#since people are pointing this out I know reckless closed down in 2021. this post is more of a 'let's stop this from happening again' thing

[darkfires]

BURN NETFLIX

while all of you are here, remember to also support local arcades, theaters, book stores, and comic book shops, which are all struggling during this age of on-demand entertainment. online shopping won't give you the same experience as spending time in a cool place with real people!

[stxleslyds]

MY TOUGHTS ON PART THREE OF RED HOOD BY CHIP ZDARSKY :)

A DC RENDITION OF THE SONG “MOTHER KNOWS BEST” FROM TANGLED.

Here I will leave the links to my reviews of Part 1 and Part 2

Well, here we are, three issues in this story of only six parts and i still cant tell if i like it or not. What i know for sure tho is that Zdarsky never read any Red Hood books, i had my suspicions but now i am at least 95% sure.

This Jason has been nerfed. We had a perfectly balanced Jason back in 2005 he was smart, skilled, confident and strategic. Then from 2011 to 2020 (let’s put the fact that Lobdell is trash aside for a moment) Jason was skilled, he had the whole “chosen one” thing going on with the all-castle, and in some moments you could even see him being quick witted and confident. But now in this first half of this story he is extremely insecure, his skill set and expertise is barely there and is presented as just reckless. 

The other day i was talking about how DC treats Jason, how they just can’t decide on who he is, what motivates him or what he wants. His personality is a whole ass mess, it was fine in 2005 and 2010 when Winick wrote him but then Lobdell from years 2011 to 2020 just couldn't decide what he wanted to do with Jason or his relationship with Batman and his rules. After Lobdell finally left Jason was passed around people who either only read Lobdell's work, or didn't read anything from him or didn't take into account Jason's life because their book was set in a future that may never happen. 

What i am trying to say is that Jason doesn't have a personality, and writers don't really add things to the Jason that we “know”, what they do is start his story from zero over and over again. There is no consistency to Jason's character and while you could argue that maybe this new start could be the definite version of Jason Todd/Red Hood i will point out that this nerfed version of him is a major disservice to the character that he was when he was brought back to DC.

It’s simply not nice. 

And in this particular issue the “Jason isn't that good at this whole vigilante gig” is even more pushed because of the whole “batman knows best” bullshit. I am not getting this (anthologies) book with a Red Hood story just for Batman to come in and be like “I am actually good at this job, you know nothing AND i have the moral high-ground”, this is NOT it.

If you are reading a Red Hood story chances are that you will be interested in Red Hood not Batman. 

Oh one more thing, Jason was an excellent Robin. He was kind, smart and skilled. I liked the flashbacks in UtRH because it showed Jason being all that but he also understood a couple of things about the kind of criminals that Gotham had, your common thug is easily scared of the concept of Batman but the dress-ups knew that no matter what they did the Bat would never kill them, that’s what Jason thought about criminals there.

This Robin Jason is treated rather poorly by Zdarsky at times, he feels insecure and inferior to Dick but he is also dismissive of him and the Robin mantle in the first issue, now in this one he is shown as way too reckless (which is kinda bad because it feeds into DCs favorite trope of “Jason’s death was Jason’s fault”) and his stance on “low level” criminals is weird, like it was made clear that drug related criminals are Jason’s biggest issue, thieves were not. 

Those are my general thoughts on this issue and the current state of Jason’s characterization. I have some panels from this issue that i want to talk about in more depth tho, so here we go. 

The issue stars were we left off once more, Tyler defends Jason and when Batman asks who he is Tyler says that he is the Blue Hood, that was really sweet of him, that child is adorable and he needs to be protected. 

Once the Bat distracts Tyler Jason tells the Bat that the man he killed was Tyler’s dad. 

There are a couple of things i want to point out from these panels, Jason feels incredibly guilty, not about killing Andy but about leaving Tyler in a situation that is similar to the one he was left in when his own mother died. He still believes that Andy was not a good man and deserved to be dead, after all he was drugging his own son and was the reason Tyler’s mom overdosed and is now in the hospital. It just hits incredibly close to home for Jason and i understand completely. 

The other thing i want to point out is that Jason says “I know your rules. No killing in Gotham” so, this is (to me) confirmation that Jason hasn’t killed in a long time and that he has been sticking to the Bat's rules (at least in Gotham). Andy (a drug-dealer) is the only person that Jason has killed since the events of UtRH (that are apparently canon in this story because it was mentioned in the first issue). 

Following this conversation the Bat says that he will take care of Tyler’s mother (yikes, i really thought in my last post that Jason was the one who would have tried to get her the help she needed, to me it seems more appropriate if Jason does it given that this is his story but what do I know) 

This is where this Red Hood story transforms into the Batman show.

Not only will Bruce take care of Tyler's mom but he will clean up the mess and shut down the making of the drug all by himself. Jason tells him that he will do it but the Bat tells Jason that if he wants to do it they will have to do it together because there is no way he is letting Jason out of his sight, he made a mess!

Yes, nothing like making the lead character look incompetent at his job. Love that for Jason.

Before the team up starts Batman and Red Hood go to Leslie's place to leave Tyler with her. This is a good moment only because there is a dog involved, well…Tyler, Jason and a dog are involved, best panel in the whole issue? I think yes.

Maybe I have a couple more panels that are my favs in this issue, here they are, a lil bit of positivity in this extra bitter post.

Now I will be honest, I hate Batman (Bruce’s Batman, love Dick Bats he was the MVP) so him saying that he is helping a Robin makes me want to shoot him. You are not helping; you are overtaking, as you do. Never a team player, the Batgod must always be the center of the show.

Back in the new cave Bruce talks to Jason about the drug and who he thinks might be behind it's production. He also makes sure to let Jason know that he is very smart and might be the only person outside of Crane's circle that knows how analyze a very unstable compound…weird flex but okay. He also teases Jason about his detective skills. Yay.

Flashback time! Get ready!

Robin Jason and Batman are at a crime scene and Jason doesn’t seem to be in the mood to play CSI: Gotham with Bruce.

At one moment Jason says “and then we will stomp the guy who did this” (“this” being murder), which makes Jim Gordon (who came to see if batman was done playing Sherlock Holmes) uncomfortable, so Batman tells Jason to wait for him. As Jason is going he sees someone acting suspicious.

Back to present day Batman and Red Hood are visiting the woman that created the compound that makes Fear Gas, the interrogation starts well but because this is the Batman show and Jason is bad at reading people and asking questions we have a scene that shows Jason being a bit too much.

I honestly thought that the first question was fair, but then after they leave the office they were in Batman basically goes on a rant about the things that Jason missed.

Ok, I get it Batman = good vigilante. Red Hood = Incompetent.

Zdarsky is honestly trying to make us believe that Jason hasn’t picked up any of those things, in his years as Robin with Batman AND Nightwing? They both taught him, there is no way Jason doesn’t know the basics of how to read people. Also do you guys remember Jason in UtRH and Lost Days? That guy read people perfectly, how is UtRH canon in this story, did Jason lose his skills in the explosion when he blew up the Joker?

As if that wasn’t enough Batman calls Red Hood reckless after they don’t agree on what to do next.

To this I say the following: Never again make me believe that Jason will willingly work with Batman. They don’t work together and neither are willing to meet each other halfway, even less let the other lead. This makes the idea of Jason following the Bat’s rules and him being part of the “Batfamily” the joke that it actually is.

They don’t work well together anymore; bring duality back to Gotham 2021.

Back in the past where the previous flashback is resumed we have Jim telling Batman that the new Robin seems a bit too rough around the edges. Did Jim ever meet Dick as Robin? I mean, don’t get me wrong, Dick was a sweetheart but he also beat criminals alongside batman every night. It just doesn’t feel like what Jason said was that much of a violent statement or anything, maybe I just don’t get it.

But don’t worry if you don’t get it, because we are shown Robin Jason going after that suspicious man, he is beating him asking if he knows anything about the murder or what exactly he was doing so close to the crime scene when Batman arrives. Through Batman we are told that that man was no longer a criminal, to which Jason says this, “…The guy is a jewel thief! He will always be a thief” and Batman responds “I refuse to believe that. Didn’t I meet you in the middle of stealing the Batmobile’s tires?”

I can’t believe Bruce went full “It’s over Jason. I have the moral high ground” on Robin Jason.

I mean Jason is OOC, we know this, but he has to be that way in order to make Batman look better when compared to a child. DC hates Jason Todd #Confirmed.

It kinda reminds me of that thing DC does with Dick and Barbara, Dick is skilled and smart as long as Barbara isn’t in the room, if she is then Dick will forget to check if there is someone inside his apartment and then be thrown across the room by her and then be told that he sucks at putting security in his living space.

Moving on...back to the present one last time Jason is interrogating a man while he dangles him from the edge of a building (did Dick teach him that? I bet he did.) After getting some information he calls Oracle so he can make sure that the place he is going to is safe. Oracle tells him the she will help him but she did not like the fact that the last time she helped him someone ended up dead.

Now, fair warning, Barbara and Jason big NO for me and after Geoff Johns and his antics in Three Jokers I have zero love for their “team-ups”.

Jason says this, 

Believing in him? Excuse me? Chonky, baby, she only helped you find a building.

All I can do at this point is pray to whichever god or whoever hears that this does not lead to Jason pinning for Barbara. We don’t need it (Barbara doesnt need it), I might be overreacting, I hope I am, but nobody wants that kind of drama right now, thanks.

When he arrives to the place he was looking for I think everyone can tell that it’s a trap, everyone but Jason apparently. 

