#i'd be over the moon if proven wrong

[rmorde]

Ok. I'm still mad about it.

Look. The ATLA Live Action writers were proud about removing "lots of iffy" things in the original AND giving the Fire Nation more scenes. Ozai being fan service-y is very suspicious too. Add on top of that how they screwed up Sokka's character...

Here's my take on what is going to happen:

One of the beauties in ATLA's writing was how they were able to humanize the Fire Nation. They are the evil bad guys but not all of them. They are victims too - people who suffered under tyranny and deserved saving too... WHICH CAN ONLY BE DONE BY SHOWING "IFFY" THINGS IN CONTRAST!

ATLA successfully showed that the villainous side (Fire Nation) are worth sympathy and empathy WITHOUT PROMOTING IMPERIALISM AND COLONIALISM.

HOWEVER, current evidence already seem to point that won't happen in the Live Action:

They are willing to destroy a main character's story arc and are proud of it because it's "iffy".

If sexism is "iffy", imperialism and colonialism would be under that category which meant the writer happily removed them or toned them down.

These would definitely give them the perfect excuse to give the FN more screen time to likely "subvert expectations" and show how they aren't really that bad. They're just misunderstood antiheroes and not villains. Considering the fan service-y Ozai scenes seen so far, it feels like they are angling for this shitty take. They're giving him tough but caring DILF vibes* (No fuck that because that's Hakoda's thing.)

In conclusion: Due to writers' cowardice and incompetency, ATLA Live Action will likely accidentally justify the Fire Nation's imperialism and colonialism. They will unintentionally promote it as "Not actually that bad and totally a good thing."

Villains totally can have caring DILF vibes. People can love them too.

The problem tho is the live action writers are cowards in writing actual villainous or questionable stuff aka "iffy" stuff. They're likely going to sand down Ozai's abusive streak and cruelty. Hence why the DILF vibes made me annoyed.

In the original, he is an evil asshole who is hot enough to be a DILF. But there is no mistaking that he is an irredeemable monster who destroyed his own family for selfish goals.

I don't think the live-action writers have the stomach to make such "iffy" characterization. They'll make Ozai a misunderstood "antivillain/antihero" DILF with Zuko Woobie-ness. He'd have no evil bad guy vibes. Just DILF... which so not what his character is in the original.

[sterkeyra]

Voltages 3 New Titles for 2024

The japanese Version of Love 365 announced 3 new titles for this year. The first one will already release at the end of April.

You can watch the trailer here: https://youtu.be/Q8sn1uNZe-Q

My childhood friend - My second first love (Late April)

The title boy is called Kuroe Kento (黒江��斗). MC seems to be engaged at the start of the story however her fiance betrays her and it seems like she is seeking comfort in Kuroes arms. Her childhood friend has grown into a fine man.

The premise feels similar to My Last First Kiss, Love Brings You Home or maybe even Kings of Paradise.

Head over Heels Marriage - I'm too obsessed with my wife to let her go (June)

The title man's name is Mikoshiba Kazuma (御子柴和真). MC starts of happily married with her man, living their best life in his suite. However, things feels too perfect, is really truly everything okay?

I gotta say this title seems to be the most mysterious. The guy could be shady, or maybe does not have as much money as he deems or he is just overly smitten by his wife and does not give her much room to breath and pampers her rotten

From the premise it looks a bit like Oops I Said Yes or maybe even the untranslated Honey Moon title.

I could also imagine it to be a more wholesome or realistic Kissed by the Baddest Bidder without the auctions? Anyways the guy reminds me a bit of a mix of Kunihiro and Kazuomi (at least on the cover)

Kiss Me Until Daybreak (August)

The last of the three protagonists is called Iriyama Tsubaki (入山椿). MC is hopelessly in love with the man but he is not interested in a relationship. Luckily friends with benefits is rather popular these days so she might just be able to convince him in that way.

This title seems to be a bit more angsty and emotional compared to the others. It gives me Irresistible Mistakes and Hiroki from My Last First Kiss vibes. Und

Anyways this is whats to come in the near future.

My opinions under the cut

In my opinion the titles give a more mature vibe and feel a bit like soft versions of the adult site Otona / Koi100 More. (The More stories that we are currently getting are from the for example, though they have their exclusive titles too).

I have to admit none of the titles really caught my eyes right away and they feel more like Oneshots similar to Perfect Boyfriend or A World With(Out) You. They somehow lack the... glow? of other Voltage titles, but I'd gladly get proven wrong 😄 Currently i cannot see them having multiple seasons or even multiple characters? Plotwise i'm most curious about the Marriage title, artwose Kiss Until Daybreak even though I'm not that much of a fan of friends with benefits. The sprite of childhood friend looks good to me!

I feel like Voltage might be stalling for time until they can continue with Kings of Paradise or Tokyo Love Hustle.

I felt like instead of just relationship / romance focus I would have loved another supernatural or action series (which is why i really hope they'll continue TLH) because they feel similar to other titles. Voltage has proven that they are great with the supernatural themes with Court of Darkness or Even if Tempest, so i'm definitely excited about their new Switch titles. I just wish they gave a gem to Love 365 too haha.

Anyways let's wait and see.

[artemis-73]

Suptober Day 10: Mushrooms

When Charlie agreed to meet Meg at the soccer fields on the edge of town, she'd expected a moonlit picnic. Instead, she was tromping through the woods with an honest-to-god basket over one arm. She didn't even have the luxury of a flashlight because when she'd tried to use the one on her phone, Meg had glared at her

So she did her best to keep up with Meg and not break her own neck.

"You know," she huffed, "I'm not sure I'm the best person to help with foraging. I don't really do botany. I might pick something that's actually poisonous or something, and then your Yelp reviews will be in the toilet."

"How about we leave the plant identification to me, and you just look pretty?" Meg tossed over her shoulder.

Charlie nearly face planted into some moss. "Uh, yeah. I can do that. Totally." A strand of her hair stuck to her sweat-sticky face, and she swiped it away hurriedly.

Yeah, it was a weird date, but she'd done weirder stuff for a pretty face. And Meg was definitely very pretty. And funny. And smart. It'd been nearly four months since they first met, and they'd both been too busy to meet up, so Charlie was going to make the best of it.

They weren't walking much longer before, all at once, the trees fell away, and they were standing in a meadow. The grass looked nearly white in the light of the moon, and scattered everywhere in small clusters were mushrooms, deep purple but glowing lilac from their centers.

"Oh, wow," Charlie breathed.

Meg smiled proudly. "Pretty, huh? I put some basic warding up around it years ago. Nothing too strong, just enough to make people take a different path."

