#but that aside; i'd like to try and be more active here so let's see how this goes!! ;w;

[sandcrafted]

LIVE YOUR LIFE WITH PRIDE.

sandcrafted: an independent multimuse for various characters from the series attack on titan / shingeki no kyojin. featuring historia reiss alongside levi ackerman, gabi braun, pieck finger and more. triggering/sensitive content may be found inside, so please read the rules before following!

[honeytonedhottie]

get ready to get back to school⋆.ೃ࿔*:･🗒️

i can hardly believe that school is coming up. in like, two/one week. ISNT THAT ABSURD? i feel like summer just flew past but im very excited to start my junior year of highschool…💬🎀

BUYING DREAM SCHOOL SUPPLIES ;

when ur school supplies are cute, you'll feel MOTIVATED to put them to good use. idek what it is. 99% of my school supplies are pink and because of that im motivated to take good notes, study my notes etc because seeing the sparks of pink just make me so HAPPY.

so ofc this year my school supply list has remained consistent in its color scheme of pink, pink and more pink 🎀. some things on my school shopping list are ->

notebooks

a binder

dividers for the binders with adorable labels

pink and purple gel pens (along with black gel pens)

pastel highlighters

looseleaf paper

a fluffy pink pen

FIX UR SLEEP SCHEDULE ;

ik a lot of us (including myself some times) stay up for way to long and feel like our sleep schedule is BEYOND repair but it is not. u need to be getting back into a consistent sleeping routine that keeps u healthy and well rested not only for back to school but for ur own well being. you'll have plenty of time tomorrow for what u choose to stay up all night doing, i promise.

FOR MY ONLINE GIRLIES ;

so this year i'll be taking a semester online so i've been dabbling in figuring out the perfect routine for an online school regimen. one in which i could balance personal and academic life in a healthy way (get sunlight everyday, sleep on time etc) some things that im going to prioritize while doing a semester online are ->

♡ getting fresh air everyday

♡ going for a walk everyday and making sure to stay active

♡ NOT doing school work in bed

so a tip i've learned is that the things that u do in bed, your mind will like, associate ur bed with it. so for example if ur constantly playing video games in bed, when its time to relax and go to bed, when ur in bed your mind will be like "time to play video games". so i will not be doing school work in bed, also for a healthy change of scenery…💬🎀

♡ going out with my friends and calling them everyday so that im not isolated

♡ keeping a steady and productive routine

SETTING GOALS ;

lets be goal oriented, A+ academic barbies this year ✍🏽. to make sure that ur doing ur very best its important to set goals for urself. having something to strive for is a great way to stay motivated and disciplined during the year. my goal for my junior year is to keep my straight A streak and finish with my law distinction (im 3/4 of the way done). and ofc its important to break down ur goals, and i'll give an example of how i did this.

so in freshman year ik i wanted a distinction in law, and to get a distinction in law i would have to take 4 separate law courses. there are 4 years in highschool so if i took one law course per school year i'd have my distinction. but i wanted to expedite the process so i took one course freshman year, and two courses sophomore year. this year i will take one more.

this frees up SO much time for me to get another distinction and since i've already taken a course of business in freshman year, i'll strive for my business distinction too…💬🎀

if u dont know where to start with goal setting for school here are some ideas ->

♡ maintain ur current GPA or try and raise it

♡ never get below a B on any assignment or test

♡ do every single homework assignment (never take a zero)

STAYING ORGANIZED ;

staying organized is CRUCIAL for being successful in school. i use notion to keep myself organized during the school year. by putting down dates for tests in my calendar, ik when i need to start preparing. and by making a todo list everyday i can stay on top of my assignment.

if u struggle with school organization, set aside an hour a day to just make sure that everything is in its place. and it doesnt even have to be an hour, just set aside time every single day to make sure that everything it where its supposed to be. it'll save you SO much time in the future and you'll rly thank urself for it in the future.

and to end this post, i'll share some school/academic related affirmations 💗

🗒️ im literally the definition of beauty and brains

📔 im the top of my class

🗒️ i must have perfect memory cuz i remember everything im taught in class

📔 im literally a GENIUS

🗒️ i effortlessly stay at the top of my class

📔 wow, im smart, pretty, AND talented?? god rly does have favorites

[thatdiabolicalfeminist]

A lot of people will be spending more time with their families of origin in the next few weeks.

And when you're with people you've spent so much time around in the past, it can be easy to fall into old habits and social role dynamics without really noticing, and without evaluating whether those patterns are reflective of the values we have now.

So with that in mind, I'd like to gently suggest taking a closer look at your family's interactions and see whether there are patterns you're part of that you don't want to be and could potentially do something to disrupt.

For example, is there anyone:

your family routinely treats as faintly ridiculous or hysterical?

or whose ideas, opinions, or interests are automatically dismissed by the group when those same things would be worthy of consideration/discussion from someone else?

or who gets teased and made fun of more than others, or past the point where they seem to be having fun?

or who is expected to do a disproportionately large amount of work that others could be helping with?

or who is consistently left out of group activities and is not asked if they'd like to join this time? (Do they think you'd be happy if they did join in?)

or who is automatically treated like "the problem" in any conflict they're in, regardless of whether they initiated the conflict or were being reasonable or not?

or who makes/has made repeated requests that some reasonable boundary be respected that is habitually ignored, belittled, or argued with?

or who habitually speaks or acts in unkind or unloving ways and gets minimal pushback, and/or minimal concern for the targets of their unkindness, because "that's just how they are"?

Or is there maybe:

a gender, racial, and/or class/income, etc., divide in who in your family does how much cooking/cleaning/kinship work?

a difference in who leads dinnertable conversations and whose input, interests, opinions, etc., are more valued/respected?

a difference in whose job or home life is worthy of being asked about?

automatic assumptions about people's interests, skills, life experiences, etc., that haven't been updated in years? Is anyone trying to build connections and find out more about who each of you are now?

Group social dynamics are always complicated, and perhaps never more so than in families. I'm not in your family, and I don't know the complicated contexts between each of the members. I also don't know how you'd like your family interactions to go, or if you're even spending time together willingly or unwillingly. Maybe this post will be helpful to you, maybe not.

But if you want your family to interact in more loving ways, sometimes as adults or even teenagers there ARE things we can do to interrupt patterns people are participating in without even noticing!

We can start helping with work we're not expected to participate in, and we can ask others who don't participate to take on part of the task. (In many families, a man standing up and starting to clear away the dishes and saying, "Brian, would you mind grabbing the green beans and the mac and cheese?" would be out of the ordinary if the women usually do that, but (in many families) people would go along with it once suggested.)

We can try to bring neglected others into conversation by asking and genuinely listening to their thoughts and opinions.

We can speak up when someone's interrupted and insist that we want to hear the rest of their thought.

We can take seriously the person treated like a joke, and show others that we're taking them seriously.

We can say "I don't think we need to discuss people's bodies here" or "not cool, dude" and redirect the conversation when someone is unkind.

Sometimes we can take people aside and ask them to ease up on a person being teased. Sometimes saying "I think it's actually hurting their feelings" or "it's not funny anymore, let up" is enough to actually make a difference.

We can ask about someone's job, interests, home life, hobbies etc., when they are usually left out of being asked.

We can try to remember that people aren't fixed in stone, and try to get to know who people are now without making too many assumptions.

Sometimes harmful patterns can be interrupted just by pointing them out and making an effort to not participate in them anymore.

[multi-kpop-fanfics]

Can you do rivals to lovers. Idol!wonwoo x idol!y/n (she's a leader) both are dom and rivals from trainee period in same company... Sounds so kinky amd steamy to me👀btw love your blog ❤️ - xoxo

tw: idol!wonwoo, idol!reader (fem), rivals to lovers!au, sexual tension, implied kissing, reader is implied to be shorter than wonwoo, cursing, wonwoo is being a little shit tbh - minors dni.

"Good work today, everyone! Let's rest well for the next performance, okay?"

"Okay!" You hear an enthusiastic reply from your fellow members, beaming with excitement for the upcoming group activities.

You're still buzzing with adrenaline from the comeback stage, a bit worried about whether you'll be able to sleep properly, but it's not enough to stop you from smiling.

You walk in the corridors of the building, gently greeting any passerby staff or idol, be it senior or junior to you. As soon as you turn around the corner to search for the restrooms, you bump into a taller and quite muscular figure.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to-" You bow profusely, feeling embarrased for not looking.

"Aw, what a great junior, aren't you? Behaving so well towards your senior."

The familiar deep timbre has you on high alert and you instantly straighten your back, your earlier smile completely wiped off your face.

"You."

"Yeah, it's me. Long time no see, huh, Y/N?"

"Why are you here?" You cross your arms defensively.

"Haven't you heard? We just had a comeback and it's already a hit." The man boasts with a smug smirk.

"Sorry, I was busy preparing for my group's comeback. I don't exactly have time to pay attention to other groups."

"That's a shame. You'd love Maestro - I dare say my MV shots would be to your liking."

"What do you want, Wonwoo?" You sigh.

"Hmm, I think that's not how you should address me." Wonwoo places his hand under his chin, pretending to be thinking.

"Cut the crap, we're the same age."

"Ever the clawy one. But it was always part of your charm." He leans closer to you, but you don't waver.

"Nice, you actually have a good memory. Now step aside, I wanna go to the restrooms." You try to push him aside, but he catches you by your wrist.

"But we're having such a nice conversation, don't you think?" He grins.

"No, I actually don't." You spit back.

"Oh, but what have I ever done to you, Y/N? Is it because I got to debut before you?"

"Just because I appreciate your group for the standards you've created doesn't mean I have to appreciate you specifically." You pull your hand back.

"Maybe if you let me kiss you, you'd appreciate me a bit more." Wonwoo chuckles, "Because I'd love to kiss your pretty damn face right now - just to shut you up, though."

"In your goddamn dreams, Jeon."

He leans closer and gently cages you between the wall and his body.

"What a great dream would that be, right?"

"Back off, someone will see us any moment now!" You plant your palms on his chest, using your full strength to push him away. But he doesn't budge an inch.

"No need to be so damn scared, Y/N." He pulls away immediately, "Besides, I'd never want to get caught up in dating rumors with you."

"So much for wanting to kiss me, I guess." You scoff, "Still the same loser when you were a kid."

