#i literally just learned about it like 2 mins ago

[demiromanticmickey]

Not watching pit babe but kinda intrigued ngl

[queer-devil]

DRDT Incorrect Quotes Pt 2

Bc it was fun last time

Same generator was used

Eden: Good morning!

Ace: Is it? Is it really?

J: You know what the problem is? Your really cute, so no one ever told you to shut your pie-hole.

Veronika: You think I’m cute?

J: SHUT YOUR PIE-HOLE!

Nico: Hu, Ace keeps bullying me at school.

Hu: Ask your teacher for help.

The next day…

Nico, to their teacher: Will you help me beat up Ace?

Teruko: That's it, I'm cutting off the internet!

Nico: No, please don't! I have a family to feed!

Teruko:

Teruko: What?

Nico: I need to feed my Neopets!

Teruko: Is anyone going to tell me what's going on in here?!

Eden: It's kind of complicated, but Ace-

Teruko: Got it. Forget I asked.

Whit: Yo! I heard you like reptiles, got any fun facts?

Nico: If a crocodile eats your dad, they become your new dad.

Eden: Breathe, just breathe.

Arei: I’ve done nothing with my life! I’m a failure!

David: Awww, that never bothered you before.

Rose: I am not an early bird or a night owl. I am some form of permanently exhausted pigeon.

Whit: If I die, my funeral will be the biggest party ever and you're all invited.

Charles: "If?"

Ace: Great, the only party I'm ever invited to and they might not even die.

Min: I regret getting dragged into your heterosexual tomfoolery.

Whit: Fellas, I gotta know for science. Is the opposite of red green or blue?

Rose: Technically a mix of green and blue?

Ace: So blurple.

Levi: That's implying you're mixing blue and purple.

Ace: Would you rather have fucking bleen? MOTHERFUCKING GRUE?

Levi: You were confusing before but now I'm scared.

David: What are the hardest things to say?

Charles: I was wrong.

Teruko: I need help.

Whit: Worcestershire sauce.

Teruko: Who else is hiding in the laundry room trying to listen to Charles and Whit's convo?

Eden: Me. I'm in the laundry basket.

Veronika: I'm in the washing machine.

Ace: I'm in the closet.

Eden: We accept you Ace.

Ace: No I'm literally in the closet.

Eden: Love is love.

Charles: There's nothing to do....

Whit: You can wash the dishes you promised to wash about a week ago.

Charles: *pulls out his phone* Nevermind.

Veronika, watching Ace: Ah yes. The mysterious and beautiful Ace…

Veronika: …I wonder what sort of melodic sounds this wonderful being makes?

Ace: *screaming*

Eden: What makes you think it's okay to watch Hannibal given its subject matter?

J: Sometimes, I watch television shows for entertainment purposes.

Veronika: Because I condone murder and cannibalism.

Teruko: Why would you give a knife to Xander?!

David, shrugging: Xander felt unsafe.

Teruko: Now I feel unsafe!

David: I’m sorry…

David: Would you like a knife?

J: I have a problem.

Veronika: Kill it.

J: Can you chill for like, two seconds?

Xander: Don’t go picking a fight with me. I could make your life difficult.

Ace, sarcastically: Wow. I wonder what it’d be like to have a difficult life.

Whit: Don't quote me on this, but I believe murder is illegal!

Ace: Come to think of it… You’ve always been nice to me.

Ace: I mean, you listen to all my problems-

Levi: No, Ace I just simply stand here while you talk, there’s a big difference.

Eden: You know what I learned from my friendship with Ace?

Nico: There’s no such thing as too mean?

J: Never let your friends know for sure if you like them?

Levi: Always hold a grudge?

Levi: What situation is not instantly improved by the addition of fishnets, I ask you.

Nico: Being a fish.

Levi: …Well, shit.

David: I don’t mean to be rude—

Teruko: Yet, sadly, accidental rudeness occurs alarmingly often.

Hu: "Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."

David: ...

David: What a stupid fucking quote.

David: I'm killing way more than two people, idiot.

Eden: You know, Teruko, when you generalize, you tell general... lies.

Teruko: ...

Teruko: Are you trying to teach me moral lessons through puns.

Levi: Hey, Ace, do you have feelings for me?

Ace: Yeah, anger.

[spidernuggets]

Hey I just read your Jason x reader fic where y/n is the joker's daughter. First of all, that👏was👏awesome 👏, really I was feeling things and was destroyed when you used the sentence of the prompt. I was tearing up, and I don't normally do that, sooooooo. Yeah, you're damn good with your writing, keep it up.

Now, the reason why I'm doing this, I read it (both parts) like 1 hour ago, 10 mins after that Line without a hook from Rick Montgomery is playing on Spotify. I realized with a broken heart (you really got my feelings hanging from that fic) that it fits perfectly with the song, and it doesn't only works with one of them, it works with both jay and reader and the lyrics if you put attention to them it jumps from one to another.

Here's what I'm saying,(I'm just being delusional and overanalyzing everything) look:

I don't really give a damn about the way you touch me When we're alone You can hold my hand If no one's home

Here it's kinda both of them on the very final of part 2, like it says about the holding hands and touching when they're alone, but in a sense that they feel alone in the world without each other. But also the fact that y/n doesn't have anyone home, and from jays pov, how he felt betrayed with bruce, for knowing about her being his murderer's daughter.

Do you like it when I'm away? If I went and hurt my body, baby Would you love me the same?.

Right here, is the reader, specifically when she fights with Jay in the alley, but like, I feel that it's more like what she couldn't say to him, because she did what he asked, she moved away. At the same time the last 2 lines talk very well of how she lost everything, and I can also see a little hint of the robbery part, in the sense that she is hurting her "soul" or "essence" for lack of words.

I can feel all my bones coming back And I'm craving motion

JASON, do I have to say anything else? Like quite literally it's about resurrection, but emotions, don't forget about them, it's all the crushing rage he felt in the batcave, but also the hurting and the pain when he saw how little she had, when he realized how much she had suffered and how much he missed her.

Mama never really learns how to live by herself It's a curse And it's growing You're a pond and I'm an ocean

READER!! like are you seeing how many coincidences there are with this song! Analogy of mama, but it's actually "dad".

Personally, I've never understood the part of the pond and the ocean, but after this, it gave me a new look at it, from the readers pov, it's all the pain she caused jason, be it from the lies (quote to him), that she feels it's only growing, or could also be from the fact that jay thinks she like her dad and that she is much like poison (or curse) and it's eventually going to infect the kids or diane.

Oh, all my emotions Feel like explosions when you are around And I've found a way to kill the sounds, oh

Now this is both of them when they see each other again, but that last line, it works very differently, for jay it's rage and hatred, but for y/n it was blaming herself for everything, this before she reflected on herself, after that it's just numbness, seeing life gray, because what else could she do alone like she was?

Oh, baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you I need you here to stay I broke all my bones that day I found you Crying at the lake

Again both of them, but the reader is very good as an undertone of those 2 first lines, she is broken without him, without the only and very first person that loved her, I need you here to stay, it's the picture beside her bed, obviously.

The last two are very very very perfect on Jason, he is broken and sad when he saw her in that little rathole she called a "home", but the "...broke my bones...", it happens when she says that it was worse at the werehouse.

Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden? Oh, and if I could take it all back I swear that I would pull you from the tide

Jason begging for forgiveness, 🔛🔝📈📈📈.

Lats line specially about when he took her home, both before and after he found out.

Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa I said no (I said no), I said no (I said no) Listen close, it's a no The wind is a-pounding on my back And I found hope in a heart attack Oh at last, it is past Now I've got it, and you can't have it

I need another opinion here, it fits perfectly with both of them, but to be honest, It doesn't feel fair.

For reader it's in the alley screaming and shouting at him that she changed and understood that she it's not her father. She doesn't blame herself anymore (at least that what she says), she found hope of being better in a shattered heart.

Or jason, in the batcave, screaming and shouting how she betrayed him. Finding hope of not getting hurt anymore in his broken heart.

Both of them, both of the situations, let very clear the last line. "Now I've got it, and you can't have it".

Jason has his heart, she wasn't going to hurt him anymore, he's not gonna let her.

Reader finally has cleaned her conscience, and she's not going to let him take it away from her.

Baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you I need you here to stay I broke all my bones that day I found you Crying at the lake Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden, oh And if I could take it all back I swear that I would pull you from the tide

The same that I mentioned before.

Darling, when I'm fast asleep I've seen this person watching me Saying, "Is it worth it? Is it worth it? Tell me, is it worth it?" Oh

Now, we all know that the joker never leaves, be that he has clones (literally wtf dude), or be it the scruchiating trauma he leaves in all his victims.

Reader, is repeating the voice of her father saying that no one will love her truly, given her identity.

Jason is repeating his horrible death and torture, but in my little delusional mind, I also believe that he was imagining the joker mocking him when he realized who y/n really was. Thing that only boosts the voice she hears. Not to forget that he is actually suffering with these nights terrors just like the song inclines.

Guess there is something, and there is nothing There is nothing in between

Then again comes the numbness she felt in those lasts months.

Watching over me, he's singing "She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a boy" He's singing, "She's a, she's a lady, and I am just a line without a hook"

I know it should be jay, but I'm going to do a little genderbending, cause the joker is a constant bully for the reader, even when dead, and in her dreams, (like fr dude calm down) , the reasoning behind this, it's that Jason stoped loving for a good while, but, she didn't, and if you add the constant remainder of "no one is gonna love you" with a good reason she is the owner of this verse.

Baby, I am a wreck when I'm without you I need you here to stay I broke all my bones that day I found you Crying at the lake Was it something I said to make you feel like you're a burden, oh And if I could take it all back I swear that I would pull you from the tide

The song ends yet again but with the chorus, but the very last line resonates with me, because of Jason wanting her back and actually putting an effort to understand her again after all the pain both of them suffered.

It ends with a happy feeling I think, if not at least optimistic.

I'm really sorry, it's too long, haha I really went into easy mode, hope it is not a burden. And if it isn't clear by now, I loved your fic, you had me in a chokehold all the damn time

STARLET, WHEN I CATCH YOU STARLET. STARLET, WHEN I CATCH YOU, STARLET.

Oh, my bleeding days, you probably dissected the fanfic even further than I could've imagined.

I SHIT YOU NOT, I WAS GONNA PUT LINE WITHOUT A HOOK INTO MY LYRIC PROMPT LIST. But i was like, ughhhh, the lyrics, THE LYRICS!!!! Ricky Montgomery's lyrics to that song were MWAHHHH. I was like, man I can't just copy ajd paste the whole song onto the list!!

I also thought that the whole song itself would be such a good prompt for an entire fanfic!! But the first part of the fic was so much longer than the others I've written, and since I've a packed schedule, I knew I wouldn't get the fic done if someone were to request the song.

But you've explained the fic together with the song so beautifully!! Like I know you were basing the song and fic with each other, but BRO YOU ALLOST MADE ME CRY!!

NOW LISTEN, LISTEN HERE!!!

You've used the whole song, comparing it to moments in the fic. But we add in one more verse- The verse from Line Without a Hook ft. mxmtoon!!!

And I know that you know Listen close and move slow I can't speak fast or else I'll crack

I feel you link lyrics and the fic better than I would, but my interpretation would be READERRRR yelling at Jason in the alley. Like, she's trying so hard to convince him that she's not the Joker, and she doesn't wanna cry in front of him again!!! "And I know that you know," maybe deep down, Reader knows Jason believes what she's saying, but Joker put Jason through so much, his head is just filled with trauma and rage!!

It's the price I pay for going back And I've dreamed to be seen Now I've got it, do I want it?

"It's the price I pay for going back," When Reader goes back to the soup kitchen, and Jason's all pissed off at her, but Reader just wanted to see Diane and the kids again :((

"And I've dreamed to be seen, Now I've got it, do I want it," Reader tried so long to tell Jason the truth, but like it all ended up badly when Jason was rewatching the footage of him. And it just ended up with Reader being scared of him when he started screaming and yelling at her.

And it teeny tiny bit ties in with the end of part 1 where it's like, the identity of Reader being the Joker's daughter wouldn't be mentioned at ALL since Joker never revealed he had a kid in the first place!!

So even though she had known Diane, the kids, and Jason for a good while, no one really knew who she really was.

But she regrets it when she finds out her dad was "right" :((

THERE WAS A TIKTOK SOUND THAT MASHED UP THE MXMTOON'S VERSE WITH RICKY'S AND IT GOES SO WELL WITH THIS PROMPT BUT THE SOUNDS GONE RAAAHHH

AND DONT BE SORRY THAT YOUR THOUGHT IS LONG!! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE HEARING OTHER PEOPLE'S OPINION AND IDEAS OF MY WRITING AND IM SO HAPPY YOU LIKED IT!!

[beautifulpersonpeach]

A few days ago I responded to an ask, explaining that Korean K-pop stans overall are the more intense version of whatever you see on the international side, and that one way k-fans perceive international fans is that international k-pop stans are easier to manipulate and rile up.

For anyone who is aware of the subway scare and the supposed link to ARMY and BTS, pay very close attention to what’s happening right now as a case study demonstrating what I wrote, happening in real time.

As a quick overview:

1 - This happened about an hour before Yoongi’s live where he showed his tattoo

*

2 - About an hour after this happened, an ARMY coming back from Yoongi’s concert, watching his livestream on their way home, reacts to his tattoo by screaming while in the subway. They record themselves and post the video on Twitter. The tweet itself is deleted now so I can’t link it, but I’ll link the OG video in point 5.

*

3 - After that ARMY posted their reaction to Yoongi’s tattoo, this Korean k-pop stan claims a fan screamed next to them on the train and caused panic and a stampede. This account’s most recent activity is from 2022, but the first thing they tweet in 2023 is that an ARMY caused a stampede because of Yoongi. Okay.

*

4 - One of the followers of that account then retweets that account to post an edited version of the ARMY reaction video, blurring out the reaction on the train, and further linking the two events (1) an ARMY screaming about Yoongi, (2) a resulting stampede that needed police intervention. This video is then used as the basis for user posts and articles written on k-blogs which then get translated as user posts on Allkpop and Pannchoa.

*

5 - For reference, this is the OG video from that ARMY showing what actually happened on the train. Note how there’s no panic in the train.

***

Basically, two events separated by about an hour are conflated on purpose by linked anonymous accounts on the Korean side, quickly translated into English and spread on the international side through k-pop gossip blogs like Allkpop, which Korean soft media (blogs etc) then picks up and takes as further credit to the underlying claims, though those claims are false.

And voila, a scandal is born.

Now, this isn’t to say BTS, ARMY, and people affiliated with them never do anything wrong and can never have a legit scandal. For example, I think anybody screaming for no good reason in a packed subway train is an idiot and should face some kind of consequence if harm is caused. But that’s not what happened here. What that ARMY did was stupid but harm wasn’t caused and Korean antis instead used it as an opportunity to link BTS with an incident that happened an hour earlier.

Occasionally, some of you might’ve seen me write about ‘manufactured controversy’ before, usually in passing when discussing something else. I remember I’ve mentioned it a few times such as during Jimin’s missed insurance payments scandal, during Jungkook’s Itaewon scandal, and also Min Heejin re: NewJeans (after just 5 minutes of looking at the original claims in Korean. The only thing holding the majority of the claims against MHJ together is sheer willpower and vibes atp). Someone has also asked me about hate ‘slave rooms’ before (context was Twice attacked by slave room hate) and I responded that hate in Korea towards people in the k-pop industry, is incredibly organized and insidious. And the bigger the target, the bigger the fall and the bigger the payout.

Please keep that in mind when you read shit online. Keep your eyes open and your wits about you. Become more media literate and learn how to think for yourself. Seriously. Because in this machine called k-pop, nearly everything about it is designed to suck you in till you have no idea which way is up. Pay attention, please.

2026 is still a long way off and we’ll have many incidents like this before then.

Good luck everyone.

