#but the good news is that i have never wanted to be fun by those standards so i'm okay with that

[annabelle--cane]

i wasn’t here when tma reached the height of its popularity (i only joined last year) so could you describe the Vibes (how bad the drama was, did it feel like there were too many people, etc.)

only if you want to :]

I've said this before, so this may be a familiar spiel to longer term followers, but 2020 tma fandom was honestly not the worst fandom I've ever been in, it was just by far the biggest thing I have ever been actively into at peak popularity and so the 1% of insane people that are found in every fan space were 1% of a much bigger total population. most people were fine and chill, but there were a vocal minority who Weren't.

major ingredients in the discourse pot:

from my observations, tma had a small but devoted listener base for its first few years, then it got a little bump in mid 2018, then a considerable bump in late 2019, then hit proper virality in early 2020, so there were a lot of people with hipster complexes about being Real Fans who were there first and weren't just part of the masses.

at this point I'm not even sure if this part was true, but the above was compounded by the perception that the earlier og listener base were mostly adults and the new wave of fans were mostly tweens and teens. whether the different waves actually fell along those age lines or not, a lot of people felt like the fandom was split into 80% Cringe Zoomers Who Are Here For Ships And Memes and 20% Millennials and Gen X'ers With Media Literacy Who Are Here For Horror. nice dichotomy, idiot, now what lies outside it, etc and such and such. our blessed fandom etiquette vs their barbarous dni lists.

which isn't to say that suddenly having a huge number of people, including young people, become interested in a single piece of media at a time of global stress where everyone had to be much more online and the content of the media itself was at its darkest and most socially relevant had no downsides. oh no. Oh No.

"my headcanon is not only objectively the best headcanon but it actually invalidates all of yours and if you hc something different then it's an act of bigotry against my Correct Headcanon." / "I have drawn up a list of Good Characters you have to like and aren't allowed to criticize and a list of Bad Characters you have to hate and can't acknowledge exist unless it's to make fun of and completely condemn them." / "I saw her username in the kudos of a jonelias fic" "girl what were YOU doing in the kudos of a jonelias fic" / "this latest episode handled a social issue unforgivably badly, I haven't experienced it myself but the vibes were off, everyone demand accountability and boycott the rest of the show" "hey that one was actually based on jonny's personal experiences" "ah fuck not again. well boys let's remember this for next time. this latest epis--"

honestly most of the discourse was down to like two or three friend groups. there was one group of people who you will probably remember if you were there at the time whom I have sometimes seen referred to as the Clown Gang. Clown Gang were ground zero for a good 90% of fan discourse ("hcing melanie as ace is ableist and lesbophobic" "fan content that focuses on jon's asexuality is biphobic. what's pansexuality I've never heard of it." "desolation tim aus are inherently ableist and racist"), but eventually they had a big falling out with Clown Prime and things calmed down. to be very clear I hold no ill will towards any of these people for four year old bad takes, hence why I'm not using any names, but god was it a time.

and this is only about the tumblr side of things. I was barely active of twitter so idk what it was like there but I was on tiktok for about a year during that time and the vibes were wildly different. iirc people there were less confrontational and there wasn't really a callout culture like on tumblr, but the extremes of the takes were FAR worse.

[inthelibrarybtw]

you want me to pretend? | r.c

You really hated lies, but a tiny one might not seem so bad when it's meant for a good cause. Parents teach their children not to lie but sometimes to make others happy people lie so you did and it came back to bite you in the ass. It was never your plan to let it go so far; those three hours weren’t supposed to change everything as much as they did. It became more than lying, it became keeping things from the people you cared about the most and dealing with them on your own. Isn’t it funny how fate likes to stir things up? maybe a lie was all that was needed to make the truth come out.

pairing: college!basketball!captain!rafe x college!student!reader content:  fake dating, secret pining, smau, written chapters, tiny bit of angst, fluff

important!! I adapted my own story to write this fic, my OC's Nathan and Avery are the ones I based reader's and rafe's personalities from. Since I adapted my story, this is an AU where there will be major changes, mainly in the Cameron family this to fit the storyline better. I don't want to say what are the changes just know Ward is a good person and father in this one.

get to know: college!student!reader | college!basketball!captain!rafe

chapters: coming soon

authors note: @zyafics thank you for letting me rant my thoughts away to figure the timeline out and for making HB:L because it gave me a new perspective on how I could tell some parts of their story, fun fact this was actually the first fic i planned on posting but I was struggling on how to make it but i kept playing around it for a while until i felt happy with it

taglist: i have taglists for each fic and a side blog to get updates on everything i write @inthelibrarybtw-notifs if you want to be added send an ask or comment! :)

REBLOGS, COMMENTS AND LIKES ARE ALWAYS WELCOMED

INTHELIBRARYBTW ✧.*

[thewertsearch]

@necrowyrm asked: happy new year!!! enjoy the last little bit of homestuck before act 6! Anonymous asked: You have NO IDEA how much I was looking forward to your reaction to this flash :D @teddy-bearer-of-bad-news asked: a very late congratulations from me for making it this far! i gotta say, saving CASCADE for new year's is probably the smartest thing i've heard all week. may your experience be nothing short of righteous, comrade Anonymous asked: Cascade … Even years latter knowing it almost by heart, every once in a while I will take a little quarter of an hour to rewatch it, Say what you want about Hussie but there is a good reason Homestuck became so iconic. @adeptarcanist asked: The leadup to Cascade was honestly my favorite sequence in Homestuck, and maybe one of my favorites in any media ever? The way the narrative splits apart into all of the different scenes swirling in towards the critical moment, both advancing main plots and finding time to spend a moment of melancholy with characters who’d been left behind (The Jaspers and Nepeta scene :( )… it’s such a strong narrative device, and the tone it generates is impeccable. @calamitascalliope asked: I literally watched the flash again, and it still gives me chills every single time. Welcome to your post-Cascade life. You won't be able to think about anything the same ever again @iris-in-the-dark-world asked: "she looks so cool… but she’s so tragic… but she looks so cool…" has become a brainworm for me. i too love the handmaid's design btw, cascade time has been i think the most anticipated non-personal event of the entire year for me. i'm so excited @publicuniversalworstie asked: I want you to know that I also opened Cascade and started watching with you right after I saw your "oh my god it has chapters" ask, and I finished just as you posted "I will never be the same" !! And I bet lots of other people did too <3 so it's like we all watched it together!!!! Happy New Year and thank you for liveblogging!!!! It's been a pleasure！(and will continue to be) @krixwell asked: I would like you to know that your "Right, we're good to go!" and "oh my god it has chapters" posts were posted right as I was outside watching midnight fireworks ring in 2025 for the Central European timezone. Happy new year! @captorations asked:

hey remember when rose just up and fucking said that. anyway congrats on reaching cascade! it absolutely wrecked me back in the day, i think i stared at those flaming curtains for a solid ten minutes as my brain permanently reconfigured. the first few notes of the track alone still give shivers. getting your reaction to cascade was a wonderful birthday present. (speaking of getting older: aradia 🤝 dulcinea also got that "distressingly short lifespan only to die early anyway" story thread going on. the parallels are paralleling.) anyway happy new year and congrats you are… slightly less than halfway done with homestuck. have fun!

Hey, guys. Cascade was so fucking good.

Like, there's really no competition; this is the best Flash page in the comic thus far. Peak music, peak animation, and absolutely a peak narrative. It tied up mountains of plot threads, providing complete answer to questions we're been asking for literally thousands of pages. It completed over a dozen arcs, both big and small. It made me gasp three times in fourteen minutes. It let Jade become a furry.

11/10, and I'm glad people had as much fun here as I did on New Year's Eve. Happy 2025, and happy Act 6!

@morganwick asked: Sally, predicting Cascade: "I have approximate knowledge of many things." @morganwick asked: "You literally have the whole world in the palm of your hands." -Sally to Jadesprite, December 16, 2024 (You might also want to reread post/770701212350857216 in light of recent developments.)

Hah!

I mean, based on her powerset, it made sense that Jadesprite would do something like this eventually, but it's pretty funny that she did it more or less immediately.

And in the end, CD really was a tricky little bastard. We'll definitely need to keep a closer eye on him, next time around.

Anonymous asked: Take a moment to consider that if anyone were to use the Homestuck website as it stands now instead of the Collection program, Cascade would have been presented in the YouTube player in Standard Definition, artifacted to hell, with a clear boundary showing the dimensions of the video from the very start. Preservation is so important.

Jeez, you're not kidding. The 1080p is fine, I guess, but it certainly doesn't hit like the Flash version does, especially with its lack of moving panels.

I know something had to change when Flash kicked the bucket, but surely there was a better way to preserve the video's soul.

Anonymous asked: to give you some of an idea of what homestuck fandom looked like during this time period, im cribbing from a very popular homestuck post: “first, this upd8 was something that we had been waiting for for WEEKS. A literally unprecedented wait period at the time. We were used to suckling at the teat of daily updates, a constant stream of conversation and plot twists and buildup, and as EOA5, we were finally going to figure out what all these countdowns and plot threads and disconnected elements were building up for. And when the progress bar reached 100%, and when the page FINALLY loaded on 10/25/11, it was chaos. This was 2011, a primetime peak point and growth period of Homestuck fan density.” (…) “MSPA crashed, as it had started to during the last few big [S] updates. Hussie had already bought new servers in advance, but even when allegedly thousands of dollars were spent it couldn't handle the accidental DDOS attack of Homestuck fans. People were up all night waiting for this upd8, the curiosity was killing me. I know at some point he was receiving at least 1 million unique visitors per day to his site [correction: according to Hussie’s tumblr, upwards of 2 million during this time], and even though Hussie had foreseen such traffic and thusly hosted [S] Cascade on Newgrounds, a dedicated video streaming site, Newgrounds was similarly unprepared for the sheer amount of people frantically mashing the play and refresh buttons, and also crashed. Immediately. MSPA and Newgrounds crashed definitively for at least two nights in a row” (…) “Andrew Hussie has gone on record to say this was one of the few times he thought Homestuck wasn’t worth it, because the sheer unbelievable cost (was it $10,000?) [correction: according to Hussie’s tumblr, it looked like it was going to cost $100,000 to keep [S] Cascade up for several days] of servers and the chaos of no one able to see the upd8 and crashing nearly every site after. He was tweeting during the whole debacle, stating he was reluctant to put it up on Youtube because of all the moving elements of the flash, and style, and how youtube degraded the quality of the file size, and how he tried to scratch out buffer time and pauses by putting periods of silence between each section of the 14 minute upd8, the longest upd8 yet” “So after Newgrounds patooted, he didn’t put it on youtube and instead put up the entire flash file on Megaupload, where it could be downloaded in it’s entirety to be watched. UNFORTUNATELY, Megaupload also crashed very quickly, which Hussie felt much headache over. But before that happened I managed to get the file, since I happened to be up very early that night! Next it was on dropbox, which didn’t crash but had “link unavailable” on and off. ”Spoilers were flying everywhere, people didn’t understand everything that had happened, and by the time the timeline of events in and out of [S] Cascade was all straightened out, people became even MORE hype. Like this whole thing lasted at least four days, and on top of that, the upd8 was good. Fandom exploded.” it is impossible to quantify the experience. The fact hussie was going to have to fork over A HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS to host it is crazy. I am never going to be over it.

Cascade's complete obliteration of the Flash-hosting internet says a lot about huge Homestuck truly was - but I think an even bigger indicator of the comic's success is the fact that Hussie dropped literally thousands of dollars on server upgrades to host the thing. That's not an investment you make unless you're expecting some serious returns.

[alphajocklover]

Hey man, thanks for the treats! So here’s the deal, I’m a 23-year-old med student, blonde, green eyes, skinnier than I’d like to be, but I’m literally too busy to do anything but study, let alone hit the gym like I really wanna. Even though "relaxing" ain’t in my vocab right now 'cause of the stress I’m livin' with, sometimes I treat myself to a Snickers bar. So yeah, that’d be my pick!

You had never wanted to be that kind of guy, the one whose life revolved around school and studying. You had always been a hard worker, you had to be to get into medical school in the first place, but you had always prided yourself on having a good work-life-studying balance. It had never been easy, but throughout both high school and college you had managed to keep up your grades, work part time to save up for medical school, and have a satisfying social life with a number of close friends. Hell, back in high school you were actually fairly popular. Now that you were in medical school though, it seemed like everything else in your life was falling to the wayside. You didn’t have time for hobbies, parties or friends, you didn’t even have time for your old part time job anymore, as the hours conflicted with your new schedule. The worst part was that even after giving up all that you were still struggling to keep up. You had always been a smart guy, one who thrived in school, but now it seemed that no matter what you did, no matter how much you sacrificed, it wasn’t enough. You couldn’t imagine how hard things would get in two years when you had to do clinicals and actually work at a hospital. You hated to admit it, but your dream of being a doctor had started to feel like a huge trap.

Today was your first night off in months. You had just finished a big exam, one you were certain you only barely passed, and were overjoyed to finally have a moment to relax, even if you were too exhausted to actually do anything fun. You were so tired from everything and so happy to have some time that wasn’t spent studying that you didn’t even question the snickers bar you found in your pantry, convincing yourself you had bought it at a vending machine or something and simply forgotten. You tore off the snickers wrapper carelessly, and took a big bite as you flopped down on a nearby couch, your mind racing as you did. As the chocolate and caramel danced on your tongue, you let your mind wander, imagining if things were different. If you had gone a different route in life, one that allowed you a little more time to just be yourself instead of constantly working. You imagined a life where you didn’t spend so much time worrying about your grades and where you didn’t need to work a part time job to save up for college. Instead of studying you could have thrown yourself into something else, something fun like a club or a sports team. A part of you had always been jealous of how carefree the guys on the football club seemed to be, the guys who worked out for fun or to challenge themselves, not because they were trying to be responsible. Maybe if you hadn’t been so obsessed with your future career, the one you were no longer sure you wanted, you could have been like them. You were fairly athletic in high school, but if you worked out seriously you could have gotten absolutely huge. You could imagine yourself with a body like one of those jocks, or even one better than one of those jocks. In your mind you could picture yourself with broad shoulders and beastly biceps. If you hadn’t spent all that time working at a shitty job to save up for med school you could have had that. You could have joined a sports team, probably football or wrestling. You could have made friends with your teammates. Instead of being fairly popular you could have been the big man on campus! You can almost picture yourself playing football, working out with the guys, making out with cheerleaders. You never thought you wanted a life like that, and had always thought of people who lived for pleasure and fun as being frivolous, dumb even, but… looking back, you can’t help but wonder what it would have been like, what you would have been like.

You relaxed into the couch and let your imagination start to run wild, your body tingling as you did. You imagined going from high school and into college, not having to scrimp and save like some loser, getting by on family money and your football skills. You imagined not worrying about grades, cause only nerds and losers did that, and instead just enjoying your life as an all around stud and football god. You imagined having a different major, probably something cool like business or kinesiology, something that would help you open your own gym one day so that party wouldn’t have to stop when college did. You imagined a life where instead of always working towards a future that disappointed you, you enjoyed the here and now. A life where you could just relax. 

You had gotten so lost in your thoughts that it took you a moment to realize you had finished the Snickers Bar. As you realized you had eaten the whole thing without even thinking about it, you felt a slight chuckle escape your lips, one that quickly grew into a manly guffaw. Did you really just eat the whole Snicker Bar without even thinking about it or enjoying the taste? That was the one cheat on your diet you allowed yourself a week! You could be such a dumbass sometimes. Not that it really mattered. Being smart was for fucking geeks.

You laughed a little as you tried to remember what you had been thinking about moments before. You could swear you were wondering about what your life would be like if you were different… but why would you ever want to be? You had a killer body, great bros to hang with, a sweet job as a personal trainer, and chicks and twinks throwing themselves at you almost every night. Why would you want your life to be any different? The idea of you wanting to be anyone besides the awesome, laidback stud you are… its fucking laughable!

[joeyspuckbunny]

୨୧ ‧₊˚ joseph's love languages ˚₊‧ ୨୧

pairing: j. woll x fem!reader summary: how does joe show his love ?? hmmmmm... i wonder.... word count: 620 warning(s): FLUFF, briefly hinting at 18+ content, not proof read notes: i'm a firm believer that some people have all the love languages and i think joe is one of those people !! i hope you enjoy baby !! xoxo

gift giving / acts of service (since they are very similar to me)

⟡ joe comes from a big family with many siblings and cousins

⟡ he is very used to everyone always giving everyone else something when they come for holidays, parties, and reunions

⟡ joe takes that into your relationship

⟡ less in a "here's a present" way and more in a "i'll take care of you way"

⟡ never lets you pay. for anything. ever.

⟡ kinda insulted when you suggest it early in the relationship

⟡ he plays pro sports. believe it or not, he can afford to pay for your taylor swift tickets and your vanilla cashmere lotion

⟡ he insists on it so much that you have his card in your phone

⟡ "joe, i really want this-" "put it on my card" "joe, can we get-" "on my card" "joe, i'm gonna ord-" "card, baby, just put it on my card"

⟡ he also buys you a personalized jersey from every new place he plays in

⟡ when he plays in NYC or LA and you are there, its shopping day for you

⟡ you buy absolutely anything you want and then. give him hauls

⟡ he calls them "shopping haul with joseph woll"

⟡ two dozen flowers every week and they are always your favorite while also matching the vibe of the season (red for christmas, pink for spring, yellow and blue for summer, etc.)

words of affirmation

⟡ believe it or not, joe is vocal as hell abt his love for you

⟡ talks about you non stop with the guys on his team

⟡ texts you as much as he can

⟡ "miss you like hell" "love you more than hockey" "gonna win for you, sweetheart"

⟡ he lovesssss pet names

⟡ his favs he calls you: baby, doll, sweetheart, princess, honey

⟡ might add babygirl into the mix when things get... heated

⟡ he likes to change it up and those are the most common ones

⟡ his favs you call him: joey, joe, babe

⟡ he loves how simple and personal they are

⟡ joe ends every phone call with an i love you because he wants it to be the thing you remember the most

⟡ loves the intimacy of whispers

physical touch

⟡ loves touching you but it's never pushy

⟡ hand holding is his favourite

⟡ have you seen this man's hands ?????? they are MASSIVE

⟡ he loves how delicate your hand feels in his

⟡ HUGS. FROM. BEHIND.

⟡ rests his chin on your head and watches what you are doing

⟡ forehead kisses and kisses on the cheek !!

⟡ thinks those are good for group settings

⟡ maybe a quick peck on the lips in public

⟡ has no problem with small amounts of PDA but he is a modest man

⟡ at home/in private, he loves long kisses and cuddling

quality time

⟡ toronto has lots to do. trust me.

⟡ joe is always planning fun little dates for you

⟡ often they include a sweet treat or a full meal and lots of walking

⟡ traffic in the city is bad and you both live downtown

⟡ walking anywhere takes max 20 minutes

⟡ even when you two stay at home, joe is doing what he can to make it feel special

⟡ loves slow dancing in the kitchen with you

⟡ one of his earliest memories is coming downstairs early one morning to jazz playing and his parents dancing in the kitchen

⟡ sits with you while you do work

⟡ enjoys watching you concentrate and the peace and quiet in the house

[dollzites]

⏦ﾟ♡︎ SKZ IN A LONG DISTANCE RELATIONSHIP

୨ৎ pairing: boyfriend!skz x fem reader

୨ৎ genre: fluff! slight angst & mild sex talk

୨ৎ from myeong: hello! so happy to get this request and was excited to do it for you. I hope you enjoy x

ʚɞ BANG CHAN

I don’t want to say “he would hate it!” because he wouldn’t at all but he would miss you and miss you and miss you and miss you even if you both haven’t met yet in person. he has found his home and that of course is you! isn’t that so sweet? cutie chan :(

texts you as soon as he wakes up in the morning to make sure you’ve slept well, are feeling okay, and will eat enough/stay hydrated and with that being said he continues to text you throughout the day to please take care of yourself for him because he’s not there to do it yet. he uses the word yet a lot.

“I miss you.” “I love you, did you know that?”

“have anything going on today?” “be safe baby.”

