#the real reason im doing this may or may not be to pinpoint if i have hundreds of ao3 subs yet but uh

[lordstormageddidnt]

The context of this is that I saw someone on Reddit say that they had "hundreds of followers" on a social media platform (AO3) and I was curious to know how many you'd have to have before other people would say you had hundreds.

I'm also curious to know if the context matters-- is there a different threshold for social media followers vs distance (hundreds of yards), etc.

[yuurei20]

can i ask about what happens After the overblots? im pretty sure its mentioned that the memories of overblotting are foggy but im not sure if any other symptoms are mentioned?

Hello hello! Thank you for this question!

The memory issues that happen with overblots are particularly interesting because we don't technically know at what point during the process it is that the overblotters lose consciousness!

Were Riddle and Leona even awake inside of their own minds when they tried to kill Ace and Ruggie? Did Azul consciously start stealing everyone's magic, or had he already been taken over on the inside and the physical transformation was the final step?

Riddle does not seem to remember his overblot but it is possible that he remembered his flashback, as he references it when he regains consciousness.

These lines are identical across the game, manga and novel versions of Riddle's story.

Thanks to the second novel we might get more insight into Riddle's overblot that any other (as of this post):

"‘I can manage my own health just fine.’

He says this, but in reality, quite a bit of time had passed before he had been able to so much as stand on his own feet after overblotting.

He had felt so heavy; been in so much pain. It had been as if his entire body had burned itself out, along with his magical power."

-Twisted Wonderland the Second Novel

It seems Riddle had not been even able to stand upright for a while in the novel, though we do see him standing shortly afterwards in the manga (due to the limitations of the visual novel medium, whether he was able to ever stand or not in the game is a little vague. He is escorted out of the scene by Trey and Crowley, and Trey is described as physically supporting him to the nurse's office in the novel).

Leona's first line in the novel is "What did I...," but the lines above are otherwise identical and, like Riddle, Leona does not seem to remember what happened.

When Leona wakes up in the novel, Riddle explains to the others that Leona's consciousness may not have wholly returned yet and he is likely confused about what is going on.

Leona is also described as being physically spent in the novel: he refuses an offer from Crowley to help him up, but he repeatedly braces his hands against the ground as he struggles and fails to stand on his own in a sight that is described as "painful to behold." (He does eventually manage to rise to his feet without help.)

As Leona then suffers through several vengefully violent rounds of Spelldrive (it is explained that, aside from Cater and Trey, the other Spelldrive players like Jamil were unaware of his overblot), it will be interesting to read about his recovery if/when a third novel is released.

Azul doesn't seem to remember that he went "berserk" at all, presumably meaning that he doesn't remember the overblot. But this does not really answer the question of when, exactly, an overblot counts as an overblot: is the physical transformation necessary, or did losing his mind and using his unique magic without his contracts count?

(Azul does not need his contracts to enable his unique magic: he needs them to limit it, as his own magic is too powerful for him to control.)

Much like the others Jamil also seems confused about what happened when he awakes, but unlike the others we receive a little bit more follow up:

Jamil says that he has been able to successfully hide the real reason why he overblotted from his parents and Kalim's family, so while they know it happened, they don't know why.

But Jamil does know, and I think he might be the only overblotter who has come close to insinuating, "Not only is it possible to pinpoint the exact reason why I overblotted, but I know what it was."

(Thank you to @oddberryshortcake for pointing out that it is insinuated that Jamil also needed time to recover from his overblot!)

If the "overblotting happens internally over time as blot accumulates, prior the physical transformation that reflects it" theory is true, Vil reaching his point of no return might be easier to pinpoint than others.

(Vil's reaction upon awakening was localized as "How am I...?" on EN, but I would also suggest the alternative of, "Why am I...?")

Vil, too, seems confused about his situation upon regaining consciousness, but we find out later that he seems to remember a surprising amount about what happened post-transformation: he describes the phantom that appeared behind him in Book 5 as though he remembers seeing it for himself.

(Credit to @unrivalling for this follow-up, thank you very much!)

This is a fascinating revelation--do the other overblotters also remember what happened after they were overtaken, watching the events play out as if they were trapped inside of their own minds?

Idia's reaction upon waking up is identical to Riddle's (in the original game), and--also like Riddle--he might also show signs of remembering something, immediately asking after Ortho (with whom he's been conversing in between being defeated and waking up).

To the initial question: yes! Memory issues seem to be one side effect of overblotting, and it might also be the only effect that gets referenced in the game.

While post-overblot "medical treatment" is referenced it is not specified what kind of treatment was needed for what ailments.

There are many things in the novel that vary from the game and thus I would not recommend using the canon of one as proof in favor of or against the canon of the other. But we do get more details there about the physical toll that overblotting takes upon a mage's body, which might be of use for fanfic purposes? :>

[inamagicalhallucination]

pm dazai time traveling and meeting the ada and them being freaked out by him and him scaring them and thinking theyre all idiots for trusting him and it all being angsty and shit is a very interesting take

but personally, i think if pm dazai ever time traveled to meet the ada, they would, without much thought, say or do something that shows that they genuinely like him and he would probably just pass out because he cant handle genuine positive emotions directed at him (see bsd wan)

kunikida: here have this drink so you don’t pass out and die from dehydration you bastard

pm dazai: ... why did you get me this one?

kunikida: it’s ur favorite?????

pm dazai: oh *passes out*

/

pm dazai: so... you all think im ur friend

kenji: you are our friend !! we do all sorts of fun stuff together !! *thinking about all the times dazai helped him bring a cow into the office*

pm dazai: huh *internally screaming*

/

pm dazai: *vaguely shifts*

yosano: oh are your bandages itchy? i have some spare if you wanna go and change them?

pm dazai: *dies but not in the way he wants to*

/

pm dazai: im a demon; human emotions don’t mean much to me

ranpo: i’ve seen you cry over studio ghibli films, you’re as human as they get

pm dazai: oh

/

pm dazai: you just accepted me into your agency?

fukuzawa, patting his head: of course 

pm dazai: *just fucking drops to the ground*

/

pm dazai:

Jun'ichiro: oh hey, here, naomi and i thought you might be bored so we set up a bunch of movies to watch or games for you to play :)

pm dazai, on the verge of passing out, lightheaded: wh-what

naomi: yeah! we picked all the ones we thought you’d like :))

pm dazai: *falling to the ground*

/

kyoka: here

pm dazai, taking the crepe: what’s this

kyoka: i went to get some and thought you’d enjoy this flavor.

pm dazai: *chokes and nods*

/

pm dazai: why do you like me so much

atsushi: there’s lots of reasons to like you mr. dazai! maybe it’s because you always take care of me. maybe it’s because you’re funny. maybe it’s because you were the first human i ever met. it’s hard to pinpoint

pm dazai: *cries and passes out*

//

bonus:

pm dazai, staring at the grave in front of him:

atsushi: i didn’t know your friend, mr. dazai, but i think he would’ve been very proud over how much you’ve tried, and how much you’ve succeeded in being a good person

pm dazai: im not a good person. even if future me has deluded you all to think-

atsushi: i think mr. dazai is a really good person. he may have done bad things before, but i think putting in the effort to change and be better is amazing. you help people through the agency, and you prove you’re a good person. maybe you’re not perfect, but we all love you because you’re you mr dazai :)

//

i didn’t include haruno or katai because i was running out of brain thoughts sorry

/

anyway since atsushi was horrifically abused his entire life, i thought it’d be interesting to have him call dazai the first human he met, because he’d be the first kind and real person he’d have met - since the orphanage was filled with people who tormented him, they’re registered in his head for the inhumane treatment they put him through if that all makes sense

anyway

i made a few people mention dazai being human since he has that whole thing of thinking he’s not

yeah anyway these are just my two cents feel free to add on or comment

[finnoahsource]

this discussion about noah and finn's acting ability is so interesting to me. the casting director said noah had these unbelievably soulful eyes, and i think that's bang on the money. soulful! you can't buy soul. his gift certainly came naturally as a child, but i do think it's clear he has trained: the s3 rain scene is a great example of him having an almost adult understanding of the emotional motive behind a character's behaviour.

the van scene stunned me, but i did notice a few moments in s4 where noah's acting felt off, and oddly enough it was always when his wig was the worst lmao! suzie's house, and also the beautiful cabin scene with mike and will sat on the couch. for the couch scene though, i think it's because the material wasn't great, because everything real and human - aka the byler romance plot - is so perfect and absorbing. but as soon as he started talking about vecna being back, i felt him begin to 'act'.

its something i started to notice when reflecting on s4 as a whole: this is a storyline that was presumably meant to be acted out by actors and characters who were still in the mid teens. but to me noah and finn looked much older, and so the vague sci-fi monster-y writing that was so endearing when their characters looked naive and innocent became a bit cheesy when they looked like they could be renting their own cars.

im sure this is just my personal taste, though - after all, many adults produce and enjoy 'campy' movies like superhero or comic stuff! ST has never shied away from being somewhat cheesy, but something grounded the first season especially that i can't pinpoint... probably the sheer mystery? people want the lore and background, but as soon as you start seeing the monster, the tone changes and some of the magic is lost, for me. vecna was scariest in episode 1 when i had no clue what he was.

love the thoughts laid out here!

I think I can understand what you mean about the s4 cabin scene acting, and them looking older, I guess it's like comparing it to their s2 scene and spying on the mindflayer - that innocence is still there especially with how they look. it just makes me look forward to the mature approach to their scenes in s5 as they're aged up then 👀

you might be in luck bc I think that mystery may come back if - even though we have seen it - the mindflayer is revealed as the actual big bad like was thought, idk I think there's a lot of potential for it to be frightening and unnerving since it's not a human threat that can be understood/reasoned with (as far as we know)

[i-like-gay-books]

long post so i GUESS i’ll put it under the cut

so i’ve been really reflecting lately on my self diagnosis of autism, especially since i’ve been really coming into myself and managing my anxiety better than ever before, and ive been wondering whether it might be that the symptoms i thought were attached to being autistic are just how anxiety manifests in me and the things about myself that i thought proved that i dont have adhd in any way may also just be how anxiety manifests in me. because also even though ive really related with autism and the social symptoms, i’ve never really been sure i have sensory processing issues, at least not to the extent that the dsm specifies in order to be autistic. and what i really HAVE related to is the inability to just sit down and get shit done. so i took another self assessment with this clearer knowledge i have of myself and how i really function as a human being when im on my own and living as an adult and

the only ones that arent high levels are literally the ones that i can directly pinpoint as one of my biggest concerns with my anxiety. impulsivity is the one that makes adhders more likely to butt into conversations or keep going on for a long time or make decisions and later regret them. as you may have noticed i am particularly long winded when im typing, but is that true of me in real life? like at all? not really. i struggle to get two words out sometimes. i was selectively mute in my childhood. i can say for a fact that the reason for this in my hyper-awareness of the potential of making a faux pas or embarrassing myself in social situations. and i have decision paralysis due to the same phenomenon. im very aware of the potential of disappointing other people if i make a bad decision. im not sure if impulsivity would manifest itself in the “typical” adhd way if my anxiety wasn’t there, but i have no way of ever knowing that because it is.

and forgetfulness. i beat that shit out of myself when i was younger. i can clearly remember a time in elementary school, then in middle school, then in high school (before i started writing sticky notes for myself) when i would get myself in trouble just simply because of forgetting about assignments. my family is very academically oriented. my parents wouldnt be SUPER mad at me if i was trying my best and didnt get good grades, but i knew they would be disappointed if i didnt try my best. i have so many systems in place so as to never ever forget about schoolwork any more. you have no clue how revolutionary it is for me that college professors actually put all of the assignments for the semester of the syllabus. one of my biggest gripes about high school was that the teachers would just assign homework seemingly at random? it was easy to forget if you werent writing it all down, ok? and for appointments? same deal. my parents kind of took care of the remembering appointments part before i got older and by now i do have these systems in place for myself. i do often forget to make calls, mostly because i dont make a point of writing it down as a task for myself because making calls gives me anxiety. yeah.

also i sat here and took this assessment and wrote all of this instead of working on my 2000 word midterm paper due next tuesday for which i have exactly one sentence written. listen, procrastination is a universal trait, but i just felt like it was relevant.

[rora-ish]

its like 5 in the morning and ive woken up crying. i have a stalker at work, he comes in every day and today everyone actually saw for the first time as he followed me down an aisle when i tired to get out of his way. im scared, its so real, i had hoped i was just being dramatic, but grown men i work with had to step between us before i could get to the back office.

hes like 6’5, and honestly very intimidating, and the guard - maybe the only person i could rely on to actually save me if i need it - is saying ‘oh, hes arabic i think, theyre always very intense, it will be fine’ it will not be fine.

id say 40% of the people i deal with daily are foreign, and alot of them arabic, none of them have done this or made me so scared.

the first time he came in, last friday i think, it was late and i was alone on self checkout, no workers no customers, and i made eye contact with him as he came in (immediately thinking from the way he was looking for where i was, that he was trying to steal) only for him to walk right to the tagged alcohol at the front and crouch there. i carried on cleaning, watching him in the reflection of the window and seeing that he was staring at me every time he could. i got that gut feeling, the fear, the flight, and called bekkie down to come stand with me, and she saw first hand what he was doing. it seemed to scare him away quite a bit so he went to the other end of the store and eventually bekkie moved away - and he came back, did it all over again, bought a pack of beer and left. even as he was leaving he turned around to look at me a few times, which my manager vaguely saw.

the next day, he came in again, earlier, and i was on a till. bekkie was on self checkout and immediately spotted him. watching him, it was very clear he was looking for something (which i now think was me) and when he somehow didnt see me he very quickly bought beer and left - only to then see and stare at me as he passed me on the way out. we’d been kind of watching him the whole time between us, he hadnt stopped to look twice at anything the whole time, but looked like he was searching for me.

yesterday he came in again, around 4:45 i think, and i was on self checkout, but a few other were on bread and close by. as soon as i saw him come in, i watched as he spotted me and did a full change of direction to head for me, so i immediately walked onto bread and gave the fobs to emily so i coukd run to the warehouse and get out of his way - to which he visbly changed his course again and followed me, which she saw, and then called me out of his way and to the offices to go hide behind a locked door instead. i obviously didnt see but i assume she saw him try to follow me again based on the look on her face. i went into the offices and spoke to adam( the manager) and we pinpointed him at the back of the store looking at nothing, trying to waste time like he had the first night, and pointed him out to the guard again. adam came and ‘worked’ with me to see him for himself, and as the guy walked back past he stared at me again. i didnt stick around to see him leave or let him stare anymore, but jay said he left on a bike past the window.

so now im crying, wondering if he’ll come again tomorrow (based on badically three days running im assuming yes) and praying i wont be alone without a headset when he does, and that nick will take me seriously and help me. when i mentioned the situation after the first day he made some crude jokes aboit not bending over in front of guys - very lighthearted, the kind of jokes we all share honestly, and hes been good at taking me seriously in the past when i need him to, but im scared still.

this guy is tall, he seems to always wear a black cap and backpack, and if he wanted to do anything there is no way in reasonable hell i would be able to stop him. as odd of a detail as it may seem, i also know he isnt muslim, since he buys alcohol - the guard said he might be and hdnt really been around women in tight clothes and hair out before - but again, i see thousands of people a day, and hes the only one in 7 months there that has made me this uncomfortable.

im so fucking scared, and im considering quitting

[utilitycaster]

Im currently not caught up on campaign 3, cos Ive been struggling with it due to the pacing and story issues, and Im real glad yo are putting out some excellent commentary on it. But the other reason why this campaign hasnt really appealed to me is because of some of the party dynamics and characters, mainly fearne and orym. I watched exu struggled through it, as something that i cant quite pinpoint in that party, just felt off and i didnt like their dynamics at all. So i was annoyed that some of those characters joined the main campaign. And now seeing spoilers of the recent episode, im trying not be too gleeful that its fearne and orym that are down. Cos i do feel that replacing one or both of them would fix some issues, allowing a more 'involved' and 'integrated' character take their place. But obviously im far from being neutral on the matter, so im sitting here just reading all this commentary, and stewing in disjointed thoughts

I'll keep this brief but: I don't agree on the party dynamics from EXU not working; I felt the Crown Keepers as a party worked in game though I had my own pacing issues with that story. I didn't mind having those characters in Campaign 3 either inherently, or rather, any issues I had with them were not unique to them. I have my issues with a lot of the party not having many ties to Marquet; with it being comprised more long-standing groups that haven't been given a chance to integrate with each other; and the Campaign 1 callbacks. All of these issues are equally or more true of Laudna in particular, who wasn't from EXU, than of Fearne in particular, who was but who in many ways has been one of the characters most willing to intermingle across groups. I think one could say that having characters from EXU, set in Tal'Dorei, may have contributed to those factors, but that could have been addressed prior to EXU (Dorian was from Marquet, after all).

