#literally wouldn't let me write any more within the points either... this is new...

[variousqueerthings]

according to letterboxd i've watched 261 films this year (not counting un-logged films and the couple of weeks left to go)

so despite being tripped up in my plans by suddenly speedrunning doctor who these last couple of months, it's not been a bad year on the whole:

watched my first horror exploitation films -- "cannibal holocaust" and "last house on the left." I cannot say this genre will ever be a favourite, but there is a fascination to the uncomfortable feeling of realism in both of these

overall I watched much less horror this year, partially because I spent october travelling, so didn't do my usual one-per-day themed watch. out of these "lair of the white worm," (generally want to go down more of a ken russell rabbithole next year) "ravenous," (the best cannibal film that nobody's ever seen) and "nightbreed" (the other clive barker directed, which, listen, it may have flaws but it doesn't I tell you, this is a perfect movie!!!) stood out the most, but was also positively surprised by both "return of the living dead" (which, yes, was schlock, but very enjoyable schlock) and "the ritual" (I was expecting to like the ritual, but not for it to feel incredibly personal somehow -- the underrated of the two horrors I know of about english-speaking tourists with trauma trying to recover in the swedish wilderness, by far my favourite!)

also, finally watched the original "the exorcist" which... argh, you know when people say "this thing is really good" and you go sureeeee whatever, it's ruined by the hype and the way you talk about it makes me think I'm not gonna like it, and then you watch it and it's really good dammit!

also, i was convinced I watched "nope" last year, but it may be this year. I watched it three times this year, and I didn't log it last, so that means I get to go ohhhhh "nope" is just a movie of all time, it deserves the future cult status it's gonna have, I've been yelling about it with @le-red-queen because finally finally someone I know has also watched it why does it feel like my friends are sleeping on this film????

also! "prey"!!!!! ohhhhh the future of horror looks bright! my favourite predator film, including the first one. it made my brain buzz, it was beautiful, it's incredibly blunt statement that the predator is barely a threat compared to rapidly expanding colonialism, the lead's journey is stellar and painful and punch-the-air and... great film

I got to spend a lot of january watching a film festival that centred on movies by indigenous people "from Turtle Island and around the world" (as it says on the website -- definitely and understandably mainly around america and canada). favourite of these was "honey moccasin" a fascinating little comedy movie that maybe predictably hooked me because it also had a queer focus within its portrayal of community

also at a local queer film festival, got to see "wildhood" a movie about a gay multiethnic mi’kmaw teen, who goes on a roadtrip looking for his mother -- think this is probably one that would be difficult to find otherwise, so youknow... check out local film festivals you never know what you'll see!

have gone on several rambles about "great freedom" and "joyland," movies that I watched relatively close together that have basically haunted me all year, acting as comparisons to nearly everything else I've seen -- think they've put ideas about queer stories in my head that are exemplified in a lot of queer writing and avant garde film-making, but often isn't seen on such a big scale, budget and quality-wise (this not to say the small-budget films are less worthy, it was just a bit heady to get to see these two and be blown over by their largeness). also something about a film that takes place in post-wwii germany and a film that takes place in modern-day pakistan feeling like they belong together to me. they're thematic, philosophical, political kin

got to go deeper into todd haynes, with "safe" and "poison" (yes yes we're super late to the todd haynes dive, but sometimes you just want to rewatch velvet goldmine a million times forever, so it takes you awhile to get to his other greatest hits). very excited to watch his latest film, sad i can't see it in theatres

watched quite a few queer documentaries, including "lotus sports club" (about a football club in indonesia run by a trans man, that provides a safe place to lesbians and trans boys), "you don't know dick" (interviews with trans men in the 90s), rose von praunheim's "transexual menace" (a sprawling, seemingly random depiction of trans people in the US -- a million amazing portraits), and "kokomo city" (a documentary about black trans women sex workers, directed by d smith, who is herself a black trans woman, music producer, excellent writer -- the way this movie is edited is so Vivid and you can tell there's so much freedom to really say things than in work that isn't community led. the philosophy, the politics, chatting while in the bath, that familiarity, that openness!)

in more classic musical news, got to see "the court jester" (only mildly a musical), "on the town" and its thematic successor "it's always fair weather," (gene kelly on rollerskates), and fiddler on the roof (finally) -- enjoyed all of them! shockingly low on musicals this year, but I intend to get inspired by @fabiansociety's list for the upcoming one

a few surprises for me were "streets of fire," which I've become mildly obsessed with, for being simply The Coolest Film you never watched as a kid (baby willem dafoe biker gang leader + music written by the guy who wrote for meatloaf and fleetwood mac??) it's just a straightup good time and also did this thing of writing a male role, casting a woman in it, and accidentally giving us a butch lesbian (with a line to make it seem like she had a boyfriend one time, but like... that doesn't take away her butch cred),

and also scorsese's "kundun," which I had no idea what to make of, because it didn't feel like a scorsese film at all. I think I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with scorsese in that I think his movies are frequently gorgeous, but his focus is almost always to the left of the people that interest me (that is, everyone around the white guys with guns who yell a lot). kundun is about the dalai lama and it is. very very anti-violence in its depiction of the invasion of tibet, because the POV is a pacifist who's shielded from seeing the violence, so the three scenes that briefly depict it are all the more shocking. and like... scorsese seems to have been coming at this movie from the perspective of education/plea for the freeing of tibet? which, yay, but... unexpected movie, that is all. also they speak english, although the actors are tibetan, including the grand nephew of the dalai lama portraying the dalai lama (I think this movie shouldn't be in english, but that is very cool). strange film, definitely watched a bootleg dvd copy with a completely wack aspect ratio that I couldn't format on the screen, but sometimes that's how you've gotta see something

a few classics. saw "jeanne dielman" for the first time, then utterly failed to describe it for everyone I talked about it with. I feel like saying "three hour long movie about a woman's repetitive life that is slowly, but surely, about to explode" is... idk, maybe it's going too much into detail. pointing out the static camera, the near-lack of dialogue, the scenes that simply consist of her sitting, and people instinctively go "oh that's a gimmick." but I also think if one can herald something like "orphee" or anything bergman did or "stalker," then this is not so off-putting (I found stalker to be a lot harder to focus on actually, which surprised me considering its subject matter). I know a lot smarter people than me have pointed out that what may truly be disturbing to people is the fact that we're following a life in such detail that isn't considered a valuable/interesting life to follow, especially not for so long. and that is... well that is just our internalised sexism. it's a good movie

this turned out quite long, but wanted to sit with some of these movies for a bit. I'd rec all of them, depending on personal preference and limitations

[genericpuff]

The Extended Mishandling of LO's S3 Midseason Finale Premiere

Alright, so I had mentioned leading up to the release of the newest LO episode that my feelings regarding LO returning were pretty "meh". Not hyped, but not completely back of mind either. Just sort of a weird calm before the storm type feeling that could go either way.

I'm glad I got to have that moment of calmness because good god, this episode was an absolute shitshow. And honestly, I'm not surprised, for several reasons:

Rachel has never been good at maintaining a buffer, even back at the start of the series she only ever had 2-3 episodes ready ahead of her schedule which is NOT an ideal buffer for an originals series.

Rachel has never been good at writing, she's very "draw first write later" and has stated as such in interviews that when she gets 'stuck' on what she's writing, she'll just start drawing and fit the pieces in later.

Four months is NOT enough time to both rest, attend massive conventions, and work on improving a project while also getting buffer episodes ready.

Because of the FP episodes remaining locked over the hiatus, technically Rachel only needed to have ONE episode ready upon return for the newest FP release, not multiple like she'd usually need like in the past during the S2 midseason hiatus or the season finale episodes which would unlock those FP releases like normal - so for all we know, she could have drawn this episode literally last week, especially when the promo material was so last minute. Frankly I think it was REALLY stupid for whoever it was who decided to keep these FP episodes locked (whether it was her or WT, it was more likely WT) but you can read all I have to say about that in my review of the midseason finale episodes.

All that's to say, no, there was never any guarantee Rachel was going to somehow "turn around" the ride we're currently on. I know that many of the critics were hoping for that to happen, but with the circumstances of the hiatus mixed with Rachel's bad habits of putting her best efforts into the procrastination projects that aren't her actual comic (ex. the few original pieces and LO sketches she put out during the hiatus) it just wasn't in the cards. This is where the comic is at and this is where it will remain until it's over.

I want to also point something out about this episode that was... really glaring to me.

As with all of these hiatus returns, LO got priority advertising in the first two banner slots and push notifications AND a popup ad within the app. This is unsurprising, Webtoons is still trying to milk this thing for what it's worth.

I know a lot of people are gonna focus on the art, or the fact that WT is continuing to shill LO, but I wanna point out the part that WT implemented specifically - "NEW SEASON".

This is literally just false. At best I'd like to think some intern just messed up and thought this was a new season, but it's literally not, the episode designation still says "S3". Note that the creators only design the banner art, the actual labels on top are put there by Webtoons.

But at worst, this feels like blatant lying to continue to hide the fact that LO is ending. Mind you, Rachel and Webtoons have still not put out official posts stating that this is the final arc. There is NOTHING from either of them to communicate to the audience that the comic is ending next year. It feels like they're trying to avoid the topic altogether out of fear of losing the fanbase they still have, rather than hyping up the comic's end for those who have stuck around to see how it all wraps up. And honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this was the case, considering they're now trying to funnel the fanbase into Penguin/Inklore with new marketing deals and the whole Rachel Smythe Presents thing. They're trying to make this seem like the beginning of something "new" when it's really just a quiet shifting of management (Penguin House).

But all that aside, let's actually get into the episode. It's one episode after 4 months, which is not standard for LO's hiatuses, typically FP episodes release on schedule (meaning free readers start hiatuses 3 weeks after FP readers do), the only time this has been an exception has been with the 2 week breaks because the whole point of those was to build a buffer (which you can't do if you're going ahead and releasing the FP episodes anyways). For extended hiatuses like these, usually free readers still get their FP episodes, but that wasn't the case here. That means Rachel technically only needed one episode ready for the comic's return, and it shows. It really fucking shows.

FROM HERE ON OUT THERE WILL BE FASTPASS SPOILERS REGARDING EPISODE 254. DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED !!!

As per tradition, we get a title that means nothing at all. It just says what we already know.

Our collective husband Zeus is dying, no thanks to the poison cupcake fed to him by Apollo. For those who don't remember, Apollo had tricked Zeus into eating the cupcake by making him believe it was from Hebe. We are fully aware that it was Apollo who poisoned him. Remember that for later in this review.

Right off the bat we're off to a hilarious start, both with a cryptid appearance from Apollo in the background (lmao) who is, for some reason, ALREADY returning to the scene of the crime he just committed because... who knows at this point. Apollo and Psyche know it was Apollo at this point, I might add, but I have no clue why Apollo is actually returning to the scene of the crime when he has no idea Eros and Psyche know.

Moving on from that, can we talk about this hilarious dialogue?

"We have to call a doctor! Let's call Asclepius!"

"No, we can't trust him! Gosh darn it, why are we only bothering to think of ONE doctor in this universe where we've seen more than one doctor?? Guess Zeus is just gonna die! What a horribly contrived situation this is!"

And that's literally how I can best describe most of this episode. Contrived. There is a LOT of manufactured drama in this that makes ZERO sense even on a surface level.

And what do you mean exactly, Eros? "What a terrible system!" Is this supposed to be a joke? Lampshading? We've seen Persephone go to the gynecologist. There are non-god doctors who tend to gods all the time here.

Eros just doesn't seem to be that pressed over this, he sounds like Ned Flanders and that's NOT a good way to open up a scene like this... let alone an episode people have been waiting four months for.

Anyways, after a few pointless reaction panels (again remember I have to cut a lot of what I show here for Tumblr image limitations but I promise you, I'm keeping as much important stuff as I can in this, there's just THAT MUCH filler at this point), Eros and Psyche confront Apollo and he is... good god.

There is... so much to unpack here.

First of all, remember those theories about how Rachel was clearly trying to write Apollo as this "secret twist villain" the whole time but it doesn't work because Apollo is simultaneously written as both a 'conniving villain' and a massive dumbass at the same time?

Well, I finally have a more appropriate term for him. He's your average red pill redditor - someone who thinks he's smarter than everyone else when really all he does is sit on reddit all day using big words incorrectly in arguments he gets himself into with a bunch of equally-air-headed dumbasses.

"You can't possibly understand the nuances of the Olympian political system," Apollo said proudly, a man who had, ironically and obliviously, run for president in a monarchy. The union of kettle and pot is eternal.

He's the Slappable Jerk but instead of it being a painfully hilarious impression, it's just painful and hilarious for all the wrong reasons.

this is so stupid because it's 1.) Eros pointing out how obvious Apollo's plan was, despite Apollo acting smart two seconds ago with a goddess who, mind you, has been a goddess for ten years, and 2.) patricide isn't even intrinsically linked to politics, there's nothing 'political' about a guy trying to kill his dad except in, idk, a monarchy, which again, Apollo has spent ten years trying to rise to power in as a president which is a completely different form of government.

If I wanted to be really granular with this, I'd like to think Apollo is making some kind of point about the critics who call out LO's whack as fuck political system (especially in the trial arc) - as if he's saying "well you're just a stupid reader and this is fantasy where you don't understand exactly what political system we're using, so shut the fuck up you stupid twig" - but I don't think it's meant to be that deep. I think it's just Rachel trying to write a smart character and then failing at it because she, herself, is not a smart writer. And I'm really inclined to believe that more than the theory about this being some kind of meta-narrative about the critics because this entire plotline is contrived and stupid down to its core.

I did not cut anything out here, that's the pacing. Leto literally just appears out of nowhere and uh oh spaghettio's, she has Kassandra! Remember Leto? The character we were led to believe was truly "pulling the strings" until she disappeared from the story completely after she realized that Apollo and Persephone weren't a thing, even going so far as to call out her own son for being a fucking dumbass? Well, she's back and once again she's being involved as some kind of "double agent" in this whole thing, even though we literally haven't seen her since halfway through S2.

"Mm yes, you're so stupid, falling into my trap! Even though you had no reason to remember Kassandra anyways because she's literally a mortal woman you just met and you yourself have committed acts of violence against mortals without a shred of care! I'm so smart! My plan is all coming together!"

We've never seen Apollo do anything except cry and poop his pants, the closest he got to being "powerful" was his attempts to murder Daphne (who he seems to have forgotten about in this "master plan" of his) but ultimately he's literally just a piss ant baby and there's no reason to believe that he could somehow outmatch the God of Love who can literally manipulate people's emotions and states of mind with his arrows. But yeah sure go off, you're so powerful and smart.

The worst part is, I can't even buy this as the narrative trying to be like "see how manipulative and conniving he is?" because it's just silly. We've SEEN this man cry with his victim complex, we've seen him say and do the DUMBEST things that don't lend to any amount of "intelligence" he may have, it comes across less as him being "smart the whole time" and more as him trying to sound smart but ultimately sounding incredibly stupid. And I can't even immerse myself into it and buy that maybe that's the point, because it doesn't feel like the point, it just feels like inconsistent writing, he doesn't feel like a 'threat', he's just monologuing.

Bad art and Apollo literally just repeating what Leto already implied so this is a waste of the audience's time.

This is the funniest panel in the whole episode because I can't tell if Apollo is supposed to be in the background (for some reason, despite him literally being in front of Eros and Psyche two seconds ago) or if he's in the foreground and just REALLY small for some reason. This is so off-putting. And of course, it's just Apollo explaining what we're ALREADY SEEING ONSCREEN.

