#they haven't posted part 2 yet but I'll probably post it whenever i see it

[per-the-jellicle-magician]

Who is who in "Cats: the Jellicle Ball" aka Cats PAC NYC (part 1)

x

[emeraldmew]

Hey, sis.

#also someone remind me to make my Cosmic Horror Toddler theory into something coherent

Whenever you have the time.

Okay. So bear in mind we're only like seven episodes in and I have no evidence and really no thought behind this beyond "would that be fucked up or what?" and "ooh I'd love to see what an eldritch abomination growing up is like."

There are also like, all of the spoilers for the original TMA below so like, if you're just listening to Protocol you might want to skip the rest of this post.

Tenuously connected point 1.

One of the things from what Jonny and Alex have said about Protocol is that it's supposed to involve exploring "what makes a person" right? And we also already know Jonny's answer to this question from his, uh, cannibalism discussion.

Short version: a "person" understands their actions as something that actually does things to the world around them beyond simply fulfilling a want like hunger/capable of choosing to do evil.

Tenuously connected point 2.

In the Archives universe, a point is made that the Fears "don't think. Not like we do." They work off instinct.

Tenuously connected point 3.

While I never looked into the ARG before Protocol's release I have since looked into the summaries of what it revealed. Among other things the ARG revealed Magnus Institute of Protocol was studying children via... psychological experiments of dubious morality. Aside from this being why Sam is snooping into the Magnus Institute (for those who haven't looked into the ARG yet, his name is among the children researched) the experiments are pretty much looking into how children at various stages of development display empathy and whether they conform to orders or choose not to and stuff like that (I'm sure I am not wording this part right someone with a better background in psychology can probably expand further).

Anyway, my point is the idea of choices and such is being studied in relation to psychological development in children.

Tenuously connected point 4.

The way the cases so far have played out in Protocol does seem to show a difference compared to Archives.

Smirke's original categories don't seem to fit quite right anymore as each of the cases seem to have stuff that doesn't cram into the original boxes. As the blurry categories were already a major point in TMA regarding creating the Eyepocalypse and even Sam calls out the categorization the OIAR use in the first episode this isn't surprising. But it does suggest that the Fears have changed from what they were before.

Quite a few people have also suggested that in the cases we've seen sometimes the incidents seem to fulfill a desire (in a monkey's paw way, of course) rather than simply finding a random victim. This might suggest the presence of intent rather than only instinct.

So what?

I'll admit it's just sort of my own "ooh wouldn't that be messed up? let's explore that further" thought process doing the talking here, but The Thing that was Fear has existed since things could feel afraid. It's ancient. But it's also a cosmic horror entity that has been shown to grow from it's initial state to what we saw in Archives (see ep 200).

It's something on a cosmic level. Maybe it wasn't done growing. The Fears don't think "like we do"...

but neither do babies.

What if by Protocol the Fears have developed more after leaving their cradle? To a point where they can at least begin to think or choose.

What if the Fears are eldritch toddlers and they're learning how to play?

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Make Use Of Me (chapter 1, preview)

Dec. 7 EDIT: ONCE MORE, WITH BRAVERY THIS TIME. No more chickening out. You can read this thing FOR REAL now. Sorry for being weird, and now....sorry if this wasn't worth it. XD

O-OK...here goes....

First thing's first: I am not expecting a lotta people to read this. I'm not asking people to read this. At this point, I'm making this mostly as a passion project, and if anyone enjoys it, it'll be a really cool bonus. My writing style isn't gonna be for everyone, and the characters I write aren't the most....popular characters in the CRK X Reader community, and I imagine this isn't really something a lotta fans'll be demanding more of.

This is LONG. This one chapter is 56 pages long. I am a VERY wordy writer,

So......why'm I posting this preview? Well....partially as an interest gauge for people who WOULD wanna read it, but...mostly as a motivator. As something to remind myself of whenever I get lazy. After all....I can't quit after I made the first chapter public, right? By doing that, I put myself out there...And, hey, I even tagged it, so, if by the off chance, someone did read it, I'm basically promising them more eventually.....

But, again, I'm not forcing anyone to read this.

Not only is it long, but.....This first chapter is probably my least-favorite thing I've ever written. By posting this chapter by itself, I'm testing to see if it does its job of making people wanna read the rest, cuz....right now, I'm not so sure how well it succeeds at that.....

This is the boring part of the story. It's a bunch of setup, and me jumping through hoop after hoop after hoop to just get everything started. I know setup is important and all, but....I'm already a very wordy writer, so....oof....There is some interesting stuff that happens, but it takes a while to get there.

I-I....kinda hate it, actually. The only reason I didn't scrap it is that I didn't realize I hated it until I was about halfway through it and the "good part" hadn't started yet. And I still spent a month writing the thing, so....I finished it.

I'm tagging this...as an experiment. If you wanna read this, go ahead. W-well, read my tags first, THEN go ahead. XD

All I can really say in this chapter's defense is that....I do try my best to salvage it. It's just setup, but I TRIED to make it interesting. And everything that seems like it didn't go anywhere, will later. This isn't the whole story, it's just the beginning of what's gonna be a BIG story. Anything that seems weird in this chapter, gets explored in the other chapters. This does set up a bunch of stuff that becomes important later (The friend character shows up later, the Colosseum becomes relevant later). This chapter is boring, but I tried not to make any of it pointless.

For the future: I'm aiming for five chapters. Chapters 2 and 3 will be a series of smaller vignettes that take place over the course of a few years, chapter 4 will be the climax, and chapter 5 will be something of an epilogue. After that, there will be two endings to choose from (which will make sense when we get there).

This probably won't be my favorite thing I've ever written, but it will be the most ambitious thing I've ever, and probably will ever, write. I haven't written something like this before, and it's all to flesh out this story and make it believable.

Right now, I.....I want to finish this. I'll probably still be writing this in February at the rate I'm going, but...at this point, I've put too much into it to give up on it. However, I'm STILL not completely ruling out the idea of my motivation dying before then. It COULD happen. So, what I'm planning to do is...setting a short-term goal of finishing chapter 3. After I do that, I'll post the first three chapters on AO3 together, and work on the rest. That way, even if I don't finish it, I'll at least have it over half done, and chapter 3 will end on a somewhat high note.

So, yyyyeah....Not a lotta people will read this preview. Overly wordy writing style + boring setup part of story + 56 pages long + assumed lack of interest for X Readers of this character (At least, I haven't SEEN many simps for her, m-maybe I'm wrong, I might be, I-I haven't checked any tags cuz I've been nervous, b-but it doesn't make my writing any better. In that case, this is my first time writing her so I'm trying super hard to do her justice >//////<)

I-if you wanna read this, and see if this first chapter does a good job of making you wanna read the better chapters, then...Go ahead.....

Some notes:

-This is still not the final draft. It's finalized enough for me to share, but I'm still not considering it finished. Even tho I'm working on chapter 3 right now, I STILL go back and edit this, even very recently. So, chances are, even if the story is finalized, small details and sentences are still subject to change. I know for a fact that there are still SOME placeholder bits in here that will change after I get some stuff cleared up. Recently, I even considered chopping off an entire section to make it shorter. I decided not to, but hey, it could still happen. I don't wanna waste anyone's time. The first chapter of a story, even if it's boring, is still very important, and I wanna make sure it's the best version of itself.

