#and the plot? the mystery? negligible

[hoeratius]

Please what is the worst book ever written?

Murder at the Book Club by Betsy Reavley - we read it for Halloween in one of my book clubs and has the internal consistency and plot building that gets you phrases like: "He was used to having Barnett shut down his ideas, but he still hadn't got used to it."

[khajiiti-dragonborn]

The College of Winterhold storyline is SO INSANELY FRUSTRATING, the way it introduces a bunch of questions and plot thread, then have literally all the things that need to be resolved (The Psijic Order, The Eye of Magnus, why Morekai had the Staff of Magnus, The Augur of Dunlain, The Great Collapse, etc.) either never be mentioned again OR LITERALLY DISAPPEAR ENTIRELY is actually such poor writing.

Don't even get me started on the characterization of Savos Aren, where we're told he's this excellent Arch-mage who cares about his students, but then lets students blow up, or go missing (aka die). And why did he even let such an obvious Thalmor spy in the college in the first place? It screams either negligence or ignorance and both of those are bad options.

There were literally so many great options to explore The Great Collapse and uncover the mystery of why it happened (assuming the College caused it).

You could even use it as an excuse to dive into the lore of ancient Dragon Cults and Dragon Priests. Like literally Sarthaal and Labrynthian are RIGHT THERE. Both of these locations have ties to ancient nords/Dragon Priests/Dragon Cults. Where is my Dragon Cult resurgence now that Alduin has returned, huh Todd Howard??

Anyway as I'm working on hammering the plot out for the webcomic The College of Winterhold's storyline has been an ABSOLUTE PAIN to incorporate because of how many unanswered questions it leaves. I haven't yet fully found a solution that both nicely ties together all the loose ends while not just making shit up (although that is what it feels the writers did for this story in the first place so maybe I'd be justified in making shit up).

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Morning News with Asmi 14 Oct '24

OOPS I FORGOT TO MAKE A POST YESTERDAY AND SO I GUESS 13TH OCTOBER WILL REMAIN A MYSTERY FOREVER. AAAAAA. ANYWAY HI IT'S TECHNICALLY MORNING OF 15TH TODAY BUT IT'S TOO EARLY TO CARE IT'S 14TH IN TEXAS MMKAY.

1. HURRICANE UPDATE: PEOPLE ARE NOW SHIPPING THE TWO HURRICANES. THERE'S FANART BASED ON THE VAGUE FACE SHAPES THEY MADE?? EVERYTHING IS FINE.

2. I MANAGED TO SURVIVE A VERY SMALL BIT OF THE SPICIEST CHIP IN THE WORLD EVEN THOUGH MY FRIEND WHO LIKES SPICY FOOD ATE THE SAME SIZE TEENY BIT.

3. THE BIRD, REDDIT, FLEW BACK HOME TO ITS HUMANS ON SUNDAY?? ITS HUMANS WERE THE CONSTRUCTION WORKERS FOR THE PLOT NEXT DOOR? SO... THE BIRD JUST WANTED A GODDAMN NIGHT AWAY AS A HOLIDAY WHILE ITS HUMANS WERE SEARCHING FRANTICALLY FOR IT?? IM

4. MY FRIEND INTRODUCED ALIEN STAGE TO ME LAST NIGHT (YEAH THREE OF US JUST RANDOMLY HAD A SLEEPOVER ON A MONDAY EVENING ART SCHOOL IS FINE WE'RE FINE) AND AAAAAAAAAAAAARGH IVAN MY BELOVED AAAAAH SUA AAAAA MIZI (FOR OUR PRINTMAKING CLASS, THE FRIEND--THE SAME ONE WHO THOUGHT TUMBLR WAS DEAD--MADE FANART OF THEM) OH NAAAAAAY CLEMATISSS AAAA

5. NORTH KOREA IS ABOUT TO ATTACK SOUTH KOREA APPARENTLY?

6. SOMEONE NAMED DAVID ALABA HAD AN INJURY WHICH MIGHT AFFECT HIS CHANCES AS REAL MADRID. WHAT THE FUCK IS REAL MADRID? FOOTBALL? CAR RACING? BASKETBALL? YAHTZEE?

7. I FINALLY LEARNED HOW TO PLAY UNO AND I WON THE FIRST PROPER GAME I PLAYED AND IT WAS OF UNO FLIP IM A GENIUS

AND NOW FOR THE WEATHER AND I SWEAR I WILL NOT FORGET ANY CONTINENTS THIS TIME

1. Australia: Hot and stinky. Just like me. I didn't shower yesterday.

2. Asia: Wet. Water. Wet wet sploosh. But not the ao3 way.

3. North America: Hurricane gay porn season I guess.

4. South America: Cloudy with a chance of moqueca.

5. Antarctica: ...still green. I wonder why my brain said piss-coloured. Green isn't piss. I mean. Piss isn't green. It's too early for this.

6. Europe: COZ IT'S TOO COLD FOR YOU HERE AND NOW SO LET ME HOLD BOTH YOUR HANDS IN THE HOLES OF MY SWEATER

7. Africa: The sun peeks out uwu from clouds

AND THE ANSWERS TO SATURDAYS CROSSWORD:

1. Baby food that adults can be allergic to: Milk. Well. It's not an allergy, it's an intolerance. Which involves different biological processes and not being able to digest it rather than the body reacting to an allergen. Shhhh. I never claimed to be smart.

2. Makes shitty copper: El-Nair (thanks @arkytiorlecter for that wild ride)

3. A condition that causes strong reactions to panic and pain at certain sounds: Misophonia (ily mad thanks for educating me @falling-raine)

4. A decaying virtual room of insanity orgies from the 10's: Tumblr

5. With ____, anything is possible: BARBIE!

IM TOO LAZY TO MAKE A CROSSWORD SO INSTEAD HAVE THE LESBIANS I PAINTED FOR MY PRINT-MAKING (MY OC'S)

AND BANGALORE PALACE WHICH I VISITED ON SUNDAY:

I LOVE YOU FORGIVE ME FOR MY NEGLIGENCE HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY/NIGHT MAGGOTS OF MINE

[pasteidolons]

𝔥𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔞𝔫𝔤 - 𝔩𝔧𝔥 || 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔦𝔦

pairing: lee jihoon x female!reader genre: historical au, fluff, angst, smut (later routes), supernatural members: choi seungcheol, wen junhui, kwon soonyoung, jeon wonwoo, lee seokmin, kim mingyu, boo seungkwan, lee chan, xu minghao, hong jisoo warnings: crass humor and language, blood, violence, mentions of suicide, alcohol, minor character death, 660's sexism, crossdressing, medical procedures, political upset, historical inaccuracies for the sake of plot progression word count: 16.6k summary: riding the highs and lows coming from the crown ordered raids and sieges, the hwarang find themselves in deeper trouble when mysterious figures begin emerging and demanding something strange- you.

taglist: @hipsdofangirl

𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔦 || 𝔭𝔞𝔯𝔱 𝔦𝔦𝔦

𝔉𝔢𝔟𝔯𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔶 6𝔱𝔥, 662 - 𝔖𝔢𝔬𝔯𝔞𝔟𝔢𝔬𝔩, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 The new year sweeps in not unexpectedly, but with a gust of cold that chills you to your core. Seorabeol sits under a blanket of snow, much like it had when you first arrived a little over a year ago now.  

You finish eating breakfast with the captains a little earlier than they do, you excuse yourself to make them some tea before their morning briefing. Thankfully, the halls remain warm, so you don’t need to worry about the winter chill as you make your way back to the main hall, the smattering of captains sitting around.  

“Thank you,” Eunseok says as you set down a cup for him, a smile on his lips as he wraps his cold fingers around the steaming cup. You make your way around the hall to give the captains their drinks, most giving you a curt but appreciative nod as you do so.

“The monks at this temple have been nice enough to let us stay here this long,” Jihoon calls out, disrupting your thoughts as he speaks to the captains, “but Shoshin is getting crowded.” 

“Especially with all of the new guys coming in,” Mingyu agrees, nodding his head. 

“If we could get a bigger space, that’d be good,” Junhui adds, a tinge to his voice as if he’s thinking about how little room there is to move around these days. “Even in the overflow buildings it’s stuffy.” 

“Most of these kids are nobles too, not accustomed to living like this,” Mingyu sighs, not vouching for them, just knowing it would take some time to acquaint themselves with their newfound home. 

“If we can find somewhere bigger to host us,” Seungkwan says, “I’m sure the newbies would be more appreciative.” 

“What about Bulguksa Temple?” The man sitting next to Youngmin speaks up, glancing over to the map hanging in the front of the room.  

“Bulguksa?” Suh Kangjoon frowns, looking towards the map, “Isn’t that a bit far?” 

“Maybe,” the man shrugs, “But it’s one of the only places big enough to accommodate the Seorabeol Hwarang. And its position would allow a tactical advantage in times of panic, it’s a relatively easy place to fortify.” 

After he’s done speaking, the man leans back in his chair to see what the others have to say. Kim Gongmyung had joined the Hwarang on Soonyoung’s excursion to Hanseong in early autumn of last year. His family’s school is quite popular there and his academics gained him notoriety with the nobles of the area. “Besides, it’s closer to the border so if there’s a need to intercept or fend off any Baekje loyalists looking for trouble, it’d put us in the best spot to do so.” 

“Those are good points,” Youngmin nods enthusiastically, “An exceptional amount of detail as always, Gongmyung.” 

Even if the chief thought it to be a good idea, a few voices rose in opposition. 

“Isn’t it a bit… presumptive to do something like that?” Seungcheol frowns at Gongmyung, his hands atop the table, fingers tapping along the wooden grains.  

Gongmyung’s smile flickers as he turns to the colonel, “Then would it be better to be negligent of the possibility, the high possibility, that the loyalists are up to something again?” His question leaves little room for the colonel to answer before he begins speaking again, “It’s a lovely thought, thinking that we’re safe now, but we all know it’s not true.” His deflection of Seungcheol’s statement leaves a bitter taste in everyone’s mouths. 

“I agree that the loyalists need to be stopped, but to place our personal interest there instead of being directed to do so by the Crown or the council is…” Seungcheol trails off, clearly thinking more inwardly than he was expressing outwardly. 

“So, then, what should we do?” Another voice piques up, questioning Seungcheol. “Wait until the bastards are knocking at our door to actually do something about it? Or maybe wait until they’ve actually captured Munmu and have burned the palace to the gro-” 

“Dongyoung,” Gongmyung interjects, “Watch your mouth.” 

“My mistake,” Dongyoung scoffs after a moment of staring at his brother for interrupting him, “Couldn’t stop myself.” 

Kim Dongyoung is the younger brother of Kim Gongmyung by blood, and only by the same father. Dongyoung had joined the Hwarang with Gongmyung in autumn and had accompanied him to Seorabeol. 

“He has the tendency to run his mouth like a child still,” Gongmyung explains, “I apologize.” His attention then turns back to Seungcheol and away from his brother, “So, don’t take it too personally, please. I’m sure someone like you is needed to make the Hwarang successful. Even if your arm is unusable in a fight, your smarts and tactical abilities will prove all the more useful.” 

You see Seungcheol biting back a retort towards Gongmyung’s sour wording, the tension between the two only cut by another voice.  

“I don’t think I heard you correctly, Gongmyung.” It’s Jihoon, his voice low as if he’s trying to stabilize the tone so as to not sound angry. “Seungcheol is smart, as you said. He is not useless and not replaceable, make sure you don’t forget that.” The commander only speaks when there’s something important to be said, having spoken up now means that Gongmyung’s words must’ve gotten to him.  

“My arm, though…” Seungcheol mutters out, seemingly unable to finish the thought. Jihoon’s words remind him of what he once was, causing him to frown at the reality of it all. 

“I didn’t mean to cause such a disturbance,” Gongmyung sighs out with false sympathy, “I’ll be sure to keep my thoughts to myself next time. Seungcheol is quite a beloved member, I see, it’s nice to see such a tight knit group. I can only hope the new members share that sentiment.” 

Jihoon’s eyes seethe with anger as he glares at Gongmyung, but before he’s able to snip back, Youngmin steps in and tries to calm the air. 

“For now,” He begins, looking at each member of the opposing parties, “Let’s just keep matters on finding a new headquarter location. Gongmyung, would you mind coming with me? I’d love to continue our earlier conversation.” 

“Of course, Chief.” Gongmyung says and rises to his feet at the same time Youngmin does, the two begin to leave the room, quickly followed out by Kangjoon. 

“May I join you as well?” The latter asks before the two step out of the hall. 

“Of course,” Youngmin accepts, “I’d like you to hear what Gongmyung has to say, it may help you with strategy points.” 

“Thank you,” Kangjoon says with an appreciative smile as the three exit, shortly followed by Dongyoung who scoffs at the encounter before slinking out after them. 

“Who’s the asshole that invited them to join us?” Seungkwan frowns once the sound of their footsteps falls out of earshot. 

“That asshole’s still in Hanseong,” Junhui huffs, “When Soonyoung gets back I might just wring his neck.”

“The Kim’s father is friends with a few pro-military councilmen,” Mingyu muses, “Interesting to see that they’d join us if they share those same beliefs.” 

“They’re probably playing some sort of superiority game,” Jihoon says, his arms crossing over his chest. “Just listen to the bullshit that Dongyoung spouts off, and it looks like it’s rubbing off on Youngmin. And that’s definitely not good.”

“Youngmin’s always been like that,” Seungkwan adds, “Easily deceived by those who act nice and appear virtuous but are just vipers waiting for the right time to strike.”

“And Gongmyung’s the deputy commander with Dongyoung in a captain’s position,” Mingyu shakes his head, “They’ve rooted themselves deep.” 

Jihoon’s gaze travels to Seungcheol, who’s been staring at the patterns in the wood since his conversation with Gongmyung. “Don’t listen to him,” the commander says to him in hopes of cheering him up.  

“Gongmyung is a skilled orator with a proficient education to back it,” Seungcheol laughs dryly, “And not only that, but he’s also skilled with a sword and bow. With a gifted Deputy Commander, the Hwarang have little need for a colonel now.”

“Seungcheol-” Jihoon begins to protest as the colonel rises to his feet and starts to head for the exit. The commander’s voice trails after Seungcheol as he leaves quietly, no one daring to stop him. 

“Of all people…” Mingyu sighs out, crossing his arms as he leans back in his chair, “Even the wang-do are avoiding him now.” 

“Why?” You question and turn to the captain, “It’s not like he’s done anything wrong.”

“It’s his attitude,” Junhui responds in the elder’s stead, “It doesn't matter what you say to him, he takes it the wrong way regardless.” 

“Not to mention the smartass tone he’s been taking up,” a twisted frown settles onto Mingyu’s face, “it’s no wonder the men are scared shitless of him.” 

Their words confuse you, even though you haven’t been here as long as the other captains, Seungcheol was well liked among everyone in the Hwarang. After he’d received his injury, it seems as if that demeanor has taken a turn for the worse.  

“Can’t you come up with an excuse to get Gongmyung the hell out of here?” Seungkwan asks, turning towards Jihoon. “There’s barely been a moment of civility since he got here.” 

“You know I can’t do that,” Jihoon’s expression turns sour, “Youngmin’s all over the guy. Besides, he brought in a bunch of warriors from Hanseong, their allegiance doesn’t solely lie with us yet. They’ll pack up and leave the second we tell him to get lost.” 

“Fuck him though!” Seungkwan does little to quell the irateness of his voice, “You’re the goddamn demon commander, make the impossible happen!” 

Jihoon barks out a snarkish laugh, “Fine, Boo. How about I make you commander so you can kick Gongmyung and his thugs out?” 

“Hell no,” Seungkwan snickers, “That’s too much work.”

It eventually comes to fruition that Gongmyung isn’t to be trusted, having no other captains speak out on his behalf.  

You’re going around once more to distribute tea to the men when you stop by Hansol, who’d been quiet for most of, if not all, of the prior conversation. He looks up at you, as if he had felt your thoughts wander over to him.  

“What are your thoughts on Gongmyung joining?” You ask as he sets down his teacup onto the tabletop.  

Hansol sighs as you begin topping off the cup, “As any group begins to grow in numbers, it’ll have more and more people with differing opinions.” You pull the pot away from his cup, staunching the flow of the liquid, “Although, if one intends to be the catalyst for change instead of it occurring naturally, the group will begin to kill itself from the inside out.” His words hang heavy as you stand next to him, unsure of what to say next.  

Gongmyung’s acceptance into the Hwarang, from your perspective, wasn’t to tear them apart, but maybe to cause dissension among the members. You’re not fond of him, but his treatment towards Seungcheol and the colonel’s receptiveness to the critiques is what worries you the most. It’s not as if his arm would work again overnight, it would take a miracle to happen, and Seungcheol doesn’t seem like the type to frequent shamans.  

Sometime later you find yourself wandering back to your room, the meeting dissipating with little to be done with the newest arrivals. Although cold outside, the setting sun gives off little warmth as you trapeze yourself through one of the gardens. The reddish-maroon of the sinking star unsettling you. 

You still have Seungcheol in mind as you pause for a moment, staring up at the shifting hues of the heavens. A conversation you’d heard in the news of Seungcheol’s injury had spurred the conversation of the Furies as well as a serum. By the way they’d spoken of it, it made it seem as if the item was only used in dire circumstances, and it was highly secretive. You weren’t even supposed to know about it in the first place, but Soonyoung had let slip some information on it and now you can’t help but think about it. 

If you were to try and learn of it yourself, it’s no doubt that you’d find yourself in a world of trouble. Yet, you are the daughter of a physician, surely you have more medical knowledge than them? 

Falling onto your better judgment, you return to your quarters. Even if you’re worried about Seungcheol, you’re not sure that there’s much you can even do for him at this point.  

When the sun finally drops below the horizon, it seems as if Shoshin Temple bursts to life with activity. But the sounds aren’t boisterous, not the gaiety induced ones of the captains rough-housing, these were more ominous. You hear footsteps charge past your room, never seeming to cease as the men run off to an unknown location.  

