#going on a rampage across the internet

[andi-o-geyser]

*slams hand down on table* WHERE IS ALL THE PERCY AND KEYLETH BEST FRIEND OPPOSITES ATTRACT PLATONIC SOULMATES MOTHER NATURE AND DADDY ELECTRIC CONTENT. HUH. WHERE THE FUCK IS IT

[dailyadventureprompts]

So one of my favourite things to listen to in my off time is debunked conspiracy theories, mainly because it mixes several of my interests: politics, history, and being pedantically right about stuff with objective fact to back it up.

Part of me wishes I could draw more inspiration from this particular well, but doing so risks propagating the same brainworms that create conspiracy theorists in the first place. The grand canyon is a lichtenberg figure carved by a colossal space lightning bolt/energy weapon hitting the earth, which consumed the world in a pyroclasm that caused stone structures melt which we can see across ancient cultures Is a FASCINATING bit of worldbuilding by someone being in denial about the concept of erosion. I don't want to use it however because then my story becomes a transmission point for this bad idea, a psychic parasite that might take root in someone's subconscious and warp their worldview to the point of nonsense.

Take one I heard a few years ago: The word planet comes from the greek word planan, which means wanderer. This is the same word used by the original bible to refer to fallen angels. NASA is lying to us, there are no planets, the non-star lights we see moving in the night sky are fallen angels fixed there by god as punishment for their crimes of coming to earth and beggetting the nephilim, the giants that we can see evidence of in X,Y,Z mythologies.

You can see the narrative potential there right? The questhook about the scholar who invents a better sort of telescope and manages to peer deep enough into space to discover that one of the cosmic bodies is actually a being, only to become possessed by the fallen celestial and driven to free it, just like the extinct linage of giant warlords who rampaged across the region millennia ago. It's such a juicy hook because it plays on the same "aha" moments that the conspiracy theory uses to take root: Oh yeah there IS a linguistic connection between the world planet and the greek word for wandering because they were stars that wandered across the sky oh yeah there ARE a lot of ancient cultures that have myths about giants because it's really easy to imagine people that are big, wonder if there are any internet rabitholes that could teach me more about these thigns?

It's the Dan Brown DaVinci Code problem; It can be entertaining to play around with historical conspirasism as the background for a story but part of your audience are going to be in a vulnerable place and slip all the way down to Qanon levels. It's even worth with the Alex Jones types who can't seperate fiction from reality and take their inability to analyze iconography as a sign on NWO "preprogaming". I don't want to use conspiracy theories/bad archaeology as inspiration only for my work to be pinned up on the red-string board as evidence that everything's connected.

[sspookyspoonss]

I know nothing about Doctor Who except what friends occasionally excitedly tell me. I am also bored. Here is an undoubtably factual explanation of each of the ‘new?’ Doctors:

Doctor…. Who??????:

I know nothing about this guy. Nobody I know talks about Christopher Eccleston nor have I caught wind of any internet discussion. My conclusion is there is a conspiracy to not talk about him for no reason other than the fandom got bored and thought it would be funny. I think this Doctor would like to go to football matches and would get very upset if the team he likes doesn’t win. You would probably randomly meet him at a pub and would have a nice chat with him, however, he’d take you back to the Tardis and you would most likely die via Dalek plunger (a thing I am informed they can kill you with). I also think he would like watching reality TV, he gives of that vibe.

Tumblr Doctor:

The internet likes this guy. David Tennant is cool, so I understand. I think this is ‘wibbly wobbly timey wimey’ guy so I am inclined to think that he also says things like ‘milkys’ and ‘dindins’ to his friends. Even if he is not ‘timey wimey’ guy I still think he still would say ‘milkys’ and the like, gives off that vibe.

He has some angst to do with a woman. I’m not sure why but I’m guessing it’s to do with Thomas Edison. The Doctor knows he stole most of his inventions because he can time travel and saw it happen, not stopping him is one of the Doctor’s greatest failures, however, his lady friend is a victim of the British Education system and thinks otherwise. They break up over it, angst ensues, Thomas Edison has ruined someone else’s life even after he’s dead.

‘I don’t like this guy’ Doctor:

I do not like this Doctor, worst one. Nothing against Matt Smith or his performance, I’m sure it was brilliant, I’ve seen that Van Gough clip and it made me cry 10/10. More importantly than that however, my supposed childhood best friend who was actually just bullying and manipulating me said he was her favourite so I look at him and remember I wasted my childhood with her. He can make it up to me if he time travels and gets child me a better friend. Then he will be the best Doctor.

He or Tumblr Doctor has a wife????? I think???? I’m not sure but which one it is but because of my bias I’m saying it’s this guy. I know it’s dodgy because of time travel so he needs to go to space jail (or as Tumblr Doctor probably calls it, the ‘Naughty Step’). I’m assuming they also have a child, making every reincarnation of the Doctor from here on out a deadbeat who needs to pay A LOT of child support. That is why he regenerated, so he could avoid paying it, ‘Court can’t prove I’m the Dad if I don’t have his face.’ Arsehole.

Screwdriver scandal TM Doctor:

He looks like a nice guy. This Doctor would sit you down and give you a therapy session after you nearly get killed by a Weeping Angel. I would like having a talk with him, it would be nice. I feel like he is the most well adjusted Doctor, although that could just be Peter Capaldi’s immaculate vibes. This Doctor pays his taxes. He doesn’t like Paddington Bear for some reason. Due to his well adjustedness, I am lead to believe the twist in Paddington 3 is that Paddington is The Master (who I think is a villain) and will go on a rampage across London, turning people into Marmalade. It will be up to the Doctor and the family I’ve forgotten the name of, to stop him. This would also provide an explanation for why the Mum’s actor has changed, to fix Paddingtons mess they had to time travel which led to the Dad marrying a different woman.

He threw away the Sonic Screwdriver apparently. Previously mentioned childhood best friend complained to no end about it to me. Knowing fanbases other people were also likely very upset, I’m guessing it felt like it did to me when Luke Skywalker chucked his lightsaber over his shoulder in The Last Jedi. I also think Screwdrivergate is a tragedy because they didn’t take the opportunity to replace the Screwdriver with another, even sillier, Sonic _______. I suggest either a Sonic Scented Candle or a Sonic Keyring. Alas, it was not to be.

‘WOMAN AAAAAAAAAAAAA’ Doctor:

People don’t like her because woman. People also don’t like her because of bad writing. Last time I checked, neither of these are Jodie Whittaker’s fault. I don’t have much to say about her except my new, (actually great this time) friend who likes Doctor Who has an emotional reaction every time she is brought up. Genuine sadness and disappointment in my friends eyes. I suggest that this means this is a fantastic Doctor, to the point it is art. A sign of good art is something that garners a strong emotional reaction. Despair at the state of the franchise and societies misogyny may not have been the intention, but a strong reaction is incurred nonetheless, so success, this is art now.

‘Guess Who’s back!’ Doctor:

Erm, not sure how in canon this works but David Tennant seems to be having a nice time so it’s good. The alternative name for this Doctor is ‘Production Budget Doctor’ because from the ends of episodes I’ve seen (I watch Strictly Come Dancing because ooo pretty dresses and it’s on after) the Tardis looks very fancy and like it’s from a big budget film. Coffee also got spilled on it which is funny because it messed the Tardis up, meaning not even the technology of a near God can withstand dumbass humans with liquids. Hilarious. Also, an apt metaphor for many things.

In conclusion: I’m sorry for any brain damage caused to the good members of the Doctor Who fanbase who read this. Have a nice day.



[illmoraineakoi]

An Incomplete List of All of the AvA/AvM AU Ideas I've Had That May or May Not Ever End Up Being Written

[Links are to posts I've made about these concepts before. Most of these don’t have titles yet. Some are so long because I was partially developing the idea as I was trying to write a synopsis.]

AvA4 AU V1 – After Alan deletes the Fighting Stick Figures, Orange accidentally discovers a strange sensation coming from an icon, and upon breaking it, escapes into the Outernet. There, he’s found by Chosen and Dark, who take him under their wings. Meanwhile, the FSF venture out from their webpage all on their own to search for their new lost friend.

AvA4 AU V2 [Manipulated by Victim] – After Alan deletes the Fighting Stick Figures, Orange accidentally discovers a strange sensation coming from an icon, and upon breaking it, escapes into the Outernet. There, he’s found by Victim, who is intrigued by his existence and offers him sanctuary within his organization. Meanwhile, the FSF venture out from their webpage all on their own to search for their new lost friend.

AVA4 AU V3 [Villain Orange] – During the chase, Alan decides to use Avast to try to stop the rampaging stick figure wreaking havoc on his computer. Orange is captured, but Alan still cannot delete him. At a loss, Alan decides to use the stick figure as an adblocker like had had once before. With no way to escape, Orange is stuck in enslavement until The Chosen One arrives to destroy the ViraBot. The Chosen One rescues Orange, destroying Alan’s computer once more, and while he attempts to care for and help Orange move on from what their creator did to him, Orange can’t let go of his hatred and bitter anger. After a disagreement, Orange leaves, and stumbles across Victim, who is much more understanding of Orange’s desires for revenge.

AvA2 AU [Freedom] – The Chosen One, desperate to escape his enslavement, cuts off his own leg to try to escape. His plans are foiled, however, when his powers don’t return and he discovers that the computer is disconnected from the internet. He’s discovered by the Animator, who realizes that he is alive. The two struggle to come to terms with what has happened between them and to continue living with each other.

GreenScreen Fic [Awesome Trick Shot (Failed)] – Green misses when he tried to dunk the video file into the recycling bin. Realizing that they were attempting to delete it, and video is overcome with terror. Green, and the others, come to some startling and uncomfortable realizations.

Chaos With Cursors – After Season 3 of AvM, Purple tries to spend more time and deepen his friendship with the gang. While out in the city, strange advertisements for cursor-related things in a pet store’s window catches Orange’s attention. All hell breaks loose when Purple explains that some sticks keep cursors as pets.

Victim On The Desktop AU – An attempt to bring his Creator to his facility backfires, and accidentally sends Victim careening through the digital space. He’s spat out onto a desktop, where five other stick figures live, along with an Animator. Convinced that he’s ended up on the wrong computer, and that the human beyond the screen is not his own Creator, Victim slowly grows attached to them all during his attempts to find a way to return to the Outernet. Until one day he discovers that Alan IS his Creator.

StickAlan PostShowdown AU V1 – Orange accidentally turns Alan into a stick figure with his powers when attempting to bring him back before he passes out during Showdown. Everyone is confused about this. Chosen is not happy. When Chosen discovers that Dark is still, miraculously, alive, he asks Alan to end him. Alan refuses, and refuses to let Chosen do so either. Not knowing what else to do, Chosen begrudgingly opens his home to Alan and the CG, where they all have to learn how to live together. Quite a few things are revealed to Alan about the Color Gang and stick figures in general.

StickAlan PostShowdown AU V2 – Orange accidentally turns Alan into a stick figure with his powers when attempting to bring him back before he passes out during Showdown. Everyone is confused about this. Chosen is not happy. Alan accidentally causes an argument with Chosen, resulting in Chosen flying away. Believing that Chosen has left for good, and that he’s on his own, Alan heads into the City, where he tries to figure out how to live as a stick figure and care for the CG at the same time. It’s not easy, and he’s forced to make some difficult choices and sacrifices. Meanwhile, Chosen returns, having failed to find Dark’s body, and discovers that Alan is gone. Fearful of having such a dangerous Creator loose within the Outernet, he starts searching for Alan, to no avail. Over the years, Alan finds Dark alive and in need of his help, he’s hired by the prestigious tech company Rocket Corp, where the CEO takes a particular interest in his experience and knowledge of animation programs, to the point where Alan becomes the lead developer of a highly valuable confidential project, and he successfully builds a comfortable life for the CG. Everything is nice...until things start toppling down, one by one, the consequences of his past actions once more coming back to bite him in the ass.

^ [Potential Part 2 – Alan’s existence is discovered by the government, who take interest in his ability to create powerful stick figures. Seeking to use this ability to their benefit, Alan, and everyone else, are captured, contained, and subject to experimentation. Alan himself is forced to create new stick figures, Much to his self-hatred and guilt. When Someone[Character TBD] launches an escape to break everyone out, the foundation is not happy to have lost such valuable assets, and not willing to let them go so easily.]