How on earth does Jason not realize it’s a trap up until it’s too late? Are you joking? Is this a Red Hood story? Are we really doing this? Just how incompetent is Jason in Zdarsky’s eyes?

Freeze…is it Freeze? I don’t care but he is there, he freezes Jason and that’s the end of the issue.

Listen, I wish I could say that this is the worst Jason has been treated and that this book is horrible, I wish but I can’t. I can’t do it because this isn’t the worst characterization or book of Jason, this is still a pretty good story, could it be better? Yes.

I mean this story is written by someone who obviously doesn’t know Jason and that sucks but it still isnt the worst characterization and it messes me up. Three Jokers was worse than this, certain plot decisions in Future State: Red Hood were worse than this (in my opinion) and Lobdell’s New52 RHatO was pure trash (that is the worst book, just horrible please dont read it). 

I am saying this only to make it clear that even tho this issue was painful (mostly if you don’t like Batman) I still have hope that it can turn out to be good. I cant help it, i want and need this story to be good and there is still time for it to get better. 

Alright thats all i have to say, let me know what you thought about this issue and my review, bye!

[springalwayscomes]

Still Alive

I would need a million words

If I tried to define

All the things you mean to me, yeah

For you I'd die a thousand lives

Special kind of energy

'Cause love is born when hearts collide

Every time you touch me

You remind me that I'm still alive

-17, Pink Sweats

Plot: Jungkook is the reason. For what, you don’t really have to explain. And the fact that he’s been feeling low lately, you say, only makes you want to stay by his side more. Truth is he’s feeling worse than he’s ever felt.

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: Angst, Fluff

Wordcount: 2.4k

Content Warning: Mentions and descriptions of panic and anxiety attacks, Jungkook is lost and depressed (if we have to minimize). Please do not read if you are triggered by this type of content.

Author’s Note: Honestly, I’m not even sure if I really want to post this. This one is different from what I’ve been writing until now and I feel so exposed. I’ve been through this, so it’s pretty difficult for me to talk about something like this without feeling exposed and fragile again, I’m not even sure about the reason why I wrote this, but now it’s done. I hope I will keep this on the blog, even though I’m not sure. It was inspired by the song 17 by Pink Sweats, and at the beginning I wanted to write a soft smut but it turned out to be like this and so much deeper than I‘ve ever imagined. To write it I really had to minimize the feelings I used to feel at that time, because I couldn’t express them in the right way and honestly (really honestly), thinking about that period of my life still scares me a lot. Anyway, I am feeling better now, and even though this work contains a lot of sadness and it’s really harsh and raw to read, I want to tell to whoever is going through this, or whatever problem you’re facing along your way that you’ll feel good again. Spring will come again, as our boys say. You’ll feel light again, and you will be three times wiser than you were before. I wish a happy new year to everyone and I hope that you will appreciate this! 2021 will be better than 2020, so let’s all cheer up.💜

«It just sucks»

These are the first words that welcome you home. Jungkook’s voice coming from the bedroom and your mind immediately wandering to understand what’s happening, if he’s fine. He’s been feeling low lately, anxious and stressed with work. It sucks to see him like this, if you were to use his words. It sucks.

Jungkook is the reason. For what, you don’t really have to explain. He is the reason. Jungkook is everything, everything.

The images of last night coming to your mind make you eyes water and you quickly take your shoes and coat off before you jog to the room where he is.

Layed on the bed, arms crossed on his chest and hair disheveled Jungkook stares the ceiling on top of him, Taehyung and Jimin at his sides. You swear you see his cheek glint under the light, the path of a tear making its way on his skin. Your chest heavies, breath stuck in your throat as Taehyung and Jimin notice your presence and greet you with smiles that say anything but happiness.

«Baby» you call out. Jungkook blinks, neck slowly turning to meet his eyes with yours. The way yours are watering more and more every second and the way Jungkook bites on his lower lip tell Taehyung and Jimin that they should probably leave you alone. The two sigh, hugging the littlest man tightly and whispering things you can’t discern from here, but Jungkook’s expression doesn’t change. And it breaks you apart, in a million, billiards of pieces, scraps.

His hyungs smile at you, each one leaving a kiss on your cheek before they head to the door.

It’s only when you hear it click that your body starts working again, quickly removing your clothes and letting them fall onto the floor, then taking big steps towards the bed and sitting down. You know what comes now, it became a routine by now, and Jungkook knows it too.

You hug him. So tight and comforting, lovingly that he feels his eyes water again, for the fifth time today. Your embrace smells like the both of you, familiar and special, a space that seems made just for him.

His head rests on your chest and a moment later you’re slowly laying on the mattress, leading him with you and trying your best not to make any movements that could scare him.

Jungkook is having problems, not a little. You’re just too scared to admit it.

He’s been feeling low lately, you say.

He’s feeling worse than he’s ever felt. He’s scared, scared of the world and himself, of everything. He always feels anxious, putting his nerves on the edge and his brain in condition of never stop working, he’s always attentive, watchful of everything, too much.

The anxiety eventually led to anxiety attacks and panic attacks. It’s been a hell of a road until now, and you thought that maybe he could make it. You still think it, but these times seem to be the hardest. Especially since yesterday night.

He had a panick attack in his sleep. His side of the bed wet with sweat and tears, his whines waking you up just to see him with his hands on his chest and his face soaked with both tears and sweat, eyes shut close and lips as red as blood.

Jungkook is extremely sensible. He feels the judgement of people, he’s shy and it takes him a lot to stand for himself, his self-esteem has never been so low than in these last year. All of these facts together, eventually led to a breaking point. This moment. “If you won’t let it go, it will occur the time where your body will come in the way and do it for yourself.”, said his psychologist last week as she tried to explain what was happening to him. “His brain told him to stop what he was doing and since he wouldn’t listen, it had found a different way.”

And you swear on your life as you hug him tighter and tighter to you, your fingers brushing through his hair and his hot breath fanning on your neck, that you will be here for him forever. It doesn’t matter how much it will take him to feel better, how hard it will be.

«Do you want to talk?» you whisper. As quietly as you can. He doesn’t answer, but you feel his arms tighten their hold around you. You watch the beautiful features of his face, his eyebrows, his eyes shut, his nose, the petals of his lips, the freckle on his nose and under his lower lips, his golden skin.

«I’m here, I am always going to be here. I love you» you whisper.

Jungkook wouldn’t want to do it again, but by now his eyes are reckless and they let out another tear; warm and full of pain it tickles his skin as it travels on his nose until it eventually falls and lands on your collar bone.

«I’m sorry» he whines, sniffing. His face nuzzles onto the crook of your neck as other warm tears wet your skin. Your heart shakes, your chest becomes heavier. You squeeze him so tight, if there was a way to take away all of his pain you’d do it without even blinking, even if it’d end with you being in his shoes.

«What are you sorry for?» you whisper again, your lips kissing the locks of his dark hair as he hides his face.

His body is stronger, bigger than yours. But he needs the same attention and love as a baby now, the same thoughtfulness. Jungkook is in a fragile state, and you have to be hyperaware of everything to make sure that he doesn’t slip out of your hands and fall, breaking into shatters on the cold floor.

«...This-» he weeps, his back shaken by sobs. «M-me... I-You-»

«Don’t be» you cut him off.

«Don’t ever feel sorry for how you’re feeling. Never» you reassure. A soft kiss is placed on his forehead, and another one on his hand after you slowly, carefully lead it to your lips.

«Did you have-»

«Three»

This time he’s the one who cuts off. He doesn’t want to hear their name, he hates them. He hates them so much, and for you is the same. Watching him in sweat, with tears falling down as he whines lost in his world, the way he can’t breathe in the right way, his lips trembling and his eyes desperate for help but afraid that it will never come, scared and in a world with no light at the end of the dark tunnel: that is what you hate the most in the world.

He hates panick attacks just as much as you do. Fuck them, you think.

Three. One shakes him enough to make him sleep for at least three or four hours after, all of his energies get sucked away in a scary way both mentally and phisically, to imaginewhat he is going through right now makes you hold him even tighter. Thank God that Taehyung and Jimin were free today and stayed here to help him, Jungkook is too afraid to remain home by himself, and honestly you would never leave him alone when he’s scared to death of himself. In the morning, he’s afraid to get up from the bed, because it feels like his only safe space, he doesn’t even dare to go to the kitchen; the only thing he can do is focus on his breathing, you are the one who brings him breakfast, lunch and dinner and help him eat. The idea of a new day already beginning scares him even more because he knows it will be just as shitty as the one before, full of fear for him. Panic and anxiety attacks come and go as if they were the air he exhales and lets out, some of them last longer and are deeper, Jungkook would end up crying in your arms and beg you to stop them. It breaks your heart everytime to not being able to help him just like he wants. You could see the fear in his eyes every time, and even when they finally leave, that shadow won’t. They scare him, so much that he does his best to avoid them, and right now is to just stay in bed. He can’t leave the bed without being swallowed by the anxiety of doing something wrong that will eventually trigger another attack, so he lays still for almost the full day beside of when he needs to go to the bathroom. You usually follow him and wait outside of the door, his cheeks redden every time at the thought of needing you to help him even for something so mere, but he’s thankful that you do. His deepest fear became himself, not being able to control his brain without falling in the arms of panic again. Just the other day he had whispered you that he was afraid of going out of his mind and that if he were destined to live like this for the rest of his life, he would prefer to be dead. The thought made you shiver. You had sweetly kissed his forehead, telling him back that he was all but crazy and that everything will eventually be alright, these are just some obstacles on the road. And you really hope it. The fact that now he’s not safe from attacks anymore not even in his sleep scares him even more.

