#if we're keeping with the origins of his name I imagine he might live in a modified shipping container

[consolecadet]

Here's the thing. Pacer Stacktrain is the name of a shipping and logistics company - they move shipping containers and goods by truck, train, boat, etc. But I really want Pacer Stacktrain to be the name of, like, a minor character in a science fiction story.

[bowtiepastabitch]

Here's the deal on the Good Omens limbo situation. My optimistic and analytic two cents, if you will.

If we look at this through a capitalistic lens, the chances of the show being cancelled are pretty slim at the moment. Think for a moment about the top three amazon prime originals that you pay/keep the platform for. Can you think of three? I honestly can't, not off the top of my head. I know I'm not really the target audience for streaming services, since I don't watch a lot of new shows, but still. I can name plenty of netflix shows I like/might watch. That's why Netflix can cancel anything and everything so easy. They don't have just one or two fandom cash cows.

Amazon, though, doesn't have a lot. Here's a list of all their original shows. I only even recognize 8 titles. I've only actually watched 2. Plus, Good Omens is currently one of the biggest fandoms in fandom right now, with Aziracrow being the top ship on ao3 for the Jan-Dec 2023 wrap up and again on the Summer 2024 leaderboard, as well as the top ship on tumblr and Good Omens as the top tv show (plus second overall after Artists on Tumblr) for 2023. We're a big deal, and I'd bet money that they're betting money on us. I also lowkey think we're the reason Amazon is spending money on a british miniseries starring Michael Sheen tbh but that's just speculation. The show has also won a slew of awards, the same of which cannot, to my knowledge, be said of many of their other properties.

So let's talk production changes; I think there's a good chance they're doing this for the same reason. Our fandom had unique access to the creator via tumblr, and a majority of the conversation around the allegations of SA against Gaiman were and are taking place in fandom spaces. There have been petitions to fire him from the show and conversations (both productive and otherwise) about the duties of fandom when engaging with content connected to problematic individuals. Meanwhile, Gaiman has effectively dissappeared from the internet. Additionally, the video and threads sharing that Terry Pratchett wrote most of the original book have been making the rounds here and I think on the bird app(?). All that to say, if they're betting on us they want to make us happy and keep their good PR. I don't ever expect a major corporation to make a "good" decision, but they will always make the profitable one.

There is, of course, also the matter of the Pratchett estate and the other major players in the matter: the actors, directors, and creative team. These are forces at play with the power to block or stall productivity and profit for Amazon through copyright and labor power. I can imagine there's conversations happening backstage that we don't know about as well as what we see in headlines.

Ultimately, I think the biggest risk to season 3 is unfortunately going to be Neil Gaiman himself and how he responds to the situation at hand. If he steps back quietly, we're living in our best case scenario and everything moves forward as much according to plan as can be expected with at least this small justice being served. I see a hissy fit on his end as the greatest potential wrench in proceedings, but that would exacerbate the (currently quiet in the mainstream) bad PR for him so I give it low odds.

All that to say. From a pragmatic viewpoint, Amazon's best interest seems to be entirely tied to ours as a fandom, and I anticipate Season 3 being made and most likely being only minorly delayed. Either way. What happens behind the scenes in corporate office buildings between rich white men is entirely out of my and your control. I know how huge anxiety can get when it relates to a special interest or a community that has a huge role in your life, and whatever happens we're in this together as a fandom. It's going to be alright. Take a deep breath and maybe get some water. Whatever happens, we're in this together as a fandom, and at least it won't be the end of the world;)

[theunsweetenedtruth]

Promises (7)

Pairing: Erik Stevens x Ada Moore (OC)

AN: Originally written in 2018

Warnings: The n word because we're black over here and Erik is annoying.

The change in Erik was evident after the doctor's appointment.

Packages arrived the next week, taking up space in the living room but Ada ignored them in favor of retreating to her room. She was tired and hadn't been sleeping well. It might've had something to do with her baby father sleeping on her couch. 

She didn't expect his presence to affect her so much but she'd forgotten how much Erik could occupy a space, not in a messy way, but in a "you're gonna remember I'm here" way. It was hard to ignore him when he was driving her to and from work, taking her to run errands, paying for shit. He was integrated himself back into her life at a pace she wasn't ready for. But she didn't mind it either. She wasn't used to him being around so long; by this time, Erik would be preparing to head out on another mission but it seemed that he was making himself comfortable. Except there was no way he was. Her couch was meant for sitting and napping, not for full on sleeping. 

Ada thought about inviting him in the bed with her but didn't want to risk succumbing to her hormones. She'd also forgotten how little clothes Erik wore on a regular basis. No shirt, muscles bulging, gray sweatpants hanging low on his hips, dick swinging freely. And when he was working, he'd pull out his gold rimmed glasses. Ada has to lock herself in her room before she threw herself across his lap presenting herself to him like a cat in heat. But it's not like you could get pregnant, her inner voice pleaded for her to give in. 

Shut up, hoe. Ada rubbed her temples as she sat on the bed. Her head hurt and she was hungry but she was hiding in her room from the sexual demon that was Erik. But this was her house. So fuck that. 

She got up and opened the door. The scene in her living room was worst than she imagined and she stopped in her tracks. Erik was sprawled on her couch, no shirt, gray sweatpants, bulge visible through the fabric. Reading a baby book. She could see from her angle in the doorway that he was reading What to Expect When You're Expecting, Ada's own unopened copy calling to her from her nightstand. Every time she found the time to open it, she fell asleep before getting through the first page. Sitting on the end table behind him was another stack of books. She crossed the room to look at the titles.

Babywise: Giving your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep; 100 Baby Names; The Expectant Father; Dad's Guide to Pregnancy for Dummies; and How Not to Fuck Them Up filled out the stack and Ada laughed at the last one. Typical Erik. 

"Did you know she's probably in there sucking her thumb right now?" Erik's voice startled her. "We'll have to stop that shit immediately or else she'll be doing it until she's an adult." 

Ada blinked at him. Where was the man who could barely look at her bump? "Where did you get all these books?"

Erik looked at her bashfully. "Amazon. Figured she's on her way. Might as well know how to take care of her."

Ada sat next to him. "Yeah I use this app to keep up with what she's doing but I haven't been able to read any books. I don't even have a name for her." Ada laughed sardonically. "I'm actually really scared." 

Erik's hand snaked over hers. When she didn't pull away, he linked his fingers with hers. Well I'm here now and we gon figure this shit out together."  Her newfound independence wanted to fight at this but Ada was weary. She was glad he was here, glad she had someone to lean on. So she did, leaning into his side. He wrapped his arm around her, pressing a kiss to her hair. 

Over the few days, Erik was on ten when Ada wanted him to be a solid three point five seven. If he wasn't spewing out random facts about the baby from his baby books, he was now taking an active roll in her pregnancy. He must've been looking at things on google about pregnancy; he started taking her on walks around the neighborhood after dinner. 

"You been complaining about heartburn," he said, slapping her hands out the way and zipping up his her sweater himself. "You need to stop going to sleep right after you eat." He bent down to help her put her shoes on. "Plus walking is supposed to help with making birth easier." He tugged her good over her head, careful not to mess up her hair. "I need that shit to go smoothly so yo ass not breaking my hand all night." 

Ada thought about asking him why he expected to be in the room with her but decided not to. She really couldn't imagine going through it alone but she didn't want him to see her like that. She still wanted him to find her sexy after giving birth. Even if they weren't like that, she didn't want him to be scarred after seeing her give birth to his baby. But she knew there was no way she could ask him to wait in the waiting room with the way he was acting. He was probably going to hold the doctor hostage in the hospital room until she gave birth. 

After walking one evening, Ada stood in front of the full length mirror in her bedroom in just her bra and panties. Her hands trailed over her bump reverently. She still couldn't believe this was her body. She didn't have that much time to go. She felt eyes on her and met Erik's through the cracked open door. She swallowed around the lump in her throat at the look in his eyes. They were dark with arousal and she unconsciously trailed her gaze over his body. He was dressed still from their walk but still in his sweats. She could see his dick rising at her attention and she licked her lips... 

Erik cleared his throat and her eyes snapped up to his. He raised an eyebrow but she turned back to the mirror. "I'm getting a few stretch marks." She concentrated on the new faint lines in an effort to calm the throbbing in her lower region. 

"I'm surprised you don't have more with that big belly." His voice was closer as he came up behind her in the mirror. She could feel the heat of his body against her back. She watched him through the mirror, saw him clench his fists, his hesitation, before he slid his hands around her waist to press to her stomach. The skin to skin contact was jarring for her; there was an intimacy to his actions, him caressing the bare skin of her belly. He buried his face into her neck and his breaths tickled her neck. They stood there like that for a while, even the baby was still in the moment. When he pulled away, Ada held her breath until he walked away and shut the door behind him. 

The next morning, there was a bottle of argon oil on her nightstand. 

Another night found them sprawled on opposite end a of the couch, Ada's feet resting in Erik's lap while he rubbed them for her. She was reading names from a new baby names book. Erik has hated all the names in the other one. Emma and Jessica wasn't gonna cut it for his baby girl. 

"What about Zuri?"

Erik made a face. "Absolutely not." Ada looked at him questioningly before rolling her eyes. 

"Amara?" 

"Eh." 

"Amaya?" No response. "Makena?" Again no response. She looked up from the book. "Look. We need a name." Erik continues rubbing her feet, staring intensely at her white toes. "I can pick a name without you if you don't want to do this?"

Erik kissed his teeth. "Just keep going. I'll know it when I hear it." 

Ada sighed. "Nala?"  "Too Lion King." She snorted. 

"I didn't even think about that. Nia?" 

"Nah." 

"Nuru? It means filled with light." She thought maybe telling him the meanings would stir something in him. 

He hummed, a good sign, so Ada used the colorful tabs she had to mark the name and page. 

As she flipped through the pages, another name caught her eye. "Hey what about Sade? It means 'honor bestows a crown'? I think it's appropriate since her daddy's a prince." 

Erik looked at her finally. "Sade," he tested. "Sade Isabella? For your grandma?"

Tears came to her eyes. Ada wished her grandmother could meet her. "Yeah that sounds great." 

"Ada," Erik's voice woke her up out of her sleep and she opened bleary eyes to peer at him. 

"Wha izit 'rik?" She mumbled. It had been a long day at the daycare and at thirty-nine weeks, Ada was getting too big to be running after all the kids there. 

"Come on, we're gonna do a test drive to the hospital."

Ada thought she might have misheard him before grabbing her phone from the nightstand. "Nigga. It's two thirty in the morning. Now isn't the time to be having drills and shit." 

Erik kissed his teeth. He was gonna stop that shit before she gave him something to kiss his teeth over. "The baby could come at any moment. Better for us to practice than to be struggling to figure out the best route the day of." Ada whined. "Come on Ada." He pulled her to sit up, tugging her coat around her, pulling her arms through the sleeves. By the time he kneeled to put her shoes on, Ada was more awake and rubbing her eyes to clear the fog. 

Erik stopped to pick up a bag tucked into the front hall closet. "What's in the bag?" 

"It's your hospital bag." Ada looked at the bag. It was a black duffle, bulging with things. She knew his worried ass overpacked but she was too tired to fight him on it. She hadn't started to pack for herself so she might as well use his bag as a blueprint. She'd sift through it and eliminate the unnecessary items later.

He helped her gingerly down the stairs—the elevator moved too slow for his liking—before he tucked her carefully into the passenger seat of a car she'd never seen before. She looked at him questioningly. 

Erik looked shy. "I can't carry a car seat or stroller in the Porsche." Ada turned to look into the back and sure enough there was a backward facing car seat in the center seat—the safest place according to his best friend, Google—and a mirror attached to the headrest. She knew if she looked in the trunk, she'd find a matching stroller. 

Ada turned back to him. "Is this what you do when I'm at work? When did you get this?" 

Erik began driving, navigating the larger vehicle just as well as he did his old car. "I picked it out and had someone pick it up when it was tricked out the way I wanted. They dropped it off here for me." Ada just shook her head and settled in for the fifteen minute drive to hospital. 

When they got back home, Ada felt almost dead on her feet, grateful Erik had pulled this shit on a weekend. She watched him start settling in on the couch but it didn't feel right to her. She wanted him next to her in bed. She was tired of fighting herself when she just wanted to be up under him. 

"You need something baby girl?" 

"You." He blinked a few times. "I mean. The couch isn't that comfortable. You could come in the bed if you want." She was nervous. 

Erik surprised her. After staring at her for a few beats too long, he rose to his feet, gesturing for her to proceed him in the room. The room felt smaller with him in it and she absently noted they still had their respective sides of the bed. Erik's eyes stayed on hers as he undressed, pulling his jacket off and his shirt over his head in a way that was so familiar to Ada. She started to follow suit, unzipping her coat and stepping out of her shoes. She was already in her pajamas, not having gotten properly dressed for their excursion. Erik maintained eye contact as he untied the string of his sweatpants and dropping them. Ada quickly averted her eyes, worried that he going without draws again. 

She snuck a peek. Boxer briefs. Not that much better. 

Ada crawled under the sheets laying on her back and feeling Erik do the same. The air was heavy between them. This was not what she pictured when she invited him in her bed. Okay. She wasn't ready for what she'd imagined but she still expected more than the uncomfortable feeling swirling in the air. 

"Come here," Erik's voice rumbled next to her before he shifted her into a position they were familiar with. He was the big spoon, the lines of his body pressed into her back, his arm under her head and his other arm sling across her hips. Ada was content, beginning to drift off when she felt his calloused hand shove her sleep shirt up. He settled his hand on the bare skin of her belly, rubbing. Sade nudged back before settling on the side where her daddy's hand was. Ada fell into a deep sleep after that.

[correctproseka]

OKAY SO-

firstly in my head an is a demiboy, uses mostly he/him but will also use they/them too. autistic, dyslexic and a dash of cptsd

i can also see him as being therian (basically means you identify as something nonhuman) but i think hed be a wolf specifically. hed get his canines sharpened into fangs, hed keep his nails long and pointed, might even get wolf eye contacts, i can see him training his hearing and sense of smell to be more wolf like.

he has top surgery scars but theyre covered with this cool snake tattoo (its two snakes, a black one with a cerulean blue eyes, its tail starts on his right, under his arm and its head ends on his left pec, the left snake is cerulean blue with a black eye, it mirrors the right snake starting on his left under his arm and ending on his right. the two snakes cross in the center of his chest like an X, their tongues are both out and pointed towards his nipples)

he has a few other tattoos and piercings; 14mm gauges in both ears, with his left ear also having an industrial, orbital and forward helix piercings, his right ear has double helix, rook, daith and snug piercings. got a dermal stud in the corner of his left eye, a stud piercing on the right side of his nose, tongue and belly pierced with a piercing on each side of his hip down by his waist. aside from the top surgery tattoo i also imagine him with a medusa head on the back of his right shoulder, a grey wolf with a glare in its eyes and a bone in its mouth on his right thigh, on his left thigh is an ocean blue medium sized star with two smaller stars next to it one of the smaller stars is hot pink while the other is a faded milky pink, medium sized VBS logo on his back and a crescent moon on his left bicep

married kohane and took her last name and instead changed his name to Shirai Azusawa but he still feels connected to the name 'an' so while most people call him shirai now he wont make a big deal out of it if someone does call him 'an'

i can see him keeping his hair the same length, he voice trained, mostly in singing, his speaking voice is now mostly a more neutral to masc leaning version of his original voice but will sometimes play around and make it deeper. has gotten more comfy with taking charge and being in control but still has moments like the one in the comic panel where hes telling akito to tuck in his shirt or something

in a poly with kohane, mizuki and mafuyu but lives with just kohane (the pink stars in one of his tattoos represents hane and amia, yuki is new to the poly)

thats all the fun facts i can remember, questions and comments appreciated (im a writer so i eat up feedback)

an-on

This is so detailed, I love it! Also I love the fangs idea. More people should have fangs, fangs are great.

