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championari · 6 months ago

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True Love: Why FifteenxRogue Works

WOW. Man, that Rogue episode, huh? Watching that live was probably the greatest experience I’ve had recently regarding Doctor Who. Not just as a queer viewer, but as a queer media analyst. Fifteen and Rogue truly feel like a relationship written for me to analyze, because there is simply so frickin’ much to talk about. So, allow me, gentle reader, to be your Lady Whistledown of queer alien fuckery, and guide you through analyzing the latest dalliance of our Time Lord extraordinaire with the most honest bounty hunter in the galaxy.

We’ll be covering a LOT of ground in this: the theme of facades/masks, an interrogation of The Doctor’s perception of romantic relationships, and a deep dive into The Fifteenth Doctor’s character overall. So, needless to say, this is going be a LONG LONG piece. Grab a snack, some water, whatever you need, cause we’re going deep on this one.

You’re still here? Fantastic! Then let us begin! Specifically, with the Fifteenth Doctor himself. Because above all else, this episode works as a dissection of his character overall.

I’ve already done two metas regarding The Giggle’s ending and The Doctor’s perception of romance pre-Season 1/14, so if you want more elaboration, go read those here: 1, 2. But in case you don’t, I’ll sum up and expand based on what we’ve learned since.

The Doctor, as a character, has always struggled with commitment and attachment. They never stayed in one place for long and when they did, they had an unhealthy relationship with it (Trenzalore, Darillium, Bill’s University). Romantic connection is a permutation of this larger issue, as every romantic relationship we have seen The Doctor take part in since 2005 either was unbalanced (holding back problems/outright lying) or ended in a really bad way. However, thanks to the 60th specials and a bi-generation, The Doctor went through a massive change, and with it, came a new perception of openness and love. Fifteen is more expressive, and willing to verbally identify beauty. He openly points out how beautiful people are, and talks about previous exploits with pride. But this supposed openness betrays a deeper dishonesty still inside the Doctor. As much as Fifteen talks the talk of openness, he doesn’t often walk the walk when things get tough.

Fifteen’s character struggle is trying to break out of the Doctor’s previous patterns of unstable attachment and commitment while continuing those patterns. He values emotional honesty and encourages it in others yet simultaneously runs from it when the spotlight is on himself, even when he knows it’s beneficial and necessary for him to do so. So, with all of that in mind, let’s deep dive into Rogue (the episode, not the character, but also the character).

The best word to describe this episode is ‘deception’. Setting the episode in Bridgerton-esque Regency-era England was an appropriate choice, likening to a show that is all about facades and posturing to gain wealth and social standing (yes I am oversimplifying, don’t hurt me). Throughout the episode, we see characters who aren’t who they present themselves to be and use all manner of tools or tactics to disguise themselves to meet their ends.

We have the Chuldur, creatures who gain pleasure from cosplaying. They thrive on creating fake entertainment for their amusement, honesty is useless if it can’t satisfy them. While this is meant as an obvious commentary on fan culture and how dangerous it can get when taken to the extreme, it also functions as a darker reflection on The Doctor’s habits. Because think about it: what are Fifteen and Ruby doing in this episode? They are having fun, dancing alongside the other partygoers. They’re wearing the outfits but only to blend in. Ruby doesn’t know how to dance, she has to wear psychic earrings to keep up. She watches the fake fight between ‘Emily’ and ‘Lord Stilton’ like she would watch an episode of Bridgerton. Her fight with Emily later in the episode is set to Lady Gaga’s ‘Poker Face’ playing in the background.

What we’re seeing in the villains is The Doctor’s pastimes becoming toxic, taking a companion and bringing them to a culture far removed from their own. But it’s not only a commentary on The Doctor overall, it’s also Fifteen’s philosophy in a darker context. Posing as sincerity and maybe containing it to some extent, but ultimately not completely honest. Through the setting and the villains, the episode is already priming us on a subconscious level to be thinking about disguises and dishonesty, a topic that both The Doctor and the Fifteenth incarnation specifically have a complicated relationship with. And then comes Rogue.

Rogue himself is such a fascinating part of the episode because he is such a deliberate disruption to this cultivated environment of deception. Rogue is the complete antithesis of everyone in the plot. He’s terrible at improvising, he’s socially awkward, he dances without needing psychic earrings, and he never cleans the inside of his ship. Rogue intentionally disrupts the narrative of lies by not being able to play the game. Even when he tries to wear a mask, the mask of an uncaring bounty hunter, He doesn’t wear it well and gets rid of it after the ship scene with The Doctor. Rogue is a character who cannot help but be who he is, he’s a character who not only can’t wear a mask but doesn’t want to. To put it simply, honesty is Rogue’s kink. That’s why the episode is named after him; it’s not just because he’s a central character, but because he provides the counter-argument to the themes of lies and deception. Rogue, the disruptor to The Chuldur’s acts of fake entertainment, and the disruptor to The Doctor’s act of cosplaying with Ruby, and on a deeper level, disrupts Fifteen’s oscillation between sincerity and repression. But we’ll get to that, we have Mount Everest's amount of context to analyze first, starting with their first meeting.

The Doctor and Rogue’s beginning scene sets the stage for the main obstacle in their relationship: their masks. ‘Cause right now we’re operating with two versions of the characters: the facade/mask versions, and the real versions. We get our first look at Rogue when Fifteen looks around for interference on the psychic earrings. He finds him being the most conspicuous while wearing the ‘bounty hunter’ mask: on a balcony (separated from the party physically), not speaking at all.

He is standing out here but only in the way someone who knows disguises would recognize. The Doctor, remember no. 1 liar, of course he’s gonna recognize that. So much so, that he gives Rogue pointers on how to put on a better “brooding” face, literally teaching him how to wear the mask better. Rogue is an amateur mask wearer, going up against the master of mask-wearing. And that’s why Fifteen smiles when he sees him, he’s intrigued by that contradiction and wants to know more.

Rogue meanwhile, is being rude and dismissive to scare him off, trying to keep to the mask he’s built. At this point, he knows that Fifteen also stands out from the rest but right now is assuming that he’s still a random partygoer. Notice what he says to him:

He’s still using language and ideas someone from that era would understand. Where this deviates is this little exchange that felt familiar to me, but I couldn’t figure out from where. Until I remembered this:

(credit to @ngatwa for this set, you're amazing)

This is the first instance in the episode where Fifteen and Rogue’s relationship calls back to previous romantically-coded relationships The Doctor has had between companions. But it’s not just romantic subtext, it’s subtext that explains where the two are in the relationship. Victorian Clara was far more than what she appeared to be (a governess masquerading as a barmaid/echo of a companion scattered in the Doctor’s timeline), and the Doctor was more than he appeared to be (an alien who lived in a blue box). In asking those questions, it’s both recognition of the masks and inquiry for the real person underneath. Same thing here: Rogue and Fifteen at this point are trying to figure each other out, trying to see beyond the masks of the uncaring bounty hunter, and the flirtatious partygoer. Where things start to go wrong is that neither party fesses up to who they are. Rogue instantly assumes Fifteen is The Chuldur he’s looking for, while Fifteen assumes Rogue is a regular partygoer looking to…*ahem* create a scandal in the gardens if you get what I mean. This explains why a violin rendition of Billie Eilish’s ‘Bad Guy’ plays in the background. It’s not just a Bridgerton reference, it’s contributing to both characters’ perception of each other in this scene: both characters think the other is the “bad guy”. The lead into the scene is deception, we leave it the same way. No breakthrough yet.

Now we’re moving on to the scene in the garden, where both masks of Fifteen and Rogue begin clashing with their real personalities. Fifteen is still being semi-sincere, still complimenting Rogue. And like water, all of it is rolling off of him because he’s still under the assumption he’s talking to a shapeshifting alien. He rudely asks about The Doctor’s info dumping and doesn’t respond to The Doctor’s compliments.

(credit to @klausbens for the gif, you're awesome)

He’s not engaging because he thinks the Doctor is not who he appears to be, and for a character that values honesty, everything Fifteen says is gonna wash over him. The moment this changes is when the two are accusing the other of the murder. Quite literally finishing each other’s sandwiches (C’mon, you know I had to throw a Frozen reference in this somewhere).

This is a very interesting scene given our current context. Trope-wise, this is meant to communicate to the audience the bond between the two characters, they’re thinking the same thing. But the trope is flipped on its head because both characters take it in opposite directions. Both Fifteen and Rogue are in perfect sync, they are being honest about how much they understand about the situation, but that information is leading them to completely different conclusions (i.e. the other person is the Chuldur). They’re slapping more masks onto each other, this time with information they know is true, which leads to them locking in their heels and simply not being honest altogether until later. This scene is a repeat of the previous one, except this time it’s them showing their hands a bit more, making the backslide all the more difficult. Getting close to sealing the deal, then heel turn at the last minute, a classic Bridgerton move.

So, what needs to happen to break this backslide? Well, plain and simple honesty. The scene on Rogue’s ship is when both masks start coming off. What Fifteen is doing on the ship during the scene is essentially trying to figure out Rogue. He finds out the ship is meant to be piloted by two, and he discovers the origin of Rogue’s name, the Kylie Minogue music. Which is a moment I want to zoom in on. Right before this happens when Rogue gives a cheeky response to Fifteen finding out about the name, Fifteen makes a joke and starts emphasizing his Scottish accent. This is Fifteen putting on another mask to make a joke, and Rogue doesn’t appreciate that, given his dirty look.

Then Fifteen finds the music, which he then again uses as an opportunity to joke around and make fun of him (and flirt a little bit with him). Fifteen is removing Rogue’s mask, while he is staying enigmatic and mysterious, which is why Rogue is still stonewalling him. HOWEVER, two can play that game, and Fifteen makes a big mistake in showing Rogue the psychic paper. This is the first time Fifteen is completely honest about his feelings towards Rogue. No mask, no posturing, complete honesty. And we see Rogue responds positively to this:

This is the first time the two are both on the same level, communicating honestly. And that’s where we start to see genuine romantic feelings and attraction.

But it’s not enough, so what does Fifteen do? He pulls out the big guns. He shows Rogue the truth: he’s a Time Lord from Gallifrey and has lived many different lives over hundreds of years. He not only rips off his mask, he quite literally reveals all of the other masks the Doctor has worn throughout the ages. And what is Rogue’s reaction to this?

Complete besotted awe. If honesty is Rogue’s kink, then The Doctor revealing their faces just supercharged it. This is the moment that Rogue falls in love because he’s finally seeing who this mysterious flirty person really is.

Now, I’m gonna pull out another previous Doctor romance for two reasons: One, I’ve been seeing this comparison floating around for a while, and if you know me and my old analyses, it’s that I cannot leave an inaccurate take alone, and two, because I think it applies here. I’ve been seeing comparisons online of this episode to Girl in the Fireplace, in which a new character falls in love with The Doctor and gets the rare opportunity to see their true self. But what makes Reinette different from Rogue is that honesty kink. Reinette was attracted to the mystery of the Doctor, her childhood hero who somehow doesn’t age. Note when he comes back the first time, she focuses on how strange he is:

She learns more about them later, but she was already in love with them before that. Rogue doesn’t want the mystery. In reality, The Doctor wearing masks is a turnoff for him. He only wants the real thing, so when Fifteen reveals the truth, that’s when the genuine romance begins.

(We could also extend this comparison to the discussion of consent: Reinette found out everything without The Doctor's permission, while Fifteen revealed all the info by himself, but whether we can consider this consensual depends on your definition of consent under duress/threat. So I’m not entirely sure what to make of this conversation, feel free to expand in the tags/replies cause I want to hear more about this)

So now we’re moving along to the TARDIS scene. We continue with the theme of disguises with the whole “bigger on the inside” routine, Fifteen riffing as Willy Wonka for a hot moment singing Pure Imagination, and we have Rogue’s momentary slip-up:

(credit to klausbens for the gifs, you're awesome)

This is a great sign of character growth because while he’s maybe not wholly honest about his feelings towards The Doctor, he still is open about his love for the TARDIS, an important part of The Doctor’s life, so big step right there.

I want to pay attention to the heart-to-heart here because watching what Fifteen says and how he reacts is extremely important to getting his view on the situation. Because right now, I wouldn’t say The Doctor is in love with Rogue back. While there is a lot of attraction and hints at a deeper bond, Fifteen is still operating with most of his mask on. Notice that when he asks Rogue about the person he lost, Ncuti Gatwa’s blocking has him leaning on the railing at an angle to the side of Rogue. He’s purposely staying at a distance, yet is leaning on the railings to appear casual.

And when Rogue starts opening up, he moves closer and they’re at equal distance from each other.

We get a really sweet (and allegorical to the queer community) moment about The Doctor’s motivation of living out of respect for the dead, to keep living each day that they lost. And then we get Fifteen inviting Rogue onto the TARDIS. I want to focus on this because he doesn’t seem upset or disappointed by Rogue countering this offer by inviting The Doctor to travel with him, meaning he doesn’t see this as a “take it or leave it” offer. In fact, the compromise Fifteen comes up with, “let’s argue across the stars” and Rogue accepting it, is what leads to the almost kiss. So that prompts the question, what is Fifteen trying to say here?

Well, what Fifteen is asking for is to continue seeing Rogue. It doesn’t matter to him if he’s on the TARDIS or not, all that matters is that he still has him in his life. The choice to see him more. Why does that sound familiar? Because that’s exactly what I wrote about in my dissertation on The Giggle’s Ending:

“In giving Fourteen their own TARDIS, Fifteen is allowing his younger self to have what they always removed from the equation: free will. The Doctor can still go anywhere they want, which makes them even more motivated to stay and fix themself. Fourteen can feel safe staying with Donna, Wilf, Mel, Rose, Shaun, and Sylvia because the option to travel is still there.”

Fifteen’s love language is giving the people he cares about the freedom to express the love they already have within them. He values freedom above all else, and when Rogue accepts that freedom, that’s when we get the almost-kiss. This is the moment where The Doctor falls in love with Rogue back because it’s Rogue being willing to meet The Doctor where they’re at. He’s allowing Fifteen to set the pace and not force himself on him.

Additionally, this willingness to be as slow or fast as The Doctor needs means far more to The Doctor overall than to just Fifteen. Many people have already pointed out the similarities between the line “let’s argue across the stars' and previous lines the Doctor has said to villainous characters like The Master and The Toymaker:

"We can take your games back to the stars."

"We can fight across the constellations if that's what you want".

Now, why is that? It’s because again, The Doctor’s perception of Rogue is evolving in this scene. Remember, up to this point, The Doctor doesn’t entirely know Rogue’s morality. All they know is that Rogue is a bounty hunter, and is not afraid to use his gun when he deems appropriate. There’s even a little line in this scene before the heart-to-heart where Fifteen specifically imposes his own brand of morality on the situation: “Whatever the Chuldur has done, I can’t let you kill it.” Now, we know that The Doctor’s morality and romantic life can conflict: River being a known murderer/psychopath, their longtime situationship, and later attempted rehabilitation of The Master/Missy. This is another feature of The Doctor’s character: while they do act like they have the final say on what is right, they also compromise that morality for people they care about.

Like how The Doctor surprised Rogue by showing all of his faces, Rogue surprised the Doctor right back by not only being honest about his past but by being willing to accept The Doctor’s compromise. This moment is when The Doctor finds out that Rogue is a good person, and that The Doctor doesn’t need to compromise their morality when entering this relationship.

This heart-to-heart is about Rogue not only winning over the Fifteenth Doctor by agreeing with his values of freedom but also winning over The Doctor overall by just genuinely being a good person. But of course, the moral duty of taking care of the Chuldur rears its head in the form of the TARDIS alerting that the trap is ready. The bubble has popped and we still have a long way to go.

(Plus, Fifteen’s facial expression in this shot perfectly captures that trademark “Oh.” moment, realizing you’re in love with someone but then taping it down to focus back on the immediate problem. Love you Ncuti Gatwa, you do great work)

Alright, now we’re at the dance/fake proposal scene. Oh lord, so much happens here with both dialogue and production regarding character, so let’s take this one at a time. Fifteen, Rogue and now Ruby have figured out the big plot regarding the Chuldur, their obsession with cosplay and dressing up to create drama. In response, Fifteen comes up with the idea to essentially beat them at their own game: create a fake scandal to draw them out.

Now on paper and in terms of beating the bad guys, this is a plan that could and does work, but in terms of his relationship with Rogue: THIS. WAS. A. BAD. IDEA. Why? The very idea of masks and faking not only was the leading cause of them not connecting in the beginning but specifically doesn’t work with Rogue. You can see it in how Rogue nervously looks at Ruby and Emily when Fifteen asks him to dance, and even questions the validity of the plan:

(credit goes to @carricfisher for texted gif, you're awesome)

It’s not just that he doesn’t know about homophobia, he just doesn’t like the idea of pretending at all. But the reason why it doesn’t collapse right away is because it’s not entirely pretending. The dance may function on the surface to create a scene, but for Rogue (and Fifteen albeit to a smaller extent) it doubles as an intimate moment between them. This connects to the choice of dimming the lights in an unrealistic way (which btw, as a film student, had me going insane watching it live). We’re seeing a deliberate break in reality, a dishonest showcase of the story being told, that serves the purpose of highlighting an ultimately honest and sincere act of love. Both The Doctor and Rogue are warping the aesthetic of deception in terms of the narrative by fabricating a scandal, and in terms of the production by changing the lighting.

But of course, things start going to hell right there. Fifteen tries to up the drama and Rogue can’t keep up. Rogue overcorrects and proposes to Fifteen, who freaks out and leaves the room. Now, I don’t want to get into the question of whether or not Rogue was playing along by proposing or being genuine (Personally speaking, I think it was both. 70% true, and 30% fake). Instead, I want to clear up why Fifteen freaked out here. I’m sure a lot of the long-time audience could already guess that it was parallel to River Song, The Doctor’s wife, but I think it’s more layered than that. Why would a reference to River scare the Doctor so much, aside from reminding them of a close person they lost? Because the last time the Doctor got married to someone they truly loved, it involved a 24-year stay on Darillium, which he knew would end in tragedy. Note the word choice here:

“Sorry I…I can’t.”

Not ‘I don’t want this’, it’s a void of agency (which connects to my piece on The Giggle’s ending and freedom). The Doctor can’t have that with Rogue, he was fine with them being casual to avoid the possibility of losing him.

But on my first watch, I couldn’t help getting a little bit cross with Fifteen here, because the amount of ball fumbling on display is outright ridiculous; The Time Lord brings himself onto the dancefloor, with a guy he nearly made out with two minutes ago, gets all up in his face and starts shouting at him to “tell me what you heart wants!” and then completely freezes when said guy starts proposing to him. What in the fuck did you expect was going to happen, bud?! What made you think this would go off without a hitch?