I also think that this is also a case of some expectations not being clearly stated, or perhaps even known; the plot of Campaign 3 has not in my opinion necessarily served the characters it has in the campaign, because it has not felt character-driven, and whether that was an issue on the DM or player side is one I can only speculate on.

All that said: I think a shake-up of the party might help in a lot of ways, and I've expressed as much. But I still think that if that happens, the way it seems to be happening is inelegant and continues to fail in serving that character well.

[erythrum]

𝐀 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝗼 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

First and foremost I want to start by saying this is intended for helping my fellow OBX writers out in how they write locations in their stories, and understanding the geography of the Outer Banks. This is only meant to improve the understanding and writing of those who are not from the area, and may not completely understand the geography of it.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional writer, and my reasonings may not be explained correctly/thoroughly.

And I’m not at all calling out the writers of the show for getting it wrong. Also im sorry in advance if this comes across mean im just trying to help my fellow writers out. And please call me out if anything is incorrect.

✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

1. The Outer Banks

The outer banks is a chain of barrier islands more than 175 miles (281km) long on the east coast of North Carolina. They are a collection of many islands, beach towns, and counties. In the photo below is the main section of the outer banks. The islands are very narrow and are separated by the Pamlico sound on the left side, and the Atlantic ocean on the right side.

2. Kildare Island

Kildare Island is the name of the place where the kooks and pogues live (as well as everyone else in the show). It is a completely fictional island that does not exist in real life, therefore the exact location of the island is unknown. However in Season 1 Episode 3, when Pope is typing in the coordinates of the location for the royal merchant, we get a better idea of where Kildare island is located. The show has a much better map, but I traced a (very) rough spot where the island is located. In the photo below, in red is where the fictional island of Kildare is located. According to the map in the show, this is the best I could come up with, being that they changed the geography of the map slightly to better suit the story.

As you can see, Kildare Island should be located between the mainland and the actual outer banks, sitting in almost the middle of the Pamlico Sound. This means that technically, the Island is not connected directly to the Atlantic Ocean, but that is besides the point.

3. Travel

Remember when in season 1, John B and Sarah take a ferry to Chapel Hill? That is geographically impossible, and I know that its just a show, but for the consistency of us fanfiction writers I wanted to make this clear. There is no river that would take a ferry to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A river of that size simply does not exist.

In the photo below, the purple dot is Chapel Hill, the red dot is Kildare Island. Now if we pretend that theoretically there WAS a river that would take them all the way to Chapel Hill, this is about 210 miles (337km) from one another. The average large ferry moves at about 29 miles per hour (46kmph), going based off of this information, the trip from Kildare to Chapel Hill by ferry one way should take at least 7 hours. Im looking at you Jonas.

Another point for me to add, the farther inland you go into North Carolina, there are more and more hills. This means that any large rivers would more than likely have rapids, which would make it impossible for a ferry to cross.

Now in the next photo is the distance from Charleston to Kildare Island. Kildare is the red, Charleston in purple. This would be about a 6-7 hour drive. Basically, these distances are not close together, and are not at all manageable to drive to and from in one day. (Well you could, but you wouldn’t be able to stop in the location for very long before having to leave.) Nobody in these areas would consider it a “day trip.” Point made.

4. In writing

Now that we have a better understanding of where the island is located and the distances it would take to travel to different areas, lets apply this knowledge to our writing.

Why is it called the OBX?

O obviously stands for outer, B stands for banks, and the nks in the word banks sounds like the letter X, therefore we have OBX. I felt like this was obvious but I’m putting it in here anyways.

In writing and speech, we refer to it as ‘the’ outer banks (emphasis on the word ‘the’) this is because the outer banks is made up of multiple islands, therefore making it plural.

For example:

“Welcome to outer banks” - this would be incorrect, because it refers to the outer banks as one singular island, when it is not. It feels like this phrase has something missing.

“Welcome to the outer banks” - this is correct, being that it implies there is multiple islands within the area we call ‘outer banks’. In this phrase we have filled the missing gap.

“This is Kildare Island” - this is correct, there is only one island, and no need for a ‘the’ in front of it.

“This is the Kildare Island” - since Kildare Island is only one island, we do not need to put the word ‘the’ in front of it, because this makes it sound like there should be multiple islands instead of one.

Another example of this, we refer to them as ’the’ galapagos islands, not just ’galapagos islands’

“Im going to Kildare Island in the Outer banks” - this phrase is a good example of putting the two correct phrases together. It sounds smooth and is easy to read.

“Im going to the Kildare Island in Outer banks” - this phrase doesn’t sound nessesarily bad, but to english readers, something about it isn’t quite right.

Now lets say you had your characters take a ferry from Kildare Island to another part of the state, make sure to give them a good 7 hours on that ferry ;)

5. Conclusion

The islands of the outer banks are a much larger region than the show makes it seem to be. The outer banks refers to the whole region of islands on the east coast of North Carolina. While Kildare Island is a more centralized and pinpointed location of where the story takes place.

✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵ ✵

I hope this helped you out, and I hope it gave you more knowledge on the outer banks as a whole. I also hope i didn’t offend anyone, this is all just to improve our writing.

[starryseung]

bang chan + smut

☾

requested; nope! word count; 1.5k warnings; fingering, overstimulation, oral (fem receiving), unprotected sex

you know you’ve met hands with the devil himself when you signed those blood red papers with bright gold ink, the pen almost trembling between your fingers. demon!chan knew the thousand thoughts littered around your mind, but chose to keep quiet as he smirked through it all, hands clasped one above the other behind him.

you sigh and drop the pen next to the papers, looking up and around to see everything slowly morph into darkness; blood, fire, everywhere. your television and refrigerator are replaced by bright lava, spluttering everywhere. the smell of a rotten something lingers in the air —you can’t pinpoint if its eggs or a dead body— and looking up, you notice how your roof is replaced by the dark night sky filled with red and black dragons which was, just a mere minutes ago, spring blue sky with pigeons flying in peace.

“so, uh, i’ve signed the papers—”

“very well, y/n!” chan exclaims, holding the delicate pages carefully between his fingers as he moves close behind you. the atmosphere was already hot, but chan's breath dancing on your neck was hotter, the faint smell of chocolate and vanilla from him filling your lungs.

“so the deal is sealed. let me do the honours of walking you to you— my apologies, our room; may i?” he cocks an eyebrow, smirk never leaving his lips. he extends his hand forward for you to take, but you’re too full-of-ego to hold it, walking right past him.

that’s when chan knew he hadn’t gone wrong with his choice of picking you. he had hundreds of desperate females trying to get onto his good side, doing anything to please him. there were ladies trying to impress him, flaunting out of their homes to sign the ‘devil’s contract’ in a tight black dress, some even going as far as wearing red heels and devil horns. chan never liked those kinds of women; they were just a trial-and-error method to reach out to you — the real win. and now that you were finally wrapped around his little finger, he didn’t mind how you behaved around with him; he knew he had you all for himself.

he meandered close behind you, nudging you when you were going off the track to his room. as you went closer and closer to his room, the rotting smell started fading away, replaced by the intoxicating fragrance of just chan. the sweet vanilla and chocolate musk dominated your senses, almost as if you were under a spell. you didn’t realize when chan walked you into a dimly lit chamber, the interior looking all-too-familiar to your room. you take note of your neatly stacked clothes in one corner of the room; ‘wow, this is really serious business, huh?’ you think, licking your lips as you slowly feel yourself automatically comfortable in the room.

“yeah babygirl, it’s all serious business once you’re in the devil’s room,” chan chuckles, his expression morphing into a serious one, quirking his eyebrows as he leans closer to grab you by the waist, kissing you. 

you expect the kiss to be rough, full of lust, blood and greed; but surprisingly chan went at just the pace you wanted. not too fast, not too slow, just simply perfect. his tongue pushes into your mouth fluidly and right at that moment, chan tugs you to fall onto the bed, your back cushioned by the soft duvet underneath.

chan lies on top of you, soft lips abandoning yours as he moves lower to your jaw, bringing the skin between his slightly pointed teeth to softly nibble at it. you’re too sensitive at this point, almost down to tears when he grinds down on your clothed core with his bulge, pressure on your neck overwhelming you to the point your vision is clouded. the moan bubbling up your throat makes chan smirk against your skin, your grip in his hair tightening further.

“can i,” he kisses a light pink spot which’ll soon turn dark purple, “continue with this?” he asks ever-so-quietly, you wouldn’t have noticed it if it weren’t for his sudden soft eyes staring down at yours.

you’ve signed the devil’s contract, goddamn it. why was he asking you that? wasn’t signing the contract already enough of a sign that you desperately wanted him to fuck the living daylights out of you?

your small trail of thoughts is interrupted by chan attacking your shoulders, swiftly unbuttoning your white shirt as he moved lower and lower to cup your breasts in his hands. he fondled with your clothed nubs, grazing the pads of his thumb over your nipples to drag another moan out of you.

“babygirl wants me to fuck the living daylights out of her?” he mocks, smiling against your shoulder. it hits you almost like a freight train when you realize he can listen to your mind, and you’re trying to scramble for your thoughts to come together, but it’s nearly impossible when chan can listen to anything you’re thinking about.

a soft giggle is heard, before he moves his plump lips lower and lower until he’s facing the waistband of your jeans. pulling them harshly so they’re off, he admires your squirming form under him, and he trails a finger up your thighs and right against your clothed heat, circling where your folds should be.

a choked moan leaves your lips and you arch your back just the slightest, chan's fingers rubbing slow circles on your covered cunt. he grins at how the fabric gets wetter and wetter, and he brings them aside to look at your glistening pussy, smirking before licking a thick strip from the base above; making you involuntarily shudder under him. 

he brings a hand around your waist to hold you down, soft lips rubbing on your clit. his tongue darts out and pushes against the bundle of nerves, and you can all but clutch the soft sheets beneath you tighter, sucking in the warm air of the room. he lazily laps his tongue and lips against your dripping heat, humming occasionally to run shivers up your spine. 

he pushes a finger between your folds, letting out a guttural groan against you as you clench around his appendage. your juices easily coat his digit as he thrusts them inside your hole, curling his finger to brush over your sweet spot deliciously. needless to say, you’re a moaning mess under him, a thin layer of sweat giving you a brighter sheen under the dim lights of the room. without wasting time, he inserts a second finger, thrusting it faster in you as you keep fidgeting under him, wanting more.

his fingers gain momentum, the tips pressing at your sweet spots every time he pushes them knuckles deep. a particular flick of his tongue against your clit paired with his fingers perfectly stretching you out made you arch your back, fingers almost tearing the sheets to shreds as you come around him, splotches of red and black clouding your vision. 

but chan doesn’t stop, pushing a third finger in as you clench around him tighter, yelping as the stretch increases, setting a burning pit in your core. he thrusts them slowly, and deep down you know you can’t take it any further, but just then chan pulls out his fingers with a pop, getting onto his knees. you aren’t given enough time to register the sudden halt of his movements, when chan's length prods at your slit, making the air knock out of your lungs.

you inhale sharply when his thick length pushes in, movements steady as his hands wrap tight around your waist. you’ve had sex before, but chan's cock filled you up to the brim, as if it was up to your stomach.

your pussy clenches around him, perfectly squeezing his length in a way he had never experienced before. he groans, losing the last threads keeping together his resolve as he snaps his hips into you. you’re trying your hardest to not scream, but all attempts are thrown out the door when the demon brings your legs a tad bit higher, the angle making him reach deeper into you.

you know you’re so close you can taste it, but voicing it out isn’t an option when all you can get out is babbles and moans. luckily chan's there to help you out, bringing his fingers down to rub circles on your clit, and just the slightest pressure has you coming around his length, clenching around him uncontrollably.

chan doesn’t take much longer either, thrusting into you twice, thrice, before spilling his seed in you, such that even after he’s pulled out, you’re left feeling full.

“babygirl’s okay?” he questions quietly, taking note of how exhausted you were as you tried catching your breath. you nodded slowly and he smiled, grazing his thumb over your temples and down your cheeks. you keen into his warm touch, the faint fragrance of chocolate and vanilla still lingering even under the smell of sweat and cum.

he plops down next you, bringing the covers up to your chin before snuggling next to you under them. you remember he had told you once how he was a softy under his demonic self but you always failed to believe him, until now.

you could now only hope; signing this contract wasn’t going to take a toll on you.

—

a/n; this, for some reason, took me 3 days to finish :’) i hope it was worth the wait im so sorry sjhdjshdjs

taglist; @joengni @cherryeol04 @lomlminho @bruh-changbin @yooniversalstudios @ann0325441904 @yourdaddychan��(message me if you want to be added!)

[familyagrestefanblog]

Ml analysis: Native American miracle box

While is it obvious that the new miracle box is of native American origin I still went to do some research on it to see if I can narrow it down to a certain tribe and find more connections hidden in the lore.

