#and he mentioned that all those with the mark (who is literally everyone apparently???)

[gothicfied]

Nam-gyu / Player 124 Headcanons

Pairing: Nam-gyu / Player 124 x fem!reader

Warnings: Mentions of death/dying, gunshots, drug use/heroin use (typical squid game stuff), other than that it's just fluff, not proof read (english isn't my first language)

જ⁀➴ Walking down these strangely colorful stairs, with the equally strange backgroud music being the only thing that filled the silence between all the surviving players, made you feel like throwing up. You just witnessed people literally die right in front of you, shot for the smallest movement. If it wasn't for the adrenalin pumping throughout your body, you sure as hell wouldn't have survived either.

Suddenly, you felt a hand on your shoulder, making you jolt. "Woah," Player 124, according to his jacket, stopped in his tracks when you did, too, holding up his hands in a defensive manner, "sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." While you just looked at him annoyed, a grin started to form on his lips: "What? Just wanted to know if you're okay. You scared or something?"

જ⁀➴ From then on Nam-gyu refused to leave you alone, constantly teasing you about your, very valid, fear and distress. No insults, no nothing made him stop - no - the purple haired junkie egged him on. After some time you just started to ignore him, or at least tried to. For whatever reason, Nam-gyu was very touchy with everybody, but especially you. He dragged, grabbed and shook you by your shoulders like a ragdoll when talking to you, sometimes weirdly rubbing over your back in an almost comforting way.

જ⁀➴ He'd purposefully walk past your bed to hush a quick "Good night." before lights out, often times observing you in the golden light of the piggy bank that was the only dim light source at night. Seeing you struggle to find some rest made him chuckle to himself, knowing that he had the same problem, too.

જ⁀➴ Before the first voting, he'd grab you by your arm, trying to charm you into voting in favor of the games. It was almost like he was able to sense that you wanted to quit, but it should've been blatantly obvious. Only someone with a death wish would want to continue this. Maybe he had one, after all. Once, you noticed from afar how he was nagging Thanos to give him one of those colored pills, drugs, pushing the sleeve of his right arm up to reveal the inside of his elbow. From your distance, you couldn't quite make out what he was showing him, but you assumed it were heroin marks. Well, now you kinda felt bad for him.

જ⁀➴ You weren't quite sure what to think of him. Nam-gyu would often bite around his fingernails, tug his sleeves over his hands, since this place was deathly cold sometimes, and stress over many things you also stressed about. Noticing you two weren't all that different after all, you warmed up to the idea of interacting with him.

જ⁀➴ Obviously, it couldn't all go the way you wanted it to. Not being affiliated with anyone around here proved itself to be a much greater problem during the mingle.

As soon as the spinning platform everyone tried to balance themselves on stopped along the music, the female announced the number: "Ten!". Immediately players started to scramble and hurry to find themselves a group, a group of men almost running you over. Fear, stress, anxiety, dread - You felt all of it at once. The clock was ticking down and all you could is stand there and look around you, already accepting your fate. But, apparently, the universe said no: A hand quickly grabbed you by your arm, forcefully pulling you with them. You were slammed against the wall of one of the small rooms as the door shut behind you, the timer reaching zero almost directly after. "What the fuck were you thinking? Seriously? Why did you just stand there?" it was Nam-gyu who was yelling at you, keeping you pinned against the wall by your shoulders. "Do you wanna get yourself killed?" You stared up at him, with a kind of offended expression, and he just stared back. In fact, all other eight players were staring at you two. Noticing the deafening silence, Nam-gyu turned his head around to Thanos, who just raised an eyebrow. "What? We need more people to vote 'O' anyway."

જ⁀➴ You felt like you owed him something now. Picking away at some of the kimbap you couldn't bring your to eat anymore, you scanned the dorm area for Nam-gyu. He was surprisingly alone for a moment, Thanos being off to bother someone else with whatever problem he came up with now.

Hesitantly, you took quick steps towards Nam-gyu's bed, coming to a halt right in front of it. He saved your life, the least you could do was give him some of your food that was being handed out to you players pretty sparsely. Feeling your presence behind him, he tucked a few strands of his hair behind his ears, not even needing to turn around to know it was you. "What is it?" Perhaps he was a bit embarrassed because of that moment after all. You sat down next to him on the, pretty uncomfortable mattress, handing him the rest of your food you wrapped back up in the aluminum foil. Just a quick moment of eye contact was enough for him to understand that you were really grateful for what he did back there.

જ⁀➴ If the guards wouldn't let you use the bathroom, claiming this late at night no one would be able to, Nam-gyu would be the one to come over to the door, hammering against the glass and demand that they let you in. "Come on, she's a woman," he'd exclaim, "have some decency." And when the door finally opened, you'd give him a smile. An actual, honest one.

જ⁀➴ It's as if Nam-gyu lived for that. Your smile, your small acts of gratefulness after he saved your life. You've grown on him - he'd even understand it if you'd continue to vote against resuming the games. Thinking about you being able to live your life to the fullest made him happy, even if he didn't understand that feeling quite yet.

[bazelgeuce]

Is it just me or have boomer christians lost their minds

[vanteguccir]

── ୨୧ !　𝗠𝗘𝗗𝗜𝗨𝗠 𝗚𝗜𝗥𝗟

　　　　　　　　　𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒍𝒐 x reader

SUMMARY: Where Y/N is a medium and Matt's girlfriend. She is invited to participate in the collab between Sam & Colby and the Sturniolo Triplets but ends up being targeted by ghosts all night.

WARNING: Paranormal, supernatural, ghosts, mediumship.

REQUESTED?: No.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: That is my work, I DON'T authorize any plagiarism! | English isn't my first language, so I'm sorry if there's any grammar error.

A/N²: Another version of this same "universe" that I wrote.

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"Guys, today we have some very special guests. You literally spent months asking us to do a collaboration with them." Colby said as he walked through the Driskill Hotel Hall with Sam at his side holding the camera. "The Sturniolo Triplets and Y/N!" The brunette finished, pointing to the four mentioned while the camera lens focused on them.

The duo had just finished their initial presentation of the channel and the place where they were, happy to finally do something that their fans had asked for so much.

"Are you guys excited?" Colby asked, clasping his hands in front of his chest as he looked at them with excitement on his features.

"Super excited." The triplets responded at the same time, smiling broadly.

"Very!" Y/N responded from beside Matt, her left hand rested on the brunette's covered back while Matt's right arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"Are you guys scared, nervous, or just excited?" Colby asked again, looking briefly at the camera.

"I'm scared." Chris responded quickly, his hands resting on his waist.

"I'm terrified." Nick admitted without reservation, receiving laughter from everyone there.

"I'm super excited, a little nervous, but super excited." Y/N spoke, nodding as a smile spread across her face.

"We wanted to ask this to you specifically. You're a medium, right?" Sam asked from behind the camera, adjusting it in his hands so that the lens caught the four of them and Colby, but with the focus on Y/N.

"Yes I am." The girl nodded.

"She's Lorraine Warren herself." Nick interrupted, pointing briefly at Y/N with his left hand.

"It's not that big of a deal, Nick." She rolled her eyes, not holding back her smile when she saw the boys laughing at the oldest of the triplets' joke.

"But you're good, right? We watched some videos and podcasts of the triplets, and they commented a few times in them about you being a medium." Colby took the lead, looking at her carefully, hoping she could help them with the investigation of that video.

"She is great." Matt spoke before Y/N could open her mouth, carrying a big smile on his face and a proud look in his eyes.

"I don't consider myself great." The girl rolled her eyes at her boyfriend's comment, feeling her cheeks heat up. "I've always had this 'power'." She made the quotation mark gesture with her hands. "I can see, hear, and feel. I remember that when I was a child, I didn't understand anything, and I was scared to death, especially because people said that only I could do those things, I felt crazy. Until my mother took me to my grandmother when I was 9 years old, and they explained it to me together. My grandmother was a great medium, and apparently, that passed on to me." She explained briefly.

"So you can do all three? And you have control over them?" Sam asked from behind the camera again.

"It depends on what the spirit or demon wants. I can feel anything, both energy and proximity. As for hearing or seeing, it depends on whether the spirit wants me to see or hear them. But when they want, I do all three perfectly, everything becomes very clear to me, as if they were really there in the flesh." Y/N explained, receiving nods from Nick and Chris, who were next to her paying attention to her words, even though they already knew that.

"And how do you react to that? You live together, right?" Colby turned to the brothers, bringing their attention to them.

"Yes, we always knew that Y/N was a medium since we all grew up together in Boston. When we moved in together after moving to LA, we not only knew, but we started living it." Nick began explaining, his eyes going from his brothers to Sam and Colby.

"Yes, she never went into much detail about what she saw or heard because we were always a little scared-"

"You're all pussy's." Y/N cut Chris off, releasing the sentence with a smirk on her face. Colby laughed loudly, shaking his head.

"Thank you, my love." Matt scoffed, getting a "your welcome" in return.

"It has become normal for us to be talking to her, and out of nowhere, she looks at a specific point that, for us, has nothing. Or she stops paying attention to what we are saying to listen to something that someone from beyond is saying." Chris continued after rolling his eyes at his sister-in-law, already used to her jokes.

"Yes, it's scary. Sometimes, she wakes up in the middle of the night and stares into space, sitting on top of our bed. I just pull the blanket over my head and pretend I'm not seeing it happening." Y/N slapped Matt's arm after his comment, muttering a "best boyfriend ever".

"Do you think you'll be able to capture the movements here well?" Colby turned to her, looking at her with a curious look.

"I hope so. I'm hopeful that they will be open to me and show me what I need to know." Y/N nodded, breaking into a smile.

Matt moved his right hand down to Y/N's left, intertwining their fingers and caressing his girlfriend's soft skin with his thumb, knowing how much she was looking forward to the video and wanting to feel helpful, even if she didn't need to be a super medium for this.

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The six were now standing near the staircase where Samantha had apparently died after chasing a ball and tripping, rolling down the stairs.

Sam was standing on the second step while Matt and Chris were on the left side of the staircase, Matt leaning on the handrail, and Nick on the right side as they listened to the blonde's explanation.

Y/N was a little further away, Sam's voice was muffled to her while her ears picked up indecipherable whispers from all sides, as if many people were trying to ask for help, explain what happened at the hotel and sending hateful comments at the same time.

Matt's presence approaching her broke her from her trance, making her look up at him, seeing his worried expression.

"Is everything okay, baby?" He asked in a low voice, not wanting to attract the attention of the others.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to get a feel of the environment." Y/N responded in the same tone of voice, smiling softly, trying to calm her boyfriend and herself.

She was already used to seeing and hearing spirits since she had done it all her life, but this experience was different from any other she had ever had.

Nick looked at her momentarily, asking her if she was okay with just a move of his lips, receiving a nod in return.

Y/N decided to get closer to the others so she could focus on their main mission there, receiving answers from the spirits through the lanterns.

"Samantha, are you the only one up here on the stairs?" Matt asked after the boys asked several questions, his right hand holding Y/N's, trying to convey comfort.

"No." Y/N replied seconds before the red flashlight turned on, receiving looks from the five on her.

"Do you see any other ghosts up here?" Sam asked, watching Y/N's reactions carefully.

"Yes, I can't see them all clearly. Many are blurred, but I can see at least three up here, besides Samantha." The girl explained, briefly pointing to the spots where she saw the three aforementioned ghosts before turning her attention to the boys.

"Can you see Samantha?" Chris asked, raising his eyebrows, his blue eyes wide in curiosity.

"No, she doesn't want me to see her. But I feel her... Here." Y/N counted, closing her eyes briefly before pointing to a specific spot between Colby and Nick.

Nick looked at the indicated spot, moving away and going to Matt and Chris' side, feeling shivers run up his spine. Colby focused the camera on there, as if waiting for something to reveal itself to the lens.

Matt looked up at his girlfriend, watching her carefully, trying to make sure she was okay.

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The six were now on the mezzanine, ready to stand in front of old mirrors, which were very expensive, while they tried to call for spirits through them, specifically for Carlota.

"Hey Carlota, we have five men here, but only four are single, and one of them is off limits." Matt began, looking around briefly as his right arm held Y/N close to him by her waist, not wanting to lose sight of her in the dark of the room.

Colby and Chris began to say pick-up lines into the air as they looked around blindly, causing Y/N to laugh. She couldn't believe they were actually doing that.

The scent of roses intensified around the group, making the girl divert her attention from the boys and also look around, looking for a source of the smell.

An intense tug on her hair made her take a step back, her hands flying to the spot as if she was trying to feel someone there, turning around abruptly.

"What was that?" Colby asked, stopping in the middle of one of his nonsensical pick-up lines.

"Someone pulled my hair." Y/N responded quickly, keeping her gaze firmly on the space where she felt a presence.

Matt turned to look at where his girlfriend was looking, keeping his hand in contact with her body, wanting to make sure she was still there.

"Are you sure that-" Chris began, stopping mid-sentence when he saw Y/N stumble forward, causing Matt's hand to lose contact with her body.

"Why don't you appear in front of me instead of pushing me around, Carlota?" Y/N spoke out loudly, her tone angry while her eyes rolled across the room, feeling several presences and trying to look for Carlota among them.

"Wow, calm down, baby." Matt asked, moving closer and touching her shoulder, only to have Y/N pushed to the side again.

It was obvious that that spirit, Carlota, if Y/N's intuition was right, didn't like the girl there for some reason. This was made clearer by the fact that she only pushed Y/N but didn't even touch the others.

"Are you sure it's Carlota?" Sam asked from behind the camera, zooming in on the lens and moving it so the camera captured the entire place.

"I can't see her, but I feel her presence. And it would make sense. She likes to be pampered and praised by men, having another woman in the same room as her might offend her." The girl explained.

"Or make her feel threatened." Nick added, receiving a nod from Y/N, who was still looking at specific points in the room.

"Get out." A whisper echoed directly against the girl's right ear, making her turn around abruptly, seeing only the female silhouette for a few seconds, before it disappeared like smoke.

Matt approached Y/N quickly as he saw her begin to show her nervousness, wrapping his arm around her waist firmly again, marking his territory and taking on a serious expression, looking around as if confronting whatever was there.

“You are not allowed to touch Y/N.” Matt stated, his voice echoing in a serious tone, tightening his grip on the curve of his girlfriend's waist.

The six stood in silence for a few minutes, waiting for something to happen again, but nothing happened.

"Matt took a firm stance, which probably proved to Carlota, or whoever was doing it, that they shouldn't touch Y/N." Colby explained to the camera. "If it worked so quickly, it probably means you have an aura similar to mine." He turned to Matt, who looked back at him with a confused look, not understanding what that meant.

"It is said that the spirits are afraid of Colby because he has a very "firm" aura, which scares them and makes them obey him." Sam explained, lowering the camera a little so he could get a better look at the couple.

"That explains why the manifestations at home lessen when Matt is around me." Y/N contemplated, bringing her right hand to Matt's left on her waist, stroking the area lightly in gratitude.

Colby resumed his explanation of what they would do in the room after noticing that nothing else would happen to Y/N, focusing his attention on the camera lens.

Matt brought his face closer to the top of his girlfriend's head, sealing his lips in the area for a few seconds, before moving away and exhaling the smell of shampoo and perfume that Y/N exuded, calming himself down.

"You guys are so cheesy." Nick interrupted their moment with a smile on his face, getting closer to feel some sense of comfort.

Y/N just laughed as she rolled her eyes, resting her head on her boyfriend's covered chest, feeling grateful to have him there to protect her.

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"Do you want to do it yourself?" Sam asked Matt.

Matt and Sam had just gotten out of the elevator after doing the ritual, which brought no results. The boys that stayed behind were surprised, saying that the ritual lasted just a few minutes, less than they expected.

Y/N was next to Nick, looking carefully inside the elevator as if expecting something to appear there, but there weren't even any traces of ghosts, which left her confused.

Matt looked at Sam for a few seconds after his question, shrugging as if to say, "I'm already here, why not?"

"Babe, can I come with you?" The girl's voice sounded among the group, making everyone look at her briefly.

Matt nodded quickly, feeling relief fill his heart, knowing that he wouldn't have to do it alone anymore. He raised his left hand in the air, waiting for his girlfriend to take it, intertwining their fingers tightly.

"What if you never come back?" Nick began, making Y/N roll her eyes.

"I promise I'll bring him back intact." The girl interrupted the drama. "I'm Lorraine Warren, remember? I'm going to protect my Ed Warren." She added, making everyone laugh.

"Send me the numbers." The brunette asked, looking at Sam as he fished his phone out of his jeans pocket.

