#aerin: *talks shit*

[niaerinisms]

Blades 4ever famous 2 me because whenever their white boy says something mean or snarky, instead of anyone laughing or fondly rolling their eyes, they all look at him like this

[mikaelsrose]

i need the party to acknowledge mc's relationship with their li. what do you mean they're not holding hands while strolling the festival or when they're tired after trekking for days, and one literally drags the other by hand. you want to tell me they're not kissing every few minutes in front of their friends who tease the hell out of them for it? i don't buy it 🤷🏻‍♀️

[aernx]

nvm abt that cute boy w glasses. a boy w neon shoes stole my heart

[bedtimegiraffe]

Meeting Aerin in the Afterlife if He Left the Party

Oooooh, I have the screenshots of what happens if Aerin never came back during Book 2 and they are good!

Here's what happens once the party you actually brought with you is all accounted for:

And after everyone's well deserved breakdown:

And from here, you have a few options:

Rude

Rude and funny

And the most surprising of all (don't mind the background drift on this playthrough):

My personal thoughts:

It's super interesting that MC introduces Aerin as the heir to Morella, not the guy who summoned the Dreadlord.

I find it so funny that even after months hanging out in the Shadow Realm together, no one ever once mentioned Aerin to Valax. Not even to talk shit.

Aerin, please never prove your awful father right again! At least it took Aerin a couple months to get mauled? Unless there's still a time difference between Realms...

Cause of death is also interesting to me. No offense meant, but hiding is kind of one of Aerin's best things.

I'm playing at the general release pace, but if more interesting changes come up, I'll post them as I play!

[deadpool15]

Million Dollar Baby- Pt1

Aerin Creer shall be the OC for this fic. It will be in parts.

The outfit that she is wearing will always be in the pic above. the character is 23 years old, while Byeon is about 25.

All repressive characters will be the same as before.

So, you guys won her powers, which will be telekinesis

There will be russian in the story and maybe even korean, but I will limit it to little things.

I'm using a translator, so I'm sorry if it's incorrect

Age 9

"You all need to realize there are privileges in this world, and eating is one of them. So, hit harder, or you will starve." A man yells over all the chaos of the fighting children. I never learned their names except Alexi. My torment and pain were caused by him. Though, my entire existence was purely for kicks. Apparently, my overly obsessed mother believed she could create the perfect child for her husband or, more so, my father. He was a powerful man in a country where the only law to exist was his own. Some say he was the devil himself, but all my mother saw was the love of her life. Drugging herself with experiments and foreign concoctions to make the perfect soldier. She died during childbirth, or that's what I like to think. My mother died that night, and some women took care of me for 4 years. Eventually, she had a deal with some goons, taking money she couldn't afford. And in turn, they took her child.

A living nightmare, one way to describe my current situation. We are trained day in and out to be the obedient warriors that will be the next generation for Pavel. It's where I met Ryu Shi-oh or he met me. "Get up and fight. Or your a worthless fucking nobody and we aren't investing time in that bullshit." Alexi screamed at me, after being hit so many times I couldn't get back up. Everything hurt. They had gathered us all around to fight as a presentation to the leaders. Alexi told me if I embarrassed him, he would beat rhe shit out of me. What else was new, though? "Get up right fucking now!" I stared at the ground before something clicked inside of me. It's like I didn't give a single fuck about the outcome. "Shut the fuck up." I stared up at him as if looks could kill hoping he would explode right there before my eyes. All the children turned around, shocked, while stopping. Alexi laughs out loud before shoving me. "Get your fucking hands off me you little dick asshole!" I yelled at him. For the first time in my life I yelled. I was fighting back. Usually, I'm pretty sure he would love this, but since he had thr higher ups here, he was beyond pissed.

I could see Shi-oh in the corner of the room, motioning for me to stop. But this time, I wasn't backing down. Before I could think he punched me. Rocking my body all the way down to the floor. "The fuck did you say, say it again bitch. Go on, I dare you. I'll fucking chop you into pieces and feed you to rhe dogs!" The old me would've sat there in tears, fearing for my life. The silent room was shaken by my loud, obnoxious laugh. If there was one thing I had learned in my lifetime, men wouldn't like to be challenged. He stormed over to me and punched me yet again. Then, I started to kick me in the stop over and over again. Though, I kept laughing, refusing to give him the satisfaction. My ribs were sore, some probably broken before I grew tired of it. I started to cry while laughing, I'm pretty sure I looked like a manic to everyone in the room.

