#characters from out of the frying pan making cameos

[pigeonwhumps]

Kara and Edith medieval fantasy reverse au. Bc werewolves are kind of like creatures, right? I can't get this out of my head so they are now

CWs: non-human whumpee, pet whump, past amputation, dehumanisation, blood, burns

Edith sighs and fidgets as the family exits the throne room. So many people have come to congratulate her on her accession to the throne, and while she appreciates them, it's been a long night. Her fangs ache and the crown's weighing her down.

And she can hear more behind the doors.

"You can take a break, Your Majesty," suggests Sam, her advisor and bodyguard, quietly. "You've been at this for hours."

Edith shakes her head. "Edith will take some more. This vampire can work for longer."

"All right." They motion, and the guards open the double doors, ushering in the next group, a man and woman dragging a wheeled cage between them. It's draped with dark blue fabric but Edith can smell silver and werewolf. She feels a deep sense of foreboding, although she tries to brush it aside – after... what happened, feelings like this haven't been uncommon, and they're often irrational.

Still, though. She nods at Sam as surreptitiously as possible, signalling for them to keep an eye out. Just in case something really is wrong.

The man and woman both bow.

"Thank you for seeing us, Your Majesty. We would like to congratulate you on your recent succession to the throne. As a gift, we present to you our most recent catch. We have trained it, and it will make the perfect pet."

Edith mentally kicks herself. They're hunters. Of course they are, look at their dress, their gear. The silver's been taken off them at the entrance but even so... the loop of rope at the man's waist takes on a more sinister appearance now, now she knows its likely use.

She strides forward and yanks the blanket off the cage. There's a werewolf inside, and they whimper behind their silver muzzle as the light hits them.

"Shh." Her hands are gloved, as they always are for audiences, and she growls slightly as she rips the gate to the cage off its hinges. "Shh, come out, this vampire will not hurt you."

The werewolf slinks out slowly, tail between their legs, ears flat against their head, whining with every step. They're basically skin and bone, and they're injured, Edith can smell the blood. Their gait is... off, too.

As soon as the werewolf is close enough, Edith bends down, removing their muzzle, casting it aside. Their burns are horrendous, and the smell... unsmothered by the silver, it's terrible.

"Elis, fetch a physician, whoever is available and able to treat werewolves. And you." She stands, glaring at the two hunters, who both take a step back, intimidated by her bright red eyes. The werewolf crouches behind her. "What are your names, and how exactly did you acquire this werewolf?"

The man swallows. "Mark and Lilah, Your Majesty. We captured it two moon cycles ago just outside of this kingdom, trying to invade your territory. Once we discovered that you had ascended to the throne, we thought that this would be the perfect gift to prove our loyalty."

Edith clenches her fists, anger simmering just below the surface. She can smell the hunters' blood, see their jugulars pulsing, bright red and healthy. Not yet. "Do you know the laws of this kingdom?"

"We have made the creature safe, Your Majesty."

"Then it is clear you do not. This kingdom is a sanctuary for non-humans, and we do not accept gifts of them. Is this ruler correct in thinking you have held them for two months, and are holding other creatures?"

"Yes, Your Majesty," replies Mark. "After all, we can't let them leave. Creatures are a danger to society."

"You did not have to torture them," Edith snarls, and leaps on Mark, tearing his neck open. The blood is bitter but she's oh so hungry, and so angry, and she drinks deeply. When she pulls away, wiping her chin, his pulse is slow, breathing shallow. Lilah's sobbing, a guard holding her arm.

"Your partner is not dead, and he will not die, provided you tell us the location of your holding camp."

"Just– just over the border," Lilah sniffles, "a few miles from the village of Wealdstone."

Edith nods stiffly. "Guards, take them to the dungeons, and get someone to tend to him. There is no need for them to be gentle."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

As the hunters are dragged out, Edith crouches down beside the werewolf, reaching out a hand. They don't resist as she strokes their head, but she's not sure they want it either.

"No-one is going to hurt you here. You were heading for sanctuary, weren't you? Well you have it here. Let us examine your injuries, this vampire will not do anything to you." She looks up at Sam. "We need to send some people to the hunters' camp. Col, Sæwin and Elis?"

"A knight, a healer and Elis. Sounds like a good combination."

Just then, there's a knock on the door and Amanda enters. She has her citole on her back and an armful of medical supplies. Edith smiles. Out of all the physicians here, Amanda's the one she trusts the most with an injured werewolf. She just didn't know if they were working tonight.

"I've come to tend to the werewolf, Your Majesty."

Edith moves aside, watching anxiously as Amanda approaches. A cornered animal is strong. But the werewolf doesn't try to get away, simply hunching down and whimpering.

"I'm Amanda, I'm a physician. I just want to have a look at your injuries. Will you let me? We can stop whenever you like."

The werewolf whines, bowing their head submissively.

"Thank you. Let's have a look at you then."

As Amanda begins to examine them, Edith beckons to a servant.

"Have a set of suitable chambers prepared for them, and a meal sent up. Lucan will know what to make. And send Col, Sæwin and Elis to this vampire as soon as they are free."

The servant bows and hurries off. Edith turns to Amanda, who's examining the werewolf's teeth. "How bad are they?"

Amanda lets go of their jaw gently. "Declawed entirely, teeth filed down. Beating marks and burns everywhere. Extremely malnourished. Bastards."

Edith swallows hard, swinging her cloak off and draping it over the trembling werewolf. "We will help you now. And those bastards are going to get exactly what they deserve."

Taglist: @whump-for-all-and-all-for-whump @onlybadendings @whumpofdory @haro-whumps @flowersarefreetherapy @enigmawritesstuff @quietly-by-myself

recently-coronated noble!caretaker being gifted creature!whumpee as a 'pet' and losing their SHIT on the gifter

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Cooking by the Book

Part 1 (ft. Riddle and Silver) I Part 2 (ft. Trey and Kalim) I Part 3 (ft. Jade and Lilia) I Part 4 (ft. Deuce and Jamil) I Part 5 (ft. Ruggie and Malleus) I Part 6 (ft. Cater and Rook)

In which Gordon Ramsay-kun is isekai’d into Twisted Wonderland. Part Food Wars, part Hell’s Kitchen, all Master Chef—Night Raven College isn’t ready to take on this Michelin Star celebrity!!

You’ve got to do the cooking by the book! ... But with Floyd and Sebek, that’s an impossible task. Between noodle sourcing squabbles and differences in their approach, how can GR ever rein these two loose cannons in?

dbjsbskdne I was so excited to write this because I love both Sebek and Floyd 😌 They make for a fun dynamic, especially when mixed in with GR~

I was busy around the initial release of this event months ago, so I’m releasing this SUPER late (but it all ends up working out, since a character cameoing in this fic is one of the new Master Chef units for May 2023). I’ll get the Idia and Ace with GR one out in a week or two 😭 Please bear with me!!

Imagine this…

If teaching the Master Chef course at NRC had taught Gordon Ramsay one thing, it was this: the kitchen was an active battle zone, and weapons of mass destruction laid in wait around every corner. It was all open flames and pointed tools... but the most dangerous thing of all to his health and his sanity?

The students.

He had dealt with his fair share of arrogant, ill-tempered chefs. Professionals who thought themselves too good to take advice, newbies who believed they were better than they actually were.

The NRC boys were a whole new ordeal altogether, Gordon realized.

“IEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”

A bloodcurdling shriek resounded in Ignihyde’s halls. It bounced off the cold polished floors and the metal beams and wires that stitched everything together.

At once, Gordon snapped to attention, pushing himself away from the wall and rushing to the scream’s source. The door snagged, refusing to open--he cursed loudly, slamming his palms against it and roaring, “WHAT’S GOIN’ ON IN THERE?!”

Behind the door, the wailing escalated. There was crashing, screeching, sobbing, begging. His worries ramped up, his pounding, harder and more frantic.

“I THOUGHT I COULD LEAVE YOU TWO UNDERSUPERVISED FOR ONE BLOODY SECOND!!”

Gordon’s palms were raw now, crying out in protest--and, for a wild moment, he considered ramming his entire body against the door. Just as he was preparing to throw himself at it—

Click.

Like magic, the door suddenly swung open. Sebek’s proud face appeared, wearing a smug, triumphant expression. Not good, Gordon thought.

“Rejoice, human!!, Sebek thundered happily. “The merman and I have successfully liberated Ignihyde of its excess of flash fried noodles!! We shall have plenty to use for our cooking lessons!!”

“You did WHAT?!”

“Hmph! Witness our bountiful spoils for yourself!!”

Gordon lifted his head and stared past Sebek.

In the back of the room, Floyd was squatting by Idia’s closet, packet of instant ramen in hand. Boxes and boxes of noodles—rummaged from the deepest recesses of Idia’s mancave—laid in haphazard stacks beside him, teetering precariously atop one another.

Ignihyde’s dorm leader sprawled on the floor, humbly prostrating himself between tears.

“Oi, Firefly Squid-senpai,” Floyd said lazily, using the butt of his frying pan to poke Idia on the head. “This all you got? You’d better tell the truth or else Crocodile-chan and I will squeeze you senseless~”

“Y-Yes, yes, that’s everything!!” Idia squeaked as he cowered in terror. “Y-You’ve already cleaned me out of house and home...!! J-Just take the noodles and leave this nerd alone!!”

“Hmmm...” Floyd laid his frying pan on his shoulder and contemplated. “’Kay! I don’t feel like haulin’ more stuff back to the kitchen anyway.”

“The FUCK is happening here?!”

All eyes landed on Gordon as he stormed in looking none too pleased. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his entire face creased with rage.

A mistake made on his part; he should have known—the students of Night Raven College were the most dangerous aspect in all of cooking.

It had been a sly suggestion from Floyd that started this whole mess. “I heard from a little octopus that Ignihyde’s loaded with noodles. We should go there to pick some up.”

And so Sebek and Floyd had been allowed to go off to collect the ingredients. When they didn’t return in a timely manner, Gordon’s suspicions had set in and he went to Ignihyde himself to investigate—only to stumble upon that shocking scene.

He left fuming, dragging his problem children of the day with him (Floyd) flailing and (Sebek) protesting.

“I said you could get ingredients, I didn’t say you should rob the man blind!!” Gordon grunted, shoving them both through the kitchen doors. “Right, we’ll make noodles by scratch then. Hope you boys remember what you’ve been taught.”

“What? But I don’t feel like it.”

“You should’ve thought of that before you pissed on my mood. To your stations,” their instructor barked, “now!!”

“Maaan... This sucks.”

They reluctantly slunk off, fetching flour, salt, and eggs along the way. Just as Sebek popped open a jar of white granules, Gordon shouted, “Make sure it’s not sugar this time, Zigvolt!!”

Sebek’s cheeks flamed. He shot a fierce glare back, bellowing, “I KNOW THAT!! I don’t need to be told twice! I’ve been expanded my culinary repertoire considerably since the start of this semester!!”

Floyd’s eyes shifted to Sebek’s station. A nasty plot bubbled to the surface of his mind, encouraged by the volatility of his junior’s attitude.

“Ehhh, you sure got guts snapping back to the teach, freshie,” Floyd grinned crookedly as he leaned forward at his counter. “How about you talk big when you can actually own up to it? At least I can cook without a recipe. You’ve been making little mistakes even with a recipe.”

“WHAT!! The only reason we’re even IN this predicament is due to YOUR lapse in judgment!! You INSISTED it would be more cost effective and time efficient to procure noodles in bulk from Ignihyde!”

“You’re the one that went along with me. If you were really smart, you’d have stopped us.”

“Grk…!!”

“Alright, alright, that’s enough out of the both of you!!” Gordon interrupted. “Focus on your pastas instead of stirring the pot here.”

“Tch!! I’ll show him!!” Sebek gruffly tore into a bag of flour at his table. A cloud of fine white powder filled the air, sending him into a coughing fit.

Floyd snickered—he had already shifted his own flour and salt together, forming a well in which he had cracked an egg.

Gordon raised a brow. “… Well? Get on with it then.”

The merman’s lackadaisical smile turned sharp-toothed at the suggestion. “If you say so.”

Without hesitation, Floyd stuck his entire hand into his mound of ingredients, fingers clenching around egg and flower. The yolk burst, viscous yellow coating his hand and flour flying in all directions. A stray speck flew across the aisle and hit Sebek’s forehead.

A low grow came from his throat.

Gordon scowled at Floyd. “That’s not an acceptable mixing technique.”

“That’s right!” Sebek called haughtily. “You should know better!! You’re meant to break the yolk with a fork, then steadily incorporate it into the...”

A fistful of flour suddenly exploded across Sebek’s vision. He jerked back, now boasting a flour-covered face, appalled and mouth hanging agape.

Across the way, Floyd unabashedly smirked. He waggled his yolky fingers at his classmate, incriminating himself. “Oops, my hand slipped.”

“YOU VILE KNAVE!! THIS INJUSTICE WILL NOT GO UNPUNISHED!!” Sebek shoved a hand into his own bag of flour for a counterattack. He raised his arm, and Floyd cackled, knowing his target had taken the bait.

Gordon instantly clued in on his intentions.

This was it: Floyd’s escape from the order to make noodles, to do something more fun.

“TIME OUT!!” The chef abruptly stepped between his students, forming a physical barrier between the two--but alas, too late.

The declaration of war had been made.

There was a battle cry, and then flour flying at him. Gordon fell back, grasping at his face. The world blurred into a white mess, filled with the clanging of pots and pans and erratic shouting. 

“Where are you?!” Sebek demanded between coughs (most likely preparing another projectile). “COME AND FACE ME, YOU FISHY COWARD!!”

Shuffling came from within the flour haze, metal and wooden implements rolled or tossed to the floor to attract Sebek’s attention. Wherever Floyd was in the kitchen, he was a master at avoiding detection.

All the while, Gordon swatted at the air and bellowed, “Stand down, get back to work. ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME, YOU FUCKING DONKEYS?!”

The startled cries of the cafeteria ghost chefs started filtering in.

“G-Goodness, what’s happened here?!”

Gordon lurched out of the kitchen, clinging to the doorframe to keep himself upright. He spat up a breath, then dragged a hand over his face to wipe it clean of flour. The man looked simultaneously infuriated and exhausted, the lines on his face seemingly more prominent than they had been before.

“Mr. Ramsay!! Are you alright?! What’s become of the kitchen and the students?!” one of the ghost chefs asked worriedly.

“The students,” Gordon said wearily. “That’s what happened.”

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #607

Top Ten Cameos from Once Upon a Studio

This week was the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney. Not the dude – as well as being dead for a little bit, he was actually born in 1901 so we missed his centenary around about the time we were all watching The Fellowship of the Ring – no, I’m talking about the company he founded with his brother all the way back on October 16th 1923 (sidebar: I always thought it was a bit weird that him and his brother founded the company, but they decided only to name it after Walt; turns out it was originally called “Disney Brothers”, which I guess makes more sense). Anyway, all that’s unnecessary preamble to say that this is as good a week as any to do a big old Disney animation-themed Top Ten.

I was going to do something about Fantasia, but then in one of those last-minute Abby-cuts-Jed’s-tie moments that I’m so fond of – and with a bit of a Homer-esque face slap at missing the obvious connection – it occurred to me that Disney themselves had already handed me the perfect vehicle to celebrate their milestone in the rather charming little short, Once Upon a Studio. The plot of this film sees the various Disney animated characters gather together for a group photo, and as such is a veritable who’s who of Disney history for film nerds such as me. That’s why I’ve decided to pick out my favourite – and perhaps most surprising – cameos.

There’s a lot going on in this little film, which barely runs to thirteen minutes even with acres of credits; the various gags they work in starring different characters, and how those characters interact, is rather joyous and often pretty funny, even if the film itself is incredibly slight and more than a touch hagiographic. But little things, from Encanto’s Luisa carrying the cows from Home on the Range, to Rapunzel smacking Kaa around the head with a frying pan, to Wish’s Asha holding hands with Snow White – Disney’s most recent Princess holding hands with its first ever – add up to a really lovely little watch if you’ve been watching Disney all your life.

And so here we have a very personal list of surprising pop-ups, nostalgic hat-tips, and really just some pretty cool slices of Disney history. See you in 2123.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit: the original Disney mascot, Oswald languished in obscurity for years, a pub quiz trivia fact for animation historians. He had a minor resurgence in the Epic Mickey videogames, but has been welcomed back into the fold for the centenary with his own brand-new short. Seeing him stood alongside Mickey Mouse in the closing moments might not be revelatory, but it is a wonderful encapsulation of Disney’s long history.

Pete’s Dragon: this is a personal one, which is why it ranks so high, but Pete’s Dragon was one of the films I kept asking to be rented from the video store when I was a little kid. The moment early on when Pete and the Dragon soar overhead as the camera runs through the studio is therefore delightful, but also sets up the fact that this film is definitely going to have some Disney deep cuts.

Dodger: watching Venelope von Schweetz from Wreck-It Ralph careen around corners in her candy car with Dodger from Oliver and Company howling along in the seat beside her, string of sausages around his neck, is another one of those “oh, they’re really going to be picking the obscure characters” moments; whilst Oliver and Dodger are both pretty cool, I do wonder how many kids just flat-out won’t recognise Billy Joel’s crowning cinematic achievement.

Ichabod: y’know, from The Legend of Sleepy Hollow – or, rather, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, the two-hander “package” film Disney released in 1949 that featured adaptations of both Sleepy Hollow and The Wind in the Willows. Or maybe you don’t as it’s largely forgotten. Toad himself riding on Aladdin’s Carpet is one thing, but the nice bit of business with Ichabod nearly getting his head knocked off by Goofy’s stepladder is much funnier. IYKYK.

Chernabog: this is the demonic, er, demon who leads an army of ghouls and various other nasties in the none-more-metal conclusion to Fantasia, “Night on Bald Mountain”. And here he is again, the supreme edgelord of the underworld, absolutely terrifying all the pups from One Hundred and One Dalmatans.

Cri-Kee: the little cricket from Mulan is probably both rather obscure and also relatively popular – it’s not like Mulan is some little-know flick from the fifties. But it’s nice to see him represented; his cameo here is a bit blink-and-you’ll-miss-him – he’s very small, after all – and also nicely integrated into Disney’s lore, as he’s having a conversation with Encanto’s Antonio, who, of course, can speak to animals.

Aladar: I think this one’s quite surprising if only because no one ever talks about Disney’s Dinosaur. I mean, there is perhaps a good reason for that; it’s definitely one of the weaker films, although it was incredibly ambitious and experimental (also it’s not as bad as, say, Chicken Little and that annoying little bugger is here too). Anyway, there he is: right at the end – and I’ve tried in general to steer clear of people who only pop up in the final group shot – but the sheer fact that he’s made it into this film at all is something of a triumph.

Wayne and Lanny: who, you might reasonably ask, are Wayne and Lanny? I confess I did have to look up their names, but they are the elves from Disney’s Christmas shorts, Prep & Landing. I mean, they’re not exactly household names (at least in this house), but come on – Disney genuinely stuck two characters from a couple of Christmas-themed TV specials in this thing! How much deeper do you want them to cut?!

George: okay, this one’s at the bottom because again it’s just a bloke stood at the back in the final group shot, and also because I’m not 100% certain it’s the right dude. But I’m pretty sure that we can see George, the main character from the absolutely majestic 2012 short film Paperman – right there, at the back. He’s distinctive because of his thin frame, pointy nose, and the fact that he’s in black and white. It’s a shame his girlfriend Meg isn’t there with him, mind. But again – this is just one of their shorts, albeit a phenomenally good one! Even though it won the Oscar, how many people really, truly think about Paperman on a regular basis? Well, apart from me.

Robin Williams: this one’s special – and, yes, it’s not a character. I think we could all assume the Genie would be here somehow. Other characters have used archive voices when it’s not possible to record new lines from their original artist (pretty sure that’s actually Cliff Edwards’ recording from Pinocchio when we hear Jiminy Cricket singing When You Wish Upon a Star); others have had their voice performers replaced over the years (Jim Cummings might be iconic now as Winnie the Pooh, but even he wasn’t the original voice of the character). With the Genie, there’s even precedent as Dan Castellaneta played the character in both The Return of Jafar and subsequent TV series. But that’s not what Disney did here. No, it appears that they’ve gone back to the vault and found some unused and – as far as I’m aware – previously unheard outtakes or alternate lines that Williams recorded back in 1991 or 1992 for the role, and therefore given us a short snippet of a brand-new Robin Williams performance. What more could you wish for?

So, yes, quite the star-studded ensemble and a fantastic slice of Disney history. And I didn’t even get round to those weird living planes, cars, and trees.

EDITED TO ADD: so it's come to my attention that obviously that's not Pete on the Dragon's back (the Dragon who of course is called Elliot). It's Cody from The Rescuers Down Under. See, this is what happens when you recognise a character but haven't seen a film for over thirty years. I just assumed there must be a bit in the film where live-action Pete got animated, or something. Anyway, I'm leaving it in the paragraph above for integrity's sake, because I don't like re-editing these things after the fact.

[astra-galaxie]

Itzel Ramirez

Biographical information

Full Name: Itzel Ramirez

Gender: Female

Status: Alive

Age: 6 (season 1)

Birth: 2006

Race: Human

Nationality: Mexican-Spanish

Origin: Grimsborough, USA

Residence: Grimsborough, USA

Family:

Eduardo Ramirez (father)

Valentina Ramirez (mother)

Arturo Ramirez (brother)

Lucia Ramirez (sister)

Mariposa Ramirez (sister)

Profile

Height: 3'6" Age: 6 (season 1) Weight: 45lbs Eyes: brown Blood: B-

The youngest Ramirez, Itzel is a sweet little girl with short black hair tied back by a set of pink ribbons and warm brown eyes. She wears a pink and purple hoodie, dark purple leggings, and sparkly light-up pink and white sneakers. Her pockets are always filled with random objects that she finds throughout the day that look pretty, like rocks, leaves, and flowers.

Synopsis

Itzel is the fourth and final child of Eduardo and Valentina Ramirez. Like the rest of her siblings, she is a minor character who appears in The Case of The Criminal. She goes to the same school as her sisters, where she loves reading time, her music classes and playing with her friends at recess.

In her free time, Itzel serves as a member of the Grimsborough Girl Scouts. She loves attending scouting events, especially those with the Grimsborough Boy Scouts because she gets to hang out with her Uncle David Jones, who volunteers with the Boy Scouts. Jones always buys a box of Girl Scout cookies from her and every other box afterwards. Itzel says her Uncle has a cookie addition, but with his help, she sells out every season, so she sees nothing wrong with his cookie obsession.

Itzel loved visiting Pacific Bay to see her father and attend her Aunt Adalet and Uncle Fili's wedding. While she had a lot of fun at the wedding, she liked spending time with just her family. They visited many beaches, went seashell hunting, built sandcastles, and even got to bury their father in the sand. But they had to dig him out before he got sunburnt.

Story Information

First appeared:

Bomb Alert on Grimsborough (cameo)

Happy Birthday to You! (first speaking role)

Trivia

She was diagnosed with level 1 autism (commonly known as high-function autism) near the end of her first year in school

She doesn't let people underestimate her because of her autism and shows them that kids with disabilities can do things just like "normal" kids can

She loves the colours pink and purple

She and Avi Douglas are close friends despite her being a year older than the boy

After hearing about how her father took down a criminal with a frying pan, Itzel began practicing how to use a frying pan as a weapon

It has resulted in multiple people getting hit in the knees by a frying pan, followed by the little girl tearfully apologizing while sticking colourful bandages on the person's bruises

Itzel loves baking with her mother, especially when making traditional Mexican or Spanish desserts like Conchas and Churros

Arturo got them matching noise-cancelling headphones to help Itzel when she gets overwhelmed. He got himself a pair because his sister was scared to wear them at first, so he told her they could be headphone buddies!

Arturo also made Itzel several music playlists for her to listen to to help her sensory issues. They range from calming tunes to Itzel's favourite songs from children's movies

She loves going on walks with Lucia around town and visiting the playground by their house. Her older sister taught her how to swing and promised to show her how to use the monkey bars once she was old enough

Itzel loves listening to Mariposa read her stories, even if her sister is reading them for school. Mariposa does different voices for the characters and knows how to bring the stories to life for her little sister

Disclaimer: Character design was created using Rinmarugames Mega Anime Avatar Creator! I have only made minor edits to the design! Background courtesy of CriminalArtist5.

Links to my stories:

The Case of the Criminal (Ao3/Wattpad)

Killer Bay (Ao3/Wattpad)

Where in the World are the Killers? (Ao3/Wattpad)

[tams-writeblr]

Once I'm gone

Rating: M(ature) Warnings: major character death Category: F/M (main couple), Multi (side characters) Fandom: Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin Relationship: Mikasa Ackermann / Eren Jaeger | various side couples Characters: Eren Jaeger, Mikasa Ackermann, Armin Arlelt, Zeke Jaeger, Hange Zoe, Floch Forster, Ymir, Reiner Braun, Pieck Finger, Historia Reiss, several others will make a cameo Additional Tags: Modern AU | established relationship | toxic behaviour | Eren suffers from Huntington’s disease and tries to settle his matters before he dies | suicial blockhead Eren | aged up characters (by ten years) | suicide tw | depression tw | mental diseases tw | deathly diseases tw | this is clearly not write what you know, but I’m giving my very best to representate the topics as good as I can | this all basically came to me as a fever dream | you remember Thirteen from House, M.D.? I still have a huge crush on her so this version of Eren is greatly inspired by her <3 Language: English (not native, I’m trying my best you guys) Stats: ongoing - Chapter 1/15 - Part ¾ - 956 of 3652 words Summary: Eren Jaeger knew for years that he inherited Huntington’s disease from his late mother. When he first notices symptoms on him, his long protected plan, to end his life before reaching the critical state of his illness,  awakes. But there is still Mikasa, his girlfriend and the only person in the world he cares about more than about himself, and he can’t leave her alone and grieving. It’s time to find a substitute for when Eren is gone. With the help of a new friend Eren tries to scare away Mikasa while driving her into the arms of someone new.