The couple entered the elevator, Matt holding the camera in one hand and his phone in the other.

"Don't forget to say "take me to another world"." Sam remembered before the doors closed, the two of them repeating the words being the last thing he heard.

"Okay, let's do this." Matt unlocked his phone screen, opening the messaging app and clicking on Sam's chat, seeing the texts with the numbers.

Y/N read over her boyfriend's shoulder before leaning over and clicking the button for the first floor, taking a deep breath.

"Are you okay, baby?" Matt asked in a low voice, arranging the camera in his hands so that the lens framed the two of them before turning his head to look at her.

"Yeah, just nervous." Y/N began, turning to face her boyfriend while putting on a nervous smile, cracking her fingers in an act of anxiety. "It's just been too much, I've never felt so many presences at the same time."

"I know, baby. I'm here-"

Matt stopped mid-sentence when the elevator door opened, the two of them turning to the it quickly, their eyes traveling down the hallway, scanning the place.

A sigh escaped Matt's lips when nothing happened, his hands relaxing and the camera moving slightly as he leaned in to click the next button.

He reread the texts sent by Sam before putting away his phone, taking his free hand to Y/N's shoulders and pulling her close, the warmth of her body calming him.

"You're brave today. I like this new Matt." The girl commented a few seconds later, looking up, her eyes meeting the blue ones she loved so much. Matt smirked, lowering himself momentarily, sealing his lips over Y/N's forehead.

The two remained in that position, their heartbeats accelerating each time the elevator doors opened again, before they relaxed when nothing happened.

Until the fifth floor, where supposedly a "lady" should enter the elevator. Y/N stood still when the doors opened, the hair on her arms stood up and her heart seemed to freeze for a few seconds before speeding up, feeling like her entire body trembled with each beat.

"Matt." Her voice sounded broken and weak. "She... She's right there." Y/N muttered, raising her right arm and pointing out of the elevator. Her gaze seemed to be glazed over.

Matt swallowed hard, tightening his hand around his girlfriend, wanting to make sure she didn't leave his side. He arranged the camera so that the lens was focused outside, although neither he nor the camera were capturing anything.

"She's not coming in. Something seems to be stopping her. But she's so angry." The girl said, her voice full of emotions, looking like she was about to cry.

"Alright, that's enough. Let's go back." Matt interrupted, leaning in and clicking the button to go down, placing himself in front of his girl, with the intention of protecting her or taking her attention away from the figure.

The elevator began to slowly close, the doors appearing to be held by something.

When it finally did, Matt turned to Y/N, lowering the camera momentarily and focusing all of his attention on her.

"Baby, are you with me? Are you back?" The boy asked in a low, soft voice, afraid of scaring her even more. His blue eyes looked into his girlfriend's, hoping to see them come into focus again.

Y/N blinked repeatedly before finally looking at Matt.

"Yes, I-I'm sorry." She asked, her voice coming out weak. She closed her lips in a thin line, trying to hold back the post-adrenaline crying.

"Hey, don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong. Are you okay, baby? I just need to know this." The brunette was worried, he felt his heart tighten at his girl's features, and if he could, he would pass on everything she saw and felt to himself, just to spare her from all that.

"Now I am. I promise." The girl responded, nodding her head and offering him a small smile.

The sound of the elevator doors opening interrupted them, making Matt turn his back to Y/N and face the boys waiting for them, Colby already with his camera in hand and the lens focusing on the inside of the place.

"Wow, don't tell me you guys were- Wait, is everything okay?" Nick started the joke, believing that they would be kissing due to their position, but stopping in the middle of it when he noticed the expressions on Y/N's face.

"Y/N saw the "lady" who was supposed to enter the elevator on the fifth floor." Matt said, taking his girl's hand and guiding her out of it carefully.

"What?"

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The group was now in room 525, ready to do the Estes Method.

Y/N was sitting on the edge of the bed, next to Matt, and facing the chair where the other two brothers would do the method. She had a soft smile on her face as she saw her boyfriend and brothers spouting barbs, creating a pleasant atmosphere, before Nick and Chris got under.

The girl kept her eyes glued to the duo, refusing to look around her despite hearing whispers. The words that Nick and Chris repeated, she could hear seconds before, sometimes even phrases, but she didn't want to pay attention to the ghosts there. Y/N wanted to know what they wanted them to know, and she would only get it if she heard what Chris and Nick heard.

The words came disconnected and fast. It seemed like the two were in an argument, often even complementing each other's phrases.

"Y/N." Nick spoke suddenly, his nose wrinkling under the red blindfold as if trying to understand where that came from, or hear better what it meant.

Matt quickly brought his right hand to Y/N's left thigh, maintaining direct contact with her as he kept his eyes fixed on Nick, a serious expression on his face.

"Unwelcome here." Chris spoke next.

Colby felt his fingers on the camera shake slightly. He knew well what was happening here, having already been through the same situation with Sam and their psychic friend, Amanda. He looked at Y/N with a worried expression, followed by Sam, who went over and sat on the bed next to the girl.

Matt pressed his fingers over his girlfriend's covered skin, taking a deep breath. He couldn't believe this was really happening.

"Yeah, it seems like the ghosts hate me." Y/N spoke with a nervous smile, letting out a low laugh, trying to calm the tense atmosphere that had settled.

She finally looked up and around the room, easily finding the ghost who had said that.

The "lady" from the elevator was next to Chris, staring at her with the same anger as before, showing her hatred for the girl's presence there. It was obvious that she didn't want Y/N in her hotel, but no one there understood why.

"Out."

"Her."

"Now."

"What the hell?" Y/N exclaimed milliseconds after Chris said the last word, turning around abruptly when she felt something grab her arm and let go seconds later, but curiously, her eyes didn't catch anything.

"Okay, I think that's good for now." Sam said after seeing her reaction, getting up from the bed and touching Nick and Chris, making them take off their headphones and blindfolds.

"Apparently, I'm unwelcome here." Y/N was the first to speak after getting the attention of the other two brothers. "Something just touched me, I swear."

"I just don't understand. Why would they try to attack Y/N? It doesn't make sense." Matt asked, turning to Colby in hopes of him having an answer, as he moved closer to Y/N on the mattress, trying to give her some reassurance.

"I don't know, sometimes spirits just choose one person to terrorize or attach to, and only they know why. Sam went through something similar once." Colby explained, pointing briefly at the blonde, who nodded.

The girl sighed, it's obvious that they would choose her, after all she could see and hear them. She looked around the room again, drowning out the sound of the boys' voices. Her attention was drawn to the bathroom, which had its door opened by Matt earlier.

She felt a presence there. It certainly wasn't evil, and it seemed to be calling for her, as if it needed her to come in there.

"Guys, why don't we try again, but in the bathroom?" Y/N interrupted Nick's sentence - without even knowing what he was saying -, turning to the boys with a firm look.

"Baby, are you sure? I think we're past your limit." Matt asked, uncertainty settling into his gaze as his blue eyes ran over his girlfriend's features, as if searching for any sign of fear there, but finding nothing but firmness.

"I'm sure, I feel like there's something there that needs to talk to us."

Minutes later the six had organized themselves in the small bathroom; Colby was standing in the bathtub while Matt sat on the edge of it, Nick was sitting on the closed toilet and Chris was leaning on the sink, both looking at his brother. Sam was standing in the doorway, still with the camera in hand, while Y/N was sitting on the floor, between Matt's legs and looking up, her eyes focused on her boyfriend's blindfold covered face.

Y/N had her right hand on Matt's thigh, caressing the skin carefully, trying to reduce the boy's anxiety and nervousness, knowing that despite him trying to be thought, he was afraid of what might happen, or if he would even be able to hear anything.

"A very deep breath." Matt spoke for the first time after going under, his voice coming out loud before mimicking the breath he heard.

Y/N frowned, looking around but seeing nothing. Seconds later, she felt goosebumps run down her arm and a wind on her right side, as if something had passed there and settled next to Matt.

"Love." Matt got the first word out.

"Is that why you're here? Because you love the hotel?" Sam asked from behind the camera.

"Couple."

"Are there any couples here with us?" Colby asked, pinching his lips with his fingers as he tried to think of possibilities, but there was no response from the boy.

“Are you referring to Y/N and Matt?” Chris asked suddenly, causing Y/N to look at him quickly, her eyes wide.

"Beautiful."

"Do you think they're both beautiful together?" Nick asked this time, resting his left foot lightly against Y/N's thigh, trying to keep her calm.

"Angry."

"Are you angry because they are a beautiful couple?" Sam asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"Room."

"Wait, that makes sense. There was a woman in the room while Nick and Chris were doing the Estes Method, it was the same lady from the elevator, and she was very angry about something, just like she was when I saw her in the actual elevator." Y/N explained, lifting her head and briefly looking at Colby, who carried a concentrated look. "She was staring at me with hatred, as if I had done the worst thing in the world."

"Angry."

"Wow, that's the fourth time tonight that the same word has been repeated." Colby murmured, his eyes wide.

"Is the woman in the room mad that Matt and I are a couple?" Y/N asked with uncertainty in her voice. She didn't understand why a many years old ghost would be angry at their relationship.

"Envy."

At that moment, Y/N felt a new presence in the bathroom, as if something had left the room and entered there, it being filled with hatred. The girl looked up and saw the same woman, this time closer, looking at her with the same look as before, but for some reason she didn't try to touch Y/N, or she couldn't.

"She's-" Y/N's sentence was cut off by Matt, who repeated words again.

"Touch. Hurt. Y/N." Matt spoke the words without pause, his hands flying to the headphones and quickly taking it off, followed by the blindfold. "No, you can't touch her. She's not yours." Matt growled angrily, standing up and pulling Y/N by her arms, making her stand beside him, before pulling her tightly to his side and wrapping his arm protectively around her shoulder. "You're not allowed to touch any of us, especially her." The boy finished, his blue eyes traveled around the bathroom, as if he was trying to find where the entity was.

"What the fuck dude?" Sam quickly lowered the camera, looking at everyone there in shock.

Chris and Nick took a rigid stance, as if they were ready to help their brother if necessary, despite there being nothing they could do against a ghost.

“Are you okay, Y/N?” Nick turned, looking at her with careful eyes, trying to read the girl's expressions.

"Yeah, she didn't actually touch me, but it was intense... I'm just scared. At least she's not here anymore." Y/N sighed, leaning into Matt, who patted her shoulder affectionately.

"That was crazy man. I didn't think the night would turn into this." Colby muttered, stepping out of the tub.

"It's okay, it's over now." Matt whispered in Y/N's ear, embracing her into his arms. She took a deep breath, breathing Matt's scent in, calming her nerves down.

The ghosts really hated her.

[suskz]

Can you write Bang Chan manhandling Felix?

Yours | Chanlix

pairings: Chanlix, (also Jeonglix, mentioned Hyunin and poly!skz)

w/c: 3.3k

t/w: smut ; fluff at the end ; butt plug ; crying ; exhibitionism kink (no exhibitionism) ; kinda fwb i guess?? ; blowjob ; facefucking ; manhandling ; semi-public sex ; mirror sex ; daddy kink (quick, act surprised!) ; slight dacryphilia ; pet names (baby, puppy) ; degradation (and names) ; praise ; coming untouched ; coming inside.

a/n: anon, i don’t know who you are, but just know that I love you. I hope you enjoy!

18+, MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Chan can imagine him: sprawled out on the bed, head thrown back, long hair messy against the pillow, eyes half-closed and tear-filled, cheeks and ears flushed, fists gripping the sheets desperately.

He can’t see him, though.

He can hear his sobs, his voice muffled —probably by Jeongin’s hand— his sounds no longer hoarse as they were at first but higher-pitched and whimpery.

He can hear the sound of their bodies slapping together and Felix’s pleas to slow down or go faster, harder. He’s always so indecisive, his baby.

His loud moans are always so difficult for him to hold back —and he’s always so cute trying; tiny hands rushing to cover his mouth, teeth biting his shirt, or his face buried into the pillow—, and everyone in the house can always hear them. Not that they have any complaints.

Like Chan, Minho, and Jisung at the moment, sitting on the couch; the only others in the apartment besides the other two.

They were supposed to be working on a song's lyrics, but it became quite difficult once Felix’s high cries started echoing.

Minho and Jisung made excuses to leave, coming up with something about needing to go shopping because some things are missing at home —nonsense, Seungmin went grocery shopping two days ago. Chan knows full well that they’re just turned on and need to help each other out.

He stays there, seated in front of the coffee table with all the sheets still scattered around, painfully hard in his pants the entire time, until the sounds come to an end, and then Chan has to go, too.

He’s so aroused from hearing all those pretty sounds from the blond and really needs to fuck him, making him go dumb until his brain can’t think about anything but the man on top of him and the only word falling from his lips is Chan’s name.

But he’s just been fucked, and Chan would feel so guilty for having his turn right after. The little one would be so tired.

But what’s to stop him the next day, seeing Jeongin so touchy with Felix?

Chan isn’t the jealous type, and he could never be jealous of Jeongin —besides, Felix isn’t just his, but everyone’s.

But something clicked in him seeing how Jeongin spent all practice sticking as close as possible to Felix: how he hugged him from behind in front of the mirror during the break, how his arm rested on Felix’s shoulders while Minho explained a dance move, or how the blond’s head leaned on the younger’s chest on the couch while the latter had an arm around his waist.

Chan isn’t the jealous type; it’s just that he feels the need to mark him as his, to show the others who he truly belongs to.

Nothing stops him from holding Felix back a little longer in the practice room while everyone else leaves.

Chan’s eyes fixate on the point where Jeongin’s lips meet Felix’s before they part, and Hyunjin seems to be observing the same thing —oh, Jeongin is fucked, literally.

Once everyone is out and the door closes, Felix turns to Chan, who is apparently sorting some papers, “What’s up?”

“I heard you and Jeongin yesterday, while Minho, Jisung, and I were trying to work on the song.” He says directly, and he can feel Felix’s eyes widen, even if he can’t see him.

“U-uh, I’m sorry,” the younger fidgets with his fingers. “I couldn’t keep my voice down.” He says in a lower tone, embarrassed and guilty for having disturbed them.

Chan turns in his direction, and when he sees the blond, his eyes seem to darken. He steps closer, “You know, we couldn’t get anything done yesterday, because of the noises.���

Felix is about to apologize again, but he’s interrupted, “You got me so hard I couldn’t concentrate anymore.”

These words go straight to the younger’s cock, which twitches with pride at knowing he had aroused Chan.

Chan stops in front of him and threads a hand through his hair, “You need someone to remind you how to behave.” He grabs the long blond strands and pulls his head back.

Felix lets out a moan at the sudden action.

“Slut.” Chan comments harshly, pulling the younger’s face closer to his by his hair.

He notices Felix’s eyes flick nervously to the door for a moment. Chan softens his voice just for a second, “None of the staff will come in for another 30 minutes,” he whispers. “Now get on your knees.” He releases his hair, and Felix drops to his knees.

As he realizes he’s semi-hard in his pants, he hears the metallic sound of a belt unbuckling and a zipper being pulled down.

Chan lowers his pants just enough to pull out his cock, already starting to harden. He holds it in his hand and rubs the tip against Felix’s lips, who looks up at him and sticks out his tongue, just like he was taught.

Chan rests the tip on his tongue and moves his hips back and forth for a few seconds, rubbing himself against the wet muscle. Felix feels so helpless and unwanted, the need to be used growing inside him.

When he pulls back, Felix lets out a whine, “I want to suck your cock, please. Let me put it in my mouth, I’ll make you feel so good-” Felix knows how much Chan likes it when he begs, but he gasps in surprise when his cock slaps his cheek.

“I don’t want to hear any whining out of your mouth, understood?” Another slap, and this time his own cock responds, leaking a bead of precum in his boxers, which now feel so tight.

“Sorry.” Felix apologizes so sweetly that Chan’s eyes soften slightly.

“Spit.” Chan orders, and Felix obediently lets some saliva slip from his lips onto Chan’s cock, which he starts stroking slowly to harden.

Felix looks at him with eyes full of lust, making it impossible for the older man to resist pushing two fingers into his mouth, pressing down on his tongue, going deep enough to reach the knuckles. And Felix doesn’t gag around them, just like a good boy.

Chan’s cock twitches in his hand, and his grip tightens, the sight drawing a moan from his lips.

Felix instinctively moves his head back and forth on the fingers, sucking and swirling his tongue around them, not caring about the saliva dripping down his chin. Because he loves it just like this —wet and messy. This goes on until the  man withdraws his fingers and brings the tip back to his lips, and Felix opens his mouth with his tongue out, eager to have it down his throat but remaining still and patient.

