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softitae · 4 years

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S o u l m a t e | oneshot

▶ summary: One day you feel a heath spreading through your body. You don’t know what this means, until you finally see him... Your soulmate.

▶ genre: slight angst, fluff, smut (Wolf!au | soulmate!au)

▶ word count:

▶ warnings: Alpha Jungkook, Omega reader, mentions of rape/drugs, physical pain, heath, impregnating, mating, knotting, imprinting, oral, swearing, degrading, wall-sex, floor-sex, choking.

▶ A/N: heyyy, this is my first story on this account :). Hope y’all will like it! Basically is this just a story about wolf soulmates going at it, sooooo... enjoy? HAHA

It was a hot and blooming summer when it happened. It was late noon when you were quitely washing some dishes in your apartment. It was indeed quiet, even peacefully I might add. The water was rushing over a cup as you were working hard on removing that one irritating spot. The day had been just as placid. You have run your errands after meeting up with some friends at a local park.

‘You are looking a bit pale y/n, are you okay?’ your best friend asked. You frown at her, ‘Yeah I am alright’. You replied, but you deep down knew something was up. Since the moment you had stepped out of your bed that morning, your senses were heightened. Something was coming, but you couldn’t quite figure out if this were to be positive or negative. You had shrugged off this creeping feeling for the rest of the day. With every minute you could feel it getting worse, but you continued shrugging it off. ‘It must be a little summer flue...’ You had mumbled to yourself as you were trying to focus back on your dishes.

You couldn’t really describe it. It was this heath from your core, burning hotter by the second. It wasn’t anything like your heath, because you have had those a few times already. It wasn’t the time for it too, so why are you feeling this strong urge? And what is the urge for? These kind of questions kept popping up in your head as you finally finished your duties for the day. It was only when you put away the last dish, you yelled very loudly.

Your body was suddenly on fire from the inside and you couldn’t help yourself but to let yourself lay down on the cold floor. Your pulse was high and your body was covered in sweat. ‘What the fuck is going on?’ you yelled out, trying to get a grip on yourself. It wasn’t long before you totally blacked out, losing to the strong sickening feeling.

‘What the hell happened?’ Jimin asks Jungkook worryingly as Jungkook finally opened his eyes . Jungkook sits up first, rubbing his eyes as his vision was a bit blurry. He looks up to his towering older friend Jimin, frowning as he tries to stabalize his body. ‘You just suddenly blacked out’, Jimin elaborates and that made Jungkook even more confused. Jungkook looks around him and notices they are located on a sidewalk near the center of the city. Jungkook tries to recall what had happened before he blacked out, but couldn’t remember anything about a life-threatening situation. As he is an alpha, it also couldn’t be his health. So what happened?

‘I really don’t know hyung, the only thing that I can remember is that I have had a weird feeling all day’, Jungkook explains as Jimin helps him get up to his feet. ‘What sort of feeling?’ Jimin asks. ‘Well, I just feel some kind of heath in my core and a weird urge to go east.’. Jimin looks even more confused than before. They both continued to walk down the street, heading to their new apartment they had bought together. ‘I don’t know man, maybe there is some coke left in your system from yesterday’, Jimin laughed as he gave Jungkook a pat on the shoulder. Jungkook hissed at that, showing that Jimin has gone too close to his boundaries. Though Jimin is older, Jungkook is the alpha and will always hold authority.

Jimin and Jungkook both came from the same school and both their packs were very close with each other, so they connected in a very brotherly way. Jimin as a beta and Jungkook as an alpha. Their classes would clash pretty much all the time and would Jungkook have to correct Jimin more often than not. But for a pack is this pretty normal. It is also Jungkook’s job to keep everyone in place and to make them aware who is the boss. Though this is a very primary instinct of Jungkook, it isn’t something he likes to do. He only corrects his pack when he has to.

‘The only thing I can imagine is that your soulmate is nearby’, Jimin suggested and Jungkook let out a little chuckle. ‘That rarely ever happens and I can hardly imagine it would make me faint’, he reasons and Jimin agrees.

They finally arrive at the apartment block as Jungkook can feel the same heath returning to his body. His senses have now shifted to the north, as if the thing he urges has moved. He looks confused around him. There is no person to be seen, only a few buildings. He couldn’t help but to set his focus on the north, looking at the building across. He can feel it, he is supposed to be there. But why? What can be in that building that is this important, that every fiber in his body urges for it?

A loud uneasy noise fills your room just when the light of dawn hits your window. Early, it is very early. You haven’t been awake this early for 2 months when your school year ended. But here you are again, up and ready to begin a new year. Though you are excited for it, the uneasy feeling hasn’t left you. It didn’t go down at all, maybe it even worsened. You hadn’t fainted from it though, like a week back. Luckily your roommate came home just a few minutes after, discovering your body laying helplessly against the kitchen tiles. She is human and in a world where the wolves are hidden, her logical response was to call the emergency number.

The separation of the two kinds has been here for a long time. The threat your kind holds over the humans always has been a big problem. Many wars have past for the wolves to realize that humans can’t live with the idea of a superior species living among them. With technology still developing, which could make great damage to you, was there a collective decision to hide for the humans. As centuries past, humans were quick to forget the many wars you have fought.

Many believe werewolves are just a fable and you like to keep it this way. So when your roommate was waiting for the ambulance to arrive and you came back to your senses, you were quick to call off the ambulance. ‘What are you doing? You just blacked out, you need medical help!’, your roommate yelled out in disbelieve. You tried to explain nothing is going on and you weren’t in any sort of pain. ‘I just haven’t eaten yet today, nothing else’. It took you a while to calm her down and you can’t blame her. You would probably react the same way if it was you who found her like that. A wolf is just way stronger and build different, so when they would examine you in the hospital, someone would definitely get suspicious.

The past week your roommate has been keeping an eye on you. She made sure you were eating enough. It is like having a mother all over again, while it was your intention to escape being nursed all the time. Although you got quite annoyed with her this past week, you couldn’t help but to appreciate her at the same time. What a world it would be if humans could live without fear for your kind like this. Needing such harsh adjustments to the point you can’t be who you are, only to protect yourself is just lunatic. But it is a rule all packs live by and you aren’t one to break these rules.

Your feet hit the cold wooden floor of your cozy room. 7:00 am, reads your alarm clock located on your nightstand. A sigh leaves your lips as you build up the courage to begin the day. Your first day of the new school year was going to be promising. A lot of classes are added and you will be with a new group of people. Your old class was great too, but you are in need for some change. With this constant burning feeling in your core you have had for the past week, you know something will definitely be different.

You go along your usual morning routine before picking your new favurite outfit. You packed your books and got out to the living room, where your roommate was peacefully eating some cereal.

‘Good morning!’, you great her, and she throws you a smile back. ‘Morning babe! You are looking so great!’, She comments, nudging at your clothing. You give her a wink,’Yeah I got it last week, thought I give myself a few nice things before starting the school year’. Your roommate agrees before she resumed eating her breakfast.

Jimin sighs upon seeing Jungkook’s sweaty body. He is cramped up in his bed, a frown on his face as he made little wines in his sleep. Tossing and turning has been a reoccurring theme these past few days. Jimin doesn’t know what to do with him. It looks like he is sick, but being a very strong guy and an alpha, is sickness very rare. So what’s going on?

He gives Jungkook a small nudge on his shoulder, waking him up softly. Jimin isn’t about to make the same mistake as yesterday. Jimin woke up Jungkook a bit more aggressive and Jungkook lashed out immediately, giving Jimin a little cut on his cheek. He would have pouted at Jungkook, whom would apologize for his weird behavior.

‘First day at school Cookie, get up’, he taunted in his ear, lowering to Jungkook’s level. Jungkook grunted as he slowly wakes up, turning around to look at his hyung. He lets out a sigh before sitting up straight, hands finding his face as he rubs his eyes. ‘Hyung I can’t do this any longer, my body feels so hot all the time’, Jungkook starts complaining and Jimin sits next to him, sighing along. ‘I know Jungkookie, but I am sure it will fly over. Maybe today will get your mind on other things’, Jimin says, trying to elevate the mood. Jungkook lets out a growl under his breath, anger suddenly building up in his body. Jimin immediately gets off the bed to give Jungkook space, which was a right move because Jungkook grabs a book laying beside him before throwing it through the room. ‘I just don’t fucking want this anymore! Why is this happening to me?!’, Jungkook yells in frustration. Jimin sighs again ‘I don’t know Jungkook, but acting like this won’t solve anything. Why don’t you focus on your new school? There will be a lot of great omega’s there for you to get your anger out on’, Jimin suggested, and he notices Jungkook’s ears perking up by that. Jimin chuckles before making his way out of the room. ‘I guess that wouldn’t hurt’, Jungkook mutters under his breath before getting out of bed and starting his day with a shower.

It’s 8:30 am when you arrive at your first class of the day. A few other students were already seated in the lecture hall. You could smell the difference of people looming around. A few humans, but also a few wolves were located inside the room. As you are an omega yourself, some wolves stand a threat against you. Though you have learned how to avoid other alpha’s and beta’s, you have had your fair share of degrading in your life. But because you are in a room full of humans, degrading isn’t allowed for any of the wolves. That way your species gets protected. So you aren’t scared to walk into a lecture hall full of wolves, because you know they won’t do anything.

You take a seat somewhere in the middle where no one is around and start to unpack. It was when you were finished setting up, your brewing hotness of the past week suddenly turns up a notch. You frown at yourself as you feel your stomach. Your skin is somewhat on fire and you begin to feel very uncomfortable. You wiggle around on your spot, almost squirming at this feeling. The thing you have urged for is coming closer. You begin to look around you furiously, but not knowing what you’re looking for. Fuck what is going on with me.

And it was then that it hits you. A story your grandma told you long ago finally serviced. She told you about having a soulmate and that everyone has them. When they come closer, your whole body comes in action. You have the urge to go to them and if you don’t, your body will try to fight your will. She explained that every soulmate couple has a different reaction to that. For her and grandpa it was feeling a very harsh headache. For you it was heath. It is your soulmate, it has to be your soulmate. Are you even ready for this? Do you want to commit to someone this early on? What if he is aggressive or worse, what is he’s an alpha? That won’t be a happy relationship, that will be endless terror.

As the heath began spreading through your body and your head spinning with horrific thoughts, you automaticlly started packing all your stuff. You were scared for what might come, what person your soulmate might be. It might be the end of you, but you know just as well that the feeling won’t stop until you see him. So, you will see him, for one second and then you will go your separate ways.

Then the feeling suddenly stopped. A shiver goes through your body as you look at the entrance door. There he is. Your hearth started to race as the both of you looked at one another, inspecting each others features. The first thing you notice is the glow around his body, something you have never seen with anyone else. He looks like some kind of Norse god. He is also tall, muscular and... You take a small sniff his way... he is an alpha. Though that thought saddens you, you can’t help yourself but be mesmerized by his enchanting features. This is it, this is your soulmate. But this won’t be something to be happy about, he is an alpha and you know about the horrifying stories. They aren’t nice to their soulmates and being an omega is only worse. So with that note, you stand up, cutting off your eye contact and walking towards the opposite exit.

Jungkook stands there dumbfounded. He looks at you as you walk away. Your beautiful figure just disappearing behind the exit door. Jimin nudges him, getting Jungkook out of his trans. ‘So I guess it was a soulmate think’, Jimin comments and Jungkook nods slowly. ‘Yeah, I guess’. Jungkook kept staring at the door, not getting out of his trans. The moment he saw you, his burning feeling stopped. Instead, something else far more romantic and sexual opened. The urge has now turned so primal that he couldn’t do anything than staring. If he had made a step towards you, he would’ve turned on his wolf. That’s why he choice to let you walk out of that room. He isn’t ever letting you go away again after this, and he was going to make you aware of that.

‘Go after her Cookie’, Jimin says as he nudges Jungkook again. With that Jungkook comes out of his train of thought and starts running out of the classroom. He wasn’t going to let you leave. You were now his, you aren’t allowed to leave. All these thoughts ran through Jungkook’s head as he sprinted through the school. His eyes turned blue as his wolf tried to get out, so he had to hide them when running past humans. He needed to claim you within the hour and finding you wouldn’t be an issue. Your scent has been planted in his brain while the both of you were staring at one another. He knew you were close, but you were also running. A smirk was creeping up his face, kind of liking the chase. You are putting up a fight, meaning you will be able to handle his alpha side. He needs someone to fight, otherwise it will just be boring.

You almost let your keys fall when you try to open your front door. You can smell him getting closer with the second. It’s as if you can locate his being, which is not something you were ever able to do on such distance. You were quick to close the door behind you and to run to your room. Somehow you feel like you can’t hide within your apartment, as if he is already here. But how? How did he get in? You scan your room, but then your heart stops. His body radiates behind your body and you feel is breath tickle your neck. This is it, now he will rape you. He will make you his bitch and you won’t ever get to live another happy day. Your eyes close in fear and your whole body stiffens against his body.

You waited. You are expecting for him to pick you up and throw you on the bed. But nothing comes. Not after one minute, two minutes. You feel yourself calm down as time passes by. Why is he not doing anything? Is he just waiting until I let my guard down before attacking me? Is he maybe different? No he can’t be, all alphas want is to ruin omegas.

5 minutes passes with him standing behind you and not doing anything. Then you felt something else creeping up your spine. Something you didn’t let through because of your anguish towards him. It feels very sexual, very primal and romantic. The urge you felt towards him has returned, but in a way that you only witness during heath. Although heath is way more sexual, this goes beyond that. Your heart starts racing again, but this time it isn’t because you are scared. You long for him. You r whole being wants to be with him, but you can’t help yourself but to rationalize against it. No, they are all bad.

He sighs against your neck, causing pleasure to shoot through your body. You can’t stop your shivers and the heath that is growing between your legs. It’s an instinct so deep within you, there is no use stopping it. He reacts with a chuckle as he lets a hand slide over your delicate waist. ‘Why were you scared?’, he asks and you immediately notice his soft but low arousing voice. Every fiber on your body is heightened and his little touches aren’t helping you in any way. Trying to focus on his question, you answer: ‘You’re an alpha. I am scared you will treat me bad’. Jungkook frowns at your thought, knowing that he won’t ever hurt you in his life. It has only been a 30 minutes since he had met you, but the way he feels about you is indescribable. It’s a feeling of protectiveness, love and urge that combines his feelings for you. He will not ever hurt you.

‘What you feel right now, is what I also feel. I will never hurt you’.

Though this might be an empty promise, you can feel he is speaking the truth. With that you dare to turn around to face him, him keeping his hand around your waist. His handsome eyes immediately find yours. You can finally memorize all his closest features he has to offer. His facial features are amazingly handsome and his lips look so kissable. You can’t help but to reach up to his soft fluffy hair, grabbing the ear band that hides his soft wolf features. He is a black wolf with blue eyes, an amazing combination and you can’t help but to feel the need to mate with him. Your offspring will be so strong and beautiful. Your hand moves down to his cheek, which he leans his head against, closing his eyes in approval.

‘Your name?’, you ask as you pull your hand away. ‘Jeon Jungkook, you?’, he questions and you instantly remember his packs name. It’s a pretty large and respectable pack, something you aren’t apposed to. ‘I am y/full/n’, you answer, and he smiles at hearing the familiar pack names. Though the packs aren’t close, they won’t be mad about this. Everything just seems aligned.

He takes a little step closer as his hand now rests on your back, pressing you against his chest. You don’t fear him anymore and you feel comfortable being in his arms. ‘I know we just met, but I have the strongest urge I to claim you right now’, he confesses. And it was then that you felt something grow against your pelvis. You can’t help but to snort at that, but at the same time you felt the same thing. It’s as if you need to seal the deal. He needs to imprint himself in you, so everyone knows who you belong to. The thought of that spread a heath throughout your body. Jungkook smiled at you as he notices your body heath going up and your heartbeat racing. ‘I take that as a positive’.

He pulls you up by your waist as he swings you over his shoulder. He closes the door of your room before letting you fall on the bed. You can’t help but admire the way he easily pulled you up like that. Your omega wolf felt protected and only an alpha like Jungkook could make you feel this way. He pulls off his shirt he was wearing before joining you on the bed. Your eyes take in all of his muscular torso, knowing he will be railing you with it in just a few minutes.

He pulls apart your legs before positioning between them. You eagerly want to hold on to him, but he was quick to grab your wrists and plant them beside your head. You are taken aback by his action as a small yelp left your lips. ‘You really think I wasn’t going to punish you for the little escape you pulled?’ He taunted as he leans down beside your ear. His breath fanning against your neck got you shivering all over again and your pussy started to throb under his body. You could practically feel Jungkook’s smirk as he knew what effect he has on you. Though you want to wipe that smirk off his face, you knew he was right. You were disobedient and the alpha needs to put you in your place. Luckily is his punishment not that bad.

‘Good girl’, he purrs in your ear, complimenting your behavior. ‘You will do as I please when I fuck this little body of yours, okay?’. You nod eagerly, wanting him to do everything to you. It’s in your blood to obey him and this way you both get what you want.

He let go of your wrists and takes a little bit of time to take all of your clothed body in. Your eyes look so desperate and oh... the sweet smell of your pussy waving in the air drives him crazy. Jungkook lets out a very low grunt, making your body ache for him. You let out a whine as you begin to fidget on the spot, uncomfortably trying to releave yourself He was quick to growl at you, signing that you can’t move and you have to obey him.

‘You desperate little bitch, you want to get fucked so badly?’, he asks and you nod. ‘Use your words’, he commands. ‘Yes alpha...’. He smirks pleased, before he grabs your top and rips it off of you. You let out a small yelp, but before you knew it you were in your underwear and your clothing ripped on the floor. Though you normally would care for this, you were so ready to be mated that you really didn’t mind. He flips you around on your belly before propping your ass up in the air. His clothed length found its way against your ass as he started dry humping against you. You couldn’t help but moan upon feeling his cock gliding against your pussy. instinctively you arch your back further against his cock, making you feel his amazing length. He is for sure large and will fill you up so good.

