#Correction: bridges not bringes lol

[in-flvx]

Warming my hands on the bridges I've burned

My first entry into these new @prongsfoot-microfic prompts, with a little moodboard. I took all pictures from Pinterest (Sirius' board and James' board).

[loveselenade]

Madoka 1.5

Since I’m watching PMMM for the first time (with a lot of it spoiled due socmed lol), I figured it’d be fun to write my thoughts so far, 1.5 episodes in. It goes without saying, but don't send me any further spoilers, as this is only fun if I can manage to remain as ignorant as I am now.

Things I knew before hand:

-Kyubey is a bastard.

-It has Shinbo Akiyuki's artistic sensibilities all over it (reason I started watching, tho I'm unclear what exactly his involvement in this is lol). Also, Urobuchi Gen is the main writer for this lol

-Madoka dies.

-Madoka is the paragon of good.

-Lesbian Satan.

-Homura has catholic guilt??

-Someone's backstory involves a brother or something.

-Guns

-Time loop.

-Jewel seeds but evil (this only makes sense if you've watched Nanoha, sorry lol)

-Witches

-Madoka saved a cat

---

--

-

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Illusory motion.

[image id: top view of a monochromatic, distorted staircase that looks like a spiral.]

An upwards climb or a downward spiral? The irregular curving of the stories and the pattern alternance sure makes it look like it's spiraling inward. As our lace curtain lifts so the play can begin, this is our first look at the kind of world that awaits us.

[image id: gif showing a close up to Madoka's legs and then a panoramic top view as she runs through a monochromatic hallway with a chessboard pattern]

I don’t have a lot to say about the witches’ labyrinths yet, but I’m always a sucker for dreamscapes (I loved them dearly in Flip Flappers, where they had the incredible work of Studio Pablo strengthening the storybook look), and I’m assuming the labyrinths symbolize something about the interiority or the difficulties the witch in question faced. I don’t have a lot to go by with the two labyrinths in episode one, but I did love the glimpse of the one we get in the opening sequence. I love the effect that it creates when alternating between panoramic shots or extreme close-ups to Madoka’s legs and back as she runs—respectively making her look too small against this overwhelming set piece or claustrophobically trapped in her impotence. As the camera moves along, there’s a sensation that the different patterns in the floors are moving. Because of the way we perceive depth via ascertaining the apparent parallelism or convergence of lines and value/color contrast, among other things, the pattern alternance in this monochrome set piece creates illusions of either motion or that each row is a step more elevated than the other. It’s a properly trippy place. I enjoy it. The straight white for the lighting and tiles creates an artificial and alienating atmosphere. The uniformity of its looks is disorienting. Is Madoka going the right way?  It’s really a fantastic introduction to the world of Madoka Magica.

The path you must follow has been prepared for you.

[image id: A green, flourescent exit sign is centered in the screen, hanging above a dark path framed by silver chain fence]

Despite the disorienting feeling, Madoka follows mostly straight paths and there's a clearly labeled, correct exit. This brings to mind the predetermined paths present in Revolutionary Girl Utena's imagery.

Additionally, I find the way Madoka’s run is boarded reminiscent to Utena’s chase after Anthy in Adolescence of Utena:

[image id: gif showing a panoramic view of of landscape shwoered in sunset lighting and red, square pillars towering over the space. Utena, looking tiny, runs further into the place.]

[Image id: gif showing a top down view of a long monochromatic corridor with chessboard pattern that Madoka, a mere pink dot in the screen, crosses running. The corridor is right in the middle of the screen and surrounded by different equally black and white mandalas that turn slightly.]

We get panoramic overhead shots emphasizing the disorienting, geometrical maze and the impotence of our heroines' tiny figure against them.

Before reaching their destination, they both cross a stairs-bridges of sorts; Utena, towards the dueling arena where Anthy waits for her to continue the dueling cycle with Utena as champion; Madoka, towards the foyer where she can find her exit to where Homura is struggling against another hopeless, fighting cycle, one which Madoka choses to perpetuate when making a contract with Kyubey…

[Image ids:

The image to the left shows shows a stich of two Adolescence of Utena's screenshots: the one on top showing Utena crossing a bridge; due the top down angle and the inclination of the bridge, the planks on the bridge look like stairwells. The image on the bottom shows Utena crossing the bridge against the creamy, pinkish sunset sky. The bridge railing is shown a black silhoutte in the foreground.

The image to the right is a stich of two monocrohmatic Madoka Magika episode one screenshots: the on the the top shows Madoka crossing a corridor, the foreground is dominated by abstract geometric shapes. The one on the bottom shows Madoka going up an ample stair well, and the surrounding walls have a similar geometric patterning.]

Absolute Reality.

[Image id: Predominantly black and white screenshot showing a dark tree on the foreground and black debri flyaing around. A little to the right of the middle line stands Madoka, with Kyubey sitting on top of some fallen pillar. The subtittles are Madoka's dialogue and read: "Can I really do something to help?"]

The offer that tempts Madoka into a contract is the promise of agency. She can’t stand the reality where there is nothing she can do, thus it's the promise she does actually have power to influence the narrative and help others and stop their suffering what Kyubey dangles in front of her. Madoka feels deeply moved by the pain of others and has a strong empathetic response that makes it very easy for her to be preyed upon by our resident ugly cat here. It’s detrimental to her. Maybe Homura has a point in reversing her wish to be the divine embodiment of Goodness. 

It’s then interesting that she expresses disappointment upon waking up not only in the premiere but in episode 02, as well. Her waking up animation might as well become bank during this introductory arc (I’m betting it does, can’t wait to be wrong). When confronted with the thought the world her senpai Mami introduced to her, one of great danger but also apparently fulfilling and actualizing, Madoka expresses disappointment. Even though she has a happy, easygoing life full of friends and family that love her and that she loves in return, there is something else she is looking for.

Confronting your own humble plainness again.

[Image id: Screenshot of Madoka's room dimly lit. Madoka is drawn towards the bottom left edge, hunching and hugging her huge body plush with a beleagered expression.]

Appearances, facades.

Trained confidence. 

[Image id: Screenshot showing makeup labelled with numbers, as if to indicate the order of steps.]

Following Madoka’s "dream", we learn about her homelife anchored around her interactions with her mother as they talk about the love lives of the people around Madoka, contrasted to Madoka's own assertion that no one has an eye on her. Their whole bathroom conversation could be characterized as "girl talk": they go on about love and the need to maintain an appealing image as means to reach it. I could easily accuse this scene of being sexist (and it did rub me the wrong way initially), but the dialogue is naturalistic enough to paint a trusting, warm bond between mother and daughter; plus the repetition of the make-up motif in the second episode while interspersed with Mami's explanation draws attention to themes of appearance and desire.

A remark that can easily be taken as reinforcing gender essentialism lol

[Image id: Screenshot showing the sinks at the foreground barely visible at the bottom edge, with Madoka and her mother in front of them. Madoka is holding her red ribbons with her left hand hesitantly, while her mother has her hands over her hips, talkig matter-of-factly: "A woman's appearance is the one thing she can't afford to get looked down at."]

The contrast in the way mother and daughter carry themselves is apparent. When Madoka relays her reports about her homeroom teacher's love life, her more experienced mother offers keen observations about the possible state of the relationship. Where Madoka takes things at face value, her mother can see deeper. The same applies to the image they project to the world— where her mother has a set (numbered) method to achieve her ideal image, Madoka fumbles and fusses about her ribbon choice and not being seen as too much. The frame pan showcasing the end result has Madoka standing timidly with her hands folded over her lap and her back reflection shown in three different angles in the background mirrors, as if she's being thoroughly scrutinized. While her mother confidently observes her reflection in the mirror, Madoka shrinks at being observed.

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka in the middle with a dopey and hesitant expression and her arms drawn close. Her reflections are shown in the mirrors in the background.]

I can't say that Madoka’s self-confidence is worryingly low given what we’ve been presented with—while she lacks the self-assurance her mother possesses, she doesn’t seem particularly self-deprecating. While her affirmation that no one looks her way reflects that self-consciousness, Madoka doesn't further put herself down. Instead, it could simply be that she's a teenager only now discovering her identity, what she's comfortable with, what she wants and what place can she carve for herself in this world. Her mother advises her to train the image and behaviors of someone confident as a first step to grow more certain of herself. The scene places emphasis on the process of purposefully building the image you project, which becomes relevant as episode two's layouts play with a reflection motif around talks of desire. 

While thinking back on Kyubey’s proposal of granting them one wish in exchange of risking their lives, Madoka ponders about what she wants. Her waffling contrasts to her mother’s immediate, cutting  response concerning pragmatic concerns from her work life when Madoka echoes the question to her. Although, of course, her mother lacks the whole context that makes the decision heightened, Madoka’s roof talk with Kyubey and Sayaka reinforces that there isn’t anything she wishes for that strongly. Yet. 

Additionally, when Madoka proposes a bigger ambition to her mother (“Wouldn’t you rather become CEO yourself?”), the image her mother projects into the mirror changes drastically into a more fierce and dangerous look, complete with the repetition of her labeled make-up symbol. This ties a connection between the image people project and what they desire. And just like Madoka has a rather inhibited persona, so do her desires appear mild.

This takes us to Mami, their helpful senpai.

A slightly distorted image seen from below the glass table totally screams trustworthy.

[Image ID: Screenshot of Mami drawn in a low angle, showing her sitting with her legs neatly folded under her backside and her hands resting on her lap. Despite the sunset light filtering through the windows, she's very dimly lit. Most of her image, from the waist up, is shown slightly distorted as its filtered through the glass of the table. The table legs curve outwards and frame her the image in a strange way. The subtitles present her offer: "You should see for yourself what it's like to do battle with witches."]

Knowing the spoilers that Homura is trying to save Madoka from death via time loops and preventing her from forming a contract with Kyubey has an interesting effect— that is, it casts suspicion over other characters. Mami is the helpful senpai that shows up in the nick of time to save them from the witch, heals Kyubey, explains the situation to them and even promises to protect them from Homura at school. She also offers to show them the fieldwork so they can make up their mind about whether to become contracted! The earlier, careful portrayal around purposeful appearances and the reflection motif repeating during their talk can’t be coincidence. Clearly, she wants to be seen as someone who’s dependable, and whether this has more sinister implications or is stemming from personal wishes is unclear to me yet. Mami feels more like Kyubey’s sales associate than anything else. “You can come observe” it’s the pitch you give someone unsure whether to join a club so you can lure them further in. She’s encouraging them to take on a responsibility that can have rather grim outcomes, despite her early assertion that magical girls don’t necessarily work together to reap the rewards of fighting witches—a statement that further reinforces the narrative of Homura as an antagonistic force to our young heroines. Mami either is very upstanding and thinks it’s a duty they should take on since they were chosen or there is something deeply fishy going on here.

For all intents and purposes, Mami is a completely separate entity to our young heroines, not unlike Homura. She’s the one who’s a magical girl already, they’re the uninitiated. They sit on the same side of the table, opposite to her. This shot emphasizes their separation through the black leg of that foreground furniture.

There’s clearly a lot we don’t know about her.

[Image id: screenshot showing Mami's living room. There's sunset light still filtering in, but the room is mostly dimly lit. Mami is on the side of the wall, so she's in the shade. They're sitting at the table, Madoka and Sayaka together on the same side and visually opposite to Mami. The black legs of a furniture are shown in the foreground, creating a strong visual barrier between Mami and her juniors.]

Isn’t it just so fun how this reflection shot obscures her face? Like she’s covering it with her hands in sorrow. Seems charged that it coincides with her explanation about witches causing suicide and murder, does she know of someone who was a victim of them? OR better yet, someone who became One?

I know that magical girls become witches in this series, which also poses interesting possibilities…

[Image id: Screenshot showing Mami's lap with her hands resting on top of it as she sits in front of the table. Because of the top angle, the reflection of her face shows dimly on the glass table. Her face overlaps her hands. The subtitles read: Many of the inexplicable suivides and murders that occur..."]

Are my suspicions on Mami’s intentions totally off-mark? I have no idea, but it’s incredibly fun to doubt her  lol

Speaking of despair lore, I usually raise my eyebrow—think it’s full of shit— when there’s worldbuilding that links suicide and violence to supernatural entities; it’s a run-of-the-mill battle shonen explanation, Noragami also uses it with Ayakashi as amalgamation of negative feelings and energy from the people of the places they haunt. Now, this could still work on an allegorical sense of how oppressive environments lead to such emotional outcomes, since most stories don’t engage with the structural causes of such problems… It can be that, or end up attributing a metaphysical cause as the source of all darkness without even so much extending understanding and sympathy to the people who suffer from it. Where does Madoka Magica fall, I wonder…

Blessed fools.

A pained smile framed behind by bars, a surefire sign that someone isn’t totally trapped. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Sakaya's back with her face turned in profile towards the right. She's smiling ambigously and her right hand is holding to the white chain wall that dominates the background against the bright daylight sky. The subtittles read: "Well... Maybe the pair of us are just fools?"]

Given our young heroines lack of direction, ardent ambitions or anguishing desires, Sayaka muses that perhaps the fact they don’t have anything they’d die for is a sign they’re blessed fools. This rings true for Madoka. She’s a happy kid with a supportive family and friends. Despite her longing for something more—her own agency? confidence? Romantic love?—, there doesn’t seem to be anything that is making her actively miserable. Her mild adolescent ennui is not necessarily something pernicious and would’ve likely resolved itself as she experienced and tackled more challenges in her life with the guidance and support of her family. This whole business paints more ill-fated for her (and I mean, I know it is. What a tragedy, hers).

