#V: Someday is today [Post-Show]

[crowsandmurder]

Continued // @writtenxbeginnings

Haley sucked in a breath as she felt Nathan's hands on her shoulders, her eyes closing when their foreheads touched. It was a comforting gesture in so many ways, grounding her when she felt like she couldn't breath. It was stupid to have been that worried. Lydia had gotten hurt, scrapped up her arm and had to have a little brace on it. The mom had thought they were still a few years away from that happening, but no. "The doctor did say she's okay? It's not broken?" The words were quiet, slowly blinking her eyes open once more as she looked up at him.

Haley was definitely one of those moms who worried about their children a lot, but he was that way too, about them. Jamie had gotten kidnapped so many times as a kid, and he was so protective of Lydia. "Nah, she's okay. She's tough. She's not just a Scott girl but a James girl too. It will take more than that to break her." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "It's not as bad as when Jamie jumped off the house into the pool. Remember how you almost killed him and me?"

[crowsandmurderbackup]

Tags and Verses

NATHAN ROYAL SCOTT

Nathan  ✖ (Aesthetics)

Nathan  ✖ (Thoughts)

Nathan ✖ (Character Development)

Nathan  ✖ (Crack)

Nathan ✖ (Headcanons)

Nathan  ✖ (Photos)

Nathan  ✖ (Verses)

BIOGRAPHY:

Nathan Scott was raised to never want anything, as the son of Dan and Deb Scott. But, life wasn't always perfect. He knew his father had a bastard so, and he hated the kid, because he existed. He knew they were only several months apart, and he just hated him. It wasn't like they traveled in the same circles though. Nathan was popular, head of the basketball team, propular girlfriend. But, that didn't mean he didn't make him miserable when he could.

It wasn't all easy though. His fa her was obsessed with his basketball career, since the time he could dribble a basketball. He wasn't stupid. He knew it was more about his dad, than it was about him. His family was pretty much crazy.

His life got even crazier when his 'brother' joined the basketball team and he made his life hell for it, only easing off, when he promised Haley James he'd ease off, if she tutored him. He'd made a bet he could get with her. But, he hadn't expected her to make such an impression on him. Everything kind of changed, after that.

His parents decided to divorce, and sick of them trying to put him in the middle, he emancipated himself. He and Lucas get along on off weeks, and he and Haley, well that was another story. It was normal to get married in high school, right? Everyone said he changed, and maybe they were right...until she left and went on the road. He reverted to before and even when she returned, he was hard on her, and Lucas both.

Eventually, he worked it out with them all, but things are never easy with his life, and he didn't always make the best choices. But one thing was good, for sure and that was holding his baby son for the first time, on his graduation day.

In college, he went all-American and nearly lost it all a few years later, when he went through a glass window, and hurt his back. But over time, he got it back, and with the support of his family, finally made the NBA. But sometimes, dreams changes and ability to hold his family becomes more important.

[PLOTTED AU THINGS ARE AVAILABLE. THIS IS JUST HIS GENERAL BIO]



VERSES: 

I have never had a dad who wished I was a stain on a bed sheet

Nathan Scott, younger son of Dan Scott, or if you ask Dan or Nathan, only son of Dan Scott, is pretty much the star of the Tree Hill Ravens basketball team. He's popular, has an attitude, and has been known to bully people. The thing he hates most: the existence of his father's bastard son, Lucas. What Nathan didn't anticipate was his effort to get under Lucas skin after he joined the team, to change his whole life.

I already know my future

The last thing that Nathan would have imagined a year ago, is that he would be married, and that he and Lucas would be friends, and even brothers? But, he's trying to navigate it the best he can, and deal with basketball. But, the pressure from his dad hasn't gone away, despite being emancipated. Being married this young isn't as easy as it looks, and there's this asshole singer who is giving him a bad feeling, who seems to be 'helping' Haley.

Like a man possessed

Married or not, he still didn't always handle things the best, and well, neither did Haley. First, she went on tour, and he went completely off the deep end. But, it just got worse. He was self-destructing and fast. She reappeared the night before he left for High Flyers for the summer, and he didn't know how to handle it, so he didn't.

The roots are still there. It just takes time.

Senior year is starting. He is Captain of the Tree Hill Ravens. His game is looking better than ever. Everything should be going great, except it wasn't. He still was married, and...he didn't know if he wanted a divorce...wanted to be married...wanted to punch Lucas, or drive another race car into another wall. He'd tried reverting to the old Nathan Scott before, and it hadn't really worked. Now, he was trying to co-exist in the same town as Haley, who kept saying she wasn't going anywhere. But, he didn't know if he could trust her. He and Lucas were still at odds, despite the fact that deep down, he knew it wasn't Lucas' fault that she'd left. He was slowly letting her back in, but it would take time, among other things. This year would be one he would never forget though, one of loss, pain, and new life.

All-American

Getting into college wasn't easy for Nathan. The mess with point shaving, to try to pay back Dante, had made him unappealing to Duke, and so many other schools. If it wasn't for Whitey, he wouldn't be playing ball anywhere. He wound up playing for Whitey, with Lucas as Assistant Coach at Gilmore University, while he and Haley worked to balance school, life and raising their baby, James Lucas Scott. Eventually, Nathan transfers to University of Maryland, College Park, where he was a First-Team All American.

I am not good at being vulnerable.

During the next several years, Nathan continues to work towards the NBA, even getting a shoe deal. It is looking like he is going to be drafted to the Seattle Sonics, but it all changed when he got into a fight, that led to him getting thrown through a window, and losing feeling in his legs. He felt like everything had been taken from him, and he started drinking all the time, depressed. Over time and realizing he needs to be there for Haley and Jamie, he is able to stand up and try to work his way back, even working with a troubled teen on Lucas' basketball team. But, things never stay easy in his life and his comeback was difficult, as was his life at home, due to problems with the nanny, his father and many other things. He tries to face things as a family, but sometimes, things are hard.

I got called up.

After trying slamball and nearly injuring himself again, Nathan makes the D-Team Charleston Chiefs. He faces yet more adversity, as the player with the current #23 tells him that he's not just going to let him walk on the team. He butts heads with a couple of the players, but eventually, he finally gets his call up to the Charlotte Bobcats, finally making it to the NBA.

You have saved me so many times.

Life as an NBA player is not a bad life to have. Nathan Scott worked hard to get there, and it's nice playing in Charlotte, since he gets to be close to family, unless he's on the road. His agent has become like family and he really likes being a Bobcat, and likes watching Jamie grow. As he gets closer to a contract year, he's not hearing what he wants to hear and he's starting to get worried about it. It doesn't help that some woman is claiming to be pregnant with his child. His father manages to get her to admit she's lying, but even in the midst of everything, Haley's mom dies, and at the last moment, Clay gets him a contract to stay in Charlotte and overjoyed at Haley being pregnant, he doesn't initially tell her that the doctors think he doesn't have that much time left, with his back.

I will be leaving the game of basketball.

After Clay is shot, Nathan leaves camp and he tells Haley about his back. He wants to try to be an organ donor, even if he is not a match. He makes the hard decision to put basketball behind him. Once Clay recovers, he helps him with the new agency, and tries his hand at being a sports agent, and turns out to be a pretty good one. Life seems to be okay, even without basketball, well unless you count, getting kidnapped and nearly murdered. He was able to make peace with his dad, who died saving his life. But, he thinks it all might be okay. He's got a great family, and he doesn't hate this sports agent thing, but maybe, he'll take a vacation for a bit.

Someday is today.

Life continues in the Scott home, as Jamie and Lydia grow up. Nathan continues to work with Clay, and Nathan proves to be a good, loving father, and hasn't nearly gotten murdered recruiting athletes again. When his son passes his scoring record, he's proud of him.

FACECLAIMS: 

James Lafferty

[seeminglyranch87]

Taylor & Travis Timeline

October 2024 - Part 3

October 17 - Travis at training

October 18 - Taylor releases a video pre-show with her cat Olivia (x)

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift)

The Eras Tour, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL N1. Rain show & the beginning of the final leg of the Era's Tour. Just 18 shows remain.

Donna, Jason, Kylie, Wyatt & Elliotte Kelce attend the Eras tour.

Juno by Sabrina Carpenter is added to the pre-show playlist - getting spicy Tay ;)

Taylor debuted new Fearless, Reputation, acoustic section & Midnights T-shirt dress costumes. as Taylor said:

''I got a new dress and everything.''

Florence & the Machine joined Taylor to perform Florida during the TTPD set.

Tim McGraw x Timeless (x guitar) & This Is Me Trying x Daylight (x piano)

I just wanted you to know that this is me trying and trying and trying… I wanted you to know this is me trying, I just wanted you to know this is me trying. You gotta step into the daylight and let it go, let it go, let it go. And I just wanted you to know that this is me trying to let it go.. LET IT GO (x)

October 19 - Travis arrives in California ahead of game.