“Fuck my throat?” he asks in such an innocent tone that Chan wonders if it’s possible to sound like that in this situation.

“Oh, I will.” Chan assures before pushing past his lips.

A trembling breath leaves his lips at the feeling of his warm, wet mouth, and he groans as he manages to push it all the way down his throat without any gag reflex.

“Such a good boy, just like we taught you.” Chan praises, stroking his cheek, and Felix leans into his touch.

Felix’s hands are resting on his thighs, itching to touch the older man, but he keeps them in place as he knows he should while Chan begins moving without giving him much time to adjust.

His hips move back and forth slowly, and the wet squelching sounds that the action creates are the only noises filling the silence in the room. Chan moans, tangling his fingers in Felix’s hair and picking up the pace.

Saliva drips from Felix’s mouth down his chin, landing on his pants. Felix moans around his cock, squeezing his legs together as the vibrations from his voice draw a soft whimper from Chan. Felix’s eyes are teary, and he can feel snot ready to drip from his nose.

Felix lets his jaw go slack.

“G-good boy,” Chan finally looks at him. When Felix raises his eyes to meet his, the sight makes Chan groan and thrust harder. “You love having your mouth filled, don’t you, baby?” Chan coos the last words, “Look at you, crying on daddy’s cock. That’s what you get for not keeping quiet.” Felix digs his nails into his thighs through his pants. He knows he must look like a mess right now, but he only cares about pleasing the man in front of him, so much so that he forgets about his own aching erection, trapped in his boxers.

His hands move to the waistband of his pants, ready to pull them down and free his hard cock, but Chan notices and presses a foot over his hands before he can. Felix looks up at him with a pleading expression and whimpers. He feels Chan’s movements slow down.

“Who gave you permission to touch yourself?” His hips stop completely, his cock resting in the warm comfort of the younger one’s mouth.

Felix tries to say something, but his voice is muffled by the cock in his mouth. Chan pulls out to let him speak, trying —and failing— to hide a whimper that Felix hears clearly.

Felix tries to swallow his saliva a couple of times, failing. “I-I wasn’t t-trying to touch myself,” he insists, his voice coming out hoarse. Chan raises an eyebrow, his fingers still threaded through Felix’s blond locks. “I just wanted to p-pull my pants down ‘cause they’re uncomfortable.”

Under Chan’s gaze, Felix feels so small and guilty.

Chan sighs in feigned exasperation. “You can’t even finish one job without needing attention, can you? Such a greedy boy.”

Felix opens his mouth to object, but he doesn’t get the chance to speak as Chan interrupts, “Stand up and strip.”

Felix stands up, hesitates for a moment, but then lowers his pants and places them on a chair, remaining in his boxers and t-shirt.

Chan steps closer to him, lifts his shirt above his chest, and licks a line of skin from his nipple to the waistband of his boxers. Felix’s breathing grows heavier as he feels Chan slowly lick along his inner thigh, lifting the fabric of his boxers to get even closer to his groin, teasing him.

He leaves wet kisses and bites on his thigh, slowly moving behind him, where he lowers his underwear, revealing his ass and a little surprise that makes Chan’s breath hitch.

His mouth trails distractedly up the blond’s back as he straightens. His hands roam over Felix’s hips before moving to his naked ass, where he runs two fingers over the toy nestled between his cheeks.

“And what would this be, hm?” Chan takes it in his hand and begins to move it back and forth slowly, making Felix gasp.

“J-Jeongin made me put it in.”

Chan thrusts it in harder, making Felix moan and bite his lower lip.

“And you immediately obeyed that request. What a filthy boy you are. You love the idea of having your hole full in front of all of us without anyone knowing, don’t you? Acting all innocent around us while hiding such a dirty secret.”

Felix’s breath catches. His mind focuses on the movement of the plug going in and out of him and on Chan’s hand gripping his hip tightly. His eyes look ahead, but he doesn’t really pay attention to the mirror reflecting them.

The plug is suddenly pulled out, making him whine, but is immediately replaced by Chan’s hard cock.

Felix yelps in surprise, and Chan’s hand moves to cover his mouth. His eyes fill with tears again as he whimpers into the hand.

“We have to be quiet. We don’t want to be heard, do we?”

Felix nods obediently, but his untouched cock twitches at the thought that someone might have heard, and Chan notices. “But you’d like that, wouldn’t you, hm?” He starts moving his hips back and forth without giving Felix time to adjust —not that he particularly needs it. “You’d like it if someone walked in on us right now, wouldn’t you? You’d want them to see your fucked-up face from daddy’s cock, huh?”

Felix moans as Chan removes his hand, “Y-yes, daddy.”

“Look at yourself,” Chan says, lifting Felix’s face with a hand to make him look at his own reflection in the mirrored wall, “Look at the slut you’ve become for me. Following orders just like a little puppy, always ready to spread your legs at any moment.”

Both of Chan’s hands grip his hips, holding him steady, and Felix is forced to bend over with his hands on the mirror for balance.

“Letting yourself get fucked even in the practice room,” Chan groans, “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” His voice comes out more affected than he’d prefer, hips faltering for a moment.

Felix’s hands and breath fog up the mirror, his face pressed against the surface as his legs tremble with each strong thrust.

He sobs as Chan hits his prostate and whimpers when Chan’s hand smacks his ass hard. His cock leaks precum onto the floor, and Chan needs every ounce of self-control to stop himself from dropping to his knees and licking up every single drop.

“C-Chris, go f-faster, please.” Felix feels like he might cry if Chan doesn’t pick up the pace, struggling to keep his voice down.

“Finally learning to keep your voice down, huh? Good boy.”

Felix’s stomach does a backflip at the praise after all the degradation —not that he minded it at all.

Felix’s legs feel like they might give out at any moment, and Chan notices. His eyes fill with adoration.

“Hold onto me.” Felix doesn’t understand at first, but when he does, he reaches back and grabs onto the older man’s muscular shoulders.

Chan’s hands slip behind Felix’s thighs, gripping them harshly and lifting his legs, bringing Felix’s knees to his chest. Felix moans in surprise and clings to him even tighter.

“Better.” Chan groans and starts moving again, the sweet sounds from Felix’s lips returning as his face twists in a giddy expression, biting his lower lip to stifle the sounds.

For his own amusement, Chan spreads his legs wider. “Look at yourself,” he demands. Felix opens his half-closed eyes to gaze at his reflection in the mirror, but he immediately regrets it as shame washes all over him.

His ears turn even redder, and he tries to ignore the way his stomach tightens deliciously at the sight.

His legs shake with each thrust, and his eyes well with tears, but he can’t tear them away from the pornographic reflection in front of him.

“C-Chan, it’s- it’s embarrassing…” Felix whines.

“But you love it.” Felix quickly shakes his head at the words, sobbing at a particularly hard thrust that hits his prostate. “And yet you keep watching yourself. Look at you, crying on my cock. You’re just so easy to handle.”

Felix doesn’t respond. His eyes are fixed on the way the older man’s fingers press into his thighs. He bites his lower lip, hoping they’ll leave little marks so he can remember this. Not that he’ll forget anyway.

Chan breathes against his shoulder, his soft moans reaching Felix’s ears. Now that Felix notices, Chan seems more affected than he did just before.

The older man has a focused expression, panting as his eyes are glued to the way his own cock thrusts in and out the younger’s stretched hole, the latter’s cock bouncing with each movement.

“Your tight little hole feels so good.” He starts leaving open-mouthed kisses on the other’s neck, “How does daddy’s dick feel? Huh?”

“G-good, feels so good.” Finally, tears start to roll down his cheeks, his mind clouded with pleasure and his body trembling.

“Aw, baby, let go,” Chan breathes, “C-cry for me.” Chan’s cock twitches inside Felix, dribbles of cum leaking from it’s red tip, and Felix sniffles.

“I-I’m close,” he cries, “P-please, I’m gonna cum.” His voice turns urgent and desperate.

Suddenly, Chan brings him back down to the floor, making Felix gasp. He would have fallen if Chan’s strong hands weren’t holding him.

“Oh my god.” Felix moans, his voice high-pitched and eyes rolling back.

Chan guides Felix’s hips, making him thrust back onto his cock, fast and hard, driving him closer to his high. But he won’t give it to him so easily.

Felix closes his eyes, his hands fogging up the mirror. He almost feels sorry for whoever will have to clean it later. “‘M so close, please.”

“Almost.”

Felix cries out, hands reaching for something to grip that isn’t there. He tries moving his hips on his own, trying to get some kind of control.

“Please, Channie, please! Let me cum, please.”

“Hold it.” Chan orders him, choking out a moan from Felix.

“I c-can’t, I need to cum so bad, please, I-I can’t hold it.” Felix pleads, desperate for release.

“Who do you belong to?” Chan asks suddenly. It’s not a question he feels the need to have the expected answer to, but it’s always fun to tease the younger one a little.

“You,” Felix’s voice is shaky as he tries his best to obey and hold it, “Y-you, all yours, b-belong to you!” He says maybe a bit too loudly, but who is he to care at this moment, when all he can think about is the orgasm that’s about to overtake him?

“Is that so?” The sound of skin slapping against skin is louder in the room now, and Chan’s voice tries to remain steady but fails, revealing just how affected he really is.

“Yes! Yes!” Felix cries, his high dangerously close and probably now out of his control.

“Good.” Felix takes this as permission, and immediately he’s shaking and squirming in Chan’s hands, who follows right after, buried deep inside him, as Felix’s cum spurts onto the floor and partly onto the mirror.

They are panting as they come down from their highs, trying to regulate their breaths.

“Still with me?” Chan checks, still holding him by the hips to prevent him from falling to the floor, leaning forward to see his face, which is turned down with his head resting against the surface of the mirror.

“Mhm.” Felix whimpers softly with a heavy breath.

Chan is grateful to always have baby wipes on hand in his bag —as he says, ‘you never know’, and this situation is a perfect example— because it takes him hardly any time to clean them both up, and he even wipes the floor while Felix sits on a chair, despite having insisted on cleaning up his mess himself.

“All done,” Chan says as he stands back up and goes to Felix to toss the dirty wipes in the bin beside him. “The staff will be here shortly, we need to go.”

Felix nods, but before getting up, he pouts his lips, seeking a kiss, which Chan gives him only after imprinting a picture of his cute face looking up at him with big eyes into his mind.

The older man smiles into the kiss, and when Felix feels it, he smiles back, and they both chuckle with their lips still connected.

The younger wraps his arms around Chan’s neck, not wanting to let go and wanting to stay like this even for hours, with his lips against Chan’s soft ones. But they can’t, not right now.

“We’ll cuddle when we get back to the dorms, okay?” Chan promises him.

“No, I want cuddles now.” Felix shows no intention of letting go; in fact, he clings to him even more, burying his face in Chan’s shoulder.

Chan sighs with an affectionate smile and wraps his arms around him in a tight but gentle hold. He lifts Felix up, and Felix wraps his legs around his waist.

Chan grabs his bag and walks toward the exit. “I guess we’ll have to go out like this.”

“At least the others will understand to whom I belong.” Felix teases him with a smirk.

Chan’s ears turn red, and he slaps his butt in admonishment, “Brat.”

[chaoticace2005]

The list of regrets I totally have and am not just writing because Charlie is making me, Vagina Vaggie is glaring at me, and I want the free rent:

By Angel Dust, 3 time X-X-X award winner.

(Warning, there is some victim blaming in this. The abuse Angel faces from Val is not his fault, but given that I’m writing this from his perspective I figured it would be something he’d add.)

1. Writing this list

2. Verbally complaining about writing this list cause now Vagina wants to stab me.

3. Only taking half my usual hit before starting today.

4. Complaining about not being high enough.

5. Not hiding my drugs better

6. Not having more stashes of drugs

7. Calling TV superior to radio.

8. Not killing that snake before he had a chance to go to the hotel.

9. Not “trying hard enough” at this shitty hotel.

10. Being too close to roof so the CRAZY BITCH COULD THROW ME OFF OF IT.

11. Walking up the stairs with Pentious only to have to go IMMEDIATELY BACK DOWN.

12. Signing my deal with fucking Valentino. Seriously I’m a fucking idiot.

13. Even suggesting the idea that Charlie should come to the studio. She’s just going to get hurt.

14. Mouthing off to Val.

15. Not getting Charlie out of the hotel sooner

16. Being such a pathetic, dick sucking ho who isn’t good at anything beyond sex.

17. Not being able to take all of this.

18. Not acting well enough cause some this bitchass cat is seeing through me.

19. Ever offering that bitchass cat my services.

20. Pushing Husk’s boundaries

21. Not being my true self.

22. Acting for so long I don’t even really know who my true self is

23. Being a dick to Charlie

24. Being a dick to Husk

25. Being a dick to everyone

26. Putting my dick in a vacuum cleaner.

27. Calling Smiles a creepy dommy daddy.

28. Letting Niffty know about some of my more kinky films. She’s getting ideas…

29. Trying to play poker with Husk (and not even strip poker!)

30. Testing if my venom works on myself (it doesn’t and now I have pink bite marks)

31. Leaving what I used to clean my bites out because somehow Alastor found them and is now TEMPORARILY PARALYZED AND I DONT WANT HIM TO KILL ME WHEN HE CAN MOVE AGAIN.

32. Not answering Val’s texts.

33. Wearing boots. Seriously these things hurt sometimes.

34. Having ugly feet so I can’t NOT wear boots.

35. Tracking mud into the hotel

36. Mentioning sex around the Egg Bois because now I have to explain what it is.

37. Describing sex as something their boss “has never had,” it got back to Pentious and I’m scared.

38. Mentioning “Vox” anywhere in Alastor’s vicinity.

39. Agreeing to play Monopoly with Niffty. In general Monopoly sucks but Niffty likes to get knives involved?!?!

40. Getting addicted to drugs.

41. Getting caught in that alleyway by my BITCHASS brother.

42. Not trying harder for Molly.

43. Not saying goodbye.

44. Fucking overdosing.

45. Doing literally fucking nothing with my life and nothing with my death.

46. Taking the easy was out and doing whatever pops told me to

47. Yelling “FUCK” loudly in church that one time

48. Not teaching these people at the hotel how to FUCKING MAKE SPAGHETTI RIGHT?!

49. Getting high with Cherri.

50. Telling Val to “fuck off”

51. Flirting with that one cannibal guy because now they all seem to want to EAT ME (and not in the sexy way)

52. Leaving those pot brownies out. High cannibals, Egg Boiz, and Nifftys are terrifying.

53. Letting myself be named “Angel” because this makes shit too damn confusing plus I think Niffty wants to KILL ME?!

54. Not spending more time with these losers

55. Not opening myself up to Husk sooner.

56. Being too much of a coward to tell him how I feel.

57. Mentioning Pent has two dicks to Cherri cause she won’t stop asking about it.

58. Not doing enough to save Pentious.

59. Not telling him how much he means to me.

60. Trying to lift way more than I should have. Apparently six arms doesn’t mean I’m super strong.

61. Calling Niss a short motherfucker who nobody likes. I’m sorry, I’ll be better (and call him something even worse next time.)

62. Still being too much of a coward to tell Husk how I feel.

63. Flirting with Husk in Italian when he UNDERSTOOD ME THIS WHOLE DAMN TIME?!

64. Getting a room on the same side of the building as Alastor’s because he keeps laughing at 3 in the morning???

65. Kissing Husk in public. Val is mad.

66. Trying to even have a boyfriend with Val around. It’s stupid.

67. Calling yourself stupid for wanting to have a boyfriend.

68. Giving my boyfriend access to this list.

69. No regrets. Only 69. :D (Jesus Christ you’re a child.)

[silverskull]

Chenford and The Rookie S6

This is a post where I vent my frustrations with The Rookie season 6 and the Chenford breakup. I will take questions, but I do not guarantee an answer. Retain the fact that this is a TV show I am mad at, not someone/thing in your personal life.

This month/few weeks haven't been great for me to absorb what happened in the last episodes of the season. Some of the reasons are listed below before I start sounding off.

-Unrelated but irritating:

Working 3 jobs, only 1 is paid. 