__________________________________________________

Charlatans and Pills - Part 4/4

<<previous

“Hey Babe, I’m back home!”

Eren quickly put his spoon by his side and pulled down the temperature of the stove. “I’m in the kitchen!”

“Hm, that smells really good”, Mikasa’s voice toned only seconds later. She put her hands on his shoulder blades and started drawing circles with her fingers. “How was your appointment with Dr. Hans, Babe?”

Eren turned around under Mikasa’s touch, holding her wrists in his hands.

From a long day on patrol her face was tired but satisfied, her chin long hair seemed to be freshly washed and shimmered from the striplight above the stove. A small scar beneath her right eye, a leaving from an operation nearly going wrong, was the only thing that wasn’t perfect on her face, but Eren was so used to it, that it just belonged to Mikasa’s face.

“Good”, he answered brusquely and quickly pecked her lips. Then he turned back around to the frying vegetables in his pan. “They only gave me a new prescription. But you know, that I don’t have to take them. I am fine. You are my antidepressivum.”

Mikasa snuggled against his back. “You are so cute. What goods are we having tonight?”

“I made fish for you. I’ll have black bread with the ratatouille.”

“Sounds tempting”, she murmured sleepily towards his back.

“Have had a hard day, Sweetie?”

Mikasa nodded between his shoulder blades. “A missing kid. They’ve sent out divers and everyone. Luckily the little varmint only wanted to go to his favourite playground and got lost. An elderly woman found him and took him home with her, feeding him cookies and milk before calling the police. Jean is still doing the paperwork, thank goodness it’s his turn this week.”

Eren smiled. He liked listening to Mikasa talk about work. She was experiencing so much, of course police officers had to be hard dogs. “I’m glad nothing bad happened to the kid.” He gently took Mikasa’s shoulders between his hands and guarded her towards the kitchen unit, having her sit down on a stool. Now free to move how he liked to, Eren continued his work around the kitchen while Mikasa’s almost black button eyes followed his every move. Finally he served the food on big, square plates. “Bon Appetit”, he laughed, got the bag with the black bread and sat next to his girlfriend.

They ate in silence. Eren hadn’t told Mikasa about the happening a few days earlier and he didn’t plan on changing that. She was worrying enough about him, he didn’t have to cause unnecessary drama. Still he had to tell her that he was going to see Zeke from now on. But telling her the true cause? No, he really didn’t want more long conversations.

Four years ago, when his mother died, Eren already told her that he had set his mind on ending his life and Mikasa, well, she didn’t really take it well. Under tears she had told promised him to stay by his side until the bitter end and he should never ever say anything as stupid as that again. He never again talked about these plans.

“I’ve been contemplating”, he murmured lowly when eating half of his dinner. “I'm going to go see Zeke’s group eventually. Maybe it’s really helping to talk to other doomed and suicidal people. Morituri te salutant.”

Mikasa couldn’t laugh about his grim sense of humor and gave him a punch with her elbow. "Drop it, Eren. Don’t talk as sloppily about this. But it’s good in my opinion that you finally changed your mind about going. Your brother wants you to join his group ever since the incident with your mother.”

“Yeah, yeah”, Eren sighed and rolled his eyes. “Good ol’ Zeke, always thinking about my wellbeing.”

“He even became a psychologist because of you”, Mikasa outranged. “I think you could be a little more grateful.”

“I never asked him to. And by the way, that’s just a rumor going around heavily on our family reunions. I mean, his part of the family isn’t particularly fond of me.”

Zeke was the son of their mutual father from his first marriage, ten years older than Eren and opposite to him, sickeningly healthy and a “genius”. As a child Eren had looked up to Zeke and had adored him but since hitting puberty he felt the footprints of his brother way too big for him to fill.

“If he’s talking too much smart rubbish, I’ll never go there again.��

>>next

__________________________________________________ Author’s note: Yay for some EreMika interaction! I know, it's not much but we're not in a hurry, are we guys? There's really not that much to say after this part, only that I am really grateful for the likes I got on the previous parts. Thanks for reading guys! I also applied for an ao3 invitation today and it said, I'd get answer by May 3rd. I'm kinda excited! See you soon for chapter 2 with some Armin content!

[writersrealmbts]

Tangled Hearts

Description: Hybrid!ot7 x reader: You have seven hybrids and life with them can be both good and stressful. Some days are better than others, but in the end, you know that they’re always there for you, in more ways than one.

Angst/Fluff/Suggestive Stuff/SFW

Posted: 10/18/2019

Tags: poly!bts, multi, ot7, hybrid bts, Monsta X cameos

Wordcount: 22,844

A/N: Hope y’all are ready for this. It’s a long one. A really long one. And it is pretty angsty, so sorry about that, also I used Monsta X characters in this as well. I hope you guys like it since I finished it for the celebration of 2,000 followers I reached a while ago. It was also a sort of request/suggestion from months and months ago about the quirks of hybrids. I really hope this doesn’t flop like most of the rest of my works.

You woke up, frowning as you tried to figure out why, then groaning as the rapid thumping occurred above your room once again. “Kim Taehyung would you stop scaring Hoseok!” You heard rushed footsteps as Taehyung tried to get away before you could catch him in the act.

You caught him by the tail on the stairs, and dragged him back to Hoseok’s room, where the bunny-hybrid was hiding under the bed, foot thumping against the bed again. “Apologize now,” You ordered, releasing the tail and crossing your arms.

Taehyung snatched it and held onto it with a strangled sound. “But—”

“Taehyung! I would like to remind you that you were both the person who kept me up until two in the morning and the person who woke me up when the sun wasn’t up yet,” You warned. “And I swear to God if you still have whatever bug or creature you scared him with in my house I won’t get you any frogs for two weeks.”

His eyes widened, and his cute ears twitched. His gray and black ringed tail was still held in his hands. “S-sorry, Hoseokie-hyung.”

Hoseok just made a squeaking sound that was the closest he could get to coherent.

You took a deep breath. “Get whatever it is out of my house, you will be apologizing later. No frogs for a week.”

Tae slumped, but rushed out.

You crouched down and held out your hand, waiting for Hoseok to register it, then letting out an “oof” and falling on your butt as he slammed into you. “Hey, it’s okay, Hobi. I know, he frightened you. Woke you up with a snake, didn’t he?”

He nodded, his heart beating so rapidly and he was still so upset, foot thumping against the air. “Sorry. Waking. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, I don’t mind being woken, I mind that it was Taehyung doing it for the fifth time. I’ll have a serious talk with him later, okay. Just breathe. You want some carrot juice this morning?”

He nodded again, finally starting to calm down.

The two of you stayed that way until he looked up at you sleepily.

“There we go,” You said softly, smiling down at him.

He relaxed completely and grinned up at you. “Better check on Seokjin-hyung. Tae was in his room first. He might kill Tae.”

You groaned. “Head downstairs. I better get everyone moving.”

He got up and nabbed a sweatshirt as he exited his room, checking the hallway before going out just in case.

You headed into Yoongi’s room, stripping the blankets from his form in one quick movement and calling for him to get up.

He groaned. “But it’s morning…”

“And you didn’t eat anything after dinner tonight and your doctor wants you to gain at least ten pounds. If you’re going to embrace being partially nocturnal, eat accordingly. You can go back to bed after you’ve had some food,” You told the mink-hybrid, ignoring the groaning and the grasping for blankets. “Don’t make me dump water on you. I already had to deal with Taehyung this morning.”

“That raccoon is going to be the death of all of us. Let me kill him first.”

“Play nice and get up. Don’t forget to make your bed.” You headed to the next room, humming softly as you entered so you wouldn’t startle Jungkook.

He rolled over and looked in your general direction. “They’re loud.”

“Sorry, pup,” You helped him get up and laid out an outfit for him. “I’ll send Jimin in to help you?”

He nodded, feeling the fabrics and starting to unbutton his pajama shirt.

You went to Jimin’s room across the hall and easily woke him with some pets and the promise of bacon if he was a good boy and helped Jungkook change. Dogs were definitely the easiest.

Namjoon was already awake, but his nose twitched and pulled out of his book to look and acknowledge you. “Morning.”

“Morning,” You replied, both aloud and with your hands, signing as well that it was time to head downstairs for breakfast.

He nodded and closed his book. He ducked and rubbed his head against your hand, then against your arm, purring as he did and heading downstairs.

You headed to the last room, noting it was open and that Jin wasn’t inside.

You hurried downstairs to find a sulky Taehyung getting a glare from the fox-hybrid.

“It was just a joke, hyung.”

“Did anyone laugh?” Jin snapped back, a growl lacing his words.

Namjoon looked at you, completely lost.

You signed “snake” and pointed at Taehyung, then Hoseok and Seokjin.

Namjoon shook his head and took a seat, hitting Taehyung’s arm. “Be nice. They’re always nice to you.”

Yoongi slunk in and dropped into a seat as well, head on his arms and snarling slightly when Hoseok bumped into him on accident. He muttered an apology that he wasn’t awake yet.

Hoseok looked more amused than anything and started poking and prodding the sleepy mink.

“Morning!” Jimin called, leading Jungkook to an empty seat.

You started throwing breakfast together: Carrots into the juicer, bacon into the frying pan, and frozen waffles into the oven. “Someone sign for Joon while we go over today’s agenda?”

“I’ll do it,” Jin agreed.

“Okay, so, we need to weed the garden and I need to go pick up more plants for it, so that’ll be two different teams. Jungkook, can you empty the dishwasher and wash the dishes from breakfast?”

“Sure,” He replied, his tail slowly thumping against the chair. He sounded nervous and determined. He emptied the dishwasher fairly regularly (you hand-washed sharp knives so that he would be safe), but didn’t usually wash the dishes that didn’t fit himself.

“Someone dry the dishes for him to make sure they’re clean and refill the dishwasher. We’ll do hot-dogs and grilled vegetables for lunch, so I’ll need the veggies washed and ready for cooking when I get back from the store. I need someone to inspect the rooms before breakfast is ready—”

“I’ll do it,” Hoseok volunteered.

You nodded. “You know where the clipboard is. After lunch, we’ll rest during the hottest hours of the day, then we can head out to pick berries. Come back, eat dinner, go swimming. Sound good?”

There was a chorus of agreement from the boys.

“What’s my night-time chore?” Yoongi asked, rubbing his face.

“Clean the kitchen, eat another meal, fix the door to the shed. It’s getting stuck.”

He nodded and slumped back over.

You put his plate in front of him first since he had to have very specific portions as well as extra supplements.

Hoseok started to dart upstairs for room inspection, but you stopped him and gestured for him to eat.

Jin took over and told you to go ahead and go take a shower and get dressed since your morning routine had been disrupted yet again.

You showered and dressed, made your bed (which wasn’t that hard since you barely got to sleep in it), and went back out to find all of them gaping as Taehyung stared bleakly at the waffle he had impulsively “washed” in the sink.

“It’s alright, I put extras in the oven. Here, wash an apple,” You intervened, smiling gently and opening his hands, putting the fruit in instead. That was why you had a garbage disposal installed.

He washed the apple thoroughly, then hurried back to his seat where Jin had put waffles and bacon, buttering the waffles for Tae so that he wouldn’t be tempted to try and wash them again.

Namjoon patted Taehyung on the shoulder. “It’s okay. We all do strange things.”

“Jungkook, you’re about to put your hand in the syrup,” You warned, guiding his hands to the silverware and then taking over from Jin so that he could eat since they all ate twice as much as you and you honestly just had a smoothie in the morning lately. Strawberries, blueberries and banana with orange juice and some protein powder and you were good to go. Though Jungkook always insisted on smelling your breath. It was weird, but no weirder than when Jimin would lick you when you had worked up a sweat.

Speak of the devil, he was giving you the side-eye, an evil grin on his face. “No boyfriend today? It’s been a while.”

It had, but the last time your boyfriend had been over had been…disastrous. They had all behaved like little monsters and it took you four hours to clean the house afterward.

“Well, I have these hybrids that don’t know how to behave when I have company over,” You replied, giving him the eye. “My trash-panda trashed the house with the help of my normally sweet and loving Labrador. My sweet kitty pretended that nothing existed if he couldn’t hear it, and he can’t hear anything. My Malamute decided that he was going to be hostile. The mink I so lovingly rescued absolutely demolished my couch and my fox ran away and hid. And my bunny, my sweet, lovely clean bunny, decided to come down with a sickness that doesn’t actually exist and scare the bejeebers out of me. So no, my boyfriend won’t be coming here until you all learn to behave better around strangers. Which is why after we’re done swimming tonight, I’m going to his place.”

They all froze, staring at you.

Then they started protesting all at once.

“He scared me! I can’t see him and the smells were all over the place! But you can’t go there! What if he’s a serial killer?”

“What if his hybrids attack you?”

“It was a good book!”

“Yoongi started it!”

“I am not a trash-panda!”

“I really didn’t feel good!”

“I am always sweet and loving!”

You rolled your eyes.

“They could hurt you!” Yoongi added as they all started to quiet down.

“They haven’t hurt me before,” You countered. “And I work with my boyfriend, we go through a ton of different background checks. If he is a serial killer, he’s a very good one if he can pass those tests and have hybrids trust him. Now, who’s coming with me to the store?”

Namjoon raised his hand quickly, reading your lips.

The others raised theirs a split second after, but you were pretty sure Jimin had been first.

“So, Namjoon and Jimin. Yoongi, enjoy your nap. Taehyung, you help Jungkook. Hoseok, and Jin, get to work in the garden?”

Taehyung perked up at the prospect of not weeding right away with the others. “Yes, ma’am!”

The others nodded their agreement.

You nodded. “Let me do my makeup. Brush your teeth and get your shoes on.”

“Okay!” Jimin signed the instructions to Joon, then hurried upstairs.

Jungkook looked slightly nervous with Jimin leaving his side, but he’d been getting better about it with every week he lived with you. He trusted the others now, especially Hoseok, Seokjin, and Namjoon. He was still a little jumpy around Yoongi and Taehyung, the latter of which tended toward spontaneous sounds and actions that Jungkook couldn’t see coming.

You tried to push him as much as possible, gave him more responsibilities, brought him into new situations, and reminded him to use his other senses. He’d relied on Jimin for years, unable to do anything else because he was told constantly that he wasn’t able to in his former situation. It was hard to get Jimin to not protect and care for Jungkook.

Then there was Namjoon, who’d been in an accident with his former owner, the result of which left him deaf and abandoned by his owner’s family. The betrayal had left him so broken, and yet your little kitty had quickly warmed up to you as you taught him again how to use sign language and worked with him on reading lips. He’d been with you longest.

Jin was your most recent addition to your household, and he’d been with you for two and a half months now.

“Y/n, are you sure…” Hoseok started, setting the clipboard down. “Are you sure that you’re happy with your boyfriend? You never seem happy when you come back from hanging out with him. And his hybrid’s scent…I know it really bugs Jungkook, and Yoongi…and Namjoon. Especially Namjoon.”

You looked over the room inspection sheets, not surprised by Hoseok’s findings. “I take care of all of you all day, I organize your days, I make sure you all eat properly, and I try to love you all as much as I’m able to. My relationship isn’t perfect. I know that. But…” You sighed as you struggled for the words to say what you needed to.

“You…need to get away from us?”

Your eyes widened. “No! I just…I need someone to take care of me sometimes. I would never try to burden you all with my problems. You all have so many of your own, and sometimes there are things that I just can’t share with you guys. Well, I could tell Namjoon as long as he wasn’t looking at me.” You ran a hand through your hair, feeling even more frazzled. This day was not going as you planned.

Hoseok was tugging on one of his ears, thoughtful but sad. “I understand.”

You looked over his face. “Do you?”

He met your gaze, then looked down. “I think so.” He leaned forward and nuzzled your shoulder affectionately.

You quickly welcomed his affection, kissing his temple and stroking his hair.

“We’re…ready…” Jimin announced, looking worriedly between you and Hoseok.

Namjoon came over and pet the bunny’s head, gaining Hoseok’s attention before signing something over your shoulder.

Hoseok nodded and pulled away. “I’ll go make sure Taehyung doesn’t get Jungkook hurt.”

“He’s not completely irresponsible,” Jimin pointed out.

“He had a snake in my house, he’s not entirely responsible either,” You argued, folding your arms. “Thank you, Hobi. Also, could you check on Jin. He seemed…quiet.”

“That is a problem.” Hoseok hurried off to find the eldest.

Namjoon hugged you from behind, nosing at your hairline so lightly it sent chills up your spine. “We’re ready when you are.”

You nodded, grabbing your purse and extricating yourself. You looked through and then groaned. “Who took my keys?” You yelled.

You heard a lot of scampering sounds from multiple offenders as they hastily retreated in different directions.

“Y/n?” Jimin said hesitantly.

You took a deep breath and then dropped your purse. “I’m going back to bed. One of you get the keys back. We’ll get groceries tomorrow. Tell everyone lunch is whatever the hell they can scrounge up.” You headed upstairs, ignoring Jimin’s whimpers and Namjoon’s worried and confused call of your name.

Yoongi’s head snapped up guiltily as you came into your room.

You marched over and grabbed your pillow and favorite blanket and marched back out, ignoring his inquisitive looks.

You went down the hall to Jin’s room, going in since you knew he’d already taken off for the garden and curling up in his bed. You pulled the covers over your head, hugged your blanket and pressed your face into it to release the scream of frustration and anxiety that the day had already brought you.

It wasn’t even 8:30.

They left you alone, Jin only slipping in a few hours later, sitting on the edge of the bed and petting your back through the blankets before leaving you alone again.

It was around 11:30 that Jungkook came.

“Y-y/n? Um…Jin-hyung and Yoongi-hyung made us lunch…do you…want someone to bring you something?”

“I’m not hungry,” You replied softly, cursing your voice for wobbling.

“Oh…okay…” His footsteps retreated hesitantly, a whine evident in his voice.

You pushed your face into the pillows, reaching for your phone in your pocket only to realize it wasn’t there. You’d managed to nap in between the bouts of frustrated tears.

But now you were angry, because there were only two that could have taken it.

You got up, roughly making the bed before going downstairs. “Jung Hoseok, if you or Namjoon have my phone, you need to give it back right now.”

Hoseok looked startled. “I don’t have it, y/n.”

Jimin had translated for Namjoon, and the way he seemed to get interested in the food on his plate said it all.

All of them shrunk away from you.

You took a deep breath, trying desperately not to have a meltdown on them. “Why?”

Namjoon seemed to be shrinking by the second, despite not knowing what you asked.

“Y-y/n?” Yoongi said, looking nervous. “I…I’m sorry I took your keys.”

“Why did you take them? You knew I was going to the store. We just discussed it.” Your eyes were tearing up, and it made you even more upset because you didn’t want to cry. You were angry.

“Because we could live without groceries, but I couldn’t stand the thought of you leaving us tonight to go visit that stinking—”

“Yoongi,” Hoseok hissed, punching the mink.

Adding hurt to your list of feelings, you knocked on the counter in front of Namjoon.

He finally peeked up at you, then pulled out your phone from his pocket.

You signed “why”.

His gaze dropped back to the counter. “I just…I wanted to know what he talked about that was so special….”

“Happy with what you found?” You asked aloud as he glanced up at you. You shook your head and looked away from him and Yoongi. “I am beyond frustrated right now. Do you think it’s easy taking care of all of you? Doing all of this, and working? Can’t you guys just make some days a little easier? Maybe follow the rules for once, or eat of your own volition? Maybe try not to destroy what little bit of sanity I manage to maintain on bad days? Maybe stop antagonizing me over trying to have some sort of love life?”

It wasn’t fair to some of them. It wasn’t fair for them to be getting these words when they had done nothing wrong.

But you were crying now and the words just didn’t want to stop.

But you had to stop them, so with a choked sob, you turned and fled back upstairs, locking your bedroom door and pulling the dresser in front of it for good measure.

You left your phone down there again.

You stripped the sheets because they were covered in mink and malamute fur, quickly remaking your bed before sliding between the taught blankets and sheets, hugging one of the extra pillows. You shouldn’t have gone downstairs while you were angry. They were all in various stages of recovery, and outbursts like this were the equivalent of two steps forward and five steps back.

“Y/n?” Jimin called through the door, voice wavering. “Please let me in. Please?”

You squeezed your eyes shut.

“It’s okay, y/n. They know they messed up. No one is mad at you, or hurt. Well, you’re hurt, so please let me in?” His voice became plaintive, stronger now and yet still soft.

You would probably regret it.

But you moved the dresser and unlocked the door.

He slipped in, growling at whoever tried to follow him and locking it again. He pulled the dresser in front of the door for you and then turned and opened his arms.

You hugged him as tightly as you dared, and he hugged you back. “I’m doing everything wrong.”

“No you’re not.”

“Then why doesn’t anything ever go right? Why am I so toxic?”

“You’re not toxic, y/n,” He quickly corrects you, thumbs on your lips to keep you quiet so he could talk to you. “You’re not. It’s just…a bad day. It started out on the wrong foot, and then someone greased the floor.”

You snorted, recognizing your own words. You’d said them to him a few months back, the day after Jin had arrived and Jungkook was struggling and Jimin had a bad day that he accidentally took out on Jin.

He smiled, then pressed five kisses all long your forehead before carefully kissing/licking the tears from your cheeks. “You know, Yoongi felt so bad about it once he realized why you were…initially upset that he ate a whole lot. Because he knew that if you were mad at him, you’d at least be happy that he ate a proper meal. Even if he is disrupting his natural sleep-cycle.”

You groaned. “Oh god, he’s going to be a zombie until we get him back on his schedule again.”

He quickly shushed you. “Don’t worry about that.”

You kept bonking your head on his shoulder. “How can I not?”

He chuckled. “See, this is why you’re perfect. Even when you’re mad at us, you still worry about us.” He nuzzled into your hair.

You heard a car door and flinched. “What was that?”

He looked just as bewildered as you, but went to the window. “Uh oh.”

More car doors.

“What uh oh?”

“I better go tackle Yoongi. Your boyfriend is here. And he brought his hybrids.”

You felt your heart drop to your stomach and you and Jimin rushed downstairs to prevent bloodshed.

The boys all looked warily out the front windows through the blinds.

You rushed to the front door and outside, hearing protests from Yoongi and Jungkook (who heard the front door open) and ignoring them as you rushed up to your boyfriend. “What are you doing here?”

He smiled down at you. “Wow, some greeting. Hi to you too.”

“Hi, what are you doing here? And with your hybrids? Are you trying to get someone hurt?”

“Look, the only way they’re going to accept me is if they know everything about me, including my hybrids. I told them to be on their best behavior, so don’t worry.”

“You do remember what happened the last time you were here, right? And it’s already—”

“Have you been crying?” He asked, gently wiping at your face.

His one hybrid, Jooheon, whimpered a bit. “Y/n? You smell sad and angry, and scared? Is everything okay?”

You groaned. “I’m fine, it’s just a bad day here. Which is why this is an especially bad day for you all to be here.”

He folded his arms. “Are you sure it’s not just an excuse?”

“Excuse me?” You folded your arms.

“Are you sure you’re not just using your hybrids as an excuse to push me away?”

“Y/n!” Yoongi called out in a growl.

You closed your eyes. “Do you really think you’re not already in enough trouble?” You asked, turning to look at him.

He nodded toward the house. “Jin-hyung’s having one of his attacks.”

“I swear to god if you’re bluffing I’m gonna wring your furry tail,” You warned, hurrying inside, your boyfriend only steps behind.

Jin was spasming on the ground, definitely having a seizure.

“What’s wrong with him?” Wonho, one of your boyfriend’s other hybrids, asked softly as you and Shownu rolled Jin onto his side as the spasms stopped.

Shownu checked his pulse, watching his watch while you timed how long it took Jin to start to come out of it.

“What’s going on?” Jungkook asked worriedly.

“He’s out of the seizure, we’re just waiting for him to recover,” Shownu answered.

You saw Jungkook shrink away more. “Jungkook, Hoseok, could you go make sure Jin’s bed is ready for him? He’ll want to rest. Yoongi, Taehyung, take Namjoon into the backyard. I’ll send Hoseok out to get you when you can come in.”

There was some hesitance from all of them, but slowly they murmured their assent and left.

Jimin crouched beside you, glancing sidelong at you as if he would see the explanation.

You just shook your head slightly. You should have known Jin would have a seizure. You’d suspected he wasn’t okay that morning. But no. You were so self-centered that you neglected one of your main duties as caretaker of all of them.

Shownu met your gaze as you looked away from Jin, and sort of held onto it. “So…really bad timing?”

“The worst,” You agreed, sighing in relief as Jin started to come out of it. “You should back off so he doesn’t freak out.”

He backed away, waving his hybrids closer to the front door.

Hoseok came back with a blanket, one of Jin’s. “For the smell.”

You nodded, carefully tucking it under his head. “When he’s recovered enough, can the two of you help him to bed?”

They both nodded, but Jimin caught your wrist.

“You couldn’t have prevented it,” He reminded you.

“But I should have seen it coming. It’s my job to see it coming.” You pulled out of his grasp and headed past your boyfriend and outside.

His hybrids went and got into his van, but he stayed beside you. “They’ll never accept me.”

“We don’t know that—”

“Yes, we do. I do. I get it now.”

