#i should be revising i'm going goodbye

[wolfchans]

BANG CHAN ♡ SKZ TALKER 65

[space-matt]

hockey game

dad!chris.sturniolo x fem.reader

summary: “the best thing about turning to the stands is to see my two reasons for living”

author’s note: hope that this is good as the other one! let me know ♡

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English is not my first language, if you see grammar and typing mistakes, I apologize in advance! I just ask you not to be rude to me ♡

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revised

There was a palpable tension in the air at home, not because of any recent fights or disagreements between you and Lily, but due to the fact that Chris was extremely agitated for today's game.

He and his team had been training hard for this fateful day for weeks, spending most of their time on the ice rather than at home.

While you understood the importance of the game, his agitation was bringing anxiety to the two women of the house.

As you sat on the couch, Chris' constant fidgeting was making you increasingly exasperated. "Chris, please calm down. I don't know what I could do to help you" you said, trying to keep your cool. "Oh, I'm sure you could think of something" he said with a wink. "But it would only lead me to lose my concentration, so pass." You looked at him incredulously, ready to counter, but at that moment, you felt a small Lily running towards you, dressed in her special uniform made by the entire team.

"I'm ready!" she exclaimed, looking up at you and Chris with a big smile on her face. "Alright, princess, let's go. We don't want to be late" Chris said, picking her up.

As you drove to the arena, you couldn't help but notice that Chris seemed more tense than usual. You tried to ask him what was wrong, but you didn't want to agitate him further. Fortunately, the car ride was uneventful, and you arrived at the palace safely.

Chris and Lily repeated in unison, "No fights and play clean" as you stopped at the entrance. "I'm serious, honey. Play your best, and we are always with you" you told Chris, leaving a kiss on his lips. "Thanks, I needed it" he said, looking into your eyes before kissing Lily on the forehead. "See you at the end of the second period" he said, heading towards the locker room while you and Lily made your way to the stands where Uncle Nick and Matt were waiting for you.

Matt handed you a pack of M&M's, your favorites, and asked "Where were you? It should start soon." "We were saying goodbye to Chris. He's very agitated today" you responded, trying to ignore the knot in your stomach. Nick asked, "Why?" you shrugged, "I have no idea. After the game, I'll try to ask him" The voice from the megaphone announcing the entry of both teams interrupted your conversation, and you immediately looked for Chris' number 3 on the ice. Once you spotted him, you didn't remove your gaze, and Chris noticed, giving you a small nod with a smile.

The first half of the game was uneventful, but the second half was nerve-wracking for both the fans and the players. Luck didn't seem to be on your side, and one of Chris's teammates suffered an injury from a rival, who was sent directly to the penalty box.

Despite this setback, your team managed to stay ahead with a score of 3-2.

As soon as the second half whistle blew, you got up with Lily and headed towards the locker room, knowing that you would find Chris at your meeting point.

"Daddy!" Lily exclaimed, running towards him as soon as she saw him. "Princess! How is the game going?" he asked, picking her up. Lily gave him a thumbs up, smiling, while you watched Chris carefully, trying to figure out what was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" you asked him, not wanting to wait until the end of the match. Chris looked away, saying, "Babe, nothing, really. I'm just stressed from the continuous workouts." You looked into his eyes, trying to read his emotions. "I hope it's nothing. I don't like seeing you so tense" you said, moving closer to hug him. "Don't worry, after this match, we'll have some free time" he said, letting Lily out of his arms. "Now I'm going to kick ass at everyone!" he added, making Lily giggle.

In the end, thanks to Chris' decisive goal, your team won the match. You immediately went to the locker room with Nick and Matt, and as soon as you entered, you saw Chris on one knee with a box in his hand.

His teammates were standing behind him, holding up a sign that read, "Do we spend the rest of our lives together?" You felt tears welling up in your eyes as Chris slowly approached you, holding Lily's hand. "Oh, God, what does it mean?" you asked, your voice shaking. "It means that I love you more than anything in the world" Chris said, opening the box to reveal a beautiful little ring. "I'm so lucky to have you, and I can't imagine my life without you" You nodded, tears streaming down your face. "I think it's not a ring that decides forever, but we are dictating our future, and I want to spend it with you...

...Will you marry me?" Chris asked, looking into your eyes. You nodded, barely able to speak, and then said, "Yes, Chris, yes!" You kissed him passionately, while his teammates cheered behind him, happy for their friend and his new fiancée.

While Lily was bouncing by your legs ''I love you so much'' Chris said, hugging both of you.

[henrioo]

✦ ── ANYTHING FOR YOU: SHANKS

Part one — Parte two

Child! Shanks x Child! Reader ( x platonic! Edward Newgate)

Synopsis: "A confusing encounter with a red-haired child ends up changing his day completely."

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2,6k

Notes: Pronouns should be neutral but because of automatic translation they are masculine, I'm sorry, it was written with a neutral reader in mind. Forgive the bad English too, Google is not one of the best

Revision: @waitingmydemons

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ• ────── ✦ ────── •

Today would definitely be your day! After weeks of trying to convince your brothers and especially your father, you had managed to get permission to take a tour all alone around the next island the ship stopped. It might seem silly, but living surrounded by men who saw danger in everything made your freedom being compared to one of a bird in a cage. Of course, you were more than grateful for all the effort they put into protecting you, but sometimes you just wanted to run around and play with other kids instead of being followed by famous pirates who scared anyone who came near.

That's why you couldn't hold back the anxiety of finally being able to live a little adventure completely alone! You've prepared very well, choosing fresh clothes that won't get in the way of playing or running, took a purse with a generous amount of money that you collected according to the days and choose the best and most resistant shoes! Everything was perfect, you couldn't even swallow your food during lunch. You were so busy, as soon as the meal was over, you said goodbye to everyone and ran towards the port, excited to explore the place.

Even if walking around and spending money on silly things wasn't exactly the most fun thing in the world, just being able to experience all those new things by yourself and maybe even make a few friends was enough to get you excited. There weren't many young people in Whitebeard's crew, you ended up being the only child and the youngest member which left you a bit alone. Of course no one refused to play with you, Marco and Thatch would spend hours distracting you if that made you happy, the point was that they were adults and eventually needed to take care of their responsibilities, leaving you alone.

Your plan was to buy some candy and maybe find some kids your age to play with, you couldn't wait to get some attention from people who would also like to play. You walked carefree through the big city market, there were countless merchants, mothers, workers, all walking around in their own worlds and duties. You'd eventually stop and look at the fruit, jewelry, or anything else that looked like fun, but you weren't focused on shopping. You were humming absently around, not really caring about your surroundings when you started to hear footsteps approaching.

When you turned around to try to figure out what was going on it was too late, a person collided directly with you but before he could knock you to the ground, he pulled you by the arm away from the main road. You were dragged into an alley and soon a hand covered your mouth, when you regained your senses you could hear more and more footsteps approaching, a crowd running! You frowned in confusion as you listened to what people were saying. "Are you sure you lost them?" You tried to peek down the alley and you could guess they were sailors by their blue and white outfit. "Shit, those little brats! I can't believe they robbed us…" they argued among themselves "Let's keep looking, they can't have gone far".

So when the men walked away you decided to pay attention to the situation you were in. You looked to see who your captors were and came across two… children? The boy holding you had blue hair and a huge red nose, he was holding your mouth while his face had a terrified expression. Next to him was a boy with red hair and a nice hat, he was carrying what looked like a bag of coins and he also looked extremely nervous about being chased. Whoever they were, you knew they'd robbed the sailors, but that didn't mean they weren't a risk to you.

When you were sure the sailors were gone you used all your strength to step on the boy's foot and then bite his hand. You might be small but you weren't harmless, growing up with powerful pirates had taught you a trick or two.

"Ouch! You bit me!" The boy screamed as he held his own hand.