‘Hmm, you like that baby? You want this cock to fill you up?’ He purrs before laying his upper body against your back. He began leaving kisses on your neck, making your body shiver. Small moans leave your mouth, feeling so happy to be close to him. Jungkook also lets out groans against your skin and you can’t wait for him to give you his pups.

‘Please’, you start begging as his cock doesn’t stop teasing you. He chuckles against you, loving to tease you like this. ‘You want my cock?’, he asks as he grabs your neck from behind. You could barely get a ‘yes’ out, but it was enough for him to pull down your panties and prop your ass higher up in the air. ‘Let me first get my appetizer’, he grunts upon seeing your soaked pussy. You let your upper body rest against the bed as you arch your ass higher into the air, giving him a better view. You can hear him growling by seeing your action, he loves it. The smell of your pussy overwhelms him, he has never had something so sweet like this before.

He spreads your cheeks further apart before laying his tongue right on your clit. He didn’t need a second try to find the little bud and immediately started making small circles around it. Your whole body reacted to it and you let out a moan. His tongue caused shocks to go through your body. You knew he liked this reaction, because one of his hands began to squeeze your ass. The growls coming from his being were still filling the room, as if he is eating a caught pray.

Suddenly his tongue finds its way upwards, slowly licking all the juices off your pussy before settling on your entrance. He licks it a few times before entering it with his tongue. You let out a little yelp, eyes widening by the immense pleasure you are feeling. After that you began to moan loudly, loving the what it feels as he thrusts his tongue into you. Your body couldn’t help but to arch further into him. Your hands came up to your ass to widen it for him, but he was quick to pin them down beside you. The thrusts feel so good your orgasm was building up and Jungkook could feel your body heating up too. One hand came up to your asshole, and he put in just the tip of his thump, making your squirm under his care. You couldn’t help moaning out his name, making Jungkook pleased with his efforts.

It didn’t take you long to build up the orgasm and he soon got you to the edge. He notices your breathing beginning to become more irregular than it already was. His piercing eyes watch your body shake as you approach the edge and just when you were about to let it all out, he removed himself from your body. Feeling the loss of his stimulus on your entrance, you can’t help but whine. ‘Jungkooook...’, you sigh as your body collapses onto the bed. You can hear him chuckle before he lets his hand down on your ass with a great force, making you gasp by the sensation. ‘You know that this is still a punishment, right?’ he comments as he turns your body on your back, positioning himself between your legs again. You gasp upon seeing his naked body. He apparently had removed his clothing while you were nagging him. You can’t help yourself but to stare it his cock, which is standing tall and veiny between your thighs.

‘You like what you see, baby?’, Jungkook asks and you slowly nod with widened eyes. You are slowly beginning to doubt yourself upon seeing his enormous length, questioning if it will even fit. He towers over you before reaching his hand under your head. Grabbing a ball of hear in his hand, he yanks you to sit up right. You are now in eye-level with his cock, Jungkook now on his knees in front of you. You can feel your mouth watering as you imagine sucking your mate dry, pleasing him the way you should.

‘Why don’t you suck me off princess?’, he purrs while stroking your head, having loosened the grip. You look up to him, making the biggest innocent face you can make before your hand makes its way up Jungkook’s thigh. He immediately let a sigh escape his lips, eyes closing as he prepares for your amazing touches. You tease him a little bit, letting your hand swirl around his pelvis and inner thighs. A low threatening grunt leaves his body, signalling you the teasing is over and it is time for you to give your mate the pleasure he deserves. You put your hand around his cock as you lick small circles around his tip. The small action is enough to make him groan and grab your hair in his hands again. You notice his breathing picking up a pace as you swirl around a few times more. Then you take the tip of his dick in your mouth, still containing eye contact. Jungkook’s blue eyes almost seem pitch dark as they are now dilated to the max. You can feel your own body heating up as well by seeing how aroused he is for you.

‘Fuck, you look so innocent around my cock. Such a small mouth’, he comments with a low and sexy voice. With that encouragement, you let his dick slip further into your mouth. His grip on your hair tightened, signalling you that you are doing a great job. You bob your head forwards and backwards in a slow pace, building up his orgasm for him. He let’s out little moans upon feeling your pace going faster and faster. Eventually he couldn’t help himself but to guide your mouth over his dick, forcing you to suck him a bit further into your throat. You didn’t mind at all and let him abuse your mouth. You hold on to his legs as he takes over your pace and lets you gag on his dick. His grunts became very loud as he slams into you, giving you small times to breathe. You couldn’t care less, you are meant to let him do this to you. You are his little bitch in bed.

‘Fuck y/n, you are so fucking amazing. My little whore’, Jungkook breathes out before giving one last deep push into your throat, making you lose air for a few seconds before pulling out.

You both have to catch your breath. You collap back on the bed, trying to calm down your heart, but you didn’t have much time since Jungkook was already between your legs. He smirks down at your fucked out head as he hangs your legs over his shoulders. You feel him aligning his dick with your entrance, but you feel a bit scared it will hurt. Jungkook notices the change of atmosphere and cocks his head to the side, looking at your questionably.

‘What if it will hurt?’ You ask. Jungkook smiles at you as and comes down to your forehead, giving you a little kiss. ‘Don’t worry baby, I will give you time if it hurts. Just tell me if it hurts too much okay?’, he asks and you nod your head. He goes back up and secures your legs on his shoulders. He puts his dick on your pussy, sliding it up and down your juices as he teases your clit a little. You slip a moan because of the arousing feeling. Then he aligns his dick with your entrance, giving you a reassuring look before slowly pushing into you. It takes a while before your body lets even his tip inside, but with many patients your entrance widened to his size. He pushes slow and steady before giving a last thrust, now being fully inside you. You hadn’t made any noise as you tried to not focus on the immense pain of his big cock. Your eyes were closed tightly, but you suddenly felt a soft hand on your cheek. Two soft lips met yours, pulling you out of your pain and bringing your attention back to your mate. He kisses you slowly, tongue carefully massaging against yours while the pain leisurely disappeared. The kiss was turning hotter by the second, his hands finding its way into your hair while you cling on to his muscular torso. As your bodies began to squirm against each other, his dick caused friction within you and it made you moan into his mouth.

‘Can I move?’ Jungkook asks, looking into your eyes. You nod at him, making a thrusting motion yourself with a slight smile. He smiles back before sitting upright and holding your legs firmly against his shoulders. He slowly pulled back, making you gasp by the amazing friction you feel within you. He slams back into your pussy and you both moan loudly. ‘You’re so fucking tight, so fucking delicious’, Jungkook grunts as he repeats his actions. You dig your nails into the covers beside you as Jungkook begins to put up a pace. His hips slam into yours and when he angles his dick upwards, he finally hits your g-spot. You gasp before moaning his name, the feeling overwhelming you. Jungkook now slams with all his power into you, almost flying you up against the head of the bed. You can’t hold onto anything notices Jungkook, so he let your legs back down on the bed before grabbing your wrists and holding them in place beside your head. He now begins to slam into you with full speed, making you scream and burst into pleasure. He looks at your body bouncing along with him, your breasts swinging up and down as your eyes are closed. God, he will never forget this picture.

Your head begins to feel light by his hard thrusts, drowning you with love and pleasure. You look at his form on top of you, all sweaty and muscular. Those muscles now used to make you his mate, to give you his pups. His beautiful blue eyes are staring into yours, mouth half open as he pants through it. He is so beautiful and amazingly hot. You can feel your orgasm climbing up again as he continues rocking into you.

He suddenly pulls out, making you gasp by the lost of friction. He gets off the bed and pulls you with him. He leads you to the nearest wall, preps you up against it before aligning his dick with your entrance again. You stick your ass out as high as you can, but since Jungkook is a very tall man, you couldn’t reach his cock. He decided to wrap his arms around your middle and pulled you off the floor. He sets you down on his dick before pressing your bodies back against the wall. He starts railing you from behind, your body still hovering above the floor and upper body pressed again the wall. Jungkook does this with ease, being an amazingly strong alpha. You feel his dick sliding in and out of you, making you go crazy and wanting him to go faster. ‘Jungkook pleasee...’, you whine and Jungkook chuckles. He then goes even faster, making you see duble because of the immense pleasure emerging from his acts. You can’t help but to yell out his name, probably waking up the whole world by it.

‘Fuck you are my soulmate, look at you. You are perfect for me’, Jungkook groans into your ear as he feels his own height approaching. He decides to pull you back from the wall and lays you down on the floor. With your belly pressed against the wood, he pulls your ass back into the air and didn’t leave any time to enter your throbbing entrance. You can feel his balls hitting your pussy as he thrusts violently into you. His hand found your neck again and puts a slight pressure on it. With all the stimuli your mate is giving you, you find yourself near the edge of your orgasm again. Your breath began to become uneven and Jungkook noticing that, he decides on reaching down to your clit around your hips. He starts circling it fast, helping you to reach your height. You almost screamed upon feeling this, but you muffled yourself against the floor. Jungkook’s eyes were set on your trembling body, loving how aroused you can become under his touch. It took Jungkook only a few seconds before your height was reached and the warmth spread through your body. Your breath stopped for a second as you lost yourself in the overwhelming feeling. ‘Oh my god, fuck’, you cursed out as you let the orgasm wash through your body.

‘Good girl’, Junkook prases you as you finish. You let yourself lay there for a few seconds before you realize that Jungkook didn’t come yet. You pushed him off of you, making Jungkook a bit confused, before turning him on his back. You positioned yourself on him, sitting on his lap as you let your wet pussy slide on his dick. He sighed out of pleasure as he feels you dry humping him. His hands were quick to find your waist and took over. You didn’t give him any time for that, because you were fast to line him up with your entrance. You went down on him and started bouncing on top of him. This position allowed you to hit your g-spot very consistent and couldn’t help but to go faster. You let your hips rock up and down as Jungkook helped you by grabbing your waist. He moaned loudly while his eyes looked up into yours. You knew he is close to coming, so you go a bit faster for him. You want him to make you his mate, to imprint you.

‘I will shoot all my pups into you baby, so prepare yourself’, he warns you before he suddenly takes over the pace and thrusts up into you. You moan loudly by his action and Jungkook couldn’t help but to moan along with you. You were so beautiful on top of him and seeing all of this made him cum immediately. You can feel something inflating within you and you realized he was about to knot. You let him do the rest of the job as he groans loudly, making the last few thrusts before finally deloading all his cum into you. You can feel his pups shooting into you and you close your eyes by the amazing feeling.

You both stay located on the floor, panting and stuck because of the knot. You feel high from the combining smell of the both of you. Everything feels right, this was really meant to be. Jungkook’s hand slowly caresses your back, soothing you as the knot slowly deflates. You look up into his eyes, and he is already smiling at you. You smile back at him. You know exactly how he feels, because you feel the same.

‘You’re mine now’, Jungkook says proudly, hugging you closer to him. You smile. ‘I always was, I just didn’t know’. He sighs in delight, knowing he would spend the rest of his life with you in bliss. Your lives were meant to go this way, more than this wouldn’t be needed.

‘My soulmate’.

Thank you for reading! My reguests are open for those who have one :).

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cerebralinvasion · 3 years

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trigger warnings: none

notes: sorry i’ve been gone for a little while!! i’m kinda low on ideas about what i should write, so if you wanna send in any requests…(hint hint) feel free to do so!! have some more winter themed fluff with my favorite boy!!

you sighed, drumming your fingers along the window half heartedly. you had really been looking forward to going out with some friends today but you supposed the weather had other plans for you. a terrible blizzard had occurred the night before and as a result snow was piled high outside your door. it would be a long time before you would even be able to open it a crack, let alone actually make it outside. and now you have to listen to your boyfriend's constant complaints about how bored he was. “hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey hey” kokichi poked at your cheek over and over fishing for some kind of reaction, a reaction that you refused to give him. “waaaaaaahhhh s/o is ignoring me!!!” he began sobbing loudly only for his stream of tears to instantly cut off a couple of seconds after you didn’t so much as turn your head in response. he slumped across your lap frowning. “oh come on i’m so bored, i might actually die from boredom. don’t you care that your lover is going to die??” you rolled your eyes at his over exaggerations. “guess what? i’m bored to kichi. i don’t really know what you want me to do.” he sat up quickly, almost knocking into your head. “well i know exactly what i want you to do!” he grabbed your arm and began dragging you behind him quickly. you decided to play along with whatever he currently had planned, out of nothing more then how dull staring out the window into a pure blanket of white had become. he lead you up the stairs and to a small cabinet inside your house that was stocked full of an array of different card and board games. he pulled out a standard deck of cards. “i’m gonna teach you how to play a super fun new game, okay?? just promise not to cry when you lose horribly.” you rolled your eyes once again fighting off a smile at his usual behavior. “there’s no way in hell i’m going to cry.” you knew he was just baiting you into trying to play, if only to show you could be beat him. but you chose to go along with it anyways. You found yourself sitting across the table from kokichi as he carefully dealer out cards between the two of you. “seven for youuu and seven for me!” he hummed and placed the rest of the deck in the center of the table. He began turning the top four cards over, placing one on each side of the deck - north, south, east, and west. “these are the foundation piles!” he said not looking up while he worked on the cards. “alrighty i’m going to teach you how to play kings cross! i thought it’d be fitting considering you are sitting next to the ultimate supreme leader, your goal is going to be to get rid of alllllll of the cards sitting your deck!” kokichi always had a habit of elongating his words and speaking in a sing songy tone, you thought it was adorable. “so to get rid of a card you just gotta place it down on top of one of the foundation cards but it has to be immediately below the number and the opposite color, okay??” he tapped the top foundation pile that lay in the center of the cross. “you see how this is a 9 of hearts? that means the only things you’d be allowed to put on it is a 8 of spades or an 8 of clubs.” You hummed softly under your breath, absorbing the information as he spoke. “and you can’t play on any of these side piles until a king is placed, then it’s just like the foundation pile! then you can also move the entire foundation pile onto another pile, if the top card of the corner and the bottom card of the foundation follow the sequence order rule” you stared at him blankly for a couple of seconds, god he was horrible at explaining things, you were utterly lost. “umm okay,” you started “let’s try playing then?” you lost. every single time. you’re pretty sure it’s been about 8 games by now but you’ve stopped counting. At this point you’d grown tired of constantly losing to him and flopped backwards on the couch you were sitting on. “aww come on, you promised you wouldn’t throw a tantrum when you lost, so you better keep that promise or it would’ve been a lie!” kokichi got up and flopped down next to you. “i’m not throwing a tantrum.” you huffed crossing your

arms over yourself “i’m just tired of constantly losing because i barely know what i’m supposed to be doing.” “awww it’s okay s/o, don’t cry.” kokichi cooed, patting your head. you grit your teeth and your face flushed at the patronizing tone. “shut up, i hate you.” you mumbled half heartedly. kokichi tilted his head to the side “hmm? s/o, didn't anyone ever teach you that lying is wrong? you know you love me” a smug grin pulled across his face, he knew he was right. and you turned your head a way from him annoyed because you knew he was right too. truly despite your words, getting snowed in wasn’t the absolute worst thing that could happen, especially if it meant getting to spend so much time next to the person you care the most about.

#kokichi x reader #danganronpa x reader #kokichi ouma x reader #danganronpa #kokichi oma #kokichi #kokichi ouma #drv3 kokichi #kokichi x you #kokichi x y/n

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capricores · 4 years

Text

astrology & tarot readings 💥

i’m super excited to announce i am finally going to be offering astrological readings again! i’m also going to be offering a few different tarot readings & mixed astro-tarot readings as well! below the cut is full information on readings offered, prices (all in $CAD), important notes, and so forth. thank you so much for your continued support on my blog and content, and i appreciate so much anyone who may consider and order a reading from me! i can’t wait to provide you guys with more insight to your astrological makeup, and hopefully give you a better overall understanding of how astrological placements function in general. i also hope to give you great insight via tarot and oracle as well.

NOTE: readings will close once i fill up a certain amount of slots (undecided rn, but likely stopping around fifteen-twenty), please check my bio or status in this post (see directly below) on whether or not readings are currently open before requesting! i will make sure to frequently update the status of readings, and will try to re-open them soon after they close. it is likely that when i start my new FT job in november that i may have to close readings for a bit or accept less reading slots :)

CURRENT STATUS: open for all readings

💥 RULES AND IMPORTANT NOTES TO READ FIRST:

must be 18 or over to receive a reading (apologies but i do not feel comfortable reading for minors/receiving their birth information)

i default my readings in the PLACIDUS or equal house system (i do this dependent on your place of birth; for more info feel free to DM). if you prefer/relate more to another system, let me know! i am happy to read your chart in another house system (if you’re new to astrology, i recommend looking at the different planetary house placements in your chart in whole sign system, placidus system and equal house system - see which you relate to most - the easiest to tell by is usually the venus & moon house placement, just search up some basic descriptions of the varying placement of moon/venus. i prefer equal and placidus; lately i lean more towards equal)

i use tropical/western astrology, with both modern and traditional rulers

my readings come in either written or audio format, it’s entirely up to you. both audio and written readings contain the same depth and amount of information. audio readings are supplemented by summarized/bullet points of topics covered but note they do not have written in-depth interpretations like the written natal chart reading would (but i do break down my audio readings with time stamps for easy navigation)

tarot readings and mixed tarot/astro readings can also be done via video if you’d like to see the cards as they come out/etc; please note tarot-only readings are not supplemented with writing/notes if you order them audio or video style

full natal chart + personal planet + progressions readings can be customized to an extent: for example, if you’re not interested in romance, let me know before i do your reading! i’ll focus more on friendships and business when touching on connections/partnerships/venus/etc. or, if for example, you’re more interested in romance, i can highlight those things when interpreting your planets and aspects! this goes for any topics/themes: career, finance, love, friendship, etc. just let me know your specific interests, or things you don’t like talking about (ie: you have zero interest in romance), so i can make your reading more tailored to your preferences. if you have any triggers (ie: do not want family talked about, do not want s*xual topics [sorry i have to add the * or i’ll get shadowbanned again lol😭] talked about, etcetc please let me know! it is never any problem to accommodate this)

obviously, no returns/refunds as this is not a physical item and it takes hours, sometimes days, for most readings to be completed! by ordering from me you are agreeing to this no refund or return policy.

