#he might have worked it out from watching the two argue over the zodiac? but up until then he didn't even know there were two of them

[atalana]

we can talk about buy gold bye all day but in retrospect this is my favourite bill moment from dreamscaperers, because he is having One Of The Days Ever

like you get summoned back to gravity falls for the first time in thirty years, already an excellent start (it is good to be back!)

and to make it even better, you know that one human you had every kind of relationship at once with and whose mind you know inside out but then he realised your true plans and tried to break up with you so you spent several weeks torturing him and now he's been MIA for said thirty years? of the all the jobs this random kid could possibly want from you, you're being hired to go break into his mind and steal from him

(been there done that kid!)

except plot twist! they don't actually mean that guy. they mean his identical twin brother who's been assuming his identity since then

and we get to watch bill have the realisation in real time that not only has he just worked out exactly what happened, he is the only person other than stan himself who has enough information to do so!

(this should be fun)

[detectivedrewshouldgetaclue]

G’day, Clue Crew! Dropping in, to talk about one of my favorite artists: Alphonse Mucha. His work can be seen in several Nancy Drew games.

Alphonse Mucha, was a Czech painter, illustrator, and graphic artist, living in Paris during the Art Nouveau period, best known for his distinctly stylized and decorative theatrical posters, particularly those of Sarah Bernhardt. He produced illustrations, advertisements, decorative panels, as well as designs, which became among the best-known images of the period.

The slider puzzle box, as seen above, was featured in The Final Scene. The tiles have Mucha’s Zodiac decorating them. But this was not Zodiac’s debut in a Nancy Drew game—oh, no, no, no. She can first be seen in Abby Sideris’ bedroom, in Message in a Haunted Mansion.

Zodiac is again seen in the gift shop of Castle Finster in The Captive Curse.

However, Zodiac isn’t the only piece of Alphonse Mucha’s work to be displayed in a Nancy Drew game. Emily Crandall, from Secret of the Old Clock, has no less than 5 Mucha pieces, in her bedroom. She displays every print from The Seasons series, on her walls.

This was Mucha's first set of decorative panels and it became one of his most popular series. It was so popular that Mucha was asked by Champenois to produce at least two more sets based on the same theme in 1897 and 1900. Designs for a further two sets also exist.

The idea of personifying the seasons was nothing new - examples could be found in the works of the Old Masters' as well as in Champenois's other publications. However, Mucha's nymph-like women set against the seasonal views of the countryside breathed new life into the classic theme. In the four panels shown here, Mucha captures the moods of the seasons - innocent Spring, sultry Summer, fruitful Autumn and frosty Winter, and together they represent the harmonious cycle of Nature.

You’ll notice that the picture that “mysteriously keeps moving,” is not part of aforementioned polyptych. This Mucha piece is called Friendship. It was featured in the New York Daily News on April 3rd, 1904.

The New York Daily News referred to him as "the world's greatest decorative artist," and dedicated its Sunday Art Section to Mucha on April 3, 1904. For the illustration on the cover of that section, Mucha created a wonderful allegorical image entitled Friendship, in which America and France are each depicted as women. America, with stars on both her tiara and gown and red and white ribbons cascading from her hair, appears as the young protégé of France, who watches over her, protectively adorned with lilies in her hair and fleur-de-lys patterns on her dress. As Jirí Mucha points out, the two women are jointly "holding a wreath of lime leaves, [a] national symbol of Czechoslovakia.”

I personally adore Mucha’s allegorical style and really appreciate that he’s featured in the Nancy Drew PC games. One might even argue that Art Nouveau influences us, to this day. Perhaps it even played a part in the design and illustrations of some aspects of the games. Art is always changing—artists grow upon the backs of their predecessors. Mucha is still highly influential and relevant.

His work and the style he developed during the period of 1893 to 1903 came to define an era and forever serve as an influence to future illustrators

I loved the Alphonse Mucha pieces from the PC games, long before I went to university and wrote papers, on his work. I’d like to think I, in part, owe my love of Art Nouveau, to Nancy Drew. 🔎🖼

That is all. Happy scrolling.

[papers4me]

Fruits Basket,Se03, Ep 8 (part 2)

I finally got my answer on how will kyo’s confession of kyoko will be & how tohru will react. I love the writing, the pacing, the monologue, the dialogue, the facial expressions, tohru’s reaction, kyo’s rejection & tohru’s shock. Even yuki & akito’s involvement! All of it was a chef’s kiss!

I went & watched lots of eps of se01 & 2 & I’m loving all the hints they dropped abt kyo & how his trauma was looming over him all. this. damn. time! Unfortunately, it has reminded me of how much tohru’s own character exploration was diminished in favor of her being the angelic mother & the sohma’s fixer! but moving on & focusing on her shining moment now! I’ll explore her character here with regards of her trauma, real hidden character & future development.

Kyo’s rejection is the best thing that has ever happened to tohru:

(don’t hate me before you read!) XD~ just like you, I’m mad at kyo for hurting tohru & I feel her pain. However, the writer didn’t write this with a sadistic desire to hurt us. Kyo’s rejection is the core of the entire story as it is not only connected to kyo’s trauma, but tohru’s growth & yuki’s emotional involvement with the two, as well as akito’s insecurities. I have explained in my review( part 1) how kyo rejecting tohru was a logical progression of kyo’s trauma, the only possible outcome from his perspective, & the themes tied with such decision. Now, I’ll explain why this rejection is good for tohru in the long run:

1. Showing the hidden ugly side: (The timid, shy, self-sacrificing girl is angry!): Tohru’s entire consciously constructed personality is borrowed from elements in her mom & dad’s life:

She mimicked her dad’s overly polite style to prove that she is indeed his daughter, so her mom won’t be called w*ore & to console her mom, so she wont leave her. She has deep low self-worth issues. I gotta become someone else to be loved.

she has inner fear of bringing shame to her mom’s name, wants to always be the good girl so mom’s get praised for raising her. Thus, hiding ugly aspects such as anger, loud voice & frustration.

She wants to prove that her mom chose right by not neglecting her. wishes to be worth needing & loving for her own self.

All she ever wanted since being a 4 year old child is her mom. No other desire for anything else at all. Since her mom’s death, she’s been lost on what to do, who to be, what to want! then it came to her to stick to her mom’s memory & live for her. Living for a dead person is a self-sacrifice decision. Tohru just didn’t see herself outside of her mom’s influence.  

Ever since meeting kyo, he has been encouraging real aspects of her character: be selfish, complain, cry, get mad, yell, look pathetic, expose unflattering thoughts, show undesirable side, ask for things, no, DEMAND things. She has been reluctantly following his advice & only showing that to him. His confession & inability to accept her love has lead her to show the real hidden tohru behind the “ i’m okay” mask:

The timid, always smiling girl is now showing anger, frustration, stubbornness & determination.

screaming her heart out: “ i don’t believe my mom would say that” stating her opinion in firm voice.

 “even if she did, I have to go against her” the real tohru shows her explosive personality that was buried deep down! it is NOT mom’s life anymore. It is MINE. I decide. I choose. I want. My decisions.

“ why can’t you see that?” argues with him. Tohru, who is soft-spoken & tends to get flustered  when others insist, is now questioning his decision with passion & fierceness!

“ I love you no matter what”. Say what toy want. look at yourself as a monster, a murderer, a loser or a coward. I don’t care what your brain or trauma makes you think. I see the real YOU & it is my decision! I love you ugly & pretty, sad & happy, broken or strong, coward or brave. I take it all & no one is fooling me or changing my mind. I’m my own person & I chose YOU. 

 2. Letting go of attachments: Learning to LIVE:

Tohru’s attachment to her mom isn’t healthy. It’s  toxic as it hinders her from being her own person. To be able to love kyo, she lets go of “ listening to mommy’s words” . Apparently, her mom condemned kyo as unforgivable. Tohru knows the real kyo & doesn’t even care for forgiveness despite her mom’s alleged words. Breaking the toxic bond. She formed a healthier bond with kyo. However, if kyo is unable to accept this love. what would tohru do? die?? kill herself?? kyoko wasn't able to continue to love her husband cuz he died. her reaction was neglecting her daughter & roaming away in utter grief. Tohru mustn’t follow her mom’s example. Not all loved ones leave us out of hate. Some leave each other cuz of death (kyoko/tohru), ( kyoko/ katsuya), Others might leave each other out of current traumatic pain, mental health, emotional hindrance despite loving each other so dearly (kyo/tohru). If kyo despite his immense love to tohru, can’t forgive himself, they won’t be together. tohru can cry, scream, yell, but if he doesn't overcome his issues & come back, tohru gotta let go. She gotta learn to let go & not kill herself over what she cant have.

Kyo, on the opposite, gotta learn to hold on to loved ones! Let go of pain but hold on to real ppl not dead ghosts of the past. He must learn to act on his own desire & need for tohru. Only when he forgives himself, he’ll hold on to her. It is then, that tohru will decide again if she’ll have him or not.

3- Wanting things doesn't mean you WILL have them: (You are enough by yourself- moderation)

tohru wants kyo, the first thing she has ever wanted. However, she won’t  automatically get him just because she now learned to demand things. There are obstacles that can stop that. Tohru must accept kyo’s inability to be with her now & live healthily regardless. This ties to akito as well. She wants the zodicas but she cant have them! Emotional distance separate them. What will akito do if she can’t have what she wants? kill kurno? kill tohtru? kill herself? will this bring the zodiacs back? NO. You are enough by yourself. She needs to let go & learn to accept that love means acceptance between the involved parties, emotional connection isn't enough.

-Realistic depiction of romantic relationship progression: (thro better & worse). EPIC writing!

It is indeed fate that brought tohru back in kyo’s path 4 months after her mom’s death & the they do share a mutual past: kyoko. However, fervor grateful to the author for writing them falling in love together isn’t due to fate, coincidence, mutual past or similar personalities. Kyo consciously avoided tohru while tohru herself struggled to understand kyo initially. The author spend valuable time building their romantic relation based on mundane daily life activities. They themselves don’t quite know when exactly that they fell in love. when they recalled falling in love, we see them cooking together, talking, walking, eating, studying & opening up abt small struggles.

It is genius that the writer will add yet another realistic aspect. While kyo was able to read tohru & approach her when she’s down, this doesn't mean he magically understood her & will forever be on the same page & never ever hurt each other at all. If you fell in love, you are bound to be hurt by the person who loves you back as much as be happy together. It is realistic!!! Adding miscommunication & personality differences enrich the relationship. This relationship isn’t just fluffy & lovey dovey. They have realistic issues that they need to work on by communicating. Even communication  wont solve their quarrel if it isn’t done in the right time & with the right desire to connect.

-The weight & future lessons learned from of “ I’m disappointed in you” for both kyo & tohru:

Right now kyo is too emotional to connect & tohru herself is too emotional to understand his response. Tohru understands his pain but her low self-esteem prevents her from seeing that he is rejecting being loved , not rejecting her. He is not rejecting tohru as a person but rejecting kyo as a person deserving love. Thanks to his “ i’m disappointed in you” which really leaves no room for interpretation from tohru’s perspective. I love that!!!! Kyo isn’t good with words. This has been clear from ep 1, his actions has always been his love language, but now he couples bad words “ i’m disappointed in you” with bad actions: running away. This is a perfect opportunity to build their future relationship on a solid foundation: ( off course I’m not belittling their current emotions, I understand why each is very broken now, but I’m talking abt future learning lessons)

Kyo’s current mistake: While him rejecting tohru is justified by the extreme trauma & is logical from his perspective. This doesn’t mean it isnt’t hurtful to her. He chose hurtful words to push her away mimicking how he pushed her in the true form arc. Perfect example of justified mistake yet still a wrong mistake. Thus, kyo needs to learn the effect of his words, he shouldn’t be punished for the past, for tings her cant control, nor for fate. But he should take responsibilities of the present, of what he actually says & does right now.  He must fix this mistake with tohru. This is a mistake that CAN be fixed. someone that he CAN get back. a mistake he CAN stop repeating.He CAN hold on to her with immense desire yet allow room for her to decide for herself.

Tohru’s current mistake: Seeing herself solely thro being loved by kyo. she cant see that he indeed loves her cuz he rejected her. Rejection in tohru’s mind equal lack of love. Her mom left her, thus her mom didnt love her. This respective is very justified due to her trauma, & it is logical that she reached this conclusion. She isnt in his head, she cant know whats in his heart if his words say sth else. However, having a logical perspective doesn't mean it is right. it is still wrong to solely exist thro what you can see & hear. Real emotions run deeper. We must take things with moderate approach. Tohru needs to have higher self-esteem, to allow room for misunderstanding without completely breaking down. In her future life, she’ll be in lots of situations where ppl could hurt her intentionally or unintentionally. She needs to take things with calmer pace & open the door in her mind for doubt & better judgement. As much as loved ones words hurt, to build a healthy relationship, you must leave room for communication & misunderstanding. Hence, you’ll get closer & closer. 

Side Notes:

 I love tohru’s faulty attachment thro only being loved back exactly as she pictures in her mind. it is so human, so real, & so endearing! Very opposite of se01 & 2 image of her being the wise, device-giving mother with right thing to say & do. Screw that unrealistic image! allow tohru to be real! best ep ever! Hopefully, no more of this tohru!

Kyo’s constant repeat of mistakes is the best character trope done right! so realistic. It is genius that the author used this trope to humanize the demonic cat spirit!! what screams human better than the most annoying human trait: repeating mistakes!!!!  Kyo, my son! it’s time to learn! cant wait to see how the author will do that.

young boy/ adult woman friendship? Was that ever made without  disgusting sexualizion? kyoko isnt much of a mom figure to kyo, she tells me abt a husband, child neglect mistakes, custody! he calls her old hag & pushes her! XD. it is friendship!!

i’m mad they didnt focus on tohru’s face when she screamed at kyo confessing her love.. that's tohru moment. Why pan on yuki? you could’ve showed his reaction after she spoke. The same thing was done when tohru confessed to Isuzu!-_-! loved her angry face tho, it was beautifully drawn, so thanks for that. XD

Yuki is forever the best tohru/kyo shipper & the best tohru-happiness defender. I love how he runs after kyo & yet checks on tohru! I’m curious tho, he didnt hear any of kyo/kyoko confession as he was asleep, only the the “ forgive/not forgive line” so, he’ll be wondering forgive what? tohru’s mom knows kyo? I’m excited on how they’ll put things into context. also, I LOVE YUKI.

I’m forever thankful that everything akito is pushed into next ep. The knife wielding action & akito’s dramatic outbursts would’ve stolen from the emotional weight of kyo’s confession. Kyo’s secret is the core of furuba since ep, 1, the entire dynamics of kyo/tohru/yuki /kyoko/ hat is established based on this ep. Shoving akito, too, would create the same annoying train bullet feeling of momiji’s & tohru’s ep (ep 5 & 6). Emotional scenes pushed together with lesser time for the respective characters to have their well-deserved focus.

This is the most I am attached & satisfied with furuba! it scares me since ep 9 continues the climax. My fears of potential dramatic animation since the knife is there! moreover, akito’s own animation is always over the top. I hope they tone it down to portray her as a human more than a maniac.

Also, I hope they dont drag the climax more than that. What more you can shove in the dramatic raining weather. Tohru/kyo scene here matched the true arc scene bringing back parallel. Now akito/tohru raining scene next ep will match se02, ep10 scene. Now, what will the author do to defuse the climax? Often writing the falling action is harder than the climax itself. Falling action doesnt mean happy times & solving issues. It means dealing with the consequences of the climax. Let’s see what the writer has in store.

Based on the flashbacks, Kyoko didnt have ill feelings with kyo!!!! Until the last time he saw her as a child, she was happy with him. Even when he pushed her, she took it as a childlike behavior. at the accident, she didnt have much time to have any ill feelings. No way she thought he pushed her, no way she thought he could’ve saved her. So if she really recognized him, why would she say “ I wont forgive you”? it doesnt make sense at all. Kyoko doesn't hate kyo!!!! So, either he imagined, which is sth that I’ll hate so much! I spent so much emotions attached to a non existant words! NO. plz! NO!! Other possibility, she said sth else closer to the words! but then again how would we know? I NEED to know! ~ as expected, I’m still attached to this damn line! XD. 