[xoxoemynn]

omg you watched kevin can f**k himself! I was obsessed with that show when it was airing, definitely due for a rewatch. what did you think? the breaking of the sitcom with allison and kevin in the last episode has stuck with me since I saw it almost 2 years ago

YEAH IT WAS SO FUCKING GOOD. I've wanted to watch it for years but was too lazy to figure out how to and now it's on Netflix so there's that issue sorted!

I wanted to take my time watching and ended up binging it because I could.not.stop. so I know I missed things and I want to go back and rewatch, but I also want to let it simmer a minute.

Going to put some incoherent ramblings behind a cut just to be safe for spoilers (and yes I know it's been years but I know a lot of people are just hearing about it for the first time now that it's on Netflix).

The last 15 mins of the show HAUNT me. I had a feeling that was coming but actually SEEING it was terrifying. We all KNEW this was Kevin, we all KNEW the sitcom filter was obscuring how abusive his behavior was, but when we actually see him the way he REALLY is and how everything about him changes, it's just HORRIFYING. And it puts everything we just watched into a new perspective because the way he corners her, his tone when he asks her what she said to Molly, when he starts listing off things that happened in the show that even knowing all along that he was a narcissistic, abusive asshole you still might be tempted to think "oh, maybe he's just clueless to the fact he's being awful" and you realize no, he was AWARE and he knew exACTLY what he was doing to control Allison and keep her down...literally I cannot get that scene out of my head.

And then looking back on the series as a whole...

Just how JARRING the contrast was between the sitcom world and the real world? And how it faded away so slowly you almost don't even notice it at first until you get closer to the end of the series and you're mostly in the real world? How the sitcom filter obscures the bandages Allison wears. How dingy the house looks when it fades. How the women's appearances change, looking cute and put together in the sitcom world but in the real world we see Allison's roots are showing and her clothing is in worse condition and Patty's hair looks less TV ready despite being a stylist. How we start to see all the characters differently once Kevin begins to lose his grip on them. How we never actually see Pete in the real world?!

One thing the show does really well, and a reason why I'm so eager to rewatch it, is not outright revealing everything that's happening. Allison wears long sleeves for most of the show; when we see her in a hospital gown there are bruises on her arm that are never commented on. We'd never had any reason to suspect Kevin's abuse was physical, but especially after seeing the finale, I think it's fair to believe that. And then you look back on all the other times Kevin "accidentally" hurt Allison, like the time he slams the door into her face and we see her simply cover it up with makeup... yeah.

Just all the LAYERS to the show. Analyzing it from the lens of how sitcoms treat women, the wives in particular, who are shown as humorless, nagging shrews who are just expected to put up with their husbands who act like children and are engaging in all kinds of antics to the delight of a laugh track that would be horrifying in real life. (And the fact they brought in the actress whose character was killed off in between seasons of Kevin Can Wait and then barely spoken of again was a BRILLIANT bit of meta commentary.)

But then also what it's like to be in an abusive relationship with a narcissistic, charismatic alcoholic, and how isolating and desperate it can feel when nobody sees what you see, nobody understands what you're experiencing, because everyone else is content to live in this world where he's the goofy life of the party. And at the beginning you may be going "okay, girl, just LEAVE," but then as you learn more and more about just how controlling Kevin is, and what he's capable of, and also Allison's own childhood, you start to see why she was SO desperate she'd go so far as to fake her own death because she thinks it's the only way she can ever escape him.

It's just so. good. And intense. I wish they had gotten one more season because while the ending was brilliant, I felt like some parts in S2 were a bit rushed, particularly with Neil, but it was just SUCH compelling TV and I cannot get it out of my head.

[thebluntstudent]

FOUR ANXOUS THOUGHTS YOU MAY BE HAVING PRE-EXAM, AND WAYS TO RATIONALISE THEM ...

Also, a little commentary about panic attacks because I been there babs, in fact was there 30 mins ago~

°•��•°

Tomorrow, I have an exam that I have been dreading for a long time. So naturally, today when I woke up a couple hours later than I was anticipating and opened up my notes to make the most of my last day of revising, I was hit with a flood of overwhelming anxiety and a panic attack followed suit.

I was struggling to move, I felt so overtaken by my thoughts- so I lay down, hugged myself, and did my best to calm down and rationalise my thoughts. This is how I got through it, and this is how I contended with a few of the emotionally-loaded thoughts that were driving my pre-exam panic:

Firstly, getting through it. If you are having a panic attack, don't try to push it down or ignore it- it sucks babs, but much like escaping a burning building by jumping through the fire, it's happening now and the only way past it is going through. So feel it. If you can talk to someone to support you through and ground you then do, and use whatever aids you to help calm the physical effects enough that you can start to fight that negative filter making you feel like the worlds biggest failure right now- you're not. You're a human, and if you didn't care about this exam you wouldn't be curled up in bed hyperventilating about it!

°•☆•°

Just physically calming yourself down doesn't help you fight the thoughts you're having that may be caused by or be the cause of your anxiety in the first place- so here are a few anxious thoughts I have had that you may also be experiencing and the rationalisation that helped me through them- in hopes that if you aren't doing okie dokie right now that maybe this will give you something to focus on and help you be the devil's advocate to your own anxiety too:

"I woke up later than I wanted to, I've lost important study time." So you slept through your alarm, or forgot to set one- fretting about lost time is only going to make you lose your mind and lose focus more, and the day before an exam you need as much rest as the night before. A few hours may feel like a lot of time, but you probably wouldn't have made the most of that in a groggy sleep-deprived state anyway. You're looking after yourself, you still have time, and that is okay.

"I have so much to get through, I'm never going to understand everything now." There is still plenty that you can do! I have been moderately unwell for 2 months and it has had a massive impact on my capacity to study consistently. There's a fair bit of content I know that I don't have enough time to understand at a first grade level- but I still have hours to lock down a little bit more confidence in preparation for the exam. Stop thinking 'I have to do ALL of this in the next 24 hours', start thinking 'what can I do to make myself feel a little more confident for tomorrow?'- as I mentioned in my last post, in just a 5-10 minute revision session you can go over a topic's worth of content via flashcards, and you literally have hours to go yet.

"I'm a bad student, I should have started prepping weeks ago/I should have done more." Hindsight is a bitch. Even if your reason for not studying before now is simply procrastination (which does not make you a bad student, it makes you a normal student- and also, a human being), mourning the time you've lost will not get you a top grade. You still have so much time to make yourself feel a little more prepared- you aren't a bad person, and you can still do something now even if you didn't a week ago! <3

"I don't even know where I'm supposed to start now, everything feels so overwhelming." take 20. Stop envisioning your subject as a whole (easier said than done, I know), and instead try to break it down into little segments of info you have to learn- you've already been taught the subject, so you don't have to learn the WHOLE thing in 24 hours. I like to write a list breaking down my module lecture by lecture, with three little check boxes next to it (though this depends on the subject you're doing): content, flashcards, practise. Cross off anything you've already done, pick one topic- one task you want to focus on and ignore everything except for that for however long you'll be working on it. It doesn't matter if you can't get through the whole list- every little section you do is another set of questions in the exam that you now have a better chance at answering. Isn't that a win?

This won't get rid of your anxiety like some magic solution, and it isn't always an easy task to dismiss your restless mind's accusations- but hopefully this is a little helpful for any fellow messy, anxious students out there who want the best but aren't in the best circumstances to get there <3 also, good luck!

[2djdanger]

Just rewatched Astro Boy 09 & man I think the art style choice was good for the times but hoooo I forgot especially after rewatching 03 Astro in Japanese coming straight from that episode 50 into that mess how disappointed English speaking fans would be. I think the writing & some line deliveries weren’t the greatest which is what made the movie weak. More like some dudes fanfiction than an AB movie. But also idk if that’s fair bc I’ve read some rlly top notch AB fic soooo yeah 🤷🏻‍♂️ but also lemme just rant for a min there’s parts of this movie that rlly rlly work & I love I think some of the subtle quick ways were shown Astro’s powers like when he first learns he can fly & then directly afterwards starts digging thru the side of the mountain is great. Also unpopular take prob but I think the president Stone guy kinda works as a surface level AB villain. Def 🤮🤮🤮 @ Tenma’s design ever since I saw the movie in 2010 I’ve always hated bros design but like who doesn’t at this point this is rehashing old news. Also I get that Nic Cage knew the source material & is good on screen but idk if it was his delivery or just his lines written that poorly or if I’m relooking at this post round 2 of 03 anime for me but his char was so off. Also DEF AFTER 03 anime the war between robots/humans getting boiled down to the goofy RRF bots bruh I’d be so pissed if I worked for the companies involved in making this movie. YOU HAD GOOD SOURCE MATERIAL IF U CANT FIT IT ALL IN THE MOVIE DONT INCLUDE IT!!! Also alsoooo again prob reiterating old news but the Amerification & dumbing down of the source material to be more palatable for kids is just sad. Like the movie would’ve functioned exactly the same without a few of those goofy scenes it just stalled the story honestly. You could’ve added more of the other stuff in if that was taken out. Also weird using Tenmas Japanese last name but Ochans English name was always kinda huhhh?? to me. I get it’s for the ease of being able to say their names for everyone outside Japan but if we’re going English names why not just stick with whatever Tenma’s name was in English in the animes since people already knew it?? I kinda prefer Tenma tho & ik not everyone can say Ochanomizu but yeah. The surface kids I used to think in my kid brain were waaaay more fleshed out than they rlly are which is kinda funny since they literally just show up & are there a handful of scenes, handful of lines & then that’s it. I’m torn too bc idk if it was necessary to have the new kids or work in Tamao, Kenichi, & Shibugaki somehow & I liked the new kids too. But man this movies a hot mess. I prob have more thoughts but this posts getting way too long already. This movie was my intro to the franchise when I was a kid & legit did not know what anime was or that a whole thing existed outside of this movie xD I literally always used to wish there was & then like 10 yrs ago at this point after being deep into anime I found out about Astro Boy anime/manga & straight went:

So in conclusion Astro Boy movie ok, has deep place in my heart, animes waaay better & manga: god tier.

[formulaorange]

2024 Winter Anime

It's here! It's finally here!!! Solo Leveling comes out this season! There's definitely a few others to keep an eye out for but this is the star of the winter season:

Solo Leveling One of my most anticipated series. I'm caught up on the english light novels (8 volumes) and I'm honestly so invested in this story. In a way it gives the same impact as One Punch Man but if the story progressed a little faster toward fame and growth in his power. Easily the best of the season. Noteworthy On Going Shows: Frieren - Episodes 17-28 One of the most mesmerizing and well paced fantasies I've seen. Also one of my 10/10s of all time. Worth looking into if you remotely like fantasy. Shangri La Frontier - Episodes 14-25 Another fantasy game series that honestly just looks like it's a fun game. Explores a lot of game mechanics within this full-dive VR type game that almost puts SAO to shame. Fun action, fantasy and fun for game lovers. Apothecary Diaries - Episodes 13-24 My current favourite drama/romance/medical mystery series. The characters are simple but the show highlights the different dynamics and almost feels like an enemies to lovers plot. New Seasons:

Blue Exorcist - Season 3 This is one of the og shows I watched growing up. It's a mythology school themed show that I loved. It's been 13 years since season 1 aired and I'm stoked to see it come back. It's being done by a different studio since A-1 is busy with solo leveling, so I'm not sure if it'll hit the same but I'll still check it out at least for the nostalgia.

Mashle - Season 2 The funniest anime I've seen in a while. Man muscle brains his way through magic school and the whole show is a meme of harry potter and other magic series. Truly entertaining. Can't wait for this season

Delicious In Dungeon This is a series I've wanted to pick up the manga for for a while. It's about dealing with food and hunger when these adventurers are deep in a dungeon and learn to start cooking and eating what they can find down there. Funny concept but honestly looks like a lot of fun.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer I read this manga and light novel so long ago. (Literal years - link to my manga thoughts and summary). I'm looking forward to the adaptation. I think nowadays this kind of story doesn't catch nearly as much attention as it did a few years ago. An adventurer dies in a dungeon and is reborn as an undead who can evolve as he kills other monsters and he deals with trying to fit in with the human realm again and evolving. I'm still looking forward to it after keeping an ear our for so long!

Mr. Villain's Day Off I recently heard about this series and thought it was such a cute concept. Us with all our villain complexes with enjoy this one. Will likely be a background show for me as there won't be a huge plot, regardless, still fun to watch. Burn the Witch - #0.8 - 30 min Special I think this won't be as exciting now that Bleach has come back and we aren't as depraved of Tite Kubo's work but I really enjoyed the original short series. Hoping for more of this world in the future. Sequels: Classroom of the Elite - Season 3 Tsukimichi - Season 2 (Link to review of season 1) The Dangers in My Heart - Season 2 More Continuations: Undead Unluck Ragna Crimson After going through 20+ shows every season, many with sub-par animations and the same fantasy twists, I've become real picky about which series are even worth trying to watch these days. Here are the ones that deserve at least 2 episodes in order: A Sign of Affection - Gets a special spot since it's incredibly rare to see disability representation in anime and it looks like it's done quite well- A romance between a guy and a deaf girl. Looks super sweet Bucchigiri?! - I honestly can't say this looks appealing to me personally but I've hear the name before and well it's MAPPA. (Give em a break) 'Tis Time for "Torture," Princess - looks well animated and just a fun watch Metallic Rouge - The sci-fi series for this season. I'm not sure I have it in me to watch something heavy like this this season but it looks decent. The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic The Witch and the Beast - Here for manga readers - lowkey looks like the manga will be much better and this might be a skip for me. Hokkaido Gyaru's are super Adorable (Ecchi) ALSO - Big reminder: Haikyu!! and Demon Slayer have their movies coming out this season as well (both theatrical releases so keep an eye out!!!) Demon Slayer: To the Hashira Training - Feb 2nd 2024 Haikyu!! - The Dumpster Battle - Feb 16th 2024

[not-goldy]

Hey Goldy

Love your blog ♥️

About the recent Wlives from JK and how he is been so open and so honest with Army. He wants to talk to us. He wants to tell us things related to him and his life and whenever he does that this fandom becomes so weired. Why is everyone acting like they know JK better then JK himself? He literally said he is avoiding sensitive questions but he still choose to say "JeonJimin" Out loud. Korean or not everyone in this world knows if two names are put together its because people like them together and they ship them. Its not like JK is from some diff world. The whole bird app is full of people saying how bad it was for a fan to write JeonJimin in comments. And now the people of this fandom have become some saints overnight and are teaching people how to write comments and what to say and what not to say.

Where are these teachers and these saints when Tuktukkers make noise? - Oh they are nowhere to be found.

Everyone need to understand that it was JK who choose to say it out loud while he was avoiding sensitive questions or things to say. But he still choose to answer questions about Jimin and say his ship name outloud.

I am sorry Goldy i am all over the place but i wanted to rant so i came to u. I have so mych more to say but then it will look like an essay lol anywas i am waiting for your post about Wlives happened recently and what u think about where this all is going and why was JK so desperate that he begged Jimin for a Live together for literally almost 2 mins straight. He almost risked it all. That boy needs his Jiminshii..

Love you Goldy and Love your blog♥️ You are one of the reasons for me to stay in this fandom. Thank God there is someone who actually understands boys and is not afraid to express her thoughts. Reading ur blog makes me calm and gives my tired brain some good Jikook therapy. Thank You

They just tried to ride on the wave of chaos and vitriol to express thier bigotry, anti Jimin and anti jikook sentiments but none of that works on me I'm afraid. been in this for so long I see right through their bull and it don't phase me. Not at all. Lmho.

And I'm glad he said he ignores comments he finds sensitive because we've seen them do that time and again on their lives through their pained expressions when they come across comments that are so vile and so grotesque.

How many times have we seen the Fandom akekeke over him reading YOONMIN on live or Tae Kook and explaining to Tae that's their ship name as if he was hearing it for the first time?