I started yelling stop, I just wanted in to be over. I was done with the pain and suffering. But he kept going, like always no one ever listened to me. Before he reaches to kick me again, a force pushes him back, clasing into the wall. A crack had been heard, and anyone could tell his skull had been split open. Though, he wasn't dead yet, no, not quite. I continue to laugh as everyone backs away from me, I see the higher ups standing from their chairs in amazement and slight fear. I push myself up off the grown and see Alexi. He looked like shit, maybe even worse than me. I turn to look at my broken finger and move to crack it back in place before it does it on its own. I hear whimpering, I turn to the crushed in wall. "Are you fucking crying, you have to be fucking with me right now." I laugh out loud holding my bruised ribs while staring at him. "H-help me." It looked like its body had been piered into the wall, I saw some of his insides. I went to turn until I realized he wasn't going to shut up. The constant whining from the man who loves man. How ironic.

I had no idea what was going on, yet for some reason, my body felt like it was on fire. Everything was so loud. My skin felt itchy, and my head was pounding. My senses felt hyper, and I was overwhelmed by everything around me. What the fuck was happening? "Be quiet....Be quiet." I just wanted it to stop. His cries felt like they were drilling into my skull. Yet he wouldn't stop. I didn't even realize I had thrown my hands up in rhe sir to cover my ears before I screamed out, "MAKE IT STOP!" The lights shattered to the floors, and some of the children dropped dead, with their eyes, nose, and ears leaking blood. Brain particles were scattered across the floor. Alexi was dropped from the wall, yet his head was still inside of the wall. Decapitated completely from his body with pieces of his spinal cord attached to it. I was so exhausted. I only remember myself falling to the ground while seeing Shi-oh running in my direction, screaming.

The Pavel leaders stood up immediately at the sight of everything around them. Some were in complete distress while seeing the future soldiers laying across the floor dead. Yet, the man in charge was only thinking one thing. Magnificent. He couldn't believe his eyes. That child had killed approximately 10 people in a room with so much as moving a muscle or a weapon near. He was used to good fighters, but this was a whole new level. She was the future, and seeing Shi-oh walk right up to her and help was just simply the best. The young boy whole showed promise faithfully in love with the girl who had mysterious abilities all in his hands. Seems everything would work out. "My precious дети." Oo, did he have plans for them. They would take everything, their futures were so bright. He would make sure they stayed on the path.

Present time

I stepped out of my car, grabbing my cat. All gifts from a certain someone whom I was visiting. Noticing a black jeep trying to be secretive, yet I paid no mind to it. Making my way inside of the building. Needing no introduction considering everyone knows who I am. Or just my status, one would say. "He is right in his office ma'am though he is busy with a worker." His secretary tells me while looking around nervously. "Never too busy for me, though, right?" He just nods and leads me to the door. We make it there with him trying to knock before I feel like this is all taking too long and pushing the door open. I hear him telling me to wait a moment, but it falls to deaf ears. I walked in, noticing now while he wanted me to wait. A girl around my height is sitting down, talking to Shi-oh. They haven't noticed me yet, so I sat there and waited in silence until she passed him her phone and he put his number in. Eventually, she leaves while she notices my presence and smiles at me while saying hi. I give her a fake smile and walk father in the room.

"The fuck was that, huh?" He turns around finally seeing me. Walking over and hugging while lifting me off the ground. Still holding me the air, which is easy due to our size difference. "My beautiful лепесток. What are you doing here?" I stared at him. He always had a habit of making it difficult to angry at him. "I was coming to see you." I motion for him to lower me down, and I sit my cat on the floor. Watching it walk around the office, I get startled again when he picks me up and sits down in his chair at his desk with me on his lap. "Before you get ready to hurt me, I was simply recruiting her to a higher position." I poke my finger deeply into his chest. "Why you wanna fuck her?" He slowly looks up, as if he is thinking about the question. While he is doing that, the objects start to lift around the room, and he takes notice. "No,I don't want to fuck her or anything like that. But she is strong, very strong. I've seen it first hand лепесток. She will be uselful." I simply smile at him before I peck his lips.

Moving closer on his lap, I start to slowly kiss his lips again. Getting lost in the plump lips I love so much. Before he reaches my face to take my shades off. He lowers his hands and grips my hips. "You are so fucking beautiful, baby. Why the fuck would I want her when I have all this." I start to grind on his lap, while the desk moves backward. Needing more room. "And don't you forget it. Gonna change the world, baby."

I'll post every Saturday for this story.