Despite trying your best to keep out of it, your curiosity overtakes you, amalgamating in you slowly creeping out into the hall and following the sound of the commotion. The sounds take you to the main hall, the door left ajar so you quietly make your way inside. 

“To think that Seungcheol would’ve…” You can hear Youngmin’s voice, a seriousness in it as he comes into view. Jihoon and the other captains stand around him, each looking to be in a different stage of shock or disbelief. 

“What the hell were you all doing?!” Jihoon shouts out towards the other captains, his grief seeming to take shape in the form of unbridled anger, “I told you to watch out for Seungcheol! Was there some fucking part of that that you didn’t understand?” 

“You can’t blame us for this,” Junhui retorts defensively, “Who would’ve thought that he’d drink that shit? He was also in charge of that stuff so how were we supposed to know he had it?” 

“If he’d hidden it in a vial we wouldn’t have known,” Mingyu adds, glancing from Junhui to Jihoon, “And suppose that it does treat his arm… Everyone who took it went crazy. It didn’t work.” 

The serum… is that what the captains are referring to? You don’t have enough context on the situation to understand fully, but has Seungcheol taken whatever it is? 

“Seungcheol had been trying to improve it,” Hansol interjects, “He’d hoped his arm would heal before it deteriorated too much… Maybe he felt as if there wasn’t any other way. Regardless of that, when he realized his failure he ignored Seungkwan and tried to kill himself.”

“Kill himself?” You gasp aloud, momentarily forgetting that you aren’t supposed to be here. Slowly, all eyes shift to you, Jihoon’s gaze quickly meeting yours. 

“What are you doing here?” He asks and suddenly you’re unable to speak. His gaze holds an iciness that causes your throat to clam up, restricting any words that are trying to form. It’s the same way you felt upon entering Shoshin the first time, a mixture of anxiousness, suspicion and animosity.  

“Jihoon,” Youngmin says, his hand moving to rest on the commander’s forearm, “I think it’s time you tell her what’s going on. She is Heo’s daughter, after all.” 

Your eyes grow wide at the mention of your father’s name. Why is he being brought up all of a sudden? 

“I’m going to make this clear,” the commander stares at Youngmin with a grimace, looking back to you after a moment and sighing out lengthily, “The Hwarang don’t need you. There’s a chance that you’ll help us find Heo, but even without you, we’ll find him one way or another. Do anything strange and we’ll have you killed.” Your limbs feel frozen in place as he speaks, you’re able to stutter out an ‘Okay’ before he continues. “I’m going to tell you what’s happening here, but keep in mind that if you tell anyone else about it other than those that are in this room: it’s your own head.” 

“Are you… going to kill me?” 

“Not yet, but don’t think that means you’re free to run off.” 

“We never told you why your father was here in the first place,” Youngmin steps in, allowing you to break your gaze with Jihoon. “He was developing a… treatment of sorts.” 

“Like the one Seungcheol took?” Words forming on your lips, testing out how shocked you sound.  

The leader of the Hwarang nods solemnly, breathing in deeply before responding, “We first learned of it when one of the Crown’s men brought it to us. They told us it was obtained through trades with merchants in Tang.” 

The curiosity of it all, as dreadful it may be, swirls inside of you. Culminating into something you’re not sure you have the words to describe.  

“A foreign drug said to augment a man’s healing and bolster their strength,” Hansol sighs out, “Anyone who drank their fill would, supposedly, be able to fight off a guhin with no issue.” His voice serious, despite having alluded to a mythical beast, “Any of their injuries would heal almost immediately, unless they were decapitated or pierced through the heart.

This all sounds like something your father would’ve told you as a child to fuel your imagination, not something that was feasible now. 

“Yet, that power comes at a price. It spirals whoever drinks it into an unreturnable madness, they seek out human blood to satisfy their hunger instead of food or drink.” Hansol continues, looking at you with a wary gaze, Heo took it upon himself to try it out on some of the Hwarang so that an attempt to perfect the serum could be worked on. 

“My father?” You’re not sure how surprised you sound, something within you twinges but it’s probably the knowledge somewhere deep inside that you knew your father is connected to all of this. Yet knowing that he was using his skills to try and work on this… serum, makes a pit begin to form in your stomach. “So that night where you all found me...”

“We keep the men who’ve taken it to a temple just outside of Seorabeol, if they were kept here people would’ve become suspicious,” The explanation doesn’t tell you how you’d come to find them, but you can infer that they’d probably escaped. “As long as they don’t get any blood they stay relatively quiet.” With the way Hansol relays the information, it makes it seem as this is just a nonchalant topic for him, and it may have very well been. But to you, it’s alien but helps you put together a few things you’d been wondering since your arrival here.  

“Are you okay?” Mingyu asks, a tinge of concern to his voice, “You don’t look great.” He stops himself, scoffing inwardly before continuing, “Of course you’re not, this information would sicken anyone.”

“I think we’ve told her enough,” Jihoon interjects before Mingyu can continue, “We need to think about what to do with Seungcheol.”

“I guess…” Junhui frowns, crossing his arms, “But he was practically dead when Eunseok took him out of here.”

“This was a new draught of that shit, though,” Jihoon sounds as if he’s trying to contain himself, to keep his hopefulness on the floor, “we don’t know if the effects are any different from the last batch. And if it’s supposed to do what it's meant to, then that cut isn’t going to kill him.” His eyes flicker to the leader, “Youngmin, can you watch over him? I know Eunseok’s taking care of him but he’s just a kid and I don’t think that-” A pause as he catches himself fretting, he gives himself a second to straighten up, “Tonight will tell us if he’s meant to live or die, and whether he’ll be sane or not by the end of it.”

“Of course, isn’t Seungkwan with him as well?” Youngmin asks before he turns on his heels and heads towards the door.

“He’s guarding the room,” A curt response from Jihoon before Youngmin nods and exits the main hall, the sound of his footsteps dying down after a moment.

“I want you to keep everyone away from the captain’s wing,” Jihoon looks towards Mingyu, a frown dancing on his lips, “Especially Gongmyung’s men.”

“I know,” Mingyu huffs looking to where Youngmin had exited.

“Junhui, go and check on Hwangnyongsa.”

Another order from Jihoon, Junhui nods wordlessly and begins to head towards the main exit of the headquarters. As he passes, you see a glint of the same hostility he’d held towards you on the night of your first arrival. It’s tense and suspicious of you, an itch of gooseflesh overcoming you as he walks out into the night.

“Hansol, go to the inner courtyard, if the Kim brothers or their men show up, keep them busy,” And before Hansol’s even left the room, Jihoon’s gaze settles on you. “I want you to stay with one of the captains.” His concern stems not for the care of your well-being, that much is evident in his gaze, but more to the fact that tonight isn’t a good night to be wandering around alone.

“I’d stay away from Hwangnyongsa, they get rowdy at night,” Mingyu notes, his teeth biting at his cheek.

You nod, thankful for the suggestion, but even with his warning, you’d be limited in where you could go.

“I think I’ll stay here,” you assert to the remaining men, nodding to yourself that this is probably the safest place you could remain within the compound.

It doesn’t take long for Hansol and Mingyu to take their leave, heading for their respective locations around the headquarters before you’re left alone with the commander.

The main hall feels suffocating, mostly from Jihoon’s quietness and the thoughts of what had transpired here merely an hour beforehand. Your gaze shifts from looking out of the main entrance to the commander, his brow furrowing and eyes looking sullen. It’s easy to see that the events of tonight are eating away at him, his concern for his second-in-command utterly gnawing at his very being. His eyes close and he lets out a quiet sigh before speaking again,

“You might think you know who Seungcheol is, but this… It’s not really who he is. He’s an intelligent man who is more than just a sword. The colonel sees the full picture rather than what lies duly in front of him.” Another sigh as if he’s reminiscing, “His guidance helped me through a lot more than I’d like to credit, but his words were always more commandeering than his blade. In a way he was more powerful than me, without him, the Hwarang would’ve regressed to the likes of the Wonhwa.” A subtle smile curling on his lips, “He was like my big brother.” Hands balling into fists atop the table, there is a sincerity that drips from his words bitterly.

“He must mean a lot to you,” you say softly, your own hands falling into your lap, your back hitting the back of the chair as you lean.

“It sounds a little childlike when you say it aloud,” the absinthian smile still clinging to him. He sits, probably thinking the worst outcome for his longtime friend, reminiscing on their past and contemplating what it may mean for the future. Jihoon’s position leaves him unable to divulge this with most others, yet by sharing them with you, he can hold off on the truth for a while longer.

“The only reason we didn’t get rid of that serum is because we thought we could heal his arm with it somehow… Because I thought we could heal him,” the smile fades away, replaced with a grimace. “I should’ve seen this coming.” His own hands fall away from the tabletop and to his sides, a relent in the tension building in his shoulders, “We need Seungcheol. We can’t lose him.”

An anguish coming over him due to the morality of his friend. It’s hard to watch, and you’re nowhere near close enough to him to offer him substantial comfort or advice.

“It’ll be okay,” quiet words leaving you as you straighten up in your chair, his gaze flickering over to you.  

“Do you have anything to back that statement up?”

“Back in Toehwa-hyeon, I saw my father treat a lot of people. Most of them believed that they’d recover, and my dad said it was because they had a strong heart,” you say slowly, trying to space out your words coherently. “Seungcheol never seemed like the type to give up fully, and if we all think that he’ll recover then…”

Jihoon lets out a small laugh with a smile and shakes his head, “The Commander of the Hwarang being cheered up by a physician’s daughter. Who could’ve ever imagined this?” A spark igniting in his eyes, returning to the glowing embers and eventual blaze that he so often carries. “You’re right, though. Seungcheol drank the medicine with the intent of getting better and fixing his arm, we just have to believe that he’ll recover.” 

𝔉𝔢𝔟𝔯𝔲𝔞𝔯𝔶 7, 662 – 𝔖𝔥𝔬𝔰𝔥𝔦𝔫 𝔗𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 The night breaks into dawn long after you've retired to your room. A clattering of noise and the rise of voices rouse you from slumber and pull you back to the main hall. Upon entering, you find that the captains have gathered, each in conversation with one another. This scene isn’t interrupted until Eunseok enters. 

“It seems as if the hardest part for him is over,” The youngest nods, a collective ball of tension in the room dissipating instantly. 

“How is he?” Mingyu asks, looking to Eunseok. 

“Still asleep,” he nods, “he was in and out of consciousness the entire night, but he looks peaceful now.”

“Has he gone crazy like the others?” Junhui’s question is blunt as he blurts it out into the space. 

Eunseok shakes his head in the negative, “Not seemingly. But we won’t know until he wakes up. But as for now, he looks as he always has.”

Before another captain is able to ask Eunseok of Seungcheol’s status, the doors open and Gongmyung strides into the room.

“Good morning everyone,” A cheap smile painted on his face, “How are you?”

You can hear Junhui let out a soft, “Fuck,” at the sight of him. 

Gongmyung scans the faces of the captains after their muffled hellos, “You all look… gloomy.” 

“Isn’t it obvious that it’s because we’ve got to see your beautiful face every morning?” Junhui bites with a snicker. 

“What a… cute response,” Gongmyung’s quick to brush away the insult as he turns to the other captains. “Is the reason you all look so down because of what happened last night?”

“Ah, actually,” Youngmin begins, fumbling over his words. His gaze hops from captain to captain, looking for someone to relieve him of trying to offer an excuse to Gongmyung. 

“Jae,” Junhui’s elbow finds the older’s side as he whispers, “make something up!”

“You see,” Mingyu says after a moment, he too, stumbling over his words, “Well… Uh, yesterday…” 

“Didn’t you say you used to act for the nobles in your village?” Seungkwan scoffs at him quietly, “Be quiet and let someone else do the talking.” You think he’s talking about himself, but instead of speaking up, Seungkwan looks to Hansol, who begins speaking almost immediately. 

“As you may have heard, an incident occurred last night at the headquarters,” voice plain as he speaks to the Deputy Commander, “We have yet to gain full knowledge on the situation. If we were to make a statement now, it is a risk of polluting fact with falsities. Later this afternoon I’m sure we’ll be able to provide a much more detailed report.” 

“Hmm,” Gongmyung mulls over Hansol’s statement for a moment, “I’ll look forward to hearing all about what happened later this evening, then. For now, I’ll return to my men.” He waves everyone on his way out, a strange smile cutting across his face before he exits. 

“That was easier than it should’ve been,” Seungkwan huffs, watching the door close with a soft slam.

“What do you mean?” You ask, attention turning from the door and to Seungkwan.

“Gongmyung isn’t stupid, unfortunately,” Jihoon frowns and looks at you, “We shouldn’t have let him in here. The only person missing from our ranks is Seungcheol, it’s not going to take him long to realize that something’s happened to him.” 

The Deputy Commander had most likely suspected what had occurred but decided to not press the issue. Before you can think on it for too long, the door opens once more and Choi Seungcheol shuffles in.

A small laugh as he looks at them, his voice sounding a little weak, “Come on, it’s not like I’m some kind of monster.”

Eunseok rushes to him, offering assistance to stand but is waved away by the Colonel, “You should be resting, are you okay being up like this?”

“I’m tired… sore… but I suppose that’s a side effect of my new condition,” Seungcheol’s brow furrows slightly as he looks down to his hand, “Those who’ve taken the serum have found it difficult to do work in the daylight.” His face is a bit pallid, but with the way he stands and moves, it doesn’t seem like he’s hindered all too much. “I’m no longer human,” the words echoing around the room with a chilling effect. Each and every captain fell silent to them.

“Who cares about what you are?” Youngmin speaks up after a moment and steps towards Seungcheol with a bright smile, trying to lighten the mood, “All that matters is that you’re alive.”

“How’s your arm? Healed?” Seungkwan questions, looking down to the colonel’s once bandaged limb. 

“I don’t think I’ve fully recovered yet,” Seungcheol notes, flexing his fingers at his side, “It seems to have healed for the most part.” 

Despite the disturbance and subsequent chaos of the night prior, it seems like Seungcheol’s wish to use his arm again had come true. 

“You can’t go out in the sunlight though, right?” Mingyu asks, voice concerned, and his brow furrowed, “Will you still be able to fight with us?”

Seungcheol nods, slowly moving his head as if he’s mulling over a thought he’d been holding in for some time. “I think you should tell everyone I died.”

“What!?” Junhui shouts out, unable to hold in the burst of confusion. “The fuck are you on about?”

“I should serve in the Corps from now on. It’ll show them, and even more so, us, that success isn’t some far off dream.” Seungcheol says, looking at the frazzled captain. 

“Have you lost your goddamn mind Seungcheol?” Junhui’s voice shakes with every word, “Do you know what you’re saying?”

“Of course, I do,” Seungcheol frowns, “The Crown has ordered us to keep the serum a secret, and if I,” a small hum as he postulates his next word, “die, that secret remains so. Researching in secret will give me more ability to track side effects and even give me the potential to remove them. What reason do we have for me not to if we’re going to use it?” 

The movements of the captains easily show that they’re against Seungcheol’s idea, although no one but Junhui has said anything against it. None of them wish to banish their friend to a life of hiding and secrecy. 

“We were given this task by the late King himself, carried on by his son…” Youngmin trails off, “This may be our only choice.”  

“This is what you asked for, isn’t it Seungcheol?” Seungkwan shoots him a look, “You’ve always been the type to take things into your own hands so I can’t fault you for that.” 

“Sometimes I think you know me too well,” the colonel chuckles.

Jihoon, who’s stayed silent for a majority of the conversation, scoffs at the remark. “This means moving the Hwarang to a new location can’t wait any longer. If we’re going to hide Seungcheol from Gongmyung and his crowd, Shoshin wouldn’t allow us to do that easily.” 

“You’re right,” Hansol affirms, “If the Colonel intends to begin researching again, then we’ll have to expedite our move.” 

A nod from the commander as he turns to face the captains in full, “Even though none of you slept well, we need to get to work.” He looks to you, “You should get some rest, I know you didn’t sleep well either.” 

You want to stay and help them, but with how fatigued you are from staying up so late you can only nod your head at him before quickly shuffling back to your room. 

The same thoughts that had plagued you last night as you tried to fall asleep plague you as you now lie on your bedding. Your father’s work… Are you safe under their pretext of safety still? Thoughts still buzzing around your head as you eventually find yourself drifting off into a dreamless slumber. 

𝔍𝔲𝔫𝔢 4𝔱𝔥, 662 – 𝔅𝔲𝔩𝔤𝔲𝔨𝔰𝔞 𝔗𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 Bulguksa Temple has proven a better headquarters than that of Shoshin Temple, you’d come to this conclusion in the subsequent weeks of your arrival in March of this year. There’s much more room for the men to freely roam and train, and the view was even more astonishing than the last. The only downfall is the longer trek to the city of Seorabeol itself. On some days you still find yourself lost on the winding paths to the temple, but for the most part you can guide yourself around with little assistance from the monks who reside there.

On this particular day, you find yourself wandering the seemingly endless grounds for the Hwarang’s colonel. When you think you spot him standing in one of the shaded courtyards of the temple’s grounds you shout out to him.

“There you are, Colonel,” You call out, a tray held tightly in your grasp. The sun hangs in the sky above you, a slight burn beginning to burgeon on your clothed shoulders as you approach. “I’ve brought you your lunch.”

“Oh, hello,” he turns to you with a smile and beckons you closer, “Thank you.” A bird chirps in the branches of the tree above him, you look up to find the small creature before returning your gaze to him. You offer him a smile before extending out the tray to him. 

“It’s really gotten warm lately, hasn’t it?” You note, stepping into the shade once he’d taken the tray. Fingers rising to your shoulders to feel the heat of the sun that had soaked into the fabric. 

“It has,” he nods, moving to set the tray down on a stump beside him, “Although the increased sunshine has been more disagreeable than the warmth.”

“Ah, is it?” The sun doesn’t feel but so harsh on you, but the heat that swells around the compound has been making you sweat since the sun broke over the horizon. Yet, to Seungcheol his disposition probably found the light unbearable from his days in the shadows.