“call me when you arrive.” “did you eat lunch yet?”

he’ll make time for the both of you to facetime frequently and if not then you’ll both have time to call. he just wants to hear your voice because it’s his favorite sound in the world. if it’s not a good time to call then he’ll send you voice messages and he of course wants voice messages back but only when the time is right for you. he never pushes.

will send you some of his hoodies, tshirts, chains, bracelets, glasses, and sweatpants for you to wear. he’ll just buy new clothes and accessories it really doesn’t matter to him. you’re most important.

he’ll come up with fun games for the both of you to play even if they’re the most random ones ever. he just wants to have fun with you and be able to share memories together so with that being said he asks you to download certain apps that would be fun for you both, “this is going to be so fun!”

phone sex is frequent with him and it wasn’t until you both were comfortable in the relationship! he waited for and with you to be ready. it becomes quite intense if he’s had a really bad day and just needs you and to hear those sweet moans he adores. he won’t ever ask for pictures unless you want to take them yourself and send them to him.

ʚɞ LEE KNOW

when you both met he wasn’t planning on falling for you and getting into a relationship but it was far out of his control once he felt the need to have you in his life and form a relationship together. he knew that the love he had for you was real and important.

will literally buy you every plushie in the world and spray his cologne on it and send them to you. he won’t tell you that the package is coming either, he’ll just send it and tell you there is a surprise waiting for you at the door which always makes you think it’s him but sadly never is. one day it’ll be him!

“hi princess. wanted to call you because I miss the sound of your sweet voice. makes me feel better.”

“your voice is so pretty. I can listen to it all day.”

“can you spend me a picture of you? it can be a silly or cute one I don’t mind. just wanna see you.”

he’ll keep a book of everything that he’s written about you. everything you hate and love and want or need. he keeps it with him at all times so he never forgets anything when wanting to buy you things at stores he comes across. he’s very good at shopping for you even at times he feels he’s not.

when you both facetime he’ll take so many pictures of you and videos even if you say you’re not in the “prettiest” state without makeup or cute clothes on. he finds you to be the most beautiful when you’re your authentic self being lazy at home.

enjoys to tease you with pictures of him shirtless or wearing super tight white tees. he knows that gets you going and wants to see how you react. typically he enjoys it when you call him and whine about him teasing you which leads to you not having phone sex if the time is right of course.

ʚɞ CHANGBIN

he’ll try to find ways to see you one way or another. especially if you’ve already met once or twice he’ll do what he can to meet you another time and make it longer this time around but if not? if you haven’t met at all yet then he’ll take things slow and wait for you to be 100% comfortable with him as your boyfriend of course. that doesn’t stop him from missing you and wanting to see you though.

sometimes you both argue about very small things and it’s nothing serious! but he just gets upset if he plans to finally come see you and they don’t work out well. either he’s gotten way too busy or it’s just not a good time for you. he’ll constantly apologize to you and swear to make it up somehow and it always makes you feel much better. you hate arguing with the man you love the most.

sends you good morning voice messages that you love so much. it never fails! every single morning he sends them to you and he knows that it helps you have a much better day. also goodnight messages as well if you don’t call or have time to facetime.

“where’s my pretty baby?” “can we call tonight?”

“I might’ve sent you a little something, okay?”

“wanna see your pretty face..send me something.”

absolutely loves calling or facetiming you while he’s writing songs because it helps him focus better. if it’s a song about you he won’t say a word about it until he knows he’s completely finished.

will set his phone up so you can watch him move around his room, clean up, or even record music in the studio. he wants you to be there through all of that because he can bond with you even more.

ʚɞ HYUNJIN

the sweetest boy ): he’s the perfect boyfriend even if you two aren’t physically together. he does all that he possibly can to make things easy and sweet for the both of you while you’re long distance.

“hey baby! can we hang out today? I have nothing to do and I thought we could facetime and I could read to you! I found a book I’m really enjoying.”

enjoys sending you so many videos of him dancing, drawing, painting, and playing some random sport. absolutely loves being active and he knows you love seeing it so he makes sure to document everything he does to send to you.

will send you so many of the books he’s finished so you can read them too and he’ll want to talk about it when you’re finished so be prepared for long hours of on the phone talking about the books.

“I love you. I know we aren’t together right now but never doubt me. I’ll make sure it happens soon.”

he sometimes likes to invite the others to say hello to you but most of the time he likes to be alone with you. in his eyes it’s very intimate and it’s very important for the relationship to have those moments together. he doesn’t like when his time with you is interrupted by something. at all.

he’ll take you with when he showers. places his phone against the wall and will sing to you while you watch him or he’ll want you to take a shower at the same time so it seems you’re together.

“you’re so pretty wish I could kiss you right now.”

“can you just lean in? maybe kiss the camera?”

“I know it sounds weird but please? just wanna kiss so bad and you look so perfect right now.”

he’ll send you photos of him shirtless or showing his bulge just to tease you and see what your reaction might be. once he knows what your reaction is he’ll do it often especially when he gets super comfortable with you. he becomes bold.

paints the most beautiful pictures of you and sends that to you so you’re able to hang them up in your room. he thinks about you 24/7 and at random times gets the urge to draw you or for you.

ʚɞ HAN

cutie!! his smile brightens your entire day when you see him answer the facetime call. he normally just likes to facetime. sure he’ll call you but that’s not his most favorite. he wants to see your pretty face and watch your facial expressions while taking about your day or how your week is going so far.

movie dates!! he’ll set up his phone perfectly or laptop so you’re able to see the movie and him or you play the same movie on your tv and you both just lay next to each other the best you can.

very silly so he’ll make jokes a lot during the movie or make fun of the character if they’re doing something stupid. he loves hearing your laugh so he’ll do anything to hear it as much as he can.

of course he sends you plenty of gifts and a lot of them will be items from his room that he thinks you should have but deep down he also enjoys it when you send him things of yours. one night you were on facetime and seen he had been sleeping with one of your shirts that he said he loved so much.

“I’m so glad you sent it to me, I love it more than anything else in my room! want to see how much?”

he then proceeds to show you just how much he loves the shirt you sent him even if it was one of your favorite shirts to wear, seeing him so happy only made you feel the happiest in the world.

“can we have a date tonight? I can set up something for us! want to see what I can do?”

this man goes out of his way to make it look like a fancy date even though it’s nothing fancy at all and you two just stare at each other through the camera while smiling, and laughing at nothing.

will kiss the camera and make little “muah” sounds for you. he thinks it’s super cute to do that and knows that you find it cute as well so he does it often. sometimes the “muah” becomes much more on the naughty side and he’ll ask you questions about what you’d do with him if you were there.

ʚɞ FELIX

soft, sweet, clingy, and thoughtful boyfriend! that describes him perfectly and how he feels about the long distance isn’t negative at all. in his mind he’s not bothered by it because at least he has you in his life. he could be super unlucky and not have you at all. he’s just so thankful to be your boyfriend.

“want to come shopping with me? I’ll put my headphones in so I can hear you better and you can help me pick out a few new outfits for you, yeah?”

you get to watch him play soccer or swim which is your favorite! he’s got one of those phone cases that allow you to go underwater with and he takes you just so you two can have a underwater kiss.

you’re close with his sisters and always message them and in return? they send you so many cute photos of felix when he was a baby or toddler. you adore those photos and eventually get them printed out so you can have them safe and sound.

“should we bake together? cook together? we can make the same recipe and it’ll be fun, hm?”

he’ll sing to you. request any song you’d like to hear and he’ll sing it for you but you always end up falling asleep which he adores but takes so many screenshots of you because he thinks you’re cute.

texts you many times a day asking if everything is going okay and if you’re eating well for him. he knows you like it when he checks on you and of course he’s genuinely concerned about you at all times during the day especially if he can’t call you.

not so much into sending teasing photos since he’s not too confident with taking them but if you’re open to sending him pictures he’s never going to tell you no. he keeps them and looks at them when he’s alone and able to tell you how good you look in whatever it is you’re wearing.

“you’re my perfect girl and I adore you. I’m so glad you’re my girlfriend it just makes me much happier. we can see each other soon, okay? I promise.”

ʚɞ SEUNGMIN

shares absolutely everything with you and what I mean by that? he calls, texts, or sends voice messages rather quickly to tell you about what he’s doing or what he found out and that could mean his schedule, a show he watched, or on the news.

“can we wear our matching pjs while facetiming?”

if you don’t answer him the first time for whatever reason say you didn’t hear him correctly or you were doing something then he’ll ask you again but in a smaller voice because he’s become shy about it

“I..was wondering..if we can wear our matching pjs when we—um facetime? would that be okay?”

this man is so happy when you say yes to him and jumps up from his seat to hurry up and put his pjs on even if it’s a few more hours before you call.

with him he enjoys the long distance at first and of course he’s never going to complain about it but he’s always been a bit more shy and he opened up so much more the longer you two have spoken and gotten to know each other. he plans to make a trip out to see you and make it a huge surprise for you.

I know I just spoke about him being shy but when he gets a sudden boost of confidence that he can’t really explain.. that’s when it becomes dangerous and by that I mean he’s more dominant and willing to tell you things that he would be too hesitant about when he’s not feeling this weird confidence.

“I think about you so much during the day and just imagine what it would be like to have you here with me. was thinking about flying you out here because I just really want and need you. is that okay?”

will buy you expensive jewelry and send it to you because he wants you to feel and look pretty in them and of course you have to show him what it looks like in either pictures or a facetime call.

ʚɞ I.N

love this man he’s okay with the long distance because it’s you but if it was anyone else then no and I’m just being honest about it. he’s fallen deeply in love with you and will manage with the long distance until you can both be together.

when you both decide to call each other he’s a huge tease and doesn’t let you live but in a very playful way of course because that’s just how he is.

enjoys making you flustered and seeing how shy you get when you look away from the camera or cover your face with your hands and hide away from him, he loves that for some weird reason.

“you’re so cute! wish I could kiss you right now”

“I’ve had thoughts about us making out.. those are always so nice. what do you think about that, hm?”

he’s named his pillow after you and shows you in pictures how he cuddles with it and then proceeds to kiss it and act as if it’s you—you’ll call him weird and he begs to differ! he thinks it’s very cute and normal of him to act as if that’s you in his bed

he can get pretty sexual pretty easily and quickly but only if he thinks you’ll be okay with in or in the mood then he gets bold with asking for certain requests from you like.. for example, sitting on the bed a certain way or putting your pillow in between your legs and telling you to slowly grind on it.

he smiles the entire time and has the most cutest face possible but he really enjoys just being with you and teasing you or making fun of you in a good way it’s not annoying or rude in any shape or form.

he’ll ask you exactly what you want or need and buy it for you without hearing anything else. he’ll send you large boxes of snacks, clothes, accessories, some of his belongings, and random things he found that he knew you’d love.

this took way longer that it should have! so sorry but please enjoy it x

[vamptizm]

vi. MISSION JEALOUSY — p.bueckers

pairing: paige bueckers x clover amar (oc)

synopsis: in which paige bueckers and clover amar, two uconn wbb stars, have an ongoing mission of making each other jealous and outdoing the other.

warnings: angst. explicit language. that’s it i think.

word count: 3.6k

note: this took me soso long i apologize, i’m just not satisfied with this whatsoever. this series will not be revolving around just smut, so obv it’s not going to be in every or every other chapter. idk how long i’ll make it, but most of my chapters are rather short so probably double in the digit chapter count. yeah anyway thank u for being patient and reading this (i loveee comments of any kind so pls don’t hesitate to leave those)

series masterlist

Clover sat across from Vanessa in a quaint little sushi restaurant downtown, her fingers idly tracing the edge of her water glass as she tried—really tried—to focus on the conversation. The dim lighting cast a warm glow across the table, the soft murmur of voices and clinking plates filling the space between them. Vanessa was mid-sentence, her voice light and animated as she recounted a story from work, but Clover wasn't listening.

She couldn't.

Everything about the evening felt... off. The restaurant, the atmosphere, even the date itself.

Vanessa had been the one to suggest this place, raving about it for days until Clover finally agreed to go. It was supposed to be a fun night out, a break from the monotony of campus life and basketball practices. But instead, the girl found herself counting the minutes, waiting for the check to arrive so she could call it a night.

The truth was, she hadn't been feeling it from the start. Not the date. Not Vanessa. 

Vanessa was kind. Sweet. Energetic in a way that most people found contagious. Her laughter was bright, her gestures animated, and her eyes sparkled with sincerity whenever she looked at Clover. She was someone who wore her heart on her sleeve, someone who loved openly and fiercely, someone who deserved the same in return. 

But Clover wasn't that person. 

She wasn't someone who gave her heart away easily. Hell, she wasn't even sure if she had it in her to give it away at all. 

Relationships had never been her thing. The idea of commitment, of letting someone get close enough to see her cracks and flaws, felt like a weight she couldn't bear. Vulnerability wasn't something she handed out freely—it was something she locked away, hidden behind witty remarks and carefree smiles. And still, Vanessa wanted more. 

Something serious. Something Clover couldn't give. 

"...and maybe next weekend we could check out that new art exhibit?" Vanessa's voice pulled her back to the present. She was smiling, hopeful. Her hands rested on the table, fingers curled lightly around her glass. There was a certain softness to her expression, an eagerness that made Clover's chest tighten with dread. 

It was getting too much. 

"Hey, listen," Clover interrupted, her voice quieter than usual, the words slipping out before she could stop them. "We've already talked about this." 

Vanessa's smile faltered, just a little. Her brow furrowed as she tilted her head, confusion flickering across her face. 

"I told you," Clover continued gently, fingers fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, "I'm not ready for anything serious." 

For a moment, Vanessa froze. Her lips parted as if to say something, but the words didn't come. Instead, she sat back in her chair, shoulders stiffening slightly as she processed Clover's words. 

"I know," Vanessa finally said, her voice quieter now, too. "But... I thought maybe if we took it slow, you'd change your mind." 

Guilt twisted in Clover's stomach, sharp and unforgiving. She hated this part — the part where things inevitably fell apart, where someone always got hurt. 

"I don't think that's gonna happen," she said softly, regret lacing her words. "You're... you're too good for me, Vanessa. It's not fair to let you act like my girlfriend when we both know it's not gonna happen." 

The words hung heavy in the air. 

Vanessa's face hardened, a flicker of hurt crossing her features before she quickly masked it. But Clover saw it — she always did. And it only made the guilt worse. 

"You show up to my games with signs," Clover added, her voice quieter now, her gaze dropping to the table. "You wait for me after practice. You plan dates, and you're always so thoughtful... I don't deserve any of that. And you know it." 

"Why wouldn't you deserve it?" 

The question came quickly, sharper than Clover expected. It caught her off guard, and she stilled for a moment, her thoughts scattering. 

Why didn't she deserve it? 

It was a loaded question, one one required an even more loaded and heavier answer.

Because she didn't appreciate it the way she should. Because it never felt like enough to change how she was. Because the butterflies Vanessa so desperately tried to give her never came—not from sweet gestures, not from thoughtful words or sex, not from anything Vanessa did. 

"Because I don't appreciate it," Clover finally said, her voice low, barely audible above the hum of the restaurant. "The way you'd like me to." 

Vanessa blinked, confusion clouding her gaze. 

"It doesn't... it doesn't do anything for me," Clover admitted after taking a deep breath, the confession weighing heavily on her chest. "It's not wooing me. It's not making me feel any butterflies. None of it. And I don't want you to keep hurting yourself trying to make it happen." 

Silence settled over the table like a heavy blanket. 

Vanessa's gaze drifted to the window, her jaw tight, lips pressed into a thin line. Her hand curled around her napkin, knuckles white. Finally, she nodded—a small, stiff motion that spoke of resignation more than understanding. 

The guilt was unbearable. 

Clover signaled for the check, pulling out her card before Vanessa could argue. She paid quickly, avoiding the waitress's curious gaze, and stood without a word. 

The silence in the car pressed down on Clover like a weight. The rain tapping against the windshield filled the space where words should've been. Vanessa sat in the passenger seat, gazing out the window, her expression distant and unreadable. 

Clover clenched the steering wheel tighter, her knuckles white. The guilt gnawed at her, twisting in her chest, but not in the way most people would expect. She didn't owe Vanessa anything — not her loyalty, not her heart. She had made that clear from the start. 

Still, something about the way Vanessa sat quietly, radiating disappointment, made the brunette’s stomach churn. 

Vanessa finally broke the silence. Her voice was quiet, but steady. "You're not a bad person." 

Clover exhaled, the lump in her throat tightening. 

"You're kind," Vanessa continued, her gaze still focused on the rain-slicked streets outside. "You're thoughtful. You care more than you want people to think. And I don't know why you keep trying to convince yourself that you're incapable of something real." 

Clover's chest tightened. 

She hated this. Hated that Vanessa saw her as someone capable of giving more than she actually could. Hated that Vanessa saw something in her that wasn't there. Or maybe, she just hated that she couldn't see it too.

The memory of Paige lingered — the weight of her touch still fresh on Clover's skin, the way her hands trembled slightly when they pulled Clover closer, the way their eyes met in that charged, unspoken moment. 

And then the look on Paige's face when Clover left. 

It had mirrored the one Clover wore the first time they'd crossed that boundary. She had been the one left standing there, confused and craving more while Paige walked away without a word. 

Tonight, it had been her who walked out, and she hated that it still hurt. That it felt so wrong.

Vanessa sighed, her tone softer now, like she was trying to convince herself as much as she was trying to reassure Clover. "I just... I thought maybe you'd change your mind. That maybe I could be the one to—" 

Clover cut her off before she could finish. 

"You're not the one." 

The words came out harsh, sharper than Clover intended, but she couldn't take them back. The truth was too raw to sugarcoat. 

Vanessa flinched, her lips pressing into a tight line. She nodded slowly, as if piecing everything together, realizing how deeply she had misread the situation. 

"I see." 

Silence returned, heavier than before. 

Clover wanted to tell her that none of this was Vanessa's fault — that she hadn't led her on, that Vanessa deserved someone who wanted to give her what she was looking for. But it would've sounded hollow. Pointless. 

Instead, she tightened her grip on the steering wheel, her mind unwillingly drifting back to Paige. 

To the way Paige had looked at her, eyes burning with something Clover could never quite name. To the feeling of Paige's lips against hers, desperate and insistent. To the ache in her chest when she walked out of the room, the echo of her own footsteps on the hardwood floor sounding louder than they should've. 

And to the nagging thought in the back of her mind—almost like a whisper from the devil himself—that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't running away from love entirely. She was just running from the wrong person. 

"I had sex with someone else before this," Clover said suddenly, her voice steady but quiet, cutting through the silence like a blade. 

Vanessa blinked, startled by the blunt confession. 

"What?" 

"I had sex with someone else," Clover repeated, this time slower, more deliberate. "Right before this date." 

Vanessa's expression shifted — not to anger, not to betrayal, but to resignation. 

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised," Vanessa said after a long pause. There was no malice in her tone, just disappointment. "I thought I could be different. That I could make you want... more." 

Clover stared straight ahead, her chest hollow. 

"I told you from the start I wasn't ready for anything serious," she said, her voice steady but distant. "I wasn't lying." 

"I know." Vanessa's voice softened again. "But I hoped." 

And there it was — the difference between them. 

Vanessa was someone who hoped, who believed in love and connection. She thought that if she showed enough kindness, enough patience, she could win Clover over. That she could make her feel the way Vanessa felt about her. 

But Clover had stopped hoping a long time ago. The only person who ever made her feel anything real was Paige. 

And that terrified her more than it should.

Vanessa cleared her throat, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "Did it mean anything?" 

The question hung in the air, heavy and loaded. 

Did sleeping with Paige mean anything? 

Everything. 

"Not in the way you think," Clover lied, her voice barely above a whisper. 

Vanessa nodded again, her gaze dropping to her lap. "Right." 

The rest of the drive was silent, tension crackling between them like a live wire. 

When Clover finally pulled up in front of Vanessa's apartment, neither of them moved right away. Vanessa fiddled with the hem of her sleeve, and Clover kept her hands on the wheel, staring at the rain streaking the windshield. 

"I hope you find what you're looking for," Vanessa said softly, breaking the silence. 

Clover didn't answer. 

Vanessa gave her one last glance before stepping out of the car and disappearing into the building without looking back. 

As the door clicked shut, Clover let out a shaky breath. The weight of the evening bore down on her, but it wasn't Vanessa's disappointment that crushed her. 

It was the way Paige's name lingered on her mind like a brand, burning and inescapable. No matter how far she ran, no matter how many distractions she sought, Paige was always there. 

The way the blonde's gaze lingered a little too long during practice. The way her usually teasing and taunting voice softened when she checked in on Clover after a particularly rough game. The way her presence filled every empty corner of Clover's mind, no matter how hard she tried to push it away.