(A-and yes, this means that I've finished chapter 2 as well. The reason I'm not sharing it is that, unlike chapter 1, it was finished VERY recently, so I might still need to give myself time to edit it. From what I have, tho, I do like it a LOT more than chapter 1. There are some parts of chapter 2 that I'm legit proud of.)

-Even tho this first chapter is completely clean, I-I should mention that....this fic is for adults. The full version, at least. Chapters 3 and 4 are gonna contain some light N/S/F/W moments (the "fade to black" variety, so nothing explicit) and there'll be other slightly racey comments here and there. Just a heads-up. I'm gonna be uncomfy with minors reading this.

Th-that's all? I-I think that's all.......O-OK, so......h-here goes..... E-enjoy....

[marshmallowprotection]

Happiest of birthdays to you Kait! 💓 Times are tough right now, but I hope you know that you are in our thoughts and hearts, and a whole lot of folks are wishing you all the best on this day, and the days that are to follow! Thank you for giving everyone a safe space to call their own, no matter what life throws at us. I hope it's a safe space for you too :) Your love for this silly but meaningful little game is both infectious and inspiring, I'm sure Saeran feels your love for him today wherever he is, and he's sending you his own love in return! Please remember to treat yourself with the same kindness you give to everyone else ♡

My main gift is gonna be late this year around (it's a pattern with me on this year I fear...) but here are some cute picrews I made instead to hopefully brighten your day a bit!

1. Cowboy Saeran and Lila getting the peaceful rest they deserve... Probably with Begonia rolling happily on the grass nearby. We love happy endings

2. Minji and Saeyoung being the two cutipies they are! You can't go wrong with the stars here. Gave them matching earrings too, because it's just so adorable to me (Judas 100% has them too btw)

3. Not gonna lie I think about everything that Saeyoung and Judas went through in the agency a lot... Something something: Saeyoung realizing just how scared he is of losing Judas, and Judas feeling treasured by someone for the first time in a while... God, these two deserve a peaceful life of domestic bliss

4. Judas and Minji being soft with each other is so cute to me, too, Minji being Judas' safe space is so :( ♡

Oh, thank you! I appreciate your friendship and kindness most of all, but it means a lot to know you want to spend some spare time out of your day to make something special for me! Honestly, even a Picrew warm my heart because it shows you thought of me. Though, I will admit that I'm curious to see what I'll be tagged in within the coming days... I've no doubt it'll be marvelous.

I'm grateful to be here, though, a part of our safe space where there's nothing but love and support. No matter how quiet things seem, I will never forget how touching it is when people reach out like this and let me know they still think of me time from time. Another year, another Saeran, I'll be here forever, I think.

I really do love the thought of Begonia the horse flopping over in the field behind Cowboy Saeran and Cereus!Lila. People don't expect to see a horse roll over or enjoy the mud, but they do! I'm fairly certain Begonia does... so keep that image in mind whenever you imagine a scene with your MC and Saeran... and a very muddy horse.

I'M IN LOVE WITH THE CUTIEPIE SAEJI. Like, Minji totally decorated those photos with stickers and hearts in her scrapbook.

You know, seeing Saeyoung and Judas all dirty... but clinging to one another reminds me that I haven't yet shared some art I did for the two of them that's... well, it's a bit deranged but the story I want to write for it is why I haven't posted it yet. You've given me the drive to want to write that soon!

And I'm tearing paper at the seams seeing Judas and Minji being so sweet and tender... Minji is 100% Judas' safe space. It's not that he doesn't have one with Saeyoung... it's just that Minji knows just how to hold him. She won't ask questions, she won't judge, she'll take one look at him and know what he needs... and it's all because she can... she can remember those sad eyes he had the night they met. GOD. THAT'S THEIR SONG. THAT'S THE SONG IN JUDAS' HEART BEFORE HE SEES HER IN THE APARTMENT. THE NIGHT WE MET BY LORD HURON.

[riddlerosehearts]

HII ITS IDIAVIL ANON AGAIN!!! i wanted to respond to the post u made in response to my ask... I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND NOT BEING ABLE 2 WRITE FICS LIKE!! ive been creatively writing for years and when it comes to stuff im rlly passionate abt i can become super duper creative. my struggle with writing fanfic is finding the time and motivation, plus my adhd makes it difficult for me to focus, BUT IVE BEEN DOING BETTER RECENTLY!!! im kinda familiar with wicked? i saw it on stage back when i was just a wee lad but i dont remember much of it (i honestly think i fell asleep ;-;) but i've been wanting to watch both the play and the new movie, i just haven't gotten to it yet. i will definitely keep this in mind as i watch both!! a few weeks ago i actually watched jennifer's body for the first time, i'd been wanting to watch it but then i saw someone mention a jennifer's body idiavil au and oh my gods i literally couldnt stop thinking about it. i've definitely kept that au in mind, and i will do the same for the wicked au!! when i do eventually watch wicked i'll probably send another giant yapping paragraph in ur asks abt it... ALSO PLEEASEE I WOULD LOVE LOVE LOVE TO HEAR MORE ABT UR AU IT SEEMS SO COOL!!! also. hercules au. oh my god u get me. i'm not exaggerating when i say i've thought abt the idiavil meg and hercules parallel at least once a day for the past like five or so months. i NEVER stop talking to my friends about it EVER. i was actually on a disney cruise (twas a family trip) about a month ago and they had a giant tv above the pool, they showed a movie every fifteen minutes (after the movie prior had ended) and WHEN I TELL YOU I FREAKED OUT WHEN I SAW THEY HAD A SHOWING FOR HERCULES. AND I HAD TO RESIST FROM STIMMING (i get embarrassed when i stim in public bc i dont like being looked at or percieved like ever) DURING WONT SAY IM IN LOVE LIKE THATS PROBABLY MY FAVORITE DISNEY SONG OF ALL TIME OH MY GOODNESS. I WOULDNT STOP TEXTING MY FRIEND AND TALKING ABOUT IDIAVIL. also i did see ur response and oh my goodness i think abt it so much. ill probably share the keychains and playlists off anon later... also i LOVE the fact u keep ur pins of them next to each other... my birthday was actually a while ago (oct 28th) but the art has been delayed bc shes been busy which idm, shes putting a ton of effort into it. ill also probably share that off anon whenever its done!! alr im gonna wrap this up, i do have a few things i have to get done soon but i'll try to send in those playlists and pictures of the keychains b4 i go to bed tn!!

hi again haha!! whenever you watch the wicked movie i really hope you enjoy it! just keep in mind that they kind of, extended every single scene in act 1 to make it 2.5 hours long (when the whole stage musical with both acts combined is that length), so it's only a part 1 and we won't get part 2 until next year. which admittedly DOES bug me but i still loved the movie anyway. if you want to watch the stage musical after that, well, the people who record bootlegs usually ask you not to put them on youtube but people do anyway AKJDGJFSG. so you can probably find one easily enough! it's my absolute favorite musical! when i went to see it live in april, i kept thinking "well, vil does share glinda's love of fashion and her popularity and ambition, but he's different from her in a lot of ways too! for example, he doesn't believe that popularity is the only thing that really matters, and he would never sacrifice his own morals and ideals to achieve his goals... oh... wait..." and then i realized that the whole plot of book 5 is that vil kind of DID do all that! that's the whole tragedy of it, that he overblotted because he DID start to think that his hard work was meaningless and that he SHOULD resort to any means possible to be the most popular at the expense of his moral compass, and he thought of himself as ugly for doing so! he COULD have ended up basically alone, being praised by others around him as beautiful and good while inside he secretly believes himself to be wicked, just like glinda if his friends hadn't done everything to stop him from poisoning neige.