«I’ll stop talking then,» you caress his neck, so incredibly warm that for a moment you think he might have had catched a fever too «you-»

«Please, don’t» his head slightly raises from its place in the crook of your neck, eyes looking at you. They look so tired, exhausted, spent, weary.

«Please talk to me, I want to hear your voice»

Your lips meet his forehead, pressing to it as if it was your lifeline. Jungkook’s eyes shut close, the feeling of something familiar warming up his chest just the slightest, he tells himself that maybe he could live with this sensation. It certainly would be better than being scared and breathless, with your brain playing tricks on you. It would be a hundred times better to live with this sensation, not tingling or burning hot but slightly calm and still, like a caress but really light. The one of the one hundred percent. This is enough to make him feel better, just the slightest. A speak of dust in the desert, but at least is something. It’s warm, familiar.

«I would need a million words if I tried to define all the things you mean to me»

Jungkook opens his eyes, watery again. His lips tremble, breath stuck as he looks at you with him emotions on full display, fragility at its peak.

«For you I’d die a thousand lives» you whisper. And God, you mean it. You never meant it more than now saying it in front of him, for his eyes and his heart.

«Special kind of energy, cause love is born when hearts collide» you go on. And by now, Jungkook knows what you’re doing.

«Is this-»

«Ssh» you caress his cheek trying to make him relax just a little bit. «Every time you touch me you remind me that I’m still alive»

Jungkook loses it as he looks at you while you say those words, the same that you’ve been reminding him of for all these minutes, this morning, yesterday night after you witnessed his state for all these days.

He doesn’t care if he’s feeling lightheaded or if the feelings in his chest are so deep and make him feel such in a haze that it will eventually lead him towards another panic attack. He needs you, he needs to feel alive again, to feel reassured and loved more than ever.

His lips meet yours, not in a soft peck like the ones you’ve been giving him in these last days. A kiss that makes his blood boil in his veins and his mind in a haze, not because it’s vicious or promises something more but because is full of promises of happy endings and limitless fondness, a kiss that would take away all his pain and give it to you if it was possible. That is what makes him wish he was able to give you more. He swears that he never felt something as soft as your lips, he never believed in a place as much as he believes in your embrace, he never loved someone as much as he loves you, he never felt more alive then now. You can feel his emotions on your lips, in your mouth; his fragility, the way he’s desperately trying to let himself go and how he hopes, how he believes that you will help him in doing so and will take good care of him if he succeeds, the bitter taste of the fear of being this fragile to himself, of feeling something that might be too much too handle for now.

It’s like giving his first kiss, it’s just like the first time. It’s new and Jungkook almost feels like he’s not enough because he knows he can’t give you more, and the thought makes his heart clench in pain. But you don’t care, and if he’s willing to give you ten then you’ll take five, because you don’t want to exhaust him. That’s the reason why you part from him, slowly.

Jungkook loves you, so deeply and profoundly. And you read it on his face as he parts from your lips and rests his head on your chest, his low lidded eyes keeping their stare on you.

«My heart is beating so fast» he whines, breath already itching, voice full of panic and fear.

«Bad fast or good fast?»

«Both» he shuts his eyes again. He’s going to have another panic attack, he can recognize it, he feels it coming, and you know it too just by that shadow in had in in his eyes before closing them. A mix of desperation and anger towards himself to not being able to control it.

At least, I’m still alive, Jungkook thinks. Even though, beside from that span of time when his lips met yours and he felt like he was doing the right thing, he is not that sure that it worths it.

Maybe tomorrow I can live a moment like that again, it’s the thought he tries to keep in mind as his breath itches more and more.

[mintvender]

BTS’ Reaction to Y/N Arranging a Banquet For Their BD + Nobles Disrespecting Them

Harem!AU

A/n: I apologize to the anon that have asked for this. I accidentally deleted the ask along with the post. Devastating I know. Had to restart the entire thing so I at least those that you’ve enjoyed it 🌿🌿

Warnings: Nothing

Masterlist

White Heather: The bell-like flower signifies protection while also meaning that wishes will come true.

Kim Taehyung

Despite his prestigious status, Taehyung would prefer to celebrate his birthday with those he trusts. Spending time with you is better than any materialistic product he can ever receive.

However, as much as you like to indulge in this fantasy, it would bring you more harm than good, especially to Taehyung. If you didn’t arrange a banquet for Taehyung’s birthday, it would silently hint that your relationship with him have soured, and that he is losing your favour. This would not cause him to slowly lose his control over the harem but attract more reckless people to his doors as well.

To be honest, very few people would dare to actually insult him, especially in front of your presence. By now, you would expect that everyone in the palace would understand how capable you are.

Though, if someone has the guts to even comment on how ‘lavish’ the banquets is. I guaranteed that they will soon become the joke of the palace. Not only will they be on your bad side, everyone would naturally avoid them to not receive your distaste and hate.

However if gets to the point of infuriating you and embarrassing Taehyung then chances are that person would disappear from the face of Earth without a trace. It’s what they deserved for their stupidity.

“ Mhm? What did you say? Please do repeat what you just said.”

Kim Namjoon

Even without your prestigious statuses, you both prefer to celebrate Namjoon’s birthday like any other family meeting. Bonding with each other while sharing the same meal would be a simple yet meaningful event on his birthday.

As an intellectual, Namjoon would greatly appreciate getting gifts that would nourish his curious mind. From books to scriptures, to mysterious herbs, it would definitely satisfied his constant overfilling library and study.

As some of this items are quite rare and precious, it must also come with a great price tag. Knowing how Namjoon dislike gossips and such, make sure to burn or get rid of any evidence of you giving such gifts to him.

Despite you not wanting this, it must be done since you don’t want people looking at you both weirdly the day after his birthday.

However, if word somehow got out about you ‘spoiling’ Namjoon, either you or Namjoon would come up with a quick answer to shoo their suspicious gaze away from you both.

“ How did a mere servant like you enter the Empress/Emperor’s courtyard? You sure have guts.”

Jung Hoseok

To everyone, Hoseok’s birthday is similar to a festival. Everyone literally does not have time to rest with the constant pressure from both you and Minister Jung. Hoseok’s father have probably bribed some of the servants to make sure that his son’s birthday is the grandest of the noble consort’s.

Regardless of his intentions, Hoseok is actually quite confused to what was happening around him. With how rushed everything feels, he might not even realize that today is his birthday.

Thankfully, you were quick to remind him by spoiling him with various treasure from the various times you see him longingly staring at blueprints for too long.

“ Thank you, your majesty. I apologize for the disturbance. Please continue.”

Min Yoongi

If you were to plan out a banquet for Yoongi’s birthday, a lot of people will gain benefit from this. People from the previous dynasty would see an opening to do everything in their mean to gain more control. However, that it another subject for another time.

I don’t see Yoongi as a person who would prefer lavish material things but he will be so flustered to the point of not being able to produce coherent words if you indeed gave him something — which you should. Though, Yoongi would be more than happy to learn and experience what he could not as a harem child. I can’t really imagine him being a hard to please person.

However, with all the positive things, negative things will also follow it right? Manipulation will definitely be this event’s antagonist. Yoongi’s self esteem will drop drastically with how manipulative everyone would become the moment he gain favour. As a result, arrange a celebration that is worthy of him but not too overboard, that would cause the destruction of Yoongi’s position within the harem.

“ What? ... You want to say something in front of the Empress/Emperor?”

Jeon Jungkook

Like Namjoon, you can’t really organize a banquet with the big gap in your guys’ status. It would not confuse people but also create unneeded rumours about you guys’ potential affairs.

As a result, what you can do is sneakily spoiled him on his big day. Ranging from being nicer and more attentive to his questions to even gifting him custom-made weapons from your clan. It really depends on where you guys’ relationship is at this point.

Spending time outside of the palace while stuffing yourselves with various street food, and ending the day with stargazing or attending a nearby festival would be a nice framework for you to follow.

Even just practising your swordsmanship for hours would satisfy his crave for closeness. As long as you guys do activities that are unique to your guys’ relationship, Jungkook would be satisfied even if it’s the most basically things.

“ Please refer to the Empress/Emperor whenever they are available, official.”

Kim Seokjin

The most hard to please person I would say out of all the candidates. Unlike all of them, Seokjin have more than enough money and power to get whatever he wants so giving something materialistic is already a rough route. Though, I think gifting something that is custom and only made with him in mind would satisfy him greatly.

Maybe arranging a banquet under the cover of celebrating the country’s alliances with the coincident of Seokjin’s birthday in the mix so that people don’t suspect the intimacy of you both. Though, would that really be able to get people not to suspect anything? I’m not too sure of this myself.

I don’t think that Seokjin will be the kind of person to just ignore insults coming towards him so before you could even react, Seokjin would already be retaliating with all his might. Usually, after a round of his speech, the person would be too embarrassed to say anything else.

“ You! Yes, you. Who do you think you are? A mouse dare to challenge a lion? You jest!”

Park Jimin

Not much can be said about Jimin’s taste for presents except for picky. Granted, that’s probably a reasonable reaction when jewelry and money was constantly at his disposal and that’s all he gets as rewards for béhavioriste properly.

I would suggest starting out with that thought in mind, and as your bond get stronger and Jimin becoming much more comfortable with you, then begin to explore other territories with him. Regardless, the idea of having you arrange a banquet all for him really excites him than he like to admit.