Sometimes it feels unreal to call Seungcheol dead, the night where he’d taken that serum to transform him into a creature lustful for blood, feeling more so like a dream whenever you recall it. As he stands before you now, you can hardly imagine it.

A light breeze wafts through the greenery around you, parting enough leaves in the tree from a few beams of sunlight to fall onto Seungcheol. For a moment, his hair turns a silvery white and his eyes seem to turn a deep crimson.

Your eyes widen and you take a step back, unsure if it were a trick of the light or your own imagination. 

“Is something wrong?” He asks, his hair now normal and his eyes once again brown. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost, and I know I’m not at that point yet.” Maybe you had imagined it.

𝔍𝔲𝔫𝔢 6𝔱𝔥, 662 – 𝔖𝔢𝔬𝔯𝔞𝔟𝔢𝔬𝔩, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 Soonyoung had asked you to accompany him on his rounds this morning with an excitedness in his voice that would’ve been hard to turn down. So, now you find yourself briskly walking with him through the crowded streets, the blues of his robes shining brilliantly in the midday sky. 

“It’s been a while since you’ve asked me to come on patrol with you,” You note as you pass a vendor selling sickeningly sweet treats. 

“I know, right? Hanseong kept me pretty busy.” He sighs out, having only just returned from his trip to the northern city just a few weeks ago. “Junhui and Mingyu didn’t mess with you when I was gone, did they? How was it when I was away?”

“Everything was fine, and they didn’t bother me,” You assure him with a small smile. 

“That’s good,” He returns the smile as you continue to walk. “Any updates on Heo though? Did you find any leads?”

“No,” the smile from your lips quickly leaving. 

“I see…” His own smile quickly disappears as he watches you, “I stopped by his place with the information you gave me but… It didn’t seem as if anyone had returned.” The somberness of the male begins to transfer to you, a feeling of hopelessness beginning to overtake you momentarily. 

“Thank you for taking the time to check for me, I know Toehwa-hyeon isn’t on the direct path back.”

“Don’t thank me for that,” He waves you off, “The fact that you can’t freely come and go as you please is completely the Hwarang’s faul—” 

“Soonyoung?” You question as he’d stopped himself mid-sentence. He’d looked glum ever since his return from Hanseong. “How about you, though? I know it’s been a while since you’ve been back in Seorabeol.” 

“I do feel like the city’s changed, the people too,” he muses, glancing at the faces that pass by. There’s a solemness to his tone that wasn’t typically there in conversations you’d had with him prior, had something happened in Hanseong? Before you can question him on it, his head jerks to look above the crowd, standing on his toes and waving to someone across the way.

“Find anything over there, Seungkwan?!” He shouts out above the clamor of the street. 

“Nope,” the older replies as he saunters over, “Nothing out of order here.” Seungkwan is out for patrol too, but his route takes him through a different path through the city. “Normal for now, at least. Things will change once the king comes back from his family villa. Rumor has it that he’s going to address the Hwarang.”

“Is he really?” You question, brow raising in surprise.

“Yep, it’s got Youngmin all flustered,” Seungkwan chuckles, “Our dear leader really respects the Crown, as well all have to, I guess.”

“I see,” you nod, “I hope it actually happens, then, right, Soonyoung?”

Soonyoung looks lost in thought before he hears his name, stumbling out his words as he responds, “Ah, yeah, right.” 

You look to Seungkwan to see if he’s caught on to the other’s oddness. But he’s stifling his mouth with his hand, coughing into it. 

“Are you alright?” You question him as his hand falls away from his mouth.

“I’m okay,” he waves you off, “I probably just caught a cold from patrolling late one night or something.” 

“Well, try to take care of yourself,” a sigh leaving you. As strong and intelligent as the men were, they hardly ever took care of their basic needs, “I have some cold medicine back at the headquarters, I’ll give you some.” 

“Thanks,” Seungkwan smiles, “I guess it is good to have you around at times.” Something catches his attention, and he breaks his gaze away from you and into the crowds of the street.

“Is something wrong?”

“What do you mean ‘no’?” A voice rings out and you follow it to see a man holding the wrist of a woman trying to get away from him. 

“Let go of me!” She cries out, trying to pull herself away from his grip.

“We’re soldiers of this great kingdom, fighting hard every day to kick these loyalists’ asses! You owe us some drinks, and maybe even a little company.” The man says, and it’s then you realize it isn’t just him, but two other presumed soldiers are harassing this woman. 

“Are you guys seeing this?” You question the two captains.

“Yeah,” Soonyoung frowns, “Stay here.”

Yet, before Soonyoung could step forward, Seungkwan seems to be several steps ahead, reaching the group already.

“Soldiers don’t seem to be what they used to,” he tuts, “throwing that rank aloud doesn’t mean you’re owed anything.” The crowds coming to watch the scene shuffle away from Seungkwan as he hovers his hand on his blade, glaring at the men. As the harassers catch the blues of the Hwarang’s robes they seem to stiffen. 

“You’re a Hwarang, aren’t you?” One of them asks, furrowing their brow.

“And you must be the smartest one out of these men,” Seungkwan’s tone is condescending as his hand now rests on the hilt of his sword. “Now, what’s it going to be?” A snide, predatory smile as he grips the hilt, no happiness deriving from the grin as the soldier’s faces pale. 

“Why don’t you leave us alone? This doesn’t involve you.” The one presumed to be their ringleader remarks. 

“If you really want to get out of here unscathed, you should probably follow your own advice,” Soonyoung scoffs, now saddling up beside Seungkwan. 

The sight of two Hwarang seems enough to deter the men from their endeavor. Their faces draining of color before they scamper off like scolded dogs. 

“If they’re just gonna run off like that when they see us they shouldn’t have tried to start anything in the first place,” Soonyoung sighs, watching them disappear into the crowds. 

“Aren’t you going to go after them?” You ask, looking at them as you walk over.

“And charge them with what?” Seungkwan questions, retracting his hand away from his blade and crossing his arms, “Didn’t think you were the iron fist kind of person.”

Before you can protest that that’s not what you meant, the woman whom the two Hwarang had intervened for speaks up, “Thank you for saving me.” She gives both Seungkwan and Soonyoung a bow, more grace in her movements than you could ever hope to have. Even if you dressed like a girl you’re not sure you’d even come close. 

Seungkwan’s hand lands on your shoulder before you’re able to feel any sorrier for yourself. “Seungkwan?” You question as he pulls you forward to stand next to the girl.

“Just go with it,” he says and steps away from the two of you, his hand under his chin as he looks over both of you. You smile softly at the girl, embarrassed as to what the Hwarang is making you do. She returns the smile, beautiful on the outside but there is something almost… strange about it. 

“Just as I thought,” Seungkwan nods, “They look just like each other.” 

And then it hits you, the girl standing before you looks just as you do whenever you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirrors dotting the headquarters. 

“Really?” Soonyoung questions, tilting his head at the two of you, “I don’t think they look alike at all, Boo.”

“Dress ‘em up like a girl and you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” Seungkwan insists.

“Captain Boo…” The woman says, looking at you, “She seems troubled.” 

She? Had the woman caught on to you so soon? Stuck in your thoughts she smiles at you once more, “I want to thank all of you properly, but I’m afraid that I’m in the middle of something important. My name is Ahro, I hope I’ll be able to repay you soon, Captain Boo.”

And with that she too disappears like a wisp into the crowds of Seorabeol, the strangeness of her presence lingering long after she’s left.

“It looks like she likes you, Seungkwan!” Soonyoung nudges the elder with his elbow.

“Is that really what you think, Soonyoung?” The other laughs, “You’ve got a long way to go before you’re at Junhui’s prowess levels.” 

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Soonyoung shouts at the other, clearly offended by the remark. 

Their bickering fades away as you look to a puddle on the ground left from the rain the night prior. Looking into it now you see the resemblance that you and that woman had had. “Ahro…” You hum as a gust of wind causes the water to ripple and distort your figure. 

“Let’s get going!” Soonyoung calls, now further down the street as he’d begun walking back to Bulguksa.

“Coming!” You shout out to him as you look up from the puddle and begin to chase after him. 

𝔍𝔲𝔫𝔢 11𝔱𝔥, 662 – 𝔅𝔲𝔩𝔤𝔲𝔨𝔰𝔞 𝔗𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 The main hall of this temple is open enough so that most, if not all, of the Seorabeol Hwarang can fit inside of it with ample room to spare. It’s a little strange to see all of these faces in one place, seeing as at Shoshin, only the captains and a few other members took priority of occupying the main hall. Yet, as Kwak Youngmin stands proudly in front of his men, any thoughts of the prior location escape your mind.

“By now it’s probably not our best kept secret, but King Munmu has asked us to act as his guard as he returns from his family’s villa to Banweolseong.” Youngmin beams excitedly as the hall begins to erupt in chatter.

“Guard him?” Junhui looks shocked as he turns towards Mingyu, “What’s that about?”

“I don’t know,” he shakes his head in disbelief, “I thought we were just going to get the usual ‘Keep up the good work’ spiel.” 

“Our work at Wonweol and Ongsan must’ve gotten through to them,” Jihoon nods, a hidden smile pulling at his lips. 

“The leadership of Silla resting on us,” Seungkwan muses almost gleefully, “That’s big.”

“Exactly right,” Jihoon agrees, “We’ve got to do beyond our best for this.”

On the opposite end of the hall, you can hear Suh Kangjoon speak up, “Guarding the king… That’s quite the promotion for us.”

“It truly is,” Gongmyung notes with a sigh, “If only Seungcheol were alive to see it. He would’ve been overjoyed.” Another lamenting breath tiptoeing on faux sympathy, “To have lost such an ally…” 

Kim Gongmyung and all of his followers had been told of the colonel’s passing. Actually, the incident surrounding Seungcheol’s transformation had been hidden, only a few of the Hwarang knew the reality of the situation. 

“I think doing our best to serve and protect the king is what Seungcheol would’ve wanted,” Youngmin interjects himself into their conversation. 

“Yes,” Gongmyung nods, “Of course. This is an excellent opportunity for us to gain favor with the masses.”

“We ought to assign roles at this point. I’d like Jihoon, Seungkwan, and myself to—” Youngmin begins before being cut off by Jihoon.

“Sorry Kwak, but do you think Boo can sit this one out?” The commander’s arms cross over his chest as he glances towards the third party. 

“Why’s that?” Youngmin questions, confusion sweeping his features.  

“His cold hasn’t recovered fully. And despite me telling him to take care of himself, he neglects to do so,” He sighs out, looking back towards Youngmin. 

“Is this true, Seungkwan?” Youngmin looks at the swordsman, “Are you alright?”

“Lee’s just babying me again,” Seungkwan says with a dismissive gesture, “I think I’m alright.”

“Don’t give me that shit,” Jihoon frowns, “You nearly coughed up a lung earlier.” 

“Are you trying to sell me medicine?” He scoffs, crossing his arms with a frown, “There’s no way in hell I’m taking what your mother’s doctor prescribed anymore. It tastes like persimmons.”

“That’s not what I’m trying to—” a frustrated grunt from the commander, “Just do what I say, for once.”

You recall giving Seungkwan medicine some time ago after he’d been coughing while out on patrol, had it not helped him? It could be dust particles in the air, you know that the buildup of dust in the temple caused you to sneeze incessantly some mornings. 

From the corner of your periphery, you see someone raise their hand. 

“Is something wrong, Soonyoung?” Youngmin asks, having seen the younger calling for attention. 

“I’m uh, I’m not feeling so great either,” Soonyoung frowns, his eyes looking panicked. 

“You too?” Youngmin hums in defeat, “You should try and take care of yourself. I was hoping we could all go and guard the king.”

“I’m sorry,” Soonyoung bows his head in apology. 

“No, no, don’t worry about it. Your health comes first, always!” Youngmin tries to brighten his tone to detract from the now somber mood. “I’m sure we’ll have another chance to do something great together!”

Jihoon and Youngmin continue discussing the precession that’s to take place, when suddenly, the commander turns to you.

“What’re you going to do?” Jihoon asks, an eyebrow raised as he poises the question. 

“What do you mean?” You say as you look to him, “Are you asking if I want to go with you?”

“I am,” He nods and after a moment of silence asks, “Are you?” 

“Is that really okay?”

“Of course it is!” Youngmin smiles, “We won’t mind. Besides, you’re practically one of us, I’d love for you to accompany us.” 

Another moment of hesitation before Seungkwan laughs aloud, “Why don’t you go? It seems a lot safer than what happened at Wonweol and Ongsan.”

“Yeah,” Soonyoung nods, “I can’t imagine any loyalists would try to do anything when the king’ll be so heavily guarded.” 

“I’ll go, then,” you nod firmly towards the commander. 

“Alright,” Jihoon nods back with a small smile, “I thought we’d give you the job of running messages when needed. It’s not going to be the easiest job but I figure you can do it.”

Later that day you and the able captains and Hwarang left Seorabeol. Traveling about an hour or two outside of the city as you wait for the king’s caravan to greet you in a small village that you can’t remember the name of. You never actually saw the king, but you follow the Hwarang back to Seorabeol, arriving at the gates of the city just as the sun dips below the horizon. The walk through the city is brisk, and in no time the caravan disbands and you and a few other Hwarang stand outside the palace gates. By now, Youngmin, Junhui and Gongmyung are probably greeting officials and other important members of the king’s retinue. 

You shift on your feet for a moment, the sole aching slightly from the trek earlier, but you have a job to do. Jihoon had tasked you to tell the Hwarang when to change their shift and to carry any important messages when needed. It’s something of a glorified page position, but it’s not an entirely useless role… probably. 

“You’re the messenger?” A voice says as you approach them, “This isn’t a vacation, you know.”

“I’m not here to relax, Dongyoung,” you sigh as you stand before him.

“Is that right? Then why did we take someone here who can’t even use a sword?” Dongyoung scoffs, the light from a nearby brazier flickering across the sneer on his face.

“I’m here to do what I can,” You state firmly before beginning to relay your message. “The Chief is currently paying his respects to members of the court, everyone else should continue guarding.” 

“Message understood,” he says flippantly, causing you to look confused with how he didn’t retort on it. “What? Surprised I actually listened to you?”

“Oh no—I just—” 

“It’s a job,” He frowns, “It’s not personal. Now you’ve delivered your message, get going.”

You don’t ever speak much to Dongyoung, mostly on account of his brother being Gongmyung, but maybe he’s more responsible than you thought him to be. 

After he shoos you away, you continue to make your rounds, delivering messages to the Hwarang stationed around the castle. They’re easy to spot, wearing their white robes instead of their normal blues. They seem laxer now, maybe because the loyalists had been driven out of the capital for the most part, the Baekje revivalists fleeing back to the territory of the old kingdom. 

As you think that, and begin to approach another member of the Hwarang some distance away, your blood runs cold. A prick of gooseflesh running along your spine as your heartbeat reaches your ears. You can taste the blood in the air, looking around the trees encasing the palace and finding nothing. It’s not until you look at the castle walls and the walkway situated on top of it, does your stomach sink. Three figures jump down from the wall, landing on the dirt ground with a cloud of gritty dust.

“You’ve found us, then,” A familiar voice sighs out as they turn to you, stating your name somewhat cooly. The figure, flanked by two others, is haloed in the moonlight as you squint your eyes to try and get a better look at his face. “Not too slow.” Their piercing gaze fires into you, the name ‘Hong Jisoo’ battering through your mind as you remember the distinctive voice and way he carries himself. The last you’d seen him had been at Ongsan, and you face him now with much more dread than you’d had that day.

The two figures beside him must be Hwan Minhyun and Xu Minghao, the people whom other Hwarang had encountered during the battle at the fortress. You know they have ties with the inner court and had tried to stop the Hwarang’s efforts during the battle at Wonweol and Ongsan.

“Why are you here?” You question, trying to keep your voice steady.

“You mean ‘how’ did we get here, don’t you?” the one on Jisoo’s left, questions. “Man made obstacles are meaningless to a Demon.”

“We’re here for only one reason: you.” The other speaks up, crossing his arms. 

“Me?” You take a step back, the pounding of your heart unrelenting as you stare at them. “I don’t understand.” How do they know your name? “What do you mean by Demon? Is this some kind of joke?”

Jisoo scoffs, “You of all people are asking that? Maybe you’re the one who’s joking.” He steps forward, toward you, the shadows seeming to cling to his robes as he walks. 

When the man you now presume to be Minhyun speaks, it’s soft, almost caring in a way, “When you’re injured, do you heal quickly?” Your breath catches in your throat as he continues, “You heal faster than anyone around you, right?” 

This knowledge about you is unknown to almost everyone except for you and your father… How do they know this? 

You’re about to try and pull yourself together to defend yourself from the accusations when the other man, Minghao speaks up. “Wouldn’t it be better to just give her a demonstration?” His hand begins to reach for the quiver on his back before Jisoo speaks up.

“Minghao, do you really think I’d let you hurt a female Demon?” His voice slightly agitated as he glanced at the other. 

“Don’t tell me what to do, Hong.” He scoffs, “She’s being stubborn, what do you suggest we do?” 

Jisoo breaks his glare, only for his eyes to settle on the blade at your hip. “Her family’s name is a demon’s, she carries the Demon of Taebaeksan’s blade. Isn’t that enough evidence?” 

“My… name?” What’s wrong with ‘Heo’? His narrative, largely unknown to you, is cause enough for you to continue to panic. 

“Then again, it’s not like we need your permission to kidnap you,” Jisoo muses, looking at you with a frown, “Come with us or we’ll have to take you instead.” His hand outstretches towards you like a lure trying to bait in a fish. You step back, away from him, when you feel two figures brush past you. 

“Woah there,” Mingyu says as he stops, feet hitting the ground as his hand reaches for and pulls out his sword, “This really isn’t the place to try and pick up a woman.”

“You again?” Jisoo asks as he steps back, a sneer on his lips, “For a noble you really do like to keep it simple.”

“The same could be said to you,” Hansol says to him, also reaching for his blade. He looks back to you, “When we heard you hadn’t given your messages out on time we came to look for you.”