Taglist: @seonghwaexile

[secret-fungi]

I want Valax to taunt the gang in a fight specifically our chosen li where she says some evil ass shit like

“oh you’re tyril. mc kept crying for you, saying you’d come find her and kill us…. guess not.”

im talking she says something different depending who ur li is and it is something that just mentally destroys them. yk like heres mcs unlimited love and faith in u and then heres the fact that you let them down… some of them just gave up imagine the angst the devastation itd be amazing

edit: if any of u write a fic outta this u are morally obligated to tag me i wanna read

@saibug1022 wrote a fic read it here (mal x tyril x mc)

for Aerin x mc fic @zhoras-bitch wrote this one

[pwhl-mybeloved]

Hello. I'm a hockey fan and also an woman (probably). I love talking about hockey with other hockey people. Specifically, I like talking about the play on the ice and the way particular players and teams go about the business of doing the hockey. However, I've only just recently gotten into women's hockey (thanks YTG) and I don't know enough about the players and the teams to actually talk about the PWHL like that and I want to know.

I know that Kendall Coyne is fast, I know that Kristin O'Neill is a tenacious forechecker, I know that Aerin Frankel is Jusse Saros but...more, and I know that Marie-Philip Poulin is clutch. Beyond that, I don't know anything and I would like to know things.

Can you help me out? What kinds of things should I look for when next I watch a PWHL game? What kind of styles do each of the teams play? How is MPP so clutch when half the time it looks like she skates by falling over?

thanks for this question I’m gonna tag @strawberryblondebutch because my answer is going to be a bit lacking I fear

I spend the hockey games screaming and gasping and pointing at my faves, but I don’t often pay particular attention to the style of play for each player, which is what I think you’re asking about here. I also spend a lot of time watching the goalies over the skaters. Or I just watch the puck because that’s where the action is.

One thing I do like to watch is the special teams, during power plays and penalty kills, watching them set up the diamond in the offensive zone during a pp is sooooo satisfying 👌🏻

MPP is a mystery to me tbh. She has these moments of pure brilliance, and other times she’s kinda all over the place.

Some of my thoughts about players:

Emma Maltais is a ‘shit disturber’ she likes to get in the way & instigates ice crimes

Ann Renee Desbiens likes to go on Adventures more than most goalies, she’s always up to something

Sarah Nurse is great on the breakaway, I’ve loved seeing her succeed in that recently

To my followers, please add your commentary!

PS: so glad you’re here & enjoying the pwhl!!!

[normal-thoughts-official]

so here's my personal theory on how the mal shit is gonna go:

i think mal's been corrupted by shadow, and i think he either doesn't know about it or did it because he felt it was the only way to protect his friends. similar to how he sees money - the more power he has, the more able he is to guarantee that he'll never be in a vulnerable situation (losing those he loves and being unable to do anything) again

either way i think the corruption is more manipulating him than anything. from the way tyril talked this chapter, it sounds like mal has been making a habit of making harsh, risky decisions. we've even kind of seen this when he jumped in front of Valax' glaive. when i saw that i assumed that it was your main LI who does this, but no, it's always mal. i think this is, in part, supposed to show that mal is acting way more reckless than he usually would

the other part is that, obviously, the real reason the shadow didn't hurt him was that he was already shadow corrupted anyway

im not entirely sure what the endgame is yet, but i think that it's the watcher who's responsible for the corruption. i simply don't trust a man who makes his first appearance in Certified Choices Evil Robes, and besides, today's lore tablet pretty much proved that he's taking us in the wrong direction

aerin is going to play a pivotal role in helping mal get rid of the corruption. he's the one person in the world who knows the most about it, and, from his comments about shadow corruption being more complicated than you think, possibly the only one who believes saving mal is possible anyway. also, i mean, he did go through that process

the process to save mal will likely be extremely painful, if aerin's unwillingness to talk about it is any indication

our relationship with aerin will likely influence the outcome, since he will be the key to helping mal. especially since mal has probably been his #1 hater, the main reason aerin would have to care about mal is his attachment to mc. if you don't have a good enough relationship with aerin, maybe the outcome will be different

it will be through this process that we will learn that The Watcher Is Evil, Actually and possibly foil his plans?

it will be so fucking angsty it's unreal and we'll be fed everything we didn't get in the reunion and more, THIS IS HOW MALMANCERS CAN STILL WIN

the haircut is here to stay 😔

[gaiuskamilah]

literally who even gives a shit about wah wah poor puppy bitch aerin killing baldur. he also fully intended to doom nia to a fate worse than death and his actions resulted in her dying, and him killing baldur provided the means for him to do that to nia. but sure let's act like those events weren't connected with each other because it doesn't fit with poor kicked innocent puppy who did nothing wrong narrative aerincels love to talk about.

