#these are just my experiences with these figure but how can they only give 1/8 figures a decent paint job

[crunchypuppy06]

Okay as much as I love the new gen 7 lps models I gotta talk about how SHIT the paint jobs on the figures are. Out of the 8 figures I own only 1 has a decent enough paint job that I won’t complain about it.

For example:

No #10 has these gross pale sclera and the white paint on their paws are scuffed and go over where their supposed to

No #18 also has these pale sclera and while my iPad can’t capture it well, their black ear paint has this odd bubbling marks to it

No #6 has multiple parts on their under belly there it seems the paint has worn away somehow (my no 4 & 6 are 3 days out of box, while everyone else I opened to day as Easter gifts. So theirs no way this paint shit is on my) No #6 also suffers from pale scleras

No #4’s ear marks are super off center and non symmetrical. Their paws aren’t painted while their tongue is, and their bow is lazily painted

No #20’s right ear is not only missing paint, but it seems a small bit was scrapped off

No #8 has these super odd & diry looking scuffs on their head and their blue iris colour seems to have bled into their sclera

Finally, No #3’s mane us super shittly painted and the corners of their mouth aren’t painted at all

[blizzardfluffykpop]

I've been working on the same fic for what feels like months because I've wanted already to be out. I craved it being done since the 16th of February when the idea was presented to be by a dear friend. (We rotted so bad because of him...) ANYWAYS 😭😭😭 I'm about to cry happy tears- I finally finished it- I feel exalted tbh- (I forgot to mention it's scheduled for tomorrow at 1030 est~)

If you would like a spoiler for who it is about & what kind of an au it is- and the outfit that ran me insane- See below~

It's a mechanic au with Mr. Kim Younghoon (now originally, he was going to be in dark blue coveralls... (as I had picture him) but then I saw this photo & the performance and I've not been the same). This is Kpopnation: Warsaw, Poland: 230923 (was I only going to use 1? yeah but he: yeah)

[mochasucculent]

I'm rewatching Arcane, and after my third time seeing season 1 I had a hot new reading on Viktor's scenes in episodes 6, 7, and 8.

Like a lot of other people, I felt it was weird and unsavory that Viktor - very close to death with a disease that affects his lungs - suddenly starts experimenting on his disabled leg. Those two things have nothing in common, save for the fact that the cause of both might have been the toxic fumes of the undercity, which could have resulted in Viktor being born disabled if his parents were also subject to those conditions.

So why does Viktor try to "fix" his leg when his main goal is to utilize the Hexcore to prolong and improve living conditions before he's gone?

Viktor in acts 2 and 3 is motivated to save himself long enough to make a difference in the world. Even though Hextech is revolutionary for Piltover, it hasn't reached who Viktor wanted to help this whole time, the disenfranchised in the undercity. In his mind, he hasn't done enough to change the world for the better, and he will be gone before he has the chance to do so.

After realizing the Hexcore responded to organic matter when it absorbed Viktor's blood, he experiments with plants, only to find that they wither and die soon after the Hexcore makes them grow.

This causes him to visit Singed once again for anything that could help him figure out how to use the Hexcore for magic that could save lives, one last shot at accomplishing his dreams.

Viktor parted ways with with him as a child upon seeing that Singed was willing to hurt Rio, his salamander test subject, in order to prolong her life. Viktor didn't understand that cost before, but he does now, being in the same position as Singed and Rio simultaneously, both the scientist trying to make a breakthrough and the subject he needs to save in order to do so.

Like Rio, Viktor is not his own end goal to his scientific pursuits. Singed is trying to save his daughter, Viktor is trying to help his people. He's his own means to an end, and is now willing to pay the cost of getting there.

Singed gives Viktor a variant of Shimmer to experiment with, the idea being that it will stabilize an organism while the Hexcore's magic affects it, hopefully allowing it to survive through the aggressive and sudden healing process.

Viktor injects the Shimmer into his leg, as well as carving runes into both his brace and thigh to channel the magic towards there before he offers the Hexcore his blood. It does Something to his leg which we don't see till the following episode.

The new reading I have of this scene is that the reason Viktor chose his leg specifically is not because he was trying to "fix" it, but because:

-He's not willing to put others' lives at risk and knows he's not long for this world, so the only test subject he's willing to use is himself

-He knows the organic matter he tests the Hexcore on might die

-Viktor's leg is a part of his body he's willing to lose if things go wrong and it rejects the transmutation (he also knows that he could just fully die then and there too and is willing to take that risk)

Obviously, the scenes involving Viktor's experimentation center his physical disabilities (shots of his back brace, the focus on his leg) and equate them with the disease that is literally killing him. The narrative lens shows us that Viktor "curing" himself begins with his disability, which sucks.

So while the boat scene undoubtedly is written to be "triumphant" because Viktor's leg is no longer disabled (shown by him dropping his crutch, the swelling music, the parallel to the scene where a child Viktor can't keep up with his toy boat), a different reading is that it's another experiment to him.

Viktor is stress testing the organic matter he infused with magic, and the scene is triumphant because he's realized his leg isn't deteriorating or weakening - it holds up. The mutation of the magic in his leg survived. It's a sign that maybe he can use the Hexcore on the rest of his body, keep himself alive long enough to do what he's always wanted to do: leave a legacy that changes the world for the better.

To me that's a much more in-character perspective for Viktor in these scenes than what is being said narratively through directing, framing, music, etc. Previously, Viktor had never expressed distaste for his disability as an adult, only commenting on it as a part of why he was isolated socially from Piltover. To me, him testing the Hexcore on his leg is merely an indifference to its current state, rather than a preference to have it changed. I don't even necessarily think it'd be a bad thing if Viktor did outright say "I would like to not be disabled", because I'm sure many other disabled people feel that way from time to time, but season 1 really does a poor job of pushing that framing of "curing" disability onto a character that did not express those perspectives himself at this point.

It gives off a big ol' "aw, poor Viktor, not only is he dying because of the political landscape that leaves disenfranchised people to suffer preventable diseases, but he's got a disabled leg too!" One of those things is much more problematic than the other lol.

Season 2 definitely hurtles Viktor very quickly into the Machine Herald perspective in which he thinks humans must evolve past ANY limitations of their original bodies, but to me season 1 Viktor just doesn't feel that way about himself. His primary concern has always been rooted in how to improve the lives of his people permanently, and it's only when he's actively dying that his secondary goal is to live long enough to see that happen.

It's something he drops completely after his experimentation results in Sky's death. He's immediately spiteful of the Hexcore and tries to destroy it - and himself.

Viktor now accepts that he will die before he's able to change the world the way he wanted, and hides the fact that he fucked with his body from everyone as he awaits his demise. "Fixing" his leg is not something he celebrates in and of itself, it's now only a reminder that the pursuit of his dream resulted in someone else's death.

The narrative does well in season 2 to frame Viktor's Glorious Evolution as a Bad Thing at least, and Jayce's speech at the end about Viktor never being broken is extremely valuable and important, but it's just weird to see him say this:

Cause to me now, that ain't what Viktor was trying to do at all! The writers may have retconned that to be the case, which is fine, whatever, but season 1 in isolation does not support that idea to me after this rewatch.

Overall, I think Arcane can have confusing directing sometimes that focuses on evoking feelings and themes rather than the richness of its characters, their dynamics, and the world they inhabit - to the detriment of all the above. In season 2, this resulted in a lot of scenes that felt emotionally unearned or muddy to me, like pretty much everything with Jinx, Vi, and Vander together rip.

It's for this same reason that I think it took me so long to really come to this reading of Viktor's season 1 scenes, because the directing bias REALLY wants to make you feel sorrow and hope alongside Viktor, even though it means he'll seem to randomly start equating his disabled leg to his illness. It just felt like a weird disparity to me until I watched these episodes again and was like "wait" lol.

Anyway peace and love on planet Earth I cannot stop thinking about Viktor Arcane

[hotvintagepoll]

Hello! Do you have a favorite winter recipe? I'm looking to expand my repertoire, because I've only lived in a climate that snows for a couple years, and I don't have enough cozy, bone warming foods!

PS - I keep having to feed my cat pumpkin puree because he has some tummy troubles but he will only eat it if I gently hand feed him with a spoon. Just thought you might enjoy that.

YES HERE IS JOYOUS SOUP

(i have never actually called it joyous soup but it's what i feel everytime i make it and i feel like everyone should make it)

This soup does not have a proper recipe because uhh, my mom is bad with recipes but ALSO this soup truly adapts to whatever you have in your fridge, as long as you have 1) some kind of oil or butter to sautee things with and 2) potatoes. this is the sam gamgee make-it-on-the-side-of-a-mountain-winter soup.

Step 1. Take your potatoes—6 is the ideal but 4 works—and chop them up rough. "What kind of potatoes?" Whatever they have on the side of the mountain, Sam. You now have a bunch of 1" potato chunks or discs (I like discs). I assumed you washed them first but if you forgot you can wash them now.

Step 2. Get your oil or butter sizzling. I use about two tablespoons of butter to start and add more as I go if the potatoes don't look fully covered. I am probably cooking the butter on medium.

Step 3. You're putting the potatoes in the butter. You're pretending to fry them. Watch them get all buttery and golden and a little brown and crispy. You're thinking, man, I could eat these as they are right now. You could do that. Don't. Add garlic and onions if you have them. Add lots.

Step 4. Just as you're like oh MAN these potatoes and garlic and onions look really good fried just like this, you're going to swamp them in water. You're going to stare at what you've done and thought you made a mistake. You have not. The water should just be covering the potatoes and now you've turned the water up to high, staring at your weird sad soup pot, that smells deliciously of butter garlic onions and potatoes.

Step 5. In another saucepan, you are melting more butter (or oil, or what have you) and figuring out what else you have in your cupboard. Carrots? Those can go in. Parsnips could too. Spinach works nicely. Any onions or garlic you forgot can be added again now. Mushrooms are fucking fabulous. Leeks? Sublime. The only veg you should be avoiding are the ones that are secretly fruits (no watery tomatoes or squishy cucumbers) or the ones that you think are insipid (celery).

Step 6. You're chopping all of that up as much as you like and browning it up in the butter. You're also adding whatever spices strike your fancy. I love salt, so that's always going in, but I usually add black pepper and cayenne, and then I get fruity with it and start adding in paprikas and cumins and turmerics or corianders and thymes and basils and parsleys. It all depends on what smells right to you combined with the steams you're making, and how much spice you want kicking you later.

Step 7. How are your boiled potatoes looking? Are they soft yet? Good. Can you stick a fork in them yet, and has the water boiled down to almost nothing? Excellent. How are all your buttery brown vegetables looking? If you want to give up the whole experiment and eat them right out of the pan, it's time to make another mistake and add all your gorgeous browned vegetables to your disastrous wet potato pot.

Step 8. You now have a lot of delicious stuff looking wet and sad in your potato pot. Pour in a bit more water (or veg broth, or stock if you have it) and stir that all up. Let it stew together a bit and combine flavors. Turn it back down to medium so you don’t scorch any of your nice wet veg things. If you're fancy like my mom, you get out an immersion blender here. If you're broke and possess your grandmother's food processor, like me, you're pouring that all into the food processor with the biggest blade you have and turning it into a smoothie. If your concoction seems oddly chunky you need to add more water.

Step 9. Wet sad potato smoothie is not much to look at but now you're adding CREAM. and CHEESE. and MORE SPICES TO YOUR TASTE. If you don't have cream MILK WORKS FINE. If you don't have cheese THAT IS OKAY. If you like your soup with chunks LEAVE OUT SOME OF YOUR VEG NEXT TIME and ADD IT IN HERE. At this point, you have a gorgeous creamy soup that's soft and luscious (that's the potatoes), includes all your favorite veg (that's everything you got out of the fridge), and can go in any number of taste directions depending on what spices you put in (I've made this with Indian spices, English herb garden spices, Mexican spices, Hungarian spices—every time it's delicious and works a different way).

Step 10. I hope you have a lot of bread because you're going to be dipping it in your soup saying :) man this is a nice soup :) and knowing you can make it whenever you have weird leftovers, as long as you have potatoes and butter. and what else does a person need in life than potatoes and butter?

enjoy your joyous soup <3 i may have forgotten several steps but as long as you follow -brown some veg -add water -add spice -blend the shit out of it, you can never really go wrong <3

[the-tarot-witch22]

Your life purpose - Pick a pile

Pile 1/ Pile 2/ Pile 3

My Paid Readings | My insta | My year goal post | Give away

Liked my blog or readings? Tip me!

Hello everyone ! This is my another pick a pile or pac reading so please be kind and leave comment or reblog, and let me know if it resonated with you!

Note : This is a general reading or collective reading. It may or may not resonate with you. Please take what resonates and leave what doesn't. And it's totally okay if our energies aren't aligned!

How to pick : Take a deep breath and choose a pile which you feel most connected to! You can choose more than one pile, it just means both pile have messages for you!

I worked really hard on this pile please show some love by leaving comments, likes and reblogs!

Pile 1:

(The cards I got for you - 8 of wands, ace of pentacles, and the moon)

Okay so the very first thing I feel and heard is you guys are meant to experience new things in your life, to travel the world, or new places, many of you might be travellers or even, if you haven't travelled, then you guys might love to travel or foreign culture might attract you a lot, I also feel this pile has good intuition like they know thigs, sort of psychic or even Deja vu, might happen with you guys, I also feel in this life time, you might and tend to rush things, like you don't like to stay at one place longer than few hours, you need to keep moving or even feel productive, I also feel, in this life time you are meant to be your own person like many of you even have most independent issues, I also feel you are supposed to be financially secure, and if things don't go your way then it will, it just means there are things that needs to be better or you need to be better before you get the result you want, I also feel you are mean to help people, or grow yourself personally and professionally everything i feel for this pile is definitely related to your self, I also wanted to clarify more, but I got the feeling that as you grow, age wise, experience wise , you will figure it out yourself, and i also heard "don't be discourage, with time you will get the things you deserve", when i said people i meant emotionally and financially not like give everything at your own expense but simply means help a little if you can, it will do you good, ifykwim,I also sense a Capricorn , taurus and Sagittarius energy here, sun, moon and rising, anyhow I also feel in this life time you are meant to go through numerous transformations, and find your own path as you move on, i also feel there might be few or many lessons you could have gotten in friendships or if you ever were in relationship, or even your homelife might have taught you a lot. Some of you i need to say might get anxious too, like little things worries you so i have been called to say, just know be calm and be confident, and know that it's not you, it's them. and if it's you then you will get better, and by that i mean problems you might have or had.

Alright pile 1, that's all i got for you, all i wanna say is you guys are going on right path, and believe in yourself a little more!