💥 READING TYPES

✨ ASTROLOGY-ONLY READINGS

1. full natal chart reading (must have birth time) $50-70

tier one, $50:

interpretations of all planets (sign + house)

interpretations of ascendant, midheaven, descendant, ic (fourth house)

interpretations of any stelliums, “high energy” houses (maybe not a stellium- but a house with multiple planets/asteroids in it) and lack of an element/modality (or abundance/excess of)

tier two, $70, includes everything in tier 1, plus:

interpretations of every house, even if the house is empty

interpretations of strong / major aspects (main focus on squares & quincunx for lessons, blockages, secret strengths / areas of growth, etc - but any other strong/prevalent aspects will be covered)

interpretations of the following asteroids (sign/house/aspects): north/south nodes, chiron & juno

interpretations of interceptions and duplications if applicable

interpretation of yods and t-squares if applicable

2. full natal chart reading (no birth time) $35

interpretation of all planets (sign)

interpretation of all major aspects (minus moon aspects)

information on any stelliums, lack of an element/modality (or abundance/excess of)

3. personal planets reading (birth time: $30, no birth time $20)

interpretations of sun through mars in the signs (and in the houses if you have birth time)

any standout aspects to the personals are interpreted (moon aspects not available if you don’t have birth time)

4. current astrological progress, focus, etc (”consultation”) $60

this reading is the one i’m most excited for! 🤍 this reading looks at your current transits as well as your progressed chart and solar return chart to determine where you currently are in your stage of astrological development and focus. we will discuss your progressed placements, kind of like a natal reading, and explain how they may be guiding, impacting and influencing you. we will also go over your current transits, their potential lessons, predictions based on your progressions & transits (long-term), and kind of get a full guide on what to expect, what to focus on, blockages, etc.

this consultation is interactive! so i welcome you to ask any questions before or after the reading that you’re curious on (i ask for a maximum of five or so *intense* questions though - clarification questions and small questions are totally fine more frequently). you can ask things like “what will happen over the next year in my love life” or “what are the biggest lessons for me this year”, etc. this reading is meant specifically for gaining insight into upcoming events and themes in your life. i use your natal chart, transit chart, solar return & progressed chart. you NEED accurate birth time for this reading. you also need to be comfortable giving me both your birth place and where you will be (city-wise) on your next birthday (or last birthday, depending on which was closer; for the solar return chart).

please note however, this does not include any in-depth interpretation of your natal chart, if you’re interested in that you are going to want the first reading! it is also consultation style; i of course will interpret placements but it is more a “what to expect & focus on” type of reading, than a “this means (x)” type of reading. if you have more information of questions about this or any other reading, shoot me a DM anytime!

5. love reading $15

focuses on self-love, friendship & romantic love. this reading focuses on the planets, aspects, asteroids, houses that center around themes of love and connection in all forms (namely juno, venus, moon, 5th/7th/8th houses, etc). it will go over your wants in love versus needs, blockages in love and things to look out for, weaknesses versus strengths, the type of person that would likely best suit you as a friend or partner, etc. please note it’s recommended that you have your birth time for this reading, since it relies on house placements (however i am able to provide this reading w/o birth time).

i plan for this reading to likely be around three or so pages but knowing my rambling it may be longer lol.

6. blockages, development and growth reading $15

this astrological reading focuses heavily on the learning points and blockages present within your natal chart. specifically, this will have heavy focus on squares, oppositions, quincunxes, yods, interceptions, saturn placement, jupiter placement, sun placement 12th house + draconic chart. i will go over areas of struggle, blocks, and areas that likely need development and heavy focus based on your natal chart. i recommend the above progressed reading if you want a more extensive view on this with consideration to current transits and progressions. please note it’s recommended that you have your birth time for this reading, since it relies on house placements (however i am able to provide this reading w/o birth time).

i plan for this reading to likely be around three or so pages but knowing my rambling it may be longer lol.

7. work, education, career & purpose reading $15

this astrological reading focuses on your “purpose”. mainly highlighting placements like the north/south node, 3rd/9th houses, ascendant-midheaven, and sun/mars/mercury/uranus, we cover ideal careers, paths, and purposes for you. this will cover potential issues and blockages when it comes to work, career and study; as well as when achieving your purpose. it also points towards specific fields, industries, areas of study, etc that you are best suited for and guided towards astrologically. please note it’s recommended that you have your birth time for this reading, since it relies on house placements (however i am able to provide this reading w/o birth time).

i plan for this reading to likely be around three or so pages but knowing my rambling it may be longer lol.

✨ MIXED READINGS (astrology & tarot combined):

1. love life + your person/soulmate reading $25 w/ transits $20 w/o

tarot pulls to reveals the traits, potential signs, energy, etc of your person. using the natal chart (fifth house, seventh house, juno, venus/moon/jupiter, saturn aspects, and more) to determine the traits, likely signs/placements of your “soulmate” or ideal person.

tarot pulls surrounding current themes/blockages/etc in your love life, what you may need to hear, what your person may be going through, their feelings, etc. i also look to your astrological transits to see potential blockages or blessings in your love life right now.

2. monthly predictions / reading $15

using a mix of tarot & oracle pulls along with your current astrological transits, i’ll highlight the focuses, blockages, blessing, themes and similar for the next month for you. things to look out for, look forward to, to specifically work on, etc. if you have a specific theme of more interest (ie: work life or love life), let me know and i can accommodate my reading to focus more on those than other things (just note i may end up pulling cards not related to said thing, because the universe has a stronger message for you).

✨ TAROT-ONLY READINGS (all pay by tip unless specified, but i do ask a min of a $2 tip!) - payment done via ko-fi or paypal. here are some reading examples (everything is customizable, these are just reading suggestions and possible questions, we can discuss further in DMs)

new moon, full moon, weekly or monthly readings: what you need to release, blockages this moon cycle/week/month, blessings this moon cycle/week/month, what to focus on this moon cycle/week/month

self-love & healing readings: what makes you wonderful / what should you be proud of you / what do you bring to others / where are you too hard on yourself / how can you show yourself love / areas of growth

general love reading: you / lover / dynamic, their wants / your differences / similarities / compatibility, your role in rs / their role / past of rs / current state of rs / future, etc.

general career and finance reading: where does your passion lie / what are you good at / how can you combine these / advice, current financial state / where to avoid spending and save / where to let money flow / advice, what are you doing wrong (career/finance) / what are you doing write / what should you do next / advice, etc.

friendship reading: you can actually use the love reading spreads/questions for friendships as well! some other examples; what you think you get from friendship / what you actually get / what the other person feels you bring / is this person a good friend, current state of the friendship / blockages in the friendship / blessings of this friendship / advice or oracle, etc.

stay or go reading (insp): current state of the connection or situation / why you should stay / why you should go / general advice [please note as with any other reading; you must make your own decisions; please do not ask me about toxic/abusive relationships; the answer is always to get help & leave if you can and are safe! this reading can be used for jobs, education, connections]

general three card pull style readings: you / the other person / the relationship, what you want / what they want / potential outcome, strength / weakness / advice, past / present / future, emotional compatibility / spiritual compatibility / physical compatibility, etc! but you’re welcome to google “three card tarot readings” and request a specific one

yes / no + reasoning readings: straightforward, ask a yes or no question and i’ll pull a tarot card + angel oracle card for the question + ask for clarification on the yes or no (please note “maybe” “not now” etc answers are possible, the cards won’t always give a solid clear yes or no)

extensive tarot love reading, singles $10: traits & signs/energy of your next person, how/when you’ll meet [or if you already have], future relationship strengths/weaknesses, romance + angel + moonology oracle messages, blockages for the relationship, advice, etc + one question answered of your choice

extensive tarot love reading, taken/talking stage/etc $10: your person’s current state, their current feelings, if they’re ready for a relationship (+ why/why not), if you’re ready for a relationship (+ why/why not), blockages holding the relationship back/that may arise, romance + angel + moonology oracle messages, strengths and weaknesses of the relationship, advice + one question answered of your choice

romance & angel oracle pulls for love: very straightforward oracle cards to give messages about your love life, partner, current situation, etc in lieu of using traditional tarot-only reading methods

please note i will not answer any medical, legal, or similar questions/advice. all decisions you make after any reading are always your own. astrology & tarot are meant to be for entertainment purposes solely. i am not held accountable for decisions you make after viewing your reading(s). please note i am not a replacement for therapy, counselling, financial advices, career counsellors, life coaches, or other professionals.

HOW TO RECEIVE A READING - for astrology, astrology-tarot mixed readings, and extensive tarot love readings)

please check bio/this post to see if readings are still open

fill out THIS form

i will then DM you once i receive the request to let you know if i am able to accept the reading or not (aka if slots haven’t filled up yet! i’ll try to give an estimated time frame of completion as well or at least let you know how many readings are before yours) - as of november, i will dm you only once i start your reading! but feel free to DM me first for confirmation

once i’m ready to start your reading, i’ll ask for your birth information and get things going

payment is done via paypal and again i use canadian dollars! once i confirm your reading, i take the payment AFTER i’ve already started the reading. i will send you an invoice via paypal, so all i require is your email. once completed, you’ll receive a google doc link to your full completed reading. i also attach a google form for review, feedback, etc. if you’re comfortable with me publicly posting your feedback onto my reviews page, you’ll be able to specify that in said form! the feedback is anonymous with the option to not be anonymous, entirely up to you.

HOW TO RECEIVE A READING - for tarot-only tip based readings

please check bio/this post to see if readings are still open

send me a DM mentioning you want to do a tip-based tarot reading

after that, i’ll ask you to let me know the theme, spread, topic, question, etc

i’ll pull your cards and do your reading, and then you can send the tip via ko-fi or paypal afterwards :)

#also! if you have a reading already booked from me everything is staying the same for you!#(like price/reading type/everything will stay so dw)#unless you want to change/upgrade to one of these readings #and if i havent reached out to you in a while pls feel free to msg me again i apologize for being so spacey and out of it!!!#mercury rx has been pushing me around loool #im so excited for these i am vibrating w joy #i hope this has no typos or mistakes i am exhausted help #it took so many hours to write this post bc i kept changing things fml

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tsukidrama · 3 years

Note

hey!

i've seen more of fmab and i can affirm that i love it!! i watch the sub version and i didn't even notice it for hanji's va but i love her too she's SO talented and like, 70% the reason why i love hanji lmao. so far i like most of the characters (they're all so interesting) but i was sad when lust died she was one of my favs.

honestly the chapter hurt in a good way, at least annie can't keep everything for herself anymore. i'm happy you like my "review" because i'm always scared to be irrelevant when i comment on your fics or maybe just annoying but there was so much to talk about in this chapter! and i can't wait for the fluff to come (and more hurt) but also the smut is a very good idea!! smut on a farm sounds hot 👀

also i've seen that you saw the squid game (very good very sad very bitter about ali and sae byeok) and as we've been talking about yelena and annie, in a squid game aot au, do you think they would survive it?

-j

she really is!!! i love romi park she's definitely one of the most iconic anime VAs of all time. i'm glad you're enjoying fma! it's characters are really interesting, i was super into the fandom for a good couple of years when i was 14/15. i 100% agree, i love her and it's upsetting that she's gone so quick. i really like envy too, even though they're a little shit. there's a character that i think you're really going to like that comes in around season 3 i believe? she's the major general in charge of the military fortress in the north & she's an ice queen and a girlboss. my WIFE!!

going off about my baby lust some more because she's a favorite of mine too. in the other version made in 2003, the plotline is different than it is in the manga and she's a major character throughout the anime. in my opinion she's also has the best character arc and her character is even better. fma 03 is super different & a lot darker, a lot of people say really don't like it compared to brotherhood but i personally do. it plays up the horror of the human transmutations a lot more and really really escalates the theme of war.

exactly! now annie will be forced to confront her inner demons. she can't run from her problems forever and it's quickly coming time for her to deal with all the trauma that she's pushed down her whole life. right now she's starting to feel comfortable and at home living in the cottage, but she's never had anything like that before. poor baby doesn't even realize how jarring the transition was from: training fighting war murder genocide hiding lying spying killing more war more murder c r y s t a l p r i s o n even more goddamn war to... reading books and taking care of farm animals? she's pretended like she's okay her whole life because she had to but now she finally has the space to process what happened to her.

your reviews are never annoying! 🥺 please never think that. i very very rarely get people giving me any feedback about how they feel about my fics and it's something that i genuinely crave. as much interaction as i get i so rarely have people tell me they like it beyond "oh that was so sweet!" so the way you add details and tell me the feelings you had during certain scenes, is so wonderful and close to my heart. the only other consistant reviewer i have is @marsbutterfly who is bound by law and our marriage vows to go into the google doc of every single fic i've ever written and leave comments on literally everything thank you baby i love you

SQUID GAME, GOD. (so incredibly good but also so unfair). decided to make another post about this mostly because i already rambled so much in this post and the ask is getting long but i'm putting in in your tag of course

#btw i also do the same for mars's fics im not an a**hole #i missed you j it's been a minute! i hope you've been well i've been thinking about you #j anon #tsuki answers #snk #annie-isms #fma #squid game spoilers

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perennialessays · 3 years

Text

Week 2

From Origins to the Future: The Hero and the Epic Quest.

This week and the next we shall engage in one of the traditional approaches to comparative practice, following various re-appearances of a myth / hero / genre through successive literary periods and in different countries. The example we shall use is the figure of Odysseus / Ulysses in epic writing and film from Homer to the turn of the 21st century. We shall consider how this figure has changed, and focus on specific episodes of Homer’s original epic poem.

Homer, The Odyssey (read in particular Book 1 and the episode of the Cyclops (in Book 9);

Dante, Inferno (read canto 26, Ulysses);

James Joyce, Ulysses (read the ‘Cyclops’ episode (the 12th, pp. 280-330 in Johnson))

Stanley Kubrick, 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (Film: Please watch this in advance of the seminar)

Some secondary reading on Homer’s Odyssey & the figure of Odysseus/Ulysses

Boitani, Piero, The Shadow of Ulysses: Figures of a Myth, tr. Anita West (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1994). [Has an excellent chapter on Dante's Ulysses]

Doherty, Lillian E., "The Snares of the Odyssey: A Feminist Narratological Reading", in Texts, Ideas, and the Classics: Scholarship, Theory, and Classical Literature, ed. by S. J. Harrison (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 117-133. Foley, John M. (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Epic (Oxford: Blackwell, 2005)

Fowler, Robert (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to Homer (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2004).

Graziosi, Barbara, end Emily Greenwood (eds.), Homer in the Twentieth-Century: Between World Literature and the Western Canon (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007).

Jong, Irene de, A Narratological Commentary on the Odyssey (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 2001)

Hall, Edith, The Return of Ulysses: A Cultural History of Homer’s Odyssey (London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2008).

Lane Fox, Robin, Travelling Heroes: Greeks and their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer (London: Allen Lane, 2008)

Manguel, Alberto, Homer’s The Iliad and The Odyssey A Biography (London: Atlantic Books, 2007).

Murnaghan, Sheila, Disguise and Recognition in the Odyssey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1987).

Stanford, W. B. The Ulysses Theme: A Study in the Adaptability of a Traditional Hero (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1963).

Some secondary reading on Kubrick

Bizony, Piers, 2001: Filming the Future (London: Aurum, 1994)

Chion, Michel, Kubrick's Cinema Odyssey. Trans. Claudia Gorbman (London: BFI, 2001)

Ciment, Michel, Kubrick. Trans. Gilbert Adair (New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1983)

Cocks, Geoffrey, James Diedrick, and Glenn Perusek (eds.), Depth of Field: Stanley Kubrick, Film and the Uses of History (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 2006)

Falsetto, Mario, Stanley Kubrick: A Narrative and Stylistic Analysis (Westport, Conn; London: Praeger, 1994)

Falsetto, Mario (ed.), Perspectives on Stanley Kubrick (New York: G.K. Hall; London: Prentice Hall, 1996)

Herr, Michael, Kubrick (New York: Grove Press, 2000)

Kolker, Robert (ed.), Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey: New Essays (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

Nelson, Thomas Allen, Kubrick: Inside a Film Artist's Maze (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1982)

Naremore, James, On Kubrick (London: British Film Institute, 2007)

Rasmussen, Randy, Stanley Kubrick: Seven Films Analyzed (London: McFarland, 2001)

Wheat, Leonard F., Kubrick's 2001: A Triple Allegory (Lanham, MD, and London: Scarecrow Press, 2000)

Some secondary reading on the epic

Bates, Catherine (ed.), The Cambridge Companion to the Epic (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2010)

Beissinger, Margaret, Jane Tylus, and Susanne Wofford (eds.) Epic Traditions in the Contemporary World: The Poetics of Community (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999)

Clarke, M. J., B. G. F. Currie, and R. O. A. M. Lyne (eds.), Epic Interactions: Perspectives on Homer, Virgil, and the Epic Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006)

Danow, David K., Transformation as the Principle of Literary Creation from the Homeric Epic to the Joycean Novel (Lewiston, NY: Edwin Mellen Press, 2004)

Elley, Derek, The Epic Film: Myth and History (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1984)

Foley, John Miles (ed.), A Companion to Ancient Epic (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009)

Hardie, Philip, The Epic Successors of Virgil: A Study in the Dynamics of a Tradition (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993)

Hainsworth, J. B., The Idea of Epic (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991)

Hurst, Isobel, Victorian Women Writers and the Classics: The Feminine of Homer (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2006)

King, Katherine Callen, Ancient Epic (Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, 2009)

Konstan, David and Kurt A. Raaflaub, eds., Epic and History (Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010)

Merchant, Paul: The Epic (London: Methuen, 1971)

Miller, Dean A., The Epic Hero (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000)

Johns-Putta, Adeline, The History of the Epic (Basingstoke and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2006)

Newman, John Kevin, The Classical Epic Tradition (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1986)

Quint, David, Epic and Empire: Politics and Generic Form from Virgil to Milton (Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press, 1993).

