#bc they are trying to beef with me who is more than half their age fr

[ehnrat]

dreading going to work tmr knowing they increased my workload AGAIN when it should've been and WAS someone else's job.. ahaha

[sams-venting]

I need to get this off my chest before I blow up at somebody 

But I know I did not just fucking watch someone try to say a fictional incest ship is worse than several real-life people getting groomed. Are you fucking serious. You are so lucky your ass was on anon motherfucker I would've hard blocked and reported your snide ass

I don't give a shit which 'side' you're on. I don't care what you think about whatever drama of the week is going on. I know my ass, who has actively had to report CSEM photos to National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Cyber Tipline, did not just fucking watch you compare a disgusting ship, to actual teens being sexually coerced

I can't fucking believe you. We out here really prioritizing fictional characters over real breathing human beings

Get this, I am completely against pro shipping. I am just as repulsed by people looking at siblings or parents and deciding they should fuck for the silly dynamics of it as the next guy, it's fucking despicable. But I know I did not just your ass saying it's more harmful and creepy than your friend over there diddling real people almost half his age. Are you fcuking kidding me. 

And, before you start assuming shit, I again am on 'no side'. I don't give a fuck about the entire situation outside of people once again, conveniently dragging the victims of the gore anons into more bullshit. 

I am not blind to the fact none of this would've went down had a stalker not went digging for shit. No one would've known about the original doc a year ago had a suspected gore anon not stirred the pot after the callout post that got sent to the VAs. That was purposeful manipulation. No doubt about it. They wanted to pull up anything and everything on one of the few people that was trying to defend those that were getting harassed because of the big blogs. You'd have to be either really young, or really stupid to not've seen that bigger picture 

I also don't fucking trust ANYONE that makes a callout / awareness post for ANY REASON. I don't care who you are. As a quotev veteran of 7 years, someone who watched their friend get dogpiled on by big blogs 3 years ago in the Sonic fandom bc how dare a minor be uncomfortable with public porn of minor characters on tumblr, seen kids purposely catfish adults in the MHA quotev fandom so they could frame them for pedophilia any time their advances were put to a stop, the entire Revie and Jasper situation in the FNF vs Sonic.exe corner of twitter where one adult was partially framed once again by a kid that couldn't handle being told no, meanwhile the other had legit CP on their computer come to find out and was the Actual danger in the fandom 

So imagine my reaction of trying to escape to the fnafsb fandom and to tsams. Here 👏 we 👏 fucking 👏 go 👏 again. It's like everyone was born yesterday and baby spanking new to the Internet. How has No One learned the consequences of their actions. Adults included btw, just as childish if not worse than the teens that haven't learn basic internet etiquette. What the fuck is your excuse you're in your 20s, how is your media literacy This low mf. Smh 

All I can say is thank God I've decided to grow and mature as a person. And by that, coming to the conclusion that everything is ultimately ✨none of my fucking business✨ 

Bc guess what, it ain't. Just bc people airing out the dirty laundry does not mean I need to get involved and throw myself to the drama wolves. Sometimes, I don't need to have an opinion. Sometimes, if I do have an opinion, I know to keep it to myself unless I'm asked for it by my therapist or friends (and not anons guys I am begging you to not get baited by trolls please for the love of all things holy. Assume good faith in strangers, but never in anons. They use innocent questions all the time to pull a gotcha) 

Ultimately? All sides are guilty of some level of shit, end of discussion. 1) I already had beef with with the whole 'ur pd is showing' on a personal level. I will never forgive for that. In no scenario with strangers is that ever fucking okay. 2) I ain't gonna let the little fibs slide. I've seen the screenshots in the newest doc, I've compared the posts. A liar is a liar. 3) I personally don't like nor trust em. Didn't originally, definitely don't now. But again I acknowledge that's a personal decision. 4) I did not fucking like seeing people stalk the gore anon victims once again just so they can dig up scraps to support their persecution of their past abuser. 5) I am in no way denying the abuse they did infact go through. It was horrible to see, and I can only empathize with my own trauma from abusive relationships. 6) I am also however acknowledging that trying to drive them off of social media is not a realistic solution and is infact anti-recovery. So some of you are infact a hypocrite for wanting to abolish prisons and then pulling This kind of shit. Revenge is not justice. 7) if you wanna cut someone out of your life, you have to stop talking about them and 'looking out for their potential victims' or you're just going to feed the flames of drama. Be the bigger person and put down the stick if you're tired of the burn. This goes for everyone btw. 8) for the record I would not be Nearly as on the fence as I am rn if it weren't for [redacted] having learned this behavior from also being a victim of somebody else. It is incredibly common for those that have been groomed and/or abused in the past to then continue to seek out those same types of relationships. Especially if they never learned the why or how said relationships were fucked up in the first place. 

9) it is no one's place to decide if other people are allowed to give someone a second or third chance to be a better person. Idgaf if they're a victim or not. You do not have the right to dictate who talks to who. That is red flag toxic yaoi shit my dear friend. I, do not agree with a few of my mutuals chosing to befriend or forgive them. But I also know it is not my fucking place to tell them to do different. It is not my place to control who is with who for whatever reason. I don't like it, I don't agree with it, but I ain't gonna start shit talking left and right, throwing my opinions all about, and force them to do as I do. 

This is where the maturity clarity thing comes in btw. I don't like it. I have a bad feeling about it. I don't agree with these decisions my mutuals have made. But you know what? ✨It's none of my fucking business✨ and I mean it. That means, after I'm done venting here I'm dropping the topic. That means, just bc I don't like them that I'm gonna start bad mouthing to my mutuals about their friend. You don't go to your bestie and shit talk about their boyfriend right to them, that's messed up af. And this is no different 

Also, sidenote, fuck all y'all for using stranger's posts on the internet to drag someone else's name through the mud and reposting them to a doc without consent. Which Did happen to me with the big blogs vs confessions btw. I am still, very much not okay about that and I can't believe that's happening to other ppl too but for a different call-out. 

but fucking, trying to compare a fictional ship and saying it's worse than people who got groomed?

You are on razor thin fucking ice. Pull your head out of your ass, shut up, and sit the hell down before you spout any more stupid shit for the love of God. That about pisses me off more than anything right now I'm so livid. And I've been silently seething with rage since August so that's not to be taken lightly

----

[P.S. thank you to mod for being a place ppl can go to, idk what I would've done since I don't have therapy till next week. Sorry if I don't make any sense whatsoever btw, I am tired, it is 1 am, and my bpd ass is extremely emotional rn with no viable outlet except here. I am aware that reality is not what it seems past midnight as I am prone to delusion, so I'm genuinely not allowed to *talk* talk to ppl this late at night for everyone's well being, including myself. So again: thank you. Hope you're doing well, in spite of everything going on. Drinking water, petting cats, monching bread, etc, and letting the small things in life into your heart to spread wonder. Have a good night]

.

[hetagrammy]

Rome, #9 ! :)

Gonna preface this by saying I am no expert in Roman history, and even less informed about the Etruscans. The ancient world's lack of sources continues to cause me pain

He started out originally as the personification of the Latins, born sometime around 900-800 BC

He served as a vassal state to Etruria before rebelling against her in 509 BC when the Republic was formed. The two had a bit of a mentor/mentee relationship, but Rome eventually came to resent her

Despite his resentment and his ego, he knows deep down he owed a lot of his success to her, and he respected her

His teen years were essentially just him continually slogging through war after war, but he grew very rapidly during this period. He started out his wars with Etruria physically 12 or so and began the Punic Wars closer to 18-19

He initially was treated with a lot of condescension by Carthage, but ultimately they were... coolly friendly with each other. I think it was reminiscent of China's relationship with Japan. By the time of their second treaty however, she recognized he wasn't a scared little boy anymore- and most importantly he wasn't afraid of her anymore

I think that actually defeating Etruria gave Rome a bit of a power high, and the first time he had the thought "Why stop here?" And who stood in his way of becoming the most dominant power in the Mediterranean but Carthage?

I think that drive also came from a sense that he wasn't going to give anyone else the chance to make him subservient again

I think he started to grow out his beard during the Punic Wars, sort of signaling his growth into an adult

He also took in his first ward during the Punic Wars, Spain

He met Ancient Greece around the 200 BC, and she was 100% his first love. They'd continue to have a pretty tempestuous relationship until after the Achaean War and their eventual marriage. It definitely wasn't perfect, but it grew significantly more stable

I think his whole thing with Ancient Egypt was more of a fling than an actual relationship. They were both aware they were trying to use each other and had the attitude of "Why not have a little fun while I'm at it?"

Generally, I think that through much of the Roman Republic he went through this phase of being hyperambitious and hedonistic. Kind of like a high schooler transitioning to college and going off the rails, but if he had access to Bronze Age weapons and beef with half the Mediterranean

Once the Empire got going and he had to start worrying about internal problems (and kids because whoops, he got Ancient Greece pregnant and Romano happened) he settled down a bit more. Definitely still self-serving and wily, but he had attachments and people to care about that made him more cautious

That's all I have at the moment. At some point I need to do a proper deep dive into Early Rome and Etruria

[fenharel-apologist94]

a Tag Game Tuesday: The MySpace Survey ⭐️

I was tagged by @salesmain!! :D This looks like so much fun, thank you!!

Answers beneath the read more!

what’s your name? I don't really want to share my actual name, but I go by Icy online :) <3

your sun sign: Capricorn

the last song you listened to: Healing Termina by Theophany - I just put Spotify on shuffle while writing lol

what are you wearing right now? My pjs bc I should be sleeping BUT

how tall are you?  5'3" (RIP to me)

piercings? Lobe piercings and a conch piercing in my right ear! I used to have two helix studs but I got them right before the pandemic and the straps on my masks irritated them so much that they never fully healed ;w; I had to call it after 2 years of them not healing, and maybe one day I'll get them re-pierced

tattoos? Yes! I'm addicted! I have a sunflower/bee tattoo, a flower, a demon-fox, and sprigs of lavender on my left arm - I'm trying to fill out that arm as my budget allows

glasses? contacts? I am,,,, so blind. I wear glasses and I need to update my prescription because I've let it go so long that I probably shouldn't be driving when its dark

last drink? Chamomile lavender tea to hopefully make me sleepyyy

last thing you ate? Spanish curry rice with beef and spinch

favourite colour? This one's hard for me, but I'll say Dreadwolf purple bc it's on brand and I do genuinely love it

any pets? I have two cats! Starbucks is a black cat (and if you're following me on my main blog, he's my pfp!), and he's a senior cat who just loves cuddles and food. We joke that I'm his Emotional Support Human because he loves being where I am and will smother me if given half a chance. Our other cat, Shoresy, is a tuxedo kitty and he's so full of love and also so full of fear ;w; He will come trotting over for cuddles but he's also very skiddish.

do you have a crush on anyone? YEGH it's my husband XD

favourite fictional character?  I, um. I have this brain disease, you see. It makes me incredibly and irrationally attached to a sentient egg named Solas and I'm legally obligated financial compensation from BioWare for emotional damage.

a movie you think everyone should watch: Secondhand Lions - this movie wrecks me every time because it's about coming of age and found family and grumpy old men who found themselves with a kid they didn't want but ended up loving anyway. Takes me out every time.

a book you think everyone should read: It's not really a book, but it's a play. Cyrano de Bergerac. In hindsight, I seem to have a thing for witty, tragic men who don't think they're worth anything :')

the last place you traveled: Boston! I had my first lobster roll and I went to heaven.

something you’re looking forward to: whenever I'm able to get more than five hours of sleep hhhhhhh

—

I tag @beastofmoss, @transprincecaspian and @vahingoniloinenlapsi if you feel like you would like to do this! :D

[emeraldspiral]

#funny story#idr who#but some fucking guy#had pra/dr dni on their blog. which mind mew. NOBODY ELSE EXCEPT ME posts about#so it was basically tumblr mewser vermicide dni#but thats not the point#i do think#that its mainly the fact ppl cant recognize that not efurrything that makes them purrsonally uncomfurtable is morally wrong#people will just make scenarios and shit up to justify not liking it#and getting ofur people to not post abt it#and i do think homophobia plays into it#beclaws its always ''dont ship children'' until those children are a boy and a girl#beclaws they think gay relationships are inherently more sexual#whefur they recognize that within themself or not#so#¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#prev tags help...they were literally just calling you out specifically thats crazyy#but anyways yeah its fascinating to me and re the deviantart days#people would also say its not canon so you cant ship it which was basically also code for i dont like gay people#bc absolutely no gay ships were canon at that point in time#fandoms always had to beef about ship discourse the morality debate is just the new form its taken methinks#and its gotta be virtue signaling i promise u at least half of the people into zadf and vocally against zadr for this reason#probably like zadr#but itd get u skewered no matter what u think about zims age or the discourse as a whole 🤷‍♀️

Yall writing entire essays in the tags.

LOL at someone feeling the need to DNI the rarest rarepair.

And yes, so many people's argument against ships they don't like is "it's not canon" as if it matters when nothing made by the fans is canon anyway, that's what transformative fandom is. People were like that about Reylo too and Reylo actually was canon while the same people who were claiming it wasn't kept insisting that F1nnRey or Rey being Han or Luke's kid was canon despite the actors repeatedly saying it wasn't even before TLJ came out. Discussion of Reylo was even banned on a popular SW forum because the mods were so adamant that SW wasn't about icky romance (as if HanLeia and Anidala weren't a thing in the previous trilogies) and romance couldn't possibly have a place in serious discussions or speculation about the sequel trilogy (until male YouTubers started saying shit the mostly female Reylo fandom had been saying for years, then it was suddenly treated as credible). But male theorists were always free to speculate about ridiculously edgy and cynical concepts that were completely antithetical to SW's tone, ideology, and themes and be taken seriously.

When you look deeper, it always comes down to people being really possessive of their media and projecting too hard on their blorbos and taking anything that contradicts their headcanons as a personal attack. People hated Reylo because they wanted Rey to be their self-insert who got with one of the other guys they thought was more attractive than Adam Driver, or be a lesbian, or be a Strong Independent Woman Who Don't Need No Man, or they wanted her to be the child of one of their faves and be grateful for it and violently punish Ben and usurp his position in the Skywalker family for having the audacity to imply that their heroes might not be the best parents in the world due to war trauma, because that ruins their power fantasy.

Back in the day, when homophobia was way more prominent, "it's not canon" absolutely was a dogwhistle for "I am uncomfortable when things are gay". You still see this in the TF2 fandom with some people insisting none of the mercs can be gay because it takes place in the 60s and gay people apparently didn't exist until 2015. Nowadays transphobia is a lot more in vogue than homophobia, so you're more likely to see people trying to disprove trans interpretations and play it off like their problem with it is that "it's not canon" rather than just admitting that the idea of their fav being trans is icky to them.

Also, there absolutely are closeted shippers. Like, I see people all the time saying they've gotten anons and private messages from people who feel like they have to hide the fact that they ship something because they hang out with antis and they're afraid of being eviscerated by their followers and mutuals because bitches can't just unfollow and block like civilized people. The absolutely appalling situation with Ang Vondra is far from an isolated incident. There are many stories out there of antis attacking people they feel "betrayed" them by stepping outside the party line or leaving their toxic-ass group. Anti circles are basically cults where there's one person or a handful of really abusive, manipulative people at the top of the social hierarchy dictating the rules which give them an excuse to bully people while pretending to have the moral high ground. Then there's the people below them who are emotionally manipulated into buying the rhetoric because they want to be good people and the leaders are telling them "believe what I say or you're a horrible person" so they're too afraid to disagree. And if you made the mistake of trusting any of these people and revealing anything to them that could be used to hurt you, it is absolutely reasonable to fear that it will be weaponized against you.

i've been noticing this pattern for a while now, and i can't think of anything other than that word that starts with homo and ends with phobia

[silverlightqueen]

Moonlight 

silverlightqueen’s SKZ Scarefest

werewolf!Chan x human!reader ft. the rest of skz and itzy lia, ryujin and yeji - comedy, fluff, Chan is a cute shy softie but also a big strong muscly Alpha

Word Count: 3.5k+

Summary - y/n likes the night shifts at the diner. She rarely gets any customers coming in, so it’s peaceful, and she can even sneak in a nap from time to time. But not tonight. No, probably not best to nap when, in the early hours of the morning, a pack of wolves walk in looking like hell.