I can see him being the crush of some girls on vivid street easily and An is just like "i am married"

Kohane: technically no, we're not.

Ken, confused bc An didn't keep his surname but DID change his name to Shirai so he technically still have the surname.

[lord-emerson]

[And since we're on the topic of both Oswald and his father being trans men... I just love the idea that Oswald has these previously unexamined memories from his childhood? Until one day he's putting on his gentleman's corset and binding his breasts and suddenly remembers the time he saw his father doing something similar. Now he suddenly understands what it meant and he damn near breaks down into tears with the realisation. What's even more is that before the Nemesis conclusion he couldn't even be sure, like he could've just misremembered. Or maybe him and his father were even more alike than he originally thought.

I think they might even have the same less-than-ideal start to their transition journey, where they both started cross-dressing for societal reasons. Oswald's father did it because he thought it would make it easier to provide for his child in a new country. Oswald himself stole the identity of a university student in order to be able to study Law on the Surface and get his father out of New Newgate. I can imagine that for Oswald's father, the new persona he adopted in England was actually something he'd been dreaming about for a long time. Meanwhile Oswald just decided to seize the opportunity and steal a dead university student's name and identity, and only afterwards did he realise that living as a man makes him feel a lot more happy and content than living as a girl ever did. He still keeps the nickname of his deadname, the famous J. in his name as a tribute to his father, though.]

[tokiro07]

Marital Master Asumi ch.7 thoughts

[Inferiority Complex]

I said last week that Kazuro's looking out for Asumi in a roundabout, messed up way, and while I still think that's true, this chapter makes it clear that his method is further informed, colored and messed up by virtue of the betrayal he feels from Asumi

I had gotten the impression that Kazuro left because he lost faith in their grandfather's ability to teach him martial arts any further, as his teachings weren't enough to save their father, but I hadn't considered that there was a stretch of time between their father's death and Kazuro's departure. It probably wasn't very long, but it was clearly enough for Kazuro to develop a bit of a complex about it

The look of fear on their grandfather's face when he saw all of Kazuro's accumulated black belts, the realization that he was stuck on a loop and slipping further and further into dementia; it'd be hard on anyone I imagine, but in a way it'd be easier on him, who can forget that revelation and won't have to live with the knowledge of it, than it would be for Kazuro, who would have to see that face again and again, all the while being told he isn't good enough right after being praised for his accomplishments

What's even worse is that their grandfather would be seeing what must look like absolutely explosive growth, thinking that Kazuro is an incredible genius when in fact he's merely forgotten untold swathes of his own life and missed every step that his grandson has taken. No wonder he keeps giving him the belts when he normally wouldn't bother, he's seeing exponential growth on a scale he couldn't have ever fathomed before

Their grandfather also keeps saying that he's the strongest, but we've never been given any indication that he was able to attain any level of fame or infamy with his strength. Maybe he was a big name and left it all behind and we just haven't been told yet, but with Kazuro's statement of "who wants to be a tough nobody," I think we have to assume that their grandfather never really did anything with his skills, that he just practiced for the sake of practicing

Philosophically, this does pose the question of whether acquiring a skill really needs to be "useful," as if their grandfather was happy, should it matter if his talents brought in any money? In Kazuro's case, though, skill can't be the goal in and of itself, he can't be satisfied just knowing that he's strong, he needs others to know it too. Perhaps it's because he spent so much time being told that he was still a beginner that he now feels he needs someone to tell him he's a master, but the irony is that the one person who he wants to hear it from is the one person who absolutely can't tell him. Any ranks or titles he achieves will likely be hollow for him, because to his grandfather, he's always going to be that white belt

Asumi is on the complete opposite end of that spectrum, of course. At first he avoided MMA because he thought that no matter what, it couldn't be useful to him; no amount of strength would allow him to live a longer, happier life, so his time would be better served helping people like his grandfather. Whether or not he continues down that path we likely won't see for years to come (if this manga goes that long, of course), but now that he's decided that MMA does have value for him, he's going to start approaching his brother's end of the spectrum. The question, though, is if he'll ever reach it or end up in a different quadrant of it entirely; he was originally considering getting into MMA because he thought it might be a fun way to spend his time and get closer to the girl he likes, but now it has the more concrete, clearly defined goal of defeating his brother and getting him to take on a request. I get the feeling it won't actually be "visit grandpa," but we're definitely too early to make a solid guess what it would be other than that

I do really appreciate that Asumi is transitioning from the idea of a C-average life to having his cake and eating it too; he's no longer content with coasting through life, he now actually wants something that should hopefully bring him fulfillment. Again, what exactly that is we'll have to wait and see, but I'm glad that Asumi isn't continuing to be resistant to the idea of his own autonomy and happiness

Okiba crying over Asumi also helps establish their dynamic really well, making it very clear how invested in each other they are beyond just having someone to spar with or getting to spend time with a cute girl. I think I've said it before, but seeing how they develop in tandem with each other is easily the part I'm most excited to see

I'm not sure if we've officially finished the prologue or not, but I definitely think we've reached the end of the first "arc," as Asumi has gone through a notable character change that's setting up the events of the rest of the series. Watching his growth for the last couple of months has more than proven that this is definitely a series that was worth investing time to do my reviews for

[bookshelf-in-progress]

If I were to rework A Beautiful Tomorrow (my long-abandoned Ruritanian-ish fantasy) into a coherent, sensible grown-up story, here's what I might do.

Drop the war plotline. I never had a great handle on the politics behind it, so the themes of rebuilding after war never really emerged.

Make the world based more upon 1830s/'40s Europe. The original had hinted at a time period near that, but stayed in ahistorical Austenish History Land. Choosing this specific time period lets me make use of the wonderfully hideous Early Victorian fashions I'm coming to love, but more importantly, the revolutions of 1848 provide a political landscape that's much more interesting to current me than the civil war of the original. Watching my young royals deal with rising tensions rather than the fallout from an already finished war provides much better plot fodder.

Despite the fact that I keep imagining my characters in cold climate settings, I'm too attached to the characters under these names to make Alsperra anything other than Fantasy Italy. But fortunately, Italy of this time period offers another source of potential inspiration--we're starting to see rumbles of Italian Unification. So in this structure, Alsperra is one of several small kingdoms with a proud history of independence, but there's a growing movement to unify these kingdoms under one ruler to prevent their absorption by larger empires. Which could be problematic for our young king.

This is still very much fantasy, though, so the history is loose inspiration rather than a restriction on the story.

(This is just Letzenstein Chronicles + Queen's Thief, but I can't let myself worry too much about originality).

There's no war to make Alessandro and Floriano grow up and grow closer, so their relationship is more strained. Sandro's absorbed in his studies and his duties. Flori is much more of a party prince (and I'd probably have to show some of his wildness rather than just claim it happened). But there's still a core of brotherly trust between the two of them that keeps them working as allies instead of enemies when their lives go haywire.

I've gotten rid of the military experience, so there's nothing to show that Flori has any thread of responsibility in him. It's possible he has a bit of a Prince Hal thing going on--he played up his wildness in a desperate bid to differentiate himself from his perfect genius brother and to make people underestimate him, so when he's crowned, it's not quite as huge of an adjustment as people expect.

Sandro's blindness can't be a war injury anymore, so what causes it? My instinct says assassination attempt. An act of sabotage caused an accident that killed his father and injured him badly. Which makes his loss much more shocking. Instead of getting to adjust to his blindness before his father dies, Sandro now wakes up from near-death to find out that he's blind and they've already crowned his brother. (The political turmoil surrounding the assassination--and some scheming by enemies in the court--pushed them to declare Flori king immediately rather than wait for Sandro's recovery).

This could cause some problems with Sandro's plot--he now has to focus on recovery instead of being there to help Flori. But that also introduces plot possibilities of Flori getting influenced by someone else before Sandro can step in, and thus conflict.

Lucia is still there as their much-younger sister. Only now instead of the war preventing her from knowing her brothers, it's just that they're much older and male and there's not much room for her in their lives. Until Sandro's accident, when she suddenly becomes valuable because she's the only family member who has time for Sandro. She leaps at the opportunity to be useful, becoming a mini-nurse for Sandro and a huge part of his recovery.

Sandro's shocked to learn that this person he thought of as little more than a toddler is actually an almost-woman with a brain and a heart and a personality. He's grateful for her help, and after he recovers enough to rejoin normal life, he decides to repay her with the greatest gift he can think of--an excellent education.

Which is where Daniela comes in. She's still a teacher at this world's most prestigious girl's school. Only now instead of the war keeping her away from Alsperra, she chose to stay and teach in Corlant. She was an awkward child who was badly bullied, so Alsperra is associated with her unhappy childhood, and she'd much prefer to stay where she feels confident and appreciated. But the brother of a king requires a teacher for his sister, he insists the teacher has to come to them, and since Daniela's actually Alsperran, she's the only choice.

I think I'll keep Daniela's noble status. It makes her teaching more shameful--which suggests an interesting independent streak that doesn't care about flaunting society's rules when it really matters to her. And since she otherwise really, really cares what people think about her, the contradiction adds layers.

Perhaps she got away with staying in Corlant to teach by emphasizing that she's valuable to the Countess, who is a Prominent Figure, and so working with her isn't labor, it's Glorious Public Service that will shape history. So when the Countess requires her to return to Alsperra, she has no grounds to refuse.

I considered dropping the Ugly Duckling side of Daniela's backstory, but if I play it right, it could still work. It adds tension to her character. She comes back to Alsperra fully believing that she's plain at best, and anyone in Corlant who said otherwise was just being polite and/or thought she was pretty because she looked exotic. (Working in a girl's school doesn't offer much opportunity for interaction with men.) So she's bowled over to find out that, no, she is objectively stunning and it causes problems.

Bringing a beauty queen into the household of a king infamous for his wild ways is a recipe for political disaster. But Sandro is blind and literally can't see what all the fuss is about--she's the best teacher there is, which is what Lucia deserves, and Flori's just going to have to deal with it.

It's tempting to set up a love triangle between the brothers. But given Flori's charm and reputation, it's much better for he and Daniela to be friendly with each other, but instantly understand that they're not each other's type and never have a spark of anything that goes beyond the platonic.

I'm not sure what I'd do with Daniela's family. Under the new circumstances, she's probably not as close to her father. It's not a bad relationship--he did let her teach instead of come back to get married off--but she's much more attached to the Countess as a parental figure than to him.

I'd have him involved in politics, which would help tie Daniela to the actual plot rather than trapping her in a Hallmark romance. If he's involved with villains, it probably involves him being taken advantage of by unscrupulous characters.

I'd like her to have sisters, but I'm not sure how relevant they'd be to the story. If they exist, they're probably pushing for Daniela to give up teaching and get married.

I would like to keep the second sister's love interest. In the original, he had ties to the villains on the other side of the war, but was really a good guy, and had to navigate other people's distrust. Here, I'm thinking his father spearheads the Unification Movement, and he's trying to get Flori onboard. Sandro despises him--he can't help noticing his father is putting himself forward as potential leader, and a local conqueror isn't much better than a foreign one--but despite their differing politics, the son turns out to be a trustworthy guy.

I'd also really want to expand the character of Flori and Sandro's mother--the dowager queen. In the original, she was a bit of background fluff, but I threw in one scene hinting at a shrewder mind than people expected. She could be an interesting mix between Flori and Daniela--someone who also lets a friendly, carefree nature mask a sharp mind (who may have taught Flori how to do it) but in a way that's distinctly feminine. She's another source of support for Flori and she could interact with the politics here in intriguing (maybe even mildly villainous/antagonistic?) ways that could elevate the story.

Overall plot would involve Flori and Sandro navigating rising unrest among the people, rumors of invasion from greater powers, and the related unification movement, with Daniela getting caught up in it all (people from various sides probably try to recruit her help for their causes). The most concrete element would probably involve dealing with danger from the person/group that attempted to assassinate Alessandro.

Would the assassination danger be believable, given that they've already waited (a minimum of) several months for Sandro to recover?

Maybe it's that they thought Sandro's blindness neutralized him as a political player, and Flori could be easily manipulated. But Sandro is getting involved in politics again, and Flori's much smarter and less gullible than they expected, so their enemies are now motivated to take both of them down for good.

Even with this expanded background, I'm not sure how realistic it is to have Daniela interact so closely with them when she's just an employee. It still smacks of Hallmark. Is it possible to execute this in a way that elevates the overdone idea?

I suppose her noble background comes in handy--you can't just shove her off with the servants, so propriety requires them to include her in dinners and things. Sandro's beyond worrying about the intricacies of class distinctions and treats her as a fellow intellectual. Flori's got to be a lot more careful, but he's still friendly, and the resulting rumors offer plot fodder. And anyway there's potential for layers and details that take this beyond Hallmark.

Not that I'd necessarily do anything with this. But I've been wishing I could write longer character-based works for a long time, and this old idea has much more life in it than I'd assumed. I'd welcome feedback.

[onipanda379]

🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊🖊 neri~

gushin' about ocs!

Oh my sweet boy Neri. I might as well go into a little biography, since his "canon" self is a little different from his XIV version that I've been RPing for the last few years. Gonna put it under a readmore for length. And it's probably gonna be kinda long.

A quick bio:

Name: Nerium Oleander (named for the flower) Age: between 19-21 Birthday: Sept 9th Height: 5' 2" Personality: Very sweet and caring. He can be really shy but once he' gets to know someone he's a little more outgoing. Though always remains hesitant in befriending people. Hobbies: Gardening, drawing, rearing animals (a real farmer type)

I'll share a little about his creation then give a sort of abridged biography of where and what he is now.

He was originally conceived as a "Nobbodysona". That's more or less what it sounds like. A persona of myself, but as a Nobody from Kingdom Hearts. Then later developed into a proper Kingdom Hearts OC. He was designed to be a foil to Marluxia and would eventually take his place after Marluxia dies.