Look at his face reading that. Sounds like he's in on the joke to me🤷🏾

It's okay if he calls other ship name but it's a problem when he calls his own ship name- what a bunch of losers these ppl are.

Then they want us to believe this man had no idea what the fuck he was reading on that screen as if his intelligence evaporates when ITS TIME FOR HIM TO READ Comments about his own ship. LIKE GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE

The most annoying part of it all is, sometimes these boys read ship names from comments deliberately for whatever reason. Sope do this, Jikook do this.

Some times they are happy to see fans show love to other members by asking of them in the comments especially when we all know those members are going through tough times. It's a two edged sword situation. Some times fans over do it sometimes it really show live and support and other times it's a cute way of bonding with them and having our own inside jokes and secrets etc- we just have to learn to READ THE ROOM AND NOT OVER DO IT YA KNOW.

I recall Jimin reading comments about Jungkook (this might have been at a time when Jungkook was being heavily censored as I theorized years ago) Jimin saying fans kept asking of Kook during his live pushed Hybe to produce Jungkook the next day on live which if I remember correctly was even on YouTube not weverse😆

The power play is real- not that they need it now because SOLO. But still. The fans, the platform form, the attention all of that gives them leverage and if you are going to tell him what do with his own platform then he might as well delete it like he deleted Instagram.

PEOPLE NEED TO STOP TELLING THESE MEN WHAT TO DO WITH THEIR LIVES AND HOW TO LIVE THEIR LIVES.

Respecting them is respecting their complexities as human beings as well and not always viewing them in two dimensional black and white way. They can enjoy the ships and the delulu and the inside jokes and mentioning other members during their lives and still be frustrated with it sometimes, overwhelmed, disrespected or annoyed with it because THEY ARE COMPLEX BEINGS.

Some times they are in a bad mood and are easily triggered, other times they just couldn't care less.

COMPLEX BEINGS.

Pretty you're alright. I'll read your essays anytime. And love you same

Now lemme push my Jimin agenda, you won't happen to be a Jm Stan would you cos I want you to listen to his letters live version at 0.41 and 0.55 whatever he's doing there has me in a trance😭😭😭😭😭😭

When I die sing it on my boat ride to purgatory 🤧

[supernova41st]

My hazbin hotel review

(Chronically online girl complains about demon show, enjoy)

I’m gonna be Frank guys, I don’t have so many problems w this show. Yes I write fics abt it but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have flaws, like SO many flaws. When I first finished watching it I was OBSESSED. I loved the characters the animation the music etc. that was until I rewatched it and realized how much I didn’t really like it. I was mostly bias because I remember loving the pilot back in 2019 (also I’m gonna go a bit hard on the show but Viziepop is a poopy person so I’m not rlly gonna be overwhelmed with sympathy)

Also I don’t plan on being easy on this show because it’s ‘indie’ cuz it’s not it’s on Amazon prime now. And secondly Viziepop herself is just eugh, not even including the stuff she did back then but she’s just not a good person by a longshot considering her tweets that she makes even today

The pacing:

Pretty much everyone has said this, the pacing is not good. I can understand that the network def didn’t give them much to work with 8 eps and 25 mins for each but even then there are something’s that didn’t felt like they could’ve been fixed

Something that I thought felt like the best example is sir pentious, we see him move into the hotel, get revealed for being a spy, exposed, then forgiven in the spam of like 5 minutes. I found this the best because I literally left to use the bathroom and I came back to them singing the ‘it starts with sorry’ song and I was like, “wait what.”

I feel like the pacing definitely could’ve been fixed by either removing or moving some elements to upcoming seasons. The meeting in heaven felt like we were in the 3rd season of the show and most of the stuff we learned such as the ‘winners’ not knowing anything about the exterminations, and Vaggie being an angel. And unlike Vaggie being an angel thing, the ‘winners’ not knowing anything about the extermination just gets revealed and the leave it at that? No one in the court protests it other than Emily, and I feel like someone else would too + I find it kinda weird that Lute first cares about the secret not being shared but when it does she’s just like ‘oops kill demon lol’.

A huge thing that I didn’t like was that we don’t see the people at the hotel bonding, we do see husk and angel dust bond but the rest characters just come back after the fight training thing and are just like ‘haha that’s such a funny thing that just happened to us off screen just now!’ I would’ve loved to see Nifty being fr for like, 2 seconds. Like pls

Characters:

This cast is filled to the BRIM. I’m sorry I love these characters but some of them feel just too useless? The vees are such a non threat considering the real threat we see in heaven such as Adam. We legit see vox get his ass handed to him in an epic rap battle of history and in the final song they still try to paint them as a threat? Maybe Valentino makes sense but so far Vox and Velvette look so weak. (Also why hasn’t Charlie or even Husk ask Lucifer to kill Valentino? 😭 I know that Charlie isn’t a fan of killing but like, in this case it’s out of self defense so like.. )

Ep 4 is nearly everyone’s favorite understandably because the show actually feels like it’s taking its time with its characters. We actually see two characters begin to bond finally not off screen. But like, I know people are gonna be mad at me for this, I hate Angel dust. I didn’t like him mostly because of his jokes just making me cringe but in ep 4 I began to like him, until the Poison song. I’m sorry, but who told them it was a good idea to make a pop song montage of a character getting s3xually abused? 😟 I won’t get into it because everything I have to say is in Dumbsville review on hazbin hotel where he actually spoke to survivors of s3xual abuse and gave their opinions on Angel dusts character.

Why is there a r4pe joke on sir pentious? Hey guys remember when s3xual abuse was treated like a terrible thing just a few episodes ago? Well now it’s funny, pls laugh.

This is the part where I get mad that Alex Brightmans character wasnt written well cuz it’s Alex Brightman.

Adam, is def something. I was interested to see how Adam would be interpreted since in the prologue he demanded power and it made me wonder how that would be played in the story. And then, they just made him a sex joke machine 😀 I have a theory that they didn’t know what to do with Adam so they just made him apart of the extermination plot, and he’s voiced by the same guy who does sir pentious so I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

It’s really strange how they make the villain so 2d considering the message of the show being that people can change’ and that ‘everyone deserves a second chance’. However they truly missed the mark here when it came to the main villain of the season because they kill him off as if he didn’t do the same thing to the sinners. It would’ve made sm more sense if they had the villain also be forgiven. Like once Adam is defeated, Charlie does a ‘it starts with sorry’ reprise, to show that people in heaven could also work on themselves.

This was my hazbin hotel review you can tell I had no idea what I was doing and if you think and wrong then shut up

[foxymoxynoona]

To Kill A King (Chapter 12)

Banner and linebreaks by the talented @awrkives

Summary: What’s more charming than Prince Seokjin? Nothing, obviously. Except maybe the rotating palace guests who each smile and bow and charm in an attempt to hide their true motives. Fortunately Seokjin has a close circle of friends (well, servants) who watch his back and endure his humor and help him navigate the tumultuous seas of heartbreak, love, and an arranged marriage, not necessarily in that order. If only they had helped him keep a closer eye on his bride-to-be’s handmaiden, who arrives with her own agenda… or maybe it would have been better if he had noticed her less? One thing is certain as this royal drama of the heart plays out: there are many people competing to kill a king.

Main Pairing: Prince Seokjin x Female OC Genre: Historical Fantasy World, political conspiracy, romance Rating: 18+ Content Warnings & story tags: includes explicit sex (mxf, fxf), possibly graphic violence/injury later, love and sex triangles or uh quadrangles?, sort of e 2 l, sort of bodyguard trope, sort of arranged marriage, a lot of plotting murder (it’s literally in the title), maybe character death, grief, pining, angst, love, oral (f & m receiving), I don’t know everything yet as the story is long and still being written

PREVIOUS | MASTERLIST | NEXT

NOTE: check out the Character & Setting Cheat Sheet for a refresher on who’s who

Seokjin surveyed his outfit, futzing with the high collar as Lord Sciurus pawed at the back of his hair and then his ear. Seokjin flinched and brushed him away, so the squirrel clambered to the other side and grabbed his earring. Seokjin gave in to his demands for attention and handed him another nut from the bowl at hand, which Lord Sciurus was more than capable of getting himself. At the crack of Lord Sciurus breaking into it, raining shell dust all over the shoulder of Seokjin’s dark blue jacket, the piggies came running into the room in a line and circled around Seokjin’s feet. He crouched down so they could run beneath his hand. Nutmeg decided she needed extra attention and put her little paws in his wrist to press it to the ground so she could nibble the end of his thumb.

“I already fed you all,” he reminded as Ginger ran through his legs. He’d taken breakfast in his private atrium, alone except for the sound of happily munching animals, as he wanted to be. He wasn’t spending as much time alone lately and it was exhausting him, to be frank. The masquerade, sparring, court, it felt like he had been pulled more wholly into the center of things than ever before Nasimiyu arrived and he wasn’t feeling superb about it. Obviously he knew it was coming, that there had been an expectation he would be stepping into royal heir role years ago and he hadn’t really; that getting married would be a sign to people he was ready to take his preparations as someday-king more seriously; that Nasimiyu herself believed she was coming here to marry a future king in more than just title. 

But dammit, he was tired!

And that was why he hadn’t gone to the kitchen lately, or the dining hall, and requested breakfast in his room. Not because he was avoiding one Yoongi Min of the kitchens. Why would he avoid a cook? Preposterous. 

He just wanted to make sure his sugar gliders Coco and Nilla were getting enough socialization. He had an animal handler who helped care for his pets so it’s not like they were ever alone any more than they wanted to be, any of them, but still. He knew he was their favorite and he didn’t want to be neglectful of them just because he had a fiance and a kingdom to learn how to run and a cook to avoid–

Not that he was avoiding Yoongi! He just didn’t know what to say to him. Well, he did know what to say to him, but he knew it was going to sound awkward because it wasn’t any of his business to ask Yoongi if he and Dulce were together now but also she was his fiance’s favorite maid so maybe he had some right to make sure Yoongi understood not to… you know…. Hurt her or get her pregnant too soon or something–

Seokjin curled his hand around the pouch hanging around his neck that Coco and Nilla had snuggled down in. Obviously it was great that Yoongi and Dulce had found each other. Great match, those two. He’d called it! It was a good development and he could be happy for his sort-of friend in a totally normal, not weird way, because what was there to be weird about?

So when his animals formed a guild to insist they had not been fed enough fresh treats this morning, Seokjin made sure Coco and Nilla were snug against his chest and set out for the garden to fix the delicacies himself, even though it ran the risk of running into Yoongi. Maybe he would luck out and this was a day off for Yoongi –although, come to think of it, he wasn’t sure Yoongi actually ever took days off.

Edmund caught up to him when he left his room, which wasn’t ideal because he wanted to be alone. He tried to just ignore the young bodyguard’s presence, wishing it was one of the older ones because they talked less. Jungkook was always his favorite, even though he talked a lot, but he was off. He took days off, why wouldn’t Yoongi?

Today was definitely not that day. Seokjin’s basket was only half-filled with crisp lettuce and swollen cucumbers and a few last straggler strawberries he’d found tucked behind the leaves when Yoongi strolled by with an empty basket of his own.

Seokjin expected Yoongi to realize he’d been avoiding him and quiz him on it immediately, but instead the cook just gave a nod in his direction –no bow, but it’s what Seokjin preferred, and they were mostly alone except for a few gardeners at the far end– and crouched to inspect the zucchini swelling from their spiky vines. He waited for Yoongi to say anything, or maybe voluntarily bring up Dulce and predict the questions Seokjin might understandably have about such progress in Yoongi’s life. He said nothing. Just selected two zucchini.

“Hey,” Seokjin called after only a moment. “Is that the only hello? Since when do you pick your own vegetables?”

“I’m trying a Paloman recipe and the zucchini need to be crisp but the gardeners brought mushy ones to me yesterday. They don’t want to waste the vegetables but I care about the quality of the food.”

Seokjin’s eyes bugged as he repeated, “A Paloman recipe? You’re using the royal kitchen for such private things?!”

It was ridiculous and Seokjin knew it as soon as he said it. They used the kitchen to make their own dishes all the time! And there was nothing out of line about Yoongi experimenting with new foods to feed the palace.

Yoongi’s eyebrow arched as he pushed up, and Seokjin hated the casual way he answered, “Well, the Princess requested it.” Seokjin’s embarrassment evaporated immediately –he never felt the need to hold onto it for long anyway– replaced by curiosity.

“Nasimiyu asked you to make it?”

“Yes, some dish her maid told her about. She asked me a few days ago to figure out how to make it.” He thought about it, then shrugged, “I think the maid’s birthday is coming up, maybe? I don’t know. I said I would try but it’s hard if I can’t just ask the maid about it.”

“By maid, don’t you mean Dulce, who we both know?” Seokjin laughed to sound casual about it too, because Yoongi was always so casual even when he cared a lot. Cool. “Why are you calling her like that, you think I don’t know? You can be forthright with me.”

This time Yoongi’s brows lowered and Seokjin felt like he’d hit on something directly, though the narrowed gaze was directed at two zucchini he compared in his hands.

“You know… that we both know Dulce?” Yoongi clarified with a glance.

“I know that you and Dulce are… I’m the royal prince, you don’t think I know everything that takes place under my roof? I know you two are together now. You don’t have to hide it from me! Did you think I would begrudge you a relationship?” For a moment, his words sounded sincere even to his own ears. They were sincere! His own thoughts were confusing him. Why wouldn’t he be thrilled for them? Unless Yoongi was only playing with her, which he clumsily tried to ferret out now, but perhaps Dulce wanted to be played with….? Seokjin decided to look closely and select the best zucchini for his animals, too.

For a long moment Yoongi didn’t say anything at all and Seokjin realized he must have made the shyer, quieter man uncomfortable. That wouldn’t have stopped him. He hated all the secrecy required for his life. People should feel free to be out and open, at least about their loves and affections. People took secrets too seriously. Life wasn’t made for secrets and shame. 

“You think I’m in a relationship with Dulce,” Yoongi clarified slowly. “And you care.”

“I don’t care.”

“You sound like you care.”

“I care because– ah, you’re my friend, and she is Nasimiyu’s favorite, so I want everyone to be happy.”

Yoongi nodded like he’d expected this answer. He had a way of always seeming like he knew everything which Seokjin envied because it would be a very admirable trait on the throne. King Dong-gun did the same, actually. Seokjin ought to figure out how to emulate it.

“I see. You’re asking because you want to be a supportive friend and make sure your people are happy.”

“Wait wait,” Seokjin interrupted, waving his free hand. “I’m not asking anything.”

“You want to know if I’m having a relationship with Dulce.”

“I didn’t ask that, I already know and I’m saying I support–”

“I don’t have a relationship with her,” Yoongi said. “Not any more of a relationship than you do.”

Seokjin shook his head and assured him, “I know she stayed with you after the masquerade. You don’t have to hide your relationship from me.”

“Do you have me watched? Or her?” Yoongi asked and for a moment his voice had almost an edge to it. It harkened back to how Seokjin had discovered about Yoongi’s political activities in Marvono in the first place, when he’d innocently been enjoying his day in the city and come across the cook meeting with a shady character in a side alley. He’d overheard more than Yoongi ought to be talking about in an open location –which Seokjin gave him an earful about, before demanding to know everything so he could decide whether Yoongi being in the palace was a security risk. He knew he ought to just turn him over immediately, but he’d already grown fond of the cook and wanted to decide for himself. A copious amount of alcohol later, Seokjin had what was probably mostly true about Yoongi’s youthful passion to make the world better. He wasn’t stupid enough to think he’d been told everything, but between that and just enough poking into the environmentalist group Yoongi had been a part of, Seokjin didn’t have further concerns. Yoongi was retired now anyway, content to cook and drink –as he had been telling the man in the alley in the first place. I don’t do that kind of thing anymore, sorry. Seokjin had thought to himself good, because you clearly aren’t good at it anymore if you’re so easily found out!