You see, in addition to this episode being contrived, it also talks down to its audience a LOT by explaining exactly what we're seeing onscreen. It's like Rachel saw the criticisms about her not including enough to depict what's actually going on in her head and so she thought the solution was to spoon feed information over pictures that are already doing the job of explaining what's going on. Rachel really doesn't know how to write and even when she tries to implement changes that reflect criticisms that have been made of her writing, she somehow makes things worse because she completely misses the point of what those criticisms are trying to get across.

Anyways, without even trying to resist (for some reason) Eros and Psyche get sentenced to horny jail.

They're now trapped in a basement that Leto somehow has in her home. How do we know that?

HAHAHA FUNNY LAMPSHADING SO FUNNNYYYYYYY

Leto claims that they shouldn't try to escape because the dungeon is "enchanted", but she doesn't even bother to explain what that means. So they literally don't bother trying. They don't try to call her bluff, they don't try to teleport out of there, they literally just go "well shoot", shrug their shoulders, and accept their fate. Just like with the whole "we can't trust the only doctor we bothered to think of" situation, Eros and Psyche are turning out to be some of the stupidest, lowest-effort characters in this comic who literally can't be bothered to try because that would require too much brain power.

Notice how much time we've spent on this and we haven't gotten back to where the cliffhanger of the last episode left off? Well buckle up because there's still more to cover.

So it turns out Hebe was still inside with her dad, in FULL VIEW of what was going on through glass which is somehow COMPLETELY soundproof, and when Apollo steps inside, she just has no idea what happened. She never bothered to even look outside to see what was going on with Eros and Psyche, she's just been sitting on the floor staring at Zeus' dead face for what was likely several minutes, unless Rachel is seriously trying to convince us that conversation and hostage negotiation from earlier only took 2 seconds. The timeline is such a mess at this point that characters basically freeze in place as soon as they're not the focus of the scene.

Apollo rushes inside, acting shocked over the situation, and when Hebe asks where Eros and Psyche are (again, she could have just looked out the window at any time), he's just like "dur idk they just left lol" which Hebe just... buys, I guess.

That's just Persephone but yellow. She's even missing her beauty mark.

See how Apollo put his hand on Zeus' chest/shoulder by the way?

Apparently, despite Mr. Smarter Than Everyone Else trying to pretend it wasn't him, he's able to discern that Zeus is dying from a toxic and rare poison just from touching him. He doesn't even really seem to use his powers, he just touches him and goes "welp he's dead i guess lol don't bother asking me how I know that".

But oh nooo remember that note from before? Well gasp Apollo's gonna use it to frame Hebe! In front of no one else at all!

Hebe of course says she didn't write it, but Apollo continues to try and frame her anyways, even though, again, there's no one else present here, and so it effectively just becomes the most absurd form of gaslighting I've ever seen.

Again, THERE IS NO ONE ELSE HERE IN THE SCENE. He's just trying to claim she did it to absolutely no one at all, in the hopes of... what exactly? That she'll just take the fall for something she knows she didn't do? That she'll somehow be convinced? It's not like Hebe has the same thing going on as Persephone where she has a 'wrathful dark side' he could pin it on, this is just a criminal who just robbed a building pointing at the first person they see and yelling "YOU DID IT!"

All I'm saying is that Apollo would be really bad at Among Us. He'd be the type of player to kill someone, hit the report button, then claim yellow did it which, even if he DID convince the rest of the team, would still get kicked anyways as soon as yellow was proven through the eject to not be the imp and everyone would go "okay cool so yellow wasn't the imp, that means obviously it's purple self-reporting." It's a trick that doesn't even work anymore because of how old it is. Hebe isn't a child here, she's an 18 year old woman who should be fully capable of raising an eyebrow and wondering why Apollo is this quick to accuse her - almost like he's trying to hide the fact that he did it.

But Hebe can't catch onto this, just like Eros and Psyche, she has to act stupid for the sake of the plot.

At first I thought maybe Rachel was trying to do some "whodunit" scenario, but that doesn't work here because we already know who did it. And while there are stories that exist like that that pull it off (ex. Knives Out) the problem with trying to do this the way Rachel did is that the person being framed has to have this thing called motive. The reason why Knives Out and Glass Onion work so well is because the person who was murdered (or conspired against) is someone who is being targeted by multiple people who could all be the murderer. It's quite literally called out in Glass Onion as a form of smart lampshading. "It's like putting a loaded gun on the table, and turning off the lights."

But it doesn't work here because Hebe does not have motive. If you're going to attempt to frame a murder on someone, it has to be someone who would have reasonable motive to commit that murder, even if they didn't actually commit it.

And who among Zeus' children has motive?

What about the war-mongering bloodthirsty god of war who has been regularly sentenced to time in the Mortal Realm to fight in wars in which he's been regularly injured?

What about the chaos-seeking wrathful goddess who would do it to get revenge on the parental figure who cast her aside, or even just for the fun of saying she did it?

Why try and pin it on Hebe, the doting daughter of Zeus who's only had a collective of maybe 20 panels in the entire comic?

But then I realized... it's not Knives Out, it's the fucking Lion King.

Which is just as contrived - if not more - than the assumption this was gonna be some attempt to frame Hebe. It's not. He's literally just trying to keep her from assuming it was him. He could have just as easily played dumb without calling attention to the note but he intentionally went out of his way to try and be Scar from The Lion King , while completely missing the point of why that scene worked in the original movie.

Scar wasn't trying to 'frame' Simba for Mufasa's murder. He was trying to hide the murder, while also attempting to get the only heir to the throne out of the picture, so he passed the guilt of the death onto Simba - a child who, unlike Hebe, wouldn't have the ability to rationalize or realize his uncle his a scumbag - who then ran away from home because he was too terrified to face his family for what happened, assuming that it was all his fault when it wasn't.

That's not how this is panning out here. Hebe is the now 18 year old daughter of Zeus, and not one of his only children. She doesn't even fit into the whole "sons overthrowing their fathers" prophecy like Aries would. Apollo is literally just being a big idiot here by saying "well I'm gonna give you a headstart to run away, because if you stay, I might hurt you" (which btw, should be MORE of a smoking gun that Apollo did it??)

And again, it's all so contrived so that the plot can move forward. "Well I'm going to frame you for this murder, but y'know, you should just leave, I'm not gonna try and press it further lmao"

Again, Apollo is a fucking idiot here, because he just attempted to frame someone who has NO MOTIVE to harm Zeus, to absolutely NO ONE at all who would side with him, only to let her go which would leave her to question why Apollo would try to accuse and harm her in the first place before considering other options. And through ALL this he claims he's the smart one, which I can't even be bothered to "love to hate" because it's written so poorly.

And really it all comes down to how everyone else behaves in relation to Apollo that makes it so stupid and unbelievable. Apollo, you're not smart just because all the characters around you are intentionally being written to be as stupid and non-confrontation as possible. If you can only write a smart villain by making everyone else stupid, you haven't written a smart villain, you've written a dumbass whose victory only happens due to contrived plot convenience. It's not even done well like in Glass Onion, it's just bad writing, full stop.

And who does he call to report this emergency? The satyr police? His son the doctor?

No.

The media. Literally just "hello, the media?? I need your best journalist here stat!"

I need you to understand, even if he were calling a tabloid magazine like The Weekly Nark, you don't just... call a journalist to report a murder. These are not the actions of someone who's trying to absolve himself of guilt, these are the actions of a complete dumbass trying to get news coverage of his trophy kill who would be better off just playing dumb instead of trying to play smart. Even Walter White wasn't this fucking stupid despite all the times he fell on his own sword, Apollo is literally just instigating suspicion towards himself for no reason at all. He's self-reporting so hard and worst of all, you can't even take any of this seriously because of how corny it is. There's no dramatic tension, no stakes, it's just a bunch of characters performing in a really bad stage play and reducing every conflict to "well I guess Zeus is just dead now because no one's bothering to make an effort to stop Apollo or ask questions lmao"

It's truly the epitome of "this plot wouldn't exist if characters would just talk to each other."

But finally, FINALLY we mention the thing this episode is named after, the transition point to Persephone.

Just like with the midseason finale episode, there's a lot to cover here, so I'm gonna get more into it in a part two post.

That said, you can see already this is the messiest, most contrived bullshit to ever wind up in LO. It's trying so hard to be smart and it just comes across as a bunch of toddlers in the world's worst stage play rendition of Clue. None of what was done here was in any way dramatic or tense, it's just a bunch of characters infodumping shit we already know, trying to set up new plot threads that don't make any sense, and allowing one another to get away with what they're doing because they don't bother to even try.

It's completely manufactured, contrived nonsense. It's not "smart", it's not "so dumb it's brilliant", it's just dumb.

[schrodingers-water-wet]

This is how I’d write Dreamtale and does not reflect cannon. Dream and Nightmare belong to Joku.

One thing that's always bugged me about Dreamtale is the black and white morals of it. ‘Negative’ emotions are evil and ‘positive’ ones are good with very little room for complexity. Another is the themes of the story. It's muddy at best. Forgiveness could be a theme if you turn your head and squint but I'm hesitant to say forgiveness is a real theme because it hardly effects the story. It could be said that the theme is that, “hurt people hurt people” but that theme doesn't work in the cannon that when Nightmare finally starts hurting people he's not himself but instead is possessed. With the concept of possession it could be that the theme is identity but neither Dream nor Nightmare is ever shown to have any struggles within theirselves so that's not it either. I'm sure Dreamtale does have a clear theme I just can't find it.

So in my au of it I would like to give it one. It has so much potential in the context of the greater multiverse as it has two major players who intervene in other aus. I think an attempt to make this theme has already been made with Dreams motivations but as Dreams trauma rarely comes up in the story I'm hesitant to name it as such but: the theme should be the breaking of cycles. I'd also throw in a hint of guilt as an secondary theme. A lot of other aus are concerned with the idea of a cycle of trauma, a literal loop of death, or a character constantly suffering. So what if the point of Dream and Nightmare was the end of suffering?

Backstory: Dream and Nightmares backstory serves it's purpose but it doesn't serve mine. I would keep a lot of elements of it but I think it's important to change the meaning of it to make this theme of breaking cycles make sense. I'd also like to give the characters internal struggles that I feel they sorely lack in the original.

Dream: he shouldn't always be in the right. I do like the idea that he's absolutely sure of his moral soputitory but that should be a flaw not a fact. The main things I would change about Dream in the backstory is I'd make it so his naivity stems from the villagers. I think the villagers keeping him naive and moldable could be him having been groomed. I think in a cycle of trauma Dream needs some. Him being lied to, babied, and manipulated his whole early life would be a good start to giving him that trauma. His complete trust in the villagers will make it much more heartbreaking when they end up dead.

An interesting idea would be that the villagers completely shielded Dream from ‘bad’ things as if he was a child. Not inviting him to funerals, not telling him when people died, not letting him witness violence. Nightmare being the only one who treated Dream like an adult but also having to always be the bearer of bad news would already establish the starts of an emotional rift between the two of them. With Nightmare tired of having to baby Dream and Dream being tired of Nightmare telling him all about this awful stuff.

Dream being that naive would be partially willful on his part. He'd be a bit stubborn and turn a blind eye to Nightmares treatment. He wouldn't be fully aware of how awful Nightmare has it but he knows his friends are awful to his brother. He just ignores it for his own happiness, and for his friends. He's not evil or even bad but he's not perfect. It's also not fully his fault, he's only doing what he had been taught. After more time in the greater multiverse having learned more Dream would feel awfully guilty.

Nightmare: Nightmare could go in so many directions. He's brimming with potential that the possession arc squashed. So I'd throw that completely out. He'd still snap and kill all the villagers, but it would be him doing it. Everything after that would also still be him.

In Undertale Aus, especially the ‘Bad Sanses’ there's a underlying common aspect, that being that everyone who's hurting others is doing so as an necessary evil. It's a lot of ‘everyone I love is going to die anyway so I should be the one to do it' or ‘I literally have no choice but to either do this or die’. I think Nightmares snap should be like that. He put up with hundreds of years of abuse and never thinks he could escape (as in he physically couldn't escape) so when he snaps it's an abuse victim killing abusers. He's not doing it because he's a villain but because it's his only course of action. Or at least in his eyes it was. Dream ought to feel betrayed by that. Everyone he loves and had known has been killed by someone else who he loved. Who he thought cared about him enough not to literally murder everyone else.

If Nightmare feels guilty about what happened to the villagers it would only be because he feels guilty about doing that to Dream.

Nightmare probably isn't good with people and he lacks a lot of knowledge that may be considered common knowledge. His only source of information in the village would have been Dream who was being fed lies but at least Dream had an opportunity to develop people skills from constant interactions with the villagers. Nightmare would not have that luxury. So he's ill-informed and awkward. He also would massively struggle with self-worth. He's been told his whole life that his very existence is inherently immoral. I imagine that would mess him up mentally.

Nightmare terrorizing Aus isn't really something he would do if he wasn't possessed so he wouldn't. I do think there's room for him to get to help the ‘undesirables’ escape from their aus like he does in fannon. He could fill in the gaps that Core couldn’t fill. Taking in violent people who couldn't go to the Omega Timeline for the sake of others. He knows what it's like to be an undesirable in a bad situation and what that can do to you. He probably has more sympathy for those who's mental illness presents itself in uncomfortable ways than Dream does.

Also, Dream turning to stone should be much shorter. 500 years is too long for Nightmare to be out there alone, if he's left alone for 500 years he's gonna resolve all his issues before Dream even starts to resolve his own. Dream should only be stone for a decade or two, enough to make Nightmare more established in the Multiverse but not so much we run into the too much time issue. When Dream is freed he'd also be incredibly hurt, still like he lost everyone yesterday. Everything that was familiar for him had been destroyed, he should feel something about that. I think Dream helping people definitely works. I think him trying to help other people before helping himself is such a cool thing. I do think both Dream and Nightmare have to learn that ‘postive emotions’ aren't always good (joy from hurting others, excitement from awful events, peace at the cost of your brothers well-being) but more importantly they both need to learn that ‘negitive emotions’ aren't always bad (grieving someone who you loved, sadness as sympathy, righteous anger). Dream would learn that from trying to help people who didn't need to be helped, who were sad and needed to be sad.

Nightmare would have to learn it to find value in himself but idk how.

[astrxlfinale]

🌿 Author portrait. Get to know the author behind the blog! repost, do not reblog.

Basics.

Name/nickname: Jace. (Has been my net handle for forever.) The Grumpy Ass.

Age: 32! I am indeed made of all bones and walking canes now.

Pronouns: He/Him.

Years of writing: Since my mid-teens. It really started around the time I first got a computer at my grandma's old place. Was able to watch overseas shows then one thing led to another.

Reflection.

Why did you pick up writing?: For me if was to answer one simple thing. 'What if', and that itself could be tied to countless scenarios that wouldn't be shared in canon continuity. Initially it was what do the characters do off the screen, then it edged to getting more detailed, to what new journeys or shared moments could they have? It led to a hell of a fun snowball effect. Coming onto different platforms and seeing it was shared or that other folks were ahead of the curved served as some fun motivation. In all the good, bad and deadass kinds of wild. It led to another 'what if' to answer, and still is being answered to this day with the RP hobby.

Do you have any writing routines?: My methods for knocking out replies are to always actively read the post. (no duh Jace), BUT, this comes with the idea on how to blend and extend. How can I give the post offered to me its due diligence and reactions, but how can I equally build off that by ensuring there's enough content to be responsive to for my RP partner? I let my character perceive to find their voice in terms of response and actions during this process.

Afterwards once I got the framework in my head, I kick on some tunes I genuinely enjoy getting it all doled out with the metaphorical meat and potatoes.