The redhead finally seemed to notice that they'd dragged someone else into the mess and looked at you confused.

"You kidnapped me!" You countered by crossing your arms.

"You kidnapped them?!" The redhead exclaimed looking at his friend in shock.

"They were in the way!" The other tried to defend himself "And you bit me! I was about to let you go!" He was still angry but you didn't care.

"Think before you kidnap me! You're lucky I only bit you, if I told my brothers they would do a lot worse!" You exclaimed proudly of your family.

"Sure, like I'm going to believe a snotty brat" the blue haired one rolled his eyes.

"You called me what?!" You exclaimed with fury as your cheeks burned.

"Snotty brat" he said again with a smirk, looking satisfied with having turned the tables.

The problem was that the boy had underestimated you, one thing you definitely lacked was patience. You learned very early that you shouldn't tolerate offenses against yourself or your family, so you let anger win that fight. You quickly punched the blue-haired boy in the middle of the face, the one who fell on his butt with a scream.

"Buggy!" The red-haired friend screamed and went to help him.

"I'm not snotty!" You said stomping your foot on the floor.

The red-haired boy looked between you and the companion, his gaze showing shock and… fascination? He looked at you like you were a bedtime story hero, someone amazing and you couldn't understand. Shouldn't he be angry? You had just hit his colleague and he seemed fascinated by it?

"Wow…" he exclaimed looking you up and down.

"Humpf! Idiot" you said without patience and then you turned to leave the alley "You're lucky I won't tell my brothers, Marco would finish you off" you said and then left the place ignoring the red haired boy who kept calling you .

You were nervous and frustrated that visit to the city had not gone as you planned, so you decided to go back to the ship earlier. Luckily you would stay a few days in that place, there would be other opportunities to explore and meet kind and fun children, no more children who irritated you. It wasn't long after returning to shore that the crew set up a small camp to store the new supplies while the ship was refueled. There, you found Marco fiddling with some papers and further away you could see his father giving orders to some other members.

You sat with a sulky face while eating a candy you bought in town, Marco looked at you curiously and approached with a characteristic smile.

"What's wrong birdie-yoi?" He smiled and sat down next to you.

"I… I met some annoying kids" you decided it was better to omit what had happened, as much as you wanted revenge, you understood that the confusion had been a misunderstanding and you didn't want your siblings worrying about something so silly.

"Wasn't that fun?" He nodded when he saw you deny it. "Don't worry, you can still meet other kids in the next few days" he smiled trying to calm you down "And if nobody wants to play with you, let's get Visa and Jozu and have a tea party, how about that?" He offered, knowing you were always happiest spending time with your brothers.

"Promise?" You looked at him sullenly.

"On my honor" he smiled as he saw you clearly getting more excited about the idea.

After a little chat, Marco had to get back to work and you decided not to bother him anymore. So to distract yourself until dinner time you decided to walk along the nearby beach and look for some shells to collect, you were still thinking about the boys from before, especially the redhead. He was looking at you with so much emotion that you couldn't help but feel your stomach churning, no one had ever looked at you like that… It was so weird and it made you so confused, what was that? Some noises in the nearby forest caught your attention, being curious that you were, so it didn't take long to approach and look for who was there.

"It 's you!" You said in recognition of seeing the red hair from before.

"Shhhh!" He asked for silence and you covered your mouth, looking around for any threat "Are your brothers here?" he asked quietly.

"They're over there…" you pointed into the distance and he seemed to agree silently "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you again" he admitted looking at the floor, his cheeks were slightly pink and you felt your body getting warm.

"Why?" You asked timidly.

"Because your punch was super cool!" His eyes sparkled "You hit Buggy right on!"

"Is he not your friend?" You asked confused.

"He is… But you were just defending yourself! He shouldn't have called you snotty… You're not snotty, you're too cute to be!" He confidently admitted.

"Do you think I'm cute?" Your cheeks were now on fire.

"I do…" he smiled shyly "I'm Shanks, what's your name?" He approached.

"(Y/n)" you smiled.

"Cool, I didn't know Whitebeard had someone in the crew with my age"

"How do you know I’m in the Whitebeard’s crew?”

"You said you had a brother named Marco, I know him! And my captain said Whitebeard was in town, so that had to be it," he said with pride in his little investigation.

"Your captain? Are you a pirate too?" You were curious now.

"Yes! I'm from the Roger Pirates!" he exclaimed with pride.

That's when your face became sad... You had heard about this crew countless times, all your life you grew up hearing that they were your father's main enemies and that you could not, under any circumstances, approach them.

"I shouldn't be talking to you!" You finally realized and tried to run, but Shanks was quick and grabbed you.

"Wait! Please! I don't want to hurt you!" He begged as he held her wrist gently but firmly.

"How can I trust you? You kidnapped me this morning! And we are sworn enemies!" You snorted.

"But I don't want to be your enemy…"

"You don't?" You let your emotions get the best of you.

"No… I… I want to be your boyfriend!" He declared with fire in his eyes.

"Boyfriend!?" You stuttered in shock, your face was hot and probably red, your eyes were wide in shock.

"Yes! You're super strong and cute!" He said without a care and then let go of your hand "Unless you didn't like me…"

"No! I did like you…!" You admitted with embarrassment "But… I never had a boyfriend… What do they do?"

"They… They" he stammered in embarrassment "They hold hands… Kiss on the cheek and go on dates!" He said with embarrassment.

"Oh!" You exclaimed with as much embarrassment as he was. You thought about holding Shanks hands and your stomach started to turn, it would also be really cool to be able to play with him.

"It's cool, isn't it? We can be sweethearts!" He tried to convince you.

"(Y/n)?! Where are you? It's getting dark and we should go back to the ship" You heard your father's voice approaching.

"Shanks?! Where are you?!" Another unknown voice came from the middle of the forest.

Before you could run away the fearsome encounter took place, behind you was your father and behind Shanks must have been the much talked about Roger, his captain. You both widened your eyes in terror when you realized what was happening, but you didn't dare open your mouth to try to explain.

"Roger"

"Newgate"

"Can you explain why your brat is talking to my child?" He quickly put a hand on your shoulder and pulled you back.

"Good question, what's up Shanks? Did you come here to talk to the old man?" The captain chuckled, he didn't seem to be mad at Shanks at all.

"I… Well…" the boy mumbled incoherently with embarrassment.

"Did he do something to you?" Your father asked, looking at you calmly, he didn't seem mad at you at all, which calmed you down a bit.

"No…" you mumbled shyly and grabbed his leg.

"Hm, maybe they just met and had a chat" Roger theorized "Or are they secretly flirting, huh Shanks? You naughty, came for the riskiest one" the man teased.

"Don't talk nonsense Roger, (y/n) can't date you, brat" His father said as if that was nonsense.

"I can't?" You asked with some sadness in your voice.

"They can’t?" It was Shanks's turn to look sadly at his captain.

The two men stared at each other in shock, they seemed to slowly understand what was going on between the two of you.

"Don't tell me… Did you like this piece of junk?" your father asked in shock and nervousness.

"Hey! No need to offend other people's children!" Roger defended "Shanks isn't that bad… He's just… He" the man shrugged.

"Like you understand" Edward rolled his eyes.

"Come on, we were young once!" Roger laughed "Let the kids date and have some fun, nothing bad will come of it"

"No" Edward gave the final verdict, but when he felt you pulling his pants and making your huge lost puppy eyes with tears threatening to fall he started to rethink the idea "(y/n)..."

"Please?" You asked "I promise I'll help more often in the kitchen if you let me..." you tried to bargain, you liked Shanks, you didn't want to be banned from dating him, even if you didn't know exactly what boyfriends did.

"Heavens… Who knew having kids would be like this…" He sighed tiredly "You guys can date" Shanks smiled "With some conditions!"

