#can we talk about girl rules having the most views out of all the new show trailers announced so far

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me? i have watched the girl rules trailer a normal amount of times (don't look at my youtube history)

[girlatmirror]

couple’s getaway | jjk

you and jungkook spend the weekend before christmas with taehyung and his girlfriend at his cabin in the mountains, and you start it off with a bet.

rich! jungkook x reader

warnings: anal (minors you know what to do), kookie is rich asf, pda, tae and sasha are v cute, yn showing a hint of her crazy side, jk’s in loooove, christmas, mentions of marriage, pretty short imo, idk what else.

an extension to bend my rules 🫶🏼

__

It was the week before Christmas, and Taehyung had the amazing idea to invite you and Jungkook to his and Sasha’s now-yearly Christmas weekend getaway to his parents’ cabin in the mountains—a way to celebrate Christmas together while still being able to see family on actual Christmas Day.

Of course, you immediately agreed.

Your relationship with Jungkook was still new—almost two months—and it took the entire student body by surprise; finally, Jungkook could proudly say he proved everybody wrong.

The drive to the cabin was a nice bonding experience with the other couple—Taehyung driving, Jungkook sitting in the passenger seat, and you and Sasha in the back, already giddy about the two-day trip.

You very much loved the view of Jungkook’s broad shoulders, keeping your hands on them at all times.

“Sooo, what did you get Jungkook?” Sasha asked in a whisper tone, curiously.

You giggled, remembering the stupid thoughts that went into getting him a present. Your relationship with Jungkook wasn’t transactional at all; he paid for everything, bought you everything you ever wanted, and didn’t expect a thing in return. It was hard to think of a gift to give your rich boyfriend, who could snap his fingers and get whatever it was he wanted.

“I got him a massage gun for after his workouts and a card he can use whenever he wants anything, like a blowie or a home-cooked meal, and I’m not allowed to object to anything,” you explained in an equally quiet voice, excited to reveal your present. “Oh, and I also put in my used panties.”

There was no such thing as TMI in your friendship with Sasha—you knew everything about each other, down to the smallest details.

Sasha giggled mischievously in response. “Oh my god, Yn, that’s niiice. I got Tae a new camera; you know how much he loves photography.”

You let out a loud “awww,” which made Jungkook turn his head to you. The heated argument between Taehyung and Jungkook about who was the greatest NBA player of all time suddenly died down.

“What are you girls whispering about?” he smirked at you, which you reciprocated.

“Nothing, just how excited we are for the weekend,” you leaned in playfully, giving him a chance to capture your lips with his own.

The kiss quickly deepened as Jungkook turned his body entirely to you, both of you moaning softly into the kiss.

“You guys realize we’re here too, right?” Taehyung asked with a chuckle.

You ended the kiss slowly to lean into your seat again, only to be met with a smirking Sasha playfully pushing your leg with her hands.

“It’s alright, Tae; they’re still in that stage of the relationship,” she held onto his shoulders as she talked. “You remember how we were.”

“Were?” Jungkook asked, dumbfounded. “You guys are way worse than us!”

Taehyung and Sasha gasped dramatically in unison as if rehearsed. “Okay, bet. We’re gonna keep score of every PDA action between you and Yn and between Tae and me, and the couple that has the most loses. The losers have to clean the cabin before we leave.”

Taehyung, responsibly focused on driving, let out an agreeing sound to show Sasha he liked her idea.

“Deal!” Jungkook immediately replied, to which you giggled.

_

Finally arriving at the cabin, it was already 7. You all decided to only watch a movie tonight and start the real activities tomorrow.

Jungkook and Taehyung carried all the bags inside, and you took in the surroundings of the cabin; it was beyond beautiful. It was very secluded, no neighbors—only nature around.

“The bedrooms are upstairs; there are only two bathrooms—one downstairs and one upstairs,” Taehyung revealed, leading all of you into the house. “We’re gonna let the guests choose what bedroom they’d like to stay in, right, baby?”

Sasha nodded and smiled at the two of you.

“How very generous of you,” you thanked them as Jungkook took your hand, guiding you upstairs, your bags in the other.

You explored the upstairs rooms and decided to stay in the one that had the best view of the mountains—something you’d like to wake up to every day. The bed was big and comfortable, and the closet was, thankfully, big enough for the unnecessarily huge amount of clothes you brought with you.

“This is just wonderful,” you expressed to Jungkook, who immediately unpacked and undressed while you picked out the pajamas you were going to wear.

Jungkook opted for grey sweatpants and a white wifebeater (yummy), and you chose a baby blue satin pant set that you recently purchased while on a shopping spree with Jungkook. It did wonders for your figure.

“I’m glad you like it here,” he smiled lovingly. “Just want you to enjoy yourself this weekend—no college stress or nothing, okay?”

His strong arms engulfed you in a strong embrace; you immediately melted into him.

“Okay,” you quickly kissed his neck, your arms still firmly holding onto his bigger ones. “But we have to beat them at the PDA game. If you even think about touching me in front of them, I will break your fingers, got it?”

“Hey!” Jungkook called out while you exited the room, following behind you. “What if you can’t keep your hands off me? That’s also a possibility!”

“Pfff,” you mocked, walking down the stairs. “Likely story.”

Downstairs, you were met with the smell of warm apple cider. The warmth of the house in contrast to the freezing cold weather outside solidified the Christmas experience.

“We should watch Love Actually!” Sasha enthusiastically suggested.

“Oh my god, yes!” you immediately agreed with her, reciprocating the enthusiasm.

The two men looked at each other with unimpressed glances, both knowing the girls were going to end up getting what they wanted anyway, so there was no need to protest.

“Why do you look like that?” you challenged Jungkook when you noticed the exchanged glances. “You love a good rom-com; we always watch rom-coms when I come over!”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we’re actually watching them,” Jungkook implied with a sly smile, slowly groping your waist and kissing you.

Taehyung and Sasha watched the scene with amusement.

“Aaand,” Sasha suddenly moved to the fridge with a pen in her hand, where she had hung a piece of paper that said “Tae&Sasha vs. JK&YN.” “That goes on the list.”

You feigned anger at Jungkook, scolding him. “What did I just tell you about touching me?”

“Sorry, baby; you’re just so grabbable,” he cooed.

You all sat down on the spacious couch facing the TV as Taehyung put on Love Actually.

“Not a real word,” you grumpily replied.

“It is now.”

_

After the movie was finished, Taehyung had the idea to open presents, so everybody went and got their presents.

You got a present for Jungkook and one for Sasha; Sasha got one for you and one for Taehyung; Taehyung got one for Sasha and one for Jungkook; and Jungkook got one for Taehyung and one for you.

“Okay, during gift exchanges, we are allowed to kiss as much as we want without it getting put on the list, alright?” Sasha put out the rule, which everybody agreed with.

“Okay,” Taehyung took a sip of his wine. “Who wants to start?”

“Ladies first,” you replied, eating popcorn. “I think Sasha and I should give each other our presents first.”

“I’ll go first,” Sasha couldn’t contain her excitement as she handed you the stylish pink gift bag.

You took it with a cute “thank youuu” and started unwrapping the gifts; there were three wrapped gifts of different sizes. You decided to open the smallest one first and go from there.

All three of them watched with curiosity as you carefully unwrapped it, revealing a Fenty Beauty contour stick. “Oh my god! I was just about to buy that for myself, S; thank you so much.”

“I know! You ran out of yours,” she grinned like a baby, wiggling with joy. “Go on, go on.”

The second gift was a gua sha, something you had mentioned you wanted to buy before but never did. You felt absolutely loved, knowing you had a friend who remembered those things about you.

The big present was a Vogue journal, which you took the time to admire; it was the most beautiful thing ever. “Oh my god, Sasha! I love you; come here.”

You hugged for a while, really expressing your gratitude.

“Is that going on the list?” Tae asked humorously when you finally pulled away from the hug.

“Okay, now it’s time for your present,” you pulled out the box of presents.

Sasha was all about clothes and fashion, so it was always easy to buy her presents. You got her sunglasses, a chic Ralph Lauren sweater, a personalized gold necklace that said “Sasha Fierce,” and a scented candle. She flipped out and went in for another hug.

“I have the best best friend ever!” she yelled out. “Now, Jungkook and Yn, you give each other your gifts. I’m very curious.”

Jungkook clapped his hands together as if he were waiting for this very moment a long time, and you sheepishly handed your present to him.

With each gift he opened, his smirk grew bigger in appreciation. He held the massage gun with a grin. “We can use that for other stuff too, you know?”

You giggled like a schoolgirl in love, forgetting that your other friends were there for a moment, cuddling up to his side comfortably. “Read the card.”

“Jungkook’s wish card,” he started reading. “Yn Ln has to do whatever Jungkook Jeon wishes as soon as he pulls out this card; she is not allowed to object. Valid until next Christmas. It’s even laminated; wow.”

Everybody started laughing, admiring your creativity. Jungkook kissed you passionately with a “thank you, my baby; you know me so well,” whispered in your ear, followed by a “I’ll put those panties to good use,” that sent shivers down your spine as you leaned in for another kiss.

“Okay, Yn, now you open Jungkook’s gift!” Sasha ordered, so you did.

Jungkook’s present was a huge box that you carefully put in your lap and opened. In it lay a big diamond-encrusted Birkin bag.

You and Sasha gasped in disbelief, lost for words.

“Hope you like it, baby,” Jungkook stated with a brush on your arm when you sat in silence for a few seconds.

“I love it!” you shouted, jumping on him and kissing him all over his face and simultaneously banging at his chest with your small hands. “How could you do this?! I hate you so much!”

Taehyung was beyond confused, not knowing what the fuss was about but still able to appreciate the beauty of the bag.

Jungkook just laughed at your changing moods that he got used to by now and kissed you back, his hands on your waist. “Just wanna make you happy.”

After the chaos that Jungkook’s present brought died down a little, Taehyung and Sasha exchanged their gifts; for Sasha, a Dyson Airwrap that she went crazy for, and for Taehyung, a vintage camera he adored.

The rest of the evening was filled with storytelling, snacks, and stolen kisses until you all decided to go upstairs and call it a night.

-

“I can’t believe you got me a Birkin bag,” you whispered into his chest as you just stood in the middle of the bedroom, hugging.

You were both very physical people; it was something that Jungkook made you realize about yourself.

“What did you think I was gonna get you?” he asked, amusement lacing his voice as he rocked you back and forth.

You thought about it for a moment and quickly came to the conclusion that it wasn’t at all out of character for Jungkook to get you an extravagant gift. “Okay, it actually totally makes sense that you got me a Birkin bag. But it’s not even my birthday; it’s Jesus’ birthday.”

Jungkook laughed heartily and kissed the top of your head. “I’ll get him one next year. Now, let’s go; I wanna take a shower.”

After taking everything you need with you, you entered the bathroom together and locked the door behind you before you both started undressing.

Jungkook’s eyes roamed over your bare body hungrily as you entered the shower just behind him and let your hair down carefully.

“I haven’t washed my hair in three days; it’s time to do that now,” you stated, grabbing the shampoo bottle, but before you could open it, Jungkook grabbed you by the hips and leaned in to kiss you.

The warm water streamed down your bodies as you deepened the kiss, and his wandering hands were now on your ass. You looked up and down his sculpted body, getting aroused by the sight of him all hard and muscular.

“Remember the first time I had you in the shower?” he breathed against your full lips, kneading your ass. You simply nodded. “Let’s recreate that.”

You would have lied if you had said that your pussy wasn’t wet since the morning and that you hadn’t been waiting desperately to have sex with him the entire day, but you had to wash your hair now. “Jungkook, I gotta wash my hair; sorry.”

“Give me that,” he nodded to the shampoo bottle, which you handed to him. “Now, turn around.”

Once you turned around, he moved your hair to the side to reveal your entire back and grabbed you by the hips. He fisted his huge dick before slowly entering your ass. He squeezed some shampoo into his hand and started massaging your hair with it.

You gasped, “Jungkook!” before leaning into him closer until your ass hit his hips. He first started thrusting slowly, letting out low grunts that sent shivers down your spine before his thrusts began to hasten.

You arched your back, and your moans became louder; the clapping of his hips against your ass sounded like fireworks. You were sure if there were any neighbors, they would’ve heard you.

“You like that, huh?” Jungkook growled, head tilted back in pure pleasure. “You like when I’m fucking this fat ass, yeah? This ass was made for me to drill.”

“Yes, I love it, Kookie,” your desperation was palpable. “Please, don’t stop; don’t ever stop.”

His hands massaged your hair again, as if to not abandon it, before he suddenly lifted you up with ease and started fucking into you like you were a toy. He was hitting all the spots, your chest bouncing up and down, and your combined moans had never been louder.

“You feel so fucking good,” Jungkook grunted, his hands finding the opportunity to spank you harshly. “Just a little more, baby. I’m 'bout to cum; fuck, I’m 'bout to cum.”

Your own orgasm was nearing too, but you were too lost in your pleasure to say anything. A few thrusts later, you felt a warm flood of cum enter your ass and a breathless Jungkook kissing your neck.

You collapsed against Jungkook, whose strong hands held you upright. “You exhausted, baby?”

You nodded, with a pout on your lips. “Can’t feel my legs right now.”

Jungkook chuckled, cleaning your body with your coconut body wash. “It’s okay, baby; I’ll clean us up, and then we’ll go to bed.”

_

The next morning was surprisingly sunny, yet still freezing. You went downstairs to find everybody already awake; you blamed the sex you had last night for the fact that you woke up so late.

“Morning, princess,” Jungkook called out with a big grin. “You sleep well?”

Sasha chimed in, sarcastically, “Yeah, Yn, did you sleep well?”

You simply nodded and said, “Yeah, what about you guys?” before going up to the fridge to get something to drink when you saw something.

There was another line added to yours and Jungkook’s side of the sheet.

“Hey, why is there another strike on here?” you asked in disbelief. “The only PDA that happened was yesterday before opening presents!”

Sasha and you were truly the only ones invested in this competition; the guys just looked at each other in amusement, finding their girlfriends absolutely adorable.

“Are you serious?” Sasha snapped. “That show you two put on last night was very much PDA; we heard everything! Right, baby?”

Taehyung vigorously nodded his head as if not to give her a reason to be mad.

“Well, I’m sorry, but that’s not PDA if you didn’t see anything!” you argued. “It’s called a display of affection for a reason!”

“You disrupted our sleep! It deserves to be on here,” she declared with conviction.

“I’ll tell you where you deserve to be—” you started until Jungkook cut you off.

“It’s okay, baby; we’ll get them back soon enough,” he assured you with a cute smile. “Just eat breakfast before you say things you might regret.”

You simply abided by his wishes and sat down next to them at the kitchen table and started eating.

_

After spending two hours hiking and exploring the little town, you and Sasha were exhausted, but the guys weren’t; they actually decided to go to the gym, which was about a 20-minute drive from the cabin.

While they were at the gym, you and Sasha cozied up on the living room couch, her legs over yours.

“This is so much fun,” Sasha dreamily said. “We are best friends dating best friends; I love that for us.”

“Hmmm,” you agreed. “I feel like I can’t imagine it any other way, you know? Like Jungkook and I have been dating for two months—not even—and I already can’t imagine a life where I’m not with him.”

Sasha smiled softly. “And to think this is the guy that you rejected for two years…”

“I know! This is what’s kind of scaring me,” you started ranting. “Jungkook has been into me this whole time, and now, now he has me. I’m scared that there was a version of me inside his head that I can’t live up to, you know?”

Taking a sip from her orange juice, Sasha pulled a confused face. “I think that’s you overthinking because why would that even be the case? He has you now, but the effort he puts into making you happy didn’t go away; actually, on the contrary, he’s putting in more effort because the guy loves you, Yn.”