I want to preface this by saying I had a completely different reading of this scene for a long time. My original thought was that Fifteen was trying to do multiple things simultaneously. He potentially was trying to lure out the Chuldur by creating scandal and at the same time, was trying to have a serious talk with Rogue about where he’s at emotionally. These lines in particular have fascinated me since my first watch: “You would ask me to give up my title, my fortune. But what future can you promise me?”. It did feel like these lines hinted at Fifteen’s thought process at this moment, he chose those specific lines to use for this moment. Was Fifteen trying to have an honest conversation with Rogue about their relationship while being fake to everyone else? But that doesn’t make sense considering the previous conversation in the TARDIS showed Fifteen comfortable with the idea of them being casual and Rogue respecting that, so it doesn’t make sense with where Fifteen is progression-wise.

But it wasn’t until writing out this piece that I realized I had it all wrong and the truth was far simpler: this is a repeat of their meeting on the balcony, albeit with higher personal stakes. Let’s take a step back here: What is happening in this scene? Fifteen and Rogue are completely missing what the other is trying to say. Fifteen ignored Rogue being visibly uncomfortable over being back to playing with masks, and Rogue is not getting if Fifteen wants him to be genuine or not. Just like on the balcony and the garden, where both sides think they’re saying one thing when it’s the opposite. Before, both parties were wrong about who they were, now both parties are wrong about what they want.

Fifteen is saying complete bullshit here, not true stuff to their situation but stuff that their audience would react to. He’s being over the top on purpose to elicit reactions. Meanwhile Rogue is thinking he’s being genuine. He thinks Fifteen is, through code speak, trying to genuinely ask him these questions. Which leads him to get down on one knee. And that’s a big problem because Rogue doesn’t know that proposing is wading into a gargantuan trauma pool for The Doctor. This scene is a magnified example of the duo’s problem with masks and not being completely honest with each other.

However, while this scene may have been a cause for regression from The Doctor on the relationship part, Rogue on the other hand has an epiphany. In the scene following this one, we get the truly iconic callback of “Run.” and Rogue taking the Doctor’s hand. Why is this important? Well, there are three specific examples that this moment is calling back to:

Nine meeting Rose ("Run!")

Victorian Clara and Eleven fleeing from the Ice Governess ("I do the handgrabbing! That's my job! That's always me!")

Twelve running with River ("Stop holding my hand! People don't do that to me!")

Nine meeting Rose establishes this idea of protection: The Doctor taking care of someone by leading them away from danger. The other two examples are subversions of that idea: Clara and River are now leading The Doctor out of danger. Same principle here, except here it has a bit more context behind it. Clara and River subverting that act of protection made sense given who they were: Clara as an echo across The Doctor’s time stream knew who The Doctor was and what they needed, even if she didn’t know it consciously when the moment happened. River as The Doctor’s wife also knew who they were and what they needed at the time.

By connecting Rogue’s action of taking Fifteen’s hand and running to Clara and River, it not only again connects Fifteen and Rogue to previous romantic relationships, but it also shows Rogue learning from his mistake. Rogue’s mistake in the proposal scene was him not figuring out what Fifteen needed at that moment, it was a major miscommunication. Now, at this moment, Rogue is starting to figure out what he needs to do. He is, to use relationship lingo, "shelving his agenda" to help the Doctor.

And that progression continues through the last leg of the episode, including the moment when Fifteen thinks Ruby is dead. I’ve always found this moment in particular so fascinating because of how loud it is metaphorically for both characters. Fifteen is taking off the mask of coolness and revealing that Doctor™ anger. This is a complete switch-up from what he’s been like throughout most of the episode. Yet when he lets out that chilling line, “Good. That’s a long time to suffer.” Rogue doesn’t look all that scared or mad at him.

The face Rogue makes here looks far closer to a resigned sadness, almost like he knew that he would have that reaction. Keep in mind that Rogue knows nothing about The Doctor at their worst, all that he knows right now is that they lost “everyone”. Compare that with Donna, who was outright terrified of The Doctor when at their worst (for good reason though).

Rogue isn’t surprised by this at all. He’s not asking “What happened to this person in front of me?”, he’s realizing “This is how much he cares about his best friend.” He’s seeing the depth of this person’s love that is inexorably linked to the depth of his grief, and is realizing he can’t allow that grief to corrupt this person he’s grown to love, even if it means endangering himself. Which is exactly what ends up happening.

This is where the theme of masks finally pays off. At the beginning of the episode, both Rogue and Fifteen are wearing their masks (cold, uncaring bounty hunter, and flirtatious partygoer). Those masks started to come down, but that got messed up thanks to miscommunication. Rogue didn’t understand what The Doctor needed from him, causing their trauma to resurface and The Doctor ran away from having to deal with that grief. This final scene is them being completely honest with each other. Rogue asks him “Can you lose your friend to save the world?”, and Fifteen tells him the truth. He can’t, he can’t let that happen again. And Rogue understands that, he finally knows what needs to be done. And so he kisses him. Why did Rogue kiss him? Again, it’s a repeat of a previous scene, this time the dance. Rogue is comfortable putting on a mask/doing something dishonest when there’s an aspect of truth to it. Even if they danced together to serve a lie, it still was a moment powered by romantic feelings. Same with the kiss. Rogue had wanted to kiss him, so he felt comfortable doing something with an ulterior motive (taking the button from him) because it was also something he would’ve wanted to do regardless of the situation.

But why did Rogue do it? The one line that I kept thinking of in summing up the intent behind Rogue's sacrifice was, ironically, from Frozen: "Love is...putting someone else's needs before yours”. Essentially, shelving your agenda, like we’ve been saying. Back in the proposal scene, Rogue’s mess up was not figuring out what Fifteen needed out of him at that moment. Fifteen needed him to play along in faking and instead, Rogue heel turned into a lot of trauma for The Doctor. So now, after seeing how important Ruby was to Fifteen, so important that he was willing to torture The Chuldur out of grief, Rogue is putting The Doctor’s needs before his own and stopping him from having to choose between her and the world. It's also why Rogue wiping away his tears before the kiss was so crazy because that's normally the Doctor's job. The Doctor is normally the one who turns sadness into hope. This time, someone else is doing that for him.

(credit to ngatwa again)

The greatest act of love in the episode was not the proposal, it was the sacrifice.

To close our tale, let us circle back to talking about Fifteen’s character arc. I opened this essay by talking about Fifteen’s main character flaw being a contradiction: both valuing emotional intimacy and running from it. That doesn’t seem to change by the end of this episode, so much so that Ruby forces Fifteen to take a moment and mourn Rogue’s loss when he wants to steamroll forward. But there’s one little detail left: Fifteen kept the ring. Not only kept it but is wearing it in the season finale to the point of even playing with it like a nervous tick.

That bond, that relationship was so important to him that he doesn’t allow himself to ignore it. It’s only after he has that hug with Ruby that he pulls out the ring and chooses to wear it. Rogue is the one thing Fifteen won’t run away from because what they had wasn’t fake. It was real.

Rogue, the supposed bounty hunter who only cared about wealth, loved The Doctor so much that he was willing to give up his life for his friend. The Doctor, the supposed Time Lord who flees from attachment, loves Rogue enough to remember him every day.

I ask you, gentle readers, how could one resist a love story like that?

NOTE: some extra bits I wanted to include that I couldn’t fit anywhere else: I’m such a sucker for color symbolism, and having Rogue wear blue in contrast to Fifteen’s normally warm color palette, as well as blue being the color of The TARDIS…it just makes me feel things, ya’ know?

Also, by not gendering Rogue’s previous partner, only ever using they/them pronouns, it helps add to the relationship in a social commentary way. It subtly shows that Rogue already has experience/is attracted to people who on some level defy gender norms, which helps prime the audience to buy Rogue accepting/liking The Doctor being able to change gender when regenerating.

Essentially, I'm insane over these two, and I need them back on screen as soon as possible.

#text #meta writing #long post #doctor who #dw meta #doctor who meta #doctor who analysis #fifteenth doctor #rogue doctor who #fifteenrogue #fifteen x rogue

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lukecastellanshandholder · 4 months ago

Note

You do understand that Luke groomed and used teenagers, also asked a teenager if she loved from when she was sixteen and he was 23…

(I only dislike Luke, I don’t completely hate him, but reading your account description made me wonder…)

*sigh* ok, I’m going to try my very best to be nice and explain Luke’s character. (I only say this because I’ve made countless posts about these things already, but you seem new so I’ll explain)

First of all, Luke himself was groomed by Kronos for about 2 whole years before the events of The Lightning Thief took place. Kronos started coming to Luke in his dreams shortly after his quest to retrieve a golden apple from the Garden of Hesperides. Kronos came to Luke with his offer to help him dethrone the gods when he was upset and thinking irrationally because of his (very justified) anger towards Hermes. After this, Kronos continued to haunt Luke’s dreams, making him think that they both had the same goals.

Luke had always wanted a better life for demigods and for their godly parents to treat them better, he never wanted to hurt other demigods (as is plainly said in The Diary of Luke). While Kronos just wanted to gain power over Olympus again and to reshape the world. However, Kronos convinced Luke that he didn’t want to bring harm to demigods and that he could help Luke achieve his goal.

When Luke started to realize that Kronos just wanted power and that he no longer wanted to help Kronos, Kronos tortured him with nightmares. He was verbally and mentally abusive, driving Luke to near insanity until he broke and became Kronos’ perfect little soldier.

“But Luke groomed and used teenagers!” First of all, what do you think that the gods and Chiron do to all of the children at camp Half blood? They use those poor kids to run their errands and fight their wars under the guise of offering protection from monsters in the mortal world. And Camp half blood had been around long before the Titan Army was established.

Secondly, do you think that the gods are such good parents to their children that they didn’t have other kids who would willingly want to dethrone them? Because we have at least 2 examples of demigods who wanted to dethrone the gods for their own reasons. Ethan Nakamura and Alabaster Torrington. Ethan could’ve cared less about putting Kronos in power, he just wanted minor gods and their children to be treated better. Then Alabaster couldn’t have cared less about Luke but did want to see Kronos in power only because he would treat his mother, Hecate, better than Zeus did. So to say that Luke groomed every demigod who joined is completely ignoring the fact that the gods were terrible parents who have wronged so many of their children.

And third, Kronos was the one who wanted that army to fight against the army that Camp Half Blood had been building for years. Kronos was the one with all of the control, because once a demigod joined they were put under a haze. They were under Kronos’s influence and didn’t come out of it until Luke killed Kronos. So to blame Luke for the use of those demigods is also completely ignoring who had the true power in the situation. The gods and the Titans started this feud hundreds of years ago, Luke, Percy and the other demigods were just dragged into it.

Now about the whole Annabeth thing. I’m 100% sure that when Luke asked her if she had loved him, it was meant as in platonic/ familial love. As we see in The Diary of Luke (the only story that we ever see from Luke’s POV) we always see him thinking of Annabeth as nothing but a little sister or even a daughter. The only person that we ever see him show romantic feelings towards is Thalia when they were on the run together before going to camp. Well, except for Kelli, but I feel like that’s a special kind of situation.

“But Percy said-.” Percy is the most unreliable narrator out there, and he was a jealous teenage boy. Of course when Percy has a huge crush on Annabeth and he hears Luke ask Annabeth if she loved him, that Percy is going to think he meant it in a romantic way! He doesn’t have all of the information about practically anything going on! Now I’m not saying anything against Percy, but again he didn’t have all of the information and was just going off of what he thought he knew.

“But Annabeth said in the Heroes of Olympus series that-!” In this situation, Annabeth is also an unreliable narrator. Think about it, if you have or had a crush on someone and they asked you if you ever liked or loved them, aren’t you going to automatically assume that they mean it in the same way as you do? Aren’t you going to assume that they meant in a romantic way and think that they also had a crush on you? And again, I’m not saying anything bad against Annabeth but, the only time we get to hear from Luke’s POV about Annabeth he’s always referring to her as his little sister. So, are we going to believe what Luke says in his own point of view? Or are we going to believe what two people without all of the information think Luke meant?

So yeah, if you were wondering if I like Luke, the answer is yes! He’s one of my absolute favorite characters because his story is so interesting and intriguing to me.

No, I don’t blame Luke for what the gods and Kronos caused. I don’t think that he’s some evil monster like most of the fandom seems to think he is for some reason. Luke is a victim of the gods and Kronos. He was used just like every other demigod and in the end, died a hero.

I hold the actual villains of the story (Kronos and the gods) accountable for their actions instead of just blaming everything on one of their victims.

#hope this helps #luke castellan #asks #pjo #percy jackson #percy jackon and the olympians

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yanderes-galore · 7 months ago

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Would you do a yandere Trixie Lulamoon concept?

Sure! I know Trixie has a bigger role with Starlight in later seasons but I'm not that far. However, I've seen my fair share of scenes and I think I know how to portray her :)

Yandere! Trixie Lulamoon Concept

Pairing: Romantic/Platonic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Clingy behavior, Jealousy, Sabotage, Stalking, She drags Starlight into it, OOC Trixie portions, Blood mention, Implied violence/murder but never explicit, Dubious companionship/relationship.

Okay, Trixie isn't the most intimidating yandere without the Alicorn Amulet.

In fact, Trixie is someone who primarily just thrives off of attention.

Trixie would want nothing more than to be the center of your attention when she's obsessed.

She's easily jealous and rather demanding when it comes to you.

The moment you befriend her she rarely leaves your side.

She's rather dramatic and arrogant, often acting like she deserves your attention.

Although if you deprive her of it... she's begging for you to give it back.

She isn't really protective, maybe a bit possessive but she doesn't have the strongest magic.

So in terms of harming other ponies, without help she's relatively harmless if not needy.

I can see Trixie doing all sorts of tricks just to keep your gaze on her.

She's a magician, after all, so she would probably look through all sorts of tricks to impress you.

Trixie would definitely lie to impress you.

All that matters to her is your praise and attention.

Which means she plans to do anything to get that.

I wouldn't doubt Trixie would drag Starlight into helping her obtain your attention.

Starlight originally wants to refuse, but you make Trixie so happy.

So maybe she can use her magic to lend a hoof and get you two closer.

Trixie has a tendency to panic, too.

She'd quickly assume you hate her or something if you didn't speak to her for a few hours.

She has a tendency to over think and is easily starved of attention.

Trixie would probably stalk you since she can't take staying away.

You could be busy with a task only for Trixie to show up.

Afterwards she's quickly asking questions, wondering if you hate her or are ignoring her.

In reality you were just... busy?

She isn't intense and is quite harmless.

She's a pony who clings to her obsession and just likes it when you look at her.

Starlight does her best to help her friend gain your attention with new tricks or magic lessons.

Trixie wants to be a better spell user for you.

That way you can pay more attention to her.

Trixie would hate it if you hung around other ponies.

Yeah, sure, she knows you have other friends...

Yet that doesn't change the jealousy that bubbles within the unicorn's heart.

Trixie would try to sabotage your other friends.

Things like ways to humiliate themselves, pranks and small spells to make you think less of them.

She feels only she should have your attention.

If you're thinking murder or over-the-top violence, it isn't very in character with canon.

However, if you want to bend her canon personality a bit...

Trixie might do some brutal things to have your attention.

To take a step away from canon (and allow me more freedom for HCs), maybe she tracks down those you're close to.

Trixie doesn't have many friends except Starlight.

So she thinks you and her should be something special.

Maybe Trixie manages to drag Starlight into her plots, wanting to be your only friend or something more.

Trixie is normally a coward, one who runs at the sight of blood.

But for you... well... maybe she's changed a bit.

Her need for your attention changes the mare.

After all... if she was normal for you... she wouldn't have blood on her hooves, would she?

Oh, she hates the idea of your attention going to somepony else....

Surely you'll learn she's the best mare for you, right?

Poor you wonders where all your friends went.

Meanwhile Trixie comes back to you a changed mare.

You don't have to know what she's been doing, right?

Starlight won't tell a soul, Trixie made sure of that.

Eventually you'll have no other pony friends.

It'll just be you and Trixie.

She won't have to share your attention anymore.

However, you'll find out.

After all, why is only Trixie around?

Perhaps you even learn of the blood she's spilled.

No matter, Trixie's learned a lot through her obsession...

You'll love her... she won't let you neglect her any longer.

#yandere my little pony #yandere mlp #yandere mlp fim #yandere trixie lulamoon

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slasherbvnnie · 2 years ago

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Cinnamon and Cigarettes

It's 2023, and on your 18th birthday you received a special letter from a school known as Hogwarts University. A college exclusive to wizards and witches, teaching them how to hone and harness their wizarding abilities. On your first day there, you come across a few friends and foes.

Context: 18+ characters, modern day hogwarts au, hufflepuff reader

Word Count: 975

You sucked down a deep breath, the gentle tapping of your shoes hitting the tiles beneath you filling your ears as the world was muted behind you with every step. You had no idea why this was so nerve wracking, it was exciting all at the same time as well, it just confused you all together knowing the next few years of your life would be defined by this small action. You sat on the wooden chair, feeling it pop and creak into place as you sat. Your hands fiddled with the ends of your clothes as you felt the weight be placed upon your head, making you look up slightly. “Interesting…” you heard a voice murmur, continuing on as you swiped your tongue across your lips as you nervously awaited. “Yes…yes that fits well…Hufflepuff!” You heard the hat call out, tuning back in when you could hear cheering and clapping from one of the tables. You stood, making your way out of the chair and to the table, being greeted by one of the boys who stood by the table, holding his hand out to shake yours. “Cedric Diggory, house prefect, take a seat anywhere and make some new friends,” he said with a smile, you shook his hand and smiled. “Y/N L/N, thank you cedric,” you replied as you took a seat.

It was shortly after dinner when Mcgonagall announced that there was a game for the first years. It was a fun game they had planned, almost like a game of tag. Students were to cast a very simple spell on other students in different houses, each house either gaining or losing points passed on who was tagged and who was the tagger. She announced that whichever house won the game would be able to host the first party back for students as well as make requests for food for the day after. You had met other people in your house, like Hannah Abbott , Gregory Munslow and even the chaser for the quidditch team Heidi Macavoy. When time came to finally begin the game, you were greeted by other students you had met on the train ride. Although now in different houses, they were still friendly. “Would you like to compete together? We can all have a truce to not get each other,” one girl offered as you smiled, nodding your head. “You’ve got a deal,” you agreed, your small group taking off as the professors called the beginning of the games once the other years went back to their dorms.

You all ran through the halls assigned for the game, laughter and shouts filling the castle. You casted the game spell on a few, dodging the attempts at yourself easily. Not all the students were great with spells yet, which you were thankful for, as well as for those without good aim. You heard a cry from your friend group when you noticed one had been tagged, looking back to them as you spotted the girl who had casted them out. She was a slytherin girl from the looks of it, making note as you began to run once again. This time instead of aiming for the other houses, you instead aimed for slytherins only, casting them out whenever you spotted one.