Warnings: a little bit of blood, talk of violence, raw bloody meat (never thought that’d be a warning but here we are), I think that’s it but pls let me know if you noticed that I missed something!

a/n: and here is the first instalment of my SKZ Scarefest! I really hope you guys enjoy it, and keep an eye out for the following parts in the next few days! this is for you @silverlightprincess​ bc you’re the best proofreader and I love you x

taglist: @kodzu-ken​ @silverlightprincess​

silverlightqueen navigation

‘Are you sure you’ll be okay by yourself?’ Lia asks me, and I laugh, nodding for the fiftieth time. ‘I’ll be totally fine. Just go, pick up your stupid boyfriend,’ I say, and she rolls her eyes, doing up the buttons on her coat. ‘If I have to pick him up from A&E one more time, I’ll be the one sending him there,’ she threatens half-heartedly, my laughter following her out of the back door.

The diner falls silent once the door’s shut, and I turn on the radio, putting it on low so I can hear if any customers enter. It’s highly unlikely for anyone to show up at this hour, but just in case. I roll my neck, tired after working such a long shift, and I check the clock. Just an hour and a half until 5am, when Yeji and Ryujin will show up for a shift change. An hour and a half of time to kill. I decide to get some food cooking, ready for the breakfast rush at 6am – truckers love their early morning waffles and pancakes – and then I sit at the stool behind the till, scrolling through my phone aimlessly.

It's a cold night outside, the windows fogged up and the pitch-black night sky just about visible through them. A pretty crescent moon shines down a pale white light, casting an eerie glow over the surroundings, and there are no cars passing by on the road, meaning I’m completely alone. A text comes through from one of the girls in my friendship group friend, Chaeryeong, asking if I’ve decided what I’m wearing to our friend Jackson’s Halloween party next week – it’s 8 nights away to be exact. Jackson’s Halloween party is always the party of the year, and we’re all so excited for it. It’s a full moon and everything, so we’re hoping it’ll be a little spookier than usual.

The bell at the front door rings out into the quiet, cutting across the generic lofi song playing from the radio and making me look up in surprise. A boy – he can’t be much older than 20 – walks in, his clothes dirty and ripped, his clear skin marked with mud and grass stains. His blond hair, long enough to brush his shoulders, is a tousled and tangled mess, woven with twigs and grass, and he looks tired as hell. He trudges in, not even looking at me, and collapses into the chair closest to him.

My heartrate instantly increases. What on earth is going on? Why has this… kid walked in, at half 3 in the morning, all alone, looking an absolute state? Should I ask him if he’s okay, or leave him to it? I should mind my business, right? Probably best not to talk to someone in that state. He might be some psycho. What if he is a psycho? And this is some ploy to get me to go over to him so he can attack me? Maybe I should phone my boss? Who am I kidding? There’s no way his lazy ass will answer.

The bell ringing for a second time interrupts my spiralling train of thought, and my eyes flit to the door to see another boy walking in, around the same age, and just as messy as the first boy. And another boy follows him in. And another, and another, and anoth-

There are eight of them in total, slumped into chairs around the two tables closest to the door. They all look exhausted, and in absolute states. And then realisation washes over me, making me relax a little. They’re werewolves.

We’ve always had werewolves around here. Two different packs live on opposite sides of town, and their rivalry has meant their identity has never exactly been a secret. This is the first time I’m ever seeing any of them in their human form, though (I’ve seen flashes of wolves running past the house in the middle of the night when it’s a full moon, but never close up) and I’m… surprised. They’re all quite… small. I guess I always expected werewolves to be tall and bulky, but only two of them are really… muscly, and they’re all short.

They’re all completely silent, save for their heavy breathing, and I wonder why they’ve stumbled into the diner to just sit at their tables. ‘Are you gonna just stand there, breathing obnoxiously loudly, or are you gonna take our order?’ one of them calls out tiredly, his back to me meaning the only part of him that I can see is his black hair, and I feel my face twist with annoyance. I don’t care if he’s a carnivore that could kill me in an instant if he wanted to. He does not get to come into my workplace and disrespect me. ‘Actually, you’re supposed to come up here and order,’ I reply indignantly, low laughter rippling through the group of boys as the boy who spoke lifts his head, turning to look at me angrily, his eyes flashing red. He has a long cut across his cheek, blood dried around it.

‘What did you just say to m-’ ‘Shut it, Jisung,’ the blond-haired boy says with a small grin, the black-haired boy – Jisung – turning to him aggressively. ‘Don’t tell me to shut it, Hyunjin. I won’t have a little human girl disrespect m-’ ‘Be quiet, Jisung. You were disrespectful to her first,’ another of the boys says calmly, and my eyes flit to him, my stomach turning when I realise he’s already looking at me. He’s one of the muscular boys, his hair sandy brown and fluffy, and his face soft and kind. His lips quirk up in a smile, a deep dimple denting one cheek, and I give him a small smile back, my heart fluttering. He might be a werewolf, but he’s a cute one.

I expect Jisung to give him some annoying retort, but he bites his lip, slumping down in his seat angrily, and the brown-haired boy rolls his eyes, rising from his seat. He makes his way over to me, and I try not to ogle him, but it’s difficult with his shirt ripped diagonally across the front, exposing one strong shoulder and a flash of hard abs, my heart skipping a beat at how gorgeous he is. Thank god I decided to wear a cute outfit today, even if it is hidden behind my white apron.

He slides onto one of the stools on the other side of the counter, leaning on one hand with a sigh, and I don’t know what to say other than, ‘Would you like to order something?’ ‘Um, yeah, actually. We’re quite… hungry. Have you got any… chicken, or beef, or any meat, for that matter?’ he asks, and I blink at him in surprise. I’ve never had someone ordering meat before lunch, let alone at half 3 in the morning. Though, I’ve never served werewolves either, so I guess I’m having a few firsts today.

‘Meat?’ I ask, and he lets out a little chuckle, his soft brown eyes locked with mine and making my heart flutter. ‘Yeah. Meat,’ he says with a small smile. His voice is nice, smooth and melodious with a hint of an accent. ‘Um, I don’t have any ready now, but I’ll start cooking some, and it should be ready in… half an hour?’ I say, and his smile slips into a small frown. ‘Um… no, that won’t be any good. You’ve got raw meat, right?’ he asks, and I feel myself malfunctioning for a moment, before I nod. ‘Can we just have a portion of raw meat each, please? I’ll pay whatever for it,’ he says, and I just stare at him.

‘You want… raw meat?’ I ask, and he lets out another soft chuckle. ‘Yes, please. I’m sure you’ve worked out what we are by now, so you probably know we can eat meat whilst it’s still alive. Raw meat’s just fine for us,’ he says with a grin, and I just nod, still in shock. ‘Okay. I’ll… get you raw meat. Is beef okay? One raw steak each?’ I ask, and he nods, smiling widely. ‘Beef’s perfect. But make it two steaks each please.’ ‘Um, okay. 16 steaks,’ I say, unable to believe I’m about to prepare raw steaks for 8 werewolves, and he just nods, still smiling his handsome smile.

He pays for the steaks, and orders a stack of pancakes and a milkshake for each of them too. The total is one of the most expensive orders we’ve ever had, but he doesn’t bat an eyelid, putting it on his credit card wordlessly. I go into the back to get their steaks ready, trying not to retch at having to put raw bloody beef onto plates for them, and I’m still holding back a retch when I take their plates over, the eight of them staring at the food hungrily. But I can’t help but let out a gag when one of them lifts his plate to his mouth and takes a massive chunk out of the steak, blood rolling down his chin.

The rest of them all laugh at my reaction, the brown-haired boy wincing as he says, ‘half of that bite was gristle, Changbin.’ So they’re happy to eat raw bloody steak, but they’re above eating the gristle? Weird but whatever. The boy who ate the steak – Changbin – just nods, before opening his mouth and pulling out the gristle with his dirty fingers, grinning at my look of disbelief. ‘Never seen a werewolf eat before?’ he asks, eyes sparkling, and I shake my head, still blinking in shock.

‘Take a seat, sweetheart. Tell us about yourself,’ one of the boys says with a smile, hand running through his chocolate brown locks, and I feel my heartrate increase. ‘Don’t worry. We’re not gonna hurt you,’ another of the boys says softly before I can even reply, his hair grey and long at the back, his eyes sparkly and wide. ‘I’m not worried,’ I lie, and they all laugh. ‘We can hear your heartbeat, and it’s pretty fast,’ one of the boys says, this one kind looking with blue locks and a soft baby face, and I feel ridiculously stupid.

‘Well… I can’t sit. I’ve got a job to do.’ ‘There’s no one here other than us. If you don’t want to sit with us, just come out and say it. Don’t beat around the bush,’ Jisung says bluntly, steak in his mouth as he speaks, his cheeks puffing out adorably. ‘We’re a group of werewolves; why would she want to sit with us?’ the brown-haired boy says amusedly, and I hope he doesn’t hear my heart stopping momentarily when he turns his half-smile to me. ‘Usually human girls find us attractive,’ the blond-haired boy – Hyunjin – says matter-of-factly, too focused on his raw steak to look up at me. ‘I probably would find you attractive if you didn’t all look like you’ve lost a fight with an angry bush,’ I say dryly, all of them laughing with their mouths full, making me feel slightly… disgusted.

‘Are the pancakes ready?’ the boy with black hair asks, and I check my watch. ‘Four minutes. How come you guys are so… hungry? Haven’t you been hunting?’ I ask, and they all exchange an amused glance before looking to the boy with brown hair. He doesn’t say anything, just looking at me unreadably, and it’s clear that there’s some sort of secret here. He lets out a little sigh, obviously deciding to tell me, and then he speaks; ‘We only hunt on full moons.’ ‘Oh, of course. The full moon isn’t until next week,’ I say, feeling stupid again, and they all nod. ‘On Halloween. Let’s hope there aren’t any trick-or-treaters in the woods,’ the chocolate brown-haired boy says with a small smirk, and I feel a shiver go down my spine.

‘Do you guys really attack humans?’ I ask, and they let out gentle laughs, obviously amused at how little I know of them. ‘We don’t have much control over our wolf selves, so if a human crosses our path, yes. Well, Alphas can control their wolf selves, so our Alpha will usually stop us from attacking a human. But if our Alpha isn’t there… we’d kill them without a moment of hesitation,’ the grey-haired boy explains, and I listen intently, interested. ‘Who’s your Alpha?’ I ask out of curiosity, and they all look to the brown-haired boy, answering my question. My stomach turns with butterflies when he looks at me, a small smile playing at his lips as he says, ‘that’d be me.’ I don’t know why, but something about him being the Alpha wolf makes him ten times sexier than he already is.

‘Oh. Okay. So, wait, if you guys weren’t hunting, why are you all so… dirty?’ I ask, and Changbin raises an eyebrow. ‘I thought you were supposed to be telling us about you.’ ‘I’m nowhere near as interesting as you guys.’ ‘No, sweetheart, we’re very interested in you,’ Hyunjin smirks, my heart fluttering. And then, as though they can hear something I can’t, they all suddenly turn their heads to the brown-haired boy, almost… nervous expressions on their faces. ‘I didn’t realise, Chan, sor-’ ‘It’s alright, Jin, don’t apologise,’ the brown-haired boy – Chan (definitely suits him) – says gently, his eyes not leaving mine, and I can’t help but wonder what on earth just happened. It’s like they had some sort of conversation and I missed the entire thing.

‘We got into a fight with some of the boys from the other pack,’ Chan murmurs, the atmosphere returning back to normal, and I feel my eyes widen. ‘Really? Who won?’ I ask, a light laugh running around the group at that question. ‘Us.’ ‘Really?’ I ask, even sounding sceptical to my own ears, and they all laugh again. ‘Might not look like we won, but we’re all still alive. Can’t say the same for the other pack,’ Chan says softly, and I blink in surprise. ‘Oh. Why’d you fight them?’ I ask, and they all look to Jisung, the boy rolling his eyes. ‘Because they provoked me.’ ‘No. One of them looked at you, and you started on him,’ the black-haired boy says bluntly, Jisung pouting. ‘Whatever, Seungmin. You didn’t see how he looked at me,’ he says sulkily, the others rolling their eyes at him.

‘However he looked at you, it wasn’t enough to warrant me killing him, but I did anyway, because of you. So learn to keep a lid on your temper, Sung, because I’ll make you fight them yourself next time instead of us involving ourselves. Understood?’ Chan says, tone gentle with a slight edge, and Jisung just nods, obviously opting not to pipe up to the Alpha. Everyone’s silent after that, and the air becomes a little awkward. ‘I’ll just go get your pancakes,’ I say, not waiting for a response before I turn and head towards the back.

I plate their pancakes up, all pretty with syrup and whipped cream and strawberries, and I take them out to them only a few minutes later. They’ve stacked up their empty plates for me at the edge of one of the tables, the gristle all piled up on the top plate, and my heart warms a little; it’s quite sweet of them to make my job a bit easier for me. I put their pancakes down in front of them, each of them murmuring their thanks, and Chan grins at me when I put his down. ‘It looks pretty,’ he says, and I preen at the praise – I always plate up the waffles whenever I’m on shift, because my boss, Jinyoung, liked the way I do them. ‘Pretty like her, huh, Chan?’ Changbin says with a grin, my cheeks heating up, and Chan just death-stares him, the others all silent. ‘Sorry,’ Changbin says sheepishly, dropping his head to look at the plate in front of him.

‘Did you guys fight the other pack as humans then?’ I ask, trying to change the subject, Chan chuckling at the question. ‘You’re a curious girl, huh?’ he asks, and I feel a little embarrassed. ‘Sorry.’ ‘No, don’t… be sorry. It’s cute,’ he says hesitantly, and I can’t hold back the shy smile that spreads across my lips, the other boys all looking amused at their Alpha’s shy flirting. He clears his throat, embarrassed, before answering my question; ‘those of us that are older wolves – myself, Minho and Changbin – can turn into wolves at will, but the younger ones aren’t at that stage yet. Hyunjin, Jisung, Felix and Seungmin can do a half-turn, and Jeongin can’t complete any kind of turn yet. He’s getting there, though,’ Chan adds kindly, patting the blue-haired boy’s arm.

I can’t help but quiz them, so fascinated at how different they are to me, despite looking so normal. By the time Ryujin and Yeji arrive for their shift, I’m perched on a table, chatting comfortably to them about their pack hierarchy whilst we all sip on milkshakes. ‘You look busy, y/n,’ Ryujin calls out amusedly from behind the counter, her and Yeji both grinning at me, and I feel my cheeks heating up. ‘I made some new friends,’ I say mildly, the boys all grinning at the girls, and I realise with a little jolt that all of them have perfectly white teeth, their canines sharp and lethal.

‘We better get going. The pack elders won’t be impressed with you, Jisung, and they’ll be even less impressed at us disappearing all night,’ Chan says sombrely, Jisung looking ashamed of himself as he nods. They all start to rise from their seats, ready to leave, and I feel a little sad as I watch Chan trying to fix his shirt, his muscles rippling with each movement. ‘We’ll drop in again, for some more steak. Maybe cooked next time,’ Chan jokes as the others head towards the door, and I let out a little laugh, nodding shyly. ‘That’d be nice.’ ‘Here. A tip, for your great service,’ Chan says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a wad of notes. He takes my hand into his gently, a thrill running up my arm at the contact, and puts the notes into my palm, closing my fingers over them. ‘Chan, that’s too gener-’ ‘It’s fine. Just take the tip… y/n,’ he murmurs softly, my name sounding heavenly on his lips, my eyes locking with his sparkly brown ones, his smile mesmerising me. ‘Thank you,’ I reply, and he grins, his dimple reappearing and making my heart flutter.

He heads towards the door where the other boys are waiting, waving goodbye once more before they leave into the dawn, the door shutting behind them with a thud. ‘Oh, my God! y/n has a cute werewolf boyfriend!’ Ryujin exclaims, and I hold a hand over my face embarrassedly. ‘He’s not my boyfriend!’ ‘He wants to be! Look at the tip he gave you. He’s into you.’ ‘And he’s hot, y/n! If he comes in again, you better get his number!’

I leave after promising them I’ll make a move next time I see him, and I’m still laughing to myself at their enthusiasm as I step out of the back door, wrapped up in my big winter coat. The sun has just begun to rise, streaking the sky with beautiful pastel colours, but it’s still freezing, my breath fogging in the air as the cold sets into my bones.

I head over to my car, opening the door, and then, out of the corner of my eye, I see something move in the trees on the other side of the car park, and I look over, alarmed. There’s a big dark… shape, and I squint into the darkness, trying to make it out. I realise it’s a wolf, with thick, glossy sandy brown fur and big shiny brown eyes. The wolf stands proud, exuding power, and I just know that it’s Chan. I smile, knowing I’m probably crazy for smiling into the eyes of a lethal and wild creature, even crazier for lifting up a hand in a coy wave, but I’m rewarded when he bows his head in a nod, and maybe I’m imagining it, but I’m almost certain I can see an amused glint in his eyes.