But is this true for Sayaka? This brief shot with its ominous red sky and its bedridden figure shrouded in darkness begs to differ… The fact she feels guilty over being chosen, thinking there’s people who’d make use of a miracle much better than them makes me think it’s rather someone she knows… Is this her motivation to get into Kyubey’s magical girl agency? I don’t have a lot to go by…

[Image ID: Screenshot representing a short-haired person in bed shown facing right . Most of the shapes are represented as black silhouttes, sans the translucent curtains and the ominous red sky framed by the window. The subtittles read "We've been so blessed.."]

Sayaka and homoeroticism.

Welcome back, Shinohara Wakaba. 

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka, Sayaka and their irrelevant friend Hitomi at the park. Sayaka is hugging a slouching Madoka from the back, saying "You must be my bride, Madoka!".]

The Girl Talk in episode one continues as we follow Madoka’s commute to school with her two friends: the blue one, the to-be Magical Girl, Sayaka and this one random girl that I'm surprised it's even there. The banter and physicality to Sayaka and Madoka’s interactions is fun and warm, selling their chemistry as friends. And near the end, Sayaka playfully proclaims Madoka must be with her, which immediately brought to mind Revolutionary Girl Utena’s Shinohara Wakaba's own ambiguous, very physically affectionate date-play with Utena. 

Rather than being a maiden in the sidelines, however, Sayaka is positioned as Madoka’s protector against Homura. Given Homura is fighting to be Madoka’s silent protector herself, this is unbelievably funny to me. When Madoka finds Homura's staring off-putting during P.E., she hides behind Sayaka. When Madoka— with Kyubey in her arms— is alone facing the inscrutable, darkness-shrouded, threatening Homura, the one who shows up to save her is Sayaka. When they're alone within the creepy labyrinth, Sayaka protectively embraces Madoka. When Madoka is worried that Homura might try to attack them at school, Sayaka offers to punch Homura. This antagonistic placing of Madoka's two protectors is hilarious, and I'm curious to see if the dynamic fizzles out as we delve into Sayaka's innermost wishes and struggles or if the tension will boil over into something interesting.

'Get behind me, Madoka! I got the fire extinguisher!' 

Such a hilarious way to break the tension.

[Image id: Screenshot showing Madoka and Sayaka in a dark parking lot, with most of the background shrouded in shadows. Sayaka is holding a fire extinguisher that she's shooting towards the left, and Madoka stands behind her, holding Kyubey.]

Even their sitting order in class positions Madoka behind Sayaka lmao Does Sayaka have a thing for Madoka or just a hero complex? 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Madoka and Sayaka sitting in their classrooom. Sayaka is shown sitting a row in front of Madoka, a column to the left. Madoka is holding Kyubey in her arms. The subtittles read: "If she tries anything on you, I'll punch her lights out!"]

The show acknowledges the homoeroticism between the two in a tongue-in-cheek manner during their commute in episode 2, when their normie friend feels put off by the apparent intimacy of their silent (telepathic) communication:

"You've been staring so intently into each other's eyes… What on earth did you do after I left yesterday?!"

This girl is too homophobic to become a magical girl, smh. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Sayaka, Madoka and their friend Hitomi drawn in profile at the park. Sayaka and Madoka are positioned on the left side of the screen, with a tree in the background subtly serving as visual barrier between Madoka and Sayaka. Madoka is slouched and halfheartedly reaching to Hitomi. Hitomi is positioned on the right side of the screen, with her hand to her heart and running towards the left. Her dialogue reads: "Don't you see that it's a love that can never beeee?!"]

Madoka points out that their normie friend's remarks sound a lot like what Sayaka tells to her on a regular basis, lending credence to my Wakaba comparison lol This gag could simply be an acknowledgement of the charged homoeroticism present in the series, but it still amuses me so far a lot of it has circled around Sayaka and Madoka. 

Akemi Homura

Her soundless, despaired scream as she catches sight of Madoka with Kyubey was so cinematic ❤️

[Image id: gif showing a zoom out of Homura's face as she screams. She's resting on a tree branch that's represented as a black silhouette, with debris floating around represented in the same way.]

Speaking of homoeroticism, it's time to talk about Homura. I actually felt a little sad that I already know about her motivations because she's so incredibly off-putting, I'd have had a lot of fun speculating about the meaning of her actions, the way she's framed and the meticulous way her micro expressions are portrayed. However, it's not like there isn't still some room to have fun reading into them. She enters the picture via the classic transfer student trope. From her introduction alone, she creates an awkward atmosphere with the way the standoffish silence lingers due her laconicism. 

Despite her aloof demeanor, and in pure transfer-student fashion, Homura still stands out both in academics and physical feats (she even breaks the regional high jump record lol!); as such garners the attention of her peers. Nonetheless, she couldn't be more uninterested in them, as the one she can't keep her eyes off is Madoka. Her taciturn, blank-faced and cutting demeanor can paint her staring as downright aggressive. This is further reinforced by being color coded with the darkest values in the cast so far: black and purple are her signature colors, classic villain palette. 

Her conversation with Madoka as she rehashes the "could you show me where the infirmary is" routine is the big standout of hers in episode one —the tropey nature of this encounter makes it very easy to imagine how their first interactions went down the first time—. The low angle that emphasizes her head tilt and the accentuated shadows on her face and body make her look haughty and intimidating.

She's literally staring down Madoka lol Worth noting this same framing is repeated as she warns Madoka in a few minutes, complete with rotating animation for gravitas, contributing to Homura's bad vibes. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura's face and shoulders slightly turned to the right side of the screen. The right side of her face is heavily shadowed and so are her shoulders. She's looking down on the viewer. Her dialogue reads: "May I ask you to accompany me?"]

While one could think that the reason she approached Madoka was to issue her warning, I'm actually not that certain. It could be due the way her anguished reactions to being around Madoka make her look quite erratic as she tortures herself with these distorted echoes of her memories—but I also have to point out the abrupt way she brings the interaction to a halt, stomping and suddenly turning. The way she behaves through the whole interaction feels quite impulsive, which gave me the impression of Homura purposefully trying to recreate the past (whether out of indulgence or to torture herself, I'm not really sure).

It's really fun the way this obscured close-up to her profile hiding her eyes— making it difficult to parse her emotions— paired to how the next highlighted extreme close-ups have her clenching her teeth led credence to the "Homura is a hostile party" narrative. Personally, the timing is what gets me. She reacts deeply upset to the fact Madoka politely yet impersonally addresses her as "Akemi-san" lol This girl was in the trenches. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura's shadowed profile facing left. She is holding her face up, seemingly imperious and her mouth is tightly shut.]

The way the timing makes it seem like she's really pissed at Madoka’s remark that her name is weird + subsequent fumbling is very funny lol I wouldn't say she's not upset from it, but mostly in the "it's painful to be around you" way. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing a extreme close up to Homura's clenched mouth, as she lowers her face. There's heavy shading on the left side of her face and lens flare coming from the right side of her face.]

There's a lot of natural verticals in the panels of their classrooms and the windows they transverse that create visual divisions between the two. I found it particularly noteworthy that while there's a natural sense of distance and awkwardness between the them, Homura is the one who accentuates it and fully brings herself to the other side of the threshold when she suddenly skips forward ahead from Madoka. The idea she's intentionally cultivating a distance between the two is very intriguing and appealing…

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura and Madoka facing left as they walk through the corridor with blue window panes. There's a particular wide vertical division in between Madoka and Homura, placed more or less in the middle of the screen. Homura is on the left side of the screen, but closer to the blue vertical division. Madoka is falling behind, with more white space between her and the middle.]

Their sitting order reinforces this idea, situating Homura all the way to the front, completely out of reach. 

[Image ID: Screenshot showing Homura sitting in the front row, looking back at Madoka's seat.]

They look fully at odds with each other thanks to the high contrast between the bright windows and the shaded frames. The dark values to their visual barriers fully bring out the tension brought by Homura's sudden halt-and-turn as she issues her warning. Homura is framed as thoroughly oppositional to Madoka, and she herself doesn't bother to correct any misunderstandings. It's pretty interesting she's fine with being vilified if it might grant her any slight chance to get what she wants.

[Image ID: screenshot showing Homura and Madoka drawn in a symmetrical composition, separated visually by the regular window panes. Homura is drawn towards the left edge of the screen, facing right and standing imperiously. Madoka is drawn on the right side of the screen, towards the edge as well, slightly slouched and in a timid pose. Subtittles show Madoka's dialogue: "Yes, really! I couldn't lie about that."]

Homura's dead-eyed ominous warning vs Mami's personable, smiling offer of support, fight!  But this is truly why I can't trust Mami lol Should you really be tacitly encouraging them, Yellow Senpai? A cutting warning really seems more befitting here…

[Image ID: Extreme close up to Homura's blank left eye with the right side of her face being heavily shaded. The subtittles read: "Because if you do, you will end up losing all of those things.]  

Odd ends. 

There's a lot of small gestures that really bring out charm to the interactions and feelings, but if I pointed out absolutely everything, I'd never finish this lol 

There's one thing from the Madoka-wakes-up Bank I do want to point out, though: the odd feeling Madoka’s head turn with the hard shading gives me. Now, I know it's a Shaft™ thing, I've watched another TV series directed by Shinbo that was produced there and I've heard of it. But I still find the timing peculiar— after the opening sequence with her running to the rooftop in episode one and the brief recap with Mami's transformation in the second, just before she wakes up. Of course, this reinforces that sense of being at the verge of waking up from an odd dream, which Madoka fully believes, but it can also get a sense of deja vu. Typically, one would assume that Madoka’s run towards the rooftop is a glimpse to an event that will happen later down the line. But given the nature of this being a time loop and Homura's insistence on preventing Madoka’s death via preventing her contract altogether, which it's implied to happen in that sequence, I don't think there isn't any reason to think that it's not something that didn't already happen. If this ends up being the case, I'm curious how that'd affect further loops.

Tell me your secrets, you pink little one. 

[Screenshot showing a extreme close up to Madoka's eyes facing towards the left. Her face is drawn almost facing front, leaning towards the right. There's heavy shading on her face and a black background.]

Expectations for the rest of the introductory arc:

-Second half of episode 2 will end in a cliffhanger that'll destabilize routine while they fight a new witch. 

-Said cliffhanger will involve Mami (I HOPE IT DOES). I'm suspicious of her and hope she does something terrible, but I think it's equally, if not more, likely that something terrible happens to Her lol

-🤷🏻‍♂️

Hmm that's it. I'm not very good at imagining scenarios lol 

I'm also half-expecting to be wrong about nothing making Madoka miserable, mostly because I've been obsessing over Takamachi Nanoha, another seemingly well-loved, normal kid who turned out to have Important Baggage lol

[skania]

Some OnK Chapter 131 Thoughts

And by "OnK" thoughts, I predictably mean "Akane and AquaKane" thoughts lol

Once again, Akane is the one correcting surface-level statements and showing insight into Aqua (and even Ruby!).

I've been wondering how Aka would have Akane and Aqua interact after Chapter 116. I'm actually surprised that they were so at ease with each other during this chapter, it's like they overcame a hurdle in Chapter 116.

Akane knows where Aqua stands, just like Aqua knows where she stands. For Akane in particular, deciding to stop Aqua's plan likely gave her something tangible to hold onto; something practical that she can focus on, a way in which she can make an actual difference. For Aqua, knowing that Akane is planning to stop him told him that she will keep getting involved with him whether he likes it or not.

Of course, since Aqua is always fighting his own nature, he probably likes it in the same measure in which he hates it. Akane burning the bridge with him would be for Akane's own good, and thus what Aqua wants - but there's likely a part of him that is relieved to know that she is still there.

He may not be able to rely on her, but the person who saved him little by little simply by acknowledging him, understanding him and choosing him is still there. She hasn't given up on him.

And it just so happens that Akane is not willing to let Aqua forget that.

I think Akane may have gone there for two reasons. On one hand, she is probably keeping an eye on his every move; she needs to, if she doesn't want to let Aqua catch her by surprise.

On the other hand, Akane likely knew that Aqua would have mixed feelings after meeting Ai's mother.

So I think that by going there, Akane was also hoping to emotionally support Aqua. Just like she promised she would back in Chapter 51.

After all, if Akane wanted to simply watch Aqua, she could've done so without revealing her presence; the same way she managed to follow him all the way there.

But just like Aqua wanted Akane to see him back in Chapter 116, Akane wanted Aqua to know she was there.

The way she throws his stalker tendencies in his face is so funny! Despite the gloomy atmosphere, the two of them instantly fall into a very easy-going back-and-forth and I love that. It's not what I was expecting at all (I love tension), but I'll take it because it's positive that they can joke around about personal traits that anyone else would see as flaws lmao

Plus, good on her for serving Aqua some of his own medicine!

I already mentioned this, but this exchange right here immediately made me think of Chapter 52.

Funnily enough, that Chapter was titled "Boyfriend x Girlfriend" and featured the moment Aqua and Akane truly started playing their parts. And in this chapter, we have Memcho describing Akane's current role in Aqua's life: His ex-girlfriend.

Aqua and Akane have gone through so many stages in the manga, I can hardly keep count. Right now they're in their "Exes" era, yet they're still as entwined as ever lol

And now we get to the part that truly caught my eye. I feel like this interaction can be read in different ways:

There's more to Ayumi Hoshino that meets the eye. Akane knows this but doesn't want Aqua to know, and he can tell but decides to play along.

Akane understands how frustrating it must be to find out that the tragedy that was Ai Hoshino began due to something like this. What's more, she understands how Aqua must feel seeing Ai's mother and knowing that... there's no point in him hating her, because she already hates herself enough for both of them.

The first would fit the Masterminds™ game that these two are supposed to be playing, and as such it would be pretty fun. But we have seen Akane lie to Aqua in the past and she is... kind of very bad at it lol

Maybe she's bringing her S Acting Skill Level to the game this time, and I'd applaud her for doing so if she is. But for the time being, I'm leaning towards the second option:

Akane knew that knowing Ayumi's truth would give Aqua mixed feelings and that he may stay stuck on that, and so she came to help take that burden off his shoulders.