“Please don’t do this to me today,” You whispered.

He nodded, turning and pulling you into a hug. “Okay. But how much longer are we going to keep kidding ourselves?”

“You can break up with me tomorrow. Just…leave it for today.”

“I…still need a date for the wedding this Saturday. Why don’t we call that our last night? End it on a high note?”

You nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.”

“And I’ll still be around if you need me. We work together, after all. It would be awkward if we…”

“Yeah. Might take a while.”

He nodded, petting your hair a bit before heading toward his van. “Jin might want to scent you. It’s comforting to them.”

You nodded, waving as he drove off.

You went back inside after a few minutes to try and compose yourself, heading upstairs to where the boys had already moved Jin.

He tiredly reached out for you and you obliged, crawling under the covers and into his arms. “Y/n.”

“You want to scent me?” You asked softly, smirking slightly has Jungkook huffed jealously.

Jin did it instead of answering, he was obviously exhausted and in a bit of pain, but his body seemed to relax a bit more as he breathed you in and covered you in his scent. His hands gently rubbed your back, and he curled around you, head in the crook of your neck. “You smell so nice now.”

“I didn’t before?”

He hummed, not committing either way.

You sighed, and ran your fingers through his hair. “What did I smell like before?”

He breahted in carefully and then seemed to press a kiss to your neck. “Anxious. And depressed.”

You let out a little scoffing breath and curled up slightly.

He wrapped around you a little more. “Are you okay?”

“We’re breaking up. After the wedding on Saturday.”

He stiffened. “What?”

You just nuzzled into his body.

“Y/n?”

“It’ll be amicable. Has to be.”

He tilted your chin up. “Don’t break up with him because of us.”

“He’s breaking up with me,” You told him. “We just aren’t the right fit.”

He nodded slowly. “I’m sorry, y/n.”

You shrugged, shivering and grabbing at the blankets. “It’s just the way things go sometimes. How are you feeling? Headache? Muscle soreness?” You rubbed your hands on his back and sides, massaging his shoulders.

“I’m just tired. A little sore.” He sat up, nose twitching. “Also restless. They’re arguing.”

You sighed. “How bad?”

“It’s pretty hushed, so I’d say it wasn’t too bad.” He sighed. “Do you…do you think that I’ll ever…fit in with them?” He whispered, sounding so sad.

“You do, you do fit in. They love you.” You pushed yourself up so that you could rest your head on his shoulder. “I love you.”

He started petting your hair. “I love you too.”

——

“Y/n? No boyfriend tonight? It’s been a while,” Jimin asked teasingly, leaning on you with his arms draped over your shoulders. “His smell isn’t on your clothes as much as it usually is.”

You ignored his questions and teasing, guiding his arms to hold you instead of dangling and blocking your view of the book you were attempting to read. It was honestly the first time you’d found any of them getting on your nerves ever since day a couple weeks ago and you were determined to just ignore it as long as you could.

“Don’t you want to go see him? Cuddle up and smooch him?” Jimin kept teasing, ignoring the grumpy looks he got from Taehyung—who preferred to be your cuddle partner if at all possible.

You sighed and started to reread the page.

“Leave her be, Jimin,” Jin said softly.

“Oh, come on! What? Are you preparing to bring him over here again?” He asked, rubbing his cheek on your hair and giggling at the way your hair tickled his face. “I know we’ll need to be on our best behavior. You could make your homemade bread, and we could clean the house really nicely. Though, no promises on enduring the mushy-gushy stuff.”

You hummed and tried to refocus on your book, shifting slightly to bear his weight more comfortably.

“I mean, at least he’s not clueless about things like how to take care of hybrids. And he makes you happy, right?”

“They broke up Jimin, leave her alone,” Jin said, shoving Jimin off of you and then cuddling up next to you in a way that prevented the others from touching you. Very protective.

They were staring now, and you heard something drop to the ground.

“Y/n…when?” Namjoon asked, coming over to stand in front of you, then crouch when you wouldn’t look at him.

You flipped back to the page you had been trying to read the whole time when you realized you hadn’t absorbed it. Again.

“After the wedding they went to together. Now leave her alone.” Jin signed it as well, then nuzzled up to you again.

“He’s pretty bossy for the new guy,” Tae muttered.

You looked up at that. “Tone.”

“Sorry,” he immediately apologized.

Namjoon looked confused, but also resigned to being out of the loop. “What happened?”

You shook your head. “It wasn’t working. We both agreed. We’re still attempting to be friends, especially since we work together. Now, can we not talk about this anymore? Guess I’m done reading. Guess I better get ready for work. Jungkook, are you still coming into the office with me?”

He nodded, scrambling to his feet and tripping over Hoseok’s legs.

Jimin caught the malamute, setting him back on his feet.

“Thanks hyung.”

Jin hummed getting up with you and holding onto you still. “Do you have to go?”

You wrapped your arms around him and hugged him tightly. “You can come too.”

He perked up. “Really?”

You nodded. You were worried about him. He’d been lethargic all week and if he was going to have a seizure, you’d rather he be with you. At least at the clinic he could get taken care of should anything go wrong. Maybe he was getting sick-sick. Besides, you had your own office and you thought it’d be nice for Jungkook to have someone from home. Like a security blanket. And you wanted to try and get Jin to bond with at least one of them a little more strongly. So far the only sign of attachment you’d noticed was both him and Yoongi finding solidarity in their need for some quiet. But Jin still struggled with sign language so he couldn’t really talk with Namjoon. Taehyung was so unpredictable and Jin so easily startled that things had been sort of touch and go. He was okay with Jimin and Hoseok but still so quiet.

But you’d noticed that he’d naturally look out for Jungkook and seemed comfortable around the Malamute, and Jungkook seemed comfortable around the fox.

Jin was bounding toward the stairs, guiding Jungkook who for the life of him couldn’t figure out how he wasn’t to the first step yet in his excitement.

“How come they get to go? Why are you playing favorites?” Taehyung asked, and you didn’t think anyone could have a more heartbroken face.

“I don’t think Jin’s feeling well and I want to be able to keep an eye on him. Besides, you get bored at my work and end up causing me trouble. You and Jimin can play video games since all of the chores are done. Someone make sure Yoongi wakes up at dinner time and eats a good meal?” You shoved a few things into your bag and headed for the front door. You were already ready for work, you just needed shoes.

“Yeah, we’ll make sure he eats,” Jimin said, following you.

So were the others.

Honestly, ever since that day a couple weeks ago, the boys had all been acting a little strange. They were more cuddly, got along better, broke the rules less….

You looked them over, noticing that Taehyung was still pouting. “Come here, trash panda.”

He made an indignant sound even as he hugged you.

“It’s not even a full shift. I’ll be home in six hours, and then I have the next two days off. We can watch that foreign film you wanted to. I do need to do some canning on one of the days, though. Hoseok, are you still taking Namjoon down to the farmer’s market?”

He nodded. “We’ve got the list of things you wanted us to see if we could get. I’m just glad we can go there without getting in trouble.”

“Take a phone with you, just in case. Mrs. Taylor said she’ll keep an eye out for you, too. Tae, release, I need to give them money.”

“How come I can’t go to the farmer’s market?” Tae pouted as he released you, watching your every movement as you pulled out your wallet and got the money you had withdrawn for the farmers market.

“Because you can’t abandon Jiminie and you know he can’t do the market.”

“I’ll take you next time, Taehyungie, I promise,” Hoseok said, lovingly hugging his younger brother.

Tae snuggled up to the older easily, pout turning into a bit of a smile.

Jimin hugged you. “I’m sorry I teased you,” He whispered. Then he was sniffing you, nose pressed against your skin.

“Jiminie?” You asked, because he sniffed you more.

He pulled back and tilted his head, brow furrowing. “What’s wrong?”

“Um…nothing, you were just getting a little zealous with the sniffing.”

“No, you smell…what do you smell?” He muttered, smelling you again. You ignored the answer your mind supplied of “depression, anxiety and residual teen angst”.

Namjoon leaned in to sniff as well, curious about what the dog was doing, and he sort of flinched back nose wrinkling.

Sure, they’d sniffed you before (especially right after showers) but…the only time they’ve ever flinched away like that was when you were rank and you really knew it (curse fitness day, and your boss for coming up with it). Or that one time when a skunk-hybrid came in and he was one of the rare ones that still had the glands that emitted that foul, foul odor. They didn’t even flinch away when you were sick.

You gently shoved Jimin away, feeling a little insecure now.

But Tae was behind you and he sniffed you too, and made a weird noise.

And Hoseok’s nose was twitching now.

Jungkook came stumbling down the stairs. “I’m rea—” He froze, nose scrunching cutely. “Y/n?”

“I’m fine. I don’t know what you guys are smelling, but I’m fine. I’m gonna be late. Seokjin! We need to leave!”

“Sorry, coming, sorry.” He came down the stair more gracefully than Jungkook, and headed straight for the door.

You took the chance to follow him out, despite the boys protesting.

“Y/n, that smell,” Namjoon said, looking worried as he caught your hand. “I don’t like it. It…it scares me.”

You rubbed your forehead. “There’s nothing I can do about it right now. I’m going to be late. If I still smell like it tonight, then I’ll go to the walk-in clinic after I drop Jin and Jungkook back here. Okay? Stay safe at the farmer’s market,” You told him, making sure to mouth it clearly as you tried to escape his hold.

He finally released, but he still looked worried.

You were climbing into the car when your phone rang with your work coming up as the contact. You groaned, expecting to get scolded or something, then quickly answered.

“Y/n? Hey, you better not come in. The skunk hybrid is back. We’ve had to close the clinic. Boss said if you can finish those files and presentation and send them in before your shift would have ended he’ll still pay you for the time you would have been here,” Shownu gagged. “Oh, no. He got Kihyun.”

“Okay, good luck.” You rubbed your forehead again, as if it would make that hint of a headache disappear. “Thanks for calling me.”

“No problem. Oh! I gotta go!” He hung up after a strange sound in the background.

“So…we’re not going?” Jungkook asked, sounding a bit disappointed.

You started the car. “Why don’t we go out for lunch and then to the park?”

“Seriously?” He perked back up and you could hear his tail thumping against the seat.

“If that sounds okay to Jin.”

“Can…we get ice cream?” Jin asked carefully.

“Sure!” You pulled out of the driveway. “And to make it up to the boys we’ll stop at the regular market and pick up some of their favorites since I have the next couple days off.” Thankfully some of their favorites were the cheapest things you could get.

“You do a lot of canning?” Jin asked.

“Oh, yeah. Same with the garden, it just helps cut costs which allows me to take care of you better. Besides, some things are better homegrown, especially for you guys. And then we get whatever else we can from the farmer’s market.”

“Didn’t your father help you get the garden started? Back when you first took in Namjoon?” Jungkook asked.

You nodded. “He did. Told me I’d need a bigger garden than I had planned, helped me figure out what to plant where, and helped me set up the indoor herb garden. I should go visit him. I just need to candy some of those peels before I go so I can trade with him.”

“Candy peels?” Jin asked, sounding lost.

You looked in the mirror and smiled. “Lemon, orange, grapefruit, a few others. If the boys manage to get strawberries I’ll candy some of those as well. I think you’d like those.”

“You don’t make that much at the clinic, do you?”

You shrugged. “Enough to set some aside into savings. Besides, Hoseok had so much crap given to him when he was little that if he has too much he gets sick, and Yoongi basically lived off of what he could find to eat in the forest. I lived this way with my parents too. Plants grow. Might as well use what nature is growing for us.” Plus when you started you definitely weren’t able to put any into savings, and you still had that slight fear that it would happen again. Especially with so many hybrids. You had a better paying job now, at the clinic, but you still sometimes dreamed that you couldn’t afford proper meals for you or your hybrids and had to call your dad to bail you out. Again. And of course your dad was always angry in the dreams, even though you didn’t think he knew how to be angry in real life. He’d turned really zen after he started keeping bees.

He hummed thoughtfully. “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten that you’ve foraged?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Your weird and my weird are probably very different.”

“Okay, something you think Jungkook would think is weird.”

You shrugged again. “Nettles.”

It was very quiet, and your head decided to remind you that it was resolved to develop a headache.

“How?” Jungkook asked breathily, sounding horrified.

“I mean, if you prepare them properly they don’t hurt you. I would only eat them as a last resort though.”

“Okay, what’s the weirdest preserve you’ve ever made?” Jin asked, sounding more comfortable asking questions.

Your mind glossed over all of the things you made from the time you could remember to today. “Um, maybe the Queen Anne’s lace jelly. It was good, but strange.” You squeezed your eyes shut for a moment at the red light. It’d been a long time since your breakfast at 5 a.m. and your stomach was really telling you about it.

“So all those canned goods we were using up in March and April were things you preserved?”

“Yeah, and weren’t they so good?” Jungkook asked, grinning. “I really like her pickled carrots.”

“That’s because you should have been born a bunny instead of a dog.”

Jin laughed, and it was a wonderful sound that had Jungkook laughing as well.

You pulled into the parking lot, feeling…weirdly shaky. You slowly pressed on the brake.

“Y/n? What’s wrong?”

You stared at the steering wheel, then shakily reached over and put the vehicle in park as your vision went wonky. “Can’t…need to park…”

“That smell,” Jungkook whimpered again. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Y/n?” Jin climbed over the console and cupped your face in his hands. “Her heartbeat is really fast…and I don’t think she was sweating this much at home.”

Someone behind you honked.

Your headache was getting much worse now.

“Can you pull into that parking space?” Jin asked.

You looked at it, and you knew you could, but you also didn’t know how you could. “Not okay.” You’d never felt like this before.

Jin disappeared again just before you closed your eyes, but Jungkook very quickly took his place, fumbling to find you and then nuzzling up to you.

Your door opened and you heard Jin talking to someone, but your vision swam when you opened your eyes and you were shaking more than you did when you were shivering from the cold. It was tremors, tiny but so widespread that you felt you wouldn’t be able to even pick up your phone.

You knew you faded in and out, remembered Jin murmuring that you fainted again, probably telling Jungkook, who was whimpering every time you came to.

“See, she’s looking better already,” Someone really cheerful said nearby.

“Actually, I can’t,” Jungkook answered dryly.

“Don’t be rude,” You murmured, rubbing your eyes and looking around you. “Um?”

“Don’t worry, your blood sugar got a little low. We’re running tests to see what could have caused it. When did you last eat?” The nurse said, and you could see now that you were in some sort of medical facility.

“Uh…about five this morning? How did I get here?” You sat up, despite her coming towards you to hold you down. You definitely felt better than before. “What happened?”

“You fainted after your blood sugar dropped, someone at the restaurant called an ambulance and we got you here as quickly as possible. You’re very lucky it wasn’t something worse.”

You frowned, looking over to Jin and Jungkook.

Jungkook seemed to share your opinion about the overly cheerful nurse, but he stayed beside Jin, one hand clutching jin’s shirt. You were sure he was probably terrified.

Jin looked relatively calm, comparatively. “When will she be released?”

“As soon as we know she’s stable, and the doctor gives her the okay. I’ll go see how we’re doing on those tests,” She gave you a smile that was just a touch too big and exited.

Jungkook darted over and was wrapped around you in a couple seconds, licking your cheek in his stress. “We didn’t tell the others yet. The doctor said you’d be okay and Jin said you’d probably want them to stay home and the only way to keep them there was to not call them. Because I know if we told them, they’d all come here and they barely let us in. She’s not happy about us being here but the others said it was fine and that you’d probably recover better with us here.”

You curled into his strong arms. He’d taken to working out about a month before you took in Jin, saying that if he was going to be unable to see things he might as well be strong enough to take care of anything else that came at him and you were proud of him for it. Even if he hadn’t shown any other signs of stepping out of his comfort zone or detaching from Jimin as much. Hybrids were naturally pretty strong, having slightly higher metabolisms and energy that led them to exercise.

“Sorry about lunch,” You murmured, lovingly rubbing your nose against his jaw.

He smiled softly, and a hand came to find your face before he pressed a careful kiss to your forehead. “I’m just happy you’re okay. That smell is gone now, too.”

Jin climbed onto the foot of the bed, sitting attentively.

“They’re going to know the moment we walk in. Oh, crap, the car!”

“It’s in a parking spot at the restaurant. Will you even be allowed to drive?”

“I better,” You moaned. “I’m going to have to ask someone to take us there.” Which meant either calling your father, or your ex.

Jin handed you your phone.

You sighed, staring at the screen for a second, and then texting Shownu to call you if he wasn’t busy. “I don’t even know when I’m getting released. I just want to go home. And eat something. I’m still hungry.”

Jungkook pressed another kiss to your forehead, then your temple, then your cheek. So soft and careful.

You smiled at him even if he couldn’t see it.

Then your phone was buzzing as the call came in.

“Hey, Shownu,” You murmured.

“Y/n? What’s up?” He sounded worried.

“Um, first, how are things at the clinic?”

“Fine, we got it mostly cleaned up. I managed to avoid it, and all of the hybrids that were hit are…still bathing. What’s wrong?”

“So, I’m okay, but I’m sort of at the hospital. It’s nothing serious, I just fainted because of low blood sugar or something, but my car is at this restaurant and—”

“Whoa, back up! Low blood sugar? Hospital? Y/n, what happened?”

“I’m not really sure. I was taking Jungkook and Jin out to lunch because the others were acting weird and I was already in my car to come to work when you called last time and I just didn’t want to deal with it, so I drove to the restaurant but my head was hurting and my vision went all wonky and I knew I needed to pull into the parking space but I couldn’t figure out how to do it, and I was shaking, and then I guess I fainted or something and I woke up here, and I’m going to get discharged eventually and I need my car but it’s on the other side of town and my dad lives two hours away.” You sighed, leaning onto Jungkook again. “You’re only person I knew I could call.”

“Are you going to be allowed to drive?” He asked.

“I don’t see why I wouldn’t be able to? The nurse seemed pretty convinced that I was fine.”

“Okay. I’ll bring Wonho just in case you can’t.”

“That’s right, he got certified to drive…I should look into that for one of the boys.”

Jin looked away from you, ears turning red.

You arched an eyebrow and then listened to the quiet on the other end for a second. “Are you sure you okay doing that?”

“Yeah, y/n. I’m sure. We’re…friends. I care about you. Even if we’re not dating. Even if you’re clueless.”

“Hey now, don’t insult someone in the hospital.”

“Which hybrids were with you?”

“Jungkook and Jin.”

“Alright. I’ll be there in about half an hour.” He hung up after you thanked him again.

Jungkook huffed slightly, sniffing your hair.

You looked over at Jin. “What was that about?”

“Oh, um, I finished the first part of the certification…” He looked at the ceiling. “But then the seizures started.” Being a hybrid made the process twice as difficult, but a hybrid with epilepsy? Out of the question.

“It’s okay, Jinnie. It’s a thought for later anyway. Have to budget for it.” And then decide who was the best choice for it. You thought Hoseok would be a good choice.

“Alright!” A doctor came in with that, making both hybrids jump.

Jungkook’s grip on you tightened.

“Whoops, sorry, forgot to knock. So, we ran some blood tests and it looks like it was hypoglycemia. It causes your glucose levels to drop to low and can result in various symptoms, such as blurred vision, vision changes, dizziness, lightheadedness, shakiness, fatigue, weakness, rapid or pounding heartbeat, excessive perspiring, headaches, nausea, hunger, anxiety, irritability, or confusion.” He looked over a chart as he listed the symptoms.

“Sounds familiar,” You murmured.

“Indeed. Now, we’re looking into the causes but from your bloodwork I’m going to guess it’s hypothyroidism.”

“My mom had that,” You replied, mostly hoping he wouldn’t try to go into excessive explanation. “Well, she had Hashimoto’s.”

He nodded. “Alright, I’ll order another test. Hopefully we can catch it if that’s what it is. But otherwise, I’m going to have you finish that I.V. and then give you a prescription for a low level thyroid medication. You’ll have to follow up with your physician to see how the medicine is doing and to check your thyroid again. As for the hypoglycemia, try to eat very regularly. Maybe five small meals instead of three a day. If you can’t do that, then carry around some snacks or drinks with high carbohydrates: bread, rice, cereal, fruits, juice, or milk. Eat when you’re hungry. And pay attention to what your hybrids say, then can smell when the chemical balance in your body changes and can alert you to lowering blood glucose.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

He nodded and headed back out.

Both boys were quiet.

Shownu got there just as they removed the I.V. He stayed back, quiet as well. He didn’t say much other than a quick hello to all of you.

When you finally were released from the hospital, you followed him to his car.

Wonho sat on the roof but he dropped to the ground and gave you a smile, patting your head. “Glad you’re okay.”

You nodded, then made to climb into the backseat but the boys took it and left the passenger seat. They had picked up some food for you and the boys as well.

Halfway to the restaurant, Shownu sighed. “Your other hybrids don’t know?”

“Not yet. Didn’t want them trying to get to the hospital.”

“Are you cleared to drive?” He asked, but then he glanced at you. “Nevermind. You still look exhausted. Just let us drive you back. Otherwise I’ll worry.” Too kind. You had liked him because of how kind he was. But the two of you were just…wrong for each other. It wasn’t a good fit. You may never know why.

“I’d appreciate it,” You replied softly, leaning your head against the window.

You must have dozed off because you woke up to Wonho carrying you inside.

The other boys were standing around worriedly, waiting to get to you.

You rubbed your eyes as you were set on the couch. “Thanks, Wonho.”

He gave you a pinched smile. “Shownu said not to forget the project for work.”

“Right, I’ll get that submitted. Thank him again for me? And say hi to the other boys?”

He nodded and headed back toward the door after nodding to the boys and whispering something to Jin, who was at the entrance of the living room, far away from the others.

Probably because Yoongi looked livid.

Jungkook was wrapped in Jimin’s arms.

The front door closed and there was a ten second silence that followed, broken by Yoongi’s growl.

Feral and furious.

You met his glare calmly. “Yes, Yoongi? Would you like to comment on the fact that something happened that was out of my control? Or was it the fact that I had to ask Shownu for help since I couldn’t very well ask any of you?”

A snarl. Too upset to speak.

“Or maybe it’s because neither Jin nor Jungkook told you all that I ended up at the hospital, since they knew it was a bad idea? Or maybe you’re mad because I left even though I didn’t have to go to work?”

A hiss. So you were still wrong.

“Okay, then it must be the fact that my ex-boyfriend and I broke up because he knew my hybrids wouldn’t accept him. Now, I’m still not sure why he got that impression, perhaps you’d like to enlighten me?”

He looked shocked.

You arched an eyebrow at him. “You didn’t know. Now you do. Care to guess?”

None of the others were looking at you now. Even Jungkook was facing away.

Namjoon was angled so he could still read your lips but it didn’t look like he was looking.

Yoongi slowly came over and sat beside you.

You waited silently.

“What did the doctors say was wrong with you?” He finally asked.

“They think I have thyroid issues that caused me to get non-diabetic hypoglycemia. I just need to make sure I eat regularly, and carry snacks around. Once the tests come back, they’ll decide if I need a prescription for thyroid medicine. He thought the smell you guys caught was actually an indicator that my blood sugar dropped, so if you smell it again I should eat.” You were glad the question game had worked. You’d found that if you threw questions at Yoongi when he was upset beyond the point of words he would calm down enough to work through what was bugging him. And it also gave him an idea of your thoughts on the matters, things you thought he might be upset about but would upset you if discussed.

Hoseok always murmured that it scared him, because the first couple times he thought you and Yoongi would get extremely hostile with one another, but now it just made him uncomfortable because it wasn’t the tactic for him and he knew it worked exceptionally well for Yoongi.

Yoongi turned his head slightly your way.

You stroked his head, then his ears, smiling as he flopped onto your lap, curled up. You stroked his back. “I’m okay, Yoongi. Just a little tired. Not tired enough that I won’t wring the tails of anyone who snapped at Jin or Jungkook.” You grabbed his tail.

The sound that came out of his mouth was a clear indication that he had, in fact, snapped at one or both of them.

You squeezed slightly.

He flipped over. “No, no, no. I’m sorry! It just scared me to see you like that!”

You let his tail run through your fingers. “Apologize to those you snapped at.”

He pouted.

“Properly,” You added, for good measure.

He deflated and rolled off of your lap, trudging over to Jin with a bowed head. “I apologize for snapping at you. I regret that I jumped to the conclusion that you didn’t look out for y/n like we would, and I’m sorry for saying that. I know you looked out for her, otherwise Jungkookie-ah would be mad at you too. You probably handled it better than I would have.”

Jin just dipped his head slightly.

You bit your lip, looking away and meeting Namjoon’s steady gaze.

He signed he was glad you were okay, then he glanced over at Jin and Yoongi before nodding to you and heading over. He took Jin’s hand. “Oh, hyung, could I sleep with you tonight?”

Jin brightened up slightly and he nodded.

Yoongi trudged back to you as they headed upstairs. “I don’t think Seokjin-hyung likes me.”

“I think he’s shy,” You replied. “But I did expect him to integrate more by now. Did I miss something?”

“I’m…I’m not really sure how to approach him,” Taehyung said, quickly cuddling up on your other side. “I scared him last time. Actually, I’ve scared him every time.”

Jimin was rubbing his hands together, staring at them while Jungkook clung to him instead. “And I didn’t want to scare him with my hugs. I remember what you told us about his other home.”

“Jimin, he loves hugs. Taehyung, he loves hugs. Yes, he is easily startled, but he’s also very strong. It’s hard for him. You all had been together for at least a year when he came here, most of you longer.”

“He has big shoulders,” Jungkook murmured, smiling a bit. “He let me hide behind him at the hospital. He knew a lot too.”