Crunch time at all 3 jobs

Visiting family expecting all of my time (same crunch weeks as work)

-Related and disappointing:

Cancelled cameo

Cancelled convention appearance

Sloppy SM and PR, frequently missing Melissa

Short S6

Late S7 renewal announcement

Delayed start S6 and extra-long hiatus before S7

Specifics:

Okay, so in 606 Tim lied - so did Lucy and Lopez. Why was there no IA investigation for them or concern about their honour? We were led to believe in 214 (Casualties) that everyone involved in an off-book mission could be compromised. So now why is the fact that Tim is lying more important than either woman compromising their career? Why is there no acknowledgement of THEIR discomfort? Lucy was already on shaky ground after he let her take the blame for SOME RANDOM SCENE COPS??!!? at the clown murder before her detective exam, but now I’m supposed to be worried about Sergeant Spotless-Record Bradford and his honour?! He could have just let that Ray guy go, or even fucking TOLD SOMEONE. He'd still have saved the Venezuelan, but it would have been above board.

And then, apparently the breakup happened over the aforementioned lying and Tim and Mark’s coverup of Ray’s misdeeds. We got no further clarification on this. And I really tried. I read deeply, DEEPLY into Tim’s reasoning (there are tumblr posts and twitter threads). I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I earnestly plead with people on twitter to give it time. But instead of that patience paying off, all we got was Tim trying to act normal, Lucy justifiably pissed, and generalised "things" opened up in (blackmail) therapy?

(Here’s where people have been coming at me too: I don’t really care about the therapy storyline. Honestly, if it’s not done well, I don’t know why we bother. I'm not out to get therapy, I just don't think it's working here. Just mention it and carry on like with Lucy after DOD, or show some scenes from the damn sessions. But turning the therapist into a blackmailer for Monica, who was selling to The Swiss?!?? or an Argentinian??? (I don’t even know and I do not care, and I will not listen if you try to explain, lalalalalala) How did we even end up here???)

And it PISSES ME OFF that we spent years building up the momentum for there to be turbulence in their relationship over Lucy going UC. We were ready. We were waiting. The traps were laid and baited. And they just went PSYCH! IT’S TIM’S ARMY DAYS THAT ARE THE PROBLEM, EVEN THOUGH WE LEAD YOU TO BELIEVE HE WAS WELL ADJUSTED BACK IN 214 WITH MITCH AND 311 WITH KATIE BARNES LOLOLOL

We have spent SO MUCH time on Tim's backstory. In fact, here's a list!

Isabel - wife -> ex-wife, UC drug addict, unfaithful

Tom Bradford - abusive father

Army - Let Mitch get his leg blown up; told Katie to let it go with a ladybird; unblemished record;

Cop Buddies - Wrigley -> lazy; Mack -> Addict;

Love Interests - Isabel, Rachel, Ashley

Family - Genny and Tyler (and some other nephew, and apparently a niece and a drunk uncle)

Here is what we know about Lucy:

Mother, Vanessa and father, Patrick, are psychologists and hard on Lucy

Mother had an affair with a patient (also named Patrick) who is Lucy's father, but - boo - he's dead. So is bff Jackson.

Aunt Amy and unseen Nana are nice.

Lucy's other love interests (206 ex, Emmet, Chris, TIMOTHY BRADFORD) have been assholes.

NOW WHOSE FECKIN BACKSTORY DO WE NEED TO SEE MORE OF???

(sorry to those of you who have heard all this from me before, I am literally typing my sporadic thoughts with you guys into longform)

Look, no doubt characters on this show need therapy, but if we’re just gonna make it a vehicle for some random side-characters to have an entire story arc, then WHY? And like, we were misled with the Bailan getting-pregnant storyline too, only to end back up where we started with fostering - because it’s only worth second place if your ovaries are geriatric. LIKE? SO. MANY. PROBLEMATICS.

It’s as if The Rookie plotters were given the outline to the exam questions… then tried to make the answers fit all the WRONG QUESTIONS (I may be speaking from experience). If the cards are laid out one way, don’t struggle to make a different answer fit. Just use what you’ve got, and use it wisely. Especially when it’s been working so well.

And another thing!!! Canon is not fiction - we all know that. We’ve all seen the ones who get carried away with fanon Chenford and ‘Lucy is vegan’-type imaginings that were never actually true. But saying if we don't like canon then we should just write or read fiction to deal with it is only serving to send people deeper into denial. There is a point where you are not crazy, and the writers did something stupid and you start understanding what ‘jumped the shark’ actually means.

Speaking of outdated TV lingo, I saw a really good tweet from Brian_Cronin :

TV showrunners accepting the "truism" that getting "will they/won't they?" characters together hurts the show, always citing Moonlighting, is because they like "rules" that remove their responsibility, as "Don't write the show poorly once they're together" puts the onus on them.

This goes for Chenford. No, Eric Winter. No, Alexi Hawley. We don’t need to see a breakup because it’s more like ‘reality’. Here’s a shocker: we come to watch a COP show, in this age of police brutality, global dictatorships, internationally ignored genocide, timelines full of dead babies and the constant looming threat of utter climate destruction to ESCAPE from reality. We are not watching a COP SHOW - A SHOW ABOUT ONE OF THE MOST VIOLENT, ABUSIVE POLICE FORCES IN THE WESTERN WORLD - for “reality”. Get your fucking head in the game. We supported you through pandemics and strikes, and you pull this season of SHIT on us.

I love all the characters, but I’m hooked for chenford. And I feel really badly treated.

If I was marking your exam, you’d get a failing grade.

“Started off well - linked UC storyline to previously-hinted relationship trauma. Dropped the plot entirely mid-way and brought in a host of unknowns. Tried to blame breakup on army issues previously marked as ‘resolved’, instead of UC drugs and unfaithful wife/abusive father? Reused names multiple times. Confusing and inconsistent. Fatally underused Chen character - inexplicably failing downwards, while Nolan character inexplicably promoted upwards. Use basic research next time."

[shellyswirlz]

________________________________________

Have we really gotten to the point where Jessie is forgotten/underrated, meanwhile James is the most popular and the only one who people pay attention to?

________________________________________

Like what ever happened to "You can't have Jessie without James"!? Also Jessie of team rocket has a really iconic design how could you ever forget about her? Hello?

Like ok.. I'm literally obsessed with James because he's a huge sweetie who I have a massive crush on.. I'M THE #1 JAMES SELFSHIPPER AFTER ALL! He's literally the embodiment of my type of man., But I'm not automatically forgetting about Jessie, and I care about her backstory as much as James' backstory!

I'm only making this post because hardly anyone ever mentions how great Jessie is from my experience being on the internet.. I've only seen stuff about James even when the post isn't even about James. And then whenever it's a post about only James, they don't even care about Jessie not even being in it. Like I'd expect the fandom to give them both the equal amount of respect but apparently not.... Like this isn't about James?? Back off?? Give my man a break I swear to freaking GOD... /vneg

I'd understand having a favorite. James is my favorite too obviously Meowth being my second favorite.. But where are the Jessie fans? She literally became one of my comfort characters 😭

Team rocket fans who only give a shit about one of the members, and not the others, shouldn't be a team rocket fan imo. Like it's not team James although I kinda wish it was because he's the goat and I love him so so so much.,,

I used to be only a James fan though admittedly before becoming a fan of team rocket as a whole though.. Because like I said James is literally my type lmao.,, So like I don't know maybe I'm just way too passionate about this and overthinking about it too much...

I feel one of the main reasons why I'm too passionate though, is because he's my main f/o, and several people acting weird and all like "OMG I WANT HIM‼️" to my f/o while forgetting about his best friend makes me very uncomfortable.., I'd say I am kind of a selective selfshipper at this point........ And Jessie along with Meowth are my comfort characters so I hate people forgetting them and pretending James is the only person on the team.. To add onto this crowds of strangers or weird people when it comes to ONLY JAMES specifically makes me feel really sick to my stomach..

However, I shouldn't feel too anxious about it because there are more men in Pokemon who are more popular than James nowadays, having those weird fans.,,, but it still feels sorta odd knowing people are like this to James in the fandom, and I have this really big emotional attachment to him... Heck I even once heard about someone who said they were just like Jessebelle when it comes to him which made me wanna break down crying. I swear so many people are so weird over my f/o, forgetting about Jessie's existence, it genuinely makes me wanna pass out.,,

Now that I think about it though... it's sorta somewhat similar to the neighbors from Eddsworld situation in the fandom almost., because everyone who were fans of the neighbors cared about Jon the most because he's the sweet cinnamon roll, but didn't give a shit about Eduardo or Mark despite them all being a team in a way.. And having nice designs :'D

Sorry for bringing all this up this bugged me a little, Like I know every trio has that one fan favorite character.. But it genuinely feels like Jessie isn't talked about at all and it's kinda starting to annoy me.. Everytime the both of them are drawn in a sexy way on the internet as well, people only pay attention to James as if Jessie isn't quite literally what everyone's type usually is on the internet.., The only time Jessie is really talked about in the fandom is when it's all of them I kid you tf not. This is so freaking weird... 😭

"Jessie and James are so iconic and cool!! I love team rocket!"

"Oohh cool what's your favorite thing about Jessie from that team?"

"Oh lol I don't care about Jessie that much.. James is peak"

Genuinely what this feels like..,

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

THIS ISN'T AIMED AT ANY OF MY MUTUALS BTW.. YOU GUYS ARE GOOD OR LESS ANNOYING FANS OF TEAM ROCKET! :D /GEN

[ggukkiedae]

we stick together

date: late october 2018

warning/s: mentions of when hannah iced everyone out

notes from cia: a little junghan fluff :3 a bunch of hannah content for 2018 is coming up to catch up to yoonmi in the timeline so everyone will be aligned! that means seri timeline posts like this soon, too!

gif is from pinterest, not mine! dialogue in italics is spoken in english

word count: 2.2k

hannah gets jungwoo to have dinner with and talk to her

“How are you keeping up, Kitsune.”

“I’m pretty good, Yuta-san.”

Their tired comments towards each other were barely audible with the music reverberating throughout the practice room and eleven pairs of footsteps synching with the music. The tension was high, and the whole 127 was using the last bit of energy to do well before practice was passed over to the dreamies, who all happened to be cheering them on.

By the time the music ended, Hannah looked behind her to see Yuta on the ground huffing. Not to say that she wasn’t huffing either, but the victory was in the fact that she was still standing. The cheers of the dreamies filled the room while the 127 members caught their breath. She walked over to pull Yuta from the ground.

“You win this round.” It looked like he was going to put her in a headlock, making her flinch slightly, but he decided to fix her hair instead. “How do you have so much energy?”

“I’m young and fresh,” she flipped her hair at him, making him laugh.

Jungwoo, who watched from beside them, laughed. “I don’t understand what this whole competition is.”

“Just seeing who’s the weaker one,” Hannah smiled at him while poking Yuta’s side. “Clearly, oppa, you’re doing better than Mister Anime Character over here.”

“I have to keep up with you guys somehow, right?”

Jungwoo’s statement may have sailed over the other members’ heads, but it stuck with her. How could it not when that was the same exact thing she was thinking merely a few months earlier?

It was a darker place for her back then. She had pulled away from the members and almost literally worked herself to death just trying to “keep up” with everyone else. Because of that, Haechan and Jaemin had made it a point to sleepover in her and Mark’s dorm ever since then.

She’d think that after all that, everyone would have caught on to those kinds of statements after that whole fiasco, but apparently not. Then again, everyone was exhausted, and Jungwoo had said it so quietly that she wasn’t sure if even Yuta heard it despite him being right behind her.

“8 Dream, your turn!” Their dance teacher’s voice brought her out of her thoughts, along with Jaemin who was already next to her and placing an electrolyte drink in her hand. “Let’s just go over your formations again so the three can rest.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if we have a fifteen-minute break?” Haechan asked hopefully, adding a bit of aegyo to his voice. He huffed when the choreographer gave them a look. “I know, I know. Tight schedule.”

“Let’s go,” she placed her drink down and got up, “because the sooner we start, the sooner we can finish.”

And the sooner she could talk to Jungwoo.

“I’m calling it,” Taeyong advised everyone as soon as he checked his phone, “we’re more than thirty minutes past our agreed ending time. Everyone wash up, eat, and get some rest. Haeeunie, Mark?”

The two who were fixing their bags next to each other both looked at their leader in attention upon being called.

“Yes, hyung?” Mark answered.

“Are you sleeping in the 127 dorms tonight?”

They exchanged looks before turning back to Taeyong. “Not tonight, hyung.”

“The kid’s just too shy to stay with us,” Johnny patted Hannah’s cheek, “which is why she knocks and waits for us to answer before going in. You know the passcode, princess. You can just go in, we know you aren’t some crazy person.”

She froze just the slightest bit at the mention of crazy people, but she laughed it off. “I don’t want to walk in and find any of you naked. Thanks, anyway, oppa.”

She accepted the shirt Johnny had handed her and slipped off the one she was wearing, leaving her in her sports bra for a bit. She laughed as most of her new unit members looked away, still not used to her doing that. Meanwhile, she handed Taeyong a towel as soon as he walked over.

“You do have to wait for a bit for your slippers,” Taeyong began as he helped her wipe the sweat off her back. “Sorry, the ones we ordered for you haven’t arrived yet.”

His words surprised her. They ordered her slippers? Specifically for her? That was strange. The dreamies tended to just wear whatever slippers they had around or just walk barefooted or in socks since they kept the floor clean anyway. No one had a set pair of slippers. Besides, she didn’t even live in the 127 dorms, so she didn’t think they’d get her anything for it.

“Stop giving that look,” Taeyong squished her cheeks into a forced smile, which she instinctively backed away from, making him laugh. “We ordered you a bunch of stuff for the dorm if you ever want to sleep over here during promotions. We know you Lee siblings just live in the building on the other street, but it might be easier for you, you know? My room’s always open for you.”

“Thanks, leader-nim,” she smiled at him before slipping Johnny’s shirt on and tying her hair up in a bun, “but we’re going back to our dorm. Hyuck, too. We have rehearsals in the morning before the Dream Show.”

“We won’t make a ruckus in the morning for you guys this way,” Mark added.

Taeyong looked at them worriedly, “Okay, babies. The three of you make sure to get proper rest okay? Kihyun hyung is my spy, so I will know if you don’t.”

She laughed at him as Haechan moved to stand beside her, taking her bag and throwing an arm around her and Mark’s shoulders, “I’ve got these babies, hyung.”

“You, too,” Taeyong lightly thumped Haechan’s forehead before walking away to check on the rest of the members.

Hannah simply laughed while Haechan gave a loud dramatic reaction to their leader’s actions. With one glance around the room, her eyes fell on the newest addition to the unit. She slipped from under her twin’s arm, leaving him for Mark to handle while she refilled her water bottle.

Jungwoo was already there, quietly filling up a small paper cup with his name written on it, uncharacteristically quiet. Jungwoo had been training with 127 for a while, learning the old choreographies alongside her, but this was his first time training with the exact same knowledge and experience with a song as the rest of the group. It must have felt as strange for him as it did for her when she first learned Cherry Bomb with the group despite not being in the actual comeback, and Touch as well.

“You know,” she smiled up at him while squatting to fill her bottle up after he retracted his cup, “I’d suggest bringing a water bottle to training. A big one.”

“What?” Jungwoo looked at Hannah in surprise as if he was broken out of his thoughts.

She just shrugged and gestured to the rest of the members around the practice room, “Unlike with the Boss unit, these oppas tend to take shorter breaks at longer intervals. You don’t get to drink or breathe as much when you spend time walking here, filling a cup, and all that.”

Jungwoo simply looked at her, as if trying to look into her thoughts. She simply got up and tilted her head at him.

“Oppa,” she called out, “do you want to have dinner with me? We can go to that small restaurant in the street behind the company?”

“That sounds nice,” Jungwoo nodded. “I’d like that.”

Hannah gave a satisfied smile as she walked over to Haechan, taking her wallet out of her bag that now hung on his shoulder. He gave her a curious look.

“Haeeun-ah,” his tone was serious, eyes narrowing slightly, “It’s almost eleven. Where are you going with your wallet?”

“Just the restaurant behind the building,” she told him. “Jungwoo oppa and I are just going to have dinner together and have a little 127 newbies time.”

Haechan’s eyes softened. She had told him before how she had wanted to be able to talk to Jungwoo about them both joining 127 at almost the same time, thinking it was a way for them to get even closer and for them to be reassured they had a companion. Haechan had encouraged this, but their busy schedule had kept her from finding the time so far.

However, it was late at night, and a few of the previous threats Haechan had read made him hesitant to let Hannah out without him by her side at this time. Hannah, knowing him inside-out, already knew how he felt.

“Jungwoo oppa and I will be together the whole time,” she reassured him, “and it’s just to the restaurant and home. We’re only three months apart, Hyuck. You don’t have to treat me like a baby.”

