#i know he's a master entertainer and probably said that to make the crowd react but i like to think he defended it sincerely

[suguelya]

Following your section examples :D

Mobile games & Loc:

Oh man, idk if you were there for global Rays but that was some very hazardous translation. Iirc they kept trying to translate Cless' constant puns with a really old-timey language for some reason? What truly deterred me though was the way they not only mistranslated but, similarly to ToV's eng localization, sometimes completely changed the original line. The biggest example I can think of would be Raven, back at the very beginning in one scene where he told Yuri and the others to go ahead while he dealt with some monsters and to which Yuri replied in JP something like "Don't overdo it, old man"...somehow they chose to translate it as "I don't want to lose you". Like ??? None of these words were in the original lmao. It's ooc enough that it worried me they'd keep mistranslating stuff going forward, and the knowledge that they wouldn't be able to botch even more characters (or yknow, Fluri, to stay topical) was my only consolation when the global servers shut down. I'd only want global Rays back if they were able to stay true to Rays' very conscious choice of words.

As for Cresty, I too think the translations were pretty good - a tiny bit too much gen z/internet slang in there for my taste but at least it didn't feel ooc! And I so agree with your frustrations re: transgressor Yuri, I'm still haunted just as you are that we were left hanging this way. I'd even have preferred never to have seen him because this tiny crumb was enough to start my curiosity engine...his design looked so good, too....we could've had it all ;o;

Since my opinion of Asteria wasn't very high (they favored a lot of the same characters over others and especially Estelle with little regard for Flynn) I was very cautious regarding Crestoria. Asteria loved to fuel Yu//stelle (notably with the awful wedding events, which Rays thankfully turned into Ristelle) so I was worried which way Cresty's pendulum would swing, and I think it shut down right before we could've known for sure...there were hints like Flynn's cameo in one of the events, their colors/faces being close to each other in other characters' artworks, and I'm sure he would've been involved in Yuri's sidestory, but I wanted to wait and see for certain before I let my guard down. Guess we'll never know, but the bits you've talked about for a hypothetical fic truly entice me!! I hope you'll go through with it!

Concerning Troy not coming back as Yuri, I think I've heard somewhere that Bamco did not call him back because he had unionized since 2008 and Bamco wasn't willing to go along with the rules set by the Union. Having worked 6 months at the European Bamco headquarters for an internship last year, I can sort of see that being true. Corporates are gonna corporate...that said, they could have had the tact to at least tell Troy about it. Grant George is...okay-ish if you're a casual but yeah, his additions aren't so much jarring as they are very "off". It's the uncanny valley of voice acting lol. I guess the closest they could've come to Troy was Matt Mercer but I'm pretty sure he's unionized, too. Grant must have been the 3rd choice, alas not a very good one.

I understand being attached to the Eng because of nostalgia but personally I've left it behind ever since I first heard the JP voices and so probably don't have to worry about much (unless Mamo or Tori pull a Sakurai, here's crossing fingers they don't).

Arise/Xillia/Zesty:

Aw, man, I see this is where our opinions diverge haha. Personally I had an awful, awful time with Arise because while the first half is decent enough, the gameplay is insufferable and the skits a chore to get through (lost all their anime charm and are nothing but infodumps). And then the het just keeps ramping up in the second half to become all-consuming, much at the expense of the already weak story. Tbh Kisara and Rinwell were the only ones I fully appreciated, despite Kisara's writing reducing her to a Hot Mom Friend and Rinwell's arc against that witch character making no sense. The rest are ranking from meh to absolute garbage in my opinion, especially Shionne for whom I had such hopes at first. She seemed like such an interesting and strong female heroine, and then turned into Estelle 2.0 with tsundere topping and a bonus het marriage & housewife package deal ending. I kept hoping their romance would remain left open like some of the past ones but this is the most openly het a Tales game has ever been (except maybe for Stahn and Rutee having a kid, but even then Stahn has more romantic chemistry with Leon). Trying to sort every single character into neat het pairs with little cross-interactions so there's no room to interpret anything else feels like an absolute slap in the face after the last couple entries tbh.

Arise juste felt like Okuda's wet dream come to life and the further I went into the story, the less interested and the more annoyed I became. That battle mechanics were actual hell like I've rarely experienced in a game before - I'm sorry but Cure Points are the worst feature they've ever come up with, especially since they cost an arm and a leg and money is even more sparse than in X2, and the bosses are overpowered as fuck even on easy. They even had to add an extra easier level shortly after release because the late-game dungeons were unbeatable (final boss battle made me cry tears of blood).

So yeah, I curse Tomizawa for this game that wasn't even supposed to be a Tales game, according to interviews he kinda forced the remaining original Tales devs, most of whom had already deserted to join Scarlet Nexus, to make this random game into a Tales entry. He even admitted himself that people were reluctant to his ideas at first but he "managed to push through" lol...add to that the ridiculous avalanche of merch and events Arise has been spoiled with in the past 2 years and you can see why a lot of the longtime fanbase has had enough of it.

Generally there's been a sense of disillusion lately, because the last 2 years have seen a huge decrease in general Tales merch/events (save for Arise ofc) and a disinterest by Tomizawa for the legacy he's supposed to represent as Producer. Remasters are being made with only a fraction of the effort, care and budget Arise stuff gets, traditions like the tales of orchestra or yearly livestreams are being cut, the few merch we get that isn't about Arise or The Top 5 Popular Guys are all just het hero/heroines sets, older games are being left behind to collect dust and never see the light of a localization day...right now the future of Tales seems kind of empty and uncertain. I do hope it gets better, and soon, but with Tomizawa at the helm I'm very doubtful.

On a brighter note, though, I actually really loved the Xillias. X2 is especially close to my heart since it was a far cry from Zesty's disappointment in almost every way...idk, I liked the choice mechanic a lot and you can unlock Ludger's voice in NG+! Also this is the first Tales game after Vesperia and Graces to make me cry, those endings killed me. Ludger and Elle are very dear to me and the affinity system let me pair up him and Jude to my heart's desire, the closest to Symphonia's at that point I believe! Queer-wise it's got its fair share of representation, too - at least in the localization, oddly enough haha. But that's all a matter of opinion and yours is super valid!

Queerness:

Yes it's those two NPCs I was talking about! My friend and I kept joking that they're on a world-trip honeymoon during our playthrough.

As for the Heliord knight, oh man, you have to check him out whenever you get the chance, his dialogue changes depending on the character you main and the arc you're in. Honestly I was kind of blown away by the explicity of his lines when they were shown to me. It's why I'm adamant they are genuine rep. A few of my favorites:

This guy is down bad for Flynn lmao (same, though).

As for Estelle, I'm so glad you agree since in my 12 years of fandom I've only come across a handful of people who don't worship her lmao. Would love to discuss that in private (maybe discord?) because fandom decided disliking a female character while also shipping an m/m pair makes you a nasty yaoi-obsessed fujoshi, which has made me lose all motivation to talk about it publicly lest I get called a misogynist again >>

I agree though that it is ridiculous how often people just skip sibling relationships in m/f when it's such a precious concept. I have 2 younger sisters and very much would burn the world to keep them safe, like that's not exclusive to romance at all. And as you mentioned before, he's just as concerned for Karol in the Blade Drifts so if Karol had been in Estelle's place Yuri would have acted the exact same way!! There's no romance to be had when he's protecting her out of a sense of duty and brotherly love. And yet there's still folks out there blind to that...sigh. Even Tori's sick of it haha.

Alisha is such a step-up from her, though, even if on the surface she shares the "pink princess" title. The entire fiasco with her and Rose was a stupid mess of an overreaction - at least at first, because the reason japanese fans riotted was that Bamco falsely adverstised Alisha as the heroine when Rose ended up taking much more space in the game, and it angered the waifu bros...but on the other hand, the reason why Rose took up more space in the first place is worth being upset over, too. Apparently Fujishima slept with Rose's VA and favored her in the plot late in the game's writing, creating this whole mess. In the end only Rose's VA paid the price as she had to publicly apologize during the following Talesfes, while Fujishima came off scot-free and to this day keeps working for Tales. Gotta love sexism. Hideo Baba also "quit" but it wasn't solely because of this problem, there were rumors of him being a bit of a pervert backstage as well (haven't found a lot online to back that up tho so take that info with a grain of salt).

Oh and regarding the TalesFes Tori episode, I guess I kind of agree? It's not not uncomfortable, at least. I think what bothers me more than Onosaka's "But she's the princess!" is his "違う違う" right after Tori yells the "I love you" meant for Flynn. It's kind of rude and invalidating imo, proof that he's not as on board with it even for the joke (which makes little sense to me as he always toes the homoerotic line with Konishi himself, anyway). So yeah in that regard I understand what you mean, even if Tori's response feels less like an response to Onosaka's remark and more like an explanation for the crowd that voted Yuri & Estelle lmao. Also because he's king.

I'm a little sad they've stopped making drama CDs altogether but given the serie's current direction, maybe that's for the better. There are incredible ones like the Cinderella play or the handcuffs episode, but others I like way less like Estelle daydreaming about Flynn and Yuri switching places in her rescue, or the girls having a stereotyped "which guy do you have a crush on" pillow talk. It's very much a mixed bag. It's also the same reason I'd be very wary of any Vesperia sequel simply because I have not trusted Bamco with it since TalesFes 2017. I do not trust them not to fuck up again, especially since Rita's VA joked about it being about a next gen story (speak: a hero/heroine child like Destiny 2) during a radio event some years ago. Even an anime adaptation scares me because of the potential for fuck ups lmao.

I'll just take the Vesperia we have now and enjoy it as it is with all its parts, good and bad, thank you very much ✨

I am 100 percent with you on preferring the JP line in that cutscene if only because it does feel more powerful (and his voice is SO soft, which is something that frequently gets completely lost in the dub in general. Mamoru carries a much softer tone overall for Flynn, similar to how Yuri's playfulness and carefree vibe got lost in favor of the dub's aim for a more "cool adult guy").

That said, I was not even aware they left the whistle out!!! I haven't bothered with that sidequest because the outfit is readily available for free as DLC.

While I enjoy having Flynn present in the last battle, I wish they'd just had him look back up at the sky and say that right next to Yuri right before the very end of the cutscene (since imo that'd be the best placement for it). No reason not to stick that back in!!!

But removing the whistle is just an outright crime and I am owed a fee from the people who decided that for the devastation I've been inflicted with.

Big same 🤝

I used to be such a fan of the eng dub but tbh ever since I experienced the original japanese (back when we still called it the PS3 Version lol) I never looked back. The wording is so, so, SO much more layered and leaves little room to misinterpret subtleties and subtext. Like you, I've had many gripes about the localization because sometimes they just plain insert stuff that was never there in the first place - iirc Troy Baker admited that apparently they rushed the dub so hard, sometimes the voice actors themselves were asked to chip in for the translation...he said he loved that (I'll bet), but that might explain why so much of the OG english script was already full of weird phrasings and insertions...add to that the even more sloppy and lazy DE localization and you get only half of the richness of the original japanese.

Also yes Mamo and Tori *are* Flynn and Yuri more than anybody ever could be. Sam and Troy do a good enough job but I agree that Troy may have been directed to play Yuri closer to a traditional "cool bad boy", which is hilarious given how the original Yuri is a twist on that very trope. Unfortunately, Troy gave him this uncharacteristically cold/aggressive edge whenever he talks to Flynn that it makes it sound like he's always annoyed to see him, and it strips their relationship of so much of the softness and playfulness that Tori lends Yuri.

Anyway enough about me ranting because I could go on for about 10 more hours about this issue lmao. Honestly yeah they very well could've rearranged Flynn's cutscene to fit in there at the end, like hell if you can change the entire camera angles of whole scenes you can change that one background, no?? Knowing Tomizawa though that might have been more effort than he was willing to grant this remaster - won't be his last time.

Same for the wolf whistling!! They replaced it with a skit that is just as funny...

....but void of the insane flirting the original had. Idek why they went so far as to change it, it would've been less work to just leave it as it was 😭

[xwing-baby]

I Don’t Trust You (Din Djarin x gn!Reader)

for @propertyofdindjarin​ - sorry its so late but i hope you enjoy this!!

Characters: Din Djarin x gn!reader (i dont think i used any gendered language in this but let me know if i did and ill change the tag)

Word Count: 8k (this really ran away with me lol)

Warnings: enemies to lovers, description of injury, canon level violence, little steamy (kissing, insinuated smut), threat of death, like one swear word, pre show! Din

Summary: The Mandalorian killed you two years ago, yet here you are alive and well on a different planet. The Mandalorian is called in to help you and your team of royal guards find a missing princess. Things go horribly wrong and you are left to journey home with your worst enemy...

A/N: shout out to the random radio 4 play that gave me the idea for the plot of this and to @propertyofdindjarin for the request for enemies to lovers! i’ve never done this trope before and im not sure if i really did it justice but i enjoyed writing it at least hahah i hope you like it too darling and thanks for requesting! 

--

“The Master is calling in reinforcements from a bounty hunter for this mission,” The general in charge of your squad spoke as the team dressed.

“Who?”

“A Mandalorian,” The general answered.

“We don’t need a Mandalorian,” You spoke up bitterly, looking up as you finally pulled your boots on. The general sighed, used to your defiance and vocal hatred of The Mandalorian. He rolled his eyes at your attitude.

“We need all the help we can get on this,”

“I don’t need a Mandalorian,” You corrected yourself.

“I don’t care about your opinion. My word is final. And besides, there is nothing you can do he is arriving… now,”

A knock at the door turned everyone’s heads. The general nodded and it was opened to reveal the shining armour of the Mandalorian. You scowled as you watched the Mandalorian swan into the room, newly polished armour glinting in the light. You frowned and turned your attention away from him, just the sight of him made you exasperated.

You didn’t understand why The Master would want to bring him in, he was expensive and more importantly an asshole. All the hard work you and your team would put in on this mission would undoubtedly be overshadowed by him. He would be praised no end and paid a handsome fee while you would probably be berated for not meeting his standard and not get any reward for returning the princess.

It was the second attempt to get the Master’s daughter back from her kidnappers. The first time had been a complete failure and caused the gang to go into deeper hiding. It had taken weeks to locate her new location, there was no room for error this time. The princess had to be returned.

The Mandalorian had noticed you the moment he entered the room. He was surprised to see you alive at all, he’d assumed you were dead, having killed you two years prior. But here you were in a brand new system, alive and well. He didn’t say a word on the matter, he’d been paid for your bounty already, it wasn’t his fault you had miraculously survived.

You sat in silence, glaring at the Mandalorian across the room, while the General spoke about the plan for the mission. You grumbled and rolled your eyes when he made suggestions. The nerve of him. Coming here invited and not trusting your plan. The grumble earned you a sharp elbow in the ribs and a hiss to shut up.

With the plan set, you began the long trip out to the location. It was far, a days trip by speeder at least. Across plains, over mountains, through valleys and finally to the destination. A small building atop a large hill. It was strangely open, considering how long it had taken to find. The sun was going down by the time you arrived. You were apprehensive to approach so quickly, wanting to wait out but you had no power amongst this group, especially with the Mandalorian validating the plan there was no way you’d win. The group dismounted the speeders mere feet from the entrance, loaded their guns and went inside, barely stopping for a second once their feet touched the ground.

You however did not follow. Ordered to stay outside, they didn’t trust you. You were to keep watch, not that there was anything to watch for. Two years on the planet and you were still considered an outsider. Your reputation had not preceded you but it quickly caught up. Within two weeks of your arrival, whispers of your real name had floated across the galaxy until it landed into the mouth of the Master. You were allowed to stay, only if you joined the royal guard to put your skills to use.

The royal guard didn’t trust you, used you as a scapegoat on any occasion and sent you in many suicide missions purely because you were expendable. But as even the Mandalorian knew, you were very hard to kill. You came back every single time with nothing more than a scratch. Instead of your action gaining their trust it bred jealousy and mistrust.

You scuffed around the site, listening out for signs that the mission was complete or anyone was in trouble. The moon rose slowly into the sky, stars appeared with it giving you some entertainment as you tried to spot the constellations familiar to you. A twinge of anxiety cut your stomach, they should have been out long ago. You should have followed to help

Suddenly, a bone-breaking thunderous sound erupted from below and the ground began to shake. You were frozen to the spot until your spot began to fall away. The ground beneath you shook and collapsed inwards. You scrambled out the way, moving to where the ground was stable again. The building your squad had gone inside had collapsed, screams and cries of terror could be heard from inside. The building fell, then fell further. All you could do was watch in horror as where the building once stood, a crater appeared. Dust plumed from the wreck, filling your lungs and scratching your eyes. You coughed and spluttered, shielding your face from it.

Soon the dust settled and things became clearer. The devastation was all that was left. And the Mandalorian. Stood alone on the opposite side of the great crater, he looked down into the hole for a moment, thinking, before making his way around to where you were. He didn’t stop to talk to you as he passed, simply readjusting his vambrace and walking away. Disturbed by his lack of reaction it took you a moment to react, you watched him walk a few paces ahead before running after him.

“Hey!” You called after him, “Where are you going?”

“There’s no speeders. We’ll have to walk,” He said, not stopping.

“They’ll kill us if we return without the princess!” You protested.

“They’ll kill you when you don’t return with the girl,” Mando corrected you, “Unless you want to walk climb in there and search through rubble, the only thing to do is walk back,”

“It’ll take days! There’s no way you’d make it back to the city in one piece,”

“Who said I was going back there?”

“You have to finish the job,”

“The job is finished,”

“You arrogant son of a bitch,” You scoffed as he continued to walk away. He picked up his pace, “I told Illana that we didn’t need you,” You shouted angrily. Din didn’t reply, trying to block out your whinging. “You’re a waste of money, everyone knows Mandalorians don't work well in teams. There’s a reason you all got wiped out,” You snarled. That comment bristled Din. He knew you were only baiting for a fight, angry your squad had died and he wasn’t going to give you what you wanted. It wasn’t advantageous for anyone, “What happened in there? You blow it up to make the job easier? You killed them all,”

Din ignored your questioning. He hadn’t killed them, he had barely made it out alive

“She was just a child and you killed her, for what? Tell me!”

He turned when he heard the load up of a blaster behind him. Your blaster, loaded and waiting in your hand was pointed at his back while he walked ahead. He whipped around just as fast, his blaster pointed at you too.

“Really?” He asked.

“Talk,”

“It was a trap,”

“Liar!” You shouted.

“The girl was tied to some kind of trap that blew up the mines below the building. I was not in the room when the extraction happened. I didn’t do anything,” He explained, you didn’t reply, grinding your teeth as you tried to get your head around it. “Why would I kill them? I needed her alive,”

You hated that he was making sense. There was no real logical reason for him to kill the princess. He needed her alive to get his payment just as you did. You glared at him, fingers twitching over your blaster.

“Keep walking,” You said sternly. You turned the safety back on to the blaster though never lowering it. Din lowered his weapon. “I’m not having you anywhere out of my sight. Can’t trust you as far as I could throw you,”

Din huffed in agreement and turned to continue walking. Your blaster wasn’t going to do anything more than scuff his armour, he didn’t worry about you attacking him from behind. If you’d wanted to kill him you would have tried by now. Whatever made this whole ordeal go faster was what he was going to do.

You walked across the grassy plain for hours in total silence. At least outwardly silent. In your mind, you were cursing his name in every language you knew to any deity you could think of. Cursing him, his stupid armour and his stupid helmet. You cursed the planet, you cursed the city, you cursed the entire universe for forcing you to be stuck with the one man you hated most. You wished you had followed the squad and died with them, it would be more pleasant than this. At least with the pace the Mandalorian kept, you were going to be back to the city in record time, this nightmare could end.

Soon the grass gave way to shrubs and weeds, trees that were rare before now crowded around you. You came to a path, well-trodden and open, surprisingly. If it was this clear it was only a good thing, you were on the right path back.

“Stop,” You ordered as the path forked out in two directions. Din had chosen one path already, a few paces ahead. He stopped and turned around to see what the problem was. You were facing the second path, motioning with your blaster to cross over. “There’s a shortcut,” You said, “That forest opens back up in the West of the city. If memory serves me correctly it’ll cut our journey in half,”

“I don’t trust you,” Din said warily.

“Never said you had to trust me. If you carry on that way it’ll take another three days to walk around a huge lake and a ravine. This way cuts that out and we’ll be back in the city in two days,”

You walked forward into the break of trees, turning back when you didn’t hear him follow. He hadn’t moved, still calculating the decision. “Not scared are you, Mando?” You taunted him. “We don’t have much sunlight. Move,”

For a moment Din contemplated shooting you right there. You were rude and arrogant, nobody would question your death at all if he did it. His hand hovered over his blaster, before finally deciding against it. He needed the payment and with you alive at the end of it he would have proof he didn’t slaughter the entire garrison.

He followed you into the forest, walking in front of you as before. The trees were so dense, a few minutes of walking cut out all light. Spotlights of dusty yellow light broke through the canopy providing enough light inside to see your footing directly in front of you but nothing more. Roots covered the floor, winding around your ankles trying to pull you in so your body could supply nutrients for the plants. Branches caught on the Mandalorian’s shoulders, snapping back into your face often when they released. You learnt quickly to keep a few more paces back to stop the attacks.

You had heard stories about these forests. Fables told to the children in the city warning them of the dangers of the expansive green land. Most of them you knew to be just stories, but like most legends in the universe, there was truth to some. That knowledge kept you alert as you continued the walk.

Suddenly, the Mandalorian stopped in his tracks. You nearly crashed into him, not looking where you were going you were met with metal.

“Keep walking,” You ordered. He didn’t move, turning his head to look up at the canopy. You frowned, growing impatient. “What?”

“Quiet,” He hissed. You paused as you heard another shuffle you had thought to be Din moving. It was above you, beside you and behind you. Then you heard it, a shrill echoing cry from above. A cry you had been told to fear since day one on this planet.

They descended from every side. Five or six strong and lean warriors armed with metal spears and knives swarmed you and Din before you even had time to run.

A flurry of metal and blaster bolts occurred. You were quick on the draw taking two warriors quickly before another knocked your gun from your hands. It was immediately lost to the undergrowth. Dodging one strike then another you grabbed hold of one of the warrior's weapons, forcing it back on them to push them back. Pull, push, slash. A splash of blood as the spear cut into his skin and another dead.

You had one left. Flipping a small knife in his hand, the warrior snarled at you before pouncing. Taking out your own, you threw yourself at the warrior. Each attempted strike on your part was blocked effortlessly. Your advance became a backwards pace as you were slowly overpowered. The knife scraped against your vambrace as you blocked yet another strike creating sparks.

The warrior growled something in a language you didn’t understand as you stepped backwards again, finding yourself cornered to a tree. You growled and surged forward again, catching a slice to his cheek and shoulder before being pinned to the bark.

You cried out as a sharp bite pierced your skin, the warrior slipping past your armour and plunging their blade into your side as your hands came up and used your knife to slice their throat. A spray of blood hit your face as they fell to the ground. You fell backwards leaning against the tree for support as your head went light, you watched Din take out the remaining warriors. One on their spear, another with his blaster. He was surrounded by bodies but looked like he’d barely broken a sweat. He surveyed his area before finally noticing you. The ambush had happened so fast he barely had time to spare a glance in your direction to see how you were.

You grimaced as he walked over. He didn’t come close, not helping you, just watching. He saw the leather strapped blade on the ground beside you and the body next to you. You hissed as you tried to push yourself up, even minimal effort was aggravating the wound.

Your hand let go of the injury, revealing the blood to Din. You wiped it on your pant leg, laughing dryly as you looked up at him. You could barely see him, eyes hazy, even speaking was an effort as your throat was stinging with the threat of vomit. Din lurched forward holding out his hand. “I don’t need your help,” You garbled, trying again. This time you were successful, only for a moment as your world spinning and went black for a moment., “Stars above,” you gasped, falling forward into the Mandalorian. He caught you quickly before you fell to the floor.

“Where are you hurt?” He asked urgently.