“I try to always tell him that his cooking is good,” Hoseok said, looking guilty with his long ears fully back against his head and neck.

You sighed. “So you do want him to stay?”

They all regarded you with looks of surprise.

Jungkook looked panicked. “Why wouldn’t he stay? He’s staying, right?”

“Of course he’s staying,” Yoongi growled, but then he sighed. “We just have to make sure he wants to stay. The first month we couldn’t help, he was in and out of the clinic because of his seizures and he barely was awake. But Namjoon was right, we need to up our game.”

“Namjoon?” You asked.

Hoseok nodded. “He said he was worried about Jin because he’d noticed that Jin was starting to smile more, and then he pulled away again. He didn’t know what happened, though. We just noticed that he was even quieter and he stuck closer to you. But part of that might have been because he knew about you and Shownu breaking up.”

You nodded a bit. “Some of that was me seeking him out, yeah.”

“Why did you tell him?” Taehyung asked, a little pouty.

“I knew we were breaking up before the wedding. Found out on the day that shall not be discussed. I just needed to tell someone, and I felt safe telling him.” You sighed, letting your eyes close. “Who’s going to help me up to my room?”

“My turn!” Jimin shrieked out before the others, quickly abandoning Jungkook (who looked pretty disgruntled that he wasn’t really able to help you to your room because of the whole “seeing” issue) and wrapping around you.

You squeaked as he actually picked you up to set you on your feet before nuzzling into your neck, giving it a subtle lick.

“Need to scent you,” He murmured, then pulled you toward the stairs. “My turn to sleep with you.”

You sleepily thought through the list and realized that you’d slept with a different hybrid cuddling you each night, but that it had been over a week since Jimin got a turn. “You’re right, it’s your turn. You’re overdo for a turn. Thank you for being patient, Jiminie.”

He leaned in and kissed your cheek, arm around your waist instead of pulling you by your hand.

“Why’d I get a house with stairs?” You grumbled.

He just laughed softly, but stopped when you stopped him by your door so you could quickly check on Namjoon and Jin.

They were both asleep, Namjoon purring a little in his sleep as he spooned Jin. Jin looking surprisingly small in the cat-hybrid’s arms.

You closed the door again, going back to Jimin, who had his pajamas now, and heading into your room. You changed in the bathroom while he changed in your room, then you crawled into bed with him, all cuddled up.

“Hey, y/n?” Jimin whispered as you were feeling your sleepiest. “What Shownu said…we know what he meant, but…it might take us a while to show you or explain it. Please be patient with us. We love you so very much.”

You hummed back, unable to respond any other way because you couldn’t even summon the energy to part your lips.

He pressed a light kiss to your forehead, then shifted so your head was on his shoulder.

Even better.

———

You stared as your mind tried to process what you were seeing.

Namjoon shifted, smiling shyly as he held a rose out to you.

You smiled back, stepping forward to take the rose from him. “Thank you, Joonie. It’s lovely.”

He grinned, dimples appearing as he looked to the ground.

You looked to the table that was set for two. “Did you cook?”

He shook his head quickly. “Jin-hyung made most of it.”

You nodded. “Probably for the best.”

He looked at the table. “It’s not the fanciest dinner in the world….”

“But you prepared all of this for me, and I’m sure it will taste just fine,” You reassured him, signing as you spoke just to make sure he got the whole message.

He purred loudly in response, pulling you into a hug and rubbing against your cheek, a hand just below your throat to feel any vibrations that would alert him to you talking to him instead of giggling.

You let him rub against you for a while, then gently pushed him back. “Let’s eat before it gets cold.”

He nodded enthusiastically and pulled your chair out for you, eager to please, apparently.

You sat watching as he hurried, and tripped, and then managed to sit down across from you before also serving you.

The two of you made had small conversations, but he seemed nervous and shy, despite knowing you for the last four years. It’d been a long time since you’d seen him this shy.

You signed that he looked handsome tonight and he started getting a tinge of red to his face as he looked down at his plate. You felt a twinge in your stomach, watching those delightful dimples, the way he bit his lip and covered his mouth as he laughed shyly. Just one of the many things you loved about him.

He seemed so anxious to make sure you enjoyed yourself, which mostly amused you but also made you slightly wary.

You didn’t dare to ask until the credits were rolling from the movie the two of you watched after dinner. “Can I ask why?” You asked with your hands.

He tilted his head, sleepy purr slowly stopping in confusion.

“Dinner? This, all of the other boys being mysteriously quiet, it’s a little suspicious,” You explained.

He looked down at his hands, then hesitantly signed, asking if you hadn’t enjoyed it.

“Of course I did,” You replied aloud, then turned his head so that he could see you sign it with a smile. “I always enjoy spending time with my kitty.”

He smiled again, but he still looked nervous.

You watched him, seeing him debate with himself, the internal conflict evident in the way his ears kept twitching and swiveling and the restless flick of his tail-tip.

He scowled after a moment.

You reached up and stroked his head, and he melted, leaning into your touch. You shifted closer, rubbing his head with both hands as he basked in the attention.

His eyes opened again after a few moments, and he looked at you so softly you thought you would melt. It really had been forever since you’d had any real time with your kitty, your first hybrid.

He leaned in and suddenly his lips were on yours, softly and barely brushing, but a kiss none-the-less.

You looked at him, surprised.

He looked a little scared, but also…without regret. His hand rested gently on your neck as he leaned in again, lips more firmly in contact with yours this time.

You closed your eyes. Those questions from back when you first took him in coming back to you now that you could answer them. And yes. Yes, he was a very good kisser.

His arm slid gently around your back, pulling you just a little bit closer as he kissed to your ear. “I love you, y/n. But not the way we’ve been pretending. I love you in a romantic way, I just never knew how to tell you. I didn’t know if you’d accept me still, even if you didn’t return my feelings. Then you brought more people for me to love as well.”

You breathed in sharply, but didn’t make a sound so that he could keep talking.

“We were all upset when you started dating, and we realized we were all in love with you. We weren’t sure about Jin-hyung because he was still new when you started dating, but we found out that he loves you this way too. And you act as though you’re ours, y/n. You act like our mates. Can you tell me that you’ve never admired us?” He whispered, his voice stronger now. More confident. “I’ve seen you. The way you blush when Jungkook doesn’t have a shirt on. The way you seek out Yoongi’s embrace when you’re feeling uncertain. How Taehyung brings a smile to your face when you’re feeling sad. The way you watch Jimin and Hobi when they’re dancing. How upset you got when you didn’t think we were getting along with Jin. How you look to me when you need someone to support the choices you’re making. Even Jungkook knows how much you love us, and he’s blind.”

You turned your head slightly away from him.

His voice got gentler. “I bet that’s what Shownu saw. He saw that you were our mate. Because we weren’t trying to hide it, and maybe we should have. Or maybe his hybrids smelled it. The way we coated you with our scents. The claiming scent Yoongi gets the moment your boyfriend is ever mentioned. You even let me kiss you. Would you let the other boys kiss you too?” He was teasing you now.

You signed into his hand. ‘Would you?’

“We started kissing each other a while ago,” He answered, deliberately changing what he knew you meant. “Consoling one another because you were off with someone that wasn’t one of us. Jin was the only one I hadn’t. Wish I had done that earlier. Foxes are good kissers, not as much tongue as the dogs and not as nippy as minks. Still as shy as bunnies, though. And a little playful like raccoons.” He placed playful little kisses on your neck, giving little examples of what he said as he said it and making you shiver under his touch. A playful purr rumbled through his chest.

Then his lips were pressed to yours once more before he met your eyes again. He was calm and confident.

You stared back, still unable to form words.

“What do you think of that, y/n? Of all of us loving you, romantically?” He asked in a low voice. God, that voice. “What do you think about the fact that Yoongi would love nothing more than hold your hand everywhere? Of Jimin’s not-so-innocent hugs, desperate to feel your body against his? Of Jungkook working out just to get your attention? Hoseok knowing exactly what he does to you when he’s dancing? Taehyung purposely causing trouble so that your attention will be focused on him 100%? Jin so desperate for you to love him as much as the rest of us that he studied all of your cookbooks? Of me watching you, not always so that I can see when you look at me or speak to me, but because you look so damn attractive no matter what you wear? Or that we’ve all imagined you carrying our offspring?”

You met his gaze, unwavering. You were a little too shocked by all of this new information. You sometimes wondered if Hoseok had been teasing you on purpose (you weren’t blind), but always dismissed it.

“Carrying kits,” He murmured, cupping your face in his hands, “Or pups.”

You swallowed hard.

“That’s the funny thing. You have six different breeds in this house, and if you were bear any offspring of the five that aren’t dogs they’d still be called kits. Would you like that, y/n? To be full of our kits and pups? I’ve read some scientific studies, and I bet you were attracted to all of us because you can bear all of our kits and pups.” He started kissing at your neck.

Your fingers tangled into his hair.

“Still nothing to say?” He chuckled, sucking at your skin. His hands unabashedly touching your waist and stomach, roaming your back.

You turned your head to mouth a word into his skin.

He pulled away to look at your face, uncertain of what you said.

But a loud thump caught your attention, and your head snapped toward the door as a low groan was heard after the thump.

Namjoon growled, probably guessing what it was you heard from the look on your face.

You took the moment to catch your breath and pull away from Namjoon, going over to the door and opening it after hearing the whispered scolding going on behind it.

They froze, staring at you.

Jungkook winced. “Told you she heard us.”

Even Yoongi’s eyes were wide at getting caught.

Hoseok and Jin weren’t with them.

You folded your arms, looking over the youngest three and your second oldest. “So only Jin and Hoseok were the smart ones?”

Jungkook grabbed Yoongi’s shirt, looking nervous.

Jimin and Taehyung were still on the floor, staring up at you in alarm.

Namjoon was growling at an increasingly louder volume, like he was worried he wasn’t doing it audibly.

You got a weird gut-feeling at that moment.

You looked over the boys, then stepped over Taehyung and walked down the hallway, knocking on Hoseok’s door since Jin’s was open and empty.

He called for you to come in.

You poked your head in and saw him watching a timer on his phone, crouched next to Jin who was placed in recovery position with a blanket under his head.

He spared a glance your way, looking somewhat relieved. “Hey, it’s a quick one, I think. Just waiting for him to come out of it.”

You nodded, stroking his ears once before sitting on the floor beside Jin to wait for him to come out of it.

The others were watching from the doorway.

Well, Jungkook was asking them what was going on.

Jin started waking up, and Hoseok sighed in relief, stopping the timer.

You smiled softly, proud of your bunny for being able to take care of Jin on his own.

Hoseok softly kissed the top of Jin’s head. “Hey, hyung. How are you feeling?”

You got up and left Hoseok to take care of Jin, surprising him and the others. Normally you took care of Jin after, mostly because none of them seemed comfortable doing so. But you could tell Hoseok was capable of doing the job. And you bet Jungkook would be more than willing to help, which was why—”

“Jungkookie, can you help Hope-ah take care of Jin?” You asked softly, reaching up and brushing the hair from his eyes.

He nodded, eager to please.

“Thank you.” You kissed his cheek, using the information Namjoon had given you as a little bit of a weapon. You could see the switch in the other’s eyes as jealousy over the tiny kiss manifested.

“I could help too,” Taehyung said, pouting at you.

“But I need you to do something else.”

He brightened up. “Oh?”

You nodded. “I need you to help Namjoon get to sleep, because I’m sleeping alone tonight.”

All of them deflated, and Namjoon looked utterly defeated.

You pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I have some things to think over.” Like how you were going to wrap your mind around all of your hybrids being in love with you. The jump felt natural with Namjoon, four years of being together just seemed to naturally culminate. But every other thing that came out of his mouth needed time to ruminate in your head. Man.

Jimin caught your arm. “What about me? Is there anything you need me to do?”

“Keep Yoongi out of my room,” You ordered, kissing his forehead. “Goodnight boys.”

You got murmurs and grumbles in return.

You closed your bedroom door, and locked it for good measure.

You looked at the loveseat that you and Namjoon had been sitting on just a little while ago, his little tease about you carrying kits or pups echoing in your mind and making you shiver.

The more you thought about it, the more obvious it was that they were in love with you. That they never knew how to tell you. All those “I Love You”’s that weren’t as platonic as you had convinced yourself. It made sense why they started acting out more, causing more trouble. They had no way of telling you, they barely had any legal rights and given most of their backgrounds they may have been hesitant to make a move.

They probably all agreed on Namjoon telling you. Namjoon, who was hopeless in most things, except in reading you and knowing what to say to get them all on the same page again. Who had been with you the longest and knew you best.

But even he had been scared. He told you as much. That he was scared you would kick him out if you didn’t return his feelings.

You spending tonight alone probably scared all of them more. But you didn’t want to rush into anything. Because once they knew you accepted them and their feelings, you’d be thrown in the deep-end.

Wait. Were you really thinking that you were going to accept all of them? All seven?

You felt like you might be losing your mind. How would a balance ever be achieved? How would you ever find time for yourself with seven needy hybrids? Were you even in love with all of them? Sure, you loved them, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t ever admired their natural godliness and physique, which then was paired with wonderful personalities. Jimin’s sweetness and understanding, Taehyung’s loving and bright nature, Yoongi’s thoughtfulness and willingness, Jungkook’s perseverance and protectiveness, Hoseok’s determination and nurturing, Jin’s humor and consideration, and Namjoon’s mediation and intelligence. Honestly, all of them had everything you could ever dream of putting on a checklist.

You head snapped up and toward the door just as you were about to flop on the bed when a soft knock met your door. You looked at it in surprise and disbelief. Hadn’t you just asked them for the night to yourself?

You opened the door, meeting the worried gaze of Yoongi.

“I just want to talk to you for fifteen minutes, and then I promise I’ll head back to Jimin. He’s in the shower right now.”

You bit your cheek and opened the door a little wider so he could duck in. He seemed nervous and upset, and if he was showing it outwardly, then you were a little worried too.

He paced a bit, obviously wide awake since this was the time of day that he was most active usually. “I just…” He stopped and met your gaze, and he looked so heartbroken that you quickly hugged him.

He nuzzled into your shoulder, unusually forward and open. Normally he was sort of distant in his affection, caring for everyone without looking their way and getting all shy about holding someone’s hand or sharing a bed even though you all knew he secretly loved cuddles sometimes. He was breathing like he was trying not to cry, and you knew he was stressed about something.

“What’s wrong, Yoongi?” You whispered, lightly rubbing his back.

“I just…I wanted to make sure…” He was lisping a little now, stumbling and stuttering as he tried to pick up the words he wanted to say. “Is everything okay with us? I feel like we’ve been fighting for forever and I know we’re not really fighting but I just feel so…”

“Yoongi,” You said firmly, pulling away to cup his face in your hands. You knew this was partly his trauma speaking, too much stimulation mixed with doubts and worries and anxieties that he hadn’t dealt with or voiced. “Yoongi.”

His glazed eyes focused on you instead of the floor after a few attempts to focus on you.

“Yoongi,” You whispered softly, not wanting to say anything important until he was grounded more.

His eyes flicked to your hair, then your hands. He squeezed them shut as his head tilted into your hands just a little more.

“Yoongi,” You murmured, seeing his tail go still finally, his ears flick a couple times before focusing on you.

He finally met you with mostly clear eyes, breathing.

“Everything is fine with us, baby,” You whispered, smiling softly. “We haven’t fought since I came home from the hospital. Remember? And I understand why we fought before that. I’m sorry.”

He blinked a couple times, then his gaze dropped to the floor. “I shouldn’t have acted that way no matter what. I knew it then too.”

You hummed softly, stroking his hair. “I love you, you know.”

His gaze came up, and he looked over your face before his entire demeanor relaxed. “Love love?”

You leaned in and gently kissed his adorably pouty lips. “Love love.”

Which was how you earned a squishy Yoongi with the makings of one of his gummy smiles that you adored, trying to hide the smile and his pleasure by tucking his head against your neck.

You giggled softly, contenting yourself to pressing softly little kisses to his head, hoping that all of this would help him stay out of another lapse.

Jimin’s head appeared through the door, and he was most definitely pouting. “Hey…you said…”

“Yoongi needed me. You know the rules don’t apply then,” You answered easily, gently prying Yoongi from your shoulder so you could really check on him.

His eyes were clear and soft, sleepy.

You nodded softly. “Come get him, Jiminie. He’s a little sleepy from it.”

Jimin quickly entered and went to Yoongi’s side, arms wrapping around Yoongi, who was getting hit with the after-effects of his panic. He’d probably sleep clear till tomorrow night. “Y/n, I think he’s too far gone.”

You nodded. “Alright, let’s get him onto my bed.”

“Could we…could we have a big cuddle session instead of you sleeping alone?” He asked hesitantly.

You thought a moment, then nodded. “Yeah. Don’t wake anyone though. If they’re asleep, let them sleep.”

He nodded and left once Yoongi was on the bed.

Yoongi was barely conscious, but he definitely knew the moment you crawled into bed next to him.

Hoseok helped a tired-looking Seokjin into the room, with Jungkook clinging to the back of Hoseok’s shirt as a sort of guide.

Taehyung rushed in and quickly cuddled up to Jungkook’s back.

Namjoon and Jimin came last, making sure everyone had enough blankets before getting comfortable yourself.

You used your phone to bump up the heat a little bit so that they wouldn’t catch a chill (because they would, and then you’d be dealing with sick hybrids), then whispered goodnight, which was only returned by a few people before leaving the burning questions of your relationship with these men for another time as the broken purrs, little sounds, and the soft sounds of sleep started appearing all around you. You didn’t let them all sleep with you often because you usually ended up overheating and having nightmares, but sometimes you could get away with it and it was honestly one of the most peaceful things you’d ever experienced, if not a little crowded.

You woke up to a mouthful of fur, which startled you enough that you fully woke up, but somehow managed not to wake the source of the fur—Hoseok. He was splayed out where Yoongi used to be sleeping, with his head on your shoulder and ears across your face.

You smiled to yourself as you carefully stroked his ears and moved them from your face. “Weird bun.”

“No nightmares?” Taehyung asked, snuggling up to your side now that he knew you were awake.

You smiled at him, closing your eyes. “No nightmares. Probably because everyone was fairly spread out this time.”

He nodded against your shoulder. “Yoongi went to take a long bath before going back to sleep. Jin’s in the bathroom with him to make sure Yoongi doesn’t fall asleep in the tub. He said he was feeling better. Jungkook and Namjoon went out to the garden, and Jimin is getting out the extra baskets and buckets because it looks like a bad storm is rolling in.”

You nodded. “What’s wrong with Hoseok?”

“Food last night didn’t agree with him.”

You winced. “What did you guys eat?”

He looked at the ceiling. “Pizza. He even stuck to the vegetarian pizza, like last time.”

You sighed. “We’ll have to have him detox again.”

He pouted. “But he gets so sad on the detox.”

“But he could get really sick without it. I’d rather have short-term sadness and health than long-term sickness and short-term happiness. Besides, I found some new recipes for it and tasted them and they taste much better, and we did discover that he can use honey as a sweetener. I should go help the others. You going to nap since you were up comforting Hobi?” You brushed his hair from his forehead as he blushed lightly.

“I can help.”

You shook your head. “You really look like a raccoon right now. Really dark circles. We can take care of it. There probably won’t be that much.” But if Namjoon thought it was important to harvest as much as possible, then it must be some storm coming through. You and Taehyung carefully moved Hoseok so he was resting on Taehyung instead and you hurried downstairs.

Jimin had the TV turned to a news station, and they were talking about an extreme cold front. He glanced at you. “It’s forty-two degrees outside (5.5 C).”

Frost was a whole different beast.

You went digging into the closet to get to your coat, grabbing a stack of your buckets and following Jimin out to where Namjoon and Jungkook were already working.

Jungkook was feeling through the green beans, picking mostly on instinct.

Namjoon saw you and stood straight for a moment, signing that there was an ice warning. Asking what should and could be salvaged.

You looked over the garden. It was July. You signed you’d get back to him with a plan and he nodded before going back to harvesting the lettuce.

Jimin was making quick work of the strawberries.

You took a deep breath, and starting working through the zucchini and the other summer squashes. You’d leave some that were completely unripe to chance, but you were grabbing the almost ripe ones as well.

Jin, Taehyung, Yoongi, and Hoseok all came and started helping, followed shortly by your father, who seemed to have given them all jobs already as Taehyung, Jin and Yoongi headed for the trees and Hoseok hurried to the carrots.

You looked up at you dad, surprised and more than a little stunned.

He just smiled at you. “Got mine in yesterday. Had a feeling. Tell Joonie-boy to pick the unripe tomatoes too. Jimin, green strawberries are edible as well. I’ll start digging up some plants to move inside. Hopefully won’t kill them. You keep working.”

You nodded hurrying to convey your father’s instructions and then darting back to your squashes. You were worried about at least three of your boys, but the idea of losing all of your harvest, especially with Hoseok’s conditions, made you a little panicky.

“I think I finished the green beans,” Jungkook called out.

You quickly guided him to the peas. “Just pick all the pods you feel. We’ll be picky later.”

He nodded and started feeling along the plants.

You moved on to the cucumbers.

“It’ll be okay,” Hoseok said, not looking up.

“Are you okay?”

“A little queasy, and my stomach hurts, but I’m more worried about what will happen if we don’t get enough from the garden before this cold kills it. The news station said snow and ice. In July. That’s crazy.” He started packing some straw over some of the carrots to try and let them brave the cold snap. “Will there be a chance to grow more after things warm back up?”

“I don’t know right now. Might have to do a lot of indoor gardening.” You might have to budget more for groceries.

“Glad your dad is here.” He glanced toward your father as the man re-entered the garden and started collecting buckets that were either full or couldn’t hold more without damaging the other contents (Jimin’s berry bucket) and replacing them with empty ones. “He came in probably five minutes after you went downstairs.”

“I believe it,” You wouldn’t have woken Hoseok or Taehyung for anything. “Is Yoongi’s hair dry?”

“Mostly. He’s wearing a hat.” He leaned over and kissed your cheek, rubbing his nose against it as a comforting gesture before moving to a different section of the garden.

By noon, you all had harvested as much as you could and you ushered your shivering hybrids back inside while you and your father spread some straw over some plants in a thick later to try and help them through the cold so that maybe you’d have something after all of it has passed.

“I’ve got some squashes in my greenhouse this year,” He said casually. “And Pumpkins. My hives probably won’t produce much more this year though. Probably be a long winter this year. I brought your share over, though. Went foraging the other day with a couple buddies too. Found more mushrooms than I need and I know some of your boys love them. Catmint by the shed went wild too, but we’d best not tell Joonie-boy.”

You laughed a little at that. “Probably not.” You looked up at him now that there was nothing left to do. “Thank you for being here.”

He smiled and gave your head a pat. “I know how important it is to you, to make sure those boys get the healthiest food possible. I know how important this garden is. I know it allows you to keep all those boys. You’re doing a good job, y/n. I’m proud of you. Now let’s get inside. Your boys were thorough. Let’s get the things I brought from the trunk and I’ll help you make a plan for all of that. Even help you start canning. Just finished the last jar of pickles you gave me last year and they were good, bumblebee.”

You relaxed a little more, heading inside where Jin was passing out mugs of hot chocolate to everyone—including you and your father—except Hoseok, who got an herbal tea that was easy on his stomach.

Your dad went out to his car, pulling Jungkook and Seokjin to help him since they seemed to have warmed up already and apparently looked strong.

Taehyung was looking at everything, looking absolutely dead on his feet.

Hoseok looked like he might be sick.

Yoongi looked grumpy and tired.

You took a deep breath. “Taehyung, when you finish that, why don’t you go sleep with Yoongi? Hoseok, you don’t have to drink the tea if you don’t feel good.”

“It’s helping,” Hoseok almost whispered back, taking another sip.

Yoongi looked a little less grumpy, and more just tired. He managed to gulp down the rest of his hot chocolate. “Hurry up, but don’t burn yourself. I’m gonna dry my hair the rest of the way.”

Taehyung nodded, taking another careful sip of his hot chocolate.

Jimin had himself cocooned in the throw blankets, practically hugging his mug.

Namjoon helped you take off your coat so you wouldn’t have to set down the mug. He asked if you were okay.

You signed back that you were only a little stressed, adding that you were glad your father showed up when he did.

He nodded, smiling. “Dad’s a lifesaver.”

Namjoon had called your dad his own since his second year of living with you, but it still made you feel warm and fuzzy. Your father wasn’t always the easiest man, he had quirks by the dozens, but you loved him so much and his acceptance of your boys meant a lot, but their acceptance of him meant even more.

Jin led Jungkook in, both of their arms fulls. Jin had a cooler while Jungkook had a large box and a couple bags hanging off his arms as well.

Your dad came in with a box as well, looking amused. “Alright, you’re definitely capable, kiddo. Sorry for doubting you.”

Jungkook nodded feircely, determination and pride still clear on his face.

Jin looked like he wanted to laugh. Probably because both men totally just tricked Jungkook into taking the majority of the burden.

Still, seeing Jungkook that confident was kind of worth it.

Your dad clapped his hands together and then rubbed them, making Jungkook jump in surprise. “Alright, so—”

Sleet started pelting the windows.

You scrunched your nose. “It’s July. How is this happening in July?”

“Uh, bumblebee, I might be staying tonight,” Your dad murmured, looking out the window in concern.

“Yeah, I don’t want you driving that far in this. Roads will be nasty.” You closed your eyes, then went over and closed the curtains.

“Alright, you have your canning equipment in the basement?”

You nodded. “Jars too. I got some more when they were on sale.”

“I’ll start getting everything cleaned up and set up, you make a plan for what you want to make, okay?”