Kyo depressed in the mountains after kyoko’s death was very vaguely referenced in (1) se01, ep24 when kyo talked to kazuma! oh shoot! (2) in se02, sp 2 when kazuma thought back to kyo nearly killing himself in depression before meeting the dad, (3) in se02, ep 9 when kyo trampled on the flower! oof! i love this subtle style of writing! connecting the emotional dots! EPIC!

Various characters throut seasons 1, 2 & 3 noticed the real gentle kyo towards tohru: (1) Isuzu’s “ I hope tohru meets someone like haru, to gently open the door” se02, ep19. (2) Momiji having faith that kyo is the right person for tohru & pushing him, (3) yuki constantly musing over tohru/kyo love & drawing inspiration on wanting “ his own person to love like them” (3) Kisa saying kyo is kind to tohru se3, (4) shigure saying, you are exclusively kind to tohru se02, (5) Airisa saying, when will kyo confess in se01, (6) hana saying, marry my sister in the play & pushing him to not be locked! (7) yuki kicking him for saying “ its not your business” to tohru in kyoto trip, (8) kakeru saying “ kyo’s her boyfriend? “ AA~~~~ the whole cast know & can see his love to her!!! TOHRU! He doesnt hate you! KYO!! the entire cast thinks you DESERVE HER & is KIND! not a monster! Is there an image set of those moments of the cast saying that here in tumblr? kindly mention me to see it! I fear going to the tags & seeing spoilers T_T.

[thelovelyghostwriter]

do you think kuraneon is gonna be canon in the official hxh universe and what must have happened?

Whether or not they would be canon is up to Sir Togashi himself. While he does have romantic elements in his previous works like Yu Yu Hakusho and Ten de Showaru Cupid, it's not as explicit in HxH (e.g. Meruem/Komugi).

If you asked me this before knowing about the KuraNeon Marriage Theory (will give a link in the reblog later on) and KuraNeon paired up in mobile games, I would have said "0% chance" because we do not see them interact on-screen (even if I had shipped them since I first laid my eyes on Neon).

However, it is kinda sus that Kurapika became a Nostrade Family Young Boss; with Light and Neon nowhere shown. The more "accepted" theory is that Light is unable to continue and Neon is dead (although I do have rebuttals about Neon being dead - that's another conversation). I do wonder why he had to keep their mafia family name - there is no reason to if he truly let them wither. But from Light's last appearance in a manga panel, Kurapika did reassure him that he'll handle everything and you see the Nostrade mafia family organisation doing well under Kurapika. Which is also why my friend went to bring up that plausible KuraNeon Marriage Theory. 

I know that a lot of people think they don’t interact, but that is on-screen. After York New City arc, we don’t see Kurapika until way later, however him being in charge as the Nostrade Boss indicates that he stayed with the Nostrades. God knows what they did while living under one roof. 

Another thing that is major sus is the mobile games. Even non-shippers are baffled why KuraNeon is a thing. Kurapika and Neon are seen dressed as Hikoboshi and Orihime in two sets of the mobage cards; a romantic couple that is known in a Japanese legend and celebrated on 7 July (Tanabata Festival). They are even shown writing on coloured papers in one of the cards + Kurapika holding a bamboo - these coloured papers are used during the Tanabata festival where wishes are written on them and hung on bamboo. It is believed that the reunion between the two lovers Hikoboshi and Orihime are so joyous that they grant the wishes of the people. As far as I know, the only pairing that gets to have a Orihime/Hikoboshi theme in their cards is Machi/Hisoka; and we do see Hisoka/Machi having a soft spot for one another in canon (in the current arc, Machi does patch him up after his defeat and Hisoka spared her).  

Hmmm.. I should make a post about this whole Tanabata thing actually. Asides from that, they are also the v-day banner in 2019 for the games and she gave him a cake during the valentine’s day event, to which showed a scene of him thinking about what to give her back (and low and behold, Kurapika’s White’s Day card featured him with a gift and him wearing the same outfit of the scene where he thought about what to give her). 

In a separate mobile game, they have a special attack together. Their mobage cards have identical backgrounds and themes. Therefore, it isn’t just one mobile game that does this. It makes me wonder why the official team devs do that when this pairing shipping sub-fandom is really small and many even dislike it. 

Even as a shipper, it also baffles me why devs do that when they have little screentime together (gotta be more objective here). If you do consider the KuraNeon Marriage Theory or consider that they might end up together in the manga, it makes sense why the official hxh game devs pair them together. And I am unsure about the source - but I think for Japanese manga production of non-manga material, you need approval from the writer? All the more to be suspicious of the mobile games that contains KuraNeon above every single pairing out there. 

Hence, if you ask me, there is a chance of Kurapika/Neon being canon. How that might happen is a little tricky and depending on the type of portrayal they will be (I have four interpretations of this ship on my pinned post lol). 

I’m not sure if you only define canon as the vanilla/romantic type, or it also includes one that is a little twisted. I've noticed that hxh has friendship and family dynamics that are already complicated and not as wholesome as one would think. I do believe that if KuraNeon were to be canon, it would be the latter interpretation. 

There are actually a few things that are needed to be considered for it to happen: 1) Neon’s fate - she needs to be alive (or maybe not)  Now, a lot of people believe she died because Chrollo’s book speculates that she does. However, we don’t see her dead body. It’s literally just Chrollo’s interpretation. This is contrasted by Kurapika that states that the previous Scarlet Eye owners did not need to be killed (and the “daughter of a mafia leader” is one of them). If the daughter of a mafia leader is truly Neon, then it brings a question of who should you believe more: Chrollo or Kurapika? (Imo it’s super interesting how these two guys who are enemies have different narratives on the same girl). 

Of course, there was this potential discrepancy I found while re-watching this arc. The Scarlet Eyes that Kurapika bidded for 2.9 billion was a fake. They thought it was stolen when Squala took it with him and died - but it was actually that Kortopi’s Gallery Fake copy disappears after 24hour. So technically, the Eyes is with the Troupe. Now, assuming that Togashi has not forgotten this detail (I believe he still remembers), I do think that it is possible that since Chrollo is the type to get bored of the stuff he steals, he will just sell it and it will be obtained by the later owners. As for “the daughter of a mafia leader”, I’m sure it’s Neon that Kurapika is referring to - be it him mentioning her as merely a previous owner despite the set of Scarlet Eyes being “stolen” or she bought another set. (There is a chance that is not Neon, but another daughter of a random mafia leader, but what are the chances of another daughter being like that?) 

I guess I just wanted to point this detail out because many people readily believed Chrollo’s book (it was not even himself). He stated that he did not know when it disappeared. 

As for that “Hisoka killed Neon” theory, while it is believable and interesting, the only thing that is doubtful for that is that a) Hisoka could not have gone off to kill Neon in such a short period of time, b) that would be an insult to Kurapika’s capabilities if she was under his care, c) the fortune-telling ability doesn’t bother Hisoka. Pakunoda and Hisoka had a short conversation about the fortune and both of them acknowledged that the future changed. Hisoka wrote over his fortune despite having a good one to manipulate the events in hopes of fighting Chrollo - that is an indication of his belief that he writes his own future, and therefore which is why I argue that the fortune-telling ability never bothered him.

As for the “Kurapika killed Neon” theory, I think... they all need to get one thing straight about Kurapika: as much as possible, except for the spiders, he doesn’t kill (or at least dislikes to kill). He stated that none of the owners had to die even if two preferred to die. If there’s a way, he will not shed blood. Besides, Kurapika doesn’t actually hate Neon - contrary to popular belief. There wasn’t a single manga panel that indicates his hatred for her; or even annoyance. It was only the time where Mellody mentioned that he will kill her if she stands in the way, but Kurapika, as much as mentioned before, doesn’t kill if there is an alternative way. 

I have yet to fully explore possible reasons why Neon’s ability disappears from Chrollo’s book if she’s still alive (my friend thinks it’s related to Kurapika’s dolphin ability). However, there are many rebuttals to the theories on how she died. 

But yeah, I think for it to be canon, Neon has to be alive. Unless... they were already canon and he sailed to the Dark Continent and she died slightly before that event (tbh I rather not have this).

2) Kurapika’s fate - he needs to live

Number 2 is a condition is if they aren’t canon yet before he sails to the Dark Continent. 

One thing that confuses people is that they think that just because Kurapika is under the Kakin Employment, it means that he is no longer affiliated with the Nostrades. The Kakin Employment contract is temporary - he is still affiliated with the Nostrades (and their business is bodyguarding, take note). As for him being in the Zodiac, he is still the Nostrade Family Young Boss - being part of the Zodiacs is like some political committee. 

I know there are rumours (I say rumours cause I don’t see the interview script by my own eyes) that Togashi once indicated that the Phantom Troupe and Kurapika will all die. I do think that Togashi can kill one of his main characters, but there’s one thing that makes me question whether he changed his mind: Nitro Rice from the Dark Continent. 

The Nitro Rice is a thing in the Dark Continent that prolongs one’s life - a direct solution to Kurapika’s Emperor Time problem. I think if he does last until they reach the Dark Continent, he has a chance to prolong his lifespan that he has lost while using Emperor Time. 

Now, if he indeed gets to survive, manages to complete his mission, there’s another problem he will face: a will to live. Because currently, all he has ever lived for is bringing justice to his clan. Beyond that, what can he live for? Which kind of makes the ending for him to happily live with someone (be it his friends or having a family) a suitable one. 

3) Neon’s development

Neon is seriously misunderstood among the fandom - even her personality. I’ve seen a lot of Kurapika x (other character) ships where Neon is the 3rd party in fanfics; and it is a one-sided love. 

However, Neon is actually an emotionally detached person while Kurapika is the one that gets attached to people, even if he initially avoids them. Neon has what psychologists will call “Avoidant-Dismissive Attachment Style” while Kurapika has “Avoidant-Fearful Attachment Style”. This is rightfully so due to their different backgrounds. I actually believe that between the two of them, Kurapika will be the one who falls first or if this is one-sided, Kurapika is the one that likes her because of their attachment styles. 

Neon has zero friends, is materialistic and lacks sympathy for dead people (the complete opposite of Kurapika). She believes in focusing on the present and the living (it’s actually a pretty good principle to live for). She needs to learn how to be more attached to people and learn compassion - which she actually is seen as being capable of. She was surprised that Eliza broke down and cried, and even forgo bidding physically. I think this is an indication of her starting to feel sympathy for people and perhaps being more mature - cemented by the fact that she lost her powers.

Therefore, I do think she needs to learn how to warm her heart up to people (which she might have already started to after the York New incident) if she were to feel something for Kurapika. 

4) Kurapika’s view of her

Okay, this is one factor that is either you take it the vanilla way or the kinky way lmao. I actually wrote a Cognitive Dissonance Theory for Kurapika on my Tumblr post for this one (will try to link it in the reblog). 

Kurapika’s initial belief is that flesh collectors are scums who should be arrested, yet he is surprised to see that his flesh-collecting employer is a girl of his age. I think there is already dissonance in his mind there once he met her. 

Contrary to popular belief, Kurapika doesn’t hate Neon (there’s no single manga panel that ever once showed he detest her or feel annoyed with her; as compared to other employees of hers). In fact, he does quickly understand that Neon is being exploited by her father - to which he corrects Basho about the situation. In the manga, when he woke up after the fever, he says her name (in the 2011 anime, it was “Boss” but in the manga, it’s “Neon”) and immediately asks about her; which indicates that he is concerned for her. Of course, she is his employer but in that situation where he is bedridden and not working, him asking about her won’t be just due to him working as a bodyguard. 

However, this doesn’t show that he has feelings for her. It only proves that a) he doesn’t hate her, b) he does care about her. He needs to see Neon as more than just a flesh collector for him to like her; on top of spending time with one another. He needs to see (if he hasn’t already) that she is a girl his age that has a different predicament than him. 

This is the vanilla way I guess. 

The darker and more saucy interesting interpretation would be him thinking it’s okay to objectify her just as much as she objectifies his clan’s eyes (that’s another post I gotta do for another day - but hey, this interpretation is paralleled to Tserreidnich/Theta). 

5) Spending Time with one another

I think as mentioned, it is already a given that Kurapika and Neon had spent time together under one roof off-screen while we see Gon and Killua on-screen during the 3 arcs. However, I think Neon cannot suddenly become less detached and Kurapika cannot want something more than his mission at the moment; so I do think that even if they had spent time before Dark Continent Exploration arc, Neon and Kurapika needs to spend time together after he comes back (that’s if they haven’t banged before he sailed to the Dark Continent like they did in my fic lmao). 

So yeah, I think these are generally the five things that I think should happen if they were to be canon. 

I don’t know why I was compelled to do a long-ass post of this, but I hope this answers your question. I can go on and write a report about this but Imma stop here for now. 

[hwaflms]

Fav Emoji: 🗡

Hi!!! I was wondering if I can get a ship for txt, nct, and ateez pls? I’ll really try not to make this long, but it’s hard sometimes lol.

Anyways, I’m an 18 year old 03’ liner and I’m 5’6. As for looks, I’m african american so i have dark skin, brown eyes and cinnamon colored hair. I cut my hair really short above my ears. I look rather young for my age (unfortunately). I’m rather slim and i have long legs and arms so people say I look even taller than what i am. I have large round eyes a big forehead, a button nose, and thick(ish) lips with round cheeks(ok now i understand why ppl think i’m vv young 🙄) But nowadays i’m more confident in myself and it’s no longer an insecurity of mine. I’d like to say i’m very stylish yet i can’t pick an aesthetic for the life of me.

To sum up my fav aesthetic/style, i would have to say something that’s dark but sophisticated. Like dark academia, but add a bit more of an alt/goth style to it. I like listening to visual kei and rock music, but to be honest, I love all music, even country some times.

I’m from the south of usa, so that has influenced how i am A LOT. I usually don’t have an accent, but whenever i feel a really strong emotion, I get a really strong southern accent and it’s kind of funny. I also tend to go outside without any shoes or socks. I like playing with my pets outside the most, I have two dogs (one is a rottweiler and one is a bull dog), my cat (just a black cat) and my bird. I love love love animals. I love everything to do with nature as well, i feel a deep connection with nature, and once, i even cried while watching bees pollinate flowers help lol.

My psychic said my aura was multiple shades of green, which i think it fits, seeing that green auras represented healers and earth lovers. My dad tends to call me a hippie lol. Astrology wise, I’m a leo sun, leo moon, and scorpio rising. My personality type is INFP-T. My friends say i’m quite funny, and they like to point out, “she’s really really smart, but like everyone, she has her dumb moments, but her dumb moments are the dumbest of the dumbest.”

I’m very sensitive, and not in the “i’m always crying way”. Yet, when i do cry, i tend to cry over the smallest of things, like the bee one. I cry over animals being cute, and I cry when i’m rlly rlly excited. Yet if i’m rlly sad, i can’t cry for some reason, and i’m just 😐. But, I try my hardest to comfort others and help others because there seriously is no other happiness in the world that makes me more happy than making others happy.

I like to talk a lot, as well (as you can see), and i’ll talk about every topic. I tend to talk most about child birth and genetics weirdly enough, it’s so interesting to me. But i also love to talk about astrology, space, and conspiracy theories. I’m highly spiritual. I’m also highly creative. I love drawing, singing, dancing, acting, all of that. Drawing has always been my strongest suit before i somehow got bored of it, but i still draw every once and a while.

I also like playing sports, as i’m naturally athletic. I did ballet, tap dance, gymnastics, track and field, cheerleading, soccer, and softball. (i think cheer is a sport and i’ll argue with anyone on that). I’ve lived in america, germany, and south korea, and i want to travel to so many more places as i grow older.

As for relationship stuff, I’ve never been in a relationship. I’m scared of boys to be honest. I was bullied in school a lot for being “ugly” and it was always by boys so i’ve never really had the best experience with them. I’m still trying to gain my confidence so that i could try dating.

My ideal type is someone smart (though i don’t hate himbos lmao), but i like someone smart and mature. I like someone who works hard, but not someone who’s too serious. With people, i like to have those love/hate relationships lol like we make fun of each other but we also have our soft moments. As for looks, i don’t rlly have an ideal type, yet there’s a couple things that i would go for. I like someone who’s taller than me, has bigger hands than me (mine are 18cm 😥), and has nice legs (i tend to like thicker legs, but i don’t discriminate). I do think smaller guys around my height are so cute too tho, like UGH I CANT CHOOSE.

