#the difference is other teams are not conceited :))

[thomas-mvller]

.

[dalliancekay]

"The angel you knew is not me"

I read a bunch of takes that made me mad so anyway. I'm here to vent. (They were from August so I'm giving them benefit of doubt and not reblogging.)

You know when Aziraphale says to Crowley that he knows he wouldn't kill kids because he used to know him as an angel (even if perhaps they aren't quite sure yet of their relationship on Earth after the Fall) and then Crowley says 'the angel you knew is not me' and the entire fandom (it feels like) nodded and went oh yeah Crowley, remind him how you Fell and are now different and wiser and a demon and he is still a good little angel?

So that. Didn't happen. Because Aziraphale turns out to be right basically immediately. Crowley is not only not going to kill the kids (although he had no plan on how to save them I suppose, they worked on that together), he didn't even kill the other kids, the adorable baby goats that he was sent to destroy out of existence.

Azi is doing his customary anxious panicking, but it is clear he does know Crowley and knows the Fall didn't change who he is. And he has always liked who Crowley was.

'Not even the littlest.' But he is. Because they've always been about what is right and not what they are told. Well. Of course, as far as they can. They do try to keep their positions on Earth and stay alive.

Until they don't.

I've always thought that although Aziraphale doesn't like what Heaven is, he likes what it could be. And I also don't think that's misguided.

'Being an angel, doing good', is not a bad thing. How could it be.

But he is tied to the current system and that system is not good and he knows it. And until the last moments of S2 he probably never thought it could change. Definitely never thought he could change it.

Do I, however, think he accepted Metatron's offer because he wanted to change things?

No.

I think he's not that sure of himself. Not that conceited that he'd think he can do such a thing.

But. Crowley got threatened. Their lives put on a line again so he decided he must try. Change or destroy. That's gonna be his mantra in S3 I think. And I don't mean with brute force. I mean with that kind of pedantic questioning that he is good at. With how unpredictable he is and how he loves researching and planning until things go pear-shaped and he panics and acts on whatever comes to his mind and things work out. With Crowley's help of course. Cos they are a team. A group of two.

[artbyblastweave]

So for those of you who don't read twenty-year-old marvel comics a lot, the 2005 Marvel Crisis Crossover was called House of M. The basic premise of this was that this was smack dab in the middle of the Scarlet-Witch-is-Having-a-Normal-one arc that was very, very loosely adapted into Wandavision; in her initial breakdown, she'd killed several of the Avengers, wound up in the protective custody of Magneto, and the recently reformed team was debating whether or not they were going to have to kill her before she deleted reality on accident or some such thing. But when they're on their way to Magneto's stronghold to have a "talk" with her, the world is enveloped in white, and Wolverine (the initial POV character) wakes up in a world where Mutants are 98% of the human population and have been for decades, and Magneto and his family (the titular House of M) are leaders of the global political order, and Wolverine is one of the only people in this realigned world who remembers that it was ever different.

Wolverine initially is operating under the assumption that Magneto cajoled Wanda into rewriting reality in his family's favor, but after rounding up and waking up several of his allies, he realizes that what actually happened is that Wanda rewrote reality so that everyone she knew would get everything they wanted- Magneto being in charge with a 98 percent global mutation rate is just the inevitable byproduct of that. The resulting world is an amalgamation that has to accommodate the conscious or subconscious "perfect life" of every superhero on earth, in a way that acts as a fascinating characterization tool, often with a monkey's-paw angle. Spider-Man is a beloved celebrity wrestler, and Uncle Ben and Gwen are both alive, but he attained that status by pretending to be a Mutant and he lives in constant fear of being exposed. Mystique, Rogue, Nightcrawler and several of their associates are the tight-knit family unit they were always kept from being.... as the elite jackboot of Magneto's regime. Luke Cage and Hawkeye lead the human resistance, standing in perpetual principled opposition to the powers that be, but with no real hope of accomplishing anything. Captain America didn't lose years of his life to the ice, but he had to live through a global authoritarian takeover he ultimately couldn't do anything about. Wolverine gets to remember his entire life, but that includes remembering that his current ideal circumstances were manufactured to keep him placated. And on and on and on. Lot of really interesting character takes packed up in there, paired with the equally interesting project of packing as many of them as possible into the same timeline without contradicting each other- after all, from the word go you have to contort everyone's happiness around the basic conceit that Magneto rules the world.

Anyway. House of M AU for Worm. Discuss.

[choccos-aaart]

A psychic prince meets the chosen hero

Imagine if their first meeting went something like this on the inside? I know the humour is stupid here, but I just had to get this idea out xD

I remember seeing some (few) fan-arts depicting the relationship between Ness & Poo as more of a subtle rivalry. A different sort of take to the usual interpretation where Poo dramatically goes all out with dedicating his life to Ness.

Anyways, not too long ago I thought, because Poo's a hard-working prince, imagine if he held high expectations for a lot of things? What if he was just a little conceited, even? (His food preferences kind of are my only "evidence" to this, but just barely xd)

So, if it's the chosen leader of the team that's destined to save the world from an evil cosmic entity, then it must be a big deal. But then he turns out to be just a small-town boy who eats junk food out of trash cans.

And also I guess some teenagers are just so mean to each other for no reason xD

[linkscookbook]

IT HAS ARRIVED

To celebrate the anniversary of Tears of the Kingdom's release, and to revisit Hyrule, we have put together a FREE 127-page cookbook zine for fans to enjoy. Link to downloadable PDF at the bottom.

About the Zine

The goal of this zine has been to imagine and capture snapshots of Link and Zelda’s internal and external journey between Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. One of the central mechanics in both games is cooking; you cook to stay alive, you cook to improve your abilities, and you cook to forge relationships with other characters through side quests. We wanted to centre this mechanism, so decided to frame the zine as Link and Zelda’s joint travel journal.

In these pages you will therefore find a collection of short stories, small illustrations, and numerous recipes. Our team has been hard at work, collaborating and developing ideas to flesh out Link and Zelda’s journey.

Each short story is written from either Link or Zelda’s perspective. They are part narrative, part journaled notes. You will find that they have been given each their font to represent their writings. Zelda’s is the more refined one, while Link’s is the more sprawling one. I’m sure you will see the difference.

You will also find small notes and letters from other characters – notably Tulin, Teba, Riju, and Kilton – as well as an excerpt from the Lucky Clover Gazette.

The recipes themselves have been fashioned as though they were written by Link and Zelda. This does mean their fonts have been used, but we hope any difficulty in reading it is forgiven on the basis that the overall conceit of the zine is preserved. Should there be a great demand, we may look into creating a second edition using friendlier fonts.

As for the illustrations, these have been created both with the goal of illustrating the dishes – and processes where necessary – and to imply that Link and Zelda also illustrate their journeys.

All our artists, short story writers, and recipe writers have come into this zine with different skills and abilities. There may therefore be subtle differences in styles, which we have chosen to retain to exhibit each contributor’s personal flair.

Finally, I want to thank those who have contributed their time and skills to the creation of this zine: Alex, Cenza, Deldon, Mina, Rose, Sam, Scarlet, Terek, and Mr Theodore. It’s been a pleasure working with you all on this project, and I look forward to the next time our paths cross.

Thank you.

Kalh, Editor, @vagueandominousvibes

Contributors

Alex: No social media.

Cenza: Instagram (cenzadelladonna)

Deldon: Bluesky (deldon)

Mina: @zarvasace ; Ao3 (Zarvasace)

Rose: @jmserebii ; X (gravityroseK)

Sam: @lucky-clover-gazette ; Ao3 (Clicheusername5678)

Scarlet: @charascarlet , @hyrulescarlet ; Ao3 (CharaScarlet)

Terek: @valenthobbies

Mr Theodore: No social media.

Downloads

PDF: Link's Cookbook PDF

Print Files: Print Files Folder (NOTE: Read Print Files Instructions below!)

Print Files Instructions

These files have been formatted for an A5 Linen Wrap individual print through Lulu.com. The current listed price is £24.23 | $30.34 (shipping not included).

To give the illustrations a chance to shine, we recommend printing with Premium Colour on paper 80# White. To get your print copy, follow these steps:

Create an account with Lulu.com. It's completely free. If you already have an account, simply log in.

Go to 'Create' in the top bar and select 'Print Book'.

Click 'Start my Print Book'.

Under 'Select a Goal', choose 'Print Your Book'. Follow the remaining instructions on the page and press 'Design Your Project'.

Under 'Interior File Upload', upload the interior files found in the downloadable Print Files Folder (see above). This should automatically fill in book size and page count.

Under 'Interior Color', choose 'Premium Color'. For a cheaper print, choose 'Standard Color'.

Under 'Paper Type', choose '80# White – Coated'. For a cheaper print, choose '60# White'.

Under 'Book Binding', choose 'Linen Wrap'. The cover has been designed specifically for this and is not compatible with any other binding option.

Select your choice of colour for linen and print. We recommend tan (linen) and gold (print). These are the colours that will be on the linen wrap, underneath the paper cover.

Under 'Cover Finish', select 'Glossy' or 'Matte' according to your preferences. This makes no difference price-wise. We recommend 'Matte'.

Under 'Book Cover Design', upload the cover file found in the downloadable Print Files Folder (see above).

You should now be able to see a preview under 'Book Preview'. Check that you are satisfied with the result and select 'Review Book'. This will take you to a page from which you can order your individual print copy. Due to the size of the file, Lulu may take a few minutes to process the files before you can place the order, but this should take no more than 10 minutes. Simply go have something to eat, then refresh the page when you return and you should be able to order your copy.

Happy cooking!

[heartbreakprincewille]

Masculinity In Young Royals

So, in honour of Ke Huy Quan and the team of Everything Everywhere All At Once sweeping the Oscars(been crying about it since morning), I was watching this BRILLIANT video essay(check it out it's so well thought out!) about Waymond(Ke's character) and this gave me thoughts about Young Royals as well, because hyperfixations go hand-in-hand, right? :)

Masculinity, and especially different portrayals and aspects of its prevalent notions is a theme brilliantly explored in the two seasons of Young Royals. I wanted to talk about some characters, and this list will progress from worse to better(not using the word perfect because nuance > perfection).

