#and also running and all sorts of other things

[kaddyssammlung]

The third one is from their US tour in 2023 Fans believe that it's between Vessel and mask. (makes the most sense but was never said)

First part:

Mask: They think you fake it. Vessel: What do you mean? Mask: When you cry on stage, they don't think it's real. Vessel : That's a reasonable assumption Mask : Do you fake it? Vessel : No, I don't. But it is something I do consistently, so if I was a member of the audience I would probably assume that it wasn't real. Mask : Do you ever see them crying? Vessel : No, I can only ever see them smiling. That's good, I want them to smile. Mask : Do you think they want you to cry? Do you think they like it? Vessel : Not as such, I think they just want to know that I am feeling something, feeling what they are feeling, perhaps. Mask : Do you think that this amount of crying is healthy for you? Vessel: I don't know. But at least I feel something, if I don't feel anything than why would I even do this?

Second part:

Mask: Why am I here? What is my purpose in all of this? Vessel: Your purpose is twofold. You protect me, from them, and you also protect them from me. Mask: How is it that I serve to protect anyone from anything, that makes no sense Vessel: In order for all of this to work there has to be a certain boundary in place. They need to be able to project themselves onto this, without anyone else's identity getting in the way. In turn, I need to be able to show my true self to them in a way that does not compromise their ability to connect. Mask: So that's what I am? A boundary? Vessel: Yes. Mask: I don't believe you. I believe there is more to it than that. I believe you are afraid of something. Vessel: We are all afraid of something, are we not? Mask: What is it you are so afraid they will see? Vessel: That I am exactly like everyone else.

Third part:

Mask: Are you afraid of me? Vessel: Sometimes... Mask: Why? Vessel: I think I am afraid of becoming you. Mask: What does that even mean? Vessel: My life is becoming gradually consumed by you. Before long, all that I am will be contained within you. Then, one day, when I no longer wish to wear you, there will be nothing else left. Mask: It seems you have forgotten who you are. Before you had me you were nothing. All of this artifice, all this pathetic conjecture about your identity, it is nothing but a manifestation of how short-sighted and solipsistic you have become. I lifted you from misery and obscurity. You would be better to become me. You are nothing without me. You always were nothing without me.

Last part:

Vessel: You. Are. Wrong. In the end, my fractured sense of self was only another piece of fuel for the fire that burns in the eyes of these people before us. They too are pained. They too not know who they truly are. They are each stood alone on a stage of their own. And yet, they are here. United by that sense of never truly belonging. They see something beyond their own bleak horizons. And they reach for it. Together. So let us join now. to reflect their joy and to serve as a conduit for their anguish. To swallow their fear. To Worship.

[kdh-tally]

Hi! If your requests are open, is there a chance you can write a oneshot about Mystery and Zoey from Kpop Demon Hunters? They're my favorite characters. I know all of the Saja Boys, except Jinu, are unfeeling demons, but I'm choosing to disregard what's canon. For the story, I was thinking of a scene where Mystery notices Zoey ogling Abby's abs. Seeing this makes Mystery jealous and self-conscious, and he asks himself, "What does he have that I don't have?" I would also lol if Mystery then starts barking at Abby.

Prompt : Mystery is a tad bit insecure

Author's Note : A tad bit on the longer side maybe?

Mystery didn’t intend on enjoying the idol life so much. Jinu had to spend most of his time persuading him out of the four other boy-band members. Mystery had enjoyed his home in hell to some degree. There was nothing to do really, and he wasn’t disturbed as long as Gwi-ma remained focused on someone else.

Of course there were still voices. The voices were always there. Well, they were. Jinu, the idiot, had the bright idea to debut their little boy band sooner than needed.That’s how he and the other 3 boys found themselves being shoved into a sketchy alleyway. 

“Look good!” he whispered yelled orders at them. The boys groaned in unison, annoyance visible in their tones but they listened anyway. 

Mystery was the first one turning the corner. He heard silent squeals coming from the other end but couldn’t see what was going on. He tilted his head slightly, hair flowing gracefully in the wind. The other boys seeing this copied his move, making it look synchronized and purposeful.

He took note of the three girls. Two of them seemed to be fangirling over Abby’s muscles, he didn’t understand why Jinu gave them such basic names, and the other girl looked so done with the situation. 

The girl that stood in the center, short with little space buns, began to turn red. She was the first human he’d noticed and, not that anyone could tell, he couldn’t take his eyes off her. But there were more important things than a cute human girl. Especially when she was a hunter that killed his king for a living. 

Killed them with her voice. Her beautiful, gentle, siren… 

“Mystery?” someone interrupted his thoughts. The man hadn’t even noticed that they had passed by the girls already and were standing near the center of the market place.

“What is it Baby?”

“You need to lock in”

“What the hell does that even mean?” Mystery scoffed at the new terminology the youngest demon had begun using. Baby seemed to really enjoy human humor.

“We’re about to perform so focus you idiot”

—

Jinu never seemed to run out of dumb ideas. None of the boys knew how they found themselves camping outside of the fan sign hall. All Mystery could remember was playing this game called Valorant or something of the sort, only to be summoned away to the front of a line. 

As they were letting it Mystery understood everything. Jinu wanted to flirt with his girl- enemy. Yep. Ignoring the sudden fuss when the purple lady said the groups would sit together, Mystery quickly found himself sitting beside the girl with the space buns again. 

He quickly learnt that her name was Zoey and she was the main rapper of the group. This shocked him slightly seeing as she was so bubbly and sweet. He’d honestly thought the scary pink lady was the main rapper, but seeing as Baby was their rapper he should've known better.

Eventually, Mystery mustered up the courage to ask her a question only to be interrupted by a fan. How dare they interrupt him? He didn’t even notice he was barking at them to scare them away until Zoey began to chastise him for it. 

“No! Bad Saja Boy!” she shamed, tapping his head with the pen until he calmed down. Mystery slouched back into his chair, what was coming over him?? From just two seats across, he could hear Baby snickering at him.

As he watched Zoey reassure the fan that everything was alright, why did she have to hold the fans hands???, he realized this feeling might have started to become a bigger problem than he thought it would be. —

The battle was over. Gwi-ma was finally defeated and the underworld was closed up for good. With the odd stillness that followed, Mystery found himself in a strange place. He found himself at peace. Well.. kinda?

He still couldn’t sleep properly as he wasn't used to the silence of the overworld at night, and his hair still got frizzy and big when it was humid, and sometimes Baby stole his earrings, but all in all, it was fine. Livable. Manageable. Different.

The dance practice room was empty aside from him and Zoey. The floor-to-ceiling mirrors stretched across the front wall, reflecting the two of them. Zoey in her grey sweats and a tiny white crop top (which was so unfair), and Mystery, slouched on the floor, playing dead.

“You’re not even trying to learn the moves,” Zoey said through a laugh, twisting her water bottle open.

“I am,” he groaned. “Just give me a week to actually get interested first.”

Zoey rolled her eyes at his dramatic behaviour, something that only ever seemed to pop out around her. “That choreography isn’t even that hard.”

“Says the girl with demon hunter blood and abs. This must be so easy for you.”

Zoey blinked. “Excuse you?”

Mystery sat up, one knee drawn up, resting an arm on it as he spoke, “It’s distracting.”

“You’re distracting,” she said pointedly, and then immediately flushed when she realized what she said. “I mean..!”

Mystery smirked, tying his hair up into a bun. He was fully aware of the fact that Zoey believed he was ‘just her type’ and took full advantage of it whenever he could. “You think I’m distracting?”

“I meant your weird slouchy pose was distracting,” Zoey huffed, face red, eyes looking everywhere but his face as she sipped her water too fast.

He liked this. The way her cheeks puffed when she was annoyed. The way she was clearly trying not to look at him while fixing her buns. The way she…

Stopped. Right in front of the mirror.

“Oh my god,” she said, squinting at the mirror.

“What?”

“I look jacked,” she whispered, checking her arm. “Is this what Abby feels like all the time?”

Mystery’s smile faded. “Abby?”

“Yeah. Look at this.” She lifted her arm slightly, flexing, and raised a brow in approval. “No wonder people like his stage presence. He’s a wall of charisma and strength.”

Mystery’s eye twitched. “What does he have that I don’t?” he muttered.

Zoey turned. “Hm?”

“Nothing!” Mystery said too fast. “Just… practicing the dance moves.”

Zoey snorted. “Sure you are. Just like how you were 'barking to protect our image' at the fan sign.”

Mystery’s eyes narrowed. “That fan was sketchy. Their aura was weird.” Aura was a word Baby taught him.

“Uh huh. You were jealous,” she teased, walking past him to grab her towel.

“I was not,” he lied poorly. “I’m incapable of jealousy. Demon, remember?”

“Right,” she dragged, throwing the towel at him. “And I’m incapable of sarcasm.”

She left him there on the floor, towel over his head, ego bruised. But even as she walked away, Mystery found his eyes trailing her again. He hated how soft he’d become.

Hated how often his thoughts drifted back to that first fan sign. To the first time he saw her in the overworld. Laughing. Blushing.

She'd been so red when they passed her in the alleyway, her and Mira swooning over Abby’s opened shirt while she looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her whole. He’d noticed her immediately. And it wasn't just because she was cute. (Okay, that was part of it.)

It was because she was human. So very human. Something he, at the time, didn’t realise he would want so bad. And yet she’d stayed in his mind like a song he couldn’t stop humming.

Even now, months later, with the world no longer ending and his contract with Gwi-ma gone, Mystery still found himself aching whenever she looked at someone else with even a fraction of the warmth she gave him.

Abby. Abby.

The name echoed in his mind again like some cursed chant. Summoning courage, he stood and marched up behind her. “You didn’t answer me.”

Zoey glanced at him in the mirror. “About?”

“What does he have that I don’t have?”

Zoey blinked. “Wait. You were serious?”

Mystery folded his arms. “I barked at a fan for you. I gave up my spot as center for that weird duet stage. I let you touch my hair. That’s practically marriage in demon culture.”

Zoey’s jaw dropped in laughter. “Mystery, I pat everyone’s head when they’re being a weirdo.”

“You don’t call everyone a good boy.” he pointed out.

Zoey flushed bright pink. “That was one time! I was trying to calm you down!”

“It worked.”

“Stop being dramatic.” Zoey laughed, softer this time, walking closer.

He hated how fast his heartbeat got when she stepped into his personal space.

“You’re not Abby,” she said gently.

“I know that,” he huffed.

“But you’re Mystery,” she added, poking his chest, her eyes peering into his. “You’re weird and intense and accidentally funny and overly stylish. And I like that.”

Mystery blinked. “Wait. What?”