Pile 2:

(The cards I got for you - The lovers, King of swords, 9 of wands)

Okay so the very first thing i felt and heard is you guys might love, love. or be in love, sort of hopeless romantic i might add lol. But anyhow , let's dive deeper, you know the funniest thing? I feel this group is meant to find their other half in this life time, not saying that's your only purpose, but meeting your person is one of them and really a priority I feel in past life, you might have promised them to meet you again, and i felt goosebumps all over my body, totally unrelated but needed to be said. anyhow i also feel this pile are meant to find themselves, but not as much as their person, i feel there might be a urge of finding someone, and it's not because you are desperate it's because you have promised your person in your previous lifetime, and that is why you feel restless, like a fear of them not fulfilling their promise or you who could not be able to fulfill their promise, and that's a fear i see you feel. I also feel, there might be confusion in taking or making new decision you tend to overanalyse things, don't do that, if you feel your gut is right? go with it! no need to be too scared and live in "what if's", I also feel this group is academically intelligent or if academically average i might say you guys could be very witty, like you always have words ready to say, and god forbid if someone gets on your wrong side, you either cut them off, or show them who they actually messed with. anyways! I also feel you guys are meant to face some transformation in your adult life. There might have had some delays in good things, because universe prepares you first, I also feel check out pile 1 , there might be some messages for you there, I also feel you are meant to balance yourself, emotionally and in your personal life, I also feel one of your purpose is you need to stand up for yourself, to finally know your worth and what you were made for, I also feel there might be some of you who is confused for their career, like you might not like traditional things, do things your way or unconventional, I also feel you are meant to break generational curses, new things or bloodline starts with you, new purpose too!

Alright pile 2, that's all i feel for you guys, but i might say, your future person is coming soon, not gonna lie, they just kept giving me messages me lmao, they do miss you! so don't worry things will work out for you guys~

Pile 3:

(The cards I got for you - 8 of cups, 9 of cups, and the world)

Okay so the very first thing I feel and heard is, you are meant to complete karmic cycles in your life. Let's dive deeper! I also feel this group might have felt and experienced betrayal a lot, like in your friendships or even relationships, it's specific for few of you, but i am getting someone cheated on you? like which gave you lots of trust issues. But anyhow! I feel this group is meant to love themselves and learn how to be alone like not too co dependent or having your happiness and anything dependent on anyone but you, I also feel, this group might isolate themselves a lot, if something hurts them, and they tend to take a lot to recover, I also feel in this life time, you are meant to grow on your own, universe means to tell you that you have everything in your heart , that you find in some place else, so embrace that, even with help of therapy or if not, taking it easy and one at times, I also feel this group is very emotional like, very sensitive, I also heard "heart of gold", so you people are meant to find that purpose on your own and not to take people's harsh words to heart, I also feel you are meant to feel happiness, if you haven't had many happy moments, the i see in future there is so much more for you, i also "heard keep going", "being alone is not a curse but a blessing", right person knows that, I also feel you are meant to use your skills, for good, many of you might be super creative or have good communication skills, but anyhow you are meant to express yourself your voice, not bottle up, let people know how special you are, I also feel you guys are supposed to go through hard time, or have gone through hard times, but don't be scared i feel it's just a small debt you had from past life, and in future you would be much more happier you have ever been!

Okay pile 3 - this is all i got for you, but you know guys you are doing amazing! Take it easy~

Thank you for stopping by! Take care and remember you are loved <3

[miviaceleste]

A Blackrock Story: A Boy with Turquoise Eyes

Happy 12th Anniversary to Blackrock Chronicle!

This comic ended up being 47 pages long (when I first sketched it, it was only 20 pages long). Since I can only upload 30 images in a post, I had to combine 2 pages into 1 image so hopefully it's still visually fine and not annoying to scroll through!

I wrote this mini-story more than 10 years ago, so I figured it was time to finally make it into a comic (after editing the writing a lot because I became a much better writer since lol).

Be aware of the TWs, and I hope you enjoy this comic!

TW: Violence || Blood || Injuries/Scars/Burn Marks || Kidnapping || (Temporary) Death || Loss of Limb / Amputation

Thank you all for reading one of my most insane projects ever!

Now, here’s another long story:

About 8 years ago, my life became so busy that to stay on top of my studies and activities, I stopped watching a lot of YouTubers, including the Yogscast.

I’ve grown up throughout the years. I had to stop acting like a kid to figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. I’m still an artist today, but I haven’t drawn in this way for about 3 years to pursue my real passion. I love to draw, but I didn’t have the time or inspiration to make something grand.

About 3 months ago, I suddenly got curious about how all those YouTubers I stopped watching were doing, so I checked out their channels and watched a video or two before moving on. When I got to the Yogscast channel, on the other hand, I quickly fell in love with the new content and with everyone again.

It was insane to see how immediately my love for them came back. In 3 months, I’ve watched so many videos and streams/VODs. It’s all so comforting, funny, and uplifting. Clearly, I missed so much content in the past 8 years, but at least I don’t have to worry about running out of things to watch for a while.

What made me most happy was that despite changing a lot, I never stopped being that kid who laughed at the Yogscast’s shenanigans. It just goes to show that no matter how much the world tries to push you around, you never lose that sense of joy you had as a child.

Now, about Rythian:

Since I started watching the Yogscast in 2011, Rythian has always been my favorite. I loved his series so much, especially with how he got into character to give us an immersive experience. It was an escape for me as a kid. When difficult moments were thrown at me, I watched Rythian’s series to find a sense of comfort.

So when I started watching his and Zoey’s Blackrock series, my mind was blown. The storytelling, acting, humor, and drama of the series were so immersive and touching that my creativity exploded.

I mainly use art to express myself and my interests because I struggle to talk about it. But funny enough, Blackrock was the only interest of mine that got me to not draw, but to write. I wrote a lot of short stories about the series—even how I envisioned the series would end. I was so inspired to create all the time from this series.

And what’s crazy is that at the beginning of this summer, I found all of those written drafts and notes from when I was a kid. I kept them all for 10+ years and found a very loose (and not that good) draft of this comic and I felt really inspired to finish it.

It was roughly when I was first watching Blackrock too when I realized that I can be creative in the future. The Yogscast helped me understand that I can do whatever I want for the rest of my life. If they could do it, then why can’t I?

What’s also wonderful is that even after so many years, Rythian never stopped being my favorite. When I started watching the main channel again a few months ago, I immediately found myself rooting for him whenever he was in the group videos. I just remembered how much happiness he brought me when I was younger and it makes me so happy that I still get so much joy whenever I hear his voice.

While working on this comic, I watched all of Kirbycraft and caught up on Kirby Farm. I can’t help but smile the whole time Rythian, Briony, and Kirsty interact with one another. The dynamic of these three brings me so much laughter and comfort. A part of me is upset that I didn’t get back to watching everyone when Kirbycraft was still live, but better late than never, right?

I also originally started this comic without the intention of posting it. But then I figured, Hey, it’d be great to share it with everyone who’s also been impacted by this series and the Yogscast in general, so I made this blog to post it here. Honestly, I’m not sure when the next time I’ll be able to draw is (who knew building a career takes away a lot of your energy and time?). But I think that’s what’s so wonderful about my love for Yogscast and particularly Blackrock: I didn’t make this comic for the likes or views. It was just because I wanted to, and I’m so happy to see there are so many people on here who feel the same love for them as I do.

This series and the people who made it, along with the people who supported it and loved it and continued to love it, impacted me for the better. I learned so many years ago that I can be creative for a living, and have been working hard towards doing that since.

Happy 12th Anniversary to the Blackrock Chronicle. To Rythian and Zoey who put a smile on this kid’s face even during the toughest of times.

And to the Yogscast, thank you for being there for me when I needed you all the most and for still being here when I came back. Your ability to inspire me and make me laugh never disappeared throughout the years I was gone, and I’m ready to laugh some more.

[bluelocksource]

Nanase Nijirō’s trivia

☆ Weapons: Initiating movement to support teammates & Passing through Gaps.

☆ Character color: Cinderella White.

☆ Birthday: 1st January.

☆ Current age: 15 (1st year high schooler).

☆ Zodiac: Capricorn.

☆ Birthplace: Ibaraki Prefecture.

☆ Family structure: Father, mother, older brother, older sister, himself.

☆ Current height: 178 cm.

☆ Dominant foot: Right foot.

☆ Blood type: B.

☆ Motto: "One Kick, One Soul."

☆ Starts playing football: At age 5.

☆ Team before joining BLUE LOCK: Rei-in bō High School Soccer Club.

零院防 (rei-in bō) lit. means Zero Academy of Defense.

☆ Hobby: Karaoke with friends. "Singing 'Tamashii Revolution' with all my heart is the best!"

☆ Favorite food: "Mom's stamina fried rice."

☆ Food he dislike: Milk. “It smells funny.”

☆ What goes best with rice: "Natto! I’m the type who doesn’t mix it!"

☆ Favorite animal: Ladybug. "My last name is Nanase, so I feel a connection."

In Japan, ladybugs can be commonly referred to as "ナナホシテントウ" (nanahoshi tentō), which means "seven-spotted ladybug". The 'se' part of Nanase's name can be written as 'hoshi', thus the connection.

☆ Favorite season: Spring. "Because insects and animals start moving, I want to move too."

☆ Favorite football player: Shinji Okasaki.

☆ Favorite song: "Rewrite" by ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION.

☆ Favorite manga: Slam Dunk. "The Sannoh match is always exciting!"

☆ Favorite movie: Princess Mononoke. "Yakul is too cute!"

☆ Favorite brand: UMBRO. "They have a cool logo."

☆ Frequently read magazine: World Soccer Digest and Soccer Magazine.

☆ Mushroom shoots vs Bamboo shoots: Mushroom. "I was nicknamed Mushroom because of my short bowl haircut."

☆ What makes him happy: Encouragement.

☆ What makes him upset: Criticism without explanation.

☆ What he thinks his strength is: His love for soccer.

☆ What he thinks his weakness is:  "I lose sight of my surroundings when I get too passionate."

☆ What made him cry recently: “When I was being seen off before heading to Blue Lock. I cried alone afterward.”

☆ Favorite/best subject: P.E. & Home Economics "I'm good at soldering."

☆ Weak/least favorite subject: Japanese, Math, Science, Social Studies "My grades are all 2s or 1s."

☆ Ideal type: Someone who can lead him.

☆ Number of chocolates received from previous Valentine: 1. "I have a childhood friend who always gives me chocolate, but it's just a courtesy chocolate, so it doesn't really count."

☆ At what age he experiences first love: 5 years old. "It was my kindergarten teacher."

☆ The first time he got confessed to: “In 2nd year of middle school, a girl I was close to confessed to me, but I was so surprised that I turned her down. Is there no such thing as friendship between boys and girls?”

☆ Fixation: Eyes. "I feel like I can tell what kind of person someone is by looking into their eyes."

☆ Average sleeping time: 8 hours.

☆ How he spend his holiday: “Soccer! Soccer! Soccer!!”

☆ When taking a bath, which part he washes first: His forehead.

☆ What he usually buy from the convenience store: Anpan "If I get a little hungry, this is the go-to."

☆ What will he do if he received 100 million yen: "I wouldn’t know, so I’d give it to my family."

☆ At what age he stops receiving presents from Santa: At 9 years old. "After I found out my dad was Santa, I said I didn’t want them anymore because it costs money."

☆ What was his last wish from Santa: UMBRO training gear.

☆ What will he do during his last day on Earth: Play soccer.

☆ Favorite historical figure: Toyotomi Hideyoshi. "He rose from being a farmer to ruling the country! I’ll warm the sandals too!"

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was Oda Nobunaga's sandal-bearer.

☆ If he hadn’t encountered soccer, what will he be doing: “American football. It’s so cool! It’s a clash of souls!”

☆ If he could only take one thing to a deserted island, what would it be: Shoes. "I think being barefoot would be the most inconvenient initially."

☆ If he had a time machine, would he go to the past or the future: The future! “I wonder what soccer will be like in the future. Are they playing matches with flying cleats? It sounds exciting!”

note: i want to apologize in advance for any mistake made in the translation!

source: Egoist Bible 2.

[nebulablakemurphy]

Moves & Countermoves (Part 20)

Summary: No one ever wins the games, even fourteen years later, Y/N is still playing.

Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19

“Soldier Abernathy,” Boggs’ voice is the one to finally break them apart.

Y/N moves to her feet, straightening out her gear. “Yes.”

“Civilian Abernathy.” Boggs also acknowledges the man on the floor.

“Yep.” Haymitch groans, pulling himself up.

“There’s been an incident.” Boggs squares his shoulders.

“What kind of incident?”

“Peeta attacked Katniss.”

“He what?” Y/N stammers.

“Our Peeta?” Haymitch is getting older, surely he’s heard wrong.

Boggs nods. “Follow me-”

Without another word, Boggs ushers them to Katniss’ room in medical. She is limp on the bed, being changed into a hospital gown. She looks the same as she had when Haymitch left her, save for the large angry bruise, blooming over the expanse of her neck.

“Damn it,” Haymitch murmurs.

“How could this happen?” Y/N turns to Boggs.

“I stepped outside to give them privacy. When I heard the commotion, I went straight in. He’d already put her through the medicine cabinets and had her on the floor. It happened fast.”

Y/N brings a hand to her throbbing temple. “Thank you for…” Y/N breaks off. “I should’ve stayed with him.”

“Not your fault, soldier.” Boggs says, immediately.

Haymitch passes a hand over her back. See, you stubborn thing? Not everything can be your fault.

“I’ll be right outside the door if you need me.” Boggs excuses himself.

The doctors trickle out, leaving Katniss in her neck brace, hooked up to a bunch of beeping monitors.

“She’ll be out for a while, by the sound of it. We should check on Peeta. Try to figure out what the hell’s going on.” Haymitch kisses Y/N’s temple. Watching his wife stroke dark hair away from Katniss’ face.

Y/N nods.

Peeta’s room is not much better. He is restrained, for his own safety. Unconscious after the attack, Boggs had to get him off somehow.

The results of the bloodwork returns without traces of any hallucinogenic drugs. The only abnormal thing found in his system is trackerjacker venom.

“So what does this mean? He thought Katniss was someone else?” Haymitch asks Dr. Aurelius, who’s come to deliver the news. He’s not a regular doctor, he’s a head doctor. Maybe he’s here to make sure they don’t lose their shit?

“Well…it’s hard to say. I’ll need to speak with him once he regains consciousness. For now, it seems a bit odd that he would remember Y/N in the hovercraft and in this room, only to not recognize Katniss a moment later.”