and idia may not be an animal rights activist like elphaba, nor is she an otaku LOL, but elphaba grew up lonely and ostracized because of her green skin and idia's family curse forced him to grow up isolated on the isle of woe and have blue fire for hair. she's a caretaker for her disabled sister whose father blames her for her condition, and idia has a robot brother whose death he blames himself for. elphaba is jaded and sarcastic and abrasive and deeply insecure, and who else fits that description? the only issue is that idia is far too pessimistic about the future to decide to do what elphaba does in defying gravity on his own, but i think in an AU he could be pushed to do it. also there's this part in wicked where after glinda and elphaba get back from a big dance at the ozdust ballroom glinda says "was that your first party?!" and elphaba deadpans "does a funeral count?" and i can just so clearly see that with idia and vil AFKJDGHF. there's so many other scenes too that i just see as being perfect for them.

as for fiyero i had two ideas here: in the actual musical, there's a love triangle in which elphaba and fiyero ultimately end up together but as i mentioned i would want to give my AU a happy ending and make vil and idia end up together in it. so i would do one of two things: 1) cast kalim as fiyero, because he literally just fits the role perfectly. fiyero is a foreign prince, and look at the lyrics to dancing through life and try to tell me kalim wouldn't sing this. but i don't ship kalim with either vil or idia, so in this scenario i'd probably cut the love triangle and have him somehow end up as their bestie who supports whatever insane gay thing those two have got going on. imo kalim really does fit fiyero better than anyone else and this idea is just so funny to me. or 2) cast rook as fiyero, keep the love triangle, and have it end in polyamory because even though i've never even considered shipping rook with idia i do ship rook/vil and i think this would be hilarious as an AU. also, there's a scene in wicked where glinda and elphaba are hanging out and glinda is like "let's tell each other our best secrets! i'll go first! FIYERO AND I ARE GOING TO BE MARRIED!!!" and since they've just started dating elphaba is like "he's asked you already??" and then glinda goes "oh no, he doesn't know yet!" and imagining vil saying that about rook just makes me laugh so hard.

OKAY. so there is an incomplete summary of my thoughts on a vilidia wicked AU!! honestly i don't really watch horror movies so i haven't seen jennifer's body but if i ever do watch it i'll have to keep that AU idea in mind. as for the hercules parallel idk if you've seen this post of mine but it makes me so happy every time someone likes or reblogs it because then i get to think about them again. hercules/meg has always been one of my favorite disney couples so when i saw this happen in book 6 i was immediately just. doomed to be insane about vil/idia forever because are you KIDDING ME?? also your birthday is right after mine omg, mine was october 25th!! so a late happy birthday to you, then! one last thing i'd like to say in this already way too long response is that i have two sets of floyd and riddle nuis--listen, they're my other favorite ship so i bought the first ones online and then saw more at a con i went to and couldn't resist--and i'm going to be getting idia and ortho nuis for christmas. hopefully soon i'll be able to get a vil nui as well so i can keep him right next to his boyfriend and his film club buddy/future brother-in-law 💙💜

[thesunw1tch]

Moving-In Ritual

Goldie's Guide To Witchcraft: A Tumblr Grimoire for the Masses

Hello All! It's me, The Sun Witch! I figured that since my Moving-Out Ritual post did so well, I might as well post a template for what to do once you actually move! I'm actually moving into my next apartment in about a month, so I'm in the same boat with y'all.

I believe that you can implement your path as loosely or as strongly as you like in the following phases. I didn't quite recommend it last time since the goal was to create a blank slate, but this time? You kinda go wild, it's your new space, let it get to know you!

For example, in my new place? I'm an eclectic but primarily a Sun Witch, so I will line up the following steps with specific times of day if I can. My exact move-in and move-out time has not been expressed yet by my building, so we'll see if I can make my plan work. Anyhow, you could do the same, but I encourage you to get creative with it!!!

Phase 1: Physical Cleaning

I bet that once you get to your new place, you're going to need to do a few things before you start unpacking boxes. Start by...

Check for cobwebs, overly shadowy undercarriages, rust, mold, lime or calcium build-up, etc. Not only are these things just a plain eye sore, but they can cause you to feel negatively towards your new home, which in turn could welcome negative energies.

Do your best to fix these issues if they will obstruct your ability to be comfortable or will make the moving-in process strenuous.

Organize your boxes of belongings! This may be common sense, but please place boxes for specific rooms in those respective places. It'll just make it easier in the long run.

This is just a personal touch, but I like to keep the doorways and windows open whenever I clean to air out any lingering dust or chemical smells from a previous tenant or what have you. This can also help with the next step...

Phase 2: Spiritual Cleaning

Hopefully, you've listened to step one and haven't jumped straight here. Hopefully, all immediate physical abnormalities have been fixed, or at least accounted for. Additionally, you'll want to unpack before continuing on to make things a little easier. This may take a while, but there's no pressure to rush through it - take your time and organize your new space, let it get to know you, and find ways to best serve you. I've found that when you treat a place nicely, cleanly, and with purpose, it'll do the same to you!

Our next phase is dedicated to spiritually cleanse the space. There is an abundance of banishing, warding, protecting, cleansing, etc materials out there for y'all, so I won't include many specifics in this next portion.

Cleanse! Personally, I can't use smoke in my complex, and since I know this is the same for many others, I suggest using other elements! For instance, I'll probably use salt water or a method of wind cleansing to clean the slate! I can make a post on wind magick in the future if someone wants

Protect! In my own practice, I like to use sigils and the element of fire when possible. Now, I know I said we aren't going to use smoke, so instead I like to incorporate solar energies or visuals into the space. Ward and Banish however you feel comfortable as well :)

Flourishing! This is the fun part!!! Personally, I use air freshners for practicalities sake but you can use anything you'd like. Ask yourself what vibes you want to attract into your space - love? Sleep? Happiness? Choose a fragrance or make your own Flourishing spray and get to it! You can even take it a step further and use bundles of real dried herbs and flowers to really Amp it up!

Phase 3: Personalize

Everyone's practice is going to look different, as I have stressed throughout my posts on this blog, but what I'm going to add here is that it is crucial you personalize your space in a witchy way as well. Whether this means following traditional rituals or house warming customs of your practice or familial culture, or even just making a new ritual in your space is up to you!

I am a firm believer in the idea that your space isn't yours unless it feels like yours. Make sure your energy is flowing throughout your new home, that you're attracting that same sort of energy - you can do this anyway you please! If anyone wants specific examples or what I do, just let me know and link a post here :)

a n d that's pretty much it! I tried to condense the information here rather than in my previous moving post, so I hope you find this helpful :)

[thequietkid-moonie]

mooniee, hiii~ 🥺❤️

i feel like it's been forever since i texted you, i'm sowwy-- i saw your messages, but i figured i'll just write back one bigger messages rn! :)

first of, i wanna ask how your playthroughs of persona 3 & xenoblade 2 are going! i feel like i'm way too late on this, but hey-- who are your fav characters from each game? and for xenoblade, any favorite rare blades? story blades and the ones from corecrystals! :D

alsoooo, did you see that xenoblade chronicles X got announced? 🥰 i haven't played that one yet but i know a hell lot about that game and can't wait to finally experience it for myself! if you decide to ever get that game, we def need to play it together!! (there's at least a bit of multiplayer in the original X, so i'm assuming it'll return for the X remake/remaster)

anyways, i hope you are doing alright! i missed talking to you & sowwy it took me so long to respond 😔✌🏻 i'm gonna try & reply faster from now on! love ya <3

V-CHAAAAAAN !!! I MISSED YOUUUUU !!!