Because Paige had never just been a fleeting crush or a temporary obsession. 

It wasn't just admiration. It wasn't just complicated friendship. She had always been something more. 

It had been something more for a long time.

The apartment was quiet when Clover walked in, save for the soft clatter of a knife against what she assumed was a cutting board. She barely glanced at the kitchen, her mind clouded with exhaustion, her heart heavy with that same guilt. All she wanted was to crawl into bed and shut out the world.

But of course Paige was still up.

Clover cursed under her breath as she slipped off her shoes, hoping to make it to her room without incident. She knew how Paige operated. Knew the games she liked to play. And Clover wasn't in the mood for another round of it tonight.

"Late night?" Paige's voice cut through the silence, sharp and calculated.

Clover stopped in her tracks, her heart sinking. She set her bag down by the door, straightened, and took a slow breath before turning around. Paige was at the counter, slicing through an apple with a steady hand.

"Something like that," Clover said, keeping her tone flat.

Paige didn't look up. "Thought you'd be back later. Guess the date wasn't that great, huh?"

There it was. The edge in Paige's voice. That barely veiled disdain, like she was trying to poke holes into Clover's night without outright saying what she really felt.

Clover ran a hand through her straightened hair, none of her natural curls in sight. "It was fine."

"Fine." Paige repeated the word with a smirk, like it was a joke only she understood. She tossed a slice of apple into her mouth, chewed slowly. "Guess that's not exactly life-changing."

Clover's patience was already wearing thin. "Why do you care?"

Paige shrugged, finally meeting Clover's gaze. Her blue eyes were cool, assessing. "I don't."

The silence that followed was heavy, pressing down on Clover's chest. She could feel the unspoken tension between them, like a storm waiting to break. She shifted her weight, debating whether to walk away — but Paige wasn't done.

"You're wasting your time, you know," Paige said quietly, her voice softening. It wasn't a taunt this time. It sounded almost like a warning.

The brunette frowned. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Paige set the knife down, her hands resting on the counter. "These girls you fuck around with. They're not going to give you what you want."

Clover's chest tightened, brow raised in an almost challenging manner "And what exactly do you think I want?"

Paige tilted her head, her gaze never wavering. "Someone who makes you feel the way I do."

The air between them went still, heavy with meaning. Clover froze, her breath catching in her throat. Her pulse quickened, a mix of irritation and something else—something she didn't have the guts to name—coursing through her veins.

"That's overly cocky, even for you," She responded, her voice steady but strained.

Paige's lips curved into a smirk, but there was no humor in it. "Maybe. But I'm not wrong, am I?"

Clover's hands curled into fists at her sides. She hated how easily Paige got under her skin. How she always knew exactly what to say to make Clover doubt herself.

"God, you just say the dumbest shit sometimes." Clover muttered, turning toward her room.

"You're scared 'cause I'm right, Amar," Paige called after her.

Clover stopped dead in her tracks. Her heart pounded in her ears, a feeling of unexplainable dread and frustration clawing at her chest.

Paige's voice softened, almost teasing. "Went straight from my bed to her arms. You always like to rebound, don’t you?"

Clover spun around, her eyes flashing with irritation. "Don't do that."

"Do what?" the blonde questioned, feigning innocence.

"Make it sound like it meant something to you," Clover near to snapped. "Because it didn't. You made that clear the first time."

Paige's smirk faltered for the first time. Her gaze dropped for a moment before meeting Clover's again. "And yet, it keeps happening."

The words hung in the air, raw and vulnerable in a way Paige probably hadn't intended or planned.

Clover swallowed hard, the lump in her throat growing. "Yeah, 'cause we're both too fucked up to stop."

Paige's expression shifted—something between hurt and frustration flickering across her own face now. "Is that what you think?"

"What else is there to think?" Clover shrugged lazily. "We don’t do that healthy shit. That's how it's always been."

Paige pushed away from the counter, closing the distance between them with slow, deliberate steps. Her gaze never wavered, her expression unreadable.

"You keep saying that like it's a rule we mutually agreed on," Paige spoke quietly. "Like it's some fucked up contract we both signed."

Clover's back hit the wall. Paige was standing too close now, the scent of Clover's sweet vanilla perfume lingering in the air between them.

"Isn't it?" Clover whispered, her voice unsteady.

Paige's hand brushed a strand of hair away from the brunette’s face, a light, almost instinctive touch. But it sent a cold shiver down Clover's spine.

"Don't remember signing anything," Paige murmured.

Clover's heart was pounding, her mind racing. She hated this—hated how Paige made her feel out of control. Vulnerable. Exposed.

"You don't know what you want," Clover said, her voice deliberately bland and cold, despite the emotional chaos brewing inside of her.

Paige's hand lingered, her finger tucking the piece of hair behind Clover's ear. "Neither do you."

For a moment, Clover couldn't breathe. The tension between them was suffocating, the weight of everything unspoken pressing down on her.

"You think this is a game," Clover said, her voice barely audible now. "But it's not."

Paige's hand dropped away, and for a second, Clover saw something crack in her expression—a glimpse of vulnerability before the mask slipped back into place.

"It's not a game to me," Paige said softly.

Clover blinked, stunned into silence, though she didn't let it show.

But before she could say anything, Paige stepped back, the distance between them suddenly unbearable.

"Get some sleep," Paige said, her voice quieter now, almost gentle. "Gotta be up early for practice tomorrow."

Clover didn't respond. She watched as Paige turned away, heading back to the kitchen to finish her snack, leaving Clover standing there, harshly biting down on her tongue and heart aching with everything they couldn't say.

The sound of Clover's door closing echoed through the apartment, cutting through the thick silence like a blade. Paige stood frozen in the kitchen, staring blankly at the half-sliced apple on the cutting board. Her appetite was gone.

Her hands trembled slightly as she set the knife down, pressing her palms against the counter to steady herself.

'What the hell is wrong with me?'

Paige exhaled sharply, pushing herself upright. She rubbed the back of her neck, her fingers brushing over the faint mark Clover had left there earlier — a kiss, a bite, she wasn't sure which. It didn't matter. It wasn't supposed to matter.

This wasn't supposed to feel like this.

It was supposed to be easy. Fun. No strings, no feelings, no mess. That's how it worked. Clover hooked up with whoever caught her eye, Paige did the same. They'd judge each other, throw around meaningless jabs and at the end of the day they'd be fine. Back to being a team.

So why did it feel like her chest was caving in every time Clover walked away and into the arms of someone else?

Paige clenched her jaw, trying to swallow the frustration rising in her throat. She hated this. Hated feeling out of control. Hated how Clover had walked out on her earlier without a second glance — just like Paige had done with others so many times.

'Is this what it feels like?' she wondered bitterly. ‘To be the one left behind?’

She'd told herself it didn't matter. That Clover going on a date with someone else was none of her business. That it wasn't jealousy, just curiosity. But the sting in her chest said otherwise.

Because deep down, Paige knew the truth.

No one made her feel the way Clover did.

And that terrified her more than it should.

She grabbed the cutting board and shoved it into the sink with more force than necessary, the sound of it clattering against the metal louder than she intended. She winced, glancing toward Nika and Jana's rooms. No lights turned on. No doors opened.

The last thing she needed was a groggy Nika asking her why she was slamming things around at midnight.

Paige turned off the kitchen light and leaned against the counter in the dark, the faint glow from the streetlights outside casting shadows across the room. She could still hear Clover's words in her head, clear as day:

‘Because we're both too fucked up to stop.’

Paige ran a hand over her face, letting out a quiet, bitter laugh. "Yeah, no kidding."

She'd spent so long pretending she didn't care. Playing it cool, keeping her distance, convincing herself that what they had was just physical. But it wasn't. Not anymore.

And Paige wasn't ready to admit it.

She thought back to the way Clover had looked tonight — tired, defeated, like she was carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Paige had wanted to say something real, to cut through the bullshit and tell her whatever truth there was.

But that truth was messy. Vulnerable. And Paige wasn't good at that.

Instead, she'd resorted to what she knew best: cocky remarks and passive-aggressive digs. It was easier to act like none of it mattered. To pretend that Clover's wandering eyes and restless heart didn't bother her.

But as hypocritical as it was, it did.

And that scared her more than anything.

Paige glanced toward Clover's room, her heart aching in a way she didn't quite understand. She thought about knocking on her door, saying something — anything — to break the silence between them.

But what would she even say?

‘I care about you. More than I want to. More than I should. And it's killing me.’

No. That wasn't her.

Paige pushed off the counter and headed to her own room, her footsteps quiet against the hardwood floor. She paused outside Clover's door for a moment, her hand hovering in the air like she might knock after all.

But she didn't.

Instead, she whispered into the silence: "Good night, Clover."

And with that, she walked away, closing her own door behind her.

taglist (open) @brenwritesss @bueckersbitch @starlighttsv @ekisokay @st4rrzynight @ohmybueckers @pbbucks

[luv-beam]

IM BAAAACK!!! i was gonna save this as my bedtime story, but then i realized i can't stay up tonight 😭 but all the better for me bc i get to read this little masterpiece early 😌:

• when you don't just have a feeling that today isn't going to go well, but it's DESTINED not to go well... good lord time to panic! also the description of the dress is so pretty rah like the quiet dignity and refinement over opulence, rhe soft rustling of the skirts,, u can really feel the vibe of the family thru this and also the tension w the fact that yn feels everything BUT perfect

• WHISPERING THAT A LADY'S VIRTUE LIES IN RESTRAINT OHHHHHH U CANT DO THIS TO ME NOT WHEN YN LITERALLY IS LIKE RESTRAINING HERSELF FROM HER OWN DESIRES THIS WHOLE FIC U CANT

• fun fact but corsets were never meant to be suffocatingly tight; its kind of just a modern stereotype, but im not mentioning this to diss ur writing or anything !!! 😭😭 i think the tightness of the corset and yns lack of room to breathe is a really important symbol that lends to how she's really feeling. like the physical connecting to the emotional

• okay another comment abt ur imagery bc ur descriptions of the palace are utterly breathtaking 🤧 like White Room Syndrome is scared of u, tara

• i know whats gonna happen, but like the tension and suspense u create is enough to have anyone on the edge of their seats!! like u dont need future sight to be anxious abt what's gonna happen. like will yn get out of this scot-free or will something horrible happen?

• "you are a xu, do not falter" ugh all the pressure and expectations yn is burdening herself w just continue to distress and weigh her down further...

• GIVE THIS GIRL A HUG 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

• i hate that i like,,, get their mother's argument. like im on yn and hao's side fs but also... idk i think she just had sm going on and like mental struggles can be just as harmful as physical ones. im glad hao is so compassionate, and that her mother does have some sympathy for her daughter

• (but i know what comes next 😭😭😭😭😭)

• "a splendid display of athleticism" PLS IM GONNA SNORT SKFNDKFNFNF seokmin does have a knack for brightening the room :'))) even i was trying to mope w our mc, but then that line made me break lol

• HOPE CAN BE A SLIPPERY CREATURE YES WE KNOW .

• TARA U WANT ME TO CRY DONT U (´Д⊂ヽ NOT IN THE WAY U LONG FOR?? THE CHASM BTWN UR FEELINGS AND HIS INDIFFERENCE???? EEEUUUGHHHH!!!

• i hate how supportive seok is being, like hope truly is a slippery creature. i feel like me and the mc both r getting strung along goddamn......

• love the details of the lady's tea and the garden party — great worldbuilding details to get me even more immersed

• AWWWH THE NEW DRESS, HER MAMA'S ADORATION FOR HER UGH 😭😭😭 i hate knowing the future. besides that, love the imagery of the dress like i can piece it together in my mind as if im sketching it out!! its so pretty :')) def befitting of a princess

• such a "slipping thru my fingers" moment 🤧🤧 like it's so starkly different from the time yn was getting ready for the debut presentation where she was just worried and freaking out; now she and her mom are /laughing/ and tho there r expectations, this will undoubtedly ease a couple of those worries

• oh the the anticipation is killing me — and then the ball is positively dismal >~<

• I WAS WAITING FOR SEOK TO FINALLY COME BY AND OFFER A DANCE LIKE UR YNS BESTIE COME HERE AND GIVE HER A HAND BY ASKING FOR HER HAND WINK WINK

• the mamas leading an army line is so funny lol and who said women cant fight??

• BRUH i just speedran five different emotions like HOLY SHIT I LOVE SEOK > holy shit. does he love yn back? > holy shit this hurts > holy... shit... > oh fck. like the immediate realization that snaps into place when u out two and two together. i wanna say she's jumping to conclusions based on seok's initial surprise, but im also cynical like yn is being in this moment and yeah... idk

• OPEN HONEST DEVASTATING. TAKE A KNIFE THROUGH MY HEART ALREADY THE WAY THOSE THREE WORDS PUNCTURE MY CHEST

• the "how foolish of me" not only meant for the fact that she thought he'd gone into this w pure intentions, but also foolish of herself for believeing he actually wanted to dance w her, that she actually had a chance w him... oh i want to yeet myself off a cliff

• omg the argument btwn yn and hao... tensions were high, im afraid... like idk if chucking a shoe at his face was supposed to be funny but i feel yns fury and the angry tears like i know there were better ways to go abt this, but i am all for female rage!!!

• "the bitterness in ur chest is a wellspring of anguish" OHHHHHH 😭😭😭😭😭 oh 😭 like it's catching up to her now. also, just the fact that hope is so slippery and caused her to make her entire reputation crumble is just... someone give this girl a hug, she was not built for this

• YOU'VE TAKEN SOMETHING PRECIOUS FROM ME???? some might say its her dignity, her reputation, her agency,,,, but we all know what it really was... or who...... i love snarling female rage dialogue

• do u know the taylor swift "right where u left me"? yeah thats this whole next section 😭💔 baby just becomes a ghost who haunts the place she was abandoned and wronged

• THAT LAST LINE IS LIKE THE EXECUTIONER'S PULL ON THE PULLEY TO LET THE GUILLOTINE BLADE FLY. LIKE OH THE POWER OF A SINGLE LINE LIKE THAT

despite knowing what was gonna happen, it still hit so hard, or rather, EVEN HARDER this time 😭😭😭 like my mouth is pulled into a permanent frown skcnekfnjf IM SO SAD FOR HER LIKE I DONT MIND BEING A SPINSTER MYSELF, BUT THE EXPECTATIONS THAT COME W HER SOCIAL STATION WONT ALLOW HER TO BE 😭😭😭 she will forecer be haunted by her choises and foolishness and im so sad for her 😭😭😭 tara, u are a cruel (yet talented...) mistress 😭

i... will be back tmrw... 🥲👍

The Somerset Affair | Chapter 2: When the Music Stops

pairing: lsk x fem!reader genre: Bridgerton AU, friends to (?????) to eventual lovers, brother’s best friend, SLOWWWW BURNNN chapter wc: 8.8k warnings: alcohol consumption, societal expectations, crying, mentions of a panic attack (not being able to breathe), eventual smut, more to be added a/n: sorry sorry i know ch 2 took forever // as always, ENORMOUS thanks to indi @wongyuseokie for this GORGEOUSSSS banner // and to my lovely betas shu @welcometomyoasis lou @tusswrites haneul @chanranghaeys this could not have happened without you // 3rd chapter will be up faster than this one i swear!!!

summary: when the music stops and everything goes wrong, will seokmin always be there to defend you?

comment to be tagged when chapters are posted, or join the fic taglist here!

The morning of your debut should have been perfect. Every detail had been painstakingly planned over months, from the delicate lace of your gown to the pearls in your hair. But as you sit in front of your vanity, eyes bloodshot and heavy with fatigue, you know deep in your bones that this day is not destined to go smoothly.

You had stayed up the entire night, restless, thinking about Seokmin. Every word he had said, every smile, every fleeting touch that had seemed so innocent before now felt charged with meaning, occupying your thoughts and stealing away any hope of restful sleep. The result was staring back at you in the mirror: bloodshot eyes, dark circles beneath them, and lips that trembled as your maid worked tirelessly to dress you. It’s a pity – no amount of powders or rouge can hide the exhaustion and heartbreak written plainly across your face.

The soft rustling of your white debutante gown fills the room, each movement whispering of elegance and careful tradition. The gown is a masterful creation, carefully chosen by your mother months ago to reflect the quiet dignity of your family’s name. Its bodice is fitted, meticulously embroidered with the finest ivory threads that weave delicate patterns of lilies and vines across the fabric, adding dimension without overpowering.

Around the neckline, a border of tiny pearls catches the morning light, giving the gown a subtle shimmer that, like everything else about it, speaks of refinement over opulence. The gown’s sleeves, long and sheer, are trimmed in lace as fine as a spider’s web, designed to lay gently against your skin rather than cling, as if even the gown itself recognizes the demands of decorum.

The skirts cascade from the waist in a perfect fall of lace and satin, layers upon layers of gossamer fabric that float with your every step. Each layer, though fragile to the touch, is artfully arranged to maintain the gown’s perfect shape, a testament to the skill of its makers and the patience it took to assemble. At the hem, more intricate lacework peeks out, creating a subtle scalloped edge that brushes softly against the floor, finishing the gown with a grace that echoes the restraint of your mother’s discerning eye.

You cannot deny that the gown itself is a marvel, designed to highlight and enhance rather than dominate. It is beautiful, in the way a rose is beautiful—with an elegance that feels both timeless and delicate, whispering that a lady’s virtue lies in restraint, in never asking to be noticed and yet never failing to command attention.

But the corset. Oh, the corset. It felt as though it were designed to squeeze the very life from you.

“Breathe in, my lady,” your maid instructs, her voice strained from the effort of pulling at the stiff fabric. She pulls at the stays until your ribs protest in pain.

“I can’t breathe in anymore,” you bite out, trying and failing to draw in a proper breath. The corset feels like it’s made of iron, constricting your lungs until your vision begins to blur. “It’s too tight. I— I can’t—”

But your lady’s maid is relentless, ignoring your protests as she cinches you even tighter. She ties the final knot with a satisfied sigh. “There. That should hold.”

Hold? It felt more like it was keeping you prisoner, you think grimly, but before you can voice any more complaints, your mother sweeps into the room, her graceful presence filling the space with a quiet authority. Dressed in an elegant gown of soft gray silk, she pauses to take in your appearance, her sharp eyes noting every detail.

Your mother’s eyes scan your dress approvingly, but when her gaze lands on your face, her expression falters. “Dearest, you look... unwell.”

Your heart sinks. “I didn’t sleep much last night,” you confess, eyes cast downward, though you don’t dare mention why. The last thing you need is your mother knowing Seokmin has occupied your thoughts in such a way.

Your mother sighs softly and moves to stand beside you, placing a gentle hand on your shoulder. “This day is important, darling. I had hoped you would be well-rested, but...” She trails off, her tone not unkind, but laced with concern. “There is no time now to dwell on it. The Queen waits for no one.”

You nod, feeling a rush of guilt, knowing how much effort has gone into preparing you for this moment. But the weight of the corset and your sleepless night are conspiring to make you feel utterly overwhelmed. Your mother notices, of course. She always does.

“Try not to worry too much,” she says, her voice softening, though it still holds that undercurrent of expectation. “You must keep your chin high, shoulders back. No one need know what little sleep you had. You are beautiful, my dear, no matter the circumstances.”

Her words, though comforting, do little to ease the anxiety building in your chest. But there’s no time left. Your lady’s maid places the final pearl pins in your hair, and your mother gives you a reassuring squeeze before she gestures toward the door. “It’s time.”

Your nerves flutter violently as you’re escorted downstairs and into the awaiting carriage. The ride to the palace feels both endless and far too short. Every bump in the road jostles your already-tight corset, pressing against your ribs and leaving you breathless. The palace is as magnificent as you had heard—no, it’s more. The palace itself is a marvel of architecture, an opulent structure that seems more the work of fantasy than reality. Vaulted ceilings soar impossibly high, held aloft by marble columns adorned with delicate carvings of ivy and mythical creatures that seem to come to life in the flickering candlelight. Every archway is flanked by gilded moldings, winding and curling like golden vines, each detail rendered with the precision of a master sculptor.

Each corner, each angle of the palace seems to lead to something grander than the last, as if it were designed to swallow you whole in beauty. And perhaps it is, you think, as you press a hand over your fluttering heart. For despite the elegance, there is an undeniable sense of intimidation in the sheer scale of it all—a reminder of how small you are in the face of such a place, and of the scrutiny that awaits within these towering, timeworn walls.