You nod and step back once more, your legs becoming unsteady as if the adrenaline that had been coursing through you suddenly left you at once. A hand catches you before you fall, pulling you further away from the skirmish.

“Stay back here,” Jihoon says sternly, looking towards the trio of assailants. His hand guides you to his side before he lets go of you, reaching for his blade. “I thought you’d be here for the king,” He says to Jisoo, “What do you want with my page?” 

“I don’t have any interest in you or this kingdom right now,” Jisoo says, looking past the commander and at you, “This matter only concerns us Demons.” 

“Demons?” Jihoon scoffs, narrowing his eyes at the foe. He seems confused by the statement, perhaps hoping there’d be a more coherent and understandable reason for Jisoo’s presence. 

“Haven’t seen you since Ongsan,” Minghao notes, looking over to Mingyu and Hansol.

“Looks like it’s fate,” Mingyu huffs out, “not that I’m particularly happy about it.” 

“I don’t feel great about this reunion either,” Hansol sighs and pulls out his sword, Mingyu following suit. 

The tension lays thick in the air, settling into your throat so that you find it hard to speak or breathe. With the slightest movement that could set them off, you reflexively reach for the blade at your hip so that should anything arise, you’ll be ready. 

“Don’t worry about them,” A voice from behind you speaks up. Cloaked in the shadows from the nearby forest, Chan slowly approaches you. “Jihoon’s asked me to escort you back to headquarters.”

“Are you telling me to run?” You ask, gaze shifting from Chan to Jihoon, who’s still locked eyes with Jisoo. 

“I am,” Chan nods, reaching out so that you might take his hand, “Even if you stay there’s little you can do.” 

You shake your head, his hand falling away back to his side, “I’m going to stay.” 

“What do you think you’ll be able to do here?” Chan doesn’t sound condescending, just confused as to why you’d wish to stay and endanger yourself further. 

You think to what the three intruders had said to you prior, the want to know more about what they’d called you sought itself out with more priority than your own safety at the moment. 

“You have a reason, I see.” The Hwarang shakes his head, not waiting for a response as he sees the conviction already dead-set in your gaze. “I can admire that. But I do have my orders. You may want to stay because you want to do what you believe is right, but I have to do the same.” His hand outstretches towards you once more, a pleading look in his eye as he quietly asks for you to go with him. 

Before his fingers are able to brush against the linen of your robes, an arrow whizzes by, buzzing before it lands with a solid ‘thunk’ in a tree behind Chan. Gaze traveling back to where it had been fired, you find Minghao lowering his bow, his hand still hovering over his quiver should he need to take another shot. 

“She said she wanted to stay,” Minghao sighs, grabbing another arrow before loosely notching it, “You have to learn to respect a woman’s wishes.” 

Mingyu lurches forward with his sword in retaliation for the attack on his fellow Hwarang, hoping to land a blow somewhere on Minghao’s abdomen. The strike though, is easily dodged by the bowman, who merely steps aside and watches as Mingyu’s feet falter as he moves to sling his bow over his shoulder and reach for the sword at his hip.

“Minghao’s temper is going to get him in trouble one day,” you hear Minhyun note with a frown as he witnesses the event. 

“Evidently so,” Hansol agrees, sword still clenched in his fist, “You don’t seem like you’re going to stop him, though.” He then moves to strike the unarmed foe, swinging his sword in a downward motion to try and disrupt the lax stance Minhyun was in. 

“And here I was,” a clanging of metal as Minhyun seems to unsheathe his sword in a blink of an eye and move it upwards to counter Hansol’s blow, “thinking we could just talk this through!” 

“Who the hell are these guys?” Jihoon says through grit teeth as you hover your hand over your blade once more. Behind you, you can hear Chan slip back into the tree line, presumably to go and fetch help for the commander and captains. Minghao and Minhyun are showing much more prowess with a blade than you’d thought, and with Jisoo still standing, you know it’d take more men than the three Hwarang to defeat them. 

For now, though, you put your faith into Jihoon and step back from the fight, an action that draws appraisal from the commander, “Good. Don’t be an idiot and draw your sword. Leave this to me.”

“Don’t you remember the last time we fought?” Jisoo frowns and you recall the fight that Jihoon had found himself entrenched in. The way that the stranger speaks of it unsettles you, as if he’s taunting the commander with the memory of it. “Maybe instead of going easy I’ll just get rid of you.” 

Jihoon laughs at the absurdity of the statement, “I’d love to see you try. I still haven’t paid you back for killing one of my men at Ongsan.”

The rivalry sparks between them, a fire igniting in their gazes before Jihoon takes the first step. They run towards each other, their swords clanging together and ringing out through the nighttime sky. Blades screaming against one another as they’re pulled apart by the respective opponent, Jihoon seeks to swing again only to be parried by Jisoo with ease. 

“What the hell are you?” Jihoon asks as the two part once more, his breathing heaving as it seems as if he’d thrown his all into his last strike. 

“Haven’t I already said what I was? A Demon,” Jisoo frowns, barely looking scathed by the short skirmish, “but not just me, or them, but her too.” His gaze flickers over to you for a moment before looking back to Jihoon. “We’ve come to relinquish you from watching over her.”

“Sounds like bullshit to me,” Jihoon snorts before tightening his grip on his blade. This time, it’s Jisoo who strikes out first, their blades greeting each other with a shuddered clangor. They exchange a few more blows, a strand of Jisoo’s hair edging too close to Jihoon’s blade and quickly getting cut away. The cut strands flutter to the ground and settle by his feet. Instead of looking scared at how close a blade had come to his body, Jisoo shows what seems to be the tiniest bit of surprise before lowering his sword. 

Jihoon, seeing his opposition falter, lowers his blade as well, taking a step back. Around them, you see that Hansol, Minhyun, Mingyu and Minghao have stopped fighting as well. 

“Fighting like this is going to get us nowhere,” Minhyun frowns and looks over to Jisoo, “We’ll only attract more people.”

“I can’t help but feel that that’s targeted at him,” Minghao bites, “I know when to stop, the only one here who’s got an issue with that is—” His gaze trails towards Jisoo as he speaks, biting back a retort. 

A deep, almost exasperated sigh from Jisoo, “We don’t have to stay. We’ve only come to verify that the lead was correct.”

“Do you think we’ll just let you walk away?” Hansol questions, his sword still raised towards the trio. 

“You three might survive,” Jisoo nods, moving to sheath his sword, “but how many of your men will we have to kill before we escape? Are their lives that expendable?” Jihoon, Hansol and Mingyu remain angrily silent, knowing full well they can’t accept that risk. Jisoo smiles at them, he and the two others begin to make their way to the forest’s edge, but before they disappear completely, their leader turns and says one last thing to you.

“I will be back for you.” Not wanting to meet his gaze, your eyes travel to the embroidered yellow azaleas on his robes before they vanish in the denseness of the forest. 

The words whip through you like an icy chill, curling around your stomach with a fear you haven’t felt since you were a child. 

“Are you okay?” Mingyu asks after he’s sheathed his sword and takes a few steps towards you. 

“I’m… alright,” you nod weakly, clenching your fists so they won’t shake.

“You’re bad at lying,” he laughs lightly, “Just wait here for a bit, we’ll have some other men take a few rounds and make sure those three don’t come back.”

“Thank you,” trying to sound as appreciative as you can, you look from Mingyu to Jihoon, who continues to stare into the darkness of the woods as if to try and spot the three figures. 

“Do you have any idea why they came after you?” He questions after a moment, locking eyes with you as if to probe your mind. 

“I’m not sure…” you relent, not knowing whether Jisoo’s words were accurate or not. Were you really what he said, a Demon? 

𝔍𝔲𝔫𝔢 20𝔱𝔥, 662 – 𝔅𝔲𝔩𝔤𝔲𝔨𝔰𝔞 𝔗𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 The incident on the night of the eleventh never comes to the attention of any other members of the Hwarang, save for the commander’s most trusted captains. In lieu of that, life at Bulguksa remains relatively unchanged, the usual grumblings from Gongmyung and his crowd continue as usual and the captain’s antics remain unbothered. 

On this balmy morning, you walk through the halls, coming upon a line of Hwarang gaily chatting among themselves as they wait. Suddenly a door opens from the beginning of the line and Gongmyung comes racing out towards your direction.

“Never have I felt so violated,” He huffs exasperatedly, coming towards you. “This is absolutely horrendous!” 

“Is something wrong, Gongmyung?” You ask with a tilt of your head, wondering what has the Deputy Commander in such a tizzy. 

“Everything!” He pants out, a thin line of panicked sweat trailing down the side of his face, “Why am I meant to disrobe in that room of utter brutes!?” 

His sentence makes you furrow your brow, what exactly is going on? 

“Someone who calls themself a physician who Youngmin met while conversing with the King’s council arrived today,” the Deputy Commander does his best to straighten his robes and adjust his long strands of hair that had gone askew. “He’s holding physical examinations.” With a frown he nods his head towards the door he’d raced out of moments prior, “That monster said I should take my clothes off in front of near strangers! When I refused, he tried to take them off of me himself! And the other captains just stood there! Without doing anything!” 

Seeing as your particular… situation might not be the best for a physical examination in a group full of men, you think about returning to your room before you ask, “What’s the doctor’s name?”

“I think it was Namekawa Yasuo, some man from Yamato,” Gongmyung huffs indignantly. 

“Doctor Namekawa!” You nearly jump at the familiar name. 

The other takes a step back in surprise, “Do you know him or something?”

When you’d arrived in Seorabeol with your father’s letter and a few fragments of some from your father’s collection, his name had been among the signatures. It was your intention upon arrival to seek him out, your father had always called him a trustworthy man. Once in Seorabeol, you found that he’d been away on some patient’s request, and after that you’d quickly gotten swept up into the world of the Hwarang. 

“I’ve got to go!” You brush away his question and barrel past him towards the door he’d exited from. 

“You’re going in there willingly?” Gongmyung calls out from behind you, shaking his head in disgust. 

Almost immediately when you open the door you wish you hadn’t. 

“Alright, next,” the man you presume to be Dr. Namekawa calls out, motioning forward a Hwarang. A nearly fully disrobed Hwarang. 

“My turn!” Junhui shouts and steps forward, only wearing the pants worn underneath his Hwarang robes. “You’re looking at years of training right here,” he laughs almost comically as he approaches the doctor’s station. 

“I think you’re fine, Wen,” Soonyoung scoffs, in a similar state of undress as Junhui, “it’s your head he should be looking at.”

“Are you asking me to beat the shit out of you?” Junhui turns to look at him, a grin split across his face. 

Dr. Namekawa rolls his eyes at him before speaking, “Wen Junhui, you’re fine. Next!” 

“Hold on!” Junhui says, taking a step closer to the doctor and flexing his arm, “You’ve gotta make sure I’m in prime condition!”

“As healthy as a horse,” Namekawa reels, sitting back in his seat, “I’ve seen more than enough, thank you.”

“You’re holding up the line, Wen,” Mingyu calls out, and you spot Hansol standing next to him, both with unamused expressions on their faces. “For the love of— please get moving.”

“I just don’t think he’s had enough time to fully make sure I’m okay!” Junhui complains, “I’m trying to make sure I can bulk up more!”

“This is supposed to be about finding medical issues, not boasting,” Hansol sighs, his arms crossed over his chest, “Move.” 

Your mouth hangs open in shock, it’s now easy to see why Gongmyung had made such a hasty retreat. Shaking your head, you pull yourself from the room and back into the hallway, feeling a creeping heat of embarrassment rise up your neck.

“What are you doing here?” The Hwarang who’s first in line questions, “Is something wrong?” 

“Oh!” Turning, you see Chan gazing at you perplexedly. “Hi, I heard Doctor Namekawa was here.” 

“Ah, so you want to speak to him?” A tilt of his head. “I’ve been briefed on your situation, so I understand what you’re trying to do… But I’m not sure that this is the way to go about it. I’m sure he can speak to you once the physicals are complete.”

You nod, “I just think they might take a while, some of the captains…”

“I’m aware,” he laughs, “if you want me to, I can try to get things moving a little faster.”

“Would you?” Eyes widening, “I’d be thankful if you could.”

“Of course,” the smile still lingering on his lips, “Just leave it to me.” With that he walks into the room and towards the doctor, “Excuse me, Doctor Namekawa? Please let me look after those whose symptoms are minor, I’m sure you could use a break?” 

You stand in the doorway, unable to hear his response, so you step back into the hallway and wait for the doctor to exit. Namekawa Yasuo leaves the room a few moments later, his attention turning to you when you call out to him. 

Namekawa’s eyes narrow as he looks at you, inspecting you as if you were one of his patients. “I need to fetch some medicine from my things, would you mind giving me a hand?” He questions, his gaze softening once you nod your head. 

On the way towards his things, the two of you walk through one of the courtyards and come across Kwak Youngmin walking towards you. He nods at the doctor before glancing at you, “I see you’ve found her already.”

“Thanks to you,” Namekawa nods with a smile at the leader. 

Your brow furrows as you search both of their expressions before the doctor speaks up once more, “I came to Bulguksa to see you. Youngmin told me that Heo’s daughter was staying with the Hwarang.”

“I see,” you realize, your eyes widening as you look towards Youngmin.

“I knew that Namekawa and Heo knew each other,” Youngmin smiles softly, “So I thought that maybe the doctor knew of his friend’s whereabouts.”

Even if the Hwarang wanted to find your father for reasons other than yours, this slight clue was still enough for you to feel happy. 

“Thank you,” a bow to Youngmin and one to Namekawa, “both of you.” 

Namekawa then goes on to say how you’d left just before he arrived at your father’s clinic in Toehwa-hyeon when you’d gone off to Seorabeol. He’d received the letter you sent but once arriving had no idea of where you’d gone or how to find you. 

“I apologize for not seeking you out sooner,” he sounds remorseful, “It must’ve been difficult. If there’s anything I can do for you, please let me know.”

“About my father…” the words leave you and Namekawa’s face turns grim, you already feel as if you know the answer. 

“Unfortunately,” he says once your words have trailed off, “I do not know where your father is residing.”

“Oh,” utter defeat lamenting in your voice as you speak the singular word. You almost feel bad now for feeling so hopeful that Namekawa would have some earth-shattering news about the whereabouts of your father. 

“I hear, though,” Namekawa coughs into his hand to clear his throat, “that you’ve become involved with the treatment… You do know what I’m referring to, right?”

“Are you able to explain it any more?” You’d learned of the serum, seen what it had done to those who’d taken it. But why, why is your father involved with it? “I want to know what my father was experimenting for.”

“Heo was working under Crown orders with the Hwarang to create what are called ‘Furies’,” Namekawa’s voice is low as he speaks, gravelly with a seriousness that permeates into you. “Furies are humans with near supernatural strength and speed. They heal incredibly quickly as well.” 

“Furies?” The word lingers familiarly on your tongue, it takes a moment, but you realize you’d heard the word before. Soonyoung had tried to explain to you what they are on the night that Seungcheol had been injured last year. 

“The contents of the serum are called pimul,” Namekawa crosses his arm, tone still low, “in Tang they call it ‘al iksir’ and in Yamato it’s ‘ochimizu’. It’s meant to grant immortality.”

These words sound like some sort of fantastical fairytale than what’s meant to be real life. Yet, the seriousness of the doctor assures you that it isn’t a sick joke.

“I’ve heard of its healing and strength giving properties,” you nod, “but doesn’t it cause the drinker to go mad?” Recalling the night you had stumbled into Seorabeol and the nobles who’d been attacked by the rouge Hwarang furies causes you to shudder. “And even if that doesn’t drive you insane, the smell of blood can set you off too…”

A heaving sigh as Namekawa nods solemnly, moving then to pinch the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, “So you’re aware of that as well…” 

“Why was my father doing this?” You plead more than ask, trying to search the depths of your mind to reason with yourself and come to a believable situation that would’ve caused Heo Jinsang to work with such a vile creation. 

“That may have been why he left,” Namekawa suggests softly, “His morals would no longer allow him to work on such a thing.”

“And yet we were given the pimul by the Crown to help strengthen the Hwarang…” Youngmin frowns and looks towards the sidewalk.

“It was an experiment,” Namekawa shakes his head, “and it failed. It’s probably best to leave it behind, I’m sure the Crown has abandoned its ambition with it as well.”

The leader looks up and frowns at the doctor, probably unhappy to hear that Namekawa would question the Crown’s once official decision. 

“You’ve seen what it’s done to your men,” Namekawa insists, “It’s inhumane and you know it better than I do.”

Youngmin lets out a huff of air and then falls silent. You know that he knows how detrimental it is to his men, painfully so. Yet, the pimul was given to him on official orders and a secret request from the former King. 

“I understand that you’re one of the King’s doctors, yet…” A voice from behind after a moment of silence. Your eyes widen at the sight of Seungcheol in the daylight, knowing that the sun’s rays have an adverse effect on him. “You’re not a member of the Hwarang, you have no right to object to our methods.” His face paling in the light, lost of all color, almost as if he were a walking corpse. 

“Are you okay walking around like this?” You ask him quietly, your voice teetering on worry and a whisper. 

“You look pale, Seungcheol,” Youngmin frowns at the colonel, “You should be resting.”

“Don’t mind me,” Seungcheol shakes his head and then turns to the doctor. “We use the serum effectively and at our own discretion.” His gaze hardens when they lock eyes, his voice becoming gravely serious, almost as if he’s been offended.

“It’s far too dangerous to—” Namekawa begins before being interrupted by Seungcheol.

“We have and will continue to work on Heo’s research.” His voice, behind the veneer of quiet anger, sounds weakened. “I am living proof of its effectiveness.” 

“You may be right,” Namekawa cedes before raising another point, “But that doesn’t mean you’re not forcing your body in ways unseen with the eye.”

“I’m perfectly healthy,” Seungcheol insists, “With continued research and alterations to the serum, we’ll have less casualties and more success.” 

“And are you planning on sacrificing your men for your success?” Namekawa frowns, “These men aren’t just common folk, many are the sons of nobles, aristocrats! Sons who will be missed should they just disappear.”