I can already him eyeing every potential wealthy person but still stick to your side — he’s all bark but not bite so if he cast those flirtatious glances, he will still be loyal to you. However, what he didn’t expect was an outright insult on his ‘behaviour.’

Beneath all those smiles and flirts, his broken self would still offense and would want to retaliate. This would cause him to quiet down but still try to go back to what he was doing.

Since you want to both stand up for him but also not cause that much gossip, just silently command some people to make the person go bankrupt and that should be a good ending. While you’re at it, transfer some of that person’s asset to Jimin’s monthly allowance and I will guaranteed you that he will like love you even more.

“ ... What are you looking at?”

Copyright © 2021 MintVender

All rights reserved.

[summonerscenarios]

Hello, whenever you're able to, can you make the reactions of the Summoners + Gullinbursti and Agyo reacting to MC2 coming back all scratched and bruised? I love when the boys get worried about the MC

First request post of 2021 let’s go~! dfghgfd honestly don’t we all love seeing ppl worry about the poor MC? I mean the amount of trouble they get dragged into is ridiculous lmao I’m sure there’s some kind of award for that at this point. Hope ya like it hun!

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Shiro

Shiro’s worried - of course he is. Seeing any of the Summoners getting scratched up or injured in fights is enough to warrant concern about them; however, his reaction really depends on how you ended up getting scuffed up. If it was due to jumping in to help someone or getting into an accident he’s going to be very concerned about your health and well being. If it was because you were super reckless and went overboard doing some stupid shit? He’ll absolutely know and you’ll know he knows as soon as you walk through the door and spot him waiting for you. He’s got the disapproving parent face down to a T which you’ve joked about on more than one occasion, but it's clear he’s still genuinely worried once he catches sight of how banged up and bruised you are.

He keeps a few things like plasters and that on him for the little injuries (and for when the D-evil’s get hurt I’ll die with this idea thx), there’s also a first aid kit or two stocked away at the safehouse thanks to the last couple of instances of people (namely you and Kengo) coming back in beaten up and in need of some bandaging up, so thankfully he’s fully prepared to help you. He makes sure you’re sitting down both to get you off of your feet as well as to see where all the scratches are so he knows exactly what he’s working with. Surprisingly, Shiro’s pretty adept at patching you up without hurting you too much - turning your hands and arms around in his hands to make sure he gets every cut and scrape without pressing down too hard as he wipes them over and patches them up. The whole time he works he’ll ask you about what happened this time, listening to you telling him all about what went down as he works, nodding along and humming to let you know that he’s still listening to you whenever you pause. 

Shiro knows that he can’t always stop you from getting hurt, especially when there’s so many things out to get you (and so many things you actively jump into without any regard for your wellbeing whatsoever, like seriously please at least try to keep yourself he worries a lot), but he can at least always be there to patch you back up and get you back on your feet when you’re injured, so he takes this kind of stuff seriously. Even once you’re patched up Shiro makes sure you sit down for a little while to rest a bit - if you have any open cuts the only thing that running around jumping back into trouble will achieve is making it take longer to heal. In the meantime he’ll make some drinks to convince you to stay put, giving the two of you the chance to chat about something that isn’t injury-related as you drink and talk in the safety of the guildhouse.

Kengo

Okay I’m gonna be honest, Kengo’s not entirely surprised to see you all busted up when you run into each other. It’s not like he hasn’t had his fair share of scuffles for various reasons (sometimes he doesn’t even mean to get dragged into them!...sometimes) and he knows that you’re very much the same so it’s not like he doesn’t realize you aren’t gonna come in roughed up sometimes. The two of you have got a pretty mutual understanding - if you need some help patching up you’ve got each other’s backs, namely to avoid getting reamed out by the others for getting into said fights in the first place. Which is exactly why when you guys bump into each other and he sees that you’re sporting a shiner and a busted lip to boot he knows something went down, but he doesn’t worry too much when you flash him a grin and tell him that he missed a hell of a fight, easing his worries that it at least didn’t get too out of hand.

There’s nothing a washcloth and some water won’t fix - at least that’s what he says as he slaps a bowl full of water down in front of you once you’re sat down on the floor and kneels down to get on your level. He leaves your eye be once he makes sure it’s only bruised and not something more serious and focuses on the cuts since they’re the bigger issue. His hands are rugged and his grip’s a little rough when he accidentally brushes over some of the bruised parts of your skin, but Kengo tries his best to be careful, guiding you to tilt your head in his direction with one hand as the other brings the washcloth up to your busted lip. It stings when he touches it and your expression scrunches up at the unpleasant feeling, but you ease up a little as he cleans up the wound and wipes away the blood smearing your mouth. 

Kengo tries to keep the mood as light as possible; he tries to crack a couple jokes to cheer you up but a few of them earn him a playful punch to the shoulder though it makes taking care of you go a lot more smoothly.The cuts at least look better once they’re cleaned up of the blood and marks, and while Kengo does wish he at least had something to wrap em up with he’s glad that you’re at least looking a sight better than you did when you’d initially showed up. 

Ryota

WORRIED. VERY WORRIED. When Ryota catches sight of you he almost immediately drops whatever he's doing and rushes over to you to make sure that you’re okay, expression alight with alarm when he can see how scuffed up you are up close. At the sight of his reaction worrying over you, you feel a bit guilty that you didn’t try to clean yourself up before you arrived, since the bruises and bleeding cuts don't exactly paint the most reassuring picture to the poor boy. Still you try to reassure him that it’s really not that bad - you’ve had worse bruises and most of the scratches are surface wounds anyway; Ryota still frets over you until you at the very least sit down, looking at some of the bruises on the side of your face with brows furrowed in unspoken concern.

Ryota’s asking you what he can do to help the whole time - is there something he can get you? Something to cover the cuts? Maybe some ice for the bruises? He’s pretty sure he could rush to the cafeteria and get some to wrap up in a cloth so you can soothe the ache ,or at least lessen the pain. You end up taking him up on the offer, and he comes back with a pouch of ice, pressing it to the bruised side of your face so gently it’s like he’s scared of hurting you even more. It certainly helps to ease the pain a little, and seeing you visibly relax at the touch it seems to calm his nerves down as he comes to sit down beside you, talking to you as you take the ice pack from him and keep it pressed to your face.

He seems to remember something as you’re talking and spins around to rummage through one of his drawers, turning back around with a box of plasters in hand a few moments later with a triumphant smile on his face. Soon enough you’ve got plenty of plasters with cute little patterns decorated on them on each and every one of your cuts regardless of how big or small they are. By the time the last one’s carefully placed over a cut around your finger the earlier tension’s definitely eased and you can tell he feels less worried now that you’re taken care of, offering you a warm smile when he looks up from your hand at you.

Toji

Toji’s dealt with more than a few injuries himself before, having to teach himself how to take care of different kinds of wounds over the course of his lifetime. Alongside this however he’s also grown quite adept at assessing how serious someone else's injuries are when he sees them. Perhaps that's how he’s able to notice something’s wrong when you try to sneak back to your room trying to nurse your wounds after getting pretty scuffed up through no real fault of your own. It’s not as though you can really hide them from him though, with a couple bruises, cuts and a generally mussed up appearance it isn’t hard for him to take a guess that you aren’t in your usually injury-free state. When you try to assure him that you’ll be find once you’ve patched yourself up Toji sighs, rubbing his temples, then proceeds to gesture for you to go ahead into your room, and thinking he’s actually letting you off the hook you don't hesitate to slip into your room and leave it there. Only a few minutes later he comes knocking on your door with a bag of what you soon find out is some medical supplies - bandages, plasters, rubbing alcohol and some other supplies you guess is for cleaning wounds. 

Calls you a dumbass the whole time but in a low-key lovingly sort of way. 

Okay but seriously though, if you got hurt due to recklessness expect him to talk your ear off the whole time - he doesn’t care if you think you’re being heroic, because you’re not gonna be a hero for very long if you get more injured than you can handle. You getting hurt is no joke to him, even if the wounds are relatively minor by comparison; even as he says this though he’s surprisingly gentle as he tends to your wounds, not being overly harsh despite the scolding tone of his words. You can tell that deep down he is genuinely concerned about your wellbeing as he patches you up, as when you hiss at the cleansing wipes he runs over your cuts you notice he pauses for a second before continuing.

He’s pretty practiced at this by comparison to the other Summoners, so it really doesn’t take very long until you’re all cleaned up and doing better than you would have been if you’d just stuck it out in your room. But don’t expect to get away without one last drawn out lecture on taking better care of yourself - you’ve only got one body and all it takes is a stray knife or the wrong place for you to get seriously hurt. It’s honestly pretty rich coming from someone who so often delves into the shadows for the sake of succeeding in battle more times than you can count; however, for what it’s worth you can tell he’s giving you this talk because he doesn’t like seeing you getting hurt, and wants to ensure that you aren’t willingly putting yourself into harm’s way - he wants you to stay safe, even if he doesn’t outwardly say tell you that.

Gullinbursti

I mean usually Gull’s the one who ends up getting hurt barging in to take the fall in your stead, so when you end up coming back home covered in scratches and bruises it likely happened when he wasn’t around to intervene. Needless to say, he hates the sight of you injured in any way - he feels as though he’s failed to fulfill his purpose to keep you protected from harm, and you’re honestly surprised to see just how distressed he is by you getting hurt. You get hurt all of the time, with so many close calls to your name you’re sure you’d earn an achievement or two for it - but you guess most of those instances have been while Gull wasn’t around, which explains why he gets so troubled at the sight of you standing before him, cradling a few more bruises than you’re able to cover up when you come face to face with the boar transient.

