#aside from that I like where it's going so far

[livefromtheelephantsfoot]

I've had this sitting in my drafts for over a week bc I AGREE and I have SO many thoughts abt this.

I think one of the underlying reasons is a failure to engage with the fact that, to a lot of people at least, eugenics makes intuitive sense. I remember as a kid when I first had natural selection explained to me, and it didn't take much for me to wonder "huh, what does that mean for humans? does that mean it's a bad thing that we've insulated ourselves from stuff like disease?" (Obviously 8yo me wouldn't have said it like that, but I did wonder.) I'm almost afraid to point it out, but I really don't think it's just a me thing.

Later I learned abt Eugenics, that it was this bad evil thing that lead to genocide, and I was horrified. If I could empathize with the proponents of it, at least early on, what did that say about me? But it didn't actually answer my question. So now I had this first idea, evolution, that was obviously true and explained so much about the natural world, and this second idea that still seemed to naturally follow from it but was Bad. And I didn't know what to do with that.

And I started to notice how common the second idea was, too. The most pervasive thing I noticed was how common "Darwin Award" jokes are-- the joke, of course, being that people who die doing something stupid are making a positive contribution to the human gene pool. I don't really like those jokes. I ended up with the impression that eugenicists were right abt the human gene pool being a thing that we ought to be concerned about damaging, but they just went Too Far. You'll notice people who think this way disagree on where Too Far was. It made me uncomfortable that there could be an idea that was right, and if ignored would cause problems down the line, and at the same time acting on it was morally wrong, and everyone agreed it was a bad idea but only when called by a particular name--otherwise it's just common sense.

I don't think it was until high school that I started to understand that eugenics was, in fact, bad science. It makes sense with a surface level understanding of evolution, but the more in-depth you go, the more it falls apart. Artificial selection in dogs is such a great way to point this out. "It worked so well in dogs, why not try it in humans? Oh, wait..."

Eugenics requires the assumption that natural selection is at once a great and powerful force worthy of abandoning all morals in order to worship, while being so fragile that human civilization is at risk of overthrowing it within a couple hundred years.

Of course, the truth is that eugenicists weren't and aren't abandoning their real values in favor of what their understanding of natural selection would suggest. Eugenics was built on racism and ableism, and there is no escaping that. People latch on to ideas that validate their preexisting beliefs. You know what we can say, pretty confidently, about what's "healthy" genetically, for dog breeds and for humans? Variation. You'll notice that you don't see a lot of eugenicists advocating for interracial marriage. Even setting aside the (very important) ethical considerations for their methods, if eugenicists had their way, humanity would be barreling toward an artificial bottleneck that would REALLY fuck us over genetically.

Even that is missing nuance, though-- we're still in the realm of stick figure drawings. Genetics are really complicated. All this requires you to pretend that we fully understand what all of our genes even do, and we just don't. And that's ok! We do not, in fact, have to base public policy on whether G exists!

Natural selection is still happening to us, and if its slown down lately then I'd chalk that up to a global civilization mixing up our gene pool (which, again, is unambiguously a good thing from a genetic perspective) more than modern medicine helping disabled people have kids (which is not a new thing! we have been helping each other for millions of years). The human genome is not at risk of collapse.

We haven't even touched on poverty being a structural issue that requires people to exploit (ie, if all the poor people disappeared poverty wouldn't end, the next group up would be moved into their place) or the question of what mental health issues even ARE (I'm a proponent of the idea that, of the disorders/cases that are primarily caused by genetics, most are just the extreme ends of traits that are necessary to the general population and can't actually be removed-- extremely simplified example: everyone needs a sprinkle of neuroticism to function, sometimes someone gets a heavier dose and winds up with clinical anxiety, and every once and a while someone gets way too much and had OCD. even if environment weren't a factor at all, and even if anxiety were such a simplistic trait that we could track it with a very high degree of confidence, keeping the person with OCD from having kids wouldn't stop OCD from existing. they might be more likely to have kids with OCD, but them not having kids does nothing to the fact that OCD is a product of inherent variation that it would be a VERY bad idea to try to eliminate), or delving into IQ [even longer rant redacted].

I think sometimes people think eugenics is bad but its still true, like thinking that if people with certain traits have children it will change society for better or worse based upon what traits are promoted. I think its important to emphasize that eugenics is not only wrong morally it's also fake and stupid bullshit

Like eugenics was supposed to be based on the idea that "If it works with animals to select only the best ones to breed, why wouldn't it work with humans?"

well it doesn't work with animals, that's the thing. applying the eugenics ideas to domestic breeds of animals hasn't made better animals it's just made animals with more extreme expression of certain traits. turns out that when you decide which traits are the "best" and become obsessed with the genetic purity of the animals that have the "best" traits, you might well end up with some sad suffering creature like a Pug, or the Persian cats with the smashed faces that are in constant pain because their teeth and airways and brains are getting crushed by their skulls, or those meat chickens that grow so fast they can hardly even stand up after a few weeks old, or inbred race horses with tiny feet and fragile toothpick legs

like almost all traits are neither "good" or "bad" they're way more complex than that. a long tail or a long snout or a stubborn, independent personality can be good or bad depending on the situation. Who gets to decide what is a "good" trait or a "bad" trait? It's arbitrary and selecting for traits that are "good" in your opinion will often have both "good" and "bad" outcomes because the "good" and "bad" are part of each other and not separate its just part of being alive

Obviously oversimplifying everything but you get it. we did eugenics with dogs and how did that go? not very well

[andy-15-07]

The Midnight Covenant

Pairing: Marcus Acacius x female reader

Word Count: 1259

Pedro Pascal Masterlist

The gardens of the imperial palace were alive with the soft hum of nocturnal life, a stark contrast to the brutal world that General Marcus Acacius commanded during the day. By the time the moon hung high, its pale light bathing the stone columns and lush greenery in an ethereal glow, Marcus was already waiting.

His armor had been set aside, replaced with a simple tunic that allowed him to blend into the shadows. Yet, he carried the air of a warrior, his presence commanding even in solitude. His thoughts were consumed by her—the woman who had unraveled him, who made him yearn for a life beyond the sword.

Y/N arrived moments later, her steps as soft as whispers on the marble pathways. She wore a modest gown of cream-colored linen that shimmered faintly under the moonlight. The garment was simple compared to the finery she wore at court, but to Marcus, she had never looked more divine.

“You came,” he said, his voice low yet rich with relief.

“I always come,” she replied, her lips curving into a soft smile. “Though every time, I wonder if it will be the last.”

Marcus stepped closer, his expression softening. “As long as I breathe, I will find a way to be with you.”

Their gazes locked, and for a moment, the world beyond the garden ceased to exist. He reached for her hand, his touch reverent as though he feared she might vanish if he held on too tightly.

“Come,” he said, guiding her to a stone bench beneath an ancient olive tree. Its gnarled branches stretched out like the arms of a guardian, shielding them from prying eyes.

Y/N settled beside him, her heart pounding in her chest. “You risk too much, Marcus. If the emperors knew you were meeting me like this—”

“They don’t,” he interrupted gently, his thumb brushing over her knuckles. “And even if they did, what could they do that I wouldn’t endure for you?”

Her eyes searched his face, finding only sincerity in his words. “You speak as though I am worth the wrath of gods and emperors alike.”

“You are worth that and more,” he said, his voice unwavering. “Do you know how many nights I’ve fought battles not on the field, but in my own mind? The war within me is fiercer than any I’ve faced in the arena or on the battlefield. And it’s all because of you.”

She tilted her head, curiosity sparking in her eyes. “Because of me?”

“Because I am a man who has only ever known duty and bloodshed,” he explained. “Yet you have made me long for something else. Something more.”

Y/N’s cheeks flushed, and she looked away, her heart aching with the weight of his confession. “I don’t want to be your distraction, Marcus.”

“You are not a distraction,” he said firmly, his hand cupping her chin and gently turning her face back to his. “You are my reason.”

Her breath caught, tears threatening to spill as she searched his eyes for any hint of doubt. She found none.

“Marcus,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “You make it sound so simple, but it’s not. We cannot ignore the world we live in. The emperors would see us both destroyed if they knew.”

“Let them try,” he said, his tone fierce yet tender. “I have faced death more times than I can count. If I must face it again, let it be for you.”

She shook her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I cannot bear the thought of losing you.”

“And I cannot bear the thought of a life without you,” he countered, brushing her tears away with his thumb. “So we must find a way to make this life ours, no matter the cost.”

Y/N closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. For a moment, they sat in silence, the weight of their unspoken fears hanging heavy in the air.

“Tell me,” Marcus said softly, breaking the stillness. “If you could leave this place behind, where would you go?”

She opened her eyes, a faint smile playing on her lips. “Somewhere far from here. Somewhere quiet and beautiful. Perhaps a villa by the sea, where the air is always warm, and the sound of the waves lulls us to sleep.”

Marcus smiled, the image of their imagined life filling his mind. “A villa by the sea,” he repeated, as though committing it to memory. “And what would we do there?”

“Anything we wanted,” she said, her eyes alight with a mix of hope and longing. “We would wake with the sun, walk along the shore, and spend our days building a life together. A simple life, but a happy one.”

His hand tightened around hers, a spark of determination igniting within him. “Then we will make it so, Y/N. One day, we will have that villa, and we will live the life we’ve only dreamed of.”

She smiled through her tears, her heart swelling with a mix of joy and sorrow. “You make me believe it’s possible, Marcus. Even when I know it’s not.”

“It is possible,” he insisted, his voice steady and sure. “The gods may have given me the strength of a warrior, but they also gave me you. And I will not waste the gift of you.”

Y/N leaned forward then, her forehead resting against his. The world around them seemed to fade, leaving only the two of them and the promise of a love that defied the stars themselves.

“Tell me about your dreams, Marcus,” she said softly, her eyes fluttering open to meet his.

“My dreams?” he echoed, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “They are simple compared to yours. I dream of a life where I can wake each morning to see your face. Where the only battles I fight are for your happiness. Where the weight of the world no longer rests on my shoulders because you are at my side.”

Her tears returned, spilling down her cheeks like rivers of starlight. “You speak as though I am your salvation.”

“You are,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

She kissed him then, her lips soft and warm against his. It was a kiss that spoke of love and longing, of desperation and hope. It was a promise sealed in the quiet of the night, a vow to hold onto each other no matter what the world might throw their way.

When they finally pulled apart, their foreheads rested together once more, their breaths mingling in the cool night air.

“Marcus,” she murmured, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and determination. “Promise me something.”

“Anything,” he said without hesitation.

“Promise me that no matter what happens, you will never stop fighting for us.”

His hands cradled her face, his dark eyes shining with unwavering resolve. “I swear it, Y/N. I will fight for you, for us, until my dying breath.”

As the night stretched on, they spoke of the life they would build together, their dreams intertwining like the branches above. They shared laughter and tears, their bond growing stronger with each passing moment.

But as the first rays of dawn began to creep over the horizon, reality came crashing back.

“I must go,” Y/N said reluctantly, rising to her feet.

Marcus stood with her, his hand lingering on hers. “Until tonight?”

“Until tonight,” she promised, her voice trembling with the weight of their unspoken fears.

He watched as she disappeared into the shadows, his heart heavy yet full. For as long as he had her, he would endure anything.

And so, as the sun rose over the imperial palace, Marcus Acacius prepared to face another day, armed not only with his sword but with the knowledge that somewhere in the world, a goddess had chosen to love him.

[kolyasangel]

soft skin

content: fem!reader, fluff, vv sweet, slightly suggestive

synopsis: you see your boyfriend shirtless for the first time and of course, he doesn’t miss the opportunity to tease you about it.

"Nikolai! Guess what I just—"

It was like the oxygen had left the room the moment you saw him, your words abruptly cut off by a lack of breath.

Oh.

Oh.

Nikolai's bare back was the first thing your eyes landed on.

The room suddenly felt warmer, and you couldn't help but feel a flush of heat rise to your cheeks. You barely registered the book in your hand slipping out of your grasp and and landing on the floor with a soft thud as if incapable of handling the sight before you as much as your heart was.

The muscles in his back flex with every movement, drawing your gaze further down to where the fabric of his sweatpants dipped dangerously low on his waist. You swallow hard, trying to regain your composure before he eventually turns around and catches you in the act of staring.

But it's so difficult to abide by when the sunlight streaming through the bedroom window pours over him in an angelic glow, highlighting the curve of his spine as he turns to face you with a questioning look in his eyes and a playful smirk playing on his lips. "Hm?"

Nikolai clearly didn't expect the sudden intrusion, but he wasn't complaining about it either. In fact, he loves that you happened to walk into the room at such perfect timing.

You have to wonder if he's doing it on purpose—all to see your reaction, just to see the flustered look on your face that you know he takes so much pleasure in. You try to form words, but all that comes out is a soft gasp, your mind struggling to form coherent thoughts when you watch beads of water drip from his loose hair onto his bare chest, rolling down his skin until they reach his v-line.

You don’t even realize you're staring as hard as you are until Nikolai clears his throat, jerking his head at you in a teasing gesture. Caught off guard, you quickly avert your gaze and try to compose yourself, but the flirtatious glint in Nikolai's eyes tells you he enjoys the attention far too much to let it slide, as expected.

“You’re staring real hard, pretty,” he drawls with a lazy grin, mismatched eyes filled with mischief roaming over your figure.

"Sorry," you apologize and try to leave the room as quickly as you could to avoid any impending teasy remarks, but you suppose you were too slow for him because you already found yourself entrapped by a pair of strong arms.

"You're not going anywhere just yet," Nikolai murmurs, his breath warm against your ear as he pulls you closer. Yeah, you're not sure what demon possessed you for a second to make you believe he would let you get away from him so easily—you would end up like this either way, whether you stayed in the room or not. "What did you want to ask me, sweet dove?" he asks as his arms snake themselves under your arms and around your waist.

The closeness sends a shudder to channel through your entire body. "Nothing important anymore," you hum and close your eyes, secretly relishing in the contact.

He laughs and ruffles your hair before placing a kiss on the crown of your head. "Oh come on," he insists, fingers deftly moving some of your hair aside as if parting curtains to let in sunlight, keen to get a better look at your flustered face. "Tell me?"

With a hint of reluctance, your shy eyes open to finally meet his. "I finished the book I was reading.. you know, the one I told you about."

His eyes light up with an excitement that makes your heart flutter. "That means you have to tell me all about it now!" he pries eagerly, genuinely interested in hearing your opinion.

"I can't," you mumble, the words tinged with timidity.

His lips stick out into an exaggerated pout, feigning hurt, resembling a kicked puppy. "Why?" he asks with a dramatic flair.

You feel embarrassed to be in this position, your back flush against his chest as his arms squeeze your frame like you're his personal stuffed animal. He dips his head, leaning in to get closer to your face. "Too distracted?" he asks, his voice low and sultry, rich like velvet.

"Something like that," you admit, nodding shamefully while feeling the heat on your cheeks deepening as his lips graze over the shell of your ear. "Maybe a little."

"Look at me," he tells you, fingers grabbing hold of your chin gently to tilt your face upwards to make you look up at him. His voice is sweet but also firm, one full of power. "I want you to focus on me," he says, his eyes locking with yours. "I want to be the only thing on your mind right now."

His eyes are so intense and love-filled, making it nearly impossible to part gazes. Out of all things, this wasn't something that you ever expected from him when you two started dating, though you suppose you're not exactly sure what you ever expected.

However, there is one thing that you are sure of and expect nothing less of from him—him and his new ways that, without fail, always keep you on your toes.

"You don't have to be so shy," he giggles before spinning you around to face him this time, drawing you impossibly closer. All you experience is Nikolai—every sense overwhelmed and full of only him. He'd just hopped out of the shower, so his skin is still slightly damp, and the freshly applied lotion on his skin smells so good. A combination of the fragrance entwining with his natural scent fills your head with delightful dizziness, your cheeks warming up from both the contact and how you can feel the steady beat of his heart against your cheek.