"Conditions? That's not fair!" He huffed angrily.

"Calm down little one, he's the father, he has the right to decide that, you have to earn trust and permission" Roger said quickly, Shanks seemed more resigned.

"First you need to grow up a bit, I can step on you now and I won't let such a small and young brat date my child!" he said quickly.

"Uhum!" The redhead's eyes sparkled.

"Second, you need to be strong! I will not tolerate a weakling having my child as a partner, you need to be able to face me without fear to have their hand"

"Yes! I'm going to be really strong!" He smiled looking at you and you looked away shyly.

"And finally, when you have those two things, the most important one" Shanks listened attentively "You need their acceptance" your father put his hand on your head "If you have both requirements and my child still loves you then I won't be the one going to stop you" he chuckled.

You smiled happily as you looked at Shanks who also looked confident.

"You'll see old man! I'm going to marry them!" He proclaimed with pride.

Roger just laughed praising his apprentice while your father looked frustrated and stroked your hair. You smiled thinking about how cool it would be to have Shanks as your boyfriend, you really didn't see the time to be able to be with him.

Continue...

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ• ────── ✦ ────── •

Notes: I hope you enjoyed! There will be a part two showing what happened to them as adults, if you can leave what you think it will motivate me a lot because I'm new here! If you want to ask for something feel free! I'll make the best imagines I can, thanks for the support and see you soon

[anamoon63]

RL and Sims update post + a thank you note

(Warning: long post ahead, read at your own risk).

I wrote this post to thank you guys for all the likes and comments you keep leaving on my posts, even though, as you may have noticed, I can't be here as often as I used to. Real life has taken over almost completely, as I think it should. There are too many things going on, with me, my family, my country, even my sims and other games, lol.

I'm not going to bore you with daily life problems, much less with sad and depressive stuff, or with previews of a story I don't know when/if I'll ever finish, the only thing I can tell you is that I'm still busy with a lot of work, (fortunately) and family stuff; plus, I (finally) started going to therapy (yes, at my age). So right now, I'm juggling even more things than I already was.

And so I wanted to thank you for sticking with me, for continuing to read the chaotic stories of my wacky characters without judging them; thank you as well for each and every message you have sent to my inbox, be it questions, or flowers and love; and to all of you who continue to tag me both on sims stuff and cute games, knowing that I most likely won't be able to answer you, really, thank you for continuing to think of me. Your messages soothe my heart in difficult moments, and I wish to answer them all, I just don't know when I will be able to do that, hopefully someday.

Now, my sims story. For those of you who might remotely still be interested, I'm currently revising the next few episodes of Time Traveler which I wrote earlier this year. To be honest, I don't know when they will be ready, I just know the story goes on and as soon as I have reviewed these episodes, I'll start taking the pictures. When will they be published? Frankly, I don't know. It could be early 2025, but no promises, as I don't have much free time on my hands now. I manage to write in the evenings, but in-game photo shoots are quite time consuming and have to be done in peace and privacy, of which I don't have much at the moment. So, if I do decide to publish these episodes, it will likely be early next year, and at a rather slow pace.

About my gameplay, in Sims 4 we will continue with the Wilsons until the end of the season (coming soon), and then we will take a small break. As for The Sims 3, we just finished Patrick's story in Bridgeport, so now we'll go back with The Cho Brothers. First, we'll take a brief trip to Lucky Palms with Terence and Cynthia Cho; then we'll spend a rather long time in Hidden Springs and Starlight Shores, to see what has happened with Tyron, the eldest of the Cho brothers. And last but not least, we'll go back to Uni with Dale and Kelly, who I hope will FINALLY graduate this year, hahaha.

Anyway, I just wanted you to know that I am not gone (yet), that if one day I decide to retire I will make a special post about it, I won't leave without saying goodbye, but that day seems far away at least for the moment. 

Now, regarding Inzoi…

I admit Inzoi has captured my interest. As usual, I'm late to the comment party, but I still want to put my two cents about this amazing game. Seeing the trailers and all those beautiful Inzois created by other simmers got me so excited, and at the same time, terribly frustrated to see that the demo didn't contain any gameplay. I need to actually play the game to give an opinion on it! So far it looks beautiful, though I must say that the character creator disappointed me because the sliders are Sims 4 style, which I've always found a bit complicated, I'll forever prefer the Sims 3 sliders, but hey, I had a lot of fun creating my own Inzois.

Hopefully the graphics and gameplay are as good as seen in the previews and its developers won't “break” it into multiple or turn the into a malfunctioning cash cow like EA did with The Sims 4, and to a certain extent, also with the Sims 3 in its time. I hope with Inzoi they'll go for a complete game, no matter if it's expensive, if I consider it is worth it, I'll give them my money as soon as it comes out.

That being said, it is important for me to clarify that I will not abandon The Sims 3 (or even Sims 4 though I don't play it much) for Inzoi. Ever. Neither do I plan to recreate my sims OCs/games in it, because my sims are exactly that, sims. If I ever get to play Inzoi it will be with entirely new characters, although I confess, I did try to reproduce two of my most beloved sims (a boy from the future and a college girl who is a model *wink*) and they turned out pretty well, but nowhere near as adorable as they look in The Sims 3. Plus, the environments in which those two OCs currently move could not be reproduced in Inzoi, at least as far as I know.

Okay, enough of Inzoi. In short: I'm not gone, I'm still here, I'm still reading all your stories, only at a much slower pace, two or 3 simblrs per day at the most. I'm going to read them all, just bear with me, and forgive me again if I don't always comment. Sometimes I don't even have the time or the energy for that. Believe me, 2024 has been an intense year in every possible way, sometimes I really need a break, but I try to be around and will always find a way to keep in touch, even if at times it seems like I'm nowhere to be found, I'll get back to you at some point.

That's all, thanks for reading this far! Have a nice and beautiful start of the week. 💗

P.S. I wrote this post three days ago, wish I had published it earlier, that way I probably wouldn't have gotten a notification that some Simblrs Community 'removed my membership'. When I clicked in said Simblrs Community icon, it said the community was 'private'. I don't know if that's some kind of automatic Tumblr thing, if there's a committee that decides about this, or if it was just a glitch in the matrix; whatever it was, I'm so sorry I wasn't able to be here to keep said membership. I didn't even know Simblr was a private membership. For what it's worth, it wasn't neglect or lack of interest for my part, just lack of time. I hope one day to be able to qualify again and be worthy of this membership. At any rate, I thank you for thinking of me and admitting me in your community in the first place.

[sicklyseraphnsuch]

Episode 9

Let's give Simon an earlier realization of the problems in his relationship. Let's dedicate episode 9 to Simon coming to terms with those problems instead of literally spoonfeeding it to him in one episode. So let's say Simon goes into episode 9, taking Fionna's comments about Betty to heart, and so we revise the Betty scenes.

Fionna and Cake have their nightmare and return to their world like in the show. But when we cut back to Simon...

We see the Scarab wakes up before Simon in that endless void. He sees Simon fully unconscious and he rushes to him. But before he can end him, he looks up and freezes in place. The camera never shows what he sees but he yells at whoever to stay out of it. He tries to finish his job but inexplicably, he turns into tiny bug versions every single time he tries to hurt Simon. Until finally he skitters into Simon's world to escape whatever keeps thwarting him.

Zoom in on Simon's face. Eyes twitch almost as if their fluttering open. Smash cut.

A bus stop. Simon blinks and sees himself standing before Betty, her letter clutched in his hand.

Simon does the same thing he did in the show, he offers to go with her. Then he realize this isn't how it went. And Betty smiles. The world slowly dissolves to the black space. Tetris shapes begin to fill the void.

