#because I'm the one who made this for the sole purpose of calling myself out

[kenzan-brainrot-mp4]

Hello! The twist ending of PYIH kind of shocked me. 'Twas really foolish of me for thinking that for the entirety of Kiryu's saga, Majima has just that twisted obsession with Kiryu, being a "Mad Dog" and all. I came across your PYIH analysis the other day and it really brought home what they were conveying with the ending.

I'm still having trouble wrapping my head around the premise of PYIH. Is the sole purpose of Majima's "filming/documentary(?)" is to rehearse telling it to Kiryu? Because if it had been, that would be even crazier.

Oh, and at this point, is it even reasonable right now to interpret their relationship as platonic or brotherly? What do you think?

YEAHHHHH imo I think yakuza kenzan yakuza 3 (rooftop scene) is where we first truly starting seeing a glimpse of a deeper dynamic between Majima and Kiryu that goes beyond the "weird twisted obsession" reading, and we see more examples of it later as the series goes on (gestures at yakuza 5 and IW) but moments like those were decently subtle/blink-and-you'll-miss-it (not to mention they lessen in frequency also probably in part to Majima's lessening screentime throughout the series), but pyih's ending really goes out of its way to ensure that you actually Know how deep and genuine Majima's feelings are, which I am both extremely appreciative of and Kinda Crazy about

I think the whole documentary thing is interesting. Given the fact that they went out of their way to get the equipment/crew/etc. for the "film version", I would say that the Majima's retelling of his story at the studio and at Kiryu's bedside serve different purposes, and that him telling the story on set was not specifically for Kiryu (what Majima plans to do with the "film version" I'm not completely sure, but I guess for now we can assume it's just a project Majima wanted to do while getting Majima Construction back off the ground?) I'd say the premise of pyih is both to retell Majima's story as he presents it to the "general audience" And Kiryu, hence why the game starts with one and ends with the other. It's the same story to everyone, for the mostpart, and the main difference between the two 'versions' is How he presents it (to the cameras/the players/main audience he puts on the fuckass pirate costume and the theatrics, to Kiryu he tells it to him straight, without the extra show stuff for the cameras. We can Assume the story he tells to each audience is practically identical, considering that the cutscene of him telling it to us in the beginning of the game and him telling it to KIryu at the end of the game use identical lines (cough cough in the Japanese audio), but his tone of voice between the two are notably very different)

Uhhhh shoot I don't know if any of that made sense 💀 Point is I think Majima telling the story of pyih is, in fact, meant for Everyone, it's just that Kiryu gets a sort of special, more authentically told version of it if you will (After all, Majima could've just shown Kiryu the film when it was finally done, but instead he went out of his way to tell it to him personally)

As for the question of "is kazumaji canon now", WOO boy. First of all I actually lowkey want to thank you for asking that question, I've been wanting to post about it for a while now but kept putting it off lol. I mulled over this exact question quite a bit during the week-or-so long time period that I was writing most of my analysis after finishing the game, and, despite the fact that I myself am very vocal about liking kazumaji in a romantic scenario/context, I would not personally call it canon, and I say it is still absolutely reasonable to interpret them as platonic.

While many of the aspects we see in their relationship (especially on Majima's end) such as obsession, devotion, etc. etc. are often associated with romantic interest (Especially in fandom spaces), I don't think they have to be considered specifically romantic. People who have read through my posts may remember a while back that I did an analysis of The Sun at 36.5 wondering if the song was written with the intent to represent Majima's feelings towards Kiryu (for the record this was incorrect and the meaning behind it goes past the scope of the game) and I was going pretty insane about it lol. That's because, had the song been written with that in mind, it would've meant with almost 100% certainly that they would be, in fact, canon, and that would've been Insane. However, this is not the case, and other than that theory I had there's nothing else in the games that would specifically state that either one has Explicitly Romantic feelings towards the other. Do they have a very deep and complex relationship, the likes of which they don't share with many other characters? Definitely. Is it explicitly romantic? I wouldn't say so

The main example I would like to bring up to argue against it would be minedai (*cough* my second favorite yakuza ship I fucking Love Mine Yoshitaka so much he's one of my favorites). I'll link this amazing post with all the examples but essentially, while minedai and kazumaji share many of the same themes in their relationship/dynamic (again, obsession, devotion, you get the drill (can you tell Majima and Mine are two of my favorite characters yet LOL)) the main difference between them is that, with minedai, it is basically outright said Multiple Times in Multiple Sources outside of even Yakuza 3 itself that Mine loved Daigo, with words used Specifically to convey strong romantic connotations, a choice rgg went out of their way to make every single time they wrote about them together. Kazumaji, on the other hand, does not use these kinds of words to describe each other, whether it be in words coming from Kiryu and Majima themselves, or official relationship charts, descriptions, etc.

Can feelings including romance be heavily implied without needing to be explicitly stated? Absolutely, but with the way rgg tends to Very Obviously and Explicitly state when characters Are romantically interested in each other, and also simply because there is still (imo) plenty of room to read kazumaji as Not romantic, I wouldn't say it's canon. And for the record, I wanna reiterate that this is coming from someone who is personally very enthusiastic about kazumaji as a ship, so I'm trying to be purely objective here, and that is my verdict (Also this is just a random aside, but I really don't agree with the people who are (unironically) labelling Kiryu and Majima's relationship as "queerbaiting". but that's a whole other discussion entirely)

Thank you for shooting an ask !!

[sonic-takeover]

Happy pride!!! 🌈

Let's hear some of y'all's coming out stories!!

He-Heyyy, happy pride!! This is my first one actually. But uh... You guys already know my story, eheheh~

It was because of me.

Yep~ Shads is the one who made me realize I'm not just into the ladies. In case there's anyone new here who doesn't know, though, I'm bi!

I'm gay. I have never been attracted to women, so I knew pretty early. As a child, I liked Elvis very much. It wasn't until I became familiar with the current time, however, that I had a word for it.

Elvis?? Oh my chaos~

Yes. Shut up.

Hey, happy pride!! Oh my gosh, I can't believe it's already here! So I'm bi, and I found out when I was a kid, maybe around 12? I had this friend growing up who I had a really big crush on, and she was a girl. But it wasn't until I met Sonic that I realized my feelings for her felt the same as my feelings for him. It took me some time to understand and accept myself, but now I'm out and proud, hehe!

I have not considered these things. But I am in support of Amy and her friends. From my understanding, that makes me an ally.

Mhm~! My favorite ally in the world~ *She kisses his cheek*

I have had what I thought were brief crushes on men before, but I have since discovered that feeling to be admiration, not attraction. I am solely attracted to women. As for my story... I did not seek romance for most of my life. I was too busy. I did, however have a lady's maid I would sneak off with to kiss. I did not understand at the time what that meant. When I met Silver, I believed myself to have feelings for him at first, but when I compared that to how I felt for her and for Amy, I understood the difference. Silver is merely an admirable teammate and good friend. It also takes me some time to realize my feelings, so perhaps... Demiromantic lesbian?

Omnisexual~ For me, attraction is attraction, regardless of gender. I do prefer women, though~ Men are more fun to flirt with, but women have my heart, hehe~ Especially one woman~

Aww, haha! I'm a lesbian. I've known since I was a kid. It's just always been girls for me. But I've never found a girl I liked as much as Rouge here~

*Rouge giggles and kisses her cheek* My story, dear, is a fun one. I discovered my skills in flirtation when I was starting off being a thief, and eventually realized I found every kind of subject cute, no matter what their gender was. I thought I was pan for a very long time, but eventually I realized I preferred women. It was when I dated Topaz that I accepted it.

I'm pan!!! I'm into all sorts of people, and it all feels basically the same as far as attraction! I found out when I moved into the bigass house and started thinking about love! Now I know myself and have a bunch of flags all over my room, hehe~!

Oh, uh.. I don't really know! I just kinda like who I like, I guess. Back in my old timeline, we didn't use labels like this, so it feels really foreign to me. It wasn't something people cared about, I guess? They just accepted it. But I do know I like Espio! That's all I need :)

I am homosexual. I found out by accident when I was a teenager. I was dared by someone I knew to kiss a boy as a prank, but I found I enjoyed it. A few crises later, I realized I had only ever had real crushes on guys. I'm still very private about my sexuality, but I do not believe I hide it well. I have sometimes met people who somehow automatically knew. Perhaps I give off a "vibe," as Silver would call it.

I do not see the purpose of this. My life is that of a warrior. I am the guardian of the Master Emerald, I do not seek distractions such as these! I have never felt these feelings as my companions describe. Amy has told me that means I am the "aro of ace."

((Hi! I realized Shadow was a kid before Prince was a thing, so I changed his childhood crush to Elvis. Happy Pride!! -Mod))

[tai0miemi]

For you, my favorite moralists♡

Caution! The topic of dark content, transophobia (as it seems to some), double standards and hypocrisy

English is not my native language, I express myself as best I can, OK?

This post is dedicated to all the freaking moralists who, because of fake characters, bully real writers and people who read what they like.

Are you worried that a child/teenager will see inc*st/r*pe topics, but for some reason you think it's okay not to put tags in works where there are trans people?

The authors of dark content set an age limit in bold text, write a bunch of tags and warnings so that your delicate brain does not deteriorate, at the same time as the authors writing about trans!reader × character or trance!character does not put anything at all most often.

I'm tired of you. I don't want to read the work and in the middle realize that a female reader has a d*ck. I don't want to read a work where a biologically male character turns out to have a vag*na. PUT IT DOWN. FUCKING. TAGS. So that people can just block you and not read it.

I'm not opposed to your writing, I just don't like it and that's okay. We're all different people and we like different things. However, I am fed up with moralists that in every tag that they do not like they make a tragedy of universal scale and then humiliate the authors who write it while they do not care about such a topic with trances. Seriously? Do you think that if a child sees these works, then it's ok? If you're against it, then you're fucking hypocrites. Leave the authors of dark content alone.