Seokjin frowned at the accusation and insisted, “Neither. But when she leaves your room the morning after in the middle of the palace, people notice–”

“What people?”

“Jungkook,” Seokjin huffed, annoyed with the questioning, like he’d done something wrong. “Why are you so upset about it? I’m saying I don’t care!”

“I’m not upset. She slept in my dorm that night, that’s all.”

“You don’t have to be shy about it,” Seokjin insisted. Now that it was out in the open, he was determined to get the confirmation. “I’m saying I support it.”

“And I’m saying nothing happened.”

“Then why did she sleep in your dorm, huh? Women just wander by to spend the night in a crowded room with a bunch of men for fun?” Seokjin laughed as he said it, it was such a ridiculous suggestion.

Yoongi shrugged, “I offered. She needed help getting out of her dress.”

“Ah! Yes, helping a woman out of her dress, famously not a thing you do before–”

“She said the Princess had put her into it but that Princess was busy now with a certain Prince.”

Seokjin’s mouth wavered, trying to find a joke that wouldn’t come as his neck prickled with a flush. 

“I helped her change and stash the dress. Probably she didn’t want the other maids to know she’d been at the ball. Servants hate when other servants step out of their rank just as much as nobles do.”

“And then you asked her to spend the night before that’s what any friend would do.” Seokjin meant it sarcastically, but Yoongi either didn’t pick up on it or ignored it.

“She seemed a little… off,” Yoongi said with a shrug. 

Seokjin blinked and looked at the vegetables in his basket. He ignored the hiccup in his chest.

“What do you mean off?” He felt very serious suddenly, like he couldn’t even pretend to be casual or playful.

“I thought maybe someone had been bothering her.”

“Why did you think that?”

“You have a lot of questions for someone who doesn’t care about any of this,” Yoongi mused, and Seokjin realized he had mindlessly followed Yoongi down two rows of the garden by now. 

“I care if maids are being harassed in my palace.”

“She said no one did. Maybe she was drunk or just sick of being around nobles,” Yoongi suggested. 

“She didn’t say anything to you about it?”

“Do you mean before or after we fucked?” Yoongi asked. Unfortunately Seokjin’s face seemed to do something against his will, because Yoongi grinned. “I told you we didn’t.”

“Now I don’t believe you!”

“We didn’t. But I’ll be sure to update you on any fucking I do in the future.”

“I don’t care who you fuck unless it’s– unless it might interfere with–” Seokjin broke off, not sure how to finish his own sentence in a way that didn’t sound strange. “Unless a member of the staff is being harassed. Then I need to know.”

“Well I’m not harassing anyway.”

“But you think someone else was?”

“I don’t know. She said no and she’s seemed fine again since the ball. Isn’t it enough to just be tired of the whole thing? She doesn’t belong there.”

“Yes…” Seokjin trailed off, thinking and also trying not to think too much. It made perfect sense that by the time Dulce left the ball, she was exhausted. And Nasimiyu couldn’t help her undress because she was undressing him. And she hadn’t wanted the other maids to know, so she’d needed a place to sleep.

The start Yoongi had given him with the suggestion someone might have bothered Dulce after Seokjin left and was no longer there to protect her was soothed. A lightness inflated his chest at learning all of this. Jungkook’s assumption had been wrong. Yoongi was not in fact in a relationship with Dulce, they had not even fooled around unless Yoongi was lying to his face, which he didn’t seem to be because why would he lie about something like this?

“Well you should just know you have my full blessing if you wish to pursue something romantically with her,” Seokjin said magnanimously. 

“.... Thanks,” Yoongi said with an undeniable slowness to the single word. “You have a rat poking out of your necklace.”

“Not every small animal is a rat!” Seokjin glanced down to see Nilla peeking her little head out the bag and he decided it was time to take his gatherings back anyway and let them eat and run around before he needed to go do Princely duty things. 

“If you say so.”

“I do say so. Good luck with your Paloman food. Let me try it too when it’s done, I insist.” 

Yoongi waved his hand like he was the prince here and assured him, “I figured you would. Come by and you can help me make it if you want.”

That was tempting. Dulce’s birthday was coming up, hm? He tucked this nugget of knowledge away. How old was she anyway? He wondered if she’d make a fuss if he gave her another of the Kalamouche novels as a gift. She’d probably wonder how he even knew it was her birthday coming up and he’d say something smooth about just knowing things.

He whistled as he walked off with his basket, morning sun warming his skin. He preferred the winter but summer could be nice too, couldn’t it? He whistled and whistled–

And stopped when he crossed paths with the woman herself in the yard, near the kitchens. 

“Lovely morning, isn’t it, fair Dulce?” he grinned, and continued on his way, resisting the urge to look back and see if she was flattered or confused or annoyed by the greeting. He worried he’d give away that he knew her birthday was coming up. Maybe Kalamouche was too generic, since he could just let her borrow the rest of them. Or maybe she’d like owning them herself? What was an appropriate birthday gift for a maid when you were the prince? 

Well the Prince certainly seemed to be in a good mood. And why wouldn’t he be? Dulce hadn’t been with Nasimiyu in a couple days now, banished to other odd jobs for no reason other than that the head matron was a bitch and maybe believed the rumors swirling that Dulce had snuck into the masquerade. Dulce had expected Nasimiyu to notice and call her back, but probably she was still too head-in-the-clouds over the Prince’s massive cock. 

And Dulce, to be honest, hadn’t minded the break. She’d spent the time thinking about heisting the painting as she cleaned silk slippers and pounded period stains out of underskirts, even though that ought to be a job for the laundresses. Dulce didn’t care for now. Mindless work was such a holiday from having to always be on alert and dealing with people. What a treat to be able to let her mind wander to something as exciting as a heist. With any luck, she wouldn’t even have to kill anyone.

But now she’d been summoned back, and if the Prince’s whistling and jaunty walk were anything to go by, Nasimiyu would be in a satiated good mood as well. Probably she hadn’t even noticed Dulce was out of sight for a few days, and she’d launch right into another nauseating monologue about sex with the Prince and Dulce would let her mind wander back to the way her arm burned scrubbing fabric against the washboard because that was preferable. 

Dulce knocked on Nasimiyu’s door, where she’d been told the Princess had retreated for “letter writing and refreshment.” She noticed the dirt on the bottom of her skirt, since she’d been watching sparring in the yard when the matron sent for her, and tried to kick it off before deciding she didn’t care. Nasimiyu wouldn’t notice anyway. At the lack of response, she opened the door and dragged the overladen cart inside. 

Nasimiyu sat inside at the desk near the window, actually writing letters after all.

“Hello,” Dulce called. “I’ve brought your refreshment, Princess.” She closed the door behind herself, proud of the proper address even though it wasn’t actually proper at all: a maid should never address her lady without being spoken to first, and use an honorific, not simply a title. She hated that she knew these things. She expected Nasimiyu to turn around and correct this faux pas with a bemused roll of her eyes.

Instead Nasimiyu continued to write something on her desk and just called over her shoulder, “Nice of you to show up.”

Dulce had expected this, though not in that tone, and pointed out, “I don’t control the schedule. Take it up with your head maid. She had me doing your laundry and shining your shoes.”

“Yes, you’ve ruined at least two pairs.”

“It’s almost as if I am not a maid,” Dulce quipped, parking the tray beside the table. 

“Oh, should I have Mirta reassign you to something you’re more suited for?” Nasimiyu asked. “Like… fucking nobles? Oh, but you’re already doing that, even without orders to.”

If Dulce was less good at what she did, perhaps this sudden barb would have elicited some visible response in her. Instead she felt an internal jolt telling her she needed to be on alert: she noted the edge to Nasimiyu’s voice, and the tension now obvious in her shoulders, and the way the princess still hadn’t turned to look at her. Anger. Dulce let this acknowledgement ease her around the nervous twist in her stomach that somehow Nasimiyu had found out and was, as Dulce had expected, angry. 

She kept her voice neutral as she leaned against the wall beside the desk, hiding any nerves or concern, and argued, “I believe your words were ‘You’re pretty and it’s the easiest way to get information from men’ as you commanded me to fuck for–”

“His staff!” Nasimiyu hissed, leaping to her feet. “Not fucking Lord Namjoon!”

Dulce gave her an innocent look and demanded, “Why, is Lord Namjoon off limits for some reason?”

“You know why.”

“I do not. He is a noble close to the Prince. You wanted to know about the previous fiance and Namjoon’s involvement–”

“Oh, you’re on a first name basis?”

“I think titles are ridiculous,” Dulce snapped, bothered by this whole conversation. So had Nasimiyu been the one to command her to laundry for several days? As what, punishment? She’d known Nasimiyu would be upset to learn this but honestly, it was so juvenile. “And so is your response. It’s sex. You have it too.”

“With my fiance.”

“Then what are you so bothered about Namjoon for?”

Nasimiyu grabbed Dulce’s arms and shoved her back against the wall, and Dulce let her spend this emotion, curious what Nasimiyu would actually say about it once her tantrum ended. She’d always found the limits of Nasimiyu’s violence amusing. She’d never had a physical fight in her life and Dulce didn’t think she’d be capable of it. Now she seemed intent on walking a thin line between truth and lies. Why not just admit she was obsessed with Namjoon? 

“It’s not part of the plan,” Nasimiyu said.

“Everything is part of the plan,” Dulce countered, painting her own behavior with a broad, favorable brush stroke. “You have no reason to be bothered by my techniques to get information–”

“You knew you shouldn’t fuck Namjoon–”

“Why? So you could fuck him for information?” Dulce pressed. “Your parents were right, he’s distracting you.”

She hadn’t actually intended that to be the magnitude of attack Nasimiyu clearly took it for. She was just hot under scrutiny about a thing she felt secret shame over, and didn’t like that Nasimiyu was resisting her perfectly logical explanation about it. But Nasimiyu ran even hotter at this accusation and bashed Dulce back against the wall again and then delivered a harsh slap across the face.

This was not like Nasimiyu at all. Nasimiyu had never lashed out at her like that.

“How dare you accuse me of that,” Nasimiyu hissed. “I have my purpose for Namjoon and it is not to waste him now with some drunk fuck with a maid at a masquerade. He will be part of my cabinet once I am queen–”

Dulce’s eyebrows raised as she asked carefully, “Are you going to marry him once the Prince is dead?” 

“I didn’t say that! But his mind–”

“Is probably clever enough to work you for a chair by your side–” Dulce began to point out. Nasimiyu moved sharply again as though to strike but Dulce didn’t flinch. Never flinch. The flinch gave power to the other person’s threat. Even if they struck you, a lack of response made their assault look feeble.

“He’s not working me. I’m trying to work him and he’s avoiding me! He’s being accused by spoiled brats of ridiculous dramas when he’s far too busy thinking about the future of this nearly ruined country to bother with some eighteen-year-old,” Nasimiyu said, spinning away. Dulce had no clue what she was talking about and just watched, waiting. Nasimiyu seemed wild with anger in a way Dulce had never been truly in the crossfire of. Always before it just resulted in Nasimiyu half-jokingly asked if Dulce couldn’t just take care of the problem person for her. 

“He’s brilliant,” Nasimiyu continued, “and he’d be an incredible mind to have as part of my cabinet if you don’t go around fucking him–”

“That’s bullshit. He chose to fuck me and I’m sure there are plenty other women too. If fucking distracts him from his own policies then why do you need him? You’re not mad about that, stop lying to us both.”

“What do you know, what I’m mad about?!” Nasimiyu whirled on her. “You know me so little you thought I wanted you to fuck him. I told you to fuck Jungkook or Jimin! They’re–”

“What? Lower staff, like me? Appropriate for sex with your maid?”

Dulce hated Nasimiyu in that moment, for blaming her instead of Namjoon, for putting him on a pedestal, for being jealous of him. 

“It’s not about that! I fuck you, don’t I? And I’m far above some lord–”

“Then what is it? I did what you told me to, I fucked for information with my disposable body.”

“That’s what you do.”

“That is not what I do,” Dulce snapped, getting as into Nasimiyu’s face as she could with the height difference. “You forget? I’m an assassin, not a whore. I’m not even a spy and yet you have me sneaking around this palace listening for drama about failed betrothals or the weaknesses of a royal family that don’t even hide them. If you just had a fucking conversation with your betrothed that idiot would lay it all out for you! But the only part of him you’re interested in is the part that can sexually serve you–”

“Jealous?”

“Are you jealous?” Dulce interrupted. “Of Namjoon, not of me. I’ve been by your side for years and–”

“Because my father is blackmailing you,” Nasimiyu snorted and turned away and crossed her arms like a sulking child.

Dulce let that hang for a moment, to give herself time to settle the internal chaos of that one confession.

“You know,” Dulce said slowly. “You know your father is threatening my family… and you didn’t do anything.”

“You don’t even like your family, you abandoned them years ago, and all he’s asking from you is to serve me. That’s not a hardship so what does it matter?”

“No? Do you want to go pound the period stains out of my skirts and shine my shoes?”

“You didn’t have to do that. You could have come to me when Mirte told you to do that. But you didn’t. Why not?” Nasimiyu spun with a fierce, cocky smile, like she already knew the answer. Dulce had wanted to lay low for a bit. She had expected Nasimiyu to be angry about Namjoon.

“I needed a break from you,” Dulce said. It was a weak answer though, and Nasimiyu seemed to gain strength from it, as if she saw some victory looming in the distance and could now reach for it.

“Because you knew what you had done. You knew I would be furious that you fucked Namjoon. You knew that–”

“That you have feelings for him?” Dulce pressed. It sounded ridiculous to say. She felt embarrassed for Nasimiyu. How embarrassing to have feelings for someone, especially in Nasimiyu’s position, but in anyone’s really. It didn’t even matter if the feelings were real or just infatuation, it was obvious now that Nasimiyu believed them to be.

“I do not.”

Dulce didn’t say anything. She didn’t need to rattle off the evidence of it: the trailing after Namjoon at the ball, the obsession over whom he danced with, and even before that, the obviously calculated attempts to be in his path, to strike up conversation. She saw in it now much of the same behavior Nasimiyu had when they’d first met, and suddenly this princess in disguise was constantly in the tavern, constantly the next table over, constantly offering to buy a round.

“Be careful. Having feelings for someone doesn’t mean they’re returned and it’s more likely to land you in shit.”

“Yes, because you’re such an expert at feelings,” Nasimiyu scoffed. “You’ve never let yourself feel anything for anyone.”

Part of Dulce wanted to confirm that. What a lovely way to be. She wanted to be like that. She wanted Nasimiyu to believe she was like that. And yet for reasons she could not explain, some strange weak part of her suddenly felt like the opposite was true, like she needed to prove Nasimiyu was wrong and claim victory for herself. Nasimiyu thought she knew her so well, that she was nothing but a cold, unfeeling machine? She didn’t know her at all. 

“Then why did I stay behind?”

“Because my father is blackmailing you–”

“No,” Dulce interrupted. “That party in Lair that you insisted on going to because you wanted to part of that ridiculous short-sighted cult–”

“It was a political group, and they had good ideas! They wanted to change the world–”

“You don’t even know what you’re talking about because your death is the way they want to change the world, your whole family’s death and everyone like you,” Dulce interrupted. “They’d have slit your throat in a heartbeat if they knew who you were. But you wanted to be a hero and I told you it was a bad idea but you insisted on going and it got raided just like I said and there you were right in the middle of it.”

Nasimiyu wasn’t looking at her, rightfully shamed by this instance in which she had been so pig-headed and wrong, and tried, “We got caught–”

“No, you got caught. I could have escaped easily because I knew to plan my exit the second we walked in and you were too busy throwing yourself into it, like somehow you could convince them to make you their queen anyway. You were slow and stupid and instead of saving my own skin I stayed to protect you.”

“Which was ridiculous. I was perfectly fine. My father paid a small ransom–”

“To himself! He was behind the raid!”