You walk away from Wonwoo with quick steps, trying your best to calm yourself down.

You can't help but think how infuriatingly handsome and talented he has grown over the years - but also annoying as fuck. Towards you, at least.

Little did you know, the exact same thoughts run laps inside Wonwoo's head as he watches you walk down the corridor.

Kissing you won't be the only thing he'll dream of tonight.

[atinystraynstay]

I'd Wait For You - Joshua Hong

Synopsis: Joshua was your best friend, the person who has witnessed you grow and blossom. That includes being front row to watching you fall in and out of love with people. Joshua was convinced he could treat you better. Could you find yourself to let him in?

Pairing: non-idol! Joshua Hong x fem reader

Genre: Angst, childhood friends to lovers, fluff here and there!

Word Count: 2.3k

——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————

When Joshua thought of the person he was, it was because of you. You were the one who helped him pick out clothes so he found his style, you were the one who boosted his confidence he he doubted himself and pushed him to try new things, and you were the one who helped him made bad decisions sometimes in the hopes of making long-lasting memories. You were his person.

It was written by the universe that the two of you would be best friends. With your mothers being so close, there is no denying that you two will always have an important place in each other's lives.

Ever since you were younger, you two didn't go somewhere without the other. You attended the same schools, even the same college. Sure, college led you two to different friend groups, different activities, and different majors. But you always made time for each other even when life got busy. You two would study constantly and promised to have one meal together once a week. And you two never broke that promise.

Anyone who witnessed your friendship always commented there was something more. Joshua saw it too. He easily fell for you. How couldn't he? You accepted every version of himself and were the person who brought him an immense source of comfort. He couldn't imagine life without you.

Unfortunately, he had to imagine what it would be like to be with you.

"Do you think he's worth it?" You sighed.

The two of you were on FaceTime. It was a Tuesday night. While Joshua was at home, waiting for his food delivery, you were busy getting ready for a date.

Part of the reason why Joshua had to imagine what life would be like if you two were together is because you were seeing someone. For the past few months, you've been dating this guy named Ben. Now, Joshua didn't think much of Ben at first. He didn't seem like your type, so he thought he would come and go.

And he has to some extent. Ben and you had this awful habit of breaking up and getting back together. While it pained Joshua to see you with someone else, he loved the moments you confided him about your dating woes. He took mental notes of dos and donts for when you two (hopefully) get together. Ben was striking out left and right, mainly due to his poor communication. What Joshua didn't understand was why you always found yourself going back to him.

"Y/n, I don't know. You guys break up so much, I've lost count," he laughed. "It's only been 3 times," you groaned. "3 times what? This week?" "But he said he's changed this time. I mean, he even sent flowers to my apartment after our argument two nights again. That's got to mean something, right?" Joshua wanted to roll his eyes so much at your rationale. He adored you with every fiber in his being, and he didn't want to come across as dismissive, but he felt frustrated both because of you and for you. Ben was not worth it in his eyes. Nobody is worth it for you except for him. But he was your best friend. That was his role. "Maybe, angel. But there's only so much flowers can do to make up for how he treats you sometimes." Your smile had flattened by Joshua's words. And it pained him. He never wanted to be a source of sadness in your life. I guess that's why Joshua often pushed his feelings for you aside. He didn't want to be selfish and confess because that might cause a bigger mess. He loved you. He has since he was 8 years old. If you only saw him as a best friend, he would proudly take that role.

In a perfect world, you would confess to Joshua your feelings. He was ready to embrace those feelings head-on because he knew how he felt about you. What kept him back was not knowing how you felt towards him. You've always been so prominent in each other's lives. He didn't want to imagine a world without you. He was terrified that if he did ever confess, it would only push you away.

Joshua had found himself as the leading man in a tragic love story. "Just promise me something?" He requested. "Whatever you decide, follow your heart."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You had to hang up the phone call in order to get ready for your date. Joshua sighed once you face vanished from his phone. He set the phone on the coffee table before driving his fingers through his hair.

How could this happen? You were supposed to be with him, not with some random guy you met who knows where? Not with someone who doesn't see your value.

The whole situation frustrated him beyond belief. On paper, you guys were a perfect match. You two knew each other like the back of your hand. Even when you did have a disagreement, you guys would not allow it to blow up. You spoke to each other with respect, even if you were both angry because you cared about each other. In some ways, you could say you loved each other. Joshua definitely was in love with you.

He has received relentless teasing from his friends about his lack of making a move on you. His friends thought even pushing might cause him to crack. And it almost did. Yet, he was still afraid of losing you and now he might actually be.

You always saw him as a friend, or at least that's what Joshua believed. You two were best friends, nothing more and nothing less. This wasn't some love story where the childhood best friends fall for each other, no matter how many times he prayed it would happen. This was his reality. If he had to let you go to keep you in his life, he would. And he would be there to pick up the pieces each time.

Suddenly, a buzz brought Joshua out of his mind and back to the present moment. He sat up a little straighter, looking towards the door of his apartment. Did he hear that correctly? He glanced towards the clock on the wall. 8:16pm.

Ding dong. Who could that be?

Joshua pushed himself off of the couch before shuffling towards the door. It was just a short walk towards the front of the apartment. He slowly unlocked the top lock and twisted the doorknob to unlock his front door.

There you were.

"Y/n?! What happened?" "Why didn't you fight for me?"

Your voice was calm, yet your body language screamed rage. You had your hair pulled back in a clip, exposing your bare face to the world. You looked divine, but Joshua didn't have time to compliment you. He noticed how your eyebrows were slightly scrunched up while you stared into him. He thought your gaze was going to burn a hole right through them. You were wearing a zip-up hoodie and sweatpants.

"Answer me, Joshua."

Oh no, I'm in deep shit. He was at a loss for words as he stared at you. His mind racking through all the interactions you had. Did he say something over FaceTime? Did he forget to say something? Did you ask him to do something but he forgot? He was drawing a blank.

"Do you like me yes or no, Joshua? Because everyone is saying you do besides you."

His eyes grew wide at that statement. Who spilled? "Y/n, listen-" "No, Joshua, you listen. How dare you let me go on dates with people who treat me poorly. You're my best friend! We're supposed to tell each other everything." That part you whispered. "How could you not tell me?"

"What a damn minute," Joshua finally said. He had a raised eyebrow before opening the door all the way. He stepped aside to let you in, motioning for you to follow him. "I am not going to argue with you outside of my apartment. Get in." You sighed and nodded, slowly stepping in. Obviously something happened in between from the moment you guys to now. Who did you speak to? Who told you his secret? Why were you angry?

Once you were fully into his apartment, Joshua closed the door. You immediately found a spot on his couch, right beside where he was previously sitting. Your hands were locked in front of you, your one leg bouncing. Your breathing was starting to slow down a bit but you gaze was still locked on him. While not as intense, you still had your eyes trained on him.

"Can I get you a water or something before we continue this conversation?" He asked gently.

"There you go again!" You groaned. Your head leaned until it hit the pillow behind you. Your gaze is now trained on the ceiling above you two. He was surprised, completely speechless as he thought he was doing the right thing. "I'm so sick of you being nice to me."

Joshua raised an eyebrow before shuffling over to you. He took a seat on the couch beside you but kept enough distance. He wasn't sure how to process all that was transpiring, but he needed to understand where you were coming from. And apparently have some explaining to you.

"Y/n, sweet girl, you need to tell me what's going on." "You is what is going on," you confessed.

Slowly, you sat up until you were at eye level with him once again. The room was tense. He was nervous, afraid that what you had been told was going to bring his worst fear to reality - that he might lose you. "Joshua, you've set too high of a standard for me. You're kind without asking for anything in return. You treat me like a fucking princess when I'm only your best friend. I'm angry that we aren't together but you treat me better than any guy I've been with."

Was this actually happening? Were you confessing to him? "Y/n, do you like me?" 'I have liked you since I knew what it meant to have a crush on someone," you admitted. "But."

Not the cursed 'but.' "We're best friends. I didn't eat to be presumptuous and think you like me when we've been friends for so long. But then Seungkwan told me that you had feelings for me yesterday. I didn't think it was true especially not when you pushed me to go out with someone else tonight."

Fuck. "Y/n, look, we are best friends," Joshua began. You looked at him as if you just stabbed him in the heart. "But, I fell in love with my best friend."

Very gently, he took both of your hands in his. You stared up at him with a facial expression he couldn't recognize. This was new for both of you. You were venturing into uncharted territory for the two of you. His thumbs caressed over your knuckles which both soothed your nerves but caused your heart to pound faster. "This was not the way I planned on telling you," he confessed. "I actually wanted to tell you once you were single again because I didn't want to stand in the way of being happy." This time, you reached out to him. Keeping one hand in his, your other hand reached over to run your fingers through his hair, pushing the strands back to expose his face more. You seemed to relax under your touch which made you smile for the first time that evening. "Josh, I'm my happiest when I'm with you. Have I not made that clear in all the years we've known each other?" "Y/n, you know I have too much respect for you and too much invested in this friendship to just assume someone like you could ever be into me." You squeezed his hand gently, unable to stifle the giggle leaving your lips. You moved closer to him, our lips almost right under his. "This is so silly. What are we doing? Why are we keeping ourselves from being our happiest versions of ourselves?" He smirked at your question. With his free hand, he cupped your cheek gently. His thumb caressed over your cheek affectionately as he gazed into your eyes. He always has been mesmerized by the fact that your eyes captured any light in the room. They sparkled like two disco balls. "Let's change that," he murmured.

Time stopped. He leaned in so his lips grazed against yours as if he was testing the waters. He wanted to make sure you were comfortable with what was about to happen, as there was no turning back. When you didn't pull away, he got the green light he's been chasing after. His lips fully pressed against yours.

Your head gently tilted up, leaning to the side so your lips fit against him like two missing puzzle pieces. It felt like tiny sparks were going off against your lips. It was a feeling the two of you would soon be addicted to. And it felt so comfortable, so natural. His lips slowly chased after yours for a moment.

Even though he felt the urge to continue kissing you, to never let this moment pass, he did pull back. His forehead found yours, revealing the wide grin the two of you wore. He couldn't help but chuckle before pecking your lips once more. Joshua was just over the moon. He was eager for whatever may be next for the two of you, especially now that there were no limitations. You were his best friend, but now the girl who knew how he felt.