“It’s not as if we’re force feeding them pimul.” Seungcheol’s agitated at the doctor, you don’t know the last time he was able to see his own family since becoming a Fury. “The men who devote and give their lives to the Hwarang are the foundation of my work, they did not and will not die in vain.”

“But—”

“I think that’s enough,” Youngmin steps in before the doctor can say anything else, “from either of you. Let’s discuss this at another time.”

To you it seems that neither Seungcheol or Namekawa would ever come to a civil agreement on the ethics of the serum’s usage. But that was an opinion you feel is best not said at this moment. 

The anger in Seungcheol’s face subsides, and the corner of his mouth turns up into a smile before he bows and leaves the three of you wordlessly. 

“So…” Youngmin says as Seungcheol recedes back into the headquarters inner buildings, “How did exams go?”

“About that,” Namekawa begins, “It’s a bit troubling.”

“Troubling?” Youngmin asks, confused, “What do you mean by that?”

“What do you mean ‘What do you mean’?” Namekawa frowns, “The amount of injured and ill men you have is nearly a quarter of your forces!”

“That’s—” Youngmin’s voice catches in his throat, “Are you sure?”

“I am not only sure, but it is the definite truth,” A disparaging shake of his head, “What have you been doing to these men? Cuts, lacerations, bowel pains… Need I mention the lice?”

“I’m embarrassed to hear that, I really am,” Youngmin looks as such, his ears pink as he drops his shoulders. “What can I do?”

“Set aside a space for the ill and those needing medical attention, for starters. I can send some pyrethrum powder for the lice,” Namekawa lists off and you can see Youngmin mentally making a list, “Second, this place needs to be cleaned. I can’t help you otherwise.”

“Of course,” Youngmin nods, the tinge of embarrassment still riding his tone, “I’ll have everything seen to immediately.” 

And so, the Hwarang are ordered to clean. Those who are able-bodied enough to hold a broom or a rag are sent to the main hall, Youngmin quickly barking out cleaning orders and sending them all over Bulguksa to thoroughly scrub the temple down.

“Why the hell are we doing this?” Junhui grumbles as he sits on his knees, scrubbing at the wooden floors. “I can think of nothing less I would want to be doing right now.”

“Stop complaining so much,” Mingyu sighs and calls him over, “Help me lift up this cabinet, it’s a great way to show off your muscles from earlier.”

You’re walking into the main hall with a bucket of water when you hear Soonyoung cry out, causing you to jump and spill some of the liquid onto the floor and your shoes.

“A RAT!” He nearly screeches, hopping behind Hansol when he spots the gray creature dart out from a bookcase. 

“Calm down Soonyoung,” Hansol looks as if he’s holding back a smile, trying to keep the reserved demeanor he usually has, “It’s not that bad. It actually looks like it’s eating that—is that dried up tteok?”

“Yeah!” Soonyoung says, leaning forward to get a look at the rat’s snack, “Who the hell hides their sweets back here?!”

A grumble from the other side of the room, you look over to see Kangjoon holding a boom, “Why are we bothering ourselves with work a servant should be doing? I’m a strategist, not a cleaner.”

“Why don’t you show us your school’s technique, then?” Mingyu scoffs, “You said it’s prized knowledge, maybe it can help us here.”

“Shut it!” Kangjoon says angrily, “The Pohang style wasn’t designed to help with housework!”

“You’re a little bit of a bully, huh, Mingyu?” Dongyoung snickers as he peeks out from behind one of the various shelves, “Those old-timey tactics of his wouldn’t even allow him to hold a broomstick, let alone make a dent in this mess.”

Kangjoon’s stare hardens at Dongyoung, “You should watch your mouth… Compared to the techniques from Tang it may be outdated, but I can assure you it still holds up.” 

“Oh,” Mingyu looks past Kangjoon and out one of the doorways, “Youngmin’s coming.”

“Chief!” Kangjoon spins on his heels towards the door, “Look at this, the room was so filthy you couldn’t even walk properly, and with my guidance it’s—” He stops once he realizes there’s no one standing in the doorway, “Where’s Kwak?”

“You’re an idiot,” Mingyu rolls his eyes.

“Damn you, Kim,” Kangjoon spits venomously, “You tricked me!”

“An idiot and a kiss ass,” Mingyu hums, “Quite the multitasker. Don’t you ever get tired being such a two-faced asshole, not knowing which mask to wear?” 

Kangjoon fumes and angrily stomps down towards the other end of the hall. You see this as an opportunity to proclaim your findings.

“I brought you all some fresh rags and water to help you clean the floor with,” you announce, holding out the bucket and handful of cloth to the captains.

“Thanks!” Soonyoung says as he bounds over, swiftly taking the items from your grasp and heading back to his work station. 

𝔍𝔲𝔫𝔢 21𝔰𝔱, 662 – 𝔅𝔲𝔩𝔤𝔲𝔨𝔰𝔞 𝔗𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 “This looks to be adequate enough,” Namekawa Yasuo had arrived early the next morning to check the cleanliness of the headquarters. He now stands in the main hall, a look of approval on his features as he notes the sheen of the floorboards. 

“Right?” Junhui beams, “See? The doc can acknowledge my hard work.”

Kangjoon lets out something of a guffaw at the statement, “Compared to the nuances of strategy, it’s not like tidying up is a magnificent feat or anything.”

“All you did was complain,” Junhui frowns.

“Yeah,” Soonyoung nods, “And Seungkwan got to rest all day! Sounds like he was getting special treatment while we worked our asses off.”

“Not my fault,” Seungkwan raises his hands to show he’s innocent from that decision, “Jihoon’s the one being overprotective.” 

“It is your fault,” Jihoon snaps at him, arms crossing over his chest, “You’re not taking care of yourself, that’s why you’re coughing up a lung.”

“I will admit,” Hansol say, looking around the space, “It is nice seeing the headquarters put together.”

“It does look different,” Jihoon nods, also taking a moment to admire the cleanliness of the main hall, “I hope to keep it this way.”

“Then we should clean every day,” Mingyu laughs aloud.

“Great idea! Make sure you scrub the baseboards Soonie,” Junhui jokes along with the other while Soonyoung’s eyes go wide.

“But you’ve got the most energy and the biggest muscles, Junhui! Don’t think I’m letting you slide on this,” the younger argues to the two others. 

“I’ll help you,” you offer with a smile, knowing that he’d need it.

“Really?” He perks up, “Yeah, we don’t need them anyway, you and me against the world!”

“Hold on,” Junhui interrupts, “I didn’t say that I wasn’t going to help…” 

Jihoon lets out a laugh, “Wen, there’s some trash over there, mind taking it out?”

“Hooold on, we’re not starting until tomorrow, right, Soonyoung?” Junhui looks to him for help.

“If you keep flailing your arms like that you’re only going to stir up more dust,” Hansol sighs as he watches Junhui scramble to big up the assorted pieces of garbage. 

You laugh at the scene until something catches your eye, you spot both Namekawa and Seungkwan duck out of the room and head outside. Brow furrowing for a moment, you think to follow after them but stop yourself as it isn’t any of your concern.

After the ruckus in the main hall dies down, you grab a broom and head outside to sweep away fallen debris from the walkway leading to the main hall. You’ve just started to sweep the broom across the agate stone when a figure appears before you.

Head turning up from looking down at the azalea embroidered robes, all you can spurt out is a “You!” before taking a step back. 

“You’ve got ancient blood running through your veins and yet you clean up after these humans?” Jisoo sounds saddened on the verge of disgust as he looks at you. 

“What are you doing here?” You question as the grip you have on the broom handle tightens as he chuckles at you.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to fight me with that?” He shakes his head, biting back a laugh, “Was your family not blessed with brains?”

You don’t respond, instead look around for anything or anyone who could help you. Of course, the entrance lies empty, all of the captains still squabbling somewhere deep in the compound.

“Calm down,” Jisoo sighs, his laughter ceasing, “I’m not here to fight today. I only want to know what, if anything, you have to do with Heo Jinsang.”

Stunned by his statement, your lips part in shock, “My father?”

“…Father?” Jisoo looks surprised by your answer, “Heo Jinsang is your father?”

“Yes,” you nod, “he is.”

The man seems shocked at first, then that emotion melts away as it looks as if he’s putting the pieces of a puzzle together. He opens his mouth to say something else but a voice behind you stops him.

“Sneaking into your enemy’s base alone?” Jihoon’s voice rings out as his footsteps approach, the sound of dirt under foot crunching growing nearer and nearer. “I thought you’d be smarter than that.”

A few other pairs of footsteps and you turn and see him flanked by both Mingyu and Soonyoung.

“In broad daylight too,” Mingyu shakes his head at the intruder, “Figures.”

“Get away from her!” Soonyoung’s more than a little adamant, his hand already hovering over his sword. 

“The Hwarang only come in bushels, huh?” Jisoo says, seemingly wanting to egg the men on.

“Watch it,” Jihoon says sternly, the tension between the two becoming more palpable by the second. 

Surprisingly, it’s Jisoo who tries to sate it. “If you want to fight, then I’ll be happy to do so… But I’m here for other reasons, more specifically, to issue a warning.” His eyes grow dark and his tone more serious at his next statement, “Stop trying to turn humans into Demons.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jihoon frowns as he watches the other carefully.

“What makes you think that we’re going to listen to you?” Mingyu pokes at Jisoo.

“You’re all idiots,” Jisoo shakes his head warily, “Can’t you see that I’m trying to help you?” He rolls his eyes, “Forget it, it was useless trying to say anything to you.”

“This is our base,” Soonyoung raises his voice, “You should shut up before we decide to do something about you being here.”

Jisoo ignores the captain’s words and turns to you, a coldness in his eyes as he speaks, “Heo is with us now, don’t you understand what that means?” He searches your eyes for a spark of recognition, but it doesn’t seem to click so he elaborates further, “Your father has abandoned the Crown.”

“What…?” You say, still puzzled by what he means. 

“Why are you here?” A cold smile to match his gaze creeps onto his lips, “I think you should ponder on that. Carefully.” With that final statement he turns on his heels and seems to disappear into the shadows. You’re not sure if he just did, your mind too caught up in what he just said. 

What or who were the Demons? Your father is with them? You thought Hong Jisoo’s family to be just opposing the opposite side of the court that favored the Hwarang, was it a ruse and he’s actually some sort of revivalist? Does this mean that your father is working with them?

Who are these people that call themselves ‘Demons’? And what do they want with you? 

“Who are they?” You look at Jihoon, “The Demons?”

“After fighting them, I can say that they’re not like any human I’ve ever fought,” a shake of his head, “Not even close. I’ve fought against people from each kingdom but none of them… They’ve never been that powerful.” He muses for a moment and nods, “I’d say ‘demon’ is a pretty accurate descriptor.” 

“If the commander thinks they’re demons, they really just might be,” Mingyu says, his brow furrowing at Jihoon. 

“He is the Hwarang’s Demon, after all,” Soonyoung notes, the same concern from Mingyu’s tone riding in his. 

“This is serious,” Jihoon looks at them, trying to quell the playful argument. You feel the tension in your shoulders ease after a while, the dread of seeing Jisoo on familiar ground eventually dissipating as the moments pass. With his arrival, and how easy it was for him to come unexpectedly, you’re sure that you’ll have to have a higher guard now as you walk the headquarters. 

𝔖𝔢𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔪𝔟𝔢𝔯 7𝔱𝔥, 662 – 𝔅𝔲𝔩𝔤𝔲𝔨𝔰𝔞 𝔗𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔩𝔢, 𝔎𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔡𝔬𝔪 𝔬𝔣 𝔖𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔞 Compared to the year before, it seems as if the Hwarang aren’t being called on to do as much. Both the raid on Wonweol and the attack on Ongsan seem like a distant memory as you look up at your ceiling from your bed. In a way, you’re thankful for the peace wrought on by this year. It’s allowed you to take up looking for your father again and help more around the temple. The night rolling in and covering your room in a shroud of darkness, the sound of the crickets outside chirping away keeping you awake. 

You push yourself from your bedding and rise to your feet, maybe a walk would help you become sleepy. Right now, you are anything but tired.

Treading quietly across the floor, you open your door, the hinges creaking as you push it open. The halls are quiet as you trapeze through them, in some rooms you can hear loud snoring, in others, nothing at all. You don’t catch sight of anyone until you reach the end of the hall that opens into a courtyard, a figure standing in the shadows as they look up towards the sky. 

As you edge nearer to the greenery, you can see that it’s the commander, standing still as the moonlight cascades down onto him. His foot taps in subtle anxiousness, as if he’s waiting for someone. 

This isn’t something for you to see, but a quickening curiosity takes over you as another figure approaches the commander from the other end of the courtyard.

“I’m sorry for asking you to come out so late, Jihoon,” Seungcheol’s quiet voice rings out through the nearly empty space. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Jihoon turns from gazing up at the stars and looks to his friend with a small smile, “It’s a little difficult to talk during the day.”

You’ve lost all chance to either leave or inject yourself into the conversation, so you just stand and watch their conversation unfold before you. 

“How are you doing?” Jihoon asks, his once soft gaze hardening with concern, “Don’t bullshit me, I’ve barely seen you since you went to Hwangnyongsa.”

Seungcheol merely smiles softly, “I’m feeling alright since the sun’s down. If I was going to complain I’d talk about the heat or humidity.”

“I know you don’t like the sun,” The commander notes, “and everybody hates the humidity and heat. But you know what I’m asking, Seungcheol.”

“Are you asking if I’ve gone mad?” The colonel asks simply, his brow raising. “If you’re worried about me, I’ll let you know that I don’t regret taking the pimul; I’ve regained the use of my arm, I’m able to carry a sword when I thought I’d never do so again.”

 Seungcheol’s smile doesn’t seem to be the answer that Jihoon is looking for, and a frown overtakes him. “At what cost, though?” His voice low as he asks, pressing further, “When you become a Fury, you lose a part of yourself… Maybe even too much. I’m sorry if I’m not taking this lightly, I’m worried about you.”

“You’ve always worried too much, Jihoon,” Seungcheol says, brows knitting together as he cannot fully understand his friend’s concern. “This was a gift, a miracle, even!”

“One man’s miracle is another’s curse,” Jihoon sighs out with a scowl, “I don’t like the monkey’s paw aspect of it.”

“How scary!” Seungcheol chuckles, “I’d be a fool if I ignored one of your famed hunches.”

“You’d be a fool if you joked about this,” the scowl still present as Jihoon crosses his arms, “I’m not trying to be funny.” His fingers tap along his robes as he shakes his head, “You should be standing side by side with Youngmin and me, you’re a colonel, our colonel.” 

“You’re acting odd,” Seungcheol’s lighthearted tone vacating, “Are you okay?” He suddenly looks over to you, locking eyes with yours as a small smile dances along his lips.

Jihoon follows his line of sight and catches you eavesdropping into their conversation. “What are you doing out here?!” He questions as you panic in place. 

“I’m sorry,” breaking your gaze with Seungcheol you look to the ground, “I wasn’t sure if I should say something and then the two of you began talking…” 

“You’ve got more important things to worry about than me, Jihoon,” Seungcheol sighs out and looks at the commander. “Gongmyung and his men, for starters. I’ve heard he’s been acting stranger than usual these days.”

“I’ve been working on that,” Jihoon relents, dropping his arms to let them fall to his sides. 

Seungcheol nods, a gleam of satisfaction in his eye before he gives you a simple nod and walks away into the depths of the compound. You’re about to return to your quarters before Jihoon calls out to you.

“I haven’t dismissed you yet,” he says as you begin to turn. You freeze in place only to turn to face him fully once more. “I know you’re not an idiot so you shouldn’t act like one.” His voice is low, almost a whisper as he doesn’t wish for anyone to overhear him, “The more you know about us, the more danger you’re putting in front of yourself. It’s easy to die around here, you’ve seen that… Do you understand?”

“I’m sorry for imp—” you begin before he cuts you off, raising his voice.

“Don’t be sorry,” his head shakes, “Just be careful and stay out of trouble.” When it seems like he has nothing more to say, he raised a hand to the bridge of his nose and pinches it, quelling some sort of thought before he turns of his heels and begins to walk back towards his room. 

“Commander,” you find yourself calling out. Jihoon looks so… dejected and lonely after his talk with Seungcheol, you have to say something. “Can I help with the research?”

“What the hell?” You hear him say before he turns to look back at you, “Of course not.”

“I don’t have my father’s knowledge or expertise… but I want to do something to help,” you insist, feeling responsible as if your absent father’s duties had been passed to you. “I can read his notes and help explain them, he left a lot of research material at his clinic in Toehwa-hyeon… There’s got to be something useful there. I can find something to help.”

“Heo continued his research here, don’t you know that?” Jihoon takes a deep breath as to not fume so much, “Even if we tore his clinic down to the foundations to get any scrap of information, the chances that we’ll find some new research is slim to none.” 

“I can do my own research!” You push, hands clenching at your sides.

“You’re not thinking about this hard enough,” His gaze hardens, “Could you accept responsibility for things if they go south?” A sigh as he sees you begin to stumble and scramble for words, “Look, your father’s one of the top doctors in the kingdom with the knowledge of Tang medicine. He couldn’t figure that shit out. Someone like your or me with no outstanding medical knowledge isn’t going to do much better.”

Jihoon’s right and you know it, even if you don’t want to admit your faulty thinking. It’s highly ambitious of you to think that you could find a cure-all to the pimul and what your father had done to the Hwarang. As you look to Jihoon, you try and look as stoic and unbothered as possible to stop him from seeing how heartbroken you feel.

His mouth turns into a wry smile at your attempt, “You want to help and that’s what’s important. I won’t forget that.” Jihoon nods his head to show appreciation, “But you have to wait for now. The Hwarang dug themselves into this hole so that means we have to find a way out.” 

Even if his demeanor is cold most of the time, there’s a hidden sincerity behind that face that only peeks through sometimes.