Note: The traits I will discuss further are not restricted to just a cis or male perspective, anyone can exhibit these traits, but since assertion of masculinity is a constant spectacle in Young Royals, I will associate some traits with it.

1. Vincent

Vincent, especially in S2, embodies the worst traits on the masculinity spectrum, and since his character is understandably not offered the privilege of nuance, he comes off as this typical, toxic, sort of "alpha-male" character, especially after he's elected as the prefect and Rowing Captain. He constantly bullies others, especially Simon, tries to enforce the hierarchy of privilege and class firstly through August and then by himself. As soon as he sees an opportunity shown by Wilhelm to take control in his hands, he doesn't take much time to betray his "friend", August(although August of all people getting betrayed is certainly irony at its best). He kinda reminds me of the Royal Court in some ways- their presence furthering the divide of tradition and social systems in their respective environments.

2. August

The only reason August is not placed higher than Vincent in this list is the privilege of nuance August is provided with throughout the story. This nuance is what sets him apart in the narrative, but is also the thing which dooms him as a character.

August is misogynistic, sexist, classist, obsessed with power and privilege and feels entitled to both of them, set to further the class divide just like Vincent. He stokes his ego like fire, and if someone tries to cross him, he does not hesitate to burn them with the flames, like Wilhelm exposing his money issues and August violating Wilhelm and Simon's privacy in return. He's manipulative, he's calculative, he knows how to scheme things in his favour(failed attempts, though) and he's just a walking red flag of a person. He also falls around the worse side of the spectrum of masculinity.

But, he is offered nuance by the narrative. In S1, it's in the form of familial and personal issues: his dad killing himself, financial problems, addiction issues and possible issues of body dysmorphia. In S2, through his relationship with Sara, we are shown a different side of him- a side that is capable of being vulnerable, capable of being soft, and this almost sparks this hope within the audience that maybe August can change a little, for the better.

But then he's offered a chance of power and his hamartia is revealed to the audience: his inability to change. The greatest tragedy (which is also its brilliance) with August's character is he cannot change for the better. Even if he tries to. He can have opprtunities to grow, but it will be a Herculean labour for him to take advantage of those opportunities and actually change. He is so deeply entrenched in his perceptions of toxic masculinity and power and lost in his conceited, privileged worldview that it's quite hard for him to see the light at the end of the tunnel. And it's what sets him apart in the narrative- despite all his nuance, he is still a terrible person at his core. The nuance is just what separates him from all his shallow and one-dimensional preceding antagonists of the past.

3. Nils

Nils brings a neutral perspective to the extreme hyper-masculine and cishet dynamics upheld by August and Vincent. He's revealed to be queer in S2, but chooses to be discreet about it- which gives him a chance to build solidarity with both his cishet peers(Vincent and August) as well as a fellow queer person (Wille). He's not dismissive of Wilhelm's queerness, but he believes it to be something "better behind close doors". He's one of the few people who actually acknowledges Wilhelm and Simon's relationship, but is also dismissive of it, mainly because of the difference in their social standings. He's devoid of the typical "heteronormative" traits associated with masculinity, especially in S2, but he still uphelds the toxic class hierarchy and privilege.

4. Simon

Simon is a quite interesting character to me on this list because he subverts these traits in a very unique way.

Usually canonically gay characters in media are often stereotyped to possess "feminine" traits, which is NOT a bad thing at all, BUT mostly the portrayal of such characters usually leans more towards the mockery of the "feminine" traits, rather than something which strengthens the queerness of that character.

Simon is actually very different from this famous rendition of gay characters- he's actually very masculine in his behaviour. He exhibits two typical masculine behaviours in general:

1. "Man Of The House", or taking the mantle of emotional(and sometimes financial) stability in a house in one's own hands. He often takes matters in his own hand, especially when Sara says or does something that disrupts the peace of their little family. It's interesting because despite being the youngest person in the family, Linda subconsciously lets him take the mantle on his shoulders, without realizing how heavy it can be. And consequenty, it brings us down to the second trait:

2. "Suppressing emotions", or avoiding being vulnerable in public spaces or with people one loves and trusts. Simon constantly shoves what he's feeling deep in his heart, he refuses to break open in front of people, in front of Wille(S2 E6 gun scene) and would go to lengths to maintain a facade of "everything's fine!" even if he's breaking inside. It makes sense because his backstory alludes to hesitation to open up to people and it can be possibly related to his familial trauma, but it's still interesting nevertheless because he shows incredible emotional maturity throughout the story, much more than his predecessors on this list. He's devoid of both the toxic traits of heteronormativity and elitist behaviour associated with "masculinity" in Young Royals, but he still possesses a different set of problems associated with orthodox masculinity.

5. Wilhelm

Wilhelm is, in my opinion, the closest example to what is emerging as the new definition of "masculinity" in the current media. Wilhelm, through his immense emotional journey and growth in the two seasons, subverts all the traits of masculinity displayed by his predecessors in the list with grace and humility.

He's not obsessed with upholding traditions and asserting heteronormativity like Vincent and August, he is quite indifferent to it in S1, the only "compulsion" he feels to do so is immediately after Erik's death in S1, which he quickly overcomes as well. His "revenge" attempts on August by pulling rank and exercising his privilege stems from a feeling of injustice and anger rather than something he enjoys or feels the need to practice at all.

August's hamartia is Wilhelm's strength. Wilhelm, unlike August, displays great capacity to change for the better, which he constantly does throughout the story. Love knocks on both of their doors as an opportunity to grow, to change for the better, and while Wilhelm embraces it, August slaps the door shut on its face.

Unlike Nils, neither Wilhelm's queerness was never given a chance to be discreet in the first place, nor he ever felt the need to do so. The idea of keeping his and Simon's relationship a secret was more of an idea subconsciously conceived by Kristina in Wilhelm's head rather than his own desire to be secretive.

Wilhelm even subverts the traits displayed by Simon in this regard- the position of the "Man Of The House" falls on him in the form of "Crown Prince of Sweden", and although he understandably struggles with the role initially, by the end of S2, he consciously embraces the role with grace and humility. Compared to Simon, Wilhelm wears his heart on his sleeve, he is not afraid to express his true emotions to the people he love and trusts, and even to strangers.

[zooliminology]

As of 3/18/2024, the Zooliminology blog has just hit the 1,000 follower mark a few hours ago. The research team would like to sincerely thank every one of you for your support during this journey. This amount of followers had only been conceited in my wildest dreams and it's amazing to see the traction that my silly little backrooms drawings had gained. I'm not good with words so I don't really know how to railroad this, but to support our community, there is an official Zooliminology server that will be open to the public. It will be linked at the end of this post. I also apologize for the rather unceremonious announcement, but I've been swamped by mid-semester projects (it was a mistake taking three studio art classes in one semester) and I'm currently working on something that doubles as both a midterm and Zooliminology content. I hope you will all like it. It's in a different format than what is usually shown here, but I've been working very hard on it and it features someone who's a fan favorite and who helped the blog grow to the size it is now. ;) (also the image at the top is an asset for it) Here is the Discord server link, please read the rules and be nice to each other.

[droughtofapathy]

Hi there! I read your review of Cabaret and saw that one of your main complaints was that a lot of Jewish culture was staged/written out. I’m not Jewish and don’t have that baseline understanding of the religion/culture and was wondering if you could elaborate further?

Hi Anon, I'd be glad to elaborate a little more, with the caveat that I'm not Jewish either, but I do know a thing or two about the history of this show. I'm also long-winded, so... buckle in.

I don't believe the production team intentionally went into it and took an eraser to Judaism as they went, but I do believe that being an English team with far less Jewish influence in their culture and society has made them blind to the inherent Judaism of the story beyond the glaringly obvious. As I've said before, this is a revival made by gentiles for gentiles right from the very conceit. In centering the show on this nightmare puppet spectacle of a cabaret, it does a disservice to the real heart and moral of the story's true epicenter: the boardinghouse and Schneider and Schultz and the grounded people around them. The very fact that it's officially been retitled "Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club" (frankly redundant) shows that this production is no longer about the actual book, but about the frivolous hedonism. Schultz's Jewish storyline is an afterthought hastily plopped down into the cabaret setting. Because of this staging, the focus is never away from the now-very goyish cabaret. Cliff, Schneider, Schultz, and even Ernst were very much given the "I don't care much" treatment by this director who wants everyone to ooh and ahh over the exorbitant pre-show gimmicks and whatever the fuck the Emcee and Sally are doing, and to hell with the actual plot.

Everything from the direction to the marketing to the creative tone seems to scream out that no one on this creative team actually understands the message. The nightclub might be the titular setting, but it's a looming figure in the shadows. A seedy little joint in a back alley where everyone's just trying to survive. Vaudeville could be bawdy, certainly, but the staging and choreography here is vulgar and tiresome, and says to me that the creatives also have little to no knowledge of that artform either.

Cabaret is an inherently Jewish musical. The three original creatives (Joe Masteroff, John Kander, and Fred Ebb) were Jewish men who were all alive during WWII and old enough to understand the horrors happening around them and overseas. Director and producer Hal Prince was Jewish. Revival director Sam Mendes is Jewish. Both Joel Grey and Alan Cumming are Jewish and/or gay. Eddie Redmayne is the first major Emcee on Broadway (baring a few late-run replacements, in the other runs, I'm sure) who is neither. Rebecca Fracknell is not Jewish and beyond the fact that I just don't think she's a good director of musical theatre (which is an incredibly hard artform that differs from directing straight plays), she has no inherent understanding or trust of the rich material already in place. She chose instead to create spectacle without actual spectacle, and focus all the time and energy into the Emcee--a character who was never meant to be the protagonist. The charisma and iconic performances of past Emcees have elevated this role in all subsequent productions, yes, but always as a centrally Jewish (and subtextually queer) figure. By having that representation and interpretation, Cabaret remains a centrally Jewish musicals. By stripping this particular Emcee of that, we get a goyish nightmare puppet, not a man. Not a Jewish man hiding or highlighting his Jewishness. We get a re-centered gentile production dead behind the eyes.