His overall theme was a sunflower samurai. And his "element" was poison. He'd be a more defensive type that inflicts status ailments instead of using brute force. His background was kind of really meh and I didn't put a lot of work into it, so I doin't entirely remember what I had. It was something about him looking for a "cure" for a heart condition that only seemed to stop when he became a Nobody.

His overall design was created with XIV, so his hairstyle may look familiar from that. Though at this point he hasn't been developed that far. And even after he's been turned into an "original verse" oc, he keeps that same hairstyle. But with some modifications. It's sort of his trademark and it's gonna be real hard to not draw him with it.

Alright, so THEN he becomes an XIV oc, but I won't go into super detail, since his early iterations were never consistent, and ultimately isn't all that different from what he is now. So I'll just hop straight into Tellus Neri.

Tellus being the name of the world he's from, and also the name I use for the verse as a whole. It's a world where magic is common place. Except for humans, who can't wield magic but are proficient in all things science and engineering. But naturally, there isn't harmony. The Elf King who runs a massive empire sees their developments as a threat and works to eradicate them all.

And now we're where Neri comes in. His general story and placement is in a more modern era in this world. A sort of DnD version of the 1920s. Where it's illegal to drink and humans struggle for equality. You know, the things we dealt with before! (And the Fae are treated as lesser beings too, but for very different reasons.)

Anyway, now here's the thing about Neri. He's half human and half fae. "The fae" is just a very general blanket term for beings that aren't purely human or purely elf. Generally the two races can't reproduce successfully. And most other types of fae like fairies, trolls, or anything that doesn't quite look elven or human are treated like lesser beings. Like they aren't sentient. Most are, but most also just don't fit into the social norms.

But that is the general vibe of the era.

I will note that this part has mentions of abuse.

Neri lives on a ranch that (maybe ironically) produces magical creatures as livestock. But they aren't purebred at all. So like, imagine a cow but it has a magical ability to produce milk all the time. Creature like that. OR, these creatures go to slaughter to be used in mass produced spells and potions. Kinda like horses are for glue. But unicorns for their healing... glue.

Neri's story is pretty sad and terrible. Despite his rather kind personality. While he doesn't find out till much later, he was kidnapped form his parents as a young child. By his own half-brother that despised him for being half-fae. His brother being human. His brother actively fed Neri lies that his parents hated him and sent him away.

And his brother is a massive hypocrite. Despite hating magic, he uses it to erase their parents memories of Neri. And he also runs the ranch. Taking a sick sort of pleasure in raising these animals just for them to be killed off. He also collects significant parts of magical creatures like trophies. Like unicorn horns or fairy wings.

But it's not all despair all the time.

Neri meets his love while suffering at the ranch. He meets Julian. A boy his age who is also not quite human or fae. But also not really a real halfling either. Julian is from a long line of warriors that bond with the spirits and gain power from it. His family in particular are... well, unicorns. The real deal ones.

Though unicorns aren't quite the delicate creatures portrayed in other media. These unicorns are hardened warriors that were once human, but out of desperation sought out a way to survive their near extinction. The gist of it is, each child of age go through a trial that grants them the ability to turn into a unicorn. It fundamentally changes them. Making them no longer true human. And thus are counted among the classification of fae.

He's also kept as a prisoner. He and Neri bond and eventually find a way out. Though it's not easy. Neri ends up having to kill his brother in order for the suffering to really stop. And to break the spells set upon them to keep them inline. He'll free both himself, Julian, and to Neri's shock, Julian's father.

Julian's father was basically kept as a stud horse. Forced to be stuck in his unicorn form to create these lesser hybrids with normal horses. It's all incredibly fuck up.

And that's basically it for now.

Eventually I will write out their story, even if it's just an entry on ao3. Til then, I will flesh out more on what will happen to them.

Though I did kind of plot out a sort of sequel story to this, where Neri is ripped form his happy life. Everyone's memories seem to be erased of Him. Including Julian and their daughter. And seemingly been replaced with a woman that looks very similar to him.

She basically used Neri's bother's remnant spells and his undying hatred to cast the spell. But I haven't really decided if I want to keep that story or just keep it to myself for my own joy.

[dualumina]

Not to be all "he's just like me fr fr" but the more we hear Alex talk about Bill the more we can't help but seriously consider the possibility that Alex is plural and Bill is a headmate.

Like, it's already one thing that a lot of creators, and especially writers, will have their characters stick around in their heads long enough for the characters to gain sentience, but Alex has been purposely hinting at the idea that "Bill is real and sometimes Bill controls me."

There was a Film Theory episode that touched on the subject. Though they didn't mention plurality in that episode, more so going with the idea that "Bill canonically survived and is using other creatures as hosts." It's important to note that that episode came out before The Book of Bill, so it wasn't known at the time that Bill was, in universe, chilling in therapy.

Now we're not saying that Bill, the one that theoretically is a headmate, is as evil as the Bill in Gravity Falls. It could very well be that Alex lets Bill control him sometimes for fun or other purposes. It could also be that sometimes Bill and Alex randomly switch sometimes. Both can happen for plural systems, with neither being inherently bad.

Hilariously, one of the big, more recent, clues that led us into thinking Bill was a headmate was the one image of Bill pointing to the Bill humansona labelled as "imposter" that was in the book.

Imagine, even just for a moment, that you're Alex and Bill is a headmate. And eventually the two of you come across the... effect Bill has had on tumblr.

It's not like there's anything that can be done about it. Maybe you, as Alex, find it hilarious. And Bill over there just has to live with the fact that he's been humanized and turned into a tumblr sexy man. And Sexyman Bill has been around for how long now?

There's just something about this image that says "I've endured this bastard's face for long enough" honestly.

That's not even touching upon "mindscape" being a very commonly used word in plural spaces to simply mean "the imaginary place where all the members of a system can chill out."

And believe it or not, even Bill's tragic backstory might actually be at least somewhat true for headmate Bill.

Something interesting with headmates is that there's a pretty wide spectrum of how... you could call it "adhering to their own canon" they are. A headmate might be very matter of fact and recognise that while they may look like the ghost of a shark, they know that they come from the host's mind. While others will say "I was a shark that previously died and that's why I'm here."

But the middle ground is very interesting when it come to plurality, especially when you're dealing with headmates who started off as characters for a story or artwork.

Let's say that you have a story you're writing about a dwarf named Mug. The story so far covers Mug's life growing up in his village. The village and its citizens are really nice and pleasant.

But as you keep writing about Mug, thinking about Mug, Mug starts to become his own person in your mind, and in a way detaches himself from the story he started from. He realizes he is a part of the real world, even if he is confined to your mind.

Now, maybe Mug as a headmate is lucky. Maybe he can freely return to that imaginary village he once knew as his home, and finds just as much comfort there as he did before becoming a headmate.

But not every headmate is that lucky. Some headmates, now that they've come to know the real world, can't return to their original worlds and still find the comfort and familiarity they once knew from it.

Even if they tried, they might recognize their world as being flat. Lifeless now.

And to a certain degree, they're the ones responsible for destroying their own world, because they were drawn to our reality. They wanted to be real.

This isn't to say that this is the experience every headmate undergoes, but we've seen at least some examples over the years to know it can happen sometimes.

And who knows, maybe it applies to Bill.

I fucking love Alex hirsch

[panlight]

Another coven ask!

What about the Egyptian coven as a unit and each member individually? Do you imagine a specific persona for Keni and what does it look like? How do Kebi and Tia feel about each other? Do you think this coven is as nomadic as others or do you think it retains control over a territory but far from humans? And of course , what of their narrative role?

Ancient Egypt was my first obsession as a weird little girl (MUMMIES!) so I am more interested in Amun and Kebi (actual ancient Egyptians) than Benjamin and Tia (loved Benjamin in the movie because Rami Malek is great, but in the book I just got these "HEY LOOK ISN'T THIS CHARACTER COOL! LOOK HOW COOL HIS POWER IS! HE'S SO COOL!" vibes from SM's writing, like she LOVED this character and wanted everyone else to see how AWESOME she thought he was and it was a little off-putting to me. In the movie where it's more show and less tell it, IMO, worked better. Same vibes with Garrett).

It says they lived like gods and 'Amun' is the name of an actual god; originally a relatively minor one, but became basically the King of the Gods as the patron deity of the pharaohs in the Middle and New Kingdoms. His name means "The Hidden One" and the inner sanctum where his statue was housed in the great temple was constructed to be completely dark--no sunlight. 'Amun' is unusual as a stand-alone name; it's more typically combined with elements like the famous TutankhAMUN or his wife AnkhesenAMUN or the various AMENhoteps etc. So maybe Amun wasn't named after the god Amun, he WAS the god Amun.

In the mythology Amun's wife was usually with Amunet (basically just 'female Amun'), or Mut, a vulture goddess whose name means 'mother.' 'Kebi,' as a name, though, means 'honey' so it's possible that's a nickname and not her actual name which could be Amunet or Mut whatever! The idea that she was "chosen from Amun's slaves" is obviously gross on a lot of levels. Most slaves in Ancient Egypt were foreigners captured in war or indentured servants who had sold themselves or were sold by family to pay off a debt. But there's no need to bring slavery into this at all and it is weird that she did. It could work better if we interpret that to mean she was a maybe a low-level priestess in Amun's temple instead

I tend to think they are not very nomadic. I think there's a reference in the guide to Amun 'living' in an abandoned temple and keeping mostly secluded there other than to hunt, obviously. Kebi is written as very passive but we're really just getting Bella's impression of her so there's room from personal interpretation here. Tia is also quiet and passive, but Bella says when she does speak there's a lot of wisdom to her words, so she sounds like someone who waits and watches and then only chimes in when she has something important to say.

I don't think they REALLY have much of a narrative point; I think the point here was she thought up Benjamin's epic power and thought it was awesome and wanted to include it. I suppose the point of Amun is to have an 'ally' who isn't really committed to the cause, but it feels like the tension between Amun and Benjamin might be setting up for something in future books, although that may be giving SM too much credit. She has said thought that no one could die in BD because they have roles to play in future stories.

[puck-the-devil]

Ngh...maybe not intentionally, but...if a mortal you get close to ends up dying, even if simply from natural causes, it's not just something you can just ignore. And, thanks to my great interest in them, I've unfortunately ended up getting close to a lot of mortals over the years.

Thank you for the sympathy. Yeah, the wings thing was painful, but it's nothing like the grief of losing a...a friend.

Hmm...that's very interesting. It's a very practical and logical way of looking at things. How does your job have you interact with humans, exactly? In what capacity? And you mentioned you've rarely been emotionally hurt by humans before. If you don't mind me asking and it's not too difficult to remember, would you be willing to name a time you had been hurt by one?

So you're saying the affection you tend to feel toward humans is something akin to a general, distant affection for all humankind rather than for a particular individual, is that right? You might develop a love for them because of what they are, but not who they are?

*snorts at the term he butchered*

Pardon, I meant to say 'Industrial Revolution'. But I'm not sure I understand. What do you mean when you say that 'humans have provided the Other Realms with many of our tools'? What Other Realms and what tools? And what do you mean when you say 'it started the other way around'? The Other Realms provided humans with their own tools?

*considers the relation of angels and demons to their imaginations as compared to the relation of Fae*

Fascinating. Well, that's quite a question. Hm.

So, according to many humans' beliefs, the Fae are figments - beings or products of their imaginations. I'm not sure where angels and demons get their holy or unholy powers from, but from my understanding, a great deal of fairy magic and powers originate from what I'd call 'real magic' - magic that is comprised of human belief and imagination so strong that it can defy the laws of human reality with its mere existence.

I think 'real magic' is not only a source of power for the Fae, but a life source as well. That's why if a human merely utters their disbelief in fairies, it can actually be fatal to the more fragile individuals of our kind. I, as one of the more famous fairies known to humans, am less likely to suffer that fate given how many know of and believe in me, but that doesn't mean I'm completely impervious to it.

Like the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus are examples of other beings who I presume also live off the beliefs and imaginations of humans. As such, though, even if the Fae (at least some if not all) were originally angels themselves, I think we're more inextricably linked to imagination than angels or demons. And because of that link, our own imaginations are probably pretty potent, thus likely being the cause of our tenancy to keep coming up with new mischiefs, pranks, and other ways to mess with people.

I've heard it said that the demon Crowley has quite an imagination. Perhaps that's at least partly because he's been around humans so long that the astounding capacity of their ability to imagine encouraged him to 'think outside the box' of his own capacity. Perhaps that's also at least partly why Fae imaginations are pretty powerful considering how long we've been around humans as well.

That's an astute observation you made about us seeming to be able to change what we believe to be our core nature or to act against it. I didn't even realize that. Do you really think that has anything to do with imagination, though, especially if I didn't intend to do so? Because if it wasn't my intention or conscious decision, then that means I didn't have to imagine that I could change or rebel against that nature in order to actually achieve such a thing... right?

Maybe it's another of those 'free will' things that rubbed off of humans. After all, aren't Aziraphale and Crowley also examples of beings who have changed or acted against their supposed core natures? The Fae are, as I mentioned before, capricious and mercurial in mood, mind, shape, and overall nature, so we're no strangers to change. But if an angel and a demon can change, too, whether due to free will, imagination, or other factors, then couldn't anybody?

I could be wrong, but I don't think you told me - do you consider yourself an angel? You seem sort of aligned a little closer to the...'in-between', so to speak, so I wasn't sure.

On another note, you said that some of you (speaking as an angel? A demon? Both?) can imagine many things, but that those who do 'have a different reaction to the products of their own imagination than humans do, which can retain them in other ways.' May I ask what you meant by that? It almost sounds as though you had at least one specific example in mind.

@mr-crawleigh If you look under the passenger seat of your car, there’s a tin of cookies for Puck. Remember to be cautious with the fae, and polite.

After all, I could not save you if it became necessary.

[sorryimananti-romantic]

Mist | Choi San | Chapter 3

Pairing: Choi San x OC (Seohyun)

Genre: supernatural (ghost), romance, high school

Trigger Warnings: paranormal, death mentions, violence

Words: 9.9k

Disclaimer: I do not own anything except my original character and the story. I do not own any gifs or pictures used.

Full story on Wattpad (don’t spoil here if you read there too)

chapter directory

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

"But I want to sleep..." Seohyun complained.

"Is sleep more important to you than us?" Wooyoung asked.

"Of course it is. Is that even a question?" Seohyun raised her brow and Wooyoung gaped at her.

"We've been friends for long now, Wooyoung, I thought you knew better not to ask questions like these," Yeosang said, laughing.

It had been more than a month now since that incident with San. Seohyun looked at each of them slowly, smiling. Despite herself, she had gotten quite used to the company of these boys. And they were EIGHT. It was hard to not be alone. Even if some of them were busy, the rest would always fool around after school as well.

Seohyun had gotten to know them well now too. She knew that Hongjoong, the oldest, also acted like one. He had a thing for fashion, and had reformed her navy blue cap that she always wore, embroidering a cat on it.