Sticks IRL V1 – [Inspired by Haisaree's AU] An electrical wiring defect causes a fire in Alan’s office room, endangering the PC. The sticks, seeing the danger, sound the alarm, but Alan cannot get through the fire to the computer. By the time he gets the fire extinguisher and puts the fire out, it’s too late; the computer is destroyed. He thinks that his sticks have been killed, overcome with grief. But Yellow’s quick thinking, paired with a sudden activation of Orange’s powers, gave them an opportunity to escape, just not in the way they anticipated. They crawl their way out of the fire repressive foam, shocking Alan that they were there, they were alive. He finds them all, and cleans them up, hugging them close to his chest afterwards. He doesn’t dwell on what hell do next, he’s just thankful that they’re alright. [Idea Unfinished]

Sticks IRL V2 – The Color Gang and Dark rescue Orange and Chosen from Victim’s facility, and then try to interrupt Victim’s plan for revenge against his Creator. The attempt backfires, however, and Victim sends himself to Alan’s world. Orange and the CG throw themselves in after him without hesitation, determined to stop him. Chosen, feeling guilty for involving Orange into this mess, follows, to try to keep him safe. Dark, incensed and irritated at Chosen so blatantly throwing himself into a glowing portal for, in his opinion, a stupid reason, begrudgingly follows to save his ass again. All of them are spat out into the real world, in Alan’s office, where a scuffle ensues with Victim. Their manifestation had been loud, almost like an explosion, drawing Alan’s attention. When he enters, and sees them all, he stares, dumbfounded. Chaos ensues. [Idea Unfinished]

Sticks IRL V3 [Kaori Version] – During an escape attempt from Rocket Corp, something goes wrong, and causes the sticks to be spat out into the real world, in Alan’s home. Victim, spying his opportunity, immediately lunges at Alan, trying to hurt him. Startled and confused, Alan grabs him, restraining him away from his face as Victim flails, trying to free himself. It’s amidst this chaos that Alan’s wife walks into the room, drawn by the commotion, becoming very confused by what she finds. Alan is then forced to explain/confess a lot of things that he’s been keeping secret from her. Both of their lives become a lot more hectic trying to juggle seven stick figures, two of which seem hell-bent on beating each other to a pulp, and one of which vehemently wants to rip Alan apart.

Humanized Sticks – A malfunction with a Rocket Corp machine combined with an outburst of Orange’s powers during an escape attempt has major unforeseen consequences. The sticks wake up in an unfamiliar place, with unfamiliar bodies. They’ve somehow been turned human. They were in the human world. Far away from Alan, and with no idea how to contact him. They struggle to survive for a few days, trying to learn how to live. Eventually, they manage to get in contact with Alan, pleading for him to come get them. Once back to his home, Alan cleans them up properly, and tries to figure out what happened. They don’t remember much, and he doesn’t have much hope of trying to reverse it, to send them back to their world. They might be stuck like this, permanently...and he doesn’t know what he’s going to do about that.

Reincarnation AU V1 – When Alan ends Victim's animation file, all of the clone iterations of Victim survive. They're scattered across the Outernet, each believing that the others had perished. They all create new lives for themselves, becoming vastly different individuals.

Reincarnation AU V2 – When Alan end's Victim's animation file, all of the clone iterations are cast adrift within the digital hyperspace. The clones, grouped together, eventually find themselves cast into new bodies, bringing to life stick figures on a niche little website. They don't remember much of their origin, but they don't mind. They spend their time living together, fighting each other for fun, until one day, a strange new stick breaks into their home, and opens up their entire world. This strange new stick feels familiar to them, like they do to each other, and the five quickly for a tight emotional bond. Years later, when Orange passes an older hollow-head in the halls of a scary facility, he is confused about why he feels the bond reaching out towards him, too...why he felt familiar...

Chosen on the Desktop Wanted AU – When Chosen returns to Alan's computer to get Orange's help, Alan becomes alarmed with how he was glitching. He's concerned. But then Chosen grabs Orange before Alan could even try to interact with him, and Alan does the only thing he can think of to prevent Chosen from leaving: he unplugs his Ethernet cable. This turns out to be a mistake, because Chosen clearly interprets it as an attack, and begins wreaking destruction upon the computer. Alan's attempts to communicate to him, to calm him, fail. Only Orange is able to stop him, but he flees into the depths of the system files. Alan is eventually able to talk with him, to pacify him, and have a conversation with him, during which Alan learns of Chosen being hunted. Alan suggests Chosen stay ont he desktop for a few days, to give him to chance to loose his pursuers. Chosen reluctantly agrees. The CG waste no time in roping him into their games and adventures, treating him like he was a member of their little group. A few days turns into a week, which drags into a few weeks. Slowly, the desktop stops feeling like a place of danger, and starts to feel like a home.

Chosen Discovers Orange and the CG Early AU – While fleeing from some pursuers after destroying a web page, Chosen inadvertently ends up on a computer desktop, where he's found and his injuries treated by a group of young sticks. He's then introduced to a young orange hollow-head, so very similar to himself. And then they introduce him to the owner of the computer, and he comes face to face with his own Creator once again. This reunion does not go well, as Chosen interprets Alan opening the task Manager as an attempt to kill him, and he fights back. He's captured, and Orange comes to his defense, yelling at the Creator beyond the screen. Chosen, terrified of the repercussions of this disobedience, grabs Orange and flees with him, taking him back to the Outernet to his and Dark's house where he'd be safe. Orange, however, is very confused on why Chosen seems to think that he's in danger from Alan...[Unfinished Idea]

StickAlan Victim’s Vengeance AU – Victim uses Yellow’s programming and Orange’s powers to summon Alan to him as a stick figure, where he proceeds to start to torturing him like Alan once tormented him. Yellow, desperate to stop this and help Alan, escapes, using the Dark Lord’s console to hack into Rocket Corps systems, and into the Box. There, he modifies Alan’s code with a custom script, granting him powers and abilities to fight back with. Yellow is discovered by Dark, who is initially angry at him, until he sees Chosen tied up and caged in the console window. Dark demands to know what is going on, and then leaves to go rescue Chosen. [Idea Unfinished]

King Orange Post-Concert – King is not happy with the Color Gang’s blatant misuse of the staff, and takes it back. In the process, he learns some uncomfortable things about them and their home life. Namely, that they didn’t have any parent or guardian whatsoever, and were completely isolated from stick figure society. He finds himself disapproving of the fact that they live on a computer, and sets out to try to convince them to leave, to try to give them a more appropriate home. When he learns of what this particular Creator has done in the past, to it’s own creations, King flies into a rage, determined to protect these strange, if sometimes insufferable, kids he’s inadvertently found himself becoming attached to.

ChoDark Orange Maroon AU – Chosen and Dark are free to do whatever they want together in the Outernet, and this freedom, combined with an obliviousness to stick figure biology, inevitably results in some unexpected consequences. Chosen becomes pregnant with a stickling he does not want. The very idea of birthing a child is repulsive to him. He tries, numerous times, to terminate the child's process, but it never works; the child is resistant to being deleted. Forced to birth it, Chosen contemplates how else to get rid of it, and the memories of the Animator come to him unbidden. The Animator would be able to get rid of it. So Chosen returns, dumping the child onto the taskbar and then fleeing back into the internet tunnel before it had even opened it's eyes. He moves on with his life, returning home to Dark and resuming their relationship, albeit much more carefully to prevent it from happening again. He thinks nothing of it. Almost forgets about it. Until the day of the Showdown, where he watches in horror as an impossibly powerful stick kills Dark. A stick who could only be so powerful if it had a combination of his and Dark's powers, their code. The child was alive, painted a different color, and completely oblivious to it's true origins.

ChoDark Dark Survives AU - Dark miraculously survives Orange's laser, though he's severely, grievously, injured. He's also pregnant with his and Chosen's child, which he can feel is also injured, it's code within him weak and fluctuating. The idea of loosing it is terrifying to him, nearly unbearable. It's the last connection he has to Chosen, the only proof of their love for one another that remained. He hadn’t gotten a chance to tell him yet, had panned on doing so after he’d revealed his virus creation. But Chosen had made his opinions very clear, and the bridge between them had been thoroughly burned both ways. No matter. Dark is determined to ensure the child survives, willing to do anything to keep it alive, even at great cost to himself. And it works, he succeeds, eventually birthing a small, frail little stickling a deep ruby red color. But the endeavor has taken it's toll on him, he's had to sacrifice bits of his own code, his own lifesource, to sustain it, and he's left weak and unstable. He's unable to recover, and knowing that he will eventually die anyway, decides to continue transferring his code to better stabilize his child, sacrificing himself yet again. After only a few years, he passes, leaving the child in the care of a kindly stick who had been helping to care for them for years. The child, 'Maroon' as they take to calling themselves, grows up with a bitter hatred for their father, blaming him for hurting their mother, for abandoning them. Until one day, the two are confronted with one another, and Chosen is in for some horrible realizations.

ChoDark Dark Survives AU V2 - Dark miraculously survives Orange's laser, though he's severely, grievously, injured. He's also pregnant with his and Chosen's child, which he can feel is also injured, it's code within him weak and fluctuating. The idea of loosing it is terrifying to him, nearly unbearable. It's the last connection he has to Chosen, the only proof of their love for one another that remained. He hadn’t gotten a chance to tell him yet, had panned on doing so after he’d revealed his virus creation. But Chosen had made his opinions very clear, and the bridge between them had been thoroughly burned both ways. No matter. Dark is determined to ensure the child survives, willing to do anything to keep it alive, even at great cost to himself. And it works, he succeeds, eventually birthing a small, frail little stickling a deep ruby red color. He recovers, slowly, and builds a new life for himself, just the two of them. Things are calm and peaceful, almost homely, for a few years. Until Chosen crash lands near the house, and where he’s found by Maroon. Maroon begs Dark to help him, oblivious to who Chosen really is. Dark begrudgingly patches Chosen up, intent on kicking him out when he wakes. However, Maroon sneaks out of his room against Dark’s orders, greeting Chosen when he wakes up. Chosen is shocked to see another hollow-head, confused at where he is. Dark hears the conversation, and comes back, finding Maroon interacting with Chosen. He sends Maroon to his room, ignoring how Maroon pouts about it. Chosen is stunned to see that Dark is alive, and then he realizes who Maroon must be: their child. His child. An argument commences, Dark demanding that Chosen leave and never return. But Maroon has once again disobeyed, and overheard that Chosen was his father, and becomes very upset at the idea of Chosen leaving forever. He clings to Chosen, begging Dark to let him stay. Dark vehemently refuses, and Chosen tries to gently coax the child into letting him go. Maroon only cries harder, begging him not to go. Dark begrudgingly gives in, allowing Chosen to stay for three days. Maroon wastes no time in roping Chosen into spending time with him, Chosen awkwardly fumbling his way through being a parent. Over the next few days, in between playing with and caring for Maroon, Chosen and Dark have some conversations, slowly smoothing out the mess between them. When the fourth day comes, and Maroon once against pleads for Chosen to stay, Dark just sighs and tells Chosen to get to work doing the laundry if he was staying. Things go well, until Chosen is located by the Mercenaries once again, bringing the house under attack. Chosen tries to lead them again, using himself as bait, but they become equally interested in Dark and Maroon.

[the-goldencondor]

The Golden Condor: Gotham City's Biggest Mystery?

By Lois Lane, Daily Planet

In recent times, sightings of an unknown vigilante has been circulating the internet. He is a man spotted lurking in the shadows of Gotham City, taking down criminals under the noses of civilians.

An interview with the commissioner of the Gotham City Police Department, James Gordon, further drives the mystery surrounding the man. Quote: "I haven't gotten a good glimpse of him yet, but ever since he's made his presence known I've been feeling a little off. It's difficult to explain, but me and many of my men have been strangely paranoid. Even more than usual."

Many Gothamites have reported seeing the words "The Golden Condor" carved into the walls of alleyways, to which we can only assume is the vigilante's name.

Who is The Golden Condor and what are his intentions? Could he be a new ally of The Batman? Is he something the public should be concerned about? Where did he come from?

▾ Author's Note

This is a DC OC roleplay blog.

Eugene Amsel was once a former member of a cult (unnamed), but after it's fall he became a notorious vigilante from Gotham City going by the name of Golden Condor. On command, he has the ability to instill fear into his enemies just by touching them or being near them. His methods of fighting crime are cruel and brutal, and he lacked empathy to give mercy. He will make a person's life hell if they go against him. He is a member of the Justice League and is in an on-and-off relationship with Batman.

Read all about him here: Link & TGCS

He is not dead in this timeline. This RP takes place before his rampage, where positive reception of him started to slowly dwindle.

▾ Conditions before interacting

Eugene is not a good person whatsoever. He is terrible and can come across as downright abusive, and the things he says can potentially be triggering. I do not condone his actions—I am merely playing his character. This blog is a way for me to expand on him as a character.. a character study, I guess. But I also just wanted to see him being a punching bag to other RP blogs. He deserves it :)

No NSFW — Sexual themes/suggestiveness are allowed, but I'm not comfortable with explicit content.