There must be something…something she’s missing. “So you think he knew it was Katniss and did that to her anyway?”

“I understand how difficult this may be for you to hear, but Peeta did attack Katniss with the intent to kill her.” Dr. Aurelius explains.

Haymitch shifts, meeting Y/N’s eyes.

“That’s why he’s restrained?” Y/N presses her lips together.

“This is for his own safety.“

“I don’t understand.” Y/N cuts him off. “He held my hand all the way home.” There’s just no way. “Peeta wouldn’t do that to Katniss.”

“I know it is painful for you to see them this way. But given your experience on the hovercraft, I have every reason to believe that we can help him work through this.”

“How?” Haymitch wonders.

“With the knowledge that he recognizes Y/N, we will be able to use a trusted source to sift through the information fed to him by the Capitol. In theory we will be able to reverse this fear conditioning.” Dr. Aurelius is already working up a plan.

“So that’s what you think this is? A response to fear conditioning?” Haymitch asks.

“He has lacerations, old and new. Evidence of shocks and beatings, that with the presence of trackerjacker venom suggests what one would consider brainwashing. A hijacking, if you will.”

“Have you ever treated a patient in his condition?” Y/N gnaws at the insides of her cheek.

“I have never seen anything like this, no.”

“We’ll do whatever we can,” Y/N says, immediately.

“For now there is nothing to be done. Katniss and Peeta are resting, which they both desperately need. I might suggest you do the same.”

“If it were your kids, could you rest?” Haymitch bites out, bitterly.

Aurelius nods, in understanding. “No.” He stares for a moment more. “As Peeta’s family is deceased, you are his next of kin. You will be involved in making medical decisions. If anything changes you will be the first to know.”

“Thank you.”

“There is one more thing, before you go.”

“And what might that be?” Haymitch retorts.

“Johanna Mason has requested that you also be listed as next of kin, until she is found to be of sound mind.”

“What about Finnick?” Y/N wonders, they’ve always been close.

“Finnick struggled during separation with Annie.”From what Aurelius can see, he’s still struggling. “He is in no position to make decisions about her medical care. Rather her be a ward of the district, she would have you.”

“Of course, we’ll take her.”

————————————————————————

Pollux is with Madge, when they return to the children, keeping all three entertained. There’s someone else, perched in the corner, quiet, just watching.

“Mom?” Y/N says, warily. She’s only seen her once since they’ve been here. The older woman was deep into detox and screamed at her to get out.

“Hi, honey.” As if nothing has happened. As if nothing is wrong.

“Mommy, look what we made for Peeta!” Arista holds up the off white paper banner, lined with drawings and colored flowers.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Y/N chokes down her despair. How can I explain this? “It’s beautiful, he’ll love it.”

“You’re sad,” Everest calls her bluff.

Haymitch steps closer, saving her, the way he always has. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Is it Peeta?”

“Yeah,” Haymitch breathes, perching himself at the end of Everest’s bed. “Come here.” He pats the space on either side for his children. I’ll take this one.

Y/N follows her mother out into the hallway.

“How are you holding up?” The older woman asks.

“I’m ok.”

“Good.”

“So you’re out of rehab?”

“If that’s what you want to call it, yes.”

“You look really…healthy.”

“Y/N I saw Finnick’s broadcast and I- I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I’m sorry that I wasn’t there for you. That I couldn’t protect you. I know I wasn’t the best mother-”

“You did the best you could,” Y/N cuts her off. “As a mother, I understand that we can’t always be there the way we want to.”

“But you are there. Everyday and every night, you are there for those kids. They know that no matter what, their mom is coming home. They know that you will always be there. I’m sorry you didn’t have that.”

“It’s ok…I’m-” Y/N wraps her arms tightly around herself. “I’m ok.”

“When I lost Maysi, I lost myself. I tried to get it back, to get a grip, to keep pushing but I couldn’t. When you got reaped,” she breaks off. “When I saw my baby girl get taken from me I- I mourned you. I mourned you the second you got on that train and I never stopped mourning you. But you weren’t dead, you were alive and my mind, especially with the morphling, couldn’t comprehend that.”

“Mom, please, stop.”

“I know you must be angry with me.” Her mother tugs at Y/N’s hand. “But I need you to know that didn’t deserve that. You didn’t deserve any of this, you are so good. You are good and you are brave and you are strong. Better than I ever was or could be. And I’m going to be here for you now, if you’ll let me.”

Y/N nods, silently, brushing away tears. “Thank you.”

————————————————————————

The guilt grows, festering like a wound. Guilt over the strain on their marriage, guilt for their absence from their children. Guilt for Katniss, neck braced, in a coma. Guilt for Peeta, restrained, turned into a weapon meant to kill the only girl he’s ever loved. Guilt for Johanna, tortured and stripped of her dignity. Guilt for Cashmere, who lost her brother. Guilt for Madge who takes on so much burden that is not her own.

“He’s been asking for you.” One of the doctors from Peeta’s team catches Y/N in the hallway.

The voice is enough to snap Y/N back to the task at hand. Haymitch is with Katniss, such is their agreement, until Peeta feels more at ease in the presence of others. Triggering him is not worth the risk.

Through the observation window, she can see him struggling, tugging at the bonds. Two doctors are beside him, attempting to soothe him. Y/N enters the room without hesitation, fighting her way into his line of vision.

“Peeta.” She says softly, moving towards him.

His thrashing does not stop, but he registers that she is there.

“Can we clear the room?” Y/N asks.

“Of course.” The doctors nod, they too are at a loss.

Peeta’s breathing is so shallow and rapid, she fears he might be hyperventilating. His eyes searching her sadly, warily. “I thought you didn’t want to see me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Don’t you know what I did?”

Katniss. “I’m not upset with you, Peeta. I just want to help you.”

“You don’t know what it was like.”

“You’re right, I don’t.”

“But Snow did stuff to you too, didn’t he?”

“Nothing like this,” Y/N swallows the lump in her throat. “I brought you something, from the kids; my kids.”

“I remember…” Almost. Memories dancing near the surface of a frozen lake.

“They made you this,” Y/N unrolls the slightly crumpled paper. “Sorry I smushed it.”

Peeta’s eyes well up with tears. “Can I keep it?”

“Yeah, of course, we’ll find somewhere to hang it up.”

————————————————————————

“My colleague, Dr. Maes, informed me that the two of you had a rather…colorful conversation, at the bed side of her patient, Johanna Mason.” Dr. Aurelius says, during his later session with Y/N.

“She’s not a good fit for Johanna,” Y/N explains. “I’d rather you see her.”

“I couldn’t possibly take on Peeta, Katniss, Johanna, Haymitch and yourself.” Aurelius explains, “given her condition-”

“Take me off the list.”

“Are you sure that’s the best decision?”

“It’s the only option I have.” Y/N crosses one leg over the other.

“Tell me why.”

“What?”

“Tell me why that’s the only option and I’ll consider it.”

Y/N takes a steadying breath. “You’re the best they’ve got down here and we both know it. This isn’t about being a lost cause, or a martyr. It’s about people needing you more than I do.”

Dr. Aurelius sighs, “I’m sure Haymitch will follow your lead.”

“I didn’t mention it to him yet.” The longing pangs in her chest.

When she does tell Haymitch, later that night, he’s half asleep.

“Whatever you want, Angel.” He murmurs, pulling her closer.

They’ve hardly seen each other. She feels the strain on his heart, tugging at her own. Y/N fists a hand in his shirt. “You’re what I want.” More time with you.

“You have me by the balls,” he scoffs, “Stop torturing yourself. Everyone has to pay the piper and revolutions don’t come cheap. If we have to keep going like this; for however long, we’ll do that.”

“This is enough for you? Five minutes to ourselves before bed, after being apart all day?”

“You’re enough.” Haymitch breathes, “you’ll always be enough.”

Just you and me.

————————————————————————

Katniss wakes a day later, clawing at the brace around her neck and breathing hard. The monitors surrounding her beep frantically as Boggs tries to calm her.

“Hey, Katniss. You’re alright.”

Her hands move back to the brace.

“Don’t, you’re swollen.” Boggs stills her fingers.

Katniss leans back in defeat, her voice is but a broken whisper. “Peeta.”

Part 21

Series Taglist: @praline357 @flowercrowns-goodvibes @justheretoparty420 @avocadotoastwithegg @treehouse-mouse @emo-markie @spilled-mi1k @magical-spit @greaser9902 @jessicamellarky @yourebuckingkiddingme @smuha2004 @sendhelplease @ninimackbrews @wittiestrain184 @r1dd1kulus @erenluvr69 @helpimhyperfixating @jackierose902109 @jellybear455 @dreammgc @dadbodfanatic-x @ftdtcmlovr @inky-sun @ms-brek-ker @undercover55655 @mischiefmanaged21 @avoxrising @koiphisch @drwho-ess @daisydaisybilly @misfits1a

[simplysebby]

I got an ask saying "If narcissism isn't the 'bad person' disorder you're saying it isn't, then what is it?" and while I won't post the actual ask because they were rude and had a lot of underlying bigotry in their message, I did want to make a post.

What NPD looks like (for me, Tumblr user SimplySebby. I don't speak for all pwNPD).

1). I hate admitting when I do something wrong. I feel like I always need to be right. If someone confronts me for doing something wrong, my gut reaction is "No I didn't, you just don't understand." I'll sit alone and work my way through my thoughts until I find a way to rationalize my behavior as "good." I feel the need to be a beacon of moral purity. I must always have the "correct" opinions.

2). I hate myself. I see myself as a "bad person" even though logically I know that no such things exists. Nothing I do is ever good enough, no grade high enough, no achievement grand enough. I need to do better even when better isn't possible. And when I "fail," I fall apart and feel suicidal and depressed, like I'm worthless. Oftentimes I turn to self harm.

3). Similar to #1, but I have trouble apologizing. Saying the words "I'm sorry" can feel like "losing" or giving up at times. I always feel the need to "win" an argument even when I know I'm wrong.

4). I feel like I'm better than other people at times, but also worse. At the same time. It makes no sense but it still feels that way. Like on a scale of "amazing, beautiful, flawless person" to "worthless scum not worth the dirt on my shoes" I am on every point of that scale all at once.

5). I'm quick tempered. If I'm stressed or working through a problem and someone tries to offer advice or talks to me, I blow up at them and treat them like they're in the way. Oftentimes after doing this I feel guilty because I recognize I'm in the wrong, but I still have trouble apologizing because once I apologize I feel like the worst person ever. I did something I regret, which means I am not perfect, which means I am a horrible person who is incapable of redemption and I'm better off dead. It doesn't matter how small the issue is, either. Got told off for cussing in a place I shouldn't have cursed? Spiral to the point I end up sitting in my room alone sobbing and hurting myself. 100x worse when an "authority" figure is the one telling me off.

6). If someone doesn't like me, I panic and feel like shit. Sometimes I'll try and rationalize why they suck and they're wrong. It doesn't matter how small the dislike is. If somebody I don't know or don't have an opinion on or somebody I like so much as criticizes me, I fall apart. Sometimes I hate them for no other reason than they mildly dislike me.

7). I know all these thoughts aren't rational and don't make sense, that I'm being "over dramatic" and "blowing things out of proportion." I hate that I do these things and experience emotions like I do, but its not something I can control completely. I can try and wrangle it in using coping mechanisms like going to my room to calm down or counting, but it never fully disappears.

8). I have trouble empathizing with people. I have some empathy, but only in certain situations and its very selective. When someone I care about is upset, I want to make them less upset but I have trouble doing that. Sometimes people will vent to me and my gut response will be "I don't care. Please talk about something else."

9). If I don't like someone, I make it known. I won't put on the pretense of liking them. I've had people ask me to my face if I considered them a friend and have said "No, I don't like you" instead of phrasing it politely. I don't feel bad about this.

10). I'm very competitive. I hate losing and when I do lose my gut reaction is to find an excuse. Die in a game? Lag. Get hit in a game of dodgeball during PE? It didn't actually hit me, you just saw wrong. If I can't find an excuse, sometimes I just turn to cussing them out.

11). I'm argumentative. I'll scour comment sections looking for people saying bigoted stuff so I can tell them they're a bigot or tell them to stub their toe or tell them they suck or try and educate them or whatever the fuck else. It makes me feel better as a person. When I know/think I'm in the right and express my opinions, it makes me feel less like a horrible person. I always take things too far. Mild disagreement? I turn it into a full-blown argument. Fandom drama? I make a rant post about how these other people are wrong.

12). Some days, I don't feel real. I feel like I'm outside my own body, as if I was a reader reading a 3rd person book. I feel like my actions aren't my own. As if I'm a puppet getting paraded around by an unknown force. Like my body is outside my control.

13). When I'm upset or in a bad mood, I get violent thoughts. If I'm stressed or overstimulated (from my AuDHD or otherwise) and someone bumps into me, I spend the next three hours imagining myself strangling them or slamming their head into the wall.

14). I overshare and I like talking about myself. Teeheehee!! That's what I'm doing now!!

15). I lie. A lot. If I see a post and go, "it'd be funny if somebody replied with XYZ" I sometimes post that reply even if it isn't true. If somebody doesn't like me, I might make something up to make them like me more. If I'm arguing with someone and trying to make a point, I might bend the truth around to make my argument more convincing. 99% of my lies are little and don't really matter. Sometimes I start believing my own lies. A lot of times I don't realize I'm doing this until after the fact.

16). I'm scared! All the time! What if that person doesn't like me? What if that person saw me trip and now thinks I'm being "weird" for attention? What if people sees me make posts like this and posts me to r/FDC? What if I'm wrong about something and people think I'm doing things in bad faith? What if what if what if? Its exhausting. I'm tired.

I'm sorry I'm like this. I don't want to be like this. I want to change. I don't mean to hurt people. I promise I hate myself more than you hate me. Please cut me some slack when I display symptoms of the disorder I have publicly stated I have time and time again.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

This is a non-exhaustive list. This took me ages to write and I'm gonna go do something else now - though if I think of something else I might come add more.

I'll end this with what I am not: I am not lying, manipulating, and deceiving everyone I meet at every moment of the day. I am not doing the things I listed in this post every available moment (I do not lie every chance I have to lie, I do not escalate every single argument to full blown screaming matches, etc). I am not a monster in human skin. I am not trying to hurt people. I am not "unaware of the effects I have on others." I am not "out to get" anyone. I am not "just an asshole." I am not a lost cause not worth helping, I'm just a guy who's dad is really shitty and who's brain went and had a maladaptive response.

That is all.

[tabbywaslost]

Maybe killermare fluff headcanons?

Of course!!

1.