Seonghwa was the mom of this group for sure. He was always keeping them in check, always stopping them from doing something stupid (which was most of the times) and always helping them with homework. He was very caring, and he couldn't hide that part of himself.

Yunho was the clown of the group, and surprisingly, she was getting along with him and Yeosang quite well. Yeosang and her had the savageness in common, which mixed well with Yunho's humor. Since the three sat next to each other, they would always pass a joke or two to her even during class, and she had to beg them to stop one too many times.

Wooyoung and Mingi were quite funny too. There was just something contagious about their smiles. Seohyun found herself smiling a lot in their company. It didn't help that Wooyoung laughed like a hyena; even when she had no reason to laugh, she'd burst out laughing when she heard Wooyoung laugh.

She was getting along well with Jongho too, especially because they were paired for a project. She hadn't had the chance to talk to him much but once she did, she found that he was actually quite witty despite his dad jokes, and that he loved singing and... breaking apples. Which was weird but it was fun to see how strong he was.

"All you do is sleep, Seohyun. You have to come with us now," San insisted.

Seohyun stared at San. She was glad they were out of danger -for now. The old ghost had finally moved on after realizing that killing Seohyun was not worth it (thanks to Jiwoo). San had gotten close to Jiwoo as well. When she was not hanging out with the boys, she was with San. He liked being in her company because apparently 'he didn't want to look stupid alone staring at the distance'. He could see all sorts of ghosts now and Seohyun was helping him practice differentiating between the living and the dead.

"All right, but if I see something stupid, I leave. Okay?" Seohyun locked eyes with him and he nodded assuredly, smiling and showing off his dimples.

Hongjoong had been insisting that she finally come to their 'second home'. Apparently it was a warehouse that Hongjoong's father owned but had no use for so Hongjoong turned it into a place for him and the boys to hang out. She had no idea what they did there, and they finally wanted to show her the place because they all 'approved of her now and accepted her as one of them'.

The warehouse wasn't far from school so they decided to walk there. The black cat was walking with them now. San bent to pick her up, patting her head.

"Still didn't come up with a name?" Seohyun asked.

"You rejected Shiber. I don't want any other name," San pouted.

"I told you you could call it Shiber, I'll just... call it whatever I call her... hey what do I even call her?" Seohyun wondered.

"You never actually call her, do you?" San laughed a little, caressing the cat's neck, "She sticks to you, and you didn't even give her a name. I'm disappointed in you."

"I couldn't find the right name," Seohyun mumbled, frowning.

"Still, she's been your friend for what, like a year now-"

"FINE. Shiber. That sounds like a male name though."

"It's my plushie's name, but she reminds me of it," San admitted.

"You're naming my cat after a plushie? SAN!" Seohyun punched San's arm, making him laugh out loud. Wooyoung joined them, grinning.

"San's had that plushie since he was a kid," Wooyoung said. "I'm not surprised that he couldn't come up with any other name."

"You should've told me before, I would have never allowed him to name the cat then..." Seohyun shook her head but grinned.

"We're here!" Hongjoong announced, and Seohyun took off her sunglasses as she looked at the large warehouse, the sun reflecting harshly back at her, making her eyes water.

They went inside, Seohyun stepping in last and she blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. Mingi turned the light on, and she ran her eyes around.

"Woah," she breathed. It really did feel like a 'home'. The place had everything they could think of; sofas, couches, tables, a fridge for snacks, a basket for basketball, and so many musical instruments and equipment. "Are you guys secretly famous musicians or what?"

"Nothing like that," Seonghwa laughed, "We just really like music. Hongjoong is always making songs though. We fool around."

"I wouldn't call this 'fooling around'," Seohyun said, walking towards the equipment, stopping mid-way. "Can I?"

"Of course," several of them replied, nodding. She smiled as she ran her fingers across the piano, looking at the speakers and the mics. She saw some pages, probably lyrics scribbled on them, lying on the table near.

"So you guys... make music? Do you want to be idols or something?"

"For now, we're just exploring," Jongho replied, "Who knows? Maybe some of us might want to go into the musical side."

"So you all sing?"

"I'm the rapper," Mingi said, "Hongjoong raps too."

Seohyun made an impressed face. She pressed some of the piano keys, and something clicked at her mind. She looked up at Hongjoong as a grin spread across her face. "So that's why your fingers are always tapping at the desk. You make music!"

"Oh? I'm surprised you noticed," Hongjoong admitted.

"It's hard to not notice when you're sitting in my vision with fingers tapping nonstop while I'm trying to focus in class. You were doing something like this today, weren't you?" Seohyun said and played the keys that had unintentionally been printed in her memory.

"Woah, I'm more surprised that you remembered it!" Hongjoong clapped in disbelief and then narrowed his eyes at her. "Do you... know how to play?"

"The piano? Not much. But I have a drum set at home," Seohyun said and she saw as the boys looked at each other, applauding her.

"What?" Seohyun asked.

"We knew there was something about you," Wooyoung went on dramatically, waving his hands as he said "who knew we had a shared passion for music?"

"I wouldn't call it 'passion' per se, it's more of a... hobby. A stress-reliever, if you will. And stop ogling at me like you guys won a jackpot. I know what's going through your heads, and I say no."

"But you can play!" Mingi wailed, "We need more people to play the instruments! These guys-" he pointed at the boys one by one, "-they never learn!"

"Hey, hey, hey, look who's saying! Didn't you want to learn drums? What happened to that?"

"I don't have a drum-set!"

"I can play too!" Jongho and Yeosang complained.

Seohyun watched as the boys started arguing among themselves, and she shook her head. She had never imagined they like making music this much. If she had known, she might not have told them about her drums, much less her room full of instruments at a time like this.

"If you don't shut up, I'll never bring any instrument here."

"You mean you will if we shut up?" San asked, followed by Seonghwa who said, "You have more than one instrument?"

Seohyun sighed. "This is overwhelming, okay? Like I respect what you do, but I'm still new to being friends with you all, and it would take me some time to open up to you guys about the instruments. It's just... I have some memories- I don't really want to go back there."

"Oh..." San raised his brow and she bit her lip. She hadn't lied. She had some memories attached to those instruments that she would rather forget. It had been about two years since she'd played. She wanted to shut out that part of herself. She wanted to throw those instruments, but she hadn't been able to.

"Can you just... tell me which instruments you have, other than the drums?" Hongjoong asked cautiously.

Seohyun rolled her eyes. "Drums, bass, electric-"

"WOW!" Wooyoung gasped out very loud.

"-and violin. And I can play piano and guitar too. But it's been like two years since I last played so I'm probably very rough now..."

"Is one of your parent a musician or what?" Yunho asked.

"No, the drums were my mom's. The rest, I bought them when I was going through a phase."

"A phase. Wow," Yeosang snickered, earning daggers from Seohyun.

"Alright, we won't pressure you or anything. But you're free to play the piano if you want to," Yunho suggested, "and you're free to do whatever you want."

"Thanks for understanding," Seohyun muttered, smiling at him.

"But I wanted to learn the drums..." Mingi wailed.

"Who knows? Maybe I'll be the one to teach you," Seohyun said nonchalantly, making him smile his famous gummy smile.

"So anyways, what's with those mirrors?" Seohyun asked.

"Oh, that? We like to dance too," Jongho said.

"Oh my god. You guys should stop watching all those idol videos..."

"But we're good at it!" Wooyoung laughed, "And anyways, even if we don't go down that route, we love doing it anyway. It's our way of releasing stress."

"Sure," Seohyun nodded.

"Don't tell me you can dance too," Seonghwa narrowed his eyes at her.

"Oh no. I don't think I can," Seohyun admitted. Unless you could count those random 3 am sad twerks as dancing. The boys watched as she suspiciously tried to avoid their gaze, looking around.

"So now that we've told you so much about ourselves, how about you tell us something that we don't know?" Jongho suggested.

"I don't know what's there to tell," Seohyun said, her eyes unintentionally falling on San who lightly shook his head.

"Anything. Something. It's just that we'd like to know you more," Seonghwa smiled warmly at her.

"How about you just ask me and I'll answer? Because it feels like I'll never be able to start myself..."

"Or how about," Yeosang started, a devilish smile spreading across his face, "we play truth or dare?"

"Oh no..."

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

Yeosang made everyone sit in a circle, and though very reluctant at first, Seohyun had to sit down too (after being dragged by Wooyoung). They discussed the rules; they could choose between truth or dare, and if a person didn't want to answer a question they should just say so instead of lying, which would earn them a penalty.

Hongjoong spun the bottle, and Seohyun prayed it would never land on her. At least not today. She wasn't feeling it. She still thought that the eight of them were well knit as they were, they didn't need her between them.

The bottle landed on Yunho, and he laughed nervously. Jongho asked truth or dare, and he replied with dare. Not fair, Seohyun thought. She wasn't sure she would ever choose dare. She had no idea what sort of dares they were gonna give.

"Alright, show us your golden retriever! You haven't done that in a long time!"

"Golden retriever?" Seohyun asked. She had heard them talk about it once or twice, but she had no idea what it was about.

"Ah, I'm getting nervous~" Yunho laughed awkwardly. She supposed it was because he was gonna do it in front of her for the first time.

"Come on, don't be shy," Wooyoung teased and he nodded, taking in a deep breath. He turned his head back, then looked forward, his eyes a bit wide as he made a paw out of his hand and flicked it, barking in the cutest way possible.

Seohyun was silent for a moment before she burst out laughing. She was howling at this point, making the rest of them laugh too.

"At least I made her laugh!" Yunho said proudly.

Seohyun wiped tears from the corner of her eyes. "That was hilarious. You really do look like a puppy, Yunho."

"Thanks?" Yunho said and laughed.

"Alright, next!" Jongho said, spinning the bottle, and to Seohyun's relief, it stopped at Hongjoong who was right next to her. He wailed.

"I choose... dare."

"You all are gonna end up choosing dare. I'll be the only one choosing truth it seems," Seohyun groaned.

"You know what to do," Yeosang said, locking eyes with Wooyoung who nodded. "Michael Jackson impression."

"NO! I CHOOSE TRUTH!"

"It's too late to turn back now!" San said.

"It's embarrassing enough to do it even in front of one of you, and now there's EIGHT of you. Alright. Here goes nothing." Hongjoong got up and straightened his clothes. He took a few steps back so everyone could see. He made the famous pose and sang Billie Jeans, attempting to mimic Michel Jackson's style. It would have been okay if everyone hadn't burst out laughing, making Seohyun laugh a little too.

"How did you even come up with this?" Seohyun asked in disbelief.

"I don't even remember now..." Hongjoong pouted. He spun the bottle, and it landed on Wooyoung.

"Truth," he smiled rather proudly, folding his arms.

"Who do you love more, Hongjoong or Seonghwa?" Yeosang asked. The rest of them laughed as Wooyoung's eyes went wide in panic.

"That's like you're asking if I like mom or dad more! Isn't this unfair?"

"Who did you like more though?" Jongho asked.

"Mom-"

"You like Seonghwa more. Alright, next!" Hongjoong concluded, leaving Wooyoung attempting to explain that it was not like that anymore and he liked both of them equally, but everyone was ignoring him. Seohyun thought it must be an inside joke too.

"Your turn," San smirked at her. Seohyun, who had been distracted and hadn't seen the bottle spin, eyed them suspiciously.

"I move my eyes off the bottle for a second and it lands on me. Are you sure you didn't cheat?"

"We did NO SUCH THING," Wooyoung huffed.

Seohyun locked eyes with each of them. "Fine. Truth."

She watched as the boys looked at each other, suggesting questions while Seohyun tried to calm the rumbling storm of nervousness in her stomach. Should she have gone with dare?

"Can we ask... anything?" Mingi looked at her and Seohyun shrugged.

"I mean, we're friends now, right? So go ahead. If I think it's too personal, I'll say so." Seohyun nodded and the boys looked at each other before finally turning to her.

"What's the real reason you don't have friends?"

Seohyun's eyes unintentionally went to San's, and the boys noticed, looking between the two of them. San shrugged, as if saying 'I tried.'

"Does... San know something?" Seonghwa asked cautiously.

"You don't have to answer, you know that right?" Yeosang added.

Seohyun sighed deeply, nodding. She looked at San again, who nodded back, pointing behind her and mouthing Jiwoo. Seohyun sighed in relief now. She might as well give it a try.

"Since you guys shared something today, I will too. But it's kind of... weird. Unbelievable. You might think I'm lying. You might think worse things. Whatever you think, do tell me, because I can prove it."

"Don't tell me you're some sort of a secret agent," Yeosang said, earning a slap from Hongjoong who shushed him.

"Alright, we'll hear you out," he said.

"I... can see ghosts. The dead."

There was a moment of silence before Jongho raised his eyebrow. "What? You mind saying that again?"

"I said I can see the dead. I can see ghosts. I can touch them. I help them move on."

While the boys exchanged looks, still in disbelief, San smiled at her and Seohyun nervously laughed. She had finally said it out loud.

"So you can... see ghosts? Like in the movies?" Mingi asked.

"Yep. They're just like us. Unless they're old."

"How do we believe you? I mean, you could be joking," Yunho asked.

"Well, San knows," Seohyun said, and everyone looked at San, who nodded, then looked back at her.

"How does he know?" Wooyoung asked.

"Long story. He got caught up in something, which led him to discover my secret and eventually led him to seeing ghosts too."

"You both are mad." Wooyoung laughed nervously.

"You want proof?" Seohyun challenged.

"Sure. I can do with that," Wooyoung folded his arms, anticipating.

"Alright folks, you're in for a surprise," Seohyun heard Jiwoo say. Jiwoo rubbed her hands and went near Seohyun, picking her hair and making it look like it was flying in the air.

The boys... shouted.

"MEDUSA!" She heard someone shout amidst them. San tried to calm them down but it was no use. They all were... freaking out, to put it simply. Half of them were gasping while the other half was laughing in disbelief.

Jiwoo dropped her hair down and they watched as she pulled the sunglasses off her shirt and the glasses magically disappeared.

"Where did the glasses go?" Wooyoung asked.

"Ji- the ghost. Her name is Jiwoo. She's a friend of mine. So when she takes something of mine, it would disappear once I'm not holding it anymore. But-" Jiwoo handed her the glasses back and they watched it appear out of thin air, "when she gives them back, here they are."

"Is this... magic or really a ghost?" Jongho asked.

"It's a ghost, believe me," San finally said.

"So you can see ghosts now too? How?"

"Let me explain," Seohyun said, and narrated the events, giving a little backstory about how she was born with this, and that she actually helped ghosts move on.

"That's kind of cool though," Yunho commented.

"Wouldn't call it cool," Seohyun muttered and Seonghwa noticed.

"It must not be easy to live like this..." he said, and she hesitantly nodded.

"Is that why you changed schools so often?" Hongjoong asked and she nodded. The boys looked at each other, trying to figure out what to say.