You nodded again, heading over to the desk in the corner and getting your notebook and personal recipe book before cuddling up to Jimin to try and ignore the freak-storm outside.

Jimin was on his phone. “I could plant some squash seeds, we had some extra earlier this year and there’s room in our garden-room. It’ll take longer, but we should be able to harvest in September if we do.”

You peeked over and saw him looking up information on things to grow indoors. You had a veritable garden in the downstairs bedroom as it was. Growing some things in water—like cabbage, lettuce, celery, leeks, and green onions—and others in pots—like carrots, and various cooking and medicinal herbs that had a home in a nice growing rack that your dad’s buddy made for you one year after you canned his tomatoes for him. You weren’t sure how your father always managed to meet these people that are perfectly happy bartering, but you weren’t about to argue.

“If we plant green beans now we could have those too,” Jimin murmured, shifting so his head was resting on the arm of the couch.

Too bad. You’d been right about to kiss his cheek for being such a wonderful, thoughtful pup.

Instead you squeezed his arm, and focused on making a quick plan for what to do with what had been salvaged.

“Y/n?” He whispered.

You looked up.

He was looking at you sadly. “How much do we depend on the garden?”

You dropped your gaze. “It’ll just make things a little more tight. I was ahead before the trip to the hospital. I’m still ahead. I’ve got a nice little savings account set aside. But the garden…it’s really important for Hobi’s health, and it makes it so I can take better care of you all. Have treats every now and then. It’ll set us back next year as well, because a lot of the plants will be killed before we can harvest seeds from them. But we did get quite a lot, and it’s not too late to grow things indoors. The root vegetables will probably survive, which will help. Dad apparently moved the potato barrels into the mud-room for now, so that will help.

Jimin nodded. “Taehyung said that’s why he and the others came downstairs. They heard him cussing at the barrels.”

You felt your eyes widen slightly. “Must have landed on his foot.”

“Probably. I’ve never heard him cuss. He’s too chill.” Jimin studied your father from across the room as he prevented a disaster from happening with Namjoon, Jungkook, and a package of new jars. “Electricity bill will go up if we start growing more plants indoors.”

“I’ll compensate somewhere,” You replied softly, leaning on his shoulder.

Hoseok sat down on your other side. “So, would now be a good time to tell you that last month, when I started my turn taking care of our indoor plants, I also kind of sort of added a pumpkin plant just to see what would happen?”

You made a mental note (that would probably get lost, let’s face it) to check on the garden room more often. “Um, yeah. That’s good to know. Can you two help me can while we set Jungkook and Namjoon to the task of planting stuff in there?”

“Yeah, I think Jin is planning on helping with the canning too, which is good since he seems to know his way around the kitchen.”

“He’s been reading my books,” You murmured, smiling a little. It was so nice having so many people to help you through all of this. “You look like you’re feeling better.”

“I really like this tea,” He chuckled. “Makes me less nauseous. Helps with the pain too. I think Jin added honey too, and you know how much I like honey.”

“A lot,” You agreed, nuzzling his head. “If you’re tired you can go rest.”

He shook his head. “Yoongi said he’d come down later. I’ll go rest when he does.”

You nodded, thinking that sounded fair. Hoseok did look much more awake than either of the other two.

“So, why did he have me pick the green strawberries?” Jimin asked, changing the topic as it came to mind. Both dog-hybrids did that sometimes. Just jumped ship and ended up on a different one. “Or green tomatoes?”

You smiled a little.

“He also had us pick the unripe blueberries,” Hoseok pointed out. “What’ll we do with them?”

“Well, probably pickle them.”

Both hybrids looks extremely perturbed at that thought.

————

You groaned as Jungkook carefully massaged your neck and shoulders. You were super sore from all of the canning, pickling, jam-making, candying, and every other sort of preservation method you and your father could think of for most of the produce.

He placed a barely there kiss to your hair, something you would have missed if you hadn’t been looking up to say something to him.

You smiled, relaxing even more into his touch.

Jimin was bouncing around with Taehyung, somehow finding the energy to play despite working so hard right alongside you.

Namjoon was curled up with Jin, going through a sign-language textbook with the older.

Yoongi was sleeping on the footstool, a light blanket thrown over him.

“It’s raining again,” Jungkook whispered, moments before you were able to hear the rain yourself. “Whats the temperature?”

You looked at your phone. “30 degrees (-1.1 C).”

He whimpered slightly. “Do you think yo-da—do you think he made it back alright?”

You father had braved the roads about an hour ago, having been trapped at your house for two nights in a row and wanting to check on his bees.

“Well, we’ve got another hour at least before he would arrive at his home. I’ll give him half an hour leeway for slow driving, and then if he doesn’t update me, I’ll try calling.”

Hoseok came out of the bathroom, looking pale and exhausted, coming over to curl up next to you. “Hurts.”

You bit your lip, quickly pulling him into your arms and trying to comfort him. “We’ll start another cleanse. Okay?”

He nodded, looking only a little more miserable. “Now?”

“We can do it later.”

He shook his head. “Now.”

You nodded. “Kook, let me up?”

His hands slipped from your shoulders, where they had been holding on, gently but firmly.

You and Hoseok headed into the kitchen, Jungkook hugging onto Hoseok.

You pulled down different jars. “Alright, I want to start you out with some dandelion tea, tonight I should be able to make that one veggie drink that you liked last time as well. Maybe add in some red clover to the tea?”

“Can I use honey too?” He asked softly, curling toward Jungkook.

“Yeah, we can use a little bit of raw honey, bunny.” You got that out as well, waiting for the tea to start boiling. “One to ten?”

“Five,” he replied, ears completely drooped, and eyelids following a bit.

You nodded, letting your fingers drum on the countertop for a moment, before checking the water. “I can bring this up to you, Hobi. Why don’t you go get comfy in your room?”

He shook his head, getting a little pouty.

You went around and stroked his hair and ears. “Words, baby.”

He looked a little embarrassed, but finally whispered, “Your smell helps the pain.”

Your hand paused, then you shook off what he said and kept carefully stroking his head. “I’ll be up with the tea when it’s ready. For now, can Jungkook keep you company?”

He nodded, but was a little reluctant.

Jungkook nuzzled his hyung. “Come on, I’ll rub your tummy.” He shuffled along with Hobi toward the stairs, hugging him from behind and probably slowing the process.

“I’m not a dog.”

“No, but you still like tummy rubs,” Jungkook said victoriously.

You smiled to yourself, watching them go before engaging in a rapid conversation with Namjoon while Jin spent a good five minutes just rubbing his eyes and bemoaning how there was so much to learn.

Namjoon was calling Jin cute, and you were agreeing, but he was also inquiring after Hoseok.

You shrugged a bit, giving him what little you knew.

He shared your worried look, then rubbed Jin’s back as Jin became slightly more animated in his complaints.

Taehyung went and plopped in Jin’s lap, putting a finger to his lips. “You’ll wake Yoongi-hyung.”

Jin seemed slightly startled by the appearance of Taehyung, but made a cute noise before wrapping his arms around the raccoon and squeezing him.

Taehyung laughed, trying to escape.

Jimin flopped onto one of the couches, energy gone again, but tail wagging as he watched Tae and Jin.

You finished making the tea for Hoseok and headed upstairs as Yoongi woke up, softly complaining that they were too loud.

Namjoon followed you, eyes a little hazy. “I…I wish I knew what they sounded like.”

You nodded, understanding. He knew what you and your father sounded like, he’d met you just before he permanently lost his hearing. Before the damage really set in. He said that he could still hear your voice sometimes, in his head. The same as he could hear the songs he used to listen to, before. His previous owner’s voice. But when the boys were all laughing and talking and he just couldn’t keep up, sometimes it really got to him.

You leaned over and gave him a soft and very brief kiss. You couldn’t sign anything with your hands full, but you mouthed “I know.”

He nuzzled your shoulder, then took the tray from you. “Jungkook’s feeling guilty about not being able to sign. Especially now that Jin is starting to learn more.”

You nodded. “I’ll ask Hobi to work with him on it.” You signed as you spoke, walking backwards so that you could talk with him. “And I’ll talk to him about it.”

He nodded. “He forgets sometimes. I know that makes him feel bad, but I understand. Sometimes I forget that he can’t see. He’s so functional sometimes.”

“I know.”

“Have you adjusted the budget yet?”

You lokoed away, turning back to face forward.

“Y/n?”

You signed that you wanted to look at your records for last year and find out how bad the damage to the garden is first.

He nodded slowly. “Okay. Whatever happens, we’ve got your back.” He kissed your cheek.

You gave him a tight smile and headed into Hoseok’s room.

He looked like he was in a lot of pain, so you hurried to his side.

Jungkook was gently rubbing his back, but looked concerned. “He’s really cold, y/n. I tried covering him up but he won’t warm up.”

You felt Hoseok’s face, worry rushing through you. “Jungkook, go get Jin.”

“Why?”

“Do it. Tell him to come up here. Tell Yoongi to start the car.”

He hurried off, Namjoon helping him navigate without knowing what was going on.

Hobi opened his eyes, looking at you weakly. “Sorry, it got worse just a little bit ago.”

You shook your head, stroking his hair. “I’m going to have Jin carry you to the car.” You helped him sit up, wrapping the blankets around him and grabbing one of his warm hats from the nightstand drawer.

“The roads—”

“We’ll be careful,” You cut him off. “But the doctor said you need to come in when it gets this bad, so that’s what we’re going to do. Who do you want to go with us?”

“Yoongi,” He whispered, letting his head fall to your shoulder as he groaned in pain.

You pressed a kiss to his head, feeling him shivering in pain as well as cold.

Jin came rushing up, looking worried.

“I need you to carry him to the car.”

He nodded, coming over and scooping him up. He frowned at the weight, but quickly exited.

You ran to your room, grabbing better shoes and your own hat and sweater, plus your backpack and hurried downstairs. “Jin and Namjoon are in charge. Yoongi, Hobi wants you to come with us. Get your coat. Jimin, bump the heat up a bit, I don’t want any of you getting catching a chill. Stay inside.”

“Call us the moment you can,” Taehyung instructed in return, quickly hugging you and looking worriedly after Hoseok.

You hurried out to the car.

Jin and Yoongi had Hoseok buckled into the backseat, and Yoongi was buckling in next to him.

Jin hurried back inside.

You got on the road as quickly as possible, calling ahead to let them know you were on your way and why you were coming in when the roads were so dangerous because your boss thought that personal safety was important. You blasted the heat as soon as the car was warm enough, silently cursing the monster responsible for Hoseok’s delicate health.

“He fainted,” Yoongi said softly, worry coating his words.

You started cursing aloud, hating that the roads were bad enough that you really couldn’t hurry any more than you were. “I hate them. I hate them for this.”

“I know. I think we all do,” He replied calmly. “Except Hoseok. I don’t know how he can forgive them so easily. How he can forgive those bastards when they poisoned him for years. I remember when we first got him. How he was so confused about why he was taken away and what happened. How he would cry for his owners that tried to kill him. The withdrawals.”

You shuddered. It had taken you, Yoongi, Namjoon, and your father to take care of Hoseok as he went through the withdrawals of the myriad of drugs, and alcohol that he had been fed. He didn’t remember much from the year before you rescued him, but you knew that he sometimes dreamed about what happened, because he wouldn’t let anyone touch him when he first woke up until he realized it was you and he was safe. Nowadays, he didn’t react to those dreams as much. Usually just got up and took a shower. He hadn’t realized what he was like when you got him until he saw Taehyung on a withdrawal from the drug his owner had only given him for a week. He told you that he couldn’t imagine what he must have been like coming off of several drugs and alcoholism.

You never let him dwell on it, though. And as time passed, and he found out about his new health condition that came from the poisons that they had given him alongside the drugs, he seemed to finally understand what he’d been through.

“Because it led me to y/n,” Hobi murmured, barely conscious.

“Shh, save your strength,” Yoongi quickly admonished, and you could see him holding tighter to the bunny. “This isn’t a time to get sappy.”

“Eight,” Hoseok sniffled.

You felt your jaw clench, tightly gripping the steering wheel as if that would help the roads be more clear and get you to the clinic faster.

Time continued to drag, even after reaching the clinic, your coworkers hurrying out to rush Hoseok—who’d fallen unconscious two miles back—into the clinic to get his treatment started.

Yoongi held your hand while both of you waited. “It’s going to be bad this time, isn’t it?”

You nodded.

“Y—” He broke off and hissed a moment. “Dad said something the other day about knowing someone who employs hybrids. I could see if they’d hire me.”

“I can’t ask—”

“I’m telling you. Not asking,” He quickly amended, changing his tone. “I know how bad things are going to get without an extra income. And Taehyung said something about the neighbor by the trails asking him if he would help out because he was having trouble with regular raccoons. Taehyung’s good with them. He just hasn’t had a chance to talk to you about it. I’m going to tell him to do it.”

You looked at the floor, eyes filling with tears.

“And if you need to take more shifts, we’ll make sure that we’re fed and that all the chores get done. You’re not in this alone, y/n. We’re here. This is what we do for those we love.” He wrapped an arm around you when he saw your tears, holding onto you. “It’s a bad week. I’m sorry.”

You just turned and sobbed as quietly as you could into Yoongi’s shoulder.

Minhyuk came out from the back after an hour or so, hesitantly approaching. “Y/n?”

You gave him a bit of a smile. “Hi, Minhyuk. How are you?”

He shrugged. “Okay. Missed seeing you. So have the others.”

“Um, this is Yoongi. Yoongi, this is Minhyuk. He’s one of Shownu’s.”

Yoongi nodded curtly.

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes at the way Yoongi had tensed up. “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, the heat went out in our place, so your boss said we could stay here while it’s fixed.”

You nodded, then studied his worried face. “You can just tell me what you need to, Min.”

His face dropped to the floor. “They had to take him to surgery. They think his kidneys are failing.”

You felt sick.

“What does that mean?” Yoongi asked, voice barely more than a whisper.

“He’ll need a transplant to live. They think they have one, but they’re testing now. Otherwise, he’s going to get put on a waitlist and…” he looked at the floor.

“He doesn’t have enough time left to be on a waitlist,” You finished the sentence, voice feeling raw.

“I’ll let you know if the donor is a match,” He said after a moment of silence.

“Thank you, Minhyuk,” You whispered, knowing he heard.

Yoongi’s grip on you was tight, and you could see he was beyond words.

It was another three hours before Shownu came out instead of the doctor or Minhyuk, which scared you. It scared you a lot.

“Y/n?” He said, waiting for you to respond.

You drew in a shaky breath. “Yeah?”

“The donor was a match. Hoseok got the transplant. Everything looks good. It’s only one, so he might need another transplant later, but we’ll get him on a list. They’re both recovering well.”

You felt like the breath had been knocked out of you. “Wait, did Kihyun…?”

He nodded. “They’re the same type of bunny hybrid.”

No wonder Minhyuk seemed so worried. No wonder Shownu was telling you. He would have had to give permission. He probably spoke for you when it came to the surgery too.

You hugged him, then pulled away. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”

He nodded, smiling a little. “He’ll be awake soon. Kihyun’s already awake and doing really well.”

“I have to thank him.”

“He still likes your chicken soup best.”

You laughed a bit. “I’ll bring some next time.”

He smiled a little more and nodded. “Go see Hoseok.”

You looked back at Yoongi, who seemed frozen with relief. “Yoongi, come on.”

He finally looked up and hurried to follow you and Shownu back to where Hoseok was laying in a bed.

The bunny hybrid’s ears were quirked funny, and he still looked pale, but he at least looked like he wasn’t in terrible pain like before.

You kissed his forehead, and ran a hand over his silky ears. “Precious bun.”

He sighed softly in his sleep, turning toward you ever so slightly.

There was still so much to figure out. If you hadn’t been able to even let Hoseok know that you were in love with all of them the same way they were in love with you…

You shuddered, and squeezed his hand. “Too close. Way too close. I’m going to be so paranoid.”

“I think we all are,” Yoongi murmured in agreement. He was holding Hoseok’s other hand.

You ran your fingers through Hoseok’s hair, thinking about your boys at home. “We should tell the others he’s okay.”

“After he wakes up,” Yoongi agreed, leaning down to sniff Hobi’s wrist. “When he’s awake, then we’ll call. Probably be soon.”

And it was. Only ten or fifteen minutes later, Hoseok’s eyes started to flicker open and shut as he stirred. He made little sounds of discomfort and grogginess, but blinked sleepily up at you before smiling a bit. Then at Yoongi, broadening his smile.

“Pretty people,” He murmured deliriously. “My pretty y/n and my pretty Yoongi-hyung. Where are my other pretties?”

“They’re at home, warm and safe, and worried about their pretty bunny,” Yoongi said in an adorably gentle voice, standing to stroke Hobi’s ears.

The bunny melted under the touch. “Pretties safe and warm. I’m a pretty bunny?”

“A very pretty bunny,” Yoongi agreed. “A Sunshine bun. A sun bun.”

Hobi giggled. “I’m a sunny bunny?”

“A very sunny bunny,” You confirmed, kissing his cheek. “That we love very much.”

He looked at you adoringly. “Am I your sunshine?”

“My only sunshine,” You agreed.

“Wow,” He breathed.

Yoongi was grinning, pulling his phone out to video tape this.

“Am I the best sunny bunny?”

“The very best. Very pretty, very sunny, my one and only bunny,” You told him, rubbing your nose against his and earning his brightest smile.

Also tears because a drugged up Hoseok is an emotional one, and he was crying happy tears because he was the best bunny in your world.

You carefully wiped every tear away, still smiling at him. “Yes, Hobi. My charming, handsome, sunny bunny.”

He sniffled, and looked at Yoongi. “Pretty? Am I still your pretty?”

“Yup, my carrot loving bun-bun. Do you know where you are?”

“The not-home place,” Hoseok said gravely, nodding slowly, then made a cute noise before giggling again. “Hobi hobi?”

“Hobi hobi,” You agreed, kissing showering his face with kisses. “My hobi.”

He leaned forward just a little to rub his cheek against yours, and you quickly met him and moved closer so he wouldn’t strain his body or hurt himself.

Yoongi handed him a cup of ice chips. “Start with these, Hobi.”

Hoseok pouted, but slowly started eating the ice chips as Yoongi fed them to him. “Where are my other pretties?”

You smiled at the repeat in conversation. “What are their names?”

“Well,” he swallowed. “There’s Joon-joon. He’s a Raccoon hybrid.”

Yoongi adjusted his phone (which he had positioned on the table to film Hoseok) while holding in his laughter.

“And there’s Jiminie, he’s a blind kitty.”

You bit your lip, barely containing your laughter.

“TaeTae is a Labrador retriever, and Jungkookie is a bunny.”

You squeaked as you held in the burst of giggles.

“Seokjinnie-hyung is an Alaskan malamute and he’s deaf,” Hobi was looking at the ceiling thoughtfully, but his gaze came down and he smiled at Yoongi brightly. “And yoon-yoon is a mink!”

“Well, he got one right,” Yoongi muttered, obviously holding in his laughter.

“Hobi, you’re the bunny, not Jungkookie,” You managed to squeak out.

His eyes got huge. “Oh yeah. Oh! Jungkookie is a fox!”

You finally let your giggles out, stroking his head. “Okay, we’ll go with that for now. Are you sleepy, bun?”

He drooped and nodded, like the mention of sleep drained him.

You kissed his forehead. “Then get some sleep. We’ll be here when you wake up.”

He nodded, dropping into sleep faster than you’d ever seen before.

Yoongi stopped video taping. “Keeping that for a rainy day. And to tease him endlessly.”

“Send it to me,” You told him, still stroking Hoseok’s hair. “I’m going to go see how Kihyun is doing. Thank him.”

“Y/n? Thank him for me too?” Yoongi’s voice was soft, and you felt like there was a hint of shame there.

Sure enough, he had shame written on his face.

You went around to him and cupped his face in your hands. “What’s wrong, baby?”

“I…I used to think that Shownu’s hybrids would hurt you. They really care about you though, don’t they? So I was wrong, and I was really mean about it too, and the way I behaved around Shownu—”

“Yoongi, it’s okay. Really. No one can blame you for being wary of other hybrids, and the way you’ve welcomed every hybrid I’ve ever brought into our home is more than I would ever ask from you.”

“I didn’t really welcome them,” He murmured.

“No, you gave them space. Except Hobi because I needed your help with him. And Taehyung because he just wouldn’t let you give him space. And once you felt more comfortable, or they felt more comfortable, then you started interacting with them. You’re so considerate, baby. And a lot of that was jealousy. But there’s nothing to be jealous of now, is there?”

He finally met your gaze and shook his head. “Nothing.”

You kissed his lips, watching him turn pink afterwards. “Stay here with Hobi. I’ll be back.”

He nodded, taking Hoseok’s hand again.

Yoongi stayed at the clinic with Hoseok while you went home.

The boys were camped out in the living room, surrounding the fireplace and listening to Namjoon reading aloud from some novel or other.

Taehyung greeted you first, not interrupting Namjoon’s reading, but coming and hugging you after you got your coat off.

You sighed and leaned into his embrace, then pulled back and pecked his lips, leaving him stunned as you went and joined the rest of your boys, sitting beside Namjoon and leaning on his shoulder.

“Y/n?” Jungkook said, perking up as he smelled you.

“Shush, Namjoon is reading,” You admonished softly, grateful that Namjoon had been turning the page when Jungkook had tried to interrupt instead of in the middle of a sentence.

Jungkook dipped his head sheepishly, managing to make it over to your side at least and rub his cheek against your knee.

Namjoon kept reading, able to tell that you were listening even though you came in in the middle of the story. He shifted when you put a pillow in his lap and curled up there, one hand resting on your arm, but he never faltered from his reading. His voice soothing and full of the character’s emotions.

You looked over your boys, noting how Jin met your gaze, eyes flicking to Namjoon, then Jungkook who was enamored with the story again, before meeting your gaze again with a shrug.

You smiled then looked to Jimin, who was listening, but also drawing.

Taehyung finally came back and sprawled over Jin, looking euphoric. He was just grinning hugging his tail, glancing up at the elder now and then and receiving pets in return every time.

Namjoon finished the chapter with a soft sigh., a satisfied smile on his face and he watched Jungkook rub his face against Namjoon’s legs, verbally complaining about stopping. He managed to reach over you and stroke the pup’s ears, causing the boy to go still and then climb up next to Namjoon to get better ear scratches.

You laughed softly and got up so that they could cuddle better.

“Hoseok-hyung?” Jimin asked softly, finally coming to greet you now that story-time was over.

You cupped his cheek and pecked his lips, eliciting a similar response as Tae had had. “He’s doing fine. And the roads are better, so we can all go visit in the morning.”

Jimin was staring at you in shock, then stood up completely straight as he pointed at you with that same surprised look. “You kissed me.”

“She what?!” Jungkook fell from Namjoon’s lap.

“Are you complaining?” You asked softly.

“I am!” Jungkook cried out, looking utterly betrayed.

“She kissed me too,” Taehyung chirped, hugging both his and Jin’s tails for some reason.

“I’ve also kissed Yoongi and Namjoon before, and I intend to kiss Seokjinnie next, followed by my precious Jungkookie,” You piped in, smirking at the gaping pups.

Namjoon chuckled as Jin finished catching him up from across the room.

“Why am I last?” Jungkook asked, pouting.

“Because you’re neglecting Namjoonie.”

His face turned toward where he knew Namjoon was, hands finding Joon’s legs. “I am?”

“Mmhmm. Joonie cares about you spending time with him too, you know.”

Namjoon was looking embarrassed as he quickly grabbed Jungkook’s hands before they could slide up any farther.

You giggled and got up, going over to Jin, who leaned up and met your lips in a gentle kiss.

Taehyung was in awe.

“Besides, Kookie, you’re not last. Hobi is. Because I want him to remember being kissed.”

He grinned, glancing your way. “It’ll make him so happy.”

“By the way, apparently all of us are his pretties,” You told them, signing as you did so Namjoon understood as well.

“Show me the video,” Taehyung said, looking ready to beg if he felt he needed to.

You shook your head. “No, I want to get subtitles onto it for Joonie. I’ll show you guys before we leave in the morning. And I do have to work tomorrow, but a friend is going to bring you guys home after our visit, okay? Hobi will stay at the clinic for a few days.”

Namjoon signed behind the other boy’s heads, asking about the budget.

You signed back a simple, “Later.” Which confused the others, but they knew that sometimes you and Namjoon talked about things that they didn’t know about. “Alright, I’m ready to conk out. Joon, you and Jungkook spending the night together?”

Jungkook blushed furiously, but Namjoon nodded, pulling the boy up onto his lap.

You looked at the other three boys.

Taehyung looked between you and Jin, then sheepishly turned and pressed his face to Jin’s chest, surprising the fox as Taehyung hugged onto him.

You nodded and held out your hand to Jimin. “You and me, pup.”

Jimin took it shyly, letting you lead him upstairs. He parted to get his pajamas, coming back and finding you already in bed and quickly wrapping you in his arms. “So, Yoongi told us that he had to have surgery, but it felt like there was more.”

“He had to have an emergency kidney transplant,” You whispered, trying to find the best spot to rest your head. “Thankfully there was a donor that matched and was willing. But we’re going to have to be really careful from now on.”

Jimin nodded. “And money?”

You didn’t answer, finally finding the right spot.