Your eyes are fluttering shut again yet they aren't quite closed, lashes barely brushing the tops of your cheeks. As you inhale deeply, trying to steady yourself while reveling in this closeness, Nikolai chuckles softly as his arms wrap around you in a gentle embrace, practically smothering your face with his chest.

"You're allowed to look at me, you know," he whispers, his breath tickling your ear. "Look at me, touch me." He tenderly takes one of your hands in his, kissing your palm ever so softly before placing it on the upper portion of his chest, slowly moving it downwards, almost guiding you in a way where he wants to feel your touch, an invitation of sorts. "Do whatever you want to me."

The sheer vulnerability in his voice tugs at your heart, making you realize just how much he trusts you—a trust that deepens with every touch and melding of skins. It's overwhelming yet euphoric, the feeling of intimacy that grows and further solidifies your bond as you trace every inch of his body with your fingertips. His skin is incredibly soft as you run your fingers over his body, smoothness occasionally interrupted by the roughness of his scars that you'd only ever felt under the fabric of his clothing—but you adore all of him, even the rough parts. You run your knuckles along his sides, eliciting goosebumps to rise on his skin, warmth radiating from him to you like a gentle current.

His other hand travels from your waist to cradle your cheek, packed with all the care in the world that it almost makes your heart skip a steady beat. "Are you charmed by me yet?"

"You don't even have to try.." you huff out in embarrassment. A bead of water drips from his damp bangs onto your nose, causing a small shiver to course through you from the chill. "Aren't you cold?" you ask him, voice becoming whispery as you melt into his embrace.

His arms tighten around you, a small smile tugging on his lips at your question. "How can I be cold when you're right here?" he replies with nonchalance as if the answer couldn't be more obvious, using his thumb to wipe the water off your nose, replacing it with a gentle kiss to seal the moment altogether.

hihi thank u for reading. reblogs and comments are appreciated ♡

[snowball-doie]

✮⋆˙ 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟏 ˙⋆✮

| pairing: johnny x manager!oc

| warnings: 18+ MDNI.

| aurora's note: i want to preface this with the fact that this book's original form is written as an AU (semi original plot tbh) and has been adjusted for posting as an NCT fic, so not everythingggg is going to be perfectly NCT, and i do some timeline fuckery as well. but ya. keep in mind this is somewhat of an AU as you go into it <3

Truthfully, it was a spur of the moment decision which Aurora felt wouldn’t have anything come out of it. Her life was good, she had a solid job which she enjoyed, she had one or two close friends whom she enjoyed hanging out with after work or on the weekends, and she had ample opportunity to go back to the United States to visit her family whenever she wanted. But she was itching for something new. Maybe she had gotten too comfortable with the securities in her life. It felt like it was time for a challenge, and she longed to meet new people whom she felt completely drawn to rather than settling with. Yeah, it was shitty to think, but it was true. So Aurora took a silly, off the whim chance to apply to be the new manager for a K-Pop group in Seoul called NCT 127.

The group had been around for a long time, even before Aurora got her current job; So it came as a surprise when their long-time manager was fired following some very public scandals concerning his behavior and conduct with the boys. Of course she doubted her ability to actually replace him. Aurora knew her place well ever since moving abroad following college— Being a foreigner and a woman set her back in many opportunities which she craved. Applying was for shits and giggles… But the fact that she actually managed to get the job was what surprised Aurora the most. Her luck was probably far better because she knew English, Korean, and Japanese, which were all the three main languages of NCT. Whatever, a win was a win in her book.

On the day the email came in, Aurora was at work, finishing up a project so that she could send it for confirmation before posting on social media. When she saw the notification from the company that owned NCT, SM Entertainment, her jaw dropped. She wondered if they sent the email to the wrong person. But no. Her name was listed at the top in Korean and English, and there were details outlining how she was their ideal candidate for the position, so they were offering her a nice pay and a long lasting contract to secure the deal, if she wanted to accept.

Of course she accepted. She wasn’t fucking stupid.

So she quit her job, packed up her belongings, found a new place to live in Seoul, made all the other necessary arrangements, then said, “Fuck it,” and went. Beforehand, she was based in Japan and would fly to Korea every once in a while for work since she was mostly a freelancer that focused on esports and content creation for different J-Pop and K-Pop groups, but this was the first real opportunity she’d been given in Asia, so she knew that she would have to move indefinitely because it was obviously unrealistic to stay in Japan while working in Seoul.

Once she moved, she lived about ten minutes away from the SM building by subway. On her first day, Aurora was shocked when she exited the station and found that the office was right on top of it, like she only had to walk a few feet to the entrance and suddenly she was inside. At least she would never get lost.

When she entered the building, Aurora was immediately greeted by a woman who approached her with a smile and a security guard on her heels. She stuck out her hand for Aurora, then introduced herself as an executive at SM who would be showing Aurora around and getting her settled in on her first day. It was overwhelming from the get-go. Aurora was too shell shocked to say or do anything aside from following the woman, Seyeon, through security on the first floor, then up to the second floor where the front desk gave her an employee badge with her name and photo on it that would give her access to anywhere in the building, as well as a laptop with all the work information she would need. Once all of that was settled, a quick tour around the office went underway. Floor by floor, Aurora was told what each department did, who to contact in each department, how to reserve meeting rooms, and so on. Since Aurora was a manager, she would be handling a lot having to do with the boys’ schedules, so she was also shown the recording studios, the dance rooms, and also how to schedule those for the boys too.

“Speaking of the boys, they’re up on one of the top floors today— They’re rehearsing for a new comeback, according to their schedules left behind by their previous manager. You’ll find everything in the Google Calendars on your computer. If you want to see them, go ahead, I’ll have to leave you here so I can catch a meeting with our casting executives in Los Angeles before they have to go to sleep.” Seyeon checked her watch then smiled up at Aurora. “This is your office. Decorate it how you want, I know you Americans like to do that… Um… If you need anything, send me a message on Teams. Other than that, there’s a list of items you need to complete before the end of the day, and I’ll check in at the end of the week to see how you’re doing. Sound good?”

Aurora nodded and bowed. “Thank you.”

Seyeon smiled before stomping off in her high heels, her hips swaying with so much confidence and suave that Aurora immediately found herself aspiring to be like her one day. She had to work her ass of a fuck ton before then. No time like the present, she supposed.

So Aurora sat down at her desk in her office… Behind her were three windows that let in plenty of natural sunlight when the blinds weren’t pulled down, her desk was big enough to accommodate the monitor, keyboard, and mouse provided by the company and there was even a stand for Aurora’s own laptop to be plugged into the monitor as well. There was a chair across from her so that she could host people for meetings, but there was plenty of space on the far wall for a couch if she could ever afford one to decorate her office with. That would be comfier.

Aurora leaned down to turn on the PC that was under her desk. While it booted up, she leaned back and spun in her office chair to look out the windows. Up and down the street there were just skyscrapers filled with all different kinds of businesses, no one concerned with the entertainment company that lured over the rest of them— The only people who cared were the confused fangirls coming out of the subway station in search of the merchandise store the company ran nearby. From Aurora’s office, the people on the street looked like ants. She was so high up… And she had an entire office all to herself. What were the odds? Her computer turned on, so her attention turned around to it again, and the first thing she did was login to her new Google work account so that she could review the boys’ schedules on Google Calendars.

As expected, it was messy, but it was worse than she could have ever fucking imagined. Each of the boys had a separate calendar that was shared with their managers and assistants, and there was a shared calendar for NCT 127 events, so there was plenty of overlap and tons of conflicts which Aurora could already foresee giving her a fuck-ton of trouble. Shit. Those boys were so busy, how did they possibly manage it all?

When she checked Teams next, she found a to-do list already waiting for her in her inbox. Upon reviewing everything while writing notes down on paper so that she had it all set in stone in her mind, she realized that none of it was difficult, it was just scheduling and emailing which she had done at her last job plenty of times. The minimal workload for the day meant that Aurora expected to be out of the office before the end of the day, which she didn’t like too much, so she decided to take another moment to take in her surroundings since she could spare the time.

Her office was fairly basic. They had all the furniture set up  for her the way every other office was organized, but that was it— Not even a nice framed painting on the opposite wall or something. Aurora wondered about decorating. Seyeon said that she could indeed decorate if she wanted to because that was an American thing, and despite the back handed comment, Aurora wanted to spruce up her work space. She figured that she would try to keep it lowkey since she didn’t want to attract any unwanted attention by sticking out like a sore thumb more than she already did. Maybe a picture from home on her desk… and a picture from her favorite spot in Japan with her old friends? Yeah, that would be nice. She’d have to get some things printed and framed, but that wouldn’t be too difficult, she could have everything set up by the weekend.

When she finally felt settled at her desk with the workload she’d been given, Aurora checked the Google Calendar one more time to find that the boys were meant to be returning from their lunch break to continue practicing for their new comeback, like Seyeon said. So she gathered her courage then decided to make her way up. Putting her new employee badge to the test, she entered the elevator then scanned her badge before heading up to the practice floor the boys were on.

Unlike the floor where the offices were, the tenth floor was revealed to be nothing but a thin hallway stretching out from the elevator with doors on either side every few feet to indicate a new practice room’s entryway. The rooms were numbered with black plaques at eye level on the gray doors, below the plaques were screens that lit up if the rooms were in use or scheduled for an upcoming reservation to prevent people from hosting impromptu practices at the same time. Aurora found the second door on the left— Room number four— which also had a screen lit up with: NCT 127 CLOSED REHEARSAL written in English, surprisingly. “Closed rehearsal.” Well, she was their manager, wasn’t she? She was entitled to entering a closed rehearsal.

The elevator dinged, catching Aurora off guard before she could grab the door handle. And for whatever reason, perhaps out of embarrassment or even fear, Aurora stepped back from the door to glance at the elevator’s opening doors. A frog got caught in her throat the second she saw who it was stepping into the hallway with an iced Americano in his left hand, his phone in his right hand, Airpods in his ears, a gym bag slung across his torso which was only covered by a thin white tank top that was tucked into a pair of green sweatpants. When he saw that there was someone in his path, the man glanced up and took out his Airpods.

Of course Aurora immediately recognized who she was dealing with, but she didn’t make a big deal of it, all she said was, “Hello,” in Korean. Johnny smiled at her and said, “Hi,” in English before he opened the door for her. Though she was expecting something more polite than that, Aurora still didn’t say anything that would give either of them away before she entered the practice room with Johnny following behind her. The others were already inside and warming up in separate areas. Some had headphones in while they stretched after eating their lunches, others were huddled in groups to chat while they slowly began dancing in order to loosen up.

The choreographer was the first to spot Aurora standing in the doorway. He took a moment to silently figure out who she was before he whistled in the direction of Taeyong, the leader of NCT, to catch his attention in order to call for the rest of the group— Which he did. Taeyong took a look at Aurora, realized that she was the blonde foreigner they hadn’t been expecting, and within an instant he was up on his feet.

“Everyone, gather around.”

The seven other boys groaned and slowly began moving into formation. However, Taeyong was not impressed by their improper behavior in front of their new manager. He was frowning at them. Suddenly, he shouted at them to be more respectful, and the fear instigated by his tone kicked the boys into full gear. They ordered themselves in a line in front of her so that she could get a good look at each of them.

Aurora bowed deeply at the hip while politely greeting with, “Annyeonghaseyo.”

The boys, while still in a line in front of her, followed Taeyong's lead after he called out, “Hana, dul, set!” by replying to her with a salute and a bow, “Annyeongaseyo! To you, we are NCT 127!”

She smiled at them. No one said anything. Panic settled in her stomach. After glancing around, she realized that they were all waiting for her to say something to them.

She gulped. “I’m very excited to be working with you guys. I promise to do my best and not overwork you, to the best of my ability.” She giggled anxiously. “It may be very Western, but my office door will always be open for you, so if you ever need anything or wish to voice your concerns, I invite you to do so.” She nodded with an even brighter smile to indicate that she was done.

Jungwoo raised his hand.

“Ne?”

“Are you fluent in Korean?”

“Not yet.”

“English?” Mark asked.

She nodded. “It’s my native language.”

“Nihongo?” Yuta questioned.

“Hai.”

Within an instant, his face brightened ten times more from the dull, exhausted, bored look he’d been presenting previously. She smiled at him. Before joining SM, Aurora researched each of the members she would be working with, secretly putting together notes and files filled with everything that she would need to know about them before arriving— Not just to impress, but so that she could fit in easier and have them warm up to her faster. When she saw in Yuta's notes that he was from Japan and had struggled to learn Korean when he first moved to Seoul as a teenager, Aurora knew that speaking Japanese with him would help because it would win her kudo points with him that wouldn’t be transferable to any of the other members except Shotaro, but who knew when she would get around to meeting him, and if he’d be interested in hanging out with her when he was already trying to fit in on his own. Seeing Yuta react so visibly, though, was a relief. Aurora had faith that speaking Japanese with him would land well, but there was always that small bit of anxiety lingering in the back of her mind that maybe he would despise her for it… She didn’t know why she imagined it going that way, but… She was relieved that he was just as excited as she was.

“What’s your birth year?” Haechan asked.

“1996.”

That made her younger than Taeyong and Johnny, so they didn’t have to show her the same degree of respect that the others had to.

When it was clear there were no remaining questions, Taeyong stepped forward and told them that they needed to warm up while he brought them up individually to introduce themselves to Aurora. Immediately, they went to work. They huddled up in a corner to do stretches together, but Taeyong came towards Aurora with Haechan.

He bowed to Aurora while stating his name and that he was a vocalist and the maknae of 127.

“What’s your favorite food?”

He stared at her blankly. “I, uh… Kimchi jjigae.”

“Same. We should get some together sometime, my treat.”

He looked warily at Taeyong. It was obvious that he was used to droning the same work information time and again that he wasn’t prepared for Aurora to take an interest in him personally and wanting to invite him out.

“Ne,” he told her.

Taeyong smiled supportively before sending his maknae back to collect the third youngest, Jungwoo.

“Anyounghaseyo. I’m Jungwoo. I’m a vocalist. I do the fanservice and aegyo.”

“Do you… enjoy that?

He nodded enthusiastically.

“Do you write up some of your jokes when you’re bored?”

He looked like he had just been caught with his pants down around his ankles, that was how shy and red he got when he nodded vaguely. “Ne…”

“You should show me one of these days.”

Suddenly, he perked up again— Like a dog whose ears go tall and they start wagging their tail excitedly as they bark like he did when he said confidently, “Ne!”

“You like to dance, too, right?”

“Ne.”

“Show me today.”

And that set him off like a dog too, immediately jumping to go back to the choreographer so that he could push along the process of starting practice even while the rest of the boys still had to introduce themselves to her.

“This is our second youngest,” Taeyong explained in broken English, bringing another member over with him.

Honestly, if Aurora had to guess without any prior information, she would have taken one look at Mark and guessed that because of his height and baby face that he was the youngest and not Haechan. Despite his height and the assumption that he was young, Mark was by far one of the most impressive members of the entire group since he was also the leader of NCT Dream, so both he and Haechan had to juggle two sets of group schedules along with their own personal schedules, which Aurora imagined was a complete nightmare to do. Yet Mark didn’t seem fazed at all. He didn’t look any more tired than the other boys in the room, he looked ready for practice, eager to meet Aurora, and almost relieved that there was yet another English speaker with them.

“The Canadian,” Aurora said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

That threw him for a loop a little bit because Mark looked like he had anticipated Aurora speaking to him in their native language but she chose to stick with Korean. He went along with it, “Nice to meet you too.”