“No, the Brothers of Sunset were–”

“Everyone knows the Brothers of Sunset are funded by the royal family of Marvono,” Dulce sighed, deeply annoyed with just how blind Nasimiyu could be. 

“That’s a rumor. The Brothers of Sunset sold you to my father.”

“They didn’t need to. Open your eyes and look at your own family.”

Nasimiyu blinked at her. Dulce could practically see Nasimiyu’s thoughts warring with each other. But she couldn’t reconcile this, so she pushed it away, and argued, “It’s not like I have ever supported my father’s policies anyway.”

“What have you done differently? Now he will put you on the throne–”

“And I will finally have the power to do what I see as right.”

“You will be his pawn on the throne.”

“You’re such a bitch,” Nasimiyu cried and clenched her fists like she wanted to strike Dulce again. “You don’t believe I could have a thought in my head that’s not my father’s despite everything I have ever said against him. You know that.”

“But you’re angry with me for having sex with some noble you’ve taken a fancy to.”

“Because he’s mine,” Nasimiyu finally admitted, but surprised Dulce by adding, “And you’re supposed to be mine too. He’s not yours to fuck or kill.”

“Oh,” Dulce said as the truth came into sharp clarity. A truth she had known but until this moment tried to find all evidence to disprove. “I’m yours the way a dog is.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“You just did. I’m a bitch. I’m your bitch, and your fathers. Maybe that’s no different than how you are with the Prince or even how you want to be with Namjoon. Do you actually care about anyone or are we all just pawns in the end? You really are just like your father–”

Nasimiyu tried to box her ears but Dulce slid away as Nasimiyu shouted, “Don’t say that! Shut up! You’re so proud of yourself that you know where to twist the daggers! Who’s the monster, me or you? Yes, I am calculated in what I do to achieve my goal. Yes, people will get hurt. But my goal is the greater good and if some nobles get hurt along the way, so be it! How rich of you to judge me! At least I live by my principles–”

“When it suits you.”

“You kill for money. You fuck for information. You pretend to care to save your own skin.” Nasimiyu shouted and Dulce couldn’t pretend not to see the way emotion wracked her whole body. By comparison, Dulce knew she looked cold, exactly like Nasimiyu accused. She just couldn’t lose control the way Nasimiyu could. It wasn’t possible for her, not in anger or in joy.

“Then why did I stay during the raid?” she demanded.

“There was something in it for you! I don’t know what! Maybe you were in league for the ransom–”

“With your father who you know is now blackmailing me?”

“Maybe that’s a lie too! Just a stupid lie to lead poor stupid Nasimiyu along by the nose.”

“You’re losing your mind,” Dulce said slowly, realization and something akin to fear creeping in. 

“I’m not going crazy, I’m realizing I can’t trust anyone, even you.”

Dulce had so many responses to that but gave none of them. Hadn’t she always believed that too, not to trust anyone but yourself? But she didn’t think that made for a good ruler, for what little she knew about it. The Prince seemed to trust everyone, the poor idiot, and it was going to get him heartbroken (again) and killed. But how could you claim to serve a kingdom if you didn’t trust any of them? The paranoia would destroy a kingdom.

Dulce didn’t want to be a part of this anymore. She couldn’t watch Nasimiyu’s downfall. 

“Fine, then I’ll leave. I didn’t realize that noble egg-head was so important to you that you’d throw over your plan for him.”

“I’m not throwing anything over except a liar and a manipulator.”

“No? You’re going to pull it off without me? You don’t know the first thing about getting information from people. It requires listening, for one. It requires looking at a person when they’re right in front of you.”

“I do look,” Nasimiyu shouted and planted her feet and stared Dulce down, as if to prove it. It struck Dulce that Nasimiyu’s voice was loud and her words were sharp but her body language didn’t match. The pacing, the swaying, the lack of eye contact. Dulce wouldn’t pretend to understand Nasimiyu’s true emotions ever, but right now she seemed more like a floundering child than a princess with a dangerous father and the upper hand. 

“Besides, you haven’t even learned anything. You fucked Namjoon for information? What information. Tell me, if your actions were so noble and not meant to hurt me.”

“Hurt you?” Dulce repeated. “You think I fucked someone to hurt you?”

“After I took the Prince into my bed? You’ve been prickly with jealousy ever since.”

Dulce would have rolled her eyes if she was stupid enough to allow an externalization like that. Instead she pressed, 

“Which is it? Do I care about you or do I not care at all?”

The discrepancy in her argument brought Nasimiyu up short. Dulce felt very proud of it. She was a person usually more clever with observations than words, but her ability to mostly suppress her emotions at a moment like this paid off. It was a skill Nasimiyu struggled with –unfortunate for a future queen. 

In an attempt to fix her own twisted argument, Nasimiyu accused, “For all I know, you’re jealous of the prince, not me. You speak so highly of him and go all moon-eyed around him.”

Dulce didn’t even bother to respond to that. It was so ridiculous, so absurd of an accusation. Did Nasimiyu think she was some besotted child? Over that bumbling rat-brain who couldn’t even preserve his own skin enough to not get caught sneaking out of the palace in a disguise that consisted of nothing but slightly less-nice clothing and spectacles?!

Dulce had a thousand things she wanted to say in response to that but decided silence was the best. Refusing to dignify such a ridiculous accusation was all that she could do, and the longer the silence lasted, the more absurd she hoped Nasimiyu felt.

Instead, after an acceptable period of time, Dulce offered, “While you’ve been busy chasing after men, I’ve learned quite a bit. I fucked Namjoon to learn things and because of it, now I have blackmail material –he didn’t want anyone to know he fucked a maid.”

“That’s not how blackmail works, you’d have no proof if it’s your word against his.”

“Then how did you know?” Dulce bluffed, taking a gamble that it was not from a confession of Namjoon’s.

“You were seen… on purpose?” Nasimiyu asked. Dulce tilted her head, letting the gesture lie for her. Oops. She wondered who had seen them but decided not to ask and see if Nasimiyu just told her. People told you all sorts of things if you stopped talking and let them. 

Nasimiyu considered this for a moment and her expression looked shockingly different as she mused, “Çiğdem didn’t know who you were when she saw you, but Lidmila figured it out by her description…” Yes, exactly like that! The description of it brought to mind a story Dulce’s mother used to tell her as a child, about a farm girl who went to a ball in disguise and won the heart of a prince, but she could only be recognized by her shoe. Dulce had thought that was stupid because how could the prince possibly love her if he couldn’t recognize her at all? You couldn’t know and love someone if you needed a shoe to tell you who they were. And also, why would a shoe only fit one foot in a whole kingdom? 

Lidmila was a wild-card in this belated blackmail plan, since who knew she might tell, but Çiğdem seeing without recognizing her, and her being able to provide the dress and crown she wore as proof, were really perfect. She couldn’t have planned it better if it was on purpose.

Nasimiyu looked less sure of herself now and crossed her arms as she demanded, “What else have you learned? You’ve reported nothing to me. Are you reporting directly to my father?”

“No. I’m here to help you, not him.”

“He’s the one blackmailing you.”

“And why haven’t I killed him for it, Nasimiyu? Do you think I enjoy threats to my family? It doesn’t matter that they are nothing to me, they are still mine.”

“Because you can’t kill him,” Nasimiyu said. “It’s impossible.”

“He can die just like anyone else.”

“Then why don’t you?”

Because I think you would never forgive me and so for now I play along. Or maybe it really was because I’m not sure I can either. Hasimi did seem like something beyond a mortal at times. He didn’t even keep bodyguards with him at all times. Every assassination attempt –and there had been many– had failed, often by his own defense.

“He has bigger things to pay for than blackmailing me,” Dulce said. “If you become the queen you say you will be, you’ll make it happen.”

There. That appealed beautifully to Nasimiyu’s view of herself and Dulce could see it in the lift of her shoulders. 

“Then tell me what you’ve found at once,” Nasimiyu said. Dulce suspected there was a silent threat in there. Tell me or I’ll send word to my father. Tell me or I’ll have you taken care of. It made Dulce glad that Nasimiyu didn’t know any real way to hurt her except to have her killed which, frankly, was not such a terrible thing. Nasimiyu wasn’t the torturing type, though Dulce had a suspicion Prince Hamisi was. And Dulce had no other weaknesses, emotional or personal. Nasimiyu didn’t even know where her family was in Paloma.

Just as Dulce began to think how queenly it was for Nasimiyu not to get over-specific in a threat, Nasimiyu ruined it be demanding, “Tell me or I will let me father know you are wasting our time and you’ve only come here to fuck nobles.” Of all things Nasimiyu could accuse her of, that was the most ridiculous. Yes, because Dulce loved doing anything with nobles besides killing them.

“Fine,” Dulce said, sorting through her mind for anything she felt safe telling this angry, spoiled princess. “The Queen and Lidmila’s mother were lovers.”

“What? Is that why–”

“She died? I don’t know if it was a suspicious death. The King and Prince both seem to genuinely mourn her still.”

Nasimiyu sighed, “That’s true. I don’t think he’d still be so racked with grief about her if he’d killed her.” Oh you naive fool, Dulce mused.

“He may not have cared. The King had at least one affair, maybe more, which the queen knew about and approved.”

“How do you know that?” Nasimiyu asked suspiciously. “People will lie–”

“I know people lie, and I know how to tell the difference. I won’t reveal my sources. It’s better to protect you.”

Nasimiyu didn’t push. The same woman who a moment ago had said she couldn’t trust Dulce anymore now trusted her again. She really was just upset about Namjoon. Dulce swore to never let herself get so tangled up in feelings as to behave this ridiculously. Quietly, internally, she began to untie the threads connecting her to Nasimiyu. It was for the best.

Instead of questioning her source, Nasimiyu pressed, “So there might be illegitimate children. That woman with the children in court that day!”

“I’m looking into it,” Dulce said. That was actually a good point, and worth investigating. Just because Taehyung had made it sound like his mother was the only one King Dong-gun loved didn’t mean anything. Children would believe anything about their parents until forced to confront the truth. 

“Those may be people with motive to kill the king and prince…”

Dulce nodded.

“And Lady Aukem… Surely Lidmila doesn’t know. Unless… does she hope to have the same relationship with me? Is that why she’s always at my elbow?” She seemed to almost get caught up in this, then stopped herself. “But what of proof?”

“There are paintings in the Queen’s chamber that prove it.”

“Prove it how?”

“Sexual paintings made by the Queen herself.”

“Then you need to get those paintings.”

Dulce nodded, “I’m working on that as well. It has to be secretly done or the King will notice them missing and plan a counter for it. Those types of secrets only work with the element of surprise.” Honestly Dulce was sort of bullshitting because she didn’t bother with those kinds of secrets and betrayals but she seemed to have the gist of it from what she’d witnessed among nobles because the princess nodded like this was all true. Belatedly she realized she’d just spoken outloud a line from Kalamouche. Fucking mortifying…

“Very well. Bring me the illegitimate children and the paintings and I’ll think about forgetting you fucked up with Namjoon.”

“Do you think I would seek out a man like that for my own pleasure?” Dulce pressed because the lofty tone Nasimiyu used pissed her off, like suddenly she had decided she really was a high-born princess and Dulce was the farm girl she had to scrape off her shoe.

“I don’t think I know you at all,” Nasimiyu scoffed. “But if you are so committed to me and the dreams I have for Priva, then you’ll understand why I have to keep you at arm’s length now.”

“Because you want me to grovel.”

“To protect myself.”

“From what exactly?”

“Just go,” Nasimiyu snapped. “Go fetch those and act like the maid you’re supposed to be. No fucking nobles.”

“Turns out that’s exactly what a noble like Namjoon does.”

Nasimiyu tightened up with rage. Dulce hadn’t meant to escalate again, but it felt good to twist the knife like that after Nasimiyu had essentially confirmed Dulce was nothing to her. You are mine because I control you and who you fuck was not the same as you are mine because I care for you and desire you and want you only with me. Not that Dulce wanted to be loved or claimed but this was the confirmation she shouldn’t have needed that she should figure out how to protect her family from Prince Hamisi and then get out. 

A lot of money from King Dong-gun and the Marvonese families heads on pikes for treason felt about right.

Dulce hated the part of herself that recoiled from the thought of that fate for Nasimiyu. She wondered if she could actually ever go through with harming Nasimiyu. 

“I’m going, Princess, but it’s harder for me to find things when I’m busy with the laundry so think up another punishment for me.”

“GO.”

Dulce gladly did so, and recognized that could have gone worse, but it wasn't exactly a victory either.

Nasimiyu was ready to explode by the time the door slammed on the heels of Dulce. The whole argument had exhausted her. It made her angrier. It made her doubt. She had expected to vent her rage at Dulce for fucking Namjoon –who Dulce knew she was fond of, Dulce didn’t need to try and make her admit it– and then Dulce would apologize and promise to make it up to her and Nasimiyu would let her pretend that her forgiveness could be earned.

Could it? She wasn’t sure. She’d been so startled by her own anger at Dulce that she’d kept her away for several days, not sure what to do with her own feelings. She hated Dulce for fucking Namjoon. She hated Namjoon for fucking her maid. She’d meant to ask Dulce who had started it –desperate to hear that Dulce had seduced Namjoon, but also secretly hoping to hear that Dulce had succumbed to some evil charm of Namjoon’s. Which of them did she want to be the bad one? She wasn’t sure, because either one was a betrayal she had not been prepared for. 

Her heart had betrayed her when Dulce brought up the manner in which she’d been caught. Nasimiyu had known back then that Dulce could have escaped. Nasimiyu had known Dulce stayed to protect her. She loved being Dulce’s weakness and it had made her complacent all this time. Even knowing Dulce was being blackmailed, Nasimiyu had figured her father was the idiot, blackmailing Dulce to do what she would have done simply by being asked. Her father just didn’t understand people.

But maybe she was the idiot. Her hope that Dulce might blame her indiscretion on jealousy about Nasimiyu fucking the Prince failed to come true. Instead Dulce made her sound like a stupid girl who men were leading around by the pussy, overcome with her own weak emotions in the face of the hard truths of life and power. Nasimiyu was plenty strong for those hard truths! 

Even if that meant Dulce fucking Namjoon?

But that just felt so personal!

It made her doubt Dulce. It made her suspect Namjoon. It made her realize she couldn’t trust anyone if she was going to be queen. Maybe it was better that she was seeing people for who they really were right now, before she gained power, because people were only going to get worse once she actually ran the country.

It was this dark headspace in which Mindeulle found Nasimiyu stalking the corridors of the palace furthest from the gross, smelly ocean.

“Is everything all right?” she asked gently –as if Nasimiyu had only stubbed her toe, or run out of her favorite dessert!

“What is it?” Nasimiyu asked, assuming Mindeulle had sought her out. “I’m not in the mood right now, is it in an emergency?”

“In the mood for…?”

“Have you got something to tell me?” Nasimiyu demanded. The thought occurred to her that Mindeulle might also have some betrayal to confess to her now, why not? They barely knew each other but that hadn’t stopped Namjoon! And Lidmila! Was she just trying to get into Nasimiyu’s bed like her mother and the previous queen?

But Mindeulle just blinked and looked so startled that it made Nasimiyu back away from her own frustrated rage.

“Sorry,” she murmured. “It’s not a good week.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Is there anything I can do? Or just… listen? If you’d like to talk?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

Mindeulle looked stricken as she gave a slight curtsy, “Oh, I understand. I can’t begin to understand the pressure you must deal with.”

“I’m not patronizing you. Your brother is half to blame for my week and so it wouldn’t be appropriate.”

“Oh.” 

Nasimiyu hadn’t meant to say that much but the innocent way Mindeulle looked at her pulled it out, damn her with those coal black eyes. Darker than her brother’s. Good, any difference between them would only serve Mindeulle well. She’d be better off if their similarities ended with the dimples and the smile they shared, poor girl.