My ideal date would probably be anything other than going to a restaurant. Maybe later on in the relationship that would be fine, but to be honest, i’m very awkward and shy at first, so it would just be weird. I find that doing something fun together really let’s you find out more about a person rather than just talking. So maybe an amusement park, or even doing an escape room together.

As for love languages, i’m not a very touchy person. Sometimes, i’m STARVING for a hug, but most of the time i don’t like to be touched. I think my love language is acts of service, and idk what’s it’s called, but just trying to find out abt someone. Someone would really know i like them when i ask for their whole zodiac chart, personality type, weekday of birth, everything.

Tbh, i’m very much like a tsundere. I don’t like showing affection very much, and i’d rather insult the ppl that i like than compliment them. Though, this is probably the reason ppl think i don’t like them when i first meet them. Sometimes i might get rlly mushy and cute and stuff, but most of the time, i’m just not used to showing affection, so i feel kinda uncomfy when i do.

Ok, that’s all, i really hope it wasn’t too much for you to read, i tend to get carried away ❤️ have a nice day ily

୨୧ 𓂃 : 🐇 :┊ i ship you with . . .

💌 — huening kai ♡ txt.

𖥻 the last thing a relationship with hyuka would be is boring. he gives off very "best friend who also happens to be your boyfriend" vibes, so there would be a lot off playing around and goofing off. he can be affectionate but also likes his space, like you, so you would be able to find a middle ground. he would like is your relationship was light and fun, teasing each other and making fun of each other. if you ever felt insecure, he would make you feel better in a less "let's talk about it" way and a more "ugh you're so silly, why would you think that when you're perfect??" way.

💌 — johnny ♡ nct.

𖥻 johnny is a chill and laid-back person, so conversation with him would come easy. there wouldn't be an awkward stage with him because johnny is a pretty smooth talker and he would make it easier for you to talk to him. johnny would NEVER make you feel insecure, if anything, he'd be the type of boyfriend who would be hyping you up all the time, even when you're doing absolutely nothing. johnny loves music too so, while he might make fun of you a lil for listening to country, he would love vibing to music with you. we all know johnny is mf hilarious, so he could definitely joke around with you and insult you playfully often ! plus johnny is a sexc tall boy and he has legs for days D:

💌 — hongjoong ♡ atz.

𖥻 hongjoong has the perfect balance of being mature and hardworking while also being playful. he knows how to take a joke and return the favour by teasing you, so i think in that aspect, you will have an easy-going relationship. he also will definitely be so supportive of you, and will be there for you whenever you need it. the kind of dates he would prefer would be more indoor ones, especially just in his studio !! he would show the amount of affection you're comfortable with, never pushing your boundaries or pressuring you.

♡ 𓄹 ࣪ ˖ i hope you like this !! and also, i just wanted to let you know that you are so so beautiful, okay, ilysm <3 boys suck, pls ignore them >:( thank you for sending this in, stay safe ^_^

[whimsywit]

Hello! Can I get a red velvet truffle please? I’m a straight female(she/her) and I don’t have an age preference. I’m a Gemini and an enfp. So I’m outgoing, friendly, empathetic and very loyal to people I like. I also laugh a lot, am very spontaneous/impulsive, am dramatic, am very loud and can be very childish at times. Some negative qualities about me are that I have a hot temper, am stubborn and judgemental, and like to argue with others just for the sake of winning. I love cats, rain and sleeping a lot, while I hate summer(the temp reaches 45 C where I live) and people who are rude to waiters/janitors/maids. As far as my hobbies go, I play volleyball, read books and watch anime to chill back and relax. Soo as far as my fears go, I have a fear of being abandoned by my friends, a fear of heights and a fear of dying alone, without accomplishing anything. I want to do something meaningful with my life, which is why I’m studying to become a doctor and make a positive difference in anyone’s life, be it 2 or 40. So some qualities I admire in others are intelligence, confidence, humour and ambitiousness; while some I dislike are dishonesty, uncleanliness and greediness.

Thank you so much in advance if you do this 💕

hey hey! thanks right back for being patient and for ordering in the first place ;P at first this might seem like an unexpected match i’m standing by it!! i just can’t help but see an amazing dynamic between you and...

Tenya Iida!

«────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ──────»

While at first you two seem completely different—you’re an eager and exuberant extravert while he’s so straight and strict and still struggling with his social skills— I think there’s a lot more similarities than meets the eye! You both have a habit of being loud as well as a flair for the dramatic (remember how he played his villain role during that one training sesh? my mans an actor 💅🏼✨) but still take yourselves seriously enough to be dedicated to your goals with nothing being able to deter you. In short, you guys are the perfect example of a passionate power couple, standing out for better or worse and giving everything your all together which makes you a force to be reckoned with for sure ;0

Your zodiacs confirm this as well! Tenya is a Leo while you’re a Gemini, and both signs are playful yet intellectual which makes for a relationship full of energy and easy communication. His direct and decisive attitude will actually help you in your endeavors, as you might struggle with decision making due to your flexible and eclectic nature. As long as you get the independence your sign craves, there’s nothing but smooth sailing as you guys work towards your futures in tandem with an optimism that’s hard to find among your peers.

OOH speaking of your futures, you know he’s gonna be all over your dreams of being a doctor! It’s a respectable profession, which especially works well since he comes from a prestigious family, but what he admires even more is your selfless motivation to help others through your work. Honestly, though he’s too embarrassed to admit it outright, he loves your ability to relate to people, and your childish tendencies actually help him loosen up and balance him out well 🤗 And you don’t have to worry about it being a one-sided attraction, since I think Tenya perfectly matches all the traits your like and none of those you don’t; he has to uphold a good image being class president and all lmaooo

Whether you two are caught up in a riveting argument or an equally engaging hardcover, playing a lively match of volleyball or getting him to slow down with a cuddle session on a rainy day, Tenya will give all that he’s got into you and whatever you love. All at once you’re the unlikely yet ideal pair and I can’t see anyone better for the both of you to live life and achieve your dreams with ٩( ^ω^ )و

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

Amadeus Cho x Cage!Reader

Anon Asked:  Hiiiii can you please do a “Amadeus x Luke Cage sister” pleaseee

You met Amadeus at S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy

You didn’t want to be there but Luke insisted it would be a good place as any to learn how to use your powers responsibly

Since he never let you do the hero business before

You were genetically enhanced, like your brother, by your parents when Zodiac attacked your plane

You have the ability to mimic the skills of any animal that you touch

For example, if you touch a bunny, you have enhanced hearing and you can jump really high

If a snake, you can poison someone and have the speed and agility of a snake

So, on and so forth

You can also speak to animals

Amadeus thinks it’s an incredibly stupid power to have because you don’t have a guarantee that you’ll find an animal in the middle of a fight

“Oh really? Well, I guess the word of Tony Stark’s and Spiderman’s love child is law around here!”

“Love child?!”

Your parents have no idea where you get your sass from

They blame Luke and he’s secretly very proud

Danny is like your honorary big brother so you end up spending a lot of time with him

So, does Amadeus

And he hears about how annoying each of you are from the other

But he never says anything because he likes to hear it

Then one day you get paired to go together on a mission on a remote island

It was to find a server that had gone offline and reboot it on the island

Since they had no idea where it would be on the island, they needed someone who could work well in nature and then they needed someone who was smart enough to reboot it remotely

The two of you were the perfect fit for the mission

Neither of you is pleased 

“Why her?”

“Because we needed someone who would work suitably in natural conditions.”

“Then send me with squirrel girl, Spiderman! Anybody but her!”

“You’re no picnic either, Cho! I swear once we get on that island, I’m going to ask a crocodile to eat you!”

That’s how you get sent off, while arguing

And you arrive while arguing too

So much so that you asked a seagull to poop on his head

Amadeus was not pleased

“Just be glad I didn’t ask the crocodiles.”

He tries to undermine you in the beginning, telling you that he’ll find it himself but then realizes he’s in over his head

“Back so soon?” You asked leisurely while sunbathing in the sand

“I can’t find it.”

“Surprising.”

“You know this is your mission too!”

“And you said I was just in your way so I stepped aside to let you do your job.”

“Alright! I’m sorry! Will you help me now?!”

You ended up asking a very polite snake and she led you right to it

Since then, Amadeus looks at you in a new light

As in he actually pays attention to you

And he realizes that you’re pretty cute

Thus, the pining begins

Luke hates it when you date anybody and hates it even more when guys have a crush on you

“Iron Spider, are you staring at my sister?”

Cue everybody staring at him and his face turns red

“Sir, your heart rate has sped up significantly, would you like me to alert the med bay?”

He’s so embarrassed that he can’t even look at you and instead just speeds out of the room

So quickly that he almost missed you saying

“Pick me up at 8!”

You two become the cutest couple

And also, the only couple

Everyone begins feeling old and alone because they’re all older than you

Now Amadeus as a boyfriend means having the personification of awkward as your boyfriend

Boy has no experience whatsoever

And that might be the same case for you

But you’re so tired of his blushing every time you even grab his hand that you’ve become bolder

So, you hold his hand first

Hug him first

Take the lead in practically everything in your relationship

And it made him feel a little insecure about it

So, he was the one who kissed you first

It wasn’t a huge romantic gesture or anything

More like a peck goodbye

But it was right in front of everybody

And even though you were already flustered enough, Amadeus has the audacity to wink before taking off because your brother is chasing him

Don’t let him fool you though

He was having a heart attack in his suit

One thing that surprised you about him was that he loves to cuddle

Loves

Loves

LOVES it

But you don’t have much opportunity for it since you have shared dorms and you would rather not be romantic with an audience

So once the two of you snuck away early and skipped dinner

People were betting that you were making out in a broom closet

But everyone came back to the dorms to find you tucked underneath his chin, in his bed

 Luke almost has an aneurysm

The rest of them are so amused that Luke is losing his mind over his little sister dating somebody

Another thing that Amadeus surprised you with was that he enjoyed stargazing

And while you liked that he was excited about something that wasn’t science

Sneaking you off in the middle of the night to look at the sky was not exactly what you liked

So, you ended up cuddling on a blanket on the roof of the academy, listening to him blabber about constellations while you fell asleep

And then he wakes you up so you can watch the sunrise together

One thing leads to another and you guys spend the rest of the day together, away from the academy

And then come back to look at the stars and fall asleep on the roof

Everyone except Luke knows where the two of you have been 

But no one tells him because it’s fun to watch him panic

You return after sunrise and Luke is a step away from breaking Amadeus like a twig

“You are grounded young lady!”

“Wha—? You can’t ground me?! You’re not my dad!”

“Then—Then!”

“Then what?!”

“I’m telling mom!”

And that’s why your parents end up flying to the academy to meet your boyfriend

Mom is practically overjoyed that you have a boyfriend and that she can finally have those days where you talk about him and Dad thinks he’s a fine young genius

Luke to this day says that they betrayed him

In the end, Luke only loosens up after he realizes that this was serious

“Okay, you have my blessing.”

“We’ve been dating for two years, Luke.”

“Okay fine then! Don’t have my blessing!”

Amadeus loves you like crazy and would die before he let anything happen to you

And everyone knows he’s whipped for you

Even though he likes to pretend he isn’t

[undertheinfluencerd]

Outer Banks: 10 Best JJ Quotes | ScreenRant

All of the characters in Netflix’s Outer Banks are fun to watch. They get into some of the most unbelievable situations – and find even more unbelievable ways out of them. With all the treasure hunting and running for their lives, however, come some great lines.

RELATED: 5 Reasons Each Season Of Outer Banks Is The Best

Amongst the Pogues, a lot of the great lines are courtesy of JJ Maybank. Whether he’s dropping a funny one-liner, giving an emotional speech, or simply throwing his friends for a loop, JJ certainly has the kind of lines that stick with the audience.

10 “He’s Straight Up Like The Spanish. Just, Bon Voyage.”

JJ doesn’t always make the most sense when trying to make a point to his friends, as is evident in this Outer Banks Season 2 quote from him. It’s said while he’s trying to explain to Kiara, John B, Pope, and Sarah that the Pogues are his family. While it’s clear that they all appreciate what he’s saying, none of them can resist teasing him about not knowing the difference between Spanish and French.

The entire exchange is a great snapshot of the group in the show. They can tease each other for their mistakes, even be genuinely angry with one another, but they’d do anything for each other.

9 “The Pentagon… We Have Security Clearance. I Have A Card.”

After Hurricane Agatha lands in the early episodes of the first season of Outer Banks, JJ and John B stop by Pope’s family’s business to take him out on the water. Unlike the other two boys, Pope’s parents actively engage with him and are trying to get him to help with the damages to the property.

JJ tries to tell Pope’s father that the day after a hurricane is a free day… according to the government, i.e. the Pentagon. Pope’s father, of course, isn’t amused by JJ’s antics, though he fully commits to the bit. It’s the first of many times that it’s clear the Pogues aren’t really great with one another’s parents.

8 “I Love Third-Wheeling. It’s My Favorite Thing.”

While some will argue that a relationship between Pope and Kiara makes no sense, JJ is the one with a front row seat to most of their struggles during the second season. JJ appears supportive of Pope and Kiara, much as he appeared supportive of the potential of Kiara and John B ending up together in the first season. It’s clear, however, that always being the third-wheel to his friends is getting to him a little bit.

John B and Sarah fall for one another very quickly. Pope is pretty well gone on Kiara for most of the episodes. JJ is left to watch the couples around them – for better or worse. He often finds himself on the outside of their discussions looking in, as is the case with this quote when Kiara, Pope, and JJ are trying to get evidence against Ward Cameron.

7 “If I’m The One Mediating, We’ve Hit Rock Bottom.”

JJ might make some incredibly reckless decisions, but he knows that about himself. No one can deny that JJ doesn’t understand exactly who he is. He knows that he’s argumentative and that he often can’t stop himself once he starts down that road.

RELATED: Outer Banks Characters Ranked From Least To Most Likely To Survive The Hunger Games

So, when Kiara and Pope argue about John B’s safety in the first season of the series, JJ acting as mediator between them is a little surprising. He always takes a side amongst his friends. JJ, however, also understands that both of his friends aren’t truly angry at one another, but the situation they find themselves in, and his crack about mediating is enough to diffuse the situation.

6 “I Can’t Let You Take The Blame For Something I Did. You Have Too Much To Lose.”

If there’s one thing that’s reiterated in the first season of the series, it’s that JJ is the best liar. He knows exactly how to get himself out of trouble – or in the case of this particular line, into it.

One of the best things JJ does in the entire show, and one of the most selfless, is to take the fall for Pope after Pope sinks Topper’s boat. JJ has no illusions about his place in OBX, but he’s well aware that Pope is on track for a prestigious scholarship – and getting out. When Pope is going to be arrested for doing something JJ encouraged him to do to get back at Topper and Rafe, JJ doesn’t let that happen, giving this line to Pope to encourage Pope to say that JJ committed the crime instead. It’s a huge thing for a friend to do, but JJ is one of the most loyal friends there is.

5 “Ain’t All That Bad… That’s Just One Man’s Opinion Though.”

Out of context, this particular line doesn’t exactly have the same punch of some of JJ’s other quotes. It does comment on the central conflict of the Pogues versus the Kooks, though, as well as his never-ending support of the people he cares about.

Kiara is, technically, a Kook. She’s adopted the Pogue lifestyle, and in the second season, it starts to catch up with her as she’s constantly at odds with her parents. Her mother threatens to send her to boarding school because of who she’s becoming. JJ comforts Kiara with this line, that Kiara being a Pogue isn’t the worst thing in the world, and while he says it as though he’s speaking for Pope, he’s clearly voicing his own opinion about her.

4 “I Know For A Fact That All I Got Is Your Guys, Okay? You’re It.”

The family a character is born into compared to the family they’ve made in the Pogues is a running theme in both seasons. In the second season, JJ is finally able to cut ties with his abusive father because he helps his father run from the police on a boat, not unlike what he did for John B in the first season.

RELATED: The Main Characters Of Outer Banks, Ranked By Likability

As JJ watches his friends squabble in the marsh right after Kiara helps him see his dad off for good, JJ makes it clear that this group of people is the only family he really has. Sure, JJ has cousins he can ask for a hand once in a while, but the people he loves and trusts are the Pogues. That’s true for all five of the characters as they make their way through Outer Banks.

