile friendly yk?

[quillandrapier]

Made a random ghosts episode generator here (UPDATE October 2023: Season 5 has been added)

If you use this app you can toggle on and off slices you may not want to use.

Anyway see the reblogs to follow my random rewatch ready for Friday and I'll be reviewing each episode. (Thanks to @baynton and @gethisshithumptyfuckingdumptied for the idea.)

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 308: VIBE: CHECKED

Previously on BnHA: Lots and lots of Shindou idk what else to tell you.

Today on BnHA: Tired Nomad Deku rescues Shindou from Muscular, and us from Shindou. Muscular is all “OH BOY I SURE CAN’T WAIT TO FIGHT DEKU AGAIN AFTER HE TOTALLY KICKED MY ASS THE LAST TIME!! I’M SURE THIS TIME WILL GO DIFFERENTLY SEEING AS HE’S HAD ALMOST AN ENTIRE YEAR’S WORTH OF ADDITIONAL TRAINING, AND ALSO HAS SIX FOURQUIRKS NOW, IN ADDITION TO THE CONFIDENCE THAT COMES WITH HAVING EIGHT OTHER PEOPLE’S SOULS CHILLING OUT INSIDE HIM OFFERING MORAL SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.” Deku is all, “[kicks Muscular’s ass effortlessly].” Muscular is all, “[gets his ass totally kicked].” I for one am very satisfied with this, and with respect to all, I would like to hereby declare this post a discourse-free zone. I’m just happy to see my son out here making good use of his FOURQUIRKS, and more importantly beating Muscular in less than seventeen pages so we can all go on with our lives lol.

damn Deku since when were you allowed to look this cool

from this perspective and with the smoke, cape, backpack, and mask more or less obscuring his actual profile, he looks less like a sixteen-year-old boy and more like a grownass man

OH SNAP

we got a glimpse of this in the cleaned-up scan of 307, but seeing both of his eyes looking so distinctively All Might-esque here is... whoa. I mean we know that his face still looks pretty normal underneath the mask and he doesn’t actually have the black sclera, but still, this is an awesome look. mini-Might

lol Muscular

you and me both. I mean no offense, but yeah

so Deku is just standing there silently

typical Deku. tight-lipped and expressionless. mum’s the word. quiet as a mouse. silent as a grave

okay no but seriously this is so weird and creepy though you guys. Deku please say something or else I’m just gonna mindlessly say whatever stupid things come into my head in an effort to make things less awkward

so Muscular is all “I should probably make a cool speech about revenge but Horikoshi couldn’t think of anything good so I’m just going to stand here clenching my fist real slowly”

“I’m not here to go on a monologue” he says, as he monologues about not monologuing

okay you guys I confess I have only read through/watched the Deku VS Muscular fight once because the arm-breaking is just way too uncomfortable for me to revisit. and so as a result, I have completely forgotten Whatever The Deal Is with Muscular’s eye lmao so let me go look it up real quick

okay so it’s a prosthetic, obviously, and he changes it out according to his mood. that part does sound familiar. I just can’t remember which eye is supposed to indicate which mood. don’t tell me I actually have to go back and reread this shit

lol I’m skimming through chapter 75 now and remembering/realizing that I hardly paid any attention to this the first time around because as soon as I found out the villains were after Kacchan my brain was like “TIME TO FOCUS ON THIS AND ONLY THIS NOW AND FOREVER” and yeah. ah memories

anyway so he started out with the flower-looking eye, and then later on he was all

which begs the question, how on earth could I have ever forgotten the most ridiculous panel I’ve ever read lmao

anyway, but so after all of that, I'm only just now realizing that this isn't one of his previous eye prosthetics in the current chapter; this is an ACTUAL FUCKING ROCK that he's just randomly shoved into his eye socket fkdsjlk

so basically (1) I did all of that painstaking research for nothing, five whole minutes of my life wasted THANKS A LOT, and (2) what, and I have never meant this more emphatically, THE FUCK

anyway so now he's leaping at the building that Deku is standing on top of. but he’s not aiming anywhere near Deku though, wtf

(ETA: HAHA YOU BROKE ALL YOUR MUSCLES YOU LOSER.)

...huh

lmao okay then. I hope those annoying citizens in the building next door are watching this go down and rethinking their life choices

dlkdkljk

just keep standing there pressed right up against the window, why don’t you. “WHAT’S GOING ON THIS SUPER CLOSE COLLAPSING BUILDING IS BLOCKING OUR VIEW.” well, folks, we’ve long since known there’s a critical shortage of hero and villain brain cells, but what we’re learning now is that civilian brain cells are also in short supply

OH THANK GOD DEKU IS FINALLY TALKING THAT WAS ACTUALLY UNSETTLING AS FUCK

SO HE’S STILL OUR GOOD, POLITE, WORRIED, CONSIDERATE DEKU UNDERNEATH THAT COOL AND MYSTERIOUS VENEER. for real, thank fuck, because I swear to god if he suddenly started acting like the Dekus in all of the vigilante AUs my interest in this series would have dropped something like 50% lol. just because he dropped out of school and ran away from home and is currently dressed like the physical manifestation of a Linkin Park playlist doesn’t mean he’s not still the WORLD’S BIGGEST DORK okay

I MEAN, THIS RIGHT HERE. THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT. HE’S APOLOGIZING FOR THE DELAY

PLEASE FIND THE ATTACHED SHINDOU YOU REQUESTED. BEST REGARDS!!!

OH MY GOD WHY IS HE SUCH A BADASS

something about making bold, confident statements while obscured in smoke?? idk but damn it fucking works

ffjkkl

more importantly, should you tell him you actually need your copy of Shindou in excel format and not pdf?? on the one hand you don’t want to sound ungrateful, but on the other hand what are you even supposed to do with this

this chapter so far consists of like 50% smoke, but on the other hand Deku VS Kacchan 2 had a lot of cinematic smoke too so who am I to complain

OMG IS IT HIS ARMS

IDK DID YOU?! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS. PLEASE, AT SOME POINT THIS FIGHT HAS GOT TO ACTUALLY ADVANCE THE PLOT

OHHHHHHH

IT’S EN’S QUIRK!! OH MY GOD OKAY THAT’S ACTUALLY AWESOME

I CAN HEAR THE SOUND OF DISCOURSE RUMBLING IN THE BACKGROUND BUT I DON’T CARE LOL. WON’T CATCH ME EVER SAYING NO TO ANOTHER SIXQUIRK. GO AHEAD, BRING THEM ON, I WANT TO SEE THEM ALL but take it easy though Deku. don’t want to give yourself lung cancer or anything

also it’s good to see that in a very real sense he’s not fighting alone. the Vestiges really did mean it when they said they could appear more easily now. this is on a whole other level

so is this whole next page still En talking, or someone else? because whoever it is sure is chatty

okay, several things

pretty sure it is En, because he keeps saying “I suppose.” for someone who never said two words until one page ago, this guy sure never shuts up. we can’t all follow Muscular’s lead I suppose. oh my god now I’m doing it too

really like the suggestion of Deku using the SIXQUIRKS like tools in an arsenal, because that’s what he’s good at! it’s almost like he’s been training for this his entire life. “you value quirks too much” LOOK HE JUST THINKS THEY’RE COOL OKAY IS THAT A CRIME

where the fuck did all this rope come from

not gonna ask what the fuck that thing is sticking out from the back of his utility belt. Horikoshi will surely explain this

is that a fucking jetpack. I’m sorry Deku were six fucking quirks not enough for you. you can fucking float??? but JUST TO BE SAFE, LET’S STRAP A PAIR OF ROCKETS TO OUR SHOULDERS IDK

-- or wait, is this all supposed to be like a visual representation of En’s metaphor?? OH MY GOD AM I JUST STUPID LOL, DON’T ANSWER THAT. NEVER MIND. NEW LIST!!

rope = blackwhip

jetpack = float

radio = danger sense

and so I’m guessing that this ridiculously phallic thing is supposed to be a flare or something?? and that = the new quirk, smokescreen. well that was a fucking ride lmao we now return you to our regularly scheduled chapter

so now Deku is floating to his heart’s content and thinking that he’ll just sneak up on Muscular and vibe check his ass or whatever

WOOOOOOOO DANGER SENSE YESSSS I LOVE THIS FOR HIM

okay guys, I'm gonna press pause here for a sec to make a serious note, because I am loving the shit out of this, but tbh I'm having trouble enjoying it as much as I want to because I keep getting anxious thinking about the discourse. I know that a lot of the fandom has very strong opinions on Deku's character development one way or the other, and I want to respect that. but I also really have no spoons to debate this topic at all beyond what I’ve already weighed in on. so if it’s all the same to everyone, I plan on staying out of this discussion, at least this week

anyway! that said, YEAH BOI GET HIS ASS

VIBE: CHECKED. CURB: STOMPED. HOTEL: TRIVAGO

-- OF COURSE HE’S STILL FUCKING FINE LOL HE CRASHES INTO BUILDINGS FOR FUN IDK WHAT I WAS EXPECTING

dammit Muscular. how many fucking quirks does it take to beat you?! the annoying thing is that even with all of his cool new powers, Deku is still something of a mismatch against him. anyway r.i.p. to all these poor buildings

OOOOOHHHHH

you guys have no idea how intrigued I am at the prospect of watching Deku try to play both good cop and bad cop here lmao

anyway so Muscular says he doesn’t know, go figure

“I’m not here to make small talk or anything” he says as he small talks about not small talking

OH MY GOD DEKU

are you really gonna talk no jutsu all of these villains from now on?? that last battle really did have a profound impact on you, huh! interesting

you guys he’s really doing it omg

Deku this guy tried to murder a five-year-old literally just for fun. I mean more power to you, but holy shit you’re really gonna try to defeat Muscular with anger management therapy huh

I MEAN

WHO COULD HAVE SEEN THAT RESPONSE COMING dlkjslkjk

FUCK’S SAKE DEKU, I KNOW YOU MEAN WELL BUT THEY CAN’T ALL HAVE TRAGIC PASTS KIDDO

but. I have to admit, I do still like that he tried. probably knew just as well as we did what the end result was going to be, but still. he made the effort in good faith and I respect that

uh oh

why do I get the feeling Muscular just got a whole lot deader

oh my god oh my god he’s doing the “powering up�� stance ffff don’t fucking tell me you can still use your fucking arms here, Deku

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY WHAT’S THIS??

okay so basically he’s saying that whatever it was he sensed in Tomura, he doesn’t sense from Muscular. which, yeah, that sounds exactly right. good judge of character here lol

AHHHHAHAHA YESS

WHOOPS, GET FUCKED I GUESS

WOOOOHOOOOOOOO

lmao so apparently this is the belated result of Shindou’s attack from chapter 307?? I’ll be damned. good for you Shindou!! I always liked you buddy. please just take my word on that and don’t fact check that statement

okay lol the one tiny bit of discourse I will allow is that it’s bullshit that he just did that with his right arm. like, I’ll fully acknowledge that. that makes no fucking sense, and I demand an explanation from the Great Plot Hole Filler himself. he’s never let us down before when it comes to continuity so I’m trusting him not to suddenly start now

that said, we love to see a rematch against a boring guy settled quickly and decisively within the span of a single chapter. THANK YOU

I like that Deku implies that his power is being a smart nerd who battles villains using the power of ANALYTICS. he basically didn’t do anything except restrain Muscular and wait for Shindou’s attack to take effect while halfheartedly checking to see if he regretted any of that murder and stuff

(ETA: and almost forgot to mention, he made excellent use of all four of his active SIXQUIRKS. it’s like the chapter title said; this is basically him fighting all-out, and it’s a sight to see.)

also, as cool as the mask was, this just feels right. like, we had our fun, now let us see his face, yes good

anyway, I think this was a good start towards establishing What’s Up With Deku Right Now! so if it’s all the same to Horikoshi, I would next like to take some time to explore Why’s Up With Deku. that, and What’s Up With Everyone Else, Especially Kacchan. por favor

[rigelmejo]

march - just some thoughts

i have read more this month than any other month? and its not slowing down its only 3/12 so i have 2/3 of a month to go and i’ve read 26 chapters. even if these chapters are ‘short’ at 10 pages, if i wanna count by ‘20 page’ chunks i’ve still read 13 chunks so far. and i’ve still got more time in the month left. most other months i’ve managed to read ‘a lot’ i read 10-20 chapters. so i’m doing really good.

grammar is a weird thing? in reading i feel like its quite easy now to understand. when listening or watching - same. and yet if asked ‘why do i say/type X’ or ‘why is it written/spoken like X’ i have absolutely no explanation in my head. i could not explain the grammar if prompted. this puts me in a weird place and i feel like i SHOULD go over a grammar guide again just so i can WORD what i’m intuitively understanding.

this is a bit bizarre to me because within the first 6 months of study i DID read through an entire grammar guide just to get an idea of what i was about to look at, and it hardly made sense once actually reading/watching/listening. i understood the guide fine, but actually Seeing chinese i was still confused. i would reference AllSetLearning’s Chinese Wiki on some basic points, then after 6 months i just stopped. now its been what 1.5 years and - reading is so easy, listening is so easy, grammar wise. none of the grammar confuses me. but i no longer ‘explicitly’ have any idea what the fuck the grammar is. i used to. i studied it explicitly before trying to read/listen. and yet now that i can read/listen, i have no idea how to explain the grammar. i can listen to a podcast and i don’t think about what the grammar is i just get it. i read and just know what i’m looking at. its like english - i cannot fucking explain it. Which makes speaking/writing a bit hard. Because when i try to check if i’m right i have no fucking clue HOW anymore - i just say/write what comes to mind and HOPE it makes sense. i have no way to conciously check for errors except ‘does this feel right’? And that’s not good enough for me lol. So I definitely do need to eventually read a grammar guide for explicit explanations again.

Technically I think “English and Chinese Grammar Side By Side” grammar book would be an excellent one to use. Because i read the first 50 pages of it and it compared it to english (so it explained english too), and it was very easy to understand and started basic then got more involved. 

I’m probably gonna use my very old Chinese Grammar Self Taught by Thimm book instead. Just because I really like that book. Then I guess use another after (probably Basic Chinese Sentence Patterns since its modern and perfect for ‘catch your own mistakes’ study and much shorter than Eng+Chinese Grammar side by side). 

Anyway I’m in a very weird place right now lol. I know i’m understanding grammar that is stuff I never even studied initially in the grammar guide, but unable to explain what it is, and a lot of stuff i did explicitly study in a grammar guide i completely forgot the explanation for. My reading and listening is GREAT, because all my effort only has to go into learning new words lately! its relaxing! Its the only part i need to do! But my writing/speaking i am very concerned about because being able to check myself for mistakes is something i’d like the ability to do.

how grammar is presented really makes a difference in how well i get it. there is some serious benefit to ‘show simple first then build up what you know’ that text books tend to prefer. versus like grammar reference books that may start with some in depth stuff.

i tried to read a japanese grammar guide the other day and 1 it was great but 2 it covered some ADVANCED stuff i never learned in genki 1+2, and so it was Explicit grammar description of stuff i had literally years ago been immersing in japanese and Still not conciously known about. So i felt. Overwhelmed lol. I felt so confused. I feel like I might switch to Tae Kim’s grammar guide primarily just because its structured with basics covered first. and i feel like until the basics are again glued into my brain, seeing even more advanced stuff just confused me so much i had no idea how to remember it. which is funny because? my usual strategy with grammar guides is to just read it and let what sticks stick and what is confusing be moved on from, in the hope i will later see it again and understand it better. so like based on what i usually do i should’ve just been able to read through it (and i’m gonna try anyway lol). but truly japanese grammar just... my mind does not like wrapping around it and remembering it. (chinese grammar is so much easier for me... so much easier....;-; )

i have been tempted to just Restart Nukemarine’s LLJ (Lets Learn Japanese) memrise decks, because I KNOW they worked for me last time really really well. And they include Tae Kim grammar lessons. And I know if i did it then maybe i’d get back to where i was years ago pretty fast.