And good thing she did, because as Ichigo put it: Aqua is breaking.

That said, there's something kind of ominous about the way we're shown Ai's mom looking at them in the last panel. I can't decide whether it symbolizes Ai's mom seeing her grandson (the one she thought she had no right to meet) leaving her and her pain behind, accompanied by someone who is obviously a part of his life - as well as Aqua deciding that indeed, Akane is right: there's no point in hating Ai's mom anymore, because she is already living in a hell of her own making.

Or if maybe Ai's mom is hiding something. I seem to remember one of the sidestories mentioning that she even put glass shards in Ai's food once, which kind of sent a very different image of her compared to the regretful woman we saw this chapter lol

Alas, for now I'm going with Option 1 though, because I think there's something really beautiful in the symbolism of Akane coming to pick Aqua up, and the two walking away from that painful memory together so that Aqua doesn't have to wallow in it alone.

Ruby was hoping that Aqua would start to lean on people soon. As it is, he can't lean on anyone - but Akane is still there to guide him home either way, and luckily Aqua let himself accept that much.

[niki-phoria]

a may be a short fic for like jay leaving the house and m/n tried to cook but accidentally burnt it and caught by jay then end up jay helping m/n while he was back hugging m/n hehe

pairing: jay x male!reader (no pronouns used) genre: fluff word count: 678

includes: established relationship, changed this slightly to just jay helping reader learn how to cook, sorry if this is messy i wasn't really sure how to write the actual cooking part lol

a/n: thank you for requesting !! i hope you like it :))

you push your phone onto your bedside table before turning to lay on your side. you softly smile to yourself as you study the boy laying next to you. jay’s messy fringe perfectly frames his face - still damp from the shower he had taken earlier. a thin pair of glasses sits on the bridge of his nose. one of your old t-shirts hangs loosely off of his broad shoulders. 

“you’re doing that thing again,” he murmurs. you silently watch as he sets his phone down before turning to face you. 

“what thing?” you chuckle.

“the puppy dog eyes you only do when you want me to do something for you.”

a gasp of faux offense escapes you. you dramatically roll onto your back, bringing a hand up to cover your heart. “you always assume the worst of me,” you huff.

“okay, okay,” jay laughs. he shifts even closer to you, leaning over your body to look down at you. “i’m sorry, baby. what do you need?”

“i’m hungry. will you help me make dinner? please?”

jay smiles brightly. he leans down to pull you into a sweet peck before he nods. “of course, love. come on.” you intertwine your hands together as you follow him into your kitchen. “what do you want to make?”

“japchae.” he smiles at your enthusiasm, helping you grab a variety of leftover vegetables and meat from the fridge. you set a pot of water to boil on the stove before slowly adding the noodles in to cook for a few minutes. the thin noodles swirl around when you stir them with a large, wooden spoon before putting the lid back onto the pot.

“y/n,” jay’s soft voice catches your attention. a cutting board and knife sit on your countertop near the sink. a variety of vegetables lay surrounding them on the counter. “come here.”

his arms snake around your waist from behind as you move to stand in front of the cutting board. he leans his head down to rest against your shoulder, carefully observing each of your movements. “let me know if you need any help,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss against your shoulder. 

you hum as you reach over to grab an onion. it rolls slightly along the cutting board as you slice a piece of the onion out of the side before peeling the first few layers of skin off. “how do i dice it?” 

“here,” jay smiles, reaching over to put his hands on top of yours. “use your knuckles to guide the knife so you don’t cut yourself.”

you let him maneuver your hands into the correct position before slowly guiding the knife down to hit the plastic cutting board below. you cut the onion into thin slices before turning them so you can cut the slices horizontally. “like that?” you ask.

“that’s perfect,” jay smiles. he slips away from behind you to turn the stove off before draining the water from the pot. he sets a frying pan over the still-heated burner before adding a small drop of oil into the center. the noodles sizzle when they hit the pan.

you use the knife to gather the diced onion between the blade and your hand before dropping them onto the noodles. jay smiles, nodding in approval. “do you want to do the rest while i make the sauce?”

“okay,” you nod. you carefully replicate the movements jay had taught you previously, gliding the blade into bell peppers and tofu until they were cut into small pieces. you’re nearly dancing around the kitchen beside jay as you work in tandem to add each new ingredient into the stir fry. 

“here,” jay pauses, using his chopsticks to fish out a few of the noodles. he holds a hand underneath your chin as he blows on them before raising the food up to your lips. “is it good?”

he chuckles when you perk up at the taste, frantically nodding. “it’s delicious,” you smile. 

jay reaches over to press a kiss against your temple. “that’s because you helped make them.” 

personal note: fics might be coming out as fast/more focused on what i have inspiration to write in the moment for now. i've been stuck in a cycle of dysphoria and depression lately that's really impacted my motivation and my mental health lately as well as just general stress. i hope to start writing more frequently soon but until then thank you for all of the support <33

[lightwise]

TBB S3 E12 Reaction

Alright, this was the last episode that was truly represented in the trailer. I can’t wait to see Hunter kick some Juggernaut butt (why does that sound so bad lol)

- Hemlock wipe that damn smirk off your face

- Again with the shoulder shoves dude

- No why is CX-2 just walking away? We need to follow him and find out who he is!! *low-key screaming in frustration* lol

- I love how Hemlock is so arrogantly confident and uncaring that he comes across as almost respectful in how he takes the time to explain things to other people

- Come on Emerie, you’ve come so far! Don’t keep playing into Hemlock’s hand! You know Omega isn’t safe here and neither are you

- Lol he’s too busy to even wait for the test results. Bitch

- I do wish they had given us Crosshair telling Hunter and Wrecker about Omega. BUT I was very much correct that Hunter would not waste time being angry

- Every time Crosshair says something more about Tantiss it just keeps getting worse and worse 🥺🥺 don’t make that man go back there! Dee’s vocal inflections and the way he talks about Nala Se and Tipoca City is so regretful

- The trust and vulnerability he’s willing to show though with his hand shaking and admitting he doesn’t want to go back he’s so traumatized 😭💔

- No WAY they are bringing back Admiral Rampart! Kudos to those who called that one

- PHEEEE and AZZZZ

- Cross goes from pointing his rifle in Phee’s face to straight up telling her they’re taking her ship 🤣

- Okay, it finally happened. I finally teared up. Phee and Crosshair immediately sass each other, then she drops the fact that she and Tech were close and talked a lot and he TOLD HER ABOUT CROSSHAIR (and in a good light) and we got a BROWN EYES 👁️ 👄 👁️. I was in a puddle on the floor 🥹🥹🥹

- The way she treats all of them like family and helps them and puts her life on the line for them. It is just so satisfying to see her relationship with the Batch continue to develop like this. Truly family to all of them.

- More Andor vibes with this labor camp

- Of course Rampart is still a dramatic bitchy asshole. Prison hasn’t changed him AT ALL (except for the beard. Sorry guys but I’m just not seeing it 😆)

- Aw Wrecker giving Mel a little pat. He’s so sweet

- “Oh relax. I expect you to know a stealth approach when you see one” 🤩🤩 TECH you need to come back and marry this woman RIGHT FREAKING NOW

- Gosh they were so made for each other 😭

- That entire maneuver was insane and incredible

- Hunter’s helmet float 😄 at least one of them was having fun

- As others have pointed out I also really appreciate that they animated Phee with so much aging and tiredness and lines and wrinkles showing on her face. She’s a real woman who’s seen and done a lot of things and she’s incredibly gorgeous and badass and caring and intelligent and she doesn’t need perfect skin or a youthful glow to be completely amazing

- When are we getting the “day in the life of a storm trooper” workplace comedy? I need it Star Wars!

- It’s so good to see the boys working together like this

- The textures and lighting in this episode are just so real looking

- Wow Wrecker really just sucker punched that guy

- And he actually remembers plan 55 😁 so proud of him

- The music when they saunter in 😂 and we got a “how touching” too?!

- Rampart’s face is in the dictionary next to the word offended

- “Hunter, they’re sealing off the bridge!” Hunter: drives faster

- And he was giving Phee a hard time for her flying?? Boy is approaching Evel Knievel levels!!

- I need to see Hunter in a dirt bike rally now 😧

- Pretty sure Hunter is firmly in his Joel Miller Era. He does not care what he has to do or who he has to kill at this point

- “Not exactly a stealth exit boys” such a great line

- “We’re all in this together” sure Rampart sure let’s see how chipper you are about that next episode

- Emerie and Omega’s glances at each other 🥺

- “This is your new home” yeahhh I don’t think so

[honest-moth-of-silver-grove]

I can't wait for the next part of the trio saving werewolf!reader it was so good!

Ask: I can't wait for the next part of the trio saving werewolf!reader it was so good! 

Ask: Hi! Just read part one of what is hopefully a mini-series of the trio x werewolf reader, and I can’t wait to see what happens next. If you like some suggestions on how to continue: maybe part two could be about the Reader learning how to be free, or perhaps the Trio helping reader recover enough to be able to shift back to being a human? Either way, can’t wait to see what else you have planned. Thank you so much!

[Combining the two asks here.]

A/N: My toxic trait? Answering asks for Part 2s of something I wrote over a year ago and then promptly abandoned lol. (To Read Part 1 to refresh your memory, like I had to do, click here [x].)

✥ ✥ ✥

“Do you think they’ll ever be able to turn back?” Sypha asked from where she stood, in one of the many rows of bookshelves lining the Belmont hold. 

Several levels below her, Trevor grunted as he hauled large pieces of shattered support beams to the base of the main staircase. “It’s impressive how sentient they are now, being a were-creature and all.” 

“Yes, but they don’t want to stay a creature for the rest of their lives.” 

“Well, life isn’t always fucking fair,” Trevor cursed, half-out of breath, as he began lugging the large beam up the stairs. 

“I’m fairly certain she knows that,” Alucard intervened, entering the main chamber, having just arrived fresh off the newly built lift he installed. “Speakers see far more suffering than most people, seeing as they believe it is their duty to help the less fortunate.” 

“How’s the lift?” Sypha asked, coming over to the railing. “Does it work? Were the calculations correct?” 

Alucard nodded. “I needed to modify a few measurements, considering the potential excess weight load-”

“We’re not that heavy,” Trevor interrupted. “Or do you plan to start bringing villagers in by the dozen and give tours?” 

Alucard narrowed his eyes at Trevor. “I was considering the repairs that need to be done for all the damage the night creatures inflicted. Unless of course, you’d prefer to drag that thing up yet another hundred feet.” 

Trevor huffed, refusing to show his fatigue. “What? This old thing?” He locked his knees to keep them from buckling. “Can barely feel it.” 

Sypha rolled her eyes. “Could the two of you stop competing for one second?! We’re supposed to be looking for ways to help our friend!” 

Admitting defeat, Trevor dropped the large piece of timber at the next landing. “Sypha, we’ve been at it for months. Every book says the same thing: only the shapeshifter can cause a shift at will. Outside of whoever cursed them with the affliction undoing it themselves. Or killing the shapeshifter and using death magic to alter their form post-mortem, there’s nothing any of us can do.” 

Accepting her friend had a point, Sypha took one of the adjoining bridges, healing toward Trevor as he stopped to catch his breath. 

“I could freeze that beam and toss it out you know,” she gestured to where Alucard currently stood. 

“The last time you did that, we ended up with a giant hole in the ground.” 

“That wasn’t me, that was the night creatures.” 

“But you did break the castle,” Alucard countered. “All of the gears were melted.”

“I did not! I do not break things. I am a Speaker, I fix things!” 

Alucard chuckled, sharing a knowing look with Trevor. For as knowledgeable as she was, she certainly had a hard time admitting when she was wrong. 

“In either case, it will take years to repair, even with my vampiric speed and strength. Dracula engineered those cogs and wheels over several centuries, often hiring the best blacksmiths around.” 

The trio boarded the lift together, Trevor having decided to leave the broken beam behind for another day. 

“They worked here? With him?” Sypha asked. 

“The castle’s forge is quite extensive. And no matter their level of skill, I doubt any local blacksmith’s forge would be large enough to mold such immense gears. They could only manage such creation within the walls of the castle.” 

Trevor scoffed. “Did they know who they were working for?” 

“I’m certain they had suspicions, but I doubt my Fath-, Dracula ever told them the truth.” 

“That’s-” Trevor started.

“Sad,” Sypha finished for him. “To be alone all that time. To not be able to tell anyone who you are.” 

The ingenious pulley system lift finally came to a stop as it became level with the forest ground outside the Belmont hold. 

“Is that why you wish to help them so badly?” Alucard asked, referring to their new werewolf companion. “You feel they’re lonely?” 

“Well they were lonely, back in that cage, in that life,” Sypha reminded her friends, as Alucard locked the lift in place.

“They seem better now,” Trevor remarked, being the first to disembark. “After all, you keep bugging them every day, they’re hardly lonely.” 

Sypha elbowed him, lovingly. “I do not bug them. They enjoy my company.” 

“You keep forgetting Speakers are used to traveling in large groups,” Alucard reminded Belmont, once again, as the trio made their way back toward the entrance of the castle. “It’s shocking how much you've forgotten, the two of you being companions and all.” 

“The three of us being companions,” Sypha placed a reassuring hand on Alucard’s shoulder. 

The dhampir gave a soft smile at the Speaker’s action before averting his eyes. Stepping out of her embrace, he started to ascend the many stone steps at the front of the castle. 

“It’s about time for dinner. Let me see what I can cook up.” 

✥

It had been a few months since the trio and their newfound companion arrived back home at Castlevania. Most of that time was spent with Sypha and Trevor bickering over how best to treat their new friend, while Alucard dedicated his time in between assessing the broken mechanisms of the castle to reading all of the tomes his father had collected on shapeshifting. Unfortunately, all roads pointed in the same direction: it was up to their friend to shift themselves back. 