And here's another thing. I really "like" when they write "mention of female anatomy" in job warnings. Hmm, I wonder who it is? I don't even know if this creature is called a WOMAN. And leave your comments about the sex change, an artificial hole between the legs is not a biological vag*na, OK?

Do not write comments, do not like or reblog. This post was made with the sole purpose of attracting attention and adding kirosine to the fire♡

UPD: Thank you all for promoting the discussion, thanks to you, as many people as possible will see the post!

UPD2: You can call me transophobic all you want, but your brain missed the point of this post. No matter what you say, you have no right to poison other people just because you personally don't like something. Trans people is a specially chosen topic so that you can look at yourself from the outside, how stupid you sound from the outside. Congratulations you got caught :P

UPD3: For fans of protecting trans people: Do you think that no one has an injury related to this? Maybe a person made a sex change and regretted it, maybe someone was raped by a trans person and for them this is content that they want to avoid. However, you protect some, and wish death to others.

You are shifting responsibility for the crimes to the authors. Much more innocent things can encourage a person to commit crimes.

I sincerely believe that no matter what dirt a person writes, if it does not go beyond fan fiction, then everything is fine. The harassment of authors is much worse than any violence in literature!!

[meanbossart]

Ask Compilation: Advice, influences and Misc.

Apologies for taking so long on some of these, admittedly I'm much more likely to entirely forget about asks that are about me and my interests 💃 Thank you for all the questions regardless! And thank you specially to everyone who just drops nice messages into my inbox out of kindness.

I'm brazillian and a native portuguese speaker!

I'll probably return to twitter eventually, but a) I hate that place and b) It didn't make much sense to me to turn it into a BG3 account out of the blue. I am considering making an Instagram or a new twitter just to have more places where people can follow in case they don't care for tumblr, but it's just been a very busy year so far and so that's kind of low on the list of priorities. If I ever do that I'll be sure to announce it here. Have a nice day yourself!

Sorry to hear that! I've gotten a few messages before about this issue, and the problem is that since I am myself not from the US, my options are also limited :( a lot of patreon alternatives don't work for me because they either don't go through paypal, take insane currency conversion fees, or just straight up block me from signing up.

Speak for yourself, I just assume everyone I speak to online has committed some sort of atrocious crime until proven otherwise. Except for me - of course. I have never done anything bad in my life.

I still have a lot to learn! But I will basically use whatever works for me at the moment, as well as make a sincere effort to learn about musculature and anatomy so I can understand those components and how they move, instead of only knowing what they look like when still - that's how you get better at drawing from memory. Volume mostly comes from coloring and understanding light, which is it's own beast but can very much be learned from similar reference materials and observing it IRL!

My favorite places to get reference are medical diagrams, weird pictures I take of myself, 3D software (often Virt-a-mate) and questionably phrased image google searches.

My favorite artists are Jason Shawn Alexander and Sean Murphy, but I'm not sure how much of it reflects in my art nowadays! I generally seek to pick up techniques from artists rather than to emulate style.

Honestly I love that you guys generally do the thing he would hate the most: take him very non-seriously LOL

I've been in a real Chelsea Wolfe and Amyl And The Sniffers kick lately! But usually you'll also find me listening to stuff like Boy Harsher, Swans, FWF, JK Flesh Lingua Ignota, Nick Cave, David Bowie, and so on. Music for the weird gays, basically.

I went insane and wrote a 23-chapter-long-and-still-ongoing fic in like four months. But also - I'm not that good, I'm just shamelessly pretentious LOL

Hm. That's a good question, but I'm not really sure. Sincerely not trying to be a edgier-than-thou here (in fact, this has made me a little self conscious at one time or another) but a lot of art that I don't mean to be horror-y in nature at all has been associated with the genre. So perhaps I don't know what I'm doing either, LOL.

I think just leaning on making things look slightly "wrong" or "ugly" on purpose is the way, but I also find that if you just seek to depict people as they are instead of idealized versions of themselves, you will arrive at that either way.

Thank you for reading! Honestly, I'm guilty of having not read much at all since I was in my late teens, and the style I'm employing for ANE is very different from the things I would call "influential" for me, or even that I used to enjoy reading at all before. I read a lot of Chuck Palahniuk as a youth (and, no slight to people who do like him still, but nowadays I'm not sure why I ever did. His stories don't speak to me at all anymore) as well a lot of weird experimental lit that I didn't even care to remember the name of. My last book stint from one or two years ago was composed solely of historical and medical literature, and last year I got really into Cormac Mcarthy thanks to the internet.

So, all in all, I'm absolutely all over the place LOL if you put a gun to my head and told me to list my favorite books, I'd say The Indifferent Stars Above and Blood Meridian.

(Consider the reading portion of the question to have been answered above) I really really liked Beau is Afraid and think it's a really great "horror" movie. Sue me.

[fatoomie2801]

i finally named him omg

manolan / mono everyone 😃

he's an oc that i've slowly been creating since last month but i couldn't let myself fully lore build because mayblade was happening and i knew i'd get carried away if i let myself

made a rough sketch back in may cause i wanted to quickly design him while i was still on the 'making an oc' high and it's nice to have finally drawn it out

quick info dump on whatever it is i have so far

just read over my notes he's supposed to have his hair in a bun most of the time oops maybe i'll draw that next time

he's on the older side of the mfb cast, around the same age as characters like tsubasa / ryuga / aguma / da xiang

i know the characters don't have official ages but i like to think these lot are the eldest out of the bunch so that's where he fits in

planning on giving him a lyre bey (the harp because he loves music) but i haven't figured out the specifics just yet

he's supposed to be almost the complete opposite of kiara. he's not this loud lively energetic character like she is and he doesn't possess the same drive or motivation or determination she does

he's the kind of character that doesn't find meaning or purpose in life until he rediscovers beyblade. nothing worth living for. idk i just wanted to create a character like that :)

NOW HIS NAME omg this is my favourite part about him

i was thinking about what to name him and i couldn't really think of anything so i did what any typical person does when they're making ocs and i searched up names on the internet

as i was scrolling i was seeing a bunch of different names all with origins from different languages and then i thought to myself why don't i incorporate my OWN language (somali 🇸🇴) and BOOM we got his name

the name manolan is a simplified version of the phrase [macno la'aan] which in somali means [meaningless / pointless] which is very fitting for the mindset he has

after that, i was wondering what it would look like to people who saw it for the first time / how they would pronounce it. ma-no-lan or ma-know-lan. and then it hit me. pronouncing it like ma-know-lan sounds almost EXACTLY like ANOTHER somali phrase [ma noola] meaning [is not alive] which is ALSO VERY FITTING??? for a character that feels like they're just existing and going through the motions rather than actually living, it's PERFECT

it shocked me actually to realise this which means his name has a double meaning and i LOVE THAT I UNKNOWINGLY DID THAT

haven't decided on pronunciation yet. i want it to be ma-no-lan but i myself sometimes keep reading it as ma-know-lan im gonna cry 😭😭😭

but yes, ma-no-lan because the name originally is supposed to mean 'meaningless'

i also love giving characters surnames but he will go without one because he runs away from his family and decides not to keep the name (and also because i can't think of a name and i don't want to LMAO)

as for the name mono, i was messing around with nicknames. it originally was meant to be mano which in somali would mean [macno / meaning] but considering the way i want him to look and sound, mono seemed more fitting

he's not very expressive (monotone) and he only ever really wears black or just a singular colour (monochrome) and mono can be used in music too so i thought why not it's very fitting idk lmao

also mono is a prefix meaning one / sole / single and beyblade becomes his sole purpose after he rediscovers it so i thought that was fitting too

i like getting all creative and meaningful with character names like this and i think this is in fact my favourite one ever i'm never shutting up about mono yall

even nolan as a nickname works since the [ma] in [ma noola] means [not] in the somali phrase for [not alive] so removing it makes it mean [alive] which is very much how he feels when he gets back into beyblade

but i don't want anyone calling him that if y'all call him nolan for short you have it coming 🫵🏾

as for any more lore and character interactions, the only thing i want right now is for him to be friends with hyoma and eventually move to koma village so he can have a life of peace i never give any of my characters peaceful backstories HAHA

i think i also want him to be quite close with tsubasa and almost grow up together

i haven't really created much of tsubasa's backstory between the house fire and the point in which the anime starts so i thought it would be interesting to start working on that and tie manolan in there somewhere and also because i want manolan and kiara interaction though it wouldn't be anything crazy

i think manolan would actually find it very draining to be around her because she's so energetic but then also he'd see her like an annoying little sister

and so for this same reason it makes sense why he and tsubasa or even hyoma would get along so well since they aren't nearly as energetic as kiara is

reading over my notes on mono and i've written that i want his love for beyblade to stem from a rediscovery rather than actually discovering it for the first time

i wanted him to be the kind of kid whose parents had high expectations of him and sort of shoved beyblade down his throat despite him not wanting to be a blader, and them only placing value on how well he does so very much a conditional love situation

the more he is forced to take part in it, the more he hates it because it's not what he wants, and he gets into arguments with his mother over it (yes his mother specifically idk what to do about his dad yet maybe i'll make him a deadbeat who knows)

he ends up running away from home because his parents make him feel like he has no value outside of beyblade (haven't really thought of why they care about beyblade so much i just need him to have a sad backstory and a reason to leave so he can meet tsubasa) and he ends up at the children's home where tsubasa is growing up after losing his entire family

the children's home look for and find manolan's parents despite him refusing to go back home but he ends up staying there because the his parents decide they don't want him anymore because he's of no value to them (still need to come up with a reason for why they care so damn much)

anyways tsubasa is a lot more outgoing as a kid than he is when he's older so it'll be interesting to see how i end up creating their interactions but i think i want manolan to be an angry kid for a bit before he becomes entirely numb to emotion