I tried Earthlingo app. Its a cool idea, I don’t think its worth it though unless you planned to get Rosetta Stone (since Earthlingo is FREE). Earthlingo features 1000 words per language, taught to you by exploring video game worlds as an alien. Its a cool concept, but since all words seem to be nouns then you aren’t even learning the most common verbs/adjectives. And 1000 words is not a lot. And you could learn 1000 quite fast if using srs flashcards like Memrise or Anki (think weeks if you push yourself, and a month or two months if going at a regular pace). Earthlingo you have to slowly explore the worlds so that eats time, you have to choose to test yourself (so you don’t review nearly as often as flashcard apps), and one test includes walking around the world clicking the object which you’re given the word for (takes time to find the right object). All this means a word that might take maybe 15 minutes to study over a few weeks, might instead take much longer to study and learn. I don’t use duolingo because it generally covers so few words (usually 2000-4000 i think which is good for a beginner resource but you have to do the WHOLE course to get to all those words and i take so long on duolingo that could take YEARS for me versus a month on a flashcard app or clozemaster). Duolingo I also don’t use because it very slowly paces learning material (it takes me months/years to get through 1000 words on duolingo - just personally i go so slow on it, i think faster people would find a use for it). Likewise Lingodeer takes me AGES to get through (and i think covers 2000 words nowadays? I’m shocked Duolingo has more words for the japanese course tbh). However, Lingodeer is by far the best ‘app’ for Japanese grammar lessons in app practice form. Even if basically all the apps feel pretty slow to me in how fast they give you new info. Earthlingo is cool that its free, and for learners 12 and under i think it would be super useful as a way to engage them and keep them studying (since what child likes flashcards? whereas as a child i would’ve loved this). But as an adult Earthlingo is sooooo slow on how fast you can learn words, and it does not even offer very many words (1000 is a nice bare minimum but without verbs/adjectives it can only be a supplementary learning tool for beginners at best).

Link about Lingodeer having 2000 words in a course. (Since its SO hard to lookup how much vocabulary lingodeer includes :c )

Nukemarine’s LLJ memrise decks (which I’m considering going through again but ToT agh flashcardssssss.... they sure do work though agh)

http://www.chinese-grammar.com/beginner/ - this is the site I read a chinese grammar guide on at like Month 3. I am rereading it now maybe it will help me remember wtf grammar explicitly is. ToT (A tip, read Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced sections). Last time I visited the site you just clicked a section, then saw each fully explained grammar point and clicked ‘next’ it was nice. Now its laid out a little less ideal for me, but its still got all the same nice info! (Also honestly if you are a beginner I really DO like this grammar guide... it introduces basic info first, gradually gets more complex, and i could follow its logic knowing like 200 hanzi and 100 words ToT. its very easy to understand even if it takes a while to apply that info).

im probably gonna read hanshe more today. i’m at the point where either i know enough vocab, or the writers style has just ‘clicked’ idk. but now i just am not getting bogged down by unknown words and am just. speeding through enjoying the plot. Also rip me this novel has 155 chapters and im only on chapter 30.

watching japanese lets plays is really fun! i feel like im 3 years old cause i just see nouns i can learn pretty easy in context cause i know the game well, and hear some vaguely familiar verbs, but its fun! also it helps i know kingdom hearts 2 like by heart so. a lot of it makes me instantly cheerful and nostalgic. roxas’s voice is so cute in the japanese version.

oh i almost forgot: I found a book recently for chinese that for it’s like 10 page grammar guide summary at the beginning ALONE i think is more than worth the 4 dollars it costs to get. It has a ton of compound words and its a reference book in mandarin and cantonese (it has pronunciation for both, all characters are in traditional). I got it initally because it as a bunch of compound words and I’d like to get better at knowing a lot of common ones. But the intro to the book has a page explaining sentence structures in chinese, then examples. Its so straightforward and to the point. I love it. The book is “Understanding Chinese: A Guide to the Usage of Chinese Characters” by Rita Mei-Wah Choy. (There is also a companion book for individual hanzi, which is nice but this book specifically I’m finding more useful).

what i really like about Listening-Reading method, and reading, as study activities: no matter how I do them it is only improvement. I have a tendency to ‘redo’ material i don’t feel i fully mastered, or refuse to move on. So when i have duolingo, flashcards (sometimes i can move on if i ignore reviews/make myself do new stuff), books, grammar guides, self guided classes - i have a tendency to redo the material. over and over. and not progress and challenge myself. whereas with reading - every time i look up a word its useful because its new or something i clearly Need to review (not something i’ve actually learned and can move past reviewing). so whether i reread material or read new stuff, as long as i run into things i find somewhat challenging (feel the desire to word look up), i know i am running into new material i can learn. Same with listening-reading method: whether i finish a book or just skip to random books, any new chapter i do will give me new words to learn/remember (until i’ve reached a point of perfect listening comprehension which is a WAYS away). There’s no way for me to mess it up. I can give up a book im bored with, i don’t have to stick to one resource to the end. 

someone tell me why professionally made chinese audio books almost NEVER line up to the chapters???? whyyyyy ;-;

Even More Notes lol:

So I read so much in Pleco, which auto pronounces, I have COMPLETELY forgot. 得 地 - for these two, when they’re attached after a description like 淡淡 慢慢 高兴 etc, when are they pronounced di versus de???? i’m pretty sure  得 is pronounced de when its an adjective like ‘-ly’. but for  地, i don’t remember if when part of a describer if its pronounced di or de????

[sincerelymarinette]

Life Swap - Adrien Agreste x Marinette Dupain-Cheng

Words: 2215 Summary: Marinette Dupain-Cheng is the heiress to her father's fashion house, Dupain Designs. With her talented assistant, the baker's son, Adrien Agreste by her side, will they come up with the right ideas and be able to meet their deadline? Author's Note: ahhhh i love this so much. It was so much fun to write! I got inspiration from @chocoluckchipz on Tumblr with their beautiful life swap art for adrienette April! They are aged up a bit in this and it still has superheroes but PRE REVEAL. Gabriel or Tom is not Hawkmoth. I love life swaps/reverse crush sm. I kinda have an idea for a part 2 but idk I wanna see how this goes :) let me know if you want to see a part two!

---

"Shit, shit, shit, shit," Adrien mumbled to himself as he rushed through the busy streets of Paris, trying to contain his bag and the few coffees he was carrying. He was almost late for work, which he was unsure how he still had a job from his constant shenanigans (possibly caused by a slight crush), but he was still thankful he had his job.

"Marinette!" Adrien huffed when he reached the Dupain Designs office, more specifically, the head designer and heiress. "I'm so sorry. I got stuck at the coffee shop and-"

Marinette shook her head with a small smile. "Adrien, careful! Are you alright?"

"I'm coffee- coffee's fine," He stammered out. "I mean, I'm fine. Here's your coffee," He said and handed it to her as she set her files down on her desk. Once he smoothed out his shirt with his free hand, he took a deep break. "Sorry about that. Can I grab you anything else right now?"

"Thank you," Marinette smiled. "But yes, my scanner is still broken, and I was up all night working on these. Can you go to the copy room and scan them to my email really quickly? Once you get back, we can go look at fabrics, and I can start a mock-up for the designs," Marinette explained and handed Adrien the files.

"Right away!" He said, his face still a bit red, and practically ran out of the room with the files. Marinette only smiled as she watched him stumble away, then went to sit behind her desk.

"I'm surprised you haven't fired him yet," Plagg flew out from his hiding spot.

"Plagg!" Marinette whispered-screamed. "My office is all glass, people could see you!"

Plagg crossed his arms. "Kid, they're all too afraid of you to even look your way. You are kind of in charge around here."

She laughed. "That's my dad."

"Yeah, but you're the heiress to the company and basically the world's biggest designer in the fashion industry right now," Plagg reasoned. "Now, explain to me why you haven't fired Mr. Spill Your Late Coffee?"

"That's a long nickname," Marinette commented and typed her password into her computer. "I don't know; I like him. He makes me laugh, and I like having an assistant my age. Most times they're either older and think they know more than me, or too young and don't want to do anything. Adrien may be a bit late and clumsy, but he's talented, and I like him," She explained. "Oh! And plus, his dad owns a bakery, so he brings me cookies sometimes. That's always nice."

Plagg stared at her for a second. "Do you like him?" He asked.

Marinette shook her head. "Just as a friend. You know I'm in love with Mister Bug."

"Blah blah blah, you humans and your love," He complained. "All I love is cheese."

"I know," Marinette sighed. "If only it were that easy for me."

In the copy room, Adrien was trying to pull himself together. "Why do I have to be such a fool?" He groaned.

"You're not a fool, Adrien," Tikki reminded him as she flew out of his pocket.

"I'm sure Marinette thinks so," He said.

"If Marinette thought that, you wouldn't be working with her. You've had this job for, what, almost a year now? If she didn't like you and your clumsiness, she wouldn't keep you around," Tikki reasoned with the boy.

Adrien sighed and grabbed the papers out of the scanner, waiting for confirmation. "I guess you have a point. "Maybe if I weren't so stupid around her, things would be easier. I can barely get out two words without stuttering."

Tikki flew in front of Adrien, ensuring she had his attention. "It's just because you like her. I doubt she even notices," She said. "Now, hurry up and grab the rest of the papers and head back to her office so you can go help her with fabrics."

Adrien did what Tikki said and hurried back to Marinette's office. As soon as he set the files down, Marinette grabbed her laptop, and the two of them headed to the fabric room on the other side of the building. Lining the walls were pictures from Marinette's modeling days from her childhood all the way through high school. Modeling all ended when she expressed her interest (and talent) in design, and practically blew up overnight when she was announced as the new head designer a few years ago. But that didn't mean her father would ever let her forget how successful she was in modeling, and those pictures would be there forever.

When they got into the fabric room, Marinette hooked her laptop up to the screen on the wall so they could view the sketches to their fullest potential. "I'm thinking of light pink silk for the one on the left, but it could also work with a pattern. What do you think, Adrien?" Marinette asked as she held the two fabrics in front of her. "The silk makes it more like loungewear, but the pattern makes it more office-appropriate."

Adrien stared at her, lost in thought for a minute. "Adrien?" Marinette repeated. "What do you think?"

Since Adrien wasn't getting the message through to his head, he was brought back to reality when Tikki hit his chest from his shirt pocket. "Oh! Uh, I think you could both do- I mean do both, actually. Use the silk on the inside, and the pattern for the outside," Adrien explained. "It could be reversible if you find a matching pattern, or just use it way one- one way," Adrien continued to correct himself. He was usually nervous around Marinette, but it was even worse when she was asking his opinion. He loves fashion, and it can take his mind off most things, but when it comes to Marinette...it's all a gamble.

"Do both? As a reversible jacket?" Marinette raised her eyebrows and looked at the sketch on the wall. A few moments of silence passed before she opened her mouth again. "That is an excellent idea. This could totally work for both professional and casual, and by mixing the different types of fabric, it won't be too heavy, or too light," Marinette smiled wide and turned back to Adrien. "You always have such great ideas! Now, I know I want to use this pink, so let's find a pattern that goes well with it."

---

It was dark out; most people already in bed. Marinette let Adrien go home hours ago, and her parents ducked out for a date night. Marinette, however, was still behind her sewing machine working on perfecting her jacket design and figuring out the best way to make it reversible. It wouldn't be perfect the first time, but she was going to try her hardest.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Plagg remarked from a shelf with a piece of Camembert in his hands.

"Yes," Marinette said, leaning back in her chair to give her back a break. "This could do so well, especially with the business line I'm working on. Go from business to casual in one easy swoop, Adrien really has some good ideas," She complimented. "See, I told you there's a good reason to keep him around."

"You do know what time it is, right?" Plagg asked and pointed to the window.

Marinette shrugged as she looked out. "Yeah, but, I have deadlines."

"Don't you make the deadlines?"

"And what kind of boss would I be if I didn't meet my own deadlines? I want my designers to meet them, it will be a bad example if I don't meet them," Marinette explained, followed by a yawn.

Plagg set the piece of cheese down and flew over to Marinette, blocking her sight to the sewing machine. "Kid, you've had a long day. The machine will still be here tomorrow. You need to get something to eat; all you had for dinner was an apple. Go pick up some food and go home," Plagg tried to persuade the stubborn Marinette. "Get a good night's sleep and ask Adrien to bring some treats tomorrow so both of you can work all day to meet your deadline," Plagg said. Most times, he was sarcastic and annoying, but he really did care about Marinette. Between her crazy designer job and having to save Paris from supervillains, she needed all the rest she could get at night.

Marinette took a deep breath and stood up from behind the machine. She ripped out a piece of paper and left a note: Marinette's. DO NOT TOUCH. It was one way to get a point across in case anyone happened to make it there before her.

After she turned off all the lights and collected her things, she went out of the back exit so she could grab some quick food from a random shop open nearby, then head back to her car right afterward. She wasn't worried that it was late; she could defend herself if anything were to happen.

Once she got her food, she took a slow walk back to her car. Though it was dark, it wasn't very cold, and she was enjoying the fresh air and the quiet streets. The moon was bright and let off just enough light, but the side effect of Plagg did leave her with pretty good sight in the night.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng?" She heard a voice from behind her, then a loud thump on the ground. "What are you doing out so late? Are you okay?"

Marinette turned around, not sure who to expect. Once she saw Mister Bug, she relaxed and mentally told Plagg to stand down. "Oh, Mister Bug, to what do I owe the honor?" She asked, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. Thank god it was dark, he wouldn't be able to see.

"I was doing a late-night survey and saw you walking. It's late and wanted you on check- I mean, wanted to check on you!" He said quickly. "Are you okay?"

Marinette shook her head with a laugh. "I'm fine, just a long day and late night in the studio. Deadlines," She shrugged,

"Oh! Well-well that's good. Can I walk your car back to you?" He asked. "Agh! Can I walk you back to your car?" Mister Bug corrected himself.

Marinette tucked the few loose strands of hair behind her ear. "I would love that, actually," She said. "No bad guys you have to take care of, right?"

"Not that I spotted. But trouble seems to lurk around you," Mister Bug said as they started walking. "I mean! Because you're such a big name, you've had a few run-ins..." He cringed.

Nodding, Marinette thought. "Yeah, a few times, I guess. Normally it's at releases, or if someone spots me at a store because either my clothes are expensive or they didn't like what I created. But I can hold my own," She smirked.

"Oh, oh, I'm sure of it! I didn't mean to-"

"I'm just messing with you," She cleared up. The walk from the store to her car wasn't very long, and Mister Bug interrupted when she was already halfway back, so the walk didn't last forever. "Thank you for checking on me; you really are a great hero of Paris," She said. "I hope I'll see you around," Marinette smiled and got in her car, waving before she drove away.

Plagg flew out from his spot in Marinette's purse. "Bleh!" He pretended to puke. "You're so gross, Marinette! Both of you are!"

"Plagg, I'm only going to do it more because it annoys you so much," She joked. "Besides, you have nothing to worry about. I don't think Mister Bug particularly cares for Lady Noire so much," She sighed. "Let's just get home and end the night."

As soon as Marinette drove away, Mister Bug flew off in the opposite direction near his apartment. As soon as he landed on his bed, he transformed. "Tikki, spots off!" He squealed. "Ahh, I walked Marinette to her car! And I think I held myself together pretty well."

"Aw, Adrien, I'm proud of you," Tikki said. "Now only if you could do it at work, too!"

Adrien glared at Tikki, jokingly. "I'm trying, it's hard. She's so sweet," He admired, putting his face into a pillow. "When we get married, do you think she'll want a hamster?"

"Adrien, I think you're thinking too far into the future," Tikki giggled.

"You're right! We should get one before we get married!" He celebrated, but was cut off by his phone going off. "Oh my gosh, it's Marinette."

Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Hey Adrien, great work today. We've got a busy day tomorrow. Any chance you can bring some pastries from your dad's bakery? (Plus the coffee I like- we'll need it) I'll pay for everything.

Adrien Agreste: Hey Marinette! Of course, I'm sure my dad would spare some. He likes you, he won't make you pay. I'll be sure to bring extra coffee for the extra-long day!

"See Plagg, another reason to keep him around," Marinette said and set her phone down to start digging into dinner.

"Tikki, tomorrow is going to be awesome," Adrien said. "I have to be on time!"