[goldenheart-supremacy]

Kyno Shieldstone is my OC. Kid of Aerin Shieldstone and Todd Sureblade. A Single relative surrogated for them.

He's competitive and pretty much like Todd during a spar where he's loud and taunts often. But after the match, if he loses, he's not too much of a spoilsport. Except when he loses to Nectar, because they always make bets and loser has to buy something. Nectar always buys something Kyno likes and gives him a share, though.

He's not exactly dim, but he can be when it comes to reading romantic situations but only when he's an involved party. This makes the not-really-unrequited love thing he has going on with Nectar especially difficult.

Ps. Not much time to draw so this is all I got for him for now.

Nectar Goldenheart is @mvjerbs's Goldenheart child OC.

Nectar: Have you ever liked someone before but you were too scared to say anything?

Kyno: All the time.

Nectar: (Shit. He's into someone? But I don't think I've ever seen him talk to anyone as much as he talks with me. Well, he does talk with the Silverlock twins but they're basically family to him... Wait, they aren't family so they can still be more? Shit. Fuck.)

Kyno: (He likes someone? Is it me? Can't it be me? Probably not me.)

Nimona, in a distance but they're shifted in a form that has super hearing. They shift back to their usual farm for the sake of face palming: They're idiots! Fucking humanity, kiss already or I'm gonna hear about this all week from Honey milk!

Honey milk is an affectionate derogatory nickname Nimona sometimes uses on Nectar when he's being an idiot.

[sergeifyodorov]

ok so i'm not seeing enough people talk about this but a couple days ago in a pwhl ottawa vs boston game daryl watts tried a michigan against aerin frankel and that in itself is already crazy but. THERES HISTORY BEHIND IT! cause in 2021 during the ncaa championship game watts won the whole thing for wisconsin in overtime by banking a goal off of the defender while frankel was in net. and then the next year during their rematch aerin was like "that player didn't mean to make that play" and daryl was like "idc what she says we won" and the video really makes it (https://madison.com/watch-now-wisconsins-watts-responds-to-northeastern-goalie-calling-her-ncaa-title-clincher-a-bad/video_d1b3b795-c38d-5aa8-8fae-7de3f5d24022.html) . anyways just wanted to spread the narrative

helloooooo.... i love this... the inaugural season of the pwhl being We're So Happy 2 Be Here is all well and good i'm glad they're here too hockey is better when ppl are playing it BUT -_- where is the venom. rivalry series is like once a YEAR can we pls pls pls get original six rivalries in our gotdang hockey league!! pls! daryl watts YOU !!! have my respect (for being a shit starter)

video link <- so yall dont have to copypaste

[cherries-in-wine]

My thoughts on 'the cursed heart' book 1

hii I just remembered this book exists and I'd like to share some opinions. Just a warning this post contains spoilers and my writing is messy af as this is more of a rant so i apologise in advance lol. I haven't read the second book yet just fyi.

Seeing the shit everyone said about this book I was honestly expecting another smutty trash like the nanny affair but they don't even kiss until chapter 9. I think the slowburn and the sexual tension was done decently well. I thought this was a sex slave kind of situation the way everyone was talking about it but its more of a "I saved your life so you'll work for me to repay your debts" situation. doesn't really make it any better but I guess its not as bad as sex slave. The whole BDSM shit was...questionable. I don't know what's so hard to understand about the fact that BDSM IS CONSENSUAL. IF YOU GUYS DON'T TALK ABOUT IT AND ESTABLISH BOUNDARIES BEFOREHAND ITS NOT BDSM ITS ABUSE. Just fyi these options are avoidable but I just think its inappropriate to call this BDSM.

The art is GORGEOUS and I love the little story book sequences you have for the character's background information. I ADORE the side characters like longclaw and sir monty have my heart. The idea for the book was definitely interesting. I liked the sun and moon court concept and the fae. It had potential but just like all the books choices has been putting out it just sort of fell flat. I really like the names too. I know they might be little too JK-Rowling-Cho-chang-ass-names but idk I find it cute how the sun court members are radiance, lustre,blaze,gleam etc. the book has a really nice aesthetic and fae are beautiful. The outfits are stunning as well. LEAF IS THE BEST PART OF THIS BOOK.

Kieran is honestly pretty mid. I don't find them that interesting I think they're just bland. I guess that could've been on purpose because they don't have a heart and stuff but I believe they could've done so much better.