I been so worried about you but im happy to heard from you 🎉🩷🩷🩷

I'll pry to god for you to have more time for yourself and peace soon 🌸

or fight them, both can work!

Don't worry, im happy now that i finally have news from you! Take your time 🩷🩷

I been enjoying A LOT Xenoblade Chronicles and Persona 3 <333 sadly I haven't get the oportunity to play them myself so im watching a gamplay (a pretty good one because it has almost all the content of the game :D)

I hope one day I can play the games personally, but if Xenoblade Chronicles X has multiplayer I will do everything in my power to get the game <3

i got the news for your post and I was excited too! This is the perfect oportunity to get in the game too, besides Xenoblade Chronicles is PEAK FICTION so i will love to get in the X too!

I already finished the story Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and I! was! in! tears! That fight take too much from us to dont even be the last fight and not even be inside of the world tree!!! Seeing Klaus again make me feel angry but also happy haha, his desing was AMAZING! and the way it conects the story to the first game makes it an absolute masterpiece!

im currently on the Torna the Golden City ✌🏼

For My favorite characters I had to say that in the top of the list is Zeke and Pandy, I absolutely both those two and their dinamyc, having a friendship as caotic as that one is one of the most valuable treasures you can have in life <3 also I like Adam just as much as I love Zeke, both are so silly thats it is even cute and funny, of course Vandhan and Jin will forever live in my heart, and Mikhail, and Akhos, and probably Malos too I love him bit also hate him

I LOOOOVE PYRAA!! im down bad for her, she is incredibly cute <333 im half way to get to know better all the blade but I love how diferent their stories and desings are!! I think i can't choose one a my favorite (but Wulfric is living on my heart and mind, he is way too cute)

For Persona 3 im right after the travel to Kyoto, right in the grief for Chidori 🥺(im still crying) I been enjoying the story a lot! The gameplay is so cool! I love how the importance of the social links <333

For My favorite characters first of all Junpei, I dont know why but I absolutely love him! He is so silly and adorable and dumb and silly 🥺 (he is so cute whenever he is with Chidori <333), i love a lot Ken too, but like my cutie patootie, I love how mature and determinated he is and yet he is still a child, I love him, I will take him as my baby 😺🌸 (also Maiko, she is so cute <3)

I absolutely adole Akihiko but he brings one of the worst part of me, idk why but whenever i saw him i feel the need to be silly and make self-depracation jokes, maybe because he is too serious? haha, Shijiro and and Makoto will live forever in my heart! and Aigis and Fuuka and Elizabeth and Theodore and Rioji and Chihiro and Yuko and Bebe

Haha i think i fell hard for the characters 🤭

[kaija-rayne-author]

I'm doing a series of reviews as I play Dragon Age Veilguard. One or two posts a day, whenever I can play.

This is installment one.

Can't remember if I mentioned that a lovely person gave me a copy of DAV. And I'm so very grateful I can play close to release. So I can do an unbiased review series.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I'm on media blackout while I play this, so I'm only getting second-hand info on how awful it is right now in the DA Fandom. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

I'm seven hours in. (2 in CC so 5 playtime.)

Spoilers for DAV. Dragon Age Veilguard

Also, this is all my off the cuff writing. I haven't the time, energy, or desire to edit them.

Five hours in... I can confidently say welp, it's a game. It is indeed a video game.

I don't hate it? Most of it? Can't say I love it, either.

Background and environment folks did a fantastic job. And I was pretty sure they would. That part feels like Dragon Age. Except for the floaty spaceship thing in Minrathous. Intentionally not saying what it's supposed to be, because they do tell you.

Baddy design is as bad as I feared. If not actually worse.

I totally called it on several points, which gods escaped, for one. The fact that those 'demons' were gonna give me a headache, too. And the whole Solas Varric sitch.

CC is pretty good. Nothing ground breaking, but people should be able to make a character they like? You can make a good redhead.

I like the new codex design. I still preferred DAO for that one. Aaaannnnd I've already caught a couple editing errors in the text.

Extremely thrilled that my non-binary ass can be non-binary.

Yes, you can actually make a (slightly) pudgy character.

That is still not Solas. And you can't try to tell me I'll probably like him once I see him in game, anymore. I don't. He does still move the same, so they got that right. Still has the subtle humour, too, which, since Weekes wrote him, makes sense.

They were right, the characters do look better in game.

AND THAT IS STILL NOT A FUCKING DARKSPAWN.

My youngest kid just glanced at my screen and did a double take with a 'Ma? Why are you playing Fortnite?'

From the mouths of babes. He's right in that Fortnite player age bracket, FWIW. And no, he has no interest in playing Dragon Age. No matter how much they made some of it look like Fortnite.

Not feeling any of the romanceables, yet. But I've only met Neve, Lace, and Bellara. Alas my poor bisexual heart. None of the women do it for me. That may change, it's still very early as per in-game events.

I'm going to stick with it to see if it'll actually catch me up. Because it sadly has not, yet. By an hour in on my first playthrough of DAO, I was head over heels for Alistair. By 1 hour into Awakening, Anders had me. By hour 3 in DA2? Anders and Isabela both had me. By seven hours into DAI? I was very much in love with Solas, though I was playing a guy because I wanted to Romance Dorian first. (Still really loved Dorian.) But yeah, that bloody elf had me first, and I think it was at the first damned scene with him in it. Which is roughly an hour or so in?

I'm intensely curious about the story, and it's why I was so desperate to play it. So unless it somehow utterly offends me, (worse than those not-fucking-darkspawn and what-the-actual-fuck-are-those-demons already have) I'll finish it. Unless I lose interest. It's at least worth playing so far. I don't feel like I wasted the seven hours.

Fighting is reasonably easy to adjust to. And it'll be more fun when I get the hang of it. (For me, I usually don't have a lot of trouble picking up new fighting systems in games.)

Oh, and it took Astarion BG3 half an hour. 🤣

Please no spoilers if anyone responds. As I said, only seven hours in.

In case you're interested, here's my predictions piece.

And here's the second part in my ongoing review as I play series.