Antisemitism in Weimar Germany takes on a featured role in what should be a starring turn. Fracknell clearly sees herself as Sally, and she's made it all about the Sally in a painfully white goyish feminist way (don't get me started on a rant about the "girlbossification" they're trying to make happen), but the VERY CLEAR intent of the material is that we should not want to be Sally. We should not be proud of being this willfully ignorant girl who doesn't care about the rise of fascism all around her, and actively states that it has nothing to do with her. We should be horrified at her complacency and shamed that we might have gone in feeling the same way. And Schneider says it, she says it right there in what's meant to be the scene, that Cliff and Sally can just run away when the going gets tough without a care in the world, but she can't. When a show takes a Jewish story, written by Jewish men, and turns it into a gentile funhouse carnival and refuses to acknowledge its Jewish-centered book characters and actors (notice how Bebe Neuwirth and Steven Skybell were almost entirely excluded from promo materials until late into the Award Season publicity) to instead prop up a white gentile man and a white gentile woman...well, that's just blatant Jewish erasure.

[centrally-unplanned]

Oh I had some YU-NO thoughts cache'd I never shared. Thought #1: Btw YU-NO is a 1996 eroge time travel PC-98 VN, context I guess.

Anyway, so in visual novels you often have two goals: fuck multiple hotties and tell an engaging story. These goals are synergistic when your love interests are the story; you choose a girl, and your learn about her and date her and have relationship drama. That is one type of VN, but its not all types - every genre is present in the dating sim VN world, mystery & sci-fi/fantasy plots most commonly.

Here you start running into an issue; you want multiple romance routes, but you don't want to just repeat the story each time you date them. Most people will play multiple or even all the routes. But its not like you are going to write five different endings to your mystery plot. And you can't just...fuck all of them on the way to the ending as one cohesive story, because you are pathetic coward of a dev team and also a nation. A common answer to this dilemma (I first experienced it in G-senjou No Maou) is for you to have a "main" girl, whose romance arc is the plot arc. And then the other girls are clear side girls, who are involved in the main story, sure, and who will give you tidbits, of course, but at a certain point in your arc with them you just trail off. You forget about the murder mystery or whatever, you just date them, have sex scenes, and you will even sometimes have an epilogue where you remark "man, whatever happened with that crazy shit back then?" Its a bit of an odd genre convention but you can see how it works, its lets you have new content and date all the girls without ruining the story, you know who is the 'main' girl is after all.

YU-NO is a mystery sci-game, and it a quantum multiverse/timelines mystery game. You go through the story, and you collect objects along that story, and you also get jewels that let you anchor your spot in the worldline and teleport back to them with your inventory intact. It looks insane btw:

You get no in-game explanation of it at all, the idea of playing this without a guide seems like a cursed no-sleep streaming challenge.

But anyway, this opens up an interesting idea to you as a designer. You are intentionally supposed to hop back and forth in time, to collect items, and unlock the true ending. So why not build all the romance route storylines around that time travel? And put items at the end of each of those romance arcs? Now you can date them all! In fact, you have to! There is a perfectly logical, in-universe reason for why you have 5 different romance arcs; they are happening in different timelines. You date girl one first, then skip back in time, and start on the next - the main character only barely remembers the time skips, to him he doesn't even feel like he is cheating. Pretty sure its intentionally written that way to make that plot conceit work.

I'm sure other games have done similar tricks, but I think YU-NO is the first - it is a pioneer in VN space for using the high-concept quantum timeline stuff, that is its claim to fame. Its a cute little trick, I like it a lot.

[r0sequarks]

doodles for a tears of the kingdom roleswap au, because those will forever be my jam and i really like the idea of playable zelda. notes/rambling under the cut.

Scavenged Zonai tech instead of Ultrahand (she made it herself??)

idk if the stone stays a necklace or goes on a hand or what

Maybe Zonai glasses? idk

She has an undershirt b/c boobs. Patterned off main padding.

Zonai Survey Team + Hylian Armor (people just give Zelda shit)

Bow of Light - summons freely, acts like Master Sword, powers up with shrines?

Text is readable (Purah: stealing my look! rude!)

And then the general core conceits of Playable TotK Zelda:

Archer - ranged combat focus/optimized

Princess/General - focus on group combat (sages / monster squad / Gerudo Town)

Priestess - Light + Time magic, upgrades

Zonai Researcher - extra knowledge in ruins, can read tet, can do more with scavenging

I need to finish the final boss fight before I decide what entirely Link's role ends up as, but he's sent back in time injured with the broken sword while Zelda is teleported by the Purah Pad away to the Sky Island. IDK if she still has Rauru (or Mineru) as a guide, but even if she does, she's a lot more self sufficient, and scavenges/builds the tech to interface with Zonai devices herself instead of just being given the Ultrahand. I think she still gets the same abilities, but like. She's doing it herself. very stressed out this is fine energy.

Zelda on the sky island is probably more than a little feral researcher. It's her getting used to combat. When we started with the broken master sword, I though the game was going to let you keep it and power it up over time; I'm glad that's not how it went but I do think it would be interesting, so Zelda gets to summon a bow and it levels up over time (probably connected to the shrines system, because Holy Light, but idk how exactly). She can use swords and other weapons, but she definitely defaults more ranged.

Zelda also gets magic, which is obviously the Time Rune stuff, but I think also it would be cool if she had a light power unarmed attack (similar to but weaker than the Yiga Earthwave you can unlock). I like the idea of a playthrough where you never pick up a sword and you just keep light blasting people and dodging even though it is almost certainly the weaker attack. feral untrained self taught mages are and forever will be my jam.

When Zelda returns to Hyrule proper, I think the reactions are very different, because everyone pretty much agrees she's in charge (even if, perhaps, she doesn't). I also think that, well, people are less worried about Link being missing than they are about Zelda - the Lucky Clover isn't running stories about him, y'know? As such it's driven by what Zelda wants - which is to find Link, even if it''s not what others want.

Zelda as princess I think also plays interestingly into the group combat TotK introduces; I think in her game she acts more as general and they're more common. Not that she can't be on front lines, but it'd be pretty easy to play letting the Sages eat up melee while she's sniping. I also think she gets magic that can heal allies, making them more useful in fights to some extent. This would maybe be very messy in a real game but this is a theory baybee!

Although I think that's probably similarly limited / you don't have to drag people around while climbing mountains. Which, to be clear, she still does. It's been like five years and she's clearly been traveling the world with Link still at her side, there's no way that she's not just as feral an adventurer as he is. She's just better as passing as normal.

The big change in exploration is the various ruins, because she actually knows shit. I like to imagine there's some feature Zelda can use to sort of take notes on basically any Zonai or other ancient shit you find anywhere. She doesn't need to run back to Kakariko Village to translate, she's putting stuff together herself. This is maybe manifested by Zonai glasses/mask, which replaces/augments the Camera feature? And then upgrades to help you better see stuff? idk. [let the purah scope zoom in and out. ideal fix. kthxbai]

as for how Zelda interacts with the world...that's kind of complicated but really interesting. she's the beloved princess, but she is the Princess, and for the other four nations, specifically, Not Their Princess. like the dynamic with the Sages definitely changes. There's probably some themes there to parallel Zelda with Rauru but like that means there are Implications and I need to think more on that than 2am.

[kendoola]

You can’t change my mind: Netflix Kaos did Greece and Greeks a huge disservice by writing us out of our own stories

(To preface: I am Greek and this has nothing to do with the actual content of the story. Take of that what you will. I’m talking about people, language, culture, location, etc. if you dismiss me and say I’m just upset over “mythological inaccuracies” your comments will be deleted)

It ultimately boils down to a near total erasure of the people they claim to be portraying.

The production team could so easily have mitigated all of this by saying “this takes place in America actually” or the uk or literally anywhere else and I would have had no complaints. But they chose to specifically keep the setting while removing the people and any meaningful visible trace of our culture…

In 8 hours of content:

a single Greek actor appears in screen for roughly 45 seconds as a falafel vendor

a single Greek word is spoken - Γεια σας which means hello… said by Poseidon as he’s leaving…

there was not a single frame shot anywhere on location in Greece, they decided to film in Spain and Italy instead

Again, none of this would have been an issue if they hadn’t really leaned into “yes this is still Greece, see they just had the Trojan war and everything”

There are so many different accents heard on screen that you’d think statistically some of them would be at least vaguely Mediterranean sounding… But no. Even amongst people who are ostensibly immediate family members there was no consistency. Ariadne had a British accent and her father Minos the king president of Crete had an Irish accent. And there’s no excusing it saying that they were going for inclusive or blind casting, because that just makes it make even less sense that they managed to not include any Greek actors at all.

It especially upset me that the frequently repeated word “vero” that they all use to show worship to the gods isn’t even Greek, it’s Latin for truth. Meanwhile there is a very common Greek word that people use conversationally all the time to say something is true and it’s αλήθεια and that would have been such an easy thing to put in to give the show some veracity…

(Also it’s very visually apparent that they didn’t actually shoot anywhere in Greece for their show, which they claimed was set in Greece. The entirety of the it was shot in Spain and Italy, and you can tell not only because the architecture and city vibes are wrong but there are very clear major landmarks they didn’t even bother trying to hide)

Why not tell your own stories if you don’t want to include us in our own? Why film other islands and towns and say they’re ours? Why mispronounce our names with your ugly British accents when you could come up with different ones and tell the stories you clearly want to tell? Why the conceit of claiming to represent us when it genuinely seems like effort must have been made to not put us on screen?

[kindredspiritsandgoodomens]

"Even memory is an act of imagination, you never tell the same story twice, not even to yourself" ~ Michael Burkard

This quote showed up on my dash and reminded me of The Rashomon Job and how interesting I find it that many people can watch the episode and walk away with the impression that we've been told the 'correct' or 'true' version of what happened that night, specifically by Nate.

And I get why. The team certainly lets him have the last word, and structurally we are used to the 'Nate's Eye View' dénouement being the point where we see a complex web of events finally make sense as a designed structure. But the multiple thefts of the dagger weren't part of a unified whole arranged by Nate, or by anyone - so maybe we should approach the usual conceit of revealing the scheme as seen through the eyes of the mastermind rather differently in this episode.

As an audience, we depend on Nate's ability to pull off the impossible just as much as the team do, and even though we (and the team) may roll our eyes at his god complex it's important for our continued investment that we (and they) manage to almost believe he's Just That Good. But the tell that his version of this particular story is not entirely without colour is that it's all just a little too neat.

