#the pay isn't *good* but it's not the worst I've ever made for sure

[onrainynights]

I'm about to be so annoying btw

[raayllum]

like Callum made the right choice in 5x08 for his character and the thematic narrative. Thematically, Rayla cannot permanently die (she's too sacrificial) nor can she have a partner, honestly, who'd be willing to sacrifice her like that. Callum also cannot be willing to sacrifice her like that for the life of a stranger dragon he's never met, or not take the dark magic risk; not only is this how he's always clearly been ever since S1 ("But not everything [has changed]: I would do anything for you") but doing so would make him exactly like the worst of Viren: "If you have to choose between [the world] or your brother, pick the egg." Callum is having a dark path arc, but he's not having an antagonist or villain arc.

That said, there's a reason Callum is Chained Up when he gives the spell and locked in a damp dark brig and has to use the snake-chain spell specifically, because TDP loves its irony: what gets more ironic than freeing yourself from chains in order to free and save your girlfriend, when you know in doing so you're chaining yourself further and further to the main villain and his will in doing so? When you know that you would?

There's a reason 5x08 ends with Callum looking scared and sad and the shot of the snakes, because those aren't fun things (hi Ocean arcanum epiphany) to learn or fully accept about yourself. There's a reason that what characters justify with "I had no choice" or "this is the right thing to do" isn't always the literal case. "I had to, to save my friends" or you could've left it. You could've tried something else than dark magic. But you didn't, because you thought that was the one thing you could do in order to not lose your friend, so you did it; You Made Your Choice.

For example, if we're talking what happened in 5x08 in a "this would keep The World 100% safe" type of deal? Callum fucked up twice. He gave the spell and he didn't know Finnegrin would be dead or unable to use it by episode's end. He did dark magic — with no idea that it wouldn't let Aaravos automatically possess him in that moment — because a world where he didn't even try and save her was worse to him. But it was a risk! Both of those things were massive risks!

Just because they didn't amount to the extreme consequences they could have had, yet, doesn't mean that they won't, since soo much of TDP is just "this thing had unforeseen/unwanted consequences as a result of the choices you made" (the loss of Rayla's team, Harrow's death, Sarai's death, the possession at all, Karim's banishment, Zubeia's corruption, Claudia's 5 season long descent, and I'm sure going to the Starscraper next season, just to name a few quick examples off the top of my head). As Harrow says:

H: But I do know I will pay the price for the choices I've made. I've done terrible things. I thought they were necessary. Now I don't know.

Rayla thought she had to leave; she didn't. Rayla thought she had to find Viren, twice; that wasn't true. She chose to leave both times. She also chose to come back both times. She could've doubled down, but she didn't. Viren, finally, didn't.

Every step forward is a choice.

That's true for Every Single Character in the show.

To deny them that is to deny the agency they do have in the circumstances they find themselves in; Soren could've not stabbed his father, Terry could've chosen to tackle rather than stab Ibis, Viren could've chosen to grieve his son. That doesn't mean they didn't have good reasons to do the things they were doing, that doesn't mean their justifications weren't strong, that doesn't mean they were necessarily wrong to do so. But they made Choices.

So did Callum. And he chose what regrets, sacrifices, and losses he could live with, in order to save the person he decided he couldn't live without.

It's that simple, and that complicated.

[chippedshake]

I'm fine

Darry is fine. He swears he's fine. Never been better.

Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration. But he is fine. He really is.

Sure, he's juggling gaining custody over his brothers with finding out how much to pay for two coffins with considering getting a second job with figuring out how the fuck one pays one's bills with actually being a guardian for his brothers with grieving for his parents, who disappeared with a knock on his door from the police.

But he's fine. He really is.

But I realize that the worst is to come when the storm is gone

And even if he's not fine – which he is –, it's not like he can afford to complain right now because he's facing a steep uphill climb with no help. If he admits that he's not okay now, then what is he going to do for the next four years?

Or after that, when he has to scrape together enough money for Pony to go to college somehow?

He has to be fine now. He has to be. Because if he's not, there's no hope for what comes next.

And I try to recognize that it's all in my head now

Darry isn't fine.

But that's okay. That's fine because everything is actually fine but it's just his head playing tricks on him and making him think everything isn't fine when it is fine.

Because everything is fine.

He's just always made a big deal out of nothing, like when his friends would prank him sometimes in school. It was never that bad, he just liked to catastrophise.

Classic Darry, making a mountain out of a molehill.

Because. Everything. Is. Fine.

Or it will be. Even if it kills him.

But lately I've been feeling tired but I can't sleep

Darry turns over again, dragging his sheets along with him.

Against his better instincts, he checks the clock on his wall.

Two AM.

He sighs. It's not happening tonight. He's been trying for two hours and needs to be up in three.

May as well be productive.

He groans as he sits up. He'll leave the bed unmade a while longer just in case he gets tired enough to go back to sleep, because he definitely won't get back in if it's made.

He stifles a yawn as he cracks Sodapop and Ponyboy's door open. They're fast asleep, Soda's arm around Pony. Darry lets himself breathe a sigh of relief.

They're okay. They're fine.

His eyes struggle to stay open as he sweeps the floor. He can feel his eyebags growing as he scrubs the kitchen counters. Falling asleep standing up is seeming like a genuine possibility by the time he starts mopping.

It's three thirty when he goes back to sleep.

My head is running miles but I can't breathe

Soda's thinking about dropping out. Soda's thinking about dropping out. He's thinking about dropping out because Darry's failed.

Failed at keeping his brothers safe, at maintaining their childhood as best he could with the neighbourhood they live in. Because now Soda is going to have to worry about bills and paychecks and bosses.

He can feel his breathing getting faster but he can't get it to stop.

And he's not a fit guardian is he? He can hardly keep them all under control on a good day and he can't keep Soda in school and Ponyboy's always mad at him and Soda'a dropping out–

Are these grounds for the State to take them away? Of course they are, everything is. Any step out of line, any tiny mistake (Darry makes so many he doesn't understand how he's been allowed to keep his brothers for so long), it's all grounds to take his brother away.

Oh, God, he can't breathe, he can't breathe

Will I ever get my mind under control?

In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

Like his mom always did.

In for four, hold for seven, out for eight.

I don't know

'Cause I'm in the eye of the storm

Most people feel calm when they reach the eye of the storm. It has the lowest pressures in the whole storm, and it seems like you've escaped.

It seems like everything's back to normal.

Like Ponyboy still likes books just because he likes them. Like Dally's still got someone to trust. Like Soda still lets himself be a kid. Like Two-Bit just drinks for fun sometimes. Like Johnny can trust him as much as he trusted Darry's parents.

Only Darry knows better. He knows what's on the other side of the eye. He knows the storm goes on.

That Ponyboy's reading to escape reality. That Dally’s hardened back to how he was when he arrived. That Soda knows they can't make do just with Darry's paycheck. That Two-Bit's become an alcoholic. That he's never bothered to form a bond with Johnny in the past and he still seems scared of him.

And I've never been here before

Darry used to think he was stressed.

When he got a bad grade on his physics final in junior year and thought all his hopes for college were crushed unless he doubled down during senior year.

When he realised he didn’t like his girlfriend like he was supposed to, and he hadn’t liked any of his girlfriends like he was supposed to. And he hadn’t liked anyone That Way and he was at prom and had to dance with his girlfriend and felt like he was failing her constantly.

When they were in second place towards the end of the football league and they needed to win this game or it would've all been for nothing.

He scoffs at the memories of what his oh-so-stressful life used to look like. What wouldn't he give for that to be his greatest worry?

All of my thoughts screaming loud, saying that I'll never make it out

When Darry looks at the kitchen, he sees all the meals he needs to make. The table is just its short leg that needs fixing. The mailbox is just the bills.

When Darry looks at Pony and Soda, he can hardly see his little brothers anymore. He sees two boys who need clothes and food and a reminder to bring a blade wherever they're going.

He loves them, too, but that comes second.

You can't love a dead body, or a boy being kept by the State fifteen miles away.

'Cause I'm falling deeper and deeper into my head

"Darry?"

Darry snaps out of his thoughts. Soda and Pony are looking at him worriedly. He's not even sure who said his name.

"Yeah?"

Soda's brow furrows. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, Soda, don't worry about it."

His half-hearted reassurance doesn’t seem to comfort either of them, but they carry on with their conversation.

Darry tries to think of what they were talking about so he can follow the conversation, but he can't remember anything after he started cooking.

And I'm scared that I can't see the light at the end

Darry stays on autopilot until he collapses into his bed.

All he wants is for sleep to take him. He just wants his head to slow down for once.

But of course it won’t.

It starts with the usual: mental math he loses track of but that helps him feel in control of everything. Calculating his paycheck and Soda's and the bills and Pony's college savings account and groceries and Darry's own savings account.

Then that turns into worrying about Pony at school: whether Socs give him any trouble, whether he's doing alright in his classes (because if anyone knows that grades don't mean anything, it's the boy that sold essays throughout his junior and senior year to pay for college), what classes are his favourite (because Darry doesn't talk to him enough to know).

What classes he'll choose when he gets electives.

What he'll major in.

And then Darry's thinking about what he'll be doing when Ponyboy's in college (because Ponyboy's getting out if it's the last thing Darry does) and he's realising that he has no idea.

There's no future for him after his brothers leave.

He used to imagine what his life would be like once he gathered the money for college. If he tries hard enough, he might be able to remember what it was like to hope.

But then he threw away all his dreams, all the possibilities of somehow getting out, and he doesn’t know how to find them again.