"Hi Betty, long time no see. It seems I haven't been fair to you. I kept looking to you like you're supposed to be everything. But being someone's whole world is… exhausting." Simon laughs wryly as he scratches his head with the back giving off a telltale sparkle. " I shouldn't have put that on you. And I should have noticed all that you were doing for me…"

Simon begins to transform from his professor looks to his post apocalyptic looks.

"You remain the great love of my life. Nothing can change that. But... we've changed, haven't we?"

Betty in turn begins to change, first into Simon's fiance then into Magic Betty.

Smash cut to Fionna and Cake desperately fighting for their lives.

"It was a long road to get here. And I have found more people to love."

Simon cycles into Ice King before finally transforming into his present self.

"And I should be so lucky that they love me back. I can't... I can't just leave them like this. I'm a sad old man that kept looking for lost things and missing the stuff right in front of his face. I want to do better, Betty. I have to."

Smash cut to Fionna and Cake again.

And Betty makes her final transformation into Golb. Simon finds himself standing in front of her in all her new glory. He feels his pocket buzzing and he realizes that they're in trouble.

"No, no, no. What was all that for? If I just keep going back?" He eyes the Crown before tossing it at Betty. "There has to be another way. I'm not done yet."

Betty's eyes lift up. She pulls out Fionna and Cake's world as in the show.

"Oh. Always rescuing me, even now..." Simon is more than a little bitter. But he takes the world and he gives it to Fionna.

Smash cut to Fionna and Cake as in show.

After, Simon looks up at Betty. The faint image of their past selves lurk over their shoulders as the same moment a thousand years apart repeats itself. With Simon looking up as Betty readies herself to leave.

"I can't do much for you now. But I will tell you what I should have told you then. Thank you for everything. If only I could come with you where you're going but since I can't... Then I hope you find your happiness wherever you go... Goodbye, Betty."

And then Betty does as she does in the show. Episode 9 ends with Simon in the flower field.

Episode 10 is a flashback to present Ooo. In the time since Simon's departure, his family and friends have worked themselves up, crazy with worry. It's a comedy of errors as each callback character comes up with worse and worse ideas to find Simon. Until mid episode Simon comes back to his house with a crown - a flower crown.

"Hey gang... uh... what's going on? are we having a party? ... At my house? Without telling me?"

"SIMON!"

Cue dogpile.

Cue epilogue.

[letoscrawls]

The most insane thing happened to me today and i just want to sleep and never wake up A LITERAL NIGHTMARE

basically i'm cronically anxious, like, really really anxious and i'm constantly forced into terrible situations where i hve to deal with bureaucracy and it's awful. but long story short i have some operations to do with my bank account bc they are basically charging me a lot of money every month to keep my money in the account which is ???

anyways, my mom has the brilliant idea of investing some of the money in government stock so they are safe for some months and i might even earn something (not astronomical amounts of money, my main goal was to stop the insane monthly charge) but since she's stuck in 1800's Klondike like freaking Scrooge McDuck she had no idea society evolved and you can't just go to the bank and invest and call it a day. I had no idea either but damn it i'm not a manager i'm not an economics student I'M LITERALLY JUST A GIRL.

So i take an appointment from the app of my bank and since my mom is working I'M ON MY OWN. I seriously didn't want to enter the building and i should have fucking listened to my gut bc i had no idea the app gave me an appointment WITH THE FREAKING DIRECTOR OF THE BANK.

So i'm sitting in this massive luxurious office, wearing shorts and a floral shirt, sweating bc it's a million degrees outside, and i'm mentally revising my speech because i don't even know what a government stock is. Like you have to understand my level of knowledge on this topic is zero and i will always ask why can't we just print more money. I couldn't even say "Look you are charging me a million euros a month and i just want it to stop please", NO. i had to pretend i was "interested in investing" whatever the fuck that means.

The guy (director of the bank oh my god i still can't believe this) was way too kind, he basically told me it's not that simple and they need to PROFILE ME like a criminal or something. but basically i have to take a psychological test bc they want to make sure i'm an expert of this stuff, or at least i know what it means (i don't) and then check i'm "willing to take risks" (i'm not). Basically it's a long procedure and at the end of it i will be ready to debut as an investor WHAT THE FUCK. He then proceeded to take another appointment for tomorrow so i can start the whole process.

I call my mom panicking and she's like "Oh back in the days it was different" WELL NO SHIT SHERLOCK. And she says to cancel everything. The point is that i need to call the director of the bank AGAIN and tell him "mmm you know what i'm just a girl i was kidding i'm not ready to become the next wolf of wall street goodbye". LIKE IT'S EASY AND I'M NOT SWEATING BUCKETS.

i'm running out of time and there's no way to cancel the appointment via mail or other devices i need to make a call!!! I'm trying to convince my sister so she will make the call since we sound the same on the phone because today was too much. i can't do thissssssss. moral of the story: never trust a bank never trust money i hope society as we know it collapses and we will use flowers and rocks as currency because i'm DONE.

[rou-luxe]

written 10:42-11:24 PM Sunday 6/2/24

haha I don't make any fucking sense not proofread

I'm really hoping tomorrow doesn't come.

I think distracting myself peaked again after one of my own parents called me useless and lazy. The other parent keeps telling me to talk to them, to tell them what's wrong... but it doesn't really help, they keep comparing me to people like my aunt (who they raised) and themself. It's not reassuring. It doesn't help at all. But you know, parents always offer food in place of comfort and apologies 🥰

I didn't even start working on my presentation (which, to be fair, we only had TWO DAYS for) or finish the material needed for it. The presentation was supposed to be tomorrow. Hardly fair... For the paper I mentioned, there's no one I know who can proofread it properly... On top of that, the tutors don't respond as quick as I'd like and don't even give good feedback in the first place.

Mental health hardly feels like an excuse. I don't know what's wrong with me. Is it something fundamentally in my being?

I hate feeling weak. Feeling flawed. Older child syndrome.

I don't like sharing my feelings

here sorry this is the revised censored version from a week and half ago

Why am I like this? Why do I have to be this flawed? Tell me, what did I do to deserve this life? What sin have I committed? I'm so sensitive that even the slightest thing breaks me. Is there something wrong at the core of my being?

I wish these feelings would go away

it's commonly said that how someone is raised shapes them...

"Let the knife sink into the flesh and pierce my heart, for life is a tragedy and I am exiting the stage."

"No more hate, no more love, just a standstill: though empty, it is peace."

"I deserve to suffer for my 'crimes', for in your eyes, I am truly at fault."

"Perhaps someday soon some kind soul will give me deliverance. Shoot me, strike me dead. Goodbye, I have been liberated from this mortal coil, this miserable prison of flesh. Goodnight. Good riddance to the torture called life. I am glad to be rid of it." - the "if you love me then put me out of my misery" philosophy again

back to flaw: "I am not a saint, and thus I will forever rest in the depths of hell."

I should have died that day, but Death hates me too

"Crack open my chest, and devour all that is there, for then I will be of some use." - I've said this one before I think

we're either going out quietly or with a bang

"Death to the sinner, wouldn't the self-proclaimed saint be delighted?"

"In a world where people watch and do nothing as others suffer, is it possible for you to blame me for trying to think of myself?"

then I think there was the big one from November it went something like this

it looks so cringe I usually express things better on paper

"if you love me then put me out of my misery"

I hate how showing emotions is frowned upon. not just the society here, I've been yelled at for crying since I was merely four. can't get proper help because that's like a "disability" and it's time-consuming. my cousin (bipolar, sui) tried but couldn't get proper therapy either. yeah he's alive and steadily getting better but it's never gone

gosh do family issues run in the family

mother + all her siblings got mommy issues

father got everyone issues ig 💀 I hate people with a short temper

as far as I can tell most of my cousins got both parents issues (1st / 2nd cousins)

are these feelings normal it feels like reality is being forced down my throat. I don't want to wake up and face the world anymore.

what are we chugging today

[hepbaestus]

Just some thoughts about the past year for me :)

This may get a lil deep, I'm writing this at 11pm while procrastinating revision, so it's going under a read more.

