#plus these characters were so pretty wah

[kitefall]

Commissions for @goat-s0ng :>

comms are open -> here <- bee tee dubs!

[altschmerzes]

Other people have mentioned this too, but something I really enjoy about your fics is how you write the different team dynamics, and the friendships Jamie has built with all of them. Your younger!Jamie AU is definitely going to be a really interesting take on all of this, and I was just wondering - what relationships/interactions between Jamie and the team are you most looking forward to writing?

thank youuuuuuuu wah i'm so glad you enjoy that aspect of it!! it's one of my absolute favourite things to write about, i love pulling the lesser focused-on players into it particularly. like i said the other day i'm really, REALLY looking forward to thierry and richard's upcoming scenes in 'the same story' especially.

YEAH THAT'S GONNA BE AN ADVENTURE FOR SUUUURE. obviously there's like. ted and roy and company, and Everyone's got stuff in here, but there's some particular stuff i'm looking forward to as well. i've always been extremely invested in jamie and dani's dynamic and this au is gonna be a very fun version of that - particularly the trickshot competition from 1x06, which i'm doing an au version of! there's some very interesting stuff going on with jamie and sam too. the bad ground their relationship starts off on courtesy of jamie is obviously very different here, given that jamie is like. y'know. fifteen and has zero power here this time, he's not on the team, he has no real 'status' to speak of and no sway on other people. but his like..... being a jerk to sam and the others (which he is! because if he wasn't a horrible little brat it would not be like. true to the character lskdjfs this is an au version of the narrative but he's still Who He Is.) is still impactful and a significant demoralizing factor when ted first arrives. it's more that it takes the shape this time of jamie sort of.... representing, in their eyes and particularly in sam's, the wider community and how they're feeling about the team. it feels like the community itself is sneering at them, which isn't. helpful.

(plus he's a sort of. element of the place that's indicative of how badly things were being run under the joint leadership of rupert and cartrick. there's a lot that goes into 'what had to go wrong here for a teenager who works part-time as basically a handyman is just allowed to Be Like This and nobody really bats an eye' and a lot of it is down to 'rupert didn't care and set a standard of not caring about Anything pretty much and cartrick thought it was funny in a pathetic circus clown sort of way')

SO yeah there's a different vibe but some very interesting ground there with his like. difficult relationships at first, particularly sam.

i'm also looking forward to writing julie and leslie higgins and how they're feeling about/interacting with the whole thing? also, and this might be a weird pull, but michelle has a fairly small but significant role in this au wrt jamie specifically and i'm actually really looking forward to that.

and finally there's a whole like..... this is a lesser element of the fic that sort of orbits the general plot and established characters but i sorta needed some peers for jamie to have, particularly given a lot of his worse behaviour in the front half of season 1 was directed at his teammates/peers. so that didn't quite fit when he's in such a different role, so there needed to be a context for that, and for his subsequent major apology/amends stuff (which is still gonna happen with the team, he's gonna apologize to them for how things went, but it's a smaller deal and an easier process given he's a kid and he couldn't really. do much to them in this situation.). that's where the park kids come in! i decided to build him a little group of teen friends that he has from school and that he hangs out with all the time in the park ted walks through every day to get to work. one of them is one we already know through a few encounters with ted, shannon, who gets built out a little more into a more Present character, and there's a couple other kids i just wholesale made up to flesh out his peer group more (for fun and profit, their names are dean, asher, and eleanor). shannon is the one we're gonna see the most of and they're not a major part of the plot by far - i know people get like..... twitchy with non-canon characters lmao - but i'm excited about the role they DO have and i think it's gonna be pretty fun.

[snowdust64]

Ouma Great War Chronicles - Episode 6: Number One Pupil Both in Name and in Reality

Narrator:  In the ongoing investigation of the Case of Demon Madness, Kaida asked his assistant, Tsubaki Hinata, to help him with his own research.

scene:  Bureau Research Department

Kaida:  I’d like you to help me with my research.

Hinata:  Eh… Ehhhh!? Me… with Kaida-senpai’s research!? Seriously?

Kaida:  Mn. Though after the research for the bureau plus your individual research, adding mine as well… I get the feeling you’ll end up quite busy.

Hinata:  Oh no, I don’t mind at all! If anything it’s a wish come true! I’m really so happy. I- I…!

Kaida:  Ehh, don’t cry. Aren’t you my number one pupil? Albeit self-proclaimed.

Hinata:  Uuhuu, yes sir… Please allow me to lend my cooperation! If I can be of service to you, I’ll pour all my heart and soul into it!

Kaida:  Thanks. Then, once again, I look forward to working with you.

Hinata:  Yes sir!

scene reset (same place)

Hinata:  For this, if I do this here… No, but then…

Kaida:  Hinata, it’s about time…

Hinata:  Will it work if I put it like this? But, on the other end, this part won’t line up…

Kaida:  O─oi.

Hinata:  Alright, it worked. Then, this part will connect, so…

Kaida:  Hinata!

Hinata:  Waah!? Ka- Kaida-senpai!

Kaida:  What an intense focus, as always. It’s about time to close up, you know?

Hinata:  Wah… Is that right? Nn – no wonder my shoulders are so stiff.

Kaida:  Thanks for your work on analyzing the Treasure Chests of Lunacy. You can hang up for today.

Hinata:  Thank you. But, please let me keep going a little longer! I’m really enjoying this right now!

Kaida:  I can see that by looking…

Hinata:  It’s even more than you think!  For a researcher like me who barely made it into the Bureau to be working with an amazing person like you, I’m already very happy, but now… On top of being able to review research, I can even help with your research! It really is like a dream!

Kaida:  Geez, I always say this, don’t I? You underestimate yourself too much. Just a short while ago, you showed me your research on jutsu inspired by ancient texts. That was very well done too. Or rather, frankly, I was surprised by the perspectives and ideas that I couldn’t have come up with myself.

Hinata:  Eh, th-that’s…

Kaida:  I’ll say this as many times as it takes, you are unmistakably an exceptional researcher. Not only do you have the knowledge and skills, but also the right character for it. Even in the middle of work, you’d endlessly research things outside your work purview. People like you are pretty rare to come by.

Hinata:  Uu… uuuu, thank you so much. To be told something like that, I’m so happy!

Kaida:  Because it’s the truth. Certainly, you’re not the type to stand out, and there are things you’re missing sometimes… But that’s exactly why I can’t let you out of my sight, and that part of you could be called cute.

Hinata:  Ka- Kaida-senpai ─ !

Kaida:  Anyway, you really do have the abilities, and you’re interesting as a researcher, so have some more confidence in yourself. For this joint research, I’d be glad if it serves as a good experience for you even in some small way.

Hinata:  Eheheh… thank you very much. You’re the only one who sees me that way. Immediately after I joined the research department, you were also the one who reviewed the first paper I wrote.

Kaida:  Was I?

Hinata:  Yes. Until then, my own research had never been reviewed by someone else, so it made me really happy! When I was given the position as your assistant, I was dancing around like crazy from the moment I got home!

Kaida:  Ehh, to that extent?

Hinata:  To that extent! With this soaring momentum, I’m aiming to take the title of Kaida-senpai’s number one pupil. Since you asked me to help with your research this time, I can take that to mean I’ve become your number one pupil in both name and in reality, right?

Kaida:  My goodness, can’t help it then…

Hinata:  Yay ─ !! Thank you so much! From now on, my passion will be even stronger, and on top of that, it will motivate me to be of service to you, Kaida-senpai! Then, I’ll keep  working on this a little longer and then go home! I can lock up, so please take your leave anytime.

Kaida:  Okay, okay. Just don’t focus too narrowly on one thing.*

Hinata:  Yes sir! Otsukare-sama! Alright, let’s do this!

Kaida:  (I said “can’t help it,” but since quite a while ago I’d already recognized you as my number one pupil… But that’s too darn embarrassing to say out loud.)

scene change

Narrator:  A few days later ─

Nagao:  So this is where a Treasure Chest of Lunacy will be placed…

Genzuki:  Mn, it can’t be wrong.

Kaida:  There’s a sort of unsettling presence around here. Let’s move without lowering our guard.

==========

Translation notes

*  The idiom here literally means ‘Don’t pack too many roots together.’

[okeylokiyuh]

lokii!!!!!!! are u alr watched loki finale!?'!?&;!? im crying bc the show was too good! im thankful for marvel cause they not wasting loki's character and made him as a hero instead, i rlly like his character development tho! opp no more spoiler (if u havent watch it hehe) but we can talk abt the finale more if u alr watch it!!

oh also two months ago, me and my friend went on a trip on a singapore. it's a first time for me to travel abroad alone w friend<333 but the first day in singapore was kinda bump :/// bus driver literally rude to us ffs he just closed the door as soon as we want to hop on it 😭😭 we were so confused and waited for another bus instead... but overall the trip was enjoyable<33 we also watched f1 practice round!! hehe

im gonna share a lil bit pics from singapore to you cause why not!?!;

it's very surreal to watch f1 cars in front of ur eyes🫨🫨

omg loki is out ??? sjfndfjgn things have been hectic at home so i haven't been able to catch up with shows much (plus i have the talent of getting into so many new shows when i haven't finished my current ones yet 😭)

ahh i'm so glad you had fun in singapore!! my dream is to visit another country with my best friend one day! naur, that bus driver must've been having a bad day bc gosh that's so rude of him!

wah the f1 cars 😲😲😲 i wanna know what it feels like to be there when the cars go "whoosh whoosh" right past you! the pictures are so pretty, singapore is so colorful 🫶 also sgdrreh the words on the cds, wah that place must be such fun!

[ekat-fandom-blog]

Ok, I keep seeing things about this (not this specifically, just the alternate deities in general, mainly for Mary) and I wanted to try finding alternative patrons for each of the shazamily/marvel fam except Billy. Mainly because I think it would be cool if all of them had a different set of patrons and because I don't think Billy needs a different set.

I'm also going to attempt to have zero overlap. As such, I'm going to try to keep to one pantheon per person and make it coincide with their ethnicity, because, to me, it makes more sense than having them all have greek patrons. Plus, I think it would be cool if each of them had patrons from different pantheons.(except for Mary and Billy who both have greek/roman patrons.)

I'm gonna stick as close to "courage, strength, speed, wisdom, power, stamina" as possible.

This is going to be really long because I added who god/goddess/ deity is and some of my reasoning for choosing them so everything's under the cut.

Mary's patrons first: Greek pantheon like Billy's. (because that's where her original patron set is from.) Soteria - courage. She's the goddess of safety, salvation, and preservation from harm. Alternatively, Sophrosyne, the goddess of self-control, could work as it takes a lot of self-control to not allow yourself to succumb to fear. Hera - power. One of her abilities is to bless people with clear skies or curse them with stormy weather and it would be a fair equivalent of Zeus in terms of power and importance. Adrastia - stamina. She's (the goddess not the nymph) the "unyielding" and "inescapable" goddess of rebellion, revenge, destiny, and the balance between good and evil, and often accompanies either Ares or Nemesis.(If you can't tell I love her, then I need to info dump more) Zephyrus - speed/flight. There's a disappointing lack of names that start with the letter "z". Don't get me wrong I think he's a pretty good addition to this line-up, but I really wish there were more alternatives. Arete - strength. She was Heracles' teacher and a goddess of justice. Metis - wisdom. She's the goddess & personification of cunning. Mnemosyne, goddess of memory, would also be a good alternative.

I wanted to give her Achlys(Primordial Goddess of Night) and Asteria(Goddess of falling stars and nighttime divination) as alternatives, for an alternative to "power" but neither line up with the character's power set. (plus Achlys is the goddess of sadness, misery, and poison so... Still love her tho.)

Freddy's patrons: Norse pantheon Skadi - stamina. Goddess of winter, the hunt, justice, vengeance, and righteous anger. Hermod - courage. He's the son of Odin and he rode to Hel to try to save his brother, Balder. That takes guts. Aegir - strength. He's the norse god of the sea. Z - power. there aren't any z names in norse mythology so I'm going to do a Þ name instead. Þórr aka Thor. Although if you think that's too low hanging of fruit, s is the closest phonetically to z so Sol? She's the goddess of the sun. Vali, god of flight, could also work. Aurvandil - speed. His name seems to come from Auza-wandilaz as a compound meaning 'light-beam' or 'ray of light'. There's not much about him but I'm going to take it as he's fast as light. Mimir - wisdom. Aesir god of wisdom.

Pedro's patrons: Aztec pantheon S - speed. there aren't any that start with 's' so i'm gonna use phonetics to my advantage again. Cihuatecayotl (roughly pronounced 'see-wah-teh-kye-olth') is the god of the west wind. Huitzilopochtli - strength. God of will and the sun, patron of war and fire, the lord of the South. Atlahua - power. He's the god of water, fishermen, and archery. This doesn't make perfect sense for the line up but it's better than other options I found. (Tlāloc- god of rain, lightning, thunder, and storms- would be a better fit, except for the fact his name doesn't fit with the acronym.) Zacatzontli - wisdom. God of the day road. He can be a protector of merchants. Atlatonan - stamina. Goddess of earth and water. Mixcoatl - courage. God of the Hunt and the Milky Way.

Eugene's patrons: Chinese pantheon (I gave him orange because his suit color is gray and there's no gray color choice.)(I regret researching chinese mythology because all of it confuses me. It is interesting tho.) Shi Gandang - strength. Chinese god and the protector of the home. He was originally a spirit sent down from Mount Tai by Bixia Yuanjun to protect ordinary people from evil spirits Hebo - stamina. He's the god of the Yellow River. Some of the world's greatest floods accompanied by massive loss of human life have been due to the Yellow River overflowing its banks and even shifting course and establishing a new river bed. Ao Guang - power. He was apparently an a**hole that caused chaos via storms. There were only 2 guys with names that start with the letter 'a' that I could find. Zhuge Liang - wisdom. He is recognised as the most accomplished strategist of his era. He was a Chinese statesman, military strategist also known as Sun Wukongegist, chancellor, and later regent of the state of Shu Han during the Three Kingdoms period. Azure Dragon - courage. I chose him for courage because (1) he symbolizes the approaching of spring, new life, and plant growth, and I thought it might fit in a symbolic way(because change can be scary), and (2) there are only 2 guys with 'a' names. Monkey King - speed. He is able to travel 108,000 li (54,000 km, 34,000 mi) in one somersault. (how a somersault translates to speed I have no idea, but that's how they put it in the wiki. "he's so fast he can travel this many miles in one somersault".)