She placed her basket on the ground and knelt to begin digging through it. Charlie had assumed it was empty like her own, but she was proven wrong when Meg pulled out a checkered blanket. She spread it out across a spot of grass that was surrounded by the glowing mushrooms before going back to the basket and retrieving a bottle of wine and two copper mugs.

"I didn't want to risk wine glasses breaking," she said, almost shyly, if Meg had an ounce of shyness in her. She sat on the blanket and looked up at Charlie expectantly. "Well, are you going to join me? Or are you going to stand there staring all night, Chucky?"

Charlie let her basket drop next to Meg's discarded one and sat on the edge of the blanket, just close enough for their shoulders to brush. She took the cup of offered wine.

"I really thought you were taking me foraging," she said more into the cup than to Meg.

"Oh, I am. I'm double dipping." Meg's eyes reflected the purple glow of the mushrooms. In the low light, she looked unearthly, a siren or an angel. She plucked one of the mushrooms and twirled it between her fingers. "These little guys are great for glamors, and one of my regulars needs a top-up on his stash."

"Hmm. What glamor do I need?" Charlie asked, presenting her face for inspection. "Do your worst."

Meg tapped the tip of her nose with the mushroom. "Don't fish for compliments."

"Maybe you can do elf ears? Or a Who nose for Christmas? Oh! Maybe I can be Jessica Rabbit for Halloween!"

"You're ridiculous." Meg flipped one of the baskets open and tossed the mushroom inside. "Besides--" Her siren eyes bore into Charlie again. "--I'd look terrible in a Roger Rabbit costume."

Charlie snapped her mouth shut. "Right. Couples costumes. Sure."

Meg cocked her head. "That's usually what couples do, right?" she asked, faux innocently.

Charlie nodded dumbly.

"Good," Meg practically purred. Even in the low light, the mischievous twist of her lips was visible right before she closed the distance between them for a wine-sweetened kiss.

[tgrailwar-zero]

(holding the scraps of Chaotic Heroic Act 3, contemplatively)

Egh... hey, ah, Empress Nero... if we, uh...

... if we found a... really grim portent...

... when would be a good time to ruin the mood?

Asking cuz I think we found Act 3, and it's rather...

There was a short moment of silence as NERO read, and then as it was passed around to the others to read. Eventually, it found its way back to Nero.

CONSTANTINE placed a hand on her shoulder, with a worried look.

CONSTANTINE: "…Antecessor Nero…"

NERO shook her head, folding it up and casually sticking it within her bosom for storage. MUSASHI whistled. CONSTANTINE frowned.

CONSTANTINE: "Antecessor Nero."

NERO: "Do not worry for me. I am well. An Emperor knows better than to cry around her peers. I will say this- I won't forgive that Titan. I will not be satisfied until I am victorious..."

With that statement, it seemed as if the air changed from quiet contemplation to tactical plotting incredibly quickly.

NERO: "Let us see… a Rider, a Caster, a Saber, a Foreigner, and an Avenger… and of course, whatever you are, my Ensemble. Perhaps you're the key, as you were the gestalt necro-weapon born from the Moon, and presumably one of the Titan's thralls. I'd hope so, as I do not believe we have the firepower ourselves."

She began, with a stately tone.

KUKULKAN: "Nothing's changed then! We protect the Masters with everything we have!"

MUSASHI: "So, the goal is simple. Gain the permission to leave from the Lair Servants, and then reach the Moon, and then win."

AVENGER: "They'll will need to pass Saber first. With that being the case, would that not mean that Saber's alliance is with the former 'Interlopers', rather than the current? Making him an enemy of the Solar Cell, and a prospective pawn of the White Titan?"

The Avenger's voice rumbled and echoed throughout the camp, causing the campfire itself to shudder as his shadowed form grew slightly more tangible.

CONSTANTINE: "…Right. That White Program… and what was happening to those Valkyrie..."

MUSASHI: "That, in addition to Saber and Caster going at each other's throats… if I didn't know any better, I'd think there's a storm on the horizon…"

AVENGER: "The War is over, so attention must be shifting elsewhere."

MUSASHI: "Yeah, I got that from my source too. Let's scratch everything- forget red versus blue, we're dealing with four potential factions."

KUKULKAN: "Right. First, the Lair Servants- Servants that have been summoned to the Solar Cell. We'll say that their 'Master' is the 'Heavenly Divinity' that everyone keeps going on about, though who knows how their contract works. Let's call them the 'Keepers of the Solar Cell', for simplicity. Or the Sun Buddies, maybe? That's cute, yes?"

NERO: "Of course, there are Servants like you, Lady Musashi. Rogue entities that have the capacity to join our cause."

KUKULKAN: "Saber has the Origins of… what was it? Berserker, Rider, Foreigner, and… Caster? And Lancer is a Lair Servant now, so that means… potentially Assassin and Archer, yes? Those are the only ones left?"

AVENGER: "In the case that they're alive and can be reasoned with anyhow…"

NERO: "Or their Spirit Origins haven't been altered, or used to summon a new Servant. We can't assume that trick can only belong to the Masters."

CONSTANTINE: "Then, there are the now rogue Servants from the War. Chances are that most of them are gone, faded away without any sort of Mana Regeneration or Independent Action skill, unless they're being very careful about the souls they're stealing for mana- enough so that they don't get slaughtered by the local Lair Servant. Let's… assume that means at the very minimum, the Red Archer remains… and pray that I'm proven wrong."

KUKULKAN: "…And finally, Saber. Visiting his city, I don't think mana resources is a problem, yes? And he has claimed two major territories. The Hamlet alone had very good leylines thanks to Doctor Asclepius… if he was smart, he'd turn that place into a battery, yes? It's not as if there are people there to oppose any terraforming."

CONSTANTINE: "To clarify- four factions. The Keepers of the Solar Cell--"

MUSASHI: "--Sun Buddies. I like what Kuku said."

CONSTANTINE: "…Keepers of the Solar Cell, then King Charlemagne's Army, Rogue Servants drifting around from the prior wars, and us."

NERO: "Lots to think about… ugh, my migraine is coming back. I'm going to retire to my chambers. Go team, and all that."

With that, she clutched her head and stumbled off to her own tent.

MUSASHI: "...Sheesh... she knows she doesn't have to try and keep it together for us, right?"

CONSTANTINE: "Pride is important to an Emperor. Still... she has a point. This is a lot to take in. Resting our eyes and our minds for at least a little while is probably the best course."

With that, you watched as the camp grew more and more silent as each Servant vanished off to their respective quarters, leaving you alone in the night air for a moment.

[femmefighter]

Hey, hope you're doing alright. For the ask game here are my questions 15, 18, 36.