I'm in the eye, I'm in the eye of the storm

[tubbytarchia]

We should support artists and help them recognize their worth but I'm honestly so tired of "Your colored and shaded art is worth more than 10 bucks" and "these prices are too low" etc. Kind of maddening to me that it's treated like a choice when most artists will never have the reach to charge "fairly" for their art on a consistent basis. This isn't a jab at anyone because most people saying this are well meaning and maybe accidentally tonedeaf at worst, but the only choice some people have is either earn a little bit of money or earn no money at all. Idk surely there's other ways to be supportive or tell someone that their art is worthwhile without insisting that they raise their prices. Where and what is the advice once the prices ARE raised as suggested and yet no money is made? Would the advice be to put prices back down? To just be persistent and be better at advertising yourself?

When I started out, I tried to price "fairly", with and without advice from fellow artists (who all suggested prices that never sold) and then just decreased those prices like 5 times because no one would commission me. I wasn't upset when an anon told me "I was surprised to see the prices!", but I am upset about all the "these prices seem too low..." I got years ago in retrospect. When I voiced that I couldn't charge any higher because otherwise I wouldn't get paid, I was often dismissed. And I couldn't help but note that by all the people who got commissioned at least regularly with good pay

I'm not personally too upset about my own commissioning situation anymore, I used to be, but after so many mental breakdowns of trying to earn any money that justified the time I spent on my art and failing miserably, I accepted that it just isn't even for me. (This is why I wouldn't ever want to work with a CC either lol I would kms. As a one-off maybe). I still offer it but with a lot of leniency towards myself, which I think warrants lower pricing and I'm not upset about it. Because who would've guessed, that doing a hobby you love as a line of work with inherent new pressures isn't always going to make you happy and can ruin the hobby for you instead! Wild.

My personal commission meltdown journey under cut, because I want to and I think it'll make me feel better

My awesome commission meltdown happened about a year ago, but boy I have been trudging for awhile. Maybe 5 or 6 years ago now, I used to have a friend, my former best friend, who struck gold. They got lucky. Their art was also fantastic, but ultimately they got lucky, because good art in itself never guarantees that you can earn buck from it. They created a closed species that quickly became very popular to the point that they could draw one design on a whim and easily get 50EUR minimum out of it. That's not even commission work, to get paid well for art that YOU want to make is an absolute dream but even less reliable for most artists than commission work. I created multiple species too with like 0.20EUR prices and followed all the advice my friend gave me. I advertised myself like hell which is something I've continued to do until a year ago with a 100% failure rate. For funsies, some specimens of the species I attempted to sell (I very much detached from my usual preferred monster designs too to try and have wider appeal and gimmicks)

(If anyone wants to "adopt" any Rosebuds (1st rose-like species) or Dumlins (2nd bird-like species) for free then you're very welcome to, I can send the full sheets lol. Only one of them ever got adopted. I'm over it but hey just in case there are any adoptable fanatics in here)

After a few years I think I gave up, didn't earn a dollar with any of them and moved over to commissions because that's way easier to get money for anyway, I thought. And I've done many commissions by now but with most costing 5-20EUR. Very few outliers got any tips (usually from friends) and very few people were willing to pay more to begin with. I think I've done just 2 artwork that I was paid 50 for and those are the only comms I've done above 20EUR, and I count myself very lucky for ever even getting that opportunity. Here's some examples of commissions I've done for 20 bucks or less

(To be clear, I'm not upset about any of these. Jk lol I'm forever bothered by one of them. The 1st one but I will spare the details)

I tried so desperately to advertise myself on Twitter, on Tumblr, on DA, on Reddit, on Discord servers... in the end I got like one commission that wasn't just from a friend or acquaintance , and I'm willing to bet at least a few "friend" commissions I've done were out of pity, and I wouldn't blame them because I was a desperate little teenager. I went through a whole furry arc where I went out of my way to draw furry art because everyone knows furries got the money. I was very open to nsfw art too for very low prices to help me build my portfolio further, and I was again full-throttle advertising every which way I knew how, trying to reach out there, and gained nothing for it

Meanwhile, I just felt like doing this little animation. This wretched thing. This fucking. This little piece of work that came from a place of love and now I want to cry thinking about what this thing did to me

This is a niche Yugioh monster that I animated dancing. Somehow, it got out of the Yugioh circle and popped the fuck off majorly on twitter. Nobody knew what the hell this thing is but they liked it. This shit got reposted on Tiktok, on Reddit, probably many other sites too with zero credit back to me, naturally, with hundreds of thousands of views, possibly millions, I would check if I could still find any of them. So that sucked but guess what else happened? Like 5 people DMed me about commissioning animation work from me. TO THIS DAY despite my twitter being now deleted, people every so often reach out to me about this. And because there was DEMAND I figured, I can ask fair prices. But I'd never been able to before so I still undersold myself A LOT. Fully fledged animation is hard goddamn work. But I accepted 3 commissions, and I made progress on all of them, and then I deleted my twitter. I left all of those people in the dark (I never took any of their money though!!! I never ask for money until my work is completed unless you buy through Kofi)

I just realized how fucking miserable it all made me and how much I didn't want to do this and what a piss poor motivator money is for me to do art for, in the comfort of my home. I love money, I sure would love to have more of it and not have to rely on minimum wage jobs that I dislike but god, all of that made me so deeply upset and with all those years of failure, I suddenly struck gold like my friend had all those years back, and I had so many people wanting to give me money for my work, and it felt like a fucking joke. I was honestly just so peeved and pissed off that this is what it took, and had a meltdown over it and I was also just in the worst place of my life at the time that I've never truly recovered from. All of this just added to how much I wished to be eaten by a wild animal on a daily basis at the time

I don't feel like I got ANYTHING out of all that. The money I got absolutely didn't justify the effort and time I put into commissions and all my self advertising and portfolio building ventures were a waste of time too. The only thing I've taken away from it is that I don't want to repeat that and I will probably never want to work a job doing art or animation even if it could pay more than minimum wage crap. My former friend has a successful Patreon, I've encountered dubs of their comics with millions of views on various platforms, their species even got ripped off by someone who just turned their species nsfw, lol. And I draw minecraft men kissing

I'm not happy but I'm not upset about it anymore, even if I still get majorly peeved by some artists who underplay their immense success whilst others are begging for crumbs. (Again they usually mean well but sometimes I do find these people genuinely dislikeable. Anyway). In a perfect world, artists wouldn't have to work their asses of to get grocery money and be so reliant on luck to pop off once and then never have to worry about it again. I'm sad this is what it took for me to realize it's not even for me, after all these years of negligible profit, and I'm sad I was ever led to believe that getting fair pay was possible without all the work I put into trying to get my art out there, only to eventually succeed via pure luck and then not earning a penny from it anyway. Please support and continue to support small artists. If you can, please tip them too. Share and support their work in other ways if you can't or don't want to pay!

With all that said though, I appreciate anyone who has commissioned me during my time in the MCYT fandom, that means so much to me that you like my art that much. And I'm really sorry for the few people I ended up refunding because I didn't feel up to their requests - that's what I mean by the leniency I give myself. If it ever comes close to stressing me out again, I'll just give it up in favor of my mental health haha. And I hope you guys understand. Thank you as well for anyone who's bought my MCYT merch, you are so awesome and I'm actually omw to earning some profit from it eventually which has made me happier than any other art related work I've done

and with THAT said, man NONE of you have used discounts that I've hidden in my text posts previously..!! I reinforce though that regardless, I'm open to haggling if you're tighter on money but want to get a little something. I love you regardless though and thanks for listening to my shit ted talk

[stellaralignment]

After reading @kira-serialfaggot 's post about inaccessible menus and @butterfly-sapphire post about non-customizable menus figured I now had sufficient excuse to rant about how I hate how every big restaurant's ""solution"" to these two problems is somehow always the worst fucking app I've ever had to use in my life.

So, to clarify real quick. I agree with both previous posts. Places that serve food should have their menu easily accessible somewhere if they have an online presence, and places that let you customize your order need to have that as a feature of any digital ordering solution they implement. Good? Good.

So, a lot of places I've seen (Wendys, Taco Bell, and McDonald to name a few) Have tried to get around how fucking horrible the DD app itself is by making their own apps with DD integration for the actual ordering/serving of delivery orders. Great, this lets them provide their own menu customization options, serve discounts/coupons, and generally have more control over the user experience. Fantastic. As a bonus, this usually also allows you to just look at the menu whenever you want.

Small issue. All of these apps were written by the worst fucking programmers I have ever witnessed in my life. I havn't gotten angry enough to de-compile or try to reverse engineer one yet, but my user experience has been so consistently bad and I've encountered issues that, as a software engineer, I honestly could not tell you how fucked their system has to be in order to allow that to happen.

Allow me to tell you the worst of these. I'm trying to order delivery from a store. It's late, like 7pm, but I know the place is open till 10. I can confirm this on their website (I do later for reasons that will become apparent) and google maps. So I punch in my address, make my order, and go to checkout. Unfortunately, the app tells me "Your payment method failed. Please select a new method and try again". Which was odd, but not unimaginable. I've had issues with my bank in the past. So I swap cards and try again, thinking nothing of it.

Except, my other card doesn't work either. Nor does using PayPal, or Google Pay, or any of the other payment options I tried. I'm getting desperate. I buy some games on steam just to make sure some of these are working, which they are. I was worried, but now that I've confirmed all my money hasn't been siphoned away somehow, I'm just confused and getting annoyed.

So I start going insane. I buy digital gift cards from several different sites and try using them. No dice, payment failed. I try using the website instead of the app, on my phone and PC. Payment failed. I boot up an android studio instance with a brand new virtual phone, install the app on it, and try to order. Again. Payment failed.