[birlwrites]

I was wondering what Dumbledore's role as chief warlock of the wizegamot means in this universe?

ok the short boring answer is that i forgot that was a thing 😬

the LONG MORE INTERESTING answer is going to be me talking through how i can retcon that - which i absolutely can because we haven't really gotten into wizengamot politics in ttdl yet!!! so the only people who will know that i totally forgot will be the people who see this post afhslgkshkgjskhldjfs

SO. my immediate thought with 'chief warlock' is that dumbledore is kind of a master of ceremonies. he's not a wizengamot lord - his job is to introduce bills, hold the votes, and all sorts of things like that which are mainly ceremonial/logistic but in the hands of someone particularly motivated CAN be political tools. once again taking inspiration from the united states congress because i know how that works and i don't know how other governments work, dumbledore can control what order bills get introduced in, whether they get introduced in the first place, etc.

now, there's definitely a failsafe. the wizengamot would not stand for some plebeian controlling what they get to vote on. so if they can get together a critical mass of lords, they can force through a vote even if dumbledore doesn't want to introduce the bill. it means there's a tug of war between dumbledore and the dark lords for power

next question: how did dumbledore BECOME the chief warlock? my guess is that it's an appointed position by the minister of magic. at the moment, that's harold minchum, i believe, soon to be replaced by millicent bagnold (probably as the war gets worse). idk when exactly that will happen, i'll figure out a moment that works with the plot

dumbledore's been chief warlock for a WHILE, though. minchum reappointed him because he's functionally an institution. once he defeated grindelwald, plenty of people were calling for him to run for minister - he didn't do that because he's smarter than that, but he did accept the position of chief warlock when it was offered to him several years later, and that's a big part of how he stays in the public eye. (i think he probably also writes op-eds whenever there's something Sufficiently Important to write about)

in atfhv, wizengamot sessions happen twice a year, in fall and spring, and they run for exactly 2 months each (march 7 to may 7, september 7 to november 7). in that time, dumbledore's quite busy, seeing as he has that AND a school to run. plus a war to fight.

and that means that orion knows dumbledore PERSONALLY. as does pretty much the whole wizengamot, and not just because they were students when dumbledore was a professor

which now makes me really want to have orion do a take your child to work day in which regulus casually shows up to a wizengamot session and stares dumbledore down the entire time. the dark lords are pleased with this behavior. he clearly knows who the enemy is

[melkstudio]

JULY PROGRESS

Remember I said that Miwa's solo ended up being longer than anticipated?

Now, guess what happened to Masa's solo? Also, it's more emotional than I thought. Very interesting. Can't wait to explore the repercussions sometime, probably chapter 3.

It's funny because Masa is obviously losing their mind with what's going on (and with reason, after everything they see and experience) but since Miwa has grown wise over the years, certain things don't take her by surprise. Also, if this is what Miwa and Masa are like, then I don't want to even imagine what Hazuki will end up like...

And that's all I'll say about it.

Anyways, I still haven't posted the progress update on Patreon but patrons will be charged during August! I will be posting a small oneshot around the 20th and the alpha update on the 15th (over on Patreon, of course. Also, not the solos, the solos won't be added yet, I don't think).

Expect a public update during September. Patrons will continue to get small updates until I advance some with chapter 3 (whenever I get there), and the public demo will continue to get updates before a certain moment, when that certain moment in chapter 2 arrives I'll probably wait until I have made progress in chapter 3 to publish a big update. I don't want to ruin the emotion of the latter part of the chapter by cutting it down.

Anyway, back to finishing masa's solo. I'm happy that I made so much progress, but I will have to return to work this week and will not have much time, have to make the most of these last few days.

[01turnkill]

2024 Media Post Time - Master

5. Splatoon 3: Side Order DLC

Side Order! Like everyone else, I'll be comparing this to Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion DLC..

I loved Octo Expansion a lot, I even 100% completed it (every stage with every weapon) and I intend to do that for this DLC too. I've finished it with every palette so far but I haven't maxed all my chips yet.

I'm a big roguelike fan. Love Hades, Spelunky, Binding of Isaac, Darkest Dungeon. They're fun to play and a lot of fun to watch. Before Side Order, I haven't played a proper 3D shooter roguelike before so it was a fun experience. Well... Side Order is a roguelite so a lot of these elements but not completely random, since the levels you play are from a set.

Side Order is a lot of fun for me. It definitely feels closest to Hades of all the roguelikes I mentioned. With the different weapon selection, selecting from 3 upgrades at the end of each level, the same few bosses, Marina's hacking shop is JUST like Nyx's darkness. Some of the upgrades are similar too and the Danger floors are like Chaos' upgrades with a benefit but a sacrifice for a limited amount of time. I played a round of SO with dualies, and damage whenever I dodge rolled and it felt exactly like some of the dash boons in Hades.

This isn't a bad thing and it's still unique being 3D, the different tower and zone modes, limited colour chip palette. Maybe other stuff.

To be honest, Octo Expansion trumps Side Order lorewise.. And gameplay wise too it was more diverse.. though not replayable the same way. I 100 percented it, every level every weapon and it was pretty fun. but I didn't go back. The story is quite simple and not too dark, and for some reason with the trailers I thought the tower would be MASSIVE. Near 60-100 floors, PMD feelings here. Especially since we get told the "danger" levels will be more common if we go a while without playing one.. Maybe true but they're also completely avoidable. I was also really surprised to see that we get Marina with us immediately after the tutorial part of everything and she's just there the whole time like, cool but I thought it would be deeper than that.

The levels definitely get repetitive and I end up mastering them very quickly. My first time on Cruel_Sisyphean_Eight-Shaped.Floor for instance, took me over 12 minutes on a casual run. Now, even without hacks I can do it in a couple minutes (not tryharding). Then theres On-the-Run(Circles)_Eternally-Hunted.Floor. It's a grind but this one I had in the bag easily after probable my second time and those were probably the only levels I had trouble with first time at all. Some levels stayed fresh every time I played them, especially with low hacks, but not those two even though they were challenging and stood out to me at first.

At least the colour chips and palettes can make each run crazy different. My first run with brush was insane, I regained ink fast enough that I never needed to recover in swim form. Just endlessly attacking. I didn't have too much difficulty with any weapon except for the Octoshot of course as it limits the amount of chips and hacks you can have at once... and I'm not sure if it was because of the low hacks but I failed it a TON, especially on the smollusk fight which was annoying. Most of the palettes were a first time win for me and if not it was on my 2nd try and I only added hacks when it came to my last few palettes so I don't know if I was just fumbling or what but I eventually did it with one hack for damage resistance and one for life I think... can't remember. I tried a couple things.

Smollusk is kind of cool once you finish visiting them and I feel like there is more to think about and potential with their circumstances, I'd like to see more. I just crave suffering you know how I am. I'd like to see it more painful and conflicting. There's some reading between the lines to be done also with Acht and the Marina dev logs and the way octolings are as a whole. Might write my thoughts on them later.

[forthesanityofstorytellers]

Author Ask Tag

Ooo I haven't done this one yet 😁😁 Was tagged by @anyablackwood (here) and @gummybugg (here), thanks you guys!

I mean technically you both tagged my main but this is my author profile so there, lol

ANYWAY

A quick light tagging of @moonluringfrost @adie-dee @astellarium @bloodlessheirbyjacques @winterandwords @afoolandathief

and on we go! Using Abracadabra for any WIP-related questions

1. What is the main lesson of your story (e.g. kindness, diversity, anti-war), and why did you choose it?

Be annoying a do crime? lol Ehhhh don't really have one. Though Rod (MC) does muse at the end:

My mother survives through me because I choose to remember her traditions. Whenever it is that I truly die, I will only live as long as my stories do. Beings, Terrans and otherwise, are easily forgotten. Stories and traditions are not. I guess that’s all any of us can truly strive for.

So...ig if there's a lesson of Abracadabra it's to make your story a good one? As in one that you like and are proud to have been a part of, one that those close to you will want to tell and close to them will want to tell, etc etc

2. What did you use as inspiration for your worldbuilding (like real-life cultures, animals, famous media, websites, etc.)?