You have to really convince him that you’ll be fine without going to see anybody like a doctor or school nurse or else Gullinbursti won’t even hesitate to hoist you up into his arms and charge right over to the person who can get you healed up, be it one of the other Summoners or a medical professional. He doesn’t seem entirely convinced when you tell him that you’re fine - you just need to grab a couple things you’d stashed away specifically for these instances and once you’re finished you’ll be right as rain...minus the scratches, of course. Similar to Ryota, he hovers around you whilst you’re cleaning yourself up, looking for an opportunity to aid you in some way, whether that’s going out to retrieve something or holding things for you while you move to grab the next things you need. It’s actually pretty cute seeing him trying to dote on you, watching you clean yourself up and bristling when you grit your teeth as you apply the disinfectant.

In your opinion, you do a pretty bang up job of bandaging yourself up, though as you’re putting the last of the plasters on your palm you feel the back of his hand brush against the side of you, stopping just short of one of the particularly nasty bruises you’ve got blossoming across the skin. When you tilt your head to face him and ask him what’s wrong he wonders aloud if you’re in pain - it makes you pause, because you’d be lying if you said they didn’t feel at least uncomfortable, so instead of answering you lean over and pat his cheek, assuring him that you’re okay and that he doesn’t need to worry in the hopes to reassure him.

Agyo

Agyo absolutely panics when you come through the guildhouse door all busted up and bruised. When did you get hurt?! It couldn’t have been close to the guild, the little lion dog takes guarding the safehouse seriously, so surely he’d have spotted you while he was out making sure everything outside was okay! You’re covered in scratches and bruises when you stumble into the room and greet the fluffy transient, and the poor boy just about faints at the sight of you grinning as you rub at the side of your face where you’re supporting a particularly large bruise, half-heartedly whining about how it stings and how you were so sure you could have dodged the hit. Agyo really wishes someone else was here, someone who has a good enough idea on how to take care of you when you’re hurt; since he’s the only one around at the time he decides to take the situation into his own paws, ushering you further inside the room so that he can get a proper look at just how bad the damage is, getting frustrated when you try to tell him that it’s really not that big of a deal.

He tries to put on a brave face but you can tell that he’s really worried - your injuries are only scrapes and bruises at worst, but you’ve got a hell of a lot of them. Agyo has the least amount of experience with dealing with injuries; he’s gotten hurt before back in Wa No Kuni, and he’s also seen people coming to the shrine sick or injured but it was always his grandpa who took care of those duties while Agyo got things to help. So Agyo plays to his strengths, and remembering some of the things he’d seen used before, brings out the first aid kit for you to use, hoping that whatever’s inside will help in some way. Most of them don’t even need anything to cover, with only a few cuts actually managing to break the skin, but for the sake of easing his nerves you humor him a little and cover as many as you’re able. 

Most of your fingers are covered in plasters by the time you’re done, with them having received the brunt of the damage at the time, and you hold them up for him to see, waggling your fingers as if to show him that you’re all better. It does seem to do the trick, as at the sign of your plaster-covered hands he huffs and plops down to sit beside you, shaking his head as he asks you how you even ended up like this - surely you didn’t run headfirst into trouble, right?...right? When you don’t answer him, instead feigning ignorance and whistling as you look away, the poor lion dog gives you an exasperated look and starts persistently prying for answers, grumbling about losing guardian points when the sight of him getting so riled up makes you laugh a little.

[kuriboo]

Hugsaku 2021

Day 5 - Awkward Hugs | Dueling But The Final Blow Is A Hug 

I’ve been writing a continuous story with prompts for Yusaku. This part is getting close to the end of the story. If you’d like to read the whole thing, you can read my previous posts or read the whole thing on ao3; I’ll link the ao3 in the notes. The general story is this: Yusaku finds himself in Heartland with no memory of how he got there, and Yuma decides to help Yusaku figure out how to get home.

As you can guess by the prompts I used, there’s a duel in this one. Probably most of this is actually the duel, and the duel made this pretty long compared to the other days I wrote. I probably actually spent two or three weeks working on just this part because of the duel. I’ve held onto 40 different screenshots to plan out this duel, I had to watch a specific episode of Zexal twice and track down part of an episode of Vrains that I rewatched a bunch of times. I also had to rewrite this duel probably around twice because I used the wrong cards and misread card effects. All the work paid off, though. The duel should all be correct now, and this was one of my favorite parts to write.

⁂

The four of them were doing research together in a park when another one appeared.

It was Tori who had taken the books out from the library. Given she was the biggest reader out of herself, Bronk, and Yuma, she was the only one with a library card. She brought the books to the park and the three of them, alongside Yusaku, read through them.

All the books looked like they discussed the idea that other worlds existed out there somewhere. Their hope was that they discussed how to get to those worlds so they could find a clue.

To help Astral remember his past. To help Yusaku get home.

A lot of books on the subject weren’t really intended for a younger audience. Yusaku seemed to be having an easier time reading through his book than everyone else was. Everyone else other than maybe Yuma, who was cheating and having Astral read his book for him. It wasn’t that Yusaku was overly interested in the subject, Astral was definitely more interested than he was. But Yusaku had read through lengthier, more complicated material to learn the knowledge he needed to see his revenge through. He was used to this.

The book was deep in an explanation of the possibility of other dimensions and what they could be like when they all heard the commotion.

That’s when they chased after its source, and that’s when they found another Number.

Yuma took the Number on, of course. His opponent didn’t take long to summon the Number. Rank 2, 100 Attack. This Number didn’t seem that threatening on the surface, but Yusaku knew better. XYZ Monsters were always more than just their stats. That’s what they had Overlay Units for, and this Number still had all of its own.

Yuma summoned Utopia on his next turn. Immediately after, he entered the battle phase. His victory seemed assured in his eyes, but Yusaku wasn’t so sure about that.

Neither were Yuma’s friends. Bronk, Tori, and Astral each yelled out their own warnings, but Yuma ignored them all. He declared an attack with Utopia against the other Number and…

The monster was destroyed, the other duelist’s life points dropped to 0, and the duel was over.

Yusaku blinked. Surely that Number had an effect. An effect that probably could’ve saved it, he guessed. Why didn’t the other duelist activate it? Why did they let themself lose?

Bronk confronted Yuma about his reckless play, but Yuma didn’t want to hear it. Apparently, as long as he won, he didn’t care about the possibility that his plan went horribly wrong. Yusaku sucked in a deep breath. He was definitely on Bronk’s side on this one, but he also still had to live with Yuma. Joining the argument would just make life more annoying. 

Eventually, Yuma and Bronk’s yelling reached a boiling point. The two of them turned around and left in opposite directions, leaving Tori and Yusaku by themselves.

“I don’t know how he doesn’t understand how dangerous that move was,” Yusaku muttered.

“Yuma never thinks things through like that. I mean, he focuses more on the victory he sees in front of him than the possible obstacles in the way. It helps boost his confidence; if he worried about the roadblocks too much, he’d give up every time. Plus, if that Number used an effect, Yuma could’ve saved himself with Utopia’s ability to negate the attack. Anyway, it doesn’t matter anymore. The duel’s over. We can’t let their friendship end like this,” Tori fretted. “Bronk and Yuma have been best friends for a long time. I don’t know if we can get them to see eye to eye on this, but we have to do something…”

‘We’. Right. Yusaku wasn’t one to care about friendship and friends, but after everything Tori, Yuma, and Bronk had been doing to try to help him, he owed them. Besides, Yuma wasn’t like Yusaku. Yuma deserved to have good friends. But what could Yusaku do about it? It wasn’t like he had much experience with this kind of thing. 

What would Kolter do if Yusaku was stubborn like this? The two of them had a different kind of relationship than Bronk and Yuma, but… 

“You try to talk to Bronk. I’ll try to talk to Yuma. If their friendship should be stronger than this one argument, we’ll try to remind them of that. You know Yuma better than I do, so maybe you can get Bronk to see where Yuma’s coming from.” Yusaku had a feeling that would go better than him trying to convince Yuma to see Bronk’s point of view. “Maybe we can get them to talk after they’ve cooled down a bit.”

If it didn’t work out, though, then it didn’t work out. If they were determined to be mad at each other, Yusaku didn’t know if he could stop them.

“Yeah…” Tori nodded. “I know they can work it out if we can get them to talk. Thanks, Yusaku.”

Yusaku shrugged. He didn’t feel like he was really doing much.

Tori ran after Bronk, while Yusaku headed back to Yuma’s house. Yuma had gone off in that direction, and Yusaku didn’t know where else he might go. If Yuma wasn't home, though, he’d have to go home eventually. Yusaku would be able to talk to him either way.

Luckily for him, though, Yuma was already at his home. As soon as Yusaku walked through the door, Yuma pulled Yusaku into his room to rant to him.

“Who cares if my attack in that duel didn’t work? It did, and that’s all that matters!” Yuma was still really worked up about this. “I know Bronk’s better at dueling me, but that doesn’t mean he has to put down my successes as much as my failures! I’m trying to get better, and he knows it because he’s been trying to help me. Doing a pretty lousy job of it right now, though.”

“Maybe you both have different dueling strategies,” Yusaku suggested. He was having trouble figuring out what to say, but he thought back to Tori’s words. “Sometimes it’s better to declare a reckless attack than to never do anything because you’re afraid of what could happen.” Yusaku knew from experience that that line of thinking would definitely lose you the duel. 