“You know I worry,” Haechan kissed the side of her head. “And I trust hyung. Just be back by 12:30. Mark hyung and I will wait for you at the 127 dorm so we can walk back together. Neither of you are walking alone at night. Oh, and bring me back some of the kimchi fried rice from there, I’d like that for breakfast.”

She just nodded at him, lightly shoving him away with a chuckle before heading to Jungwoo and holding out her hand for him to take. He smiled at her, taking her hand and looking around before quickly pulling her out the door. She laughed and jogged after him, shaking her head at Doyoung’s accusatory voice of her never wanting to hold his hand.

Laughter filled the small space as Hannah and Jungwoo exchanged stories of their time as trainees. The food in front of them disappeared quick as their hunger and exhaustion caught up to them, so they were left sitting and exchanging stories while waiting for the takeout Hannah had gotten for Mark and Haechan.

“It’s crazy, you know,” she told Jungwoo as their previous story wrapped up, “the day I met you, that was the day they told me I’d be in 127.”

Jungwoo met her eyes with a pleasant smile, gently pinching her cheek, “Now we’re both here.”

She instinctively swatted his hand away, making him chuckle. She filled their cups with water as she started speaking again. “I remember first training with the oppas and thinking I needed to do so much to catch up with them. You didn’t hear this from me, but I was maybe just a little bit scared.”

“They had your back, though,” Jungwoo noted.

“Yeah,” Hannah smiled to herself, “they helped me whenever I asked or when I looked confused about something, but still. I only ever spoke to Johnny oppa, Taeyong oppa, and Doyoung oppa out of the other 127 members. I trained with the girls before I trained with Dream.”

“Was it weird?”

“A little bit. I feel a little guilty to debut before the others, but most of them didn’t really like me, anyway. Being added into 127 with the oppas? Definitely weird. I had to take some time to learn the unit’s culture when together and how it differs from Dream.”

Jungwoo nodded in understanding. Training with other trainees was one thing. Training with the Boss unit was different. Training with 127 was another set of unwritten rules he had to figure out as well.

He pulled jokes and was friendly with the members, but he mostly stayed quiet during actual training in order to catch wind of how things work and to focus on being on par with the members to not burden them.

“It feels a little like I have to earn my spot in the unit,” she admitted.

The older boy looked at her in surprise. “You feel that, too?”

She shrugged, “127 achieved a lot in the past two years since debut. I felt like the odd one out for a while. Thus the whole icing-everyone-out situation a few months ago.”

“Right,” he nodded, “we were all worried. You were never the odd one out.”

“Neither are you,” she smiled at him, “I want you to know that. You deserve to be in NCT as much as any of us, and in 127, too.”

Jungwoo snorted before looking down at their table. “That’s why you wanted to get dinner with me, huh?”

“We 127 newbies have to stick together, don’t we?” She poked his head to get his attention. “I’ve got your back. We can gang up on everyone else. It’s you and me, oppa.”

He laughed, nodding at her. “It’s you and me, Hannah. I guess it’s nice to have someone who I can go through this with.”

“I think so, too.”

Before they could continue their conversation, the restaurant owner came, placing the takeout on the table and greeting them goodnight. Having already paid earlier, the two kids left the store with a grateful bow.

Hannah quietly watched a more relaxed Jungwoo chatter as they walked back to the dorm. She didn’t know if she could do it, but she’d try her damn best to make sure he didn’t feel the way she felt all those months ago.

taglist: @1-800-enhypennabi @strwberrydinosaur @sunflower-0180 @caratinylyfe @1-800-minji @one16core @kimhyejin3108 @chansols @akshverse @world-full-of-roses @stopeatread @allthings-fandoms

drop an ask or a dm if you wanna be added or taken out of the taglist 🥰 requests are also open!

[coredrill]

this post is not abt bravern but it Is abt my Bravern Feelings

i miss this show so much already SOBS. i did enlist another g roup of irl friends to watch it w me though and we are starting tomorrow so yay :] and also beware the rewatch posts

[guy who has said that i'm glad i watched this live every week voice] i'm rly glad i watched this live, but this time its bc. i think there is something so truly and genuinely special abt the way that the theories abt bravern himself evolved week to week.........like at first everyone was like Well maybe he's an evil alien who is gonna Kill isami. and then everyone was like Well maybe he's a death drive and isami is his lulu. and THEN everyone was like Well there's still some knuth in there so. but none of that was the case!!! none of that was true!!! it was literally just this one guy and all of the love he has and Absolutely Sucks Shit at expressing!!!!!!! and i just. idk. that hits me rly hard that maybe it was percieved as sinister at first just cause it was a little Off but in the end it was something really really sweet :] it also just feels like yet another way of the show doing its "we know audiences aren't willing to accept optimism at face value these days" schtick like they mentioned in that one interview and just. showing how bravern himself evolves in the eyes of the viewer. it's rly special to me :]

i know bravern speaking german in ep2 was a nod to the translator he uses on superbia later but. what if someone loved you so much they became german (if i ever mention kyouji again in a bravern context just fucking shoot me)

WILD to watch the finale and then see the isami hate train take off FKSJDHFJ cause i feel like i adored him so much in that ep LMAO. my guy really felt every emotion known to man in the span of 22 minutes and then started makin gup new ones. he's very human!!! and i love that abt him!!!!

although some takes. i'm ngl. i know we joke abt subtext and cowards but it becomes less funny when the subtext that is there is missed LMAO

sorry to keep bringing up ep4 but i think its SO interesting how like. the way that bravern seems to helps isami out emotionally in that ep actually ends up not helping him in the long run aswell? like getting to know all those ppl care abt him is good ofc but it also feeds Directly into his hangups in ep5. and i remember being a little confused as to Why that was the case on first watch cause ep4 was So abt his beef w lulu (FLSDKJFH) but w the smith being a human again thing in the end it makes. so much more sense!!!!! i can't wait to rewatch the show w it still fresh in my mind and find even more!!!!!!

and omg the beef with lulu. literally nothing is funnier to me than "we are gonna have one Rival Fight in this show and that position is gonna be filled by isami and smith's fucking KID" SOBS. LIKE. it kills me FKSLDJFHL. though i will say again that i think it is So fucking special that in ep10 lulu specifically calls out isami taking care of her after smith dies and it apparently happens to such a degree that like. he is worth her time traveling back to save independently aswell? even though there was no way that he "took care of her" for more than a couple days? which i think just says so much abt isami in the sense that like. at no point before ep6-7ish in his arc would he have even entertained that idea. uwu

i think i said this before but ikd if i included the screenshot but. the fact that while bravern is dying he sees THAT SAME FUCKING PICTURE is just evidence that men do not take enough photos i think

there is literally Nothing more onbrand for bravern than the fucking. "ep13 abema listing" (if anyone who has not heard abt that sees this. it was just a rebroadcast of ep12 mislabeled) sending everyone into a tizzy regarding like. Secret Episode Question Mark except half of everyone being convinced its an april fools joke and the other half being convinced that the april fools joke is that we didn't expect it. and then it turns out to not be interntional atall and the real april fools joke is Fry Pan. SOBS

Crunchyroll I Am Begging You If You Dub This Please Dub The Songs Too Oh My God (<- delusional)

anyways!!!!!!!!!!! again i know recency bias is the killa but god. i really loved this show a lot!!!! it might be an alltime fave story for me in general!!!!!! even if it's not it was a really special experiance and story on the whole and i'm just really really happy i get to carry it in my heart forever :]

[substituted-shinigami]

Bleach Book Club - Letters From The Other Side

Welcome to Bleach Book Club, where we discuss Bleach Books! Today we are going over the first Bleach light novel, Letters From the Other Side!

Non-spoilery description:

The book description of this story is: It is a novelization of the early chapters of the Bleach manga. Now I’ve read very little of the manga, mostly just watched the anime, so I don’t know if that is true. However I can say for sure that this story did not appear in the anime. Rather than “monster of the week”, like many of the early episodes of Bleach are, it is a “slice of life” story about a lazy sunday at the Kurosaki Household. Rukia makes fun of Ichigo for being "such a hard worker" and studying on the weekend. Ichigo makes fun of Rukia for sleeping in so late and forgetting they have a test LITERALLY TOMORROW, at which point Rukia freaks out, and hijinks ensue. It’s great! Please check it out if you haven’t already, but for those who just need/want a quick summary, here you go!

Spoilery description:

It’s Sunday at the Kurosaki household so that means no school and the clinic is closed. Everyone is eating a leisurely breakfast, except for Ichigo who has to quickly eat in order to bring breakfast to Rukia in secret. When he gets there, despite the fact that he’s two hours later than he normally would be on a school morning, Rukia is still fast asleep, and doesn’t wake up until he knocks. He makes fun of her for this, but Rukia is too happy about receiving food (especially if that food is a cucumber and ham sandwich) to be too mad about it. When she sees Ichigo studying at his desk, she teases him for being such a hard worker for studying on such a nice day. At which point he turns around and says she must be easygoing to not study for their test tomorrow. Rukia says that written tests don’t matter, only practical exams do, and asks when those are. Ichigo says they don’t have any, at which point Rukia freaks out. Turns out if she gets bad marks and has to stay after school, she’ll miss her favorite anime. She demands Ichigo teaches her how to study, but he says he’s too busy studying for the tests (I believe they are midterms?) himself. Kon calls Ichigo heartless, but Rukia agrees Ichigo shouldn’t have to help her, and after changing in the closet, leaves for the library. After she leaves, Kon reminds Ichigo that Rukia is from another world, and therefore legitimately doesn’t know how things work here and probably actually needs help, despite what she says. After some more “Kon hijinks” that results in Ichigo removing his pill so that he can study in peace, he thinks about Rukia’s predicament, sighs, and gives one of his friends a call.

After leaving Ichigo’s house, Rukia runs into Orihime and Tatsuki. When asked where she’s headed, she just mentions she’s going to the library to study. They ask her if she wants to study with them, but due to needing to go to Urahara’s as well, she declines. Orihime then offers Rukia her notes, but Tatsuki says that despite Orihime being very smart, her notes are completely nonsensical. Tatsuki then apologizes and says that her notes are all over the place, but that if Rukia has extra time, she can always come by her house later to study. As the girls leave, Rukia thinks about how nice they are.

Unfortunately, the translation I read was missing the next chapter where Rukia goes to the library, but I think she runs into Keigo and Mizuiro? She tries to hide from them, but fails.

Anyway, the next chapter has Ichigo meeting up with Chad, apparently the only one in their friend group with actually good notes. In fact, Chad’s notes are so good that they have helped Ichigo improve in some of his classes in the past. Anyway, Chad gives him a notebook and asks if Ichigo is using them for himself. Ichigo lies and says he is (since he can’t tell him about Rukia living in his closet), and Chad immediately realizes the truth, but is nice enough not to say anything. They then part ways.

In the last chapter, Ichigo gives Rukia the notes when she returns to the house. He explains they are from Chad, and that even if she crams, she should be able to get by. She thanks him genuinely before disappearing into the closet to study.

My thoughts:

Let me start off by saying, I really love this book. I enjoyed the slice of life feel, and I was really able to connect to the characters. I have been both the Ichigo and the Rukia when it comes to waking others up/being woken up in the morning. I am ABSOLUTELY NOT a morning person, and neither are my siblings, so sometimes I'm the one and other times I am the other. Also, food 100% makes the process better! 10/10 would recommend. Also, I know this is personal, but I love that the Kurosaki family water down their juices. As someone else who grew up with multiple siblings, watering down the juice is a great way to make it last longer, so that was a nice detail. Lastly, I will love this book and Tite Kubo forever for giving us bedhead Rukia art! She is adorable, and I love her with all my heart!

Moving on to the rest of the story, I like that we get to see Rukia interact with some of the other characters too! Rukia is pretty walled off emotionally during the Soul Society Arc, so it's nice to see her inner dialogue when talking to characters like Orihime and Tatsuki. Poor girl, she really liked them, but was scared to get too close! She wasn't of this world after all…

I like the bit of lore we get about Chad and Ichigo’s history too! I like how it builds out their early relationship beyond just "fighting bros".

And in the end, Ichigo gives Rukia the notes because he is a chump, I mean, a really nice guy! (Despite his attempts to appear otherwise, lol!) And Rukia shows honest gratitude despite her SS Arc tsundere tendencies! All in all, a good end to a good book!

Things I learned about the characters:

Ichigo: His family's clinic is closed every Sunday. I always assumed it was an emergency room, and that they were open 24/7! Also, I think this novel is a good reminder that Ichigo doesn't just help out his friends by fighting. He does little things like this too!

Rukia: I always assumed she wasn't a morning person, but this definitely confirms it! Best bedhead, 10/10! I wanted to hug her so bad! I would argue, however, that despite this, she is a very light sleeper since she wakes up on the first knock. Considering her background, both in Rukongai and as a soldier, this makes sense. Also, Rukia, even though you are my favorite character, and I love you, you would make (and technically did make) a terrible roommate! But hey, this does mean she makes great roommate/found family sitcom material! Get this woman a show! (Oh wait!) Anyway, as what was implied by Canon, Rukia is a terrible written test taker, but could probably apply the principles well enough.

Orihime: Is a genius, and just like all geniuses, her notes are illogical to the average person, or shinigami in this case! Also, I wouldn't be surprised if Orihime sort of figured out that Rukia was going through some stuff, not just physically (what with the supernatural battles and all), but also emotionally. Orihime is a nice person who loves making friends, but getting turned down by someone you barely know rarely upsets someone this much. Add that on to what we know of Orihime's past, and I wouldn't be surprised if she figured out that Rukia was severely depressed and was hiding it from everyone, including Ichigo. I think it would be interesting to see Orihime's perspective of Rukia during the Soul Society Arc.

Tatsuki: Her notes are also very bad! Haha! I'm still mad Rukia didn’t take her up on her offer of coming over to study. I WANT TO SEE THESE THREE GIRLS IN A STUDY GROUP TOGETHER!

Chad: The only character out of the entire story who has good, legible notes. Good on you, Chad! I know it feels weird to bring up Renji in a story where he doesn't show up, but if he was as good a test taker as his academy days backstory suggests, then I think he and Chad would make good study buddies!

Kon: Despite Kon being uh… Kon, I like how this story reminds us that this guy is pretty insightful too. Really wish the original story did more with his character.

Final thoughts:

Definitely check this story out if you get a chance! It’s a lot of fun and it’s always nice seeing these characters in such a chill setting. I love them all so much, and think they should all get an apartment together in a college style/found family AU asap! (Oh, look, a drabble!)

Anyways, thank you for reading!

Sources

Story: https://www.wattpad.com/122235261-bleach-letters-from-the-other-side-letters-from

Art: https://imgur.com/a/bYWlb

[ncisfranchise-source]

With the April 15 episode of “NCIS” on CBS, the overall franchise — including its multiple spinoffs — clocks its 1,000th episode. That’s a milestone for all of the associated series, but the mothership show accounts for nearly half of those, and is edging ever closer to its own once-unfathomable benchmark: “NCIS” O.G. is at 463 episodes and counting, with the 500-show mark hardly out of reach, especially now that the show has just been renewed for its 22nd season. There’s no end in sight, with the top-rated drama series having proven its ability to withstand cast changes, such as the loss of Mark Harmon, the show’s original team leader, in 2021. (Gary Cole tagged in as Harmon was departing during Season 19.)

And yet, if there were a complete and total turnover, fans’ loyalty might not still be the same. Although there’s no cast member left from the show’s premiere back in 2003, it has two who were extremely close to the origin point, in Sean Murray and Brian Dietzen, who had recurring characters during the first season before becoming series regulars. And Rocky Carroll goes back to Season 5 — several lifetimes ago in network TV time. Not to mention, “NCIS” benefits greatly from the infusion of new blood, in “recent” additions like Katrina Law (who joined in the 18th season) and Diona Reasonover (who came in in Season 16).

To celebrate the franchise’s 1,000th episode, as the cast was leaving for hiatus after wrapping up Season 21, Variety gathered together two of those longest-standing cast members, Murray and Carroll, and two of the newest regulars, Law and Reasonover, for a discussion about the vein of immortality they’ve apparently tapped into.

For all of you, but especially the more veteran members, what was your honest prospectus for how long this gig was going to last when you came on?

Rocky Carroll: When I came on the show toward the end of Season 5, I literally was telling my friends, “Hey, I made it on the tail end of the series. If it goes seven years, at least I got in two full seasons on a hit show!” I was thinking, if we get to seven seasons, man, it’ll be a feather in my cap. And that was 16 years ago. That was my mindset, because most of the most famous shows in television history, hit shows that you know, have gone less than 10 seasons — six, seven is kind of the goal. So when we got into double digits, I knew we were in rare air.