[ghoestys]

i’m literally pulling this out of my ass so if there are errors and stuff doesnt make sense then please myob and pretend like u understand what im saying im trying to do this before i get caught not doing hw he comes at 6 n its 5:43 rn 

statistics

full name: suzy nora yoon nickname(s): su, suz (pronounced like snooze without the n)  age: twenty three date of birth: tba! hometown: tba! gender: cis female religion: athiest sexuality: bisexual hair colour: black/dark brown eye colour: brown height: 5'5″ tattoos: tba! piercings: tba!

prompt + blackmail

a member of the yale's elite, they're twenty-three and a senior undergrad student majoring in aviation engineering. they are as gregarious as they are aimless.

TW DRUGS!  1. to pay for yale's very expensive tuitition, suzy sells weed that's both fake and real, depending on who is buying and if she likes them. she's not a good seller, though, so this hasn't been the best form of income for her. 2. got accepted into the aviation engineering program, but suzy can't complete her homework without the help of drugs to keep her mind focused and creative enough to understand the problems

about 

family/upbringing/childhood/wtvr

so! literally pulling this out of my ass and making things up as i go! suzy was born in a family with her parents (mom & dad), her older sister, and her older brother. the family was strictly middle class and her parents and siblings were very hardworking. her siblings were good at what they did and they excelled in their academics because they tried hard and all that stuff!

growing up, suzy followed her siblings and her parents and was basically a gifted child from the very start. elementary and middle school was not hard for her and she was in all the advanced and gifted programs. the family was calm and there wasn’t anything drastic that removed the peace or caused any disruption at all. like. they were just chillin. 

i think suzy had an average relationship with her parents. they were still asian, so like... it’s as good as it was going to get. she was somewhat close to her siblings, but seeing as they were 5/8 years older than her, the age gap wasn’t that welcoming to the baby of the family. she was kinda just.. having fun on her own being smart n shit. 

anyways! high school! where all gifted kids literally come to die! due to her shit from elem & middle school, she was offered a full ride scholarship to some prestigious school and as asian parents, they were NOT going to reject that free ride to a school that would help ensure suzy’s success in the future. she went from being one of the smartest kids to being another burnt out gift child and high school was fucking ROUGH! 

bitch really had a fucking crisis and burned the fuck out. her not being the smartest bitch anymore literally killed everything in her and she just stopped being that. she met people and what do u know! got into the wrong crowd where drugs and alcohol was everyones bff! 

she got into that pretty heavily by sophomore year i would say. she was just. yea. 

i mean. she was burnt out  but her grades were still fine if u saw them. studying isnt hard for suzy and shes pretty smart, but she wasn’t at the very top of her class anymore and thats what killed her. instead of having straight a’s, suzy was getting b’s and a few c’s. in a family where anything other than an a was acceptable it really just killed suzy some more 

anyways! drugs and alcohol! made her feel good so she did it. she found that weed was the best thing as well as some tranquilizers/anything that relaxed her essentially. she just liked the feeling of floating n not caring or feeling any pressure like. she wanted to b in her own world n shit. 

college/the elites

after graduating high school, she didnt apply to college right away because honestly? drugs and alcohol and a bitch didnt care by her senior year. her grades were not the best and while she couldve gotten into college, she literally had no interest for college and her parents at this point baiscally disowned her so like? who the fuck is gonna pay for her college??

her work ethic is the worst bc shes so careless like. bitch had a shift from 1-7pm and showed up at 5 because she literally didnt feel bothered enough to show up.

anyways a year or so after graduating high school (idk the math rn) she got really high off something and just. did a whole ass application to yale bc she decided to apply for the shits n giggles. wrote a fake letter of recommendation, wrote killer essay and personal reflection shit or wtvr, and even submitted the application with an attached document of her outlining an entire airplane that wouldve been fully functional except for a few tweaks n shit that was needed

she some how got in from that (this is fake this would probs not b real <3 teehee) and bc she was now accepted and going to yale (she accepted high aha a theme for her), she had to think about how to fund for this shit so she decided to get into drug dealing!

which is honestly. not going good like a bitch again has poor work ethics so her as a drug dealer is so.... she literally got into it bc of euphoria bc it looked easy but doing it... is not easy at all but its her only form of funding so she’s doing it. kinda. loosely. please fire her. 

idk where to put this but. suzy is kinda like that girl from the queens gambit where she feels like she needs drugs to function so like she ditches class but she’ll do all her assignments nicely bc she thinks the drugs give her superpowers to b smart n at the top of her academic class again

when shes under the influence of anything she feels like she can function more or like her life is just... better when shes not sober and ull rarely really see her sober like shes usually just on something 

idk where the post is rn bc im too lazy to look for it bc i jsut got a text that he was coming now but!!! its the tweet where a guy was drunk n drew up an entire blue print of an airplane and that is literally fucking suzy i swear to god 

when shes high she’s like the smartest bitch around (shes smart without drugs but doesnt believe that) and can build airplanes n blueprints n solve maths n wtvrs

suzy is truly an asian stem bitch and the sciences and math is where she excels the most!!!! probs won awards n competitions for math and science but doesnt really acknowledge that much becase like... its just not something shes focused on

got into the elites by just making a blueprint of a plane from scratch infront of the twins like. legit just went infront of them, started making the blueprint from scratch to finish n gave it to  them saying here is a blueprint for a new private plane u guys can build for urselves 

personality 

personality wise she is very friendly n goofy n chill n chaotic 

literally a dumbass n honestly really annoying just ask orion 

shes just a stoner having fun doing her life n not really caring about anything like. how she made it to senior year who the fuck knows i really  dont honestly

i think the main way to describe her is bimbo like thats it 

not really into sharing her life and is more of a listener than a talker when it comes to conversations that are genuinely deep and personal. she will not talk to u about her problems and insecurities seriously (maybe she’ll do it in a self deprecating way) unless she trusts u w her life. otherwsie she will keep it to herself n prays that her stoner part will make people believe shes just chillin w no problems

when it comes to conversations about  nonsense n fake deep shit like what is air then suzy will not shut the fuck up like if u wanna talk to someone about nonsense then suzy is truly ur bitch like. a bitch can fucking talk 

doesnt mind being alone bc she has fun on her own but she prefers company more bc she likes having fun and having someone to accompany wtvr she does. whether its for smoking/drinking or hanging out but also just for like... going to class if she chooses to attend and doing everyday errands like groceries or wtvr. she doesnt really do groceries tho bc she just steals orions fodo but when she does choose to go she likes having people with her :) 

she doesnt have a passion for anything bc she doesnt dream of labor but the closest thing about b making airplanes or helicopters like. blueprints  come easy to her n she enjoys making them bc she feels like shes actually capable of something bc shes aware that making them isnt something everyone can do 

u can treat her like a dumbass n she wont call u on it even tho shes kinda smart bc she feels like shes a dumbass

most likely has bad self esteem and feels like a failure but uses drugs n alcohol to ignore that feeling :) 

probs the least judgemental person ull ever meet bc she really doesnt care about what u do like. she hears the secrets getting outted n she doesnt care there r high chances that she’ll still look at u the same way

[shyvioletcat]

idk if you already have something for how theyre gonna make up in the firefighter au but "the power goes out in our apartment building, but i’m not prepared for this, and you come to check on me" would be perfect im just sayin........

Me to me: Yeah only post one chapter a day... That’s an excellent plan. Also me to me: Nah you’ve already done the chapter. Just post it.

I don’t know what time zone you’re in by this is my second chapter today. So enjoy. Side note my original plan for last chapter was veeerrryyy different so you guys are very lucky I changed my plans. It was much much worse.

Masterlist

~~~~~

Aelin’s head was pounding.

She wasn’t in her bed, but she wasn’t in an unfamiliar bed either. Lysandra was still asleep beside her and would probably feel just as bad as Aelin did once she woke up. The drunker she had got last night the more pissed she was at Rowan for meeting some woman at the bar. The bar that was just down from their apartments, the bar he could have met her at all week apparently if only they had talked about it a little more. But she she had been looking forward that big grand date. Sure it was just lunch but it was the romantic gesture of it.

But instead he’d decided to meet another girl. A friend. A very good friend from the looks of it. Elide had been the voice of reason the whole time, telling Aelin not to overreact, but Manon had been the opposite. The things she said weren’t said maliciously, only pragmatically offering the negative to Elide’s positive. They had been like a demon and an angel on Aelin’s shoulders all night. From the headache Aelin was feeling the demon had fed her already foul mood and won it seemed.Then Aelin hadn’t wanted to go back to her apartment so she’d come home with Lysandra instead. 

With a groan Aelin rolled over and grabbed her phone. It was already quarter past 11, if she hadn’t cancelled her plans with Rowan she would be frantically getting ready right now for their date. That at least she remembered. Sending the text to Rowan when her confusion over who the dark haired woman had been had won over any other reasoning.

Why hadn’t he just told her?

Aelin scrolled through her notifications and saw the numerous missed calls from Rowan and a few texts. She checked her call log as saw that there was one outgoing call from her to him. Then her body stilled as she remembered something else she’d done and then covered her face with her hands.

Aelin pulled out her phone, everyone had gone somewhere else and she was minding their booth. She was going to do it. The thing that everyone had told her not to, even Manon. Manon thought there was definitely something more to the new woman than met the eye and even she had discouraged Aelin from doing this. She’d already sent the text cancelling lunch, but that wasn’t enough. She did’t want him to think she was done with him, it might just break her heart.

Stupid gorgeous Rowan, with his easy smiles and laughter with a girl that wasn’t her.

She tapped his name and put the phone to her ear. It only rang twice before he answered.

“Hello, Aelin. Are you alright?”

“Heeey Rowan,” Aelin had said. “I’m fine.”

“That’s good, it’s almost two in the morning so i was a little worried,” was Rowan’s reply.

Aelin had hummed at that. “So chivalrous.”

“I think you should hang up Aelin,” Rowan said.

Aelin shook her head even though he couldn’t see her. “I want to say something. I need to say something. I need you to know this. I told Manon you weren’t my snack. I was right of course, you’re not. But I don’t want you to be anyone else’s”

There was silence on both ends of the phone.

“You need to hang up, Aelin. Talk to me when you’re sober,” Rowan’s voice had been kind but firm.

“But —”

“No buts. I’ll talk to you soon. I’ll do the chivalrous thing and hang up for you.”

Then he hung up.

Aelin pulled the pillow she had been sleeping on from under her head and buried her face in it and let out a frustrated noise, not caring if Lysandra was awake or not. She evidently was when an arm that did not belong to Aelin thumped on top of the pillow. Aelin lifted it a little and peeked out to where her best friend lay.

“What did you do?” Lysandra asked.

“Something stupid, real stupid,” Aelin said. Aelin told Lysandra’s what she had done and when she finished her friend cackled.

“I’m sorry,” Lysandra said, still laughing a little. “It’s just, you two get so close then something just happens to get in the way. And you calling him and saying that… well at least he knows now.”

Aelin let out a heavy sigh. “What do I do now then?”

“We go to brunch, then once you no longer feel like there’s a herd of rhinos in your head we’ll work it out.”

~~~~~

After the events of the night before Rowan had decided it would be best to keep busy today and not in his apartment, where he would no doubt we waiting for sounds of Aelin’s return. After snatching a few hours of sleep he’d knocked on Aelin’s door in the mid morning but there had been no answer. He guessed she hadn’t come home last night or was out again.

Instead he wandered around the mall for a few hours, buying a couple of pairs of new jeans and a few shirts.Then he’d gone over and hung out at Fenrys’ and Connall’s house staying there for dinner but left soon after.

It was raining on the drive home, the sound soothing and monotonous on his wind shield. Aelin cancelling lunch had left a weight in Rowan’s chest, mainly because of his own stupidity. He had meant to tell Aelin about Lyria, he really had.

That was the one thought that kept running through his head, what had kept him awake even though he was bone tired. He’d been so caught up in Aelin that he hadn’t even thought about any other woman when he was with her. Aelin had bewitched him and he would gladly fall under her spell again and again.

Rowan pulled into the underground parking garage and drove straight into his parking spot. As he closed the door of his truck he remembered how Aelin had plastic wrapped it, making him half an hour late for work because he had to cut his way through. At the time Rowan had been fuming, so angry at Aelin for that silly prank. But now it only made him laugh.

Aelin had a wicked sense of humour and quicker wit. She was smart and beautiful, kind and compassionate. Rowan was hesitant to admit she was perfect but she came pretty godsdamned close. He hoped this slip up with Lyria hadn’t ruined his chances with her.

He was sure it hadn’t. Aelin had called him, wasted drunk, and he got the heavy hiny that she did want him.

Rowan reached the landing of his floor and made for his apartment. As he passed Aelin’s door he heard music playing and Rowan smiled. She was home, all Rowan needed was an excuse to drop by. He tried to think of one as he unlocked his door. He could maybe take over dessert? No, he’d have to go out and get something, there was nothing in his fridge or freezer. Dinner was out too. It was well after dinner time and he’d eaten already anyway. He didn’t have anything of hers to return. Rowan went into his bedroom, ripping the tags off his new clothes before dropping them in the basket.

Just then his entire apartment went dark and stayed that way. Power outage, pretty common in this building when it was raining. This was perfect, like for once in his life the gods were on his side. Well, maybe at least just one of them. He grabbed his phone from where it lay on the bed and flicked on the torch. Working as a firefighter Rowan was pretty well equipped when it came to emergency situations. We went to the cupboard where he stored emergency items, pulling out the torches and small portable lanterns before chucking them into the shopping bag from earlier.

Then Rowan went back into his bedroom and swapped his jeans for a pair of sweatpants, grabbed his keys and phone and left.

~~~~~

Aelin was lying on her couch messing around on her phone while music played in her apartment when the room had gone dark and the music cut out on the speaker and started playing on her phone. It was just another thing to go wrong. She’d gone to Rowan’s earlier with some ice cream but there’d been no answer so she’d come back here to mope. She’d been so stupid last night, calling him and telling him that. And she most likely had been wrong about the woman at the bar. When the lights had gone out she used the light on her phone to light the two candles that she had and laid back down on the couch, her phone on her chest. Maybe she should just call him.

Aelin picked up her phone again to do just that when there was a knock on the door. She she adjusted the robe she had slipped on over her gold nightgown, putting it on earlier to make herself feel a bit better. The rain had cooled her apartment down just enough that she was just a little too cold to wear it by itself. It was just by coincidence she didn’t have to run back into her room to grab it so she didn’t answer the door half naked.

But when she opened the door, Aelin had to admit to herself that she kind of wish she had left the robe off. Because it was Rowan Whitethorn at her door.

Aelin was a little shocked to see him, but not at all disappointed. Rowan smiled at her and she smiled right back, albeit a small one considering she was still embarrassed by her drunken phone call.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Aelin said back to him.

“I just wanted to check if you alright with the power out.” Rowan held up a bag of something Aelin couldn’t make out in the dim light.

“You’ve come to check on me?” Aelin said with a smile still playing on her lips.

“I’m very well prepared working in emergency services, I thought you might like some light in your home,” Rowan said as he took out a torch and turned it on.

Aelin didn’t say anything else, she just moved aside and to let Rowan into her apartment.

~~~~~

Thanks for reading guys! Stick with me, we’re almost there! Also if there’s an excessive amount of typos please forgive me, my eyes are super tired.