“Exactly! I have to attack if I want my opponent to lose life points! If you were in my situation, what would you have done?”

“I would’ve been thinking about what that Number’s special ability could be. I would’ve felt safer with Utopia than most other monsters in that situation, since Utopia can negate the attack if it looks like it’s going to go back. But it’s always possible the opponent had an effect that would’ve prevented Utopia from using its effect, so I would’ve been cautious. I definitely would’ve wanted a Spell or Trap card backing me up. There’s a possibility I could’ve declared an attack, but I’m not sure.”

“It’s not as black and white as Bronk made it seem, anyway. He doesn’t need to be so high and mighty about it!”

“I don’t think it’s that,” Yusaku said. Not fully, anyway, he didn’t know Bronk that well. But Bronk knew Yuma better than Yusaku did, which meant Bronk probably had stronger feelings about this than Yusaku. At the very least, Yusaku had Kolter’s reactions to help him out on this, whenever Yusaku’s grades slipped or he skipped a class or he skipped meals for Playmaker business. He’d already had this discussion with Kolter multiple times. Yusaku’s relationship with Kolter was still different from Yuma’s relationship with Bronk, though. “I won’t say I know how he’s thinking without any doubts, but…he’s pointing it out because he cares about you. He was worried about you. Not because he thinks you’ll give up if you lose, but these duels involving Numbers are different from duels against your friends. You want to get all the Numbers to help Astral, and Bronk wants you to succeed because he cares about you so… He wanted you to win, and he was afraid you might not. He’s afraid that this could happen again and not work out for you. Or, uh, something like that, I think.”

“He’s not just trying to be mean?”

“I don’t think so. I don’t think friends are like that.”

Yuma sighed. “I was feeling the flow in that duel. Felt like I could do anything and it couldn’t go wrong. All I could think about was how I was gonna win. When I feel like that, sometimes it feels bad when everyone around me’s not supporting me.”

“You don’t always think ahead as much as other people tend to do. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It can be good to be in the moment and to enjoy the moment while you’re in it.” At the very least, Yusaku did miss that.

“I don’t wanna lose Bronk, but I don’t know what to do…”

“Talk to him. Communication is important in any kind of relationship working out. Figure out where you’re going from here. He probably doesn’t want to lose you, either.”

Yuma agreed to it, and later Bronk agreed to it, and they met up again after school. Tori went with them, while Yusaku met the group there. 

However, it didn’t go well. The meeting turned into more fighting and arguing, and Bronk pushed Yusaku away from him. When he did so, he accidentally disconnected the key hanging around Yuma’s neck from its rope. The key went flying, landing near Yusaku. Yusaku bent down and picked the key up, not sure what else to do in this situation.

Astral was present for this meeting, floating silently next to Yuma. Since the most recent duel against the Number, he’d kept to himself and stayed fairly quiet. But now he was staring at the ground next to him, no longer absorbed in his thoughts. “Yuma, what is that?”

Yuma looked down as well and yelped when he saw it. Black slime was creating a puddle around Yuma, oozing around his shoes. Yusaku looked around the slime for its source; it appeared to be dripping out of Yuma’s deck. That was strange, considering Yuma did not coat his cards in black slime. Everyone else noticed this at the same time as Yuma before focusing their attention back to the slime on the ground. Now it was flowing towards Astral. Astral screamed in pain as it began to envelope him.

“Astral!!” Yuma reached a hand towards Astral, but didn’t make contact.

“Number 96… It is trying to take control of me!” Astral’s body started to turn dark as more of the slime reached him. He opened his eyes and looked towards Yuma. “Yuma… give Yusaku… card…”

Yuma blinked. “What card? Why?”

“Just do it!”

Yuma reached into his deck and pulled out a couple of cards. Briefly, he looked at them as if deciding which one to pick. Then he tossed them to Yusaku, who caught them easily.

Yusaku glanced over the cards Yuma had just given him. One of them he recognized as Utopia. Another he recognized as.... the card he’d found when he first arrived in Heartland…

Were these the cards Astral wanted Yuma to give him? Why did Astral want Yusaku to have these?

Then Yusaku heard laughter, and he looked up from his cards. Astral had been completely overtaken by whatever that darkness was; even his eye that was normally all white was now all black. His lower body turned into long tentacles that curled around Yuma’s arms and torso. Yuma was lifted in the air. 

Yums screamed. “Who are you? Let me go! Let Astral go!!!”

“I am the strongest Number of them all. When you dropped your key, you allowed me to escape.” Not-Astral was smiling coldly. The strongest Number? Astral had mentioned a Number when this started happening. Was this Number 96? “Now onto step two: acquiring Number 39, Utopia!” He glared at Yusaku. Yusaku took a step back. 96 already knew Yusaku had Utopia, then? “You will give him back to me.”

96 stretched his arm forward towards Yusaku, intending to grab the card out of his hand. Yusaku held the cards close to him to make them harder to grasp. 96’s hand came closer but something stopped it before his hand could get close enough. As if an invisible wall was protecting Yusaku. Yuma’s key, still in Yusaku’s other hand, glinted in the light. Did the key protect him?

This all started when the key was separated from Yuma… Was that how 96 had been able to gain control of Astral?

“No matter.” 96 pulled his arm back until it was at its normal length. “If I can’t get it back by force, then I’ll get it back with a duel. All this is is delayed satisfaction.”

Yusaku snorted. Bold of this Number to assume Yusaku would lose. “I’ll take you on to free Astral and Yuma.” Yusaku only dueled when he had to, so luckily for 96, his hand had already been forced. He glanced over at Bronk and Tori. “Stay out of this. I’ll get them back.” 

Thankfully Yusaku was able to keep cool under the pressure. Link Vrains had given him experience dealing with people who seemed menacing and talked a big game. Tori and Bronk weren’t so lucky. They were both clearly worried and panicked. The two of them nodded and moved to be more on the sidelines. Their eyes barely left Yuma, still trapped in the air.

“Excellent.” Number 96 lowered Yuma to the ground. Yuma then proceeded to put on his duel gazer and draw his starting hand. “Oh, and by the way… Yuma will be dueling for me. Not his mind, but his body, so be careful..”

Yuma stared at Yusaku. Yuma was definitely scared, Yusaku could tell, but he knew Yuma wouldn’t lose his determination, either. “Can you duel?” Yuma asked. “You don’t even have a duel gazer…”

“I can duel without it.” Yusaku drew his starting hand as well, after sliding his cards from Yuma into his extra deck. It wasn’t like he could use his Link Monsters, anyway. “I have my deck, and that’s all I need.”

It’s all he ever needed. All the other students at his school had fancier duel disks and everything, but this duel disk that Yusaku had had for years still worked fine. The rest of his apartment had older tech anyway, from his phone to his kitchen appliances. It fit the aesthetic, as if that mattered.

“I’ll go first,” Yusaku announced before looking down at his hand. When he did, he could feel his stomach drop.

Maybe he should’ve asked to borrow Bronk’s deck, or something like that. For just a moment, he’d managed to forget the way his deck was built. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use Link Monsters. A lot of his cards worked well with Link Monsters, many of them even having effects that required him to have one on his field. He wouldn’t be able to use some of his cards at all. He could win like this, right?

“What’s wrong? Ready to give up already?” Number 96 taunted.

Yusaku shook himself out of it. He could still win. Of course he could win. He couldn’t lose. Especially not now. “Because I have no monsters on my field, I can special summon Linkslayer from my hand.” He normally could start to pull combos in his first turn, but these conditions made it more difficult. “I place two cards face-down and end my turn.”

“A weak start.” Number 96 chuckled. “My turn now.” Yuma drew a card, grimacing. “First, I will place two cards face-down. Next, I am summoning Acorno. I can summon this card by sending one card in my hand to the graveyard. And, you see, since the card I sent to the grave is Pinecono, it sprouts back up right on the field. Next I summon forth Darklon. And now, since Darklon was summoned, all my monsters increase their level by 1. But, I am not done yet. Next, I am overlaying these 3 level 2s to XYZ summon a copy of myself. Number 96: Dark Mist!”

A Number card already? 96 didn’t like to waste time. 

“Wait, how is that thing Dark Mist?” Tori asked. “It’s completely different from before.”

Yusaku didn’t notice any difference, but that was because he couldn’t see Dark Mist at all without the Augmented Reality system. That seemed to be working in his favor right now: Bronk, Tori, and Yuma seemed far more intimidated than him by the newly summoned monster.

“That is because this is Dark Mist’s true appearance. And now, Dark Mist, attack Linkslayer!”

Yusaku frowned. Dark Mist only had 100 Attack, but 96 was still declaring battle. 96 must have something up his sleeve; Yusaku knew there was more to Dark Mist than first appeared.

“I activate Dark Mist’s special ability. By using 1 overlay unit, Dark Mist can steal half of your monster’s Attack points in order to power itself up.”

“So as long as Dark Mist has overlay units, it’ll always be stronger than any of my monsters.” Yusaku grit his teeth. This wasn’t good.

“You catch on quickly!” 96 grinned back at Yusaku. “Now, let him have it.”

Dark Mist started to unleash its attack on Linkslayer, but luckily Yusaku was prepared for an attack, even if he wasn’t sure how. “I activate my trap: Three Strikes Barrier. Linkslayer isn’t destroyed.”

“But you still take the damage! Now, I end my turn,” 96 finished. 