“Under there,” You slurred, waving your arm weakly at your side. Your eyes were dropping, skin pale. It was the end, killed by a forest warrior’s blade with the Mandalorian by your side. Not how you wanted to go.

--

You came too in the dark. You startled, immediately on guard. The sudden movement made you cry out as pain overtook your body.

“Don’t move,” Came a gruff reply. It was the Mandalorian. Ignoring his request, you slowly pushed yourself to sit up, wincing at the pain but you couldn’t just lay there.

You then realised your armour was gone, top feeling practically bare in your undershirt. A bandage was wrapped around your ribs, soaked in blood. He had saved you.

You looked at him across the fire, confused. You had expected him to leave you for dead. You certainly should have died. Either the gods were playing a horrific joke on you by drawing out this quest with your supposed enemy or he had cared for you. You wondered how long you’d been out for. Could have been a few hours, a few days. You doubted he would care for you for that long but evidently, the bounty hunter was full of surprises.

“You should have left me,” you finally spoke. Your voice was coarse and you coughed to clear your throat. “Why’d you do that?”

He shrugged. You frowned but decided not to press the matter. You preferred living over being dead.

“How long was I out?” You asked.

“A few hours,” He replied, “Nice to have you quiet for so long,”

“Where’s my armour?”

“Here,” He said, patting the pile of metal next to him. You watched him carefully now. You needed that back if you were going to make it and didn’t entirely trust he would give it back. Parts were beskar. You knew he would try and stake a claim to it despite the fact he knew where you’d gotten it from. He’d tried it before and that had ended with you at the bottom of a rocky gorge, “I’ll give it back in the morning. You need to rest and you can’t in that,”

“It’s very important to me,” You stated.

“I know,” He said.

“How do I know you won’t take it?”

“You’ll have to trust me,” Din said. You were not about to do that. You pushed yourself to stand up, grinding your teeth to not let out the sharp pain that was splitting through your side, “Sit down,” Din ordered.

“Give me-,” As you stood up your vision went blurry, you stumbled forward into the fire pit. Luckily the Mandalorian had quick reflexes and caught you before you fell into the flames

“I didn’t save your life for you to fall into a fire,” he scolded you, helping you back to the ground. Sit,”

You shoved his hands off you and shuffled away from him. “I’ll kill you if you take it,” you grumbled.

“You would try,” Din agreed. Both of you knew you would not be a threat. While the Mandalorian had managed to flush out most of the poison some of it remained in your system. Not deadly in dosage but enough to weaken you significantly. You wouldn’t be able to get real help until you returned to the city.

Silence fell over the camp again. You stared into the fire, watching it spit and spark. A physical manifestation of your rage and embarrassment. Not only were you weak and wounded, but you were also stuck with the one person you swore would get revenge on if you ever crossed paths again. Now the only revenge you could manage was maybe to scratch his armour. You had slaughtered people, entire towns had met their end through your hands. Now your life lay in the Mandalorians’s. You hated it.

You glared at him for what felt like hours. Neither of you was going to give in to sleep, too suspicious of the other to succumb to the vulnerability. The three moons travelled slowly overhead, animals scratching around the clearing of the forest none would dare to venture into the foreign light of the Mandalorian’s fire but you could feel a thousand eyes in the darkness watching you intently.

Suddenly he stood up. Suspicious you watched him walk the short distance to you. Without warning, he passed a silver packet of food to you and walked behind you. You looked dumbly at the packet and turned your head to see what he was doing. You had barely looked over your shoulder before his gloved hand came to the side of your face, pushing you away.

“Turn around and I’ll kill you,” Din warned you.

“Ok! Kriff, calm down I don’t want to look anyway,” You scoffed at him. Somehow, his insistence that you didn’t see his face only made the idea more enticing. You heard a scuff of metal and the sound of something heavy on the grass, his helmet was off.

You kept your head straight forward, moving only to look at what you were eating. It was very similar to eating next to a wild animal, any movement you made while he ate could be your last. You knew enough about Mandalorians to know it wasn’t him being territorial but to do with his ‘creed’. They could never remove their helmets, never show their faces to anyone except family. It didn’t seem like the Mandalorian behind you had any family, there was barely a caring bone in his body. Except he had saved your life, though that was more an act of self-preservation than anything else you thought.

Din wouldn’t usually risk eating like this with someone like you nearby. There was no privacy, no guarantee you wouldn’t turn and catch him but his hunger was overtaking his logic. It had been days since he’d eaten, he was the lowest on credits in his life the small amount he’d earn from this bounty was desperately needed. If he was going to be paid at all now.

He ate quickly, wolfing down the scraps he had found in your pack. It was bland and chalky but it was food, nutrients, and that was all that mattered. He had to survive until the next. Once he finished, he picked up his helmet and placed it back on his head. Safe inside his metal shell he stood up and walked to his previous spot on the other side of the fire.

He watched you while you ate. He took in the way your skin glowed in the firelight. Wisps of unruly hair caught the light giving you a halo over your head except there was nothing angelic about you. You knew murder and destruction just as well as he did. You’d killed many and cursed more to the haunting image of your destruction. You were one of a small few in the galaxy who had survived the Mandalorian.

There was something oddly satisfying at the fact you couldn’t get away now. You couldn’t do anything if he tried to kill you again now. All your power, all your strength, was in his hands. It was a dark feeling he wanted to avoid, he didn’t think about it too much. If he’d wanted to kill you he would have left you to die.

Once you finished your food you threw the packaging into the fire and settled back. You watched the Mandalorian pick through your pack, pulling out whatever he could find useful for the rest of the travel. You knew we wouldn't find much, the thing had only been packed for a two-day trip maximum. You ached from head to toe, tired and more hungry than the nutrients bar could stave off you longed for your bed. Soft and warm it was the only good thing in this place, the only thing that had kept you here for so long. Comfort was never something you had been given freely, you were going to hold onto this one for as long as you could.

Soon you couldn’t fight sleep any longer. You lay down next to the fire, watching the Mandalorian until you could no longer keep your eyes open.

—

The next day something had shifted in your dynamic. The fact he’d saved your life had changed things. You weren’t so angry at him. He was careful with you, helping you up from the ground and you didn’t miss the way his helmet stayed on you for longer than needed as you pulled your armour back on. He’d cleaned it too, wiping off the blood and dirt from the metal.

You walked mostly in silence, Din still in front of you. You may not hate him anymore but you didn’t entirely trust him yet. He was on neutral ground as far as you were concerned. He'd tried to kill you once, he’d saved you once, They cancelled each other out and now all was left as to gain any opinion either way about who this man was. Was he a killer or was he kind? His actions thus far, surprisingly, offered the latter. Despite that, your hand never left your blaster, though not drawn it was ready in its holster if he decided to turn on you.

Every time you hissed or groaned as you walked, he would stop, look at you and check you were okay before continuing. If it wasn’t for the cold nature of his helmet it would have been endearing.

You travelled together through forest and fields, over a small mountain and down a ravine. Your legs ached, back sore from carrying your pack but at least your stab wound had gone numb. Your pain receptors were so fried now your brain was trying to forget it all together so you could survive.

You flagged behind Mando, gritting your teeth and forcing yourself forward until you couldn’t take it anymore. You let out a small cry of defeat before calling for the Mandalorian to stop. You sat on a rock above a reed bed, leaning on it with one arm while the other pried your armour from your body. Din stopped walking as soon as he heard you.

“I need to rest for a bit,” You admitted, struggling with your straps. One-handed it was impossible to get them off but if you didn’t you couldn’t breathe. You pulled and tugged at the buckles until you were stopped by the Mandalorian’s gloved hand on yours.

“I’ll do it,” He said quietly. You moved your hand, turning a little to let him have better access to the buckles holding the metal to your body.

You didn’t say a word, knowing you couldn’t do it by yourself. His skilled fingers worked the buckles open and pulled the chest pieces away from your body. There was care in his touch, his fingers momentarily gracing over your exposed skin for a moment. The light touch sent shivers down your spine. You turned your head for fear of showing just how affected you were by his touch. You sighed in relief when the weight was gone and the strain on your muscles was decreased.

“Thank you,” You mumbled.

“We can set up camp here for the night,”

“It’s not even dark,” You protested, “Give me a few minutes we can keep walking. It’s not safe out in the open like this,”

“You’re in pain,”

“I’ll be in pain wherever we are,” You said, “There are caves just over there, it will be safer to stay there,”

“That’ll be two hours walk,”

“I can do it,”

“I’m tired too. We’re staying here,” He said, “You can bathe in the river, clean the wound again,”

“Mando-,” You protested.

He wasn’t listening anymore. He’d set down the weapons on his back and set to creating a fire. If it was going to be as cold as last night you were going to need one.

You were silently relieved. Your entire body was screaming for a break, the wound throbbing so much you could have thrown up. You needed to rest. You knew you weren’t far from the city now, it was on the other side of the pass, you could see ships land and take off in the distance, specks leaving white trails in the sky. You would be back by the next evening, you predicted. Only one day left free of consequences.

As the decision had been made to stay by the river for the night, you decided you could get out of your armour again. You sat up slowly, leaning to one side to avoid putting pressure on the wound on your side. You piled the pieces up next to the rock.

Din was still busy searching for suitable wood, a good distance away from you you decided it was safe to strip off and explore the water you could hear behind the reed bed. You pulled aside the plants, creating a path for yourself and revealing a beautiful stream. The water was crystal clear, reflecting the sunset colours above you.

You waded into the water, holding up your tunic so it didn’t get wet. The current wasn’t strong, stones were stable under your feet and you let yourself walk further into the river until it got to your hips. Creatures in the water scattered as your legs invaded their home. You pulled your tunic over your head, throwing the fabric back onto the riverbank, then untied the Mandalorians bandages leaving them with the tunic too. The cool water soothed your aching muscles, washing away the sweat and dry blood as it passed over your skin. You groaned at the heavenly feeling before dipping down under the surface, letting the world melt away in the stream.

Din returned to find you missing. He dropped the sticks he’d found and looked around for you. He hadn’t heard a struggle, he’d have seen someone if you’d been taken. He spotted your armour in a pile while you’d been lay, too neat to be stripped of you in a hurry you must have taken it off. None of his weapons missing either. Then he heard your voice from behind the tall reeds surrounding the lazy river, a pained groan. He was quick to action fearing you’d fallen and been hurt again. He barrelled through the reeds, nearly falling down the riverbank into the water until he saw you. Entirely naked, facing away from him, standing waist-deep in the cool water. Every scar, every bruise, every lump and bump was on view under the golden sun instantly transfixing Din.

He didn’t want to stare but he couldn’t bring his eyes away from the view. Drenched in golden light, your wet skin sparkled. His eyes fell slowly down your body, his own body was fighting between leaving you alone and joining you in the water. Your shadow cast on the opposite bank of reeds showed a broken image of everything you had hidden.

“Can you pass me my clothes when you’re done staring please Mando?” You spoke up suddenly, looking over your shoulder with a smirk on your lips. Din startled, snapping himself out of the trance he’d fallen into, nearly falling in the water. He coughed and spluttered, the sound coming out strangely through his vocoder, which made you laugh. He nodded, muttering something you couldn’t hear before disappearing back through the reeds to retrieve your clothes.

You were used to washing with no privacy. Being in the places you’d been, privacy was a luxury. You could ignore the lustful stares men gave but something about Din watching you set you on edge, it excited you. You couldn’t see his face, couldn’t tell where he was looking but his vision bore like laser’s into your skin. You felt electric. He could have watched forever and you wouldn’t mind at all.

You dunked under the cold water, cleaning yourself and cooling off the heat of your body. You found your clothes laid out on the bank, where Din had been standing before. You smiled, dried off and dressed before re-emerging from the reeds.

The sun was going down now, barely a sliver above the horizon. Stars came out, colouring the night sky with constellations. The Mandalorian had a good fire going. A field rat hung over the flames cooking away.

“Sit close to the fire so you can dry off properly,” He said as you approached. You smiled and nodded, feeling brave enough to sit next to him rather than across as you had done the other night. He was opposed to your decision and didn’t move when you settled down next to him in the grass. “The wound looked like it's healing well,” He said after a moment of quiet.

“That’s all you were looking at?” You asked with a smirk.

“I didn’t mean to pry,” He apologised, a little ashamed at his voyeurism.

“I didn’t say I minded,” You smiled, sweet on the surface but the wicked fire in your eyes told him exactly what he wanted. He shivered under your gaze and moved quickly to get away from your scrutiny, turning his attention to stoking the fire again. You laughed to yourself and settled back onto your elbows to watch the stars.

This night was so different from the one before. You didn’t watch him so intently, trusting that he wouldn’t suddenly try to rob you or kill you. You were relaxed, as much as you could in the circumstances. Your earlier question of the character of the Mandalorian was slowly being answered. He was a mixture of good and kind, and cold and calculated. You couldn’t forget how viciously he had attacked you all those years ago, how bloody and raw those warriors had been left in the forest. But simultaneously you couldn’t forget his kindness in saving you, his care for your wellbeing as you walked today. How bashful he became when you confronted him about his peeping. You could hear the embarrassment in his voice. If he was a cold and heartless killer like you thought him to be, he would not take your teasing. He wouldn’t be embarrassed. No, this Mandalorian much like everyone else was complicated. Under that beskar somewhere lay a man, who unfortunately you were starting to like.

You couldn’t hate him. Not when he had found and cooked food for you to share. Din had pulled the field rat off the spit, opened it up and pulled out the cooked meat. He passed you half before collecting his own. You initially curled your lip at the charred remains in your lap but there was no other choice. It was that or starve.

Din opened his mouth to speak, to tell you to stay put as he sat behind you but was astounded at how quickly you’d turned your back on him giving him the privacy he needed. Metal hit the ground with a thud, you stayed perfectly still. Din noticed instantly, his chest becoming heavy as he saw your fear. You had been friendly all day, talking as if you were friends but the way you sat in front of him like caught prey reminded him that wasn’t the case.

You surprised him, it was rare for people to understand so quickly, let alone someone like you. Someone who hated him, had tried to kill him, usually, they’d mock him and refuse unless he threatened them, like he’d done to you last night. You didn’t say a word. You respected him.

So, he ate slower. Taking the time to enjoy his food, as much as you can enjoy slightly burnt field rat. He picked at the meat, pulling it apart with his fingers. His quiet groan of pleasure at the taste of his food made your ears prick and hair stand up on edge. You’d teased him for watching you in the river, but if he sat behind you and made sounds like that you were going to have to do something. Call it Stockholm syndrome, some kind of weird lapse of judgement due to the stress of your predicament but you found yourself liking the Mandalorian. He had tried to kill you before, he should terrify you, but the fact he was such a mystery, and a dangerous one at that, made him all the more enticing.

Din didn’t miss the way you’d pricked up at the noise he’d made. He didn’t mean to, it had just slipped from his lips. A new kind of hunger took over him as he finished his meal. He wanted you. The memory of you in the river cast over him. He wondered how soft your skin would feel, fresh from the mineral waters you’d bathed in. You smelt so fresh from where he was sitting, how much better would it be with his nose in your hair. He’d been hungry for days, but this hunger had gone unsolved for months, he could hardly remember the last time he’d held someone, kissed someone, fucked someone.

Without realising it Din had moved closer to you. His hands ghosted over your hair, wanting desperately to run his fingers through it. He wanted to touch you, to feel you. He leant over, just outside your peripheral vision and placed a kiss on your cheek. It was short, shorter as you startled at the sudden touch. Din retreated quickly, your sudden movement startling him too.

“What was that?” You asked sharply. Din frowned, instantly regretting his action. To his surprise, you didn’t make a move to look at him.

“Wh-what do you mean?” He stuttered, all confidence draining from his body.

“Kiss me properly if you’re going to kiss me,” you said confidently. A simple touch of his lips to your cheek had set you alight, you were startled but didn’t want him to stop.

Din grinned in the dark and surged forward to kiss you properly. The sharp scratch of stubble surprised you as he kissed you. His lips were soft as passion dripped into your mouth as your mouth opened to him in a gasp. The Mandalorian pulled you closer, turning you to face him properly. You hissed in pain when his hand brushed over your wound. He whispered an apology, moving down to your jaw. His nose brushed along your jaw taking in the clean and earthy scent of you.

His kiss travelled down your neck. The burn of his stumble on your soft skin made you sigh and open up to him more. Din could feel himself falling into you, your scent and taste, the noises that you were making just from his kisses were driving him insane. He could stop if he needed but he didn’t want to. He could trust you.

His hands stroked down your arms, taking your wrist into his grip. He continued his assault on your neck as he lifted it. He placed your hand over your eyes, holding your wrist tight to keep it in place. His warm hand over yours was oddly comforting.

“Move your hand and I stop, yes?” He whispered in your ear, his hot breath tickling you and sending a shiver up your spine, “I don’t want to kill you, but I will,”

“I understand,”

--

If there was any way you could have predicted the ending of your adventure with the Mandalorian there would be no way you could have predicted the events of the previous night.

He was good. Surprisingly good. You were a little shocked, having thought he was some celibate mercenary monk type character, but he knew what he was doing. If there weren’t stars above you, he’d made you see more. He was careful not to hurt you but didn’t hold out. Edges of your previous hatred for one another dipped in, adding so much to the event. You woke up sore in a completely different and entirely satisfying way.

You set out for the final stretch of the journey with a smile on your face. Your blaster was left alone in its holster and the Mandalorian walked beside you. You trusted him.

The final stretch was the most challenging. Through a rocky ravine, you had to climb over boulders and through tight passes. If you could have gone over you would, but the hundred-foot sheer cliff faces took that option away from you pretty fast. The Mandalorian walked slower to allow you to keep up, taking hold of your chest armour when the weight became too much to take anymore. You still couldn’t understand the reasoning behind his kindness but accepted it easily. He wouldn’t leave you more than ten foot behind, despite your insistence on leaving you to catch up on your own he refused and waited for you before enforcing a rest stop so you could catch your breath and continue. After hours of walking through the rocky pass, red stone finally gave way to green grass and blue sky once more.

You saw the city gates on the horizon and your heart began to ache. You had almost forgotten what you were walking back to. You had to tell the Master that his daughter was dead, that your entire team was burnt alive and you were the only survivor. You were dead for sure. Being the outsider anyway put you on rocky ground, this would be the final straw.

Din could sense your nervousness. Even if you didn’t express it verbally, he knew you were anxious to return. He thought you were brave for doing so, but you didn’t have a choice. If you ran you could never stay hidden from the Master. You were dead either way, at least if you brought yourself in you could argue your case.

Citizens lined the wall of the city, flags waving and cheering songs danced on the breeze as soon as you and the Mandalorian were spotted. You walked through the outlying villages with heads hung low as the people ran up to you expecting their princess in tow. When they saw the two of you alone their cries of joy turned to silence.

You reached the city gates and it seemed nobody had noticed, bells rang out and drums echoes from inside. Children waved from the wall, happy and excited to see you. The whispers started, turned into murmurs and soon the yells of praise and joy were spitting insults and exclamations of pain. People yelled out questions, what had happened to the princess, where was she, who’d killed the princess. Why hadn’t you saved her? Your heart sunk, you couldn’t lift your eyes from the ground as you and the Mandalorian were escorted to the palace.

Din always hated a failed mission, letting targets getaway in mistakes was what kept him up at night, but this was so much worse. He didn’t have any personal connection to the girl but the vitriol spat at you and him as you walked through was tough to take. He kept his head up, trying to think of a plan for what might happen next.

The news of your failure had spread fast, arriving at the Master’s feet before you did. You knelt at his throne, the Mandalorian standing beside you.

“What news do you bring?” The Master asked. He didn’t need your answer, he just wanted to watch you squirm.

“I am afraid we were unsuccessful Master. An accident occurred at the camp and we two are the only survivors of the event. There was no way of recovering your daughter, I apologise,” You said finally looking up at him. Your voice was calm, collected and confident. There was nothing you could do now, it didn’t matter whether you were visibly upset or not.

“Mandalorian? Do they speak the truth?”

“Yes. Charges were set in the mines beneath the location and set as soon as we arrived,” He elaborated.

“I appreciate the aide Mandalorian, however without a successful return of my daughter I cannot pay you,” The master said. Din nodded, having expected as much, “Guards arrest L/n,”

“I assure you we did everything we could to get your daughter, none of this was their fault,” Din insisted.

“You are dismissed, Mando,” The Master ordered. Din didn’t move, his blaster raised at the guards approaching, standing between you and them to protect you.

“Stop it,” You hissed at him, alarmed that he was putting his survival at risk for you.

“Put the blaster down, Mandalorian. You are far outnumbered here. I suggest you leave me while you still can unless you would like to join L/n in front of a firing squad,”

“It’s not worth it,” You whispered, as you pushed yourself to stand up. You gritted your teeth as pain shot through you. You both knew this was how it would end, there was no other way, “I accept my fate,” You spoke loud enough for everyone else to hear. Din didn’t accept it, he refused to. He had only just got you into his life, whatever the relationship was between you two he wasn’t going to let you die for something that wasn’t your fault.

You were surrounded inside the palace. Din’s defiance was only drawing more soldiers in. The chances of either you or Din coming out alive were drawing in. You knew the Mandalorian was worth more, something inside you told you he had a great destiny before him. While our crossed paths had arrived at a pleasant spot you would like to continue, if that was the final destination of your lives then you wouldn’t be the one pulling him to a halt with you.

You stepped into the Mandalorian’s vision, soldiers drawing closer, and you placed your hand over his blaster. You looked directly into his visor, staring directly into his eyes. You didn’t have to speak, he knew it was over. Slowly, Din lowered his weapon and stepped back. With his hands up he nodded to the Master who smiled smugly and gave you one last look. As soon as the Mandalorian walked away the guards were on you, hands roughly tugged behind your back and into harsh cuffs.

Din didn’t look back. Couldn’t. If he did he would do something he would regret. The Master’s voice echoed out of the Palace doors relaying your sentence. You were to be executed at sundown. Din pulled himself into a comfortable stoic calm, and indifference forced upon himself to allow him to carry on. He walked out of the city with nothing. Penniless, hungry and alone.

The Razor Crest provided some comfort as it always did. No matter what changed around his outside could always be corrected inside the silver confines of his ship. He had enough fuel to get him to the next populated planet, hopefully, he would find work there to get food. He settled into the cockpit, flicking through maps for a while to see where he could go. After a while, the exhaustion of not sleeping properly for three days caught up and Din fell asleep in the pilot seat.

--

“Oi! Mando! Open up!” Hard rock being thrown at the front of the Crest and the sound of your voice startled him awake. It was dark now, the moon high in the sky above him. Din’s heart sunk, it was just a dream. You were gone now.

He let himself wonder for a moment if he could have done more, knowing that probably wasn’t true. The galaxy had a way of making things work out the way they should no matter what he did. He settled back against his chair again, head resting on his chest when something slammed against the side of the ship and shouted for him again and he knew he wasn’t dreaming.

He did a double-take when he saw you at the door. Dishevelled and breathing heavily, you grinned up at him. “I thought you were dead,” He said.

“I will be if you don’t let me in in a minute,” You looked over your shoulder as speeder lights approached over the brim of the hill. Din had barely stepped aside before you barreled into the ship.

He stared at you in the low light of the hull. confused by the image you presented. Your armour was half missing, only your chest plates and one thigh plate remained and you were covered in blood. You were not only alive but you had fought well for it. Considering the state you had been in just hours before, barely able to stand up unaided, he was astonished.

“What? It’s not my blood if you’re worried about that,” You wiped your face with the back of your hand then wiping it on your pant leg. “Hurry up and get this ship in the sky. We need to go right now,”

A blaster shot ricochet off the side of the Crest, the sound of bikes coming closer, setting Din back into motion. He raced back up to the cockpit to set off. You followed quickly and watched as the Mandalorian set to getting the ship into the air while under attack. You jumped into the seat behind him, giddy with excitement as the weight of what you had just done inside the city walls had not yet settled in. You were high on adrenaline. The engines roared into life and suddenly the Mandalorian turned back to look at you.