So not to waste any time, here is my result:

The native American miracle box is in possession of the Souix Lakota tribe. Just like with the Ml Tibetan guardian monks represent not only 1 but 4 groups, the native American Miraculous tribe is a combination of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota and where we can safely say that the monks will primarily lean towards the Tibet representation, I would say here we will primarily lean towards the Lakota. Therefore, I will call the native America Miraculous tribe Lakota but know that the other two tribes are included in this as well.

So a dead giveaway for the identity of the ml Tribe is Jessicas Shirt. In general Jessica has the hairstyle, the physical features and the accessories typical for representing an “Indian” character and her shirt is a direct confirmation of that heritage.

On her shirt is an obvious reference to the Lakota flag which pretty much tells us that this is the Tribe we are dealing with. Nice, why cant it always be this easy?

Under the cut I cover three more points to go into more detail, read more if you’re interested ^^

1. The medicine wheel

I must give it to miraculous, using the medicine wheel for the upper layer of the miracle box is one genius move imo.

The Medicine Wheel is a sacred symbol and way of life used by the indigenous Plains tribes to represent all knowledge of the universe. Unfortunately, I don’t have enough time to really get into its teaching and living ways to be comfortable explaining its practice in more details, so in this part I want to cover only what has been directly acknowledged by Thomas Astruc. And that would be the animals (duh, obviously) and the elements.

The first thing I had to learn the hard way in this research is that there is not one "true" way for this symbol to be arranged. The way its used, what animal belongs to which color or element and even what KIND of animal is in it can vary STRONGLY from location to location.

So I accepted that the arrangement can not be pinpointed down to perfect accuracy through research. We were already given all the animals and colors, now all I can really do here is present to you a possible variation of the miraculous arrangement I put together after looking up and trying to understand the differences between the real life ones to continue from here on.

There are only two animals we know for sure the connected color of: The eagle, Jessicas miraculous of freedom and the Thunderbird. In his tweets Thomas mentioned the elements so I decided to include them in the arrangement, how or if they will be incorporated into the show I can not tell you though. But still I wanted the elements in here as well ^^

As already said, the eagle is red and the thunderbird is in the green center. As you can see I put the bear to black, the Wolf to yellow and the Buffalo to white. Those seemed to me the most likely combinations and even if they don’t end up right, it wont do harm to any of this.

Buffalo: white and air because the Lakota have a white Buffalo woman legend where air was one of the main elements she controled and used.

Wolf: yellow and fire. Fire because in Lakota legends the wolf/ coyote is a very unpredictable animal. He's both a trickster and a hero, not always moraly sound but always clever. It's a dangerous but strong and lively nature that I do think the show could represent with the fire element. Yellow is one of the two cases where I was left with this option by default.

Bear: I choose black and water because that's a combination I have seen the most

Eagle: I already know Red and choose earth in combination. At first I thought about putting fire in this place because of its normal association with red but in the end choose earth because I think it's the element that fits the best to Jessica.

But the reason why I decided to include the elements is because of the green thunderbird in the middle. Because where the other 4 animals are connected with the 4 elements, the thunderbird would here represent inner balance and harmony. Of course this isn't it's power, but the layout makes it quite obvious that the thunderbird is the equivalent of the ladybugs and cats yin-yang. My assumption right now is that this is how the show will cover the different types of "balance" although the world cultures it incorporates, but let me come back to this one another time.

2. more cultural references and meanings

The thunderbird represents the most powerful one of this miracle box because the thunderbird is the one animal that is present in every Souix Lakota tribe and holds an enormous cultural and spiritual significance. It is a mythological bird and is associated with several legends starting from controlling the storms, lightnings and thunder to being the protector of the humans and even being a helper of the creation of reality (Reality in Ml are the LB and Cat hence why its place in the middle of the box is well deserved) It only makes sense that it would be chosen for this and I know it may seem cliché but please hear me out, which is why im convinced this is the miraculous of the chiefs.

A couple of details do support this for me but please remember I'm not exposed to alot of native American cultures I'll do my best to get things right but if I do interpret something(s) wrong feel free to correct me.

For one, well, the symbol. While looking up the clothing for a later point I did see a symbol like this on some of the feather headdresses.

Definitely not on all of them, I couldn't figure out if there is a system behind the pattern usage or tied to a distinct area but I do know that it is THERE and not exactly rarely either. Noticeably it isn't a 1 to 1 fit but that is an all time returning thing in miraculous. Real life and historical things like this have to be slightly altered for the show to be able to incorporate them. A great example for this is the old English flag in "Darkblade".

So at this point I'm used to this pattern, so yeah, this could very likely be a symbol they took inspiration from.

The second reason why I think it it's the miraculous of the chiefs is because the piece with the symbol on it looks like one of these

In combination with the feather on it. The feather headdress is also called a war bonnet and was originally only worn in battles and only by the person who has truly earned that honor. Each feather represents a distinct honor earned in battle which is why we see feather headdresses in such different lengths. How this translates perfectly into a miraculous I think is obvious. The headdress is a symbol of true leadership and worthiness of such a status, hence why it were especially the chiefs to earn such impressive ones. Turning it into a miraculous wouldn't change too much about it since such a powerful miraculous is an honor and duty you have to be worthy of as well. Them being originally used only for battles is a perfect fit too, because so are the miraculous.

Then of course once again, the thunderbird.

The thunderbird being the great mythical protector animal of these tribes makes it naturally a perfect fit for the miraculous animal of the great chiefs. The chiefs were not only the leaders they also were the primary warrior in battles which is seen by the war bonnets. Having the Thunderbird be the miraculous of the chiefs highlights their status as the tribes protector in such a genuine way, I personally really really love it.

As the last point of 2. I want to bring up the outside top of the Miracle box and the way its designed. While looking through the clothing symbols and pattern I did notice some that looked similar to the ones on the box. I deliberately tried to find a more recent example of usage because in the end of the day Miraculous is a show for TODAY so if the show used patterns for example that may not have been used in the past but are now associated with the Lakota that’s still valid. So the possible matches for design inspiration I found stem from a picture of chief Arvol Lookinghorse who holds the responsibility of spiritual leader among the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota People to this day.

3. Their location and monuments

Researching the lakota made me think of where this guardian group has its roots, which made me remember something I found on my guardian mountain - mount kailash theory a while ago (I swear right now everything comes back to that theory). In it I showed you the monuments-line around the world always separated by a length of 6666km between each other (basically the height of Mount Kailash) and while I didn't mention it there, there is also one of those "mythical" monuments in the USA.

The bears lodge butte (in Wyoming)

I mean LOOK at this, that is out of this world and breath-taking in every sense of the word! That is a location of a miraculous guardianship if I had ever seen one. Also known under the (sadly) much more well known name of "Devils tower" but this will be the one and only time you will read of me calling it like that. The fact that this butte is still officially called by this disrespectful and bastardized white peoples name is a freaking insult. I'm calling it the bears lodge as this was its original english name.

The bears lodge is not just a monument in the USA it is the VERY FIRST official monument (1906) and the location of the butte also checks out perfectly with the areas the Lakota settled in real life. I couldn’t get the exact scale but I think you will still understand just fine.

Adding to the Bears Lodge butte I also wanna bring up the "other" medicine wheel. Which is, just like Bears lodge, located in Wyoming.

As we know the rest of the native American miracle box is made of the zodiac signs just like in our normal miracle box. Confirmed not only on Twitter but also in the very intro of the New York special.

But the same way the miracle box is similar to ours the Medicine wheel as monument reminded me of something as well. Of course I'm talking about the ritual circle in the Kwami "dimension" of the box seen in “Sandboy”.

And just like the native American monument it is also of "astronomical" nature. Taking a closer look at the Chinese Kwami circle one can see that the outer ring is made of specific places for each Kwami signified with a picture of their "animal".

And in the inner circle is obviously the moon circulation.

Meaning, put very simple, this is a design specifically meant to represent the Chinese calendar and culture this miracle box is based on. Therefor this should also exist for the native american one. My guess Is that for all the boxes/cultures Miraculous is gonna include they will also have an “ritual circle” equivalents for each based on all the different kinds of stone circle monuments around the world, including the medicine wheel of the Lakota.

But not only was the medicine wheel monument used for astronomical purposes, with it the people wanted to give things back to mother nature. They placed things right in the middle of the wheel under the stones so nature could take it back "spiritually" (for a lack of a better word on my part) through their rituals and chants. Which is something once again similar to what we see with the Kwamis.

First if all, when the Kwamis (who are the embodiments of the abstract concepts reality is made of) enter their "dimension" in the miracle box the guardian symbol opens right at the center point, letting them cross the layers of reality.

Second, the Kwamis are obviously able to take material objects with them to the in-between dimension. Supporting and verifying the Lakota’s ritual because at the very least in the ML world its actually true. And thirdly, when the Kwamis try to reach Nooroo they chant as well and once again the collected energy is combined in the middle to cross the layers of reality. Gabriel is transformed though so he, as Hawkmoth, is able to almost take over the connection and therefore the miracle box if the Kwamis hadn’t blocked him.

This shows that the spiritual dimension layers are interactive from both sides under certain circumstances. A normal human being wouldn’t be able to cross the layers and take control like this but the more a person is involved with/ powered up by the miraculous the more power they hold interdimensional. Which is the idea of a ritual to reach the spiritual side of nature brought to a new 11 as TV shows usually do.

 4. The design of the guardian.

I'm definitely not the right person to properly judge this in depth therefore I will just showcase my opinion based on the research.

The way I see it for the guardians design they tried to combine the guardian "look" with the native American one.

The pants, staff and robe-like upper part are obviously influenced by the guardian we already saw through Fu's flashbacks, whereas the colors, the hairstyle and shoes (etc) are kept more Lakota-like. Though, as far as my opinion counts in this, the much darker skin and the eyebrows in comparison to Jessica does make me question if he is supposed to represent the same native American tribes as her. His bushy eyebrows are a physical characteristic I recognize in rarely any real life photos and neither did I notice such a noticeable difference in skin color.

Jessica and the guardian simply do not really look like they are of the same heritage to me, but again, who am I to say this isn't a legit representation? Besides that, it makes alot more sense that this guardian wasn't lost for almost 200 years like the ones in Tibet, so it is a fair option to consider that this black guardian may not be of "original Lakota heritage" but he is simply a worthy man born in this area of the USA (who knows in what year considering the guardians life spans) who was chosen and trained for the guardianship simply because he was the right fit for it just like Marinette.

I think it's only fair to consider that option as well, especially since we have NO official background on him. But that's just my opinion.

 And as the last thing I want to bring up is the symbol on his robe because this is something I'm going to need help with.

We can hardly see it and I've tried my best to find something in my research but I just couldn't find anything fitting.

If anybody has the means and knows if this is a cultural reference as well, I would appreciate it if this knowledge could be shared here as well. I really would love to know ^^

[wingsofkpop]

Hiraeth - I.X: Was it Worth it in the End? Part One

pairing(s): Hybrid!Im Jaebeom x Reader, Witch!Mark Tuan x Reader, Werewolf!Jackson Wang x Reader, Vampire!Park Jinyoung x Reader, Supernatural!Got7 x Reader

genre: Supernatual!AU, Dark Magic!AU, very heavy Angst, eventual Smut

warnings: Mature language, violence, explicit descriptions of fighting, blood and gore, mentions of death and murder, mentions of trauma, some satanic themes, etc.

word count: 7,1k

synopsis: How far are you willing to go to find out the truth about Moon Dye Bay?…

chapter directory

A/N: It’s finally here! Thank you all for your patience and support! Please enjoy! 

“—this plan is fucking insane!” 

“You said anywhere was better than the mansion!” 

“That was before I knew you were claiming sanctuary with the very people that sent Teenage Chewbacca to maul Jinyoung and I!” 

“It was Minho who turned Changbin! How many goddamn times do I have to say that to get it through your thick skull!?” 

The incessant bickering of the two voices gradually lifts Jinyoung from his slumber, reintroducing his mind to the workings of reality. He flutters his eyes open, surprised at the lack of light, and forces himself to sit up. At his sudden movement, his head roars with pain, sending a dizzy spell through his limbs. He manages to swallow the temporary vertigo and keep upright, quickly realizing his current position in the backseat of a car. 

“Jinyoung?... Oh thank god—he’s awake.” 

“It’s about fucking time.” 

“(Y/N)? Jaebeom-hyung?” Jinyoung squints, attempting to map out your and his brother’s silhouettes through the blackness. He manages to pinpoint the annoyed glare of the latter in the passenger seat, thus concluding that you are probably driving. “What happened? How did I get here?” 

“While you were taking a snooze, that fucking superwolf broke into our home and nearly ripped my throat out.” Jaebeom snorts, “Of course, not until after he impaled me with my own landscaping.” 

“I managed to stake him before he hurt Jaebeom.” You pipe in, “But we don’t think it killed him—only slowed him down long enough to let us get away.” 

Jinyoung shakes his head in both confusion and shock, immediately regretting the decision when his brain pounds like a bass drum. He allows himself a moment to pass the ache before cautiously speaking, “And… where exactly are we going?” 

“Yeah, Wonder Woman. Why don’t you tell my brother where your brilliant idea for refuge is?” 

Jinyoung can feel the intensity of your glare from the back seat. 

“I’m taking us to the wolf pack.” You murmur softly, “If anyone has a chance of talking Changbin down, it will be his own people.” 

“And as I was explaining to our dear (Y/N), the wolf pack also has a pretty large bounty over our heads.” Jinyoung hears Jaebeom release a heavy sigh before leaning back in his seat, “We’ll be attacked the moment we step foot out of this car.” 

“Would you stop being so damn paranoid?” Your frustrated demand echoes throughout the car, “Not everyone is out to kill you—”

“I’ve made a lot of enemies over the centuries, little dove… Killed a lot of people—pissed off even more.” 

“Maybe, but I know you didn’t kill Jackson Wang.” 

The car grows dead silent minus the heavy breathing of who Jinyoung assumes to be his hybrid companion. He tries to make out Jaebeom’s expression, but it’s too dark. His imagination will have to do. 

“Everyone says you did, but I know there’s more to the truth.” You say, “I may not know what exactly happened, but Jackson’s death wasn’t your fault—either of your faults.” 

“And how exactly do you know this?” 

“That doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that the pack is our only viable option at the moment, and I need you to trust me on this.” 

Jaebeom sighs, “Good God—this is not happening.”

“I trust her.” Jinyoung answers without hesitation, reaching across the council to lay a hand on the hybrid’s shoulder. “We have no reason not to, hyung.” 

“And why the hell not?” To his dismay, Jaebeom shrugs away from Jinyoung’s touch. “Give me one good reason why I should trust you with my life.” 

“Because I could have let Changbin kill you… but I didn’t.” 

Jaebeom grows silent again. And although no words are said, Jinyoung knows—and knows that you know—that the conversation ended in your favor. Jaebeom may be a paranoid, narcissistic sociopath, but even he is capable of hope in the darkest of moments. 