He then formally introduced himself with his long list of credentials that Aurora found to be so impressive before she even touched down in Seoul. He was the culprit for busiest Google Calendar which was sure to give Aurora a panic attack at some point later down the line— Which he himself knew and actually apologized for in their initial meeting, making Aurora laugh and reassure him that it would be alright.

“Is it okay if we talk in English sometimes?” he asked shyly. “It’s nice to give my brain a break once in a while— But we don’t have to—”

“I’m more than okay with that.”

He relaxed with relief washing over his body. “Thank you.”

“We’ll have to go over that schedule of yours soon so that we’re on the same page, we’ll talk in English then.”

He bowed at the hips slightly. “Thank you.” And then he looked at his leader, “Hyung…”

Taeyong nodded, approving Mark's request to return to practice. With one last quiet, “Thank you,” and another, “Nice to meet you,” Mark hurried off with a smile on his face, prompting the rest of the boys to give him a hard time. Aurora grinned. Their unconditional brotherly love for each other was entirely contagious to the point Aurora had to pry her gaze away so that she wouldn’t laugh anymore and appear unprofessional on her first day.

“Jae!” Taeyong called out.

A man wearing glasses and an oversized hoodie who was lounging on the couches heard his name being called out and moved. Well, he certainly made an impression on her by sneezing so loudly and suddenly when it was his turn to go meet her. One second he was pushing himself up to his feet while smiling welcomingly in her direction, the next he was apologizing and turning to the side to let out an earth shattering sneeze that took Aurora by surprise, but none of the others flinched a bit. Must’ve been a common occurrence for him.

“Mianhaeyo,” he apologized shyly, faltering a few steps closer towards her before holding his ground and bowing. “It’s nice to meet you, I’m Jaehyun. I’m a vocalist.”

“And a rapper.”

Jaehyun blushed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I wouldn’t say that…”

“I would. You do a good job, don’t doubt your talent, I have a pet peeve for that kind of thing.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” she then complimented him with a smile to boost his energy up a bit.

“Same here.”

Since they’d already bowed to each other plenty, Jaehyun reached out for a polite Korean-style handshake which shocked Aurora with how strong and sturdy he really was, like all those muscles of his weren’t actually just for show like some people thought.

“I’ll send over Doyoung,” Jaehyun said to both Aurora and Taeyong before he turned to grab another member’s attention.

Though he was loud with the members, the second Doyoung approached Aurora, he suddenly had nothing to say to her. It wasn’t out of disrespect or anything like that— He didn’t give that kind of vibe— Aurora guessed that he was shy around new people, and that maybe he wasn’t sure what to say to Aurora, so she decided to keep it brief in order to let him warm up to her over time.

Yuta and Aurora clicked almost immediately because she impressed him with her ability to speak to him fluently in Japanese— She was sure that it came as both a surprise and a relief, which was why he clung so quickly. However, things didn’t fall into place with anyone as easily… But that was okay! It was her job to be there, so she wasn’t meant to be besties with them, even though she had hoped in an ideal world that they would have been so that going to work wouldn’t be an awkward endeavor. She figured she’d stick to Yuta's side for a bit. With him, she could get comfortable around the boys who weren’t as easy to get along with, like Johnny.

Still wearing that thin white tank top and loose green sweatpants, he approached her casually and shook her hand like an American would, no bowing necessary, and in English, he introduced himself briefly, “Johnny Suh. Pleasure.”

“Nice to meet you,” she replied in Korean.

She didn’t wish to start off on the wrong foot, giving him any indication that it was okay to treat her differently than the other boys would. They were in Korea, she knew Korean, he was fluent, everyone else spoke in Korean. They would speak to each other in Korean. Though he was older, she had positional seniority over him, so he had to go with her flow.

Johnny smiled at her. “Welcome to our humble company.”

He was the jokester of the group, there was no doubt about it. If Aurora had to describe his humor, she would have referenced boomers who had an old wit about them and thought the smallest details were fun to point out, though they weren’t— And while it was endearing, Aurora didn’t quite understand it. Some of his jokes made her laugh, but most of them had her confused. She could have blamed it on translation errors if it weren’t for the fact that he was American, too, and many of his jokes had an English punchline in order to include Aurora as much as possible. She sighed a lot in response to his dad jokes. She could tell that he was trying to impress her, but her soul would die just a little bit here and there, which would only make the other boys laugh more in reaction. 

“What’s your position?” Aurora asked him.

“I don’t have one.”

“You don’t?”

“No, ma’am.”

Aurora looked at Taeyong who nodded as well, reaffirming Johnny's answer. Huh. Interesting. All the others had introduced themselves with a role within the group, but not Johnny.

“How come?”

“I joined 127 later than the others… All the others were taken… I’m the spare, I suppose.”

Aurora rolled her eyes again. How could he make fun of himself like that? She knew from her research that he had debuted later, despite his long run as a rookie at the company since he was a kid, so he earned his spot in the group more than anyone, if she had to argue on his behalf. Maybe it hurt less to make fun of himself. Maybe, like Jungwoo, Johnny hid behind his humor so that people wouldn’t pry or know that he was upset or uncomfortable.

“But you’re the oldest in NCT.”

“Ah, yes, the grandpa.”

“Well, if you had to pick a role, what would it be? Rapper?”

“Sure.”

“Dancer?”

“Why not?”

Aurora crossed her arms and squinted at him. “Token foreigner?”

“Fuck it.”

She rolled her eyes. “Alright, you win.” She sent him off just as quickly as he had approached her.

“Pleasure, like I said.” He lazily saluted to her with two fingers and a grin before walking off.

Taeyong was the last to introduce himself. Though he was the second oldest, he was the leader of NCT, so he waited patiently for his juniors to politely interact with Aurora before he finally had his chance. Aurora was surprised by how put together he seemed. There was no sneezing, no blushing or awkward bowing, and he didn’t give her any lip like his hyung. Taeyong was an incredibly well mannered man who bowed so deeply at the hip that anyone could have been tricked into thinking that Aurora was a far more important and respectable person than she actually was; and when he introduced himself, he chanted it like he was a squad leader in the military, listing off his name, his credentials, and how grateful he was for having a new manager. Most importantly, he hoped that they could be good friends.

Aurora understood that as leader, Taeyong was the mouthpiece for his members. If there were anything they felt they couldn’t say directly to her, then it would come from Taeyong. That meant that they needed to work together well. It wouldn’t be efficient if they didn’t have an open line of communication and were on bad terms. Both of them knew that. So though their introductions felt kind of forced because of that, Aurora recognized that from what she knew about Taeyong through her research that they would get along just fine because of their dedicated work ethics and love for the industry.

“Do you mind if I watch some of your practice today?” she finally asked him with a hopeful smile.

Taeyong stopped breathing for a moment. “You want to… watch? Why?”

“I’d like to see how you guys interact with each other and perform when there are no cameras so that I can get to know you better before we really get to work. I promise I’ll be quiet, you won’t even know I’m here.”

He checked with the head choreographer who was eavesdropping because he was impatiently waiting to begin his practice. Once Taeyong received a confident nod, he looked back at Aurora. “You might get bored, but we don’t mind.”

She chuckled. “Thank you.”

Finally, the choreographer got to call for the boys’ attention so that they filed into a huddle around him in order to look at the iPad he was holding to review their formation for the next part of the choreography. Aurora took a seat on the couch that was now abandoned since the boys were getting to work. She tried to make herself small by crossing her legs and keeping her hands on her lap, and she tried not to be a disturbance at all so she stayed completely silent— Not even a cough or a hiccup.

The boys fanned out to get in position, then they followed the choreographer’s lead as he showed them the second chorus of the song in one go before turning to them and starting the music over for them to give it a shot. Aurora was shocked by how quickly they picked it up. They moved lazily, but the idea of the choreography was there, and they all practiced in their own ways to make sure that they got the timing right before they perfected the technique the next time the music started over. She knew that she wouldn’t have been able to pick up an entire chorus worth of dancing in just one go, but that was why they were the professionals and she was just there to gawk at them in wonder.

Some were better than others. Johnny was one of the best, even though he was always put in the back because of his height and lack of lines in the song. Taeyong was very specific about everyone else. If he noticed that they were out of sync or their technique wasn’t perfect, he sniped it every time and called it out to make sure they made the proper adjustments until he was content and they could move on. Mark was still as impressive as Aurora assumed he would be— He was positioned all over the place, he had a long segment of bars so he was stationed at the front of the formation for a fair bit of the choreography, and he was absolutely perfect from the get-go.

For about an hour, the boys worked on just the one chorus while Aurora watched. Even though there were still a few more hours left of rehearsals for the boys, Aurora realized that she needed to get back to her work so that it didn’t look like she wasn’t doing anything. Quietly, she decided to make her leave. She collected her things, pushed herself to her feet, then began walking towards the exit. However, just as she was about to leave, she was stopped by a tall figure running over to her and standing between her and the door, his hand on the door handle like he was going to open it for her.

“Hey, so if you ever need any help with translations or something, I’m pretty good at that stuff.”

Aurora stared up at Johnny, expressionless.

“Since you’re still learning Korean and all…”

Still, she wasn’t fazed.

“Just, uh, let me know if there’s anything you don’t understand from these idiots and I’ll translate for you.” He chuckled nervously.

“I can handle it. But thanks, all-rounder.”

Johnny grinned like he was imagining fighting back against her snarkiness that was brought on by his unwillingness to supply her with an actual group position due to feeling inferior to his colleagues. Instead, Johnny just nodded respectfully instead of fully bowing. Aurora took that as a sufficient reply, then left.

Immediately after practice, Aurora got to work. She didn’t believe in delaying her list of to-dos any longer than necessary, so in the days following meeting the 127 boys, she was holed up in her office, trying to learn the ways of working at SM while trying her best to blend in. Obviously she stood out amongst the others. It was hard not to notice the new employee in the first place, but the fact that she was a pale, blonde, plus size foreigner made it impossible for her to try to be like everyone else. She had to accept that she was different and that it was okay to not immediately click with her coworkers. However, her hard work seemed to pay off because everyone in the cafeteria only complimented her work ethic instead of judging her in Korean— Which benefited the other staff members, too, because they slowly learned that Aurora knew Korean and suddenly any and all gossip about her halted in the hallways, cafeteria, and meeting rooms whenever she was around.

After about a week, when things became normal, Aurora attended every single one of the NCT 127 dance practices, despite her own work she had or should have been doing at her desk— Which she figured most of the boys didn’t understand at first since every other manager at all other companies didn’t operate the way she did. None of them cared about boring dance practices. They didn’t care about the repetitive process of recording the music. Managers cared about focusing specifically on the scheduling and wrangling of their members, which Aurora understood, but it was important to her to be as involved as possible because of how fascinating it was, but also because as they warmed up to her, they allowed her to have a say in some of their practices. Taeyong liked that. Aurora was the only one who was as strict as he was, yet she still respected the choreographers themselves, so she obviously never interfered whenever they were teaching or when the choreographers were there to oversee. On the days she was allowed to speak, however, she would sit on the floor, playing the music for them, pausing it when there was a note when she or Taeyong wanted to give, and she called for water and rest breaks.

Whenever Aurora had meetings, Taeyong would come along with her, even though he technically wasn’t supposed to. At some point it became common at the company that he and Aurora were breaking the norm for what was expected of them. The execs stopped questioning it, the choreographers welcomed Aurora into every practice, Taeyong was given the chance to speak on behalf of the NCT members in meetings, and so on. They were like the mom and dad of the group. They kept everything oiled and running. Because of that, the two of them were attached at the hip most of the time, so he and Yuta were the only ones Aurora felt she could go to about everything— To the extent that Taeyong eventually started calling her “noona” out of habit even though he didn’t have to, or really shouldn’t have because of their ages.

It was because of Taeyong and Yuta that the others felt comfortable enough to cling to Aurora as quickly as they did. She noticed that it happened in a very specific order— One which told her everything she needed to know about each of their personalities. First it was Doyoung, someone who appreciated Taeyong's advice and input, so once he knew that Taeyong trusted Aurora wholeheartedly, Doyoung also began going to Aurora for help. She was a good ear to him. If he was ever frustrated, or overwhelmed with a million swirling thoughts in his head, then Aurora would hear him out and find the right thing to say in return.

Haechan was after Doyoung. She chalked it up to the fact that they went out to dinner together semi-frequently, specifically out to get kimchi jjigae, as promised. Haechan knew a good spot where he enjoyed getting stew, so Aurora followed him there while making it very clear that as his superior she would be paying the bill in order to treat him, so he didn’t have to be the gentleman and try to steal the bill away. Haechan, the little gremlin he was, accepted with a gleeful smile and a pep in his step. Outside of that, however, Aurora could tell that Haechan was a bit nervous to be out and about with her— Which she could understand because he was an idol and she was a woman, so there would always be people out there who could get the wrong idea and spin terrible lies until they would take on a life of their own and start negatively impacting both Aurora and Haechan. She tried to not think about it. She kept her distance from him, she tried not to look at him too long or smile too much, and she definitely didn’t do anything flirty.

“Don’t worry,” she told him as they sat down at a table in the restaurant and she caught him nervously looking left and right, “I’ve got this down to a science.”

He smiled gently at that.

Aurora looked around to see if there would be any problems. Standing at the register in the back corner was an old man whose hair was nearly gone, his wrinkles had taken over his face, and his back was perpetually hunched forward to show that he had spent his life behind that very same register. Behind him, sitting down in a chair, scrolling through her phone by looking at the screen under her glasses and down the bridge of her nose with her mouth stretched open in concentration, was likely the ahjussi’s wife— Aurora only assumed because of their matching wedding rings and the fact that the ajumma was wearing an apron. As for patrons, there weren’t any concerns. Sitting in the back corner opposite the register was an old couple who weren’t saying a word as they slurped down their kimchi jjigae.

“Jogiyo!” Haechan shouted, still in an indoor voice, waving his hand around for the waiter’s attention.

The old man looked up from the register while grabbing his order pad before noticing that it was Haechan who called out for him, and when his eyes settled on Aurora again, he beckoned his wife over alongside him. Aurora watched from the sidelines as Haechan welcomes them like old friends. It was clear from the get-go that they knew each other well because of how comfortably they were talking about everything except what the order. Eventually, their attention diverted to Aurora. With big smiles, they inspected her from head to toe, trying to figure out if she knew Korean or if they wanted to stretch out their English skills by using her as a guinea pig.

“Is this your girlfriend?” They both asked, looking at Aurora.

Haechan chuckled. “Aniyo—”

Aurora politely introduced herself in Korean to them, bowing her head, telling them her name, and explaining that she was his new boss and as such was treating him to dinner.

Their smiles widened. “Ah, well…” They seemed genuinely surprised by Aurora’s Korean skills. “We hope you enjoy our food. And hopefully Haechan-ah doesn’t give you too much trouble at work.”

Haechan blushed.

The wife took that as her cue to scurry to the kitchen behind a cloth “doorway” while the husband continued to chat with Haechan for another minute or so before he went to ring in their order officially on their thirty year old manual cash register.

“They were the first non-celebrities I met who treated me like a normal person after I debuted. For about two years, they had no clue who I was, so they would always ask about school, girls, my family…” Haechan chuckled before bringing his water glass up to his lips. “Now that they know, they still pester me about all of that and work. They think that I should have a girlfriend regardless of being an idol.”

Aurora poured some water for herself. “And what is school, girls, and family life like for you?”

“Non-existent.”

“I find that hard to believe.”

“Well, I moved away from home before I could finish school properly, so even though I graduated high school, I’ve never really considered a higher education than that because I’m so busy with work. Girls…” He shrugged and moved on, “I don’t get to see my family often… because of work… I haven’t been home in years, they usually come to me. My sister works hard but says she’s going to quit in order to take care of her son soon because he’s a handful. One of my brothers makes close to what I make, financially speaking, so he wants practically nothing to do with me, while the other one makes next to nothing so he leeches off of me.” He sarcastically grinned and let out an exacerbated laugh. “Life of an idol.”