“I get it,” he continues, “your father was a part of the research team and you feel responsible, right? We’re still looking for him, and either we find him, or we don’t, you’ll just have to wait.” When you continue to silently object him, he frowns a bit, “Furies are bad news, in a perfect world we would’ve never gotten involved. But this world is far from it, and they might be our advantage should Goguryeo try and help those revivalists. Only as a last resort though, the cost is still too high.”

A shake of his head, “Never mind that now, though. This is between you and me though, okay?” His words hold the same tinge of threat that you’d heard on several occasions before. You nod almost out of habit at this point. “Also, the next time you take a stroll, be more cautious of who and what you may be stumbling in on.”

[cal-daisies-and-briars]

☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️☠️

Damn okay! 165 for ☠️:

---

“How did people react?”

“While he could still talk, he told us,” Karen explains. “‘Epipen. Truck. Glove box.’ I remember him struggling to say that.”

“Tommy grabbed his keys and ran out to the truck,” Buck says. “He got the epipen while Eddie called 9-1-1.”

“Yep, I called 9-1-1,” Eddie says. “I was pretty buzzed, so I didn’t think I should do any medical intervention. Tommy and Buck had had less to drink.”

“Chimney and I helped Captain Gerrard to lay down flat on the floor,” Hen says. “Then Tommy came back inside and administered the epipen. It was only when we noticed it wasn’t having any effect that we checked the expiry date.”

“He just kept getting worse,” Buck explains. “Chim went to start CPR, but he was drunk. I offered to take over.”

“Even though there were three paramedics in the room?” Ransone asks.

“All drunk,” Buck says. “Plus, I’ve done CPR hundreds of times. I know what I’m doing. I did everything I could.” 

But he was dead before Athena arrived. 

▪️▪️▪️

“It still seems like just an accident to me,” Ransone tells her. “What do you think, Sergeant Grant? You know these people.”

Athena isn’t sure. She still feels uncomfortable about the whole thing. It seems like a big coincidence for swapped pitchers and an old-enough epipen to not work at all to overlap in such a fatal way. Her years on the job have certainly exposed her to the often banal tragedy of minor negligences. She knows it’s possible. But the other thing she knows? Coincidences are rare.

“What was the expiry date on the epipen?” She asks. 

“2019,” Ransone answers. 

“Five years,” Athena sighs. “Doesn’t that seem odd? Gerrard was a first responder. He ought to have seen enough of these sorts of deaths to know better.”

Ransone nods. “There is that.”

Before they can discuss further, Ransone’s phone rings. He takes the call and listens as someone on the other end provides an update. When he ends the call, he looks at Athena gravely. 

“What’s wrong, Lou?” She asks. 

“Gerrard’s truck was searched. There were two epipens in the glove compartment. Including one that was brand new.”

Athena feels cold. Tommy made the caesars. Tommy grabbed the epipen. This death just became officially suspicious.

ii.

The next morning, Athena gets the call that the coroner’s report has confirmed their understanding of events. The contents of Captain Gerrard’s stomach indeed contained clamato juice. He had not drunk the vegan option. Though everyone, including the actual vegan who drank from the same pitcher, believed that he had. So either Tommy made a mistake when making them, or Tommy intentionally switched them. And either Tommy accidentally grabbed the expired epipen rather than the functional one and failed to notice the functional one present, or it was on purpose. 

“That’s crazy,” Bobby says when Athena explains it all to him. “Tommy wouldn’t do that.”

“Do you know that for sure?” Athena asks. 

“Well, listen, I know he had a history with Gerrard and some of the guys at the 118 before I arrived,” Bobby says. “A history that doesn’t always reflect well on him. But I never had any reason to suspect anything violent! He’s not… I mean, he’s dating Buck!” 

“I know,” Athena sighs. “That might be the worst part of all this.”

Bobby’s shoulders sink. “I didn’t suspect anything about Jonah either. So… What do I know?”

Athena feels terrible. She hadn’t even thought of Jonah Greenway. She hopes they’re all wrong about this. Bobby doesn’t need to learn that anyone else under his command is a murderer. 

▪️▪️▪️

“There’s more evidence,” Ransone says when Athena arrives at the station. 

“More?” Athena frowns. 

He brings her over to a computer screen and shows her an opened Adobe Acrobat PDF. 

“This,” he says. 

Athena reads the title page of the document. 

10 Murder Mystery Party Plots to Entertain and Thrill! 

“What’s this?” She asks.

“The guide Kinnard used to plan his party,” Ransone says. “We got a warrant to search the condo.”

This is moving fast, then. 

“Okay,” Athena says. “Why is that significant?”

Ransone scrolls down to the table of contents. 

“He based his party on plot number six,” Ransone says. “One Last Strip Tease.” 

Right. In which Eddie was the slain exotic dancer, Chip N. Dale. 

“Read number seven,” Ransone prompts.

Athena reads aloud. “Comments from the Peanut Gallery?” 

Ransone clicks it, bringing up the proposed plot and how to execute it. Athena reads. It tells the story of a character allergic to peanuts who is fed sabotaged baked goods. Jesus. Is he stupid? The idea is all spelled out in front of them. Tommy must have read this, when he was planning the party. 

“I think that’s enough,” Athena says quietly. 

“I agree,” Ransone says. “I’ve already made some calls.” 

▪️▪️▪️

Ransone brings everyone back in, one by one, for more interviews. He doesn’t tell them why. 

Each person, individually, looks concerned to be asked back. They all thought it was an accident. They all thought it was a mistake. No one thought there’d be an investigation. Athena feels bad about that. The blindsided looks on her friends’ faces as they walk past her. She knows they’re confused. She knows they’re probably scared. They don’t need to be, though. 

Only Tommy should be scared today. 

Athena doesn’t participate in the questioning. Obviously. She’s not a detective and she has a conflict of interest. She does, however, watch through the two-way mirror. She needs to hear everything that’s said. She can’t miss any of this. 

With the exception of Tommy, Ransone starts by asking everyone the same question. 

“So, did you know Captain Gerrard had an allergy to shellfish?”

The answers are varied. 

“No,” Karen says. “I didn’t know anything personal about him, really. This was only the second time we’d even formally met.”

Matt and Mark didn’t know. Obviously. They’d never met the guy before either.

“No,” Eddie says. “Had no idea. We didn’t talk about personal stuff.”

“No,” Buck sighs. “Which is kind of insane, since I did a lot of the cooking. You think he’d mention it to me? Closest thing I think was him telling me he hated the idea of shrimp scampi.”

“Mmm, yes,” Hen says. “That’s familiar. But I’m not sure why I knew.”

“Oh, yeah,” Chim says. “I knew. Anyone who used to work with him back before he got transferred knew. B-Shift left a mess of coconut shrimp and he lost it.”

 Ransone latches onto this answer just as Athena suspects he will. 

“So Tommy probably knew about it too, then?” He asks. “He worked with you back then, right? That’s how you know him?”

Chim’s expression falls as he realizes what is really being asked. As he realizes the trap he’s been guided into. 

“Uh, yeah,” he says quietly. “Yeah, he probably knew. I mean, if he remembers. I don’t know how good his memory is.”

After that, the conversation with Chimney takes an interesting turn. 

“Wait… You guys don’t really think Tommy did this, do you?” He asks. “I mean, it was an accident.”

[otakusapien]

I just got mouth surgery so I did what anyone would do- watch the entirety of Mermaid Magic on Netflix while half zonked on hydrocodone. Review incoming (no major spoilers)

Synopsis: Three mermaids set out to save their kingdom and get stranded on the surface. They're taken in by two teens who vow to help the mermaids save their kingdom and defeat an evil ghost pirate. Also there's a merpuppy. He is the most useful character in the show.

The first episode starts out solid. We get introduced to the important players and get a sense for them right away. L to R, there's Nerissa (serious but loving bodyguard), Merlinda (free-spirited warrior princess), and Sasha (influencer).

Does every kid's show now have to have an influencer character? It is a nice change of pace we don't have the cliche of magical creatures freaking out over human technology. I also like that they have what I think is an artificial sky with their civilization mostly on land, making mermaids in this world amphibians.

They're trying to stop the McGuffin pearls from being stolen by the ghost pirate Barbarossa and the mysterious sea witch

Barbarossa is such a captain Barbosa rip off they barely try to hide it. There's even a scene where he transitions from flesh face to skeleton face to intimidate someone. They're both serviceable if unoriginal villains. At least he has a flaming sword.

We get a lot of cool fight scenes with these guys because the mermaids ACTUALLY KNOW HOW TO FIGHT. Seriously, some of this fight choreography is SO GOOD.

Merlinda has been warrior training in secret with Nerissa for years. Her dad is overprotective since her mom "disappeared," so right off the bat we get fun chase scenes and an excuse to show off their powers.

Did I mention the mermaids have powers? Yeah, every mermaid gets their own ocean-based super power. Nerissa (above) has electricity, Merlinda is hydrokinetic, and Sasha can camouflage herself and others to be nearly invisible. She also has bubbles, but it's not used nearly as much and is kinda meh? I guess she needed a combat power so they gave the bubbly girl bubbles?

I don't mean to hate on Sasha, she's just a type I've seen too many times before. But she is one of the few supporting characters who kind of gets development, and she's proactive enough she's not boring. She also brings the merpuppy.

(No joke, the merpuppy saves their butts or moves the plot forward multiple times. They'd be lost without him. His name is Beau Junior.)

They didn't even need to give her a combat power because they're all proficient with tridents. Each mermaid has a magic ring they can use to summon a trident and active their magical girl sequence

I absolutely love their warrior outfits. They're unique to each person in style, not just color, the colors they do have go well together, even their fin shapes are based on different fish. It's nice when you know it's not just copy and pasted with new paint. My favorite thing is that the transformations make their hairstyles more battle ready. And when they're on land, they all get PANTS! I've never seen a transformation sequence be so practical, I love it T-T

This show is also a marketing dream, because you get five doll modes right off the bat. Let's use Nerissa again because I love her and her outfits are the best

They have mer-casual, mer-warrior, human, and both mer-outfits have land and sea modes. The marketability almost makes up for how ungoogleable the title and characters are.

Enough about marketing, back to the show.

The human leads are twins Tyler and Celia, descendants of John Silver who basically run their father's marine rescue

Tyler is a true himbo. He's goofy and not the brightest, but without being irresponsible or negligent, which is usually how these kind of male characters are written. Tyler is blond and male, so of course he's a love interest.

Celia is a budding eco-warrior, but social awkwardness holds her back until Sasha steps in to help her. I'd argue Celia has more chemistry with Sasha than Tyler has with Merlinda.

It's nice the humans stay involved with the mermaid quests the whole time. Even when they're underwater, they use technology to keep up and stay relevant.

I wasn't gonna talk about individual episodes, but guys, I GOTTA talk about the bank episode.

~~~~BANK EPISODE DIVERSION~~~~

So episode 6 starts out with the marine rescue about to be bulldozed with several people inside because the bank foreclosed on their house. They play it off as the dad missing dozens of phone calls and emails, but they show the daughter going through the bills. Surely this is something they would have sent in writing? They were not given in-person or written notice, these guys just showed up to bulldoze the house without checking if it was occupied because the bank owns it now. Why would the bank immediately demolish it instead of auctioning a beachfront property? Who knows!

Instead of doing the normal human thing and calling their boss about how all they can do is get paid to sit on their butts while bureaucracy happens, the demolition guys continue to swing a wrecking ball at the house. Even after they see the house is filled with several minors, they shrug and go, "That's a you problem" and start forward to RUN THEM OVER. Yes, even the children. This is a thing normal humans would do.

The mermaid sabotage the wrecking equipment to buy them time to do a fundraiser. They advertise only to kids at their high school with very lame social media posts, and it's never stated HOW they're doing the fundraising? They're just. Throwing a party at their house with a donation jar on a table. Okay.

It's not even a good party. They're acting like things are going great, but the animation budget won't let it be more than sparse groups of kids refusing to dance to terrible music. They couldn't even play the theme song? Or the transformation music, that music is great if you ignore the forced rap verse! When the party inevitable gets attacked by monsters, they act like it's such a big loss, but the donation jar looks like it has $20 tops. Because that's what happens when you only invite high schoolers with no jobs.

(Come to think of it, they have a token rich friend. Did Fred not chip in? Does his dad not give him money? His mean girl sister was there. She has a crush on Tyler, why wouldn't she get Daddy to drop 10k on them to buy his love? Maybe then Tracy would have a reason to exist)

Anyway, they find random treasure and save the house, the end.

But this episode made me wonder how tf these kids can afford multiple underwater jet skis and diving equipment when they're apparently so broke. The dad is bad with money, so it kind of makes sense he would splurge on things they can't afford and slack on bills, but this never came up before. It's like the writers created the episode to answer a question no one had.

~~~~End Bank Episode Diversion~~~~

I lied.

The Bank Episode is a good example of a major flaw with the show: None of the supporting cast gets development.

We get moments that seem like it would be that way, like 16 year old Celia sorting through the bills while their father is flippant to the point of losing their house. Normally this would be a chance for Celia or Tyler to talk about how they've basically had to raise themselves, or show anger towards their dad. Give them some depth and maybe a bonding moment with another character, even easily wrap up the family conflict?

Instead we get slapstick and 2 minutes of what adults think tween tiktoks look like.

Merlinda is the main character, and she does get a lot of attention and development. She is such a well written lead for this kind of show. On top the the McGuffin plot, Merlinda has a subplot about finding out what happened to her mom that's much more tied into her emotional arc. We really see her grow in a way that's satisfying for what few episodes we got.

Too bad no one else got subplots!

They don't get subplots, they get love interests.

I'd honestly have been super cool with this! It's made to sell dolls, I can get behind them pairing people off like mashing Barbies together! But we don't even get that. We get hints that people like each other, but then they barely even talk?

Fred likes Celia (who's Fred? Don't worry about it. The show forgets he's their friend half the time), Celia might like Fred, but has an implied crush on a jock. Tracy is mean and likes Tyler, that's all she gets. Another jock has a crush on Nerissa, and I can get behind them because he fell for her when she judo flipped him

Honestly, same.

He's nice to her, she's indifferent, it otherwise goes nowhere. None of these relationships contribute anything. Most of them are barely there enough to be worth writing in. The girls go to high school, but then they never utilize the setting past one episode. They may as well have made it summer vacation. The reason it exists is purely an excuse to meet love interests.

(Notice Sasha is the only one without a love interest set up and she's the one that gets development. It's like they replaced character writing for two sentences of bad flirting)

Let's do something the show never does and make time for Fred. Fred is supposedly one of their best friends, but they only go to him when they need something for the plot. He and his mean girl sister Tracy don't get to be relevant until the last episode. Their DAD is the one with a subplot. We don't even get to see Fred's relationship with his dad before the resolution, that's how little care they gave Fred. I can tell you exactly 3 things about him: He's a tech genius, he has a crush on Celia, and he has a rich dad. These are all things we learn within seconds of meeting him, and we learn virtually nothing after that (Tracy's existence doesn't count as she's barely a character).

Celia gets some development, but it's subtle. It's not bad, it just feels like it's not much considering how little everyone else got. You'd think there'd be space for it.

The only other teen characters who arguably had story arcs were Merlinda's love interests. Tyler's was mostly as a love interest. Supporting Merlinda, teaching her about the surface, relating to her losing her mom, falling for her then struggling with the idea she'll inevitably return to the sea. He may have also become more responsible? Again, codine binge watch, cut me some slack.

But wait, I said love interests PLURAL? Well lucky day, now I finally get to talk about Alex!

Alex is best boy and I will hear no ill will against him. Alex is the token merman, and a late addition to the team.

He starts off as a friendly guard Nerissa jokes about being Merlinda's boyfriend (which she denies), but once they go to the surface and meet Tyler, I assumed he was a fakeout love interest who would remain a distant friend. So glad to be wrong!

Blaming himself for letting Merlinda put herself in danger when that's the literal opposite of his job, he comes up with a way to get past the horde of sea monsters between them and the surface to make sure she and the girls are okay. The gang comes across him injured, and he joins the household.

We haven't seen Alex and Merlinda truly interact until this point and their chemistry is so natural?

Don't get me wrong, Tyler and Merlinda do an adorable job as the couple just getting to know each other, especially when they're making jokes, but I was surprised how believable she and Alex were as two people who have known each other for years. He and Tyler have a macho pissing contest so annoying I had to stop the episode, but it doesn't last too long before they're bros.

Honestly, Alex is how Fred should have been written. Not in the story or design, just the fact all the girls are so happy to see him you can clearly tell they're friends who love each other and have known him a long time. He feels connected despite his absence.

Alex's arc is about his role as a guard, trying to redeem himself and assuage his guilt, but also trusting Merlinda enough to continue the mission instead of bringing her home like her dad wanted.

Tyler seems like the clear endgame given how much more screentime they've gotten, but their chemistry is kind of meh imo. (I am admittedly biased bc I don't like blonds. At least he has brown eyes.) When I liked them most was Tyler making a stupid joke and Merlinda immediately playing along, but we don't see much of that past episode 4.

The way they express how painful he finds the idea of her leaving is conveyed so well through the animation rather than dialogue, I really feel his pain. But it doesn't feel earned.

Keeping this as spoiler free as possible, the plotlines for the season wrapped up in a way that was overall satisfying. The villain's goal seemed vague and fairly cliche, but serviceable. The secondary villain was equally cliche, but much more of a threat, and set up to do more in the long term.

I'd be satisfied with Merlinda's story if they ended at season 1, but everyone else's stories are so obviously incomplete. Even if it gets a season 2 (which it should), what it really needed was more time. It's another victim of the netflix season, giving them 10 episodes to drop at once when they should have had 20 episodes spread over several weeks. By this point, though, that's to be expected, and they should have planned accordingly.

As much as the supporting characters' writing annoyed me, it was overall a really enjoyable show, with a great lead, good character design, and delightful fight scenes. Definitely keeping an eye out for season 2. Pop a few ibuprofen and enjoy!