Hey lovely! I've been a bit overwhelmed with The HorrorsTM of late, but I'm surviving! Finally getting a bit of writing in (yay, deadlines for the Rarepair Exchange approaching, kicking my ass into gear), and catching up on my inbox! Sorry it's taken so long. I do love getting these asks though.

Writer Asks:

15. Which fic of your would you most like to rewrite?

An interesting question. TBH, none, really. I regularly go over certain fics and edit when I find spelling or grammar mistakes, but to completely rewrite them? I don't think I want to. Not that I think they're all perfect, they certainly aren't! But they're a map of my journey as a fanfic writer, as a new-into-fandom fan, and new into embracing my geeky, silly, inner child that's in need of reparenting and validating. They're all reflections of where I was in that time of life when I wrote them, and I'm not ashamed of any of it. It's all just part of me, for better or worse.

18. What trope have you not written yet, but want to?

I think a big, obvious one I need to lean into is a canon-divergent one. I love writing stories that you can read and go, "okay, none of that is proven wrong by canon!" And I think that came from writing such a small, judged rarepair not liked by most of fandom, that it's been my armour to validate my ship. But I think I'm ready to start having some fun with canon divergence and AUs etc when I find the freaking time. I'd particularly love to do a canon-divergence story of my Hera Syndulla/Jyn Erso fic, A Mouthful of Jyn, where Hera manages to rescue Jyn and Cassian before the Death Star fires on Scarif. The good ol' 'if they got there five minutes earlier' kind of thing.

36. Have you ever written a fic because you were inspired by a song?

Stares at fic list, racking my brain. I think the only fic that a song kind of inspired was Howl. It was written to a prompt (Waking/Dawn), and with all the wolf references for Shin's namesake, Florence and the Machine's song of the same title infiltrated my brain again. The image of Shin howling at the moon in the agony/emotional turmoil of being abandoned by Baylan and stranded on a planet in another galaxy became glued in my brain and I had to get it out.

She's My Comfort, my current Herasoka WIP, was also kind of inspired by Mary Lambert's "She Keeps Me Warm", which is probably why I focus so much on Ahsoka's warmth throughout it. I love the song so much, but it was my first dance song at my wedding (divorced now), and I really wanted the song to reclaim its place back in my heart. And who better to do that with, than the wonderful Hera Syndulla and my beloved Ahsoka Tano?

Thanks for the ask hun!

[sweetstarart]

Ahoy neighbors!! Here's how Howdy's day went (sorry I'm so late!!)

Sunrise

Eddie and I are thick as theives! He's the only person who gets up at the same time as me (other than Sally). While we scrubbed the decks, I told him about my current interest. Ghosts. I got to tell him about auras and possession and he actually sounded interested! I'm so glad that I joined this crew, my home town just didn't view things the way they should've. Wally is up early too, is he opening his necklace? Wait a second, that's an apparitious pendant! Those things are only used to seal incredibly dangerous ghosts...

This can't be good.

Noon

I can't believe our ship is possessed! On any other occasion, I'd be over the moon about this but that whole pendant thing has me worried. Especially since Barn's suddenly come down with something. I spoke to him and he says he's really dizzy and can't sleep. I asked him when he started feeling these symptoms and he said it's when he was about to tell the ghost to leave. That can't be a coincidence. I had a theory, but I decided to investigate a bit more before jumping to conclusions. After gathering some information my suspicions were proven to be correct, Barnaby was under the weather due to a failed possession. Luckily, I have just the thing for that! While we were talking, a thought crossed my mind, if the spirit was in the pendant, then their power should be stripped to the point where they can only possess objects. The fact they even attempted to latch onto a sentiment host is strange...

What could they be after? Maybe I should've asked Barnaby before I put him to sleep, he mainly babbles and barks when he's tired. Its really sweet, but I don't have time to think about that now. I've gotta get to the bottom of this.

Sunset

I've spent the entire day buried in my books and I've come up with a theory. There's not much supporting it but its the best I've got for now. What if the ghost (who I've overheard Wally is named Home) is trying to control us? Think about it, everyone on this crew listens to the captain. If Home manages to get their hands on that vessel without us realizing, they could make us do whatever they want. That might be why they possessed our ship, they'd be able to watch us and hear us no matter what. They'd learn exactly what to do to manipulate everyone on deck.

I hope I'm wrong. That'd be seriously messed up. I gotta tell Barnaby about this at some point. I have an idea though! Possession takes a lot of energy, meaning as long as Home remains the boat, they'll have to sleep. When they go to sleep, that's when we'll discuss our plan.

Wait a second, are the mates trying to start a band? God i wish I brought my fiddle with me!

Night

Home went back into their pendant! Nows my time to strike. I knocked on the door, thank the stars he's awake. I told him about my theory, he told me that if they really were stripped of their power, there would be no possibility of them hurting us. But we both know that ghosts can get stronger though different means. For Barn, its food. For Home? We aren't sure.

We have to get more information on them, I said I'd spend tonight skimming through all my books to get as much info as possible, he told me not to. He says he's been asleep all day, so he'll make up for it by doing the work for me. I hate to admit it, but I actually am really tired right now.

I have an idea, I'll sleep in here tonight, that way he can wake me up whenever he needs help/ a break. He better not let me sleep through this. If we don't figure out what Home wants, they could doom us all. Also, he's been working much too hard lately and I can tell its stressing him out.

[thewickedkat]

okay so

(dear gods where to begin)

i am very excited to see how the fallout from ep 51 plays out--party split! the Tempest rocked! the Champion orbed! teleportation to...someplace and Uthodurn-adjacent!--and i am very curious to see if Imogen still has her Ruidus-infused powers. the vibe i got from all the Ruidusborn glowing and emanating red light was that, somehow, their moon powers were being siphoned and used to make the corridor (or umbilicus, if you prefer) to Ruidus itself. i could be wrong! i'd be excited to be proven so!

i also got the distinct impression that when Ludinus shoved his arm into the Key, he was using either his own life force to power it (due to the sabotage), or maybe he too has residuum crystals inserted into his skin, the way Caleb used to.

we have no way of knowing, yet, what the white flash actually meant or what it indicated--success? failure? Ludinus being sucked in wholly by the Key? or my favourite crack theory of Percy taking his shot? we also don't know if the subsequent teleportation was intentional or a side effect of something going wrong, nor do we know if anyone else was 'ported anywhere else (for all we know, Keyleth got yeeted to goddam Rumblecusp or something).

if ol' Ludicrous is still alive (and let's face it, he is; that man has been around since Molaesmyr at the very least, and he's probably harder to kill than a nuclear-infused cockroach on steroids), i would really like to know what he was hoping for with all this. to free Predathos, duh, of course, yes, but...what then? did he expect Predathos to descend from the heavens and greet him 'you have done well, my true and faithful servant--now, where is my deity buffet?' did he expect to be endowed with Predathos' power and become the Grand High Priesty-Poo? i know he most likely has plans for world domination or whatever, but come on.

and also! how, exactly, is Predathos supposed to eat the gods once freed? if Predathos couldn't get past the Divine mesh surrounding Ruidus, and doing so took a metric fuckton of effort from mere mortals, then how is Predathos supposed to make it past the Divine Gate that keeps the Prime Deities separate from the Material Plane? would shifting the leylines have something to do with it? would there be a window of opportunity while the Apogee Solstice is going on (which would mean a ticking clock all over again)?

these are the questions that have been rotating in my head since thursday night. god i can't wait to see what happens next. even if it's eps with guests to explore backstories, or a sort of interval time before the Hells get back to their regularly-scheduled Yakety Sax adventures.