Darla's patrons: African pantheon Sudika-mbambi - strength. He's a hero and son of Kimanaueze and is an Ambundu mythological figure. He's featured in several Ambundu legends and is well-known for his feats as a child hero in Angolan folktales. His story also became the origin myth for thunderstorms, with Sudika-mbambi representing thunder. Huveane - courage. He's also known as Huve or Huwe, is a trickster god and creator god in Pedi and Venda mythologies. In some versions of the myths, Huveane is also depicted as the first human on earth. Anansi - wisdom. He's the god of stories, wisdom, knowledge, and trickery. He is also, sometimes, considered to be God of all knowledge of stories. He's from the Akan religion. Z - speed. There's only 1 god that I can find whose name starts with a 'z' and I search him up and his name actually starts with a 'c'. Best I could find was: Eshu - God of travelers, roads, crossroads, fortune and misfortune, spirit of trickery and chaos who leads leading mortals to temptation and possible tribulation in the hopes that the experience will lead ultimately to their maturation; Iansan - Goddess of the winds, hurricanes, and tempests; Nyame - Sky God; and Anzar- the God of rain. I'm leaning towards Iansan. Amadioha - power. He's the spirit of thunder and lightning of the Igbo people of southeastern Nigeria. Mukasa - stamina. god of prosperity, harvest, fertility, and health and is also associated with divination and prophecies. Mukasa was originally a hero who ascended to become a deity. He's also recognized as the guardian of Lake Victoria. He's from the Baganda religion. I figure you've gotta have a lot of stamina to become a hero and then ascend to deity-hood, and harvesting crops takes a lot of stamina.

Bonus Celtic Pantheon: Sulis - stamina. She's a goddess of nourishment, healing, and curses. H - courage. either: Nehalennia - a sea goddess in Zealand or Cailleach - goddess of the cold and the winds. Ambisagrus - power. God identified with Jupiter Optimus Maximus(aka god of the sky and thunder). Z - skill or speed. there's no z so I'll try to find the next closest thing. Vesunna - goddess of prosperity, abundance and good fortune. (skill) Visucius - god identified with Mercury. (speed) Andraste - strength. goddess of victory. Her name has been translated as meaning "indestructible" or "unconquerable". Medb - wisdom. She's strong-willed, ambitious, cunning and promiscuous, and is an archetypal warrior queen.

Extra Bonus Japanese Pantheon: Susanoo-no-Mikoto - power. God of storms, as well as the ruler of the sea in some cases. He is also somewhat of a trickster god, as Japanese mythology extensively documents the "sibling rivalry" between him and Amaterasu. Hachiman - strength. God of war and the divine protector of Japan and its people. Originally an agricultural deity, he later became the guardian of the Minamoto clan. Amatsumara - stamina. God of iron-working. Benzaiten - wisdom. She is the goddess of everything that flows: words (and knowledge, by extension), speech, eloquence, and music. Ame-no-Uzume - courage/happiness. Commonly called Uzume, she is the goddess of dawn and revelry. Mizuhanome - speed. Goddess of water.

Sorry for the sudden ask but I had something I really wanted to talk to you about, mainly about Mary Bromfield (twin version or college age version, either) and her patrons, because, wowie, it sparked a lot in my brain microwave

So, in her first appearance, Mary had a completely different set of gods and patrons who gave her powers, but they still spelled out SHAZAM in the end due to the connection with the wizard.

This was really interesting to see, even more so that most of them were women and that her strength came from Hippolyta herself! Of course a major Goddess like her would have to have been there instead of Zeus, kinda funny, and the connection to Wonder Woman and the Amazonians would have made for an incredible story arc!

However, some of the others didn't set well with her/I didn't think were all that great in my opinion. Grace and Beauty? The times back then kinda influenced her powers to reflect a more feminine version of Captain Marvel, but I think we could do better.

It took me some time, but I ended up compiling a little thing of possible patrons for Mary

S olomon (Wisdom)

H ippolyta (Power)

A ether (Stamina)

Z epherus (Speed)

A talanta (Courage)

M elinoe (Strength)

I figured that Mary should stick to having a connection with Solomon as her source of wisdom, since I feel that it's her strongest power out of all the ones she's forged a bond with. It also gave me the idea that if any of the other marvel family members made new contracts, they would stick with one of their former patrons that they resonated with the most. Also, you would not BELIEVE the amount of stress I went through to find someone, ANYONE, with a name that started with the letter Z and was not Zeus! Holy cow.

Let me know what you think, and if you have any ideas of what other patrons Mary could have instead! I'm absolutely buzzing with energy over this girl!

I love Mary so much!

And yeah she could do a lot better than having Grace and Beauty as powers (though that was a product of the time and largely didn't contribute anything to her character since she was just as powerful in a fight as Cap)

So not only has Mary had those patrons listed above (and the regular set that Billy has) but she has also had a set of entirely Egyptian ditties (courtesy of Black Adam).

Also fun fact: originally the S was supposed to stand for Sappho but in development the creators were worried people would think she was a lesbian. (It's one of the fun meta reasons I headcanon my girl as Sapphic)

But who would I use for her acronym? That's so hard and I went down several Wikipedia holes while contemplating this. One of the hard parts was the fact that so many cool women in mythology had names that start with A and I could only choose two.

S: Sappho (Wit/Eloquence)

H: Hippolyta (Strength)

A: Artemis (Skill)

Z: Zephyrus (speed/flight)

A: Atalanta (Courage)

M: Minerva (Wisdom)

I didn't change much because I liked most of the dieties used. I was going to have the Wisdom of Athena but then I'd have to get rid of one of the other two so I kept her Roman equivalent (basically the same reasoning as to why Billy has Mercury instead of Hermes). Atalanta could also provide speed because she was well known for never being beaten in a fair foot race. In that case Zephyrus would supply flight and minor elemental control.

I really love the idea of having Sappho as one of her patrons but f Billy gets to have Solomon randomly in his acronym then its fine. But I'm not 100% sure what power she would give Mary.

I would love to hear other people's thoughts on Mary’s acronym and what deities you'd use for other members of the family!

[gillianthecat]

Between Us - episode one an intrepid reporter watches, without having seen UWMA

Going in, I know next to nothing about this show. I have the tag filtered, and I haven't read the summary or seen the trailer. I did see part of the first episode of Until We Meet Again, but as far as I remember these characters weren't in it. The only information that has made it through the cone of silence is that either the characters or the actors are named Win and Team, one of them is blond, and they did a bunch of product placement in UWMA, possibly with Lay's chips. And I'm not very positive about any of that being true.

summary after watching: For me, this show is holding up on its own. It turns out I did remember more about the beginning of UWMA than I thought, but I feel like Between Us would work even if I didn't know UWMA's basic premise. Yes, Pharm's flashbacks would be confusing, but they're also confusing for him so I don't think that would make the episode too confusing overall. There are a lot of things I still don't know, but it feels like normal episode one information still to uncover, not plot holes because the show is assuming I already know the story. And, up to a point, I would rather have less information than too much, so I appreciate the mystery. I was surprised by how prominent Dean & Pharm's story has been so far. I expected it to be more background. I wonder if its going to stay this prominent, or if it's more to set the stage. Overall the show feels very professional and... not expensive, but adequately funded. The production values all feel pretty high - lighting, sets, editing, soundtrack, cinematography - and the acting is very good. It all makes me trust these storytellers know what they're doing. So yes, I am hooked. I can see why y'all have been so excited about this show. I will definitely keep watching.

Below are my notes as I watched. I took a lot so they're beneath the cut.

So. Diving in.*

*pun unintentional at the time, but appreciated now post-viewing

- I like this parallel morning opening. Blondie with the tattoos is hot, pushing back his hair to the rock soundtrack. Actually they're both cute. I like the alarm clock cliche, although Mamoru from Kabe Koji wins with his 20 plus clocks, and Wah from Why You... Y Me? still beats this guy with his paltry single alarm clock.

- The cool kid and the chaos boy? That's my first impression.

- Hmm. Swimming pools may be important? based on the opening credits.

- Aw. A crash-into-you with an adorable het couple. Including whats-her-name (Sammy?) from those other shows I can't recall. Were they in UWMA too? (Don't answer that.) Interesting that they get to meet each other first, before our main couple.

- ooh... A one sided pining situation? or love crush at first sight? I can't tell yet.

- And here comes That Fucking House 2.0. I guess I knew four things about this show- I'd heard she was in it too. (Do you think there is stock footage of the exterior that all these shows are using, or do they each shoot their own?)

- Wait, is that Santa?! He looks so different, I mostly recognized him by voice. I'm still not sure, I haven't gotten a good view of his face yet.

- Ah. Team at least is a swimmer. That makes sense with the pool footage. And now I've figured out their names.

- I like Team's dorky new friend group! I don't always like the comic relief characters but so far A, Bee and Sea seem fun. (Also love the names joke.)

- I feel like I just saw this pool in something but I can't remember what show.

- I think I like Win's friend group dynamic as well. Whew, that's a relief. I also like Win's slight mysterious brooding air. And the way he looks at Team, with the heavenly music on the soundtrack. (so I guess it is crush at first sight? rather than long term pining?)

- so far I've gathered Team is a first year and Win seems to be a sophomore or a junior, but my instinct is junior. (I don't know if the U.S. terms apply in Thailand.)

- Team seems like a sweetheart so far. Is Win making this announcement about scholarship students not being guaranteed a spot in a "I like you. Get out of my school" kind of way, or is it just a coincidence? Either way, its stressful. Athletic scholarships are a fucked up system in general.

- Oh Pharm! He's the main guy from UWMA! I recognize him. I (obviously) have no idea where we are in his story.

- My guess is that Pharm and Manow were his friends in UWMA, but A, Bee and Sea are new for this series.

- Win looks so cool, even his sauntering walk. I totally would have had a crush on him in college.

- Oh! I was about to get excited about their first real interaction but they were just teasing us.

- Is Win basically raising his brothers? He acts like it.

- It is Santa. He seems so different here somehow.

- Tul looks vaguely familiar, but I'm not sure from what.

- Hmm, what is going on with Team? Why is he being mopey?

- I continue to really like the way Win looks at Team, and how they show Team as totally oblivious.

- oh. That's why this whole thing with Manow is familiar? I think I did watch this part of UWMA where they watch the swim tryouts. So I guess Pharm's love interest is one of the other guys on the swim team? I honestly can't remember what he looks like, or how they met. Ah, I guess this must be him staring love struck. It's slowly coming back to me. (Are these scenes reshot? or are they using footage from UWMA?) Ah Dean, that's right. I did know his name at some point. So far I'm finding him more intriguing here than I did in the little bit of UWMA that I watched.

- oh yes, I remember that Pharm was in the cooking club too. It's slowly coming back. Maybe I did watch a little more then I thought.

- These hints of Dean and Pharm's story are working for me. Perhaps they're just there as a treat for UWMA fans, but I'm enjoying them as well. But I do know the basic premise of UWMA, I suspect I would be more confused if I didn't know the whole second life thing.

- Also, I was not expecting this much of their story. It really feels like a side couple, rather than a couple whose story is over and done with. Which perhaps makes me expect that the makers intend this story to stand on its own - that Between US and UWMA are supposed to be parallel pieces, rather than a main show and its companion.

- There is a lot more attention to Pharm & Dean's story than I was expecting though. Which isn't a problem, I was just expecting them to be more background characters. And this is making me want to watch UWMA more than seeing the beginning of that show did.

- Aw, what a good friend Team is. And Win thinks so too. Yet again, I like the way Win looks at him.

- So far I have No Idea what Win & Team's story is going to be - what their conflict or obstacles will be. But I don't mind, I'm still intrigued.

- Is Tul played by the same actor who played the horny roommate in Love By Chance? If so, he's certainly been typecast, poor guy. I did like him in LBC though.

- They finally interact! I love how Win is always tracking Team with his eyes, while Team remains basically oblivious to existence. Ignoring him, not in a mean way, just in a only aware of him as a generic swim team leader way.

- Ouch. The make up artists here are good.

- Win. What is your deal? You obviously have a crush, why are you so mean to Team to his face? I am Intrigued.

- Dean comes across as such a weirdo, omg.

- Interesting that it feels like In learning more about the setup of Dean and Pharm's relationship than about Team & Win's. I admit that I'm getting a bit impatient with it. Part of the reason I dropped UWMA is that I didn't find Dean's actor that compelling and I still don't (so far, that could change).

- Ah, some insight into Team: "You never let anything be important to you!" I do like his and Dean's friendship.

- Um, WHAT is Team's friend (I can't remember if he's A, Bee or Sea) wearing as a pendent? It looks like a piece of fried chicken.

- oof this porn watching scene is so awkward. Poor Team. It does all feel realistically adolescent though.

- Ok, wow, I was not expecting THAT. I like it though.

- on shit, and Team's following him!

- oh I really like this sex scene. See BL, consent is sexy. The way that Win, keeping tight rein on his very obvious desire and arousal, makes sure that Team wants this, that he knows what he's doing. It is Very Hot. And their chemistry is fire. I also like how cool kid Win has his post-shower fluffy unstyled hair, making him feel much more vulnerable.

- I don't know if it's intentional, but I like the contrast between Pharm and Dean's literally destined love, and this thing between Team and Win, which feels like it could be any college hook up. Yes, Win has had his eye on Team for a while, but as far as I can tell, Team took little notice of Win until his porn induced horniness drove him into Win's arms. And Team I really don't think was planning this, he just got aroused by win's arousal and gave in to temptation. I just like the arbitrary feeling of it against the backdrop of the heaviness of fate.

- I still don't know what their story is going to be. And honestly, if I wasn't being an intrepid reporter I probably wouldn't even try to figure it out, I'm just intrigued by them and their dynamic and content to see where it goes. But since I am doing these reports, my first guess is that they're going to continue to hook up in secret, outside the bedroom Win is going to pretend Team doesn't matter to him, and Team will slowly fall in love and get hurt by this. I'm not very attached to this theory, but it's the best I've got so far.

- Thinking about it, so far I actually know very little about Win and Team as characters. But the actors have made them both compelling enough that I'm intrigued, and want to know them. I feel like my initial impression of Win as "cool kid" is probably correct, but I'm not so sure about Team as "chaos boy." He seems a little more organized than that, a bit innocent but not too naive, kind but not saccharine. He seems a bit of an average everyman in fact, but not in a boring way.