[rainisawriter]

Sick for You (Ryu) {Sicktember 2023}

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

Genre: Fluff, slice of life, angst, comfort, domestic, comedy, romance

Word Count: 8,564

Pairing: First Person x Ryu

World: The Rampage

A/N: Okay, let me say that this is 100 million percent self-indulgent because I am a certified Ryu simp. I would die for this man, okay. This also took like a week to write lmao and it was written for @sicktember 2023. I wasn’t originally gonna do anything for this because of Flufftober but then this idea hit me like a freight train c: Also shout out to Kels (@babyboybinbin), Dia (@sieunkinnie) and Sweet (@xsweetelegantdisasterx) for letting me abuse them in this fic~ I regret nothing ò.ó)

Prompts (in order): #11 -Beginner’s Guide to Faking Sick / #18 – “Wear your coat, you’ll catch a cold.” / #4 – Hiding An Illness / Alt #3 – Pounding Headache / #23 – Coughing Fit / #16 – Consulting the Internet/Web MD / #19 – Curled Up With A Pet / #8 – Persistent Fever / Alt #4 – Forehead Kisses / #12 – Home Remedy/Old Wives Tale / #21 – “But if you stay, you’ll get sick too.” / #24 – “Did you just sneeze?” / #3 – “What happened to your phenomenal immune system?” / Alt #1 – “I could really use a hug right about now.”

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

Light streamed through the curtains, landing conveniently across my eyes and bringing me from my sleep. I looked at the clock through blurry eyes, realizing that I needed to get up soon for work but I really didn’t want to. My bed was so comfy and the body wrapped around my own was warm. Why would I ever want to –

Wait a damn minute… I blinked dumbly at the wall for a moment. Why is there a body in my bed? I turned slowly so as not to disturb them, a smile instantly coming to my face when I realized who it was.

Ryu was sleeping peacefully behind me, strands of hair falling across his face. He was already a gorgeous man but he looked like a damn angel when he was sleeping so peacefully. I slowly reached forward, tucking the hair behind his ear. He stirred, gorgeous brown eyes meeting mine.

“Morning,” he mumbled, stretching out his long body.

“When did you get here?” I wondered, propping my cheek up against my hand. “I thought you were on tour for another three days.”

“We had to end it early because of the bad weather.”

“You shoulda woke me up.”

He hummed, fingers curling around the hem of my shirt. “You looked too cute. I didn’t want to bother you.”

I ignore the fluttering of my heart and the warming of my cheeks, leaning down to claim his lips. “Babe, you could never bother me.”

He gave me a goofy grin, eyes lighting up. “You have to be at work soon, right?”

All thoughts of work had gone out the window when I realized he was in bed with me. I rarely got to see him because of his hectic schedule and there was no way I was going to work. 

I forced myself up, grabbing my phone off the bedside table and bringing up Google. Ryu propped himself up on his elbow, looking curiously at my phone screen.

His brow furrowed as he read the words of the article I had clicked on. “‘A beginners guide to faking sick.’ You’re gonna lie to your boss?”

“No… I’m just gonna bend the truth a little,” I defended, trying to ignore the stern look he sent me. “Is it so wrong to want to spend time with my beautiful boyfriend, hm?”

He fought back against the smile trying to overtake his lips, still trying to appear stern but I knew I had broken him. It was my special ability at this point. “Fine, but you have to make it up to him later, okay?”

“I’ll bring him donuts or something.”

Ryu laughed, shaking his head before climbing over me to get off the bed. He started to leave the room but paused as if unsure. “Do you want me to make you breakfast?”

I wasn’t sure why, but he was always cautious when it came to cooking. It’s like he wants to, but he just doesn’t have the confidence in himself which breaks my heart. I offered him a playful grin. “Well, the last time I cooked something that wasn’t instant ramen, I set the kitchen on fire, so…”

He paled as the memory came flooding back to him. “Ah… I’ll cook, then.”

“Sounds like a good idea.” I followed him into the tiny kitchen, settling down at the table with my phone. “I love your cooking. Your food always tastes so good.”

“Really?” He glanced at me with a shy smile and I nodded.

“Yes, really. If I could cook like you, I wouldn’t be a Fire hazard.”

He laughed, pulling the eggs out of the fridge. “Just don’t attempt it when I’m not here, okay?”

“Okay~” I promised, pulling up my boss’s contact. I took a deep breath, clearing my throat as I pressed it to my ear. I hoped it would go to his voice-mail, but no such luck. 

“Hello? Takanori speaking.“

“Hey, boss.” I tried to lower my voice and sound as if I was dying, but judging from the look Ryu was giving me, it wasn’t working as intended. “I, uh… I can’t come in… today…”

“Oh? Are you okay? You sound terrible.“

“Yeah, I -” I faked a few coughs and Ryu sent me another stern look, clearly not approving of the lie. “- I’m not feeling too hot.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Get some rest and –“

There was a sudden loud clang from the kitchen. Ryu had dropped the metal spatula on the floor. ‘Sorry,’ he mouthed, sending me an apologetic and guilty look.

My boss called out my name, sounding worried. “What was that noise? Is everything okay?“

“Yeah!” I replied quickly, forgetting my tone change which I quickly fixed. “Yeah, sorry. I… I dropped my cup…”

“You should be in bed,” he scolded softly. “Don’t worry about anything. I can get Dia to cover your shift.“

“Thanks, boss.”

“Take care.”

I hung up the phone, releasing a relieved sigh as I sat back in my chair. “Man, acting is hard. I don’t know how you do it.”

“A lot of practice,” he hummed, breaking the eggs into a bowl. 

I watched him for a moment, admiring how careful he was with each action. “What should we do today? A new store opened up a few blocks away. Looks interesting from the outside.”

“Is that a smart idea? What if your boss sees you?”

“He works in an office building on the other side of town and he’s a workaholic so he stays way later than everyone else. The chance of him seeing me is,” I formed a circle with my hand. “Zero percent.”

“Famous last words,” he teased.

“For you,” I came up behind him, arms around his waist and face buried in the back of his shirt. “It’s worth the risk.”

His hand found mine, giving it a gentle squeeze. It was something he did to show thanks when words failed him.

After breakfast, we started to get ready to head out.

Ryu checked his phone before glancing at me. “It’s supposed to rain and the temperature is going to drop. Wear your coat, you’ll catch a cold.”

“Don’t worry so much, you know I love the cold,” I replied, shoving my feet into my boots.

“Loving the cold doesn’t make you immune to it.”

“I’ll be fine, I promise.” I held my hand out to him with a reassuring smile and he reluctantly took it, his hand easily dwarfing my own. “Besides, I’ve got you to keep me warm.”

He quickly turned his head but not before I noticed his blush, bringing a grin to my lips. He tugged me out of the apartment, the chilly autumn air nipping at my exposed skin. The sky was covered with gray clouds,  thunder rolling softly in the distance. 

He glanced up and hummed thoughtfully. “We should buy an umbrella first.”

“The convenience store on the corner sells them, I think.” I tugged him in that direction, feeling in high spirits. How could I not be? The love of my life was home, it was nearly October, it was cold out and it was probably going to rain. It was a recipe for pure joy.

The store had an entire rack of umbrellas for sale, including a blue one with lamas printed on it and a teal one with cats printed on it. It took me an embarrassingly long time to choose one while Ryu waited patiently, standing behind me with his arms around my waist and chin on top of my head. It was an easy feat given our height difference.

“If you want, you can buy both,” suggested Ryu softly.

I considered it for a moment. “They’re overpriced already and I don’t need two.”

Ryu chuckled, picking them both up and heading to the front despite my protests. He didn’t hesitate to pay for them both, again, ignoring my protests. I sent him a disapproving look when he held them out to me.

“Don’t be mad,” he pouted. “I like buying things for you. It makes me happy.”

Well, I can’t argue with that. His happiness is my happiness. I clicked my tongue, taking the umbrellas from him. “Thank you, I really do appreciate it.”

“Of course. Should we check out that new store now?”

“Yes, let’s go~!” I grabbed his hand and dragged him from the store, prompting a laugh from him.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

I stifled a yawn, rubbing the back of my neck. We had been out for hours, mostly just walking around and enjoying each other’s company. The shop hadn’t been anything special, though Ryu did find a jacket that he liked.

He threw his arm around my shoulders, rubbing up and down my arm. “Should we head home?”

“Yeah. We can watch a movie if you want.”

“I’d like that. You can choose.”

“Oh?” I sent him a grin and he frowned.

“Am I going to regret that decision?”

“We are so watching The Worst.”

A faint tint came to his cheeks. “We’ve already seen it a hundred times.”

“And I wanna see it a hundred more because my baby is in it and he’s incredibly talented.” I smiled warmly, reaching up to cup his face. He leaned down to make it easier, his warm hand covering my own. “You’re an amazing actor, you know? And an amazing dancer. And a genuinely amazing person in general.”

He shifted nervously, glancing away. 

I knew complimenting him made him feel shy and nervous, but it felt important to me. I needed him to know how important he is, how special. Maybe that makes me selfish, I don’t know. 

I pulled back, releasing my grip on him. “Come on, let’s get home before -“

As if sensing my thoughts, the sky opened up with a loud roar of thunder. Sheets of rain fell on top of us, causing the others on the street to cry out and rush for cover. Ryu grabbed my hand, pulling me under the cover of a nearby Cafe. As badly as I wanted to enjoy the rain, I was more concerned about him. It would be bad if he got sick and couldn’t rejoin the other Rampage members.

“We should get home so you can change,” I murmured, frowning at the water that clung to his hair. I opened the cat umbrella, making sure to hold it high enough so it wasn’t resting against the top of his head.

“You need to change, too,” he pointed out, putting his arm around my shoulder and tugging me against his side to ensure that the umbrella covered us both. The wind picked up, sending a chill down my spine. It took everything I had not to shiver simply because I didn’t want to worry him.

The apartment was chilly, providing little warmth.

“Hurry and get changed,” said Ryu as he shrugged off his jacket.

“You first.”

He sent me a pointed look which I returned. 

“Don’t look at me like that, Ryutaro. Think about the other members if you get sick.” I folded my arms over my chest, watching as he bit his lip. “Go on, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be quick.” He pecked my cheek before rushing into the bedroom. Kazu came rushing out when he opened the door, easily slipping through his legs before rushing over to me.

I clicked my tongue, kneeling in front of him. “Sorry, I didn’t realize you were in the room.”

He stared at me with his large blue eyes, tail swishing back and forth in annoyance.

“Will a treat make it up to you?”

Mrow~

I chuckled, patting the feline on the head before standing up to enter the kitchen, him hot on my heels. He hopped up onto the chair, waiting patiently as I searched for the treats. Where the hell are they? I tugged open the cabinet, spying them on the top shelf.

Well, shit. I stood on my tiptoes, reaching up but only the tips of my fingers brushed against the plastic container. I tried pushing it closer to the edge but I think I just pushed it farther away.

A chest pressed against my back, his hand appearing beside my own and easily reaching the container. “I’ll feed Kazu. Go get changed.” He pressed another kiss to my cheek before approaching the annoyed feline.

I smiled at him before doing as I was told, changing into a t-shirt, a rampage hoodie, and some pajama pants with little ghosts printed on them. I felt much warmer now, but there was a tickle at the back of my brain. I couldn’t describe it, I just knew I didn’t feel quite as energetic as I had this morning. Then again, it was a long day.

Ryu was sitting on the couch waiting for me, Kazu curled up beside him as he gently brushed his fingers over the feline’s white fur. I settled down on his other side, seeing the movie already pulled up and ready to play. He pulled me against his body, arms wrapped protectively around me.

With a smile, I pressed play on the remote before letting myself melt against him, chest filled with warmth and love.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

Over the next couple of days, I started to feel worse and worse. My body felt heavy as if it were made of lead, someone seemed to be endlessly pounding on my skull with a hammer and I barely had the energy to live. Even so, I knew I had to hide it from Ryu because he’s the type who would drop everything for his loved ones.

I refuse to be the reason behind him getting into trouble or, worse, getting fired and losing his dreams. It was hard as hell to pretend to be okay, but I managed by pretending it was a video game. Besides, he leaves tomorrow morning so I can die in peace without disturbing him so long as I make it through the night.

The smell of paella filled the apartment and I swallowed hard, hit by a wave of nausea. Not that it smelled bad or anything, but in my weakened state, I simply wasn’t hungry and I couldn’t trust myself not to throw up if I actually ate something. If that were to happen, Ryu would blame himself for messing it up and I didn’t want that.

On the other hand, telling him I didn’t want to eat would probably make him feel self-conscious and sad. He put in the effort to cook for us despite not having a lot of confidence in doing so, I couldn’t just crush him like that.

I brought my knees to my chest, groaning softly into my knees. Kazu was staring at me from the recliner. I don’t know if he understood my predicament but it felt as if he was judging me for my choices, the little shit. He reminds me of someone else who just so happens to share the same name.

Ryu’s feet padded softly across the wooden floor as he appeared beside the couch. “Dinner’s ready. Do you want me to make you a plate?”

I took a slow, deep breath. ‘Come on, get your shit together. Do it for him.’ Lifting my head, I gave him an apologetic smile. “Actually… I think I might skip dinner tonight.”