After getting a handful of their house out, you were met with a slytherin boy making his way to you. He towered over you as he walked straight at you, you backed up, eventually being cornered as he approached you. “You’re the little puff who’s been getting my friends out, hm?” He asked, holding his wand to your face as you looked up to him. “Which of them was it,” he questioned, you were silent as you stared at him. “Which one was it,” he pressed on, you were stunned and pointed to the slytherin girl who had been watching with a smirk on her face. He turned to where your finger landed, moving his wand from your face and instead casting the spell on her, making her gasp in surprise. “There, your problems gone,” he said as he turned back to you. “Now why don’t you and your little friend group scurry off,” he said before noticing another girl who was in your group. “And you, wearing a slytherin uniform and not defending your house? It may be only a game but some of us won’t forget you didn’t help stand up for your house,” he sneered to your friend, a more threatening glare in his eyes as you looked over. “Lay off of her,” you said, he sighed as he turned back to you, smirking a bit. “Stay out of it little badger, I know more than enough to get back at you,” he said as you frowned. He looked back at your friend, threatening her with something else before you stepped up, as your friend began to grow more scared, something inside you overpowered your judgement and you swung at the taller. He was surprised and stepped back, holding his nose as a few of the others in his own group snickered. “Beaten by a Hufflepuff, Riddle,” one blonde laughed as the taller looked at you.

Instead of hitting back, he only chuckled as he pulled his hand away, revealing some blood running down his face. “You have a good swing,” he said as he backed away from your group. “Why don’t you come by the dungeons sometimes, we’ll send an owl with the password,” he hummed with a smirk as you scoffed. “As if I would want to be around barbarians,” you said, casting the game spell on him, making his eyes widen as he stared at you. “All my problems gone, right?” You mocked as he wiped at the blood on his face, shaking his head with a laugh as he walked off.

#mattheo riddle #mattheo riddle x you #mattheo riddle x hufflepuff #mattheo riddle x hufflepuff!reader #mattheo riddle x afab!reader #hogwarts au #hogwarts university au #harry potter au

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themattress · 2 months ago

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Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Continued from my last post.

- As I noted last time, as tragic as Jeralt's death is, it's the fall-out of it that I find more interesting and memorable. First off, the entries in his diary are truly haunting ("there's no heartbeat...no heartbeat!"), increasing the mystery and suspense around what Rhea has planned for Byleth given that she appears to have had those plans since their very birth.

- The reactions each of the route's Lords have to Byleth mourning Jeralt's death are very revealing of their character. Edelgard refuses to give Byleth any comfort, partly because it would be facetious of her to do so given that she holds a degree of culpability in Jeralt's death but primarily because she cannot stand for wallowing in the past, saying that "the future is fast approaching" and doesn't wait for one to get over their grief. Dimitri is exceedingly empathetic and comforting toward Byleth, admitting that it's because he knows full well how they must be feeling since he felt it too at Duscur and stating that wallowing in the past can be useful for deciding what you want to spend your future on...even if it's on something dark like revenge. And Claude, while giving a token showing of sympathy for Byleth, puts all emotion aside and is laser-focused on the diary Jeralt left behind and how it can provide clues for what the Church is hiding, what's special about Byleth, and what the enemy's aim is.

- While all routes feature the scene between the Flame Emperor, Thales and Kronya, only in the Blue Lions route are you on hand as Byleth to witness it in person, alongside Dimitri. Unfortunately, the English dub kind of screws this moment up. The Flame Emperor says that the Agarthans will have no salvation in the end given their crimes in Embarr and Duscur, to which Thales says those crimes were needed for the Flame Emperor to acquire the strength they need. Given the blatant disagreement between the two in this exchange, Dimitri reacting as though the Flame Emperor was responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur doesn't make much sense. But in the Japanese version, the statements were more ambiguous. The Flame Emperor merely asks "will there ever be a salvation?" after mentioning the Agarthans' crimes, to which Thales replies "Wasn't it all just for your own gain?"...an abusive gaslighting tactic in proper context, but without context sounding like the Flame Emperor has direct responsibility in what happened and is only placing themselves above it like a mob boss would a hit that they ordered. So in the Japanese version, Dimitri's reaction to what gets said is more logical.

- This exchange always gets me:

Sothis and her bond with Byleth are so precious and pure.

- Both this chapter and the next have a sorrowful music track playing during the Explore section that perfectly reflect the sense of loss Byleth is feeling. It's a perfect mood setter.

- I'm disappointed in Kronya. She has a nifty design and an enjoyably sassy and sadistic personality reminiscent of Larxene from the Kingdom Hearts series, and yet not only could she not have killed Jeralt without Thales' interference but here she sets a trap that everyone knows going in is a trap so it's easily defused, she is ridiculously easy to defeat which leads to her running away like a coward, and then she gets unceremoniously killed off by Solon ripping her heart out and using its darkness in a ritual to send Byleth to the Shadow Realm. And yes, I'm aware it's actually called Zahras, but seriously, listen to Solon describe it:

It's the fucking Shadow Realm!

With that said, we don't actually see it. Not until Three Hopes, anyway.

- Ummmmmm.....

I have a problem with this, but I'll get back to it next time.

- I'm sorry, but I can't take the big Byleth-Sothis fusion seriously anymore. I can only think of:

youtube

- Once again, we have a scene with Rhea that I'm torn between finding exceedingly creepy and exceedingly sad: her cradling a half-conscious Byleth and talking to them as if they were her mother, saying she doesn't wish to let go and promising to watch over them forever. Ultimately, though, my disgust at what her intentions are for Byleth wins out. Lady, you sick.

#Fire Emblem #Three Houses #Opinion #Analysis #Comparison #This has been a PSA

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tetsunabouquet · 4 months ago

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Vampire Knight: Bloggers Headcanon

A/N: This is me speculating what kind of Tumblr blog each character would have.

Yuki - A cooking blog where she saves and shares recipes, roasts those of her father and gives in-depth reviews of the local restuarants.

Zero - A roasting blog where he vents his hatred for Kaname, who he never refers to by name but by things like 'a leech that should be bleeched' and vampires in media. Most of his followers are Twilight haters.

Takuma - A writing blog specializing in detectives and fanfiction (which often has his favorite manga turnt into a detective AU)

Rima - A fashion blog where she, from the sweet comfort of anonomity, talks honestly about the designers she has posed for. Like, which actually serve cheap quality that you might as well buy from Wish, etc. Not everyone in the fasion industry is happy with the popularity her blog has gained, but because they don't know which model is behind it, Rima's job remains safe.

Hanabusa - A scientific blog where he explains complex theories in an easy language so that most can grasp what he is trying to explain. Being a teenager, he knows how to break down these subjects for people his age in a way most teachers can't. Most of the Day Class girls managed to find out that he runs a blog. Some actually stuck around as they enjoy being 'tutored' by him.

Ichiru - A meme blog where he both posts his own created memes and reblogs the ones he likes. Made at least two memes out of photos of Zero.

Ruka - A 'business' blog. She is surprisigly good at sewing rag dolls and sells them as a side-hustle to her school activities. Her blog is where she advertizes her cute creations.

Headmaster Cross - A photography blog where he mostly reblogs photos others have taken. Because his 'cute children' don't want to be posted online, any photos he uploads of his own are cats he meets along the way of grocery shopping. Which is why a lot of his followers are catlovers.

Senri - A 'crack' blog. He loves crackhead humor and collects jokes through reblogs whenever he's bored.

Akatsuki- A fitness blog where he used to post about working out. I say used to, because things took turn once he started uploading pictures. There are some girls in the fitness corner of the internet that aren't afraid to monetize their bodies and go nude. One of them caught notice of Akatsuki and started flirting with him through he DMs. Once he noticed her he was like, 'I'm outta here, Ruka is the only girl I want to see naked'. He's been inactive for months and will only go online to reblog Ruka's posts as a supportive friend.

#vk #vampire knight #zero kiryu #ichiru kiryu #senri shiki #takuma ichijo #rima toya #yuki cross #akatsuki kain #ruka souen #hanabusa aido #kaien cross #yuki kuran

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isekai-crow · 11 months ago

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The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic

I didn't go into this expecting much, because you can almost never tell if an isekai is going to be good or not (and all the subjectivity that comes with the term 'good'.)

This looks like it's gonna be hella fun.

Overall Score so far: 7.5/10

The summoning to another world as "Heros" to defeat the "Demon King" is your standard isekai plot. It's not original, but it's a good basis for a story, if that's not all there is to the premise. I'm looking forward to how this will get it's own unique twist.

The initial vibes I was getting from it were a mix of

a bad reminiscence of the beginning of "Rise of the Shield Hero" where I was worried that healing magic would be considered a bad or weak ability, and our main character Usato would be looked down on. AND

The great impression of "Wow, I want the Student President Inumaki and Vice President Kazuki to become a poly ship with Usato." I'm just gonna head cannon that the whole way though, thank you very much, they have great vibes together!

I'm thankful the first didn't come to pass, and that the second is going to be the basis for fanfic I look for in the future lol. But also, I hope the Demon King is fun, and that the fox girl doesn't bring any Loli vibes into this.

The green-haired Rose, a healing magic user who is going to train our intrepid healing hero, is the only Voice Actor that popped out at me. Which makes sense, as going through the other voices, it's a lot of small time or up and coming VAs! They're all doing a fantastic job though.

But Rose.

For a second I thought it was the Headmaster from Season 2 of Ancient Magus Bride, as she have a similar low and husky voice. But no, we have Tanaka, Atsuko - The voice of Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell, and where I recognized her from, Hanami from Jujutsu Kaisen!!! She has a very long record of supporting roles in so many anime, and I really like her voice, so I'm glad I get to listen to it here~

Episode 1 Spoilers Below!

Youve got your standard typical kid who is So Normal, and you have the Amazing and Loved By Everyone Student Body Council members, who everyone thinks are dating, and are just So Pretty and Smart and Good At All The Things.

I love how they are both interested in Usato for treating them like normal people, because as we find out, they are just typical high school students. And while they are not actually dating, just spend a lot of time together, I could absolutely peg these two as swingers looking for a third member, and that's all just delusions on my part hahahaha.

Inumaki-sempai, the Student President, is a secret Chu-Ni-Byo, or one of those edgelord kids doing the naruto run and unironically thinks they have special powers to move things with their eyes. It's a phase everyone goes through, even if they won't admit it. But she is SO HYPE to be in an isekai, and I'm right there with her. I would totally react the same way.

And of course, to feed her Chunibyo tendancies, which are immediately spotted by Usato whose image of her is shattered (good, please see her as human), she's gained the power of Lightning Magic. All she needs now is an eye patch and some bandages on her hand, along with manical laughter.

Kazuki, her second in command, seems like a typical Popular Guy, but I love that when he's getting heated over their nonconsensual summoning (despite Inumaki getting hyped in the backgroun), Usato stepping in to calm him down and point out that there is no use getting worked up, is such a good base jumping point for where things will go from here. He's not a particularly interesting character yet, but he's a good guy who wants to protect those around him. It makes sense that he gets Light Magic.

I love that Kazuki has NO IDEA what an Isekai is, and is like - "Light magic... I can blind people I guess???" Has he never even played Dragon Quest? lmao

Usato of course, gets something different, and everyone flips out. He then stops being able to read the room and puts himself in his own situation by mentioning as such in front of Rose, despite the king and magic nun trying to dissuade her from finding out. He's a Super Duper Rare Healing Magic user, because of course he is. He's Protag-kun. But it's fun to see the "tag along" who DIDN'T HEAR THE HERO BELLS WHEN SUMMONED get such a unique skill.

Bless this sweetheart. I hope they can become an awesome trio.

I can't wait to watch episode 2, and see if we get some actual twisted ways to use healing magic to fight.

My hopes for how Healing Magic can be used "incorrectly"

up someone's internal organs with a punch

be able to manipulate their blood or body water content to kill, OR

just toughen this kid up into a fighter who can heal all the damage he takes and turn him into a tank rather than just a support. ZOMBIE FIGHTING STYLE

Either way, I'm gonna enjoy this one!!

ep2 ep3 ep4 ep5 <- these will be links eventually

#anime winter 2024 #the wrong way to use healing magic #chiyu mahou no machigatta tsukaikata #治癒魔法の間違った使い方 #isekai #isekai anime

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thisgirlnamedblusy · 1 year ago

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hiya! i love your works, and the way you write marilyn!! could you possibly write a hurt/com fic where reader begins to distance herself from marilyn because she feels sad over something and isn’t used to being emotional in front of people, but marilyn eventually corners her and reader opens up and it’s emotional and lovely and comforting…sorry if that made no sense - thank you!!

Yess!!! Here it is!!! I hope you like it!!! Sorry about the delay, and the language mistakes!!! :))))))))

Just a hard time

Pairing: Marilyn Thornhill x Fem! Reader

Warnings: Angst, hurt & comfort, fluff

Word count: 3,993

Summary: You're not the happy girl that she thinks, you have a lot of thoughts in your mind, and not a good ones…

N/A: Requests are open!!! Sorry about the delays, I’m working hard on your requests. I love you all!!!

“Have you like it? You haven't told me anything,” Marilyn said, gently caressing your cheek while her legs intertwined with yours.

You weren't thinking about what just happened, your mind was in a very far away place for several days. You simply faked a smile and nodded. Marilyn sighed, analyzing your gaze, and kissed you briefly on the lips.

Your smile slowly faded, while your mind continued to spin over a worry that stalked you at all time.

You were a simple girl, in your childhood you were happy, but your adolescence was like hell to you. Full of ridicule, friendless, struggling to ignore the contempt of your classmates.

But that time has passed. Now you were a 24-year-old girl with a job, a house and a wonderful girlfriend. How someone like you had been so lucky was a question you had ever since you met Marilyn. You weren't special, you had nothing to offer to her, but she still fell in love with you.

You never had self-esteem, but as the years went by, you at least gained some confidence. Lately that confidence was decreasing little by little and every day, every hour you thought about what the reason could be. You couldn't find it. Your life was perfect, but you didn't see it that way at all.

“I really need to take a shower...” Marilyn sighed, yawning. “(Y/N), will you join me?”

You shook your head, snapping out of your troubled world of thoughts. You looked at the woman, who got out of bed, stretching in an exaggerated way.

“No... I think, I think I just want to sleep right now,” you said, turning around and covering yourself with the sheets.

“Oh... Have I exhausted you too much?” The redhead asked mockingly, sitting next to you on the bed and stroking your hair.

“I'm tired,” you answered. The words didn’t express your feelings, they were weak, dull, lacking any emotion. Logically that caught Marilyn's attention, she frowned and moved your head slightly so you were looking into her eyes.

“Honey, are you okay?” She asked, carefully studying your gestures. You sighed and smiled again, trying to look happy, to look like nothing was worrying you.

“Yes, of course. I'm just sleepy...” You said, faking a yawn. Marilyn wasn't stupid, she knew you were lying, but she also knew how reluctant you were to talk about your feelings, so she decided to get up and go to the bathroom, giving you one last curious look.

You breathed calmly when you heard the shower running and turned around again, now looking up at the ceiling. You thought it was just a phase, that this strange sadness you felt would pass, but it wasn't like that. Not even Marilyn's affable character, nor her continuous gestures of love and affection could make you forget your torments.

Your low self-confidence made you ask yourself absurd questions every day, such as what that wonderful woman could have seen in a girl like you. You had no answer. You couldn't find the characteristic that could have caught her attention.

You weren't a bad person, quite the opposite, but you were very introverted. So many years isolated from others made you to close your mind, to not express emotions or feelings in front of other people, or at least the negative ones.

Making those bullies see that their mockery and insults were effective only made them see you weak, that their actions had the effect they wanted.

This is how you formed what would be your current personality. Good, kind, but reserved, confident with your feelings. If Marilyn hadn't asked you for that date, you probably would never have acted, you would never have told her that you felt the same way about her, about that red-haired woman you looked every morning in the cafeteria.

But, even though your life was wonderful, you couldn't stop thinking about the reason for your luck, why from one day to the next, you found someone as good as her, someone who loved you above all, and who does everything for you.

Marilyn was always thoughtful, she covered you with flowers and gifts whenever she had the opportunity. Every morning, she left a note on the refrigerator, a simply “I love you.”

All of this made you feel guilty, feeling like you weren't up to par with her, that she didn't deserve you. And so, wrapped in sheets, with your naked body in the bed, you got to the root of your problems, your low self-esteem.

You felt inferior, a girl who wasn't worth it. It didn't matter how many times Marilyn told you that she loved you, you simply looked for hidden motivations, some dark reason for her to want to be close to you.

You closed your eyes with those thoughts, with ideas that passed fleetingly through your head. She didn't even know about your tormented past, you couldn't even consider being completely honest with her. After two years, you were still a complete stranger, and only you knew why.

The next morning, you played with the coffee spoon, looking at the table, with a serious expression, just looking at the clock. Marilyn seemed strange because of your attitude, she looked at you constantly, under a tense, deathly silence, like the ones you usually had after arguing. But this time there was no jealousy, no absurd arguments. There was only an empty, sad (Y/N), looking for what you could give to the redhead that makes her to want to keep you.

“Hey, (Y/N)...” Marilyn whispered, interrupting that tense silence. You looked up and nodded slightly, finishing your coffee. “I thought that… Well, today is Friday… We could, you know, do something…”

“Like what?” You asked, sighing. Every time you spoke you bit your tongue, regretting using that lazy tone with your beloved. Marilyn smiled nervously, blinking rapidly, sad cause she didn't understand the reason for your lack of spirit.

“Do you remember our first date? You know, the restaurant on the Main Street corner,” she said, getting up from the chair and caressing your back, bending down to speak in your ear. “Do you remember how much fun we had?”

You nodded, smiling sincerely.

“I threw a glass of wine on you,” you said between laughs.

“And I did the same... What do you think if we go there for dinner? Maybe it's a little late to book a table, but we can try...”

You closed your eyes with another long sigh. You remembered that night as one of the best of your life. But at that moment the only thing you wanted was to continue closing in on yourself, you didn't want her compassion, for her to pay for dinner like she always did, for her to shower you with all kinds of affection and comforts that you felt you didn't deserve.

“I... Tonight I preferred to stay home,” you whispered, getting up to wash your breakfast mug. Marilyn looked at you stunned, worried, and approached you, turning you around and cupping your face with her hands.

“Honey, I know something is wrong with you... Please, talk to me, tell me something, let me help you.”

You pulled away without being too unpleasant and shook your head.

“There's nothing wrong with me, Mari... I'm just tired... That's all,” you said, heading to the bathroom to take a shower.