You can feel the architecture itself imposing upon you, weighing down like the firm hand of tradition. For a fleeting moment, you imagine yourself wandering through the palace alone, exploring every column and arch, free of the hundreds of eyes upon you. But here, now, with the gaze of history and expectation pressing down, you straighten your shoulders, drawing in a steadying breath, and follow your Mama into the Great Hall. 

The hall is grander than anything you had even dared to imagine. The polished marble floors shine like glass, capturing reflections in delicate ripples that turn the passing gowns of debutantes into pools of lace and silk. Chandeliers hang from above, so immense and dazzling that they appear to drip crystal stars. They illuminate the room with a glow that is almost celestial, casting every inch of the hall in a warmth befitting the Queen herself.

To your right and left, mirrors taller than any man stretch to the ceiling, framed in gold leaf as intricate as lacework. The mirrors hold your gaze as you pass, capturing the girls beside you as they float forward with their mothers, each one a shimmering, blushing vision in white. You see yourself in these mirrors too, and although the gown fits you perfectly, somehow you feel like you’re wearing another’s skin. For a moment, you imagine your reflection whispering back, “Are you really here?”

The walls are covered in the richest velvet, deep greens and ruby reds that somehow make the hall feel even grander, as if you’ve stepped into the very heart of royalty itself. Enormous portraits of past queens and kings line the hall, each gaze strong and serene, as if they’re assessing every girl who dares to walk beneath their painted eyes. Somewhere in your chest, a knot forms and tightens. It’s strange, the feeling of being surrounded by so much opulence, as if the walls are watching, waiting for something that only they understand.

And perhaps that’s why your breath is so unsteady, why your heartbeat seems to echo through the hall in time with your footsteps. The palace, beautiful as it is, leaves you feeling like a creature of some lesser world, an intruder who has somehow wandered into a realm that does not belong to you. It’s not so much a place as a spectacle, a stunning, overbearing reminder of all that you must live up to, of all the scrutiny you’ll face from these grand walls, these glittering chandeliers, and yes, the very Queen herself. Every step feels like you are walking deeper into a lion’s den, where your every move will be scrutinized, your worth as a young lady judged by the sharpest eyes in the kingdom.

You move with the other debutantes, each girl dressed in white, adorned with jewels and delicate veils, the picture of youth and grace. The line seems to stretch forever as you wait your turn to be announced. The air is thick with anticipation, the rustle of satin and silk as the ladies murmur quietly to one another, some excited, others as nervous as you feel. Your own dress, despite its beauty, feels like a trap. The corset restricts your every breath, and the weight of expectation presses on your shoulders like a leaden cloak.

Your heart pounds in your chest as you scan the room, your nerves growing worse by the second. And then, in the far corner, you spot them. Minghao stands with an air of composure, his eyes quietly observing the room, his presence as regal as ever. Your brother watches the proceedings with a detached elegance, his eyes flickering over the debutantes without much interest. His gaze flicks to you, and for a moment, you feel a strange sense of calm knowing your brother is watching.

But next to him, is Seokmin.

He stands taller than most, his posture rigid but his face warm, though tinged with concern. While your brother is a portrait of his birthright and title, Seokmin is different. His gaze is sharper, more intent, and when his eyes find yours, the familiar comfort of his presence makes your heart stutter. You try to remind yourself to breathe, but the memory of his touch, his words, from the night prior clings to you like a shadow.

Seokmin’s expression softens when he sees you, and for a moment, the whole room seems to fall away. His lips quirk in a small, reassuring smile, and though you try to return it, your own face feels tight, your nerves too frayed to muster anything convincing.

As if sensing your unease, Seokmin’s eyes narrow with concern. Does he notice how your corset presses too tightly into your ribs? Or how your eyes are puffy from lack of sleep? The warmth in his gaze is mixed with a flicker of something unreadable, something almost protective. You are painfully aware of his gaze, and the thought of him watching you stumble through this day feels like too much to bear.

The line of debutantes inches forward, each young lady presented with grace and poise, or at least, the appearance of it. Your nerves churn violently in your stomach as your name is finally called. Your mother tightens her grip, ever so slightly, and it’s a silent reminder – You are a Xu. Do not falter. 

“Miss Y/N Xu, sister of the Duke of Somerset,” the herald crows, and every eye in the room fixes on you. “Presented by her mother, the Right Honorable Dowager Duchess of Somerset.”

Your legs feel like jelly as you take your first step forward, your skirts swishing around you. The weight of the gown, the tightness of your corset, and the heavy stares from all corners of the room press down on you. You try to steady your breathing, but the corset refuses to allow for even that small comfort.

Just as you take a step, disaster strikes.

Your heel catches on the hem of your gown.

You stumble forward, arms flailing slightly to catch yourself, but the weight of your skirts and the tightness of your corset make it impossible to recover gracefully. A collective gasp echoes through the room, and you feel your cheeks flush with mortification.

The whispers are instant, rippling through the crowd like wildfire. You can feel the stares—sharp, judgmental, unforgiving. Your mother’s grip tightens, and though she says nothing, you can feel her disapproval radiating through her hold. She doesn’t need to scold you—not in public. But the sting of her disappointment is enough to make you want to shrink into the floor.

Still, you manage to regain your footing, if only barely. You take a shaky breath and continue forward, your knees trembling with each step. But it gets worse. With every move, the corset seems to tighten further, squeezing the breath from your lungs until black spots dance in the corners of your vision.

Just as you’re about to curtsy before the Queen, your knees buckle.

A choking cough rips from your throat, loud and desperate, echoing through the grand hall. You’re bent over at the waist, gasping for breath, your corset pressing tighter with every moment. You cough again, and again, unable to stop, your eyes watering as you struggle to compose yourself.

The Queen, perched on her throne in all her regal glory, watches with a raised eyebrow, her disapproval palpable. Her expression is one of distaste, as if you are a spectacle—an amusing disaster.

Your mother murmurs beside you, “Steady yourself,” and her grip tightens with fury and disappointment in equal measure. It’s too late. Your corset has robbed you of the ability to breathe, and the weight of the entire room’s gaze crushes you. Your vision swims again, and for one horrifying moment, you think you might faint right there in front of the Queen.

Finally, you manage to straighten yourself, gasping for air, your face flushed and tear-streaked. You risk a glance toward the far side of the room, where Minghao and Seokmin still stand.

Minghao’s face is impassive, though his eyes are dark with what could only be disappointment. Seokmin, on the other hand, looks as though he might bolt across the room to help you. His hands clench at his sides, his jaw tight as his eyes flick between you and the Queen.

The Queen’s cold, cutting voice slices through the silence. “Miss Xu,” she says slowly, her tone dripping with disapproval. “It seems you are... unwell.”

Your heart sinks into your stomach. You manage a wobbly curtsy, your knees nearly giving out beneath you again as you lower yourself.

“Perhaps Miss Y/N should reconsider her readiness for society,” the Queen continues icily. “A young lady of such delicate constitution may not be suited for the rigors of court.”

Her words land like a blow. You rise slowly, trying to keep your chin held high, though your hands tremble and your vision remains blurry from the humiliation. All you want is for this moment to end. To disappear.

As you retreat, the whispers rise in volume, filling the grand hall with gossip and speculation. You can feel the weight of every gaze on you, every judgment passed in an instant. But it is Seokmin’s gaze that you search for in the crowd. His eyes meet yours, and though they are filled with concern, they are also gentle, understanding. A small comfort in the midst of your disaster.

Your mother, ever composed, whispers to you as she leads you from the room, her voice calm but firm. “We will speak of this later, darling. But for now, we must leave with grace.”

You nod weakly, still too breathless and embarrassed to respond. And as you step out of the grand hall, the day that was supposed to mark your entrance into society feels like anything but. All you can think about is how miserably everything went wrong—and how, even in the midst of it all, Seokmin’s gaze had found yours, steady and unwavering.

The silence presses on as the carriage trundles through the city streets, each wheel hitting the cobbles with a sound like a hammer to your heart. You’re trapped, here in this carriage, with no escape from your mother’s disappointment or the day’s memories—the whispered laughter, the blunder before the Queen, and the sheer, unbearable heat of your mortification.

Minghao’s hand rests over yours for only a heartbeat, but it’s enough to keep you from crumbling entirely. Though he releases your hand quickly to avoid Mama’s watchful eye, the gesture is enough to ground you, pulling you back to this place instead of letting you spiral into all the things you could have, should have done differently.

At last, your mother clears her throat, a carefully composed sound that cuts through the quiet like a knife.

“Well,” she says, her voice clipped and precise, “that was… quite the spectacle.” Her tone is a blend of disappointment and a tight, forced restraint. “I had hoped, naturally, for a… more dignified presentation.”

You swallow, feeling the flush of embarrassment burn anew. “I—” you start, but the words catch, failing under the weight of everything you wish to explain and the knowledge that no explanation will undo what’s done.

She adjusts her gloves with a sharp, precise tug, a calculated movement that somehow manages to convey her frustration without a single word. “I trust,” she begins slowly, every syllable measured, “that you understand the gravity of today’s events.”

You swallow, focusing on the intricate embroidery of your gown, tracing the delicate threads to distract yourself from the pressing sting of her words.

“Mother, I—” you stammer, but she holds up a gloved hand, silencing you before the words even form.

“We spent months preparing for this moment,” she continues, her voice tight with restrained emotion. “Months, to ensure you would have the debut any young lady of our family should. Your dress, your bearing, every detail was attended to so you would represent us with grace, with decorum. And yet, today…” She trails off, her eyes gliding over you with a look that could curdle milk.

“It wasn’t her fault,” Minghao interjects quietly, and though his tone is gentle, there’s a faint edge to his words, as though even he cannot quite hold back his defense. He shoots a quick, sidelong glance at you, a small, reluctant smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “The Queen’s hall was suffocating, and the entire affair was clearly designed to unnerve anyone in attendance.”

Your mother’s expression softens just a fraction as she regards her son, but she’s hardly swayed. “The Queen’s hall has been the site of countless debuts. If anything, the occasion called for composure, not… fainting spells.”

You clench your fists, the fabric of your dress twisting between your fingers, and look resolutely at the floor. As painful as it is to hear, you know your mother is not entirely wrong. Today was supposed to be your moment of triumph, the day you stepped forward as a young woman ready for society, carrying your family’s reputation with poise and dignity.

But instead, you remember the heat that had pressed in from all sides, the feeling of your corset cutting into your ribs, how your hands had trembled with each step. It was supposed to have been an easy task, to walk forward, cursty, and meet the Queen’s gaze with calm respect. And yet, you had felt every gaze upon you like a burn, each stumble echoing through the endless hall. And then, Seokmin’s eyes finding yours, calm and steady…

The memory stirs something warm within you, a faint flicker of relief that somehow dampens the embarrassment. The Queen’s gaze may have been unyielding, your mother’s disappointment all-consuming, but for that one moment, you had felt tethered, no longer alone.

Outside, the sun dips lower, casting long shadows across the city as the carriage continues its steady roll homeward. The silence stretches again, and the weight of it settles around you like an invisible veil. Minghao catches your eye, and though he says nothing, the look he gives you speaks volumes—a quiet reassurance, a reminder that this one day does not define you, that he still believes in you despite every misstep.

Your mother finally sighs, a faint softening in her shoulders. “We’ll regroup,” she murmurs, almost to herself. “There will be more opportunities, of course, but we’ll need to be mindful, thoughtful. A second chance may not be as kind.” She glances at you, and though her expression remains stern, there’s a glimmer of something almost like understanding.

The carriage ride stretches on in silence once more, each of you lost in thoughts. You glance out the window, watching the city roll by, lanterns casting fleeting golden glows against the carriage walls. It feels surreal, how a day so longed for turned into a series of mishaps, one after another. But as the carriage rounds a corner, you catch a memory from earlier: Seokmin’s eyes, grounding you, unwavering, somehow knowing how terrifying each step felt, how every misstep seemed amplified beneath the weight of so many watching.

As the carriage wheels finally begin to slow, approaching the gates of your family estate, you feel a shift within yourself. Today may have been a disaster, and yet, Seokmin’s gaze and Minghao’s quiet support linger, like small anchors in the storm of the day.

The drawing room is a sanctuary of elegance, its ornate moldings and rich fabrics designed to impress. Tall windows frame the view of the manicured gardens outside, sunlight pouring through in golden streams that dance across the polished wooden floor. Yet, despite the beauty surrounding you, it feels more like a gilded cage today. The delicate scent of lavender from the nearby vase does little to soothe the turmoil within.

You sit hunched over a needlepoint project, your fingers fumbling with the bright threads that feel foreign against your skin. The canvas before you, a swirl of colors and patterns, seems to mock your inability to focus. Your mind wanders far beyond the needlework, replaying the events of your disastrous debut like a never-ending nightmare. Each time you think of it, a fresh wave of humiliation washes over you, sharp and unyielding, like a thorn that refuses to dislodge itself from your heart.

“Goodness, how is one expected to focus with this nonsense?” you mutter under your breath, the needle slipping from your fingers yet again and leaving a careless knot in the thread. You curse softly, frustration bubbling to the surface.

Your mother sits comfortably in her armchair, her brow slightly furrowed as she loses herself in the pages of a novel, the rustle of paper punctuating the silence. Minghao lounges on the settee across from you, flipping through a collection of sketches, the corner of his mouth twitching in amusement at his artistic efforts. Every so often, his gaze flickers towards you, a mixture of concern and curiosity etched into his features, but he respects your silence, understanding that you are still recovering from the scarring events of your debut into polite society.

Just then, the door swings open, and Seokmin steps into the room, his presence a burst of light that seems to chase away the shadows clinging to your thoughts. It has been years since the butler last announced his arrival—his visits are far too frequent now, and you can’t help but feel a mix of warmth and apprehension at his entrance. His usually buoyant demeanor is tempered by a trace of concern as he takes in the scene before him, the way your shoulders droop as if weighed down by invisible chains.

“Good morning!” he declares, his voice bright yet careful, testing the waters of your melancholy. “I do hope I’m not intruding.”

“Not at all,” your mother replies, glancing up from her book, her eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief. “In fact, you may be just what our dear girl needs.”

You offer a small, half-hearted smile, the corners of your lips barely lifting. “And what would that be? A distraction or a dose of reality?”

Seokmin approaches, his smile as warm as the sunlight flooding the room. “A bit of both, if you’ll allow me.” He perches himself on the arm of your chair, leaning in just enough to draw your focus from the needlepoint chaos. “That was quite the debut you had, dear friend. How are you holding up?”

“Barely,” you sigh, tossing the errant needlepoint aside as if it were the source of all your woes. “I feel as if I’ve stumbled through a door marked ‘exit’ into an abyss of mortification.”

His eyes widen with sympathy, and in that moment, your heart flutters, torn between admiration and the painful reality that he may never feel the same. Seokmin has a way of making the world feel lighter, yet your feelings for him are a weight that often threatens to pull you under.

“Ah, yes,” he nods sagely, as if you have just shared the most profound wisdom. “The abyss of polite society can be quite unforgiving. I believe it’s marked with ‘no entrance’ signs, but alas, they are easily overlooked.”

Minghao chuckles softly, his attention now fully diverted from his sketches. “You do have a gift for exaggeration, Seokmin.”

“It’s a talent,” Seokmin replies, feigning an air of grandeur, his hand pressing dramatically to his heart. “But truly, do not let the Queen’s judgment define you. You are far too radiant for that.”

You snort, the sound escaping before you can suppress it. “Radiant? Is that what you call it when one trips over their own gown and nearly faints in front of our sovereign?”

“Why, yes! A splendid display of athleticism!” he shoots back, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “You’ve inadvertently entertained a room full of people—something they are certain to remember for ages.”

“But not in the way I had hoped,” you reply, frustration seeping into your voice as the memory of the evening flashes before your eyes, a storm of embarrassment churning within you.

“Ah, but hope can be a slippery creature,” he counters, tilting his head to meet your gaze. “What matters is how you choose to move forward. I have heard of many a lady whose debut was marred by similar accidents—yet they rise from the ashes like phoenixes, dazzling everyone with their resilience.”

“Is that your way of saying I should make a grand return to society?” You raise an eyebrow, your heart flickering with the suggestion. “Perhaps adorned in feathers and sequins to distract from my previous mistake?”

“I’d be the first to support such a feat,” he replies earnestly, the sincerity in his voice a soothing balm for your frayed nerves. But beneath your amusement lies an aching truth: his encouragement only highlights the chasm between your feelings and his indifference. He will never look at you the way you long for.

“Yes, Lord Lee, what a wonderful idea!” your mother exclaims, her book long forgotten. “The Fitzwilliam Ball is to be held in the coming weeks—what a splendid way for our darling girl to re-enter society!”

Your face falls. A ball? So soon? The very thought sends a tremor of panic racing through you. “Mama, I—”

“Yes, Mother, a splendid idea indeed,” Minghao muses, a teasing glint in his eye. When you turn your glare to him, he sticks his tongue out meanly, and Seokmin suppresses a chuckle.

You take a deep breath, fighting against the swell of anxiety rising in your chest. “I’m not certain I’m ready for another ball, not after—” you start, but the words die on your lips as Seokmin’s gaze locks onto yours. His expression is gentle yet determined, a silent encouragement that stirs something deep within you.

“Ready or not, life moves on,” he says softly, leaning closer as if sharing a secret. “You have to take the reins, even if the prospect is daunting.”

You want to believe him, to embrace his unwavering optimism, but doubt gnaws at you. Can you truly face another crowd, the whispers, the judgment? Your heart flutters erratically, caught in a tempest of affection and despair. Seokmin’s eyes shine with an earnestness that quickens your pulse, yet it only reminds you of the gulf that lies between your feelings and his casual indifference.

“Life indeed moves on,” you echo, your voice barely above a whisper, more to yourself than to anyone else. “But what if I stumble again? What if I make an even greater fool of myself?”

Seokmin’s smile falters for just a moment, replaced by a flicker of understanding that cuts through the air like a knife. “We all stumble, but that’s how we learn to rise,” he replies, his tone steady yet soft. “And besides, I’ll be there. I promise I’ll help you navigate any disaster.”

His words wrap around you like a lifeline, a flicker of hope igniting your heart. But as the warmth of his promise settles in, a cold weight begins to press upon you. You look into his eyes, searching for something more, but find only the steadfast gaze of a friend—someone who would catch you if you fell, but only as a friend.

“Right,” you murmur, the pain of acceptance settling in your chest like a stone, heavy and unyielding, a reminder of the distance between you.

The late evening light filters softly through the sheer curtains of your room, casting a warm glow that barely reaches the pile of books haphazardly stacked beside your bed. These books, filled with tales of love and adventure, have provided a much-needed refuge from the reality of your recent debut. For days now, you’ve chosen to cocoon yourself in their comforting embrace, avoiding the whispers and curious glances of society that followed you after your disastrous introduction.

You had resolutely refused to attend any of the society events your mother deemed essential—the lady’s tea, with its orchestrated conversations and veiled judgments, or the garden party, where laughter seemed to echo around you while you felt only isolation. The thought of facing the same debutantes, the same mamas, their glances lingering a moment too long on you, made your stomach churn. Instead, you preferred the solace of your room, the pages of your books offering both distraction and comfort as you lost yourself in worlds far removed from the judgmental eyes of the ton.

But tonight, your mother is insistent. At last, the Fitzwilliam Ball is upon you, and you have no escape from your mother’s gentle chiding. “Darling,” she calls gently, her voice a melody that pulls you from the pages of your latest escape. The delicate scent of lavender wafts through the air as she steps into the room, her presence commanding yet warm. It is an unusual moment—your lady’s maid typically oversees your dressing, managing the layers of fabric and the intricate details of your ensemble. But today, it is your mother who steps into that role, a significant act that carries with it the weight of her affection and a chance to bridge the gap that your previous missteps had created.

“It’s time to get ready, my dear,” she says, her tone gentle but firm, as she approaches your wardrobe. As she opens the doors, the sight of your gown hanging inside takes your breath away.

The dress, an ethereal creation of lavender silk, shimmers like moonlight trapped in fabric. The bodice is adorned with intricate embroidery that depicts delicate vines and blossoms, each stitch telling a story of artistry and care. The sleeves are fitted, with lace cascading down to create a soft ruffle at the wrist, and the skirt flows in layers, each tier of lace and silk billowing like clouds as it moves. It is a gown befitting a princess, meticulously designed to showcase your family’s esteemed standing while allowing a hint of youthful exuberance to shine through.