“I’m glad you’re not dead,” He said.

“I’m glad I’m not dead too,” you smiled, warmth spreading through your body at the sentiment,  “now please can we go,” A shot hit the front window making you duck instinctively. “Go!”

--

happy may the fourth guys!! omg i missed writing din so much!! 

tags: @beskar-falcon @peterssweetpea @beskarbabs @wille-zarr @this-cat-is-dea  @dameronology @fandom-blackhole @artsymaddie​

[nuoyipeach]

Acceptance (yujoy pt2)

19/7/2020

"Baby come on, we're going to be late." Yuta called from outside in front of the car.

"In a minute!" he heard Sooyoung reply and sighed, when he heard small footsteps running up to his legs.

"I'm dressed daddy!" Rayoung cheered in her white shirt and pink ballerina skirt. Yuta smiled widely seeing her and picked her up immediately laying kisses all over his face.

"You look great baby." he said nuzzling their noses cutely making her laugh. He held her more properly while waiting for Sooyoung when she started to poke his chest.

"Why do you call me baby and mummy baby?" she asked curiously making him chuckle embarrassed.

"You're my baby. And I call mummy baby because she's cute. Isn't she?"

"No! Rayoung is cute, mummy is pretty, and daddy is cool." she whined. Yuta shook his head.

"OK fine, but I'm still calling both of you baby."

"What about the new baby?"

"Then I'll call all three of you baby."

Just then Sooyoung came down, and Yuta immediately put Rayoung down. He rushed to her and helped her come down the rest of the stairs until the car, pushing the seat back for her to have enough space to sit.

"You know I'm still at three months only..." Sooyoung deadpanned, seeing how Yuta was already being very cautious. He simply shrugged before carrying four year old Rayoung into the baby seat in the back, buckling her up before he got in to start the car.

"You can never be too careful." he said pinching her cheek. Sooyoung rolled her eyes before looking back to check on Rayoung, who Yuta already had busied with an interactive book to keep her entertained throughout the drive. They were going to Yuta's mother's place to drop off Rayoung, after which they'd go to a business party in replace of his late father.

After graduation, Sooyoung asked if he was considering moving back to Japan because she was ready to leave her parent's house anytime. Seeing her concern, he decided to listen, and in two months they were living a quiet life in Osaka. Yuta's mother was really welcoming of them, and even more happier when she got to hold Rayoung. Yuta was now leading his father's small business, while Sooyoung worked for an online fashion store, both still pursuing their Master's degree together.

"You'll be a good girl right baby?" Sooyoung said as she held Rayoung's hand walking to the front door, Yuta right behind them with some bags. Rayoung nodded, and ran to hug her grandmother who was just as excited.

After some small talk the couple left to head to the party, Sooyoung doing some quick touch ups to her makeup in the car. Yuta looked at her and shook his head. "You know you look beautiful without makeup."

"Well, I just want to leave a good impression for you on the people there." she said packing away her lipstick. She looked at him to see him smirk.

"Baby the only impression you need to leave on people is being my wife." she lightly slapped his arm and they laughed. They soon reached the hotel the party was hosted at, and Yuta made sure to always have an arm wrapped around her waist, keeping her close to him as much as he could. He knew after what happened all those years ago, she would have some sort of insecurity.

And he was right.

The moment it started to get crowded and more business men came, Sooyoung started to move away to one corner. Yuta sighed and took her out to one of the balconies and sat her at the bench. "Rest here for a while. I'll just talk to some people and come, then we'll have dinner."

She nodded and he left after giving her a kiss. Sooyoung took out her phone and called her mother in law, using her broken Japanese to say she wanted to speak to Rayoung. How the little girl picked up the language this soon was beyond her imagination.

"Hey baby."

"Mummy! Guess what! Grandma taught me how to make mochi today!"

"Wow that's great. Will you save some for us?"

"Yes. And when the new baby comes I can make her okonomiyaki too!"

Sooyoung laughed at her enthusiasm, and continued to speak for a little longer to see how she was doing so far.

Oblivious of the two pairs of eyes staring at her.

The old couple couldn't believe that the next time they'd see their daughter, it would be at a business party. Only, she looked much more expensive than they had ever seen her before. Suddenly they watched a man come up behind her, and saw them kiss as he helped her stand, noticing how he laid a hand on her tummy. The lady scoffed.

"I knew she'd abandon the child for this man." she said, until she realised she spoke to soon. They turned away as the younger couple walked past them, and heard the man talk.

"So mum's teaching Rayoung mochi this time? I swear she's turning our child into a chef. Last time dango, this time mochi, next time she'll be making kimchi stew already." Yuta exaggerated.

"She already wants to make okonomiyaki for the baby." Sooyoung chuckled. "Wonder who she got that from?"

"Well, it is the only thing I can make without messing up."

The elder couple watched as they entered the hall again and headed for dinner this time, noticing the way Yuta was taking extra care of Sooyoung, even taking the alcohol away from her.

The two ate, Sooyoung grimacing at the taste of some of the expensive food since her taste buds were acting off during this time, so Yuta promised they would go for McDonald's after, knowing her usual cravings of ice cream with burgers. It was odd no doubt, but he wasn't going to be one to judge her, not when she's pregnant.

He also promised her with his whole heart that Rayoung was still his baby. When Sooyoung found out her second pregnancy, she felt insecure for her child thinking with his own, Yuta would suddenly ignore Rayoung's existence. But Yuta promised her over and over again that that would never happen, Rayoung was not only her first child, but also his.

"She's our baby Sooyoung, she always will be."

•

While everyone else ran around panicking, Rayoung was probably the only person who was jumping with excitement. She quickly got out colour pencils and a white card, and didn't even notice when her parents ran out of the house leaving her with her grandmother. The elder lady shook her head seeing how her son over reacted to Sooyoung's water breaking, which in contrast the both of them were normal with.

Rayoung took the card and showed her grandmother who exclaimed at the drawing. She drew herself holding the baby, several hearts around their head and a "I love you Yena" on the side, in both Korean and Japanese.

It was needless to say she was the most excited when the two arrived at the hospital. Rayoung ran across the hospital finding her mother, almost getting lost here and there, until Yuta suddenly grabbed her before running off too far. "Somebody's excited." he laughed kissing her cheek. She giggled and started squirming wanting to see the baby now itself.

It was clear Rayoung was happy, much to Sooyoung's relief as she watched Yuta carry her up to see her new baby sister. He helped her be gentle with her touches on the baby and even made an effort to let her pretend to hold the baby.

A week later, the couple weren't even worried if they suddenly felt Rayoung missing around the house, because they knew she'd be with the baby, hugging her gently while talking to her, or just taking a nap with her in the crib because, according to Rayoung, she had to protect Yena against the baby monster. They didn't question where she got that idea from, but they loved seeing the two together.

What melted Sooyoung's heart the most was when she came home one day after getting groceries, and saw Yuta out in the backyard, one arm holding around Rayoung while the other held Yena to his chest. They were laying on a blanket on the ground and watching the sky as he answered Rayoung's curious questions, one of them touching Sooyoung's heart the most.

"Daddy, do you like Yena more or Rayoung more?"

"Baby I can't choose who I love more. You're both my babies, and I love you both the same."

•••

[zenithlux]

Tendrils of Regret - Part 2

Read on AO3 here!

Thank you for all the support on yesterday’s post! Here’s Part Two for you all. Hope you enjoy!

You still remember the day you caught V pantomiming a violin. You’d left with Shadow for a bit to deal with some demons nearby. “Divide and conquer,” V said with his usual smirk. You two were more than comfortable with each other by then, and his smile alone made your heart flutter. “I’ll be waiting.”

So of course you took that as a challenge, taking out as many demons as you could and wilting the vines of the tree. That had been a difficult thing to learn too, as killing them seemed to go against the nature of the vine that still fed off of you. But you learned, if only to keep from dragging V down. 

And when you returned, that’s when you caught him strumming the air as Nightmare and Griffon annihilated everything around them. You’d watched for a moment, mesmerized as you imagined what song might be playing in his head. He seemed like a classical kind of guy, and you could imagine him performing in front of a crowd, exquisite violin in hand. Eventually, he’d stopped as the demons around him dissipated and bowed in your direction. “Entertained, my little vine?”

You choked back a laugh. “Giving your prey a show?”

“Only when the mood dictates it.”

You snorted, hoping down from the rooftop. You landed on a plant that wilted the second you stepped off. Shadow materialized beside you, rubbing your leg with his snout before wandering back to V’s side. “Because murder and chaos is always the best time for a show.”

“Exactly,” V said as he leaned on his cane. “You already understand.”

But as you moved toward him, his body began to crumble. Alarmed, you reached for him, but his hand slipped through yours. His smile remained as everything else turned to dust. “Don’t worry,” His voice whispered in your head as the world turned dark. “I’ll be back soon. Hold on to those until then.”

You jerked awake, clamping the sheets as tight as you could. You stared at the ceiling, calming your nerves as you let go. The red rose on your bedside table shrunk, and you could see one, hand-sized petal lying beside it. Great, you thought as you sat up. Now you were growing plants in your sleep. You hoped that wouldn’t keep happening or you might tear apart Devil May Cry in a fit of nightmares. Lovely. 

It had been a week since Dante and Vergil had returned, and you’d done a good job of avoiding at least the elder twin since then. It helped that Vergil himself had no interest in talking to you and stayed in his new room for most of the day. There had been a bit of an awkward moment when he’d wandered into your room, clearly remembering that it was also his, even though he’d never admit it. 

You got up slowly, flinching as you reached for your chest. The vine was hungry- you could practically hear it purring- but it would survive until you were done with your shower. 

But as you stood under the blazing hot water, another feeling washed over you. A strange sense of dread that had you shivering. Your heart leaped into your throat, and you could imagine the vine hissing as it constricted. You took a slow breath, trying to calm it down. But the pain… you hadn’t felt this kind of pain since you’d been lodged in that demon. 

Was it because of him? The pain had been more constant over the last week, but you hadn’t really thought about it. Was the vine reacting to his presence? He had been the demon of the tree… your demon’s master for all intents and purposes. But this new version of him had to be different, right? Disconnected from that… monster? But if he was V but also not…

You groaned, lowering your head to let the water slip down your face. Your poor, human brain was still struggling to process it all. You’d been mourning V’s loss, trying to ignore the logistics of everything else. Lady and Trish had kept an eye on you, but you were pretty certain you’d overheard Vergil calling you “overdramatic” followed by a loud “slap” from Lady who had no problems calling him every name in the book.

You reached for your chest again, feeling the star-shaped scar you’d been given. Trish gave you a special cream months ago to help with the constant, foreign itch it gave you, so maybe she would know what was wrong. Even Lady probably knew something. They had known about Vergil, after all. And hadn’t they said they’d been trapped in demons too? V would know what to do, you thought. Yet talking to Vergil was the furthest thing from your mind. You had a feeling he’d be more likely to glare you down than say anything useful.  

How could a man like that be V? It just didn’t make any sense. 

Or maybe you should give him a chance. 

You didn’t know what part of you was saying that. 

You finished your shower quickly, drying yourself off and dressing in an easy set of summer clothing. No dresses anymore - demons had torn through those faster than you cared for - but shorts, tank-top, and a thin jacket were more than enough. You rushed out into the hallway and down the stairs. “Trish…”

You froze at the bottom as your eyes found Vergil. Your breath caught in your throat as your heart pulsed again. Pain wracked your body, and you were certain you hadn’t kept it off your face. “Sunshine!” Dante said from his desk as he scarfed down a bite of old pizza. “You’re up early.”

“Where’s Trish?”  You said.

“Whaaaaat we’re not good enough for ya?”

You scowled at him. “I don’t know you that well.”

“Well let’s fix that,” he said as he hopped up from his desk. Vergil rolled his eyes but otherwise didn’t look up from the book he was reading. “I’m Dante. That guy over there is Vergil.” You glared at him, but he just laughed. “As you probably know by now, we’re a couple of half-demons that love to fight each other.” He tapped his chest with his thumb as if he was proud of such a thing. “So what can you do?”

“Lots of things,” You said as you crossed your arms. “Your finances being one of them.”

“And I thank you for that,” Dante said sheepishly. “Sounds like we won’t be running out of power with you around.” 

“Not as long as I live here, no.”

You swore you saw Vergil stiffen the corner of your eye. Dante laughed, his grin returning. “Of course. Wouldn’t dream of kicking you out now. The place might as well be yours. But!” He held up one finger and wagged it close to your face. “I only saw a glimpse of what you could do before I left. Seven months of practice must have been heaven.”

You scoffed. Heaven? Clearly, he didn’t know the extent of your nightmare, but that was a conversation for another time. “I need to speak with…”

“Enough,” Vergil said as he snapped his book closed. You froze, eyes wide as the very air rushed from your lungs, silencing you in an instant. “This is a waste of time,” he said as he rose from his seat. “If the woman wants to be stubborn then why push it?”

“Woman?” You said. “You have a million other names to choose from and you go with that?”

He glared at you. “Quiet. I’m not talking to you.”

Your mouth clamped shut as the vine twisted in your chest. Dante glared at his brother, not noticing your distress. “No reason to be so rude.”

“I told you we don’t need her help,” Vergil said.

“And I told you you’re going to have to deal with it.”

Guys, you thought, but your mouth remained stubbornly shut. Don’t fight. 

But they didn’t let up. “Just because she had some relationship with V does not mean she needs one with me,” Vergil said.

“I’m not asking you to start a relationship ,” Dante said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m asking you to be friendly. It’s not that hard.”

“I have no use for friends.” 

Anger swelled within you as their squabble almost turned violent. A sword appeared in Dante’s hand. Vergil clicked another out of a sheathe you hadn’t realized he was holding. You still couldn’t speak, your lips refused to open for more than paltry breaths. But you could do one thing. One very, very stupid thing. And before either of the brothers noticed, you made your move, swinging as hard as humanly possible at Dante’s arm. An audible smack startled even you. He jerked away as you shook out your hand, unable to swear at the pain in your wrist. “Ow?” Dante said. You rolled your eyes and pointed at Vergil. “What about him?” You pointed at your mouth, frustrated when they both just stared at you. 

“Use your words, woman!” Vergil snapped. 

“I can’t!” Spilled out of your mouth so fast you were genuinely surprised. “What have you done to me?”

The brothers exchanged glances and Dante’s expression turned serious for the first time in that conversation. “What happened?”

You hesitated, not sure if you should tell Vergil of all people your suspicions. But you had a feeling that you’d never get one twin without the other, and Trish was nowhere in sight. “Something’s wrong,” You said, defeated. “Ever since you two came back this… thing…” You pointed to your chest, “has been bothering me more than usual.”

“How much is more than usual?” Dante said.

You groaned. “I don’t know? It's always hurting, but last night it started… getting mad at me.”

Vergil scoffed. “Your sentient plant stuck to your heart is angry with you?”

“Oh don’t you start,” You said. “All of this is your fault after all, you...” You flinched as your heart twisted again. “Asshole.” You said, fighting through the pain. Your mind told you it was worth it, but your heart was very, very angry. 

Vergil blinked, though his lips tightened into a thin line while Dante choked back what you assumed was a laugh. When Vergil’s glare turned to his brother, Dante just shrugged. “Well, she’s not wrong.”

You threw your hands up into the air. “You’re both useless!” You spun around, zipping up your jacket and making for the door. 

“Hey now,” Dante said as he followed you. “Don’t drag me down with him.”

“Storming off again?” Vergil said. 

“If it means not looking at your…” Another jab of pain. “Being,” You said. “Then yes.”

“How very mature of you.”

“Marginally more than you at the moment,” You said as you stumbled your way to the front door. The pain in your chest radiated to your bloodstream, sweeping through your body. You grunted, angry at the world, furious with him, annoyed with Dante, and suddenly missing the “normal” life you’d come to appreciate. 

Dante appeared before you so quickly you nearly tumbled in shock. “I know you’re upset,” Dante said. 

“Upset?” You said. That was the understatement of the century. 

“But I’m certain more demons came with us when we came back,” he continued. “We have no idea what’s waiting out there. And if Lady and Trish aren’t going alone, then neither should you.”

“I don’t need him around,” You said, waving your hand toward Vergil. 

“But clearly something’s going on between you two,” Dante said gently. “And until we know for sure what it is, maybe you do need him.”

“No,” Both you and Vergil said at the same time. 

Dante sighed as he put his hands on his shoulders. You felt so small compared to him, and you liked to think you were at least average. But that’s when you realized you were actually terrified. Not of the brothers. Not even of Vergil and his weird demon magic that had apparently been spun around you. But of the unknown. The uncertainty of your future now that V - the V as you knew him - was no longer a part of it. What would happen to you now? You could keep fighting demons at Devil May Cry, and you’d have to in order to satiate the vine, but what else were you living for? What was your plan now? 

Start with Dante, You could imagine V saying. You can trust him. 

You found it ironic that he wasn’t recommending himself. 

You sighed in frustration and shut the door. “Fine. I had a book I wanted to read anyway.”

Dante grinned as he pulled away. “You hear that Vergil? She likes to read!”

You scowled but refrained from responding. You could tell that Vergil was doing the same as he simply clicked his sword back and forth like some kind of nervous tendency. But instead of saying anything, he simply plopped back on the couch and opened his book, no longer giving you the time of day.

Fine.

Two could play at that game.

[rentalboos]

Not sure if you do requests but idea for a fic: a friend at the Doctor and the Master's wedding (13+Dh) proposes to their partner and steals the spotlight from the couple getting married. In an act of revenge, the Doctor and the Master furiously try to conceive so they can announce their pregnancy at the friend's wedding.

You asked, you shall receive! Because I really liked the pettiness of this whole concept lmao

It had started off as a joke.

“Let's invite Jack,” she had said, “he'll make every party entertaining, even if it's a one man show.”

It was a necessary thought, at the time, considering they really didn't have a lot of common friends left to invite to their wedding. Even less who would come to show their approval of it. The few people she would've possibly had considered safe to invite were all dead and gone along with Gallifrey... again.

“Let's invite Jack,” the Master had replied with a nod and a nasty grin, “he'll absolutely hate every second of having to watch you getting married to me.”

The Doctor had, fairly quickly, bid farewell to that particular idea.

He had a point.

The Master, however, morally carefree just like she knew (and apparently loved) him, had sent him an invite regardless.

And it had come back to bite him in the arse.

“I'll kill him,” he called out, indignation in his voice, so loud a few heads turned towards them – which, the Doctor thought with a gnawing of her teeth, would actually be appropriate.

But people returned to ignoring them soon enough, squeaking and applauding to the loud, outgoing dork that had entertained them throughout the whole ceremony, currently on his knees in front of the shy Wales boy, who was blushing furiously.

Jo Grant, currently on her fifth glass of Gallifreyan Champagne, was giggling uncontrolled.

“So I thought I'd ask, you know,” Jack laughed almost nervously and the sound thundered through the little crowd gathered around them. “We've been together – as in together together for so long now, it's... it's something I want to give a shot.”

“You can't kill him,” the Doctor remarked dryly. “You know that. You tried often enough.”

“It's our wedding! How... how... he planned this! He planned to ruin this for me!”

Ianto had sunken to his knees in tears now, kissing Jack hard, the engagement ring in their hands completely forgotten for a moment.

“Well, you just had to invite him, didn't you?” the Doctor snapped back, in a way that made it perfectly clear she was just as pissed as he was. Here they stood, in their shiny suits, her beautiful, TARDIS blue suit, flowers braided into her hair and guests showing up more or less willingly – And Jack had taken all their attention away with his own stupid, healthy relationship with that Ianto boy.

The Master shot her a wide grin, the annoyance in her mind sweeping over to him and opening quite a lot of doors to new possibilities.

“How about we plot some revenge, dearest?”

She gave him a little side glare.

“We're not torturing Jack, if that's what you mean.”

The Master simply kissed her forehead.

“You know me so well. But no, when it comes to revenge, I pride myself to be a bit more imaginative than that. I thought more of... Well. Let's just congratulate him, shall we?”

“For real?” the Doctor asked, stunned. “That's the last thing on my mind right now.”

The Master smirked.

“Gotta make sure we're being invited to his wedding, love.”

“So, the best times would be...” the Doctor scrolled through three different, chaotic pages in her hands, trying to find what she was looking for in an ocean of notes and scribbles. “Uhm... “

Well, the truth was, even if she could find the best time in her notes again, Gallifreyan biology made conceiving in any way that didn't involve looms.... a little bit of a lottery. Either that or the Doctor simply had no idea because she couldn't remember the last time she had been a woman, let alone wanted to get pregnant. Really, old school pregnancy? Hell no. There was no way to save the universe with a belly as big as a planet.

Currently, however, she was drowning in revenge thoughts and fantasies of out-staging Jack on his own wedding, the Master's own petty cravings raging in her mind, mixing with her own hurt feelings, and it had become impossible to separate them anymore.

Plus, the universe's biggest danger was currently by her side, hands under her shirt and a wide grin plastered onto his face.

“I don't care about the best times,” he muttered smugly into the crook of her neck, his hot breath on the sensitive skin making her shiver. “We'll just do it until it works.”

“I'm just not sure this is a good idea, really.”

“You agreed it was necessary,” the Master hummed, clearly tired of the subject being brought up yet again.

“I agreed it would've been... appropriate to return the favour,” the Doctor replied begrudgingly. “But lying to them and saying I'm pregnant when I'm not?”

“Aw, who cares, they don't need to know,” the Master waved dismissively. “It's not like they'll see you a lot.”

“They'll see me sometimes,” she noted. “And they'll kiiiinda notice the absence of a child, I think.”

The Master frowned. “Are you sure? I mean... have you seen the man's ego? I doubt he'll think about anyone but himself for even a minute.”

“Pot meets kettle,” the Doctor muttered, under her breath, but the Master merely raised an eyebrow, indicating he had understood her perfectly.

“It's charming when I do it,” he sulked.

“It is, it is,” she hastily reassured them. “I just... don't like lying to friends, okay?”

“They're not friends! Friends don't ruin other friends' weddings!”

It was the Doctor's turn to raise her eyebrow at him and he let his shoulders sink slightly in turn.

“Well, my point exactly,” the Master added sullenly. “See? We're not friends!”

“One last try,” the Master pleaded, begged almost, as they sat on the table, looking at food from seven different planets and trying to block out the constant welsh chatting from their right. “We could get pregnant here and now, and wouldn't that be a blow for the stunning couple, hm?”

The Doctor shook her head barely noticeable, her eyes still fixed to Jack and Ianto, who were currently dancing happily unaware of her scorn. They didn't only have everyone's eyes on them and were admired and talked about by the whole crowd, more people had showed up to their wedding, too.

It simply wasn't fair. Just because Jack hadn't married a homicidal mad man and his friends still were alive because his partner hadn't destroyed his whole home planet.

The Master's hand under the table slipped between her legs and the Doctor sighed. They had had sex..... a lot in the last few months. A lot a lot. She wasn't exactly complaining. Her body still reacted to his touch like it had  the very first day, so much in fact, that the heat of her rage mingled with the heat of his proximity and the heat of the honey mead they'd been drinking excessively and suddenly the Doctor's head swam and she couldn't find a single reason to not get pregnant here and now.

The Master grabbed her arm and pulled her to the toilet, neither of them feeling Martha Jones' alerted eyes on them.

“I'm telling you!” she called out. “He just grabbed her and dragged her somewhere, he's doing something to her.”

Jack shook his head gently.

“Martha, they're married, he's not...”

She gave him a very dark look and Jack sighed.

“Okay, yes, he's still... you know... him. And I hate him. And I wouldn't put it past him that this whole “I'm domestic” act is just a plot to painfully murder her. But...”

Martha's gaze became more intense and flatly, Jack asked, “Which direction did they go?”

Sitting on the Master's lap, naked, several body parts disappearing inside the other person, his hand gripping her hair, her head thrown back against the door of the very tight toilet cabin, that wasn't exactly how she had pictured this revenge.