Zoey turned, clearly trying not to look at him anymore. “Don’t make me say it again.”

“You like me?”

“Don’t push it.”

“I’m pushing it,” he said, stepping beside her. “You said you like me.”

“Fine,” Zoey grumbled. “I like you.”

Mystery grinned.

“I knew barking was the right way to go.”

“Don’t make it weird.”

“I’m going to bark at Abby next time I see him.”

“No!”

But Mystery was already planning it.

If he had a heart, it would be doing cartwheels.

He glanced at her reflection again, her cheeks warm, eyes shy, and something settled in him.

“Hey,” he said suddenly.

Zoey looked up.

“I like you too. Even if your abs are unfair.”

Zoey broke into laughter, her head tilting back.

And for once, Mystery didn’t mind the quiet that came with the over world. He didn’t mind the quiet anywhere as long as it meant he could listen to the girl he probably shouldn’t have fallen for, laugh her heart out.

[fanged-fanfics]

Can I request headcannons for transformers x gn human reader who said they could hold their whole world in their hands then gently cupping their face?

☆ The World In Your Palm — Transformers x GN Human Reader ☆

Genre: Fluff || they/them pronouns for reader || No warnings needed

A/N: Features Optimus, Ratchet, Bumblebee, Starscream, Soundwave, and Megatron

──────.𖥔 ݁ ˖˗ˏˋ ★ ˎˊ˗.𖥔 ݁ ˖ ──────

Optimus

ᯓᡣ𐭩 "Can you now? That's quite the goal"

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He thinks it's another cute little human idea initially. A bit of a naive one maybe, but most earth ideas for "shooting for the stars" always confused him a bit. He also sort of sums it up to a hyperbole and doesn't ask much more about it

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Until you offer to show him. That gets his attention. Humans are capable of incredible feats, yes, but how were you planning to prove such a thing? Much more visibly confused, he leans down like you ask him to

ᯓᡣ𐭩 As soon as your palms cup his cheekplates, he's even more bewildered. After thinking about it for a second, he chuckles, leaning into your touch as he uses a large hand to pull you a little closer. "That's very clever" he says with a smile "looks like I can hold the world in my hand too"

Ratchet

ᯓᡣ𐭩 "Uh..huh. Good luck with that"

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Completely doesn't understand the setup. The whole world?? This one? The giant ball in space holding billions of people? What's that supposed to mean? He assumes you're trying to bait him into a joke or something

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Then you ask him to lean down, and he's even more lost. If this is some sort of practical joke you'd learned from others, he wasn't excited for the outcome. But because it's you, he trusts it, bringing his face close enough for you to reach

ᯓᡣ𐭩 When your hands cup his face, he's even more lost. He runs the situation over again in his heads a few times before it actually lands. He acts exasperated to cover up how flustered he is, lightly patting your head. "You humans, I swear... cute trick, kid"

Bumblebee

ᯓᡣ𐭩 "Oh yeah? Go ahead, try, I wanna see it"

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He's amused at the idea. He knows you're likely not being literal, but he wants to see where it goes. He's had a lot of fun learning human jokes so far, what's one more to the list?

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He leans down as soon as you asked, excited to see the expected punchline. He can't exactly see where it's going yet, but knowing you he hopes for the best and waits expectantly

ᯓᡣ𐭩 When your hands land on his face, he has to take a second to get it. There's a bit of a 'is that... it?' moment where he's still waiting for the joke. Then it clicks all at once, and he gains a very obvious blush on his face. He cups his hands around your head, grinning widely "Well I can hold my whole world in just one hand! Beat that"

Starscream

ᯓᡣ𐭩 "Ha! That bold, are you? Is there no end to your feeble little plans?"

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He sounds a little mean about it, but it's just his usual teasing. Sort of in a 'that's nice honey' kind of way. He of course argues that if anyone is fit to carry the world, it would be him, obviously

ᯓᡣ𐭩 It takes some convincing to get him to kneel down. He pretends like he's oh so busy and has so many important things to do, but inevitably gives in and indulges your whims

ᯓᡣ𐭩 The second your hands reach his face, he gets it immediately. He stammered a bit, chuckling as he tried to brush it off. He didn't want it to be so obvious that something so small could fluster him, but he couldn't help it around you. "Ahem- well- you're very brave for being so forward! But I suppose I can allow you to hold on for a moment longer"

Soundwave

ᯓᡣ𐭩 "Improbable. The world is too big for human hands"

ᯓᡣ𐭩 Takes your words at direct face value. He's trying to be honest and let you down easy. He's got no idea how you somehow convinced yourself you were strong enough to pull that off, but he feels like he has to bring you back to reality

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He's only confused when you ask him to come closer. What does this have to do with your claim? He leans down of course, but he doesn't understand what's happening

ᯓᡣ𐭩 When your hands hold his face, he just pauses. He's about to correct you, but before the words can fully leave his mouth, he realizes what you're trying to say. He sighs from his vents as he holds onto your wrists. "I see. I.. can hold the world in mine, too"

Megatron

ᯓᡣ𐭩 "Aiming big, aren't we? Your time will come"

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He indulges your comment. He's promised you the world, everything his servos can carry. Of course it'll all be yours someday, he'll make sure of it

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He leans down at your request, though he of course asks what you're planning. He can tell by your little grin whenever you've got something brewing in your head, but he allows it for the sake of it

ᯓᡣ𐭩 He catches on the second you hold his face, and he chuckles in amusement. "Ah, that's what you meant" he said, leaning into the embrace "clever... for a human" he teases lightly

[mona-risms]

Can’t stop thinking about reader’s family and friends not believing them when they say that they’re dating rumi, bc 1. Rumi is a worldwide famous popstar and 2. Rumi is a literal goddess in her own right and reader is just going insane trying to prove that Rumi is actually their girlfriend.

The moment I saw this ask come through I really did just have to run over here bc as someone with a large family, white siblings and two fuckass extended family ahh friend groups this felt like an obligation. Ofc different groups may respond differently, but 😜

Telling your friends would be a Challenge aka they'll probably laugh your ass out the door. How the fuck did YOU??? Bag THAT fine piece of ass HELLO????? Like okay bae and I'm actually Tom Holland's side piece it's time to wake back up to reality 🫶. You need like proof in pictures, receipts in messages and preferrably her right in front of them. It feels like you're going through an immigration checkpoint. When they actually see that Oh you're Not actually bullshitting and this is actually #holyfcknairball? "THEM?????? REALLY" but tbh at the end of the day they'd support it easily. If you have K-Pop enthusiasts in your group they'll probably freak out and faint but they'll be back up later asking for autographs from her and the other members. My friends would threaten me if I ever fumbled personally

Rumi finds it funny asf but also she's kinda like "my bad", half laughing at you and half sincere bc wow you fr have to prove you're not just being DELUSIONAL. It's okay she'll kiss you in front of them if they want proof, she'll take Any excuse to kiss you :3c

Family would be another thing. You wouldn't even need to supply proof though, she'd wanna make a good first impression on her own. She'd bring like food baskets and gifts and everything, getting to know your family and all that. She'll basically do all the work for you and next thing you know she's basically already invited to the gc and whatever sort of family gatherings you have 🤷‍♀️ atp wedding her would just become a formality LMFAO but if you fumble this they'll kill you. Joke. Maybe. Who knows. But she's like the most likeable person out there, parents fucking love her and yours probably won't be an exception—can't help but stare at how easily she can just. Do it like "is it PR training or is this just like natural for you" "🥰"

My mum would love her and she's very Traditional so 💀. My siblings would personally also laugh me out the door too 🫶 hate them (love them)

[c-is-for-circinate]

Man I think there are two Great Tragedies of Tim Drake, and the second is how hard fandom refuses to engage with the first in favor of their own made-up fanon version of angst. There's plenty of angst in the actual text!

Like the thing about Tim -- actual, pre-Robin, training-to-be-Robin, start-of-his-Robin-run Tim -- is that he sets out on his vigilante journey with two things literally no other batfam member has had before. Tim is normal, and he is happy.

Early Tim, you'll hear a lot in some circles, is meant to be a bland self-insert: look at this kid, he's a Batman fan, just like you! Only he's got more money AND more freedom than you, which means that he gets to have the coolest hobby ever, and when Batman gets in trouble this kid can actually help him out. So cool!

Dick, Jason, Cass, Damian -- they all come to vigilantehood after backgrounds that're various levels of implausible, tragic, and traumatizing. Batman, and their ability to don a cape beside him, rescues them. Their lives get better when they put the uniform on.

Tim's doesn't. Through coincidence or fate or force of plot, Tim agrees to be Robin and his life immediately gets worse. Tim's mom (who canonically loves him and he loves dearly, who's gone more than maybe she should be but a good mom when she's there) dies. Tim's dad's in a coma. Tim's life is upended.

Tim gets strangled by Azbats. Tim almost dies of the Clench. Tim gets all the typical vigilante/sidekick suffering stuff. Tim gets fucked with and fucked over by an increasingly paranoid Bruce.

Tim tries to leave to go back to his normal civilian life but he can't any more, because he is the Normal One, he's been the Normal One for so long that he's missed how much he's changed until he has to fit all of himself inside one single box of normalcy. He tries to leave and it follows him. It haunts him. It stalks him. It kills his friend. It kills his girlfriend. It kills his dad.

(That's the Tim that Jason runs into in Titan's Tower, for fucksake. The orphan living alone in Bludhaven, who's been Robin for years, who left it and then came back because nobody else could live up to him, who's been taking care of himself for ages. The one with half his life and identity pinned not on being granted the opportunity to playact as impostor-syndrome Robin -- that's Tim of two or three or four years ago, just starting out, before he started accumulating loss -- but on being Robin, and being damn fucking good at it. Jason thinks Tim stole his job. Tim thinks he's been doing this goddamn job for four years and if one more person tells him that it's not his, he's going to show them why he doesn't need to turn into Gun Batman to be scary.)

His best friend dies. His other best friend dies. 16- to 17-year-old Tim McFucking Loses It, even before Bruce also dies and pushes him right over the edge, but the tragedy of the Red Robin run isn't just Tim's general sense of self-worth and belief in his ability to be loved. It's stepping back, looking at it in context, and realizing that this was all preventable.

Dick Grayson was never going to be normal, before or after his parents died. Jason was never going to be fine. Cass was doomed long before Bruce ever got to her. But Tim chose this shit. Twelve years old, looking at Batman, too smart for his own damn good but in a way that never once stopped him from making friends and fitting in just fine before -- Tim chose. And he kept choosing, until long after it stopped actually being a choice, until it became all he had, all he had left. Tim made himself into the sort of creature of power and grief that most of his teammates and family had no choice but to be.