Tags: @tangledraysofsunshine // @nalgenewhore // @highqueenofelfhame // @galyxsy // @fucking-winchester-trash // @literary-licorice // @http-itsrebecca // @highladyofthesith // @aelinfire-bringer // @soup-that-is-too-hawt // @sleep-and-books // @3am-reading // @average-girl-at-best // @but-she-was-aelin-galathynius // @rowaelinforeverworld // @alifletcher2012 // @westofmoon // @tswaney17 // @mydarlingfireheart // @rowansfirebringer // @chocolate-eating-bitch-queen // @vanilla28 // @fireheart-of-your-dreams // @enquires-state-building // @im-not-rare-im-rarr // @your-high-lady // @mariamuses // @ttakeitbacknoww // @vi0let-femmes // @kindofawalkingpoem // @sleeping-and-books // @armixers-unite // @velarian-trash // @queenofxhearts // @princess-galathynius // @heroesofterrasen // @ladyofstoriesandmusic // @unassumingsodalovesherbooks // @empire-of-wildfire // @brittneym15 // @camerooonchiu // @worldoffae // @mybbyfeyre // @crackedship // @lowhangingtreebranches // @over300books // @yourwhisperingshadows //  @thesirenwashere // @pilesofriles // @chemicha // @keshavomit // @sarahbringsoutmygay13 // @wifeofchrishemsworth // @impossiblescissorspeachpaper // @cat5313 // @judelovescardan // @illyrian-velaris // @flowerspringsea // @whitethorn15 // @whiskeybusiness1776 // @notaddictedtoanything // @thereaderandfangirl // @mynewdreamwasyou // @tintinnabulary // @the-regal-warrior // @searchingforbellarke // @queen-of-wings-and-fire // @court-of-fuck-me-daddy // @officialasianbitch //

[daehwvns]

hey guys, i’m june! i’m 21, from the pst and my pronouns are she/her! my son here, daehwan, is a mix of beauty and chaos because...well, he’s beautiful but has a lot of issues deep down lol. if any of y’all would be down to have something going on with daehwan, just send me an IM or like this post and i’ll message you instead! under the cut is his story so far :)

( min yoongi, cismale, he/him, twenty-seven ) — daehwan shin, better known to the media as ares has been working for the yōkai for around 6 years. rumor has it, he can be insightful & plucky but also blunt & virulent which is why he makes the perfect crowd control.

** daehwan’s mask looks like this -- basically inspired by the devil, with the horns and everything. he wants it simple but not too boring either so he settled for black plus the details it has.

backstory

tw: death

daehwan was born in morioka, japan to a wealthy family. his dad is a businessman and owns a large share of a pharmaceutical company based in seoul while his mother was a doctor.

daehwan’s upbringing was…sad, in a way, because his parents were barely there when he was growing up. daehwan’s father was always away, doing business out of morioka or the country but whenever he’s back home, he would always pressure ( not encourage ) him to do better in his studies. his dad was strict and daehwan hated his ‘nurturing’ ways because to him, it didn’t help him be better in any way.

but his mother, on the other hand, was the opposite of his father. she was very nurturing and supported daehwan in the best way she could; often encouraging him to continue his passion for the arts ( painting and drawing ) but she lacked the time to be with him due to her work and usually being assigned as the head of medical teams sent to work abroad.

basically, daehwan was often left in the hands of his nanny hired by his parents and this made it difficult for him to really bond with his parents, especially his dad. so he grew up and matured in ways that wasn’t necessarily always fit to make the best decisions.

despite his upbringing, daehwan was a good student at school. he’s pretty smart but sometimes, too smart that some of his teachers find him a nuisance lmao. nevertheless, he survived high school and went to uni to pursue a degree in fine arts.

however, at 19, daehwan’s mother died on a plane crash on the way back to japan and this hit him pretty hard ( his mom was the only one who supported him so even when she lacked the time to be with him, her death still affected him heavily ).

daehwan ended up quitting uni and because he found no purpose in living in the empty house that his parents had ( his father was still m.i.a even after his mother’s death ), he left morioka and moved to tokyo.

at 20, daehwan starts out his life in tokyo and worked as a tattoo artist. he started out in small tattoo parlors before ending up in a well-reputed one where his clients consisted of people who had some form of affiliation with gangs to actual yakuza members and while he should’ve find such clients frightening, daehwan found himself intrigued by them.

in the same fashion was how he ended up meeting ( and eventually befriending ) a person who had ties with yokai ( potential plot ). he hung out a lot with this person and in one of their night outs, some drunk guy started shit with him and his friend and...well, things didn’t end up pretty, especially on the other guy’s end lol. needless to say, daehwan beat the shit out of the guy and before the police could arrive to the scene, his friend dragged daehwan away from the place -- saved his ass the jail time it could’ve served sksks

that scenario, however, sparked an idea in his friend’s mind and ultimately resulted to daehwan being recruited into the group as a crowd control.

soon he found himself tangled up in the illegal yet fascinating world of yokai, and daehwan, to say the least, loved it. he was drawn to it and the people surrounding this newly discovered world that his transition came by rather smoothly.

now daehwan works for the group for six years and has no plans of ever getting out of the world he now lives in. he knows he can’t get back to how things were for him --- not that he had anything nor anyone to get back to anyway.

personality

daehwan is a relatively affable guy. befriending people is usually not a problem to him unless he didn’t like them right off the bat ( or vice versa ) and if that’s the case, there’s no way he’ll show his good side to that person lol all they’d get for him are caustic comments and him laying out reasons why he doesn’t like them lmao

he’s insightful and could sense someone’s bullshit pretty easily. daehwan is also very self-reliant and would usually want to handle things on his own ( unless the ordeal is too much for him, then he’ll ask for someone’s help though with loads of hesitation on his end ).

as such, daehwan is headstrong af and if he knows he’s right, he won’t stop until you know for sure that he’s right and isn’t scared to speak his mind ( and a lot of times, that could be a problem ).

he likes making money ( probably why he found the whole underground scene fascinating because of how relatively easy it is to earn money if you know what to do; in his case, he does ) and a bit self-indulgent ( likes to party, drink and fuck lol ) and this lands him in trouble from time to time.

violence tw: this boi is also hella plucky and it can either be a good or bad thing, depending on the situation. additionally, him being virulent meant he’s not afraid of starting or finishing a fight even with someone who’s way bigger than him. doesn’t really give a fucc if he goes home with his face ruined so long as he knows the other a-hole learns their lesson and/or got a good beating from him lmao

daehwan also likes...flirting. he’s subtle most of the time but get him drunk and he can get vocal. would most probably hit on anyone as long as he found them attractive lmao

can get really soft with the people he loves/cares about though and can get overprotective as well. he’s a soft boi but also not a soft boi at the same time lol

all in all though, daehwan is a pretty good person who has the tendency to act first before thinking of the consequences later. save this boi from himselfksksks

quick facts

he’s skilled at painting and drawing and is an excellent tattoo artist.

he’s still working as a tattoo artist and has very recently opened his own small tattoo parlor in tokyo. basically, tattooing is like...a side job for him at this point (because he definitely earns more with yokai) but he loves the art -- loves making art with ink so don’t think he’ll drop this hobby/job anytime soon.

can tattoo people using a machine or using the traditional japanese technique called “tebori” -- which is basically tattooing manually by hand with a wooden or metal tool.

daehwan is bisexual. if he finds someone attractive or the connection is there, he’ll pursue them. that being said, he have had relationships and flings with both males and females in the past.

he has 8 tattoos and counting. one of them fills his right forearm, one on his right hand, while four are on his left arm, another one on his left shoulder blade and one on the back of his left ear. that being said, he makes sure to always wear clothing that covers his tattoos entirely when carrying out their ‘jobs’ so as to not be recognized by anyone by them.

speaks 3 languages: korean, japanese and english.

he’s korean japanese. basically, him and his parents are/were ethnically korean born in japan.

he stands 5′10 and has a pretty muscular build but not that muscular, if that makes sense? he’s not the big buff guy people might expect a ‘crowd control’ person to be and the result is often him being underestimated by anyone who tries to start shit with him. only when they get the beating from him that they’d realize how wrong they were for doing such because boi has such good brawling skills matched with an ‘idgaf’ attitude and idk about u but that’s pretty scary and dangerous ksksk

has a 1 year old husky doggo named ‘chan’. daehwan goes full softie with this good boi like...that’s his son ;~; slander or hurt his dog and daehwan would come biting your ankles sakjdlajsd

will probably add more later when i think of something!

[aquaquadrant]

of love and dancing

okay so this is just some mindless fluff I wrote after ‘the new lars’ because I absolutely adore the fact that the Cool Kids are a dance crew (idk why I waited so long to post it, but the new eps motivated me to finally finish it so here we are).   so please read on and enjoy some poly cool kid fluff, and remember that comments are loved and appreciated! :)

also, click here to read it on FFN and here to read it on A03 - Aqua

of love and dancing

“Alright, let’s go again from the chorus.”

Buck hit play and cranked up the volume, nodding in time with the beat before throwing himself into the dance.

Even as he lost himself in the music, he was hyper-aware of Jenny and Sour Cream beside him, anticipating their movements as if they were his own. They moved together, breathing on the same beats as everything faded away and they focused only on each other and the dance.

They were rehearsing at the warehouse, a warm breeze drifting in and out of the open building. The evening sky cast a soft pink glow into the area, muting the harsh fluorescent lighting. Jenny had brought one of her dad’s old stereos, and Sour Cream had set up the music, one of his original tracks he’d converted to CD. The floor hummed beneath their feet, pulsing with the heavy bass of the music.

Admittedly, it was a little unconventional. Most of the dance crews they competed with had their own studio or rehearsal space that wasn’t a crumbling ruin on the outskirts of town. But Beach City wasn’t exactly dance central, and the city itself was a bit unconventional; it wouldn’t make sense if their dance crew was anything but.

They were a small crew, only three strong. Most crews had well over ten members, with a wide variety of skill sets. They’d already learned that having fewer members meant creative choreography and a much bigger challenge, but Buck didn’t mind it being just the three of them. Realistically, he knew they’d have to expand at some point if they really wanted to establish themselves. He’d already been asking around town, and Sour Cream had been vetting his pool of online friends for any potential members who lived close enough to rehearse regularly. Jenny had even tried, and failed, to get Kiki to join.

But while they were looking for more members, Buck made sure to enjoy these moments they had to themselves, since they wouldn’t last forever.

Besides, for such a small group they were doing very well for themselves. It had been Buck’s idea to form the crew, so he usually took point when choreographing routines, but he wasn’t really a ‘leader.’ It was always a group effort. They worked well together, and when they all collaborated, the routines essentially choreographed themselves.

Buck was just happy that Beach City was hosting the next competition. It’d save them an hour car trip to the cities where the other crews resided.

“Ready?” He spun in to meet Jenny, his arms wrapping around her waist as he and Sour Cream flipped her.

It felt so natural, dancing with them. And it was fun. Most of the time they were all fairly laid back, but when they performed together they just let loose. And dancing in such a small, close-knit group had helped them grow more connected to the point that other crews had commented on their synchronization and chemistry.

“I guess it’s easy for everyone to be on the same beat when there’s only three of you,” another dancer had once told him good-naturedly. “At least there’s one advantage to having such a small crew.”

Buck had just laughed, “I guess so,” but he knew the real reason. When they’d finally taken that plunge and started dating, Jenny and Sour Cream had become such an integral part of his life that they might as well be a part of him, an extension of himself. He could tell they felt it too.

Their choreography came to an end, and Buck paused the track. “How we feeling? Any questions?”

“Wait a sec.” Jenny caught her breath, swiping a hand across her forehead. She was dressed in black leggings and a bright purple workout tank that was already damp with sweat. “Are the two hits after the stomp and twist separate, or do they flow?”

Buck made a noncommittal noise, running over the steps in his mind. “They’re separate, and the emphasis is on the second one. Hit, hit.” He demonstrated the movements; two consecutive sharp jabs with the elbow, stepping into the second one.

“Mmm, okay.” Jenny nodded thoughtfully, marking the steps.

Buck took a sip from his water bottle. “You guys wanna run it again, or can we go on?”

“I think we’re good.” Sour Cream stretched his arms over his head, the hem of his black T-shirt riding up ever so slightly. “We’ve made a lot of ground today.”

Jenny nodded her agreement, and Buck set his water bottle back down. “Okay, cool. So what comes after the chorus?”

Sour Cream tilted his head, his fluffy white hair falling into his eyes. “Uh, the dubstep section I think? We’re pretty much at the end of it.”

“Any suggestions?” Buck asked.

Jenny thought for a moment, humming the melody as she played the dance in her mind. Suddenly she snapped her fingers, her coffee-colored eyes lighting up. “I’ve got it! SC, you should totally do a solo there!”

Sour Cream was taken aback. “Really? You think?”

“Yeah! Listen.” Jenny knelt by the stereo and rewound the track. “Right after the bass drop, it sort of goes crazy. I think it’d be the perfect place for some animating.”

“I agree,” Buck said. Sour Cream had surprised both of them, and himself, with his skill in animation, and so far, he hadn’t had a chance to really showcase it in their routines.

Sour Cream closed his eyes and listened to the music, his body moving imperceptibly as he marked out the movements in his head. “Yeah, I could swing this.”

“So what’d you have in mind, then?” Jenny prompted, tucking a dark strand of hair behind her ear.

“Well, there is a new move I wanted to show you,” Sour Cream said, rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. “I saw this on the internet, you’re supposed to move your whole body around without moving your head, so you look like a robot.”

“What, like a chicken head?” Jenny teased.

Sour Cream looked thoughtful. “Uh, yeah, actually.”

“Let’s see it, then,” Buck said, rewinding the CD and hitting play.

They all fell silent as Sour Cream started to dance, his eyes becoming half-lidded as he fell into a sort of trance. The improvised movements were sharp, controlled, and almost mechanical in nature- he truly did look like a robot.

A smile spread across Buck’s face. He never ceased to be amazed by Sour Cream’s dancing; it was so different from the break dancing Buck himself was partial to, and a totally different genre from the crumping Jenny excelled at. It required an insane amount of muscle control, and he knew SC spent many an hour perfecting his technique. It was unfortunate he was so down on himself- he often felt like his skills couldn’t compare to theirs.

The music faded out, and Sour Cream looked up at them expectantly. “What’d you guys think, did it look right?”

Jenny whistled. “Woah, that’s awesome!”

“Man, that is sick,” Buck said appreciatively.

“Yeah?” Sour Cream looked pleasantly surprised.

“Totally. Just, one thing.” Buck stepped in close, draping one arm around SC’s shoulders, and one across his chest. “Try leading with your chest, instead of your shoulders.” He guided the pale boy through the movement slowly. “See, like that?”

Sour Cream’s face was flushed. “Yeah, I see.”

“Good.” Buck grinned, and quick as a flash he slipped his hands beneath the hem of SC’s shirt and pressed his fingers against the taller boy’s sides, which he knew to be particularly sensitive.

Sour Cream let out a high-pitched yelp. “Dude, your hands are freezing!”

“I know.” Buck nuzzled his shoulder playfully. “Just making sure you don’t get distracted.”

Sour Cream’s expression turned mischievous. “Oh, yeah?” He retaliated by tackling Buck to the floor and tickling him mercilessly. “How’s this for distracted?”

“No fair!” Buck gasped, his laughter echoing around the warehouse.

“All’s fair in love and dancing!” Sour Cream retorted. He tugged Buck’s shirt up and blew a raspberry on his stomach.

“Okay, that’s enough,” Jenny interrupted with her hands on her hips, looking bemused. “In case you guys forgot, we still have work to do.”

Sour Cream pouted. “You just hate fun,” he said teasingly, sticking his tongue out at her.

Buck took advantage of the momentary respite to flip Sour Cream over, pinning the other boy to the ground. “Nah, she’s just jealous,” he grinned.

Jenny sniffed haughtily at them. “No, I’m just being mature.” She gave them a smile to let them know she wasn’t really displeased; she was only giving them a hard time.

Buck hummed and sat back, his legs still sprawled across SC’s stomach. “Well, Miss Mature, why don’t you get off your high horse and- augh!”

Sour Cream had used his temporary freedom to snatch his water bottle and dump it over Buck’s head, thoroughly soaking him.

“Oh, it’s on!” Buck’s own water bottle was within reach, and he used it to exact revenge, pouring it all over the other teen. Sour Cream’s hair, normally an untamable gravity-defying mess, was drenched and plastered to his head and face. He blinked up at him, his minty blue eyes wide and appealing, and Buck finally leaned down and closed the distance between them, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips.

Sour Cream responded instantly, and reached up to grab Buck’s sopping wet shirt as leverage to pull him closer, tilting his head to deepen the kiss.

Buck obliged, his eyes fluttering closed. He could feel his shades slipping down the bridge of his nose.

After a few seconds they broke apart, smiling at each other breathlessly. Sour Cream leaned up to kiss Buck again when he paused, glancing to the side. He started snickering, the sound rumbling in his chest beneath Buck’s splayed fingers. Buck followed his gaze to Jenny and broke into a self-satisfied grin at her expression.

She seemed to have frozen on the spot, starry eyed and blushing faintly.

Buck sat back up, lifting his eyebrows. “Hey, Jen, you’re staring,” he said softly.