Roisman, Hanna M., and Joseph Roisman (eds.), Essays on Homeric Epic (Waterville, ME: Colby College, 2002)

Toohey, Peter, Reading Epic: An Introduction to the Ancient Narratives (London : Routledge, 1992)

Tucker, Herbert F., Epic: Britain's Heroic Muse 1790-1910 (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2008)

Winnifrith, Tom, Penelope Murray and K.W. Gransden, eds., Aspects of the Epic (London: Macmillan, 1983)

Some secondary reading on Ulysses

Guidebooks: (These classic ‘guidebooks’ can supplement the annotations in your edition of Ulysses.)

Don Gifford, Ulysses Annotated (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1988) Weldon Thornton, Allusions in Ulysses: An Annotated List (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1968) Harry Blamires, The New Bloomsday Book (London: Routledge, 1996)

Some suggested criticism on Ulysses

(This is a small selection of Joycean criticism, from useful collections of essays (Attridge, Latham, Hart and Hayman), to critics who read language and narrative very closely (Kenner, Senn), to works on the Homeric in Ulysses (Flack, Kenner, Seidel), to a few examples of studies which read Joyce through theoretical, historical, comparative, and postcolonial approaches.)

Derek Attridge, ed., The Cambridge Companion to James Joyce (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990) — ed., James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’: A Casebook (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004) Scarlett Baron, ‘Strandentwining Cable’: Joyce, Flaubert, and Intertextuality (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012) Frank Budgen, James Joyce and The Making of ‘Ulysses’ (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1961) Vincent J. Cheng, Joyce, Race and Empire (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995) Leah Culligan Flack, Modernism and Homer: The Odysseys of H.D., James Joyce, Osip Mandelstam, and Ezra Pound (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015) Clive Hart and David Hayman, eds., James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’: Critical Essays (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1974) Hugh Kenner, Joyce’s Voices (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press, 1978) — ‘Ulysses’ (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1980) Sean Latham, ed., The Cambridge Companion to ‘Ulysses’ (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2014) Karen Lawrence, The Odyssey of Style in ‘Ulysses’ (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1981) Andrew J. Mitchell and Sam Slote, eds., Derrida and Joyce: Texts and Contexts, ed. (Albany: State University of New York Press, 2013) Katherine Mullin, James Joyce, Sexuality and Social Purity (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003) Michael Seidel, Epic Geography: James Joyce’s ‘Ulysses’ (Princeton and Guilford: Princeton University Press, 1976) Fritz Senn, Inductive Scrutinies: Focus on Joyce, ed. Christine O’Neill (Dublin: Lilliput, 1995) — Joyce’s Dislocutions: Essays on Reading as Translation, ed. John Paul Riquelme (Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984)

Online searchable concordance of Ulysses (e.g. if you can’t remember where the renowned Irish hero ‘Napoleon Bonaparte’ is mentioned, type it into a ‘string search’ and untick ‘whole word’) http://joyceconcordance.andreamoro.net/

Ulysses Synopsis

Ulysses: A Synopsis “Telemachia” 1 - “Telemachus” (Oxford World’s Classics, ed. J. Johnson, pp. 3-23 / Penguin, ed. D. Kiberd, pp. 1-28)- The chapter opens with Buck Mulligan celebrating a parodic mass in which Stephen Dedalus becomes an acolyte in spite of himself. Stephen is a melancholy artist obsessed with guilt since the death of his mother; his taciturn nature is contrasted with Mulligan’s clownish joviality. The Englishman Haines, their guest in the Martello Tower, combines seriousness with an enthusiasm for Gaelic culture; the three characters illustrate three possible positions in relation to Ireland, which is symbolised by the old peasant woman who brings in the milk: the dispossessed Son (Stephen), the treacherous usurper (Mulligan); the representant of English imperialism (Haines) who - through his dream of the panther, traditionally a symbol of Christ - is also associated by Stephen with the imperialism of the Roman Catholic Church. Stephen chooses errancy and exile: he gives over his key and will not come back. 2- “Nestor” (OWC 24-36 / Penguin 28-45)- Stephen teaches history and English Literature to a class of well-off schoolchildren who are disconcerted by his caustic humour and riddles. He confronts Mr Deasy (Nestor in Homer’s Odyssey) on Irish history and economics. The old headmaster cherishes his inaccurate reminiscences and promotes thrift, whereas Stephen squanders away the little money he has. Stephen views history as a nightmare. Despite the antagonism, Stephen agrees to help Mr Deasy is his fight against the foot and mouth disease which affects Irish cattle by helping him to publish a letter in the press. 3 - “Proteus” (37-50/45-64)- Stephen’s philosophical and aesthetic meditations lead him to question the reality of the outside world. Through a complex philosophical argument which hesitates between Aristotle and Berkeley, he redefines for himself the nature of visual and auditory perception. His literary recollections blend with the painful evocation of his past, especially the unsuccessful exile in Paris from which a telegram announcing his mother’s death recalled him. The sterility of Stephen’s “creations” in this chapter (which include urinating and depositing a snot on a ledge of rock [cf. Bloom’s own excremental “creation” in “Calypso”]) is pitted against the remarkable metamorphic poetic prose of the narrative and of Stephen’s stream of consciousness. Odyssey 4 - “Calypso” (53-67/64-85)- Leopold Bloom, who will increasingly become the major protagonist, is introduced in his home at 7 Eccles Street and is first seen preparing breakfast for himself and his wife Molly, who is still in bed. He goes out in search of a pork kidney at a Jewish butcher’s, where he picks up a leaflet advertising plantations in Palestine (inaugurating the theme of the lost, promised land, and of the “recall”). He brings Molly her mail, which includes a letter from Boylan, her future lover later in the day, announcing his visit. He explains to Molly the meaning of metempsychosis; the chapter ends with his defecation in the outhouse, mingled with his remarks on cheap literature. 5 - “The Lotus Eaters”(68-83/85-107) - Bloom has left his house for what will become the epic wanderings of an untypical literary hero, on an ordinary Dublin day - 16 June 1904. He first goes to fetch the reply, sent post restante, from his unknown penfriend Martha Clifford, to whom he sends amorous letters signed “Henry Flower”. He runs into several acquaintances on the way, unwittingly “throws away” a tip for the horse races (the source of a later misunderstanding), and eventually goes to the public baths. Throughout the chapter, drugs of all kinds (perfumes, tobacco, medicine, eroticism, religion, etc.) express a voluptuous narcissistic abandonment to the world of the senses. 6 - “Hades” (84-111/107-147)- Bloom goes to Paddy Dignam’s funeral together with Simon Dedalus (Stephen’s father) and other characters already seen in Dubliners. The conversation soon takes on a malevolent anti-Semitic tone which puts Bloom ill at ease. He thinks of death, remembering both his father’s suicide and the death of his son when he was only eleven days old. Bloom catches his first sign of Stephen (who does not see him). 7 - “Aeolus” (112-143/147-189)- Broken down into a series of newspaper articles complete with headings, this episode brings together, in different scenes and locations of the newspaper office, Bloom, Stephen, various “windbags” including Myles Crawford, the king of windy and hollow journalistic rhetoric. The orators outdo one another in eloquence and the parable of the captive Jews provides the Irish with a mythical model. Stephen narrates a story illustrative of the paralysis of his fellow Dubliners which nobody pays attention to, while Bloom the ad canvasser gets severely ticked off by Myles Crawford. 8 - “Lestrygonians” (144-175/190-234)- The “food chapter”: Bloom is obsessed with food (it is between 1pm and 2pm) and alimentary thoughts, and tastes and smells of all kinds percolate through into the language and style of the episode (the rhythm of the chapter is dictated by the “peristaltic” [digestive] movement of the organism). Put off by the monstrous devouring mouths in the restaurant and obsessed by the impending encounter between Molly and Boylan, he finally orders a Gorgonzola sandwich and a glass of Burgundy wine at Davy Byrne’s pub. 9 - “Scylla and Charybdis” (176-209/235-280)- In the National Library, Stephen spins out his Aristotelian theory of artistic creation which boils down to a sublimated autobiography; his paradoxes on Shakespeare’s life and works fail to convince his Platonist audience. In the complex reasoning of the young artist, Shakespeare becomes like a god who begets himself through his works. Bloom puts in an appearance; Mulligan meets up with Stephen and offers a more burlesque conclusion to the philological / theological debate. 10 - “Wandering Rocks” (210-244/280-328)- This chapter is a pause in the narrative of Stephen’s and Bloom’s day, and it has no precise correspondence in Homer’s Odyssey. This central and “pedestrian” chapter is made up of 19 episodes which offer vignettes and snapshots of the various characters and cross-sections of the Irish capital and society, including Church (Father Conmee) and State (the Viceroy’s cavalcade); the chapter breaks down the so far focalised point of view. Stephen and Bloom appear only briefly and are not mentioned among the witnesses of the Viceroy’s cavalcade through the city. 11 - “Sirens” (245-279/328-376)- The language of this chapter aspires to the condition of music and forges linguistic equivalents to trills, staccatos, counterpoints, etc. The venue is the Ormond Bar, run by two flashy barmaids or “sirens”; while the tenors are busy competing against each other in a virile singing contest, Bloom listens and replies to Martha. Having eluded the seductive snares of music, he exits, leaving behind an ironic fart. 12 - “Cyclops” (280-330/376-449)- A satire against the bellicose patriotism and anti-Semitism of the Citizen, the “Cyclops” who eventually attacks Bloom physically, the chapter oscillates between the Citizen’s rhetorical bombast and sarcastic deflations which leave unscathed neither the British Empire nor Irish nationalism, while the anonymous narrator - a sardonic barfly and debt collector - offers a brilliant instance of Dubliners’ garrulity. The narrative is periodically interrupted by parodic asides in other voices and styles. Bloom the wandering Jew, who had come to Barney Kiernan’s pub to arrange to offer some money to Paddy Dignam’s widow, finds himself involved in an argument about nationalism and attempts to expound his conception of humanity, love and homeland. At the end, his escape from the Citizen’s assault is turned into a grandiloquent apotheosis. 13 - “Nausicaa” (331-365/449-499)- Bloom rests on the Sandymount rocks (Stephen in “Proteus” had also walked along Sandymount beach) and gazes at young girls in their bloom. One of them, Gerty MacDowell, teases him into an erection by an increasingly daring exhibitionistic pose; the distant eroticism ends with Bloom’s masturbation, climaxing with fireworks. The narrating voice is that of a writer of the romantic pulp fiction then fed to women - the kind of books read by Gerty, who accordingly sees in Bloom a mysterious “dark stranger”. When the point of view shifts to Bloom, we see Gerty depart limping; Bloom dozes off in postmasturbatory gratitude. The accelerated crescendo of the first “tumescent” part is followed by the exhausted sobriety of the second, “detumescent” half. 14 - “Oxen of the Sun” (366-407/499-561)- Bloom’s and Stephen’s paths cross once more in the lying-in hospital, amidst roistering medics. The chapter takes us through a roughly chronologised pastiche of the different styles of the English language until the turn of the century, deceptively mimicking the evolution of the foetus until its birth. The painful delivery of Mina Purefoy takes on a universal value and, although the talk ominously focuses on sterility and contraception, a thunderclap and a rain shower at the moment of birth symbolise the triumph of fertility. 15 - “Circe” (408-565/561-703)- Blooms monitors from a distance Stephen’s drunken escapade to the red-light district, and follows him into the hallucinatory atmosphere of Bella Cohen’s brothel (Circe’s den in the Homeric parallel). The characters experience metamorphoses in a wild oneiric dramatisation of their fantasies, obsessions and senses of guilt. Stephen gets involved in a broil with two English soldiers and is knocked out cold; Bloom rescues him and transforms him into the ambiguous vision of his dead son Rudy. “Nostos” [=homecoming] 16 - “Eumaeus” (569-618/704-766)- Bloom leads Stephen to the cabman’s shelter, and the shared physical exhaustion (it is past midnight) and the unreliable narrator turn the chapter into an amusing, if often tedious, collection of deliberately jaded linguistic stereotypes, full of misunderstandings and approximations. 17 - “Ithaca” (619-689/766-871)- This impersonal catechism narrates the last actions of the novel: Bloom takes Stephen to 7 Eccles Street and offers him hot chocolate, they exchange views of Irish and Jewish culture, Stephen refuses Bloom’s offer of a bed for the night, they urinate together under the stars, and Stephen finally departs into the night. Bloom, back in the house, finds traces of Molly’s visitor earlier in the day, goes to bed, where he finds other traces of the visitor’s earlier presence, gives Molly an expurgated account of his day, and finally falls asleep, his head to her feet. The dialogic play between questions and answers universalises all the themes, sorts out human knowledge into vast catalogues, and finally transform the couple in bed into astral bodies. 18 - “Penelope” (690-732/871-933)- Molly’s thoughts flow freely along eight unpunctuated, meandering sentences. She begins with a reaction to Bloom’s request that she make breakfast in the morning, continuous with a celebration of her afternoon with Boylan, proceeds to review her marriage, her girlhood on Gibraltar, her infatuations and dreams of future romances, and finally returns to Bloom, seemingly reinstated into her imaginary life; this is one of the meanings of her numerous final “yesses”, also an affirmation of life itself.

Additional suggestions on Joyce's Ulysses/ Odysseus

Some of the texts through which Joyce reads and receives the figure of Odysseus/ Ulysses

Bérard, Victor, Les Phéniciens et l'Odyssée [originally published in 1902-03, there are no English translations that I know of; but you can find a lot about it, and Joyce's use of it in the book by Seidel, listed below; Bérard held the view that the Odyssey was "written" by a Greek poet, but recorded the travels of Phoenician sailors - the Phoenicians were a semitic people, which is relevant when you think that Leopold Bloom (Joyce's Ulysses figure) is a Jew]

Butler, Samuel, The Authoress of the Odyssey: Where and when she wrote, who she was, the use she made of the Iliad, and how the poem grew under her hands [originally published in 1897; Butler also transalted the Iliad and the Odyssey. There are various editions, including a cheap Kindle version; and it is in the library. Butler suggests that the Odyssey takes place in the island of Sicily, around the port city of Trapani, and that it is narrated by princess Nausicaa. The relevance to Joyce's book, which set on an island in and around the port city of Dublin, and whose final words are narrated by a woman, is evident.]

Lamb, Charles, The Adventures of Ulysses [originally published in 1808, there are various editions in print, and a free Kindle version. The book really is about the adventures and was meant as a book for boys, not as a full tranlation or account of the entire Odyssey. Joyce read this as child and wrote an essay at school about it!]

See also:

Seidel, Michael, Epic Geography: James Joyce's Ulysses (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1976) [not a book consulted by Joyce - of course! - but it looks at parallels between the geography of the Odyssey and of Ulysses and the movements of the characters, and relies extensively on Bérard's Les Phéniciens et l'Odyssée]

#Studies in Comparative Literature and Criticism

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carewyncromwell · 4 years

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“Good evening, everyone. I hope that your holiday season is appropriately merry. I am called Bartholomew, or Bat, Varney, and this is my singular favorite part of the entire year. As she is aware of this, my mundane has given me special access to her ‘Askbox,’ so that I may interact, educate, and debate with all of you about subjects involving this most wondrous time of year. I was raised in the later half of the 18th century and I’ve also lived through what my mundane calls the ‘Hogwarts Legacy’ and ‘Fantastic Beasts’ timelines, or the 19th century and early 20th century...and, courtesy of my mundane, I’ve been also given access to the fourth wall so that I can discuss things that came later, as well, as long as they involve Christmas.”

‘I must say, as much as I still don’t understand about my mundane and this communication method of hers, discussing Christmas traditions of the future is incredibly appealing.’

“For more such Christmas content, my mundane says you may consult the ‘Bat Comments on Christmas!’ tag...and naturally, she encourages you to send in those Christmas-related owls my way.

“Today’s topic of discussion is one of Christmas’s most central traditions -- caroling.

“Now of course, holiday songs are as old as holidays themselves, so there was naturally plenty of music centering around Christ and his birth from the start -- generally hymns, which were written in Latin and meant to be sung in church, whether on Christmas or not. But since Christmas was always split into both secular and non-secular traditions, there were also less formal songs that people sang outside of church as well. The first written carols of this sort that we know of originated during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I -- in fact, one of the most popular Christmas songs we know of today, ‘What Child is This?’, uses the tune of the song ‘Greensleeves,’ which was written at that time.

“Christmas caroling on people’s doorsteps -- much like Halloween’s ‘trick-or-treating’ tradition -- was inspired by a custom from older winter holidays where poor people would go door to door in wintertime, singing vaguely threatening songs to beg the houses’ rich owners for food, lodging, and/or money. As time went on, that tradition was called ‘wassailing,’ after a hot spiced beverage called wassail, which I suppose would be comparable to eggnog today. Caroling became more mainstream once people took to writing the songs down and printing copies in the 16th and 17th century -- even though there was a significant span of time in England when caroling was banned, thanks to the efforts of Oliver Cromwell and the Puritan-led Parliament. Even with the ban, though, the singing of carols persisted. Christmas caroling in organized groups really took off with Christmas’s rebirth in the 19th century. Thanks in part to a rather popular novel by Charles Dickens -- which was, appropriately enough, called A Christmas Carol -- the holiday that was once a bawdy outdoor festival was rebranded as a time for togetherness, love, peace, and giving to the needy...and caroling cheery songs door-to-door with others for pay fit perfectly with that theme. More song books were published, compiling many traditional Christmas songs together specifically for caroling.