3 “Oh, Now She Wants The Gun.”

In the second season, JJ and Kiara end up paired up for a lot of the adrenaline-fueled sequences. Part of that is a result of John B and Sarah being separated from the rest of the Pogues quite a bit. Part of that is also the result of Kiara’s strained relationship with Pope. As much as JJ and Kiara are on the same side, however, they also bicker quite a bit.

One of the chief arguments they have is over JJ’s possession of a stolen gun. While JJ is not as quick to jump to violence as Rafe Cameron, that doesn’t mean he won’t use the gun, something Kiara doesn’t approve of until the second season when the group is targeted yet again. As Kiara asks JJ where the gun is, he’s both annoyed and surprised that she’s willing to use it as soon as he’s had to hide it to protect the group.

2 “So, I Busted The Wrong Guy Out Of Jail, Sue Me.”

When it comes to making plans, JJ isn’t exactly the smartest of the Pogues. His plans aren’t always the most thought out, and that’s never more clear than his convoluted idea that involves using an ambulance to break John B out of jail in Season 2.

When it doesn’t work, and a different inmate is released into the care of the paramedic JJ is pretending to be, he has to text Kiara for help. She and Pope save him just in time. Despite the desperate nature of the situation, he still has time for this quip.

1 “Stupid Things Have Good Outcomes All The Time.”

This is one of JJ’s only lines that makes an appearance in both seasons of the show. It’s an acknowledgment that he and his friends make, in their own words, incredibly stupid decisions. It’s also an acknowledgment that the choice to do that isn’t always bad.

After all, their bad decisions lead them on two different treasure hunts and allow Sarah and Kiara to become friends again. They also save one another’s lives multiple times.

NEXT: Which Outer Banks Character Are You Based On Your Zodiac Sign?

The post Outer Banks: 10 Best JJ Quotes | ScreenRant appeared first on undertheinfluencerd.net.

[retvenkos]

Congratulations on the milestone!

🔥 Preferably Merlin, Percy Jackson or Harry Potter

I am a straight girl, a slytherin. I enjoy debating and literature. My zodiac sign is Aquarius. And I most definitely cannot talk about myself in a natural way. I am very opinionated and don't really enjoy fluff (like cute names and all that vanilla acting) though I like romantic actions. I like conflicted characters who are not particularly heroes as well as characters that don't open up straight away.

I am really curious about who you will pair me up with :^)

Congratulations again on the milestone, keep it up 😌😊

alright, just a disclaimer that it’s been a while since i’ve read percy jackson, so i’ll do my best, but my memory of the characters might be a little spotty.

Merlin:

I ship you with Elyan!

alright, so we all know that elyan is the ~mysterious~ knight, and that energy is perfect for you. you have to be at level 100 before he gives you his backstory, and you get to have a lot of fun theorizing about it, and slowly chipping away at his rough exterior. elyan is like, the definition of mysterious with a heart of gold and that’s honestly very iconic of him.

also, elyan would love that you are opinionated and have ambitions of your own - his sister is gwen, after all, so he’s very used to having lengthy debates. he would love to talk with you and have debates - you aren’t afraid to speak your mind, and he loves that about you.

the two of you probably talk a lot at the banquets and festivities that arthur throws as king - elyan finds them enjoyable for the first few moments, but he’s an introvert and needs time alone. the two of you manage to sneak off or at the very least find a quiet area, and you just talk - about anything and everything.

neither of you like to talk about yourselves very much. elyan is modest and he likes to keep up some mystery, and you struggle with talking about yourselves, so you often avoid topics about yourselves.

i imagine that, at some point, elyan asks you about yourself, and you tell him you’re not very good at talking about yourself, and so he says he’ll speak for you, then. and he lists off all of the qualities about you that he loves, and all of the little things he’s noticed, and he’s really spot on. he asks you how he did, and you compliment him and then proceed to tell him all of the things about himself that you have uncovered, and his smile - sort of proud and intrigued - is seared into your memory forever.

anyway, i think the two of you would make a fine couple - you’re both unique and independent, and yet elyan is incredibly loyal and would die for you.

furthermore, elyan, too, is not someone who is super big on excess fluff in a relationship. he’s a more private person, so his acts of love are kept for when the two of you are alone - not when all of camelot is looking. (though he does quite like stolen kisses in the corridors.)

i think that there would be a lot of deep understanding in your relationship, and so when elyan finally opens up to you (it’s after a long while, but when he’s ready, he does), he tells you all about his travels. you are one of the few to actually know all that happened to him in those years when he was alone, and when the other knights find out that you know, they beg you to tell them - percival likes to make guesses and you will either confirm or deny them.

(of course, you’ve confirmed complete lies, and percival has probably realized at this point that elyan did not fight off an entire village that outcasted him, creating a ghost town in his wake, but percival can never be sure which of your confirmed stories are real, and which ones are fake...)

Percy Jackson:

I ship you with Luke Castellan!

first of all, before luke joined kronos, he was actually a well-respected boy. like, camp members loved him - he was kind and had a witty personality, and he cared about the camp members, so he had a lot of loyalty to them. i can see all of this lining up with your personality really nicely.

i think luke would have really loved you! your opinions, your inventive way of thinking, your individuality, and your inexplicable luck? luke finds you fascinating - both kind but honest, both a dreamer but grounded in reality. you are his favorite person to be around, and he loves just watching you in your element.

idk if you are more of a sword fighter, knife fighter, or an archer (or whatever else have you - magic? necromancy perhaps?) but luke likes to watch you in action - you have such a determinedness to you, and you’re extremely clever, so watching you in battle is always fun. you outsmart your opponent and are fierce while doing so.

he also loves to relax with you while you’re reading - you thoroughly immerse yourself in novels, and he likes to watch the expressions cross your face - happiness and sorrow, confusion and excitement, he thinks it’s cute.

your introverted side mixed with his extroverted tendencies would be an interesting mixture - but i feel like luke enjoys his downtime and it wouldn’t be too much of a strain on your relationship.

i so think, though, that luke holds a lot of his cards close to his chest, and he doesn’t open up because he knows he has a lot to hide, and with you... it would be opening the floodgates. you definitely know this, and you want to know what he’s hiding. it’s a source of frustration for the both of you, and working through that is difficult.

Harry Potter:

I ship you with Sirius Black!

now, this was not my first thought, seeing as sirius kind of has it out for slytherin’s in general, but i can actually see this really working, so stick with me

i want to say that you and sirius were childhood acquaintances - maybe you’re from another pureblood family that’s always been in slytherin, and so your families often talk and bring their children along. you and sirius were encouraged to play with one another, and i imagine the two of you didn’t always get along

sirius is outgoing while you are reserved. both of you are a little arrogant (you mostly when it comes to your intellect). neither of you would back away from a fight, and generally you have a lot of tension together. with sirius, your strong opinions become scathing remarks, and your debates become arguments. he just knows how to infuriate you.

and yet, the two of you also seem to gravitate toward each other - in every room, you manage to find sirius and he manages to spot you. it’s irritating. 

i imagine that before you head off to hogwarts, your families meet up one last time, and you’re talking about hogwarts, and for once, you aren’t arguing. it’s rare that the two of you share these moments, but it happens every once in a while, and it’s happening again.

neither of you want to be in slytherin (and sirius coaxes this out of you with great difficulty) - you want to be a ravenclaw and he a gryffindor. you’re independent and witty and definitely clever - you could be in ravenclaw, but you also don’t want to betray your family. sirius says that if you end up in ravenclaw, the two of you can be social outcasts together - of course, you’d have to keep your bragging down to a minimum, and your debates, too. they can be awfully annoying. and you tell him alright - but he’d have to keep his pride in check, and that reckless abandon that gets him so often into trouble.

and then you get sorted. and he is in gryffindor. but you’re in slytherin. and part of you mourns just a bit for the connection the two of you could have had - the daring escape from your life that almost was.

and in your house, you’re wonderfully clever, but also introverted and independent, so you often go overlooked (as so many aquarius slytherins do). you often get spared by the pranks that the marauders do just because you hang back from the group, but you get in the thick of some of them, sometimes, and it’s easy to get frustrated at sirius all over again.

at holidays, when sirius returns home, you criticize sirius for his pranks, but the two of you don’t spend as much time together, anymore, and when you do, it’s mostly spent in silence - both of you reading books and avoiding the others gaze. it’s no longer a comfortable rivalry between the two of you - it’s awkward and tense.

i imagine that in your fifth year, the two of you end up being partners in some class or another - potions, maybe, or divination or something. at first, the two of you didn’t talk much, but one day sirius asks about regulus, and that opens up communication again.

and then it’s back to your frustrated debates (now done in whispers, so the teachers don’t hear) and sirius’ cheeky teasing. and occasionally, on days when both of you are sobered or maybe just tired, you have those soft conversations again. and neither of you are great at opening up, but both of you are feeling a little lost and maybe a little trapped, and your friendship grows over the course of the year.

neither of you talk in the halls very much, but he’ll slide into the chair across from you in the library, or he’ll catch you on your way out of the great hall, and slowly, a romance starts between the two of you.

of course, if word got out that you were having romantic feelings for sirius black - blasted off of his family’s tree sirius black - you would be in deep trouble with your family, so the two of you keep it a secret. 

it’s rough going, but both of you promise that after school gets out, you will run away together.

of course, fantasys can only live too long, and at some point in your seventh year, your parents want to make you a full on death eater.

i imagine that you are independent, driven, and steadfast in your beliefs enough to run away - you go into hiding from your family and leave hogwarts without graduating, only giving a cryptic message about where you are to sirius, asking him to go and find you when it’s safe.

now, this ending could go a couple different ways - sirius goes to you right after school and you join the order of the phoenix with him, it’s not safe so he has to wait a while and he goes to you after lily and james die (with baby harry ofc because he’s his godfather), or, he only ever makes it back to you after he’s been in azkaban for forever, or, even worse, he never makes it back to you.

oof. that’s rough, buddy.

[blckthvrns]

Have you seen ATHENA BLACKTHORN? THEA is in SOPHOMORE year. The ACTING MAJOR is/are 20 years old & is a ARIES. People say SHE is/are OUTGOING, TENACIOUS, QUICK TEMPERED and CALCULATING. Rumors say they’re a member of CALLOWAY. I heard from the gossip blog that SHE CONVINCED HER HISTORY PROFESSOR TO LEAVE HIS WIFE FOR HER, AND THEN LEFT HIM.

(repost for the new acct, she hasn’t changed she’s still awful)

❣ . STATISTICS

name : Athena Rosaline Blackthorn

nicknames: Thea, T, Thena

age : twenty

school year : sophomore

major : acting / film studies

date of birth : 2nd april

zodiac sign : aries

sexuality : pansexual

+ traits : outgoing, tenacious

- traits : quick tempered, calculating

❣. PERSONALITY :

Thea is outgoing to a fault, the first to raise her hand in a lecture and one of the last lingering at the end of class, chatting to her classmates.

thrives being in calloway, loves the elitism of it all, the romanticism of secret letters and iron clad gates of society secrets.

a mix between cher horowitz, blair waldorf, veronica sawyer & a hint of eve polastri

likes who she likes and hates who she doesn’t, always one to veer sharply one way or the other. Indifference isn’t something she often feels towards people, though it’s usually due to the fact that to her, it means they’re just plain forgettable.

can be incredibly easy to get along with when she wants to be, insufferable the next.

probably considered more often than not a drama queen by most, one of those out there acting majors who craves a spotlight and a table to dance on.

❣. BACKGROUND :

Athena is one of quite a few blackthorn children, all born to leander and apollonia blackthorn. She and her brother were born together on a cloudy night in early April, Thea born first, desperate to make her way into the world with a wail of strong lungs and tenacity.

the blackthorns themselves have a bit of a tumultuous history, scarcely heard of before their rise into the ranks of the wealthy in 1921. Very Kennedy-esque, prominence now runs in their blood. But power and wealth always come at a cost.

Some call their family cursed, whether it be the will of a scorned witch or karmic justice balancing the world once more, living and loving as a blackthorn was never intended to be easy.

& while Thea doesn’t want to believe in the curse, it’s hard to ignore. Blackthorns die, or their loved ones die, it’s all one big circle of death and heartbreak and she can’t exactly deny it. If anything she points it out when it’s convenient to her, an excuse, a reason, a justification for behaviors she indulges in.

In her own mind, her version of the curse upon them is unforgivable. Is it a worse curse to lose the ones you love, or to never feel that grip of love to begin with? To never truly be lovable keeps her alive and well sure, but that chasm in her chest remains unfilled.

Growing up in a family where competition was as common as breathing made her stronger, if not smarter. Named after the goddess of war, to her it was a blood right. She learned to outwit to get what she wanted, what she lacked in stature or strength she had tenfold in wit and charm. Innocent eyes and a conniving little need to have her way. Her brother, while her other half, was all the heart, where she remained the head. It worked for her, in most ways.

went to a boarding school in europe for most of her early education, spending winter breaks and summers back in romania when she could.

Thea thrived on attention, and tried out a few hobbies and extracurriculars before acting became her passion. It was fun to her, to become other people with emotions and dreams so different from her own. It was fun seeing what those characters brought out in other people. If she didn’t like what she was given, she could shift, change, become someone better. Maybe just maybe, you never knew her at all. try again, look at the surface once more.

convinced her parents to allow her to attend of all things, a public school in manhattan. LaGuardia School of Music & Art to be exact, too many gossip girl fantasies interwoven with the knowledge of the stars its campus produced, she begged and pleaded and argued until she got her way. truly her biggest con to date.

Thea spent those years diving into becoming unending versions of herself. Took in the world around her, a city that never slept full of millions of souls to bare. She went out, partied, discovered, lived the life free of chains of her own making for once

The fact that she HERSELF was never discovered and whisked away to stardom she chalks up to another result of her curse. To be adored, but never truly loved. To be wanted, but never feel that love within herself for someone else. Was she unlovable, or just incapable of feeling it? She could scratch up every emotion under the moon in a second for performance. Anger, grief, passion. But love? Thea wasn’t sure she’d ever feel it.

She dated of course, various boys and girls at school or those whirlwind affairs on her summers home. But nothing ever lingered, ever stuck. She was always meant to be a little too much, yet never quite enough to hold on to. But the rush of feeling like someone’s entire universe was quickly an addiction.

Lust, was something else entirely. Lust was primal, immediate, and something she could cling to. She slept around and had her fun, but never let it linger, never stayed after to see whatever would soon cloud her partner’s gaze,

Coming to Yates was in part for the theatre department, but mostly for the whispers of the existence of the societies mentioned by her brothers. Call it a terrible fantasy, but visions of dark academia aesthetics and elite college life pulled her in. In her eyes her big break is still on the horizon, just a little further than anticipated.

Which brings us to last fall, her first year on campus. Met her history professor, noticed the way he couldn’t take his eyes off her. It was a new kind of thrill, having a weird sort of power over a grown man. He called her his ‘little goddess’ a term she found a bit condescending but whatever, the attention was devoted, almost reverent. It was easy to see how far she could stretch it, gifts he would give her, sweet nothings of their could be future if he just did something about it.

& After a while of doing nothing more than exchanging messages, having secret coffee dates out of town, he mentioned leaving his wife so they could start over, be the love story he envisioned them as.

That was when Thea realized what it would entail, how the rest of the little fairy tale would play out once the fun little scandal of it all faded. Doting housewife to a history professor, step mom to two teens who sounded already annoyingly perfect on paper. All mapped out. Gross, in summary. So he made his plans, and she made hers. Her plans left him in the dust, even as his divorce papers were signed sealed, delivered.

So she’s newly single-adjacent, though not sure where it’ll take her next. Her focus is back where it belongs on her and her alone, where she hopes it stays.

❣. HEADCANONS :

she loves being loved. It is a part of the reason she’s so quick to fall into another ‘role’ for others, tweak her words, expressions, make herself the most lovable version in their eyes. There has never been a moment where she’s felt it in return but to receive

Moments of adoration and appreciation fuel her like nothing else. She’s an actress, she needs applause and validation to live.