Jenny started, her face growing even redder. “No I’m not!” she insisted.

Buck gave her a knowing smile and pushed his shades back up.

Sour Cream continued to laugh beneath him. “Okay, so maybe you weren’t. Or,” he drawled, “you could drop the act and join us, unless you still think we should get back to work?”

Jenny bit her lip. “I… guess we could call it a day,” she amended, walking over to them. “But we still have work to do! Don’t you go thinking you can get out of rehearsal by being distracting, okay?”

Buck gently tugged her down to join them, pressing a kiss to her cheek. “Okay. Same time tomorrow then?” he asked innocently.

Jenny grinned and rolled her eyes, kissing them both in quick succession. “I don’t know how we manage to get anything done,” she said with a huff.

“I guess we’re just that good!” Sour Cream exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air emphatically.

Buck took each of their hands in his, lacing their fingers together. He nodded serenely, smiling in contentment.

“We’re good together.”

End

P.S. here's a link to a video that showcases some of the dancing I pictured while writing this (the animating stuff SC was talking about shows up at the very end, but the whole dance is very good). Thanks for reading! - Aqua

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32NAd20obbM

(if the link breaks, search 'Step Up 3: Battle of Red Hook')

[zenosanalytic]

Wonder Woman

Ok, so I saw this yesterday, and I liked it, and I thought it was a good movie, but I felt it was weighed down by the necessity of tying it into the DC continuity, and I found it philosophically unsatisfying in certain particular, idiosyncratic ways.

As a movie and an Action Movie I thought it did a great job. All the performances were excellent. The lack of male-gaziness, the placing of a guy in the traditional love-interest role, the allowance of said love-interest to be a full and complex character which so few conventional action movies with conventional male directors is willing to afford to women characters and actors, was Wonderful.

I could have done without the frame story. I understand why they did it, but it detracted from the film, i think, and they could have made it much smaller and accomplished the same thing. It could have been as easy as having the frame be a question from Bruce at a party, or Diana seeing the picture in her house or at work and remember. Or heck, have no frame at the start and fade from her looking at the picture on the memorial to her looking at the picture in her hand or on the wall or in a museum or something in the present.

I wanted MORE Movie. Yes, I realize it was almost 2 1/2 hours long, but it felt rushed to me; like they didn’t have much time establish the setting, background, and supporting characters in. There were a lot of good ideas there: the motley, dispossessed nature of Steve’s team being a implicit example of how destructive war is; Charlie’s PTSD; the revelation of the horrors behind Steve’s American optimism, but none of these felt like they were given the time they needed, or the development they deserved.

Every action sequence in the movie was in the trailers. This is Bad, and I kinda feel like it’ll alienate those fans who came to the it as an actiony summer blockbuster, though idk how big a sector of the audience that’ll be.

I’d have liked a bigger time-frame for the plot. Excepting the backstory section, the whole movie takes place in, like, a week or two at most. You see Diana go to sleep three times, so it’s possible it all happens in three days.

I don’t think you needed the McGuffin of the gas, and I’d have preferred a full-war time-frame, akin to First Avenger. Diana’s motivation is to find and defeat Ares, afterall, so the war in itself, its scope, and its world-wide, apocalyptic tones, would have been enough to draw her out through her desire for adventure and sense of obligation.

Pitch: Steve crashes, she learns about the war, she decides Ares is behind it and goes to find and defeat him, she confronts the cabinet/high command/whatever to offer her aid, being raging sexists they laugh her out of there, enraged she goes to the front and proves her worth ala the village sequence, now she’s a national figure and command HAS to use her but they use her in ways that keep her out of the main action and away from where the can end the war quickly, through all this she comes to see and learn the nature of war, of humanity, that her allies aren’t all they’re cracked up to be, how hopeless and stupid and wasteful The Great War was, and starts to question her OWN joy in and desire for violence, and what that says about who she is, who humans are, Who/What “Ares” is, and what it means to be good and just. And then you can do your ending, which I’ll get to later.

More could have been done with Etta.

The unashamed inclusion of dysfluency/fillers in the dialogue, both in response to Diana ‘s not-so-mere Presence and just for their own sake, was something I deeply appreciated.

The Romance stuff was Wonderful, and Good, and Pure. I Love that they did the “sex scene” with a simple room walk in and jump cut to their lighted window during the night. I think it could have been better though :| I am going to write-up how I think it could have been better, and when I do I will link it here :| :| Though I might wait until I can rewatch it online so I can make sure I get the dialogue right and everything right.

I agree with @purified-zone that including the Ares bit, and the way they did it, undercuts the really excellent and interesting Existential and Humanitarian message the film had been building up until then, only to replace it with a deeply unsatisfying, poorly done, and confusing Idealist ending that somehow manages to feel both enormously tacked on, utterly out of the blue, and unnecessary and clumsily foreshadowed for much of the movie. I mean, it wasn’t even much of a twist I was like “that dude is totally Ares because the movie so much wants us to believe it’s the other guy and he’s set up in opposition to him” the minute I saw him. I have more idiosyncratic Opinions about this bit, which I’ll get to below.

The Ares effects were really badly done ohmygods X| X| X|

I don’t like how the death of Steve was done, though I don’t really mind him dying in the movie. A WWI movie that doesn’t feature the protagonist and audience losing their dear friends is a bad WWI movie, and the more needless, horrible, and senseless those deaths are the more accurate the movie will be. Every WWI movie should be an anti-war movie.

IDIOSYNCRASIES

I felt the visual symbolism was confused in a few places. Like: you have a bit where Diana, through the power of Friendship, destroys the belltower(an architectural bit that often includes a crucifix) of a church to save a village, because a German sniper is sheltering in it. Then she stands above them all, in the ruins of said belltower, framed by clouds and shining golden light, and is cheered as a hero. That’s a pretty pro-pagan, or at the very least anti-church/clerical, image religious-politics wise. But then you have her killing Ares by floating into the sky, in the crucifixion pose(was she backlit here? I forget) and shooting a beam of pure white light(ning?) out of her chest at him. Pretty unabashed(and action-movie-conventional) Christian symbolism there. Then you have the obvious parallels the back story draws between the Abrahimic God and Zeus, and the “Fall” of Ares and the “Fall” of Lucifer. So the way the movie uses religious imagery is all over the place, and it didn’t come off to me as being meant in a positive and syncretic way, so it was just confused.

And why make the Olympians all dead in the first place? That’s such a dumb and utterly pointless thing to do. You can explain why they exist and do nothing to stop evil in the world as simply as having Hippolyta tell Diana that, after seeing the devastation and anguish caused by Ares and their necessary war against him to stop his destruction, the Gods swore to never directly interfere in the mortal world again. It’s literally that simple, and that would even leave open the possibility of indirect influence and “help��� given to Diana by the Gods.

Ok so about the ending. One where there was no Ares would have probably been the best, and played better into the monologue Diana has at the beginning of the film. I think, if they really wanted to though, they could have included Ares in a way that didn’t undermine the movie’s message about existentialism and the protective lies Hippolyta had told Diana growing up.

Like, gods aren’t just beings, they’re ideas personified. They kind of play with this idea in the movie by having Ares “influence” humans towards self-destruction, but they could have done a better job with it. Ares’ motivation could have been sincere but mistaken. As a god of war, anytime and place he would have been able to manifest in the mortal world would have been one of conflict and destruction; simply by being around people, he would have encouraged their violent and impetuous traits. He would have seen, due to his nature, the worst in Humanity. From that perspective, it’d have been no surprise that he held them in the low opinion he did. Zeus tries to explain this to him, he won’t understand(no one ever accused Ares of ebing smart), and that misunderstanding is what leads to the first god-war, his weakening, and his banishment to the mortal realm.

So the conflict between Ares and Diana would be a rehashing of this -him being unable to see the truth of humanity and himself, her trying to get him to see it through the example of her own experiences- and that would have allowed the godly showdown at the end without undermining the existentialism message, and indeed could easily play into it by involving Ares’ own agency, choices, and beliefs in the film’s resolution(which would easily allow an ending without Steve’s Captain America esque death).

I also think playing that “showdown” as a wholly physical one was a mistake. Like, you could have had that be a conceptual battle -Diana and Ares fighting as their divine selves in, essentially, human brainspace- that resolves with Diana “winning” the argument, and is mirrored by Steve or Sameer talking the people at the base out of gassing the front and destroying the armistice; resolving the problem in the real world without violence. You would have Diana’s fight with the God of War be a manifestation of Steve or Sameer’s rhetorical “fight” with the desire for conflict that god represents in the real world, and have in genuinely be a fight for peace, through the methods of peace. I doubt that’d have much connection at all to the Wonder Woman of the comic books, but it’s an ending I would have Dug to see done, and it would have done something genuinely interesting with the whole “god” concept, rather than just having gods be really tough and magical humans.

[spectrumscribe]

So adding to the list of things I wanted to get my name on, I’m slapping my name on this AU before anyone else to my knowledge at least and releasing my spin on

The 2012 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles characters set as Voltron Paladins (and co.)

(long post, sorry about that.)

-----

First is the most obvious selection, Donnie. 

He’s the Green Paladin, an easy choice. Intuitive, creative, and curious, can and will engineer/build his way out of any situation, and also glasses. He’s the most like Pidge in personality, and his character also lines up easily to be her parallel. And since I don’t have to justify my reasoning behind his placement, I’ll give a quick tid-bit on his part in the story-

In the AU, he’s a trans male character, and has gone undercover as a woman in the garrison after getting himself banned from the premises. Much like Pidge did by pretending to be a boy. Basically he plays all of Pidge’s role in things, but with a side of getting crushes on aliens and being unsure of what to do with that. cue drama

-----

Second selection, Raph. 

He’s set as the Yellow Paladin in my version of the AU, despite the fact that most people in the fandom would assign him to Red right off the bat. My reasoning behind it is that he’s solid, steady, dependable when needed, and won't move period, even if you push him. Plus, him being put into the heavy tank like lion will force him to better think his moves in battle, and suits his role as the heaviest hitter on the team.

He’s not as quick to anger as most people portray him, either. His temper is fearsome yes, but he doesn’t get angry without good reason majority of times. Usually, its because someone or something has pushed him there that he snaps. Further point for not putting him as the Red Paladin, he’s got a firm control of how he expresses his anger. Red wouldn’t have much impulsiveness to work with there. And that leads me to the next choice.

-----

Third selection, Mikey.

Another twist for most fans I think, I’m placing him in the AU as the Red Paladin. My reasons behind that is because of how I view his character in 2012. He’s more than a bit brash, definitely impulsive, very quick to react to the situation, and has 0 to 60 emotion. He's deadly af, but uses it recklessly so it's not as effective as it could be, much like Kieth. Over all, the Red Lion’s method of fighting (charge in head first and just go for it) matches best with Mikey’s method of fighting, and temperament in general.

He’s also the most likely to pull a Keith, and bugger off into the unknown without telling anyone where he is. He’s done it before, with Dimension-X and all that. It’s not hard to see him being the rebellious youngest brother, and hiding out in the desert on his own. (and without telling any of his siblings he was alright, either. for shame.)

-----

Fourth selection, Leo.

I’m realizing that basically all my choices are plot twists for everyone except me. Point being, I’m assigning Leo to the Blue Paladin role for the AU. He’s good with morale, relatively level-headed in a fight majority of the time at least, and already holds place as the sharp-shooter in TMNT canon anyways. It’s a better fit than being the Black Paladin would be, in my opinion, because while Leo displays some qualities for leadership, he’s not always the completely even-tempered influence he tries to portray. 

He’s impulsive and vain at times, and often fails to use his team members’ full potential. His foresight is short sighted, though that could likely be remedied with better training. He still makes an excellent second in command though, and a good fall back leader when their actual one is out of commission.

-----

Which brings me to the final pick. I’m sure you’re all wondering at this point “But there’s only four brothers, who fills the fifth Lion position?” 

See, I wondered that too for a long while, until it came to me:

They have a sister.

Fifth selection, Karai.

She’s the Black Paladin for a number of reasons. In TMNT canon, she was groomed her whole life to step into the role of a leader, and was trained subsequently. Her prowess in battle is notable for both planning and adaptability, and not to mention, she has unrelenting perseverance towards her goals. Summarized: she's a leader, she's calm in a fight, she's got a plan and will follow it, and has indomitable spirit. Karai’s overall tenacity, determination, and leadership abilities make her an excellent Black Paladin, and a good fit for the leader of Voltron.

Plus, she’s got two toned hair, an under-cut, eyeliner on fleek, and was forced to undergo unwanted changes to her body by the series’ Big Bad. She and Shiro would probably have a lot to talk about together.

-----

That being said, the other characters fall into place relatively easily:

April is the last princess (soon to be queen) of Altea, fresh from hyper-sleep. And, she’s accompanied by her adviser, mechanic, closest companion and general repair-man, Casey. (there’s a lot of requirements for a common born soul to make it into the palace, and Casey some how managed to meet them all. Some how.)

April having the ability to grow to seven plus feet tall excites me as much as the drama of Donnie’s crush on her. Similarly how Casey’s jury-rigging to keep the castle airborne excites me. who let this boy even near the controls, honestly

Splinter is the missing father, (Hamato Yoshi in this AU), lost somewhere in space, and is the parent to all five Paladins. Said five paladins are all siblings, though Karai is the only biological child of Yoshi. Adoption or something more mysterious idk yet was involved in the boys’ heritage/addition to the Hamato family.

Similarly lost with Yoshi is Shini (nickname of her nickname, Shinigami), placed in the role of Matt in the AU. She also happens to be Karai’s sort of un-voiced major crush and best friend. the arena scene will be fun to write for those two, i’m hype for it

And Shredder obviously plays the role of Zarkon in this AU, with his miscellaneous lackies spread throughout in general villain roles. The Foot Clan = The Galra Empire basically.

Other characters of TMNT yet to be assigned, but are definitely around. Somewhere.

-----

Long post, apologies, but I figured I’d give a sort of quick once over of my version of things before other people did. Also: fanfiction. By me. It will be happening soon. It’s too tempting to not.

[itsclydebitches]

Soo like 6 days ago I started watching the Witcher stopped at ep 7 bought the Witcher 3 and have been playing it nonstop. The shows okay? I think? (From someone who only knows what the series is from a 4 hour critic video that I had no idea what was going on in BUT- the game is so funnnn. Like I barely know what’s going on, from that video and people discussing things online but WOW??? Like how was I not told about this shit earlier??? Dandelions realllllly icky thooo like I thought he’d be more fun and less “wow your straight fucking scum” but I mean at least he cares about his friends? Triss and yennifer are... Oof rough BUT I’m only just in the game, hope they’ll grow on me? Or change? But Ciri? Is adorable? Her parts are so fun to play her dodge is so fun.

The novels! Have You read them? Where does one get them lmao Ik they’re translated?

[old timey fisherman's voice] WE CAUGHT ANOTHER ONE, BOYS!

Ahhhh new Witcher 3 fan!! Congratulations, anon, you've unlocked my numerous Thoughts™ and Opinions™ on the matter that I am now going to dump on you in bullet point form. No spoilers though!

Okay, okay, yeah I like this game a totally normal amount. I've sunk at least 250 hours into it (so far) which might not be much compared to the Pro Gamers and whatnot, but it's an insane amount for someone like me who possesses the attention span of a goldfish. I don't do any of the same thing for 250 hours (except write things on tumblr, I guess)

I didn't know what was going on either when I first played. I didn't even have the show to sort of help me out, Witcher 3 was the first Witcher story I ever dove into. The great thing though is you can just... google stuff? See, idk if you've worked this out yet, but the games all take place post-book series. All the stuff in the series happened, then Witcher 1 starts with Geralt having amnesia, and everything else in the games is new content. Which means that though there's obviously a fair number of book spoilers throughout, it's pretty easy to google worldbuilding questions without getting game spoilers. So once I understood that I was able to supplement what I was getting via game osmosis with stuff like, "Who the fuck is Nilfgaard again and why does everyone hate them?" or "What did Triss do to Geralt?" without getting any quest-specific spoilers. Basic wiki articles with, "Such and such is related to such and such and once did This Thing" was super helpful.