“Sounds like you’ve been over it for a while.”

“Work? No—”

“No, I mean the side effects of work.”

“Oh, that? Yeah… Not much I can do about it, though.”

“That’s what I’m here for.”

Haechan smiled at her gratefully.

When the food arrived, the ahjussi placed Aurora’s bowl in front of her first out of respect, then handed Haechan his more casually. Aurora thanked him with a bright smile. He seemed charmed by her, for being a foreigner who seemed to understand the culture and fit in so well. He looked endeared.

After Haechan said a quiet prayer, the two of them dug into their meals. All it took was one bite to make Aurora melt into her seat. She swallowed and immediately sat up, spinning around to look at the ahjussi and the ajumma who were huddling around the cash register to spy on Aurora, eagerly awaiting her reaction. They were definitely entertained when she called out to them, “This is the best kimchi jjigae I’ve ever had. It’s delicious, thank you!” before digging in for more. Haechan laughed out of embarrassment. Americans could be loud, Aurora was no stranger to that, but she had to show her appreciation for her new favorite restaurant in town, all thanks to the youngest member sitting across from her.

The meal helped to break down Haechan's personal defenses that protected his life and deep thoughts. Having a delicious, warm, spicy kimchi jjigae on a hot day was all he needed to finally start spilling all of his thoughts and feelings to her without any worries about saying too much or being too personal with his boss. And Aurora didn’t dare to slow him down. The thing she was most desperate for at her new job was trust amongst each other, and if Haechan could truly trust her with all of his struggles and achievements, then she was making the progress she was actively striving for; and who was she to tell him to shut up, anyhow? Of course she would never pry— That would be an incredible invasion of his privacy. But in return for his honesty, Aurora opened up about her life too, telling him everything about herself that she had already told Yuta and Taeyong when they were going out for dinners as well.

“Do you see yourself working here forever?” he finally asked her after his last bite.

Aurora shrugged. “I go where the wind takes me… Right now, I don’t see myself going anywhere else.”

Haechan smiled happily before pulling out his wallet to go pay at the register where the ahjussi and ajumma were still eavesdropping, though they were playing naive when they were caught.

Soon after Haechan and Aurora’s dinner dates, the rest of the pieces fell into place. Jungwoo, Johnny, Mark, and Jaehyun all took to her— In that order— each of them having their own unique way to connect with her over time. It was a relief. She’d tried so hard to get on their good side, and it was finally paying off.

The first concert of the season approached faster than Aurora expected. One second she was still getting adjusted to working at SM, the next she was being thrown to the wolves by having to manage an entire boy group’s concert on her own. Well, not on her own. Of course she had Yuta and Taeyong by her side, and there were a million assistants and department heads who were there to help, but Aurora still felt alone in the endeavor since it was her first concert with them. It was her first test too. Not only were the execs keeping a close eye on her during her “transition period,” but the boys were also watching to see how she would do. Would she prepare well, perform well under pressure, adjust accordingly when things would inevitably go awry and she would have to problem solve on the spot? Aurora trusted herself to do all of that but she was a stranger to them, they weren’t sure how much they could trust. She knew that she couldn’t fumble. She couldn’t have a single hiccup. Because if she fucked up one thing, then all of the effort she had put into earning everyone’s trust and respect would crumble to pieces within a blink of an eye after trying for so long to build it up from the ground.

All of the pressure on her shoulders seemed overwhelming the morning of the concert. Before then, Aurora had maintained her cool— Never wavering in the face of difficulties. But that morning sucked. She woke up in a bad mood, nothing seemed to be going her way, and she worried that all of that bad luck was going to carry over into the concert which was a terrifying thought. So she did the first thing she thought of as a solution. She called Taeyong. For the first ten minutes of the call, Taeyong let her just rant into his ear without a single bit of input from him, and it felt relieving to get everything off her chest; but even better than that was the feeling of hearing him reassure her that it would be okay. She was going to be okay. Everything was going to turn out alright. He was right, of course. Obviously he was right. Aurora knew it even before she dialed his number, but hearing it from him, someone who had just as much of a right to not trust her and instead judge her, made all the difference in the world. He lit the fire under her ass that she needed to immediately get to work.

Aurora was at the concert venu first thing in the morning to oversee things as they were being set up. Honestly speaking, however, she was there before most people were… There wasn’t much to “oversee” until crew members showed up to start building the stage, setting up the floor chairs, working on the lights, stuff like that. So Aurora spent her time greeting people as they trickled in slowly while she multitasked setting up the boys’ green room to be perfect for them and all of the staff members whenever they would arrive. The stylists needed their own space in one corner to get the boys dressed, the makeup and hair teams needed the entire wall lined with mirrors and make up tables to pretty the boys up, and the boys needed chairs to lounge in while they would wait for call time.

The boys weren’t scheduled until later in the morning to early afternoon, so it was mainly just Aurora keeping herself busy with tasks that came up randomly while dealing with the shocked looks of staff members who didn’t expect to see her there so early. But the looks on the boys’ faces when they did start to appear was priceless. Mark and Jungwoo arrived together, and they nearly fell over when they saw Aurora rushing around the halls of the stadium with a stylist in search of a necklace that fell somewhere between the car that brought the outfits and accessories and the green room where they were setting up. Johnny came on his own, and when he saw Aurora helping the stylists organize the wardrobes, he raised a brow at her and made a sly comment about how she didn’t need to do that since it wasn’t her job.

“I’d rather help than sit around and do nothing,” she replied.

Johnny glanced around the greenroom to note that she was judging some of the stylists and staff members who weren’t lifting a finger, and the boys who were just sitting and talking. Johnny smiled before also going to take his seat between Doyoung and Jaehyun who arrived moments earlier.

Like the perfect friend he was, Yuta showed up with an extra coffee with Aurora’s name on it— Figuratively, not literally. She sighed and pouted with relief as he passed her the cup with a laugh.

“You’re the best,” she told him.

“I know.”

They sipped out of their straws simultaneously, then Aurora scurried off to do some more work that came to mind. She forgot to thank him. She only realized it when she was too far to turn back, so she made a mental note in the long list of to-dos for the day to thank him properly later and hope that he didn’t think she was a complete asshole in the meantime.

“Noona, I brought something for you,” Haechan announced after finally tracking her down.

Aurora looked up to find him carrying an extra coffee for her. When he saw that she was already matching cups with Yuta, he slumped with defeat, not knowing what to do with the coffee he was so proud of himself for bringing in the hopes of being her savior.

She laughed. “Put it in the fridge in the green room with my name on it. I’ll have it later. Thank you, Haechan.”

Another ten minutes later, Aurora was being disrupted again by someone else trying to get her attention while she was in the middle of talking to Mark's assistant about his schedule the following day and how they would be able to get him home early so that he could rest before having to wake up early the following day. She tried to keep talking through whoever was interrupting, but they kept trying to get her attention until she finally snapped.

“Yes?”

Taeyong stared at her, shocked.

“Sorry,” she apologized quietly, brushing her hair behind her ears and taking a deep breath. “What’s up?”

He held up a cup of iced Americano for her, but he didn’t hand it over since she was already holding one and he looked concerned for her. She was about to tell him to label it and put it in the fridge like Haechan had, but Taeyong beat her to it with a sincere topic change. “Noona, how long have you been here?” he asked her worriedly.

She didn’t stop moving when she replied, “Don’t know. What time is it?”

“It’s only eleven.”

Aurora shrugged; That wasn’t as late as she thought it was, there was still plenty of time to get everything done. “Uh, I got here around five, so… Six hours?”

“Why?”

“Someone has to make sure everything’s ready to go for you boys.”

“That’s why concert directors exist.”

“I got here two hours before she did, so, I’ve just been keeping myself busy, is that a crime, or—”

Taeyong reached for the coffee in her hand and stole it from her. They stared at each other. He just took her lifeline. What the fuck was he thinking?! She needed that to survive the rest of the day!

“Noona.” He held the cup out of reach when she lunged for it. “You need to sleep.”

“After the show.”

When she lunged for it again, Taeyong rolled his eyes. “We won’t get out of here until midnight, if we’re lucky. Please sleep before you pass out in front of everyone.”

“I won’t pass out, Tae.” She finally got a hand on the cup so they began playing tug-of-war with it. “That’s why I have the coffee, to keep me upright.” She won. Her victory lap consisted of taking big gulps of the coffee to finish it before he could steal it again. “See?”

Taeyong sighed to himself, “Americans.”

As he started walking off to find the boys, Aurora called out to him, “I’m telling Johnny you said that!” But Taeyong didn’t seem bothered, so Aurora huffed and took a moment to silently inspect her surroundings. What had she been doing before she was interrupted? What was next on her list? “Shit.”

Stage check began around noon, which meant Aurora had to drop everything else she was doing so that she could corral the boys out of their comfortable green room where they were all spread out on the couches doing various things like napping or playing games on their phones, and she had to guide them up to the stage where the choreographer and concert director were already quietly meeting to review some last minute details.

“Look who showed up,” the choreographer teased.

The boys laughed lightheartedly. In a team effort, the choreographer and the concert director began moving the boys around to show them their stage marks for the first few minutes of the show, meanwhile Aurora dragged Haechan who was a straggler in the back up to his assigned spot as well. Once she was sure that they were all there and ready to work— Though they were lazily standing there in what was basically pajamas— she knew that she was done.

Aurora finally took a brief moment to breathe while the boys were on stage and she sat in one of the front row chairs in the audience seats to watch them. Before she even realized that her first coffee was done, an assistant approached her with the coffee Haechan left for her in the fridge. Unprompted. Aurora looked up at her, confused, but the assistant was smiling and insisted that Aurora take the cup by silently switching them. The assistant wasn’t hers, so why did she go out of her way to get Aurora some more coffee?

“Fighting!” she whispered to Aurora with her fists lifted at eye level to show her encouragement.

Still a bit confused, Aurora mimicked her for an awkward moment before settling. “What’s your name?”

“Hayoon.”

“Thank you, Hayoon.”

“It’s no problem,” she reassured Aurora. “Let me know if you need anything else.”

During the entirety of stage check, Aurora and Hayoon sat together, exchanging socials, talking about the boys— Since Hayoon worked with them far longer, she had all of the gossip and the inside scoops to help Aurora out. At one point, when Aurora finished her second cup of coffee, Hayoon said that she would recycle the cup for Aurora, and when she returned to their seats in the front row, Hayoon brought the coffee gifted by Taeyong. Aurora chugged that. Her heart and mind were racing, her stomach felt like it was about to crawl out of her body like she was in Alien or something, and her whole body was shivering with the jitters of caffeine. She was wired.

By the time the boys were finally done with rehearsal, Aurora was ready to run a marathon with the amount of pent up energy she had. Yuta took notice first while they walked together back to the green room.

“Have you eaten anything today?” he asked, side eyeing her.

“No, why?”

“Have you had anything to drink except for coffee?”

“No.”

Yuta sighed, disappointed. When they entered the green room to start getting ready for the concert, Yuta walked to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of water and a small box of grapes that the boys requested to snack on in order to keep up their energy throughout the four hour long show.

“Sit,” he told her.

“I don’t have time—”

“Yes, you do, sit.” Yuta pushed on her shoulders to plop her down on one of the couches before handing her the water and grapes. “A five minute break won’t kill you, but all that caffeine might.”

“Aren’t you guys to blame since you brought all the coffee in the first place?”

“And whose decision was it to chug all three cups?”

“Touché.”

Aurora sat and ate the grapes while Yuta watched her closely to babysit her, despite the fact that the designers were trying to encourage him to put on the first outfit of the night, and the makeup artists were telling him that they needed to start his makeup soon or they would fall behind schedule. It was only after Aurora gave him a stern look and threatened to stop snacking that Yuta gave in. Everyone else was already getting ready, so she didn’t have to do much aside from wait for something to happen so that she could “manage” or “assist.”

Since they were dressed and pretty much ready to go, Mark pulled Haechan and Doyoung to the side where they huddled up tightly and bowed their heads before quietly praying. Aurora tried not to stare in order to give them some privacy. Instead, she attempted to keep herself busy by moving all of the boys’ phones and personal belongings off of the makeup desks and into each of their personal bags so that nothing would get lost or stolen, but also because she wanted everything to be neat.

“Is she ever going to rest?” Jungwoo whispered to Johnny.

Aurora glanced in the mirror of the makeup desk she was standing at to watch for Johnny's reaction, but all he did was shrug before looking over at her, the two of them making eye contact through the mirror. Panicked, Aurora realized she should have looked away, but instead she froze and continued to look at him the same way he continued to look at her, even while he told Jungwoo, “I’m not sure she needs it… Not yet, at least.” That was when Aurora finally looked back down.

“Alright, let’s move!” the stage manager called out.

The boys quickly finished adjusting their microphone packs on their pants before filing out of the room to follow Aurora and the stage manager through the halls and to backstage where they silently got into position. Aurora watched from the side as they all pushed their in-ear monitors to settle comfortably right as the lights in the venue went dark, prompting the audience to cheer loudly with anticipation of seeing the boys come out briefly. With one last deep breath, Aurora calmed herself down. They did good. Taeyong looked over in her direction with a smile and a thumbs up just before the stage doors opened and the boys stepped forward into the spotlights.

[loving-family-poll]

Highly recommend botting. Everyone cheering for me in the tags was highly invigorating. I ran my script 1-5 times concurrently throughout most of the day. Every half hour or so (~7 minutes with 5 threads) I used a VPN to switch my IP address when Tumblr got mad at me. I became quite attached to my bots in the process! At one point I caught myself thinking, "why can't you be more like your sister" at my slowest daughter who was throwing up errors like her life depended on it and then I felt kind of bad because that's?? Also my daughter? And she deserves better. But yeah I was watching the numbers go up on my dual monitors like a real hacker with no company aside from my command line. I am very much an amateur and would recommend my script to absolutely no one because it is a beast and it sucks, but it got the job done (so far, at least)! My fastest voting speed was ~15 votes per minute across 5 bots (3 votes/bot/minute). Pretty sweet! High maintenance though, and it gave my laptop quite a workout. I'd have one bot working perfectly, three working pretty well but throwing up errors consistently, and one really struggling...

It started to feel like factory sim after a while. Or a family. I daydreamed a lot while I worked to the point where I felt guilty shutting down my girls for the day. I'm so proud of them. My five beautiful daughters who I gave birth to in VScode 🥹

Lovely poll, thanks for pushing me to code a bot for the first time, it was a lot of fun! Gcest is life and I listened to "Guess God Thinks I'm Abel" 112 times while I worked. I've tried Selenium before, but I had given up in the past, so I really appreciate the chance to learn a new skill. Biblical! I hope I can inspire others to commit fraud while I'm at it ✌️

Love,

- Botting for Gcest

UR THE #1 FRAUDSTER HERO!!!!!!! MWAH MWAH ILY!!!!!!!

[geekgirles]

In Defence of Beauty Marked

I've been giving it some thought, and I feel that nowadays we judge Beauty Marked too harshly instead of acknowledging it had flaws and virtues. Maybe we even focus on the wrong flaws.

From what I've seen, the episode's main criticism seems to be its heavy-handed message on feminism, especially how the writers use Sam to deliver it. To be precise, people dislike that Sam signed herself up for a contest she had no interest in just to make a point, which I've often seen was perceived as an example of her "not being like other girls" and looking down on more traditionally feminine things like beauty pageants.

While I admit this issue could have been solved by simply making the pageant mandatory and Sam rebelling against something that was imposed against her will, the truth is, Sam's as much of a proactive character as a reactive one, so it makes sense for her to go out of her way to make a point. So the fact that it was a voluntary event really worked against Sam's point in the first place.