If you had told me that over a year ago I would've joined a fandom that absolutely changed my life during one of the worst periods of my life, I would have laughed. I wouldn't have believed you at all.

These past 14 months have been the greatest time of my life when it comes to being part of a fandom; I'd never really properly interacted with many people in the fandoms I was in so it always seemed quite isolating. I think of it like when you're in a car and it's late at night, you're passing lots of bright adverts that you can't fully engage with as you're passing by so quickly and it's so late that you're very sleepy.

It was just me in my little corner of the internet (i know, such a commonly used phrase) enjoying myself.

And then the qsmp started, literally a day after my life went to shit and I found solace and comfort in the early days of the server depsite not engaging much because of travelling and shitty hotel wifi, when the eggs were brand new. I was a Phil main so I'd been a crow for a while and I wanted to branch out, to spread my wings if you'd allow me a singular bird pun. So who did I branch out to?

Another white man in his 30s /aff.

Now I don't remember much of my first few months in Fit's chat, I could probably look back at the vods and see that I was likely a chronic lurker, rarely chatting. But once I'd gotten comfortable and subbed, his chat became like another little comfort nook on the internet for me.

Seeing Fit and Ramón, and how they treated each other was something very healing for me, not to be too parasocial but it definitely mended some of the father issues I had. It's such a joy, to this day, to be in his chat and chill and I'm very glad that I joined at the time that I did and then, as time went on, I genuinely found comfort in just chilling in Fit's chat no matter what the content.

The people I've met, like Shen, Lills and Pen just to name a few, are some of the greatest people that I have the honour of talking to and it's because of the server that I get to do that. I've genuinely made friends in a fandom like I had never before and they're all so cool and talented and I feel like I'm just little old me, you know?

I was introduced to streamers that I'd never heard of, languages that I wouldn't hear in my day to day life outside of the streams and it was so special. I'll never forget the nights I stayed up extra late watching Cellbit play Hollow Knight or live blogging through the Fitpac date. They're all such treasured memories that I hope I'll hold for the rest of my life.

Now because of this server, I have what is probably (outside of my irl friendships) the longest relationship I've ever had. Admittedly that's with the Portuguese Duolingo Owl but eh, 486 days of learning Portuguese after wanting to all my life after not being taught it my own Portuguese dad, is something that I'm proud of. (This is me trying to inject some humour into this slightly sad piece of writing. Is it working?).

This isn't me saying goodbye to the qsmp fandom, I'm still gonna be here being silly and posting angsty posts and fics. It is, afterall, what got me out of a major writing slump. This is more of a see you later to the server (and whatever '2' may mean), I think. There may not be something like what the server was meant to be for a while after everything that happened so I feel like I should give it a little send off, you know?

I didn't really have an idea of where this was meant to go, I was kind of just writing whatever came to mind and how I felt but I'm glad my life is what it is, despite everything that I've gone through. And that couldn't be without the people I've interacted with, talked to and shared thoughts with.

So thank you <3

[mercy-burning]

Hello everyone!

I wanted to say a HUGE thank you for reading, liking, and reblogging my most recent oneshot. It’s been out for a week now, and I’ve missed reading all your kind comments and interacting with you all. It’s been a very warm welcome back, and I’m glad to be here. So again, thank you so very much ❤️

As a gesture of my gratitude (and to reassure you that I HAVEN’T abandoned it), I’ve decided to give you a little sneak peek at the bonus chapter to Summer of Sin! It’s in the final stages of revisions and last minute changes, and then it should be ready for you sometime at the start of next week!

Any predictions? Hopes, dreams, etc? Or are you just along for the ride? Either way, prepare to be entertained 😉

Thank you again, I love and appreciate each and every one of you!

(SUMMER OF SIN BONUS CHAPTER SNIPPET BELOW. CONTENT WARNING FOR SEXUAL AND ADULT THEMES, STRONG LANGUAGE, AND CHEATING)

I thought at least maybe Spencer would ease up and take the role of "Eve's Loving and Devoted Boyfriend" to the bare minimum, however that's promptly not the case. I don't know if he's doing it to piss me off and get me to cave, or if he's just over my bullshit and being his genuine, caring self to the woman he's in a relationship with... Either way, I practically feel my insides boiling over and my face burning red. I'm jealous, I'm grumpy as he so eloquently put it, and I'm so sexually frustrated that I'm seriously considering just running off to my bedroom and pulling out a vibrator, Spencer be damned. Fuck his rules, fuck his 'consequences', and fuck this whole damned weekend straight to hell.

My eyes wander to the lounge swing where Spencer and Mom are almost falling asleep, her head resting on his shoulder, and an inordinately evil image etches itself into my brain. Evil might sound harsh, but it's truly the only accurate word I could use to describe the feeling as it runs its course through my bloodstream. And when the breeze picks up and cools me off, within a mere second I realize just how insane I'd be for even entertaining it.

Even as our two groups say our goodbyes for the night, and I recount the day's failure to Andrew just before he falls asleep, I'm still going back and forth.

Loosen up. Have a little fun.

The situation at hand is decidedly not fun.

That being said, the possible look on Spencer's face after I'd do what I'm thinking? Taking his rules and throwing them in his face? That sounds fun.

My mind is already made up by the time I reach their door…

[brooklynbadboys]

original ending of newsies

I should be writing my dissertation but all I can think about is Hard Promises (the original newsies 92 script). There’s endless changes in the script from the story we know now, but the ending is on my mind again so I’m going to share incase anyones interested.

After the newsies win, the next scene takes place the next day at the train station. Davey says to Jack that he doesn’t need to leave, but Jack tells him that he should follow through with his dream of going west.

Jack gives Les his old book as a gift. Les replies that he has nothing to give to Jack. But, Jack tells him that his presence and saying goodbye is enough. This is a significant moment considering that just a few scenes before, Les had almost died after screaming at Jack for being a traitor and punching him in the mouth, drawing blood, and then getting attacked by a goon. Les’ head is cut open as it strikes a wagon wheel, which gives Jack a flashback to how his own little brother, Michael, died. Jack saves Les, carrying him home as “people stare. Les’ blood smears Jack’s new clothes” (the clothes which Pulitzer gave Jack as part of the deal).

Back to the train station, Jack tells Sarah that he would take Les if he could, and Sarah knows that he’s being serious. She reminds Jack that he's not a cowboy, but a city boy, and should stay with them in New York. However, Jack refuses.

The train comes and Jack gets on, shouting to Les “take care, brother!! CARRYIN’ THE BANNER!”

Davey tells Jack that he wishes he could go with him before parting ways.

Les, Sarah and Davey walk away, “feeling like they’d lost something special”. Les is in tears as they leave.

I love this ending. But with Jack being so close to leaving them all, it's important to note that Crutchie is still in the refuge. Although Crutchie tells Jack that he's better there than the street, Jack still leaves him. I'm glad that in all revisions, Crutchie is saved because the ending is meant to be happy but the underlying issue of leaving Crutchie behind detracts from that happiness. Overall though, I think this is a beautiful ending.

[asgardian--angels]

I've been seeing a lot of mixed emotions and frustration surrounding what we heard today from Samba on Wee John Wondays, regarding the immense amount of deleted scenes, cut material, original episode concepts etc, from season 2. And I just wanted to give my two cents here.

Look, it is absolutely valid to be pissed at HBO Max right now. They slashed OFMD's budget, cut their runtime on a per episode and a season basis. This resulted in plotlines having to be reworked, character & relationship development compressed, and some minutiae & connective scenes omitted. The thought of that sucks! It would have been nice to see the polycule shown more directly onscreen, and to see Ed & Stede dance, have a longer goodbye to Izzy, and maybe work through Ed and Stede's relationship rollercoaster a little more gradually. I'm sure this hurt no one more than David himself, who's had a clear vision of all three seasons from the start - who's now had to deal with not only a truncated s2 but a cancellation soon after to boot.