Killer sometimes uses Nightmare's tentacles as monkey bars or as slides when he is bored.

2.

Whenever Nightmare reads a book, Killer sits besides him trying to catch up to him reading because Nightmare can read REAL fast and Killer hates books but loves Nightmare.

3.

They are always sitting besides each other in all gatherings and everything. If the place is crowded, they will not leave each other's side no matter what happens.

4.

MY OWN MULTIVERSE!

They became a couple after The Fallen Star Sanses era. During that era, everyone helped each other out but Killer was different from everyone else when it came to Nightmare. Since Nightmare turned back into his passive form, he was powerless but Killer sorta became his personal guard and literally didn't leave Nightmare in any way possible and even got severely injured and almost killed while protecting Nightmare but he didn't stop. And Nightmare just realized that that man would actually do anything for him no matter what. He realized that Killer would even sacrifice himself for him. And also, Killer was able to get away with constantly flirting with Nightmare without having to run away before he gets a good verbal punishment because Nightmare had stopped physically punishing them by then.

5.

Their wedding was somewhat themed. It had references to their fav movies and fav books, and they requested that everybody wear silver or grey colors to their wedding because Killer was gonna wear black and Nightmare was gonna wear white. The best man at Killer's side was Color and the best man and Nightmare's side was Dream. Dream took the microphone for a long time though and started going on and on about his fun memories as a kid with Nightmare, how he wishes them happiness, and a lot, lot more. He was talking for nearly 2 hours until Cross pulled him aside. He continued talking to all the guests after the ceremony and nobody really complained, they were all happy to see him so hyped up at his brother's wedding.

6.

Nightmare took a sewing course from Error and made Killer a new jacket. Killer absolutely treasures that jacket more than he treasures his own life and only wears it on special occasions, absolutely REFUSING to wear it on missions because it could be harmed.

7.

When they first got together, Nightmare decided to keep it secret due to him not knowing how to tell the others yet. Some figured it out and some were in denial upon figuring out but nonetheless, everybody knew so there was no need to announce it and so they didn't announce it and just kept it as is.

8.

Since Nightmare has no prior relationship experience and is somewhat clueless on what to do when it comes to a relationship so Killer takes lead and does most of the relationship stuff. Nightmare sometimes takes inspiration from some of the characters in the books he reads and says some insanely affectionate stuff but gets INSANELY flustered upon hearing and "I love you" from Killer. Nightmare showers Killer with all sorts of gifts too.

9.

Nightmare and Killer have a small game that they play where they get an empty journal that's about 60-80 pages and they pick out characters names and places, then Nightmare writes on the first page and Killer writes on the next without knowing what Nightmare has written. The only information Nightmare gives him is what characters are in the previous page and where they are and Killer has to go off of that and write page 2, then it's Nightmare's turn for page 3, etc. And when they finish it, they sit down and read the absolute monstrosity that they wrote and laugh their heads off because the characters can be fighting to death in one page and kissing in the next.

10.

On nights where one of them can't sleep, he'll wake up the other and they'll just have long conversations about everything. Good memories, bad memories, conspiracy theories, gossip, etc.

I'm so sorry this is late, I was very busy and burnt out. My apologies!!

[mxnhoo]

when i first saw you. (k. sn) - ch1

synopsis : a handsome man you saw at the cafe you worked at simply became more than a stranger to you. genre : romance, angst??? (idk LOL), sunoo is the same age as the reader, sunoo is extremely sweet pairing : kim sunoo x reader (ft seungmin and jeongin from skz) w/c : 3.3k a/n : i wrote this for a customer who i served once and he made my heart explode in the 2-3 minutes i was interacted w him. spoiler alert, i never saw him again, LOL. my love life seems pretty tragic. ALSOOO this entire week i'm busy, and the week after my school is resuming so i'll have lesser free time :( i'll be less active, but i'll try to write when i can! originally i wanted to release this all in 1 part but i dont really have time to finish it and i wanted to feed ya'll with some content for now! hope ya'll enjoy this~

chapter 2 (in the making)

•☽────✧˖°˖☆˖°˖✧────☾•

You groaned looking at your updated work schedule on your phone screen. Once again, you were being forced to work longer hours than what you requested for in your part-time job.

"They even said I'd only be working 5 hours for the entire week, are you fucking serious?" Your eyebrows were furrowed, and you groaned, leaning your head back to rest your head against the headboard of your bed.

You were a university student that was working a part-time job to earn some extra cash, and your school schedule typically wasn't hectic, so you usually you'd be able to work a lot every week.

However, it just so happened that the few weeks you requested to work only a bit, the higher-ups just had to ignore your request and give you your usual working hours. Why do you want to work lesser these few weeks? It's because it was period of time where projects are starting to be announced, exams were coming up, and you desperately needed just a few weeks to just mentally prepare and finish up last-minute things.

But oh well. You lose your time, but earn more money. A win is a win. All you needed to figure out now was how to manage your time well since you had juggle your school, physical and work life.

Entering the cafe you worked at, you greeted your colleagues and flashed at the smile at the customers that came by often. Walking into the staff room, you placed your belongings on one of the tables at the corner. You tied up your hair into a low ponytail, and placed a cap over your head, wearing an apron afterwards. You quickly checked your phone to do a time check.

5:56p.m.

Your shift ends at 11, and you have about 5 hours and 4 minutes to go. You became irritated remembering the fact that if the higher-ups had respected your request, you could've been at home by 8, but what can you do? You let out a quick sigh before keeping your phone in your bag and punching your card.

You worked as a barista at the cafe near your school, and the experience wasn't really that bad — you could even say that it was quite a fun job, but sometimes the timings they made you work and the last-minute requests from your colleagues to cover them up pissed you off. Especially today, since you had just gotten 2 new projects and 1 assignment.

Seriously man, your cafe should seriously get more employees. The way they were relying on you was crazy.

You stepped out into the working station, and realised that the cafe was pretty packed. It was quite normal since it was peak hour, and you took a deep breath, mentally preparing yourself for the customers you would have to deal with in a while.

"Hi! Could I get your order?"

"Hello! What would you like to order?"

"Anything else for you, sir?"

"Thank you, see you again!"

"I'll bring this right at your table! You can go sit down!"

"What seems to be the problem here?"

"Could I get your name for your drink?"

It was task, after task, after task, and you would be lying if you said you weren't exhausted. You were completely overstimulated, and you felt that if something small were to go wrong you'd literally explode. Sweat ran down your forehead as your eyes struggled to stay open.

Time check : 9:58p.m. 2 minutes to closing.

You were extremely relieved that the entire cafe was empty, and that it was just you and your colleagues. You leaned against the counter as you closed your eyes, finally having a chance to rest after a hectic day of work. Your 2 colleagues were in the staff room, chilling before it was time to do closing.

You were feeling relaxed, until you heard the chimes of the bell ring, indicating the door was opening. You instantly felt ticked off, pissed off at the fact that someone was coming in JUST 2 minutes before closing.

"Fucking hell." you mumbled to yourself before releasing a deep breath and walking towards the counter, head hanging low from exhaustion.

"Hello! Could I get a chocolate milkshake?" a deep voice spoe out.

Are you fucking serious? You came in this late just for a chocolate milkshake?

"Okay! Sure! Anything else?!" you quickly shot your head up looking at the figure in front of you, eyebrows slightly furrowed and your tone sounding annoyed.

Next thing you know, your eyebrows were raised, and your heart practically skipped a beat. The figure standing in front of you was a male. Not just any male, an extremely attractive one.

He was tall, his shoulders were broad, his eyebrows were straight, his nose bridge was high, his eyes were extremely pretty, his lips were soft and glossy, his clear glasses that framed his face so perfectly, his fringe perfectly falling onto his forehead, and his ear piercings making him seem more attractive. The cherry on top was how well he dressed and how good he smelled — he smelled like vanilla.

Fuck. Out of all people, I just had to lash out at this... flawless man.

You thought his smile would drop from the way you replied to him, but his smile remained plastered onto your face, making your heart beat even faster. Fuck? He was so attractive?

"Nope, that's all!" he said cheerfully.

Oh. My. God.

You were discovering something new about yourself, and it was the fact that you liked happy and soft boys. Typically, all the boys you went for had a gangster vibe, but none of them had you flustered at the first meeting like this.

You gulped as you nodded, eyes breaking the eye contact as you nervously keyed his item into the cash register.

"T-that will be $6.40." you said, trying to put up a professional front, but the nervousness in your tone giving you away.

"I'll pay by cash!" he spoke out again, his voice making your heart skip a beat.

You nodded again, looking at him as he takes out his wallet. You glanced down at his hands, and boy oh boy were they pretty too. His fingers were long and slender, different to what you usually liked — short(er) and veiny. He took out the exact amount and offered it to you, maintaining his pretty smile.

You nervously smiled at him as you took the money from it, putting it into the cash register and a receipt came out.

"N-name?" you whispered nervously. "What?" "Y-your name? For the drink." "Oh! Sunoo, my name is Sunoo!"

You were writing down his name on the receipt, but you spelled it as 'Sunoh' and your handwriting was all ugly too. Sunoo took notice to it.

"Ah! No that's not how you spell it."

Without any warning, he leaned closer to you, holding and guiding your hand that was holding the pen to write his name correctly. Fuck, the handwriting was still terrible but at this point you didn't care. Did he just technically hold your hand?

At this point, blood was rushing to your face and you were blinking at him, completely flustered and confused. After you two finished writing his name, he leaned back, smiling at you again. You blinked at him a few more times before you stood up properly and nodded, walking away to make his drink (and almost tripping a few times).

The entire time you were making his drink, you could feel his gaze on you and it was causing you to make a few spillages here and there. Your colleagues opened the staff room door, causing you to jump and spill even more.

"Oh, we still have customers?" your colleague, Jeongin, spoke out. Jeongin was one year younger than you, but you both bonded well and hung out sometimes outside your part time job regardless.

If you were still angry, you would've just lashed out at Jeongin for scaring you since you and him were pretty close, but the way you were so flustered, you just quietly nodded at him, continuing to make the chocolate milkshake the pretty boy wanted.

"Oh hey! It's Sunoo!" your other colleague, Seungmin, spoke out. Seungmin was the same age as you, and you both shared a few classes. You watched as Seungmin walked out of the working station to dap Sunoo up.

"You know him?" Jeongin questioned. "Yeah! Him and I are in the same classes and hang out!" Seungmin replied, then turned back to Sunoo "First time visiting?" "Mmm'yeah!" Sunoo replied, his voice making your heart beat faster.

Not wanting to eavesdrop further, you continue to make Sunoo's drink, feeling less tense since Sunoo had something else to focus on instead of you.

The boys continue to have their conversation, and after a while, you finally finished making Sunoo's drink. You sprayed the whipping cream and placed the dome lid, placing a straw inside and turning your back to serve Sunoo his drink.

"Your drink." you said coldly, not trying to make your feelings obvious. "Thank you!" he flashed you another smile before taking the drink into his hand.

He was about to walk out until Seungmin called out to him. "Hey, leaving so soon? Wait until we close~"

You watched as he turned back, his hair slightly moving. You thought you were hallucinating, but his gaze shifted to you for a few seconds, then back to Seungmin.

"Nah, I have to get started on the project."

The project? Was he in the same class as Seungmin? Wouldn't that mean Sunoo would be in the same class as you as well? If he was in the same class, why have you never noticed him at all? He definitely would've stood out to you?

Seungmin's voice broke your train of thought. "Boriiiing.. anyways, i'll see you in class", he quickly turned to you "and Y/N too, since she's in our class!"

Sunoo turned back to you, nodding and grinning at you. Your heart wanted to jump out of your chest.

"I'll see you both then!" Sunoo announced, before leaving, the door bell chimes ringing once again as the door opened and closed.

Your eyes blinked as you processed what had just happened. You had just met a flawless man, who had apparently been in your class for the semester and you had absolutely no clue at all.

Jeongin started clapping, "Chop chop, time to get back to work and get the fuck outta here."

You slowly nodded, still in a daze as you slowly moved. The 3 of you started cleaning up and doing your usual tasks for closing.

You couldn't sleep. At all. Your dark eyebags were painfully obvious that even someone could notice from a distance. You were sitting in class, waiting for the lecture to start and you were about to fall asleep, until someone spoke right beside you.

"Gyar!" a loud voice instantly woke you up, frightening you and you quickly sit up, eyes widened as you look at the person who did it.

Kim Seungmin.

"God Seungmin! You didn't have to scare me like that!" your heart was beating fast from the adrenaline, and you playfully smacked Seungmin on the shoulder. Behind Seungmin you could see a familiar figure sitting down. It was the person who kept you all night, oh my lord.

Sunoo looked at you and smiled, "Hey, don't scare her like that!" he said, playfully scolding Seungmin.

Seungmin stuck his tongue out to Sunoo playfully before looking back at you.

"Why are you here..?" you asked, puzzled at the fact both Seungmin and Sunoo were sitting beside you.

"We have the same classes.. duh.." "I know! But like.. why here?" you were referring to the fact that they were sitting beside you. "Ohhhh. I mean in class I usually sit with Sunoo, but since you two know each other now, I just thought that the 3 of us could sit together now?" Seungmin said, an innocent smile on his face.

'two know each other', '3 of us sit together'. No freaking way, you were going to be hanging out with Sunoo now. You blinked your eyes at him before you slowly nodded.

"Y/N" a soft voice spoke out, and it belonged to Sunoo. You instantly shot your head up to look at the pretty boy.

"Are you okay? Did you not get enough sleep?" his voice so comforting and soothing, if you could you would've slept to it.

"N-nah I'm good. I slept properly" — you didn't. "She always looks like that though" Seungmin teased, giggling at you as you glared at him and playfully smacked him again. Sunoo laughed at the two of you, and before you knew it, the professor came in indicating that class was starting. You opened your laptop, ready to take down notes.

Halfway into the class, Seungmin, who was in between you and Sunoo, was already dead asleep. Boy was softly snoring as he rested his head on the table. Gosh, so much for the boy who was just making fun of you earlier.

You heard sounds of the chair dragging near you, and you didn't question it, attentively listening during class. Suddenly, from the side of your view, you saw the chair beside you being dragged, and Sunoo sitting down beside you. Your eyebrows raised as you watched Sunoo sit himself beside you. He looked at you and whispered "I didn't understand this part, could you explain to me?" as he pointed to something on your laptop screen. You gulped as you nodded, starting to explain the concept to him.

The entire time you were explaining the concept to him, he maintained eye contact and constantly nodded, letting you know that he was listening attentively. He was tilting his neck the entire time and the way he looked was so attractive, it was impressive that you managed to even explain it to him properly.