What a cool story. (What a very Barbara Gordon story, but that's a conversation for another day.) What a goddamn shame fandom would rather give him the UwU Tragic Backstory and comically terrible parents than tell it.

[bogwaterparasite]

Character Building!! (Saja boys edition)

Characters: Saja Boys (except Jinu)

A/N: Am I milking the fact that my HC’s seemed to be doing well? Yes. I’m also taking advantage of the fact that these characters don’t really have a storyline or anything of their own to sorta create their own personalities to use when I write fanfiction! Sue me, I love them.

Just fyi. I’m currently working on requests! So don’t fret, I haven’t forgotten about you

Previous post!! - SAJA HC’s

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Baby saja (Eun-young)

✮⋆˙ I’ve decided the name based off of the meaning that can be given to it. Eun-young can translate to both graceful flower or silver petal. I think it’s kinda fitting considering his soft boy sort of aesthetic, yet it serves as a good contrast to the personality given to him.

✮⋆˙ I believe that he got recruited by Jinu due to his musical talent. He’s a rapper, and a very good one at that, but unlike jinu? It isn’t something he’s been practicing ever since he was a human

✮⋆˙ Matter of fact, I don’t believe he was ever human. Despite Jinu saying that Gwi-Ma controlled the demons by the guilt they possessed, there is a possibility for some demons to just be summoned or created with the sole purpose of getting souls/defeating the demon hunters.

✮⋆˙ Eun-young’s talent developed from curiosity. He had always had a fascination for technology and the way things worked in the human world given that Gwa-Mi’s realm seems to be nothing but a void, and all of their entertainment is given by none other than Gwa-Mi himself. During the beginnings of the creation of cellphones, he most definitely stole one in order to take it back. While this action is suspicious on itself, he can always use the pretext of wanting to be connected in order to deceive the humans and collect souls with more efficiency.

✮⋆˙ While indulging in human media, he found himself drawn towards music, but not ALL music, rap specifically. He’d do most of his practicing down in earth, using it as a way to get closer with certain humans (and singers which I assume have more powerful souls) and developing his skills while still accomplishing the task given to him by Gwa-Mi.

✮⋆˙ Despite his gravelly voice, he was never truly into the stereotypical rapper appearance. The soft boy look seemed to be what called to him more than anything else, comfortable and colorful outfits that contrast the traditional dark appearance he holds in his demon form. It creates a sort of trustworthy character for humans, specially women, which he takes advantage of to the fullest.

✮⋆˙ Given that he is a made demon, he is rather devoid of emotion. Hes not a hateful person, but just holds little interest for things that he hasn’t developed an interest for, which is why he’s so willing to do pretty much anything. Even then, he will always go back to what he’s used to, which is doing nothing while scrolling through media.

✮⋆˙ He lacks taste buds, so his preferences of food come from the texture and feeling that they create. Colder things tend to have a thicker consistency than he finds rather enjoyable, which eventually developed into a liking of squishy and chewy foods rather than crunchy.

✮⋆˙ Even though he’s rather devoid of emotion, his vast interactions with humans and the human world caused him to develop more of a consciousness than other demons. This is what allows for Gwa-Mi to filter the voices into his mind, which although rare, still bother him just as much as the rest of the demons.

Abs Saja (Ho-Seok)

✮⋆˙ I’m not quite sure what the full name stands for, however, the translation for Seok is put as stone or rock. I think this kinda makes sense since I see abs as being sort of a reliable person? Idk how that makes sense considering he’s a demon, but yk.

✮⋆˙ I’m not too sure if All demons have formed pacts with Gwa-Mi or just Jinu? I’m running with the idea that not all of them were human, or have had to make a pact with him in order to become demons, but in this case? Abs did.

✮⋆˙ Born during the Joeson dynasty, about 80% of the families participated in agricultural farming(including his own), making it an incredibly competitive market. Due to increasing tariffs and environmental struggles, his family wasn’t the most wealthy. Unable to hire more workers, they used their 4 children to help around the farm, their pay being the fact that they got to survive another day. Ho-Seok was the oldest and strongest, which meant that majority of the tasks were handed to him in order for the farm to stay afloat. Although this was somewhat unfair, he did get a portion of the profits (although not much) which kept him quiet for the most part.

✮⋆˙ As he grew up, he became unsatisfied by the life he was living. Due to old age, his father wasn’t able to work anymore, which now meant that all the responsibilities (whether it was about the farm or the family) fell on him. This caused him to grow resentful of his family, the inability to provide for him and their children, while also having to deal with 3 children all at once began to take a toll on him.

✮⋆˙ There was one thing that he looked forward to however, a girl he had been crushing on for quite sometime. She frequented the farm for supplies, and she always served as a balm for his worries (even though she wasn’t aware of it).

✮⋆˙ In the end, all of these problems and responsibilities were what led him to create a pact with Gwa-Mi, becoming a demon in order to finally be able to live comfortably. He left his family to fend for themselves, slowly elevating his status by working with other members and eventually ending up as a chef in the palace. Despite him not thinking that he had any guilt about what he’d done, the marks were slowly consuming him.

✮⋆˙ What drove him to be at Gwa-Mi’s control for eternity was a simple mistake, at least he says it was a mistake. With his newfound status, he was going to confess his love to his beloved.. however, he was soon to find out she was betrothed to another.

✮⋆˙ This enraged him, as for now, even if he had gained more than what he wished to accomplish, he had lost everything that once made him who he was. In an attempt to salvage whatever there was left, he tried to consume the soul of her beloved, only to end up consuming hers by accident.

✮⋆˙ This served as a catalyst for his full transformation to becoming a demon, all his guilt consuming him whole and casting him into the life of eternal suffering.

✮⋆˙ He was scouted out by Jinu due to him being one of the strongest demons, he had no musical experience beforehand, so training him was sorta… difficult, but in the end it worked.

Romance Saja (Min-Joon)

✮⋆˙ Much like the other names, Minjoon can have a LOT of interpretations. Min can mean; quick, clever or sharp, and sometimes it can also be gentle or affable depending on the hanja characters used. While Joon means talented, handsome, or outstanding, which in my opinion? Is very fitting to him.

✮⋆˙ Unlike Eunyoung or Hoseok, Minjoon was a human up until recently, but he didn’t make a pact with Gwa-Mi, but rather made a deal with Jinu in exchange for his soul.

✮⋆˙ When Minjoon was young, his father left him and his mother to peruse a “better life” with his affair partner, leaving them to fend for themselves. His mother tried to make this transition as easy as possible for Minjoon, taking more hours in order to keep their income coming and still provide extra cash for whatever he might want, yet, this left little to no time to spend with her son.

✮⋆˙ He didn’t really resent his mother for this, quite the opposite really. Seeing her so driven to provide comfort to their lives despite their losses made him want to do better, to someday be able to provide for her the same way she was providing for him. In his search for ways to get rich, he came across the idol world. It wasn’t just the money that attracted him to it, but rather the musical aspect of it. They all seemed to have so much fun, doing something they enjoyed while inspiring others to do the same, didn’t that sound like the dream?

✮⋆˙ What drew him in more than anything were the choreographies, there was something about the way they moved along with every beat, every move perfectly aligned with the lyrics, it just felt right, something he wanted to do.

✮⋆˙ It was during highschool that he started to act upon this, creating a social media account and beginning to train himself to dance and create his own style. Despite what influencers might make you think, gaining a following was quite hard, not getting many interactions often left him disillusioned, but it didn’t stop him. The more he practiced, the better he got, and slowly his confidence and following grew.

✮⋆˙ He usually kept his interest quiet from everyone at school, but once, while practicing in an empty classroom, he managed to find someone who shared a similar dream to him.

✮⋆˙ The two of them grew closer, and they slowly began working to get their dreams come true. Eunseong was a composer, and combining this with the dances Minjoon was able to create along those lyrics, they seemed like the perfect match. However, both of them lacked in the aspect of singing, something that set them back by a long shot in the world of idols and k-pop groups.

✮⋆˙ Even as they grew, and they were able to get a following from their creations, the dream of becoming big was still far from them. In an attempt to better their voices, they went to Dr. Ramune for his “amazing” tonics, but as we all know, it didn’t work. And that’s where Jinu came into play.

✮⋆˙ One unfortunate night, both met Jinu outside of a shop. He offered them what they desired the most, a group to succeed, the voices they so desired, all of their dreams granted, just for the price of their soul. Who would be able to pass up on that offer?

✮⋆˙ And that’s how things came to be. Now with a group, a fame so vast they got everything they wanted, what else was there for him to want? Well, it seemed that he had forgotten a tiny detail.. the mother which he had worked so hard for, who never heard from him again.

Mystery Saja (Eun-Seong)

✮⋆˙ once again with the names and the meanings, hopefully you aren’t getting too tired of them lmfao. Eunseong can be roughly translated to many great;abundant, flourishing. Eun meaning kindness, mercy, or silver. It can also refer to grace, favor, or gratitude. And Seong meaning success, accomplishment, or flourishing. It can also be interpreted as sincere, honest, or true. All of these names are just things I believe are fitting to their character.

✮⋆˙ Alike Minjoon, Eunseong was also a human up until recently, matter of fact, he knew Minjoon personally, as he was his only friend throughout school.

✮⋆˙ He was born into a wealthy family, a very detached one at that. Family dinners were usually spent silent, or talking about the successes/faults of their family or company. This type of family style caused him to grow rather quiet, he hated big crowds, as they were nothing other than means to gain status, so he didn’t really socialize much with others in school. Most of his thoughts and feelings were written down on notebooks, and those words slowly developed into poems, poems that eventually turned into lyrics.

✮⋆˙ As his love for music grew, so did his feeling of isolation. He knew he couldn’t talk about this with his family, as a career as an idol was seen as taboo. He had so many ways to earn a living and get rich, and he decided to do that? His father would never allow it. Not only that, but the kids at his school who said they wanted to follow such dreams were just.. idiots. None of them cared for anything other than singing already made songs, doing the same as every other group out there did, they wanted fame and money without working hard for it.

✮⋆˙ That was up until he met Minjoon. It was by accident really, he just heard a song coming out from one of the classrooms and he decided to snoop, only to find him dancing in there. From then on, their relationship grew.

✮⋆˙ Minjoon was unlike anyone he had met before, he didn’t mind his quiet nature, matter of fact, he sort of loved it. While Eunseong stayed quiet and wrote, he would yap his ear off, even offering some advice about the lyrics while beginning to create his own choreography to it. He was.. odd, but he didn’t mind, after all, when was the last time he had this much fun with someone else?