“Actually, I wanted to tell you…” Mindeulle looked around the hall, then drew close. She hesitated at the last second and backed away, but now Nasimiyu wanted to know whatever it was. She was sick of people keeping secrets from her. She was going to be the queen, she was supposed to know everything first!

“What is it?”

“I spoke with my brother,” Mindeulle insisted, coming closer. “He swears on his life that he is no one’s penpal except the King’s, you could say, as he’s always sending letters, but the King rarely writes back so I don’t suppose that counts.”

It sounded like MIndeulle was nervous and rambling, which softened Nasimiyu the tiniest bit.

“I know you told me to question him or that I’m biased because I’m his sister, but I know it’s the truth. I’m his sister, I know how to make him fold if he tries to lie to me. Çiğdem is the one who asked to be his first dance. I think I told you, originally he asked me, and I told him it can’t be your sister, so he accepted when she asked.”

“But it’s a first dance,” Nasimiyu argued. “Surely he’s not so stupid he doesn’t understand–”

“He is that stupid about balls,” Mindeulle insisted. “He’s never cared for them and he doesn’t pay attention to that kind of etiquette.”

“He certainly had no problem refusing his future queen a perfectly appropriate dance.”

Mindeulle’s voice dropped to barely a whisper as she said, “Yes but I told you… he wants to be so careful after the last time.”

“You said that wasn’t true either.”

“But Prince Seokjin thinks it was and despite the way they fight, we love him as our brother. We’ll love you as our sister too. We never want to do anything, either one of us, to hurt you or Prince Seokjin.”

It rankled Nasimiyu something fierce. She thought Mindeulle must also be talking circles around her, to stand there and insist she knew the truth about her own brother when clearly she didn’t. They didn’t want to hurt her? Well Namjoon certainly had!

“Your brother told you he wasn’t with anyone that night?” Nasimiyu snapped. She grabbed Mindeulle and dragged her out to a small balcony overlooking the city, nearly kicking one of the chairs over in her fury. “Did he tell you that? Nobody?”

“I…” Mindeulle got that look on her face, like she knew Nasimiyu was laying a trap for her. Or maybe that she might be about to face a truth she didn’t want to hear. “I suppose I didn’t ask about anybody… I only asked about Çiğdem and being a penpal.”

“He fucked my maid,” Nasimiyu said. Mindeulle visibly flinched, her long lashes fluttering like hummingbirds with her rapid blinking. 

“He… your maid? But…”

“Yes, my favorite maid. That’s who Çiğdem saw him with. Is that better? That he’s having sex with women so far beneath him, with no power to–”

“You don’t mean he took advantage of her. He wouldn’t–”

Nasimiyu wanted to say yes and fuel such a horrible lie, but couldn’t stomach it. Cruel and rapist were different and Mindeulle already looked so shocked that she balked at making it worse than the truth.

“I don’t mean he raped her, but can there truly be equality in that situation? And do you mean he didn’t stop to think I might not want him having sex with my staff? It’s an insult to my house.”

“I’m so– he didn’t know. He wouldn’t realize there was meaning behind it. Surely he just… he must have just…”

“Grow up, Mindeulle. This brother you idolize is just a man, same as the rest of them. They’ll fuck who they please and not think about who gets hurt. Honestly, in a garden at Seokjin’s and my ball?!”

Mindeulle covered her face and spun away, as if that truly made it even more horrible. Nasimiyu didn’t actually care about that part and was surprised to see how deeply propriety ran in Mindeulle. She looked on the verge of a complete breakdown now. Nasimiyu decided it must be true, that Mindeulle really did idolize and adore her older brother. And she was the one who had just shattered it. What, had Mindeulle thought her brother truly some virginal, reclusive thinker, above all carnal knowledge or desire?! That seemed so…

Innocent? Immature? 

More gently, Nasimiyu sighed, “I’m sorry to be the one to make you understand all this. You’re going to be crushed if you don’t see people for who they really are.”

Mindeulle’s eyes ran over with tears as she turned and insisted, “I do see people for who they really are. I know my brother has a brilliant mind full of ideas but he misses the social etiquette and rules of propriety sometimes. I’m so sorry he’s insulted your house like this and I know it was not his intention at all.”

Nasimiyu wanted to argue with her. I’m not so sure that’s true. But she couldn’t because it would make her seem pathetic, to insist Namjoon wanted to hurt her. She wouldn’t be able to explain why. Honestly, she wasn’t even so sure herself, face to face with this woman who actually looked quite a bit like him, because what would be his motive? In what way did he get her by fucking her maid? He had no reason to want to get her. If he had any feelings for her at all, wouldn’t he be out to hurt Seokjin in his jealousy?  

“I don’t know how to make this right,” Mindeulle fretted, wringing her hands. “I’m deeply sorry that his behavior has been offensive to you, and I know he will be equally as unhappy to hear it. I’ll go tell him now–”

“No,” Nasimiyu said, grabbing her arm. “No.” Fuck, the last thing she wanted was Mindeulle running to tell Namjoon he’d hurt her feelings. “I don’t need you to do that.”

“Then what can I do?”

“Nothing.” Mindeulle audibly gasped, so Nasimiyu hurried to force the words out, “I don’t think there’s anything anyone can do about it right now except do our best and give it time. Perhaps you can educate him on proper behavior while he’s in the capitol, otherwise I suppose Prince Seokjin will need to.” 

An idea formed in her mind as the name rolled off her tongue. Yes, that made so much more sense. This wasn’t Mindeulle’s mess to be tangled up in, but it would be an excellent one to enlist Seokjin into. He wanted a reason to hate Namjoon, so fine, she’d give him another that wouldn’t in any way tarnish her own appearance. Seokjin would chase Namjoon out of the capitol and he could use that brilliant mind of his to go back to doing what he was good at: writing long letters that now she wouldn’t read either. Maybe by the time she became queen, he’d earn her forgiveness or maybe he’d die in obscurity but at least he wouldn’t be around to tempt her away from her goal.

Not that she was still tempted! How dare he fuck her maid?!

At least not unless he begged, which she didn’t see him doing.

“And your maid,” Mindeulle prodded gently, stepping closer to Nasimiyu as if this was even more secret. “Is she… all right?”

“Do you mean did I send her packing? I’m not sure what to do with her yet,” Nasimiyu admitted. 

“You ought to get rid of her, for sure! If she knowingly participated in something so offensive and insulting to her lady.”

“Exactly what I thought,” Nasimiyu agreed. “She has no excuse, she knew this would reflect badly on me and my trust in her. Am I supposed to keep her close, knowing she betrayed me this way? It’s so hard to know who I can trust these days.” The words tumbled out as Mindeulle tapped just the right hollow. She’d said her piece before she realized she had minutes ago decided not to trust anyone ever again.

Mindeulle seemed to forget her own distress and insisted, “Obviously you can’t trust her! She’s lucky if all you do is take her job!”

“What else would I do?” Nasimiyu asked, curious what exactly this innocent little sister would suggest as punishment.

“Her priorities are all wrong. There are places of learning in Therepin where she could work  apart from men.”

“With other women? That’s no difference to her then,” Nasimiyu snickered, actually snickered because the thought of banishing Dulce from having sex with anyone ever again was so fucking funny. She wished she actually could do that! But Dulce would absolutely escape, and probably fuck all the women on her way out just to make sure it got back to Nasimiyu.

“Oh.” Mindeulle looked flustered as she turned away. “Well… you could at least banish her from Priva and send her far away to some awful place like… like Destin or Rinsk or–”

“She’s from Paloma. She hates it there, that would be a deserving punishment too.”

Mindeulle’s smile grew and she had a laugh like chiming bells as she agreed, “That’s clever and creative and deserved.”

“I’ll think about it. For now–”

“Please send her away, not us,” Mindeulle suddenly gasped out, then covered her mouth, “Oh, I interrupted you, I’m sorry!” Nasimiyu paused before responding because it didn’t feel like a Mindeulle response, for some reason she couldn’t quite put her finger on. For a brief moment, it had sounded like someone else’s voice or reaction… but she wasn’t sure whose.

Just as quickly she shook the feeling off and assured her, “I’m not sending you away. As for your brother…. Well, I don’t have that power yet, I don’t know what I’ll do about that either. But be careful that you don’t get tangled up with any of it. Don’t go down with someone just because they’re family. You don’t have to be your brother.”

“I’ll remember that, thank you. I mean, I’ll be careful. I don’t know what else to say right now, I’m just so sorry this happened… I don’t even know what to say to him about it.”

“It’s an awkward thing to talk about between a brother and sister. I’m glad I don’t have any brothers, though my sisters were enough.” It amused her to say, as if she wasn’t the one causing them headaches back home. One of her sisters had caught a rumor she was hanging out in a tavern once, and it had taken weeks of bribing (more like blackmailing about her underground horse racing) to get her to keep the secret. The other sister definitely would have gone right to their parents.

Nasimiyu felt comfortable knowing that she wouldn’t be the one kicking Namjoon out of Priva. She hoped she could convince Seokjin to let Mindeulle stay, or perhaps Mindeulle’s parents if that was the obstacle. She was one of the few young women who seemed to think mostly for herself around here, and Nasimiyu knew she’d miss her presence if she left.

But she was confident in her ability to manage it, and that helped calm her further. The anger still simmered, but it felt more in the background now. Soothed. She’d have a talk with Seokjin, Namjoon would suffer exile, Dulce would earn her forgiveness, and Nasimiyu’s plan would continue without a hitch. Maybe Mindeulle would prove herself even more clever but underutilized than her brother, and she would be the better advisor in the cabinet.

“Mindeulle, what sort of things are you passionate about? I knew a few of them, but join me for lunch and tell me more?”

“Oh! Well– yes, of course! I’d be happy to join you for lunch.”

“Come, let’s eat in the private dining hall, I’d rather not deal with people right now,” Nasimiyu said, and Mindeulle looked pleased to not be considered people. Working someone wasn’t the same as trusting them, but Mindeulle felt like a good replacement for now. There was something soothing about her, though Nasimiyu was glad she hadn’t groveled longer about her brother. It would have been annoying. Instead, she’d let her revenge fantasy rest for a meal; fighting left her very hungry.

Seokjin resisted the urge to nap through his afternoon sitting on council. Just barely. He even made a suggestion that sounded smart. It was about road repair and where the money could come from and the nobles on the council were not too happy about his tax idea which meant it was probably a great idea.

He was sent away with reports to read for the afternoon, which he did not do, but he convinced Jimin and Taehyung to compete in a trivia game which he made up on the spot, and which they were terrible at but it amused him a great deal. Everything just seemed to be going his way today, he couldn’t have explained his good mood for any other reason. He even found a book he’d been missing for weeks, just tucked away beneath some papers he must not have moved. It had belonged to his mother, just some historical account of something boring, but she had doodled pictures and notes in the margin, so he’d always held it close. He’d always felt like it was proof that his mother had struggled to grow into the role and take everything so seriously too.

The sun was shining, the Sunflower festival was just around the corner, and he had a beautiful fiance who had not turned away from his jokes at dinner last night. He grinned at the memory of it –he’d almost convinced himself she smiled at one!-- as he caught sight of her across the courtyard in the afternoon. He’d expected she might be resting in her room as she often seemed to do this time of day, but instead it looked like she was headed somewhere specifically; there was a purpose to her walk that he found interesting because he so rarely had that type of energy. He was a prince, he’d be on time when he got to where he was going.

His smile faltered when he glanced to the side and noted Namjoon leaning against a column, deep in conversation with a few other Therepin thinkers. Probably talking about profound….ly boring things.

But it looked like Nasimiyu was headed their way, and Seokjin found that intolerable. Not today, on this lovely day! He had a twisted thought that he wanted to see if she would be upset if he interrupted her mission to speak with Namjoon. He didn’t want her to speak with Namjoon. Was she actually growing fond enough of him that she could accept his sudden appearance?

“Nasimiyu!” he called, not caring that it would draw attention –or maybe glad it would, in case Namjoon got to witness his connection with this beautiful woman.

She looked over as he headed for her and, to his delight, the direction of her steps changed to meet him. 

“Ah, were you looking for me too?” he joked.

“Yes,” she said. “Who else would I be looking for? I thought you might be in the stables, you seem to go there a lot.”

He didn’t think that was true but decided not to question it. Maybe she had been going to the stables hoping to go for a ride?

“Would you like to ride this afternoon?” he asked her.

“No, not today, it’s far too hot.” He thought it was actually a surprisingly mild day, but again didn’t argue in case he upset her and she stalked away in front of Namjoon. “I need to tell you something.” She glanced in Namjoon’s direction, barely perceptible if he wasn’t watching Nasimiyu so closely. “In private.”

Seokjin’s stomach twisted.

“Oh. I see, uh… we have many places that can be private here–”

“Can we speak in my room? Or yours?”

He automatically wiggled his eyebrows and readily agreed, “Yes, of course. Your rooms are closer, will that do?”

She nodded and led him there, expecting him to follow on her heels –which he did. It was only a few twists to get there, where he was glad to see the guard stationed and alert. There had been no more incidents since the dead body in the closet. No clues about who was behind it either, granted….

He shut the door behind them and tried to subtly glance around the room again. It was interesting to see her living quarters. He suspected she would want to keep her own rooms when they married, which was all right with him, even if he thought it was a little romantic when a couple chose to share a chamber. But it could be nice to each have their own space, too. Probably it would help her not get sick of him, and he wasn’t sure he could tolerate living with someone either, to be honest. He couldn’t quite picture Nasimiyu happy among his animals yet, but maybe she would surprise him!

He recognized his nervous distracted thinking for what it was. It wasn’t possible for him not to jump to the conclusion: she has fallen in love with Namjoon and is going to tell me. Everything was just too perfectly aligned with Delphine, he saw that now, even with how great the day was going and how blind-sided he was going to be at the words. He’d never forget how unapologetic Delphine had been and he’d realized in that moment she had only ever been play-acting at love with him. She must not have realized the words of love he’d sent her had been real. He’d wrung himself dry, making himself so vulnerable like that on paper, taking his feelings so seriously, but he had thought that was the road to a happy marriage and he had wanted one of those so badly. At least Nasimiyu wasn’t the sort to want that kind of romance. The two letters he had sent during their arrangement had both been answered painfully crisply.

Belatedly he realized she was talking, when she asked, “Do you hear what I’m saying?!”

“I… no,” he admitted because her face was upset enough that it would be folly to pretend. “Sorry, I was distracted by… say it again?”

“Seokjin!”

“I’m sorry. I’m listening, please say it again.”

“Lord Namjoon had sex with my maid.”

“Uh… what?” Seokjin was sure he had phased out and misheard. Maybe he’d let himself get too hungry and fainted and hit his head and his mind had decided to summon something from the drawer of my worst fears. For several heartbeats, Seokjin lived in the reality that Namjoon had done it again, taken his fiance once again.

“Seokjin! Don’t you care at all?”

“Not you,” he clarified, realizing his own confusion. Dulce wasn’t his fiance, Nasimiyu was. Namjoon hadn’t taken his fiance! He’d fucked Nasimiyu’s maid.

Of all the questions bubbling up in Seokjin’s mind, the one that eked out was, “Is Dulce all right?!”

Instantly Nasimiyu’s eyes narrowed as she demanded, “I didn’t say which one! Did you already know?”

“What? No! She’s… your favorite and you seem upset, so I assumed it’s your favorite one.” Also she’s the only one I know by name, he thought. And obviously it had to be Dulce. Of course it had to be Dulce because–

No. Did Namjoon go after her on purpose? He must have. He must have noticed she spent time in the kitchen with Seokjin and his almost-friends. Namjoon didn’t want to be as obvious as last time so instead he’d gone after Dulce instead of Nasimiyu. It’s like Namjoon lived to hurt him, like he woke up every morning and thought how can I ruin Seokjin’s life today? Anything Seokjin had, Namjoon wanted!

Not that Dulce was a thing. Or Seokjin’s! But why else would Namjoon go after her? What did Dulce have to do with Namjoon? Dulce wasn’t fond of Namjoon. She was just a maid, and no social-climber, and he’d never seen her seem the least bit interested in that wind bag.