The Eras Tour, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL. Night 2

Taylor wore a new dress for Speak Now, Acoustic section & Midnights

Florence & the Machine guest appeared to perform Florida!!! with Taylor.

Should've Said No x I Did Something Bad* (x guitar) & LOML x White Horse (piano)

*The version where Taylor screams viciously "light me up!"

Your'e the loss of my life... but I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale I'm gonna find someone someday who actually might treat me well

October 20 - Chiefs v SF 49ers, Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, CA

Chiefs defeat 49ers 28 - 18. The Chiefs remain undefeated 6-0

The Eras Tour, Hard Rock Stadium, Miami, FL Night 3. Rain show.

Chiefs game on screens in the Hard Rock Stadium prior to The Eras Tour starting.

Notable events at the final Miami show:

Taylor notes this is the final rain show for the Era's Tour as all other shows are indoors.

during the Betty speech, Taylor shares that these songs were written from a narrators perspective but “it reflected my own personal experience through these characters”

Florence and the Machine performs Florida!!! with Taylor for the 4th time during the TTPD era.

Taylor wears a new dress for the acoustic section.

Taylor sings "Karma is the guy on the Chiefs coming straight home to me" in celebration of the Chiefs 6th consecutive win today.

Out Of The Woods x All You Had To Do Was Stay (guitar) & Mirrorball x Guilty As Ain (piano)

October 23 - Are You Smarter Than a Celebrity? airs new episode with a reference to Taylor (x)

Natasha Leggero “We love Lady Gaga, but we don’t love her as much as any other blonde singers. There are some other blonde singers that we like more than Lady Gaga. Nikki Glaser "Not even close" Travis Kelce “I will have to agree with you on that. I do concur.”

New Heights Ep. 106 posted (x). The Kelce brothers discuss Jason's attendance at The Era's Tour in Miami

Addressing the photo (x)(x 12:50) that bestie Beau Allen posted to X, Jason fights back that he was not asleep but vibing and Travis wishes he was there (he had a game so could not attend).

Travis "we got to talk about it, you took a nap at The Eras Tour?" Jason "I did not take a nap" Travis "what is that all about" Jason "Travis you know I didn't take a nap I did not take a nap" Travis "how are you? This show is absolutely electric it's the greatest show that's ever been on stage and you're over here falling asleep!" Jason "Not only was it the greatest show but um obviously I went to the two London shows this Miami show was incredible and I think part of it's like I don't know if it's back the fact that we're back in the US because I think the London uh crowd was incredible but the rain and, dude it was like on another level I texted you halfway through it" Travis "You did" Jason "Like dude this rain, Tay is killing it, dude when reputation came on and she came out in the new outfit" Travis "was it gold?" Jason "and the rain was coming down and the the place could have [f**] erupted I mean it did like it was the amount of energy was insane, it was so exciting"

Travis "Well I had all the fomo in the world…. I wish i was there." (x) Travis “Shout out to Tay Tay for powering through a few rain shows”

A little lyric battle between Beau Allen and Jason Kelce on X ...

October 24 - Stevie Nicks interview with Rolling Stone

Taylor Nation post in celebration of 18 years of Taylor's music (x)....

LISTEN!!!!! Don't we know it @taylornation

Taylor sings "Everything has changed.... in the blink of a crinkling eye... I'll be eighty-seven you'll be eighty-nine, I'll still look at you like the stars that shine in the sky oh my my my" "dude this girl's in love! She is in LOVE!"

** sound up

Go to previous update -> October 2024 part 2

Go to next update -> TBC

[candycryptids]

Hiya! I hope you're doing well today! I love your characters and how you've structered their bios! Since Chuusday is listed first, is she technically your official WOL or is it someone else? Do you canonically have a WOL in the first place?

Also, I find it SO sweet that you and one of your partners both play FFXIV and have characters paired together ;w; Did you meet ingame or long before either of you started playing? Either way I wish you both the best!!! <3 - gardenofballads 🌻

Awaaaah! Im doing pretty ok!!! Taking time to answer this as a wind down from Emerald Weapon Ex Brain Soupage. And I’m so glad! ;W; I think I butchered one of those “Get To Know An OC” thingies- uhh… oh [this one] actually! I chopped a lot out and I think added a couple different thingums instead because there was so much to that that it felt overwhelming to try to look at let alone fill out LOL but it was a really good jumping off point uvu;

And!!! Hilariously Chuu was my First XIV Character, so she’s dear to my heart for being the first one- but she very quickly made it known being the WOL even as an AU was something of a Joke (Her character showed great reluctance and even frustration at having to do So Much World Saving, maybe a side-effect of me rushing through MSQ to catch up with my other spouse [Who plays Talia, though they’ve got less time for XIV these days ;0;] and the rest of my friends who were all EndGame already at the time in Shadowbringers fhdjfjsjfs.) So I made…… many alts. Throwing spaghetti at the wall but I have SEVERE side-character/NPC brain and kept making “supporting cast” types =w=; it actually took me like. 3? Alts before making an ACTUAL WoL with my husband (Ishi’li and Kizuna) (as of Right Meow, they’re in post ARR, but we’ve been working on Keathan and Tuesday together because Keathan was… Keathan’s first character in xiv XD so we’ve been jaunting through the story together and experiencing every inch of it so we can pick and choose what The Boys™ get up to when we wanna focus on them x3)

🥰 I knew both speece during at least high school- but I actually knew Keathan as early as Elementary school hehe 😌 tho the speece didn’t proper marry until… i’unno, 2017? (For frustrating legal reasons, I’m not legally married, but. As it goes. Someday we’ll have money to visit the one state that has legal poly marriages. Also I struggle to remember our wedding year 🫢)

Since managing to make a Co-WoL with my husband I’ve managed to make one other Alt meant to be a Solo-WoL (Mochiie) but I have to really wrinkle my brain to sink time into playing him, since I’m trying to take screenshots throughout the story at what I find to be inspiring beats xD And even still he has an alt-universe where he’s just a side-character for the ‘Main Timeline’ (where there’s a bunch of spaghetti and like 8+ confirmed WoL’s and the Msq entourage looks HILARIOUS in canon, someday I’ll get all the data together and take pictures, but I think it’ll cook what’s left of my brain x’3) [it’s less concrete than anything I’ve posted about before or I’d try to explain it ;v;’ it’s just interesting mostly to see how the story gets stretched to fit around a larger community of heroes than a solo guy shouldering the whole burden lmfao.]

🌸🌸🌸…. I also hope you’re having a lovely week @gardenofballads !!!! I am tossing flower petals into the air around you !!! Thank you for the ask and well wishes n kind words 🥺💖 🌸🌸🌸

[letstalkwhump]

Let's Talk Whump

Welcome to Let’s Talk Whump, a series of interviews that spotlight the amazing people in our whump community! This is Izzy and Malice and we’ll be your hosts today. 

Here with us today is the one and only @whumpsday!

Let’s start with a fact or two about yourself!

My name is Mill and I’m 26! Aside from the whump hobbies of writing and roleplaying, I also play TTRPGs. (My favorites are everything in the Awaken Realms catalogue: Etherfields and Tainted Grail, and I’ll start ISS Vanguard after I finish the Etherfields expansions. Gonna start Vampire the Masquerade soon too.) I haven’t played any roleplay-based TTRPGs like D&D yet, but I’d love to someday. My favorite color is red and my favorite animal is the cat.

That’s sweet as! What does whump mean to you? 

Creative content involving characters’ pain would probably be the broadest definition that still includes everything. I consider it a subgenre of horror, with the added bonus of often showing the gritty recovery from the trauma.

And how did you find the whump community? What made you want to join? 

I originally found whump fiction on AO3 while browsing G/t content (Giant/tiny, content for characters with size differences, such as one being 4 inches tall. It’s the other niche art/writing community I’m in.) That led me to tumblr, and here I am! I’d always enjoyed whump-type content as far as I can remember. I lurked for a couple of years before finally making an account and joining because I was eager to share the stories of my daydream characters.

Do you think the way you view whump has changed since joining the community here? 

It hasn’t changed much! Always been an OC writer and still am. But I’ve only been here for a year and a half.

Now the important questions: what is your favourite whump trope?

My favorite whump trope is probably an immortal whumpee. With a human, you’re bound by the constraints of a human body. People die if you torture them too much. But if your whumpee is immortal, that goes away and the possibilities are limitless. Bonus if they’re a generally-despised species like a vampire or demon.

Immortal whumpee are so good! Endless possibilities equals endless whump! Would you like to share some of your writing with us?