Your heart warmed at the mere thought of Jungkook, a man who made every other man look less than.

“Yeah, you’re right,” you stated. “You know how I get when something is so good that it doesn’t feel real; I’m just really paranoid. It doesn’t matter; tell me what’s up with you and Mr. Taehyung.”

Sasha suddenly started to smile like a child in a candy store. “He’s so amazing, Yn! But I gotta tell you something…”

Your eyes widened in curiosity. “What? What is it?”

She took a deep breath before saying, “Okay, so… you know how Tae and Jungkook are graduating this year and Tae already got an offer to work again at this firm after? Well, he’s been hinting at… marriage a lot lately, and I… I found a ring while I was sleeping over at his place last week.”

You jumped up with your hand over your mouth. “SHUT UP! This is sooo exciting; oh my god, this is just… this is so amazing!”

“Yeah,” she formed a small smile. “But I don’t know… I feel like I don’t know if I’m ready for marriage yet; it’s so huge.”

You put her head on your chest and soothingly ran your hand over her shoulder. “Sasha, you think about this as much as you need, but if you want to hear my opinion on it, I think if he does propose, you should at least consider it. I mean, you don’t have to get married right away! You can take your time; it will be exactly like now, but you’ll just have a ring on your finger.”

Sasha started to grin like an idiot. “I mean, it is a very impressive ring; I can’t deny that.”

“Oooh, well don’t leave me hanging; I want the deets!”

_

Meanwhile, the guys finished their gym session and made their way to the nearest store to get everything you needed for the Christmas dinner you were going to cook.

Jungkook held the list in his hand, smiling down at it as his eyes scanned over your handwriting, which he adored.

“What are you smiling about?” Taehyung inquired.

“Nothing, just Yn’s pretty handwriting,” Jungkook shook his head and smiled cutely.

Taehyung chuckled. “Finally got your girl, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jungkook shined with pride. “Finally.”

Suddenly, in the middle of the snacks aisle, Taehyung stopped, holding a bag of chips.

“I need to tell you something, man,” Taehyung began, as if deep in thought, to which Jungkook simply nodded at him. “So, I’ve been bringing up the idea of… marriage a lot with Sasha, but she’s kinda—how do I say this—she gets dismissive whenever I mention it, changing the topic, looking kinda uncomfortable, and I’m scared that when I propose, she won’t say yes.”

Jungkook searched for the right words to say, wanting to comfort his friend. “Well, I think you should communicate it with her. When girls do that, it doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t into you; they just overthink everything, see every possible outcome first, you know? And hey, just take me as an example; I hopelessly chased Yn for two years; now she’s my girlfriend. The important thing is you don’t give up.”

“I know she loves me, but she acts so weird whenever I say anything—even the most subtle thing about getting married—and you know I’m really good at being subtle!” Taehyung’s frustration was evident. “I already got the ring; I’m just waiting for the right moment, just waiting for her to give me the feeling that she wants this.”

“Maybe this subtlety is what isn’t working,” Jungkook suggested. “Sometimes, you just need to be honest, direct; say what’s on your mind.”

Taehyung looked at him, dumbfounded. “Ey, just ‘cause there isn’t a subtle bone in your body doesn’t mean everybody’s like that, okay?!”

Jungkook chuckled, recognizing the conflict within his best friend. “Alright, you do you, but if it were me, I’d listen to the master.”

“The master of what exactly? Making a fool of himself?” Taehyung jested. “You waited two years for that girl to say yes to a date; man, you’re no master of anything.”

“Ey, man, don’t piss me off!”

_

After lazily sitting on the couch, you both decided to bake Christmas cookies to kill some time until the guys came back.

Following the sound of Taehyung’s car pull up in the driveway, Jungkook entered the house with two bags filled with groceries and snacks, Taehyung following behind him with equally filled bags.

“Hey, you two!” you welcomed them. “How was the gym?”

“It was good, baby. We went to the store, got you everything you wanted,” Jungkook stepped into the kitchen, where you and Sasha just finished baking the cookies, and was about to kiss your lips, but you threateningly shook your head, the competition still on your mind.

To make up for the lost kiss, though, you grabbed a cookie and held it up to his mouth.

“A cookie for my Kookie,” you leaned towards him over the kitchen counter, accentuating your breasts, feeding him the cookie playfully.

His knowing smirk spoke volumes as he ate the cookie, already mentally preparing for the things he was going to do to you once you’re in your room.

Taehyung brought up the last bag of groceries and greeted his girlfriend with a big smile and an even bigger kiss, which she immediately reciprocated passionately.

“Ha-ha!!” you yelled, gloating. “Finally, I can put you down on the list!”

You danced happily, without noticing Jungkook watching you with heart eyes.

After cleaning the counter and organizing the groceries, you got started on your huge Christmas meal: a roast turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, roasted vegetables, and cornbread.

After four hours of you slaving away in the kitchen and all three of them asking if you wanted help— to which you always replied “No! I hate it when I’m cooking and someone’s in my space!”—you finished your feast, and Taehyung went on to prepare the pumpkin pie for dessert.

_

After stuffing yourself with food and brushing your teeth, everybody went to their respective bedrooms.

You opted for stretchy, tight shorts and Jungkook’s sweater (that you stole), and Jungkook was in his boxers. Comfortable in each other’s arms, you two laid on the spacious bed in serene silence.

Deciding to break the silence, you leaned into him and asked, “How was it with Taehyung today?”

Jungkook sighed softly, touching your head with his lips gently and replied, “It was nice; he’s got a lot on his mind though.”

Curiosity took over you for a second, and your mind raced with the possibility of it being the same thing Sasha talked to you about. “What about?”

His hands were now rubbing your back under the thick covers, adding warmth to your skin.

“I feel like there’d be a conflict of interest if I told you,” he admitted hesitantly. “It’s about Sasha.”

Your heartbeat quickened for a second until you decided to play a game. “I think I know what it’s about…”

“Yeah?” Jungkook smirked at you, challenging. “What is it about?”

“You go first,” you provoked, a finger poking his chest. “Unless you don’t wanna have sex for a week.”

“Okay, so,” he gave in immediately, sitting up straight, symbolizing his readiness to have a conversation about your friends. “Taehyung wants to propose to Sasha, but he thinks she doesn’t wanna marry him.”

“Yeaaah,” you said, unimpressed. “She already knows all of that.”

Jungkook expressed his shock, raising his eyebrows in a questioning manner, which he quickly changed back to normal. “No, you don’t understand; he even bought her a ring.”

You nodded, still unimpressed. “And he’s apparently really bad at hiding it.”

“No!” Jungkook exclaimed in disbelief. “Haha, bastard thinks he’s so subtle too…”

After his short gloating session, he suddenly turned to you face to face, curiosity written all over his face. “So?? What does she think? Is she into the idea, or completely against it, or what?”

“It’s complicated,” you explained. “She loves him, but she has so much to think about. On one hand, she feels like she’s not ready for such a commitment, and on the other, she wants nothing more than to spend her life with him.”

“Oof… well that’s better than what Tae thinks; he’s kinda convinced she doesn’t want it at all,” Jungkook let out a relieved sigh. “I mean, he’s not gonna propose tomorrow; he’s just thinking more like… next couple of months, you know?”

“Yeah, I told Sasha that she should take it into consideration; I mean, they have been together for almost two years now,” you observed, your head now on his chest. “And he has a stable future ahead of him. I understand why he wants to propose now; doesn’t mean they have to get married immediately.”

Your conversation made Jungkook ponder what your reaction would be if you found an engagement ring at his place; if you would panic, if you would cry tears of joy or sadness. He hoped you knew all the comments and “jokes” he made about making you his wife weren’t jokes.

“You’re right,” he agreed with you in a soft tone. “But promise me something.”

“What?” you asked.

“If there was ever a similar problem in our life, the only people we talk about it with is us,” he asserted. “I don’t ever wanna make you feel you can’t come to me and tell me everything, okay?”

“I promise,” was your answer.

_

On the last day of that weekend getaway, all of you—Jungkook—thought it was a nice idea to go paragliding as an exciting farewell to the mountains. Despite you thinking you were going to die, you ended up agreeing that it was a great experience to make.

Eventually, you had to say goodbye to the little cabin that would forever hold a special place in your heart.

The departure would’ve been much more emotional if it weren’t for Taehyung’s and Sasha’s triumphant expressions as they watched you and Jungkook clean and scrub the entire house while they sat comfortably on the couch, making out.

__

thank you sm for the support on my first post on here 🥹 if you have any requests pls pls send them to me!! also i’m sorry, i don’t really know what a tag list is. tell me your opinion on this one!! thanks ❄️

[cynthiav06]

I can Almost imagine how Impressive you have to be To Pull THE percy Jackson. Like pulling any Demi-God is great but PERCY?!? The son of posiden?!? THE SAVIOR of Olympus?!?

I headcanon that Percy is really just out of Anyone's League And You gotta be Pretty damn Special to be able to Pull him

Like imagine Fumbling him or breaking his heart

THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN.

Like come on Rick you are telling me Percy the greatest demigod of all time Jackson has to be paired up with someone who has nothing in common with him, frequently condescends him, literally forces her own views on him, hates his father, has a mother who tried to kill Percy, is controlling and toxically possessive of him and most importantly someone who has completely different life goals than him?? It doesn't even make sense when you look at it rationally.

I think Rick himself was trying to put Percy down in post Son of Neptune books by making his personality all about Annabeth.

We are talking about the Savior of Olympus, the bearer of Achilles Curse, the strongest demigod, the man who denied immortality from the King of Gods, Poseidon's favorite son, the only demigod to have been approached by other Pantheons first and well respected among their demigod equivalents, the only male demigod to have respect of Artemis, only one to be favored by so many Gods on the Olympian Council and that's only pre-Heroes of Olympus.

The Survivor of Tartarus, the demigod whose blood even Gaia wanted to wake to due to his power, the first and only Greek to be made a Praetor and now two times savior of Olympus. This is all without mentioning his singular and unique feats, and he has many.

AND THIS IS WHAT RICK DOES WITH HIS CHARACTER ARC????

Had Rick not been so obsessed with shoving Percabeth down our throats, he could have totally made Seafam Arc, and all our fics would have not been fics. We wouldn't even have needed headcanons for seafam cause Amphitrite and Triton and all of Atlantis would have absolutely loved him cause come on, it's Percy. It's impossible not to love him. So let's assume that's exactly what happened.

So the whole of Atlantis, Seafam, and most of the Olympian Gods love Percy and not to mention Sally and Paul, who are also very protective of Percy.

The new Lord of the Wild is his best friend, The Lieutenant of Artemis is his other best friend and cousin, both the children of Hades/Pluto are his best friends/cousins, the only other demigod to be blessed by Poseidon with a rare gift is also his very close friend not to mention other members of the Seven also respect him greatly and owe him quite a bit.

Hestia, Apollo, Hermes, Aphrodite, Artemis,Hades, Hepheastus, and even Dionysus and River gods either openly favor him or have much respect for him. (Poseidon and the Seafam are implied, Bob and Damasen as well).

This isn't even taking into account all the pegasi and nymphs and sea creatures who love him and that he has a literal hell hound.

Percy not only has friends in high places and the favor of literal gods on top of being Poseidon's favorite son as told by Poseidon himself, all the people with special abilities are all close friends with him.

In Riordanverse, Percy is like the only person you don't want to cross like ever.

So you know logically if anyone needs an explanation as to why Annabeth isn't a good match for him and someone like Rachel would have fit much better. A mortal blessed with sight much like his Mother later turned Oracle of Delphi, the girl who saved his life in literally the very first two encounters they have, a girl under protection of Olympians and blessed by Apollo?

Apollo could have definitely waived the celibacy rule as there have been mentions of married women later becoming oracles in Greek mythology( May Castellan too if you count the books) and that the rule is only to prove devotion to the God nothing more. And if Apollo can't, then Delphi, who is a spirit older than Gods themselves, could just change allegiances. She once belonged to Poseidons' domain, so there's that.

But since I am biased in favor of Rachel, literally any other ship but Percabeth would have been logical and fitting and better off compatibility wise.

[cherrytimemachine]

Can I have a breakdown of Prima? :3

Finally, I have an excuse to talk about the Thirteen. Thank you, anon. >:)

How I feel about this character: Strict and unyielding, Prima was the ever vigilant leader of the Thirteen. Raised from a young age to be the guiding force behind her team (yes my Prima is a girl, though she does use she/they), she developed a rigid standard for rules and was quite stubborn in the face of criticism against her. She was committed to fulfilling her destiny as given to her by Primus, who she considers a father to her, and she would do anything to make him proud. After the downfall of the Guiding Hand, she became colder and distrustful of others. She took over as the leader of Crystal City (Cybertron's original capital until it was changed to Iacon by Nova Prime) and claimed it as her territory. She'd always been more independent from the others, but her judgements of them could at times be quite harsh, especially towards Megatronus, who she deemed a reckless liability. She wouldn't realize how much of a role she played in the Schism (the downfall of the Thirteen) until it was too late.

All the people I ship romantically with this character: I don't think she'd touch romance with a 10 foot pole. She preferred being alone more than anything, as she felt security in being able to have total control over her own decisions. She'd be pretty difficult to have a relationship with anyway. She's a control freak and refuses to do anything that isn't by her standards. You might as well try migrating to a new planet, because Prima ain't budging.

My non-romantic OTP for this character: Despite the popular belief among the Thirteen, Prima does in fact care about them, in her own way. Her criticism is justified in her mind, because she thinks she's trying to show them the right way. Really, only Vector, Alpha Trion, and the Thirteenth understand her point of view. She doesn't explain her thought process unless it's about strategy or debating, so her personal motives are a mystery to most people.

She gets along most with Vector and Alpha Trion. They take their positions seriously and don't engage in much tomfoolery, so they're a more mature and favorable company in her book.

Out of all of them, she's the most protective of Thirteen. Thirteen is shy and hates it when their friends argue, and Prima's impression of them is a naive optimist. They're more knowledgeable and aware than Prima gives them credit for. The two still have a nice relationship though. Prima is a guiding force for Thirteen, and Thirteen has been known to convince Prima to soften her position on more than one occasion.

The last person she's really affiliated with is Onyx. They both share an appreciation for spiritually and the nature of treating sparks, both born and dead, with utmost care. Their tribes made an alliance a long time ago, and the mutual respect persists to the present day among their descendants.

My unpopular opinion about this character: The Thirteen needs to be in more stuff. Not just in books or in flashbacks or vague murals, I want them in a story with actual interactions. I want to see them battle Unicron, that would be lit. I want to see her flaws showcased to a wider audience. Megatronus gets the most negative attention out of all of them, followed closely by Liege Maximo, and Megatronus hadn't done anything to initially give Prima a reason to dislike him. She considered him the most like Unicron, and it shows how judgemental she is and how her biases affect the way she treats her team.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon: If she was even present in canon aside from being a legend. I wouldn't bank on it, but since there seems to be more focus on Quintus with the Earthspark series, it's possible that we will be able to see all of the Thirteen in all their demi god glory one day.

Also: let there be more gender variety in the Thirteen, for the love of god. I love Solus, don't get me wrong, but I feel like they did her dirty by making her the only girl for the sake of the angsty love triangle thing with Megatronus, Liege, and also Nexus for some reason. You cannot tell me that wasn't the reason for her being female. Just- let there be more women. Gender expression and its fluidity is a vital part of the Transformers species, and it should show in the early creation period.

I have many thoughts on the Thirteen and the Guiding Hand, so please feel free to ask about them!

[transraptortrainer]

I'll speak to specifically the trauma of them losing Brooklynn to a dinosaur !!