"I kept my promise you know," you spoke softly.

Joshua raised an eyebrow but kept a warm smile. Now what were you talking about? "You had me promise to follow my heart. And I did. You've been my heart, my love all this time."

[thewritetofreespeech]

Hi! I'm so glad to see your open askbox! I'd like to request a headcanon for KnB! How would GOM + Kagami react when their s/o walk in on them taking a shower naked and just casually invite themselves taking a shower with the boys? Thank you for taking my request and I hope you have a great week!

GoM + Kagami - s/o shower time

Akashi

Akashi sighed as the warm water hit his body. His shoulder relaxing in one of the few moments he had to himself. He wanted to get a quick shower before he went to go meet his father for dinner. Their monthly ritual now that he had moved out of the house.

He had just turned around to rinse his back went he heard one of the glass double doors open and [Y/N] standing there. “Mind if I join you?”

They must have known that he was tense about meeting his father; not hard to guess as he usually was. They had tried to be cheerful when he got home. Tried to be supportive. Tried to give him some space. Finally, when none of that seemed to work, they seemed to be going with base physical pleasure as a distraction.

“Of course. You’re always welcome my love.”

They smile and step into the double headed shower with Akashi. Then quickly into his arms. He was certainly more relaxed than usual meeting his father today. Maybe a ‘hot shower’ was called for every month now.

Aomine

‘Shit!’ Aomine cursed to himself as he jumped into his cold shower and instantly started soaping down.

Why did he always have to play Russian roulette with his alarm? He always had to push it too close for those extra few minutes and then here they were. Late. Too late to even let his shower heat up and try to keep the soap out of his eyes.

“Mind if I join you?”

Aomine looked up and over his shoulder to his s/o standing there. Nothing on but their smile. His morning wood that was coming down from the cold shower up to full mast again.

“Sure.” He replied with an equal grin before he pulled them into the shower. Hell he was already late. No point in rushing now.

Kise

Kise hummed to the music still playing in his head from the photoshoot. Still buzzing from all the energy.

It was different than when he played basketball, but still got him hyped. Everyone running around. The intensity to get the perfect shot. Quick changes for costumes. It was all a blur sometimes, but he must have done a good job because the photo director thanked him for his hard work.

He had just gotten home and wanted to take a quick shower before bed. Making sure to get the last of the makeup and hair products off before he slipped into clean sheets.

He was just about to step in when he heard the door open and turned around. “Mind if I join?” [Y/N] asked with a cheeky grin. Apparently having waited up for him, unlike he imagined.

“Sure!” Kise replied enthusiastically before moving aside to let them in first. “I missed you.” He told them once they were both under the water. Kissing them sweetly as rivulets trickled down their bodies.

Kuroko

It was usually pretty easy for Kuroko to sneak out of the bed and into the shower. Given that his presence was low, as long as he and s/o weren’t actively spooning or snuggled up Kuroko could slip out without waking them.

He had just finished up showering when he heard the door open and [Y/N] ask, “mind if I join you?” just as he was turning off the water.

They seemed a little crestfallen that they had missed their chance, so Kuroko reached behind him and turned the water back on. “I think I missed a spot. Wanna help me get it?”

Midorima

5:15 – wake up. morning ablutions.

5:45 – jog

6:30 – rehydrate and start coffee for the morning

6:45 - shower

Midorima had a very set way he liked to get ready for the morning. Following a routine led to increased performance through practice. A mentality he had always had about nearly all aspects of his life.

He was just about to wash his hair, at precisely 6:50 like usual, when he heard the bathroom door open. He knew it had to be [Y/N]. No one else was in the apartment. It wasn’t unheard of that they would be up at this time and was not usually a disturbance to his schedule, so it didn’t bother him. Usually.

“Mind if I join you?”

Midorima wiped around when he heard their voice in the shower. Naked, he assumed. He didn’t have his glasses on so it was hard to see. But the implication was quite clear.

“I uh…I have to get breakfast started.”

His logic didn’t seem to stop them, however, as they still invited themselves into his shower with some pretense about efficiency and better use of time, and all that. He didn’t argue, but it was certainly a disruption to his schedule.

Murasakibara

The alarm by his bed chirped cheerfully to the sound of his current favorite anime, before Murasakibara’s fist came down and pounded it into silence.

He wasn’t a morning person. He was barely a daytime at all kind of person. Kuro-chin had suggested using a song that sparked happy memories to wake up to as a way to be more excited about getting up, but, of course, it had failed.

Sitting up with a big, bear of a yawn, Murasakibara got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom to get ready. He brushed his teeth while he waited for the shower to heat up, and debated about going back to bed. Stepping into the shower he stood under the water motionless for a while before he heard the curtain pull back.

“Mind if I join you?”

His normal, dull expression perked up as he saw [Y/N]-chin standing there. Suddenly not so sleepy anymore. “Sure.” Murasakibara tried to move and make space for them with his large frame. Hard to manage but they made it work.

This was a much better way to wake up in the morning. He’d have to tell Kuro-chin that this was a much better plan than stupid alarms.

+Kagami

“I’m gonna take a shower.” Kagami announced as he and s/o finished up their movie for the night and prepared for bed.

He’d always taken a shower before bed, even before coming to Japan. It was hit or miss in the states on if people did or didn’t, and maybe it was his parents Japanese background that led to their custom in their house, but he always did it. It just made sense to him. Getting all the germs & dirt of the day off. Kagami was sort of a neat freak on the inside, cultivated from having to keep his own place clean for years.

Halfway through his shower, Kagami looked up when he heard the door open. Thinking he would see [Y/N] in their pjs getting ready to brush their teeth for bed through the glass, but instead seeing them naked.

“Mind if I join you?”

Kagami could feel his face flush from more than just the hot water. His hands instinctively moving to cover himself, despite the half frosted modest glass already in place. Feeling very exposed. “I uh…I…”

[Y/N] seemed to take his hesitation as a time to be bold and opened the door. They had been together for a while, and had been intimate, just not in the shower. It was a secret fantasy that everyone had, that his mind was having trouble processing on was actually about to come true.

“Are you sure this is safe? I don’t want you to slip and crack your head open.”

[howlingday]

Codename: Red Dawn

This is a man with an ambition.

=============================

Jaune: (Opens the door) Hello? Can I help you?

Adam: My name is Adam Tauren. I'm a co-worker of Mrs. Belladina. She left this magnifying glass in her office.

Jaune: Oh, well, I'm sorry to tell you this, but Blake stepped out for a moment.

Adam: (Thinking) I already know. This was just an attempt to get close to you, since you're the reason she's so distracted from her mission.

Jaune: Would you like to come inside for coffee?

Adam: I suppose if you're offering, then I have no reason to deny it.

----------------------------------------------

Adam: You have a lovely home.

Adam: Jaune Arc. If I find out that you're a detriment to our mission, then I will see you eliminated!.

Jaune: Thank you, but it was my wife who mostly did the decorations.

Adam: This man is very skilled. Finding a weak-point may prove difficult.

Jaune: (Thinking) He's so intimidating! Aside from Sun and Saph, I've never had a guest on my own before! Just remember; you are Blake's husband. You are Blake's husband!.

Adam: Removing him directly would prove too risky. It's better to convince him to leave on his own.

Adam: Your daughter... Penny, right? She seems to be quite the active child.

Jaune: Huh? Oh, yeah! She's always got so much energy!

Adam: That must be difficult. It must be hard to keep up with her sometimes, doesn't it?

Adam: She's only your step-child. Why bother putting in so much effort? Let me take over.

Jaune: Hard? Not really. I have a lot of energy myself, too, y'know! Now, if she was moody and down in the dumps all the time, I don't know what I'd do! Besides, we have a ton of fun together!

Adam: Spare me the affection. You're not her father.

Jaune: But the one who really struggles is Blake. She's spread so thin as it is, I can't help but feel like I could be doing more...

Adam: Bingo. You're not meant for this operation. You need to realize your own inadequacy.

Adam: Yes, I have heard Mrs. Belladina complain on multiple occasions about your inability to-

Penny: Penny has returned home~!

Blake: Adam? What are you doing here?

Adam: Greetings, Mrs. Belladina.

Jaune: Mr. Tauren was returning this magnifying glass.

Penny: Oh! That's where it was!

Blake: Ah, I see. Thank you.

Blake: (Thinking) If he's here, then it must mean there's urgent business.

Jaune: I'm surprised to see you three back already.

Blake: It looked like rain, so I made sure Juniper was quick with her business.

Blake: (Speaking normally, Code-talking) Why are you really here, Red Dawn?

Adam: (Speaking normally, Code-talking) I'm here to assess the progress of your mission.

Penny: (Mind-reading, Thinking) This scary guy is a spy, too?!.

Blake: The mission is going fine.

Adam: Is walking your daughter's pet vital to the mission? Why not make this man do all of your errands. Is he refusing to cooperate?

Blake: (Narrows eyes) What are you trying to say?

Adam: You're spending less time focused on the mission and more on this household fantasy. I suggest we reevaluate your operational tactics.

Blake: You're in no position to suggest anything.

Penny: Mama and this scary guy are fighting! Is he a bad guy?!.

Adam: Agent Nightshade...

Adam: I LOVE YOU.

Penny: (Blinks, Shakes head)

Adam: I LOVE...

Adam: YOOOOOOOU~!.

Penny: ...

Adam: How can she not see how perfect I would be as her husband? I can offer superior domestic support! Exquisite five-star meals, five-digit financial support, laundry complete in no time, lifesaving first aid, and even reconnaissance assistance on all your enemies you'll ever face, including names, weapons, allergies, and how many white hairs they have on their heads!.

Jaune: I'll make some more coffee. Penny, would you like some cocoa?

Adam: We'll honeymoon in Vale.

Blake: What is he thinking? I can never tell.

Penny: ...