"Thanks Y/N! You're pretty smart" he complimented, giving you a smile that never failed to make you go insane.

You smiled back at him, and was about to focus back to the lecture, until he spoke again.

"Are you working again today?" "Ah.. Um, yeah I am. Why?" "Ooh okay! I'll drop by later, then!"

Considering how tired you were, you were dreading work. But the fact that Sunoo said that he'd come by made you feel excited for work. You smiled, "okay, I'll see you then".

After this class, it was lunch, then 1 more class and you would be off to work. Seungmin suggested that the 3 of you would eat together, and so the 3 of you were off to one of the nearby food courts.

"What are you buying, Y/N?" Sunoo questioned, looking at you. "I think I'll just buy some banana bread, I'm not that hungry right now." "Are you sure? You might get hungry later" his voice sounding concerned.

You hummed in response, nodding your head. The way he was looking after you, it made your chest feel fuzzy. If he wouldn't mind you would've kissed him by now.

When the 3 of you sat down, you ate the banana bread that you bought from a nearby convenience store and Seungmin and Sunoo were both eating proper meals. Sunoo would occassionally share his food with you and even feed you. His body language was giving you so much hope, but you didn't want to rush it considering you only met the boy yesterday.

After this, you went to class alone since both of them had different classes. As soon as class ended, you rushed to work, feeling excited at the fact that you were gunna see Sunoo later.

Should I prepare his chocolate milkshake in advance? What if he orders something different? What if I prepare it too early and all the ice melts?

You entered your workplace, being cheerful as you greeted everyone and your colleagues. Today, you were working with Jeongin and someone else you weren't particularly close with. You punched your card 5 minutes early and started working, shooting your head up to the door everytime the door bell chimes rang, looking out for Sunoo.

Sounds of the bell chimed, and you looked up, finally seeing the figure you had been so eager to see, but he was beside someone. Another girl. Your smile instantly dropped, and you instantly looked away, trying to find different tasks to do to keep yourself occupied so your other colleagues would serve him in your place.

As you were cleaning the working station, a voice called out to you.

"Y/N!" you recognised this voice, and it was Sunoo's one.

You slowly brought your head up, instantly making eye contact as he gave you his usual smile. The girl beside him also looking at you and smiling.

"Ah, hey." your tone sounding cold as you slowly waved to him. "Could we order?" he questioned, still smiling.

You wanted to push your other colleagues to do this, but you realised that they were both occupied. You sighed as you went to the counter to serve him.

"Chocolate milkshake?" You stated, raising one eyebrow. "Yup, make it two!" he replied.

Who even likes chocolate milkshakes?

You rolled your eyes, annoyed at the response. You were clearly jealous and was trying to push him away.

You nodded, keying in their order into the cash register.

"$12.80." "Okay!" He handed out cash to you in exact.

You nodded at him as you took the money and put it in the cash register, giving him the receipt before moving away to make his order. Fuck, you were feeling bitter as hell.

After a while, you were done making the drinks, and called out his name so he could pick up his drinks. Initially, him and the girl were seated at one corner of the cafe, and when he heard you call him, he quickly got up and walked towards the pick-up station while carrying a small plastic bag.

"Thanks!" he glanced at you, before he slowly slid the plastic bag to you on the counter. "And here's some extra food in case you got hungry.. since you didn't eat much earlier"

You looked at him in surprise at his thoughtfulness. For a quick second, your heart was filled with warmth until your eyes quickly travelled to the girl he came in with, sitting down.

"You didn't.. have to. It's okay." you slid the plastic bag back to him, but he quickly slid it back to you. "Nope, I bought it specifically for you. Please have it." he quickly took the chocolate milkshakes that he ordered and made his way back to his seat before you could rebut. You watched him as he sat down and you sighed, taking the plastic bag in defeat.

You looked inside the plastic bag, and it contained all sorts of breads from the convenience store. Banana, chocolate, vanilla, blueberry bread. Why did he have to be so thoughtful?

Your heart felt warm, but you tried to brush those feelings away.

That girl was definitely his girlfriend right? I should stop talking to him before my feelings for him become even more serious.

You exhaled, as you continued your work, occasionally glancing at Sunoo and the girl. Your happy mood from the start of work quickly crashed down, and you dreaded work even more, anticipating the end of today's shift.

Work was even more hectic today, and once it was the end of your shift, you were thanking the Gods above. Unfortunately, Sunoo was still there, and apparently, he was alone?

When did that girl leave..? I didn't even notice.

As you were about to step out, you heard footsteps approaching you and someone grabbed your wrist.

"Could I take you home? It's late and all.. " You weren't surprised that it was Sunoo, but his request caught you off-guard. "No, I'm okay. Thanks." "Please?"

You turned to face him properly, and his eyes were pleading you to accept his request. You were so confused. Why did he want to walk you home? Did he wait for you? Where did the other girl go?

After thinking for a while, you finally responded. "Fine."

[purpleheartskies]

Robby's Hero's Journey - The Character Archetypes

Also titled Robby is the underdog - Part 8

(Text in blue font is quoted content.)

A character archetype is a common recurring representation of a character that embodies a set of universal and recognizable traits or characteristics.

Typically, there are 8 character archetypes seen in a Hero's Journey. In Robby’s Hero's Journey, some of the characters' roles are easier to identify than others', but most are identifiable. It's important to note that a character can fit different archetypes at different points in the Journey, though a character usually embodies a primary archetype in the Journey. This post will review which characters fit which archetype in Robby’s Hero’s Journey.

The archetypes:

Hero

Herald

Mentor

Shadow

Ally

Shapeshifter

Trickster

Threshold Guardian

The Hero

The hero is the central figure of the story (protagonist) who undergoes a journey, facing challenges and transformations. The hero often starts as an ordinary person who is then called to adventure. They are present throughout the entire journey, from the ordinary world to the return with newfound knowledge or power.

Robby, of course, is the hero in his Hero’s Journey.

"Well, you are the tree, Robby. You've got strong roots. You know who you are, right? So now all you've gotta do is visualize what you want your future to look like, and then you make it happen."

Robby is the protagonist, which is still shown in s6. In part 2, especially, it was interesting how central he was. Everyone treated him horribly, but he was still at the center of the scapegoating. He was also the only teen to have had all three new antagonist teens be antagonistic or be an opponent towards him. The rivalry between him and Kwon was well-developed, with a lot of parallels between Kwon and him. Zara noticed and later targeted him. Axel was/is set up as a opponent for him in official matches. This can't be said for any of the other teens. Also, the lack of support from all three senseis towards him and the lack of one-on-one conversations between him and the senseis, especially Johnny and Daniel, are glaring. During the brawl, Johnny, Tory, Sam, and Miguel each came or tried to come to Robby's aid.

Based on Vogler's version of the Hero's Journey, stages 1 to 9 spanned s1 to s5, stage 10 spanned s6 part 1, and stage 11 started in part 2. Stage 11 is the Resurrection stage and the climax of the story. In this stage, Robby will have his final "transformation". At one point in part 3, Robby will choose his "need" (believing in himself and finding balance) over this "want" (a relationship with Johnny, for which he gave up who he is and stopped believing in himself) in order to achieve the goal of his journey. Stage 12 of Robby's Hero's Journey will then span the remaining episodes after Robby's final transformation.

The Herald

The herald is the “call to adventure.” They announce the coming of significant change and become the reason the hero ventures out onto a mysterious adventure. The herald is a catalyst that enters the story and makes it impossible for the hero to remain in status quo. Existing in the form of a person or an event, or sometimes just as information, they shift the hero’s balance and change their world.

Daniel is the Herald. He issued the "call to adventure" to Robby in s1e6.

Daniel: "You wanna stick around. Learn something." Robby: "Sure"

The Mentor

The mentor often possesses divine wisdom or direct experience with the special world, and has faith in the hero. They often give the hero a gift or supernatural aid, which is usually something important for the quest. The mentor may also directly aid the hero or present challenges to them that force internal or external growth. After their meeting, the hero leaves stronger and better prepared for the road ahead.

As I went over in my Robby has a Hero's Journey post, Daniel serves as the main Mentor in Robby's story. In fact, he is The Mentor in the The Mentor stage of the Journey. He imparted Robby with lessons about finding balance, understanding who he is, and thinking about his future.

Robby: "I just wanted to get back at him [Johnny]." Daniel: "I know. But you're never going to find balance that way. You can't let that bad blood change who you are. I'm not saying you need to like the guy. I know I never will, but he... he is your father. And believe me, you're lucky to have one. You just gotta try to remember, he's... he's not a monster. He's just a guy with a lot of demons. Mr. Miyagi always told me there's no such thing as a bad student, only a bad teacher. And your dad had the worst teacher there ever was. It sent him down a wrong path. But you don't have to go down that path. Do you understand? You don't have to ever become him. Trust me. You let go of all that anger, and I guarantee you, no matter what happens tonight, you go home feeling great."

Daniel continued to provide mentorship from s2 to s4.

Kreese and Silver have also taken on Mentor roles in important points of Robby’s Hero’s Journey. 

In s3e5, Kreese’s advice to Robby was crucial for Robby surviving juvie. This advice led to Robby striking first for the first time and eventually led him to Kreese and to joining Cobra Kai.

"Now you're in the real world, kid. You might wanna learn to strike first."

In s4e1, Kreese also told Robby that he has enough potential to become a champion and he just needs to show it to the world. In s4e10, although Kreese's lesson wasn't good, he was still being a Mentor to Robby when he asked Robby if he was fighting an opponent or a friend, during the match with Kenny.

Silver's lesson to Robby in s4e4 was crucial to Robby's Journey and was the start of the The Approach stage.

"You've learned to channel your anger, but you're afraid... If you want to become a champion, you need to dig out that fear and face it. Because if you don't, it's going to hold you back forever."

Silver also tried to impart a lesson on Robby in s5e9: "There's a difference between being heard and being listened to. They heard you, but they listened to me."

Since s5, in general, Robby seems without a Mentor. Maybe because Johnny is present physically in Robby's Journey now. In anything Johnny and Daniel should both be playing this role, but both are too focused on their own issues and each other. Johnny is also not a Mentor for Robby. Johnny is Robby’s Shadow.

The Shadow

The shadow is the main antagonist of the story. The shadow reflects the darker aspects of the hero, sometimes represented as the mirror image (opposite) of the hero and their beliefs. Overall, they are the antagonist or villains present throughout the whole story in varied ways. The shadow is the "monster under the bed," and could be repressed feelings, deep trauma, or festering guilt. These all possess the dark energy of the shadow. It is the dark force of the unexpressed, unrealized, rejected, feared aspects of the hero and is often, but not necessarily, represented by the main antagonist or villain. However, other characters may take the form of the shadow at different stages of the story as "foil characters" that contrast against the hero. They might also represent what could happen if the hero fails to learn, transform, and grow to complete their quest. At times, a hero may even succumb to the shadow, from which they will need to make sacrifices to be redeemed to continue on their overall quest.

As I talked about in my Robby has a Hero’s Journey post, Johnny is the Shadow character. This is what I said in that post.

The Shadow is one of several character archetypes that plays a role in the Hero's Journey. The Shadow can be the part within the hero that they don't like or that is deep repressed feelings or trauma. The antagonist or villain to the hero usually is the physical version of this Shadow.  Robby's main conflict is with his "hate", as his main goal is to break the cycle of generational trauma. Robby's "hate" due to his trauma is his internal Shadow. Johnny is the character and antagonistic force who represents and causes Robby's "hate"; Johnny has been Robby's external Shadow throughout the series. Daniel called Robby's conflict with Johnny "bad blood" in the avt locker room in s1e10. In s2e1, Johnny also said that he doesn't want to have "bad blood" between them. In s3, Robby said that Johnny should be his worst enemy because he abandoned Robby. In s1, after Robby saw Johnny give Miguel the gi and hug, Robby went to Daniel to piss Johnny off. In s4, when Sam brought up that Johnny knows Robby is a "good person" and that Johnny's "trying to change", Robby shifted to anger and said that Johnny had a choice and he chose to become a drunk loser who still hasn't figured out his own life and now he wants to make up for lost time to feel better about himself. Robby then joined Cobra Kai to prove that the Cobras and he are better than them, the Miyagi Fangs. Robby especially wanted to prove that he is better than Johnny. Robby reacted based on his "hate" both times. In this scene in s4e10, Robby is talking about this "hate" that he feels because of Johnny's behavior and him choosing Miguel over him consistently. (He can also be referring to the school fight wrt his "hate" for Miguel, but had Johnny supported Robby over Miguel after the school fight, Robby's "hate" for both of them probably wouldn't have worsened so much.)

In s6, Robby continues to struggle with his traumas. In s6e5, his "second place" trauma was exposited, and that of course has greater roots in how Johnny (and others) treats him. In s6 part 2, Robby's struggle with his internal Shadow is shown to be worsening. He kept losing focus in his fights and eventually resorted to drinking to cope with his abandonment/replacement trauma. In s4e4, he said that doesn't want to end up like Johnny, but by s6e8, his trauma has worsened so much that, when he believed that now even Tory had abandoned and replaced him, he decided to drink for the first time and got drunk, like Johnny does. He also fought with anger, not balance, when he fought Kwon in s6e9.

As I mentioned above, Robby is in the middle of the Resurrection stage. This stage ends with the final transformation and win. Something will happen that will cause Robby to start confronting his worsening mental health and Johnny (especially Johnny's behavior towards him), which Robby stopped doing after the apartment fight (the end of his Ordeal stage).

"I'm sick of blaming you, Dad." Robby is tired of all of the trauma Johnny's behavior causes him. Since Robby said those words, the traumas have worsened. Throughout Robby's life, Johnny has abandoned, neglected, replaced, abused, and scapegoated Robby.

The Ally

Allies are friends or companions who support and accompany the hero through their journey. They often complement the hero's skills and help them face challenges. Allies can also be characters who aren't as close to the hero but offer some type of help along the way.

Robby doesn't have a consistent, trustworthy Ally. Although characters have played the Ally role in his Journey from time to time throughout his story, none have been an Ally the whole way through.

This lack of consistent support from an Ally or a Mentor is actually a key aspect of Robby's character journey. The lack of support impacts his mental health greatly and makes it harder for him to succeed in his Journey.

The Shapeshifter

The shapeshifter adds dramatic tension to the story and provides the hero with a puzzle to solve. They can seem to be one thing, but in fact be something else. They bring doubt and suspense to the story and test the hero's ability to discern their path. The shapeshifter may be a lover, friend, ally, or enemy that somehow reveals their true self from the hero's preconceived notion. This often causes the hero internal turmoil, or creates additional challenges and tests to overcome. The shapeshifter blurs the line between ally and enemy. Often they begin as an ally, then betray the hero at a critical moment. Other times, their loyalty is in question as they waver back and forth. Regardless, they provide a tantalizing combination of appeal and possible danger. Shapeshifters benefit stories by creating interesting relationships among the characters, and by adding tension to scenes filled with allies.