Kenji obviously became extremely avoidant which I think was perpetuated by a lot of trauma he experienced just dealing with the dad stuff. It's not easy for him to talk about his feelings or address them directly, and I think he knew he'd be hurtful to Darius - someone he really cares about - if he saw him again after Brooklynn's funeral, which is why he dropped contact with him and the others. He didn't want to hurt his brother but he needed space and a lot of time to heal from what had happened. That being said I don't think he would've ever broken that silence if it wasn't for Darius showing up on his door.

Darius isolated, and as he's always done, he blamed himself. Darius has suffered from survivor's guilt even since his father passed. It's never been easy for him to move on or forgive himself. But he also became a bit obsessive, and knowing that there was originally this plot for Darius to just hate dinosaurs because of the event was passed around in early screenings of season 1 is soo much but it really indicates how much Brooklynn's death meant to him. He couldn't view dinosaurs through the same passionate lense he always did. I think that is extremely representative of his feelings.

Similarly to Darius, Ben also became obsessive in a different kind of way...? Idk if anyone's noticed that his anxiety has kinda evolved into a what appears to me as a kind of paranoia disorder , which. Same queen I get it. He even went as far as to consider his friend Sammy may have been involved! He admits he had to rule out all possibilities which I can only imagine made him feel incredibly guilty. I think he also had to detach, probably mostly because the event caused a split in his friend group. He's become extremely self-reliant but his disorders are manifesting in fun and interesting new ways LOL.

Sammy copes through keeping busy. Obviously. I wouldn't be surprised if this is somehow related to the fact her family decided to end contact with her. But btw can we talk about how much that must've been the straw that broke the camel's back? We know family is the most important thing in the world to Sammy. Not only did she lose her family, but her camp fam haven't been together in 6 months and it's broken her heart. But she keeps busy. She cooks, she cleans, she cares for bumpy. She tries to do anything but think about what's happened to her.

For yaz.. well she's the only one actively receiving therapy. So she's coping. I would bet she thought about quitting therapy and school to support Sammy after everything happened but Sammy refused to let this happen. Yaz is very pragmatic and probably fell into a mindset once or twice that something like this was only bound to happen eventually...Yasmina seemed maybe the least effected by the loss and I think that's probably entirely because she was actively speaking about the trauma and working through it with a support group on the island. Love you girl.....

[jillsandwhichs]

Heart on my sleeve

A Valenfield Story, Chapter 6, Impactful

Masterlist

Pairing: Jill Valentine & Chris Redfield

Summary: Jill & Chris attend that R.P.D party they've all had to wait for. Chris gets into a dispute with Irons which leads to Jill comforting him

WC: 2.6k

Type: SFW

A/n: Hi! Hope you all enjoy. Please check out my masterlist, there's a lot of stuff there. You can get to know me, you can see the rules of my blog and then you can see all of my fanfictions. You'll be able to find the previous chapters to this fic and upcoming ones. You'll also be able to find my Wattpad & AO3. Comments, reblogs & likes are appreciated. Thank you

Jill looked down at her dress. Is she seriously going to wear this? It just doesn't feel right. She's so used to wearing work clothes or casual sleepwear. She's never this dressed up. Then again, it is for an event. Jill has been lowkey dreading this day for the sole fact she has to dress up, but she's already here and there is no turning back. She'll stride in with confidence.

It's 5:25. The party only began almost thirty minutes ago. Chris and the others are most likely inside waiting on her. Yesterday Chris expressed how it'll be nice to have her there and how badly he wants to see her all dolled up. Jill remembers laughing at his words. He's going to be in for a world of disappointment. She looks bad in a dress; That's how she thinks at least.

It's nothing too major either. It's just a black cocktail dress. The flyer said formal/elegant wear is encouraged and this is the best that Jill had on hand.

Opening her car door, she pulled her dress down and fixed it. She doesn't want to look a fool in that place. There are a lot of higher ups and rich people. It's not that she cares about her looks or what people think of her-it's mainly Chris. Jill wants him to find her beautiful. It's safe to say that yes, she does infact care about his opinion, but only his. These past few weeks have changed her in a way; Only with him.

Jill traversed into the building. The contrast of the outside versus inside was intense. Outside, it was quiet. You could hear brushes rustling and birds chirping. Inside was much different. It was loud. Jill heard people talking from all angles. Glasses clinked, people chewed and footsteps were everywhere. It's as if she's hyperactive. This sucks.

She looked around the Main Hall but couldn't seem to find Chris. He could be anywhere. The only person Jill saw and recognized was Richard. He's apart of the Bravo team. He's kind enough. She can ask him where Chris is but she doesn't want to be a bother. He's talking to a group of people and she feels rude just butting in.

Walking over to the drink bar, Jill quickly poured herself a glass of wine and sipped on it. What a relief. She can get a bit buzzed, this is good. She scanned the room again. Yeah, Chris is no where in sight. This is a disaster. It's not that serious, but she doesn't want to appear as a loner. She's a social girl, for the most part. She surely won't be speaking to anybody new though. Chris, that's it, maybe others if they speak to her first.

Jill leaned up against one of the wooden beams attached to the staircase near the entrance of the police station. This makes it so she has a better view of the room(s). She hopes that she'll randomly see Chris.

As she was sipping her cold wine, she was jump scared by a random hand touching her shoulder. "Fuck." She turned her head. It was just Barry. "Hey," He chuckled. "Didn't mean to scare you." "It's okay." Jill laughed it off. "It's good to see you." "Likewise. When did you get here?" "Just now. Five minutes ago at best." "I see. I bet you're wondering where Chris is at?" "Yes, I am." Jill cackled. Barry read her mind. "Heh, figures. Just follow me, we were all in the East side office." "Oh."

Jill followed behind Barry. Her glass was still in her hand but close to empty. She should've done more searching. "You look great by the way. Nice to see you all dressed up." Barry was so kind. "Thank you. You look dapper." Jill chuckled. She meant it. He cleans up nice. Kathy is a lucky lady; She is Barry's wife.

Entering the East office, you saw a couple people, including Chris. It was Kathy, Brad, Chris and some other guy. Chris's face lit up when he saw Jill. She was gorgeous, he can't even try to hide his excitement. He set his Whiskey glass down and ambled towards her. "Jill, hey. I'm happy to see you." "It's great to see you Chris." Jill set her wine glass down and hugged him. Her arms went around his neck. It was definitely an embrace of relief.

Chris hugged her back. His large arms went around her slim waist. "You look perfect." Chris huffed against her ear. Jill smiled but he couldn't tell. That meant everything. "Thank you. You're very handsome." She complimented him back.

He released her but his hands lingered on her waist for a bit until he realized that everyone's eyes were on them. He then let her go and cleared his throat. Jill did the same but she also pulled a strand of her hair behind her ear. "It's good to see you as well Brad." Jill said softly. "Yeah, hi, you look lovely." "You do too." Jill smiled, giving him a nod.

Kathy waved to Jill. "Hi." Jill spoke. "It's nice to see you in person Kathy." "Sure is. Hello Jill." They shook hands respectively.

It felt a bit more awkward now because everyone is being quiet. Jill decided to brush it off.

After they all began talking again, Jill whispered to Chris. "Can we go for a walk? Just us?" "Yes, let's go." Chris whispered back to her and took her hand. No one really seemed to care that they left.

"Kids being kids, am I right?" Barry said to Kathy. "They're definitely going to hookup sooner or later." "Cheers to that." Barry bellowed. Kathy snorted and clinked her glass with his.

-

"God I felt suffocated in there!" Jill said freely once they got outside through the East side exit. Chris laughed and nodded. "Me too." "Chris, you look great." Jill looked him up and down. "You do too... Really really great." He said breathlessly. Jill gazed up at the sky. It was almost six already. They spent a lot of time just talking and drinking in the East office. Jill and Chris didn't really drink though. Maybe a glass or two.

The sky has a pink and blue tint to it; It reminded Jill of cotton candy. She glanced back down and saw Chris gazing at her. "The sky is beautiful." "It is." He replied. "I almost didn't come tonight." "But it's required." "I don't care. I didn't want to. I don't like social events." "Me either." Chris responded before sitting down on the black steel steps. The steps have a bunch of little holes on each one. It's just how they were designed.

Jill sighed deeply. She did look beautiful. Chris thinks she could be a model. The way that black dress is wrinkled yet so tight on her. It's sexy even. Her flats were a cherry on top. They have a cute little red ribbon attached to them. Her brunette hair was as it always is but Chris found her natural hair to be gorgeous. Everything about her is drawing him in. She's perfect. She's the definition of ethereal.

"Kathy was sweet." Jill striked up a conversation. "She is. She's like the mom of the team." Chris cackled. "Seems like it. I like her already." "Good to hear." Chris smirked. Jill took a seat beside Chris. Their view was out to the black pavement and hedges. It's beside the courtyard. Outside of the R.P.D is kept up daily. It's pretty even. Jill was surprised her first day here by how up kept it was.

"I'm surprised it hasn't snowed today." "Pfft yeah, Winter here has its moments." Chris said quietly. "You aren't cold or anything?" "No, I feel fine, don't worry." Jill said softly, resting her head in her hand. "Good," He sighed, "If you do get cold, we can go inside." "Okay." Jill nodded. She appreciates his friendliness. He's a sweetheart. A dear.

They were sitting side by side. There was a light breeze going on, it felt so nice. There is a tint of peace to this moment. Jill felt happy, much more than she did before. Being alone with Chris is always lovely. She's so grateful she's gotten the chance to meet him and to get to know the real him. Chris isn't the man these people made him out to be. They just don't know him.

Jill turned her head to look at Chris. She sighed deeply. Chris glanced over at her. "You okay?" "Mhm." "You sure?" "Yeah. I'm just tired and a bit dazed from the wine." Jill giggled. Chris snorted. "I'm sure." He smirked, his head leaning against the black railing. "I also plan to order some Chinese tonight which will make me so dazed and happy." Jill snickered. "Lucky girl. I'm just having leftovers." Jill giggled at his words.

She is lucky, in more ways than just that.

The wind picked up and caused Jill's hair to blow around. She giggled and tried to tame her wild hair. "Gotta love when that happens, right?" Chris teased, watching her in admiration. "Definitely!" She snickered and ended up giving up once the wind calmed down. "Has your hair ever been longer than it is now?" "Yes, in my late teens. I cut it only recently." "I bet it looks beautiful long." "It does." Jill confirmed.

Chris would love to see someday.

He sighed deeply and stared at her. "I know this is random but Jill, I really am happy I've had to chance to meet you." "Me too Chris." Jill gazed at him. The look of love. It's too evident. "I think you're a great guy. Everyone was wrong about you." "You really think so?" "Mhm." Jill nodded while tucking in her lower lip. Chris was practically gawking at her. "You've changed me... Kind of..." "You've definitely changed me." Jill laughed out, smiling even more.

She felt a surge of warmth run through her. Jill knows this feeling. It's the feeling of adrenaline mixed with excitement. It isn't a fearful adrenaline like life or death. No, it's nervousness and shyness; It's an overload. Jill was blushing too but so was Chris. As for him, he hasn't felt this before. No woman has been capable of doing so until he met Jill. He wouldn't call his puppy love as to him, it's much more.

Jill's face leaned a bit closer to his. Their bodies were touching as they sat side by side. Chris brought his face closer to hers as well. Their hearts were both on overdrive. Jill could feel her eyes beginning to flutter shut. Chris closed his. The need to kiss her was overpowering and needed.

But of course, of fucking course, they get interrupted.

Right at Chris went to press his lips to her, they both immediately pulled away when the door just a few feet from them opened. It was Brad. What a fucking idiot. "Chris," He looked back and forth between Chris and Jill. He knew what was up. He chuckled awkwardly. "Irons wants to see you in the Main Hall." "Why?" Chris asked in a disappointed, disearning tone. "No clue but I advise you get going before big man gets mad." Brad the jogged back inside.

Jill looked up at Chris. Her eyes were soft and doe-like. A tint of sadness was clear in them. Chris felt despair. Not only was he not able to feel her lips and touch but now that bastard wants a word with Chris. "I'll be back in a few. Stay put, okay?" "I'll be here." Jill twinkled. "Good." Chris gave her a small wave and as did she.

Once the door closed, Jill let out a deep breath. "Holy fuck." She muttered as she set her hand over her heart. It was pumping so fast. That was such an adrenaline rush. She can't just not kiss him now. She wants to, badly. She hasn't had physical contact like this in so long and definitely not with someone like Chris. Not with someone Jill actually feels something for.

She stood up and began to pace back and forth.

"Hurry up Chris." She whispered to herself.

-

After what felt like an eternity, the door swung open and Jill turned around to look at Chris. "There you are." She said in a soft tone as she stepped closer to him. "Here I am." His voice was husky. A look of concern appeared on Jill's face. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I'm just sick of Iron's bullshit." Chris scoffed and sat down on the steps again. Jill was swift to do the same. She placed a hand on his shoulder.

"He sounds terrible." "He is." "I'm so sorry." "It's not a problem. I hope he retires or gets fired." Chris snorted. Jill cackled and nodded. "Me too then." How he feels, she feels. Brian Irons does seem like a total dickwad.

Chris's head shifted to face her. He sighed softly and glanced at the hand on his shoulder. It's so tiny and soft looking. Jill is pale. Chris finds it attractive. "What did Irons want or say?" "He called me a bunch a names and made me give something to Captain Wesker. It was a bunch of bullshit." "So it seems. I wish i could've been with you, I would've given him a taste of his own medicine." "Then you would've been fired." "For a good cause." Her eyes glimmered whilst she hosted a mischievous grin.

He pressed his forehead against hers and hummed. Jill moved her hand from his shoulder and instead to the side of Chris's face. He had a faint stuble coming in. Jill's rosey cheeks made Chris's turn into a peachy color too. She's beautiful. He's handsome.

Chris didn't want to waste anytime. He pressed his lips to hers and cupped her face in his hands. Jill let out a soft, tranquil sound. The sudden kiss was unexpected but also amazing. Jill giggled against his lips and deepend the kiss. She caressed the side of his face and slowly moved her hand to his hair. Chris just held onto her thin face. Touching her like this is what he's wanted since day one.

"I've been thinking about this and hoping for it." Jill said between their light pecks. Chris chortled. "Me too, constantly."

After a few more kisses, Jill pulled away. She was breathing heavily and in a consistent manner. That was so passionate and gentle. Chris was so careful with her. That was something else. Chris laughed and removed his hands from her face. "I promise you that isn't just from my Whiskey." "I know." Jill bit her lip. "And I promise that wasn't just from my wine."

So they both admit it. They kissed willingly. They both wanted it bad. For a few moments, they just looked at each other. Jill was the one to break the silence. "I'm getting a bit chilly. Can we head inside? We can sit in the office, just us." "Yeah, sure, come here." Chris helped her up. "I have a key, we can just enter through here." Chris referred to the staircase and the door at the top of it. "Okay."

They walked up together and Chris opened the door for her. "After you." "Thanks." Jill snickered. Chris conveyed in after her and closed the door. Jill locked her arm with his and they made way to the S.T.A.R.S office together.

[weirdraccoon]

If I can ask you for another one shot 😙.It's set quite a few years after the events of Hogwarts and mc gets pregnant with Sebastian and it turns out it's a little girl and they call her Miriam, can I ask what Fig's reaction would be? 💜💜

Sorry for the wait! Been working on this during my free time and then I was writing it here in drafts and I closed it before saving it and had to rewrite half of it 😭😭 hope it's good. I really like daddy!Seb.

MC couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of her husband.

Sebastian was cooing at the bundle of blankets in his arms, making faces and showering them with all the love and affection he had. MC's heart was soaring, and it would probably explode if she could actually see the giggling baby inside the blankets.

As it was, Sebastian claimed it was too chilly for her baby girl and proceeded to cover her and wrap her in all the blankets he could find before they had to leave for Fig's apartment.