[prince-liest]

oh my god…. prince……. you can’t do this to me. you’re saying next fic has vox getting fucked, focuses on vox’s transness (AH), AND ALSO HES ON THE OFF SEE SAW OF HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH VAL?????? ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL MEE?!!?!!????? I THINK I MIGHT ACTUALLY COMBUST. and bc another anon asked abt how alastor views the violence in voxval’s relationship, i have Another thought on the matter. as much as alastor looks down on vox, they can be Very similar sometimes. they are both egomaniacs and very prideful. i don’t think vox, without outside interference, would ever ADMIT that the violence he faces is 1) something he truly hates AND 2) out of his control. he can’t admit he hates it, because then why isn’t he stopping it? that would be admitting to not being powerful enough or strong enough. and hello, 50’s toxic masculinity coming through, he CANT be a victim of domestic violence. he’s a powerful, rich, and important man. it all comes down to perceived weakness. so, the solution is to pretend he’s mostly fine with it. sure, he can act disgruntled and upset in the moment, but i don’t think he’d ever let himself take it seriously. because then he has to start drawing lines in the sand, and what happens then? will val look down on him? will he lose val? yeah, he is not risking that over a problem he mostly refuses to acknowledge exists. and as you said, this is all happening in the setting of hell, where ultra violence IS the norm, and vox himself is excessively violent. it’s the most delicious 50 layer cake of fucked up-ness.

RANT ASIDE THO. i have a question. 2. do you ever plan on having vox interact with the hotel crew outside of angel? ANDDDD what would charlie’s reaction be to their friendship/situationship/ kinda love affair. i think she could add SOOOOO much hilarity and Intense Emotions to this series. not that the boys haven’t been doing their part in that so far. charlie just intensifies everything she does, god bless her. -🌓

The "getting fucked" bit and the trans conversation bit are directly related to and relevant to each other, and frankly I'm just very happy to be out here writing the specific flavors of deeply queer shenanigans that I'm writing, and to have people actively enjoy that. It genuinely means a lot to me that I've strayed so goddamn far out of the bounds of good old top/bottom yaoi archetypes that introduced me to fandom and yet have a wildly enthusiastic audience nonetheless. So, that was my long way of saying that you bring me a lot of fucking joy, anon, hahaha.

As for everything you're saying about Vox, power, and masculinity: YOU! points dramatically at you YOU GET IT! YOU GET IT!!!!!! Everyone just read this, this is it, this is the thing. I have no notes to add. There is a reason that the main point he raises the moment he actually says something vulnerable about it (before he immediately cuts himself off) is a complaint that he's an overlord, so why—?

And with regards to your questions: I'm not gonna lie, my actual planning for 666 is usually, like, extremely by the seat of my pants. I plan nothing except, "Oh, shit, had an idea for the next one. Lesgoooo—" and that's been the case for literally every single installment. It's all just been evolving naturally and building on top of itself. So! I can't say that I plan to have Vox interact with the hotel crew or Charlie, but I also will never say that I'm actively opposed to it.

That said, I do think a lot of this fic is kinda structured around hitting specific topics that come up in intimate settings between Vox and Alastor specifically, with occasional tag-ins from Angel Dust, so I don't really know if there's anything in particular I'd like to write that I think would work better in this series if more characters got involved. But, hey! Never say never!

[ryuichirou]

Replies

A couple of replies today! Kuroshitsuji and Twst.

Anonymous asked:

are you ever gonna make some Kuroshitsuji 2 art featuring my favorite blonde psycho?

We love Alois and I did draw him a couple of times! We posted some of the stuff here, but everything that wasn’t posted on tumblr can be found in this kuroshitsuji log on pixiv.

I’m not planning on drawing him in the nearest future, but since he is very special to us, it might randomly happen at some point…

If you have any troubles with pixiv, let me know and I’ll post Alois art from there here.

Anonymous asked:

The thought just crossed my mind... Do you ship Sebastian with any other characters aside from Ciel? Do you have any thoughts about those ships, if you do? Do you see Grell as a top or a bottom, too?! (I can't pick a side w/ them personally)

We talked about our Kuroshitsuji ships some time ago, here is the post if you’re interested! But in short, we kind of ship him with William because their interactions in the Circus Arc were hilarious and William was 100% playing hard to get. I don’t think I’ve even drawn them at all, but I should do it at least once… I should draw all of our Kuroshitsuji ships at least once, to be fair :(

Ironically, we don’t have any ships or even thoughts about Grell, sorry for disappointing! Maybe it’s due to the fact that while we were hating on Kuroshitsuji all those years (dark times lol), Grell was pretty much the only character I would draw anyway because of the cool design… But not really, to be honest; it’s actually more likely due to the fact that none of the Grell ships really clicked with us :( As for the position, it’s easy to see Grell as a bottom, but it doesn’t really help in this case.

Anonymous asked:

I've noticed I think y'all ship idia the same way I ship silver LOL just 24/7 running a list of characters through my head like "would it be hot if they dicked down Silver? It would be a little hot, wouldn't it? Lets just add them to the list anyway 😌" [he and said character has spoken a total of 2 times]

YES This is the treatment Silver deserves, his father would be so proud lol a little jealous, but still!

It is fun though... I always say it, but twst cast is very interesting, so a lot of characters who seem to be just a random pick could have such nice chemistry that it’s easy to start shipping them after just one interaction or a voice line. I love it so much lol

Anonymous asked:

i can not stop thinking about how Ortho has 24/7 access to any and all porn ever uploaded to the internet. and with a little modification he can bring even some of the most fantastical ones into reality.

He is just way too powerful, isn’t he? And the worst thing is, no one can even stop him anymore, now that Idia can’t access his system anymore…

If you think about it, Ortho is the perviest and the most knowledgeable person in NRC, even if he isn’t actively aware of all the kinks in the world. To think that only 5 minutes of buffering time separates him from being completely unaware and him having seen the entire collection of sex machine porn videos… And knowing Ortho, he’ll definitely want to try some of the things irl lol

Anonymous asked:

Hello! I'd like to know your thoughts on one of the side characters: Fellow Honest.

Sorry if you've already talked about him and I missed it.....

I'm just curious, because you seem to like Rollo and Che'nya, side characters that have made a few appearances in your art.

Do you have any interest in Fellow? Any headcannons? Or are you waiting until next Halloween, when Playful Land is available in English, to talk about/possibly draw him?

Hi, Anon! Sorry for the late reply.

I haven’t talked about it, and unfortunately I still can’t really talk about him. We are very intrigued by both Fellow and Gidel, but we haven’t seen their event yet. So I can’t make proper judgments and come up with any headcanons :(

We don’t really care about the EN release because we watch fan translations on youtube, but we just don’t have time to watch anything these days unfortunately. But when we do watch it, you’ll definitely notice, because there is no way I won’t draw Fellow at least a couple of times. His design and his sleazy faces are just too much fun lol

[captainsophiestark]

Dive Bar

Maxon Schreave x Reader

Masterlist - Join My Taglist!

Written for my personal fic writing challenge for 2024, Sophie's Year of Fic! Featuring a new fic being posted every Friday, all year long :)

Fandom: The Selection Series

Summary: As one of the Elite, a finalist in the Selection, Y/N gets to bring Maxon to her hometown to show him around on an official royal visit.

Word Count: 1,841

Category: Fluff

Putting work into an AI program without permission is illegal. You do not have my permission. Do not do it.

I smiled, trying not to squint my eyes against the bright lights flashing in my face. All this time, and I still hadn't gotten used to that.

"Thank you all for coming, but we're going to have to call it a night! Our official tour of the city starts bright and early tomorrow morning, after all," said Maxon Schreave, the man I stood arm and arm  with, a brilliant smile on his face as he addressed the press. They kept cheering and taking pictures as the two of us smiled, nodded, bowed, then headed inside the hotel arm in arm.

As soon as we were through the doors, I sighed and let some of the tension ease out of my shoulders. Maxon kept his posture and demeanor proper until the elevator doors closed on us. Then he sighed, too, and turned to me with a tired smile.

"Well, that was certainly a long day. But I'm happy to be here with you."

I smiled, my face warming. Moments like this, just the two of us with no one else watching over our shoulders, were incredibly rare. I wanted to savor every second of it that I could.

"I'm glad you're here, too. And the tour tomorrow is going to be fun, even if it's also a media circus."

Maxon laughed, offering his arm to me again as the elevator doors opened and we stepped out together. Servants and staff waited to escort us to our  separate suites.

The two of us stopped to face each other in the  middle of the hallway, before going our separate ways. As one of the finalists in the Selection, I got to bring Maxon back to my hometown for a tour and a look at where I'd come from. Aside from being a fun  experience spending time with the man I loved in the place I called  home, it was also the first time we'd spent togehter without the other members of the Selection. Even with all the media and people surrounding our every step, it had been fun.

"I suppose I'll see you in the morning for the circus," said Maxon, taking my hands and staring into my  eyes with a sparkle of mischief in his I grinned back.

"Yeah. I'll see you then."

Maxon hesitated for a minute, then leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on my cheek. I smiled even wider, although that was hardly possible, then said goodnight to Maxon and headed to my room.

I went through my regular nightly routine, sending my ladies in waiting away to get some rest of their own. I curled up in bed and closed my eyes, then started my mental clock running. I was going to give it a full half hour, to really minimize my chances of getting caught.

When I'd first heard about the hometown dates, I'd mentally planned a full week of various activities from when I'd lived here before someone burst my bubble. We were coming here with the Crown Prince, sole heir to Illea, while the rebels remained a threat. He would not be going anywhere the palace  hadn't planned and approved.

As someone who'd spent most of my time in this city far away from anything the palace would ever select, I'd been furious. What was the point of a home date if Maxon didn't actually get to see my home?

I knew better than to bring that up with anyone, though. So instead, I'd continued to make my own plan. If Maxon was on board, we were going to have the night of our lives.

I slid out from under the covers in the darkness, listening carefully for any sound or movement from my suite. When I heard nothing, I slipped into a more comfortable pair of  clothes (featuring beat-up blue jeans and a ballcap from my original wardrobe when I came to the palace), then headed to the window.

I'd worked in this hotel for a few odd jobs here and there, and I knew I could get to Maxon's room via balcony-hopping if I really wanted to. So that's what I did. I slipped out the window, closing it most of the way behind me so hopefully no one would notice, then moved carefully from one balcony to the other until I got to Maxon's room.

I listened at the window for a minute, and when I didn't hear any conversation, I leaned in to peek through. The room was empty save Maxon, who was just climbing into bed. I grinned and tapped on the window. He looked up, his face changing from surprised to delighted to concerned in a few  seconds. He glanced at the closed bedroom door behind him as he hurried to open the window for me.