i think i also wanted tsubasa to be that kid that would take manolans hand and drag him outside to go and play and he'd honestly try anything to cheer him up or even get him to crack a smile

and eventually he does and tsubasa's eyes light up

tsubasa eventually becomes the first person to evoke emotion in manolan after a long while so they end up becoming lifelong besties

maybe tsubasa should be the one to give him the nickname mono and then he just runs with that idk

also maybe i want them to have a few falling outs where tsubasa tries to get manolan into beyblade and he completely refuses to take part and tsubasa gets upset about it because he just wants to battle with his friend and his friend is over here being mean (this is probably where the angry kid part comes in. maybe the only time manolan ever shows emotion before becoming super close with tsubasa is anger at the mention of beyblade)

anyways time skip to when he's way older, i want him to rediscover it, maybe through watching gingka or something since he tends to be a very inspirational character in that way or maybe even through someone like yu who has fun when battling and doesn't care whether he wins or loses as long as he gets to have fun battles with strong opponents

or maybe he watches tsubasa battle and wants to battle with him for his sake. or maybe he sees how hard kiara tried to get stronger to find tsubasa and it resonates with him or something and he realises there's more to beyblade than just winning

he almost has to rewire his brain and relearn beyblade and sees it from a new perspective and sort of falls in love with it and so after a life of not really having anything he was passionate about, he starts battling and realises that it's so much fun without the pressure of having to be the best at it and without eyes staring into the back of his head expecting him to win

i think i want him to lose in his very first battle. after the loss, all those emotions from his childhood that he used to feel when he lost come rushing to the surface and he immediately decides he's going to quit but then tsubasa (who in his eyes is a really powerful blader) tells him he did well and he just kind of freezes because that's not the reaction he was expecting

but he almost doesn't believe it because that's his best friend and his best friend is always just going to say something supportive so he brushes it off and goes to leave before someone else says the same thing and he stops in his tracks

and there isn't a single person treating him like he isn't worthy of love for losing a battle and in fact they all decide they wanna battle him too and he is just so stunned because this is the furthest thing from what he's used to

i guess it's sort of like a windbreaker sakura situation with how new all these positive and warm reactions to his loss are

despite having left his home and his family all those years ago, he's still associating his worth with winning and he's working on slowly trying to unlearn that. he's surrounded by people who are very supportive and it's all just so new to him because why would they tell him he was strong when he lost? why would they praise him for doing well when he failed to win? why does everyone want to battle him so badly when he couldn't even win his first battle?

and it's not like he's new to beyblade. he used to be good at it before (because he HAD to be) so the loss is actually his first loss in a VERY long time and he's frustrated with himself for losing because he knows that 6 / 7 year old him wouldn't have lost like that. but despite that, everyone wants a turn to battle him and it really throws him off but it evokes emotion in him again (which is something he rarely feels)

i want him to be the kind of character that rarely smiles and when he does it's a gentle soft subtle kind of smile

and maybe the first time he laughs everyone's like omg wait he can do that?

going back to him and blading, i want his motivation and determination to waver quite a lot. progress isn't linear and not every character has to be this strong-willed fighter. it's okay to feel like giving up sometimes except it's quite often for him

maybe this is the point where he has his koma village retreat, to learn about the origin of beyblade and see it from a different perspective, basically like taking baby steps and starting from the very beginning

and this is where he can form a bond with hyoma and fall in love with koma village

the more he overcomes his fears and feelings of unworthiness, and the more progress he makes in blading, the more put together he looks

he's supposed to have this slightly dishevelled look, messy hair, dark circles, not really caring about how he appears to others, wearing dark colours and just throwing his hair in a bun most of the time

but the more fun he finds when battling, the more organised he looks

maybe he should also be the kind of character that shows an insane amount of emotion when battling and then when the battle's over he's back to having that expressionless look

maybe for someone like mono, battling can be like listening to music in stereo, more fun and exciting, and maybe he can even fall in love with the sounds of the beys clashing, the audience cheering, the sound of his heart beating in his chest, the laughter from his opponent as they have fun when they battle, the sound of blader dj's voice echoing throughout the stadium

maybe the only time he ever takes off his headphones is when he battles so he can take in every single sound that comes with battling

MAYBE he had never even noticed those sounds before because as a kid all he could hear was the sound of his mother telling him to win, and he realises he missed out on all these interesting unique sounds that he loves so much because he couldn't truly hear them before

maybe he'll be similar to jack in the way that he wants to make art out of battle but in the form of sound rather than a visual piece and definitely nowhere near as crazy (or maybe i could make him crazy but ONLY in battle idk i haven't decided on that part yet)

my notes say he has a metal masters debut in the story but i've just been working on backstory and relations with characters for the time being so i haven't figured out how he ties into the story or anything like that but i'll post about it as i work on it!!

anyways that's all for now!! mono dump was in fact NOT quick but i love this character so much already omg i can't wait to keep working on him

[sojourner-between-worlds]

Not so long ago, another Christian on here shared an article about the "problems" with the Chosen. Now, I fully believe and support thinking critically about the media we consume, especially for something depicting the life of Christ. That being said, I'd like to offer some thoughts of my own about some of the most commonly cited "problems" with the series. (I ended up referencing the above article in most points, but almost all of them I have see elsewhere as well. That article was just an easy frame of reference.) I'm not here to convince anyone to watch it; I'd just like to offer an alternate perspective for anyone who is willing to listen and think critically.

As a disclaimer: no, this show is not flawless. It's a flawed show made by flawed people doing their best. There are times I take issue with it myself. There are valid criticisms. The ones below are, quite simply, ones that I believe are not.

Buckle up; this is going to be a long one.

1.Mormon Influence I can't believe I still have to explain this one, but I still see it listed as a reason not to watch, so here we go: VidAngel/ Angel Studios Mormon ties had no more bearing on the series content for being the streaming distributor than CBS currently does for being allowed to broadcast it. When a company solely has distribution rights, that does NOT mean they are making content decisions. The only time a distributor would have say on content is if they are partnered, which usually means they are paying for production in some way. Angel Studios never gave a penny towards production (this is the largest crowd-funded series to date, remember? They have no studio backing). They never had any influence. And, oh yeah, as of May 2024, they were deemed to be in breach of contract and now the Chosen no longer has any ties to the company. No influence. Got it? Good. Then we can move on.

2."What does your heart tell you?" (This one could be included in point 4, but I've seen it so often it gets its own, haha.) Okay, this one? This one I agree was not a good writing choice. However. I think this one needs a little more thought rather than taking it at knee-jerk. Yes, the heart is deceitfully wicked and cannot be trusted. But there's some nuance here that I think gets left behind when well-meaning people call out the series for this line. The heart, as referred to in Proverbs, is the will of man. The heart, in pop culture, is often synonymous with emotions. Within the context of the scene, its very clear that the second meaning is the one intended. Now, I will say "feelings are fickle" until the day I die (because they are) because they can't always be trusted to reflect the truth. Again, however. Feelings do exist to tell us things. That is literally their purpose. Not always accurately reflecting the truth of something doesn't change their purpose. And that is what the writers were going for in this scene: the emotional weight of the truth Nicodemus has found. Could they have probably found a less controversial way to convey this? Yeah, maybe. But I can say that this wasn't intended to be the Disney "follow your heart" mumbo-jumbo it constantly gets written off as.

3.A Hearsay Gospel This point was taken directly from the referenced article. I'm choosing to address it not because it's a popular "problem" but because it's actually one I'd never seen before and I think it shows a gross misunderstanding of the inspiration of the Gospels and Scripture as a whole. This point posited that it's unbiblical to show Matthew and John taking notes because it undermines the Spirit-led inspiration of their writings. Except that it doesn't. The Greek word used when talking about this is more literally translated "God-breathed." Which is not the same as "God-dictated." If it were the latter (and what the writer of said article implied), then there would only be one Gospel account. That would be all we need because everything would be in it. Or, if there were still four Gospels (given that they were written with different intended audiences), they would all sound the same and have the exact same details about shared recorded events. But they don't. Because God didn't tell them, verbatim, what to write down. This is why there is variety yet harmony. This is why each writer has a distinct voice in the way they wrote. Because God didn't dictate; He led. There is a difference.

There is also the matter of the Gospel of Mark. Many scholars believe that Mark may have used Matthew's Gospel as a reference when he wrote his own because it shares so much in terms of content (93% of Mark can be found in the others). Does that make it less inspired? The obvious answer is "no" (or it wouldn't still be in our modern Bibles).

The episode most criticized for this point was s2 ep3, where a woman runs past Matthew and he desperately calls after her, "Healed you of what?" Therefore making it something he didn't personally witness that he wrote down. But here's the problem with this: that entire episode is based on one single verse from the book of Matthew: 4:24. Which, if you look it up, says only that Jesus healed many people. As any writer can tell you, not every note makes it into the final draft. Provided something like that did historically happen and provided Matthew did write it down, that doesn't mean everything he took notes on would have been in the completed manuscript later. Therefore: no hearsay.

Bottom line: what made it into their Gospels is still being presented as things they personally witnessed, and taking notes doesn't detract from being led to write or from being led what to include.

4.Unscriptural Script There are several points under this one, so we'll take them one at a time. --"House" vs "Business". This one is, once again, directly from the aforementioned article, but I wanted to address it briefly anyway. This is in reference to Jesus, at age 12, staying and teaching in the temple when his family had already started home. The author claims that "the Bible says, 'Be about my Father's business'" and claims that saying "in the house of my father" (as the show does) is Catholic-inspired and unbiblical. I don't know about the Catholic-inspired part, but I can say that it depends what translation of the Bible you're looking at. KJV uses the business wording. ESV and HCSB both use the house wording. (And if you want to mince accuracy, ESV and HCSB are both more literal than KJV/NKJV.) Unless you take only one translation as being the True Translation, then you can't say the line they went with is unbiblical.