"Who's a good baby girl?" Sebastian cooed, nuzzling the blanket, or that was what it looked like, he probably had a better view of the hidden baby in there. "Who's the best baby girl?"

"I am," MC smirked from his side, making him choke on his own laughter.

"Merlin, MC, not in front of the baby," Sebastian scolded playfully.

MC only shrugged.

They finally arrived at the building and she pulled the door open for her babies.

"Why, thank you," Sebastian grinned jokingly, making her roll her eyes.

"Just get in," MC said. "They're waiting for us."

Sebastian's grin remained in place even as he leaned to kiss her chastely.

As she suspected, their friends and former professors were already there when they entered the apartment. Aesop and Dinah were the first to notice them, so they made their way to them.

"And how's my most troublemaker student doing these days?" Dinah asked with a teasing grin, trying to peak over the blankets in Sebastian's arms.

"She's talking to you, love," Sebastian told MC.

MC scoffed and Dinah rolled her eyes.

"I'm certainly talking to you Sebastian," the old witch said. "I have to admit sometimes I miss you in my classroom but not in the castle in general."

Sebastian feigned hurt and looked at Aesop for help when it was clear MC was not going to step in.

"I understand the feeling all to well, Dinah," Aesop shrugged carelessly, glancing at the red head on the other side of the room. "I can't believe we have to see them in this reunions. How Eleazar does it is anyone's guess."

"Aw please you all love us," MC teased. "I bet you do miss us. Tha castle must be boring if the new generations don't break the rules as often."

"With ideas like that? We don't," Matilda added with a tired sigh and a warm smile. "How are you doing? Is this the new Sallow?"

"Ah yes, quit distracting us," Dinah frowned. "When are you introducing your baby?"

"Unless you expect us to wait until they're eleven," Aesop said sarcastically.

"She," MC clarified, blushing. "I was actually- I wanted to talk to Eleazar first. Grandparent privileges and all."

Dinah, much like Sebastian earlier, feigned a hurt wince and even put her free hand over her chest.

"Sebastian, what about me?"

Sebastian chuckled and Aesop shooed them off with an eye roll.

"He was in the kitchen the last time I saw him," Matilda said. "Ignore Dinah. She's had a bit too much to drink I think."

"Nah, she's fine," Sebastian grinned. "But I wasn't the one carrying this cutie pie for nine months. So, mom's the boss. For now," he added in a whisper.

"I heard that!" MC called over her shoulder.

Sebastian snickered and followed her through the crowd, avoiding their closest friends and the nosiest people. Sebastian was surprised when he noticed Ominis in a corner talking to Poppy. Now he was even more excited to show off his little girl. He'd put her in his best friends arms and call him godfather before he could protest.

The kitchen was more quiet. Eleazar was standing near the oven, whispering something to the house elf guarding whatever it was in there.

"And when they arrive I want the other elves to bring out the cake," Eleazar continued. "Champagne too, although I'm not sure if she's allowed to drink while breast feeding. Maybe champagne isn't a good idea."

"Eli! Don't talk about me breast feeding with the elves!" MC cried, red as a tomato.

Eleazar spun around so fast he almost toppled over the elf behind him. Said elf looked at MC with fear and pulled on his ears.

"The cake is not ready yet, Misus!"

"Don't worry about the cake," MC waved him off. "Eli, tell your elf to stop punishing himself and come meet your granddaughter."

Eleazar looked stunned and Sebastian giggled into the blankets that covered his daughter. MC sighed fondly and took one of Eleazar's hands to pull him close to them.

"Seb," she asked.

Sebastian straightened up, like a proud parent, and offered his baby to the man that saved MC all those years ago.

"Meet Miriam Anne Sallow, Eli," MC introduced softly.

Eleazar was staring at the baby in awe and he jolted at hearing the name. He glanced at MC and Sebastian, the stunned expression not leaving his face. Sebastian nodded knowingly and offered a warm smile.

"She's beautiful, MC," Eleazar whispered, tearing up when baby Miriam grinned gummily up at him. "Looks exactly like you."

"Well, that's the Sallow hair," MC winced. "And she could have freckles."

"Babe," Sebastian took her fidgeting hand. "Accept the compliment. She's as beautiful as her mom and everyone can see it."

MC blushed, not as hard as before, and nodded.

"I'm proud of you," Eleazar finished, giving back the baby to her dad who welcomed her into his arms excitedly. "You're doing great."

MC hugged Eleazar while Sebastian jumped from one foot to the other. MC laughed.

"Go show Ominis, Seb."

Sebastian didn't need to be told twice. He left father-daughter in the kitchen while he took his own daughter to meet her godfather.

[penultimate-step]

“When I’m a Duchess,” she said to herself, (not in a very hopeful tone though), “I won’t have any pepper in my kitchen at all. Soup does very well without—Maybe it’s always pepper that makes people hot-tempered,” she went on, very much pleased at having found out a new kind of rule, “and vinegar that makes them sour—and camomile that makes them bitter—and—and barley-sugar and such things that make children sweet-tempered. I only wish people knew that: then they wouldn’t be so stingy about it, you know—”

This is definitely a moment that had me take a step back and reevaluate how we were meant to see the book's characters, I think. Throughout the whole book we have this cast of characters who are working by what seems to be arbitrary and nonsensical logic, like they all have their own set of rules that just don't make sense from our perspective, it's nonsense. But I think what this passage does for me is reframe Alice's role here, as it shows that she's not immune from doing the same thing, really. Generally as she's the protagonist, we see things from her point of view, her thoughts get shown and explained to us so we see why she's making her choices. And certainly compared with the most out-there parts of the cast she's much more reasonable. But she has these rules that, from the outside, feel like arbitrary nonsense too.

Imagine being one of the birds during the pool of tears scene; you help this girl avoid drowning and get dry, but she can't stop talking about how she loves when birds and mice get killed and eaten, and seems confused why you and your buddies want to keep a distance from her. Under real life logic it makes sense, right, we understand that she's fond of her pet cat and the nearby dogs, and doesn't much consider the feelings of the mice and birds that they catch, readers can get that she's merely applying the logic of reality into the wonderworld where mice tell stories and birds play sports, and her thought process is understandable from start to end. But nonetheless her rules don't make sense in this world, she is working off of a mindset that doesn't apply here, from the outside this probably appears just as strange as any of the world's denizens do to Alice and the audience.

So watching her develop this rule in real time, one that doesn't actually apply within the book's wonderland or in reality, it does kind of highlight the similarities between Alice and the other characters, in that they all have a certainty in their own rules, even when those rules don't match the world around them.

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.230 thoughts

[Big VIC is Back in Town!]

(Topics: art - visual metaphors, thematic analysis - perspective/tragedy, character analysis - Victor, lore analysis - Negators)

Reunited and It Feels So Good

Artistically, I think this might be the most beautiful chapter in the entire series. The imagery of Julia literally entering Victor's soul through the wound she inflicted, his happiest memories floating by on hazy film screens until finally she arrives at the start of it all, only for the screen to shatter and reveal the stairway of Victor's descent into isolation and despair, with a young Victor, his true self, waiting at the bottom, flanked by the motivations of his and Juiz's mutual love...what else is there to say about that sequence than simply that it's gorgeous??

And for this younger Victor to look at Julia, see how much Juiz has changed, but still smile and call her partner, is proof that the most fundamental aspects of Juiz have not been lost. After all, who would know Juiz better than Victor?

This new Juiz, with no connection to all of the joy and pain that her past self had experienced and endured, went out of her way to find her way to Victor and tell him that even here, when it seems like he can finally die, that she wants the ending to their story to be a happy one...of course he realizes that this is still Juiz. The Juiz that he doesn't know yet does know

I've talked before about how one's soul is telling of how the view themselves - Fuuko is still her short-haired self with Gina's jacket tied around her waist, Haruka is still the little girl who lost her grandfather, etc., but this is the first time we've seen someone update that sense of self. When Julia takes Victor's hand, his young, thin arm immediately bulks up, accepting all of the struggles that made him as strong as he'd become over the eons so that he could use that strength to continue fighting for his partner, but this time retaining the glowing grin he used to sport when around her

This is what I mean when I talk about this cast becoming complete. The best traits of his past self and the best traits of current self have come together to make Victor's absolute best self. Gina's philosophy on change becoming flexible rather than reversing, Feng's acceptance of age while still striving to reach the peak; Undead Unluck's reverse character development style is not about undoing what has been done, but finding the balance between one's old and new perspectives

What's particularly fun about this is that, in Victor's case specifically, perspective is a major part of his character arc

A New Take on an Old Classic

It was during the Andy vs Victor fight that we first learned that Negator abilities could be altered through interpretation; in Andy's words, the key to Negator abilities is "all a matter of how we perceive the Rules," and for Andy, Victor was the embodiment of that concept, as the two of them had different takes on what it means to die in the first place

Victor is, quite literally, Andy with a different perspective. They both clearly have the same core personality, but that personality was shaped by radically different experiences, which in turn gave birth to radically different philosophies

Back then, the dividing line between these philosophies was in the sense of logic they used for manipulating Undead; for Victor, he used it to manipulate his body, the part of a person that can die, but for Andy, he used it to manipulate his soul, the part of a person that can't die. However, this still wasn't the key difference in their approach; where Andy realized it was a matter of recontextualizing the Rule itself, Victor simply moved his body as he pleased. Victor wasn't thinking about the implications of his Rule, he wasn't saying "technically that drop of blood is still my dying body," it was all just a matter of course

Victor evolved his ability through sheer brute force and experience using it, not self-reflection and careful introspection. In all of his eons of existence, Victor's soul is still the child from 460 billion years ago; he never let that base interpretation of himself change, never challenged himself to become anything more or anything else. Until now

Now Victor understands that the Rules aren't set in stone, that they aren't matters of fact. And as it happens, it's not just the Rules that can be examined, deconstructed and recontextualized, it's also the tragedies that make Negators and all people who they are

Tragic Origins

When Fuuko said that the world of L001 was too different from L101 for Unjustice to manifest, I thought she meant it in the sense that the structure was too fundamentally different, like the lack of UMA Sex or what have you. Instead, it seems that it's because of the context that Unjustice itself was originally given to Juiz under: as the first Negator, Juiz wasn't chosen by a predecessor, but by Justice itself

Moreover, the accompanying tragedy was surprisingly subtle, to the point that I'm not sure anyone involved even realized at the time what the cause was. While Victor was resolving to die, forget, and eventually remember Juiz, Juiz accidentally used Unjustice on him, forcing him to declare that he would instead become Undead, and thus cursing him to live forever

That context really was near-impossible to recreate in L101; all Negators have already been selected, and it is no longer within Unjustice's power to assign new Vessels. I suppose Unjustice could still manifest by forcing someone to commit an act they wouldn't, but the scale would be so different that it may not successfully resonate with Juiz's latent soul

Which is why Victor went out of his way to reframe Julia's actions

If I Could Do It All Again

As Victor said, he was about to fade away forever. Presumably, Andy and Fuuko used Unluck to target Victor with Death's scythe, separating the piece of Andy's soul that still held Victor's within it from Undead. Since they were two separate entities, Victor was no longer Undead, and thus susceptible to Death in the fading piece of Andy's body

By reviving Victor, though, pulling his soul back to the forefront of the Andy fragment, Julia forced him to lose his opportunity to finally die and thus continue his unending life. This is the moment that reawakened Unjustice, allowing both Julia to stop Soul's final attack and Victor to become Undead once again. The difference this time, though, is that Victor can live with a smile

Just like Andy, Victor now has something to live for again, a beacon of hope guiding him to a goal he once thought unreachable. It's tragic that he didn't get to die, but while tragedies are unfortunate, they aren't always bad. After all, remember what Fuuko said in ch.122? She was only able to meet Andy because she endured hardship. The same goes for Victor now: he is only able to experience this hope and happiness because of his repeating tragedy

Everyone experiences tragedy and hardship, but it's what we do afterward that defines us. Losses hurt, but it's our decision whether we allow them to break us or make us stronger. We can give up, we can pick up the pieces to fit them back together, or we can throw them out and build something new from scratch, but no matter which we choose, it's our choice

In L100, Victor gave up. He was broken and thought everything was unsalvagable, so he tried to force Juiz to give up too. But now in L101, even after her death, Juiz was able to start anew as Julia, and still fights to make something better. After seeing that, how could Victor not pick up the pieces and start again?

How could he not take the eternal tragedy of his immortality and negate it?

The Exception that Proves the Rule

While Luna's first appearance to Juiz and Victor was oddly underwhelming, her words were simply fascinating: Negator abilities were a glitch in Sun's Rule system, an unintended side effect to the creation of the UMAs. For Death to exist, then so too must its inverse: Life. For Movement to exist, then so too must Stillness; for Luck, Misfortune; for Justice, Amorality. These Rules are defined by how their states differ from and compare to their inverse, and those inversions needed to manifest somewhere

Presumably, Luna could have created her own set of UMAs, but instead she chose to implant these anti-Rules into the side effects of her own creation, Soul: humanity. This became the basis of the Gods' game: the UMAs that govern the Rules vs. the humans that negate the Rules

From there, humanity negated every expectation placed upon them. They found ways to extend their lives, to manipulate their fortunes, to grow beyond their tragedies. Humanity was always going to rebel against the Rules that God placed upon them, so it was simply perfect that Luna bestowed the Negator glitch upon them - it merely crystallized their nature into a more directly applicable form

Victor's ability to see his tragedy from a new perspective is the final evolution of this concept - the thing that makes him a Negator, the curse that has been put upon him, is now his hope for the future. Other Negators have taken this to heart as well, like Shen legitimately enjoying Untruth or Nico deliberately accepting Unforgettable to see the path to victory, but Victor is the first to look at the tragedy itself as a blessing, thus completely freeing the Union from the last element of the Negator system that was tying them down

Now all that's left to do is overcome the Rules themselves

Of course, that doesn't mean that this is the end already. I've mentioned before that Soul is certain to enter Phase 3, which will turn the tide back in the favor of the Master Rules, but the return of Undead Unjustice is a huge milestone moment for the Union. I sense the Bad News phase is coming soon, but no matter what happens, I know that the Union will overcome it

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

[purgemarchlockdown]

What Animal Can Tell Us About Amane: The Purge March Remaster.

(CWs: Cults, Child Abuse) (Note: This is sort of a sequel to this post, you don't need to read it to understand this though as I reiterate and expand on the points I make there due to the new information Purge March provided.)

Purge March is out now and has added and recontextualized a lot of elements in Magic and Amane Momose's story as a whole! So let's talk about it in relation to Amane's cover of Animal!

Cats

As I said in my original post, Animal has a very consistent cat motif. It's present in both the original illustration and the lyrics itself.

When it comes to Cats they tend to be viewed as signs of good luck and protection in Japan. They're also well known as cute, if not a bit lazy, aloof, and mischievous, housepets. Cats are, generally speaking, very well-loved animals

This is not the cat Animal talks about. The cat in animal is wild. A cat so deprived of love that it will do anything to get a taste of it. However it's wild nature and unwillingness to hold back make it lose out of the love it so desperately craves due to the "danger" it presents.

Now, Animal is a very suggestive song, but I'd argue that's actually to it's benefit if were viewing it in context with Amane's story for reasons I'll get to later.

For know, let's talk about the cat that Amane is known for.

Unlike what most of us expected, the Cat in Magic IS an actual cat, and I wanna draw some attention to how Amane gets paralleled with it.

Now Magic is it's own wild animal even before Purge March so we won't talk in great detail about these parallels, however it is important to note that in Purge March, the cat has a collar.

Not only that but its sitting with a bunch of junk, old furniture, tires, and something that looks like a TV, another notable motif in Magic.