But when Jack, Martha, Ianto and a crowd of their friends had set out to start a desperate search party to find and rescue her, they probably hadn't pictured this, either. Worried, they had ran down the door to the cabin after having heard sounds of pain and moaning from behind.

Yeah. Well. She liked it a bit rough, so what?

The Doctor was still giggling at the thought, actually, that Jack with his one track mind, had, for once, not considered sex to be a possibility.

Jo Jones, meanwhile, was standing in the back, leaning against a wall, shaking with silent laughter and it was clear to everyone that she had come along not out of worry, but simply to enjoy the show.

“Sorry, Jack,” the Doctor said sweetly, as she climbed off the Master's lap and pulled up her trousers again. “Really didn't mean to crash your wedding.”

Jack simply snorted.

“Yeah right. I guess I deserved that.”

“Double, in fact,” the Master gave back, glaring at him darkly, as he stepped out of the toilet cabin behind his wife, fully dressed. “Because now you ruined this for me, too.”

It had done the trick, however, as they both couldn't help but notice with not a small amount of satisfaction. The whole room was suddenly talking about them, the news spreading like a wildfire, while the Doctor and the Master subtly slipped out and made their way back home, whistling.

“You know,” the Master noted after a little while of companionable silence, when they had almost reached their TARDIS. “In a way, I'm glad our original plan didn't work.”

“Yeah?” the Doctor asked, unlocking the door and pushing it open for him to enter. “Why?”

“I don't know,” the Master shrugged, in a way that perfectly signalled to the Doctor that he was merely pretending to be casual. “I think if we ever... you know, had a child.... I wouldn't want Captain Jack Harkness to be the reason.”

The Doctor froze mid-movement and the door snapped shut behind her.

Then she smiled.

“Yeah.”

[cryysiswritesthings]

A Summer of Lifetimes | Week 1: Festival/Tanabata

Fandom: Inuyasha Rating: PG Warning: N/A Prompt: Festival/Tanabata 

Festival/Tanabata | Heat Wave | Fireworks | First Kiss | Star Gazing | Hugs from Behind | Free Week - Destiny | Free Week - Reunion

Find it on: Tumblr | AO3

Collections: Sparks Fly in July Tumblr Tags: #kogkag #inuyasha #a summer of lifetimes #sparks fly in july #kogkag event 2020 #prompt: festival/tanabata #prompt: festival

The bright sun illuminated the colors of tents and stalls, the smells of cooked meat and fried dough wafting in the air. The laughter and calls of the Parisian people were backed by chords of music from anyone with an instrument. Merchants shouted their wares to passerby, and entertainers donned costumes of every shape and size. Paris's Festival of Fools was in full swing.

Wrinkling his nose, Kouga tried to blink the sweat from his eyes. Right now, the only perk of being Captain of the Guard was not having to stand on his feet playing crowd control. No, instead he got to sit on the back of his horse playing bodyguard to a corrupt Minister. That the men were giving him sympathetic looks when they had the more grueling work only made things worse.

But he tried not to let it distract him. He may dislike the bastard he'd been assigned to, but no one would ever say he wasn't dedicated to the job. 20 years of fighting in crusades and wars proved that well enough.

There had been peasant shows throughout the day on the makeshift stage, and an announcement of a performance by one of Paris's best dancers at the day’s end. Considering the crowd and what he’d seen so far, he wasn't exactly optimistic.

A flash of pink and bright green gleamed in the corner of his eye, and he automatically turned his head to follow the distracting colors. When he got a good look at who was wearing them, his eyes almost bugged out of his head.

Long black hair curled and framed a heart shaped face, bright cinnamon eyes standing out against olive-toned skin. The green fabric clung enticingly over her slim frame, its pink accents drawing the eye to every voluptuous curve.

It was the street dancer from yesterday.

His hands tightened on the reigns, body pulled like a magnet towards the woman hiding among the crowd. But his horse had other ideas, shaking his head against the tugging direction of his master.

Kouga blinked, coming back to himself. What the hell was that? He'd never reacted to a woman that way. It didn't matter how beautiful and enchanting she was. He was on duty.

But it didn't stop him from following her every move with his eyes.

A line of entertainers moved in front of her, blocking his vision. He scowled automatically, but an errant cough pulled him to attention.

Naraku was staring right at him. And if looks could kill, he'd already be dead.

Clearing his throat, he bowed his head to his superior. The Minister's glacial expression shifted from him, and Kouga risked a glance back to where he'd seen her.

Damn. She was gone.

Shaking his head, he forced himself to concentrate. While he didn't expect any kind of attack at a peasant festival, it didn't mean he could let himself be distracted. 

Now if only he could get the image of her out of his head.

~

It was getting late in the day, and the festival was finally coming to an end.

He was unendingly glad--much more of this, and he’d have probably gone insane. Not the festival itself, as for all his non participation it had actually looked like fun. No, he was tired of sitting on his horse in the damnable, unforgiving sun.

And he hadn’t seen his street dancer again since, dammit.

He kept his disappointment internal. It was probably for the best. Whatever it was about her, there was no doubt she’d been a distraction. The Minister hadn’t looked at him since first noticing his straying attention, so who knew what that bastard thought of the situation.

The cleared stage brought with it a chorus of relieved sighs. The soldiers were feeling it too. There was just the single dance left, being held in the Minister’s honor. It’s completion would signal the end of the festival. After that, they could all go home.

He could already picture it. First thing he was doing when they got back to the Palace was taking a long, hot bath. Clean up, wipe off all the sweat. Body odor encased in metal did not make a good combination.

Who Kouga assumed to be showrunner took the stage, hands sweeping in dramatic gestures. A new kind of music started up, something subtle enough to warm a man’s blood. Drums pounded, great gongs of sound. His heart jumped in his throat, restricting his air. Something crashed, the firing of a cannons in the distance--

Son of a bitch!

There was a flash of brilliant light, and in a colorful burst of smoke the showrunner vanished and his dancer appeared.

Just like that, the rest of the world fell away.

The hallucination that had begun to form drifted from his mind the longer he watched her. Battle cries and explosions faded from his ears, his heart slowing to a normal rhythm.

Sheer pink ribbon flickered through the air, forming circles around her as she spun. Her dance was liquid motion, drawing the eye with every dip and twirl. She was a vision, perfection personified. He couldn’t turn away from her even if he tried.

Kouga exhaled and sucked in a shuddering breath. That had never happened to him before.

Not the sudden onslaught of nightmares coming to life around him. No, that had happened to him over the years often enough. It was the shock of being drawn back to reality. Of not waking screaming from night terrors and scaring the shit out of the other soldiers. Of not being forcefully restrained when the illusions didn’t let him see friend from foe. Of not coming to at the end of a battle, surrounded by bodies from both sides and covered in blood.

She had no idea what she’d just done for him. What she’d saved not just him, but the innocent bystanders around him from. How the hell had she done it? What about her had pulled him back?

He needed to talk to her, but he couldn’t look for her after the festival. He’d have to wait until tonight or tomorrow. He wanted her name, if she’d be willing to tell it to him. He wanted to know everything he could about her. Maybe work up the courage to ask her to have dinner.

The exclamations going up around him when she bowed to the Minister told him it was the end of her performance. Cheers, applause, whistles, everything the crowd could manage. Gold pieces flew through the air to the stage, landing at her bare feet. His horse shook its head, nervous at the small objects flying so close to his ears. Kouga patted his neck, whispering reassurances in his ear.

When he looked up, workers had taken her place on stage to collect the thrown coins. She had disappeared. 

Naraku glanced significantly towards his Captain, forcing Kouga to straighten in his saddle and clear his expression. The last thing he needed was the Minister to start looking at him in any kind of suspicious manner. The threat of what he’d done to the last Captain of the Guard was enough to have him sleeping with one eye open.

Shouted orders pushed the soldiers into action, driving them toward the Minister and his carriage. As the peasants started clearing the area, Kouga spotted the assumed showrunner speaking to someone off to the side. Before he had the chance to change his mind, Kouga motioned one of the guards to direct him over.

The black haired male looked mildly surprised at the approaching guard, but answered the unusual summons. Kouga took the chance to clear his throat, fighting back a sudden bout of nerves.

“How can I help you, Captain?” The other male didn’t seem disturbed at having been called over. If anything, he looked deceptively passive. But now wasn’t the time for Kouga to worry about that. He only had a few minutes at most to spare.

“The dancer,” he started slowly, glancing back towards the stage. “Does she... “ Dammit, how the hell was he supposed to ask these questions of a complete stranger?

The showrunner only barely suppressed a frown. “She does not give private dances if that is your inquiry, sir. She is not a whore.”

“I would never imply such a thing about her character!” Kouga snarled, hands tightening on the reigns. “I only wondered if she spent time somewhere nearby. I… I wanted to introduce myself.”

Surprised, his eyes lost their hard edge. “Might I ask why, Captain? Beautiful as she may be, men of your… caliber,” he seemed to choose his words carefully, “hardly give attention to our people unless they want something.” Dark blue eyes slid to the Minister, but quickly returned.

Kouga followed his gaze, but chose not to comment. “I mean her no harm. As I said, I only wish to introduce myself to her. To talk, if she’s willing too.”

The showrunner looked thoughtful. After a long moment, he spoke. “I will inform her of your desire for an introduction. If she is willing, then in three days time you’ll find her selling wares at the alley next to the bakers. If not,” and here his dark eyes went hard, “then I suggest you give up. We are very protective of our friends, you see. Especially one such as her.”

Taking the warning for what it was, Kouga bowed his head in acknowledgment. “You have my thanks. Forgive my abrupt departure, but I have duties to attend. Excuse me.”

Miroku watched the Captain trot over to the Parisian Minister, dark eyes following him until the entourage left the courtyard. He and the others had heard of a Captain being called back from the wars in order to serve at the Palace of Justice. If he had been anything like that one, Miroku would have denied all knowledge of knowing the girl. But this one seemed genuine enough.

Off to the side, a heart shaped face also watched the retreating soldiers. She’d been hard pressed to hear the men’s conversation over the crowd, but what she caught intrigued her. There was no way for her not to notice the Captain’s reaction to her as she’d danced, but to request a meeting? It wasn’t unheard of, but still unusual.

Knowing Miroku, he’d have given the man some excuse to give her time to escape the city. It wouldn’t be the first time someone of rank had taken an interest in one of their people. Those few days of notice gave them time to gather their belongings and vanish into the night. If she was smart, she would do the same.

Still though… she couldn’t forget the look in his eye when he’d seen her on stage. He’d looked… captivated. Like he’d never seen someone like her before. Like… like she’d given him hope when he’d long forgotten it.

No one had ever looked at her that way before.

Decided, Kagome returned to her tent to dress back into her street clothes. The Palace of Justice was easy enough to find, crawling with soldiers or otherwise. 

It would be dangerous, and she’d get in trouble in more ways than one if she got caught. But she wanted to meet him. She wanted to understand.

To see if maybe… she could recreate that look in his eyes.

[arohawrites]

Collide

Genre: Fluff, a little Angst, Vampire AU

Trigger warning: hint of violence and mentions of death

“Please…” She mumbles under her breath.

Her whole body is worn out, the scream of defeat keeps ringing in her ear, yet, she still continues.

Her will is strong enough to maintain her balance and continue walking, wherever she is actually going.

“I have to live” she kept mumbling as she struggle for another step.

She’s hopeful to find a rogue camp, anywhere and any condition is fine as long she can get away with vampires.

Her exhausted feet brought her to a market; the crowd of people is simply making her vision hazy.

“Hey! Get out of my way!” A man whom she can’t identify if human or vampire just bumped into her. She lost her remaining balance and fell on the ground.

“Lady… Lady, are you okay?” She heard another voice but it’s from a woman this time, she tried to shake her head, hoping that it would clear her vision but it only made her head hurt.

“Please… Help me” Vague words came out of her lips, almost a whisper.

She felt herself getting lifted.

Warmth, it’s been ages since she felt that warm and that might’ve been so comfortable that she finally succumbed to her unconsciousness.

“Lady…” The sweet voice lingered in her ears.

She opened her eyes and blinked couple of times to adjust with the light.

She’s never been to a room this bright.

“You’re finally awake, wonderful. Are you feeling better?” It’s the same woman whom she met in the market before she passed out.

“Am I safe?” She asked and she’s desperate for answers.

The woman nodded lightly, “Don’t worry, you’re in a safe place. Now slowly get up and eat, you faint–” She hurriedly rose as soon as she heard the word eat.

“Thank you for the food!” She exclaimed and picked up the spoon.

The older woman’s eyes widened when the girl took a spoonful of porridge and struggled to stuff it all in her small mouth.

“H-hey, the porridge is still hot! Slow down for goodness sake, no one’s going to take that away from you”

“Sorry, it’s because I can’t even remember the last time I ate… Thank you for saving me” the girl lowered her gaze and started sobbing.

Loneliness, fear and pain; she’s holding it all in.

“Poor child, you’ve been through so much for your age.” The woman sat beside her and gave her a warm embrace.

“You won’t weep anymore, you’re in a safe place” The woman assured once more while rubbing her back.

“Thank you” She said as she wipe her tears, she felt so much better now.

“Call me Chrysalis, you, what’s your name?” Chrysalis introduced herself and willed the girl to continue eating.

“M-my owner didn’t give me a name…I don’t have one” she trailed off.

Chrysalis’ sympathy for the girl grew more and more as their conversation continues “Don’t worry, my lord is not like your previous owner. He’s very kind.” The spoon she’s holding almost fell from her grip because of Chrysalis’ remarks.

Right, no human can own such grand place. She escaped the manor to end up in another vampire’s abode.

Chrysalis held her trembling hand. “I mean it when I said that my lord, Moon Bin, is really kind. He never hurt anyone of us. He treated us as equal and respected us. He’s not like other vampires, that I put my words into. He’s the one who brought you here, even though his hunch is right that you’re rogue.”

“Here, clean yourself and wear these clothes. I don’t know how you managed to survive in this climate with rugged clothes.” Chrysalis handed her a set of clean clothes.

She nodded and slowly went to the bathroom as instructed.

She took a peek before entering the bathroom, everything is new to her eyes. “Do you know how to use the shower?” Chrysalis suddenly appeared beside her.

The older woman realized that the girl is clueless, seeing that she’s simply staring at the bathroom.

The girl slowly shook her head, Chrysalis entered the bathroom and gently pulled her inside. She started explaining the hygienic products and how the shower works.

–

“Stay here and rest okay? I just need to attend some errands for my lord.”

“Wait-” Chrysalis is already out of the room before she can even react. She doesn’t have any choice but to stay in the huge room.

She can’t help but to think about escaping, is it worthy to believe Chrysalis? Is there really a vampire who’s not cruel to humans?

Her thoughts are immediately interrupted with the sound of a soft knock.

Did Chrysalis forget something?

She opened the door, “Did you for-” realization quickly took over her.

She took a step back and lowered her gaze.

The man in front of her is a vampire, the master of this mansion? Or another vampire? Either way, she is scared of the man.

“I’m glad that you’re finally awake. May I enter?” She quickly made way for him, still avoiding an eye contact.

She still clearly remembers the first lesson that the head maid of their manor told her “Never have an eye contact to any vampires, they are superior beings and we, humans are not allowed to look at them in the eye level.”

“Please sit with me, I need to discuss things with you” The vampire said.

She slowly sat on the chair in front of the vampire while being confused with the vampire’s way of talking to her. She wasn’t able to interact with many vampires but it’s the first time that a vampire spoke softly to her.

“A-are you the Lord of this Mansion?” She dared to ask.

“Yes, my name is Moon Bin. May I know yours?”

“Sorry, I don’t have one” she didn’t even realize that names are necessary for humans, since all of them are called slave in her previous manor.

“Who is your owner?” the next question caught her off guard. Fear of going back to that hell made her tears flow unconsciously.

She didn’t think twice and kneeled before the vampire. “Please, please don’t bring me back to that place. I beg you Sir, spare my life” She pleaded continuously.

To her surprise, Bin kneeled to level her. She immediately avoided his gaze but Bin stopped her. She always knew that vampires possess exquisite beauty but Bin tops them all.

“Don’t, look at me. You don’t need to avoid my gaze and you don’t have to plead. I’m simply asking so I can fix the legal matters. I’m taking you in but you know that it’s illegal to keep a runaway, a rogue, like you.”

“My previous owner is Madam Luciana Stratnor” His eyes showed recognition upon hearing the name.

Bin is aware on how cruel Luciana can be, she enjoys watching humans fight to death just for her entertainment. The girl is lucky that she managed to escape that place.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let her take you. I’ll settle everything to legally take you under my care.” It was the most comforting thing she ever heard in her lowly life.

"Thank you, my Lord. I owe you my life” She continued to weep, all the burden and fear she is feeling is gone by his words.

“No, you don’t owe me anything.” Bin helped her to stand “But if you may, would you let me suggest a name for you?”

“I would love to” She wiped her tears and gave a genuine smile.

“Then it’s Astrid, because that’s how I see you” Bin answered.

“Thank you my lord, it is a beautiful name” Astrid answered, she doesn’t know the meaning behind her name but she’s thankful.

Astrid stayed in his mansion just like how Bin promised. She met the other humans in the manor and gained friends.

She’s living a life she never knew she can experience under the care of a vampire.

She learned how to read and write thanks to Chrysalis, Astrid learned many things about the world through reading books in Bin’s library. “I think you have read more books than I did in my lifetime” Bin commented upon seeing Astrid holding a book while dusting off the shelves.

“Books are really interesting my lord, it brings me to different places, worlds even, while I simply turn a page” Astrid answered with a smile.

“I hope I can enjoy reading as much as you do” Bin chuckled, simply amused at how Astrid read and clean at the same time.

“Are you okay my Lord? You look bothered” Astrid asked with concern.

Bin gave a sly smile “Are you worried about me?” Bin bent down to level Astrid’s eyes.

Astrid can feel her cheeks burn, the vampire’s face is too close. Her feelings are getting deeper but she knows it’s wrong.

It’s wrong to ask for more.

“I’m fine, don’t worry” He said after evaluating Astrid’s reaction.

“Right, I’ll go out in a moment. The council is asking for my presence. I’ll go back by night, please just inform Chrysalis for me.”

“I will” Astrid answered. She’s still worried for Bin, and what is the council’s reason for asking Bin’s presence.

What exactly is happening?

–

Night came but Bin didn’t come back… Astrid is obviously worried but Chrysalis assured that Bin is safe. Hours passed but Astrid couldn’t sleep and she knows that she can’t until she saw Bin safely walking in the manor.

She went out of her room, hoping that Bin would come back soon.

Astrid strolled the dark hall while holding a lamp. Everyone is probably asleep except for her.

“My lord? Bin, is that you?” Astrid hurriedly approached the figure lying in the ground.

The small light from the lamp confirmed Astrid’s bad feeling since afternoon.

Moon Bin is covered in wounds and barely conscious. Astrid used all of her strength to help Bin get up, they helped each other and finally, they have reached Bin’s room. Astrid let him lie on the bed, her hands are shivering, she doesn’t know what to do.

Bin’s eyes are shut but Astrid can see his suffering due to his severe wounds. He started to catch his breath which made Astrid more anxious.

“I’ll go get some help” Astrid finally spoke but Bin caught her hand.

“Why—“ Moon Bin pulled her in the bed making her squeal in pain because of the harsh gesture.

Astrid’s mind went blank seeing Bin on top of her. Bin’s kind treatment made her forget Bin’s true identity.

_She almost forgot that Bin is from the kind that made her life a living hell and killed millions of her kind for blood. _

And now, she’s going to be killed by the man she loved.

She closed her eyes and anticipated death but the pain didn’t arrive, instead, Astrid felt Moon Bin’s hand shivering from her shoulder.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the side of Bin which he never shown to anyone of them.

His dark eyes filled with kindness are now covered with bloodlust. Astrid can hear his low hiss and see his lips quivering which makes his fangs slightly pierce his lower lip.

A tear escaped from Astrid’s eyes.

Bin is using every ounce of his control not to hurt her from the start.

“Run” Bin struggled to speak.

Astrid gently shook her head and cupped Bin’s face.

“Sorry for doubting you”

[virryth]

Prince!AU Johnny

Johnny came home ;; #WelcomeHomeJohnny

1835 words | Fluff

Where the prince sneaks out to be come a street musician, not knowing an assassin was on his tail

2nd prince of the dynasty, knows it’s not his responsibility to be king so tend to eff around a lot (but like not actually effing anyone)

the only one in the family with the same mother as the crown prince, but vibes so much better with his younger bros: Mark, Doyoung, and Jaehyun

he’s responsible enough to lead an army and has been entrusted with the title of General the last time the country went to war, but due to war PTSD he decided it wasn’t a life for him–prince Youngho is a pacifist

Prince Yuta however loves the art of war so he took over. When Yuta left for battle Youngho gave him a handkerchief and cried while wishing him good luck

Youngho: come back to me my prince

Yuta and Mak: bro ur embarrassing

likes the art of tea, often has tea party and invites all the local maids and courtesans to have tea with him.

To others it looks like a harem but prince Youngho knows how hard they work and how rare it is for them to just sit and have some time for themselves, so forget what everyone thinks as long as he’s doing his job as a good master to them

a true romantic, loves poetry and a genius at gayageum (12-strings instrument, similar: the Chinese guzheng, the Japanese koto, the Mongolian yatga, and the Vietnamese đàn tranh)

all the girls love lining up outside his open chamber to listen to him play at sunset

even the male servants and soldiers sometimes come to see him play because he’s just that good, the emotion he delivers varies from soft melodic lullaby to vibrantly dynamic compositions

Prince Doyoung: maybe you’re better than me at one thing

he doesn’t play outside the castle!! because he’s afraid he’s gonna get caught, followed, or hunted by assassins since the country has a lot of enemies

But prince Youngho loves sneaking out with prince Jaehyun whenever their distant cousin from neighboring kingdom Ten comes to visit.

The first time was for fun. He plays the gayageum in a disguise named Johnny, out in a small public space, and he got so immersed that by the time he was done there was already a crowd gathering

and he loves the feeling of anonymity so much he keeps sneaking out even when his cousin wasn’t visiting

you were hired by the mother of one of the younger princes to assassinate Prince Youngho. You’re a pay-by-the-job kinda assassin and you just take the information from an anonymous bidder and carry out your job so you really don’t know who your real employer is, and they don’t know your face or anything either.

You were given the assignment to kill Prince Youngho, a pity really, you heard he was a good-natured man with no vie for the throne, but a job is a job and you figured once you get into the castle you’ll probably hear some bad things about him anyway, and maybe what he looks like you honestly have no idea since you were never given an assignment to kill royalty of THIS country before

this is the first time you’ve been in this kingdom tbh, but you made a friend already! the guy called Johnny that plays the gayageum first spoke to you after you spaced out listening to him play, and you offered to pay him bc street musicians have it hard ya know just playing day by day for a meal

and he graciously took the money but used it to buy you both food, which you were surprised by

Johnny was your first friend and throughout your time with him you really didn’t want to lie about why you were in town, but no one wants to be friend with an assassin

until one day on one of your scouting of the castle, you bumped into Johnny!

and you definitely notice how he was dressed in the finest silk robe of all the lands, even if he looks like he’s wearing chamber garment and taking a night stroll before bed

“Hey what a pleasant surprise! although not really, what are you doing here?” he inquired after pulling you over to a blind spot from the guards

you didn’t want to lie to Johnny again, but you didn’t know how to react after finding out that he was, in fact, probably someone of royalty seeing as he’s in the castle wearing very expensive robe in the middle of the night

but you couldn’t, he was definitely Johnny as he recognizes you, he was your friend, and royalty or not, you couldn’t do that

“Johnny listen, you need to get as far away from here as possible 3 nights from now. I’m… I’m telling you this since I trust you with my life.”