I also have the feeling the Phandom's less forgiving reaction towards this episode might be a result of how, in recent years, more and more people have begun to denounce how femininity is often vilified in media. A campaign that I 100% support!

After all, beauty pageants are vilified for the wrong reasons, more so in the 2000s, where most shows featuring them either played it straight (Jake Long, Pucca, The Fairy Odd Parents), or had one of the characters denounce it as sexist (aside from Danny Phantom, Shake It Up also comes to mind). Now, I must admit I'm not their biggest fan either, but at least I understand beauty queens aren't inherently vapid idiots (for all I know, they can be wonderful people and have a degree in astrophysics), and focus my vitriol towards all the abuse happening backstage (pageant parents are a special kind of evil). However, in itself, beauty pageants aren't necessarily a bad thing, just a different kind of competition.

Just like there's nothing wrong with having more tomboyish interests, characters (and real-life people) who care about "girly" hobbies still have a right to exist outside of being the butt of some joke or the writers' punching bag. After all, we're people. We have layers and contradictions and that's beautiful.

I, myself, happen to be a hopeless romantic who loves dresses and skirts, and shopping for bargains, and cute and adorable things. But at the same time, I can be pretty foul-mouthed, I love myself some badass and even gory action scenes, I love weird animals as much as "cute" ones, and I prefer sneakers over heels any day of the week.

However, I feel people tend to misplace this sentiment onto Sam, seeing her as a proponent on "classical" femininity being bad. And they seem to treat this episode as proof, even though that's not what's going on at all.

Without going on too much of a tangent, the thing about Sam is that she's actually quite feminine herself. It's just that the Angry Goth Aesthetic and her design sometimes eclipse that. Ironically, her design also highlights that feminity.

Out of the major teenage girls in the show, the only ones wearing a skirt are both Sam and Valerie, just like they're also the most accesorised ones—with Sam wearing a choker and a bracelet on each wrist, and Valerie wearing her headband, necklace, earrings, and bracelets. And would you look at that! The girls whose designs include some of the most feminine elements also happen to be the ones spending their free time kicking ghost butt!

Layers, people!

Even outside from that, Sam's also been shown to have other girly traits or interests: even if she was embarrassed to admit it (which is normal for 14-year-olds), she was looking forward to the homecoming dance; she has great sympathy for living creatures (mostly plants and animals), and AGIT went as far as to confirm she's a horse girl; she's usually seen with an adorable plushie spider backpack and bat slippers; she has great maternal instincts and the potential to be a very doting and loving mum...

Her problem with the pageant wasn't that it was feminine. In fact, at no point does she look down on the other girls for wanting to participate in it (she only got mad at Paulina for giving her a make-over that wasn't her style, and the feeling was very much mutual). Deep down, moments of hypocrisy aside, Sam understands that every girl has her way of being herself, which is something Dora openly mocked her for.

Sam was against the pageant not because she doesn't like girly things, but because Dora had quite openly stated how she intended to strip the girls of their agency in order to mould them into perfect little princesses—which we later learned actually meant turning them into submissive, mindless drones for her brother to marry.

Dora: Well, here's a statement. (holds a hand out towards Sam, standing beside her.) It says I'll never win in this outfit." Sam glares at Dora and puts her hands on her hips. Dora: Still, Ms. Manson has a point. (She walks towards the girls, now all standing in a row.) You girls are unique individuals with strong opinions and independent minds. Sam: You're darn right we are. Dora: It's my job to make you forget that and mold you into happy little princesses. (She smiles with her hands clasped together)

The point of the episode wasn't "femininity is bad", rather "objectifying women is bad".

A message which was exemplified all throughout the episode through the boys' actions, something that actually annoyed all girls, not just Sam, right off the bat, as soon as Dora announced she'd be appointing one of them as a judge.

To be completely honest, something I haven't really seen many people talk about is the absolutely horrendous attitude Tucker and Danny adopted during this episode. I hate to say this, because I love them both dearly, but they were such pigs! Literally the only one who acted as less of a feminist than these two this episode was Aragon, and that's because being a misogynist is his whole shtick.

While it's framed as they getting carried away because they're finally popular with the girls, it still doesn't change the fact that Danny and Tucker spent almost the entire episode (or the entirety of it, in the latter's case) reaping the benefits their new position as pageant judge (and his best friend) to get special treatment and dates out of the contestants.

Doesn't that sound eerily familiar?

A judge (and his best friend) abusing his position to get favours and dates with beautiful girls, who in turn only accept because they hope in doing so they'll get first place.

With the rise of the #MeToo movement, that can get uncomfortable to watch. I mean, even if it was clearly meant to be a humourous moment, Danny literally snapped his fingers to get the girls to act as his bodyguards and to sic them on Dash.

It really says something when the most chivalrous guy this episode was Dash. No, seriously. Even if he clearly wanted payback from Danny hogging all the girls all week, he at least came to their defence when Danny seemingly chose Sam as the winner the first time. An action which, even though we as the audience know isn't what happened, can easily be interpreted as Danny playing favourites with his best friend, yet still be shameless enough to extort dates and favours from the rest of the contestants.

That is definitely not a good look.

I guess what I mean to say with all this is that, while Beauty Marked is far from flawless and didn't exactly pass the test of time, its message and Sam's involvement in it is actually one of the few things that aren't all that bad.

[thedevilsoftruth]

♡•-Promise-•♡

Kyojuro Rengoku x f! Reader

Kyojuro knows how late it is and knows how risky it is with having a hashira meeting in the morning, but he just can't stop himself from fucking you into the dawn sunlight.

Warning: smut! Porn without plot. Piv sex, cowgirl with Kyojuro in control, mentions of multiple orgasms, unprotected sex, not beta read, pretty short drabble.

Actually wrote this short fic at 4am last night when I couldn't sleep and had places to be in the morning so it's not my best fic and I wrote it under like. Thirty minutes.

Minors dni!! I am not responsible for what you find on the internet.

Late night sex was always the best. Sex that was so good and lasted until the night sky transitioned into the soft golden rays of dawn was your personal favorite kind of sex.

And you were a damn gosh darn fool that night. It was four, almost five in the morning. The sun was getting close to rising but the sitting room in the mansion was being lit by one singular candle placed in the corner of the room. And Kyojuro had places to be In the morning. Places as important as a hashira meeting which he prioritized almost equivalently to a mission. Normally, he's set aside good sleep so he could bathe and be prepared in the morning, but not this time, oh no.

Instead, he had you, his precious wife, straddled on top of his thick lap as he fucked you leisurely as if he didn't have business In the morning. In fact, he was taking all the time in the world like he was just told he was going on vacation. And god damn, you'd be lying if you said you were sorry.

You just couldn't help it. Not when it felt as good as it did. Not when the perfect, soft, thick head of his cock kissed every perfect, soft part of your pussy. The both of you were bathed in absolute glory. You had your hands grabbing the maple tabletop of the kotatsu table behind your husbands back as he rolled his hips against yours at an angle that sent his cock deep and slow within you.

And what made Kyojuro feel prideful instead of guilty about the situation was the expression on your face as he made love to you like it was the longest day on earth. The feeling of his warm cock sliding in and out of you made your pretty breath hitch every single time he did so. The way your pussy was so puffy and wet from your previous orgasms and took his entire length to the way your tits bounced as he slowly fucked you on top of him is what made the sin worth it in the end.

He was slowing down, and you were certain the both of you were done for the night. You peppered kisses up his chest and neck, inciting soft groans from him until you stopped at the lobe of his ear.

" We really should lay-- "

Before you could finish your sentence, strong arms pushed you down fully onto your husband's thick cock until he was balls deep inside you and silenced you quickly by setting a faster pace within you. Shaky words of protest were almost, within the blink of an eye, turned into loud and rather needy moans.

" I don't think so. " Uttered Kyojuro through concentrated breath as he rutted into you. Not only were your moans sensationally loud, but so was the lewd squelching sounds your pretty pussy made as his cock rammed in and out of you. It was then and there where you learned not to deny him.

Your thighs were shaking around him, your nails scratching the surface of you kotatsu table and your toes curling in the air as your husband continued to surprise you even this far Into your sex session.

" What have I kept telling you over and over tonight, hmm? " He inquired devilishly in your ear, his voice deep and threatening, a time that you rarely heard him use. A large, strong hand came in contact with your ass in a harsh smack that resulted in a yelp from your lips. He was almost waiting for your words but not quite so because he knew they couldn't come out. And they didn't.

" I'm not done with you until sunrise, sunflower. " He repeated the same exact thing he kept saying to go that night, word for word into your ear but punctuating it with deep, hard thrusts inside you so he could really drill it into your brain. Soft tears ran down your flushed and warm cheeks and onto the red, silky robe that was hung loose around your body.

You had no choice but to nod and smile weakly. But that sweet smile was so only wiped off your face as your lips fell into a ' o ' shape as Kyojuros thick fingers slid up and down your aching clit. Your teary eyes rolled back into your head and you let your head sloppily fall onto your husband's shoulder.

Your husband was a man of his words, never breaking a promise. And that night he made a promise to fuck you into the morning sun despite the duties he would have to attend to and despite how sore the both of you would be after; a promise that he never once broke that night. Because Kyojuro Rengoku was an honest man, and honest men never lie. Especially not to their wife's.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Putting aside all of the jokes and technicalities and such…do you think Marinette is a stalker?

Buckle up folks, this is gonna be a long one.

Personal Bias

When I was 14-years-old, a "friend" of mine got a crush on me and I made it clear that I wasn't interested. He then proceeded to follow me around school, often blocking my path so I couldn't go anywhere without talking to him. He knew I was uncomfortable with this, but refused to stop until I got school authorities involved. By the time it was all over, he basically had a school-imposed restraining order where he wasn't allowed to go near me unless he wanted detention.

When I was 16, another "friend" was so upset that I was dating someone who wasn't him that he figured out how to get into my school email and, through that, one of my socials. He proceeded to try to break me and my boyfriend up. He almost succeeded.

When a male friend of mine was around 16, he turned down a girl who had a crush on him. She and her friends proceeded to harass him on a consistent basis because she knew his schedule and used it to trap him in certain spots like when he was waiting for the bus. They wouldn't stop no matter what he did or said. It only stopped when school officials got involved.

When my cousin was in high school, a boy started following her home every day. It got so bad that the cops were called, but they refused to do anything because he wasn't "threatening enough." Her family had to move and switch what school she went to in order to get away from him.

As you may know, I have seen Miraculous. So has my male friend. So has my cousin. We were all some level of fan at one point or another and have talked about the show critically together. Guess who didn't phase any of us?

Marinette.

Stalking 101

Definition One

Stalking is pattern of behavior directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress. (Source)

Definition Two

“Stalking is a pattern of repeated and unwanted attention, harassment, contact, or any other course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear,” according to the Department of Justice. Similar to crimes of sexual violence, stalking is about power and control.

Stalking laws and definitions differ from state to state. Stalking behavior can take many forms including:

Making threats against someone, or that person's family or friends

Non-consensual communication, such as repeated phone calls, emails, text messages, and unwanted gifts

Repeated physical or visual closeness, like waiting for someone to arrive at certain locations, following someone, or watching someone from a distance

Any other behavior used to contact, harass, track, or threaten someone

(Source)

Marinette Overview

When I say that Marinette isn't a stalker, this isn't me blindly defending my favorite character*. It's me considering her against the real-life stalkers I have actually dealt with as well as professional discussion on what stalking is and why it happens. When I look at those and then look at Marinette, she just doesn't fit the label.

"Stalker" is not a synonym for "creep." It's a term for specific patterns and types of behavior. When people use the term "stalker" for her, it never seems to come from some deep nuanced argument about her overall behavior. It comes from a handful of scenes where the writers absolutely take her too far. Those scenes understandably creep some viewers out. If those viewers just called her "creepy," then I wouldn't argue against them. Instead, they slap the "stalker" label on Marinette and call it a day without a second thought. I find that incredibly annoying in an analytical context and incredibly unappealing in a writing context for reasons we'll get to at the end.

That doesn't mean that I agree with Marinette's every action. The writers have made her do some extremely questionable things and I'm happy to criticize those moments! But, while I will happily agree that individual episodes take her too far, the overall picture doesn't fit a stalker even if you take things at face value and pretend that nothing is a joke/ignore that Miraculous is a comedy which is not how good analysis works. Ignoring the fact that Miraculous is a comedy shows poor media literacy and is another reason I can't take the stalker claims seriously.

If Marinette is a stalker, then every adult who showed up at Adrien's house in Party Crasher needs to be arrested because wtf were they doing showing up to a party thrown by unchaperoned 14-year-olds? If we take that episode seriously, then it's super creepy! But it's clearly not meant to be taken seriously because this is a comedy. The adults showing up was just done to make Adrien's party seem insane, not concerning like it would be in the real world. If you can wrap your head around that, but you're also trying to argue that Marinette's behavior in this episode was "problematic," then I just can't take you seriously. Pick a lane. Either all of the jokes are serious character beats or none of them are.

Marinette Analysis

To really dig into this, let's quickly look at a few of Marinette's worst behaviors and talk about why they don't set off my alarm bells for her character being a stalker. As we go over these, I want you to keep two things in mind:

stalking is about patterns of behavior not one-off bad choices

stalkers use stalking as a way to control and own their victims

Following Adrien Around

If Marinette were written as a stalker, she'd be doing this on the daily. She'd follow Adrien home every time we see him go home. She'd be at every one of his outdoor photo shoots. She'd transform into Ladybug and use binoculars to watch him in his room. But she doesn't. Most of the time, Marinette is happily living her life while Adrien lives his. She's more likely to watch his commercials than watch him which is not how stalkers work. That is how you write a fan, not a stalker.

There are a few episodes that do have Marinette follow him around, but it's always done as a way to start the plot and never as a fun little character beat like Marinette making Tikki hats. Even then, I think the Shanghai special is the only time when Marinette just randomly follows him somewhere to be with him (it's her most stalkerish moment, imo, but it's quite notably a one-time thing). Most of the time, there's an inciting incident that leads her to follow him for some reason other than just watching Adrien.

For example, Oni-Chan has Lila being creepy and lying her way into Adrien's home, leading Marinette to follow to see what's going on. That's not stalker behavior. That's comedically exaggerated concerned friend behavior. I could see Alya or Nino doing the same thing if they were allowed to be smart when Lila was around.

Sneaking into Adrien's Home

Once again, this doesn't happen in most episodes. I can only think of four out of 125: Chat Blanc, Party Crasher, Oni-Chan, and Gabriel Agreste. In each of these episodes, Marinette sneaks into the mansion - or tries to sneak into the mansion - because of some sort of mission or special circumstances and not as part of her normal behavior. For example, Chat Blanc is arguably the most questionable of these, but it starts because Marinette's girlfriends challenge her to give Adrien a present and not because Marinette just decided to go to the mansion:

Rose: That's it, Marinette! No more picnics, sleepovers, or going to the movies with us until you give him that gift! You made that hat for Saint Athanasius Day, which is today! How is Adrien's supposed to know you're thinking of him on his fifth name's day if you don't give him your gift? Alya: She's right. Today is the day! All the girls except Marinette: Go, go, go, go, go, go!

But when Marinette gets there, Nathalie won't let her in or allow her to wait. Nathalie doesn't even offer to take the gift, so Marinette sneaks in to leave the present behind. Good behavior? No, but not Marinette going to the mansion of her own volition to creep on Adrien. While this leads to the totally creepy pillow sniff moment, that's pretty much all Marinette does outside of leaving the gift. She doesn't go snooping in Adrien's room like Lila does in Oni-Chan because the point of this episode wasn't to make Marinette look like a villain or a creep. It was about punishing Marinette for using her powers to give Adrien a gift with her name on it as that's too selfish, I guess.