"What are you doing here?" Maxon asked, his voice a frantic whisper. I grinned.

"Trying to take you on an adventure, if you're up for a little bit of risk."

Maxon hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the closed bedroom door again. Then, he looked back at me with a smile.

"Just let me get dressed."

I ended up having to help Maxon pick his outfit, since only a few things in his entire wardrobe would give him a chance at blending in with non-royals. I gave him an extra ballcap and told him to keep his head down, and within a few minutes, we were heading through the city to my absolute favorite spot.

"This is it!" I said proudly, turning with a smile to face Maxon. We stood on a dirty street, in front of a glowing red neon sign for my favorite place in the world. They sold the best shitty pizza and seriously toed the line of dive bar, and it had been one of the things I missed most since going to the palace.

"This... is it? Are you sure this is the place, my dear?"

"Oh yeah. Just you wait, you're in for the best night of your life. The palace could never compare."

Maxon smiled and shook his head, but he took my hand when I offered it all the same.

"Alright then. Let's see what this place has to offer."

****************

"Yes!" Maxon shouted, leaping up in the air before landing with a sheepish grin. "I got my first bullseye."

"I saw!" I laughed, beaming at Maxon's excitement. It had taken him the better part of an hour to relax, but now we were playing darts while eating terrible pizza and sipping local beers, like any other normal  couple from my city might. It had been magical.

"If I'm keeping  score correctly, that means I win unless you also get a bullseye, doesn't it?" he asked, fixing me with a brilliant smile. I picked up my dart and nodded.

"That's right. You better cross your fingers, Schreave."

Maxon laughed as I stepped up to the line, leveling my dart at the board. I'd done this so many times before, it was like second nature, even though I  hadn't played a lot of darts at the palace. I drew back, then followed  through and let the dart fly. It smacked into the board just slightly to the left of the center bullseye.

"Oh my- did I just win?" asked Maxon, a slightly delirious joy in his voice. I beamed as I turned around to face him.

"Yeah. I guess you did."

Maxon laughed in disbelief, then moved forward to wrap me tightly in his arms. He picked me up off my feet and spun me around, and I smiled. I hadn't missed a game-winning shot like that in years, but I wanted to see how happy Maxon would be if he won. I'd made the right decision.

"Does this mean I'm the darts champion now?" asked Maxon, a teasing quirk to his mouth as he set me down. "Since I beat you?"

I shook my head, still smiling as I went to retrieve the darts in the board.

"You've  gotta do more than beat me once with beginner's luck to take the title of champion," I said. "Put a dart board in the palace and we can really see what's what."

Maxon grinned. "You have a deal, my dear. Prepare to lose again."

I chuckled. Maxon's words didn't have any heat behind them, and it made my heart soar to see him so happy and carefree. I wished I could give that to him all the time, but I'd settle for tonight and look for opportunities in the future.

Unfortunately, by the end of that game of darts, we had to head back to the hotel or risk being caught  sneaking out. We took our glasses up and dropped them off at the bar, then I settled our tab. Maxon and I walked out of the place together arm in arm, this time no different than all the other regular strangers milling around on the street.

"Thank you for bringing me here tonight," he said as we walked, the cool night air perfect and refreshing. "I don't often get the opportunity to be among the citizens of Illea. That in itself is a treat, but getting to do it with you is the best thing I could imagine."

"I'm always happy to spend time with you, Maxon. Thank you for taking the risk and sneaking out with me."

"I'll sneak away with you every time I can get away with it, and maybe even a few more times than that."

"Well, good. But let's try to make this one of the not-getting-caught times, okay?"

"Of course."

Thankfully,  we made it back onto the balcony outside Maxon's room without issue. His room was dark, the door still closed, meaning none of the palace staff were any the wiser about where we'd gone. Maxon hopped back through the window, and I smiled before turning to go back to my own room, but he caught my hand and pulled me back.

"I just wanted to  say... I really enjoyed myself tonight. I find that I enjoy most times that I spend with you. I... I love you."

I beamed. "I love you too, Maxon. I love every minute we spend together, even when it's many, many minutes of letting the press take pictures of us. You even make royal procedure meetings enjoyable just by being in the room next to me."

Maxon laughed. He glanced down at my lips, then back up at me, a tentative smile on his face.

"Can I kiss you?"

I grinned. "Absolutely."

I leaned forward, and Maxon and I shared a long, sweet kiss through the window. After a moment, we pulled apart, both of us positively glowing. I took a half-step back, never taking my eyes off Maxon.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" I said. He grinned, leaning out the window even further.

"Yes you will."

"Okay. Good. Then goodnight."

"Goodnight, my dear."

I floated back to my room, thankfully also without getting caught, and fell asleep with a smile on my face. I couldn't wait to experience a thousand more places with Maxon, and play a thousand more darts matches together. Anything the future brought, as long as it was with him.

****************

Everything Taglist: @rosecentury @kmc1989

The Selection Taglist: @valkyriepirate

[short-black-diamond]

We got swoled and chaded 😂

Ok a request!!! Hmmm could you do something about the Kamille has a crush on Sahed/Rainah situation? Like Julia rambling to Sahed about how they can’t keep seeing each other because Kamille has feelings but lets slip that she is into him? Or honestly I’ll take anything

Yeah sure! I was thinking very much how the author(s?) would write Kamille and Julia actually talking about their situation and everything. Anywaysssss, let's do this!

I changed that request a little bit for personal reasons, so yeah...

Uh...it will be a little angsty for Julia (in my opinion), and I will do a shit ton of Kamille slander, however, I'm not good at this so you might not be that mad, but oh well!

Also I did not proofread.

Sahed x Julia

---

What did you just say?

How long? Or better; how much longer?

Another day has passed in this weird circus with living corpses acting like humans and the brown haired girl trying to figure out the magic behind it.

But that was pushed aside because of a new problem. Kamille had a crush on Sahed. That's what Julia thought as she made yet another useless attempt of trying to find the girl who was most aqquainted to her. And she failed yet again.

With a frustrated sigh, she sunk down on a nearby bench and just looked at the scenery in front of her; acrobatics making the most ridiculous and dangerous looking poses and stunts, others playing with balls, Dotty and Bob chatting away with some other adults and much many more circus-like activities taking place.

Julia felt...lonely. Yes. She felt abandoned. Why?

She was far away from home. She didn't know if she'd ever even see her father again.

Kamille was spending much more time with her new friends Rainah and Sahed.

Dotty was ignoring her uneasyness and hunger for more insight of the past of this circus.

Tonny didn't look like a bad guy.

Sahed was a mysterious boy.

Sahed...was also a boy, who was one of the many reasons she didn't feel good. Not in a bad way- it's just, he's...weird. Dangerous. somehow...hot?

No!

Julia did not just think that! Not about that cocky smirk! Not about that luscious hair! Not about those beautiful orbs...or that sweet little extra eye...!

"Oh hello there. Didn't think I'd see you here of all places.", the boy's voice said, pulling her out of her thoughts. She flinched and yelped, but Sahed only chuckled as it was no surprise to him. He got to know her, after all.

"S-Sahed! I-uh-", dammit, what should she say? And what did he mean by that? "I just...wanted to see how everyone was doing...", she spoke, albeit hesitantly. She couldn't trust that guy. Not when he seemed to look...understanding? Did he just giver her a look of sympathy? No, she must've imagined it.

Sahed was just as dangerous as everyone else in this place. "So so? And...where's Kamille?", he asked in faux concern, with the intention of annoying her again. He knew that Kamille was very dear to Julia, but it also pissed him off that she was spending more time with his sister than her best friend, even when she was designing the clothes.

But he didn't notice the way Julia frowned upon his question a little. Nor did he hear her heart crack. "I don't know. I thought she was with you.", Julia answered, but her tone lacked emotion.

So Sahed likes Kamille too. Lucky her.

Sahed felt weird for some reason. His third eye sensed some iffy stuff going on now. Sahed was alarmed, but didn't show it. "Why would she be with me? She only likes to hang out with my sister you know? It's so damn annoying.", and he yawned. Julia noticed the dark circles under his eyes. Why does he never sleep?? But on the other hand, he looks hot-

"Oh, then...you should be going to bed. You have heavy eyebags. It doesn't suit you."

Okay, no.

This was not the Julia he knew.

He wanted his old Julia back.

The one who'd always shout and yell and blush and stutter and look so ador- Hold on.

What was he thinking???

"And it doesn't suit to me that you're acting weird.", he declared, suddenly stepping closer to her. She was taken aback, of course, and leaned back because he was invading her space as she was sitting on the bench.

He was bowing, she was sitting. He then rested his head on her shoulder. And whispered: "What happened?"

It was soft. Yet a demand.

A soft demand.

Julia felt bewitched by his rizz powers/hotness bluntness and her breath hitched. instinctively, she pushed him away form her and looked away. "N-nothing's wrong with me!" Yet she wanted to tell him about her every concern.

"Something clearly is. Am I that much of a bastard to you that you don't want to talk to me?", he asked, and Julia risked it to look at him again.

Big mistake.

Instead of his usual, confident smirk, there was a...great sadness.. adorning his face. His brows were furrowed in a sad frown, the corners of his mouth went south and he even closed his third eye. She liked that eye the most. Even if she'd never admit to it freely.

And even though he still looked amazing, she couldn't help but feel another pang of pain and her heart cracked again. She didn't know if she could handle it. "I- can we talk in private then? I don't want unwanted eavesdroppers to hear us..."

and so, the two were in a cabinet that didn't belong to anybody from the circus. Julia took a big breath before she started talking.

"As you know, I'm Kamille's friend, but ever since we came here, she's been distancing herself from me more and more and found so many friends so easily. Meanwhile I'm here, trying to overcome the fact that we really might stay here for the rest of our lives."

She received a nod. Sahed was either trying to act like he cared, or he actually...did care. "I mean, sure, Kamille would make friends no matter where we'd be. I just...I always feel excluded. I know that I'm not as pretty or nice or good as her. Or what everybody sees in her but me. I knew that the kids our age only liked Kamille. They even told me."

Sahed frowned. Julia was actually a good person. How could anybody tell Julia that they wouldn't want to spend time with her? And telling her that they don't like her to her face?