He sat beside me with a frown, brow furrowed in worry. “Why? What’s wrong?”

My stomach lurched, a sharp pain shooting through my skull simultaneously and I nearly cursed aloud at my body for conspiring against me. I wrapped my arms tightly around my stomach to try and ease some of the pain I felt. “I’m about to start my period so my stomach is a bit… wonky at the moment.”

“Already? You’re not due to start for another week.”

I shouldn’t have been surprised that he knew that because he was always on top of things like that, always trying to ensure I was comfortable and prepared each month, even when he was away. “Uh… better early than late?”

His face burned at the comment and he brought the back of his hand up to cover it. “Go get some rest.”

“I’m sorry, Ryu.”

“For what?”

“You cooked for nothing… I should have said something sooner.”

“It’s okay,” he replied softly, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “You can eat it when you’re feeling better.”

I wanted to kiss him so badly for being such a sweetheart but I didn’t want him to get sick so I settled for a thankful smile. “Thank you, baby.”

“Of course.”

I waited for him to disappear back into the kitchen before standing up and hobbling my way back to the bedroom, holding onto the wall for support. The room was spinning by the time I made it to bed and I was all too happy to fall face-first onto it, the pillow muffling my groan.

Despite feeling exhausted, I just couldn’t fall asleep. My head was hurting too bad, the painkillers not even touching it. For two hours, I lay there staring at the wall, trying to will myself to succumb to the darkness of sleep but my body refused to obey. When Ryu finally joined me, I pretended I was asleep, urging myself not to move as he slid in behind me, arms wrapped protectively around my body.

I guess that was the missing link because the last thing I remember was him kissing me on the cheek and whispering, I love you, something that he rarely said out loud. 

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

I startled awake as a coughing fit grasped me tightly, forcing me to sit up. The room was bright with Ryu nowhere to be found. I glanced at the clock and cursed, realizing that he had already left. I was already late for work, too.

As badly as I wanted to just bail and call in sick again, I knew I couldn’t. This was my karma for lying about being sick in the first place, I knew. With a groan, I threw the covers off of me and immediately started to shiver as the cool air wrapped around me. My head still hurt, my nose stuffy and the room spun when I tried to stand up.

“Shit,” I muttered, sitting back down and squeezing my eyes shut. I waited for my head to stop swimming before standing up again, walking slowly so I didn’t fall. Kazu followed close behind, his big eyes not leaving me once. At least he didn’t seem to be judging me this time. If anything, he looked worried. 

“I’m fine,” I told him, though my voice was hoarse and my throat scratchy. He flicked his ear, eyes narrowing. “Don’t give me that look. I’ll never give you treats again, you little -” My threat was interrupted by a coughing fit, my throat burning.

It took longer than I’d like to admit to get ready for work and, if I’m being completely honest, I don’t remember how I got to work. It felt like I blacked out and when I came to, I was sitting at my desk with a sheet of paper in one hand and a pen in the other.

I felt a familiar tickle at my nose and I scrunched it up on instinct, only making it worse. I tried to hold it back but a loud sneeze ripped from my body, sending the stack of papers flying off the desk. I groaned at the throbbing in my skull, eyes half-lidded. 

“Are you okay?” A hand rested on my shoulder and I slowly lifted my head, seeing my boss frown. “Geez, you look like death.”

“Am okay, boss,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. I started to get up to retrieve the papers when the world started to spin violently around me.

“Woah!” He threw his arm out to steady me, slowly lowering me back into my seat. The back of his hand rested against my forehead, his frown deepening. “You’re burning up… wait here a minute, okay?”

I didn’t have the energy to reply, my body slumping forward onto the desk with a groan. Why does everything hurt so bad? Am I dying right now?

“As you can see, she’s not doing so well,” stated my boss as he adjusted his glasses, returning to my side. “Can you take her home? I’ll pay for the Uber.”

“Of course, boss,” replied Dia. “Leave it to me.”

“I’ll call them, then.”

As soon as the car arrived, Dia helped me down to the first floor, allowing me to lean against her even at the risk of catching my cold. At least, I think it’s a cold. Maybe it’s the flu, I don’t know. Either way, she was selfless and I loved her for it.

There was a car parked in front of the building, tinted windows making it impossible to see. I could hear K-pop music blaring from within and I dreaded getting inside with my head hurting as badly as it was.

Dia knocked on the passenger window and it slowly slid down, the driver leaning toward it. She was wearing a strange pink thing on her head, the fabric secured beneath her chin with velcro. On the top was something resembling a tentacle, though it was different. I felt as if I knew what it was, but my feverish brain couldn’t quite place it.

She tilted her head down to peer at us over her sunglasses, yelling to be heard over the loud music pumping through the car. “You Dia?”

“I can’t hear you!” She yelled back.

Shaking her head, the driver flicked the volume dial and repeated the question. 

“Yes, that’s me.”

“Cool, I’m Kelso. Hop in and let’s go for a ride,” she grinned, rubbing her hands together like some kind of anime villain.

Dia sent me a concerned look as she helped me into the backseat, though I wasn’t sure if it was because of my illness or because our driver might be certifiably insane. The cold air of the ac felt good against my heated skin and I sighed softly, resting my head against the glass.

The car was quiet at first, broken only by the soft music playing in the background.

“Hey, you know sharks don’t have any bones?”

“I – huh?” Dia looked at the woman, startled. 

“Yeah and don’t say their teeth, either, because that shit is calcium, not bone.”

“Sure…”

The song changed and Dia gasped. “Oh my god, I love Pentagon!”

“Really? Me too!” She grinned, turning in her seat so that she was half-facing us while still driving down the road. “Who’s your favorite member?”

Dia didn’t seem to notice that our driver was no longer looking at the road despite driving at such a high speed. “I love Jinho.”

“My bias is Wooseok.”

My wide eyes stared forward as cars and buildings zoomed past us. My heart was racing in my chest, and my head seeming to throb in tandem with it. I looked at Dia in horror, trying to get her attention but my voice seemed to have left me. When I turned back to the front, there was a woman relaxing on the hood, not seeming the least bit bothered by the high speed at which we were traveling.

She slowly turned her head, smiling warmly at me when our eyes met, but it quickly fell into a worried frown. “You don’t look so good, hun.” Despite being on the outside of the vehicle, it sounded as if she was talking from right in front of me.

“I…” My voice was scratchy and I ended up coughing a few times before I could speak again. “I think I’m dying…”

She chuckled softly, amusement dancing in her eyes. “You’re not dying. Not yet, anyway.”

“How are you on the hood of the car? How haven’t we crashed yet?” I glanced at Dia to find her still chatting animatedly with Kelso, but they weren’t making a sound. It was as if someone had pressed the mute button on them. “I’m so confused,” I groaned, resting my face in my hands. All I wanted was to be back in Ryu’s arms, but he would be gone for a while.

My heart clenched painfully at the thought, tears stinging at my eyes.

“Don’t cry,” said the woman, her voice soft and comforting. “Everything will be alright, I promise.”

Maybe she was right, but at that moment, it felt like everything was collapsing in on me. 

“Rest,” she ordered.

Warmth spread throughout my body, my eyes growing heavy. I shook my head, trying to keep them open but I wasn’t strong enough. Before I knew it, darkness had claimed me.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

I tugged the comforter tighter around my body, feeling as if I was freezing. It wasn’t even cold outside and the AC certainly wasn’t on, yet my body refused to warm up. What in the world is happening to me? I rarely get sick and it usually knocks me on my ass when I finally do but shit. It feels as if I’ve been sick for weeks, though I know it’s only been a few days.

I wasn’t feeling quite as bad as I had been yesterday, so that’s an improvement, I guess. I felt exhausted and barely got two hours of sleep last night, yet sleep seemed to be running away from me.

With a sigh, I rolled over so I could grab my phone off the bedside table. I was hoping to have a message from Ryu to lift my spirits, but he still hadn’t replied to my last message. I knew he was busy but, already feeling so shitty, it hit me harder than it should have.

I pulled up Google, contemplating my next action for a moment before deciding to search for my symptoms. If I knew exactly what I had whether that be the cold, the flu, or something else entirely, then I could take the proper medication and finally recover from this shit. Regular cold meds and painkillers don’t seem to be cutting it.

After inputting all of my symptoms and the time frame into Google, I skimmed through most of the results because my head was still hurting and my vision slightly blurry, but most of the links I clicked all said the same shit – you’re probably going to die.

No fucking shit. Were all gonna die eventually. I groaned in frustration, throwing my phone onto the bedside table. As if disturbed by the sudden noise, Kazu came running into the room, tail straight up in alert.

“I’m still alive,” I grunted. “Barely.”

“Mrow~” He jumped up onto the bed, looking at me expectantly. 

“What?”

“Mrow~“

“I don’t speak cat.”

He blinked at me and I blinked back. After staring at each other for several minutes, he hopped up onto the bed, flopping down against my side. I slowly turned, throwing my arms around him in an attempt to cuddle. I figured he was going to run away because Ryu was the only one who could get away with cuddling him.

He didn’t, though, allowing me to hold him against my chest. I buried my face in his soft fur, wishing that I would stop feeling like the damn walking dead. More than anything, I wished Ryu was here. Maybe I was being clingy but I missed him something terrible, my heart aching.

I heard the front door open, Kazu’s ear flicking to indicate that he heard it, too. Dia appeared at the door of my bedroom a minute later. “Morning. Feeling any better?”

“If by better you mean death then yes.”

She frowned, touching my forehead with her hand. “That fever is being really persistent… I think you should go to the doctor.”

“Doctors are expensive,” I muttered. 

“You’re dating a celebrity, I think you can afford to see a doctor when you’re sick.”

I shook my head, frowning at her. “It’s his money, not mine.”

“You’re supposed to share things in a relationship.”

“Don’t care. I refuse to use his money. Besides, if I ignore it long enough, it’ll give up and go away.”

She sighed deeply, bringing her hand to her face. “Are you hungry?”

My stomach twisted painfully at the thought of food, my nose wrinkling. “No.”

“You have to eat if you want to get better, you know.”

“I ate last night.”

“Half a slice of bed is hardly nutritious.”

“I’m fine, mom.”

“I’m just worried about you,” she frowned. “Have you even told Ryu-san?”

“Of course not!” I replied quickly, scowling at her. “And I’m not going to. As far as he’s concerned, this never happened.”

“Don’t you think he’d want to know?” 

“Of course, he would, but I know him. He’ll obsess over it and worry himself into the ground. He needs to focus on his group, not me. There’s nothing he can do for me so there’s no point telling him.”

She clearly didn’t agree, making me narrow my eyes at her.

“If you tell him, I will steal all your K-pop albums and sell them for one penny outside of Seiyu!”

She gasped dramatically, hands coming up to cover her mouth. “You wouldn’t dare…”

“Try me.”

“Fine,” Dia huffed, putting her hand on her hip. “Do you need anything before I head to work?”

“Can you get me a Dr. Pepper from the fridge?”

Without a word, she left the room, returning a minute later with a bottle of water.

“That’s not Dr. Pepper,” I scowled.

“You shouldn’t be drinking soda while you’re sick. Drink water so you hydrate, not diedrate.”

I scoffed in annoyance, knowing she was right but refusing to admit it.

She set the bottle on the nightstand, giving me a smile. “I’m off, then. Call me if you need me and get some rest. Don’t do anything stupid.”

I watched as she disappeared from the room, listening to the sound of her footsteps fading as she headed for the door. The hinges squeaked when she opened it, squeaking again when she closed it.

I don’t want to rest, I’ve been doing nothing but resting for ages and I’m starting to go stir crazy. I pressed a kiss to the top of Kazu’s head before slowly crawling out of bed, taking a moment to regain my sense of balance. “Kazu, don’t tell Dia.”

He tilted his head back, staring at me with narrowed eyes. I couldn’t tell if he was trying to say he disapproved of my actions or if he just didn’t give enough fucks to tell her even if he could talk.

After making sure Kazu had food in his bowl, I grabbed a Dr. Pepper from the fridge and curled up on the couch to watch some Netflix. I hoped it would distract me from everything or ease my stir craziness, at the very least. Kazu hopped up into the recliner, crossing one paw over the other before resting his head atop them, large blue eyes staring straight at me.

It was only slightly unnerving.

“I’m not just gonna, like, keel over and die ya know,” I scowled at him, earning just a blink in reply. I really wanted to watch The Worst again, but I knew it would only make me long for Ryu more so I chose a funny movie instead. Thank god Deadpool is available in Japan. It’s easily one of my comfort movies and I love Ryan Reynolds so much.

Man, I’d kill to be able to eat some popcorn right now, but the thought of it had my stomach doing painful flips. I scowled, patting my belly. “Relax, ho. I’m not gonna feed you so chill out.”

About halfway through the movie, I felt my eyelids growing heavier but I fought to stay awake. I was tired of sleeping, I just wanted to watch Deadpool and laugh my troubles away! I slapped my cheeks, shaking my head to try and wake myself up and it worked… for about twenty minutes.