At the present moment their werewolf friend, or Wynn, as they liked to be called, was resting in one of the many castle bedrooms. Their furry body was sprawled out over the entire length of the mattress, as they lazily tracked falling specks of dust around with their big puppy-dog eyes. 

Despite spending so much time resting, they felt exhausted this evening. It was as if the last few months of recovery meant nothing! 

‘I don’t know why I’m so tired,’ they thought, shifting to curl up in a tighter ball. 

Finally shutting their eyes, they made one final wish before drifting off to sleep, the same wish they had been making every night for god knows how long. 

‘Please let me be human when I wake up, please.’ 

✥

The sun had barely peaked over the horizon. Trevor and Alucard had woken up early to finally start clearing the major debris from the Belmont hold using the newly designed lift. So far Alucard had cleared twelve large beams while Trevor had managed to remove seven. Not that it was a competition or anything. It was at this point that Sypha had come to join them. 

“Well if it isn’t Sleeping Beauty, finally come to grace us humble footmen with her presence,” Trevor ribbed. 

“Nice pile,” Sypha gestured to Trevor’s lesser stack laid out next to Alucard’s. 

Trevor snorted. “Nice comeback.” 

Sypha crossed her arms. “I had a very long night last night. Which was entirely your fault by the way.” 

“My fault?” Trevor guffawed. “No no, I believe that last round was your fault.” 

Alucard, who had been watching amusedly from the sides, chose this moment to step in. “No, she’s right, I recall you were the one enticing us into that last round.” 

“Well, it’s not my fault if- hey,” Trevor suddenly straightened his back, and pointed to something in the distance. “Who’s that?” 

Both Alucard and Sypha turned around to see who Trevor was referring to. Almost immediately, Sypha clasped her hands together happily and began running over to meet this ‘stranger’. 

“Looks like Sypha wasn’t the last one to wake up,” Alucard nudged Trevor to come along. 

“No, but seriously, who the hell is that?” Trevor asked Alucard, keeping his wits about him. 

“You’re joking.” 

“I’ve never seen that person before in my life.” 

“That’s because you’ve never seen them before as a human.” 

Sypha, having finally reached Wynn where they stood, proudly and excitedly in their human form, pulled them in for a big hug. Clasping each other in a tight embrace, the two companion’s eyes began to water. 

“It’s so good to finally see you, my friend!” Sypha laughed, hugging Wynn closer. 

“It’s so good to be seen!” Wynn answered back, clearly overjoyed. 

After a good long moment, Sypha finally let go, turning around to face the boys. “Look who it is!” 

Wynn gave a polite wave, suddenly overcome by shyness under the focus of all three of their friends. “Um, hi? It’s nice to finally meet you.” 

Alucard stuck his hand out for a handshake, which Wynn eagerly accepted. “Likewise.” 

Sensing Trevor’s hesitation, Wynn outstretched their hand to Trevor. 

Shaking his head, Trevor grasped Wynn’s hand and pulled them in for a hug, nearly knocking them off their feet. 

Speechless and touched by Trevor’s gesture, Sypha shot a knowing look at Alucard. 

Despite being their gruff, sarcastic, and sometimes slower friend, Trevor really was like a teddy bear deep, deep underneath that jaded exterior. Sure, very few would ever come to know it unless they were close to him, but that made the trio’s relationship all the more special. And it was a very telling sign that Trevor was able to let his guard down for the sake of their new friend. 

It was as if at that very moment, the trio had become a quartet. And Wynn couldn’t be happier to finally be a part of it. 

[moonlight-tmd]

I absolutely love the au where bee is a con!! if you don't mind, do you have anymore info on it? I'd love to know more on bee's own reputation and conjunx lol!

That is not a thing i expected to pop off. Oh well. This is an old idea i had like few months back that i just remembered. It's not really an AU, more like a continuation from the present.

So for short introduction- Bee is one of the counselors to Megatron, he's more of a "give ideas" guy than the one to make them work. Blitzwing, who he's been dating back on earth, is now his Conjunx and got himself his own fleet of soldiers to command. Basically Elite Guard. Bee is known to be very kind and caring but also merciless and strict when needed. He's either feared or loved among the lower status folks. He was the one that helped Megs work out the laws for the workers since he has experienced it himself. On free cycles he plays video games like always, he hangs out on videocall or in person with Longarm/Shockwave(depending on which the transformer is feeling like that cycle). If he's not doing that or working then he's spending time with Blitzwing in their apartment. They have a knack for watching romcoms from earth on evenings. They love each other very much. <3

Anyway, oh boy- a text wall!

As i said it all happened because the others basically neglected their friendship with him. They ignored or didn't notice when he was genuinely feeling bad or upset. He learned that the Autobot Council basically screwed the 'cons over from Blitzwing when they were dating- he met up with Megatron in secret and discussed few things, Blitzwing was so surprised when he saw him at the 'con base wearing the Decepticon insignia.

And so, Bee had few arguments with his team before he disappeared for good and the 'cons gained advantage after advantage and before they knew it they were arrested in their own base and taken hostage along with Sari. Megatron got the Allspark and won the war and now Cybertron's laws are being reformatted, there are few questionable changes but overall it's not that bad- truth be told but denied, it's actually better than what the Council had going on.

The next thing they know is that they are being de-armed and set free to do their job as repair bots. Sari couldn't bring herself leave them alone so she tagged along. She was about 24 i'd say when they arrive at the construction zone in New Iacon, they overhear the coversation and recognise one of the voices- they couldn't believe when the small dark cybertronian turned to them. It was Bee, his paint was matte black with shiny yellow with orange gradient stripes. His frame was different from the yellow one they knew, his alt mode was a Lamborghini. He had heels like Prowl and his horns were bigger, kind of making his helm look like a V shape. And he had doorwings. To add to it all the Decepticon Elite insignia proudly shined on his chassis and his deep lavender optics matched its color. (think Elite Guard symbol but Decepticon, it's really just to show high-placed status of the one wearing it.)

He was oddly cold to them, even corrected Ratchet when he called him 'kid'- "It's 'Sir' to you, old bot. And so is to everyone else in the facility." The others asked him questions but stopped when Bee ignored the first few and just kept talkign about what they will do here. He led them to their temporary quarters before going off somewhere.

The job would be long to be sure, they were building a space bridge gate from scratch- they had supplies assigned and more of them coming soon promised. In the first few cycles there were no issues, Bee was always on topic and polite, which was weird to see. He seemed cold whenever he spoke with them- which is why when one of the guards started talking crap to Sari for being slow and weak, Bee seemed to materialize out of this air behid the guy. He only said 3 words when the guard looked at him, petrified. "My office. Now." He wasn't angry, he spoke in a cold tone with an uncanny calm expression, optics locked on the big 'con guard. Which maybe made it more scary. He only glanced at Sari breifly before walking away, presumably into his office. What surprised them the most was how scared the guard seemed in that moment, like he just insulted Megatron himself.

It was then another guard spoke up, a femme this time. It was she that told the group that guards that mistreat workers end up without jobs and that Bee is a high ranking advisor to Megatron. And that this place is a future orphanage. Bee was strict but with a kind Spark, a respect well earned. For that and for what he did with some of the laws. They never expected Bee out of all people to be so concerned about the law n stuff. It was odd enough to see him sit by his desk signing datapads in his office.

They knew Bee was raised in an Carequarters(orphanage) with awful staff so knowing Bee was in charge of building and almost running the facility they were working on warmed their Sparks.

On all construction sites, it's bound for accidents to happen- one of the heavy-duty workers dropped a metal pillar from the upper scaffolding and Prowl was about to get hit. But Bee pushed him out of the way, unfortunatelly damaging his stabilizer. He even asked if Prowl was fine before being concerned about himself. Prowl helped him to the medbay and they had a little chat; Prowl didn't expect Bee to do that, he asked few question and Bee straight up scolded him for thinking he would be a tyrant and told him that not all of the 'cons are bad, just rough on the surface.

Then there was an accident where the weakly supported ceiling crashed on one of the constructicons. Bee was speeding down the hallway to the repair crew's quarters- they were just talking about Bee when Ratchet said something that might have been offending- "Ratchet!!" Bee yelled as he bursted thru the door- Before the medic could say something let alone apologize if Bee had some 'someone insulted me' senses, "Accident in the front hall! Medic needed- NOW!" All in a worried but stern tone. It was enough to make him grab his medical kit and rush down the hall after Bee. After that Ratchet was put on Medic duty and didn't have to work with the rest of the repair crew.

When Bee was speaking with Optimus one time he noticed a worker having troubles with lifting some materials they had no issue carrying last cycle. He left Optimus mid-conversation and came up to them to ask if eveything's alright. The big bot did say he was feeling a bit under the weather and Bee send him to get checked out in medbay and that he was off-duty for the rest of the cycle. Then he came back to Optimus and resumed the talk just like nothing happened. It only showed that Bee cared a lot about everyone.

The Bulkhead got the offer to paint the play area since it was finished. Of course for a hefty pay bonus. The play area was in a dome, in the middle stood a bronze statue representing earth's tree with swings hanging and a tunnel thru it. Prowl was also artistic in a way so he also got to paint it- the final result was a beautiful mural of a flowery meadow with a forest all around the room. And the higher you looked, there were clouds, stars and even planets near the glass ceiling. The two deemed the work as a success, seeing Bee with that childish smile again as he looked around with wonder was worth more than any of the sights from the most beautiful galaxies.

The moment the facility was finished, Bee gathered all the workers and gave a speech even Optimus was jealous of- He thanked everyone and said how grateful and happy he is to be building a better future for everyone along with them. Everything was perfect- but then the alarm rang and the Autobot rebellio bursted thru the wall and started taking everything apart. And wouldn't you know, it was the old friend Sentinel who led the pack. He tried to get Optimus to join him before being pulled into a fight with Bee who had a staff similar to the ones the guards had. Sentinel and few others were arrested(again) and the rest of the rebellion fled. Don't worry they got caught by another fleet of soldiers further away from the facility.

But that didn't matter- everything Bee was working hard for was ruined. The beautiful area was a ruin covered in dust and gunpowder. "Bee? Are you o-" "What are you staring at?! Get back to your quarters!" He had snapped before retreating to his office to cry his Spark out. The call to Megatron was hard to make, but it was even harder to answer Blitzwing's call after he was done speaking with the Warlord. They called each other at the end of each cycle, this was the first time Bee didn't answer. And he didn't answer them until Blitz was assigned to go aid him with security and arrived at the place the next cycle. He comforted his hummel as he cried- a small conversation between them happened, which Sari managed to overhear when she was passing by Bee's quarters.

From then on, whenever Bee was present on the construction-again zone Blitzwing was always near. Another worker told them about gossips that they were Conjunxes. Later Sari confirmed when they were speaking in private.

And so the construction works go monitored by a lot of guards and soldiers- few of them seemed to recognize the crew from earth but they never mentioned it- whether that was intentional or an order from Bumblebee they may never know. Blitzwing is there for Bee on every step of the way, and even his old friends had few cases to reassure him.

The carequarters are finally finished and Megatron himself comes thru the newly-built space bridge for the final check-up before grand opening later. Bee is very happy and does compliment his workers- he said how good of a job the repair crew has done right in front of them. Once the grand opening is held and done, Optimus and his crew are about to leave- but not before Bee catches them to talk. "Actually... it's just Bumblebee." He says with a smile when they call him 'sir'. he wishes them safe travel and leaves to get the facility going. Upon entering their ship, they are met with a stack of boxes and a note saying "A bonus for fast work!" signed with a cartoony earth bee doodle. Each of the boxes were signed for different crew members. In the end, Bee hasn't changed much.

Later down the timeline he and the crew regain contact after few of other projects Bee was in charge of. Bee gives them better stuff and gifts and invites them to a grand gala. He and Sari have a proper reunition then, he cannot apologize enough for leaving her like that. There is a happy ending after all.

And that's it. I don't have any more info on this. The well is dry. Feel free to ask about anything else.

Lol, on the side note; this Bee's theme song would be Little Girl Gone by CHINCHILLA. (The "Say that again i didn't quite hear ya" song)

[icy-watch]

And that was season 9!

So, uh, the oni are coming. And no one is prepared for them.

I'm not even really sure what to expect from them. We've really on had interactions with Mystake and Garmadon (assuming he's become one but I think he did????), so two very different people.

They're creatures of destruction, so there's going to be a war. I can imagine the dragons coming back to Ninjago to help out, but not for very long.

I'm thinking with their help, Garmadon will get his powers back.

But this is all I can really guess with the next season. I don't really know what to expect. I saw that season 10 was going to be a shorter season (4 or 5 episodes), so I might be able to finish the season before I got back to work on Wednesday.

Alright! Tomorrow, I'll be going thru the last few days of comments, replies, reblogs, and messages, and starting the next season. SO, until then!

Below the cut are the predictions I got right and wrong.

Correct

Something bad will happen to Harumi at the hands of Garmadon. In advertently, but yes. Something bad DID happen to her. She is now the second character in a series I've seen that's died from on top of a collapsing building.

Garmadon's on a warpath from Harumi dying, and he's going to take it out on Lloyd. That pretty much seemed like a given.

The boys will arrive just in time to save their friends from the Sons of Garmadon. They most certainly did.

Incorrect

The dragon hunters are oni. They were... human? They weren't oni, we can confirm that. But I don't know if they were human.

The dragon hunters will destroy the radio or force the captured nina to communicate with their friends in Ninjago to get out of the First Realm. They did not. In fact, they got it working.

Scar the Skullbreaker will capture the ninja after they get away. Technically, Faith found them first, but she didn't capture them. Jet Jack did, instead.

In their rescue of the others, Cole and Wu will run in to the Firstborne, and one of them will wear the dragon armor. That never happened, lol.

Unless the Iron Baron gets there first or the ninja lead him to the Nest. Yeah, no.