“Now then...shall we discuss some individual Christmas songs? I suppose I can always start with a few of my favorites, from over the years...and, perhaps, you all can contribute others for me to discuss as well, if you so desire.

“‘Hark! How All the Welkin Rings’ is a song I learned in my childhood from my mother. The version I grew up with was originally written in 1739 under the name ‘a Hymn for Christmas-Day,’ by Charles Welsey -- over the years, the lyrics and melody were modified and transformed into what you all may know as ‘Hark! The Herald Angels Sing.’

“‘The World Turned Upside Down,’ as I’ve mentioned previously, centers around the time that Christmas was banned in England. Interestingly one could easily compare its structure to that of traditional sea shanties, as it’s a rather repetitive cluster of notes that always ends with an identical line that everyone can sing along to, even if they don’t know the rest of the words.

“‘Joy to the World’ is based largely off of psalm 98 of the Christian Bible. Its first musical variation was published in 1719, though the tune used today is from an slightly more recent version from 1848. From what I understand, the popularity of that second version has only increased exponentially, over time.

“‘O Holy Night’ was originally written in French in the mid-1800′s as ‘Cantique de Noël.’ It was based off a poem called ‘Midnight, Christians.’ It’s also a favorite of my esteemed friends, Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel.

“‘The Santa Claus Express’ sadly did not take off the way other Christmas songs have, from what I gather, but it without fail always reminds me of my close associate Grim. @cursebreakerfarrier Trains have been closely associated with Christmas at least since the 1860s when the first wooden toy trains were made, but they only became more popular with the invention of the first electric toy trains at the very beginning of the 20th century. It’s little wonder that since then model train sets became popular gifts and that -- likewise -- trains now spark a lot of nostalgia for both childhood and Christmas in a lot of people. I suppose that’s why one of my mundanes’ favorite Christmas-themed moving pictures, The Polar Express, focuses around a train that travels to the North Pole.

“‘Winter Wonderland’ is the newest of these songs, as it was written in 1934, but from what I understand, it’s become very well-beloved over time. One story I’ve heard is that its writer had been in treatment for tuberculosis when he wrote its lyrics, taking inspiration from his memory of New York City’s snow-capped Central Park. I must confess that I always enjoy ‘echoing’ each line until it comes to the chorus whenever I hear it -- you know, ‘Sleigh bells ring (sleigh bells ring) -- are you listening? (Are you listening?)’ Violet and Bertie @that-ravenpuff-witch tend to do the same thing, whenever either of them are in my earshot and the song starts playing.”

#bat comments on christmas!#christmas #bartholomew varney #roleplaying #lol recycled art #music #my favorite carols also include 'i'll be home for christmas' 'once in royal david's city' and 'ding dong merrily on high' among others #the santa claus express I found on a whim and yeah it made me giggle #it's SO 30's #and yeah I do that thing with winter wonderland constantly #that particular recording plays at disney's california adventure during the holidays so i associate it closely with work!#geezus do I miss the parks!! ;-;

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lilikags · 4 years

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When Mom Tricks Come Handy

ೃ‧₊› a b o u t t h i s p o s t° ➮ Pairing: Kenma Kozume x fem! reader ➮ Series: Back to Me ➮ Tags: fluff, royal au, reincarnation au ➮ Part: 6 ➮ Word Count: 2962

--Your POV--

This was just like a job interview. You were dressed up in something nice, and you came prepared to show yourself off to your "employer". Of course, this would obviously last much longer than a job interview, but you could just think of it as an extended one. It was just about the same nervousness, the same confidence you had when you applied for a job during your third year of high school.

The moment you entered the room where you met the Queen, most of the confidence hid away somewhere in you and humbleness stepped forward in its place, sitting on top of your feelings of nervousness's lap. You looked down at the marble freshly polished floor, the carefully painted ceiling, the intricately carved patterns on the walls...

"It's a pleasure to see you, Lady (l/n)," her majesty started off. She had entered the room without you knowing, which startled you. Oh gosh, I need to start paying more attention to my surroundings. "Ah, yes, it's quite a pleasure to see you as well, your majesty," you greeted the empress along with a small curtsy. Her majesty always started with light greetings, promptly followed by a short and straightforward talk. You had talked to her a few times before, and she was definitely an intense person. "As you know, if we are on the same page, I have called you here to give you the details of the first test," she started, and you nodded. "I will have you manage the Archon Palace in the North for an entire month. I will visit you every so often, so please be prepared to greet me. You are to be assessed based on your skills in managing the palace both during events and on a daily basis. I have an informant who will inform me of the details. Your test will start when you arrive at the palace and end exactly a month after. That is all."

You quickly thanked the queen and curtsied, then was escorted out of the room by a servant, who led you to your carriage. You were going home to pack your things and get ready for the test. You hopped into the carriage and sighed, thinking about what you were going to do.

The test was like an open notebook test, used to only assess the application of the knowledge studied. You were definitely nervous; you had never done anything on this scale and it was very new to you. Your mother managed all the household affairs for you, since you had quit studying it a long time ago. But you did manage to go over it over the last few months of cramming, and you could probably relate it to some skills you saw at night.

The (y/n) in your dreams had at least basic skills to survive on her own. Of course, she was taught how to cook and clean and make the place all tidy and presentable. Well, you figured you would use those tips later when you managed the castle, so you wrote down a list of what you could remember and placed it with some other important documents you planned on bringing.

You wanted to pack your things yourself. There was just something special about it; perhaps it gave you the right temporary goodbye to your home that you needed. Or maybe you just wanted to do it because that girl always did it herself, but this is what you wanted to do and you were going to do it. It was definitely weird though, in other people's eyes. Anyone of your status would just tell their servants to get the things they needed and get on their way, unless they were hiding something. Well, you guessed you were hiding something, but it wasn't even in the baggage anyways.

You bid your parents a short goodbye as you left for the northern palace, and you slept to the bumps of the road as you made your way there. As soon as you arrived at the palace, you really knew it was really meant to be a long assessment, not some 10-minute pop quiz. The place was a mess- well, it still functioned, but it was still a mess. There was not an ounce of organization to be seen and you instantly wondered who had been in charge of the place before you arrived.

You were escorted to your room; it was actually quite nice. After all, this was a palace. It was made for the royal family, who always lived in such luxury. It was clean enough; the place looked clean and simple, with it just being very clean. That was one thing you liked about this palace, it was clean. There was no dust laying around, no rodents running around, no random stuff sitting around. It was clean and simple, in contrast to the elaborate paintings on the walls and ceilings; you'd have to fix that.

After taking the day to settle in, you familiarized yourself with the place and the staff. You had one of the butlers show you around, taking you to every place on the map you wished to see. It kinda felt like busy work, but it's not like you could back down now. All that cramming was for this, so you were going to do it. You attempted to speak to the staff, have a nice conversation with them, but nobody bothered to answer respectfully. They gave the shortest answers possible and continued working while you were talking to them. Well, they must be dedicated to their job- or perhaps they were told to act this way, who knows.

At the end of the day, the place was still pretty new to you, but it didn't feel completely foreign anymore. You were able to assess the situation, and in the morning, you'd tell them what they needed to fix up on- and it was a lot.

The next morning, you got up as the sun rose and you changed into something you had brought from home. It wasn't too fancy, but still presentable enough for the staff. Honestly, you wanted to wear (your comfort clothes) but you had appearances to keep up. Anyways, after getting ready, you headed towards your new office space. It was pretty nice, you had to say- especially the chair. It was comfier than any of the chairs you had at home, which was awesome. You then wrote out your entire script for what you were going to say to them. You weren't always up for "public speaking", but you were in the mood to get things done, so you were going to get things done. Simple as that.

Then, you decided to set up your simple system. Yes, you were going to make a system for these employees. Having good employees was one thing, but managing them was another. If you have good employees, but no organization, no sense of community, everything's going to be all over the place and nothing will get done. Well, that's what managers are for, right?

You ordered for the things that needed to be brought to be brought and called all of the servants over. You held your short script that you had made earlier this morning and took a deep breath as everyone piled in.

"Good morning, everyone. I have called this meeting to inform you of the new changes, which will start in three days, as I have supplies that need to be sent here. Now, as I was walking around the palace, I noticed many things about organization that need to be addressed immediately. I understand that it is very different than what you have been previously doing, and I hope you understand how this makes the process of doing your work much more manageable and efficient," you started. You looked at the faces of the servants. Some of them were intrigued, others looking away and not caring at all.

"First of all, I would like to address some of the organization issues you have here. Everything is all over the place, so I would like you to organize them. First, keep things in one place. Every time something is used, it is to be put back in the same place when it is finished being used. Next, I would like to invest in making the storage rooms much nicer. I saw them yesterday, and they are horrendous. I have just ordered some baskets; use them to organize the items in the storage rooms. Label them as well, so that everyone knows what basket is for which items. I will have Cain (the butler) handle the baskets," you explained, knowing this seemed pretty new to them. No one was particularly happy, as things were changing to something a bit different, and that was expected. As long as they did their job properly and followed the rules, everything would be fine.

"Next, I would like to introduce a new system. By my office, there will be a large board, where you can sign up for the tasks that need to be done that day. There will not be a set number of tasks you need to complete, but you must all complete everything by the day. I will also assign a leader to each group of servants, who will write me a report every 3 days on the work everyone has been doing. It does not need to be long, but make it a bit detailed; it just helps me make sure everything has been done well." You heard some sighs, and you knew full well it was more work for them, but you couldn't be going around all day and staring at them doing their work.

So, you put the system to work, and when the baskets and things arrived, you looked over everything. Honestly, there wasn't much to do then, if all the reports were all good. Well, that gave you time to plan for the decorations for when the queen would come visit, and so you spent your time doing that.

You researched different popular themes for the palace and selected one you thought her highness might like, though it required the place to be clean. There were way too many items in this palace, for sure. Of course, you could throw away many of them, but that would be such a waste. You could already think of uses for many of them. So, you decided to buy more baskets and hide them in plain sight. That way, you could keep them, and her highness wouldn't have a clue. It wouldn't hurt her if she doesn't know.

∞ ₒ ˚ ° 𐐒𐐚 ° ˚ ₒ ∞

Long days, always. Living in this place was lonely. Sure, there were tons of servants around, but you never felt much of a connection with them. You needed someone you trusted, someone you knew and someone who knew you. The first person you thought of was Kenma, but you weren't allowed to correspond with him during this time. The Queen would think you were trying to cheat, even if she read what was inside the letters. After all, you hadn't tried to prepare for years, and suddenly you're trying when you find out you're the prince's soulmate.

You were just about to go to bed. It was about midnight, a bit late, but not really. You were tired from dealing with all the servants; there was a huge fuss about a maid breaking an expensive vase. All of them in the room pointed fingers at each other, and after listening to everyone's stories, it was so clear that everyone was lying about something. No one's story matched up with the another's, so obviously everyone was twisting it for their own sake. You decided that you didn't like any of the girls in the group and seriously considered just firing the whole lot of them and hiring new ones. Well, in the end, you just let it all go with a warning. All that was really damaged was the vase; that could definitely be replaced. It wasn't like your budget was too tight; actually it was quite good. The only thing that concerned you was their attitude. These people really need to understand that they can be replaced...

It was about 4 in the morning when you woke up. Cain, the head butler, was literally the only one considerate and pleasant enough to talk to, but he really had to wake you up at 4 in the morning. You only had about 4 hours of sleep; your brain was still taking a vacation and it was truly difficult to force it back out.

As you exited your room in your nightgown, as it was still the middle of the night, you saw Alania, one of the better maids, with a candle outside the door. She led you to the office, where Cain was waiting.

"I apologize for interrupting your rest, Lady (l/n), but her highness has arrived. Please get ready to greet her," Cain explained. "I-" you said in surprise. "Thank you for telling me. I shall prepare right away."

Your brain flew back to your brain, luckily, and you were pretty alert now. Your gait quickened, as your thoughts raced through your mind. You ordered for the place to be quickly prettied up; there were still a few things that shouldn't be left in the open, and you told them to hold small things in baskets which were placed as decoration and large things in the storage rooms. It didn't need to be neat; the place just needed to be presentable.

As the place was being fixed up, you had yourself fixed up. It was much harder in the night, but Alania was skilled and made you look presentable in a matter of minutes. Since you were finished before some parts of the palace were cleaned up, you decided to keep her highness in the cleaner parts as the other parts not yet fully fixed up were worked on.

So, you went to greet her highness at the front of the palace and welcomed her. You apologized for being a few minutes late, though that really wasn't too uncommon. Nonetheless, you were just being respectful. You led her to a waiting room, where you talked and had some tea. You wondered when you could go back to getting your sleep, but it's not like you could leave her highness by herself; that would be extremely rude in this society. Casual did not exist, and that was such a shame.

After a while, her highness decided to retire for the night, and you had a room prepared for her. You led her to her room, then once she had closed her door, you started back to your room. It started as a walk, but as the desire to just get back in bed increased, it turned into a faster walk to a run. You sped up the stairs into your room, where Alania had been waiting for you.

You sighed as you slowed down, getting into a chair so that Alania could take off your makeup and accessories for you. They were so fancy you didn't even know how they worked, so you just let her. She got them off in no time and you changed into your pajamas as soon as they were off and flopped onto your bed. You were very tired by this time, and you instantly fell asleep as soon as you got comfortable.

The next morning, you weren't awoken by anyone. You expected someone to inform you that her highness was awake, but you figured she wasn't awake either. She probably didn't get any sleep until she got to the palace, so it made sense.

Alania knocked on your room when she came by a few minutes later, suggesting a dress for you to wear. You had instructed her to get you whatever dress for you to wear for the time you were in this palace, and she was great at it. You changed into the dress and had her fix up your hair and add on some accessories. Once you were all ready to go, you closed your bedroom door and started to the dining hall.

As you sat at the table, you realized it would be rude to eat without her highness, so you decided to wait as you read a novel you had brought with you, just in case you needed it. It would help pass the time, and it could be used as a conversation starter.

After some time, you heard the steps of a pair of heels entering the room, and her highness appeared. You greeted her as she sat across from you, and breakfast was served. You had small talk with her, making sure to always be respectful. Since you were asked, you showed her around the palace and told her some stories of things that you had to take care of. Gossip was always something women in high society talked about, even the Queen herself.

∞ ₒ ˚ ° 𐐒𐐚 ° ˚ ₒ ∞

You shuffled around the place, bidding your goodbyes to everyone as you hopped into your ride home. It has been a long month... and it was time to go home. You wondered about your results; they'd be released in a couple of weeks. You stared out the window, falling asleep on your way home.

『••✎••』 Extra Info * ˚ ✦ ⇢ If you haven’t read the other parts, find them here!

A/N: Hey guys! It's been a while haha. I actually made it longer than I thought I would. Honestly I rushed the ending a bit bc I'm lAzY but eh whatever welp I'll see you next time and that's hopefully soon! Love y'all! <3333

#kenma kozume #kenma kozume x reader #lili kags #kenma x reader #haikyuu x reader

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fls8729 · 3 years

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Biden shows little desire to reverse Trump's Cuba policies

The Biden administration’s first major move on Cuba is the strongest signal yet it has little appetite to reverse Trump-era policies toward the island nation.

The State Department this past week listed Cuba as among those “not cooperating fully with United States antiterrorism efforts,” renewing a determination first made in 2020.

For those in favor of normalizing U.S. ties with Cuba, the move was seen as a purely political decision, but one that suggests the Biden administration may continue with the hardline approach taken by former President Trump.

“It’s a political determination, and a signal they’re trying to give the right wing that they’re going to stick with the status quo,” said Fulton Armstrong, an American University professor and director of Inter-American Affairs at the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.

“These determinations are B-O-G-U-S,” he added, criticizing the State Department for offering little insight into what factored into its decision.

The determination was made under the Arms Export Control Act, which requires a report every May listing countries barred from defense exports and sales with the U.S. Obama had removed Cuba from the list in 2015.

But the statute is also one of the three laws weighed when adding countries to the state sponsors of terrorism list — something Trump added Cuba to in the final days of his presidency.

While the Biden team has pledged to review Trump’s state sponsor of terror listing, White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters in March that “a Cuba policy shift is not currently among President Biden’s top priorities.”

To Cubans, the latest determination looks like a continuation of the Trump era.

“The U.S. changed presidents, but it’s more of the same,” Alejandro Gil Fernández, Cuba’s deputy prime minister and top economic policy minister, wrote on Twitter.

The State Department said the decision was made after “a review of a country's overall level of cooperation in our efforts to fight terrorism, taking into account our counterterrorism objectives with that country, and a realistic assessment of its capabilities.”

Iran, North Korea, Syria and Venezuela are among the other countries on the list.

The decision earned praise from Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has blasted Cuba for remaining close with Venezuela. He called the move “a positive step that follows four productive years of the Trump Administration’s efforts to end Havana’s destructive and destabilizing efforts.”

But others see little fodder for the determination beyond Cuba agreeing to let Colombian National Liberation Army members stay in the country after negotiations it hosted on behalf of the nation in 2018 fell apart, and the Colombian government refused safe passage for the group to return.

“It's hard to have cooperation on counterterrorism or anything else if you're not talking with one another,” Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) a longtime proponent of normalizing ties with Cuba, told The Hill, noting the limited diplomatic relations between the two countries.

“And it's hard to get cooperation when the United States has not moved forward with any kind of genuine reengagement with Cuba,” he added.