[cosmo-watches-movies]

Lost in France S1 E7 (1998)

BBC comedy series about a family following the english football team around France during the world cup

So Michael Sheen was in the whole series, but I could unfortunately only find one episode of this, which is a shame, it did get a few chuckles out of me.

Plot: In this episode the group stop at the side of a country road to take a break from driving. Funny stuff happens.

Spoilers?

This was barely 8 minutes long so theres not much to talk about...

Michael plays Owen, a friend of the traveling familiy, who probably joined this roadtrip just because he has a crush on one of the daughters or sm. He knows jackshit about footbal which, knowing of Michael Sheens irl relationship with football, is fucking hilarious.

Anyway Owen wants to learn about football to impress his crush, so he consoles the son of the family, who teaches him rules, strategy and how to play ofc.

Cue a whole scene of Owen fuckin up so bad it’s impressive. I have to say it looks very fake, but in a good way. It's dumb and I love it. This is the kinda stuff you go to acting school for.

Me in PE for twelve years

In the end scene Owen presents a few tricks, recites a memorized line to impress the girl and then continues by shooting the ball through a window of the van.

Oh...my god. Stealin that one.

Very impressive indeed

That’s it really.

After searching for any possible information on this show I came to the conclusion that this might be lost media unfortunately. At least for the public. Maybe the BBC has this in it's vaults somewhere, but as far as I know there was no VHS or DVD release of this and I can't find it anywhere online either. I'd love to be proven wrong tho. If someone somewhere has this and wants to share it, I’d be over the moon. This one is an absolute gem.

There really isn’t much else to it, but if you’re curious, it’s 8 Minutes, go watch it.

Also:

He's ready to play some football, allright.

[wewebaggit]

the fact that ST treats queer characters/relationships as some sort of a 'gotcha' plot twist made me turn off from the whole thing tbh. Especially when we have been and are getting new queer shows and content nowadays where queer characters just can be queer without the writers stretching the whole thing and leaving it all to the last season (last minute too if we are being honest), it is just reach to expect a satisfying outcome and many people are overestimating byler's potential effect.

ST is not a queer show as people here like to believe. It's barely about the outsiders. It's taken on a different form since S3 n the writing has pretty much been typical sell out fan service shit. Byler is just a box to tick. It's not revolutionary. It's not even well written. Mike's sexuality is still plausible deniability. It's just that Byler endgame makes more sense. But that does not mean the journey was beautiful. It was anything but. It's all very one note. Will's a pretty carpet for Mike to walk all over. N then Byler Tumblr acts like he's the one that's hurting the most and that people expecting Will to grow a spine are horrific n being unfair to a 14 year old. Look at your own selves. There's NOTHING romantic abt Will harbouring a forever love for Mike even if it's not reciprocated. There's nothing in the narrative that makes such devotion satisfactory. Also people painting Mike as someone who's never focussed on anyone bt Will in S1 or S2 are so wrong n were even proven wrong in S3 n S4. There's NOTHING in canon that shows how depressed Mike was in S4 n all the stuff being used as proof does not stand any serious scrutiny.

The way they'll make Byler happen now (because they're fucking cowards) is show that El's over Mike n Mike's conveniently figured out he wants to be gay in practice too. Ain't that REVOLUTIONARY. I put my thoughts of what they could/should do with Byler going forward in one of my posts, but having seen the show I'm not holding my breath. But I'd love to be surprised. I'll be honest. S3 made me give up on the show. I got back cuz Will was gonna be certified gay n lmao S4 was also a shitshow bt better than S3. They didn't set up enough stuff in S4 wasting precious screentime on childish plotlines. El's arc was pathetic to the moon n back. Have never seen a blander or more boring main character in ages. The writing for so many characters could have been so much more even without sacrificing the supernatural (superhero) plotline. But they wanted to do comedy. It went as well El's presentation. Byler being underwhelming is actually consistent with every other storyline on the show. So at least they aren't treating the gays differently. 🤷‍♀️

[missvieee]

Everything changed when I met him.

My parents fought frequently when I was a child, to the point where they occasionally forced us to pick between them. So it was ingrained in my head as a child to ensure that I was never going to fall in love because I didn't want to experience the sorrow that my parents had. Everyone were constantly telling me that my age was too young to be thinking about such things and that I will fall in love one day. furthermore, guess what? It has happened.

I keep in mind in the midst of 2019, I was paying close attention to what the minister was talking about because it was the day of my baptism, however, I became bored and got started to look around, until I spotted someone so attractive and charming at the exact identical time in the koro, and much to my surprise, he had been staring at me too! I'd never felt this way before, so it was unexpected to me. Then I became shy, turned away, and paid attention to what the minister was saying again.

hadn't seen him in over a year. I assumed it was just a crush at first sight, but I was mistaken. I saw him again following the day I saw him in October of 2020. He became taller and more attractive, and of course, many girls developed crushes on him. On the same day, I discover he is also the son of our new minister , who has recently moved into our church.

Days passed, we have didn’t become friends eventually. I am an introverted one and he get along with anyone. I also kind of hate his attitude because I always do prejudice which is not good. But thanks to my brother, we became friends.

We were inseparable when we immediately became acquainted. People around us would always mention we looked nice together or question if we were in a relationship. But, of course, I got butterflies in my stomach; after all, I've always had a crush on him. We basically ignored everything they said about us because we both knew we were only friends until the day before I took an oath to join the choir.

On March 7, 2021, I was advised to go to the church and fill out the form for my request to join the choir. Because he is also an assistant, he was the one who helped me fill out those forms. After I signed the documents, he asked if I wanted to go stargazing because he knows I enjoy looking at the moon full of stars, so l replied sure. We went to the rear of the church, where it was quiet and cold. I was taking in the scenery until he spoke. He was staring at me, and it made my heart race so quickly that I didn't

know what to do! He took my hands in his and told me he likes me. Of course, was startled; who would have believed that a lovely man like him would appreciate someone like me? It felt weird for him to confess amid the moonlight. We became closer after the confession, and we dated for 5 months before becoming officially dating.