But I think it does a great disservice to the entire cast and crew who worked immensely hard on season 2 to dwell overlong on what we could or 'should' have gotten. They worked their asses off to bring us something phenomenal! Season 2 was incredible - and your mileage may vary, but all analytics indicate season 2 was even more popular and well-received than season 1 by audiences and critics alike. There was a whole team of writers who worked deftly and skillfully to crunch ten episodes into eight without compromising the core elements, themes, and plotlines they wanted to include to tell this story, plus a talented cast who brought their own improvisation to set every day and gave us some of the season's most iconic moments. Everyone on the OFMD crew is proud of what they made, as they rightly should be. It was beautiful television.

Expressing dissatisfaction with what was cut is fine to an extent, but let's not let it take away from our enjoyment and appreciation of the final product we did get, or give the crew the impression that what they worked so hard to give us wasn't good enough. They want more than anyone to have had those extra scenes in there to show off the hard work of the whole team! I'm seeing this a lot especially with the talk about the early draft of Calypso's birthday (and this info is not new, Samba spoke at length about it during his baking class back in November). Regardless of your opinion on whether you think that would have been a 'better' version of the episode, it was just that - an early draft, that never came close to being filmed. David and the writers revised this concept because, apart from time constraints on the season, ultimately they felt that the concept they ended up going with best served the narrative. Even Samba agreed that he preferred the final version. There's no secret footage of this other version, we didn't 'lose' anything - this is one of the dangers of scripts getting released for any piece of media, because the mind runs astray dreaming of the possibilities of what may have been, when the reality is all shows go through moderate to sometimes heavy editing before the final version, and the audience probably doesn't need to see that process!

The fact that season 2 turned out so beautifully, with some of the most moving and iconic sequences television's seen in quite a while, and a love story that has touched so many, is truly a testament to the passion, dedication, and skill of the entire cast and crew. They have achieved the status of cultural phenomenon, season 2 was the 5th most watched series in the entire world on streaming services, outperforming shows like Loki. They've got several dozen articles with glowing praise from major media outlets, a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, multiple award nominations, and more than anything a loyal fanbase who's in it for the long haul to fight for a season 3. They have succeeded to this level despite all the stumbling blocks HBO Max has thrown in their path. If season 2 was OFMD held back from its full potential, then I think they should be damn fucking proud of what they've made.

Samba pitched an official bts documentary for both season 1 and season 2 and was turned down. This show deserved better than HBO Max was ever going to give them. He's going to try and post deleted scenes and a blooper reel if he can (not all heroes wear capes, folks). And it's very likely none of these things will ever be officially released (though, we can make a stink about it!). Be angry about it, absolutely. But we need to channel that energy into the fight for renewal. Double down on efforts to get the attention of Netflix, Prime, Apple TV, and FX, get more signatures on the petition (87k as of this writing!), and just keep talking positively about the show on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook with our hashtags. We need to show the crew that we're upset for them, but so grateful for the beautiful season we got too.

So let's not bicker and wallow about what was 'stolen' from us - the final canon product is ultimately the final canon product, and any other tidbits are fun but neither owed nor necessary. They trusted that we could put the pieces together, that we'd be able to read between the lines when scenes that would have made things more explicit, or developed them further, had to be shortened or cut. And that trust was well placed! We sussed it out. Celebrate the ofmd fandom for all the excellent meta, art, fic, we've gotten, and celebrate season 2 for its joy, its profoundness, its nuance, its enduring hope and how much it's given to so many. Air your grievances respectfully, and then get back to fighting to give OFMD the well-funded third season it deserves!

[meikuree]

CN: spoilers for jjk 149

one thought i'm teasing out about mai concerns her last words, and how they're often framed alternately as a last wish and a metaphorical curse--a duty/burden/debt she charges maki with as she turns to go and take the last breath of her swan song.

but I also want to think about her last words ("destroy everything") as a reflection of the impetus for reparatory justice that's always already present in the legacy of most deaths, especially preventable and unjust deaths. this is dark, but if you've ever lost someone beloved to, say, an accident or suicide, you'll know that death has the effect of exposing a flaw or crack in the fabric of the world, sometimes a fundamental one such as its incapability to sustain conditions for a good life, which bereavement therapy/help aims to heal or reconcile. the grieving process often includes, on the part of mourners, much questioning about what could have been done, what should have happened to prevent that death, and also an attendant acute guilt/responsibility for not doing more in recognition of that. death in this situation is an anomaly, an earthly injustice with irretrievable metaphysical consequences; the mourning process becomes directed towards fixing that.

but death is also often associated with an insensibility about the structures of the world, an enlightenment you’re alone in -- "how could this have happened?" -- which gets reflected in media through metaphors about seeing the world, suddenly, through literal different shades, or feeling like you're ostracised, orphaned, or set apart from the continued flows and bustle of everyday life, or seeing invisible creatures made visible that nobody else can see (eg. thestrals in harry potter - sorry for the example), a literalisation of that insensibility and tectonic revision of understandings of the world's ontology (+ systems of rewards/penalties) that death provokes. that insensibility is often taken by outsiders to call into suspicion the rationality of any "revenge" quest aimed at righting wrongs after a death.

in that context, what kind of effect or purpose does mai explicitly voicing out a last wish that is so calm, rational, and directed (though it may not be her last wish -- we know she might have desired 1000 other things like boba tea or hugging momo goodbye that she decided ought to take a backseat then) have? I don't have a clear answer. it could simply be a way to make explicit the scale of the injustice that was committed against her and would have to be rectified (everything -- aka the entire structure of the misogynist and traditionalist jujutsu society!) or just an in-text device to amplify the scale of her death's impact and up the stakes, but I also think that her saying "destroy everything" might've been intended as a message to maki that the environment that birthed both of them doesn't deserve respect or care -- under its logic deaths like hers and maki's would be natural and normal, and so it deserves destruction, because it has deliberately circumscribed the bounds of life so that living is no different from a road to death for them.

(* I'll admit that all this of course doesn't account for usual sociocultural frameworks and narratives around death in japan itself, a big blindspot!)

[lastbluetardis]

Schneak Peek

I've been listening to one Taylor Swift song on repeat all morning, and evidently that's decent muse fodder, so here is another little excerpt from the upcoming new and improved fic What Makes a Family.

(No the song doesn't have anything to do with what I was writing but nevertheless it was something to bop to)

~ ~ ~

The funeral passed as painfully as any other. Rose could feel the prickle of sympathetic stares directed at her and her kids, and she willed time to move faster. Listening to the eulogies was the worst, as Jimmy’s friends and family stood at the front of the church and spoke about how wonderful Jimmy was, how deeply he’d be missed, and the hole he’d left in the lives of everyone who knew him.

But finally, it was over. The only good thing about being a supposedly grieving partner was that she could gather up her kids and escape rather rudely without people actually thinking she was rude.

“Let’s go home,” she murmured to her kids, holding David and Matthew’s hands while she guided them away from the throng of people wanting to give her their last-minute sympathies and sorries.

She threw one final, lingering glance to the closed casket that concealed the broken body of her late boyfriend, her gaze flicking to the photograph of the blond man and the crooked smile that’d had her falling head over heels at sixteen.

Goodbye. I hope you’ve found peace, wherever you are.

Rose didn’t know what exactly she believed regarding an afterlife, but she hoped there was something. A realm of tranquility where the best of everyone shone through and there was no hurt or anger or resentment. Yeah, that sounded quite nice.