That said when it comes to scrounging up not muse per say, but that certain line of writing that I'm satisfied with? I just hop back to old works (fan made and official) that really worked those writing wrinkles in my head. There's some content that vividly let my fingers flow to 'paint a picture', in either emotion or literal presence in scene setting.

What's your favorite part about writing?: For me it'd just be bringing feeling to a scene. To give a very easy ground for anyone, experienced or new in this kind of thing to just feel the said scene. Not as some realistic one for one, but as a means to let their imagination comfortably sit in the drivers seat and have these elements expand before it. Tied with that is being able to find neat/cool ways to highlight my own muse's emotions through writing, letting it so volatile in it's creativity and their said emotions in said scenario.

Three things you like about your writing.

One. I really enjoy how shameless my writing can be. Honestly speaking, my personal taste never really clashed well with 'refinement'. It's blunt and broad, it holds energy and isn't ashamed to really let that be. I feel like that essence of 'voice' within writing is an important fundamental for me enjoying it. In hand with this, it's also why I never could actively write like other authors, and trying to say write similar to how a series does would never great great results from me. I want to carry that particular voice that varies with my muses, and have it flourish with what they also bring to the table.

Two. One thing I've also become proud of is details. Coming from a point where text based dialogue writing was my main bread and butter, watching the change in how it actually expanded has been like night and day for me. In particular, being able to describe a scene in these warm, cold or chaotic ways, adding that touch of whimsical flare to my posts as well. It's primarily why I get my kick from always having some fantasy in my settings, old age, modern or futuristic all the same. I love when I can get to use all the extra detail as extensions.

Three. This isn't tied into the act of writing in itself. Now days however I have to say I really improved on the aspect of proper plotting. My main issue was that I used to make it sound either too much like a script, or I got so creativity locked that it actually sucked the fun out the process for me. Taking some new approaches to the RP hobby has actually ironed out this detail, and I've come to see the incredible amounts of fun that can be held with it too. I intend taking the utmost advantage as well.

A question for the next person.

Write a question for the next person to answer. Once you've answered it, leave a new question for someone else to answer.

When life throws you lemons, and gets you down, does writing become something that you're drawn to as to get you through it, or do you feel like it does the opposite?

For me it'd be the absolute opposite. My creativity first and foremost is tied to me having a good mood. Being in more negative headspaces generally makes me harder to approach, so normally I wouldn't frequent any social angles for a prolonged period while I get that ironed out. It becomes a case of contrasting gears that are heavily rusted.

This is why I often put emphasis on this being a hobby for me. To me, it's similar as to booting up a video game for example and giving it a good spin. A more downtrodden me is moreso being a slough and not really wanting to move, outside of just watching tv while being a bump on a log. Stuff like that needs genuine time for me or a key situation involving said scenario to really iron out those kinks.

It leaves a bad taste for my type of character let that touch of escaping get involved.

New question: What are your favorite details that you enjoy to highlight about your muse through writing? Is a physical element? A measure of character that holds the most flare? This can have multiple answers or a solitary one.

Tagged by: @araneitela Look at you dive bombing me with this. Thank you kindly homegirl.

Tagging: Any and all can proceed to take part! What's your writing lore, let the fine details fly out.

[bloodboundsiege]

out of curiosity, what made you decide to make this into a full fledged visual novel instead of just writing a fic? esp since afaik there hasn't been a demand/outcry for more bloodbound

(this ended up being rlly long, so I'm putting it under a cut. if you don't want to read all of that, the tl;dr is I've been working on an spec adaptation of Bloodbound since 2021, I've been making edits with Choices assets for a little over a year now, and I started messing around with ren'py during my stint in the now no longer active @nightboundthesecond project, and this spinoff is the culmination of all of those things bc I wanted to do something w them).

Anyways, here's the long version:

So...I kind of already did. Sort of.

In summer of 2021, I was going through a pretty bad depressive episode and ended up rereading Bloodbound (which got me back into the fandom as a whole, more on that in a sec). When the dust cleared, I began really heavily reconsidering what exactly I was doing with my life.

I'd been toying with the possibility of doing a film MFA of some kind, but I was worried I didn't have the skillset to get into any grad programs. So, I began teaching myself how to write screenplays by adapting Bloodbound into a spec TV series. From August 2021 to April 2022, I wrote twenty-eight episodes, with three rounds of revisions, which really strengthened my abilities as a writer. I'm currently at a T10 film school getting an MFA. I wouldn't be where I am without doing that. Part of my love for Bloodbound stems from the fact that it quite literally changed my life.

The very nature of turning a book into a screenplay/teleplay is that you have to restructure a lot of plot points so they fit in better with the new medium. With a TV adaptation, you also usually have to build onto the source material. For Bloodbound, that meant fleshing things out and creating new characters to move the plot forward. It also meant exploring things that either happened offscreen or were only brief scenes.

And so when it came time to write episodes for the book 2 adaptation, the huge aspect of that was going into New York City and seeing what Gaius was doing during his hostile takeover. And since I had very little to work with from the source material, I had to come up with a lot of stuff off the cuff. And as I put those storylines together, I was like there's actually some pretty interesting stuff here. This visual novel is based off of that stuff.

@clansayeed and his fantastic reimaginings of Bloodbound and Nightbound had been on my radar for a while at this point, but I wasn't aware of the fake caps he made until I actually checked out his tumblr account. I thought they were really fucking cool. As a little private celebration for finishing the third round of edits for season 1 (and to let myself take a break), I decided to teach myself how to make fakecaps and recreate a few scenes from my adaptation in the Choices format:

I found out that I really enjoyed reworking assets into new outfits and character designs--lowkey, putting on a podcast or a video essay, opening up pixlr, and just making stuff became one of my go-to ways to unwind in the midst of mfa apps and life in general--, so I started making more fandom service stuff for fun and posting them on Reddit. I made a variety of stuff: role reversal AU edits, general dress up stuff, and of course... "on the set of [choices book]: the tv show" fake caps.

I feel like you're not really supposed to say this, but it was kind of validating to me that a lot of those posts did like. Decent numbers. And that kind of motivated me to get better at doing it, especially in the beginning.

And then...It Lives Within dropped. And I think that shifted a lot of how people--myself included--considered what they could do within a fandom space like Choices. Like, if we could make our own shit, why not? I was really intrigued by the idea, and so when there were calls for writers and sprite artists for a Nightbound project, I jumped at the opportunity.

(As a side note, I think the fact that now there are people within the fandom making their own sequels/spinoffs/whatever is gonna be rlly interesting for the general ecosystem of the Choices fandom and its future, but that's a convo for another time lol)

While the team I was on is no longer working on a sequel, being part of that group did a lot for me, and I look back on being part of that really fondly. I think we all were kind of picking up whatever we needed to do, regardless of if it was what we signed on for. For me, that meant teaching myself how to use Ren'py. The thing was, this was still in the really early stages of development, which meant I didn't have a lot of story to play with. So...

I was kind of like. Fuck it. Let me try my own thing out.

The original idea was actually a prequel set in the 1910s, as I'd done an MC set and an LI set based on that very premise, but the problem was that there are so few assets from that time period, and asset creation has never been my strong suit. But then, I thought back to the adaptation I'd been working on.

Some of the strongest writing I think I've ever done was in the episodes where the primary storylines were following Gaius's takeover of New York. I think a lot of the themes of the second book came out in those moments. And as cool as it would be, as much as I've fantasized about it, I don't think Bloodbound: The TV Show is ever happening. So it made sense for me to rework that into a visual novel spinoff.

In terms of the actual framing of this story, I spent a lot of time in the Bloodbound tags in the early days of working on my adaptation. I was deep in those tags. And it's really interesting to see what people expected it to be before its release. Part of it was the assumption of a Clan sorting system. Obviously, that wasn't actually the case.

Additionally, I think a lot of people were frustrated by the fact that Bloodbound's MC isn't really given the option to just. Be bad. Which then makes moments like this super jarring:

So, I decided to put everything I'd learned together. I was working on the GUI/character creation features for Nightbound (side note, the GUI in this game isn't an absolutely perfect replication of the Choices GUI yet and won't be for the demo, but we're getting there), I had a ton of edits I'd made that I wasn't using for anything, and I had a story that I knew could be reworked into an arc about a new vampire in New York City during Gaius's coup.

But with this project in general, it's less about a demand for a sequel/midquel/spinoff within the fandom and more like. I noticed that there were some things people wanted out of Bloodbound and didn't get, and trying to give it to them, because I wanted those things too, and I felt like I had the means to create that. When I've talked to IRL friends about this project (non of whom play Choices), I've just been like "yeah it's a visual novel fanfic" because...it's a visual novel fanfic.

So. That's why.

(This was super long (and felt a little self centered, sorry!), but if you read all of that, I hope it all made sense. All of this is to say that this has been a labor of love for a book series I've been living with for a year and a half, and I want to get part of what I've done with it out of my head. I hope you all like it.)

[axilarycobra]

I hate Darkstalker rant

I'm heated rn. Sorry that it's so long. Most posts I write like this end up in my drafts so we'll see if this gets posted or not. Hopefully, people actually read this because I got so heated writing it, I needed to let off some steam now.

TLDR: You can like Darkstalker idc, but he's not a good person so plz don't try to defend him against what I say because he isn't

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Personally, I feel like Darkstalker didn't have any redeeming qualities and I've seen a lot of Darkstalker apologist posts but literally, almost every point they make comes with a 'yeah, but...' statement because there's always something that can be said about Darkstalker that destroys their point.

He undeniably was not a good person and although a lot view him as a well-written character, which I can get a bit of, there are still a lot of elements of his character that just aren't solved by looking at that (? that doesn't even make sense to me entirely).

Like, he was meant to be in love with Clearsight and that was supposed to make him appear to be some kind of morally gray guy ("cause he just wanted what was best for them, right?") but he did not treat her like how you treat someone you love. He gaslit her, manipulated her, guilt-tripped her, and even thought about killing her because her life wasn't even more valuable to him than his silly little animus magic?!? Like what?! He was just power-hungry and needed someone next to him to tell him that everything he was doing was great to boost his ego.

Like, he loved his mother maybe and that's it. Maybe Whiteout. But he also murdered Arctic in front of Whiteout which most likely traumatized her so I feel like he doesn't consider how she feels about her family and he also doesn't listen to her when she tries to warn him. Like, he's always undermining what she says to him. Like, it almost feels like he isn't trying to protect her specifically but rather protect the idea of a family since he also recognized that he could have helped her hatch that night but didn't because he knew that it would mean that she wouldn't be a threat to him if they weren't born on the same night.

On top of that, I know he was meant to be written to be a morally gray character, that was the whole reason for his creation, but nothing he does gives off any vibe that what he's doing could be perceived as the greater good. Just because you see a future where you and your future wife are happy with kids doesn't mean that it's ok to take over a whole continent and destroy the whole balance of peace, killing thousands of dragons in the process. Like, if he literally said that he would have to drag Clearsight screaming and crying in order for that timeline to happen, that seems like a pretty great indicator that he was not doing good stuff in that timeline.

Now, don't even get me started on Darkstalker apologist arguments. They either make claims that can be rebutted easily or are literally making stuff up. Like, there are some Darkstalker apologists who at some point, they have just created an entirely new character that isn't Darkstalker at all. You can't go on about how he did nothing wrong by denying the stuff he did because then that isn't Darkstalker. Like, yeah, if he didn't do all that stuff, he wouldn't be such a bad guy but he DID do that stuff!!! That's why he's a bad guy!!! You can't deny things that are canon when trying to argue that Darkstalker isn't a bad guy within the canon.

Also, there are people who literally just claim Darkstalker's character and blame Tui for ruining him which is absolutely ridiculous because I forgot the part where they actually created Darkstalker and Tui stole him from them. Like, Tui wrote Darkstalker the way Darkstalker is, he isn't some kind of character she took from somewhere. You can't say that she made him wrong, that's literally just how he is. I'm saying this as a writer myself, you will never know as much about a character as the person who made that character. Tui knows a thousand more things about Darkstalker than any of these apologists who pretend like Darkstalker is some voice in their head begging to be released from Tui's vices.

Another thing I see mentioned is how Darkstalker being from an abusive family or being autistic-coded means that Tui believes that people like that end up as bad people which, really? Have you analyzed any other characters in this series? First of all, Darkstalker isn't even in the top 10 most autistic-coded characters of this series (coming from an autistic person myself). There are also plenty of examples of characters who had abusive families (Winter? Qibli? Peril?) and although they have their faults, they all come out not being presented as bad people. That's literally just how Darkstalker himself came out to be. Like, he is just one example of a character with these circumstances and for him, it ended up with him doing bad things. That doesn't mean that everyone who had the same circumstances ends up doing bad things, that's just what happened for Darkstalker specifically.

Anyway, I can't think of any more arguments off the top of my head that Darkstalker apologists use. At the end of the day, if you just like Darkstalker, that's alright, like, don't feel the need to mention it to me you can do whatever you want, it's just the people who try to defend Darkstalker and claim that he was never a bad guy who gets on my nerves because he genuinely isn't.

[mishkakagehishka]

You know it's very funny because reading the bit about the self aware au just brought out like the worst in me and I couldn't help but think (mostly due to the ritsu part, because boy don't you dare touch my dia) "oh yeah? Two can play that game you know. Touch my día and you're dead to me. What if I decide to never open the game again? What if I uninstall you? What if I forcefully break my phone and buy a new one that has nothing in common with the last one? You won't see me ever again, is that what you want? Don't test how far my spite, anger and disappointment can take me."

Because within the context of "you don't quite know what's going on, but there's something wrong" and especially if you do not realize they're self-aware, they're still just kinda.... A bunch of pixels? So if they bring you more pain than the joy they once did, why wouldn't you get rid of them? If you realize they are actually self-aware that night bring more problems though (moral conundrums y'know y'know)

Anyway I love the concept it's so fun to think about <3 I'm also blaming the worst parts of my thinking process currently on "I'm salty due to my lack of sleep and the blorbos are going to pay for it"

Under the cut for length! As always, yandere is not something I approve of or see as romantic, instead I see it as horror - and similarly see the yandere self-aware stuff as the cousin of the "i got a haunted game at a yard sale" creepypastas lolol

No but you're exactly right. Let's imagine, for a moment, that something like "the pixels become self-aware" actually happens - you might think off-handedly "oh, wow, like those sci-fi movies where the AI becomes conscious and destroys the world", but that's exactly it. You'll think "sci-fi", "movie", "world's end" and it's all very unrealistic. I don't think anybody's really immune to the "But it won't happen to me" mindset especially with something as far-fetched as that. So, even if you think about it, you'd likely just wave it off as a funny joke you came up with and instead go ahead believing you're experiencing a weird bug. Honestly, I've seen weirder playing enstars, and I've had bugs that seemingly nobody else has encountered, so I wouldn't even be fazed. Might e-mail support if it gets really bad (as in - if Ritsu yoinks my hard-earned dia), but I wouldn't be overly worried.

But spite is always a good trait to have in these cases. And literally - imagine you're saving up for a feature scout for the character you produce above all else (instead of an event, bc I think scouts being reliant on luck will often mean you'll end up spending a lot more than on events), let's say you managed to rack up enough for 100 pulls - not even halfway to the point where you'd get pity, but not an amount to sneeze at by any means either. Tomorrow the scout opens, and, if need be, you can still grind some stuff, an upcoming event, some songs you haven't S+ combo'd, and so on, but it won't give you a lot of dia. Maybe for another 10pull - maybe - but every little bit counts.