I don't like how the fae are mostly left unnamed. That just made the sun court's betrayal fall flat because I don't even know these bitches so why would it hurt that they betrayed me? like first of all that shit was so predictable and second of all when you write a betrayal you'd want it to come from a character the reader really likes and is attached to so when they betray us it will hurt and just make you feel things but because we knew very little about about them I was just like "woahhhh womp womp I'm so hurt totallyyyyy didn't see this coming you got me dude" *pretends to be shocked*.

I think the it would've been much better if they pulled a prince Aerin from BOLAS kinda route with Radiance like maybe he and the other fae sneak in at night to visit mc, they grow close and he's treated as a love interest THEN he betrays mc. That would've made much more of an impact and then it would've made sense as to why mc was so trusting when they handed him their protection charm thingy to him. Honestly I find radiance much more interesting than Kieran.

Mc is.....a dumbass to put it lightly. I'm sorry but they're so stupid and they don't even have any growth by the end. I hate the "this character's only trait is being kind so they're dumb" trope. like first of all being kind isn't a fucking personality and idk crazy thought but maybe just maybe you can be kind and rational?? like why is every kind mc so dumb and lacks critical thinking skills. yea so didn't love mc either they were just bland.

My thoughts are kind of all over the place right now (they always are) so maybe ill add more stuff later but that's all for now. Thank you so much for reading my rant <33

[mikaelsrose]

the goblins are adorable and whimsywood is incredibly beautiful and I love the way they talk and care for the forest and how the forest cares for them and I love willow and they're stunning and I love this silly little chapter and the fact tyril got to meet the fae and that silly little mal and imtura banter and nia teaching mc the skill and aerin being a little less of a little shit

[necnnights]

In which Qiuyun tries to leave.

FEATURING: Ke Qiuyun, brief appearances by Lee Taein and Lee Aerin

SETTING: August 2023

WORD COUNT: 2.4k

WARNINGS: Mentions of suicide (as a threat)

Qiuyun wants to leave. She's known this from the beginning. The thought echoes in her head, amplifying every time she goes to practice or stands on stage or is in any close proximity to any of her band members, which is to say, all the time. She thinks she'll explode with the intensity of it all.

In the beginning, she agreed to it, reluctantly enough. Be in a band, they—Lee Fucking Taein—said. It'll be fun, they said. It is the opposite of fun. He had personally recruited her, noticed her, made her feel special, saved her from wasting her years in the JYP Entertainment basement, so she said yes. In the beginning, she thought she could make it work. She went into everything naively enough, and the other girls were nice enough to her. She thought she could fit in.

In the beginning, Eunbyul was so nice to her. She gave Qiuyun hope that one day, she could belong. Eunbyul taught her how to play the guitar, gave her recommendations on one to buy for herself, and corrected her patiently over and over again. It's Qiuyun's fault. She ruined it all, with her inability to keep up with the faster and more intricate songs that Hwajung kept writing, as if personally offended by Qiuyun's presence. Qiuyun doesn't doubt it. She's always harbored a suspicion that Hwajung did it on purpose. 

At one point, it was Qiuyun and Eden against the other three original members. Then something happened along the way, and Eden was absorbed into their little clique. She never got along well with Eden—with her classically trained disposition and obvious ability to keep up with Hwajung—anyway. It still came as a sharp, stinging disappointment. That should be her, too. She wants to be in the know too, not the recipient of patronizing smiles and condescending remarks or the subject of hushed whispers and stolen glances.

Today, that will change. Today, Qiuyun is going to talk to Taein and ask him to end her contract again. This time, she won't take no for an answer. She'll pay, if that's what he wants. She'll pay however much he wants or take him to court if he doesn't want money. Anything, to get herself out of here.

First, she has to get over the deep-seated pain in her stomach, the one that comes from her head. The pain has her leaning over the toilet, retching, while Hwajung pounds on the door for access to the bathroom.

It started off as a polite knock, and then turned into this consistent rhythm, one that's starting to duplicate inside Qiuyun's head. Nothing's coming up. She pulls herself up on shaky legs and stares at her reflection: sweaty and shivering and pale. She splashes some water on her face and twists her hair up into a messy ponytail. The skin on her neck prickles immediately in the cold sir.

Then she surrenders the bathroom to Hwajung.

"You look like shit," Hwajung says. She's always immaculately dressed and groomed, except for when she's spent the last five days in her studio, barely eating or sleeping.

Qiuyun has a hard time reconciling those two Hwajungs. Hwajung brushes past her in a cloud of her nauseating vanilla perfume. 