Ok! That's it for now. I probably should go to bed, but I want to watch episode two instead. The nice thing about starting a few weeks behind is I don't have to wait.

[4dtk]

NCT127 falling in love with a s/o with a time-consuming job like a lawyer or a doctor

NCT 127 with an s/o who has a time-consuming job

this is so cute, thanks for requesting! i made this in a format in the ways that the boys might show their care when you’re so busy with your job :) long as hell LOL enjoy!!

brief spoilers for shang-chi if you haven’t watched! i just watched it this week lol it was really good

→ TAEIL would direct conversations to a more neutral stance. it’s not that he wants to talk about himself, but sometimes if you don’t want to talk about your case or patients, he easily slips into conversation about theories or his favourite tv show or your rundown of what groceries to take for the next time you head to the supermarket. just really normal small things that take your mind off the stress, especially at night when you’re laying in bed and just before you’re drifting off to sleep, the two of you would engage in a topic that you both know fairly well about and then you’re usually the first to succumb to sleep. taeil purposely picks out topic he knows will excite you (and bc he knows you’re passionate about it, he reads up on it which allows a well-balanced convo). if you’re rambling on about a topic, then he’ll occasionally play the guitar while laying down, just simple melodies that bring a lot of peace to the room.

“wait- how d’you like this melody?” taeil softly says, changing it instantly when you commented on the previous, discordant one. your nod encourages him to carry on with the plucking of his fingers while you yourself continue with your rambles. “so i’m saying right, it seems totally unfair for him, and you’d think that, right? but all he ever does is whine and moan about his misfortunes, plus his character is so terribly written i kinda feel sorry for-“

the halted melody prompts a sharp turn of your turn to the guitar, which you almost collide with, “what?” taeil only shrugs. “nothin’. just like how passionate you get about the show, it’s cute.” your boyfriend smiles after, ignoring how his words affect you and how your cheeks heat up at it.

→ JOHNNY is one to take you out after your work. it’s not to a super intense, high-energy place like a club or anything, but small little dates that won’t take up much time. eating dinner at a restaurant, walk in the park, small cafe trip, strolling through supermarket to make fun of brand names. if you’re too tired that day, he always finds a way to make your time at home fun. from setting up a small karaoke session, to maybe making a pillow fort, to trying out new cuddling positions, he has everything on his mind. always showing you things to cheer you up if you happen, from memes to funny videos. is low-key down for you to review crime/doctor shows too, just to see how accurate they nail it. your time at home is consuming endless pieces of media until your tummies hurt or you’re sniffling at a movie together.

“hold on- lemme show you this video,” johnny’s hand is outstretched to you once he finds the video and your spoon full of food is left near your mouth. you proceed to watch the low quality video which your boyfriend claims to be the funniest video on earth.

W-HOR? WAH? the girl’s finger in the video traces over the word “who” as she struggles to pronounce it, with presumably her sister in the background prompting her. the repeated pronunciation of the word makes you snort, while the wheezing and the loud NO in the background causes you to fully erupt into laughter. johnny simply smiles at another successful attempt to make you smile.

→ YUTA always has a hand on you when you return home. he brings you into a hug, he guides you by your back, you have to eat with one hand bc he can’t keep his hand off of you. he hopes his little touches will ease your tiredness even by a bit and if you don’t want it, he’ll stop, but it’s yuta’s way of showing he cares without words. busy days with yuta usually involve just sitting in silence as you catch up on a show or a series, or even listening to a song in silence and enjoying each other’s company. he will talk if you want to, but if not that’s fine too, preferring more to stroke your hair in silence and think about how much he loves you. becomes very sappy when you’re in the quiet of your room and generally is very fond of the small pockets of time you get to spend before you two fall asleep. likes that you’re so resolute in your job but can be soft around him behind closed doors.

“you comfortable?” yuta calls out, barely above a whisper as he wraps an arm tighter around you. there’s comfortable ministrations that his does with his fingers, massaging the skin under your pajamas while you snuggle deeper into his chest. humming, you tighten your hold around his top.

“i am, yeah,” you can’t care much for the tv show on the screen now, with empty takeout boxes and tissues littering the coffee table. you feel the gentle kiss of yuta on your head before you’re drifting off to dreamland to a scratchy, 60s jazz song playing through the speakers.

→ TAEYONG would always welcome you back with a table set and food ready, always. he knows that food is the way to someone’s heart and you eating his food always makes him happy and offers to clean-up. lets you shower first if you come back together, puts you before himself very often that sometimes you have to tell him to tone it down because you don’t want him ending up more tired than he already is. following up on this, taeyong would show his love by cooking your lunches for you. when he has the time he makes the effort to put it in a nice bento or box for you to eat. he also does the general chores around the house (assuming the two of you live together) so the bed will be a little less messy when you come back, the floor’s cleaner, the countertops aren’t so cluttered with stuff. even if there’s nothing to clean up, he always these small little things before you come back, and even if you don’t notice it, he sees the way you’re able to navigate the space or when you’re more at ease and it makes him smile.

“do you want to shower first?” taeyong calls out softly, admiring the clean house he’s managed to do up before he went to meet you, “i’ll just hang around until you’re done.”

“you need to prioritise yourself too, yong,” you pout, rubbing a hand up and down his forehead as you toe off your shoes, “how ‘bout we shower together? you did clean the house up pretty nicely.” that earns a grin and a kiss from taeyong, who goes straight the prepare the bath. you chuckle, “he’s already forgotten what i’ve told him.”

→ DOYOUNG supports you silently and listens to your day when you return home and talk about your patient or a case you’re working on. he gives you his own input when he sees fit but other than that he wants you to explain the details. being a doctor and lawyer is crazy and hectic and just wants you to know that you’re appreciated in the workforce. the way he might show his love when caring for a busy s/o like you is when he brings you stuff that you might’ve forgotten like an umbrella or your lunch since you were rushing out of the house earlier. he doesn’t mind going the extra mile to you literally bc it’s a win-win! you get your food, he gets to see you, etc. if not he’ll send someone over to pass it to the receptionist, or he’ll make up for it by meeting you outside the office to apologise and then ask you what you wanna do so he can make it up to you.

“did you manage to get the bento i bought you?” doyoung asks worriedly through the phone, holding up a hand to the staff member who was beckoning him to his photoshoot. “you bought so much!” you exclaim, with a shoulder to your ear, phone perched in between, “thank you doyoung.”

“’m sorry i couldn’t come over to give you your lunch today, angel. i’ll see you after you’re done with work, okay?” you smile at that, shooting a quick reply before you delved into your food.

→ JAEHYUN would honestly serve you once you come back from a busy day tbh. where taeyong does the chores around the house, jaehyun helps by doing the chores on YOU and only you. giving you massages, bringing you dinner on a tray, other unsaid things… and maybe even carrying you from room to room lol he’s relentless and just goes you need to rest, lemme help. big gentleman even when you reject him, doing smaller things like constantly checking up on you, pulling the blanket higher onto your body, cuddling you closer to his body when it’s cold. on top of that jaehyun also one that would meet you at your workplace and take you out like johnny, but those dates are extremely chill. he lets you choose, and when you’re not sure, he takes you on a night picnic at the field or a rooftop, just dinner, but outside bc the view is really nice and he likes the way you look even after a long day of working.

“where should we park our mats?” your head moves from left to right, looking for a suitable spot while you tug on jaehyun’s hand. he hums at it, searching for a spot just like you are. the wind’s blowing gently when you settle near a tree, mat occasionally flying up which you counter with your heavy laptop bag.

“any idea where we can get desserts later?” you call out as a half-joke, not expecting jaehyun to pull up his phone to instantly search for a baskin robbins. “there’s one close-by, wait here for a minute and i’ll go get one for you-“ you laugh before pulling him back down, “don’t worry! we’ll go together, plus i don’t want to be left alone.” jaehyun softly smiles, nodding along as he takes out the food he packed.

→ JUNGWOO has similar intentions like johnny, except he would just wanna stay home. where johnny’s goal is to make you laugh, jungwoo just likes doing things together at home. playing board games, folding the clothes together, making dinner together. it’s not that he doesn’t want to do it, but when he’s given free time he sometimes just likes to laze at home and rest from schedules. he sometimes takes himself out of bed to help before you come back but he’s lazy lolol. loves it when you’re both equally tired and living off 5h of sleep. it’s not romanticising the lack of sleep but your schedules just don’t allow you to sleep equal amounts of hours of sleep. through that, you’re at least able to connect over sleepy talk and droopy smiles while you make the bed or assemble a lego piece or playing video games. if jungwoo’s energetic enough he doesn’t mind doing the crazier activities but he generally prefers those activities done in semi-silence while you exchange jokes and funny videos.

“noooo- no! you only need to move three times, you’re cheating-“ jungwoo pouts and moves back your playing avatar back three spaces on the board game. you purse your lips, not expecting him to see it since he was particularly invested in the movie playing on the screen. knowing it was a shitty film, you tried to talk him out of it, but he insisted. with eyes glued to the screen a few seconds earlier, you took your chance to move down one more space in order to get the benefit on the game board.

“you’ll get to buy a house soon, honey,” jungwoo grins cheekily, laughing even more when he’s able to move four steps, landing on the square that you wanted. now it was your turn to pout as he flips the card for property purchases, happily placing it next to his five other houses. “you’re so annoying!” you say as you fall back on the bean bag, but jungwoo doesn’t believe it when he sees a smile poking out from behind the hands shielding your face..

→ MARK sends you a looooot of texts. your convos with him are just him spamming questions or sending you memes. on every platform LMAO he has tweets sent, ig dm’s are blowing up from the weirdass nct memes that some of the fans make, he uses the official nct tiktok account to send you viral trending videos and he’s like we should try this!!!! and it’s a couple doing acrobatics or some shit. he’s crazy. anyway, he just likes to share things with you, from songs, to playlists, to youtube videos or interesting topics like crime psychology or movie theories etc. he knows that you’re hardly going to see it in your job but he sees the way you react across the room when he sends you stuff so he’s sure that you’ll like it after you get off work. sometimes likes to rickroll you, he knows it’s an old trend/troll thing but the thrill of seeing your frustrated replies always make him laugh out loud. when you’re back home, the both of you review whatever you send each other and then laugh together at them.

“hey, babe, check out this video,” mark says in a text, pasting a twitter link to a video. the video starts out interesting enough, mentioning something about a fun fact with stunning visuals has you wanting to learn more. when the guy in the video starts on his first word, the video immediately changes to rick astley with never gonna give you up. you mutter a small fuck under your breath, gaining a bit of attention from your colleagues during lunch break.

under the table, you flip him off in a picture, which he responds with a big smile of his that’s obviously teasing you for falling for it. you’re going to get it when i get back home!!!!! on a new high, you text the message and set your phone down, already excited for the evening where’d you be able to spend your time with him.

→ HAECHAN is a mix of everything kinda. he’d bring you out after work sometimes and other times likes to stay at home, mainly takes you out to eat after work, but that’s the extent of his after-work-escapades, he doesn’t want to tire you out too much. i think one prominent things he likes to do to is vlog to you, send you videos of what he’s doing on set or at home and just treats your convo like a bank for endless videos. y’know how there’s this video feature in telegram? he sends sooo many of those that you have the time of your life watching those on the ride back home. if you have time, you HAVE to facetime him during your lunch break and tell him how you’re doing and how’s your work coming along. do i have to kick someone’s ass for making you feel uncomfortable? is that patient being creepy again? and you have to explain that haechan, no, that patient is an elderly you cannot beat his ass. he’s like i don’t care, creepy dudes are not excused!!! and you can’t help but smile at that. always wants to be talking to you, close to you. if one day, you’re able to bring him to your job, this man follows you around like a lost puppy and just admires what you do, it’s endearing.

“ah, wait- you know how the sister, xia ling was sent to shut down the ten rings army? well… i just reviewed some of the articles and-“ the video cuts into the next one, haechan’s face zoomed in as he looks straight into the camera, “y’know, she might become a villain one day, i don’t know. maybe i should review some of the comics too?”

“anyway! come look at our set for the music video! it’s sexy, outfits are fire, sets are so good, the choreo this time isn’t too hard, either.” haechan asks the other members to wave as he passes them by, no doubt going his own make-up and hair after the others were already done, “okay, gotta go- love you bye!” you smile at that, texting a quick reply before you open up a video of your own, whispering through the speaker with a promise that you’d see him tonight.

[sohaoying]

ZENO ENJOYERS!!!! i love seeing them in the wild AHAHAH how’d you come across the game? (and what were your favorite parts? and thoughts on the characters? i’d ask which ending made you feel the most emotions but i have a feeling it’s ending f LOL)

woahhh zeno enjoyers in my computer!!

i played it bc i kept seeing fanart until i caved lol. i love being predictable. doctor and murderer get handcuffed together and have to collaborate to escape? it's camp. i'm listening 😔✌️

i love how every character gets a turn at being a liability to the others, i love how it’s about rehabilitation + repression + obsession/unhealthy pedestals, i love how the character backstories are interconnected and interesting to unravel, it’s one of my fav games ever

semi vague spoilers ahead:

some parts i liked:

on the path to ending H i was clapping cheering when [redacted] got to let out the inner weirdgirl and become a threat to everyone else instead of the other way around for a change. boom!! call that equality

that’s also why i liked ending F, since it was the only part where they went zeno at the same time. metal af. plus the afterlife part got to me. the bittersweetness, and then the despair of the post-credits scene… wah

however i’m a softie too so i liked the true endings a lot!! the reveals were fun and it was v satisfying how everything came together after they all went through so much. and i like that [redacted 2] didn’t get magically 100% fixed™ and is out there trying to do okay anyway. i wish i understood the timeline more though; idk exactly when route H starts (it needs the picnic photo but i think maeno’s room is locked during it? am i forgetting something/mixing up timelines? i wish there were a summary, it’s been a while)

fuyu’s vending machine dialog

that one bathroom stall

characters:

maeno: one of my fav characters ever! him associating his own atonement with trying to fix one person was nuts. the lengths he went to to achieve that + the cost it came at + the irony of it all? sign me up. also it’s fun that he can go little a crazy. as a treat

tsugino: no one calls him haru besides that one time natsu did, which is a fun fact i remember for no reason. his journey of denying himself + finding acceptance + figuring out what was left for him was pretty interesting. i like him a normal amount (real)

fuyu: i just think he’s neat!! i’m glad he beats the one-dimensional allegations in the true endings. i like his dynamic with aki, they’re so funny (and sad. they have the range)

natsu: i wish she were given the chance to be a complex character instead of a plot device + i wish she had a different reason for zeno... if i could change anything about the game it would be that. i like her design a lot though!

i actually had plans to draw these 4 in a set, and finished the tsugino one months ago but dropped it halfway through drawing fuyu :(( i want to finish it someday, but i’ve got a bunch of other things to draw first. ONE DAY THOUGH… maybe… - guy charged with multiple counts of saying “i want to draw that” and then not doing that

oh this got long i am so sorry if you’re normal about zeno LOL. i may not be actively into it but it sleeps rent free in my head as one of my all time faves. thanks for the excuse to talk about it ahaha

[owaowabetch]

Uh Oh (Sykkuno x F!Reader)

Oneshot (maybe part of a series??? idk we’ll see): The Prequel to “Impasta” in which reader meets the gang for the first time and experiences a betrayal. Mainly Friendship

Warning: non-beta, I wrote this in one go and full sent it. 