In fact, none of these episodes were trying to make Marinette look like a villain or a creep. Each one made her do something questionable, but only so that the plot would work. No present, no Chat Blanc. No party crashing or fake butler disguise and Marinette isn't there for the akuma. When there's no plot-necessary reason for Marinette to be at the mansion, she isn't. That's not how you write a stalker. For her to be a stalker, she needs a lot more Chat Blanc moments where she just sneaks in to leave him things or sniff his pillow. We need a pattern, not a one-off moment.

Having Adrien's Schedule

I know I'd said I'd take things more seriously than a comedy calls for in this discussion, but it's impossible to take this one even remotely seriously. How would Marinette even have Adrien's schedule for the next three years? Where did she get it? How is she keeping it up to date when things absolutely change on a weekly basis? How is anyone missing that this is a joke, especially when you consider how the show writes Marinette outside of this episode (Gigantitan)?

While Marinette is sometimes shown to know about things like Adrien's fencing schedule, most episodes present Marinette as if she's reacting to things that she just learned about. For example, in Backwarder, she freaks out about Adrien going to England with Kagami for a wedding that would have been on Adrien's schedule for months if not years.

Why would Marinette do that if she has his schedule? If she's a stalker, then as soon as she heard about the wedding, she'd be on a mission to find out if Adrien has a date and if there are any threats in attendance. She'd probably even find a way to stop Kagami from going like messing with her food. But Marinette doesn't do any of that. Instead, she's written as if she just found out about the wedding and is making up a plan on the fly:

Marinette: Girls! We have a very serious situation! (The girls are cuddled up in the couch, all of them except Rose looking extremely tired)Adrien and his father have been invited to the Royal Wedding in England this weekend. Alya: (annoyed and exhausted) That's the “emergency’’ you called us over here for on a Saturday morning? (frowns) Marinette: You don't get it! Kagami and her mother are going too! (paces around the room doing dramatic hand gestures) Which means that Adrien and Kagami will be spending an entire weekend together!

And her plan ends up being to give Adrien a note and hope for the best. Not exactly the obsessive, controlling behavior you'd go for if you were writing a stalker.

This also implies that, at most, she probably knows his weekly routine which isn't weird since that's something he'd talk about to his friends. Like all of Marinette's worst behavior, the "knows his schedule for the next three years thing" was a one-off gag. Please stop obsessing over it. This isn't how characterization works.

(Note from my male friend who I discussed this post with: the line about the schedule did put him on edge because of his experiences, but that quickly passed as Marinette's behavior didn't back up the line from a stalking POV.)

Stealing Adrien's Stuff

I'm pretty sure the only time Marinette steals something from Adrien when she takes his phone in Copy Cat. "I left an embarrassing message and have to delete it" is an established comedic plot that has been done by dozens of shows and not something uniquely chosen for Marinette, but let's ignore that for a moment and pretend that it's a serious character beat and not a comedy doing something silly because it's a comedy and that's how they work.

Even if we remove all that context, Marinette still isn't acting like a stalker. When my stalker hacked into my email, he was doing it in an effort to control me, not to delete an embarrassing message. He read everything he could find and used that to mess with me. It's actually how I discovered he'd done it. He knew too much. Marinette doesn't do anything like that. She deletes her message and then puts the phone back because stealing the phone wasn't about stalking Adrien. It was about fixing her mistake. A stalker would go through the phone to learn everything about her obsession.

Conclution

None of this is meant to say that everything Marinette does is totally fine and I think people are overreacting if her worst moments upset them. I hate many of the choices they've made for her character and think they were total missteps. If a real person was doing the things Marinette does, then I'd be getting psychiatric services involved because this isn't healthy. I could even see it devolving into actual stalking as the early warning signs are there.

However, Marinette's behavior isn't meant to be realistic and taken at face value. She's the fictional star of a comedy where the writers decided to make her failed confessions a running gag so they had to keep coming up with ridiculous situations to put her in based around her crush. That context matters when evaluating her character and deciding if her actions are meant to be as serious as Chat Blanc ending the world or silly as adults at a teenager's party in Party Crasher. For the majority of seasons one to five, it's very clearly Party-Crasher silly. That doesn't mean you need to like the jokes - I certainly don't - it just means that you do need own that they're jokes if you're trying to do any sort of serious analysis of Marinette's character.

I went through several elements of her behavior not to say that she's totally pure and fine, but to show you that people are taking a handful of really bad moments and acting like it's her standard behavior which isn't how large-scale character analysis works. I was also highlighting the difference between a character who is purposely written as a stalker and a character being the victim of a bunch of adult men making massive missteps while trying write a comedy about a teenage girl with a monster crush. If you want to take her behavior seriously in the context of what jokes are appropriate and what ones go too far, then be my guest! But that's not character analysis even if the analysis is focused on Marinette's character. It's a comedy or writing analysis. Any quality analysis of Marinette's character as a whole and how we're supposed to read her has to take the context of her actions into account.

To write Marinette as a real stalker, you have to go a lot further than the writers did. You have to make her worst behavior constant and not just occasional bad calls. You have to make her feel dangerous and change the tone from comedy to horror. You need to have her friends react with concern instead of egging Marinette on or pushing her into situations as if Marinette's behavior is fine. You need to have Tikki being deeply concerned and not just mildly exasperated. Canon doesn't do any of that because the writers don't intend Marinette's behavior to be read as concerning. When you look at the full context of canon, it's glaringly obvious that the problem is that the writers sometimes make poor calls when exaggerating her crush to tell jokes and not intentional elements of Marinette's character that you should take at face value.

Bonus Salt Fic Discussion

I said at the top that I find the stalker Marinette takes "incredibly unappealing in a writing context" and so I'll end with that as that is more nuanced than bad analysis.

Did canon give us a handful of moments that you can really lean on to back a read that Marinette is an unhinged stalker? Yes, it did. I can't say that people are making that shit up. The Shanghai special and Derision are especially solid "proof." Is fanfic often about obsessing over single moments and little details to an absurd degree no matter how insignificant those details are? Yep, I can't deny that either. That's not unique salter behavior.** Does Miraculous have wildly inconsistent characterization for basically every character with more the one appearance, making it so that you have to pick and choose what you're going to embrace as "canon" for you version if you want to be even remotely coherent with your own characterizations? 100%

All of that is why I'm on the record as saying that I get where the Marinette salt is coming from just like I get the Adrien salt and the class salt and so on. It's standard fandom behavior to bash characters you don't like and the salt takes aren't even doing that thing where people make shit up. It's all based on canon because canon keeps making terrible choice after terrible choice! I just don't find it fun because salt fics are all about embracing the worst writing in the show and expanding upon it, which is the exact opposite of what I want to see when I'm reading fic. I read fic to see better versions of canon! I don't want to be reminded of canon's very real problems. Problems I only expect to get worse as time goes on.

I have no doubt that season six will bring with it a bunch of new moments where Marinette and others act terribly. I wouldn't even be shocked if we reach a point where I agree that Marinette's standard behavior makes her feel dangerous because season five's ending certainly set things up to go there. However, for now, the worst label I'd put on her is "creepy" and that's only in the context of specific episodes. Generally speaking, she's fine.

*Btw, Marinette isn't actually my favorite character. My favorites are Alya, Plagg, and Adrien

**As an example of fandom obsessing over a more neutral detail and elevating it beyond anything canon ever dreamed of, I'll draw your attention to the fandom's obsession with Adrien saying that Marinette is "just a friend." I have come across multiple fics that would have you think that's his catch phrase. A pattern which was deeply confusing because I could only recall him saying it once or twice. After some digging, as best I can tell, he says those words four times and it's never even to Marinette's face, which is wild when you think about how many fics have her parroting the line as if he says it to her all the time. I've even had people tell me that he says that line all the time when that's very clearly not the case. I'd say it's weird, but it's probably just a variation of the fact that eye-witness accounts of crimes are notoriously inaccurate. People just don't remember things accurately.

[floofiestboy]

Aoyama's Let's Talk Day 2025 Translation [Unofficial Sources]

Yesterday was Aoyama’s yearly Let’s Talk Day, a day when a lucky few audience members chosen by lottery have the chance to ask him questions. While the Q&A hasn’t yet been officially released, I’ve translated tweets about the questions asked. I can’t guarantee that they’re 100% trustworthy, but generally most questions were posted by multiple unrelated users.

In cases where different users reported slightly different answers for the same question, I consolidated them to the best of my ability. All source tweets at the end. Without further ado: 

Q. When Gin travels to other countries, does he stay at hotels, or does he have safe houses? I want to know whether he uses hotel-provided amenities like bathrobes.  

A. He sleeps in his car or stays at Organization-provided lodging- the Organization has apartments all over the place. He does also stay at hotels. The FBI still hasn’t discovered them. He does wear bathrobes! He has long hair so I imagine it’s tough to wash.

Q. What sports does the England-born Akai play aside from Jeet Kune Do?

A. He learnt Jeet Kune Do from his father, so has no interest in sports other than that. But I think he might be good at cricket since he’s English. Maybe baseball in America.

Q. Does Hiro have any experience with martial arts?

A. He learnt some at the police academy. He has no other experience, but he’s decently strong- weaker than Kyogoku though.

Q. As you were a guest on Kōhaku Uta Gassen [T/N: A music show that traditionally airs around New Year’s in Japan] this year, do you have plans to write a case based around it?

A. I doubt NHK would let me (haha) I did think a music show case might be fun, but they’d probably still bother me about it.

[Questioner: What if you changed the name? Like, a West vs. East tournament.]

I’ll think about it.

Q. Will the Kuroba family and Kudo family meet each other in the future?

A. Is that something you want to see? I’ll think about it.

Q. What will Momiji do now that Heiji and Kazuha are dating?

A. I don’t think Momiji will give up? She’ll do her best.

Q. How can you think up so many different characters?

A. I don’t know (haha) Maybe because I’ve seen lots of different manga, dramas, and movies. 

[Questioner: So they just pop up in your mind.]

Something like that.

Q. Do you plan to write a story where Chihaya and Furuya meet?

A. Ah, so Chihayafuru, you mean (haha) It sounds interesting, so I’ll think about it.

Q. What can you tell us about this year’s movie at this point?

A. When I told Rikiya Koyama [T/N: Mouri’s VA] that Kogoro is the main character this year, he told me he was nervous. Once he was done, Takayama-san [T/N: Conan’s VA] told him he sounded cool. 

Q. What’s the best part of this year’s movie?

A. I can’t say, but I think you’ll be shocked.

Q. What’s your favourite case so far?

A. Ran GIRL & Shinichi BOY. I love it.

Q. How did Kogoro manage to become a detective without deductive abilities?

A. He doesn’t have deductive abilities, but he’s good at shooting and judo. And he has Conan around. Everything works out.

Q. Was Nakamori Aoko born in September?

A. When is good?

[Questioner: Since Kaito was born on the 21st, maybe the 12th?]

 I’ll think about it. I haven’t decided, but since Kaito’s birthday is June 21st (6/21), maybe September 12th (9/12) makes sense.

Q. What kind of things does Ran talk about with her karate club friends?

A. What would you like?

[Questioner: Romance talk!]

I do think they chat about that. Everyone would be interested to hear about how things are going with Shinichi. If a scene like that ever comes to mind, I’ll think about including it.

Q. What is Furuya’s family situation like?

A. Secret, as I haven’t decided for certain just yet- it might still change.

Q. Will you ever draw the moment Kazuha fell for Heiji?

A. Do you want to see it? I might.

Q. At Abeno Harukas, Heiji confessed and was holding hands with Kazuha, but did Heiji initiate the hand-holding?

A. Yes. I don’t know if I’ll ever draw that though.

Q. At Kōhaku Uta Gassen, were there any artists you enjoyed other than aiko, B’Z, and Fukuyama-san?

A. Ah, I can’t think of anyone but them. But they were all good. B’z was amazing. It was all dark in the audience seating, but when I thought “oh, something is moving,” it was truly amazing by the end. B’z is my choice! (haha)

Q. Do you have any plans for a spinoff featuring Hattori?

A. Like Zero’s Tea Time?

[Questioner: More like Hanzawa-san.]

What’s the difference between Zero’s Tea Time and Hanzawa-san? Did you want a spinoff? There’s no plans for one right now.

Q. Are there any characters you plan to have romantic developments for in the near future?

A. Kansuke and Yui, and Juugo and Chihaya… aside from that [glances at the moderator] that character… if I say who it is, there'll be a huge uproar and we’ll get flamed online, so… (haha) 

[The audience goes abuzz]

Well, yes. I can’t tell you right now (haha). Let’s leave it at that.

Q. What’s the plan for next year’s movie?

A. I can’t say, but they do already have it planned.

Q. Who will be the star of next year’s movie?

A. I can’t say, but it’s already been decided as well as the stage.

Q. I’m from Hokkaido. Do you have plans to draw any famous tourist spots in Sapporo? 

A. Hakodate was recently the stage, so it would need to be some time in the future. Any recommendations?

[Questioner: Suzukake Park, Oodori Park, Sapporo TV Tower.]

Ah, got it, I’ll think about it.

Q. We know that Azusa has worked at Poirot for at least one year, but how long has she worked there in total?

A. I don’t know. Maybe since she was in high school. Oops, I just said whatever.

Q. Any plans for a movie set in Tottori?

A. Not at this time. I’ll think about it. I did try to incorporate the Tottori dialect once, but I was told it was incomprehensible. Tottori dialect is pretty hard. If we do a movie here, I’d like it to use Tottori dialect.

Q. It seems Momiji won’t give up even now that Heiji and Kazuha have gotten together, but will Iori continue to serve Momiji in the same way? Will he ever leave due to his old work?

A. He’ll be by her side forever. I think he’ll protect her until the day he dies.

Q. What would you want to eat at a Conan café? 

A. Naporitan spaghetti. I have childish tastebuds, so I also like Hamburg steak and hamburgers.

Q. I like aiko, so I want to hear the behind-the-scenes details about your talk with her on Kōhaku Uta Gassen.

A. During our preparatory meeting, I asked whether I should say “Funya!”, but I was told I couldn’t (because it’s from a different agency.) [T/N: Not familiar with this myself, but maybe it’s some idol’s catchphrase or a reference to a show.]

[Questioner: After meeting aiko, did any murder case ideas come to mind?]

No (haha) It would be sad to kill her off. Maybe a case with a singer involved… I’ll think about it. Aiko was cute.

Q. Kurayoshi’s phone number area code is an important plot point in Conan, but will the city be involved in the future?

A. A coincidence. Kurayoshi residents will get mad at me otherwise.

Q. What did you do for New Year’s as a child?

A. Usually my family would ask me to visit a shrine with them, but I’d stay at home since it was too much of a pain. These days, I always go for my health. [T/N: In Japan, it’s tradition to visit a shrine on the first day of the new year.]

Q. What’s Inspector Ayanokouji’s personal life like? What are his hobbies?

A. He feeds Maro-chan. Hobbies… I wonder. He does like Maro-chan. What would you like?

[Questioner: Something like archery.]

Archery? Well, I’ll think about it.

Q. Do you have any plans for a triple date with Heiji-Kazuha, Shinichi-Ran, and Kyougoku-Sonoko?

A. I hadn’t thought of that before, but I’ll think about it.

[Questioner: So you don’t plan to think about it.]

Sorry (haha). 

Q. Any information on Akai and Amuro’s chat nine hours later?

A. I can’t say. It’s a truly mysterious tea party (haha)

Q. In your Professional interview, you were eating curry, but is there any other food or snacks you like to eat while working?