-- Apparently certain things demean Christ, such as him practicing his Sermon on the Mount as opposed to it "being inspired" (see point 3 for the rebuttal of the second part). Except it doesn't. Because Jesus was also very human. Which people tend to forget when talking about this point specifically. It's wrong to have him practice what to say specifically. It's wrong to show him with a sense of humor. It's wrong to [fill in the blank; there are many of these]. Most of them amount to "it's a sin to be human." There are a lot of things that are a direct result of the Original Sin that are not, of themselves, sinful. It's not sinful to say something in a way people don't understand (so he practices to make sure people will understand what he means). It's not sinful to be nostalgic (its an acknowledgement of things that were good in the past). It's not sinful to show Mother Mary supporting Him (we all need earthly support in the form of other people; this is literally one of the purposes of the church!). Every single thing I've ever heard anyone say is "demeaning" is actually just portraying Him as every bit the human He became.

-- The first "arrest". Quintus wanted to talk to Him. He wasn't charged with anything. He wasn't imprisoned. Quintus gave Him a warning and let Him go. This does not contradict Jesus declaring it was not yet His time because it wasn't. He wasn't arrested. I don't know how many more ways I can say this.

-- "Nathanael couldn't have been a drunk because Jesus said there was no guile in him." Except the definition of "without guile" is not "sinless". The definition of guile is "deceit, cunning, hypocrisy or dishonesty in thought or deed" and many modern translations use the word "deceit" in that verse instead. Jesus is saying that he is honest and not a hypocrite. There's nothing about drinking in there at all. I'm not trying to call out this author specifically, but when I say that it's important to understand what words mean, this is exactly what I'm talking about.

-- John the Baptist. One of the points I've seen repeatedly is that it's sacrilegious for Peter to call him "Creepy John". I have to ask if these people understand that Peter called him that in anger and before he met Jesus. After that, it's a running joke along the lines of "remember when you didn't believe me" from Andrew. This is peak sibling behavior. That's all I can say about that.

-- "Matthew couldn't have been autistic because it's not in the Bible/ it didn't exist back them/ etc." I haven't seen this one in a long while, and I made a whole post about this way-back-when, but it bares repeating. The word "autistic" doesn't appear in the Bible in part because the word wasn't even coined until the 1900s. I don't know what else to tell you on that front. Since I've already made a post about this, all I'm going to say here is that it's important representation that is made all the clearly by the overwhelmingly positive response it received from autistic fans. Jesus called all sorts, the outcasts of society, the lowest of the low. And, yes, He calls autistics, too. If there's a problem here, that's all on you, buddy.

5. The Music This particular writer pointed out this lyric specifically: "Got no trouble with the mess you've been" and quite frankly I'm having hard time understand the problem with it because he doesn't come out and say it. It is, in fact, a completely true statement. God is not put off by our messes. We don't have to fix ourselves before coming to Him. Its also worth pointing out the past tense here: been. As in, He calls you out of your mess. You don't stay there. So I have no idea what the supposed problem here is; I only know that it's not one.

In general, I don't have a problem with people not liking certain styles of music. I do take issue, however, when anyone tries to assign morality to a style. Music is amoral. It can be used in immoral ways, just like anything else can be, but music itself does not have a morality. It doesn't have "mystic undertones"; it is in a style that you yourself associate with mysticism. If you don't care for the style, that's fine, but don't assign it a morality it doesn't have.

.

.

Know of something I missed? I certainly didn't cover every controversy so let me know and I'll let you know what I think of it!

[papermint-airplane]

Eleanor: Whoa whoa whoa, what do you mean 'who is Aiden'?! He's the Bachelor! You know, the whole reason we're competing in the first place?!

Angela: Surely you can't be serious!

Rose: I am serious! 🤭 And don't call me--

Viridia: IF YOU FINISH THAT SENTENCE, I WILL END YOU MYSELF.

Eleanor: Gaaaaaaah, I hate you people.

Angela: Then I guess I need you to explain a lot more than the murder attempt because if you aren't competing for Aiden's heart -- the alleged premise of the show -- what are you competing for?

Rose: I. keep. TELLING YOU! I want to WIN! 😠

Angela: Yes, but win what?!

Rose: Uggggh, you're so dense, it physically hurts. 😩

Viridia: STOP TALKING IN CIRCLES AND JUST EXPLAIN SOMETHING FOR ONCE!

Rose: Haven't you ever heard the expression 'winning isn't everything, it's the only thing'? 🙄

Angela: Yeah, I've heard toxic Little League coaches say that to crying seven year olds. And?

Rose: Seriously?! It's the principle I've based my entire life on! It's my mantra! My raison d'être! 👿

Viridia: WATCH OUT, SHE'S GOING FRENCH AGAIN.

Angel: So the whole reason you snuck back into the house, disguised yourself as a mime, sloppily painted your blue stripes purple, tried to kill Angela, and potentially scarred Aiden for life was...because of an expression everyone uses ironically?

Rose: It's not ironic to me, dammit! It's my sole purpose in life! Everyone knows that, even the Watcher! And she...she used it against me. 😓 She promised me that if I made the competition interesting for her, she'd let me back into the house.

Eleanor: Wait. What?! Say that again.

Rose: When I broke into her control room, she made me an offer: I'd get to come back and compete again as long as I did something to shake up the status quo. She was getting bored of you idiots. 🥱

Angel: I-I can't believe this.

Bailey: I know what you mean...

Angel: One of us got to meet the Watcher in person and it wasn't me.

Rose: Look, Angel, if it makes you feel any better, she's not what you think. She's...crazy. 😦

Bailey: High praise coming from you.

Rose: And not only that, she seriously doesn't know how 'Earth reality shows' as she calls them work because holy shit, this whole thing has been one clusterfuck from the beginning. 🙄 She says it's a Bachelor-type dating show but she's run the whole thing like a survival show with the challenges and eliminations. I mean half of us haven't even met this Arwin-or-whatever, let alone been on a date with him. What sense does that make?! 😵

Aiden: It's Aiden. I'm Aiden!

Eleanor: You're right. I thought this whole thing was shoddily arranged but I've never seen any reality dating shows. For all I knew, this is how they're supposed to be.

Rose: Well I've seen hundreds of them, and believe me, this is not how they're supposed to be. Arlo is supposed to spend time with all of us one-on-one, not be shoved into a pod by himself ninety percent of the time. 😣 I don't know how they do shows like this back on her planet but it's not how we do it on Earth. 👽

Eleanor: On...her...planet? The Watcher is an alien?

Rose: Well duh. 😑 You couldn't tell? Why do you think she abducted us all at the casting call? She had to get us on more familiar turf.

Angel: That doesn't make any sense. The Watcher can't be an alien. She's an eternal extra-dimensional being of pure benevolence.

Viridia: WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR RELIGION, ALREADY?! CLEARLY SOMETHING ELSE IS GOING ON.

Eleanor: I knew it, we really are in the Lunar Lakes moon settlement. I could tell from the trees. But...why are we the only Sims here?

Rose: I don't know and I don't care. 🤨

Wow. You really exposed me to everyone, huh, Rose?

Rose: You exposed yourself! You should have just let me win from the jump and I wouldn't have had to tell everyone what I knew. 😖

I guess it really is a good thing I didn't tell you the whole plan, then, huh? Otherwise you'd have run your mouth to Aiden.

Rose: Yeah yeah, Argyle or whoever-the-fuck. Well, I held up my end of the bargain. You're going to call this whole thing off and just announce me the winner, riiiiight? 🤤

Why would I do that?

Rose: Because...I made things interesting for you, like we agreed on. 😕

Then why am I still bored?

Rose: I-- 😶

You haven't won anything, Rose. You're still the same loser you were when you walked into this place on the first day. And that's all you'll ever be.

Rose: ...

Nothing to say to that?

Rose: I am going to kick. your. ass. 😡

[Beginning] [Previous] [Next]

[stheresya]

The heroines of both The Grisha Trilogy and The Red Shoes (1948) respectively kinda share the same conflict, despite the stories being set in very different universes with its own circumstances. One is a story set in a 19th century russian-esque fantasy world, the other is set in the ballet world of 1940s UK. Both stories feature female characters who have a special skill/ability which is deemed an essence of their very being, who then become entangled with a scheming older man that elevates their abilities to its full potential, but meanwhile these girls also fall in love with a seemingly good guy, a love that inevitably prunes their abilities. And so they must decide between having love but devoid of their essence, or exploring their essence to its full potential but without love.

“It isn’t something separate from you,” Baghra snapped. “[…] Do you ask your heart to beat or your lungs to breathe? Your power serves you because that is its purpose, because it cannot help but serve you.” (Ch. 13, Shadow and Bone)

- Why do you want to dance? - Why do you want to live? - I don't know exactly why but… I must. - That's my answer too. (The Red Shoes)

What differentiates the stories, other than the environment where they're set, is how each of them deal with this conflict. In TGT this conflict is felt most by the reader than by the heroine herself. The paths that are presented to Alina are embodied by her childhood sweetheart and an older powerful man who ignites her in various ways, both men form a love triangle with Alina where they compete for her, even if each man wants her for very different purposes. Alina knows this but she refuses to grapple with a decision, she already know head-on that Mal is the one, and she mostly just tries to navigate both of these contradictory aspects: the grisha/saint identity as well as her normie boyfriend, despite being constantly warned that this would not be a feasible on the long run.