The hesitancy to do anything similar to the Obama-era thawing of Cuban relations follows significant losses for Democrats in Florida. Trump won the state in November, while Democrats also lost two South Florida districts in an election that underscored the party’s struggles to win over more Latino voters.

The designation is the latest move from an administration that has publicly sought to distance itself from the Obama administration — not its predecessor — when it comes to Cuba.

“Joe Biden is not Barack Obama on policy toward Cuba,” Juan Gonzalez, senior director for the Western Hemisphere at the National Security Council, told CNN en Español in April.

Geoff Thale, president of the Washington Office on Latin America, described Cuba and Venezuela as the center of the GOP’s successful messaging in Florida before they gained the two House seats in November, including the district encompassing Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood.

“It wasn't really saying, ‘You don't want to end the embargo on Cuba,’ it was a campaign that said ‘Democrats are all socialists and socialism will ruin your life.’ And is that a wild distortion of Democrats’ policies and the Democratic party? Yes, it is. But as a media hit it was fairly effective,” he said.

“The easy answer is to say, ‘We won't do anything about Cuba or Venezuela, and if we do, we’ll do it as quietly as possible,’ ” he said.

But Thale doesn’t think that’s the smart strategy.

“Say ‘We are making challenges in Cuba policy, and those changes actually benefit Cubans in America and their families in Cuba that will overtime lead to greater freedom in Cuba,’ ” he said.

“[Democrats] will probably get painted as socialists no matter what they do, so it seems to me they need to think smarter about what they can do on strategy,” he added.

But some see Biden’s approach toward Cuba as part of a broader strategy of taking a tough stance on other communist countries.

“They are returning to the Cold War with practically everyone — with Russia, with China, with Cuba — and I don’t know that that is very smart right now,” said Carlos Alzugaray, a former Cuban diplomat and ambassador.

“But he won’t admit the Obama option is the only option. Because what other option is there? Continue pressuring the government of Cuba? First, that doesn't get done what you think it gets done,” he said, arguing that Cubans are not going to overthrow their government because of the U.S. embargo, which has been in place in some form since 1958.

“But secondly, it makes the United States look bad. It makes the U.S. look mean and vindictive with a small neighbor.”

Still, not all proponents of normalizing ties are worried the carryover determination means the U.S. policy toward Cuba has been settled.

“I’m choosing to look at this as not that big of a deal,” McGovern said. “My understanding is there is a review going on in the administration of what our Cuba policy should be. And my hope is that if it is done objectively and rationally, he will conclude that we need to reengage.”

But Armstrong said the lack of an appetite to reverse even on the Arms Control Export Act list doesn’t signal an administration seriously considering sweeping change.

Sunday shows preview: Bombing in Kabul delivers blow to evacuation... Hurricane Ida could strengthen to Category 4 before hitting US

At the Cuba Communist Party’s eighth party congress in April, the nation for the first time established a government without a single Castro on its roster. Still, the theme was “continuidad,” a nod to continuity of its plans to slowly loosen the government’s grip on the economy as Raúl Castro stepped down from his post.

“There is more continuidad on Cuba policy in Washington than there is in Havana,” Armstrong said.

“They’ve continued the Trump policy without public debate, without evidence, and without the normal government processes of looking at the facts.”

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ryuukia · 5 years

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[Translation] Tsukiuta. 2nd Anniversary Round-Table Discussion ~Seniors version~

I’m a bit late but, happy birthday Shun! I started to translate this on his birthday but due to this interview being long, I only ended up finishing on 25th. This is an interview published in the AGF version of Tsukiuta Monthly Publication, meaning it’s 6 years old by now.

I should have translated the 1st anniversary interview, but this one really left me in shock. I mean.... SHUN HAS A KINK?????? I’M JUST????? TSUKIPRO?????

Anyway, that’s all I’m going to say for now, I hope I made you curious. Many thanks to Ryota and Chrome for assisting me and helping with the proofreading. Please don’t reuse/retranslate/repost my work. I mean, seriously.

Haru: The 2nd anniversary round-table discussion of the Tsukiuta. series, seniors version is…… starting!

Shun: Wah (claps)♪

Haru: That being said, this year had a lot of chaotic things in store for us, but somehow we managed to reach the second anniversary without any problems. We’re grateful for that, aren’t we?

Hajime: That’s right. Thank you for always supporting us.

Kai: Thank you. We will never forget this feeling of gratitude.

Shun: Ah, I remember it was during last year’s round-table talk… Ever since AGF finished, there were a lot of opportunities to organize different plans and fairs. We managed to expand our merchandise too, didn’t we?

Haru: Well, speaking of big things, we also had a corner with things for our fans, and then Haru no Fan Matsuri1 too……?

Kai: Then Super Comics, the artbook, the summer comics, the collaboration with Karatez-san, then the Full Moon Fair & Full Moon Cafe, and now we’re back to AGF.

Hajime: We had a big event about every two months and in addition to that, our duet CDs were being released monthly. Somehow it feels like we’ve been busy all year round. Good grief.

Haru: Right? But monthly progress is something fitting for Tsukiuta (smiles bitterly). Good job for now.

Kai: Good job~

Hajime: Good work.

Shun: Good work. This round-table discussion gives us the chance to take it easy and look back over what happened this year. Ever since last year’s events it feels like our talk has become a routine.

Hajime: Okay. Then without further delays…. Haru, bring the tea.

Shun: Ye~s. I want some too.

Haru: Really? That’s how we’re starting? (laughs)

Question: “Tell us about a situation that occurred during the production of the duet CDs.”

Kai: ......Well, until our spoiled leaders get their tea, we have our first topic. “A situation that happened during the production of our duet CDs” it says.

Haru: Hmph, hmph.

Kai: Each of us had to prepare two duets at a time, right? The ones Shun and I got were “Kimi ni hana o, kimi ni hoshi o” and “Celestite”.

Haru: Otherwise known as “Hana Hoshi” and “Kuro Ouji2”, right?

Kai: Yeah. “Hana Hoshi” is based on my image, while “Kuro Ouji” is based on......

Shun: Behold☆ My image!

Hajime & Haru: …...Aah (both see the light)

Shun: By the way, since the composers and the listeners both have their own impressions on the songs, the prompter is telling us to talk about some stuff that happened during the photoshoots for the CD jackets.

Haru: Roger (smiles bitterly). So, about those photoshoots…...

Shun: The Hana Hoshi photoshoot was fun. It was done somewhere in the north, on a vast field.

Hajime: Based on that description alone, it must have been cold.

Kai: We actually went there during the summer, so the cold air was pleasant. Underneath a sky covered by stars, we were sitting on a flower bed with bouquets in our hands. It felt so nice…… for us it was very relaxing.

Shun: Fufufu. Because of the shade of my costume, at first glance it looked as if I had a ribbon on my bare chest. That created many confusions, you know?

Hajime: You sound glad about that.

Haru: Above your head was a complete starry sky, and you were holding flowers in your birthday suit (distant look)

Kai: …...You’ve just destroyed my precious memory…...

Hajime: Now that you mention it, I’ve observed since long ago that many of the Procella duets have the word ‘flower’ in their titles. Is there a reason why?

Shun: Fufufu. You have good eyes, Hajime. It's a coincidence I'd like to call ‘fate’!

Kai: That was so blunt (laughs)! But it really was just a ‘coincidence’. Although we all have different producers, these kind of things happen once in a while. I guess you could call it proof of our unity?

Haru: Wow, you’re forcing your own conclusion~ (laughs bitterly)

Hajime: …...Haru, do we have something similar to that?

Haru: Don’t force me to compete with that, leader (laughs). Also, if you think about it, Celestite is not a ‘flower’.

Kai: For that one, we went completely into Shun-sama’s world. Or should I call it the ‘Spirit World’?

Shun: Ahaha, Kai? Do you want a demonstration of my real powers? I’ll show you how hard I worked for the ‘Kuro Ouji’ concept.

Hajime: Indeed, it suited you. Both you, …...and Kai.

Kai: Me too?

Hajime: Yeah, it suited you…...I think. Kai, during TsukiRadio, you did something similar to a Demon Lord, right? The younger kids said you fit that image perfectly. I think so, too.

Shun: Kai’s physical build was perfect for this to begin with. Those black clothes brought a lot of impact to the surface. He was definitely cool-looking.

Kai: Eh, you think so? You two praising me makes me feel a bit embarrassed, but I’m happy. Thanks.

Hajime: On the other hand, we have ‘Koi wasuregusa’ and “Hajimari no haru”.

Haru: Yes.

Kai: I could feel Japanese vibes coming from both of you, and I’m talking about both the titles and the costumes.

Haru: Ahaha. Is it because of Hajime?

Hajime: ? What about me giving off that ‘traditional Japanese’ impression?

Shun: Your entire image is built that way, can’t you see, Hajime? Take your first stage outfit for example, it was heavily inspired by traditional elements.

Hajime: …...I see.

Shun: On the other hand, mine is inspired from the west.

Hajime: Even without you mentioning that, it can be seen that the duet costumes and many other costumes are made based on a western style.

Haru: Maybe the reason why Gravi’s and Procella’s own images are divided into ‘western’ and ‘traditional’ is exactly because of our leaders’ images.

Hajime: Our images...huh.

Kai: Though, the more you look at Koi Wasure, the more luxurious it looks. Are those costumes made from Nishijin silk fabrics3?

Shun: They look that way. I was watching them when the shoot happened, but the real thing looks even more impressive than in the photos. I think someone poured their soul into those outfits, and the final result is only proof of their skills.

Haru: Speaking of effort? On site, everyone was bursting with energy, but that shoot honestly made me all tensed up for the first time in a while. I rarely wear kimonos to begin with…… I mean I probably wore a kimono only for the Shichi-Go-San festival4 in the past and having to wear one again after so long felt like too much of a hurdle for me (smiles bitterly).

Hajime: Haru, has it really been that long since you've worn a kimono?

Haru: Ahaha, Hajime. Most people aren't even fated to wear a kimono in their entire lifetime. I’m one of them. I can’t get used to it, and if it wrinkles or looks dirty even the slightest bit, I become terrified. Not to mention they are also unbelievably expensive. ……Though, I think it might be difficult for Hajime here to understand that.

Kai: I know what you mean. I definitely do, Haru. That common sense is something I agree with on a spiritual level.

Hajime: Hmm……. So that’s how it is.

Shun: We’re quite familiar with household events, aren’t we?

Hajime: Yeah. At each turning point in life, our relatives would gather for events and wearing full formal dress was a custom.

Haru & Kai: (We’re witnessing a conversation between two real young masters)

Hajime: …...Though if you look at the results, I think it suited you well enough, Haru.

Haru: Ooh, my king is bestowing me with words of praise.

Hajime: C’mon, look at this shot, you look like a young playboy husband or like a beguiling king. (chuckles)

Haru: Correction, it wasn’t praise. They randomly started to call me beguiling recently and I keep wondering why, Kai.

Kai: Don’t mind it, Haru (laughs). Well, wasn’t the concept of that jacket cover the ‘bewitching, traditional Japanese rock style’? In that case, the beguiling king concept was a huge success in a way. Good job, Haru.

Haru: Oh, geez.

Kai: Finally, ‘Hajimari no Haru’. You had the same ‘traditional’ theme, but it was the complete opposite of the previous CD and felt more formal. The military uniforms gave a nice, cool feeling.

Haru: Correct. The costumes were made to represent military outfits. You can tell that just by looking (laughs).

Shun: Hajime! This includes Haru as well, but Hajime looked sooo good! It suited you so well, I end up wanting to crawl! I want to go down on all fours and be stepped on by you! I want to see you cast that cold glare onto me!

Kai: …...Shun, Hajime’s backing away slowly. Haru and I, too...

Question: “What event left a strong impression on you?”

Haru: Shall we answer at the same time?

Kai: Ooh, a curve ball was thrown. ‘Kay, let’s do it. I’ll bring the notebooks and markers then. Everyone, write~.

Hajime: I’m done.

Shun: Me too.

Kai: Then, three, two…... one!

Haru: ‘Haru no Fan Matsuri’

Hajime: ‘Haru no Fan Matsuri’

Shun: ‘Full Moon Fair’

Kai: ‘Full Moon Fair’

Haru: Ooh, we got half and half (laughs). My answer is without a doubt ‘Haru no Fan Matsuri’. It has my name in it too, but it’s also because I worked on every special benefit up until the smallest detail.

Hajime: Aah, indeed, like the little bunny plate that came as a bonus or the rubber strap that came with the DVD and stuff. I chose our first independent event because it left an impression. Unfortunately, my schedule didn’t match with it so I was only able to participate via video feed.

Kai: As expected, you went for ‘Haru’ (laughs)? On the other hand, I chose the Full Moon Fair which incidentally ended not long ago~. It was our first nationwide Animate fair, after all. And the Animate storefront even made it on the ‘Kyarabii5’ cover, right? The fact that they were given that important cover space made me so happy.

Haru: It was the first time in a while when all of us were featured in a photo.

Shun: We were so lively (chuckles). In one set we were wearing casual clothes, and in the other yukatas.

Haru: That one also ended up being the cover of the calendar this year.

Kai: The fans’ reaction was more than what we were all expecting, so the staff was left in awe at the power of the yukatas and some hair arrangements.

Haru: Hajime, you also let your hair down, right?

Hajime: You’re the one who messed with my hair. I wish I had done something about that back then.

Haru: Ahaha, that’s true. That was the result of me talking with the hair and make-up artists and how we agreed that not teasing your hair up was better since the yukata was so fitting on you.

Hajime: I admit they complimented my hair, young master.

Shun: Ah, yes, yes. Me too. They said I looked like the prodigal son of a rich family. Kakeru and I happened to be shot side-by-side, and they were saying from all directions that we looked like ‘the apprentice and the prodigal son’. Ahaha.

All of them: (Because that’s exactly how it looked like)

Hajime: Our first solo event, and our first national fair. This year we had a lot of ‘first times’ once again as a series.

Shun: That’s what we would call some of our many progresses. Thank you very much.

Question: “Tell us about other work situations if there are any.”

Shun: This year, a lot of new opportunities arose for me and to top it all off, I’m really, reaaaaally happy that I got to experience being paired in the leaders group. I think it was very fun. (softly)

Kai: The twelve of us look like some kind of family (lol). We barely had space for everyone to fit in at the same time, but even with the limited room by picking out the right camera exposure levels, the two leaders didn't look unnatural. Of course, there's the tiniest bit of post-production as well.

Haru: Wow, that’s a very vivid story you got there!

Shun: Geez, Kai~ I’m trying to be grateful here so please don’t bring up business here.

Kai: Ahaha, my bad, my bad.

Hajime: ……. I’ve been thinking about that too.

Shun: Yes?

Hajime: Your…... ‘that’ thing you do, Shun…...Being my fan I mean. I started to think about it only recently, but half of that thing is a joke, isn’t it? I’m not wrong about that, am I?

Shun: ーーー!?

Kai: Ah, his shock is easy to understand for once.

Haru: It really is. …...I can’t ignore how pitiful Shun looks now so I’ll back him up. Listen Hajime, anyone can tell that Shun's very serious about ‘that thing’, you know?

Hajime: …...Really?

Kai: Yeah. And what I’m about to add might sound strange…… but I can confirm he’s been seriously devoting himself to his fan activities and supporting you since the beginning and until now. From the start he rarely, er, sometimes, no, always was noisy about it, but well, he can be pretty entertaining if you feel like listening to him.

Haru: He never changed (laughs)

Hajime: Is that so……? …...I see. I’m sorry, Shun. Thank you for always supporting me.

Haru: Ah, here’s the heartfelt fan interaction. (laughs)

Shun: ーー!! That "I see" just now! That gives me legal authority to accompany you from now on, right!? In that case there’s no problem! I don’t mind it! It just means I didn’t put my heart enough into it. From now on I'll work hard on my fervor for Hajime so that my love will be conveyed! L O V E Hajime LOVE!! WASSHOI! (grabs Hajime and clings to him)

Hajime: ……

Shun: Hajime~, Hajime~♪ Fufufu no fu (snuggles)

Hajime: ……

Kai: (whispering) Hajime’s definitely trying his best not to send Shun flying across the room.

Haru: (whispering) He’s really putting up with him (laughs). Let’s not forget that apology from earlier. It’s a good thing our leaders are on good terms with each other. A really good thing.

Kai: Right~? The leaders’ work kept increasing, but on the other hand, we are still considered…… uhh, ‘advisers’? We also received more and more jobs in pairs like this one and they’re always fun.

Haru: Ahaha, you’re right.

Hajime: ……

Haru: …...Anyway, I think that’s enough, Shun (laughs bitterly). Our king is a cat after all. You can hug him however much you want, but he won’t get used to it. He’s already turning into stone, so can you release him?

Hajime: Who are you calling a cat, Haru? (sigh)

Kai: You say that but it's so easy to tell that you're relieved (laughs). Good work, Hajime.

Question: “Leave a message for your fans.”

Hajime: It’s been exactly one year since the last AGF. Due to everyone’s support, it feels as if we were able to go a few levels up. Thanks. This is more or less all I wanted to say.

Shun: Fufufu, indeed. The things I want to say as Procella’s leader and the things I want to convey myself, too, are exactly the same as the ones Gravi’s leader, Hajime, just said. …...Thank you, everyone.

Haru: You switched from fan mode to leader mode (laughs).

Kai: I’m always amazed when he does that switch (laughs).

Haru: I think now’s the time for the advisers to show their gratitude too. And we'd be happy to receive your support for more of the merchandise promotions we do together in the future.

Kai: And don’t forget about the youngers either! Their growth is remarkable even from our point of view, so don’t miss out any of that.

Shun: You pulled that off perfectly. As expected from our reliable partners.

Hajime: …...Right? I trust both of them too.