Sam, Tory, and Kenny have this role in Robby's journey. 

Sam started out as an ally to Robby, but after the school fight, Sam had a choice and she chose. Although they’re "friends" now, their friendship is superficial at best. Sam still acts like she did nothing to hurt or betray Robby and acts like Miguel bears no fault in the rivalry with Robby. Robby has stopped holding people accountable for hurting him, so he went along with Sam using him in s5 (like she had tried to in s4). He also had his own reasons for wanting to take down Silver and Cobra Kai. They have been "friends" since.

Tory also fits this role. Since they became friends and then lovers, Tory has betrayed Robby twice now. First, as she helped Kreese in s5. Second, as she joined Kreese behind Robby’s back for the ST. Robby isn't faultless in their relationship. In s5, he gave her the break-up ultimatum because he wanted to distance himself from Cobra Kai. In s6 part 2, his side is more complicated as she was putting up walls and refusing to communicate. Both of their traumas were at their worsts. Although Tory believes that Robby cheated, Robby didn't cheat and what Zara did to Robby is not his fault. (Narratively, it is shown that Zara took advantage of him while he was drunk. Robby blaming himself, while not even able to recollect what happened, is par for him. I'll address this again later.)

It was interesting to see how both Tory and Sam betrayed Robby in s6e6. Tory told Sam that she had told Robby about Kreese. This was low because, in s6e5, Tory had told Robby not to tell anyone that Kreese had come to talk to her. Tory also made it sound like Robby knew about the offer Kreese had made to her, but in Tory and Robby's conversation just earlier, Robby asked Tory if this (joining CK as captain) was what Kreese had come to talk to her about. Later, when the others were confronting Robby about talking to Tory, Sam told them that Robby knew about Kreese and Tory. Sam didn't even talk to Robby about it first. Both girls threw Robby under the bus about Tory joining Kreese.

Sam and Tory indeed are this archetype in Robby’s journey. Each girl played a role as his ally, as a friend turned girlfriend. Both relationships feature betrayals of some sort by the girls. Their trust and loyalties with him fluctuate. Both girls are narratively attached to him more than to any other boy (Miguel included). 

Kenny also fits this role. He too started out as an Ally. As Robby trained him, Robby did try to curtail Kenny’s desire to fully become Cobra Kai. After Robby showed “no mercy” to Kenny in their match, Kenny chose to fully adopt and stay Cobra Kai. Robby did apologize to Kenny for the match, and it took some convincing from Robby to get Kenny to join Miyagi-Do. (Honestly, I wasn’t so keen on how much Robby insisted that Kenny join Miyagi-Do.) Since then, there hasn’t been much of their relationship. However, this relationship was used as a major turning point for Robby, as Kenny was the “mirror” that Robby looked into during his Ordeal stage. It’s also through Kenny that Robby’s weakness of compassion was explored.

Miguel seems to be playing this role since the apartment fight. Between Miguel not taking accountability in s5e5 and continuing to scapegoat (s6e2), intimidate (s6e5), and bully (s6e6-7) Robby, Miguel puts on the appearance of friendship with Robby. When Miguel "apologized" in s6e9, he didn’t reveal the true context of his behavior: his jealousy of Robby being Johnny's son, and Johnny supporting Robby's captaincy win. Instead, Miguel deflected on the reason. This wasn't an actual apology. Robby believes that Miguel is his friend but Miguel is not. In s5, Miguel only became Robby's "friend" after Miguel got to beat the shit out of him and scapegoat him completely for their rivalry and school fight. The baby plot device also cemented Miguel's place more in Johnny's life. s6e8 showed though that Miguel will not tolerate Johnny favoring or supporting Robby more than Miguel. Miguel is most definitely not a true friend. s6 continues to show that explicitly and subtly. Miguel actually does have a primary role in Robby’s story, which I'll get to in a bit.

The other teens in the Miyagi-Do are shapeshifters too. Their alliance and loyalties to Robby shift, depending on the circumstances. After the school fight, the Miyagi-Dos had taken part in scapegoating Robby for the school fight that Miguel had caused and escalated between him and Robby. Miyago-Do teamed up with the bullies (Johnny, Miguel, Hawk) first, before Robby even joined Cobra Kai, but the Miyagi-Dos called Robby a traitor. In s6, although they're all Miyagi-Do now, the scapegoating for the school fight and other things continues...

The Trickster

The trickster is the jester or fool of the story that not only provides comic relief, but may also act as a commentator as the events of the plot unfold. Tricksters are typically witty, clever, spontaneous, and sometimes even ridiculous. The trickster within a story can bring a light-hearted element to a challenge, or find a clever way to overcome an obstacle.

I’ve been trying to nail down who fits this archetype in Robby’s story. Demetri is a possible character. For example, in s6e6, after they saw Tory in the hotel lobby, Hawk asked if Robby would be okay, and Miguel said that he would be. Demetri bluntly said, in comedic fashion, that he himself wouldn’t be. Though Demetri can be more annoying than funny, he does have moments of levity and commenting about the events. He doesn't seem to have had an important impact on Robby’s journey, as some tricksters may. But again, not all the archetypes in every journey fit the molds exactly.

Anthony may be another trickster, as he has moments of levity and calling things out too.

For Johnny's and Daniel's Journeys, Amanda, for example, fits this archetype as one of her roles. She lightens a lot of moments and calls out the absurdity of events often. She doesn't play this role for Robby’s story specifically though. In fact, she told Daniel to ignore Robby’s feelings after the arrest because Robby’s "a teenager". She also told Daniel to let Robby go after Robby walked away from Daniel outside of juvie. Though, she had given him advice in s2e4 about mistakes. She may be a Shapeshifter in Robby's Journey, specifically.

The Threshold Guardian

I'm going to take some time with this final archetype because a few characters fill this role. I'll also talk about the inanimate Threshold Guardian in Robby’s Journey.

What is a threshold in the Journey?

A threshold can be any dividing line between one point and another. A border between one space and the next, between one state of being and another, the threshold in your story represents a moment in time that changes everything for your protagonist and their fate. They’re crossing over from one form to another, one place to another, one mindset to another. The hero will go through several throughout his journey and each one is important because each means he has "made it" to the next phase of his journey. Often the hero will have to bypass or defeat a person or thing that makes getting through the threshold rather difficult. These beings or obstacles are called "Threshold Guardians"—their purpose: to stop the hero in his tracks.

About Threshold Guardians

This archetype guards the first threshold—the major turning point of the story where the hero must make the true commitment of the journey and embark on their quest to achieve their destiny. The role of the threshold guardian is to help round out the hero along their journey. The threshold guardian will test the hero's determination and commitment and will drive them forward as the hero enters the next stage of their journey, assisting the development of the hero's character arc within the plot. The threshold guardian can be a friend who doesn't believe in the hero's quest, or a foe that makes the hero question themselves, their desires, or motives in an attempt to deter the hero from their journey. Ultimately, the role of the threshold guardian is to test the hero's resolve on their quest. A threshold guardian is an archetypal character who stands between the hero and their goal. The guardian might be another person, or it might be an object, animal, or event. To pass the guardian and progress the narrative, the hero must typically change in some way, try something new, or overcome challenges. The Threshold Guardians often represent the status quo. The hero is the maverick, renegade, or rebel trying to cause change, while the Threshold Guardians are defenders of the way things are. The threshold guardian is usually a secondary or tertiary character whose entire purpose within your story is to be an obstacle for the hero. In the annals of mythology, the Threshold Guardian were generally minions of the story's primary antagonist, and served a very literal purpose. As time passed, and storytelling got more sophisticated, so has the role of the Threshold Guardian. The ally of the antagonist – This Threshold Guardian is actively working to stop the Hero from reaching their goal – the true antagonist of the story.  There is often a symbiotic relationship between a villain and a Threshold Guardian.

Miguel is the primary Threshold Guardian

In my Robby has a Hero's Journey post, I stated this about Miguel's role in the Robby's story:

Although Miguel is an antagonistic force towards Robby, Miguel is more an extension of Johnny (and Sam). Robby's actions are primarily driven by his "want" (a genuine relationship with Johnny) and his "need" (understanding who he is, overcoming his "hate", and finding balance), which are both tied to Johnny as he is the main source of Robby's trauma and "hate".

As mentioned, the Threshold Guardian blocks the threshold between the ordinary world and the special world, but Guardians appear at important points to "test"/"block" the Hero.

Miguel is the most prominent Threshold Guardian in Robby's Journey. Miguel especially is (one of) the biggest obstacle when it comes to Robby getting to Johnny, the Shadow. 

Robby about Johnny and the Mexico trip: "uh... it wasn't really that kind of trip. But, uh, we did work out a few of our issues. There's still some that are just too big to solve." 

In s1e5, although Robby had seen Johnny give Miguel the gi and hug, Robby had only taken an action that would affect Johnny—getting a job with the LaRussos. Robby's first interaction with Miguel was the beach party in s1e9, where Robby tried to protect Sam but Miguel attacked him. In the s1 avt, before going out for the final match, Robby said to Daniel that Robby has to face "him" eventually, talking about Johnny—The Shadow. But, Robby faced Miguel in the match! Miguel is the Threshold Guardian that is an Ally to the Shadow, the Threshold Guardian who has a symbiotic relationship with the Shadow throughout the series. Although Robby lost the s1 avt, he had fought with balance and honor. His win was internal. He and Daniel then reopened Miyagi-Do and crossed the threshold into the Special World.

Robby's main fights with Miguel are the s1 avt (Crossing the Threshold), the school fight (Tests, Allies, and Enemies), the apartment fight (end of the Ordeal and start of the Reward), and captaincy fight (The Road Back, another threshold crossing).

Robby's first fight with Miguel, the primary Threshold Guardian, was right before Robby crossed the threshold into the Special World. Robby finally got a victory over Miguel as Robby was crossing back into the Ordinary World in The Road Back stage.

The s1 avt and captaincy fights were points in Robby's Journey where he was crossing the Journey thresholds. Note, in these two fights Robby had balance in his fights. In fact, Robby’s struggle with balance was featured as a component of each fight. Yes! Robby’s poor mental health/balance is also a Threshold Guardian. I will get into this in a bit. 

The school and apartment fights each resulted in major shifts in Robby’s journey, both externally and internally. 

The school fight took place during the Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage. Miguel pushed Robby to his limit. He lost his balance, had a "fight" trauma response, and accidentally injured Miguel. After this, Robby expressed hopelessness in his journey for the first time, "But you were right. It was a mistake trying to help me because I can't change." Robby was contemplating giving up on the Journey. Robby was put in juvie and lost everyone’s support. 

Robby did give up on his goals for a time. Then, in s4e1 Robby decided to compete for the trophy and a better future because of his conversation with Sam, in which she'd brought up Johnny and that triggered a trauma response in Robby. In s4e4, Silver's advice to Robby to face his fear emboldened Robby to confront his Shadow once again in The Approach.

"For as long as I can remember, I've been afraid... afraid that I'm gonna end up like you. But that's not gonna be my fear anymore... because I am better than you."

The apartment fight took place at the end of the Ordeal stage. Robby was pretty much beaten into place by both Miguel (the main Threshold Guardian) and Johnny (Shadow) as part of the toxic family. Robby was also welcomed back by everyone. However, he had to give up who he is, including his self-worth, as he stopped standing up for himself and his side of the story. Because of the situation, he chose his "want" (relationship with Johnny) over his "need" (who he is and finding balance). At the beginning of the Ordeal in s4e10, Robby had expressed his second statement of hopelessness. "I screwed everything up… It just made things worse and now it's never going to get better... I'm sick of blaming you, Dad." At the end of the Ordeal in s5e5, Robby ended up giving up who he is because it was never going to get better.

Both environments/situations that Robby entered into after the school fight and after the apartment fight have been traumatic but in different ways. Both have resulted in severe internal changes in Robby, further worsening his mental health and worsening his struggles with balance. Robby’s losses, in karate and in life, are setbacks in his Journey. Not to mention, the apartment fight was a mirror to the school fight.

Since the apartment fight in s5e5, Miguel has played a Shapeshifter role, as I described above. However, Miguel's primary role in Robby's Journey is that of the Threshold Guardian, especially when it comes to his attachment to Robby's external Shadow–Johnny. Miguel's conversation with Johnny on the plane in s6e8, for example, is a setback for Robby gaining a true relationship with Johnny. The little bit of "support" Johnny gave Robby because he'd won the captaincy was challenged by Miguel. Johnny's attention straying from Robby to Miguel and staying focused there, like after the school fight and for the Mexico trip, are other examples of how Miguel is an obstacle in Robby's Journey to achieve his goals ("wants" and "needs" are both goals).

Miguel's antagonistic behavior towards Robby when it comes to Johnny, Sam, and the karate championships (especially in S1 and S6) are interestingly described by the following:

This important archetype character's entire existence is wrapped up in guarding the threshold. For this to make sense as you create your story, there has to be a really good reason why. Finding out this reason why will help you build out your threshold guardian character's backstory and motives (because, remember—every character, even the secondary ones, need motives). In many instances, threshold guardians are willing to make dramatic sacrifices to protect their threshold. They want to keep their special world separate from your hero's world. They don't like the fact that your hero is trying to shake things up by crossing between the two. It's messing with the status quo. Maybe the guardian realizes that the hero's willingness to cross boundaries is a threat to the way things have always been.

Carmen is also a Threshold Guardian, an indirect one. She actively scapegoats Johnny and Robby for Miguel's faults and violence in the fights and has kept Johnny’s focus on Miguel, like when Johnny talked about his failures with Robby or about being uncomfortable being a “dad” to Miguel. The baby plot device, for all intents and purposes, is a Threshold Guardian as well. I've always said that the baby was introduced primarily to impact Robby in his character journey. He is the only one who changed because of its introduction into the story. And the circumstances around that change moved Robby from one stage (The Ordeal) to the next (The Reward) in the Journey. In s6, the family scenes being done in a way that excludes Robby, either subtly like with everyone praising the scapegoating essay or explicitly with Robby not present at all, is also very telling. (See my post about Johnny, Robby, and the family in s6 part 2.)

Robby's "hate"/trauma is also a Threshold Guardian

Robby's "hate"/trauma is a Threshold Guardian, in addition to being his internal Shadow. This is shown explicitly in a lot of his fights. The battle is both internal and external in these fights. 