Sean Murray: Yeah, I feel the same. In terms of when you start a TV show, the pilot getting picked up is a miracle. Then the pilot going to series is a miracle. To have a full season is a miracle! To go four or five years is unbelievable and rare. To go 21 years is unfathomable. TV shows are not meant to go that long.

I joke about how on our sets, the partitions that make up our office sets are falling apart. They’re literally held together by rubber bands. So, it’s hard to wrap your head around. And the world of “NCIS” seems to be this living thing where characters can come and go from it. It’s wild to be here 21 years later and have everyone sticking with us — kind of unheard of, I think.

Sean, going back to the first season, when you were on just eight episodes, were you nervous then, like — “Is this even gonna be like a regular gig next year”?

Murray: Well, it happened sort of naturally. McGee came in as a one-time guest star, and was a probational rookie officer at the local base in Virginia, Norfolk, helping the team with the case. He slowly started appearing more and more after that, and it just kind of felt like a natural sort of progression. It felt almost like he was a little slice of the pie — the pizza pie — that made up the team, like there was something untouched there, and McGee filled that a little bit and it allowed for some new dynamics.

I remember when we finished Season 1, talking to Harmon and everyone else, and saying, “I hope I see you guys next year.” Good things were in the air, and I came back full-time on Season 2, so I guess it worked out.

Carroll: And, for the record, actors never lose that sense of, “Is this the last time…?” You’re constantly in a state of, what’s next, as a performer. Even if you do a show that’s this successful, you always look at the next script as if, “Am I OK? I’m in this episode, too. Good. Good.” You never lose that sense. It’s an innate thing for us actors to always feel like, “OK, are we still a part of this? Is this gonna have a future?” That never goes away.

Rocky Carroll as NCIS Director Leon Vance and Sean Murray as Special Agent Timothy McGee on “NCIS.”CBS

Sean, do people look to you as an “NCIS” historian, just because you go back so close to day one?

Murray: No, I hope not, because I can barely remember what I had for lunch. We’ve done almost 500 of these bad boys, so I usually count on our fans to tell me what’s going on.

Katrina Law: No, Sean has an uncanny memory for details of very specific scripts. There are times where he’ll pull out a character from Episode 3 of Season 4 and tell you the entire plot line. You’re like, “Oh my gosh, how do you remember all of this?” So I go to Sean as the historian. He knows everything.

Murray: Sometimes I can pull it out, every once in a while, if I got some sleep.

So you’re forgetting what a good memory you have. Katrina, for your part, how many times do we get to read in the trades or in Wikipedia or anywhere that a principal cast member “came on in the 18th season.”

Law: I was laughing, because the newbies on the show consist of me and then Diona, who’s now going to — what? Your seventh or eighth season? And that’s usually when most hit shows are ending. But that’s considered the new blood on the show. So that made me laugh a little bit.

When I came on in the 18th season, I’m not gonna lie: “NCIS” felt like home to me. And the reason why is because I have been watching the show off and on for the past 20 or, at that point, 18 years, with my father and with my husband. So it’s this whole dynamic of kind of growing up with the show. So the thought of it going on forever doesn’t seem that strange, because it feels like it’s been on forever and it’s just a fabric of American television culture, or of, actually, international world culture.

But when I came on, I knew that Harmon was leaving, so we all just thought to ourselves, well, it’s either gonna be one fantastic season and — like Rocky said — what’s next?, or we’re gonna pull it together. I think it’s a testimony to this cast and the chemistry that we all just gel and — tell me if I’m wrong, guys, but we have such a beautiful chemistry off screen that it carries on to the screen. And with our writers constantly coming up with fresh new ideas, and then having the new blood of Diona and me infusing with the old blood and being able to create new stories and new dynamics, there’s so much more versatility now that I think the show has potential to still go on for a long time.

For the the two of you who are “the new blood,” so to speak, you have to have a sense of the hole you’re filling when you come in, because typically someone else has left the show. At least, I’m guessing you have this vague awareness of, OK, here’s what the show’s been missing that I’m bringing in, but I can’t duplicate what anybody did before me.

Diona Reasonover: Oh, more than a vague awareness. I felt so fortunate when I got this show, mainly because everybody was so welcoming, from the jump. But also, I knew exactly who Abby was. You get Pauley Perrette in your mind — and she had been literally part of people’s families, because this show becomes something that people watch multi-generationally — and the characters almost become like family members. So I was really nervous, but I actually found the fans to be quite welcoming too. I still get people saying, now, “I wasn’t sure I was gonna like you at first, but I do now.” And I’m glad to have won them over.

Carroll: At the end of Season 5, because the cast had been so firmly established, and my character was sort of a cog in the wheel, I was basically told by the producers, “Don’t read the social media.” Although at the time, there was no Twitter, so it was more like fan pages. And literally, you feel like a stepdad coming into a new family, and the kids are like, “That’s not my dad.” So for a long period of time, I was told, “Just stay away from the fans’ responses.” But over time they grow to accept you, and I give the fans of the show so much credit, because over these 21, now 22 seasons, with all the changes and machinations that have happened with us, the fans have stayed with us.

It’s like when you’re friends with somebody for life, when somebody has a real impact on you, you’re not just friends with ’em when things are good. You go through all of their ups and downs, peaks and valleys. And we’ve dealt with death, with loss, in real life, and changes in cast, changes in so many different ways. And the fans say, “Hey, we’re still here. We still believe in it.”

Rocky, how many years did it take you to get over being the new guy?

Carroll: About 10.

Just a decade? OK.

Carroll: No, you know, going into this, the only person that I knew who was connected to “NCIS” was Mark Harmon. He and I worked together on “Chicago Hope,” so I was the Mark Harmon-approved hire. So I figured, look, if there’s one person that you should know coming into something that’s already established already, it’s good to know No. 1 on the call sheet. So I just sort of said, “Hey, listen, I’m here. I follow your lead, however you need me. I don’t need to be front and center.”

I loved kind of having this antagonistic sort of relationship with the main character, but I knew I was in good hands because Harmon and I knew each other. He was the one that said to everybody else, the networks and the studio, “This guy will help us out.” So I always felt like I was in good hands, regardless of the fan pages. Harmon was like, “Just come in and do your job.” So that’s kind of where I went.

I remember eight years or so in, I was on set and I’d have conversations with Michael Weatherly about what could actually kill “NCIS.” And he would say that maybe the only thing that could really kill it is Harmon leaving, because it could probably survive anyone else’s loss. Would any of you admit to harboring doubts that, yeah, maybe that would mark the end of the show? No pun intended.

Murray: Yeah, I mean, you never know what’s going to happen with that — that’s an unknown variable. But I remember getting the call that Gary Cole was going to come in, before Harmon left, and I couldn’t have been happier hearing that name; I can’t even tell you. I think if we tried to plug someone in that was anything like Leroy Jethro Gibbs, it would’ve been a disaster.

I think a lot of shows out there would try and do something like that, but not us. I don’t think it would’ve worked out as well had we not had Gary, and everything that he brings with the character.

Katrina Law as NCIS Special Agent Jessica Knight, Sean Murray as Special Agent Timothy McGee, Rocky Carroll as NCIS Director Leon Vance, and Gary Cole as FBI Special Agent Alden Parker.CBS

Law: I think that’s a nice thing about “NCIS” with the casting process is that when they bring on new people, they’re never asking them to be the same character. And they never wanted Gary to be Gibbs 2.0, just like I’m sure they never wanted Diona to be Pauley 2.0. We have some pretty amazing shoes to fill, but they’re asking us to bring our own pair of shoes, which is kind of nice.

Sean, it’s provided an opportunity as time has gone on for you to be more of the alpha male on the show. There’s been some evolution over the years into your sort of leadership role.

Murray: It’s funny, because like people will say, “Oh, you must be tired of playing the same character for 20-plus years.” But my character, luckily for me, has been able to evolve as the show has grown. So none of it has ever felt boring to me. I always feel like there’s growth there. I remember talking to the writers early on about the stumbling, bumbling rookie McGee. And I remember saying, “We want growth. We don’t wanna have baby Maggie Simpson, and every year, every week, you revert to the same thing.” Luckily, they’re very much on board with that.

Once we were in this rare era where this show was sort of past its expiration date, as it were, and we were into Season 10, Season 11, I think the actors and the writers sort of came to an agreement. It’s like, “Hey, instead of trying to tell the same stories from the same way and make these characters sort of stuck at one age or at one point, if the show is growing, let’s grow with the show. Let us get older. Let us evolve. Let us have the things that happen to people over a 20-year period of time.” So we were able to have the same characters, but able to tell different stories, because we didn’t get locked into a certain time frame where they can’t get older. It’s like, we got older, we had kids, we had relationships, we had breakups, we had deaths — so I feel like I’ve been doing different things for 20 years. I don’t feel like I’ve been doing the same thing, which is why the time has flown by.

Plus, I like hanging out with these cats.

(L-R): Katrina Law as NCIS Special Agent Jessica Knight, Wilmer Valderrama as Nick Torres, Sean Murray as Special Agent Timothy McGee, Brian Dietzen as Jimmy Palmer, Gary Cole as FBI Special Agent Alden Parker, and Diona Reasonover as Forensic Scientist Kasie Hines.CBS

In February, the show paid tribute to David McCallum after his death with a farewell-to-Ducky episode. The way this show’s going, you could all still be on the show in your 90s. Have you thought that far ahead?

Carroll: If I have the ability to remember dialogue in my 90s…

Law: If we’re lucky enough to be working that long and happily, yes. Looking forward to it.

Reasonover: If they’re willing to give me craft feed up until I turn 90, yeah.

Law: Oh, yeah. Somebody doing your hair and makeup until you’re 90?

Carroll: And, on that subject, when the show started, the story is, David McCallum said to his wife, “I’m 70 years old. What if this thing goes five, seven years?” I mean, the fact that that he was almost 20 years with the show and started at age 70 — which I still don’t believe, because when you look at those early episodes, it’s like, “That man is not 70 years old.”

It’s pretty incredible for him to have not just the renaissance, but like an entire career after the age for 70. He could still memorize dialogue in his 80s, which is not an easy feat.

Law: One of my favorite things about Sean is, because he has been here for about 21 years, you can see he’s so settled and grounded into his role in the “NCIS” world. But there’s this little twinkle in his eye as he watches the shenanigans and the mayhem kind of circle around him, where he’s just kind of like, “OK, bring it.” And I think you can only get that for being on something for 20-some years. It’s a really fun dynamic to watch.

Do you feel twinkly, Sean, right now?

Murray: I feel extremely twinkly. Are you kidding? Katrina Law just gave me a compliment, so I feel fantastic.

Carroll: And no one knows shenanigans like Katrina Law.

Law: Oh, the shenanigans are usually because he’s watching me mess up my lines.

Reasonover: One thing about Katrina Law, if she has shenans once, she is gonna shenan-again.

Carroll: I see what you did there.

Reasonover: See you guys next season…

[oh-three]

PJO S1E7:

Who on Earth is this guy. Who's Procrustes. Oh, fuck, a half-brother and a murderer. How did I forget about him. He was in the books, right?

What the fuck kind of waterbed is that?

Lmfao, he totally deserved that. Have a taste of your own medicine, Procrustes.

I like how the entrance to the Underworld is literally marked with a door that straight up says "Do Not Enter".

"Don't make me come back out there!" You tell him, Annabeth!

Young Percy is perfect 😂

I was about to make a comment about Cerberus having a toy ball, but apparently it was Grover with a stress ball. Poor guy doesn't get paid enough for this 😂

"We're all dying...to some extent." Percy sounds just like me with that one.

CERBERUS! Oh my god, he is a giant Rottweiler, I love it.

I have never seen a dog fall asleep that fast before.

Those flying shoes are really coming in handy after all.

These guys have way too many close calls, holy shit.

Let's be honest, Cerberus is going to fucking swallow that ball.

Why is the palace upside down.

Sally Jackson is the best mom ever.

PERCY, STOP SACRIFICING YOURSELF.

O-kay, that's ominous.

There is something truly heartbreaking about the regretful sounds being literally bound into the ground by roots. No one deserves that.

ANNABETH, YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SACRIFICE YOURSELF EITHER.

Oh, thank god.

Oh. So there dreams were from Hades. Okay, damn, thought for sure they were setting up Kronos for later seasons.

TAKE THE FUCKING SHOES OFF.

Jesus Christ. That was close.

And there's the fucking Master Bolt. How the fuck did Luke get it in his backpack.

OH. ARES, WHAT THE FUCK.

Sounds about fucking right, though. For Ares. But then, how the fuck is Luke involved??? Was he never the thief in the books? Does my memory suck that bad? Wouldn't put it past myself to brainwash my book memories with ones of the movies.

Imagine how hard it was for Sally, raising Percy and not being able to tell him anything about his parentage. Poseidon owes her compensation tbh.

Love the little temple-y things like that spot of flooring being an elevator.

Why is Hades so familiar. I don't recognize the actor atm, but I swear I know who it is.

He turned her into a fucking gold statue. What the fuck, man.

The plot thickens. Hades is so fucking confused. Everyone is so fucking confused and it's so funny.

AYYY, KRONOS MENTION.

SO I WAS RIGHT, THAT WAS KRONOS IN HIS DREAMS.

"And the goat." Ouch.

Get bamboozled, Hades. You got too ambitious too fast, my guy, even if it was out of rightful fear of Kronos.

POSEIDON SIGHTING.

Why does he have a British accent. Hades doesn't. Does Zeus??

There's something personal about Poseidon acknowledging that Sally's situation is unfair, and that there's no right answer to it. He's good, even if he didn't have the ability to raise Percy as a decent human father would.

Ayyy, team reunion.

Oh, fuck, Ares knew where they'd come out at. MAKE HIM PAY.

That was an awesome monologue. I can't wait till we get more of Poseidon next episode.

I can't believe the season ends next week 😭

[goldentigerfestival]

@crestfallencrest replied: Unfortunately I am now being haunted by this Yuri too, WHAT!!!!!!! Im not too familiar with Crestoria so Im not sure what a transgressor is in this context but holy hell this design???? O_O

Basically a transgressor is someone who was condemned by the majority of the world to be a sinner. Everyone in the world carries a Vision Orb with them to use to record things and they can broadcast things other people do to the entire world, spin a narrative and the world decides if they're guilty of the mentioned crime (they can also leave things out, make things up entirely, etc to fit the narrative they're going for if they're lying).

If the world decides someone is guilty, their Vision Orb breaks and is replaced with a mark called the Stain of Guilt (which is apparently physically painful to get), proving they've sinned and are "guilty", and monster-like creatures called Enforcers show up to kill them (they warp them away into another dimension and kill them basically). Since Yuri isn't dead he warded them off and is on the run like the main cast. Enforcers tend to lay off after a while, but if people see the person again and recognize them, they're likely to call for Enforcers again (in Yuri's case I imagine they'd just call for them anyway, recognized or not, because he clearly has a mark).

When the judgment is that someone is a sinner, the person literally hears their voices of their opinions/comments about them in their head before their Vision Orb breaks, so seeing the general design for Yuri I feel like it fits, but I'm still going to lose sleep for the rest of my life wondering what his story was and how they were going to fit him into the main story (crossover characters could be pretty important and Milla's backstory was tied to the at-the-time main antagonist to the whole story). I'm also ruined over the fact that I am craving Yuri and Vicious interaction in general, plus on top of their Crestoria game stories, as well as their knight boyfriends getting Tired just by watching them together.

Which, for that matter, a Yuri side story probably would've included Flynn, and we'd probably see how Flynn feels about seeing Yuri's crime if not "crime" broadcast to the world and seeing him condemned to be a criminal worth being killed (they don't use Vision Orbs for all crimes, hence why they have knights who handle the small time stuff. Use of a Vision Orb means you're gunning for the person to essentially get the death penalty, which is what will happen if they're condemned and can't fight the Enforcers off). In Vespy we have Flynn being the one who keeps warning Yuri while the people generally love or appreciate him, but in Crestoria it's the complete opposite just based off the fact that he was condemned. Flynn just having to live knowing the whole world hates Yuri and probably thinking he did do something that bad and being so distraught about it... 😔

I imagine it'd ultimately be something like, Yuri was condemned on either false or not-the-whole-story accusations and Flynn used to be one of those people who took Vision Orb users at their word, only to find out how skewed the system was. Would probably meet up with Yuri at some point to get answers (I don't think he'd go there to arrest him if he was a knight in this verse because bringing Yuri back would quite literally mean sending him to his death) and find out the truth. Don't know if Yuri would be on a mission to destroy all the Vision Orbs to prevent good people from being condemned in the future like Kanata is, but he seems to definitely have had a goal in mind. Sad we won't know because his interests feel like they'd have aligned with the main cast's like Milla's did.