She leaves, because she has nothing else to do. It's not like they ever walk to the building together. Yumi and Eunbyul share the other bathroom in the morning, with the intimacy of two people that have known each other for all their lives. Eden doesn't get out of bed until ten minutes before she leaves.

So Qiuyun grabs her guitar, slides her shoes on, and leaves without saying goodbye.

She takes the elevator directly to the fourth floor. She runs into Jaesun on the way up, and they stand opposite each other in silence. Qiuyun is no longer impressed by the other idols. She’s their equal. That, and meeting Haksu shattered her entire rose-colored view of male idols. Occasionally, she misses the days she spent talking about kpop with Mingeun. Those times made her feel less alone, gave her something to look forward to other than ostracization. It was like she had a friend. Now he’s Hwajung’s boyfriend, which means he’s on her side, and Qiuyun doesn’t want to do anything that would make Hwajung hate her more. If that’s even possible.

Jaesun exits on the third floor, and Qiuyun turns her thoughts back to what she’ll say to convince Taein. She wonders how far she’ll go. She wonders if Taein will cave at the thought of easy, immediate money. That’d be ideal.

The elevator stops on the fourth floor, announcing its arrival with a quiet ding. The doors slide open, and Qiuyun steps out. She strolls down the hall, and knocks confidently on the door to Taein’s office.

“Come in,” Taein calls from inside. His voice sounds almost warm. She takes that as a good side.

Qiuyun steps inside—still confident—and sits across from him. She places her guitar lengthwise on the floor next to her and folds her hands neatly in her lap.

“Good morning, sajang-nim,” she says, smoothly and calmly and still confident. 

Taein takes his gaze away from his computer and looks at her. “Good morning,” he says, like he’s surprised to see her sitting in front of him. “What brings you here today?”

She cuts straight to the point. “I want to end my contract.”

“I seem to remember you asking for this before,” Taein says. “I think you’ll find that my answer remains the same.”

Qiuyun, too, remembers that day. It was a little over two years ago. She sat in the same seat, almost hysterical in her demands. It had been a long day, one where she felt pushed to the edge. It had been a spontaneous decision. She left practice, and then sat here and tried not to sob, because she knew he wouldn’t take her seriously if she did. He didn’t take her seriously anyway.

Now she has a plan, and now she has a precedent. “You let Eunsu-ssi leave Fable,” she says, still steady and placid. He left almost immediately after Qiuyun asked. She remembered seeing the news and feeling an unexpected stab of betrayal. That should have been her.

“A different situation,” Taein says.

“‘Personal reasons,’” she quotes. She’s memorized the articles about it, reading them over and over again at night, wondering where she went wrong. “I’m the same. I personally won’t survive another day in this band.”

“You’ve done well so far.”

He knows nothing of her sleepless nights and tormented days, when it takes all she has in her to get out of bed and stand on stage and pretend everything is fine. He doesn’t know of all of her attempts to fit in, only to be pushed further out. 

She pretends she didn’t hear him. “How much would it cost to pay out the rest of my contract?”

“A lot,” Taein says. “You’d have to give me time to do the calculations. You know how profitable your band is.”

It’s not her band, but Qiuyun does know. She watches the paychecks roll steadily into her bank account after every album release and every tour. She’d give it all up in a heartbeat if she could leave.

“I know,” she says. “I’ll pay for it. I value my health more than money.”

“You’ll be in debt for years.”

She won’t. Her parents will help her. It’ll mean they were right all along, and she shouldn’t have cast aside all her other futures to be an idol, but they won’t cut off their only daughter like that. She could work for her father’s tech company. A nice, white collar job doesn’t sound so bad anymore.

Qiuyun shrugs. “If that’s the price.”

“If you tell me more about what’s wrong,” Taein says, “I can help you.”

He can’t. If he says anything to Hwajung or Eunbyul, they’ll immediately know it was Qiuyun who talked, who complained, who couldn’t take it anymore and had to give up. For some reason, she can’t stand the thought of them winning in this terrible stalemate. She won’t give them the satisfaction.

“It’s personal.”

“Qiuyun-ah, I can’t help you if you won’t let me.” Taein’s tone is softer now, that same voice he used when he first convinced her to join his company. She pushes down the urge to run, to turn tail and sprint out of the room.

“You can help me by ending my contract early. That’s the only way. If you don’t, I’ll”—she searches for a way to say what she wants to say without sounding like she’s lost it. She can’t find one. “I’ll kill myself.”

She won’t, but Taein doesn’t know that. She could fake it, though. She could throw herself down a flight of stairs. If she asked Hwajung to push her, she’d probably agree.