“(Y/N)…” The redhead sighed, insisting. “Please…”

You stopped, ready to say something, to start talking about your worries, but you regretted it at the last moment. You would never be brave enough to do it.

That night…

“I think I'm going to sleep...” Marilyn sighed, picking up her dinner’s tray. “I'm exhausted.”

You nodded, not looking away from the television. Marilyn had been trying to get information out of you all night, asking you what was going on in your mind, but without success. You were closed hermetically, no one could access your feelings, not even the woman of your life.

“Well...” You said, changing channel to channel automatically, without thinking.

“Aren't you coming?” She asked, leaning behind the couch. “I promise you that I will be good and let you sleep…” She said with a suggestive and funny tone.

You smiled and looked at her, shaking your head.

“No, I think I'll stay a little longer. I'm still not sleepy,” you said, leaning back on the couch. Marilyn stared at you, frowning.

“You said you were tired,” she told you, crossing her arms.

You closed your eyes, lamenting how pathetic your excuses always were.

“Yes, I am, but it doesn't mean I'm sleepy...” You said defensively, in a harsher tone. Marilyn nodded and took a deep breath. Her face was serious, stoic. She knew you too well no matter how much you denied it. She knew you were lying.

“It's okay, come whenever you want, no rush,” she said in a whisper, leaning down to give you a quick kiss before entering the room.

The minutes passed and with them, the hours. You could hear the television, but you weren't listening, you only heard your mind making up horrible thoughts, lowering your self-esteem, tormenting you even more. You lay down on the couch, shedding a tear. You were depressed, you were not hungry, you didn't want to do anything, and you weren't even able to take refuge in Marilyn, in the woman who loved you, who means everything for you.

Your eyelids were getting heavier and without meaning to, you fell asleep.

Footsteps on the wood woke you up. You were curled up on the couch, shivering due to the cold. The light emitted by the television was annoying, but you didn't want to move so as not to lose heat. Marilyn approached and you closed your eyes again, pretending to sleep.

That horrible light went out and you felt the warmth of her hand on your head, caressing you gently.

“Baby, if you would just tell me what's wrong with you...” Marilyn whispered softly, trying not to wake you up. You moved, but you didn't open your eyes, you let yourself to be caressed.

Marilyn sighed and shifted, searching for something in the small entryway closet.

You opened one eye to watch what she was doing, but when she addressed you again, you closed it again.

You felt how a pleasant fabric covered your body. A blanket. Marilyn had gone to get a blanket to cover you, not to insist that you go back to bed... Your breathing became heavier while the redhead covered you lovingly, preventing you from getting cold.

That made you feel worse, feeling like you were a horrible person.

“Sweet dreams, princess...” She said, kissing your cheek and returning to the bedroom.

The sun's rays hit your eyes mercilessly. Your back hurt but thanks to the blanket you weren't cold. You sat up, sitting on the couch, sighing, thinking about everything that had happened, about your radically different attitude.

Marilyn left the room, leaning against a wall, looking at you pitifully.

“Did you sleep well?” She asked ironically. You rubbed your back and shook your head.

“Not much...” You said honestly, pulling the blanket away from you and rubbing your eyes. You needed to clear your head, clarify your ideas. A hot shower maybe can help. But your walk to the bathroom was interrupted by a strong grip on your wrist.

“Are you going somewhere, (Y/N)?” She asked without letting your wrist go, with a serious look.

“I have, I have to take shower,” you said, trying in vain to get out of her grasp.

“Oh, no, you're not going anywhere...” She said, smiling maliciously.

“Come on, Mari, give me a break,” you protested, stopping fighting to free yourself.

“We need to talk, (Y/N),” she told you, releasing you. You nodded, getting nervous. You waited for that moment to come, but you were still a coward.

“Great, but after a shower,” you said, walking past her. Marilyn sighed, rubbing the back of her neck.

“Now, (Y/N),” she told you, making you stop. You looked at her, but continued on your way. Marilyn followed you, closing the bedroom door behind her, trying to corner you.

“I don't want to talk now, Marilyn, I need that shower,” you said, avoiding her gaze. Marilyn laughed nervously, facing you, grabbing your shoulders so you couldn't move.

“What the hell is wrong with you, (Y/N)? You, you're not yourself, you haven't been for a long time.” she told you, looking at you pleadingly. You avoided her eyes, fighting back the tears that were beginning to fall down your cheeks.

“Do you care?” You said defensively, without thinking about your words. “Leave me alone.”

“(Y/N)...” The redhead sighed, releasing you.

You closed your eyes.

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have spoken to you that way,” you said coldly, passively, looking for some clothes in the closet.

“Do you think I don't care about what happens to you?” She asked. “For God's sake, (Y/N), at least tell me what I did wrong…”

“You haven't done anything wrong...” You responded, letting the clothes fall to the floor. “It's just... It's just that...”

“What? (Y/N), what's going on?”

You took a breath. Marilyn was persistent, you knew that at that point she wasn't going to give up. It was the time to be brave, to express your feelings, even though you didn't know how to do it, even though you would do it wrong.

“Marilyn, why are you with me?” You asked, fixing your eyes on hers. She shook her head, raising her eyebrows at that question.

“What? What's with that absurd question?”

“Just answer...” You said, stopping the redhead from questioning you. “Please tell me what you have seen in me.”

“You're not serious, are you? Tell me you're not asking me that...” The redhead said, confused. You nodded, pushing her hand away from your face.

“Answer me,” you insisted, moving away from her touch, that would distract you. Marilyn sighed open-mouthed, looking around.

“Honey, cause you are the most wonderful girl in the world... Because I love you...” She said smiling, trying to reason with you.

“That can not be possible. You're lying...” You said, wiping away a tear that fell down your cheek.

“Lying?”

“A woman like you would never want to be with me. Just think about it, Marilyn, you're older than me, you could be much happier with someone your age.

Marilyn blinked rapidly, shaking her head.

“What nonsense are you talking about?” She asked, now with a nervous expression, losing her patience little by little. “I could ask you the same thing.”

“You are... You are kind, you give me gifts, you take care of me... You are, you are perfect Marilyn... And I...”

“And you?” She asked, getting closer to you.

“I'm just a loser. I have never been important to anyone. All, all my life I have been insignificant to everyone...” You confessed, moving away from those absurd questions, beginning to open your heart.

“Insignificant? Honey... Why do you say that?” Marilyn asked, caressing your cheek. You were crying, there was no longer any need to be abrupt, or to continue pretending to be upset with her. You were upset with yourself.

“Because it is the truth. When I was in high school, everyone laughed at me. They said I was strange, that I was stupid, that I was ugly... “You explained, letting yourself fall on the bed. Marilyn sat next to you, motioning for you to continue. “Over time I learned to ignore all of that, but I don't think I've gotten over it...”

“Oh, honey... I'm so sorry to hear that...” She said softly, taking your hand. You looked at her, you watched how she caressed your skin. That made you sob and shake your head.

“I know that the life I have is not fair. I have everything I could dream of, I have you... But, no, I don't feel worthy... You are, you are too good for me. I'm pathetic, I haven't even been able to tell you anything of this before... I, no, I don't think I deserve to be by your side.”

Marilyn stirred, sighing in distress, looking at you horrified by your words.

“Do not say foolishness. You are wonderful, honey. I wouldn't be with you if you weren't.”

“It's just a facade, Marilyn!” You shouted. “I seem like an ordinary girl, happy, confident in what she does, but the truth is that I’m not… I have never felt comfortable with myself, I have never felt that I deserve anything I have.”

“Dear…”

“It's the truth. I'm just a girl who grieves alone and pretends to be happy when people are around. I'm worthless, I don't want you to waste your time with me, you should be with someone who makes you as happy as you make me...”

Marilyn didn't say anything, rather she did, giving you a gentle smack on the cheek. You put your hand to your face, looking scared at the redhead.

“Don't talk like that again,” she said with a firm tone.

“I'm not what you're looking for! I'm not a detail keeper, I didn't write you love notes, I don't give you gifts, I'm not good for loving.”

“(Y/N), you're starting to annoy me...” She hissed, squeezing your hand.

“Well, leave me then...” You whispered. Marilyn was going to say something, but she couldn't find the words, she simply got out of bed, wandering aimlessly around the room, shaking her head.

“You don't know anything, do you?” She said, breathing quickly. You did not answer. “I don't do those things so that you do the same. I make them because I like to see your face when I give you something, when you read one of my notes, and do you know why? Because you are the love of my life, because you make me happy, because you have decided to be with me being able to choose a young girl. I feel insecure many times too, (Y/N), but just looking into your eyes, just with your kisses, I realize that I’m in the place I want to be.”

You cried more, looking at the redhead.

“I'm nothing...” You sighed. Marilyn huffed and knelt in front of you.

“You are everything, honey, you are everything to me,” she told you. “You have nothing to be ashamed of, I know what it's like to have a hard time, believe me.”

You nodded.

“That is precisely the problem. I know everything about you, and I had never told you about the high school...” You said. Marilyn smiled tenderly, grabbing your hands.

“I don't care, honey... I'm not angry because you didn't tell me. I just, I just want to help you to understand that you are much more than a poor girl.

“They said I’m not.”

“Do you care what they said?”

“Of course I care. When you've been hearing the same things for years, you end up believing them...” You sighed, avoiding her gaze. You were embarrassed.

“You're not a loser, do you hear me? You are a good, kind girl... You are worth a hundred times more than all of them combined, my love... I have chosen you for who you are, not for what you look like. I like that you have weaknesses, that you are a person, a real one. We all have them. And I’m here to help you to overcome your complexes, to be by your side, to remind you how wonderful you are, and how lucky I have been with you.”

“Marilyn...” You sobbed, letting her pull your hands to stand up.

“Come here, hug me, honey. Let out everything you have inside...”she whispered to you. You lunged into her arms, resting your head on her shoulder, gripping her dress tightly. “Don’t worry, baby…”

You finally managed to vent. You didn't say anything, you just cried, hugging her, hanging on to her clothes.

Little by little you two descended to the floor. Marilyn hugged you, caressing your hair, your back, your arms... No one said anything, she just let you cry as much as you needed.

“Shh... My girl... I'm with you,” she told you softly, pulling you away a little, wiping your tears. “I could never be with anyone but you, my love.”

“Surely you can...” You sighed, settling into her chest.

“(Y/N), look at me,” she told you, lifting your chin. You let yourself to be guided, looking into those eyes that made you fall in love, those sincere eyes that you could now see clearly, without any dark thoughts, without fear, only with love. “The past can be horrible, but little by little it is being left behind. You are no longer in high school, they are just a memory. Don't let something like that get to you, my love. You don't know how much it hurts me to see you suffer, to see you doubt about yourself.

“I have always been weak, Mari… I can't help it.”

She smiled, kissing you tenderly, with love, making you feel really calm, with less and less desire to cry. Then you stood looking at each other like two people who had just discovered each other, as if an iron wall had fallen in front of you.

“Mari...” You said, making her smile wider. “There is still something that torments me.”

She nodded, hugging you again.

“You can tell me anything, honey...”

“It's... The floor,” you said, smiling, pointing your finger at the wood. Marilyn turned away a little confused and looked at the point your were pointing to.

“The floor?” She asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Have you seen how it is? When was the last time we cleaned the dust?” You said amused, running your finger along the wood, showing it to the redhead.

“If I remember correctly, it was your turn this week...” She said, following your joke, standing up and brushing off her clothes.

“That's a lie,” you said, taking her hand to stand up as well. You both looked at each other again and laughed out loud.

From one moment to the next, all your sadness, all your fear disappeared. She listened to you, she didn't let you despise yourself, she didn't know anything about your past, but she didn't judge you. She was authentic, a woman who truly loved you, and who you now knew you could count on on your bad days. Deep down you had always known it, but your bad experiences made you repress that pain, to pretend that your life had been happy.

“Honey, listen to me,” she told you, stopping laughing. “When you feel sad, when there is something dancing in your mind and you don't know what to do with it, please, talk to me. I will always be by your side, no matter what happens to you, no matter what worries you have. Is it clear?”

You hesitated for a moment, but nodded, kissing her now, barely letting her breathe.

“Okay, I'll do it... I'm so stupi...” you stopped when her gaze became dangerous. “I mean... I love you, Marilyn.”

“That’s the way I like it, because if you insult yourself again you will clean the dust for a month...” She told you, tucking a lock of hair behind your ear.

You looked at her threateningly, but laughed, reaching for your phone.

“What are you doing?” Marilyn asked, looking at you curiously.

“Shhh, shut up, I'm calling the restaurant...” You said, putting a hand in front of the phone's microphone.

Marilyn tilted her head, smiling widely.

“Great, thanks,” you said, hanging up and throwing the phone on the bed. “Tonight we have a dinner, Mari.”

“Shall we celebrate something?” She asked with a suggestive tone, grabbing you by the waist.

“No, we're just going to dinner,” you said, putting your hands around her neck. “I think it's better that we celebrate now, in the shower, don't you think?”

#marilyn thornhill #marilyn thornhill x reader #wednesday #ms thornhill #oneshot #fluff

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sammywolfgirl · 1 year ago

Text

Okay there was at least one like on the interest post so here’s the pitch-

I’m framing this like I got full creative direction for a cookie run kingdom event, will no limitations like budget, time, or executive interfearence

That being said I’m also pitching this as a ‘give devs creative team an easy update’ since a majority of the things used in this update are already designed in some way so this event could take place before a major event like a major lore drop, big anniversary update, etc.

That being said

Cookie run Kingdom: Jellywalkers attack!

I’ll go over gameplay stuff first.

First off this is a two part update like the moonlight Anniversary update was. So an extra long one.

As for new cookies there will be four new Epic cookies- one released in the first and second half of each update half.

No super epics or legendarys, because god I’m so tired of the special gachas one after another! Instead the ‘special Gacha’ will just be an event costume Gacha.

There will be costumes released in theme with the update but also a special Gacha that give character skins with unique voice lines. But they’re special costumes and not legendary. I will elaborate when we get there.

Now onto the characters.

In the first half of the update we will get Energy drink cookie, an epic bomber class. (Also in this post I’ll be using my gender fluid energy drink headcanon so I’ll be using he/she/they for him.)

Energy drinks skill involves her sending out an aoe attack that puts a defence debuff on the enemies, if his skill is used again they will grand a powerful attack and defence buff on the team. These two skill effects alternate every use. And durring the buffing skill use she will go into that green power up energy mode, and her own attack speed will increase for a short while before returning to normal. Maybe this mode procks after every skill use regardless if it’s the attack or buffing skill phase. I’m open to suggestions on that front

In the first part of the update Twizzly Gummy cookie will get a magic candy. This candy is going to be a bit of a gimic but I think it’ll be fun. This candy will buff the critical hit chance for her special making it stupid easy to get crits. Add in a damage buff and twizzlys skill is a stupid good aoe. My girl deserves to be broken for a while. The magic candy ingredient will be “electrifying wires”

Costume wise in this half we open the special guest costume Gacha which iiiiis, costumes of the band of misfits! Costumes for avocado, mint choco, strawberry, and carrot cookie that give them the appearence of the alt timeline gang, their dialogue reflecting these characters and getting special dialogue when interacting with Twizzly or each other. These likely would be event exclusive costumes so once the event is over you can’t get them but idealy they’d be put in the regular Gacha but made rare after the event is over because I know I’m not the only Twizzly gang enjoyer out there! Also the event would hand out rainbow cubes a lot so pfp players will get a chance to get them. Maybe also some costume chests where you pick one guaranteed would also be prizes in the event because I like being nice.

There will also be a new decor tab themed off those unreleased cookie wars jellywalker decor items. With some added stuff themed around Twizzly too. Twizzly gets a decor set where she powers up a neon sign and cackles about it. And maybe also energy drink can interact with it, where they tag it with a sticker lmao.

For events outside of the story we’ll bring in a new event in the first update part

This event is an endless wave survivor. You build up a team (or three super mayhem style, but at least one) and you put them agains an endless wave of enemies. You gain points for the amount of time survived and how many enemies defeated, earning event tokens to upgrade hp, attack, and defender like the boss events. Though no bosses will appear, at most strong enemies that give a lot of points if defeated. The banner event tied to this gives the usual rewards, but maybe add in a costume if you’re feeling creative. Like Angel cookies jellywalker costume from ovenbreak.

In the second half of this update Wasabi cookie will be released. a cookie decor for her will be released in the second part of the event. It’s a decor that’s themed after her lab. Let her do mad science and look at stuff in goopy test tubes

Wasabi is an Epic rank ambush cookie. And her skill launches wasabi shots at the enemies and dealing major crit damage. Maybe there’s also poison damage as an element because I don’t want to add acid as a new element when that’s just poison but green. (The skill isn’t something I’m super happy with so I’m open to ideas)

Wasabi will get her own bingo card event like Twizzly gummy did when released.

The story mode will be attached to the storybook style thing since I like that and why not. I’ll get into the plot later though.

The second part of the event is when the rest of the cookies release. And also the costumes.

For costumes it’ll be like acid punk sort of dystopian themed costumes, they get their own special pull animations like the star ones and rock event ones. I don’t have a name for these yet but here’s the costume ideas:

Candy diver gets a costume that looks like their head is filed with a mix of the jellywalkers purple goop and energy drinks green potion thing. The rest of the suit taking on a blacklight sort of pallet and adding some grunge to it. The description would basically state that as candy diver is a ghost the jellywalker virus has no effect on them. But best keep that stuff inside the head just to be safe.

Wasabi gets a costume reminiscent of or just straight up her Wasabi overdrive costume. Similar costume description too but reference the jellywalkers more clearly.

Twizzly Gummy gets a blacklight/neon costume and listen I just need her hair up for this put it in a ponytail. Other than that I’d imagine it’s something that’d look good standing next to energy drink (this will be important later) maybe give her a puffy jacket and star stickers idk.

Affogato is a wildcard pick but hear me out. Either his costume is him utilizing wasabi goop or whatever as a poison and give him a neon green blacklight sort of costume reflecting that. OR some sort of jellywalker infection. He tried to use this to his advantage and it bit him in the ass. Not full jellywalker but he is clearly infected and probably a liability in a survival situation. But it’s fine it’s just a costume :3

This half is also when the super mayhem event goes live. It’d work as any other super mayhem event, but the special thing in battle would be some like charge to built up an energy drink blast or wasabi blast idk

And now for the cookies! In the first half of the event, a whole new cookie will be released! I’m uh, still developing this character name and design wise but I got the idea for their theme and stats

An epic cookie, support class. Their skill will give everyone damage resistance and a healing over time. Plus imunity to poison type damage for a time.