I climb into my car, smiling to myself, Chan still stood there watching, and I wait until he’s disappeared into the trees before I start the car. A loud howl echoes out into the air, ringing in my ears, followed by a chorus of howls, melding into one another like a symphony, and the sound makes me smile.

When I get home and collapse into my bed, I decide to count through the notes that Chan gave me as a tip, and my heart melts when a little slip of paper flutters out of the notes – his phone number with a smiley face written beside it. My parents always told me to stay away from the wolves, but maybe they aren’t all bad.

[we-are-inevitable]

IT INVOLVES A CROSS COUNTRY ROAD TRIP???? JAC!!!! HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT'S MY FAVORITE THING EVER?? Okay but consider them stopping at a gas station. What snack are they getting? Does Jack come back with his arms full of way more than they need? How do they divide up who is driving when? Are they going somewhere specific or are they just driving? Most importantly, what music are they listening too? Do they hate each other's taste in music or do they vibe? TELL ME EVERYTHING! Also star gazing.

I AM SO SO EXCITED FOR THIS

okay so first of all: the concept was sent in by the LOVELY @orestes-fasted, tysm dear !!

and i guess i can give yall the rundown!

so, cross country road trip.

not really a ‘road trip’, but !! basically, Jack has a rodeo that he’s competing in. a big one, a national one (but not The national one), and it’s across the country.

and maybe it’s a little stupid for jack to go, but it’s senior season and he wants to go all out.

plus, big competition = big prize money, and he’s kind of trying to go to college, sooooo

side note: i have only been to small local rodeos so None Of This is going to be accurate but that’s ok

ANYWAY he doesn’t wanna make the trip alone, so after some pleading, davey decides to go with him.

and that’s basically the premise of the fic !! obviously there’s going to be more substance in the actual fic but this is the prompt

and to answer your questions:

jack is very much a savory kind of guy !! i don’t really see him as having a huge sweet tooth, but some of his essentials are: original chex mix, barbecue chips, pretzels, beef jerky (specifically the jack links sweet & hot flavor), and like. the cheesy popcorn stuff ?? he really likes those

meanwhile davey gets like,, the healthier stuff?? he really likes granola bars, veggie chips, trail mix, etc.!!

but they DO get a big bag of jolly ranchers to share. they both like tart and sour stuff

since it’s jack’s truck, jack is going to do most of the driving- plus, he’s the one with experience pulling the trailer! but davey does drive now and then, usually when they’re going through farmland and side roads so there isn’t as much traffic

ohhhh music. okay. this is where it gets Tricky.

jack likes old country music. davey likes indie bands.

after some conversation, they decide to switch every hour on the hour; one hour of jack’s music, one hour of davey’s. but eventually, somewhere around the twelve hour mark, they end up listening to either broadway musicals or disney channel original movie soundtracks, and they BOTH sing along.

by the end of the trip, davey has found a new love of older country music and jack has found some new bands to listen to that he’s never heard of.

side note bc i’m very much projecting on davey right now: some of those bands include The National Parks, Beach weather, Bad Suns, Young Rising Sons, COIN, HARBOUR, Truslow, Smallpools, WILD, and CRUISR (idk if these are all indie bands but they Fit The Vibes that i’m looking for (basically davey’s music taste can be found in any Coming Of Age movie soundtrack))

i really cannot wait for this !! also, it takes place about a month and a half after my last installment; jack is healed from his mishap with Dolly and everything is nice and good !! not really though!!! but also yeah !!!

[witchofrvnswood]

awwp rant pt. 2: the characters!

oh boy we’re finally back with part 2! 

so in part 1, i discussed plot points that i found troubling and nonsensical. this time, i’m talking about the characters and how they each pissed me off <3

note: am only doing the ones i have beef with, everyone else is cool

let’s start with sophie:

sophie

i’ll be honest, i’ve been conflicted on her character in this book for quite some time. but i think i understand my opinion on her in book 2 much better now that i’ve really thought about it. 

so this is the book where she’s probably at her most vulnerable (book 3 could be a contender too). she just lost her mind, killed many people, and is trying so hard to prove that she is good and deny everything that she had done the previous year. we also see why she behaves the way she does, with losing her mother at a young age and blaming her father for neglecting them. we understand why she goes so far to obtain love and why she ranks true love above everything else.

but her methods with dealing with this is toxic. she sees agatha as a tool for a happy ending, and it seems to come more out of desperation to belong with someone, then wanting agatha herself, as she easily dropped her for rafal and then tedros in book three. she does whatever she can to ensure agatha chooses her and only her much like tedros does in this book.

she sneaks out and follows agatha, makes agatha believe tedros tried to hurt her, comforted her and claimed she had “warned agatha” but also acted super forgiving as if agatha was the one who was in the wrong for doubting her and when the truth comes out, pins it all on agatha for trying to choose someone besides. her. now, agatha is not completely in the right in this situation, but what sophie does is so manipulative and cunning. without knowing her backstory and sympathizing with her, she would easily be soon as a cruel and toxic person.

her time as filip was very humbling for her and she realized what she did was completely wrong and she begans to sympathize with tedros and realize maybe he isn’t the villain of the story like she painted him to be. of course, this goes a bit far and she finds herself attracted to him.... which..... did not need to happen considering how toxic their relationship was in book 1.

at the end, she chose rafal out of desperation to be loved, showing she still hasn’t changed and ended up staying with him as he supposedly was the only person in the world who still loved her. (wrong very wrong he’s awful but we’ll get to that later-)

tedros

bro. broooooo. when i tell you i wanted to throw the darn book when i read his scenes in the first half of the book-

when dovey was explaining tedros’ actions after sophie and agatha left, i could not believe it, i thought she had to be joking because no way does an individual overreact to THAT point.

he literally wanted to murder sophie as revenge for taking agatha away from him?? what?? is he mentally okay? i understand seeing her as a barrier between them because, yeah, he’s always been insecure cause his dad’s best friend stole his mom away from him so that must’ve hit a nerve, but agatha willingly went with sophie. why does he need to hurt sophie over this? it’s up to agatha who she chooses, not sophie. and she chose him! she told him right to his face that she chose him and he’s still like “no we have to kill sophie first-” sir-

not to mention how generally messed up this message is? tedros claims that you can’t be in a relationship and have friends at the same time. what?? why is this in the book? why is this even a theme? of course you should be able to have friends and have a relationship, when did that suddenly become impossible?

 “I let her live last time and she took you! I can’t make the same mistake, Agatha. I can’t lose you again!” (Chapter 12). this is basically tedros trying to cut off agatha’s friendship because he knows she’s close with sophie and is worried she’ll choose her over him and he sees his only solution to this to be killing sophie. honestly, if i were agatha, i would be fucking terrified of him, like when i was reading it i was thinking “run from this relationship please-”

which sucks because i’m a huge tagatha fan but they were undeniably toxic in this book for me.

in the second half though, that’s when i started feeling bad for him because he genuinely thought he got betrayed by agatha too and ugh that killed me bc after her, he had no hope for happiness left and that’s why he turned to revenge, but the moment he freed the teachers, he got locked up, starved, beaten, and tortured which is ??

i wouldn’t wish that on anyone (except aric lawl) and god he did not deserve that i felt so horrible for him. everyone turned against him, the entire school hated him, he fully believed his true love betrayed him, and he got beaten by aric every single night. as much as i despised him before this point, he did not deserve any of that and i’m so glad filip came when he? she? did because yeah it’s tophie all over again (yikes) but he REALLY needed a friend then and i’m so happy he got one.

ONLY TO GET BETRAYED BY HIM AGAIN RIP. sorry that was not needed but ahem

i was so so happy when he realized agatha never lied and ended up going home with her, as much as i hated the ending, i was happy for him and only him, boy’s been through too much.

but overall, i’d say i dislike him as a character in this book but i also felt super bad for him?? book 2 is so complicated y’all i have so many mixed feelings about everyone in this book.

agatha

okay. so. i keep going back and forth between being fucking annoyed at her and feeling bad for her which i feel is an understandable summary of how she is in this book.

her being scared of sophie - i completely understand that. i’d be surprised if she wasn’t. this is a girl who tried to kill her, tore her down, and went batshit crazy just nine months ago and is now suddenly calm but there’s still a bad vibe to her? and she chose her over someone who finally treated her well, finally saw her as an equal, and showed her that she doesn’t have to bear so much burden just to be loved back.

but i honestly felt kind of annoyed at how she automatically, no hesitation wanted to stay with tedros forever and never look back. um. honey. let’s break this down. we’re talking about a boy she has had no contact with for nine months, wasn’t even in a solid relationship with before she left, and said boy probably has beef with her for leaving him in the first place. and she feels completely fine with sneaking into his school and telling him she wants to be with him forever the SAME day she got back.

what??? is??? this???

this is the same agatha who berated sophie for trying to get with tedros the same day she met him without even knowing him well, right? the same agatha who you’d expect to be smart and think through emotional decisions like these, right? did they replace her personality what???

i get the coven pushed her to meet him immediately but this was just so poorly planned out and so tactless i can’t help but judge her sorry hun.

after that she makes herself believe sophie is good and perfect and maybe this is just her lying to herself because she’s mad at herself for choosing tedros but reading about her talking about how sophie is so amazing and perfect and loves her more than anything compared to being ready to bolt at the sight of her was just so fake. can we talk about how fake their friendship in this book? how fake it is in general? i think wbk.

at the end she finds out sophie lied despite the obvious clues (the scim suit (WHY WOULD BEATRIX USE IT), the spirick marks on sophie’s wrist yada yada yada) and she dumps her ass for tedros and decides they’re staying together forever despite barely knowing him as a person not to mention he just tried to kill her um-

(where is the logic in this book please help me i can’t seem to find it-)

the coven

i’ll be honest: they annoyed the HELL out of me in this book. well, specifically anadil and hester. they pressured agatha to choose tedros and go to him on the first day she got back (BAD PLAN) all so they could return to normal,,, which i guess isn’t out of character for them to do anything to get what they want but it really wasn’t their business? or at least they had no right to be as pushy as they were.

not to mention how HORRIBLE they were to dot. oh my god. the way they treated her in this book was disgusting and the lowest point in their friendship. at first i passed it off as them being hurt that dot replaced them and were lashing out because they had no better way to deal with their problems, which is true but also?? let’s not forget they BULLIED dot so bad in their first year and even kicked her out and replaced her with sophie and as far as we know, they never apologized for it. can we really blame dot for wanting new and kinder friends?

but even then they persisted to isolate her from others, shut down her book club which she used to make friends, and ended up forcing herself to gain weight if she wanted to keep their friendship. y’all i don’t even think anyone realizes how toxic the coven can be at times, the books spend a lot of time solidifying their frienship to the point that it ignores how awful it was at first. and not to mention dot is used to this treatment as she’s been physically and emotionally abused by her father, so as much as she dislikes their treatment of her, she still sees them as her friends and she will do anything to keep them.

i’m glad dot has learned to stand up for herself and gave it back to hester in tlea but god was her and anadil’s treatment of her sickiening.

professor dovey

i did not like her scene in the beginning of this book. she was awful to agatha and sophie and kept tossing blame for how the woods changed on them and yelling at agatha for not choosing tedros - um, she had a split second to decide and her friend literally died and came back to life a minute ago, how was she expected to leave her?

i dunno the way she berated them really got on my nerves because they’re just 15 year olds? they didn’t ask for their story to be told or for their personal relationships to affect the entire world? yes, if it had to be pointed towards anyone, it’s them, but instead of comforting them and trying to help them find a way to fix this, she goes all pointing fingers and straight up saying it would be easier if sophie was dead (not gonna lie i had a good giggle when i read this part but if you think about, that’s actually really sickening).

i’ll be honest, i love professor dovey as a character but she just seemed so cruel in book 2 i mean i get she was super frustrated but these children are confused and distraught enough already? she’s their teacher, she’s supposed to look after them but instead she just insulted them and stressed them out.

as for lady lesso, yes she did the same, but that was pretty in character for her. yes, it was wrong of her, but idk it’s something you would expect from her and she’s known to be the type to be tough on her students, while dovey is just not like that at all. and also, dovey was WAY more mean and short-tempered in this mean, i have to say.

evelyn sader

she was... an interesting villain. super cunning super devious i really admired her except for her doing all of this toxic feminism bullshit (which was honestly already bad enough!) for rafal,  A MAN. WHAT. how does that make ANY sense?

evelyn: #kam2020 make them boys your slaves we got this in the bag girls

also evelyn: omg rafal senpai notice me uwu i did all of this for you *gestures towards girls annihilating boys*

anyways her death was um... shocking. rip. or maybe not.

aric

do- do i have to go into this one? killing yara, torturing tedros, being misogynistic, honestly pick one, i just don’t have the energy to rip him apart for the thousandth time.

[herotheshiro]

so i reread all of behind the desks today lol bc i was thinking abt it last night as i was going to sleep, and also fully read through the epilogue chapters which i don’t think i had done before. which means i read through all of the plot points all at once this time around. i think my thoughts for this readthrough might end up being the length of a regular post so i’m just writing up a new post instead of reblogging my old review of this manhwa. obviously spoilers for the story below the cut

again i like this manhwa mainly bc of 2 things:

i like the juxtaposition of young’s obviously manipulative language with taesung’s innocent language that also sounds suspiciously the same. obviously you know taesung has positive intentions and isn’t a controlling freak like young but it’s such an interesting way to depict the aftermath of an abusive relationship and the difference in intentions despite the same words even though in retrospect that probably wasn’t what the author was trying to do. unless... ?

sunny seo as a character!! on the surface he definitely seems to fall under the standard BL uke tropes of being clumsy and looking pretty and stuck in a love triangle as the shared obj of affection but from the very beginning you already know he’s not a pushover but he just seems like that bc he doesn’t really have or express strong opinions. a lot of BLs tend to have the shared obj of affection be like oh nooo i can’t pick bw the 2 of them... but i mean from the start sunny doesn’t want to be w young and his fear of backlash and change is what motivates his secret-keeping from taesung... also throughout the story they imply that he’s a good match for taesung who canonly likes action stuff by being someone who actually likes high-energy activities/vibes. tl;dr sunny is generally a good character who also has a lot of foreshadowing done for him to reveal aspects of his personality that contribute to the story

anyway onto my thoughts that i had during this specific readthrough

jaeyoon. anyone who read my prev review for this manhwa knows that i had beef w how they used him during the conclusion to young and sunny’s relationship. i now realize that maybe they DID actually give him a face reveal during his wedding when young and sunny split off to chat with a friend each and the friend who spoke to sunny was actually jaeyoon himself... BUT YOU GOTTA FUCKING SAY THAT!! i suspected they were the same guy bc of the hair color and them always hiding jaeyoon’s face until that “random” moment where they give this character who looks like him a face but like i was never sure... no offense to the author or anything but i think you have to put in-text that it’s jaeyoon and not assume readers will know based on your art that it’s him... there are too many side characters who show up so it’s not like we’ve ONLY seen taesung/sunny/young so far so now this 4th person who shows up has to be jaeyoon... i mean maybe other readers ID-ed it as him w no issue esp since he shows up being like ‘dude...’ when that other friend is like ‘well jaeyoon was in rehab and stuff’ but i personally think it should’ve been mentioned in-text esp since that face reveal wasn’t nearly dramatic enough to 100% capture readers’ attentions.

otherwise i think the fact that jaeyoon and taesung are similar is a great plot point. jaeyoon was clearly the only friend in that group who saw young and sunny’s relationship accurately so i’m glad sunny had at least one GOOD friend then. jaeyoon is implied to be someone who takes care of others similar to taesung (even if it’s only sunny he dotes over the most) too. other than young’s general possessiveness of sunny, them being similar also explains why young saw jaeyoon as such a threat. but yeah unfortunately i still don’t think it was handled as well as it could have been.

young’s explanation for his behavior towards sunny... i hesitate to say it was the standard “villain redemption” but tbf i think it was a good explanation for his actions even if it felt a little too clean of a conclusion (young letting go of sunny so easily and also apparently realizing and accepting how damaging he was to him). i say it’s partially redeeming bc it shows that young was kind of trapped in such a specific and damaging way of thinking abt life that it affected how he treated sunny but it’s also not really redeeming him bc like. be normal man lol you don’t have to be like that to others.