"Well, you won't have to worry about that again," Yeosang said, "We'll help you. You won't have to move again if something happens."

"It's not that easy, Yeosang. If something unexplainable happens, I won't be able to hide it."

"Oh don't worry about that," Mingi laughed, "unexplainable things always happen to me. We'll cover for you, trust me."

Seohyun was, for the first time, touched by how earnest they sounded. They really were a weird group of friends.

"I'm kind of jealous that San can see ghosts now too," Hongjoong sulked. "Can't we see too?"

Before Seohyun could answer, everyone else burst into complains too about how they wanted to see too. "Hey hey," Seohyun began, "first of all, it's too risky. I almost died and then San was able to see."

"WHAT!"

"You forgot to tell them that part," San muttered.

"Ah, right. So when I had to teleport San, we ended up in the other dimension, right? So I had to teleport again, and I had a massive nosebleed plus headache. I passed out too."

"Oh..."

"Even if it was easy, I would never do that to you. And I wish I could take it away from San. I wish it would fade," Seohyun said, and San looked at her, shocked. He had not expected this.

"It's not about it being cool, San," she locked eyes with him, "Being able to see ghosts mean you're attracting danger every second. Thank god you can't touch them. That means they're not able to touch you, not directly. I want you all to be safe, that's why I won't ever do that to the rest of you."

There was a moment of heavy silence, then Seonghwa broke the ice. "I understand. It's okay, you don't have to do that. We want you to be safe too, so if you're ever in some sort of danger, don't hesitate to ask for help."

"Thanks Seonghwa, I really appreciate it." Seohyun smiled.

"It's really unbelievable though. What does this ghost look like?" Wooyoung asked, eyes brimming with curiosity.

Seohyun grinned a little. "Well, she's a girl. Jiwoo. She's about my height, has long black hair with red streaks. Has a mole on her cheek. Also, she's weird-"

Jiwoo kicked Seohyun's back lightly, but she just continued. "She died in a car accident. A ghost with amnesia. Unbelievable is the right word, Wooyoung."

"Woah. She sounds familiar though..." Wooyoung looked towards Hongjoong who shook his head. Seohyun noticed but didn't comment on it.

"So you're waiting for her to remember so she can move on?" Hongjoong asked.

"Yeah. She's been sticking with me for months now, and I got used to her."

"Ah... that's understandable," Hongjoong looked at his wristwatch, "Anyways, we should go home now. it's late."

"I thought we were playing truth or dare. This turned into a horror show. How will I sleep at night!" Mingi wailed dramatically, making them laugh. Wooyoung called him 'scaredy cat' and San said, "Like you're one to say."

Seohyun smiled at Jiwoo. This had been an unexpected night, and she had never expected them to believe her and not make fun of her. She looked at the boys, bickering, and smiled at them.

She felt comfortable.

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

The next few days at school had been... annoying, to put it simply.

The boys were very excited at the new discovery about their friend they had made. They simply couldn't contain themselves- save for San, and Seohyun found her patience wearing off day by day.

It wasn't that she was ungrateful for how things had turned out. She simply hadn't expected this sort of a behaviour. Secondly, she did not know how to deal with 7 excited boys who couldn't stop asking her the most stupid of questions.

She had to admit some of the questions did make sense. Like Yeosang asking if a ghost's touch and human's touch was any different. Seohyun shook her head as she thought of how the question had shook her.

"What do you mean?" Seohyun asked.

"Do you feel different when a ghost touches you? Like, Jiwoo. Does her touch feel different than a regular human's?"

Seohyun inhaled sharply as she was reminded of the time she had spent in her music room, laughing, with him, holding his hand, touching-

"I'm sorry, was it a wrong question?" Yeosang finally asked and Seohyun realized she had been staring at him too long.

"Uh, no. I'm sorry I zoned out. I suppose it is- it is a bit different. I don't know how to explain it. It's not... warm."

Seohyun shook her head as she waved off the memory. Another memory made its way....

"This friend of yours, Jiwoo," Hongjoong asked, "is she here right now?"

"She may not find the idea of dying twice appealing," Seohyun muttered.

"What?" Hongjoong furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Now why would a ghost attend school? Surely she doesn't wish to die of boredom. AGAIN."

Hongjoong laughed. "So she's not here? Do you know her full name?"

"Ahn Jiwoo, I think," Seohyun replied. She noticed Hongjoong's eyes gleam as his mind worked.

"How old do you think she is? And can you describe how she looks like?"

"Playing detective, are you?" Seohyun raised her brow.

"Just answer. I may have something."

"Well, she looks our age, maybe a year older, she has an average face, honestly I haven't noticed much. She does have red hair."

Hongjoong nodded slowly, and Seohyun asked when he was going to let her in.

"I'll just check something. If it's true, I'll tell you."

Seohyun shook her head again. She should really be focusing on class. But her mind went back to think of the stupid questions. Yunho had asked if 'ghosts could eat' and when she had replied no, he said he was just wondering if they did eat, did they excrete as well. And if so, was the ghost realm full of-

Shit, she thought as she heard Yunho giggling. "You keep shaking your head. What's wrong?"

"Believe it or not, I was actually thinking about you," Seohyun admitted.

"Oh?" Yunho turned a bit towards her, smirking. "And what scandalous thoughts made you shake your head so much?"

"How in the world could your brain wonder if the ghost realm was full of ghost shit?" Seohyun almost shouted, but clearly she hadn't been quite as well. She earned a warning glance from her teacher and sunk in her chair as Yunho shook with silent laughter.

After the class was over, Hongjoong made his way to Seohyun.

"Is Jiwoo here?" He asked.

"Again, no. Why are you so interested in her?" Seohyun folded her arms and Hongjoong snatched Seonghwa's seat from his spot, sitting near her and placing a book on her desk.

"This is last year's yearbook. We have some photos from an event, and I want you to tell me if you spot Jiwoo."

Seohyun raised her eyebrows. Jiwoo- she could have been a student here?

She supposed it was possible. San turned too, muttering how he can recognize her too, and they flipped the pages, checking each one carefully until finally San pointed at a person and looked at Seohyun, who had paled.

"That's... Jiwoo. How did you know, Hongjoong?"

"I guessed when you told me her name. San told me how she had died of an accident and had amnesia, and I could remember hearing something about a senior here who had died in a car crash. So I put 2 and 2 together and here we are."

"But, this doesn't help much, right? We only know that she was a student here. What's this got to do with how she died, and why she is still here?"

"There were rumours circulating her death," Hongjoong sat back, "Her father was a prisoner falsely accused of some crimes, and she was trying to get justice. I talked to some of my senior friends, who had been her classmates, and they told me that she had started receiving some threats."

"And they must have given all this information to the police too?"

"Yes," Hongjoong nodded, "Now you know her identity. You can talk to her friends, go to her home, and finally help her move on."

San felt his heart sink as he looked at Seohyun. They both were thinking the same thing. Seohyun had grown very attached to her and she did not want to do this. She gulped, and nodded slowly.

"Of course. I guess I should thank you..." As the words left Seohyun's mouth, Hongjoong heard something bitter in her tone.

"Did I do something wrong?" Hongjoong asked, and Seohyun didn't reply, only shook her head no, and San shushed Hongjoong, mouthing that he'd explain later. Seohyun got up abruptly, her bag falling off from the chair. But she didn't hear it. She couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything.

"I need some air," she muttered and rushed out of the classroom, leaving the boys staring.

"Shit," San clicked his tongue, "You did the right thing, Hongjoong, but you have to understand. Jiwoo is her friend. A sister to her. If she moves on... I should go after her."

"Are you sure I did the right thing?" Hongjoong asked him as he gave him space to move. San nodded and went after Seohyun.

"It looks like there's more to the story than she lets on," Yeosang commented. Hongjoong only looked at the door. It did seem like it.

San ran around the 1st floor where their class was, then went downstairs, hoping she was somewhere here. After checking the empty rooms, he went outside, towards the lawn, and found a figure sitting near a tree, staring in the space. He narrowed his eyes, then spotted the cat wandering around her, and his shoulders sank in relief.

He wasn't sure if he was the right person to be there. Surely Seonghwa could comfort her better. Or Yunho. But he was the only one other than Seohyun who would miss Jiwoo. He could relate to her, somewhat. So he decided to sit down beside her.

As he did so, he realized she was shaking. San looked at her worried. "Seohyun? Are you alright?"

Seohyun couldn't breathe. She was having some sort of an attack, like the ones she had about two years ago. She heard San alright, but she was afraid if she spoke, she'd cry.

"Here, have some water," San uncapped the bottle and closed her hand around it, and she managed a sip then handed it back to San.

"This is about Jiwoo, right? She's your friend, and you don't want to let go of her. I understand, Seohyun."

Seohyun sighed, fisting her hands. It wasn't just about her. It was the flood of memories that had come crashing without a warning when she thought of Jiwoo disappearing.

San put his hand on hers, caressing it, hoping it would give her some sort of comfort. He looked at her. All her walls, her strong walls she put around her were breaking down. Her lips were parted and wobbling. She looked like she might cry any second.

"You want to talk about it?" he whispered, and she sighed, nodding, taking deep breaths. She wouldn't cry. Not right now.

"You know it. I have grown attached to Jiwoo. Hell, she practically lives with me. I shouldn't have allowed this in the first place. I knew she was going to move on someday, yet I grew emotionally attached to her. I'm so weak."

"You're strong because you helped her too. She had no memories. How do you think she would have felt if not for you? She couldn't even go to her family or friends. You became that for her."

"I know," Seohyun bit her lip. "It's not just that. It's... I- I had someone. Like her. He and I... We were close. And one day, he was gone-" She bit her lip again, taking a deep breath.

"It's okay. You had no one then, right? You have us now. You have more friends than you could have ever thought of. You're so brave, Seohyun," San said, putting an arm around her shoulder, rubbing her back as he smiled. "You're one of the strongest people I know. We're both going to miss Jiwoo, but we have to help her move on. You don't want her to stay here too long now, do you?

Seohyun shook her head. San smiled again as she looked at him, making her smile a bit too. "There. We'll send her off with a celebration, okay? No more sadness. Okay?"

"Okay," Seohyun smiled. She could do that.

"Let's get back to class," San said, getting up first then helping her up. She dusted off her clothes and they walked in comfortable silence back, though San had to admit he felt weird. His heart... wasn't acting right.

Hongjoong casted a cautious glance at Seohyun as she entered, but she passed a little smile as she settled. Yeosang looked curiously at her, and she made a face.

"Is something bothering you?" Yeosang finally asked. He watched as Seohyun sighed. Sometimes it felt to him like she was carrying the weight of the whole world on her shoulders. Like she would bend under the pressure.

But she was strong too. She passed a little smile and said, "Yes. I'll talk about it later."

Yeosang just nodded, watching her curiously as she stared at her notebook. And then she sat back in her seat, staring at San.

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

"You're telling me that I was a student here? That this is a big, big 'coincidence' that you had to transfer, of all the schools in the city, right here?"

"For the hundredth time, Jiwoo, yes. I know you think I transferred here on purpose, that I somehow found about your life and didn't tell you, but believe me, this is a big, big coincidence." Seohyun replied, looking at San for help.

San shrugged, saying, "The way you're always hanging around Seohyun, when do you think she even had the time to plot this?"

Seohyun clapped her hand, smiling approvingly at San. "See? I told you he isn't that dumb. That is a great point, San." She watched as San shook his head, the faintest trace of smile on his lips.

The three of them- with the cat, of course, had this meeting in the same park that Seohyun and San had once teleported in. It had took a few days for Seohyun to finally settle with the fact that yes, Jiwoo was going to move on. But it won't be like before.

Seohyun found herself thinking of that time. The piano. His slender fingers gracefully playing music. His hands guiding hers across the keys. His contagious laugh. His deep eyes, covered by dark tendrils of hair-

"Earth to Seohyun?" Jiwoo was clapping in front of Seohyun now and she blinked. She cast a quick glance at San, who was watching her more confused than curious.

"Yeah. I'm back. What are you planning?"

"I suggested we show her the photo. She might recognize some people from the photo." San said.

"Also, I walked around the school building a few times, and it did feel familiar. I thought it was just because it was a school and schools are, you know, pretty much built the same. But I would have the strongest of headaches when I walked there," Jiwoo admitted.

"A ghost having headaches? Here's something to tell Yunho," Seohyun thought out aloud, "Though one might think that death would relieve you of all worldly headaches..."

"It's probably because of my amnesia. But yeah, San's right. I'll have a look at the photo. I'll come to school tomorrow."

----------

"Wow, that's me," Jiwoo gasped.

"Of course it's you," Seohyun muttered. Jiwoo ignored her and continued to stare at her picture. Seohyun cast a look at the boys. They were watching the book flip pages on its own, their mouths slightly open in surprise.

"She can hear us, right?" Wooyoung asked Seohyun, who wanted to make fun of Wooyoung but wasn't quite in the mood. She was more busy thinking if Jiwoo would indeed remember something.

"Come closer, Jongho. We're still in class, no one should see the book moving on its own," Mingi motioned with his hand.

"No one is looking unless you start acting weird," Yeosang commented.

"I'm having the worst headache right now. Is this normal?" Jiwoo asked.

"You're a ghost, unnie. Nothing's normal about you."

Jiwoo tsk-ed at her and then looked at Hongjoong. "He should know something about where exactly I died. If it was an accident, I might be able to remember something."

"Not sure if that would work," Seohyun's mood was very gloomy. San shook his head at her, and she sighed before asking Hongjoong if he knew something about where she had died.

Hongjoong, to Seohyun's dismay, said he'd find out in a minute. It looked like he texted one of his friends, and while they were waiting for an answer, San told the boys what was happening just so they would stop asking after each second.

Seohyun caught Hongjoong glancing at her, as if trying to convey a message. Seohyun understood and casually checked her phone, indeed finding a text from Hongjoong, which read:

There's a possibility that her death might not have been an accident

Seohyun frowned. Was she murdered? Or did she commit suicide? She felt as if it would hurt Jiwoo no matter the answer.

What do you mean?

Hongjoong replied:

I'll tell you later.

With that, Hongjoong told Seohyun out loud that his friend would have to ask around for the address, and that settled it. Jiwoo announced that she was gonna roam around the school again, and maybe that would make her remember something too. She asked San to remind Hongjoong to find out her home address too. That would certainly spark a bulb, if nothing else.

As soon as Jiwoo walked out of their classroom, Hongjoong brought everyone closer. "My friend gave me the address. It's near a restaurant here."

"Why didn't you tell Jiwoo?" San asked.

"When Jiwoo passed away, her friends were told that it was an accident. But according to my sources, they say she was out with some of her friends. They had somehow gotten in an argument, causing her to flee and accidentally crash with a car."

"So it is an accident, right?" Seonghwa asked.

"That's the thing. Some people say that one of them pushed her in front of the traffic, and that they are all covering it up. We have got to find out what happened. Before we tell Jiwoo."