✮⋆˙ Eventually, as they grew up, he opened up about his wishes to become an idol to his family, and just as expected, they didn’t react well to the news. Considering they were well out of high school, his father kicked him out of their home, putting the ultimatum to not come back unless he rethinks his life choices.

✮⋆˙ This wasn’t much of a problem, as he had saved up enough of his allowance to get an apartment, and after telling Minjoon after the whole ordeal, they both worked together to rent a place of their own, beginning to work hard to accomplish their goals.

✮⋆˙ Despite all the effort they put into their videos, it seemed to not be amounting to anything. They had a few debuts, and a small following of fans, but no matter what they did, they weren’t accomplishing what they truly wanted. This made him slowly start to loose hope, seriously reconsidering his fathers offer, however, Minjoo wasn’t giving up so easily.

✮⋆˙ Tonics, some sort of witchcraft, doing crazy dares, whatever crazy idea his partner came up with, he would follow. Did he truly think they would work? No, but seeing him so determined to not let their dream die out made him share the sentiment. That was up until they found this.. guy?.

✮⋆˙ Jinu, a self proclaimed demon who told them he would make their dreams come true all in exchange of his soul. It seemed shady as hell, and he was highly against the idea of handing whoever the hell he was anything valuable of theirs, he was going to decline, tell this man to fuck off, yet, seeing the desperation in Minjoon’s face, he couldn’t bring himself to. In the end, they both agreed.

✮⋆˙ And that’s how things came to be. They succeeded in their dreams, gaining the title of idols, their hard work finally paying off, yet, in the process, they seemingly lost themselves.

-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

I had a lot of fun with these, AND ONCE AGAIN, these are all up for interpretation! The Saja boys have no canon names or personalities really, so I’m just making it up on vibes and whimsy. Besides, I will be using these if/when I write about them, so feel free to do so as well!! And if you do, please @ me or lmk because I would love to see what you guys create with them :>

Reblogs are appreciated!

[vergess]

You've probably seen some folks fear-mongering about an "M.I.T. study" that was recently released "proving" that using LLMs causes "cognitive decline."

In fact, I can link you to the very study right now. It's DOI page:

And the study PDF itself, which you can reach by clicking the "view PDF" in the upper right of the DOI page.

So, this is a very scary study that uses a lot of advanced jargon from two fields with fairly little overlap. That makes it a hard read. Which wouldn't be an issue if it were going through peer review. However, it was published to an archival service; it is not a journal and it is not peer reviewed.

The first red flag we all need to consider is that this was not read by other specialized experts in cognition, machine learning, or the overlap between the two fields. It wasn't reviewed by anyone beyond a content moderator making sure it looks "appropriate and topical. Material that contains offensive language, non-scientific content, or is plagiarized may be removed."

So the number one thing to remember, as I critique this study, is that it has had no review. Which forces every reader to do their own review. Which is a problem when you're writing in specialized technical language from two rarely overlapping fields.

So now that we know there was no review and the only oversight came from the authors themselves, let's look at those authors.

Nataliya Kosmyna is a human/computer interfacing expert who specializes in neurotechnology. She is also extremely pro-AI. Make a note of that, it will be important later.

Eugene Hauptmann is an AI developer himself, with a "faith based" AI company he started to build a "technological singularity".

Ye Tong "Tina" Yuan graduated Wellesley last month (May 2025)! First off, congratulations to you, Tina. Well done on getting this much press attention as a fresh Bachelor!!!

Xiao-Hao "Harry" Liao is an expert in UX design. He is also pro-AI, and even develops his own LLM interfaces.

Ashly Vivian Beresnitzky has no other publications or significant online presence I was able to find.

Iris Braunstein is another AI developer and design expert.

The same is true of Pattie Maes.

Are we noticing a pattern here?

We have a lot of computer scientists--dazzlingly advanced experts--who love AI. We also have a stark absence of cognitive scientists of any sort.

This study was not authored by experts in cognition. It also did not use any standard forms of cognitive testing.

That's right! It turns out writing essays with electrodes on for 20 minutes once a month for 4 months isn't "cognitive testing."

Those electrodes measure how many signals different regions of your brain are sending, with relatively low precision. They do not and cannot measure how hard you are thinking or how well you are learning. That is not how that works.

They also graded the essays. Oh wait, no they didn't. An LLM graded the essays.

But they did do n-gram analysis on the essays too! That's where you look for common word groups of different lengths. In fact, n-grams are the underlying mathematics of LLMs! Which is why this batch of LLM scientists decided to use them. And worse, they used them exactly the way you would use them to test an LLM's functionality.

So, let me repeat that in different terms:

A bunch of computer scientists decided to run a cognition study, using only their familiar computer science methodologies, consulting no cognition testing experts, and without actually grading the fucking essays.

They then published their unreviewed gibberish to an archive, where the media picked it up, misread it, and misapplied it.

I say misapplied, because if you look at the selection of experts who wrote the paper, another pattern emerges from their past published works: they are making LLM software in direct competition with chatGPT.

This was an attack ad to try to drive AI loving consumers away from chatGPT and towards their own products.

And then people somehow misunderstood that and went ballistic about how interacting with AI is ~basically brain damage~. A thing the study was not even trying to prove in the first place, and in no way proved by accident either.

[i-nssomniia]

You're moving to his house

Headcanons with boys from Shabbat

Tags: Deviation from the canon, established rs, a little agnst with Vinny

Note: I don't pretend to be 100% in the canon and character of the character. I just wrote situations because I see these boys!

@shintaru @dzvelinaskebiyars @wthphe1n

I think it's going to take a lot of time for you to move in with him. like, first he has to admit all his feelings for you, then he has to win you over and build a serious relationship with you, and then he has to come to the idea of living with you.

and it's definitely going to be a little bit of a surprise. like, you're just sitting at your house when he's sitting in front of you. you're painting his nails and complaining about your landlord who wants to raise the rent. and when he adds 2+2, he'll just say, "We can move in together." you even look up from his hands, - "move in with you?", he nods briefly, pulling his hand back to look at his nails. he said it so casually that you didn't even realize it was serious.

so when he comes to your place the next day with a bunch of empty boxes to pack up your things, you're confused. is he, fuck, serious?

I swear it will be a VERY long time. because he will comment on every single thing you put in the box, - "I've never seen that hoodie of yours", "Why do you have so many dirty pieces of paper in your drawer, are you drawing?", "OH MY GOD THAT'S WHERE MY SERPENT RING WAS!", and so on.

but he won't create chaos in your home. He will arrange the items neatly and properly. he can even sort your clothes based on criteria like, - "she wears this at home, so it goes in that box", "hey, move that bag over so I can put your study shirts in there"

and maybe he'll steal a few things from you that he finds good. a funny-printed hoodie? now it's his hoodie. your old earrings? "Look how good they look on me, sweetheart!"

and then he'll call the movers and maybe Joker to move your stuff to his apartment, without letting you pay a single cent. but he'll put some of your everyday items in his car.

but the most difficult stage is ahead, it's to settle in his apartment. if you can still put your favorite mugs and plates on his kitchen shelves, or your clothes on the shelves next to him, your skincare products will be next to his in the bathroom cabinets, but what about the rest? your cosmetics, books, notebooks, jewelry, and everything else that was on your table in your apartment.

I think he'll move his furniture around a bit to make it comfortable for the two of you, and he'll buy some shelves and a desk for you. But if he has a two-room apartment or more, he'll definitely make space for you. But most of your stuff will be in his room, so just accept it. You'll never sleep in your own room. only him.

Oh, and I think he'll post all these Instagram stories with your photos, videos, and you at his place.

he gets to know his feelings pretty quickly, so if he wants to be with you, it's going to be serious from the start. like, honey, why would he waste time on someone he's not sure about in the long run or who he might not want to be with later on? he might as well find something more fun to do or just sleep.

so the idea of moving in with you comes to him pretty quickly, and it comes even faster if you start visiting each other and staying over at each other's places.

and it's also convenient for him, why spend a lot of time going to your house when he can have you in his own home? so he'll just tell you straight up that he wants to see you in his apartment. you might start making excuses like "it's too early to live together", and stuff like that.

so he'll just keep terrorizing your house. staying over at your place, coming over late at night just so you can't kick him out. At this rate, you'll have his toothbrush, a few of his t-shirts, and a pack of masks in your drawer in the hallway.

and when you get used to it enough, he'll start preparing your things for your departure, and he might not even warn you, - "Have you returned home yet? That's good, your landlord came by, and I told him you'll be moving out by the end of the month"

however, unlike Wooin, he will sort your things in a slightly chaotic way that only he can understand. He might put all your skincare products, your everyday clothes, your laptop, and your bedding in the same box. This is because it will be the first thing you pick up at his place. It might annoy you, but seriously, why? What if your hair shampoo spills on your clothes or laptop? And you can't get another one because he's mixed it with other items, like dishes. Why do you need to get dishes now when he has plates and mugs for both of you at home? later.

but along with that, he's going to throw away some of your things. maybe the old packaging that you had by accident? the pens and pencils, and "are you sure you want to bring this flower into the apartment? aren't I your main flower in life?", and keep a close eye on his hands, because he might throw away a half-finished bottle of your perfume. because I don't think it's that important to him.

but.. "hey, put this bedding air conditioner in that box. what's the difference if it's half empty? it smells sweet, almost like bananas", - you don't understand his logic, you offered to buy him the same air conditioner, but he responded with words about the inflated price. he's confusing you.

so when you arrive at his home (he'll either use Joker and Wooin or call the movers. but most likely Shabbat will take your boxes) he will sort your things himself.

and I think his room will be big enough, because he definitely keeps his bike in it. it's so convenient. and when he's alone at home, he just spends some time on his bike, doing some simple tricks or standing up. it's strange, but it's so comfortable for him.

he puts your things in with his, and he doesn't even give you any other shelves. now your things are his things, and vice versa.

but he still doesn't understand why you need so many creams and shampoos in the bathroom. they don't even smell like bananas. I think he might find something with a banana scent and replace your things with it.

And after you scold him, you will have an evening of skin care, his face is moisturized and buried in the bend of your neck, "you smell like bananas, now you are my banana..."

And I also think he will take photos and videos with you on Instagram. but not in the process of moving, but when you move to him completely

this is where it gets hard. it's not because he was afraid to take the first step towards you or was irresponsible. no. it's about his brothers.

can he put the extra responsibility of them on you? no, no, it's only his job. but here he miscalculated, in addition to taking care of them, he has the duty of earning money and preparing for the race outside the house. so you unconsciously start to take more care of him and his family.

look after his younger brothers when you're free and he's running late, or cook dinner for them? and you also spend a lot of time with his brothers, so it would be so right for you to be in his house.

he might refuse at first.