A sudden gasp disrupts the hushed atmosphere, resonating from beside Jinyoung a mere foot away. For the first time, he notices a third body propped in the seat next to him. The figure writhes and releases a set of whimpers before growing still once again. 

“We have another issue.” Jaebeom murmurs darkly, “Changbin bit Tzuyu during our fight, and when I tried to heal her with my blood… it didn’t work.” 

Jinyoung raises an eyebrow, “What do you mean it didn’t work?” 

“Minho transformed Changbin into a weapon that would have the power to kill you and Jaebeom—the only two invincible beings in existence.” Your explanation causes Jinyoung’s heart to sink, “His venom can’t be cured by Jaebeom’s blood, so…” 

“So Tzuyu is going to die unless we find a cure.” Jaebeom finishes with a hum, “We better get to it fast cause the hallucinations are already starting.” 

“The pack will help us.” You affirm. “I know they will.” 

Jinyoung truly hopes that your confidence is well placed. Afterall, it is his, Jaebeom and Tzuyu’s lives all on the line. 

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

“I don’t think I’ll be able to do this.” Mark stresses, flipping through the grimoire with enough force to tear the pages. “This spell needs a lot of power—” 

“Can’t you do what Youngjae does and channel something? Like a celestial event?” 

Mark shakes his head. “Even that won’t be enough. I would have to channel the power unnaturally… through black magic.” 

“It’s only one spell—what harm could it do?” 

“Black magic is dark magic, Jack.” Mark directly addresses his werewolf companion, shaking his head even more feverishly. “It’s unpredictable… We could offset the balance of nature and—” 

“I don’t give a shit about the balance of nature, Mark!” Jackson cuts in, “This may be our one and only chance to get rid of the Primes—to protect our town and the ones we love… Don’t you think that’s a little more important than upsetting the magic gods?...”

“You don’t understand—magic always comes with a price.” Mark says darkly, “I can’t trust what will happen if I use black magic… For fucksake, Jackson—I could kill you.” 

Jackson places his hands on Mark’s shoulders, staring deep into the witch’s eyes. “I trust you with my life, Mark… and I know you won’t let me down.” 

Mark debates with himself, attempting to find a solution past the chaos of his thoughts. His gut tells him it's a bad idea, but Jackson, his best friend, is telling him otherwise. He’s right—it is only one spell—and like he said, Jackson trusts him… 

Mark just has to trust himself too. 

“Alright.” He finally nods, “I won’t let you down… I promise.” 

“Mark-hyung—Mark!” 

At the call of his name, Mark’s mind springs from unconsciousness. His eyes snap open, discovering multiple familiar faces staring down at him. He releases a pained groan, just now recognizing the ache running through his entire body, before murmuring softly: 

“What… happened?”

“How much do you remember?” 

Mark attempts to pilfer through his memories, recalling his argument with Minho that resulted in the theft of his magic and the moments thereafter where said witch transformed Changbin into a super werewolf. He closes his eyes shut and leans back with a huff. 

“How long have I been out?” 

Youngjae hums, “At least a couple hours. Minho locked us in the old crypt after you passed out, so we really don’t have any sense of time.” 

“Sounds fucking fantastic.” With a deep moan, Mark forces himself into a sitting position. His spine wails at the movement, but he pays it no mind and instead stretches his arms over his head in an attempt to work out the knots in his bones. He also takes the time to survey his surroundings, discovering, just as Youngjae said, to be inside the dingy, crumbling underground cavern beneath the mausoleum. He can’t remember the last time he’s been down here—how ironic. 

“I’m guessing Changbin made a beeline for the Project Estate?”

“Didn’t even hesitate.” Youngjae answers, “You don’t think he got them… do you?” 

“I honestly could care less about the Primes right now.” With Youngjae’s help, Mark manages to push himself to his feet before finding purchase against a stone pillar. He takes a second to catch his breath, then continues, “There’s an exit down here that leads into a bunch of old tunnels underneath the graveyard. If we can find it, there’s a chance we might—” 

“I wouldn’t think about it, hyung.” Mark’s suggestion dies on his tongue as his favorite witch emerges from a dark corner. Beside him, Youngjae releases a surprised gasp while seeming to shrink in on himself. Mark, on the other hand, doesn’t budge. 

“Enjoying this villain complex a little too much, don’t you think?” 

“You don’t seem very happy with me, Mark-hyung…” Minho smirks.

“Okay—you’ve had your damn fun.” Mark sneers, “Let us all go before I really start to get pissed.” 

“Like you can do anything about it anyway, without any magic and all—” The witch wiggles his finger in which the ancient ring still rests. “—and don’t worry. Once the blood moon fully passes, you’re all free to leave.” 

“You’re a real fucking psycho, you know that? You really think Changbin is gonna manage to kill both Jaebeom and Jinyoung by himself?” 

“I could care less if he does.”

Mark’s eyes narrow, “Why are you keeping us down here? What else could you possibly want?” 

“Well, I want to make you suffer as much as possible… but that was already kind of obvious, don’t you think?” 

“I’m serious, Minho!” Mark’s hiss echoes between the stone walls of the crypt, bouncing back in his ears like a record on repeat. “Why go to all this trouble to kill the Primes? To mess with me? Are you really that desperate for revenge? That you’d hurt your own people trying to get it?” 

Minho shakes his head with a growl, “You all made it very clear that I was never a part of this coven.” 

“That is such bullshit!” Mark peers over his shoulder to find Lia emerging from another part of the cavern, followed closely by a quivering, wild-eyed Jisung. “You just never got over the fact that we chose Mark as coven leader—not you!” 

“At least I could have kept Nayeon alive!” 

“Nayeon’s death wasn’t Mark’s fault! It wasn’t any of our faults!” Lia screams, “Why are you so strung up about this anyway!?”

“Because I loved her!” The atmosphere grows strangely tense at the young witch’s confession, effectively forming the beginnings of a large lump in Mark’s throat. That mass only grows as Minho continues on, “She was the only one who understood me! She believed in me when no one else would!” 

Through the corner of his eye, Mark can see the same shock and pain spreading along Youngjae’s features as his own, as well as Jisung’s. 

Lia’s expression, however, does not change. “I think you forget that all of us loved Nayeon—all of us are still grieving. It’s not just you.” 

“You don’t understand—” 

“Then make us understand for crying out loud!” Lia exclaims while throwing her hands up in mock surrender. “You go on about all this bullshit that we never try to include you, when it’s you who never tries—it’s you who always pushes us away!

“We’re supposed to be a team—a family… We are all that’s left of this coven, and look at us now.” 

Minho remains silent. 

A single tear cascades down Lia’s cheek as she shakes her head. “Nayeon-unnie would be so disappointed… in all of us.” 

At her words, Mark feels his heart practically sink into his stomach. He notices the blank expression etched across Minho’s face, wondering what could possibly be going through the young witch’s mind. For a moment, he has hope that Lia’s speech actually knocked some sense into him—that he’ll actually make amends and set them free. 

But alas… he speaks too soon. 

“Apné sà mene…” Mark immediately recognizes the incantation for a boundary spell, attempting to hurry toward the doorway in which Minho retreated towards. His chest smacks into an invisible barrier, sending his body sprawling back to the crypt floor. Both Youngjae and Lia rush to his side to help him back to his feet—a new pain lingering in his side. 

He glares at the retreating witch with all his might. 

“You’re gonna regret this.” 

“Not as much as I regret ever looking up to you.” Minho waves his hand one final time, making sure to flash his ring, before disappearing up the staircase that leads out of the crypt. With a bitter taste in his mouth, Mark watches as he goes, continuing to do so until he hears the familiar sound of a closing door. 

He turns to the trio. “Any chance one of you can break the boundary spell?” 

“I might be able to siphon enough power from Lia and Jisung to take it down—” Youngjae shakes his head, “—but it will only be temporary. Maybe ten seconds or less?” 

“That’s better than nothing.” Mark nods, “When Youngjae breaks it open, you guys will go through the passageways and head to the Wang Cabin to warn the wolf pack—” 

“No.” Lia interrupts his explanation, “Minho will be able to sense our magical energy the minute we step foot out of the boundary. You, however, do not have any magic at the moment.” 

“You need to warn the pack, hyung.” Youngjae agrees with a nod, “You’re the only one that can get out undetected.” 

Mark feverishly shakes his head, “There’s no fucking way I’m leaving you three here. It’s not happening—”

“Don’t worry about us.” Lia says, “I have a plan to stop both Minho and Changbin.” 

“What do you mean?” 

“Minho bound Changbin’s power to his own in order to complete the transformation.” She explains, pointing up toward the ceiling. “Once the blood moon is over, Minho will no longer have the power to uphold the spell, so Changbin will no longer be able to remain in his enhanced form, which means…” 

“Which means we have to stop the spell before the night ends.” Mark breathes, “Okay… How do we do that?” 

“Youngjae can siphon Minho’s magic which should give us enough power to counteract the spell completely… that is, if we can get close enough.” 

“Once Mark-hyung warns the pack, we’ll have more than enough backup to take him down.” Youngjae adds, “We need to do this now, before he comes back.” 

Mark shakes his head again, “I don’t know about this—”

“We can do this. Trust us, Mark.” 

Lia’s determined gaze strikes a chord deep within Mark’s chest. He doesn’t think he’s ever seen her look so serious and resolute… 

He’s never seen her look so much like a leader. 

“Fine.” He reluctantly agrees, “Let’s do it.”  

“Lia? Jisung?” At Youngjae’s call, both of the younger witches offer their hands for the siphoner to take. His own hands glow as he begins the counter incantation, gesturing for Mark to make his move with a nod of his head. Mark does as requested, carefully sliding past a crack in a nearby pillar to enter the secret passageway. 

He spares one final glance at his coven mates, admiring the fierce passion along each of their features, before turning into the tunnel and becoming one with the shadows of the night.

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

Sometimes you forget life even existed before your time in Moon Dye Bay. Maybe it’s a result of your newfound interest in supernatural existence, or possibly due to the close relationships you’ve made throughout your stay. In the entirety of your time of living, you’ve never once called anywhere home, and while you still refuse to commit yourself to such a description, you can’t deny that this strange, little town has come pretty damn close. 

Before you moved to Moon Dye, you lived in Chicago for about a year while finishing up your graduate work. Not quite in the city, but in a borderline rundown suburbia on the outskirts. There, you rented a decent condo for dirt cheap and found a well-paying, easy office job right down the street. It was every college student's greatest dream—until it wasn’t. 

To this day, your mind still doesn’t recall the event as vividly as it should. Probably in an effort to ease the underlying trauma and fear. Even so, you don’t like to think back on it too much… Who would—when you’re the only survivor in a massacre of dozens of innocent people? 

But even so, if it weren’t for that day, you would never have ended up in Moon Dye Bay… nor learned that fairy tale creatures aren’t quite fictional afterall. 

You push the thought away to focus on pulling into the nonexistent driveway. The passenger beside you releases a rather loud groan as the car rocks back and forth, but you choose not to comment on his obvious distaste of your driving. You’re too exhausted… and frankly, you just don’t care at this point. 

“You guys stay in the car.” You say while killing the engine and shrugging off your seatbelt, “I should talk to them first just in case, so try not to get yourselves in any more trouble while I’m gone.” 

Jaebeom clicks his tongue, “Says the one who can’t seem to go one day without being attacked.” 

“Hyung—” Jinyoung goes to scold his brother, but your voice beats him to it. 

“Last I checked, it was your girlfriend, your proxy vampire minion, and, surprise, surprise, you who have all tried to turn me into a human blood bag.” You exit the car before throwing one final glare at the hybrid, “Keep treating me like some sort of liability, and the next time someone tries to kill your pompous ass, I won’t be so kind as to save your fucking life.” 

With that, you shove the vehicle door shut with a little more force than necessary and storm toward the cabin, attempting to push the annoyance from mind. You wouldn’t usually waste your breath on something like Jaebeom’s pettiness, but with the combination of the stress of the current situation and fear for everyone’s lives at stakes, you really don’t want to deal with the hybrid’s need to make you feel like the dumbest person on the planet. 

You eventually reach the front door, lifting a hand to knock at the wooden surface. The ominous silence of the nighttime tugs at your nerves as you wait—hopefully one of the wolves is actually up at this hour… maybe you should have called beforehand? 

As each minute passes, your patience grows thinner and thinner. Even after another series of rather obnoxious knocks, no one opens the door. You debate returning to the car and discussing a Plan B with your undead squad, but decide to check the backyard first. Maybe the pack is having some sort of late night bonfire…? 

You carefully navigate your way around the cabin, using the light of your cellphone as a guide through the darkness. Minus catching your toe on a loose board in the decking, you manage to make it to the back of the cabin unscathed. However, the sight that you find is definitely far from that of the bonfire: 

From what little you can see, the yard is completely trashed. Picnic tables lay in splintered halves while other pieces of furniture are either smashed to smithereens or tossed to the side. Even Dahyun’s clothesline is no longer standing, and is instead strewn carelessly across the grass along with its collection of unfolded laundry. A particular sweatshirt catches your attention, appearing somewhat dirty in the minimal light. Once you’re close enough, you take the garment in your own two hands to better identify the mysterious stains… and you almost wish you hadn’t seen it in the first place when the realization settles in your head: 

A large splotch of fresh blood is decorated across the fabric like an unfinished painting.  

“Shit…” You curse, searching the area for any other possible clues of the pack’s whereabouts. Near the edge of the pond, you discover what seems to be an array of footprints in the mud, leading into the black of the quiet forest. There are multiple sets, you find, and you hope they all belong to the werewolves in question… 

You know you should return to the car and report your findings to Jaebeom and Jinyoung, but something in your gut tells you that someone is in trouble. 

Before you can dwell on the cons, you push forward into the woods, following the muddy footprints as best as you possibly can. Between pushing away mischievous branches and stepping over lazy logs, you’re almost reminded of the path you traversed before you met with Mina… You can only hope the events that follow this time aren’t as horrific. 

“Yugyeom!...” You call softly, trying not to mistake each tree trunk as the silhouette of a person. “Bang Chan!... Anyone out here!?...” 

The screech of the nightly breeze is your response. You eventually lose the footprint trail, unable to base your path off of anything but intuition. Your desire to turn back is strong, but you’ve come this far… and you doubt you’ll even be able to find your way back to the cabin at this point. 

Your body tenses as a high-pitched wail enters your ears—a wail that sounds oddly similar to that of a human. Against the siren in your head screaming red flags, you head in the direction in which the noise came from. The silence pesters you as you go, practically electrifying your nerves from the inside out. 

Out of nowhere, your foot catches some kind of large branch or rock, sending your body sprawling toward the earth with a loud gasp. You manage to break your fall with your arms, ignoring the gentle ache in your wrists, and scramble to grab the phone you dropped on the way down. Your anxiety is practically through the roof by the time the device is back in your grasp, but you muster up the courage and move to continue your search. However, the reveal of something that looks oddly like a human limb freezes your muscles. 