And then this bitch (lol) on your homescreen gets jealous. Maybe you've skipped his event scout because you wanted to make sure you had dia for this other idol, and he can't have that. So he just... erases your dia. Doesn't even spend it on anything, simply takes those hard-earned 3,500 dia and changes the code into a sweet little zero (this hurt to write). Emailing support wouldn't even help as it's not really a bug, and I imagine it'd be hard to prove you even had the dia in the first place and that it just disappeared. It wouldn't surprise me if someone would be discouraged enough to drop the game. Especially if you're f2p - it's no easy task grinding dia. But I don't think Ritsu would really know what his actions could have as consequence - he'd act out of emotion and on impulse, and wouldn't really realise the problem until suddenly the player is only getting the daily logins, then they log in once a week, then once a month, and then they stop playing. Support was no help, the event scout came and went, and the player, discouraged and disappointed, lost interest. Soon enough, the game is uninstalled, and Ritsu has an eternity in the void to think about how his unhealthy jealousy and impulsive actions brought him that loneliness.

Although if you then make the connection of "Hey, wait a minute, didn't Ritsu literally threaten me with this?" you're definitely better off just buying a new phone before installing enstars again. I imagine the self-awareness like a virus, it stays on your phone the same way game data sticks around if you reinstall a game, except they kinda leak into every crevice of your phone, able to connect to anything the phone connects to, so if you charge your phone on your pc, and then install enstars on the pc through an emulator, you get the "corrupted" enstars there, too.

And dhbdjdjd entirely understandable... i hope you'll be able to get some shut-eye later in the day <3 or at least a moment to sit down and chill!

[airashisakura]

Pregnancy Diaries

Chapter 1 - Ball of Fur

Rating : General audience

Relationships : Uchiha Sasuke & Haruno Sakura

Summary : Sasuke wakes up one fine morning and finds Sakura missing.

FFN Ao3

This lovely art was a birthday gift from @something-like-air Also thanks to @ayuumaku for drawing this cute and beautiful art💖

The light peeking through the curtains of the rented room stirred the raven haired shinobi out from his slumber. He groaned and refused to get up from half-awake state as his lone hand traveled to the other side of the bed to clutch his wife and hide his face in the nook of her shoulder.

Every morning he inhaled her saccharine scent that invigorated him to face a new day. The day itself was bright and sunny, just like her smile. It had become a habit for Sasuke to snuggle before all his senses kicked in to continue for the coming day. But today, his hands were kissed good morning by an empty sheet. He sprang up from his sleepy state, partly bewildered and partly scared.

After Sakura became part of his journey, they had been camping mostly under open skies and after regular intervals they would settle in at an inn - to refill their basic supplies and to indulge in intimate acts after they set out again. But this morning routine was never missed. Even in woods and in unknown terrains, Sasuke somehow made sure to indulge himself in this pleasure. And now back from a few weeks, they'd been sleeping in warm bed and futons more often. It had become crucial too! Although Sakura didn't mind and persuaded Sasuke not to, Sasuke couldn't stop fretting over spending nights in the middle of nowhere when his wife was about 9 weeks pregnant and combating early symptoms of pregnancy like unexplainable tiredness, random headaches, and unusual abdominal cramps and backaches.

And here he is... His pregnant wife was missing from the bed. His concern about her health pushed him out of his torpid state. He knocked on the door of the washroom since her morning sickness was getting worse day by day. Sakura wasn't there either. And now missing from the room they stayed at the night with no note of her leaving abruptly. Sasuke tried sensing her chakra, but it was of no use. It brought two possibilities in his mind - either she had some urgent errands to run in the village, or she was in trouble. Uchiha Sasuke had never felt his fingers running cold, but he was confident that if it had been the latter one, Sakura would have left some clues. He trusted his wife's skills and intellect. He dressed up quickly in his full shinobi attire, and he rushed outside to inspect more.

Sasuke was planning to look thoroughly around the whole village. He knew very well that Sakura could take care of anyone who might try to hurt her, but her current condition worried him. He was about to leave the inn when he considered asking about her whereabouts at the reception desk, where an old lady sat sipping tea, complaining about her old-age.

Sasuke furrowed his brow at the thought of initiating a conversation with people. That was something Sakura was good at, and she usually took the responsibility wherever they went. Well, Damn you Sakura!

"Excuse me?" Sasuke tapped on the counter to get the lady's attention.

The lady looked suspiciously at him from above the rim of her round glasses.

"Have you seen a woman around my age?" Sasuke was trying to be more distinctive while describing his wife. "Pink hair and green eyes."

The suspicion in the lady's face grew dark. "What business do you have with her?" She retorted back.

What! I was with her when we checked in yesterday! Sasuke let out a frustrated sigh. "I am her husband."

"Oh?" The woman began to complain again about her old age and regressing memory.

Sasuke was losing it now. He had no idea where Sakura was or what even happened to her! He was regretting this useless interaction when the lady screeched at top of her voice.

"Sakura-chan is so good and beautiful."

Sasuke raised his eyebrows, but more and more anger built up as the lady hadn't told if she had seen his wife or not!

"Come with me, boy." The old lady got off from the seat as she muttered and cursed about her backache.

Sasuke bluntly followed her with his usual aloof expression. The old lady started walking towards the stairs. Sasuke was perplexed to find out that Sakura was still somewhere in the inn, yet relieved as he ticked off all the dangerous possibilities he'd been able to conjure. They crossed the first floor where their allotted room was, then she took the stairs to the second floor. The old lady's sluggish movements and the beats of her walking stick against the wooden stairs were testing his patience.

This is terrible, Sasuke cursed inwardly as he realized how impatient he could grow when he couldn't feel Sakura's skin or her chakra. Although the latter wasn't Sakura's fault, he was one to suggest hiding their chakras after she got pregnant to prevent any enemy ambush.

Finally, Sasuke's patience was rewarded when the old lady pointed towards her. Sakura was sitting cross-legged on the floor in the balcony of an unrented room. She was in her regular civilian dress, carrying the Uchiha sigil at her back. The very evidence that Sasuke had rebuilt his family. But the scars of losing it all over were still fresh after all these years.

Yesterday, when they had checked in, they'd been asked to rent this room, but Sakura dismissed the offer since having an attached balcony would have added extra charges.

But what business does she have here!

"You're really lucky. Take good care of her."The old lady smiled with the few teeth she had.

Sasuke nodded gratefully before the lady walked away, leaving them alone.

Sasuke walked towards her. As he scooted near her, he saw Sakura. Her dilated pupils were beautifully set within her orbs, plump pink lips parted in astonishment, her cheeks resting on her palms with curiosity even rivaling that of a child. Sasuke's gaze followed with her to the source of her amazement.

A cat? He noticed the cat had an abnormally large belly. Now, he was done with deducing things!

"Sakura?"

"This cat is pregnant!"Sakura spoke with a little thrill in her voice.

"What are you doing here? And why didn't you leave a note?" His frustration came upon her, but he accused himself of being insensitive when Sakura turned to face him with a small pout forming on her lips.

Has she become more beautiful? Sasuke's heart thumped in his chest.

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun. I felt nauseous so I got out of bed and then I heard this poor thing yowling."She pointed towards the cat. She carefully patted on the female feline's round distended belly and continued, "I couldn't find out then from where the sound was coming. So I asked the old lady at reception about this in the morning and she brought me here. This cat might have somehow climbed up here but couldn't get down later."

Sasuke listened to her long explanation as he noticed she brought some food with her to feed the cat.

"And a note?"

"Well, I forgot to write one." She sheepishly admitted, scratching the back of her neck.

Sasuke glared at her. Sakura made her puppy face to cool down his wrath. Nevertheless, he gave up on his anger and sat beside her.

Sakura got again into her business of observing and caressing the cat. Sasuke noticed every feature of her alluring face that twinkled with happiness as she explained that the cat was going to deliver in a day or two. And other things he ignored, as usual, when he stared at her.

"Sasuke-kun, did you see that?" Sakura's voice spiked in excitement again, bringing Sasuke from his wandering state. He was reluctant to remove his eyes from her, but she coaxed him to look at the cat.

"See?" Sakura merrily pointed to a part of the cat's belly, which was momentarily raised by a little bump before leveling up again with the belly.

Sasuke literally had no idea what had just happened, but Sakura could make out by his face that he was scared like anything.

Sakura chuckled as she explained, "You see, one of the babies inside her kicked." And now her laugh diminished to a gentle smile settling on her lips as his cheeks turned crimson.

Sasuke's gaze followed towards her belly, which is still taut with no physical sign of new life sprouting inside her. But he remembered Sakura telling him that in the coming months it was going to expand and would be more visible.

Sakura held him by his wrist and placed his palm on her lower abdomen. "You know, this little one will also move and kick from the coming months." The shade of her cheeks deepened and Sasuke gawked.

"Would that hurt?" Sasuke asked her.

Sakura giggled. "Sometimes, it would. It depends on the baby's position in the womb." She explained as well as she could in medical terms. The perks of being a medic-nin!

"But it would be great to feel the baby move," she sighed dreamily.

It was still difficult for him to imagine that months later he would be a father. An unknown relationship that would come to existence - a new member of his family. This reminded him of the family he once had. He once thought nothing could revive the feelings of the family that he lost, yet here he was with the one who would gift him a new life. A new life carrying both of their parts.

"Ne Sasuke-kun, can we stay for a few more days till I see her kittens?" She understood that she accompanied Sasuke in his journey, promising that she wouldn't be a reason to halt him, but the newly surging maternal hormones urged her to.

"Aah," he paused and added, "We will shift to this room."

"Eh? Sasuke-kun, you don't…" Before she could complete her sentence, Sasuke pulled her closer and kissed gently on her forehead.

Sakura adjusted her position as she wrapped her arms around his torso and rested her head on his chest as Sasuke dipped his head in the crook of her neck, enjoying the closeness that he had missed that morning.

*******

Again, after two mornings, Sasuke found himself in bed alone when he woke up, but he knew now where Sakura was. He lazily dragged himself to the balcony where Sakura was seated on the floor. Sasuke sat beside her, looking towards the new wooly creatures, snuggling close to their mother. The cat had delivered a litter of kittens a day before and she was now busy in feeding her newborns.

After the cat was done, Sakura patted her and set a kitten on her lap. She scratched the head of the little being with fingers while she said, "I won't hold you here any longer. The kittens are well, so we can move now."

But something caught Sasuke's attention. He looked carefully towards the kitten that was on Sakura's lap. A pair of innocent emerald eyes stared back at him. Its body was covered with white fur except the head, which had shining black fur. Sasuke felt unexpected familiarity within that unfamiliar creature.

Could it be? Sasuke thought. An Uchiha with green eyes?

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura nudged him out of his thoughts.

Sasuke blinked back and responded, "Aah."

Yes to Sakura's question and a yes to his own thought. He didn't think it wouldn be bad if his child got Sakura's eyes.

Sakura gave him a questioning look. Sasuke tapped on her forehead and stood up, saying, "Let's get going then."

Sakura blushed at his gesture.

She ruffled the mama cat's fur, earning a purr from her. Sasuke lent his hand as Sakura carefully got off from the floor, the other hand resting on her belly.

Sakura flinched in pain as she stood. "Ouch, my back hurts," she whined, rubbing her lower back.

"Hn. Just like that old lady."

Sakura narrowed her eyes on her insult, but she laughed it off.

Never had either of them thought someone's arrival could provide them with extra happiness they had never asked for!

Chapter 2

[fragileahoges]

fresh paint 一 danganronpa oneshot

𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒: byakuya moves in with nagito and kokichi, and realizes it may not be as bad as he originally thought. THIS IS NOT THE FULL ONE SHOT.

𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐑𝐄: fluff

𝐓𝐖: none

From the moment that Byakuya Togami stepped into his new home, the sun peeking in through the windows, he knew he'd never find another moment of peace in his life. He'd never feel real happiness again, and all chances & hopes of becoming a better person quickly diminished. He would never feel content as long as he lived inside these restricting walls. 

Okay, maybe he was being dramatic. He had bought the house, after all, and he wouldn't have done so in the first place if he hadn't been 100% sure that he was ready to accept any & all consequences that came with the purchase.

A small boy with purple hair shot past him, cheering & whooping as he danced around the empty house. "This house is mine! I rule over everyone here!" he chanted over and over again, laughing maniacally.

Byakuya sighed. Nope, he didn't think he was being dramatic at all. Kokichi Oma was the most annoying person he had ever met, & now here he was, living with him. Why did he ever agree to do this? Because he wanted so badly to be under the same roof as the boys? Seemed unlikely, but he wasn't going to dwell on it any longer.

Nagito Komaeda walked in after Kokichi, holding a big, brown box in his hands that was labeled Kitchen & Living Room (⅓). He smiled sheepishly at the shorter boy hopping around, walking over to the island and placing the box down on top of it. He inhaled the scent of the new house and turned to Byakuya. "Heh, I still can't believe you agreed to this. We thought you were going to shut us down on the idea almost automatically."

Byakuya shook his head, flabbergasted. Why did Kokichi have so much energy, and why did he feel like it'd conveniently drain right when the time came to unpack? "I'm starting to think I should've. I'm already getting a migraine." Nagito laughed softly, and the two made their way back outside to the moving van to retrieve more boxes while Kokichi hummed loudly to himself as he frolicked aimlessly around the house.

During that period of time, Byakuya allowed his mind to wander. He hadn't expected for himself to agree to such a foolish proposal so easily. Obviously both Nagito & Kokichi hadn't expected the sudden approval either, for their mouths were on the ground when they realized that the Byakuya Togami had actually decided to go along with their usual "brain-shrinking" plans.

It had slipped out of Byakuya's mouth before he could even blink. The idea of living with Kokichi and Nagito, despite having been friends with them for a good amount of time, was foreign to the heir. In fact, even living with someone sounded absurd to Byakuya. He only needed himself and himself only, or so he thought. Yet, his sudden agreement came so quickly that it had to have meant something. Byakuya wasn't normally impulsive; he did everything with practiced precision. So an abrupt answer that he didn't back down on even after how shocked he was...it meant he was progressing as a person, as a friend. Somewhere. Somehow.

Oddly enough, that was comforting.

During their fifth trip to the house (the boxes were surprisingly heavy), Kokichi waddled up to them and pointed down the hall towards the rooms. "We still have to pick out our rooms! Who's claiming the biggest one?"

"Me, obviously," Byakuya replied, tone as cold as ice. "I bought this house." Kokichi mocked him, raising his hand and opening & closing his fingers together every time the heir spoke, like a sock puppet but without the sock.

"You probably just got it handed to you," he replied teasingly. "Fine, then I get the second biggest room!"

"The other rooms are all the same size." Byakuya's comment made Kokichi huff, while Nagito lightened up a little bit, almost as if he was dreading being told he was going to get the smallest room. Byakuya didn't doubt it.

"Could you help with the boxes, Kokichi?" Nagito asked, taking off his parka and tying it around his waist, wiping the back of his hand over his forehead with a long sigh. Byakuya had to hand it to him; he too had discarded his overcoat. The boxes were harder to carry than he originally believed, and his muscles already felt strained. He was so used to people doing things for him that being independent now all of a sudden was exhausting. Kokichi groaned.

"Do I have to? I'm feeling tired," he asked, laying down on the floor and pretending to fall asleep. Byakuya was right. Kokichi had energy until it was actually needed. Nagito sighed, walking back out of the house. Byakuya chose not to press the matter, instead shooting the purple haired boy a glare and following Nagito out. He heard another loud groan, and then the pitter-patter of footsteps. "Guys, it was a lie! I'm not actually tired. I can help just fine."