What the hell?

She was... Weird, but cute. And he flushed at the thought, but Julia didn't really pay him any mind and kept going.

"Kamille...she, uh-jeez that will sound childish to you- but...she forgot my birthday. We normally always celebrated together. But this time, she just forgot!", Julia exclaimed, this time looking at Sahed, and this time too, he frowned.

"When she's your best friend, why does she do that? Shouldn't she have told those kids to not exclude you and be nice to you?"

At that, Julia was taken aback. Sahed actually listened and discussed it with her instead of making fun of her. Her cheeks warmed up, but she pushed her feelings away, only for them to grow a hundredfold when Sahed kept going.

"And how could she forget your birthday? Isn't she your best friend? Me personally, I wouldn't let that slide. No."

Suddenly, Julia felt embarassed. Kamille liked Sahed! Damn, why did she talk so badly about Kamille?!?!? She needs to fix this!

And, well, with futile attempts, the girl with the long hair laughed awkwardly. "B-but that's okay! Kamille's pretty nice aside from that! She can design such pretty stuff, don't you think?! She'd be a great girlfriend for you!!"

Ouch.

Ouch ouch ouch ouchouchouchouchouchouch-

"Wha- why would I want her to be my- whoah, whoah whoah whoah. Wait a minute. What the hell is going on?", the male glared at her.

Sahed didn't get Julia. In the first moment, she's depressed. Then she's talking about the problems in her life. What bad things Kamille has done. And then she's telling him to become her girlfriend???

Sahed didn't get girls. Girls were weird creatures.

he sighed and punched the bridge of his nose. "Julia, why are you telling me all your problems, Kamille not treating you right, like as in her not aknowledging your existence,", hence Julia averting her eyes with a hurt expression where in response his heart hurted, "nor standing up to your bullies, or even forgetting your birthday? She does not seem like such a good person to me. and I don't even think she likes me, more like-"

"What?! Of course she likes you! You're smart, handsome, sometimes funny, a good listener, handsome, weird, mysterious, handsome, and you're a good brother. I don't think that Kamille could get a better crush on anybody else than you."

All the while you were counting the reasons 'Kamille' could have a crush on him, he'd rather...want it to be Julia who did. "You know that you called me handsome three times, right?"

Ah, there was that hot smirk again. Sahed thought that he could tease Julia with it -and hopefully get a confession- but he was not prepared to hear her actually say it.

"Because I like you."

She- She said it like it was the most normal thing in the world...!

"What did you just say?"

Julia took a little while to process why Sahed's tan was getting redder and his eyes widening before she realized what she did.

She voiced her thoughts out loud.

She got a little whiplash from all the blood rushing to her head, but she was too focused on apologizing and telling him to forget that she ever said that. In her head, she was punching and kicking herself. Did I really say that?! Do I really like Sahed?! What will Kamille think??!

He was still stunned, but recovered quickly.

Slowly, he took one of her flailing hands in his and brought them to his lips.

"May I?", he asked.

And she couldn't believe it was really happening. Too weak to move her mouth, she just nodded weakly, and Sahed gave Julia a small kiss to her knuckles.

"Julia, I like you t-"

"Sahed- OHH, I'M SORRYYY~", Dotty interrupted Sahed's confession towards Julia with a laughing face. He was blushing furiously, because Dotty of all people had to see him in such a state. And he also thought that no one would look for him at this time.

Julia was no better. "D-DOTTY?! wha-what are you doing here?!"

The freckled woman only giggled and waved her hand before dissappearing again.

Julia and Sahed would have some explaining to do.

---

I honestly wanted Sahed to comfort Julia as well, but here we are.

I hope it was okay!!

Send in more requests please! Also please read my work "battle fairy" guys! Thank you!

[dlamp-dictator]

Okay, finished up the main story of Wuthering Waves and slowly getting a feel for how the day-to-day grind is going to be in this game. And... I gotta' be honest here.

I'm enjoying it. A lot.

The game is fun. Very fun. It's got flaws, glaring flaws, but frankly I haven't had this much fun in a game like this since maybe DmC 5 if I had to compare it to something I'm familiar with. Ultimately, despite my love of the game I like it in spite of its massive flaws rather than because of its minor strong points, but it's a game I honestly think I'll stick with for awhile.

However, I'm not here to talk about the gameplay this time around. I wanted to talk about the story first because that's honestly the roughest part of the game. And I'll be frank, this is more a mad rambling in the sense of the younger Allen X than the current one, but I just can't get my thoughts on this game steady yet, so try not to mind the vomit I'm about to throw at you.

But first, as always, that synopsis.

Wuthering Waves is set in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world after a catastrophe called the Lament wiped out most of humanity and caused unknown beings and monsters, called Tacet Discords to appear. However, humanity soon adapted to the threat and over time rebuilt civilization. The story follows the amnesiac Rover, who has awoken from a deep slumber and sets out to explore this new world.

Let it be known that I stole this from the wiki because that's how little I care to summarize this story myself. There's... a lot to discuss. I'll be here all day if I nitpick and talk about every immediate problem I have with the game's story, so I'll try to summarize my issues with three main points. Emphasis on try, again the game's still very new and my thoughts are overall still very scattered. With that said, here are the main points:

There's no real ground for us to care about the world or its people.

The game overloads us with unfamiliar terms and makes following the story hard.

The military sycophancy is... annoying.

Alright, let's break this down as best we can.

Yeah, Let's Just Knock Out the Military Sycophancy

So, while I'd like to start with the most pressing matter first of the game's hook-less intro and lack of intrinsic motivation for Rover or the player aside from gacha rewards, this is the most controversial thing to discuss and I'd rather have it out in the open and talked about first so we aren't too distracted with my other messy points.

So, Wuthering Waves' first 3-ish Acts (especially Act 2) and honestly the whole Huanglong chapter of the main story has rather... pointed moments of focus toward military branches of Huanglong and Jinzhou. There's a lot of heavy praise for the military, how they're keeping out enemies and invaders, how they need to be supported at all cost, etc.. And on its own it's fine.

Like, really, no bullshit, I'm honestly fine with this on the surface.

A quick reminder folks, Wuthering Waves, for all it's technology and advancements, is still in a post-apocalyptic world where literal Sound Demons™ come out of the void to slaughter people with reckless abandon. This is shown the very first time you leave and enter the city of Jinzhou, as NPC soldiers are actively fighting Tacet Discord, some of which will die if you don't intervene and help them clear out mobs on your way out of the city. The training barracks is right outside the gate, there are military bases and camps in even the more remote places where you can also see more NPC soldiers fighting mobs. The lore states that only recently they've forced non-Resonators out of the army because they will legit die instantly to these things.

In this world having a strong military and being proud of it, especially when your city is the first line of defense, is something that's obviously going to come up. In the world of Wuthering Waves, a military force isn't there to potentially conquer another country and take their stuff, work as some glorified bodyguard for the nobility, or protect luxury resources of elite national interest. In Wuthering Waves, the army is thrown into the frontlines to be the wall against the Tacet Discord and likely die or be horribly injured in droves during the process. Make no mistake, despite Jinzhou elegant and peaceful appearance it is on the northern border where almost all the major Tacet Discord are formed. It is very much Chinese-Kislev with Sound Demons™ instead of Chaos Daemons. Not to mention you're traveling around with Yangyang, a member of the scouting military branch, who would obviously have strong opinions about the organization she serves, and Jianxin, who's an errant monk trying to still learn about the world and only has the words of her masters to go off of, and her masters are very pro-military.

It. Makes. Sense.

But the game sure as shit doesn't really show a lot of that in the text and dialogue. It really does come across as brown-nosing, and since the only voices against are main group are the Fractsidus it's hard to take their words at face value. It's not like the game plays up the fact that Yangyang is a military officers aside from Act 2, or that Jianxin is in actually kind of a childish musclehead that's only really good at martial arts and little else as her later Intimacy voice lines imply. The Military Sycophancy is more a product of rushed and lacking characterization than outright brown-nosing. Some minor dialogue in later acts actually question how righteous and moral some of those military leaders are in the heat of the moment, but you have to look for those voices to be heard.

But speaking of lacking characterization that brings me to my second point.

There's Not Really a Grounded Hook, is There?

To give a brief summary of the Huanglong story, the main character, Rover (yes, that seems to be the canonical name) wakes up after a vision/mysterious event of sorts while having no memories of their past or their goals. They are awoken by a friendly soldier and town guard and travels with their new companions to the city of Jinzhou after some shenanigans. The city's local leader, realizing an prophesy involving Rover is about to set off big things, attempts lure them to their side through both friendly and mysterious means. As Rover follows the trail they come to learn several parties and factions not only know about them, but have plans for them that don't require them to even know of main purpose of them being brought to the world, and those factions tease Rover with information hinting about their purpose before fleeing the scene. Through these meetings and the connections Rover makes throughout the story, they decide side with those that housed, protected, and cared for them and help save their country, unbeknown to them and several others going all according to the city leader's plan at the end of the day, even if said leader gambled a little at the end.

And while I'm skipping a lot of details here and there, namely involving the Fractsidus, Black Shores, and other parties, that sure as hell is a better summary of the plot than you'd find in the game. I kept out a lot of the terminology, but that's the basic idea. You're an unknown element, you have several people interested in you because of it, and... that's really it.

There's... nothing to truly hook you.

Look, I know using the G-word is bad form, but I'm gonna. In Genshin the story is simple: You're Aether/Lumine, some asshole god stole your sibling (or sent them back in time or something), you want to get her back and you have to solve every country's problem along the way while Dainslief just stands their menacingly. In Arknights...

...

...

Okay, honestly Wuthering Waves' story intro is about as bad as Arknights' with all the unfamiliar terminology and introducing people you don't care about until 3 more main story chapters, but you get my point.

Wuthering Waves doesn't have much to get you truly invested in the story. There's no real incentive for you to do things aside from mild curiosity and the gacha rewards. The fact that the little scavenger hunt Jinshi sends you on is super-lore heavy doesn't help either. There's a few good moments like most Jiyan confronting the phantom of his former superior, most of the stuff with Aalto and the Black Shore, Scar's occasional moments, and all of the final act, but those are few and far between with all the lore, exposition, and Yangyang's voice actor not having the greatest voice direction. You're dragged around a lot, but you don't really get to stay long enough to really care about the group. I think the only time they did was when they had you with Yangyang in Qichi Village learning about the place's backstory. That was good storytelling and world-building, as you are immediately curious about why the village was so fucked up and the implications were so... twisted. And best of all Scar was able to bring the lore explanation to a human, understandable level with his analogy of the wolf, shepherd, and sheep.