My main series, Kane & Jim, is undoubtedly my favorite. I never thought I could be a writer, and I’m proud of myself for writing 50 chapters of that and counting. Within that, my favorite piece is either Hunger (#15) or Papercut (#17). Link: https://whumpsday.tumblr.com/post/709301997070909440/kane-jim-masterlist-writing-order-click 

Love the authors notes on Papercut #17! What's your writing style like?

I generally write in the late night (anytime from 11pm to 4am) in big blocks. I do not eat or listen to music, and have a water bottle nearby. I used to write very regularly but have since fallen off, and have just recently gotten back on track.

Is there an easy thing for you to write, something the words usually flow for? Is there something you struggle with writing? 

I always find it easier to write single-scene chapters with no cuts. I find it more difficult to write things spanning long lengths of time with time skips abound.

And are you working on anything at the moment? 

I am currently working on my pieces for the Whumpmas in July event (@whumpmasinjuly), which will be half Kane & Jim works and half one-shot short stories.

I’m so excited for Whumpmas in July, it’s such a cool event! Do you have a joke or pun you would like to share to spread some smiles today?

I’m not too good at jokes, so instead have my favorite cat video of all time for a smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rELs4jl64k 

Aww kittens! That’s definitely a smile from me! Is there any writing advice you’d like to share?

You don’t have to write everything in order. If something in a piece is giving you trouble, slap a “COME BACK HERE” label on it and move on to something the inspiration is flowing for.

Finally is there anyone you’d like to mention?

Sorry this is a lot… I have too much love in my heart <3

@anomalys-taxonomy, @blackberry-bloody, @dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night, @emmettnet, @lost-in-labradorite-halls, @lumpofwhump, @not-a-space-alien, @obsessedwithegos, @oddsconvert, @pardonmekreature, @quietly-by-myself, @t0rture-me, @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump, @whump-queen, @whumperstorm, @whumpshaped, @whumpwillow, @wolfeyedwitch, @whumpy-writings, @whumpzone

Any last words?

i forced myself to use proper capitalization for this interview but i’m a lowercase guy at heart

Thank you so much for joining us today! It was great to have you on the show!

And to all you folks at home, have a whump-derful day!

[pinkprimrose05]

ARC-V Month Day 16: Actually, He Would Say That

Look, we all like our cast with their pros and their cons, but sometimes there's just something... missing, when you look at canon portrayal. Some more depth. Some trivial details and silly nitpicks, to add to their flair... which are exactly what today is all about. Show us your headcanons and most random thoughts!

Ah yes, headcanons: my favorite way to patch up the swiss cheese holes in any story ever, and the personal cherry on top I place whwn there are no holes to patch. For someone who claims to have a lot of them, I've shared a rather small amount of my headcanons so far... but that changes today!

___________

1- In a world where the counterparts stay separate, when all is said and done, the Lancers decide to keep in contact at Sawatari's suggestion -shocker, I know- and so they make a groupchat to talk about mundane life and things that strike their fancy. Said groupchat is... actually decently normal considering its members, but you still see flashes of the weirdest shit sometimes- like Dennis' massive collection of kaomojis, Reiji's 10-page long essays on why black coffee is overrated, Shun's inability to stand back and watch this nerdy fuck slander the superior coffee blend, Serena's copious cat stickers and reaction pics, Tsukikage's concerning stash of blackmail screenshots (99% of which is enabled by Sawatari, much to banana's mortfication), and Yuuya's oddly random, unprompted threats of homicide that he never fails to end with an innocent :D

2- Shuuzou has adopted all kids in the messy Akaba/Kurosaki/Hiiragi family tree, some metaphorically, most literally. He even got Himika to sign off custody of Reira, but left Reiji to his own devices because he just- doesn't know how to go about it with the guy. He's still invited to family & friend gatherings, however, and ends up getting called "son" no less than seven times in front of the whole family and the Sakakis. Legend has it that Reiji is still looking for ways to disappear into the ground to this day. Don't get him wrong, he appreciates the sentiment, but everytime he hears the word he straight up bluescreens.

3- As little screentime as they get to actually appear and talk, the monster spirits are very much still willing to communicate with humans- with a few exceptions, of course. Some of the older spirits like the Magistus quartet and Agents have strong reservations toward making themselves known after the dimension split fiasco(s), but then there's little ones like the Wights and the Ghostricks, who just spontaneously spawn into the human world on Halloween (to the dismay of Maiami City's police department, which had to contend with 57 reports of vandalism and stolen candy and various small acts of mischief the first time it happened).

4- The reason behind the Performapals' synergy and eventual archetypal overlap with Odd-Eyes actually goes a few ways back to one of their shows as a wandering troupe. While preparing for departure, Hip Hippo stumbled upon a lone dragon roaming in the wild on their own, and told his companions about it. One hour in and lots of excitable discussion later, their troupe gained a special new member who would soon become their main attraction, and together they resolved to improve their talents, to put on the best show under their master's conduct.

___________

Admittedly... this is quite a bit shorter than I wanted it to be. There are still many headcanons I've yet to put into words, buuuut I'm afraid this submission is a tad late already, so I'll have to ever-so-subtly shove some of those into written works and post the rest on their own later (someday. sometime. eventually. for sure.)

Thanks for sticking around, anyway- here's a cookie for your trouble! 'Till next time ;D

[multikore]

[malicious laughing as I return to my posts]

I FINISHED EXTRAVAGANZA ERROR AND NIGHTMARE FINALLY >:D

well they’ve been done for a while but I’m finally remembering to post I uh- *cough cough* we don’t talk about that *cough*

(Note: uhhh they were supposed to be walking on those catwalks above stages but I left a layer out in the back that was supposed to be the supports for the lights behind them but then I forgot to turn the layer back on and I’m not bothered to go back and fix that TODAY at least- I might someday ;v;)

(….frick I forgot Error’s glitches too AAAAAAAA)

Sooooo here’s Error and Nightmare! haha- ignore the mistakes please I beg

Little tid bits under the cut!

I like to think that Nightmare’s ‘canon’ clothes are his just incredible lazy casual ones- because tbh no offense to the design it’s nice but- c’mon KING of negativity? Wearing s l i p p e r s ? TO A FIGHT???

Nightmare gotta be as regal as he acts, he deserves fancy clothes! Clothes of which I am still having to design soon -w-

Now- IF they were to hold like sort of shows, I wanna give them all identification cards on lanyards, hence the said lanyards in the photo :D

Oh and I’m gonna throw this out there as a CONCEPT, AN IDEA, A W.I.P.- butttt instead of the Star Sanses and Bad Sanses being like enemies and fighting, I feel like they’d be (hopefully) friendly competition in this one! :D

So like who gets the most viewers or fans for their festivals or shows and who gets more like- idk gifts? Roses thrown to the parade or show?

Basically who’s more popular I guess

Also I’m having Plum as one of the most famous among them and NO ONE CAN STOP ME >:D

[miniimapp]

A-Z Fluff (Tae Young Edition)

Gen ;; Fluff - Alphabet Headcanons

Warnings ;; nope

Proofread + Edited ;; lmao

Auth. Note ;; WELCOME TO DAY 23 OF THE 4*TOWN CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN !! Our third post of the night !!

This is one of many posts tonight, so please go check out the advent calendar pinned to my page for each day's post :DD

Enjoy !! <3

✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈«

A = Activities (What kind of things do you do?)

Tae likes to watch documentaries with you,, not just ones on animals (though David Attenborough is Tae's hero) but on anything

B = Baby (Do they want a family? Why/Why not?)

He doesn't want many kids, 2 maximum, but he'd love to foster kids and maybe adopt one someday

C = Cuddle (How do they cuddle?)

Little spoon <3

D = Dates (What are dates with them like?)

Animal sanctuaries and rehabilitation centres can be one if the locations he'll take you but a classic Tae Young date is a picnic in the park

E = Everything (You are my ____ (e.g. my life, my world)

You are his peace

F = Feelings (When did they know they were in love?)

When he saw how gentle and patient you are with his doves, it was his first time letting anyone, let alone you, near his doves so seeing you handle then with such care really affected his heart lmao

G = Gentle (Are they gentle? If so, how?)

The most gentle probably,, he spends a lot of his time tending to injured animals, especially Doves, so he has a gentle touch by default at this point

H = Hands (How do they like to hold hands?)

He likes to hold your hand and fiddle with it,, whether that be swinging both of your hands between you as you walk or simply playing with you fingers

I = Injury (How would they react if you got hurt?)

P calm,, again he handles injured animals everyday, he'll take care of you np

J = Jealousy (Do they get jealous?)

Nah,, he might get a bit huffy, like T, about lack of attention but Tae trusts you too much to be jealous

K = Kiss (How do they kiss? Who initiated the first kiss?)

V softly,, it's incredibly sweet.