separate but related note but young’s mindgaming of taesung... when he was like oh everything abt sunny seo you like is bc of me... like DAMN that’s evil and good (writing-wise). although the thing is that young and sunny also haven’t interacted apparently for 5 years so i mean you do have to realize that by the time taesung reunites w him, sunny has developed enough of an individual personality so it’s not ALL young’s shit. 

in my last review i said i felt like i wanted more of young and sunny’s history... tbh i think they gave us enough actually. all we really need to know is that they’ve known each other for a very long time and that young manipulated sunny enough during an impressionable time (young age, college. ppl know how college can be lol) that sunny felt that young was the only one for him. i was actually surprised jaeyoon’s story/details came up so quick in the story (i think it showed up in the 1st half of the manhwa) but i think it was a good point bc the story had to move on to the middle/2nd half of sunny and taesung trying to get their relationship to work. past me was also apparently looking for this scene in the bar apparently where young explains his “reasons” to taesung lol

not really much to say this time abt the hosung x young endgame. still don’t think they should’ve done it or had hosung have unrequited feelings but whatever i guess. tbh i didn’t really realize/connect until this time around that hosung actually was in freelancing art/publishing which was why taesung had him look at sunny’s work lol... i think last time that part in the epilogue hadn’t been translated yet so i just didn’t have the room to make the connection maybs

the epilogue ending... so i actually never read the epilogue ending or at least its eng translation, and i was like hell yea at the full circle shit w sunny being like ‘oh the cherry blossom petals are falling just like when i first met taesung in the infirmary’ but then the ch kept going w taesung and sunny on the beach... idk i think ending it literally at sunny being like ‘w you i feel alive’ was such an abrupt ending... like maybe if they added another panel of them smiling at each other it could’ve been fine but if the author was running low on time i honestly think they could’ve ended it at the scene of sunny accepting his contest award

also when sunny was like ‘yeah lol all my classmates at the children’s book program also get sick all the time’.... i was like bruh this author is prob speaking from actual experience lmao

the other thing abt the ending that was a little random was the quick aside abt taesung’s mom being against their relationship... i mean it was a reference to the mom wanting taesung to get married in the main story but then they dropped it and then suddenly brought it back up again... randomly adding that taesung had a sister who was his contact w their mom... like i get it, it wraps up the loose end of his mom but wow i was uh ok random ch abt potential family conflicts. also where are sunny’s parents lol but that would’ve been too much to get into too regardless of homophobia or not lol

overall it’s still a pretty solid manhwa. stuff proceeds at a good pace and the conflicts/misunderstandings make sense. i said before it’s kinda like a love triangle but it’s really not which works w me bc i don’t like love triangles that much (they stress me out lol); it’s also good bc young is clearly toxic for sunny and it’s good that sunny knows that rather than sunny being like “oh i know he’s bad but also... hmm maybe i can overlook it”. the manhwa’s not perfect -- i still get the sense the writing could be better even if i can’t really enunciate why -- but enough details are tied together that there’s nothing major i have to extrapolate bw (like i can overlook the jooyeon mishap even though it legit threw me off the 1st time i read through). also yes i know the manhwa is based off of a game w characters essentially already established but my understanding is that the author/artist essentially had to write up a lot of the actual story themselves even if they had a general plotline provided to follow

also the final author’s note abt the author personally preferring fucked up stories... when i started rereading i was like wait isn’t this the same artist for that one manhwa where the characters look like the k!lling st@lking? mains and even if i didn’t remember i would’ve realized w that author’s note lol. i think fortunately for them that sunny isn’t an entirely “pure” character so they had enough room to make him a little more twisted.

[dweetwise]

Its my birthday tomorrow and I don't wanna hit that age milestone so hear me out four survivors and one killer go into the match but everyones aged back like 20 years. Survivors remember the just of their bonds to one another but not their ages, they know the body they are in is suddenly 20 years younger though.

ngl i saw the first ask and immediately went “GASP AN EXCUSE TO WRITE DAD ACE??” great minds think alike anon. now have 8 pages of fluffy crack bc i got carried away

ages i hc for this story: ace 31, david 14, jake 6, meg 2, sally 27

Characters: Ace, Nurse, David, Jake, Meg | Mentioned: Nea | Ships: None | Warnings: None

Ace tries to parent (crack)

When Ace spawns into a trial on Rotten Fields, something immediately feels... off. He briefly has time to consider why his shirt feels so tight over his shoulders before his thoughts are interrupted by the sound of pure nightmares;

A crying baby.

Ace glances around, skeptical. Surely it has to be a new killer? Not even Feng’s voice is that high-pitched. Ace has half a mind to just leave the voice be, but it’s getting louder and he feels like he needs to do his good deed of the year and at least check. So, armed with a trusty purple flashlight, he gets to exploring.

He follows the ungodly screeching and, to his surprise, finds an actual human baby, laying in a small divot on a hay bale. Shit, what now? He doesn’t know the first thing about kids and he doesn’t really care to start learning now. But he can’t just leave the thing here, not to mention it’s loud as fuck and has probably already alerted the killer.

Ace grimaces and reluctantly reaches out to grab the child in his arms. Damn, it’s heavier than he thought! He pulls the baby into his chest to put less of a strain on his arms, and it... stops crying. Huh. Well, time to sneak off before the killer comes to check the noise. If he’s lucky, he’ll run into one of the others and can dump the kid on them.

Thankfully, there’s no sign of a killer as Ace makes his way through the cornfield. He idly wonders if he’s been placed in the trial alone with the baby, until he hears a loud clang followed by panicked cursing. Ace speeds up into a jog, rounding a corner of a pallet gym and coming face to face with—

“What the hell are you doing?” Ace asks the unfamiliar man who is in the middle of piling barrels on top of each other next to the outside wall of the trial, some of them falling down and creating tons of noise. The baby shifts restlessly in his arms and he half-heartedly tries to cover its ears.

“I’m gettin’ us outta ‘ere!” the man turns to face him with an angry remark. Ace squints at the somewhat familiar face; the man is young, most likely still a teenager, with light acne and a scrawny body that hasn’t quite grown into itself yet. There’s something disturbingly familiar about the glare shot his way, and the accent—

“David!?” Ace gawks. The teen’s glare morphs into a confused frown.

“...Ace?” teen David finally seems to recognize. Then, he looks around, appearing to take in the surroundings with new eyes. “Fock, this ‘s still the bloody fog, innit?”

“Why are you so young?” Ace asks, confused.

“I mean, ‘m not tha only one,” David says, looking him up and down pointedly. “Ya sure as shite din’ look like ‘at last time I saw ye.”

Ace looks down at himself and realizes his own arms are a lot bigger than he’s used to and his gut isn’t hanging over his belt like usual. He’s also wearing pants that are way too tight and speak of a youthful cockiness—holy shit, he’s in his thirties.

“So the kid’s gotta be...” David seems to remember, turning to look over Ace’s shoulder at something. Ace follows suit, and sees a child standing in front of the cornfield, hands over his ears and face twisted into a pout.

Ace recognizes the boy even before David utters his name. With unruly black hair and equally black monolid eyes, it has to be Jake. Even with the annoyed frown on his face, he’s just so young, and this is definitely no place for a kid. Before Ace has time to panic further, David throws him for another loop.

“Does’sat mean the baby’s... Meg?” the Brit asks, leaning to look closer at the small kid in Ace’s arms. Sure enough, Ace notices the toddler is a redhead, and its blue eyes are blinking up at him curiously. The ages start adding up, and Ace mutters a dejected “Fuck”.

“The hell’s going on?” David appears to share his sentiment. “Do we gotta escape? How the fuck do we get ‘em out?” he starts raising his voice, panic rising while gesturing to Jake and Meg.

“Calm down,” Ace says, trying to stop his own thoughts from racing. “Let’s just move as a group and try find the nearest generator. If the killer comes, I’ll distract him while you hide these two.”

“Generators?” David says with a frown. “I dun... I don’t remember much, the trials... is’a proper blur—damn, me ‘ead hurts.” Goddamnit. Looks like the transformation had some effect on the other’s memory. Ace can only hope it’s temporary.

“Jake?” he turns to the boy, who perks up upon hearing his name. “What about you? Are you alright?” Jake doesn’t answer, only staring up at Ace. “Do you remember anything?” Ace asks, crouching before the quiet boy and holding out Meg for him to see. “Do you remember her?” he asks.

Jake glances at Meg, eyes wide while he considers the question. “I remember...” Jake starts quietly, looking back up at Ace and blinking a couple times innocently. “That you’re gross,” he finishes. Ace sputters at the unexpected sass while David laughs behind him, teenage voice cracking into a squeak.

When David calms down and Ace tries to pry more information from the teen, he realizes he’s gotten stuck with team Daddy Issues. Both Jake and David have beef with their fathers, and Ace recalls Meg telling them her dad ran out on her when she was just a baby. Surely, this was a deliberate move on the Entity’s part just to spite Ace?

“Oh!” David suddenly exclaims, as if remembering something important. Ace almost thinks his luck is about to turn around when David, instead of blessing him with some vital piece of information, proceeds to stretch the waist of his sweats to peer into his own pants. “Aw, shite!” the teen sighs in disappointment.

“Can we focus on the imminent danger and not the size of your junk!?” Ace hisses in frustration.

“Who’s that?” Jake’s voice pipes up and distracts Ace from the argument. 

Ace looks into the corn and sees a woman approaching them, walking gracefully through the stalks with her red hair flowing behind her, dressed in a... nurse uniform. Shit!

“Stay back!” Ace warns, stepping in front of Jake protectively, turning his body away to shield Meg in his arms. He points the flashlight at the killer in what he hopes is a threatening manner.

“Ace?” she asks, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. Huh, Ace had no idea she even knew his name. Now that he thinks about it, she’s pretty cute, with her round face and button nose—damn it, focus!

“What's going on?” Ace demands. “Why did the Entity de-age us?”

“I don’t know,” the Nurse says. “I’m just as confused as you are.”

Ace squints. Pretty or not, he doesn’t trust her, not with these kids depending on him to protect them. Before he can question her further, David, hands thankfully no longer in his pants, comes up beside him.

“David, don’t—“ Ace tries to warn, but he has no free hands to stop the teen if he decides to pick a fight.

“’Ello, luv. Fancy meetin’ ya,” David offers in a friendly manner. Ace sighs, some of the tension fading. Then, David’s gaze drops down from the killer’s face to her-— “Noice tits,” the Brit quips, grinning smugly.

“David!” Ace screeches, mortified and barely resisting the urge to smack him with the flashlight. “That’s no way to talk to a lady!”

The Nurse merely chuckles into her hand, not seeming phased by David’s inappropriate comment. “I’m without my powers and weapon, so perhaps I could assist you in your escape?” she suggests. Ace feels like he kind of owes her for David’s hormone-driven harassment.

“You can tag along if you want,” Ace settles on. “Let’s try to finally find a gen.”

“I saw one on the other side of that hill,” the Nurse informs. “I’ll show you the way.”

“Uh, thanks. Pack it up boys, we’re moving!” Ace calls over his shoulder to David and Jake.

“Ya comin’, mate?” he hears David offer to Jake.

“What’s a mate?” Jake asks, tilting his head with a frown while trailing after David.

“Like a... lad. Chum. Pal. Wanker—”

“Hey!” Ace turns around to scold the teen. The last thing he needs is bratty Jake picking up more curse words.

“Like a... friend?” Jake tries.

“Yeah!” David says. Jake blushes.

“I wanna be your friend, you’re so cool,” Jake mumbles.

“Race ya through the corn!” David challenges.

“David NO—” Ace warns as the two boys take off in a sprint in the opposite direction of the generator. He curses under his breath, holding Meg closer to his chest as he starts jogging after them.

When Ace catches up, Jake has faceplanted into the mud and David is nowhere to be seen.

“Oh for the love of—” Ace sighs, pulling the boy upright by his collar. He expects Jake to cry, because isn’t that what kids do when they trip over themselves? Instead, Jake just blinks up at Ace with a muddy face.

“I fell,” Jake says.

“I can see that,” Ace deadpans.

“Oi, over ‘ere! I found a gen!” David calls through a couple rows of corn.

Ace gets Jake to the generator David is at without further incident. The Nurse quickly joins them, pushing through the corn. She takes one look at Jake’s face and hides a smile behind her hand, reaching for a handkerchief and proceeding to wipe the boy’s face clean. Ace appreciates the gesture.

“Thanks—uh, I don’t even know your name,” Ace realizes.

“Sally,” the Nurse offers with a small smile. “Shall we try repairing the generator, now?” she asks when Jake’s face is somewhat mud-free.

“Right,” Ace says, crouching down by the machine, trying to figure out a way to hold Meg safely while repairing. Sally leans over the generator on the other side, curiously observing the mechanism.

“You joining, David?” Ace asks the teen who is doing fuck all to contribute. He frowns as he sees David’s face is red and he’s breathing a bit heavily. Then, he spots a noticeable tent in the teen’s loose pants. Oh for fuck’s sake! David is standing directly behind Sally, and got a generous view of her skirt clinging to her ass when she bent down. Ace sighs in exasperation and gives David a pointed look.

“Oi, I can’t do nuthin’ about it!” David sputters.

“Yes, well, you could try if not staring helps,” Ace snarks.

“It’s fockin�� puberty, not me!” David argues. Then he seems to realize something, face breaking into a smug grin. “Not that ye’d remember any of tha’, ye old fart.”

“I beg your pardon??” Ace screeches while both David and Sally laugh at his expense.

It seems the Entity isn’t allowing Sally to interact with the generator, blocking her side of the machine each time she tries to touch it.

“Do you want me to hold her while you repair the generator?” Sally asks, motioning to Meg in Ace’s arms.

Ace eyes the killer warily, hugging Meg tighter to himself. The small girl responds by reaching out a snotty hand and smacking it against his beard, gurgling in amusement. Ugh, lovely.

“Do you truly believe I would hurt her?” Sally pushes.

“Fine,” Ace sighs in defeat as his grip on the toddler is about to slip again when he tries to reach into the generator. “But I’m keeping an eye on you, so don’t get any ideas!”

In the end, Ace has to teach David how to repair the generator, as all of the younger’s previous knowledge of the machines seems to have evaporated. He quickly learns that if David as an adult is impatient, David as a teenager is downright insufferable. Lots of cursing and slang insults ensue as David keeps getting the wrong wires crossed and setting their progress back and Ace’s patience is put to a test.

Meanwhile, Sally gives Meg a wooden horse and Jake a large pine cone to play with, the items that apparently would have been her add-ons for the trial. Meg immediately shoves the horse’s head into her mouth and suckles on it.

“Is it safe? Is it going to splinter?” Ace asks, five seconds away from swooping Meg back into his arms and throwing the questionable toy into the depths of the cornfield.

“It’s old, but the wood is smooth. It won’t splinter, I promise,” Sally reassures.

As he and David are working on the next generator, Sally is humming softly a ways to the side, rocking a napping Meg in her lap who is clutching her new toy in her tiny hands. Jake sits on the ground next to them, using sticks to make the pine cone into an animal. He excitedly shows in to Sally, muttering “Sheep”.

“That’s a cute sheep, Jake,” the killer praises. “Very fluffy.” Jake shuffles his feet, embarrassed by the praise.

Ace feels the generator's piston jump under his hands, before the machine putters along much faster than before.

“Look, I did a thing!” David exclaims, excitedly turning to Ace. “Tha’ was good, right?”

“Yeah, nice job David,” Ace praises, making the teen grin.

“I always wanted children,” Sally says, mostly to herself. “This is nice,” she sighs happily, even while wiping some of Meg’s drool from the sleeping girl’s face.

Ace can’t say he shares the sentiment. He never even seriously considered children; after all, they wouldn’t have fit his lifestyle of gambling and drinking. But now, when he takes in the familiar, if much younger, faces of his companions, he realizes he’s already been looking out for them way before this freak incident. He recalls how his view on baby Meg changed in the blink of an eye as he realized she, like Jake and David, weren’t just any kids; they were his kids. It’s been so easy for him to slip into a dad role now that they fully depend on him and he idly wonders if he would have made a good father, had he ever decided to have children of his own.

When they’re making their way to the next generator, Jake tugs on Sally’s skirt.

“What is it, sweetheart?” Sally asks fondly. Jake pouts and tries to hop up to touch her arm, almost stumbling over his own feet in his eagerness.

“Do you want to hold my hand?” Sally asks, rearranging her grip on Meg to hold her with one arm, and then extending the other down to Jake. Jake grabs the hand eagerly and offers a shy smile at the woman.

And damnit, the exchange tugs at heartstrings Ace didn’t even know he had.

They make it to the third generator and while he and David get to work on it, Sally sits down with Meg and Jake curiously peers over David’s shoulder at the machine. 