This cat was someone's pet, something that was supposed to be taken care of, and yet was abandoned. This cat is ultimately implied to have been killed because someone else took care of it. Since the mere idea of it being shown love and affection was apparently so bad for these people.

Not only that but the injuries shown on the cat in Magic are not the cat's injuries, there Amane's.

Here's the injuries of the Cat in Magic, as you might of noticed the Cat in Purge March has a scratch on it's leg and is breathing well.

Amane is the one with bruises on her face and was shown hyperventilating due to being waterboarded.

It's both a very literal cat and a metaphor, Amane is portraying herself through the cat in Magic. While also downplaying her actually pain in Magic.

But we'll get to that in a bit.

All this to say, Animal's cat motif fits very well into Amane's prestablished parallels with them.

Which means we can move onto:

Vulgarity

The 2nd rule of her cult is this:

’Tis ordained, thou shall discard vulgarity

It's the rule we see Amane mess up at the start, and is the only flag not shown flying in the anticipatory shots.

Now the rule is pretty vague as we don't know what exactly is defined as vulgar, and that might be the point.

Amane, over the course of Milgram, has insisted, very hard, that she does not like frivolous things. That she is a very good girl who is strong in the face of temptations.

However a lot of things hint otherwise, for example a recurring line in Magic is her asking if it's alright to spoil herself.

Dear wise one, Am I worthy? Is it ok to spoil myself?

In the same song she asks if it's okay to be "weak" the weakness most likely being this Want for "vulgarity" (and also escaping pain but we will get to that in a moment.)

Dear wise one, Is this ok? Is it ok to be weak sometimes?

We also have her T1 Interrogation questions, where for Q5 someone asked about Amusement parks.

Q: When you go to an amusement park, what do you like to ride? A: That is a place I should not go to.

Not, "I haven't been to" or "I don't want to" but "I should not" implying a rule.

In same Interrogation we also get Q3 and Q17 which add even more information:

Q3:

Q: If you were allowed to do anything, what would you want to do? A: Nothing really. I am not lacking anything.

Q:17

Q: What would you do if the world ends tomorrow? If everything ends? A: Then, I might do all sorts of things I have never done before.

These seem contradictory at first, but it seems like the condition of the world ending that changes her answer. If the world is ending then the theoretical consequences of her actions aren't as severe. While Q3 doesn't state an ending, meaning that there is Always a risk of Punishment.

This is also very complementary with Q12

Q: What is the meaning of life? A: I think it is something you learn for the first time when you look behind yourself when it ends. I do not want to have regrets then, so I live on with all my might.

Amane doesn't Want to regret anything, so it make sense if she knows everything is going to end she'll do Everything She Wants.

We already know that she wants to eat cake due to this timeline interaction.

21/06/27

Shidou: Amane, I heard it was your birthday today. I asked Es-kun if we could get this cake to give to you…… Amane: I don’t need it. I’ll gratefully accept your well-wishes, but I don’t eat things like that. Also…… Shidou-san, I can’t say I’m especially fond of the way you assume that all children will love frivolous things like this. Shidou: ………… Is that so… I apologise. I’m sure everyone else will be happy to eat it, so don’t worry about it. Sorry for intruding. Amane: ………… ……cake……

Timeline also gives us Amane wanting to pet Jackalope but pretending she doesn't. Which might be because of this and also might be because of what happened to the cat.

But we also have Purge Marge and Magic's visual presentation, which put Amane in cute and pretty costumes with fun props.

Magic especially is very indulgent. With Amane getting a really cute Magical Girl-esqe outfit in it and it being presented like a low-budget kids TV program.

Also, the TV found with the Cat in Purge March is possibly the same TV Amane was using at the end of it since Magic is full of Very Literal Metaphors. It's possible it was thrown out because of this presumed "vulgarity."

I could list examples for days but let's go back to Animal, as these concepts of vulgarity and acceptability is what makes Animal's suggestiveness an asset to it's storytelling. Animal Is a Vulgar Song, undeniably so.

The mask comes off and the beast comes out, I do it wild even if it’s ugly

It's the exact kind of song Amane would never in a million years be allowed to listen to! It might even be touted as an example of the sinfulness of the world, and that's why it works!

Amane is not a good girl, she admits it herself in Magic. She's someone who wants cute outfits and nice food and love and happiness and a bunch of other things as is Denied Them because Wanting in the first place is considered a sin.

Sin and Virtue

Sin and Virtue are a big part of Amane's story.

What is Virtuous?

What is not?

And what can be presented as sinful so you have an excuse to hurt someone?

As a song, Animal also toys with these concepts.

You want me to bite you? Accelerating beat, let’s do both the good and bad

What is acceptable and what is not? The character singing talks a lot about how disobedient they are and how that's undesirable.

The mask comes off and the beast comes out, I do it wild even if it’s ugly I can’t do sit, I can’t even do stay, purr until I go

As said previously, Amane Momose is not a good girl. At least not by the standards of her cult. She is simply too sinful, she is not close enough to god. In a world that wants her to be a dog, she is a cat. She is a horrible sinful person in a righteous world.

She is a bad, bad girl who wants so many sinful things who also wants desperately to be good so she can be cherished and loved and Not Abused.

Even I can say "I'm sorry" Even I have hope I swear! I'm going to be a good girl now! That's it!

She's Treated as someone who is undesirable, treated as someone who is sinful. And as much as she Tries she's unable to change that.

After you cry, repent, and kneel, it’s now your turn to say that hopeless “I’m sorry”

Amane also cares A Lot about having a righteous reason to do things. Why wouldn't she if she's been treated as sinful for her entire life? She needs that approval from god, from her cult, from her parents because if not that means she's evil and sinful and something that should be punished.

She doesn't even call herself a good girl in Magic! She just says she can only become better.

I take an oath! I can only become a better girl!

Amane eliminated her mom because her mom wasn't able to reach her own standards and taught Amane that the appropriate reaction to that was violent punishment.

But she still wants her dad's approval.

Q12:

Q: Who do you want to meet right now? A: My father. I want him to praise me for working hard.

Amane really, really, wants to be saved from her own sinful, horrible self. Because, if you were raised to believe that you or your actions were sinful, having that behavior "corrected," thus "saving your soul." could be considered...love.

Amane's T2 Voice Drama:

Amane: I’m happy that I was born to my parents! It was a bit difficult, and it could feel restrictive sometimes, but I’m really happy that I could grow up on such beautiful teachings! I want to live this way!

The Conflation of Pain and Love.

One of my favorite lines in Animal is this one:

If I could even love pain, I would be so happy

The song gestures towards dissatisfaction and lack of love and care multiple times but it gets stated directly here. If only the singer could love pain, if only they could be okay with a low standard of love, maybe they could actually feel happy and fulfilled.

Let’s get lost in each other, plunge into the gate, high expectations of love is not allowed ---------------------- But it’s not scary at all, because it’s love I can really think it’s great. See isn’t it a great thing?

However, as said above, the concepts of sin and weakness and greed are also conflated with wanting and happiness.

If you can be a little greedy, I want to be happy ----------------------- Dear wise one, Is this ok? Is it ok to be weak sometimes?

We can draw the a connection here, wanting good things for yourself is showcasing greed, wanting to be happy is weakness. This is something that makes sense as her cult is stated to consider pain and suffering trails.

Amane: Both pain and illness are trials. According to our teachings, those who run from them are the worst evil there is. That’s one of the four great principles. No matter who you are, that cannot be forgiven.

This explains so much about Amane's worldview. This is why she keeps on asking if it's okay to be weak, if it's okay to spoil herself in Magic. She is constantly going through these "trials," and she can't get away since running away from them is considered a horrific evil.

Her attempts at self-comfort and coping are considered as a weakness, your supposed to just suck it up and deal with it. Having coping mechanisms to horrific inhuman situations is bad actually because it means your running away from god, apparently.

You could easily imagine a situation where Amane is punished for killing her mom, not because it's murder, but because she "escaped" from her trial of punishment and is thus "evil."

(I talk about this in relation of Amane's idealization of the Milgram system here if you want to check that out.)

Pain is Amane's Way to God, it's Amane's way to Salvation, a glimmer of hope for her horrible sinful self.

Even I can say "I'm sorry" Even I have hope I swear! I'm going to be a good girl now! That's it!

Pain is love, pain is their way of "fixing" Amane, pain is their way of "cleansing" Amane.

Except, as stated previously, it doesn't work, it never will! Amane can't be cleansed, can't be purified, no matter how much she tries to be a good girl she'll ultimately fall short.

Only if, only if, only if I could be a good girl I hope, I hope everyone can be happy and smile Forever, forever together would be a dream

Because as much as you can train a wild animal to be a pet, you cannot train a cat to be a dog.

Inability to Change

Amane is unable to change, not in the sense of unable to improve. Amane definitely can, cult survivors aren't unheard of.

Amane, is however, unable to change who She is.

Because, who can really? I'm autistic and masking even just a bit makes me feel physically weak after an hour or so. I doubt the 12 year old who wants happiness can pretend she's satisfied forever.

Amane is a person, she can't change that about herself, she just can't. The original sins of humankind sits inside her body festering like a disease. Amane is wrong for wanting close and stable connections. Amane is wrong for wanting to help someone. Amane is wrong for wanting things that would make her happy.

Amane is wrong because she's Amane Momose and she was always going to be wrong no matter what she did.

She can try her best to be the perfect animal, one able to follow every rule and command with perfect accuracy. One able to lobotomize themselves and strip away everything they made them, them.

But she can never change the fact that she's a cat in a world that wants her to be dog.

Layers of makeup, the perfect animal, I'm waiting with my eyes wide open I can’t do sit, I can’t even do stay, purr until I go Show your fangs and howl, are you ready? on the count of three let's say "ZUKKYUUUUN♡", once I bite I don’t let go Layers of makeup, the perfect animal, I'm waiting with my eyes wide open

[henrysglock]

Well, Well...Look Whose Limbs Are Still Intact (AKA the 4th NINA installment)

After seeing The First Shadow, I'm revisiting NINA installment #3!

Previously, I had speculated that El may have committed the 4.07 massacre after all, because there are multiple shots where the bodies don't have the Vecna eyes/snapped limbs.

For example, the difference:

And she may still have, I won't rule that out entirely. However...After seeing TFS, I have questions.

In TFS, when "Henry" doesn't attack in classic Vecna-style (which we actually witness firsthand just as often as we witness traditional Vecna killings), he attacks similarly to the way El does:

(it's not exactly the same, but the end results are very similar)

It's not Vecna style. Point blank.

When Vecna kills, the limbs always go first, and the eyes go last. We see that in Prancer, we see it in Virginia, and we see it in 1986. Limbs, then jaw, then eyes.

As far as we know, "Henry" on his own doesn't snap limbs at all, let alone jaws. The victims (see: Mr. Newby and Inmate 58361) are usually awake, aware, and screaming in agony, and no bones are broken. The eyes are the only thing to go, and they go fairly quickly.

Not Vecna-style.

So now, of course, I have to look back at her:

I know we've all seen this scene (and these pictures) so, so many times. Most likely from me, and most likely in another part of this analysis series. However, I want to run through this one part specifically shot by shot because it's EXTREMELY funny to me.

We've got Jumpsuit-A Guy (I'll just call him JA for short) attacking El:

So you'd assume he's both the One making El's eyes bleed that way and the One making her limbs twist/snap, right? Because he's doing what Vecna does?

(He isn't, but they want you to think he's doing what Vecna does. They're very good at hiding things about jumpsuit guys.)

But check this out.

We never see teen El with: a) twisting/snapping limbs b) the squeezing eye blood pattern c) JA Guy on screen at the same time. We see everything in tight shots. (Of course, always managing to keep that mirror in view behind One without showing us El. That's a secret tool that'll help us later.)

I've put the shot progressions in order from L -> R, top -> bottom, like lines in a book:

(Blackout to the new Terry/birth memory)

So, from this scene alone, we actually have very little evidence that JA did both things.

And you might go "Oh James, but look at the subtitles earlier!"

I have to ask: Are the breaking bones in the room with us right now?

Because all I see is El flailing, which is consistent with the next subtitle:

But...subtitling aside. I have better evidence that he didn't do both things. The Duffers thought they could pull a fast one on me, but the jokes on them—I'm an autistic freak who liked the I-Spy books way too much as a kid.

Can anyone explain this away?

And yes, the guy in the final screenshot is a bloody jumpsuit guy, even if I can't tell you with 100% certainty which jumpsuit he is. He's just moving really fast:

Anyway. That aside, have a look at the blood pattern on El.

The top gowns have blood on the left hip (twisting limbs El), the bottom gowns have blood on the right hip (squeeze eye blood El).

And I thought okay, well, let's run through some explanations:

Maybe somehow we're seeing that lower splotch by her left knee? First off, the stain's too big. Second, it's not the right shape. Third, it's hand-level. Definitely not the knee splotch.

Maybe, by some impossible 3D modeling limb fuck-up that swapped her hands, we're seeing her from behind? Well, let's see...

Nope! As far as we know, El doesn't have blood on her back, impossible limbs aside.

It seems, almost, like they shot her right side and mirrored it.

See?

So that's straight up not the same girl. Squeezed bloody eyes El and twisting limbs El are different girls.

That, my friends, means we have a brand-new version of teen El in the massacre.

That's consistent with what I talked about here, the scene at the beginning of NINA where teen El turns around twice:

Which is also the scene where we get two different doors in the Rainbow Room with teen El...And it all tracks with the doubled/mirrored rainbow room BTS.

So yes, we definitely have at least two versions of NINA running with teen El! One where her eyes bleed squeeze-style, and one where her bones break.

This means that whatever's going on in that scene with JA, he's not responsible for all of it, because the El in the "correct" gown has the eye blood, but the El in the "mirrored" gown has the twisting limbs. Two different girls, two different guys.

So, then, the next logical question to ask is: What is Jumpsuit-A Guy responsible for?

With the way JA's attack on El is filmed (the camera cuts and tight shots), it's nearly impossible to tell which things he's doing.

Disclaimer: None of the childrens' bodies are killed in a traditional Vecna manner. None of the jaws are broken. There's something else going on here, and I'm not entirely sure what it is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was a mirrored version of TFS Henry's attack style (read: limbs first or limbs only rather than eyes only). So when I say "Vecna style", that's me referring to a limbs-first style.

Moving on...I daresay JA doesn't kill "like Vecna". Let me explain.

JA is the only guy we see actively killing in the Rainbow Room, and they're generous enough to swing/pan around to him in a continuous shot for it! No camera cuts there, no extra doubt introduced.

[TFS Brenner voice] They want to be caught so bad, I wonder why they even bother lying to me 🙄

Check it out:

Eyes go first. No twisting or broken limbs. That is JA's attack style. It's not even close to Vecna style.

If you're like me, you'll go:

"Oh, but James! Look at the body behind JA! The eyes are missing, and a couple of the other bodies look like their bones might be broken."

And you'd be right!

I'm not particularly concerned about that in relation to JA, though, since: a) We know a lot of the backdrop is divorced from the actual action (as I mentioned in here irt blood and impact crater separation), and multiple different corpse positions appear within the same jumpsuit, and there are multiple versions of corpses with non-twisted limbs:

(Top Left: JA with two different poses for the "same" corpse. Top Middle: Proving that the top-left photo is, indeed, of JA. Top Right: Two different versions of the "same" corpse with non-broken limbs. Bottom left: The corpse by the shelf goes from broken to unbroken based on relative position to the mirror. Bottom right: Much the same as Bottom Left, corpses go from broken to unbroken based on Brenner's presence.)

As far as I know...as of right now, we haven't found a solid, all-encompassing pattern in the surrounding bodies in relation to the all the jumpsuits.

b) We quite literally just witnessed the pattern of his kill style in the swing-around shot.