You initiated the first kiss, you wanted to so you asked, he said yes and you kissed him lma

L = Love (Who says I love you first?)

Him,, one day while looking after his Foster doves together

M = Memory (What's their favourite memory together?)

Watching the first blue planet documentary with you,, you just let him ramble on about and actually listened, it was v nice :))

N = Nickel (Do they spoil? Do they buy the person they love everything?)

Tae brings you flowers all the time but they're not exactly bought flowers,, if you ask for something he'll buy it for you but otherwise he doesn't think of buying gifts all that often

O = Orange (What colour reminds them of their other half?)

White like his doves,, pure, innocent and loving

P = Pet names (What pet names do they use?)

Tae doesn't really use pet names, no reason really either

Q= Questions (What are the questions they’re always asking?)

"Did you know *insert random animal fact*?"

"How are you today?"

R = Rainy Day (What do they like to do on a rainy day?)

DOCUMENTARY MARATHON !! DAVID ATTENBOROUGH,, HERE HE COMES !!

S = Sad (How do they cheer themselves/others up?)

For someone else,, Tae probably show them funny animal videos on youtube and ramble fun facts about whatever animal is on screen until the other person felt better

For himself,, he'd watch funny animal videos with you and tell you fun facts about each one as it pops up on screen

T = Talking (What do they like to talk about?)

Animals, environmental efforts, band stuff, gossip

U = Unencumbered (What helps them relax?)

DAVID ATTENBOROUGH DOCUMENTARIES,, HERE TAE COMES !!

W = Wedding (When, how, where do they propose?)

After a year or more of dating,, Tae would take you on a picnic and propose at the end with the ring being tied around the foot of a Dove that he sends to you with a message asking you to marry him,, then que the speech lmao

X = Xylophone (What's their song?)

Roar - Katy Perry

Y = Yearning (How well do they cope when they’re separated from their S/O?)

He's okay,, Tae's a little bit clingy so he misses you a fair bit.. expect plenty of video and voice calls while you're apart.

Z = Zebra (If they wanted a pet, what would they get?)

A budgie because why not lmao

[midnakoopa]

Quasi-personal ramble about video games oh boy. Just wanted to talk about games I've been playing, and games I've been not playing. :v

So I started playing Genshin at the beginning-ish of January, and whoops it kinda became a hyperfixation and practically all I played for like 3 months. Last I checked, I already had over 450 hours in it :v I still haven't even booted up Fire Emblem Engage and now I'm playing other games too 🙃

As for what "other games". Like I posted a while back, I played Evoland 1 and 2. Great games, gameplay-wise. The story of 1 is just kind of a parody, which is fine. 2's story, especially its ending, doesn't really do it for me, and I'll leave it at that for now; this post is gonna be long enough as it is.

Friend of mine gifted me Momodora, so I gave that a run-through. Pretty good game. For as prominent in images as the titty witch seemed, she kinda just showed up twice and then died. Skill issue I guess.

As for right now, I just finished a playthrough of Metroid Prime Remastered today, and started playing the MMBN collection, starting with the first one of course.

Battle Network 3 was the first one I played when I was younger, and I have a lot of nostalgia for it, 5, and 6. Didn't play 1, 2, and 4 until later in life when I played them very legally on my real game boy advance.

MMBN1 definitely has that first-installment jank. The net is kinda confusing to navigate, especially the metro area. I also forgot it heals you after every battle. I feel like I never completed BN1 100%, because I don't think I ever fought Bass. I don't think I even knew he showed up as early as the first game. Also, Mega Man 8 came out in '96, time ain't real.

I suddenly have too many games I want to play and Tears of the Kingdom is less than a month away, which feels surreal. I'm going to play Fire Emblem Engage someday 🙃

[newspropaganda]

Despite not being that much into ygo anymore, I was shown your posts and damn, what is wrong with you? Haven't seen a "ygo fan" being that much of a jerk towards other fans in a long time. If you don't even like most ygo anime then why do you still feel the need to talk about them in a negative way and spamming the tags with non-related topics? And stop shittalking Kazuki Takahashi. You don't have to worship him or be his fan but this man is dead because he tried to help people who were in danger. Have some respect towards him at least.

I was going to rant at you at first, but I took the time to read your message properly. I noticed your Pokémon avatar and what you said about not being involved in the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom as much anymore. I didn’t really understand at first, since Tumblr’s ask and share systems have never worked well for me. I’m more of a Facebook guy than a Tumblr or Twitter user. Tumblr is just the place where I vent my anger about Yu-Gi-Oh! since Dark Side of Dimensions (DSOD) came out. That movie ruined me even more when I was already poor and sad.

I know it’s cliché, but I’m more open to talking negatively about Takahashi—not because he means anything to me, but because I hated how his fans disrespected 5D's and didn’t care about the personal crises I was going through. I may disappear someday and never return—I promise you that, friend. I feel like I’m never coming back because I’m still in shock and need time to heal. I haven’t had the chance to relax because I’ve been broke. I don’t see this “off-topic” issue as a problem. My only purpose is to not be on the good side of things.

For me, the whole topic or off-topic discussions in the Yu-Gi-Oh! community are irrelevant. I just spam posts to get attention because I don’t find anything interesting on Tumblr, and I don’t use it much or care about it.

The reason I don’t see most of the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom being nice to me is because life became so hard. I used to think it would be all rainbows and sunshine, but when I entered high school, everything changed. That was just a year after 5D’s ended.

When I heard the Yu-Gi-Oh! community was going insane during Zexal’s run (2011-2014), I wanted to see for myself, but the following year, I was completely turned off. I still can’t understand why people became so toxic in 2015 or why they refuse to read properly. My whole purpose now is to criticize the fandom because they only focus on relevant topics, and I can’t relate since I don’t have a fandom or followers. I don’t understand why, even today, people won’t call out the nonsense in the anime community because they’re too sensitive.

I’m struggling in real life and trying to fix my online presence, but being unemployed since December 2022 has made me hate the fandom even more. A lot of what they say isn’t even true about Yu-Gi-Oh!.

I have several reasons to believe the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom is lying about Zexal’s reception in Japan, Konami going bankrupt because of false rumors, and Takahashi being responsible for why ARC-V failed in its original broadcast version. 4Kids gets blamed too much for adapting the show for American audiences, but they didn’t ruin the original Japanese version like people claim. I don’t believe GX was the peak of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. It was made by people who weren’t 100% good—Junki Tategami was one of them, and he was responsible for a lot of its problems. I also don’t think 5D’s had production issues in Season 3. When Tomoika left during that season, the production issues started. The fandom sugarcoats Zexal over its ratings and animation, but they forget that Yu-Gi-Oh! was about exposing errors in writing—something GX and 5D’s did better. I have massive hate toward Kamishiro Tsunomi, who ruined ARC-V, and I hate people who refuse to admit that VRAINS’ biggest issue was its writing, not its production quality. I also loathe Dark Side of Dimensions because it focused on nonsense that didn’t give Yu-Gi-Oh! the impact it deserved. It spammed multiverse theories just for clout. I can’t agree with most fans that Battle City was the best arc—it was poorly adapted. 5D’s only had one bad arc: the Fortune Cup. Zexal II was just “meh” because it changed tones. GX Season 3 and 4 weren’t its peak; they were just poorly written arcs. I can’t stand Sevens or Go Rush either. The list is why I am having a hard time finding good people to chat with.

I hate most of the fandom for showing me just how pathetic it really is. I tried to stay calm but I guess i can't even respect that. The fact I haven't joy in my life for once is why I can't respect even myself let alone others.

The biggest complaint I have with the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom on Twitter and Tumblr is how they accuse me of going off-topic just because I can't handle criticism—when in reality, everyone is doing cringe reviews just to push nonsense. I wasn't going to go down this path, but after losing my job and dignity, my patience finally ran out. I can't even respect anyone in real life anymore.

I wasn't born rich and can’t afford to buy tons of Yu-Gi-Oh! card boxes, yet I have to listen to Pokémon fans who spend all their time watching furry content instead of appreciating a real, macho card game anime like Yu-Gi-Oh!.