Johnny: okay thanks but what why?

but you don’t get to explain further because a guard was approaching and you escaped when Johnny turned around to distract them

the next 3 days you don’t see Johnny. he missed his weekly playing at the public square and you really don’t know why, he’s never done this for the past 2 months you’ve known him

on D-day aka the day you’re supposed to kill prince Youngho

you still don’t know how the heck the man looks like because the one infiltration to find out his face was interrupted by your friend Johnny, who may or may not possibly be a prince and brother of your target. The thought that you’ll have to kill one of his brothers kinda hurt you, but if he’d listened to your warning, he should be far away from the castle tonight

from the intel you gather, Prince Youngho is usually alone in his chamber on one specific day of the week (today), and you know where his chamber is so you made your way towards there, patiently waiting for the wee hour so you can take him out

what you don’t expect is Johnny’s friend Jeffrey to show up

he was accompanied by another person in robe, someone he called Doyoung, also strikingly handsome like the rest of the people in this castle apparently. Goddamn you really hit the jackpot with meeting all the princes did ya

Doyoung: this is ginseng tea, remember to make him drink it all, Youngho said he’s been getting these weird heartburns lately that won’t go away

Jeffrey: don’t worry I’ll force it down his throat if he doesn’t hehe

Doyoung: Jaehyun.

Jeffrey/Jaehyun: i’m kidding

oh no… oh man.. you really liked Jeffrey you rEALLY do he gets all your memes! but if he is indeed prince Jaehyun, then intel has it he was very close with prince Youngho :( oh no he’s going to be so devastated..

you’re getting sad on the job which is very unlike you.. But you know this is what happens when you try to get close to people as assassin. it hurts.

but what hurts the most is the voice that calls out to Jeffrey and prince Doyoung

prince Youngho emerged from his chamber.

You feel like the world fell upon you, heavier than when you were eight and thrown out of the house by your foster family because you didn’t “belong,” heavier than the boulder your master dropped on your shoulder when you were twelve and called it “mental training,” heavier and more painful than when Johnny smiled and you know it was a smile reserved solely for you

the shock hit you harder than it should, and as you tried to cope with the reality that you would have to kill Johnny, you lost your bearing on the roof and fell

Doyoung, stepping in front of Jaehyun: did you hear that?

Jaehyun: yes, but hyung why do you have a sword strapped to your waist we’re in nightgowns?

Youngho: call the guard, we may have intruders

Jaehyun: hey… isn’t that… someone we know? Hyung look

You got up as fast as you fell and tried to flee, but Youngho was faster, and soon he was close enough to grab your arm before you got the chance to escape

Doyoung, sword drawn across your throat: who are you?

Jaehyun: hyung relax, it’s our friend

you don’t know what to make of that but for now you gotta go, can’t risk another prince see your face good god you’re a terrible assassin

So as Youngho released your arms, you bolted into the shadows and parkour your way out of the castle

the next day you see Johnny at the same public space where he performs, except it’s not one of his performing day and he’s just there in disguise

and Jeffrey nowhere in sight but next to him is prince Doyoung, the scarier prince you’ve come to meet yesterday

Johnny: hey! glad you’re here, this is um.. you know who he is but call him Charlie

Doyoung eyes you suspiciously before turning back to Johnny: can’t believe we’re talking to an assassin that was sent to kill you.

Doyoung was right. You don’t know what to say because there’s nothing to say. Your relationship or friendship whatever it was has ended and you were sure this is the supposed goodbye before you take off. It was nice, albeit awkward, but less awkward thanks to a third person being there, but you weren’t used to goodbye. The life of an assassin didn’t permit you any goodbyes.

Johnny: Charlie im only taking you with me because you were worried for my safety. Now that we’ve established that, please go entertain yourself at the market. Jeffrey and Jason are waiting for you (Jason = Jeno)

Johnny, after Doyoung skedaddled: work for me.

you: what

Johnny: look, i know you were hired to assassinate me, but i don’t care. work for me or just stay here, don’t leave or.. or i will search the world to find you

You, an awk at emotions: ….dude can you even leave the castle as the prince? like?

Johnny: okay sHUT UP we do have strict rules regarding that but my pOINT IS. I like you, stay with me.

His words were sincere, there’s not a hint of sarcasm in his voice, and no one has ever said something like this to you–especially not after you tried to kill them. You didn’t think you deserve Johnny or the idea of having a life where you can settle down.. but as you look at him, look at the sincerity and purity in his eyes, you know he meant it.

you nodded right before he pulled you to an embrace and attempted to swing you around

Jeno: ah look there’s Young—Johnny hyung!

Doyoung: don’t run Jason hold my hand

Youngho, under his breath: damn that Doyoung always showing up at the most crucial moment

you laughed as he lets you go, but not before promising him that you’ll stay, as a regular village girl or as his new employee, you’ll stay in the kingdom for him

[the-house-of-the-nine]

In Depths Below: Epilogue, Part 3

[ OOC Disclaimer ]  | Over the last year HoTN has put together this story ‘In Depths Below’ it began with Lazarius being taken from Kun-Lai Summit, and the chase to get him back from the Hunters hired by Magister Dawnseeker was unveiled.  Every member eliminated a certain threat, the Order banded together to orchestrate the take down,  and accomplished their mission they’d set out to do.  The events here are what happened during.  This is Lazarius’ side, where he was; and what he’d done.  And just how he and a certain new savior became bonded.  Id like to give a tremendous thanks to @zandalaridruidofgonk for the help in putting this together and making it happen.   And thank you to everyone who has offered support and kind words over the last year.  Without further delay, the conclusion of our 2nd fictional collaboration.  In Depths Below. |

[ J ]       Jursol listened to his words, his questions about how far she’d go to protect her family, her way of life, her freedom. Many thoughts crossed her mind in those moments. Memories of how she came to care for her raptors. How she was taught magic that others saw as dangerous, or to primitive. How upon returning home to Zandalar she has only suffered at the hands of others.

The magic she used brought the wrong kind of attention from others. Some days she wondered why she even came back. This man was one of the few who seemed to not despise her. He was also something that fascinated her. Especially seeing how he seemed to be healed already after suffering such damage.

Jursol continued to pet the small raptor as she gave a fanged smile before speaking.

“Freedom not be free. It be paired for in blood, death, suffering. It be something I will never give up without a fight. Dis war be something I want nothing to do with. Dis world be suffering. Dis world be afraid of anything it not be understanding.”

Taking a look around at her hut with a slight smile she spoke frankly to him.

“I be doing anything to protect my freedom, my family, my way of life. Even if it be meaning killing.”

As she finished speaking the little raptor leaped off her to run around the hut. It found a place to rest as she moved to prepare to follow the elf into the jungles. Grabbing a few small bags, and; some vials that were empty to collect blood, before moving to the door to leave.

“If you be healed it be time to hunt.” She seemed eager to shed the blood of those they are after.

[ L.K ]     “We are very much alike in that respect Miss Jursol.”.

Lazarius would make his way beside her. Taking it upon himself to move from the inside of her cabin to the outer jungles that seemed to scream with life. It was obvious he didn’t seem all too bothered by the sounds and sights of the jungle. Unlike most elves that would have probably found dirt and sweat to be unappealing, he was quite comfortable.

“I will need you to lead the way as I have the navigation skills of a drunken dirt farmer. Especially in these unfamiliar territories.”.

[ J ]       As the two walked outside, Jursol noticed the elf seemed very at ease here. She remembered another she met who would swat at every single leaf or insect, and jumped at every sound they did not recognize. Laughing softly at the memory before she took the lead.

“At least you be honest about dis. Most I bet not be wanting to admit any weakness.”

[ L.K ]      His voice cracked as he let a small laugh escape his lips. Lazarius was pleased so far, free from those shackles and bindings, free from the grips of his captors. Hopefully the rest of his order was not irrationally starting a war, God’s only knew his twin must have been livid with him missing...again.

As she was permitted to take charge, he relinquished control to her. Staying close but not too close as to crowd her. He was trying to match her stride but he was absolutely no where as skilled at jungle traipsing as she.

“My views and...thoughts have changed over...the years.”.

He said brokenly as he walked behind her, his voice only loud enough for her to hear under the weight of their steps along the brush.

“My life has... been in the service of the ... old ones since I was only ... very young, but now ... I know that I must balance ... carefully on both sides...”.

[ J ]       As she lead the way with her white raptor near by, she heard a sound in the brush. A simple wave her hand and the raptor took off after what ever it was. A screech was heard as the sounds of a struggle came from the brush. The loud sound of crunching of bones was the last thing heard, before the raptor returned looking pleased. It’s mouth dripping in the blood of what ever poor animal was there. Jursol listened intently to him as she moved branches such out of his way.

“Old ones? Ah you be meaning Old gods I take it. Mmm, yes as with everything balance must be held. As one once be telling me, da be no darkness without light, no light without darkness. Even da shadows need da light to exist. It be hard to be free here in Zandalar. One must follow certain ways, or be shunned.”

[ L.K ]     Lazarius was more thinking out loud than anything, thank the gods they found flat soft ground to walk on finally.

“The people who serve with me, I will do anything to ensure they are free of tyranny, judgement and persecution.”  

He thought to himself for a moment then spoke.  

“Consider that my debt paid in full Miss Jursol, should you ever need somewhere safe... of these jungles come to claim you and the tribes encroach on your lands...should you need an ally in your darkest hour. The Nine...our Bastille, and my wrath...will be yours to use as you see fit.”

[ J ]       A deep sigh escaped her lips as she continued to clear a path. The beach was now close enough to hear the waves crashing on some rocks at the shoreline.

“I tank ya for dat, really. . . I be under attack more den most know.  Now more den evah...”

[ L.K ]     “ We are family...and I will protect the ones who protect me with my life...if that means we can be at peace and do as we wish....Freedom...” he said softly as they came closer to the exit of the forest edge.

[ J ]       Growing silent Jursol pointed to the beach now within sight. Scattered around still were bits of the ship, and maybe it’s contents of anything made it ashore. The white raptor made a sound as it seemed to pick up on something. Scavengers perhaps? Or perhaps others looking for this elf.

[ L.K ]     He reached out and took hold of her scaled flesh with the wrapped edges of his bandages.

“ Wait...”

As he moved up closer beside her, both elf and troll would be in that sneaky crouching position, and from their height vantage looking down at the beach, a small fire with seven figures could be seen huddled about massive piece of drift wood and debris. They had in fact found part of the wreckage of the airship.

“It must have crashed nearby and drifted in the lagoons...”

She could see his eyes flare up at this point had she looked back to him when he spoke. Voided magic’s beginning to drip from the gaps of the wrappings around his fingers, sizzling like a black magma as it hit the ground and slithered back to its master to be reborn again.

“These men are mercenaries, come to claim the price on my head. Their intention was to return me to Quel’thalas and deliver me to a very powerful Magister. They have something very important to me that I need in order to return to my people.”

Lazarius slowly moved a hand toward his shoulder where his robes were not even covering half, she would see the circled serpent branding against his tattooed flesh. The symbol of the Nine.

“I need that talisman...”

[ J ]      After scanning the intruders Jursol looked to the elf. She noticed more and more how he differed from others. He was definitely something else indeed.

Her gaze was locked onto the void magic dropping from his fingers seeming to come from the pours themselves. As it sizzled hitting he ground, her eyes widened in amazement and fascination. It was clearly alive as it even returned to his body.

Wishing to ask questions she held her tongue for now. There were enemies to deal with now. His words seemed to break her focus on the void magic as she nodded slowly to him.

“Mercenaries dey may be, but like others trespassing dey will die. I guess we be keeping dem alive long enough ta find what you be looking for.”

A sly wicked grin crossed her lips as she licked her fangs.

“Den I be feeding my raptors good tonight. Perhaps even da small little ones can eat some as well.”

Clearly she had no care for the lives on those down there. To her they were about to be a few meal for her family, and entertainment for her.

“When you be ready I be ready.” She said as she studied the mark, burning it into her memory.

[ L.K ]     “There are no reasons to leave them alive... I will strip their flesh from their bones and flay them alive if I need to. The only one I want alive is the one wearing the red cap. He was second in command to the leader I killed on the way down during the crash.”.

Lazarius narrowed his black eyes at the rest of them.

“Elf flesh is delicious...so I have heard from a companion of mine. Your raptors will eat well.”.

Slowly the man rose from the brush and began to pad down his robes and clean himself the best he could.

“Well...how do I look?”. He stated as he gave her a generous charming smile.

“How about we go for a walk dear Jursol? I’m sure they will get quite the shock when we waltz on down and introduce ourselves.”

[ J ]       Looking to spot the one he wanted alive she snarled.

“Den the one shall live, while de others become a nice meal for my raptors. I feel dis will be a great night a hunt.”

In the distance the sound of a raptor calling echoed though the jungles. Jursol grinned even more as she readied herself. Looking him over and quietly laughing at his charming smile, she gave a nod of her head.

“Be looking ready to be teaching a lesson to dem.”

She said as she made a strange animal like sound. The jungles seemed even more alive as the other animals reacted to her sound. As he gave word he was ready she started to make her way down, clearing a path for him as she went. Once they were near the beach Jursol blew loudly into her Death Whistle.

Her hope was that mixed with the sudden uproar of wildlife sounds would throw them off. Perhaps make them a bit uneasy being in a new place, that does seem very unforgiving. She remained hidden until he was back next to her. The raptors hunting call growing louder as they to neared the beach.

"Gentlemen!"

[ L.K ]     Lazarius hollered loudly as he slid down the embankment and onto the beach where he could be seen clearly walking toward the group of seven turned even more startled.

First the death whistle and the sounds of the creatures nearby causing them to reach for broken pieces of metal and wood that they had used to as makeshift weapons, and now this?

"Gentlemen it is good to see that you've all survived our little crash. . ." He raised his hands upward as he offered to show them he was in fact unarmed. These men were not fools though. “Most of you. . .some of you. . .”

They knew that the restraints missing were a bad thing. Or maybe they didn't.

"Now I know none of us expected to get stranded here on the beautiful sun baked beaches of Zandalar but. . .that is what has happened. Suffice to say we should all hope to eventually make it off of this island in one shape or form or another."

Lazarius walked calmly toward the small camp. If Jursol so chose to join him, the introduction to the men would continue.

"This is Jursol, she is a friend of mine. We've actually decided to come down here to see if you fine, upstanding people were alright. And seeing as how at least some of you didn't get picked off by the shark swarms, it goes without saying that you'd probably like to live past breakfast."

"Shut up you fucking mouthy son of a bitch! Light be damned this was why we bound and gagged you, just Shut up!" yelled one of the men watching the Inquisitor coming toward them.

“Marill let him speak. . .maybe he actually has a way out of here." called another.

"No Calleh, we aren't going to let him speak. . .did you forget that Dawnseeker wants him. We're getting paid a shitload of gold to deliver him alive. . .fuck his plan, we take him in and get that-fucking-money."

The man named Marill snapped back, slapping the side of the moronic man who wanted to allow him a chance.

"Now gentlemen I think that is a pretty unwise decision. . .considering the fact that I'm not actually planning on going back with you. So why don't we just all relax and think about this. . .you just tell me where my talisman is. . . and we'll just forget this whole thing ever happened. . .How does that sound?"

Lazarius asked as he grew closer still, walking at the same pace with his hands raised above his head.

[ J ]       Jursol grinned wide as she waited a moment before walking out from the thick jungle. She found the fact they reached for makeshift weapons highly amusing, clear by the pleased look on her face. Her eyes scanned the men as she walked out next to the elf. Hearing him introduce her she gave the men a, very sly, fanged grin.

Hearing the men speaking back to the elf in such a tone as they did, only stood to amuse her even more. She had seen what he can do, and she knew that lack of respect will be the end of them. They need him alive, but he only needs one of them alive. This won’t end well for those men at all. The banter was making her laugh as she kept her hands within sight for now. Staying close to him as they approached the hunters.

“Jo be in mah jungles now. Trespassers be not welcome here.” She said oddly calmly as she grinned more.

“I be thinking you best be tellen him where dat talisman be. That or we can be maken dis a game. I be happy ta help ja meet Ole Bwonsamdi. He be needen some new souls ta rule.”

As she spoke she stretched her clawed hands. A faint humming came from a bag she carried. She had a little surprise for those hunters with her. The screech of raptors grew ever louder as they grew ever closer to the beach.

[ L.K ]     Lazarius calmly continued on his trek toward them, his hands raised, and a smile on his face hearing the troll interact with them.

The men were somewhat in a daze at this point. The sight of the tall elf walking toward them with hands raised high. The sight of an even taller troll beside him. That buzzing, what the hell was that buzzing. The screech Of raptors, why did it have to be raptors! They were panicking and bunched together. Eyes wide and hearts beating.

Lazarius turned toward Jursol and smiled.

“Do you hear that? Thump thump, thump thump...such a lovely rhythm that tempo...”.

Lazarius turned his attention back toward the men.

“My good men...this troll...this beautiful...mesmerizing creature...she will end you.”.

He stopped several paces from them, hands still raised.

“I am NOT kidding, she does not take kindly to strangers who burn fires, make messes and just overall are being rude on her shores...you are being rude, you haven’t even introduced yourselves..”

“Im Calleh!” shouted one of the men as he was swatted by Marill.

“ Shut up... look Kashebahl...no hard feelings or anything but you... you have to come with us, this isn’t personal it’s work...you shouldn’t be so hard on us we’re just doing our jobs...”   one more of the group had called out.

Lazarius paused and nodded slowly.

“Just doing your...jobs. Right well I mean that does make sense, makes a lot of sense...”.

He looked at Jursol and sympathetically offered her a frown.

“That makes sense doesn’t it Miss Jursol?”.

Lazarius would slowly lower his hands and droop his head.

“Do...any of you know what my job is?”.

He asked as his bare toe started to draw little figures in the sand haphazardly.

“ Youre a rich guy!” Calleh borked again like a fool.

“Shut up Calleh!” Marill howled. “ Youre a noble...you move fine art, spice and fabrics. And you..owned a massive manor in Tirisfal.  Look it really doesn’t matter. . .it isn’t personal, it just is what it is. . . ”

Lazarius was tracing a little smiley face as he nodded listening to them. Or wasn’t listening and he chuckled.

“Is what it is. . . Hmm. . . So you don’t know what my job is...”. He continued to draw and extended his palm toward Jursol.   He completely ignored what they’d said to get back to his point.

She could see by the gesture that it looked like he was offering her his hand, but then he swept it away and moved it to point at the men. As if now he was saying, “have at them” which was exactly what he was saying.

“My job...is locating individuals such as my beautiful counterpart here; who share a like minded opinion of the state this world is in...rallying under one banner...forging a future together. . .drawing strength and resolve from one another in order to survive the insufferable garbage fire that is Azeroth and nearly all of its inhabitants. ..”.

All of that was said as she did whatever she was going to do. The only thing Lazarius had told her was to leave the one man alive, he changed his mind and called to her.

“Spare Calleh won’t you...I like him.”

To be Continued in. . . “In Depths Below: Epilogue, Part 4″

[wenqtranslations]

Mo Dao Zu Shi 魔道祖师 - Chapter 7

魔道祖师 Translation Project by 杨文秋 （为了学读中文 )

So I realised there were several versions of the novel floating around. So far, I’ve been reading (and translating) the old version -- but after skimming through the revised one, I think I like it better. Probably because the author went back and did some more foreshadowing. This chapter is half from the old version, and half from the new version. I’ll be continuing with the newer version from here on.

Chapter 7

Jiang Chen soon suppressed his enmity.  

Though he was hardly pleased, he was a sect leader. He could not behave like that hot-headed youth Jin Ling.

Ever since the fall of QingHeNie sect, the cultivator society was supported by the tripod of three big families. The sect leaders of Jin and Lan families were close friends and together, they dominated YunMengJiang sect. Of the three families, YunMengJiang sect stood alone. Though Lan Zhan wasn’t the sect leader of the Lan family, he was a distinguished cultivator, held in high esteem, had close relations with his family leader. If he could avoid tearing these relations, then he’d avoid it if he could.

Jiang Chen’s sword “San Du” [TN: Three Poisons 三毒] and Lan Zhan’s sword “Bi Chen” [TN: avoid dust/earth避尘] had never seriously crossed blades before, no one knew in whose hands the deer would fall. Though Jiang Chen had that protective item “Zi Dian” [TN: purple lightning], Lan Zhan had his “Wang Ji” [TN: free of worldly concerns] zither of similar repute. Jiang Cheng could not tolerate being caught in the tail-wind, disadvantaged. Unable to fully grasp a situation, he’d never make a brash move.

He slowly removed that left hand from his ring.

It seemed like Lan WangJi was determined to interfere. It would be inconvenient to continued being the bad guy. He’d make a note, for now. There would be plenty of opportunity to collect this debt later. Jiang Chen weighed the matter, turned and regarded Jin Ling’s fuming expression. “HanGuang-Jun wants to penalise you: receive his teaching this time. Managing the juniors of other families is no easy matter.” he said, contemptuous.

Lan WangJi never spoke impulsively. He seemed to not have heard him.

His tone bristling, Jiang Chen retorted, “Why are you still standing here, you waiting for that spirit-eating beast to stick itself on your sword? If you can’t catch it, after today don’t think to find me anymore!”

Jin Ling glared at Wei WuXian but didn’t have the nerve to glare at Lan WangJi. He sheathed his sword, bowed stiffly to his two seniors and retreated with bow in hand. Lan SiZhui said, “Master Jiang, GuSuLann sect will repay you in full for destroying the spirit binding nets.”

Jiang Cheng gave a cold laugh. “No need.” He chose the opposite direction and started down the mountain. His underlings mutely followed him, long-faced. In their heart knew they couldn’t avoid a disciplining.

Waiting until their silhouettes disappeared, Lan JingYi grumbled, “Master Jiang -- this person!” then remembered the Lan family’s teachings and the person standing silently behind him. He shot an alarmed look at HanGuang-Jun, shut his mouth and shrank back.

Lan SiZhui gave Wei WuXian a faint smile. “Son of Mo, we meet again.”

Wei WuXian pulled up the corners of his lips in response.

Lan WangJi spoke, command simple and direct. “Go back to work.”

The many juniors were reminded of their mission on DaFan mountain. Their attention focused, waiting for the rest of HanGuang-Jun’s command. LanWangJi continued, “Do your best. Stay within your limits.”

His voice was both low and magnetic. Hearing it any closer, would surely make a listener’s heart tremble. All the juniors chorused an affirmative. Not daring to linger, they set off towards the depths of the mountain forest. Wei WuXian knew Jiang Chen and Lan Zhan were indeed two opposite personalities – even their commands were delivered in sharply opposite way. Lan WangJi gave him a small nod. He could only respond with a blank stare.

From a young age, Lan Zhan’s behaviour was so proper it gave people a toothache. He wore his face solemn like a wooden board, as if there had never been a lively time in his life. Whenever they’d touched upon the subject of Wei WuXian’s cultivation path, he’d look as if he had sand in his eyes. Lan SiZhui would have already told him about what happened in the Mo household. He should know he practiced the demonic path, yet still nodded in greeting. Probably to thank him for helping untangle the Lan family from that mess. This courtesy was rarely something Wei WuXian received. Gratefully, he returned the act, but when he next raised his head, Lan WangJi had already vanished.

After a pause, he also went down the mountain.

He couldn’t take the kill. He would not snatch it from Jin Ling.

That it turned out to be Jin Ling.

LanLingJin sect had many disciples, yet he met Jin Ling. If he knew, would he mock him “a mother to birth you, no mother to raise you”? If it was someone else who said this to Jin Ling, he would let this person experience first-hand what troubles issued from a loose tongue. Except the one who said it, was him.

He stood quietly a while. Then, Wei WuXian raised his hand and slapped himself soundly across the ears.

He swayed. The slap was full of strength, his right cheek burned. From the corner of his eyes he noticed the donkey. He put down his hand, and the donkey ambled over. Wei WuXian pulled at its long ears and laughed bitterly, “You wanted to be the hero and save the damsel but made me do the act instead!”