It wasn’t a branch you tripped over… it was a leg. 

“(Y/N)...” 

It takes you a moment to identify the voice between the shock and fear, but all at once, your uneasiness shifts to concern. 

“D… Dahyun!?” 

After moving your light for a better view, you discover the female wolf slumped against a tree and covered head to toe in what seems to be a combination of blood and sticky mud. Her clothes are practically stained crimson, which you quickly realize is the result of the large jagged rock protruding from her abdomen. 

“Holy shit… What happened to you?” You drop to her level to better assess her condition. There are more wounds embedded across her arms and chest—wounds that resemble claw marks…  

“It was Changbin…” Your heart practically plummets to your stomach at her revelation. Dahyun pauses to cough—a couple projectiles of blood spewing from her lips—before continuing, “He attacked the pack… but he—he was different… Super strong and super fast and—and… It’s almost like he was—”

“Upgraded.” You finish, “Minho transformed Changbin into a weapon to kill Jaebeom and Jinyoung—the same spell Mark tried to use on Jackson.” 

“It was more than that, (Y/N)...” She shakes her head, “Changbin wasn’t… wasn’t like himself…” 

“What do you mean?” 

“He was a monster…” You allow the wolf to grab your hand, ignoring the sticky feel of her blood against your skin. “I don’t—I don’t even know if anyone else is still alive… I don’t—I mean, I can’t—” 

“Shhh.” You hum gently, reaching up to push away the hair melded to her sweaty forehead. Dahyun somewhat calms at your touch, but just from the wild expression along her features, you can tell the poor girl is scared out of her fucking mind. 

“We’ll deal with that later, but right now, I need to get you out of here—”

You don’t have the chance to finish your sentence before she’s practically lurching away from you. 

“No! You’re the one who needs to leave!” 

“Dahyun—”

“He will kill you, (Y/N)!” She hiccups, “You need to run before he finds you!”

“I’m not just going to leave you here to bleed out—”

“She’s right.” You whirl around at the new voice, and to your surprise, discover a disheveled Yugyeom emerging from the darkness. Similar to the female wolf, gaping claw-marks decorate his face, chest and lower abdomen. His arm also seems to be broken and his knee badly dislocated—you can almost see the bone peeking out of his skin. 

You hurry to catch the wolf before he collapses, carefully lowering him to lean against the same tree Dahyun is propped against. A pained wheeze passes his lips, but his expression remains as stoic and as determined as ever. 

“If you care about your life, then you’ll run.” 

“And if I care about yours and Dahyun’s lives?” 

“We’re already as good as dead.” 

“No—” You shake your head feverishly, “—I refuse to let you throw yourself to the big bad wolf like some fucking martyr, so you either start moving or I’ll drag you by the skin of your teeth.” 

Yugyeom’s expression softens. “You sound like Jackson-hyung…”

If it were any other situation, you would have allowed yourself the time to respond to the newcomer’s comparison… but you’d rather not stay and risk the chance of encountering any more surprises. 

“C’mon.” You carefully throw Dahyun’s arm over your shoulder, mindful not to push the rock deeper into her abdomen. Once you’re sure she won’t buckle back to the forest floor, you offer your free hand to the third party. “None of us are dying tonight.” 

A familiar, malicious chuckle has your limbs growing numb.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that.” Like a creature of the night, a smirking Changbin saunters into view. His clothes are torn and tarnished with blood, yet there’s no trace of injury along his skin. With the little light you have, you can just barely make out the black veins decorating underneath his eyes—the magic is already starting to consume him. 

“Listen to me…” You murmur cautiously, maneuvering your body so Dahyun is safe behind and out of reach. “You’re under the effects of dark magic, okay? You’re not yourself—” 

“I’ve never felt more like myself than I have now.” Your eyes dart around the area as Changbin leers closer and closer, attempting to find something sharp or heavy enough to knock him out. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any tea mugs or large branches in sight—

“I don’t want to hurt you, Changbin…”

“Really? Cause I sure want to hurt you…” He smiles devishly,  “In fact, I’m just dying to rip out your fucking throat after that bullshit stunt you pulled back at the manor—” 

“Leave her out of this, Bin.” Yugyeom hisses, clutching his chest while keeping himself supported against the tree. “If you have a problem, then take it out on me… Not her.” 

“Oh, don’t worry… I’ll get to you next, hyung.” Changbin suddenly approaches, providing you no preparation as he snatches your wrist and pulls. With the little strength she has left, Dahyun attempts to defend you, landing a couple heavy hits against the attacker’s head. However, it only takes a good shove to send her flying to the ground—leaving you helpless in the arms of the beast. 

You try to throw your own punches, but Changbin is both stronger and faster by miles. In the blink of an eye, he has your figure pinned to the ground with a calloused hand around your throat. Your lungs immediately go into a frenzy as the superwolf cuts off your oxygen supply. You claw at his fingers, breaking skin and fighting for breath, but his grip remains as firm as steel.

“…Think of…” You choke—your eyes beginning to roll to the back of your head.  “…J-Jack…son…” 

“What the fuck did you say—!?” 

A loud bang erupts through the area, drowning out Changbin’s demand. Through the dark spots of your vision, you notice a gaping hole in the center of his throat. Another bang sounds, and this time, his head is blown to shreds of brain matter and skull. His grip immediately loosens, permitting your intake of oxygen once more. You quickly scramble away from the now unmoving corpse, gasping for air and clutching your swollen neck. 

You’re almost glad it’s dark, so you can’t see the extent to which Changbin’s head had been mutilated. 

Your ears are still vibrating when someone takes your shoulders.

“Jinyoung…?” 

“Are you hurt?”

“No—no… I’m fine.” You allow the vampire to help you back to your feet. “Is… he?” 

“For now.” Jinyoung hums, leading you into a nearby circle of light. To your surprise, you discover Mark carrying Dahyun with one arm and supporting Yugyeom with the other—a large shotgun splayed along his back. “Mark is a remarkable shot… I don’t think you wish to see, but Changbin won’t be bothering us for at least a couple hours.” 

You release a sigh of relief. “Great… But now what?” 

“Yugyeom says the rest of the pack is holed up in a secret bunker deeper into the forest.” Mark speaks for the first time, “We should head there… We all need to talk.” 

“There’s no time like the present.” Jaebeom pipes up, emerging from the shadows with an unconscious Tzuyu in his arms. “I don’t know about you guys, but I really don’t want to be here when this guy wakes up…”

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

Jackson is floating, aimlessly traveling through a white fog in which reality doesn’t quite reach. The Other Side is funny like that—Jackson doesn’t exist in the eyes of nature, therefore, when he’s not visiting the land of the living, he’s merely suspended in a state of nonexistence with nothing but the company of his own thoughts. He’ll spot the spirit of a fellow supernatural every so often, but even then… he’s completely alone. 

Until he found you. 

A wave of fondness spreads through Jackson’s veins—as if he had drunk a comforting cup of hot tea. In all the time he’s spent in the neverending nothingness, he never once thought he’d be able to feel again… but like a firework in the black of night, you sparked every bit of hope and passion and liveliness lingering within his mortal spirit. Maybe it was your determination that reminded him of his past self, or maybe it was your eyes—so bright with the stars of mortality—that made Jackson want to live again, to experience the warmth of your smile and the chill of your gaze in the depths of a true beating heart. 

Something about you just makes him feel so… human. 

Jackson snickers to himself before peering over his shoulder, having previously noticed some kind of blurred silhouette in the distance. It’s too far to tell, but he can just barely make out the approaching shape of another spirit—likely a newly deceased supernatural. He prepares to retire back to his thoughts, but is, however, interrupted when an ice-cold feeling overtakes the entirety of his being. Jackson freezes, both from the cold and his realization: 

The witches know about his plan… and they’re not happy about it. 

☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☽ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾ ☾

“—so once Youngjae siphons Minho’s power, he’ll be able to reverse the spell and turn Changbin back to normal.” Jaebeom keeps his focus on the witch as he relays his explanation to the many other audience members scattered around the bunker. He never thought the day would come where he would actually be working in tandem with Mark Tuan, the motherfucking magician himself, but here he is—

“What if Youngjae can’t perform the spell in time?” The pack’s beta, Yugyeom speaks up from his seat at a small, cardboard table stationed in the tiny kitchenette. He stretches his newly healed knee out in front of him before sparing Mark an inquisitive glance, “What happens then?” 

“Minho’s power is the only anchor keeping Changbin alive, most of which he's drawing from the eclipse. Once that power runs out, then Changbin’s form will give out, which means—” 

“He’ll die.” Dahyun finishes, pacing from one end of the underground shelter to the other. If it weren’t for the blood stains on her clothing and the large bandage encompassing her exposed abdomen, it would be impossible to tell she had been stabbed only minutes ago.

Being a werewolf certainly does pay off. 

Mark nods, “Yes.”  

“How long do we have then? Roughly?”

“‘Til the moon goes down, so about an hour and a half. Two hours at the most.”

“Shit.” She curses, “We’re so fucking screwed.”

“Let’s not jump to the worst of all evils so quickly.” Jaebeom fights the urge to roll his eyes as his brother, always the hero, appears from the next room before assuming his perch beside your sitting figure. He hands you an ice pack while still speaking to Mark, “You’re certain Youngjae will have enough strength to disarm the witch?” 

“Not really, but it’s the only option at this point.” 

“While this pathetic excuse of a plan is super great and all, there’s still a pretty big fucking elephant in the room.” Ignoring the harsh glare the witch sends his way, Jaebeom continues, “There’s a cure for werewolf wonder’s bite, right? Some sort of witchy antidote or spell—?”

“As sorry as I am for your vampire girlfriend, I never thought of a cure when I designed the spell.” Mark’s eyes flash with something akin to resentment, spilling amusement through Jaebeom’s veins like a toxin. “When I want something—someone dead, I want them to stay dead.” 

Jaebeom snorts. “Still the same punk ass kid you’ve always been, Tuan… It’s nice to see that nothing’s changed.” 

“You’re a fucking prick—” 

“Mark-hyung. Don’t.” Yugyeom places a calming hand on Mark’s shoulder, stopping him from storming over to where Jaebeom is currently smirking like a fool. The wolf glances at the latter before shaking his head, “We have bigger things than petty rivalries to worry about.”

To Jaebeom’s disappointment, Mark agrees with a sigh. 

“Right… It’s just been a real shitty night.” 

“For all of us, it’s safe to say.” Jaebeom doesn’t miss the warning look his brother sends his way, shaking his head scoldingly before turning to the witch-werewolf pair. “Could Changbin’s blood possibly reverse the venom’s effects? Similar to Jaebeom?” 

Mark shakes his head, “Changbin isn’t a hybrid like your asshole of a brother. His blood has no healing properties whatsoever—”

“But there has to be something.” Your voice immediately cuts the former off, allowing Jaebeom some time to suppress the urge to fly across the room and tear the witch’s tongue from his mouth. “Youngjae once told me that magic always has a loophole, so a cure has to exist—we just have to figure out what it is.” 

“I admire your positivity, little dove, but we don’t exactly have the time for trial and error.” Jaebeom peers over his shoulder at a sleeping Tzuyu—who is still showing no signs of possible consciousness or life in general. Her skin is flushed and sweaty with fever, but he can sense how her limbs tremble beneath the poison coursing through her veins. His chest tightens for a moment, only until he returns his focus back onto the conversation at hand: 

“Minho might have an idea, but it’s a long shot.” Mark exhales, “Once we take him down, there’s no guarantee he’d tell us—if there is a cure, that is—and with the combined effects of your and Changbin’s venom, I have no clue how long your girlfriend has until—” 

A sudden clatter has everyone leaping from their seats. Yugyeom flies to the bunker door in mere seconds while Mark snatches his shotgun from the kitchen counter behind him. Through the corner of his eye, Jaebeom notices Jinyoung usher you behind his form before pressing a small pocket knife between your fingers. The blossoming of the black bruises along your throat sparks rancor through the hybrid’s veins, and he readies himself into his own fighting stance. 

“Yugyeom!?... Are you in there!?” 

Yugyeom’s hostile expression transitions into one of relief—the tension melting from his body like snow. Although the voice is apparently familiar to the rest, Jaebeom remains tense as the beta goes about unlocking the bunker door. He almost expects a cackling Changbin to come bursting through the trapdoor, but is pleasantly surprised when a new figure comes into view—another limp body thrown precariously over his shoulder. 

“Oh my god! Chan—Felix!” Dahyun immediately rushes toward the pair. Her gaze practically alive with fear. “Holy shit—is he alive!?”

The newcomer, who Jaebeom assumes to be Chan, sets down the teenager, presumably Felix, on one of the bunk beds with the help of Yugyeom and Mark. He catches Jinyoung helping a third figure, a teenage girl who can’t be over eighteen, into the bunker as well. Judging by her glassy irises and quivering lips, she seems as if she is going to burst into tears at the drop of a thimble. The group’s collective ragged appearance, Jaebeom knows, signifies the aftermath of one hell of a fight. 

“What the hell happened out there, Chan!?” Yugyeom’s demand awakens the hybrid from his trance, forcing him to return his focus to the newcomer. 

“H-He found us…” Chan murmurs darkly, “I… I tried to protect them… but he was too strong…” 

“How is that possible?” Jaebeom frowns. “Sabrina the Witch over here blew his fucking head off—” 

“They had to have been attacked before then.” Jinyoung places a calming hand on his shoulder, which he is quick to shake off. 

The strange werewolf nods in agreement, “We took our time to get here—didn’t want to risk running into him again…” 

“Wait…” The room grows hushed at Dahyun’s exclamation. When Jaebeom turns toward the female wolf, his annoyance falters at the panicked expression etched along her pretty features. “Where the hell is Chaeyoung…?” 

Chan remains silent and still, like a boy fresh out of war, but Jaebeom has witnessed enough in his many lifetimes to see the answer written all along his face. 

Yugyeom stands. His expression grim, almost sorrowful, as if he already knows too. 

“Bang Chan… Where is Chaeyoung?” 

“…she’s dead…” His whisper is barely audible, yet the hybrid can see how deeply those two words wound the crowd around him. “…bled out… there was nothing I could do…”   

“Fuck…” Dahyun shivers before burying her face into her palms and letting out an even louder curse, “Fuck!...”

“I’m so sorry…” 

Your soft voice carries over the female wolf’s sobs. Fascinated, Jaebeom watches as you maneuver your way across the bunker to kneel in front of a now sitting Bang Chan. You take his trembling hands between your own and peer up at the wolf with the most sympathetic gaze he has ever seen—his own heart can’t help but lurch at the sight. 

“I hate to add to the list, but we have another issue—” Mark groans, pulling his hand away from the incapacitated teenager’s neck to press it against his own perspirating forehead. “—Felix was bitten…” 

“Are you fucking kidding me!?” 