Maybe if I just rest my eyes for a few minutes, it’ll help. Yeah, that’s right. I’m just… resting my eyes…

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

The feeling of being lifted startled me awake, my eyes snapping open and my limbs flailing in panic.

“Calm down, it’s just me.”

I blinked dumbly, slowly lifting my gaze to meet Ryu’s. “You’re not supposed to be here… am I hallucinating again?”

“Again?” He frowned at me, his jaw tense. He didn’t say another word as he carried me to the bedroom, setting me gently down on the bed. “Do not get out of this bed.”

I frowned at him, not used to hearing him sound or look so annoyed. My eyes followed him until he was out of sight and I heard the front door open and close loudly, making me wince. Ryu was always so patient and kind, even when someone was trying to rile him up. He playfully gets mad with his members, but it’s nothing serious.

Seeing him act this way now… I knew I had fucked up royally. Tears stung at my eyes but I blinked them back, sniffling loudly as I reached for a tissue to blow my nose. God, I bet I look like an absolute mess.

I’ve always been self-conscious around him because he’s just so beautiful and I know I don’t deserve him, but my insecurities have, for the most part, stayed hidden in a dark corner of my mind. He made me feel loved and accepted, seeming to crush those negative thoughts every time they tried to crawl out into the light.

Now, though, I was completely overwhelmed. My body was at its limit and it was affecting my mind, as well. I felt weak and pathetic, like a burden on Ryu who had raced home to help me because I couldn’t help myself. Was he going to get into trouble for this? Would he lose his spot on The Rampage? 

He leaned against the doorframe, arms folded over his chest and jaw clenched. “Why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t want to bother you -“

“Bother me?” He echoed in disbelief. “Do you even consider me your boyfriend?”

“What? Of course, I -“

“You never tell me anything. You’re always hiding your feelings, hiding when you’re sick. Don’t you trust me?” He shook his head, brow furrowed in frustration. “Do you not want to be with me?”

The question was enough to finally break me and send tears rolling down my cheeks. He looked at me with a startled expression, body tense as he pushed away from the doorframe.

I quickly rolled over to face the wall, biting my lip to try and muffle my sobs. I tried so hard to stop crying but, as always, my body refused to obey.

The side of the bed dipped, his warm hand on my back. “Please don’t cry… I’m sorry.”

I was the one who fucked up but he is apologizing? Goddamn it.

“Hey,” he called softly, trying to roll me over to face him but I refused, shaking my head. Instead of forcing me, he slid in behind me until his warm chest was against my back, arms wrapped protectively around me. “It’s okay, darling. I’m right here.”

His words only made me cry harder, fists clenching around the sheets. I was a fucking mess and I hated showing this side of myself to him. He was patient with me, though, whispering comforting words to me and rubbing my arm to try and calm me down. It took a while, but I guess I finally ran out of tears.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, my voice hoarse and throat sore. My eyes felt puffy and there was a wet spot on my pillow from all the tears I had shed. “I… I should have told you, I just… I don’t want to, to ruin your career…”

“That won’t happen,” he assured me, trying to roll me toward him again. This time, I allowed it, not having the strength to fight back. His brown eyes met mine, swimming with love and warmth. He cupped my cheek, thumb brushing away the remnants of my tears. “I thought my heart stopped when Dia called me.”

“I told her not to,” I muttered, focusing my eyes on his necklace, unable to hold his gaze.

“I’m glad she did. You’ve been suffering alone for days,” he frowned, reaching down to press a kiss to my forehead. “You still have a fever.”

I pushed at his chest while simultaneously trying to sink into the mattress. “You’re going to get sick!”

He chuckled, taking my hand and pressing it over his heart. The steady beat was comforting. “I’m not leaving your side until you’re better.”

“But The Rampage -“

“Sends there get well soon wishes. I can’t promise Likiya-san and Zin-san won’t scold you when they see you next,” he smiled, pressing another kiss to my forehead before standing up. He started to leave the room but paused, sending me a stern look. “Don’t you dare move.”

While he was gone, I sat up to grab some tissues to wipe away my tears and blow my nose in an attempt to look a little less like a bog witch. I doubt it helped much, but he didn’t seem to care as he returned with my favorite Halloween mug, steam rising from it.

Ryu sat on the side of the bed, careful not to spill it. “Drink this, it’ll help.”

I tried to sniff the air but I couldn’t smell anything. I eyed it wearily. “What is it?”

“Ginger tea. My lola used to make it for me every time I got sick. She swears by it so she made sure to teach me how to make it.”

I was a picky eater, so trying new things always made me feel weary.  I trust Ryu, though, so I took the mug from him and gave it a careful sip. It filled my body with warmth, tasting slightly spicy. Not like chili pepper spicy but more like… herbal spicy.

“It’s good,” I murmured, closing my eyes as I drank more of it. My throat was already beginning to feel less scratchy and sore.

“I’m guessing you haven’t eaten, either?”

“Define eaten.”

He held back a sigh, running a hand through his hair to compose himself. “I’ll make you some Lugaw.”

“Lu what now?”

“Lugaw,” he repeated with a chuckle. “My lola always told me that it has healing properties and it always made me feel better as a kid. I… don’t know if I can make it correctly, but I’m going to try.”

“I bet it’s going to taste amazing,” I assured him, reaching out for his hand. “You’ll put Gordon Ramsay to shame.”

His cheeks tinted, a goofy smile on his lips, and his eyes lighting up. “Thank you. I’ll do my best.”

When he stood up, I tried to follow only for him to click his tongue.

“No, you need to rest.”

“I’ve done nothing but rest,” I scowled. “I want to watch you cook. It calms me.”

He seemed to consider it for a moment before nodding and holding out his hand to help me up. His arm remained around my body as we headed to the kitchen and he didn’t leave my side until I was safely on the chair. Watching him truly did make me feel calm, along with the beverage that I was drinking. 

I felt a tiny bit better already. Maybe his grandma is really onto something with these home remedies. “How long are you staying?”

He hummed as he cut up more ginger. “I told you, I’m not leaving until you get better.”

“And I told you, the longer you’re around me, the higher the risk of you getting sick. You’re already missing work because of me. If you get sick, you’ll miss even more. What if they fire you?”

“I promise you, that’s not going to happen.” Ryu sent me a reassuring smile but I didn’t feel very reassured at all. “Our managers were very understanding when I told them.”

I slid down in my chair, setting the empty cup on the table. “You could still get sick and spread it to the other members.”

“I won’t get sick.”

“How can you be sure of that?”

“Because I have a phenomenal immune system,” he grinned, making me scoff. 

“What was that you said to me? ‘Famous last words,’ was it?”

“Except I’m not going outside in the winter without a coat only to be caught in the rain.”

I opened my mouth to reply only to scowl, realizing he was right. “Wipe that grin off your face, Ata Ryutaro.”

“Yes, darling,” he chuckled, returning to the task at hand. 

I tried to ignore the fluttering in my chest and the warmth at the tips of my ears when he called me that. I adored it when he called me darling, but it wasn’t something he said often, especially not in public. 

I couldn’t find the smile that came to my lips. I truly was the luckiest human on earth. “Hey, Ryu?”

“Yes?” He paused what he was doing to look at me. “Do you want some more tea?”

I shook my head. “I just wanted to thank you. You really are an amazing boyfriend.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” he mumbled, hiding his face from me.

“I love you.”

His eyes met mine, filled with love and warmth. “I love you, too.”

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

I stretched my arms over my head, smiling as I breathed in the fresh air of the morning. After a couple of days under Ryu’s care, I was nearly back to my old self, though my body was still a bit achy. At least I could breathe properly now and the room didn’t spin when I got up too quickly. 

The time spent with him was a nice bonus, too. I never wanted this to end, but I knew he had to be getting back to work. With one last look at the cloudy sky, I headed back inside to wake up Ryu. Just as I reached the door, I heard a sneeze from the other side followed by a soft groan. 

I pushed the door open with a frown, taking in the appearance of my boyfriend. He still looked tired, his brown eyes lacking their usual luster. He seemed pale, too. “Babe, you okay?”

He smiled at me but it was obviously forced. “I’m fine.”

“You just sneezed.”

He seemed embarrassed that I had heard him. Before he could reply, though, another sneeze ripped from him, followed by a groan as he clutched his head. Rather than deny the obvious, he just pouted at me.

I hummed, approaching the bed so I could take his face between my hands. I could feel how warm he was before my forehead even met his. “You’ve got a fever.”

His fingers curled around my wrist, lips brushing against my own when he spoke. “I think I caught your flu…”

“Yeah? What happened to that phenomenal immune system of yours, hm?” I teased softly, brushing the hair from his face.

“You’re really going to tease me when I feel this bad?”

“Sorry, baby,” I chuckled, pressing a kiss to his lips. When I tried to pull away, he chased me with a whine. I chuckled, knowing how clingy and whiny he could get when he was sick. “Well, on the bright side, I get to return the favor and nurse you back to health.”

“‘M sorry,” he mumbled as he laid back down. “Will you stay with me?”

“You don’t even have to ask.” I slid in next to him and he slotted his body against mine, face buried in my neck as his limbs wrapped around me. I hummed softly, running my hands through his hair until his breathing evened out.

Maybe this makes me a bad person, but… I’m kind of happy that he caught my flu. God, I sound like such a bitch thinking that way, especially since I knew he was going to be feeling miserable, but I do love being able to take care of him. Despite being younger than me, he’s always been the caretaker in the relationship, going out of his way to accommodate me and my needs. It feels nice to be able to take care of him for a change, to have him rely on me.

His phone vibrated on the bedside table and I cursed softly, reaching my arm behind me to try and grab it. It was not comfortable at all but his limbs were like chains around my body, holding me in place so I couldn’t really move. I’m not entirely sure how I did it, but I managed to grab a hold of his phone, answering it without much thought so it wouldn’t wake him up.

“Hello?” I spoke softly, not wanting to disturb his sleep.

Zin said my name in surprise. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling great, actually. Ryu is a really good nurse.”

“That’s good to hear. Why are you whispering, though?”

“He’s asleep and I don’t want to wake him up.”

There was a moment of silence and then a deep sigh on the other end of the line. “He’s sick, isn’t he?”

“Um… kind of?” I replied sheepishly. “I’m really sorry, Zin-san. I tried to get him to leave but you know how stubborn he is…”

Zin chuckled. “Yeah, I know. No need to apologize.”

There was muffled talking in the background before the phone shifted to Likiya. “Hey, little one. You feeling better?”

“I’m doing great, Likiya-chan, but Ryu caught my flu, I think.”

“I figured he would,” he replied with a laugh. “Listen, we’ll be there soon but don’t tell Ryu.”

“Eh?” I replied louder than intended, making Ryu mumble and squeeze himself closer to me. “You’re coming here? What for?”

“We wanted to check on you and cheer you up, but I suppose we’ll be doing that for Ryu now.”

“But all of you are going to get sick, too,” I frowned.

“Don’t worry about us, little one, just worry about taking care of our Ryu. See you soon.”

I blinked dumbly as the sound of the dial tone filled my ear. Do these boys have no self-preservation at all? They’re skipping work to come here and risking getting sick in the process, thus keeping them out of work even longer. I sighed deeply, setting the phone down on the bed.

Something tells me this isn’t going to end well. The Rampage is known for having only one brain cell combined and stuffing them all into our small apartment with a sick Ryu and an introverted Kazu? What the hell could possibly go wrong?

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━

I stepped outside, hands stuffed into the pocket of Ryu’s hoodie as I glanced around. Likiya had messaged me a few minutes ago saying that they were about ten minutes away from the apartment so I figured I’d come out and meet them. A few of my neighbors aren’t very fond of strangers in the building and these guys would no doubt be loud on their way up. I also didn’t have much faith that they wouldn’t go to the wrong apartment despite knowing where we lived.

A familiar-looking black car pulled up to the curb and Dia stepped out of the back, looking annoyed. The driver was Kelso again and she, too, looked annoyed as she jumped out of the car, eyes narrowed at Dia. She was still wearing that ridiculous hat which I now realized was Buu from the Dragonball series.

“Go away!” Dia scowled, folding her arms over her chest. “I already told you, I’m not buying your fake CDs!”

“How dare you! They’re not fake, they’re economic,” defended Kelso with a huff.

“They’re fake and you should be in jail!”

“Jokes on you, I was just released from jail!”

I watched the two of them argue back and forth, unsure of how to proceed. Do I try to break it up? That sounded like more effort than I was willing to spare, especially since I needed to be at full battery to deal with the storm that is the Rampage.

Speak of the devil…

Two tan vans pulled up to the curb behind the black car. The sliding door on the first van opened up before it even came to a stop, Shohei jumped out of the vehicle with a grin as he cried out my name. I had no time to prepare myself before his body barreled into my own, arms so tight around me that it knocked the air from my lungs.