When the storytelling starts, Nate's delighted. The minute he realises he can scoop them all, and even retroactively be the mastermind who puts it all together, he's just pleased as punch. "Why don't you all come over and I'll tell you what really happened." He says. You know, like a liar.

The first thing of note about Nate's Version is that he never went into the party, but still takes it upon himself to give them an authoritative reconstructed version of what went down based entirely on his own sense of how it would have happened, based on his understanding of the team and his assumptions about their behaviour. Naturally in Nate's Version Eliot and Sophie don't flirt even a little. Naturally in Nate's version it's going to be Eliot who takes Sophie's adulterated champagne glass, intended for Hardison, from Parker's tray, despite nobody else having specified anything about this detail (Eliot - the gastronome - wouldn't remember spitting out foul tasting champagne? Sophie wouldn't have noticed a key part of her plan going awry?). But this way it fits it all together like one of his plans, so naturally it's all going to be nice and neat.

Not content with imagining the entirety of the party sequence, he also entirely constructs a conversation between Coswell and the securty guard locked in the store room. Based on Nate's own description of his movements there's simply no way for him to know what went down in that room. We know from Parker that Coswell made his way into the vents, and we know how he got the climbing equipment, but would the Coswell of Nate's Version really go climbing into ducts? It's neat, but it's thin.

Coswell is really where we have to question the neutrality and authority of Nate's version the most. Not only because - even if we allow that IYS jackass Nate Ford did in fact perceive this security guy (probably most security guys) as an ineffectual irritant - he's clearly reacting to Sophie's contemporary jibe about Coswell's potentially superior intelligence by making the man a buffoon in his retelling. But, also, because believing him about Coswell's buffoonery requires us to accept that Parker, Eliot, Hardison and Sophie all massively overestimated an opponent on a job. Is that really plausible? Even if we allow for a percentage of exaggeration because they're thieves swapping stories in a bar, it doesn't add up. Hardison and Parker, who were young and mostly there for clout, maybe. Eliot and Sophie? No.

When they describe Coswell as brusque, efficient, and suspicious - and they corroborate each other, we should be very wary of Nate's entirely re-written character sketch of the man. Especially the idea that his behaviour could all be explained because he had a crush on Sophie. Sophie Devereaux - who can pick a mark's weakness of a driving license photo - not notice when the head of museum security has a crush on her? Not bloody likely.

Everything Nate remembers Coswell as actually saying could just as easily have been said by the version of Coswell the others describe. For instance, "I don't know much about gold but I know it's not meant to do that." Could be silly - could be sardonic. Nate thinks he's an irritating pleb, so it's recounted as silly. But even in Nate's Version Coswell makes a good point about the dealer running. Again, it's neat, but it's thin.

As for the idea that the dagger fell from a vent directly into his hand? Well, as Hardison says, nobody's that lucky. Nate's showboating. He's embellishing and neatening his recounting of his own (biased) recollections just as much as the others, and he's doing it to reinforce his team's (and maybe his own) perception of him as slightly beyond the laws of chance, reason, and even physics. This episode is also one of the last times he denies that he's a thief - a tell if ever there was one.

Eliot and Sophie both express reservations, but they let him have it, because on some level they know that they need him to be that lucky. The whole house of cards only stays up if Nate really is That Good.

Plus, of course, none of the team's versions are without colour - and they all know it. Firstly, all perception is shaped by biases. So Sophie remembers different details than Eliot or Parker, because they look at the world differently and prioritise different kinds of contextual awareness, reasoning, and value judgements. Secondly, and more importantly, they're not just remembering and recounting what happened that night - they're all thieves telling stories to other thieves, to friends they want to wind up (the accents getting worse and worse, Sophie saying Coswell was maybe even smarter than Nate), impress (Hardison being the centre of female attention, Sophie getting a round of applause), or correct (Eliot and Sophie both claiming the other was the one doing all the flirting, when if we take Hardison's word...) But their descriptions of the sequence of events all line up reasonably well.

Ultimately they're all right about parts of it. Nate's probably right about Coswell being ineffectual by IYS standards. Sophie's probably right about his personality. Hardison's probably right about Eliot and Sophie flirting outrageously. Parker's probably right about her encounter with Coswell in the vents (she's not going to misremember vents). But we, the audience, don't see the One True Version of what happened that night.

That's why it's so nice when the episode ends with them all going to steal the dagger, properly, together. Because that's where the truth is. The truth that they're all thieves, telling stories in a bar. Even Nate. But when they're stealing things together they can defy the laws of chance, reason, and even physics. That's where they'll really see and understand each other, and that's what matters.

[soraviie]

pining for you.txt

━ type: bts x gn! reader   ━ masterlist

━ about: sister of "you assume it's unrequited.txt" this one from the boys' POV; angst + light fluff

━ pictures taken from Pinterest

━ sorry for the shortness of Tae's piece, it just felt right to begin and end with those sentences

━ leave a comment or I’ll drown you in a tub of money. If you like my work and want to tip, here's my ko-fi. Thank you so much if you do!

KNJ | Frankly — irrationally and irrevocably — Kim Namjoon hates your guts.

Rude, conceited, disagreeable. An ill-mannered hamster of a person!

Kind, smart. Different.

Different.

Was that why it usually takes him two whole days to muster up enough courage to speak to you? Or was the situation as a whole something more base — he desired that certain someone because they utterly and unmistakably wanted nothing to do with him?

Be that as it may, he needed rules. Rules for his status, rules for his peace of mind. Rules for his rapidly deteriorating mood. Why continue to pursue a person who runs away from you? Who didn’t like you at all; not even a little bit? Logically it made absolutely no sense. 

With a deep, exhausted groan, he lets his head fall against the overcrowded desk of his unlit studio. 

“Follow the rules, Namjoon,” he breathes out, feeling the rush of warm air reflect from the wood underneath. “Follow the rules and you should be fine.”

There were only five of them. after all. He ought to manage.

Rule no. 5: don’t think too personally about anything they do.

People showed menial kindness every single day of their lives. These were just gestures, acknowledging nods of the bond created between a person and a society at large. If the corners of your lips quirked as he was telling a joke it wasn’t because you thought of him as incredibly funny but it was because you were humouring him yourself. Should you happen to leave a note on his schedule: “Jaehyun told Sae who told me you needed 17th free for family reasons. It’s been arranged. Happy visit!” then it only meant that you were good at your job. He didn’t dispute that. Though Namjoon suspects he’s not doing all that good of a work with this rule — every single time your shoulder brushes past his, as you quickly make your way to whatever destination called you next,  his heart, unfailingly, unflinchingly, skips a beat. 

Rule no.4: no intruding upon your life.

He’s not intruding. Offering to get coffee and a pastry is not intruding. You haven’t eaten! You always wait for the last minute and if anything this was for collective good! Should you faint and an ambulance would have to be called, work day comes to a grinding halt! So he was merely thinking of it as a team effort, that’s all!

“Yeah,” he thinks to himself with a tired sigh, holding the bag of two breads in his hand. One for him and you. “I don’t think I’m good at this rule, either.”

Rule no.3: no personal contact or affection. 

Line upon line, he traces the bold black letters of the notes littered across his fridge. In some cases, the marker has soaked the paper to the point of tearing. 

NO HOLDING HANDS! he reads as a reminder while brushing his teeth in the morning. 

NO BUMPS ON THE SHOULDER! mocks the writing on his bathroom mirror as he spits the damn toothpaste out. 

“No holding you in his embrace,” he softly whispers to himself, hearing you cry on the other side of the ajar door. 

But maybe…!

His fingers freeze around the door knob and with a bated breath he waits. 

But maybe…!

He proceeds to curl his palm into a fist, closing the door softly closed.

No maybe’s.

No holding you in his embrace. 

Rule no.2: limit personal time spent together. 

That you seemed to be taking care finely by yourself. It hasn’t escaped him — the mad scramble you threw yourself in whenever he appeared. Across the stage, across the hall, across a busied street. Didn’t matter what conditions and barriers stood before you, recklessly you threw yourself over them, all but fleeing away.

Did it hurt? Yes. 

But was it for the best? Yes. 

“Fuck what’s for the best,” he sulks to himself, angrily punching the keyboard of his computer.

However, because Namjoon's life was nothing but a puppet show and he was indeed the puppet that’s on the stage getting repeatedly thwacked by a bat, the harder he tried to stay away from you, the more he found himself in your presence. 

Noticing you approaching from the other side of the hallway, nose buried into a file, he, guided by nothing but pure-minded intentions, decides to spare you the running away and bolts into what he presumed to be an empty cupboard. Moments later you walk into his chest and only then he notices your name plastered across the door. 

He walked straight into an office. 

But as bad as he is observing all those rules, as much as he often breaks them quite knowingly, it’s but a mere echo of how much he can’t observe rule no.1.

rule no.1: out of sight, out of mind

Out of sight perhaps but out of mind? He wouldn’t dream of it. In fact if he does dream then you’re it. Every song, every laughter of another pair, every line in a poem and brush stroke of a painting. 

You, you, you. 

Frankly — irrationally and irrevocably — Kim Namjoon hates your guts. And just like someone whom he doesn’t remember said, the thing he hated most about you was that he didn’t hate you at all. 

MYG | "9,000,000₩...no, more like 10,000,000₩."

"What are you doing?"

Throwing a thoroughly accusing glare over the rim of his glasses, Jimin coolly replies:

"I'm calculating the sum of money you'll have to pay for your crimes."

"What crimes would those be?"

"Stalking," taking an overtly smarmy sip from his iced coffee pinky outstretched and all, Jimin observes tiredly groaning Yoongi.

"Not this again," he huffs irately. "How many times? I'm not stalking. We're just friends."

"Friends," Jimin snorts as though what Yoongi said was at least decently hilarious. "Friends, my ass."

"Well if that's how you treat them."

From the sour expression alone Yoongi gathers the sentiments that Jimin wanted to hurtle at him and truly he was far too drained to hear any of them.

"I'm off," curtly, he tosses over his shoulder, gathering up his coat. Jimin's eyebrows shoot into his hairline.