"don't worry about it, I can feed them myself"

"am I a bad cook, Hajun?"

"no, that's not what I meant, I just-"

"great, then let's make a delicious soup and apple pie for your brothers"

you use a trump card when you say "apple pie". he doesn't know if you're doing it on purpose or not, but he's fascinated by it.

and you can give his brothers pocket money in secret. and when he finds out, just say "I wanted it, especially since you won't let me pay half of the utilities in your house, even though I'm here more than I am at my own house", and make puppy eyes. he'll stop breathing for a few seconds.

so when he comes home late and sees a clean apartment, some food on the stove for him (the biggest portion just for him), his brothers sleeping in their room, and you dozing on the couch because you were waiting for him, his heart melts. he carries you to your shared bed, which smells like the air conditioner you took. and that air purifier with the cinnamon and apple scent? it's too much for him, and he gives in.

so moving in with him is a gradual and natural process. but I think he's more into traditional things, do you remember how he courted you? flowers, soft toys, your favorite sweets. he doesn't consider himself a romantic, but he's so gentle with you, he's willing to do anything for you, I'm not kidding. your whim is his law, and your words are his confession.

and when your belongings start to accumulate in his home, he simply says, "I'll take a few days off to move your things in with me. I want to live with you"

wait a couple of years, when his financial situation will become more stable, his brothers will grow up, and he will start saving for an engagement ring.

After all, moving in with him is just a deposit on your future life with him.

I don't think you'll move in together. With Joker, it's easier, because you're taking some of his responsibility for his brothers, and they're not little kids anymore, so they can be independent due to Joker's frequent absences.

but in the situation with Vinny, or rather his mom. Yes, you can help Vinny take care of her, but let's be honest, it's not easy to take care of a sick person. It's not even about the money or the fact that you're not ready. You could, but it's scary. The further you and Vinny move forward in your relationship, the closer you become to his mom. You could help her with dinner, buy groceries or medicine, or take his mother to the hospital, or secretly put money in their house, making it look like it wasn't you.

"oh? I don't know, Vinny, I think your mom got a bonus at work, so here's the money" or "Vinny was a good employee this month, I saw him put the money there, so I guess he got a bonus."

play your words correctly so they can't move on your little lie for good. because none of them will accept your money, so be clever.

of course you will have some of your things in his house, and his things will be on the shelves in your apartment (because when his mother is in the hospital, he comes to you. he won't complain or ask for your support, but he will seek your comfort and find your presence reassuring. he just won't say it out loud).

and he's glad that you don't insist on moving in with him, because he won't let you take on the huge responsibility of taking care of his mom. but he secretly wants to live with you, and he really wants to, but he's in so much pain that he can't afford it.

and when he breaks up with you, it's a blow to him. He doesn't throw away your things or give them back to you because he's afraid to look into your eyes and it hurts. He might wear your clothes at home, smelling of you, and put off washing them for a long time. Or that bear headband to wash his face? He might use it occasionally when he misses you too much, but it's still a reminder of you, and it still hurts.

but the most painful thing is to find out that you come to his mother's hospital, bring her food, and talk to her. he doesn't want to know how often you do this, because his heart would be torn to shreds, and he knows it. but one warm smile from his mother is enough to know that you're okay. because she would definitely tell him if something happened to you. it calms him down, but only a little.

and after his mom's surgery, he'll be happy, but it won't be enough. He wants to bring you back to his home, to spend evenings with his family, because you've become his family.

he wants to get you back, to take the first step, but it's just too scary for him. what if you threw all his stuff out of your house? what if you kept coming to the hospital or his races out of pity for him? it's going to take him so long to even ask you to meet with him. and it might be a silly excuse like "you have my jacket at home, can I take it if you haven't thrown it away?". it's so stupid, because it's not the season, because it's been several months since your breakup, and he knows. and God willing, he won't delete this message.

and when you tell him "you can", he takes off almost immediately. You know his personality well enough to know that it's not about the jacket. And of course, you haven't thrown away his belongings, you're still using them.

So, wear that jacket when you meet him.

And he'll pick you up right in it.

And maybe, after his life starts to improve, he'll start hinting at living together.

he wants it, but he doesn't know how to get there yet.

MASTERLIST

[woossexyponytail]

Forbidden Treasure

Seungcheol x reader

Hi everyone!! Long time no see !! I'm back with something a little different I've been wanting to get back in to writing but wanted to do a seventeen one so this is kinda like a trial run see if people like it and hopefully I'll be back to writing more along with adding seventeen and maybe stray kids? I don't know yet, but hopefully, you enjoy it.

So this is inspired by hogwarts legacy. Also, the reader has a panic attack.

•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•

I looked around the common room of the slytherin dorm. It was quiet, too quiet this morning, and that means only one thing Seungkwan was up to something.

Normally, every morning, Seungkwan would be walking next to me, talking my ear off as we'd make our way to the dining hall. But for some reason, he was nowhere to be seen. I shrugged to myself and made my way up to the dining hall for breakfast, wanting to enjoy the peace before he came back.

Walking past the open doors, the dining hall was lively, but thankfully, it wasn't too loud today. I spotted Seungkwan by one of the tables next to Vernon and Dino. My eyebrows raised, not believing all three were up early today.

Walking closer to them, I could overhear their conversion, being so engaged with what they were talking about that they hadn't noticed me walking up to them.

"It's got to be here. We'll find it -"

"Find what?" I asked, looking over their shoulders and seeing some sort of treasure map? Seungkwan and Dino jumped at my voice scrambling to cover the paper on the table, Vernon however just stared up, blinking at me.

"NOTHING!" Dino yelled. The hall got quiet for a second. Everyone looked over at him for yelling, Seungkwan slapped his back, glaring while Vernon tried not to laugh.

"We found a treasure map," Vernon explained, grabbing it from under the other two boys' arms showing me. "Correction one of the ghosts dropped it." Seungkwan added while the other two nodded.

I looked over it, seeing it was a place in the forbidden forest, raising my eyebrows looking between them.

"You can't be serious! It's dangerous out there, and no offence be the three of you aren't really masters of combat. I suggest you put it back where you found it." I said, crossing my arms waiting for their explanation.

"We can handle it! The three of us will be fine." Seungkwan said, folding up the paper and putting it in his robe.

"Giant bugs. Are you sure you can deal with that?" I asked, looking between Vernon and Seungkwan, knowing they hated bugs and almost fainted when they came in first year and saw the creatures here at hogwarts. Vernon swallowed, then looked over at Seungkwan. Looking back over at me, he nodded his head.

"Alright then," I sighed as I got some toast for breakfast, knowing I couldn't convince them anymore of how bad this idea is, the other boys might help but for now its not my problem.

Later in the day, I was in the library with Woozi, Wonwoo, Minghao, and Jun studying for our homework or next owls in Wonwoo and Woozis case. It was quiet, with a few students mumbling over their work. Just then, the door flew open with Seungcheol storming in looking pissed off while Jeonghan and Joshua were giggling behind him.

"Why are you so pissed?" Wonwoo asked as the three sat down with us, Seungcheol sat down next to me he looked up at Wonwoo and sighed mumbling "you don't wanna know" while getting his books out. I turned to Wonwoo, who was across from me as we both shared a look.

After about twenty minutes studying, Hoshi Mingyu and Dk came in running up to our table the excitement on their faces gave me a bad feeling, looking up at them as they stood at the end of the table waiting for our attention Mingyu bouncing on the balls of his feet with a wide grin like an excited puppy.

"Guys, we're going to look for treasure in the forbidden forest. Does anyone wanna come along?" Hoshi said, keeping quiet not to get more attention from other students or worse teachers. The boys all looked up at them, shocked.

"You spoke to Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino this morning, didn't you?" I asked, sighing at the stupid idea again, knowing they didn't think at all since they got those three to help and not the smarter boys.

"Wait, what?!" Seungcheol asked, looking at me, then back at the boys completely shocked by the information he glared at the boys waiting for an explanation.

"You're not going anywhere near there any of you, so don't think about it!" He said, getting angrier by the second. Jeonghan raised a brow, placing his head in his hand, looking at them.

"What kind of treasure are we talking about here?" He asked, ignoring Seungcheol next to him repeating the word no. The boys looked even more excited that they got someone else willing to help.

"Come with us and will show you!" They said as they started walking away and to mine and Seungcheol shock the other boys all packed up to follow, leaving us on our own.

"I guess we should keep an eye on them" I said sighing packing my thing to go and follow but Seungcheol stopped me his hand on my arm as he looked up at me with a pout on his lips.

"Why didn't you say anything to me about this idea?" He asked, looking hurt he had to find out by Hoshi, I blinked at him, not sure what to say as he squeezed my arm, not in an uncomfortable way more for support.

"I just found out this morning and hoped they'd come to their senses," I said, shrugging as Seungcheol took his hand off me and started packing too.

Once we followed them to the top of hogwarts hating, this is how I'm spending my Saturday. we ended up in the middle of the hallway while Seungkwan was smiling at the blank wall.

"Uh Seungkwan... are you ok?" Joshua asked, putting his hand on his shoulder and watching the younger boy.

"Shh," he said, glaring at him to be quiet while we waited completely confused, a door apard out of nowhere.

"What the ... you found the Room of Requirements?" Wonwoo asked, taking off his glasses to rub his eyes in disbelief.

"Yeah, guess hogwarts wants us to find this treasure too," Seungkwan said smugly, opening the doors to find the large room with a table and chairs.

"Well, this is unsettling." I mumbled as I looked over at Seungcheol, seeing him shake his head at the guys as they sat down.

"The map shows that the treasure is hidden here." Seungkwan said, pointing at a cave deep inside the forest.

"You're joking, right? A cave! That's probably filled with dangerous creatures?! Are you mad?!!?" Woozi asked as he shook his head in disapproval.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fine with all fourteen of us going." Dino said, smiling widely at all of us. Seungcheol sighed as he rubbed his head, thinking.

"You can't be seriously thinking about going, right?! I'm not dealing with any Acromantulas!" I said, glaring at Seungcheol while I crossed my arms.

"It would be safer if we all went, come on yn you know they won't stop." Seungcheol said as he started pouting. 'Damn my soft spot for Seungcheol pouting' I thought to myself as I groaned in defeat.

"Fine, but if we see or go near an Acromantula, I'm killing you all!" I said, glaring at them as the boys started leaving the Room of Requirements Seungcheol grabbed my arm.

"Hey, listen, I promise you I will not let you near one of those things you hear me." He looked into my eyes as he said it to reassure me, I only nodded at him.