As she moved to turn fully away from the casket, her eyes landed on a middle aged woman who was sobbing uncontrollably into the chest of a middle aged man. Jimmy’s parents, whom she hadn’t seen or spoken to since that night in the hospital after Jimmy’s accident, when his mother had screamed and raged at her, hurling insults at her that had hit their mark and still stung, even days later.

She quickly looked away, not wanting to draw their attention, and continued ushering her boys out of the church.

~ ~ ~

This first chapter is the bottleneck of being able to start reposting the story, but I'm finally making some decent headway with it. Everything else should be fairly quick and easy to revise, since the bones of the chapters are already there. They just need new meat and sinew.

[chronicallyonlinecath]

Monday, 29th May - What in the déjà vu

Over the weekend, close to zilch happened - I messaged people, played war thunder and just took a very large break from revising.

Then today, mother whisked me away to M&S to buy some stuff for our summer trip; we're going to Mexico on a Tui resort for two weeks near the end of July. I'm super excited, and the clothes I got were pretty cool, too.

Then upon returning home I was hit with the realisation I really should do some english revision. So I sat down, did a question 3, picked up my phone and-

Bam.

From Harvey, two random ass texts; "CATH" "COME OUTSIDE W ME N MATT N ALISON"

To which internally I was telling myself I didn't read it right- but no, I checked my other messages and our old group chat had Mattson readded, the name changed to "Return of the Mattson", the profile photo changed to a badly photoshopped jedi with Mattson's face on it and various messages between Alison and Harvey agreeing to meet up.

So I did what any logical dumbass would do, and grabbed my bag, yelled goodbye to mother and sprinted out the front door to meet them.

And it was super chill - we started by playing truth or dare in one park, moved to another and climbed trees, had a bad arm wrestle between Mattson and Alison with Harvey as a table, Alison hugged a tree and Mattson tried to touch up Harvey more times than I could count.

It felt very normal, and not like old times. Like new times. Like we had all grown up a little and now came back and still could enjoy ourselves like we used to. It was nice.

Harvey invited us to go and play volleyball with him, but unfortunately none of us could make it, which seemed fitting. We are all busy people. And some things don't change - I still have a strict mother and struggling grades, Mattson is scared of social interactions and also has strict parents, Alison has years taken off her life devoted to violin practice, Harvey could take all three of us in a game of volleyball and flatten us-

So we went home, after an hour and a half of just chillin', and continued the revision. Wrote a dodge creative writing story, but it'll do, I suppose.

Next update? Uh- maybe Thursday or Wednesday, whenever something interesting happens I guess-

~CM

[ladyhindsight]

Your revision post is so helpful for my new set of notes, thank you.

(Mild CoT spoilers)

Honestly Thomastair is just like, a normal relationship, and of course the author had to make it weird by making Thomas say he loves Alastair more than anything before they even got together. I was like... how even? They barely know each other besides their time as academy peers. But of course, most of the great love stories of TSC are exactly like that, like you pointed out.

Thomas was obsessed with Alastair because he found Alastair attractive, and that was it, he actively hated Alastair's personality. It's a mystery how that turned into such deep love that of course included loving him more than anything else, that's how love works in this universe

Thomas hating Alastair's rude personality leads to the point that I found interesting about Thomastair/Alastair's development. Alastair's rudeness and insistence on keep his "goodness" hidden.. is mentioned like an actual problem to their relationship.

There's this CoT quote I found particularly interesting and represents what I'm talking about very well:

He only watched Alastair: Alastair being gentle, Alastair being loving, the Alastair Sona had known, but Thomas so rarely ever saw. As Alastair bid goodbye to his mother, Thomas could not help but wonder: If Alastair was so utterly determined to hide that part of himself from Thomas, did it matter that Thomas knew it existed at all?

THIS!!!! THIS!!!!

Impossible to not think of certain TMI and TID characters and even that TLH character who are endlessly loved by several people even though they behave absurdly because we "know" they have good souls and whatever shit. And of course that's how it works, you can do whatever shit, what matters if you're secretly good but misunderstood, people will sense that and love you anyway. Treating people well is not necessary to build (and keep!) relationships! This is the message these books have been sending all along with all the ships envolving a jerkass - and this quote goes and contradicts it all? Makes me think...

(I'm not talking about "person that used to be cool and turned into asshole" bc the ones who loved them will probably keep the hope that they may go back to their kinder version - I mean characters that were introduced to others being assholes from the get go)

The "did it matter... ...at all" speaks a lot, that's the exactly the point. You can have faith that someone is secretly kind, but if they never act like it, does that faith make any actual difference? Absolutely, according to most of the romance in the TSC (and certainly many works in the romance genre, I know)

I actually like the romance trope of the assholerish love interest, I just don't like being manipulated to think that he is actually just a silly funny guy because deep down he is good. An asshole is an asshole, to find him just a silly funny guy should be more up to the reader than treated as a fact by the writing

- R

Big agree.

Barely knowing each other and having loved one another for a long time seem to be the two main options of romance in the series. The only ones (with adequate enough focus) to escape this are Kit and Ty, but who knows how it will unfold. I’d be more understanding of Thomas and Alastair’s relationship if such scenes like the one in Paris had occurred more than once. If there was ever a more solid foundation to the intense love they fall in. But as it is rarely so with any other couple, I’m not really going in Chain of Iron or Chain of Thorns hopeful. Jace and Will are both sparkling examples of being loved despite their abhorrent behavior, just because they are secretly good while showing none of the care and respect to others that they receive.

It’s interesting that Alastair is allowed such perspective (or rather Thomas thinking about Alastair’s behavior), because it reflects on other things that are worthy of noting. What little I have read about the companion stories, one point that struck me odd was the part where Alastair expresses pretty misogynistic thoughts on Charlotte being Consul. I don’t know if it is supposed to be a reflection of the bad company around him, because I can’t otherwise think why he would think that at all. Other than antagonistic characters being written expressing controversial things because they are antagonistic, of course. Much in the same vein like your last message. Any of the Good Guys could never!

[translations-dark-matter]

Living as an extra in an Omegaverse novel

Chapter 3

"I remember I have somewhere to go."

"Please let me know and we will set off there."

I was originally planning to go home, but Shin Tae-oh suddenly seemed to want to go somewhere. He said as Se-hyeon, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was touching the navigation system.

"Bye."

The only thing that came out of his mouth was the name of the bar. After registering to go straight there, Se-hyeon held the car door.

"Then goodbye."

"Are you going to get off work?"

"Do you have something to tell me?"

Since he is Shin Tae-oh's secretary, he follows his schedule regardless of work time, but on the surface, he does not get involved in personal matters. For him, going to a bar was beyond that boundary. 

He planned to leave work right away because it was his duty as a secretary. However, his boss did not tell him to leave work, so Se-hyeon waited quietly, wondering why.

"Do you want a drink?" 

With who? With me? Two people?

Se-hyeon's eyes sank as he imagined having a drink with his boss. If you are the most uncomfortable person in the world, isn't the person you are most uncomfortable with your boss at work? Then, I have only one answer to say.

"Alright."

I had originally planned to go home and have a beer, but since my boss was buying me a good drink, I had no reason to refuse. Moreover, if he were to say anything, it would be about Yoo Jin-ha, so if he just listened as usual, he could drink a very sweet drink.

"Then let's go."

As the driver started the engine, Se-hyeon took out his cell phone and revised the schedule.

From now on, the president's personal schedule begins.

"Jin-ha fought."

Se-hyeon, who sat side by side at the bar, sipped the alcohol that Shin Tae-oh bought for him. It was no joke that the drink was so good that it stuck to the tongue. This is why people need to make money. 

If I were to earn enough to drink these drinks without thinking about the money, I would have to stick close to Shin Tae-oh.

"Jin-ha fought."

Shin Tae-oh must have been drunk. Repeating the same thing over and over again.