The donkey groaned. Upon reaching the foot of the mountain slope, a cultivator walked towards them. Four hundred or so spirit binding nets had been destroyed in one sweep of Lan WangJi’s sword. The disciples loitering near Buddha-Foot Town were coming up again. Wei WuXian entertained the thought of chasing them back down, but eventually stepped aside and cleared a path.

This crowd of disciples walked and grumbled among themselves.

“This little Jin son. Jin family and Jiang family both spoil him like that,  he’s already so bossy at this young age. If you let him take over LanLingJin sect in the future, the cultivation society’s going to overturn the heavens! We may as well not live!”

Wei WuXian slowed his pace.

A tender-hearted female cultivator ventured, “Jin family and Jiang Chen, how can they not spoil him? Both his mother and father passed away at such a young age and he barely escaped with his life. He lived, but lost so much.”

“So what if his parents are dead, many people’s parents are dead. Imagine if everyone turned out like him, it’d be terrible!”

“Really, how could Wei WuXian do this. Jin Ling’s mother was his fellow disciple and Jiang Chen’s older sibling. She was like a sister to him when they were younger.”

“Jiang YanLi was also wronged, raising this traitorous wolf. Jin ZiXuan was another tragedy. Dying in such an awful way, just because he’d entangled with WeiWuXian in the past.”

“How come Wei WuXian was mixed up with everybody…”

“That’s exactly right. Apart from that rabid dog he keeps, have you heard he had good relations with anything else? Families that loathe him are everywhere, people are angry, heaven is angry. Even he and HanGuang-Jun look at each other with mutual hate, like fire and water.”

“With that said, HanGuang-Jun sure saved us today …”

After walking a distance, suddenly the bubbling noise of a creek entered Wei WuXian’s hearing.

This was a sound he hadn’t heard on the way here. Wei WuXian realised he’d went down a different fork.

Leading the donkey, he walked to the side of the creek. Above the bank, the sky was clear of leaves and branches. The moon touched the creek’s frost cracked surface. Wei WuXian peered at his rippling reflection.

Suddenly, he savagely slammed the water, shattering this leering clown face. Raised a dripping hand, he washed off his makeup.

A handsome young man appeared in the waves. As if he’d been cleansed by the moonlight, he appeared bright eyed, relaxed brows, his mouth a gentle curve. Head bowed in concentration, around his eyes clung water droplets like suspended tears.

It was a young face. A stranger’s face. Not the heaven inverting, bloodied wind inducing YiLing Patriach Wei WuXian.

He stared at this face for a long time. Wei WuXian gave it a wipe, rubbed his eyes, and sat heavily on the bank.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t endure denouncement. In the past, he’d been clear about his choice. What he would face from today, his heart was well warned: remembering YunMengJiang sect’s teaching --- “to know the impossible and persevere”.

Only -- he’d thought his heart was an unyielding rock, but It turned out to be human after all.

The donkey seemed to know he was in a bad mood. Quietly, without that impatient braying, it waved its tail and left. Wei WuXian sat by the creek bank and didn’t react. The donkey looked back, stamped its hoof. Wei WuXian ignored it. The donkey trotted back in a huff, used its teeth to bite the lapel of Wei WuXian’s robe, tugging.

He didn’t care to leave or stay. But since he’d been bitten already, Wei WuXian let himself be pulled away. That donkey lead him underneath a copse of trees and circled a patch of grass. A ripped golden net hung, and below it, a sealing pouch rested in the shrubbery. It’d certainly fell from the possession of some unfortunate cultivator who’d struggled free from the net. Wei WuXian picked up the pouch and opened it. Inside was a good assortment of items: medicinal gourd, talismans, demon mirror and the ilk.

He rummaged a while and picked up a talisman at random. A tongue of flame flickered to life.

A Shade-Flame Talisman was burning. As the name implied, it used shade-energy as fuel, it would automatically ignite in the presence of shade energy. If the shade energy was dense, it would burn more ferociously. It burned as soon as it was taken out, meaning a spirit was not far from Wei WuXian.

Seeing the fire light, Wei WuXian was on his guard. He lifted the talisman and swept around him. Turning to the east, the flame dimmed. Turning to the west, the flame shot up. He walked a few steps towards this direction and saw a hunched white silhouette appear underneath a tree.

Wei WuXian approached slowly. The muttering of the old spirit grew clearer.

“It hurts, it hurts.”

Wei WuXian asked, “Where does it hurt?”

That old one groaned, “My head, my head.”

Wei WuXian said, “Let me see.”

He went closer to one side of the old one, and saw a large, blood-red hole on his forehead. This was a dead spirit, likely to have been murdered by someone smashing their head in. He wore burial clothes, made of expensive material and craftsmanship. He must have already undergone the necessary rites and been placed to rest into the grave. It wasn’t the lost spirit of a living person.

However, this sort of dead spirit should not appear on DaFan Mountain.

Wei WuXian knew it was not good news. He jumped onto the donkey’s back, with a slap and a shout, spurred it towards where Jin Ling had gone into the mountain.

Many cultivators were gathered near the old graveyard, like waiting for a rabbit near a treestump *. Some people bravely hoisted spirit-summoning flags, but only succeeded in summoning a group of wailing spirits prostrating themselves on the ground. Wei WuXian pulled the donkey to a stop, swept the scene. He asked in a ringing voice, “Excuse me, answer me something. Those sons of the Jin family and Lan family, where did they go?”

Without the makeup on his face, people were willing to answer at last. A disciple replied, “They left this place and went to the Heavenly Woman’s shrine.”

Wei WuXian repeated, “Heavenly Woman Shrine?”

That group of scattered, rural families, having heard the nets had been destroyed, had snuck up again. The middle-aged man, upon seeing the clothing and that bucktoothed mule, realised it was the lunatic who’d saved them early. Embarrassed, he pretending nothing was wrong. That round-faced young girl pointed the road. “That way. It’s one of the shrines in the rock grotto.”

Wei WuXian asked, “What entity does it pay homage to?”

The round-faced girl said, “I think … I think it’s a naturally formed Heavenly Woman deity.”

Wei WuXian nodded. “Many thanks.”

At once, like a surge of flame, he rushed towards the Heavenly Woman shrine.

A lazy man taking a wife, thunder uncovering a coffin, a man mauled by wolves, a father and daughter losing their spirits each after the other, burial clothes of high quality … these were beads to be strung into a complete string. No wonder the demonic compass could not point a direction, the spirit summoning flag would be of even less use. They’d all underestimated the thing on DaFan Mountain.

It was not what they thought it was!

   *I think this was the story where a farmer found rabbits near a treestump several days in a row. So he dropped everything he was doing and decided to wait near the treestump for rabbits – but of course the few first times was a fluke. No more rabbits appeared. So the moral of the story is: don’t be that farmer, seek out your own opportunities instead of trusting to chance!

[punkwhodrinkstea-blog]

The Long Road of the Holidays

The holidays have come to an end, we flew through Christmas and it’s not the new year. People partied extra hard for no real reason and was probably horribly irresponsible for the hollow hope of trying to have a good time and avoid their life. Their attempts will be in vain since life goes on and it will come back to bite them in the butt if it hasn’t already. But nevermind that cause I hate new years celebrations because it has literally no meaning or purpose at all cause it changes nothing.

Anyway, let me tell you a little story. A few days ago my Fiancee and I arrived back at her house to find a girl probably in her early or mid-20s just sitting with a notebook sitting on the curb. It was a cold night and I thought maybe she was waiting for someone to pick her up, but she had a notebook out and not a cell phone, plus she almost looked homeless. So I had a feeling (probably from God) to ask her if she was okay and if she needed a ride somewhere. My fiancee and I got out of the car and walked over to her. I simply said “excuse me” and the first reaction was to ask if that was our house and that she needed to move. Apparently, people get mad if a stranger is sitting in front of their house...in the cold...what? Okay, only a dick would be mad about that. But anyway I just stopped her and told her it was fine for her to be there and then I proceeded to ask her if she needed a ride somewhere. She was not only surprised but she must’ve thought it was a miracle or something based on how she reacted. I suppose it is rare when a stranger asks if you need a ride but I thought it was pretty obvious that she wanted to be anywhere other than on the side of the road in the cold. I’d like to think more people would’ve considered that but our world is dark and no one seems to notice other people anymore these days. Heck according to her first concern, it seems that it would have been more likely for someone to see her as a problem then as someone who needed help. Next, she apologized for having acne….my heart sank a little. For starters, having acne is painful enough and not really your fault; at least most of the time since most people don’t usually choose to have acne. She clearly has had someone in her life complain about her acne or somehow made her feel like she is a problem in many ways in order for her to feel the need to apologize for it. Whoever makes someone feel that bad for something like this should have their balls slowly crushed in a vice. Anyway, she took our offer to give her a ride and we drove her back to her apartment. She was very nice the whole ride and we had a perfectly good and fairly natural conversation along the way. As the overprotective person that I am. I felt that maybe her niceness was fake because she seemed to be in with some bad people or she was down on her luck. Which based on other people like that, it is often because deep down, they are all dicks and it’s often time the reason why they are “down on their luck” or stuck with the bad crowd. My fiancee pointed out though that there are always red flags when someone is a bad person and she didn’t show any other than my vague assumptions, it’s not fair to judge someone on assumptions of any kind. In the end, she asked my Fiancee for her cell number and asked if maybe we could hang out sometime. She hasn’t texted or called at all so either she didn’t care to call/text, she forgot really quickly, she lied and was just being nice or my fiancee wrote her number down wrong which she is already overthinking. But at least we got the chance to help someone so that’s nice, I hope she is doing well because she mentioned that she had a rough holiday season.

Anyway, back to Christmas stuff. Christmas was pretty much the same but with college and so many family gatherings it came and went way too fast and the most joy I got from the season of Christmas was listening to Christmas CDs my fiancee made for the car. We only got to listen to them while driving from one chaotic family gathering to another. But we survived together and I’m glad. Next, I’m going to touch on all my presents this year and keep in mind that I’m a Gamer who comes from a wealthy family.

The first gift was a leather wallet that had only 3 pockets just big enough to hold 3 cards or maybe 2 cards and a small amount of cash that must be folded in half. My brother got this for me because it’s the kind of useless, overpriced hipster trash that he likes. He also accused me of using a plastic bag as a wallet even though he has seen me use my perfectly good and very practical wallet that I will continue to use because the wallet he gave me is pretty much useless. Thanks but no thanks, really shows just how disconnected he is from me and it shows that he thinks that because he likes that stuff, he thinks everyone else must like it too.

The second gift was also from my brother and I’m not sure which is more useless. This gift is a “Roku Streaming Stick Plus”. You probably don’t know what that is. Basically, it’s a USB stick but it’s not, instead, the port goes into an HDMI port. So it can stream audio and video to any display with an HDMI port. Long story short, it makes any display in a really crappy smart TV, aka a Netflix box. Now I rarely watch TV/Netflix/Youtube and I actually hate the idea of wasting away my life just watching stuff, I mean I’ve got stuff to do, I want to live my life, I want to be productive or actually have fun, anything but just sit there and consume content designed to make me dumb and addicted to their cheap form of entertainment. I refuse to be a sheep. Anyway, this is my brother's second gift to me and once again it shows just how little my brother knows me… or he’s trying to turn me into him? Not sure but I might sell his gifts.  

Third gift and one of the best, a bag of Beef Jerky. I’ve never really had Beef Jerky before because it’s expensive and probably really unhealthy but…. I had this bag and it was addicting and delicious. It’s already gone but my fiancee helped so I didn’t eat it all on my own.

Next was a pair of PJs, I actually got the exact same pair of PJs last year but they are a different color this time. They are good PJs so I’m glad I got another set.

Second last present was from my sister. She got me a t-shirt which fits me nicely and is just plain blue so I can’t complain. She also said she will pay for a 4-month parking pass for my college parking. That’s a lot of money and I am currently parking at an old friend’s house about 2km away to save money so I asked her to not give me the parking pass and maybe just help me pay car insurance for a month since it’s more helpful and costs less. Also at this rate, I might not have the money to pay for car insurance so the parking pass with be 100% useless. My sister and parents got mad at me when I point out that her gift will be a waste of money and that giving that money to help pay for my car would be far more helpful and cheaper. They said it was rude to not accept the gift and that I have to take it as it is… I guess they just like wasting money? They aren’t very smart. But they’d rather see this “grand” gesture which is just sooooo helpful than to actually be helpful and practical… and they wonder why I think they are foolish. They don’t think with their heads they think the way our culture has trained them to think.

Last and certainly not least. Over a month ago I found a GTX 1070 on for a great price at a local Staples if you’d believe it (it’s a High-End graphics card). Based on my lack of money and the fact that a good new graphics card is a worthy investment that will last me several years into my future I begged my dad to get it for me and said I’d even pitch in to get it. To my surprise, he actually got it for me and didn’t make me pitch in to help pay for it. It was great timing too because my current graphics card was having a hard time running the latest games. Plus the GTX 1070 can run VR which my fiancee and I want to have in the future (but mostly me). Now I knew my dad could afford the graphics card since we’re rather rich but the real surprise was if he was actually going to help me with something gaming related.

To end off this blog post let me just say that I am making a freak’n board game. As a gamer and writer, creating a game is right up my alley. I’d love to make a video game and I was going to do only tutorials and stuff to learn how to make a game in Unreal Engine since they have a logic system that can be programmed without the need for being a master programmer but I know I won’t have the time until probably the summer so I’ll save that for then. But in the meantime I’ll be working on my board game. I realized that my local library has a 3D printer for use by anyone in the public. So I found the software they use online and have begun designing the game pieces. I genuinely think that I would make a great game maker. I have the mind for it and I have lots of knowledge and experience to know what makes a good game and how to balance everything. Plus I love to create and I simply find it so fun. If I somehow get a career making games I’m taking it.  Anyway, long story short the game is coming along super well and myself along with some friends are really excited about it. It’s a weird side project I know but even as a kid I actually made expansion packs and my own board games. The main problem was that no one ever played with me. It was a big reason as to why I love video games, with video games I can play against AI enemies or online where there are always people to play with, plus you don’t have to drive/walk to your friend’s house to play with them. Gaming with people in person is usually better than online but the amount of practicality of online gaming far outways the idea of me or a friend constantly traveling and moving our gear.

Next, the reason for the title of this blog post was because I’ve done a crap ton of driving over the holidays and I’m tired of it. My fiancee and I went on a road trip to my old, old house where I spent nearly half my life and I got to show her around and talk her ear off about what life was like in a big rich white neighborhood. Her mother came along to see something that I can’t really explain. Something about birds, I could google it but I’m not going to tell you the name anyway. The real reason she came along was to make sure my fiancee and I didn’t have sex which was a bit insulting since both my fiancee and I have done a great job with boundaries and we are both confident that we won’t. We plan to wait until we are married for those who don’t know.

Okay, one last thing I promise. Growing up the phrase “that’s gay” or “that’s super gay” or some use of the word gay was apart of my vocabulary and was often used to express how dumb I thought something was, I know myself and many other people used the word just like that and no one ever got offended and it was totally normal…. Until one day. The storm clouds blew in, thunder roared, lightning crashed, shots were fired and…. A literal gay kid got offended. Myself and others were slowly trained that using the word gay like that could be offensive that we should never say it again. These were dark times but I have reached the point in my life where I simply don’t give a bloody gay butt fucking care about that overly sensitive bullshit that mentally screwed up gay people brought into our society anymore! So now I use the word gay just like I used too and I use it as often or as little as I want. If someone gets offended then too bad. It’s not my fault you are so sensitive or that you’re gay and I am tired of bending to the will of those who are so messed up. So I AM DONE!

...Thank good night, I hope you’re happy…

*drops the mic*

[proudtobeadepphead]

GQ Germany Interview:

Interviewer: Mister Depp, let's talk about coolness: You often been called "cool". What does that mean to you? Who would you call cool?

Johnny: Cool can mean so many different things. I have always thought that an individual personality is cool. Someone who is just himself. It's actually quite simple - I like those people cool. Patti Smith is cool, she is unadulterated. Iggy Pop is cool, he is unadulterated. Jim Morrison was cool and unadulterated. Marlon Brando was cool and unadulterated. Hunter was cool. You know, only today someone told me about his work as a counselor for children with HIV. Children who have been adopted. It is so brave of him to give something back to others in this way. He impressed me so much that I wanted to be hugged by him. I worked a lot with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and got to know these children. Children with whom fate has not meant well, who have to deal with serious illnesses and pain. In their eyes is not fear, but only bravery and courage. That's really cool. Would I call myself cool? I do not know if that really applies to me, maybe people will see me that way because I'm rather quiet.

I: In the summer you go on a european tour with your band Hollywood Vampires. How important is music in your life?

Johnny: Music is everything, even in my work. The access to my work as an actor is the same as that to my work as a musician. I deal with it, I learn, I listen. By teaching myself how to play the guitar, just by listening to records, I had a pretty good starting position to train my hearing for the shades in the human voice. Be it the timbre, the accent or the attack. As a kid, I've been puzzling various people, and probably this trained hearing helped me a lot. I constantly use it in my work. I think we all have a soundtrack in our heads at all times. For certain scenes I use music. If I want to mentally get back into a situation, or if I have to feel or show something, then it works with a song within seconds. Certain songs immediately evoke memories. My memory is sorted by music. That's why I use music very often.

I: What does "male" mean to you?

Johnny: A real man is a man who keeps his word. The definition of a man is to be true, loyal and present. He must fight against any injustice, be it on the small everyday level or on a large scale, with or without fear. The masculine is to go out into the world as oneself, when there is nothing else. And being sincere and trustworthy.

I: You made a campaign for Dior for the second time - do you think that the image that Dior and photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino created for "Sauvage" reflects your personality?

Johnny: I think when Jean-Baptiste looks at someone, it's like dissecting his personality. He shifts layer after layer to find the aspect that interests or inspires him, and then he catches some of you in it. This is shown, for example, by the wolf. The wolf is a lonely figure, right? There is definitely a part of me that tends to be a loner. You can never find me in the middle of a crowd.

I: So you're more of a loner?

Johnny: I prefer to stay in the shade and like to hold back. I feel better in the dark. Jean-Baptiste Mondino has captured this side of me. I am a shy person. It's interesting if I play a role, I have no restrictions at all. I can do anything in front of the camera. It's a bit strange to feel better in front of the camera in a role than in your own skin. If I had to get up at a dinner party and say a toast ... I would be a disaster! As a character, a completely different world opens up. Jean-Baptiste has captured something of mine, the part that does not want to talk about all these strange words, or even to perceive them at all. "Celebrity" or "prominence" and all the other nonsense that I can not really connect with.

I: Do you think that Mondino has incorporated some of your roles in the campaign? Did you remember something about the movie characters you played?

Johnny: No, it does not have that. Do you know what has reminded me more than anything else? For an actor it is not the most important thing to act, but to react. That's what it's all about, and you have to do one of the hardest things in the world, being easy. Being in a state of being. It felt very natural, not at all like a roll. I gave him this state of being, and he laid free, layer by layer, until he found what he was interested in. He revealed it, and I accepted it. He allowed me to get involved, and that's the beauty of it. It had nothing planned, cumbersome or intentionally cool or unusual. Just the look that he has for the light, how it hits the mountains. He is a master in it. Honestly, I had more fun with the few days of filming in the desert than with most films, because it felt natural.

I: Is there a person you would like to play once? A character of history or the present, or someone who inspires you in particular?

Johnnny: Oh yes, there are people who fascinate me and books that I'm obsessed with. It is possible to really love a fictional character. For example, the "catcher in the rye". No one should actually watch a movie version of Holden Caulfield. Holden Caulfield must look like the imagination of the reader, as described by J. D. Salinger. Then you have these great personalities, Picasso for example: you can never do it justice, and that's why you should rather stay away from it. Or take "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. That was my Bible as a child and still is in many ways. It has given me so much and helped me grow up. I never thought that this book should be filmed. I did not see the movie a few years ago, but I know the director, Walter Salles. He's a nice guy, but the character Sal Paradise from "On the Road" is Jack Kerouac himself, right? It is difficult to think of someone else or to imagine someone else. It's just too good to falsify.

I: Are there any Hollywood icons that inspired you during your career that made you do what you want?

Johnny: Ultimately, I have always been inspired by individual personalities, whether on television or in films. Real individuals, very different types of comedians, entertainers, actors or singers. These unique individuals really inspired me, for example Charlie Callas or Don Rickles, Foster Brooks, who was able to imitate a drunk, Dean Martin, Marlon Brando, Yul Brynner. These were all clearly defined and completely unique individuals, and for me that is the most important thing. They never tried to imitate anyone. They just went their own way and it was unique. The present generation and the generation that comes after me think that they do not have to experience this individuality, these people who are absolutely unique. In the meantime, everyone just wants to become famous to be famous. But why would you want to be famous? I do not know, and I do not care. It never really mattered to me.

I: Your most famous character is undoubtedly Captain Jack Sparrow. How much fun is it to play this character? How connected do you feel with him?

Johnny: To play a man like Jack Sparrow - who can just say anything, even if it does not make any sense at all, and then somehow has to try to make sense of the whole thing, which in turn makes it more tangled and abstract, and he can get away with it … It is strange. When I play Captain Jack, I have to grin almost all the time. Being him makes me laugh. He can do anything, he can say everything. "Hello, sweetheart!" He can be incredibly naughty. His character is the opposite of mine. I can also be naughty, but I've never been so extroverted. I have always been very shy. To become Captain Jack Sparrow, to find him in me, to allow myself to drop that curtain, and to be simply absurd and disrespectful and to try out nonsense in a roll, is an endless experiment.

I: How much of that is written in the script? And how much of yourself is in the role?

Johnny: I have been in this business for a long time, and I have always rewritten individual sentences. Sometimes you have a script and it sounds fantastic, but in reality it just does not work because people do not speak the way it stands there. In general, people do not talk as much in reality as in movies. That's why I've always rewritten individual parts. But I write everything with Captain Jack. I stopped reading scene instructions many years ago. Sure, when I read a script for the first time, I read the dialogues and instructions to understand what the movie as a whole is. But after that I never read the instructions again. I do not want to know what to do or where to stand, it should just happen. So you have more freedom. Of course, the director can point out the script if he wants. But I would prefer to know nothing about it. Sometimes a scene is self-explanatory.

I: What criteria do you use to select your films?

Johnny: It depends. For a script, I can usually say it after the first ten pages, or even after the first three or four pages. Normally I give ten pages to a script. After that, I know if I'm the right person for the movie. I agree if I feel like I can contribute something to the film, to the vision. Something that has not been done a thousand times before regarding the performance or the interpretation of a role. That's all. If something touches me or makes me curious, then I can think of pictures of the character I am reading about. First thoughts come to me, and nine times out of ten, the first thoughts are the best. Kerouac also said that the first thought is the best. Hemingway too. When asked how to become a good writer, which is the biggest challenge, he said, "All you have to do is write a true sentence." It sounds so easy, but it's incredibly difficult. (X)

[serahne]

And now for something different ( 2/2 )

Summary : “It was… a very interesting night ?”

The other glows.

“I hope so ! I did my best to give you everything you would need for investigating me ! So, so, so ? Tell me Shuichi, tell me what you learnt about me?”

( or : Shuichi Saihara tries to make new friends, but the only person that catches his attention is a mysterious boy with a taste for mischief. )

Part 1 : here

Read on AO3 : here

Rating : Teen and Up Audiences

Pairing : Shuichi Saihara/Kokichi Ouma

Characters : Shuichi Saihara, Kokichi Ouma, Kaito Momota, Maki Harukawa, Kaede Akamatsu and these rest of the ndrv3 cast.

*

“This girl was a fucking slut’’ yells Miu Iruma, so loud that she wobbles a little before looking angrily at the glass full of a fluorescent liquid that she is holding.

Shuichi didn’t ask what was in it, and one part of him is glad for that. He is pretty sure that’s not something Kaede would approve of, either, but Miu made sure to tell them that she wouldn’t be satisfied with the ‘drinks for virgins’ that their hostess prepared.