Kai: Ahaha, thanks. Among our unit members, the senior group aspire to be the ‘most steady’. Let’s continue doing things in our comfortable rhythm and without pushing ourselves.

Haru: The younger ones will be able to walk ahead without worries if we build them a solid foundation, won’t they?

Shun: Even more than that, we are both their foundation and their guides. The two of us should pave the path for them, don’t you think so, Hajime? A path everyone would stroll on happily as they head for joyful days.

Hajime: Yeah. …...Indeed. As the ones who walk ahead of everyone, you and me have that role.

Haru: If you two get tired, don’t hesitate to tell us, okay?

Kai: I don’t mind if I’m being relied on even without them being tired.

Hajime: Then I want a second helping.

Kai: Of tea? …..Well, I'll guess I'll pour it for you then (chuckle).

Shun: Me too, me too~.

Haru: I want some too!

Kai: Everyone's taking advantage of me (laughs).......Fine, I get it. I’ll be taking your requests~. Do you want Japanese tea? Black tea? Or coffee?

(And so the end transitioned into a leisurely tea party.)

T/N:

Haru no Fan Matsuri (translated 'The spring fan festival') was an event held back in 2014. The guests were Masuda Toshiki (Kisaragi Koi), Aoi Shota (Minaduki Rui), Kanemoto Hisako (Hijiri Kurisu), Uesaka Sumire (Tendouin Tsubaki), Mamiya Yasuhiro (Kurotsuki Dai) and Yamanaka Masahiro (Tsukishiro Kanade). You can buy the DVD here

Kuro Ouji means 'Black Prince'. Shun reveals in his duet SS that according to the song concept, he's the black (imperial) prince. I'll get to it more when I translate that SS.

The Nishijin silk fabrics are high quality silk fabrics originating from Kyoto.

The Shichi-Go-San Festival (translated 'Seven-Five-Three Festival) is an event held on 15th of November for girls who are 3 or 7 years old and for boys who are 5 years old. On that day they celebrate the growth and well-being of young children.

Kyarabii is a magazine from Japan.

If you like my work and you want to support me, you can now buy me a coffee by clicking right [here]. I also started taking commissions, more details are right [here]. Thank you~

#tsukiuta #2nd anniversary round table discussion #seniors version #mutsuki hajime #shimotsuki shun #yayoi haru #fuduki kai #english translation #tsukiuta monthly publication #interview #agf 2014 #IM STILL SCREAMING #THIS INTREVIEW IS A ROLLER COASTER

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itsakpopalypse · 5 years

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Baron/ Choi Chunghyeop Astrology Ask: How He Loves

“Girl you are killing me with those vav astrology posts!! They're sound so accurate! Please do one for Lou and one for Baron? If you're not too busy and I'm not asking too much? Thank you ❤️ “ - @themoopoint

A/N Hi! thank you for waiting, and I am glad you liked Lou’s. Here is Baron for your enjoyment !! 💕💕😊😊😊😊

this pout omg

Okay!!!

so we see right from the start he has a pretty even split between 3 elements, but only one air sign

that kind of means he is less likely to be wishy washy or too in his own world

will likely be pretty grounded, and that sets the tone for the rest

He leans heavily into cardinal signs, and his big 3 signs to the best of our knowledge, are pretty “dominating” or strong willed signs

we show a Rising Leo, Sun Aries, and Moon Scorpio.

Rising Leo indicates a willingness to be outgoing, eye catching, and interesting

probably really charismatic and funny, could charm the pants off anyone

Aries suns are driven and high spirited, good at conversation, and willing to take risks, innovative and free thinkers

also could be a very direct speaker, doesn’t beat around the bush much

Scorpio moons are so deep and interesting, they have a mysterious sexy air about them that really draws a person in

curious about deeper things, and likes to have meaningful relationships, but can be a bit suspicious.

together, that indicates to me that he is fun loving and interesting, but also a bit reserved with his emotions when you meet him

only one of these signs are very good at communicating their feelings, and all of them have a lot of feelings

that being said, his mercury is in Aries

so he is an incredibly direct communicator

probably very quick witted, independent and really good at starting conversations

the type of person who could befriend a lightpole

probably really good at bringing the mood up in any situation with all that fiery energy

Venus ALSO in Aries so he isn’t shy about initiating a relationship but can be a bit hard to pin down, they just like freedom and boundaries

and that is healthy and totally fine

so charming and funny but it will come off as really authentic and attractive

open minded

His North node, Neptune, and Uranus are all in Capricorn

his moon and pluto are in Scorpio and mars in Pisces,

so he has a lot more “inactive” placements in his chart

this is a really good balance for all those incredibly strong fire signs since those are in really prominent placements

The north node indicates his life focus

in Capricorn he is probably very careful about following through on tasks, cares a lot about the way he presents himself and is very logical before beginning anything

that Pisces Mars means he is motivated to serve others and takes their best interest ahead of his own

Looking at it as a whole, this tells me he would be ardent in his affections, choosing to flirt immediately and if you reciprocate he is unlikely to hesitate

Aries Venus and Sun Know what they want

they want fun but they are also pretty intense

he does have an even split so while his more dominant houses are very “outgoing” signs, he has enough water and earth to neutralize anything that would be too out there on impulse

so in a new meeting he will just immediately seem to care a lot

probably treats you like he does everyone else, with concern and care but also with energy and charm

“Here it’s cold wear this.” and it’s barely chilly but he’s giving you a jacket and you aren’t ??

even sure where he got it from>???

always seems prepared for anything

incredibly thoughtful, with a Jupiter in Virgo so he knows what you need when you need it

and Aries are always so full of this warmth

just want everyone around them to be having as good of a time as them

and always has snacks? why are there snacks?

so like if your stomach growls he’s already stuffing something in your mouth

and then one day he will just text you and tell you he’s coming to your place

and you’re like okay but why ??

and he will walk in with like some bizarre assortment of picnic items and tell you you're building a blanket fort

and when you’re under the blanket he will just smile and say

“this is a great first date”

super nonchalant

and you let the fruit fall out of your hand cause... what????

“huh??”

“yeah, it is right? I know you like me too, so let’s date okay?”

👀👀👀

and from then on you will just hear him refer to you as his S/O

and you’ll get used to it fast.

really

the worlds best boyfriend though

he’s putting little notes around your house on things you’ll use and you’ll find them randomly

“You are beautiful today. I can’t see you but I know you are.” inside the medicine cabinet of your mirror in the bathroom

“cute undies” in your drawer

“Eat this I got it for you !” in your fridge on a box of something for work

“Drive safely!” On the steering wheel of your car

stop me I’m getting so soft

the type of boyfriend who openly displays affection with zero concern about anyone else looking on

puts an arm around you and pulls you in so he can kiss the tip of your nose

or back hugs you while you are doing anything

or when you are home watching tv he will pull you to straddle him while he smiles and stares into your eyes and tells you how much he likes the way that shirt compliments your eyes

and you will nuzzle and cuddle and kiss all cute and domestic

the type of guy who wakes you up before sunrise to see it with him

and then brings you back to bed because you sleepy

grade A boyfriend shit

You know what’s coming

18+ below

let’s get on with the filth

hold on to your panties cause here we go

so he has a LOT of fire signs

specifically in the main signs that control attraction, sexual drives and the way he takes action

Aries venus and sun says unrestrained passion read: it can be over quickly

BUT with his mars in Pisces says romantic and careful

so you get a mix of the two

this means

teasing and fun in the bedroom

likely to suggest some off the wall shit but it will only ever be for your benefit

so maybe toys?

I think maybe silk ties and blindfolds

probably loves to go down on you and watch you squirm

messy as fuck when he does

shit that’s hot though

dirty talks but in this really romantic way

“you love the way I touch you?”

calls you princess

“Can you cum for me, princess? I love the way you sound”

“Fuck, I’d give anything to make you cum until you pass out.”

eh... romantic right?

probably loves if you dig your nails into his skin

shudders under the sensation and fucks you harder in response

wants you to ride him reverse so he can see the delicate slope of your back and ass

probably into playful spanking

will bend you over on any surface in the house

probably not particularly “dom” in the ways of rules but I do think he would traditionally want to control the over all flow of the sex itself

which positions and when to change

probably tosses you around into the next one quickly because he cannot wait anymore

really wants you to be vocal

no really do not be quiet he wants to hear everything

probably role play, tbh

nothing too crazy because mostly he wants it to be about you

I feel like he would be the phone sex king

like if he’s away but you’re both needy

so he calls you and tells you what he wants to do to you and exactly how he would do it

get’s you soaked before he’s done the third sentence and you are begging to touch yourself

“do you need to that bad?”

chuckles into the phone about how worked up you are

even though he is too

and then tells you exactly how to touch yourself

gets you to put it one face time so he can see you

when you’re all done he tells you to be ready because next time he will make sure you cum 10x harder and better himself

when he gets home he makes good on that promise

deep long strokes that make you moan so loud

good luck seeing your neighbors the next day

has really good self control so he will make sure you cum a few times at least

probably switches between fucking you on his cock and his fingers so he can keep prolonging the pleasure

really just loves to see you fall apart

after you’re done takes you in the shower but lifts you against the wall for round two

carries you back to the bed in a towel and gets you a snack but a really sweet decadent one

like chocolate covered strawberries and whipped cream

and prays you guys don’t get worked up again

probably spends the next few hours cuddling and has really sweet pillow talk

“you’re my whole world you know?”

CUTE

A/N Here you go !! I hope you enjoyed it! there wasn’t a lot of variance to the signs in his chart so they followed a pretty central theme.

#baron #vav baron #choi chunghyeop #baron smut #vav smut #vav fanfiction #kpop astrology #astrology asks #kpop astrology asks #vav requests

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cetaceanhandiwork · 4 years

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Disneyland Reloaded

So a week ago, give or take, I replied to a post on another website which basically asked “if you were given the job of rebuilding Disneyland, would you change anything?” The question got me thinking a fair bit about the Anaheim Disney resort’s overarching themes, and where they work or don’t work, resulting in a giant three-part comment to fully explain my redesign.

Today, I feel like sharing those ideas with y'all over here, too!

Let's begin with the assumptions that...

we can get permits in Anaheim but no new land...

we have a budget that could theoretically rebuild the whole park if it had to but not too much beyond that, and...

original Walt-era Disneyland stuff may be difficult to move without damaging or destroying, and deliberately destroying and rebuilding it, while allowed, may not be desirable for reasons of preserving park history.

Given that, my high-level approach would be a refocusing of each park's experience on its core concept. I envision three parks:

Disneyland - worlds of "yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy" - embodied by the genres Walt himself grew up with.

A reimagining of California Adventure that synthesizes the original idea of "Califorina, the real place you are visiting right now, presented as a fictional place to explore" with the running Pixar theme of "secret peoples and communities that live alongside humanity, in the here and now, just outside our line of sight".

A new third gate that focuses on stories of larger-than-life heroism and villainy - the native park of Star Wars, MCU, Pirates-the-movie-series, and other similar properties.

This effort, as I see it, would have to start with some Tetris-ing, in an attempt to make the most of the limited Anaheim acreage:

Utilidors. This Disney World system - of putting backstage and CM areas underground - was invented precisely because WED wished they’d done it in Anaheim. If we’re starting from scratch, we can backport this design and immediately unlock a lot of space.

Drop Disneyland Drive north of Cerritos underground as well.

Consolidate remaining parking. At worst, this is a third Mickey & Friends that encompasses all other resort parking. At best, we get permits to put underground levels on parking structures and reduce the footprint further. Put this in the southeast corner of the resort; get rid of the Paradise Pier Hotel for now.

Strip Avengers Campus off of DCA, strip Galaxy's Edge and the Fantasyland Theatre off of Disneyland. This will free up enough space to put DCA and the GCH east of Disneyland, with its gate on the other end of a rerouted Downtown Disney.

That done, we can move on to the main event.

❖❖❖

Of these, Disneyland itself would see the fewest changes, both in the interests of preserving the history and because it's already fairly close to what we want. The paradigm is as it always was: each "land" represents a genre in microcosm, matched not against any particular IP, but presented as a... prototypical or archetypical space in which all those stories might occur.

This is a good framing device and a solid core concept, and I'm not gonna mess with it. However, there are still a few things I'd rearrange.

For instance: Critter Country would move to the eastern side of the Rivers of America, placed between the rural American Frontierland, the funny animals of Toontown, and the fable-laden Fantasyland. I imagine it taking up sort of the same space as the old Big Thunder Ranch and Fairgrounds, connected with Frontierland on one side (with Splash Mountain still bordering the Rivers of America) and Toontown (bordering Winnie the Pooh) and Fantasyland (bordering a new indoor/outdoor Robin Hood darkride) on the other.

Toontown would need few changes, other than a careful touching up of the effects to match modern standards. I would like to squeeze in one minor expansion, though, if possible, by moving the Monorail wheelhouse: a small Disney Villains themed area - perhaps a seedy watering hole? - nestled away in Downtown Toontown.

Fantasyland, meanwhile, would reclaim the Theater and some backlot space (thanks Utilidoors!) and use that room for a couple new rides - particularly, a Beauty and the Beast attraction and a Frozen attraction. I resist here the impulse to put Frozen next to the Matterhorn mainly because that Fantasyland real estate has another important purpose: the Fantasia and Tomorrowland lagoons get rejoined, and become the show area for a Little Mermaid ride, boarding near Small World, that actually takes place "unda da sea". (The technology for underwater, low-occupancy-vehicle ride systems does exist in the current state of the art, although it'd need some iteration to theme as properly Fantasyland.) As much as I would personally regret seeing the submarines go, I can't deny that their ride system is claustrophobic, stuffy, and poorly accessible, and that guests deserve something with lower "minimum requirements" to ride.

Compared to those, Tomorrowland would get a more comprehensive refocusing. I've posted before about my take on Tomorrowland's DNA: that isn't just "the future", but "the challenge and promise of the future". People talk a lot about how it's a Land that's perpetually out of date - that our vision of the future changes too fast for the Park to keep up. Aesthetically, that's a fair point. But on an attraction level... we don't have to aim a mere five minutes into the future to talk about its challenge and promise - to talk about the future optimistically, as as better world we can reach towards today and eventually grab onto.

Space is, of course, an easy example; space has been an "unreasonable but longed-for future" since Walt's days. Bring back the mission to Mars. Add a space elevator that you can ride as an observation tower, or take the "express" and make it a droptower that uses its drop to simulate zero gravity. On a more terrestrial side... put in a dinosaur or giant animal dark ride - fantastical experiments in biology, at once excited for the potential there, and cautious about how important it is to get right. Maybe do something with Inside Out as a "fantastic psychology" concept. Give the Land an AI caretaker character, puppeteered by several CMs behind the scenes to create the illusion that it's a single person multiplexing.

You can keep Star Tours - the galaxy of Star Wars may be a gritty and cynical world, but Star Tours is a lighthearted and hopeful take on it. You can keep the monorail, too - it's still futuristic to Americans - and route it through the Land's rides the same way the PeopleMover once did, and the same way the boats and trains do in other Lands. Maybe you can even fit in a Wall-E based attraction - now that's a story that's an emulsion of the future's "challenges" and its "promise" if ever there was one in Disney's catalogue.

As for Adventureland? It's got a different obsolescence problem than Tomorrowland: not that the world has left a particular vision behind, but that the world has left the whole genre it represents behind. Walt grew up with the "Adventure" genre, of pith helmet explorers in the Southeast Asian jungle or the African veldt, but we don't really have that genre anymore. And with Disneyland as a worldwide tourist destination, it becomes... strange to have people coming from the places that genre was based on, only to see this caricature of the places they know reflected back as it was seen by clueless Brits a century ago. I want to believe there's something sensible to do with this Land, something that can preserve its essence and history while still making it meaningful to the stories we tell today and the people who were on the other side of the old stories, but I honestly don't know how to do it, or what it would even look like when we were done. All I know is that if nothing else I need to stick a giant bookmark here, because I'd have to do something.

Main Street, finally, would remain mostly unchanged by the advancing years, except for one upgrade: its illusory second floor would at last become a real one - not as shops, but as Dream Suite-esque prestige accomodations. On any given night, roughly half of these would be booked like on-property hotel suites, at rates befitting the rare magic of spending the night inside the Magic Kingdom's pomerium. The other half would be handed out at random to guests who bought resort/GNH packages, or otherwise booked their trip such that Disney knows they're staying overnight, to put that magic, in theory, within every guest's reach.

❖❖❖

So for Disneyland, the changes have been less structural, and more focused on rearranging an existing structure to update and future-proof it.

California Adventure, on the other hand, needs something deeper, because at the moment, its theming is... confused. When it first opened, it was designed single-mindedly as a pastiche of California as a whole: Hollywood, San Francisco, Yosemite, Sonoma, Monterey, the Central Valley, and Santa Monica Pier. Over time, this theming - which proved less compelling than the Imagineers had hoped it would be - has eroded to make room for Intellectual Properties that could find no space on the other side of the Esplanade.

Today it's a hodgepodge of the old California theming, skin-deep Pixar references, and an increasing amount of Marvel stuff. There's no central idea like there is at Disneyland, or at Epcot and Animal Kingdom down in Florida.

Where I see the potential here is in Pixar's long-running theme: "what if [fill in the blank] were people", often imagined as those people secretly existing in our modern everyday world, which just so happens to be paired with a park that's themed to a real place, in the present day.

In other words, what if we made that pairing of themes explicit? What if we lean into the idea that you're "exploring" California, both to discover what's prosaically there, and what's fantastically there? What if we present that sort of Californian adventure?

I'm imagining a park pomerium based on the concept of the "road trip", inasmuch as it is the classical way to explore California. No miniature rail here; you'll pile into a trailer towed by Goofy and Max in their (now window-tinted) car, or by the Onward boys' van, or so forth. (I'd love to get the Cars cars in on towing duty but I don't know if the animatronics are good enough yet.)