Seohyun pursed her lips. This is not how she thought it would have turned out. Sure, most of the ghosts she dealt with had usually been murdered. But that didn't make hearing any of this easier.

"Alright, we will find out. We need to distract Jiwoo. San, you'll help me out, right?"

"Of course," San said, sitting straighter. Seohyun laid out their plan; they were gonna divide into two. San, Wooyoung, Yeosang and Jongho would lead Jiwoo to a false address, somewhere far from where the rest of them were going to go and actually investigate what really happened. If she had died in a car crash, however that happened, the people around would remember and would be able to recall the incident.

After school, they told Jiwoo that she would go with San to check if that was the right place, since Hongjoong's source could be 'unreliable'. Meanwhile the rest of them were going to find out her home address by asking around. Jiwoo didn't suspect them thankfully, and gladly went along with them.

"I have the home address too," Hongjoong said, "It's on the way to the restaurant. We should pass by there too."

"Yeah," Seohyun muttered. "Do you think I should talk to her family too?"

"I think you should, but after we visit the restaurant. That would certainly give us more information. because all you have now is nothing about the real Jiwoo."

"Point." Seohyun thought it was kind of ironic. She knew nothing about how Jiwoo would have been when alive. The thought of it made her heart twist with pain.

As they walked to the site, Seohyun was so lost in thought that she didn't see the rest of them exchange nervous glances. They all realized that Jiwoo had been her only friend for a good while. And they could definitely see how difficult it was for Seohyun to let her go.

"Can I ask you something?" Seonghwa finally said.

"Whenever someone asks me if they can ask me something, it's usually going to be something about my personal life. Go ahead, shoot."

Seonghwa shook his head. "How many ghosts friends did you have to let go of?"

Seohyun stopped in her tracks. It took her a second before she started walking again. "That is a very good question, Seonghwa."

Mingi and Yunho exchanged looks. They knew she always made remarks like these when trying to avoid something. "Jiwoo has been your friend for a few months. It must be hard for you."

"It is, actually," Seohyun admitted. "And most of my friends, sadly, have been ghosts. They're a better company. I sharpen my dark humor on them. I make a lot of dead jokes, if you haven't noticed that already."

"I did," Mingi raised his hand, smiling sheepishly. "Knowing you can actually see ghosts makes them more funnier."

"I know," Seohyun smiled back.

They finally reached the restaurant. It was a traditional one, with tables set outside as well as inside. Potted plants made for most of the décor, a stark contrast to the mauve and white theme, and the scent of spices filled the air.

Seohyun's eyes traced what could have been a possible path; Jiwoo walking out of the door, a car speeding forward-

"How do you suppose we're gonna find some information? We can't just go and ask them to show us the CCTV footage or something," Yunho said, looking pointedly at the camera.

"We won't have to," Hongjoong said, "We just have to make up a good story. Come on, we're eating something from here."

"Really, Hongjoong? Do you think we have the time?" Seohyun asked.

"Trust me. Come on," Hongjoong said, not waiting for them and walking inside. They seated themselves in the corner, and a waiter came to take their order. After ordering some barbeque, Hongjoong told them that he was going to ask for water while they would be in the middle of eating, and they would start talking about the incident. When the waiter comes, he would hear them talk about it, and provide his comments on the topic without asking.

"If I was the waiter, I'd kick you out," Seohyun said, sitting back and folding her arms, making the rest of them snicker.

"This works every time," Hongjoong said, his eyes glinting with challenge, as he mirrored Seohyun's pose.

"And what if he doesn't talk?" Seohyun asked.

"In that case, I have a backup plan. I don't come unprepared." Hongjoong said, and Seohyun rolled her eyes, looking at Yunho who was sitting beside her.

"Is he always this confident about himself?" She asked.

"When he's sure, yes," Yunho nodded.

"Don't tell me he's a secret investigator or detective or something," Seohyun muttered.

"I could make some similar assumptions about you," Hongjoong muttered back.

"Shut up, blueberry."

"You should, you old-"

"Just because I have grey hair doesn't mean I'm old-"

"Stop it, you both," Seonghwa laughed. Hongjoong pouted. "But do you dye your hair?"

"Yeah. Some years ago I went blonde. Now I prefer the more... dead tones, if you will," Seohyun said, and Mingi grinned. "How's the drum learning going, Mingi?"

"Ah," Mingi sighed, "I still make do with boxes and plates. I think I could do a good freestyle if I had an actual drum set."

"I used to air drum all the time. You should drum along to some songs you like. Really helps."

"I'll try that," he smiled.

"When do you think you're showing us your music room?" Hongjoong asked.

"Not anytime soon," Seohyun said. Before Hongjoong could ask something, they saw the waiter come with their food. Hongjoong muttered ''play along' and started speaking.

"I've been wanting to try this place for a while now. But I heard there was some sort of accident here, so I couldn't come." Hongjoong widened his eyes in signal and Yunho began, "Oh I've tried, and I'll tell you, it's really good."

The waiter set their food, and Seohyun watched Hongjoong and Yunho go on about the restaurant, slightly amused. As soon as the waiter went, Hongjoong frowned at them.

"The three of you could have said something."

"This seemed more natural," Seohyun said. "Two guys raving about food. Nothing suspicious about that."

After a few bites of the amazingly juicy barbeque beef, Mingi asked for water. Hongjoong cleared his throat.

"I heard a girl died somewhere around here. They're saying it could be murder. People these days!"

"I'll tell you, sir," the waiter, a middle aged man with wrinkles around his eyes began, surprising Seohyun, "it was an accident. A bunch of students. The usual crowd. Had an argument and the girl went out in a rush- nobody followed. A few seconds later, we heard a horrible sound and screams. The people out there witnessed it."

"But why would people say she was pushed?" Seonghwa asked.

"People make all sorts of stories, girl," the man said, shaking his head in disapproval. "I was inside. I know none of the friends went after her. The crowd outside was too absorbed with their food. Nobody saw anything until the crash happened."

"Ah.. I see. So I guess since this was an accident, the matter cleared up quickly? With the police and all?"

"Of course," the man said, "they saw the footage. Nobody pushed her. A pity that people had to spread rumors like that. Didn't help us. Nobody came here for days."

"I'm sorry that happened," Yunho said, and Seohyun felt that he actually meant it. "I hope more people are coming here now, for the food."

"Oh we're getting back now. Enjoy," the man smiled at them and went away. They all looked at each other.

"So it's an accident. But this doesn't make sense," Seohyun said, "if she died because of her own mistake, why is she still hanging around?"

"Unfinished business?" Mingi suggested.

"Usually happens when someone is killed, but yeah. She must have made it to the hospital and lost her memories during treatment. That must mean she's holding a grudge, or actually has something so important to do that despite her memories being lost, somehow she stuck to this world."

"That makes sense," Yunho said.

They finished the food lost in thoughts, and decided that is that was the case, it was wiser to not talk to her family. She could be holding a grudge against them too.

Though they now knew how Jiwoo had died, and they were one step closer to sorting this all out, Seohyun felt dread creeping upon her.

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

"I can't believe you sent me to the wrong address!" Jiwoo exclaimed.

"It wasn't on purpose! Hongjoong's friend confused you with someone else. It seems like he deals with this kind of stuff often," Seohyun was nodding her head along, as if that could convince Jiwoo. "And anyway, at least it wasn't all a waste. We're going to the place where you died, are you sure you're ready?"

"Born ready," Jiwoo said, pumping her fist in the air.

"Born ready but-"

"Don't, Seohyun, just don't" San cut her off, shaking his head. Jiwoo laughed. Seohyun pouted but stopped.

The three of them were going to the place where Jiwoo had her accident. It was only yesterday that Seohyun had come with Hongjoong, Seonghwa, Yunho and Mingi, and had falsely led Jiwoo to someplace else with the rest of the boys. Now, upon constant insistence of Jiwoo, the two of them decided they'd better take her.

It wasn't because Jiwoo threatened to summon a bunch of revengeful ghosts. Nope. It certainly hadn't been that.

"We're close now," San said, pointing ahead, "It's right across the road. You should start looking on your own now. Without distractions."

"Don't look at me, San," Seohyun muttered.

"You're right. You both can... wait for me here. I'll see if it rocks a memory," Jiwoo said, and went ahead, leaving the two of them watching her go.

"Do you think we should be there for her?" Seohyun finally asked, "The memories might be painful."

"I think she should just walk down memory lane. We'd only distract her. Going on her own is sure to bring back some memories."

"I still wonder what made her stay," Seohyun said, and San looked at her. It was one of those moments when she was not wearing a filter. San felt like he was intruding- it was rare to see her so... present. There.

"Have you dealt with many murder cases? Or suicide ones?" San finally asked.

"You think it's one of the two?" She asked.

"I think it could be something simple. I know if I died today, the only reason I'd hang here would be to say a final goodbye. That is, if I die suddenly."

"Believe it or not, those are the hardest," Seohyun turned towards San, "With other cases, it's usually finding justice, or personal satisfaction. But goodbyes are difficult. I wouldn't want that for anyone. It's harder for those who are living."

San narrowed his eyes at her for the briefest moment. It felt like sometimes she meant more with what she spoke. Like there was a backstory he did not know.

"It looks like you've had some experience with that," San asked cautiously. Seohyun bit her lip and he saw the slightest of tremble in her hand before she closed them in a fist. She was suddenly reminded of San's hand on hers comforting her.

"You're right, actually," Seohyun finally said, surprising San, "I'll tell you. I need to move on too."

"You don't have to," San assured, but she shook her head.

"His name was Joon Hyuk. It was two years ago. He and I used to go to the same music academy. We were only friends then, not close, until he passed away suddenly. He had a heart problem."

"I'm sorry to hear that," San said. He truly was. He couldn't imagine how he'd cope if one of his friends met the same fate.

"I was shook, but that wasn't the end of the story. He was hanging on because he wanted to say goodbye to his family. It took him a few days, and I helped him come to terms with his death. That's when we grew close. I used to be home alone, and we'd just sit in the music room and talk all night. He told me all about his life. I told him about mine. He taught me to play the piano." Seohyun shivered a bit but continued. "He said his goodbye, but he still didn't move on."

"Does that usually happen?" San asked.

"No. It was because he found something to stay for. Me."

The breeze made San shiver too as it settled in. His heart twisted with emotions he couldn't recognize. He wanted to comfort Seohyun somehow, but he stood frozen.

"Ironic, isn't it? He found something to live for when he had already died." Seohyun's lips quivered. She stared at the light bulb near her, hoping it would force back her incoming tears. This wasn't the time to cry. She looked at San and smiled, "I knew it was wrong. But I was so alone. I craved friendship. I craved love. And I got it for a while. It was short. He started to change. You remember the old man?"

San nodded. The man because of whom he could now see ghosts too.

"It's like the process sped up. He started to become bitter. It would come and go. When he was sane, I finally told him to move on before he became- that, before I had to force myself to send him away. And he did. Without a goodbye this time. I guess that was the only way he could manage it."

"I'm sorry you had to go through that, Seohyun. I-"

San wanted to say so much but they heard a scream which was unmistakably Jiwoo's, and with a look at each other, they rushed to the source of the sound. They found Jiwoo clutching at her head, down on the ground

Seohyun rushed to her, sitting down and hugging her, muttering comforting stuff that San couldn't make out. He just stood and provided cover, hoping no one would notice Seohyun hugging the air.

It took a few seconds for Jiwoo to calm down, and when she did, she sighed loudly, looking at the sun.

"It's coming back," she announced. "I remember how I died. My own fault. How dumb is that?" She laughed.

"Glad to see you're back in your spirits," San scoffed.

"You, boy, have been making unintentional puns," Jiwoo scoffed back, making Seohyun grin.

"So how much do you remember?"

"It's coming back. You guys should go your own way. I'll just wait for it to come back. I think I know where to go too. I remember my home. I think- I think I know why I'm here too."

Seohyun and San shared a look. "You wanna tell us?"

"I gotta check something first," Jiwoo said, getting up and helping Seohyun up too. "Off you go."

"Weirdo," Seohyun muttered and Jiwoo just waved at her before she started walking. Seohyun was resting her hands on her hips, tapping her jeans, watching her go with a frown.

"IF YOU MOVE ON WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE I'LL HUNT YOU EVEN IN THE AFTERLIFE OR WHEREVER IS IT THAT YOU GHOSTS GO!" Seohyun shouted at Jiwoo, startling San and the couple walking past.

"YOU BETTER HOLD A FREAKING FAREWELL PARTY THEN!" Jiwoo shouted back. Before Seohyun could retort, San took her by the arm and dragged her in the opposite direction, laughing and telling her she should stop before the whole neighbourhood comes out.

"I'll walk you home," San said. He wasn't sure if now was the time to leave Seohyun alone.

"If you insist," Seohyun said, and they walked in silence. San wanted to say something about how she had been wise to send Joon Hyuk off, something to comfort her, but he couldn't find the words. He was sure Seohyun would be too busy thinking about Jiwoo. He decided he'd walk in silence and let her sort her thoughts.

When they finally reached her home, Seohyun looked at San. "You wanna stop for some coffee? Maybe a snack?"

"Oh no, don't bother," San waved her off.

"I have chocolate chip cookies," Seohyun wiggled her eyebrows.

"That's not fair. Lead the way," he said, and Seohyun smiled in victory, letting him in.

Though the house looked plain from the outside, it wasn't such inside. It was well decorated, the brown and white reflecting the walls and the floor, and had an overall homey feel. Plus, it was quite spacious. No wonder she had a music room here.

San sat on the table in the kitchen, looking around while Seohyun made two cups of coffee. The refrigerator had fruit magnets with various lists sticking. Grocery, things to do. Doodles. San smiled. It really did look like Seohyun lived here. His eyes fell on her figure as she rocked back and forth, mixing the coffee. Her hair created quite a contrast with her navy blue shirt. The soft grey hair looked fluffy.

Seohyun turned around, catching San staring at her, and he shifted in his seat as Seohyun set the two cups and the cookies. San took one and bit into it.

"Oomph, that's delicious."

"Thank you. I made them."

"No way!" San was genuinely surprised. "I didn't know you liked baking."

"I like making food," Seohyun admitted, sipping the coffee.

"That sounds so mundane now," San laughed.

"What do you think I did at home? Made talismans?" Seohyun scoffed and San almost choked on his coffee.

"You surprise me everyday, Seohyun. We must look quite boring to you," San said.

"Well," Seohyun munched on the cookie, "You aren't boring. None of you are, actually. Why don't you tell me something I don't know about you then?"

"Well," San imitated Seohyun now, "I collect plushies. And I know taekwondo."

"That's... interesting. Taekwondo and plushies. Wow," Seohyun laughed. "Poor Shiber, I guess."

"HEY!" San frowned. "Your turn."

"I didn't realize we were taking turns?" Seohyun raised her brow but thought about it. "My favourite colour is blue."