The internal threshold guardian - While not as common and not as easily recognizable, sometimes stories include internal demons as threshold guardians—something within your main character that's preventing them from moving forward and that they must learn to overcome. It might be a past trauma, addiction, fear, etc.

The overall theme of the series is about finding balance, not just in karate but in life as well.

"You remember lesson about balance? Lesson not just karate only. Lesson for whole life. Whole life have a balance. Everything be better. Understand?”

In my Robby has a Hero's Journey post, I said this:

In s4e10, Daniel told Hawk during his match with Robby: "This fight is not about him. The biggest battle is always the one within. Okay, concentrate, defense, focus, power. You find your balance, and those points will come. All right?" This also applies to Robby's journey and his conflicts with his "hate" and with Johnny.

In that fight, Hawk resorted to mostly using Cobra Kai against Robby so didn't need to rely on his balance, while Robby resorted to mostly using Miyagi-Do, lost his balance after he looked in the "mirror", and eventually lost the fight.

Robby's balance has been emphasized in Robby's fights with Miguel and Hawk throughout the series, and in Robby's fights in s6 part 2, as part of The Resurrection stage.

Hawk is another main Threshold Guardian

Hawk had first injured Robby in the s1 avt and that enabled Miguel to do more damage. Hawk was also the person Robby fought and lost against in the s4 avt. This was the start of Robby's Ordeal stage. He lost his balance during that fight and lost the fight.

In my Keeping the Peace post, I talked about the correlation between the s5e8 scene of Johnny recapping the avts with the boys (more unreliable narration on Johnny’s part; Johnny keeps trying to reframe Robby's reality) and Robby’s s6e5 shadowing boxing scene.

Interestingly, in the s5e8 scene, Robby is sitting with his Shadow–Johnny–and the two main Threshold Guardian characters —both of whom were trained by Johnny and primarily use Cobra Kai as their fighting style like Johnny does (while Robby primarily uses Miyagi-Do). Johnny talked about the first avt, the main fight during the Crossing the Threshold stage, as if Miguel hadn't cheated and as if Robby had lost the tournament fair and square. In s6e5, Robby’s "second place" trauma was emphasized using the avt matches to these two Threshold Guardians.

Other Threshold Guardians in Robby’s Journey

Trey and Cruz were the obstacles Robby had to overcome in the Refusal of the Call stage in s1e7.

Shawn played this role in s3. Robby had to defeat Shawn in order to "advance" in the Journey. In this case, Robby chose to strike first for the first time.

In s4e1, Robby had to fight the Cobras to secure his place as their leader. They became his allies after this.

In s6 part 2, as part of the Resurrection stage, all 3 new antagonists played some role in Robby's Journey. (I will speak objectively about Zara here, based on what is portrayed in canon. My post about the SA and it's framing and marketing explain that all of Robby's traumas, especially by other characters, are framed and marketed the same way. I will treat the SA as I treat those other traumas and will address it as such.)

Of these three, Kwon was explicitly set up as Robby's rival. He has many parallels to Robby. While Miguel is a foil character to Robby, Kwon is a mirror character to Robby. (I hope to address this more in a post about Robby in part 2.) Robby kept losing to Kwon until their match in s6e9. Although that fight is cool, Robby fought with anger and made sure to make it hurt, which made the Shadow proud. Robby didn't rely on Miyagi-Do and didn't fight with balance. In terms of succeeding in his goal of finding balance, Robby had a major setback. He was angry that he'd fallen for Kwon's mind games, and he took his anger out on Kwon. Kwon fits this description of a type of Threshold Guardian.

To increase tension and add to your hero’s internal development, this archetype should represent something greater to your hero than just a simple test of their ability. Maybe your guardians represent the bigger, worse villain that your hero will need to go up against in the future. Maybe they represent your hero’s internal conflicts and faults that they’ll need to overcome at some point. Maybe they represent a weakness that your hero has been trying to hide.

Miguel matches the first "maybe" that is listed. Kwon seems to match the other two "maybe" because a lot of Kwon's insecurities matched Robby's.

Zara is another Threshold Guardian. It stuck out to me that Robby losing in his matches really hit him hard after the SA. He seemed to be somewhat coping with his lost matches before that, even with Miguel bullying him about his poor performance in his matches. But, it was after the SA that he blamed himself for the whole team losing. Hawk and Demetri were being dumbasses about Kenny and had made things worse in their first group match, but Robby just put it all on himself. When Miguel talked to Robby, Robby specifically mentioned messing up off the mat too, when he said that he shouldn't be captain anymore. His drinking didn't seem to upset him; what Zara had done upset him much more. He specifically called the latter the "stupid" thing he "did". This makes sense because of his confusion and self-blame over it. This experience traumatized him, like his other traumas have. His self-blame increased and his mental health worsened.

Axel is another Threshold Guardian. He is an interesting one because Axel and Robby didn't interact much until their match, which was interrupted. They will compete again in part 3. I did find Axel's line and frustration with Robby interesting: "Are you going to keep defending, or are you going to fight?" When I heard this line the first time, I thought: "This is some meta-commentary about Robby's people-pleasing." Robby has stopped fighting for himself and has been on defense with all of his "friends" and "family". He has shown his edge once in a while, like with Miguel in s6e5 and s6e7, but it's not enough. Robby's people-pleasing is a defensive behavior he has to consciously counteract to start fighting for himself again. Threshold Guardians challenge the Hero. Axel’s line stuck out because Robby is at that point in his journey where he needs to stop defending and start fighting his main antagonists, his Shadows.

Although the Axel-Miguel rivalry is set up, not much thought and time has been put into developing their rivalry. Axel's interest in Sam is the only basis for it. Kwon and Robby's rivalry was well developed. Kwon is a mirror character to Robby, but Kwon was obviously a misdirect. Axel seems to be another misdirect as the final Threshold Guardian before Robby faces his Shadow. Axel is set up with a sad backstory (meaning his redemption is set up), and his conversation with Sam on the beach foreshadowed him joining Miyagi-Do. Miguel is the one who has been at the main thresholds. He is the primary Threshold Guardian. (Hawk is secondary to him). Like Robby had said, he and Johnny still have some of the issues (Miguel/Diazs) that are too big to solve. s6e8 showed that Miguel is still an issue between Robby and Johnny. Robby is also excluded from the family in important ways. Miguel also keeps the rivalry going as he pleases, as shown with his bullying Robby until he got Johnny's attention back. In a way, Miguel bullying Robby in s6e6-7 was Miguel acting as a Threshold Guardian at the time, affecting Robby's mental health. The Miguel-Robby rivalry is not over yet, and Robby’s side of the story has yet to be explored and resolved. (I'm aware of the leaks, but I'm also aware that people shut down conversations about other theories for the leaks that can also be possible. I’m just going to stick to analyzing canon here.)

Overall, a lot of the characters have identifiable archetypes in Robby's Hero's Journey. The main characters in his Journey especially are easier to classify into the archetypes. After part 3, I may do a revised version of this post because the story will be over and the roles may be more defined for some of the characters after that.

(As always, please don't comment or reblog with dismissive comments about the nuance in the story. The nuance is part of the story, and the story is exploring important topics like trauma, bullying, neglect, and dysfunctional relationships.)

[v3lv3tsin]

my oh my: sim jaeyun

| pairing: sim jaeyun x reader

| genre: vampire!jake, human!reader

| warnings: angst, minors dni

| word count: 1.2k

| stefy's note: this is a collaboration between me and @chericherilvr , we found this fanfic writing site and well decided to have some fun, so enjoy :)

[ BACK TO MASTERLIST ]

You never liked working so that's when you decided to apply for a more risque job that hired people with no experience. Perfect job, right?

Well it seems to be perfect until you met Jake, your worst nightmare. He barely showed up to work and was always bullying you. It's like he hated you, but you barely knew each other. Maybe it was the wat you smiled at him or his annoying grin. You couldn't figure it out and when you actualluy thought you did, you didn't.

One day, your boss decided to make you do the unwanted, pairing you up with Jake. Why him? You thought to yourself. All he did was care about his work and ignore the other colleagues. It was infuriating you to say the least, but you had to do it. Even if you wouldn't want to be anywhere near him. He was trouble and not the kind of trouble you wanted to be involved with.

Time couldn't go slower, maybe this was Crono's way of making you suffer after not getting his name right on last night's trivia game. Spinning a pencil around, staring at your project partner, counting to ten over and over again to not punch Jake in the face. His stupid, smiling, beautiful face.

"You don't get paid to stare at me, sweetheart." The pencil almost snaps when he decides to smirk, "but i mean, if you go out with me i'll do both of our jobs." Jake winks at you, his smirk only growing and licking his lower lip once he sees your glaring eyes. It's the moment when you have to remind yourself about professionalism.

4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10...

"Thank you, but i'll have to reject the kind of offer." Your voice dipped with poison and sarcasm behind your smile. "How instead you stop calling me that."

He shakes his hand, leaning forward closer to your desk. "Okay, how about, darling?"

1, 2, 3, 4...

"No? Okay, how about..." He pauses for a brief moment, leaning a bit away before holding his head between his hands.

5, 6, 7, 8...

"Babe? My love? My world? Princess? Honey?"

9, 10, 1, 2...

"Stop!" Your hands point towards all of Jake. "Flirting, stop this, whatever it is."

The motherfucker Jake decides to chuckle at your cringing face. "Sorry, babe, old habits die hard." 3, 4, 5, 6. You stop counting when you hear the pencil finally snap in between your fingers. "I don't know what you're trying to do here, but whatever it is, it needs to stop." You say annoyed, being fed up with all his flirty comments.

"Haven't you heard of magic, darling?" His voice dripping with sarcasm. "If you think going out with me will end up in me being a serial killer, don't worry. I'm not interested in killing you anytime soon, only with my charm." The moment you heard his flirty voice, you lost it. All the counting from your head starting again just so you could focus on what you're actually supposed to do.

"Let's focus now on the actual work, which is actually about magical rituals." Both of you looked at the document in front of you, filled with several photos of corpses that have been mutilated or decomposed. This sent chills down your spine. "There's a killer on the loose. Name. Yang Jungwon. Burned down his orphanage, killed his classmates and roommate." You say, giving him more information about the several murders and the killer. "And he has a temper." You whisper to Jake's ear, almost in a mocking way, knowing that when it comes to people that don't deal greatly with anger.

"I can handle him, sweetheart. You won't escape me if that's what you wish for." He says in a cheeky grin, pushing his body closer to yours. He was close. Too close. The only thing between the two of you was the desk, which he could easily move with his hands. Those hands that drove you crazy even if you hated him, you couldn't deny that he was attractive.

Suddenly you hear you boss voice. "What about Y/n and Jake?" Both of you turned your head around, forgetting about the trivia game for a second.

You sit back down on your chair, fixing your hair. Nothing's going on, everything's ok. You nod to yourself. Jake decides to answer for both of you, smiling at your silence. "Orphanages and magic rituals? Is he trying to summon something?" You mumble trying to not roll your eyes.

"Yes, a dick you can suck on." Your boss nods at Jakes words and starts giving hypothesis while talking with the rest of the teams. Lost in thought looking at the files, you don't catch Jake leaning over the desk and whispering in your ear. "Sure you won't like it to be that? Or better, him summoning my hands seeing as you have a big liking towards them?"

You flinch at his voice, a shiver running down your back at the thought. "We don't even know if he's summoning something." You try to bite back and move away from him.

"Do we now, darling?" Jake's words linger on your mind for the reat of the day. The last words, you swear to yourself, not the hand thoughts. Music plays softly and wind comes in through your car window while driving. "Wait! I haven't opened a window?" You shift to look at your left, where the air is coming from, and slam the breaks once you see someone sitting next to you.

Everything stops for a couple of seconds, adrenaline melting in your body mixed with the relief of stopping in an empty road. Your hands fumble with the seat belt after regaining conciusness. There was no one next to you when you left driving for work 13 minutes ago. Just ignore the chuckle and run for your life. But after opening the door your body is pushed back against your car.

"Sweetheart, why would you run away from me?" Your eyes widen at his words, at his voice. Bracing yourself to look at him, where you expected to find Jake's brown eyes and a scar stare back at you.

"Oh, sorry." The man you knew as the killer you're hunting down transforms his body into the same person that's working with you to end him. Jake smiles at you, and traces your face. "Surprise." He cheers , before chuckling at your confused face. He runs his hands down to rub your arm, soothing your trembling body. "I wished you would've found another way, but I couldn't risk your pretty brain to catch me out first." He laughs, almost giggling.

"What...What is.." Your voice barely a whisper.

"It's ok, babe. I won't harm you." He tries to flash a comforting smile, showing his sharp teeth in the process. Fuck, this now made sense, he wasn't trying to summon anything. He wanted blood. He needed blood. Because he is a vampire and now you're his next prey, one way or another.

Your morals were all wrong when you felt his lips on yours. He tasted sweet. Bloody sweet. All the bodies that you found drained out of blood. It was him. He was intoxicating. Jake wanted to do this ever since he saw you walk in the office, with that damn short skirt, that was too short for you. He imagined himself between your legs. Without thinking, he wrapped his veiny hand around you neck, holding you in place. You were his now. His to love. His to corrupt.

© V3LV3TSIN ⎯ do not translate, plagiarise or claim any of my works as your own.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hiya, I hope youre having a good day!

On your advice for stiff writing, you said to 'avoid purple prose'. Im just wondering what that means? Sorry if I missed something from an earlier post.

Purple Prose and How to Avoid It

"Purple prose" is what we call writing that is "flowery" or ornate to the extent that it's melodramatic and pulls the reader's focus away from the actual story. Some things that contribute to purple prose:

1 - Overuse of Elegant and Elaborate Words

Normal Sentence: Clara stepped to the balcony and looked out over the crowd, finely dressed and buzzing with courtly gossip.

Purple Prose: Clara traipsed to the wrought iron precipice and gazed upon the throng, opulently clad and susurrous with scandalous hearsay and scurrilous palaver.

The problem: One of our biggest goals as writers is to effectively communicate the stories inside our heads, and we do that by making sure our prose is generally clear, direct, and precise. The overuse of elegant and elaborate words in the second example defeats the clarity because the reader is constantly having to think about what each word means, and maybe even look them up. When you read "balcony" you don't have to think about what that is. But "wrought iron precipice" requires a little more time to work out. "Crowd" is straightforward and clear where "throng" isn't. Everyone knows what gossip is, but "susurrous with scandalous hearsay" is just... whut.

The Solution: Most of the time, try to use the clearest, most direct words to communicate what you're trying to say. Don't constantly run to the thesaurus to find a fancier word. Ornate words should be saved for times when you really need the special impact.