Yusaku drew his next card. “Since Linkslayer’s Attack is different from its original Attack, I play Cyberse Cache and draw 2 cards.” Perfect. “Now I activate Linkslayer’s special ability. By sending two cards to the graveyard, I destroy your two face-downs.” Destroying the cards themselves wasn’t too important to Yusaku’s plan, but it was a bonus. “I summon ROM Cloudia. ROM Cloudia allows me to add Latency to my hand from my graveyard. And since Latency was added to my hand from my graveyard, I can summon it right away.” Latency went to the field on defense. 

Yusaku stared at the cards on his field. Dark Mist should have 1100 attack right now. Linkslayer couldn’t beat that, but ROM Cloudia was a different story. “Now, ROM Cloudia attacks Dark Mist.”

“I use another overlay unit to use Dark Mist’s attack again!” 96 smirked at Yusaku.

“So you can use that effect during my turn as well,” Yusaku mused.

96 laughed. “Perhaps now you see. For every move you make, I can make one better.”

At least Yusaku knew for sure now. “From my hand, I activate Security Block. Neither of us take damage, and ROM Cloudia isn’t destroyed.”

Dark Mist should now be up to 2000 Attack. This wasn’t looking good, but Yusaku could work with that. “I place one card face-down and end my turn.”

“Stay tough, you hear me?” Yuma called out to Yusaku. 

Yusaku nodded. He had a plan in mind by now, since he was sure how Dark Mist’s ability worked. He wasn’t coming out of this duel with anything but a win. 

Now it was 96’s turn. He looked over the card he drew, and smiled. “Let’s have a do-over. Black Mist, attack ROM Cloudia. Black Mist’s ability activates once again!”

That brought Black Mist up to 2450, if Yusaku’s math was correct. Yusaku frowned. Why was Number 96 so fixated on ROM Cloudia? He couldn’t save ROM Cloudia this time, but he’d already…

96 laughed. “It’s pointless to keep fighting.” He turned to Yuma. “Do you have any insights into what he’s planning?”

“I wouldn’t tell you even if I knew, but I’ve never seen Yusaku duel.” Yuma shrugged. “I’ve never seen his cards, either. It’s all as new to me as it is to you. I’m on the edge of my seat, I can’t wait to see how Yusaku pulls off a victory!”

“He won’t. Not like this,” 96 muttered.

Yusaku looked over his cards. He could make this work. Everything was coming together. “I summon Draconnet. And using its ability, I can summon Dotscaper from my deck.”

“I hope you’re planning something with all these monsters,” Bronk commented.

“I always have a plan.” Normally, it’d be a Link Summon, but this time Yusaku had something different up his sleeve. “I overlay level 1 Latency and Dotscaper.” Yusaku held both his hands out, palms forward, and crossed them over each other. The number 13 appeared, glowing, on his right palm. “Appear, Rank 1, Number 13: Embodiment of Crime!”

As the Embodiment of Crime took the field, Yusaku felt the same feeling he did when he first picked up this card when he arrived in Heartland. Revenge. An overwhelming desire to lash out, get revenge against the people that hurt Yusaku and the people he cared about. It threatened to consume him, just as before. But this time he could direct it. Number 96 had hurt Yuma, taken him hostage, and like this Yusaku could clearly see how much he cared about Yuma. He could direct it at 96 and still do exactly what he intended to do before he had been given any Numbers.

Yusaku had been fueled by his revenge before, and now once more he would direct it to achieve his goals. He still felt that strong desire, but it stopped trying to overtake him as he committed himself. 

Number 96’s eyes widened. “That’s not Rank 4… That’s not… Utopia… What is this?”

“You thought I was trying to summon Utopia?” Yusaku rolled his eyes. Did he look like Yuma, always trying to win his duels with Utopia? “If it was convenient, maybe. But I’m not done. Embodiment of Chaos uses one overlay unit to change all your monsters to Attack mode.”

“Black Mist is already in Attack mode,” 96 pointed out. “I’m starting to wonder if you should have placed your hopes in someone else, Yuma. Someone whose deck you were familiar with and you knew could win, perhaps?”

“I know Yusaku can win. I don’t need to know his deck to know that.”

“And I’m still not finished. Since Dotscaper was the overlay unit I used, its ability activates, allowing me to Special Summon it,” Yusaku went on. “Next, I play Cynet Defrag. I Special Summon Protron from my graveyard. Once again, I overlay both my level 1 monsters to XYZ Summon Number 31: Embodiment of Punishment!” 

This time, during Yusaku’s XYZ Summon, the number 31 glowed on his left palm. 

“Another Rank 1 monster with only a seemingly worthless ability to help you,” Number 96 mused. “If you want to win, your next move better be good.”

“I end my turn,” Yusaku said.

“You pulled off two XYZ Summons and you aren’t even gonna attack?” Yuma puffed his cheeks.

“Why would he? Check you math, Yuma, Embodiments of Crime and Punishment both have only 500 Attack,” Tori pointed out.

“Why summon monsters with almost no Attack??”

As confused as Yuma was, Yusaku wasn’t going to explain anything. Not until Number 96 entered the Battle Phase, anyway. 96 was cautious about the new Number, but Yuma wasn’t about to let him get away without battling.

“I use one overlay unit to activate Embodiment of Punishment’s effect. Dark Mist is forced to attack Embodiment of Punishment. As long as Embodiment of Crime is on the field, Embodiment of Punishment isn’t destroyed as long as it still has one overlay unit, and you take the damage I would take!”

“I do not like this,” 96 said. Even if Black Mist had an overlay unit left, it would only make the situation worse for him.

“Well, you’re going to positively hate what’s coming next. Do you feel it, Yusaku? I sure do!” Yuma yelled.

Black Mist had 2,450 Attack. Embodiment of Punishment had 500, leaving 96 to take 1,950 points of damage, and all the monsters on Yusaku’s field had enough Attack to take out the rest of 96’s Life Points.

96 scowled. “I suppose I have no choice but to end my turn.”

From there, the duel was practically over. All he needed was Cyberse Wizard’s effect, and his monsters took care of the rest.

And as they attacked, he ran forward. He ran towards Yuma. Once he was within reach, Yusaku threw his arms around Yuma. After a moment, Yuma hugged him back. And while they stood there and hugged, Yusaku tied the key’s rope together around Yuma’s neck, allowing him to wear the key just like he had before. 

The hug had started out awkward. Yusaku couldn’t remember the last time he gave a hug, he only ever remembered receiving them, and the way he’d wrapped his arms around Yuma definitely didn’t seem how it felt whenever Yuma had hugged him. Not to mention the difference in their heights. But Yuma did hug him back. And hugged him back. He didn’t let Yusaku go for what seemed like a long time. From behind him, Yusaku could hear Tori and Bronk running towards them as well. Resigning himself to his fate, Yusaku braced himself for a group hug. 

Once the key was securely around Yuma’s neck once more, Astral reappeared beside them. He reabsorbed Number 96, and obtained Black Mist once more.

“Only friends so close fight so much...” Astral mused to himself.

Only seconds later, Yusaku could feel himself being hugged by three people at once, and he was starting to regret some of his decisions.

Bronk and Yuma immediately started apologizing to each other for everything.

“I’m so glad everyone’s getting along again,” Tori sighed. “Of course, we have Yusaku to thank for that!”

“Yeah, that was awesome! I know you said you could duel, but you did so many cool moves, and you totally had a plan the whole time that you made work no matter what, and you saved me and Astral, and I wish I could watch you duel again!”

“Not interested.”

[discovering-ellie]

July 8, 2021 - Post Two

I'm in between appointments right now, so let's see if I can bang out this Kate Winslet thing that I've been trying to sort through since I first brought it up a day or two ago.

This might be rushed and a little chaotic but, hey, it iiiiiiis what it iiiiiiiiiis.

Let's start with Rose. Okay, yeah? Rose. Let's get the obvious out of the way. When I first saw Titanic a week or so after turning 13, I saw it because of my already life-long obsession with the ship. I was hyped to see it in its near full-scale glory. I was hyped to see the recreations that James Cameron had made down to the most minute details possible. What I -wasn't- going for were the actors or the story. I didn't give a shit about Leo, to be honest. I wanted to see my ship. Sure, I saw my ship and all of the love and care that went into bringing her back from the bottom of the ocean, but I also discovered Kate Winslet. This feels so weird to say but, for the first time, I saw someone who looked like me in a lead romantic role where she was desired, found attractive, and wanted. Up until that point, most leading ladies I had seen had been blonde, with maybe a few brunettes sprinkled in. I never saw -me-. As the lone redhead in what, really, is a shithole of a former mining town, this was huge. I saw what I -could- be, if only I could get out of my hometown.

She's more important to me than that, to be honest. aside from the surface traits, there's also her story. In the original script, James Cameron went way deeper into her psyche and her struggle with her own mental health. She is depicted completely destroying her vanity in one scene while, in another (the very first dinner scene where the camera zooms in on her while she's dissociating), she is shown digging a crab fork into her arm underneath the table. The rest of the movie as-is is riddled with examples of her crumbling mental health from herself ("It feels as if I'm in the middle of a crowded room screaming at the top of my lungs and no one even looks up;" "I felt like I was standing at the edge of a great precipice with no one to pull me back. Nobody who cared, or even noticed.") as well as Jack ("they've got you trapped here, Rose, and you're going to die if you don't get out") and each example began to speak to me throughout the course of time. I wasn't some soon-to-be-destitute heiress from Edwardian Philadelphia, but I saw a lot of my own struggles within hers. She gave me something to latch onto and, in a way, was the beginning in my journey to find myself.