In the second half we will get Zombie cookie

Zombie cookie is an epic rank cookie who is an attacker class. I don’t have many ideas for it’s skill right now but I’m thinking something that either summons undead mobs for a time or some sort of gravestone related attack like in the puzzle game. (Their revive skill can be tied to a later magic candy release or something)

Last things of note- voices! I don’t have anyone in particular as a dream casting for energy drink or unnamed new guy but I got ideas-

For energy drink ideally I’d like their voice to be ambiguous enough that it could be read as masculine or feminine, I don’t have a strong leaning one way for another. but it’d be Even better if the Va is actually genderfluid or somewhere on the nonbinary spectrum. We love gender fluid cookie in this house.

For wasabi I sort of imagine her voice similar to Eda from the owl house, so either that va or someone who can do a similar impression. But a bit more mad science because it’s wasabi.

For the new guy all I really got is something masculine and can sound very scared, this cookie is characterized by being a coward in a terrifying situation, but is working to be brave. So something sympathetic but not annoying if people think this guy is annoying it’ll make the character unfun.

As for zombie? Similar route to candy diver. No specific voice actor, just grab someone from the development team who can make the best weird noises and you’re set. This thing can’t talk lean into the weird noises. But be fun about it

Last thing of note- as this is a storybook style event like the dragon city, rock festa, and mermaid tale event there will be a sort of ‘settlement’ level with a few cookies and Catnip the merchant. I’m thinking this is a city going on thr defensive, and the npcs are commenting on how scary this all is or worrying about friends. And catnip does their usual info dump and is like “even at the start of the apocalypse capitalism still reigns!..but I’ll keep the prices fare considering the situation” (In game the prices are the same as always)

Now with all that out of the way! Into the actual story

The plot

I will admit I sort of plan to write some version of this event out so it will be relying on some headcanons, but I’ll try to write out this plot so you don’t need them to enjoy the story.

If I make a fic it’ll be it’s own cannon basically.

Also exact details are vague right now so I’ll get the plot points out.

First half of the story-

It’s a peaceful day at the cookie kingdom when suddenly, a rumbling in the distance. It feels like an earthquake and the cookies are confused. But cut to Twizzly gummy who looks confused and then curious. That felt like a time rift, a rogue one. What’s going on? Something fun for once? Moments later another rift opens in town, and out emerges energy drink, who immediately declares this world is in danger.

The jellywalkers are coming, and if this kingdom, no this world doesn’t prepare defences right now everyone is doomed. The cookies are skeptical until Twizzly actually vouches for her. See the thing is Twizzly and energy drink have history… but it left them on sort of rocky terms so energy drink isn’t all too happy to see Twizzly again. She tries to brush it off and just asks what’s up, he only looks that serious when something bad is happening. And energy drink repeats what they stated before. The jellywalkers are coming.

Something something they manage to convince the cookies to prepare defences, the alchemist or someone going with gingerbrave to send out letters to warn the other kingdoms and settlements. Energy drink asks if any other rifts opened and Twizzly points her in the direction of where she feels the big one opened. Energy drink plans to head out alone but Twizzly stops them

“You playing this solo again? No way, I’m here now so I’m going with!”

“I don’t have time for games Twizzly, these cookies are in real trouble-“

“You think I don’t know? I saw what those things did to the timeline I found you in. I live here so I’m helping. End of story”

Energy drink is quiet, but agrees.

So the two head out, and make a plan. First, they need to find a cookie to make a cure, energy drink already has an outline that can be followed, they just need the mind to make it. And he already has one in mind. Hopefully she’s in this timeline… step two is locate the source of the jellywalkers, the comet and destroy it. That will prevent any new cases so the rest can be cured or destroyed. So the two head out,

In a town nearby where the jellywalkers comet landed, the invasion has begun. Hoardes of zombies attacking and turning anyone unlucky enough to be in their sight. This unearthly purple slime spreading and sticking to whatever it can latch onto. The city is in panic trying to flee, they were unprepared. They couldn’t have prepped enough since the source was so close to them. It’s a disaster. This is where we meet the unnamed new cookie who I’ll be calling uhhhh Buddy for now. Buddy is terrified, his friend was turned and he just managed to get away. He hides in an alleyway, clutching a container of jelly water, (imply it’s a similar ingredient to what they are made from this is relevant) suddenly they hear a noise, it sounds like the groaning of a jellywalker. In a panic they hurl the contents of their container at the monster, yelling about not wanting to be eaten. But to his confusion the being who was just doused stops. Is panicked a moment, but that purple jelly melts away revealing… Zombie cookie! It’s confused, and blinks. Buddy blinks too.

What just happened?

Somehow he realizes this zombie is harmless and also realizes even faster that zombie has declared them its friend and won’t leave his side. Buddy decides for now to flee with zombie cookie, maybe it can help somehow? Zombie is just happy to have a buddy.

Back with Twizzly and energy drink, they fight through jellywalkers, the virus is spreading fast, not good. They need to find Wasabi cookie and fast. Lucky for them they run into her just up ahead. Like the mad scientist she is she’s already been studying and experimenting with the infected zombies, trying to understand what this purple substance is and how to destroy it. So when energy drink asks her to help make a vaccine she’s like “what do you think I’m doing? But the extra help would be appreciated!” And then she cackles like she isnt planning some mad scientist excitements once that vaccine is done. So the trio are now working to gather ingredients. But it’s soon found out they’re missing one last thing. A vital agent to properly dissolve the jellywalker cells. But unfortunately she doesn’t have that and nobody is sure what it is. Because energy drink reveals that this varient of jellywalkers is different from the one in their timeline so the weakness for this is likely vastly different.

Well shit.

And that’s where the first half cuts.

In part two we start again with buddy and zombie. Running for their fucking lives. Buddy is confused why the jellywalkers are attacking zombie and it’s like (shrug emoji) turns out zombie wasn’t with them it has just always been like that. Wack. Anyways as the two flee they bump into energy drink, wasabi, and Twizzly fighting off some zombies, they quickly work together to make an opening and get to safety. Energy drink immediately points her blaster at zombie but buddy is like “NO THATS MY FRIEND!” And very quickly explains that it’s not dangerous and they spilled their canteen on it and the purple goop melted away and-

“Did you say those contents dissolved the jellywalker virus?” Wasabi immediately cuts in. To which buddy nods. “Give me that!” She snatched the canteen which does have more traces of this ingredient inside. She then laughs because AHA WE FOUND IT. Energy drink is surprised. But surly that alone couldn’t have dissolved the virus.

Twizzly shrugs and is just like “maybe zombie here was just Uniquely qualified to not get totally infected” to which zombie just makes a gurgling noise.

Energy drink concludes they’ll worry about that later. Now the gang needs to get to wasabis lab and synthesize the vaccine. That way they can cure the infected after the source is destroyed. On the trail back wasabi learns that the jelly water in the canteen is a similar/the same ingredient to what buddy is baked from and looks at him intently.

Buddy is now scared.

But yeah they get to the lab and wasabi and buddy work on the cure (or well buddy is dragged by wasabi) while the rest of the gang protects the base. After the vaccine is done, it’s time to head to the source.

They go to the meteorite, it’s swarming with that goop and zombies. Buddy wonders why he’s here, this whole time he’s been having an arc about being scared and trying to overcome that fear to help, with the help of zombie. This concludes when energy drink reasures them that they need his help.

Wasabi elaborates, seems that buddy’s ingredient is a perfect repellent of the jellywalker virus, with him around splashing that cleaner the gang won’t get infected. So they can focus on destroying the meteor. He bravely nods, resolved to help.

And then we get the final boss who can be like a giant jelly Walker goop pile with thr meteor as a core, get as body horror as the rating will allow! We got the licorice sea abomination WE CAN GO HARDER!

But in the end the source is destroyed and the rift sealed by energy drink (she has some timeweaver scissors he stole a long time ago) and wasabi is eager to send out the vaccine. Soon the invasion is over and all the pure jellywalker monsters are destroyed and infected cured. Things start to go back to normal.

Zombie decides to stay with buddy who’s now got more confidence in himself. And wasabi seems all to eager to experiment on him and zombie.

Zombie cookie is now scared.

Twizzly and energy drink have one last conversation before energy drink has to leave, after all the jellywalkers haven’t been destroyed across all time yet. He has a duty to track it and protect other timelines from the fate hers faced. Twizzly is like “you’re doing it alone”

“…mostly, but the extra help was nice, I’ll consider recruitment more often next time” Twizzly smiles. And says they can visit any time. She missed them.

Energy drink says not to push her luck. They doubt they can stay friends. Their paths aren’t compatible anymore.

Twizzly says that’s no excuse not to visit for a drink or something. The cake in this timeline is the best after all! Plus the gang missed her. Energy drink says they’ll think about it.

Twizzly laughs and says good enough. So energy drink leaves and things go back to normal as rebuilding begins.

Now for the bonus scene! I’ll do the ‘cannon’ one first as In most likely to be in the game and then my own “my au” version for funsies because I’m shameless.

The bonus scene is at the TBD, croissant cookie and String gummy are watching the last scene on a ctv screen before they talk. Croissant is glad things worked out, but worries about the cleanup. String gummy says he’ll get to work on smoothing things out timeline wise soon. But doesn’t seem all to happy to have to deal with Twizzly (give a nod to the two having a connection, sincd the sibling/alt timeline headcanons are popular from what I can tell) have a bit of banter between the two that establishes they’re fiends. And at the end have timekeeper appear, cloaked in shadow, and question marks on their name. They won’t say who they are in the story yet But if you know you KNOW. They simply say to stay on schedule before disappearing in a rift to the ticking of clocks. String gummy seems upset that they won’t help, but croissant reasures him that this means she trusts them to handle things. And back to work they go.

Only comment voice wise here is timekeeper’s va has to be the same as croissant cookies, but have them do a little bit of a different voice (but still similar enough) and add a radio filter. God please I want timekeeper to sound like she’s constantly talking through an old timey radio, snack crackle pop up in this bitch.

As for string gummy something serious and a little gravely voice wise. But still capable of sounding warm to.

This scene is both to feed the tbd fans who are eager for the place to come to kingdom. (Or just gnawing at the bit for tbd content in general) But also to establish what the TBD is in the kingdom universe and game in general. It’s for the kingdom exclusives who don’t know who the fuck Twizzly is talking about and don’t want to download a whole new game just for the lore(tm)

Now for my purely for me ending that will likely be used for a fic. It’s similar setup but at the Neon hellscape. And it’s Stilton and Moldy Butter pretzel discussing the event. Generally similar banter but the subject is wondering when Twizzly can get back because that’s their buddy. TimeWrender makes a camio and is just being vaguely threatening towards the tbd. Wondering how they can mess with them as they clean things up. Moldy is like “don’t cause too much of a scene. Don’t want them to find out about this place” and wrend giggles.

AAAAAND THATS THAT! That’s the event! Maybe if the brain worms hit I’ll make some designs for the costumes or enemies idk.

Thoughts are appreciated and like I said I want to develop this idea for like a fanfic for my au, because I did not put this much effort into an idea to NOT use it for like a fanfic

Anyways thanks for reading I’m so normal about time cookies Guys

#it me #cookie run #cookie run kingdom #cookie run au #headcanons #fake event #energy drink cookie #twizzly gummy cookie #zombie cookie #cookie run oc #wasabi cookie #fanfic #oh I’ve named buddy btw so I’m tagging him #apple cider cookie

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thatblondeperson · 2 years ago

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What did you think of the Robin/Spoiler special that came out around 2008?

It's definitely an interesting special. The timeline on this is way iffy. It definitely takes place after Robin issue 174 but where Tim is with Zo and Steph is a bit fuzzy. It's before they had their falling out because Tim is still calling Steph his sort of not girlfriend in issue 177.

And neither of them know if they're dating or not in the special.

On one hand, they gave Steph friends which is a first in a very long time. It's a weird group to give her given that they're loose canons in a law-breaking way, but on the other hand that makes sense for Steph. She seems to want to be a good influence while still being able to relax and let loose and I love that for her. Too bad nothing ever came of this.

It's very clear that Stephanie still has feelings for Tim, which carries over into their collision issues in their 2009 arcs. I think she does genuinely hold those feelings until they team up or hang out and by then she's kind of bursting to the point where it's all cloudy. It's nice to see the traces here because I think it's integral to how the two of them work, always sort of holding those feelings. Putting a pin in them to address later, circumstances willing.

I do love that we actually got an idea of what Stephanie went through in her time away, what she did, who she was. It's a shame they wrote her as having what seemed like a year of growth away from Gotham, and then obliterated it later.

She's helping Leslie, gaining medical expertise. She's absolutely beautiful in this little arc too.

But despite the new surroundings, she's still Steph. She wants to do more, be more than what she is. She's dreaming of Spoiler.

And it ends up taking her away from her new environment.

She is who she is.

I think it's a genuinely sweet little look at Stephanie's character. How she's been trying to piece herself back together, why she comes back, why she'll always come back. She can't sit still, she needs to have outlets, and she needs to help others. It's nice to have a kind of resting point to examine where she and Tim are, and I love love love how it's all one big diary entry. It's personal, it's soft, it's optimistic.

It's a checkpoint, anon, but I think it's a fairly good one. If only everything hadn't gone to shit right after because this would have been a nice, mellow transition into Stephanie's Batgirl run. Allowing her to figure out who she is, where her p[lace is and always has been, and moving on and up from there, on comfortable terms with Tim as well. Not that I don't love the angst, but it could have come from general awkwardness and the palpable tension between them, without it being about distrust. They already had shared trauma from several other places. We could have worked with all of that and gotten a very similar, but less character decimating, outcome.

Alas.

#timsteph #tim drake #stephanie brown #robin iii #spoiler #robin iv #red robin #batgirl #personal #ask tbp

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hollowmend · 1 year ago

Text

Hollowmend Project Masterlist

Hey all! I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately (especially about Red-Handed Robin Redux), so I thought I’d make a masterlist/FAQ of sorts.

Here’s an overview of all the projects I have going on/planned for the future! All of these projects are commercial.

~~~~~~~~~~

Fetch Quest Series

Fetch Quest Remastered - (Comedy, Fantasy, Otome)

[Coming Soon]

Would-be adventurer Flora accepts a job to retrieve a stolen item for a shady bartender. In order to retrieve the item, she'll have to infiltrate a group of notorious bandits by posing as a new recruit. Fortunately, she has the help of two other adventurers. UNfortunately, her companions seem completely useless without her!

According to the strangely vocal narrator, this would have gone more smoothly if everyone had remembered to make their characters beforehand...

A remastered version of my 2019 NaNoRenO game, Fetch Quest!

FAQ

What’s different from the free version?

-With all new scenes and a brand new “true” ending, the script has gone from 13k words up to 20k words

5 brand new CGs

A new original soundtrack

Shiny new UI

There’s an extras menu now, including a CG gallery, music room, and endings list

Can you date Dan?

Nope! Not this time.

However, the “true” ending miiiight just be about him…

~~~~~~~~~~

Fetch Re;Quest - (Comedy, Slice-of-Life, Stat Raiser, Otome)

[Current Project]

After a remodel of their workplace leaves Flora, Dan, Connor, and Todd with a week’s worth of free-time, the group decides to play some games together…

The perfect opportunity to grind some stats!

Can Flora increase her Acumen, Charm, Gud, or Moxie enough to gain the courage to ask out her crush by the end of a self-imposed one week deadline? Or will she chicken out and be forced to pine after fictional 2D men instead?

Fetch Re;Quest takes place directly after the events of the Fetch Quest remaster’s new “true” ending. Here’s some of what you can expect from the game-

A (very) light stat raiser!

One love interest (It’s Dan.)

No DnD this time, but each stat is tied to a particular video/board game the group plays together. Shenanigans ensue.

Go on a cute date at the end

get all the endings for a special beach day episode

~~~~~~~~~~

The Maiden and the Magpie Series

Red-Handed Robin Redux (Dark Fantasy, Otome)

When career thief Robin comes across a boarding pass for the Whirlwind Express, she thinks she's found a literal ticket to freedom. With a case full of stolen jewelry and her loyal bodyguard at her side, she's ready to flee the country in style...

That is, until she runs into her childhood friend turned detective.

Can Robin keep her cool as she navigates a series of magic and mind games? Or will her cover be blown along with her escape plan?

That’s right! Red-Handed Robin is also getting the remaster treatment!

FAQ

What’s different from the free version?

There will be new content and a new canon “Golden End”

New CGs throughout the game

An original soundtrack

A new UI

Extras! In addition to the usual CG gallery/music room/endings list, there will also likely be fandisk-esque extra scenes showing more of the gang’s life before they boarded the whirlwind.

After outlining the entirety of the 3 game series, some details might differ in the Redux version than the free version. The Redux version will be considered the canon going forward!

Will there be a Fletcher route?

Nope! For many reasons, not the least of which is that he is gay.

With the new Golden Ending being canon, will Jay and Wren still get their own endings?

Yep! Those endings are staying in, they just won’t be the canon version of events when you see the trio again in the 3rd game of the series.

Will Robin/Jay/Wren end up in a poly relationship?

I’d like to keep some secrets to myself until they’re revealed in game… but if you follow me anywhere and have been paying attention, I think the answer to this is pretty clear.

~~~~~~~~~~

The Scarecrow Knight (Dark Fantasy, Mystery)

A few hundred years before the events of Red-Handed Robin, a strange traveler, his adopted daughter, and a tag-along who considers himself the traveler’s apprentice unravel mysteries surrounding the ancient curse of witchcraft.

The Scarecrow Knight takes place over ten years, with each of the three acts focusing on a different mystery along the way.

Though events in both games are related, The Scarecrow Knight and Red-Handed Robin can be read in any order.

FAQ

Are Robin/Jay/Wren going to be in The Scarecrow Knight?

Nope! The Scarecrow Knight features Mac, Corbin, and Lark as its protagonists. You won’t see the RHR gang again until the 3rd game in the series.

Is The Scarecrow Knight an otome/dating sim/will it have romance?

Nope. While this game is still focused on relationships, the cast’s bonds are familial in nature.

Will The Scarecrow Knight have a ‘game’ in each act, like Red-Handed Robin?

Yep! In order to solve the mystery presented in each act, you’ll have to navigate that act’s ‘game’.

What are Corbin’s pronouns?