“Yoongi told us about the money issue, y/n,” He admitted softly. “We know things are going to be tight. I only really brought it up because I want you to know that Yoongi and Namjoon are really doing their best to try and help and take care of you as well. Taehyung already called the neighbor and said he’d help out tomorrow since the weather is supposed to warm up a bit. And Yoongi said he was going to call Dad after you left the clinic. I’ve got a lot of stuff planted in the green-room. And Namjoon said he had something that we could do, but he didn’t specify, just said it was an idea he’d had a couple weeks ago when he and Hoseok were at the farmer’s market. And I saw that the orchard needed some help, and I bet Jin would go with me as well.”

You were crying again, but not as violently as earlier. “I love you guys so much.”

He pressed a kiss to your forehead, squeezing you a little tighter. “We’re family. You’ve done so much to help us, it’s only right that we help you help us.”

“You’ll have to learn how to take care of Jin if he has a seizure.”

“I know how, I just haven’t done it yet. Haven’t needed to. But it might leave Jungkookie here alone…”

“I can take him into work with me. He can work on reading braille.” A skill he should have been taught years ago, but was only just learning and very slowly.

Jimin nodded. “Then after your friend brings us home tomorrow, we’ll head out.”

You kissed him again. “Thank you, Jiminie.”

He licked your cheek, too sleepy and happy to combat the strange instinct, and did it a couple more times when he could taste the tears on your cheeks. “Mine,” He grumbled in a happy sort of way and then sighed softly.

———

Bringing Hoseok home had been one of the best things. It was a week after his surgery, and the weather was still crappy, but it wasn’t below freezing. Your boys had been working odd jobs, Jimin and Jin at the orchard (they had somehow managed not to lose most of their apples), Taehyung helping the same neighbor with a few other things after convincing the raccoons to move to a different area, and Yoongi working a night-job that he seemed to like.

Namjoon had gotten a bunch of quails from a neighbor lady who had wanted to stop taking care of them (she said she was getting too old for the hassle), and between him and the other boys, they had set up a pen and shelters for the quails. So you had lots of fresh eggs and Namjoon was incubating more already, and the lady had been nice enough to give the feed she had (which was the healthiest kind available, and you were grateful since that was the brand that had the best quality) as well as the incubator. He paid for it by fixing the fence to her garden and helping her with some of the heavy digging for her garden.

Your garden had taken a huge hit, but the root vegetables made it. Some of your trees had been killed by the sudden freeze, and your berry bushes looked pretty sad. It messed up most vegetation, and every farmer at the farmer’s market had increased their prices a bit because of of the damage to the crops.

Hoseok was just glad to be with you at the market, two weeks after his surgery.

Namjoon and Jimin were selling some of Namjoon’s eggs.

You knew Hoseok loved the farmer’s market. He knew most everyone by name, and they’d somehow heard about him going through surgery and were all so kind to him, especially the older women who told you how he’d always help them with any heavy lifting. They also tended to give him little get-well gifts. So, without purchasing anything you got a large jar of fresh, organic lemon juice,  a can of peaches, a bag of green beans (a few of which he was already munching on, healing made him extra hungry), a small thing of maple syrup (jackpot), and a couple scones by the time the two of you reached Namjoon’s table.

He grinned, dimples appearing, and signing that he’d made twenty dollars so far, and there was someone who wanted to buy a couple of the birds for meat at the next market.

You smiled back, proud of him.

Hoseok sat with Namjoon and Jimin started walking around with you as you checked to see what was there and what you could get. You managed to get some corn that had been picked just before the freeze, a bunch of baby cucumbers that you’d make into pickles, broccoli (at a discount because you purposefully chose the stemmiest ones and the man thought you were crazy), and some peppers that were deformed (not that it affected taste at all).

Hoseok came over and took Jimin from you, and when they reappeared, Jimin was carrying a watermelon and looking very pleased.

Hoseok was talking with the person who had all the watermelons, a bright grin on his face.

You shook your head a little, going over and looking at her cantaloupe as well.

She grinned at you. “You have such sweet boys.”

You smiled back. “The sweetest.”

“It’s so nice to see someone letting their hybrids have independence, and letting them go to the market for the house. They need the responsibilities, they’re meant to be hunters and foragers. It’s not natural to have everything provided for them. And your boys are all so well adjusted, even the grumpy one.”

You grinned at her description of Yoongi. “I wish I could take credit. They’re just sweethearts naturally, I guess.”

“How bad was your garden hit?”

You shrugged a little. “We managed to salvage most of it and a lot of my root vegetables survived. But it sort of messes up some of the later harvest.”

She nodded knowingly. “My husband and I barely got all of this in before the cold hit. We managed to save some of the garden beds with some straw and a tarp though. I’ve seen your boys going round and helping folks out ever since the storm, made me proud like they were my own boys.”

Hoseok made a squeak of pleasure.

Jimin had gone back to help Namjoon.

You nodded. “I’m proud of them too. They work so hard and I never really asked them too, either.”

Hoseok took your hand, looking at you adoringly.

“Well, except this little bun, he’s been stuck in bed,” You squeezed his hand and kissed his shoulder.

He chuckled softly.

“Well, I hope we see him more often now. I heard that old greybeard has some grapes if you’re interested, sunshine.”

Hoseok perked up and nodded. “Thanks halmeoni!” He pulled you toward the stall that must have been “old greybeard”s.

The man regarded Hoseok, then turned and picked up three bags from behind him. “Was wondering when you’d make it here. Five bucks.”

You looked at the bags, then him. “For all three?”

“Yeah, your boy here helped me unload my wares while my leg was broken.”

You just smiled and paid him for the large load. “Are you sure?”

“Go on, it’s mostly the grapes that came off the stems anyway,” He scoffed.

You dipped your head in thanks and headed back towards Namjoon and Jimin. “See, you didn’t need to get a job like the others, Hobi.”

He had a pleasant glow about him, but he also looked tired. “I think I need to be done for the day.”

“Okay,” You agreed, getting Namjoon to help you carry everything to the car since Jimin was talking with someone for him.

Jin, Taehyung, and Jungkook were playing in the front yard, but hurried to come help with whatever you might have gotten.

Taehyung hugged Hobi, nuzzling him lovingly. “Tired baby.”

“You’re the baby,” Hobi said, chuckling. “Let’s go sleep, baby.”

“Yay!”

Jungkook and Jin were playfully bickering as they carried everything but the watermelon (which you had) inside.

Yoongi was up, and he took the watermelon from you with a smile. “They must not have noticed this.”

You shook your head, knowing how big of watermelon fiends they were. “Put it in the garage for now.”

He nodded and headed that way while you headed inside.

Hobi and Taehyung were curled up together on the couch already, turning on a show.

Jin was looking through the takings, handing the bag of scone to Jungkook and telling him to take them to Hobi. He had a little bit of authority in the kitchen nowadays, making sure that everyone gets when you were at work and quickly picking up on different canning methods, which he was using for pickling some quail eggs recently.

It was warm enough today that all the windows and doors were open, letting the house air out.

Jungkook hugged you, kissing you multiple times. “Seokjinnie is being mean.”

“Yah, that’s hyung to you!”

“Seokjinnie-hyung is being mean,” Jungkook amended, kissing at your lips but missing and kissing your chin instead. “Stay still, y/n. This is hard enough.”

You laughed, and gave him a nice, long kiss.

He relaxed a bit, looking past you blindly, but his thumb caressing your cheek ever so gently. “Your skin is so soft. And I love your voice.”

You fondly tugged at his hair. “Your hair is getting long. Did you want to cut it?”

He shrugged. “Not yet.”

“Okay.”

“Does it look bad?”

“I don’t think you know how to look bad, Jungkook. Any of you boys, really.”

“Are we still spending tonight together?” Jungkook asked. “All of us?”

You nodded. “Yoongi doesn’t work tonight. We’re going to play a game as a family, then then we’ll go to bed. But right now, it’s lunch time.”

The boys had easily taken to you being theirs romantically, only insisting that if you were theirs that you also had disclose financial information and let them actually help and know how things are.

It was nice being able to let them take care of some things instead of only you. To share the burden.

Even though things weren’t really stable yet when it came to finances, especially with Hoseok’s medical bills, it was already starting to get a little better. And next week Jimin and Namjoon were house-sitting for your dad while he went on a road trip with some buddies (promising to bring back unsprayed oranges, so apparently they were going somewhere warm) to go hiking and such and he was paying them pretty well to keep a close eye on his bees.

Yoongi loved his night job, and it worked well with his need for a mostly nocturnal schedule. He’d only had one issue with another hybrid, one who had tried to pick on him due to his small size, not realizing that minks were ferocious predators when angered. Especially when they’d been abused before. It was cleared up and that employee had been fired. Now he was really happy.

Jin had started teaching Jungkook how to play the guitar, and was already doing better with sign language.

Taehyung’s mischief was oddly constructive the past week. No snakes in almost a month. Or frogs.

“Oh! Tae, did you tell her?” Jin asked, suddenly, looking into the living room.

Tae looked back, then abandoned Hobi as he scrambled toward you with a grin. “They asked me if I wanted to teach!”

You blinked at him, a little lost. “Who wanted you to teach what?”

He shook his head as if to get his thoughts straight. “Jin, Jungkook, and I were at the park and this school group came and they had kids that were deaf and blind and all that and I was trying to give them space but they realized Kookie was like them and then that we knew sign language too and I ended up playing with them for a while and the teacher said that they often hire hybrids to help in the classroom and since I already know sign language they wanted to know if I’d be interested and I said I was because I really liked playing with the kids and we went back to the school and the principal said that if you gave written consent then I could start on Monday!”

You grinned. “That’s amazing, TaeTae!” You hugged him tightly.

Hoseok was making a happy shrieking sound, but was too tired to get up, but Taehyung quickly went back to him wrapping his arms around the bunny happily.

The six of you sort of celebrated over lunch, and told the last two the good news when they arrived a few hours later.

You wondered if you’d ever breath properly after today. Between kisses and long hugs, lingering touches, and heated looks, you barely had time to breath and once they got you to bed…

“She’s look great full of our kits,” Yoongi agreed with a statement you hadn’t heard, but quickly spotted the tell-tale lip-bite of Namjoon’s.

Taehyung nodded.

“Nah, she’d look better with pups,” Jimin argued cheekily.

“I wish I could see her with either,” Jungkook complained.

“You’ll have to see her with your hands,” Hoseok said calmly. “Which could be even better.”

You arched an eyebrow. “You all know that we’re at least a year away from any impregnation here?”

“But we’ve been together for five years,” Namjoon objected calmly, smirking.

“Four years,” Yoongi said.

“Three and a half.”

“Three.” Taehyung piped in.

“Two for us,” Jungkook chirped triumphantly, holding his hand for a high-five with Jimin.

Jin looked sad. It hadn’t even been a year for him.

“Doesn’t change anything,” You told them, getting up and wrapping your arms around Jin’s neck from behind, resting your cheek on the top of his head. “We’ve still got to get used to being together before we take a completely different step and you guys don’t get any time with me. Besides, we can’t afford any children right now. Maybe after we manage to get our savings account back. We can start a kit slash pup fund.”

They all seemed to exchange glanced and you suddenly worried about what you might have just done.

“You know, having pups and kits is much cheaper than having human babies,” Yoongi said just a little too casually. “If we all starting making a little bit each day, we might be able to save up for it by Christmas.”

“Especially if we can cut the food budget even more,” Hoseok said, but he sounded more skeptical.

“The rest could eat more rice, and then we also have the quails and we should have our first hatchlings in a week or so,” Namjoon pointed out.

You looked between them all as they all started legitimately planning how to save money for babies, then sort of started laughing. Leaning against Jin, who glanced up at you.

“They’re still underestimating everything,” he whispered.

“Think they’d notice if we went upstairs?” You asked back, as the boys gathered to start doing the math.

He shook his head and both of you snuck upstairs, already kissing before you heard the shout of surprise from downstairs at finding you gone.

“Better hurry if you want to show them that you have just as much right to me,” You whispered.

He grinned and lay over you on the bed. “You’re okay with me touching you first?”

“I’m here with you, aren’t I?” You asked.

He quickly kissed you again, hands wandering.

“Oh damn,” Yoongi muttered from the doorway.

“You going to stand there all day?” You asked as Jin kissed down your neck.

All of the boys piled in and hurried to yours and Jin’s side.

A chaotic mess of a family, but filled with so much love, that you knew you’d never regret letting them all have part of your heart.

--

Masterlist  

Tagging: @ephemeral-mindset​ @young-yellkie​ @alex--awesome--22​

[rainydaywoes]

Crash Landing on You: 5 North Korean Facts or Fiction?

Crash-landed in love with the inter-Korea romantic comedy, Crash Landing on You? Ever wondered how close the depiction of the South-Korean drama is to real-life under the North-Korean dictatorship? Wonder no more! Quench your curiosity as we explore 5 highlights of the drama that will make you exclaim – hurai ggajimala (take the frying pan off your head) – the North-Korean slang for “Don’t lie to me!”

Note: This article contains spoilers up to episode 13.

 1.     Defecting and accommodation censorship

Remember that nerve-wrecking scene when our leading lady, Yoon Se-Ri (Son Ye-Jin) was caught hiding in the kimchi storage during an accommodation censorship search? According to a North Korean defector, Kang Na-ra, these house searches were as common as a daily occurrence for houses near the borders. Having personally experienced it herself when she was defecting, Na-Ra added that her broker made her hide in the furnace fireplace. So yes, this is very much true!

However realistic the drama depicted of accommodation censorships, defecting from North-Korea is absolutely not as easy as stepping across a piece of wire that physical separates the two warring territories. Ask any North-Korean defectors of their arduous journey out of the authoritarian country and their heart-pounding accounts will have you on the edge of your seat. From paying up to thousands of dollars to brokers, hiding from constant vigilance to swimming across rivers while being shot by soldiers, each step of the defecting journey is fraught with the danger of losing their lives. Even after reaching South Korea, the defectors have to undergo a mandatory three-months long re-education at the settlement center, Hanawon (House of Unity).

I guess, since this is a rom-com K-drama after all, we can relent on this fantastical depiction and finally send our dearest heiress, Se-Ri, back to the South before she loses her beloved company!

 2.     Cars

Surely, we mustn’t forget to sprinkle in a (car) race-against-time scene for our leading man, Ri Jung-Hyeok (Hyun Bin), as he zooms off in a showy luxury vehicle with the famous traffic-stopping 729 car-plate to save Son Ye-Jin’s character during an accommodation censorship.

Foreign luxury cars are surprisingly not as uncommon as you would imagine in North Korea, albeit mainly seen in the capital, Pyongyang. According to a tour guide who frequently travels to the country, BMW’s, Mercedez Benz and the Audi, you name it, they have it. So this depiction of cars and traffic in the drama is true to a certain extent.

The more important question is – is this 729 car-plate number really as powerful as it seems? Instead of the number “729” which the drama adopts, car plates starting with “727” indeed receive the bows of traffic ladies and are granted with traffic-stopping access in North Korea. You must be wondering – why 727?? The number “727” represents the 27 July. To history buffs, does this date ring any bell? It’s the day that the Korean Armistice Agreement, which brought complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean war, was signed. And, for North Korea, this date represents the extremely important national holiday, the Victory Day. Hence, yes, I would count this as a realistic drama depiction of North Korean vehicles.

 3.     Division 11

The next puzzling question at the forefront of your mind that follows Jung-Hyeok’s heart-stopping revelation of Se-Ri as his fiancée must be – What in the world is Division 11??? Does it even exist in real life?

To save Se-Ri from the secret police, Jung Hyeok blurted out that the reason for Se-Ri’s lack of identification materials is because she belongs to the mysterious Division 11 – to which, the village ahjummas (aunties) responded with surprised gasps and muffled utterings amongst themselves. In the drama, Division 11 is a military unit of individuals who work undercover in South Korea. This fits perfectly into the plot as it accounts for Se-Ri’s uncommon hairstyle, dressing and most prominently, her Southern accent and slangs.

Unfortunately, the existence of Division 11 remains an unknown due to the lack of official documents. However, considering how one of the drama’s writers is a North-Korean defector with insider information on North Korean officials and their functions, there is room for valid suspicion that this division does indeed exist.

 4.     K-drama love

There are many reasons why Se-Ri was able to make it past the demilitarised zone, across the North-Korea border and into Jung-Hyeok’s house. Luck, determination, fate – whichever you choose. But if you’re a true fan of the drama, you have to agree that it was due to soldier Kim Joo Muk (Yoo Soo Bin)’s love for K-drama (and the tragic love story of Stairway to Heaven).  

“No matter how far you go… Love returns.” Choi Ji Woo’s cameo brought tears in our (and Joo Muk’s) eyes as we recall the iconic scene of the wildly popular 2005 K-drama Stairway to Heaven. Too old a drama for your liking? For the North-Koreans, K-dramas are extremely hard to get access to. Believe it or not, some even risk their lives for this source of entertainment. North-Korean defectors shared that if the citizens were caught watching, they would face punishments such as hard labour, a jail term or even be shot to death. Despite such severity, there is still high demand for it. K-dramas are one of the limited windows through which North-Koreans peek through to understand life in the South that deviates from the national narrative by the dictatorship.

You must be wondering –how do North-Koreans go about getting their hands on such K-drama? Think the drama’s market merchant and her sneaky sale of foreign beauty products. North-Koreans usually buy illegally imported USB drivers with the K-drama saved in it from random ahjummas loitering around the marketplace.

The next time you complain about the slow buffering of your K-drama episodes, think of the risks and hardships North-Koreans have to go through just to get their hands on it.

 5.     Electricity cuts and train delays

Remember those satellite images of North Korea plunged into total darkness at night? That surprise by the Company Five soldiers at the constantly lit-up Seoul? True to the drama’s depiction, electricity is extremely rare in North-Korea and electricity cuts are merely constants of the everyday life. In fact, citizens receive electricity as rare as 2 hours a month! This irregular flow of electricity meant that there were generally no refrigerators and heating up an apartment with furnaces are the reality. A defector even pointed out that the scene of a village ahjumma riding the electric bicycle generator brought back precious memories and that almost every household had a similar machine to generate electricity during blackouts.

The inconveniences of the inconsistent electricity flow do not end there. The chaebol (conglomerate) heiress’ reaction to the ridiculous 14-hour train delay on the way to Pyongyang is one that most, if not all, Singaporeans who use the public transport can relate to. Surely this is false? Yes, this is indeed false. These delays not only last for merely 14-hours, but could go up to even a week! And the merchants that come running? They are known as the grasshopper merchants. Similar to what was depicted in the drama, these merchants sell daily essentials such as water, toothbrushes, soaps and food. An addition of the reality not reflected in the drama would be the ‘vinyl greenhouse’. Since train delays can last for a week or so, these ‘vinyl greenhouses’ provide warmth and accommodation for those willing to fork out the amount. Unfortunately for the citizens, train delays are considered a norm instead of a rarity and rage-tweeting or angered tagging of their train service providers on social media is certainly forbidden.

 Although Crash Landing on You is based on unbelievable premises true to its genre of a fantasy rom-com K-drama, the drama’s depiction of life in North Korea presents its audience with a rare and largely accurate glimpse into the secretive life under the strict dictatorship. With its deviation from the usual representation of North Korea as a poor and harsh regime in the media, the simplicity of life and the relatability of the citizens portrayed bring about an unexplored and refreshing outlook on North Korea and its citizens. So, after reading these fact/fiction of Crash Landing on You how many times did you exclaim hurai ggajimala?

[i-need-a-second-library]

Reading List 2019

So I thought to celebrate the fact that I actually read 100 books this year, I could list them all, give them a short raiting and quickly summarise my thoughts (as far as I remember them, my memory is terrible). So strap in, this is gonna be a looong list.

(The formating is gonna be: Title, Author, Language I read it in (D = German; E = English), rating, short thoughts)

1. The Toymakers, Robert Dinsdale, D, 3/5, Wants to be The Nightcircus but fails. Still sweet and thoughtful.

2. Deadly Sting (Elemental Assassin 8), Jennifer Estep, D, 4/5, Don’t remember specifics just that I was impressed the series was still this good.

3. The Labyrinth of Magic Volume 1, Shinobu Ohtaka, D, 1/5, Note to self: I don’t like Mangas (The Anime is fantastic though).

4. The Labyritnh of Magic Volume 2, Shinobu Ohtaka, D, 1/5, See 3.

5. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman, D, 3/5, Not my style but I can see what others like about it.

6. Norse Mythology, Neil Gaiman, D, 4/5, Very informative and entertaining.

7. The Master Magician (The Paper Magician 3), Charlie N. Holmberg, D,3/5, Adequate ending, I absolutely love the magic system.

8. The Plastic Magician (The Paper Magician 3.5), Charlie N. Holmberg, D, 4/5, Great spinoff, better story than the original with exactly enough cameos.

9. Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin 9), Jennifer Estep, D, 3/5, see 2.

10. Inkdeath (Inkworld 3), Cornelia Funke, D, 5/5, Always a favourite, read it because I was feeling down cheered me right up.

11. The Blood of Olympus (Heroes of Olympus 5), Rick Riordan, E, 4/5, Why did I wait so long to read this?

12. Vulkanjäger, Katja Brandis, D, 3/5, Good adventurebook for younger readers.

13. Double Crossed: A Spies andd Thieves Story (Heist Society 2.5), Ally Carter, E, 3/5, Should really have read Gallagher Girls first.

14.  Wizards: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Aubrey Sherman, E, 4/5, Very interesting, smiled everytime Harry Potter or BBC’s Merlin was mentioned.

15.  Vampires: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Aubrey Sherman, E, 3/5, Not really a fan of Vampires but if you are you have to read this!

16. Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers 1), Rachel Aaron, E, 3/5, Amazing worldbuilding!

17. The Tomb, H.P.Lovecraft, D, 2/5, I don´t even remember it.

18.  All the Ever Afters: The Untold Story of Cinderella's Stepmother, Danielle Teller, E, 3/5, Great new perspective, unfortunately not enough magic.

19. Stars Above (Lunar CHronicles Short Stories), Marissa Meyer, E, 3/5, I would read anything in this universe no matter if it´s good or not.

20.  To Kill a Kingdom, Alexandra Christo, E, 4/5, Really good, always love a dark fairytale retelling.

21. Her Royal Spyness (Royal Spyness 1), Rhys Bowen, E, 3/5, Expected more, it´s a bit slow.

22.  Mein Reckless Märchenbuch (Mirrorworld Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 5/5, It`s Cornelia Funke of course it´s brilliant. Also, everyone needs a collections of fairytales at home, just for refference. I have gotten into many a discussion about the specifics of a classic story that we needed to look up.

23. Air Awakens (Air Awakens 1), Elise Kova, E, 5/5, Fantastic read, couldn´t put it down.

24. Renegades (Renegades 1), Marissa Meyer, D, 4/5, Marissa Meyer writing about Superheroes? More please!

25. Fire Falling (Air Awakens 2), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, see 23.

26.Tales from the Front (Air Awakens 2.5), Elise Kova, E, 3/5, Kind of unnecessary, didn´t really add anything.

27. Earth´s End (Air Awakens 3), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, See 23.

28. The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Veronica Mars 1), Rob Thomas, E, 3/5, Was good when i read it but now after season 4 it just makes me sad.

29.  Mr. Kiss and Tell (Veronica Mars 2), Rob Thomas, E, 3/5, see 28.

30. China Rich Girlfriend (Crazy Rich Asians 2), Kevin Kwan, E, 4/5, A LOT of Characters but otherwise really great.

31. Rich People Problems (Crazy Rich Asians 3), Kevin Kwan, E, 3/5, see 30.

32. Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle 1), C.L.Polk, D, 5/5, Won it on lovelybooks (thanks again for that), amazing queer fantasy (often shelved as YA, it´s NOT, the protagonists are like 30 it´s not YA).

33. Water's Wrath (Air Awakens 4), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, see 23.

34. Crystal Crowned (Air Awakens 5), Elise Kova, E, 4/5, I read this and Water´s Wrath in one night, couldn´t put it down for the life of me.

35. Vicious (Villains 1), V.E.Schwab, E, 3/5, Do you know the kind of book that while you´re reading it is like meh but then you just can´t stop thinking about it?

36.  A Curse So Dark and Lonely (Cursebreakers 1), Brigid Kemmerer, E, 4/5, Great retelling, love the mix of modern and fairytale worlds.

37. Ninja: First Mission, Chris Bradford, E, 1/5, Just makes me want part 9 of Young Samurai even more.

38. DOORS: Der Beginn (Doors 1), Markus Heitz, D, 2/5, Love the idea but couldn´t really convince me.

39. Heartless, Marissa Meyer, E, 4/5, Really heartless, in the sense that it rips your heart right out of your chest and then crushes it, I think I cried... a lot.

40. Truthwitch (Witchlands 1), Susan Dennard, E, 4/5, Great start to a series, didn´t manage to read the sequels this year will try again in 2020.

41. The Forever War, Joe Haldeman, D, 3/5, A classic of the genere for a reason.

42. A rumor of Dragons (Dragonlance Chronicles 1), Margaret Weis, D, 1/5, Boring.

43. A Discovery of Witches (All Souls 1), Deborah Harkness, E, 4/5, The love story is a little rushed, still loved it though.

44. A Darker Shade of Magic (Shades of Magic 1), V.E.Schwab, E, 4/5, Why didn´t I read this years ago? I mean it´s been on my shelf? And it´s so good!

45. Catching Fire (The Hunger Games 2), Suzanne Collins, D, 5/5, Couldn´t stop even at 4am.

46. Mockingjay (The Hunger Games 3), Suzanne Collins, D, 4/5, I think I read this and 45 in one night (Yes I didn´t sleep).

47. Wicked Fox (Gumiho 1), Kat Cho, E, 3/5, Was in a Fairyloot box, underused setting therefore very interesting.

48. The Glass of Lead and Gold (Mirrorworld short story), Cornelia Funke, E, 3/5, Lovely but when are we finally getting book 4?