I'm starting to wonder if their servers are just completely down. A friend in a different state can order with no problems. A friend in the same town can order with no fanfare.

But my roommates can't. They have the same issue

Payment failed.

So. I'm going insane. I've now spent almost 3 hours attempting to order food, and I'm starving. It is at this point that my anger finally overcomes my social anxiety, and I do the one thing I never thought I'd do.

I call the store in question.

Now, in all of this there was one crucial mistake I made. See, that friend in the same town? Lived on the other side of town. And there's 2 different stores of this franchise in town. We didn't control for this, because the app doesn't let you pick a store anyways when doing delivery. It's hard locked to whatever one is closest, which isn't a terrible thing to do. You need to get the delivery address anyways, and you know where all your store are, so it cuts out a step for me. But having to choose a store might've clued us in to what was going wrong.

Because the store? Was closed. Not just closed, like mega closed. It was being shut down. It hadn't been open for two weeks, and would never be open again. The order was failing because they'd already taken all the computer systems out, and it couldn't confirm to have received the order.

So there was nothing wrong with the payment. Literally nothing I could have done about this. I am just barred completely from ordering because the app defaults to the nearest location for orders, and my nearest location didn't exist anymore.

And you'd think that there would be some way to communicate this to the user when making the app. But for reasons I can only assume are profit motivated (Though I have no idea how the fuck this is more efficient/profitable), the app just defaults to saying the payment failed.

Now, I wouldn't be this mad if this was just "oops edge case lol" where I suffered the unfortunate consequences of some procrastinator forgetting to do the thing that removes stores from the database. Unfortunate but not really anyone I can blame for it. But no. This is just the most extreme example, and it's not even confined to the one app.

Almost every single app like this I've used defaults to saying the payment failed and to try a new payment method when anything goes wrong. No drivers out on DoorDash to actually move the order? Payment failed. You're trying to order a seasonal item that got dropped today? Payment failed. The companies servers actually are down? Payment failed. You're not connected to wi-fi like an idiot and there's actually something you can do to fix the issue that's not related to payment whatsoever? Payment failed.

What the fuck is up with this lazy ass programming? I seriously doubt there's enough technical debt from these apps to justify not having a robust error catching system that communicates with the user what the issue is. By the fucking stars these people love collecting intrusive data, I'm surprised they havn't used this as an excuse to harvest everyone's fucking location at all times and send "error data" back to central.

But just don't tell me my debit card was declined when I'm trying to order a burger and you closed that store two weeks ago.

[mrsbsmooth]

I don't know if this is a safe space for me to share my opinion on S8 but I disagree with your take on WLW relationships in S8. As someone who is exclusively WLW, I've got to say that Season 8 is the worst season that I have ever played. It's not worth it. I regret every second that I have spent on it. I wish I never played it. I feel like I have wasted my time. Watching Claudia grind on Theo made me feel physically sick. If you're bi, you're automatically locked out of the WLW route and Bea dances for Claudia instead. If you're doing a WLW route, the two female LIs are merged together. There are only two female LIs and they're hidden behind a gem wall. You can't couple up with them until the final week. The male characters are forced on MC no matter how many times you reject them. Being LGBT is treated like a fun side mission. It's something you're only allowed to do behind closed doors. You can pay to make out with a girl in every episode and the other characters will keep pushing the OG guy and CA guy on you either way. If you're romancing a girl, you're made to feel like a cheater. The WLW routes in S8 are written to be a bonus thing for bi women to do once they finish the good routes. They are not written to be the main course. The S8 WLW routes  are something to play around with but not something to commit to. S5 was no fun but at least we could be in an unofficial relationship with Dana and we could choose to befriend Alfie. We could couple up with Vicky in S7. S8 is like S6 but somehow even worse. The openly homophobic and racist comments that I have seen some straight players make about Bea and Hari are only making it harder to feel accepted. What hurts the most is that MC was a bombshell and she was not coupled up with her OG LI before the Casa. They could have let us pick a female LI the moment MC walked into the Villa. There was no better way to justify a WLW main route. The way they waste Luna and Felicity is unbelievable. I wouldn't recommend S8 to anyone who isn't super into the male LIs

Hi lovely, of course!! Always happy to hear a different opinion as long as they're respectfully put, which yours absolutely is, and as long as you don't mind me disagreeing back!

[Note: Sarah's just pointed out to me that you asked for a safe space and my response doesn't really do that and just disagrees with you. She's right, and I apologise for not being clearer about the fact I was planning to do so when I hit post. But you are always welcome to share your opinion here. I can't guarantee a safe space, but I can guarantee an open mind.] Because I do genuinely believe that the WLW routes in S8 are better than they have been previously.

I'm not going to be addressing homophobic and racist comments about Bea and Hari. My advice for those? Stay the hell off Reddit. I'm not getting into the way this fandom talks about race, especially for Asian islanders. I just want to talk about the WLW routes as that was the main point of your ask.

I want to make sure I've acknowledged and responded to everything you said, so please see below.

[This got long AF. TL;DR at the end.]

Locked out of routes, and Male LIs being forced on you

This isn't new to this season, and in my opinion it's been done dramatically better than previous seasons. I've played all of them, and almost every single season holds the female LI back until the end. Marisol, Elisa, Najuma, Angie, Dana, Lulu, Bella, Chloe, Flo, Bonnie, I don't think you could couple up with a single one of them until the final recoupling. The only exceptions were S1 and S3, I think? I believe you could get with Talia slightly earlier (and have Sammi come in later as a LI for the guy who otherwise would be dumped), and AJ/Yasmin you could couple up with and make Tai and Ciaran get together. But that's only 2 seasons from 8.

(Note: I see you said you could couple up with Vicky in S7, and I'll be honest, I barely played S7 as I found the writing itself extremely lacklustre. So I'll have to take your word for it that they somehow made that work.)

I get that it's frustrating to be separated from a female LI until late game. It's a sentiment I've heard every single season since I started playing alongside the releases. But realistically, this is how the game is structured. Love Island, as a premise, is based on heterosexual relationships. Pairing off and being in heterosexual couples, etc. Same as something like 'the Bachelor'. Two female contestants could be together, sure. But that's not how the show is structured. The only real solutions have been in S1 and S3, both of which I've already mentioned. I'd love to see more MLM couples made canon, or creative ways of letting us couple with women earlier, but I don't think there's one simple solution. This particular show is aimed at het couples. As unfair as it may seem, that's how the game is structured. (Crossing my fingers for canon MLM couples. PLEASE!)

I also disagree that WLW routes are written to be a bonus thing for bi women to do once they finish the good routes. Claudia's route has been a main route since day one in the villa. The fact that you can only have a relationship with either Theo OR Claudia means they intended from the very beginning to have whichever one of that couple you choose be the slow burn route- the route that you can't get on until the very end.

To say that 'Watching Claudia grind on Theo made me physically sick'-- Congratulations and welcome to the slowburn route 😂 I feel exactly the same way when Theo REJECTS ME OUTRIGHT and says he's only interested in Claudia, or when Suresh's heartrate gets raised the most by Lulu, or when I finally couple with Jake and he tells me I should pursue Levi. Don't you think the fact that it's had such an impact on you shows how well-written she is as a female LI? Claudia is AMAZING. But she's also bisexual. She's allowed to be torn between a male and a female LI and want to explore relationships with both, and I don't think it's fair to be angry that she's playing out all her options. That just means she's a well-written bisexual character. (Side note may I remind you that you've been able to take Claudia to the hideaway, and sleep in a bed with her, whereas Theo girls were only able to KISS the dude for the first time within the last week!!!! 😭) I think the only canonical lesbian routes are Angie from S4 and A.J. from S3. But even so, they're both questioning while in-villa and only come out either towards the end or in the post-season. You can watch AJ's route on Youtube if you didn't get a chance to play. Also, you're not locked out of the WLW route if you're bi/into men. Only if you're interested in Theo specifically. This is definitely somewhere they could improve-- I wanted Theo and Claudia, but eventually went back to play a straight route for Theo. However, I DESPERATELY wanted to flirt with Bea. It would've been wonderful if we'd been able to flirt with her separately. (I think I did get this option, but I believe it may have been a glitch). An option early in the game when the female LI asks you could be:

Yes, I'm into you!

No, I'm not into you, but I might be into other women

No, I'm not into women.

The Female LIs are merging together

Welcome to Love Island the Game by Fusebox games, where all the love interests merge and the personalities don't matter. You're not alone here, and it's not NEARLY as bad as previous seasons. Watch Najuma, Bruno, and JAMES have exactly the same dialogue in S4 despite being wildly different personalities. Watch Lewie, Jamal and Ryan be completely interchangeable. This isn't exclusive to WLW routes.

The female LIs are hidden behind a gem wall.

Again, this is the same for everyone, even players on a straight route. FB are greedy.

Being LGBT is treated like a side mission

It's something you're only allowed to do behind closed doors. You can pay to make out with a girl in every episode

This is hard. I get why you feel like this, anon, I really do. But I genuinely do think that this is the devs trying to give you something. They know it's frustrating to have to wait so long to couple with a female LI, so they try and give you bonus opportunities along the way to connect with your love interest. Almost every single smut scene written in the scripts has a female alternative. Again, I'm not saying that it's perfect, but having looked at and manipulated the scripts for four seasons now, I can absolutely assure you that this has not always been the case. They ARE improving and giving you more opportunities to spend time with your female LI than you had in previous seasons.

TL;DR

I'm not saying S8 is a perfect season for WLW routes.

The part I'm disagreeing with is where you said it's the worst season.