And, while I can't 100% confirm that either of these bodies belong to JA, since we don't have confirmation of JA with any non-twisted limb bodies...Once again, I have to ask:

Are the breaking bones in the room with us right now? Because I personally didn't see any twisted, snapped bones.

And here?

Well, well...

Yes, I'm aware those are both across camera cuts. And no, I can't 100% confirm which of the Ones killed those Twos. There may be multiple that don't kill Vecna-style!

It's entirely possible that most of them don't kill Vecna-style, and the Vecna makeup is just an overlay (maybe one that glitches or has missing uploads within NINA. Not a Duffers production error, but an HNL production error).

I will say that JA is the strongest candidate for being one of those non-Vecna-style guys, though.

"Maybe you just caught JA too early in the process for breaking bones?"

I mean, maybe, sure! I can acknowledge that possibility.

It's still not the limbs-first style, though. The order is all wrong, and it still doesn't match what we're shown in the attack on El, gown discrepancy aside. When JA's attacking El, we see the isolated limb-twisting bit before we see the eyes. Meanwhile his attack on Two starts with the eyes. Two's eyes bleed, and his limbs are still intact.

That means JA likely isn't responsible for the limb-twisting bits in the attack on El.

So, my point remains the same: There's at least one One who doesn't attack Vecna-style, and instead attacks like TFS "Henry"—Eyes bloody off the bat, bones not targeted. JA is the strongest candidate I've seen for being one of them. (Put a pin in this. I'm going to talk about it later.)

That supports the two distinct attack styles I was talking about here.

Two does have the cloudy, Vecna-ish eyes, though, and somebody's bones are snapping somewhere...So I genuinely wouldn't be shocked if this, like the gate/dematerialization shot (which I talked about in here), is a dual-outcome overlay of the two attack styles. (More on this in a bit! Hold onto this thought.)

Now, I want to go a layer deeper.

Keeping all that in mind, I want to talk about this bit the released 4.07 script:

Let me explain.

Baby El, per the script, is through the mirror, which tracks with this jumpsuit discrepancy:

JA and JC are both on teen El's side of the mirror. JE is a "through the mirror" jumpsuit, placing him with Baby El.

You know who else is actually "through the mirror", both in script and on film?

JD, who, like JE, we only see when we push through the mirror:

And he is, as predicted, associated with a baby El.

I originally thought they had cut that second "through the mirror" bit when they changed to have One break the mirror instead of just being pinned to it, and that we were just seeing baby El in teen El's place.

They didn't cut it, and we have no idea if what Baby El does is the same as whatever Teen El's doing on the other side of the mirror while we can't see her.

So, tl;dr: JE and JD are definitely different from JA and JC, not just based on jumpsuit, but also by location relative to the mirror and the associated ages of their Els.

JD and JE exist through the mirror (read: with baby El). JA and JC exist not through the mirror (read: with teen El).

Which...All of this becomes even funnier when you look at this guy, the only time we see baby El's face and a One who's still somewhat recognizable on screen together in this sequence:

And like...first off, it's straight up not the same guy. Second off, they're hiding his identity from us.

Just look.

And even at the most surface-level? Look at the hair. He's not the same guy.

Stunt double, 3D-model, either way. All of this could and arguably should be lined up properly, based on the VFX team's capabilities. Both guys are being dematerialized, but they're not the same guy. I just can't tell you with any certainty which guy he is.

However, this all means the guy we see together on screen with baby El here? He may very well be the guy watching her here:

The mirror matches, and it's totally different from JD, who gets this:

(He has the mirror going the opposite way.)

And because he's through the mirror with baby El, this mystery man could be JE, since he's not JD. Again, I just can't say for sure because all we see of JE is his chest and left side, but all we see of secret third guy is his right side, which is so far away that I don't feel comfortable making a claim re: his identity...and JE is deliberately shot mirrored so as not to reveal his right side.

They're deliberately hiding his identity re: jumpsuit pattern. If I could see his chest, or even parts of his arms, I could tell you for sure which One he is. But I can't...so. Here we are, missing variables.

Shaking the Duffers until they drop loot (J?'s jumpsuit pattern).

Anyway!

Remember when I said they were hiding baby Els from us? This is what I'm talking about. Two different guys, two different girls, and they're deliberately hiding both the face blood of one of the Els and the jumpsuit pattern of the One with her.

Now, remember that those few thoughts I asked you to put pins in? The ones about the mirror being kept in frame with JA, not being able to confirm which One killed that intact-limbs Two, and Two's possible dual-overlay/bones snapping somewhere?

Yeah. This is where all that comes in: The Speculation.

JA and JC are on teen El's side of the mirror. JD and JE...and secret third jumpsuit...are on baby El's side of the mirror.

We can confirm that JA takes the eyes first (read: he doesn't attack Two or El in the bone-breaking/Vecna style), and keeping that mirror in frame during the attack on El implies that someone on the other side of it (read: with baby El) should attack the same way. This supports the theory that we're missing a baby El with the squeezed bloody eye pattern, likely the same baby El that we see in BTS pictures.

Can I say with 100% certainty that JA doesn't break bones? No. However...For the moment, I can comfortably hypothesize (say, 65% certainty), that he's the not the one breaking bones on teen El's side of the mirror.

A logical hypothesis based on that is that Jumpsuit-C Guy (the later Brenner-faced One who's purported by the show to have become Vecna) is the one breaking bones/attacking Vecna-style on teen El's side of the mirror.

All these timelines, the different jumpsuits, seem to be happening simultaneously. It's not a massive stretch for me to hypothesize that this factor is what's contributing to the phantom bone-snapping sound and cloudy eyes we see on Two, despite Jumpsuit-A Guy not snapping his bones (much the same as the dual overlay with the gate and the dematerialization).

We're not shown any concrete evidence as to what kill style JE uses, nor do we have any hard conclusions in regard to his fate, but based on his location relative to the mirror, I'm comfortable hypothesizing that he might be this weird, mystery One with the Vecna-eyes baby El. They don't let us see which attack style JD uses or which baby El eye-blood pattern he's associated with. However, based on the conclusion that he's likely not the guy associated with Vecna-eyes baby El...for the moment, I feel comfortable hypothesizing that he does not attack in the bone-breaking/Vecna-style way, and instead attacks squeeze-style and is associated with the BTS-only Baby El.

This is further supported by the fact that a) JD and Hallway Guy seem to be the same person, and Hallway Guy quick-kills the same way El does:

It would stand to reason, then, that his slow kills would be similar to hers.

b) JD goes on to become Mindflayer Guy, not Vecna

(Left: JC, who's smash-cut to Vecna. Right: JD, who's shown shaping the MF)

So, to kind of sum all that up:

JA: Definitely on teen El's side of the mirror, associated with right-hip blood and squeezed bloody eyes teen El. He's probably one of the guys who has an attack style that doesn't break bones first/the squeeze-style attack. We don't know where he ends up, but he may be linked to the Mindflayer.

JC: Definitely on teen El's side of the mirror, possible associated with left-hip blood and twisting limbs Teen El. He may be one of the guys who breaks bones first. He supposedly becomes BrenVecna.

JD: Definitely on Baby El's side of the mirror, never seen on Teen El's side. Associated with mystery blood Baby El. No confirmed attack style, but based on the secretive behavior irt: Baby El's eye blood, he may be one of the guys with an attack style that doesn't break bones/the squeeze-style attack. He's Mindflayer guy.

JE: Baby El's side of the mirror, never seen on Teen El's side. No confirmed attack style or associations. May be associated with Vecna-eyes Baby El, given the secrecy around the mystery man's jumpsuit pattern, which means he may be a bone-breaking guy. We don't know where he ends up, but he may linked to Vecna.

If you made it this far you're automatically stronger than the US Marines. Gold star for all of you.

[sl-newsie]

Run Your Mouth (David Jacobs x Fem Brooklyn Newsie)

Request: While David and Jack are in Brooklyn trying to convince Spot to join the strike, Davey sees a girl in the corner of his eye.

Davey’s POV

“So is this Spot Colon a big deal?” 

“Just wait and see.”

It’s funny how fast a person’s life can change in a day. First I’m selling newspapers, the next I’m being taken to Brooklyn. I’ll admit I’m really anxious to be in such an unfamiliar atmosphere, especially with the tough Brooklyn newsies watching our every move.

“Where is he?” I whisper to Jack, trying to stick as close a possible. Meanwhile Boots keeps looking around with a laid-back smile.

“Be patient,” the cowboy mutters.

“Well if it ain’t Jack be nimble, Jack be quick.”

We both look up and literally spot the one I think is the Brooklyn leader named Spot Colon.

“See you moved up in the woild, Spot. Got a river view and everything,” Jack comments. 

 ‘Spot’ hops down and I see he’s hold’n a cane. Him and Jack do tha spit handshake and grin at each odda. 

“Is that Jack?” A distant voice asks. It’s a girl’s voice.

Just then, in the corner of my eye I see a tall figure step out from behind the crates, and my heart stops. If it weren’t for her voice, one might say she’s a boy from this distance. A few strands of blonde hair poke out from under her newsie cap. She’s wearing faded gray overalls and a messy, oversized blue shirt that’s left with two undone buttons, leaving part of her chest exposed. As the Brooklyn newsie steps closer, it only highlights her feminine charms even more. It’s the eyes. Her eyes. Those ocean blue eyes that I’m drowning in- Get a grip, David! 

She twirls a walking stick as she struts forward to meet us, appearing to size me up. “Who’s the geek?”

“I, uh-” For once in my life I dunno what to say!

Lucy’s POV

Spot likes to keep things simple in Brooklyn. We’s the toughest there is, therefore there’s little threats. But that also means we don’t get too much action ‘round here. I thought the highlight-a the week was gonna be when Bucky threw Scab into the river, but I was proved wrong when Jack came by for a visit. I’s one-a Spot’s lookouts, so I’d overhoid earlier about ‘Hattan’s strike business. I just never believed they’d have the guts to come here and ask for help. Jack’s here, and he brought company. I recognized Boots immediately, but then see an unfamiliar face. A cute one at that. I know Spot will club me for think’n like a lovestruck dumb blonde, but just ‘cause I’s a Brooklyn newsie don’t mean my goilish instincts are shut off.

Now the guy keeps look’n at me, his piercing blue eyes analyzing me as if I’m a museum art piece.

“Who’s the geek?” I ask, both curious and as a flirt.

“I, uh-” the blue-eyed newsie stutters. 

I can tell Spot already knows what game I’m playing ‘cause he keeps try’n to block me from get’n closer.

“Jack, tell the mouth he’s got no chance with Pickens. You know the rules.”

Cowboy looks back and forth between us, then accepts defeat as he pulls the ‘mouth’ away.

Now Spot turn to Boots. “How’s it hang’n?”

“Got some nice shooters for ya!”

Boots hands him a few smooth rocks. Spot then takes out a slingshot, loads it, and aims at a nearby bottle. “So Jackie boy, I’s been hear’n things from little boidies.” He shoots, caus’n the bottle ta shatter poifectly. “Things from Queens… Harlem. They been chirp’n in my ear, tell’n me Jackie’s boys are plann’n on a strike.”

“Well, we are,” the new guy says assurin’ly. 

I’ll give him credit for spunk. Most folks don’t even got the cahonies to look at Spot, let alone talk back to him.

“Oh yeah? Yeah?” Spot gets up in his face, try’n to intimidate him. “Whis is this Jackie boy, some kind-a walk’n mouth?”

Jack looks out from under his cowboy hat. “Yeah, it’s a mouth with brains. And you’ll here what he’s gotta say.”

Spot considers this, then agrees by lean’n against the crates and wait’n for their explanation. “So Jack, are all the odda boroughs pitch’n in?”

“They is wait’n for what Spot Colon is do’n.” 

Now the new guy jumps in. “They say that Spot Colon- you’re the key. That Spot Colon’s the most famous newsie in all of New York. And if you join, we’ll be unstoppable. You just gotta join!” 

Spot seems to think it over, and I can tell it’s really got him think’n.

“You were right, Jack. Brains. But I got brains too. How do I know you got what it takes? How do I know you’s won’t go run’n the first time some goon comes at ya with a club?”

“‘Cause I’m tell’n ya, Spot.” Jack replies.

Spot sighs impatiently and begins to walk away towards me. “That ain’t good enough, Jackie boy. You gotta show me.”

That’s Brooklyn talk for “no,” which don’t seem to please Jack. He nods respectfully and gestures for the two boys to follow him out. Deep down, I’d be lying if I said I weren’t disappointed to see the mouth go. He must feel the same, because he keeps looking back at me and is hesitant to follow. So much that Jack has to grab his arm to lead him outta his trance.

“Sorry, Davey. Rules state that goils don’t get involved with business.”

Davey? Ah, so the geek has a name.

I saunter forward and go to stand next to Davey, give’n Spot a sassy look. “Who says this is business? I’m go’n for a walk, and you can’t say no.”

Just like that, the King ‘o Brooklyn is reduced to a speechless mess. “Wait- You can’t- You seriously- Him?”

I laugh at his scatterbrained speech and point to Davey. “Yes, him. Be back in an hour!”

Quickly, I grab Davey’s arm and pull him through the crowd-a Brooklyn newsies towards the bridge. Once we’s alone, I relax and set a leisurely stride. All the while Davey looks as if he’s seen a ghost.

“You ok?”

He nods slowly, still stare’n at me.

“Can ya still talk?”

Davey flashes a noivous smile and licks his lips. “Hehe, maybe. Depends if you’re gonna stop being too gorgeous to look at.”

His woids make me suspect a joke, but his face don’t say that. He ain’t kidding. 

“You… think I’s gorgeous?” I tilt my head in consideration. “Yeah, just like every guy in Brooklyn. Look’n at me like a piece-a meat.”

This seems to erase all-a Davey’s worried nerves, because he’s got a different look on his face. One more determined, like a debate leader.

“I don’t think you are. Why would they think that?”

I scoff. “Everyone does! Like I’s just a dumb blonde who don’t know squat! Just anodda pretty face. No offense Davey, but I was hope’n you’d be a break from those guys.”

Davey halts in his tracks and grips my shoulders, and I have to resist my fight response to punch his adorable face.

“You’re not just a pretty face. I don’t know much about Brooklyn, but I do know that Spot Colon is a big deal. I admire how you’re confident enough to dominate over him, but don’t have an intense ego. If you’d like, I wouldn’t mind having an intellectual conversation with you instead of gushing about how you’re making my heart melt.”

He takes a deep breath, have’n just spilled his guts to me. This, in turn, has left me speechless. Never once has any newsie in Brooklyn been smart enough to carry on an educated conversation odda than what’s in the papes. Heck, some of ‘em can’t even read! 

Davey must take my silence as rejection, because he’s get’n noivous again.

“Sorry if I upset you. I… have the tendency to talk too much.”

“I like that.”

His eyes go crazy, almost try’n to double think what I said. “Y-You like it? It’s not annoying?”

A smile grows on my face and I nod. “Go right ahead, Davey. Run your mouth. I don’t mind.”

Something gets triggered in Davey, because he immediately starts lecturing about social issues. Part of it I understand, but some is a bit too complicated.

“Wait, wait. How do you know all this?”

Davey gets a cute blush on his cheeks. “I used to be in school, before my father had an accident that took him out of work. Now I gotta sell papers to earn money.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that. You got family, yeah?”

“Yeah. Do you?” Davey rethinks this and quickly adds: “I’m sorry, that’s a personal subject. We don’t have to talk about it.”

“No no, ‘s alright. It ain’t new to me. I never knew my folks. They threw me in an orphanage as soon as I could talk, and I’s been a newsie since I was five. So, you was say’n ‘bout the problem of over-achieving?”

Davey gets back on track and continues. “I believe that success should be celebrated but to an extent. We shouldn't let our praise go to politicians and business men's heads. After all, living a healthy and free life is its own reward. What's wrong is that our economy has made it appear that being rich and important is better than being content with the little things in life.”