The dread that ran through Seokjin’s veins was unlike anything he’d ever felt. Worse than when Delphine left him. Worse than when Seok-ho died. Maybe on par with when his mother died? Was that crazy?

“He… attacked her?” He couldn’t bring himself to even say the word ‘rape’ and fumbled it. He would kill him. Namjoon would die if he assaulted Dulce, there was nothing else to be done, there would be no trial or begging, he would die by Seokjin’s hand. Today. It was the first time Seokjin had seen a death so clearly justified.

Nasimiyu let out a noisy sigh through her nose and huffed, “Apparently not, but that doesn’t make it right! He’s a noble! She’s a maid. The power isn’t–”

“She wanted him?” Seokjin asked. Belatedly he realized he sounded just as angry because he was already on the path of righteousness and this was another bomb Nasimiyu had lobbed at him.

“It doesn’t matter! Even if she threw herself at him, that’s a member of my household and he had no right to take his pleasure with her,” Nasimiyu shouted. “But did she even feel like she could say no? He’s your cousin!”

“Barely. He’s very distant,” Seokjin immediately corrected. He wanted to believe Dulce had not been assaulted, that Namjoon would never stoop to such depravity. He also recoiled from what that meant: that Dulce had chosen to have sex with Namjoon. 

“It’s not all right. He can’t go around preying on maids. He’s misbehaving and taking advantage of his position and–”

“Yes,” Seokjin nodded. All the things she was saying were true. 

“It was after we left the masquerade,” Nasimiyu said. “He took her in the garden. People saw! She deserves better than that.”

Seokjin felt like his skin was on fire. Dulce deserved so much more than that! That Namjoon would not only seduce Dulce but in such an exploitative way was beyond what he could stand. He’d always known Namjoon was greedy and selfish but Nasimiyu was right, he knew that the Princess’ favorite maid was off limits.

But Seokjin didn’t think this was about Nasimiyu. No, this was about him. Namjoon had noticed the attention Seokjin gave Dulce. Maybe Namjoon had decided that Seokjin must feel a special way about Dulce, and this was his way of making a point. Of attacking indirectly. Maybe Namjoon was in love with Nasimiyu and jealous or maybe he just wanted to make assumptions and cause trouble for Seokjin, and he was using Dulce as a pawn. She didn’t deserve that. Had he even been good to her? Had he lied about his intentions? Had he misled her? Was she putting on a brave face every time he’d seen her since the masquerade?

Of course Namjoon had wanted her. She was radiant that night. But Seokjin couldn’t accept that Dulce would actually want Namjoon. It wasn’t possible. This was all a master plan by Namjoon to ruin everything again.

“I’ll handle this,” Seokjin said, already turning to go.

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know yet,” Seokjin admitted. “But I’ll make this right. You and your staff are safe here and if he wants to play that game…”

“What game?” Nasimiyu asked after him but he’d already pushed open her door, riding the churning wave of his feelings. 

Namjoon and Dulce. In the garden. After the ball. She’d looked like that.

And then she had gone to Yoongi. And Yoongi thought she was off and had offered her a place to spend the night, which she had taken him up on. She didn’t want to be in that dress any longer. And she couldn’t go to her lady for help because Seokjin was with her.

Maybe Namjoon hadn’t known who she was or maybe he’d known exactly. It didn’t matter. He’d fucked up and Seokjin was going to tell him so! For the first time in his life Seokjin welcomed the promise of confrontation.

It was easy to find him. He was still in the same courtyard, talking to the same men, probably about the same thing because Namjoon didn’t know when enough was enough. Like those long letters he sent Seokjin’s father. Like the flattery that had won Delphine’s heart. Maybe like a maid out of her usual role telling him no. Namjoon looked up at Seokjin’s approach. He even extricated himself from the conversation, taking a step towards Seokjin like he wanted to speak with him as well.

Seokjin didn’t need Namjoon to try and spin some web of lies about how this was different or he hadn’t known who she was or even if it was true that she had knowingly and willingly and genuinely wanted it. Seokjin would have put on a brave face and supported Dulce with Yoongi even though he wasn’t sure about it, but he would never support Namjoon.

So as Namjoon opened his mouth to lie, Seojin threw the first punch. It caught him square in the jaw and sent him stumbling to the side.

“What the–”

Seokjin swung again but Namjoon ducked this time and tried to grab Seokjin’s arm. It would take more than that to stop him though. Seokjin kneed him in the stomach, wrenched his arm free, and jabbed with his left, though Namjoon deflected it so it just barely scraped his head.

“What are you doing?!” Namjoon demanded.

“You think everything is just yours, huh?” Seokjin asked. “You think you can just have anyone?”

“What?!”

He shouldn’t have frozen like that; Seokjin got him right in the mouth. At another time, Namjoon’s lack of fight might have made Seokjin pause, but he was someone else right now. He didn’t recognize himself but he didn’t care, didn’t bother to question what was happening right now because it felt right and good. It was all he could do for Dulce, who hadn’t done anything but try to make a living in his palace. She ought to have been safe here from predators like Namjoon taking advantage of a pretty face and a power disparity!

This time Namjoon did punch back, a cross that caught Seokjin in the cheek because he tried to duck but not quickly enough. Seokjin wasn’t really a boxer, Namjoon would have him beat there, so as soon as Namjoon got into position, Seokjin kicked instead and then threw himself at Namjoon to try and wrestle him into a place he could… do something. Punch him more. He wasn’t a fighter, had never really brawled, and wasn’t sure what was the end goal here but it felt good to let his body do the deciding, just like it did during sparring but with justice behind each move now.

“Stop!” Namjoon bellowed. Seokjin was thrilled to discover that Namjoon kept underestimating him. Namjoon might have bulk and weight on him, but Seokjin was deceptively fast and strong and he got a good uppercut in as Namjoon failed to push him away. In the next moment, Namjoon pulled him close and tried to wrap him in a bear hug, which was both infuriating and embarrassing, so Seokjin fought harder to break free, leaving himself vulnerable to Namjoon’s fists in his belly. He couldn’t get momentum, but his brute strength was still annoyingly impressive for a scholar.

Seokjin didn’t know anything that was happening around them, everything was just a blur in the background as he and Namjoon brawled –falling to the ground one second, back to their feet the next. They stopped getting any good punches but it gave Seokjin space to order,

“Keep your hands off her. Keep your hands off every woman in this city!”

“What?!”

“Your force yourself on–”

“I didn’t force myself on anyone!” Namjoon bellowed, his words impossibly loud. “What are you talking about?!”

Seokjin managed to kick him away and panted, “You’re a noble. She’s a maid. Does that seem equal to you?”

Understanding flickered across Namjoon’s sweaty, bloody face as he gasped out, “You’re insane. I do think she’s my equal. I didn’t do anything she didn’t want to do. I don’t even know how you found out–” He broke off as Seokjin launched at him again. He didn’t want to hear these excuses. My name is Namjoon and I ignore real world power dynamics because they don’t exist in my head.

“She’s not yours!”

“So what, she’s yours?”

“NO!” Seokjin shouted and took an elbow in his mouth that left him sputtering. “She–”

“ENOUGH.” The low voice echoed off the arches and columns, followed by a sword sliding between them so quickly that Seokjin and Namjoon barely had time to leap apart. Seokjin turned to the intruder with alarm that was not lessened to see his Uncle Dong-suk. It didn’t matter that the man was family, the sight of him sent a shiver down Seokjin’s spine and across his skin. The fight left him in an instant as he felt the stinging echo of a switch on his back and on his hands, that heavy fist against his ear –never uncontrolled violence, but terrifying in its discipline. He’d struggled more with the immediate obedience his uncle expected than Seok-ho did and he had worked hard to paper over those lingering fears because he wasn’t a child anymore and his uncle did not have the upper hand here.

“What is this…” His uncle’s lip curled in disgust as he searched for a word that wouldn’t come.

Namjoon cleared his throat and swallowed but said nothing. He might not have the firsthand experience of this man’s harshness but Commander Dong-suk’s reputation preceded him. He glanced at Seokjin, as if prodding him that it was his job to respond.

“A drinking game, Sir,” Seokjin answered. “Deciding who buys the drinks later.”

Curse his tone. His uncle’s eyes narrowed. It must sound like a joke. Seokjin hadn’t meant it as a joke, he just was not willing to tell the truth. On one hand, maybe it was what Namjoon deserved, but in the face of it, Seokjin couldn’t bring himself to sacrifice him without further discussion. Or, more likely, Dong-suk would not give a shit about the maid in question. 

Uncle Dong-suk looked between them again with that impenetrable scowl, then turned and strode off like he owned the palace and everyone in it. Not a further word, like Seokjin’s response was so asinine he to walk away so as not to strike them down.

The breath rushed from Seokjin’s chest in the moment before Namjoon grabbed his sleeve and demanded in a hissed whisper, “What the fuck is going on?”

“You know what’s going on. You seduced someone you shouldn’t have seduced.”

Namjoon looked hopelessly confused and demanded, “Why not? Do you own her?”

“No, but she’s a maid–”

“And? Perfectly capable of deciding whether she wants to fuck or not, and she did. Not that it’s any of your business, but it was perfectly consensual so what are you– what even was that–? Are you sure this is about a maid?”

“Yeah, keep your fucking hands off Dulce!” He didn’t mean to shout it. The adrenaline was still pumping but the fear and dread were making him sick rolling around together in his stomach and he didn’t like the insinuation that this fight was about anything else. What, like Namjoon stealing his first fiance and then not even having the decency to go through with the wedding? To deny her stolen love to her own face? That Namjoon was unabashedly in pursuit of this throne he had no claim on, and willing to lick King Dong-gun’s boots to get there? Or just fury at that smug face and how everything seemed to come so fucking easy for this man who defined his own expectations and did whatever he wanted and suffered no consequences for it ever?

Namjoon gestured with his hand and scoffed, “Do you want to fucking ask her yourself if she enjoyed herself?” 

Seokjin spun and realized the courtyard was not in fact empty. Not crowded, but there were the three Therepin men, and two maids, and a groundskeeper, and Dulce standing next to Taehyung.

“Taehyung, what are you doing here?” Seokjin demanded, voice cracking. He blinked so hard his eyes hurt, hoping that Dulce would suddenly not be there and it was just another lie drawn up by Namjoon. 

“Sorry, was I supposed to jump in?” Taehyung asked.

Namjoon called around the place, “Nothing to see here, move along. Like the Prince said, just a game to decide who buys drinks later. You know how it is. Boys will be boys or whatever…” He trailed off, voice dropping at the sound of pounding footsteps. Jimin and Jungkook burst into the courtyard and ran straight for him.

“Where’s Edmund?” Jungkook demanded, noticing the lack of bodyguard immediately. Seokjin hadn’t been thinking about it at all and realized he did not, in fact, remember the last time he had seen Edmund. He tried not to pay too much attention to the bodyguards, or at least in this instance had been distracted. Probably Edmund had disappeared when Nasimiyu pulled him into her room… no, he’d been gone longer than that…

Namjoon took a step back as Jimin bodied himself in between them and took Seokjin’s arm, suggesting, “Come, let’s clean you up for supper.”

“This isn’t finished,” Namjoon said. “You’re accusing me of terrible things that I didn’t do. Again.”

“Yeah, well–”

“Right this way,” Jimin insisted, pulling Seokjin’s arm. Hoseok sprinted through the arch now too, and Lady Zselyke behind him, and Seokjin realized this was likely the head of a flood of people come to see why the fuck the crown prince had been brawling in the courtyard like a drunk adolescent.

Hoseok bodied Namjoon along, and Seokjin let himself be dragged to his room, spent and confused and worried and ashamed and not fully understanding any of it except that he was very tired suddenly. Fighting was hard, that’s all, but he’d been right to do it. He had! 

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[lucysweatslove]

Because I need to just... get it out, I guess (regarding the weird trigger this morning). TW: health, food/sugar, fasting, diabetes, weight, weight stigma, EDs, etc etc. There will be numbers of blood glucose readings.

So, years ago when I was on oral contraceptive pills (during the time of pseudo-recovery, btw), I also had a theory that they may make me mildly hypoglycemic. They don't, but I got a glucose meter + strips and stuff to test out the theory. I like data and numbers and whatnot, so it was kind of fun to just see how my body responded etc etc. I loved getting the data as I could in any kind of situation- how did my body respond to exercise? Did my glucose spike regularly? How and when? When I learned that CGMs existed, I loved the idea of them because continuous data that didn't involve several pokes. But, gotta prioritize people with actual diabetes, yeah?

I will also say: diabetes is one of those conditions that I have health anxiety after. There is a lot of fearmongering about food / carbs and diabetes. It's not so much about developing diabetes that makes me anxious but more so how I will be treated should I develop diabetes. The first issue: obviously as somebody recovered from a restrictive, weight-based eating disorder, being told I "should" restrict any food and/or lose weight (restrict calories) is terrifying. I literally cannot do that without it going into an unhealthy place. It's already hard to get atypical ana to be seen seriously, and to essentially be prescribed the diet that hurt me so much is terrifying. The second issue: people treat diabetes (specifically, type 2 and in some cases gestational) as a shameful disease that is your fault because of your weight. I want to be clear that I do not think there is anything inherently shameful about having diabetes of any type. It's just seen as this thing socially and I'm already hyper-aware of social perceptions of my body.

Back in 2021, my curiosity peaked when I found out about a company that gives CGMs to people who are higher weight. I decided to try it out- not in the sense of weight loss as this company wanted, exactly, but just to see how my body responds to various foods (especially to exercise). I didn't like the company itself as it demonized having blood glucose above 120 mg/dl in any capacity, even though it's totally normal / not an issue to have blood glucose go up to even 140 mg/dl or higher after meals. So I had a huge issue with how they wanted you to stay under 120 no matter what. But whatever. I didn't see anything then that was concerning to me except that when I do heavy cardio, I can get hypoglycemic, which I had already suspected but now how concrete data to say yes, it happens (glucose in the 40-50s mg/dl range).

The last time I had a "fasting" glucose level checked was about a year ago, when I had COVID and went to the hospital. I didn't have respiratory issues, but basically, the night I got sick, I got up to use the bathroom (feeling like I was going to throw up), and had a "near syncopal event" which isn't so much the issue as is the fact that when I felt like I might pass out, I collapsed onto the bathroom floor instead, and major muscles contracted and I couldn't move. Not full paralysis couldn't move, but my hands were contracted, I couldn't move my legs, etc. Rob was staying in his office (across the hall) as he had tested positive and we were trying to avoid me getting sick too. I was barely able to call him for help. He called paramedics, they brought me to the ED, I was able to move by then (it was about 45 min to an hour after), and then they did the CBC, CMP, etc. My glucose was slightly elevated at 108 mg/dl. My PCP wasn't too concerned- I was sick, and based on timing, she thought it was possible my body had pumped out some epinephrine which raises glucose a little bit.

The other day when I was rummaging for some AAA batteries, I found a (traditional) glucose meter and all the accessories. The strips weren't expired. I got curious last night and about 45 min after dinner decided to check my glucose. It was 114 mg/dl which is totally normal after a meal. But this had me very curious for this morning. So I decided to check it fasting again.

And this is where I got triggered, because it was higher than last night's post-meal value. At 116 mg/dl. I checked it again and it said 110 mg/dl. This seemed super weird to me, because that is very firmly "pre-diabetes" level, and I was kind of hungry. I found some old control solution, and tried that out... it read kind of high for the low control solution (60mg when it's supposed to be like 24-58 mg/dl) and low for the high one (like 214 mg/dl when it's supposed to be like 250-350 mg/dl). So my confidence in that meter is basically 0, but it still triggered that fear of developing diabetes.