Which brings me to my last point.

So Many Goddamn Terms

The fact that they reference this in later Acts does not help, but the game has a lot of terminology in it. To summarize some of this, the world of Solaris-3 is a post-apocalyptic world based off frequencies, wavelengths, and a biiiiit of Chinese/Eastern fantasy thrown in for flavor. A lot of things revolve around that, but goddamn are there a lot of terms here. Even the official site just barely covers the basics. The Black Shores, the Fractsidus, the various nations and locations of importance. There's... a lot. A lot that isn't cover in as much depth as it should, or should just be simplified to its most important points. Part of me thinks this is because it's a Chinese game first and translating all the terms into something a Westerner can understand is just a mess in and of itself. However... this game also had quite a few years to cook as well and... it needed another year in the oven for reason aside from the glitches and lag.

Smaller Issues

Just gonna' put these in list form because I'm very tired now.

The Voice Direction: I think it's clear the voice acting isn't great, and I want to say its the director's fault. We've got a lot of decent talent here and a few people with good line reads. It just feels something is holding a lot of them back or the director isn't giving them enough context. Maybe now that the secrets out and we know who's voicing what they can actually direct things better now. Either way I'm hoping it gets better.

The Glitches and Stuttering: I'll save gameplay discussions for another posts, but for now I'll say I'm filling it minimally. It's not as bad as others, and I took some precautions to not deal with it as much, but it's still bad.

Rover's Character: So Rover actually has a lot more speaking lines than the average gacha self-insert character, almost to the point of them being their own character. However, the words coming out of their mouth are often just exposition, which only characterizes Rover as someone either intelligent or observant, which clashes with in-universe other characterizations of them being an almost mindless TD-destroying slaughter that cuts through mobs like its an addiction.

Uuuuugh... I know I said I'd say some positive things about the game, but... this has already left me a little drained. I'll talk more in detail about the positives at a later date, but for now I'm gonna' chill for a bit and maybe do a weekly boss.

I'll see you folks later.

[itsjustelian]

Has anyone else noticed that all of the ADA's enemy organizations lack a sense of unity? I was thinking about it last night, and only the ADA has members that all want the same end goal.

In this essay, I will... Just read under the cut, idk.

Organization by organization, I'll explain what I mean.

Armed Detective Agency:

Fukuzawa: Founded the Agency as a place to help Ranpo use his ability to save people

Ranpo: While only wanting to use his hyper-intelligence when it suits him, he'll also only use it if the end goal is helping people

Yosano: Wants a place in the world where nobody will use her ability as a weapon against other people. Also, has been spending all of her time in the ADA helping people.

Kunikida: Will live and die for his ideals, many of which revolve around helping people.

Dazai: Despite whatever ulterior motives the man has, his main reason for joining the agency was Oda telling him to "Be a good man and save people."

Tanizaki: He's a loose cannon right now, but for the sake of my argument he's doing it all to help his sister. That or he's the only exception because he's definitely going to join the Mafia.

Kenji: Can do no wrong and I don't think the kid has an 'I actively want to hurt people' bone in his body. Also, he helps people around Yokohama and they all like him. So, yeah he falls under our wants to help people category.

Atsushi: Wants to prove he's worthy of being alive by saving people.

Kyouka: After being stuck in the Mafia she's chosen to use her ability and skills to help people while working in The Agency.

Apologies for sounding like a broken record for that entire section. It gets more interesting I swear.

Port Mafia:

Mori: While he clearly cares about Yokohama as a place (made clear by his actions during The Guild arc) he also seems to be running the mafia for the power and safety (?) it brings him.

Chuuya: I could go on for a whole post on why Chuuya is still with the Mafia. But that's not what this post is about. In Stormbringer Chuuya finds his answer to the whole 'Am I human?" argument. So that can't be his main driving force. I think his main reason for doing what he's doing is that Chuuya is a social person. He enjoys having people around whom he can trust and who trust him. But, he also knows he doesn't want to be a leader, so an executive of the mafia is a safe and comfortable position for him. (He and Sigma would get along great with their whole desire for a home thing.)

Akutagawa: Is pretty clear, while loyal to the mafia his driving force is proving to Dazai that he's worth something, that he's grown stronger. Although now that he's gotten that I wonder what his main driving force (aside from fucking Atsushi up) is.

Tachihara: He's being put in the Mafia category because it's where he wants to be. Aside from being a double agent and all that Tachihara's driving force was getting revenge for his brother and the orders he was given. Even saying that "Orders make me who I am."

Kajii: I am almost 100% sure he only joined the mafia because they let him blow shit up with no repercussions.

I'm not doing every PM ability user, I'd be here for the rest of my life, so take these few.

The Guild:

Fitzgerald: Is looking for the book to bring his dead daughter back to life and save his wife.

Margaret: Trying to make money to restore her family's honor.

Steinbeck: Making money to send home to his family.

Twain: Wants an adventure (?) He went to write a book about it so I'm assuming that's what happened.

Lucy: Looking for a place where she'll be appreciated and seen as useful (Gods, why do so many people in this story just want a home.)

Lovecraft: Is only with The Guild because of a contract.

Herman: Loyalty to what The Guild was? Love for the Moby Dick?

Poe: Only joined because it meant he would get to see Ranpo again (we know what you are).

The Hunting Dogs:

Fukuchi: Is trying to dismantle the state and 'dethrone the angels'. And I'm pretty sure his reasoning is that the state is the only reason war happens, so if he removes the state war can't happen anymore. (nobody tell this man about civil wars he'd have to wipe out all life on earth.)

Teruko: Follows Fukuchi? I haven't analyzed her enough to know what her goals are, sorry.

Tecchou: Strives for justice in the world and puts it above everything else (except for Jouno in those five minutes.)

Jouno: Enjoys tormenting people and seeing them squirm but also wants to help the innocent and finds joy in that. (Gods Jouno, pick a side when you come back, okay? I had to open the Manga to figure you out.)

The Decay Of Angels:

Fyodor: Wants to destroy all ability users and cleanse the world of sin.

Gogol: Wishes to be free from the shackles of society's morals and is at the moment attempting to kill Fyodor to prove that point.

Sigma: They just want a home, somewhere to belong that can't be taken away from them. (Can Sigma get a happy ending, please? I love him very much.)

Bram: God only knows the man wants to sleep with his Spotify on and relax for once.

---

It's just fun that only the Agency has members that all want the same thing. Especially with some of the organizations having members that directly contradict each other. Gogol attempting to kill Fyodor. Bram actively not wanting to use his ability. Tecchou striving for justice that Fukuchi is actively destroying.

Maybe that's why everyone keeps losing to The Agency, they lack the unity that the ADA has. Or maybe I'm grasping at straws and this is dumb.

[rimeiii]

WHB Prologue Speculations!

Now that I had the time to actually go through and watch the entire PV in its entirety properly (OP is sitting here with a cough, air quality in her country is so bad lately everyone is getting sick), the theorycrafting part of my brain is on overdrive mode so. I'm just going to ramble. And speculate. Mostly about Minhyeok. Because Minhyeok is amazing I love him holyshit.

Also I wanted to try out S3M3 Chongyue ASMR but he's still getting the final mastery level, so I let the brainworms win out. Maybe I did a little silly and did a character analysis regarding MC + Minhyeok and their potential trauma responses too, idk.

Without further ado...

(Spoilers for the prologue video, proceed with caution!)

1. MC and Minhyeok's trauma responses

I feel like the trauma regarding MC seeing their parents dead in front of them when they got home from school back when they were young is going to crop up eventually. Based on their reluctance to step foot in their house, it's likely they never worked through their trauma properly.

There is an active repression of memories here. The mind, deeming the memory dangerous and mind-breaking if it is to be remembered in its entirety, forcefully pushes it down from MC's conscious memory into their unconscious mind as a self-defense mechanism. Sure, they may not recall it now, but it lies in wait in their unconscious mind as it silently affects MC's behaviours and thought processes.

It will crop up eventually, I think. In what way, however, we may not know. Perhaps MC's reliance on Minhyeok is a subconscious decision to allow themself to be vulnerable and let someone take care of them. Perhaps MC now has a fear of loss, which manifests in their impulsive decision to make a deal with Satan to save Minhyeok, the only person they have left. The association between their house and their parents' deaths is still strong, which plays a part in them not wanting to stay there for long.

As an aside, the MC I'm making as my OCsona for this game is going HARD into this aspect specifically, might share her bio eventually on this blog. After I finish working on my Docsona bio that is aha-

And honestly, I do think he suffers from trauma from the incident, at least a little bit. Not to the extent of MC, whose mind repressed those memories to protect themself, but still a significant amount. He can still function in day-to-day life relatively well, and perhaps his tendency to care and protect MC is due to the fact he doesn't want to see her suffer/sad. MC already has a lot on their plate, no need for anything more.

Their attitudes towards each other can be interpreted to be a reflection of how their trauma affects them. MC acts more or less nonchalant about Minhyeok and his expressions of care at the beginning - it may be because they were watching adult videos when he talked to her, but at the same time it may be because they're already so used to having Minhyeok nag at her it became annoying. Or, they keep him at arm's length despite caring for him, because the trauma of losing their parents makes them hesitant to let him in.

And Minhyeok, who perhaps saw MC becoming distant as something worrying, took it upon himself to make sure they are taken care of. Because he loves them, cherishes them, and doesn't want to lose them to what he assumed was despair. Perhaps, he desperately wants MC to open up to him, and his love for MC makes him willing to wait however long it takes for them to do so. And until then, he'll remain loyal by their side.

As for who killed MC's parents, I'd like to think it's an angel. If MC is a descendant of Solomon, then it would make sense that one of their parents is also a descendant of Solomon, right? And the angels have been killing Solomon's descendants left and right - it's just that they've managed to frame these killings as accidents.

(I should make a oneshot for this.)

Which leads us to...

2. Who is the figure in front of MC in the flashback?

I'm pretty sure it's Minhyeok.