“Ain’t that a fact,” I scoff. “They don’t know what real wealth is.”

“By the way, we never got a real introduction.” Davey stands up straight and holds out a hand to shake. “My real name is David. David Jacobs. I- I know we literally just met, but- Are you familiar with the story of Romeo and Juliet?”

The name washes over me. “No?”

Davey shakes his head and tries again. “There’s something called love at first sight. Maybe you'd know about that, Miss…? Gosh, I don’t even know your real name!” He chuckles. “Some romantic I must be. They call you Pickens, right?”

His innocent smile makes me soften up, bringing a hand over to grip his. “It’s Lucy. My real name’s Lucy, in case you wanted to know.”

“I- I did want to know. But I gotta ask- why me? You didn’t even know me, yet you’re so open to talking with me.”

“Because-a you, genius. You’s actually got brains in that pretty head-a yours, unlike most guys here who got cement for brains. And if at any time you’s ever feel like talk’n, come visit me. Or bedda yet, ya could ask me out?”

Davey stops dead in his tracks, blabbering on like a drunk squirrel. “Ask you- Like- Like a date?”

“No, like an interview. Of course a date, genius!” I laugh.

Davey still ain’t convinced. “But I’m me. I’m not like most guys-”

“All the more reason I’d luv to go on a date with you, David Jacobs.”

He laughs out loud and foist I think he’s make’n fun-a me, but then he gets a bewildered look on his face. “I was just thinking earlier about how fast a person’s life can change in a day. Now my life’s changed even more!” Davey smiles and gently takes my hand. “Thank you, Lucy! Thank you so much! I- I’ll be good to you, I promise. And you can choose the date location, of course.”

“Always a gentleman, I see.” Look’n into his kind eyes, I lean up and give a quick peck to his cheek. “Thanks, Davey.”

By now Jack and Boots have caught up, both give’n us funny looks.

“Hey, um, David. Spot instructed very clearly for us to tell you to send Pickens back. I suggest you do it before something intense happens.”

Davey nods in response, still dazed by my kiss, then turns to me to give me a quick handshake. “See you soon?”

“I’ll count the minutes, genius.”

[yinnina]

𝐈

After the ceremony was over, and after everyone found out that Yuu was powerless, everyone was led to their respective dorms by their housewarden.

"This will be your new home. You are to follow all the rules," he glared at us, and most of the first years, knowing that they didn't want trouble, decided to listen, "you are to be in your rooms by bedtime, if you decide to break any rule, it will be off with your head, am I clear?"

All the students nodded, and once he was away from our view, everyone started talking, "No way he is really that strict..."

I sighed, leaving them behind and entering my room. The room wasn't huge, but it was big enough for me to fit my stuff and decorate it to my liking, or at least as much as I could decorate with the rules still applying. As I set my stuff where they belonged, I remember the ceremony.

From Grim trying to burn us alive, to Yuu being magic-less, and yet he was still able to enter the academy. It surprised me that Yuu was allowed in, but somehow, he just was.

I sighed, there were also a few new faces. I learned that my housewarden was named Riddle, and by overheating a few other students, I quickly learned the names of other housewardens.

Octavinelle's was Azul, a guy who enjoys making contracts . Scarabia was known for having Kalim, a bright, young boy as their leader. Pomefiore's head was named Vil, and you could say that he was pretty strict with beauty rules. Ignihyde's housewarden was named Idia, and he wouldn't usually be seen in crowded areas, and would rather talk through an iPad. Diasomnia was led by a guy named Malleus, and by the looks of it, he was almost never invited to anything.

There was also this other dorm, Savanaclaw, which was led by a man named Leona. It surprised me when I heard that he was royal, and from the nearby kingdom called Sunset Savannah, which meant that he was part lion.

It didn't shock me in a bad way, it just made me raise an eyebrow, more or so because it was rare. I had seen a couple of people that were part animals, but it wasn't an everyday thing, especially since I was always either stuck inside the castle, which the people back home called The Temple Of Blood, or inside my room, studying on some sort of topic during free hours while in school.

I was done unpacking, which wasn't much other than the clothes I was given, placing my uniform for tomorrow in the front of my closet, etc. It wasn't until a little later that I saw the violin laying on the corner of my room.

'Weird. I didn't even notice it... Oh well, what can be done about that other than playing the instrument?'

And without hesitation, I picked up the four string instrument, placing my chin on the chin rest and holding the bow on my right hand. I quickly tuned the violin, making sure that it sounded right without any failure.

I didn't have any particular song in mind, and knowing that I was given the room that had the thickest walls since I was a girl, I decided to play Swan Lake, by Tchaikovsky. For someone to know how to play an instrument was extremely common in my home land, and you could hear the tone of music all around the streets, you could also see a teacher or a parent teaching a young child how to play an instrument.

Even in the heat of the lands, orchestra instruments were preserved in a special room provided by my family. If there was one thing that we completely believe should be valued, it is the music that one can play.

I had memorized the music, so it wasn't all that hard, but what surprised me was that the instrument looked and sounded rather new, so I guessed that it was really taken care of, or it truly was brand new.

After I was done, I made sure to untighten the bow, and place the instrument safely back into its case. I sat on my bed for a while, thinking of a way to pass time, but nothing other than walk around and explore came to my mind. "It's getting dark, but no one will know I was even out."

I walked around, and don't get me wrong, the place was pretty, but it was rather boring. I was alone the whole time, so there was no one I could talk to, and the only place I had left to explore was the botanical garden.

Upon entering the place, I noticed that the flowers held a strong scent, but pleasant for the nostrils. I looked around the place, and noticed that the whole garden was abandoned at the moment, and while I was walking around the area, I noticed that on the floor, or rather grass that was under a tree, there laid a chessboard.

The pieces were placed on the correct order where they belonged, but one single piece was moved. The white pawn in E-Two was moved to E-four, and since I noticed that no one had played against them, I moved my black pawn from E-Seven to E-five.

I didn't do anything afterwards, not like I could when the other player hasn't moved, and decided to leave it at that. I returned back to the dorm before supper, and I did notice that most of my dorm mates had left already, only very few staying behind to chat.

I was no different from the ones that left, and once I entered the cafeteria, I noticed the small wave that Yuu gave me. I approached both him and Grim, greeting them as the small animal rambled on about his complaint. It surprised me that he was still here, but then again, the headmage looked like he would let anyone in.

"[Y/N]! Can you believe it? They ran out of sweets! The only reason I'm here is completely gone! Gone into the stomachs of other pests!"

My sweat dropped, "Pests? Sure... Anyways, how is it going so far?"

Yuu sighed, "The dorm looks like it is about to fall off, and somehow he was allowed in the academy."

"I can tell," I chuckled, "I'm surprised that he was even given his own little bow tie."

But Grim didn't listen to a word I had said, he was too focused on the situation with the sweets. Yuu, on the other hand, informed me about the current dorm they were staying in, Ramshackle dorm, and how it is hunted by ghosts and now have to renovate it all by themselves.

"Don't sweat it. I'll probably come by someday and help you," I gave him a closed-eye smile, and Yuu instantly brightened up at the thought, "but of course, I'll need something in return."

"I got my hopes up for nothing," he sulked. "I need—"

"Are you even listening?! My poor babies are gone!" Grim interrupted me, crying about the desert he wanted. I sighed and whispered in a low, sweet voice, "I'll tell you later."

I got up from my seat, approaching the stand that sold food, but was soon pushed out of the way by a boy. "Running late!" He screamed, and I was a little startled.

The boy had dark roots that faced into blonde, wore black leather jacket on top of an oversized shirt, jeans and some boots. I couldn't really see what was wrapped around his neck, but I could tell it was an orange tone yellow, and he also had animal ears on top of his head.

I clearly was in a rush to get somewhere, and he looked to be carrying some types, probably food. I didn't try to run after him, it wasn't my business what he did.

I sighed in frustration and made my way to the cafe to buy something. "Anything I could help you with?" Asked a boy with glasses, the same guy I saw at the ceremony.

"Anything that has lots of sugar, I'm kind of in need to shut someone up."

He nodded, quickly grabbing a cup of tea, "It is the best we have, sorry. It always is busy, so items run out fast when you aren't here early, especially on ceremonies or special events."

I rubbed my temples, thanking him as I took the cup away from his hand. After I was done paying for the drink, I immediately took it back to the cat-like mage, placing it in front of him. "What am I supposed to do with this?!"

"Drink it and shut up," I offered him a closed eye smile, which shut him up right away. He started drinking, sulking while me and Yuu went back to talking. He soon told me that he would head back to the dorm to try and get some sleep before his first class.

"We won't see each other. I already have my schedule assigned, and considering I'm a third year, we clearly won't have any classes together unless they're extra curricula."

"Huh?! What are your classes? Maybe we do have some together!"

"It's really tight... I have homeroom in classroom 3-A. Humanities come for the first period, and it alternates between History of Magic and Animal Languages. Science also alternates between alchemy, astrology, biology and magical potions."

"Wow-that really is a tight schedule..."

I sighed, "that's not even third period yet. Next I have mathematics, which I decided to take advanced calculus and advanced statistics. Then magic will transition to practical magic, magic analysis, ancient curses, conjuration and defense magic. I also have physical education, flying and swimming, but then again, everyone has it. Oh! I also took an extra classes!"

"Really? Which one?"

"Music! I'm glad there was an option for that one," I smiled brightly, and Yuu chuckled at my face.

"I have the same classes as you, but it's less packed, and I have a different type of math class. But I will probably see you around, in between classes."

"Did you and Grim get classes together?"

Yuu sighed in frustration, "All of them."

I laughed as my sweat dropped. This poor kid was really about to go through a rough year. "I'm sure we could meet up during free time. I say we could always meet in the botanical garden in case of any emergency."

Yuu nodded, telling Grim, who was still mad at the incident with the sweets, that they should start heading back to their corresponding dorm and maybe sleep. Grim tried telling him off by saying that he was starving, but Yuu didn't listen and dragged him away.

I just stood there, waving at them and watching them walk away. I sighed and passed my hand through my hair as I stood from my seat, walking towards the botanical garden, back to the same spot that I found the chessboard in.

Nothing had changed, and I didn't know what exactly I had expected, for a piece to magically move? I couldn't really tell, all I knew is that I expected something more than that.

I let out a small yawn, signifying that it was now my cue to leave the place, and probably just relax on my bed until I fell asleep. I approached the dormitory, hearing whispers from a few boys, but due to how tired I was, I didn't pay any attention to them, only caring about finally closing my eyes at peace.

I entered my room and locked the door as I changed onto my pajamas, which I chose randomly due to the fact that I was on the verge of falling asleep on the cold floor, only holding back because that blanket really looked warm and fuzzy.

I turned off all the lights in my room and calmly walked to the bed, drifting to sleep as my eyelids closed heavily.

'Maybe I over-did it today.'

[micahsawyer]

What inspired you to create Micha? What aspects of him are your favourite?

ooh this is a really fun one, thank you!! ♥ micah's not too old so i can remember exactly what inspired me lmao. it started out with a tiktok of this scene in some movie where some girl discovers her boyfriend is a psychopath and she finds that out by finding him over like, a dead body with blood on him, and he's laughing. something along those lines. and it was the way his emotions seemed to switch when he looked at her that got my creative juices flowing, the way he knew he did something awful but he didn't care. he only cared that he'd been caught and exposed. i think i was giving the scream movies a rewatch then too, so of course billy was an inspiration. i was a slut for the typical "psycho" vibe, and the scream movies played right into that. it's kinda funny because while ghostface kinda prompted micah's creation, it's such a small part of his character as an alt verse and i think i've written one thing in it so far. he's also really far away from the completely unfeeling character i had in mind in the beginning. (kicking my feet n giggling bc he's already grown sm!!!)

my favorite thing about micah... is probably nothing. i love him because he's my baby, but i genuinely don't like micah on a personal level. he really is a shit person and he'd easily manipulate me. if i put on my dark romance glasses, yeah, he's *chefs kiss* hot, but i think if i met him in normal, everyday life, he'd scare the shit out of me. he's so chill, and typically i would like that, but of course as his writer i know... and i think it makes him scarier. the way he isn't bothered by anything, adapting as easily as he's breathing. observing, calculating. it's fucking scary, dude. and if he walked up to me talking about how my eyes would look good on a keychain i'd run for my fucking life. (i'd kill to smoke with him, though). but i do like his passion for music!

my favorite thing to play about micah, though (is everything tbh), is the way he's the exact opposite of who i am. we have a few similarities if you look real close but mostly we're starkly different. i run away from bugs, micah will pin them up. i don't care for dead things, micah loves them. i feel too much, he feels too little. and his views, his fantasies, everything about him is so fucked up. he's a little challenging that way, but that's what makes it really fun! and i give myself the freedom to vibe with darker subjects because i state in my rules some things (like murder) might be glamorized and it's all for fictional fun. i love the horror aspect of things in general, too, and it's so fun to write someone who doesn't have any motive for wanting to hurt and/or kill people. writing him can get fucking wild and i love expanding my boundaries on horror writing every time i go to write something new for him and when i plot with other amazing writers. he's by far the most fun muse i've ever written! and by far the nastiest one i've ever created.

[aloneatpeace]

𝙰𝙿𝙾𝙲𝙰𝙻𝚈𝙿𝚃𝙸𝙲 𝚆𝙾𝚁𝙻𝙳

BONFIRE '2'

“We got something special planned tonight” Namjoon said as he led you to somewhere that you don’t know, a tower build by woods comes to the view, he walks towards the ladder turning his head to you “think you can catch up?” you give him a nod and climb after him after doing a quick scan around the area.

You look at the walls surrounding and the Glader’s working around the glade, Namjoon looks out as well before turning to you “This is all we got. We worked hard for it. if you respect this place. Tou and I will get along just fine” you turn to look at him feeling an underlining warning in his words before looking at the large wall that imprisoned you in here.

Did he seriously thought that you would hurt these boys?

You might’ve been offended at his words but your thoughts were somewhere else “what’s out there?”

  Namjoon looks down with a sigh seems like you’re going to be his problem he internally makes a note, he walks towards you and you stiffen not because your afraid of him so far you don’t feel like he would hurt you just for the fun it, it’s his intimidating aura and the authority he held what made you falter and maybe the fact that he undeniably handsome guy.

“We only have three rules here. First do your part, no time for any freeloaders” you nod at hi intense gaze slowly looking away “second, never harm another Glader.  None of this works unless we have trust. Most importantly never go beyond those walls.” Your gaze shift to him “do you understand me, greenie?”

You both locks your eyes together when suddenly “RAP MONSTERRRRRRRRRRRRRR” yell echoes around the glade Namjoon close his eyes for a moment seemingly tiring not to lose his cool, you both look down to see Jungkook waving his hands enthusiastically.

You turn to Namjoon “what’s a rap monster?”

“Nothing you need to worry about, let get down” Namjoon says as he goes down you glance at the walls one more time before following him down.

Jungkook seems to have a sudden confidence as he started conversing “it’s basically the same story for all of us. We wake up in the box, Namjoon gives us the tour…. then here we are.”  He ties the hammock

“Who where you talking to?” Jimin’s voice reach his ears as he turns and find you gone and jimin stand in your place.

“Where did she go?” he asks almost to himself jimin look back to see you walk to the center of the glade and he points to him.

Both jimin and Jungkook catch up with you.

“Hey, where you going?” Jungkook ask once he next to you, you open your mouth to say but close when you realize there someone else with you.

“Hi, I’m jimin” he said with a smile, he had an innocent face but the smile had a touch of mischief not to mention he was just as pretty as Jungkook you nod at him unable to say anything.