“Nee-chan~” he sang with a grin. “I missed you~”

Likiya rushed over with a scowl. “Put her down, Shohei! She just recovered from being really sick!”

He pouted at being scolded before doing as he was told, putting me back on the ground.

I sucked in some air, resisting the urge to cough as I patted his shoulder. “Good to see you, too, Sho-chan.”

“How are you?” asked Likiya softly, holding out his arms for a hug. It was much softer than the one Shohei had given.

“I’m doing well. Wish I could say the same for Ryu.”

“Don’t worry, he’ll be better in no time,” he reassured me, giving me a gentle squeeze before pulling away.

I realized the arguing had stopped and I glanced over at the two women, both of whom were staring at the men with wide eyes. Dia’s eyes were trained on Makoto while Kelso’s were trained on Takuma. The scene behind them changed to pink, sparkles and roses appearing around their heads as hearts appeared in their eyes.

Shit, am I hallucinating again? I quickly shook my head, rubbing at my eyes before looking at them again. They were just standing there staring at the men, no sparkles in sight.

“You okay?” Kazuma patted my arm, tilting his head to the side. Hokuto was beside him, sending me a concerned look.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” frowned Hokuto, reaching forward to feel my forehead. “You’re not warm, that’s good.”

“Sorry, I just zoned out, that’s all. Why don’t we all go inside? It’s getting colder out here.”

Shohei and Kenta didn’t need to be told twice as they darted into the building, followed by Zin who was trying to wrangle them in. The rest slowly filtered inside and I noticed the two girls following as if being pulled by an invisible stream tied to their bias.

Rui was the last one outside, getting a bag from the van. As he turned toward me, I noticed the woman from the car sitting on top of the van. Just like the other two, there were sparkles and roses around her head as she stared at Rui, hearts in her eyes.

“So dreamy~” she sighed, grinning like a fool.

Rui blinked, looking at me. “Did you say something, nee-san?”

“You heard that, too?”

“Yes.”

My eyes widened at the woman. Was she not a hallucination, after all? I quickly waved at him. “Come on, Rui, let’s get inside! I think the cold is getting to our brains.”

The woman looked up, winking at me before disappearing before my eyes.

━━━━━━༻☔༺━━━━━━

[capn-rikshu]

<Thoughts on previous reblog

No disrespect to OP but the tonal shift/inconsistency might've shaken them to lead to that critique. I see some of what they were getting at but I never had a feeling that the show was saying that 'now that Robbie and Mo have powers, they must be responsible for every adult around them'. That's a bit extreme to me. And ESPECIALLY their thoughts on the violence of the show.

(It's a long read)

Jawbreaker has been remarked on before on not really understanding social cues at times which leads to him roughhousing with Grimlock and causing him to have an outburst. It's neither of their fault in that situation, if anyone I would blame Elita for not pulling Jawbreaker aside and explaining him Grimlock's situation. She did practically benched Jawbreaker aside for he 'could cause more trouble' before running off to stop Grimlock with Hashtag. When JB said 'it's all my fault', she said 'we'll discuss this later'. I don't blame her, it was a time tight situation, but JB may take those words too much to heart; he really does blame himself for Grimlock's rampage. Maybe there could've been a scene where Elita ACTUALLY discussed what happened with Jawbreaker, maybe apologize and tell him that it wasn't his fault but the episode ends abruptly. Maybe there WAS a scene like that somewhere in the drafts but we all know that TFE has a lot of cut content. I would criticize that aspect.

BUT nowhere else did I ever feel that the kids have a responsibility for the adults around them or how they effect them. Earthspark is sort of a 'chosen one' narrative, Quintus Prime CHOSE Mo and Robby to be the legacy of hope of the Terrans. He gave them powers to fight alongside their Terran siblings.

It's more of a kid's power fantasy than anything saying 'kids should have responsibility for the adults around them', which leads me into critiquing OP's critique of the darkness and mature themes of the show.

Again, no disrespect but I don't think OP understands how kids that age (8-15 as OP has stated to be the likely demographic) actually act like and what their likes and dislikes gravitate to. They don't understand that kids those age are going to be curious and contemplating morbid and mature topics. As they get older they'd want to been seen less as kids and more like mature adults (even though they aren't). So they will naturally be more interested in more darker/mature topics; specifically violence, mental health issues, tame gore, but nothing extremely disturbing or traumatising. The problem is that with the internet they may actually come across actually exploitive, psyche damaging stuff. With TV networks there are at least guidelines and mandates that are harder to slip through than, say, something like Youtube. (All those creepy elsagate stuff). They need a safe environment to explore those thoughts.

I was a Warrior Cats kid and anyone in that fandom knew that those books could be violent AF, same can be said about Wings of Fire (unlike Warriors I don't think it ever had a scene where a cat/dragon had their stomach cut open, WoF did have a dragon have her face burnt off with acid). Majority of those fandoms are comprised of kids less than 16 years of age, Warriors had so many fanart by CHILDREN illustrating the cats sometimes brutal deaths.

My point being, if you think most kids in between those ages are going to be traumatised by what they see on a RESTRICTIVE cable network, where they can censor many things (a lot harmless things e.g same sex couples) there is a good chance you may not fully understand children. [I'm not saying that it is impossible that they won't get traumatised by something but I'm saying that it would be extremely unlikely especially nowadays]

Unlike books, where you can only imagine how bad things are, a more visual medium like cartoons have less to the imagination. Let's take a look at the violence in Earthspark shall we?

On level of violence I'd say... it is on level of TF Prime AT TIMES. TFP was pretty consistent with its violence, it shown its characters BLEEDING, from the mouth, from wounds on the Cybertronian character. Meanwhile, I'd say the most bleeding we got from Earthspark characters was from Megatron's arm, from some covered shoulder panel. You could count Brawl dripping blood on the floor but it happens offscreen, I recall. I don't think Earthspark ever shows a Transformer bleed from any wound, or even really show any battle damage except from Bumblebee's arms and Twitch and Thrash in the finale.

The finale is the only thing I'd say could be seen as 'EXTREMELY violent', the stakes were fucking off the charts in those episodes. I see the tone clash critique from a lot people coming from there, some people also say it was rushed. By extremely violent I mean: human death (rip edgy elsa gets evaporated), Twitch getting her head repeatedly bashed against the floor by Mandroid, Nightshade getting stabbed (it is covered by a convenient camera angle and it is revealed to be an illusion), those are the extremes I remember from that episode. But those are MOSTLY ONLY EXCLUSIVE TO THE TRANSFORMERS CHARACTERS. Most violence happens to them. Human characters are harmed but it is not as horrific as how OP describes it '-children cry, they scream, they get bruised, their parents wail when they see them in danger', that makes this show sound so much more mature than it actually is, it's manipulative. There have never been any cuts or bruises ever shown on any of the human models, there are also no scenes in which I recall being extremely distressing.

I really think that the high stakes, barely seen before violence, shift in tone caused OP to go on that tirade. The clash of the finale compared to the season before gave them and many people a whiplash of what they used to perceive the show to be. People were not used to this kind of high stakes and violence in the show before the finale. I'll critique it for that - inconsistency.

One more nit-pick, this line: "1. Steven Universe really ruined a generation of children’s media by making showrunners think they had to tackle issues like PTSD and trauma."

It's completely false. I don't think OP has the knowledge of the trends in cartoons today and from before. So little network cartoons are like Steven Universe, flip on Cartoon Network, look what's playing on the telly: 'The Amazing World of Gumball', 'Total DramaRama', 'We Baby Bears'. Even on Nickelodeon: 'The Loud House', 'Spongebob', 'Monster High'. (Nickelodeon don't air cartoons often except Spongebob or The Loud House, really💀). Remember Powerpuff Girls actually having blood in its intro? Remember how the reboot sanitised everything? How they removed even the breasts on some of the female characters designs (God forbid cartoony exaggeration of female anatomy/s).

It is entirely unfair to blame Steven Universe for a supposed trend of cartoons tackling mature and dark subjects. People must remember the trend of the action cartoon back in 2000s to early 2010s: 'Teen Titans', 'Max Steel', 'Scooby Doo Mystery Inc.(not necessarily action but it was mature at times)', 'Slugterra', even 'Transformers: Prime'. Those cartoons could sometimes get "dark". But people love to use Steven Universe as the 'blame for all' because its comedic, dark tone, and tackled mature themes. Neither Earthspark nor Steven Universe, as I recall, go in depth about trauma and mental health issues. Earthspark is pretty surface level in that regard, there is no backbone. I hope for proper exploration of themes in season 2.

I think I'll end it here for now.

[No hate, if OP reads this, once more, no disrespect. I just disagree with your take.]

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

OFMD 2.01-2.03 thoughts!

Spoilers aplenty!

I've only watched the episodes the once so far so I'm sure I'm gonna forget a lot of stuff, but I can contain myself no longer, and must speak!

Oh man, I am SO EXCITED. I couldn't sleep because trying to go to bed with this many fictional feelios crackling away inside of me was just impossible, like I'd chugged a crazy amount of caffeine. This is also exactly how I felt the night that 1.09 and 1.10 aired, so it felt so fitting. (Ironically, I'm writing this before I have my caffeine today because I can wait no longer, so it might make no sense. But I have to try!)

I've watched season one soooooo many times -- like, every episode is just completely scored upon my psyche, I basically have the whole thing memorized -- so it felt so WILD to finally be getting MORE and it was REAL! This also reminded me of how the season one finale was perhaps the most upset I've ever been about television, outside of unjust character deaths, HIMYM, etc. -- like, upset in a way where it was narratively thrilling to be so upset, for a change! But the emotional distress of that ending obviously settled down a bit to me once I'd watched the episode for the zillionth time and just really got used to what happened to Ed. That initial shock wore off. So picking up where that episode left off and spending these episodes really bearing witness to him still being in that place was SO VISCERALLY UPSETTING AND WILD AND GREAT!!!!!! Oh my God, Taika Waititi. Aaaaaacting!!!!

Everything just being darker, richer, so unhinged was really thrilling -- we can't really go back to the sort of affable placidity of a lot of season one, or at least not right now, and it just felt really appropriate for where the story is and like a really natural growth to the tone. I think it also really had a sense of exuberance powered by how lovingly received season one was, which just felt great to watch.

The gorgeous New Zealand landscapes, oh my God!!!! And how fitting it feels, now that it's not Stede playing at pirates so much as everything being Really God Damn Real, that the physical world has expanded so much around them and there's so much more of a sense of sublime natural beauty.

STEDE WAS A MERMAN!!!!!! sorry, getting ahead of myself here. But my God, I am so obsessed with the fact that they just went for that moment. It's camp! It's achingly beautiful! It's The Shape of Water, it's Splash, it's Zoolander, it's a reverse Killing Eve that my soul sorely needed! Kate Bush was there! They almost kissed under the water! ED'S LOVE FOR STEDE INTERRUPTED HIS DESIRE TO DIE! AUGHHHHHH.

I'm really, really sad that my internet gave out right in the middle of that sequence. I just feel so bummed that I'll never experience it for the first time the way David Jenkins & Co. intended because technology betrayed me! I will never have known the emotional build of that moment the way it was meant to be seen. 😢 But oh well! I'm dealing with it! I'm being so brave! (I'm always extremely weird about wanting fiction to have the exact impact on me that the creators strove for it to, and it really bothers me when it gets interrupted somehow. But at least, you know, it was just THIS, the show and romance I currently care most about in the WORLD!)

Anyway: the handholding and how it mirrors Ed putting his hand over Stede's and that close-up in 1.04! YES! What a shot to end the episode on, sob sob sob!

I also loved the two close-ups of Ed's eyes, at the start of the wedding rampage and then when he wakes up. Parallels! Yesss!!!

I know we all kinda expected it to happen for the whole hiatus, but that doesn't diminish at all the pure joy and unhingedness of Stede's total love for Ed never wavering even at the news that Ed's rampaging his way across the high seas in a state of total derangement. If that's a dealbreaker, then that's not love! They made him look like a GHOUL!

I really liked the tension between Stede and Lucius because that was something I hadn't really thought to expect. And Stede giving Lucius jaded life advice! Yes!

Sidenote: Lucius, alive? Who could have possibly seen it coming??? (Also, his reunion with Pete, 🥹🥹🥹!)

I also just generally loved getting to see the crew again and all of their antics together figuring out their circumstances. I missed you all so much!!!

MORE LADIES YESSSSS! I love Archie!!!!! I love Zheng!!!! I love Auntie!!!!! And I loved getting to see Spanish Jackie living her best life again! Such a joy to have so many hilarious badass women around. I am living for them all.

The romantic quadrangle stuff popping up with Olu and Jim was great fun on all sides (even if I had to watch makeouts while Jim was holding a recently severed leg; please, set aside the leg!), and I also loved how Jim told Olu about it right away and just the sweet vibes between them in their reunion scene, aww. Looking forward to seeing whatever happens there.