“Dahyun—please.” Yugyeom sighs, “I just—shit.” 

“We need to find that cure. Now.” Jinyoung steps forward, turning to speak directly to Mark. “I will go to the graveyard to assist your coven. With my help, it should be fairly simple to disarm the rogue.” 

“Don’t underestimate him. You’re still gonna have to put up a damn good fight.” 

“I can well manage on my own.” 

Jaebeom shakes his head with a sneer, “I seriously doubt that, considering you got yourself poisoned the last time you played goddamn Superman.” 

As much as Jinyoung puts up the invincible front, Jaebeom has known his brother for a long, long time—and also knows that the previous encounter with the superwolf left him much weaker than before. He can see it in the trembling of his hands and the pained lines etched along his forehead. He’ll get himself killed long before he reaches the graveyard. 

“Jaebeom should go too.” You rise from your kneeling position to join the group. “Two pairs of hands are better than one. You can protect each other.” 

“Absolutely not.” Jinyoung disagrees, “Jaebeom needs to remain here in case Changbin resurrects again.” 

“We don’t have the time to worry about that. The witches will need all the help they can get.” 

Jaebeom scoffs, “I can’t believe I’m actually saying this, but (Y/N) is right. We don’t know what we’re up against—better for us both to be there than just the one.”

Jinyoung stares at Jaebeom for a brief moment, as if searching his face for some hidden secret, before inhaling a deep, yet silent breath and finally nodding, “Fine. But if Changbin attacks—”

“We’ll handle it.” Yugyeom nods, “Thank you… for doing this.” 

“We all have something to lose.” Jaebeom doesn’t miss the glance Jinyoung sends in your direction before making his way over to the bunker exit. “I just wish to make sure that no one else dies.” The last bout of final farewells are shared along with the reminder for everyone to remain on their best guard. In an attempt to follow his brother, Jaebeom moves to climb the ladder, but is stopped by the call of his name: 

“Jaebeom, wait!...” He pauses—his interest piquing as you rush toward his temporary perch. Your gaze is shy, he notices, but still contains the fire of a thousand burning suns. “Just… be careful out there, okay?” 

His response is indifferent. “Not to worry, little dove. I’ll make sure Jinyoung returns to you in one piece.” 

“Promise me you both will return in one piece, please…” 

Jaebeom’s annoyance immediately dissipates at the stressed enunciation of your words. His cold expression melts into a mixture of surprise and astonishment, mirroring the conflict brewing throughout his chest. He clears his throat, attempting to expel the emotions creeping up his back, before nodding: 

“Y-Yeah, sure.” He gulps, “Can you… take care of Tzuyu? While I’m gone?” 

Your gaze softens. “Of course. Just please stay alive.” 

Jaebeom doesn’t respond, untrusting that his words will make sense if said aloud. After providing you a silent farewell, he climbs the rest of the way out of the bunker where Jinyoung is waiting. His brother offers a pointed glance when he completely exits the safety of the bunker.  

“I trust you’re ready for this, hyung?” 

“Let’s get this shit over with.” Jaebeom rolls his eyes, “I’m getting real tired of running from Teenage Chewbacca.” 

[so-sweet-nana]

Interview: NANA Talks About Cohabitation-Romance & Kang Min Hyuk

Im Jin A (임진아), or better known as NANA (나나) is not only easy on the eyes, but also a super talented actress. Since her involvement in “Into The Ring” and “Confession” last year, fans have been eager to see her again, this time in “Oh! Master” (오! 주인님), or “Oh My Ladylord”.

The former After School member sees herself playing actress Oh Joo In, who apparently “can’t” love. Her romantic life is practically non-existent and only seeks to provide for her family. In an attempt to buy back her old home, Oh Joo In stumbles upon Han Bi Soo and that’s when things get interesting. Check out the interview where she delves into this romance drama and more.

1. This is your first time working with these costars. What was your impression of one another and how has it changed since you finished filming together?

When I first saw Min Ki, I knew right away that he is a charismatic guy from the sharp look in his eyes and the energy that he gives off. At least that’s what I thought first. But now, he’s more than just a co-actor. He’s always considerate around me, and he makes sure we go over the script before the actual shoot. I feel comfortable being around him, and I learnt a lot from him.

2. What kind of drama do you usually like to watch?

It’s hard to pinpoint a specific genre of shows that I prefer. In fact, I try to expose myself to various genres so that I can indirectly experience the stories of other people. While doing so, I would put myself in their shoes to experiment with different acting styles, which is also how I further improve my acting skills.

3. How did you prepare for your role? Were there any skills or characteristics in that you had to pick up?

When acting out a role, it is crucial for an actress to tap on the feelings she got from the initial script reading. So that the acting doesn’t come out as too exaggerated. This way, the viewers can understand the writer’s intentions.

I did my best to deliver Joo In’s heart-throbbing feelings to the viewers. Also, I’ve made efforts to portray both sides of Joo In – her glamorous life as a popular romance-comedy actress versus her ordinary everyday life.

4. Both of you have starred in other romance dramas, how does this drama stand out from other series for audiences?

One of the unique things about “Oh! Master” is its cohabitation-romance genre. A man and a woman who are complete opposites live together, they grow on each other and draw comfort from each other. The story about the family members is heartwarming to watch.

5. How will you describe your character in this show? Can you identify yourself with the personality and story of your character?

Although she’s the go-to actress for romance-comedy shows, Oh Joo In is a beginner when it comes to romantic love. She’s very filial to her mother, they share a special bond. Her cheerfulness and kindheartedness are what we have in common.

6. What is the one lesson about love that viewers will learn from this series, especially from your character Oh Joo In?

In the drama, Oh Joo In expresses love for different people. There is romantic love between a man and a woman. She is also a loving daughter to her mother. I believe that the two different perspectives of love shown by Joo In will give you the chance to rediscover the warmth of human relations.

7. What are the similarities and differences between you and Oh Joo In?

We are both actresses, we are loving toward people around us. However, the situation Joo In is going through, people she interacts with, and even the living conditions are totally different from mine.

8. Oh Joo In couldn’t resist Han Bi Soo’s script. As an actor yourself, what kind of script appeals to you?

I’m drawn to stories that are full of optimism and positive energy. In turn, I want to become an actress who has infectious positive energy, so I can inspire the viewers.

9. What kind of challenges did you encounter in the process of playing a top star? Did you put more effort into appearance? For example, personal maintenance, fitness, etc.?

To prepare for the role of actress Oh Joo In, rather than focusing on the self-management aspects of a popular actress, I worked hard on kickboxing, one of her hobbies, to make it look more natural and real.

10. What kind of message do you want to convey to the audience through this show?

“Oh! Master” isn’t just a romance piece, it’s a story about all kinds of love. I wish to convey the message of hope. I hope viewers will heal from wounds inflicted by other people.

11. What attracted you to take on ‘Oh Master’? Introduce your character and what do you think is the appeal and charm of the story and your character.

Among many other things, I was drawn to “Oh! Master” mainly due to its uniqueness in portraying the cohabitation-romance drama. When I went through the script for the first time, I could relate to Joo In’s occupation as I am an actress too. I wanted to show, in my own honest way, how a daughter expresses her love towards her mother.

12. If you were a writer, what kind of dramas would you want to write?

As an actress playing Oh Joo In, I was moved by the heartfelt feelings a daughter may have toward her mother. That is why I would like to write a story full of humanitarian elements that can comfort others.

13. You’ve acted in romantic dramas twice in a row. Do you like this genre?

I get positive energy when filming romantic-comedy shows. “Oh! Master” is such a romantic drama that gives off positive vibes. Plus, there’s the heartfelt mother-and-daughter relationship. So that’s why I accepted this project without any hesitation.

14. How would you rate your love chemistry score for your couple pairing (NANA & Kang Min Hyuk), and why?

Oh Joo In and Jeong Yu Jin have been besties since their high-school years. They feel comfortable around each other. That’s why people did not doubt the fake couple. Because of their close bond and perfect chemistry, I would give them a 100 out of 100.

15. How would you rate your love chemistry score for the couple pairing (NANA & Lee Min Ki)? and why?

I will also rate the chemistry of Joo In and Han Bi Soo 100 out of 100— but for a different reason from Jeong Yu Jin. They were completely different from each other to begin with. As they sought comfort from each other, they grew on each other.

I remember this particular scene, Joo In’s mother fails to recognise her own daughter due to her worsening dementia symptoms. Bi Soo comforts Joo In, she unknowingly leans in to give him a kiss on the cheek.

16. Have you ever worked with Min Hyuk before? What was that like?

When I was active as a member of K-pop group Orange Caramel, Kang Min Hyuk starred in our music video “Magic Girl”. I was so delighted to work with him again in “Oh! Master”.

Interview from: Hype Malaysia

[stuffingisforfools]

So I can’t stop thinking about Bobby killing his own father at like 12 and burying his body in the back yard and the implications of him chasing off John with a gun when Sam and dean were young cause spn never followed up of that because why would they.

But anyways I was thinking about that and about young dean who would do anything to protect Sam and refuses to say a word against a father who most definitely hits him and what would happen if we made John just a little bit more unstable. Sam just a little weirder. But leave dean the same.

What happens when Sam’s psychic powers start themselves earlier. Say he’s 8 years old and sometimes when John is out for a couple weeks and he gets angry or hungry or just frustrated and dean can’t calm him down the lights start to flicker and the shelves start to rattle. Or how sometimes he’ll wake dean screaming babbling about things he shouldn’t know about yet. And it scares dean ofc it scares him. He’s only 12 but he already knows he can’t tell John, knows he wouldn’t take it well and he can’t pinpoint why but he’s so so afraid of what would happen if he finds out, he tries to tell himself that John loves Sammy, that he wouldn’t hurt him, but he doesn’t quit believe it, can’t quite convince himself of a lie that big.

Anyways let’s say that’s been going on for a year or two at this point. And dean has been doing his best to keep it from John. There’s been a couple of close calls but they’re still in the clear. Maybe John is getting a little suspicious maybe not but then dean fucks up and John leaves him at sonnys (Listen I know the wiki says dean was 16 at this point but Sam was definitely not 12 in that flashback and the script says Sam is 9 so I’m going with that) and all of the sudden Sam is alone with John for the longest time since he was little little, since before he started coming into his powers. Let’s be real here John has no idea what to do with Sam on his own for 2 months, he fucks up and Sam is a stubborn shit and they’re so similar that Sam gets angry and shit happens. Maybe the lights flicker or maybe johns glass of whiskey gets knocked over, just enough for John to snap out of his rage, just enough for John to get suspicious but not too big that he can’t brush it off as something he imagined. But still the door has been opened.

Fast forward a couple months, dean is back from sonny’s and things are still tense and dean is so so afraid of being sent away again, of leaving Sam with John, when John comes back from a hunt shaken, dean can instantly tell that something wrong, he won’t stop glancing at Sam when he thinks dean isn’t looking, there’s something in his gaze that dean doesn’t like. Deans on edge for a couple days but John never says anything, even if he does act a little shifty, but the day Mary died is coming up so dean jsut brushes it off as grief, tells himself they just have to make it through the next week and then things will be fine.

But things aren’t fine.

John had finally managed to pin down a demon long enough to get some answers. The demon tells him that Sam is corrupted, that Mary made a deal for access to Sam and that Sam is theirs, destined for greatness he can’t even imagine, that this is the reason that Mary is dead. And John tries to deny it, tries to tell himself its nonsense, that the demon is lying to try and get in his head, but then he remembers what happened when dean was gone, and all these little incidents over the past two years that he’s been brushing off start clicking together, and he knows the demon is telling the truth.

The demon escapes and John goes back to the motel they’re staying in. He can’t stop looking at Sam, trying to see the evil that’s coursing through his veins. Sam is the reason Mary is dead. The thought keeps building and building in his head, he can’t stop thinking about it. And then all of the sudden it’s the day Mary died and things come to a head.

The day starts as it always does it’s not even noon and John is already at the bar, drinking and thinking about Sam and the demon and his beautiful Mary burning to death over his head. Dean is sitting with Sam back at the motel trying to keep him entertained, on high alert making sure to listen for when John gets back because dean knows there’s a couple different ways this day could go and he has to be ready. Last year was a bad one but maybe this year will be different.

It’s midnight by the time John staggers back from the bar, sams all tucked in bed asleep but dean is still up keeping vigil, a gun on the bed next to him. Dean doesn’t know what it is exactly, maybe it’s the way John turns the key or the cadence of his footsteps but dean knows that it’s going to be a bad one again, that John is angry angry angry and he’s going to have to do his best to calm him down before he wakes Sammy. Kid can sleep through almost anything so if dean can get John asleep and calmed down fast enough he’ll never have to know. Dean doesn’t want Sammy to ever have to see John like this.

Except when John falls through the door there’s something different about him, something that wasn’t there last year or the year before that. Dean quietly tucks his gun under the pillow next to him and goes to help his dad to a chair. Dean manages to get John situated and goes to get him a glass of water, but John hasn’t even glanced at him, won’t stop glaring at where Sammy is hidden under the blankets.

and then quicker than dean can react, way faster than a man as drunk as john should be able to move, he’s up and marching towards sam. Dean doesn’t know what going on but dean knows that whatevers about to happen isn’t good, so he does what he always does, and puts himself between john and sam. John staggers to a stop, and roughly motions for dean to get out of the way, but he doesn’t move. And if john was angry before it has nothing on how he is now, he is RAGING. He starts yelling, telling dean to get the fuck out of the way, to let him at the little beast that stole his mary away from him. And dean is in shock, asking john what hes talking about, desperately trying to calm him down, your drunk dad, please please, what are you talking about, lets sit down and talk about this. But john won’t be calmed, you think i didn’t know?? you think anything happens in this family i don’t know about?? and dean is like what dad what are you talking about, he’s trying so hard not to cry rn, and john is like, i know what sam’s done, i know what he can do, and i have to stop him before he hurts anyone else, and then all of the sudden john is puling out a knife and hes shoving dean to the floor, saying im sorry dean but it has to be done, hes evil and someone has to pay for what happened to mary. 

and then theres a loud bang, and john falls to the ground, bleeding out from a gut shot. and dean is looking down in shock at the gun in his hands, he’s shaking. He doesn’t remember reaching for the gun, doesn’t remember pulling the trigger. but john is wheezing and bleeding out on the floor so it must have been him. 

Everything’s a little fuzzy and hes not sure if this is really happening but then sam is crying and dean is on autopilot. He gathers him up in his arms (dean can barely carry him at this point hes getting so big) presses sams face into his neck so he can’t see where john is lying on the floor and walks him out of the room to the impala. The motel is shittier than usual and there was a silencer on the gun so dean is pretty sure no one is going to come looking anytime soon, dean is an expert at knowing what places won’t ask questions, but he knows they cant stay there. Dean shushes sam, tells him to stay put and walks back to the room. 