"Come on, love birds, we don't have all day!" Jeonghan yelled at us, Seungcheol let go of my arm immediately as he started yelling back at Jeonghan, calling him an idiot. I could feel my face blush as I slowly followed them out.

The guys thought it would be a better idea to go in the evening for some stupid reason as we made our way through the forest with our wands out lighting the way, Seungkwan was leading with Wonwoo next to him pointing out the right way.

"Are we there yet? I'm starting to get hungry!" Hoshi said as he rubbed his stomach, Vernon nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, and my legs are starting to hurt!" Woozi said, crossing his arms. "Shouldn't of missed leg day then." Mingyu smirked at Woozi as the older but smaller boy whacked him on the back.

"Guys, we're here!" Seungkwan said, looking back at us eyes wide like he wasn't expecting to find the cave.

"Ok, then we'll go in. Have a quick look around for the treasure, then we're out, ok?" Seungcheol said, giving a pointed look at some of the members. The guys nodded as they started going into the large cave single file.

"Guy?" I said the boys all stopped looking at me as I stared at a sign they missed on the right-hand side.

"Acromantula." I said, looking at the spider sign I stood my ground, not wanting to go in at all . " Y/n"

"No, Cheol, I'm not going in. I refuse no way in hell. I'm going in there!!" I yelled as I went to turn around and walk away. Seungcheol grabbed me, stopping me.

"Y/n, I don't want to leave you out here on your own. There's creatures out here, too, remember, trolls, thornbacks, hell, even a car with a mind of its own." Seungcheol said, reminding me.

"I can handle myself." I said, rolling my eyes at him. None of those creatures freak me out more than Acromantula.

"Ahhh!!" Someone yelled it sounded like Seungkwan, both Seungcheol and I jumped at the scream as we turned to see most of the guys had gone in while Seungcheol and I were arguing.

"Oh, you two have finished your lovers spat? Good seems like they need us." Joshua said as he pointed behind him to where the guys have disappeared to.

All three of us went running in while I was cursing under my breath for them being idiots. The cave was long and winding, not given us enough space to run past each other.

As we finally made our way to a large clearing in the cave, the guys were running around in circles as Acromantulas chased them around, and a huge one was climbing down from the wall.

If I wasn't so scared, I'd be laughing my ass off with the scene playing out in front of me right now.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me!" I yelled as Seungcheol and Joshua jumped in to action to help the others while I stood frozen staring at the large bug making me want to cry and run away.

I started hyperventilating at the scene, not wanting to be here, but I was completely frozen, also feeling guilty if I left my idiotic friends behind.

Just then, my eyes glued on to Vernon as he tripped and fell to the floor as the larger spider walked towards him, Vernon was also completely frozen in spot like me, only he was in the danger zone.

"Vernon, run!!!" Jun yelled as he quickly blocked venom that was spraying at him. Unfortunately, Vernon didn't move, still frozen. At that moment, I felt my legs moving before my brain registered what I was actually doing.

"Y/n!" Seungcheol yelled at me as I ran past him to get closer to the largest Acromantula, grabbing my wand from my pocket I raised up.

"Glacius! diffindo!" I yelled as the spider froze and then was quickly hit by the second spell. The spider turned to me as I jumped and rolled out of the way of the upcoming attack.

"Accio! descendo! glacius! incendio!" I yelled at the spider that was attacking dino, watching as the spider flew away from him to me and bounce on to the floor freeze, then got set on fire. Dino just stared, completely shocked.

I turned around to do the same combo to the larger spider wearing it down as some of the guys helped, and with one last hit, the spider fell to the floor, unmoving.

"Can we leave now?" Hoshi asks as he wiped sweat from his head. we all nodded, agreeing as we panted from exhaustion.

"What about the treasure?" Seungkwan asked everyone froze now, looking around the cave. Seeing a little indent in the wall, we all looked at each other to see if someone would look.

"Fuck the treasure." Seungcheol said as he started walking out grabbing me on the way as we walked out of the cave together.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to me, I glared, pulling myself away from his grip as we made it outside and rushed off ahead.

"You fucked up now" I heard Jeonghan say behind me, I was too pissed off to look to see who he was talking to, I just wanted to get to my dorm room.

__________

It had been two weeks since I really spoke to any of the boys, being too pissed off with them for dragging me into that mess and also almost dying. But slowly, they started showing up with their tail between their legs.

Vernon was the first to apologize and thank me for saving him. Next, it was Jun, Minghao, Wonwoo, and Woozi since as they put it, "we didn't want to go in the first place like you."

Then when we were sitting studying it was jeonghan and Joshua who apologise to everyone for not putting their foot down on how horrible the idea was and lastly it was Seungkwan and dino who full on cried hugging me for being such idiots and not listening in the first place.

Seungcheol was another case entirely he wanted to be alone he was pissed off with himself. At least, that's what jeonghan and Joshua told me.

It wasn't until a few days later that the group was studying again that Seungcheol appeared looking small with his arms behind his back.

"Hey Y/n, I'm really sorry I know I promised to protect you and didn't and I'm truly sorry I really don't know why I thought it was a good idea to leave you alone." Seungcheol rambled as he handed me a chocolate frog, exploding bon bons and some peppermint toads.

"A love offering!." Minghao gasped watching I rolled my eyes at what he said as I grabbed the sweets that Seungcheol gave me I smiled at him with a small thank you as he nodded and turned to walk off.

"Cheol!" I ran after him, he turned as we stood in the hallway. He was pouting his eyes like boba as he stared at me, waiting for me to talk.

"Look, you don't have to apologise you said sorry when we got out of the cave I was just pissed at the time but I'm ok with it now you just wanted to protect everyone that's just who you are." I explained, smiling at him.

"But I wanted to protect you the most, and I didn't. In fact, you protect us more than I did. I am sorry I dragged you in, but I'm glad you were there to save us all." He said I looked down, a little embarrassed Seungcheol stepped closer as he lifted my head with his thumb and finger on my chin.

"You know you looked quite hot kicking spider ass." He smirked as my cheeks flushed red. " Do spiders have asses?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Seungcheol blinked at that, then chuckled.

"I don't fucking know but I know I'm going to kiss you now." He said as he leaned down pressing his lips to mine, my eyes widened but closed the second he leaned closer.

His hand that was on my chin moved to my neck as his other hand grabbed my waist pulling me to his body, he deepened the kiss as I grabbed his shirt pulling him to me as well needing to be close to him.

"Finally!." We heard behind us as we stepped apart, looking to see all the guys there watching us some clapping and some handing out money to jeonghan.

"I told you they'd get together after that little stunt." Jeonghan said, counting the money he got. Some groaned as woonwoo and Woozi just shook their heads and walked back to carry on studying.

"You were betting on us?" Seungcheol asked the others, nodded as Seungcheol grumbled about not being obvious at all while the others laughed.

"Wait, so do spiders have asses though?" Vernon asked, looking confused as Joshua turned him around and pushed him as they walked off together.

Leaving Seungcheol and I alone in the hallway, he smiled down at me and leaned in again for another kiss. "I could get used to this."

"Well, not at the moment. I have to go back to studying." I said, walking back, following the guys.

"What, no fair!." Seungcheol said as he pouted again, following me whining like a baby mumbling how he deserves kisses lots of kisses. I just rolled my eyes but giggled at his antics.

[nyhti]

Just thinking about how much more social Jervis is than Hugo.

Jervis just always seemed far more extroverted than Hugo to me. Like Jervis readily joins other people's capers and all sorts of rogue get-togethers and what not and then there's his never ending quest to have every seat at his tea parties occupied. He clearly wants to be around other people even if other people don't always want to be around him. Hugo on the other hand is no where to be seen in team-up issues. He doesn't really work with others unless he's the one in charge and doesn't hang out with the other rogues casually either.

Hugo does have social needs as well, but to me it seemed like they are met with, like, having two close people (close by his standards, anyway). One of those two slots is always occupied by Bruce and the other is filled in by whoever he has around who's above an average henchman (Magda in Steve Englehart's run with whom he had an actual relationship with and then Dora in Transference, with whom... uuuhhhh... well that was a situation).

But just because he doesn't need much to have his social needs met, doesn't mean he doesn't desperately need them met. When he had no one in Gerry Conway's run what did he do? He build life-like robots that talked to him and laughed at his jokes. Conway's Hugo continues to be one of the saddest Hugos of all time to me. And then when they let Doug Moench write him he uuuuhhhhhhh... when he had no one in Prey, he uuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... in his loneliness he uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Listen, I have many issues with how Doug Moench wrote Hugo, but his desperation for another human's touch was not ooc.

He's also just far more reserved and quiet than Jervis is in general. I recently read Salvation Run again and it was quite fun to compare the two in it. Like first of all they play no part in the story and are barely there at all, but Jervis still pops up here and there to say a few lines, like he's clearly part of this whole thing and feels the need to give his opinion on everything, but Hugo? Hugo says one half a sentence and then we never see him again lmao. Of course that's just the writer not feeling like putting him in scenes, but the way I read it was that he didn't want to take part in anything, just like the way he's always MIA whenever there's some sort of big event with all the rogues.

Idk, Hugo has that delicious dichotomy of how differently he presents himself in a social situation when he's in charge of everything versus when he's not. How dominant and talkative he is when he's the one who holds all the strings, when the people he's interacting with are his henchmen, his monster men, or people he's close with. But then when forced into a social situations where he has no control, he gets quiet and he isolates. He's unironically a little bit shy.

One of the characters of all time, but anyway, what I'm trying to say is that somehow, someway, out of the two of them Jervis is the one to go:

[do-you-like-this-mha-ship]

I'm going to stop posting on here for the time being

Alrighty, now that I've hopefully gotten your attention, I've got some bad news, and some kinda good news maybe?

I wanna first start by saying I'm really really sorry about the inconsistency in posting over the last while. Mental health hasn't been the best lately, to say the least lol. And I know it's likely not a big deal and I apologise a lot for this, but I said I'd be at least relatively consistent, and I have not been at all, and I feel like absolute crap for that :(

Apology out of the way, I am going to stop posting polls here, at least for the next several months, though that may extend much further

The main reason being I am currently working 2 jobs, so I'm working a lot more than I had been, and it was hard enough to keep up then lol. And with all the other things going on in my life rn, unfortunately they take priority over Tumblr. Out of all my blogs, this one is by far the most mentally and emotionally draining to run, so if I have to cut one out, it's gonna be this one

I feel like I've gone through the vast majority of ships here, though, so we had a pretty good run, I'd say

Now, I may come back to this when I have my life somewhat sorted out or at the very least, when I have more time and energy. If that happens, I'll likely do a blog restart of sorts. Nothing is guaranteed, but I'd like to return to this someday!