You were a small time Twitch streamer that had recently befriend a streamer with a much larger audience, ValkyRae.  You had been talking back and forth for quite some time, since Rae’s dm to you weeks ago. You were mainly an rp channel where you played games like GTA, The Sims, and Animal Crossing. Though you gained a lot of your followers from playing League, though it mostly consisted of hate-followers that would only critique your gaming, even though you were pretty good at it. But it doesn’t bother you too much *que sob*

You were streaming GTA on a RP server playing an amish girl on a Rumspringa and wreaking havoc. You and your ‘gang’ had successfully finished hitting a bank truck ,causing your character to rake in a few thousand dollars, when you got a message from Rae asking you if you had wanted to play a few rounds of the popular game among us. 

“Alright guys, a friend asked if I wanted to join her lobby of among us. I know it’s different from the stuff i usually stream, but is that something you guys would be cool with?” You asked your chat and watch an influx of people messaging ‘yes’ or ‘pog’. You take a sip of your Starbucks and picked up your phone to message Rae that you’ll be joining. “Fair warning, I’ve never played among us. So we’ll see how this goes, guys” 

While you waited to be invited to the discord and into the lobby, you chatted with your viewers for a bit. “I just realized that I’m really awkward around new people. Like when I’m playing on the GTA Rp Server, I’m not myself, I’m a character you know? So it’s easier to talk with other people, cause they’re also role playing. Plus I don’t think I can call anyone in the discord a musty dusty rat bitch lol or sell them drugs, it’s not that kind of game...unless?...” You laugh as you login to your discord and accept the invite to the discord “alright guys! here we go~”

You enter the discord call and hear people talking. 

“Y/N!” Rae exclaims “Guys this is my new friend y/n”

“Hi” Responding to the various voices greeting you

“OK, so the code is in the chat and so are the bubbles, so your chat can see who is talking and what not” Rae explains

You input the code and saw your little character in the space ship. “Oh god guys look at us!” You ran your little character around the ship “How do we change colors? I’m not feeling this blue and I saw Rae with her lil creepy mask”

You read your chat tell you what to do so you went to the little computer to change the blue to white and clicked through all the hats til you decided on the pink flower. “How about this guys? Yellow is my favorite color but its taken”

“Alright, you ready y/n?” Rae asked

“Yup” you respond by running circles around her character

“OK i’m starting. Don’t forget to mute and close chat. You can open it back up if your imposter or dead” Rae sang “Good luck~”

“Alright chat I gotta close you til the game is done? I guess” You hum as the words ‘crewmate’ pop up. “Well at least i’m not imposter, i know the game. I mean who hasn’t at this point. I just never played it, seems to be to nerve wracking”

You open the map icon and run to where the closet yellow exclamation point was, which was admin. You make sure to note all the colors around you in there as you swipe your card “Alright, green, yellow, brown,red, and orange” You repeated the colors over and over again as you make your way into electrical when you notice something “Ok uh green is following me? I don’t know why but its freaking me out.” The lights turn off and you start freaking out “Oh god, this is where I die. Don’t I? You know what do it. Kill me! It’s probably a good idea. I’m kind of an idiot and it’ll help me figure things out on my own without the pressure” You follow the arrow pointing to a panel and you click on it “What am i supposed to do? You know green, this would be the perfect opportunity to murder me in cold blood... is this how you do it?” You flip the switches so that they are all bright green and the lights turn on “YAS BITCH, I did it” 

The green character kind of just circles your body as you do tasks in electrical, you do download, wires, and power diverter. “Ok BUT WHY IS HE FOLLOWING ME!!” 

An orange body had been reported and that two others had died (bright green and pink) and the person who reported the body was black or as his name read ‘Abe’ “Ok, so this body was in admin on card swipe”

“Well this body couldn’t have been me or y/n” Sykkuno says “I was following her this entire time”

“Yea, I’d like to know why lol? You were kinda freaking me out dude” You laugh a bit trying to play off how nervous you were to call him out on it

“Oh No! I was protecting you” Sykkuno explains “I promise”

“Sykkuno? Are you already simping for someone?” Rae feigns exasperation 

“No really guys!” He explains nervously “The new person always dies first, so I was just trying to protect her.”

You hum and smile mischievously “Unless, your just trying to gain my trust only to murder me in coldblood in front of my bestie Rae, to prove your superiority over her!?!”

Rae gasps “Really Sykkuno!?! I’m voting you just for that!”

“Wah? No wait! It’s not like that really” Sykkuno starts laughing as Rae votes “Oh God did you really vote for me?”

“Yes” Rae says and you start laughing 

“So anyways, Leslie’s body is in admin?” Hafu says wanting to talk more about the body and get all the sus’s and clears

Though you gasp when you realized a few things “wait I have some info to share” teasing Sykkuno had loosened you up a bit “it was me,green,yellow,brown,red, and orange in admin. Then me and green, uh Syyykkkuunnoo? Sorry if i didn’t say your name right, left and went into electrical, then lights were called and I fixed them before finishing off my tasks in there. So the body must’ve died during lights unless she left and came back into admin after lights were fixed? which doesn’t make much sense, sooo yea” you smiled “look at me chat! being all smart and shit” 

“yes” Poki agrees “I left admin also with Rae just before lights were called”

“Ok, so I know that puts sus on me, but I went straight to lights when they were called” Hafu says “Someone on the right side must’ve vented when lights were off. Like I was entering the hallway from storage with Tina when lights got fixed and we went to reactor room together. So it couldn’t have been me. Maybe Tina? I dont know which way she come from, but it was not me”

“That is true. I did meet up with Hafu at storage, but I don’t know man” Tina says “ I was doing download in comms”

“Oh god” You tell chat “I don’t know whether to believe Hafu or not. I know she is really good, along with Toast, but he hasn’t said anything”

“Well it is seven and we don’t vote on seven, so we can skip. Just putting a sus on Hafu” Rae says

“Yes please do” Hafu says as she votes to skip

“Do we know where the other bodies are?” Poki asks as the seconds start to dwindle down to zero “Also Toast? Why are you so quiet?”

“I’m trying to figure out a new strat, so don’t you worry. I’ll catch the killers” Toast starts to evil laugh and that was the end of the meeting.

“Ok we’re susing Hafu for this.Though I don’t think it’s her only cause I remember watching one of her imposter plays and it would be a too obvious kill,since so many people were there, it just doesn’t make sense, so someone venting in and killing is plausible or could be a self report? I don’t know lol It’s my first game” You run with Sykkuno and finish up your tasks together. Though lights were called when you both were at shields, you can see the vent pop open and in your little vision bubble you see a flash of red “Whelp this is where I die, I’d like to rate Sykkuno an 8 out of 10 for protecting me, but obviously I am now died” True to your word Rae killed you and you saw Sykkuno running around like a headless chicken when he reports your body 

“Oh God! They got her when I was trying to protect her!” Sykkuno exclaims 

“Sykkuno! You were supposed to be protecting her!?” Rae shouts “What happened? Did you kill her in cold blood? hmm?”

“smh Rae, you murdered me right in front of Sykkuno” You sigh “Well chat looks like I’m dead and we can speak now”

“No!” Sykkuno denies “I said I was going to protect her. I wouldn’t kill her after saying that”

“Well she’s dead now Sykkuno! Where’s the body?” Toast dramatically says

“It’s in shields. It happened when lights were off” Sykkyno says “I’m sorry y/n, I couldn’t protect you”

“Aw that is so cute” You pout at his apology, it wasn’t his fault. It was dark, so obviously he couldn’t see

“Well I don’t think Sykkuno did this, He said he was protecting her to everyone, so I can say that he’s crew” Hafu says “I’m at light panel, I remember seeing Poki and Tina there”

“I can confirm this” Poki says “So Toast let’s hear your big brain play. What’s your strat?”

It was silent for a minute, before Toast admits that he doesn’t have one.

“Ok so we can all agree that Toast is the imposter right?” Rae says “Vote him outta here!”

“Yep” Tina agrees hitting that vote on him and many follow suit

“Wait guys! WAIT! I do! I do have a strat” Toast screams out “Uhhh... wires! The wires guys!”

“Lol they’re gunna vote him off” You watch people voting “Rae is probably gunna win this”

“Yea, you’ve done that pay before” Poki laughs

“Don’t worry I’ll skip Toast” Sykkuno says 

“Why would you skip if we’re on 6?” Rae asks “Is Toast your imposter buddy?”

“Wah? I said I was protecting y/n, why would I kill her?” Trying to make his innocence obvious 

“Unless you killed her by accident or Toast did and you’re trying to protect him like the Simp you are!” Rae accuses him

Tina starts to also question Sykkuno “Wait a second, I dont think I’ve seen you do a single task this entire game! You’ve just been following y/n all around! We should vote him off next!”

“Guys, I swear it’s not me, it just doesn’t make sense” You can hear him plead “Oh no guys, how did this get twisted? It’s Rae! But how did it go to thinking Sykkuno as imposter?”

The meeting ends with Toast screaming into the abyss as he is yeeted out with Sykkuno telling him that he voted to skip.

“Ok then chat, looks like the imposters are gunna win, lets talk for a bit” You sigh and start reading the comments “ I know that I didn’t talk much with them, but I’m just awkward in general and I don’t know what to say to them. This is the first time playing with a group like this where i’m supposed to be myself and not a character.”

The words Defeat appeared on screen and there was Hafu and Rae as imposter. “I honestly didn’t think it was Hafu”

“Hafu was that you that killed Leslie in admin? I didn’t think it was “You asked when you returned to the lobby

“NO! I got framed by my own partner” Hafu explains before taking her bathroom break

“How did Rae get that kill cause I was with her?” Poki asks

“I vented from Caf back into admin when lights were off” Rae laughs “and I vented into shields and killed y/n right in front of Sykkuno!”

“Im sorry for not being able to protect you” Sykkuno runs circles around my character “Next round I’ll do better! I promise”

You laugh and start chasing after him in the ship “What if you end up as imposter?”

“Then I’ll have to look away as my imposter buddy kills you” Sykkuno laughs behind his hand and clears his throat “Im joking, Im joking, I promise”

“Wow Sykkuno” You tsk and run over to the opposite side of the room “I don’t know if I want your protection services now”

“Uh” Sykkuno splutters “I’m joking I promise! I won’t kill you as imposter”

“Wait til Corpse hears you simping over someone else” Poki says before starting the game

“Wait Hafu is still in the bathroom!” Rae exclaimed, but it was to late to stop the game from starting, so she’ll have to jump in when she comes back. Though you swear you feel your heart jump out of your chest when the words Imposter read on you screen. The 1st of the night for you and another in a row for Hafu.

“Oh God guys. Hafu is in the bathroom, but she has to carry us” You start to panic “What we do we do!?! Wait is Sykkuno seriously gunna follow us? Should we kill him or would that be to obvious?” You see the chat tell you that it would be to obvious and that it would be better to maybe frame him, but it seems to mean to you “Should we kill someone in front of him? You know to test his loyalty? It’s a terrible idea”

Though before you go on to fake tasks, you see Sykkuno standing on top of Hafu’s body, so you also go ontop of Sykkuno’s and to the outside perspective you are protecting Hafu, but really for you it’s to ensure that your imposter partner is going to be walking around and killing people,once she comes back from the bathroom. It seems that Hafu is back from the bathroom as her yellow character starts making her way away from you both. You and Sykkuno make your way to admin when lights get called and Sykkuno starts to wiggle his body around into a corner. It seems as though he wants you to stack with him in a corner, but before you do you double back when you see a body pass by and kill them, though you start to laugh when you see your character kill Rae, before ‘stumbling’ into Sykkuno’s view in the corner. You both stay there as lights turn back on and go on card swipe. You think about juking Sykkuno, but realize that it’ll look sus on you for ditching him. So you two just walk around ‘completing’ tasks as every once in a while the lights would go off and you two will stack on each other or wait for doors to open which you had been closing alot of them. 

“Honestly guys I’m at a point were I just wanna murder someone in front of him” You start to evil laugh as you both stack in the corner of medbay as lights start turning on when a body got called

“It’s toast, it’s toast, it’s toast” Hafu chants as it was her who reported the body “I saw him kill Poki”

“oh she self reported” you note and click on Toast’s name but not locking in your vote just in case. You also noticed that four people had died “She killed three people!?! Wow she is beast in this game! Holy Shit guys”

“see, from my perspective it’s hafu. I didn’t see the kill, but I did see blood splatter and Hafu immediately reported the body and blamed me, so it has to be Hafu. I’m voting her” Toast explains and votes her

“no no no no no no no. I saw you kill her when lights got fixed.” Hafu describes her side and what she did in that round “ Ok guys I was afk for like the first 20 seconds and I see Sykkuno and y/n there standing on me in caf., and I’m just doing my tasks, which I finished by the way, so I’m just going back and forth going to cams and just walking around to find any dead bodies. So if you saw cams on in the last 30 or so seconds it was me. I’ve also been fixing lights too! Peter and Leslie should be able to vouch for me on that! But on this round of lights I’m making my way to go help fix them when i see blood flicker in my little bubble and as it starts to get bigger I see Toast walking away from it. Its Toast. It is 100% Toast.” She locks her vote on him “Vote him please. If you don’t vote then you’re either imposter or just throwing”

“I don’t know guys” You start and hover your mouse over the green checkmark next to Toast’s name “I’ve been with Sykkuno the entire round and we did guard Hafu’s body. For Hafu to say that she saw Toast kill, but toast didn’t see Hafu kill? It just doesnt make sense so I’m voting Toast” You lock your vote in when Hafu reminds everyone that crew has to vote together since it is on six. Reminding Peter and Leslie that Hafu has been fixing lights got their votes, but Sykkuno was hesitant “You know I can never vote Toast guys, but I have been with y/n this entire time and I know it’s not her. So, I’m sorry Toast but uh” He locks his vote in for either Hafu or Toast? Who knows if he’s simping over Toast hard.