While her relationships with her siblings have always been incredibly complex in her eyes, her relationship with her twin brother is the one that’s faced the most hardship. Connected at the hip for their early years, incredibly distant in locations the rest, she wonders if he truly loves the person she’s turned into. If any of them are capable of loving who she is now.

she’s smart, genuinely very bright and just uses that fact for her own devices. Playing dumb might get her where she needs to be in some occasions, but she plays the long game. being named after a god of war is something that sticks with you after all.

watching terrible reality tv is her comfort, often spends half the show critiquing the wardrobe and the other half exclaiming how much better an option she’d be if it were her in their place.

loves to party, loves to drink, though drugs scare her. Something about the possibility of a complete loss of senses or control is something she’s never been able to repeat after a really bad trip back in new york.

drink of choice is fucking cosmo bc, carrie bradshaw.

❣. POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS :

a best friend! whether they met in new york or when she got to yates, someone who’s her ride or die friend who sees all of her shit and loves her despite it.

someone who is very much just not that into her. girl can bat her eyes and smile that smile and still?? nothing. probably drives her insane.

one night stands, ex hookups, current hookups. sometimes she gets around, we been knew. maybe even an ex bf or gf? maybe once things got serious, she killed the relationship before they inevitably realized they didn’t want her.

a fwb solely for when they just need a little fun? Can be very little feeling involved beyond thinking the other is attractive. Probably don’t even see the light of day in each other’s presence.

straight up enemies, hate each other on sight, probably drag each other to pieces

a verbal sparring partner?? girl is full of opinions whether it be in classes or life in general. someone to knock her down a peg or three and enjoy it. Could also be weird intellectual foreplay?? who’s to say.

literally anything else! come at me, let’s do some shit.

[chicagocityfclanspromoblog]

Ellis Watts III→ Aldis Hodge → Jackal

→ Basic Information

Age: 99

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Straight

Born or Made: Born

Birthday: December 25th

Zodiac Sign: Capricorn

Religion: Christian

→ His Personality

Ellis Watts is a workaholic. He has spent the entire duration as head of the Jackals looking for ways to better the clan and push them into more prominent positions within the city. This includes heavily encouraging the jackals in his clan to pursue a degree and better themselves intellectually. He also serves the citizens of Chicago as the City Planner. He has been making significant efforts to improve the quality of life for both supernaturals and humans. He is very dedicated to his work and responsibilities and does not falter in his duties. He is disciplined, often working nights and weekends until a project is seen through to the end.

However when Ellis relaxes, he does so in style. He loves expensive clothes and timepieces, nice cars, and excessive hobbies. Since he could get his hands on them, he’s loved anything with a motor: cars, motorcycles, and speed boats. Only recently has he begun to tackle the skies. It was a 95th birthday present to himself, and he’s almost put enough hours in to finally obtain his license to fly. He also enjoys spirits, and has begun making his own wine. This harkens back to his youth filled with mild over indulgence and a desire to escape.

→ His Personal Facts

Occupation: Head of Clan Jackal and City Planner

Scars: None

Tattoos: None

Two Likes: High end watches and Fast vehicles

Two Dislikes: Idle hands and People who ride their brakes

Two Fears: Failing at leading the Jackals and Heights

Two Hobbies: Boat Racing and Wine Making

Three Positive Traits: Responsible, Disciplined, Ambitious

Three Negative Traits: Work-Obsessed, Superficial, Stubborn

→ His Connections

Parent Names:

Ellis Watts II (Father): Ellis did not have a very strong relationship with his father, contrary to everyone in their pack. They were not very affectionate towards one another and often got into spats. Though it appeared that Ellis Watts II was handing his son the keys out of respect, in reality he left out of spite. They didn’;t have any other contact with one another for the rest of his life.

Lucretia Watts (Mother): Lucretia was old, much older than Ellis’s father, when they mated and died while Ellis was 30. Ellis was close to his mother, and she instilled many of the mantras he repeats and follows to this day.

Sibling Names:

None

Children Names:

None.

Romantic Connections:

Mary-Alice Lewis (Ex Girlfriend): He met Mary Alice when he was away for school. Too many things were trying to work against them, and when he asked her to come back home with him, she said no. He still thinks about her often and has thought about trying to see if she was still with her clan.

Miriam Vance (Ex Girlfriend): They dated in the 1970s for a few years. He was just getting in the meat of his political career and she wanted lots of children immediately. They parted ways and last he knew she moved to San Francisco.

Platonic Connections:

Sarah Harris (Best Friend): Sarah has been one of his longest friends and is often the person to call him out. He is the Godfather to both of their daughters and spends most holidays with their family.

Zack Harris (Best Friend): Zack is his most trusted confidante. They throw ideas around, playing with possibilities, before eventually bringing it to Sarah who helps make the idea possible.

Shannon Harris (Goddaughter): He has known Shannon since she was born. She’s a mini-Sarah through and through and he has recently begun training her to begin as a liaison to the pack. With the new influx of supernaturals that may come due to the University, Ellis wants to be ready.

Zelda Harris (Goddaughter): He has known Zelda since she was born. She was always a very independent child, taking the harder and often more daring road. Despite Sarah’s surprise, he saw Zelda forming her own path long before she finally told her mother she wasn’t going to school. He has her placed in the water department.

Odell Rella (Friend): Ellis brought Odell on as 3rd about 9 years ago, after he returned home from going to college and travelling the world. It’s a perspective that Jackals don’t often have and he values his input because of that. He’s still an idiot, but he does a good job as 3rd.

Seth Allen (Curious about): Seth is somewhat of an enigma to Ellis, Zack and Sarah. He is wild and difficult, but the strangest thing is that he doesn’t really act like a jackal, or at least not like anyone in Chicago. He loves being shifted and running in his shifted form. Seth also seems somewhat uncomfortable with the family dynamics that most of the clan has. Ellis has been mulling over their new addition a lot, and has even gone on a run with him in shifted form to see if it’d shed any more light.

Vee Armstrong (Employee): Vee has shown her work ethic since she was in college and Ellis took notice. When Sirius proposed getting a Human Shifter elected with the jackal’s help; Ellis knew she’d be the best person to get them there. So far she’s impressed him, and the early polls indicate Fischer will win.

Leon King (Friendly): Ellis knows of Leon through his work with the kids. He increased general activity and helped spearhead a childhood activity project that got kids moving.

Clara Fields (Fellow Council Member): Ellis doesn’t often talk to Clara, actually avoids it when he can, but they’ve known each other for a long time and he respects her work ethic.

Isaac Baker (Friend): Ellis has liked having Isaac on the council. He’s smart and isn’t weighed down by a century of baggage like the rest of them. They occasionally go to sports games together.

Chris Bialar (Work Associate): Chris came to him a year or two ago to suggest creating a University for the supernatural community. Clan Cat was experienced with the education side of things, while Clan Jackal could encourage the permit and general bureaucratic business along. Before their business venture Ellis thought he was an arrogant asshole, now he’s an arrogant asshole with a plan to get more Jackals to the city.

Nick Hamelin (Fellow Council Member): He and Nick are on good terms. The rats don’t invade any areas they shouldn’t and in return they don’t try to keep too much from them.

Percy McCormick III (Fellow Council Member): Ellis is fairly neutral about Percy. They’ve never really hit off, unlike him and the Fields, and it’s not something he’s interested in trying to start.

Greer Finley (Work Associate): Greer is the 2nd of the Cats and is spearheading much of the project on the Cat’s end. He tends to work with her on projects to avoid putting her and Sarah in the same room.

Amaria Crais (Work Associate): Amaria is the main liaison between the Cats and Jackals for the University project. He finds her much easier to deal with than Greer.

Asa Fields (Old Friend): He hasn’t spoken to Asa since he has been back, but the two would occasionally meet at parties around the city. He’s interested in seeing how he’s changed over the years.

Sirius Cobic (Business Partner): Sirius proposed the idea of getting a supernatural to the top of the Chicago government about a year and a half ago. They need someone with real power to rule and a human shifter would be the only one who could make it. Together they developed a plan, and are currently seeing it play out.

Hostile Connections:

Russell Jordan (Concerned about): Russell quickly shut down many lines of connections that had existed between the hyenas and jackals since they’d arrived. He claimed it was to unify the clan under new leadership, but they haven’t opened back up.

Alan Thomas (Annoyance): He’s never seen anyone argue so much over building codes that have been public knowledge for years. Thomas takes any slow down as a personal offence and doesn’t care to restrain himself from throwing a fit.

Pets:

None

→ History

Ellis was born in Chicago to Ellis Watts II and Lucretia Watts. Unusually for jackals the pair married at quite old ages and Ellis III was the only child they ever had. Lucretia was showing signs of slowing down when Ellis was a young boy, so it was only a matter of time when she passed away. He was away for many of her last years, and when he returned from school she refused to shift back into her human form. Ellis spent much of his time shifted the last year of her life so they could communicate easier. When she finally died, he didn’t change for years. It was at this time of no shifting that Ellis discovered his love for fast machines; motorcycles, cars, boats, anything he could feel the exhilaration of. He also garnered some criticism at this time, specifically from his father who thought he was being frivolous and wasteful. This was the beginning of what would become decades of arguments between the two men.

They fought about him not using his degree or getting a useful job, about Elli II being inflexible and running members out of Chicago. This was all hidden from the packs eyes as their leader having the least happy family of all might cause an uproar in such a family oriented clan. The only members who were aware were Sarah and Zack Harris, his father’s seconds. Finally in 1941, after a particularly brutal argument Ellis II quit, told his son that he could burn the pack down if he wanted, but that he wouldn’t be around to watch. He packed up his things and left the clan to Ellis to rule, with the obvious assumption he’d fail. Ellis, like he did in many instances rose to the occasion. He hunkered down and learned everything: each pack family, who needed assistance, what needed to be done, where there were spots they could expand. It was Ellis who made the switch into the Government and slowly began securing good jobs with good pay for his people. He finally joined office himself once he was legally able to and has been City Manager on and off for many years.

After he switched into being a leader, he’s had a difficult time turning it off. It’s ruined any relationship he’s had, caused tension headaches and teeth grinding, and he rarely if ever takes a day off. He still maintains many of his hobbies like boat racing, wine making, and now piloting; but work and his clan is always in the back of his mind.

→ The Present

Ellis would like to find a wife and start a family. Sarah says it was his dysfunctional family life that’s scared him off. Which is partially true, but he’s worried that he’ll start slipping if he relaxes too much. He’s actually considered asking Sarah or Shannon to set him up, but he’s not sure that he is that desperate yet.

Ellis is also creating a University with the Cats. He, Sarah, and Zack have been in talks for about a year or so developing the idea, but they are going to break ground soon. He’s excited to have a new school for his Jackals to go to, as well as a new draw for the supernatural community. Another venture he’s taking on, though in a much more removed position, is the election of human shifter, Robert J. Fischer. It was an idea concocted with the human shifters to get a member of the supernatural community in the highest seat of power. Though the council previously ruled no species could be in the mayor’s office due to an unequal balance of power, Ellis knows they don’t understand the nature of modern politics.

→ Available Gif Hunts (we do not own these)

Aldis Hodge  [1][2][3][4]

[newstfionline]

Saturday, November 14, 2020

A Third of the World’s Air Routes Have Been Lost Due to Covid (Bloomberg) Before the coronavirus, a decades-long aviation boom spawned a network of nearly 50,000 air routes that traversed the world. In less than a year, the pandemic has wiped almost a third of them off the map. Border closures, nationwide lockdowns and the fear of catching Covid-19 from fellow passengers have crippled commercial travel. As thousands of domestic and international connections disappear completely from airline timetables, the world has suddenly stopped shrinking. In years to come, overseas business trips and holidays will likely mean more airport stopovers, longer journey times, and perhaps an additional mode of transport. Even when an effective vaccine is found, the economic reality of the recovery may mean some non-stop flights are gone for good.

The rural/urban divide (The Economist) An analysis of the election results by The Economist suggests that the partisan divide between America’s cities and open spaces is greater than ever. Preliminary results supplied by Decision Desk HQ, a data-provider, show that voters in the least urbanized counties voted for Mr Trump by a margin of 33 points, up from 32 points in 2016. (Specifically these are the bottom 20% of counties by population density.) Meanwhile, voters in the most urbanized counties—the top 20%—plumped for Mr Biden by 29 points, up from Hillary Clinton’s 25-point margin in 2016. More broadly, the greater the population density, the bigger the swing to the Democratic candidate. Even after controlling for other relevant demographic factors, the data suggest that urban and rural voters are more divided today than they were in 2016.

More than 130 Secret Service officers are said to be infected with coronavirus or quarantining (Washington Post) More than 130 Secret Service officers who help protect the White House and the president when he travels have recently been ordered to isolate or quarantine because they tested positive for the coronavirus or had close contact with infected co-workers, according to three people familiar with agency staffing. The spread of the coronavirus—which has sidelined roughly 10 percent of the agency’s core security team—is believed to be partly linked to a series of campaign rallies that President Trump held in the weeks before the Nov. 3 election, according to the people, who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the situation. The virus is having a dramatic impact on the Secret Service’s presidential security unit at the same time that growing numbers of prominent Trump campaign allies and White House officials have fallen ill in the wake of campaign events, where many attendees did not wear masks. Among those who are infected are White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and outside political advisers Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie. In addition, at least eight staffers at the Republican National Committee, including Chief of Staff Richard Walters, have the virus, according to officials at the organization.

Trump Rebuffs Biden Transition Team, Setting Off Virus and National Security Risks (NYT) President Trump’s refusal to allow President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his transition staff access to government offices, secure communications and classified briefings prompted growing warnings on Thursday, including from Republicans, that keeping Mr. Biden in the dark potentially endangers the country. On Capitol Hill, several Senate Republicans insisted that Mr. Biden should at least be given access to the President’s Daily Brief, the compendium of the nation’s most closely guarded intelligence secrets and assessments of threats like terrorist plots and cyberattack vulnerabilities. “President-elect Biden should be receiving intelligence briefings right now—that is really important,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine, a member of the Intelligence Committee and one of the few Senate Republicans to publicly acknowledge Mr. Biden’s victory. “It’s probably the most important part of the transition.” Giving Mr. Biden and his top aides access to the daily briefing, as Mr. Trump got right after his election four years ago, would address only a fraction of the problem. Mr. Biden will confront an array of complex dilemmas: bruised relationships with foreign allies, a weak economy and a sluggish recovery, perhaps the most high-risk period yet of the coronavirus and a need to distribute a vaccine to 330 million Americans. The president-elect’s team is concerned that it is being shut out of planning for the vaccine distribution, a huge undertaking that the incoming administration expects to inherit the moment Mr. Biden is sworn in. His advisers said they have not had access to the details of Warp Speed, the project that has vaccine distribution planning well underway, and understand little about its workings.

China congratulates Biden, but few US policy changes seen (AP) China on Friday became one of the last major countries to congratulate U.S. President-elect Joe Biden. U.S.-Chinese relations have plunged to their lowest level in decades amid a tariff war over Beijing’s technology ambitions and trade surplus, accusations of spying and tension over human rights, the coronavirus pandemic, Hong Kong and control of the South China Sea. Trump labeled China a security threat and imposed export curbs and other sanctions on Chinese companies. Political analysts expect Biden to try to resume cooperation with Beijing on climate change, North Korea, Iran and the coronavirus. And they say Biden might pursue a more traditional, predictable policy toward China. However, economists and political analysts expect few big changes due to widespread frustration with Beijing’s trade and human rights record and accusations of spying and technology theft.

Eta Returns, Soaking Florida’s West Coast (NYT) Tropical Storm Eta pounded Florida again on Thursday, flooding beach communities along the Gulf of Mexico, forcing rescuers to wade through hip-deep water and hitting portions of Tampa and Jacksonville as it made its way back out to sea. In a series of overnight rescues in Madeira Beach, near St. Petersburg, firefighters used high-riding fire trucks and an inflatable Zodiac boat to ferry 15 people, a cat, two birds and five dogs from several flooded households to dry land. Eta’s landfall was its second in the state this week. It hit the central part of the Florida Keys late Sunday, and made landfall again at about 4 a.m. Thursday near Cedar Key, roughly 130 miles north of Tampa. Floodwaters receded by late morning as the storm moved out into the Atlantic near Florida’s border with Georgia.