Corbin uses she/her pronouns for the first two acts of The Scarecrow Knight. In act 3, however, he switches to he/him pronouns as part of a disguise... One that he suspiciously doesn’t want to come out of.

~~~~~~~~~~

3rd Unnamed RHR Game (Dark Fantasy, Amare)

Directly after the events of RHR, Robin, Jay, and Wren find themselves in a foreign country, no safer than they were aboard the whirlwind.

Meanwhile, Corbin finds himself in a very strange predicament… Waking up in the apartment of Oliver Tangram and Merle Barrows, two young men entangled in Gales’ occult scene.

This game will wrap up the stories started in both RHR and SK.

FAQ

Is 3rd Unnamed Game an otome/dating sim/will it have romance?

The answer is yes! Kind of! Both sides feature romance, and those relationship dynamics are integral to the plot.

On Robin/Jay/Wren’s side, the game will explore the trio’s dynamic more in depth. Corbin also has his own love interest (Oliver) on his side.

Who’s the protagonist?

The story is told from multiple perspectives, with Robin and Corbin being the most important characters.

Will 3rd Unnamed Game have a ‘game’ in each act like Red-Handed Robin?

Hopefully! That’s the plan anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~

Other Upcoming Projects

Believe it or not, I’ve got even more stuff planned!

If you’ve been following me for otome, I’m sorry to say that The Maiden and the Magpie series will probably be my last one for the foreseeable future. As a queer man, writing queer stories is what gets me motivated.

That being said, my next upcoming project is a BL!

Counter-Side (BL, Drama, Sci-fi, Kinetic)

[Current Project]

A mining facility on the dusty, barren planet of Ikarus is the last place most people would expect to find their true love… But that won’t stop peppy mecha pilot Rosco from trying!

In fact, he’s positive he’s figured it out this time. Sure, his new partner seems bored and dismissive, but this has been Rosco’s longest relationship yet! That has to mean something, right?

Meanwhile, HR manager Rae has just transferred to the facility and is determined to keep any new acquaintances at an arm’s length. Convinced that he is cold, boring, and judgemental, Rae is certain that there is only one person who can accept him for who he really is… and he already screwed that up.

Just as both men feel like they’re at their lowest points, their evenings are brightened by a newfound friendship forged at a cozy bar…

Counter-Side is the result of a writing experiment gone wild– I wrote one character’s viewpoint, and my friend/co-writer @brii-nanas wrote the other! The result is a story seen from both Rosco and Rae’s perspective.

Choose to play through the entirety of one character’s side before starting the other, or pick from either character’s perspective chapter by chapter. Both options offer an interesting way of experiencing the story.

The script is almost completely done (over 100k words!), and we will be working on putting out a demo containing the first 1/3rd of the game soon.

If Rosco looks familiar, it’s probably because I did his sprite for @brii-nanas amare jam game, Under the Skies of Ikarus! This game is set in the same world/facility.

Unlike Under the Skies of Ikarus, which is very wholesome, Counter-Side’s tone is... different, to say the least xD. Rae and Rosco’s relationship is extremely sweet, but they both go through some rough stuff before they get to that point. Which leads me to the...

Content Warning

This game is for readers who are 18+! It contains some heavy subject matter such as:

Abusive relationships (both physical and mental)

Dubious consent

Gaslighting

Anxiety

Sex (Nothing written/shown is super explicit)

Alcohol use

#hollowmend #visual novel #interactive fiction #fetch quest #fetch re;quest #red-handed robin #the scarecrow knight #counter-side #faq

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fioras-resolve · 4 months ago

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...i did it! i have a completed level design document for my tactics rpg! i set the goal a while ago that instead of doing the gmtk gamejam this year i would spend each day writing up the plan for a different level, and now i've done it! as a reward, by popular demand, here's the design document for the third chapter i wrote, which i have temporarily named "What do you mean magic isn't real, you're literally using a magic sword".

Third Chapter

Characters: Azura and Jack

Dynamic: Overbearing healer and lone wolf mercenary

Arc: Jack learns that he needs help from Azura, while Azura learns to let Jack do his thing

Choice: Do I heal Jack to prevent Azura from taking damage? Or let the damage stick so that Jack can do his hyperoffense thing?

Emotional Core: Comedy of Flaw

Movement:

Azura can throw both ally and enemy onto a nearby tile

Jack has a lower movement, to encourage you to use it!

You can also throw enemies on Forests to make them weak to fire

Range:

Azura wants to be close to Jack so she can keep healing him

Jack can attack in melee but needs to approach to defeat archers

Terrain:

Pointed rocks let Jack damage himself on purpose to get his bonus

Forest spaces are weak to Jack’s fire sword which he refuses to call magic

They also give an evasion boost which might be helpful to either one

Enemies:

Swordies to allow Jack to build up damage and counterattack just fine

Archers he can’t counterattack and has to approach directly

Ooh, maybe he also can’t dodge those archers

Maybe some Knights who he damages fine anyway to prove he’s a mage

The boss should not attack and go down in one hit just to be funny

Win Condition: Defeat a boss who spawns in after a while.

Basic Rundown: Azura and Jack both run into the scene where Yellowtail are causing trouble. Azura is coming in as a medic trying to help people, and Jack is a mercenary trying to get a paycheck. She offers to help him fight these scoundrels, but he brushes her off saying he doesn’t need the help. Your goal is to rout the enemy, and throughout this Azura and Jack play off each other by being absolute messes. She notices he came into the fight wounded, he says that he did that on purpose because he “fights his best in pain.” (He does actually, he gets a double-strike below half health.) She asks why he refuses to run, he says he “doesn’t want to waste the energy.” (You are encouraged to use Azura’s Throw command to get him places quicker.) She asks where he got his magic fire sword and he responds “magic isn’t real, I just have a special trick.” (He deals magical damage, and is super-effective against enemies in forests.) Azura, on the other hand, is hyper-empathetic to people in pain, so while Jack gains a boost from being at low health, Azura slowly bleeds health from seeing him like that. Jack will eventually have to heal, as too much damage will eventually fell him, but he also can’t stay at full health the full time because his damage isn’t that good above 50%. But if you combine the double strike from low health and the effectiveness bonus from fire damage, he can defeat anyone in one round. Eventually the leader of the terror cel reveals himself, a reactionary recruiter named Rispe. He does nothing but stand there talking his nonsense, and when Jack goes to fight him and asks what that thing is on his shirt, he says “Oh this? This is Kepe, he’s become sort of a symb-” before going down in one hit.

Doing my process this way has been extremely helpful to me, more than I expected it to even! Basically I get to do a kind of "It follows" design where one decision logically leads to the next. The Movement, Range, and Terrain portions are there because, to me, those are the core of what makes a tactics game special. If you aren't playing around with these components in your tactics RPG then you're functionally making a traditional RPG with extra steps. So I know I want to play around with movement in some way, so why not give Azura a throw command? Well if she has that, there should be a reason to throw enemies, so let's make a terrain that's weak to Jack's attack. There should also be a reason to use it on Jack, so let's make him move slowly in a way that's also funny because it's him simply refusing to run.

Actually, a thing I wanna bring up about Azura is that it's actually really difficult to make a healer interesting as like, a unique character. Healers in general are really valuable in their own unique way, but to give one a personality besides just "helpful!" and especially to reflect that in gameplay is something that's taken a lot of brainstorming to do right. So having this be it, her major flaw being an empathy so potent that she takes physical damage seeing others in pain, feels like an earned bit of ludonarrative to me. Azura is also the character I've had to work with the most delicately, as these characters are all from a TTRPG I did years ago, and her player is still very attached. It's a balancing act that has felt enriching to pull off, and I can't wait to play this out in actual level design!

Thank you all for voting in that poll, I was really surprised to see 15 people interested to see my level design process. It makes me feel like I might be able to build somewhat of a community here, as long as I make a good game and communicate honestly with you all. I look forward to telling you all more about my process and sharing more stuff with you soon!

#project believer #gamedev #game design #srpg studio

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flickys-courage-club · 10 months ago

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Valentine's Day Moment with Barry and Bunitty (CTCD Story)(Valentine's Day Special)

[Characters: Courage, Muriel, Barry(OC), Bunitty(OC), Bunny, Kitty, Shirley, Radley(OC), Blizzard(OC), Bon(OC), Cyril(OC)]

[Valentine's Day across Nowhere is placed at a fair today! Barry goes in and meets his friend Bunitty. While they interact at her chocolate rabbits stand and reading a letter that appeared on his container after he left. He started to feel very nervous as that he gained... platonic feelings on his valentine. So Barry gains help from some of his friends to confess his valentine]

[First cuts to Barry, Courage and Muriel arriving at a fair celebrating Valentine's Day]

Muriel: Oooh, isn't the fair looking wonderful for Valentine's Day boys?

Barry: It sure is Muriel. But I'm not quite sure on what is it like to feel on this event

Muriel: Well every Valentine's Day, It's mostly about spending time with someone you always cherished. Specifically a couple

Barry: Ohhh now I get it

Muriel: [thinks for a moment] I know, why don't Courage take you around the entire fair. Make sure you stay with him dear

Barry: Ok Muriel, c'mon Courage

[Courage and Barry walk across the fairgrounds]

Muriel: [waves at them] Have fun boys! Don't stay around here too late!

[Scene cuts to Barry and Courage walking past many people wearing Valentine's Day clothing. They came across food stands until they see one that says "Chocolate Rabbits"]

[The two stopped by it and see their friends Bunny and Kitty and their adopted daughter Bunitty, who runs the stand on her own]

[Courage and Barry walk to the stand. Bunitty sees them]

Bunitty: [gasps] Mr Pink Dog! (Hugs Courage) Aww it's so great to see you! Hey mom! Look who's here!

Bunny: Dog! Happy Valentine's Day (headpats Courage in which he smiles by it)

Courage: I take it you guys are going good at this event today

Kitty: Certainly yes dog

Bunitty: (sees Barry) Oh hey! I think I seen you before.

Barry: Who... me?

Bunitty: Yeah, your the one who saved me from Mad Dog.

Barry: Yeah, that was me

Bunitty: I just wanna say, thanks for saving me from that big menace

Barry: Oh, thanks

Bunitty: No problem... sorry what was your name again?

Barry: Barry

Bunitty: Oh yeah, Barry, Barry. I remember (shakes her head)

[Bunitty places some chocolate rabbits in a container and wraps it up in ribbon]

Bunitty: Here you go! Have a great day at this fair full of love (gives Barry a handshake) ^v^

[Barry and Courage walk together with the container of chocolates across the fairgrounds]

[Bunitty smiles at the two until it was interrupted by her friend Radley]

Radley: [holds a bag of chocolate rabbits] Here's some more stock for Bunitty's stand Mrs Bunny and Mrs Kitty

Kitty: Oh why thank you Radley

Bunny: Thank you. Would you like to place them here for Bunitty please

Radley: Sure Mrs Bunny [places the bag onto the stand]

Radley: Here's the bag of more of those chocolate rabbits for your stand Bunitty

Bunitty: Oh thanks Radley ^^

Radley: It's alright buddy [pats her shoulder]

[Cuts to Barry sitting in a bench, waiting for Courage. While he looks at his container, he sees a letter attached to the ribbon

Barry: Hmm? Didn't know that she placed a letter on it [opens the letter and reads it]

Barry: [reads] "To Barry! I may not know this but my mom and my mommy has told me some stuff about you. Since Valentine's Day is finally around the corner, I thought of like going to the fair with just the two of us. Your really sweet, kind and such a brave young cat for rescuing me, although you tend to get anxious mostly. You also like rabbits and you like to watch films about detectives and fantasy worlds, which is said that you wanna be a detective yourself. If your interested to see me, come by to the exit of the Maze of Love! If you don't want to, then I hope you'll have a great Valentine's Day! Love from your valentine!"

[Barry smiles a little in which turns his cheeks light red]

Barry: [mind] Wait, this is from... my valentine?! [worried] Oh my god my god my god, I don't know what am I gonna do! I never experienced this [his cheeks brightened] what the hell am I even gonna do?!

[Two cannibals of Vintage City, Bon and Cyril walk by and see Barry worried]

Cyril: Bon look! It's our ol' pal Barry!

Bon: Why don't we go say hello to the lil guy?

Cyril: Hell yeah Bon!

[The two lean down close to Barry]

Bon and Cyril: Hey Barry!

Barry: GAH!!! Oh, Bon, Cyril!

Bon: How you've been hun? Your lookin' all red today huh

Barry: Yeah, I know

Cyril: [sees Barry's letter] Hey, is that a letter you got here?

Barry: Mmhmm

Cyril: Lemme see it- [gets his hand wounded by Bon's knife when he tries to take it from him] Hey, Bon!

Bon: If he doesn't wanna show it to us, then don't take it by force Cy!

Bon: [to Barry] Now hun, tell your auntie Bon here what's up

Barry: [nervously] It's just that someone gave me this letter here

Bon: [nods] Mmhmm yeah

Barry: And... it's of my valentine

Bon: [surprised] Oh my... [happy] GOSH!!! [Squeezes Barry's cheeks] YOU GOT YOUR OWN VALENTINE?!?!

Barry: [squeezed] Mmhmm

Cyril: WAIT REALLY?!?! YOU GOT YOUR OWN VALENTINE PAL?!?!

[Bon lets go of Barry's cheeks]

Barry: Yeah, but... I don't know how to... get them to be with me

Bon: Don't worry hun. The Crime Cannibals will get you onto this

Cyril: Your sure right Bon [winks]

[Cuts to the Crime Cannibals standing on the right next to a cat mannequin that has Barry's height with Barry staring at the mannequin]

Barry: So what's the mannequin for guys?

Bon: Glad you asked hun! The mannequin here represents your valentine right

Cyril: And this is gonna test you in confessing your love to your valentine. Got it

Barry: Yeah, got it

Bon: Ok. So try and walk up to them

Barry: Ok? [Walks to the mannequin]

Bon: Good good. Then, try and ask them out

Cyril: But with some encouragement

Bon: Yeah, that's what I like to hear Cy!

Cyril: You gotta fight for that lady's heart pal!

Barry: Ok. [Breathes in and out] [says to the mannequin] Hi [waves] my beautiful and my lovely valentine! I was thinking if we wanna... go out on a date or maybe go somewhere that either of us like?

Bon: Yeah, that's more like it hun. I bet she'll be impressed with you.

Bon: [slides Barry] Go over to her and start confessing on how much you wanna go with her

Cyril: Yeah pal, get her to be with you!

Bon: Whew, I taught that young fella so well Cy. He's growin' up already

[Cuts to Bunitty along with Radley at her chocolate rabbits stand, when Barry walks to it]

Bunitty: Oh hi Barry, your doing alright

Barry: Mmhmm

Barry: Hey Bunitty...

Bunitty: Yeah

Barry: I was thinking... if you and I could... go to the fair for our... moment? Together?

Bunitty: Sorry Barry, I'm kind of busy with my chocolate rabbits. But I'm not gonna be mean to you but... why are you asking me to go with you to the fair?

[Barry becomes too nervous to respond and runs off]

Bunitty: Barry wait!

Radley: Who was that Bunitty?

Bunitty: Barry

Radley: Barry! You mean the one who saved you from Mad Dog!

Bunitty: Mmhmm

[Bon and Cyril see Barry run off nervously with worried expressions on their faces]

Bon: Oh dear

Cyril: [facepalmed] Damn it, I didn't even know that would fail

[Cuts to Barry who is in a icy blue coloured tent full of ice sculptures that belong to one of his allies, Blizzard]

Blizzard: So, you wanna confess your valentine after they sent you this letter here

Barry: Mmhmm

Blizzard: [thinks for a moment, then thoughts on something] Maybe, how about this [uses her ice powers and sculptures it into a bouquet of flowers]

Blizzard: There, the old fashioned way. Try give her a bouquet of flowers, that I made out of my ice abilities [gives the bouquet ice sculpture to Barry]

Barry: Sure, thanks Blizzard [walks out of the tent]

Blizzard: No problem dear

[Cuts to Bunitty helping Radley and her mothers Bunny and Kitty handling the decorations for the fair]

Barry: [walks carefully to Bunitty] Hey Bunitty

Bunitty: Yeah Bunitty

Barry: I may have something for you to have off of me [shows her a ice sculptured bouquet of flowers]

Bunitty: Oh Barry, [given the bouquet] those are lovely

Barry: Yeah, they sure are [his cheeks turn light red as he slowly walks off]

Bunitty: [surprised when Barry isn't there] Barry?

[Cuts to Barry in a violet tent belonging to Shirley]

Shirley: Well, as I can provide advice to those who think of getting into a relationship with someone. Here's the advice I am gonna have to give you. Do you see the letter that she gave you.

Barry: [places the letter] Right here Shirley

Shirley: Very good, now what I read from here... can all be true. I am sensing someone that represents these sentences coming from the writing!

[Shirley's magic now shapeshifts into five roses]

Barry: Hmm?

Shirley: The magic is into these roses here! And it will guide you to your valentine. And then, you must... give these roses to her!

Barry: Yes Shirley [walks out of her tent with the roses and his letter in his two hands]

Shirley: And remember to read what your letter says]

[Scene changes to sunset as Barry walks to the Maze Of Love. While he reads his letter, the magic in his roses slide him through the maze]

Barry: Whoa!

[When Barry reaches the end of the maze. He sees Bunitty holding a gift for him]

Barry: Bunitty?!

Bunitty: [chuckles] Happy Valentine's Day Barry! Got something for my own special valentine

[Barry places his hands on his gift in which Bunitty lets go of her hands of the gift]

Barry: But I thought that you were... busy

Bunitty: I was mostly, but I didn't forget about waiting at the end of the Maze Of Love for my valentine to arrive

Barry: [surprised until his cheeks turn red and his eyes started flowing with tears] [begans sobbing]

Bunitty: Aww Barry [hugs him] it's alright buddy

[Bon, Cyril, Blizzard and Shirley watch the two hug eachother]

[Same goes with Radley smiling happily for them]

THE END!

And Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

6 notes · View notes

gimmie-a-sammich · 5 months ago

Text

To Rule Them All | Chapter 10 | Wave

Pairings: Idol!Ateez/???!Ateez x Fem!Original Characters

Summary: Alexis is about to have the summer of a lifetime traveling the country with some of her best friends following one of her favorite groups, Ateez. Little do they know, there is more to this group than meets the eye. Take a trip into the dark as they navigate a world unseen.

Genre: (18+ Minors DNI) smut, angst, fluff, supernatural vibes

Chapter Warnings: sneaky ateez again, this is really a pretty fluffy chapter,

Word Count: 8.6k

read here on AO3

To Rule Them All masterlist

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note: for this chapter, anything italicized is Korean, at least if it's in conversation. POV switches do occur, hopefully those are clear enough. If not, please let me know (:

There was nothing like the opening show. Their energy was always high on concert days, but for some reason it seemed to be running through them like electricity tonight. They hit every note and every step flawlessly, gaining momentum with each song. The crowd was insane and was eating up each and every thing they did. Everything was magnified thanks to their feedings the night before, but the energy from the crowd satiated them more. All of them seemed especially drawn to their chosen group of four, making their way over to them constantly as if being pulled by an invisible rope. They exuded something special, but none of them could put their fingers on whatever it was.

San couldn’t help himself with Alexis. He already felt such a deep connection with her, and seeing her in person only amplified what he was already feeling. At this point, he couldn’t care less about Hongjoong’s rules. San needed to get as much time with her as he could before she was out of his reach. Every touch, smile, and comment sent a wave of emotion through him, and he craved more. Kissing her had been the icing on cake, and he needed the taste of her lips again.

“Sannie.” Wooyoung snapped San out of his head as he grabbed him, pulling him into an adjacent hallway so the others would continue to walk ahead of them. They had only a few moments before the general meet and greet began, but Wooyoung had words to share with his friend. “Where did you disappear to before the show? No secrets.”

San met Wooyoung’s eyes and saw no hint of mischief within them, only genuine wonder. They had been keeping secrets from each other, something very out of the ordinary for them. Maybe they had both come to their senses following their spat after the feeding, even more so now that Alexis had been in front of them. Neither of them could deny their true feelings, not with how they acted with her today.