A. I only really eat cheap stuff, so (haha)  I’m really into the beef don mini-pack from Yoshinoya- it’s a pretty small portion. It’s healthy and good. Also, curry from Coco.

Q. The Saitama prefecture is right next to Tokyo, but has never made an appearance. Any plans for Saitama prefecture police to appear?

A. Yokomizo did show up in Saitama at first, but he did move to Shizuoka, so (haha) I tried to have him go back, but I was told that then it just seemed like he never moved at all. I’ll write about Saitama eventually. I’ll think about it.

Q. What does Kazuha like aside from aikido? 

A. She likes Heiji… (haha) I think she likes cooking just like others like her would. Do you have any thoughts on what she might like?

[Questioner: What…]

[Moderator: Well, that’s what they wanted to know in the first place.]

I’ll think about it.

Q. I’m from Taiwan. Conan has only ever gone to England in the manga. Will he ever go to another country in the manga, not the movies?

A. It would be tough while he’s still Conan, as he doesn’t have a passport. His only choice is for Kid to stuff him into a suitcase, but I can’t use the same trick twice (haha) I’d like to go to Taiwan one day.

Q. Akai and Amuro infiltrated the Organization and know about Sherry, but don’t know of the existence of APTX4869?

A. They do not. There’s a reason why the details of her research and her family isn’t well-known in the Organization, but that’s secret. Even parents wouldn’t tell their children about it in the Organization. 

Q. Do you plan to introduce any new Organization operatives?

A. What would you like?

[Questioner: Amaretto!]

I'll think about it.

Q. Do you plan to draw Shinichi and KID facing off?

A. Shinichi. You mean big Shinichi, huh? I’d love to. (haha)

Q. What last name do you like, or would like to have?

A. Kudo! (haha) Since Kudo Yuusaku as portrayed by Matsuda Yuusaku was cool. If I can, I’d love to become one! (haha)

Q. Did you decide that Heiji would confess on a tall Osaka building even before the Abeno Harukas tower was completed? [T/N: It opened in 2014]

A. I decided after the Abeno Harukas tower was completed. But I did know from the start that Kazuha’s mother would make an appearance to include a twist.I wanted everyone to think that he’d confess to her mother by mistake. 

Q. Who’s stronger between Kogoro and Ran?

A. That’s quite the question (haha) Kogoro is strong! But, Ran is catastrophically strong too (haha). I think it’s hard to say? But if they fought against each other, he’d probably hold back against Ran. Since he’s her dad.

Q. You can really feel the cultural differences between Kyushu and Tokyo. Do you plan to write a case based on that?

A. I’d like to.

Q. Do you have any special tidbits for us aside from what you’ve already told us?

A. Kansuke and Yui and Koumei’s childhood will appear in the movie. Take a good look at the illustration I drew for the Conan Tanteisha store as well. 

Q. Anything you’d want to incorporate into Tottori’s Mystery Tour? Tourist spots and restaurants you’d recommend?

A. I’d like them to make use of Tottori’s Odaiba, crabs, and apple-pears.

Q. Who’s the tallest among all your characters?

A. Date and Gin! Kyougoku is a little shorter, but those three are the tallest. Kazami is too tall in the anime. He should be the same height as Furuya. [T/N: One source also claimed he said that Gin is taller than Date.]

Q. Will Miyano Shiho and Kudo Shinichi ever star in the same case?

A. Ah, I can’t tell you that. Whoops, I almost let something slip (haha)

Sources

https://twitter.com/hrksdc/status/1875104017174639079

https://twitter.com/brainwashednerd/status/1875109428812460351

https://twitter.com/yuki_det_con/status/1875121186411348179

https://twitter.com/Flambe4869/status/1875236194071834928

https://twitter.com/nyarura73/status/1875104933978206521

https://twitter.com/mskAK25/status/1875125288943989101

https://twitter.com/furu_rei0/status/1875126654412177457

https://twitter.com/44_mcs/status/1875132311219634602

https://twitter.com/44_mcs/status/1875119113670144425

[hello-universe-lovers]

SHENANIGANS: where Mai gives headcanons to the Voices in your Head ™️ based purely off vibes.

This episode: The voices at bedtime!

((I know some of you need to go to bed, so consider this a call-out/jk. Anyway, get your plushies some water, we're tucking our lil voices in for bed!!

Voice of the HERO: rarely sleeps late, Hero falls asleep fast. With the exception of some emergencies, Hero will go to bed at a reasonable 10-11 PM. She is also a fast sleeper, as well. However, if something happens, she is the first to wake up and check it out. Her spears makes her ideal to deal with home intruders (not that they had any...;3)

Voice of the PARANOID: He TRIES to sleep early at around 9 PM, so she has the time to stew in bed to let the energy out. That backfires as they spent so so SO long worrying about every shadow and creek in the night that actual sleep time is around 12 to 3 AM. And that's not including the nightmares. Often, you find em making something in the kitchen to try and burn off the energy. It works roughly 50%. Then it's off to Hero to share a bed.

Voice of the SMITTEN: he ALSO sleeps at a reasonable time at 10:30 PM. It would be earlier, if not for his meticulous grooming ritual. He takes his time getting ready for slumber. And Long Quiet forbid you interrupt him, mid ritual. There are few things the Voices share a fear in. One of them is a Smitten who couldn't finish his 1000 stroke brushing routine.

Voice of the COLD: man wears a bathrobe, so everywhere is his sleeping spot. He sleeps whenever he feels like it, going for days, pushing his physical body's limits until those limits are reached and he crashes somewhere. And when he wakes, he documents the result and push it more. So far, his record for staying awake is 12 days. And that was cut off because Hero had to step in. Thankfully, when he crashes, he's light enough to be carried to his room.

Voice of the SKEPTIC: As if he's any better than Cold. If he finds something to sink his claws into, he will stay up studying it for days at a time. The only difference is that he knows his limit and is out like a light. And I mean OUT. You ain't waking him up until at least 7 hours. It got to the point where Hero has banned late night books just so She didn't had to deal with 2 chronic stay-awakers.

Voice of the CHEATED: she sleeps a little later, mainly due to waiting for the drugs to kick in and some evening workout so she doesn't wake up with sore limbs. She will always be out by Midnight, and will stay down until morning. Despite her aching bones, her body LOVES to move during the night, so she has to crash fast. As a result, the only time you are waking her is at minimum 5 hours later. She doesn't like sleeping alone, as it often caused her nightmares, so Broken is always with her.

Voice of the BROKEN: ironically, a night owl. She sleeps the latest, roughly around 2 AM. so she and Paranoid have a lot of kitchen talks. Granted, this is mostly because she spent a lot of her day "sleeping" in the Networked Wild, so her circadian rhythm is off kilter. Attempts to fix it have proven fruitless, so they just accepted it. Plus, it's not like she's any worse at night, than during the day.

Voice of the OPPORTUNIST: whether with Thorn, or another voice (coughstubborncough), Oppy sleeps better with company. His nightmares aren't frequent, but they aren't infrequent either. So he often seeks solace in another body, at the dead of 1-2 AM. When he can't find anyone, he sleeps with a knife under his pillow. Many have complained about it, but it's not his fault he finds comfort in it. "Steel can't lie" as Paranoid once said.

Voice of the STUBBORN: he sleeps normally. I don't know what to tell you here. Aside from some pre-sleep work out, he sleeps fine. Though, in the night, he's susceptible to cramps easily so he is often rudely awakened to take care of it....oh and he sleep fights. His room is away from most other Voices because the noise he makes are Loud. Sometimes literally, if he somehow turn on his radio for some scene-appropriate training music. When awake, he recalls none of it, but will agree to cleaning up the best.

Voice of the HUNTED: while incredibly comfortable sleeping in a nest, he is the lightest sleeper, outside of Hero. He usually wakes up first to any commotion, but if Hero is up, he takes it as a sign of things being cared for and go back to sleep. He always offer them to sleep in his nest ("so the flock can be safe" he reasoned), but few took up on his offers, unless the nightmares are THAT bad. His nest is always big to accommodate all of em.

Voice of the CONTRARIAN: She makes a big deal about going to bed around 9 PM, showing signs of fatigue around that time. But when it is time to actually sleep, she waits in her room, until everyone is out cold (or the Night Owls were in another part of the house), before exiting the house and exploring. Sometimes she visits the Princess's cabin and screw with them. But most of the time she visits the Outside World, and get her hands on all she could find, before slipping back into bed, with a Gameboy or smth. No matter how little sleep she gets, Connie will be bright and loud in the morning, much to most everyone's dismay.

BONUS: The voices sleepwear!!

Wears a shirt and shorts: Hero, Cheated, Connie, Oppy

Proper sleep robes/pajamas: Cold, Smitten, Skeptic

Wears what they have: Broken, Hunted, Paranoid

Sleeps in the nude: Stubborn

[the-100-days-of-junkan]

Day 93

Living in a Crazy Parallel World by YuriKah

More Direct Adaptation today!

Among the various pics I’ve adapted here, this is the one I struggled the most with in terms of coming up with an idea for, as this is one of the two really big fics I had to make art for on my list (Cause I did make a list in advance). There’s a lot I could’ve done for fanart of this fic, and what I eventually decided on was to adapt 2 scenes at once from the end of the first chapter.

A little bit of fun contrast between a more serious, upbeat scene with Mikan taking in her first encounter with Junko. Followed by the very funny scene of Junko talking with Mukuro. It was fun! Even if I think my execution could have been better.

You’ll notice Mikan’s eyes in this are pink, instead of the various shades of purple I’ve inconsistently drawn her with over the course of this project and beyond. Why? Simple, the fic described them as Pink, so I made an active effort to give them a more pronounced pink coloration. It was uncanny! But fun! And it’s actually NOT the first time I’ve drawn Mikan with Pink Eyes! However I’ll save that till after I talk about todays fic, as I might end up rambling a bit.

Anyway! The fic!!! 

So fair warning, this fic is unfinished. Not only that it doesn’t solely focus on Junko and Mikan. I think it’s very worth reading, however you gotta go in knowing you’re getting slow burn with no resolution. This does actually mark the first fic of this streak of pics for the project that’s a series rather than just a oneshot.

So if you don’t mind a lack of resolution, I think you’ll find yourself in for a good time. It’s a Non-Despair AU focusing on Irumatsu, Junkan, and Ikuzono as the primary couples. I will only be discussing all of the Junkan material here, but I can say with some confidence that everything that goes along with it will be very enjoyable! 

So in the past I’ve brought up that VanadisValentine’s interpretation of Junko and Mikan have been the biggest influence on how I portray the characters both in my art and my writing. That said whenever I say that there might find that curious given that I have drawn many, many pieces where Junko is a flustered, pathetically in love, disaster of a woman when it comes to Mikan (this is especially emphasized in my Vampire AU).

You can thank this fic for that. 

I love how Junko is written here! The author made note at a few points that writing Junko in an AU like this was a struggle, which is super understandable! Converting a character who started the apocalypse into like, a normal, not apocalypse-starting teenage girl without losing what makes the character special is a challenge! It’s one of my big worries when writing her, and I imagine the same goes for a few other authors who’ve taken that road, regardless of whether they’re writing Junkan or not. 

I think YuriKah does a lovely job keeping the complexities of Junko as a character, while adding a twist of “normalcy” into the mix! Her introspective scenes are really good, especially once Mikan’s influence takes hold. And speaking of Mikan, a big thing in this fic which as far as I can remember isn’t seen very often in the vast landscape of Junkan fics-

Junko’s a total disaster when Mikan’s with her. In their initial chapter we get to see bits and pieces of Junko thinking that our favorite nurse is attractive, but a majority of the time in that chapter is Mikan’s inner monologue directed at Junko, along with some very lovely conversations!

Sorry! Quick aside! I love this Author’s portrayal of the Despair Sister Dynamic. Mukuro is written with a lot more energy and mischief compared to what you normally see. She doesn’t have her usual traits stripped away from her, she’s just got a significantly more playful and jab filled sibling dynamic with Junko, with Junko showing care for her far more openly than normally seen. 

Okay sorry sorry, once their initial meetup is over we not only get to see more of Junko and Mukuro’s good dynamic, but Junko having the biggest love at first sight crush on Mikan of all fucking time. 

Still on Junko a lot of the storyline that we’re given in what exists of this series involves her doing a lot of introspection because of Mikan, along with talking about the general value of Talents in this universe and the various ways one can interpret that. She also has a very lovely chapter with Chiaki, their interactions are very fun and it also allows us to get an insight into both Mikan’s past, and how much the people around her care for her despite her worries. It also helps Junko really figure out what her plan here is. 

Back to general, gay disaster shenanigans once we hit the second encounter it’s just all there. She’s a WRECK and it’s so goddamn cute.

And Mikan! I didn’t get any specific, unique influence from this interpretation. But I still love how she’s written here!~ There’s a really nice contrast between her nervous demeanor and her very meticulous, well put together internal monologue. 

Getting slightly into spoilers now, I really love how the author handled the confession. Even if it does admittedly leave things very unresolved with the current status of the fic. Junko being very open about her desires while still giving Mikan the choice to deny her, rather focusing on them just being friends bare minimum because she wants to help Mikan work through her issues? Perfect.

I don’t have a lot else to say? It’s super good! And as sad as I am that this fic has gone without update, I’m glad it exists in the first place! I’m not sure why this story never got further updates after Chapter 10, but it seems like the author is still around, so I can only hope they’re doing well!~ Thankyou for the gift of some very nice Junkan! And thanks for accidentally inspiring me to repeatedly portray Junko as a total dweeb when she sees the pretty nurse.

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

I said I’d talk about another instance of me drawing Mikan with pink eyes instead of purple. It was for a commission!

A Good friend of mine, Pit, paid for some Christmas Art of some of his favorite characters, including Mikan! The arts interesting for a few reasons, the obvious one is that she has pink iris’ instead of Purple, for reasons I don’t really remember? It might have been a specific request from Pit. 

What I find more interesting is that this was before I had properly begun the 100 Days of Junkan. Meaning I only had 3 very old pictures of Mikan as experience. And being real, I like this art, it’s got sentimental value. You can really tell this was the first time in a long time that I had drawn Mikan. My Junkan obsession was coming back hard at this point but I hadn’t acted upon it at all, for fear reasons. So it’s very funny to grab this and then put it next to like, the way I’ve drawn Mikan in my Christmas Eve comic for example. What obsessing over a ship to an unnatural degree for a year straight does to a girl, i swear alkfjcjaslkfsdjkl.

[imthepunchlord]

Stupid Tuna

Read more here.

.

Approaching the torii gate, the idea of there being any sort of trouble was far from Okarun’s mind. Today was supposed to primarily be a study date between him and Miss Ayase, knocking out a paper that Miss Ayase was struggling to see to the finish. From his understanding, she had much of it done, but was struggling on the end. Aside from her grumbles and pouts, it was supposed to be peaceful.

But seeing some tall, rough looking guy walking through the torii gate was not on Okarun’s list of expectations for today. 

Okarun tilted his head curiously and warily.

Pushing back the instinctive worst assumption, he wondered if this guy a friend of the Ayase’s?

Was he here to see Ayase-san on business? He was about to call out and let him know the elder Ayase was currently away for a tv showing when the guy startled him into silent outrage.

All cautiously neutral curiosity vanished when the guy gave the torii gate a dirty look and then kicked at it. 

“Hey!” Okarun snarled out, dropping his bike and rushing over to the taller boy, glaring up at him as dark eyes turned towards Okarun. “What do you think you’re doing?!”

“Who are you, pipsqueak?” the guy sneered, wrinkling his nose at Okarun like he was a foul smelling rat. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” Okarun repeated, not shying away as the boy came to loom over him. “It’s rude to kick at the Ayase property.” 

“Rude?” the guy scoffed, “Rude is a haughty bitch who thinks she can beat me up and get away with it.” 