Students take on “online proctoring” companies (Washington Post) “Online proctoring” companies saw in coronavirus shutdowns a chance to capitalize on a major reshaping of education, selling schools a high-tech blend of webcam-watching workers and eye-tracking software designed to catch students cheating on their exams. They’ve taken in millions of dollars, some of it public money, from thousands of colleges in recent months. But they’ve also sparked a nationwide school-surveillance revolt, with students staging protests and adopting creative tactics to push campus administrators to reconsider the deals. Students argue that the testing systems have made them afraid to click too much or rest their eyes for fear they’ll be branded as cheats. Some students also said they’ve wept with stress or urinated at their desks because they were forbidden from leaving their screens. One system, Proctorio, uses gaze-detection, face-detection and computer-monitoring software to flag students for any “abnormal” head movement, mouse movement, eye wandering, computer window resizing, tab opening, scrolling, clicking, typing, and copies and pastes. A student can be flagged for finishing the test too quickly, or too slowly, clicking too much, or not enough. If the camera sees someone else in the background, a student can be flagged for having “multiple faces detected.” If someone else takes the test on the same network—say, in a dorm building—it’s potential “exam collusion.” Room too noisy, Internet too spotty, camera on the fritz? Flag, flag, flag. As an unusually disrupted fall semester churns toward finals, this student rebellion has erupted into online war, with lawsuits, takedowns and viral brawls further shaking the anxiety-inducing backdrop of college exams. Some students have even tried to take the software down from the inside, digging through the code for details on how it monitors millions of high-stakes exams.

‘Peru is fired up’: Protesters, police clash as political crisis flares, 11 wounded (Reuters) Fierce clashes in Peru between police and protesters have wounded at least 11 people, doctors and rights groups said on Friday, as thousands of Peruvians took to the streets to protest the ouster of president Martin Vizcarra. The clashes, and other more peaceful protests in the capital Lima and other cities, are piling pressure on a fragmented Congress and the new government of Manuel Merino. Thursday night’s rallies were among the largest in two decades in Peru. Vizcarra, a politically unaffiliated centrist who is popular with voters, was ousted on Monday in an impeachment trial over allegations he received bribes, accusations he denies. “All of Peru is fired up, we’re all very angry,” said Jose Vega, a protester in Lima, where some carried banners comparing the new president to the coronavirus pandemic and saying he did not represent them. Vizcarra oversaw an anti-graft campaign that led to frequent clashes with Congress in a country that has a history of political upheaval and corruption. The crisis precipitated by his departure has rattled the world’s no. 2 copper producer and seen its sol currency hit 18-year lows.

Boris’s Biden problem (Washington Post) During the height of the U.S. campaign, Britain’s former ambassador in Washington Kim Darroch revealed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government were expecting—if not hoping—that President Trump would be reelected. Before months of pandemic changed the math, Downing Street was imagining that four more years of Trump would smooth the way for a fast-track free-trade deal with the United States just when Johnson needed it the most, as Britain exits the European Union at year’s end. But the win by former vice president Joe Biden has charged the “special relationship” between the two leaders and two closely allied countries with what the British might call a certain . . . awkwardness. Johnson and President-elect Biden have never met, and though the British prime minister sent his congratulations, the message was somewhat bungled. In the official tweet from Johnson’s office, there were faintly visible words in the text, a ghost of an earlier, edited message, that congratulated Trump instead. Biden, for his part, called Johnson last year the “physical and emotional clone of Donald Trump” in private remarks widely reported in British press. Johnson could use a few friends these days. His aides are warring; England is in lockdown again; Britain continues to tally the highest death toll from the coronavirus in Europe. And the British prime minister still hasn’t secured a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union.

Indian and Pakistani troops exchange fire, at least 15 dead (Reuters) At least 10 civilians and five security personnel were killed in cross-border shelling between India and Pakistan on Friday, in one of this year’s deadliest days along the heavily militarised frontier separating the nuclear-armed rivals, officials said. Indian officials said the barrage of mortars and other weapons along several parts of the Line of Control—the de-facto border—began after Indian troops foiled an infiltration attempt from Pakistan in northern Kashmir. Pakistan’s military said in a statement it had responded to unprovoked and indiscriminate firing by the Indian army. Indian and Pakistani troops regularly exchange fire across the mountainous border, but the shelling on Friday was particularly intense, according to Indian officials.

Strong typhoon leaves 42 dead, 20 missing in Philippines (AP) Thick mud and debris coated many villages around the Philippine capital on Friday after a typhoon killed at least 42 people and caused extensive flooding that sent people fleeing to their roofs, officials said. Troops, police, coast guard and disaster-response teams rescued tens of thousands of people, including many who flooded radio and TV networks and social media with desperate pleas for help. Floodwaters receded and the weather cleared in many areas after Typhoon Vamco blew out into the South China Sea on Friday, but the military said it was still rescuing people trapped in some flooded communities. After slamming into northeastern Quezon province, Vamco gained strength with sustained winds of 155 kilometers (96 miles) per hour and gusts of up to 255 kph (158 mph). It blew north of metropolitan Manila overnight Wednesday, toppling trees and power poles, swelling rivers, flooding residential communities and setting off landslides and storm surges.

Ethiopia War Risks Becoming the World’s Next Refugee Crisis (Foreign Policy) Little more than a week has gone by since Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced a “military confrontation” in the country’s northern Tigray region and the death toll is likely already in the hundreds. All communication lines, including internet, have been cut in the region, making it difficult for foreign observers to understand what is happening on the ground. Human rights group Amnesty International has made one of the first attempts to shed light on conditions in Tigray when it reported the details of a mass killing on the scale of “scores, and likely hundreds.” Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa confirmed “the massacre of a very large number of civilians, who appear to have been day labourers in no way involved in the ongoing military offensive.” Amnesty has not made a judgement on which group was responsible for the killings, although they cite eyewitness accounts placing the blame on the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the ruling party in Tigray and up until Abiy’s ascent, the dominant party in Ethiopia’s government. Faced with such violence, alongside the threat of airstrikes from Ethiopia’s military, a refugee crisis is beginning to take shape. Neighboring Sudan has taken in 11,000 refugees so far.

Outside Mogadishu, locusts turn farmland into desert (Reuters) A rifle on his back, Mohamed Yasin tries in vain to chase away the swarm of yellow-coloured insects that have invaded his farm as his camels mill about nearby. Swarming on the outskirts of Mogadishu, locusts are eating away at Yasin’s livelihood, destroying maize and beans and all his grass. The insect plague hitting Somalia is part of a once-in-a-generation succession of swarms that have swept across East Africa and the Red Sea region since late 2019, driven by unusual weather patterns. In a region where many already go hungry, The coronavirus has this year exacerbated the crisis by disrupting the supply chain of pesticides and other equipment needed to fight them off.

Zimbabweans mend shabby dollar notes amid economic crisis (AP) Albert Marombe takes a grimy, tattered $1 note and delicately, expertly glues it back into one piece, holding it up for inspection. “I don’t care how torn it is. All I want to see is the serial number being visible on both sides,” said Marombe. He’ll sell that shabby $1 note for 80 cents and it will get back into circulation. Many shops will reject it but market traders will take it, although at a reduced value. Worn out or shredded by rats, $1 notes are king in Zimbabwe, beset by a continuing economic crisis. One dollar bills are used by many people to buy their daily bread and other small purchases. Crisp new notes are not coming into Zimbabwe, so enterprising traders are repairing old ones for desperate customers. The U.S. dollar has dominated transactions in Zimbabwe since the country’s hyperinflation soared to more than 5 billion percent and forced the government to abandon the local currency in 2009. Last year the government re-introduced a Zimbabwe currency and banned foreign currencies for local transactions. Few took heed though and the black market thrived, while the local currency quickly devalued. In March this year, the government relented and unbanned the dollar. Now shortages of small denominations of the dollar are a nightmare.

[prevaricatcr]

‹ TARON EGERTON, HE/HIM, CISMALE, BISEXUAL.  ›  ELLIOT GALLAGHER is the TWENTY SIX year old from SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA. when a friend asked them what they thought of the manor they said,  ❝ MIGHT AS FUCKIN’ WELL, RIGHT? GONNA HATE MY LIFE EITHER WAY, MIGHT AS WELL DO IT WITH SOME SCENERY. ❞ they claim FUNNY GAMES is their favorite scary movie, and if they were to die in a horror film they would TAUNT THE KILLER AND GET WHACKED FOR IT. their fears include DRIVING A CAR, WRITHING SNAKES and PUPPETS, and they don’t know we know, but… HE’S PAID OFF MULTIPLE WOMEN WHO HAVE HAD HIS CHILDREN. hope they enjoy their stay.  ‹  MUSE A from HOLLYWOOD’S BLEEDING penned by, Z, 25+, CST.  ›

- - - - - - - BASICS.

Name: Elliot Rian Gallagher. Pronouns: He, him. Nicknames: n/a Age: Twenty-six. Birthdate: April 18th. Zodiac: Aries sun, taurus moon, gemini rising. Ethnicity: white, his father's grandparents were second generation irish and his mother always stated that her parents came from Sandusky, and didn't know more than that. Nationality: American. Birthplace: Santa Monica, CA Gender: Cis Male. Sexual Orientation: Bisexual.

- - - - - - - BACKGROUND.

Parents: Craig Robert Gallagher; 58 years old, alive. Teresa Dawn Shwitzer-Gallagher ; 52 years old, alive Siblings: 2 older siblings, a boy and a girl, and two younger sisters. Spouse: n/a. Children: 3 by different mothers, whom he sends monthly allowances to. He makes it his business not to know any more. Current Job: out of work musician. Dream Career: to be back on top of his game, winning grammies like he used to. Schooling: Attended Crossroads in Santa Monica on and off, eventually graduated with lots of monetary assistance. Income: Receives pay from royalties from the band he was in as a teenager that kicked him out.

- - - - - - - PHYSICAL.

Height: 5'8". Weight: 160 lb. Eye Color: Blue. Hair Color: Dark brown. Hair Length: Fairly short. Hair Type: On the thinner side, with some wave. Body Type: Fairly skinny, with small hips and waist. A little thicker around the midsection with his short stint of sobriety. Clothing Size: Medium to large. Shoe Size: Size 11 Complexion: Very pale, freckles fairly easy, burns very easy. Scars: scars and calluses on his hands, a puckered scar on his temple half hidden by his hair, and a scar on his right hip from a bad car accident, his knees are assessed as much older than himself because of how poorly he treats them combined with genetics, and a long scar on the left side of his back.

- - - - - - - PERSONALITY.

Positive Traits: adventurous, charming, direct, passionate, sociable, competitive, creative, lively, versatile. Negative Traits: volatile, extravagant, defensive, envious, juvenile, wasteful, unreliable, vulgar, pessimistic. Mental Condition: Currently drinking again and using cocaine along with a few prescription pills after attempting out-patient rehab and tapering down his drinking, which he's been addicted to since age fourteen. No officially assessed disorders or conditions besides his alcoholism. Struggles with intimacy while sober. Emotional Condition: Fragile, filled with guilt and self loathing after relapse. Sees trust as more important than love and is very guarded with what he considers his innermost self. Likes: All black outfits, sunglasses, a tall glass of boulevard when he's drinking to taste it, people that make him laugh out loud, old school SNL, the fine tuning of behind the camera work, treating the people he cares about to nice things, arguing about oscars prospects for any given film, penny slot machines, jokes that make people groan loudly. Dislikes: lazy jokes about addiction, late night talk shows, people who look at him and see his misdeeds and not who he is as a person, "lizard people" conspiracy theories, elevator music, plastic covers on mattresses, the concept of an all seeing, all knowing god, TMZ, the smell of industrial cleaner. Strengths: intelligent, ambitious, sincere, passionate, generous, philosophical. Weaknesses: reckless, impatient, cowardly, detached, foolhardy, irresponsible. Fears/phobias: sobriety, letting someone see every single part of him, allowing himself to be vulnerable when sober, having hallucinations, driving a car. Hobbies: little to none as his primary hobby has always been drinking, mostly reading and watching movies. Quirks: fiddling with his glasses, biting the inside of his cheek, humming any song that comes through his mind out loud when he's distracted or concentrating hard on something.

- - - - - - - HISTORY.

!!! possible triggers in the following biography: drug use, alcohol abuse and alcoholism, driving while intoxicated, car accidents, parental neglect of children !!! You are two and a half when you land your first commercial. Your younger sisters managed their first roles before you, but it was a little easier for them as they were infant twins; far more in demand than just a tiny toddler boy. This is how your family eats and keeps themselves in an apartment in Santa Monica that's meant to house three when your family eventually grows to hold seven in total. A lot of mouths to feed. Thankfully you don't remember a lot of this, as the small time work you and your siblings do is enough to keep your family afloat. You make your way into middle school; pissed and stand offish and looking like a cherub; which insures that no one takes you seriously. The friends you make, you hold tightly to, and you kick around in your best friend Boston’s basement, just fooling around on his parents drum kit, their guitars that aren’t actually supposed to be touched. It’s all just for fun, the band and the EP you slap together; just trying to impress each other, until one of Bos’ parents finds someone who wants to sign the band. Everyone tells you over and over again, that this is the deal of a life time. That this will make sure you work in Hollywood for the rest of your life. This is both true, and untrue. The EP is an unmitigated success, and every review has something to say about you, the kid on bass with backup vocals who’s face looks barely legal but plays like he’s planning a murder. Almost everyone remarks on how much older than your few years you seem. Which at first makes you feel special, important. Makes you seek out big words to use when you're sitting on the couch as a guest. The audience really loves that. Of course, this also spawns those times when you end up at wrap parties and after parties, your mother schmoozing whatever producers and execs she can find, your father nowhere to be found, and a sea of adults getting high and wasted around you. None of the vices of Hollywood have ever been all that strange to you, though. Your parents have always had a very blase approach to the innocence of childhood, and didn't much care to shield you from anything. It’s still all fun and games, really. The five of you have too much fun, and everyone wants to treat you to everything, so. Somehow the option you end up choosing most often is the bottle in your hand. The bottles that are so readily available, everywhere, that get pressed into your hands and put into the end of the night goodie bags your mother always takes three of. You think that waking up in an unfamiliar bed every single night of a week is something the rest of your bandmates are doing. It’s all a laugh, we all drink and we all smoke and it’s kid shit, right Boston? You learn that it very much is just a ‘you’ thing when you come to rehearsal (late, as usual) one Thursday afternoon and they’re all somberly waiting for you, hands in their lap and silent. You are being released from your contract with Cthulhu Rising...but the band has elected to move on and create their debut album. Unfortunately at this point you are eighteen and very, very deeply entrenched in alcoholism. The press has been playing you as a party boy who enjoys simple teenage excess for a very long time, but it's starting to wear thin. TMZ is growing a lot less glowing in their articles. You try not to pay attention even as you get yourself thrown out of clubs and tossed into drunk tanks and bailed back out again by whichever assistant your mother has hired this week. As long as you can find a way to make music, you can keep breathing. But with your growing notoriety, offers start to dry up. Those late night shows that loved your precociousness take pot shots at you in their opening monologues. Kimmel's pre-taped Lonely Island style sketch about 'you' endorsing a brand of gin in the style of I Love Lucy gets over a million views on youtube. All of Hollywood, and by extension all the world is laughing at you. It get a little less funny when you ram your matte black Lamborghini Aventador into the median taking the exit for Interstate 10, pinball off of it and into the car in the lane next to you, back into the median hard enough to flip your car into a roll, tumbling side over side across the lanes into the ditch. Your blood test results at the hospital show your blood alcohol content was nearly triple the legal limit. The accident doesn't kill you, though it's a close thing. You're convinced the recovery is worse. The total at the end adds up to a fractured pelvis, six broken ribs, safety glass embedded in your left temple, lacerations all over your arms and face, bleeding in your lungs and swelling in the brain that leaves you in a coma for the better part of two weeks. The most pathetic part of it all? All of that, the things you don't remember from that day coupled with the bursts and flashes of what you do remember, the year and a half you spend in recovery still isn't enough to make you put the bottle down forever. And doesn't that just make you fucking hate yourself?

[honeymoonjin]

A/N: a big shoutout to @itishebihime-samaforyou for supporting me on Ko-fi and choosing the next chapter of ZODIAC to be my next upload! Just as a reminder, if you support me on patron for $3USD, you get to choose what I upload next, whether that be a series, a WIP on my WIP page, or a request of your own! This chapter is 2.3k, and I would LOVE to hear if any of your suspicions and theories have changed after this one! 