“Sykkuno?” You can hear Toast tremble his voice “Sy-sykkuno? Who did you vote for? Sykkuno!?!?! Do- Don’t tell me...did you really vote me?”

“I uh “ He clears his throat as the votes get out and all of us had voted Toast 

Toast gasps “Sykkuno!?! How could you!?!?!”

“I’m sorry! I just trust y/n!” Sykkuno explains as Toast’s body once again gets yeeted out into space. 

“Wow guys, looks like we’re gunna win our first imposter game!” You wiggle around happily “and we literally did nothing...wait we killed Rae! We got our revenge from the last round mwua hahahahaha”

Sykkuno and I run circles around each other before walking back into medbay. You can see Hafu kind of trailing behind and the doors get locked with us three in it, but Hafu is just standing there. “Chat what is Hafu doing? Why is she just standing there” You can see Sykkuno step on the med scan “Wait she wants ME to kill SYKKUNO! Oh god that is so evil lol but i’m so useless as imposter, so I might as well get in at least 25% of the kills” 

Once Sykkuno steps off you just murder him and you see that you had won.

“I- I can’t believe you just killed me!?! I trusted you y/n” Sykkuno exclaims

“Sykkuno” Rae sighs “she KILLED ME in caf! Why did no one NOT SEE MY CHOPPED BODY IN CAF!”

You just laugh “I’m sorry Sykkuno, but my chat was telling me that Hafu wanted me to kill you”

“Yea, cause I did like all of the kills and sabotages” Hafu recounts who and how she killed 

“Sykkuno, you giant simp. I can’t believe you vote me” Toast tsk’ed 

“I can’t believe y/n was the imposter! and she killed me!” Sykkuno shakes his head “you know what i’m no longer protecting you anymore”

“Wait Sykkuno I’m sorry. Really” You giggle 

“No no no it’s ok, it’s all part of the game” Sykkuno reassure you that he is not actually mad and that he hoped you had fun “But i wont be protecting you from now on, I have scars now”

So, you play a few more games before calling it quits and end your stream. Later on, you find that Sykkuno started following you on Twitter and Instagram, You totally did not stalk both of his pages and you totally don’t think that he’s cute.....

SideNote: You totally murdered someone in front of Sykkuno and he totally didn’t snitch on you. Instead he protected you as you ran around killing more people in front of him and like the giant Simp he is he totally went ‘I neva snitch on you Daddy, I hold a brick for you Daddy’.

[sketching-shark]

why the hell does "shadowpeach" exist lol. this is just another toxic shipping like "catradora" and I swear both are incestuous since they are siblings (not sure about wukong and lieur but its implied they are brothers), plus they both hate each other with a passion and tried to kill each other.

fdsaewaef okay anon because I have Opinions & know that people can get pretty upset over shipping I'm going to put my thoughts under the cut. Don't like don't read goes both ways <3

lmao fully aware that I'm probably the only one to think so but I really do find it funny that people keep comparing the dynamics of Sun Wukong & Macaque to Adora and Catra because from what I remember Adora was extremely hesitant to fight Catra no matter how awful she was whereas Sun Wukong was trying to kill Macaque from day 1 as soon as he found out he was going after Xiaotian. Monkie Kid does have its flaws, but I am glad that they kept the monkey king's og classic characterization of immediately going for the throat of anyone who tries to kill his friends and family.

Other heroes when some absolute ass of a villain makes an attempt on the lives of those they care about: "Sure, you've been terrorizing me for days & have tried your damnedest to murder & destroy everything I love & have repeatedly demonstrated that there is no depths you won't sink to in your vindictive quest to break me into what you want, but I'm not going to hurt you because you're still my friend & I will bend over backwards to help you 'redeem' yourself no matter how many times you brutalize me!"

Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the second someone threatens his loved ones:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6y6chb0Qq8

but anyway yeah it has been a pretty annoying trend over the past couple of years that the ships people keep hyping to frankly ridiculous degrees as the best out there are those where the characters involved loathe each other up until the last second when the plot suddenly decides that wuv conquers all actshually or where it's the same ol' story of "wah you were my friend but then you weren't & so now I'm going to be a violently miserable asshole to you & everyone you love all while the plot & fanbase refuse to hold me accountable for my shit & also where you get blamed for my atrocious behavior but we're still paired together anyway even though everyone's mad at you for me being a shitgoblin."

Now I do need to note that I haven't seen Season 3 myself at this stage, but I do know that in Monkie Kid Sun Wukong did apparently literally kill Macaque. So in that regard the shadow monkey does have a very understandable reason to be enraged at the monkey king. And honestly that just makes me dislike shadowpeach even more than I did beforehand. Besides that just being a terrible place to start from, Sun Wukong is now more than ever left holding the blame for Macaque's relentlessly shitty behavior (but stg one of the funniest things about this is seeing people in the Monkie Kid fandom pour over JTTW to figure out other character's motivations but when it comes to the Six Eared Macaque & his og background of trying to murder-replace Sun Wukong everyone's like "suddenly I could not read <3") & for as much romantic tension as people keep insisting they have it's more like Macaque is just violently obsessed with getting revenge on Sun Wukong to the detriment of literally everything else in his 2nd chance life while Sun Wukong couldn't care less about Macaque unless Mr. Six Ears is barging into his business to try to ruin it. So it's like...why am I supposed to find this romantic?

AND THAT'S NOT EVEN GOING INTO THE WEIRD WAYS IN WHICH THE ORIGINAL MEANING OF SUN WUKONG & THE SIX EARED MACAQUE'S STORY KEEPS GETTING PUSHED ASIDE FOR THE SAKE OF SHIPPING.

Look, I totally get that when you're taking on a myth for a fan continuation or a reinterpretation then things are going to change. And I'll be the first to acknowledge that there is a metric ton of exceedingly cursed JTTW reinterpretations out there that make even the worst flaws of Monkie Kid seem benign. But honestly it's really disappointing that the og interpretation of Sun Wukong and the Six Eared Macaque as two manifestations of the same mind (or mind monkey, if you will), that the Six Eared Macaque is in fact the embodiment of Sun Wukong's worst traits that he must overcome, that as such they have often been interpreted as brothers, keeps getting buried in western fandom. Honestly to me that dynamic is just so much more interesting & holds so many more possibilities than anything you could do with a shipping dynamic, not just because it presents a really fascinating way that you could explore the contradictory thoughts and desires that every person has, but also how personal ambitions can get warped into frightening things to the point where you don't even recognize yourself, and then how you might go from there. idk, kind of feels like another bit of monoculturalization :(

Plus it's like friends of all the figures on God's green Earth that you could have shipped everyone's favorite overpowered simian with you really insist on pairing him with the dude who is literally famous for having run around in a Sun Wukong fursuit declaring that he's the one and only monkey king (X_X)

[shhhlikeme]

A/N: Feeling writers block so I thought I’d throw in headcannons with some of my fave boys that has been sitting in my drafts! If you want me to continue this with more characters, request em!

————————————

Intentionally or Unintentionally CockTeasing The Haikyuu Boys Because They Can’t Have Sex

(Slight NSFW)

————————————

So this is wah gwan/

Background for Understanding:

Your boyfriend was playing volleyball and pulled the groin muscle in his inner thigh. After several x-rays, he would be out a little longer than a month before making a full recovery. But the doctor told him that the boy MUST refrain from ANY and ALL sexual activity if they ever want to play again. The look on his face looked like he had just been told that the world was ending lmao. You snickered and hugged him. Reassuring them that “It’ll be fine, babe.”

But it wouldn’t be.

Because you were a little shit (unintentional or not).

Needless to say, they were having a tough time refraining from any and all sexual activity—

Here’s why:

Wakatoshi

“Y/N. Do you think this is funny?” Asks your boyfriend seriously as he gives you a disapproving look. You’d think he was your school principal by the way he was chastising you.

You feigned innocence as you pouted at him with wide eyes. “What? What am I doing now, Toshiiii?”

He didn’t blink.

“Must you practice your splits for cheerleading right here? In front of me? Wearing a thong? Why not go to the den.”

Suppressing your urge to giggle, you leaned further into your almost-middle splits as you flipped your hair—looking back at him over your shoulder.

“No, I want to be near you, Tosh.”

Your boyfriend scoffed at your response, unimpressed and frankly pissed.

“I do not want you near me doing that. Go. Now.”

You smile because as your giant serious boyfriend spoke he stared intently at your ass only. You could see the tent forming in his jeans as he watched you stretch.

“You’ll have much more space to do this in the den.” He added.

“Oh? You want me to go to the den because I’ll have more space, love? Or could it be because you want to help me stretch out elsewhere—maybe the inside of my pussy—but the doctor said you can’t?”

Toshi’s mouth fell open at your insinuation. Annoyed and undeniably horny, he makes himself shut his mouth again. You reached your hands forward in the stretch to give your man a better visual of your ass and you could hear him groan from behind you.

Ushijima made a move to take you upstairs before remembering the doctors orders and stopping. He reminded himself why he cared so much about that sport that was standing in his way from fucking his girlfriend to oblivion and tried to calm his anger at you for teasing him.

“I’ll go, then.” He stated angrily. “I’m going to Tendou’s. Tell me when you’re done stretching, and I’ll be back.”

You waved at your boyfriend happily as he left because he looked funny marching out with a huge boner sticking out from his front.

“Okay, baby! I will!”

Hinata

“Whoaa....” Murmured Shōyo as he watched you with wide eyes. For the past three minutes he has had his eyes glued to you while you devoured the ice cream cone he had just gotten you two from your fridge.

You used your tongue to lick all around the vanilla treat. Swirling your tongue up, down, and around, sometimes making a slurpy sound that sounded quite familiar to the boy who missed your blow jobs so much.

Mans sat there watching your tongue like he was in a trance, his eyes flicking from your mouth to his attention-starved dick then back to your mouth.

When the ice cream shrunk enough to be swallowed like your boyfriends cock, you enclosed your lips around it suggestively and met your boyfriends pleading eyes as you did it.

You finished the rest of your frozen treat happily, knowing you just made your boyfriend incoherent with lust.

“Mmmm......it’s so sticky........and tastes so good....” you sigh in delight as you lick your fingers of the white creamy sweetness.

“Shōyo? You haven’t even touched your ice cream. And it’s dripping all over your hand!”

After calling his name twice more Hinata snapped out of his trance, he looked over at his dripping strawberry ice cream cone that he’d forgotten he even had as soon as he heard your first slurp.

“Oh, Y/N. Here, please, take mine too!” He shoved his ice cream in your direction and you slowly take it from your oddly acting boyfriend.

“You want me to..... have your ice cream?”

Hinata nodded enthusiastically before he quickly wiped his hands clean with a paper towel. He leaned his head on his knuckles as he got comfortable, preparing himself to watch you swirl your tongue around ice cream again like this was his favourite Marvel movie!

“Okay, I’m ready.” He says with bright, eager eyes.

Actual footage of your boyfriend Shōyo:

“Go.”

Aran

“Babe. You had to pick this movie on your choice of movie night?” Your boyfriend wiped his face as a show of stress. He begrudgily stared at his screen and then looked down at you through the slits of his eyes.

Pressed to his side on the couch, you smiled up at him innocently.

“365 Days? What’s wrong with it? I think it’s interesting so far. Plus, Atsumu suggested it to me. He told me to play it on our next movie night!”

Aran clenched his fists under the blanket at your words, secretly promising himself to tell his best friend’s new girlfriend how many girls Atsumu has really been with before her the next time Aran went over there.

LMFAOOOOO

“Oh he did, did he? Atsumu. That angel.....” He grimaced. “Was this before or after you told him about the doctors orders when he was worried?” Aran asked between clenched teeth.

“Uhhh.....after, I’m pretty sure. But, Aran, shhhhhhh! It’s getting to a good part!” Aran watched your beautiful eyes light up as the two characters in the movie started fucking on the yacht like animals.

“Ouuu, baby. We should try that position tonight!” You quip, pointing at the screen then taking a sip of your coke.

Aran cursed his stupid friend. “I—“

“Oh right, sorry! I forgot you can’t, poo. But as soon as you are cured, can we try that?!”

Your boyfriend stared you down in mental agony as he pictured pistoning his dick in you mirroring the position on screen—only right now on this couch. His dick jumped.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “When I’m cured.”

“How long again?” You asked as you grabbed the remote to turn up the sound volume during another hot sex scene.

“Too damn long.” He rolled his eyes as he looked back at the porn-disguised-as a-romantic-movie on screen too.

Yams

“Auuuuuuhhhhhhhhh. Yesssssssssss. F-f-f-feels soooooooo g-o-o-o-d-d-d-d, Tadashi.....”

With a violent blush, your boyfriend gave the Furniture store worker a thumbs up.

“I umm.... guess she likes it.” Tadashi reasoned, putting his hand on your shoulder. He squeezed your shoulder silently trying to tell you to quiet down in the store.

Sitting in the turbo massage chair, you moaned some more, letting your boyfriend and the worker know how much you liked how it felt. Tadashi’s ears perked up at every sigh and moan you made. He couldn’t rid his mind of memories of you moaning just like that when you’re on top of him and he has a vibrator pressed to your clit. It was clouding his thoughts. He bit his lip as he zoned out thinking about the fun you two could have on this chair at home with a vibrator. Only a month longer from this stupid injury and you’d be extra sensitive on his dick with the help of this chair....

“—and the parts will be sold separately. Should I ring you up, sir?”

Tadashi was startled when his girlfriend slapped him blindly on the chest to get his attention back to the sales associate.

What is wrong with him? You thought as you felt your lower back getting kneaded. The man is standing right in front of him and he’s zoning out? Get it together, Space Cadet Yams.

“Huh?! Excuse me?! Sorry, what?” Tadashi rubbed his eyes. “Sorry, I was distracted. Can you repeat that?!” He apologized.

The sales associate smiled kindly.

“Sure thing Mr. Tadashi.....so, I was just explaining that the massage chair is the best of its generation. If you look right here on the remote I have— it has 8 brilliant speeds and intensity adjustments. Your girlfriend is on 2 right now which means that if I increase it to, let’s say, 5 ...”