I'd say 'not a lot' but in all honesty I took inspiration from probably a thousand different things and each bit was a thought or idea or small detail or something similar, and so I can't point to one thing and say 'yes, this inspired the world of Abracadabra'. Plus it's set on modern-day earth, so...I feel like the snippets of inspiration would be evident to those who watch/read the same things I do, lol

3. What is your MC trying to achieve, and what are you, the writer, trying to achieve with them? Do you want to inspire others, teach forgiveness, and help readers grow as a person?

We both have very simple aims; to be entertained, to tell a good story, and to maybe play a trick or two.

4. How many chapters is your story going to have?

Right now it's standing at 29. I was hoping to get it up to at least 30 initially, and hopefully with the re-write I'll manage to get it up there. If for no other reason that to make it a nice round number, lol

5. Is it fanfiction or original content? Where do you plan to post it?

Original content. I plan to self-pub once it's done, but...I dunno, I'm entertaining other options. I mean I'm still going to self-pub once it's done, but I'm waffling between doing things like putting up done chapters on Tumblr. I also entertained the idea of using Neocities to make a blog where you can read all the stuff for free, using Substack for chapter releases before publishing, posting on Royal Road...etc.

6. When and why did you start writing?

In general? I started writing when I was 12 (I think, may have been before that) and it was legitimately reading Lloyd Alexander and thinking, "can I do this? Can I write like this?" and no one told me I couldn't, so I did. And now here we are.

For Abracadabra? I think I started writing it in 2016 as a part of a trilogy where each book followed a different MC with one large overlapping plotline so you got to see what the others were doing when they ran into a different MC. And said trilogy started because I began working with my dad (one of my biggest fantasy/storytelling influences) in my first actual collab. We were about halfway through the first book when he got diagnosed with cancer. By the time I got to the third book (now Abracadabra) I was on my own and felt I needed to finish the story. Possibly why Abracadabra has the 'lesson' about our lives being stories that live in other's hands.

7. Do you have any words of engagement for fellow writers of Writeblr? What other writers on Tumblr do you follow?

My dad had a saying. "I didn't cheat, I used all my resources to the best of my ability."

While hilarious and also said to cover up the fact that he was, in fact, cheating (and I can hear him saying that to me now, because he insisted to his dying day that it's not cheating and it's a mantra I'll adopt at opportune moments) man was also a genius, observant, and hacking computer systems in high school. In the 70s. So when we accused him of cheating on computer games, what he was saying in a hilarious and quippy way was "I figured out how to reprogram the game to bring my desires of how I want this game into the parameters of how it functions because I that is a thing I know how to do."

Point being, to other writeblrs...don't be afraid to use all your resources to the best of your ability. Cheat the hell out of the system.

...

Also back up all your digital shit. Save it in at least three different places, make sure one of them is in an offline format or - even better - an offline removable format (like a portable hard drive or usb, or even written down on physical paper). My first book took two years longer than it was supposed to because the laptop I was using crashed two days after I finished the first draft and three years of work went down the drain and the only thing I had left was about three pages of a cut scene I wrote in the middle of history class. I had to rebuild it from memory.

I mean, it turned out better I think, because I had at least three years of writing experience to build off of at that point and that's also likely why it went faster, but I also had a panic attack when it happened and that wasn't fun.

Also the writeblrs I follow tend to be a) ones that followed me first and b) ones that I looked at and went 'oh yes, I can be friends with this person' (usually because I have begun reblogging a bunch of stuff because it made me laugh or think or nod along or I agree with it or thought it was interesting or). Not always in that order, tho lol more of a social follower ig.

[librathefangirl]

Love your fics btw 🥺❤️

But 🦈 and 🍬 for the ask game ❤️

Thank you!! 🥺❤️ And thank you for the ask too :)

(Also can I say that I'm impressed that I've gotten 7 emojis for this ask game now, but none have been duplicates)

🦈 Which character is the toughest to write?

Ooh. For nnt I gotta go with daytime Escanor and Diane. I just... don't really know how to handle those two.

I much more prefer writing wimpy night Escanor than arrogant day Escanor. Although both will show up in an upcoming fic of mine (day 21 of my Febuwhump series, whenever I get to that one). So, we'll see how that works out.

As for Diane, I don't know, I just struggle a lot with her character. Which is probably why I have never actually written from her perspective yet.

🍬 Do you write for multiple fandoms? If yes, what is your favorite fic of yours for each fandom?

I mean, technically yes? If we're looking at both my early fanfic days over on FF.net and my current ones on ao3, I've got 60 fics across 12 fandoms. Although, this year I've only posted fics for nnt. Which I don't mind actually, I haven't been this inspired to write since I started writing fanfic (for Lab Rats) back in 2016.

Only 5 of my written fandoms have more than 1 fic posted, so let's look at them, shall we? Going oldest to newest:

Lab Rats - Betrayal

I guess it would be cheating saying my entire A for Always fic, since it's my advent calendar fic and is thereby a collections of 24 fics? (Actually that advent calendar was fun to write, maybe I should do something like that for nnt this year?). So let's go with chapter 2: Betrayal. This one's actually a bit different from my usual stories. It's more of an introspection and deals with Chase's (canon) experiences of betrayal and the emotional impact these had (that was't explored in canon). Over 6 years later I'm still proud of this one.

Lab Rats: Elite Force - Her Baby Brother

This one's a set of three drabbles, showcasing Bree's relationship with her little brother during different stages of their lives. I like this one because writing drabbles is not always that easy, plus at the same time I managed to make them feel like three parts of the same story with a similar structure. (Not a story for people who don't like main character deaths.)

Glee - The Boy with the Christmas Sweaters

Okay, looking back at my Glee fics was actually kinda hard, because the ship I loved back then I can't stand anymore. But I do like this fic! It's a Samcedes fic based on a Christmas prompt. Just some fluff and humor (a rarity for me).

Stranger Things - Trust and Needles

I have a total of 3 ST fics. All of which less than 700 words. All of which Stoncy. This one's just fluffy ot3 shenanigans combined with Steve whump. It might leave a smile on your face (unless you don't like needles or stitching, then you won't like this fic).

The Seven Deadly Sins / Nanatsu no Taizai - Who'll Hug the Prince of Hell?