I used to believe that love was a waste of time and that it was unreal since I was a child, but I was proven wrong. I was mistaken in believing that love is merely a game. I understood that love is something you can't live without; it's also something you can't define. Yes, it hurts at times, having never-ending arguments with your partner; but it has come to the point where it will ultimately go away and provide you tranquility; someone you can call your own and home. Love hurts, but it also heals, brings calm, and happiness. I know I’m still young but I'd never been happy until I met him; he's my home.

Submitted to: Ma’am Meden Fadriquila

Submitted by: Joyvie O. Rodriguez

Personal Essay

[darthmaclunkey]

woe, the second half of my 2024 reading be upon ye:

islands of abandonment (cal flyn) - interesting locations, but I found it a bit of a slog to read, which is wild given how unsafe some of the places the author travelled to are

the eye of darkness (george mann) (audiobook) - this was...not good. but what do I expect from star wars books

beautiful star (yukio mishima) - there were some especially lengthy monologues at the end that I think I started astral projecting during, but I overall enjoyed it

penance (eliza clark) - what!! impossible to put down. and also horribly relatable for those of us who grew up on this hellsite

boy parts (eliza clark) - didn't love this one as much. the ending kind of felt like a cop out

our wives under the sea (julia armfield) - enjoyed this, felt like the pages were soaked in grief

temptation of the force (tessa gratton) (audiobook) - feels like most of this was just avar....elzar....avar.....elzar!! but overall it was a fun read. the narrator for the mainline high republic audiobooks does a great job

julia (sandra newman) - didn't expect much but this was actually great. love how it flips so much of 1984 on its head. it was the only book I had left with me on a long travelling day with only 5% remaining phone battery so I was meant to save it for my train, but I was too hooked to put it down and had to spend the journey staring out the window instead

the song of achilles (madeline miller) - sorry but I don't get the hype. it just felt like being told how great and wonderful achilles was over and over again with no actual depth to the achilles/patroclus relationship.

path of deceit (tessa gratton, justina ireland) (audiobook) - really liked this one. I stan marda ro and women's wrongs in general

the hurricane wars (thea guanzon) - romantasy isn't my genre at all, so I didn't go in expecting to like this but oh boy I DID. it was so very very compelling and I finished it extraordinarily upset that I'd have to wait for the sequel

wool (hugh howey) - another one where I don't get the hype. I found the writing style completely charmless. too many sections starting with flashforwards of characters in peril before going back to the mundane thing they did beforehand. that's not what in media res means

deathless (catherynne m. valente) - if I'd read this in 2011 I would have been really annoying about it on tumblr. in a good way. I liked it!

the drowned world (jg ballard) - I've read a few ballards recently and you really do gotta wade through all the mid-20thC misogyny and racism to find a nugget of utterly mind-blowing concept and technical craft. this one took me about a month to finish

star wars: the rise and fall of the galactic empire (chris kempshall) - this is a historical text set in star wars canon, and it's actually excellent. like all good sci fi, there's some great commentary on our contemporary world if you read between the lines. according to goodreads this was the least popular book I read this year, with only around 1300 other people shelving it

the men who stare at goats (jon ronson) - there's some very disturbing and interesting shit in here. unfortunately the "isn't this so RANDOM?" shtick began to grate on me as I read

witch king (martha wells) - hmm, this one confused me. it felt like starting an estalished fantasy series on book 2 or 3. the worldbuilding/exposition possibly needed more time to cook

a fire on the moon (norman mailer) - another one where the period-accurate misogyny nearly turned me off, but apollo 11 is one of my Special Interests so I persevered. got good around part 2, where norman mailer shut up about himself and actually started talking about the moon landing

nona the ninth (tamsyn muir) - possibly my favourite of the locked tomb series so far, nona is such a good POV character. can't wait for alecto

path of vengeance (cavan scott) (audiobook) - I continue to stan marda ro and women's wrongs

provenance (ann leckie) - BANGER. ann leckie is one of the best sci fi authors around. nobody does it like her

translation slate (ann leckie) - see above

emperor of rome (mary beard) - a classic waterstone's buy one get one half price sticker purchase. interesting and fun. watched her BBC documentary too. those wacky romans, huh?

paladin's grace (t. kingfisher) - having read what moves the dead, I expected darkness, didn't realise this was more fluffy and romantic. not 100% my thing but I was compelled to continue, as you will see below

severance (ling ma) - what do you MEAN this was written pre-Covid-19!!! what do you MEAN!!!! absolutely excellent book, and terrifyingly prescient

venemous lumpsucker (ned beauman) - creative and a very enjoyable read, but sometimes it got a bit lol xd random and I wanted to be like cool your jets ned, maybe this satire on environmentalism needs less otter costumes and more reflections on major character death

chain gang all-stars (nana kwame adjei-brenyah) - the concept was great but unfortunately I felt like this was pretty badly written and it changed POV far too often. kind of felt like the idea was just SO good it got rushed out without much editing

paladin's strength (t. kingfisher) (audiobook) - for me, this series works so much better on audiobook. I found this book's couple more compelling than the first

paladin's hope (t. kingfisher) (audiobook) - enjoyable, but for some reason the narrator made the character piper sound just like niles from frasier, so I couldn't help but picture niles ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

README.txt (chelsea manning) - one of my top 5 books of the year. incredible. chelsea i love you

use of weapons (iain m. banks) - MY #1 BOOK OF 2024. talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, show stopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it

paladin's faith (t. kingfisher) (audiobook) - wasn't as into the main couple of this one. if the next book isn't about paladin judith then we RIOT

a monsoon rising (thea guanzon) - thank you ms guanzon, this was worth the wait

leviathan wakes (james s. a. corey) (audiobook) - I watched the first two seasons of the expanse before giving up. I think this one works amazingly as an audiobook, I enjoyed it a lot more than the show

total: stories (rebecca miller) - my only DNF of the year. got 3 stories in and was like wow, none of these are well-written at all. so I simply put it in my local free book exchange and forgot about it

caliban's war (james s. a. corey) - good fun. respectfully, I could not give less of a shit about james holden as a protragonist, but I would also respectfully take a bullet for bobbie draper and chrisjen avasarala

and that's a wrap on a great year for reading!!!