Then, Jake disappears.

“I swear, he was right there!” no, Ace is not panicking, he’s just... concerned, antsy, and ready to kill if something happens to Jake. Okay, so maybe he’s panicking a little bit.

“You know how kids are,” Sally says, way too calm about the entire situation. “Let’s go look for him, he can’t have gone far. I’ll check by the shack,” she suggests, turning to leave.

“No, you give Meg to me, I don’t trust you,” Ace snaps. Hurt flashes across Sally’s face. “...I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—I’m just worried, alright?”

“I understand,” she says, respectfully still handing the baby back to him. Meg lets out an excited coo at seeing Ace, arms extending towards him eagerly. “Let’s split up and holler when we find him.”

“Lemme help,” David offers, moving to stand up from the generator.

“You’re staying here, in case he comes back,” Ace orders. “And stay put until we get back. I’m not losing any more kids in this damn place.”

“Okay, dad,” David snarks, rolling his eyes but obediently getting back to work by the machine.

Ace power-walks through the rows of corn, checking the harvester along with some fire barrels he saw earlier. His heart drops as he takes in all the dangerous farm equipment; if Jake got stuck under a tractor—no, focus, he scolds himself. Not even Meg’s happy babbling can keep the dread from pooling in his stomach.

“Ace, I found him! He’s okay!” Sally’s voice is a godsend, interrupting his panicked thoughts. He spots her red hair through the corn, quickly making his way over, relief flooding over him—

And promptly flying out the window when he sees Jake in the goddamn cow tree, high up and clinging to one of the branches, petrified from fear.

“In what world is he okay!?” Ace screeches.

“He doesn’t look hurt! We should be able to climb up easily, I just need to get rid of my overskirt—“ Sally starts.

“I’ll get him, you hold her,” Ace says, shoving Meg into Sally’s hands before sprinting up to the tree with single-minded determination. He’s grateful for his younger body as he manages to fly up the damn thing fast as lighting, so much adrenaline pumping in his veins that he barely registers getting smacked in the face by stray branches. Soon, he’s holding a trembling Jake in his arms and he knows everything will be alright.

After he’s carefully made his way down the tree with Jake clinging to him, and places the boy back on solid ground, Jake starts bawling. Ace almost feels like joining in, still shaking from the adrenaline and with countless ‘what if’ scenarios running through his head.

“Shh darling, it’s okay, you’re safe now,” Sally murmurs, trying to soothe the boy. Jake just shakes his head and cries some more.

Ace frowns and glances up at the tree. Did Jake get scared by the height, or did something else happen? Maybe he got smacked by one of the cows—ah. Of course; Ace has become so desensitized to the carcasses strung up on the tree, and in a fucked up way they even symbolize safety to him because they’re attached to one of the strongest loops he knows.

But Jake loves animals. And even if he didn’t, what kid wants to see that!?

“The cows must have scared you. You like animals, don’t you?” Ace asks, kneeling before the sobbing boy. Jake hiccups, nodding. “They’re not real. They’re not actually hurting.”

“Promise?” Jake sniffles.

“Promise.”

Jake’s sobbing stops and he rushes into Ace’s arms. “I don’t wanna look,” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut.

“It’s okay. I’ll tell when it’s safe to look,” Ace promises, lifting Jake up in a reverse piggyback while the boy clings to his neck, still shaking.

They rejoin David, the teen’s face lighting up when he spots Jake in Ace’s arms.

“Ey, little lad! Where you run off ta?” David offers with a smile.

“He went on a little adventure,” Sally offers when Jake doesn’t look up from Ace’s shoulder. Ace spots a crow nearby, perched on a hay bale.

“You can look now, Jake,” Ace remembers. Jake lifts his head, and Ace points to the crow. “Do you see the bird?”

Jake’s eyes widen in wonder and he nods slowly, eyes never leaving the animal.

“We can look at it closer—but you need to be very quiet. Can you do that?”

Jake nods excitedly, not uttering a peep. Ace starts sneaking toward the crow, trying to keep low, and leading Jake after him. He hopes he doesn’t spook it, since he’s never been good with the birds like Jake, always setting them off in trials and alerting the killer.

It seems luck is on his side, as they’re soon right by the animal, which doesn’t seem to be bothered by their presence as it keeps grooming itself. Ace motions for Jake to go on, and the boy carefully walks up to the bird. He reaches a small hand out and the animal—lets him pet it. Woah. Looks like Jake has always been a natural.

The beady eyes of the crow meet Jake’s equally black ones, wide in curiosity as he carefully runs his fingers through the feathers.

And then the crow caws in a starte and takes off as the generator behind them blows up.

“Bollocks!” David curses.

“Language,” Sally scolds half-heartedly.

“Let me show you a trick,” Ace offers to the teen, rejoining the group at the generator with Jake.

“Sorry I made yer mate fly away,” David mutters apologetically when they’ve all moved to the next generator, Jake sitting in the mud between Ace and David and playing with the sheep he made earlier. Jake shakes his head.

“It’s okay,” he says. Then he looks up at Ace. “Mommy never let me play with the bird,” he explains. “Said it’s dirty and will make me sick.”

“Well, you were really good with the bird and clearly have a talent. Why not use it?” Ace encourages. Jake smiles brightly and Ace’s heart swells with pride.

The last gen they need to complete is in the shack, and Ace asks Sally to keep Meg and Jake away as the worn building is full of rusty nails and splintered wood. It’s just him and David, and the teen isn’t messing up a single one of the wires this time.

“Yer awful nice to Sally,” David suddenly says.

“Well, she’s been a great help, even if I was skeptical at first,” Ace shrugs.

“Nah, I mean... Ya could’ve taken ‘er,” David says, somber tone in his voice. Ace peers over the generator in confusion, meeting the teen’s serious gaze. “She don’t have ‘er weapon or teleport. She’s just a small lass, no match for ye. Could’a easily had revenge.”

Something unpleasant twists in Ace’s stomach at the words and David’s dark expression. He’s not sure he likes where this is going.

“Not really my style to hold grudges; I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Ace tries to joke. “And even if I wasn’t... Attacking a defenseless woman? That’s beyond fucked up,” he says, frowning at David while trying to figure out what the other is getting at.

“I know,” David says with a frown of his own. “I was try’na say, you could’a, but you didn’t, an’... I respect ya for it,” he mutters the last part staring at the machine. Ace quirks an eyebrow; it seems like David wanted to... give him a lecture in respecting women?

“You know, if you want her to feel safe, maybe you shouldn’t have sexually harassed her,” Ace points out. David groans in embarrassment.

“I know, I was jus’ try’na get between you lot to defuse, an’... ‘m gonna apologize to ‘er,” David mutters awkwardly. Huh, that was a lot easier than Ace imagined. He thought teenagers were supposed to be unreasonable?

The last gen pops and they regroup with Sally and the two kids in front of an exit. While David is opening the gate, Sally hands Meg back to Ace.

“Daddy!” the small girl exclaims, smiling brightly while wrapping her hands around his neck.

“I usually hear that in a very different context,” Ace jokes, causing Sally to chuckle. Jake pulls on Sally’s skirt, handing her the pine cone.

“Thanks for borrowing mr. Sheep,” Jake says.

“Oh, what a polite little boy you are. So precious,” Sally coos, carefully accepting the gift and petting Jake’s hair fondly. Jake blushes and rushes to hide behind Ace, peeking out behind his legs to glance at Sally shyly.

As the exit doors slide open, Sally’s face twists into a worried frown. “Will you be alright?” she asks.

“I mean, even if the whole camp somehow turned young? I think I can handle it,” Ace says, tentative confidence in his parenting skills having built up during the trial. The most likely outcome is that the Entity will turn them right back after the trial, and the ones back at camp will be none the wiser. “Oh, uh. Thanks for the help,” he adds, remembering his manners.

“Don’t mention it,” Sally says, smiling.”It would be nice if this happened more often, where I didn’t have to—” she falters. Kill you, Ace supplies in his mind.

“Don’t worry,” Ace says. “We’re all just... doing our best.”

“I’m... glad you see it that way,” Sally says, looking down at the ground and nervously twirling a red lock between her fingers. Huh... is she—?

A small hand tugging at his own interrupts his thoughts, and he turns his full attention to Jake, who is looking up at him with big black eyes.

“Let’s go home,” Jake says, pulling on his finger towards the exit. Ace grabs his hand and smiles fondly. “You’re right,” Ace says.

“I, uh, Sally,” David hastily interrupts. “‘M sorry about... y’know, before—”

“Don’t worry about it, I know you were just trying to lighten the mood,” Sally says with a small smile. “And if you tried anything, I could still kick your ass into next year,” she adds innocently.

Ace chokes on a laugh, not expecting this side of the soft-spoken woman. Instead of being flustered, David looks... intrigued.

“Ya mean ya can still, like, carry us on yer shoulder...?” David asks curiously. When Sally nods, David’s eyes go wide and a flush spreads over his cheeks.

“Okay that’s our cue to leave!” Ace interrupts, not mentally prepared to hear any more about David’s apparent infatuation with strong women. “Come on, lover boy,” Ace nudges the teen into the exit.

“Gimme a few years, luv!” David hollers excitedly before disappearing into the fog after Ace.

And with that, they’re done with their strangest trial to date.

“I just had the weirdest dream,” Ace overhears Meg tell Nea the next day, a confused frown on her face.

“What about?” Nea asks.

“You remember how I’ve never met my dad?” Meg asks, and Nea nods. “Well, I dreamed that I did. I was really young, like still a baby or something, so it wasn’t really... lucid. I couldn’t understand what he said, but I remember his voice and like, his smile. He just held me in his arms and,” her voice cracks. “I just knew he’d never leave me.” She blinks some wetness from her eyes. “Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to start bawling—” she hurries to explain.

“No, it’s okay, come here,” Nea assures her friend, pulling her into a hug. “That sounds like a really nice dream. I’m happy for you.”

Ace feels his throat choke up as he watches a grateful Meg cry into Nea’s shoulder. He turns his focus back to shuffling the cards, thankful he’s wearing his shades as his own eyes start watering dangerously.

remember when i said “i’m gonna write shorter stories from now on”? sike

[phoebehalliwell]

In the last épisode of Charmed, we see Old Piper read the Book to a little girl (i’m 75% sure that the little girl call her grandma). Then We see a bunch of kids walk in the manor. So that make me think about the Next Gen Being parents. Who do you think will have kids first ? Who don’t want to have some ? What Kind of parent are they ?

yeah i mean i def think the lil girl in the final is gen3 bc like. like piper’s somewhere between 60 and 90 i’m really bad at age and this kid’s somewhere in elementary school. it’s possible they’re even gen4. whatever they are it implies someone in the next gen r parents. tbh i don’t really think about gen3 that often bc like. like there are already nine gen2ers like if they all had three kids. y’all know that story about the grain of rice and the chessboard? yeah something like that. But. here’s like a brief sketching out on what i think is what:

i think wyatt really wants kids i think wyatt also really wants to get married and settle down blah blah blah but i think wyatt has a lot of life lessons to learn before that can be accomplished namely stop projecting your rose garden white picket fence future dreams onto your lover and instead see them for who they are right now. so we’ll see how this goes. rn in my writings wyatt is only 22. i really don’t see him getting married until he’s like. 30. or something. like maybe closing in on 30, idk. and then again in all my writings wyatt is gay so he would either adopt or have a surrogate kid but quite frankly i think adoption is probably more likely bc baby wyatt was doing insane tricks in the womb and magic grows stronger with each generation so like. that would be a lot to ask of someone.

chris and bianca for me are definitely endgame i could also see them getting married but again they’re on a slowburn path. i think it’d take them two to four years to become officially a couple, and then maybe two to four years after that to get married, so somewhere in between 4 to 8 years to tie the knot and i don’t really know if they’d want to have kids. like by this point chris had probably resolved his daddy issues but that doesn’t erase the fact he had beef with his father for a very solid portion of his life. and then bianca was raised within the phoenix and her mom was kinda like a hardass who raised her to be a weapon so like. neither of them i think would really be too insanely keen on having kids. i think if they did they would only have one. i don’t think the baby would be like. planned for but i don’t think it would be like a surprise pregnancy y’know there’s a difference between actively trying for a baby and actively trying not to have a baby. i also think they might be open to adopt, but i think they’d both have to feel v secure in where they are in their lives and like their emotional capabilities to raise a child bc i think they really would not wanna fuck that baby up. 

melinda most likely out of piper’s kids to settle down and have three daughters probably has a good chance of being the first out of her siblings to be married bc that’s the kind of person she is and that’s the kind of person she’s looking for she also has a leg up being an empath but yeah. i could see melinda getting married some time in her twenties. could easily see her being the first out of piper’s kids to have children

tamora i think would def be first of paige’s kids to have kids of her own but she might not be the first to get married simply because i think she is a lot more guarded than her twin and it would take a while for her to like. feel comfortable enough with someone to marry them but i think she is the most family-oriented out of paige’s kids so she would definitely be first of paige’s kids to have kids of her own. might be first of gen2 to have kids.

kat i think would probably be the first of her siblings to get married which i think would definitely be more of an impulsive move like i see kat really as this wanderer adventurer explorer and i think her gf would def come along with her to all these and i think if they ended up in some location where they could just like. get married. they would do it. and the rest of the family would be FURIOUS and drag their asses back to san francisco and host a proper wedding and all that but i think while the marriage would be sudden kids probably wouldn’t there’s not really gonna be an accidental whoopsies baby bc kat is a lesbian and as previously stated i think this couple would really be into exploring the world travelling battle monsters all that not really an environment that’s safe to have kids in i think once they started to get older and settle down they’d probably want kids of their own i would say probably very likely to have a surrogate baby is it called a surrogate baby when they’re the ones carrying? idk like i don’t think they’d be opposed to adopting but i think they would want a kid of their own

henry jr i feel like would be a really good dad i think he would absolutely hyped for fatherhood i have no concept of an endgame love interest for him really like who he’d end up marrying and having kids with bc he’s like 17 in my writings so that’s not even a twinkle in my eye he is bi and fine with dating someone magical or mortal so like. everythings on the table. but i think he’d be really excited to be a dad. i don’t think he’d beat tamora to the punch but i think their kids would be close in age.

pj is definitely also shooting for three daughters she’s a lil under a year younger than melinda and a half year younger than tam and kat so i think she definitely fancies herself as probably being the first to get married and have kids but y’know who knows she’s half cupid so i really don’t think she’d be settling for love just so she can have kids that and again she wants three daughter the next generation of charmed ones and she doesn’t want just like anyone to be the other parent (pj is also bi so again idk if her endgame li would be a boy or a girl) but like she would want her kids to be raised in an environment filled w love they will be part cupid like her so like. they’d be able to tell if they weren’t. so she’d def gonna have 2 find her soulmate before she has kids

parker i think simultaneously wants like a bunch of kids but also like. doesn’t want to like. have kids. like she really loves her sisters and having that support system but like. the actual idea of being pregnant and giving birth a whole ass three times especially for someone who is such a physical combatant as parker is definitely a no go. she’s also ace so it would probably be ivf (which idk maybe she has triplets) but again. like parker would probably have kids at like age 38 once she’s already on the outs of getting into physical fist fights with evil. i think she’d definitely be the oldest mom at the pta and stuff. but i do think she Also wants 3 daughters.

peyton Also wants three daughters but quite frankly would be fine having 0 bc like. they all lead very dangerous lives. like omg. and it’s also like. she doesn’t really feel the need to have kids to preserve her legacy or whatever i think like she has a lot of family and she also has a lot she’s made she already has a solid legacy. like idk it would really depend on who she was with but like being a witch is just like objectively dangerous so she just might never have kids and be fine w that. but if she did have kids i think it would def be in multiples i think she would have her kids to have siblings

[sirsapling]

MORE TAGGED POSTS

I got tagged in a bunch more things I didn't respond to fast enough, so UNDER THE CUT THEY GO. 

I have too many things to respond to, so I won't be tagging, but consider yourself tagged if you want to do any.

IT’S THE LITTLE THINGS

Tagged by the wonderful @bardingbeedle​

Pass the happy!🌻🌿 When you receive this, list 5 things that make you happy and send this to 10 of the last people in your notifications!

Lying in warm blankets in an cold room. Bonus points for snow outside.

A fresh Buzz cut

Talking to @bardingbeedle​

Having long, passionate rambles about the Marvel Ultimates

Hashbrowns, bacon, maple syrup, maybe a pancake, and a sausage too.