Synposis: Your boyfriend, Kim Namjoon, has gone missing. After acting erratic for a few weeks, spending all his time locked away in his studio, he suddenly vanishes into thin air, leaving only an unreleased album behind. Zodiac.

Chapter Four – it’s a cruel, cruel world to face on your own

“What are you doing?”

You’re pretty sure that’s obvious, but you doubt sarcasm is helpful at a time like this. “I, uh…”

“Sit down.” Jeon glares at you until you begin to trudge your way around the desk to that wobbly metal chair. He pinches his eyebrows. “Put the file down first, Y/n.” You drop it onto the table with a light smack and sit stiffly down on the chair.

You watch with a scowl as Jeon sits down at Park’s desk across from you and dumps the file back into its place underneath the newspaper. His jaw is tense, but you bet yours is more so. “Why didn’t you tell me all that stuff? About Namjoon?”

He rolls his eyes then levels his unimpressed gaze at you, letting you glare angrily into those dark depths. “That was a confidential file, and you didn’t have the clearance.”

“I’m his girlfriend!”

“Congratulations.” He leans back in the chair tiredly as you scoff at him. “Honestly, Y/n, I really don’t think you understand that we’re doing everything we can to find Kim Namjoon. Or if you do, you have no respect for the process. Do you know what this is?” He gestures a hand in your general direction, and you shrug petulantly. “This is interfering with a police investigation. And it is against the law.”

You stiffen up. “You’re going to arrest me?” you ask incredulously.

“I could if I wanted to,” he responds drolly.

You shake your head in disbelief, eyes stinging. “Oh my god. This… Are you serious?”

Your attention is caught briefly by Park rushing back in with a cup of tea, spilling the hot liquid all over his hands in his haste. He pauses when he looks up, causing a great slosh of tea to tip over the front edge and splash on his shoes. “Oh, Y/n. You’re alright now?”

“Shut the door, Park.” Jeon’s eyes are cold, but never for a second do they leave yours when he addresses his partner, who promptly shakes off his wet hand and does as he’s told.

“Can I have my chair back, Jungkook.”

“Not now.”

“Okay, I’ll just…” Park perches his ass on the corner of the desk and faces you, crossing his arms in a cliché tough-guy pose. “What’s the problem?”

“Why don’t you tell him, Y/n?”

You scoff again, flicking your gaze over to the more sympathetic detective. “I just wanted to see if you guys knew anything more about Namjoon’s disappearance than you were telling me, and you did. Now bad cop over here is going to arrest me for it.”

“I never said that, now, did I?” His voice like velvet, Jeon draws your attention back to him as he leans over his desk conspiratorially, one eyebrow raised delicately. “I’m willing to ignore your transgressions if you actually behave for once. No more running about like an amateur Nancy Drew. If you want to avoid legal prosecution, you’re going to have to play by our rules.”

Your tongue darts out to wet your lips, mouth feeling drier than a desert. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Park runs a hand through his candy floss hair and shifts awkwardly on the edge of the desk. “It means that we want to make sure you don’t put yourself in danger,” he coos, “and something like this, fossicking around in a detective’s office, that’s not wise for you to be doing. What if someone else had come in this office instead of one of us? They might not have been so understanding.”

Jeon isn’t interested in sugarcoating. “I want you to check in with one of us once a day in person. If you miss a day without what I deem to be a valid reason, I will be pressing charges.”

“Whatever,” you mutter, “I just don’t see why you couldn’t have told me in the first place about that stuff. Surely I have a right to know.” A thought occurs to you. “Actually, I don’t think either one of you has given me sufficient evidence as to why Min Yoongi is your main suspect.”

“He clearly had a motive-”

“I get that,” you interrupt in frustration, “I get that he has motive. But so, does literally every other competing artist in the industry, so I don’t see why he’s the one facing down jail time right now.”

They share a look that you can’t decipher. Eventually, Jeon purses his lips in irritation. “We had a trusted source close to Namjoon tell us that Min was the last one to go into Namjoon’s studio, and that he could hear arguing coming from inside. In addition to physical forensic evidence,”

You interrupt him again. “Hoseok?”

He sighs. “What?”

“Was Jung Hoseok the one that told you that information?”

Park shakes his head slowly. “We can’t tell you that, Y/n.”

You narrow your eyes. “Hobi is the only one currently working on that wing of the Cypher block, so obviously if he heard arguing it must have been him.”

Park bites his lip, glances back at Jeon, shrugs and widens his eyes, then looks back at you, veins sticking out on his neck as he stiffens up. “Sure, it was Hoseok.”

The room starts to feel smaller and smaller around you. These men were lying to you, even after all of that. You had heard straight from Hoseok’s mouth that he was frustrated with how the investigation was going, annoyed that they had arrested a suspect without searching any other avenues. If he had heard Namjoon and Yoongi fighting, then surely he would feel comfortable with the fact that Yoongi had very likely done something, but…

“So, Hoseok would be willing to testify that in court?”

Jeon sits across from you, completely unimpressed. Park looks a little anxious but nods his head without a trace of hesitation. “Yes, that’s the plan.”

Something’s not right. The Hobi you had just chatted to in the hallway, the Hobi you knew, was angry about Yoongi being in prison. And yet the detectives were telling you he was ready to stand in front of a judge and condemn him to prison? But they didn’t know you had already spoken to him just before.

You swallow again to fight the dryness of your mouth. If they were lying, they wouldn’t want you to go ahead and ask Hoseok, because they would be caught in that lie. “Maybe I should go talk to Hobi about it,” you say, standing up from the chair warily, making your way to hover in front of the closed office door. “I’d like to ask him about what he heard.”

Jeon’s eyes flash in amusement, and he fiddles lazily with a pen on Park’s desk. “Please do.”

Your eyes sting. The police weren’t the ones lying to you. You open the door with a sick stomach and turn back to the two of them. “I’m sorry,” you say softly, barely loud enough for the two of them to hear, “I shouldn’t have bothered you.”

Park avoids your gaze, but Jeon gives you a tight smile. “I expect you to stop by my office tomorrow, Y/n. Until then.”

You nod in agreement and shut the door behind you.

When you reach the main lobby of the station, it comes as a strange shock to see Seokjin pacing back and forth on the worn tile. It feels like days ago that you had seen him, although you do recall you had planned to be in and out much quicker than you were.

He looks up when you approach him, and his shoulders go lax in relief. “Oh, Y/n, there you are! I was trying to decide whether or not I should just burst into the ladies’ room myself!”

A few of the patrons in the lobby overhear and wince, so you take his arm and start pedaling him outside into the bright sunlight. “I’m so sorry, Jin, I-”

“You’ve been crying?”

You pause and look up at him, having completely forgotten about the state your face must be in, streaked with mascara and probably a little bit of snot too. “Oh, yeah, that’s why I took a while. I haven’t really cried properly in a while, you know? I think all the stress just built up and the dam finally broke.” You sniff for good measure, and his face crumples in sympathy.

He leads you to his expensive, sleek sports car and opens the passenger door, only buckling himself into the driver’s side seat once yours is safely fastened. He drums his fingers on the leather steering wheel, not turning the car on just yet. “I was thinking,” he starts conversationally, “maybe instead of a loud restaurant or café, we could go back home and have something there. I’ve asked Taehyungie to stop by your apartment and pick you up some clothes, he’s heading out now.”

You nod vacantly. “Yeah. Sure.”

You’re not looking at him, but you can hear his soft sigh. “Y/n, I know all this is…difficult. And if you’re finding it hard to cope, nobody is going to blame you. Maybe-” he cuts himself off abruptly and turns the key in the ignition, waking up the purring vehicle and beginning to back out of the carpark, one hand on the back of your chair as he twists around. You wait patiently, albeit a little awkwardly, as he exits the station carpark, and resumes speaking only once you’re on the streets of Seoul. “Maybe you should consider seeing someone about this.”

You frown. “What? It’s been a day, Seokjin. I don’t need therapy, I need the detectives to do their fucking job and work out what really happened to my boyfriend.”

“That’s not what I meant,” he corrects hastily, clenching and unclenching his fingers on the wheel, “I was thinking more along the lines of a friend or a loved one.”

This does cause you to break your blank gaze out the window and stare at him as he focuses on the road, thick brows slightly furrowed. After a while of him not continuing, you ask softly, “why?”

“It’s okay to need some support at a time like this, Y/n. We’re all going through this together, and I think it would really help you to get everything you’re feeling off of your chest. Talk to me.” “Talk to you,” you repeat dumbly, and he must hear something unpleasant in your tone, for the muscles under his eyes twitch a little.

“Or talk to somebody else, it doesn’t matter who, I guess. Ask for help and I’m sure anyone will be happy to. But don’t let this overwhelm you and don’t act like you’re not feeling overwhelmed. Acceptance is the first step.”

“Acceptance is the first step to grieving someone,” you clarify, blinking harshly. “God, why is everyone talking about him like he’s already dead? It’s like…” you breathe out shakily, feeling your chest constrict. “It’s like nobody wants to actually find him anymore.”

“That Hoseok fella seemed just as worried as you, Y/n.”

Your heart twists painfully. “Yeah, well, Hoseok…” you trail off as something catches your eye. Ignoring Jin’s questioning glances, you dig your fingers into the little side cup holder on your door, pulling out what you recognize to be a piece of Namjoon’s jewelry. It was a basic gold band, one that you had engraved with your name on the inside and given to him the Christmas prior. Since that December morning, he had never taken it off, not to sleep nor shower. You had jokingly told him that he was married to his music, so you’d just have to settle for a promise ring instead, but he had sworn to you that one day he’d be able to replace it with a wedding band.

You bite down on your lip to stop it from trembling, and roll the ring around in your palm, letting it glint in the light.

“Fuck.” It’s almost so soft you can’t hear it, but you manage to nonetheless, and look up to see Jin studiously staring ahead.

“Where did you get this?” you ask curiously.

“Ah, he must’ve left it in the car when I took him out for dinner the other week.”

You frown, clutching the cold metal protectively. “He never takes it off, though. Even if he did, he would notice it missing and try and find it.”

“He did notice it missing,” Jin explains, “and he had messaged me several times asking if I had it, but I never thought to check out the car. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was there.”

You laugh breathily, weakly. “He’s always leaving his prized possessions behind.”

Jin chuckles sadly and hums in agreement. “You’re right about that. He left you behind. Shit, sorry! I’m so sorry, I didn’t…”

You wipe your hot tears away before they can drip onto your lap, shaking your head. “It’s fine, don’t apologize. Humor is a good coping mechanism, or so I’ve been told.”

His hand reaches tentatively across the center console and lands on your knee, squeezing it lightly before flipping around and resting, palm up. You stare at it for a moment, glancing up at him quickly, before reaching out and intertwining it with your own.

You relish the small comfort it brings. “I’ll try,” you promise.

“Hmm?”

“I’ll try to get help. Talk to someone, I mean. I’ll try.”

“Well, you know I’m always here for you, Y/n. Truly.” You watch the muscles in his wrist flex when he squeezes your hand gently, and for the first time since Namjoon was reported missing, you don’t feel completely alone.

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[precuredaily]

Precure Day 141

Film: Futari wa Precure Splash Star The Movie - Tick Tock! Escape in the Nick of Time! Date watched: 11 July 2019 Original release date: 9 December 2006 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/2vJnPUD (over 200 pictures, so enjoy!) Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

this is about the closest we get to a movie form

This movie really demonstrates what the series is capable of. The animation is gorgeous, fluid, and very dynamic. The fight scenes have the characters moving all over the place and the character expressions are wonderful. It’s going to be hard for me to go back to the series after this (although I do want to pick up the story of Michiru and Kaoru). There’s so much quality in this, it really proves what you can do with animation. But I’ll elaborate on my thoughts after I put them in context.

The Plot

Saki and Mai are planning to enter a karaoke contest, but Saki oversleeps and is almost two hours late meeting Mai, who has wandered into a nearby clock shop to wait. Saki is annoyed that she wasn't at the meeting point and hurries her along. They take a shortcut across a river, but are stopped by a strange man who inquires about a very old clock. They direct him to the shop they just came from and continue to the contest. However, at the registration desk they're told that they're too late to enter. They apologize and beg to be allowed in, and the staff relents and puts them in the last spot. Saki is happy that everything worked out but Mai reminds her that she was late and that they are only being allowed entry out of kindness. There's some friction developing but they both try to put their best foot forward and continue. They prepare silently in the dressing room, with Saki putting on a monkey kigurumi and Mai dressing as a poodle. Eventually it's their turn to perform, but seeing the crowd gives them massive stage fright and they freeze, silently begging for time to stop.

Then time stops. They take a moment to collect themselves and try to figure out what happened when they see two spirits land near them. They follow the spirits back to the clock shop, where they are transported to the Land of Clocks, and the spirits named Hours and Minutes explain that an evil man stopped the Infinite Clock. Surprise surprise, it's the man who stopped Saki and Mai earlier, who introduces himself as Sirloin from Dark Fall, and they transform into Precure and battle him. Unfortunately, he can keep up with the girls and he even tricks them into attacking each other before he sucks them and all the fairies into a maze.

When the girls regain consciousness they find they've been separated from Moop and Foop, and they argue over whether they should prioritize getting out of the maze or finding the fairies first. They wander around for a while but ultimately they get fed up with each other and Bloom storms off, only to come running back when she hears Egret getting attacked by an Uzainaa. By the time Bloom arrives, however, she can't find Egret, and the monster punches her back across the desert. It turns out Egret was actually nearby but she was trapped behind a disappearing door, unable to call out to her partner or do anything to get her attention before the door faded away and they were separated. Being separated causes their feelings and strength to waver and the two wind up detransforming. 

They wallow in their doubt for a while but Hours and Minutes encourage them to make up with each other, so they each start looking for the other. Saki is yelling Mai's name, and Mai calls back, but their shouting attracts unexpected company: Moop and Foop with a bunch of clock spirits, and the Uzainaa, who swoops in to attack the girls. The monster stops them from transforming but they realize there is a double door on its head: the escape! Saki and Mai each jump to grab a handle, at great personal risk, and the Uzainaa dissolves as everybody is sucked out of the maze and lands back in front of the Infinite Clock, while Sirloin just looks confused.

He commends them for escaping before trying to crush them in a pillar of sand, but Saki and Mai finally come together, hold hands, and apologize to each other. They slowly begin to transform into Cure Bright and Cure Windy as they explain how much they value each other's friendship and declare how, when they're together, they can save everyone and there's nothing to be afraid of! They break free of the sand and fight Sirloin again, and this time they manage to break through his barriers and dodge his attacks, defeating him before embracing each other.... until he transforms into a giant red bull. He yells out that he wants to stop time so he can be alone, but the girls counter that life is more fun together and they won't let him destroy everyone's lives. They perform Spiral Star Splash as he fires his own beam of sand at them, but despite him seeming to have more power, Hours and Minutes contribute their energy, all the clock spirits give strength, and the Infinite Clock itself comes to life as the animals of the zodiac, carved into its border, shine and burst out to surround the Precures. They add their energy to the attack and then they charge Sirloin one by one while the girls yell that even if he's more powerful than them, when they're together, they can do anything, and that's why Pretty Cure is two people! All together they manage to finally destroy Sirloin, and restore the flow of time. The first credits roll past the screen as Hours and Minutes reaffirm their own friendship by holding hands like the Precures, and then Saki, Mai, and their fairies are all instantly transported back to the moment they left as time is fully restored. The music has stopped, so the MCs restart it and Saki and Mai dance to Ganbalance de Dance.

The Analysis

This movie is beautiful in every sense of the word. Beautifully animated. Beautifully written. Beautifully paced (okay maybe that could use a little work...). It shows the truest sense of what Splash Star can be, and that long, non-stock transformation while Saki and Mai talk out their feelings may be one of the best things ever put to film in this franchise. Interestingly, the upgrade in animation means there’s less use of spirit power, as Bloom and Egret fight much more physically than what we typically see in the series. And the motion! The first battle with Sirloin has everybody moving around extremely rapidly, with none of the lag that commonly plagues the show’s attempts at dynamic motion. The final battle is similarly spectacular, with the addition of some creative ways to use the moon and wind powers. Plus, the scene of all the zodiac animals coming out of the clock and aiding the Precures in their attack is really cool! Some of them are only represented very briefly, which makes me appreciate the effort all the more.