As the associate spoke, Yams was pulled from paying attention to him as you moaned louder when the level setting increased. “O-o-oh my G-g-god.....Dashi y-y-y-es.”

Picturing you saying this while you were grinding on his cunt-buried dick, Yams knew he was on the verge of defying his doctors orders and just fucking you in the car....

The massage chair dug into your tense shoulders yes LORD—

“Oh b-b-baby. T-th-thats-s th-the sp-p-p-o-t-t..”

As a last ditch effort to save his volleyball career, Yams rudely snatched the remote from the employee’s hands, scattering to hide his new erection behind the massage chair.

He clicked a button on the remote to turn the massage chair off fully while blushing at the employees shocked expression due to being interrupted and basically assaulted.

“Um, sorry! We’ll take it!” Yams freaked out apologetically.

“😱 Yamaguchi!” You scolded your boyfriend’s sudden rudeness. “That was so impolit—“ turning in the chair to see your boyfriends dark blush that you recognized to be his horny face, you stopped. It only took one look at him for you to understand exactly why he just acted completely out of character and rude. It reminded you that you have been on this sex strike with him for far too long, ugh.

You stood up from the chair, calling the confused associates attention away from your horny boyfriend. “Um.... I can sign the paper work. Want to bring me to the cash?” You asked him professionally.

The salesman blinked at Yams before looking down at you. “Uh, of-of course ma’am. Follow me.”

As you two walked away Yams’ top half collapsed on the head rest of the chair. He tried to will his hard member to soften but with the massage chair currently under his skin and so close to him, he couldn’t get your vibrated moans out of his head.

He decided that a stroll through the store’s bathroom section might help.

Ya, that would definitely help.

Akaashi

“I know what you’re doing.” Your boyfriend deadpanned as you showed up late to dinner wearing an extremely low cut dress in the chest area. Your breasts could stop traffic in that and you had only just taken off your trench coat after you and Akaashi sat down so he and the female server were basically the only ones who got an eyeful the entire night.

“I like this dress, Kashi. Don’t you? Can you pass me the salad, please?”

Challenging you with his eyes and trying his best not to look down at your remarkable chest, Akaashi reached over to share you some Mediterranean salad onto your plate like a gentleman.

“Say when.” He insisted.

You smiled and leaned forward to peer at his serving so that your boobs were pressed to the forearm he held the bowl with. Akaashi’s breath hitched. After sharing way more than you could eat, you leaned in close to his ear and whispered

“When.”

Your boyfriend’s eyes flickered down to your boobs before he adjusted himself to relieve the tightening in his pants.

“So, how is your injury, babe?” You ask sweetly, taking a bite of the salad and smiling at him.

“It’s fine. As long as I get to play again it’s manageable, but I believe—“

“Crap.” You pretended to be just as uncomfortable as your boyfriend sitting with a boner as you clutched the bottom of your boobs. You pressed them upward, re-situating them with purpose. Akaashi stared at your breasts openly as he took a shaky deep breath.

“What’s the matter?” He asked hungrily, calling back his composure.

“Oh, my bra wire is just bugging me. Boys wouldn’t understand......” You fixed them some more.

“I know what you’re doing, Y/N.” Akaashi licked his lips and watched you basically fondle your soft breasts in front of him. It made his mouth water, but he tried not to show it.

“Hm. You’re the smartest person I know, so I reckon you do know what I’m doing....” You quirked an eyebrow as you removed your hands from your girls and took a gentle sip of your water.

“—Is it working?” You winked at him like a trained seductress-assassinator in a major motion picture.

Akaashi leaned back in his seat, he undressed you with his eyes; also like a trained seductress-assasinator in a major motion picture.

You shivered under the insanely beautiful man’s intensive gaze, closing your thighs to relieve the tension you suddenly felt in your private area since he made you beyond horny with that look.

“It’s working. Yes.” The side of Keiji’s lip quirked up in a half grin. “But I’m fairly certain you don’t know that the doctor called 3 days ago and told me that I am recovering exceptionally fast. He gave me the green light for physical activity again. Sexual: physical activity. I double checked.”

The blood drained from your face as you felt a wave of upcoming pleasure wash through you. You had been waiting 23 days without sex and in a flash you regrettably remembered just how much of your teasing over that period your gorgeous boyfriend had to endure. How much he had to pay you back for.

Akaashi smirked ever so sexily at your shocked reaction. Good, he thought to himself. So you knew what was in store for you tonight.

You stared at him like 👁👄👁

“Waiter.” Your hubby called over your head in his attractive voice with an elegant lift of his glass. He dropped his eyes to look back at you with a panty-dropping stare. As you shivered again, Akaashi proclaimed the weighted words that would inaugurate a long night of screams, kisses, and earth shattering orgasms:

“Cheque please.”

[switch]

Out of curiosity , if , let’s say, Vlad got a singularity focused on him, what would you like to see in it?

wah, what wouldnt i want to see… at this point i take anything that’s actually in character…

just him getting focused on in anything would be big…. pretty sure he’s the only apoc servant at this point who hasn’t been a main character in an event or story chapter… well, fgo’s new servant output is in hell forever now, so maybe there’s more hope for older servants like vlad to get content…

anyway, hm, i don’t really have any coherent ideas so much as individual “stuff that i feel like is missing from his depiction so far.” it’d be nice to see vlad’s full on dracula form show up in fgo (and hopefully clear up some of the “why he look the same if LoD active” confusion), though there’d probably be some weird logistics with what design they’d use. they could really afford to go into more detail about the specifics of his vampirism. we still don’t even, like, technically know if he has to drink blood, what happens if he doesn’t, where he gets it if he does, etc.

at this point i’d also want to see some call backs to certain parts of his characterization in the apocrypha LN, (the concept that he performs emotions, the emotions he does feel being described physically, how he views enemies, the episode he had at jeanne, that’d he’d be inclined to instakill someone for saying someone else should be in charge, him getting into it over religion, etc etc.) this is all stuff that was in narration text and/or was outright cut from the adaptations so i worry that it risks getting forgotten about in his fgo character entirely. at least something to introduce these parts of him to people who wisely didn’t read the LN.

fate’s also pretty much entirely skimmed over vlad’s uhhhhh eventful childhood, aside from the absolute briefest possible mention of what happened to his immediate family (>dad killed >brother killed >went to war against other brother >refuse to elaborate >leave), but it’s never really acknowledged or explored the situation they were in at the time. i get that vlad is generally the type to move on and not regret things, but some reflections on that or on his feelings about his brother nowadays would still be interesting…. at least depending on what fate would do with it anyway (even moriarty got to have a childhood backstory moment……)

it could also address what the fuck happened with his summoning in orleans since neither of the orleans manga felt like it!

i’d also like to see vlad actually get to fucking kill any named character for once. the only person he’s ever killed in fate that wasn’t an unnamed random or a trash mob was darnic that one time. i know power levels are made up and don’t matter but it’s so disappointing reading over and over again about how powerful he is and then he never gets to kill anyone or win any fights that matter… plus i miss fucked up scary vlad….

also i’m biased as ever but of course i would want moriarty to be there somewhere too lol, i still really want a fully in-character vlad moriarty conversation to happen……. would love to see the purely accidental similarities in their situations acknowledged at all………

i also would like to see vlad strongly implying he has feelings for the protagonist again but as we all know it is illegal for male characters to do that outside of My Room

agh, but really though, it’s even mentioned in his character profile how riled up he can get if he gets an actually really loyal master, please show more of that… his recent appearances in events haven’t really had any interactions with mc….

[aion-rsa]

The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

By the time my generation got to watch Star Trek: The Original Series, the episodes often were being presented in top-ten marathons. When I was ten-years-old, for the 25th Anniversary of Star Trek, I tape-recorded a marathon of ten episodes that had all been voted by fans as the best-ever installments of The Original Series. Later, I got lucky and found Trek stickers at the grocery store and was able to label my VHS tapes correctly. But do I think all the episodes that were in that marathon back in 1991 were really the best episodes of all of the classic Star Trek? The short answer: no. Although I love nearly every episode of the first 79 installments of Star Trek, I do think that certain lists have been created by what we think should be on the list rather than what episodes really best represent the classic show. 

This is a long-winded way of saying, no, I didn’t include “Amok Time” or “The Menagerie” on this list because, as great as they are, I don’t think they really represent the greatest hits of the series. Also, if you’ve never watched TOS, I think those two episodes will throw you off cause you’ll assume Spock is always losing his mind or trying to steal the ship. If you’ve never watched TOS, or you feel like rewatching it with fresh eyes, I feel pretty strong that these 10 episodes are not only wonderful, but that they best represent what the entire series is really about. Given this metric, my choice for the best episode of TOS may surprise you…

10. “The Man Trap” 

The first Star Trek ever episode aired should not be the first episode you watch. And yet, you should watch it at some point. The goofy premise concerns an alien with shaggy dog fur, suckers on its hand, and a face like a terrifying deep-sea fish. This alien is also a salt vampire that uses telepathy that effectively also makes it a shapeshifter. It’s all so specifically bonkers that trying to rip-off this trope would be nuts. Written by science fiction legend George Clayton Johnson (one half of Logan’s Run authorship) “The Man Trap” still slaps, and not because Spock (Leonard Nimoy)  tries to slap the alien. Back in the early Season 1 episodes of Star Trek, the “supporting” players like Uhura and Sulu are actually doing stuff in the episode. We all talk about Kirk crying out in pain when the M-113 creature puts those suckers on his face, but the real scene to watch is when Uhura starts speaking Swahili. The casual way Uhura and Sulu are just their lovable selves in this episode is part of why we just can’t quit the classic Star Trek to this day. Plus, the fact that the story is technically centered on Bones gives the episode some gravitas and oomph. You will believe an old country doctor thinks that salt vampire is Nancy! (Spoiler alert: It’s not Nancy.)

9. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” 

There are two episodes everyone always likes to bring up when discussing the ways in which Star Trek changed the game for the better in pop culture’s discourse on racism: “Plato’s Stepchildren” and this episode, “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield.” The former episode is famous because Kirk and Uhura kiss, which is sometimes considered the first interracial kiss on an American TV show. (British TV shows had a few of those before Star Trek, though.) But “Plato’s Stepchildren” is not a great episode, and Kirk and Uhura were also manipulated to kiss by telepaths. So, no, I’m not crazy about “Plato’s Stepchildren.” Uhura being forced to kiss a white dude isn’t great.

But “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield,” oddly holds up. Yep. This is the one about space racism where the Riddler from the ‘60s Batman (Frank Gorshin) looks like a black-and-white cookie. Is this episode cheesy? Is it hard to take most of it seriously? Is it weird that Bele (Frank Gorshin) didn’t have a spaceship because the budget was so low at that time? Yes. Is the entire episode dated, and sometimes borderline offensive even though its heart is in the right place? Yes. Does the ending of the episode still work? You bet it does. If you’re going to watch OG Star Trek and skip this episode, you’re kind of missing out on just how charmingly heavy-handed the series could get. “Let that Be Your Last Battlefield” is like a ‘60s after-school special about racism, but they were high while they were writing it.

8. “Arena”

You’re gonna try to list the best episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series and not list the episode where Kirk fights a lizard wearing gold dress-tunic? The most amazing thing about “Arena” is that it’s a Season 1 episode of The Original Series and somehow everyone involved in making TOS had enough restraint not to ever try to use this Gorn costume again. They didn’t throw it away either! This famous rubber lizard was built by Wah Chang and is currently owned by none other than Ben Stiller.

So, here’s the thing about “Arena” that makes it a great episode of Star Trek, or any TV series with a lizard person. Kirk refuses to kill the Gorn even though he could have, and Star Trek refused to put a lizard costume in a bunch of episodes later, even though they totally could have. Gold stars all around.

7. “Balance of Terror”

The fact that Star Trek managed to introduce a race of aliens that looked exactly like Spock, and not confuse its viewership is amazing. On top of that, the fact that this detail isn’t exactly the entire focus of the episode is equally impressive. The notion that the Romulans look like Vulcans is a great twist in The Original Series, and decades upon decades of seeing Romulans has probably dulled the novelty ever so slightly. But, the idea that there was a brutally cold and efficient version of the Vulcans flying around in invisible ships blowing shit up is not only cool, but smart.

“Balance of Terror” made the Romulans the best villains of Star Trek because their villainy felt personal. Most Romulan stories in TNG, DS9, and Picard are pretty damn good and they all start right here.

6. “Space Seed”

Khaaaan!!!! Although The Wrath of Khan is infinitely more famous than the episode from which it came, “Space Seed” is one of the best episodes of The Original Series even if it hadn’t been the progenitor of that famous film. In this episode, the worst human villain the Enterprise can encounter doesn’t come from the present, but instead, the past. Even though “Space Seed” isn’t considered a very thoughtful episode and Khan is a straight-up gaslighter, the larger point here is that Khan’s evilness is connected to the fact that he lived on a version of Earth closer to our own.

The episode’s coda is also amazing and speaks of just how interesting Captain Kirk really is. After Khan beat the shit out of him and tried to suffocate the entire Enterprise crew, Kirk’s like “Yeah, this guy just needs a long camping trip.” 

5. “A Piece of the Action”

A few years back, Saturday Night Live did a Star Trek sketch in which it was revealed that Spock had a relative named “Spocko.” This sketch was tragically unfunny because TOS had already made the “Spocko” joke a million times better in “A Piece of the Action.” When you describe the premise of this episode to someone who has never seen it or even heard of it, it sounds like you’re making it up. Kirk, Spock, and Bones are tasked with cleaning-up a planet full of old-timey mobsters who use phrases like “put the bag on you.” Not only is the episode hilarious, but it also demonstrates the range of what Star Trek can do as an emerging type of pop-art. In “A Piece of the Action,” Star Trek begins asking questions about genres that nobody ever dreamed of before. Such as, “what if we did an old-timey gangster movie, but there’s a spaceship involved?”

4. “Devil in the Dark”

When I was a kid, my sister and I called this episode, “the one with giant pizza.” Today, it’s one of those episodes of Star Trek that people tell you defines the entire franchise. They’re not wrong, particularly because we’re just talking about The Original Series. The legacy of this episode is beyond brilliant and set-up a wonderful tradition within the rest of the franchise; a monster story is almost never a monster story

The ending of this episode is so good, and Leonard Nimoy and Shatner play the final scenes so well that I’m actually not sure it’s cool to reveal what the big twist is. If you somehow don’t know, I’ll just say this. You can’t imagine Chris Pratt’s friendly Velicrapotrs, or Ripper on Discovery without the Horta getting their first.