Tagged by the chaotic @s-hylor​

top 3 cities you want to visit: Toronto, again. Colorado (I know its a state not a city I just want to visit ashes AND GET SNOW). And I would like to go back to Italy again. (I also want to visit, just, all of my fandom friends but I don't want to drop all their locations lol)

favorite marvel character: Ults!Steve Rogers and then Ults!Tony Stark. Not counting stony, Anthony the brain tumor, and not counting clones, Gregory Stark.

white chocolate - yay or nay?: Love it, love it, love it.

favourite board game: God Save The Queens- A board game about Bees I invented with 3 other people at University last year for a project.

how many countries have you been to: 10, I have been very luckily graced with the ability to travel to Europe with school a lot.

(Wales, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, America [Florida, Boston, New York], Spain, Portugal, Italy, and finally Canada.)

favorite thing to do on a rainy day: Anything indoors I might usually feel guilty about doing when its sunny. Tv or games particularly

favorite holiday: Christmas. I am a Christmas slut, call me festive sapling I LOVE Christmas.

pen or pencil: Pen. I once bought 7 in lisbon at the same time bc they were perfect and I didn't want to run out.

favourite kind of soup: Cupasoup Chicken noodle, I don't really like soups tbh, I like broths, and gravy type things I make too much of and eat like a soup (like golden Currys or korma sauces)

your typical order at a cafe or coffee shop: Caramel Frappucino or an iced Mocha. If I'm gonna pay a fuck tonne for coffee I'm gonna get a drinkable dessert.

favorite ride at an amusement park: Any slow rides that show you shit, like spaceship earth at EPCOT. I’m not really a speed dude.

the color of your sneakers: RED, red shoes are the shit folks, a good pair of red converse goes with everything.

favorite pbs show (or little kids show if you didn’t have pbs):  Uh I used to watch pokemon then winnie the pooh every single night. But little little kids show I used to watch a show called 64 zoo lane with my grandma so I have fond memories

Rules: name your favorite female characters from 10 different fandoms, then tag 10 people.

Tagged by the wonderful @ashes0909​

Natasha Romanov - Marvel Cinematic Universe

Carol Danvers - Marvel 616

Janet Van Dyne - Marvel Ultimates

Izumi Curtis - Full Metal Alchemist

Martha Jones - Doctor Who

Garnet - Steven Universe (if she doesn't count bc, space rock, Connie)

Rosa Diaz - Brooklyn 99

Ann Perkins  - Parks and Rec

Princess Caroline - Bojack Horseman

Pam Poovey - Archer

LOOK I know there was a lot of cheating here, but I don't have non marvel fandoms really, and I have a hard time remembering a lot of the TV I enjoyed.

Rules: Share your top 10 AO3 additional tags. Tagged by the mysterious @nigmuff​

look I don't know if I have enough tags to make this a justified representation, but the ones shown are v much on brand.

Fanfic trope meme

I was tagged by the delightful @capnstars​ and @crownofstardustandbone​

slowburn or love at first sight // fake dating or !!!secret dating!!! // enemies to lovers or best friends to lovers // oh no there’s only one bed or long-distance correspondence // hurt/comfort or amnesia // fantasy au or modern au // mutual pining or domestic bliss // smut AND fluff // canon-compliant or fix-it  // reincarnation or character death // one-shot or multi-chapter // kid fic or road trip fic // arranged marriage or accidental marriage // high school romance or !!!!middle-aged romance!!! // time travel or isolated together // neighbours or roommates  // sci-fi or magic au // body swap or genderbend  // angst or crack // apocalyptic or mundane

Look guys, I’m boring. I like domestic 30-40 year olds in secret relationships. We knew this.

And now buckle the fuck down folks because I'm about to answer 50 questions about me no one is gonna stick around and read.

tagged by @bardingbeedle​ the only person who would put up with reading this much about me.

What is the colour of your hairbrush?

I have a buzz cut, I don't have a hair brush anymore.

Are you typically too warm or too cold?

Too warm. I have been warmer than most people my whole life, and I often need to sleep with a fan on.

What were you doing 45 minutes ago?

Working on a sketch for an MTH fill (update from the end of this: I have spent an hour doing this fuckin thing)

What is your favourite candy bar?

Bounty. My favourite candy is Reese’s Pieces but I like a bounty. Or like, and chocolate without fruit in it tbh.

Have you ever been to a professional sports event?

Yes, one of my parents referees Championship Football here in the UK. I have been to a few of his games. I also went to the London 2012 Paralympic closing ceremony, if that counts.

What is the last thing you said out loud?

‘Oh, this will last me a few days’ I was talking to my mother about 1/2 a can of pringles, I was lying.

What is your favourite ice cream?

Vanilla. I am boring. But the best ice cream i’ve had was a cream/milk flavoured gelato in Florence, that shit slapped. I also like cheap strawberry ice cream when no one is trying to put strawberry bits in it.

What was the last thing you had to drink?

Dinner. A spinach, banana, summer fruits and coconut yoghurt smoothie (with extra raspberries). Its my nightly dinner to cheat more veg into my body.

Do you like your wallet?

Very much. It’s about 7-8 years old, it is faded to hell but it has spiderman and a pony ride stony pin

What was the last thing you ate?

See above smoothie comment, but if that doesn't count, a sugar free mint polo.

Did you buy any new clothes last weekend?

Nope. I don't buy as many clothes as I want to, bc mens clothes in larger sizes are hard to find or expensive here.

The last sporting event you watched?

F1, I don't keep up but I watch a little with my dad every now and then.

What is your favourite flavour of popcorn?

BUTTER. They don't really have it here, and I don't go to movies much when in the states. But @festiveferret​ introduced me to it when we saw Ant-man and the Wasp, and much like poutine and Tim Hortons, I still crave it.

Who is the last person you sent a text message to?

My dad. 

Ever go camping?

Yes, I was a Scout. I have done enough camping to not want to do more, it was fun when I wasn't organising it.

Do you take vitamins?

Yes, but not as often as I should, and as much as my mother bothers me too.

Do you go to church every Sunday?

Nope, not even when I considered myself christian. I go only go to church for other peoples events, and I’m an agnostic now.

Do you have a tan?

I cannot tan. I just can't, I burn lobster red in 5 minutes outside without literal sun cream for BABIES

Do you prefer Chinese food or pizza?

Chinese food, It was easily what taught me to like more foods also, I don't eat tomato so I can't have most pizza. I love a good garlic base/bechamel, but you can't really get that here easily (yes yes I could make my own but that ruins half the point of pizza)

Do you drink your soda with a straw?

I don't drink carbonated drinks, because its like drinking pain. The fuck is wrong with all of you.

What colour socks do you usually wear?

Various colours, but I consider red on the left, blue on the right, my lucky socks. No I don't know why, but I take all exams and interviews wearing them. It’s just a thing.

Do you ever drive above the speed limit?

I don't drive, but if I did, No. Theres a lot of questionable laws out there but Traffic laws aren't one of them.

What terrifies you?

Pfft, most things from spiders to rollercoasters. But more seriously, Being shouted at. Shout at me and I start hyperventilating, its a thing. Also not knowing if someone is mad at me. I’m not good at reading people,

Look to your left, what do you see?

The wallet shown earlier, and the sugar free polos mentioned after that.

What chore do you hate?

Vacuuming. It makes everything in my body hurt. I would rather clean toilets.

What do you think of when you hear an Australian accent?

@s-hylor​

What’s your favourite soda?

See above. I do not like your pain liquid. Apple juice for life.

Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive-thrus?

Either delivery or kiosk, I don't like talking to people where possible, I often need tweaks I don't want to have to remember to repeat.

Who’s the last person you talked to?

@downeyhills​

Favourite cut of beef?

I don't generally eat beef, lamb, or most red meats. I love crispy chilly beef, but as anyone can point out its bc your generally don't feel the texture of the beef.

Last song you listened to?

Everybody Wants to Rule the World | Tears for Fears | Pomplamoose

I’m on a Pomplamoose kick, and I also just love this song anyway.

Last book you read?

Understanding Comics (The invisible Art) - Scott McCloud

Favourite day of the week?

Friday nights. The weekend is ahead and @loraneldin​ and I take to wrangling our beloved usual suspects through another week of Ults Book Club.

Can you say the alphabet backwards?

I can barely say it forwards.

How do you like your coffee?

With milk and sugar, or ultimately, in a Caramel Frappuccino bc I'm a bitch like that.

Favourite pair of shoes?

I have walking boots that don't make my flat ass feet feel like they’re dying. OR my black and green crocs (Fight me, they’re useful).

The time you normally go to sleep?

9-10 is what I'm working on, but I fluctuate depending on if I'm working on something or not.

The time you normally get up?

5-6 If I have a choice in the matter, but often 7-8 if I didn't get to bed at the right time. I’m more about getting the right hours in for my diet than time specifically.

What do you prefer, sunrise or sunsets?

Sunset is the prettiest, but I like to be awake to see the sun rise.

How many blankets on your bed?

One big thick comforter, because that's the uk standard, and I get too hot otherwise.

Describe your kitchen plates

Two types, big wide white ones with a navy blue rim. They are so large I never use them, and little Navy saucer plates I use a lot.

Do you have a favourite alcoholic beverage?

I don't drink, so no. I drink apple juice or Shirley temples when I'm in pubs/bars

Do you play cards?

Sometimes, I like to teach people to play Old Maid. It’s the monopoly of card games.

What colour is your car?

Again, I do not drive. 

Can you change a tire?

I am aware I just said I don't have a car, but I do know how to change a tire. Everyone should go learn its pretty simple.

Favourite job you’ve ever had?

I have only had one job really and two job experience jobs. I did experience in a school library for a week and that was v fun and chill. I did all the jobs they had prepared for me in 2 days so I alphabetically reorganised their fiction section for the rest of the week. I LIKE ORDERING.

How did you get your biggest scar?

I no longer have a gallbladder, so I have 3 scars across my torso from that, the biggest right in the middle of my ribs. Non surgical wise I have matching scars on my knees from ripping holes in them when tripping. I have weak ankles and also I got both of those at different times.

What did you do today that made someone else happy?

I gave my spare animal crossing Iguanodon skull to a wicked artist I follow on twitter so he could complete his dino park. 

[master-sass-blast]

Tricks, Tricks, Tricks!

I hate doing intros when I’m tired bc it feels like it takes forever.

Summary: You and Wade set up a haunted house for the kids at Xavier’s --and prank Scott Summers, of course.

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin x Reader.

Rating: G. Just ignore the swear words. Pls.

Set before “Questions and Answers” but after “THIS IS HALLOWEEN.”

Taglist: @marvel-is-perfection, @chromecutie, @super-darkcloudstudent, @girl-obsessed-with-things, @nebulous-leo

It’s not every day that you and Wade stumble onto a legitimately, objectively good idea.

Granted, you guys have tons of great ideas. The fallback of nearly all of them, however, is that they usually involve some sort of destruction and-slash-or generally deviant behavior.

Which, in yours and Wade’s opinions, makes the entire shebang that much more fun, but dealing with the “post brilliant idea clean-up” and the temporary social fallout among your peers –depending on who you target and piss off—isn’t quite as fun.

However.

It’s Halloween season. And the teachers at Xavier’s tend to do some sort of Halloween-y thing for the students there because a lot of places that host seasonal events –surprise, surprise—won’t admit mutants.

Plus, Piotr loves Halloween, which means the two of you have a “non-deviant” spokesperson to advocate for your plan.

And, the cherry on top of it all, is that Scott has been an absolute asshat as of late, meaning that he needs to get the shit pranked out of him to whack his massive ego back down to a more manageable size.

You and Wade grin at each other as you look up various “how to make a haunted house” tutorials. This is gonna be awesome.

 ***

 Convincing Piotr to back your idea is easy.

First, you convince him without Wade around. You’ve learned that Piotr doesn’t necessarily mind if you and Wade come up with ideas, but that Wade’s manner of “selling them” completely frustrates your darling boyfriend and puts him off even the most benign suggestions.

Second, you present the idea as something fun and seasonal for the students at Xavier’s; Piotr, essentially, is a massive mother hen that loves nothing more than making his “kids” happy, which means that he’s on board for just about anything that involves doing special stuff for the students.

Third, you’re his girlfriend and he thinks you’re cute, which means all you have to really do is bat your eyelashes at him and say please.

(And, granted, you’d had other tricks up your sleeve if he’d hesitated, but sometimes life just lets you knock one out of the park. It’s a great feeling.)

***

 With Piotr’s seal of approval, you wind up selling the idea to the rest of the X-Men with no problem –and, since Jean’s out of town visiting family, she’s not here to rat you out to Scott, either.

Granted, Xavier still could, but you’re starting to think he’s less of a “lawful good” and more of a “neutral” or “chaotic good” type than he lets on. There’s been plenty of times he could’ve sold you or Wade out on any of your pranks, but he usually keeps his mouth shut.

Ah, well. Best not to question the freebies life sends your way.

Better yet, you and Wade already have a list of ideas and necessary supplies, thanks to your “haunted house research binge” that you two did earlier. Granted, Piotr outright naysays half of the suggestions due to them being too expensive, too destructive to the building, or too gross –Wade—but all in all it’s a success.

Hell yeah.

 ***

 The official set up goes as such: on the designated “haunted house day,” you, Wade, and a few volunteers get to spend the morning and part of the afternoon setting up the haunted house in a sectioned off part of the mansion –except it’s for the elementary aged students, so it’s technically “Haunted House Lite,” but that’s fine. Then, at four in the afternoon, the elementary aged students will get to walk through, enjoy some G-rated spooks, and get little bags of candy at the end to enjoy.

Lovely. Wonderful. Wholesome.

And then the fun comes in.

Because, beknownst to Piotr only because he caught you and Wade conspiring with everyone else, you and Wade managed to get all the middle school and high school students in the room and fill them in on your idea to scare the everliving shit out of one Scott Summers.

And, because teenagers are basically little shits that run on caffeine and entropy, they’re all super down to watch Scott get pranked.

So, once the little students have had their seasonal fun and have been ushered off for dinner with everyone else, you and Wade and your volunteers have five paltry hours to beef up your haunted house with some higher grade spooks and also set up your prank for Scott.

Granted, it’s not a lot of time to work with, but the two of you have worked with less before.

 ***

 The prank itself, compared to yours and Wade’s usual fare, is… unremarkable, actually.

“Go figure,” Wade grumbles under his breath while he wrestles with one of the several smoke machines he’d purchased for the prank. “Captain Vanilla-Save-For-the-Pole-Up-His-Ass doesn’t watch horror movies. Leave it to a fucking jumpscare. Fucking stupid. He’s literally the single most boring person to exist!”

“Hey, at least it makes it easy for us,” you reason as you work on dying a bunch of cheesecloth with a massive mixing bowl of tea. “Why go through the extra effort for a dill-hole like him?”

“Fair enough. Hey, I think I got this working!” Wade tries turning on the smoke machine, then pulls a scowl when it makes an alarming grinding noise, turns it back off with a disgusted huff, and turns in his chair to shout down the hall. “Nathan! Get your ass in here and talk to your cousin! This fucking thing won’t work!”

You snort and shake your head.

(Nathan does, in fact, get the smoke machine to work, but only because he bothers to read the instructions first.

Wade calls bullshit anyway.)

 ***

 The day of is nothing short of busy.

The two of you –and your volunteers—set up shop in one of the unfinished wings meant to be proper classrooms. You’ve got the entryway, the flight of stairs going up to the second floor, the hallway, and a few of the rooms of the rooms to set up your little “house of horrors” in (along with the back stair case that leads back down to the main hallway on the first floor, but that’s only for an easy exit for everyone).

The main order of business is such: put up the most labor intensive props –curtains to black out the windows, a curtain to block off the first floor hallway from view, spiderwebs, anything hanging from the ceiling or the walls that isn’t going to be switched out—first so that the bulk of the work is done for the day, since you won’t have much time between the littler students and the older students (and, most importantly, Scott).

The smoke machines get put in next, along with any special lights –including some cool black lights you and Wade had gotten their hands on, which go next to a mirror at the end of the walkthrough so the students can see what their costumes look like under the effects of the lights.

After that is the rest of the props, which are all switch out stuff. The younger students get some relatively innocuous skeletons, some cartoonish looking zombies, a couple mummies, and a bunch of pumpkins, black cats, and otherwise tame Halloween fare. The older students get much gnarlier, gorier stuff, including a demonic clown statue that actually gives you the creeps.

You grin as Wade sings “Spooky Scary Skeletons” –the dubstep remix, no less—while the two of you fill up goody bags for the students. This is going to be great.

***

 Piotr stops by after lunch with a bag of costumes –yours and his—and some extra supplies Wade had asked for.