[the-leader-in-blue]

Ooc// songs that remind me of the gang ™️ part three

King and lion heart by Of monsters and men: yes this is a song I found in my warrior cats phase but it continues to be a banger,it reminds me of Orpheus and Leo,some of the lyrics are so them, like “And as the world comes to an end,I’ll be here to hold your hand,cause you’re my king and I’m your lion heart” and “howling ghosts they reappear,mountains that are stacked with fear but you’re a king and I’m a lion heart” just EOUGH this song <3

The greatest day by Frank Turner: this reminds me a lot of just them as a family,it’s a simple acoustic song and it is so comforting, and the lyrics are reparative, some of my favorite are “can you see it? Can you see it in my eyes? Can you feel it? Can you hold it in your arms tonight?” And “today this could be the greatest day of our lives,before It all ends,before we run out of time” I love Frank turner

Glourious you by Frank turner: this song has a special place in my heart because I remeber seeing it live. It reminds me of jay and Orpheus+Leo and the support they need, the chorus is “come on now if we all pull together,we can lift up the weight of the world from your shoulders” and another banger lyric is “Woth your mixed up metaphors,your messed up makeup,you’re glorious you, with your young tied tragedies,your too tight tee shirts,you’re glorious you” and that feelings of admiration and love dispite their flaws

Paper bag by Fiona Apple: this is one that has recently gone on jays playlist,and the sort of bitterness of survival and the apathy that follows, some banger lyrics that really sold it “Hunger hurts but starving works when it costs too much to love” related to jays apathy to relationships,spicificly romantic ones,and the way he is self distructove to a fault. Another one “I said honey I don’t feel so good,I don’t feel justified, come on and put a little love here in my void,he said it’s all in your head, and I said so is everything else,but he didn’t get it” this song is so him

I was an island by John alison Weiss:this song is literally Orpheus and Leo, they fr wrote “I was a fighter,and I was so brave,but I Lowered my sword when you heald we and swore you’d stay” THATS IS LITERALLY THEM !!! And the chorus “I can’t do this alone anymore, cause I’m no good on my own anymore,what did I do to deserve this? What did you do to me, baby,coem baxk,no I don’t wanna be free” shut up it’s them

Fix me by frank Turner:yeah this is jay , and the emotions they feel after everything,I was reminded of them “someday,I’ll feel no pain,someday I won’t have a brain,they’ll take away the part that hurts and let the rest remain” + “fix me,fix my head,fix me,please I don’t want to be dead”

Gb eating Gb while listning to Gb but the Kylie v cover: it reminds me of Orpheus,the soft spoken voice and the lyrics remind me of his attachment, “well if you don’t want me,we’ll that’s just tough luck,I think about but I know I’m not good enough” is her talking about Leo,spicificly during the whole lonley thing, another one for post lonley “would it be cruel,be cruel, be cruel to let my eyes return to you? Would it be cruel ,be cruel,cruel to give my thoughts,my thoughts to you?” Shows the shame of getting lonlied

Oh brither by Frank Turner:another Orpheus and Leo song, the opening lyrics are “I never had a brother,old friend you had three,you always said if you had another one,than it would be me” SHUT IP ITS THEM, and “this ain’t where it ends,the world will keep on turninf, we’ll all make mistakes, we’ll all have time to make amends,we’ll carry different loads, we’ll all get different blisters, even so you know we’ll miss them when we’re finally out of road” THIS SONG MAKES ME EMOTIONALLLLL

Add any more but I’m plagued by the family

-🦭🦭🦭

ooc omg

[crowsandmurder]

Continued // @writtenxbeginnings

The words alone had Haley smiling, feeling like she was back in high school. Nathan was good at making her feel like that, always making her feel special. It was something that had made her fall for him all those years ago. "I think you should go ahead and ask me anyway. Just because." She grinned, eyes moving around the room. It was one of the first big events back in Tree Hill, and she supposed they had Julian and the TV show to thank for that. A part of her was excited - she missed getting to dress up and have fun with her friends. Plus, Jamie was old enough to stay home and watch Lydia for them.

Nathan really wasn't the best dancer, and that was putting it mildly. He could dance with his girl though. He'd always call Haley his girl. She was a woman, a wife, a mother, so many things, more thngs than she would even call herself, but she was Haley James, his girl. Okay, she could be Haley James Scott. "Well if you insist. Do you want to dance with me, Haley James? I promise to only step on your feet like 20 times?" It was a pretty big night. Julian had his new TV show, which if Nathan was honest, he still felt like Luke deserved this over Julian. It was Luke's book being turned into a TV show, but he kept his mouth shut. They had left the boy alone with Lydia and as far as he knew, Haley hadn't called to check on them yet. He was old enough and he wanted to spend an evening out. They deserved it. He was finally in a place where he wasn't going to Europe. After the kidnapping, it was agreed that he wasn't going to Europe anytime soon.

[bts-trans]

210517 Weverse Translations

V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️ [photo in link]

💜: 물론 다른 멤버들도 이번 컨셉 ㅁㅊ지만... 이번에는 남준옵이... 하ㅠㅜ 최애 또 바뀌나요ㅜ

V: 돌고 도는 것 맞지 ㅋㅋ https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660093188020953

💜: Of course the others look crazy good this concept... But Namjoon oppa this time... Ahㅠㅜ Is my bias going to change againㅜ  

V: Going round and round, that's how it should be

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 폰에 저장된 Vcut 혹시 없나요?👉👈

V: 하아.. 보여줘? https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660098501168169

💜: Do you perhaps have any Vcuts saved on your phone?👉👈

V: Ha.. Should I show them to you?

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Post ❇️ [photo in link]

vcut https://www.weverse.io/bts/artist/1660098942152791

V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 오빠 한장으론 부족해요 더 원해!!

V: 진짜 요즘 사진을 안찍으니 완전 없는데 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660099269797245

💜: Oppa one isn't enough, more please!!

V: Honestly, these days I haven't been taking many pictures so there isn't anything at all

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comments 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 오늘이 tmi?

V: 저 ㅋㅋㅋ 염색했어요 ㅋㅋ

V: 비밀은 아니라서 뭐 펴언하게 얘기함 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660099755477250

💜: Today's tmi*?

V: I hahaha dyed my hair haha V: It's not a secret so I'm just saying it freeeely

(T/N: *'TMI' is used in Korean slang to mean little tidbits that people might not know about.)

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 그럼면... 새로운 믹스테이프 티저? 🤭☺

V: ㅠㅠㅠㅠ 미안합니다.. 이게 스케줄상 안되겠더라구요 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660100077798060

💜: If that's the case... a teaser for the new mixtape?🤭☺

V: ㅠㅠㅠㅠ I'm sorry.. I don't think it's going to work out schedule-wise

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comments 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 믹스테잎 내년쯤은 내주겠지 언젠간 나오겠징

V: 받은곡1 만든곡10 정도 있는데 시간이 지나니깐 잘 안듣게돼서 아미도 그럴까봐 처음부터 다시 차근차근 만드는 중이에요

V: 나 열심히 했어요🤓 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660100306792258

💜: The mixtape will be released sometime next year, right? It'll be out someday, right?

V: I have 1 songs I received, and 10 songs I made, but as time passed I ended up not really listening to them, so I thought ARMYs would feel the same So I'm working on them slowly and steadily again from the start

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comments 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 당신이 트위터에 업데이트한 마지막 노래가 당신의 믹스테이프로 무언가를 해야 하는것인가요? 스포일러를 좀 해 주세요.

V: 전부 다 안쓸거에요 그냥 아미들으라고💜 V: 엄브렐라는 제가 만든 곡 아니에요 주신 곡🥲 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660100819192518

💜: The last song you updated on Twitter, is it something you are doing for your mixtape? Please give a spoiler.

V: I'm not going to use any of them, I just wanted to let ARMYs listen to it💜 V: Umbrella isn't a song I made, it's a song I was given🥲

(T/N: The Korean in the original post was likely translated using an online translator.)

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V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 절대 부담이나 압박가지지말고 오빠의 속도대로 차근차근 준비해서 나오면 좋겠어용 스포로 들려준곡들도 다 너무 좋았기때문에ㅠㅠ 기다리는 시간도 행복합니다..💜

V: 옛날에 약속한거 기억나나유? https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660101006397162

💜: I hope you don't feel burdened or pressured at all and just take your time to work on it slowly but surely Because all the songs you let us listen to as spoilers were so greatㅠㅠ Even the time spent waiting is happy..💜

V: Do you remember the promise I made a long time ago?

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️ [photo in link]

💜: 그러면 "sleep" 이 뭐야?

V: 당근 만든 곡이지 잠 못잔다하니까 졸린목소리로 녹음 해부렀지 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660101121983765

💜: Then what is "sleep"?

V: Of course that's a song I made, I recorded it with a sleepy voice because I couldn't fall asleep

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V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 무슨 약속이요?

V: 자장가 한번 만들어 보겠다고 했었어유 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660101287654252

💜: What promise?

V: I said I would make a lullaby

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V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 태형 아 아직도 애니메이션 보니? 🥺 my fav is haikyuu

V: 아 당연하쥬 ㅡㅡ 카 시리즈 추천이에유 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660101493985658

💜: Taehyung ah do you still watch anime? 🥺 my fav is haikyuu

V: Of course, I recommend the ㅡㅡ ka* series

(T/N: *It seems that V may have omitted the first few words of an anime series.)