Ever heard of Chekhov's gun? It's basically a concept related to conservation of detail. Specifically, if a detail is mentioned in the storyline, then more often than not it has storyline relevance.

The figure who stepped in front of MC, the mention of a soapy smell intermingling with the scent of blood. And guess who's described to have a smell like soap?

That's right. Minhyeok.

Assuming the figure was Minhyeok, what was he doing that day? The most logical answer, assuming human Minhyeok, is that he was walking with MC back home from school to drop them off, when they came across that gruesome scene. Minhyeok's protective instincts kick in as he shields MC's eyes.

3. And about Minhyeok...

Minhyeok, who slides in front of MC to shield their eyes from the carnage that was their parents' death. Minhyeok, who continues to take care of MC after everything. Minhyeok, who cherishes MC so much from childhood, with a childhood promise of marriage.

Minhyeok, who dies protecting MC from harm, who seems to just know MC is in danger, who so readily sacrifices himself for the MC.

He may be MC's childhood friend, but as it stands, he as a character is still shrouded in mystery to us, the player. As many others have pointed out, his character archetype is MC's protector. He shields them from the trauma, protects her from harm, and takes care of her.

The fact he just stormed into his room to protect MC without hesitation. Was he warned of the danger MC is going to be in? How is his devotion to the MC so strong he's willing to risk his life for them? His love for MC is just that strong, is probably the main reason.

Or perhaps...he isn't completely human after all. Which sets up for angst potential, honestly. But that's speculation for another day.

4. About Minhyeok's story...

We see signs of his revival as Satan whisks MC to Hell, with how Minhyeok's body 'flinches' a little bit. So, it's safe to assume that MC's wish is granted immediately - as Satan had said. Demons don't lie, after all (but I imagine they can perform omissions of truth all the same, so don't trust everything a demon says).

As for what happens to him after the revival, the EN translation is a little bit finicky, but with my (VERY) limited CN/JP knowledge I assume that Minhyeok will wake up at the place right before he went back to his room, without any memory of what had transpired mere moments earlier. So, for all he knows, he was supposed to meet MC back at his room but finds them missing from his room. Assuming time flow on Earth and in Hell is the same, I'd imagine he'd start looking for them.

And that might be what the game meant by Minhyeok's story - what's going on back in the human world on his side specifically.

Without the memory of him protecting MC, it would be hard. I'd imagine the angels or demons getting into contact with him first, and promising to get him over to her. Which is how a Minhyeok romance would likely start...I don't know, though. Pure speculation on my part.

also satan's voice kinda reminds me of sesa from arknights help me

[mysteryshoptls]

SSR Rook Hunt Dorm Uniform Personal Story: Part 1

"The true culprit... is you!"

Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)

[Courtyard]

Vil: …8…9…10! Next up, camel pose.

Vil: Open up your chest area and slowly bend your upper body back. Once you're able to grab your ankles, keep that pose.

Everybody: Yes, sir!

Epel: Urgh… Rook-san…

Rook: What is it, Monsieur Pommette?

Epel: I thought I was supposed to be here to help the film club with their next movie, but… Urk!

Epel: Why are we… urgh… doing yoga?

Rook: Well, Epel-kun. It's to help you relax and prepare your body for the coming activities, of course.

Rook: The more we can release the tension we hold, the more our minds open, and communication becomes easier.

Rook: Yoga is the optimum exercise to increase blood flow, accelerate metabolism, and calm your spirit. On top of that, it improves your posture and style so you can become even more beautiful!

Rook: That's why Vil always does yoga before starting his film club activities.

Epel: I-I see… But there's gotta be a more easier way to do that… right?

Rook: By the way, Epel-kun. You need to bend your back further, or you cannot call that a camel pose.

Rook: Don't worry, I'll help you out by pulling your arms back!

Epel: Eh, no, it's fine―

Epel: OWWWWWWWWW!!!!

Rook: Hahaha, it seems your body is quite stiff, Monsieur Pommette.

Savanaclaw Student A: Yo, look at those film club guys. They're all in funny poses! I definitely wouldn't be caught dead doing weird stuff like that in front of other people.

Film Club Member A: What do you guys want, barging in on us like that. And, this is called yoga, first of all…

Film Club Member B: Leave them be. Those muscle-for-brains in Savanaclaw wouldn't be able to comprehend our more limber exercises.

Savanaclaw Student B: Haaah? You lookin' for a fight?

Rook: Come now, don't be so quick to anger! Why not join us?

Rook: Why don't we do yoga together to strengthen our bonds and achieve that higher beauty!

Savanaclaw Student A: Who'd wanna do that!? "Beauty" ain't nothing useful. Yo, let's get out of here.

Epel: …Pissin' me off. Rook-san, how can you stand to invite people like that?

Rook: I thought they'd be able to see the merits of yoga if they tried it. Alas.

Rook: Oh, what have I done! I got caught up in talking, and that I forgot to help you.

Rook: My apologies, let's continue.

Epel: Eh, no, I'm good now… Ow ow ow owww!!!!

Vil: ―Epel?

Epel: Ah… Vil-san.

Vil: I thought I might have heard an awful sound much like a frog being squashed, but that must have been my imagination, yes?

Epel: Urgh… I'm sorry, I'll be better.

Vil: Rook. I'd like to believe that there won't be any issues cropping us as long as you're near him, but…

Vil: If something were to happen, I expect you to "properly" educate him.

Vil: Epel is still lacking in aspects other than just his manners and aesthetic sense.

Epel: Am… I?

Vil: Just a moment ago, were you not irritated when those Savanaclaw students came and tried to meddle with us?

Vil: Don't bring in any low-level fights into Pomefiore. Understand?

Epel: Yes, sir…

Vil: And Rook, understand this. If Epel starts a fight with anyone from another dorm during this shoot…

Vil: I'll kick you both out of the film club― No, from the dorm.

Epel: …Man, even though I was just forced here to help.

Vil: Did you say something?

Epel: Nothin'… Ah, I mean, nothing at all.

Vil: Anyway. Try to keep self-control and prevent yourself from any sort of behavior that would tarnish the Pomefiore name.

Rook: Oui, Roi de Poison. Leave it to me!

Film Club Member A: Look at how cozy those three look together…

Film Club Member C: Epel-kun and Rook-senpai are pretty amazing. Putting aside the fact that he's in the same dorm, they're able to talk with Vil-san so casually.

Film Club Member C: Maybe it's 'cause I used to see him on TV and in magazines before I enrolled here, but I still get nervous, y'know?

Film Club Member A: Yeah. The fact that those two can talk to him no problem is pretty amazing.

[Interior Hallway]

―The next day

Epel: Ah, Rook-san.

Rook: Oh, Epel-kun. You're here early.

Epel: Yes, sir. My classes ended early today, so…

Film Club Members: Hello!

Rook: Ah, you all as well, I see… Then, I suppose we'll be the first in the club room today.

[Classroom]

Rook: Vil won't be with us today, due to some work he has, so I'll lead the club activities…

Film Club Member B: …What's wrong?

Rook: La vache… How terrible. Look at that.

Epel: Woah! Vil-senpai's costume is torn to shreds!?

Film Club Member A: It's not just the costume, either. The partition for the film set, too…

Everybody:!!

Epel: Wh-What's that creepy message written' in red paint over there…?

Rook: "Inadequate beauty"… Must be a message left by whoever destroyed the costume.

Rook: Hm, this is quite the case… This seems to be a declaration of war!!

Part 1 (Part 2) (Part 3)

Requested by Anonymous.

[groovesnjams]

"A Psychic Wound" by Los Campesinos!

DV:

Watching Los Campesinos! on their recent US tour, I got hung up on the unique path they've taken through my affections: I loved "International TweeXcore Underground" (which apparently has a video that is a real fucking time capsule) in 2007, but I care a lot more about them as a band now then I did back then - it's like they burrowed their way into my head over the past 17 years without me ever quite noticing. And to be clear about bands I loved in 2007: I saw of Montreal recently; I'll be thrilled if Spiritualized play Chicago again. But seeing them is like catching up with an old friend who I don't have all that much in common with any more. Meanwhile there are Los Campesinos lyrics about my life, about my friends, about my partner! I'm not sure how that happened but it did.

And so Los Camp sound and feel more vital to me now than they did back when I first heard them, and I don't think there's any other artist I can say that about. (Admittedly there's very few artists who have been active since the mid-2000s that you can't describe as "nostalgia acts" at this point - if they're even trying to make new music at all.) So that's what makes LC significant: I've long since lost track of artists whose every word I hung on in 2007, but something like "A Psychic Wound" feels real even now that I can't grow long indie bangs if I wanted to. And maybe the production is a little too sleek, but a lyric like "It’s a cosmic check you never cashed/ Curse the universe for what you lack" is the kind of casually-dropped gem that few bands can manage once in their early days, let alone this far into their run. "A Psychic Wound" makes me wonder if Los Camp maybe will keep going forever, and if maybe they'll be the only band in history where that isn't a mistake. Most importantly, the song sounds like a singalong even before it's over.

MG:

DV and I have seen Los Campesinos! a handful of times over their career and most of those times I had one foot out the door only to be completely charmed by the group's all-in ecstasy. Until this last show I'd say Los Campesinos! were a band best experienced live -- mostly because aside from one brief period during lockdown, I don't listen to their records and this is what creates the little cycle of bliss to indifference in which I swirl. In fact, they are a nostalgia act to me, in that I want every concert to reproduce the same sense of fun and belonging the last concert did. I don't want to like my own sense of nostalgia but I also firmly believe we have no free will in this universe, so alas, here I was, very excited for this most recent concert and totally unaware that Los Campesinos! had gone through some sort of internet-led glow up. Things were going pretty much fine until, in the middle of the show, they acknowledged their newfound popularity and conducted a "marketing survey" where they tested whether or not you became a fan during the nascent days of social media or during its ongoing imperial phase. That's when they completely lost me. What a weirdly pro-Capitalist stance to be one of the few bands capable of maintaining your recording and touring artist career for almost two decades but to only feel successful once you can properly advertise. "A Psychic Wound" does everything a Los Campesinos! song should. It's full of witty lyrics and a chaos of instruments all delivered with a righteous enthusiasm. But now it just gets on my nerves.