“This gown is truly magnificent,” you murmur, your fingers tracing the embroidered flowers as your mother gently lifts it from the wardrobe. “I can’t believe you chose it yourself.”

“Of course, I did. It’s time for your grand re-entrance to society, after all,” she replies, a smile dancing on her lips as she helps you into the gown. The fabric wraps around you like a dream, soft and luxurious, but as your mother laces the bodice, the realization of how tightly it pulls leaves you breathless. Each tug of the laces feels like a reminder of the expectations that have come to define you, but your mother’s presence softens the edges of that pressure.

Yet, it is not discomfort that fills the room. Instead, the sounds of your mother’s laughter and intelligence wrap themselves around you. Your mother’s hands are gentle as she fastens each lace, her fingers brushing against your skin in a manner that reassures you. The stern disappointment of your debut, where you felt like a shadow beneath the weight of expectations, seems to dissipate, replaced by her usual grace and kindness. As she works, her voice drifts like a melody, recounting stories from her own youth, her laughter echoing softly against the mirror as if the memories bring light to the room.

With every loop of ribbon and every gentle tug, she weaves a tapestry of love and support, a tangible reminder that tonight is not merely a duty but a celebration of who you are. As she arranges your hair into an elegant updo, delicately weaving in pearl pins that glimmer like stars, you catch a glimpse of the woman she has always been beneath the layers of propriety. The warmth of her presence washes over you, igniting a flicker of hope that perhaps tonight will mark a new beginning.

“Are you ready?” she asks, stepping back to admire her handiwork, a satisfied gleam in her eyes.

“I suppose as ready as I’ll ever be,” you reply, taking a moment to admire your reflection. The gown transforms you into a vision of beauty, yet beneath the surface, you feel a tempest of uncertainty swirling within you.

“Now, let’s see what your brother thinks.” Your mother gestures toward the door, and as you descend the staircase, your heart quickens with every step.

At the foot of the stairs, Minghao waits patiently, the embodiment of duty and familial pride. His presence, regal and calm, adds to the moment’s gravity. Dressed in a tailored coat that accentuates his stature, he stands as the dutiful son and duke, ready to escort both you and your mother to the ball. The contrast between his composed demeanor and your own fluttering heart is stark, yet comforting. As you make your way down the stairs, your mother’s gentle squeeze of your hand gives you a modicum of strength, each step drawing you closer to the world outside that awaits your return.

“Sister,” Mighao greets, mirth dancing in his eyes. “I suppose if tonight is your big night, this gown does not offend the eyes.”

“Minghao!” Your mother’s rebuke is instant, a gentle reprimand that lightens the atmosphere with her authority.

“For goodness’ sake, brother,” you admonish, donning a façade of false bravado to hide the anxiety swirling within. “It seems as if you would simply keel over before you ever paid me a proper compliment!” You attempt to feign indignation, but the corners of your mouth betray you with the hint of a smile.

As you reach the bottom step, he extends his arm, a silent invitation to escort both you and your mother to the ball. It’s a gesture of duty, but there’s an undertone of affection that brings warmth to your heart. He may be the dutiful son and duke, poised and impeccably dressed in his tailored attire, but in this moment, he is simply your brother—standing beside you as a steadfast protector against the uncertainties of the evening ahead.

Your mother glances at both of you, her eyes sparkling with pride and a hint of nostalgia. “Shall we?” she prompts, her voice carrying a note of excitement that sends a flutter through your stomach.

With a deep breath, you take Minghao’s arm, feeling the reassuring strength of his presence as he leads you both toward the waiting carriage. The air outside is brisk, filled with the scent of blooming jasmine and the distant hum of music preparing to fill the grand halls. Each step you take resonates with the rhythm of your heartbeat, a mix of trepidation and hope.

As you settle into the plush interior of the carriage, the door closes with a soft click, sealing you away from the familiar confines of home and ushering you into a world of possibility. The grandeur of the evening awaits, and as the carriage rolls forward, the cobblestones beneath you echo with the anticipation of what’s to come.

You can’t shake the feeling that this night holds the promise of something new—perhaps redemption, or at the very least, the opportunity to reclaim your place among the society that had once felt so cruel. As the carriage sways gently with each turn, you steal a glance at your mother and brother, their expressions a blend of excitement and encouragement. In this moment, surrounded by their unwavering support, you begin to believe that maybe, just maybe, tonight could be different.

Fate is certainly a cruel mistress—despite your greatest hopes, the ball is positively dismal.

The ballroom is every bit as grand as you’d imagined—no, grander. Chandeliers dripping with golden light cascade overhead, casting a warm, ethereal glow over the polished marble floor. The air is thick with the intoxicating scent of roses and jasmine, mingling with the lively music of the orchestra, where violins soar and the occasional trill of laughter punctuates the harmony. Silks and satins swirl in every direction as the season’s debutantes twirl with their suitors, their gowns a riot of color that makes you feel like a ghost in comparison.

But none of it feels as magical as you once thought it would. Instead, you stand to the side, clutching the silk of your gown, its intricate lace and delicate pearls feeling like a weight rather than a luxury. Your mother had ensured that every stitch was perfect, every detail immaculate, to help erase the memory of your disastrous debut. Yet, it hasn’t worked. The whispers haven’t stopped. Even here, amidst the splendor, you can feel the gazes sliding over you, only to dart away, as if your very presence is a reminder of your failure.

The other debutantes are radiant, their smiles bright as they are swept onto the dance floor by handsome, eligible gentlemen. But you... you might as well be invisible.

Your heart sinks as you watch them, a heavy weight settling in your chest. This is meant to be a night of joy and celebration, yet you feel like a fragile glass ornament left behind, forgotten in the bustle of a festive occasion. The laughter and music create a vibrant tapestry of life around you, but inside, you’re drowning in a sea of insecurity and self-doubt.

Just when despair threatens to envelop you entirely, a presence beside you breaks through the haze. Seokmin, as effortlessly charming as ever, sidles up, his dark eyes twinkling with mischief. “Quite the spectacle, isn’t it?” he remarks, his voice low so only you can hear. “I’m certain some of these mamas could lead an army with the way they maneuver their daughters.”

You blink at him, surprised by his lightheartedness. Despite the heat of embarrassment burning your cheeks, a smile pulls at your lips, momentarily pushing aside the shadows clouding your heart.

Before you can respond, he holds his hand out to you, a silent invitation, and for a moment, you hesitate. Seokmin, who could have any lady in the room, is asking you to dance? Your heart stutters, a wild flutter of hope mingling with anxiety, and you glance around, acutely aware of the whispers beginning to stir again. People are noticing the exchange, their eyes narrowing in speculation. But Seokmin stands before you, his hand outstretched, waiting with an easy confidence that momentarily disarms you.

With a deep breath, you place your gloved hand in his, and he leads you to the center of the ballroom as if it were the most natural thing in the world. The moment your feet hit the floor, however, the murmurs begin in earnest, slicing through the enchantment that had briefly settled around you.

“Isn’t that the girl?” someone whispers, just loud enough for you to hear. “The one who fainted?”

“I’d heard,” another voice chimes in, “that no one would ask her to dance. Poor dear, but what did she expect after such a performance?”

You keep your eyes firmly fixed on Seokmin, but each word is like a needle, sharp and painful, pricking at your composure. The worst of it comes when you catch sight of one of the mamas, her face set in a smirk as she whispers to her daughter—the same daughter you had once taken pianoforte lessons with. The girl lets out a small, mean-spirited laugh, and your stomach twists, the laughter echoing like a death toll.

The memory of your debut hangs over you like a dark cloud, heavy and suffocating. Your embarrassment simmers, threatening to boil over. The murmurs become unbearable, and instinctively, you move to pull away from Seokmin, ready to flee. But before you can, his grip tightens, firm but gentle.

“Leaving so soon?” he teases, his voice low and playful, a lifeline in the midst of the storm. “Didn’t your mama teach you it’s bad manners to leave in the middle of a dance?”

You try to focus on his words, on the feel of his hand in yours, but it’s no use. You feel like every eye is on you, dissecting your every movement, judging, whispering, laughing. Seokmin is a shield, but he can’t block all the venom aimed at you.

“I can’t—” you begin, your voice thick with emotion, but Seokmin cuts you off.

He reaches up, loosening a perfectly pinned curl from your hair, letting it fall gently by your cheek. His eyes are soft, almost tender, and in that moment, you feel something flutter to life in your chest. “Eyes on me, Tulip,” he murmurs, and the way he says it—so calm, so sure—makes your heart skip a beat.

For the briefest moment, you think he might love you. That despite the gossip, despite the humiliation, Seokmin sees you—the girl beneath the debutante, the one who has admired him from afar for so long. But then, out of the corner of your eye, you see Minghao. He stands by the edge of the ballroom, watching. And then—he nods. It’s subtle, almost imperceptible, but Seokmin notices, and he nods back.

Your blood runs cold.

You blink up at Seokmin, the warmth in your chest turning to ice. “Did you do this because Minghao asked you to?” The words slip out before you can stop them, low and desperate, laced with betrayal.

Seokmin’s brow furrows. “Do what?”

“This. The dance.” You glance around at the swirling crowd, the eyes that have never left you. “The attention. Did you ask me because he wanted you to? To salvage my prospects?”

His confusion is genuine, but the truth is written in his face—open, honest, and devastating. He hesitates, and it’s all you need to know.

“Damn you,” you whisper, voice shaking with fury and hurt. His eyes widen, shocked by the venom in your voice, the curse slipping from your lips like something foreign. “Damn you, Lee Seokmin.”

“Y/N—” he starts, his voice softening, trying to explain, to defend himself. But you don’t give him the chance.

“I thought,” you continue, the words tumbling out in a rush, “I thought you asked me because you wanted to, not because you were told to. I thought you held me in higher regard than this.” You laugh bitterly, a sound that catches in your throat. “How foolish of me.”

The onlookers are whispering more now, their curiosity piqued by the tension in the air, the way your voice trembles with barely contained emotion. But you don’t care. You’re done caring.

With a mocking curtsy, you drop your hands from his and step back. “My lord,” you say, dripping with sarcasm, “I do apologize for any inconvenience to your social standing.”

Seokmin’s eyes widen, panic flashing in them as he realizes the gravity of your words, the weight of what you’re about to do. “Y/N, wait—”

But you don’t wait. You turn on your heel and stalk toward the ballroom’s exit, your skirts swirling around you in a flurry of lilac silk and lace, your heart pounding painfully in your chest. The gasps and murmurs of the guests fade into the background as you flee, your vision blurred with unshed tears.

Behind you, Seokmin’s voice calls out, desperate, pleading. “Y/N, please—stay—”

But you don’t look back. You run.

The chill of the night air bites at your skin as you emerge from the grand ballroom, the sounds of the festivities quickly swallowed by the night. Minghao is hot on your heels, and you hear the familiar click of his shoes echoing against the cobblestone streets. As you enter the carriage, your fury erupts like a dam breaking.

“How dare you meddle in my life?” you exclaim, the words bursting forth with a fervor that sends a shiver down your spine. The tears spill over, mingling with the delicate fabric, each droplet a testament to your exasperation. “I wish to be left alone!”

Minghao, ever the picture of serene composure, raises an eyebrow, though his calm demeanor only serves to ignite your temper further. “I’m only trying to help you, dear sister,” he replies, his voice as soothing as a summer breeze.

“Help? Is that what you call this? You think I’m some delicate flower that requires your constant tending?” Your heart beats faster, each pulse an echo of your indignation. “You are not my keeper, Minghao!”

He opens his mouth, surely to deliver some well-meaning retort, but you are not in the mood for restraint. “You think I can’t manage my own affairs? That I need you to dictate who I should associate with? Let me remind you, I am not a child!”

In a fit of fury, you throw one of your shoes toward him, the delicate slipper soaring through the air; Minghao ducks just in time, the shoe landing with a soft thud against the carriage wall.

“Is this truly your idea of a civilized discussion?” he remarks, feigning offense. “Throwing footwear instead of engaging in rational discourse? My, how you’ve mastered the art of temper tantrums!”

“Better to throw a shoe than to be lectured like a schoolgirl!” you counter, your voice rising to match his. “You presume to know what is best for me, but you are merely reflecting your own apprehensions! You have no concept of my struggles!”

Minghao’s brow furrows, and for a fleeting moment, his expression softens, as if he might relent. But then he leans forward, his voice low and fervent. “And you believe that sulking in the corner will resolve anything? You are only isolating yourself further!”

“Perhaps I wish to be alone!” you declare, your voice ringing with defiance, the words spilling out like water from a broken dam. “Perhaps I grow weary of this charade, that everything is perfect when it is most decidedly not!”

A tense silence envelops the carriage, the air thick with unspoken words. You both breathe heavily, the conflict hanging between you like a fine silk thread ready to snap. The rest of the ride is steeped in a heavy silence, each passing moment thickening the air with unspoken words and unresolved feelings. You lean against the plush seat of the carriage, your gaze fixed on the world outside. The blurred lights of the city flicker past, dimming into the encroaching darkness, and with each glimmer that fades from view, a piece of your heart seems to shatter.

Inside, your thoughts spiral. Betrayal gnaws at you like a ravenous beast, devouring any remnants of confidence you had managed to muster before the ball. Seokmin was supposed to be your ally in this fight, your so-called “loyal servant”; a beacon of warmth amidst hushed whispers. Yet now, as the reality settles in, you realize he is merely Minghao's friend, not yours. 

How could you have been so naïve? Your mind races back to moments you once cherished: the laughter shared over private nicknames, the comfort of his presence when you felt small and insignificant. He had danced with you, yes, but it had been an act of duty, an obligation to your brother, not a genuine desire to hold you close. You had hoped, foolishly, that he might look beyond your failed debut, that he might understand the person beneath the gown and lace. Yet here you are, reduced to a mere pawn in a game you didn’t even want to play.

A sob catches in your throat, but you swallow it down. Instead, you grip the edges of your gown tightly, feeling the intricate lace and delicate pearls dig into your palms, until you are sure you will have bruises in the morning.

How could Seokmin have allowed himself to be used this way? Did he not care enough to stand by you when it mattered most? He had seen you, yes, but only through the lens of loyalty to Minghao, not as the woman you wished to be, not as the friend you had thought he saw.

By the time the carriage arrives at your home, the bitterness in your chest is a wellspring of anguish. The vibrant ball is now a distant memory, a dream turned nightmare, and all you can do is silently mourn the friendship you thought would endure. You glance at Minghao, his face set in a mask of determination, oblivious to the storm of emotion swirling inside you.

As you step out of the carriage, he follows closely behind, his footsteps heavy with regret. “Y/N,” he begins, his voice low and earnest, “I thought I was doing what was best for you. I thought—”

You cut him off, spinning to face him, your expression fierce with hurt. “It’s too late, brother,” you declare, the words like shards of glass spilling from your lips. “You don’t get to decide what’s best for me. You’ve ruined everything.”

His eyes widen, a mixture of shock and remorse flooding his features. “I never meant to hurt you—”

“It doesn’t matter what you meant!” you snap, frustration and pain intertwining in a chaotic dance. “You acted without thinking. You’ve taken something precious from me.”

Minghao opens his mouth to argue, to defend himself, but the words die on his lips. The truth hangs in the air, heavy and palpable, as the reality of your fractured trust settles between you.

For the rest of the season, you do your best to blend into the walls at every ball, and you succeed. You become a shadow flitting between vibrant gowns and boisterous laughter. Each event becomes a blur of swirling colors and muffled sounds. You move quietly, navigating the sea of opulence with a heavy heart, wearing a mask of indifference that hides the turmoil brewing just beneath the surface.

You linger in corners, your fingers tracing the intricate patterns of wallpaper as if seeking solace in their delicate designs. The bright chandeliers above cast their warm glow on the happy couples swirling in perfect harmony, while you remain firmly anchored in your solitude, an invisible wall erected around your heart. You watch as others twirl and laugh, and your heart aches for Seokmin’s easy companionship, the lively conversations and playful banter that now feel like a distant memory.

With each passing ball, the weight of your isolation grows heavier. Minghao’s well-intentioned apologies echo in your mind, but their impact fades against the reality of your existence. You’ve become an expert at deflecting curious gazes, practicing the art of blending in so well that the laughter and music seem to wash over you like water off a duck’s back.

But it is Seokmin’s absence that echoes loudest in your heart. He might have always been your brother’s best friend, but you had hoped he would be something more—something real. As the music swells, the realization settles heavily on your shoulders: you are utterly, irrevocably alone.

Seokmin doesn’t ask you to dance again for the rest of the season. 

Tagging: @kibs-and-bits@moondustmemories@shinwonderful@ivehypnosis@gwend0lyne @thestoryofana13 @mellowamour @blissedjoon @begentlewithme-please @xabsolutelynothingx @reiofsuns2001 @mngyulvrs @mooniewrld @archivistworld @lexyraeworld @ateez-atiny380 @walkinganxiety01 @lovecleastrange

[pikachicachan]

I just thought of something and now it won't leave my head, so here it is:

[At The Table]

Florida: Heyyy Human Torch! Living up to your name I see!

[California glares while wheezing and sweating]

Cali: Now's [wheeze]... not the time Florida... [coughs up smoke]

Gov: Don't worry California, the emergency funds have been approved and help is on the way to Los Angeles. Hopefully the weather calms down soon so we can start to put out the fires...

[Gov warily glances over to Mother Nature]

Mother Nature: Hmmm, I've never conjured up a firecane before... sounds fun! A great way to start 2025, right?

Florida: I like the way you think! I wanna see it!

Gov: No! Both of you stop it!

Cali: [wheezes] Yes dude, please don't! 5 fires are burning in the LA area... and as of now, [wheeze] 0% of them have been contained due to the heavy winds... [wheeze] this is hella crazy. [coughs]

Florida: You know, I read something very interesting earlier...

Gov, Cali, Texas and New York: [turns to Florida in confusion]

Gov: I... I thought you didn't know how? Did you actually learn?

Florida: Ha — no! I just wanted to get your hopes up! Anywayyyy, I heard from somewhere on the internet that the firefighter budget in LA got cut by about $18 million last year which was given to the LAPD — even though crime has been soooo much lower and there aren't many cops! [chuckles] Like, what are they doing with all that money??

Gov: EXCUSE ME?? [turns to Cali] You did what?!

[New York raises his eyebrow in interest]

Cali: [coughs] Umm —

Texas: [shivers in his 5 layers of clothes] Oh-ho! [grins] N-Now that's interestin'! Didn't think that all the w-way through, huh wildfire?

Cali: [glares and wheezes] Oh yeah? Looks like [wheeze]... you're not fairing well either! [baby voice] Awe, is it getting too cold for the 'big guy'? Seems like it seeing how Ted Cruz left you again!

Texas: [seethes] Why you little —

Gov: Alright, enough!

Louis: maaais, lemme get a daiquiri 'eal quick! Dis is gettin' good.

Florida: [giggles] Oh yeah! I also heard that Ted Cruz leaving is like the Waffle House Index of Texas — but for winter storms! Did he go to Cancun again? Cause that would be sooo wild!

New York: [grunts] we need some kind of miracle dis year to get things movin'. [nudges Gov] ya know, I know a guy... [smirks] name's Luigi —

Gov: Alright, alright! This is getting out of hand...

Gov: [sighs and drags his hands through his face and hair]

Gov: ...but what else is new?

Florida: [chuckles] Happy 2025 everyone!

... this is the only way I can cope, pls —

But also, my heart goes out to those affected by the fires and I hope action gets taken soon to extinguish the fires! 🙏🏼

[merrybloomwrites]

Build You a Boat (1D x Reader)

Summary: A crazy idea leads to the most wonderful adventure for you and your five bandmates. While none of you had ever dreamed of canoeing the boundary waters, you end up having taken a trip you'll never forget.

Word Count: 1.5K

AN: Back in October I was brainstorming some lighthearted 1D story ideas and for some reason this one stuck with me. Just some fun escapism and adventure!

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“Whatcha watching?” Liam asks, hovering over the back of the couch you’re sitting on. 

“YouTube,” you reply, your focus still on the video.

“That’s nonspecific,” Zayn adds from the other end of the couch.