And I will still continue reblog ship art/fics/other media when I find it, so this blog won't be entirely empty lol

I've finished off the rest of the ship requests in my inbox, and any future ship submissions will be deleted

I will, however, keep my inbox open, just in case anyone has anything important they need to tell me (An unlikely scenario, but not an impossible one)

I've known I had to make this post for over a week, but it still makes me sad to do it lol

(If you want, you could also check out my main, @call-me-chips, I'm much more active there and post mha art sometimes, if you wanna see that)

[biggirlscantcry]

a little tiny drabble thing i did last night when i was craving some cuddles

this is short enough so i thought id post it here and ao3!!!! so u can click the link below or just hang around here for a tiny little sickfic

also thank u to my fav @thenoellebird for being so sweet when i showed you this your encouragement means the world !!!!

**title is from a crane wives song fun fact (thank u @pinefamilycatsau for introducing me to that band)

before you read, pls note the following:

DO NOT TAG AS STANCEST/PROSHIP. IN FACT, PLS DON'T INTERACT AT ALL. YOU WILL BE BLOCKED.

with that out of the way, i give you... this:

——————————————————————————————————

"Steady, Steady"

Stan woke groggily, trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes. His ears still rang with the sounds of whatever he’d been dreaming of— he didn’t quite remember. But it wasn’t a nightmare. There was no familiar pounding heart, no blank spot in his mind where something awful was waiting to remind him of his past. He rubbed at his face and glanced at the clock beside him. Four in the damn morning. 

Wait. Four in the morning— he was supposed to be up! He was supposed to be taking care of— 

Ford. 

He was immediately out of bed, craning his neck to search for his brother, who— Christ. Of course he wasn’t there. 

Hearing a distant, tell-take clanging sound from the kitchen, he followed the source. 

He stumbled through the dark hallway until he felt the floor change beneath his feet, from wood to tile. He felt around on the wall until he found the light switch, and flipped it. 

Ford stood at the counter. More accurately, he hunched over the counter, his face red. Droplets of sweat trickled down his face. He had one lazy hand curled around a coffee mug, but the only actual coffee Stan could see was in a puddle on the counter. He elected to clean it up later— he had a more pressing task at hand.

The minute Ford saw his twin, he made a tiny trill and let the mug roll out of his hands, then broke into a fit of harsh coughs. He pressed tightly against the counter, gripping it with white knuckles. The coughs were nearly gags at this point. Damn it, don’t throw up again. 

Stan was by his side in an instant, rubbing his back. “Ford, what are you doin’ up?” He groaned, running his other hand through his hair. “You’re supposed to be restin’.” 

When the coughs finally subsided, Ford shook his head lazily, blinking in a confused sort of way. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. He snapped it closed and huffed, finally letting out an odd little chirping noise. 

Stan had been trying to stay awake. Since Ford had gone for that unexpected swim in the artic and gotten a nasty case of walking pneumonia, he’d been a little— out of it. And on top of that, he had quite the stomach bug from their last time making port. It was flu season, after all, and they’d been around all those people. 

Stan had stayed awake for almost three uninterrupted days taking care of him, only taking tiny, at most hour long, naps. His days had consisted of making soup, taking temperatures, cleaning out soiled buckets, and running cold packs to his feverish brother. 

“C’mon, let’s get you back to bed.” He took his brother’s hand and Ford immediately slumped into him, a tiny little trill escaping him. 

“Mmgh—” Whatever he was trying to say, he couldn’t finish. He was wracked by another bout of coughing, and he doubled over. Stan hurried to keep his brother on his feet, holding a hand to his back to steady him. 

Ford gasped, the harsh, wet coughs finally out of his system, and took in a shaky breath. It came out almost more like a whine. 

Together, they took slow, sluggish steps toward the bedroom, with Ford leaning heavily on his brother, pulling at the fabric of Stan’s shirt. 

Stan stared up at the ladder to Ford’s bunk and immediately knew that it was a bad idea. Ford could barely walk without getting dizzy. Instead, Stan laid him down gently in his own bed, opting to keep him on top of the covers— he was already red and sweating and panting, and he was only in a t-shirt and thin pajama pants. 

Stan was about to climb up the ladder when Ford made a miserable whine and reached his arms out, like a child that wanted to be held. 

Stan’s heart melted. “Aw, buddy…” He crawled into bed beside his twin, holding his arms out in invitation. 

Almost immediately, Ford burrowed his head into Stan’s chest, wrapping his arms around him lazily, trilling softly. His breaths were shaky and wet. 

“Don’— f-feel well…” He sniffled miserably and swiped at his nose. 

“Oh, Ford, s’ okay, you’re gonna be just fine.” He wrapped his arms around his brother— tight enough to be secure, but loose enough not to make him even more uncomfortably hot. 

Ford groaned, wiping sluggishly at the sweat on his face. Stan pulled away, thinking he was making the heat worse. But Ford whined louder, pulling Stan back almost aggressively. 

“N-No—” Even in the half word he spoke, Stan could tell how thick and heavy Ford’s voice was— a clear indicator how congested he must feel. He coughed again, his body curling against Stan’s as the fit wracked him with trembling. Stan just stroked his back, making slow, soothing circles with his finger. 

“Mm—” Another nasty cough. “L-Lee—“ A pitiful chirp. Ford eventually gave up and just squirmed again, clinging desperately. His body radiated heat. 

“Don’t try and talk, Si—” Nope. Do not call him that when he’s already loopy. “Ford. You’ll just make that cough worse.” 

Ford whined pitifully, but let his body slump and his eyes flutter closed. 

“You’re alright, just go to sleep. Way too early to be up anyways.” His own exhaustion was taking over. But his brother was safe, and his brother was secure in his arms. It was okay to fall asleep��� Ford was right here, and he wasn’t going anywhere. Ever again. “We’re okay. We’re alright.” 

Ford’s breathing evened out slowly, though it was still raspy and shaking. He made little trills in his sleep, occasionally twitching. After a while, Stan couldn’t be sure how long, Ford began to let out quiet, rumbling purrs. Stan couldn’t see it, but he was quite sure his brother was smiling in his cocoon. He really was just like a cat sometimes. But Stan didn’t mind a bit. He chuckled under his breath and finally let himself relax completely, slumped over the covers. He was so damn tired. 

He felt his consciousness slipping, and looped his hand into his brother’s for safety. 

“G’night, Ford,” he whispered softly. “Sleep tight.”

[torrentialchaos]

so I’ve decided to make a little post for some tips and strategies about Noli for those who want to know how to get better at playing against him

for those who don’t know, yesterday a public server opened up that allowed people to try out Noli before he was officially released. I was one of these people. After playing against him for a bit, I feel like I have enough information to provide some tips on how you might be able to counter against him when he officially comes out.

Your main issue is of course going to be his first passive, hallucinations. If you see like some sort of coin icon appear on your screen, be careful. It means that you have most likely been afflicted with hallucination three and you might start seeing stuff that really isn’t there.

One thing I noticed about the Noli hallucination is that it never seemed to use any of its abilities. It just ran right up to me and attacked me and it almost didn’t seem to attack me until I got a little closer. If you do it that only appears to just be running around and stabbing you. It might mean that it’s just his hallucination chasing you and you’re not in any real danger.

I will put up a little video later on demonstrating how it works for some reason I’m just having trouble posting videos right now

The other thing you gotta worry about is his prankster passive, in which he spawns fake generators in all of the spots that generators do not spawn. There are of course, various ways that you can tell a real one from a fake one, but two of the major tells that I ended up finding were that it might take longer to open it up than normal or the text when going to interact with it will say “fix” instead of “repair.”

Then let’s talk about his active abilities. Void rush to me at least seems like it’s very easy avoided because he does play a sound when charging through and it’s really hard to steer. It’s basically just like guest’s charge.

Nova might be a little harder to avoid, and you also gotta be careful when being near a wall as the void star will also explode when we can contact with a wall.

And observant is of course, the major one you gotta look out for. If you hear a sound start to play get away from the generator as quickly as possible, as Noli might teleport to it. If you’re not prepared, he can take you by surprise and you might find yourself dead within seconds.

That’s all for now! Can’t wait for his official release and good luck out there gamers!

[catscraftsandcommentary]

I spent several summers as a counselor at a girls' summer camp, and YES THIS

Also, please imagine that someone mentions to Vesemir "do you ever do team-building exercises? Where people must help each other in order to complete a task?"

And Vesemir goes "hmmmm" and strokes his chin, and talks to some of the other trainers and maybe a few Cranes, and before long there is a whole new training course which Witchers run with their patrol groups, with all sorts of sneaky traps and such, and new exercises to encourage problem-solving, and trainers happily handicap anyone who consistently takes over a group, because sometimes your leader DOES get hurt and other people need to be able to step up.

Also, bards. I need bards getting in the middle of things and singing silly songs and causing a little harmless chaos, because what else is summer camp FOR?

I am not either of the relevant nonny-mouses, but having just caught up en-masse on your answered asks, as well as read "So That You Can Make Anew", my brain is playing with the combined implications of your answers to Greenestcoat on June 4 about kids at Kaer Morhen, the anon ask on the same day about kids who can't handle the testing potion, the anon ask on June 25 about Maja and her parents, and the anon ask on June 25 about your vague plotbunny about Lambert/Aiden/Milena/Sasha (aka "LAM(b)S", for short) as coparents.

Like, it's been clear policy for years, at least, to only take orphans as prospective Witchers, in order to ensure that they don't retain any loyalty to anyone besides the Wolf. This makes complete sense, given the tenuousness that marked the early days of the Wolflands existence.

But Eskel is right in STYCMA: as an established ruler, the Wolf is in *dire* need of more Witchers. And if the Wolflaw is truly more than a flash-in-the-pan, that need will not diminish any time soon - not "soon" by human standards (years), and not "soon" by Witcher standards (decades) either. This is a need that's here to stay, as long as the Wolflaw is, and that could be *centuries*, if they do it right.

As Michal, Erik, and Nolan explained to Cahir, a Witcher with known family ties outside the Wolf's court - or, even worse, outside the Wolflands - is a liability, plain and simple. Divided loyalty *cannot* be tolerated, with everything it has come to mean to be a Witcher. And so by design, all prospective Witcher Trainees are orphans, with no connections outside Kaer Morhen.

But. I, personally, would posit that there's one profile for a prospective Witcher Trainee whose loyalty would be even more assured than "orphans rescued from awful facilities", and that is: a child whose family (living or dead) has been in service to the Wolf for generations.