In particular, Zheng crushing on Olu was so cute and like, who can blame her?? History's greatest pirate: she's just like us! Omg, what an enemy for them to have now.

Also, Jim doing the voices for Fang FOREVER!!!!! Such a sweet moment! And Jim's speech about how sweet life on The Revenge used to be and how happy they all were together absolutely tore my heart out. Because yeah!!! I feel like we the audience members were part of that crew too!!! WE HAVE TO GO BACK, KATE!!!

I had vowed to hate Izzy forever, I held steadfast to my vow for all those hiatus months, and then these three episodes were like, "Ha ha, yeah right!" Magnificently played, ya bastards!!! You got me! I especially loved when he said to Stede that the two of them made Ed into what he became; that was so interesting and I'm really curious to see how Stede and Izzy's dynamic grows. Iz, I am so sorry about your many toes and then your leg. Wishing you the coolest peg leg.

Random sidenote: when Auntie was like, "Buttons is a sea witch contained in the body of a mortal man," I was 100% like ... That makes so much sense, actually??? I, for one, am a believer. Is this why you can speak seagull, sir/sea witch?

The whole sequence with Ed and Dream Hornigold in episode 3 was so good, aughhhhh! And THE RETURN OF JEFF. I love how on some level Ed just wants to work in the hospitality industry. Let! Him! And! Stede! Retire! And! Open! Their! Inn! Slash! Snakery! Snackery!

I am so excited that we have post-credits episode tags now. As if this show could get any more exquisite. IT DID. Now there's always just a lil' nibble more!

I love how, just like in season one, we got our Ed/Stede-less time out of the way quick by having the first three eps all air together. And now, let us sail perilously further into feelings land!

I have so much more to say but I'm so tired and I need black tea. I'm sure I'll be back later today with a zillion more belated thoughts! PEACE! 🧜‍♂️

Also, just a few Cinematic New Zealand Beach Vibes notes -- the opening dream sequence had me like, "Xena and Gabrielle at the end of 'The Bitter Suite'!"* and Ed waking up in beach purgatory had me like, "THE PIANO!" I just had to share. Idk why. Have I mentioned how happy I am that season two gets to be in New Zealand??

*Idk if this is in any way deliberate, but I firmly maintain that Ed/Stede has a lotta roots in Xena/Gabrielle. Like, if you ever feel like the universe simply can't give you enough Ed/Stede (understandable), then you should watch Xena for a lot of similar shippy emotional thrills. OFMD had better give us a nicer ending, tho. (Today I learned from a D. Jenks interview that Blackbeard historically got beheaded!!)

Okay, time to go stare at a million gifsets.

[sailorgundam308]

okay but you're right about the petite tav thing (also idk if you know but someone's lame ass "callout" post about you being a bully and how you'll never get commissions is circulating)

like in a game where you can create nearly anything with a tav it's boring as fuck to make them look copy pasted of every conventional girl irl. ive always thought that, it's why I can't read certain super popular fics in this fandom because the tav absolutely rips me out of any enjoyment (cough, the arrangement)

but it's not fair for people to be harassing you over your opinion, it's your blog if they don't wanna make themselves upset maybe they shouldn't be lurking on your page

It's what I think. I have no interest, never had, in any media, when a protagonist is the pretty standard petite girl. It doesn't resonate with me at all and, therefore, they come across as very boring to me.

About the post circulating about me, I know about it. It was made by 2 girls who didn't like when I said I don't like pairing Astarion with the aforementioned pretty petite tav type. They then devolved into, apparently, some sort of Alex Jones, calling into question my values as a person, made up what I said and whatnot. They've been flooding me with hate messages for a while, stopping short only of telling me to kill myself. But then, of course, I'm the bully in the story. lol

It's very much their problem. Anyone following me, reading what I say, knows what I stand for - and what I don't, cause I tend to say it pretty clearly.

And I agree with you, too: tumblr is a collection of personal blogs of people with differing opinions. Unless someone is attacking or harming a real person, or being an actual bigot, it's all a matter of thinking differently about things. And that's not an issue.

You'd think people who claim to be so inclusive would understand that not everyone has to agree on things - and that you shouldn't dig the internet for content that will piss you off because you feel like going on a moral rampage for the sake of feeling superior. You WILL find content to make you angry. Thing is, some of that will be justified. Some, apparently, will just be me saying im not into X type of pairing.

Sound's pretty easy to do, but some folks are actually pretty incredible in regards to the amount of effort they'll put to go after someone they (don't know) but decided they dislike.

One of the girls saying she "took a screenshot" of what I said is from a discord I'm also a member of, and I think she got jealous cause I only posted Karlach x Astarion art and they shipped him with a different character. The other one is just a hardcore harasser. I got all their hate messages saved. Maybe one day I'll post it so people can see what kind low level stuff they said to me. It was WILD.

In any case. I never deleted the post where I said I think Astarion doesn't look good with pretty cutesy girly tavs cause I DO think that, and there's nothing wrong with me saying it. I'm not talking about any real person, nor even any tav in particular. But people like to distort shit to make waves then feel morally superior.

Thankfully, my commissions are doing great! I don't beg anyone to hire me, and as with everything else online, no one is forced to anything - commission me or even interact with my blog. There is a block function here and I use it often - it works wonders.

Anyway, thanks for saying that. Truly. This whole thing was pretty upsetting at first, but I soon realized there was no conversation to be had with thesef people - they don't want to talk. They want to tear someone they don't know apart to feel superior and "win".

It's nice to know not everyone bought into the gaslighting shit these two (and probably now more ppl) are spouting.

:)

[onenettvchannel]

FLASH REPORT: American YouTuber 'IShowSpeed' arrives in the Philippines, causes Fan Frenzy for meet-and-greet in BGC [#TeleRadyoSerbisyoEXCLUSIVE]

(Written by Rhayniel Saldasal Calimpong / Freelanced News Writer, Online Media Reporter and News Presenter of OneNETnews)

TAGUIG, NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION -- The American variety and veteran YouTube sensation 'Mr. Darren Jason Watkins Jr.', finally set foot in the country today, part of his highly anticipated Southeast Asia tour. This arrival of the 19 y/o Ohio state native, straight from the United States of America (U.S.A.), created frenzy among his Filipino fanbase, which led to huge masses of crowds and traffic jams across Metro Manila.

Indeed, his Philippine adventure started off with a bang. He played at a local basketball court in 'Brgy. 39, Zone 3, District 1' in 'Tondo, Metro Manila, National Capital Region'. The place was thronged with fans as the eagerness got the better of everyone to get a glimpse of the male YouTube star. It set the tone for a day that became truly frenzy-filled and filled with fervor.

Before going to the heart of the city, IShowSpeed made a quick detour to a local Chowking branch on Bustos Street, Sta. Cruz, this said city and province. The fast-food stop served as an emergency impromptu meet-and-greet location, where he was sat and hydrate himself in plain cold water, as eager fans were gathered outside to catch a glimpse of their online male YouTuber idol. He followed up his interest in Filipino culture by riding on top of a Kalesa, a horse-drawn transportation contraption, waving a Philippine flag to the delight of all that watched, helping spur his growing entourage on in excitement.

The joyride to BGC turned out to be a spectacle in its own right, as the male YouTube star replaced Kalesa with a motorbike, knowingly called as 'habal-habal'. The ride through busy Manila attracted even more attention; traffic came to a halt with fans trying to stay alongside their idol.

The chaotic night concluded before 7:30pm at 5th Avenue, BGC, in a Mercedes-Benz showroom, where IShowSpeed found refuge amidst a sea of people. Outside the unforgettable local dealership at Cats Motors Incorporated (CMI), chaos was at nothing less than pandemonium. If this day wasn't exciting enough, IShowSpeed teasingly posted to the internet media, including 'TeleRadyo Serbisyo: Dumaguete' and 'OneNETnews' that he would be meeting the Boxing legend and former senator "Manny Dapidran 'PacMan' Pacquiao", scheduled for tomorrow on Thursday (September 12th, 2024 -- Manila local time) when social media would once again go ablaze in the star-studded encounter.

In LIVE chats throughout the night, rumors are rife that the IShowSpeed Philippine Tour may well extend to the Visayas region on Day 2, including Cebu, Bacolod, Dumaguete and Siquijor. For now, unfortunately much however, Mindanao appears to be out of its itinerary.

IShowSpeed's arrival most certainly has left an indelible mark within the Philippines, and his livestream drew in more than 300,000 viewers from around the world, over half from the Philippines with 56% online audience share in this video sharing platform. And as this male YouTube star still goes on a rampage in this South East Asian adventure, one thing is for sure: IShowSpeed fever has finally swept the nation of the Philippines, and it isn't going away anytime soon.

This ongoing tour to South East Asia would be continued across the continent, first stopping in Thailand and later adding probably with the likes of Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia -- all for this month of September 2024.

SCREENGRAB COURTESY: IShowSpeed via YouTube LIVE VIDEO

SOURCE: *https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWuJYrEZBkw [Referenced YT LIVE VIDEO via IShowSpeed] and *https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx685Idjol8tdYoSpnEhUNmxqKLfMVUOTW [Referenced YT Poster PHOTO via IShowSpeed]

-- OneNETnews Online Publication Team

[pttucker]

⸢D-21⸥ – Arrest warrant has been issued for 'Lieutenant Lee', suspected of stealing a large cache of firearms from the military base… – The sudden propagation of 'apocalypse theory' in the internet recently has caused some experts to… ⸢D-14⸥ – The 'apocalypse theory', expected to fizzle out as a passing fad, still shows no signs of abating after two weeks. – The apocalyptist 'Selena Kim' urges people to prepare supplies for the sudden upheaval that will happen in two weeks' time… – Several famous individuals from the world of finance have sympathised with the apocalypse theory, causing the public to criticise… ⸢D-7⸥ – Many ampoules containing microbes earmarked for research have been stolen from a prominent pharmaceutical company… – Recently, the frog egg collection craze has swept across children in their teens…

Lee Hyunsung. 😂

Oh man but this is giving me such anxiety. I'm just so stressed at the thought that they're doing all this and the scenarios won't start. I know that's never happened, not in all the lives Joonghyuk has lived so far, but the fact they started so early and basically went on a rampage and have "ruined" their pre-scenario lives is making me go "but what if...". 😰

Anyway, I do like how much emphasis they put into saving as many people as possible. It really feels like they're really making the most of it as if to say "if we have to go against Dokja's wishes and regress and lose our happy ending that he worked so hard to give us then the least we can do is save as many others as possible while doing it."

And, once again, Dokja seems so passive? Again, it's not from his POV so I know that makes a huge difference, but it really feels like he's just...there. It's weirding me out after reading like 5000 pages solely focused on what a scheming little squid he is 24/7. It really does make me wonder if the avatar skill was used incorrectly because both Sooyoungs have never felt like anything less than Han Sooyoung.

Or maybe I really am projecting since we've been following 51% and haven't heard a peep out of 49% POV-wise.

[flowerbarrel-art]

(Long Post) Chosen, Dark and Purple’s library cards.

(The first one is the back of Chosen’s library card)

The librarian told Dark he could decorate his card with stickers. He got carried away and put stickers on Chosen and Purple’s cards too.

In the Reconfigured Dark AU Chosen picked new names for himself and for Dark to put on their library cards. He’s still nervous about Sticks knowing them as Chosen and Dark. Around Alan, King, Purple, Gold, Vic and the Color Gang, they’re still called Chosen and Dark.

A lot of Created Sticks like to change the names that their Creators gave them and it’s easy for them to go to a courthouse and get their name changed officially to whatever they want. Sticks will basically always be on the side of any Stick who escaped from their Creator.

In the Reconfigured Dark AU, not many Sticks recognize Chosen or Dark as the ones who rampaged across the internet since there are some Hollowheads or Fake Hollowheads who have the same colors. Dark being a baby helps with them staying pretty unnoticed, plus it’s been long enough for most Sticks that the fear about them wreaking havoc again has died down a lot.

It takes some time but Chosen will eventually stop being nervous that anyone will recognize him and Dark.

[jaidethalagorra]

Things They Don't Tell You: Timeline of the Fall

All right. I'm back. All the chaos going on in my life finally resolved, so I can finally post here again over the summer! I'll be posting as much as I can when I have the time. So, without further ado, here's a timeline of the Fall!

This is gonna be a semi-omniscient timeline as in full, no one knew what fully happened. I'm also going to be using the terms BF (Before Fall), and AF (After Fall). For additional context, "The Fall" is a term used specifically in America regarding the establishment of Haven camps, and more specifically when the internet across the world finally failed and each Haven was left isolated. Timeline under the cut, and oh boy is it long. I'm so sorry. But not really.

10 Months BF: A mysterious virus hits America. However, as the symptoms are similar to the common flu, it's quickly dismissed as "normal", and people continue to act as normal. The virus begins to spread quietly, and due to the lack of concern the virus escapes America and begins to quietly spread across the rest of the world.