There are some moments of less than stellar animation and drawings but those shots are still on the level of an average TV episode.

I adore the message about two people coming together. Obviously, teamwork and partnership are at the root of Precure, but the movies especially give them a chance to shine a light on what it means and why. Despite Sirloin being stronger, the heroines are fighting together! Their bond is their strength, and when they aren’t perfect, when they can’t do something alone, they have help from each other, and help from everyone around them! That’s why Hours and Minutes lend their strength, and all the zodiac animals on the clock appear because of the power of their partnership. Their journey through the film cements this. They had a conflict, it weakened them, but even when they separated, when they were at their lowest, they still cared about each other and wanted to apologize, and that is where they started to rebound and become stronger, strong enough to defeat Sirloin.

I found the plot to be a little uneven. It’s similar to the second Max Heart film in broad strokes: the two girls have a disagreement that causes friction between them, which impacts their ability to fight, they are separated from each other but eventually reunite and make up, and with their resolve now stronger than ever, they overpower the villain, proving that their bond is strong enough to overcome any obstacle. The big differences between the two lie in the approach. MH2 began with a pretty minor offense and there was fairly equal blame to go around, while in Splash Star it’s pretty clear-cut that Saki’s extreme tardiness and subsequent lack of consideration for the burden she imposed on everybody else as a result is the problem, and Mai getting irritated at her for this is perfectly reasonable. It seems like the narrative wants you to say “Saki was late but Mai wasn’t where she was supposed to be so they’re both at fault” but I can’t really agree with that. This doesn’t break the movie, but it affects the perception of the resolution. Instead of Saki apologizing for being late and inconsiderate, they both apologize for their own faults. This is not bad, and it’s true that Mai has some issues to apologize for throughout the film, but treating the two as equal just.... doesn’t quite make sense to me. Saki was almost two hours late to meet Mai, which caused them to miss the deadline to sign up for the event that Saki wanted to do in the first place, and she gets pissy at Mai for not being at the exact meeting point when she finally shows up, and again when Mai reminds her that she inconvenienced the registration folks. Frankly she’s lucky Mai had confidence in her and didn’t just go home.

Additionally, the pacing feels a tad rushed in the middle. This movie is 50 minutes, the shortest of any Precure film period (the Go! Princess triple feature counts as one movie, fight me), when they’re normally about 70-75 minutes. They didn’t necessarily need another 20 minutes, but I think a further 10 minutes exploring the maze (especially separately) might have helped the resolution feel more earned. Them feeling remorseful almost immediately after they sit down and think about their fight makes sense, but have them work harder to reunite! Have them really desperate to find each other for that little bit longer, and it would be better to me.

That being said, there’s a particular sequence I like, when Saki and Mai are walloing in their doubts, they both flash back to the night they met as children at the carnival, but in each of their flashbacks, they are their current age looking down at the younger version of the other, who acts uncertain and runs away, visualizing their fear of separation.

There’s a bit of distortion, like a soft fisheye or something, that really sells the unease.

When I was first getting into Precure back in the early 2010s, the people I chatted with described the Splash Star film as exceptionally gay, and in particular were fond of describing the slow transformation as essentially an open declaration of love. Love is much less of an overt topic in this film compared to the Max Heart films, where Nagisa’s romantic frustrations were at least shown, or outright contributed to the plot. In this movie, Kazuya is only shown once, sitting in the audience with the rest of Mai’s family, and absolutely no allusion is made to Saki’s crush on him. However, is it there beneath the surface? All I can say is that it’s an understandable read of the film. The text of it treats them as good friends who care deeply for each other’s well being, and want to rectify their wrongs to each other. Fundamentally, that’s what love is, but they never quite spell it out to the audience for multiple reasons, so what you’re left with is subtext. After my MH2 review, I had a discussion with @punk-mahoucore who pointed out that the writers gave themselves plausible deniability about the intent of the romantic subtext in that film by the inclusion of a male love interest, so it’s interesting that they don’t even have that here. You can choose to see them as close friends, or as girlfriends, and there’s nothing but heteronormativity to really say you’re wrong.

Veering away from the heavy subjects, I have a few minor things that don’t merit paragraphs of discussion.... starting with Sirloin.

Okay, sure, the movie is probably not canon, because it’s hard to fit it into the quest to revive the Fountain of the Sun, but Sirloin flies in the face of Dark Fall’s objectives, since he wants to stop time for everyone, eternally, and this would undermine Akudaikaan’s rule. It makes much more sense for him to just be a rogue villain as he doesn’t fit in with Dark Fall thematically, aesthetically, or in motivation. I don’t know why they chose to do that. Also, it’s such a silly name, I legitimately laughed out loud the first time they said it in the movie. I wonder if it was meant to be a pun with a title, Sir Loin, like Miss Shitataare. As it stands it’s just a strange name until he reveals his bull form. Also he’s voiced by Aizen from Bleach so that’s neat.

Hours and Minutes are a fun batch of movie-only mascots. They’re a bunch of references in one: Hours is shorter than Minutes because the hour hand is shorter than the minute hand, they are a turtle and a rabbit respectively because turtles are slow (like the hour hand) and rabbits are fast (like the minute hand), and they also represent the fable of the tortoise and the hare. They manage to not be particularly annoying! In fact I really like them! They’ve got a fun dynamic, with Minutes being more sentimental while Hours is a bit more aggressive, but he’s nice at heart and very open about how much he cares about his partner in time. Also, they don’t speak with a vocal tic, a rarity for fairies in this franchise, and that’s a plus. They’re brought to life by a couple of veteran seiyuu, Tarako as minutes and Kikuchi Misami as Hours.

The Land of Clocks itself is a pretty interesting place. It’s got lots of rock formations with various rocks shaped like numbers just scattered about, as well as grassy fields with lots of clocks laying there. The Infinite Clock is a giant hourglass inside aperture, with some gearing and weights. The disc that it’s in is shown to have illustrations of the zodiac animals on it, although the reason for this is never made clear.

Saki and Mai also get some really lovely outfits for this movie. Saki has a yellow belted dress or coat that has rolled-up sleeves and her cat emblem on the left hem of the skirt, with a pink long-sleeve shirt underneath, and she’s wearing dark gray pants with tan boots. Mai’s attire is a light pink shoulder-cut sweater with a darker pink collar and waist, worn over a white button-down shirt. She wears a blue skirt with tan hose or leggings, light blue pumps, and white leg warmers with a blue bow at the top. They’re outfits that evoke cool weather, which makes sense as this movie was released in late fall/early winter.

I want to move on to the opening and ending. I really love how the opening wordlessly tells the story of how Saki is desperately running late and Mai patiently waits for her, and it also showcases just how gorgeous the animation is going to be in this film. Take a look!

As cheesy as it is I’m especially fond of Saki rolling down that hill.

The ending, meanwhile, is “Ganbalance de Dance - Saki & Mai ver.” and while it plays in-universe, they don’t actually sing (weird for a karaoke contest), and most of the footage is external stuff. I do like the shots of Saki and Mai dancing with both of their alter egos, though, that’s pretty cool.

In conclusion, this movie is excellent. The Precure movies so far have all been strong. I don’t think it passes MH2 as my favorite movie but it’s a close second for sure. Some minor issues with pacing in the middle keep it from its full potential but it’s in the upper echelon of series films due to its strong characters and wonderful animation.

Finally, I want to note for the record that Kenta is present and has a few lines at the beginning of the film, but none of the other major cast members have any dialog. Mildly strange. Also, the judges for the karaoke contest are two real-world people: Uchiyae Yuka and Mukai Aki.

Uchiyae Yuka (on the left) sings the opening song, so her inclusion makes sense, but Mukai Aki has no involvement with Precure except for this part. I looked her up and she seems to be a TV actress and talk/variety show host from the late 80s and 90s, who has continued to make public appearances. I have no idea why they tapped her for this movie but I guess she fills the minor celebrity quota.

Next time we resume our normal activities. It’s Kintolesky and Dorodoron’s turn to attack, and Michiru and Kaoru get to celebrate their reunion with their friends! Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 1 Zekkouchou Nari!

[callboxkat]

(Un)Broken - part 3

Author’s note: I’m back! It’ll be at least a week before you guys get another part, but have this one for now. :)

Warnings: self deprecation, headache mention, doctor mention, injury mention, food mention

Word count: 1579

Masterpost in the notes!

...

Patton walked into his apartment and quietly shut the door behind him. He slid the lock into place, then leaned back against the door with a soft sigh. He didn’t know why he was upset. He should be happy, shouldn’t he? He’d spent the evening bowling with his friends, after all.

He just kept remembering that moment, when he’d cheered about Logan knocking down those two pins—because Logan had been having a really hard time, and it was the first time they’d hung out together having fun like they had before his injury, and Patton had just been so excited to see him finally hit some pins! Logan, though, had clearly not been nearly as excited. Patton had seen how he rolled his eyes. Probably thinking that Patton was making fun of him. But Patton would never do that—Logan was one of his favorite people in the world!

Patton traipsed over to his sofa and threw himself onto it heavily, facedown on the cushions.

He knew that it was dumb. It was just one little thing, one little eye roll. It just hurt him to think that Logan might have thought poorly of him, even for a second.

He was distracted from his wallowing when his phone chimed its text tone at him. Patton reluctantly rolled partway over, just enough to grab his phone from his pocket and bring it up to his face.

Oh! It was Logan! Patton quickly swiped to open the message. It was a group text, sent out to all of them.

Logan: I greatly enjoyed our excursion to the bowling alley this afternoon. I hope that everyone else had as pleasant of a time as I did.

A second message popped up a minute later.

Logan: My apologies if I somehow lessened anyone’s enjoyment of the evening. I understand that especially while I am still in recovery, I am not the most ‘fun’ person to be around. Thank you for inviting me along.

Patton started furiously typing, but a series of other messages were already flooding in from Joan, Virgil, and Roman, all telling Logan that they’d had fun too, and yelling at him for implying that he’d somehow made the evening any less fun. Patton sent off his own message anyway, and as soon as he did, the notification that Talyn was typing their own response came up. Good. Logan didn’t get to talk bad about himself! Not on their watch!

Several long minutes went by, and then Logan responded.

Logan: Perhaps I misread the situation. Thank you for your assurances. It will not be necessary to ‘march over to my house’, ‘physically fite’ me, or hug me so tight that you ‘wring out the nerdiness’

Logan: Additionally, Virgil, I feel the need to remind you that Patton may decide to physically fight you if you continue to insist that gloominess is your area of expertise.

Patton paused, then scrolled up. He must have missed that message in the barrage of notifications. He found it—Virgil didn’t get to be self-deprecating either!—then scrolled back down to reply.

Patton: I will! I’ll fite both of you if I have to!!!

Virgil: Ok Pat chill, no fighting necessary

Patton: Good!

Roman: We should go bowling again. You all only got a glimpse of my skills.

Roman: (Virgils dont interact)

Virgil’s and Logan’s replies came through simultaneously.

Logan: I do think I would enjoy another such outing.

Virgil: You can’t stop me

The chat devolved into banter after that, mostly between Virgil and Roman. Patton just read the messages as they came through, not replying, until the others had to leave.

…

Monday rolled around all too quickly for Patton’s taste. He didn’t particularly want to get up early today, to go to class—one of them was math, after all—but he supposed there were bright sides. He did also have an art class today, and he would get to see his friends at lunch! He just preferred Tuesdays and Thursdays to the other three days of the school week because he had his actual classes with his friends.

Patton struggled through his morning class, which felt like it was moving at a glacial pace. He felt like he’d been there for so long. But finally, the bell rang; and with immense relief, he traipsed down to the cafeteria to meet his friends.

“I don’t blame you,” Roman said when Patton had finished sharing today’s math class woes. They and Virgil were sitting together, eating lunch in the cafeteria. “When are you ever going to need to know how to calculate a third derivative?”

“Exactly,” Patton sighed, putting his head down on the cafeteria table. “But it’s required, for my major….”

“You—you could always ask Logan for help,” Virgil suggested after a moment. “He’s pretty good at math.”

“Uh, yeah, I sure hope he is,” Roman said, his tone of voice mimicking that of a certain well-known six-second-video. “He’s a math major.”

Patton shook his head, but he did so without lifting it off the table, so it was more like he just rolled it morosely from side to side. “I don’t wanna bother him. He’s still got his concussion thingy to deal with.”

“C’mon, Pat, it couldn’t hurt to ask,” Roman said. “Besides, he could do derivatives in his sleep. Concussion or not.”

Patton just let out a soft, extended whine. If he hadn’t still had his head down on the wooden table, he would have seen Virgil and Roman glance at each other.

He felt a gentle poke on the top of his head. “What’s up?” Virgil asked.

“He’s gonna think I’m dumb,” Patton mumbled.

“Why would he think that?” Roman sounded genuinely confused. Patton could hear Virgil’s chair creaking as he shifted.

“Because he already does,” he heard himself whine. He knew he should just stop talking, but… whoops.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Virgil argued.

At the same time, Roman said, “That’s preposterous!” He normally had a habit of pronouncing it like ‘perpostrous’, which annoyed Logan to no end. He was pretty sure Roman did it on purpose at this point, evidenced by the fact that he said it correctly this time, when Logan wasn’t there.

“Logan knows you’re not dumb,” Virgil continued. “And it’s not like he hasn’t helped you before. What’s up?”

Patton sighed, gathered his willpower, and lifted his head from the table, sitting up. “I… I guess you’re right,” he sighed. He forced his features into a meek smile. “Sorry, kiddos. I’m just tired.”

“That’s okay.” Roman said.

“I mean… I get it,” Virgil said quietly. “Logan’s got stuff to worry about already. But he’s getting better, isn’t he? He’s allowed to drive and use phones and everything again. And it’s—it’s like Ro said, the stuff you’re working on is easy for him. I’m not—I’m not saying it is easy,” he amended quickly, even though Patton hadn’t been offended. “Logan’s just….”

“A huge nerd?” Roman suggested.

“A huge nerd. In a good way. Not being like him doesn’t make someone dumb. And you—” he fixed Patton with such an intense stare that the sophomore actually shrank backwards a bit. “You. Are. Not. Dumb. Nobody thinks you are. Not me, not Roman, not Talyn or Joan… and Logan sure as heck doesn’t think you’re dumb either.”

“But….”

Virgil was clearly running out of steam (that still happened sometimes when he talked a lot, though he was getting better) so Roman jumped in.

“If we’re not allowed to talk bad about ourselves, neither are you.”

Patton looked at them both for a second. Virgil was chewing the corner of his bottom lip and Roman had half a piece of Crofter’s-covered toast forgotten in one hand, but both were looking at him intently.

“O-o-okay. You’re right. I just got a bit silly, I suppose. I don’t like not understanding things.”

“We know,” Roman said. “You could always get someone else to tutor you, but I’m sure Logan’ll help if you ask…. Where is he, anyway?” He frowned slightly, leaning away from the table to look around.

Patton searched the room for a moment too, then glanced at the Mickey Mouse watch on his wrist. Logan should definitely have been here by now, if he were coming.

Virgil briefly chewed his lip a bit more intensely than before, then stopped and opened his mouth. “He—could he be sick?”

Roman sighed. “Probably… I hope he’s okay. Logan never misses class.”

That was true. The first time any of them remembered Logan missing class had been when he’d gone to the hospital after his accident. Logan valued class attendance too highly, and he was religious about hygiene, so he rarely so much as caught a mild cold. Recently, though, things were different.

“Could be another doctor’s appointment,” Patton mused noncommittally.

“I thought he had one on Friday, though,” Virgil pointed out with a frown.

Roman shrugged. “He’s probably fine.” He set down the toast that he seemed to finally remember was in his hand. “I for one am just glad he’s taking care of himself.”

Virgil nodded in agreement. Patton took a sip from his drink and didn’t respond.

“Hey…uh, you’ve got an art class today, right?” Virgil asked, changing the subject.

Patton nodded, brightening. “I sure do!”

“What are you working on?”

Patton turned to grab a little sketchbook from his backpack and opened it up, showing Virgil a few sketches as he talked about his current project. He knew Virgil was trying to distract him. He let him do it.

...

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