"Mine's purple," San said. "I hate vegetables."

"Hard not to notice," Seohyun commented, biting into the cookie and thinking. "I want to be a musician."

"Cool. You can compose for us," San smiled and Seohyun smiled back mockingly.

A thought struck her. "Wanna see the music room?"

San raised his brows. "Can I?"

"If you want to?" Seohyun shrugged. "It's okay. That room needs air anyway."

"Alright then," San finished his coffee. Seohyun got up, her heart thumping. She was right. It was about time she opened that room for someone else. About time she let go too.

"Here we are," she said and fished out keys from her pocket (San thought she must carry them everywhere) and opened the room, turning on the light

It was gorgeous, San thought. A piano in the corner, a drum set in the other, couches as they entered, three different guitars hanging by the wall, a violin case resting on the table. The dim white lights made everything seem a bit eerie, but it smelled like roses, and indeed San noticed a scented candle on the table. It felt like a room full of memories.

"I do come in every now and then, but I don't really play anymore." Seohyun looked around.

"Can I see them?" San asked, and Seohyun nodded.

Seohyun watched as San examined the guitars then walked to the piano, running his fingers on the keys and making some sounds, then off to the drum set.

"I'd pay to see you play," he grinned.

"Oh you won't have to. I'll do that for free one day," Seohyun smiled.

"So you don't play anything anymore?"

"Just the violin sometimes. Or drums when I'm angry."

"Can I hear the violin?" San asked and Seohyun looked at him.

"Pretty please?" He made puppy eyes and Seohyun scoffed. "Now how do I reject that?"

Seohyun opened the violin case, saying something about how it's gonna be short. While she tested the strings and the bow, San sat on the piano stool nearby. Seohyun flipped her hair back and inhaled.

And then she played a tune so melodic, a tune so haunting that San wasn't sure if seconds had passed or minutes. He only saw her face, etched with the most emotions he'd seen on a single person. It was as if she was telling him a secret, baring her soul to him, and he just couldn't decipher it.

When she did stop, San felt short of breath. He just stared at her in awe and she came closer, already having put the violin back. "How was it?"

"That was... breathtakingly beautiful. You were amazing," San said and immediately felt like he should have said something more.

But she seemed to understand. "Thank you," she said. She was leaning against the piano. San got up and came closer.

"Thank you, Seohyun," he said, touching the tendrils of hair that fell on her shoulder, "For everything."

"I- I've done nothing," she almost whispered. San locked eyes with her, still playing with her hair, now his thumb caressing the soft skin of her cheek.

Seohyun stared back at the dark orbs, his gaze so sharp that a part of her wanted to run away but the other part wanted to never look away. San blinked once, then slowly, painfully slowly brought his face closer and kissed her cheek lightly, leaving her out of breath.

Thank you for playing for me," San said, "I'll never forget it."

And then he drew back, and Seohyun came out of the trance.

"If you sugar coat it so much I'll never bring you here again," Seohyun was smiling.

"Nah. Now I'll wait for the day you're angry," San winked, pointing at the drums. "I should give pointers to Mingi."

"HEY!"

prev - next

[messiambrandybuck]

Comfort

Word Count : 1,175

Pairing : The Hobbits x Male Human Reader (platonic)

Warnings : Coping with Death

Author's Note : This is set in the scenario that The Fellowship stayed together after Boromir's death. Please feel free to let me know if any other warnings are needed; requested by Anon.

This is probably going to be shite, as it's definitely not my best work; but I do hope you enjoy it lol.

A small shuffle of cloth sounds behind (Y/n) as he keeps watch, and he turns around to see two sleepy little Hobbits wrapped up in blankets, hair messier than usual.

"What're you doing up, Frodo? Sam?" (Y/n) says softly, noticing the way their eyes drooped with exhaustion.

"Can't sleep," Frodo mumbles, "can we stay with you?"

"You're very comfortable," Sam agrees, slurring slightly.

"Of course, come here."

Frodo pulls his blanket tighter around himself as they curl up under the younger's arms, against the warmth of his sides. He runs his fingers through their soft curls, and Sam lets out a content sigh as they both visibly relax. (Y/n) can't help but smile to himself at this, finding peace in their content; but as they fall asleep, it fades into a darker feeling that he was all too aware of during the night.

These Hobbits, they were too young to be in such constant danger. Frodo was the only one among them significantly past the age where they were considered adults, Sam and Merry only a few short years past that mark. And Pippin, the poor lad, hadn't even reached that age yet; he wouldn't for a good few years.

Yet here they were, a group of young boys thrown in the chaos of what would undoubtedly become a war. Day after day, forced to fight and live with horrors that no one should have to face. He promised them that he would keep them safe, in one of the first nights after departure, but sometimes he wondered: could he keep that promise? With such evils searching for them day and night, he felt his confidence deteriorate whenever the company paid him no attention. His body ached with healing wounds originally meant for the Hobbits, and his heart broke at the thought that one day he might not be able to get to them in time.

Frodo shifts in his sleep with the start of a nightmare, and (Y/n) quietly hushes him, gently stroking his cheek until he stills. Instinctively, Sam reached out for the older in his sleep; the need to protect Frodo inscribed deep into his subconscious. With reassuring whispers, (Y/n) guided the young Hobbit back into his peaceful sleep. There was no need for him to worry.

Since the start of this quest, he had become very close to these Hobbits, each of them holding a very special place in his heart. They managed to make everyone in the company smile with their bright nature, despite everything happening, and he admired them deeply for it. However, he wasn't ignorant; he knew it was taking its toll on them. He saw it every day.

He saw it in the way Merry didn't attempt to pull pranks anymore. The way Pippin would stare off into space for vast amounts of time, his eyes blank and void of light. He saw it in the way poor Samwise put too much responsibility on his shoulders. He saw it every time Frodo touched the ring without even realizing.

He tried his best to keep their spirits up; surprising them with special meals if he managed to scavenge enough, playing with them, even singing them to sleep if they requested so. (Y/n) liked to imagine it helped, but he didn't truly believe so.

"Bor... Boromir!"

Looking back at the camp, he saw Pippin tossing around, Boromir's name slipping past his lips so painfully that his sorrow was almost tangible.

Carefully moving Frodo and Sam so they lay on the ground as comfortably as possible, (Y/n) quickly made his way to the youngest's side, combing his fingers through the Hobbit's golden curls. His breathing was rapid now, forehead slick with sweat, and his face contorted in an expression of terrible pain and fear.

"Boromir!"

Softly hushing the young Hobbit, (Y/n) carefully pulls him into his embrace. "It's okay, Pippin, it's okay. It's over now, they can't get you."

Tears slip through his shut eyes, "Save- Save him! Save him! Boromir no!"

"It's all over now," (Y/n) says helplessly, his own eyes pooling with tears as his heart broke. Ever since Boromir died, it was all the hobbit ever dreamed about; one night he'd be begging to be rescued, the next he'd cry out for their fallen friend.

A whimper makes its way out of the blond's throat, and the man continued to whisper small reassurances to him, rocking them both slightly as he held Pippin close. The younger held onto his shirt as if letting go would mean the end of him, sobs violently tearing through his body. (Y/n) couldn't tell how long Pippin cried, for it felt like hours to him, but eventually, he grew too exhausted to make another noise. He fell asleep, mentally and physically exhausted from the force of his sorrow.

After putting the youngest back under his covers, (Y/n) walks to the edge of camp to resume his watch, away from the others. Resting against the trunk of a large tree, he took a deep breath, trying to force back his tears. He held back on grieving this long, if he started now it would surely wake someone up.

Soft steps walk up next to him. "Is Pip going to be okay?"

He looks over to see Merry staring at him with sleepy concern, and looks away in an attempt to hide the few tears that had managed to escape. "Despite common belief, the deepest wound cannot be healed, not even with time. It's always going to hurt, but one day he'll be able to coexist with the pain. We all will."

There was a small moment of silence, "Are you okay?"

"I'll be just fine, Merry," he says, though his voice wavers, "go on back to bed. We're planning on covering a lot of ground in the morning, and you need your rest."

Merry walks around so he was almost in front of the older, and holds his cheek. "You're allowed to be sad, too, (Y/n)." Merry says softly, "You don't have to be strong for us. Let us be strong for you once and a while."

The young Hobbit's words hit somewhere feel inside him, and a wave of silent tears flowed down his cheeks. Leaning against the tree, Merry guides (Y/n)'s head to his shoulder, where the man silently cried. The younger didn't say anything, only carding his fingers through (Y/n)'s hair as he always did with them, and occasionally gave the nape of his neck a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm sorry," the older manages to mumble out, only to be quieted with a small hush.

"Don't be... You have the right to grieve."

(Y/n) never imagined he would allow himself to be this vulnerable around the Hobbits, even if it was just one. He wanted to be the strong one they could count on without hesitation. And yet he needed this. He needed to be able to confide in the ones he cared for, and he felt the bond he had with them grow now that he had taken this next step.

[troutfur]

Anon-sending-the-long-tanistry-asks back again! Maybe to keep the rivalry between Thistleclaw and Bluefur for the deputy position Thistleclaw is a close relative of Sunstar? In canon his only relative, that we know of, is his brother Featherwhisker who is a medicine cat. (in this AU would Featherwhisker have been kept from taking that path without another option for deputy?) But with a slight tweak it could be rivalry between different ideologies as well as blood vs adoption. That might even add to Tigerclaw's belief he deserves to be leader if his father/mentor impressed upon him that Bluestar stole leadership from their family. Also, will Hawkfrost and Mothwing be in RiverClan still/in this AU at all? I've always been interested in the fact that Hawkfrost was able to successfully fake a sign from StarClan, and in an AU with this kind of inheritance it'd be cool to see if that's something that's been abused in the past/something he can use in the present. Also, since Graystripe would just be a stopgap deputy (in the clan's eyes) would there be tension if Firestar didn't promote Cloudtail as soon as Brightheart had Whitekit? (Or would he make Cloudtail his deputy without reluctance?) In canon he didn't want to choose a new deputy even while everyone was sure Graystripe was gone, so I imagine a similar thing could happen here even without the pressure of Graystripe being gone. (and then if Graystripe still gets taken it could be considered a sign it's time for Firestar to choose a new heir.) At the same time I think it would be interesting to see how a rivalry between Squirrelpaw and Brambleclaw would play out. I remember in one of your original posts you speculated that Squirrelpaw would be under pressure to become a good candidate once she reached adulthood. If Firestar was refusing to replace Graystripe it might be misconstrued as him waiting for Squirrelpaw (or maybe Brambleclaw) to meet the requirements and that could add extra pressure to one or both of them. But all of this is assuming Firestar wouldn't go with the flow of Clan customs and replace Graystripe, or that he isn't actually waiting for Squirrelpaw to grow up so she can be his deputy, he very well might be waiting for that. Since this last little bit has been about Squirrelflight and Brambleclaw, that also makes me wonder if a leader's mate is an acceptable choice for deputy. Or if they're waiting for their kits to grow up if the mate is a stand in for them. I swear I don't keep plan on making these long, but every time I start typing I just seem to think or more and more things I want to ask about! I'm excited for this and I love the titles you came up with! Even though the sword is kind of just a left over, I do like that it's light and shadow being contrasted in names. (and enemies being unable to escape in battle reminds me of how Brokentail was able to take all of Raggedstar's lives in a single blow like Scourge with Tigerstar. It also adds to the way the other clans talk about ShadowClan in the first series, as ruthless fighters that have had their hearts hardened by cold North winds.) I'm excited to see what else you come up with!

Thanks so much for writing in once again! <3 It's this enthusiasm that motivates me to write and to talk publicly about my projects with y'all. I'm glad y'all are enjoying it so far and that we're getting to talk through ideas together. It's my favorite part of having this little fandom sideblog.

I very much like that idea! Thistleclaw representing an idea of blood absolutism while Bluefur representing an idea that connections through mentorship are just as valid. It's with Sunstar afterall that the mentor-apprentice deputy chain in ThunderClan starts. I can even see how in his search for returning the leadership to his family, spurred on by Thistleclaw, Tigerclaw could very well spare Whitestorm. Afterall, if either ends up as deputy it's goal accomplished, although Tigerclaw would very much prefer it was him. There's much to consider here, but that's good, thank you for the suggestion.

Oh man, Hawkfrost! Hell yeah, I like him in RiverClan. The fact he's one of the Tigerspawn really puts a different spin on his deputyship rivalry with Mistyfoot. Obviously she's the preferred candidate being related to Stonestar by blood and with stuff shifted around so Leopardfur was never an elligible candidate for deputyship he's probably Stonestar's apprentice. Afterall, giving Mothpaw to Mistyfoot and Hawkpaw to Leopardstar was an attempt to show them acceptance so if we shift the leader around Hawk had to have still been the leader's apprentice. That's also an interesting contrast to Bluefur and Thistleclaw's whole deal. Hmmmmm, this is an alluring prospect to write...

Regarding the situation with Graystripe... I feel like Firestar would be reluctant to appoint Cloudtail at all and it's definitely going to be misconstrued as him waiting on Squirrelpaw. Cloudtail had a rather... eventful youth let's say, and I can see Firestar worrying he might not be leader material, a sentiment the Clan probably agrees with to some extent. So until he shows change, or Brambleclaw meets the requirements, I don't think Firestar would cave in on replacing Graystripe. Squirrelpaw is an afterthought in deputy considerations I feel. Fire doesn't want to pile on too much pressure on her, but of course that's not the message the rest of the Clan is getting. So he pressures her kind of on accident? And I don't think she'd confront her dad about it so it's pressure she's got to bear on her own.

ACTUALLY THAT'S SUCH A BRILLIANT IDEA! I think it fits with this insecurity that's so characteristic of Bramble has if he starts thinking of Squirrelpaw, a teenage girl, as his rival from early on. All the while Squirrelpaw is triyng so hard to fit into the mold everyone assumes her father wants to put her in and it's kind of exhausting for her. She probably much rather Bramble actually get the stupid deputyship so she can have space to breathe.

Of course, as these things go she can't really express it outwardly so the two are locked into this conflict until then. I don't see them getting together within the same timeframe as in canon. Perhaps later after he has locked in the deputyship and she needs someone to help her out with the kits Leafpool asked her to take. I'm imagining something akin to solacefruit's but I couldn't care for the history as the start of their relationship and as they act the part of mates and parents they eventually fall in love?

GOSH, this is so cute. I'm not often one for wholesome Bramblesquirrel, even when I'm in full Brambledad revisionist fanfictions mode I tend to split them up or else have their relationship still be strained at best. But I just cannot pass up the cuteness of this concept. Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight can have a wholesome relationship, as a treat.

I would say in Bramble's case having Squirrel as deputy probably would have more to do with her being Firestar's daughter than with her being his mate. So yeah, typically mate of the leader not an acceptable choice, the mate in question would have to have other relationship to power in order to really be elligible.