Finally realizing that people are talking to you, you pause the video and say, “Sorry, it’s this couple that makes travel vlogs. They’re canoeing the boundary waters between the United States and Canada.”

“That’s a thing?” Liam questions.

“Apparently. I didn’t know until they published this video. It’s kind of cool. It’s like, a bunch of little lakes and you have to carry the canoe from one lake to the next and then they camp each night,” you explain.

“How long does it take?” Zayn asks next.

“I think about a week.”

“Sounds like fun,” Liam says.

“Seriously?” Zayn questions. “A week of sleeping in a tent at night and basically exercising all day sounds fun to you?”

“It does!” Liam replies.

“I think it seems pretty cool. I’d do it,” you say.

“What are we doing?” Niall asks as he, Louis, and Harry enter the green room. 

“Canoeing the boundary waters,” you reply.

“No we’re not,” Zayn argues.

“What are the boundary waters?” Harry asks.

Instead of explaining again you decide to play the video on the TV in the room so that everyone can see what you’re talking about.

As the video wraps up Harry says, “I would do that.”

Shockingly, everyone agrees and somehow the six of you start talking about how fun of a challenge it would be, and how much you would enjoy escaping into nature where there’s no phone service or internet. 

“Always fun to dream,” Liam says.

“Dream? No, we are making this happen,” you state.

“Y/N, don’t be crazy. We could never, not with our schedules,” Niall says.

“Plus management would never let us do something that dangerous,” Louis adds.

“‘Specially not Harry,” Zayn says.

“Why me?” Harry asks, confused.

“Cause you’re clumsy. You’d manage to fall over while sitting in the canoe.”

“Heyy. Rude.” Harry’s pout tells you he’s not truly offended, since Zayn is probably correct.

But even with all of these valid concerns, you can’t give up on this idea.

“Let me deal with management. I’ll get us on this trip,” you state definitively.

“Best wishes to you there,” Niall quips.

You know none of them are confident that you can make it happen, and they’re very surprised when a week later you tell them the news. “It’s set. We are officially canoeing the boundary waters this fall.”

Your announcement is met with five pairs of eyes staring at you incredulously.

“Seriously?” Liam asks.

“Seriously.”

“How did you get management to agree?” Louis questions.

“I have my ways.”

“That sounds concerningly dirty,” Zayn states.

“Oh, god no. Nothing like that! I just told them we needed a break to spend quality time together in nature before we all burnt out and quit.”

“Kept it light and breezy then, huh?” Louis jokes. 

“They wanted some security to go with us but they decided that we could go with just us six as long as we have those fancy GPS tracker things,” you add.

“We’re going to need so many supplies,” Niall says.

“I was thinking of reaching out to those vloggers who did it, see if they can maybe send a list,” you explain. 

“It looks like a big physical challenge,” Harry says. “Should we be doing any training for it?”

“We all work out like, every day. We’re in good shape. Maybe just do the rowing machine every now and then.” 

The boys are all still quiet, like they’re absorbing this information. Finally you say, “Guys! There’s plenty of time to get ready. Now’s the time to get excited! Six days, on the water, enjoying nature with no one able to bother us.”

“You’re right,” Liam agrees. “Honestly, I can’t wait.”

The other four all start to get excited as well, and by the time you’re called away for soundcheck, everyone is counting down the days until this adventure.

And even though that countdown starts at quite a large number, making the trip seem ages away, suddenly it seems, you’re flying to Minnesota. 

Those youtubers who inspired this whole idea had been more than helpful when you’d reached out to them. Not only were they willing to give advice, they offered to set everything up for you. When you arrive, everything you need is there waiting for your group.

A local ranger gives you guys the rundown of the route and lists any other information you might need. 

And then, finally, it’s time to get on the water. 

Harry is your canoe buddy for the week, and he holds the boat as you get in. Once you’re all situated, you begin paddling.

It takes a little bit of time to get the hang of rowing, but soon enough, you’re gliding along the water. Niall and Liam often take the lead, as Liam is the master of the map. Zayn and Louis tend to drift behind and then gain a burst of energy to catch up. 

Since it’s a series of small lakes, there are times where you reach land and have to carry, or portage, the canoe on a trail to the next lake. While the other pairs take turns, Harry always carries your canoe, not wanting you to have to lift it. He’s just being a gentleman, but you know you could totally pull it off.

In late afternoon you reach the campsite and begin to set everything up. You have different tent buddies, wanting to switch it up so no one is spending too much time with one specific person. You’ve all learned that can be a recipe for sibling-like bickering to begin. 

You’re sharing a tent with Niall, while Liam and Zayn are together and Harry and Louis take the third. Once everything is set up you make dinner over a camp stove. The evening ends with watching the sun set over the water, and you take in this moment of peace, so happy to be doing this adventure with the boys.

The next couple of days pass similarly. You’re blessed with good weather, and currents that seem to flow with you, rather than against. 

The nights do get chilly, and even with the layers you brought, you’re still cold. Luckily Niall gets cold too and has no problem when you insert yourself in his personal space to steal body heat.

Your other big problem is the bugs. Mosquitos to be exact. They’ve always loved you, and there seems to be an abundance of them here. Add on that any bug bite you get swells up into a welt, you basically look like you have a nasty case of chickenpox. No amount of bug spray deters them, and no amount of calamine lotion can completely take away the itch. 

But not even that can ruin this experience.

On the last full day you finally convince Harry to let you do one of the portages. He guides you through the proper way to lift the canoe, and all the boys shout encouragements as you do the hike. 

When you drop the boat back in the water at the end of the portage, the others cheer and congratulate you. It seems silly, since they’ve been doing the same thing for days, but it really uplifts you the way they celebrate your success.

That night, you all stay up late talking, even though you’re exhausted from the last few days. It was so difficult, physically and mentally. But you’re all so glad you did it. There isn’t much of the trip left, and by lunchtime tomorrow you’ll be turning in your canoes.

You’re sad that it’s ending, but there’s a sense of satisfaction that you were able to do it, and more importantly, the six of you did it as a team. You know you’re not the only one who’s been inspired by this, and there will definitely be multiple One Direction songs about the time out on the water.

None of you want to go to bed, knowing this will all be over the next day and you have to reenter society. But Liam eventually makes everyone call it a night when you practically fall asleep against his shoulder. 

On the final morning you all paddle just a bit slower, savoring every last minute of the quiet waters.

You’ve all mostly refrained from taking pictures, wanting to live in the moment, but you make the others join you for a selfie, needing this time together captured so you’ll have the memory forever. 

After turning in all of your rental equipment you head to the airport, needing to fly right back to London. The six of you sleep the entire way, exhausted from days of exertion.

When your friends and families ask how it was, all of you tell them how great the experience was. They want details, but it’s not something you can really put into words. 

It’s just something that the six of you will always share, and you’re so grateful the boys were on board with your crazy plan.

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

AN: Thanks for reading! If you have any 1D requests let me know!

[crescenthistory]

Hi, sorry for bothering you but I just wanted to ask if you could share your thoughts and headcanons about the Marauders and how they interact with the other groups? I honestly liked how you write about the Valkyries and Slytherin Skittles and you can just ignore this. Have a nice day 🤗

my love!! please do not apologise; you could never bother me by dropping into my inbox, especially when you're being so sweet<33 thank you for your love, i hope you have an even better day actually !! i'm sorry for getting this to you so late, but i hope it provides a good guide of sorts

note: i am going to try to write this without any romantic ships in mind because i'm a multishipper at heart lmao

how the marauders interact with each other & folks in general

in crescenthistory canon, i generally don't tend to go with "oh they were these super popular bullies" narrative, simply because that doesn't spark joy for me and i write to have fun

instead, i kind of view them as being more infamous in their chaos, a group of four boys who were jovially unhinged in each their way in a very noticeable manner

it got them loads of friends and perhaps a few rivals and enemies along the way

james and peter are childhood friends as they both grew up in the "good" pureblood families (aka the chill ones, often labelled blood traitors)

james helps peter get out of his shell and make new friends while peter grounds james and was one of the first people through which he learned how to show consideration and empathy

i believe james, peter and sirius met on the train and really hit it off, making sirius excited about his time at hogwarts

but then when both james and peter got placed in gryffindor ahead of sirius in line, his heart sank in his chest because he had it drilled into him that gryffindor equals bad, don't make friends with gryffindors

he thought he lost his new friends

until the hat was placed on his head and almost immediately called out "GRYFFINDOR", to sirius' initial deep seated horror

... but it did mean he didn't lose his friends. just his family, eventually, but friends do make for good family.

his situation tied sirius all that much tighter to the other marauders, particularly james as he was the first one to jostle sirius onto the gryffindor table and welcome him loudly and proudly

james kept his hand on sirius' back for the rest of the evening, sensing that he needed it

together, they worked it all out over the years

as for remus, i believe he locked himself in the bathroom on the hogwarts express and didn't exit before he made it to the castle

this boy was shaking in his boots, an actual ball of anxiety that was torn apart by utter disbelief at even being allowed into hogwarts and guilt for accepting it

hope (and lyall, though i don't always hc him as coming around) had tried their best at accepting him, but i think they always underlined how dangerous remus was and how careful he had to be

that cemented itself in his head as "don't make any friends ever, you would put them in danger"

he hid away in corners all the way up until the point he walked into his dorm and was immediately crushed in a bear hug by james potter while being eyed curiously and anxiously by a very rattled sirius and rather overwhelmed peter

no matter how hard remus was set on being invisible, james refused not to see him and sirius was instantly captivated by remus (whether it's platonically or romantically is up to you, but their connection is undeniable)

together, their little dorm became family that increasingly found their entertainment in each other and in raising havoc and living their teenage years to the fullest

i think in the beginning, they were known as "potter and those others" until sirius gained his footing and became equally as loud as james

from then on, they were referred to as the "boys from dorm 4" (or whatever their dorm number was)

as remus grew into himself (grew out his hair, learned to carry his height instead of crouching) and peter went from hiding behind james' metaphorical skirts to just standing a little bit towards the back but still grinning as loud as the others – well, then they were the marauders

and the marauders were marauding, let me tell you

no one could either fully hate or fully love them; everyone has had a bad experience as a consequence of the marauders' various doings, but everyone have always been made to laugh until they're in stitches by one of them too

i think most studious students found them rather tedious, but oftentimes their pranks did give them breaks they sorely needed

and while more nervous/shy students might be rather rattled by their presence, i think the marauders had unique abilities to empower and care for others

after all, that's what they did to each other

in crescenthistory universe, the marauders were painfully kind, in each their separate way

james' smile was like the actual sun and he never denied anyone it unless they had been exceptionally terrible – even as he hassled snape for mistreating lily, he was often grinning

he is the type to pick up people if he accidentally tramples them (as he runs from or towards trouble) and flash them an apologetic grin before taking off again

sirius' kindness was often laden with flirtation or some other barrier to his vulnerable self to ensure that any rejection of said kindness wouldn't feel as heartbreaking

he had more to shield himself from than james, but he had just as much to give, and tried his best to do so

to begin with, i think he tried to copy james, but found that the grins he flashed were often not taken in the same way as james'. instead he started with his own, more smug smiles, pats on the back and the likes

sirius is the type to ask questions – "y'alright?", "what's goin' on with you, hm?", "we bothering you?"

and he actually listens

whereas remus is more quiet in his kindness, truly an acts of service and quality time type of man

he will pick up your things if you drop them, even if it makes his knees ache, he will hold the door, he will warn you that it's cold outside or a prank playing out down the corridor if he passes you in the hallway

when james picks you up after barreling you down, remus is the one who will dust off your back

when sirius asks if they're bothering you, remus is already apologising for being bothersome

peter is the type who shows kindness in private after-the-fact

he is much more comfortable being vulnerable and showcasing himself with you when you're alone, when he can help dissect and calm you down

he is so down to talk shit about someone if that's what you need – something that's perhaps a bit bad, but done kindly

the marauders don't have time to be best friends with everyone and know all about them, but they try to see everyone they are around at any given moment

they're menaces in the castle, sure, but also sweethearts

how the marauders are with the valkyries

true besties. i genuinley believe that these friend groups are highly entangled, because i can't really picture them being all that hung up on having one group of "boys" and one of "girls" (in my non-misogyny, non-homophobia, non-transphobia view of the wizarding world)

they're all gryffindors in the same year so they're like this 🤞 though with unique dynamics of course

marlene, coming from another of the "good" pureblood families, grew up with james and peter and was already close friends with them

i personally imagine marlene as too impatient to handle peter's extreme shyness to begin with, as i believe her to have a rather short temper and attention span, especially with men

james and marlene however, are genuinely like siblings to me

i think they would have a Proper Sibling relationship with each other too, including sibling brawls and squabbles, the long hugs/cuddles and family dinners

james didn't have any biological siblings while marlene had five, so they very easily just brought james into the mix and he adored it

which also means he is predisposed to understanding sibling relationships, which helps enormously when he has to navigate the whole sirius/regulus thing

it is james, marlene and peter that provided the original link connecting the marauders and the valkyries as james ran into her dorm that first day to show off his new friends and meet her new friends

mary and lily were both rather shy to begin with as muggleborns freshly introduced to the wizarding world, but in each their way and i don't think they were introverted per say

lily doesn't want to say something before knowing she's right, so she spends her time studying and observing before speaking

this means she'll stare at you with intense big green eyes in silence (which is how james/mary/marlene/sirius/whoever falls in love with her from day one lmao)

whereas mary is mostly just So Overwhelmed by everything and bridling with excitement she doesn't know how to communicate, so she just comes off as a bit awkward

but marlene instantly connected with both of them, and that was enough for james and thus the other marauders

when they get their schedules, they compare what classes they have at what times all holed up in the girls' dorm and from then on they are rather intertwined into each other's lives

for the first hogsmeade trip they all go together, they eat most of their meals together, they hang out together in the common room all the time – they're one big happy friend group

as lily and mary grow more into the hogwarts atmosphere and themselves, they start displaying their personalities more comfortably, which only made the marauders like them more

the valkyries frequently roll their eyes at the marauders' antics and mischief – but when they're invited in on it, they rarely say no

only lily ever really say no, but when marylene join in, she always covers for them

some specific friendship dynamics:

sirius + marlene are the same person different fonts and they KNOW it. they bark laughters at each other, they compete, they match their outfits, they learn guitar and bass together, they cry as they hug when they're getting pissed

sirius + mary have very similar silly humour and often banter off of each other, sometimes perhaps in a rather flirtaious manner. i think sirius becomes very comfortable with mary quickly because they think in rather similar ways but she's more reserved than marlene to begin with, so she felt safer to be around when he was still feeling rather raw

sirius + lily's dynamic depends partly on what i ship tbh, but i always see them as faux frenemies (they're actually friends but pretend to have some rivalry going on) that would die for each other

same with james + lily – i think she always finds him a bit tedious and rolls her eyes at him, but grows undeniably fond of him and enjoys his boisterous personality

james + mary is perhaps one of the friendships i have explored the least, maybe because i think they're some of the least close people in the group? he knows her mostly as lily's best friend first and foremost, but winds up having the occasional deep convo with her and goes "damn macdonald, you always have these thoughts up in there?"

remus + lily are KINDRED fucking spirits. they bond so fast, in a rather similar fashion as sirius and james. they just connect, their minds work in the same way and they have the same reservations and fears. i think that because of that, they can often enable each other to not better their ways – but similarly, if one improves, the other is pushed to do the same

remus + mary have an unspoken form of friendship where they just support each other constantly

i'm talking they will randomly back each other up in situations where they think it's funny. mary can be having a completely irrelevant argument with sirius and remus will instantly just be like "i agree with mary"

started one of those never ending card games in first year and keeps playing just the two of them until graduation. everyone has tried to join at some point and are very butthurt that they don't let them.

remus + marlene is often similar to wolfstar dynamics, but more focused on grounding each other. while james and sirius rile marlene up, remus helps bring her down. similarly, while others may comfort remus a bit tentatively, marlene would smack some shit into him like "of course you're worthy of love, you're remus blood lupin, for merlin's sake"

i think they're just what each other need, especially during hard times

i think peter with all of the girls is someone they will curl up into a windowsill with and unpack the most complex and confusing situations they're in and together they will mouse their way out of it

overall, the marauders and valkyries are a friendship coloured by poking fun and stumbling over one's own feet as they navigate coming of age

while there for sure are spats and complicated feelings, periods where they talk more and periods where they talk less, they are always family

how the marauders are with the slytherin skittles

the relationship between the marauders and the slytherin skittles/emeralds is one characterised much more by rivalry and tension – though i'm a firm believer that they are "frenemies" more so than enemies

every one of the emeralds have some reason to have certain hostilities towards the marauders;

regulus has tension with his brother after he was sorted into gryffindor, the rosier twins were raised with a lot of blood racism and isolationism that they need time to shake, barty is predisposed against gryffindors and dorcas is on guard with everyone after her foster-care childhood

but they all also have reasons to not hate or completely disregard them;

again, sirius is regulus' brother who he endlessly looked up to through childhood, the rosier twins much enjoy various marauders individually, barty is actually really similar to them and enjoys their chaos and dorcas falls in love with (one of) the valkyries

exactly what their relationship is depends on what fic i am writing or what lens i am looking at it through

but trust there is ALWAYS significant banter between them – it's just the intensity and subtext of it that varies from fic to fic for me

barty and sirius often go toe-to-toe with bantering and bickering as they are both experts at volleying arguments back and forth and able to match each other's energy – and have the most reason to bicker, that reason usually being regulus

james and evan i think have great conversations but when it's prongsfoot vs rosekiller, i don't think james holds back in any capacity

in a modern au, i think james and evan would be gym bros that are totally aligned in the gym, but occasionally throw hands outside of it for the sake of their (boy)friends

i would say it's 80% goodnatured banter, 20% genuine tension/hostilities

comments made in the passing in hallways, the occasional meal spiced up by one emerald sitting with the marauders or vice versa, stumbling upon each other in the library or hogsmeade, etc.

it is when certain members start falling properly in love that the emeralds start fully merging with the marauders and valkyries

these can be jegulus, dorlene, moonwater, pandalily, bitchkiller, sunkiller, you name it, i love it

either way, they get involved – and whoever is not part of the relationship, WILL make loud and brazen protests

we're talking barty loudly complaining about regulus being defiled by james (much to both jegulus and sirius' chagrin), regulus moaning and groaning about having to spend time with his pesky older brother when dorcas and marlene start shagging, etc.

eventually, the merging of the friend groups would lead to sirius and regulus having a proper settlement of difficulties as well, if it hasn't happened already

i think the marauders and emeralds are able to open each other's eyes in ways they painfully need

the marauders can shower them in the type of comfort and security they need to overcome their family situations and poor wiring, while the emeralds can teach them a good lesson about open-mindedness and nuance

when they join forces, there is grumbling, but eventually any and all complaint is faux and for comedic effect

they thoroughly enjoy each other lmao

[askhezureviews]

no spoilers/specifics but when you get to Ghostfuckers it becomes so obvious Brandon is doing the writing again

it's the closest helluva has gotten to its season 1 self in all of s2, and it's still not fantastic, if I'm being honest

there's only so much he can do to right the ship

ep11&12 ping right back into Goetia melodrama, because of course

OKKKKkkkk finally sat down and watched this episode!

Hey! Look, it's like, their first actual job in forever!!! They're actually going to the human world again, great!

I'm very relieved Brandon was brought in to rewrite this. I know some Viv fans were upset about the leaks, but I think it was actually a good thing these leaked and sparked enough outrage for Viv to cave in and change it because Millie unaliving herself for being a bad wife is completely inappropriate. I'd personally feel ashamed and embarrassed if I had wrote that. She claimed they had plans for Millie, that she will get her episode in season 2, but she didn't. Even with Brandon's assistance here, she really didn't. I'd say those leaks are proof she lied to her audience, however... at this point, Vivziepop is merely not self aware of her writing and doesn't comprehend the stereotyping she does to her own characters and their stories. So I don't think she lied, she's unable to comprehend that she isn't delivering on what she claims she will.