You'll still pass through places like Grizzly Peak (where e.g. Bugs might also Live), a Pacific Wharf that's annexed some of Paradise Pier (where we can Find Nemo now that the submarines are closed), and the Hollywood Backlot (where city-dwelling nonhumans - like Monsters and Muppets - might lurk). Radiator Springs would be easily reconciled to this Park concept - melding it with the old Route 66 and I-5 travellers' towns, building it about half for humans and half for cars.

I would need external advice, at this point, to figure out how far this theme can go. I see... some potential in making explicit room to pay homage to Mexican heritage of California (with its hidden world being Coco's fantastical take on the Land of the Dead). But it'd have to be done respectfully, and would be easy to screw up without guidance on what exactly qualifies as respectful or not respectful.

From another angle, I'm also not sure yet quite where Toy Story fits into the picture, but every element of the park's Pixarish theming points to that headline IP needing to fit in somewhere.

❖❖❖

And with that taken care of, comes the question of the third gate. We position it across from Disneyland proper, in California Adventure's old real estate. Pragmatically, this mystery Park must support stories like MCU or Star Wars - the new additions to Disney's IP stable, set in soft sci-fi universes chock full of larger-than-life heroism and villainy. It would have more strict, single-setting-per-Land theming, to support Galaxy's Edge, the Avengers Campus, the new Artemis Fowl series, and so forth. Perhaps Tortuga as well - the cinema vision of Pirates is popular enough that it should be able to support a home, and building one for it here will ease pressure off of its Disneyland predecessor to be flagbearer for an IP it was never designed to host.

How does one support this with a gateway/hub Land? How does one define a pomerium around it? Strict set construction as a principle of the park implies that we have to invent a new IP for this purpose, something Kingdom-Hearts-like but less... cartoonish, to match the less cartoonish worlds it lets you visit. A futuristic mode of transportation seems called for to ferry guests from Land to Land. Perhaps this is where the iconic Disneyland Monorail design finally finds its place in Disney fiction and not just history: to be - within this new setting - a vehicle for interdimensional travel. The park's hub would then have platforms for two Monorail lines: one bound for "Earth 1313: Tomorrowland, Hollywood, and the Disneyland Hotel" (for we would expand the resort-wide monorail track to support park hopper travel), and the other bound for this new park's immersive Lands.

The third gate's position across from Disneyland proper, combined with the increased use of underground tunnels and infrastructure, adds another potentially useful gimmick: the ability to link it to Disneyland in a manner similar to Universal Orlando's Hogwarts Express. Imagine park-hopper-only lines where your Star Tour will land on Batuu, or your Pirate cruise will end in Tortuga.

There would, of course, be a new hotel attached to this park, just like the Grand Californian was attached to DCA on its opening. I'll leave the specifics of this up in the air; it could be another Galactic Starcruiser, but it could just as easily be based on some other property.

❖❖❖

And what of the rest of the resort?

As mentioned, Downtown Disney shifts north, encroaching slightly into what's currently the backstage area of New Orleans Square, to better link up with the new position of DCA. So as not to "isolate" DCA, the third gate's entrance would be halfway along this new route.

Trams would use underground infrastructure to cross from the southeast unified parking area into the DTD/Esplanade corridor at the appropriate places for different Parks.

The Disneyland Hotel would remain, as a nod to its historical status, but against two park-adjoining hotels, it's clearly the farthest from the action after all this rearranging - hence hooking it up to the Monorail as a way to give it connectivity.

#imagineer theory #disneyland #original content #california adventure

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freelancer-chronicles · 5 years

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my hopes & fears for Anthem 2.0

this got long, so I’m putting it under a cut. I promise my new theme is easier to read lol

Hopes:

new music by Sarah Schachner. she had some really interesting musical ideas, I’d love to see what else she had in mind that got cut for development reasons. and I’d love to see what she can do with whatever the writers give us for 2.0

more interaction with our current NPCs! I’d die happy to see more of Catherine Tate/Max. would any of them be willing to come back, with all of the bad press Anthem 1.0 had? I hope so...

more vertically planned maps, and more places to travel! I’d love to see Antium and the Satomi, or an Arcanist academy, or fly to another one of the tree-plateaus we can see at the edge of Freeplay.

remember those Acts? I liked that idea, and also would dearly appreciate a chance to make choices that effect (at least) character relationships.

C O M P A N I O N S. if we had balanced companions in Inquisition, we can handle balance in Anthem. make them unable to fly (like Sentinels!!) or make the Strider actually present and useful, or someone like Elizabeth in Bioshock, who heals and throws us useful things. or maybe just banter over the comms! IDK, it just gets lonely with silent strangers in my party

cloaks for the other javs. totally inconsequential but can’t you just see a Big Boi doing a superman landing with a giant FLAG coming in behind him?

colored jets. also totally inconsequential but a girl can dream

secondary fort/safe places/launch bays! how cool would it be to enter a cave in Freeplay and pop into first person mode to hang out with Zhim? (or stay in our javs and dance with friends lol)

more Big monsters to fight

I would like to load any map from the Cataclysm or the Conjunctions at any time. put it behind a level lock I DON’T CARE

I want to see my Lancer’s face in the Fort. I want to spin around them, take group photos, and run into walls for a closeup. Bioware gave a fantastic diversity in our faces, but we can only see them if we use the OG helmets, and only briefly.

Fears:

new music by another composer. I wouldn’t blame Sarah for not coming back but it would be sad.

tiny maps, chopped up and repeated over and over for different missions like Destiny. “But Batmares,” I hear my 5 active followers say, “isn’t that already how it is? they use the freeplay map for everything!” Hell No, the Bastion map is absolutely massive, textured, varied, and scaled to outclass us. even doing Brin’s always-in-the-North missions don’t take us to the same spot every time, unlike the 3 hours of Destiny missions I’ve played where I got confused because the map was exactly the same. even back in DA2 days Bioware knew to change up the route, but if they forget that (or are forced to) it will feel like we’re being railroaded. like any other looter-shooter.

which brings me to my biggest fear, they wipe out the story thus far. Fort Tarsis and Urgoth/Owen included. that they do a total story reset. they kill our Freelancer, or skip ahead 100 years and we’re just a legend. I would be absolutely devastated to lose my lancer; I would sit on the floor and weep. if and how they plan to explain the changes is a HUGE concern to me.

Bioware, I love this game. It’s monstrously big, runs terribly without a 5 star ISP, and the plot was too short. It felt like the game stopped once we got to Haven and escaped Corypheus. But the music has a mysterious, vast feel to it, the characters were just as well-written as in any other Bioware game (yes I said any, come at me), flight and the javelins are a totally incomparable experience, and even with the hellish development it’s clear someone loved this project. You just needed more time. I know no one at Bioware will see this and that’s okay, I just hope that they know they still have support from the fans. We may not be as vocal as the toxic players, but we are cheering for you.

#Anthem #chat time #Anthem game #sigh #mine #Anthem 2.0 #there now I have a tag for it

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royaltealovingkookiness · 6 years

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ATLA fic rec master-list

A place to organize the ATLA fanfic I like.

I tend to like Zuko-centric stuff, and stories that focus not exclusively on romance (though I do read many different ships as well). As it will become apparent, my taste is rather eclectic, so there can be things in it for everyone.

Most links are to AO3, I just prefer it that much to the layout of ffnet. Also, if I haven’t tagged someone in Tumblr correctly, please give me a shout.

General AUs / Gaang/ adventure (various ships)

The Worst Prisoner by @emletish-fish (WIP) (Zutara) - in this AU starting already from S1, Zuko becomes friends with the Gaang much, much sooner, which means there is lots of amazing

Zuko’s Tiny Dilemma by @botherkupo (slight Zutara) S1 Zuko agebending story featuring Iroh as a teapot! Tiny, grumpy Zuko gets the Mumtara treatment and has great Gaang content. It sweet and funny. Now with an Azula-centric spin-off No Returns, No Refunds

The Undying Fire series by @botherkupo - (there are some ships, but the main focus is Gen) This is an epic Zuko is a firehealer, AU starting with The Blue Spirit, and spanning through each season. Extremely good, lots of Gaang focus, great Aang and Zuko friendship vibes and so much more. I don’t want to spoil it, other than, if you haven’t read it, go read it now!

Another Brother by @awesomeavocadolove (Gen, WIP) Zuko is adopted by Hakoda, grows up as WaterTribe, as another sibling of Sokka and Katara.

The Avatar Makes Three by @awesomeavocadolove (Gen, WIP) - Aang loses, but before he dies, he divides the Avatar spirit between Zuko, Katara and Toph.

Ozymandias, King of Kings by @Think_of_a_Wonderful_Thought (WIP) - (Zuko/Sokka) This is a pretty dark AU, where instead of exile, Zuko was sent to a work camp before he’s freed by Aang and the others. The Zuko of this story is a pretty traumatized fellow, who is simply sick of everything.

Southern Lights by @colourwhirled - (WIP, it’s Zutara, but it’s so much more). An AU world, where the Avatar has disappeared, the empire won the war. Iroh sets up a specialized unit with a chill airbender, a waterbending prodigy, a run away earth-bender and a banished prince. There is politics, intrigue, adventure, cross-bending, and while the world is different the characters remain very recognizable.)

In His Shoes by @awesomeavocadolove (Zuko/Sokka) It’s a bodyswap AU in Ba Sing Se. I love Ba Sing Se era Zuko and I love any AU where the Gaang sees this version of him.

We Ourselves Must Walk the Path by @winterskywrites (Gen) - short S3 AU where the Gaang really takes Zuko as prisoner in The Western Air Temple.

Fight by Electrons (Gen, WIP ) Zuko chooses differently in Ba Sing Se - now he’s the Gaang’s tour-guide to the Fire Nation. Lots of world-building around the Fire Nation. The story is on hiatus, but it’s still well-worth a read.

Unchained Melody by @awesomeavocadolove (WIP) (Zuko/Sokka), Sokka is stuck in spirit form, only Zuko can see him, S1 AU where Zuko and spirit-form Sokka are forced to hang out together. I mean how could it be wrong?

Little Zuko v the World by @muffinlance (Gen, WIP) Zuko finds Aang when they are both 12 in this S1 AU, which is written with a sweet humour.

Fate Deferred by @catie-does-things (WIP, Zutara) In this story Aang sleeps for another ten years before Zuko and Katara find him. It’s a story of Dadko and Momtara taking Aang to get his training in a world that ended up in a very different way after Sozin’s comet. It weaves together past and present masterfully and it’s as fun to follow the new adventures as it is to follow the past story of Zuko and Katara and see how things ended up as they are.

A Tale of Ice and Water by @soopersara (WIP) (pre-Zutara) - a canon-close AU featuring Avatar Katara, who still finds Aang in the ice.

Zutara

Frozen @Aris Merquoni - The ultimate Zuko gets captured at the North Pole fic.

The Descent @chromeknickers - S1 AU - Katara goes down to the spirit world to drag Zuko back to the living. A cranky waterbender, a pissed-off pony-tailed spirit and a very vivid spirit world.

The Fifth Coloumn @chromeknickers (post-series Assassin AU) Katara is imprisoned by a secret society. A mysterious assassin infiltrates them. This has some dark / mature themes, but a fantastic story overall.

Once Around the Sun by Eleventy7 An amazing post-series eventual Zutara story, focused on Katara, Zuko and Azula. It’s a journey, both inside and out and it is amazing. Soul-searching, bonding, changing, adventure.

Mending Wounds by FictionIsSocialInquiry S2 AU, post-Chase. While lost in the Foggy Swamp, searching for her brother and her Avatar, Katara is haunted by visions of the Fire Nation's disgraced prince. Visions of peace after war, visions of honour and secrets...Katara has some interesting visions in the Swamp)

Stalking Zuko by @emletish-fish Oldie but goldie, Zuko joins the Gaang, Katara takes up stalking. Sweet, funny Zutara fic from the Western Air Temple days.

I Don’t Speak Meow Language by @botherkupo (Boogum) Ba Sing Se-era, Zuko is a tea-server, Katara is a feisty cat AU - sweet, sweet silliness (I adore any fic where anyone from the Gaang gets to see up-close and personal, the sweet, awkward mess tea-shop Zuko is and you can’t get much closer than being a cat)

The Little Adentures of Katara (and One Giant Prince) by @botherkupo (WIP) An early S3 AU where a tiny Katara is stuck with her big princely saviour. I love this one because it gives a rare glimpse into Zuko’s palace life through Katara’s eyes, at the time when Zuko returns to the Fire Nation.

so let us melt, and make no noise by littleloststar - a very moody AU, where Zuko is haunting for the last waterbender and Katara lives alone in an ice-palace. It feels like a Nordic myth with swirling snow and lots of darkness and ice.

Fire Nation Royal Family

Lovable by LadyCharity (Zutara) A very emotional post-series Zuko & Azula story, which is also a Zutara story.

Azula’s Search by crowleyhouseplant (series) (slight TyZula)This story is just my absolute favourite post-series Azula-centric story, featuring an epic Azula/Mai/TyLee/Suki roadtrip to look for clues about Ursa. There is a little background Maiko and TyZula, but it is mostly about Azula’s road to redemption.

The Suns Inside of Us by @crowleyhouseplant - (WIP) this is a sequel to Azula’s Search as she keeps searching her lost firebending, and perhaps her redemption, as she’s trying to figure out her place in the post-series reality, her relationship with Zuko, Mai, Ty Lee and others, but above all, herself.

Call “Uncle” by @jaggedcliffs - (one-shot, Gen) The Gaang slowly adopts Iroh as everyone’s uncle.

Decorum by @sometimeswarrior (Gen) writes many good Iroh-centric one-shots. This one with Iroh & Ozai after the agni kai is my favourite.

stained in tea-colours by sangi - (one-shot, Gen) After the War, Azula eventually comes to live in Ba Sing Se with Iroh. A soulful story about Iroh, Azula and Zuko, and all the wounds they carry and the ties that bind them. It is a fantastic take on post-series Azula and her relationship with Iroh. Sangi has many great one-shots on the Fire Nation Royals, and they are really worth checking out.

There All the Honour Lies by @shastafirecracker (Gen) Iroh & Zuko oneshot, about the immediate aftermath of the Agni kai

our curse by @gaynasas and the last dragon by @runrundoyourstuff (Gen) OK, these are very dark, but very good takes on what would have happened if Ozai made a different decision about Iroh’s fate post S-2. Check out the tags before reading!

Choices by @catie-does-things (Gen) Very interesting one-shot looking at Aang’s decision to spare Ozai’s life from the perspective of Zuko who now has to decide his fate.

Bloodline by monpetitpois (Gen) Multi-generation history of the Fire Nation Royals starting with Sozin to Izumi. It’s well written and in character and has a lovely forcus on Zuko’s and Izumi’s relationship. Character-focused, canon-compliant.

Zuko-centric (various ships & friendships)

the beginning of a new and brighter birth by @captainkirkk (aloneintherain) (Gen) My favourite take on post-series Zuko becoming Fire-Lord. None of that comic nonsense. Very solid political plot, lots of heart and really it’s just the story that had to be told.

The Problem With Zuko by avocadolove (Gen) AU where Lu Ten didn’t die, and Zuko is just an overlooked lesser prince. He is put in charge of imprisoning Aang and his companions.

The Revenant by @achievement-bender (Gen) Zuko helps the Gaang, but in a very different way. A sad, but so good, Ghost!Zuko story. (check out the rest of their stuff - I also love Catch and Release, which is an AU where the Blue Spirit gets captured by Zhao

ribs by @gaynasas (oneshot) (Gen) There are simply not enough Zuko & Aang friendship stories in the world. This one is a great one about bonding over firebending and learning about Zuko’s scars. All of her stuff is very well written and worth reading.

a night at the theatre by @captainkirkk (one-shot) (Gen) Fire Lord Zuko meets the Ember Island Players

A Candle to a Dragon by @achievement-bender (WIP) (Gen) Non-bender Zuko AU. Wow, what a ride with a bookish, sweet, heartbroken Zuko, training with Piandao as he’s trying to figure out who he is without bending in a family of prodigies.

Heartlines by @kuchee (WIP) Zuko loves Katara. Katara loves Zuko. Aang loves Katara. Katara loves Aang. Aang loves Zuko. Zuko loves Aang. It doesn’t have to be a love triangle if everyone has two hands? A lovely Zuko/Katara/Aang OT3 with lots of pining set during a post-series Earth Kingdom natural disaster.

Antebellum by @veliseraptor (Gen) A Zuko & Aang friendship oneshot (did I mention I have a thing for these? Set during the Western Air Temple days.

Towards the Sun by @muffinlance - (Gen, WIP) Zuko is Fire Lord AU - Zuko got imprisoned on the Day of the Black Sun, so never joined the Gaang. After Ozai’s defeat, he becomes Fire Lord by default. So when the Gaang and Iroh show up to hammer out peace, things get complicated. (WIP)

Home We’ll Go by themanofmanyhats - (Gen) This is a post-war take on Zuko’s path crossing again with Lee and his family from Zuko Alone. What can I say? Post-war Earth Kingdom reveals are my jam.

there is fire in me by @suzukiblu - (Gen) - Firebender!Jet with Ba Sing Se era Zuko and Sokka makes for a very unlikely, but great bonding story

Modern AUs

Pulse by @isnt_it_pretty I rarely read modern AUs, but this one caught my eye. It is set in a modern era, but the characters feel really on spot. Warning! it’s super angsty

Welcome Heat by @cowlicklesschick - (Zutara, Sukka) firefighter Zuko and pre-med Katara, with a good side helping of sweet Sokka & Suki romance. It’s fluffy with just the right amount angst, and a reimagined modern world where all the characters fit right in.

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#atla #atla fanfic #fanfic recs #to be updated regularly #housekeeping #masterlist #atla fanfic recs #rtk #cleaned up version #fixed 07.08.09

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