since I did it with films, woe: all the books I've read so far in 2024 and my brief thoughts on them be upon ye:

some desperate glory (emily tesh) - very underrated (so far), great debut sci-fi with a very well crafted MC. highly recommend if you're into space opera

hurdy gurdy (christopher wilson) - looked funny, was kinda funny, but contemporary references were a bit unsubtle. immediately gave to my dad after reading. it's a liberal dad kinda book

the doloriad (missouri williams) - I got #influenced by an instagram book account to read this because they said it was too gross for them. it was interesting and very poetic, but by talos did it need a paragraph break or two

tender is the flesh (agustina bazterrica) - subtle as a brick. didn't really like the way it was written but I'm never really sure if that's a valid criticism when something is translated

eileen (otessa moshfegh) - actually loved this. more gross woman protags pls

the mother tongue (bill bryson) - I had the original edition (library book) so some of it was a bit out of date but still interesting and fun to read

the terraformers (analee newitz) - worldbuilding was decent but man was this badly written. I ended up speedreading just to move onto another book and immediately donated it to the local free library shelf

hell bent (leigh bardugo) - very enjoyable, but I think it should have been hornier, actually, considering how much word count was spent on darlington's glowstick dick

on writing (stephen king) - genuinely great advice. my copy has about 1000 sticky tabs and notes in it now

system collapse (martha wells) - i ♥ murderbot forever and always

in ascension (martin macinnes) - this was so boring. rip to all the ppl who loved it but what was it saying, really, that couldn't have been said in a sub-5,000 word short

cursed bread (sophie mackintosh) - enjoyed, but I don't really remember much about it. probably because I read it in a crowded airport while waiting for a heavily delayed ryanair flight

camp zero (michelle min sterling) - didn't feel like it fully explored all the routes it should have, but the chapters written from the collective perspective of the researchers were interesting

klara and the sun (kazuo ishiguro) - oof ouch owie my feelings

the beauty (aliya whiteley) - technically a short story but I read it in book format. it was fun

shadow and bone (leigh bardugo) - if I'd read this when I was 12, you best believe I'd have spent my teenage years writing fanfiction about the darkling. as a 29 year old, wasn't really for me tho

the player of games (iain m banks) - talented, brilliant, incredible, amazing, showstopping, spectacular, never the same, totally unique, completely not ever been done before, unafraid to reference or not reference, put it in a blender, shit on it, vomit on it, eat it, give birth to it. RIP iain banks, you are sorely missed

lord jim at home (dinah brooke) - visceral read. probably best read in one sitting if poss, the pacing is breakneck

the word for world is forest (ursula k le guin) - to paraphrase a shelf label under her books in my local indie bookshop: "JUST READ HER!! READ ANYTHING BY HER!!!!"

children of time (aidrian tchaikovsky) - really good. I will never look at spiders the same way

giovanni's room (james baldwin) - astonishing. one of those classics where you're like 'I'm sure this will be good' but then you read it and you're like 'nobody quite conveyed just HOW good tho'

red rising (pierce brown) - hated this tbh. the hunger games for redditors. darrow is a textbook mary-sue but ppl in the goodreads reviews don't seem ready to have that conversation

for thy great pain have mercy on my little pain (victoria mackenzie) - interesting speculative history, very beautifully conveyed

brutes (dizz tate) - do I know what was going on? no, but I really liked it, so well observed

the discomfort of evening (lucas rijneveld) - another one where I was #influenced because an instagram book person said it was too gross for them. I think it was actually a bit too gross for me too, but I can appreciate that it was well written

pride and prejudice (jane austen) - only read it because I'm going to a p&p themed party but my god, they're not lying, it really is THAT good

currently reading: islands of abandonment (cal flyn)

I am on storygraph if you find my taste in books compelling; I'm always looking for book recs: storygraph

[lazydoodlesandfanfic]

Buff Batmom reaction when she found out Joker killed Jason

Buff Batmom as Black Death going on a bloodthirsty killing rampage killing criminals even innocent civilians. Just so she can murder Joker.

Buff Batmom beating the shit outta Joker for murdering her little boy

Jesus, Bruce, Alfred, and Dick. I can’t imagine what their reaction would be seeing Batmom revert back to old habits and start killing again after Jason death.

I feel like Bruce could feel it coming. That it was going to happen.

He'd seen her break down when she found out what happened to her little boy, how she was an emotional mess for the days following. Dick had come home, and Bruce just watched as his wife sees her oldest who looks so much like Jason, and just immediately crumples again, and Dick just lets her cling to him and sob, knowing that she's partly doing it to try and pretend he's Jason, at least for a second. The funeral comes, and it was then, as they lowered the casket into the ground and Bruce turns to check on her, that he sees the little glint in her eye. Like a spark. He knew she was ready to kill again. For her boy.

She didn't do anything at first. She becomes mostly quiet, doing simple tasks at work and at home, not really conversing with anyone. Everyone can tell something's off, Alfred is worried she's having a nervous break, Dick's worried about his mom's mental state and tries to spend as much time as possible with her, but Bruce knows what she's doing. She's plotting. She's going through what she wants to do in her head, step by step. Fantasizing.

Then she snaps. She's seemingly aware of her husband's own awareness and goes off at the perfect time where when he realising that she's gone, it's already too late. Dick is the first to notice his mom isn't at home, and he tries calling her first, and after a short text back assuring him she's fine and that she loves him to the moon and back but being off still, he informs Alfred who informs Bruce, and he immediately tells Alfred to keep Dick distracted at home, not to let him listen to any news reports or the radio, and to instead convince Dick that Bruce had contact with her and she's gone to get her emotions out (technically not wrong) and he's going to go comfort her, and to prepare a nice meal for her for when they get back to show she's loved. At this point Alfred, knowing batmom's past realises what's happening and agrees.

By the time Bruce finds his wife, she's slaughtered her way through his little hide out, and she's done with Joker. He isn't dead, proven by his heavy breathing and very faint laughter when he was able to gain consiousness for a few seconds every few minutes, but you can't see his green and purple suit or hair in the dim lighting because it's all been dyed red from his blood. Black Death sits against the furthest wall. He ignores the mad man, walking over to her and just kneeling in front of her. In the faint light he can see the tears rolling from the eye sockets of her mask.

"It doesn't feel good. It doesn't make me feel better... he took my baby. He took away one of the things I never thought I'd have... what if someone takes Dickie bird? I can't... I can't lose my... my boys... my baby Jay..." She sobs quietly, and Bruce doesn't say anything. He just wraps his arms around her, muffling her sobs and carefully helping her up and leading her out.

He gets her out of the costume and into civilian clothing he brought with him, as well as for himself before taking her home. She's still a mess the entire time, but when they get home and Dick rushes to his mom's side, saying how he was worried sick about her, telling her how he and Alfred made her favourite, and demanding she take a few weeks off work to properly mourn and relax with her family, she just nods, before looking over at Bruce.