But in TRS, however, the conflict is deeply felt by the main character as well as the viewer. Also, and this is very important, there isn't really a love triangle in the movie. The main character is divided between her boyfriend and her mentor, who doesn't seem to harbor genuine romantic feelings for Vicky even though he still feels something that borders on obsession for her due to her talent (some people, like myself, interpret this as his own twisted form of romantic love, but I'm going here with what's clearly shown in the movie). The mentor is a bit similar to the Darkling personality-wise. He is a man who has renounced love altogether and lives solely for his job (or as he calls it: his "religion", which is ballet), and he expects his prima-ballerinas to do the same. So when he learns that Vicky has fallen in love with his composer he goes mad and lashes out on both of them, which causes Vicky to readily stand by her boyfriend. But of course things don't stop there as she constantly second-guessing her decision, even when her man tries to deliver on the happiness that he's promised her. The movie is constantly asking us: is it fair to give up your dreams for the sake of love? can you truly be fulfilled in your dream when you have no love?

But why am I making these connections? I suppose because watching this movie made me realize that these sorts of conflicts can never really lead to a happy ending. It's the perfect conflict for a tragedy. I guess one can write an ending where the conflict is resolved by just having the character be allowed to have both. But in my opinion it feels a disingenuous and coward choice to just take the conflict away, without having to face it.

And that's why both The Grisha Trilogy and The Red Shoes end in tragedy. The difference is that the latter is honest in its tragedy, while the former tries to paint the situation as... not exactly happy, but still hopeful, maybe bittersweet, but ultimately ok. It's ok because it was "fair", it was punishment for her "greediness" (she wasn't greedy). Another thing that I think The Red Shoes does better is allowing for the heroine choose. The ending of the movie, albeit sad, is entirely Vicky's choice. The Grisha trilogy doesn't go that way. Instead it does the RS equivalent of having Alina suffer a permanent injury that makes her unable to go on pointe, thus killing her career as a ballet dancer, and then Alina has to settle with her boyfriend after all, living as a shell of herself where she not longer has her essence, and she's not even allowed her own name anymore. But it's ok! she has her (unsupportive) man with her!

So long story short, there is no possible scenario where Alina could've had a happy ending. But we as readers could've a more fulfilling end if only the story were more honest about the ending it was writing. Alina died in every way except physically. It's not a happy ending in any way.

[an-aroaces-harem]

Ivy Chapter 4 Normal Attire Story

DISCLAIMER: I just deepl and google translated my way through this because I wanted to know what’s going on, so there are definitely mistakes but I believe I managed the general gist of the story. Anyway, it’s just a fan-made translation solely for entertainment purposes. Morganatic Idol belongs to Cybird and ABC Frontier, Inc.

I was taken to a high-end brand store that sold everything from men's to women's clothing.

(I've never been in a place like this before ... but to be treated like a VIP when you have the place all to yourself is just too good to be true.)

(All the clothes are so beautiful. I bet Ivy-san would look good in all of them ...)

Rina: Ivy-san, what are you buying today?

When I asked the question without thinking, Ivy-san smiled and answered casually.

Ivy: Clothes for you.

Rina: Eh!?

I look at Ivy-san in shock at his unexpected reply.

Ivy: You've been wondering about your clothes for a while now, haven't you?

Rina: !

My heart thudded.

Ivy: You seemed a little down after what Miu and the girl yesterday said to you.

Ivy: So I thought I'd give you a gift for helping me with the distribution.

Rina: Oh, no ...

(I had no idea it was for me. And I can't believe it's a gift ...!)

Rina: That isn't needed! Knowing you feel like that is enough for me.

Ivy: Don't be shy. You can choose whatever you like. It's my way of saying thank you for yesterday.

Rina: No, that's my job ...! I can't ask you to buy me something.

I was afraid and Ivy-san laughed at me.

Ivy: Okay, if you insist, but since you're here, why don't we look at some clothes?

At his urging, I turned my attention to the clothes on display.

(So lovely ...)

(Maybe I would feel more confident if I had one of these outfits ...)

It's tough on the wallet, but this could be a great opportunity.

I looked around the store and reached for a chic navy blue one that was close at hand.

Ivy: I like that outfit, but I think you'd look better in a lighter shade.

Ivy-san called out to me.

Rina: Eh? You think so?

Ivy: Yes. For example ...

He picks a piece from the clothing on the hanger.

Ivy: How about this?

It is a fluffy, pink one-piece.

I liked the elegant and sophisticated design at first sight.

(But will I look good in such nice clothes?)

As if sensing my anxiety, Ivy-san smiles gently.

Ivy: I think the color and the design look good on you. You should give it a try.

Rina: ... Yes.

Pushed by his smile, I decided to try it on.

Surprised by the luxurious sofa in the fitting room, I changed into the dress.

Back to Ivy-san who was waiting for me and ...

Ivy: Yes, just as I thought. That color looks good on you.

Ivy-san welcomed me with a big smile.

Rina: Is that so? I feel like I'm in a costume ...

The clothes are nice, but I don't think I look as good as Ivy-san compliments me.

In the fitting room, I saw myself in the mirror, dressed in a beautiful outfit, but looking somewhat unsure of myself.

But then Ivy-san smiled at me.

Ivy: Don't make that face. It's okay. Come here.

He took me by the shoulders and led me to a shelf with accessories.

Ivy: What accessory would go best with that outfit ... this?

He took a pair of earrings and put them in my ears.

Rina: Ah ...

The feeling of a touch on my ear and a beautiful face so close to me made my heart flutter ...

Ivy: And the necklace ... yeah, I like this one.

He didn't seem to mind me.

Ivy: I'm going to change your hair a little.

Rina: O-okay.

Long fingers touch my hair, arranging it slightly.

Although I was nervous, I surrendered to what was being done to me.

Earrings, necklace, hair ornaments and bags.

He looked so serious and proceeded to coordinate me completely.

Ivy: ... That's it. Look in the mirror again.

Rina: Ah ...!

I was urged to look in the mirror. There I was, looking much more sophisticated than before.

Rina: ... Lovely.

Ivy-san smiles at the words that escape my lips.

Ivy: Do you like it?

Rina: Yes, very much.

I thought I was wearing a costume earlier, but now it looks like I fit right in.

(Is this really me?)

It felt kind of incredible.

Ivy: You can really change your look by changing your hair and accessories to match your outfit.

As if reading my mind, Ivy-san opened the door.

Ivy: Jace knows more about this stuff than I do, but I wear a lot of different costumes on stage.

Ivy: Even if it doesn't feel right when you're just wearing it, you can change your hair and accessories to make it look more comfortable.

Rina: I-I see ...

Ivy: Above all, the look on your face. Earlier you seemed to lack confidence, but now you look so much brighter.

Ivy: It's lovely.

Rina: !

The frank words of praise were heartbreaking.

Ivy: Just look up at me like that. You're so cute right now.

Ivy-san looked at me with a satisfied smile.

I can tell from the look on his face that he really thinks it looks good on me.

I felt my reliance heat up with happiness and embarrassment.

Everything he picked out for me was of a high quality that I normally wouldn't have been able to afford.

(You went through the trouble to choose it for me. At least the dress!)

I was prepared to buy in installments.

However ... I was told that Ivy-san had already paid the bill.

And not only the dress but everything I tried on.

Ivy: Don't worry about it. It was originally intended as a present.

Ivy: It makes me happy to think that I chose everything you wear.

Rina: O-oh no. I promise I'll pay you back ...!

He just laughed at my humbleness.

Ivy: I have high expectations for you in the future. First, you need to work hard, make a successful presentation, and get ahead in your job.

He jokingly says it like that.

(That's right. I must succeed in my job to get the money back!)

I was more and more determined to do my best in my presentation.

⤷ next chapter

[its-stayville-forever]

This is,

Something.

This might be me telling how much I love a fic, or how much I appreciate and adore a person's writing, might be a declaration of love to she who makes people feel things, might be me explaining why I was sobbing my heart out as I was reading this form of art that is Echoes of Love. (My keyboard finished the name for me, it's that used on my tab help)

This is for @astraystayyh .

How I found it.

I have actually found this beauty by accident, as in her and Echoes of Love. Being new to Tumblr and by not having used it for such a long time, I simply typed in 'stray kids' and this came up, and I want to thank the lord for doing so, because this has quite literally changed the trajectory of my life. As in, my standards for writing have increased and reached the skies.

Why it is so important for me.

Now important would be literally an understatement.

I have this habit of imagining things that I read, and in so many, so many, instances this fic has had me in a chokehold. Like I had to physically isolate myself from this story because of the effect it had on me.

This is not a normal fic, it is anything but ordinary. This fic was written so intricately, it has so much detail, metaphors, simile, and quotes used in it. This is how books should be written, this is how fics and stories really should be written. Because if you can make a person cry through the feelings you have portrayed in a book, what more do you want from life? What more must an author seek in life than to make one muffle their cries because it was too loud for the walls surrounding them and all this because of a few words? No no no, these aren't just a few words. These are feelings. This is what a person feels after being projected to pain, misery and utter suffering and oh Sahar, oh Sahar you wrote it oh so beautifully!

You could ask the few people that I call my friends about this story, about how I physically couldn't stop thinking and talking and telling people about this piece that should be exhibited in a museum and no, no I'm not exaggerating. This is not exaggeration. This is me speaking facts for what it truly is. I can't not talk about something so beautiful, I physically can't.

How?

How. How. How.

This question ran marathons through my head because as a mere human being (and not a writing god like Sahar is) I just can't grasp how a person writes so deeply. How. She did this before in Invisible Threads (once again my tab finished the name for me 😭). And she's going to do it again and again and again. Because she writes like it's breathing. She writes like her hands, her talented fingers were made for this sole purpose. She writes like she'll die if she stops writing. She writes for people to feel, for people's feelings to be felt by others. I can't understand, I just can't understand, how beautiful, how magnificent, how stunning her soul is. How exquisite must she be that she wrote not a hundred not three, not even a few thousands but 25.8k words and effortlessly mastered through the whole thing.

Talent. Right here, talent. (Please apply for Oxford they'll be happy to have you, rest assured)

She was indeed, created to create.