I absolutely disagree with that. There are far worse seasons. Even the golden child Season 2 didn't let you couple up with a woman until right at the end, watching her graft and grind on everyone BUT you. We also don't even know for sure that we can't couple up with a girl until the last week. The game's still being released. (I won't be surprised if that's the case though.)

I think Claudia and Bea are EXCELLENT female love interests in comparison with what we've had previously. They're both beautiful, they have unique personalities, they have very different routes (Claudia's confused between you and Theo, Bea's your bestie to lover and she's got terrible taste in men, dear god please save her).

I understand WANTING more WLW routes, but from a development point of view, there are simply not enough opportunities in the real-life structure of LITG to have fully blown out WLW routes. And even if they were, FB Games are not going to be financially motivated to do so. Their main customer base ($$$) is pursing a het route, so that’s who they’re creating for. They can't even get through the hetero routes without the characters merging personalities. There are other games doing this well, including fan-made games, which I'd recommend checking out. I don't have the link handy to the game pages, but check out @thatwheelchairchick, I believe she's working on an alternative game?

Anyway, I hope that clarifies my position on why I think they're worth playing. Sorry that it turned into an essay.

[crimswnred]

I've just gotten back home from work so I'm a little late to the party, however...

LITG SEASON 8: TEMPTING FATE — VOLUME 2: thoughts, concerns and prayers

first of all yesss more hair booooo paywall, fusebox get it together??? (at least they are pretty but again that's the bare minimum)

anyway, here's my girl with her new hair

why do all of the girls' nightwear look like I'm on a strip club and they're asking me if I want something to drink

it's so over for you Theo

honestly she's too good for him anyway

okay kiss challenge!!!! let me snog everyone

I don't want any more of that "peck" crap we want FULL ON SNOGS, TONGUE AND CHAOS

Jin: "Nap, then results?" Hamish would be so proud of him

okay, so you rate me EIGHT just so I feel like I have to pay to have one extra kiss, your game is a dirty as ever Fusebox

date time!!!! going with Jin ❤️

LMAO Jack is kinda funny

so sad to see a baddie doing too much to keep a man in love island 💔 Luna I'm so sorry you didn't deserve it your only crime was being coupled up with the one guy I want

oh. so about the terrace scene...

first of all, super sweet gem scene. it seemed like a super important one for it to be a gem scene though. so idk I'm a bit lost.

Jin is a walking red flag 😭 this boy is soooo gonna flip on me when the next hot girl shows up!! but let's enjoy the ride

and Luna... girl... was it ever that serious?

the award for worst outfit design goes to 👇

and the one for BEST outfit design goes to 👇

like wow wowza mmmhmm yeah! this man is hot hot HOT 🔥🔥🔥

I had to kiss him HE IS SO FINEEEEEEEEEEE

oh, Jack is kinda sweet... if he looked more like Lewie/Alex he would be favourite boy of the season for sureeee

keep the compliments coming, darling

I had to kiss him too. you know, to be polite.

but it was just a peck, tho

okay, NOW JIN!!!

having a spicy conversation with the guy I want to fuck and his currently girl isn't how I planned to spend my afternoon but here we go

"You're adventurous. You're fun to be around. And you'd make every sight even more beautiful", "Okay. Where's the punch line?", "There isn't one :)" OKAY GAG ME WITH THE WRITING

FUNNY BOY WHO'S A HISYORY NERD? OH OKAY!!!! BIG T??? NO IT'S BIG J!!!!!! JIMOTHY!!!

lmao Sophie mixing the boys up she's so me

Claudia is a real one let me tell you that

she's nice, she doesn't force herself upon us, she's polite, she give us all the tea, and she even help us to graft on the boys behind their girls' backs. like, THAT'S MY GIRL

and if Theo doesn't step up she will DEFINITELY be mine

TIME TO PICK MY BOY LET'S GOOOOOOOO

so sad to see Luna go, I really like her :/

lmao???????????

I TAKE BACK EVERY GOOD THING I SAID ABOUT JACK WTFFFF 😭😭😭😭

he was so out of pocket ?? what's your deal man, are you jealous I picked Jin instead of you? we kissed ONCE. be sooooooooo for real rn

okay Sophie you can join your boy in this bullshit he still cheated on you with me when you weren't looking (and he probably would do it again)

no. I won't forgive you?? you were basically calling me a whore back then and now you are SORRY? don't say something you'll regret later that's not cute.

and he's supposed to be serious?

anyway, stressful night over. time to go to bed with my babygirl Jin

BITS BITS BITS BITS

29 gems to go all the way? what is this?

they could've make the scene a little longer but they have gotten way better ever since the writers dropped the word crescendo

MR TYLER WHO ARE YOU?

still not 100% sure if I'm going with Jin or Oakley but I'm leaning towards Jin, I'm not gonna lie 😁 I did some stuff that will fuck me over on movie night if fusebox finally learnt how to code (which they prolly didn't so I guess I'm safe)

I really enjoyed this episode except for the part when Jack and Sophie went full on villain mode but if the narrative made sense all of the time it wouldn't be LITG, right?

anyway, let's see what this Tyler guy is about... see you all next week 🫶

[legandairy-horror]

Initial thoughts after Completing Canto 7. Spoilers below the cut

For where Id place Canto 7 Id say somewhere around Canto 5, not sure if it's above or below. I know there was no way it was going to top Canto 6, something just had to give. Its just a bit of a shame that its this much of a drop yknow? Not to say it's bad yknow, cause even Canto 2 I still consider alright.

Easily the worst dungeon in the game. Only 1 floor and it's short as hell. The fights range from absolute jobbers to "Spam E.G.O and Pray" with absolutely no in-between.

In Order: Teddy Bear was interesting if a bit bland, mostly just need to pay attention to status effects and you're good. Lasso was threatening with his Rupture until you realize that's all he does. I just kinda clashed with him for 20~ish minutes until he died.

Camille/Peri is funny as shit in a fucked up kinda way for a number of reasons. 1) the fact that they're death is handled in such a lazze-faire way. Not only is it such a piss easy fight, but like they don't even get named in their fight nor does Peri get a new talk-sprite, they're just "corroded Zwei/Cinq Fixer". 2) The fact that it's supposed to be our stand in for the 400-Roses fight, so you just know that they're going to make a big deal when it inevitably appears in RR5. Like I know exactly what you're planning PM, you can't trick me. 3) The fact that this piss easy fight is immediately followed up with 3 of the most bullshit fights in the game is funny as shit.

Pequod Trio: Vampire Edition, while a funny name isn't quite accurate. While that fight was nonsense by design this fight was nonsense in a very "Lobotomy Corp" kinda way where it just throws 3 bosses at you and says "good luck fucko". Yeah they're at like half-health but that still doesn't stop Dulcinae's "inflict 50 Bleed and 20 Bleed count" shtick from being Bullshit.

Sancho was the most E.G.O spam fight I've ever E.G.O spammed which is saying a lot. Made all the worse by certain mechanics and a few unfortunate rolls meaning that she was at Max SP for basically half the fight. I love the cutscenes and all the character development from the other sinners but fuck me I burned through All my Lust and Sloth on that fight alone.

Lastly, Mancha Quixote Might just be the worst fight in the game. Like its insane that they said "what if we took all of Dulcinae's problems and made them all 10x worse". Like the only reason I made it through that was because of Solo Cinq Don, Fluid Sac, and Luck. I can say a lot more about *why* his fight and these guaranteed damage mechanics don't work but for now I'll just say that chain battles just do not have enough incentive to justify this kind of encounter design. As a character the man's fairly interesting cause you can tell his heart is in the right place but his naivety meant that his plans were always gonna fall apart in the face of reality. Also I'm curious if P Corp is gonna bring him back as like a cyborg or something cause unless Sanson pulls double Duty I have no idea who Don's N Corp counterpart is gonna be.

To wrap this up: To me the most interesting parts of the Canto are all the lore implications and, as mean as this is gonna sound, all the character moments from all the *other* sinners. I think they finally managed to top "Break from your Birdcage" as the best End-of-Canto Moment, just full-stop. Otherwise yeah. Keep on Cooking PM

[dceuheadcanons]

I've been asked to talk more about my "Bruce Wayne has OSDD-1B" post, so I will be doing just that!! I will elaborate on further details about each headmate in the future. Feel free to see my last post on this if you have not already.

So far I've noticed that there are at least five headmates. Batman, B, Brucie, Bruce Wayne, and Mr Wayne.

Batman started forming the night his parents were shot, and his memory also starts there. He cannot remember his childhood pre-ten. He's a protector of sorts, but he also holds the rage. He's the most intelligent of the bunch, what with being the "World's Greatest Detective" and all. He is slow to trust people, but he believes that there is good in everyone. That is why he does not kill. Though that wasn't originally the case, he saw the worst in everyone for a decade or so, his viewpoint changed when he took in Nightwing. Every part of him has patrolled as Batman, the cowl belonging to them all partially because of his obliviousness towards his disorder, but he is the one made to be Batman.

B is the father. He formed for the singular purpose of being a parent. None of the others were prepared for such a task. He has great care for his children, despite failing in places due to the awful example his own father set. He would kill for any one of them. He was the one that endeavoured to kill The Joker when Red Hood was murdered. He doesn't take kindly to anyone he loves being harmed.

Brucie is the playboy. Everyone knows that. He doesn't take much seriously, he flirts with everyone (of appropriate age) that he meets, he does drugs, and he's an alcoholic. But he's the one that's been around the "longest". He remembers his entire childhood. He deals with his grief and trauma with hypersexuality and substance abuse. He's the least honest of the bunch and absolutely hates people seeing him as sad or weak. But he commonly accompanies Batman on patrols. He's good with words and good with people, able to manipulate and redirect effortlessly. He's the one that goes on out-of-costume intel missions. He's the one fucking all his rogues! He has the lowest iq of the bunch, but he's still considered a genius by his score.