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 항상 고마워요 존재해줘서 존재만으로 힘이되는 소중한사람 ❣️

V: 나한테도 디따 소중해유😁 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660101746312843

💜: Thank you always, thank you for existing, you're a precious person whose existence alone brings strength ❣️

V: You're very* precious to me too

(T/N: *V uses the word '디따/di-dda' here, Gyeongsang dialect for 'very'.)

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️ [photo in link]

💜: 뷔님 뻐터 노래 가사를 말씀해 주시겠습니까? 제발 ㅠ

V: butter https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660101996337612

💜: V-nim Would you please share the lyrics of Butter? Please ㅠ  

V: butter

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V's Comment 💬 on ARMY's Post ❇️

💜: 김태형씨 제발 자요~ 그렇지 않으면 다크 서클이 생기고 친구가(여드름) 다시 오빠의 얼굴을 방문 할 것입니다!!!!

V: 환영해 나중에 올꺼 지금 다 와라 그냥 https://www.weverse.io/bts/feed/1660099812128441

💜: Kim Taehyung-ssi, please sleep~ If you don't, you'll get dark circles and friends(pimples) will come and visit your face!!!!

V: Welcome, all you who are going to visit in the future just come now

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V's Post ❇️

V: 자 여러분 이제 잡시다.. -위버스킹- 오늘도 하얗게 불태우다 https://www.weverse.io/bts/artist/1660102365706952

Alright everyone, I'm off to bed.. The -Weverse King- burned it up all the way today as well  

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[moonpersonalter]

These Hands That Hold You Close

Fandom: Identity V

Rating: T (just in case)

A/N: didn't post this one my AO3 but maybe someday

Emma had a habit of holding Naib's hand a lot. Whether it was a simple handshake or to drag him around the mansion, she always liked to take his hand in hers and forget about everything else, even the odd stares of their fellow survivors.

"This way," she would keep insisting, tugging at him to hurry along. "We're going to miss it if we don't hurry!"

Naib wasn't even sure what they were going to miss, raising an eyebrow as the corners of his mouth curl downwards. He'd stop to ask the other where exactly she's taking him but her excitement was stronger than his reluctance, pulling him in to wonder what's gotten her all worked up to dragging him someplace.

They passed by the halls and up towards the balcony, running past the wide open hallway. Emma pushed open the doors and what greeted them were the thousands of visible stars twinkling in the dark abyss of the night sky. Not a single cloud was seen and the lights were dim enough to let the natural glow of the stars to shine down onto them.

Naib couldn't help but let out a quiet wow, Emma giggling at his awe struck expression. "I figured that…," she pauses for a moment, longer than she usually does before adding, "since you liked the outdoors a lot, I wanted to show you something like this."

She looks between him and the starry night sky, spinning around the balcony as if she were dancing to a silent tune that only Emma could hear. She extends her arm towards him, only for Naib to squint at her. Emma giggles and grabs onto his hand either way, "come on!"

Naib was hesitant to make a move, unsure of what to do in the first place. All he had going was Emma's gentle swaying and stepping to and fro. There was no one kind of dance they were following, no clear tune to follow a beat to, only that they were just dancing to nothing.

Soon enough, he's let go of trying to make sense of it all and just dance, Emma's laughter brimming with brightness. "See!," she cheered him on, taking hold of his hands and spinning around with him. "Now you're getting it!"

"I don't!," he rebutted but Emma took no offense to that, her smile widening as she stops themselves from spinning any longer, staring at him with a curious twinkle in her eyes. He coughs a bit, trying to hide away the red tint on his cheeks as he adds, "But I can improvise, if that's what you want."

"Then improvise away! After all," she pauses for a moment, choosing her next words carefully. "It's fun to improvise."

And improvise, he did.

Once reality crashes in the middle of a game, Emma fell to the floor, holding her head so tight she started feeling faint. Her panicked breaths came out short and erratic, her chest tightened that she felt no air coming into her lungs. Thoughts and memories swirled in her mind, some that felt so foreign, she thought that it came from someone else.

"Emma," he tried to shake her a bit, bring her back to where they are now but no response. "Let's get you out of here." Still no response from the gardener, only burying her head further into her folded legs. Tears started leaking from the corner of her eyes, quiet sobs and hiccups muffled by her dirty jeans.

It was hard enough that Joseph was the hunter today, but Emma having a panic attack right in the middle of it only makes things worse. The hospital brought back plenty of bad memories to her, so many to recount. The longer they linger, the louder and harder did Emma's sobbing become. It tugged on his heartstrings, thoughts mocking his inability to help another comrade in need. He refused to let her suffer like this but what else can he do?

Naib was short on time. Aesop could only do so much to distract the Photographer so he had to hurry her to some place safe. Where else in this damn hospital is safe to hide away in?

It didn't matter anymore as he took hold of Emma's hand, pulling her back on her feet and quickly running out the room. The pain in Emma's face was overtaken by a sense of shock and surprise, holding onto her straw hat as Naib led her through the area.

A sense of deja vu struck Naib somehow. Instead of running through carpeted hallways it was on dirt ground, weaving across piles of trash and abandoned structures as if they were weavig through the corners of hallways. Instead of Emma leading him out into the balcony, looking at the starry starry sky above them, it was Naib leading her away from a merciless hunter, hellbent on watching them struggle and lose the game.

By some miracle, they were able to find a place far enough away from Joseph. If they were lucky enough, maybe Aesop and Luca were able to lead him away from them. With that out of the way, his attention was brought back to Emma, whose sobs returned at full force, the tears flowing without any hint of stopping.

Emma dropped to the ground, eyes closed tightly shut and arms wrapped around herself. Naib kneeled in front of her, awkwardly trying to decide what he should do to help. Should he hug her? Pat her head and say that things will be alright? He's not one to be so touchy towards others, the other survivors were doing a stellar job at that for him. But none of them were here to help him. He's on his own and he wants to help somehow.

"Ahh…," he croaked, hands awkwardly hanging in the air in front of Emma. If it were anyone else, they could've done something to help Emma by now, but no one else is here to help. Instead, he puts a hand gently behind her head, pulling her close to his shoulder. He hears her hiccup, the surprise in her eyes allowing her to stop momentarily. "I… may not be good at this but," he stops to reconsider his next words, wrapping his other hand onto her back, pulling her closer to him. "If it helps, you can talk to me about… this. What you're going through, I mean."

He pulls her a little closer, hugging her. He could hear her sobs returning, hot tears soaking his shoulder. "I'm here for you. So, don't be afraid to tell me things, alright?" He breathes out a sigh as he felt Emma nodding on his shoulder, wrapping her arms around him as well in a tight hug, her sobs muffled by his shoulder.

Even though the survivors had failed today's game, it didn't matter as the group were more concerned with the state Emma is in. "I'm fine, really!" She tried her best to convince the others, masking her pain with a practiced smile. "Some stuff just… happened. I'm sorry for making everyone worry."

After that, and a few worried glances later, everyone retreated back to their rooms, Naib especially. He immediately falls onto his bed, feeling his body aching as soon as he lay on the bed. Today was a tiring day and he's more than happy to just skip dinner and sleep the entire night through. That would've been the plan if not for a sudden knock on his door.

He groans, reluctant on leaving the soft comfort of the bed and ignore the person behind the door, if not for a familiar voice calling out to him. "Naib? Are you in?"

It was Emma.

Naib sat up immediately, opening the door in a hurry, Emma jumping in surprise as soon as he opens the door. "… h-hey." That was all he could say, sounding a little lamer than he expected it to be. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Yeah… thanks to you, by the way," she quickly added, staring down at her fiddling fingers. "I never had the chance to properly thank you so-"

"You don't need to thank me," he quickly cuts in, feeling a tinge of embarassment all of a sudden. "I did what I had to, you know?"

"Then," she takes his hand in hers, staring at their hands instead of him, her cheeks tinted rose pink. "You did say that I can talk to you about it, right?" Finally, she looks at him directly, her eyes wet with welling tears. "So, can I?"

Naib was at a loss, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape. The trust she's placing on him was immense, as if she could even trust him with her life. To share to him the deep dark secrets she keeps inside of her, to someone like him? He's really at a loss.

And yet he's found no reason to back down on his own words.

Overcome with a sudden burst of confidence, he entwines their fingers together, chuckling as Emma's cheeks burned a brighter red as a response. He smiled down at her, inviting her inside. "You're free to tell me anytime you'd like."

[sineala]

The gay Invaders

Hi, internet! Today I'd like to talk about one of the chronologically-first canonically-gay couples in Marvel Comics history: Brian Falsworth (the second Union Jack) and Roger Aubrey (The Destroyer). (I mean "chronological" in terms of in-universe timeline rather than RL publication date; I'm pretty sure Northstar is still the first to publication as far as unambiguously-gay Marvel heroes go.)