I wish her the best and only the best. Because she does only the best, and deserves only the best. I am not the best with my words and so they never do justice to her writing. So I compel you, go read Echoes of Love, read Invisible Thread, and live your best life.

-your biggest fan. (Adopt me please)

[allwaswell16]

✨ Twenty Questions for Fic Writers ✨

I was tagged by @reminiscingintherain to do this (thanks Roni!) and I loved reading her answers to these!

How many works do you have on ao3?

105

2. What's your total ao3 word count?

1,083,820

3. What fandoms do you write for?

One Direction and Harry Potter (Drarry)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

I Didn't Fall For You (You Fucking Tripped Me) 3,949 (ooh getting close to the next thousand. I have an anon who comes and asks me for more of this fic every time I get a milestone # on this one, so I'll maybe be talking to you again soon, anon lol)

That's How I Know 3,443

Consequences 2,631

If I Loved You Less 2,387

Waiting 1,803

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

Yes! I do! Every single one! I get pretty anxious if I don't answer them fairly quickly to be honest. Sometimes I get behind, but not by more than usually a month or so. I really loved getting a response from writers to my comments especially when I first started reading in fandom. To be fair, I left a lot of unhinged comments lol. They probably stood out a little. But I loved having that connection to a writer, so I try to have it in return with anyone reading my fics.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For You I'd Bleed Myself Dry

I don't write unhappy endings, so this isn't exactly an unhappy ending. But it's a turning vampire fic so. Becoming the undead is angsty-ish, right?

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Until (series)

Probably this one because they end up having two weddings in the time stamp lol They're ridiculous and I love them.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not very often that I can think of. I can only think of it happening once off the top of my head and it was someone who hadn't even read the fic so.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I doooo! I wouldn't say I love writing it, but I write it when the story seems to go there. I am not really a pwp writer though, and I haven't written fics where the main point is the smut. And the only reason for that is because I just haven't had an idea that called for that!

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've written a couple of Potter Direction ficlets. But probably the weirder ones are the Louis/Rob Pattinson ones lol. The weirdest of those is probably: Interview with the vampire

I'm also writing a Peaky Blinders crossover right now actually.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have, unfortunately. I ended up making a Wattpad account for the sole purpose of reporting my stolen fics.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Yes, I allow translations so there's a bunch out there now.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Wine Not?

I have! Once! It was a giant group of us lol I made some great friends from writing that fic! And actually @taggiecb and I just started talking about writing a mystery fic, but who knows if we'll ever write it

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

OOF. I am a great lover of ships hence my running a rare pair fic fest. There's really something about Draco/Harry or Louis/Nick Grimshaw...I guess the enemies to lovers vibes of it all. The bickering. The drama. sighhh so good.

But I don't know that I can really say that I love any more than my OG Louis/Harry.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I am NOT linking it. But I have an unfinished wip out there on ao3 that haunts me. If I ever can figure out what to do with it, I'll finish it.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Maybe humor as evidenced by my more popular fics, I guess. Dialogue maybe just because I find that easy to write. taggiecb is always having to tell me to add more of what the characters are thinking because all I want to write is them talking lol

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Some of the things I've worked on specifically over the years are: writing meaningful smut, writing more vivid sensory details, and having strong characters.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I probably wouldn't. I have a vague memory of using another language once. Italian? I'm pretty sure I set a fic in Rome and had a bit of Italian in it. But I had an Italian friend translate that bit for me. So I'd say have a native speaker help with that.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

As Roni said in her answer...technically I wrote Bill/Ted fic with a childhood friend when we were little kids but we had no idea we were writing fanfiction. Purposely written fic would be One Direction.

20. Favourite fic you've written?

Hmmm this is hard. It changes on a whim but maybe Consequences because it probably has the best plot I've ever written. But I don't reread this one because it brings back weird memories for me. Like I dreamed up the plot twistyness on the way to my pulmonologist and immunologist appointments FUN TIMES. So in a way it reminds me of when I was very sick. Whomp. Okay now I've brought down the mood. Let me try and steer this in another direction...I love both If I Loved You Less and Ace of Spades because they are set during the Regency era and I have just now realized they both involve a kidnapping. Read the first one if you want Louis to be kidnapped and Ace if you want Harry to be kidnapped. THAT DID NOT HELP THE MOOD IM SORRY

I'll tag: @kingsofeverything @disgruntledkittenface @voulezloux @tommokat @loveislarryislove @alwaysxlarrie @larry-hiatus and anyone else who wants to do this just say I tagged you!

[parkminijiminie]

So should we start a support group for the grieving jikookers? Lol I'm kidding. I liked to believe I was fairly skeptical in my view of jikook but I should've known my delusional side would take over hence here I was convinced jikook were a thing and now feeling sad about the possibility of being wrong all along. But same as you and some anons, I already had doubts for a long time now especially this year and the infamous video and everything else after like the lack of a public birthday post are just the nail in the coffin. I still do have some wishful thinking that we could still be proven otherwise, it's my delulu jikook heart speaking, but I know I will view everything jikook from now on with more skepticism than ever (hopefully I succeed lol). It's kind of funny (and I know many level-headed jikookers will say "I told you so") that now that I'm more open to being wrong about jikook, that many of the things that made me believe they were a thing are easier to give a platonic explanation to. Maybe I'm now in the acceptance stage of grief lol but also with a bit of myself left in the denial stage where I still feel like reasoning out why jikook can still be a thing even if evidence seems to say otherwise. I know I'm being dramatic and it really shouldn't be a big deal, it's just shipping as others may say, but anyhow, thanks for allowing all these opinions in your blog.

It is me who is thankful for your messages. My sole purpose here is to discuss with someone all of these things. So, really, thank you!

I wouldn't necessarily call the lack of a bday post "the last nail in the coffin" because with real people shipping, you honestly never know what may come up and from where. Let's just say this is one more thing stacked on the "Jikook friendship" pile. As always, I will keep on supporting them individually and as a pair and see where life will take us. Shipping can be a lot of fun, but real people shipping can become dangerous, in the sense that these are real human beings and projecting one's wishful thinking on them can lead to negative emotions for both sides easily. It is good to stay somewhat removed when talking about the relationship of real people for your well-being. Trying to stay objective is the best course, although it can be hard, as the more you want to believe something, the easier it is to believe it (confirmation bias).

[lonita]

The love of money

I think I'll long for a life of near-destitute academia, where one's importance as a person is not determined by the size of one's bank account.

I'm as much a capitalist as the next person, in that I want money and all the joys it can bring. But I'm enough of a socialist to be disgusted by money being treated as some sort of sacred cow. The struggle for money for no other purpose than to have more of it for its own sake, is repugnant to me.

I discovered just the other day - while listening to someone describe a friend of theirs only in terms of job status and bank account - that I actually loathe people who seem to only be impressed by, or want only to impress others by, their money and "importance" of job. It also made me wonder if that person could think of nothing else to say of someone they call "friend". I don't know about you lot, but I define my friends by means other than the superficial nature of their existence.

Certainly, money is an important thing, and certainly having a decent job is also important; but if those are the only things you can think of to define yourself as a person - if that's what you've become slave to - then you certainly have a lot of empty places in your self; don't you?

Coming from the perspective of one who's had very little money her entire life, the prospect of having a lot of it is certainly attractive; but not having money seems to do one of three things to people. Either it makes you realise how unimportant it is in the fulfilment of a person; you become a slave to getting it and become shallow; or you become totally repugnant of it simply because you are a have-not.

Not having money has helped me personally to realise what things do have real worth in life. Value is not solely defined by something worth its weight in gold bullion.

Not having money has also made me extremely conscious of security. Certainly, I want money so that I do not have to worry about what will become of me when I'm elderly, where my next meal is going to come from, and not having to turn my friends down when they want to go out because my last dollar has to go towards buying a litre of milk rather than a bottle of beer down the pub.

Mind you, that's where the debate of worth and value really comes to the fore. I will, and have, starved myself for a few days so that I could spend time with friends. People are more important than money. Reading good books and improving the self are more important than money. Doing something so that you have something to share with others, is more important than money.

It has always seemed to me that a person who only talks of their financial resources, doesn't have very much to say for themselves. it's not merely repugnant, it's also boring.

Then again, you have to wonder about any person who obsesses so constantly about any topic. We all have our obsessions. We would not be human without them. There are, however, reasonable limits.

[dreamsarebutterflies]

I don't necessarily agree with all of this, least of all Till considering Ivan as his best friend, but the rest of this analysis is pretty cool and so interesting!

The idea Ivan could turn into this annoying guy pestering Till so his dear friend would hate him (as the only way he could mark that guy's memory) made me think. I like it, however, Ivan probably did it in order to erase Till's guilt more than anything.

This fandom always sees Ivan as deeply selfish and hypocritical, feeling obsession more than love. Basically: having a toxic relationship with the object of his affection. While I understand why one would draw these conclusions... I disagree? But I think most of these assumptions come from Vivinos' usual work. Most of it is about disturbing obsession and delusion. It's possible that Ivan actually is toxic. But when I read between the lines myself, I don't see it. Unhealthy, probably, yeah. Manipulating, absolutely. I still don't picture him as the yandere type, or a basic stalker. Ivan always came to Till, giving him strength and freedom by teasing and annoying him in broad daylight, by cajoling him and caring for him in secret. He literally changed his personality for this sole purpose. My headcanon is that he did it because he loved him for his wild spirit and wanted to preserve this strong will to keep fighting the system who turned children into slaves. This idiot finds the guy cute when he's angry, yeah, but also, anger is Till's fuel.

The thoughts Ivan has about Sua prove that he envied her and was harsh with her because he judged her selfishness despite her luck to be loved back. The bare minimum for her was unreachable to him. And in the end, he acted the same way, but I feel it was for different reasons. Fans argue that he thought himself better than Sua because there was no way he would give trauma to Till (who allegedly never truly saw him). So he doesn't even do it to be sure Till WILL remember him.