Next, we're going to backtrack a couple of years to Juliet Hulme from Heavenly Creatures. Those of you true crime buffs might already know exactly who Juliet Hulme is, but I'll briefly summarize Heavenly Creatures anyway. Heavenly Creatures was a movie that came out in 1994 that Peter Jackson directed starring Kate Winslet and Melanie Lynskey as Juliet Hulme and Pauline Parker about their friendship/relationship in 1954 New Zealand, culminating in the murder of Pauline's mother when Juliet's parents were going to send her away. This is a very real, very weird murder case that is worth either reading up on or watching Stephanie Harlowe's YouTube video about. Seriously, the case is WILD.

Anyway, as a character, Juliet is neglected by both of her parents (in early childhood, she was left in a hospital due to illness, during the events of the movie they state that they're going away and leaving her behind, she contracts TB and gets left behind again in another hospital and, finally, her parents tell her that they're divorcing and they're leaving her with a relative in South Africa) and bonds quickly and intensely with Pauline to the point where they create their own little world with one another. During Juliet's hospitalization, Pauline begins a relationship with a lodger from her parents' boarding house and Juliet's jealousy and anguish over feeling forgotten reaches a boiling point. It's at this point where Juliet's parents decide to separate the girls and, to make an already long story shorter, that's what brings Pauline and Juliet to murder Pauline's mom via a large rock in a stocking.

Now, while I don't plan on doing -any- of those things, I identify with the lonely feelings of feeling replaced or forgotten. It's easy to feel like a disposable person when even your own parents treat you as such.

I'm going to close with Clementine Kruczynski from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because, aside from being the most recent example, she's my favorite. Clem , on the surface, reads as this bright and vibrant extrovert. However, as the movie goes on (or back, depending on how you look at it), you see that she's impulsive and sometimes cold and so, so, SO very unsure of herself. She speaks about her own insecurities in such a way that it felt like they were coming out of my own mind. Now, while I didn't have an ugly doll that I named after myself just so I could yell "Why can't you be pretty?!?" at, I still know those feelings all too well. Many, many times as a child, I would look at myself and wonder why I couldn't look, act, or be just like everyone else. I wanted to belong, I wanted to be accepted. Instead, I was just ugly and dull.

When it comes to impulsively deleting Joel from her memory, all I can say is that I'm more than guilty of blocking, deleting, and moving on. At this point, you'd find almost no trace of some of the people I've ejected from my life -- almost as if they never existed at all.

could continue on and on about the things in Clem that I see in me, but that would take almost as long as this post already is. Though, now looking at a brief analysis of the character, maybe I -should- be taking a harder look at myself: "With her impulsiveness, emotional intensity (extreme mood changes), alcohol dependence, turbulent relationships, reckless behavior, and hasty idealization or devaluation of Joel, Clementine seems to exhibit traits of borderline personality disorder, although it is not clear whether Kaufman wrote her character with this specific diagnosis in mind."

Okay, yeah.... I definitely should not have looked further into that just now. Note to self: don't Google BPD anymore. Thanks.

[orbemnews]

Influencers Find Welcome in Paradise, While the Rest of Us Watch From Lockdown In a season of lockdowns, Georgia Steel was jet setting. A digital influencer and reality television star, Ms. Steel left England in late December for Dubai, where she promoted lingerie on Instagram from a luxury hotel. By January, she was at a resort in the Maldives, where spa treatments include body wraps with sweet basil and coconut powder. “We be drippin’,” Ms. Steel, 22, told her 1.6 million Instagram followers in a post that showed her wading through tropical waters in a bikini. Nevermind that Covid-19 caseloads in Britain and the Maldives were escalating, or that England had just announced its third lockdown. The Maldives, an island nation off the coast of India, is not only tolerating tourists like Ms. Steel, but urging them to visit. More than 300,000 have arrived since the country reopened its borders last summer, including several dozen influencers, social media stars with large followings who are often paid to hawk products. Many influencers have been courted by the government and traveled on paid junkets to exclusive resorts. The government says its open-door strategy is ideal for a tourism-dependent country whose decentralized geography — about 1,200 islands in the Indian Ocean — helps with social distancing. Since the borders reopened, well under 1 percent of arriving visitors have tested positive for the coronavirus, official data show. “You never know what will happen tomorrow,” said Thoyyib Mohamed, the managing director of the country’s official public relations agency. “But for the time being, I must say: This is a really good case study for the entire world, especially tropical destinations.” The Maldives’s strategy comes with epidemiological risks and underscores how far-flung vacation spots and the influencers they court have become flash points for controversy. As people around the world shelter in place, some influencers have posted about fleeing to small towns or foreign countries and encouraging their followers to do the same, potentially endangering locals and others with whom they come in contact on their travels. “So we’re just not in a pandemic huh?” Beverly Cowell, an administrator in England, commented on Ms. Steel’s Instagram post, giving voice to many who see such travelers as skirting the rules. Inviting influencers to visit during the pandemic risks damaging a destination’s image, said Francisco Femenia-Serra, a tourism expert at Nebrija University in Madrid who studies influencer marketing. “What’s wrong with the Maldives campaign is the timing,” he said, noting that it started before travelers could be vaccinated. “It’s off. It’s not the moment to do that.” When the Maldives shut its borders last March to guard against the virus, it did not make the decision lightly: Tourism employs more than 60,000 of the country’s 540,000 people, more than any other industry in the private sector, according to Nashiya Saeed, a consultant in the Maldives who recently co-wrote a government study on the pandemic’s economic impact. “When tourism shut down, there was no revenue coming into the country,” Ms. Saeed said. Many laid-off resort workers who live in the capital, Malé, were forced to moved back to their home islands because they could no longer afford it, she added. As the health authorities worked to contain local outbreaks, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s advisers developed a strategy for restarting tourism as quickly as possible. One advantage was that most of the country’s luxury resorts are on their own islands, making isolation and contact tracing much easier. “We really planned this out, we knew what our advantages were and we played to them,” said Mr. Solih’s spokesman, Mohamed Mabrook Azeez. When the Maldives reopened in July, health officials required P.C.R. tests, among other safety protocols, but did not subject tourists to mandatory quarantines. Around the same time, the country’s public relations agency switched its international marketing campaign and urged travelers to “rediscover” the Maldives. The government and local businesses also invited influencers to stay at resorts and gush about them on social media. Which they did. “When it’s cloudy be the sunshine!” Ana Cheri, an American influencer with more than 12 million followers, wrote from a Maldives resort in November, a few weeks before her home state of California imposed far-reaching lockdowns. “Splashing and swinging into the weekend!” Updated  Feb. 27, 2021, 11:35 a.m. ET Ms. Cheri did not respond to several emails after initially agreeing to comment. A publicist for Ms. Steel, a star on the reality show “Love Island,” did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Even before the pandemic, influencers faced backlashes when their trips caused offense. Some who posted about traveling in Saudi Arabia were criticized, for instance, because of the kingdom’s role in the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Influencers from England, in particular, have faced criticism in recent weeks for defying lockdown rules that ban all but essential travel. Some defended their trips, saying that traveling was essential to their work, while others apologized under public pressure. “I was like, ‘Oh, well, it’s legal so it’s fine,’” the influencer KT Franklin said in an apology video about her trip to the Maldives. “But it’s not fine. It’s really irresponsible and reckless and tone deaf.” In late January, Britain banned direct flights to and from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the Covid-19 caseload soared in both places. The emirate’s lax immigration rules and perpetual sunshine had made it a popular spot for the social media set. But as case numbers rose, officials closed bars and pubs for a month, and limited hotels, malls and beach clubs to 70 percent capacity. Officials in the Maldives, which has welcomed nearly 150,000 tourists so far this year, said they had no plans to roll out similar restrictions. The country has reported nearly 20,000 total coronavirus infections, equivalent to about 4 percent of its population, and 60 deaths. But no resort clusters have seeded widespread community transmission, and officials say the risk of that is low because some resort employees are required to quarantine if they travel between islands. “All in all, I think we’ve managed to do it well,” even though some tourists have tested positive before leaving the country, said Dr. Nazla Rafeeg, the head of communicable disease control at the government’s Health Protection Agency. “Our guidelines have stood up to the actual implementation.” Many influencers and celebrities have faced the opprobrium of other social media users who are stuck at home. Instagram accounts have sprung up to name and shame tourists who appear to be breaking social distancing and mask-wearing rules while abroad. As a result some influencers have refrained from posting travel content during the pandemic — or at least disabled comments on their posts — because they do not want to court controversy. The blowback against traveling influencers is overstated, said Raidh Shaaz Waleed, whose company arranged for Ms. Steel, Ms. Cheri and more than 30 other influencers to visit the Maldives through a campaign called Project FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out. None of the invited visitors, he said, tested positive for the coronavirus. “If you are thoughtful about the safety guidelines, if you’re doing the social distancing, you can still have fun,” he said. Not everyone shares his optimism. Ms. Cowell, the administrator in England who commented on Ms. Steel’s “We be drippin’” post from the Maldives, said in emails that promoting such a trip during England’s third lockdown was irresponsible. The post was particularly hard to take, she added, because it appeared on the day she learned that her grandmother, who lives in a nursing home, had contracted the virus. “It’s not about canceling them, or creating a negative environment online,” Ms. Cowell, 22, said of influencers who flout lockdown rules, “but making sure that we don’t put celebrities on a pedestal where they feel invincible and they can do what they like.” Taylor Lorenz contributed reporting. Source link Orbem News #Find #Influencers #lockdown #Paradise #Rest #watch