49. The MirrorWorld Anthology (Mirrorworld Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 4/5, Turns out we´re getting book 4 in 2020. FINALLY!!!!

50.  The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman, E, 2/5, Meh...

51. Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold, Stephen Fry, E, 3/5, Informativ but I prefer the ones by Riordan.

52. Shadow of Night (All Souls 2), Deborah Harkness, E, 3/5, Love the timetravel but like the first one it felt a little rushed.

53. James Acaster´s Classic Scrapes, James Acaster, E, 2/5, I really like his stand up but didn´t really enjoy this book.

54.  The October Man (Rivers of London 7.5), Ben Aaronovitch, E, 3/5, It´s always funny to read foreigners writing about your culture, if you like the other rivers of London books you will like this one.

55. A Gathering of Shadows (Shades of Magyk 2), V.E.Schwab, E,4/5, As good as the first one but with Pirates!

56. Caraval (Caraval 1), Stephanie Garber, E, 3/5, It´s ok but I can´t really understand the hype.

57. Spin the Dawn (The Blood of Stars 1), Elizabeth Lim, E, 4/5, I love this one, the writing is so beautiful.

58. Angelfall (Penryn and the End of Days 1), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, The Story is ok, but I absolutely love Penryn.

59. The Sleeper and the Spindle, Neil Gaiman, E, 4/5, Great story with amazing illustrations.

60. World After (Penryn and the End of Days 2), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, see 58.

61. End of Days (Penryn and the End of Days 3), Susan Ee, E, 3/5, see 58.

62. Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer 1), Laini Taylor, E, 4/5, Lovely Story with great Characters.

63. Pan´s Labyrinth: The Labyrinth of the Faun, Cornelia Funke, D, 3/5, I read it while listening to the movie soundtrack, can reccomend.

64. Kill the Queen (Crown of Shards 1), Jennifer Estep, E, 4/5, How does she write this many books in so little Time? And how are they all so good?

65. The Return of the Warrior (Young Samurai 9), Chris Bradford, E, 4/5, Noooo its over, I could cry this series was one of my favourites as a kid.

66. Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik, E, 3/5, Good retelling that gets a little over-complicated sometimes.

67. Muse of Nightmares (Strange the Dreamer 2), Laini Taylor, E, 3/5, Wow this turned very dark very fast.

68. Skyward (Skyward 1), Brandon Sanderson, E, 5/5, Spensa and M-Bot are deffinetely some of my favourite characters ever.

69. The Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon, E, 5/5, Very long but deffinetely worth it.

70.  The Test, Sylvain Neuvel, E, 2/5, Very relevant but not really my style.

71. Archenemies (Renegades 2), Marissa Meyer, D, 5/5, Love it.

72. Shadow and Bone (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy 1), Leigh Bardugo, E, 4/5, God I just love the Setting.

73. Siege and Storm (The Shadow and Bone Trilogy 2), Leigh Bardugo, E, 4/5,  I know it´s not a very popular opinion but Mal is my favourite.

74.Ruin and Rising (The Shadow and bone Trilogy 3), Leigh Bardugo, E, 3/5, Bit disapointing as an ending but a rollercoaster in terms of feelings.

75. The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn 1), Reneè Ahdieh, E, 5/5, I think this is the 3rd time I read this it´s so good.

76. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Hogwarts Library 1), Newt Scamander, E, 3/5

77. Quidditch Through the Ages (Hogwarts Library 2), Kennilworthy Whisp, E, 5/5, I love this one it´s so funny.

78. The Tales of Beedle the Bard (Hogwarts Library 3), J.K.Rowling, E, 3/5

79. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Heroism, Hardship and Dangerous Hobbies (Pottermore Presents 1), J.K.Rowling, E, 4/5, It´s about McGonagall and Lupin of course it´s good.

80. Short Stories from Hogwarts of Power, Politics and Pesky Poltergeists (Pottermore Presents 2), J.K.Rowling, E, 2/5

81. Hogwarts: An Incomplete and Unreliable Guide (Pottermore Presents 3), J.K.Rowling, E, 3/5

82. Harry Potter: A Journey Through Charms and Defence Against the Dark Arts, J.K.Rowling, E, 2/5

83. The Traitor´s Kiss (The Traitor´s Circle 1), Erin Beaty, D, 2/5, A friend of mine realls loves this but I thought it was quite boring but I think that was just the translation that didn´t sit right with me it was kind of weird.

84. Mermaids: The Myths, Legends, and Lore, Skye Alexander, E, 2/5, Not as good as Vampires or Wizzards.

85. The Rose and the Dagger (The Wrath and the Dawn 2), Reneè Ahdieh, E, 3/5, Disapointing after the brilliant first one.

86. All Fall Down (Embassy Row 1), Ally Carter, E, 3/5, Didn´t really like it.

87. The Book of Life (All Souls 3), Deborah Harkness, E, 3/5, Good Ending, again very rushed.

88. Supernova (Renegades 3), Marissa Meyer, E, 4/5, God I love Simon and Hugh so much Spoilers!: I didn´t like that Ace turned out to be evil after all, I thought we would get a story with respectable leaders on both sides  which is really rare. Really loved the ending when we learned more about Magpie (i really hope there will be a Sequel or Spin Off).

89. Starsight (Skyward 2), Brandon Sanderson, E, 5/5, It was amazing but I missed the  original Crew.

90.  A River of Royal Blood ( A River of Royal Blood 1), Amanda Joy, E, 3/5, So many unanswered questions left!!

91. + 92.  The Grift of the Magi (Heist Society 3.5), Ally Carter, E, 4/5, Read it twice this year once in spring and the again before Christmas.

93. Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston, E, 5/5, Maybe the best one this year, reads like really good FanFiction, it´s sooooooo good why aren´t you reading it right now?

94. Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society 2), Ally Carter, E, 5/5, Always fantastic

95. + 96. Perfect Scoundrels (Heist Society 3), Ally Carter, E, 5/5, So good I read it twice in a row.

97. Doctor Who: The Legends of River Song, Multiple Authors, E, 3/5,

98. Winter´s zerbrechlicher Fluch, Julia Adrian, D, 3/5, Only read if you really know your german fairytales it´s really confusing even if you know a lot about them.

99. Aurora Rising (Aurora Cycle 1), Amie Kaufman, E, 4/5, “They are not the heroes we wanted. They are just the ones we could find.”

100. Palace of Glass (Reckless Readalong), Cornelia Funke, D, 4/5, Can´t wait for Book 4!! Untill then i love everything that even mentions Jacob and Celeste.

Did you read any of these this year? Or any other year? Do you want to? What were your favourites of this year?

I hope you all had a fantastic 2019 and will have an even better 2020!

[fandom-rants]