I would go even further saying that he didn't kiss Till because of selfish reasons.

- For one, it gives a pretty good excuse, in the audience's perspective, as for why his opponent would stop singing, don't you think?

- Second, I already wrote a post about it, but I'm certain Ivan did it to challenge him, so Till would react out of PTSD or Pavlovian reflex and kick Ivan's ass; kill him out of anger and hunger for life. The whole time the kiss appears as aggressive, we see Ivan actually MISSES Till's mouth. Only the moment when Till notices and is about to say something, does he go for the throat.

- Third and last point, I called the peck at the end selfish once... But I changed my mind. Perhaps, Ivan knew how confusing it all was. Think about this, Ivan lied about his feelings for so long, and Mizi left the kid behind- Till is unloved at this point, utterly alone. This small act of tenderness isn't out of despair, not a dying wish, but it is about reassurance; You are loved. Yes, Ivan is being rough with him, yes he's strangling him, but it's not because of hate and absolutely not in order to put an end to Till's misery. Ivan is saving him out of love. One light brush of lips to convey his true feelings and I don't think he's making it about him.

And I think that's pure and selfless. Pretending that he wasn't in agony so Till wouldn't feel guilty, and covering for him on the alien stage so he wouldn't lose points and, ultimately, die.

Till's point of view on his and Ivan's relationship - An (personal) analysis of Till's side of things leading up to Round 7.

As kids, IvanTill's relationship was tulmotious, to say the least.

Ivan would do things to rile Till up as a means of getting closer to Till when they were just starting out, and Till would fall for it.

Ivan would steal Till's things and turn around and give it back like some evil Christmas gift as a means of getting closer to Till, and Till would fall for that too, for some time.

But we all know Till isn't stupid. Till must've noticed after some time that the constant disappearance of his stuff only to be coincidentally found by Ivan every time wasn't actually a coincidence. And Till, being handled roughly his whole life by aliens naturally wouldn't have been so fond of the way Ivan would constantly instigate fights with him. So why did Till keep him around?

Well, I think Till actually considered Ivan a good friend, best friend even. Ivan was one of the only people who actually made an effort to get close to him and to have someone in a world like this would mean a lot to a kid like Till. (besides, I don't think the things they did together would be the same things enemies would do.)

Other than that, Till is a compassionate and emotional character. it's shown in a comic where Ivan and Till spot a crushed flower and Till tells it to cheer up out of sympathy, it's shown in the way Till cares about others around him.

Till kept Ivan around because he cared about him enough to look past those things. Till kept spending time with Ivan because he cared, Till let Ivan continue doing those things thinking he was unaware because he cared enough, even when Ivan had taken Till's most prized possession, the flute Mizi gave him. he didn't question Ivan about it (?). And he cared about Ivan enough to see him for who he really was. Not as some perfect pet, not even as too much of a nuisance. But as a person, just like he is.

And then we have the meteor shower scene. (pain&suffering.exe)

Ivan, motivated by his strong love tries to get Till to escape with him in the meteor shower scene. Keyword tries. Because they couldn't get far before Till stopped in his tracks and went right back to Anakt Garden, why? because Till wouldn't have been able to live with himself knowing he left behind a person he loved to die, Mizi. he couldn't possibly leave her there. He cared too much.

Till probably felt guilty, going back to Anakt garden and missing out on the chance of a lifetime because it was all in wrong timing. But imagine just how much guiltier he felt seeing Ivan the next day. He hadn't left when Till went back. Till knew he was the reason why, and it made him feel worse because he was the reason Ivan was going to continue to subject himself to this torment. And so this was the first thread of their relationship that was frayed and torn.

After this point, Ivan was under the full assumption that he had been wrong about how he thought Till saw him so he gradually started to distance himself too, the antics were dialed up as he fought with Till while intending to put distance by becoming someone Till would hate while remaining in Till’s life and caring for him when Till was unaware because even then he couldn’t force himself to leave Till’s world even if Till wanted to leave his. But Ivan was wrong, Till didn't go back because he didn't like Ivan enough to stay, but rather he cared too much for his own good.

Till noticed what Ivan was doing, and Till thought Ivan hated him for leaving him behind, so as a last effort to pull Ivan back to him and fix his relationship with his best friend, to let Ivan know he wanted him near, he left him a message on graduation.

"You were the one who stole my pencil at that time right?"

That was in response to Ivan's "I hope you'll remember me" message.

Till's response sounds pretty straightforward but it was actually an indirect pointing to a direct message; "I know it was you, I always did, of course I remember you. I see you. I forgive you for all of it...So come back?" unfortunately for Till, Ivan failed to read it like this. Ivan instead saw it as Till finally realizing how bad Ivan really is, he probably even thought Till was mad at him for all of it. So this only motivated him to distance them more until they weren't even talking anymore.

And so after everything, round 7 comes. Till has to compete and win against his best friend.

Till went into round 7 with the full intent to sacrifice himself and let Ivan win because he couldn't continue to live in a world he hated, in a world where he was tormented, was used, and had nothing else to live for. he couldn't continue to live in a world knowing Mizi, his shining light and savior was gone. And that he has to kill his best friend, the last one he has left.

But his plan was ripped to shreds as Ivan realized what he was doing and on instinct went to protect Till one more time.

Ivan goes over and chokes Till and he doesn't fight back because he doesn't want to, the thought of Ivan hating him is still in the back of his mind, he probably deserves this, and it's only right if he lets Ivan take it out on him. If Ivan wanted to kill him right now, he would let him because he cared and loved Ivan enough to. He was ready to die at Ivan's hands.

Only that's not how it goes, as soon as Ivan's hands leave him Till is disoriented. and then he is shocked, worried, confused because he didn't expect this, he realizes what is happening, that Ivan had taken the hit for him, that Ivan had once again tossed himself and his freedom to the side for Till.

And at the end of the day, Ivan is dead, and Till is left knowing he let this happen, and that he is truly alone now.

(I go over pencil.exe a little more in another post of mine if anyone is interested in reading)

[gamesbyalbie]

So, I started writing something this past week (inspired by DPR Ian's incredible music video for Don't Go Insane, and my feelings about [redacted]). This is all a work in progress and I'll be releasing it in sections. Anyways, here's the first part of...

The Cursed Journey

PART 1: PROXY

I don't sleep anymore. Anxiety and caffeine provide me with the energy I need to live and free up hours of otherwise wasted time. 

However—quite unfortunately—they've also stolen my ability to rest.

Most nights I lie in bed for 30-45 minutes but that's merely a formality, a tribute to a past life, a wish I'm certain will never come true. I get nothing from it—except for rare occasions where I stray close enough to dreaming to scrape up a bit of creative fodder—but it's one of the only things I do for myself.

Actually, it might be the only thing I do for myself.

It's not like I do it for long—I couldn't even if I wanted to (which I don't). It's just one half hour out of a full ass 24. Statistically, that shouldn't be the time when I get the most surprise calls. Yet, somehow...

"Fuck me. What now?" I growl, slapping my hand over my phone. It tumbles off the nightstand, because of course it does. A deeply dissatisfied groan rumbles out of my chest like distant thunder. Taking the sheets with me, I crawl halfway out of bed.

This is the third time this week. Who the fuck is it? I wonder, arms supporting my torso while my legs are still on the mattress, looking like I'm waiting for a wheelbarrow race to start. There's something degrading and weirdly primal about this position—stretching to reach my phone, grunting like an ape. I swear, if it's Michael, I'm going to—

The Ward

My blood runs cold. Shit. My arms start to shake. I slip down onto the floor and stare at my phone. It rings several more times before I finally gain the courage to answer. I press the button and a hologram of a woman's face appears. I recognize her and her bob vaguely—she has very distinctive bangs—but I can't remember her name. "Hello?"

"Hi, I'm calling for Ody Specter."

I can't tell if she genuinely doesn't recognize me, if she's being polite and pretending, or if she's following some kind of script. Then again, maybe I just look like shit. "You've reached them." I lean against the sharp edge of my bed frame. The discomfort clears some of the fog from my mind.

"Hi. This is Kelly calling on behalf of the Writer's Ward. Are you sitting down? I'm sorry to say that I have bad news."

That's all you call with, I want to reply. Instead I say, "What is it?"

"It's—"

"Is it Min-joon?"

"Oh, uh, no." She stammers. With how surprised she looks, you'd think I'd just jumped out of a wardrobe wearing nothing but a jester's hat. Probably the script then. "No, um, Mr. Park is stable as far as I'm aware."

The weight crushing my ribcage shifts. Nothing's alleviated, but it changes in nature.

"It's actually Kim Ji-yeon." There's a pause. "Mx. Specter?" Silence. "Did... did the call freeze?"

My mouth hangs agape. Less than two hours ago I was venting my frustrations and fears to Ji-yeon. She was comforting me. My brain cannot process this information. How? How could she— 

"Ji-yeon, she... is she there?"

"She's in transit to the facility."

"What? Uh, when? When did this happen?"

"Around 15 minutes ago." Damn, they move fast. Not that I should be surprised. This is their sole purpose and there's been no shortage of practice. "She made an alarming call to her editor. By the time emergency services reached her apartment, she was unresponsive."

How did the curse get her? Ji-yeon was the best of us. Of the few remaining writers, I would've picked her as the most steady, the most consistent and confident. Hell, she has two new books slated to come out next week.

Maybe... did I not see it? Could I have done something? Was it obvious? Min-joon would have noticed. No, shut up.

"I see. Um..." I rub the back of my neck while trying to force my eyes to stay open. I need coffee asap. "Okay. You need me to come down?"