Definitely going to be getting the dragon armor in the next episode. I said this for MULTIPLE episodes.

The resistance will use Harumi as a bargaining chip to get their friends back. No one even thought of this, and I'm sad.

The Firstborne isn't going to react to Wu too well at first, but then she'll recognize him. She and the other dragons knew right away who he was. They trusted him entirely.

Partially

Cole and Wu will receive help from a dragon friend to rescue the others. The Firstborne did help them, but she wasn't really a friend at that time.

Mystake knows something, and she is almost as old as Wu and Garmadon. She knew a lot of things, but she was MUCH older than the both of them.

The Iron Baron is going to do something to the newly captured Faith, like sacrifice her to a dragon. He used her as bait to bring out the ninja.

The final battle is going to be between Wu and Lloyd vs. Garmadon. It started off that way, but Wu got knocked to the side and helped the others bring down the Biggest Boy. So, the final battle was between Lloyd and Garmadon.

Unconfirmed

Wu or Lloyd will bridge a gap between the dragons and the oni. I'm not so sure of this one anymore, but it's unconfirmed this season.

[godsfavdarling]

TTPD

pls enjoy my notes that bring absolutely nothing to the conversation. I am extremely overwhelmed.

1. Fortnight - LOL SHES SO REAL! 2. The Tortured Poets Department - okay matty healy. hate the charlie line. 3. My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys - fav so far!! 4. Down Bad - love it!!! 5. So Long, London - oh my fucking god. jesus christ. 6. But Daddy I Love Him - SHE JUST KEPT GOING. im not sure whats going on in this one. 7. Fresh Out the Slammer - the poems line!!!! the slammer being the relationship????!!!! 8. Florida!!! - THIS IS MY SONG! Florence sang soooo much!!!! As she should!!! Thats my girl!!!! Im so happy!!!!!! 9. Guilty as Sin? - the holy line?????!!!  the whole bridge????!!! 10. Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? - i was clutching my pearls omg?? 11. I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can) - love it!! (this one about matty too?) 12. Loml - jesus christ. 13. I Can Do It With a Broken Heart - OH MY GOD??? 14. The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived - it's never good when we are starting with a breath. 15. The Alchemy - too many sport references. stop it. 16. Clara Bow - iconic already. 17. The Black Dog - i love that one! jumpscare! 18. Imgonnagetyouback - cute!!! 19. the albatross - love it!!!! fav for sure!! 20. chloe or sam or sophia or marcus -  this was really fucked up. 21. How did it end? - this second half of this album is giving folkevermore and i'm absolutely living!!!!!! 22. so high school - this one is sooo cute!!!! i love it! (not gta mention) 23. I Hate It Here - FAV FOR SURE!!!!!!! 24. ThanK you aIMEE - crazy 25. I Look in People's Windows - love it! i have nothing to say i'm overwhelmed 26. the prophecy - omg?????????? did she read my diary or what? 27. Cassandra - i can't stop thinking how Florence has a song called Cassandra and Florence is on this album and ??? It's just weird. What is happening? 28. Peter - I have questions. it's pretty tho! 29. the bolter - ???? idk anymore help me 30. robin - cute! 31. the manuscript - is this about atw10??????

overall i predicted few weeks ago that this is gonna be my fav taylor album ever and i was correct!!! i love it! can't wait to listen to it for the rest of my life!

[lenievi]

I understand that this might not be what others think, but this is where I am now:

humanity evolved, went to space, Spock was born, Spock started Vulcan-Romulan unification

for Spock to be able to do that, The Eugenics wars needed to happen, because the technological progress was important for space travel

now, in the future, some Romulans didn’t like the unification, didn’t like that Kirk stopped the war between the Romulans and the Federation a few times. So time travel they did

nothing too obvious, just blowing up bridges, labs (they might not even be time-travelling Romulans, just current time Romulans who were ordered to go there because a time traveler told the Praetor, or something) [There were no Romulans hindering humanity’s progress in the TOS timeline imho] and hindering the progress

now, Sera, the Romulan, did not like the slow progress. She travelled back in time, to the 1990s, but those times were already changed by other Romulans. 

But the universe wants stuff in order - and those are: the existence of Khan, Eugenics wars, Kirk in charge of the Enterprise at a precise time in history, Spock alive and in a position where he can start Vulcan-Romulan unification (when these don’t exist, Federation and the Romulans enter the war and that isn’t supposed to happen)

in current SNW timeline, there was no Khan born from selective breeding and ruling a part of Earth in the 1990s (and La’an doesn’t exist in the original TOS timeline). Someone stopped that. In 2020s, a boy named Khan exists, who might be genetically engineered as an embryo (and La’an is his descendant).

and the universe will push so that between 2265-70, Kirk is in command of the Enterprise. So Spock stays alive. Whenever something happens to change that, it will be corrected, but it will bring changes. 

snw1 finale was also affected by that. That’s why the old Romulan was missing. That’s why the Romulan fleet was so close. There was an opportunity in that skirmish, and Romulans were right. They could go to war.

TOS happened in the way it happened. It exists, or perhaps it’s a timeline that ceased to exist. We had the privilege to watch it unfold, but it won’t ever happen again, no matter how many prequels we’ll be able to watch. The characters will arrive at the same destination, but the paths might be altered; they will be slightly different people because they went through slightly different experiences.

When Nero and Spock travelled back in time, they already came into a different timeline. Where Khan’s history was different from the one in Space Seed. Nero just changed the course of some characters, but they aligned themselves. They all ended up on the Enterprise, after some pushes.

like idk maybe I’m reaching, but it works really well for me (but I also don’t watch any other Trek shows, only those TOS related. I just like that SNW gave me the ability to see SNW and TOS in this way, and it is a valid reading.

And it could make SNW so much better because they don’t need to line up everything 100% with TOS, just the key factors. I do think one of the showrunners said “storytelling is above canon”  and sure, therefore say that TOS is a different timeline and you can do anything you want. It isn’t that hard. People will then stop arguing and nitpicking, instead of just guessing and having two groups argue.

(kinda funny how my addition to this silly thought post kinda became canon-ish)

(I mean it won’t really change anything in the way I talk about TOS or SNW, but I like the idea. And I might stop nitpicking lol)

[silversiren1101]

Stuck in a writing rut again so just going to stop feeling shame on working with so many WIPs since context switching actually helps me in this regard!

Enjoy some Hellknight bureaucracy (lol) from the pre-canon Mino origin fic

The Master of Blades laid down the last page of the report that’d been presented to him approximately one hour ago. His now freed hand pinched at the bridge of his nose as he worked through the details once again. It’d been thorough enough, consisting of several dozen pages despite the short turnaround time and necessary speed of the investigation. He had a much clearer understanding of the situation now, but, still, there was one lingering mystery pressing on his mind. One that his pride and conscience would not allow him to go unanswered.

“Well, bring her here”, Jaisade’s voice was gruff as he exhaled the words more than spoke them. The hour was late. He was exhausted. This situation had thrown the usually well-oiled operations of his men, especially given the war still raging around them, into just-barely tolerable delay, and it was only through burning the midnight oil that things hadn’t become completely derailed. 

But this could not wait until the morning. Time was of the essence.

Not his, at least. 

The knight standing before his desk, features dark and pale skin typical of a Chelaxian, tilted his chin at the order. Maralictor Strawn shifted his grip where his hands dutifully clasped behind his back, the motion betrayed by the subtle sound of armor clinking, and his expression took on an air of mild confusion. Whether out of deference to the chain of command or some innate aversion to questioning orders, however, the younger knight did not immediately speak up.

Jaisade felt a twinge of annoyance. It was too late for this. 

“You have your orders.” He stared pointedly at Strawn, voice perhaps sharper than usual on account of his exhaustion. “Unless you object, Maralictor?”

Strawn shifted again. His balance bounced from foot to foot as if his thoughts themselves had weight as he  assessed whether they were worth speaking aloud. A nod ultimately preceded his decision.

“Sir, would it not be more prudent to speak to her within her cell?”

“‘Prudent’?”, Jaisade repeated the word back, enunciating to show exactly what he thought of the implication. “By your own report you’ve concluded that she is not a criminal in this situation. Do you think her a danger even so? Or that she will attempt anything once freed?” 

Strawn, to his credit, remained resolute as the questioning took a sudden turn towards interrogation. He would go far in their ranks, so long the war didn’t lead to a premature end like with so many other promising young officers.

“No, I do not, Sir. If only for the current physical state she is in.”

The ghoul fever, Jaisade caught the implication. Even if she were to succumb the very instant she was brought here, it would kill her first. She’d rise again not until the next night.

“All the more reason for expedience, then, of which I hope you see the importance of. As for your objection, you have written, expressly—”, Jaisad looked down at the documents before him and pointedly read about the closing remarks on the cover. “—’conclude the survivor’s story is legitimate’.”

He then laid the paper back down with a finality, and stared at Strawn yet again, the annoyance palpable in his tired features though he could not see them himself. “There is no declaration of any wrongdoing, proven or suspected, anywhere in your assessment of the investigation and this woman at the center of it. This is correct?”

“It is, Sir.” 

A look of something like recognition settled into those dark eyes. Strawn had misstepped. His report said she wasn’t a danger. His objection suggested otherwise. When challenged, he backed down, deferring to his report. It was a contradiction that could have been lethal had the woman in question actually been of any threat and his report passed off to other knights, believing her to be safe to handle.

Jaisade knew it was only because he was paying heed to protocol that he suggested the questioning continue in her cell. Still, the lesson was there, and prudence was still apt in meaning. There was a time in place for blindly following protocol and abiding by common sense.

“Then…”, Jaisade exhaled, “trusting your report, which I choose to do so: this woman is not guilty, is not a danger, and thus no longer needs to be detained.”

It was not a question as much as it actually was, and Maralictor nodded in both understanding and affirmation.

“I rescind my objection, Sir.” 

“Very well. Now, I would speak with this woman as I would any other petitioning civilian. Bring her here.”

Strawn saluted in response, issuing a well-practiced, “Yes, Sir”, in perfect tandem to his motions. A sharp nod served as Jaisade’s acknowledgement and subsequent dismissal, to which the younger knight wasted no time in departing the room to fulfill his orders.

The door to Master of Blade’s office closed with a rattle—that damned rattle—but, this time, Jaisade hardly paid it any mind. His thoughts were too preoccupied, heavily weighed by the contents of the report that had been previously neatly assembled on his desk, now lightly scattered as he’d used the pages to stress his point.

More specifically, his thoughts were on the survivor. His weary eyes, grey as the hairs beginning to silver despite not even having reached forty years yet, scanned the report’s cover page for what must be the dozenth time.

[acrossthestage]

Ideal Cut in Manila

Date: September 29, 2018 | Venue: Mall of Asia Arena

Ideal Cut happened during my freshman year and it was an ultimate life savior amidst the chaos of college. Looking back at it now, it was so eventful before the concert even started. First, PULP tweeted a picture of our queue during the ticketing and you could literally see me in it. It's not that crazy, but it kinda was to me lol I remember laughing about it when I saw their tweet.

Second, I literally had an exam on the day of the concert. Normally, I wouldn't mind skipping class just for a day, but that was an exam and I didn't want to compromise my grades (we don't do that here!) so I still had to go to school before the concert. Fortunately, it was just a minor subject and our professor allowed us to go as soon as we finished our test, so I was able to leave by 11:41 AM.

Third, it was during Ideal Cut when I first bought my fansite merch. It's a Dino slogan set by Enchanted!!! It was my first time meeting a fansite and I remember dm-ing them for the meetup because I got there pretty late. She was nice though, and I absolutely loved the slogan set.

Fourth, this is the crazy one. There was a giveaway happening in the lobby of MOA Arena when I got inside, I can't remember which sponsor it was but it may have been PLDT. They were giving away posters and even send-off passes. Unfortunately, during the questions for the send-off prize, I was like at the back of the crowd so I couldn't tell my answers to the MC. The questions were TOO EASY that anyone could answer them, I don't think it's send-off material at all!! Anyways, when I realized just how big the prize is and how easy it would be for me to get it, I decided to go a little bit further in front of the crowd, just enough for the MC to notice me. But too bad he decided to lower down the prize by then and started giving away posters instead of the send-off pass. He asked what year Jihoon had his wisdom tooth taken out and none of the Carats tried to answer for a good 10-20 seconds lol. I was a bit hesitant to answer, although I was pretty confident the answer is 2013. Of course, I still answered it and I was correct, so I ended up winning a poster. But I swear, no matter how you look at it, that was definitely a send-off question. I should have won a send-off pass and I'm not moving on from it. 😭

Ideal Cut had one of the best setlists ever, but I was definitely blown away by Run To You, Thinkin' About You, Pretty U, and Oh My! the most.

I remember going crazy about the couch at Pretty U because they didn't have it when they first performed it at Diamond Edge. That couch is like the highlight of the stage and your Carat experience is not complete until you've seen it in person. I'm glad I did.

Run To You is one of my favorite SVT songs and hearing it live for the first time was so magical. I always sing along with every performance, but if I remember correctly, I stopped singing when RTY's bridge came on because I wanted to indulge Jihoon and Seungkwan's parts. Oh, what I would do to have the general Filipino public hear it live too...

To end this log, here's a facebook post from September 30, 2018:

"HAD A GREAT TIME WITH MY BEST BOYS 🎉💖 Sobrang worth it nung ilang months of waiting, ilang months of iponing, and yung one week na pagod sa pag ju-juggle ng subjects para makapag-review for exams. Every time na makakaramdam ako na parang gusto ko nalang matulog because things can get tiring sometimes, iniisip ko nalang "ilang days nalang Ideal Cut na". Nakakapagod but when you have this bunch of amazing artists that would set fire in your heart WITH JUST ONE SIMPLE PERFORMANCE, what kind of pagod can bring you down? Thank you for tonight, my happy pill, my stress reliever, my 3H, my ichiban. You guys did it again! Thanks for another memory that I can always look back on and treasure forever 😊💘 See you again!"