Kokichi joined the expedition to get the boxes inside. Within one hour, they had made all their trips, and they were close to death by the time they were finished. Even the water they drank didn't cool the sensation of heat licking at their bodies every time they stepped outside. And when Nagito reminded the two other boys that they still had to unpack everything, Byakuya decided to hire people to do it for them.

note: well, i hope you liked this small excuse of a post! i absolutely adore all three antagonists (emphasis on togami), and i thought this AU i thought of randomly was the cutest thing ever. if you don't understand really what's happening, or if you would like to know more, let me go more into detail for you!

i'm writing an antag AU that will be posted to AO3 soon. the three main antagonists (byakuya, nagito, & kokichi) move into a house for literally no reason other than they want to. along the way, they grow closer, have fun, & most importantly, develop as people and as friends. it's all just lots of fluff and chaos, and i wanted to write it because i couldn't stop imagining the power they have as friends. there will also be naegami, saioma, and komahina every so often bc i said so :)

they can also be read as standalone oneshots, which is why i'll be posting snippets of the chapter i'm working on every now and then. it's not out yet, but it will be by the end of the week, and i'll be sure to post about it as soon as i can!

i am open to critique, as long as you are not too harsh. thanks for reading! <3

UPDATE: it's out! read it here :)

[leonicscorpio]

How to care for your Jaybird: part 2: A series of domestic Headcanons about one Jason Peter Todd.

Hey y'all. Since everyone liked the first one so much (and I'm still experimenting with my writing) I decided I'd do a bullet-point take on some of my Headcanons for normal, domestic Jason Todd. Enjoy!

Jason is a stomach sleeper if he's fully comfortable and in a deep sleep. A lot of official art has him as a back sleeper but literally every fan art has him as a stomach sleeper.

Jason has a very strong stomach and can tolerate even the greasiest of foods. Having been on the streets eating out of dumpsters is something he's had to. However when he does get a stomach bug occasionally he's crippled for at least a week. Barely being able to walk.

Jason has Misophonia. He HATES the sounds of chewing and slurping. It just drives him crazy and makes his skin crawl. Damian discovered this and egged Jason on any way he could. Dick had to hold Jason back from throwing Damian out a window.

Everyone knows Jason likes to read but he'll read just about anything and everything. Any time he travels somewhere new he'll always thoroughly read the travel pamphlets, and if a sign has a long block of text you'll find him stopped at the sign absorbing the text.

While not religious (except in The Flashpoint timeline) Jason has read all of the major religious texts and does enjoy some of their stories, but takes them at face-value.

Jason is quite casual about sex and hookups, and while he can be alluring and flirtatious, when Jason breaks down his walls and he exposes his barest self to you, he will be like a lovesick puppy and will be as tender and dotting, but you have to break down MILES of walls.

Jason's MBTI personality is ESTP-A. While you wouldn't think of him as much an entrepreneur he leaps before he looks and he lets his emotions dominate him. He's very much a shoot first, question later if never person.

Jason likes the Harry Potter movies and you can fight me all you want. Jason is a Ravenclaw and I will die on this hill.

Jason's favorite girl scout cookies are Tagalongs. He just loves a good peanut butter cookie.

After having been homeless and going without showers for days on end. Jason needs to take at least 2 showers a day. He hates smelling bad, and while he'll go without on longer missions or hits, the first thing he does when he gets home is take a shower. A long, hot shower.

Want to find a secret way to melt his heart? Take him on a date to the animal shelter. Jason will turn from an abrasive, angry, and cynical man to a precious child if he can play with a dog.

Cooking is a side passion Jason has taken up. It's mentioned somewhere that his favorite meal is pot roast and I have so many thoughts on other things he likes to eat and cook.

EDITED: I added some more that have popped into my head. 

Jason’s go to order at Starbucks and most coffee places is a cold brew. It isn’t fussy, it’s fast, and it gets the job done. 

Jason’s birthday being August 16th makes him a Leo sun. However I just look at this character and he just oozes heavy Scorpio elements in his birth chart. Probably a Scorpio rising and Mars. (I’m a Leo sun, Scorpio Moon/Rising) 

After having abused venom for a bit (Red Hood and the Outlaws) Jason sometimes forgets that no, normal people don’t curl 80lb dumbells casually. And now everyone in the gym is staring at him... awkward.

On top of looking after the prostitutes and sex workers of Gotham, Jason also frequents a lot of LGBTQ+ bars and has quite a few connections within the gay scene. Funnily enough, Jason Todd being a 6′0 200-something pound tall, dark, handsome, mysterious man in a Gay bar garners him a LOT of attention. I headcanon that Jason is bisexual and quite enjoys the same as well as the fairer sex. 

After giving a Drag Queen a particularly large tip, Jason was dragged on stage to lip-sync with the drag queen. Jason, being a Leo Sun (bless our whore hearts...) proceeded to take his shirt off and out-perform the drag queen, and I mean hitting EVERY beat, mouthing every song perfectly, and he threw a split in at the end. house. down. boots. The crowd lost their mind, the drag queen proceeded to read him to filth and heckled him off stage. Jason loved every second of it. Oh and in case you’re wondering, here’s the song Jason killed. 

If you see Jason out during the days, he often can be found at either a gym, trying a new restaurant, at secondhand book stores, or just riding around on his bike. 

Jason has a deep respect for nature, but honestly he’s quite intimidated by it. Growing up in the streets of Gotham, his first experiences in a forest he was quite intimidated. 

When he found out Damian was vegan he at first didn’t give him a second thought. However the moment Damian said he could never cook. a good vegan meal was when Jason’s passion struck. You see you can tell Jason he can do something and there’s a 60/40 percent chance he won’t or will do it. But the second you tell him he can’t do something is the moment you ignite his spite and passion. Needless to say, Damian still asks Jason to make Eggplant in Garlic Sauce and vegan mac and cheese. 

I think Seattle would be a city Jason would really feel at home. However not for the traditional reasons, Seattle is a cold, unfriendly city with breathtaking nature. I’ll bet his jaw hit the floor when his plane flew by Mount Rainer, because THAT’S A BIG FREAKING ROCK. And he freaked out when he learned that’s aN ACTIVE VOLCANO. 

Jason has EXTREME seasonal allergies. It’s not bad because Gotham doesn’t have many trees but he goes outside Gotham and he’s red eyed and sniffly. The worst part is the only allergy medicine that works for him is Benadryl so he has to chose between being miserable or perpetually half-awake. 

When he is at the Wayne his favorite activities are calling Bruce (insert expletive here), calling Dick any other expletive he didn’t use on Bruce. Bugging Tim by unplugging his computer and hiding his stuff across the manor and generally just annoying him with his presence by being the annoying older brother, tormenting Damian by taking his things and putting them in places he can’t reach. 

[nose-bandaid]

a hug per dollar

hello! it's me, the platonic anon from before... may i request a non-romantic, changgu & gender-neutral reader, coffee/study date? and maybe you could work in a reassuring hug 🥺 thank you so much 💛

Yeo One (Changgu) x (gender neutral) Reader | Platonic fluff + comfort?! | 1.8k words

synopsis: overworking can sometimes be an easy, but terrible habit to fall into, but luckily, changgu is there to drag you out when you do.

a/n: lol i think i projected this to have 1.2k but it ended up with 1.8 but i am not complaining !!!! to my dear platonic anon, sorry this took so long ksdhfkdsj i hope you enjoy it !! i may or may not have done an uno reverse on stud.hui.o fanatic because now it is the reader who's overworking BAM 💛

=====

"Don't you think we've been here for long enough?"

Your hand stopped writing the flurry of notes and you looked at your friend, who peered back at you over his laptop. "Changgu, it's literally only been..."

You flipped your phone over to look at the time on its display and faltered when you realized just how late into the day it was. "I guess we have been here for a while."

"Which is exactly why I think we should—"

"But I'm not ready to leave yet!" You snapped back, immediately backing off when you realized how harsh your voice was.

"You didn't get much sleep last night, did you?" He pressed on and you buried your face back into the piles of work laid in front of you.

"We don't talk about that either."

He let you be and the two of you went back to working in silence for the next while until Changgu eventually got up from his seat. Your eyes followed him as he stretched and let out a sigh. "I'm gonna go to the bathroom."

"Okay." You replied, and returned to your work.

=====

Not long after, a juice box slid into your view and you looked up at Changgu who returned after his bathroom break that took much longer than a usual bathroom break would've taken. You quirked an eyebrow in his direction.

"You got juice from the bathroom?"

He laughed and you took note of the other juice box in his hand — the exact same flavour as yours. "Of course I did. They added vending machines in the bathroom recently, didn't you know that?"

You decided to play along. "Is that so? No, I didn't know that. But do enlighten me as to why you would ever trust a vending machine located in the bathroom."

He laughed at your small jest. "Nah, I just went on an adventure to grab us some fuel." He dropped back into his seat and let out a relieved hum as he stared at his laptop. "After finishing that stupid essay I think I deserved the treat."

"You know, if you're done working you can always head back first. I'm fine on my own."

He shook his head adamantly at your offer. "This is our study session, you know? It's a we thing," he emphasized that with a point to the table. "So I'm not leaving until you're also done."

You sent him a small smile in appreciation and returned to your textbook, taking a small sip from the juice box as you did. It was refreshing and in the back of your mind, you wondered how he knew this was your favourite flavour. You didn't recall ever telling him.

"Though I think you've done more than enough work for today."

You didn't miss the next thing he muttered quietly.

"Look, Changgu, I'll just finish this chapter and we can call it today, okay?" You desperately held up a finger to assist in your pleading.

"One chapter and one chapter only." He reluctantly gave in, deciding to get a head start on another assignment in the meanwhile. Once again, you settled back into a comfortable silence, listening to the distant voices of others in the library.

You ended up finishing that chapter quicker than you initially thought you would and it flared up a new flame of determination within you. You could cram in a few more chapters then, right? You'll get them done in no time, especially with the flow you had now.

Agreeing with yourself, you got started right away.

You're pretty sure Changgu noticed when you flipped the page again.

And again.

And again.

Surely he's noticed the way you're slouched over a bit more now, the way your eyes were drooping and your gaze became unfocused. The way you've hardly touched the bag of snacks since he opened it. But you kept on going. Your determination knew no limits and you kept on going despite all the rational part of you that screamed at you to stop.

...Now, where did you leave off before you started daydreaming?

Right, at the end of this paragraph. You returned to staring at the mundane words in the textbook. You swore you were almost finished with this page but you also told yourself that what felt like hours ago. No matter how many times you read the same sentence over and over again, the words never seemed to stick in your mind. Your hand couldn't figure out what to write and what to leave out. All of it seemed important and you cursed the way your next exam weighed so much and yet gave you such vague preparation instructions. If only you had started studying earlier... but wasn't one week enough? Maybe you just weren't fit for this? Probably, because —

Changgu placed his hand onto yours. He gently pulled the pen out of your grasp and gestured for you to look at him.

"Let's take a break, you have no say in it. Seeing you like this makes me exhausted, I can't take this anymore."

No matter how many times you've drilled into your mind that it was absolutely not okay to take a break, the moment you heard the words from someone else, your composure crumbled.

You let out a deep sigh and let your weight rest on the table. "Yeah let's."

Changgu helped you pack your work away after cleaning up his own and waited until you were fully ready. When you slid the chair back to its former home, he held out a hand for you to take and you happily took a place by his side.

"Are you going to take me on another adventure?" You playfully asked, already feeling a little better now that your work was tucked away.

He shrugged. "Honestly, I had no clue where I was going to take you 'cause I didn't think you'd actually stop studying. But sure! Let's make this an adventure."

Stepping outside, you realized how much nicer it was to have a change of scenery. It was already late afternoon, the sun shining brightly above, engulfing you in a pleasant kind of warmth.

You sighed inwardly, this would've been more relaxing if your mind would just stop drifting back to all the work you still to be done. Hadn't you done enough? You worked so hard for the past who-knows-how-many-hours and yet it only left you unsatisfied and even more stressed.

Maybe it just wasn't enough.

A gentle bop on your head brought you out of your thoughts and you stared at Changgu, his hand still raised from bonking your bad thoughts away.

"Stop thinking so much." He crossed his arms and looked at you pointedly.

"Huh?"

Squinting his eyes, his face leaned into yours, getting closer and closer, and you found yourself edging away from the intrusion. Just as quickly as it started, he suddenly disappeared, straightening his back again and letting out a huff.

"Just as I thought."

"What?" You asked again, still lost.

"You're thinking bad things about yourself again! Stop that."

"How did you know?"

He playfully punched your shoulder at that. "I'm your best friend, you think I wouldn't notice these things? You always have this expression on your face when you're beating yourself up. Looks kinda stupid."

Your mouth gaped at his remark. "Hey!'

"I'm kidding, you never look stupid," he smiled and continued. "But what is stupid is you thinking that you're not good enough because you can't keep up with everything that's going on. Can you really blame yourself if some uncontrollable force decided to dump an unreasonable amount of work on you all at once? You're doing your best, which is one, really paying off because I swear you've covered like a billion chapters today. And two, is extremely cool — I heard the group studying behind us gush about how hard you were working and guess what?"

"...What?" You asked hesitantly, still trying to recover from your friend's spiel.

Changgu grabbed your shoulders to keep your attention. "I also think you're really really cool!!" He announced loudly, capturing the attention of a mother and her daughter nearby. They walked away after the initial surprise.

Your lip trembled, not even having it within you to be embarrassed by his public confession. Instead, you were overwhelmed by his kindness. "Changgu..."

He pulled you into a hug and you basked in his presence. The faint smell of fresh laundry lingered on his hoodie and you melted into his comfort. "You're doing great, and you'd be doing even better if you let yourself breathe for a moment. As overwhelming as it may feel, the only thing that's going to bring you down is yourself if you keep on going at this rate — not your work." He gently scolded before he pulled away and cupped your face, eyes boring into yours.

"Got that?"

You nodded hesitantly. "Yes."

"I don't know... that wasn't really convincing..."

You laughed lightly and pushed his hands away from you. "I got it, I got it, Changu. Thank you so much." You found yourself much more relaxed after your talk. "From studying with me to buying me snacks and comforting me... aargh, I appreciate it."

Changgu simply gave you a bright smile. "Anything for you."

That was all he said, but those 3 words were enough to express just how much you meant to each other.

"Besides, I don't think of it as a chore, any time spent with you is great."

You pouted. "You're too good for me, seriously. How can I make it up to you?"

In all honesty, you expected him to dismiss the question, but instead, Changgu's eyes wandered off as he placed a finger on his chin. "Well, I did notice that my favourite drink is on sale when I passed by that cafe on the way here..."

You sent him an amused look. "The juice wasn't enough?"

"Are you telling me to pass on a sale that takes a whole dollar off?"

Once again, you found yourself playing along with his act and your eyes widened. "Oh geez, you're right, we can't miss out on that." Pushing Changgu from behind, you ushered him forward. "Let's get moving! We spent so much time in the library the shop's going to close by the time we get there."

Changgu chuckled as you caught up and fell into step with his movements. "I'm glad to see that you're back to normal."

"And I'm glad we get to save a buck on overpriced drinks. Thanks for everything, Changgu." You swiftly replied and he sent a smile your way.

"Anytime."

[zukadiary]

Slowly Waking Up From a Takarazuka-less Stupor, Part 1: Romeo & Juliette

Is there even any point in saying it's been a terrible year? Not only has live Takarazuka been out of the question, but very poor mental health, work-mandated increased screen time, and laaaate EST starts have made it very difficult to partake in livestreams. Like... I missed Tokyo Anastasia and Daimon's mura raku. That bad.

Things have slightly improved on the start time front with a move to the West Coast. I managed both Romeo & Juliette streams so far.