Usually one-off readings like this aren't triggering in any way because I can explain it. If I was consistently eating high carb meals, okay. If there was evidence of delayed gastric emptying, okay. But my snack last night was vegetables + ranch dip (not many carbs at all), I've been quite active the past 5 weeks, and I even did a real calorie restriction where I was very meticulous for a couple weeks when I was worried about something going on with my thyroid. So by all accounts, my fasting glucose should be going down, not having a one-off high reading. I'm also not much heavier than I was last year- maybe a few lbs but it just feels very weird for there to be any impact on glucose and I just am confused by it.

I know not eating / skipping meals isn't going to do anything, but I'm just having a hard time actually getting myself to eat after this. It's irrational in every sense of the word, and I don't even know what I think will even happen (for example, glucose will not continue to drop with prolonged fasting, and I know this). So idk. I think it's more like, this feels like "permission." Like oh, if my glucose is actually high, nothing bad is going to happen if I just like, skip meals. Oh, you don't really need to eat unless your glucose is low. All BS but that's the only way I can explain this trigger.

[pinklovesandwich]

A review of Blackpink’s Singapore Leg of Born Pink

I want to preface this by saying that I am going to be rather critical. I felt that it didn’t live up to the standards that I would expect from the biggest girl group in the world right now, as well as from veterans that have been in the industry for over 7 years. If you enjoyed it, I’m genuinely happy for you and I do think there are things to enjoy about the concert. So let’s start with the positives

Girls looked really great. Some outfits I particularly liked were Jisoo’s Flower outfit and Lisa’s outfit for the second act.

Production looked really fantastic. It’s honestly the most beautiful lighting I’ve seen in the National Stadium (props to them for selling it out both nights) especially with the Pink Ocean.

They have some very talented backup dancers and musicians.

Solo stages were really good overall, and I would’ve loved to see more of that creativity in the group performances.

Now on to the gripes I had:

Duration

o This is the most common one I’ve heard throughout the tour and for good reason. Tickets are really expensive – ranging from $190-$400++ (including booking fees). For that price, a 1hr 40 min runtime in total is just pretty underwhelming. This includes the long ass VCRs, performances by the backup dancers and musicians. That’s just really short no matter how you spin it. TWICE for example consistently puts out >3 hour long performances. I’m not expecting that length for all groups but I do expect longer than 2 hours at least.

Crowd interaction

o This is a major gripe of mine. The crowd interactions were both brief and few, and basically were just “How’s everyone? I love Singapore food! The weather is hot, I’m so sweaty! Ok our next song is!”. There were zero details or like follow ups about what they liked about Singapore in particular, it was so lazy and just made it feel like they were checking off a box. I don't expect an entire essay but I think there were only like..five short interactions in total? And the last one when Jennie was saying we only have two more songs I was like bro wtf u just got here, don’t gaslight us into thinking it’s been a long concert lol

o I don’t think language barrier is a problem since the girls are clearly fluent in English sans Jisoo, and if it was then just bring a translator up? A performer/musician should always want to connect with their fans on a strong level, because without the fans they are nothing.

o When I as a fan see how brief and obligatory the interactions are, it makes me feel that my idol seems to just want to go back to the hotel room and rest rather than be forced to perform and interact with the crowd, and makes it hard for me to enjoy the concert.

o Like come on man, you are making a killing on this tour leg and you can’t even be bothered to show some love to your fans…it’s kinda off putting

Performance energy

o This is the other major gripe.

o I know Blackpink isn’t a vocal/dance heavy group, but that being said it felt like they (with the exception of Lisa) were phoning it in for most of the night, especially when comparing it to their rightfully acclaimed coachella stages just a few weeks ago. Some of the remixes and arrangements of their songs are literally the same as their previous tour as well. Lazy is not swag. Performing is part of your job – you guys are a 7 year old group that has trained most of their lives to be idols. I felt like they only gave maybe 50% of their full potential to us. As a former dancer I can also tell you their dances are not hard to learn at all, it takes probably an hour or two max. There’s no real reason other than laziness to not go all out ESPECIALLY with how short the concert is (and the fact that Singapore is one of the last legs on the tour). A common refrain some will say is “I’d like to see you dance and sing at the same time”. Literally numerous other idols do it with way harder choreography before BP was even formed such as SHINee, EXO. It’s not an excuse.

o I watched a newly formed group, Le Sserafim's comeback show recently as well after BP's concert clips and I was really shocked. There is such a stark difference in the passion, the level of choreography and expression, the energy, the hunger to perform. All the girls give it their all and bear in mind this is just a one year old group. One of their members Sakura I found out even has been in the game longer than Blackpink – she’s been in the industry since 2011 with AKB48 and later on IZ*ONE….and she’s still bringing her A game no matter where it is.

o A group as old as time, SNSD came back after 5 years. Some of them who are actresses haven't performed for years and they only practiced when they had free time from their individual schedules yet they did well both in their comeback stages and concerts so I don’t think having a long break in between is a good excuse.

o Groups similarly around the 7 year mark such as TWICE, Mamamoo, Seventeen and BTS are still giving it their all in every performance they have…so that makes it rather disappointing as well.

o There has to be minimum standards for A WORLD TOUR, like do they just bring those for Coachella?

My thoughts on the individual members

Jisoo: Jisoo is my bias but she seemed a bit…off. Maybe it’s being the non-English speaking member but she just seemed like she didn’t want to be here and was politely going through the motions. Kinda low energy. She spoke barely a few lines to the crowd. Her solo stage was decent and she did sing live for the most part if I’m correct, so props for that.

Jennie: Jennie really really disappointed me the most. I get that she’s arguably one of the hottest female stars in the world, so why don’t I see it in her performance and energy? Is Singapore just not important enough a market? It’s disappointing cause she is talented even at pre-debut and you know she can bring it when she wants to - but it’s so fed up that you who probably only will see them once in your lifetime, have to be at the mercy of which Jennie will show up today. Is it the moody, tired Jennie who only complains about the heat? Or is it the fierce, charismatic performer? Sad to say it seems she doesn’t give a damn unless it’s Coachella or US, looking at the fancams. I felt a real lack of professionalism from her.

Rose: I think Rose kinda tried a bit to liven the mood up at the start but towards the end after her solo also just seemed very low energy. She’s not the worst offender but similar to the other two members above I felt they could’ve tried harder to engage the audience throughout the concert.

Lisa: I’ll admit I never understood the Lisa hype but honestly she may have just become my new bias. Even though she’s the youngest, she gave it her all in every single performance. She tried to always hype the songs up in the background with her vocals, danced her heart out, even did some really decent pole dancing for her solo (for someone that has only learnt it for under a year I believe). She really tried to interact with the fans the most as well. Very professional and I wish the other girls had her energy.

Conclusion

Singapore is one of the last legs of the tour so rusty and nervous should not be an excuse by now, especially for a group that’s been around as long as they have. Overall, as someone who has been to numerous concerts in kpop, I can’t help but feel let down. You can call me a hater if you want, but personally as a former hardcore Blink – I know the girls are just capable of more looking at other performances that they went all out. This inconsistency in performance energy especially with members not named Lisa is just rather offputting frankly for a group that people paid good money to come and see and have supported them despite taking uncommonly long hiatuses in the past between. Glad I finally saw them but probably won’t pay such an exuberant amount to do so again.

reproduced:

[caztiel]

maths exam wasn’t too bad but i forgot how to do something i learned literally years ago in high school which is the integral of ysin(y^2) and so i wanted to explode like please this should be easy but . final 15 mins of the exam made it stressful lmao. anyway i think i answered everything and so hopefully i get a good mark. i just walked to the car and then realised i left my bag in the classroom (i brought two bags so i had to walk back) and now i’m almost back at the car about to go to this circuitry class. bye

[cooganbegs-blog]

I would have thought at my age I would have learned to be a much nicer person. And yet, I still struggle with the and/or conundrum. Rationally I know that situations aren’t an OR there can be an AND involved. But that doesn’t stop the monster inside rearing its ugly head and running rampant (literally and metaphorically!).

To start at the beginning, I stopped running two years ago because I started a job (BK) where I knew nothing and felt I needed to tie myself to my desk and cudgel my brain constantly in the hope that I may just understand what the fuck the product actually did. Ergo, any form of exercise was interpreted by me as an excuse to get away from cudgelling and effectively avoiding and procrastinating getting a grip with the product. So, I stopped running in order to sit at my desk and punish myself for not being a software engineer and not understanding the technicality of the product I was supposed to be managing.

Finally, reason reasserted itself and I decided, fuck this shit, I need to start running again after 12 months of inactivity, so I joined the BK Strava group.

Worst. Move. Ever.

My incompetent boss had also just taken up running, all the engineers in my team were runners. So, I joined and within 2 weeks decided that the only way to prove my worth to engineers (who saw the product function as completely useless) was to run not only faster but further than they were. And of course, I also had to prove to my incompetent boss that not only was he incompetent but also he sucked at running.

Oh the hubris, oh the ego. You know what happens next! Pride before a fall …. and all that!

So, I proceeded to increase not only my pace but my milage …. AT THE SAME TIME!! Plus running on trail, up hill and down dale, through forest and never on smooth, road base where speed is possible. And not over a reasonable time period, oh no, I increased 50% every week for six weeks, posted regularly on Strava and glowed under the “likes” and comments from said engineers and VP of Product. Until I broke my body. Well, destroyed the tendon that attached my left hamstring to my sit bone.

But of course, instead of stopping when intense pain started, I decided that I should not only keep running but keep increasing pace and distance …. I’d show not only those engineers and my useless boss … but my useless body….sigh ….

Until I couldn’t, pain of the white noise variety that starts to interrupt everything forced me back to the Physio. His words …. Wow, you must have a really high pain threshold …. that seems to be a recurring comment from health professionals!!

And so running ground to a halt in April last year after having run through pain since January …. four fucking months I continued to destroy that tendon.

Fast forward to now….. ten months of physio for my tendon, plus extra sessions for a torn pectoral tendon (because I couldn’t run, of course I decided I’d go hard on upper body strength …. and proceeded to destroy my pectoral tendon! And on hearing that news, my physio warned me that if I came in with a hernia from focusing on my core, he wouldn’t be helping me!!) I eventually slowly started trotting again.

For the past 3 months I have swallowed my pride and my attitude of “if I can’t go out and run 10km without blinking, I’m not running at all”, I have been ever so slowly inching my way back to a running routine. I’m not looking at Strava, I’m not talking about running to anyone, I’m not sharing my plans, my running …. nada. But slowly I’ve increased from slow trotting for 3 mins, then 2 mins of walking for 3 km, 3 times a week to the point where I’m now running continuously (slowly) 5km, four times a week. It is ego destroying and I’m trying and learning to seperate myself from running. I run, I’m not a runner. Yet.

And so here we are. I’m carefully eating humble pie, on my own.

So, when someone close to you picks up running from a base of zero (hasn’t run since high school, twenty years ago) and within two weeks runs 12km, and then sets a goal of running a half marathon by April!! Running 21km with four months training from a baseline of FUCKING ZERO ….. something inside of me begins to rage and will not subside.

Do you know how long it took me to train and get to the point where I could run a half marathon? Fucking years.

And here lies the AND/OR conundrum. All I take out of this is that I suck. I’m old. I’m unfit. I’m fat and lazy. I have bad genes. And they are fucking amazing with perfect genes. They are successful at whatever they turn their hand too. And I am a big, fat, fucking failure.

I know it’s not an OR situation. They can be an awesome long distance runner with little training and natural aptitude AND I can also be a mediocre trotter.

But at the end of the day I am a small, mean, cold hearted, jealous bitch.

[littlegayduck]

this is too long an answer to be number 1 man 😔 idk anyone in good omens, ofmd, pjo, marauders and co, the oc, greys anatomy, dps, etc

matches, lighters scare me

no im on the ground floor facing the street id be brutally murdered

someone kind (nature mostly)

blue with a hazel centre (I have central heterochromia)

idk man you tell me. I'm a mystery to all including myself

hair ties (we call them bobbins)

just the 1 i threw some out (I was yelled at to do it but NOT THE POINT I STILL DID IT I WIN)

hot

without hesitation (unless she was ruby cruz... ily ruby give me 1 chance)

baking or reading

crisp autumn day, sun is shining and the leaves looking like their glowing w the reflection of the sun

...next question

I adore it

yes I have many teddies (stuffed animals) and also my human child (my friend toby)

no 😔💔 planning on learning this year or next though AHH

neither but im pretty sure my right eye is near sighted... idk it's too much effort to tell anyone it doesn't bother me that much

not much, sometimes some argon oil, and I got a gisou hair perfume from my aunt bc she was giving it away so I use that when I'm feeling fun

if you wanted to, ofc (i would not file them though the sound makes me want to commit a homocide)

neither (fizzy drinks) but I'd find it less weird if someone around me called it soda than pop

my teddies, my birthday cards. my yearning for something; I don't know what

kind - I try really hard to be kind

i adore it

looking at the sky; stargazing, watching the sunrise or sunset, admiring the birds

perfume (vanilla) unless I'm feeling fancy then both

what could have been (about literally everything)

generally about 7?

(assuming this is like the covid masks) mot really unless I'm visiting an area likely to get people sick (my elderly neighbours houses, doctors or hospitals, nursing homes) or if someone asked me to pur one on - I still have some unworn ones hanging around in different bags etc

lava

i was hoping you wouldnt ask this one and that id be safe after the bottle question.... (4 glasses, 2 bowls, 3 teaspoons and a plate)

any, but hozier generally does the trick if nothing is working

YES ITS GREEN AND LOVELY

I went to a kind of babysitting interview last week? that was scary so I called it an adventure to make it less scary. i need to start going on more fun adventures in nature again

too many to count

idk ireland (Eastern according to Ziggy)

never

laura (she just started college brb gonna go sob), isla (she lives 3 hours away 😔ĺ and aisling (rarely see her)

I don't really like the texture of soap bars (i wish I did they're better for the environment)

constantly

not yet (but theres a granola bar calling my name...)

not very often, but hot and mocha-ish and cinnamony (it's barely coffee but it makes my heart happy)

P I N T E R E S T

i like spicy food but a lot of the time I don't like the actual flavour (too tomato-y etc)

probably trump (since nobody else can apparently)

snippets

SANTA PAWS RAHHHH

"bee theres strange men standign in my driveway and im home alone brb gonna get murdered" sent 11 mins ago (15:50)

idk but young (only a sip, didnt like it)

no 😔

please do

here’s weirder asks

who is/are your comfort character(s)?

lighter or matches?

do you leave the window open at night?

which cryptyd being do you believe in?

what color are your eyes?

why did you do that?

hair-ties or scrunchies?

how many water bottles are in your room right now?

which do you prefer, hot coffee or cold coffee?

would you slaughter the rich?

favorite extracurricular activity?

what kind of day is it?

when was the last time you ate?

do you love the smell of earth after it rains?

are you a parent? (all answers qualify)

can you drive?

are you farsighted or nearsighted?

what hair products do you use?

imagine we’re at a sleepover, would you paint my nails?

do you say soda or pop?

something you’ve kept since childhood?

what type of person are you?

how do you feel about chilly weather?

if we were together on a rooftop, what would we be doing?

perfume/body spray or lotion?

a scenario that you’ve replayed multiple times?

about how many hours of sleep did you get?

do you wear a mask?

how do you like your shower water?

is there dishes in your room?

what type of music keeps you grounded?

do you have a favorite towel?

the last adventure you’ve been on?

is there a song you know every word to by heart?

what’s your timezone?

how many times have you changed your url?

someone in your life, other than a relative, you’ve known for 10+ years?

a soap bar that smells good?

do you use lip balm?

did you have any snacks today?

how do you take your coffee?

an app you frequently use besides this godforsaken site?

what’s your take on spicy foods?

you get a free pass to kill anyone, who is it?

can you remember what happened yesterday?

favorite holiday film?

what was the last message you sent?

when did you first try an alcohol beverage?

can you skip rocks?

can i tag you in random stuff?