[influenzalake]

Batfam and Superfam + as One-Eyed Doll and Kimberly Freeman songs

shoutout to my favorite band / artists ever, i will never forget yall - lots of love from mythsong

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4w2wxHsHxLp64aXeZ9v1nW?si=NvqYCayTS_C_RqMhlpefxw (one eyed doll ^)

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0nUdXmFNst3mlwjRD5FOcj?si=PQwaENOsTYOCtxAATeKdUQ (kimberly freeman ^)

( i know most of their music has been wiped, but they play eternally in my brain )

- - - 

Bruce: Brief Candle 

*THE CLASSIC* only real ones get it lol jk the context is when you enter a specific area in mythsong to battle chaos lord Kimberly this song plays, thus being one of the first songs one might hear from this band. The "I will die another day" just screamed Bruce to me. 

Alfred: Remember

An instrumental for Alfred. It is a solemn song that holds tunes that carry throughout the album. The song title also holds significance. Alfred is the thread that keeps everything together, using his wisdom to guide others. Remember has a steady rhythm. 

Selina: Fool Me Once

An emotional song, this one is for Selina because of her reluctance to be vulnerable- and what would happen if she did let her guard down and then got stabbed in the back because of it. It is a melancholic tale of trying to learn to love, then being f*cked over because of somebody else's problems. 

Dick: Committed 

I chose this song because of Dick's place in the batfam and vigilantism as a whole. Committed is a song about a girl forced into an asylum and slowly losing herself to it. This reminded me of Dick because of how deep he is into the hero world, especially to the Batman. He does not want to be the Batman, he is unnerved by what it truly means and what he might become of him due to it, yet he is already there whether he acknowledges this or not. During the bridge (i think thats the right song structure) **and in the music video when it cuts from the demon to the angel** gave it away to me. He already is what he swears he "does not" want to be, by different means obviously, but to me- Dick is already committed. 

Starfire: Ponies (Fluffy)

i was thinking about her Teen Titans (2003) depiction when making this choice lol

Jason: Insecure 

This one hits hard for me as Jason's song because it is cynical and sarcastic, like him sometimes. It has painful undertones of "desperately trying to be accepted and if i can't have that- just leave me alone". it is a very "take me as I am or not at all" song and that is Jason's story. 

Roy: Cinderblock 

I chose this song to reflect Roy's difficulties with authority and his mentor(s)*. The lyrics, in my opinion, show how he too struggled as a young person. In this song the main character channels this anger towards their abuser, I see Roy as this song. 

Tim: Mirror Mirror 

I chose this song specifically for the "mirror mirror, what is my gender?" part. In my head this questioning of identity was Tim. also- "I'm not alone. Shadows are me. Reflections of home. Close my eyes to see." Tim know's who he is and where he belongs. Tim knows he can trust his judgement and what he is capable of. Tim is his own worst enemy and the questions he pesters himself with are what brings his downfall. 

Damian: Float Away

I saw this song as Damian's constant struggle to be accepted and recognized. 

"wonder if they'd notice if i disappeared today" 

In Damian's coldest parts of his head he questions his importance and if he has any place, Float Away is about a person who does not feel any self worth and literally wants to "disappear". They think the world would be better off without them and I heard Damian through this song. 

Diana: Army Of Me

This song is if Diana finally snaps. This is what I hear playing when Diana cannot stand the incompetence of man's world anymore."I won't sympathize" "self sufficience, PLEASE" "if you complain once more, You'll get an army of me" "You're on your own now, we won't save you"  trying to correct man's world is a lot of work, Diana sings this to keep her going

Clark: Destiny 

This masterpiece is about holding on to hope for the future, even if the present cannot be saved. 

Lois: Rust

I see this as Lois trying to relate to Clark. So close yet so far. A lot of people talk about how Clark must feel being stuck in a world of humans but nobody talks about how the humans in HIS life might feel. This song is about a person who is in love, but their love starts to lose feelings- they start to "rust" and how in turn that affects them into "rusting" as well. This song can be Clark and Lois not being able to get past their differences, about having a high and then having a real LOW in love, until they just become "one with the water". 

*runner up was To Love A Soldier

Jon: Sylvia 

A beautiful positive song, about embracing others and the world around. It tells listeners that they are going on a journey, that they are answering a call. I see this as Jon's optimism and a "every day is a new day" attitude he has. 

*runner up was Journey Of Art

Conner: Beautiful Freak 

This is Conner's song because it is a song about unapologetically celebrating your flaws. This is Conner breaking through his doubt and seeking the basic love he deserves. Go Conner. 

"all my life, so lonely, didn't know i was a beautiful freak, To my pleasure, You've shown me, Now I love you, My beautiful freak"

Bizarro: Believe In Me

A sweet but short song, throwback to when that one Outlaws comic pulled a "of mice and men" moment, because thats what i thought when I was choosing a song. Everyone has their assumptions of Bizarro because of what he is and what he's been through but this song is about seeking the one person who you think you can trust because they will believe. 

Garfield: Superstar

"you can party like a rockstar, live like a superstar, you can party like a rockstar, die like a superstar"

I saw this song as Garfield's one identity being his superhero persona. He is a public and open figure and I was thinking about how hard he crashes in the latest Young Justice seasons. He loses everything, he dies like a superstar. 

Raven: Afflicted

This song is about how a community has condemned the singer to torture and death. Either a misunderstanding, mass hysteria, or purposeful cruelty who knows. The song is set in the salem witch trials era so it could be one, two, or all three. I saw Raven as this condemned figure who is never given the chance to defend herself. The singer becomes a puppet to the literal devil and that is also Raven. 

Tara: quite literally: Tara        (somewhere deep in my brain i know for a fact this song was written for / about her Kimberly please confirm) but this one is so self explanatory. If you listen to this song after thinking about Tara's arc in Teen Titans (2003) you'll see it too. 

Harley: Crush 

Listen and you'll understand lmao

[lowtaxsa]

How to Be as Annoying as Humanly Possible

Welcome, dear internet denizens, to the online world - a magical place where sarcasm and mean-spiritedness are as essential as air and water are to our feeble human bodies! I, Lowtax, the Czar of Snark, will guide you on this journey to being the most irritating internet troll the world has ever seen. Buckle up, buttercup, because it's going to be a bumpy, passive-aggressive ride.

Overuse Emojis and Acronyms Like Your Life Depends on It 😂😂😂

Nothing screams "I'm a bumbling Internet Neanderthal" quite like using emojis and acronyms ad nauseam. Hey, who needs the rich tapestry of the English language when you can just use "LOL," "OMG," and "WTF" to express every emotion? Toss in a few emojis to truly drive home your emotional incontinence. 🥳🥳🥳

Adopt a Condescending Tone and ALWAYS Assume You're the Smartest Person in the Room

You know that expression, "When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me"? Well, screw that. In the world of online communication, you're a goddamn genius, and you should make sure everyone else knows it. Be sure to correct people on their grammar, question their intelligence, and generally make it crystal clear that you're doing them a favor by even deigning to speak to them.

Get Real Personal, Real Fast

Nothing unnerves your online adversaries quite like taking a deep dive into their personal lives. Go ahead, stalk their social media profiles, find their embarrassing posts from 2009, and kindly remind them of their awful haircut. Tanya, my delightful partner in crime, has a pro-tip for you: use Google Earth to find their house and then comment on their landscaping choices. "Nice azaleas, but your lawn could use some work" should do the trick.

All Caps, All the Time

Who needs nuance when you can just YELL EVERYTHING AT PEOPLE ALL THE TIME? Using all caps is a fantastic way to convey that you are both incredibly passionate and incredibly obnoxious. It's the digital equivalent of shouting through a megaphone in a library.

Use Memes to Make Your Point (Because Why Not?)

Why express your own thoughts when you can rely on a stale meme to do it for you? The beauty of memes is that they can be as condescending, annoying, or downright offensive as you want them to be. Plus, you'll look super cool and hip, which is obviously your primary concern as a dedicated internet troll. 😎

Never, Ever Admit You're Wrong

Admitting fault is for chumps. In the cutthroat world of online communication, you're never wrong. Even if the other person brings out indisputable evidence proving you incorrect, just double down and shift the goalposts. Remember, you're here to be as irritating as possible, not to learn or grow as a person.

Flood Their Inbox

A classic trolling technique: overwhelm your target with messages until they submit to your superior intellect (or just get fed up and block you). Send them walls of text, one-liners, or a relentless barrage of emojis. If you've got the stamina, you can even engage in some good ol' fashioned copy-pasting. The key is to be as obnoxiously persistent as a telemarketer on speed.

Play Dumb

Oh, this one is a gem, courtesy of my beloved sidekick, Tanya. Feign ignorance like it's your job. Pretend you don't understand basic concepts, ask inane questions, and make your opponent explain everything to you like you're a child. The more exasperated they get, the more satisfaction you'll derive from their misery. It's a win-win situation.

Be as Offensive as Possible (But Don't Forget to Hide Behind "Humor")

Ah, the pièce de résistance of any aspiring troll's arsenal: offensiveness. Be as tasteless, crude, and politically incorrect as you can muster. But remember, always cloak your vile comments in a thin veil of "humor" so you can feign innocence when people get upset. "It's just a joke, man! Can't you take a joke?" is the perfect response to any criticism of your tactless, garbage behavior.

Burn Bridges Like a Pro

So, you've annoyed the living daylights out of everyone you've encountered online? Congratulations! Now, it's time to burn those bridges like a professional arsonist. Sever ties with everyone you've tormented, because who needs friends when you have an ego the size of a cargo airship? Make your dramatic exit by posting a scathing manifesto, and then sit back and revel in your glorious solitude.

And that, my fellow keyboard warriors, is how you become the most obnoxious, infuriating internet troll the digital realm has ever seen. Remember to follow these simple steps, and soon you'll be the bane of every online community you grace with your presence. Happy trolling, my sardonic pupils, and may the snark be with you.

[embarktodenmark22]

June 3rd, 2022

At the start of this morning, everyone met at Norreport station once more, prepared for today’s main event- heading off to Sweden once more, this time for a few hours longer than our first visit. We got on the train pretty effortlessly, with 1 ticket to every 2 people (Train buddies!) and sat back, watching gorgeous scenery pass by and about 5 minutes of ocean as we travelled off the island and across a huge bridge to our destination, Malmo, Sweden. It’s crazy how they didn’t even wind up checking our passports or anything- just right over the border! Wild.

Once we arrived in Sweden, of course, before any design studio visits could happen, our very first objective was food. We walked past a creepy fountain, and down a nice road, and a group of us split off to get food from a Swedish Patisserie. I got the most delicious ham and cheese Croque Monsieur sandwich, a yummy spicy chai latte, and this interesting mix of truffle and cookie flavored like licorice (I cannot fully express how much Scandinavians seem to adore licorice. You literally, in my experience, cannot walk 15 feet in Copenhagen without finding a store with something licorice flavored… and salty licorice… a very acquired taste). The cookie was pretty good, I think I’m adapting to the initial weirdness I had with salty licorice flavored things.

Anyhow, once everyone was fed and ready to go, we headed to today’s first studio, UsTwo. The first impression was amazing, the interior of their space on the first floor had such an eclectic design- two large, brightly-colored murals on the walls, a playhouse for (presumably) employee’s children, an arcade room, a sitting room with nice couches, and just generally entertaining and aesthetically pleasing decor. And a clown horn, for some reason? Anyways, they filed us in, had us sign NDA’s (which restricts what I can talk about in the next few paragraphs, sadly). As we signed the NDAs and put our bags away, the most adorable fluffy dog I’ve ever seen galloped down the stairs and towards the new humans. I got to pet them. Literally such an adorable little critter. I need to focus, though- this is about design, not dogs (lol).

Once everyone had signed, Mick, one of the men who gave us our presentation (the other being Mike) guided us upstairs for a brief tour of their studio. All I have to say is, based on decor and the desks/actual workspaces alone, I would love to work in a studio like this one day. Literally so, so cool. We got shown around, then were lead to the room for the presentation. Waiting for us, with utmost evidence of hospitality, were a selection of plain and chocolate croissants and some sodas, which I gladly snagged. We then settled in, only for Mick to announce that we were to do a fun team-building exercise! I was honestly part scared part excited.

The exercise? Start by drawing your (realistic) superpower- depicting yourself as a superhero with the power that you have and giving it a name. For myself, I drew myself with many arms doing many things, and labeled it “Woman O’ Many Talents.” We were only given 5 minutes to do this, by the way. We were then given smaller sticky notes on which to write our names. We were to bring both big and small sticky note to the board (one with our name, the other with our drawing) and stick them to the wall in separate groups. The next task? In 5 minutes, our entire group had to- in complete silence- match names to drawings. If we disagreed with a placement, we would simply wordlessly move the stickies around ourselves. I’m ashamed to admit, but I was too anxious to participate in this step, really. Then, after 5 minutes, we stepped back and checked who was matched correctly and who not- only 5 people weren’t. We then had a second round for corrections, and placed everyone succesfully. It really was a cool exercise, it highlighted the different ways we knew each other- whether it was that we recognized each other’s “super-powers” (like multitasking, leading groups, designing within grids, etc) or each other’s unique quirks. It showed how close we all have grown as a group. It was an amazing, engaging way to start the process.