“Do you want to see a therapist?” Taein asks. It’s a much too calm response to someone threatening suicide. “If you feel like you might hurt yourself, I want to help you. I hear therapy is very popular these days. All the young kids love to tell a stranger about their problems for hours.”

“I don’t want a therapist,” Qiuyun says, more forcefully than she should. “I want to leave.”

Maybe she should just leave. She could go back home in the middle of the night, damn the consequences. What can Taein do if she’s in a different country?

“You’ve survived so far,” Taein says. “What is different now?”

Nothing, Qiuyun almost says, because nothing is different. But she didn’t tell Taein she wanted to leave in the beginning. She said she was fine and she was enjoying herself and it was what she always dreamed of. She doesn’t know if she lied to him or herself more.

“I had more time to think about it,” she says instead. “I realized I was right all along.”

“You could still change your mind.” It seems he’s already forgotten her threat. He could have seen through it right away. It was foolish of her to try it.

She won’t change her mind. “I’ve wanted this for years.” She bows her head, staring at the wood grain of his desk, to begin her final plea.

Taein shakes his head dismissively. “You have less than two years left on your contract. I have no doubt you’ll survive that long, given that you’ve already survived five years.”

“In Japan, our contract—” Qiuyun starts.

“That isn’t my decision to make. You’ll have to take that up with—what was his name again? Leo? Castor?”

“Orion,” she supplements. The mention of the producer in Japan they’re contractually obliged to makes her want to throw up. Qiuyun can’t decide who’s worse between him and Taein.

"Him," Taein says with a nod. He doesn't say anything else, so she takes his silence as a dismissal.

The worst part of it all, she thinks as she takes the elevator one floor down, is that he doesn't sound completely unsympathetic. He sounds mostly unsympathetic, and that gives Qiuyun hope. If she finds the right words or the right reasons or the right phrases, she could change his mind. She knows she could.

“He said no again,” Qiuyun complains. 

Aerin frowns. “I told you to let me talk to him.” She spears a piece of asparagus with her fork. They sit in the dim lighting of a new fusion restaurant Qiuyun wanted to try.

If she didn’t have Aerin, her job would be completely unbearable. Aerin somehow straddles the invisible line dividing the band, listening attentively to Hwajung and Yumi’s complaints, while still being supportive of Qiuyun and Eden. 

“I couldn’t wait,” she says. Her kimchi quesadilla seemed appealing in the picture on the menu. Upon closer inspection, the tortilla is soggy. She saws delicately at it with her knife and fork anyway. “I was coherent this time.”

Aerin raises an eyebrow. “Did you make a presentation?”

“I don’t need a presentation.”

“It might have helped. Taein-nim loves presentations.”

“I’d feel so stupid. There wouldn’t be anything on there except ‘Please let me leave Neon Nights.’”

"I'll make the presentation," Aerin says, but Qiuyun shakes her head no.

“Do you think he’d listen to you?” she asks instead.

Aerin purses her lips into a thin grimace. “He should.” She doesn’t sound too confident, and Qiuyun’s spirits plunge.

"Stick it out a little longer," she continues. And Qiuyun gets it, but she doesn't like it. Taein would obviously say no if Aerin asked right after she did. 

She nods and finally cuts into her food. "What about Japan? And Orion?"

Aerin waves her off. “If Taein-nim lets you go, I’ll deal with that. He's the bigger problem.”

Qiuyun doesn’t have the highest hopes for that either. Orion is picky and temperamental and only works with people he deems worthy. She doesn’t want to ruin anything for the rest of the band, like the success of their careers without her. Four years and three out of the five promised albums, and their relationship is tenuous as ever. There’s no telling what he thinks of Qiuyun leaving, even if the two of them rarely interact with one another.

That isn’t exactly a vote of confidence either, but she can’t give up now. She has to have hope. Taein can have a change of heart. Maybe she caught him at a bad time, or on a bad day.

She eats, because there's nothing else for her to do. Qiuyun tries to think of any time before where she's felt this hopeless and this helpless. She thinks of nothing except the last time she tried to leave. 

A few weeks later, through another monotone practice where minutes pass like centuries, in which Qiuyun plays through one of Hwajung's new songs and only messes up three times, she gets a text. She waits until no one is paying attention to her—it doesn’t take long, because Eden starts complaining that she doesn’t have enough parts and she stands behind her instrument only to barely play it—and reads the message. It’s from Aerin, sent just to her and not the whole group chat.