“I just wanted to see. “

“You can look around all you want, but you better not go out there” Jungkook adds as the three you walk, he on your left side with jimin on your right.

“Why not? What’s through there?”

“We don’t know. We just know what we were told.” Jungkook stand Infront of you halting you in your place.

Jimin stand beside him “Yeah, and you don’t want Namjoon to be mad at you. Trust me it’s not a pretty sight. We’re not supposed to leave.”

You, jimin and Jungkook glance at the entrance and to your surprise two guys come outside running, they have what it seems like a running gear at their back, the both guys stop when they see you.

“The new greenie is a girl?” A guy with a wide smile said sweat was dripping from his forehead but he was stunningly handsome guy come to think of so far everyone you meet was painfully handsome, even their skin looked flawless you wonder what’s their secret.

Did the box also bring skin care products…. wait a minute what is a skin care product?

“About that Namjoon wants to have a meeting, you better catch-up Hoseok” jimin said to the guy and they nod

 “You are no longer greenie Jungkook, how does it feel?” Hoseok give you small wave as the they jog past you, the other guy give you nod.

“I thought no one was allowed to leave” you look at them with a confused look on your face

“I said we’re not allowed to leave, they’re different, they’re runners.”

“They know more about the maze than anyone.”  Jimin, absentminded said Jungkook hit him in his arm making him yelp. “You can’t tell her that”

“Wait what?”

“What?” they look you like they didn’t just hand bickered a second ago

You raise an eyebrow “what? You just said maze” you point at jimin

He stutters “I did?”

“He did?”

 “yeah” you said not buying their innocent you go towards the opening of the wall making them run after you.

 “Where are you going?” Jungkook turns to jimin “you can’t keep it in you, can you?” he whispered

 “You know I can’t” he whispers backs before look at you standing from behind Jungkook “what are you doing?”

“I’m just gonna take a look” you said Jungkook grab your arm making you look at him and to where his hands on your arm, he takes back his arm when he sees your glare.

He turns to jimin “we told you, you can’t. no one leaves, especially not now.”

“It’s not safe “jimin come up behind Jungkook with a serious look on his face

“Okey, all right, I’m not gonna go” you said to them “I promise” they look at each other before giving a hesitant nod.

You slowly walk towards the entrance the maze seems ivy growing thick concrete walls stands taller, who build it? why? why they put you all in here?

It was dark you couldn’t clearly get a good look, to see more clearly you take a step forward but suddenly hands garb you wrapped around your frame making you startled. you let out a sudden scream as well as Jungkook and jimin, they didn’t see gally coming in they were focused on you and the next thing they see gally caging in you lifting you off the ground and your scream.

“Let me go asshole” you thrash around the guy that restricting you “get off me!”

Jungkook and jimin yell at gally to let you go already all the Gladers have come to see what’s the commotion.

“Clam down. clam down “

Having enough you scream on top your lung “get the fuck away from me. Put me down “

Jungkook having enough of this pull you out of gally grips you push away from also “don’t touch me”

You back away from the boys “what the hell is wrong with you guys?”

Namjoon put his hands out “just clam down all, right?”

You shook you head backing away from him “No, okey? Why won’t you tell me what’s out there?”

Yoongi glance at Jungkook and jimin who was being scolded by seokjin who come out with a frying pan in his hands, he turns to you “we’re just trying to protect you. It’s for your own good.”

Your body shook with anger “you guys can’t just keep me here. “

“I can’t let you leave” Namjoon slowly walks towards you only to stop by yoongi as you already walked back few feet away from the open of the wall.

“Why not?” you yell at them that when you hear the sound of machine creaking, the heavy thud makes everyone including you look at the entrance.

The sound of wind whooshing was eerie and the winds hit your face you fully turn to it “what the hell?” you pant, the gears turning made you look up and take a step back, the large wall close itself, Infront of you.

You flinch when gally come up to you “next time, I’m gonna let you leave.” With that he walks away Jungkook and jimin was taken away by Jin who grab them by their ears hi pan now in taehyung’s hands.

Namjoon and yoongi was still with you “yoongi you talk to her, welcome to the glade greenie” with that he also leaves.

Yoongi gives you a nod to follow him that how you found yourself sitting by log with yoongi by your side as the bonfire stared with drums playing, Namjoon was by their side as the gliders cheered, jimin, Jungkook and taehyung was dancing around seokjin was by the fire with a drink in his hands that was given by gally.

 “Hell of a first day, greenie” yoongi said you only nod looking out there in the open “here” he hands you a jar with a drink, you took a sip and spite back at the awful taste.

“Oh my god what the hell is that?” you cough setting down the drink as yoongi laugh at you “what was in that?”

“I don’t know, its Gally’s recipe. It’s a trade secret” he answers

You turn to see gally rassling with the Gladers “yeah, well, he’s still an asshole”

“He saved your life today.” His gaze was fully on you “trust me. The maze is a dangerous place.” He takes a sip from the drink.

 “we’re trapped here, aren’t we?”

“For the moment.” He nods his head before glancing at you and turns his body around pointing behind you “you see those guys? There by the fire? Those are the runners”

He points at Hoseok “that is Hoseok in the middle, he’s the keeper of the runners. Every morning, when those doors open, they run the maze. Mapping it, memorizing it, trying to find a way out.”

“How long they been looking?” you glance back and forth between him and Hoseok

“Three years” his voice was indifferent when he said it

“And they haven’t found anything?”

“it’s a lot easier said than done.” He leans towards you making you freeze “listen” you do as he says and hears distant creaking sounds “hear that? It’s the maze, changing. It changes every night.” You could feel his hot breath on the side of your face, he stares at your face as you miss it as you got lost in thought and questions on your mind.

“How was that even possible?”

“You can ask the people who put us in here, if you ever meet the bastards.” He moves away from you and you took a second to fully accept the reality of your current situation. “Listen the truth is the runners are the only ones who really know what’s out there. They are the strongest and fastest of all. and it’s a good thing too because if they don’t make it back before those doors close then they are stuck there for the night. And no one has ever survived a night in the maze” you look at with your mouth open just when you thought things couldn’t get worse you hit with something else way worse.

“What happen to them?”

“Well, we call them grievers. Of course, no one’s ever seen one and lived to talk about it but they’re out there.”

You let out loud sigh both in exhaustion and what you just heard. “Well that enough question for one night. Come on” he stands up and pulls you with him while you protest. “you’re supposed to be guest of honor “

“Oh, no. I don’t do well with crowd” you state all you get a gummy smile form him making your protest die down at the smile on his face.

“Let me show you around.” He walks Infront of you as you slowly follow up after him. He points at gally and Gladers around him “they are the builders. They’re very good with their hands” he pauses for moment glancing at you, you cross your arms across your chest “not like that. They can build anything but not a lot going on upstairs” he points at his temple while saying. 

“He’s Winston keeper of the slicers” he pointed at the guys that laughing around then points at jimin who was dancing around with taehyung “you already meet jimin right. He is the keeper of med- jacks along with clint. And taehyung is the keeper of track- hoes”

“What if I want be a runner?” you said making him halt in his steps

He chuckles as if you’re joking “have you listened a word I’ve just said? No one wants to be a runner. And besides you gotta get chosen.”

“Chosen by who?” before he can ask you grunts as you get pushed into yoongi who caught you by your shoulders, gaining your foot you shrug off his concerned look and glance back at who pushed you to see it was gally and another boy who was wrestling.

“You alright, there greenie?” gally asks almost in mocking way “you wanna play with us?” he asked with a condescending grin on his face the boys behind him let out snickers at this.

Your face twisted in anger yoongi turns to him “stop it, gally” even though it was monotone his eyes held dominance as the Gladers was quick to shut their mouth.

Gally chuckles as he walks towards you “come on she is one of we have to treat her like that too”

Suddenly everyone starts to chant greenie around and yoongi shook his head already done with everything. From where Namjoon, seokjin and Hoseok was talking look up to where you standing the crowds around you and gally. They get up as well as jimin taehyung and Jungkook who first thought they caught him eating the food when he heard the word but quickly you came to his mind grabbing the bowl he also follows up.

You look around the boys wondering what the hell you are going to do now glancing at gally you sure he would kill you for some reason he really hates your guts is it because your female you don’t know but something tells you even you weren’t he would pick on you.

“Okey alright, come on I’ll go easy on you. The rules are simple, greenie. I try to push you out of the circle” you get inside the circle as he come to not intentionally but you didn’t want to stand next to him “you try to last more than five seconds.”  He concludes the boys around you laughs.

“ready” he asks you node he suddenly pounced at you and push you on to a group of boys, they push you to him and he throw to the ground.

Yoongi and Namjoon share a glance with seokjin, Jungkook wince with jimin when land on your front on the ground coughing. Taehyung feels a little happy because you kicked him earlier, he tries not burst out laughing at you. Hoseok thought this might help you get used to here.

“Come on, greenie we’re not done yet.”

“Stop calling me greenie” you straight your top dusting away the sand

“Stop calling you that? What you wanna be called? Sweetheart?” he grins at your angered face “what do you think, boys? She could be our sweetheart, right?” he asks them with a smug look on the face.

He come at you but you quickly move and push him done in anger everyone around you watched gally being face planted with amazement the boys mouth shaped in ‘oh’.

Jungkook’s plate fall down from his as he clapped for you with jimin, yoongi and Hoseok share a smirk an impressed look on taehyung’s face while seokjin and Namjoon tried not laugh at gally.

But it quickly turned into worry when gally charge at you without giving you any second to react and your head hit the ground hard and fast.

You grunt in pain but you suddenly forget the pain when your name come in to your conscious you whisper your name in heart beating fast.

You get up hastily “Hey, Y/n!” you let out a giggle that made jimin blush he quickly scan if anyone else notice it. “I remember my name. I’m Y/n!”

Your smile was contagious and bright that made the boys and Gladers smile at you as well jimin taking this opportunity yells your name and come running towards you hoping you wouldn’t kick him where it will really really hurt.

Soon everyone cheers your name and pat your back a beaming jimin lift your hand as if you won the wrestling.

 “Welcome home, Y/n” Namjoon said with a smile on his face.

Gally come up to you “good job... Y/n” he shakes your hands and everyone watches as you both talk the distant roaring make everyone turns their head

“What the hell was that?” you question not to anyone specifically

“That my friend, was a griever. Don’t worry, you’re safe with us. Nothing gets through those walls.” Gally answers for you before starting to leave.

“Alright guys. Let’s tuck it in for the night. Come on it was a good night.”

Jimin catch up with Jungkook and the later looked him with suspicioning glance “did you sleep well last night?” Jungkook nod at him “really? you should really take care of your health, sleeping in hammock isn’t good maybe we can switch places tonight?”

“It isn’t always good remember the times when fall of from it. but I got hang off it now. You don’t need to worry” Jungkook smile at Jimin’s worry for his health before he stops in his track. “Wait why do you only care now?”  something inside him clicks “you just want to sleep near the new greenie” he gasped at him.

Jimin nervously chuckles “what. No, I’m just take care of my fellow Glader and her name is Y/n remember.” Before he stand confidently “besides, she someone important to me, I can feel it in my bones”

Jungkook lazily observe him “really? Then I will ask Namjoon and yoongi then where I should sleep”

Jimin was quick to grab Jungkook’s arms “we shouldn’t disturb you can take my place”  

“No let me just ask them” he said innocently “there yoongi lets go ask him” he points at yoongi who had lantern in his hands as the walk around.

Jimin let him go before ruining away from yoongi who saw them talking and now walking towards them.

You lay beside Jungkook on the hammock wide awake while Jungkook was already knocked out for few hours you were awake then you don’t know when you fall asleep. You were dreaming you could hear a male voice saying your name and saying that everything going to change and it will all right and there a woman in white lab coat was there so many machines and screams of pain and agony.

The last thing you hear is WICKED IS GOOD. Was it a dream or memory.

Series masterlist

[jedzeb]

Why "Dance the Night" by Dua Lipa is the perfect song for The Barbie Movie

Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night" is the ideal piece for 2023's highest grossing movie: Barbie. Being a mezzo-soprano with upbeat and high energy songs, Dua Lipa is a pleasure to listen to. Moreover, she has a voice that is on the side of being sultry or dark. This attractive voice and the "hot girl pop" style of her songs is what has made her so popular.

In terms of The Barbie Movie (for the sake of clarification, I will refer to the movie this way, and the character as just Barbie), Dua Lipa as a musical artist portrays the character "Barbie" to near perfection. But first, a little about The Barbie Movie must be known to understand this. The run-down of The Barbie Movie can be simplified into two parts. The first part is that our society is run by men, creating what many agree to be an unfair environment for women. In today's culture, women are empowered in various ways. One of these ways is with independence from a man. This is precisely what Barbie Land is about; a society where women are the ones on top, with men existing only for the sake of women. Finally, this is where Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night" comes in.

Throughout the duration of the song, we can see the conflict of this perception of being perfect vs. how life really is. While Stephanie Long makes good points with this example, I believe there is more to be said about its reflection on the movie as a whole than something as cliche as "nothing is perfect". Of course, there is still much to say on this idea. This idea being that women have to be perfect in order to enable themselves to be above men in this male-ruled society. Possibly the thing I hate the most about our generation is how SPLIT we are. Everyone has different political views, but I can't go a day on the internet without seeing men saying they are better than women and vice versa. Mainly, this seems to stem from women being provoked by these toxic men, but still it feels like modern politics is a fight to the top between genders. To me, most who partakes in this are silly and usually spouting nonsense(especially from the side of toxic men, but there is silliness everywhere).

How does this all relate to Barbie? Well, the idea of Barbie is to be the perfect woman. Not needing a man in your life and living your best is what it means to be "Barbie". While empowering women is a phenomenal thing, this creates a new sort of pressure point on women today: they have to be independent, have a good body, mentally strong, etc. I am male, but from any woman I have talked to about this, they would all agree this is the point of pressure they feel in society today.

There are more than a few lines in Dua Lipa's "Dance the Night" that portray this very pressure.

"My heart could be burnin', but you won't see it on my face

...

I'll still keep the party runnin', not one hair out of place

Lately, I've been moving close to the edge

Still be lookin' my best

I stay on the beat, you can count on me

I ain't missin' no steps"

Striving to be the best you can be is something highly encouraged in society today, on the side of both men and women alike. In this case, there is one very noticeable aspect of these lyrics: she comes off as POWERFUL. There are no obvious hints of weakness or a cry for help either in her voice or the lyrics themselves.

You may not remember, but earlier on I stated there were two parts of The Barbie Movie. Well it is finally time for the second part: the perfect world of Barbie Land is not perfect. This world where all the women are independent, powerful, and doing what they like is not the ideal land it is supposed to be. On one hand, the Kens(the men/Barbie's boyfriend) are all solely living for the sake of Barbie. This is an extreme flip on how gender roles are in the real world. Obviously this is problematic because once again, an entire gender is being treated unfairly. Furthermore, this act of perfection can't go on forever. "Dance the Night" abruptly ends in The Barbie Movie when Barbie says "do you guys ever think about dying?". At a single display of outwards weakness, Barbie's entire life started going to shit. This is precisely why the concept of "Barbie" is so unrealistic; life is all about making mistakes and learning from them. No person has ever lived their entire life without making a mistake or feeling something negative. Not only that but The Barbie Movie itself clearly shows how self-destructive the divide of men and women is to society. Nobody should be silenced, nobody should be treated unfairly or have to live a life below someone simply due to the gender they were born as, and nobody should be forced to live by the unrealistic standards of society.

The Barbie Movie should really touch anyone who watches it, men and women alike. That fact plays well into the entire purpose of the movie, which is that everyone can relate to one thing, be it from different perspectives or for differing reasons. "Dance the Night" did the movie's purpose justice, and between the instrumental and Dua Lipa's voice, it will be a song to remember for a long time.