Bruce Wayne is the child. The child that "died in the alleyway with his parents". In systems, these are commonly called littles. They're used to cope with high stress situations, but he is never usually left alone. If left alone he's quiet, flinches at loud noises, distrusts adults, and will be willing to beat the shit out of anyone that disrespects his father's name. If you do manage to get him to trust you, he will talk about things that he liked in childhood. Pokémon, Sonic Underground, classical literature, etc. He was born in the 90s in my AU, similar to the newest movie. I will roughly outline my timeline in another post.

Mr Wayne is the business man. He does not respond to Bruce, as he both sees himself as above others and ISN'T Bruce. He's the only introject, and he's an introject of Thomas Wayne. He isn't mean or entirely self centered. He makes sure the employees of his company and all of the companies he owns are treated well. He pays for employees' family's education, rent, food, whatever they need. He has a LOT of money and he knows that as long as he keeps his businessess going and his employees happy, he won't ever go bankrupt. He uses that to help whoever he can, he donates large sums to charities, etc. He's commonly around at the same time Brucie is. He isn't allowed to be around at the same time Bruce Wayne (the little/child) is, though, due to the fact that their real father was abusive. He'd scare the kid.

[a-really-good-lawyer-abandoned]

Something I never see people talk about (which could be because I simply haven't come across it) is how rough forming a new hyperfixation can be, especially a core hyperfixation.

I've loved Star Trek for years. But for whatever reason, it wasn't until a couple years ago that something in my brain *clicked* and it became a new core hyperfixation.

In some ways it was better than past such hyperfixations because there is so much Star Trek out there to consume, between shows and films and then the fandom content because this fandom has been alive and well for over 50 years, gave birth to modern fandom.

But that didn't change the fact that, for the ensuing six months, it consumed my life - and not in the fun, tongue-in-cheek way we say 'this fandom consumes my life', like semi-hyperbole.

When I say it consumed my life, I mean it was near non-stop hyperfocus for months.

My apartment was constantly a mess, same as my sense of time. My sleep schedule was constantly erratic. I was often dehydrated, had frequent headaches, often found myself shaking from all the adrenaline surges. I dropped fifteen pounds almost without noticing (weight I shouldn't have dropped).

I was always drained, always disoriented, always distracted. It didn't feel good. Really, it felt distinctly bad, and I felt completely out of control to make it stop. If I made myself ignore the media and fic and fan art and all of that, it just meant I sank into myself, got lost in my head for hours on end.

After the first two months it began to gradually, slowly ease up, and when I hit around six months it stopped feeling like I was being dragged along and started to feel the way I want when it comes to hyperfixations - it was fun, mood-boosting. Engaging with it improved my mental health, instead of causing it, along with my physical health, to deteriorate.

That was probably the worst 'epsiode' I've had, but I've had them several times. The one when I developed the Daredevil hyperfixation thankfully lasted only two months, same as when it was FMA:B and BBC Merlin, and...three months, I think, for Star Wars? The one that got closest was Smallville, my first fandom hyperfixation, though I imagine some of that had to do with it coming out when I first had regular internet access. That one was maybe four or five months, and was dragged out by the fact that I was in high school so I was 'forced' away from it all by the anxiety of college applications and AP exams and all that fun stuff.

I love having these things. They've been good for me, for my emotional welfare - have helped me survive so much. I never regret that initial rough aspect, not that I've ever had the power to do things differently.

But it is rough, and one of the aspects of neurodivergence I've had the most trouble explaining to neurotypical people. They see it as simple obsession or addiction, something that I fell into and need to take steps to pull myself out of, rather than something that my brain just does at the drop of a hat and which won't stop until I go through that process. Trying not to, trying to mitigate it, just ends up dragging that process out. It can't be reduced or bypassed. It's just part of how my brain works.

And people trying to interfere with that, to 'fix' that by making me pay attention to other things, giving me tasks, whatever it may be - it does nothing to change it. If anything, it makes the whole thing much more destabalizing, in ways that can have major consequences for my state of mind, and I've had the experiences to prove it.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but I just...wanted to put it out there. I think there can be shame attached to this reality - shame I've felt, and which I've come to recognize originates from neurotypical social expectations and a lack of understanding.

If this is something you've dealt with and have been shamed for, I hope this post can give you some comfort. It isn't a failing, isn't deviant, isn't indulgent. It just is, and you aren't bad or broken or weak because of it.

[midnakoopa]

Jesus Fucking Christ, I have a new most hated character in all of media and it's the principal from Koleda's story missions. Angry rant below.

This cunt oversees an illegal mining operation that sees a hollow overtake a kindergarten, and only feels bad for a moment when he finds out his daughter's caught up in it. The whole time smugly and condescendingly spinning bullshit about how he's a "law-abiding citizen", while ACTIVELY in the presence of the thugs he's hired to do the mining. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, he not only gets off scot-free, but gets a better-paying job. Meanwhile, we're supposed to just be okay with it because "oh wahh if it came out her father was a criminal this child would get bullied :(".

What pisses me off isn't JUST the character, it's the godawful writing, too. Like, we have multiple eyewitnesses to this shit, including the fucker's own daughter, and he just gets off because "the association never got involved uwu". In WHAT fucking world?

I have no memory of ANY time a character/plot has made me actually scream, several times, at length, from being so frustrated.

The worst part is, I thought ZZZ was doing fine, plot-wise. It went three whole chapters without pissing me off, which is a LOT more than I can say about Genshin Impact. The first time I got mad was at the Jane interlude, because hey, there was ONE direction for them to escape to when she threw a smoke bomb. WALK FORWARD. Y'know, like Seth did? Looking back, sure, maybe it's excusable as "they needed to not catch Jane because she's undercover". Fine, whatever.

Then I get to Grace's story and HOOOOLY shit. I was already kinda on the fence about Grace from chapter 2; turns out yeah, I hate this woman's guts. Completely forgets a woman from her school that was on her team, that she was roommates with, and then we get the setup for a plot predictable from the get-go of "oh it's okay that her personality sucks and she disregards other people to a practically misanthropic degree because she's good at machines and she was right about this the whole time; that excuses everything else about her". Boring. Meanwhile the narrative ends up treating the frankly justified Betty like the villain, and honestly it feels like they want us to not feel bad for her at the end.

Which, uh, doesn't that fuckin' suck? Already frustrated after one poorly-written story, then right into another, with the biggest cunt I've ever had the displeasure of seeing.

[verybigvag]

Harmony

Teenage mutant ninja turtles

Summery

After everything that happened; even if they are no longer enemies, there are unresolved issues lingering in the air between them. Little did Karai and April know this conversation was inevitable. It's what they needed.

This would theoretically take place after season 4, ep. 16: Broken Foot and before ep. 17: The Insecta Trifecta.

This is my first fic ever and I'm pretty nervous about it as I've wanted to write fics for years but this is now me taking the first step. To anyone who happens to read this, I hope y'all enjoyed it. I would like to do more fics going forward but I can't say they'll be immediate though. Also I would like to get into other fandoms besides TMNT. Anyway, thanks again if you read this, I hope to be back here again soon.

Posted on my AO3, feel free to subscribe to me there! 2k+ words

~

“Do you remember when we first met?”

Karai disrupted the tense silence like a rock shattering glass. There was a soft ringing in April's ears as the words echoed, her body could only stiffen awkwardly. She knew the brevity of speech would come to an end, but the words chosen almost seemed unwarranted… Almost.

April looked off to the distant sky line of towers and skyscrapers as she sat on the concrete edge. Initially unable to find the intent to face karai, but when the redhead finally forced herself to look over her shoulder, the fellow Kunoichi gazed to the right of them; unwilling to make eye contact.

“uhh, why do you ask?” When finally replying back, she made sure her tone was as simple as possible.

Even though it happened almost a long time ago, negative feelings were heavily associated with their first interaction. April always told herself she'd grown past it, Learned from it (which was true of course) she remained resentful; but worst of all, scared of the new enemy. Now with more than just the Kraang to worry about, splinter decided it would be best for April to remain in the sewers for her protection. It wasn't what she wanted but it was the best way to protect her. She’d spent so many nights, training sessions and moments alone, internally questioning her defensive abilities, how it wasn't enough and she hated it.

The quietness rang longer than expected, but finally a deep breath broke free from karai. “I never… apologized for that.”

That wasn't too bad of a start, it was better than nothing after all and it definitely had April paying attention now.

“I was so focused on my vendetta, I never thought of-” it was like the words were caught in her throat.

“I never thought how wrong I could've been but to find out I was raised with a lie like that.”

“You mean about your mother…”

The words reigned with sympathy, enough for Karai to finally look back at her and nod.

“Yeah.” It was the truth after all. Both shared a similar pain in their gut.

Neither knew where to go from here. April had given in to the strain on her neck and faced back forward, Leaving karai no choice but to take the first step forward. It was only a few short feet needed to make it at the ledge and awkwardly setting herself down right beside April; both immediately tensing at the now occupied space.

Who knows why Leonardo would set these two on patrol together, one would think he'd be more interested in partnering himself with Karai but it really doesn't matter now.

They weren't on bad terms, good might as well a fine word at best. Just acquainted if anything. Weird isn't enough to describe the allyship given the familial relation karai had with the turtles, Splinter and to an extent, April. Realistically a stranger shouldn't know the nuanced details of what life was like before what became of Karai, yet April did. Now they're alone.sitting on this cold ledge together, contemplating the day at murakami's shop.