"So that means I have a chance to sneak in, so what should I do to make Jin-ha look at me? Not enough alcohol? Would you like me to order more?"

"Thank you."

I had no reason to refuse if he offered to buy it for me.

"Set it back in front of here."

Following Shin Tae-oh's instructions, the bartender removed everything in front of Se-hyeon and brought out new drinks and snacks. Se-hyeon waited and drank the new drink.

'It's fragrant.'

Maybe it was a different type, but the smell of the alcohol was different. This one seems to be sweeter, but I'm not sure because it's so strong. Instead, a strong scent remains, but when you eat the cheese served as a snack, it disappears due to the very rich flavour.

"Even if you two fight, we can meet again, so before that, you need an opportunity to make me completely aware of myself. What is that? Should I give you a car as a gift? Or a building?"

What kind of alcohol is this? Why is it so delicious?

What's wrong with cheese? Can it be this thick? Is it rotten?

No matter how much Shin Tae-oh gave to Yoo Jin-ha like a fanboy or not, Se-hyeon fell in love with the alcohol that stuck to the back of his throat.

"But I have something to ask Secretary Ahn."

"Please speak."

"How much more delicious food do you have to eat before your expression changes?"

When did you see him drinking? Se-hyeon put down his drink.

As a secretary, trying to control my emotions as much as possible seemed strange in his eyes.

"Thank you."

"I didn't mean to say hello."

When Shin Tae-oh tilted his head and looked closely at his face, Se-hyeon's eyebrows twitched slightly. Regardless of whether the purpose was observation or anything else, he didn't want people to look at him.

"Shall we check out the car?"

So, I brought what I heard earlier to bring attention to Jin-ha Yoo.

"You were listening to everything I said. But he didn't even answer."

"We'll find out right away."

"I do. Don't buy something like a sports car. Even if the car feels more like getting out than getting in, I don't like crawling out too much. It's uncomfortable."

I imagine Yoo Jin-ha driving the car and me sitting in the passenger seat. There would be no chance of rolling out, let alone crawling out.

'It's so great of you to think that Yoo Jin-ha will accept it.'

I don't know how many gifts I have given so far. I was turned down on all of them, so you're thinking of buying me a car?

Even though I thought Shin Tae-oh was pathetic, I never revealed my feelings.

'I just have to do my job well.'

It was none of my business no matter how much Shin Tae-oh gave.

'I'm too busy worrying about other things.'

It was beneficial to keep my secret well hidden while Yoo Jin-ha was thinking about whether he would receive it. Although I was grateful for the sweet drink, I had to be wary of moments like this, when Shin Tae-oh's staring gaze was burdensome.

"Looking at it this way, Secretary Ahn is quite..."

"Shall we check out the building?"

I cut off my words gently without offending Shin Tae-oh's feelings.

Don't pay attention to the secretary who is nothing more than an extra, Tae-oh. Think about what you were thinking about until now. Taenyang, won't you do it?

"Hmm. Should we just build it at all?"

The construction company president was very flexible.

It was time for Se-hyeon to turn his head to the other side of Shin Tae-oh, paying attention to the angle so that the side of his face was not clearly visible.

"This way."

When Shin Tae-oh looked over Se-hyeon's shoulder and heard a loud voice, he turned around and saw a familiar face walking towards him. I saw it a few times and knew who it was.

Yoo Jin-ha's older brother and Shin Tae-oh's friend, the only person who knows Shin Tae-oh's feelings well. I know, but if you ask why this person is unique, it was also like that in the novel. Because I don't think that a secretary who walks around like a shadow is someone who shares secrets.

"A long time. Shin Tae-oh."

"I was busy. How have you been doing?"

A tall man sat next to Shin Tae-oh. As we exchanged simple greetings, I felt the man's eyes on me and he spoke.

"Long time no see. Mr. Se-hyeon."

"Hello."

Se-hyeon greeted back politely and turned slightly as if to tell them not to pay attention to him.

"How do you know Secretary Ahn's name?"

"I saw it when I received the business card. You're similar to me. I'm Jin-hyeon, and that's Se-hyeon."

Yoo Jin-hyeon brought Se-hyeon together because he said we had similar names. Wouldn't it be better to just hook up with Yoo Jin-ha, who has the same two names? After all, you two are brothers.

"You call someone else's secretary so friendly."

"You act like my little brother is yours."

Shin Tae-oh tried to act like he didn't like it, but Yoo Jin-hyeon summed up the situation as if it was absurd.

"So why did you call me?"

"Ah, it looks like Jin-ha got into a fight with that guy. I saw it with my own two eyes earlier."

"So?"

"I want to take this opportunity to make Jin-ha mine, but I need your help."

"How can I be of any help to you..."

Yoo Jin-hyeon shook his head and said that he had called me something useless. It seemed like I was ordering something from the bartender, but the bartender's expression changed as if it was the highest price in this store.

If I remember, I should order it too.

"I don't know what you like. What do you like about Jin-ha?"

"He's pretty."

"A face like that is common."

"Where is it common?"

When Shin Tae-oh complained as if it were nonsense, Yoo Jin-hyeon pointed somewhere with his chin.

"Se-hyeon, you're not worse than Jin-ha, are you? Isn't it better?"

"Secretary Ahn is not ugly, but the texture is different. Jin-ha is pretty and Secretary Ahn…Should I say neat?

"Anyway, you proved that Jin-ha has a common face, right? And say it again."

"He has a good body and a good personality."

"Did you see it naked? Well, from my perspective as a photographer, Se-hyeon's subject balance is better. Jin-ha is too thin, but Se-hyeon is slim and has good proportions. Ah, Mr. Se-hyeon. Please know that this is just a statement about my occupation as a photographer and that it is by no means a perverted statement. No. Since I made a mistake, I'll take a picture of Se-hyeon sometime..."

"Sit down and don't work."

Yoo Jin-hyeon was about to get up and approach Se-hyeon, but Shin Tae-oh grabbed his back and made him sit in his place.

"I do that because I feel sorry."

"Let's lower the price to that point."

"Who is watching who…"

Yoo Jin-hyeon snorted in bewilderment but did not say anything more. Instead, he apologized again to Se-hyeon.

'Did I come here for no reason?'

Se-hyeon felt uncomfortable that he was constantly mentioned in the conversation. 

'If I had known it would be like this, I would have just stayed at home and drank beer.'

"So you want to win Jin-ha's favour with a gift?"

"Huh."

"It's pathetic. Jin-ha likes gifts so there's nothing he lacks. Have you received anything so far?"

There wasn't.

"But there's nothing better than a gift to express how much I like you. Even if I try to date, I won't get the chance."

"Then you can pretend it's a coincidence and hang out. Don't waste money needlessly."

Se-hyeon, who earned quite a lot of money, drank alcohol to soothe his sore stomach. It's not that Yoo Jin-hyeon's words are wrong, but what if Shin Tae-oh even accepts them?

'The water is disappearing.'

"Just take them to the right place and buy the atmosphere. I'll send him away. I think that's the best."

Yoo Jin-hyeon clicked his tongue and drank, and Se-hyeon called the bartender and ordered the same thing. Even though it was my third drink, the alcohol content was high, so my insides felt hot. I think I'll make a mistake if I eat more than this, so I'll end it here.

"I don't know what that is."

"Take a walk around the park or ride a bike together. Or you can go to a cafe somewhere with a nice view. Why are you talking about how difficult it is?"

"Is it?"

Shin Tae-oh seemed to have made up his mind and looked back at Se-hyeon.

"Secretary Ahn, let's choose a few suitable places. No, I'll check it out whenever I can, so let's go together."

"Alright."

His sincerity toward Jin-ha was truly amazing.

"However."

Yoo Jin-hyeon, who was sipping his drink, glanced at Shin Tae-oh and asked what was on his mind.

"When did your tastes become pretty? I heard you liked a neat face."

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