"Already?"

"It'll stick that way," Yoongi points a finger at the other man's befuddled expression before promptly shutting the doors behind. Perhaps he did hear the bellowed question — "are you really going to see that bartender again?" — but he did not regard it. So what if he did? Taehyung had tens if not dozens of friends and no one ever gave him a hard time because of it.

Walking through the familiar haphazard turns which spun his way towards you, the blinding light of apothecary suddenly reminds him. Right, the patches.

"Thank you! Come again soon!"

Politely, Yoongi nods at the young woman's words, reflexively pursing his lips into a pinched smile behind the black mask. Calmly and silently he walks the by now usual route to your bar, occasionally thumbing at the nicotine patches in the pocket of his coat. Quitting for him wasn't exactly easy or difficult per se — there was simply no incentive for him to care all that much. Sure, he knew it was bad for his health but...so? So what? However, now he's found a certain kind of joy in quitting, even if he wholeheartedly believes these patches were nothing but a frankly lazy cash grab. This is your thing with him. He gets to share something with you. Like a human to a human. When you smile he knows it's not because you have to, not because he's a paying patron but because you like him.

And Min Yoongi happens to very much like you too. By now it's redundant to hide away from the truth or be so conceited about the fact, he'd sit here like a fucking fool denying the reality. It's not quitting an unhealthy habit that has him escaping work more, that has his legs racing to get to trash bins of all the places in the world. Who could have known a dingy side alley would become a piece of deluded home?

And sure, you probably don't like him like that, certainly you won't once the truth of his identity will come out, as it always does, but he's fine with it, as long as he can still keep seeing you. Seeing you as just himself — without the pretense.

Plus he has plenty of chances to tease you about living under a rock.

When he finds you, you’re looking like a roadkill. Hair frazzled, hands wringing nervously as you pace — a sign of nicotine craving hitting bad. Your face is scrunched up in deep worry and wrinkles line your forehead with thorough dedication. 

Min Yoongi couldn’t be any fonder. 

Before he has the chance to roast you to hell and back, you notice him across the swirling shadows of the alleyway, throwing your hands into the air. 

“I thought you would never show up! Gimme!”

You reach your grabby hands towards him and playfully, Yoongi scoffs. 

“Wine and dine me first, heathen. A guy can be more than a piece of ass you know. I have….feelings.” 

“You’re a demon on two legs and a good skincare,” irately, you hiss and for a second Yoongi does think you would just rip the coat off him in search for the damn patches. He wouldn't…

…necessarily mind. 

Khem. 

He peels the patch out from his pocket and smacks it right into the middle of your forehead. With a deeply exhausted groan, you slide down the wall.  

“I hate bachelorettes,” the miserable cocoon whimpers.

Yes, Yoongi knew as much. This was strictly a piece of knowledge you probably should never know but the first time he came here a bachelorette was also taking place. Under normal circumstances he would make a hasty exit but the stream of inebriated, overjoyed women had blocked all his possible routes of escape so he had no choice but to dwell like a malicious goblin at the far side of the bar in the hopes that they won’t take that long. The seat that he’d been forced into was next to the doors to the staff room and it was here that he first saw you. Or rather he heard you. Cursing. With such colour and speed that two things flashed through his mind:

with some training you’d make a decent rapper

damn, that vocabulary has my ears getting red. 

By the end of the night, he left you a big, big tip, stuffing the wads of cash into his emptied whiskey glass and hiding it behind the bar where only you could find it. Tossing one last glimpse over his shoulders, wading through the mass of party streamers and spare boa feathers, he saw your disheveled form. As tired as you were, you were holding onto the small girl — Sara was it? — patting her on the back like your own child, assuring you’d cover for her tomorrow so she could rest. 

Good. Even then he could sense that you were good. And watching down upon you now, just as disheveled and tired but still inherently good, he was happy he’d raced to meet you out here on one of his prevalent uh…”people watching” activities that just so happened to center around this bar. 

“STALKING!” Jimin’s voice unwittingly surges from the back of his head and he jolts in surprise of it. 

You lift your pitiful gaze from the backs of your hands and observe him quietly.

“Is your shoulder okay?”

“It’s fine, don’t worry.”

“Cause you strained it two days ago—”

“It’s fine, don’t worry.”

WHY?! WHY WAS HE DOING WHAT HE WAS DOING?!?

Min Yoongi, have you lost your mind, he scolds himself, harshly pulling his hand away. 

So he…he just caressed your cheek. That…was a thing that just happened. 

You both remain awkwardly quiet. 

“The nicotine craving is really getting to you, huh?” you chuckle thinly,  voice falling far,  far above the average tembre. 

“Yeah, I’m overwhelmed,” dryly, he retorts, pushing the hand that touched your cheek deep into the pocket of his coat.

I’m not going to wash it, is his first thought. That’s fucking gross, is the second. 

“Why is your face all red?” you inquire curiously. 

“None of your business!” 

KSJ |  Because one inevitably lives in a society there are certain rules and roles one has to observe. Jin for the most part has managed to break out of the mold that was so surely set for him. Becoming an idol did inadvertently saddle him with some expectations of how he should act and in what words that act ought to be shrouded in but it didn’t change the fact that a son of a CEO, no matter how humble that company was, ran off one day and became an idol. 

As long as the rules only involved himself he was quite ready to do what he pleased. But this was…different. His role didn’t just involve you, it was because of you. 

He’d never seen his father so serious as he was on that day when he pulled Jin aside and somberly whispered.  

“I’m not saying that the kid is bad,” you were already adult then. “But that family is no good, Jin. Just…it’d be better for both of you if you’d forget it, son.”

His throat had then been full with the beat of his heart. By that point the attraction he had for you was simmering in the back of his mind. He thought he’d concealed it fine enough, letting the curious surprise at how you turned out to be sit in the confines of his privacy but apparently not. His father had tossed him the last knowing glance and mingled back into the party, leaving Jin to stand in his corner confused and suddenly cold. 

But if society was a peculiar thing, then a mind was even more so. 

Because for some reason Jin’s mind decided to obsess over that one person on the earth who had the personality of a power tool. 

“Two years of my life.”

“Yoongi, please, this isn’t about you,” Jin whimpers miserably, sound falling muffled as his face is pressed tightly against the bedcover. “Give me some sympathy!”

“I have none.”

Jin is not quite certain how he manages it but even Yoongi’s disembodied voice carries its frustration so clearly, he can almost see the man in front of his eyes.

“Because of you, for two years of my life I had to listen to how beautiful they are, how clever. “Did you know they graduated in the top 5 in their university?! Yoongi, top 5!” I even had to organize to send them flowers on graduation from a secret admirer because of that bullshit feud your family has with theirs.” 

The last part he scoffs. 

Jin scrambles up from the bed. 

“Can we get to the most important part here?” he huffs, bringing the phone closer to his mouth. 

“And what would that be?”

“Me!”

The roll of Yoongi’s eyes is almost audible. 

“And what about you? So you kissed them and chickened out. What’s more to it?”

“wHAT’S MORE TO IT?!” Only barely Jin manages to pull in a meditative breath, in order to not project his left lung all the way back to Korea. “What’s more to it?!” he hisses. “I’m supposed to be a brotherly figure. At best! They’re younger than me—”

“They’re still an adult.”

“I’ve known them since we were kids!”

“Real meet-cute, what can I say?”

“It’s just-It’s just! It’s just not meant to be!”

“If it’s not meant to be, why did you kiss them at all?”

Jin doesn’t reply and after a moment he drops the call entirely, leaving Yoongi to ruefully sigh in his dark studio. 

“I fucking hate slow burns,” he grumbles. 

Rolling out of the bed, Jin dejectedly waddles through the door. It’s the middle of the night, safe to say everyone else was sleeping. Why did he kiss you, he ponders waddling to the kitchen, why indeed. A brotherly figure was definitely not supposed to do that, doesn’t matter if you were just a close friend of his cousin or not. But then why had you embraced him last summer?

As your hands came up to form circle around his waist and with your breath reeking heavily of alcohol and the pink boa slipping down one of your shoulders, dragging limply behind like a tail, why did you have to mutter into his chest how much you liked him? That he was guilty for the suffering he’d caused you? Previously Jin was quite content with pining you from afar, indulging in the idea of you rather than the real you which would bear consequences for both of you but with you clinging onto him he had glimpsed behind the veil and the veil refused to close. 

At times, he became tempestuous, gaming angrily while casting furtive glances at the phone, weighing the options of giving you a call. Why shouldn’t he be with you? After all that he’s had to sacrifice and give up, his father should have no choice about the turns in his life!

But…he always weighed against it. The matter wasn’t just about him but it was about you as well and because of it…he’d rather not act. He’d follow the role he was set to act, dignified and polite, he would be what he should be and not give you any hard time. 

That is until, just as dignified and polite, you cast yourself in an entirely different role — corner him one day at a beach, the last day of a vacation, and there atop of the cold sand with an ease and grace of a century passed, you kiss him, forever changing the meaning of the word “love”.

JH | Dacquoise? Or perhaps an opera cake? Both could potentially be too sweet. But dacquoise looked pretty, however, opera cake had chocolate and one couldn’t go wrong with chocolate…

“Shopping for your girlfriend, mister?” the girl by the counter asks sweetly and immediately Hoseok smiles behind the mask. Lately just the thought of you tugged at the corners of his lips with a heavy hand. 

“No, it’s actually for my,” the smile flickers “Teacher.”

In the end, he leaves the shop with a sizable chunk of swiss roll.

Bad Hoseok, crazy Hoseok, dummy Hoseok, he curses himself, trailing despondently down the road. Who would be so moronic as to start crushing on his own tutor? 

“Ah, really, you’ve lost your shit, brother,” he mutters underneath the nose, falling heavily against someone's apartment building, careful not to damage the swiss roll dangling in the crook of his elbow. 

“Mr Jung?” 

Hoseok disjoined himself from the wall with a sudden start. With your slippers dragging against the concrete, you jogged over, fretfully glimpsing around the half-emptied street.

“When you said you’d drop by for a visit, I thought you were joking.”

With feigned innocence, he swings on the balls of his feet, growing flustered underneath the weight of your disapproving glare. 