This one wasn't easy to choose. They're all so new and all so loved. I think I'll have to go with this one though. For starters, it's my first nnt fic, the start of a new era and all that. It also includes a lot of things I love to write about; Meliodas angst, the relationships between the Sins and Meliodas, Meliodas getting the love he deserves, Merlin knowing his whole story, Meliodas and Ban being Meliodas and Ban, King dealing with his feelings and actions towards Meliodas after the reveal. Also, who doesn't love a story where Meliodas gets hugged repeatedly? (I should make Mel get hugged more often)

Anyway. Here's the list for the ask game, if anyone else wanna send me something :)

[rhythmgamer]

not completely a vent more like musing over my thoughts but. I'd say do not open if you don't want your mood ruined/are already in a bad state mentally

sometimes i wonder that the way i feel when I'm writing is. probably not normal.

like, I've written essays before. and they've been self studies. but most of the times i cannot being myself to read what i write. and if i do, it seems as if... i didn't write it. it feels as if a different person left it there for me. in my handwriting.

as bizarre as this may sound, it feels as if i destroy a part of me whenever i write?

now, the yuushino fic was different. it was a simple, cute, easy to imagine scenario. i was done with it in 2 hours. can i see myself writing something like that again? probably. it doesn't take much energy.

however, there's something else I'm writing rn, and... even though I haven't written the angst part of it yet, even I'm simply writing the soft part still, it's so taxing. because what I'm writing is lowkey (highkey) related to something i struggle with myself irl.

and I'm conflicted on how to proceed. i can give the story a "pure", wholesome finish. or... i can continue on the "impure" path i originally intended. i know, it's my story, my rules, and i want to go the impure path, so i should probably listen to myself.

but the problem is. that I'm scared of losing a part of myself again. I'm scared of putting so much of myself in it that whatever of myself i put leaves my physical sense and becomes imprinted on those words forever, never to return to me again. I'm scared of putting so much of myself in it that i can never bear to see or read it again.

ironically, i don't feel like I'll be able to read this post itself more than two times. maybe i just have an aversion to baring my own vulnerability towards myself.

words express me the best. but alas, words scare me the most too.

i doubt anyone has read this far.

in any case, I don't think it is normal to feel like you're destroying yourself every time you write. Writing hurts, but i need to write. because, for many reasons, I can't scream verbally. it's... poetic in a way

[pqrachel]

Games I Played in November

I never really plan these out but I always like talking about what I've been playing.

So I already talked about Trackmania, but I really hope to stay top 100 in my state for this season. I've got 18/25 author medals and that's better than I've ever done, but there's still time to maybe get a couple more. (I'm super close on some of them.)

Marvel Snap's been fun too, I've been playing a bit more casually. Like not buying anything with actual money, skipping dailys if I don't feel like playing, stuff like that. And I don't care what anyone says Martyr's so fucking fun and cool. I haven't hit infinite yet, been stuck in high rank 80s playing all sort of different decks. But that's okay it's been fun and that's the whole point of gaming.

As far as new games I finally bought Arkham Knight. That was amazing to play at my own pace instead of having to wait to play it whenever I visited my uncle's house as a teen. I got through basically everything, I'm tracking down the last few Riddler trophies on my own. I probably won't bother with NG+ but there are a lot of post-game stories I want to play which I never got to. I've also been watching a bunch of Arkham series lore vids on YT and that's really put me back in the headspace of playing the Arkham series like I did originally.

Handshakes was a fun free indie speed-game. I got top 100 on the steam leaderboards and that was fun.

Chillquarium is great, the demo was fun and cute but somewhere along the way it turned into a card pack opening simulator but in the best possible way. Like if you've ever wanted to open 1000 pokémon booster packs for no reason other to hunt for a super rare or something that's a super fun game to emulate that feeling.

And also Colostle. Obviously I've been posting my journals for that game on here for two years now so y'all know I love it! But it's been great playing it more frequently again I've got basically two chapters finished in one month, which I haven't done in a while. Really trying to get to the Tundrooms and Kyodaina content. The Colostle Patreon's already getting even more content in the Dungeons and maybe more (I've been off it since I'm not utilizing the new content immediately and I'm gonna buy the books when they come out anyways) and I feel like for as much I like the game I haven't experienced all it has too offer which is weird for me as someone who normally goes for completion, or achievement hunting, etc.

---

Daryl Takes Games on YouTube made a video about tackling his backlog and at one point he talks about the importance of writing about games as you finish them to preserve them as a memory for later and that hits home with what I'm doing here with these monthly summaries. That video was beautiful to me as a longtime gamer. I'm gonna take this time to also add games I plan to play in the future. Even if I don't get to them next month, I want to think about games and see how that changes between months.

So yeah, very recent addition to the backlog is Signalis. I've been seeing amazing fanart and it even featured in that video, so once that next goes on sale I'm gonna pick it up.

Rivals 2 looks amazing and I've backed the kickstarter so I hope I get to experience that in some manner once it comes out. Fighting games have dwindled from genres I play since I don't have as active of gamer friends and grinding with someone is the best part, but maybe with rollback and the good online it promises I'll still enjoy that on my own or maybe even find some new gamers to play with.

That video mentioned Sayonara Wild Hearts with a comment that seemed like the ultimate praise: "Every part was my favorite part." Since it's only an hour long I'm just gonna watch a playthrough, but that's totally valid. My fondest memories with Undertale was watching Dodger Leigh (PressHeartToContinue)'s full playthrough of that game, way more than my own playthrough. Even though the grind of beating Sans myself was worth it. Perhaps after watching Sayonara Wild Hearts I'll pick it up but I'm not gonna pressure myself to do that if I don't want to.

Some other games I tried recently but refunded include Dave the Diver (it looks good and was fun but ultimately didn't seem worth it to play the whole thing), Oxenfree 2 (I played the first and love it but this one just didn't hook me and there's no shame in giving a game), Shadows of Doubt (a couple months ago I tried it since it looked like I'd enjoy it after watch GMTK's vid on detective games but ultimately it was too involved and seemed like a chore to play, when I was looking for something else, the figure it out, red string on a cork board yes, the rest of the gameplay no not really), and Word Factori (I think I was just looking for a fun optimization game like Opus Magnum but Word Factori just fell short). In future ones of these I'll make sure to mentioned games I tried as well as played because those can be important when looking back on as well.

And finally, holy crap this post is long, good thing this blog is for me and I'm not trying to impress anyone with my thoughts on these games.

[stormblessed95]

Vminkook Dynamics Pt. 2

Back again! The first part of this i talked/rambled about Vmin, so you can go check that one out if you haven't already! I'll focus mostly on Taekook in pt 2 here. Fair warning, if you are here for a Taekook analysis for the purpose of thinking they are romantically involved, you probably do not want to keep reading. Taekook are a beautiful and amazing pair, but I don't see romance at all there. So if that's what you are here for, move along! And please don't come for me over it either. I love this duo so much. I'm sharing my personal opinions here and everyone is of course free to disagree and form their own. I will say that if you do believe Taekook are romantically involved, that's fine, as long as you are respectful towards my opinion AND all the other members, especially Jimin. If I get any toxic comments or "asks" after this post, I will just be deleting them. 💜

TaeKook

I will be flooding this post with super cute Taekook gifs BTW. Just a warning. Prepare yourselves! We are all just here to appreciate the beautiful bond these 2 have! Tae and JK don't have a unit song together yet like Vmin do, but go support them and listen to their most recent songs! Including Blue & Grey and Stay, which were originally for their respective mixtapes! And Stream Butter!!

Tae and Jungkook are so precious. They are the babies of the group, the maknaes. Jimin is in the maknae line, yes, but he has a few months on Tae and sometimes takes care of these 2 as a hyung. They love causing general chaos and are troublemakers. There is never a dull moment whenever they are together! Just like the rest of BTS, they have no problems being physically close and up in each others space. Like I said before, BTS all lack a lot of boundaries with each other, taekook is no exception. Jungkook attributes a lot of his personal ability to grow into his own self and the idol he is today to Taehyung. It's beautiful. I'll separate this out like I did with vmin and talk about their emotional bond and their physical bond and then I'll touch briefly on why I think this ship is also purely a platonic love.