The episode establishes: -Blitz's business is now bankrupt. He has not paid his employees in over a month. -Wally Wackford knows IMP and hangs out with them?? / wants to hang out with them?? -Ghosts aren't real in Helluva / Hazbin universe -There's infestor demons that eat off angst I guess? First time we're ever seeing one

Seems like a good portion of this episode is a scooby doo reference. The montage scene was unnecessary, you could have cut it for time / budget.

~~~

Regarding Millie: She claims the most screen time, but this episode actually isn't about her. The main focus is on Blitz. It's Blitz's trauma, Blitz's pain, Blitz's melodrama, and she just happens to be on screen dealing with it. We get a small pinch of something, but I'll talk about it after this analysis:

Millie asks Loona to take care of Moxie for her. These two still haven't passed the bechdel test yet. The only thing I recall them talking about outside of the men in their life is when Loona takes a jab at Millie's age in season 1, which also isn't ideal.

Millie claims she "always has fun with Blitz" and that he is her "best friend" which is news to the audience. This is the first time they've ever hung out in an episode. "I've never had a real friend that I didn't wanna f*ck." But you DO want to f*ck her. Earlier in the episode, he had Millie punch a card he's used frequently. Unwavering loyalty in exchange for leaving Moxie and Millie alone on 1 date. In a single episode he seems to have changed his mind quite suddenly and I'm unsure why.

Millie's backstory is chalked up to "She left the farm to become a hitman in Wrath. The market for assassin's is actually inflated in Wrath, it's high competition, so she was in between jobs. Blitz finds her after she stole their kill, and offers to pay her double. She accepts (Even though he went back on this, he does not pay her double. In fact, she barely gets enough to survive between both her and Moxie.)" She's hired by IMP to do various assassin jobs, and then Blitz decides to move to a different ring and use humans as their new clientele. This is an extremely smart move for his business, because there's quite literally zero competition for this. Millie for some reason thinks she "won't fit in"(??? you don't need to?) because imps are only good for their muscle" This doesn't make sense for Millie to say here. If anything she should have been more insecure staying in Wrath BECAUSE she would be actively compared to the higher competition of her birthplace. Here, they've hit a gold mine.

"Blitz, you made me realize I could be anything! Not just a simple farm girl or underpaid goon." But you are. Millie IS a simple farm girl and underpaid goon. Assassins are extremely common jobs for imps in wrath. She has not subverted people's expectations nor does she have a unique job to that of an imp.

"My mom said sweat, blood, and hard work washes the tears right off!" - Okay now THIS is the first piece of Millie development we have received in perhaps ever!! This implies that Millie's mother/family were emotionally unavailable to her as a child. That whenever she was upset/miserable, she was taught to bury her sadness with work. Which indicates she's a workaholic who probably needs therapy / has trouble expressing emotions properly. This would be a direct cause/effect action that shaped her into who she is today. This is an actual real Millie moment, and it comes from a passing comment. I don't think the writers caught on to what they did here, but THIS is good Millie development! THIS is a genuine character trait that is all hers!

~~~

Some stuff that did get a genuine chuckle out of me:

"I should have been a theater critic, I have objectively correct opinions!"- Moxie , It's also nice to see Moxie attempting to be the brains of the operation again, trying to solve their financial crisis, even if there's no way to save it.

"Your husband is still a little fuckable." - That actually made me laugh too despite the context being a little confused

Anyhow, overall the episode felt like it could have been 15 min long. They should have shortened it. We didn't really get much Millie backstory or character development. Instead of being insecure about her womanhood due to stereotypes(bad wife), she's now insecure about her race/species due to stereotypes (inbred brute). It's still not the best, but it's better than the leaked storyboard. Otherwise the entire episode was basically Blitz wanting to fuck a ghost. Also Blitz's trauma... again. Felt like filler you could frankly delete.

[renfairemistress]

Hi ,

I’m new to tumblr so trying to figure it out … and I’m more of a watcher ( not A writer ) … lol but There are a few things I want to get off my chest/ share .

I’m a fan of Bridgerton ( been almost a year ) My favorite couple right off the bat is Colin and Penelope . ( had never read the books ) prior to watching .

Colin and Penelope are the reason I watch Bridgerton , Then the tour happened … and I became a Lukola fan as well . In my eyes , this was not “just PR” , there is a bond / connection between them. Whether that be Friendship or something more ( hoping for something more , lots more ❤️)

Since been in the fandom , I’ve seen the good , the bad and the ugly . I’m grateful for the friendships I have made through the fandom. 😊

There are some things that I have seen that I don’t agree with . Not my place to call out anyone . Everyone has a right to their own beliefs./ to do what they will .

But I will say this : I was taught that if you can’t say something nice , don’t say nothing at all . I’m a fan of Nicola as well as Luke and I see how their “friends “ are being treated online ( making fun’s of how they dress / look like etc ) , and I just think about how Nicola and Luke would feel seeing those post of their “friend “ ( or whatever the ship is to them )

Im sure it hurts them . I believe if you really care about Nicola and Luke and want them to express / share more with the fandom , then we need to be more “Mindful and Demure “

Why should we let the actions of a few ruin it for the rest of us ,

So my suggestion ( again just a suggestion ) if you see a post about someone in Nicola or Luke life , would it hurt them seeing it ? If you think it would , then don’t share it . Eventually will be buried with all the other posts .

The more well behaved as a fandom we are , the more content I’m sure we will receive . ☺️

Just my 2 cents . ❤️❤️❤️

Other than that Congratulations to Nicola for the SAG Nomination and congrats to the Bridgerton Cast . ❤️❤️❤️

I am not going to lie, was disappointed that Luke did not get a nomination, I thought he was Phenomenal! ❤️

[eusuntgratie]

as a certified mom(tm), what's the most common thing people get wrong when they write children?

ooooh i love this question! (adding certified mom to the resume STAT btw)

i think the MOST common thing people get wrong is the realistic development/representation of a child at a certain age. i see lots of fic where a three year old is speaking in full sentences, where an eight year old baby-talks all the time, where a six year old has literally no concept of what is happening in their life. i saw a good tumblr post that was a great resource for writing kids by age that i'll see if i can find. but with how many moms are on tumblr, i think just asking them... how would a five year old talk? or how would a ten year old handle this type of situation? would be a great start.

there are other things that are always jarring for me as a parent that someone who doesn't spend a lot of time with kids might not notice or care about.

the first is that your (young) kids are ALWAYS around. you are literally always responsible for where your kid is and what they are doing. if they aren't with you, you've made a plan for where they are, how they'll get there, when you'll pick them up, etc. there are exceptions of course (people living on huge pieces of land or in neighborhoods where they know everyone are more likely to have their kids running around and might not know exactly where they are, some people have multigenerational households and have a lot of help). but even in those cases, the parent still knows and is responsible for that kid. there's nothing wrong with writing a kidfic that isn't realistic just bc its cute or you like the trope. but as a parent its jarring as hell to have a character introduced as a parent (especially a single parent!) and then the kid is never around. i promise you that man is not fuckin' or going on dates as much as you want him to be 🤣 or if he is, it took a LOT of work or he has a LOT of support.

related to this, every parent i know is exhausted. if their love interest isn't attracted to their eye bags or letting them sleep instead of waking them up for sex, get outta my face. the sexiest thing a partner could do for a parent? LET THEM SLEEP.

related, we do fuck with kids in the house. (cough cough chris going on sleepovers 3x/week in fic 🤣). its okay. you can make keeping quiet sexy. you can lock the door so you'll hear it if they need something without traumatizing them. you can use a baby monitor to keep an eye or ear out. we don't wait until our kids leave to have sex, or some of us would hardly ever have sex.

a few random notes and i'll wrap up. kids aren't (and shouldn't be put in the position to be) solving their parents problems for them. most kids won't immediately trust a new adult, especially if that person is dating their parent and their other parent is still in their life, even if they really like that person. a parent would not leave their child with their brand new love interest unless they had literally no other option. i have some issues, but there are very few people i trust to be alone with my kid. someone i don't know well would never make it onto that list.

lastly, parents fuck up. we aren't perfect. i try really really hard to break generational shit, to do better, to be a good mom. i've read lots of books, done tons of therapy, found great resources, done parenting groups, i consult with other parent friends and friends who work in mental health about challenging situations. and i fuck up all the time. kids, even great kids, are little assholes sometimes. nobody's perfect, and that's okay. nobody's kid is a perfect little angel 24/7 and nobody is a perfect parent.

my askbox is always open and i always love to talk about writing! thanks for this it was a fun question to answer <3

[valy-gc]

Had fun imagining some expressions they use in this world:

1. "I'll stomp my foot! "

Meaning: "I don't trust you" or "You're are cheating"

Origin: Based on the story of Rumplestilskin who, once the queen "guessed" his name (by cheating since a servant actually heard the name and repeated it to her so she never guessed it, which was the deal...), stomp his foot so hard he pass through the ground.

2. "Spinning Straw into Gold"

Meaning: To create something valuable from nothing or a seemingly impossible situation.

Origin: Derived from the tale of Rumplestiltskin, where a miller’s daughter spins straw into gold under duress.

3. "Under the Fae’s Glamour" (mostly a human expression)

Meaning: To be enchanted or deceived by appearances.

Origin: Refers to the magical glamours used by fae to change their appearance or deceive others into seeing what they want.

4. "Breaking the Enchanted Mirror"

Meaning: To confront a harsh truth or shatter an illusion.

Origin: Stemming from the Evil Queen’s enchanted mirror that shows the deepest truths or desires, breaking it reveals hidden realities.

5. "The Giant’s Step"

Meaning: To take a bold, overwhelming action that cannot be undone.

Origin: Inspired by stories of giants whose single step can change landscapes or cause irreversible damage.

6. "Like the Mermaid’s Song"

Meaning: Something irresistibly alluring but potentially dangerous or deceptive.

Origin: Based on legends of mermaids whose enchanting songs lured sailors to their doom.

7. "Having the Sleeping Curse"

Meaning: Feeling lethargic, unmotivated, or stuck in a situation with no clear way out.

Origin: From tales of enchanted sleepers trapped in magical slumber until a condition is met to awaken them.

8. "Chasing the Cat"

Meaning: Pursuing something elusive or impossible to grasp.

Origin: Derived from the Cheshire cat that vanish when pursued.

9. "Caught in Baba Yaga’s Hut"

Meaning: To be in a precarious or dangerous situation with little control over the outcome.

Origin: From the tale of Baba Yaga, whose hut moves on chicken legs, trapping those who dare enter and placing them at her mercy.

10. "To Wear the Glass Slipper"

Meaning: To be the chosen or favored one in a situation, often unexpectedly.

Origin: Taken from the story of Cinderella, where the fitting of the glass slipper reveals her true identity and destiny.

11. "To Lose Your Shadow"

Meaning: To lose a vital part of oneself or feel incomplete.

Origin: Inspired by tales where a character’s shadow is stolen or separated, symbolizing a loss of identity or wholeness.

12. "To Open Bluebeard’s Door"

Meaning: To uncover a horrifying secret or face a disturbing truth.

Origin: From the tale of Bluebeard, where his new bride discovers the bodies of his former wives after being warned never to open a particular door in his castle.

13. "Mad as the Hatter"

Meaning: Acting in a wildly eccentric or nonsensical manner.

Origin: Based on the character of the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, known for his peculiar and nonsensical behavior during the tea party.

14. "To Bite the Poisoned Apple"

Meaning: To be deceived into accepting something that appears good but is actually harmful.

Origin: From Snow White, where the evil queen tricks Snow White into eating a poisoned apple, causing her to fall into a death-like sleep.

15. "Wearing the Donkey’s Skin"

Meaning: To disguise oneself to escape a dire situation or conceal one’s true identity.

Origin: From Donkeyskin, where a princess hides under a donkey’s hide to escape her father’s unwanted advances and find freedom.

16. "Small as Thumbelina"

Meaning: Referring to someone or something very tiny yet resilient.

Origin: From Thumbelina, the story of a girl no larger than a thumb who faces and overcomes many challenges despite her small size.

17. "To Sail with Tsar Saltan"

Meaning: To embark on anything unexpected that could or could not lead to dangerous situation.

Origin: From The Tale of Tsar Saltan, where Prince Gvidon experiences incredible adventures, including transformations and magical discoveries.

18. "Caught in Anansi’s Web"

Meaning: To be ensnared in a clever trap or cunning scheme.

Origin: Based on African folklore about Anansi, the trickster spider, who often ensnares others in his clever and deceptive plans.

19. "To Dance with the Butterfly Lovers"

Meaning: Starting a relationship that is clearly not going to work.

Origin: From the Chinese legend of The Butterfly Lovers, where the lovers are tragically separated by death but reunite as butterflies in the afterlife.

20. "To Wield Mulan’s Blade"

Meaning: To show great courage and take a stand for one’s beliefs or loved ones.

Origin: From the story of Mulan, who disguises herself as a man to take her father’s place in battle, displaying remarkable bravery and sacrifice.

Game Idea - now a novel

Well... an idea that will stay an idea because I don't have any programmation skills nor the money to pay some developpers, but I like it and got lots of ideas for it so let's just share it. If you want to make a OC and/or your MC from it, then have fun, I would love it ^-^

It's a dating sim, mix between "Twisted Wonderland" and "Obey me!"

This is mostly ideas thrown like this in a messy way. But you can now read my test for the novel version here:

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Or on my Tapas, Ao3 or wattpad

everything under the cut

As a new student at Fablewood Academy, you are mysteriously invited after stumbling upon an ancient storybook. Among peers who resonate with legendary characters from fables and folklore, you stand apart—unable to resonate with any historical figure. Instead, you uncover a profound connection to the mysterious Writers.

Navigating the competitive dorm dynamics and building relationships with students and teachers, you begin to unravel the secrets of Scriptoria, the world of stories. With your unique bond to the Writers, you hold the key to saving it from an ancient force threatening to rewrite history itself.

~~~~

World

"Scriptoria" A magical world shaped by the memories and writings of the legendary Writers, who recorded the lives and deeds of its inhabitants.

~~~~

The Writers :

The authors of fairytales we  knows, they are called the "Writers" (always with a cap W) not because they have wrote the  tales (since it's supposed to be all real stories in this world) but because they were keeper of memories, noting everything that was  happening in the world, which permitted the actual characters to knows  all about the stories.

~~~~

Locations

Austreim: Inspired by European fairytales (Germany, France, Scandinavia). A realm of picturesque forests, cobblestone towns, and grand castles. Home to tales like "Cinderella" and "Little Red Riding Hood."

Beasthaven: A country inspired by La Fontaine’s animal fables. Predominantly inhabited by beastmen. Features different biomes in different part of the land, from lush forests and rolling meadows to savannah or thundra. The country is known for their lively markets in every biome.

Seafoam Dominion: An underwater kingdom of mermen and aquatic fae. Draws inspiration from Andersen's stories. Has shimmering underwater cities and shores dotted with mythical artifacts.

Ebony Sands: Inspired by African folktales such as "The Man Who Never Lied." A sun-drenched land of deserts, savannahs, river deltas and ancient temples.

Celestial Plains: Based on East Asian folktales, blending Chinese, korean, Japanese stories among others. Features rolling hills of bamboo, cherry blossoms, and mystical shrines guarded by spirits.

Myrcadawn: A borderland filled with ancient ruins, magical storms, and creatures from forgotten tales. Mostly inhabited by faes.

~~~~

"Fablewood Academy" An all-boy institution dedicated to preserving the legacy of the writers and their stories. Located at the heart of Scriptoria, blending all cultural styles. Where the Writers’ legacies are studied and the world's future is shaped.

~~~~

The Resonance Ceremony

When a student enters the school, they undergo a Resonance Ceremony, a deeply symbolic ritual that determines their connection to an Historical Character (a character from fairytales and myths).

Ceremony Description:

The Setting: The ceremony takes place in a grand, mystical chamber called the Hall of Echoes, a circular room lined with glowing murals of countless legendary figures. In the center, on the ground like a pond, is the Ethereal Mirror, which shimmers like water and reflects not the student’s image, but fragments of their potential resonance.

The Ritual:

The student steps up to the mirror, guided by a faculty member.

The mirror reacts to their essence, glowing brighter as it identifies the Historical Character whose moral compass and essence most closely align with the student’s.

The chosen figure materializes as a spectral image above the mirror, accompanied by a brief vision of their story, morals, and defining characteristics.

The student receives an Artefact Sigil, a magical mark on their hand, symbolizing their connection. The sigil also acts as a key to their dormitory.

Outcomes:

The character determines the student’s dorm assignment. Dorms represent shared principles or traits rather than region or story type, which creates unique diversity within each house.

The student begins to develop their Legacy Arte, influenced by their resonance.

~~~~

Dorm Names & Founders

Astraquartz (Inspired by Cinderella, Charles Perrault): Represents perseverance, humility, and transformation.

Scarletfang (Inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, Grimm Brothers): Represents courage and cunning.

Everswell (Inspired by The Little Mermaid, Hans Christian Andersen): Represents sacrifice and curiosity.

Mousetrail (Inspired by The Lion and the Mouse, La Fontaine): Represents cleverness and loyalty.

Obsidianspire (Inspired by Mamad in "The Man Who Never Lied", unknown Writer (African tale)): Represents honesty and wisdom.

Verdance (Inspired by "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter", Minamoto no Shitagō): Represents grace and adaptability.

~~~~

Resonance Dynamics

Living By Their Resonance: Students are expected to uphold the values and morals of their Resonance Character. Deviating too far from these principles leads to a Resonance Crisis, where the bond becomes unstable.

Resonance Crises: In a crisis, a student’s personality and abilities are warped by the unresolved conflict. They might embody the antithesisof their Historical Character, becoming a distorted, corrupted version of their story’s ideals.

Example: A student resonating with The Happy Prince may hoard wealth selfishly, spiraling into greed, causing their Legacy Arte to malfunction.

Resolution: To restore balance, the student must confront their choices and find a way to realign with their character’s core principles, often with the help of peers or the protagonist.

The Nature of Resonance

Resonance is not a rigid set of rules that dictate a person’s every thought or action. Instead, it represents a core essence—a reflection of the Resonance Character’s archetype, personality, and values. When a student resonates with a character, it means they share a similar foundation, but they are free to interpret and act on that foundation in their own unique way.

Core Principles of Resonance

Guiding Influence, Not Control: The Resonance doesn't force someone to behave exactly like their historical counterpart. Instead, it provides a general blueprint of traits, preferences, and tendencies that align with the character’s essence.

Example: Coach Garrick’s Resonance with the Big Bad Wolf doesn’t mean he must terrorize pigs—it means he shares the wolf’s gruff, bold, and predatory nature. How he channels those traits is entirely up to him. For Garrick, they manifest as a tough love coaching style.

Freedom to Choose Actions: While Resonance shapes a student's instincts and inclinations, their choices define their character. They can act in harmony with their Resonance without being confined to it.

Example: Elric, resonating with Cinderella's Stepmother, naturally enjoys luxury and attention. However, he can choose to respect others while enjoying these things, rather than mistreating them like the original stepmother did. If he strays too far—say, by shunning luxury entirely—it might destabilize his Resonance, but small acts of kindness wouldn’t harm it.

Resonance Crisis Is About Extremes: A Resonance Crisis occurs when a student goes against their core nature to an extreme degree, causing an inner conflict. This doesn’t happen because of minor deviations but because of a deep misalignment.

Example: If Elric started wearing rags and actively rejecting his love of luxury, his Resonance would destabilize. But respecting servants or treating them kindly, while still enjoying the finer things, would maintain balance.

Explaining Resonance Through Examples

Here are clear, narrative-driven examples to help clarify how Resonance works without feeling restrictive:

Garrick “Grizz” Wolfin (Big Bad Wolf): Garrick’s Resonance gives him traits like gruffness, strength, and an intimidating aura. He embodies the archetype of the wolf, but how he uses those traits is his choice. He could easily become a bully, but instead, he channels his gruff demeanor into being a demanding yet caring PE teacher. His choices define him, not the wolf.

Elric Briarthorne (Cinderella’s Stepmother): Elric shares the stepmother’s love for luxury, beauty, and a touch of laziness. However, he is not bound to repeat her cruelty. Elric can enjoy being pampered and commanding attention without mistreating others. If he rejects his natural affinity for elegance entirely, he risks a Resonance Crisis, but respecting a servant while maintaining his love for luxury keeps him in balance.