Also I get the feeling that Yuri wouldn't regret his sin because I can't see him not doing it for a good purpose (and he's got the damn mark on display like Vicious, who was essentially also wrongfully called a sinner). It's a shame that he would have to be a crossover character in status too though, because the mix of his canon story and his Crestoria story would've normally landed his ass right into the main cast and him getting a Blood Sin from Vicious (which Vicious gives people when they accept their sin and vow to live with it basically). Heck, he might've even done that as a side character and just helped on the side like Milla helped on the side.

I'm sorry this is so long LOL the possibilities were just... THERE. If you ever have the time I'd recommend giving the game a watch on YouTube from what's been recorded from the game. The main story is fully voiced, and you've side stories for the crossover characters and event stories like the other gacha games. The manga changed up a few chunks already because of the removal of the crossover characters, so I personally would recommend the game before the manga. :O

[fantomette22]

TIME TO UPDATE THE BINGO!!!! (SPOILERS)

Almost got a bingo I guess

Update: ok so i just saw a theory. It could be possible that Shadow memories of the event aren’t right due to the difference between the flashbacks / nightmare he have when he’s still in stasis at the beginning and the one before charging the eclipse canon. HELLO?!?!

So a few notes:

Actually I am very unsure about Shadow having tears. I see & read people talking about how he does have tears apparently at 2 moments? Or at least one (super shadow when he sacrifies himself but it's nit easy to see. So idk

I had tears in my eyes at the end of the first watch yes

Ok so apparently Gerald live up to 100y thanks to Shadow's quill. I haven't mark the case bc well idk that's a weird reason or not XD

The "Eggman's announcement" really isn't what we expected 😭 IF YOU KNOW YOU KNOW 😭

Instead of "chaos control" in my bingo I wanted to put " shadow take off his inhibitors." but I figure it would be too oblivious. It did happen indeed.

I didn't expect the Biolizard to make a freaking Godzilla ref but cool

uhhh people died :/ in the flashback idk if indeed Gerald & Shadow's test really went wrong and hurt people?? Maybe it did? Walters you can't be dead ANSWERS OUR QUESTIONS PLEASE WHAT HAPPEN 50Y AGO!!! And well you know who else died...

Apparently some characters are saying Damn but not Shadow ?!

We got both rock & vocals version of live & learn 😭

So it's just "eclipse canon" it seems but I think in the French dub? or English they refer as the whole structure as "she" like the ark? ???

Shadow indeed get punch in the face really hard XD

Honorable mention : Maria playing live & learn on an acoustic guitar wasn't on my bingo card but holy hell I was like THIS IS NOT EVEN 5 MINS INTO THE MOVIE:

Like excuse me?!

The freaking gun robot from the freaking game let me like this too

And those mfs....

(everyone been loosing their mind and just posting this.... because of course it's not like that in the final movie!)

Also they literally show a shot of the post credit scene in a trailer!?! Everyone was like: hm where is this happening 🤔 WELL- Damn I can't wait that was hype.

To finish now, I managed to get all the song names in the movies that appear in the end credits. (Maybe I will make a post about it) And there is a few 60-70s songs! :D

Well "End of the Line" (the song that play in the flashback with Shadow and Maria) is from 1988 (I think it's a bit a missed opportunity here to not have a 1973 or 1974 song or earlier, but the music fit well and it's great so that's ok 🥺)And with what I just discover on the some of the other songs they are forgiven.

So when Ivo meet Gerald they sing "The Way we Were". Or at least Gerald sing it to catch his grandson attention and before introducing himself.

It's from 1974.

1974

5O years ago. Yes when in the movie universe Shadow was put in stasis. When everything happened... I am shock to discover this. Absolute cinema. I don't know what else to say.

There is also 2 other 60s songs :

Bangoru by Noro Morales is from 1961

Wouldn't it be nice by the Beach Boys, 1966

Sonic Movie 3 Bingo! (+Templates)

I might be able to go see the movie on Thursday so I made a Bingo! (I made the list of most of the ideas here a few days ago, before any premiere)

Have some template as well to make one too + more explanation on each cases under the cut!

Alt Bingo :

The middle case is not "Super Sonic & Super Shadow are in movie" Because it's too easy. I want the exact image to happen. I want them to shake hand so bad but if they just do this exact pose it will be good enough for me XD

Templates :

---

Now more explanations on my bingo.

Shadow cry : I want my poor boy to shed at least 1 tear ;-;

I cry : Kinda oblivious

A 60-70s : One song from the 1960 or 1970s considering Shadow & Maria backstory will be set in 1974.

My crazy speculation is somehow right

Sonic or Shadow call the other « fake or faker »

We don’t have confirmation yet but is it going to be called the Ark or Eclipse canon or both 🤔 i want it to be both

Like in SA2 Shadow’s memories aren’t right and he’s misremembering some details because of Gerald

Damn!

Gerald is still alive bc of his research on project Shadow? Not just he have a good health?

Black Doom or a black arms reference (there’s no way we’re seeing them i think but at least a ref/mention)

Even if it would be so cool to have the Biolizard I have doubt it will be here… (maybe for the spin off on Shadow? 👀) but a reference/ mention would be very appreciated.

Someone else / some people legit die in this movie 🫤 (else than Maria!!!)

The middle case is not "Super Sonic & Super Shadow are in movie" Because it's too easy and very likely yo happen. I want those exact images to happen. I want them to shake hand so bad but if they just do this exact pose it will be good enough.

If Eggman somehow does a speech to Earth to explain his plan. You know what i am referring too XD

Gerald being here… and if Shadow change his mind and help Sonic & co…. I kinda want/ expect them to fight.. the freaking DRAMA

An epic orchestral version of Live and Learn would be amazing! I can’t wait if it really happen! But i still hope there’s a rock version. I wanna hear that electric guitar!!! 🎸 and if there’s vocals?! I think we’re gonna die.

Shadow get hit hard in a battle. Like he always have the upper hand so far but maybe it will change?

Shadow screaming Maria’s name. Iconic

Sonic could be the one talking to Shadow and making him change his mind. Just me?

« CHAOS CONTROL!!! »

Last 5 cases: post credits characters predictions. Even after watching the movie it’s possible i won’t even check the boss of the characters mentioned in the last line. Because if they are in the post credits scene i really don’t wanna risk on spoiling anyone about it xD

[starryocean]

realized there's still books i havent got to talking about yet that ive finished forever ago. whoops. here they are now.

1 - Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

as I expected, it was incredibly edgy. I kept thinking of Jorg as some 13-year-old dA boy's first ever fantasy OC. And he talked as if he felt the same way, too--really believing that he was the coolest shit ever, can do whatever he wants, fuck his dad and fuck the kingdom. nothing personnel, kid.

To Mark's credit, Jorg is also literally 14. I think. 14-15. Either way he's a teenager and has trauma and very much acts like it. I think that's a pretty important thing to state with regards to Jorg's narration. However, it also makes some things he pulled off in his backstory statistically impossible for a...I think 10? 11? year old to do. But there's also some weird magic shit going on, and the weird magic shit is explicitly confirmed to have played a role in at least one of those statistically impossible incidents, so I guess I can believe that maybe there was meddling there as well. idk.

Anyway. Let's talk about what I liked.

The "twist" with regards to the background of the setting as a whole was fairly interesting and properly foreshadowed from the start--even the map was pointing to it. However, it was also the only thing that really kept me reading. I did not like Jorg, even if I thought his narration was hilariously edgy, but somehow I did end up rooting for him to win the last battle at least a little? So I guess some of the reviews didn't lie to me in that that would happen.

So that's another thing I liked. Mark Lawrence is a competent storyteller if he was able to get me invested enough in Jorg--even with Jorg being unlikable as he is--to root for him at all at the very end. Let me be clear that I can't see him ever being truly a "hero" by any definition of the word. But he grew on me. That's the important thing. He grew on me, and it's honestly a sign of good writing that he was able to grow on me at all.

Thirdly: I think it's very, VERY funny that the only reason everyone didn't die half-way through the book is because one guy spoke up about not using every bomb available in order to destroy this one place. This guy saved the fucking world from being annihilated by nukes (yet again, cuz oops spoilers that's the twist it's set in post-nuclear apocalypse Europe) and then nobody even knows it but Jorg and his little group of bandit shitheads. And it's all because he didn't think it was necessary to go all out for one stupid fortress and told Jorg he had to tone it down a bit.

Comedy gold.

Now, what I didn't like:

Jorg. I've already mentioned he's a shithead. Massively so. Literally the book starts with him slaughtering a whole village for no reason, among other things. Literally the only reason I could find myself rooting for him is because the other guys were worse. So since I've already talked a lot about how much I don't like Jorg, I'm moving on.

The treatment of women is also very annoying. it's not as bad as having literally every female character get raped, but the only one who's given any development is the step-daughter of the king (jorg's dad) from his marriage to another woman after the first queen got murdered horribly. The only other woman of note I can think of is the dead queen and a sex worker that is treated like an idiot the whole time she's on screen. She and Jorg end up having sex anyway. It's gross.

Also. Racism. The only Black character is never given a real name and is consistently referred to by his race alone. He dies part way through the book (although he's still relevant a good while after) and is never given a proper name. And of course he was a slave and bandit and he's notable because apparently there aren't many other Black people in post-apoc Europe that aren't slaves??? Utterly bizarre. Do you have any idea how many Muslims live in France, as an example? Especially Black Muslims? Are you seriously telling me there wouldn't be ANY descendants of those people living as commoners in post-apoc Europe, even if not in what was once France specifically? Like, let's be generous and pretend that there aren't any Black nobility either because people are just THAT racist after the end of the world. Are you seriously saying there'd still be little to no free Black people around, at all? Are you stupid?

The fucking Asian character is treated better than this, and he's also a fucking slave whose been forced to be the wise old elder trying to teach Jorg about stuff and "put him on the right path" or w/e bs. But he at least has a name.

So overall I did not like this one, tbh. Even if there were a few things I did like a lot, there wasn't enough to keep me going other than the interesting setting twist and wanting to see how it ended. 3edgy5me, or whatever the meme was back in the late 2000s-early 2010s.

Would not rec.

2 - The Cat Who Saved Books by Sousuke Natsukawa

I liked this one a lot. 200+ pages, very short, but lots of warm feel-good with fantasy aspects to it as well. The different "worlds" where books were being treated badly were very interesting, and the different ways they were being treated badly was some good commentary on how people consume media. There were a lot of Western literary references which I didn't expect, but also since this was a translation and the author is Japanese I can see way, as part of the atmosphere of the book and playing into the protag's tastes and circumstances.

I was really interested in trying to learn what that last story the protag needed to confront was, because I wasn't sure who she was meant to represent, but it was probably more obvious in the original text and just couldn't be carried over to English well. I did like the whole "friends from past adventures coming to help the protag in his time of need" even if its a cliche, and there was just a lot of coziness to this one that I needed at the time I read it.

Loved this book. Would recommend.

3 - All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

I admit, I picked this one up because it was from a publisher/imprint I'd never seen in store before and wanted to know what kind of stuff they published. The pretty art was also a selling point, as the setting in contemporary Ireand with Tarot stuff going on.

I wasn't sure if I'd like the protag at first, but I really did. Even with the rift between her and her childhood friend at the beginning and how it happened, I could really see why she did what she did, because I know that sort of thought process she had as she got older and wanted to "fit in" in her upper-class school. The fact she also ended up having to confront her privilege with how her family has far more means than most people was also a good part of her arc. I was also quite happy that she and her friend didn't make up right away at the end once the friend was saved, and that it was clear there was a long way to go between them.

The lore with the weird creepy card that started this whole mess was interesting, too. The fact that the spell the protag did was actually mutual on both her and her friend's part was an interesting touch I didn't expect--but it also makes sense? Especially with the foreshadowing that came after the incident with her having been seen willingly going with that manifestation of said card. The backstory about that other girl who stumbled upon that power but died without any help, and the fact that the nun(?) lady had all those news clippings in her car in the first place...those were good. The latter was touching, too, especially given the whole conflict against the religious cult.

Speaking of. Said religious cult. When the blurb says that this book touches on queer revolution, it's not joking around--this book goes fucking hard on the harm of anti-queer politics and what that religious cult is doing. The fact that the cult leader has magic also makes it even worse, considering he's manipulating people both with mundane tactics and literal fucking magic.

So uh. I wasn't in a great place to be reading that sort of thing when I got this, and with current politics I don't think I'll be able to read the next book any time soon either. But I did like this one a lot. Bonus points for the nonbinary character being amab, because--while I'm sure there's stuff out there--there's such a prevailing attitude of nonbinary being "femme lite" that it's so hard for me to find actual amab nonbinary rep. It's such a breath of fresh air. Like it shouldn't even be a thing that matters but...god, I need more amab nonbinary characters. Please.

Anyway. Great book. Goes hard. Would love to read the next one when I'm in a better headspace for it. Would recommend if you're in a good headspace for it.

4 - Never Coming Home by Kate Williams

It's And Then There Were None but if Fyre Festival. I was sold as soon as I read the blurb. I fucking love that idea and the And Then There Were None kind of mystery is like catnip to me. I loved that book when I first read it and I've been really into Agatha Christie-style mysteries in general. The recent Death on the Nile movie was loads of fun. I need to read more of her books and this helped scratch that murder-mystery itch I've been getting more into lately.

It's also good that the one actual big influencer was sus on everything from the start, precisely because most of these people were nobodies even in their own niche, by varying degrees from their helpfully-listed follower count in the beginning. Frankie Rus(s)h (the actual big influencer) only knows like, one person from an event they were both at and is very protective of her. Even so, she's still quite clearly flawed, and even a little selfish, and I like that.

The POVs all vary from chapter to chapter, as fitting the story its paying homage to. The way everyone's being taunted while they're trapped there at the same time they're getting picked off one-by-one is also nice psychological horror for those characters. Especially with the fact that the account for the event is updating with pictures of people that couldn't have been taken by any of them with riddle-like messages about who'll die next and how.

I also like that there was a character who was upfront about the thing they're guilty of right away. He knew he was the reason it happened, he did his time over it iirc, he made peace with his guilt and is fine with letting people know if it'll help figure out this mess. That's really good emotional maturity even if not everyone was as honest about their crimes as he was. Good stuff.

Now. Some problems.

That same character I don't feel was handled as great as he could've been. His whole thing is that he's a DJ, or at least was trying to make it as one, but ended up as more or less a drug dealer instead. I feel this would be fine if he were like, any other race but latino. Just...the drug dealer stereotype is too prevalent, especially with current politics, but I do applaud that the author tried to handle it as maturely as possible and made him far more nuanced than just a "druggie." He also didn't die first, and in fact lasted for a good while.

The alternating POVs between him and one other person right before his death was also good. Unreliable narrator clearly on display, with both of them being sure the other is the culprit in all of this. Tragic as all hell and really helps with the gut punch. Especially with how that other person died right after.

The only thing I was super confused about was the "explanation" part of the ending. It was framed as people theorizing online about it all (on reddit actually, I think) but I still didn't feel quite clear about the culprit's motivation for all of it. I might have to reread later to see if I can understand it better, but I do also know that scene was of the culprit literally trolling in order to try and dissuade people from thinking it was them.

Because they're still a public presence at the end and their family has been monetizing the shit out of the tragedy.

Yeah. Oof.

Still. Very good book. Loved it and it did the concept and homage justice. Would rec.

5 - The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner

Very interesting mystery, tbh. Contemporary/historical, with some people apparently having very YMMV feeling on how it was done. Personally I liked it a lot, the style and narration felt fitting. I really liked the emotional arcs of the characters, as well as the whole concept of an old herbalist going against her teachings in order to provide poison to women so that they can kill their husbands in an era where women didn't really have the ability to either divorce or else stop such people at all.

The relationship between the herbalist and the young girl was fun, and I really liked how the lady the girl was working for loved her like family. Enough to kill her husband so that he couldn't hurt the girl at all. The story with the modern-day historian was...less interesting tbh, mostly because for much of it I was worried it'd be more focused on the relationship drama with her cheating husband and their collapsing marriage more than it actually was. I wasn't super into the pregnancy scare plot either. But I did end up liking her side of the story more as the novel got further in.

It wasn't a super long novel either. Also in the 200+ page range. But the mystery/historical aspect was good, the modern characters not being able to get a full, conclusive idea of what happened in the past was good, and it was really fun watching the modern day historian do some breaking and entering in her search. fuck yeah, lady. trespass on private property to cope! fuck the police! lmao

Would recommend.