If you are a fan of reading or writing about Captain America being queer, you should care about Brian and Roger, because they were two of Steve's fellow Invaders in the 1940s, meaning that they are two of the people on the list of Steve's Old Gay Friends And Teammates, because, yeah, Steve sure had a lot of canonically gay friends during the war. Probably more than you'd think he would have had in the forties! (The other two are Percival Pinkerton, who's part of Nick Fury's Howling Commandos, and of course Steve's childhood friend Arnie Roth. Pinky is gay by word of Stan Lee, IIRC; Arnie was as canonically gay as DeMatteis could make him in the early 1980s, so they didn't say the word "gay" but it's really, really not subtle. Steve compares what Arnie feels for his "roommate" Michael to what Steve feels for his girlfriend Bernie. Yeah.)

I previously made a Tumblr post about Brian and Roger, rounding up some of the canonical evidence of their relationship, but that post is six years old now, and in the intervening years, Marvel has thoughtfully put the rest of the 70s Invaders run on Unlimited as well as the two Citizen V miniseries that star Roger and retcon his relationship with Brian as romantic. So I've read them now, and I've got panels.

Okay. I should probably begin by saying that Brian and Roger are not canonically gay in their first significant appearance together, which is in Invaders vol 1 #19 and #20, published in 1977. Roy Thomas does not seem to have intended them to be a couple, and they aren't canonically one in any of the original Invaders run. However, if you enjoy gay subtext, it's very nice.

This whole arc is the one that introduces Roger in modern canon. He's been brainwashed by the Nazis and the Invaders rescue him and get him back to his normal self. But in #19 we get his backstory in flashback, as related by Montgomery, Lord Falsworth (Brian's father; yes, MCU fans, the name should look familiar) and it turns out that Roger and Brian were basically best friends since childhood:

They were the dearest of friends!

Anyway, they both ended up captured by Nazis, they presumably changed their minds about appeasement as a policy, Brian got out and joined the Invaders, then they had to rescue the brainwashed Roger, and it's a fair amount of fun in a two-issue arc.

The subtext is even more prominent in Invaders #34, in which they find out that someone going by the Destroyer (which is Roger's codename) has been doing villainous deeds, and the Invaders worry that Roger's gotten himself brainwashed again. Brian immediately insists that it can't really be Roger because he knows Roger and Roger Would Never:

Unsurprisingly, Brian is right. It's not really Roger; Master Man is impersonating the Destroyer, and the villains have taken Roger captive, and the Invaders break him out and there is an extremely significant moment where it just so happens that Roger has to catch Brian, saving his life for a change, and they stare deeply into each other's eyes and Brian seems to be having difficulty finishing his sentences:

Some people who read this therefore concluded that Brian and Roger were extremely gay for each other. While ordinarily this sort of shipping is mostly confined to fandom, in this particular instance, one of the people who started shipping Brian/Roger was Fabian Nicieza, and Fabian Nicieza, as you probably know, writes comics for Marvel. I think you see where this is going.

However, first I must inform you that, sadly, Brian has been canonically dead for years. Captain America vol 1 #253-254 -- the two-parter about Baron Blood in the Stern/Byrne Cap run in the 80s -- establishes that Brian died in a car accident in 1953. (This is also the run where Joseph Chapman -- a friend of Jacqueline Falsworth's son Kenneth -- becomes the third (and current) Union Jack.)

(Roger then appears in a bunch of T-Bolts issues; I assume there's nothing interesting there on the gay front because I feel like someone would have told me. I should probably read more than three T-Bolts issues someday.)

So, anyway, in 2001, Fabian Nicieza wrote a miniseries called Citizen V and the V-Battalion. Roger, who is still superheroing as the Destroyer despite being pretty old by this point, is part of the titular V-Battalion, and he has a very prominent role in this miniseries. And in #1, we have the usual splash page of character backstory, and there's a very, um, interesting line there:

Regarding Brian and Roger's relationship, the narration informs us: "It sounds much gayer than it probably was."

This is interesting, obviously for a couple of reasons. One is that, up to this point in canon, as far as I can tell, literally nobody thought any of this sounded the slightest bit gay at all. (Other than, I guess, Fabian Nicieza.) The other reason is that, as we soon find out, it actually was as gay as it sounds. Thanks, Fabian!

In 2002, Nicieza wrote a second miniseries, Citizen V and the V-Battalion: The Everlasting. Issue #1 opens with a flashback set in 1953; specifically, we see Brian's funeral:

Roger is extremely sad, and when Lord Falsworth expresses his sympathy about the death of Roger's "friend" and saying that he knows how much this hurts him, Roger mutters under his breath that he doesn't have the slightest clue:

All is revealed on the next page, when one of the other characters tries to ask Roger about superhero business and Roger snaps at him because, as he says, "I just watched my friend die in my arms."

Except "friend" isn't the word he starts to say:

Yep. That would be "lover." So Roger nearly outs himself. So, yes, now it's absolutely canon. Hooray.

Later on in the issue, which is set in the present day, we have a couple pages of Roger staring at pictures of the two of them and continuing to be sad:

Yeah. They were a couple.

So the question you -- being a Captain America fan -- might ask yourself is, okay, did/does Steve know about any of this? (The reason I started looking all this up was because I wanted to know if Steve knew.) I don't know if we have a panel of Roger specifically admitting any of this to Steve (and if we do, I would like to know about it), but I would be comfortable saying that Steve probably knew back then -- because, well, he seems like the kind of guy who would actually have been fine with it in the 40s, what with all his gay friends -- and also that I can't think of a reason why he wouldn't know now. Because he's definitely worked with Roger again in fairly recent comics, and also Roger is very much out, these days.

In fact, New Invaders #4 (2004) opens with Roger attending Pride:

So, yeah, he's out.

(Then he has to fight, as far as I can tell, homophobic Nazi vampires. They're yelling slurs in German. Great.)

In All-New Invaders #10, which is from 2014 (and which is not the same series as New Invaders), Roger shows up to help out the Invaders, and in passing, he just happens to mention to another character (Joseph Chapman, the current Union Jack), that he is in fact gay:

He and Joseph don't really like each other much; as far as I can tell, their acquaintance in New Invaders consists of Joseph being vaguely homophobic and Roger being bitter about him being Union Jack because he actually wanted to be Union Jack himself to honor Brian's memory -- you know, that thing superheroes sometimes like to do to honor their dead superhero significant others, viz. Hank when Jan was dead after Secret Invasion -- and now Union Jack is this annoying kid and not, y'know, the love of his life. This exchange from New Invaders #4 seems pretty representative of their relationship:

Anyway, yeah, he's pretty obviously out.

Steve isn't actually present for this conversation in All-New Invaders, but he mentions in a later issue of this run that he knows what Roger and his pals have been up to, plot-wise, so I feel comfortable assuming that he's talked to Roger at some point in the previous ten years or so, and therefore, since Roger is completely out at this point in canon, there's no reason Steve shouldn't know now.

On an unrelated note, it's also a fun issue if you're a Steve/Tony fan because this is clearly running in parallel with Hickman's Avengers run, which means that he spends half a page telling Namor that he's mad at him and the rest of the Illuminati (but mostly mad at Tony because... he's just obsessed with Tony in this run, I guess?) about the mindwipe:

This is the sum total of my knowledge about Brian and Roger. No, wait, I know one more thing, which is that Brian was a character in the late, lamented mobile game Avengers Academy, in which he was also actually gay; Roger does not seem to have been there. There's a CBR article that you can read about the whole thing, which mentions some of these details from the comics in passing. (I have no idea why it says that their relationship was alluded to in the Stern/Byrne run; unless I missed something big, the only thing those issues do is establish Brian's death. As far as I can tell, no one is gay in them.)

So, yeah, that's Brian Falsworth and Roger Aubrey, the two gay Invaders. Steve sure has a lot of gay friends.

[ryukyuan-sunflower]

Major Symbolism in Episode 20+21 (Another MugenxFuu Post)

Episodes 20 and 21’s series of images has been going through my head a lot recently, and I think that it is about time I rant about it.

I’ve written before, how Sara is a symbol of a maternal figure for Mugen. But today, I’m gonna go into something else…

Episode 20’s series of images alludes to Mugen and Fuu not only having feelings for each other, but also the concept of marriage, parentage and the idea of being abandoned. A lot of these details bridge and connect with multiple parts of the episode.

The Sad Bride

The woman upon the boat is dressed in a traditional uchikake wedding kimono. What is happening is “Yomeiri-bune”: a traditional Japanese bridal procession on a robune rowboat.