"Yes, she'd selected you as her proxy. We need you to sign the onboarding documents for her. I believe you're familiar with—"

"Yeah, I'm well-acquainted with the process." Kelly's still relatively new. I'm certain I've done this more times than her. "When do you need me there?" I glance at my watch. 03:17.

"The flight carrying her is set to arrive within the hour. Can you make it here by then?"

"Sure." My fingers pinch the bridge of my nose. I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting off an inevitable headache. "I'll be there in ten."

"Great. Thank you. So sorry to bother you, I know you're probably hard at work. I apologize if this is distracting or..." She probably means to say "puts you at risk" but she's smart enough to leave that unspoken.

"It's no problem. I'm," not happy. "I'm more than willing to do this for Ji-yeon. She would've done the same for me."

She literally would have. It occurs to me that I'll have to select a new proxy. Maybe I should just sign my own papers now. No, shut the fuck up. "Anyways," I tear my mind away from that disturbing thought. "I'll see you soon."

"Alright, see you. Thanks again."

End

My hand falls limply to the floor. The phone clatters onto the concrete. I allow myself a few seconds to stare into space, but I have no time to spare. That's more clear now than ever.

My knees crack as I rise to my feet. I'd been sitting weirdly at my desk all day. In general, yesterday was a bad day. I barely passed 15,000 words and Michael's already breathing down my neck. Almost a month has passed since my last big release. I've been worried, fearful that my well was drying up.

"You're too hard on yourself. Go to bed. Reset your brain."

Ji-yeon told me that. She's the reason I was in bed. Shit. She knew I was "asleep." Is that why she called her editor? Would she have called me if she—

I get dressed quickly. Forcing myself to stop thinking. Well, thinking about that. My mind turns to stories, to the words I'll have to write on the ride over, because I can't stop now. 

This... this can't happen to me.

I won't let it.

End of Part 1 of ? • NEXT PART

More Cursed Journey • More by Albie • Image Source

The amazing music video that inspired this:

[jae-bummer]

Am I Too Much?

Request: hi hi i hope ur having a great day! can i possibly request a #5 with svt seungkwan or a #6 with svt jeonghan? thank u!

Prompt:

6) "If you do that one more time, I don't think I'll be able to control myself."

Prompt list can be found HERE.

Pairing: Svt Jeonghan x Reader

Genre: Fluff/Steamy

.

The morning shone grey through the large windows bordering the bulk of the living room you had crashed in last night. You had woken with a start, immediately grabbing your phone and checking the time. 4 AM, perfect, just what you were aiming for.

Sitting up and yawning, you wrapped a blanket around your shoulders and began to trudge toward the kitchen. Your sole purpose this morning was to make a cake for Vernon and DK. The boys had been so busy over the past month that no one had even been able to stop for a breath and do a proper celebration. Granted, today likely wouldn't be a proper celebration either seeing as how everyone had early schedules, but you were determined to do something. They were both incredibly special and caring friends, and you wanted to recognize that.

Flipping up the light switch, you let out a small squeak. Sitting on the island in the kitchen was a steaming, hot cup of coffee. It was even in the mug you tended to favorite but thought no one had noticed.

"What?" you muttered, walking farther into the room. After really looking around, you observed that not only was there a cup of coffee prepared, but all of the ingredients/tools you would need were set out as well.

Had a kitchen fairy come in the night to assist you with your noble task?

Sidling up to the counter, you picked up the mug and relished the feeling of having something warm between your fingers. You closed your eyes before sniffing the blend and sighing.

"I used the Brazilian beans we picked up on tour," a sleepy voice croaked from the hallway.

Spinning slowly, careful not to spill your coffee, you locked eyes with a thoroughly sleep deprived Jeonghan.

"Why are you awake?" you asked, furrowing your brow. You knew Jeonghan, and you knew he valued his sleep above most things.

"When I was coming in last night, I heard you talking to Coups about your plans for this morning," he said calmly. You now noticed he held a cup in between his palms as well. "I thought about how happy it would make the members, but it made me sad to think about you up so early doing things all alone."

"Jeonghan," you pouted. Motioning to the stool pulled up to the counter, you draped the blanket that was on your shoulders on its seat. "Please sit."

"I said it made me sad, I didn't say it made me want to stay," he said, a smirk quirking at the corner of his lips.

"Alright, welp. Just go back to sleep then."

"Well, I'm awake now," he said, rolling his eyes and moving toward the stool you had just offered.

"Like that's stopped you before?" you asked, situating yourself in front of the ingredients. You set your cup down and began cracking eggs. "I don't want to put you out."

Picking up on your sarcasm, Jeonghan narrowed his eyes. "Being your assistant sounds like a charitable compromise."

"A charitable compromise," you scoffed. "How kind!"

"I thought so," he sighed, evidently pleased with himself.

"Even though you're a brat." You began to dump the mix into the bowl. "I really do appreciate you getting up and doing this."

"Do you though?" he mused. "Because calling someone who helped you a brat doesn't quite hold the sentiment you're going for."

"Yoon Jeonghan," you said, trying to school your features. "You are the ray of sun on this grey morning. Thank you, thank you, from the bottom of my heart."

"I suppose that'll do," he smiled, taking a long sip of what you thought was tea. "But would a little more sincerity kill you?"

"I am going to kill you if you do not stop harassing me," you grumbled, pointing the mixing spoon in his direction.

"Harassment is such a strong word, Y/N," he hummed. "In this house, we call it constructive criticism."

You let out an unexpected laugh. "Has anyone ever told you that you're too much?"

"What do you mean? I'm a joy," he grinned. "Now tell me, what exactly are you making?"

"Just a chocolate box mix," you sighed. "I don't really have time to go all Great British Bakeoff this morning."

Now that all the ingredients were added, all that was left was to stir. You did so quietly for a few minutes before realizing that Jeonghan had stopped talking. Assuming he may have started to nap on the counter instead, you looked up, surprised to find him watching what you were doing.

Looking back down, you ran a finger along the edge of the batter before popping it into your mouth. It had been ages since you had cake of any kind, let alone batter. Pulling your hand away, you let out a small sigh before closing your eyes and smiling.

"If you do that one more time, I don't think I'll be able to control myself."

Opening your eyes instantly, they darted in alarm to Jeonghan. Sure, Jeonghan had always playfully flirted with you, but that was just your relationship. He had never made a comment like that before.

He looked smug as you searched his face. It was hard to gauge how serious he was and what exactly he meant by the statement.

"I-uh," you stumbled, attempting to come up with a suitable response.

Before any words managed to escape, Jeonghan slid from his chair and began slowly sauntering over to you. Maintaining eye contact the entire time, he walked to the side of the counter, cementing you to the spot.

Ever so slowly he looked down, sticking his finger into the bowl too, and pulling it out, now covered in batter.

"I'm trying to cut out sugar," he whispered, putting his finger into his mouth.

Your heart dropped to your toes. He was fucking with you.

"Jeonghan," you groaned, reaching up and rubbing your forehead.

He pulled his digit from his mouth with a pop and grinned. "Yes?"

You just shook your head, grabbing a hold of the mixing spoon and placing it in your mouth as you reached for the cake pans. Moving them in front of you, you pulled out the wooden spoon and tossed it into the sink. You looked casually over to Jeonghan who had put all of his attention suddenly on your mouth.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You've...you've got," he hummed, furrowing his brows.

Chocolate. Right.

Reaching up self-consciously, you swiped at either corner of your mouth. "Did I get it?"

"Stay still," he directed, walking over to where you were standing. Turning your back to the counter, you watched as Jeonghan positioned himself in front of you. "Right there."

Reaching up with his thumb, you felt his soft finger brush against the edge of your mouth, an area certain you had wiped before.

Your lips popped open in a combination of horror and arousal. You felt like you were in a drama as Jeonghan noted the chocolate now transferred to his finger before placing it in his mouth. Afterwards, he leaned forward, setting his palms against the counter on either side of you. "Am I still "too much"?"

"Yes," you muttered, feeling your face turn hot.

"Why?" he asked, tilting his head, his eyes dancing with mischief.

"Because you're being ridiculous," you said, your words barely a whisper.

"Ridiculously attractive?" he hummed. "Ridiculously charming? Please, finish your sentence."

"It is far too early in the morning for this," you groaned, closing your eyes. When you opened them again, you immediately attempted to move backwards but were halted by the counter. Jeonghan had moved his face only a hair's breadth away from yours.

"I don't think so," he whispered, placing a soft, ghost of a kiss on your lips. Leaning back slightly, he waited to see your reaction.

You reached up, moving your fingertips along your bottom lip, unsure of what had just occurred. Heat flooded your body as you realized, whatever it was, you liked it.

Seeing the recognition on your face made Jeonghan smile. This time when he moved forward, you weren't taken aback.

Throwing most of his body weight against you as he enclosed you against the island, his lips were quick to find yours again. Pressing into the kiss, you felt surrounded by all things Jeonghan. His scent, his taste; your senses were overloaded in the best way. His kisses were lazy, lacking any urgency or need. He knew he already had you and you weren't going anywhere.

Moving your hand to his jaw, you faltered for a moment, pressing gently on his face to push him away. "Jeonghan," you said softly against his lips. It took another try before your words caught his full focus.

"Hm?" he whimpered, moving from your mouth and to the tiny spot underneath your ear.

"The cake," you said regretfully. "We have to finish the cake."

"You can finish the cake," he hummed, taking your hips and spinning you around. His mouth was on your neck again. "I can assist from behind."

"Jeonghan!" you giggled.

"Alright," he muttered moving his face away from your body, but still holding tight to your hips. "How long does it need to bake for?"

"I dunno, like twenty-five minutes?" you guessed, having already thrown the box away.

"Do I have to spell it out for you?" he said, amusement tinting his words. "Hurry and put the cakes in the oven so I can have a full twenty-five minutes of your lips."

You laughed. "And after that?"

"They'll still eat it if it burns a little."