Plotholes, Story Rushing, and Shoddy Writing In Keyblade Graveyard, Pt. 1 (p.s. there are SEVERAL issues to unpack here)

~~~~THIS CONTAINS COUNTLESS SPOILERS FOR KHIII~~~~

PLEASE NOTE that this will not be in perfect order; there are so many things wrong with the story in the Keyblade Graveyard that I struggle to balance it all without having a raging meltdown. As someone who adored the Kingdom Hearts franchise (yes, you read that right; past tense) and memorized all the lore and played all of the games (save Coded; I just watched that one because it does not look to be worth it at all) and loved the characters, I can only express deep and profound disappointment in the story. The rushed, chaotic garbage mess of a story.

And those who say otherwise? Have chosen to ignore the story for the sake of the ‘happy ending’ (which is a farce; a happy ending doesn’t include Sora sacrificing himself again for the damsel in distress trope).

If you thought some of my other rants were long, you aren’t ready for this one. It’s so long it needed to be split up into parts.

1. Aqua and Ven

a. Firstly, it’s good to know that Nomura is literally incapable of writing a female who isn’t a damsel in distress. Good to see Aqua go “I’m gonna prove how strong I am,” only to need immediate rescuing. Brilliant.

b. So it’s that easy to wake Ven up, huh? His heart’s been linked with Sora’s for Sora’s entire life, it’s been sleeping in Sora’s for so long that Sora has taken on Ven’s mannerisms, but they can just separate without a single hitch, huh? Just like that, huh? And there’s no problem waking up, it takes no time at all, and he can move in his body without even remote difficulty, huh? Basically, there are no repercussions to any of this, huh? I call bullshit.

c. Going back a page, it’s good to know that these guys all showed up at Castle Oblivion and didn’t even bother clearing the place to ensure there weren’t any enemies around to - /snorts with laughter/ - immediately try to kill Ven while he was still vulnerable. Who could have ever expected such a thing, amirite?

d. Why aren’t Riku and Mickey there?!?!?!

e. This was actually so anticlimactic and boring. Why wasn’t Terranort/wtf-ever there to add some drama and tension? Why was it simply ‘grab Aqua, which can be done merely by having Sora show up and beat her up, even though Riku and Mickey got their butts kicked by her,’ ‘arrive very quickly and suddenly at Castle Oblivion,’ ‘unlock it,’ ‘go inside and wake up Ven’? Why was it so boring? It’s something we’ve been waiting for since 2010, and our reward for waiting 8 years is ‘ta-da! Boom, bam, done!’ Did a child write this?

2. The Requisite Romance Scene Before the Final Showdown

a. We have to really sell this romance, or else people will be pissed about the ending! Quick! Let’s have Sora and Kairi share a paopu fruit and leave their friend completely out of it! Riku doesn’t really matter, anyway. He’s not integral to the entire storyline like Kairi!

b. To make it clear, Riku was integral to the storyline while Kairi was not. Something I’ve already mentioned several times. So why in hell did Sora say he wouldn’t have gone through the things in the games if it wasn’t for Kairi, when that girl hardly entered the storyline at all? It was Riku who started the whole story off, Riku and Kairi both whom Sora was looking for in KH1, Riku only whom Sora looked for in CoM, Riku only whom Sora looked for in KH2, Riku only whom Data-Sora cared to run after, Riku only whose concerns made Sora go through the Mark of Mastery... but yes. It was only for Kairi that Sora went through the things he did. Riku, keep sitting on the sand all night while these two pretend you don’t exist. Perfect.

3. We Arrive and Everyone Fights Against Heartless

a. Is this what we came here for? Is this what Xehanort planned when he told us to come here? To sic a bunch of heartless on us? How does this in any way complete Kingdom Hearts? How does this in any way help Xehanort’s overarching goal? Hell, ignoring that, why would he sic heartless on us when we’ve defeated them a million times? How in god’s name do we fail against them this time????

b. Can I just say that it is beyond suspense of disbelief to have Kairi and Lea finish their fights before Sora? Or that the entire group would finish, see Sora still fighting, and then just run forward without him???

4. Terranort

a. How is he back? No, seriously, let’s look at this. He was brought from the past. But when you defeat Young Xehanort, he says he’s going to return to the past and live his life up to the present. But Terranort can’t do that! Which means Terranort can’t go to the past and stay on as Ansem the Wise’s apprentice. Which means he can’t trick the other students into becoming nobodies - so how is Saix there? How is Axel there as Axel? How do the others retain their memories of being Nobodies? He also can’t become a heartless or a nobody himself, since he’s not returning to the past to do so (because we save him instead of killing him)! So how the hell could Ansem and Xemnas exist??? You can’t argue about alternative universes because those haven’t been introduced in the plotline, and even if they had been, that still wouldn’t explain how this universe had an Ansem who took over Riku and a Xemnas who existed whatsoever. What the fuck.

b. Why in five flaming hells is he just waiting there at the beginning? No, again, I’m being serious. Why? To defeat the seven keyblade wielders? Why? They’re apparently needed to clash with the thirteen Xehanort clones, so why on earth is he there? For sad plotline feels? 

c. Even that doesn’t make sense. After all, Aqua had all night to warn Ven about the state she’d last seen Terra in. Apparently, that was not a topic she thought necessary to bring up. Go figure.

d. How the fuck does Xehanort even have him??? All those who played Birth By Sleep, I can only assume you all have dealt with the same frustration and confusion as me. How did Xehanort retain control over Terra’s body after Lingering Will defeated him?? Because I did. Allllll the way back in Terra’s storyline, I defeated Terranort. So how did he show up in Radiant Garden? The blast of light (or whatever) from the end of the storyline should have, at the very least, turned him into a heartless. Right then. From the start. So how did he even survive long enough to get to Radiant Garden, let alone return to the Keyblade Graveyard? What had been the point of that final battle?

5. Lingering Will

a. I was waiting for him to show up. It makes less than no sense to have him only do so at Namine’s behest after Ven has already been KO’d by Terranort. That entire debacle in the Final World should never have occurred, simply because Lingering Will should have shown up the first time.

b. I laughed in disbelief when I saw Terra’s keyblade turn into a hooked whip and then a giant fuck-off gun. I already thought the transformations were pretty random, considering a keyblade is supposed to serve its own purpose and strength without needing to turn into a door or a frying pan or a pair of yo-yo’s, but to see Terra’s do the same thing when no one else’s had? Oof. Painful.

c. Lingering Will was Terra’s mind, but apparently he doesn’t need that to reconnect with his past body! (Even though it was never with said body; it was always separate, so...?!?!?!) Instead it disappears from the plotline (like so many other necessary details) and acted as KH’s version of Fallout’s Mysterious Stranger, apparently deciding to disappear to wherever said stranger goes after doing its duteous cameo.

6. That Entire Debacle With Everyone’s Hearts

a. There’s just... so much to unwrap here. The fact that it even happened, which I’ve already noted the plot failure there. The fact that Kairi needed protecting not once, but twice, only to fall, anyway. Is she even capable of being something other than a damsel in distress? (Looking at the rest of the story of this world, I can do nothing but snort at the fact that I even bothered typing out that question.)

b. The whole shit with Chirithy. We get it, KH. You want to peddle your stupid mobile game. (A game I’ve been playing for over a year now, like a good, dutiful KH player, only to find that the plotline shows up roughly once every 300+ “chapters.”) This Chirithy shit isn’t plot; it’s bullshit. Nice to know Kairi’s heart was definitely lost, though, because bullshit on that, too!

c. Why on earth are everyone’s hearts just hanging out on other worlds? Why are they in worlds I’ve specifically already gone to in this game? Why not any other worlds from any other previous games, or worlds I’ve never been to? Oh, yeah. To bring back the annoying shit from KH1, where you enter fragments of worlds for no reason in order to fight some random heartless. Is this plot?

d. The whole ‘Dive Into the Heart’ thing being the equivalent of ‘the power of waking,’ which is also apparently how Mickey could get into the Realm of Darkness (and here I remember Mickey saying he could only do that by being in a world when it fell to darkness! Silly me). Just admit you had no idea what the hell you were doing when you made up that ‘power of waking,’ Nomura. Shit.

e. Let’s go a bit farther, because the whole “Dive Into the Heart” thing was awful. Why is that a thing? Why do you need to ‘dive’ into a heart (which, he didn’t, he didn’t, he just dove into different worlds to find said hearts, wtf) in order to save it from... what? Death? Darkness?? What the hell even happened here-

f. How is Kairi fine and waiting for us??? This actually made me think Sora had fallen to darkness (or dreaming, or what the fuck ever), because how in hell was Kairi okay? Namine said flat-out that Kairi’s heart had been lost like the others, and that such was the reason why Sora had found her in Chirithy-Verse (it isn’t any ‘Final World,’ just as it isn’t anything I’m ever going to take seriously). So how was she perfectly fine and, uh, able to... uh... meet with him??? In some sort of... Heart Realm Between??? What happened there?!?!

g. I get that this floaty, hand-holding scene was supposed to once again peddle the romance in some last-minute bid to make us okay with the bullshit self-sacrifice move Sora bounces into with all the finesse of a Sequel Coming trailer, but all it did was piss me off (as every romance scene did in this shithole of a game). There has been next to nothing on the whole ‘romance’ thing other than us being told ad nauseum that it is a thing. If you can’t even give me normal, non-romance scenes between the two, then all it’s going to be is forced trollop that you expect me to swallow simply on your say-so. If you can’t give me a lead-up to the romance, don’t be surprised if you fail to sell it to me. And if you fail to sell the romance to me, then why the hell should I ever find any part of that ending all right?

7. The Time Ret-Conning

a. This one’s a minor gripe, so I’ll just say that I despised the multiple times the game acted as if the previous failures hadn’t happened. ‘Here you go; try again!’ It makes no sense when you realize Sora actually did things to ensure we got this second chance, even less sense, somehow, when you see that neither Sora nor anyone else acts any differently to rewatching the same thing happen all over again - like, what the hell kind of time travel bullshit is Nomura writing here? Is there any rhyme or reason to this shit whatsoever?

8. That Entire KHUX Fuckery

a. I honestly cannot believe we had to watch Sora get saved by Ephemer. A lot of people loved the cameo, but the cost to the storyline is far too high. Our main character needing rescuing in his Final Battle is always bad writing; what’s the point of watching the main hero’s growth if it turns out he still needs to be protected? This other character should have been the one we followed, not the one needing rescuing! And hell, what was the point of all that growth if, in the end, it still wasn’t enough? Simply based on storytelling, it was poorly done. But the fact that he got rescued by a long-dead (I hope; everyone has a bad habit of just living forever through Bullshit Time Mechanics) character from another KH game? Disgustingly shoddy. Thanks for nothing.

b. What the fuck was that triangle spam for??? I was there when the challenge came to KHUX, for those with the highest scores to appear in the game. I honestly thought their names would just be in the credits or something, because how could you possibly add them in without making it the most horrendous bullshit possible for a video game? Answer? You can’t. That entire thing is something I’ve been trying to delete from my memory since I saw it. What a fucking travesty.

9. "I Can’t Do This Alone”

a. You are literally talking to someone, your best friend, and saying you’re alone. What the FUCK.

b. What strength did you get from Kairi, you twit? Riku, on the other hand...!

TO BE FREAKING CONTINUED... Edit: I know Nomura is BS-ing some answers to pretend he didn’t fuck up. I don’t care.

[thatbowserguy]

I don't think Geno deserves to be in Smash Bros Ultimate.

So Super Smash Bros Ultimate's been getting some heavily requested characters, like Ridley and King K Rool, which is awesome, those 2 made so much sense to be added, they are major villains from two franchises that have been around since Smash 64 after all, and both are quite iconic.

And then there's one other character who's been heavily requested and I never understood why.

Geno, from Super Mario RPG.

Like, I get that he's kind of a cool character from a cult classic RPG, but even then, why?

What makes him so special?

Idk maybe if Super Mario RPG wasn't a Mario game and instead a whole different IP, with Geno as the star, then I guess it'd be different, Geno would honestly be rather deserving if that were the case. But instead he's from the Mario series, a huge franchise, the biggest in all of Smash, possibly all of gaming, a series well represented in Smash, with 8 characters, even more if you count the sub series, at 13, and we're still missing iconic characters such as Toad. I should also mention that Geno did make a cameo in M&L Superstar Saga, but was removed in the remake, possibly due to Square Enix's involvement in his design.

I do get that one major part of the Mario series not represented in Smash are the Mario RPGs, and well yeah, Geno would fit that, with Super Mario RPG being where his RPG ventures began, I think a charcter representing the Paper Mario or Mario & Luigi games would be more recognisable to a casual player.

I've never really got why people wanted him in Smash. I get he's a cool character, but he's had one game appearance, and that game never even released in Europe until the Virtual console. Well yeah, other characters are like that, I kinda think single game appearances are fine if:

the character is very relevant at the time, like some FE characters have been

they represent a series (Ness, considering Smash 64) or a group of games (Duck Hunt Duo) or an iconic part of Nintendo's history (Ice Climbers, R.O.B.)

are just an echo (Pittoo)

While yeah, Mario's first ever RPG is iconic, but so would Mario's first ever party game, or golf game, and we don't have reps for them exactly, aside from Peach's side B which already has a reference to SMRPG, with the frying pan.

Anyway, I think Sakurai himself stated he wanted Geno in Smash after Brawl, stating something like "his moveset with an arm cannon could be unique", don't quote me on that. But like, would it really? At the time of Brawl there was already a character with an arm cannon, being Samus, and even now, we also have Mega Man, Mii Gunner and Dark Samus, so a character with an arm cannon isn't even a unique idea anymore.

So his arm cannon playstyle would be similar to already existing characters, but where else would his moves come from? He is an RPG character with 1 game appearance after all, not much to pull from. In SMRPG he does have beams and stuff, which could cover his specials, but would still be fairly similar to the Mii Gunner and Samus...

Another problem I have is that everyone wants Geno, but that would leave out the other party member: Mallow, who honestly I find more appealing, likable and more fitting to the Mario series' style. Mallow and Geno are unique to SMRPG, with Mario, Peach and Bowser already being in Smash, adding Geno would just leave poor Mallow out, and I feel like Mallow has more moveset potential than Geno, with his rain and lightning based powers.

So anyway yeah, I just don't think Geno deserves to be in Smash, it just doesn't fit well I reckon. Of course if it does happen, then yeah I'm completely wrong, and with the ballot being used to pick characters, then Geno has a good shot, but I wouldn't be too happy about it...

If you want Geno in Smash, cool, I'm just a random wolf on the internet, you don't have to care about my opinion at all, and if he does get in, I'm sure as hell still gonna get the game, and his amiibo of course, but I won't care too much about him as I do about King K Rool and Ridley.

And anyway there's a lot more characters that I think are more underserving than Geno is.

[deepdarkwaters]

Kingsman: The Golden Circle

Got back from the Kingsman double bill a bit ago and am trying to put my brain into words even though I'm very tired and a bit numb and I smuggled five hours' worth of gin into the cinema in an Evian bottle so I'm as drunk as Harry at breakfast time.

OBVIOUSLY THERE ARE SPOILERS BELOW

Watching them back to back like this was interesting because it highlighted so clearly how much better the first one is than this fumbly ridiculous sequel. Not saying it's not good or not worth watching or whatever because it absolutely is worth watching for several reasons I will babble after another teacup of gin, but holy god is this really the best they could come up with? REALLY? A 100% true fact that I believe with my entire heart: YOU reading this, you are a better writer than people being paid obscene money to write films. I could easily name thirty fic writers off the top of my head right now who have an infinitely better grasp on pacing and plot and characterisation and dialogue than the people responsible for this stuff. I've not read any press or fan reviews but I imagine there's going to be a hell of a lot of backlash over so much in this from every angle because it's just so incredibly lazy and sometimes ugly and absolutely cannot stand up to its own hype.

Really good things:

* SPECTACULAR, EH!

* Eggsy/Harry and Eggsy/Merlin shippers, goddamn we have a lot of new stuff to work with. Chemistry through the roof, especially Eggsy/Harry (including possibly the best clingy desperate hug I have ever seen on film in my entire life WE HAVE WAITED SO LONG AND IT'S HERE AND IT'S BEAUTIFUL). That was the heart and backbone of the first film, I'm so relieved that it's not only survived but evolved into something fiercer and often messier. So so good to watch. Pretty sure I've got Harry/Merlin written down the inside of my heart like the words in a stick of rock, and though it's not romantic you get much more of a sense of their friendship here and it's all just a bit shattering and gorgeous.

* Pretty much everything to do with Harry's memory loss and Eggsy and Merlin trying to shock him into remembering was great, Y E S  P L E A S E. And Harry's matter of fact comments about his loneliness, fuckkk. Angst writers, go forth with all this new information and break my heart some more! Fluff writers, fix him!

* Lots of beautiful intricate fight choreography which is literally all I need in my action films, so even if I did think the rest was complete balls (which I don't entirely) then I'd still be happy. Nothing comes near the vivid glorious gutpunch of the church scene as a standalone set piece, BUT there's so much Harry & Eggsy teamwork and please just inject this directly into my veins, it's amazing. Prepare for several years of me writing many more elaborate fight scenes than I already do.

* Part B to the above: Whiskey is a lot of fun and his fighting style is full on hardcore pornography to me.

* Merlin in a flawless Kingsman suit, RIP me.

* One of my Bespoke WIPs is about Merlin and Eggsy getting into the habit of going to the pub together sometimes and rolling home completely drunk with a kebab in each hand then trying to get in the house really quietly because Harry's asleep but they end up waking him because they think it'll be really nice to cook him breakfast in bed and Harry comes stomping downstairs in his dressing gown like "it's four o'fucking clock, put those frying pans away and drink some water!" while Merlin and Eggsy side eye each other and try not to giggle. So maudlin singing drunk Merlin was very nice to see :P

* Eggsy and Roxy bromance. There’s such lovely chemistry between them as well, it feels so natural and real, and it’s so good (and miserably rare) to see platonic friendships that aren’t shoehorned into some shitty boring love triangle.

* Eggsy and Tilde were seriously adorable. It ended up not at all satisfying as a romance plot arc because it was like CUTE - fight - marriage, it needed so much more screen time. Like all the important stuff was there, but it was just so abrupt. Include a satisfying romance or don't include one at all, fuck your lazy bullet points. But it started so well and I hope there's a ton of fic that treats them better than the script did. I appreciate the anti-Bond-ness of it all, that Eggsy's genuinely in love and wants to settle and is figuring out how that and his job can possibly fit together, especially with the complications of marrying into royalty. Interested to see where they take that if there's another film. Until then, soo much scope for fic.

* I'm shipping Harry/Elton like burning.

* Poppy was terrifying in a vaguely Umbridge-ish way. That sort of characterisation is always freaky, Julianne was great. So glossy and cheerful but absolutely dead in the eyes. And I'm ambivalent on Charlie, but I ABSOLUTELY want lots of brutal older woman villain/pathetic younger male minion smut. Please provide asap.

* T H E   M Y T H I C A L  B R E A K F A S T   S C E N E   I S   R E A L

Really bad things: well where the merry fuck do I start haha.

* I will never ever understand why they thought it was a good idea to wipe out all the locations and almost all the existing characters at the very beginning. It's lazy shitty writing. If you feel like you need to shake up your fictional world you don't just knock it all down and start over. It's cheap and very shallow angst.

* I only have two middle fingers but I need about seventeen million to even begin to profess my disgust at them killing Roxy. I knew it was going to happen, it was the only spoiler I asked someone for ahead of time and it was not at all a surprise to find out for sure. Still utterly infuriating. The way people responded so positively to her in the first one is a real indication of how ridiculously low the bar is for female characters in action films ("good at something" and "not the hero's love interest" are literally the only two requirements), and JG/MV didn't even think enough of her to follow through on the absolute base level achievement they made before. Fuck everyarse involved in this decision.

* Absolutely revolting honeypot mission scene. Not really the fact that it exists, just the entire way it was handled and shot - so predictably male-gazey and laddishly "waheyyy!" that it kind of turned my stomach. Horrible and completely unnecessary.

* A million new characters and not enough time spent on any of them to care. Tequila was barely more than a cameo. Champ and Ginger hardly had anything to do. All the Statesmen (except Whiskey) were completely two dimensional and it's such a jarring contrast to the obvious care taken over Eggsy, Merlin, and Harry. It's not even because we already know them, I don't think? It's weird to try and explain. The Statesman characters just feel so rushed and shallow, there's no substance to any of them. Kill off Roxy and replace her with paper cut-outs, ok that makes loads of sense!!! Whiskey’s a level up from the others because he gets loads more screen time and some beautiful fight scenes, but his ~emotional plot twist fell completely flat. I don’t know what it was, the pacing or a boring cliche backstory or what. It was just dull as fuck. WE HAVE HEARD THIS EXACT STORY FIVE MILLION TIMES.

A bad thing that's somehow not really a bad thing even though I'm fucking numb and want a hug:

* I've been raving for ages to people about Roxy being killed off and trying to figure out a way to satisfactorily explain how I feel about a character dying for a reason and a character dying because a writer is a lazy bastard who wants some quick angst. Merlin's death was an A+ wonderful death along the lines of my dear fictional boyfrends Quincey Morris and Lee Scoresby and a million others. Maybe it comes from all the swashbuckly historical adventure stories I grew up loving, but I'm a desperate sucker for a good noble death. Characters brave and self-aware enough to look at the bigger picture of an impossible situation and realise that their death means a better outcome for the people they love? This is ABSOLUTE CATNIP to me. Characters who go down fighting to the very end. If a character I love with my entire soul has to die, this is how I want it to happen. Give them some agency and a proper goodbye.

I mean I fully expect him to be magically resurrected with fancy prosthetic legs if there's another film because we saw those wedding set photos of him in the nice neon green cgi stockings, so really I should be saying "death". I totally reject this one. (I reject Roxy and JB's deaths as well, but the big difference is I really can't see the filmmakers bringing them back. Eyeroll.) Maybe that's what's making it easier to deal with? A not-real noble courageous self-sacrificing death. That's about as good as it gets. All three of them get Oscars for this whole sequence.

Anyway the tl;dr of it is:

This film is a very beautiful, very patchy mess. The good stuff is absolutely gloriously perfectly incredibly wonderful. Most of said good stuff is the interaction between Eggsy, Merlin, and Harry, which is written and performed with real care and heart. Nearly everything else is relatively lacklustre filler, misogyny, and shitty nonsensical decisions. These people cannot write women.

I liked it? I will definitely see it 900 more times, mainly for wet terrified Harry and gorgeous fight scenes. But ffs, how can it possibly be this difficult to pinpoint the reasons why people loved your extremely successful creation and consider including them in future plans?

I'm feeling fairly zen about everything. I kind of trained myself ages ago to think of sequels as just another bit of fanfic, so it's going to make absolutely no difference to the cheerful fluff porn and fight scenes I like to write. What I'm annoyed about isn't so much to do with ~new canon~ limiting what we're allowed to create for ourselves now, because that's just silly. It's more about being pissed off at the shoddy state of action films, particularly women in action films, when it seems like it should be SO EASY to take these astronomical budgets and create something groundbreaking. I'm so tired of this unimaginative lazy narrow-minded bullshit.

[justanothercinemaniac]

Epic Movie (Re)Watch #205 - Hocus Pocus

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

Spoilers Below

Have I seen it before: Yes

Did I like it then: More or less.

Do I remember it: Yes.

Did I see it in theaters: No.

Format: DVD

1) Let’s start off this post with a little blasphemy: I actually don’t have a ton of nostalgia for this movie. I watched it like maybe three times growing up. I’d always catch bits and pieces on Disney Channel or ABC Family Freeform, but I just never got into it like so many other people did. And (prepare to be outright offended now) the last time I watched it all the way through (I couldn’t have been older than 13) I thought it was kinda boring. BUT I was going through a bit of a “too cool for this shit” phase then. Spoiler alert: I enjoyed it A LOT more this time around and do understand the hype now.

2) Fun fact: Human Thackery Binx is played by Sean Murray but is dubbed over by the actor who performs him (Jason Marsden) for consistency.

3) Despite being largely a comedy, there is a wonderful sense of creepiness to this film which I think helps to give it its unique flavor. I mean, this is a Disney movie which starts with a child being killed so witches can drain off its life force. Then these same witches - who explicitly say they’re loyal to satan and have been to hell - get hanged. There’s this sense of edge (or the Disney version of edge) which helps elevate it above a lot of Halloween family fare. I think it’s what makes the film so endearing.

4) Ah, our first encounter with Winifred Sanderson.

5) The Sanderson Sisters

So the way I’m going to structure this note is each sister will be like 5.1, 5.2, and 5.3. That’s how long the note is. The Sanderson Sisters ARE the movie. They’re the reason it holds up so well, they’re the reason people keep coming back to it, is because this trio is so absolutely wonderful. Each sister is written and performed in a way where you get a clear sense of who they are as individuals (instead of just being clones of each other), yet they chemistry between the actresses works so wonderfully that the trio is strong as well. They are the heart and fun of the film, with each actress being brilliantly comedic but also able to turn on a villainous dime when necessary. They’re just incredible.

5.1) Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson.

The leader of the group in both writing and performance, Midler commands the sisters in a natural way. The actress is the most unrecognizable in the part, so much so it took me YEARS to even realize this was Bette Midler. By putting aside any and all ego, Midler gives a performance which embraces its cartoonish fun to totally wrap you in. She pulls focus, commanding every scene she’s in to the point where you can’t/don’t want to take her eyes off of her. She’s just incredible. According to IMDb, this is Midler’s favorite performance of her own. That fun just shows through.

5.2) Kathy Najimy as Mary Sanderson.

Najimy is an absolutely amazing character actress who totally blends into every role she’s given. Mary is no different. Much like Midler, she is able to work with the cartoonish silliness of the part (with a character who is maybe more so that than her sisters) to just make you laugh. There are so many great moments Najimy has, often times while other things are going on, that you have to watch multiple times if you even hope to catch them all. She’s just really great.

5.3) Sarah Jessica Parker as Sarah Sanderson.

The youngest (I believe youngest) Sanderson sister proves that there is no weak link in this chain. Much like Middler, this role is so different from anything else Parker is known for doing (“Sexy in the City”) that I have to remind myself it’s here. She is able to be charmingly dimwitted and absent minded in a way which is absolutely gut busting. There is this wonderful physical and almost airy quality she brings to the part which pulls you in, the way she moves and plays with her beloved boys. But Parker - like the other Sandersons - can turn on a dime to an intimidating baddie. She’s - like the others - is incredible.

6) Max Dennison.

This may be blasphemous (I don’t know all the things people love about Hocus Pocus), but does anyone REALLY watch this movie for Max Dennison as a protagonist? I will admit the place where the character ends is something I appreciate a lot (more on that later), but for most of the film? He starts off as kind of a douche bag who acts all macho, thinks he’s too cool for his new town, and is mean to his sister. Almost every other character in the movie is a more interesting potential protagonist than Max to me, which I will say is not the fault of Omri Katz. He actually does the best he can to make Max seem interesting, because I’m aware that he could’ve been a much bigger pain the butt during the movie. But the writing is just not there as we get to know him, even if he does develop nicely by the film’s end.

7) It was at this moment I realized Alison was a much more interesting protagonist than Max.

Max: “But everyone here knows that Halloween was invented by the candy companies it's a conspiracy!”

Allison: It just so happens that Halloween is based on the ancient feast called All Hallows Eve.”

Allison is actually a bit of a missed opportunity, development wise. She has a good understanding of not only the tradition of Halloween but also the Sanderson Sisters, showing a creepy side to a character who does not appear as a stereotypical goth. She’s rich, doesn’t seem to really care for her parent’s fancy Halloween ball, is kind, brave, but we never really explore her that much. I’d love to get to know a bit more about Allison.

8) The inclusion of buttheads Jay and Ice add a nice bit of humor to the film. Yeah they’re jerks, but their idiocy is definitely funny to watch. Don’t take them seriously as bullies or threats and you’ll enjoy their presence.

8.1) So I was looking up the actors who played Jay and Ice and…AH! ICE IS THE SAME ACTOR AS LARRY FROM “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”!

9) According to IMDb:

Charles Rocket [Max and Dani’s dad] acquired a certain notoriety for swearing on live television during the final moments of the 21 February 1981 episode of Saturday Night Live (1975). There's an in-joke in connection to this, where he says to Max, "Watch your language!".

10) Thora Birch as Dani.

Can I just say, Dani is so much more interesting to me than Max. I kinda wish we saw this movie through her eyes. She just brings a smile to my face whenever she’s on screen. Birch plays Dani with such honest enthusiasm and intelligence (not every kid in movies is played as smart, sadly) that it’s intoxicating. She stands up to the bullies and later her first instinct upon the Sanderson Sister’s resurrection is to LIE HER BUTT OFF in an attempt to make them think she’s a witch! HER FIRST INSTINCT! And then later when she finds out this freaky zombie is nice she’s immediately like, “Hi Billy!” so sweetly. I dig that.

11) Ah great, toxic masculinity infecting an eight year old girl.

Dani [after Max says fighting the bullies would’ve gotten him killed]: “At least you would’ve died like a man.”

Sorry, that’s just a personal thing.

12) Um, maybe some fans of the movie know this, but why exactly the Dennison family move to Salem? I don’t remember it ever being mentioned. I’m assuming job opportunity but what job takes you from LA to Salem?

13) Um Max, you’ve know Allison for like a week (maybe a week and a half). Isn’t this a little much?

Max [about Allison]: “Dani, this is the girl of my dreams.”

14) The Sanderson house has this wickedly creepy sense of place to it. You know these guys aren’t supposed to be there, you know that this is a place of evil, so when things start getting weird it’s not much of a stretch to see it happening.

15)

16) So at one point in the movie Allison hits Mary with a frying pan and all I can think of is this:

17) The most fun this movie has is watching the Sanderson Sisters adapt to 1993. Reacting to things like the, “burning rain of death,” (sprinkler system) the, “black river,” (a pavement road) and even the way they run from approaching firetrucks because of the sirens is all a hoot. Like I said, each actress is amazing and they play it so well. It’s a wonderful source of comedy.

18) Thackery Binx.

Jason Marsden is an excellent voice over actor (perhaps best known as Max in A Goofy Movie and Impulse in “Young Justice”) who helps give Thackery a lot of life. This immortal black cat is wonderfully charming, with a compelling wit and sarcastic sense of humor which helps flesh him out as a character. But he also has a lot of tragedy in his life, a real loneliness. Thackery is a unique and fun addition to the film which just works really well.

19) That’s Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson.

Jones is currently one of the most well regarded character/makeup actors in showbiz, with such famous roles under his belt as both Fauno and The Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth, Abe Sapein in the Hellboy films, and the creature in the upcoming The Shape of Water. Just thought I’d share.

20) I gotta say, the Sanderson Sisters are a lot more funny to me in my 20s than my teens. The whole bit with the calming circle specifically had me in stitches.

Also this is great.

Girl Dressed as Angel: “Bless you.”

Sanderson Sisters: [Freak out.]

21) This whole bit with the fake cop is kinda clever, but this bugs me.

Cop [after Dani tells him Max is a virgin] Are you a virgin?

Max: Yeah.

Cop: Really?

22) Garry Marshall’s devilish cameo.

While largely (if not exclusively) serving as a distraction from the plot, it just continues the fun of the Sanderson Sisters adjusting to the new world. Garry Marshall’s presence in any film is a welcome treat, especially when he brings along sister Penny. There’s just a great sense of fun here born from the audience being in on a joke the witches are clearly unaware of.

23) Okay, this always bugged me: couldn’t the kids get A LOT of people to believe them if the talking cat explained what was going on?

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know].)

24) “I Put A Spell On You”

This may be the most iconic moment from the film, working primarily because it’s just so freaking fun! The tune is infectious, it carries a delightful Halloween sense to it, and Midler’s vocals are top notch. It’s just FUN and that’s what works.

25)

Winnie [upon seeing a high school]: “It is a prison for children.”

Well she’s not wrong.

26) As a fan of old school Universal Monster movies, I dig this line.

Max [over the high school PA]: “I’m your host, Boris Karloff Jr.”

27) Honestly I think this film’s biggest issue is a structural one. Some gags, while fun, don’t add much to the overall plot. Also the moment of quiet/peace after the heroes think the Sanderson Sisters are dead just messes with the overall flow. The tension never got high enough for it to be effective or earned. It just throws off the momentum I think.

28) Winifred’s Book.

It’s not often that I discuss prop pieces in these posts but Winnie’s book is in a lot of ways a character unto itself. The art design on the piece is absolutely wonderful and just really interesting. You understand it’s not a possession but (largely because of that eye) something a little more intelligent than that. A little more alive than that.

29) As soon as Allison opens the book this is all I can think of.

(GIF source unknown [if this is your GIF please let me know]

30) Sarah’s song to lure the children (written by James Horner, not composer John Debny) is wonderfully creepy while also being sweet. It makes sense that it would draw in a bunch of kids but as the audience we can hear the sense of doom it has.

31) So this is a classic case of Villain Stupidity™. Winnie HAS her victory! All she needs to do is give her death potion to one of the countless kids which just appeared on her front lawn but she needs to have her revenge so risks it all (needlessly) to go after Dani.

32) Okay, how does Winnie know enough about modern life to make this joke?

Winnie [pulling up next to Max’s car on her broom]: “Pull over! Let me see your driver's permit!”

33) The film’s climax actually is pretty well done. There is a nice sense of stakes and tension to it. THIS is earned, unlike the school scene. And Max’s decision to drink the potion so he can save Dani is a great character choice, showing how strong his relationship with his sister is and what he’ll do to ensure her safety.

34) Okay, when the sun rises at the end all I can think of is…

35) It may be a little cheesy, but I do really like that this film ends with Thackery being reunited with his lost sister Emily after 300 years. Also his goodbye to Dani is really nice.

Hocus Pocus has become a cult classic for a reason. With three absolutely phenomenal actresses acting as the heart of the film, it has a wonderfully wicked sense of fun to it that works at Halloween. But either you’ll like it or you won’t. There are some problems with structure, focus, and some character development. But honestly I don’t care about those so much because it’s just so freaking fun. It more than makes up for its flaws with a sense of humor and cartoonish mayhem which carries the 90 minute run time well. It’s just a fun Halloween movie which everyone should watch once just to see if they like.

[benmartinmedia]

Music Video Analysis - ‘You’re In Love With a Psycho’ - ‘Kasabian’

For this music video analysis, I have decided to look at the video for ‘You’re In Love With a Psycho’ by ‘Kasabian’. I have chosen to look at this music video as i feel that it is a brilliant example of a music video that includes both a narrative story with a performance throughout the video which helps to tell a strong and interesting story, through its range of different shots. This is also a good music video as it stick to many of the conventions that we expect to see, as well as subverting some ideas that people might have about a video. Though it is not strictly in the same genre as my music video, it fits in the wider Indie Music genre. The plot of the music video follows a group of people who we immediately assume are in some kind of institute, with the song title implying that it is a mental hospital. The music video mainly follows the main people from the band, with some famous cameos throughout the video to help tell the story. The video shows the group of men seemingly trying to impress one of the woman who works in this hospital, with the ending of the video leading the audience to believe that the songs title is about her.

The video opens with a short clip of a woman, whose face is covered by a green veil. The song has not yet begun at this point, and the use of a medium shot shows the woman as she dances to a strange, mystical tune. This immediately creates a narrative hook for the music video, with the audience wondering who this woman is and for what reasons is she dancing. The narrative hook is built upon a few seconds later when a voice is heard saying ‘Gentlemen, Medication time’. This all adds up to leave the audience rather confused and in search for answers, meaning they are very likely to stay on to watch the video to find the answers to the questions they have began to ask. 

After this, the song begins to play and there is a jump cut that moves into a medium panning shot, showing many different men all wearing the same orange colour clothing. This matches the beat of the song as each of the men is nodding their head in time to song, following Goodwin’s theory that explains a link between visuals and the music. 

Through another medium shot, we see the same group of men in a room which appears to be a doctors waiting room, giving the audience the impression that these men are all part of some kind of hospital. A slow zoom out follows the movement of one man who stands out from the rest, due to him being in a wheelchair and having his face covered by a bandage. As he moves through the room, the rest of the men look shocked and slowly stand up, all looking toward the woman at the desk. The woman appears to be the same one who is seen at the start of the music video, adding more to the narrative hook created at the beginning. A cut then shows a close up of a foot, tapping to the beat of the song. The foot has a sock with a hole in the toe and looks quite well-worn, implying that the man is quite dirty. The camera then cranes up through the body of the man as the singing begins, with the movement stopping to show the mans face, still covered in a bandage as he sings. This then further links to Andrew Goodwin’s theory on music videos as there is a direct link to the lyrics and the visuals as the words read ‘the doctors say I’m crazy’. This helps to develop the story of the music video, letting the audience know that the setting is most likely a mental asylum. Another cut shows the people in the institute queuing up, a medium shot showing them as they walk to the beat of the song. It then cuts back to the woman’s face briefly, before cutting again to show the man in the wheelchair, still singing, with his movements suggesting he is unsettled, an idea further emphasised by the hands massaging his shoulders. This whole section suggests a relationship between the man who is in the wheelchair and the woman behind the counter. 

As the bridge of the song begins, the camera pans up from the man in the wheelchair to show the man who was massaging him, still with a mid-close up shot. He also begins to sing the song, whilst swaying and looking dead ahead. This also implies that he is a patient at this hospital, with the movement suggesting he is also unsettles as well as the character not blinking. The camera then cuts to show the woman as she closes a window on the counter is stood at. The window is mirrored and shows the man hurl himself from the wheelchair towards the closed window. As he hits the window, there is non-diegetic sound of a smash which goes on the beat of the chorus drop. This smash sound also queues a cut to the next scene which shows the man in a room, similar to the original but with a big window in and no other people.

This section of the video has a compilation of the man in the mirror, doing many different faces and movements, however it is revealed to not be a mirror but the two main characters stood either side of a doorway in which both rooms are the same. The characters are mimicking each others movements, whilst the chorus reads ‘You’re in love with a psycho’. This again suggests a relation in the lyrics of the song to the visuals as the characters are acting out of the norm, as well as the suggestion that this may be happening in someones mind.

As the chorus end and the seconds verse begins, we see the man walk out from the side of the ‘mirror’, but to be greeted by a different character who looks very similar to the other. They funny actions then continue as the other character reappears and reaches through the doorway to grab the explorers hat, before they begin to dance. A mid-close up shows the man on his own looking slightly confused by this, before another man looking slightly like him slowly moves up from behind him.

The two men then slowly move through a gloomy room, signalling in other from the side, who are revealed to be the same men as before. This is shown through a tracking shot that follows their movement. A cut and a medium shot with a slow-zoom then shows what appears to be a gymnasium, as they men all rush through a strangely small door into the gym. 

As the second chorus begins, a tracking shot moves up the body of one of the characters, showing him leading the other men as they dance along to the song, each still wearing their orange hospital clothes. The man turns and a close up shows him looking very seriously up at something. This something is revealed to be the woman who was working at the desk earlier in the video, show through a cut and a slow zoom in on her in a room watching on at the men dancing. This is then followed by footage of the previous characters as they happily dance mindlessly to the song as they mime it, while there is also some more cuts which return to previous settings in the video showing the same characters as they sing the song. This entire sections has links between the visuals, the lyrics and the music as it all seems to match with a story seeming to match the lyrics with each character looking slightly crazy, as well as them dancing to the beat of the song.

There is then a breakdown in the song, showing a perspective behind the closed window from earlier in the video. Another link between the visuals and music can be made as the music becomes sightly muted to give the impression that you are behind this window as well. A medium shot shows the various patients as they react to the window, looking very confused and dull. This is mixed in with various shots of the men in the gym dancing still, emphasising their craziness as they all have various props such as a drum and a frying pan. 

The final chorus then begins, with a medium shot showing the men in a formation as they all continue to dance along to the song. A series of quick cuts show various angles of them dancing, which is a common feature in a lot of music videos. Amongst this, some shots of the men as they take their medication are shown, relating back to what is said at the start of the music video, answering some of the questions from the narrative hook. This continues for the remainder of the song before the main characters make one a lot higher by letting him stand on their legs, ending with a medium shot which shows all of the men from the hospital as they pose proudly of their dance. The camera the tracks along them whilst they pose, with the non-diegetic sound of breathing showing how tired they are.

Though the song has finished, there is still some of the video left, as the music from the very beginning starts to play again whilst they cover various shots of the men from the hospital. The same voice from the beginning begins to talk again, this time speaking the lyrics from the chorus, giving the impression to the audience that the woman from the beginning of the video is in love with one of the ‘psychos’ from the hospital. We then see a cut to the woman from the beginning as she looks down and smiles and puts her hand on the shoulder of a man. The camera them tracks her movement, revealing the man to be one of the main characters from the video. This answers some of the questions that they audience would have of the video, but might still leave them confused. 

Ideologies

I believe that as good as this music video is, it is not a very serious one and is solely for the purpose of entertainment. There are not too many ideologies that come from the music video, with the visuals often linking to lyrics to create a compelling story. I feel that the band have decided to try and tell a love story in a more comical way, poking fun at other music videos along the way and using a lot of irony to emphasise the ideas of mental hospitals and love.

Audience Reception

Stuart Hall developed a theory that explains how audience may receive a text, with three different outcomes likely. These three ideas are:

DOMINANT - How the producer wants the audience to view the media text they agree with the message is it conveying. NEGOTIATED - A compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, the audience understand and agree with the text but disagree with other areas they have their own views on. OPPOSITIONAL - The audience rejects the encoded meaning and creates their own meaning for the text, they fully disagree with the message being submitted.

The producer has made quite a comical music video and therefor the dominant reception he wanted to most likely be that people see the funny side in the way that he has made a love story in a mental hospital. The oppostional reception however will disagree and may even find that the video is offensive to people in these institutes. 

Uses and Gratifications

Basic model

It is suggested that the uses and gratifications theory has to fulfil one the following when we choose a form of media:

Identify- being able to recognise the product or person in front of you, role models that reflect similar values to yours, aspiration to be someone else.

Educate - being able to acquire information, knowledge and understanding

Entertain – What you are consuming should give you enjoyment and also some form of ‘escapism’ enabling us to forget our worries temporarily.

Social Interaction – the ability for media products to produce a topic of conversation between other people, sparks debates

This music video has clearly been made for the purposed of entertainment and i feel that it does not go much further than that. However, I feel that this music video is good for social interaction as it is one that is certain to create different debates and conversations over its meaning as well as the comedy elements that it contains.

Andrew Goodwin

1.Music videos demonstrate genre characteristics. - This music video is within the indie genre, which has all kind of characteristics. It is often within the genre that you find the music videos have a mixture of performance with narrative. This music video does so, as well as features the basics such a cutting on the beat.

2. There is a relationship between lyrics and visuals. The lyrics are represented with images. - As mentioned within the analysis, there are many links between the lyrics of the song and what can be seen in the music video. This is a brilliant example of a video that strongly sticks to its song and tells its story.

3. There is a relationship between music and visuals. The tone and atmosphere of the visual reflects that of the music - Again, this was vastly covered within the analysis. Very similarly to the lyrics, this video strongly follows the beat and pace of the song and uses it to its advantage to create strong visuals that help to tell a comical yet compelling story with cuts on the beat and movements in time to the tune.

4. The demands of the record label will include the need for lots of close ups of the artist and the artist may develop motifs which recur across their work - The artists feature heavily in the video, with the main two people in the band being two of the main characters in the video. There are various close-ups of them throughout the video which helps to show them off and create their image.

5. There is frequently reference to notion of looking (screen within screens, mirrors, stages, etc.) and particularly voyeuristic treatment to the female body - This isn't the case for this music, with nearly no voyeuristic treatment of the female body throughout the video. 

6. There are often intertextual references (to films, TV programmes, other music videos etc.) - There are two main intertextual references in this music video. The first comes within the clothing that each character in the video is wearing. The writing on the clothes shown says ‘West Ryder’ which is a direct reference to the bands third album, titled ‘West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum’. This will only really be spotted by the fans of the band and is something specially for them, as well as linking to the story. The other intertextual reference in the video comes from the secondary actors of Noel Fielding and Stephen Graham, who the band members are always told they look like.

Overall, I think that this is a thoroughly entertaining music video, with a good mixture of performance of the song with a comical narrative that tells a funny story throughout.