This is................ for me, a very bittersweet production. I'd fully planned to see this live before everything went down. I was looking forward to the hypothetical shinko perhaps more than the real thing. Neither of those panned out... and the casting choices in what we got left me with a number of questions.

But! I don't want to forget how to write. And life without my one and only hobby is stupid. So, let's get back into it.

A quick overall,

Coto can only meet my expectations because they are so high. Wonderful, fantastic, I hope someday she gets to be funny.

Maisora? VERY cute, and A+ costumes in a sea of HMM.

On that note, in addition to the inexplicable LL Bean-inspired vibe, there were some puzzling choices, like B-cast Benvolio (Ayaki) and Mercutio (Amahana) looking so similar I can't imagine how they could be distinguishable to new fans (something I presume a company floundering financially in COVID would very much like to have more of).

I wish I could see the ensemble better. RetJ shows its small theater roots; it's not a great troupe show when you are limited to the camera angles.

That said, BACKGROUND ALL-STARS: Sazanami Reira always and forever, I wish she was DEATH; Asamizu Ryou for noticeably characterizing her Montague (Bloom, apparently!) as a lovable airhead?? despite, you know, everything about her; Minato Rihi for her whole VIBE; Yuunagi Ryou for her B-cast performance cradling her dying best friend, which I swear I'm not only saying because I'm dating her biggest fan; Amaki Homare for not doing anything in particular but at least giving herself hair I could find easily; Amato Kanon and Houma Toa for always doing the MOST back there; and Taiki Hayate for the expressions and the cartwheels.

A VERSUS B!

Tybalt:

If I'd cast this I think I would have just made Aichan the every day Tybalt, because that makes the most sense. Neither was a home run for me (though I'll say I have very high expectations for Tybalt, because the face Teru pulled within 2 seconds of walking onstage in 2010 in the first show I ever watched all the way through is literally the reason I'm a Takarazuka fan). I AGREE with pushing Seo out of her comfort zone, but I think Tybalt was the wrong push (I'd have rather seen Mercutio). Aichan's death had a horniness I wish her Tybalt had more of, but that I think would have eventually come out maybe with less switching.

Benvolio:

I REALLY liked Seo's Benvolio, and I'm only one off the full mark out of respect for Aka-chan, who, to be fair, I think also did a heck of a job. I loved the way Seo styled herself, and she gave me stronger best bro vibes. I just! would have liked! to see Seo Mercutio I think!

Mercutio:

:))))))) y'all I love Shin. The last time I saw Hoshigumi live was the Man from Algiers/Estrellas 2.0 tour, where (having never watched Algiers before) I was SHOCKED by the closing scene and Shin's delivery of it. Despite 2020 feeling 1000 years long, that show feels like four seconds ago... but we're coming up on two years, and Shin has only continued to climb in that time. This is the performance that made me feel like I got my money's worth out of a cast to which I otherwise would have made several changes. Her energy was impeccable, her look was appropriately crazy, her death scene was heartbreaking, and she did it all with the aura of someone who's only like 2/5ths done growing. I can't WAIT to see the rest.

I truly feel so much affection for Ema, but she was not giving me what I needed in this role; it was low energy, and not even by comparison, because her stream was first. I think she would have done Benvolio a lot of justice, or (hear me out!): Love. IMO her vibe is soft in a way where it should be highlighted as her strength rather than challenged out of her.

Paris:

It's not just Shin love (although she was cute AF); I think this was just "well Aka-chan has to go somewhere" casting, because she's too big and earnest as a person for Paris. He needs that foppish, twinky, completely unfounded huge ego vibe.

Death:

I have mixed feelings about this. Because like... Aichan's Death was A LOT, but also kind of a weird choice?? Death is historically for ken 5-9 future stars experimenting with emoting; of course a ken14 nibante who's been through Senka is gonna kill it... I just think she's a resource that should have been permanently relegated to something higher stakes.

My rating is based more on how OVERMUCH Aichan's performance was, than on a dislike of Ema's. I definitely preferred her Death to her Mercutio. She was giving me a WEIRD ENERGY, but whatever the energy was, there was a lot of it, and it was different.

Love:

To be perfectly honest, I wouldn't have cast EITHER of these people as Love. Hoshigumi just IMO has better dancers and/or bigger upcoming stars, and I'd have loved a Love/Death relationship and chemistry that made sense.

Overall, I definitely preferred A cast! Looking forward to seeing them one more time.

[ofmermaidstories]

Spoilers for the latest chapter of Something!

I'm gonna go ahead and apologize now because this is long; please feel free to ignore my wordy ass, I just have a lot of feelings about a certain someone that showed up in the new chapter lol.

I am still trying to get my shit together enough to write a proper review, but I did want to come yell at you for making the grape boy somewhat likeable, like...

Firstly, how??? Secondly, why?????!?!

Lmao, in all seriousness tho, it's nice to see him have a personality that isn't just "Mmmm, tits" *drools* I like to think that everyone in the series grows up and (mostly) out of the worst of their habits, and while Mineta is still a bit of a lecher here he isn't nearly as offensive/creepy as he comes off in show. In fact he's actually sympathetic in a lot way. The bit about seeing his first dead body before "getting laid" hit different like... He tries to play it off like a joke, but dude has to have just as much PTSD as the rest of them, maybe even more given that he wasn't able to fight back in the same way as someone like Bkg or Deku would be able to with their super powerful offensive quirks. They were all just kids, but they had to face hell full on from jump, and let me stop before I get too in my feelings lol.

In a lot of ways, he reminds of you the boys from school — crude. Taking for granted the safety from being in a pack, unchallenged. Leering at posters, saying off-colour things because no one corrects them.

That's exactly the way I view him, just a crude little thing that refuses to be put in his place for long lol. Still, with his being a hero I would hope that he keeps a cap on it while he's on the job--in fact I'm sure he does; if he didn't I'm sure that Aizawa would've yanked his licence by now, the likes of Deku and Kiri wouldn't continue to associate with him, and that's saying nothing of the shit that would get posted to social mead and such. I feel like the only reason he says what he says to the Reader is b/c she's a little gremlin herself and he knows he's got a bit more leeway, yanno?

The little hangout session that they had at the end of the chapter was weirdly heartwarming?? I want a friend(???) that I can be a surly little shit with and draw on and that will call my bf that's not really my bf but should be my bf because he's (that is Mineta) got more emotional intelligence than me lmao. Never thought I'd see the day when the grape would make for such an excellent wingman--tho I gotta wonder what that text he sent to Deku said. Probably something along the lines of "come get yo girl, she must be bored/lonely af because she asked to hang out with me" followed by "are you ever gonna close the deal or not? or have you already hit it??? >:)" just to give the guy an extra push (or maybe he's got a better sense of self-preservation than what I give him credit for, idk lmfaooo...)

Okay, this is WAY too long, I just had to get it out of my system lol. I loved the new chapter lots and I cannot wait to see how things play out in the next one!!

LOL, oh Puck, i adore you sdlkfjsdlkfjsdlkfj

me being a shit-stirrer/asking myself questions i don’t have answers for under the cut

Cat asked me this question earlier today, actually — why Mineta. And honestly? Part of it is the challenge he represents — like, how do you write him into a fic and mature him up so that he’s at the very least, tolerable, but also keep the backbone of his character (which is being a little degenerate). Like, is it possible? One of the most popular tags on ao3 for mineta minoru is something along the lines of “mineta minoru is replaced with shinsou hitoshi” LOL so…….. why didn’t I just use Shinsou? Or Aoyama or Iida, as Cat suggested? And beyond the part of me that delights in giving myself perceived challenges, there were two stark reasons that stuck out to me, when i was first mulling over his inclusion.

1) the fact that he can draw. it’s literally as simple as that. ever since the BNHA exhibition opened up in Japan and it was revealed that there was a scene in there with a class blackboard and the kids having their little drawing competition — and that Mineta was objectively the most skilled — i was like, “i have to include that”. LOL. it’s like you say, Puck, our Reader is a little gremlin herself — i thought if I was going to write a Reader that could handle interacting with him (ie, be in a position to pay him out) it was going to be this one. I think being in the manga industry and starting out on this journey of creating and drawing a Shonen manga sort of put Reader in this unique position of… being in what seems like a boys’ club? So she’d be used to the male gaze within her field. I follow Horikoshi’s assistant (former assistant?) on twitter and let me tell you, that man is not shy about the things that he likes to draw LOL.

the 2) thing was the philosophy i’ve sort of accidentally given myself LOL and that’s the fact that — as a Bakugou stan, if i’m giving grace to a character who was a literal violent bully then………. i can use my magic powers and hand it around to the other characters, too, LOL. and like, i would argue that with Bakugou it’s different, like we’re currently seeing in the manga how he has grown and learnt and is actively changing, which is the key to any kind of redemption. do i think Mineta will ever undergo that in cannon? absolutely not lmao, i see him as being being Hori’s idea of comedic relief, he’s always going to be a horrible little degen. but i want it for him…… if only to justify why the boys of Class-A collectively ignore his bullshit, for the most part? Like, none of them actively call him out on it?? i think of the time he tried to climb the wall to spy on the girls in the onsen — and how it was literally only Iida scolding him and how it took a child to stop him. Or the one when he found the stupid hole into the girl’s changing room and while the boys all looked grossed out….. Jirou’s the one that point an end to that?????? I saw a TikTok (derogatory) suggesting how like, none of the girls of Class-A would trust Aizawa, as adults, because he didn’t do anything to put an end to Mineta’s bullshit, and it was a devastating suggesting. None of us want to believe that our favourites would be passively okay with this kind of behaviour, right?? Which means……. Mineta’s gotta change LMAO. And if Hori isn’t going to do it then imma borrow him and do it myself. Does it work? I have no idea LMAO i can’t judge anymore, my meter is broken. but i’m gonna work with what i’ve given myself and it either will, or it won’t LMAOOOO kldsfjlksdjflkdj fic is about having fun at the end of the day. :’)

But it’s like you point out, Puck — Mineta is also a child, when these kids get trotted out to their first War. And he’s also not as offensively built as the hard-hitters like Deku and Bakugou and Shouto are. Even if it’s not explored in the manga, that War is going to change them all somehow.

So, my gameplan for Mineta was to grab ahold of the tiny things about him — the talent for drawing, the like one [1] observation he has about the wreckage of the war/pro heroes during the war arc, his tears for Bakugou when B wakes up afterwards and how he tells Deku how cool he was and how much he admires him, in the current Bring Deku Home chapters — and try to envision a sleaze bag who learns that the bullshit he pulls won’t be tolerated, even if he’s still ultimately a skeeze LOL. i mean, he’s never going to drop that er…. appreciation for the female form. and i mean, hey, live your best life King, i’ve distinctly noticed a hand-fetish floating around on this site lately so i’m not gonna be like “NO men can’t like ANYTHING”. But the thing with him being a sleaze and open with his leering is like, he’s actively made the girls of his class uncomfortable with that in the past — how do you write it so that he’s not doing that in a position of power with the women he works with (and saves!), as an adult?? Maturity only goes so far. How much can I bank on the war and the subsequent bullshit they’re gonna face from it on…. transforming him??? It shouldn’t be up to the girls he’s learning with to police him, they’re just children. I have a vague gameplan for it — whether or not it works will be one thing; whether i can naturally shove it into the fic is another, LOL. Guess we’ll see. 🧐

SAYING ALL THAT,,,,, i’m actually really glad you liked (???) the ending scene with him because it’s my favourite LMAO lkdjflkdsjflkdjfkldsjf. 😭😭 Reader is by no means perfect, and she and Mineta both need to start treating each other with more respect, but her bullying of him was fun to write and I like imagining a Mineta who considers himself to be close with Deku (whether or not Deku thinks the same is up for debate) going along with it. i could see this version of Mineta being enough of a shit-stirrer to say something like, “gotta lock that shit down” to Deku LMAO kdfjlkdsjflkdsfjdklsfj and then getting left on a skyscraper somewhere…. RIP short King.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

The Tug || Stan U. x Fem?Reader

Requested: @trash-mouthlover Could you do a cute soulmate au with good ol Stan the man. If not that's cool too. P.s. your writings are amazing!

A//N: Absolutely! I love Stan the man! I will always love my sassy little noodle-head boi. I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG!!! P.s. thank you, you are so sweet! After a lot of searching I finally decided on this soulmate au:

-You can feel a tug from wherever your soulmate is. These may either be automatic or have stronger tugs whenever your soulmate is in distress.

Also, while writing this, it actually started to morph into a Bev x reader without realizing and I had to steer it back on track 😂 Also, going back and reading it, I’m realizing there is almost no interaction between Stan and the reader and for that I apologize, this is the first time writing a soulmate au and I quickly realized, I’m not that good at it. Also, I’m probably gonna make a part two at some point to make up for the lack of Stan x Reader.

Pairings: Stan Uris x Fem!Reader    <btw, the whole fem!reader is only on one small technicality and that was because reader uses the girls bathroom. But technically you can read it as any gender considering they didn’t exactly have gender neutral bathrooms so it can be read as either way I believe>

Warnings: Some cursing. Henry Bowers being creepy for like two seconds. Greta being mean and throwing literally ONE homophobic slur. It felt in character but I still didn't enjoy writing it and might take it out later.

{EDITED AS OF 6•17•19}

Summer break.

Fucking finally.

You forgot how angelic the final bell was on the last day of school. You were gladly swept along the ocean of kids into and down the hallway until you found yourself in front of your locker.

Entering the code you've done mindlessly so for the past 9 months for the final time. The metal door swung open and hit the adjoining lockers with a rather obnoxious clang that was drowned out by the crowd in the hallway. Given that your bus wouldn't show up for another twenty minutes, you knew you were in no hurry so you took your time emptying out your lockers contents. Having learned your lesson from last year, you had brought a spare plastic grocery bag for trash. You had just finished separating the trash and were now putting the rest of your belongings into your bag when you couldn't help but overhear a snippet of conversation from some passing boys in the hallway.

"Yeah, and I think the rabbi's gonna pull down your pants, turn to the crowd and say, 'Where's the beef?'"

With a curious frown, you froze and looked over your shoulder to see the infamous Richie, the trashmouth Tozier. Oh, you were definitely familiar with him. With a small shake of the head, you rolled your eyes and smiled. You closed your locker, swung your backpack over your shoulder and made your way to the girls room.

Of course, the traffic in the hall was still pretty congested so you found yourself a few feet behind Richie and his friends. Anxious to get to the bathroom, yet, as usual, there seemed to be absolutely no wiggle room to squeeze by leaving you no option but to trail behind them awkwardly unintentionally overhearing their conversation. You only saw the backs of their heads and you took an educated guess of who's who. To his right was a blonde boy, just a little taller than Richie, who you assumed to be Bill Denbrough. You frowned at the thought.

Poor boy.

Derry was a relatively small town, or at least small enough for word to travel fast. And the strange passing of his little brother Georgie was no exception. Everyone heard about that. To his right, the tallest boy, who was wearing a kippah, began speaking.

"At the Bar Mitzvah, I read from the Torah, and then I make a speech and suddenly I become a man."

Having been previously staring at your shoes, you nervously look up when you get the sudden feeling of being watched. Your eyes hastily dart up and you curse yourself under your breath when you see the cold dark eyes of Henry Bowers and his posse look you up and down.

No longer feeling safe, you quickly return your gaze to the floor, tighten your grip on your backpack straps and push past the boys. Unintentionally shoving them aside, a pang of guilt passes over you and you quickly turn your head back and throw a quick "sorry" their way.

You visibly relaxed when you reached the safety of the long hallway of the girls bathroom.