3. “The Corbomite Maneuver” 

If there’s one episode on this list that truly represents what Star Trek is usually all about on a plot level, it’s this one. After the first two pilot episodes —“Where No Man Has Gone Before” and “The Cage”—this was the first regular episode filmed. It’s the first episode with Uhura and, in almost every single way, a great way to actually explain who all these characters are and what the hell they’re doing. The episode begins with Spock saying something is “fascinating” and then, after the opening credits, calling Kirk, who is down in sickbay with his shirt off. Bones gives Kirk shit about not having done his physical in a while, and Kirk wanders through the halls of the episode without his shirt, just kind of holding his boots. 

That’s just the first like 5 minutes. It just gets better and better from there. Like a good bottle of tranya, this episode only improves with time. And if you think it’s cheesy and the big reveal bizarre, then I’m going to say, you’re not going to like the rest of Star Trek. 

2. “The City on the Edge of Forever”

No more blah blah blah! Sorry, wrong episode. Still, you’ve heard about “The City on the Edge of Forever.” You’ve heard it’s a great time travel episode. You’ve heard Harlan Ellison was pissed about how the script turned out. You heard that Ron Moore really wanted to bring back Edith Keeler for Star Trek Generations. (Okay, maybe you haven’t heard that, but he did.)

Everything you’ve heard about this episode is correct. There’s some stuff that will make any sensible person roll their eyes today, but the overall feeling of this episode is unparalleled. Time travel stories are always popular, but Star Trek has never really done a time travel story this good ever again. The edge of forever will always be just out of reach.

1. “A Taste of Armageddon”

Plot twist! This excellent episode of TOS almost never makes it on top ten lists. Until now! If you blink, “A Taste of Armageddon” could resemble at least a dozen other episodes of TOS. Kirk and Spock are trapped without their communicators. The crew has to overpower some guards to get to some central computer hub and blow it up. Scotty is in command with Kirk on the surface and is just kind of scowling the whole time. Kirk is giving big speeches about how humanity is great because it’s so deeply flawed.

What makes this episode fantastic is that all of these elements come together thanks to a simplistic science fiction premise: What if a society eliminated violence but retained murder? What if hatred was still encouraged, but war was automated? Star Trek’s best moments were often direct allegories about things that were actually happening, but what makes “A Taste of Armageddon” so great is that this metaphor reached for something that could happen. Kirk’s solution to this problem is a non-solution, which makes the episode even better. At its best classic Star Trek wasn’t just presenting a social problem and then telling us how to fix it. Sometimes it was saying something more interesting — what if the problem gets even harder? What do we do then? 

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The humor and bombast of “A Taste of Armageddon” is part of the answer to that unspoken question, but there’s also a clever lesson about making smaller philosophical decisions. In Star Wars, people are always trying to rid themselves of the dark side of the Force. In Star Trek, Kirk just teaches us to say, “Hey I won’t be a terrible person, today” and then just see how many days we can go in a row being like that.

What do you think are the most franchise-defining episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series? Let us know in the comments below.

The post The Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes That Best Define the Franchise appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[exoxobsession]

Spring Days | Chapter 4 |

Characters : Kai x You, Sehun

Genre : Fluff, Angst, CollegeAU!

Description : Friends become strangers, trust is gone, he betrays their friendship, she moves on. What if they meet again? Will they become friends or stay as strangers with memories?

Part : 1 |  2 | 3 | 4 | 5

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, so many things have been going on lately.

[Time skip]

It’s been two years since you’ve been away from home. If you were to be honest, you could say you were hiding. You hated how much impact he had on your life. You despised him. No, you didn’t; you were disappointed but mostly angry. It was like a breakup, but worse. Many people asked why you were so hung up on him, but they probably never lost a best friend.

You were packing up everything, moving back home. You won’t hide anymore. Your parents didn’t know you were coming, you planned on making it a surprise. There was one more year left of University, and you were leaving, so you would finish in Korea.

Boarding the plane, you put on your headphones, and slept the 14 hours of travel. You made friends here, you even dated only for it to turn out disastrous. You didn’t have feelings for any of them, maybe attraction or lust, but never love, you were sure they were the same.

You had daily calls with your parents, and even Sehun. Your friendship was strong, he knew you every day, and you knew his. You didn’t have feelings for him; he was like your brother, plus he was younger than you, you didn’t like younger guys.

You reached for your pocket to turn the volume up but panicked when you couldn’t feel the familiar weight. Panic filling your mind. You searched your pockets like a manic, not caring about the weird looks you were getting. Deciding to check your bag, you ripped your bag open to find it in there peacefully. Letting out a sigh, you grabbed it and sat down.

You woke up at the feeling of someone shaking you, looking up to find a woman smiling at you, “We’ve arrived dear, wake up now.” she breathed with a gentle smile. She looked like she woke up as well. “Thank you.” You thanked her and grabbed your bag and hers too. Handing her bag to her, you departed the plane and fished through your phone to call a cab.

After you got into the car, you told the man the address. You looked out, noticing the familiar roads and shops pass by. You missed this place. It took around 30 minutes to reach your house. Exiting the car, you walked up to your house, only to find the smart lock, locked. What? You dialled your mom’s number.

“Hello?” You spoke first.

“Hey, dear.” she greeted.

“Are you guys not home? Why is the smart locked not working?” you asked, confused.

“Oh… no, we’re in China right now. And your dad disabled it, just in case. Wait. You waiting outside now?” she explained.

“I wanted to surprise you guys, but it turned out like this. When are you coming back?” you sighed.

“It’ll take a long time dear, some people aren’t cooperating.”

“Then where am I supposed to stay?” you asked, clearly not happy.

“Tell you what, the neighbours are a group of boys your age, you can stay with them, I’ll talk to them,” she suggested.

“MOM!” you shouted.

“Y/N, they’re nice and I’m pretty sure you won’t leave them alone if they do anything, right?” She joked.

“Fine,” you spoke with still a bit of laugh. Then she hung up.

A group of boys started walking in your direction. Not thinking about it much and started scrolling through Instagram, but a silhouette fell on you, making you look up. There stood a boy with perfect facial features, not too tall but a bit taller than you. “Yes?” you started not knowing what to say.

“Are you Y/N?” he asked, showing you his radiant smile. You cleared your throat, “Yes, I am.” you stated with a slight nod. You shoved your phone into your pocket. “I’m Junmyeon, your mother called me and told me about your situation,” he said holding his hand out, which you took and shook and let go.

“Let’s go?” he was nervous, you just nodded, trailing your suitcase behind you to the mansion. “Uh, Junmyeon, mom said that a group of you so, how many of you are there?” you asked, looking at his oh-so-perfect side profile. “Twelve of us,” he said, still looking in front. Your eyes widened at the high number of boys that lived in this mansion.

He opened the grand door leading you inside the house. You looked around, and your eyes landed on the bunch of boys scattered in the front parlor.

“Wow, Junmyeon, weren’t you dating Minji? Did you break up with her?” the one that looked like a camel said.

“What? No!” he denied before you could. Your eyes then landed on a familiar boy. He turned around and when your eyes met, he jumped off the couch and engulfed you in a bone-crushing hug.

“Sehun.” You breathed while wrapping your hands around his neck.

“I missed you. So much.” He nuzzled his nose into your neck.

“Me too, Sehunnie.”

He finally let you go when you heard someone clear their throat. “You know each other?”

“Uh, yes. We’re friends.” You responded.

“I think we should introduce ourselves,” someone said, and you turned to look at them properly. Now that you inspected them, you noticed that every one of them was handsome.

“Hi, I’m Jongdae,” the camel from before said.

“Kris.” The cold one briefly introduced himself. You tried to smile.

“I’m Chanyeol, nice to meet you.” he smiled, which you immediately mirrored.

“I’m Baekhyun, ho-”

“Bacon?” you accidentally blurted, your hand going to cup your mouth, but before you could apologize, you heard a deep laugh coming from Kris. Everyone turned to him, “Did you just laugh, Hyung?” Bac, Baekhyun asked, not at all hurt from the nickname you gave him, but mostly focused on Kris’ laughter.

“Wah, this is the first time I heard him laugh.” Jongdae retorted.

Kris immediately stopped and was about to say something, but the door opened, letting a few other boys in. That when you saw him. Jongin. What was he doing here?

“Y/N?” his honey voice called out. A small, inaudible gasp escaped your lips as you tensed up, feeling tears filling your eyes, memories flashing through your mind. You thought you could ignore him, but you weren’t as strong as you thought. Why? Why was he here? Is he living here? Millions of questions you had no answers to.

“You know each other?” Chanyeol’s voice broke through the air, while you blinked away your tears.

“I know her, she’s my-”

“I don’t know him.” You interrupted him, you didn’t want him to finish that sentence. “Can you show me to my room, I need to freshen up.” you politely asked Junmyeon before anyone can say anything.

“Sure, come on.” he led you out of the parlor and up the stairs.

“This is the guest room, you can use it. There’s a private bathroom in here, you can use it, and if there’s anything else, you can tell me,” he said before going back down.

The room was pretty decent; you didn’t want to unpack; you weren’t going to stay long. Walking around to the window, you saw that the view was beautiful; the sun was at its lowest point, the clouds different shades of red and orange. Deciding to take a shower, you opened your suitcase and took black shorts and a white tee.

After your shower, you were in a debate about whether or not to go down. That when someone opened the door, you immediately looked up. “Sehun,” you sighed in relief. “Come for dinner,” he grabbed your hand and led you down to the kitchen.

The kitchen fell silent as soon as you came. “Please, don’t be awkward because of me,” you said uncomfortably as you hid behind Sehun. “Of course not.” Chanyeol piped up. You were thankful for this giant because as soon as he spoke the tension reduced by a fraction.

Dinner was awkward, even though Chanyeol and Baekhyun made jokes. Maybe it was just you. You knew Jongin was looking at you, you could feel his eyes on you. Quickly eating whatever Kyungsoo made, you exited the kitchen. Walking up the stairs, you noticed another flight of stairs. You followed them only to be led to the rooftop. Your breath hitched in your throat at the beautiful city lights below you.

You don’t know how long you’ve been there but; you jumped a bit when you heard someone call your name. Turning around as carefully as you can, you saw Chanyeol sitting beside you. “How did you find this place?” he asked. “I just followed the stairs.” You said in a ‘duh’ tone. “Are you okay?” he inquired. You turned your head to face him, only to see him already looking at you.

“I mean, it’s none of my business but, but you looked kinda, I don’t know how to put it but, lost and scared.” He pinpointed your feelings.

You just gaped and turned away. “Jongin told me you both know each other, but you denied, and you were lying. Did something happen?” You could see him turning to face you, probably seeing your tears. He quickly added, “I didn’t mean to, oh god, you don’t have to tell me,” he panicked.

You laughed as tears in your eyes escaped. “We know each other, more than anyone. We know each other like the back of our hands,” you wiped the tears in your eyes. “I don’t what I did, he just started ignoring me, I tried talking to him, but he-” you choked on your tears, as he wrapped his arms around you. “he walked out of my life like it was nothing, so being the coward I am, I left. And seeing him again, I don’t-” You felt safe around Chanyeol. No, not that kind.

He rubbed your back as a way to calm you down, but you cried. You showed no one your tears, except your mom. “Y/N, look, I knew him longer than I know you, but let me tell you were an asshole for leaving you like that. I don’t know how it is like to lose a friend, and I hope I won’t either-” you let out a breathy laugh on his chest. “-but what I do know is that you shouldn’t waste your tears on someone who doesn’t care about you.”

“And instead of him, I want to take his place, because I just knew you were a nice girl, but I also saw that he broke you inside. I want to fix it. Not that way, I just see you as my sister.” he declared.

You just smiled at him, happy that someone as positive as him came into your life. “One question though.”

[arabian-bloodstream]

General Hospital 6/5/21

Just wanted to share some GH thoughts today. I love this soap, and I guess I’m tried of seeing people drag it all the time. I just think it’s so, so good! Is it perfect? No. Could it be better? Of course. Still, overall, I think it’s so darn good.

Yeah, I'm totally missing the hell outta my Finnabeth! (I haven't seen them since Wednesday, wah!) But, yeah, I thought this was a good episode. Again, I think just about every episode is a good episode. I just really think that GH is pretty darn good soap. Let’s take today....

- Jax and Britt were amusing and hot. And proof that Jax and Britt are not the root-for couple, we didn't get a full love scene like we did with Jason and Britt. <--- They are the root-for couple.

- Spencer and Trina already have sparks. Love it.

- The angst with Nicolas and Ava is SOOO good. So character-driven, so well-mined. I LOVE IT. Drawing on their past with the gaslighting, oooh!!!

- I may despise Josslyn so very much, but even the Cam and Josslyn stuff was character-driven and mined their history, and both were completely in character. Plus, Trina was included. They had their re-do kiss, but once the scene switched to Trina with all of the noise and her name being called and such, by the end of it, Joss and Cam were back out there with the others and focused on Trina.

- The Alexis stuff was great, and I wonder if NLG was happy she got to dress up and out of the prison scrubs or prefers them?

- Shawn continues to be an idiot but what else is new? Again, it's in character.

- Yes, Shawn deserves to be in prison. Yes, he did do wrong. However, that doesn't mean that Judge Carson doesn't hand out racist sentences, and didn't hand out an overtly harsh judgement on Shawn. Two things can both be right.

- Re: Previews... ooh, I hope Sam and Elizabeth is in reaction to Carly and Jason. I know that Elizabeth is way, way, waaaaaaaaaay over Jason, and Sam is mostly over him, but this isn't about Jason. It's about CARLY *and* Jason, and the way that Carly has always been about Jason and the other women in his life. Can't wait.

[schnowydays]

The “Herne and the Red Kite” Analysis Nobody Asked For

WARNING: This is probably a very long and unnecessary post. 

Wah, so at first I was quite nervous on posting this at all because this is just so embarrassingly long and it is really overly thought out. Plus no one even asked for it and there does not seem to be a need for this since the song is kind of straightforward. But, I still put work into this so I’m going to post it anyways cuz it would feel like a waste if I didn’t. Plus, I’m immensely busy with school right now, so why not just let this fester while I’m away? So,,, here we go:::

Okay, so this was spun out by this post and I just became so interested in what the heck this song was about. I’ve always loved listening to it but I had no idea what the heck was going on - who is Herne? A red kite?? Does this relate to Hadley and Rosalie???