Like, the first humans began arriving to swear to the Wolf in 1224-1227. In 1243, where the timeline currently stands, there could well be servants' children who are in their mid-to-late-teens, which means Kaer Morhen could theoretically be only a handful of years from the birth of its first children who will be *second*-generation servants of the Wolf. With the way servants are treated in the Wolflands, I have to believe they'll be raised with full, true, undivided loyalty to the Wolf. Why, then, should they be barred from becoming Witchers?

Semi-relatedly, if LAM(b)S were to end up as a Coparenting Quartet, the opaque nature of Witcher "family structures" (even in the eyes of some Wolflands nobles who don't spend much time at Kaer Morhen, let alone those outside the Wolflands) means that, just to be sure nobody gets offended, the child will essentially be considered the heir to:

Lambert, one of the Wolf's own closest brothers, equivalent in rank to a duke in his own right

Aiden, one of the leading members of the Cat clan, and quite frankly one of the most charismatic Witchers overall, at least a marquess

Milena (formerly of Roggeven), chief Lady-in-Waiting to the Wolf's heir, sister to the Queen Consort of Temeria, and claimed as sister by the Wolf himself

Aleksander (formerly of Velen), one of the Wolf's hand-picked instructors for his Witchers, and who may well end up becoming one of the Wolf's chief diplomats

That child, in other words, will be perceived as *incredibly* high-ranking by anyone and everyone outside the Wolf's Court. Probably the highest-ranked child of Kaer Morhen after Princess Cirilla. And so, in their minds, I have to imagine it would be deeply strange for that child *not* to be "elevated" to the status of Witcher.

(Not to mention that, while I'm sure that child would inherit some degree of Witcher STI from the combination of Aiden's impact on Sasha's genes/Lambert's impact on Milena's genes, Milena's bloodstream during pregnancy, and Milena's milk when the child is nursing; those sources will only be relevant for the first couple years of the child's life. In order to avoid the angst-fest of LAM(b)S being almost-certain to outlive their beloved child, as far as I can tell, that child either has to take a Witcher as lover, or become a Witcher themselves.)

((*Also* not to mention that, while Twice-Grassed Geralt will probably live however long he wants to, and Cirilla's magic means she'll also live a *very* long time, we all know Accidents (and Assassinations) Happen. As things stand now, in my eyes there really isn't anyone who could hold the Wolflands in the long run, if something were to happen to the Wolf and his Cub: Jaskier isn't a Witcher; Eskel *is*, and is the Right Hand to the Wolf as well, but doesn't have the personality to handle being an emperor without it destroying him; Vesemir is too old and weary; Lambert is too much of an ass; and those would be the *best* possibilities. Essentially, where there is a throne, it is always preferable that there be an Heir *and* a Spare. And I think a child of LAM(b)S - who would be the Wolf's nibling, and cousin to Princess Cirilla - would be raised with the right skills and values to handle ruling the Wolflands, if it were necessary. That is, as long as they were a Witcher themselves.)

IDK, I have spent A Lot of time thinking about the long-term sociological ramifications of the establishment of the Wolflands. Which, to be clear, I'm able to do because of the beautiful depth and complexity and detail you've been able to include in your writing of the AWAU, which I love and admire so much. And so this is super long and rambling, and I apologize for blowing up your Ask box. And I wish you all health and happiness, and hope all your plot bunnies cooperate with you soon!

I am delighted that the AWAU provides scope for this level of consideration!

And yes, I suppose a child of the LAMS quartet would be a pretty good Spare for the throne of the Wolflands, if of the proper temperament.

Eligibility to become a Witcher...well, they'd have known cousins in Temeria, which could be a problem. And in Redania, for that matter, since I expect Mikolaj is going to marry and children. But their direct loyalty would absolutely be to Kaer Morhen. So it would be an interesting question.

Thank you for your kind words!

[aliensupastar]

for a show that has a motto of "every second counts", it sure does love to waste my fucking time

why has it taken two whole seasons for carmy and richie to make up? why was carmy not wanting to do restaurants anymore an idea introduced at the beginning of THIS season instead of built up seasons one, two, and three? sure, back in season one there's a mention of his motivations being tied up in wanting to fix his family, but then we see him gain hope for the restaurant at the end of the episode, and then be inspired in season two and determined to challenge himself and his staff in season three (for better or for worse). it just feels like he's doing the same thing again, running from good things in his life, removing himself under the notion that he'll get in the way of good things happening. that's the same thing donna did, removed herself from the bear because she was afraid she'd get in the way of a good thing! and it's not inherently a bad thing for your main character to run into the same issue over and over again, it's called having a fatal flaw! but that doesn't mean your main character can stagnate in the way that carmy does. in season one, carmy progresses, he learns that he hasn't been abandoned by his family and mikey and that he's not a hopeless cause. in season two, he backslides, avoids responsibility and uses claire as an escape and it ultimately leads to him failing his family, and it's devastating to watch. season three should've spent time with him apologising and then reintegrating himself into the function of the restaurant. have him slide back into the mentor role again (for sydney, tina, and marcus), learn how to collaborate with richie so that the front of house and back of house communicate with each other properly, start learning to be there for natalie like she tells him she wants him to in season fucking one. he calls her to apologise for not coming to see the baby and she still ends up comforting him, and SHE still has to bring the baby to HIM.

and carmy is my favourite, so he's the only person i'm talking about here, but the other main characters also have disappointing arcs. i like richie learning how to deal with frank being in his family; it could've happened in one season instead of two. i like sydney's dilemma between shapiro and the bear a lot, it feels like she's the only character that's been really progressing. i like natalie's baby storyline, i think "ice chips" is the best episode of season three... i think francie fak could've stayed a gag instead of having her appear onscreen for the first time and then have her issue with natalie be resolved in one day, with no actual details of what betrayal took place. there is quite literally nothing for nat to do in season four, and sure she can't be at the restaurant considering she's just had a baby, but y'know, mothers are human beings with a lot of interesting things going on, too, and i don't think having a child means nat should be demoted from main character to recurring character (though i get that it's probably tied up in the fact that abby elliott had a baby in real life and couldn't be on set as much).

but, instead of giving its characters or the pace of the show any sort of momentum, the writers devote way, way too much runtime to the fucking Faks. do any of us give a shit about ted fak telling his new girlfriend kelly that he loves her? i'm serious. this show used to be a genuine dramedy, now it's a melodrama that cuts to its family of comedic relief characters fucking around a few times per episode.

i've been a fan of the bear since it premiered, it is without a doubt, my favourite show of all time; there's no other show out there that means this much to me. and i know tons of people hated season three, but i thought its worst crime was being imperfect when the first two seasons were perfect, and i figured if the showrunners/writers could learn from the criticism of season three, then season four could really turn things around and it would come back better than ever.

i realise now that seasons three and four being filmed at the same time was a bad sign. i think there's still hope for season five, it hasn't been filmed or even confirmed yet, and the show has a tendency to switch up its style, but i am beyond disappointed that we've had two dud seasons. this is still my favourite show ever, and i will be writing more carmy fanfiction ASAP, and continuing to hope that season five is better.

p.s.: i very much stand by all my opinions in this post, but i would love to hear other opinions and have discussions about season four/the show in general!

[rainbowsky]

Hello, I hope you're doing well!

I was watching a video from a Chinese Turtle (who was originally a Wyb solo) and she said something about how after the "scandal" in 2020, Wyb helped Xz get endorsement, and that when they bought products that they thought Wyb endorsed they'd receive some Xz merch with it as well

This is my first time hearing about it and was wondering if you had any information about that?

Hi meyjustscrolling,

I am doing well, thanks! Hope you are well too. 😊

These sorts of rumors were swirling around a lot around the time of 2/27, and they were very controversial and caused a lot of fan wars. I personally don't think it's something we should be treating as candy at all.

The idea that GG would need DD to save his career understandably pissed off GG's fans. It's an insult to GG, and it only added salt to the wounds for GG's fans, and massively stoked their anger and criticism of DD for 'not speaking up' in support of GG at that time* - which in turn led to cyberbullying attacks on DD, and likely is the root source of a lot of the virulent hatred between their two fandoms to this day.

*I have a whole post about that here.

Some of the similar rumors that were circulating among turtles were that DD was supporting GG financially during that time, that he set GG up with opportunities and allies, and various other (in my view, pretty self-serving, poorly thought out and often extremely toxic) CPN. (There were some more believable and sweet fake rumors at the time, too - it wasn't all bad).

Let me be clear on where I stand with all of these sorts of rumors: I don't think there's any value in them, I think they're harmful and in most cases totally false, and I think that this sort of thing doesn't warrant any speculation at all.

2/27 was a tough time, but GG did have allies of his own, he had a huge fanbase that is still with him, he had the sympathy of a large portion of the bystanders and passersby who heard of the situation, he has a very sharp head for business, and he clearly pulled through it stronger than ever. All of that work and effort would have been his own, and speaking about things the way some turtles do only undermines GG's resourcefulness, resilience, patience and hard work.

I think it's likely that DD was a big source of love, support and encouragement, and it's possible that he was able to help GG in more tangible ways, but all of that is completely unknowable and the whole "DD saves the day!" narrative reeks of fan fiction fantasies.

I also think it's unlikely that DD's brands would have touched any of this with a 10-foot pole, nor would his backers and management. His fans wouldn't have tolerated it, and GG would definitely not have allowed it.

Companies and brands are extremely risk averse, and DD's team and endorsement brands would have been working overtime to try to keep his name from being dragged into things. It's extremely unrealistic for people to think his brands would have done any sort of joint promotion to support GG.

More about that in this post.

It's possible that some fans sent merch to people who bought GGDD's endorsement products, but I don't see any planet where a brand would invite scandal onto their own heads by running a promotion like this. It's not how brands operate.

In my view it's massively disrespectful to GG for turtles to treat him like DD's 'kept man' who couldn't get by on his own.

It's not romantic on any level. The people who get excited about takes like this tend to buy heavily into heterosexist and heteronormative ideas about relationships, and try to project toxic het gender role norms onto GG and DD.

GG and DD are two men. Two strong, independent, talented men who have endless capabilities of their own. GG was a professional and an entrepreneur before he entered the entertainment industry. He's more than capable of handling his own career.

We can CPN that they handled some of this together as a couple, but I don't like any implication that DD carried GG through the ordeal.

Of course, it's all unknowable and people are free to come up with their own theories and believe whatever they want, but you asked me and that's my answer.

Related posts:

Why didn’t DD make a public statement about 2/27?

Which of them is more sensitive? - (I talk about fan perceptions about them in this post)

Feminization of GG in the Fandom

Feminization of GG in Fan Fiction

DD being into skateboarding and motorcycles must mean he’s straight, right?

Endorsement brands dropping candy