Yeah, the show is just okay. I'm far less enamored with it a year later than I was at the start. I think I was trying to like it more than I actually did... Honestly, I'm actually somewhat wary of getting more seasons simply because of how TV shows tend to dominate fandoms. The Jaskier/Geralt dynamic is a perfect example: once the show does something, a very large portion of the fandom tends to take that as their preferred canon. Finding non-TV!Jaskier/Geralt content is more of a struggle now. Which isn't a bad thing, god knows I'm happy to have more Witcher content in general, it's just too bad that we have game and book dynamics that are, at least here on tumblr, largely overshadowed by the show. My fave in the whole franchise - Regis - is someone I'm particularly worried for because if the show does him dirty and the whole fandom takes that characterization as gospel, I may not recover lol.

Dandelion's characterization in Witcher 3 is, sadly, not what I'd hoped it would be. To my mind book!Dandelion is superior to both game!Dandelion and TV!Jaskier. It's his dynamic with Geralt that made me ship them in the first place. He does grow on you in the game though (or at least he did for me), but he's definitely presented as more annoying/inept/creepy than in the books. And don't even get me started on how they butchered that relationship in the show... Though I WILL say game!Dandelion remains pretty funny. There's one quest in particular that never fails to make me laugh. Also his fashion is on point for a flamboyant bard.

Oof Triss and Yen... beware, anon, that is THE debate in this fandom and the one you might want to steer clear of lol. Personally, I'm not a fan of either. Triss is fine, I guess, but not someone I really, actively like and Yennefer is... well. Let's just say if I could do away with any character it would be her. I absolutely despised her in the game, was told she was better in the books, started the books, hated her even more, tried to give her a chance in the TV show, and ended up hating her there too. I'm just not a Yen fan, at all, which basically makes me the black sheep of the Witcher fandom lol. You might warm to them though, the majority do, however, know that you don't have to romance either of them. My Geralt was quite happy being a single father to his amazing daughter Ciri :D

I've read the short story collections and read enough of the novels to realize it wasn't my cup of tea. Basically, there are two collections of interconnected tales as Geralt goes about his witchering and then a six book epic following the hansa and everything with Ciri. Personally, I couldn't get into the epic and dropped the novels early on. In my humble opinion Sapkowski, writing a character like Geralt, (much like Doyle writing Holmes) excels in the short story format and then struggles stylistically in novel form. I found his writing tedious, the themes not nearly as poignant (many outright uncomfortable), and the fact that Yen is a central part of the whole tale didn't help sell things for me. Reading a six book series where a good chunk is dedicated to the supposedly epic love story of a couple where you hate one half and find the whole relationship cringy (though not in a way the story is purposefully acknowledging)... doesn't make for great reading imo lol. But I want to emphasize that that's my take and god knows it's a minority one. Most fans adore the books - and I do heartily recommend the short stories - so definitely give them a shot for yourself some time.

They are indeed translated (I can't read a word of Polish lol) and are very easy to find in a bookstore, online seller, etc. The wiki article lists them all.

(Though know that you definitely can't download ebooks for free via the Z Library. Nope. Not possible. Don't know why I'm even getting your hopes up.)

Really though, Witcher 3 is my fave, hands down. Out of the books, the show, the other games... Witcher 3 is the version of Geralt and the world that I truly fell in love with. When people say "Witcher" that's the version of Witcher I'm eager to discuss. However, if you can stomach early 2000s games with pretty terrible graphics, I recommend trying Witcher 1 and 2 once you're finished (I was immediately ready for more gameplay content after I'd finished lol). Witcher 1 is, in many ways, a mess. God the combat system drove me nuts... BUT it has a strange charm that I, in all seriousness, really loved. Meanwhile, Witcher 2 (Assassins of Kings) is far stronger. You can easily see the building blocks of Witcher 3 in the narrative choices and worldbuilding. Plus, AoK has Iroveth who is just such a fun character. Wish he'd made it into Wild Hunt :(

Also the comics! I bought the omnibus a while back and didn't regret the purchase for a second. House of Glass (the first story run) also has one of the saddest Geralt moments for me. Just this single panel that lives in my head, rent free, making me Feel Things on occasion lol. There's a new run, Fading Memories, releasing this month (!!!) which I can't wait to get ahold of once the trade paperback is out.

Oh god I could ramble about Witcher 3 for ages but this is already getting so long. Do all the side quests! Return to places you've already been to for fun surprises! Replay decisions to see how differently things turn out! Play lots of Gwent! Enjoy the gorgeous landscapes! Be sure to get the amazing DLCs when you're finished! Play Hearts of Stone first because Blood and Wine has an ending-ending and I didn't realize that, so it was a little weird to get the emotional finish and then have like 10+ hours of gameplay left! Oh, and if you haven't figure it out already know that you can put points into any skill in the General Skills tab (you don't build on it like the fighting/signs/alchemy tabs) and I would snag the "Gourmet" ability ASAP because it has saved my ass so many times.

AND ENJOY PLAYING

I wish I could play it for the first time again, but diving back into more Blood and Wine tonight will have to do :D

[foursprouthappiness-blog]

My Favorite Thought Catalog Pieces From 2017 (So Far)

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/my-favorite-thought-catalog-pieces-from-2017-so-far/

My Favorite Thought Catalog Pieces From 2017 (So Far)

Advice

How To Get Out Of Bed by Kim Quindlen

One the things that is hardest for me to describe to people who don’t understand depression and anxiety is that sometimes it feels like literally doing anything is impossible. Once when I was incredibly depressed I didn’t put sheets back onto my bed for 4 days even though they were in the dryer, clean and ready to be reassembled. I felt very ~seen~ by this article. And while putting it under advice may seem sort of weird given how/why I relate to it, I think it’s important when you’re in one of those whirlpools where it feels like everything is impossible that even the tiniest things, like getting out of bed (even if you don’t have the energy to make it), is a win.

Excerpt: “Make it to the bathroom. Feel proud of yourself for getting this far. Brush your teeth. Wash your face with cold water. Feel a little more awake afterwards.”

11 Reasons Why Independent Women Often Feel They Aren’t Wired For Love by Brianna Wiest

I hate saying that I read something and thought, “me” but I read this and thought, “me.” I recently tried to explain to someone why I’m not interested in relationships and found myself struggling to get anything out other than an awkward, “Ummm, cuz.” This piece by Brianna put into words exactly what I was feeling without telling me how to “fix myself” which I 100% appreciated.

Excerpt: “It’s not always ‘safe’ to try to do things alone, it’s not always ‘safe’ to try to be in a relationship. Life shouldn’t be built around what’s safe, it should be built around what’s worth the risk.”

On Living Your Own Strange Life by Chrissy Stockton

I am filled with a lot of doubt and things like loneliness and uncertainty and a huge fear of not ever being enough. But there are days when I look around at my strange little apartment filled with flea market trinkets or watch my dog lounge next to me while I eat tacos from my favorite food truck alone, and I feel so peaceful. My life looks nothing like what I thought it would in my early twenties, but it’s still a pretty decent one. This essay Chrissy wrote perfectly encapsulates that exact notion.

Excerpt: “I am on an adventure that I chose and planned and paid for. I am going to do exactly what I feel like doing for all the days stretched out before me. There are brief moments when I breathe in and out and know that this is the way it is supposed to be.”

I Am Slowly Learning What It Means To Be Human by Bianca Sparacino

I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn (and am still learning) is that it’s okay to make mistakes and to stumble because that’s part of just being a human. I rule over myself with an iron fist and even when a mistake isn’t my fault, a part of me feels like it is. One of the things I admire most about Bianca is how much she encourages self-forgiveness and being easy on yourself. I maybe am not (aka: am absolutely not) quite there, but I’m trying.

Excerpt: “I am slowly learning what it means to be human. What it means to make mistakes and learn from them. What it means to be both happy and sad at the same time. I am slowly learning how to do the damn work. How to stop running from what is heavy and uncomfortable in my life. How to take the easy route less and less. How to grow myself, how to be a better person.”  

Poetry/Prose

A Brief History Of Falling In Love With Strangers by Ari Eastman

The thing I love about Ari’s writing, other than the fact that it’s idk..great, is her ability to tell a story. Even if it’s just a 120 word poem or this little prosy narrative about her feelings for people she doesn’t really know, everything Ari writes takes you on a journey. I always feel like I’m getting a little window to her life, which is what truly excellent storytelling is all about.

Excerpt: “We meet up in Los Angeles. He holds my hand in the back of the Uber. We talk about poetry and music. I like him. I really like him. But what if it’s not enough? What if I only fall in love at a distance?”

Loving Two People At Once Shouldn’t Be Poetry (But Somehow, It Is) by Caitlin Conlon

I had to read this piece three or four times the first time I saw it to fully comprehend and absorb the scope of the world that Caitlin crafted. I don’t know what to say about it other than it’s incredibly captivating and so, so, so good.

Excerpt: “You’re sitting in between two boys and you love both of them. They look through you, the glass window in a burning room. It’s ironic that panic buttons cease to matter when everything’s already up in flames. Worrying is useless when you’ve let two things happen to you and neither of them care about burning buildings unless something that they care about is inside. So you burn.”

It’s Hard To Say My Depression Is Back, So I Just Don’t by Ari Eastman

One of my favorites things about the way Ari writes poetry is that it’s clearly written to be consumed by a reader. She doesn’t write from a place of trying to show you how smart she is or overwrite just to make herself sound deep or forcibly impressive. Ari writes the way she speaks, and she writes in a relatable, accessible way. Her poetry makes me feel like poetry is for me too, and that’s what a great writer does. They make you feel welcomed into their world and give you a sense of belonging with the words they put on the page (or screen).

Excerpt: “meaning, people reach out and I want to hide, meaning, I’m mad at the people who didn’t, meaning, I get texts that say R U OK, meaning, my brain is just wrong, okay, meaning, what am I supposed to say?”

I Like That We Can’t Control The Weather by Heidi Priebe

Whenever I find myself in the middle of complicated situations or life transitions, I try (try being the operative word here) to remember how Heidi deals with things. I don’t know many people who are better at putting a positive spin on things than Heidi Priebe. She looks at change (something I deal with terribly) like new adventures, new challenges, new things to conquer. It’s an attitude I so so admire, and one that I am trying to emulate in my own life.

Excerpt: “We can solve so many problems these days but the most frantic city in the world can still be shut down by something as unpredictable as a snow storm.

I like the nasty weather because it reminds us of how human we all are.”

The Eleventh Of September In A Year I Can’t Remember by Chrissy Stockton

I think everyone needs to hit pause on their day sometimes and read writing like Chrissy Stockton’s. Chrissy is the kind of writer I aspire to be like, and this piece with little snapshots of her past Septembers is one I find really, really special.

Excerpt: “I don’t know it yet but I’ve just met someone over work email who will become like a brother. I am in an airport hotel room in Flushing, NY and I gchat my best friend details about my cancelled flight and tell her ‘I want you with me every second.’”

Mental-Health/Mental Wellness

We’re Okay Now (I Think) by Katie Mather

Whether we admit it or not I think we all worry about ourselves and our habits more than social media or the face that we show to the masses would care to cop to. I really appreciated how candid Katie was talking about her relationship with drinking. It made me feel less weird about worrying about alcohol and myself and my relationship with what I consume and needing a minute to figure myself out. To repeat what I said earlier, felt very ~seen~ by this.

Excerpt: “Not Drinking is a weird statement these days that, for whatever reason, can’t properly be justified with “I just don’t want to.” Someone in my office once joked that sober is the new drunk; meaning it’s such a Cool Thing to do now—be sober.”

On Learning What It Truly Means To Surrender by Jillian Stacia

After being diagnosed with anxiety in my twenties I felt like I had to relearn a ton about myself. About why I react to things the way I do, about my sleeping patterns, about what I need when things are overwhelming, about what overwhelming ACTUALLY means. Jillian encapsulated what living with anxiety is like beautifully and vulnerably in this piece, and made me feel very understood by writing about her struggles with balancing her anxiety and the rest of her life.

Excerpt: “Isn’t anxiety the price you pay for success? Isn’t that what gets you there in the first place? The voice in your head that tells you that it’s not enough? That you need to keep going? That you are not there yet so don’t you dare quit?”

Talking To People In My Life Is Absolutely Exhausting Now, When Did That Happen? by Kim Quindlen

I think there’s weird, unspoken assumption that at some point in your twenties you’re just “done” and changing/evolving is really kept to a minimum. That bad things don’t appear out of nowhere and who you are will rarely, if ever, shift. And because of that unspoken idea we’re all very afraid to admit when things aren’t going well, when things aren’t the way they’re “supposed” to be. Maybe it’s because I know and love Kim and feel like I can talk to her about this kind of stuff, but this piece is so honest and talks about one of the things I think we all try to sweep under the rug so perfectly.

Excerpt: “Is this a rite of passage once you’ve left your early twenties? To feel exhausted from talking to almost every single person on this planet? To have always thought you were an extrovert, a Super Outgoing Person Who Loves To Have Fun – and then one day you wake up and small talk actually feels physically painful?”

A Story About Food by Chrissy Stockton

Even after what feels like a forever of exposing ourselves to the masses, I know that there are certain subjects I’m without question protective of when it comes to what I feel comfortable writing about. When Chrissy writes this way she’s amazing at coming from this place of vulnerability gently. It doesn’t come with a demand for attention, it’s not greedy, it’s not attention-seeking or self-absorbed. And she doesn’t have a tone of insisting that you do the same or feel the same way as she does. But by writing it exactly like that, in that gentle way, she’s encouraging me to do just that. Which is, yet again, why I look up to her so much.

Excerpt: “Being good to people feels very sturdy. Being good to myself feels like I am a baby. I feel guilty about needing it.”

Self-Reflection

I Am Just Trying To Be A Person by Kim Quindlen

This is one of the best things anyone’s written on Thought Catalog. Especially post-election and in an era where everything feels tumultuous and out of control and unpredictable and sad. In this essay Kim beautifully said how exhausting just existing is sometimes. Because at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to be humans. And being a human is really, really hard.

Excerpt: “I feel a lot of things. I don’t know anything. I am scared. Sometimes I am filled with joy. I am worried about the world. I am just trying to be a person.”

When You Give Up Your Dream For A ‘Life’ by Shado Evans

There’s this fear I have that happiness and comfort are not able to coexist. That in order to have stability, you’re going to have to give up some semblance of dreaming. And then, an off-shoot of that fear, is that if by some chance you’re lucky enough to find a dream that coincides with a stable, comfortable life, holding onto it will feel like a tightrope act. Shado’s essay was heartfelt and reflective, and perfectly summed up everything I fear about this so, so well.

Excerpt: “But time has no conscience. Time is not your ally. If you put your trust in the illusion that it will always be there for you, you will have to go to war with reality in the future.”

Love

17 Days Of Watching You Fall Out Of Love With Me by Joms Zulueta Jimenez

When love ends oftentimes the signs aren’t dramatic. There isn’t this big show of “oh my feelings have changed, goodbye forever.” Usually, it’s quiet. It’s in missed texts and purposefully falling asleep on the couch alone. It’s in noticing that you want someone to cut their hair, when that used to be something you loved about them the most. And when you watch it happen? It’s pretty heartbreaking.

Excerpt: “Day 8. I cut my hair. I cut my hair with the hopes that it might save us. It sounded like bullshit, I know, but I ran out of reasons why you were aloof or why it seemed like you were half-hearted or why I felt uncomfortable with peace. I cut my hair. You said I looked better. That was a relief.”

Our Strip Mall Romance By Lina Abascal

This is the love story they should have told in La La Land. Sorry not sorry.

Excerpt: “I want to love you in tiny Thai restaurants in strip malls east of Hollywood and in line for taco trucks south of downtown. I want to wait until the second hour of traffic before I nervously make the move and hold your hand as we drive on the 10 at rush hour after work.”

A Love Story Told Through Venmo by Katie Mather

I don’t know if Katie meant for this to be touching, but I really thought it was. I don’t know if I’ll ever realistically be able to predict Katie’s intentions with writing or anything else, which is how she would prefer for things to be. But that’s one of the reasons I like her work so much. You see something that on one hand, you’d expect to be a little silly and light and instead you are again, reminded how falling out of love isn’t always some big tantrum and instead can be quiet, but still just as sad. I don’t know, I’m rambling. Just read it.