He was not nearly as innocent as he pretended. Would an innocent man utilise your soft spot for him to be forgiven? Would he beg and grovel to be accepted as a student with the hopes of it…leading to more? Would an innocent man lay awake at deep night and dream of things that were decidedly not innocent? Would he think of you scolding him with a smile of content?

Without the shadow of a doubt, Hoseok would be glad if you slapped him, as long as you touched him in the end. 

No, an innocent man would not even dare entertain such a sinful idea. You still believed he was innocent and shamefully, horribly, selfishly he used that. 

What a horrible man he was. 

“Eyyy, how could I not visit when my favourite tutor moves apartments?” gently, he shakes you by the shoulder. “Let’s eat cake!”

“But—!”

“Let’s go!”

No, an innocent man would not grasp your hand as an excuse. 

“Not, this again,” you growl in between bites of the swiss roll. There is no furniture and as such you both have to sit on the floor, using bendy plastic forks as utensils. 

“The view is nice. Seodaemun-gu is a better choice, for sure.”

“Mr Jung!”

“Hoseok, please!” 

Nearly in tears from exasperation, you cry out: 

“Hoseok, please.”

The grin from his face disappears entirely as he took in the fraught state of your eyes. Was he…being cruel to you somehow?

“I like you, I really do,” his heart makes an uncomfortable leap and even you seem to catch on to the choice of wording, swallowing nervously as you did. “A-as a student I mean but I still quit as a tutor, there’s no way—”

“Yes, there is,” calmly, he puts the fork down, inhaling a shuddery breath. The air smells of your perfume. He hadn’t yet thought of a way to ask the name for it without coming off as…creepy. “Private tutor. I pay you out of my own wallet. I’ve arranged with management that I’ll take all the official exams but without their oversight.” 

Just me and you. 

“Mr Jung—”

“Hoseok.”

“Hoseok—”

“I’ll pay you 3 million won per month.”

“Still—”

“A million per meeting.”

If feasible, there would be smoke coming out from your nostrils.

“Dear Hoseok,” your lips blossom into a wide smile and he shudders, falling abruptly silent. That smile meant he’s going to get kicked to the moon. 

“Do you want to learn a good English phrase?”

“Of course, I do!"

“BRO, SHUT THE FUCK UP AND LET ME SPEAK!”

Even you yourself seemed to be somewhat taken by the outburst. Blushing slightly, you cough, adjusting a strand of unperturbed hair. 

“What I mean is money is not the issue. I already got a job translating documents for a firm nearby but what I mean is…”

Eagerly, Hoseok waits. 

“What you mean is?” he continues, the thrumming of his heart so loud, he fears you’d hear it. 

You gnaw on your lip, gaze flickering wildly all over his face. 

“What I mean is,” you struggle out. “I...I…”

“You…?”

“I don’t think I’m the best tutor for you.” 

Like a bucket of ice cold water, the sentence washes over him and Hoseok suddenly realises how close he’d leaned into you. With an embarrassed cough of his own he regains the proper distance. 

“Nonsense. Isn’t that for me to decide? As your student,” the word sits bitter on his tongue. “I ought to choose what method of teaching is best for me. And you’re the best for me. Am I not the best for you?”

So far from an innocent man. 

Your gaze slowly averts away and the way he relishes its shyness is almost perverse.

“Nah, you’re the best,” quietly, you remark, biting on a piece of swiss roll. 

PJM | Two girls at the front of the club line were enjoying their conversation. Jimin was also enjoying their conversation. 

“There’s that person here tonight. Eun-Chae swears she saw them coming in.”

“The one who made those pretty earrings she had last month? Ahh, I’m so jealous!” 

“Hmm. Rumour is they’re really underground but if you get an invite from someone who's already been their client, they take you on.”

“Oh, really? How did Eun-Chae get it then?”

“Well, I’m not supposed to say this…” the girl with the long hair trailed off and even Jimin trailing behind her to get into the club could hardly control the scoff that threatened to break out of him. Not supposed to say this. Did she not know that once those words were spoken any true gossiper would drink seas of blood to hear such a delicious piece of information. 

“But!”

Ah, so she did have some mercy. 

“But apparently she got an invite from an undisclosed member of Stray Kids.”

As they both squealed, Jimin parted ways with the two women, easily blending into the nightclub. The fact that an underground jeweller was here did not surprise him. This particular club attracted all sorts of creative scenes. He didn’t much care for it, really, that is until he saw you. Hunched over the vomit littered stairs with a pair of pliers in between your hands you were working on what seemed to be an intricate piece of necklace. 

Surreptitiously, Jimin snuck closer, mostly because he’d come alone here tonight. Without friends it was boring as all hell. Watching you work soon proved to be incredibly fascinating. The way that the space between your eyebrows wrinkled, how precisely your eyes focused on each individual detail. How you were able to regain calm and professionalism even amidst the chaos of sweaty bodies and pounding bassline. You cradled these pieces with the same care people did their children…or pets. It truly was a fascinating sight that Jimin could relate to. 

Fast forward some months forth, he now also realises that it’s the sight he’s utterly fallen in love with. 

 “You’re breathing on my neck.”

The grumpiness in your tone rouses him from the memory and Jimin finds himself firmly planted in the present. With his chin perched on the curve of your shoulder, he watches carefully as your lithe fingers string the small pearls one by one. He wonders how would they feel caressing his bare skin. Would they tickle? Would they be warm?

“Am I? My sincere apologies.”

“You lying, little—!”

He flicks the back of your head. 

“Ey, no swearing.”

You glare back at him, the only luminescence in the room being the small desk lamp you used at your workstation. Though Jimin couldn’t be absolutely sure where the border between what he wanted and what was differed but he knew for certain, there was something behind the way your gaze flickered to his lips and remained there for a touch too long. 

He ran a tongue over his lips.

“You want to kiss?"

Your hand reaches upwards, abandoning the pearls and Jimin’s knees grow weak. He has to brace himself harder against the desk but it’s wholly useless as his arms come up by  your sides. He’s caging you in? Nonsense! You’re the cager.

You flick him harshly against the forehead.

“Rich man stops being a perv when crossing the threshold into my home. Rule 12.”

“So many rules…” Jimin sulks, cradling the now sore spot. “You’re such a control freak.”

“So what if I am?” you toss over the shoulder, bringing your attention back to the pearls. It was both of your decision that the layered pearls would be a statement piece for an upcoming photoshoot. That is another thing he loves about you. You never insist upon him wearing chains or dainty pieces, you go for the middle. That same middle that he liked. 

“Masculine, feminine,” he remembers you scoffing harshly one night. “If I make it, it’s just jewelry above all.”

For now he decides to leave you alone. Even if you like him, he knows you wouldn’t hesitate to toss him out by the scruff. That was the third thing he loves about you. Third thousand that is. While you work, he gleefully immerses himself into observing your home. He tidies a book or a blanket here and there, mostly to occupy the time.

Lador shampoo. He spots one in the bathroom. Should he tell you that he saw you use it and now uses it himself just so that his hair would smell like yours and he’d have something to serve as a reminder of you when going away?

No…that’s a bit unhinged. He’d accidentally spilled that piece of information to Yoongi and the man had been a hair strand away from calling the police.

“It’s not that weird,” he pouts to himself. “At least I’m not a stalker.”

Well, he did get your address from that undisclosed member of Stray Kids…

Faint scratching against the window brings his gaze up from the shitty kitchen tiles to the even shittier window and its half broken blinds. 

“Nori!” he greets the tabby cat warmly. “Are you hungry?”

“STOP CANOODLING MY CAT, PARK!” your yell shakes the air before he can even reach for the can of open tuna. “You’re allergic to fur. Get your ass back here!”

He doesn’t dare to not oblidge. 

“Look at you, sitting all pretty,” you purr, clasping the necklace shut.

Smarmily, Jimin runs a hand through his hair. 

“Why thank you.”

For a second, your face scrunches as it does when you’re thinking something deeply but then the creases smoothe out and you toss him a half-hearted glare. 

“Obviously I meant the necklace.”

“Was it that obvious?” 

You reach to flick his forehead once more but this time Jimin catches your hand. Though the sly smirk growing upon his face is wiped with a bold stroke as he feels the numerous cuts marring the skin. 

Sternly, he inspects them, wrapping his fingers tighter around yours as you struggle to pull away. 

“No one did this to you, did they?” his voice drops an octave and unbeknownst to him, your breath catches in the middle of the throat. Park Jimin — forever a mystery, an onion gradually unfolding his many sides.

“Of course, not,” with feigned ease you reply, trying to take your hand back. He does not let it. “It’s just…collateral damage.”

“Your body is not collateral damage.”

“They’re just hands, Jimin.”

“Not even one inch,” he concluded sternly, not a millimeter in his expression or lilt of his voice freeing up the space for a debate to unfold. 

Your fingers are cold, he finds out. But that’s okay, he’ll warm them up for you.

KTH | House, also referred to as "playing house" or "play grown up", is a traditional children's game. It's a form of make believe where players take on the roles of a family. 

Though what is happening now is set in reality, in a way, Taehyung is playing a form of make believe. 

By now it’s been well observed. 15 minutes into a movie and you’re passed out. Not even a night of solid drinking could make a person this unconscious. The make believe in this situation wasn’t scheduling a hang out at his place, it wasn’t the fact that he’d offered to watch a movie while fully knowing of your tendency to fall asleep, it’s not even wrapping his hand around your shoulder and letting his head rest atop of yours. It’s the dreaming that was fake. The endless hope that one of these days he would do something, that you would do something. Every once in a while, he gets the feeling that you might like him. But it’s gone so soon, he inevitably ends up presuming it’s just in his head. 

Wasn’t it?

The blue glow of the screen illuminates your features with an eerie glow and even as someone screams, being chainsawed in half, you don’t move an inch. Now, a boyfriend would lift you up and bring you to the bed, covering your form with a warm blanket and then sliding in. But boyfriends were allowed to do so. That, however, is the fine line where comes the end of his game of house. Some things are simply not allowed. 

Gently, he shakes you awake and blinking blearily, you let a pitiful mumble of confusion.

“Tae?” 

His heart clenches.

“Yeah, it’s me. Don’t you have to go home?”