“You know…It's not your fault,” April started.

It's almost like she deflated; ready for the wind to drag her away, but she persisted.

“s-some things are just beyond our control.”

Giving comfort to others was something April didn't do much, especially people she didn't know but what else was there to be said, especially now?

Karai could only give April a questioning look, hazel eyes scanning the reluctant face.

“I see…” Everything was still as she soaked up the words, It sounded like something splinter might say. Just the thought of him made her smile.

Life is strange like that. To think of the events that lead to our current point in time, even if we weren't involved directly.

“I suppose you're right.” Karai sighed “To be honest, I wish I had more control of things.”

“...me too.”

While there wasn't much said, it felt nice for both of them to know they weren't alone in their stances. There was an odd comfort found in it.

April took this moment to lose herself in her memories. Going back again to that day, being chased and cornered. She almost lost, could have been taken but by sheer luck, found an opening. An opportunity to take advantage of. “When you told me those things, I didn't know what to think. I don't think I'm special-”

“Wait, I don’t-”

“Karai let me finish?” The raised tone caught them both off guard. April paused to compose herself, taking a deep exhale before apologizing and continued.

“I didn't want to be special. I just wanted my life to be- in order… I just wanted my dad back. I lost my mother, I didn't wanna lose him too.”

This admission wasn't surprising but Karai's irises dilated for a moment, catching her off guard just like the first time she heard the confusion. That pain of being tumbled down the metro stairs seemed to shroud her once again. Given the situation Karai never held that against April, she was only protecting herself. Like she always had to.

“It's stupid, I know.” An exasperated groan left April's life as she massaged her Temple, believing the self deprecation would alleviate any embarrassment she felt after her statement, but she was thankfully met with reassurance.

“No, it's not.” Karai began, her voice the softest it's ever been.

“You were the center of an alien conspiracy, protected by mutants, trained by a great ninjutsu master, and now a kunoichi for one of the possibly last Ninja Clans left in the 21 century. That's pretty Stupid if you ask me.” only a jaded smile remained on Karai lips.

There’s an angst that settled in the air between that lasted just for a moment.

“Oh, my god you're right.” April’s hand went to trap the erupting chuckle, instead a soft muffle was heard. It was so silly after all. To think of everything that happened, it was a lot for one to deal with. It was a Marvel to think April was still here on earth. To have this moment of peace, and it was so nice. So, so nice.

For once, everything felt so still, so calm. Tranquility seemed like a rarity nowadays.

The turtles, April. Karai. They had more in common than they'll admit. The way a single man who’s obsession burned like a scorch from the sun, to affect them the way it did. Yet nobody ever wanted to talk about it, how could they? It seemed easier to forget and to just live on. The only time it was ever brought up was a private moment between Karai and Michaelangelo.

He was always so thoughtful, open-minded and emotional, and even angry under his chill and bubbly front. It was genuine of course but Mikey couldn't help but let down his guard, especially for his sister.

It was a brisk conversation. There were some things she couldn't answer for him but he understood that. At the end Mikey had given karai and hug so friendly, tight and caring; it almost made her uncomfortable but it was just how he was and she was ok with that. Never had everyone been so overly affectionate with her in such a manner, or affectionate at all for that matter.

It was different being here with April, watching her hold back laughter from a snarky comment. Karai didn't really see the humor in it. Maybe it was just a way to cope, to find the sense of comedy in those unforeseen circumstances. Unfortunately she didn't laugh much, or nothing could make her laugh like how another person would.

“Is it really that funny?” Karai’s head tilted in confusion.

“No…but yes?” The last remaining chuckles seeping out of April, giving her lungs room to breathe.

“I don't know, but I think so anyway.”

“I see.”

As the silenced peck, both only made eye contact and gave reassuring smiles. It gave them each other time to really study the other's face.

Karai finally realized just how large and blue April's eyes were. A deep hue that was uncommon, almost a little strange to her. Especially with bright ginger hair to contrast. Some couldn't help but think of the logistics of it.

“I just have to ask, do you ever think about…this?” Karai motioned her index finger in a circular motion, indicating at April's bust.

“What- y-you mean me?” A now confused April, her tone almost offended.

“No? I mean your whole, red hair and blue eyes…you're the only person I meet with recessive traits like this.”

“R-right…yeah.” It took a few seconds to understand what she meant. Genetics talk wasn't something she ever partook in. Except with the one exemption when Donatello explained how rare her gene combination was. She had already known how uncommon her hair type was but it made her head spin to realize the rarity of her gene combination.

“I've heard that alot.” April fingers began to fidget with each other as one of her thumbs began to rub against the leather of her suit.

“how people would assume both my parents were redheads. My dad was a ginger. My mom is the one with blue eyes…”

Karai’s face had fallen, but it was noticeable for anyone to notice. The way it seemed to be a sore subject for them both. At this moment though, there was a new interest, a curiosity in each other that extended beyond just them.

“What was she like? If you're ok to talk about it I mean.”

“Oh, it's ok…it's just- I never really knew her. I was really young but I have some good memories.” Off-putting ones she'd rather not reveal either, perhaps a story for another day.

“Even if I didn't know a lot, I still love her, I miss her and I feel maybe…it's wrong to feel that way with how little I knew her.” There was a heavy swallow from April, she closed her eye’s to deeply inhale. An attempt to stop the heavy weight in her irises.

“It's not wrong.” Karai interjected, a new sadness in her that she made sure to tame.

“I never knew mine. she di-... She was killed when I was only a few months old.” The correction in words seemed like an unusual thing to correct but it meant something to Karai. A truth she wished for soon but now, there is no need to hide what really happened.

“I can't help but think about her often. Wondering. Wishing for what could've been..” She sighed.

“All I had was a torn picture that Saki let me keep. He'd never really talked about her, he’d just tell that she was ‘the love of his life, and if only she was here with us.’, A truth to cover twisted lies really.”

April had given up trying to remain disciplined and let her eyes water. She's heard the story from splinter and the turtles, the first time even made her shed tears. Initially Yoshi was always brief and vague with his previous life, the implications were always unsettling to say the least. It made sense why he was always so distant, that isn't to say was not inattentive to his sons. Every parent has their issues somewhere, it's a given but truthfully Splinter could have been more emotionally available to his son's and in turn the turtles would have learned this, but it was never something to hold against splinter. Despite appearances, he's still human.

“I'm…I'm really sorry.” The words were crinkled as April attempted to wipe the watery residue from her eyes, even worried how she would be perceived at that moment but she was thankfully met with reassurance.

“It’s ok….well, ok isn't the right word but I think you understand what I mean. I'm sorry too.”

“Thanks.” April nodded back as she got the last of the watery residue from her eyes.

It was an unexpected thing to do. Neither didn't realize how they were now seated closer together; close enough for April to lean her head to rest on Karai's shoulder, sending a shiver up her spine at the physical proximity. She felt conflicted…or did she? It was hard to articulate how she felt about this. It was completely harmless but yet, karai didn't think she deserved this, the comfort.

Her lips pierced together as she thought about what to say, what to do. There wasn't a coherence thought in her head, it started small but now it feels like bees have somehow found their way into Karai's skull, a colony buzzing around as they did so many things at once.

Is this ok? Do I want to feel ok with this? Is April-

“Hey. it's ok."

It's like she knew the perfect time to interrupt Karai's headspace, making her chest deflate. It honestly wasn't hard for April to feel the other's rapid heartbeat. The swarming cloud that only April can feel. She didn't know how to help but the only thing that seemed appropriate was reassurance.

A weight seemed to be lifted from the atmosphere, as if the air became cool, flowing freely and Safe to inhale. Safe.

“Is this o-ok?” April asked quietly, but never lifting her head.

A hum rang from karai, letting her guard down just enough. Heart rate sinking to a steady place, and her head leaned to her right, resting on April's. Their shoulders connected, causing a meek smile to grow on Karai's face.

“Yeah. I think so.”

[newspropaganda]

so you say that the characters don't grow in zexal, because every protagonist gets better as the series progresses.

You don't say. That's literally the point of being a duelist. Nobody's out there going "I'm going to start dueling and be the worst possible duelist because I never want to get better."

At least Yuma didn't start as the best and have 1 loss in the history of his life, like Atem, Jaden, and Yusei. You can throw in Yuya and Yusaku too.

Minimal losses and superior skill! Wow! That definitely makes the duels interesting.

At least we actually got to see how Yuma became the best. Not just "The Yu-boy is the best, no-one can beat him, he saves the world!"

That's a classic yugioh thing. And once they make someone who isn't the best right away, somehow that's trash?

And Astral, the so called plot-convenient monologue machine, would Zexal be better without him?

No.

I'm sorry that some people state what they've learned. Like his observations.

Of course he told yuma about things that he already should know about. Astral doesn't know about that stuff and assumed that yuma didn't either. If you can remember correctly, they didn't start well.

And he doesn't exist purely to spout that stuff at yuma. he's literally the reason that yuma grew as a duelist and that the inevitable doom that his planet would suffer. If Astral didn't exist, his world would be destroyed, and so would Earth.

And nothing says "compelling villain" like power-hungry millennium item hunting guys with associates that hate a pharaoh for existing, either. Darts? He didn't have a reason for being evil. some orichalcos stone decided to turn him against mankind.

How compelling!

and you sure weren't complaining about Seto Kaiba. He does what he does because he has a brother, a rival, and a profound love for a a blue eyes white dragon and money.