[ratwars2023]

im biased but robby’s rping is my favourite in balloon smp because his character is like in this beautifully crafted world of lore and mystery and intrigue amidst these factions trying to destroy or restore the world and he’s over here getting sued for negligence on his quest to open a fucking pizza place. he’s getting bullied by a mouse. people come to him like “you’re teammate is possibly a malevolent entity plotting against us” and he says “okay but i need to win this damn lawsuit”

[ericmicael]

10 CURIOSITIES ABOUT FROZEN 2

1 - The Northuldra Tribe and the plot of the dam was inspired by real life

In 1979 the Norwegian government decided to build a hydroelectric plant on the Alta River, but this would completely harm the salmon fishing and reindeer grazing that are the livelihood of the Sámi Tribe. They tried to oppose the construction, but were ignored and in the end the dam was built. But the protests they held were a major turning point for the tribe's relationship with the Norwegian government, which began to look more closely at the tribe even though it continues to commit various negligence towards it. In "Frozen 2" things were more drastic with King Runeard, Anna and Elsa's grandfather, creating the dam with the sole purpose of weakening the tribe and then managing to exterminate them because he considered them a risk to his throne due to their proximity with the spirits of nature and magic.

2 - Kristoff is technically a Northuldra before Anna and Elsa

It is no coincidence that Kristoff got along so well with the Northuldras and that people started to theorize that he is part of them since Kristoff is a Sámi or at least he was in the script "Frozen 1". In the film's script he and all the ice harvesters are called Sámi, which as I said at the beginning is the Northuldra Tribe from F2. As far as I know there is no confirmation in the franchise that brings the sides together (ice harversters and Northuldra), but considering that the Sámi Tribe is known for being a combination of different types of tribe, even having more than one language wouldn't be too wrong, and actually not unheard of since Anna and Elsa's mother's original tribe is different from the one she is shown participating in in F2 since her original tribe and family were completely wiped out when Iduna was 5 years old.

3 - Bruni or Sally

In the novelization of "Frozen 2" Olaf is in doubt about what name to give to the fire salamander, the options being Bruni and Sally. In the end he doesn't choose any of them and the book itself starts calling the salamander with the name Bruni. This is not the debut of the name Sally, in the Christmas short called "Olaf's Frozen Adventure" the stocking that Olaf hangs on the fireplace has the name Sally on it. And also about Bruni's name in the book "Dangerous Secret's: The Story of Iduna and Agnarr" which is a book that tells the past of Anna and Elsa's parents, Iduna calls the fire salamander with the name Bruni decades before Olaf choose this name for the Fire Spirit.

4 - Halima and Ryder have names inspired by real people

Halima, who is Mattias' love interest, shares her name with her voice actress Halima Hudson, and Ryder, who is Honeymaren's brother, shares his name with Ryder Buck, who is the deceased son of director Chris Buck.

5 - Santino Fontana and the redemption of Hans

Santino, who is the voice actor for the villain in "Frozen 1", even gave an interview saying that someone from Disney, who he obviously can't say who he is, told him that his character would return and I will have a redemption arc… Considering that the character since "Freezing Fever" has become the franchise's most recurring joke, appearing only to be humiliated as in the special "Once Upon a Studio" and in "Frozen 2" Elsa refers to him with the phrase "unreedemable monster" I have my doubts as to whether the person who said that to Santino really was someone from Disney or was playing a joke on him or was from a version of the script so early that perhaps the Northuldra Tribe didn't even exist yet.

6 - Lady Halverson and Woodsman

Speaking of the initial script we have these two figures, the first apparently was Mattias' initial love interest who, instead of being Halima, was a soldier in his battalion and the second is the mysterious being who transforms into a reindeer. We don't have any information about the two characters other than the video that can be found by typing: "Frozen 2 (2019) _ Queen Iduna _ Deleted Scene _ Exclusive Clip (HD)" and some art, and nothing else. "Woodsman" is just a nickname.

7 - Some of the deleted scenes were discovered or not

The production of "Frozen 2" was so chaotic that it generated a documentary where it is revealed that there were several moments deleted from the film, to this day there is not much about it, but we have some books like "The Enchanted Forest". "The Enchanted Forest" is an adaptation of the film, but it is not a very faithful adaptation so much so that there are several differences… Could it be that some of these differences are deleted scenes? There is the origin of the wagon that the group goes to the Enchanted Forest and even new lines between Elsa and Honeymaren, and this was one of the moments that is mentioned as being cut in the documentary. I'm not going to make a guarantee, but perhaps some of these books that portray "Frozen 2" in a slightly different way are actually earlier versions of the script before the cuts? Theories.

8 - Elsa's romantic life in "Frozen 2" and Kristen Bell

Although the theories and campaigns to give Elsa a girlfriend we have nothing official in the second film about Elsa's sexual orientation with Jennifer Lee herself, director, saying that the Snow Queen had a lot on her mind and wasn't ready. But going back to the deleted scenes, there are theories that Elsa would initially have romantic moments with Honeymaren, but they were deleted (in "The Enchanted Forest" the moments between them are new and just new dialogues) but there are some conceptual arts left like these two where Elsa presents intimately magic for the other woman in two stages of the film's development. But there is still this art where she does the same to Ryder which makes Kristen Bell, Anna's voice actress, enter this story, in an interview given to "SiriusXM" again the topic was "Elsa's girlfriend" with Honeymaren being mentioned, but Kristen Bell will mention the theme and ends up saying at the end that Elsa is free to choose and even has more than one option in the Enchanted Forest with her mentioning Ryder. Out of curiosity, the brothers Honeymaren and Ryder have already competed for Elsa in the mobile game called "Disney Magic Kingdoms" where they both try to take the Snow Queen for a walk through the forest, but Honeymaen arrives first, frustrating Ryder who still has to put up with the game itself. mocking him since the name of the mission was "barking up the wrong tree". Later, a festival takes place in Arendelle in this mobile game where Honeymaren offers herself as a saleswoman, wanting to do this just to please Elsa, and Ryder, upon realizing her feelings for the Snow Queen, decides to help… from rival to cupid.

9 - Anna would ask Kristoff to marry her

In one of the deleted songs Kristoff would talk about his feelings, but in the end it would be her who would ask him to marry her. The song is "Get This Right" and the entire scene, still in progress, can be found on YouTube.

10 - Elsa's death

There is a rumor that in the film's original script Elsa would not thaw and would end the film frozen dead, giving a hint that she could return in the future. The main clue would be this concept art where Elsa appears unconscious, thawed with Nokk and if you paid attention to what I said, the main proof that the film would end with her frozen is an art of her thawed. There are still those who use the fact that she couldn't stop the wave as proof since the castle was originally going to be rebuilt, but I honestly don't believe it.

[jiubilant]

What do you think falion's main beef with the college and savos was? Wondering if savos had any strong thoughts about vampires or Necromancy

i'm so glad you asked about this because i've been meaning to write up a post about it

brief history of falion and "the caller":

falion was the master of conjuration at winterhold before phinis gestor. he was an accomplished (if somewhat reclusive and single-minded) scholar of his discipline and popular with his students

he and his research assistant, an ambitious and charismatic young mage named anreth calatil, collaborated for years on a study of life-prolonging magics. this collaboration came to an end after a mysterious quarrel drove a wedge between master and pupil, and rumors soon began to circulate that anreth had abandoned falion's tutelage because she was frustrated with the "timidity" of her former mentor's methods

it soon became clear that anreth, along with a number of impressionable disciples of conjuration, was continuing her research into life-prolonging magics in secret. falion suspected his former research assistant of dark deeds and took his concerns about the potentially dangerous trajectory of her studies to archmage aren, who responded to his concerns in the usual way (by doing nothing)

this, to put it mildly, frustrated falion

as anreth's circle of followers grew and began to challenge falion's authority as master of conjuration, falion took matters into his own hands—first by confronting a now wildly-popular anreth, who mocked his censure, and then by confronting aren. the resulting quarrel culminated in falion quitting in a rage, leaving aren with a dire warning that his negligence would one day result in disaster

falion's dramatic exit left the position of conjuration master open. anreth lobbied for the position but archmage aren, perhaps with falion's warning in mind—or perhaps with the advice of his master wizard, mirabelle ervine, in his ear—gave the position to phinis gestor, a meek former pupil of falion's who was not enthused by the promotion

anreth, outraged, abandoned the college and took half of the conjuration department with her. she and her followers established themselves in an abandoned keep in whiterun. locals soon reached out to winterhold complaining of a "fell glow" from the keep, as well as foul smells and sickness among their livestock, but aren disavowed anreth (now playing to her reputation by referring to herself as "the caller") and her followers and declared their actions out of his jurisdiction

over the next few years, disaffected conjuration students unhappy with phinis's instruction continued to trickle out of winterhold and defect to anreth's tutelage. one such student, orthorn, stole several texts from the college's arcaneum before disappearing. only then did mirabelle ervine, without the archmage's explicit knowledge, take action...more details specific to my rendition of the winterhold questline under the cut

mirabelle, who had known anreth as a student, believed her to be eccentric but not dangerous. she sent ravi to whiterun for the books hoping both that the excursion would keep him out of the thalmor's reach while they plotted together and that "the caller" would be friendlier to the overtures of a layman than those of a college mage

ravi started to suspect something strange after arriving in the village nearest the keep and chatting with the locals, who told him that they'd noticed itinerants—peddlers, cobblers, and other travelers journeying alone or in small parties—disappearing suddenly. they warned him not to go to the keep. he agreed that the situation was a bit beyond him and took a room for the night, planning to write to mirabelle for counsel in the morning—

—and then woke up in the keep, in a cell with a terrified young mage who identified himself as orthorn. orthorn spilled everything: among other questionable research methods, the caller was "cultivating" a "herd" of spellbound vampires for her studies, and releasing them to feed on village livestock at night was "no longer producing useful results"

(she was going to feed them to her vampires)

the two were taken to the vampire pens and thrown inside. every bit of folklore they knew indicated that the starving vampires would succumb to their predatory instincts and make short work of them. instead the vampires restrained themselves in hopes of gaining their freedom. they ordered orthorn and ravi to help them escape. ravi kept their thoughts off dinner by talking nonstop for several hours (his special talent) while orthorn worked on breaking the spell-wards trapping them all inside

they escaped. the oldest and most ruthless vampires fell upon the caller and her followers. ravi and orthorn fled the frenzy, but were pursued by the remaining vampires—some of the kidnapped travelers, recently-turned—who begged to accompany ravi to the college in order to seek a cure for their condition

cue cross-country trip in which cattle were rustled, innkeepers alarmed, and ravi (orthorn having made a break for it as soon as possible) kept up a nonstop soothing ramble about whatever came to mind in order to remind his traveling companions that he was not in fact food

two weeks later the arrival of ravila rano and several hungry vampires at the college caused much consternation. after a heated faculty debate over how to handle the matter responsibly, mirabelle recommended that the caller's hapless victims (who, after all, had never hurt anyone and were repelled by the very thought) seek out falion in morthal for help—with a wizardly escort ensuring their continued good behavior on the way—and that ravi drink some tea for his laryngitis

afterwards mirabelle, in an attempt to relieve her stress headaches, took up smoking. ravi attempted to teach her to blow smoke rings with no success. end of act i

[inventors-fair]

Trigger Happy Casters: Winners! ~

Congratulations to @corporalotherbear, @izzet-always-r-versus-u and @wildcardgamez for winning this week's contest!

@corporalotherbear — Keranos's Conduit

I was really hoping for weird cards like this, and boy howdy is this card weird without actually being weird. I think that because I get exactly how the name, setting and ability come together, this is one of those cards where the mood presupposes the vibe even without a visual. Kinda funny because you're using stormless storm with the God of Storms, right? Heh. Anyway, though, this card can swing games like nobody's business. Limited means your Auras and "heroic" triggers—and also Constellation triggers!—become that much more radical. It makes having a lot of bodies and limited Auras so much better.

In terms of random constructed thoughts, can you imagine this with something like Etali's Favor? Because it's a cast trigger, you'll discover so much that you can hit and cast all the smaller Auras, which will get all of those other triggers if they got 'em, and so on and so forth. Sage of Mysteries, major mill? Wicked Visitor end step triggers? There are lots of ways to make this card fun and brewable and I'm really impressed by how much this card can be fun at the helm of its own deck. What a rockin' card and what a cool idea.

@izzet-always-r-versus-u — The Cozen, Syndicate Enforcer

PUNISHMENT. I love punishment! I love punishing people for their crimes of free-casting! Being symmetrical is kinda funny but at the same time reasonable for the colors. I'm thinking of cost reductions, Omniscience punishing, Force punishing, Elemental punishing—hm. I do actually wish this wasn't fully symmetrical but it don't matter because hnnnnng. Having this be so situational probably means that it's not going to have a massive effect on the various limited formats. Are there any common ways to reduce costs? Hm... Affinity, Convoke, Cascade and Discover, Cipher, Delve... Heh heh heh. Okay, it's environment-dependent, but still. Oh gosh, and Plot too.

I was also shocked that this specific flavor text hasn't been used because I could have SWORN that I've read it before. But you know, taking a character from flavor text and turning them into an actual card is one of my personal favorite things that people pull out from time to time—if done properly—and a debt collector punishing people for not paying their costs is pretty perfect. I honestly think this card is missing flash, though, and I don't know if that's negligible. It would make such a massive difference, and yeah, the body or cost would have to change, but having that kind of interaction almost feels necessary for the environment in which this card needs to be. Almost. I'm willing to hear arguments against it, though, so you know—invitation to discussion and all that.

@wildcardgamez — Galazeth's Whelp

You know, what I like about this card is that functionally you can pay the mana and get a Treasure regardless of whether or not the spell resolves, and that works similarly to the pitch cards from Prismari that would help you get to those massive spells eventually. People...definitely cast those. For sure. Anyway. I'm curious about if the dragons on Arcavios actually could have offspring, but I guess this card is the answer to that, right? Or maybe this is just a manifestation, or a dragon in the same clan, or whatever. Doesn't matter—this card is a functional card that does a LOT of work. I absolutely love how well this card functions in a spellslinging deck.

My Magical Christmas Land scenario would be to chain together spells like Sudden Breakthrough and Ancestor's Aid, deal an insane amount of damage, draw cards if you have cards like Flick a Coin, etc. I think it might be too slow for prowess-style decks but in terms of just Izzet Spells, this card's a limited bomb and a constructed possibility. Magecraft to damage is an awesome combo and this card does all those little pieces right. Sometimes the right combination can make some wonderful work happen. Flavorfully, too, it's all the best parts of artifacts and spellslinging together. Great job overall, I'd say! ... Just capitalize "Treasure" in the future, comrade.

Runners comin' up soon. @abelzumi

[dilatorywriting]

I see you talking about characters like idia(which i agree with you, his hypocrisy rubs me the wrong way) But what are your thoughts on Crowley? I feel that he is just so suspicious we don't know anything about him other than him being the headmaster that dumps his problems onto others

Crowley I honestly don’t feel strongly about one way or another. He’s the whacky headmaster who does what the plot needs him to do and little else. Whether he interferes or leaves the Prefect high and dry seems usually more like a handy, comedic, plot device to get the player involved in the main story arc and less like something that’s meant to be, like, genuinely malicious. He mostly just seems like he’s there to act as a funny lil’ narrative guide who occasionally pops in to say something batshit insane before disappearing into the wind. I do appreciate that his negligence is at least, like, acknowledged in cannon. Even if only really to make jokes at his expense. But again even then, he’s not really treated as a character so much as a literary device. It’s like, tell me anything concrete about Crowley other than he’s a weird ass bird dude. In comparison to Crewel who we know is stern and loves classic cars and is very hard but ultimately still cares about his students. Or Vargus who’s a meathead but wellmeaning. Or Sam who plays the piano and has a very conniving sense of humor. We don’t know what Crowley’s life is like, what he really thinks about students or teaching, or really anything. And yes, yes. Mystique and blablabla. But to me, his character is not intentionally mysterious (at least, not entirely) so much as just… overlooked? If that makes sense?

From an outside-of-the-game-cannon perspective, I do think he’s fun to write about. There’s so much blank canvas there for a character with a cool concept that how could you not have fun with it, y’know? Though of course, at least imo, making him in anyway genuinely paternal is an absolute crock of shit. Oh—I adore it. 10/10. Love to see it. But no way would cannon Crowley give two craps about the player. He’s just… not really written to be anything other than the Quest Giving NPC or to info dump. The other professors + Sam have so much more interaction with the students in general. For example, each one participates extensively in at least one Event. Crowley just sort of… exists.

So TLDR: Would love to see him expanded on in cannon and then maybe I’d have more of an opinion on him. Until then, meh. Cool design, fun to write, but there’s very little about Cannon Character Crowley to genuinely love or hate.

[shinahbee]

New BL/shounen ai webtoon tier list

Hello!

it’s been a while, I’m still working on the monthly favorites for june and july but I wont have it done anytime soon because I’m preparing for a convention this week. Instead, you are going to get the new BL tier list with some new titles 

I have mentioned in my last monthly favorites that I wanted to do a new one because it has been a long time since then and I have read more.

You will see some new stuff and some rankings change from the old ones, I included titles that I have read/ remembered from reading and discarded the ones I no longer have any connection to.

alright, here it is:

Spicy tier - the top tier in my eyes...

most of these stories I’ve read more than once and have left a lasting impression on me, these are ones that if anyone asks me for recommendations, they would be the ones that come to mind.

this could change in the future depending if the next tier makes their way up a rank.

Crash into you

Its just a dream right?

kings maker

pearl boy

hold me tight

the pizza delivery man and the gold palace

path to you

Love history caused by willful negligence 

The foul

The third ending

Good so far, let’s see where it goes- ongoing/ current reads

it wouldn’t be fair to put them in the spicy tier when I’m not fully committed, these still need more time, but I'm enjoying where the plot is heading so far, there are some that I can potentially see in the spicy tier later when they finish

something like liveta and define the relationship, and one that isn’t on here cause I couldn’t find pictures for it...called Half of me, this one is really good so far and I can definitely put it on the spicy tier if it continues going in the right direction.