The robune boat carries the bride’s household possessions at the front of the boat. The bride sits behind the possessions. Behind her, the bride’s two parents sit, wearing black. This boat carries the bride across the canal, to her husband. This traditional procession is still held in one place in Japan: Ibaraki during “Suigo Itako Ayame Matsuri”, or the “Iris Festival”

Here is a video of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ApIeJ384oDo

There are some key details about the bride in the scene of Samurai Champloo. While I think it could be a tale of Sara’s life...I think this is more related to Fuu’s future.

1.The bride has no household possessions. Fuu also has no household possessions of her own. The two women are incredibly poor.

2. The bride has no parents seated behind her. Fuu also has no parents to send her off and celebrate her marriage someday, as her father abandoned her, and her mother died of illness

3. There is a willow tree to the left of the scene. This one may not be major, but willows are symbols of grief, and in Japanese culture, are thought to attract ghosts. For such a sad symbol to be shown in a composition of a marriage seems intentional.

4. The bride is not smiling. Should a bride not be smiling upon her wedding day? It is supposed to be one of the most joyous moments of a woman’s life. She must be unhappy about the arrangement. This exact composition of Fuu’s unhappy face can be seen later, where Fuu is shown in front of glittering blue water. She must contemplate which of her bodyguards she will give up. But I’ll get more into that later.

Notice also, in the composition of the scene, how Fuu is on the far left, where the bride is. Sara and Jin are standing close together, where the parents ought to be seated. Mugen however, is a far distance from them all.

Sara is clearly a maternal figure in the episode, as her entire story concerns her child. Jin also has some parallels to the Sunflower Samurai, and plays a very fatherly role for Fuu throughout the series. I wonder if this position is intentional.

At the end of the robune procession, the boat delivers the bride to her husband. When a woman is given away to her husband, she is also saying goodbye to her father and mother.

There seems to even be a symbol of this.

But it is not to say Fuu wanted to give up Jin. It is clear that after Jin leaves with Sara, how upsetting it is for Fuu. She breaks down into tears. Though, it is important to note how childish these tears are. It is a comical scene, where Mugen gets frustrated and stomps off. It is nothing like the painful moments that Fuu cries when she thinks Mugen is in danger/dying (In episodes 14, 21, 25 and 26).

This seems to be Fuu clinging childishly to the closest thing she has to a father figure (Jin), similar to how this whole journey is her trying to find her father: the last remnant of her past.

The Mother and Child

While walking, the four travelers pass a mother carrying a child. The father is nowhere in sight. Again, this is an allusion to Sara and her son. But it is noteworthy that the only character to look back at the mother and child is Fuu.

The mother has light brown hair, like Fuu. The son has black, wild and unruly hair and orange clothes. More on the orange later.

The next symbol shows how this is not only about Sara...but about Fuu contemplating a future: the fear of being abandoned by a husband and left with a child alone, the same as her mother was.

The fear of being abandoned by Mugen.

The Pinwheel

The mother and child have a yellow pinwheel.

I’ve talked in other posts how pinwheels seem to be a symbol of childhood innocence, and of rebirth. However, we have seen a pinwheel in only one other scene in the series. And it is almost the exact same color. They could have chosen any color for the pinwheel, but I cannot help but feel this color choice is deliberate. Mugen flicks the pinwheel in Episode 1, just moments before meeting Fuu for the first time. 

Rather than childhood innocence, this pinwheel flick could have another meaning entirely. In Chinese culture, the flicking of a pinwheel means to “turn one’s luck around”. Why this is notable, is, in Episode 1, we find out Mugen is not Japanese at all, but Ryukyuan. The Ryukyu Kingdom was a tributary state of China, before being invaded by the Satsuma Domain. For that reason, there is a blend of both Chinese and Japanese culture in the Ryukyuan Islands.

Perhaps Mugen flicked the pinwheel, as a way to wish himself good luck in getting some food. Little did he know, this meeting would greatly change his life.

Furthermore, the pinwheels start to shift into sunflowers. Fuu’s face pans across the scene, as if a symbol that she has come to a realization, or is pondering something important.

This could be a symbol of Fuu coming to a realization of her feelings for Mugen, her fear of the future, and the fear of being abandoned by him, the same as her father abandoned her mother. 

This fear and realization is reinforced throughout the rest of the episode.

The Boy with the Monkey Mask

During the festival, Sara asks Mugen and Jin to pick out a gift for her son. Mugen proceeds to grab a small child, and asks what he wants.

1. The child responds that he wants Mugen’s sword. He’s a little fighter.

2. The child is wearing a monkey mask. This is important because in the previous scene, Mugen, Fuu and Sara bathe in the hot spring. When Sara asks Fuu what Mugen looks like, she gets extremely flustered and proceeds to say: “Honestly, he’s less than human. He’s more like a monkey or a gorilla.”

However, we know Fuu is lying, because when Sara asks, “What?” Fuu sinks into the water and blows bubbles.

The fact that the line and the mask is a scene apart, seems intentional yet again.

3. The boy is wearing orange, similar to the orange of the boy on the woman’s back earlier that only Fuu looked at. Also, Fuu in her childhood, is seen wearing orange...and was abandoned by her father.

This boy is a symbol of Mugen and Fuu having a child together. To reinforce this is the thoughts going through Fuu’s head, Mugen asks Fuu what they should get for a boy. Fuu remembers Sara’s request of taking one of them with her. It is at Mugen’s words and her own thoughts, that Fuu suddenly runs away in tears.

We know that she is pondering the choice Sara gave her: Mugen or Jin. We know that she knows Mugen will willingly leave her. We also know that she chooses Mugen to stay, despite this.

And this is where we see that previously shown picture of Fuu’s sad face, emulating the face of the sad bride. Fuu is afraid Mugen will either abandon her, or will not love her.

Jin is the one to chase after Fuu and appears behind her, not Mugen. He is far more reliable, and would seem to be a better husband. Fuu could very easily marry a man someday that she does not want to be with, because Mugen is not the type to marry. But  despite all of this, Fuu still chooses Mugen to stay and complete her journey.

The two episodes’ composition largely features Mugen and Fuu, while Jin plays a more minor role.

Not only does she give up Jin, but also the entire Episode 21 barely features Jin. It becomes about Mugen facing Sara twice...and it also becomes about how Fuu’s love for Mugen stops Sara from killing him,

Sara’s words to Fuu

She chooses Mugen.

Sara’s Words to Mugen

Sara tells Mugen they are alike, and mentions the closest she came to happiness was having a child. It also zooms in on Mugen’s face here. 

Having a child with Fuu could be his first shot at happiness.

This dialogue completely emulates Mugen’s dialogue with another woman: Koza in Episode 14, in which she asked Mugen if he is happy now. He tells her he hasn’t thought about it. Koza then went on to say “Fuu is happy because she gets to be with you. I want to be with you, like she is.”

A Distance in Episode 20. A Closeness in Episode 21.

Throughout the episode, Mugen and Fuu are barely shown next to, or across from each other. They are always near Sara or Jin instead.

There is is a sense of a distance forming between Mugen and Fuu. But by the end of Episode 20, Fuu still chooses Mugen to stay with her. And Episode 21, they are finally close again, stuck alone together.

She throws herself on top of him to save his life and tends to his wounds which are close, intimate acts.

Other Blatant Hints

Aside from the visual symbolism in the episode, there are other clear indications of the character’s developing feelings for each other during these two Sara episodes, but not expressing them.

Fuu and Mugen see each other naked in the hot spring. This is a painfully common romantic anime trope.

Fuu gets jealous of Mugen’s attention to Sara.

Mugen gets jealous of Fuu crying over Jin and comically stomps away. He agrees to stay with Fuu, even though he clearly could’ve abandoned her, and only claimed to stay to fight Jin. Now with Jin gone, he has no excuse as to why he’s sticking around.

Fuu’s Declaration of Love

Fuu throws herself in the way of Sara’s blade, in order to save Mugen’s life. This action was committed only mere seconds after Sara’s haunting words to Mugen: “It’s as if you’ve never been loved by anyone.”

Fuu throwing herself in the way is proving Sara’s words wrong. Mugen is loved. This is why Sara gasps and stays her blade. Like her previous words, she is unable to read people’s feelings.

Throwing her own life in the way for Mugen’s life to be spared could have easily gotten her killed too. To me, this seems to be an allusion to “Shinju” or “Double Suicide”. Lovers’ suicide was surprisingly common in Japanese history, and there have been famous Tokugawa plays written about the subject such as “Love Suicide at Sonezaki” and “Love Suicide at Amijima”. 

Conclusion

The symbols of a sad bride, a pinwheel, a child with a monkey mask, Fuu’s choice and Fuu’s sacrifice all allude to her feelings for Mugen, and her fear of an uncertain future with him.

Now, combine this giant list of symbols, with the numerous amounts of far more major MugenxFuu scenes, blatant dialogue, interviews of the voice actors and Shinichiro Watanabe, etc...and what you have is a canon subtle romance.