"Thank you." She manages to get out. To this day, he's not sure exactly what she was thanking him for. For forgiving her for her past actions, or this 'slip up'? For giving her this domestic life, or as close as she's able to get? For not telling Dick about the real monsterous side of his beloved mother? For loving her unconditionally and being a true saint of a husband? He wasn't sure, and he didn't care. For him, she didn't need to thank him for anything.

[eyesanddragons]

Moonwatcher opinion bingo, perhaps?

Oh Moonwatcher...I have Feelings about Moon, a character that is somehow deeper yet also not as deep as they seem and I find that disappointing cause Moon's potential as a character was just dashed over and I will never be over it. I will never be Moon's possible characterization.

Okay so, Moon for Arc 2 - her book, is like one of those love interests who's personalities change suddenly for ship tease, her opinions about things change so suddenly it's genuine whiplash, it's so hard to get a genuine grip on Who She Is, as a character, because Who She Is, is being superseded by the LOVE TRIANGLE, and that sucks because Moon under all that nonsense is a genuinely interesting cast member.

Something I consider Defining about Moon is that she considers Thought over Action, a persons thoughts say more about them than there actions, Moon instead of looking at someone's actions or the environment around them, will go to there thoughts, that's how she found Icicle, Sora's issues, Winter's loyalty and family issues (A THING I WILL GET TO BECAUSE THAT IS ACTUALLY A REALLY IMPORTANT SCENE) she comments on if a dragon's mind has darkness or if it's surrounded with flames yadadadada.

For Moon it's Thought > Action, see Darkstalker as an example of that, Moon has a hard time accepting Darkstalker as a genocidal murderdragon because his intentions, his reasons, his Thought are so good, Moon knows, or thinks, Darkstalker wants to do the best, and that's sort of true but we know that isn't Darkstalker's true reason.

Qibli and Moon have a discussion about this on page 115-116 of Escaping Peril, in it Moon says that Winter won't come back because she's seen inside his head, he's too loyal to his family (A sentence I feel weird about because Winter's homelife SUCKS and I feel like if you spent a second in Winter's mind you'd understand that but I digress) Qibli says "You know Moon sometimes you focus too much on a person's thoughts that you miss what there actually doing, and what they do tells you more about how their like," and Moon is like "That make's no sense." but we know cause of Darkstalker that Qibli will be proven right, Darkstalker's actions say more about him than his thoughts. Same With Winter, but also Qibli, Qibli's actions say more about him than his thoughts, because Qibli's conflict is with his personal identity, so Qibli has emotional stake in this conversation and I'd like to believe this conversation started this insecurity about if Moon would actually love him.

This conversation is weird cause Moon was the one who even suggested the grace period so going back on it is kinda weird but I think this conversation is consistent with what Moon has been doing this entire Arc.

And I wish there was more of this, cause aside from how she interacts with Darkstalker, stuff that doesn't even get addressed, except for that one time Winter calls her out for defending the genocidal murder dragon and get's told he's wrong for doing that which would be genuinely interesting characterization for both Moon and Qibli EXCEPT THERE CONSINDERED RIGHT-

And then Moon ends the arc not with a bang but with a whimper, and I'm upset cause we could have gotten such an interesting moral discussion about Thought vs Action, tying into the pre-existing themes of Control, and Moon could of been the perfect character in that kind of conflict cause she can both see the future and read minds, thus embodying lack of control and the importance of thought, you can even see this in her personality, she's shy and timid and doesn't take initiative because she's worried about how everyone else will think of her, and her having no control over her life mirrors how she has no control over her powers, and then she could of been a DARKSTALKER MIRROR because Darkstalker steals people's agency and judges based on there inherent morality.

Imagine me punching a wall for a moment, because that is what I'm going to do after this is posted. Moon deserved so much better than becoming a bad love interest.

[wingsyliveblogs]

I mentioned way back that Luz would probably be in the Oracle track if she actually had the time to try out and see what she liked the most, and I stand by that statement. Even if they are meant to be easy to use for beginngers, she still managed to use a crystal ball with no training or instruction whatsoever, and I'm sure the ghost summoning appeals to her inner anime fan

Also the oracle track student is named Celine, from Selene goddess of the moon

Hmmm, true. Now that I have the context of what's been revealed about the oracle track in this episode, I do see your point! The oracle track definitely has more range in what it can teach students than I thought it did initially. Plus, it has the Drama factor that I feel isn't an inherent element of most other tracks, and that's definitely something Luz would enjoy.

With the wand from last episode and the crystal balls in this one, I'm noticing that there are actually a lot of magical tools that can be used by people without any innate magical ability, since both responded to Luz without her actually having to do anything other than observe someone else using them first. And taking this into consideration... I'm starting to think that a case can be made for the idea that being allowed to explore different tracks would help Luz way more than it would any other student.

Most students can theoretically learn everything that a given track has to offer them (though in practice, if they're not happy where they are they won't actually learn much, as seen with Willow), but there are probably certain things in each track that Luz can and can't do because she doesn't have her own magic. If she continues to be restricted to a single track, maybe she'd enjoy it more if it were a track that appealed to her personally, but I think that she'd eventually run into an obstacle that she couldn't overcome regardless of which track it was, simply because she doesn't have the ability to do magic in the same way as other witches.

(I think the potions track is technically the least likely to produce such an obstacle, but I've been proven wrong about the limitations of tracks before, so I might very well be wrong here as well.)

I'd say this is another point against Principal Bump's insistence that no student studies multiple tracks. Luz isn't like any other student who's ever attended a magic school before. It's a little bit unfair to apply the same rules to her that every other student can follow but she quite probably can't, even if I understand why he's doing it. He needs to keep up appearances, so Luz needs to conform, and no accommodations can be made for her unique needs as a student. It's understandable, but it still isn't right.

Okay, tangent over. Thanks for the info on the oracle track student's name! Celine... it feels appropriate.

[drowninginredink]

Yes! It's funny, you just actually just spurred a realization right back at me. I always saw QPRs as more of an aroace thing, whereas as an alloaro it was like "okay but we already have a word for the relationship I'd want that more people know. It's friends with benefits." But the kind of friends with benefits relationship I'd want is just another kind of QPR. It's just that the idea that QPRs can't be sexual relationships is very pervasive. Mostly because of the whole fact that people forget alloaros even exist. Which is a wonderful, wonderful thing and definitely not the reason that I figured out I was aro at 15 and then thought I was wrong about it for 6 years because I stopped repressing my sexual attraction and immediately was like "well obviously if I was wrong about being ace, I was also wrong about being aro."