You kiss his cheek as he hands off the bag of decorations to Wade. “Hey, babe. Had a good day?”

He nods. “Students are very excited to go through haunted house. Especially younger ones.”

“Well, here’s hoping we can give them some good, old-fashioned, spooky fun,” you say with a grin. “Ready to get changed and transform into creatures of the night?”

He does a scarily perfect Dracula laugh and winks at you. “But of course, moya lyubov’.”

Your costumes –for today and also for this year’s Halloween—are Dracula and the bride of Dracula. Piotr made nearly all of it, save for his shirt and slacks (and your two’s shoes, obviously), and between the costumes, the makeup, and some fake fangs, the two of you actually look the part.

(And Piotr sounds the part, what with his Russian accent and all. It’s almost like he was born for the role of Dracula.)

The two of you get to set up in one of the rooms with two doors, which also boasts a cauldron with a smoke machine in it, a bunch of fake spiderwebs, a couple of fake coffins, and some skeletons hanging on the walls. You get dressed, do each other’s make up, and then Piotr helps you put on your fangs before doing his own.

“So, tell me how to do a good Russian accent,” you say, lisping slightly around your fangs. “I gotta match what you’re selling.”

“I think you do just fine,” Piotr replies as he puts a glob of denture cream into one of his fangs and sticks it to his upper canine tooth. “Just try to avoid cheesy mobster accent, and you will do great.”

“Are we gonna do the whole ‘I want to suck your blood’ thing?” you ask. “I think we probably should.”

“If you want to.”

“Okay. I’m gonna practice, you tell me how I sound.” You clear your throat, get into your mental zone, then let out an accented, ominous, “I want to suck your blood!”

Piotr chuckles as he tests the fang’s hold on his tooth. “Very nice, myshka.”

You preen, then practice a few more times at varying pitches and speeds. Then, once you’re certain Piotr’s adjusted to your fooling around, you lean in and murmur, “I want to suck your dick.”

Piotr sputters, cheeks flushing –even under the pale make up you’d put on him—and looks around for anyone that might’ve overheard you. Once he’s certain that no one heard you –especially Wade—he exhales and shakes his head. “Later.”

You giggle and kiss his cheek.

***

 Right at four, the elementary aged students are ushered into the haunted house.

You can hear them from the room where you and Piotr are set up, giggling and gasping as Ellie and Yukio –who had volunteered to walk the younger students through—escort them along.

“Alright, before we enter this room, we all need to practice our brave faces,” Yukio says outside the door furthest away from you and Piotr. “Because in this room are Dracula and his wife!”

There’s some gasps and “oohs” from the kids, along with a couple expected “Dracula isn’t real”s.

“Don’t get too close,” Ellie says warningly. “Or else they might try to suck your blood!”

You grin at Piotr as the kids gasp again –he grins back and winks at you—then put on your “game face” as Ellie opens the door so the kids can enter the room.

It’s hard to keep a straight face, though, in the presence of the elementary students. It’s easy to tell that they’re really enjoying the mini haunted house, what with how they’re bouncing and grinning, and that combined with their adorable costumes –skeletons, princesses, pirates, pumpkins, there’s even one of the kids dressed as Iron Man—makes the entire thing downright heart-melting.

The kids all gasp, giggle, and whisper amongst themselves as they approach you and Piotr, flocking together like a bunch of baby birds—

And then one of the kids in the back shouts, “That’s not Dracula! That’s Mr. Piotr!”

Ellie, Yukio, and you all snort, while Piotr just winks at the kid in question.

“What do we have here, my love?” you ask, slipping into your “vampire accent” as you make a show of looking over all the kids, which prompts another slew of gasps and giggles from them. “It seems someone has brought us a bunch of tiny treats to eat!”

Piotr “hmms” as he stands, looming over the students in his long, flowing black cloak. “So it does, moya Koroleva. I must say, I am feeling peckish. Perhaps we should have afternoon snack.”

“Oh no!” Yukio exclaims. “Do you guys think they should be able to do that?”

“No!” the group of students all shout at once (which, admittedly, is a little rough on the ears).

“Well, I think we can do whatever we want,” you retort, looking over at Piotr to make sure the two of you time everything properly. “And…”

“We want to suck your blood!” you and Piotr declare while simultaneously fake-lunging at the group of students.

The students shriek, then run out the other door at Ellie and Yukio’s encouragement.

You and Piotr “pursue” the students –which is less of an actual pursuit and more just angling yourselves in their direction—until the last of the kids “escape” into the hall, then stop and grin at each other.

“I think that went well,” you say –quietly, so as not to disrupt the students’ experience.

“I agree.” Piotr holds out his arm to you. “Shall we, moya Koroleva?”

You giggle and place your hand on his arm. “Absolutely, my love.”

The two of you head out the door at the far end of the room –the door the students had originally entered in—and into the hall. Fortunately, there are a couple curtains blocking the rest of the hall from view, meaning that there’s no risk of anyone seeing the two of you sneaking through the hallway and down the stairs to the main floor.

Piotr ducks into one of the storage closets by the staircase and pulls out a box with various goody-bags stashed in it. “These looks very nice, moya lyubov’.”

“Thank you. I tried to make sure everyone got one of everything –oh, wait a second.” You reach into the closet and pull out a bag you’d stashed separately from everyone else’s. “This one’s Timothy’s. I wanted to make sure it didn’t get mixed up and he get peanuts by accident.”

“Good thinking.” Piotr sets the main box of treats on a nearby table, then turns back to you and kisses the top of your head. “How are you feeling, dorogoy?”

“I’m feeling good; I’m really looking forward to the big prank tonight!” The corner of your mouth turns up when he makes a “hmmm” of disapproval. “I take it you’re not a fan?”

“I just… I am concerned about how you and Wade target Scott,” Piotr says diplomatically. “The two of you seem to ignore everyone else.”

“Well, there’s not really a need to prank everyone else,” you reason. “And it’s not like we prank Scott all the time, either.”

“I would just worry about team dynamics.”

“He already fucks that up by being an asshole, honey,” you argue, careful to keep your voice down so the kids don’t hear you swearing. “Scott’s a total dick! He’s objectively horrible to Wade; he’s also a jerk to Russell. Like, massively.”

Piotr sighs. “I��� I do not think pranking helps the situation.”

“Look, sometimes when people refuse to listen to polite conversation, you have to smack them around a little to keep them from letting their asshole behavior ooze all over everyone.” You grin. “Wade and I are just the smacking team.”

Piotr glances towards the door where the back staircase opens onto the main floor; there’s sounds of little voices and footsteps, meaning the kids are almost done. “Just… be considerate. That is all I ask.”

“Already done, baby,” you reassure him. “It’s a super basic jumpscare prank. Nothing about him, nothing about being a mutant, all Halloween themed. I made sure Wade didn’t get too crazy or destructive this time around.”

Piotr relaxes a little at that and kisses your temple—

And then the door opens, and the group of students rush into the main hallway.

“I told you it was them!” one of the students shouts, prompting everyone else to laugh.

“It was,” you admit, foregoing the vampire accent. “Did you guys like the haunted house?”

“Yeah!” the group choruses at once.

You and Piotr both grin, then work on handing out bags of candy to the students –and make sure that Timothy gets his special bag, no allergy episodes today, no sir—

And it’s good. Life is good.

 ***

 Once the younger students exit for dinner, everything switches to a mad scramble to flip the space for the second walkthrough.

Granted, it doesn’t sound like much, until you realize that it involves taking down basically all the props and putting new ones in.

It’s sweaty work, and by the time you’re done you have to reapply all your vampire make-up –because you and Piotr are still doing the vampire bit. And then—

And then.

Once the older teams exit the “vampire room,” you’ll sneak out the “entry” door and down the hall, then hover over the door everyone exits out into the main floor hall at the end of the walkthrough, and when they do, you’ll drop down next to Scott and scare the everliving shit out of him.

Simple. Stress-free. Borderline stupid.

It’s gonna be great.

 ***

 The second walkthrough is just as much of a success as the first one. The older students aren’t as giggly or excitable as the younger group, but it’s still easy to tell they’re enjoying the haunted house –at least, if the occasional screams and comments about “how cool” everything looks is anything to go by.

Better yet is that Scott is jumping and gasping at, like, everything. He’s so easily scared that you won’t even have to try when you drop down next to him. He’s so easily scared that the prank almost isn’t fun.

Keyword being: almost.

You and Piotr do your vampire schtick again –which, unlike what you did for the elementary students, this round involves the two of you lunging out of dark corners and acting, objectively, much scarier—and when the older teens and Scott run out, you grin, give Piotr a kiss, then dart out the other door.

It takes basically zero time to get positioned over the door everyone exits out of. You tuck yourself up into the corner where the walls and ceiling meet, then resign yourself to being bored while the older students finish their haunted house walkthrough.

Scott, predictably, is the first one out of the door. He looks annoyed by the entire situation, and is trying to brush fake cobwebs off his shirt.

Perfect.

You wait until there are a couple of students in the hall as well –you can’t have the prank go unwitnessed—then count down from five before dropping down next to Scott while screaming “Trick or treat!” at the top of your lungs.

He jumps five feet into the air and shrieks like a teenage girl in a horror movie, and the students laugh.

Mission: accomplished.

[allsassnoclass]

You’re right about the kid Dimitri thing it’s a cute element of the movie that adds to their relationship and also dimitris search bc he’s looking for the girl he saved. See I have an attachment to Rasputin&the bat which is half my issue but you’re right about the new guy just. Not being dangerous enough for it to work in the musical. Also pls go off about Newsies I wanna hear about that one

okay this is going under a read more because it inevitably will get very very long.  also spoilers for newsies (1992 movie and musical) below:

first of all a disclaimer: I do like the musical and this isn’t me saying that they didn’t improve anything (Crutchy/Crutchie, actually developing their token female (although I do have thoughts about that as well), what they did with “Once and for All” etc.) but I was a fan of the 1992 movie first so my loyalties lie there.  Also this is all just my opinion

First and foremost: all characters except for Jack, Medda, Crutchie, and Pultizer were done dirty.  The background characters were my favorite part of the movie and the musical really dropped the ball with them, often at the sacrifice of historical accuracy

Mush Meyers, Boots, Kid Blink, Racetrack Higgins, and Spot Conlon were all real people actually involved in the strike (Kid Blink was historically the leader, they created Jack Kelly to have more freedom with characterization), and all of these characters were taken out of the musical or given lesser roles.  They also (along with Crutchy) create the supporting cast (with Jack, Denton, David, and Les being the main cast), which means I was emotionally attached to all of these people and then they were taken away from me :( It’s clear that the people adapting the musical did not think they were important enough to keep consistent, which is just false

In general, because they spend so much time focusing on Jack and Katherine, all of the background newsies are less developed, which means that the Found Family vibes are also slightly less developed (especially when taking away the lodging house/newsies square as a definitive home base and Kloppman as a father/grandfather figure)

seriously I miss Kloppman that dude woke them up every morning, helped them with their spelling, lied to Snyder’s face about Jack’s whereabouts... MVP right there

Racetrack and Spot were done the most dirty (because the others don’t even exist).  Allow me to explain: In the movie and in real life, Racetrack got his name because he sells at Sheepshead Races and bets on the horses there (the betting is more of a reoccurring thing in the movie).  Therefore, in “King of New York,” he is the character to wish for “a permanent spot at Sheepshead Races,” and for absolutely no reason (besides laziness) they have someone else say that in the musical and also cut half his name???  He also is shown to be very good with kids (David telling him to watch Les when he goes after Jack, all of his interactions with Snipeshooter), and there’s an interesting thing to be said about how Wiesel will spot him papers.  All of this is lost simply because they don’t have the stage time for the background newsies

SPOT CONLON! WAS RUINED! perhaps that’s a very strong opinion but they really did him dirty.  In the movie he’s a shrimp with the aura of a mob boss.  he wasn’t buff, and that made him more intimidating because he still somehow was arguably the most powerful newsie! also by cutting out the scene where Jack, David, and Boots go to Brooklyn to see him, we miss seeing him as a true leader and getting an actual introduction to him and how the newsies of different boroughs interact.  I miss his slingshot and his pimp cane.  I miss David calling him the key to the strike.  I miss him showing up earlier than the second act so it actually makes sense for him to be seen as the strike leader that the musical is so desperate to make him (seriously what’s the point of him being in Pulitzer’s office at the end???). also by introducing him later we miss all of the sprace moments :(

I even have some beef with Katherine because, although she’s much more developed as a love interest than Sarah (rip Sarah 1992 maybe if they had actually kept her song Truth About the Moon in there...), I think it was cheap and unnecessary to make her Pulitzer’s daughter, and she doesn’t really have much of a personality outside of Strong Independent Woman who still somehow needs a man in order to get her big break.  She was really written as a Token Female and while I love her and I appreciate that she wants agency and to fight for a cause, Sarah punching a Delancey brother was more feminist.  Also, even David’s role in the story was lessened in order to give room for Katherine’s whole subplot and Dramatic Family Reveal and as an avid Javid shipper that made me sad :(

Now on to more plot-focused concerns!

The! Betrayal! Scene! The movie betrayal scene! So much better! Allow me to explain!

First of all, Jack just waltzing into Pulitzer’s office and getting captured? boring. cheap.  Snyder and the police infiltrating the rally so we get to see Every Single Newsie try so desperately to keep Jack safe and yet he (and all the named newsies) still get captured? Heartbreaking! Engaging! Shows plainly the bond of the newsies!

(also allowed us to have the “on the grounds of Brooklyn, your honor” line at the trial)

The one-on-one confrontation between Jack and Pulitzer is much more engaging and more of a game of wits in my opinion.  You don’t feel like Jack is the underdog and won’t win until Pulitzer directly threatens David, whereas having all of Pulitzer’s friends there in the musical means Jack is automatically going to lose and you don’t even get a chance to cheer for him

The Alley Scene!!!!

Then the actual betrayal scene, with Jack fully dressed like a scab.  every single newsie feeling personally hurt and calling out to Jack, spot having to be forcibly pulled back by multiple people, and then David gets the chance to speak and nearly starts a fist fight when he was the one who always said they couldn’t beat up the scabs… “I ain’t got nobody tucking me in at night, like you.  It’s just me, and I gotta look out for myself” “you had the newsies!”

I quote that scene so much y’all

I miss Jack meeting David’s whole family.  It really shows what Jack himself is missing and longing for, it more blatantly shows David’s Jewishness, and makes Jack finding a family with David and the newsies that much sweeter at the end.  I also liked how a nuclear family was something no movie newsies had (less historically accurate, I know) because I think that bonded them together more, because they genuinely only had each other in the movie (can you tell that found family is extremely important to me)

Jack’s background story.  him lying about his name and then it all getting revealed at the trial was a very spicy moment, and I think it shows just how much he relied on Santa Fe as an escape for him.  He’s created an entire other life in his imagination for himself, going so far as to change his name and fantasize about having a family, and I think that that makes his decision to stay in New York and accept both his reality and the newsies as his family sweeter

also in the musical it’s implied that Jack stole food and clothing for the kids in the refuge, and that’s how he got himself arrested the first time.  I almost like it better if he was stealing for himself at first, because I like having a protagonist who doesn’t need to always be completely altruistic like he was starving and he stole some food and I think that’s justified, so I don’t like how they felt the need to turn him into some sort of saint who was stealing for someone else (that’s a really nitpicky thing but!)

The absolutely bonkers commitment to nicknames in the movie was very spicy.  I think Jake (and Jack, who was lying, and David and Les, who started as outsiders) was the only one with a name and he was even a very deep background newsie.  Wasn’t historically accurate but it sure created a lot of possibilities about the power of names that could be exploited in fanfiction

And now some nitpicky things about elements of a musical that bothered me:

they took away the upper harmonies in carrying the banner???? why would you do that you have Broadway singers and you take away the upper harmony???

switching Jack’s line of “I want space not just air” to “I need space and fresh air” idk I think the first one more fully portrays how trapped he feels in New York and in his situation also it’s more poetic

I’ve already talked about Race’s line in King of New York :)

how all of the newsies are supposed to be kids but instead were played by adults... I know this was because of child labor laws but that’s why newsies is going to be best done as a high school musical (or a combined middle school/high school like my school was... Mr. Holsen when you retire put in a good word for me so I can take over).  if you don’t have at least 3 newsies who are small and young enough to be lifted onto another newsie’s shoulders then you’re doing it wrong

this is very much a personal preference but I really liked how the color pallet in the movie was a lot of browns and earth tones.  with the musical doing a lot of steel and blues it definitely feels like the progression into the mechanical age but it also feels colder and more rigid and I liked the warmth of the movie.