In the deluded state that you’re in, you throw both arms around his neck and mumble sleepily into the crook of his neck:

“Don’t wanna. Let me crash here.”

To stab already his bleeding heart, you add:

“Please?”

How could he possibly say no to you?

Falling in love with your friend is technically not a crime but Taehyung thinks that it should be. It’s nothing short of criminal — the level of delusion he entertains whilst adjusting his shirt to sit lower on your body. He should be arrested for the gentleness and care he takes in helping you to measly finish your skincare routine. It is sinful that he has the gall to pretend that this is anything but a series of utterly selfish actions. He gets to play house. He gets to play your boyfriend. He gets to slide underneath the covers with you, laying an arm around your waist and watching you slumber, peaceful and at ease. 

JJK | Jungkook's part has been upgraded to a oneshot! Read it here!

tagging: @pinkcherrybombs; @devilsbooksworld; @btsiguess-kpop; @belladaises; @halesandy; @seok-jinnies; @themochiverse; @cuteipat; @ratherbefangirling; @manchuria; @chimchimmarie; @smalliechelle; @koostarcandy; @flitzerj; @royallyjjk; @dreamamubarak; @anti-social-mochi267; @jung-nika-hoseok; @silverliningsandstorms;

[swe3troses]

🐚10 Things I Hate About You (pt.1) Jack Hughes X Reader

 ‘I hate the way you talk to me, and the way you cut your hair.’

 Luke Hughes was over the moon. He was finally gonna get to play high school hockey like his mother always wanted him to. Of course, he didn’t mind that his older brothers were also on the team, and he was most likely going to be called the ‘littlest’ Hughes. He made his way to the castle like high school, meeting up with his oldest brother, Quinn Hughes, so he could get a tour of the huge high school.  

“Hey! What’s up Luke.” he heard his brother say casually as he walked towards him.

“Hey Quinn…what are you wearing?” Luke said, looking at his brother. His brother was wearing a white and blue button up t-shirt that was obviously way too big for him and some khaki jorts.

“What are you talking about, this is some top tier styling.” Quinn said while posing a bit. Luke rolled his eyes.

“Just give me the tour.” he said with a little sass looking at his brother.

“Ok well, here are your emo pixie manic dream girls…don’t act too much like Micheal Cera around them.” Quinn said gesturing to a group of girls that were all either singing or reading some obscure book that they obviously found while thrifting.

“Then we have your Stoner’s and mathletes, they all hang around each other, please don’t ask me why.” Quinn says gesturing to a group in a big ball of smoke and some kids solving a math problem on a whiteboard. Luke raised his eyebrow. What the hell was going on at this school.

“Then those are your popular people and elitists…don’t bother talking to them.”

“Why?”

“Hey!” Quinn says to the group, they all stare at him with weird looks and one of them says ‘bite me.’

“Ok, now I see why.” They continue walking as Quinn points out groups to his little brother. But soon his voice falls on deaf ears as Luke watches a girl pass by. The girl had long black hair and sharp siren-like eyes. She was wearing a floral sundress and white chunky sandals. She had gold hoops in and freckles that spread perfectly across her face. She had pink plump lips and a smile so white it blinded him. She was tiny, standing at around 5′0, the only big thing about her being her boobs. She and her blonde friend were talking about something.

“Jesus, who is that?” Luke questions wiping his chin as he looks at the girl who was about a foot shorter than him. 

Quinn laughs obnoxiously, “Luke, do not even think about that at all. That there, my friend is Bianca L/N and she is untouchable and totally conceited.” 

“Hey, don’t say that, look at her, I mean she’s gorgeous.” Luke said as the girl smiled showing her dimples. 

“Listen, Luke, Girls like that, will never look at you, she’s wearing that strategically planned sundress to let guys like us know that we will never touch her and boys like Trevor Zegras realize they want her.” He gestured towards another hockey player that was on their team named Trevor Zegras who was also staring at Bianca.

“Don’t say that look, she is just so deep.” Luke said gazing at the girl trying to listen in on what she was saying. 

“See, there’s a difference between like and love, because I like my Miss Dior perfume, but I love my Prada backpack.” 

“But I love my Miss Dior.” Her blonde friend replied.

“That’s because you don’t have a Prada backpack.”

“I need her…how can I get close to her.” Luke asked his older brother.

“I mean, I heard she’s looking for a French tutor if you somehow learned French and have time for it in-between hockey.”

“That’s perfect!”

“So you learned French and have time?”

“No! But I will!”

While that was going on a girl by the name of Y/N L/N was in her literature class, Jack Hughes came into the class for a moment and started speaking. 

“Has class started?”

“No, but please take your-”

“Ok! Later!” Jack said before walking out the class.

“Hey you can’t just-!” The teacher said before quickly giving up, obviously tired of his job.

The bell rang and then the teacher, Mr. Morgan, started speaking.

“So, what did everyone think of ‘The sun also rises?’”

A pink short haired girl raised her hand and instantly started speaking without the teacher even calling on her.

“I loved it, it was so romantic.” she said dreamily, clasping her hands together.

“Romantic? Hemingway?” Y/N said scoffing “He was an abusive alcoholic misogynist who spent half his life hanging around Picasso trying to nail his leftovers.” She finished rolling her (e/c) eyes.

“As opposed to a bitter self-righteous hag who has no friends.” Trevor replies looking around the class with a smug smirk.

“Pipe down chachi!” Mr. Morgan yelled, causing Trevor’s ego to deflate.

“I guess in this society being male and an asshole makes you worthy of our time.” Y/N replies, turning her body towards Trevor as the class laughs. “What about Sylvia Plath, or literally any other female writer that doesn't have a negative connotation associated with them.” Y/N said putting some of her h/l h/c hair behind her ear.

“Mr. Morgan, is there any way we could get Y/N to take her Midol before she comes to class.” Trevor says with a smug look.

“Someday you’re gonna get bitch slapped and I am not gonna do anything to stop it.” Mr. Morgan replies with a smug look back “Y/N I want to thank you for your point of view, I know how difficult it must be to overcome all those years of upper middle-class oppression, must be tough, but before you start talking about that think about why they can’t buy a book written by a Black Man!” Mr. Morgan says looking at her.

“That’s right man!” two white boys say.

“Don’t even get me started on you two…” Mr. Morgan says as the two boys put their fists down.

“Anything else?” Y/N asks.

“Yeah, go to the office you’re pissing me off again.”

“Mr. Morgan-?” 

“Later!” He says dramatically before Y/N grabs her books walking out.

Y/N walked with her friend as she explained what happened walking to her car.

“Well then Mrs. Meyer reminded me that I kicked Trevor in the balls, and I still maintain he kicked himself in the balls.” she said casually as her friend Nayeon laughed.

“I don’t think that is exactly what happened.” Nayeon said as she got in Y/N’s car pulling her red skirt down a bit.

Quinn drove in front of Y/N’s red car on a motorcycle. Knowing her and her temper she looked at the hockey player in disgust.

“Get out the way Bozo!” she shouted speeding away before seeing her sister, Bianca.

“I know you can be overwhelmed, and underwhelmed but can you just be whelmed?” Bianca asked her blonde friend Chastity.

“I think you can in Europe!” Chastity replies before Trevor pulls up in his bronco.

“You hot young thangs need a ride?” he asked, smirking before Bianca and Chastity giggled getting in the back of his Bronco before he sped away.

“That is one shocking new development.” Nayeon stated in disgust.

“I am not surprised,” Y/N said before honking her red car once again, but this time at Luke. 

“Jesus! Get out of the way!” she said before speeding away blasting Indie rock music.

“Who was that?” Luke asked, obviously a little annoyed.

“That my dear brother is the shrew, Y/N L/N, your girlfriend's sister.” Quinn said trying not to laugh at his brother’s reaction.

“That mean, pretty girl is Bianca’s sister?” Luke asked in shock.

Later, Y/N was reading ‘The Bell Jar’ while sitting in a green chair. She was in some gray PJ pants and a blank tank top. Her dad came up to her flipping through a newspaper.

“Make anyone cry today Y/N?” Her dad asked her looking at a story in the newspaper.

 “Sadly, No, but it is only 4:30.” She said, smiling at her father. He returned the smile before Bianca came into the room.

“Hi dad!” she said, kissing him on the cheek, having to go on her tiptoes to do so.

“Why hello precious.” her dad said back smiling at his daughter.

“Where have you been?” Y/N asked, tucking some of her h/l h/c behind her ear.

“Nowhere.” Bianca replied sassily, flipping some of her long black hair over her shoulder a pink tint painting her freckled face.

Y/N’s dad picked up some mail before looking at it confused.

“What’s this, it says Sarah Lawrence?” her dad said looking at the letter before Y/N squealed and jumped happily taking the letter in her hands smiling “I got in!” she said, running to another couch.

“Honey…that is great but isn’t Sarah Lawrence a Law firm on the other side of the country?” Her dad asked, “Don’t you wanna stay here to find a college closer to home…so you could fully become a husky like me.” her dad said, faking a growl.

“Sarah Lawrence is one of the best colleges and the basis of its appeal is being far away from Michigan.” the girl says, still smiling at the paper.

“C’mon Y/N are you just gonna pick up and leave, is that it?” he says a little frustrated now.

“Let’s hope so!” Bianca said smiling.

“Tell dad who drove you home today.” Y/N replied.

“Who drove you home?”

“Now don’t overreact dad but this guy named Trevor on the hockey team-”

“Who’s a flaming imbecile!” Y/N added as Bianca tried to step closer to her.

“And I think he might ask me-”

“Please, Please I think I know what he is going to ask you,” Bianca’s dad said as she guided her to the couch next to Y/N

“I also think I know the answer, No! It is always No! What are the two-house rules? Number 1, No dating till you graduate college, Number 2, No dating till you graduate high school, That’s it.”

“Daddy, that is so unfair!” Bianca said, folding her arms over her chest.

“You wanna know what is unfair? This morning I delivered a set of twins to a 15- year-old girl, younger than both of you, do you know what she said to me?” Y/N’s dad said as he looked between both of his daughters.

“I am a dumbass who should’ve made my sleazy boyfriend wear a condom?” Bianca replied, rolling her brown eyes.