And for your information, literally every yugioh villain had some sort of tragic past. Bandit king bakura? His town went up in flames and he was the only survivor. Pegasus? his fiance died. dartz? his kigdom was destroyed and his wife was turned into a monster. marik? he got an excruciating back tattoo.

What's new? Atem isn't here, so villains are suddenly different?

They've been like this since the dawn of yugioh.

Now I didn't say that it wasn't made for kids. The entire franchise was made for kids.

I'm sorry that you can't find anything good in the anime, but at least TvTokyo did something different from the usual "protagonist gets rival. no prob. he beats him. protagonist gets enemy. no prob. he beats him. protagonist proves himself to be the best by winning every tournament he's ever been in."

sure, yuma completed some of those, but he never even beat kaito, his rival.

and no-one said that zexal was sophisticated and mature. no-one did.

but some people here pay attention to the actual thing we're watching, not some pity party in their heads about how they think the show sucks.

And others just grew up with zexal. I, for one, did. And i've watched the dub and part of the sub.

maybe if you'd finally stop letting something pass through one ear and go out the other, then you'd see the reality in some things.

people are entitled to their opinions, and just because you see things one way doesn't mean that everyone else should feel the same way.

Oh, and about the "Bad Duels" and stuff, I'm sorry that the duels are more life-like than they were in other series. Sometimes it's nice to have a change.

Last I check Zexal was the most boring and souless Yu-Gi-Oh show that hardly had any investement to get people into and now your telling me that people care?

BRUUUUU Yugioh was aways Gallop original trilogy just like Symphogear up to GX.

[acosmicblizzard]

Hi Cosmic!! I have been looking at your work and I've liked it alot! (Ghost manor Au is my fav btw)

I haven't requested before but I'd like to request something now :D (You don't have to accept obviously:] )

I'd like to request Edgar Valden relationship headcannons....( romantic ) With a TWIST.

Edgar and reader face a fake friendly!! The survivors are up to your choice and the hunter is too. I haven't seen someone request something like this so I wanted to try!!

Putting everything aside you don't have to rush at all and take care for yourself before anything!! I wish the author a good day/night!

Hello! Thank you so much for the support, i'm very glad you like my ghost manor au series! I'll gladly accept this, sorry if it isn't up too your standards but hope you enjoy nonetheless!

Edgar and Reader against a fake friendly

Warnings: None

Story type: General hcs

Pairings/Characters: Edgar Valden - Painter x Gn!Reader, Margaretha Zelle - Female Dancer, Yidhra - Dream Witch, Demi Bourbon - Barmaid

Banner art credit: smol_kia on twitter

(possible ooc, made during school so possibly lower quality then my others works.)

It was a normal friendly match at first, Margaretha and you were decoding while the dream witch Yidhra stood nearby. Spraying back whenever the survivors sprayed at her and emoting back when they emoted at her. She had seen almost everyone that match other then Edgar who had been keeping his distance from the hunter and had been naturally distrustful of the dream witch. He had constantly been trying to whisk you away from everyone else. In reality, he just wanted to spend alone time with you and let the others decode, maybe even paint you due to the time he had In this match.

You and Margaretha talked as you decoded, joking around and laughing at what one another said. The female dancer continued making small discussion with you until suddenly the leaches Yidhra had on both you and Margaretha moved closer. You didn't think much of it until the leach suddenly swung on Margaretha and terror shocked her, the familiar sound of bells signaling the hunter gaining their persona ability ringing all throughout the map. At first you were confused, maybe Yidhra just wanted to hold Margaretha or wanted the points for downing someone? You went to go heal her until Yidhra swapped to the leach that had connected to you and swung on you as well.

You started getting suspicious of the dream witches intentions as both you and Margaretha were leached onto again. Both of the leaches were soon left inactive as Yidhra moved to find the other two survivors with the leaches standing as guards just in case one of you got up. This was the worst time ever to not run self pickup for some extra healing personas, you weren't sure if Margaretha had it either. You heard the familiar voice of your boyfriend shout "stay put I'm coming!" From a small distance away. At least the baron of the manor gave the survivors a form of communication the hunters could not hear, in this realm this form of communication was crucial. Not a second later you heard the voice of Demi shout "The hunter is nearby!" Edgar quickened up his pace and eventually arrived to where both you and Margaretha were downed.

He didn't pay any attention to Margaretha and started healing you first. "Dummy, how could you fall for that! It's Yidhra for gods sake!" Edgar shouted out trying to cover up the concern in his voice with irritation. He was honestly a bit pissed but not exactly at you, it was more directed towards Yidhra. He was irritated and annoyed at the fact this hunter decided to try and act merciful to only backstab people later. He's had to deal with a lot of that all throughout his life due to his status but having it be done to you made his blood boil. He finds it quite pathetic such a powerful god is resorting to this to win matches. He soon got you up and both of you went to heal Margaretha as you heard Demi get downed across the map. You needed to heal quickly and get these leaches removed as soon as possible. A few seconds later the barmaid was chaired as you got Margaretha up. The second you did Yidhra swapped back to one of her leeches and immediately went for Margaretha. You attention snapped back to Edgar as you told him to go save demi as you would focus on ciphers and supporting Margarethas kite when you could.

3 ciphers later and things weren't looking any better, Margaretha died, Demi was kiting for as long as she could on last chair, and Edgar was across the map from you working on a cipher. You were hoping both you and Edgar could get a prime in time for Demi as you typed on the ciphers keys, rapidly trying to decode it. You heard Edgar's cipher pop across the map as you shouted "Priming!" Hoping that Demi wouldn't get downed before you could prime the cipher. That hopeful wish wouldn't come true though, the barmaid was soon chaired and screamed as she got shot into the sky. You sighed and continued working on the cipher, slightly relieved it was almost finished. That relief was cut short though as you heard the sound and red cloud signifying a teleport. You panicked and ran from the cipher shouting that the hunter was nearby you. Edgar quickly responded with stay put I'm coming. The painter ran as fast as he could towards where your cipher was, as much as he wanted to support your kite and whisk you away from danger he couldn't. Minutes passed before you got downed by the dream witch and as soon as you were downed the primed cipher was popped and you were back up on your feet. As long as Edgar was able to get a exit gate open this could be a tie. Edgar soon opened a gate and kept saying follow me, running towards your location with a painting on the ready. 5 minutes of stressful kiting and close calls later you two barely squeaked by with a tie.

After the match ended, Edgar whisked you away to his room. The second the door closed behind the two of you Edgar was all over you, checking for any wounds that sustained after the matches. "I can't believe that woman, a god and she does this?! Simply pathetic!" You sighed and shook your head, "It's alright Ed, the match is over now. Just relax okay?" You put your hand over his as a slight blush came to the painters face. He quickly shook this off though and soon a frown came to his face. "Are you okay though, my muse?" It was rare for Edgar to express his emotions truly through words, mostly hiding his true emotions behind irritation and stubbornness. You smiled at him, "Yes I'm okay Ed,.I promise." A slight smile came to his face as he grasped your hand harder, silently whispering under his breath "that's good.." You two stayed like that for awhile, sitting silently next to each other as time eternally passed by.

[sethmacenzie]

So I've said my part about ofmd season 2s finale and that I didn't even care anymore that my favourite character died, but the show had such an insane decline from season 1 to season 2 it was simply not as enjoyable for the entire time.

So here's a quick critique of open issues that stuck with me:

-they killed Ivan off-screen and he's only mentioned once in passing, no one cares or questions where he is when they meet again, they were fine with Izzy there, but didn't even bother asking about a crew member they were much closer with -Buttons turned into a seagull (which I didn't think was bad) and it's only questioned once by Roach and then never again brought up, and Roach asks if Ed didn't simply kill him and it's just ignored -Ed doesn't really become part of the crew, he doesn't pay up for what he did and why is Izzys deathbed apology more sincere than Ed's non apology about Izzys leg? He doesn't deserve to come back at all, because he doesn't do anything to earn it. He spends a day with Fang and that counts for the whole crew, Fang who isn't even angry at him -Izzy actually earns his place within the crew and still has to apologize to Ed, his worst abuser. Sure Izzy was part of the problem with Blackbeard, but in no way does it justify what Ed did to him (and everyone else while he was Captain of the Revenge) -remember last season when Ed made it clear that he only ever killed one person, and then in the finale he coldly pushed Lucius over and it was therefore a big deal? Yeah Ed just randomly kills like it's nothing now, and "go back to what you were good at", it wasn't killing, Ed was never good at killing

-they barely paid attention to the non ships aside from Izzy and it sucks. We had such a wonderful balance in season 1 of crew live, that we got to love them all, we didn't have any of that in season 2, it's so plain when you look at Archie, she just didn't get what her crewmates got to the point you don't care about her all that much -speaking of Archie, that relationship something with Olo, JIm, Archie and Zhang Yi Sao was a mess, they sank of the biggest relationships from season 1, which had such a well done ark in the first episodes, and many, myself included thought we might get a poly relationship, but we didn't, we got the mess we had. We had a well developed relationship that took an entire season to build and it got removed during the first three episodes in favour of two new underdeveloped characters getting with them in no time

-I know we are not historically accurate and don't bother too much with it, but Zheng Yi Sao is the most powerful female pirate in history and they nerved her for nothing, I did like how Richard got rid of her fleet, but they should have used someone else than a pirate known for dying peacefully because she got so powerful she made a deal

-the pacing was obviously bad, and I want to give them as much nicety about it as possible, but Owl House got cut from an entire season to three episodes and they still manged to nail it, ofmd lost 2 episodes and it doesn't excuse this pacing

-honestly Izzys redemption ark was rushed, just so he could be killed off, it was too much, too fast. I do love the first few episodes of him, but doing drag was a bit far fetched for episode 6, but it's a small complain, loved the singinig and dancing

-"bottle it up" is the new solution to problems, after "talk it through as a crew" from season 1. Lucius, Frenchie and Izzy just bottle everything up and nothing bad comes of it, we're supposed to believe that's a good thing? -everyone knows Stede is alive, Mary relies on him being dead and it's never brought up or important whatsoever

-this season feels like there aren't proper consequences, Ed can leave and come back and it's fine, Buttons can turn into a seagull and no one cares, Auntie gets blown up with the fleet and survives, people get stabbed multiple times and survive, but Izzy gets shot and dies, it's all over the place -there is always the whole: we have a suicidal character, they try to kill themselves, they fail, they get over their depression, they finally get happy, and we kill them off just after they found happyness. It sucks as a trope, it gives every last person that is suicidal the feeling that being happy is not worth it, because you're going to die anyway and well, maybe don't have the characer that tried to kill himself this season a line about wanting to go and in the same episode that had "it's only suicide if we die", it's tasteless at best and ill-intended at worst

-Roach is in the main cast now, but I swear he had more scenes in season 1 than seaosn 2

-having a tiny funeral scene and bam wedding, like there was no decent emotional impact on either of these moments, any why would they bury him without his leg or ring?