Plus, I love reading analysis on stuff so, here I am, attempting to make my own.

Anyways, to give a quick overview, I am going to be analyzing both the words and the instruments used in the song, going strictly by the studio recording. Everything here will be MY OPINION ALONE so it could be possible that I am horribly wrong on certain things. This research was INCREDIBLY LIGHT so there are probably a lot of details that I missed. Plus, I don’t really have strong music or literature knowledge, nothing beyond what you’re taught in high school. I’ll try to clear up the blocks of text with pictures or videos of things I think are helpful. 

I’m basically going to be the English Teacher who finds meaning in everything meme. You know, the:

So, without further ado...

Background

The Song Itself

As we all know, “Herne and the Red Kite” was written by Hadley Fraser and was released on his EP Just Let Go. Although it was released in 2014, I’m not entirely sure when this song was written, so it could have been really any time before then. Just to get it out there, based on what others have already said (from that post, yes), this song is most likely to be about Hadley and Rosalie Craig. Here is the song itself if you’ve (somehow) never heard it before. You can also listen along and read at the same time :D

Characters in the Song

Herne

Based on only a Google search, “Herne the Hunter”, an English folklore ghost, is really the only thing that shows up. He is mentioned by Shakespeare in The Merry Wives of Windsor in which he is described as “the ghost of a former Windsor Forest keeper who haunts a particular oak tree at midnight in the winter time” (Wikipedia). He is associated with the Windsor Forest and the Great Park in Berkshire. He basically does a lot of not cool stuff, like making cows produce blood instead of milk and making trees die. Another version states that he was made so that parents can scare their children into being more obedient. Herne is also the surname of a bunch of people. Because Herne is such an interesting name to use for a song like this (why didn’t he pick literally anything else??), then there is probably some intention behind the use of this name and probably the connotations that come with it.

Red Kite

So, apparently, the Red Kite isn’t actually a kite but is actually a kind of English bird. Fun fact, during Shakespeare’s time, it was considered to be an insult to be called a kite because this bird, back then, was regarded as quite a lowly bird since it was literally associated with trash. It was related this way because it eats dead things haha... However, it was hunted intensely until it became basically extinct except for a few in Wales. Over time, as the population began to thrive again, the Red Kite became a celebrated symbol of Wales (probably) (source). 

According to a lot of different sites, apparently Red Kites also have some meaning to them. I think the most consistent and most important one is how they are a connection between the living and the underworld. This mystical connection binds well with Herne being a folklore ghost who, of course being a ghost, is probably dead. So, already, they are a pretty good match.

A good thing to note as well, birds, in general, are usually used to symbolize freedom. Also, as far as I can tell, there are really no previous stories or songs or works or whatever about Herne and Red Kites together. 

Hadley and Rosalie’s Relationship

I got this information from here (brought up by @peonybooks​ in a chat, thank you!!)

So, depending on where you look, in 2008 or 2009, Hadley and Rosalie met on the set of A Christmas Carol production in Birmingham, although at the time, they were both dating other people. A piece of the set had fallen on Rosalie during that time and basically destroyed her arm. However, she was determined to swiftly come back to the stage because she was afraid that if she hadn’t, she’ll never be able to come back at all. That, and “because [she] had fallen in love with [Hadley]” (my feelings waaa).

Once the production was over, Hadley shipped it back to LA while Rosalie stayed in London. Hadley returned a year later and called up Rosalie for a drink. It was then discovered that they had actually liked each other this entire time!! They just never told each other. They lived together in Crystal Palace after that and married in 2014. This makes it around the time that this EP was released. 

Hadley and Rosalie as Herne and the Red Kite

Something interesting I noticed was the relation of their names to these characters. H is for Hadley and Herne. R is for Rosalie and the Red Kite. 

Of course, this little fun fact breaks a bit if Hadley is using his real first name, Robert, haha. The “Red” in “Red Kite” can also be a relation to how Rosalie has red hair (thanks @alittlepawblog​ hehe).

Also, something worth noting is how Rosalie sings all the lines that are in Herne’s perspective, and Hadley sings all the lines about the Red Kite’s perspective. That trade-off is quite neat, actually. They are both narrators together in this story, but they are swapping who talks about who. It makes the whole song feel like they are speaking for each other together. 

Lyrics and Instruments

I think for this part, I am going to break it up by when each person sings. So basically, whenever there is a new singer or if they start singing together, that will be a new section. Italics are lyrics, regular print is the analysis.

Instrumental

The story is introduced by an accordion. To be honest, it sounds quite static, or maybe even stoic. There is not a lot of feeling in it, maybe to demonstrate how Herne and the Red Kite’s lives were like before meeting each other.

The sprinkles of hi-hats spring the beginning of the song, which consists of a guitar melody, bass and a violin. The violin has a recurring melody that is highlighted every time there is an instrumental break. It could perhaps represent Herne as both Herne (and subsequently Hadley) is mentioned throughout the song consistently, while the Red kite is only mentioned after the introduction. 

Rosalie

Herne lived alone, lived alone in a wood Staring at swallows, wishing he could Join their migration from flower to flower Finally deciding to rest on some bower

Herne is introduced right off the bat, making him kind of the main character. That, and the fact that he has the most lines in the song directly about him. Makes sense if Herne is supposed to stand in for Hadley, since Hadley wrote this song. The fact that he lives in the woods also fits nicely with how he is supposed to be a ghost associated with the Windsor Forest and the Great Park. 

The lyrics state he is lonely and stares at swallows, wishing he could join them and fly far away visiting beautiful things (“flower to flower”). Swallows are typically symbols for very very good things, like happiness, protection, connection, conflict resolution, etc. The words “finally deciding to rest” kind of makes it like he has been on this long trek for happiness for a while. He’s been doing this search for so long that he just has to rest, finally. And, in case you didn’t know like me, a bower is “a pleasant shady place under trees or climbing plants in a garden or wood” (thanks Google). 

So, just to recap Herne is a lonely ghost who doesn’t want to be this way. He wants to be happy, have a connection with something, but being isolated in the wood just doesn’t let him do that. This may indicate how lonely or just duller things seemed to be for Hadley before he met Rosalie. He didn’t feel a true connection or see true beauty, something he desperately wanted to experience, until her. 

BOTH

With another With another

Albeit being very short, these can potentially have meaning behind them. “With another” - another what? They also start singing together here for the first time. Perhaps the “another” is each other, Hadley and Rosalie, or a foreshadow that Herne will be joined by another person or being soon, a sort of set up for the Red Kite, who is introduced in the next line. 

Hadley

Herne lifts his head and the Red Kite goes drifting by Suddenly in love with something that caught her eye

Hadley now sings but from the perspective of the Red Kite. Notice before that Rosalie sang the last verse, but all about Herne. They kind of mirror each other in this way. 

With the video above, you can see how, while they drift, the Red Kites move their head a lot. Maybe this is a normal bird movement and I’m just too dumb to know, but they seem to be actively searching below them. I think this derives from how they are scavenger birds. However, instead of spotting food, she spots Herne and is “suddenly in love”. This could parallel into real life, where Rosalie might have seen Hadley in passing on the production and experienced love at first sight. These lines indicate that Herne (Hadley) has clearly seen the Red Kite (Rosalie) as well, probably having the same love at first sight moment, something that can be inferred once the song progresses into the next Rosalie verse. 

In this verse, the accordion returns as well, possibly indicating some remnants of the past sadness still lingering. There is uncertainty. However, a new instrument is also introduced simultaneously: the mandolin. To me, it kind of sounds very happy and bright and hopeful, especially in the plucky way it was used. This new instrument, as well as the potentially cheesy representation (rip me), can indicate that something new and exciting is going to begin.

BOTH

Something that's shining so bright in the sunlight Let's hope we never...

If we’re sticking with the definition of bowers being shady, then should it not be very unlikely that the Red Kite or Herne have spotted each other at all? Perhaps through this line, they are saying how unlikely their relationship was to have occurred, but when it ultimately did, it was glorious. In the following line, they say “Let’s hope we never lose that thing that shines in the sunlight ever again”. Maybe it was just so unbelievably good, so amazing, that they were afraid that they would lose it because it just feels so unimaginable. Besides, this flips well into reality since they never told each other they liked each other and kept it secret for a whole year!! PLUS, they were dating others when they first met!! Very unlikely relationship indeed. 

...then again, this could just be them saying the other is really great haha. 

The accordion is fazed out as if the longer Herne and the Red Kite gaze at each other, the past sadness and loneliness are slowly melting away. The violin returns, swelling into the next line. 

BOTH - HADLEY MELODY, ROSALIE HARMONY

...lose that thing that shines in the sunlight ever again

Them singing together makes it like they are in total agreement with each other.  It’s like Hadley is making this statement in the melody, and Rosalie supports wholeheartedly with her harmony. From Hadley to Rosalie, and Rosalie to Hadley, they feel like the other outcompetes the sun (the sun!).

Instrumental

The violin melody from the beginning returns, as does the guitar melody. However, after the violin does its melody once, the trumpet now copies it! If the violin represents Herne because of how both he and the violin are introduced at around the same time, then the trumpet could represent the Red Kite, bringing new a much more vibrant, bold and triumphant vibe to Herne’s life. Plus, the fact that the trumpet copies the violin’s melody probably means there is a connection between the two. This would make it somewhat like an instrumental duet or could also possibly foreshadow that something very good is about to happen. 

Rosalie

Only one Herne and not enough wood Climbed up the bower and atop it he stood Called down the Red Kite from high up above Come land down here and be my love

Herne feels so attracted to the Red kite that he feels a physical pull to her, so much so that he climbs up on top of the bower. With not enough wood, he’s too far away from the Red Kite, and with only one Herne, it feels like nothing is there to support him in what he is trying to do. So he calls down the Red Kite to be with him instead, kind of like how Hadley called Rosalie for a drink all those years ago. It was him that reached out at the end that called her to him. “Be my love”, they will soon declare to each other during/after that fateful meeting. 

This also begins the hunter-bird relationship, if we are going to take this a little more literally. Hunter and bird relationships are very mutualistic. They help each other, with the birds guiding the hunters to their targets and the hunters paying them back in some way, usually through food or other means. 

BOTH

Forever Forever

Singing together, they both want to be together forever (haha, pretty obvious?)

Hadley

Red Kite flies down (he's waited his life for this) Whispers to Herne something, whispers, and then a kiss

As the Red Kite flies down towards Herne (as Rosalie gets closer to Hadley, or comes to meet him), Herne (Hadley) thinks that “he’s waited his life for this”. This goes back to the beginning where we know that Herne really wanted to go beyond the wood to see new beautiful things. Now someone beautiful has come to him instead, making his once isolating and lonely world so much more dazzling and loving. 

They also whisper, which is a pretty intimate choice of word. And they kiss! Literally spelling out a loving relationship. The happiness, love, protection, connection that Herne (Hadley) yearned for, for such a long time, is finally here. 

The mandolin also returns, the hope has its pay off! It continues to play throughout the rest of the song until after a few “Herne and the Red Kite” repeats at the very end of the song.

BOTH

Something that's shining so bright in the sunlight Let's hope we never... 

BOTH - HADLEY MELODY, ROSALIE HARMONY

...lose that thing that shines in the sunlight ever again

Once again, they repeat these words, as if to reaffirm this message that they are the best thing to have happened to each other. This is also at the end of the song, you can interpret as the end of this segment of the story, but the start of something beautiful. As time goes on, this magnificent idea they hold of each other never changes, despite anything that happens. 

Instrumental

This instrumental segment sounds like a slightly altered version of the instrumental breaks we’ve heard before. It is a lot more energetic, with the first threeish notes being kept from the original, but now tacked on with something extra. Overall, it just sounds so much happier than the instrumental breaks we’ve been getting before. 

BOTH

Herne and the Red Kite (repeat)...

This line is repeated 12 times (yes, I counted). The overall feel just sounds so triumphant and happy, like we’re celebrating. The joyous melody has the mandolin fade out, and if you really listen, the trumpet and violin seem to be having a very animated conversation with one another, calling and responding to each other and at times responding really quickly. The same guitar melody that we hear during the instrumental breaks is back as well.

Instrumental

All the instruments fade away, with the violin’s recurring melody closing the celebration off until there is only the guitar left. With only the violin standing out at the very end, it's nice that the original solo melody is now surrounded by all these other exciting things, making it kind of say that Herne is still Herne, but now he is surrounded by so many wonders now that the Red Kite is here. With the guitar having its ending solo, It makes it sounds like this is a tale gone by, and now we talk about it as if it were a folktale or a legend. It kind of feels like we’re just talking about this story around a campfire instead. Herne and the Red Kite grew old and grew old together, closing off the song like a musical “happily ever after”. 

Extra Stuff

Interesting Notes

The way it is written sort of sounds like a children’s poem, describing a simple but cute story

The song, overall, personally has a folklore vibe to it haha

There are a few pairs that can be picked out

Herne and the Red kite

Hadley and Rosalie

Male and Female voice (duet)

Violin and Trumpet

Accordion and Mandolin (Accordion is replaced by the Mandolin)

Any time the two sing together, it kind of just reinforces the narrator aspect of things, how they seem to be telling us the story of how they met and ultimately fell in love from a long time ago

Unanswered Questions

Why use Herne of all figures? Herne is supposed to be a very scary ghost. If it truly is supposed to represent Hadley, does this mean he identifies with the ghost in some way? Or did he derive some meaning from Herne’s presence in the works he shows up in?

Conclusion

Waa ok, that’s all I have for now about Herne and the Red Kite. If you made it to the end, thank you so much!! Truly appreciative that you read all the ramblings <3 

Here is the super general story: Herne was yearning for something more and was feeling lonely. Then he saw the Red Kite drift by, and for both of them, it was love at first sight. He desperately wanted to be with her, so he called out to her despite the odds or the distance, and as she descended to him, he felt excited that his loneliness was finally going to end. From then on, they shared a happy and joyous relationship until the end of time. The end~

The writing of this post took much longer than the actual light research and speculation part of it. Again, I might be completely wrong because this is just what I think is going on, and I might also just be looking waaaayyy too deep into things. If this is truly a proper, or at least somewhat proper, reflection of Hadley and Rosalie’s relationship, then I feel incredibly soft :’) 

If you have any other ideas, or if you agree/disagree with my analysis, please let me know!! I’m really excited to see what others have to say. :D

Until next time, I guess haha