Their dad pursed his lips before speaking again “Close, but no, she said I should’ve listened to my father.”

“She did not!” Bianca replied as Y/N rolled her e/c eyes at her father.

“But that is what she would’ve said if she wasn’t on so much anesthesia.” he replies.

“Can we focus on me for a second! I am the only girl in school who doesn't date!” Bianca states dramatically, twiddling her fingers.

“Oh no you’re not, your sister doesn’t date.”

“I also don’t intend to, have you seen the unwashed monsters that attend and roam that school spreading their stink around?” Y/N said, folding her arms in front of her chest.

“What planet are you from? Planet loser?” Bianca said about to tackle her sister. 

“As opposed to Planet ‘Look at mey, look at mey’” Y/N replied, flapping her s/c arms around as she mocked Bianca’s voice.

Their dad claps, causing both of the gorgeous girls to look at him one with a pout and one with a smirk.

“Ok new rule out new rule in, Bianca can date.” Their dad says smiling as Y/N looks at him like he's crazy and Bianca smiles smugly sticking her tongue out at her sister.

“When Y/N does.”

A/N: hey guys sorry this wasn’t so focused on Y/n(you) and Jack just yet, I am trying to establish the plot first, the next chapter will be more romantic and focus more on y/n. there will be 10 parts because, 10 things I hate about you, and they will be released between 2-4 days, thank you for supporting and reading. Also here is a key.

Y/n-Your name

L/n-Last name

e/c-Eye color

h/l-Hair length

h/c-Hair color

s/c-Skin color

[three-fulm-thaumaturd]

Dawn? Trailed.

Finished Dawntrail MSQ tonight. Assorted scattershot (and spoiler-heavy) thoughts under the RM.

-I came to DT without much preexisting hype or emotional investment. All I wanted out of this expansion was to have a break from being the main character who has to save the multiverse from extinction, again, and to have some cool scenery to look at and some banger music, and we sure got that!

-There are a lot of things about how this expansion was written that didn't effortlessly or instinctively emotionally appeal to me in specific, but that are, when I think about them, really good, solid workmanlike choices re: how to construct a video game narrative.

-I know J-media tournament arcs are “well worn” in the same sense that the Grand Canyon or the Marianas Trench are, but they provide a plausible pretext for the things that MMOs are set up to do. Better than a host of supposedly highly-realized and virtuous precursor beings insisting that we repeatedly justify our existence by fighting, for sure.

-Being Wuk Lamat's mentor/emotional support Eorzean/800 pound gorilla was an interesting conceit. I think the writers carried off "non-protagonist PC" fairly well, and I've played other games where that was tried and didn't work (lookin at you SWtOR, re: KotFE). Lamat'yi feels like a more competently-written version of Stormblood-era Lyse. She's got both a core personality that remains consistent and a trajectory of increasing competence and maturity. I think she's well constructed as a protag/viewpoint character: she's primed to like things and people, her ethos of addressing conflict by seeking understanding and consensus is a good pretext to deliver exposition, and she feels/empathizes intensely but doesn't get stuck on her own emotional reactions. I wouldn’t say I effortlessly enjoy her as a character, especially early on when the writing leans hard into her immaturity and desperation to be liked and to prove herself, but I understand and respect what that’s for. It’s no different than Naruto or early-OT Luke Skywalker.

-I like the variety of Central/South American cultural inspo (Aztec, Quechua, Yucatec Maya, Pueblo, etc), we got in the setting and culture for this xpac, and the conception of Tural as a very racially/culturally heterogeneous place where power comes from the aggregate of a complicated network of relationships that have to be negotiated on an ongoing basis. It's not zero-sum, and finding solutions that benefit everyone is hard but worthwhile.

-I was excited to be able to bring Krile, my favorite Scion, along this time. I feel like the ShB/EW A-team had enough presence to appeal to people who like them and not so much that they upstaged the new characters or the change of scenery.

-I think there was effort to add cinematographic interest to the many, dense cutscenes other than wide-angle shot/reverse-shot over paragraphs of text. Some of the camera angles (switching between the faces of my minimum-height lalafell and 2m+ Wuk Lamat) and long shots of characters' expressions resulted in...sometimes-intentional uncanniness and unintentional comedy. This probably was not the devs' intention (their intention was probably a performance with emotional subtlety that the graphics overhaul alas still doesn't permit), but my instinctive read was that it felt like unnecessary padding/stalling for time.

-Re: other stuff that felt like it unnecessarily lengthened the playtime and the amount of text to read, sometimes I resent that it feels like I'm being not just spoon-fed, but bottle-fed plot and character beats that are not complicated or hard to understand. Then I see people evincing failure to comprehend what they're reading elsewhere on the internet and understand why it's done that way. :\

-There's basically one trademark Ishikawa conflict: Local man driven to extremes by inability/unwillingness to come to terms with loss, aging, and death. There's also one trademark Ishikawa sin that characterizes all of the ShB-and-after antagonists: a delusional insistence on harming the living to feed the dead. Those come up so consistently that her style is instantly recognizable...and I wonder some about what she's experienced or how she's doing.

-The hairpin turn in the plot about 2/3 of the way in and the by-now very familiar tropes aren't my narrative jam at all, but it was engaging enough to mostly keep my attention until the end. I'm beyond weary of Ascians/Ancients and shard math, so I'm glad those things were referenced (and there's some interesting stuff to chew on re: Lalafell history in particular) but not focal.

-I'm a little mad, because my pre-Heritage-Found speculation that El Dorado was going to turn out to actually be an aetherologic Superfund site (which would explain the security, the giants charging in and coming back dead, sick, or unable to reproduce, the teratogenic effects on eg Blessed Siblings etc and the fight for control of it as a putative military asset) seemed to have a lot of fun possibilities. I guess you could argue that Living Memory might be a very abstracted nod in that direction.

-*Queen Sphene*? Really, you couldn’t have named her anything at all else???

-I'm not at all satisfied that "he felt overshadowed by his father's accomplishments and wanted to prove his worth independent of his unusual heritage" is sufficient justification for how Zoraal Ja was, especially prior to his first contact with Alexandria. I figured based on his behavior and Krile's remarks, that he had to be Tempered, or affected by an equivalent kind of magical compulsion.

-The final trial, and to a lesser extent the last dungeon are an unmitigated (and unmitigatable until mods become available again) accessibility nightmare if you're photosensitive or prone to motion sickness. I hoped the devs would take the feedback they got from the ShB alliance raid series under consideration but they sure didn't give a shit. Guess I'm not doing roulettes for a while.

[mediumtires]

I'm still not over this. How in the world Christian is sharing this and expect us to be okay ? HOW??

I'm also living for Fed to be there as their chaperon 😂 he cannot let these menaces free or chaos will prevail.

It got me thinking now, is Fred going to tease the hell out of Toto at each TP meetings now?

i would like to formally apologise i don’t understand how no one else is losing their mind about this? i am so about to lose my mind?

you’re telling me christian horner and toto wolff shared a flight to melbourne (loooooong flight from the uk) and christian just causally drops that bomb on us like it’s something they do all the time?

i swear the most compelling thing about them is that THEY LIKE EACH OTHER. all the yelling and the one upping and the creating fake scenarios for netflix, the comments, the quotes they feed the press, the mind games, "i don't have to kiss his arse" etc etc etc but at the end of the day they’ve been around the paddock together for over a decade. in 2014/15/16/17/18 they hung around each other ALL THE TIME.

and then 2021 happened and gLoVeS wErE oFf but even after that— may i remind everyone of preseason testing 2022?

this was literally only A FEW WEEKS after that commission meeting where masi got fired relocated. weeks after toto wore a black turtleneck like he’d just buried the w12. and they were acting like giggling schoolgirls twirling their hair and having a laff? are you joking? are you telling me these two whiny conceited big headed team bosses can just forgive and forget?

YES AND ITS BECAUSE THEY LIKE EACH OTHER. toto probably acknowledged what happened in ad wasn’t christian’s fault and christian’s crush on toto is big enough that he could move past merc protesting max's win and getting his bestie michael fired relocated.

and now you’re telling me they’re sharing flights. sure sure. probably because they’re really environmentally conscious. maybe even an accidental booking on a commercial flight. two personal assistants going “whoopsie didn’t check the passenger list sorry”. three if you count in fred but he and toto probably booked that flight together. surely they weren’t plane pooling a private chartered flight. cough cough surely not. these three old rich men (billionaire toto wolff) would totally sit first class on a commercial flight, 17 hours among commoners, before one of the hardest races of the season, one of them with a broken back, one of them blind, and one of them with a tummy ache. these three very rich men would totally suck it up and bite the bullet to make sure their carbon footprints stay as low as possible.

HELL no i don’t believe it for a second. they plane pooled. BECAUSE THEYRE FRIENDS.

christian is the longest serving tp along with franz tost but toto has been around since 2011ish when he first started at williams. they've known each other for A LONG TIME. no other team principals have been around as consistently and continuously as these two. sure some of the current tps have been around the paddock in other roles. and yet with the exception of toto and fred, none of them are "friends".

i am convinced they started hanging out. they must have because they were the two youngest tps around and everyone else was boring (except for maurizio my beloved). they build a rapport. some kind of undefinable bond, not friends, not colleagues, rivals maybe, but there's respect. even if christian won't ever admit to it ever. maybe they don't go to dinner together but I'm convinced they text occasionally, anything between "happy birthday" and "fuck you for buying out my engineer i actually needed that one". also. christian is ceo of a top level performing technology business (lmao) and if there's one thing toto knows it's management and finance. like I cannot imagine they have never had conversations about that. they're both passionate about racing. sure they probably have like hugeeee differences in opinions about certain things but it's because they're both willing to do whatever it takes for their team to win. they must respect that in the other. (their opinions are probably not even that different if we think about it. probably scarily similar actually. this is the problem, they are very much two sides of the same coin. they want their team to win and they’re willing to do pretty much anything to get there. they look at each other and don’t like what they see because they’re literally mirror images.) (THEYRE TOO SIMILAR)

IN CONCLUSION. they like each other. they may not be friends by common definition but THEY ARE SOMETHING. they share flights I rest my case.

(also yes obviously fred makes fun of them all the time it’s how he’s coded)