In a similar vein that is also a very personal preference, I liked how the singing and dancing was a bit rougher around the edges in the movie.  I’m a dancer so Of Course I love the Broadway choreo but it feels too polished sometimes.  these are young scrappy kids and they’re dancing like professionals who went to julliard (which like. some of them probably did). the scruffiness of the movie makes it feel more down to earth and swallowable for me

Jack’s cowboy hat :( Jack’s costume in general :( his nickname is cowboy and they took away his cowboy hat and red bandana :(

This is obnoxiously long but I just. y’all I have so many feelings about newsies and everyone always talks about the musical when they’re really two different stories and I just want to talk about the movie so thank you for indulging me

[canvasofthecosmos]

Traits I’ve noticed in the rising signs I’ve met

Aries   Catchphrase: “Another Day in Paradise.” A lot of head shaking- pretty much uses their heads to point to objects and communicate in general, hates wasting their breath. First ones to get frustrated when confronted by any obstacles. Firm believer that if you want it done right, do it yourself. Starts a new hobby every few months then gets bored and goes on to the next. Wants SO BADLY for someone to be their gym buddy. Actually just wants everyone to be their friend, they talk to strangers like they’ve known them for years. Falls asleep instantly but also wakes up a lot in the middle of the night. Already thinking of what to get into after this. Taurus Catchphrase: "Hold your horses." Slow but sure footing, maintains eye contact, knows when to raise their voice. Moves like they have a weight on their shoulders. Just wants to get everything out of the way all at once so they end up furiously multitasking. Actually, probably winds up finishing everything at once because they procrastinated too long. During the times they should be catching up on work, they can probably be found doodling, trying to form a band or cooking. Tries to pull all-nighters because they even procrastinate in going to bed, then gives up some time after 3 am and oversleeps that morning. Gets new clothes and then proceeds to wear their staple sweatshirt for the next month regardless. Gemini Catchphrase: Whatever their favorite meme is at the moment. Will Stare You Down with such intent that you think they have beef, but it’s cause they either heard a story about you through the grapevine or just think you’re cute. Will find any excuse to make small talk. Probably talked to you once in passing and now always stops to chat when they see you. Great writers because they LOVE gossip almost as much as practical jokes, preferring to sit back and watch the magic unfold before them. Most likely to get yelled at by a teacher in grade school because they were nose deep in a novel in the middle of a lesson. Takes at least one (1) different personality test online a day. Lays in bed staring at the ceiling for at least an hour before they finally fall asleep. Signs of aging cease at the ripe age of 12. Cancer Catchphrase: “What do you mEan.” Tend to have rounder features, therefore more insecure about their weight even when they’re perfectly healthy. Fueled entirely by emotional fulfillment. You can tell EXACTLY how they’re feeling just by looking at them. Loves to baby anything they can, especially small pets. Always has like 3 candles burning at once. Has 1 tapestry per wall of their room/house. Their clothes look SO comfy but so stylish?? Try hards as kids but when they grow up, they shamelessly enjoy things that they pretended to hate when they were young. You can call them crying at any time of the day and they will come running with a wine bottle in one hand and a homemade meal in the other. Has to clean off their bed before they lay down every night not because its dirty but they have more pillows than one human could ever use at once. At least one of their parents, more likely their mom if they’re on good terms, will adopt all their friends as her additional children. Leo Catchphrase: “So...” (used to exaggerate, inquire, and to connect ideas, often all at once). I know that everyone says this but their hair is the first thing you see, there’s just so much how do you miss it?? So ready to party it has to be unhealthy. Will hug you and endearingly call you bitch within 5 minutes of knowing them. Ready to start so much shit at any time (air signs love em because they can just stand a safe distance away and take it all in) but eventually they or (more likely) the Offender gives in and it’s all good... for now. Heart on their sleeve 24/7. Needs to set the stage of their life all the time and has a playlist for every Mood, which means at least 40. A walking, talking advertisement for their favorite things- #1 hype man/wing man. Loves to sleep, will sleep through any/accidentally turn alarms off instead of snooze them so they have to set 5-10 at least. Will stay in bed as long as possible, and are very rarely morning people. Most likely to rock bangs and pigtails into adulthood. At least half of their possessions are holographic/glittery/light-up. Virgo Rising Catchphrase: "It’s no problem." Chuckles to themselves often because they pick up on the weirdest little details around them. The only time their hands aren’t busy fiddling with something is when they sleep. Seem mad shy at first but will dissolve tension in an instant with a wisecrack. Thrives in awkward situations and uses these opportunities to make friends. Makes things uncomfortable on purpose to watch people squirm. First person in the room to speak up about something and show initiative in projects. Probably fluent in technology, a trade like mechanics, culinary arts or cosmetology, or at least one instrument. Animal whisperers, probably has a couple cats and some fish. Still learning how to get their lives together. Only warning signs before they snap is a split second of frustrated silence. Drawing skills were enhanced the most during grade school because they drew on every surface their little hands could get to. Libra Rising Catchphrase: Probably whatever their friends have greeted them the most with this week. Desperate to connect, so they’ll talk about pretty much anything and probably won’t be bothered by someone they recently met sitting thigh-to-thigh. Makes friends with gorgeous folks but also flocks to loud, outspoken people. Personality is different around different people. Least likely to talk about their family. Perpetually confused but still truckin’. Will talk about anything and everything and see both sides. Only plays devil’s advocate when they don’t care about a topic/point of view and just want you to shut up. Subconsciously acts differently depending on who they’re around. Presentation is mad ambiguous so not only can they easily pull off androgyny but they can somehow flaunt styles that are hard to pull off, and then look like they can be anywhere from 16 to 30 to boot?? Takes a long time to fall asleep because they want to get their life together and plan the most when its time to go to bed.  Scorpio Rising Catchphrase: -they don’t have one as they prefer to communicate solely with their eyes. Either you love them or your hate them. The longer you go without seeing them, the harder it is to recognize them next time you do. Try so hard to look big and scary and unapproachable as a defense mechanism. You only need to know them for a few days to realize that they’re actually HUGE softies. Makes smart-ass comments under their breath when you do something ridiculous because “they can’t help it.” That’s partially true, but mostly they really want you to hear their mumbling so that they don’t have to spell it out to you. Trust me, their backhanded remark you weren’t supposed to hear is much nicer then what they’ll say to your face when provoked. Other than this, they can communicate perfectly with only their eyes. Most likely to give the best advice that no one listens to, but also the least likely to listen to good advice themselves because they learn best from experience. Believes there’s a time and place for everything. Pretends to hate cuddling but snuggle in their sleep; sleeps under a minimum of 3 soft blankets with the fan going. Sagittarius Rising Catchphrase: "I Know, Right?" Either smiling like a fool because they’re completely oblivious or because they know something you don’t, it’s hard to tell. Probably has long legs, most likely to fill out as they age. Somehow always approachable bc they are going into everything with gusto. In matters regarding everything but themselves, they blindly trust everything and everyone around them. Turns everything into a joke. Annoyingly agreeable until they feel comfortable with you, at which point they go full know-it-all mode. They have no patience and once they reach their wits end, they will tell you exactly what’s on their mind and they don’t care who you think you are. Always finding trouble because they have no impulse control and no respect for authority. Once you get them on their soapbox there’s no escape. Can only sleep in total darkness, probably sleeps with a pillow on their face. When you find them asleep in their bed, you’ll wonder at first if they’re dead if you can even see them buried under the covers. Capricorn Rising Catchphrase: Anything sarcastic. Rushes through everything so they have more time to relax before they go to bed at 8 pm sharp. Prominent bone structure, especially cheekbones. Will drop everything to help even though their plate is full because they secretly care but will cover this up with complaints. Gives people they care about allowances of some kind, especially when they have more of something you want/need. Hardest rising to find self acceptance/love, but wind up the best at it. Faces adversity with dark humor. True personality is hidden behind at least a dozen masks. First of their friends to have a Finsta. Rare to find one without an addiction to coffee or cigarettes. Learned at a super young age how to cook for themselves. Most likely to be a latch-key kid. Buys everything online. Researches everything they partake in beforehand at least a week before. Likes to sleep early and wake up early so they don’t miss anything. Plans their next adventure when they try to sleep. Aquarius Rising Catchphrase: something cryptic under their breath that doesn't make sense and can't be translated to modern english. Looks more like their ancestors further up the family tree than their own parents. Has to be raise as many eyebrows as possible. Does everything in a backwards, roundabout way that makes sense to only them. Quickly figures out out all the possible outcomes of a situation, still goes for the most hair-brained route. Makes everything a meme. Weirdest taste in music and fashion, but somehow rocks it effortlessly. They know exactly the impact they have on others and uses it to their advantage. Considers themselves the mom friend. Gone at the first sign of emotional involvement. Attracts drama but denounces it as petty at the same time. Like Capricorn, it’s hard to find one that isn’t addicted to something that’s bad for them. Can only fall asleep if they feel like they accomplished something and made a difference that day, no matter how small.  Pisces Rising Catchphrase: “Livin’ the dream.” Really just wants to go home and dissolve. This is the hardest sign to guess, but once you get their birth time it all makes sense. Sad puppy eyes perk up and reflect everything you are when you have their attention. Consumes media you’ve never heard of. Probably came out of the womb knowing how to play an instrument. Escapism of choice is either drugs and alcohol or fantasy games/books/movies. Half the time it’s impossible to tell if they are currently messed up, hungover or just tired, but it’s always at least one of the three. Doesn’t realize how much people drain them until it’s too late. They try very hard to give it their all, but most of the time they’re running on a low energy reserve as-is. Ironically most awake at bedtime, daydreaming of something to give them hope and a reason to wake up in the morning.

[vivienncs]

❧ make sure you KISS your fist before you PUNCH me in the face ❧

❝  Forgiveness is a war between the head and the heart and my body is a battleground. This is how it ends. I'm built of speed but nobody ever taught me how to back down. I wouldn't know how to outrun a war. ❞

BRIANNE TJU? No, that’s actually VIVIENNE ‘VIV’ CHANG from the NEXT GENERATION ERA. You know, the child of CHO CHANG and NICO TEJA? Only 21 years old, this GRYFFINDOR alumni works as an INDEPENDENT CURSEBREAKER and is sided with THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. SHE identifies as a CIS WOMAN and is a HALFBLOOD who is known to be CRITICAL, ABRASIVE, and UNFORGIVING but also DAUNTLESS, UNSTOPPABLE, and QUICK-WITTED. — &&. ( JANE, NZT, SHE/HER, 22. )

hellooooo this is jane

viv’s pinterest is here!!! ( she also has a smaller section HERE in my general quantum leap board ) 

viv is mostly a chaotic competitive

this is the girl who decided to try in her classes bc some asshole annoyed her and she decided the appropriate response was to beat him at everything he loves so

anyway it worked out! she found the academic half of her nerdjock truth and ended up taking way too many fucking newts and owls

her history of magic project in sixth year was about how the founders are fake/fables (the real people still existed probs but certainly the names and traits make more sense as fables and anyway surnames didn’t exist like that at the time and she has a lot of points and i bet someone tells her it’s a dumb idea so she devotes herself to it as her history of magic project) so get ready for her to tell u about that if she remotely values ur academic opinions/thoughts

tiny™

like 4′11″

maybe she’s hit 5′0″ now that she’s twenty one (good grief) but chances are no... also wouldn’t make a difference anyway —- she’d be an inch closer to some people and still over a foot shorter than her bf

she was a chaser for gryffindor from a young age, and until she was in sixth year, she’d really intended on playing professionally and had been involved in the sport from her youth, playing in younger leagues and being part of professional youth teams during her hogwarts years. it’s something she’s still v passionate about, but what it really comes down to is that when she was having her academic careers meeting in fifth year, she realised: there were other things she equally wanted to do with her life. before that moment, it had never really been framed that way, like there was anything else she cared enough about to do for the rest of her life, that there was anything else she was good enough to do, but after that meeting and during the months following, she really came to understand that while her notable speed and physicality would always be things she connected to, she truly loved history and academia, and the theory of magic (as well as the practical execution of curses / unravelling them), and something about combining those aspects with her determined and dauntless spirit set her on track for cursebreaking (independently —- we aren’t here for destroying magics of antiquity and other cultures for capitalism n banks y’all)

don’t fuck w her gals 

will break ur nose and not apologise

will help lily bury a body if need be

cho is younger child of weisheng chang, who was brother to jia chang, mother to marlene mckinnon —- marlene and cho were cousins, except marls died when cho was a baby, rip (jia was younger and had her children when she was young, whereas weisheng had them later in life, and cho was his younger child). seeing as jia’s estrangement from their family was due to their parents and weisheng had no beef with her, they reconnected properly a few years before the mckinnons died (except now marlene is alive again, adult!cho’s popped out of existence, and viv’s now got a teenage mother who doesn’t know her and also her mother’s dead war hero of a cousin. it’s a Time™ aight)

in fourth, year she once paid the quidditch commentator a galleon to call al “prefect potter” during an entire game and her defence to her mother was “listen he likes it and anyway it’s re-establishing his authority and reminding all the youths which one he is, as if they could forget a walking mountain”

(she does call him prefect potter)

v ride or die

loves dogs and magical creatures, hates birds and cats

just…. she’s tiny but believe she will fling herself at u if need be

an aries!! god no wonder she’s so competitive

SUUUUUPER into types of magic and magical knowledge like girl took way too many owls just bc she’s so fascinated in the nature of magic and how it can be used and magic from other cultures bc of how magical linguistics work and it definitely fed into her becoming a cursebreaker

v loyal friend but also highkey has excellent side eye for when ur being a dumbass

loves sugar quills and chaos

tends to take her time on some issues bc logically she sees pros and cons from both sides but when she makes an Emotional Decision™ on it, she’ll stand by it. until then, it’s mostly deliberating from a logical standpoint, which is prone to change with new info (things like joining the order tho are like… in her opinion, there’s nothing to debate with that?? like, that was the obvious right choice, it’s not something less clear cut)

dropped herbology and astronomy so fuckin quick after fifth year —- she liked neville a lot, but herbology is just not her cup of tea

stans viktor krum so fuckin hard

she has wanted connections that i will Think About More And Post but i have to send my ass to sleep asap

[ parental death tw ] her mum raised her by herself at first and then reconnected with her dad but he died when viv was about ten [ end parental death tw ]

scottish (always lived in glasgow area)

“swearing in a scottish accent is patriotic, minerva”

recalcitrant, reckless, harsh, impatient, unforgiving, highly critical, abrasive, sharp-tongued, blunt, not... super comforting

but also: loyal, ferocious, tough, determined, dauntless, quick-witted, unflinching, clever, dedicated, wry, perceptive, protective

currently dating al potter, timeline tbd (but recent-ish), lives w lily potter

travelled a bit/was in and out of the uk during her training but is Firmly Back Now other than any work trip she may have

re: time clash —- oof. ooooof. ok. well, not thrilled that her mother has, for all intents and purposes, disappeared. she realises that the cho currently around is literally her mother, but also she very much isn’t, and it’s a weird situation. trying to be there for her though, and also marlene & other mckinnons who have popped up, though from what she’s heard abt the mckinnon side of marlene’s family, she’s not super inclined to be welcoming (touched on in marls’ bio, but seeing as that’s only linked in discord bc her intro is still drafted for now, tl;dr is that the mckinnon grandparents were racist, mostly in the like... ‘i voted for obama!! how can i be racist, even w all these microaggressions??’ sorta way, though there were a few more Explicit Incidents). still, having her family around is weird, but it’s far, far from the worst of it all.

really interested in the actual logistics of the timeclash and is someone who is thinking abt the logical progressions that can occur from here, but also —- in line w being unforgiving, she’s... in theory, she does agree with the idea that you can’t punish someone for something they haven’t done yet. but she looks at people like theodore nott & peter pettigrew & that just burns away, and all the theory and thoughts go out the fucking window and she wants to step on them and grind them to dust with her heel.

character parallels: holly short (artemis fowl), maya hart (gmw), elizabeth swann (potc), zoë nightshade (pjo), leia organa (star wars), thalia grace (pjo), kat stratford (10 things i hate about you), patty (she’s out of my league), xena (xena warrior princess), paris geller (gilmore girls), isabelle lightwood (the shadowhunter chronicles), hands holloway (accepted), drainpipe edwards (vinyl 2012), james rhodes (marvel), and apparently fuckin’ legolas greenleaf lmfaaaaaaao [ many of these r from charactour so... watch me add some as actual ones come to mind, probably ]