What you saw made your face scrunch up in confusion, there was a pair of girls standing around but the suspicious thing was one of them was filling up the trash bag from the garbage can up with water in the sink. Deciding staying out of it was your best option you kept to yourself and walked into one of the unoccupied stalls. The smell of a burning cigarette filled your senses and you couldn't help but cringe.

You had just done your business and done what you needed to do, you were just about ready to pull open the stall door when you heard an angry grunt followed by the sound of someone kicking the nearby stall. You froze out of instinct.

"Are you in there by yourself, Beaver-ly? Or do you have half the guys in the school with you, huh, slut? I know you're in there, little shit. I can smell you."

You frowned. You wanted to say something, but Greta was ruthless and you didn't what to say. You felt ashamed for sitting there, doing nothing.

"Which is it, Greta? Am I a slut or a little shit? Make up your mind." You couldn't help but smile at that. Good for her.

"You're trash."

Thump.

Oh, no.

Now you understood why the girl had been filling up the garbage.

You hastily opened the door to do something, not knowing what yet. You came out just in time to see the other girl standing on the neighbor toilet dumping the trash bag full of water into Beverly's stall.

"Hey! Get out of here! Leave the poor girl alone!" You yell, livid.

"A bit late to defend your girlfriend, you dirty little dike." She spit in your direction causing you to jump back in disgust.

The three girls laughed and strutted out of the bathroom.

It was quiet for a moment and you walked to stall Beverly was still in.

You two knew each other. You weren't exactly friends, but you didn't hate each other or anything. You were acquaintances.

Until now.

You softly knocked on the stall and asked in a quiet voice.

"Hey, you need any help?"

+++

You were glad you made friends with Beverly Marsh. She was kind and funny and the two of you had a lot more in common than you'd realized. Of course, the time came for you to catch your bus and the two of you parted ways, not before making plans to hang out later of course.

You made your way onto the crowded bus for the final time and took a seat in your regular spot and got out your walkman and pressed play, turning off your brain. Many bus stops later you found yourself in your regular routine. You rounded the familiar corner of your neighboring street, only two blocks away from your house when it happened.

That tug.

The one everyone talked about. Bragged about even.

Sure a couple of times you thought you felt it, or the ghost of the tug. But this time you were sure.

It wasn't the good tug either, it was the rapid, frantic tug. It made your heart flutter. Were they okay? You'd heard stories of a soulmate being in distress, but it never felt like this. It was frantic and the pull was in every direction at once. It caused your own heart to thud rapidly against your chest. Once again you felt helpless. But what could you do? You didn't even know who your soulmate was.

Unable to think about anything else, you let your feet carry you home as your worried mind conjured endless scenarios. Anything that could possibly explain what the hell was happening. To your great relief, it gradually relaxed. Lulled into a soft but present tug.

They were safe. For now.

+++

A few days later, you finally were able to meet up with Beverly. She had insisted on going out and doing literally anything other than staying inside. When you stopped by her house and had a rather unpleasant greeting from her father you immediately understood why. The two of you were content with walking around town, and when she mentioned she needed to stop by the drug store you obliged. Naturally, you told her about the tug from the other day and she listened intently, invested in the conversation and offering advice as friends do. Which you greatly appreciated.

"I know, right? I'm glad you think so, I was starting to think I was paranoid or maybe I, I don't know..." You trailed off when you noticed two boys in the alleyway, one of them looked to be pretty bloodied up.

"Hey, why don't you go inside and get your supplies, I'll meet you out here? Sound good?" She looked confused but seemed to understand you had a good reason.

"Oh, uh, yeah. Sure thing." She smiled and headed inside, the ring of the store bell echoing.

Your eyes never broke contact with the boys in the alley and you walked toward them to offer help.

Upon closer examination, or rather being within earshot, you realized it was none other than Richie Tozier."Glad I got to meet you before you died." He said awkwardly standing above the bloodied up kid who was sitting on a crate.

You recognized the kid. It was the new kid, Ben. You remembered him from math class. He was a sweet kid.

"Alright, now just what did you do to him, Tozier?" You called out teasingly, grabbing the attention of the two young boys.

Richie's eyes bugged out behind his big glasses before he quickly recovered.

"Oi! Wassen' me I'm tellin ya!" He squeaked in awkward accent.

"Yikes! That accent needs a little work there, Tozier."You winked and turned to the bleeding boy before you could catch the offended look from Richie.

"Ben, right?"

He nodded.

"[Y/N]. Nice to meet ya." You two shared a polite but genuine smile.

You crouched down to meet his eye level, and sat on one leg."So, I'm just gonna assume that you that there actually IS someone who can help? You are aren't just letting yourself bleed out in some alley with this douche, right?" You said with a crooked smile, gesturing with your thumb to the speckled boy in a Hawaiian shirt.

You and Richie had known each other for a couple months. You two were the only ones who could keep each other sane during social studies class. Friendly banter was not uncommon between you two.

"Y-Yeah, they went inside," Ben spoke up.

"May I?" I gesture to his injury to take a look and he obliges.

You gently straighten out his shirt to examine the injury and it doesn't take too long to notice the three deep gashes that form an "H" on his stomach. You press your lips into a firm line, sighing, meeting the poor boy's eye.

"Bowers, huh?" You said quietly.

"Yeah." He admits quietly.

"Yeah, he is a real prick." You mumbled, terrified to say such things even when he's nowhere around.

Suddenly, you thought you felt a gentle tug in the center of your chest and your attention was quickly snatched at the sound of the drug store bell ringing rapidly. You heard a cluster of hurried footsteps and you stood to your feet turning in the direction of the noise to see two of three boys scurrying down the alley carrying a bunch of supplies.

You recognized the boys to be one the very same ones from school the other day. You could only name one, and that was Bill, although he seemed hesitant to walk over. It seemed he was more interested in something just outside the alley.

"I'm assuming you guys are the medical team I've heard so much about. Great response time." You quipped sending a smile.

The shortest one, who was carrying all the supplies was focused only on tending to Ben, which you dubbed a good thing.

"Why do you have two fanny packs?" You asked.

"I don't want to get into it right now, who are you anyway?"

"Y/N. I noticed Ben here in the alley, you know, bleeding out. And I figured, I better come rescue him from the company or Tozier, here." You smirk, and earning a glare and a snide comment from Richie.

Soon enough, the attention redirects itself back to Ben's wound. Richie starts yelling at the boy tending to Ben, who you learned his name to be Eddie, and Eddie argues back.

"You gotta suck the wound dry before applying the band aids. This is 101."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard." You snort, and seem to have earned a chuckle from the other boy.

You were about to turn and introduce yourself when you heard a familiar voice.

"Are you okay? That looks like it hurts."

"Bev, there you are!" You stand up and make room for Eddie to tend to Ben.

You take a few steps back and stand next to the girl. It was then you made eye contact with Bill. He had a hint of recollection.

"[Y-Y/n], r-r-right?"

You smile politely.

"The one and only. Nice to meet you... Bill?" You asked his name, confidently, but asked anyway not wanting to seem weird.

He nodded and you took your hand out of your pocket for a brief moment to shake hands with the tallest boy.

"And I'm sorry, I don't believe we've met?" You asked politely.

The tallest boy stood still, almost in a daze of some sort and you frowned slightly, pulling your hand back hesitantly.

You looked around at the other boys in confusion. "Did- Did I say something, or-?"

Richie waltzed over, with the largest, shit-eating grin you had ever seen and placed his arm around the boy's shoulder shaking him slightly.

"Oh, no! Don't be silly! Ol' Stan the Man here loses his shit when he sees somethin' he likes." With that same shit-eating grin, he looked you in the eyes, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

You quirked an eyebrow and chuckled softly. "Excuse me?"

Before Richie could answer, the boy, Stan you presumed, spoke up, elbowing Richie in the process.

"Can it, Richie."

He sighed and straightened himself out as he looked back to you, awkwardly sticking out his hand to shake yours. "Stan Uris."

You smiled warmly and reached out to take his hand. "[Y/N] [L/N]."

The two of you froze when you simultaneously felt the same tug, the strongest you had ever felt, the one your parents gushed about, and you two shared a look. Silently agreeing not to bring it to attention and save it for later you two smiled at each other and turned to the poor kid who was still getting patched up. Although you couldn't help the blush that rivaled Stan's.

You made a mental note to ask him what happened to him the other day...

Bev directed her attention to the Ben, they seemed to know each other

She had a certain glint in her eye as she spoke to him.

"You sure they got the right stuff, to fix you up?"

Bill spoke up. "W-We'll take care of him. Thanks again, Beverly."

"Sure," she nodded, then turned gesturing to you. "Maybe, we'll see you around."

You made eye contact with Stan, and smiled knowingly, causing another blush to dust his cheeks and he awkwardly coughed.

It seemed everyone was oblivious to this, thankfully.

"Yeah, we were thinking about going to the q-quarry tomorrow, if you guys wa-wanna come."

You and Beverley shared a look and you turned to the boys. "Good to know."

"Yeah, thanks."

Hiding your smirk, the two of you turned and walked down the alley together.

This would definitely be interesting.

+++++

⇴ The Tug - [Part 2]

[godlydolans]

Tumblr won't let me answer this ask so I'm doing it this way-Pt.3

This is some star-crossed lovers shit that I cry over! I argue with my parents about the whole marrying into your own caste bullshit almost everyday. I really hope and pray this way of thinking changes because it really is a pain in the ass 😤

Y/N was going through a rough breakup when she'd first met Grayson. The guy she had been dating was from her own culture, a Doctor and her parents really liked him for their daughter. While the initial one year had been great, she quickly realised he wasn't the right guy for her. He was too controlling, too busy, too toxic. She had to break things off despite what the society would say.

For the longest time after that, Y/N closed herself off. She only left her dorm to go to her classes, occasionally going to the nearby diner with her girlfriends to ger food and then back into the dorm. The happy go-lucky girl who loved to party on the weekends was lost somewhere.

It just so happens that the night her room mate literally dragged her out of the dorm and to a party at some club she didn't care to know the name of, was the very night Grayson also attended his very first 'college party' per say.

Grayson Dolan had never been to frat parties in his life because he never went to college but had definitely heard great things from his sister and some friends that went to UCLA. One of those friends had invited him and his brother to the party his friend was throwing and Grayson was not gonna let the opportunity pass.

So what if he didn't go to University? He could still say he knew what college parties looked like!

So it was on one of the three outdoor patios at Q's Billiard Club that Grayson and Y/N first saw each other. She was there because the loud music was starting to make her head ache (she'd gotten a little too used to the usual quiet of her dorm room). Grayson was there to catch some fresh air, the tightly packed club was making him a little claustrophobic. And it wasn't like they were the only two people outside that night, but still both of them couldn't stop their eyes from going back to each other.

Y/N had noticed the new face among her friends' group when everyone had gathered around the pool table and how could she not? His bright smile and loud laugh were both extremely hard to miss. She had noticed how charismatic and magnetic he was and she'd be lying to herself if she said her eyes didn't search for him while she was inside just so she could see him smile once again.

There was just something about that smile..

Grayson had also noticed her when she had been talking to some guy, smiling from ear to ear as one hand played with the ring on her little finger. She was beautiful. He could tell that much even under the horrible lights of the club but now that she stood just few feet away from him, he could really see how beautiful she was.

Jesus Christ.. he'd thought, she had such beautiful dark long hair, big doe eyes with long lashes adorning them, thick eyebrows framed her exotic face beautifully and let's not even talk about the 'voluptuous' lips, as he likes to put it. That sharp bone structure could cut a loaf of bread and he couldn't stop himself from stealing glances her way. Usually Ethan is the shy one, but that night, Grayson would swear cat had got his tongue. The poor guy was sweating bullets, trying to find something to strike up a conversation with Y/N, but whenever he would open his mouth to say something, his nerves would get the best of him and he would eat his words before they had the opportunity to come out.

She eventually went back inside, making Grayson curse under his breath for losing his chance to talk to her. Little did he know he'd be getting introduced to Y/N very soon by their common friend, Ashton. Bless his soul.

The majority of the night, Y/N and Grayson spent together, talking about everything from their aim in life to freaking politics. She was extremely intelligent and he was a great listener along with having an interesting mind. Neither could stop themselves from getting infatuated with the other.

After that night, they met again at next weekend's party, then the next one and the next one. Grayson had started counting the days untill Saturday, when he could see her again.

Y/N, on the other hand, was starting to get wary about these meetings because she knew she was starting to really like him and that's what she couldn't allow herself to do. She knew getting involved with Grayson would only lead to heartbreak because there would never be a future with him. But she didn't have the the will power to stop seeing him either.

Ultimately, she decided she would not think too much and let the chips fall wherever they may. She really liked Grayson and Grayson really liked her and if she was lucky, things would not get too serious to the point where she'd have to rope in her family.

This would be her little secret, that's all.

Only, that's not all. And her little secret would not be so little. What was only supposed to be just two friends-who-knew-they-liked-each-other hanging out, turned into a three year long serious relationship. What was only supposed to be a crush she thought she'd get over eventually, turned into something so much more serious and permanent.

Y/N fell head over heels in love with everything that makes up the man that is Grayson and don't think she didn't try to stop those feelings in their track!

In the three years they were together, they took a break three times, the first time because Grayson was afraid what his fans would do to her if they found out. The second time because of what Y/N's family would do to her if they found out and the third time was solely because Y/N didn't know what to do about the situation she had trapped herself in. (But they obviously found their way back to each other!)

The poor girl loved her family more than anything else in the world and she didn't remember ever hiding something from either her mum or her dad. And while she knew that she wasn't wrong for loving Grayson, not at all, because loving him and being loved by him seemed like the most right thing she'd ever done, but the fact that she was hiding her relationship from her parents for three years definitely gave her multiple sleepless nights.

She tried to tell them several times when things were getting serious between her and Grayson, but everytime she would chicken out because she wasn't ready to choose between her family and the love of her life. She knew her family would never accept him no matter how perfect he was because he didn't share the same cultural background as her and she knew that if she chose him, she would be disowned within a second.

If someone would have asked her to choose between any guy and her dad even two years ago, she would have chosen her father in a heartbeat. There was even a time in the early stages of her relationship where she had made those cute little 'open when' cards for Grayson, giving them to him on their one year anniversary. She had gotten the idea off of pinterest and she remembers hesitating while making the 'open when you're getting married' card because she was so sure she wouldn't be the one that'd get to marry that amazing man.

Y/N knew there was zero way she would get to have Grayson as her husband no matter how much she prayed for it, so she didn't know what to write in that particular card. After going over words and crumbling four pieces of paper, she finally wrote just five words in the card and folded it shut with teary eyes. Grayson had a tendency to misplace things and there was a high chance this card would never even be opened by him, but she still made it and gave it to him.

Now fast forward to two years later, Grayson stood before her with one knee bent, holding a beautiful diamond ring with both hands and saying the most beautiful speech while she stood infront of him, absolutely bawling her eyes out and covering her mouth in shock. It was the eve of her birthday and she had just gotten off the phone with her family, during which Grayson had stood silently to the side, making sure to not make a single noice because he couldn't risk being heard by your parents. The proposal had come as a total shock to Y/N but there was no doubt in her head that she had to say 'yes' when she saw him getting down on one knee and flashing her favourite smile in the entire world to her. She didn't think about how she'd tell her family that she was freaking engaged, or about how they'd react to having Grayson as their son in-law, or if they'd even want to see her after she'd break the news to them. All she knew in that moment was that Grayson was her man, the love of her life. No other man could ever take his place and she just had to make him officially hers. Staying away from him was out of the question. She'd tried that and failed miserably. At this point, she knew they were meant to be together, that's all she cared about.