6 - So I'm a Spider, So What? #16 by Okina Baba

I liked most of it, up until the very end. The end ended up retroactively souring the rest of the book for me, if not the whole series. It was too abrupt, and the "epilogue" of 1-2 sentence paragraphs describing what happened to every character only made it worse. Especially given the fact that Sue is implied to be the one who "won" with Shun in the end, even though both volumes 15 and 16 make it explicitly clear she's not supposed to be seen in a good light with regards to her actions--starting from her rape attempt against Shun to how she selfishly inserts herself into the party of people meeting with the Demon Lord, and how that could very well have ended the world right then and there.

Like, Sue is not meant to be seen in anywhere near a positive light in volumes 15 and 16. She even keeps taking advantage of Shun's kindness even though he very firmly set boundaries with her, which is also presented as something negative, and yet she...somehow wins? Like, yeah, sure I am biased towards Katia. But Katia has also been pretty explicitly built-up as the "main" romantic interest for Shun since volume 1. Given the way Sue is treated/presented in the last few volumes, how she's been barely relevant for a majority of the series since volume 5, and with Katia being the obvious choice? It feels like a deliberate "fuck you." And it hurts. And it's honestly made me not want to go back and reread any of the series anymore for the parts I at least liked.

I've been wanting to write out a snippet/one-shot that sums up my feeling as to what should have been done with Sue since I had a chance to sit and process volume 16, but I can't even get myself to do that because of how sour it feels to even think about the ending. Even though I feel like it'd be cathartic to write such a fic. But I can't fucking get myself to do it. I knew people were saying the ending was bad, but I was really hoping it was people complaining for similar reasons as to why people didn't like vol 11-12 (aka, their reasoning was stupid).

But...no. They were right. The ending sucked. And I don't even know how to feel about the stupid series anymore. I don't even know if I want to have anything to do with it anymore.

And it hurts.

That's all I can say about this one.

7 - Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak

Loved this one. The way it was written, most people being genuinely nice and good, the possessed/haunted kid not being demonized? It was so good. It was something I needed when I picked it up. It took me a while to actually finish it, but the ending made me so happy I did. This book is horror, I should also mention, and the drawings periodically inserted into the story was a great touch.

As a side note: I was thinking to myself a few days ago how most of my experience with horror media has been indie games,* how a majority modern video games have an inherently visual element to them, and how House of Leaves--the only adult horror novel I'd read before picking up Hidden Pictures--also had a kind of visual element to it that most books lack. Obviously, most novels make up for the lack of visuals by invoking images in your head as you read the prose, such that you can still "see" things happening. House of Leaves, however, ends up taking it a step further by making the text itself a visual component, not just leaving it as "text" and relying on the reader's imagination.

I think, considering my tastes in horror media, it's not a surprise that the two adult horror books I've picked up--and loved--have had a visual component to them. I mean, the narratives themselves are compelling, don't get me wrong. The prose and story of both are phenomenal. I loved reading them as much as I enjoyed the "visual" aspects. But I noted that it was an interesting trend, considering.

But anyway. Loved Hidden Pictures. 100% would rec--especially to those who want something accessible to try and get into the horror genre with.

(*I also read a lot of horror manga/webtoons, but the sentence was long enough so I elected to include that down here. Either way, my point still stands re:my tastes in horror having a bent towards including some sort of visual aspect to the storytelling)

8 - My Next Life as a Villainess #6 by Satoru Yamaguchi

I tried getting back into Bakarina as a way of helping me out of a reading slump, wanting to read something easier to help ease me into reading in general (which worked, and was what helped me finish Hidden Pictures). I also bought another LN that I'll go on about down below to help with this. I liked...some of this one. But I was also feeling kind of sour by the end of it due to the way a certain character was handled.

To put it simply: there's a side character who is described in a way that more or less makes them a trans caricature. Super muscular, wears pretty dresses/frilly clothes, wants to be called by a feminine name, acts super feminine despite being repeatedly referred to as looking hypermasculine, etc. To top it off, her coworker insists in referring to her by her deadname. Everyone else treats her as a woman (including Katarina's narration), but this one guy doesn't. Consistently. To top it off, everyone's kind of creeped out and wary around this transwoman character, at least at first.

I will say, at the very least, in comparison to that male coworker who deadnames her the trans character is at least portrayed as competent at her job. She takes things seriously and is good at what she does. She also doesn't act creepy to the other characters, it's the other characters being creeped out by default and eventually warming up (which, isn't much better, but the bar is so low that it's still a step up). She's also very caring towards the other characters and wants to keep everyone safe. At the end, a different viewpoint character who the transwoman is giving a report to also takes her seriously and treats her as a woman, trusting her and knowing she's one of the better people in their organization (iirc. It's been a while since I've read all of these).

But none of this fully washed away the bitter taste I got from the way this character's appearance is so obviously meant as a joke/caricature. Especially in a time where I was already feeling down, and combined with how Kumoko's ending went it sucks even worse. Bakarina was/is another series I really enjoy--I've been keeping up with the fan translations of the manga releases and it's been nice to read something so comfy and light when I see there's been a new update. But now that I've read this volume, and now that the fan translation is getting into the content of this volume, it's been made sour for me too.

The plot was okay, I guess. I wasn't super fond of how mean one of the characters was to Katarina, although I understand why given his backstory. I liked Pochi getting a power-up and the others freaking out about it. But I felt thoroughly "meh" on basically everything and was disappointed with the stuff regarding that transwoman character.

I don't have anything super nice to say about this one, sorry. Moving on.

9 - I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire #1 by Yomu Mishima

Opposite to Bakarina, this one started out in a way that had me REALLY not want to read it, expecting the worst, and then turned my opinion around to a complete 180 as it went on.

I want to let you know, I've rarely ever had that happen to me. So I want to stress that this was actually good and funny, despite starting off on such an awful note. Like, I cannot understate how catastrophically the novel started out with regards to my expectations. I spotted a trope I don't like right away in the Table of Contents as one of the chapter titles, the full-color pages at the start being super super fanservicey, and the first chapter going into detail about how the reincarnated protagonist commissioned a big-tittied robot that had sexual capabilities programmed when he was a small child. And from there proceeding to grope said robot when she arrived, while still a small child.

And yet, it managed to redeem itself so well that I now consider it a favorite. I'm probably not going to buy any other volumes in the series, but I was actually laughing at some of the jokes at points. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a isekai manga that's actually funny? This LN started off so badly, but it managed to make me laugh. THIS KIND OF 108 NEVER. HAPPENS.

If you're wondering how it did that, then let me explain: first, it acknowledged several tropes common in isekai works (i.e., slave harems) as being a bad thing that will get people hating you and wanting you dead. The bar is so low but with the amount of works that don't manage to cross it, this was notable and improved my opinion just on its own. Then, the whole thing with the protag learning how to fight from a fraud because his brain is on anime and how what the guy was teaching him shouldn't actually be possible was incredibly funny. Failing upwards, and all that.

Then, this one older character being portrayed as incredibly pathetic and embarrassing for trying to do the honeypot thing. Too often, male teenage protags end up leaning into the gross pervert trope and let themselves go along with creepy fanservice no matter who it comes from. But this lady trying to seduce someone younger than her is shown as being embarrassing on her part, even humiliating that someone would even go that far. Again, this shouldn't be notable, but the fact that this LN was able to make such a point helped improve my opinion, because there's so many novels out there that can't even say that.

Then, when rescuing a bunch of people who've been held prisoner and traumatized (with heavy sexual connotations, even though nothing on-screen or outright is shown), the protag instead chooses to help them recover and even help them find places/jobs/etc. in his society instead of "mercy killing" them (which is something that happens far too often to victims of rape (or in this case, implied rape) in webnovels and such).

The fact that the bar is soooo fucking low but this novel manages to get all these things right? While managing to be actually funny at points alongside that? I genuinely can't believe the story pulled it off. It's insane.

Of course, the LN is not without its problems--there's still the way it started out, for instance. And there's other moments of unnecessary fanservice that doesn't happen to make a point like how that one scene with the honeypot does about it being dumb/pathetic/creepy/etc. There's also a bonus chapter in the back I felt was iffy, among other things.

But the fact it managed to turn my opinion around by this much? I think that counts for something. This one very much depends on whether or not you'll see the story the way I do by the end of it, so I can't give it a blanket rec, but if you're interested in trying it out? I'd say go for it. Just be aware that there's still stuff that's very much not great. I don't think people who aren't used to Weeb Ass Shit appearing in their anime/manga will like this one at all. So YMMV.

10 & 11 - Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree & Elantris by Brandon Sanderson

Putting these two together because it's been long enough I only have a few thoughts for each.

Legends and Lattes was nice and cozy. The stakes where actually higher than I expected re: the mafia thing or whatever, but that did get resolved without too much struggle, so that was nice. People being nice to each other and working together to make coffee and pastries. It's something I needed, and I'm glad I read it. Would rec.

Elantris was very obviously a debut novel. It didn't read as well as Mistborn did, the plot moved way too slowly for my tastes, and it hit kind of hard in places that I didn't want to be hit hard in. I get that it was setting up a sequel hook at the end, but for a standalone there were too many questions left unsolved. I get why, but even so, I wasn't super fond of this one. I remember wanting to see the noble ladies actually get to use the sword skills they were being taught but I feel like I remember that not happening. Would have to reread to double check.

I did at least like the political maneuvering, and I liked that the prince was able to reunite with his wife. I liked the organizing and faction conflict within the walled-off Elantris, too. But everything else was kind of...aggressively meh. I will say it treated its characters of color better than Prince of Thorns, though. They at least all get names and are treated as equals.

I think that's all the reviews. This took forever to sit down and write up but I got it done at least?

Currently reading Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri, am planning to read The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie after. Beyond that? We'll see.

[a-foray-into-magic]

Dueling Loss.

The day had started off with Bellatrix having a row with her father Cygnus. She'd just been getting her bag ready so she could return back to Hogwarts for the remainder of her seventh and final year. She had known this wasn't going to go well, as Cygnus approached and wanted to speak to her alone. "I would like you to distance yourself from Rodolphus." "I beg your pardon?" "I am having second thoughts. The Lestrange name bound to ours...it would be seen as stepping down. He isn't fit for us. The family deserves better. Surely you see the issue, my dear." Bellatrix set her bag down, listening. The desire to laugh was strong. But she refrained from it as it wasn't a laughing matter. "It's always the 'family'. Never me. You don't give a proper shit what I want, do you? Well, I don't give a damn what's good for the family this time. I want what's good for me and I'm not going to distance myself." She didn't say she loved him. If she did, Cygnus would undoubtedly break them up. Those were words that were foreign to her father. If Cygnus and Druella were hit by the Hogwarts Express, she would not have cared. She imagined herself as the one pushing them in front of the speeding train if she was honest. But she did not speak of how she felt for Rodolphus, not to anyone, though Cissy had an idea. The words had barely escaped her mouth when his fists came at her. Bella's mind went elsewhere as she took the beating. She could very well have hexed him. She could have cast protego to shield herself. She was an excellent witch. She didn't need anyone to tell her this. She was confident in her abilities. However, to use said skills on her father would be a death warrant. And if she were thrown out, who would take the brunt of the hits for Andie and Cissa during the summer holiday? Instead, she simply thought of other things. Other places. The only motion she made was to look at her watch. "I have to get the train," she finally spoke, her sides and core aching. He would never mark her face and let everyone know he beat his daughters. Rather, Bella at the very least. Grunting under her breath, Bellatrix lifted her bag and apparated to King's Cross. Seeing Rodolphus there, she approached, leaving him unaware that she'd just received a fierce beating over him. Instead, she spoke of their match at Duelling Club later on that day with great enthusiasm. Later That Day: Stepping up onto the dais, Bellatrix grinned as Rodolphus joined her. Standing back to back, they took the requisite paces before turning around. Allowing him to send out the first spell, she easily blocked it, returning fire--quite literally--with incendio! Bellatrix was enjoying the duel until the pain in her sides began to really ache. She could manage. She'd have to. They were nearly done. A few more minutes and she'd finish Rodolphus off, and the next match would begin. But as she felt a stabbing pain, Bellatrix realised something was quite wrong. To the point where she didn't block or counter and Rodolphus's curse hit her squarely in her chest and belly, knocking her to the ground. The witch didn't even care that she was going to lose. There was something wrong with her. How could she say so though? Her father would have her head if she mentioned the beatings. The one time that she did, he'd said she was 'given to delusions for attention'.

He was untouchable, and she was suffering for it.

The room went silent as they all stared, wondering if she was going to get up. Her perfect record was broken. It seemed impossible to believe. Bellatrix attempted to push herself up, but the pain was excruciating and she could barely breathe. The silence was finally broken by the sound of heavy footfalls approaching her, and then with soft apologies as Rodolphus lifted her. "N-no…" She pleaded with him. "Shhh." She didn't have the energy to further protest, instead remaining silent as he began to carry her to the hospital wing. "Open the bloody doors," Rodolphus demanded of an awestruck second year. "Duelling Club is done for the day, obviously. Bellatrix is ill." As soon as the doors were open, he moved swiftly through the school, cursing at the moving sets of stairs and curious eyes falling upon them. Bella was indifferent to it all as she lay in his arms. Perhaps she'd die, and be past the irritation of living. As soon as the thought entered her head, she thought of her sisters and pushed it out.

"I need help please!" Rodolphus called as they entered the hospital wing. The nurse blinked before motioning to an open bed where he lay her down with great care. "What happened?"

"We were at duelling club, but there's something wrong. I hit her with a single blast, but that's nothing to her usually. "

Madame Coughlin, a strong Irish witch in a little frame, shook her head. "What curse?" "Just a single defensive blast from my wand." The young wizard replied, before leaning in to whisper something in her ear. Whatever he said brought two flushed spots to the nurse's ear and she brushed her hands over Bella's sides. As she did so, the young witch groaned. She could have screamed, but she held that back.

"I need the Skelegro. Miss Black, lay down!" Bellatrix grunted. She'd rather have broken ribs than a taste of the wretched stuff. She could smell it as the nurse opened it, making her ill. Any medicine that came out of a bottle steaming ought to be banned. Bellatrix felt Rodolphus take her hand, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. He was trying to comfort her. He really was too good for her and her family. She sighed, opening her mouth and taking a sip, nearly spitting it out. It was the vilest thing and it burned going all the way down.

"You're safe here, Miss Black. Please rest," Madame Coughlin urged her. "Mr. Lestrange, you have to go now."

Rod looked down at her and Bella nodded. "Go take your victory lap," she murmured as the nurse gave her a sleeping draught.

When she awoke the following day, there were flowers from Cissa beside her on the table, and chocolate frogs from Andie. Beside her though, in a chair sat a tired Rodolphus.

"The winner!" she smirked, watching his face change as he registered that she was awake. Raising her hand to his lips, he shook his head. "No. You weren't in any condition to fight, my sweet Bella." "Take the win." "No. Now, what did you and your father fight about this time?" "I don't want to talk about this." "Bellatrix." His voice was soft, but firm. He wasn't going to let her off easily and she sighed.

"He said…he regretted putting us together. That….you aren't good enough for the Black family. I told him I didn't care what was good for the family and that you only had to be good enough for me." Bella's heavily lidded eyes fixed on his face. He had to know that he meant something to her now if she was brazen enough to state it to her father. "After he so eloquently told me what he thought about that…" She sighed. "It was time for me to get to King's Cross. I didn't realise how badly I was hurt. I've had broken ribs before. Madame Coughlin says I need another night in here, as she wants to make sure everything has healed up alright. At least I don't need more Skelegro."

Hurt was written on Rodolphus's face. His name was nearly as respected as Black within their world. They were purebloods with a long history. And considering that his parents were of a similar mind as her own, they were a fine match. Bella couldn't really imagine being stuck with anyone else. Merlin knew she wasn't easy to deal with and he did so without question or hesitation. He knew how to calm her rages down, and he understood what it was to live with overbearing parents who dictated every thought and action in their lives. He defended her when some were brave enough to dare insult her. But as his dark eyes met her own, the expression melted away. It was as if he realised what she'd said. That she had stood up for him. And not only had she stood up for him, but she had also made it clear that her mind would not be changed no matter what her father wanted. Bella had chosen him, as he had done for her time after time. She watched him quietly, her hand still in his. It was only a year and a half more until they were free to do as they liked. Break away from the chains that were their families. It would be a glorious day. But for now, they had this. They had Hogwarts, and they would manage.