In the interim john has managed to pull himself upright into a seated position, pressed up against the wall with a hand against where he’s bleeding out. Despite everything john is still angry, he can’t yell but dean flinches anyways when john starts cussing him out, telling dean that he expected more of him, that he didn’t raise him like this, that they need to get revenge for mary and that sam isn’t human, is something that needs to be put down. And dean makes a choice. 

The gun is sitting on the bedspread where he dropped it when he grabbed sam. He may have reacted on instinct when he first shot john, did it without even thinking. But this is different. John has been telling dean his entire life that he has to protect sam, that nothing is more important. And so dean does what he needs to do. And shoots john point blank in the head. 

Everything is a blur after that, when he think back to it he can’t quite pinpoint how he got from the room to the impala to out on the road but hes a good little soldier so he knows what to do even when running on autopilot. He strips the room, gathers up all their things and cleans up as much evidence of who they are as he can. Does his best to keep from looking at where john is slumped against the wall. 

Dean doesn’t remember the walk back out to the car, doesn’t remember telling sammy to be quiet or even making the choice to drive. The next thing he knows he’s is pulling up in front of bobby’s house, staggering to the door with a passed out sam in his arms. It isn’t until bobby opens the door and hands him sam that dean finally gives in to the exhaustion and the stress and the shock and passes out. 

[skullrock]

hey just letting you know that cowardly-bisexual has a lot of rhetoric on their blog against pansexual people and that post may not be about what you think it’s about. Also idk if it’s a good look to discredit young people bc they haven’t had lots of sex?

oh yikes thanks for letting me know! i’ll delete the post. pansexuality is a valid sexuality and i really don’t get why some bisexual people on this website reject it? this isn’t the first time i’ve seen that unfortunately :/ will have 2 read up on that

anyway, i’m not seeing it as discrediting young people if they haven’t had sex. i’m seeing it more like, (young) people who have not been in long term relationships/have real-life experience in relationships (esp LGBTQIA+) that are healthy really like. should not butt their heads into other people’s relationships? the thing that hit me the most about that part is that there are a LOT of people (specifically folks on reddit subs like r/relationships) who literally Do Not know what they’re talking about and give Really Bad Horrible Advice (like telling someone to break up w their s/o over a literal small fight about like, cheese or something stupid). that’s not to say young people can’t have opinions or something, but a vast majority of the time they’re very misled (and, actually, seem to be misled by older people) and it can seriously hurt someone, including themselves.

there’s also a lot of rhetoric online re:labels that really isn’t healthy or informed. sexuality is a complete grey area and can be fluid and the only person who knows their sexuality is That Person. like. i really struggled with realizing i’m bisexual because i didn’t realize it wasn’t this 50/50 thing like the internet led me to believe. i only let myself identify as bisexual after seeing the OBI model which shows how sexuality exists on all these different levels and labels are difficult to pinpoint for that reason.

tumblr used to be a place that was like. you’d get anons being like are you SURE you’re not gay?? are you SURE you’re bisexual? and in general inserting themselves into people’s lives and trying to label them in a very unhelpful and quite frankly scary way when it very obviously (to ME) does not work like that. my personal experiences resonated with that post so i reblogged. also the rampant biphobia which i ended up internalizing bc i didn’t know a bisexual person irl and just used to believe bc people who were older than me (18+) on the internet seemed so sure abt it... but anyway

im also not trying to say young people are stupid or anything !!!! at all! but i think anyone who doesn’t have irl experience in certain things should have their opinions taken with a grain of salt? as someone who is one of those young people that is Online i don’t think yall should listen to me when i say shit that i don’t have any experience in on a real world level. this is also why education is the most important thing and is absolutely more important than saying “young people are fucking stupid” which once again isn’t what i’m saying. i’m just saying the sexuality labels and information young folks (me included) take in from the internet and not through any meaningful relationships isn’t always correct and can be toxic, which is what i thought the post was asserting.

but i just went on their blog and yes they’re very outspoken against pansexuality so i deleted it. thanks again for letting me know!

[aesop1]

clumsy [5]

pirate!chanyeol x reader

a/n: hello everyone! so sorry for the unexpected hiatus. lots of stuff happened with my mentality, but im okay now! i hope you’re all not too upset, because this chapter isn’t too shocking and eventful. thank you for all of your kindness, i love you!

word count: 4.5k

warnings: i think there’s cursing in this?? nothing else

(i do not own the gif)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

----------------------------------

"mother?" you let out barely above a whisper, as if afraid the volume of your voice would shatter whatever hallucination your mind had conjured before you. 

"(y/n)?" she mirrored your tone; confusion with just a lilt of shock.

it was upon hearing the faint familiar voice of your childhood that you found yourself standing and colliding into the woman in question. she reeked of rum and salt, but had that same undertone that flooded your senses with memories of when you were younger and playing in the flowers. a blossom of excitement bloomed within your rib cage, a stress akin to awakening on one's birthday, or celebrating a festival, caressing your heart, once plagued with agitation mere minutes ago. your worries seemed to wash away like the waves on the shore, drifting away as far as the eye can see. although strangely foreign, the warmth radiating from the arms of your former matron only served to remind you of happier days.

"your majesty," you heard a voice from the sidelines sputter out, rising from his seat in a frantic manner. turning, you watched as jinyoung bowed his head, hand resting atop his trepidatious heart.

"no need for formalities, young man," your mother reassured, stroking your hair like her prized doll. jinyoung's actions seemed to bring you back to reality, and you found yourself retracting from the comfort of your mother, stumbling into a standing chanyeol's arms behind you. "my flower, what seems to be the issue?"

"you can't be my mother." your eyes darted across her face, trying to pinpoint the flaw that would indicate that what stood before you was merely a mirage. everything seemed so real, though. every curve and every angle, every follicle of hair in it's rightful place. she seemed too good to be true, and you stood wary of whatever figment of your imagination your mind had decided conjured. "my mother is dead."

she blinked at you, bewilderment taking over her prior sense of joy. she seemed to be awaiting for you to reveal this statement as a gag or something of the like, however you stood your ground, retracting further into chanyeol. shaking her head and clearing her throat, she let out a chuckle of disbelief.

"so that's what he told you," she muttered. she tossed her head back to look up at the ceiling, trying to keep her composure. you furrowed your brows at her behavior, chanyeol sensing your distrust towards her and wrapping a protective arm around your shoulders.

he breathed a sigh of relief as you accepted this gesture, even going so far as to cling onto his sleeve. if he really wanted to, which he found himself with the surprising urge to do so, he could bury his face in your hair, shield you from whatever harm may come to you from the woman before you. his confusion equaled your own, conflicted between your blossoming affections towards chanyeol and your reluctance to accept the possible impostor of your mother.

your mother finally looked back down and to you, a smile tugging at the corners her lips.

"yes," you whispered out, clutching onto chanyeol's arm more and keeping your ground whilst remaining eye contact with her. "my mother died in her sleep and her body was transported to the cemetery before I could say goodbye."

"that is far more gruesome than I had expected from your father." her eyes widened as you had elaborated more so on her supposed death, but nonetheless folded her hands in front of her and remained calm. "I know it must be hard to believe me, considering the situation looks pretty tangled, but I assure you that I am not dead and I did not mean to leave you."

"oh yeah?" you scoffed, deciding to play along with the skit. "why did you leave then?"

"I'm an ancient being, ruler of the seas and the oceans," she answered, no hint of annoyance at all towards you. "I cannot deny my duties as such to hide away on an island with my family, no matter how much I desire to do so." your eyebrows quirked up, leaning entirely on chanyeol now; not out of fear, but out of pure exhaustion of the situation. "you must believe me."

"I mustn't do a thing aside from retiring to my quarters," you snapped back, already preparing to turn around until she called out to you once more.

"(y/n)," she said aloud, voice steady and sure. this did nothing to deter you, already patting chanyeol's arm as a sign that you would like to leave. "(y/n), listen to me. to your mother." chanyeol hesitated, looking between the stern glare on your mother and the dead look on you. it was like watching a teenager rebel against their parent. except it was a young adult denying the validity of an ancestor. he was just about to turn around with you, your eyes already facing his chest when your mother captured your attention. "you can't walk properly."

the hustle and bustle of the bar seemed to fade away to you as her words hit. she shouldn't know this. whether she truly is your mother or not, you hadn't seen this person in years. you could've very well learned how to walk in the near score she was absent from your life. it didn't make sense. chanyeol stepped forward, ushering you behind him so he stood between you and this being. you kept telling yourself that the best course of action would be to run off like you had originally planned, but your mouth moved far too quick for your mind.

"how do you know this?" you uttered out, still in shock of what was said. if this was a mere guess on her part, you really solidified her stance with your statement.

"you are my daughter," she explained as if it were the most obvious concept in the world. "my daughter is supposed to rule the waters alongside me. we have no purpose on land." your heart throbbed at her words, and you began racking your brain for any sort of explanation for this. you truly had no purpose on land anymore. why were you so distraught over the implication that you don't belong on the earth? "our duties lie in the water."

"stop," chanyeol demanded, tossing his arms behind him to pull you against his back.

"you are the goddess of the seas," she laughed out, her voice growing closer and closer.

"stop it," chanyeol continued to hold you, trying to ward off the ever approaching ancestor.

"where you topple over on land, you excel in the waters."

"away with you, or so help me–"

"your father and I tried to scare you away from the waters." she was relentless, chanyeol now beginning to back up with you. "we tried to ward you off with tales of ferocious pirates who would kill and enjoy it, yet here you are in the clutches of one of the most infamous ones," she laughed in disbelief. chanyeol turned, wrapping you up in his arms properly and never breaking eye contact with the assailant. "have you touched the water yet?"

you've touched the water. you've touched the water plenty of times from all of your falls and your valiant escape from the infirmary. never before, however. it now had you question your abilities. how you so easily swam when you have never even stepped foot in the ocean.

"what are you getting at, witch?" chanyeol held you closer to him, afraid that she'd actually phase you in some way.

"you swam so easily because you belong in the water. with me."

you were just processing how exhilarating the water had seemed, not really processing your emotions during that time. she was right. she had to be right. everything she was saying was undeniably true.

chanyeol felt his heart throbbing, gripping onto any part of you he could. anger broiled within him, his veins alight with anxiety. he had never been this clingy of anything, let alone anyone. he once tried hitting a seagull with gold coins, all of which are now residing at the bottom of the ocean as he failed every attempt he made. he was near apathetic his whole life, and now here he is clinging onto (y/n) like a child with their toys.

he pursed his lips and gave a low growl, eyes boring holes into your mother's forehead.

"we're leaving," he grumbled, turning around with you, hoping that the loss of eye contact was enough to break you from your stupor.

"sweetheart," your mother called out to you once more. "meet me by the beach at dawn if you want to know more, maybe catch up."

"sehun, jongin, round everyone up," chanyeol announced, stomping out the establishment in a blaze of fury with a gentle hand on your back guiding you away.

why was this happening to you? everything has changed so abruptly, nothing about your life is what you had thought it to be but two suns ago. pushing aside what you've already mulled over, you now had your emotions rather than your situation: your conflicting feelings for chanyeol, and your insatiable desire to have the ocean lap at your feet.

you had blamed your quick affections on your lack of romance growing up, and you're now blaming your mother's affiliation with the ocean on the latter emotion. both reasonable explanations, but for some reason felt too... ambiguous. like there was more than what meets the eye.

you hadn't spared the front desk man a glance as you were too preoccupied with your thoughts, too much so you didn't even realize chanyeol was leading you directly to his room.

he ushered you in and shut the door. somehow, the click of the handle settling in place set you off like a fuse.

"what the hell is going on?" you seethed, dropping your overexerted body atop the stiff inn mattress. "my mother is supposed to be dead, not a damn goddess." you clutched onto the roots of your greasy locks, tugging helplessly to ease the influx of emotions. "she left me, she didn't even tell me she was alive. she could've told me. she didn't. why did she leave me without another word? why did dad support her to the grave? he never told me anything."

"don't blame your father, I'm sure he meant the best for you," chanyeol stood before you, arms crossed over his broad chest. deep down, you knew he meant well, but you were not having it tonight.

"you have no right to speak of my father." you demanded, curling your legs in to turn around and not face him.

"we're not doing this again, no," chanyeol yanked your shoulder around to have you facing him before he held you in place, hand resting on the side of your neck. "now listen to me closely: i did not kill your father. I know everything is against my favor, but I assure you, I had not shot one bullet that night." you stared up helplessly into his eyes. they were large, his usual frown in his brows doing nothing to dim the intensity of his gaze. like a window, you were able to peer through his exterior and read into his inner turmoil. he held nothing but concern for you, no indications of ulterior motives. you knew you could trust him, but you were so distraught at the moment. how could you open up to a near stranger. unaware to you, chanyeol was dealing with his own revelation, his heart near aching as tears began building up and blurring your vision. he had to hold himself back from brushing away the tears before they could fall. chanyeol felt the compulsion to not only hold you in his arms until your worries faded away, but to also dive headfirst off the plank and into the ocean he's devoted his life to, for he's broken one of his top rules in his life. "what have you done to me?"

"p-pardon?" you croaked out, throat beginning to swell with your onslaught of tears. chanyeol's hand slid from your shoulder to your cheek, falling victim to his desires to finally wipe that tear away. the furrow of his brow began to ease away the more he stroked your face with his thumb. it was as if every scrape of his calloused thumb was sparking a new flame beneath your skin like a match against a surface.

"please do not cry." he whispered to you in the stillness of his room. his spine was beginning to stiffen the more he was leant over in this position, but he barely felt the pain beneath the ache he felt from watching your crest fallen expression.

"chanyeol," you let out, eyes naturally sliding shut as you felt chanyeol's breath hit your lips. how you both got so close was beyond your comprehension, but you definitely were not complaining at the reassuring thrumming of your pulse. your hands craved the sodden material of chanyeol's shirt, practically shaking to hold yourself back, yet caught up in your resilience, you didn't even realize your hands had instead begun hovering over his neck, naturally drawing him closer to you.

you gasped as your lips brushed together, the slightest of touches. he was so gentle, just basking in your warmth as his mind became muddled with you and your presence. it was your soft, barely there touch on his jaw that brought him back to reality. he pulled away almost instantly, staring at you in awe that you allowed him to be so close. you were still in shock at what had just happened, face flushed and body light.