Now, not wanting to mess with NDA stuff, I won’t go into any specifics about the UsTwo presentation other than the fact that they are responsible for creating some pretty cool things! They are mostly UX/UI designers, which normally isn’t necessarily my cup of tea, but the kind of projects they discussed having worked on really were exciting and creative. (One being a popular game that I’d heard of, Monument Valley). They, essentially, discussed their design process and philosophies and the ways in which, again, the user is at the deepest core part of their design process at all levels. It was, again, a good reminder that, when designing, it’s not always about your desires as the designer so much as it is about effectiveness and usability for your viewer/user. The presentation also exposed me to the concept of “B-corps,” companies that are dedicated to making a positive impact on the world. In order to continually qualify as a B-corp, UsTwo has to constantly filter out and decline any projects they/B-corp standards deem as having a negative effect on people or on the planet, such as working for clients associated with things like pollution or gambling. As a student designer, one of my biggest points of anxiety has been the implications of potentially designing advertisements or brand collateral for companies that don’t put good out into the world- being stuck with clients that don’t match my own ethical approach to the world and to sustainability. However, realizing now that B corps are a thing, I feel hope that maybe I can find a studio to work with one day that, similarly to UsTwo, falls under this category and actively cares about the impact their work ultimately will have on the world.

I feel like I keep saying this, but it is, again, true- I left yet another studio feeling inspired. Seeing all of these different perspectives about design and creativity- all the different possibilities- back to back has really helped shape my outlook on the future of my desired career path and direction of my work as a creative in general.

But now back to having fun in a foreign city. Because, as much as I love feeling inspired and motivated about my future work, I am human and want to buy nice trinkets and eat yummy food.

Needless to say, we went shopping. We had some time to kill, and checked out this neat design store (Which there seem to be quite a lot of here) that was too expensive for me to get anything, really. But again, it was cool to window-shop within it. Lots of cool things not quite cool enough to turn in to souvenirs or gifts. From there, we popped in to yet another metaphysical store! It’s like the universe wants me to be broke. This one was bigger, and had a wider, more tempting array of books and tarot decks- and lots of fancy jewelry. I resisted temptation as far as tarot and books went, but splurged a little bit on some crystals (they were cut so beautifully here, how could I nottttt). After the metaphysical store, we sort of split off to a couple of different places. I found this store that was basically nerdy heaven. It had merch for basically every nerdy thing you can think of- from things for cat lovers, anime merch, manga, world of Warcraft, Harry Potter, magic the gathering… the list goes on. The sad part? I spent so much time looking that I had no time to buy anything. This place was full of potential souvenirs and I was pulled away from it much too soon. This is because we were going to be running late to our next studio if we didn’t eat soon.

We took off, then, in search of a place to eat near our next destination, Massive Studios (a subset of Ubisoft). I was so excited. In the meantime, we found a Hawaiian Poke place that looked really good, and boy was it! I ordered this bowl with fresh, plump salmon, perfectly cooked black rice, edamame, chili mayo- and so many other yummy ingredients. I, unfortunately, had to chow down pretty quickly so as not to have to have leftovers later, but.. so good! Annoyingly, next to where we ate was an American-themed steakhouse blasting country music. So that ruined the good mood pretty quickly lol.

What ruined the good mood even more? We were not, in fact, dining just across the street from our destination. In actuality, we were easily a 15 minute walk away from Massive, with just about 12 minutes to make it before our 2PM appointment with them. So we booked it. And by we, I mean Beia, Tessa, and Alice. I, however, am literally falling apart at the seams from walking 5-8 miles per day and lagged behind the other three literally the entire walk. My speed walk was really more of a speed limp. I don’t know what’s been wrong- my feet, for the most part, have been feeling alright after the first few solid days of raging pain. Now, I have weird tingles shooting up my back every time I twist a certain way, and my leg near my bottom just gives me a sharp shooting muscle-level pain every time I shift my weight on my legs (for example, as one does when one walks). Anywho, we made it just on time, but suffice it to say I was not doing well after hobbling along in misery and wanted to do nothing more than to sit.

As we reached Massive’s office, we went through some doors and were met with a pretty fancy looking place. They handed out branded lanyards (That we didn’t even get to keep for some reason?) with our names on them, and immediately showed us… the place where they sit to eat, drink, and do work outside of their office. So, not even their workplace. Not to sound ungrateful, but it kinda gets worse. It was still cool, they had a neat statue with a list of gamertags. They were very hospitable, offering us coffee, tea, water. We then went to the conference room for a presentation, where waiting for us was some cool merch- notebooks, pens, pop sockets, and some chocolate. We sat in excitement for the presentation and what we were about to find out (we signed an NDA, mind you).. and, I don’t even know what the NDA was for, really. With UsTwo, I understand why we had to sign an NDA- they discussed with us some projects that haven’t been released yet. But… in this presentation, part of the slides were them not knowing the names of Ubisoft’s own games (come ON! As a huuuuuge Assassin’s Creed fan, I wanted to scream when they didn’t even know the name of the game when listing off games Ubisoft was responsible for), them discussing games they’re working on that have already been announced (And literally not giving us any other details- we didn’t learn anything about the design process, the creative environment, the production pipeline- nada, they just reiterated things that the public already knows), them showing us a promotional video about the country/workplace, and an entire 15 minutes of discussion about how to set up a resume. Again, what was the NDA for? I mean, if this blog is in violation of it somehow, I will gladly take this part out. But we really learned nothing about the creative process. The people talking to us were job recruiters. Don’t get me wrong, I am so grateful to even have stepped foot into the studio (After recovering from that walk. Ugh), but most of us left Massive pretty disappointed. I think this was the studio that everyone was most excited for, and it was the biggest letdown. I’m not exaggerating when I say, every time someone had a question about a specific aspect of the creative process (the 3D pipeline, job options, environmental design), they kind of fumbled and gave a non-answer, like “all of our job listings are posted online.” Somehow, it seems, the studios run by smaller, more passionate groups of employees or individuals were more inspiring and informational than the bigger, much more experienced studio.

After the Massive letdown, we shuffled our way back to the train to depart Sweden once more. Luckily, the rides back home seemed pretty straightforward……… in theory. Until we realized pretty quickly that the first train we had hopped on was the wrong one. So we crawled out, trekked up the stairs and over to the next track, and got on another train. It was going pretty swimmingly, looking like we would get back without issue… until the train kind of just.. stopped. Turns out, at the airport station, a broken luggage cart had wound up blocking the tracks. So, frustrated, we poured out of the train. We passed through the airport (which we’ll be back in in just a few days, weirdly enough), and hopped on the Metro train. Being the big whiny baby that I am, I was not happy about this turn of events. I was quite enjoying sitting down on the bigger, nicer trains with chairs and tables. The Metro is, basically, the Light Rail but with less seating. That meant that I had to stand for a good while, deeply in pain, and barely hanging on to the rails as I got tossed violently to and fro by the motions of the train. Ugh. By the time we reached our station, I was basically ready to pass out, and not too happy about having to go a little farther to get back home.

Needing to recharge, I plopped face down into my blankets. I sat there for a good while. We had made plans to work on journals and blogs in the park, but I really didn’t want to move. Eventually, time crawled on and we figured we should head over. But, again, I’m a crybaby and the park was literally just a couple steps outside of our BaseCamp, basically (just across a street). We leisurely strolled down the dirt path, found a spot, and enjoyed the clear skies, doing homework while sitting literally less than a mile away from a castle. It’s moments of lucidity like these where I stop and really appreciate that I’m in another country. If I wanted to go lay in a park in Denver, I would be harassed by police who think I’m homeless, or bugged by some passerby asking for a lighter. And I certainly wouldn’t be able to look over my shoulder to see lush trees and a big ol’ castle.

We sat and worked for a while, only wishing to leave because we were invited to check out a cool cafe by Dane and because it was actually deceivingly chilly, despite the sky being mostly clear. We quickly went back to the room, put our stuff away, and got ready to go somewhere called “Bastard Cafe.” Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. When I think of a cafe, I think of, well, a cafe- a usually small place with a bar for treats/pastries and coffee/tea options. Well, as we soon found out, this place was very different. It was unlike anywhere I’ve ever been before! In total, the whole place was about 5 levels- with a basement, a main floor that spanned multiple rooms and across an entire courtyard, and three extra floors above for different kinds of events (one for foreign films, another for music, I forget what the other, still, was). Even better- alllllll over the walls was every single board game possibly imaginable. You’d walk from one room to another on the main floor, and the walls were just covered in them. At the bar (with food options like fries and nachos and some beverages- both alcoholic and non) one could go up, pay a small fee, and have access to any of the board games on the walls. After we all (Bryan, Riley, Alice, Tessa, Beia, Dane, and I) ordered drinks and food (I had a Mojito and some vinegar fries with truffle mayo), Dane asked for game suggestions. Back home, I used to play board games a whole lot with my friend, Sara, and the first that came to mind was a game called Secret Hitler. It’s a lot of fun in large groups, and, basically, works similarly to Among Us (there is, in fact, a secret Hitler whose task is to stay secret and sabotage the other team). We wound up playing, and, after a couple of rough runs, we really got into it. So much so that it wound up being the only game we played tonight! We really had a lot of fun and banter, teasing each other’s body language cues, peering right through poker faces, analyzing everyone’s moves. We got so into the game that we, for some reason, chanted Hitler and immediately remembered that that, in fact, is a very not okay thing to do in normal circumstances- but even less so okay to do anywhere in Europe. It’s funny- all of us that went are typically introverted, but around each other and with a good board game, we all really opened up and connected as people, rather than as introverts. I think this may have been the best time I’ve had on this trip, dare I say, better than (or equal to) my night out clubbing at Jolene! We had a lot of laughs, and I left feeling really good.

I really like it here. I know the day to leave is coming up before I know it, but I don’t want to go. I find myself wishing often to just be able to pause time on special little moments like these- even as I write this blog, there’s a sort of melancholy feeling about reflecting so deeply on these moments that pass by that I’m not always aware of. I think one of the things I’m saddest about is that, realistically, I won’t be friends with most of my trip mates for too much longer after the trip. Tessa, Beia, and Alice may be a different story, but, in my experience with things somewhat comparable to this (mostly the bonds I made at LYNX camp), the friendships sadly die out shortly after everything goes back to normal. I have to, thusly, remind myself that every person has their moment in my life- whether it be big or small- and that all connections I make in my time on this planet are equally meaningful. It’s hard not to think about going back home. But money runs out, and I can’t magically up and live here with everyone forever (besides, I would miss everyone back home way too much), so it’s a weird state of acceptance of the fleeting nature of events like these.

I don’t know, maybe I’m getting too philosophical about it.

[yoonpobs]

bad boy good thing | drabble i. | m

WARNINGS. jealous jk, jk's gf is hot and he's not the only one who thinks that, jimin and tae as instigators, i swear jimin and jk love each other, fucking in public spaces aka a car in a parking lot, jk luvs his gf, appearance of perpetrator jin!

NOTE. i missed this couple 🥺oc is living her hot girl summer life and jk does nawt know how to deal with it Lol. hope u enjoy loves!!!!

WORDS. 3k+

“I’m okay,” Jungkook murmurs, eyes fluttering shut as he repeats his own personal mantra. “I’m good. I’m fine—I’m chill. Chillest person ever. I’m good—”

“He’s not okay,” Taehyung snickers.

Jungkook blocks the negativity out, purposefully and intentionally. Nothing could ruin his day—not on his watch, especially as the sun shines over bodies across the beach while the waves break into beautiful fragments that he’s yearning to dip his feet into.

Personal affirmations came first.

“I’m good, I’m fine, I’m okay,” he chants like a crazy person, definitely earning some form of side-eye from the people next to him but he can’t be bothered. Another person thinking that he was insane wasn’t the worst thing that could happen to him—not when—

“You should open your eyes,” Jimin says, “How are you going to fight them if you don’t know thy enemy?”

Immediately, Jungkook’s peace is disturbed by the mouth of Park Jimin, who painfully reminds him of why he’s got into the entire personal mantra and affirmation thing. He used to think it was redundant, unnecessary. How could the universe return your wishes just as you’ve uttered them into the atmosphere? It didn’t seem logical to him.

But right now, that didn’t matter—not when he had bigger things to be worried about.

“Don’t disturb my peace,” Jungkook snaps.

“They did it first,” Jimin retorts, cocking his head towards the flock of people at a certain part of the beach, specifically towards where the water meets the shore.

Jungkook’s eye twitches. His peace is disrupted, his happiness is compromised and it’s all Park Jimin’s fault. He spent a good amount of time getting into his zone, reaffirming himself that he was in fact, fine, good—he was okay! But now, he feels all his resolve dissolve when he realises he can’t even see the main thing that was responsible for his dilemmas.

“You’d think a celebrity was on this beach,” Taehyung snorts.

“Not helping,” Jungkook says dryly.

“So isn’t your crazy person chanting,” Jimin points out, “but yet, here we are—listening to you reciting your own version of a biblical verse.”

“I’m fine,” Jungkook grits for the umpteenth time, and no less is his assertions any more convincing than it was a moment ago. The flicker of his irises towards to crowd is enough to prove that fact. “I’m just enjoying my day at the beach with my friends and my girlfriend.”

“See, there are two false statements in that,” Taehyung tilts his head downwards, offering a smug smirk that Jungkook wishes he could shove into the sand beneath him. “You’re definitely not enjoying this because I can see the veins protruding out of your neck at how hard you’re clenching your jaw, and”—the older boy makes the effort to taunt Jungkook further by letting out a low whistle the moment the crowd seems to grow slightly bigger—“you’re partially right about the friend part. Your girlfriend though … where is she?”

I’m good. I’m okay. I’m cool—

“Oblivious, as usual,” Jimin sighs, plopping back onto the beach towel beneath him while shooting Jungkook a pointed stare. “It’d be sad if you only called her your girlfriend for six months when you’ve been in love with her for seven years.”

“Okay that’s it. I’m going there,” Jungkook declares, huffing as he pushes himself off the ground while Jimin makes an effort to grab at his ankle, halting the younger boy from causing any damage and potentially getting them banned from ever returning.

“Not with that temper you aren’t,” Jimin snaps, “Sit your ass down. God. Can’t you take a joke?”