9 Months BF: As the virus enters its second stage, a wave of panic spreads across the world as the initial victims fall into a coma. A state of emergency is declared for most countries, but as the connection to the virus is currently unknown travel is not suspended for the first couple days. However, once the connection is determined travel is suspended, but by that time the virus had already spread beyond containment. People are advised to stay home and avoid contact with anyone else if they show symptoms, an advisory that they totally ignore. We saw how COVID went. Conspiracy theorists go rampant, and small groups of people online begin to hold "virus parties", in which they deliberately infect themselves with the virus as they decide it's not real anyways. One week later, the first patients reawake in the third stage of the virus and panic is slightly alleviated, but only slightly as patients continue to enter comas and the reawakened patients continue to lose their mental functions, leaving them in the hospital for some time afterwards.

8 Months BF: Even more panic spreads as the virus reaches its fourth stage and people begin to finally become zombies. Hospitals are the hardest hit and almost immediately shut down, as the first patients go on a rampage in the hospitals and infect the rest of the hospitals. Military force is utilized to clear them out, but the damage has been done and people are advised to only go into hospitals for life-threatening circumstances. Several of the initial patients are taken back for government observation. By this point, international travel is completely suspended. This weakens faith in the hospitals and individuals in stage 2 are instead kept at home by their families. As it's determined that the virus is not airborne, people begin to host larger gatherings and spread the virus further through food and drinks. Prepper groups begin isolating themselves in their houses or neighborhoods. The disruption of international travel wreaks havoc on supply chains, and the economy takes a major dive if anyone cared.

7 Months BF: As the survivors of the hospitals enter stage 2 of the virus, hospitals completely shut down due to lack of personnel. This leads to mass death across the world, and all virus patients are instead taken care of at their own houses. An online group of scientists called "prevent Chernobyl" forms, with the express goal of monitoring nuclear power plants and sending them into shutdown should the world seem to fall beyond saving.

6 Months BF: The virus, which previously existed in waves, seems to lose coherency in waves as natural time takes effect. There seems to always be someone in a different stage. The virus continues to spread, and public infrastructure such as the power grid and internet begins to decline due to lack of manpower. Prevent Chernobyl reaches the decision that if the this trend continues, they will have to shut down nuclear power plants. Supply chains have been reduced to half capacity at best.

4 Months BF: Approximately one quarter of the world's population has been infected. Military operations take on an almost plague doctor role, enacting martial law and attempting to kill any patients in stage 4. This is met with heavy resistance, as many of the common populous doesn't want to watch their loved ones die, even if they're already effectively dead.

3 Months BF: The moderate success of the military enacting martial law begins American government to begin strategizing for the Haven project, an initiative that would see military taking control of certain areas in large cities and fortifying them to create a military-protected survivor's camp. This idea is reinforced by confirmation that the first infected patients have, without food, perished due to starvation. This provides the idea that theoretically, the Haven initiative could allow survivors to outlast the virus. However, due to cannibalism and haphazard scavenging through abandoned supermarkets, many of the original patients have survived this long. Due to lack of manpower, public infrastructure begins to completely fail in some areas, and supply chains have failed completely.

2 Months BF: As the power grid fails, Prevent Chernobyl presents an ultimatum online: They will shut down nuclear reactors. Military presence, stretched thin, attempts to fortify the reactors but fails to recognize that many of the workers within the plants are Prevent Chernobyl members. After the failure to protect the reactors, military forces begin to spread thin across America to implement the Haven project. Several gated communities across America board themselves up in an attempt to keep themselves safe, and one forms in Allie and Jessica’s city.

1 Month BF: Approximately one third of the world's population has been infected, however countless others have died due to inadequate medical treatment, starvation due to supply chain collapses, or being consumed wholly by the existing zombies. The Haven project is established in Allie and Jessica's city, and almost all the survivors find a home at Haven. Most of the gated survivor communities fall due to lack of resources and zombies getting loose in the camps.

The Fall: The internet and most satellites have completely failed, isolating each city. Martial law is enacted through Haven, and many civilians are drafted into Haven's many roles. Some suspicion arises around the legitimacy of Haven's government without oversight. Haven also adopts a policy of shooting on sight any survivors who display signs of infection. This also causes contention.

5 Months AF: The Gates, the gated community in Allie and Jessica’s city, falls due to a combination of infection and lack of resources. Many survivors make their way to Haven. One of these survivors is infected and decides he doesn't want to be shot and everything will be fine if he simply doesn't report his symptoms. He hides them, despite the urgings of his surviving family, and sweet-talks them into taking care of him once he enters the second stage. Once he reaches the third stage, his family who admittedly knew little of the virus thought everything was fine.

6 Months AF: The aforementioned citizen enters the fourth stage and rips through Haven due to its lack of internal guard. At least one third of Haven becomes infected, and order cannot be maintained. An attempt is made to kill the infected, but several innocents are killed as well and several infected are missed.

7 Months AF: The infected from the first citizen go on a rampage across Haven, destabilizing it completely. The remaining survivors leave and form their own camps. Haven falls.

1 Year AF: The events of the story take place.

[rejectedbad]

Breaking Bad: Waltuh

The following is a rejected script from an early season of Breaking Bad.

INT. WHITE RESIDENCE - LIVING ROOM - DAY

WALTER WHITE, a former chemistry teacher turned methamphetamine manufacturer, sits on the couch browsing the internet. MIKE EHRMANTRAUT, a seasoned hitman, enters the room, noticing Walter's agitation.

MIKE:  What's eating you, Waltuh?

WALTER:  (angry)  That's what I wanted to talk to you about, Mike. It's these people online. They're mocking us, specifically me. They're making fun of how you pronounce my name.

MIKE:  (chuckles)  So, Waltuh, they're getting under your skin. You want to teach 'em a lesson, huh?

Walter nods, determination etched on his face.

INT. RV - DAY

Walter and Mike are inside the RV, preparing their plan.

WALTER:  (disguised excitement)  We're heading to Pennsylvania, Mike. We're going to make those online trolls regret the day they made a mockery of our names.

MIKE:  (raising an eyebrow)  Waltuh, remember, we've already got enough trouble on our backs with Gus and the Cartel breathing down our necks.

Walter smirks, revealing an unsettling confidence.

WALTER:  (slyly)  Well, this will be our secret little side trip. Nobody has to know.

EXT. PENNSYLVANIA - ABANDONED WAREHOUSE - NIGHT

Walter and Mike stand outside an abandoned warehouse, conspiratorial grins on their faces.

WALTER:  (showing a bag of supplies)  I've got everything we need, Mike. Let's get started.

They enter the warehouse, ready to embark on a rampage inspired by vengeance.

EXT. PENNSYLVANIA - LOCAL TACO BELL - NIGHT

Walter and Mike, clad in black outfits, stand across the street from a brightly lit Taco Bell.

WALTER:  (glaring)  Those trolls used this Taco Bell as their base, mocking our names. It's time to send them a message.

MIKE:  (nods)  What's the plan, Waltuh?

Walter takes out a remote, presses a button, and the Taco Bell EXPLODES in a fireball.

WALTER:  (evil satisfaction)  A lesson learned.

EXT. PENNSYLVANIA - SUBURBAN STREET - NIGHT

Walter and Mike walk along a suburban street, heads on spikes lining the sidewalks. Each head bears a sign displaying an online username. They stop at one specific head, which reads "HATS-BEWARE".

MIKE:  (grinning slightly)  There's one that won't be mocking anyone again.

WALTER:  (smugly)  Indeed.

INT. WHITE RESIDENCE - METH LAB - NIGHT

Walter and Mike lean against the lab's counters, reflecting on their actions.

MIKE:  (sighs)  Waltuh, sometimes I think you're crazier than me.

Walter smirks, a sense of pride dancing in his eyes.

WALTER:  (softly)  Sometimes, Mike, you have to prove that we won't be anyone's punchline. We're not to be trifled with.

They lock eyes, understanding each other's motives.

FADE OUT.

[soundberr1es]

Kazu-Hyaku 100 Questions 

Q.6

For this live tour, THE RAMPAGE LIVE TOUR 2023 "16", do you prioritize communicating your feelings when giving a performance?

A. It’s exactly that! i’m allowed to fully show my personal world on stage, and I believe now is the right time for me to express myself by going all out to achieve and convey what i want.

Q.7

Do the lyrics you write reflect who you really are?

A. It's just as stated. For instance, when I express my genuine feelings about something that bothers me, it may be perceived as aggression. I acknowledge that my words may be painful for others to hear, but I intend to be clear about what I need to say on topics that aren't comfortable to discuss. I say all these things based on my personal experiences.

Q.8

Demonstrating rebellion against something requires a lot of energy, don’t you think?

A. Well, if I were to say I’m excited, that may be an overstatement; however, I do feel a good sense of anticipation. It's kind of like getting a little zap of joy, you know? My mindset is to get a message across while also asking if others understand my perspective and being open to sharing my opinions. Considering the malicious comments, instead of feeling devastated, I become angry, which gives me an outlet for realistic expression. Even if I could respond to negative internet comments about me, despite the unintelligible things they write, I would try to create a counter-narrative. In actuality, I sneeringly write a response in my notes (laughs).

Q.9

Do you lose confidence in the face of criticism from others?

A. Of course. Sure, there are times when I feel hurt. Yet, the more I think about it, the more it irritates me (laughs). I'm confident in my abilities to complete the task at hand and use it as a source of passion and encouragement. Hopefully, I'll be able to write some good lyrics if I do my best.

[dreamingsushi]

Mystic Pop-up Bar - Episode 1

Hello there! Yes, I'm starting something else, because as of now, nothing that I'm currently watching is really a treat for me. I know this drama aired a few years ago, but I have been wanting to watch it for quite some time already and there we go. I have high hopes for it, I heard it's really good, so hopefully... this is going to be my reward for those two others that aren't all that interesting to me!

Weol-ju is the kind daughter of a shaman and she possesses the power to help people through their dreams. She happily helps anyone in need and gets a reputation for it which reaches the ears of the Queen. As her son, the Crown Prince is sickly and nothing will heal him, she summons Weol-ju to the palace and have her treat the prince. Doing so, they fall in love, which spreads a lot of rumours in town about Weol-ju and leads to her mom's death as she pretended to be Weol-ju and sent her away to protect her. However, Weol-ju, filled with hatred, curses everyone before hanging herself on the branches of the sacred tree. The pin her mom gave her falls down and something magic seems to be happening, but what? Who knows?

So, for having hung up herself at the sacred tree, Weol-ju was punished to help 1000 or was it 10,000 souls through dreams. It's also a 500 years sentence. As of now, she needs to help 10 more people and runs a street bar to lure customers in and reveal their worries to her so she can help. However, as of lately, business hasn't been doing as well as in the past, since delivery services cause customers to be lesser and lesser and people are more open about their feelings on the internet instead of in person. For the last 6 months, she wasn't able to help anyone.

Han Kangbae is a young worker in a store. Whenever he touches someone else, these people pour out their heart to him and say whatever they're really thinking. So he tries to avoid contact as much as possible. One day, at the store, a client treats badly her colleague, who has a great reputation since she won the best employee award five months in a row. Weol-ju also happened to be there and she went on a rampage to punish that arrogant man, which puts Mi Ran (best employee) in trouble at work. Kangbae tries to speak up for her, but the manager goes by the customer is king rule.

Later that night, Kangbae sees Mi Ran jumping in front of a car and he jumps in to protect her from the impact. Fortunately, the drivers stops in time and they're both safe. Kangbae suggests that they go to the street bar across the street to have some food. There, when Mi Ran touches his hand by accident, she reveals that the manager at the store has been harassing her, which is why she wanted to die. Weol-ju sends Kangbae away and serves the sleeping alcohol to Mi Ran so she can fulfill her wish in her dream. When Kangbae comes back, he can see the bar that no one else sees and ends up joining the dream. They punish the manager and convince Mi Ran to stand up for herself in real life too.

The next day, Kangbae thinks it was all a dream until he finds Weol-ju's hairpin on the rooftop at work. He remembers she promised that she could help someone change their personality, so he goes to find her. Meanwhile, she gets a warning that she's having only one month left to finish her task, else she's going to hell. So she remembers of Kangbae's abilities and decides to have him help her to complete her punishment in time. She agrees to help him on the condition that he gives his body to her. Meaning she'll possess him or that she wants him to use his empathy abilities for her? We'll see next episode.

So far, I'm very happy with this. The main lead is a powerful woman with a lot of personality. I adore her. She funny and feisty, it's a nice change from who she was when she was alive too. Really loved it. I'm waiting a little bit more to see who Kangbae really is, but so far it's nice to have a guy that is a little bit softer than domineering. And there's also Gwi something something, that I haven't mentioned in the summary, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to love this guy too. Really looking forward the next episode! I will have to restrain myself, because I can't wait to watch another and yet I've got other stuff to do today.