Anyway that was so irrelevant and a massive tangent! I am sleep-deprived (thanks theater) and thus rambly. Point is, I am obsessed with exploring the bounds and intracacies of platonic relationships because that is all I want is a deep, intimate platonic relationship that also involves a lot of sex, and I'm glad other people appreciate it! I truly thought when I wrote that Ian one that everyone would hate me for getting in the way of their precious Ianthony and I'm still just over the moon to have been proven wrong so hard. So you're the best for seeing my vision!

You can't decide if Angela and Damien are romantic or platonic, huh? May I be bold enough to request/suggest/prompt that perhaps it be... queerplatonic????

(I will single-handedly aro this entire fandom, goddammit!)

as someone who is aspec myself (asexual), i have no idea how writing them as a QPR never crossed my mind! i didn’t really understand QPRs before very recently because it never seemed like something that appealed to me personally (i’m also a baby to the ace label and still figuring that side of me out despite feeling comfortable with it) but i have been doing some research and this is 100% something that i will implement into a future damangela piece.

and please keep hitting us with your aromantic ray, your aro pieces are some of my favorites i’ve read in the fandom! i used to be such a gen/other girlie when i was on sitcom AO3 (the proof is in the pudding) and i’d love to help bring some of that to smosh with you.

thank you for the suggestion and helping me re-realize that it truly doesn’t have to be one or the other. you’re the best!

[mashup-writing]

I don't know you yet; Kim Minji (Dreamcatcher)

--------------------------------------------------

Summary: Minji's never met her before, but somehow she finds herself feeling like she should be able to place who this girl she's come across is.

Requested? ☒

"I'll always find you again and again."

Genre: Immortal!Jiu, Immortal!AU, Soulmates!AU

Warnings: None

--------------------٩(◕‿◕｡)۶--------------------

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

Minji looks up from her laptop, pausing her work to meet the stranger's gaze. With a shake of her head, she says that it's unoccupied. The stranger sits down infront of her, adjusting her seat for a moment before settling on a comfortable position.

"Thank you, Miss?"

Something about the way her smile meets her eyes has Minji's body torn between smiling back at the girl or furrowing her eyebrows in Dejá vu. Her hand subconsciously traces the tattoo she's had on the inside of her forearm ever since she was born all those centuries ago, she tries not to think too much about it and opts instead to look into the girl's eyes with a small smile on her lips as she takes the hand offered to her. "Minji, Kim Minji. A pleasure to meet you stranger-whose-name-I-do-not-know."

The small and quiet but genuine laugh has her mind scrambling around once more, she feels like she's heard this laugh before, but she's never met you and she certainly doesn't forget people easily. Her senses fill with memories of you and her eyes start to sting immediately. But with the stranger infront of her she knows she can't stay with you for long, so she lets you tell her you love her with pain in your voice, and she forces herself to come back to the present and to leave you in the past.

Remembering you is easy, it's forgetting that you're gone that's difficult.

"I guess I'll refer to myself as Stranger then-" The modern girl shrugs her shoulders in a playful way, while the older of the two raises an eyebrow in amusement. "I'm a senior student from the university just a block over. Correct me if I'm wrong in assuming, but you look like a student too, which course are you taking if you don't mind me asking?" Minji's eyes widen with admiration at the stranger's words, she actually wanted to apply for that university just to get a degree in arts because she's been into it these past fifty years. But she figured that since she just got her degree in entrepreneurship seven years ago, she can wait for a bit and gather her strength before heading back into the hell that is university.

"That's impressive! From what I've heard, it's not an easy school at all." She turns her laptop off, opting for a conversation with the stranger that just effortlessly holds her attention. "To disprove your assumption though, I'm not a student anymore. I work for a small but well off company here in the city. Pretty lucky to be allowed to do so outside of an office too! I'd go crazy if I had to sit in the same place, for a majority of the week." She adds a mock shudder to add to the effect, and the girl seated across her agrees with a gentle smile on her lips.i

They talk like they've known each other for lifetimes, the conversation flowing and ebbing like waves between the moon's and the Earth's gravities on a calm and quiet night.

Minji learns that the stranger is taking astronomy, and the stranger learns that Minji likes helping out at animal shelters. The stranger says that Minji's eyes look like that of a wizened adventurer's, and Minji says that the stranger's presence is like a light to a moth.

Time slips their attention like sand slips through the space between the fingers of a hand. They talk for what felt like a couple of minutes for them, but then again time flies when you're having fun.

A statement proven true when the stranger's phone alarm rings and she sighs in disappointment. She tells Minji that class will be starting in fifteen minutes and she has to go if she hopes to make it back in time, the older of the two understands. She smiles at the girl, offering her number because the stranger now feels like a newly made friend. The stranger accepts and tells her friend that she's in the same place, same time everyday except for the weekends.

Minji says that she'll be sure to be there as often as she can, and once again the stranger's smile reaches her eyes, and once again Minji's mind scrambles to find out why that smile feels as familiar as the back of her hand. She stands up when the stranger does, this time being the one to offer her hand in a handshake, the girl accepts and with a strong, firm shke, she makes her way from infront of Minji, to the exit of the shop located far behind her.

Brown eyes follow the figure of a strange new friend and as the stranger walks away, her eyes finally take notice of how the shop seems to have a very slow day, and as her friend's hand comes up to push the door open, Minji calls out.

The stranger turns around.

"Why'd you sit with me?" she asks as she gestures to all of the empty tables and chairs of the shop.

The stranger blinks at her owlishly, once, then twice, before a smile pulls at her lips once more. "I felt like I knew you, even when I didn't. So I just went for it." She shrugs her shoulders in a nonchalant manner, bids Minji a casual goodbye and makes her way out the door.

Minji feels like she's been punched in the gut, and slowly she sinks back down in her seat, one hand subconsciously moving to her forearm where the tattoo lies on her skin beneath the sleeve of her shirt while her mind struggles to decide if whether that was just a coincidence or if once again she's being presented another chance by the universe.

She's scared, all the other times she's found you, heard you utter the words tattooed on her skin over and over and over again in the course of a hundred lifetimes, over and over again she sees how the universe is kind, but the people are cruel- and she's left with memories of how the love between the two of you had never ended happily.

Minji's eyes look to the screen on her phone, and her eyes sting with tears again, but this time she doesn't bother to try and hold it back. As she sees the name that's been newly added to her contacts list- Suddenly the familiarity in your eyes and your habits all make sense. She's never met you in person in this life before, but she's met your soul in countless other forms you've taken.

Y/N L/N

The soul whose face changes every single life, but whose love stays as strong and as devoted every single time.

You've found your way to each other once again, and Minji can't help but to hope.

Perhaps now that the people are changing, things will turn out happily for the both of you this time around.

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A/N: I'm a sucker for this trope goddamn it!