“A joke?” Jungkook splutters, abhorred. “You literally just said she’s going to break up with me!”

“I said that it’d be sad if—”

“Same fucking difference,” he hisses, rubbing a hand across his face before he kicks Jimin’s petty grip off his ankle while levelling him with a menacing glare. Jungkook’s eyes slowly drift to the side where you finally enter his vision, still smiling like the soft and sweet person you were as you help Namjoon with whatever crab hunting mission he had.

See, Jungkook’s mature enough to know that you and Namjoon were good friends, great ones, even. The two of you were smart and clicked well, and if anything, Jungkook was more envious of the fact that the two of you shared such a wholesome and meaningful friendship than anything else.

The fact that Namjoon used to have feelings for you didn’t bother Jungkook anymore, not when he knew where your heart truly laid. He also trusted Namjoon with his entire life and his firstborns (not that he’d ever tell you that, and God—did he hope that day would eventually come when it came to you). But still, Jungkook was mature—he did some growing up, and he was proud of that.

But Jungkook’s human, a flawed, ever-learning and constantly improving human. A human who’s crazy in love with his pretty girlfriend that he’s longed for years—and a human who isn’t blind. A human who can’t ignore the fact that, apparently, he wasn’t the only person that was trying to keep himself in check at how stunning you were. Every day—and especially today, with how your dainty yellow bikini drapes over the curves of your body.

Jungkook nearly cries. Yellow was his favourite colour. You wore it for him.

Not for—

“Maybe you should head over,” Taehyung murmurs, snapping Jungkook out of his love-filled mind as his eyes clear, immediately catching what his friend was referring to.

Some dude. Talking to you. Smiling at you like you carried all the answers to all the world problems as you giggle a tune comparable to birds chirping. Maybe Jungkook was exaggerating but it always sounded like you were singing his favourite song even if you were just explaining economical concepts to him like a soothing e-book.

“God, why couldn’t she have been ugly,” Jungkook groans.

“You wouldn’t have dated her otherwise,” Jimin retorts.

Jungkook gawks, affronted as he gives his two friends a scandalised expression as he places his hands over his chest to indicate the offence he took to that statement.

“I’m not superficial,” he huffs, “I fell in love with her because of her—”

“Personality, yada yada,” Jimin mocks him in a lower tune that has Jungkook glaring at him. “Yeah, okay. But don’t tell me that her being pretty doesn’t help you bust a nut every once in a while.”

Jungkook flushes.

“Well, yeah, but I’m her boyfriend—”

“Thank you for reminding me that you are in fact, still a boy,” Jimin rolls his eyes, “Men. Mansplaining everything, really.”

Jungkook’s jaw slackens as his eyes briefly land on Taehyung’s figure who doesn’t look too bothered with how the conversation turned out as he shrugs in response.

“How about you do the typical manly thing of being a jealous prick and go over there and stomp over all her fan club members,” Jimin says sarcastically, resting his arm over his eyes to shield them from the sun.

There’s a brief rustle from where the sand meets the towel, and a relatively long period of silence while the only thing that permeates the air is the sound of waves with laughter coming from a family a distance away.

“He did exactly that, didn’t he.”

“You need to stop giving him ideas,” Taehyung sighs, plopping a grape into his mouth before occupying the space next to his friend. “Should we find another beach to frequent?”

“Really?” you laugh, “That’s so cool! I’m actually planning on landing an apprenticeship there over the summer.”

“Oh?” The man is leaning way too close to you for comfort, but you’re unfazed. Jungkook doesn’t even want to know where the hell Namjoon had gone, leaving you with this broad-shouldered, terrifyingly handsome man. “I could definitely put a good word in for you if you’d like.”

You beam, appreciative rather than brazen. But Jungkook thinks the man doesn’t know that.

“I don’t think I can accept that, Seokjin.”

And of course, you knew his name.

“Why not?” Seokjin smirks, and Jungkook knows that it’s definitely done him justice in other situations. “For a beautiful—”

“____,” he interjects, smoothly (or not quite) sliding next to you as his arms wrap around your waist before his glare rests on the man before him, who looks both shocked and unbothered at his appearance. “Who’s this?”

You jump slightly at Jungkook’s arrival but relax when you realise that it was just him and not some other beach weirdo.

“Jungkook, this is Seokjin! He actually attended our university—”

“Really,” he says dryly, “That’s nice.”

“Is this your …?” Seokjin looks Jungkook up and down before settling with a rather unimpressed look. “Do seniors usually bring their shadows out for playdates?”

Your eyes widen at his patronising tone, and before can even think to correct him with a tilted frown, Jungkook’s fingers dig into your waist, a precursor to his jaw that clenches while he engages in his own version of a staredown with the man before you.

“Boyfriend.”

Seokjin raises a brow.

“Me,” Jungkook blinks, unnerved and quite frankly, tired. He’s crossed this bridge enough times, and it’s always the same. Some older dude who thought that you were doing charity work by having Jungkook tag along with like some puny little brother. “I’m her boyfriend.”

“Jungkook—” you start, softly reaching to grip his arm.

“Interesting,” Seokjin says offhandedly and Jungkook knows it’s anything but. “Well, my offer still stands.”

He’s directing it to you as you peer up at him with your notoriously innocent eyes. Jungkook hates that this douche is still unaffected by his blatant declaration of the fact that you were—taken.

“I—that’s fine, Seokjin,” you say softly, lips curling into a thankful smile before he nods.

The look he sends Jungkook is nothing short of unimpressed, and Jungkook’s thinking of clamming the dude into the sand and quite literally, bury the hatchet with him. Sure, he was handsome and broad, and undoubtedly ripped—but Jungkook trained to benchpress twice his weight so he could beat up assholes who tried to hit on his girlfriend.

Right before he leaves, Jungkook calls for his name—intentionally calling him Seokmin—noting the way his face drops into a scowl.

“You’re not her type.”

He scoffs.

“And you are?” he throws back, brows raised as a challenge.

“That’s why I get to hold her and you’re walking away.”

With that, Seokjin doesn’t bother responding to Jungkook, especially in the way that you gawk at your boyfriend’s blatant warning to the older man.

He titters off, and it’s effectively just you and Jungkook standing by the shore while you briefly see the way Namjoon stutters before deciding to return to where Jimin and Taehyung lays.

Jungkook’s still seething in his rage, clenching and unclenching his fists even though he got the last word. It wasn’t that he thought you’d elope with Seokjin and leave him—he trusted you wholeheartedly and vice versa. He knew you loved him and so did he.

It had more to do with the fact that Seokjin saw you, and eventually, him—and thought that Jungkook wasn’t fit to be your boyfriend. That he saw a gorgeous girl on the beach and expected her to be single, and if not—to be with a boyfriend that had his shit together and not … not Jungkook.

“Jungkook?” you say quietly, tugging at his elbow while you peer up at him with wide and apologetic eyes. “I’m sorry.”

It’s no good, the fact that you’re apologising. As if you were responsible for his insecurities when you’ve done nothing but shower him with love and support ever since the two of you started officially dating.

“Don’t apologise,” he says stiffly, though his heart isn’t angry—he can’t help the way his words get out. “It’s not your fault.”

“But—”

“If you apologise then you’re gonna piss me off, baby,” he says lightly, peering you down with a small smirk as your eyes widen.

“I—okay,” you say weakly, and before he knows it, you’re intertwining your fingers with his, eyes suddenly twinkling in a way he’s grown all too familiar with.

“You have the keys?” he murmurs softly.

You nod, blind and in love as you sigh.

“Take care of me?” you ask sweetly, and Jungkook forgets all about Seokjin when he has you right in front of him.

“O-Oh, fuck—Jungkook—ngh—”

Maybe Jungkook really was a crazy person, but he’d argue that you were equally as crazy to oblige to indulge in his lewd fantasies. He was crazy, for you and your cunt that was like nirvana, and it’s proven further when he fucks into you at a brutal pace, uncaring whether or not the car shakes with the exertion of the activities that were taking place in it.

It could be the fact that he had a decade worth of fantasies to play out, but he knows that he plays a huge part in opening your sexual nature and he couldn’t be happier about it, especially when you unabashedly throw your head onto your chest, whimpering with the dirty squelches of his thrusts that echo in the vehicle.

“You’re mine, aren’t you?” he growls, hand wrapping around the back of your neck to force your glassy eyes to look at him.

The look on your face is enough to get Jungkook even more riled up, your flushed cheeks and swollen lips while you nod your head manically, crazy—and his.

“Y-Yours,” you whimper, and just about then, Jungkook brings your hips down with his free hand and meets you with a sharp thrust that has your mouth dropping open and your face scrunched up in pleasure. “F-Fuck, J-Jungkook.”

“No one gets to fuck you like this,” he hisses, pressing a hot kiss to your neck as you whine, hips involuntarily swivelling to meet his fast pace. The car is shaking and it’s all too risky, Jungkook knows that—but his rationale is clouded with the antagonising face of Seokjin. “No one gets to see you like this. Only I do.”

“Y-Yes!” you sob, clutching onto him as he feels your pussy tighten viciously around him, the walls of your inner linings spasming as Jungkook hisses at the feeling. “Only you K-Kook. Only ever want you.”

Jungkook believes you, especially when you desperately hold onto him as he feels himself slowly reach the edge. He knows you are too, especially when your whines get higher in pitch, and your tugs against his shoulders get tighter. He knows because he’s learnt about your body as your boyfriend—and he’s the only person that will ever get to have you like this.

The thought, paired along with the risk of your situation only fuels his determination to get you off, his strong arms immediately wrapping around you to root you into place as he shoves his cock deeper into you.

“Come on, pretty girl,” he croons as you mewl in pleasure, breathless whines turning more desperate as your eyes flutter shut. “You wanna show me how much you want me?”

You nod manically, your pussy fluttering around his length as he grunts in exertion.

“G-Gonna—pleasedon’tstop—fuck, I-I’m cumming—!” you cry, tugging your face into the crook of his neck as Jungkook bites his lips in focus, all ready to accept your hot pleasure and his own.

“Come for me,” he encourages, lips hovering over your earlobe as you obey his orders, head thrown back as he watches your mouth drop wider and your eyes roll to the back of your head, pussy tightening around his length.

Jungkook thinks you’re beautiful. On days where you don’t feel like you do, but he may be biased to say that he thinks you look absolutely stunning for him like this. When he knows that he’s the one responsible for your reddened cheeks, the way you so desperately cling onto him whenever you’d orgasm (the only person that would ever know this fact about you), and the way that you’re left breathless, satiated and with that hazed expression after his resolute efforts.

Jungkook cums shortly after, with those exact thoughts plaguing his mind. He was so whipped. He really only had to think of you and he would get hard, and having you right above him, soft and warm with your arms draped loosely over his form made his heart all mushy and soft despite the way his cock stands erect.

You mewl in oversensitivity although you don’t complain. You never do, whenever Jungkook cums after you. Even now, when Jungkook comes down from his high with pants of his own, his own mind-clearing while his cock softens in you—you remain patient. Patient like the ever-loving, wonderful girlfriend that you were—one that Jungkook wasn’t sure he deserved.

“Wow,” you giggle, forehead resting against his as you return from your own post-orgasmic bliss. “I can’t believe I let you fuck me in a parking lot.”

Jungkook flushes, reality sinking in when he realised that the two of you weren’t hidden from plain sight. While the idea of being caught was definitely arousing, Jungkook knew he wasn’t too keen on having anyone see you delirious, even if it was all for him. He was lucky enough that your bikini top remained on the entire time, but both your sweaty bodies were enough of a dead giveaway.

“I just,” Jungkook tries to explain, words slurring in embarrassment as you raise a brow at him. “You look really pretty today.”

You stare at his forlorn expression as if admitting that pained him. Jungkook feels slightly embarrassed at how he reacted, and if you notice this, you don’t point it out—yet.

“Wore this for you,” you murmur, pressing a soft kiss to the mole under his lip. Jungkook’s heart soars at your admission even if he knew that. “You know it’s only for you, right?”

Your question is purposeful and Jungkook shamefully looks to his lap, and even then—you’re still connected. He slowly pulls out, wincing when his cum threatens to pool out of your pussy, but before he can pretend to clean you up, you’re putting your bikini bottoms back in place and clamping your hands over his cheeks so that he’d look at you.

“Jungkook,” you say sternly.

He sighs.

“Yes,” he groans, feeling a lot like a child who’s being berated. “I just—God. He was such a prick.”

“I know,” you say gently, fingers combing through his hair while he melts into your touch. “There are a lot of pricks out there, but you know that I only love you, right?”

Your confession is the same as the one you’ve made six months ago, and just last night before the two of you fell asleep—but it’s a confession that Jungkook never grows tired of.

“I know,” he mumbles as you giggle at him. “It’s just that … he really thought he had a chance with you, and when he saw me it was like—”

You frown, finger pressed against his lips to stop his rambling as he peers up at you with doe-eyes.

“None of that,” you chide lightly, “I don’t care what people think. The only person I care about is you, and no one will change that, okay?”

Jungkook feels himself relax into your touch, especially when you lean forward to capture his lips in a soft kiss that isn’t set to lead anywhere. He remembers. He remembers the times where you were unsure and all too worried of the words of others—and here you were, with him and with your gentle and loving soul, the embodiment of comfort as you tell him the words he’s always known but needs to be reminded of.

“I love you,” he says quietly as you grin widely at him, “Sorry for—you know.”

You roll your eyes, lifting your leg to get off his lap as you wince at the cum that threatens to escape your lips.

“I mean, it was kind of hot,” you shrug with a small smirk.

“God, I’ve created a monster,” Jungkook snorts, looking over at you when you shoot him a devious grin.

“You love it,” you throw back cheekily, leaning into his shoulder as he wraps an arm around you with a sigh.

He does. And he knows that he’s the only one that you’ll love back.