-Stede has a panic moment when he kills Ned and it seems like that's why he and Ed slept togeher, but it's not brought up that killing is still an issue

To end it on a few positive notes, I liked -Swede becomes Jackies husband and Roach going Mrs Bettet about the whole thing -most of the first three episodes in general -Buttons turning into a seagull and being recognized as a seawitch -having more historical figures -Auntie -Susan (mostly) aside from the issue I brought up -Wee John getting into knitting -Izzy sining and dancing -the entire leg arch of Izzy -pretty much all Izzy/Stede interactions -Frenchie sceming again and the rest all going with it -indigo! -everyones new looks -Fang going fishing and his and Roachs spa day -the after credit scenes -Ed freaking out because Stede moved too fast -Stede having a killing flashback when killing Ned Low -Spanish Jackie in general, but especially poisoning everyone and getting Swede a new look -Richard as the main antagonist -Clocks -Stede getting Hellcat Maggie and the to mutiny -the entire cast was amazing

And I shouldn't have to say this, but: don't harass people over this, critiquing is fine, threats are not. And no it's not bury your gays, everyone here is gay and that is not one of the issues this season had.

[poeticasoull]

Taekook Fanfiction | Court of Nightmares.

Summary: You've ever done something in a heat of the moment? Something that you will forever regret?

Jungkook studies in one of the most prestigious universities in South Korea with the help of a scholarship he got in Computer science. He is happy with how things have turned out for him and has great hopes for a bright future.

But everything crumbles down when he is taken by the biggest crime group in Japan because of a single damn debt his sister made.

Upon losing lots of money and not being able to pay her debt, she makes a deal with the ruthless and cruel boss of the group named Vante. What happens next?

Only God knows. Genres: BTS, Action, Drama, Thriller, Mafia.

Disclaimer: Drug usage, inappropriate language, sexual themes and explicit scenes of violence. You have been warned.

Additional disclaimer: Their appearances and their names are only included in this. Everything else is completely fictional and it's a fruit of my imagination. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it at all.

* * *

CHAPTER OO:

My hands were shaking as if I was holding the deadliest weapon known to human kind. I could feel my head spinning and heart racing at a rapid pace. Pace I never thought my body would adjust to so fast even after years of intense football practices back at school.

My chest was raising at an alarming rate, my heart was thumping so fast I knew at some point it'd fly straight out of my ribcage.

Her words echoed in my mind over and over again like a broken record. I couldn't believe it.

I was staring at her, the person I've grown up with, the person I thought was my guardian angel after our parents tragic death, the person I have always trusted and leaned on. She was the only one that has remained in my life after everything that happened. But right there, deep in my mind I remembered how my mom always used to tell me not to trust anyone. Even the closest people could stab you in the back - and unfortunately, she was painfully right. Here I was, staring at my sister as we both of us were sinking in uncomfortable silence.

I felt bitter. 

I felt betrayed. 

 I wanted to shout at Suha, I wanted to blame her, curse her and say things I'd regret afterwards as the anger was getting the worst out in me. I was never a person to get angry that easily. Never.  How could she? How could she betray me like that? My own blood. 

 I felt my throat go dry and I couldn't say a word at this point. Suha was standing there, the mascara she wore was smudged under her eyes from all the crying and her head bowed down in pure shame. She knew she was guilty, she knew what she fucking did and yet she was the one who got out of this situation without a scratch. I ran my slim fingers through my damp hair, turning around with my back facing her. I reached over, moving the red curtain over as I stole a short glance through the window, noticing the black shiny jeep with tinted windows parked in front of the complex and the two men dressed in black suits.

 They were leaning on that car with guns hanging off their belts, looking all scary and intimidating. They were waiting. And I sure as hell knew that they wouldn't leave until they got what they were ordered to take. 

 "How could you do this to me... " I trailed off quietly before the anger got the best out of me. 

"I can't fucking believe it! " I shouted, not being able to hold off the pure animalistic rage that has been building up within my chest. 

Before I knew it, my body turned quickly toward my sister and I grabbed firmly her elbow, fingertips sinking in her skin harshly. I was seeing red. 

 "I am sorry. " she whispered weakly, her hair was a mess and I could visibly see the pain and regret within her eyes. She didn't squirm away from my brutish hold. Probably she knew she deserved it. 

 "Sorry isn't good enough! Sorry won't fix the shit you got me involved into, Suha!" I yelled and that made her flinch again. Honestly, I didn't care if I scared her or if I made her cry harder, I was pissed off. 

I had all the damn rights to be. Never had I imagined that I'd go through something like this. I thought that this was happening only in movies. 

 "How much..." I whispered after a few more minutes of me watching her weep. She sniffled quietly and slowly tried shake herself off my hold.

 "How much!" I yelled again, my voice raspy. I felt my nostrils flaring. 

 "Eighty grand." her voice was a whisper. That made her take a step backward, her frame was shaking uncontrollably. 

"You sold me. . . "I started quietly before my voice grew louder, "for eighty fucking grand!" New set of tears streamed down her red cheeks.  "T-they threatened to kill me, Kookie. I c-couldn't... " she stammered her words. "T-they promised that they w-won't harm you.. " 

 "I will be a fucking slave to those gorillas for life! I won't fucking live like this and you know it! They won't harm me? You serious? These men never tell the truth! They lie and murder for their own convenience." I whispered as if I was telling this to myself rather than to her. I though that today I'd do my physics lecture, go play some football with my friends and then meet up with my girlfriend. This day started normally, dammit! 

 "I will fix this, I promise! I will find the money and I will get you back. Please, don't cause any trouble. "

"You should've thought about that earlier!" I roared; my voice was loud enough to cause some of the neighbors to peek their heads through the windows to see what was happening. Then there was a silence. Suha kept sobbing helplessly. Short puffs of air came out from my lips. Soon enough two men burst through the door, guns pointed at me and my sister. I noticed that those tall bulky gorillas were the same damn men who were waiting by that shiny car downstairs.

 I froze immediately, my anger conversed into fear as I lifted my hands in surrender slowly. These men didn't react at all, they'd approach me and one of them spoke something in Japanese I didn't understood while the other one let out a low disgusting chuckle.

The panic slowly crept up in my heart. I turned to look at Suha who had stopped crying but her face remained twisted in pure horror. She was afraid of weapons but definitely not from the damn casino she went almost every night. She had gambled every single coin we had. 

Then I turned to look at those men. Their faces were unreadable yet covered in many battle scars that made their expressions more intimidating. If they reacted at all, of course.

I noticed how they held their weapons so damn confidently pointed directly at my head. It was a warning. They wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger. I didn't see myself jumping out of that window. It was two stories high and besides, I'd be dead before I even got to do that. For the first time in my life felt vulnerable and helpless. 

 "Times up, kiddo. Either move or I put a bullet in your head." one of the men grunted in annoyance. Fuck. I was slowly starting to realize the seriousness in this situation. Before my mind could react on whatever was happening, my body did it first and slowly, my legs dragged toward the door with my hands still raised in surrender. I didn't even turn to look back second time, I could hear her faint sobs and sniffling in the distance. 

The minute I walked out, I gasped when they tied my hands firmly and put a black cloth on my head. I tried to struggle, but one of them let out a low growl of a warning and I froze. 

Before I knew it, I was forcefully pushed on a leather surface, guessing it was the back seat of that jeep parked downstairs. Silence for a minute before the door got slammed shut and that alone made me jump a little. 

I started panting heavily in pure panic. Here I was, sitting at the back seat of a car with two dangerous men. What was going to happen to me from now on? I knew that the moment I stepped out of that building, everything has already changed for me.

I heard that those men were ruthless criminals. 

And I already had a taste of how ruthless they were at a dark alley a few weeks ago as I got ambushed and beaten up.  Of course, it was just a warning from whoever was in charge of these men to my foolish sister.  I had managed to do my research on internet a few nights after that event occurred, informing myself at the reason of their current whereabouts. 

They were the Yakuza clan called "Black Tigers" which came from Japan to Korea and settled in back in the 70's. Perhaps I'd find my death wherever they were going to take me? Those people were famous for gauging their enemies eyes out and cut their hands before burying them in tons and tons of cement ten feet underground.

As soon as I heard the low purring of the engine, I realized I couldn't run away. I had ruined every damn chance I had.

 So I had no where to run. 

 God help me.