"Yes," she'd breathed, a choked sob escaping her lips when a tear rolled down Grayson's cheek. She got down on both knees in front of him and launched herself into his arms. "Yes, yes, I will marry you!"

He had not wasted a second in taking her face in his hands and kissing her lips with everything he had. They had each other, that was enough for now.

That year when she'd gone home for her Diwali, she had asked her mum and dad to sit with her and with a pounding heart and shaky breaths, she had finally told them about Grayson. She was very aware that this would be her last diwali with her family but she knew her love for Grayson was nothing to be ashamed about. She hadn't committed a crime, she'd just fallen in love.

"I'm marrying him before new years, dad." Y/N had lifted her head up from her lap, pulling out from under her high neck top, the ring that she'd worn like a pendant around her neck. The sparkle of the diamond made her mother gasp. Her father sat in front of her, motionless, not even looking at her. She knew she had really hurt her dad and his teary eyes were making her heart break into a million pieces but she couldn't reach out and comfort him. She didn't have the right to, anymore. "Dad, trust me, he's an amazing man! You would love him if you met--"

"Tell her to get out of my house." He'd commanded her mother and stormed out of the room, without spading her a glance.

"Mum please--"

"Don't call me that! You clearly didn't think about your mum while you were messing around with that American--three years, Y/N?! You didn't feel ashamed of yourself?! And today you came here to invite us to your wedding?! How dare you?"

So yeah, she got kicked out of her house on the night of Diwali. At least she didn't get a slap to the face..? She just booked a room in a hotel near the airport, preparing to fly back to her fiancé at the crack of dawn. He was waiting for her with open arms when she came home the next day, letting go of her travel bag and absolutely crumbling into his arms. Her broken sobs were muffled by the fabric of his shirt as he held her head against his chest, placing kisses on her forehead every now and then.

"I'm sorry," he kept whispering in her ear, feeling awful for being the reason his girl got dsowned by her parents. "I'm so sorry.

"He didn't even look at me, Gray! Called me a disgrace!" The pain was unbearable. She couldn't breath, her heart seemed too heavy and the image of her father's pain stricken face kept roaming her mind. "They hate me, Gray."

"They are your parents, Y/N, they can't hate you. They are just mad. They'll come around eventually." He didn't know whom he was reassuring, himself or her. This isn't how he had imagined his wedding would be, with no family member attending from the bride's side. He really wished he could take some of her pain away, but all he could really give her was a promise to always be by her side through everything. He promised her he would never leave her. Never ever leave her.

They were bound by fate after all.

Just a day before the wedding, when Y/N was looking for the personalised cufflinks she'd bought as a wedding gift to Grayson, she stumbled upon a fat envelope on Grayson's side of the wardrobe. Opening it in curiosity, she found all the 'open when' cards that she'd made for him all those years ago. All the cards had been opened except for one.

Open when you're getting married.

The words were written in cursive on top of the card, the seal of it was still intact, meaning Grayson had really listened to her instructions, despite the curiosity nagging him everytime his eyes would fall on the envelopes. She didn't even know he had kept all the cards, Grayson tended to lose things easily.

Looking at the card, she remembered that day she'd sat down in her living room with all these papers scattered around her, doubting if she'll even get to marry Grayson. And now here she was, sitting in her future bedroom that she'd share with her soon to be husband. She would be marrying the man of her dreams tomorrow. And even though her day wouldn't be perfect because of the absence of her family, it would still be her day. The day she would finally be Mrs. Grayson Dolan.

Y/N took the cufflinks out of the wardrobe and held the card in her hand, walking over to Grayson's wedding suit that still hung on the hook of the wardrobe, just about of be taken to the venue for the wedding. Smiling with teary eyes, she slipped the card into the pocket of his coat along with the box that contained the cufflinks. It was a miracle that she found the card just a day before the wedding. It was all fate.

And the next day, while Grayson was getting ready, Ethan informed him that his almost wife had kept a gift in the pocket of his coat and had asked him to tell Grayson that. The groom had eagerly shoved his hand into his coat's pocket and found not just one gift, but two.

The cufflinks laid forgotten on the bed when his eyes fell on the card and he hastily opened it, finally getting to see what was written inside.

Just five words that brought tears into his eyes.

I hope it was me...

He smiled at the words, his throat tight and eyes filled with tears as he read the words over and over. Their love was powerful, they were meant to be together and together, they knew they could conquer anything. Yes, the path they had chosen to take was not an easy one, but he knew deep in his heart that things would get better.

And thankfully for them, Y/N's parents finally came along two years later. The cause of that was the little bundle of joy that Grayson and Y/N had created together. Things were starting to look up again, Y/N's dad was smitten with her little baby girl and her family loved Grayson once they got to know him. These days, her dad has been trying to get his son in-law into Cricket so they can watch together on TV when the World Cup rolls around. Grayson, on the other hand, has other plans. The Best Husband In The World is now set to earn the title of The Best Son In-Law In The World too, what with sneakily buying tickets for the whole family to watch the World Cup finale in the freaking stadium.

"I've got the best seats! He's gonna have a great view of the whole thing." He beams as she lays her head on his chest at night.

"You didn't have to do that, babe."

"Oh c'mon, he gave his freaking daughter to me, I know how hard that must have been now that I have my own, it's the least I can do for him."

Needless to say, Y/N's dad is over the moon, watching the match from the stadium with Grayson sitting beside him. Gray looks so cute and hot cheering for her country, she would definitely have pounced on his had they not been with her family, sitting among what looks like thousands and thousands of people.

But it's okay. They have all the time in the world for baby making. He's all hers just like she's all his.

[punkscowardschampions]

Ava & James

Ava: So, campus bars Ava: Avoid entirely or cheap enough to make the cringe worth it? 🤔🤔 James: use your student loans wisely enough that cheap is avoided entirely Ava: Ugh 😏 I thought you'd give real advice if I got you off the clock James: go with your gut, option 1 James: you're not striking me as someone to base their social life around KCLSU's quiz night Ava: I love trivia like I love cheap white wine spritzers and school spirit James: knew you'd fit right in Ava: Can I put that resounding endorsement on my application then, James? James: it'll carry more weight if you accidentally add the I when you write my name James: but I didn't say that James: slip of the pen, that's all Ava: My lips are sealed Ava: There's plenty of time to meet him and double up on kudos James: I hear the girl's hazing rituals are savage James: stand you in good stead that will Ava: No one is scarier than a high school girl Ava: Nor as petty and sadistic Ava: I think I'll survive James: they've toned it down since that girl had a mental episode post head shave James: sure you will Ava: Very chic Ava: Do you wait 'til the UCAS app has gone through to drop the horror stories usually or are you really bad at this whole recruitment thing on purpose? James: it's my 1st time playing tour guide James: potentially I'm less than cut out for it Ava: I won't lodge a formal complaint Ava: Unless you're turning over DMs as feedback, in which case, awkward James: I won't be, some girls think I have more sway than I really do James: awkward indeed Ava: God Ava: Not even my first choice Ava: Though makes you wonder how effective attaching nudes to your cover letter would be James: they'd have to take that on a case by case basis Ava: 🤞 that you don't get the one token woman on the panel James: not your 1st choice, no need to cross anything Ava: Hypothetically, James II Ava: Why was it yours, then? Ava: Student life evidently not being it James: it was my only James: it's gonna end up being Teddy's too Ava: He hasn't turned up to business studies in time Ava: But slip of the pen, I get you James: my older sister got all the brains and none of the sense of fun Ava: Know the sort Ava: Bet I still likes you better though James: I wouldn't go that far Ava: Too far for a taster sesh Ava: Understood Ava: Don't suppose you'll point me in the direction of where you actually hang now then? James: I suppose I could Ava: Please Ava: Bored is an understatement Ava: I'll still show up all present and correct for the debrief thing tomorrow James: it's such a good thing here isn't your 1st choice Ava: You should give me the real tour Ava: I'll keep my lips sealed James: can't I get another please before you do? Ava: Please do not invite your brother Ava: He got us kicked out of Mahiki last month it was so tragic James: he's a disgrace Ava: Most of them are James: I don't associate with anyone who still goes to Mahiki regularly Ava: It's pretty played out James: if they'll let Teddy in they're getting desperate Ava: 😂 awh James: you ready now? Ava: Already out Ava: Figured you better pick me up from The Vault Ava: Consider it a mini hazing of my own James: keep your lips sealed that I'm going within 100 yards of the place and sure Ava: Don't worry Ava: The others are at the cinema or something equally as lame the school put on for our 'overnight entertainment' Ava: I'm sick Ava: No selfies James: the hangover'll make it look & feel convincing Ava: That's a promise you can put your wallet behind Ava: I am a guest James: you don't want put your fake ID on the line either Ava: Bold of you to assume I've ever needed to buy my own drinks 😏 Ava: I didn't bring it alright, shut up James: you don't need it, I'm only playing Ava: 😾 James: how many drinks has my brother bought you? Of course I need to 1 up him Ava: Total? Ava: Not as much as he'd like but lots Ava: Not trying to milk this sibling rivalry or anything, have known him ages Ava: Well before Mahiki would let him in, like James: hardly a rivalry, you know him well enough to realise Ava: True Ava: You do what feels right and I'll let you know by the end of the night then James: very straightforward James: I like it Ava: You don't know me well enough yet but that's par for the course James: I knew your brother for years & I didn't know him James: we'd need more than an evening Ava: I'm as comparable to my brother as you are to yours Ava: Probably James: show me, I'll show you Ava: Deal Ava: But we will need more than an evening Ava: to make it fair James: you can have until you're bored Ava: You'll want longer when you aren't anymore James: I'm used to things not lasting as long as I want Ava: I'm not your average Ava: You'll see James: bold of you to assume I've ever settled for average Ava: I didn't say THE average James: I heard you say my average Ava: No need to be offended by better, is there? James: bemused at most Ava: You're welcome Ava: but you are meant to be entertaining me, not the other way 'round James: you brought up fairness James: & it's a good point Ava: How do you propose we make it fair then? James: I entertain you tonight, you entertain me whenever you've thought of your own tour worth taking me on Ava: That's actually a good idea Ava: and entirely fair James: Teddy'll cost my dad more to secure his place than I did, I've got some brains on board Ava: No doubt Ava: Gave his name to the right kid, clearly James: My sister was undoubtedly relieved James: though Diana has its own pitfalls Ava: 😬 The jokes write themselves James: they do Ava: Perks of having a relatively untouched name James: it does suit her, she's very much a martyr Ava: Did you do an English degree? Ava: You're good at painting a picture with words Ava: See 👸 so clearly James: sadly not James: maybe I'll go back & do it if I ever finish the current one Ava: Student forever vibes Ava: Fuck real life James: then again, being the kind of dad who drops their kid off for classes & pulls up his own chair at the table doesn't sound like a great idea Ava: Just make sure its not their first choice, yeah? James: oldest's already smarter than me James: won't be a problem Ava: There you go then James: where's yours? Ava: Currently undecided Ava: It's more a case of sorting the 2-5 James: & how's that going? James: this place being a solid 5th Ava: Its been a solid mix of fun and boring working it out Ava: Better than another night in Mahiki at any rate Ava: I'll have to decide eventually but even my mum can't demand I do quite yet James: don't over complicate it James: they're not all that different James: I've got friends studying all over the map and they're still basically doing the same things I am Ava: See, that's what I figured Ava: But try telling that to a woman who was Cambridge or bust Ava: It's more about the vibe of the place, the people, the ethos and the lecturers not being the worst stereotypes of boring/creep Ava: again, if I tell her vibe is on my criteria she'd actually kill me before I could apply anywhere so 🤷 James: your secret's safe with me James: even if our mothers were friends, mine is currently not speaking to me Ava: How's that? James: it's something I'm fairly used to James: she's not a big talker James: more of a fan of a dismissive hand gesture Ava: Gotcha Ava: Not a whole lot to miss James: she's got lots to say about my parenting style but who hasn't Ava: Shame you don't talk to my brother now James: I don't suppose he sees it as a shame Ava: Probably not Ava: He's not one for regrets James: me either James: it's why we started out friends Ava: Feels like ages ago Ava: Since he still lived here James: it kind of is James: he left before he left Ava: It's complicated James: it's not my business Ava: Not mine either so Ava: Whatever James: car's here James: are you going to make me get out for you? Ava: You're meant to come in here Ava: Don't you trust I can keep my lips sealed? James: I don't trust it to be entertaining in there James: hence it's not part of the tour Ava: Please James: Oh Ava James: [but does come in we all know he would] Ava: [clearly making him stay for a drink and play pool or something in this student ass bar] James: [when you're whipped for someone you're not even dating lol] Ava: [When Chloe is your missus] James: [to be a fly on the wall in their relationship tbh literally imagine] Ava: [oh lordy how you have not been missed girl] James: [at least the new kid is young enough she can dress it up still and it can't talk back so she can pretend she gives a shit and isn't blowing his phone up rn] Ava: [in full show-off-to-all-my-friends mode still, somehow still has some lol] James: [lord when you don't even like and comment on pics of your own child anymore though bye do not approve of your aesthetic choices Chlo] Ava: [so awkward, when you only get a look in for the boring/hard bits] James: [basically just get to parent Jay cos she's well over that] Ava: [poor James tbh] James: [have your fun now lad I don't blame you even though everyone else will] Ava: [lord people gonna be SO mad] James: [how far we gonna take this during the tour cos obvs flirty vibes been flying about but like he can't just jump her cos married and she's younger] Ava: [she fully initiated this whole thing lbr but maybe don't sleep with him yet babe as you are aware he's married and has kids so like, some thought even though you young and reckless that, he could always stop it at a makeout 'cos then how embarrassing for her and she'd have to leave it for a bit like what was I doing, angst etc] James: [I vibe with that cos they are gonna be drinking a lot as the night goes on so that'd make both of them give less of a shit about the consequences but because the night is going on eventually chlo is gonna be like are you coming home ever because I like to think he hasn't cheated since she got pregnant with this kid and has actually been trying even though he's miserable af clearly] James: [like maybe it was really bad before and he was actually gonna leave her so she was like simply must trap him and did] Ava: [v much a her move I support it] James: [yeah cos she's invested this much time into him she's not just gonna let him go easily] Ava: [when you have no idea what you've signed yourself up for here babe] James: [I'm rooting for them rn cos nobody else is and I'm 100% that bitch, must not get invested yet when we've only just begun] Ava: [same tho so whoops] James: [he'd be so into it though too we all know that makeout would be 💣🔥] Ava: [hence breaking it off would be hard af, Chloe gotta be blowing his shit up to the degree he thinks maybe one of the kids is hurt lol] James: [literally Chloe is the teenage girl in this situation, girl chill out] Ava: [I'd feel bad if you hadn't also cheated loads and trapped him in this sham life soooo, grant you idk how much Ava knows of that rn but she'd clearly have a rep] James: [yeah I feel like Ava would be knowing some shit cos same circles and Chlo ain't slick plus like he's gonna eventually tell her cos god knows he needs someone to talk to] Ava: [we will get there boy] James: [at least it'll be less awks for her cos it'll be obvious that he didn't wanna break shit off and how hard it was to do] Ava: [there was obvs a vibe to pursue in the first place, still tomorrow morning lmao] James: [he'd so go too hard pretending she doesn't exist like nobody's picked up on the vibe and it ain't obvious okay boy] Ava: [I hope there's some other drama gone down on this little excursion so yous can fly under the radar, someone hold hands at the cinema lol] James: [shit like that always happens don't worry you two] Ava: [thank God for teenage shenanigans when you out here homewrecking on the low] James: [you should do some Chlo texts at me for the lols even if I don't reply cos busy lol]