Beware of the full moon in march

Define the relationship

killer crush

Liveta

Passion

Midnight men

The ghost’s nocturne

(no pic ) half of me 

Not bad but not great either- meh overall

most I have finished but found it under whelming, lack of character development, plot moving very slowly, not really anything spectacular.

not to say that these aren’t good in their own way but there has to be a line that separates the good stories from the ones that are okay right? some I have in my favorites are in this tier because I’m trying to be really critical when I think about the story overall now that its done...

i’ll list the series and tell you why I feel that way in case you are wondering

Painter from the window - I don’t remember much about this, the end didn’t really make sense to me and I don’t think I finished the entire story, I might have lost some interest in between

insecret - I liked the side story better than the mains story, if it was based on that this would have been higher 

Dangerous convenient store- basic story overall not a lot of interesting plot other than near the end, the pacing is okay in terms of relationship development 

Lucky paradise - pacing is slow and not a lot of development from chunwoo, which I don’t really get why he does the things he does, he really needed character development a lot sooner for me to be interested 

Secret relationships - 90% flashbacks 10 % story lol. i’m sure all bimsa fans will agree that the story took a while to move forward cause all we got was one flash back after another and no expansion on the characters in the current timeline.

Dear door - I just got bored in the middle 

My suha - season1, 2 were great in terms of plot, the last season moved really slowly and made a lot of people lose interest, there’s also a ton of misunderstanding, but that’s nothing new in BL

Hide and seek- I would put this higher if it wasn’t for the conflict being miniscule, it really does not pair well with the whole mystery behind the story. I also have not read this again after the second time so it was not very memorable. 

omega complex - good characters and development, no dumb love triangles..lol. which is the best part cause I hate those, the main guy yoonwoo was like I only like 1 person if you aren’t him don’t talk to me...lmao I appreciate it. overall it’s a short story but that’s all it is. 

MDZS - this may surprise you cause this is what got me to read BL and took over my life, but in terms of manhwa the pacing is slow and I liked the drama better than the actual webtoon

Seeing double - twins and love triangle....uh nope...I just wish there was more explanation is to how ohn ended up liking seowoo...I’m happy cause that’s my ship, but I felt there was a disconnect there when he realized his feelings...I’m like wtf ...how?

oki doki... the I don’t give a sh*t tier

some famous titles that other people are in love with and I have no interest in reading at all...

Anti PT

Heaven’s official blessing

Banana sandal season 2 (I have read season 1)

Lost in the cloud

Honey trouble

and also can corelate with the next tier,

already knows the story through osmosis...

I literally can read some twitter tweets and already know the story based on how much people put out there in terms of spoilers. Which is why I don’t have to read it lol.

Blind play

Jinx

checkmate

mad place 

wet sand

limited run

though I do appreciate it if I want to avoid certain types of stories...like the ones in the last tier 

never touch again-  I dodged a bullet with some of these...

Again like the tier above I already know the story through osmosis, the only one I finished reading was BJ alex and that was a dark time in my life that I want to just erase.

BJ alex

full volume 

even if you don’t love me

Love or hate

yours to claim

married man/missing love

some of these just have no plot just smut scenes, some of which does have a plot but not good enough for me to enjoy because of subject matter (incest) and most are abuse from all angles...so I try to avoid those, which is why I basically dropped all of it.

real talk though, I have one thing to ask...why have Ugly old men in your stories?..yeah they are creepy but who would look at that and be like yeah I want that dude to touch me...like who is ugly ass 70 year old rotting dick appealing to? like what audience?

omg this is the one trope in BL I cannot stand...I also cannot escape from  it cause its in lots of stories, if some one knows please explain it to me ...LOL.

okay well there it is for new tier list rankings, I’ll be back after the convention and finished the monthly favorites I was planning on doing. hope you enjoyed reading and I have the old tier list in the link below:

https://shinahbee.tumblr.com/post/666535722973560832/the-bl-manhwamangamanhua-tier-list-hello-so-you

if you would like to see more stuff I write about please follow me cause I have a lot of BL criticism content.lol. 

[project1939]

100+ Films of 1952

Film number 135: Yankee Buccaneer 

Release date: Sept 16th, 1952 

Studio: Universal 

Genre: adventure 

Director: Frederick de Cordova 

Producer: Howard Christie 

Actors: Jeff Chandler, Scott Brady, Suzan Ball 

Plot Summary: In 1832, US Naval Commander David Porter is given a secret mission- he and his crew on the Essex must go undercover as pirates in order to catch a group that has been raiding American merchant ships. 

My Rating (out of five stars): ***¼  

I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I might. I’ve seen several seafaring films from 1952, and this one holds its own with most of the better ones. It’s far from a cinematic masterpiece, but it is an entertaining adventure with a solid plot and a good cast. (minor spoilers)  

The Good: 

Jeff Chandler. He was one of my favorite discoveries of Project 1952. First of all, he’s a seriously good actor! He’s also kind of intellectually hunky- he gives off that sensitive thinking man’s vibe. His deep voice and curly hair also send me. 

If you’re looking for many hallmarks of pirate films, look no further! We get kegs of rum, storms at sea, scurvy in the crew, shark attacks, sword fighting, walking the plank, exotic islands, a mysterious beautiful woman... even a bit of a bromance! Impressively, none of it felt particularly tacked on, either. Maybe the shark fight? It was all good fun, though. 

The costumes were beautiful. I especially liked the men’s “pirate” gear, which was brash and colorful. I doubt the historical accuracy of it, but when you put Jeff Chandler in those outfits, I could care less! 

The plot was interesting and kept me entertained almost from start to finish. 

In general, the acting was good. 

There were island “natives” in the movie, and I feared they might be horrible stereotypes... but it wasn’t too bad. Most of the natives looked like they weren’t white men in darker makeup, which I appreciated. It was also emphasized that they were friendly, not antagonistic. 

The Bad: 

Even though the two main characters, Porter and Farragut, were real people, apparently the historical accuracy is negligible. I didn’t really mind this, but if you came into it expecting a true historical drama, you’d be disappointed. 

For a pirate movie, there aren’t any actual pirates in it! Again, this was something that didn’t especially bother me, but it might be a letdown for some. 

The amount of pirate costume changes Porter and Farragut was utterly ridiculous! How they could have fit such large wardrobes on the ship is beyond me! I loved the costumes, though, so I savored looking at them, but it was still ludicrous. 

The shark fight scene, where Farragut literally wrestled with and stabbed a shark to death would be laughable in any circumstance. It was made so much more hilarious because the shark Farragut was fighting was clearly a prop dummy! It was kind of deliciously bad, but still bad. 

The Countess always wore large amounts of immaculate makeup, which was anachronistic, but it also managed to stay on her face perfectly after swimming in the ocean! 

There were more than a couple of improbable things that happened, including the world’s most unalert guards and the fact that a guy was strung up on a rack and hopped off it perfectly fit and ready to fight! 

One of the most obvious Chekov’s gun moments I’ve seen in a movie. Farragut was warned more than once to get rid of a medallion he kept as a lucky charm, because it could give away that he was an American. So... yes, we all knew what was going to happen in the final act! 

[abnormal-vacuum]

okay not that anyone really asked here’s my full review of the passenger series from itv. obviously spoilers under the cut.

i went into this series with pretty low expectations seeing the general reviews of it on google, but the further i got into the first few episodes of the series the more excited i got. i was really enjoying it! i thought it was shot really well and the colors were very appealing. lots of bold, warm oranges, reds and blues. overall i think the visual aspects are done incredibly well. everyone’s acting in it is great, too, something i didn’t expect. the banter is fun and gets you interested / attached to the characters as well as makes them feel real, like someone you’d meet in your day to day life. i like that a lot.

i’m a big fan of the ‘small town, big secrets’ trope, and no matter how many times its been done before i still eat it up every single time. every single person in that town has their own baggage and something that makes them the monster of chaddervale. i would have loved to see everyone realizing / being told that eddie really didn’t attack jim. we (both us as the audience and them as the characters) didn’t get enough time to settle down and think about that. all we got was a scene with eddies wife, joanne, saying something about revenge. that’s pretty much it.

there are so many plot points in this series, most of which i’m interested in, that are established in only 6 episodes, most of which go unanswered. does it leave for a good cliffhanger? no. it doesn’t. it leaves for a frustrating, unsatisfying watch with so much potential its almost painful. and you know, maybe, just maybe i could forgive this if the big reveal of the series wasn’t so stupid. my opinion on this is definitely skewed due to personal taste but i think only a bit. instead of following along the plot of the ‘curse’ or even a cryptid they instead went the route of some black web company doing experiments on anxiety riddled screen addicted youth? that feels like such a unearned, unteased ending. that’s not what i came to that series for. it doesn’t fit, it doesn’t make sense. the previous episodes and the twist don’t fit together. just because something is unexpected doesn’t mean its a good twist. i understand that so many stories have been told before and people want to create something that’s new and unique. but i just don’t think this was the way to go about it. and like i understand the commentary about young people being lonely and spending too much time on their phones but haven’t we had enough media about that? like at this point you’re saying something that’s been said time and time again without adding anything of value. sorry.

i’m being a bit harsh. maybe i would have enjoyed this twist more if it didn’t feel so rushed. six episodes isn’t a lot for a mystery series. you need more time to establish things, to build up tension and intrigue. they’re only given a certain amount of episodes and they just have to make do. i empathize with them, its the plight of modern shows. gone are filler episodes and month long runs. but i still feel as if there could have been a much better job done with the story— twist aside. like i’m still confused on if the 6th episode was the end of season 1. because it really didn’t. it wasn’t like a fun cheeky little cliffhanger, it was just a gaping hole left.

here comes the part where i throw what i would have done with the series at you. they’re a bit silly, yes, but i think they’re more… in line with the series than what actually happened.

i would have maybe done that there’s an underground worldwide cryptid / monster smuggling ring that takes them to be expirmented on or even used as weapons and maybe the bread factory was involved in it and due to negligence one not native to the area! thats why its being violent because its in an environment its not used to and its scared because everything seems hostile to it. maybe the monster could be friendly as a fun twist! that could also be a parallel to eddie who’s in a new environment where everyone hates him and he’s also not really a monster.

another thing that they could have done is maybe people are being turned into werewolves by that company! they’re trying to make super soldiers and they’re kidnapping young people to experiment on them and see what happens and if they can fit into normal society. this could also go into the whole “everyone is the monster of chaddervale” thing i was discussing before.

or!! it could be an alien show!! maybe people are being abducted by aliens and that’s what’s wrong with them!! i don’t know!!

in conclusion i did enjoy this show despite all of the harsh things i said above i just wished it was better. i honestly do recommend watching it if you enjoy mystery shows and aren’t upset by bad writing or whatever. i hope it gets a season 2 and i hope all of the plot points are resolved. so. whatever. needed to get this out of my system.

[queenofapeacefuldawn]

I’m aware that it’s like 12:30 right now for me. But you need to give me tips on how to write a murder mystery. For science

(And yes your mysteries are FANTASTIC. This is why I’m asking you)

go to sleep 🔪

but yes, i would be honoured to help! (i took a workshop in fifth grade and fifth grade me buried deep inside is rearing her head)

so, first you need a victim, and why they became the victim, (aka a motive for the murderer). were they the victim of a serial killer? did somebody close to them want their money? was it an assassination? was it a case of mistaken identity, and they weren't meant to be a victim? it depends on the story.

second, you need the "detective" character to care about the victim, or a reason for them to solve the case. maybe the victim was close to them, or somebody they care about has been implicated and they need to prove their innocence? has the detective been implicated? again, it depends. is it their job to investigate it? (like they're a cop or a private investigator). it also depends on the type of person your detective is.

this also opens up a pathway on making your audience care about the victim. ← this step isn't really necessary, because it can later be revealed that the victim is a rat bastard who's probably better off being dead, but. an effective way is to make the pov narrator / detective look at the victim through rose-tinted glasses, and, slowly, as the story progresses, they realise what, exactly, the victim has done, and they struggle internally with why they're doing this.

one thing i find effective when i'm plotting out a murder mystery, is i first look at the end-- who the killer is, and what their motive was, and how, exactly they could have committed the murder. then, i make an alibi for the murderer-- so it isn't obvious that it's them. then, i look at the beginning-- aka, when the victim is killed. look at the kinds of clues that can lead to: a) the actual murderer, that was ruled out for some reason, due to alibi/negligence; and b) the red herring character(s), who everybody suspects, but then they turn out to be pretty decent. after i have the beginning and the ending all ironed out, that's when i look at the middle: the road that leads to the murderer. how does the detective figure out it was the murderer? do they find an inconsistency in the alibi? do all the clues point to the murderer? does the murderer reveal themselves by kidnapping the detective/trying to finish them off too? again, it depends.

so, in the plotting stages, this is the order i usually go in:

find the main plot/ premise of the story

once you have the premise, figure out who the victim is.

once you have your victim, make your killer. give them motive, personality. it's at this stage i make a character profile for the killer, victim, and detective.

exposition: why is the detective there to investigate? where did the murder happen? where did they find the body? what was the murder weapon? etc.

and now, that you have the motive, killer, victim, and detective, you can connect the dots for the detective reaching the conclusion, that, "oh, [the killer] is the killer. "

all throughout the story, build the stakes on why the killer needs to be found. if it's a cop, maybe pressure is mounting from their bosses? if it's the murder of a family member, maybe you can have the detective worrying that they're next/someone they care about is next? in the same vein, if the detective has been implicated, or somebody they care about has been implicated, then the police are close to finding/fabricating incriminating evidence against them? maybe there's the threat that the killer will strike again.

this is for the plotting stage. once you have your outline + characters, (basically, whenever you feel comfortable and confident enough to actually start writing, you can use our trusty friend, the plot mountain!)

introduction: introducing the detective, the victim, and the suspects. (like, the detective gets a call that the victim has been murdered, and begin investigating.)

rising action: the detective starts investigating, and the stakes are rising (there's the worry of an innocent person being arrested, or another person being killed, etc.)

climax: the detective figures out who they think is the killer. maybe there's a plot twist, due to the red herring before

falling action: the killer is caught, (either due to confrontation or a confession)

resolution: the motives are revealed, the killer is in jail (or the detective decided to protect the killer, for whatever reason)

about red herrings and plot twists: some books that i've read made the mistake of bringing a plot twist out of, like, nowhere. there's no build up, no foreshadowing, just a straight up sack of bricks to the reader's face kind of plot twist, and that kind of cheapens the mystery. a good plot twist has a lot of foreshadowing: all the little inconsistencies in the story that didn't make sense before? when the twist is revealed, the reader should think: oh. that's why it happened. again, it's not an exact science, and maybe it's a bit hypocritical of me to speak because i've not perfected this, but the books i really enjoy have this kind of foreshadowing.

about the fate of the killer: obviously, your killer will have their own justifications for the murder. and, sometimes, the justifications are sound! like, fuck yes, you deserved to murder the victim! during this stretch of time, the author realises that they really like the character of the killer, and, in some books i've read, they decide to pull out a sudden character development moment for the killer, where they're absolved of their crimes and set free, with the murder being pinned on someone who "deserved" it. which.... fair. but, this kind of vigilante-justice is very nuanced, so, one easy step on whether the killer should be absolved or not: who did they hurt to stay out of the detective's suspect list? did they harm innocents? did they kill innocents? do they show remorse? characters are very nuanced, and the fate of the killer should be something fitting to their crime/character.

also, about the narrator: the narrator shapes the story and your view of the characters, aka, the narrator is the first red herring you should be aware of. if it's first-person narration, then you should figure out the relationships of the other characters (the detective, victim, killer, and other suspects), to figure out how to write them. if your narrator is the detective (which is most likely), you have a 24/7 viewpoint into their head, and, yeah, they can have rose-tinted glasses for certain suspects (and the killer) too. if your narrator is the killer: that reveal is harder to pull off, as, like i said, you have a 24/7 view into the narrator's head. aka, the killer's head. if you're trying to keep the killer's identity a secret, then it's slightly difficult to write that in a way that makes you not know who the killer is. this happened in agatha christie's the murder of roger ackroyd, where the narrator is the killer. best thing to do, is to leave gaps in their narration, but do it in a smooth way, where the reader doesn't figure out about the gaps. if the storyline is about the narrator trying to pin the murder on someone else (aka, the reader knows who the killer is, and the story is about blaming the murder on someone else), your job becomes relatively easy. this all depends on the story. the role of the narrator is varied, and can be used as a red herring, or to add a humourous tone into the story, etc.

----

again, this isn't what all murder mystery stories have to be. they're all varied, with different plot lines, but this is kind-of a skeleton for how most murder mysteries are. storylines are all different, as are relationships in a murder mystery, but alice, i hope this helped you! have fun writing, super excited to see what you're writing (if you do plan on posting it), and please, for the love of the gods, GO TO SLEEP.

(ps: thank you for saying my mysteries are fantastic. ily <33 (also, again, i am begging you to sleep)).

[thequiver]

Asking about your original fiction!!!

alright gonna give you the bare bones run down in the hopes that I get more questions

So the current working title for the novel is Whispered Silence- it's a paranormal cold case murder mystery set in a small town in Maine (and a lot of the plot is centered around a local heritage museum). The plot focuses around four young adults (ages 23-26) trying to solve the murder of one of their dad's, which has been unsolved for the past 20 years due to negligence by the local police when clues pointed to an affluent citizen. The main four characters (Hank, Serfina, June, and Sammy) have a kind of adult Scooby-Gang vibe, there's two morally gray elderly gay mentor figures (Aiken and Joshua), and the murderess is a rich elderly white woman who murders Hank's father in a fit of rage while refusing to account for her own role in the death of her only child. It's ultimately striving to be a critique of wealth and the ways in which affluent white society is both a get out of jail free card and a prison- and how that affects those who are not part of it.

All of this is set against a magical backdrop grounded in a system based on the functioning of irl magic from various cultures. In this universe magic is something that anyone can learn but not everyone studies for a variety of reasons, this being said with magic being so innate most people cast simple spells throughout their everyday life unconsciously while more difficult spells require study and intense preparation. And there are of course- ghosts...possibly even those of the deceased.