~~~~

Legacy Arte

Each Legacy Arte is tied to the unique essence of the resonated Historical Character. These are not static powers—they grow and evolve as the student’s connection deepens. It can be an offensive or defensive ability, a practical one for everyday or even a constant unseen ability (enhancing strenght, magic powers or anything else)

For example:

A student resonating with Princess Kaguya might have an Arte called Moonlit Grace, allowing them to summon moonlight to shield themselves and others. As they grow, the Arte might evolve into Celestial Radiance, granting healing and offense.

~~~~

Artefact Sigil

The Artefact Sigil serves as both a resonance stabilizer and a channel for magic, directly tied to the student's connection with their Resonance Character. It appears on the student's hand during the Resonance Ceremony.

Key Features of the Artefact Sigil

Appearance:

A glowing, dynamic symbol or glyph that reflects the essence of the Resonance Character. Its design evolves as the bond deepens, becoming more intricate and vibrant.

Example:

Astraquartz: A delicate glass slipper.

Scarletfang: A bold wolf’s paw print, with thorny vines wrapping around it.

Everswell: A flowing wave, centered with a small pearl-like dot.

Mousetrail: A small mouse.

Obsidianspire: A tall spire with rays of light radiating from its top.

Verdance: A crescent moon embraced by bamboo leaves.

Functionality:

Magic Channeling: The Sigil channels the student’s magic, focusing and amplifying their spells. It glows or pulses during use, with colors and intensity varying based on the magic type.

Legacy Arte Activation: The Artefact Sigil is the key to unlocking and evolving Legacy Arte abilities. As the student grows, the Sigil adapts to better support these powers.

Resonance Stabilization: The Sigil detects and moderates Resonance Crises. If a student strays too far from their Resonance Character’s core ideals, the Sigil dims or cracks slightly, serving as a warning. It also emits calming energy to help realign the connection.

Personal Connection: The Sigil is an inseparable part of the student, growing and changing with them. This deep connection makes magic feel more instinctive and intimate, as it’s literally a part of their body.

~~~~~~~~

Lore Tie-In

Origins: The Artefact Sigil was created by the Writers, using fragments of their own memories as the foundation. This ensures that every Sigil is a direct link to the archives of Scriptoria.

The Resonance Bond: The Sigil embodies the merging of the student’s essence with their Resonance Character. Its visible state reflects the health of this bond, making it both a tool and a representation of their inner journey.

~~~~

Scriptos Currency System

Coins (for smaller transactions):

1 Scripto:Copper coin

5 Scriptos: Bronze coin

10 Scriptos:Silver coin

50 Scriptos:Gold coin

Bills (for larger transactions):

100 Scriptos

200 Scriptos

500 Scriptos

1,000 Scriptos

10,000 Scriptos

Design Details

Coins:

Each coin feature an emblem of a quill or an open book to symbolize creativity and storytelling.

The coins shimmer faintly or show shifting patterns when exposed to light.

Bills:

The bills have holographic text or illustrations that animate briefly (e.g., a bird flying off a quill or ink drops forming a picture).

They feature famous Scriptoria figures, mostly the Writers, with each having different possible figures. -the 100 could feature Pu Songling or D. O. Fagunwa, -200 feature Don Juan Manuel, Alexander Pushkin or Giovanni Francesco Straparola -500 feature Charles Perrault, the brother Grimm or La Fontaine, -1000 feature Al-Jahiz, Hans Christian Andersen or Valmiki, -10 000 feature Joseph Jacobs or Alexander Afanasyev …)

The bills and coins are waterproof. Coin will not get rusty if used by merpeoples.

Practical Conversion

1 Scripto = 0.01 USD

100 Scriptos = 1 USD

The School Farm:

Purpose:

Self-Sufficiency: Provides fresh produce and farm-to-table ingredients for the cafeteria.

Community Spirit: Encourages students to bond and learn teamwork through shared responsibilities.

Practical Skills: Offers hands-on experience in agriculture, animal care, and commerce.

Earning Opportunities: Students can earn pocket money by working on the farm, in the cafeteria, or at the shop.

Animals on the Farm:

Poultry: Chickens/hens/roosdters, ducks, geese, turkeys, quails, guinea fowl, pheasants, maybe pigeons and even a few peacocks

Dairy Animals: A couple of cattle, buffaloes, goats, sheep and camels for milk production (and maybe cheese or yogurt). Other less common milk animals are yaks, horses, reindeers and donkeys. (the farm would include the stables for horse riding club... and horse riding club could be about riding other type of animals)

Companion Animals: Perhaps a farm dog or cat that the students adore.

Fields and Crops:

Vegetables and Herbs: A variety of seasonal vegetables and herbs used in the cafeteria.

Orchard: A small orchard with fruit trees like apples, pears, or peaches.

Flowers: Some fields could grow flowers for decorative purposes or events.

Farm Activities:

Animal Care: Feeding, cleaning stalls, gathering eggs, milking cows, etc.

Crop Maintenance: Planting, weeding, harvesting, and learning about sustainable farming practices.

Event Preparation: Preparing products like jams, baked goods, or decorations for events.

Market Days: Selling fresh produce and handmade goods at school fairs or town markets.

How It Benefits Students:

Pocket Money Opportunities:

Students can earn wages working on the farm, at the cafeteria, or in the school store. They can also work in exchange of products instead of money.

Wages could be small, but enough for personal expenses or extracurricular activities.

Skill Development:

Responsibility: Managing shifts and caring for animals.

Practical Knowledge: Learning about agriculture, cooking, and business.

Teamwork: Collaborating with peers to keep things running smoothly.

Cultural Exchange:

Students from different homelands can share farming techniques or recipes.

Characters with unique Resonances could find ways to incorporate their powers into the farm (e.g., enhancing crop growth, making food preparation more efficient, etc.).

Integration with the School’s Themes:

Character Development:

Working on the farm could help shy or isolated characters open up and feel a sense of purpose (e.g., someone like Cygnus could bond with animals).

Ambitious or overconfident students could learn humility through manual labor.

Narrative Opportunities:

Events like harvest festivals, cooking competitions, or fundraisers could revolve around farm activities.

Farm responsibilities could create moments for character interaction, conflict, or bonding.

The farm could become a place of solace or reflection for students facing challenges.

Magic and Resonance Use:

Some students might creatively use their Resonances on the farm

Potential Challenges (For Story Conflict):

Mishaps:

Animals escaping, crop failures, or pranks leading to chaos on the farm.

Competition:

Students might compete for the highest sales during events, leading to friendly rivalries.

Misuse of Magic:

A student using magic irresponsibly on the farm could result in humorous or serious consequences.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maps and infos about the world:

Seafoam Dominion's infos are not especially true, because the site don't let me place a kingdom on water, so it's on a super small island with some burgs in the other states.

Also I didn't changed the number of people by burg, so this don#t count either.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The magical sport of Scriptoria:

Color Clash

Teams and Gameplay

Number of Teams: While six teams (one for each dorm) could add unique dynamics, it might be chaotic if everyone plays simultaneously. A good compromise might be:

Rotating matches with two teams battling at a time during recurring events.

A six-team free-for-all for larger, more chaotic rare events or tournaments.

Team Members: Teams could consist of 5(six teams) to 7(two teams) players. This allows for strategic play while keeping the matches manageable.

Playing Area: The sport could take place in a dedicated arena designed to resemble various terrains and obstacles, such as forests, caves, open fields, and ruins. Alternatively, for special events, the entire campus could be used for a massive "battle royale" version.

Rules and Objectives

Objective: "Paint" members of opposing teams with arrows (colored magical powder). Each successful hit earns points for the team.

Scoring System: Players are assigned point values based on their skill level. Before each match or tournament, players are ranked based on their performance in trainings and skill tests. This ensures fairness and adds an extra layer of strategy as teams must protect high-value players.

1 Point - Squire: Absolute beginners, bad or first-time players. Could be a player that is really good at shooting his arrow but bad at dodging the opponent’s.

2-10 Points - Adept : Average players, ranked incrementally based on skill and experience, with tiers such as Adept II, Adept V, Adept VIII ...

50 Points - Elite: Highly skilled players with notable achievements during training. Usually the captain if there is no Champion.

100 Points - Champion: The best player, often the team’s captain or standout star. Each team can only have one Champion.

It is mandatory for each team to have at least one Elite or Champion, but both at the same time are not always necessary, as not all team always have a Champion.

Points are calculated at the end of the game, and the team with the highest total wins.

Rank Titles :

Instead of saying, “That’s a 100-point player,” you’d say, “They’re the team’s Champion.”

The ranking titles could also play into the strategy:

Teams could call out, “Focus on their Elite!” or “The Champion is exposed!”

Elimination (Optional): Players could be "eliminated" when hit a certain number of times (10). This adds an extra layer of strategy, as players would have to decide whether to go on the offensive or protect high-value teammates.

Strategic Importance

Protecting High-Value Players: Teams will need to strategize to keep their Elite and Champions safe while using lower-point players to distract or disrupt the opposing team.

Not focusing too much : The lower rank players could think they are less important, but if they are eliminated, or permit the opponent to mark lots of points by touching them multiple time, they could makes the team loose even if the high-rank are safe.

Risk vs. Reward: Opposing teams may focus on targeting high-value players, leaving them vulnerable to counters.

Dynamic Rankings

Rankings could shift between matches or seasons based on performance. For example:

A player in the Adept X tier who performs exceptionally well could move up to Elite in the next game. The number of points earned in a match can play a huge part in the promotion.

Conversely, underperforming high-tier players might drop to a lower point value. (not after a one-time fail, of course, only after repeated defeats)

A player reaching the Champion rank will automatically take the captain place. But a Elite don’t necessarely become captain, except if there is no other Elite (and no Champion either)

A player reaching the Champion rank while there is already a Champion in the team will have to either decide to leave the team, change team, or the other player will have to make this choice, as no team should have more than one Champion.

A Champion or Elite disguised as a lower rank will lead to the immediate disqualification of the team. (in the situation of the others players are perfectly award of his real skill. If a Champion or Elite pretend to be lower to his own team, his teamate not knowing, then only the guilty player will be disqualified and forbbiden to join another team.)

Scoring System (Extra Points)

Player Elimination Bonus:

Every time a player is eliminated (hit 10 times), the opponent who lands the 10th shot earns 50 extra points.

If multiple players contribute to the 10 hits, only the final player earns the elimination bonus.

Chain Elimination Bonus:

For every consecutive opponent eliminated by the same player, the elimination bonus increases:

1st elimination: +50 points.

2nd elimination: +75 points.

3rd elimination: +100 points.

4th elimination and beyond: +150 points per elimination.

Entire Team Elimination Bonus:

If one player manages to eliminate an entire team (all members), they earn an extraordinary bonus of 500 points, in addition to the chain bonuses.

Last Player Standing Bonus:

If a team has only one player left, and this player wins the match (survives or eliminates all opponents), they earn an extra 300 points for their victory.

If the last-standing player of a team is eliminated, the player who lands the final hit earns 200 extra points, regardless of who dealt the previous hits.

Why extra points ?

Encourages Team Play: Collaboration is still critical for securing eliminations.

Rewards Exceptional Skill: Outstanding feats like eliminating entire teams or clutching a win alone are significantly rewarded.

High-Stakes Showdowns: The final moments of a game become more tense, as eliminating or saving the last player has huge scoring implications.

Magic and Special Elements

Magic Use: Magic could be allowed with restrictions, such as:

Spells must be harmless and non-lethal (e.g., creating distractions, shields, or minor obstacles).

Magic usage is tied to a temporary power-up system.

Power-Up Spheres : These floating objects can grant random temporary bonuses, such as:

Allowing harmless magic use for a limited time (depend of the power-up).

Shielding the player from one arrow.

Granting a "stealth" mode (invisibility for 10 seconds).

Doubling points for a short period.

Speed boost for a short period.

Freezes all opponents or arrows in place for 5 seconds

Emits a shockwave that knocks back opponents or clears arrows in the immediate vicinity.

Restores one "life". (Allow to be touched once more before getting eliminated)

Grants the ability to jump to high platforms or hover for 10 seconds

Allows instant teleportation to another part of the map, chosen randomly or directed by the player. (depend on the power-up)

Creates an illusory double of the player that moves randomly

Allows the player to place a one-time trap on the map that immobilizes or slows opponents who step into it.

Nullifies the effect of traps or hazards for a limited time

Temporarily causes all incoming arrows to change direction and return to the sender.

Randomizes everyone's positions on the map by teleportation, creating confusion and disrupting strategies.

Permit a one-shoot elimination (very rare)

Equipment and Mechanics

Bow and Arrow:

The bow transforms into a bracelet when not in use, making it easy to carry.

The arrows are tipped with harmless "pompoms" filled with colored magical powder.

Type of game :

Standard Matches: Two teams face off in a timed match.

Battle Royale: Six teams compete simultaneously until one team remains or the time runs out.

Infection Mode : One team starts as "infected," trying to tag players on the opposing team. This mode don’t use bows and arrow but gloves soaked in the magical powder. Tagged players become infected and switch sides. The game ends when all players are infected or time runs out.

Mystic Duel : Head-to-head duel with only two players of two different team or even the same team. The arena transforms into a smaller battlefield where they must outshoot each other. Often used when two players on the same team fight for the captain place or the Champion rank.

This sport is a traditional practice for students to sharpen their focus, strategy, and teamwork.

The power-up spheres are said to channel ancient magic from the Writers, rewarding clever players with bonuses.

Each dorm's strategy reflects their core values (e.g., Scarletfang play aggressively, while Verdance focus on defense and teamwork).

Additions or Clarifications

Audience Engagement

Magical displays show player stats, power-up activations, or instant replays during matches to entertain onlookers.

Spectator areas with enchantments allowing a "first-person view" of any player could immerse viewers.

Tiebreakers

In case of a tied score, there is a "sudden-death" shootout where each team selects one player of the same level of a Mystic Duel.

Seasonal Variants

Seasonal power-ups or obstacles (e.g., icy surfaces in winter, blooming vines in spring) to keep the sport fresh and tie it to the fantasy world’s calendar.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clubs :

Litterature Club : Cygnus Downwood, Mahdi Alclaris

Horse Riding Club : Minwoo Kinsei

Swordmanship Club : Lupin Vardred, Jin Haruto

Gardening Club : Tsuki Laito, Porcus Huffsbrick

Music & Dance Club : Lyricis Farahdein,

Drama Club : Imperius Wovengale, Éponine D’Orveil, Elric Briarthorne

Exploration Club : Marinus Tideshade, Gael Lumespring

Art Club : Faylen Charmwright, Rune Spindlewick

Cooking Club : Ambrosine Forrant

Chess Club : Archer Verdain, Khamari Duneshade

Science Club : Noel D'Orveil, Hatterick Marchhare

Photography Club : Ren Chisora

Cheering : Chester Marroway, Tressari Manarah

Color Clash Club : Thatcher Squeakefield, Lazlo Quickstride

Basket Club : /

Baseball Club : Imran Frosham

Racing Club : Caspian Willorun

Gymnastic Club : Kadar Serpenscale

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Classes and Seats :

First Years

1-A 05 – Tsuki Laito 1-A 09 – Rune Spindlewick 1-A ?? – MC 1-B 02 – Hatterick Marchhare 1-B 04 – Lyricis Farahdein 1-B 07 – Imperius Wovengale 1-B 08 – Elric Briarthorne 1-C 10 – Archer Verdain 1-D 02 – Kadar Serpenscale 2-D 07 – Ren Chisora 1-E 01 – Imran Frosham

Second Years

2-A 06 – Marinus Tideshade 2-A 08 – Minwoo Kinsei 2-B 06 – Tressari Manarah 2-B 08 – Cygnus Downwood 2-B 11 – Noel D'Orveil 2-C 03 – Porcus Huffsbrick 2-C 05 – Thatcher Squeakefield 2-D 03 – Mahdi Alclaris 2-D 17 – Éponine D’Orveil 2-E 04 – Caspian Willorun

Third Years

3-A 02 – Faylen Charmwright 3-A 16 – Khamari Duneshade 3-B 03 – Lupin Vardred 3-B 04 – Ambrosine Forrant 3-D 07 – Chester Marroway 3-D 15 – Jin Haruto 3-E 05 – Lazlo Quickstride

Fourth Years

4-A / 4-B / 4-C 02 – Gael Lumespring 4-D 08 – Kael Thornweald 4-E /

Fifth Years

Intership

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mechanics of a Resonance Crisis

Stages of the Crisis:

Warning Phase: The Artefact Sigil dims or cracks subtly, signaling instability. The mage exhibits heightened emotional extremes or behaviors contrary to their Resonance Character.

Example: A Cinderella Resonance becoming tyrannical and dismissive, echoing the stepmother’s cruelty.

Threshold Event: A traumatic or critical moment causes the bond to fully destabilize. The mage’s Artefact Sigil shatters, triggering the Crisis.

Transformation:

The mage transforms into an Echoed Antithesis of their Resonance Character—a distorted, exaggerated version of their worst traits.

Example: A Little Red Riding Hood Resonance becomes a wolf-like beast, embodying predation and fear instead of courage.

The environment around them twists to reflect their turmoil—spreading corruption, illusions, or chaotic phenomena tied to the Resonance.

Manifestation:

The Fractured Legacy takes a physical or semi-physical form—either merging with the student or manifesting as external entities they must face.

Example: The transformed mage might summon spectral versions of antagonists, or their minions, from their Resonance Character’s tale, or their surroundings could morph into a warped, nightmarish version of their story.

Consequences

Prolonged Crisis states can cause lasting damage to the mage—mental, physical, or magical.

If unresolved, the bond with their Resonance Character could sever entirely, leaving them vulnerable to permanent loss of their Arte and magical abilities.

Resolving a Resonance Crisis

Core Resolution:

The mage must confront the internal conflict driving their instability.

Example: A Happy Prince Resonance consumed by greed might need to realize that hoarding wealth doesn’t bring joy or fulfill their true essence.

This confrontation often requires the help of others, especially the protagonist, who serves as a mediator or guide.

Reformation:

The Artefact Sigil repairs itself, often evolving into a stronger form, symbolizing the student’s personal growth.

The Legacy Arte might gain new abilities tied to the lessons learned during the Crisis.

Fight:

Other mage could fight the mage in crisis. Defeating them would stop the crisis.

Designing the Fractured Legacy

Visuals:

The Crisis should have a haunting yet poetic visual style that reflects the student’s Resonance Character.

Example: A Cinderella Resonance would look more like a deformed version of the stepmother or the stepsisters, surrounded by jagged shards of broken glass and spectral pumpkin monsters.

Themes:

Each Crisis explores the darker side of the Resonance Character’s traits.

Example: A Little Mermaid Resonance, consumed by jealousy, might suffocate others in waves of magical water, symbolizing their suppressed longing for acceptance.

[flesh-and-fangs]

Y'all, I hate to say it, but no, Nandermo did not "go canon", in an "alternate universe" or through "implications" or otherwise. They were making fun of us. That was the point of all the little nudges and open questions that were quickly squashed. That was the point of the hypnosis ending. The point of that hypnosis was quite literally "Here, let's give the perfect fake wish-fulfillment ending to parts of our fanbase" (which is why there were three. They're fake. That's the point. The point is that they are supposed to be fantasies to appeal to people's hopes for the show).

Having Nandor and Guillermo as a classic sitcom couple set to a laugh track in a universe where none of the other characters exist was a jab at shippers who wanted Nandermo to be canon and cared more about that than the other characters or the premise of the show. They were making fun of "and they lived happily ever after" type fanwork. They were making fun of people who, in their eyes, ignored the irreverence and violence and black comedy of the show in order to make fluffy slash content. They were explicitly saying: "This is how we see you, and this is how we see what you want from this show, and we are telling you that it won't happen and we in fact have contempt for the very concept."

Why do you think they kept baiting the ship until the literal last lines of the show? They were making fun of us. They were saying "Ha! You still thought this would happen? After years of us saying it won't, to your face? Idiots." It's a comedy show, and they were making shippers the butt of the joke. They've been doing it for seasons now.

This is literally what Supernatural did back in the day. And nobody said that they made Destiel canon when they had an in-universe/alternate-universe stage play where the actors "explore Destiel". Fans back then recognized that it was a joke at their expense. That's what this is. Same as what happened in BBC Sherlock that one time, where in-universe conspiracy theorists said that Sherlock was in love with Moriarty (a ship the creators deliberately baited, mind you, same as they have here), specifically for the purpose of laughing at and making fun of that theory.

I'm so sorry, guys. I know you wanted to hope. I know you wanted to believe that the things the writers said at that con weren't true, but they were. I know because I wanted to hope too, even when I knew full well it wouldn't happen. They've been plain about how they feel about the ship for years. They saw it as a joke, one that drew in viewers, but was objectionable at its core. And they've followed through on that by baiting and jabbing up until the very end.