RIGHT! That's another connection between ShadowClan and the Sword of Light. They are a clan of ruthless fighters, not letting their enemies retreat until they're done with them. It very much fits them, I love that angle to it. Thank you again anon. You and everyone else writing in are just the best.

[honoredbastard]

I COME BACK WITH THOUGHTS/THEORIES ON ITADORI AND HIS RELATIONS- I THINK.

anyways, so i'll just point this out: i'm not good at speaking my thoughts in an organized manner. i absolutely suck at it, i speak on how my brain brings up the thoughts so i might ramble, get over my head in a thought, etc. i can't control it so i apologize in advance for the jumpiness of the texts. i will spell a lot of things wrong and not everything will be correct, as i read translations and on a manga site. don't worry it's not illegal, i believe.

MANGA SPOILERS AHEAD.

i apologize for my absence! last week or two weeks ago the tower to my computer completely broke and will not turn on. i tried to repair it and follow my fathers instructions but nothing worked. even cleaned off the fan and went through countless nights readjusting things. it's not my cords either so to help me out my father is working extra shifts to get me a new pc. so in the meantime i'll do small posts like these but not full writing/head canons until i have a computer tower lol. a family member was kind enough to allow me to have their phone while we work throughout this issue.

now onto the actual topic:

kenjaku and itadori's relationship. ( family wise ).

for context in the most recent chapter, 160 "colony" kamo shows up in sasaki's home and talks to her about the culling game and a barrier. but that's not the point, the point is as he's guiding her to the barrier inside her "dream" at the end he says "oh right. i almost forgot to tell you. thank you for getting along with my son." and then she is awakened inside the barrier, in her pajamas beside iguchi. when sasaki and iguchi look at the barrier and gather themselves they bring up kamo.

sasaki asked iguchi if he mentioned his son and he says no. this leaves sasaki in a state of confusion when itadori flashes in her mind. she says his name aloud like she finally connected the dots. now. why am i bringing up this whole kenjaku thanking sasaki for being his "son"'s friend. it throws me off because why didn't he thank iguchi?

did he not think iguchi meant their friendship? because sasaki was the one uninjured and still counted itadori as a friend? does iguchi not consider itadori as a friend anymore?

because we haven't seen these two at all since the incident. that raised many questions in me. as well "how can itadori be related to kamo?" and itadori is related to choso.

because kamo's technique is explained ( vaguely. we are aware he can create barriers, take over bodies, and has incredible cursed tools. chapter 134. this is also where choso makes his connection ( i believe. ) to itadori yuji as his brother. but because we saw this with todo many thought itadori just had another unconsious technique that allows the person who is hit create false memories and believe of a completely made up relationship with itadori without his knowledge. but alas, i was wrong. ) and we're given more hints shown than told ( imo ) i tried my best to make sense out of the situation and what he said. i think my conclusions are pretty solid, so continuing on.

we're given very little history on itadori, his past, and family. at the start of the manga we know that itadori's only family he knows is his grandfather and that he is ill in the hospital. at the very very beginning we learn that itadori is your average cute, fluffy, laid back but strong and goofy protagonist. in smaller words: itadori is kirby but even cuter and dumber.

my first impressions of him is a pineapple. if you're confused to this saying: it's calling a person prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside. and this is true, itadori's grandfather seems prickly and cold on the outside but he genuinely cares for itadori.

he raised itadori for all we know and did that with his all in assumption. but this ends up backfiring onto itadori, because he cares so much for his grandson - he ends up leaving a " curse " on yuji.

help people. save them.

itadori takes this to heart as his grandfathers speech is his last one. when he looks over to his grandfather the man is dead and now yuji is left alone. then the following events occur.

at this point in time i assumed itadori was an orphan ( he technically is if we're connecting the dots. his parents has not been shown, he doesn't speak of them, they aren't in the picture. we can conclude either they disowned itadori or died before he could make complete memories of them. )

but when we are shown in chapter 143 itadori's parents we see this "woman" jin ( yuji's father ) and his grandfather talking about has the same scar pattern. this scar pattern is either stitching ( assuming that is how kamo keeps the top of the opened skull from coming off. this is also how kamo revealed his cursed technique / body of sorts ( the brain, assuming that is kenjaku in his cursed technique and not the body / puppet he is controlling " getou suguru " ) to gojou. )

this is the only way i find kamo being able to assign itadori as his son. why is that you might be asking this dumbass here.

we do not have the full story, exact date, location, and full context of the memory/dream itadori is having. this cannot be fake either because kamo would than have no reason to call itadori his son. or is there? anyways.

take a leap of faith with me. imagine that before itadori is born ( he seems no more than a few weeks or days old in this memory. hence why i am thinking my conclusion is pretty solid in theory. but yknow gege, there might be something different. ) anywhooo.

TW. D3ATH/IMPLYING ANTI LIFE ATTEMPT

kamo had to have taken over yuji's mothers body after an accident OR after she gave birth to yuji. his grandfather is interrupted by her before he can finish his sentence but it seems to be leading to the conclusion that either kaori ( yuji's mother ) died while giving birth to yuji or kaori could not conceive and tried to take her own life or cause an accident that would take her life. ( i read a fan translation for this part but im pretty sure i also read the official translation today too and it added up to the same. )

i believe in the first idea, but since kamo's cursed technique wasn't explained in detail i don't know the conditions of his body technique. does the original host of the body have to be dead? can he regenerate body limbs ( i highly doubt. getou lost an arm during his fight with yuta. overconfident dick. reminding me of an ex ANTWAYS. i forgive him for being overconfident smooch. he learned. OFF TOPIC but continuing on i promise.

this is being continued from the cut off point. i'm so upset so it'll just be summarized. i can't believe this shit lol i took three hours just to finish it for it to literally cut off the bottom half.

continuing on in a sadge mood. kamo must not have the complete ability to take over a body. after all getou took his only arm he had as he was dying and choked his own body to his full ability. getou was willing to die ( possibly, you never know he could be alive if he killed his own body. moving on. ) just to have the chance to save his friend from being swallowed by a damn box.

so there has to be a chance that kamo cannot fully take over the previous persons complete consious and memory of their body. if getou still had his other arm after losing the fight to yuta, he could've choked kamo with both arms. in theory kamo wouldn't be able to control the right arm and die to the previous host choking him to death.

so why wouldn't the other hosts do it? after all, kamo did say it was his first time experiencing such a thing. assuming kamo has lived throughout many bodies in his 150+ lifespan none of the previous hosts could take control of their body.

i believe getou was completely influenced by gojou and his six eyes. there is no way gojou would even try to speak out to his friend unless he had an inkling or saw getou still in there. helpless and without the ability to save himself from the cage he's in.

being used and puppeteered in his own body by an external force. laughing in the world he could not. putting getou into a constant misery and defeat that he couldn't escape his hell. the one he tried so hard to fight and get out of. even if it was the wrong path.

gojou was the last person to witness getou dying. he had to watch getou bleed out after their conversation because he couldn't bring himself to kill his friend. the one he spent his whole jujutsu student life with. so for gojou to say such a thing to getou despite all that he did had to break getou out of his misery and give him that small sliver of hope that he could do something. of course he failed, but i doubt that's going to be the end of that.

the only way i see kamo being related to yuji is if he took over kaori's body before the pregnancy. assuming that when kamo takes over a body he becomes one with said body and is that person for however long he lives in said body. my only thing is, can he take over a persons body whilst they are alive? i would go more in depth like i did the last time but i am extremely upset about my work being erased so that's the end of this part.

thank you for reading! i have one more thing for you though.

the last time we see sukuna in a manga page after the shibuya incident is where he is on his throne and in his domain. this is after yuji is stabbed by yuta and is presumed "dead" at the time. he seems to be interested in yuta and i can think of 2-3 things. I would love to hear your theories too so don't be afraid to barge into my dms like the koolaid man.

A - sukuna is interested in Yuta because of his ability to use the reverse healing technique ( only a few sorcerers know this. sukuna being the first. shoko being the second one to be told that she has this power and then gojou. ) because of this he sees potential in yuta as well or has added this boy into his plans. after all, there is very few that can make sukuna make an expression that isn't an RBF. aka megumi and possibly gojou. I was looking at the page of him stabbing yuji and noticed we only see the entry point of where the blade enters. it's smaller because some got chunked off so its a possibility yuta used this to his advantage when "killing" yuji and instead hit an artery that could kill him but quickly healed him afterwards. or just his heart. the ideas.

B. Rika, Yuta is able to completely control Rika as shown. Even though he claims he is on the weak side, these two combined seem like an unstoppable force. He may be interested in Rika as she is a curse that has been put on someone that can fully control it. Not many people is shown to be able to control their curse. As we haven't met many.

this was enti and that's the last of my post! thank you for reading and it was a fun one. even though i had to restore this shit. anyways, i'd love you to add or fix up my ideas and tell me your thoughts and opinions! Thanks a bunch!

^ this is for pure humor

[littleeyesofpallas]

So i did a little thing on Kensei and his biker motif and that included his hollow form looking like he was made out of car parts. and i figure I might as well tackle Mashiro's hollow form now, since it's adjacent.

To start with, it should be noted that Mashiro has a whole thing going on with her right out the gate. Unlike the other Visored who all seem to have adopted some kind of passably human attire, Mashiro is out here running around in a super hero suit... The outfit itself pulls from some pretty clear influences:

The little stripey things down the chest are a look taken from Himitsu Sentai Goranger, the 1971 live action super hero show. In the team of five, each ranger has a number and a matching number of stripes down either side of the suit's front fastening zipper. Where as the ascot+jumpsuit is verymuch the definitive Kamen Rider aesthetic. It's also possible that her weird giant goggles and even her green hair are also meant to evoke the general look of Kamen Rider's helmet.

(it's really weird that her goggles just sort of sit on her head? they don't even appear to be connected to one another, let alone to her head... The only reason I even really identify them as goggle is actually because of her TBtP design replacing them with regular sunglasses, which retroactively makes it clear that they're definitely meant to be eyewear. (even if she never wears them, like some sort of digimon protagonist))

And, as usual, I've mentioned before(because i'm a broken record) that these are contemporary sources, as both shows came about in the 1970s, and are foundational works in the tokusatsu genre, and consequently the building blocks of the Power Rangers franchise. But I want to elaborate on that because there's a lot of cool trivia in there...

Both shows were created by legendary mangaka Shotaro Ishinomori, who was also the creator of the 1960s manga, Cyborg 009. Cyborg 009 also featured a team of uniformed, scarf wearing cyborg supersoldiers. In fact, Cyborg 009 is basically the first Japanese superhero team.(and remains an enduring classic, even as continual remakes and reboots in the past decade have butchered it....)

The uniforms, the 5 man team, the helmets/masks, the heroic scarf/ascot, the team poses(and the solo poses), the evil organizations and monsters of the week, the "<insert name> KICK!" all stem from this one man's body of work. So she's not just a throwback to one particular set of characters or shows, or even one person's body of work; her look really is quintessentially THE image of a Japanese superhero.

Anyway the original Kamen Rider helmet is designed after a grasshopper and thus has the big compound bug eye lenses --even as the later series drifted away from the bug theme, the iconic eye shape has stayed-- which is why Mashiro has the big goggles, as well as why her mask has the giant eye holes --Also the heart shape of the mask is a throwback to the heart shape of the Pink Ranger in Goranger.

As a grasshopper, the original Kamen Rider's finishing move was the now famously imitable RIDER KICK! And in every subsequent iteration, some variation on the Rider Kick has remained the Kamen Rider signature move. And this in turn is why Mashiro's hollow has a whole legs and kick focused thing going on.

Incidentally though, there's a whole thing about her demeanor that doesn't just echo the superhero look from the 70s; With her energetic and childlike demeanor, it seems like the indication is that she dresses this way very earnestly. She isn't just dressed in a way that makes her look like a superhero to us as readers, she looks like someone who is trying to dress like a superhero, even to other people in-world. On the one hand she probably reads most readily as a cosplayer, but I feel like the implication here is that she actually thinks she is/wants to be a super hero.

Also, not to dip too far into headcanon, but given the way the Visored were first introduced as a rag tag looking bunch of misfits, it really seemed like the implication was they all got their powers separately and sought eachother out only after struggling with their own inner hollows; Essentially just mirroring Ichigo's experience... That they, while human, started turning into hollows. They fought off the hollow process resulting in giving them shinigami powers. but they struggled with a growing inner hollow, until someone showed up and offered to teach them to control the mask.

Also, there was that real ominous throw away exchange where Mashiro brings up that the first time she pulled out her own mask it lasted 15 consecutive hours. and Kensei didn't believe her, as if he wasn't around when it happened, or isn't even closely acquainted enough to just know it as a personal fact... Obviously that's contradicted much later when the TBtP has her as his former lieutenant, but it has a few vague implications...

Mashiro: ね—ね— ベリたんてさ何でこんなことしてんだっけ?

Hey~ hey~ Why's Berry-tan doing this?

Kensei: 虚化状態を長時間キ—プする為の訓練だよオメ—もやったろ

It's training to keep Hollow state for a long time. You did it too

Mashiro: あたしやってないモン

I did not

Kensei: ンだと? ウソっけ...

What? That's a lie...

Shinji: ホンマや白は最初から15時間以上虚化できたからなァ一人だけ虚化保持訓練してへんねん

it's true. because Mashiro was able to Hollowize for more than 15 hours she's the one person who didn't do Hollow state training

As always there's just a lot to be reckoned with when it comes to any number of swerves that happened in the middle of the Arrancar arc, but given the implications of how the hollow mask really works, we're lead to believe the mask's overall power and effectiveness is one of two things...

Either, like the zanpakutou spirits, they're a matter of making peace with the reflection of the inner self.

OR it's possible that the mask correlates to a total lack of balance, and just embracing the selfishness

this would btw more readily address the initial conflict between old man Zangetsu and the inner hollow, as they're of course still one and the same, but Ichigo needs to accept and embrace the negative side of his inner self in order to make peace with both of them.

Anyway point being Mashiro's apparent lack of a need for training would suggest she's super in tune with her hollow? Given her childish and hyperactive personality, it might just be that she's so immature that she doesn't have much of an inner conflict. She wants to dress like a superhero? So she does. She's confused? she whines and asks annoying questions about it. She's frustrated or unhappy? She rolls around on the floor and throws a goofy little tantrum. She doesn't have shame or hangups or a part of her she wants to repress, she's exactly who she is.

Which makes me think that if they had just been a ragtag group that goes around recruiting new Visored when they find them, like they did with Ichigo(instead of just one group that had always been together, which was just a boring explanation) then I can't help but imagine that when they found Mashiro, she must have been running around in her human life actually being a superhero.

Oh right, and Kamen Rider is so named because he rides a motorcycle. So Mashiro's partyl based on a motorcycle riding hero, and the TBtP made Muguruma a biker gang leader. Which explains why they thematically fit on the same squad. But is hollow Muguruma supposed to be hollow Mashiro's iconic hero bike?