Rage started to seep into Okarun’s mind. It didn’t matter who this guy was referring to, neither Ayase women deserved that. 

The guy continued, “It seems like she’s not here, so her torii gate gets it instead. ‘Sides, I’m here to see Momo anyway.” 

Okarun went still. “Miss Ayase?” 

“Yeah, so beat it!” As the guy turned to walk through the torii gate, he had a start seeing Okarun standing before him, blocking his way. “Wha…?” He looked back to where Okarun was, then to where he was now. “How’d you get there so quickly?” 

“ You need to leave,” Okarun stated, the shine in his glasses hiding his eyes. “I won’t let you see Miss Ayase.” 

“Haaah?! Outta my way, Four Eyes!”

“I’ll relay your business to Miss Ayase, but you need to leave.” 

“This is between me and Momo, move .”

“No,” Okarun stressed, flames starting to flicker on his shoulder. “I will not let you see her—”

Okarun caught the fist that came flying at him, barely feeling the clash of skin. The guy had a start, then snarled at him. 

“You here for Momo too then? Jokes on you, you desperate little snit! I’m here to take her back!” 

Okarun’s grip on his hand tightened slightly. “Take her back?”

“I’m going to have her grovel,” the guy sneered, “she no doubt had realized what she’s been missing. And this time , she’ll do all that I ask. Else she can taste dirt again—”

He was cut off when he found himself weightless, the wind taken from his sails. Faintly, he could see a monster before him, big glowing eyes, flaming hair of white, red, and black, and a big maw of teeth, and a long body with gangly limbs. But then he’d see a nerd, looking at him angrily. His mind couldn’t process what he was seeing or how he was in the air with the short nerd.  

He did hear the growl that sounded out, sounding so much deeper and more sinister than the nerd’s earlier voice. 

“You made Momo-chan eat dirt?”

A fear got a hold of him, feeling claws starting to sink into his wrist. 

“Sh-she tried to kick me in the face!” he cried out in his defense. The pressure got more intense, and with it, the nerd faded away, leaving him to see the monster.

That maw drew near, looking ready to bite him. “And why did she kick you in the face?”

“I, I wanted her to put out! Give me money, cover a love hotel—”

He was slammed to the ground, gasping at the weight pressed upon him. The monstrous maw was spewing black smoke, the big glasses now glowing red in the monster’s rage.  “You think you can stroll back here, yo? That you can come get your way? Push her around .” The monster growled. “I’m going to murder you.”

“I’m sorry!” the guy wailed. “I, I’ll leave her alone! I’ll never see her again!” 

But the demon wasn’t interested in letting him go. The black maw opened, the usually flat teeth now pointed and sharp. 

He screamed as the mouth started to come down towards him.

Snap!

That maw closed near the guy’s head. Trembling, he looked up to see the demon being lifted up, watching as it snarled and thrashed, reaching long nails towards him, ready to rip him apart. He didn’t have a moment of relief when a sudden force threw him away from the torii gate. He looked up to see an angry Momo glaring at him, her teeth bared as she snarled, “Get out of here, Asshole!” 

Behind her now on the ground, the demon loomed, releasing a roar. 

He fled, screaming as he ran for his life. 

Behind him, Momo turned, both both of her “hands” on Okarun, keeping the yokai from pursuing her ex. 

Her boyfriend strained against her hold, dragging his long nails through the dirt, trying to escape her grasp. 

“Okarun, calm down!” Momo stressed. 

The yokai simply snarled. 

Gritting her teeth, she plucked up the yokai into the air, startling him for a second. She took it to chuck him into the shrine Gran kept him in before, hoping it would be enough to turn him back. 

After the racket of his landing, it was quiet and Okarun was still. The monstrous transformation was gone, leaving the boy to lay on the shrine floor, breathing hard. 

Momo slowly drew near, “hands” at the ready. Tentatively, she prompted, “Okarun?”

He didn't move for a minute and Momo grew concerned.

“Okarun?” she prompted again, stepping inside. 

He sat up, reaching up to adjust his glasses. Not turning to face her, he said, “I’m sorry if I scared you, Miss Ayase.” 

“I’m ok,” she eased, drawing closer. She reached for him. “Are you ok?” 

He drew away before she could touch him. 

“Okarun?” she prompted. 

“Did he… did he really treat you so badly?” Okarun asked, still not facing her. 

“He did,” she confirmed, but offered, “but we didn’t date long.” She huffed to herself, declaring, “He was one of the dumbest choices I’ve ever made.” 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Okarun asked. 

Momo was quiet for a moment, grimacing to herself. With a sigh, she went around, making Okarun tense as she sat down in front of him. “Because he was a thing of the past. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again.” She took his hand, holding it tightly when he tried to pull it away. “He also wasn’t really something I wanted you to know about. He really was one of the dumbest choices I’ve made. I didn’t want you to see my stupid pick.” 

That fisted hand slowly opened, adjusting to hold her hand back. “I am sorry you had to deal with that.” 

“It was my own doing,” she eased. 

“I’m sorry you had to see me like that,” Okarun continued. With a gulp, he admitted, sounding unnerved but furious, “I, I really wanted to kill him.” 

Never before had he really wanted to kill someone. 

There were instances that came close to it. 

The Evil Eye. 

Zuma. 

But that… the sheer fury, protectiveness, and possessiveness he felt. That was scary. And so vindicating. Even now, a part of him wondered if he would transform when he stepped out of the shrine, if he would go after that guy. 

He may not want Momo to stop him. 

“Gran almost did,” Momo reminded, the memory bringing back some amused sort of catharsis. She should've joined in, in hindsight. But that didn’t seem to perk Okarun up, he stared pensively at the floor, looking uncertain of himself. She shuffled closer, moving her arm to wrap him up in a hug, holding him close. She didn’t quite know what to say on how to make this better, to reassure him that he didn’t scare her, at least, not in the way he was thinking of. She had been scared that he lost himself to the yokai curse, that Okarun… that Ken had been lost to her. 

She was mad at that stupid tuna for bringing it out. 

She was mad that she stupidly dated that tuna and brought Ken such pain that he transformed like that. 

At least he leaned back against her, gripping her hand tightly. 

She looked at their hands, his human one holding her own. 

He was still here, she told herself. 

Ken was still here. 

“He's out of my life, and he's never coming back.” She withdrew, putting a hand on his jaw, lifting his face up so their eyes met. Staring at him intently, she stated, “You're my life and love, Ken, not him.”

His eyes widened, jaw going slack as his face went red. “M-Miss Ayase!” he cried out.

“Haaah,” she grouched, letting her hand drop. “You still won't use my name? I used yours!” 

“I, I'm not there yet!” he shyly protested. 

She scoffed, then snickered, breaking into a laugh. 

“M-Miss Ayase?” he asked, confused. 

“You should've seen the look on his face!” Momo chortle. “He was so scared, I think he peed himself!” Momo sagged against, snickering. “Oh, I wish I caught that on camera! Grandma would've loved it.” 

Dark thoughts probed Okarun’s mind that he should've done more, they were cut off as Momo gave him a chaste kiss on the lips, evaporating any thoughts he had. 

Bringing him back into hug, she affectionately nuzzled him. “Thanks for giving me that catharsis. And for coming to my defense. I don't think I'll ever see him again.”

“Always,” he promised, returning her embrace, pulling her into his lap. If that guy ever came back… the thought didn’t finish, Okarun relaxing as he felt her play with his hair, moving the curly, wild locks between her fingers. It was almost as if she always knew when something ominous toed the edge of his mind.

They sat like that for a little bit in the shrine, enjoying the quiet and each other. Momo though was the first to lean back, asking, “Ready to knock out that paper?” 

“Are you?” he fired back.

“Noooo,” she admitted immediately. 

That earned him a chuckle. “We'll knock it out quick,” he promised, standing up, offering her his hand. Momo took it, and held it, not letting go as they left the shrine and went to her house.

There, the new threat of the essay laid out awaiting them. And with it, thoughts of the stupid tuna were forgotten.

[suna1suna1]

Gummigoo was cool :(

[geekgirles]

Have you ever noticed how Double Cross My Heart, aside from the obvious similarities with Flirting with Disaster, also parallels Parental Bonding somewhat?

The first connection is fairly easy to make. After all, the episode was specifically designed to mirror Flirting with Disaster and Danny's budding relationship with Valerie while Sam stewed in jealousy from the sidelines.

An episode like that is a staple of romance subplots, and arguably a needed one. After all, the Green-Eyed Epiphany, that trope where someone realises their feelings for somebody else because of jealousy, is a classic for a reason, mainly because it works so well.

Double Cross My Heart, despite its flaws, is a classic role reversal where Sam finally got to experience what it was like to have a mutual crush on someone outside of her best friend, and the complications that come with it, while Danny got a taste of what it's like to fear losing your best friend, someone you subconsciously assumed would always be there for you, to somebody else. The fear of watching them close that door and move on from you while all you can do about it is seethe in jealousy because you don't dare admit your feelings out of fear of that ruining everything still.

Again, the similarities with Flirting with Disaster are crystal clear: the new love interest, the jealousy, the suspicious thing going on prompting one of them to spy on the other, the new ship sinking before it could even sail...

However, I think we're sleeping on the fact that it still shares a few parallels with Parental Bonding and Danny's other love interest: Paulina.

Specifically, I'm referring to this exchange from Danny and Sam's argument after he revealed he'd been spying on her and "Gregor".

Danny: Not you! I was spying on Gregor! He's so obviously working with the guys in white! Sam: Oh, so that's it! The only way a boy could like me is if it was a part of a plot to get to you? Huh? Ego much?

Sam wasn't just mad because Danny went behind her back to spy on her date, she was especially hurt because Danny accidentally implied nobody could ever like her for her and would have to have some sort of ulterior motive to show interest instead.

Now, why does that sound so familiar?

Ah, right. Because that's precisely what happened to Danny with Paulina in Parental Bonding. The irony being that he never even found out about it, since it's implied Sam kept it a secret to spare his feelings.

Sam: Hey, Paulina. Nice dress. Paulina: (Turns to her.) Yes, and it goes so nicely with your amulet, don't you think? Sam: My amulet? That's not my-- (Realization of Danny's plan hits her.) Right! Listen...my grandma gave me that amulet, and-- Paulina: Forget it, sweetie. I'm not giving up this trinket or your little boyfriend Danny. Sam: My boyfriend? Ha ha! And they say pretty girls can't be funny. Danny is not my boyfriend. Paulina: He's not? Sam: He's my best friend. Maybe that's why I was so hard on you. I didn't mean to call you shallow. Paulina: What a bummer! I only agreed to go out with him because I thought I was stealing him from you. (Putting amulet around Sam's neck.) Here, take your crummy amulet. (Walking away.) I'm going back inside to dump your dorky friend.

For all of the focus Danny (understandably) receives by virtue of being the protagonist and, hence, most people's target, the reason he ever got a "chance" with Paulina before she fell for the Ghost Boy was precisely because she was using him to get back at Sam for calling her shallow. Nothing more, nothing less.

In other words, he himself was a victim of what he was accusing Gregor of, and he doesn't even realise it!

And while Gregor was significantly nicer to Danny and Tucker (before he blew up at the latter and with it his cover) than Paulina or even Valerie ever were (Valerie has her moments, but since her arc ended up being tied most closely to Danny's, her interactions with Sam and Tucker were far and in between and not always friendly on either side), Danny ended up being right about him. Partly.

Because he indeed was a fake, only he was "just" pretending to have more things in common with Sam than he really did (and the whole false identity thing, which is kind of inexcusable, let's be honest), instead of working for the Guys in White to get to him. And that was that. Gregor was really Elliot and Sam was done with him the moment he was done with Tucker. Because her friends come first.

I suppose this all comes to show that Gregor/Elliot wasn't just a parallel to Valerie for the sake of a mirror episode and a new love triangle. He ended up being a perfect amalgamation of both of Danny's love interests outside of Sam. He genuinely liked Sam (like Valerie with Danny), but he was still being dishonest about it (like Paulina).

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Council of lovefools.

[First] Prev <–-> Next

[zalder]

“If you had a time turner, we might be sort of selfish to take that route with it,” she couldn’t help but say thoughtfully. As much as a calm night in with cats seemed like a pretty remarkable way to bring in the end of the year, she couldn’t help but think it might be wrong to have that sort of power and not use it for the good of humanity. “I mean, I know that you’re not supposed to mess with time or you end up changing the whole course of history but if you actually had that power you could literally change anything – I mean, think of the good you could do?” They could literally save lives and prevent wars. They didn’t have time machine, time turners or anything else so they had to settle for here and the now. “I can definitely accept that sort of rain check though. It all worked out in the end. I’ve been honestly struggling to stay awake between me and you. Guess I underestimated my ability to rally tonight.”

It was always fun to think forward and come up with future plans whether she was included or not. When it came to her friends, she was absolutely on board with encouraging whatever their flight of fancy might be. Life was far too short to not do what someone wanted to do. Her arm didn’t have to be twisted hard to do something that didn’t involve studying for her courses or uploading reports about the latest calls that the fire department had responded to. There was only so many times she could read about the fact there were in fact no cat skeletons to be found in trees because they literally always came down with a can of food left at the bottom. “I always assumed the majority of roadside attractions can get you a free photo with a cell phone, the trick is trusting a stranger to take it or having a good road trip partner,” she said with a nod, brushing some of her dark hair from her face. “I feel like summer would be better though you want to schedule it when it’s not tornado season or going to fry you like an egg. It’s definitely doable though. A few bucks aside a week, a few tanks or gas and a dream – we can make it happen.”

“Sometimes, it feels pretty endless,” she admitted. Zarah had her moments where she wasn’t completely sure about the trek she was on. She loved to learn, loved to test hypothesis and see where things went but she hated feeling confined by the structure of it all – the endless lessons, the tests of the knowledge. It sort of zapped the passion out of it. It was a conversation she’d had with her own mother plenty of times since she’d decided to study to be a teacher. “I know it’ll all come together in the end and I’m glad to know I’ll have your support when I get there.” She nodded, letting out a laugh at his formal invite. “I mean, I feel like you might be using me for my night driving skills but I’m in. Since you’re thinking summer, that’ll give me some time to sweet talk my brother to babysitting Marmalade… he’s not a fan of alien body snatching. Marm not my brother. I haven't really asked him, his opinion.”

"aw man. i wish i had a time turner now that i know you'd have joined us, i would use it right now to go back and properly ask you over. mochi is going to be bummed when i tell him later of what could've been." after a brief pause, he playfully adds, "i guess we will just have to marathon the twilight zone with our cats, under some blankets, very soon. i think it's the only way to make things right. for the cats, of course." he softly laughs, playfully grinning. "i'm glad they did too. they pretty much marathon the show the entirety of new year's day anyway. plus, i wouldn't be here talking with you if i had been a hermit tonight."

his eyes light up with a twinkle of excitement at the mention of a giant ball of yarn and a random ufo museum. she nailed it right one the head, elias was an absolute sucker for those kinds of things. "oh, you know it. i would pay to get one of those cheesy photos taken in front of the giant ball of yarn too, thumbs up and everything. i was thinking maybe during the summer? that should give us enough time to look for some places together, map out the course, and gather some extra spending money."

he lifts his cup to sip his drink, listening to her resolutions for the new year. eli nods at her response, lowering the glass again, "it does feel like you get stuck on auto piolet, doesn't it? but just remember that every second of every day you are further to being done with it all than you were five minutes ago. before you know it you'll be walking across that graduation stage and i'll give holding up a giant foam number one foam finger with your name on it in to cheer you on." again his eyes light up with excitement when she mentions stealing his idea. "i'd be okay with you stealing it. i'd also be okay with you joining me on the road trip. if you want, i mean, of course. although, i must admit, i am not the best with driving at night."