“Are you going to follow that rule?” San asked bluntly, even though he felt he already knew the answer.

“It’s more of a method,” Wooyoung laughed sharply before becoming more serious again. His voice immediately lowered. “Yes, no more secrets… I didn’t think…”

“Didn’t think seeing her would have that much of an effect on you, right?” San finished the thought for him. He didn’t know how to describe it, but having Alexis in front of him had his brain shooting in a million directions and his heart racing. Wooyoung shook his head with a sigh before returning to look at San, crossing his arms and waiting for him to answer the initial question. “I went to the green room… It felt like something was pulling me back. Alexis was in there looking for her bag and I kissed her.”

Wooyoung raised his eyebrow, the mischievous look that had been absent finally coming into play. “Ah, so you made the first move then, aye Sannie?” he sighed, glancing down for a moment before smirking, not a hint of jealousy in his voice. “Beat me to it. Game on then, I guess?”

San laughed. “I don’t think it’s much of a game, considering we both want the same thing.”

“Yeah, we both want her…” Wooyoung began, looking away from San for just a moment. San knew exactly what was going through his head because the same thoughts were running through his own. Woo quickly turned back towards San and nudged his shoulder playfully, a teasing smile now on his face “But anything is a game if you try hard enough.”

Before San had a chance to respond, Seonghwa came rounding the corner in a hurry. “There you two are! We need to get going, meet and greet is about to start… we don’t want to keep everyone waiting. And the quicker this is done, the quicker we can get to dinner.”

San and Wooyoung shared a knowing look. Everything was on the table with them now, which is exactly how it should have been in the first place. No more secrets. No more lies. Both of them had the same objective, and that was to make the most of their time with Alexis and get as much of it as they could, regardless of the repercussions.

“Someone ready to get back to, Nikki?” Wooyoung sassed, resulting in a glare from Seonghwa and giggles from San as they walked down the hallway to join the others.

__________

I sighed. Fuck. I glared at Nikki, who continued to smile like a madwoman at the chaos she had caused. “Well… uh… my bag…” I stammered, chewing on the inside of my cheek.

“Yeah yeah, skip the bag bullshit. Let’s get to the good part… you know like how I saw you walking out of the green room hand and hand with one Choi San, smiling and shit. Not to mention that both your lips were swollen and his makeup was smudged.” Nikki went straight to the point, not mincing her words in the slightest.

I’m sure I looked like a deer in headlights. Thea and Christie’s eyes darted between Nikki and I, not knowing which of us to settle on. I groaned, closing my eyes and looking up at the ceiling before returning to face them. The mad grin never left Nikki’s face, not even when she took another drink of soju. Christie sat straight faced and silent while Thea’s mouth was agape, her brown eyes wide.

“Well if that’s the case, I guess I’m not the only one who’s made out with an idol… I’ve been dethroned… but welcome to the club,” Thea giggled, proudly looking at me. She threw an arm out towards Nikki, a silent command to pass one of the bottles. Nikki laughed as she handed one to Thea before all eyes shot back to me, impatiently waiting for the actual explanation.

“I really did just go in there for my bag…” I mumbled, but judging by the looks on everyone’s faces I needed to spill everything. There was no need to ask how many details they wanted, because I already knew the answer. “It was buried under one of the couch cushions, how it got there is beyond me, but I legitimately had to dig it out. When I got up I plowed straight into San and nearly fell over. He caught me, and yeah… he kissed me.”

“Yeah, buuuuut was it just a kiss, or was it a hot, steamy, tongue all down your throat kiss?” Thea asked, her voice tinged with wonder. “Because that makes a huge difference.”

“I’m going with the second option, because let me tell you, their lips would NOT have looked like that from just a quick little peck,” Nikki replied before I had a chance to elaborate further. “Homeboy couldn’t take his eyes off of you when y'all walked out. It was cute as shit.”

I sat down on the couch beside Thea, grabbed the bottle from her hand and took a few very generous drinks. Lord knows I needed it. I looked over at Christie, who still hadn’t uttered a word. She wouldn’t look at me, but I could see the hurt in her eyes. Fuck. “It wasn’t like I wanted to hide it from you guys. I planned on telling you, but it’s not like I could say ‘oh hey, by the way I just made out with San’ in the arena. Then the encore started, and the whole getting invited to dinner things and all the rushing, so much had happened…” Not me rambling for the hundredth time tonight, but I just hoped Christie wouldn’t be too upset with me. Once I had taken a breath, I turned to Thea to answer her question, a smile coming to my face at the mere thought of my San. “But yes, it was most definitely a tongue down your throat, steamy little makeout session that was woefully interrupted by a crash outside the door.”

Nikki’s mouth twitched up into a smirk once again. “That was me, and you’re welcome for that. I saw your precious Tini follow you in the room after I got out of the bathroom. You're lucky it was before the staff member came around the corner… and that I was smart for once and created a nice little distraction. He wasn’t wrong about me covering for you two. You also forgot to add that he kissed your damn cheek right in front of me, and that he fucking called you my treasure before he ran off.”

“I’m going to assume he doesn't know that we understand Korean?” Christie chimed in finally. A wave of relief washed over me as she turned to me and smiled, but also gave me a look that said she better be getting every tiny detail later tonight.

I laughed, covering my face for just a moment. Christie raised her eyebrow at me, her green eyes confused. The makeout with San almost made me forget about the little game with Wooyoung. “No he doesn’t, but Woo does. He figured it out in the green room, but he requested that we keep it our little secret to see how long it takes the others to figure out.”

“God he’s a fucking menance… I love it. He's just as chaotic as we are. I guess we could add a thing 3 to our act,” Nikki snickered, shooting a glance over at Christie.

I felt my watch vibrate as a text from Angela flashed on the screen, letting us know the driver would be here in five minutes. “Oh shit, we have five minutes until the car is here, do we have everything we need?” I stated, nerves starting to kick in as I went out of my way to make sure my purse was in hand. No way I was forgetting a damn bag again. When I looked back up I was met by frazzled faces while Nikki, Thea, and Christie gathered their own belongings.

“Purse, wallet with my ID and any card I could potentially need. Lipstick, portable charger… Yeah I’m good to go,” Christie answered, checking off her invisible list with her fingers as she went.

“Hey Sunshine, make sure you pack your lipgloss… and maybe some condoms,” Thea teased, cackling to herself while she rummaged through her own bag ensuring she had everything.

“As if she would need condoms. Tini babies or bust, right?” Christie sang, throwing her arms around me and kissing my cheek as a peace offering.

“FUTURE BABY DADDY!” Nikki added, high fiving Thea as they made their way towards the door. “We’re going to have such cute nieces and nephews.”

I was mortified. I hid my face in my hands, trying not to laugh because I knew it would just egg them on further. “I swear to god, I will murder ALL of you with my bare hands if you say this nonsense in front of any of them.” I tried to sound as firm and mean as I could, but giggles escaped instead as the four of us began to laugh so hard that Thea snorted. Any further jokes were cut off by a black SUV pulling into the driveway. We all inhaled sharply, quickly composing ourselves to head to dinner.

The ride to the restaurant was relatively short. The driver was extremely friendly, asking us questions about where we were from and how the concert was. He definitely helped lessen my own nerves by distracting my mind from the impending meeting with San. Unfortunately for me, there was no handbook on how to be face-to-face with an idol after making out with them. I had no clue how he was going to react to seeing me again, but I’m sure his behavior towards me was going to be dependent on how much the other members knew about his visit to the green room.

“Nervous?” Christie asked as we walked towards the Korean Barbeque restaurant, her voice soft and reassuring. She could read me like a book, although I think almost anyone would be able to tell I was a borderline hot mess at the moment. She put her hand in mine and gave it a firm squeeze as we stopped just outside the entrance, letting Thea and Nikki move ahead of us. “The best thing you can do is act normal. We both know you’re good at putting on that pretty little confident face of yours at a moment’s notice, just take a deep breath.”

I nodded, inhaling deeply just as she asked. I gave her a huge smile, dimples on full display. She was entirely right. I had to go in there like nothing was out of the ordinary and act completely normal. “You’re right. I got this shit.”

“That’s my girl,” Christie beamed. She opened the door to the restaurant, holding it open for me so we could enter hand in hand.

Thea and Nikki were standing just inside the door, waiting for the two of us to join them. Together, we moved into the restaurant to let the host know we had arrived, only to be greeted almost immediately by Seonghwa and Jongho.

“You’re here!” Jongho said excitedly, still done up from the concert. “The driver let us know you had arrived…”

“So we thought it would be a good idea to come here so we could take you back to the room,” Seonghwa finished the sentence, setting his hand on Jongho’s shoulder. His eyes were still smoked out dramatically and not a hair on his platinum head was out of place.

“Ladies first.” Jongho shot a wide smile at Thea, offering her his bent arm. Thea returned a flirty grin, happily slinking her arm through his. The two of them lead the way through the restaurant looking like a couple at prom, Thea already laughing at something Jongho had said. Christie and I followed closely behind, hands still linked together, while Nikki and Seonghwa brought up the rear, deep in conversation.

Voices grew louder as we moved deeper into the otherwise empty restaurant. Ateez had surely booked it out for complete privacy, even at this late hour. Thea and Jongho lead us into an enclosed room containing a large rectangular table set with multiple grills, the remaining members spread around it on the floor.

“Look who finally decided to join us,” Seonghwa declared smoothly as soon as we entered the room. All attention was now on us and any ongoing conversations were immediately silenced.

Littles waves and hellos chorused through the room once they noticed us. Jongho never released Thea’s arm and led her to an awaiting space next to Yunho, who was looking at her with stars in his eyes. Mingi scrambled on the floor to move closer to Yunho, creating a larger area that was quickly occupied by Nikki and Seonghwa. Christie made her way to the corner spot between Yeosang and Hongjoong, both of them greeting her with shy smiles. A huge grin spread across San’s face as soon as our eyes met. God damn, was this man handsome. What little makeup he had on accentuated his features perfectly. I said a silent plea to whatever higher power was listening at that moment to not let my face turn into a tomato. He slid away from Wooyoung next to him, who patted the cushion beckoning me to sit between them with a wild smile. Who was I to refuse such an offer?

I strutted towards the opposite side of the table, settling myself in between them. San immediately placed his hand on my thigh, leaning in close to whisper in my ear. “Long time no see, jagi.” He gently squeezed his hand before rubbing his thumb along my leg. His brown eyes were looking at me with such warmth and he had the most genuine smile on his face. Just looking at him made each and every nerve in my body settle. Christie was right, I had nothing to worry about, especially when it came to San.

“San-ah, I thought I told you to keep your hands to yourself,”Wooyoung hissed quietly, placing his hand on my other thigh as he leaned over to poke San’s shoulder.

San rolled his eyes, but neither removed their hands. It was a strange feeling, having both of their hands on me and being oddly at ease with it. Thoughts trickled back to my dream last night as the insane idea of it somehow coming true popped into my head. I never thought I would have kissed San, but the odds of a wild night with WooSan were even more slim.

“I think my hands are fine right where they are, thank you,” San retorted with a huff. It took everything in my power to keep a straight face, especially when Wooyoung squeezed the hand resting upon my leg, giving me a sly wink when I turned to look at him. I snorted and attempted to cover it up with a fake cough while Wooyoung smiled and hooked his damn tongue on a canine again.

“Everything okay, Alexis?” Wooyoung asked, his voice oozing with feigned sweetness, a mischievous glint in his big eyes. Nikki was right, he was a fucking menance… but I loved every single second of it. I scowled at him, which only made his smile bigger. He placed a finger up to his lips, shushing me while he winked once again before turning his eyes to Hongjoong along with the rest of the table.

Hongjoong had stood up, commanding all attention in the room without saying a single word. He was beaming down at us, his eyes lit up with excitement as they swept up and down the table. “I just want to say, this was one of the best opening shows we have ever had. I’m proud of the hard work we put in to get to this point, and I’m excited to see how the rest of this tour goes… I have a feeling it is going to be the best one yet.” He grabbed one of the shot glasses littered around the table, holding it up into the air. I reached for the one in front of me, raising it along with the rest of the table. “Geonbae!”

We all echoed the cheer as the sound of clinking glasses rang through the room. I downed the shot in a single drink, ignoring the slight burn that followed and only scrunching my face slightly. Nikki of course saw me and started laughing. “Couple more of those and you’ll be dancing on the table, Alexis,” she joked.

“Oh, looks like San isn’t the only lightweight!” Mingi exclaimed, laughing towards San and I.

“Hey! I handle myself fine!” San pouted, pointing his finger at Mingi across the table. Everyone started laughing as jokes about San’s inability to handle his liquor flung across the table. “I wouldn’t mind seeing this one dance on a table though,” he remarked coolly, smiling in my direction as he filled the glasses in front of us with more soju.

My eyes were huge as I bit my cheek, not wanting to give away the fact that I understood him. Nikki nearly spit out her drink, especially since Seonghwa hit San on the arm at his words to reprimand him. I’m sure my face was turning bright red, but there was no way I could cover myself without giving everything away. Jongho stared in our direction, eyebrows raised, and I could suddenly see it click in his head when the realization hit him. He glanced over at Christie, whose shoulders were moving slightly from trying to contain her laughter. He then leaned over to Thea and whispered something in her ear. Thea nodded in response to whatever he said as she took another drink, and his gaze returned back towards me, a smile and a booming laugh now coming from him.

I pulled on Wooyoung’s black t-shirt, grabbing his attention. “Hey… looks like your little game has really begun,” I whispered. I flicked my eyes in the direction of Jongho, who was thankfully still looking and laughing in our direction.

“It would be him to figure it out first,” Woo chuckled quietly, raising a finger to his mouth, letting Jongho know to keep this information to himself for now. Jongho nodded in agreement before turning back to whisper something to Thea. “And this is our game, jagiya…”

“Now I have both of you calling me baby? What did I do to deserve this kind of treatment?” I sassed back, biting my lip as I locked onto those deep brown eyes. I was still loosely holding onto the edge of his shirt, holding him closer to me.

Wooyoung moved closer to my face, grabbing my cheek to whisper in my ear, the hand still resting on my thigh moving upwards, sending a shockwave I wasn’t expecting through my system. “You don’t even want to know the type of treatment we have planned for you.” He leaned back slowly, letting his fingertips linger on my cheek. I saw his eyes flick to San on the other side of me. San adjusted his hand slightly, moving it further inside my leg and squeezing firmly. I could only imagine the look the two of them shared and what was going through their minds… lord knew what was going through mine.

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, wait staff appeared carrying trays of meat, sides, and every dipping sauce you could imagine. I was so impressed with these men. Even to the staff they were kind and polite, saying thank you and bowing in the most respectful manner. They divided out the trays amongst the table, lighting the burners in the grills before making their way out of the room.

“And by treatment, we mean Woo is going to cook for you tonight,” San said, his voice low. The hazy look in his eyes said there was more to it than that, but I was not in the position to question either of them right now.

"Eavesdropping, Sannie?” Wooyoung said, putting a few types of meat onto the grill in front of us.

“You talk loudly,” San retorted, not even bothering to look in his direction as he began piling sides onto his plate and mine. “You say I’m too forward, and now look at you.” San turned his attention back onto me, grinning so widely his eyes were crinkling once again and continuing to be oblivious at the fact that I understood every single word he was saying. “I gave you all of my favorites,” he added, placing a plate in front of me.

“Both of you talk loudly,” Yeosang added suddenly, shooting a look at Wooyoung next to him. As always, he looked calm, but there was something brewing behind his dark eyes. “You’re lucky it’s just me that's heard and not Hongjoong.”

I apparently did not control my face well enough following that comment, because Yeosang gave me a very quizzical look before glancing back at Wooyoung, his face full of confusion. I had no clue what he meant about Hongjoong, and it was clear to me that I wasn’t supposed to. Instead, Wooyoung threw him a dirty glare before laughing. I wondered if Yeosang had figured it out, but the poor guy was hopelessly oblivious to most things. Wooyoung whispered something to him and Yeosang’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Nikki, Christie, Thea, and me. Wooyoung must have been nice and let his best friend in on the joke, or I highly doubt he would have figured it out as quickly as he did.

“I guess I will handle cooking on this end,” I heard Hongjoong say sweetly to Christie, giggling softly.

Yeosang’s head snapped back to her and Hongjoong so quickly I swear he should have gotten whiplash. “Absolutely not, we are not allowing anyone to eat anything you touch, let alone Christie.”

Hongjoong gasped dramatically. “C’mon Yeosang… you sure you don’t want a taste? I should be offended by that… but it’s the honest truth.” He looked over at Christie, shooting her a dazzling smile. “I’ll let Yeosang handle the grill then… unless Wooyoung wants to help us out?”

Wooyoung shook his head. “Absolutely not. My attention is completely occupied over here.” He glanced over at me, right as I was stuffing my face with a chopstick full of kimchi and staring down Christie. A strange look came across her face at something Hongjoong said, but I couldn’t put my finger on exactly what was going on through her head. She made eye contact with me, shaking her head and giving me a soft smile in an effort to let me know she was fine… whether or not I believed her was a different story, but that would be a conversation for another time. I turned my attention back to Wooyoung, just as a toothy grin spread across his face. “See, how could I help you when I have this cute face in front of me?”

Hongjoong glared at him, I’m assuming due to the comment Woo made, before returning back to focus on Christie. “So, what did you guys think of the concert?”

“Honestly, It was one of the best I’ve been to, and we have been to quite a few. The energy you have on stage is absolutely enthralling, and the demon line is no joke… wouldn’t you agree Nikki?” Christie mused, her voice only slightly breathless. I’m sure her mind was occupied by visions of manic Captain, especially since he appeared to pay extra attention to our little section during the concert.

Seonghwa’s ears perked up at the mention of the demon line, nudging San next to him, cheeky smiles appearing on both of their perfect faces. Nikki, on the other hand, was completely oblivious for a moment, her focus solely on the conversation with Mingi. Seonghwa prodded her side carefully with his fingers to gain her attention.

She jumped at the touch, glaring at Seonghwa just for a moment before softening her expression. I mean… who could glare at Seonghwa with those big dragon eyes? “What now?” she asked bluntly, completely unaware what had been happening around her while she had been engrossed with Mingi.

“Christie was asking your opinion on the demon line,” Seonghwa replied, his voice as captivating as the look on his face.

“Oh… oh! The demon line originally drew me in… I love watching you go from squish in real life to being possessed on stage. It’s absolutely amazing to watch and I’m so glad I saw it in person,” Nikki said without thinking. Her face immediately turned a deep shade of red upon realizing she shared one of her inner thoughts out loud.