Excerpt: 

“He paid you April 4, 2017

Love me pls?”

Humor

20 Honest Signs Your Relationship Is Probably Over by Tommy Paley

Satire is tricky. It’s hard to do it well, it’s something a lot of writers never attempt, and it’s something I’m really glad we have writers like Tommy continuing to make popular. My favorite thing about Tommy’s writing is that when you read his pieces you usually start thinking you’re going to get one thing, and they he flips them to be something else entirely. It’s really, really entertaining and what quality humor writing should be.

Excerpt: “She covers the floor of the apartment with eggshells and then sighs loudly and rolls her eyes when you invariably walk on them.”

Forgive Me, For I Am But A Dainty Sad Girl by Katie Mather

Katie is the funniest person writing on Thought Catalog right now. Quote me.

Excerpt: “We should get coffee sometime. My favorite way to whisper secrets is over a cup of coffee. Especially while eating macaroons. Have you ever heard of Ladurée?”

Misc

I’m Pregnant (On Purpose!) But I’d Rather Talk About The Abortion I Had Three Years Ago by Mélanie Berliet

This is one of the most important things I think we’ve ever had published on our site, and I think it’s important because it shows how decisions like this 1) don’t have to be scary and 2) don’t have to be dramatic and 3) don’t have to completely alter the entire scope of your life. It’s as simple as making a choice that fits your life, and doesn’t have to drastically impact everything that comes afterwards. Of course, this is a personal choice and a personal situation and no two experiences will ever be alike, but this is one story and it’s a story that I’m so glad Mélanie decided to share.

Excerpt: “So it’s official. I am a woman who’s had an abortion—not because circumstances dictated that it was medically necessary, or because she didn’t love the man who impregnated her, or because she couldn’t afford to raise a kid, or because she’s decided to remain childless forever. I am a woman who’s had an abortion, and it doesn’t really matter why. It was my choice, and one that my boyfriend and I (we’re still very much together and happier than ever, if that even matters) proudly stand by.”

All The Men I Probably Won’t Have Sex With by Callie Byrnes

Being a woman is tiring and terrible and we need people to stand up more often the way Callie did here so that slowly but surely, more people get it. And even if they reject it and write it off as “just another woman complaining about compliments” that seed will have been planted. Maybe we’ll become harder to ignore.

Excerpt: “The Tinder guy who messaged me saying, “Thick thighs save lives.” I’m glad you have so much faith in me, but my CPR certificate has expired, so these thighs won’t be doing anything. Maybe next time.”

A Series Of First Impressions by Katie Mather

When I first read this piece I was immediately disappointed because I was not one of the first impressions. But then, I was just entirely enthralled by it. I love the way it’s presented as little vignettes, little snippets of a relationship you will probably never know the rest of. You literally only get a fraction of the story, and it’s really cool to me how captivating Katie made even that littlest piece.

Excerpt: “I am closing the bar tab and he comes up to me and says that he thinks he’s seen me at this bar before. It’s impossible because I’m visiting this city for the first time ever in my life, but I pretend otherwise.”

I’m Afraid Of Failing, I’m Afraid Of Success, And I’m Afraid Of My Good Luck by Ari Eastman

You’re not supposed to be afraid of success, you’re supposed to lean in. You’re not supposed to be afraid of failure, because you’ll be strong enough to be able to get past it. You’re not supposed to admit that sometimes you’re lucky, because that’s not taking control of your destiny. There are all of these things that we’re “supposed” to do and honestly? Sometimes I am paralyzed by the “supposed tos” in life. And Ari? Ari admitted it. I was/am really proud of Ari for writing this. I’m really proud she’s my friend.

Excerpt: “Because if you fail after getting so many chances, it’ll be sad. Right? It’ll be embarrassing. It’ll be a total waste.

Because if you succeed after getting so many chances that others didn’t, do you even deserve it? Do you understand the severity? That here you don’t believe in a higher power but clearly something keeps rewarding you?”

[foursprout-blog]

My Favorite Thought Catalog Pieces From 2017 (So Far)

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/my-favorite-thought-catalog-pieces-from-2017-so-far/

My Favorite Thought Catalog Pieces From 2017 (So Far)

Advice

How To Get Out Of Bed by Kim Quindlen

One the things that is hardest for me to describe to people who don’t understand depression and anxiety is that sometimes it feels like literally doing anything is impossible. Once when I was incredibly depressed I didn’t put sheets back onto my bed for 4 days even though they were in the dryer, clean and ready to be reassembled. I felt very ~seen~ by this article. And while putting it under advice may seem sort of weird given how/why I relate to it, I think it’s important when you’re in one of those whirlpools where it feels like everything is impossible that even the tiniest things, like getting out of bed (even if you don’t have the energy to make it), is a win.

Excerpt: “Make it to the bathroom. Feel proud of yourself for getting this far. Brush your teeth. Wash your face with cold water. Feel a little more awake afterwards.”

11 Reasons Why Independent Women Often Feel They Aren’t Wired For Love by Brianna Wiest

I hate saying that I read something and thought, “me” but I read this and thought, “me.” I recently tried to explain to someone why I’m not interested in relationships and found myself struggling to get anything out other than an awkward, “Ummm, cuz.” This piece by Brianna put into words exactly what I was feeling without telling me how to “fix myself” which I 100% appreciated.

Excerpt: “It’s not always ‘safe’ to try to do things alone, it’s not always ‘safe’ to try to be in a relationship. Life shouldn’t be built around what’s safe, it should be built around what’s worth the risk.”

On Living Your Own Strange Life by Chrissy Stockton

I am filled with a lot of doubt and things like loneliness and uncertainty and a huge fear of not ever being enough. But there are days when I look around at my strange little apartment filled with flea market trinkets or watch my dog lounge next to me while I eat tacos from my favorite food truck alone, and I feel so peaceful. My life looks nothing like what I thought it would in my early twenties, but it’s still a pretty decent one. This essay Chrissy wrote perfectly encapsulates that exact notion.

Excerpt: “I am on an adventure that I chose and planned and paid for. I am going to do exactly what I feel like doing for all the days stretched out before me. There are brief moments when I breathe in and out and know that this is the way it is supposed to be.”

I Am Slowly Learning What It Means To Be Human by Bianca Sparacino

I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve had to learn (and am still learning) is that it’s okay to make mistakes and to stumble because that’s part of just being a human. I rule over myself with an iron fist and even when a mistake isn’t my fault, a part of me feels like it is. One of the things I admire most about Bianca is how much she encourages self-forgiveness and being easy on yourself. I maybe am not (aka: am absolutely not) quite there, but I’m trying.

Excerpt: “I am slowly learning what it means to be human. What it means to make mistakes and learn from them. What it means to be both happy and sad at the same time. I am slowly learning how to do the damn work. How to stop running from what is heavy and uncomfortable in my life. How to take the easy route less and less. How to grow myself, how to be a better person.”  

Poetry/Prose

A Brief History Of Falling In Love With Strangers by Ari Eastman

The thing I love about Ari’s writing, other than the fact that it’s idk..great, is her ability to tell a story. Even if it’s just a 120 word poem or this little prosy narrative about her feelings for people she doesn’t really know, everything Ari writes takes you on a journey. I always feel like I’m getting a little window to her life, which is what truly excellent storytelling is all about.

Excerpt: “We meet up in Los Angeles. He holds my hand in the back of the Uber. We talk about poetry and music. I like him. I really like him. But what if it’s not enough? What if I only fall in love at a distance?”

Loving Two People At Once Shouldn’t Be Poetry (But Somehow, It Is) by Caitlin Conlon

I had to read this piece three or four times the first time I saw it to fully comprehend and absorb the scope of the world that Caitlin crafted. I don’t know what to say about it other than it’s incredibly captivating and so, so, so good.

Excerpt: “You’re sitting in between two boys and you love both of them. They look through you, the glass window in a burning room. It’s ironic that panic buttons cease to matter when everything’s already up in flames. Worrying is useless when you’ve let two things happen to you and neither of them care about burning buildings unless something that they care about is inside. So you burn.”

It’s Hard To Say My Depression Is Back, So I Just Don’t by Ari Eastman

One of my favorites things about the way Ari writes poetry is that it’s clearly written to be consumed by a reader. She doesn’t write from a place of trying to show you how smart she is or overwrite just to make herself sound deep or forcibly impressive. Ari writes the way she speaks, and she writes in a relatable, accessible way. Her poetry makes me feel like poetry is for me too, and that’s what a great writer does. They make you feel welcomed into their world and give you a sense of belonging with the words they put on the page (or screen).

Excerpt: “meaning, people reach out and I want to hide, meaning, I’m mad at the people who didn’t, meaning, I get texts that say R U OK, meaning, my brain is just wrong, okay, meaning, what am I supposed to say?”

I Like That We Can’t Control The Weather by Heidi Priebe

Whenever I find myself in the middle of complicated situations or life transitions, I try (try being the operative word here) to remember how Heidi deals with things. I don’t know many people who are better at putting a positive spin on things than Heidi Priebe. She looks at change (something I deal with terribly) like new adventures, new challenges, new things to conquer. It’s an attitude I so so admire, and one that I am trying to emulate in my own life.

Excerpt: “We can solve so many problems these days but the most frantic city in the world can still be shut down by something as unpredictable as a snow storm.

I like the nasty weather because it reminds us of how human we all are.”

The Eleventh Of September In A Year I Can’t Remember by Chrissy Stockton

I think everyone needs to hit pause on their day sometimes and read writing like Chrissy Stockton’s. Chrissy is the kind of writer I aspire to be like, and this piece with little snapshots of her past Septembers is one I find really, really special.

Excerpt: “I don’t know it yet but I’ve just met someone over work email who will become like a brother. I am in an airport hotel room in Flushing, NY and I gchat my best friend details about my cancelled flight and tell her ‘I want you with me every second.’”

Mental-Health/Mental Wellness

We’re Okay Now (I Think) by Katie Mather

Whether we admit it or not I think we all worry about ourselves and our habits more than social media or the face that we show to the masses would care to cop to. I really appreciated how candid Katie was talking about her relationship with drinking. It made me feel less weird about worrying about alcohol and myself and my relationship with what I consume and needing a minute to figure myself out. To repeat what I said earlier, felt very ~seen~ by this.

Excerpt: “Not Drinking is a weird statement these days that, for whatever reason, can’t properly be justified with “I just don’t want to.” Someone in my office once joked that sober is the new drunk; meaning it’s such a Cool Thing to do now—be sober.”

On Learning What It Truly Means To Surrender by Jillian Stacia

After being diagnosed with anxiety in my twenties I felt like I had to relearn a ton about myself. About why I react to things the way I do, about my sleeping patterns, about what I need when things are overwhelming, about what overwhelming ACTUALLY means. Jillian encapsulated what living with anxiety is like beautifully and vulnerably in this piece, and made me feel very understood by writing about her struggles with balancing her anxiety and the rest of her life.

Excerpt: “Isn’t anxiety the price you pay for success? Isn’t that what gets you there in the first place? The voice in your head that tells you that it’s not enough? That you need to keep going? That you are not there yet so don’t you dare quit?”

Talking To People In My Life Is Absolutely Exhausting Now, When Did That Happen? by Kim Quindlen

I think there’s weird, unspoken assumption that at some point in your twenties you’re just “done” and changing/evolving is really kept to a minimum. That bad things don’t appear out of nowhere and who you are will rarely, if ever, shift. And because of that unspoken idea we’re all very afraid to admit when things aren’t going well, when things aren’t the way they’re “supposed” to be. Maybe it’s because I know and love Kim and feel like I can talk to her about this kind of stuff, but this piece is so honest and talks about one of the things I think we all try to sweep under the rug so perfectly.

Excerpt: “Is this a rite of passage once you’ve left your early twenties? To feel exhausted from talking to almost every single person on this planet? To have always thought you were an extrovert, a Super Outgoing Person Who Loves To Have Fun – and then one day you wake up and small talk actually feels physically painful?”

A Story About Food by Chrissy Stockton

Even after what feels like a forever of exposing ourselves to the masses, I know that there are certain subjects I’m without question protective of when it comes to what I feel comfortable writing about. When Chrissy writes this way she’s amazing at coming from this place of vulnerability gently. It doesn’t come with a demand for attention, it’s not greedy, it’s not attention-seeking or self-absorbed. And she doesn’t have a tone of insisting that you do the same or feel the same way as she does. But by writing it exactly like that, in that gentle way, she’s encouraging me to do just that. Which is, yet again, why I look up to her so much.

Excerpt: “Being good to people feels very sturdy. Being good to myself feels like I am a baby. I feel guilty about needing it.”

Self-Reflection

I Am Just Trying To Be A Person by Kim Quindlen

This is one of the best things anyone’s written on Thought Catalog. Especially post-election and in an era where everything feels tumultuous and out of control and unpredictable and sad. In this essay Kim beautifully said how exhausting just existing is sometimes. Because at the end of the day, we’re all just trying to be humans. And being a human is really, really hard.

Excerpt: “I feel a lot of things. I don’t know anything. I am scared. Sometimes I am filled with joy. I am worried about the world. I am just trying to be a person.”

When You Give Up Your Dream For A ‘Life’ by Shado Evans

There’s this fear I have that happiness and comfort are not able to coexist. That in order to have stability, you’re going to have to give up some semblance of dreaming. And then, an off-shoot of that fear, is that if by some chance you’re lucky enough to find a dream that coincides with a stable, comfortable life, holding onto it will feel like a tightrope act. Shado’s essay was heartfelt and reflective, and perfectly summed up everything I fear about this so, so well.

Excerpt: “But time has no conscience. Time is not your ally. If you put your trust in the illusion that it will always be there for you, you will have to go to war with reality in the future.”

Love

17 Days Of Watching You Fall Out Of Love With Me by Joms Zulueta Jimenez

When love ends oftentimes the signs aren’t dramatic. There isn’t this big show of “oh my feelings have changed, goodbye forever.” Usually, it’s quiet. It’s in missed texts and purposefully falling asleep on the couch alone. It’s in noticing that you want someone to cut their hair, when that used to be something you loved about them the most. And when you watch it happen? It’s pretty heartbreaking.

Excerpt: “Day 8. I cut my hair. I cut my hair with the hopes that it might save us. It sounded like bullshit, I know, but I ran out of reasons why you were aloof or why it seemed like you were half-hearted or why I felt uncomfortable with peace. I cut my hair. You said I looked better. That was a relief.”

Our Strip Mall Romance By Lina Abascal

This is the love story they should have told in La La Land. Sorry not sorry.

Excerpt: “I want to love you in tiny Thai restaurants in strip malls east of Hollywood and in line for taco trucks south of downtown. I want to wait until the second hour of traffic before I nervously make the move and hold your hand as we drive on the 10 at rush hour after work.”

A Love Story Told Through Venmo by Katie Mather

I don’t know if Katie meant for this to be touching, but I really thought it was. I don’t know if I’ll ever realistically be able to predict Katie’s intentions with writing or anything else, which is how she would prefer for things to be. But that’s one of the reasons I like her work so much. You see something that on one hand, you’d expect to be a little silly and light and instead you are again, reminded how falling out of love isn’t always some big tantrum and instead can be quiet, but still just as sad. I don’t know, I’m rambling. Just read it.

Excerpt: 

“He paid you April 4, 2017

Love me pls?”

Humor

20 Honest Signs Your Relationship Is Probably Over by Tommy Paley

Satire is tricky. It’s hard to do it well, it’s something a lot of writers never attempt, and it’s something I’m really glad we have writers like Tommy continuing to make popular. My favorite thing about Tommy’s writing is that when you read his pieces you usually start thinking you’re going to get one thing, and they he flips them to be something else entirely. It’s really, really entertaining and what quality humor writing should be.

Excerpt: “She covers the floor of the apartment with eggshells and then sighs loudly and rolls her eyes when you invariably walk on them.”

Forgive Me, For I Am But A Dainty Sad Girl by Katie Mather

Katie is the funniest person writing on Thought Catalog right now. Quote me.

Excerpt: “We should get coffee sometime. My favorite way to whisper secrets is over a cup of coffee. Especially while eating macaroons. Have you ever heard of Ladurée?”