"I apologize, I don't know what came over me," he sighed out, hands clutching his obsidian locks to contain himself from going back to you. "you are in a time of tumult, and I am taking advantage of your weariness, I am sincerely sorry, (y/n), you must believe me." as he rambled on, you stood to your feet, hands sliding up to frame his face before dragging him down to your level and pressing your lips together. surprisingly, it was a smooth transition, no clashing of teeth or noses, which you were grateful for as you wanted your first kiss to be memorable in a positive way.

chanyeol was in shock, hands suspended by his sides in surprise as he tried to process the presence of your lips on his. it was the brush of your fingers on his cheekbones that had him sighing onto your lips and giving in, hands floating over to your neck to pull you in deeper. he basked in your affections, never feeling so warm in his life, even on the hottest of summer days. your hands made their way to his curls while his fell to your back, dragging you closer to his frame. his lips were like the softest of fallen petals, his hold on you like the rays of the sun bathing your skin; he felt like happiness. the longer you were in his grasp, the more delusional you felt yourself becoming.

a knock at the door was what disrupted your moment, abruptly bringing you back to reality as you both pulled away and stared at each other. rather than feeling an overbearing sense of regret for kissing a man you only met yesterday, you were instead met with the most fulfilling of emotions your heart could handle. no moment in your life could amount to how overwhelmingly joyful you were right then and there. nothing has ever felt more right than being there with him. a grin was spreading across your face the longer you scanned chanyeol who stared back at you with a dumbfounded expression. you rubbed your thumbs on his cheek like he had done to you, evoking a chuckle out of him as he refused to look away from you.

you both stood there like starstruck lovers, which was exactly what you two were gradually becoming. he was so smitten, he hadn't the slightest idea to how he managed to fall so hard in such a short time. there was no doubt within him when he began formulating a plan on keeping you to himself for the rest of his life.

another knock had chanyeol audibly groaning and rolling his eyes, unwillingly retracting from you and marching over to the door to give the person on the other side a piece of his mind. swinging it open, he spat out a hasty, "yes, can I help you?"

"did I come at a bad time?" yixing had laughed out upon the sight of chanyeol's disheveled locks. "I came because all of the guys left the bar as soon as jongin and sehun told us about your departure. we need our room arrangements for the night as well as our keys." yixing began making his way into the room as he spoke, gesturing here and there in habit until his eyes landed on your frozen form standing in the center of the room. yixing had clicked everything together in the blink of an eye, the cockiest of smirks making itself known. "oh, fuck, I love it when I'm right." he clapped his hands together and laughed, walking over and pulling you into his arms for a friendly hug. "thank you, my dear, I now have something to chastise our dear junmyeon on."

"yixing, release," chanyeol instructed, causing the man to step back and face his captain. "you and baekhyun are bunking with me. junmyeon will be with sehun and (y/n). jongin and kyungsoo will room together, as well as jongdae and minseok." he light-heartedly shoved yixing's shoulder towards the door. "I'm not having any of my crew kill each other tonight, so you and junmyeon will have to delay your conversation for another time of less inconvenience."

"will do, captain," he reached the door and glanced back, biting on his cheek to hold his snickers back. "don't get too loud now, kids." before chanyeol could even consider demolishing yixing, the man had shut the door and ran off to the rest. chanyeol sighed, rubbing his tired eyes as the lengthy day finally began settling in.

"I should get to my room now," you spoke up, about to walk past chanyeol before he grabbed for your arms. you halted in your steps as chanyeol tugged you over to him. you were stood in front of him again, craning your neck back to look at his flustered expression.

"I..." chanyeol was at a loss for words, eyes downcast to the wooden floors. he squeezed your biceps lightly, biting his lip before resting his forehead on your shoulder. "thank you. thank you so much." as the proximity hit you, you rested your cheek on his, soaking in his ambiance before you were to be separated again.

"thank you," you whispered back to him, hands rubbing up and down his arms in a calming manner. you weren't sure what you were thanking him for, nor what he was thanking you for. your first kiss, a sense of serenity during this stressful trial in your life, a bond you'd never thought you could make with someone in such a short time. you just felt incredible gratitude to the man before you.

chanyeol felt himself become putty in your touch, another breathless sigh leaving him. he nudged his nose into your neck, softly inhaling to memorize your scent for the night. so soothing. he could probably sleep standing right there with you in his arms. you, on the other hand, thought otherwise as you feared another crew member coming in, or your spiraling infatuation with the man before you. you cleared your throat, pulling away to face him.

"I really should go."

"of course," chanyeol mumbled out, low voice thundering within his chest, the vibrations tickling your finger tips. "just find junmyeon."

"I will," you responded, hand pushing back his curly locks, taking one last look at him before you turned and left the room with a heavy sigh. once out, the gravity of the situation finally settled. you were in love. you fell in love for the first time in your life.

this had to be what love was. never have you felt so full before, your heart swelling just at the prospect of the man behind that door. his touch lingered on your skin, taunting you to go back and fall into his arms again. oh, how you wanted to return to chanyeol, but you couldn't. you had to refrain yourself somehow, you've already given him your first kiss. who knows what will happen if you're alone with him again.

you shook your head, trying to clear your mind of these sinful, intrusive thoughts before sauntering down the hall to the foyer where the boys resided. kyungsoo and jongin were absent, so you assumed they'd already taken to their room to sleep. you frowned as you began missing your one on one time with kyungsoo, having grown rather close to him. he had to be your closest comrade of everyone in the crew.

"ah, (y/n)." you followed junmyeon's voice to where he and sehun resided, leaning against the wall waiting for you, you assumed. "ready to head over?"

"yes, sorry for the delay," you rushed out, hoping your growing blush wasn't too obvious. you could already tell that you were going to struggle with resting tonight, images of chanyeol's lips against yours plaguing your mind. his fingers brushing against your cheeks, so delicately. you've never been held so softly, never felt so admired. he held you like one of the many flowers of your childhood hosting a butterfly atop their petals. like the dew of the early mornings cascading down a blade of grass.

you winced as memories of your childhood flashed through your head. those exact scenes of flowers and dew drops appeared and disappeared, as well as images of your smiling mother. she loved you so much as a child, get she left you without another word. why didn't she even bother trying to explain to her child why she was leaving her rather than just disappear, leaving your father to make up her own death to give you some closure.

your eyes became bleary with tears, having to wipe them away before the two men in front of you noticed your conflict. as much as you tried to hide your pain, it was ever apparent in your aching heart. maybe you should go to the beach tomorrow for some /actual/ closure. you can't leave here just knowing your mother isn't dead; that she's instead an almighty goddess controlling the waters. you needed answers, and she was the only one who had them.

as you laid down that night, swathed in sheets and wrapped in sehun's arms, you thought it ironic how your life has turned so quickly. all those years, longing for adventure beyond the horizon, over the kilometers of blue trapping you on this little island, you finally got a taste of what you've always wanted. things never turn out the way you want them to, as you've learned so far. it all seemed too surreal to be anything but fiction, but here you lie in a pirates grasp as the blood of a higher being courses through your veins. every time you closed your eyes, recurrent visions of your long forgotten childhood continued to torment your already clustered thoughts.

why couldn't you remember your childhood?

glimpses of your mother and a field of flowers, your mother on your bed scaring you with tales of the seas... that was all.

your eyes shot open, scrambling out of sehun's arms and onto your feet. why were those your only memories of her? the rest were your father. cooking with him, shopping with him, reading with him.

flowers and lore. that was all that consisted of your mother.

you paced the small room, stomach churning as you raked your head for any memory other than those two.

you couldn't.

you yanked at your hair, crouching onto the ground with ragged breaths.

think.

just think.

please.

give me something.

suddenly, you gasped out in agony, a sharp pain invading your pleading thoughts like a needle. your perspiration was near ice on your skin, your body overcome by convulsions. the walls began closing in, a darkness creeping into your vision. without another thought, you stood and evacuated the room. barreling down the hallways like a madman, you probably alerted the all too nice boy at check in, but you couldn't care less as you fell victim to your own turmoil, allowing your legs to carry you wherever they desired.

it just so happened that they took you right to the root of all of your problems.

you stared out to the inky black depths mocking you, the water lapping at the sand just at your feet, but never touching you. you found yourself craving it's embrace, just the faintest of droplets on you, but it was as if the water detested you. oh, how the tables have turned, the waters now perceiving you as Judas, and your fear now dissipated into desperation. desperation for a place to belong, a sense of comfort and familiarity that doesn't immediately betray you the minute your thoughts kicked in. you didn't belong on land, you didn't belong in the waters. you didn't belong anywhere.

"what are you doing?”

you whirled around, heart stuttering at the deep voice you seemed to have forgotten. he rubbed at his face, attempting to mask his fatigue, yet failing. once he reached you, he tossed his free arm around your person and dragged you into his, a secure hand behind your head. he let out a yawn, burying his face into your hair and releasing his tensed muscles.

by miracle, everything seemed to stop. the white noise which drove your head mad cleared away, the crashes of the waves lulling you deeper into chanyeol's warmth.

chanyeol.

the man who took you away and changed your life. for the better, or for the worst, you hadn't the slightest idea. at this very moment, you just felt relief. a word you weren't all too familiar with, but nonetheless calmed your racing heart and rigid breathing.

"you scared me."

you looked up, unaware of how bleary your vision had become. you rubbed away the tears, blinking up at chanyeol in confusion.

"do you not realize how terrifying it was too wake up to thuds outside, your room door wide open, and you being nowhere in sight?"

you giggled, a pathetic smile tugging at your lips before you rested your head on his chest.

"I'm sorry."

"don't be." he stroked your hair softly, taking your less frazzled state as a sign of recovery. "I know you're dealing with a lot. I know only you can get through it, but don't leave me out. I'm here for you, and I'm entirely willing to assist you and heal you on your journey." he pulled away to look you in the eyes. "I know we just met." a grin greeted you as he strayed from your eyes to analyze the rest of your features. "but you have no idea how deeply I've fallen for you."

----------------------

taglist: @serendibidibidis​ @mrinalexo

[neverlearnedtoread]

King of Scars

⭐⭐⭐; me at any given moment in the second half of the book: leigh.......*sobbing* please........where are we

Oh?? 👌😉😏

incredible set-up! the first half was SO exciting and fun. every set-up was brimming with piping hot takes. court intrigue, power couple vibes, sneaking around / keeping up appearances interspersed with real feelings - bardugo set out a real feast of a story, that’s for sure

non-powered protagonist / POV in a magical setting. it’s one of my favourite tropes (i can pinpoint the origin of this preference back to one specific book in my childhood favourites)

badass women! need i say more

political intrigue (especially with the backdrop of a magical setting!)

No.. ❌🤢🤮

the author lost the thread SO HARD in the second....it really fell so flat after such a fantastic premise. im so disappointed 😭 i wanted so much and i got barely a crumb....please leigh, just another mouthful of that political intrigue....im begging ya......

im not that mad about the [spoilers] at the end of the story, but i am utterly befuddled by how it happened - and that’s not even taking into account how confused i am about the future direction of the story. bardugo, where? are? you? going?? it’s getting to the point i don’t fully trust she knows where she’ll end up either, and that’s dangerous

Nina’s story should have been a novella that came out before KoS. It would have been much more cohesive, and I could concentrate on Nina’s arc more on its own, and probably would’ve hyped up KoS that much more because of how these two stories are supposed to happen concurrently. Honestly, as interesting as Nina’s story was, I don’t have that much to say about it. It was good. I wish it was its own story. That’s about it.

Summary: Three years after the Ravkan Civil War, King Nikolai finds himself wrestling with an interesting problem. While his shrewd political machinations and barefaced charisma have kept Ravka from devolving into yet another conflict with one of its many enemies, he’s been losing ground in a battle with his own body as some uncontrollable curse repeatedly takes over his consciousness, causing him to wreck havoc across the nearby countryside night after night. After he nearly kills a child on one of his fun little jaunts as a giant bird-creature, he decides to take matters into his own hands and travel to a place of cleansing, which he hopes will be strong enough to purge the darkness. Things can only go downhill from there. (Oh yeah! And Nina is doing cool, sexy, creepy, important stuff somewhere else. That’s a thing too.)

Concept: 💭💭💭

I did not expect to pick up this book. I got into Six of Crows quite late, and I didn’t love the duology (it was good! i love inej. and everyone else is there too ig), so when I read the reviews (tbh I just listened to the KoS liveshow by the Papercut trio, but same thing) and they weren’t...that positive? i chalked it up to a cute cover i could admire from a distance whenever i visited a bookstore and moved on. But! Life moves in mysterious ways...and by mysterious I mean my friend listened to the audiobook and got me into it as well so we could share thoughts

Spoilers under the cut~

Execution: 💥💥💥💥 (first half) / 💥💥 (second half)

...And share thoughts we did! The first half of the book was *chef’s kiss* set-up so beautifully. I’ve never read the Grisha Trilogy, but I can feel that bardugo prefers to play fast and loose with her worldbuilding rules anyway, so there wasn’t much I couldn’t pick up using context clues. The characterization for two POVs I’d never read before, let alone even knew the backstory of beyond the vaguest inclination, was masterful! I immediately liked Nikolai and Zoya. Then we got to the second part, and I have never seen anything go downhill quite so effortlessly. More spectacularly? Yes. More quickly? Absolutely! Somehow, this was more like a slow slide into mediocrity, which was....worse. We just kept getting further and further away from the original intrigue, and setting up yet more moving pieces and unanswered questions, and, and - ! The book ended. I am so afraid that this has become a bigger beast than Bardugo can control, and that’s why she’s announcing a Six of Crows continuation - to pull it all together without admitting she may have lost the thread of this narrative.

Favourite Moment: while I loved where nina ended up at the end of the story (and i WISH we had had her story in a separate novella so i could fully appreciate the BDE), I think my favourite scene is when nikolai says to zoya ‘so what about that amplifier of yours that you were highly emotionally attached to’ and zoya not only tells him, but takes off her shirt to show him the scars without being directly asked. like damn! all he had to do was ask an unrelated question! shit! half the population of ravka would die to be as lucky as their king

Personal Enjoyment: ❤❤❤❤❤ (first half) / ❤❤ (second half)

I love it when a story hinges on two characters playing off of the other. There’s the banter, of course, but the real meat of this premise is always the character reveals and parallels you’re privy to, when you match two characters the audience has yet to learn more about against each other. It’s like...shadows and light! The interplay of similarities and differences! The intrigue of these characters reacting to any character reveals alongside the audience themselves in real-time! ‘Two sides of the same coin’-type narratives are always super fun, with or without shipping. And I think that’s the crux of the reason the second half of the book fell apart - despite being two out of three of the only humans stuck in that Other Place, and literally unable to go anywhere, Nikolai and Zoya simply....stopped talking to each other. And trusted two otherworldly god-like figures. Without question. 👀👀 HUH? HUH?? They’ve both been established to trust very few people - it took them three years to build themselves up to trusting each other, and they worked side-by-side to govern an entire country. But when it came down to the wire, you’re telling me they picked some random mythical dudes they had never believed existed? Make it make sense, Bardugo. They’re not even teenagers in-canon anymore, there’s no excuse for that kind of lapse in character consistency.

Favourite Character: i’m going to cheat and say that nikolai and zoya tie - their personalities were so compelling. if only they could have combined their two braincells to give me the fully realised character arc this book truly deserved :(( they could have had intertwined narrative parallels! the foil potential! cmon bardugo, am i gonna have to rewrite this book in my mind myself, or what?