2 - Overuse of Long Sentences

Normal Sentence: The finely dressed crowd buzzed with courtly gossip. (8 words)

Purple Prose: The throng was opulently clad and susurrous with scandalous hearsay and scurrilous palaver. (13 words)

The Problem: A variety of sentence lengths creates a cadence that helps your story flow. Since purple prose usually adds unnecessary words ("susurrous with scandalous hearsay and scurrilous palaver" takes seven words to say the same thing as "courtly gossip") you end up with more long sentences than short or mid-length sentences, if any at all, so not only do you not get that cadence, you often end up slowing the flow of the story.

The Solution: Keep an eye on your sentence length. If you see a lot of long sentences, see which ones you can tighten up. Not only will this help eliminate purple prose, but it will give you a nice variety of sentence lengths that will give your prose cadence and improve the flow of your story.

3 - Overuse of Figurative Language

I'm fudging the example here because I'm tired and my brain can't do figurative language right now, but it's things like metaphor, simile, hyperbole, idioms, symbolism, onomatopoeia, euphemism, and alliteration.

The Problem: Figurative language isn't usually the clearest, most direct to say something--though once in a while it does add much-needed clarity--so it's definitely not something you want in every sentence. Another issue with figurative language is it can be tricky to come up with something new or not over used, so a lot of figurative language falls into cliché territory. ("Their muscles were hard as rocks," "It was the calm before the storm," "They woke up on the wrong side of the bed...")

Solution: Make sure figurative language is used with intention and purpose. Before you use it, ask yourself what the figurative language accomplishes... how does it enrich the story or the reader's experience? Is it being used in a place that needs the added impact?

4 - Overuse of Adjectives and Adverbs

Normal sentence: She tiptoed down the steps and melted into the crowd, hoping not to be seen.

Purple Prose: She walked gently down the steep steps and quietly melted into the bustling crowd, desperately hoping not to be seen.

The Problem: Quite often, adverbs can be replaced by active verbs. There's no point in saying "walked gently" when you can say "tiptoed." No need to say "said loudly" when you could say "shouted." No need to say "drove quickly" when you could say "sped." And sometimes adverbs just don't add anything. If she tiptoes down the steps and melts into the crowd, isn't it kind of obvious that she's really reeeally hoping not to be seen? Describing that hope as "desperate" doesn't necessarily tell us anything useful. And in much the same way, while adjectives can certainly help paint a picture, when they're being over used, it's a good bet a lot of them aren't doing anything important. Why do we need to know the steps are "steep"? Is that going to be important later?

The Solution: Make sure you replace adverbs with active verbs whenever possible, and try to save adjectives for when they serve a purpose--either to flesh out description in important ways or tell the reader something they need to know for later.

5 - Overuse of Emotional and Sensory Description

Normal Sentence: She hoped no one saw her but couldn't fight off the feeling someone had. The fear made her heart pound and left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Purple Prose: She was absolutely desperate not to be seen, would pass out from shock if anyone saw her. Sweat streamed down her neck and pooled at the small of her back. She was so nervous she shook like a leaf, tasting bile in her throat as her heart pounded in her chest. The incessant chatter of the blathering crowd was almost drowned out by the frightening rush of blood in her ears.

The Problem: There's just too much going on. I love sensory description, but it doesn't have to be ALL the senses. And emotional details are great too, but she's desperate, potentially shocked, frightened, nervous... it's too much emotion. It's melodramatic.

The Solution: Use emotional description only when it's necessary, and don't forget you can also illustrate emotion by using physical and internal cues. Sensory description is great, too, but don't feel like you have to include all the sensory details in every description.

I hope that helps!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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[blackstarmylove]

5th Anniversary Songs Guide [Updated]

It's been so long since I wrote a Starless guide. This one will be slightly long, so put your teams on auto-rehearse and grab a cup of coffee, tea, or water.

The guide contains parts that can be used for any song, as they contain general information and tips for getting high scores.

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

Table of Contents:

Brief Housekeeping

Event Points vs. High Score

Gauge Fill

Choosing Team for Anniversary Songs

Songs Overview

Tips to Increase Score

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Brief Housekeeping

I get many messages asking me how my scores are this high. I have played the game since the day it was released, and I do spend money on the gatchas. If you are a beginner, don't be disheartened and keep increasing your heroine level by rehearsing.

Just a quick reminder, my heroine level is almost 300 (THIS IS not Sparta, lol.) Also, keep in mind that skill activation/gauge fill time will vary depending on your heroine level.

If you are at a lower heroine level, remember to use skills with a longer time (ex, 15 seconds instead of 8 seconds) because stacking can be difficult if your gauge doesn't fill fast enough.

The support card I used is 40% K gauge.

Event Points vs. High Score

People like seeing high scores, but remember, your goal is to get high event points (EP). The only way for you to do that is to use event cards. So modify your team to use as many event cards as possible, but keep in mind that using too many event cards will cause a low score, which will give you less EP. Yes, I just said to do something and then not do it. 😂

What do I mean?

The team below has 4 event cards, but the score is not that high (comparatively), but the EP is decent.

Now, if I replace Gui's event card with Ginsei's 5* card, I get more EP and a higher score.

Why? Gui's skill is gauge fill, but Ginsei's skill is much more powerful. Gui's skill is useless for me because I can stack all the skills without needing a gauge fill card.

Now, if I replace Kokuyou's event card with Gui's 5* star, the score is higher, but the EP goes down A LOT.

This is the reason why you want to use EP cards when you can, even if it doesn't give you the highest score.

How do you figure out the perfect balance?

Unfortunately, you will have to experiment with that because the balance will depend on your heroine level and team.

Gauge Fill

Regardless of which heroine level you are on, you will notice that the gauge will fill faster in song event songs and slower on others. No, it's not your team...Donuts has purposely slowed the gauge fill.

Fastest event song to slowest gauge fill: K > C > B > W=P

Yes, W and P's gauge fills are painfully slow, even with 40% gauge up support. 😭

Like...seriously...the score and EP difference between fast filling gauge vs. slow gauge. Team W...WHY!? 😭😭😭 I used the same team for both songs.

Choosing Team for Anniversary Songs

K : Bomb skill works best, short skills should stack (depends on heroine level)

P : Slow gauge so use gauge fill card, gauge support, and avoid using short skills

C: Bomb skill works well, short skills don't stack as well (compared to Team K) so try using gauge fill card

W: odd setup for bomb so avoid, slow gauge so use gauge fill card, avoid short skills

B: Bomb skill works well

Songs Overview

⭐ = gives (me) highest score using bomb skill

✨= gives (me) highest score with long notes skill

Team K

Normal - bomb skill, bomb notes around 1/3 and 2/3 of the songs ⭐

Hard - bomb skill

Adv - bomb skill

Team P

Normal - long notes skill, long note at the end ✨

Hard - long notes skill, long note at the end

Adv - bomb team, possible to bomb notes more than once but focus on stacking then bombing near 3/4 of the song ⭐

Team C

Normal - very odd beatmap...for both bomb and long note skill

Hard - bomb team

Adv - bomb team, focus on stacking and bombing after halfway through ⭐

Team W

Normal - Bomb team, bomb notes half and 3/4 ⭐

Hard - long notes skill, long note at the end ✨

Adv - long notes skill, long note at the end

Team B

Normal - Bomb team, bomb notes around 3/4 of the song ⭐

Hard - bomb team

Adv - bomb team

Tips to Increase Score

For bomb team comp, you want to use a combination of combo up, lane score up, p-lock, center color steal, and bomb skill (of course, lol).

For long note team comp, you want to use a combination of lane score up, center color steal, long note score up, and p-lock.

Get rehearsal levels to 100.

Pay attention to skills and team member placement. For example, Ginsei's 5* card is only for Team K members.

Paired with Kokuyou's bomb skill for the center and outer lanes, it makes more sense for me to place Team K members in the center and outer lanes. If I move the team around, you can see how that changes my scores.

You may say that the difference isn't that big, but let's do the math. The difference between my highest EP and above is 236,808. This means for every 10 plays (2x), I will lose 2.37 million. So, pay attention to team member placement.

Higher heroine level = faster gauge fill (every 5 levels, I believe) & higher score

Use 40% team gauge support. A little warning about this, the support card might not work with lower heroine levels. Experiment with the Da/Ac/Vo and 40% support cards. Generally, if you use 40% support, you want 3 or more team members from that team; meaning, if you use 40% W support, you want 3 or more W members. Some compositions work with just 2 members, but the more, the faster the gauge fills.

If you have bloomed event Menou, use him instead of Qu's off day card. If you have bloomed event Aogiri, use him instead of Takami's off day card.

Low heroine level - use longer skill cards, especially if the short skills don't stack.

Higher heroine level - experiment with powerful skills, even if they are short (ex, use Menou's event card instead of Aogiri's.)

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Author's Note:

Some might look through this guide and say, "Hey, where are the team compositions and skills you used?"

I didn't include the skill comp because every time I do, I get responses/messages saying that I use paid cards and have a strong team, so of course, I will get a high score. Then, I get messages from people feeling discouraged because they can't mimic my scores. So, I thought it would be more helpful if I paved a pathway for you to figure out your own team and skill comp.

If I get questions or requests to add more things to this guide, I will keep updating it. Also, I will put [Updated] in title.

[theriu]

What advice do you have for someone who wishes to (eventually, as soon as she has both the space and the money) have a cat, but who has never had a pet before?

Oh goodness, I don’t feel like an expert but I will do my best! Here’s a few tips I can think of from my own experiences:

1) Decide how okay you are with shedding. Of my two cats, the long-haired one obviously sheds a lot more noticeably, and it can be a bit aggravating to find clumps of fur all over the carpet. Hard floors can make this less of a nuisance since you can sweep it up easily, but if you have a lot of carpet, I’d suggest a short-hair cat unless you just SUPER LOVE long-hairs. Of course, my cats were both strays so those kinds of considerations didn’t really factor in. 😅

2. Determine if you want a cat that is indoor/outdoor or indoor only. Now, there is a lot of argument against letting cats run free outdoors, but I used to live out on a farm right next to a trailer park full of stray cats, so a few more (all fixed) weren’t going to make much difference to the local wildlife. Once I moved into town, though, I rehomed my one cat I knew would be miserable being indoor-only, and the other two have adapted pretty well to being indoor cats. (They do try and sneak out the door sometimes, though.) I did this mainly because risks like being hit by cars or being mistaken for a stray and adopted by some well-meaning person are much higher in town. They are still risks elsewhere, though, so keep a collar on your cat, and consider getting it microchipped. Also, know that you will probably need to get the cat some extra shots, for diseases they can only get outside. Also also, make sure you spay/neuter! (The kitten issue aside, female cats are so WEIRD when they are in heat!)

For indoor cats, my house has stairs the cats can run up and down and they seem to stay in good shape, but just make sure they have some kind of ability to exercise if they can’t run much. Stimulating things like feeder dishes that make the cat work for its food can help mentally and with keeping them from overeating. (I got this neat feeding bowl that is actually a holder of five cups of varying sizes that get filled with food, and the cats have to paw it out of the cups. It’s really helped with how fast they were eating.)

3. Cats have very different personalities, so I think it’s good to try and figure out what a cat is like before adopting it. I kept all my cats because they were really friendly compared to other cats I had known. Of course, there is the issue where my two current cats don’t always get along, but they at least don’t get into full-on brawls. But if you don’t have any other pets when you get the cat, this should be easier - you only have to get it used to you! Cats don’t always show friendlieness by cuddling; a lot of times, they just want to be in the room with you. But if you’re looking for a cuddler, see if you can find one that isn’t too afraid of people and will come right up for petting. When introducing it to your home, give it plenty of space and time to get used to its new surroundings and roommate.

4. Remembering to feed and water and change the cat litter can be hard, especially if you have ADHD. >.> My solution on the water front has been to fill a large decorative bowl in the living room and the cats just drink off that. XD For the food, Stormy will always remind me when she thinks the food is low (this is generally a false alarm the first couple times, the drama queen). Make sure you clean the litter box frequently, or the cats may find other, less agreeable locations to go. 8/ (Such as, oh I don’t know, INSIDE THE DRYER ON MY CLEAN LAUNDRY) If your cat does pee somewhere, you want to get those pet cleaner sprays because they break down the stinky enzymes that make cat pee smell so bad for so LONG.

5. As mentioned, some cats are cuddlier than others, but here’s a few general tips on cat behavior: a slow blink is how they show they trust you. A cat rolling onto its back is also showing trust that you WON’T touch its vulnerable belly (but some cats do actually learn to love tummy rubs; you kinda have to figure that one out on a cat-by-cat basis). They often like being petted on the area over the hindquarters near the base of the tail, but they also have a lot of nerves there and can get overstimulated, so if a cat goes from letting you pet it to trying to bite your hand, it is probably telling you that petting needs to stop NOW because its nerves are going CRAZY. This can also involve some trial and error; my former cat Clyde still sometimes knee-jerk reacts to being petted, but my sister says he has never done it to her, so we think she just pets less firmly than I do. Meanwhile, Shuri has NEVER reacted poorly to petting, and in fact would love nothing more than for me to spend an hour petting her so hard that she squishes into the mattress.

6. Don’t waste money on fancy cat toys unless you have some indication your cat likes that kind of toy. (This may be different if you raise them with the fancy toys from kittenhood; mine were both strays and are Very Suspicous of anything fancy I get them.) Laser pointers are an INSTANT FAVORITE and only cost a few dollars! And a dangly thing on a string can usually get them excited. Cats will often prefer a plain cardboard box over a fancy catbed, but they like pillows and piles of clothes and chairs and couches and people beds. And sometimes the round puzzle you put together on top of your hope chest, because Borders Are Safe Zones.

7. GET SCRATCHING POSTS OR THEY WILL MAKE THEIR OWN. (They will probably make their own anyway; my couch is regretably covered in claw marks. But the scratching posts at least help slow the deterioration.) Fun Fact: Cats don’t use scratching posts to “sharpen” their claws, but rather to rub off the outer layers on their claws. If you trim your cat’s claws yourself, you may notice how the claws kind of flake off when clipped. Be very careful not to cut into the quick (the blood vessel) when trimming! If your cat strongly opposes this process, the vet can do it for you for a small fee, but I generally just wrap mine up in a towel and make them suffer the indignity. It’s cheaper for me and less stressful for them than a long car trip and a visit to the strange vet’s office would be. (And they always forgive me pretty immediately after I release them. I cannot speak for cats that may hold grudges.)

I’m sure I haven’t covered even a tenth of the useful info, but I hope these are helpful and that you find just the right cat buddy in the future! 😄