“Did you really just call us squish?” San asked, raising his eyebrow at Nikki, but laughing along with the rest of the table. He turned his attention back to me, pushing out his lower lip in a pout. “Please tell me you don’t think I’m a squish, too.”

“Oh honey, I hate to break it to you, but you ALL are nothing but squishes,” Thea cut in, her laughter echoing through the room. Yunho and Jongho both looked at her, joining in with the astonished looks that were popping up around the table.

I was nearly doubled over from laughing, clutching my sides. San’s face was nothing short of amusing, looking entirely offended that we weren’t gushing over him being the mountain he was and focusing on all of their softer sides in general. “I have to agree with them, you are very much a squish when you’re not on stage… and this pouty face of yours is not helping your case,” I finally managed out between laughs, reaching for his hand that was resting on the floor next to me. He locked his fingers between mine, squeezing lightly and looking at me with that adorable pout still plastered on his face.

“Are you of the same opinion then? That I’m a squish?” Hongjoong drawled, popping a piece of meat into his mouth while he watched Christie’s face closely.

I watched as she took a deep breath in an attempt to stifle her laughter, a wry smile crossing her face as a look I knew all too well entered her eyes. “Why yes, I absolutely do. If we're spilling the beans tonight, I’m pretty sure that Jongho is the least squishy out of all of you and just might be the manliest member of Ateez.”

Yells emitted from around the table as chaos ensued, followed by numerous ‘no ways’ and 'you can’t be serious-es’ from the other members. I honestly thought San was going to lose it, and the grip he had on my hand tightened as he started arguing along with the rest of the table, each adamant that they were the manliest. Jongho was basking in all the attention, shooting a gummy smile in Christie’s direction while Nikki, Thea, and I giggled our asses off.

“I’m glad somebody has finally noticed,” Jongho proclaimed confidently, shifting in his seat and adjusting his clothes smugly.

“There is no way he is the manliest or whatever you’re calling,” Wooyoung sneered, side eyeing Jongho before resting his head on his hand to look at Christie

“Should I go on to mention your babygirl energy then? There’s plenty of video proof,” Christie shot back, mirroring Woo’s positioning as she looked back at him. She clearly wanted to go toe to toe with him and honestly, if anyone could, it would be her.

I don’t know how to describe the roar that filled the room. Everyone went completely mad, laughing and making every single comment you could think of towards Woo. Wooyoung, for once, was dumbfounded and speechless, his mouth wide open in surprise and shock for just for a moment before snapping shut. A wild look flashed into his eyes, before a wicked smirk snuck across his face, almost like he was ready for a new challenger.

“Holy shit, someone can actually shut Wooyoung up,” Yunho giggled, nonchalantly draping an arm around Thea. “Capt, you can’t even do that!”

“Maybe he should take a few notes then,” Christie teased, leaning over into Hongjoong and giving him a bright smile as she rested her head on his shoulder briefly. He tensed up for a moment before his shoulders relaxed and dropped slightly. He smiled down at her, giving her one of the softest, warmest looks I had ever seen come from that man. I would definitely have to tell her about it when we got back to the BnB.

“I think we’re going to have our hands full with this group,” Mingi said with a deep laugh, eyeing his members around the table before fixing his eyes back on Nikki. Jongho and Yeosang’s faces were strained as they looked at the four of us, clearly struggling to maintain their composure now that they knew our little secret.

”More than you know,” Wooyoung smirked. He turned to face me, giving me a wink as he placed his hand on my thigh once again.

“Oh look, he can speak again,” Seonghwa chuckled, resulting in another round of laughter. Wooyoung smarted off to him once again, the silence from earlier gone in an instant.

Dinner calmed down slightly after everyone’s focus returned to eating, although the jokes and laughs never ended. San and Wooyoung constantly found a way to touch my body, whether it was my thigh, my back, my cheek, anywhere they could reach. San snuck his hand into mine frequently, each time giving me a wide grin. Judging from my scans across the table, it seemed like all of the guys were getting a little handsy with the girl seated in between them, although Yeosang and Hongjoong were much more reserved about it than the others.

As the evening continued to wind down, San was becoming more touchy and making zero effort to hide it. I could feel Hongjoong’s eyes boring into us occasionally, but thankfully Christie was doing a decent job of keeping him occupied. I’d have to thank her for that later, not that she was doing it entirely for my benefit, but a thanks was warranted nonetheless.

“I wish we could sneak off before you go,” San said, voice husky as he tilted his forehead into the side of my head. His palm was pushed into the floor behind me, supporting his weight as he leaned in close. The hand that rarely left my thigh began lightly stroking up and down my leg, shooting goosebumps across my skin.

“I don’t think your captain would much appreciate that…” I whispered, remembering Yeosang’s comment from earlier. I glanced around the room, expecting to see Hongjoong’s eyes judging us once again, but all I found was his back turned towards us while he was speaking to Thea, Yunho, and Christie across the room.

Thea’s eyes met mine for just a moment, smiling softly. She instantly became more engaged in the conversation, keeping focus locked onto her and Christie, who also must have noticed what was happening between San and I. She maneuvered her body closer to Hongjoong’s, resting her head on his shoulder once again while they listened to Thea. I’m sure I wasn’t the only one surprised when I saw his hand move to settle around her waist. I leaned back into San more, coming into contact with his chest and shoulder resting slightly behind me, somewhat at ease knowing that Captain’s attentions were otherwise occupied.

“I don’t really care what he has to think at this point…” he said breathlessly, casting his eyes towards Hongjoong. The hand supporting his weight had relocated to my back, now using my body to hold him as he kept us close together. I could have stayed forever in his arms, but Wooyoung moving beside us forced me out of the fantasy brewing in my mind.

Wooyoung stood up next to me, looking to join the others that had already left the table. It seemed like dinner was finally over now that everyone’s stomachs were full and the table was basically clear of any remaining food. He held his hand out to me, offering to pull me off the floor. San released me with a sigh, knowing that it was time for the night to come to an end. I grinned at Woo above me and happily accepted the help, mainly because my legs were tight from sitting on the floor for as long as we had. The adrenaline of the day had finally started to wear off and I could feel the exhaustion begin to hit.

He pulled me up, taking me by surprise when he brought me further into his chest. We were eye to eye now, and I was able to completely take in each of his stunning features. I swear, this man’s jawline was sharp enough to cut someone. His long fingers found their way onto my exposed back as he held me close, tracing soft lines just above the hem of my bodysuit as he stared lustfully into my eyes. “Sannie, I think it's time you let me have a turn,” he said, never breaking his gaze away from me as he spoke to San, his voice low.

This little shit. He knew I couldn’t say anything back without giving away that I knew Korean to San. He grinned, knowing full well what he was doing to me. The only thing I could do was stare back into those brown eyes and fight not only the urge to smart off, but also the very irrational urge to kiss him. Wooyoung bit his lower lip as he smiled, clearly enjoying every minute of this and doing absolutely nothing to ease my internal struggle. His hands around me tightened as his palms flattened against my back. He glided one upwards before stopping to cup my cheek. He leaned in and brushed my lips quickly, more like a ghost of a kiss than anything, a tease of what we both really wanted. It happened so fast that I had almost no reaction whatsoever. When he pulled back he was beaming at me, and that lustful look reentered his eyes. I almost cracked, but was saved by San pulling me backwards out of Woo’s arms.

He wrapped himself around my waist, pulling me deep into his arms and planting a kiss onto my cheek. I couldn’t help but smile, almost forgetting that we were in a room full of people and the idea of Woo’s lips on mine was very nearly chased away. “I chose her first,” San gloated, pressing his lips to my cheek once again as he held me close, letting them linger on my skin. Now I was thoroughly confused. I looked at Wooyoung, hoping he would give me some sort of answer, only to be met by rolling eyes.

I heard a soft smack and San’s arms fell from around my waist as he pulled himself away. “You need to be careful with what you say…” Seonghwa’s voice came from behind me, taking me off guard as I stepped away from San and Wooyoung. I turned towards him. His eyes were on fire, staring down the two of them. “You’re lucky Hongjoong is blissfully unaware right now… or both of you would be reprimanded for how you’re acting.

“Because you’ve been on your best behavior all night? You forget I was sitting next to you… I saw where your hands were going,” San shot back, narrowing his eyes.

“Well, maybe you should be a bit more concerned about controlling your emotions,” Seonghwa glared, diverting the attention off himself and back to San. He turned towards me, his expression immediately softening and a smile returning to his face. “Please excuse us, opening night always leaves us a little excited and we have a habit of slipping back into Korean. I think your car is ready for you, if I heard the others correctly.”

I forced a smile in an attempt to hide the confusion I’m sure was oozing out of my body. I was even more perplexed than I was a few moments ago, something I wouldn’t have even thought possible. I had no idea what any of this meant, but there was no way I was getting answers out of Wooyoung. I would have to ask Thea, Nikki, and Christie what was said around them in Korean to try and gather up more information. “No worries! Thank you again for inviting us to dinner…” I said as I walked backwards towards Christie waiting at the entrance to the private room. “I’m sure we all had a great time, I know I did.”

I gave the three of them a final wave once I reached Christie, linking my arm through hers. The last thing I heard before walking out of the room was Wooyoung teasing San about no more kisses for either of them, resulting in smacks to the back of the head from Seonghwa, even though he had no idea I could understand each and every word. I couldn’t contain my laughter, tossing my head around just in time to get a wink and smile from Wooyoung while Seonghwa and San discussed something quietly in Korean.

The car ride was unusually silent. I’m sure the exhaustion was hitting the others just as hard as it was me. Plus, we also didn’t know the driver well, although he was just as cheerful and kind as he had been when he picked us up. I also did not feel comfortable at all discussing any of the events that happened at dinner in the car… who knows what he would report back to their managers and other staff.

Thankfully the ride was just as quick on the way home, and we bid the driver goodnight with a wave of thank yous once we exited the vehicle. It was much later than any of us had anticipated, although I don’t think any of us cared about getting back to the BnB so late. This night had been one for the books and I’m sure none of us expected the evening to end up like this… me especially. But now, I wanted nothing more than to change into my pajamas and curl into bed with Christie. I needed to run through everything with her, starting with kissing San backstage.

Very few words were said once we entered the house. Nikki moaned about how she needed to sleep and would talk to us about her night in the morning, throwing threats at Thea to not wake her up before absolutely necessary. Thea simply waved her off and walked into the kitchen to prep breakfast for tomorrow, stating the same, that she needed sleep and would share all the details over breakfast. Christie reminded both of them to take off their makeup before they went to sleep, or else we would kick both their asses. Nikki grumbled once more, something along the lines of fuck off, her cursing becoming more quiet once she retreated back into her basement cave. Thea groaned from the kitchen, shortly followed by a faint ‘yes mom’ before banging things around loudly, drowning out any more unsolicited advice.

As I made my way into my bedroom, I grabbed yet another matching pajama set from my suitcase before heading into the bathroom to begin the rigorous process of taking off my makeup. I, unlike my other friends, tended to listen to Christie’s advice regarding skincare and started off with a cleansing oil to work the setting spray out of my skin. Once it was thoroughly rubbed into my face, I began working through my normal nightly routine. My thoughts wandered to the comments thrown around tonight, but my mind was fixated on what Seonghwa said about Wooyoung and San being reprimanded for their actions and controlling their feelings.

“Here, try this essence I just ordered. It’s so nice… it’s been making my skin so hydrated it’s almost like glass,” Christie said faintly as she popped her head into the bathroom doorway, brandishing a small bottle in her hand.

I was mid-scrub, but managed to make eye contact with her through the mirror. I smiled as she came into the bathroom, settling herself on the edge of the bathtub while I finished up. Once the cleanser was rinsed off and my skin was pat dry, I held my hands out to Christie for her to drop some of the product in them.

“Toner first then this, missy,” Christie bossed. I rolled my eyes at her, something she was more than used to by this point. I removed the dropper out of my toner, squeezing the liquid onto my skin, glaring at her all the while. Once that was thoroughly rubbed in, she motioned for me to give her my hands, popping the lid off whatever was in her hands and putting a pump and a half on my fingers.

“Rub them together to warm it up a little and then spread it evenly across your face,” she instructed while screwing the lid back on. She had a strange look on her face, and her eyes looked playful. I followed her instructions, noting the tackiness from the product before applying it on my face. It felt sticky, like really, really sticky and the texture almost threw me off.… but it felt soft on my face and I could feel my skin soaking it up.

“Whatever this is, I need it,” I said, massaging the who knows what deeper into my skin. “Can you order me a bottle?”

“Snail.”

My head whipped around, eyes blazing with bewilderment. “YOU HAD ME RUB SNAIL GOO INTO MY FACE WITHOUT TELLING ME!?”

“You didn’t ask what it was…” Christie snickered, lifting herself from the ledge. She grabbed my arm to lead me out of the bathroom. “Quit being so dramatic… you have information to share.”

She lugged me onto the bed, nestling herself comfortably in the masses of pillows and blankets and giving me an expectant look. I sat down across from her and grabbed one of the many pillows, holding it against my chest as I debated on where to begin.

“Dinner first,” I said. Christie groaned slightly, but didn’t complain too much. “First off, Yeosang and Jongho are the only ones so far that know we can speak Korean.”

Christie chuckled. “Yeosang? Really? How did he figure it out so quickly?”

“Honestly, I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure Woo took pity on the poor guy and let him know,” I laughed. “But, that is beside the point. Yeosang made a comment early on in the night about how San and Woo were lucky Captain couldn’t hear the two of them, and then Seonghwa made one at the end of the night about how Hongjoong would reprimand them for their behavior and something about managing their feelings… I don’t know. The entire thing feels off to me for some reason.”

Christie pursued his lips as she thought. “Now that you mention it, Hongjoong did make a couple of comments in Korean to Yunho about being handsy… but nothing super drastic. Now, your boys were also all over you, so I don’t know if that played into it as well. But I didn’t hear anything like that out of him.”

“Uh, side note, but I wish you could have seen the way your dear Captain looked at you when you leaned into him. I kid you not, it was the sweetest thing I had ever seen.”

Christie’s eyes lit up. “Really? He was so reserved, but so kind. I was very surprised when he put his arm around me before we left… I’m hoping I wasn’t imagining the extra little brushes he and Yeo both seemed to be giving. But, you know, we are a bit delusional.”

“I had San say he wanted to sneak me away again, and then freaking Wooyoung pulled me up off the ground and told Tini that he wanted a turn… before teasing me with fucking brush of a kiss. I don’t think we’re delusional at this point, there’s something going on.”

Christie’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped. “WOOYOUNG KISSED YOU TOO? YOU HAVE NOW KISSED THE SAMMICH?!”

I waved my hands at her, shaking them madly in time with my head. “I mean, yes, but like… barely. Nothing compared to San earlier. I’ll tell the others tomorrow morning, but I thought you would appreciate knowing first.”

I went into everything, telling her about each of Woo’s flirty remarks and my absurd urge to kiss him when he helped me off the floor that ended with him actually putting his lips on mine… if only for a moment. I told her about each of San’s comments in Korean and how Wooyoung fueled the fire with his own, how neither of them could keep their hands off me, something I was surprisingly very okay with. She also finally got all the details about San and I’s kiss in the green room, down to where his hands were on body and the feeling of his lips. There was no way I was going to leave out anything, not after the way she looked at me.

As I snuggled into bed beside her, she filled me in more on her own night. She explained that Hongjoong and Yeosang were perfectly behaved gentlemen, but seemed to give her an occasional brush here and there with their hands. However, both had been great conversationalists, discussing their favorite foods and arguing over which Pirates of the Caribbean movie was the best, quoting some of their favorite lines, naming ‘The Dutchmen needs a captain’ or ‘I’ve got a jar of dirt’ as some of the top ones. She did feel that Yeosang was a bit more at ease with her than Hongjoong, whose awkwardness definitely came out at times with her.

I could hear the tinge of worry in her voice, though, probably stressing over if she did make them uncomfortable. I tried to ease her mind as best I could, circling back to the looks and smiles Yeo and Hongjoong were giving her all night. I know she couldn’t see all of them, but I had a great vantage point.

“Honestly, I don’t know why I’m so worried about it. We probably won’t be this close to them ever again. I really did enjoy chatting with them at dinner… and it’s entirely a shame because Wooyoung would have made for a great verbal sparring partner for Nikki and I. Hell, even the rest of them can be just as chaotic and we would all have so much fun playing together.”

I sighed. I didn’t want to think about it, but she was right. After tonight, there was little chance we would have this type of experience with them again. Afterall, they would be moving along to their other concerts, other meet and greets, and who knows what other people. I felt a pang in my stomach at the thought of San and Wooyoung giving someone else the same treatment they had given me. It was ridiculous, feeling this way about the two of them, but I couldn’t help but selfishly want something more. I did my best to shake it off, but the idea had already woven itself into my brain. In reality, all I could do was try to focus on tomorrow and enjoy soundcheck and the concert as much as I could.

I rolled over, hoping the sounds of Christie breathing would help get the insanity out of my head and lull me to sleep. Of course, this would probably be another night where sleep would elude me, especially with all of the thoughts running through my brain. I resorted to counting once again, hoping eventually I’d catch a little bit of rest.

“I can hear the wheels in your head turning from over here. Do you want to talk about what’s keeping you up or do you just need a snuggle?” Christie mumbled from beside me, rolling over onto her side to face me.

“Nothing to talk about really, but I absolutely will take the snuggle though. You know how much better I sleep with them.” I yawned, making zero attempts to hide it while I turned over to adjust my pillow. I felt the bed dip behind me as Christie scooched forward, throwing her arm over my midsection.

“Now, my sunshine, close your eyes and just follow my breathing… hopefully soon enough you will drift off into dreamland,” Christie instructed, beginning her breathing exercises. It was a routine we had become all too familiar with in the last few months, especially with all the craziness that had been following me thanks to a certain someone.

She counted me down, her voice soft and slow. “Don’t stress about your boys… judging by how they were staring at you all night, I don’t think they are quite done with you yet. They seem quite smitten with you,” she added before resuming the exercise. I could hear the faint smile in her voice. There were days I swore Christie could read my mind, and this was just another prime example. Eventually, I got lost in the rhythmic breathing and the thoughts running through my mind slowed down enough for me to drift away.

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