In the earliest clips we see of Taekook, they are obviously very close. Its impossible not to see. I think this might be why they attracted some attention as a duo (they also sound hella fine together, duh) but the shipping content from when the maknaes were minors makes me very uncomfortable, so I won't touch too much on that. What I will say is that JK has said many times that Tae helped him out of his shell and be comfortable in the dorm and on stage. We can absolutely see this in old clips. We see Tae literally taking Jungkook under his wing. Taehyung has an extremely social, outgoing, bright personality. He has the vibe around him that makes it easy for other people to open up and relax around him. We see Tae bop under his chin or his nose affectionately, or make sure he is eating, encouraging him to open up more and get into things during practice. We see Tae has a fascination with yanking on JKs ears for some reason, i don't know, but it's cute.. Jungkook has told us that he was uncomfortable with a lot skin ship when he first moved into the dorm, was struggling with crippling shyness and anxiety about preforming well, being so far from home and living with people who he truly didn't know super well yet in such a small space and i love that Tae helped him with that.

He has told us about how he used to stay up late waiting for everyone else to fall asleep so he could shower in privacy, getting even less sleep on an already tight training schedule. We know all the other guys were practically showering on top of each other trying to rush through getting ready with 6 of them in their small ass dorm bathroom. We even know that they have even showered together in efforts to save time/space. Like I said, extreme lack of boundaries. Tae was even named the most likely culprit i believe to crash someone else's shower (i think) and Jimin has gone on record of feeling someone brush against his legs while showering and originally thinking it was Namjoon (turns out it was a ghost, but I'd personally like to know why he thought Joon was between his legs during a shower... moving on). Jungkook refused to shower around them until Tae finally had enough of him losing the little sleep time they had, dragged his ass into the shower and stripped him naked, forcing this first step on him. Now before you go making mountains out of molehills, I say force, but no member is actually forceful with each other. Tae gave Jungkook the needed and required push to get over this boundary he had with the hyungs so that he could start getting more sleep and taking better care of himself. And it worked. He knew how to support JK in breaking down these boundaries for him and for the rest of the group.

Tae and Kookie both are tactile people. In Tae we see this in everything that he does, we see this mostly in JK when he is anxious or nervous or not in what he considers a normal habitat, such as interviews. We see him consistently want to touch or mess with whoever is sitting next to him. We see Tae latch onto all the members with ease. I adore seeing Taekook cuddling and seeking that comfort they both enjoy together. They both have an ease with skinship together, and I love seeing it knowing that JK was initially thrown off by how touchy Bangtan was at first. He has truly embraced it and basks in it now. I love this for him. We see their physical bond in the cuddles, like from BV and ITS. We see it in the causal hair playing madness. We see it in the piggyback rides and arms tossed around shoulders. We see their bond in their many MANY elaborate handshakes.. We see them comfortable flirting on stage during songs together. It's amazing and I love to see it. We see their bond everytime they sit together and giggle over whatever mischief they are making. One of my favorite episodes highlighting this was the RUN episode of JK with the green highlights, MiniMoni in the flower punishment pants, and BTS had challenges in that room full of arcade type stuff in 2020. TK laughing over slime, giggling over karaoke, climbing on top of the basketball machines together. If we are honest, their bond mostly consists of them pushing each other's boundaries and limits to the point where they occasionally piss each other off and/or wrecking havoc together. They called each other their commonality, meaning that they are similar, they share alot of similar attributes and think the same way. I don't know what to say other than I see that in them and I love that for them! They are basically the epitome of the annoying but loveable little brothers in the group!

What I don't see here, is romance. Now please don't come for me. This does not mean they do not love each other or care about each other. And when I say, they aren't close enough for there to be any romance there, that doesn't mean they aren't close and it has nothing to do with their lack of boundaries (see above lol). Yes, they have an emotional connection, but its not a deep one. You rarely see them seek each other out when they are having a bad day or are overly emotional. The most prominent time I remember this happening was during the MAMA 2018 speech, where they spoke about almost disbanding and Tae cried in kookie's arms. They usually seek out other members though.

We also have the In the Soop conversation. Which honestly shouldn't have come as a surprise to anyone who has been actually following their content and interactions. The only part that surprised me was that they filmed it and put it out there for everyone to see. Which honestly was so brave and such an inspiration that having those types of conversations is a GOOD thing and nothing to be stigmatized or ashamed of. I was SO PROUD of them for being willing to share that with us. But this by itself should have shown there is no romance involved in that friendship. They said they tried to get together to talk about this topic multiple times already before, but one or the other would never respond or not make it a priority. Tae was nervous about trying to get Jungkook to sit down with him and resorted to asking Jimin to make sure it happened, that also negates any romance. You don't need a third party to organize your sit downs otherwise. Jungkook said that when Tae would ask him to drop formalities and treat him as a same age friend for years in the past (a big deal in korea, would have really shown how close their are and how tight their bond is) he said no and he wasn't comfortable dropping the boundaries and respect behind the honorifics. This showed how Tae possibly wanted a closer friendship, but it never got to that point. They each said how they had drifted apart, how their personalities are not the same, how their dynamics changed as they got older. This is all SO NORMAL. And it was incredibly refreshing to see them talk so openly about it. The rest of the series had some absolutely precious taekook moments and I love knowing that they took the time to talk these issues out.

Again, like with vmin, the skinship is not what makes a relationship romantic or we would have to take another look at what those OT7 poly shippers have been saying. Lol and the bedroom eyes that V gives Jungkook, is also like I said with vmin, he gives them to everyone and their mother. The way Tae responded to the fan on Weverse, saying to get out of your imagination. The way that Tae was shocked when Jungkook showed up and said he wanted to share a car with him this time, not believing him and then not being surprised when he never actually did. Their flirting on stage has them both trying not to crack up, almost like a game of chicken.... whose going to take the flirt the farthest and who will break first? Lol they have fun together, I love to see it!

Honestly even their shippers noticed the difference in their interactions over the years. The amount of complaints I saw about how from 2016 through 2019 there was a huge taekook drought. This was what brought on all the various theories about TK being hidden or forced apart, etc. I won't talk too much about that though, I went on my rant about the TK shippers in my last post. But This is exactly why that ITS moment should not have been a surprise. But I have noticed a drastic increase in interactions, skinship and sweet moments between Tae and Jungkook since their conversation ITS and I think its beautiful. It's obvious that conversation did something really good for them and they are both making conscious decisions to try and get closer again and to make more of an effort to cherish their friendship with each other. Its so important to nurture the platonic relationships in your life just as much as any others. Those friendships play a huge role in mental, physical and emotional health for people! I'm so happy for them to be rebuilding their relationship to even better levels and can't wait to see what comes from it! Cross your fingers for a subunit song, their voices together would slay my heart 💜

Another thing that factors into why I don't think there is anything romantic happening between Taekook is the fact that they both tend to favor Jimin. They both have a stronger emotional bond with Jimin, etc etc. I'll touch more on that in part 3 though because this is already so long. I'm so sorry! Lol I'll focus a bit on jikook and how Taekook love Jimin in the next part for sure. I love this duo and I love their bond! Appreciate it for what it is!

As always, these are my personal opinions. You are free to form your own, I just encourage that you form them by watching original content and observing all the members interacting together along with just the "ship." Every bond in bts is precious and deserves so much appreciation! BTS honestly is teaching me a lot about how to be the best type of friend I can be!

See you in part 3!