“Not a slut as big as you, I’m sure” Shuichi’s new friend laughs in return.

“You bet !” Miu replies proudly.

Shuichi makes note for the thousandth times since he has known the purple-haired boy ( that is to say approximately two hours ) that this is the most ridiculous conversation he ever took part in. Well… ‘took part in’. It’s not like he said anything to the boisterous girl beside a quiet ‘good evening’ that she didn’t even bother returning. But then, his role is to watch the other boy when he is talking to her, not to try and make friend with her.

As soon as he accepted the boy’s offer, Shuichi feels like he has been put into a never-ending rollercoaster, where he is dragged from person to person, to be the sole audience of the mischievous boy’s show.

The boy is a liar. This, in itself, is not a surprise, nor the fact that he is good at that - he never messes up his story, sticks to it and never backs down, no matter how suspicious the person he is talking to can be. What’s surprising, though, is how prolific he is.

He is an adventurer, a prince, a tourist, a politician, a student in law, a humanitarian. He travelled all other the world, in Europe and in America, and even in Antarctica and he speaks all the - made up - languages one could want. He has two cats, or twenty turtles, he climbed the Himalaya and saved a dog from being rolled over by a train two days ago. He loves pizza and then hates it, he tends to be sick a lot since he is child, and then he knows everything about sport. He has so, so many names, that Shuichi wonders if he keeps a list somewhere, just in case, under his mattress, and repeats them to himself every night until he remembers them in order.

Between two performances, when they stop by the buffet so the strange boy can eat his weight in chips, and Shuichi can breath a little, Shuichi asks him what’s his real name is. He half-expects a lie, but the other just laughs, and then put himself on his tiptoes to whispers inside his ear :

“I’ll tell you if you do a good job investigating me.”

He wonders for one second if the boy is trying to flirt with him - Shuichi is terrible at being flirted with, to be honest. But the other doesn’t seem to care about a gesture on his part, for he already grabbed the sleeve of Shuichi’s shirt and is already looking for a new target.

They end up talking to the three girls Maki warned Shuichi about, and while they are strange, they don’t make a move to murder him either. Angie is the weirdest, all smile and creepy vibes and swallowing all of the boy’s lies as if it was strawberry milk. Tenko is funny and straight-forward, and while she seems suspicious of them, she believes the purple-haired boy way too easily. But as soon as he tells her that she ‘shouldn’t be that hard to get when [she’s] already so hard to want’ (sic), he quickly dodges the punch thrown in his direction and runs away, pulling Shuichi with him so he wouldn’t be eviscerated by the fulminating Aikido master. At this point of their little game, Shuichi almost feels like he is high and he does his best to not burst into a fit of laughter during their miraculous escape.

He learns quickly enough that the other boy doesn’t care if he is believed or not - Miu Iruma throws back to his face every lie he has been telling her and he still seems to have the time of his day insulting her in a more or less subtle way. While the two are talking, Shuichi sees Kaito on the other side of room, who is giving him a thumb up, glad to see that his favorite sidekick is starting to get out of his shell.

He smiles back, hesitantly, thinking that Kaito probably wouldn’t understand that this is not what’s going on all.

“Hey, stupid virgin ! How dare you ignoring me ?” Miu’s voice reaches him and brings him back to his own situation.

The boy with a checkered scarf giggles.

“Come, Shuichi, don’t be shy” he says with his usual shit-eating grin “I was only telling her about our endless passion for each other.”

“Oh… hum, yeah, great” Shuichi replies, not liking the light in the rude girl’s eyes one bit. “We are very in love. I’m just not the best at showing it in public.”

It’s not the first time he has a place in one of the boy’s story : he has been his brother, his cousin, his best friend, an amnesic soul that he found at the park and is now taking care of because he is just nice like that, and… yes, he has been his boyfriend a few times, too. That could be embarrassing, but since Shuichi doesn’t have anything to say or do, he just lets the other go with that. He takes a sip of the sugary soda he has been nursing for thirty minutes : it’s gross, but it’s the only non-alcoholic thing he managed to get his hands on.

“Tch” Miu sighs, dismissive. “Love is great and all, but giving up the throne for that twink ? You aren’t that smart, are you ?”

“Heeeh, you don’t understand” The boy says with a matter-of-fact tone. “Love has nothing to do with it, but how am I supposed to give up on a lover that manages to give me four orgasms in one night with only his tongue ?”

Shuichi chokes on his drink and he winces when the sparkling liquid comes out through his nostrils and splashes on his chin, clothes, and the carpet of Kaede’s living-room, too. Shit, that hurts, he thinks, the pain replacing the surprise and humiliation in his mind for a second.

“Jeez, if you don’t know how to drink, then don’t, you pea-brain.” Miu snarks. “But maybe you like being covered in…”

Fortunately the lying boy cuts her off before more inappropriate things can crawl out of her mouth.

“I think the love of my life needs me to lick him off ! See you later, you bitch !” He says happily, directing a still-blurry-eyes Shuichi toward the bathroom.

*

“You’re insane” Shuichi says when they reach the bathroom.

He starts washing up his face - nothing to do about his clothes, unfortunately. He thinks he could go and gets his coat upstair and hide the pink-ish stain, but it’s very late and no one cares about someone having a soda stain. He doesn’t even care.

The other boy blocks the bathroom’s door by sitting in front of it.

“Nishishi, is that the result of your investigation, Shuichi ? Because I have to say, that’s veeeery disappointing.”

Shuichi looks at the other’s face, and wonders if that’s his imagination, but he looks just a tad different away from the crowd. The detective can’t pinpoint what is different exactly, this is almost invisible, something in the atmosphere surrounding him.

“That’s just objective observation” he mumbles, then lets out a whine when he accidentally touches his - still tender - nose. “A head up would have been nice. I can’t feel my face, now.” He sighs.

“If you don’t know how to drink then don’t !” is the reply he gets, the purple-haired boy waving his finger imperially, in a terrible imitation of Miu. “Come on, Shuichi Saihara, wasn’t it fun ? I was amazing, right ? All fun and entertaining, and all that just for you !”

Despite himself, Shuichi feels his anger melts a little when confronted with the other’s enthusiasm. He had known the boy was trouble from the start, after all.

“Shuichi is fine” he replies, looking at the other boy through the mirror.

He seems pleased with himself.

“All right-y then ! It’s almost two, and I have to find where Rantaro is before he leaves me here - can you believe that he is supposed to be my friend ? Which friend would just leave you behind like that ?” he sighs dramatically.

Shuichi doesn’t know what to say. He knows Kaito would never leave him behind, anyway, even if he had to search for him for hours. But the boy doesn’t seem that upset either, and who is he to have a say in a relationship he knows nothing about ?

“Yeah, I guess so” he says. “It was… a very interesting night ?”

The other glows.

“I hope so ! I did my best to give you everything you would need for investigating me ! So, so, so ? Tell me Shuichi, tell me what you learnt about me ?”

Shuichi blinks and looks at the boy of the floor. His smile is still wide and appealing, but there is something cold behind his eyes - a challenge, maybe. He feels his mouths becomes dry. The truth is… beside the fact that the other boy is a true chameleon, and that he plays people like no one else Shuichi ever met… he didn’t learn anything. Just like he wouldn’t know anything about an actor, even after watching a five-hours movie where he stars as the main character.

“You are…” he says. “You are…”

The other waits eagerly, still, but ready to strike at Shuichi’s first words.

“A hurricane.” He ends up saying. “A typhoon.”

The boy’s eyes widen for a second before he bursts into a fit of laughter. It’s a big one : he is bend in two, holding his stomach, and Shuichi can see tears on the corner of his eyes. He feels a blush creeping on his face, and he isn’t sure how he is supposed to react to this sudden hilarity.

“Was it that ridiculous ?” he says.

“Oh, absolutely !” the boy says, wiping his tears. “But it’s okay, you are pretty ridiculous yourself, you know ? Hum, a typhoon ? How romantic !” he laughs again, and Shuichi is so lost. “I hoped that maybe I could be the King of your Heart (1), but you are way too nice, aren’t you ?”

“What ?” asks Shuichi.

The other doesn’t reply.

“Aaanyway” he says, after he completely sobered up. “Flirting with me will get you anywhere, but I can’t believe you think it’s a serious answer ! Hey, do you think I’ve played the Manic Pixie Dream Boy all night just for your entertainment ? I really thought you were a detective. Man, what a disappointment.”

He sighs, shaking his head sadly. That doesn’t last, and his mood quickly shifts.

“Oh, well, it’s not like I expected you to work out anything, you know ?” He says, arms behind his head. “For all that’s worth, it was a fun night, but I would get bored super fast of someone like you, so don’t expect it to become a habit, okay ? You need to make real friends at some point !”

He stands up, ready to leave, and Shuichi feels the urge to stop him, to prove him that he managed to find things about him, that he is up to the challenge. Except that’s stupid : he doesn’t even know this boy’s name, they met and spend some times together, he doesn’t owe him anything, and anyway he didn’t give him anything to work with. Yes, Shuichi is a detective : he follows hints and gather clues, but they need to exist first. And this boy made sure to let nothing escape… so how could he have...

And then it strikes him like a lightning.

“Wait !” he says.

The boy stills, his hand on the door’s handle, and turns curious eyes toward him.

“Hum ? Do you need something el-”

“Maki Harukawa” Shuichi says.

He isn’t sure what he expects, but the other’s reaction is underwhelming. He cocks his head on the side, questioning. Shuichi would think he is on the wrong path, that Maki just mistook this boy for another one - she saw him from afar, after all - but something tells him that the purple-haired teenager wouldn’t let this confused expression pass through if it was a genuine one.

“More names ?” He says. “Should I care about this one ? I wonder. It’s a girl name, too, I can’t even use it for my little stories. Though, maybe I’m talking too fast” He looks at himself with attention before focusing on Shuichi again. “Hey, do you think I could pass off as a girl ? I would be a flat girl but…”

“Listen” Shuichi says “Maki Harukawa is one of my friends and she said…”

“Damn, you have friends, Shuichi ? Why did you even spend the evening with me ? That doesn’t make any sense” He replies, mocking him.

Shuichi narrows his eyes. Okay, now he is sure that the boy is trying to derail the subject. His hands are shaking a bit so he grips the edge of the sink to give himself some strength. Truth is, he doesn’t know much about Maki Harukawa. She is a very discreet person, but…

“She said she knew you.” He thinks out loud. “That she had met you before. She doesn’t like you at all, which is strange now that I think about it. She isn’t very sociable, but she isn’t the kind to keep a grudge either. So she was probably forced to interact with you, right ?”

“Duh, what do you think ?” The other rolls his eyes. “Of course I know her we were in the same class, remember ? Why do you think I’m here ? Because Kaede invited me, just like you. Jeez, you’re so slow, it must be hard on your parents.”

Against his will, Shuichi feels the corner of his mouths turn in a smile. Got you, he thinks.

“Except Maki was never in our High School. She and Kaede met when Kaede came to play piano in the orphanage she grew up in.”

The boy blinks before turning his head away from Shuichi.

“Beautiful story, but what does it have to do with me ?”

“Well, if Maki knows you and if it isn’t from school, then where does she know you from ?” The boys doesn’t answer, and Shuichi can’t help but feel some pride thinking that he did it. He passed the exam. “Were you” he tries. “Were you at the orphanage with her ? … Did you grow up there ?”

The boy sighs and finally meets Shuichi’s eyes again. He is glaring at him.

“I liked your first guess more, even if it was ridiculous. This one is so boring, ugh.”

“In my experience” Shuichi says. “Truth is often boring.”

“Which is why it sucks, right ?” The other is displaying such overt hostility, that Shuichi takes a step back. “I don’t get how someone like you can’t be depressed to hell. Is that what you’re into, Shuichi ? Throwing the truth at people’s face, telling them that everything proves that their parents are piece of shits that abandoned them, and why should they try to deny it, right ?”

“What ?” The detective says, taken aback. “Wait, no, what are you saying ? You asked me to investigate you, how can you be angry that I found something !”

“Because you cheated !” he spits back. “You received help from other people. How incompetent are you, exactly ?”

Shuichi feels a quiet anger rages inside his stomach. So that’s where it’s going, uh ? He should have known. Someone who enjoys lies so much… he is just like most of his uncle’s clients, smiling people who are oh-so-sure they want to know the truth, but then starts to scream and cries when they got it, and curses it. These people aren’t after the truth, because the boy is right : truth sucks. Always. All the time. It’s never good or bad enough, and it’s never what we expect.

But that’s what he does, okay. And sure, this random teenager doesn’t have to enjoy it, or even to respect it, but he has the unpleasant feeling that he has been treated like an idiot during this whole evening.

And he doesn’t need people in his life to think he is an incompetent idiot, thank you. He does that well enough by himself.

“You’re full of shit” he says, surprised by his own rudeness - but then, he wonders if he would be just as rude toward his uncle’s clients if they weren’t paying him. His anger is threatening to overwhelm him, and he doesn’t want to start crying or stuttering in front of this guy “You are an hypocrite.”

“Oh, am I ?” The other laughs, without any warmth in it. “Nishishi ! And I thought I was a hurricane. Now we are getting somewhere, detective ! Have a good night !”

After that, he opens the door with a last sarcastic glance, and he is gone.

Shuichi needs a few minutes to put himself back together, and thinks that it’s such a shame the evening ended that way.

Because he was having fun, before.

He really was.

*

He barely takes a step outside the bathroom that he feels a large hand hit him on the back.

“Shuichi, Harumaki is gone, and I’m starting to get tired. Wanna head back ? I got your coat already” Kaito says, unaware of his inner turmoil. “How was your night ? Are you turning into a social being yet ?”

“It’s still in progress” he replies, his annoyance fading away around his best friend. “And yes, we can go back, thanks.”

He gladly accepts his coat and wraps it around his body, finally hidding the soda stain that he had almost forgotten about. He slips his hand inside his pockets and…

Uh ? What’s that ?

His fingers touch a piece of paper that definitely wasn’t there before and he slowly takes it out to find out that the piece is folded in four. Making sure that Kaito isn’t looking his way, he opens it.

Shuichi Saihara,

Thanks for the fun evening, and congrats on convincing me that you are a true detective ! I could definitely use someone like you !

Call me : 0422-XXX XXX

And because I promised you and I never lie,

Signed : Kokichi Ouma :) <3

( You could have asked for any other prize, but you seem to really like useless names, so enjoy this one ! )

(1) I'm very proud of this reference, and the fact that so many people won't get it makes me sad.

[popliar]

K-Con Australia, 20170922-23

The first Australian K-Con was held over the last two nights in Sydney, and @proteinscollide​ and I were there. I'm very behind on everything else as a result! I need to watch Knowing Bros! ANYWAY, short version: IT WAS SUPER FUN. Lots of rambling under the cut as usual.

22 September: SF9, Pentagon, Victon, Girl's Day, Exo

23 September: SF9 (again!), Up10tion, Cosmic Girls/WJSN, Wanna One, Monsta X

Overall this was an extremely well produced show and a really fun show - I had such a good time! Okay, the "convention" part not so much (I'll talk about this a bit at the end of the post) but at both evening shows, the concert ran like a slick machine, stage following stage with no pause, good sound and no technical hitches. Visually the show looked great, with massive screens giving good views of every performer as well as fantastically atmospheric backdrops.

It didn't sell out on either night, and again I'll talk about possible reasons for that more later, but as a vehicle for hallyu and for promoting Korean culture this is potentially such a powerful instrument. One of the most striking K-Con images for me is the footage of K-Con Paris from 2016 - the pan from the section of the crowd for the French dignitaries and delegates, all politely seated and clapping, to the massive auditorium of French youth going absolutely wild for these pop groups from the other side of the world. This show didn't have that element of official endorsement, it was much more a straight-up pop show, but hey you never know, that might come…

Soft power has its limits, for sure, but within those boundaries Korea is working so very hard at being the very best it can be. I admire the gumption, and more importantly to Korea I am happily consuming the product! Give me more product! I'm here for this!

As far as line-up goes, this K-Con wasn't the best. Exo are absolute stars of course and there were other notable groups like Monsta X and Girl's Day; on balance however this was a really rookie-heavy sausage-fest. The prevalence of rookies is probably partly bad timing - the show coincided with the DMC Music Festival (which was eventually cancelled anyway due to labour disputes, argh, we could've had it all!).

But the boy-heavy line-up? Frustrating. Apparently WJSN and Girl's Day are the first girl groups to perform here since 4 Minute some three-four years ago. WHY? Perhaps there's a perception that since Western fans are mostly girls then they'll only turn out for boybands - I know in Korea the audience for girlgroups is skewed towards boys. However, here in the West, pop as a whole is coded so heavily female that I'm sure wouldn't be a problem. I've been to many Western female pop star concerts and trust me, the girls SHOWED UP. Hell, at this very same arena, Little Mix are performing later this year. Besides, this argument falls flat if you look at other K-Con line-ups which, although boy-heavy, still manage more than a measly 2 girl groups. Gosh I'd have been so happy with the addition of any ONE of Red Velvet, Mamamoo, Blackpink, Pristin, Gfriend, Twice, etc…

...that was a long intro. Let's talk the show.

Chanyeol (EXO)

Night 1

The first night of K-Con began with a pre-show of kpop dance cover groups (they were all good but some were REALLY GOOD) and Kevin from U-KISS as MC (did u know he looks like Lee Pace around the eyes?), doing his cheesy best to hype up the crowd and also promote the con's primary sponsor.

Then the show got started with a VCR, featuring Monsta X's Minhyuk in a sort of spaceship-themed narrative? I don't know what I saw but apparently K-Con's first Oceanic showing needed heroes or defenders or something, i.e. kpop groups? Whatever cool. I do know it involved Minhyuk looking at a picture of a kangaroo so we're all good.

Also apparently Sydney is the city of "arts and culture" and also "romance"? I'm flattered on behalf of my home, and I can assure you we have plenty of all three, but really?? Those are not, like, the first words I associate with Sydney. But ok, you do you K-Con!

Exo's Suho and Sehun then came on as the night's special MCs to deliver a brief introduction and be cute together and make the crowd scream. Naturally, there were Exo jerseys and banners and lightsticks all over the place; earlier in the day I got handed a cute banner to celebrate Chen's birthday, which I then promptly used to test proteinscollide's knowledge of Exo band names. (She improved greatly through the evening!)

First group up were rookie boyband SF9 - I've enjoyed their songs and MVs without knowing much about them. This rapidfire 3 song performance made me more of a fan! They just hit all their beats really well, both in terms of performance and in their brief introduction ment, advantaged by one member who was a fluent English speaker. Their line distribution is kind of weird - there's maybe three members who dominate the vocals and the dancing, especially Taeyang who I kept thinking of as "that one guy who looks like Shinee's Jonghyun" - but not enough to detract overall. I have no favourite but maybe my favourite is the rapper with currently red hair who reminds me of SVT Jeonghan and Pentagon's E'Dawn.

Something like K-Con is the perfect platform for a rookie group to get this kind of exposure. My own first exposure to kpop (aka the reason for my eternal downfall) was winning free tickets to a Boyfriend & JJCC show - I knew nothing about them, knew next to nothing about kpop, and JJCC were a hot mess sorry - but seeing the groups in person and live was enough to make me want to know so much more. I feel like this SF9 set functioned in much the same way. It was SO much more impactful than just an MV or a youtube clip or a gifset. This is how fans are made! (That said… I'll get to it, but SF9 got two bites at the cherry. Why?)

Next up were Pentagon and their brief set was great. Their songs are such bangers - I SAID BANGERS, DON'T AT ME - and they were really polished and powerful. Kino's opening dance solo was super charismatic, and E'Dawn (aka the only one I can consistently recognise) was working that jawline of his so well, lol. He does the bad boy thing very well! I admire it! For their ment, they played the "Pinata" game as seen at other K-Cons this year, i.e. a random game was selected. (Would the game be 'Propose'? It was not propose, but one member did get down on one knee to E'Dawn anyway, good job good fanservice.) In this case it was a random dance play, and it was very amusing and silly.

Probably my favourite thing about Pengaton is how far and fast proteinscollide has fallen for them. Can you believe at this time last year she didn't even know all the MX member names? Now the student has exceeded the master! Post your Pentagon post bro!

Sehun and Suho came back to introduce a special stage: Exo's Chanyeol in duet with WJSN's Seola, for his OST track Stay with Me. This was a nice, pretty interlude and a bit of a breather after the fast pacing of the first two sets.

Seola (WJSN)

Third rookie group Victon bopped cutely to a very Australian-themed video backdrop and they were very entertaining, without necessarily making me want to seek them out further. I think that's more to do with their concept being more cute than Pentagon and SF9's, so less appealing to me on those grounds. But they have their charms and most importantly one had a mullet! I'm HERE for the mullets, don't even think I'm joking.

Next up were Girl's Day. They're down to 4 members now but their experience and their casual confidence made them so enjoyable to watch. They played their hits including Something, Expectation and Ring My Bell with such a sense of fun and sexiness, dominating the stage and playing to the crowd with the relaxed ease of vets who have nothing to prove. There was a hunger to the rookies that gave them more edge but sometimes you just wanna watch really talented ppl relaxedly doing their very talented thing.

With everyone acutely aware there was only one act left to take the stage, a couple of SF9s came out to MC a special stage. They did the usual "how are you guys enjoying the show" and "we love Australia" and all that jazz, and then made the fatal mistake of asking an open-ended question:

SF9 MCs: so who is Australia's favourite boy group? Crowd: BTS!!! MCs: Yes, Exo!!! #awkward

I lol'd! I am sorry! Bless you Exo but c'mon!

This was followed by a brief VCR of Australian fans naming their favourite boybands, and then a really fun special stage of boyband covers:  Pentagon covered GOT7's Hard Carry;  SF9 covered Exo's Monster; and Victon did BTS's Fire.

At last it was time for EXO - MUCH CHEERING FROM CROWD!  Exo-Ls were out in force. There were also tons of lightsticks in the crowd and everyone was hyyyyped.

Now some context for my reaction: I can name all the Exo's and I like some of their songs, but I don't quite click with their aesthetic/dynamic in the way that I do with BTS, etc. They were also at something of a disadvantage, with D.O absent from the line-up (I had to count them twice to make sure sob) and Lay MIA from this entire comeback (though I guess that's no longer surprising).

So let that be the background for me saying that I was totally entertained and impressed by their set. Starting with Power and ending with Ko Ko Bop, they came out and gave a great show. They are after all professionally charming and who was I to resist?

For me again it's that idea of a live show being so much more powerful than a video, even for something as preplanned and artificially constructed as pop. A concert is such a powerful reminder that it's more than the performer, and it's more than the audience too - it's about the relationship between the two, that alchemy of atmosphere and act that you only get in that specific environment.

Yes, Kai was deadly with his fucking winks and seductive looks (how dare you sir), but the way the audience reacted to his performance is what made the show go off. Xiumin aka Cat Pirate was also a scene stealer for me, and it was very darling when Chanyeol threw confetti at his head at the end awwww.

(I just wish, like, SM were less SM-y. I got a message from proteinscollide after the show - "Girl walking thru car park: shout out to SM who never give reasons for why members aren't there and if they're ok". Um, yep. I had to check on twitter to find out that D.O was off filming a movie.)

Ending stage was as usual with everyone coming out as tons of confetti rained down. I think a SF9 hugged a Victon? AWWW FRIENDS. A good night.

Night 2

We started again with dance cover groups - colour me EXTREMELY impressed by IME Dance Studio - and Kevin from U-KISS giving away a prize to whoever in the crowd did their best impression of their favourite thing to do in a hotel room. This led to a really hilarious scenario as the cameras zoomed in on 2 girls "dancing" together. "Yes, they're dancing!" Kevin said, "of course they're dancing!" Everyone just cracked the fuck up, Kevin included. They got the prize, bless them, which was - ofc - a free hotel stay!