Misc

I’m Pregnant (On Purpose!) But I’d Rather Talk About The Abortion I Had Three Years Ago by Mélanie Berliet

This is one of the most important things I think we’ve ever had published on our site, and I think it’s important because it shows how decisions like this 1) don’t have to be scary and 2) don’t have to be dramatic and 3) don’t have to completely alter the entire scope of your life. It’s as simple as making a choice that fits your life, and doesn’t have to drastically impact everything that comes afterwards. Of course, this is a personal choice and a personal situation and no two experiences will ever be alike, but this is one story and it’s a story that I’m so glad Mélanie decided to share.

Excerpt: “So it’s official. I am a woman who’s had an abortion—not because circumstances dictated that it was medically necessary, or because she didn’t love the man who impregnated her, or because she couldn’t afford to raise a kid, or because she’s decided to remain childless forever. I am a woman who’s had an abortion, and it doesn’t really matter why. It was my choice, and one that my boyfriend and I (we’re still very much together and happier than ever, if that even matters) proudly stand by.”

All The Men I Probably Won’t Have Sex With by Callie Byrnes

Being a woman is tiring and terrible and we need people to stand up more often the way Callie did here so that slowly but surely, more people get it. And even if they reject it and write it off as “just another woman complaining about compliments” that seed will have been planted. Maybe we’ll become harder to ignore.

Excerpt: “The Tinder guy who messaged me saying, “Thick thighs save lives.” I’m glad you have so much faith in me, but my CPR certificate has expired, so these thighs won’t be doing anything. Maybe next time.”

A Series Of First Impressions by Katie Mather

When I first read this piece I was immediately disappointed because I was not one of the first impressions. But then, I was just entirely enthralled by it. I love the way it’s presented as little vignettes, little snippets of a relationship you will probably never know the rest of. You literally only get a fraction of the story, and it’s really cool to me how captivating Katie made even that littlest piece.

Excerpt: “I am closing the bar tab and he comes up to me and says that he thinks he’s seen me at this bar before. It’s impossible because I’m visiting this city for the first time ever in my life, but I pretend otherwise.”

I’m Afraid Of Failing, I’m Afraid Of Success, And I’m Afraid Of My Good Luck by Ari Eastman

You’re not supposed to be afraid of success, you’re supposed to lean in. You’re not supposed to be afraid of failure, because you’ll be strong enough to be able to get past it. You’re not supposed to admit that sometimes you’re lucky, because that’s not taking control of your destiny. There are all of these things that we’re “supposed” to do and honestly? Sometimes I am paralyzed by the “supposed tos” in life. And Ari? Ari admitted it. I was/am really proud of Ari for writing this. I’m really proud she’s my friend.

Excerpt: “Because if you fail after getting so many chances, it’ll be sad. Right? It’ll be embarrassing. It’ll be a total waste.

Because if you succeed after getting so many chances that others didn’t, do you even deserve it? Do you understand the severity? That here you don’t believe in a higher power but clearly something keeps rewarding you?”

[canaryatlaw]

Well today was pretty good, despite the fact that I had to wake up early lol (I'm looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow if you couldn't tell). But I got up at 7, got ready and hopped on the bus on my way to work! The lady who did our training and takes the same bus as I do showed up pretty soon, so it was cool to see her. Arrived right on time, and the receptionist apparently was told I was coming but nobody else was? Lol. The lady who handles the law clerk program and such wasn't in today but she sent me an email telling me to ask for this guy at the front desk so I did, and there was some short confusion as to where I was going but it was resolved within minutes haha. Sadly I do not get to keep my old office being that the calendar I'm on now is on the completely other side of the office from where I was last semester, and that would be really inconvenient for getting files and speaking with other attorneys. My new office has a lot of random field in it, but that is the case with most of them. And this one has a trash can!! Lol, I can't even tell you how annoyed I'd get last semester that my office didn't have a trash can, I would have to collect my trash all day to throw out when I left and it irritated me so much lol. So I hung out till like 9:30 and then headed down to court with my supervisor guy. He told me that one of the attorneys on our calendar is out indefinitely with some sort of leg injury, so they're basically gonna give me all her cases as soon as my 711 goes through and like. That's kind of terrifying?? I mean it's totally awesome and exciting, but also pretty scary that I could be in front of a judge and speaking on the record next week. I mean, juvenile court is a good place to start I guess because there's never a jury and the proceedings are closed to the public so the people inside the courtroom is limited and the potential for embarrassment minimal (though I'm sure at some point or another I'll find a way to fuck it up). But it is cool! So for today we just went to court and watched things. Pretty typical day, nothing really in the morning was that good. At one point my supervisor had me read an unfounded DCP packet and tell him what I thought, which I'd done a ton of last semester so it was super easy, and when I finished and told him there was no real issue he was like "good, that's the right answer" and I was thinking oh, this was a test?? Lol, a pretty easy one though. Went to the office for lunch and chilled for a while (read: read CC fanfiction on my computer) before heading back down to court for the afternoon, which is where things really got interesting. Of course due to the nature of the cases I'll keep the information limited, but basically there were allegations of sexual abuse by the father, who has been MIA from DCFS and the cops ever since, and has thus defaulted on the case. The victim is now living with her paternal grandparents, who have apparently been subtly discouraging her from cooperating with DCFS (assumedly to protect their son) sooooo that's a bit of a conflict of interest. The kicker though is the grandpa shows up for the adjudication this afternoon with a criminal defense attorney who's been hired by the dad- the dad who is literally on the run, sent a criminal defense attorney to family court. Can I even tell you how absurd that is???? Unless they are a specialized juvenile court lawyer, a private attorney isn't gonna know shit upon stepping into the building and that was quite apparent here. The thing is because the dad hasn't show up to any of the court dates he's been defaulted from the case and is essentially no longer a party. And there's the fact that this guy didn't even file an appearance (which is like lawyering 101) to represent the dad, he just shows up with the grandpa and wants to step in. Like, no, that's not how the law works ffs. So the ASA makes a motion to exclude the lawyer (aka kick him out of the courtroom) and the judge goes on this whole thing about how he believes the statute gives him discretion on who he can let stay in the courtroom and he really tries to let anyone in a family's support network stay (and I really thought he was gonna deny the motion at that point) but then goes "but I don't find you to fit into any of those categories, so I'm granting the motion" and oh, this guy is PISSED. He like, storms out of the courtroom and is yelling like "what is even going on in there??" and it was just so funny because he was so clearly out of league and was made to look like an idiot because of it. So that was my small dose of humor for the day. There are very few private attorneys that aren't bar attorneys (private attys hired by the court specifically to work for a fixed fee, like one step up from a PD basically) that can walk into court and not make themselves look like complete idiots. It's just that it's so rare for someone to get brought into juvenile court that doesn't actually qualify for a PD (make of that what you will of how child abuse and neglect is reported in this country) that there has never really been a need for private attorneys to have any idea how any of that works. So, moral of the story, if you ever higher an attorney for something, make sure they actually know what they are doing in that exact context and aren't just flying by the seat of their pants (because I'd be willing to bet a good amount of them are). Anyway, court went down for the afternoon and we went upstairs, I located some files quickly and then retreated to my office to read some of the juvenile court act before we reached 5 o clock, at which point of course I headed out. So this was the first time I was going straight from one courthouse to another, which is gonna be the norm this semester because I'm working Tuesdays and Thursdays and Tuesdays I'll have trial ad and Thursdays I'll have mock trial practice (for now at least) that are both located at the other courthouse. So I took the bus to the train, shoving a sandwich down my throat while on the train to make sure I didn't starve to death, and trying to ignore the guy who looks like Jimmy Olsen (ala supergirl) who is talking to the girl next to him but keeps looking at me (although idk how much I actually ignored him). Reached the courthouse my 5:30, which gave me enough time to hang out for a few before class started. So for class this week we had to write up a bunch of directs and crosses for different fact patterns, and we'd get picked to do certain ones, and sure enough, I get picked to do cross on the first one. The girl doing direct is a 3L, and she gets interrupted a lot by the judge who's pointing things out left and right and encouraging me to object to things (which I wasn't trying to do on my own really because I didn't want to be an asshole). But then it was my turn and I didn't get interrupted at all, save the other girl trying to make an objection but the judge overruling it, and then she called my cross "excellent" and only had minor feedback, so that was cool. It was basically the same case when I did the direct later on another problem, same comment which she only directed towards me (everyone else just got "very good") so that fed my ego nicely lol. I'm sure I have an advantage here because of mock trial and this isn't my first time doing stuff like this, in fact I've done it a number of times, but it's still nice to hear you did good. So that was a good class period, definitely much more engaging and infinitely preferable to sitting in a lecture hall. After class I headed home, getting here by like 9:40 but being that I can sleep in tomorrow I wasn't too worried about getting right to bed so I stayed up a bit and watched some more of a series of unfortunate events, which I continue to have mixed feelings on. I was like halfway through the second episode where I picked up, and then all of a sudden things to a bit more than vaguely pedophilic turn which I found a fair amount disturbing??? Like, um, this just got pretty creepy pretty quickly. But I kept watching, and I actually liked the third episode much better as it was free of pedophilic behavior and physical child abuse. I'm quite fond of Sunny I must say, probably because of my general fondness for babies and my big sister feels (seeing Violet carry her around everywhere makes my heart swell for when my sister was that little) but I do quite appreciate the little girl. The other two child actors are quite good as well. So I watched through episodes 3 and 4, and I think I'll continue for now at least. They're on good footing for now as far as I'm concerned, but we'll see what's to come. And yeah, that was my day and it's almost 2 am and my eyes would like to be closed now so I think that is what I will do. Goodnight babes. Sweet dreams.

[daehwvns]

hey guys, i’m june! i’m 21, from the pst and my pronouns are she/her! my son here, daehwan, is a mix of beauty and chaos because...well, he’s beautiful but has a lot of issues deep down lol. but either way, i’m super excited to be in this rp and looking forward to plotting/rping with y’all so if you’d be down to have something going on with daehwan, just send me an IM or like this post and i’ll message you instead! under the cut is his story so far :)

( min yoongi, cismale, he/him, twenty-seven ) — daehwan shin, better known to the media as ares has been working for the yōkai for around 6 years. rumor has it, he can be insightful & plucky but also blunt & virulent which is why he makes the perfect crowd control.

**  daehwan’s mask looks like this -- basically inspired by the devil, with the horns and everything. he wants it simple but not too boring either so he settled for black plus the details it has.

backstory

tw: death

daehwan was born in morioka, japan to a wealthy family. his dad is a businessman and owns a large share of a pharmaceutical company based in seoul while his mother was a doctor.

daehwan’s upbringing was…sad, in a way, because his parents were barely there when he was growing up. daehwan’s father was always away, doing business out of morioka or the country but whenever he’s back home, he would always pressure ( not encourage ) him to do better in his studies. his dad was strict and daehwan hated his ‘nurturing’ ways because to him, it didn’t help him be better in any way.

but his mother, on the other hand, was the opposite of his father. she was very nurturing and supported daehwan in the best way she could; often encouraging him to continue his passion for the arts ( painting and drawing ) but she lacked the time to be with him due to her work and usually being assigned as the head of medical teams sent to work abroad.

basically, daehwan was often left in the hands of his nanny hired by his parents and this made it difficult for him to really bond with his parents, especially his dad. so he grew up and matured in ways that wasn’t necessarily always fit to make the best decisions.

despite his upbringing, daehwan was a good student at school. he’s pretty smart but sometimes, too smart that some of his teachers find him a nuisance lmao. nevertheless, he survived high school and went to uni to pursue a degree in fine arts.

however, at 19, daehwan’s mother died on a plane crash on the way back to japan and this hit him pretty hard ( his mom was the only one who supported him so even when she lacked the time to be with him, her death still affected him heavily ).

daehwan ended up quitting uni and because he found no purpose in living in the empty house that his parents had ( his father was still m.i.a even after his mother’s death ), he left morioka and moved to tokyo.

at 20, daehwan starts out his life in tokyo and worked as a tattoo artist. he started out in small tattoo parlors before ending up in a well-reputed one where his clients consisted of people who had some form of affiliation with gangs to actual yakuza members and while he should’ve find such clients frightening, daehwan found himself intrigued by them.

in the same fashion was how he ended up meeting ( and eventually befriending ) a person who had ties with yokai ( potential plot ). he hung out a lot with this person and in one of their night outs, some drunk guy started shit with him and his friend and...well, things didn’t end up pretty, especially on the other guy’s end lol. needless to say, daehwan beat the shit out of the guy and before the police could arrive to the scene, his friend dragged daehwan away from the place -- saved his ass the jail time it could’ve served sksks

that scenario, however, sparked an idea in his friend’s mind and ultimately resulted to daehwan being recruited into the group as a crowd control.

soon he found himself tangled up in the illegal yet fascinating world of yokai, and daehwan, to say the least, loved it. he was drawn to it and the people surrounding this newly discovered world that his transition came by rather smoothly.

now daehwan works for the group for six years and has no plans of ever getting out of the world he now lives in. he knows he can’t get back to how things were for him --- not that he had anything nor anyone to get back to anyway.

personality

daehwan is a relatively affable guy. he befriending people is usually not a problem to him unless he didn’t like them right off the bat ( or vice versa ) and if that’s the case, there’s no way he’ll show his good side to that person lol all they’d get for him are caustic comments and him laying out reasons why he doesn’t like them lmao

he’s insightful and could sense someone’s bullshit pretty easily. daehwan is also very self-reliant and would usually want to handle things on his own ( unless the ordeal is too much for him, then he’ll ask for someone’s help though with loads of hesitation on his end ). 

as such, daehwan is headstrong af and if he knows he’s right, he won’t stop until you know for sure that he’s right and isn’t scared to speak his mind ( and a lot of times, that could be a problem ). 

he likes making money ( probably why he found the whole underground scene fascinating because of how relatively easy it is to earn money if you know what to do; in his case, he does ) and a bit self-indulgent ( likes to party, drink and fuck lol ) and this lands him in trouble from time to time.

violence tw: this boi is also hella plucky and it can either be a good or bad thing, depending on the situation. additionally, him being virulent meant he’s not afraid of starting or finishing a fight even with someone who’s way bigger than him. doesn’t really give a fucc if he goes home with his face ruined so long as he knows the other a-hole learns their lesson and/or got a good beating from him lmao

daehwan also likes...flirting. he’s subtle most of the time but get him drunk and he can get vocal. would most probably hit on anyone as long as he found them attractive lmao

can get really soft with the people he loves/cares about though and can get overprotective as well. he’s a soft boi but also not a soft boi at the same time lol

all in all though, daehwan is a pretty good person who has the tendency to act first before thinking of the consequences later. save this boi from himselfksksks

quick facts

he’s skilled at painting and drawing and is an excellent tattoo artist.

he’s still working as a tattoo artist and has very recently opened his own small tattoo parlor in tokyo. basically, tattooing is like...a side job for him at this point (because he definitely earns more with yokai) but he loves the art -- loves making art with ink so don’t think he’ll drop this hobby/job anytime soon. 

can tattoo people using a machine or manually, by using the traditional japanese technique called “tebori” -- which is basically tattooing by hand. 

daehwan is bisexual. if he finds someone attractive or the connection is there, he’ll pursue them. that being said, he have had relationships and flings with both males and females in the past.

he has 8 tattoos and counting. one of them fills his right forearm, one on his right hand, while four are on his left arm, another one on his left shoulder blade and one on the back of his left ear. that being said, he makes sure to always wear clothing that covers his tattoos entirely when carrying out their ‘jobs’ so as to not be recognized by anyone by them.

speaks 3 languages: korean, japanese and english.

he’s korean japanese. basically, him and his parents are/were ethnically korean born in japan.

he stands 5′10 and has a pretty muscular build but not that muscular, if that makes sense? he’s not the big buff guy people might expect a ‘crowd control’ person to be and the result is often him being underestimated by anyone who tries to start shit with him. only when they get the beating from him that they’d realize how wrong they were for doing such because boi has such good brawling skills matched with an ‘idgaf’ attitude and idk about u but that’s pretty scary and dangerous ksksk

has a 1 year old husky doggo named ‘chan’. daehwan goes full softie with this good boi like...that’s his son ;~; slander or hurt his dog and daehwan would come biting your ankles sakjdlajsd

will probably add more later when i think of something!