Qiuyun steals another glance over to Eunbyul’s back, where she’s deep in discussion with Eden, to ensure no one is paying attention to her. Then she reads, he said no again. sorry.

She swallows resolutely and tries to force the sheet music in front of her to make sense. She’ll find a way out of here. She’s survived this long. She can hold on a little longer.

[number-0-iz]

BLADES OF LIGHT AND SHADOW BOOK 2 CHAPTER 18 (FINALE)

Part four

Oh sweetie I'm so sorry that all of that happened to you

Hell yeah MC using True Magic

Or is it the armor

Eh either wait it's awesome

Knocking the Ash Empress down is cool as hell

And watching her lose her shit is hilarious lmao

"And I can take you apart the same way!"

Why does this remind me of another quote?

But I don't remember so that's Helland annoying lol

"Hey Ashy."

SHE'S AN ICON, SHE'S A LEGEND AND SHE IS THE MOMENT.

NOT A REFERENCE TO THE HOBBIT

Love that

Why do I feel like Aerin and Valax could be legit friends in book 3

Aerin Valax

🤝

Being awkward royals

NOT AERIN NUKING THE FUCK OUTTA THE ASH EMPRESS

TALK ABOUT AN ICONIC COUPLE

"YEET!"

"I will not let you win."

HE HAS COME SO FAR.

MY BOY😭

[ihatetheinternetandeveryoneonit]

The Maul Situation

cw: mentions of blood and gore, and the dark brotherhood and Maven Black Briar are assholes, big shocker. But also OOC

The sun danced over the Velothi mountain peaks and the birds trilled through the aspens, and the sights and sounds and crisp air settled through the open windows of the sitting room. Veezara and his new recruit, soaked in the brains and other juices of of an unfortunate Argonian, soaked it all in. The Blackbriar mead was a welcome reprieve from their early morning escapades, especially in the luxurious home of its namesake.

"Mmm! Divines, Maven," Veezara wore a wide smile. "This is some serious gourmet shit. Me and my friend would have been satisfied with a tepid Honningbrew, but you go and spring this fucking gourmet shit on us! What is this flavor, do I detect juniper berries?"

"Knock it off, Veezara." Maven Blackbriar folded her arms, still in her nightgown.

"What?"

"I don't need you to tell me how fucking good my mead is. I'm the one who makes it, I know how good it is. When Maul goes shopping, he buys shit. I make the gourmet expensive stuff 'cause when I drink it, I wanna taste it. But you wanna know what's on my mind right now? It isn't the mead in my cellar, it's the dead lizard in my stable."

"Oh, Maven, don't even worry ab--" Veezara held up a hand. His companion's eyes darted between him and Maven, tankard frozen on their lips.

"No, no, no, no. I'm talking." Maven scowled. "Now let me ask you a question, Veezara. When you came pulling in here, did you notice a sign out front that said 'dead lizard storage?'"

"Maven, you know I didn't--" Veezara put his smile and a friendly shrug back on gingerly.

"Did you notice a sign that said 'Dead Liard Storage??'" Maven's voice rose.

Veezara sighed. "No. No I didn't."

"You know why you didn't see that sign?" Maven moved her hands to her hips.

"Why?" Veezara's eyes were to the floor, playing along.

"Because IT'S NOT THERE BECAUSE STORING DEAD LIZARDS AIN'T MY FUCKING BUSINESS! THAT'S WHY!"

"Well, Maven!" Veezara looked up and held up a hand. "We're not going to store it or any--"

"No-no-no-no!" Maven held up a finger. "Don't you fucking realize that if Maul comes home and finds a dead body in his house, he's gonna fucking leave me? No counselor from the temple of Mara, no trial separation, fucking gone. And I don't want to find a new right-hand man! Just…fuck, I want to help you out, Veezara, I really do. But I'm not going to lose Maul doing it.

"Maven, Maven, he's not going to leave--"

"DON'T FUCKING 'MAVEN' ME, VEEZARA! There's nothing you're gonna say that's going to make me forget that I love--" she sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Now look, he's going to get back from leaning against Aerin's house in an hour and a half. You got to speak to the Night Mother or Sithis or whatever for help? Well then do it! And then get the fuck out of my house!"

"Good, well, we don't want to fuck your shit up." Veezara summoned his smile back once more. All we're going to do is call our people to bring us in."

"You're fucking my shit up right now!" Maven spat. "Just do me this favor, get your shit done, and get out of here!" Maven marched out of the sitting room. Veezara's companion stared at him, tankard now emptied. Veezara sighed, chugged the last of his own mead and wiped his mouth. "Let's get to it."