The show started with the same VCR as the day before and then I was EMOTIONALLY DESTROYED by Monsta X's Jooheon and Shownu taking the stage together to drop an absolutely fire performance. Jooheon's duality is amazing - cuddly scaredy-cat off stage, fucking monster on stage - he was SO GOOD. Shownu's dance break was great as expected and I cried tears in my heart bc I love them.

SF9 returned for the second evening - again, they were slick and impressive, and they namedropped kangaroos and meat pies in their intro ment, good work on ticking off those keywords lol. But I really don't know why they got sets on both days? Did FNC decide they really wanted to build that fanbase and made the necessary commercial arrangement with the promotors? Like I said, stages like this can be real turning points in making a fan. So that's fascinating. If anyone knows, lemme know?

Daehwi (Wanna One)

Three Wanna Ones then took the stage to briefly MC. It was definitely Kang Daniel and uh, two other Wanna Ones! *hastily googles* It was Daehwi, who was the most fluent in English and was super cute & cheesy, and Minhyun, who was also cute but I don't remember much? Sorry team. The only Broduce bro I can 100% identify is Daniel, and sometimes Jaewhan. But! I think I'll remember Daehwi from now on - he was pretty memorable and did the most heavy lifting in the ments. Anyway they delivered some potted intros and then on to the next one.

WJSN then performed a special stage, covering two Kylie Minogue songs as two subunits - Locomotion (which I note came out in 1988, older than every single K-Con performer except for Sojin of Girl's Day) and I Can't Get You Out Of My Head (2001 - there are rookies debuting born in 2001! And younger! God i'm so old). Firstly much love for preparing a special stage with local appeal that didn't feel pandering and really spoke to the long history of amazing women in pop, and secondly THEY WERE SO GOOD. Fun, bright, poppy - I love them.

They were followed by Up10tion who did a high energy set and I remember why I liked them! They're good! I don't quite click with all their songs, especially their more recent ones which I feel are a bit hit and miss, but just like every other group in this K-Con they delivered their set with professionalism and skill and charm.

There was then a brief interlude with MX's Kihyun and I.M, MY TWO LOVES, MCing an audience dance game. We got to see Kihyun doing the Twice TT dance and my world was made. Gosh I love them.

WJSN

WJSN then came back for their set and I just really like them so much. They have that sleekness that I've come to associate with Starship because of them and MX, with both groups always having good choreo and catchy hooks. I like their concept a lot too - they're cute sassy cheerleaders, yes, but I also feel like there's this very cool edge to them, they could easily cut you! I love that! As they acknowledged in their ment, 2 members couldn't make it due to filming schedules (I think it was Cheng Xiao, the dancey/gymnastic one? And Mei Qi, possibly? I'm sorry, I don't remember) but they were still very good and I enjoyed their set a lot. And their main rapper - god, I'm sorry, I don't know if it was Bona or another member - she was SO GOOD? She had so much stage presence. Gosh. I need to find out her name.

Next up were Wanna One. Now, ofc, Produce 101 never officially aired in Australia. We had to watch it on the internet like a bunch of animals. And yet out of all the groups on both days, their fans were definitely the most intense and the most scream-y - yes, more intense than the Exo-Ls and the Monbebes!

I only ever saw snippets of P101 and as I said I can only ID Daniel with certainty, but I was, hmm, not surprised I guess that they turned out to be endearing? CAN U IMAGINE, a group of young men voted for according to their charms turns out to be extremely charming?! The shock!  (From a purely commercial standpoint, what a brilliant exercise this has turned out to be. I think the limited timeframe for Wanna One to make bank lends an edge of urgency to their fandom and means their machine is also geared to maximum efficiency. Make! Bank! Now!) And because they're young and new, there was a certain edge of rawness and spontaneity to them which is naturally part of their appeal too. I still don't quite know what I feel about Kang Daniel - like I know he's very fond of cats and therefore a good person, and he has this easy, cocky stage charisma which makes his appeal seem very straightforward. But I think I found him most endearing when he missed a step at the end of his dance solo and there was just the cutest expression on his face, like "my bad."

For their Pinata game, they did photo time with hyung line posing "cutely" and maknae line posing "sexily" followed by some kind of free for all - A HOT MESS, lol.

Daehwi also went off script - or at least, he said he went off script, but can you ever really know? We need to go deeper! - and wished happy birthday to Kuanlin, getting the whole audience to sing along too, awww. As I said: what a group of charming young men; the self-awareness that they were constructed to charm ultimately means nothing.

FINALLY MONSTA X. They're, like, my second favourite group after BTS so I think I would've been just fine if they'd shown up and waved at us and sang like a song or two. But they didn't! They were really, really good. As headliners they had a signficant chunk of time and I think I was smiling from start to end, non stop.

They've turned into such good performers - with something similar to that same easy confidence that Girl's Day and Exo had - and I felt like they really did the most, on the second night, with connecting to the audience. Their performances were all on point, and everyone of them looked and sounded great but Jooheon especially killed me with swag and Wonho's collar & cleavage can fuck right off, ISTG. It just made me so happy to see them doing these songs and choreo I love so much - Shine Forever and Beautiful and Fighter - and they ended with Hero, my very first MX song, which was amazing. (I am a little sad they skipped All In but ok I can live with it.)

For their ment, they played the proposal game, with three members doing their very best fanservice lol. A very happy woman in the standing area got to be audience surrogate as I.M laid on cheesy lines (something about angels and heaven, IDK, why is he like this and why do I love him so much), Kihyun sang a ballad to her (next to me proteinscollide died a death), and Wonho came down to the barrier to to give her a heart, selfie & cheek kiss. It was so! Cheesy! And Wonderful! #the selfawareness does nothing

Everyone then came out for the goodbye, though MX were the only ones who felt relaxed enough it seems to actually get silly with the confetti and do some more spontaneous bows & waves to the crowd. By comparison to every other group on the 2nd night, they must be the old hands at K-Con by now - they've done SO many. Gosh I hope they come back to Australia for a full show. I love them so much.

Fuck, I'm now at 3300 words so let's wrap this up quick:

Unlike other K-Cons which seem to have a proper programming and convention stream, the "convention" part of this was really a disappointment. Minimal programming, minimal stalls (less than 10 vendors), all in one room. It was free entry which is fine I guess except that people were queuing up forever to get inside due to the limited capacity and it was H O T (over 30 C each day) out there. In the end I queued for an hour, and spent about 15 minutes inside. It was really not worth it. Luckily proteinscollide & I had options and just went away for a few hours to pass the time before the show, but I imagine there were a lot of kids left hanging around Olympic Park all day with nothing to do.

The shows didn't sell out. What does this mean? Possible thoughts:

-It was really expensive and the audience skews young. Like, the premium tickets were REALLY REALLY expensive and good tix were expensive. I could afford decent tix, but if I were in my teens? No way. I'd have had to ask my parents for it.

-Sydney has had a run of shows including an Australian-exclusive BTS show. If you're interstate and you already spent $$$ going to BTS, or for that matter $$$ to go G-Dragon in your own state, how much money do you have left over for concerts in this year? There is a limited capacity for this audience to keep spending. Promoters should be careful not to spread us too thin. Put more shows on in Melbourne! (Though I don't know - are there more Koreans and east Asians in Sydney? I suspect there are. The audience, again, skews heavily to those of us who are Asian-Australian.)

-Exo, MX, and Wanna One are very popular but don't have the same mainstream reach in Australia as BTS. BTS also had the advantage again of being earlier in the year, only the 2nd major kpop tour in the year I believe. Since then there's been other kpop and khip-hop shows for people to spend their money on. I really thought Exo would give BTS a run tho, given how well their latest album performed on Australian iTunes charts.

...that was not a quick wrap-up.

TO CONCLUDE: I HAD A GOOD TIME, THANK U FOR READING.

[earthshakers1]

30 Lessons Drawn from the Miracles of Jesus - #7

#7. God is never early or late. He is always right on time. - God’s Modus Operandi

Photo by Djim Loic on Unsplash Action item: Please read the story in each section (or at least, be familiar with it), before you read the discussion under it. First of all, no one can claim to have a complete understanding of God's mode of operation. Having said that, this miracle lesson will only seek to provide some insight into God’s MO. And, hopefully, after you’re done reading, you will begin to understand why some of your prayers seem like they have not been answered. Our topic of discussion has it that God is never early or late. Now, let us define the terms, ‘early’ and ‘late,’ in the context implied here. Let me define what I mean by 'early' and 'late.' When something is done early, it is done before the time it should have been done. And when something is done late, it is done after the time it should have been done. God does not operate that way. You see, God does not keep or measure time the way we do. He will not arrive to your aid earlier or later than He intended to. The Bible tells us that with God, one day equals one thousand years, and one thousand years equals one day (2 Peter 3:8). Confusing, huh? That simply drives home the point: God's way of time measurement is not linear (that is, progressing from one stage to another), but rather non-sequential (that is, not following an obvious sequence). No one can claim to have a complete understanding of God's mode of operation; He is God, after all. However, there are numerous examples from Scripture designed by God to give us some insight into this very knowledge. And today's miracle lesson will focus on those miracles of Jesus from which we can glean this vital life lesson. The Healing of Jairus' Daughter (Mark 5:21-43) Here, we have Jesus knowing fully well that by the time He got to Jairus' house, his daughter would have died, still He took His time in the crowd, looking around, searching for the one woman whose condition was past a life-threatening stage. I mean, this woman was already healed, so she was far from being in danger of dying. Jesus couldn't find her, yet He was unwilling to continue on His journey until the woman came forward, frightened and trembling (Mark 5:32-33). He took His time to minister to this one, poor, lonely soul; never in a hurry to win one more soul over to the Kingdom. Her physical affliction was over, but her spiritual condition needed a revival. He spoke kindly to her, not like her physicians used to, but like she remembered her father used to (Mark 5:34). All this He took His time doing, knowing that the messenger who had been dispatched from the synagogue ruler's house with the sad news was already in the throng, trying to make his way to his master. Or, perhaps the messenger had arrived even before the incident with the woman, and was among those who denied touching Him (Luke 8:45). He was probably wrapped up in fascination at the way Jesus spoke tenderly to the woman, and briefly entertained the thought of becoming a student of Jesus, for he referred to Jesus as 'Teacher,' and not, 'Master,' or 'Lord' (Mark 5:35; Luke 8:49). Anyway, that was just a side dish, let's continue on to the main course. 😋 Don't get this wrong, it wasn't that Jesus was so cruel and insensitive as to allow the family of Jairus to first go through the pain of losing a daughter and a sister, just so He could show off His power over death. Nah! Rather, Jesus had a more pressing need of having a personal encounter with a lost soul. Here, we see how God prioritizes having a personal encounter/relationship with Him over receiving healing from Him. The woman had been healed even without meeting Jesus on a personal level. But Jesus knew that she needed something even more important than the healing she sought - a personal introduction to His gentle and Fatherly personality, and a hope of a new relationship with Him. Note that He told her to go, but there are a few places in Scripture which suggest that Jesus might have only been testing to see whether she would go or stay and become His disciple (Matthew 19:21-22; Luke 24:28-29). The interruption from Jairus' messenger probably caught the fancy of the writers of the Gospels that they did not specifically tell us what became of that woman in particular. Or, Luke probably did not bother including it in his Gospel account, since he had already earlier mentioned, in the beginning of the chapter, that among the women who followed Jesus were those whom He had cured of evil spirits and diseases (Luke 8:1-2). You see, as sons and daughters of the Most High, we must endeavour to be led by the Spirit of God at all times. We must always bear in mind that God is never early or late. He leads us to do things at the right timing, according to His time, and not what we perceive the right time should be. Had Jesus hurried past the woman with the issue of blood, and not stopped to attend to her so that others could hear about her sufferings at the hands of physicians, and minister to her, He would have lost an important opportunity in God's timeline. The woman would have been healed, but been too afraid to testify to how her healing came about so that others in a similar condition could hear or read about it across all ages and times, and be encouraged to have faith in God. God already approved the resurrection of Jairus' daughter, regardless of how fast or how long it took Jesus to get there. If Jesus had by-passed the woman, he would have reached Jairus' house early enough to heal his daughter, but would have missed the better miracle - raising her from the dead; one which drew more followers to God. When we are in tandem with the Holy Ghost, having Him in front and full view of us at all times, then we will never have a late or early miracle, which can be disastrous, either way. The Raising of Lazarus from the Dead (John 11:1-45) Here is another account where it seemed at first that the Lord Jesus had arrived late. Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus, had first sent a message to Jesus to come to his aid while he was still alive but deathly sick - John 11:3. It appeared as though Jesus stalled (John 11:6); however, He was waiting to be led by the Spirit of God to go. It must have been the same Spirit who revealed to Him that Lazarus was dead, as no further news was sent to Him by Lazarus' sisters, yet He knew that Lazarus was gone - John 11:14. When Jesus arrived, Martha and Mary reacted the natural way for humans to react when all hope is lost; they thought that He was late - too late. Each of them said to Jesus, "Lord, if only You had been here, my brother would not have died." These were people who strongly believed in the power of God to heal through Christ. They were what we would consider staunch Christians are today - trusting completely, hoping continually, yielding unreservedly. Martha even said, "But even now I know that God will give You whatever You ask Him.” She was hoping that Jesus would ask the Father to grant her brother, Lazarus, "resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24). She did not expect what happened next - John 11:43-44 . We must endeavour to throw our all into this "faith thing," withholding nothing, trusting completely, hoping continually, yielding unreservedly. We may not know the perfect will of God concerning every single circumstance we encounter in life., still, one thing we must not do is stop praying for healing whenever we or our loved ones fall sick. It may be the will of God at that moment to call us (or them) home, yet, that is not for us to decide or try to determine. When Jesus' disciples once asked Him something regarding God's timing, He responded by saying, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world” - Acts 1:7-8. When we become completely yielded to the Holy Spirit, by the things we do and by our devotion to Him, we would be amazed the great good and witnessing He can accomplish through our healing, death, or even physical resurrection of us or our loved ones. In the end, let us be able to say like Jesus, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me" (John 11:41); like Job, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: I will maintain my own ways before Him" (JOB 13:15, KJV); like Jeremiah, "It is good that one should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation (deliverance) of the LORD" (Lamentations 3:26). May the peace of God, which surpasses human understanding, keep our hearts and minds until the Day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen! Do you hear God speaking to you today through this lesson? Please, leave a comment or question; your comment/question might be a blessing to someone. You could also contact us through our contact page. Go to lessons: Intro #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 Read the full article

[sulietsexual]

Oh, okay! I mostly wanted to hear what you thought of the Connor scenes (in PO) since they're so vital to his arc in s4. And I agree with you on Beauty and the Beasts, the way abuse victims are treated in the Buffyverse is so genuinely appalling, it's undescribable. Disrespecting them so awfully is one thing, but continuing to shove the actual abuse under the rug and show the abusers in a positive light is so gross and gives such harmful messages. Anyways - how about Redefinition? Or Lullaby?

Sorry I couldn’t offer any Connor meta re Peace Out, but I’ve written you some nice, long meta for both Redefinition and Lullaby, so hopefully this makes up for it!

Redefinition

ShortOpinion: Asomewhat erratic, but ultimately satisfying ep

LongOpinion: Redefinitionis really the final episode in the initial Darla arc (when Darla resurfaceslater, it is to set up her next arc on the show, with little to do with thisinitial storyline). I find this episode to be a bit all over the place, as itmoves between Angel preparing to take out Darla and Drusilla, to Wes, Gunn and Cordydrinking and singing at Caritas, to Darla and Drusilla’s plans for power andterror. The transitions between scenes are not as smooth as they could be, andthe episode doesn’t really feel that cohesive, instead coming across as threestorylines presented separately, with nothing really sewing them together untilthe end of the ep. That being said, the three storylines presented make forvery interesting viewing.

Angel continues down his path ofdarkness, his narration essentially confirming that he is going dark in orderto kill Darla, because he’s currently too close to her. He’s smelled her scent,felt her heartbeat, witnessed her with a soul, and now the only way he canmurder her is to access the darker parts of his personality, to cut himself offfrom all humanity so that he doesn’t feel the guilt and loss associated withkilling someone whom he loves.

What’s more interesting thanAngel’s plot and motivations is Darla’s storyline and the motivationsbehind it. After devouring the W&H lawyers, Darla and Drusilla pay a visitto Lindsey and Lilah at their offices, in a darkly amusing scene. They informLindsey and Lilah that the two of them have been spared so that Darla and Druhave a liaison to the Senior Partners, a access-window to the senior partners.Darla has obviously chosen Lindsey due to his easily-manipulated feelings forher, and my personal theory is that Lilah was Drusilla’s pick (Drusillaoutright states that she “likes the girl” because “she’s wicked”).

What’s interesting is Darla (andby extension Drusilla) pursuing this kind of power. Darla, much likeAngelus, has always been presented as an agent of chaos, even under theMaster’s rule. She has never much cared for organised or structured power,preferring instead to indulge in murder, blood, mayhem and terror on anuncharted scale, never much caring for ultimate power. My theory is thatDarla’s pursuit of power is once again tied to her being human so recently, notto mention W&H’s manipulations of her (again, this is seemingly confirmedwith Darla’s speech to Lilah and Lindsey about loathing being W&H’spuppet). But more than W&H using her, Darla hated being helpless full stop.Having memories of being so recently human, remembering the feeling of havingto rely on others, of being dependent and weak (physically and emotionally) iswhat pushes Darla in this new pursuit of power. Just as she tries to ridherself of the remnants of emotion she has left towards Angel, Darla is alsotrying to rid herself of any and all perceived weakness, making sure thateveryone in her way knows that she is no longer that same helpless creature whoneeded Angel to rescue her.

That being said, it is clearlyshown that Angel is still on her mind and in her heart, more so than henormally would be, again because she has so recently been human. Darla was avampire for four hundred years, she pretty much forgot what it was liketo be human, to have a soul, to be vulnerable and to care for someonewith real, true, deep emotions. Now, being a newly born vampire so close tothese emotions, completely throws her off her game. She can remember caring forAngel in a way she never did without a soul. The remnants of her feelings forhim are still within her being, and when he appears in the crowd and Drusillasenses him, Darla’s feelings for him come rushing to the surface, and sheclearly falters, confused and disoriented by the leftover emotions from hersoul.

The climax of this episode feelslike it was supposed to set up a new storyline, but didn’t. Angel sets Darlaand Drusilla on fire (in a fairly horrifying scene, Drusilla’s cries for helpare particularly jarring) and as Darla sits on the sidewalk in the aftermath,she says “That wasn’t Angelus. That wasn’t Angel either. Who was that?” whichto me indicated that maybe the writers were intending to explore this darknessto Angel further than they did, but abandoned that storyline in favour ofsending Angel after W&H.

The B storyline to this episodedoesn’t quite mesh well with the A storyline, but does provide most of thehumour, as well as a turning point for the other three main characters. Despondentand unsure of their futures in the wake of Angel firing them, Cordy, Wes andGunn find themselves at Caritas, searching for direction. Cordy and Wes’ appearanceat Caritas is hardly a surprise, both are characters who have found their pathsand stuck to them, so the sudden upheaval in their lives would naturally leavethem quite disoriented and searching for guidance. Gunn, however, is a bit of asurprise, as up until this point he had kept himself apart from AngelInvestigations, unclear as to his path. This episode shows that he’s obviouslybeen thinking more about his future and that he’s searching for somewhere to belong(and probably has been since Allana’s death). This episode, this arc really, isa turning point for Gunn, as he transitions from an outsider on the fringes ofAI, to a fully-fledged member whom Wes would take a bullet for.

The scenes with Cordy, Wes andGunn getting drunk and passing the blame around are hilarious and fullof classic lines (“My ass is not pansy!”) and of course there is that gloriousrendition of We Are The Champions. But beyond this, Redefinition marks newdirection for all three characters, as Cordelia gets a vision and, withoutAngel’s help, they take down a demon and save an innocent girl. This episodeproves to the three that they can and should continue on without Angel, andtheir friendship is bonded through this and the subsequent episodes where theyestablish their new business and grow closer in Angel’s absence.

As said before, Redefinition is asomewhat shaky episode, with the scenes not really flowing all that well andthe storylines feeling separate instead of interconnected, but it does containsome great meta and some terrific characterisation. Ultimately, despite its’messiness, Redefinition is an entertaining and endearing episode, whichsatisfies the viewer and closes the first part of Darla’s arc nicely.

Lullaby

Shortopinion: PoorDarla.

Longopinion: Lullabyis one of my favourite AtS episodes, bringing Darla’s character arc tocompletion and opening up Holtz’ revenge storyline nicely. This episode ischock-full of emotional moments which I love, but I also find myselfincreasingly angry every time I watch this episode, due to everything Darlaendures, and the way her agency is taken away via her mystical pregnancy.

Darla’s pregnancy is, quitefrankly, horrifying. First, there’s the fact that it’s not something she everwanted. Then there’s the fact that once she realises that she’s pregnant,she is unable to get rid of it. Darla mentions trying everything to terminatethe pregnancy, to which Fred reacts with mild horror, but it’s understandablethat Darla would do everything in her power to avoid carrying and birthing ababy she never asked for. The fact that mystical forces are literallypreventing her from aborting or killing the baby is actually quite horrifying,as Darla is forced to endure nine months of hell, her body changing andundergoing a physical toll which as a vampire she can withstand, but as a womanshe never wanted (I feel like there’s some sort of anti-abortion allegory goingon here).

As if this wasn’t bad enough,Darla is then forced to experience feelings and emotions she, once again, neverasked for and was not prepared for. As sweet as the scene with Angel on theroof is, with Darla talking about how much she loves her unborn child, it’sactually somewhat a case of fridge horror, given that these feelings aren’t hers.She doesn’t love her child because she’s bonded with it, or fallen in love overthe course of her pregnancy, or had a sudden realisation of love. She lovesConnor because she’s being forced to, through the soul which resideswithin her. Darla even acknowledges this, as she heartbreakingly cries abouthow she doesn’t want to birth Connor, because it will mean that the soul willbe gone and she will no longer love him once that happens. Darla is not onlyforced to carry a pregnancy she never wanted, she is forced to shoulder andfeel emotions that are not actually hers. Her mind, as well as her body, isinvaded and violated by this pregnancy.

Darla’s pregnancy was the secondof a mystical nature on the show, and when watching the first time around, doesnot come across as a fridged woman trope, due to the fact that Darla stakingherself to save Connor plays out as a natural conclusion to her arc. Watchingit in retrospect and with the deaths or Fred and Cordy in mind, it actually comesacross as horrifying, violating and the first of many fridged women on AtS.Despite it being my favourite show, I truly hate the way AtS treats its’ femalecharacters, and Darla was the first one thrown under a bus. She, as with everyfemale on this show, deserved better.

Ignoring these unfortunateimplications, Lullaby is a great episode. Angel finally comes face-to-face withHoltz, discovering who’s been chasing him for the past few episodes. I havealways loved Angel’s attitude regarding Holtz – he never begrudges him for hispursuit of revenge, never blames Holtz and fully acknowledges that Holtz isdeserving of his vengeance (compare this with Spike’s self-righteous and grossattitude towards Wood in Lies My Parents Told Me). Darla too, courtesy of Connor’ssoul, realises that Holtz has a right to his revenge, that what they did to himwas too terrible to ever atone for. The flashbacks showing the horror thatAngelus and Darla put Holtz through only compounds this.

Of course the most heartbreakingand beautiful part of this episode is Connor’s birth, as Darla tearfully tellsAngel that they can’t atone for their horrifying crimes, can’t make up foranything they did, but that through Connor they might have finally donesomething right. Angel’s tenderness towards Darla in this scene is sobittersweet to watch, as he kisses her fingers with more affection than he’sprobably ever shown her before. Her eventual staking and Connor’s appearancewas a heart wrenching twist, and the final shot of Holtz ominously watchingAngel walk away with baby Connor in his arms promises more to come, leavingthis episode with a shadow hanging over it. All up, just a beautiful