#HOWEVER it WOULD be cool to have a I'm not forgiven by the ones i hurt but i am forgiven by the one that matters arc

[sonnet009games]

This may be a bit of a spoilery question or maybe something I should go back to in a future episode instead, but I fear I'll forget I wanted to ask that by that time so... I'll just send it anyway, but feel free to just ignore it if it would be saying too much!

You said in a previous ask Flea thought he was close with his mother, but after what happened in the latest episode he's starting to doubt it. Meaning he basically doesn't really have people who'd truly care about him in Pandemonium. So my question is... once Flea settles down a little bit after what just happened to him - as in, once he colls down some, once he reflects on the events and what not - if Lust came back and told him for whatever reason unrelated to her he was forgiven and can come back to Pandemonium, would he still do so knowing what he knows now? I'm assuming if it happened right after the last chapter's events he would do it, of course, but that's why I'm asking specifically after he reflects on the situation.

Also, would his current relationship with the detective come into play when it comes to his decision?

Flea’s probably been slowly re-evaluating his relationship with his mother ever since he was put in the “time out” to begin with. When he tells his brother that being loved isn’t the same as being respected, that’s probably something that has been percolating inside him over the past ten years. However, if his mother appeared before him RIGHT NOW (fresh off Chapter 4) and asked him to come home you’re totally correct that he would cling to her and cry in relief.

In the future, once emotions have cooled… I mean, it’s hard not to yearn for home. It’s the difference between a long, comfortable life and a brutal, short one. There’s nothing on this plane that could possibly be worth staying for. …Right?

[rachetmath]

RWBY X Video Games Pt 2.5

Ruby: Hey I bet you can't figure out what characters we played as in Borderlands.

Jaune: Hm. Ren? Nora?

Nora: Yeah I think so.

Ren: Me too.

Yang: Alright guess.

Jaune: Weiss was a Siren two times, so she was Lilith and Maya.

Weiss: How?

Jaune: Your semblance is similar to their move set. Obviously, plus I bet you enjoyed the look.

Weiss: shut up.

Nora: Yang, no doubt was Brick. He was a desecrator.

Yang: So true.

Ren: Blake had to Mordecai.

Jaune is leaving Ruby to Roland because she is a little more tech-wise than you. But mainly because she likes guns.

Ruby: Okay what about the sequel? I mean Weiss is already figured out.

Weiss: Shut it.

Ruby: But what about us?

Jaune: Hm. Hey.

Messenger: What?

Jaune: Did you give them DLCs?

Messenger: Yeah.

Jaune: Okay thanks.

Nora: Hm.

Yang: What's the matter? You guys are stumped?

Ren: I mean a little, we know Blake was Zero.

Blake: Damn that quick?

Jaune: Yeah that quick, come on. However you and Ruby we are torn against.

Ruby: Pfft how come?

Jaune: Were you two fighting over one character?

Yang: … Um.

Ruby: I-I-I mean-

Nora: It was over Salvador the Gunzerker wasn't it?

Yang: … mmm

Ruby: mmmm

Jaune: it was. It was. Give me five.

Nora: Damn right. *High five Jaune*

Jaune: I haven't forgiven you though.

Nora: Can we please talk?

Ren: Um can we get back on topic?

Jaune: Since when are we on topic? Anyway, it's clear why either of you wanted him. Mainly, why Yang wanted him.

Ren: I mean their personalities match so-

Jaune: No Ren, it's clear as day.

Ren: I mean- Oh. Oh. I see.

Yang: *blushes covering her breast*

Jaune: I don't understand why you are showing boating those balloons every day.

Nora: He's right, girl, there is no shame.

Blake: I don't get it.

Jaune: There were two options for both Ruby and Yang. Ruby could played as Gaige but she loves guns more than giant robots so she wanted Gunzker. Yang however didn't want the other character, Krieg because he was half naked.

Blake: So that's why two were arguing that time? Why didn't either of you choose Axton?

Jaune: Roland’s clone? Really?

Blake: Fine.

Nora: So Ruby understood why Yang wanted Salvador so she played as Gaige.

Blake: Alright, but you three won't figure this out. Pre-sequel.

Jaune: Ah shoot.

Ren: mm. Mm

Nora: Damn. That is hard.

Ren: No Handsome Jack Clone right?

Blake: Ew.

Weiss: I hate you for saying that.

Yang: I'm too sexy to be that arrogant.

Ruby: I mean the weapons are cool but no.

Yang: I mean I could have been-

Jaune: Hell no, don't say that. You ain't no Athena.

Yang: gasp how dare you sir? I’ll have you know-

Jaune: Athena has a shield and a sword. She is more about defense than offense. Plus you never used a sword.

Yang: How does that matter?

Jaune: Anyways I believe Ruby was Claptrap.

Ruby: What? how did you -

Jaune: Claptrap has access to all the previous Borderland character's moveset. I know you would be happy to use them.

Weiss: Guess you've become basic Ruby.

Nora: Lady Hammerlock.

Weiss:*stares at Nora in anger*

Nora: *cockly smiles* It suits you, considering your previous statues, Ice Queen.

Ren: Blake was Nisha. Her skill is very useful and she has a whip.

Blake: *blushes*

Jaune: Which leaves with Wilhelm the Enforcer. Mainly because you both lost an arm.

Yang: Okay. True.

Weiss: Well you won't guess who we-

Jaune: Borderlands 3. Weiss the Beastmaster. Blake the Operative. Yang the Siren. And Ruby the Gunner.

RWBY: ………………

Ruby: Man. No fair.

Nora: Come on, it wasn't that hard. Blake's semblance is basically Zane’s hologram. Amara power is Yang semblance except stronger and more versatile. FL4K just fights with his pets like Weiss with her summons except he does a better job.

Weiss: What was that?

Nora: And Moze has a giant robot with guns. Ruby would never miss a chance like that.

Ruby: Damn right!

Jaune: So are we done?

Yang: Yeah we’re done. But I have a question. How does it feel to be maiden-less in the Elden Ring and real life?

RWB: Oh.

Emerald: Shit!

Oscar: DAMN! You get no bitches!

Jaune: I mean, in the Elden Ring, I’ve seen a lot of crazy women. One was hell-bent on destroying a tree. A blue-doll woman who basically wants me to devote myself to her. A dragon woman. A flower woman who I’m surprised can live for so long. A woman who believes in a snake, so much so she was willing to eat off his corpse. And a knight who was dying and was beating me like no tomorrow. Took me three times to beat that woman and it wasn’t on her second phase. So yeah, being maiden less was more of a blessing than having one of either them.

Yang: Oh.

Jaune: As for real life. I mean I had women look at me funny back at Mantle, I had Pyrrha back at Vale. Glyanda believed in me so she might count. Then you got Weiss who complimented me. And it seems I was on your girl's mind before you even entered the picture. Regardless, I don’t care, but at least I don’t settle for less.

Yang: Um..

Jaune: And I love my mom. Too bad you will never know that feeling cause you never had one

Yang: Jau-

Jaune: I mean I’m not too judgemental but come on, at least I’m not a hypocrite, an irresponsible brat whose only accomplishment was getting a lamp. Oh, wait, that’s gone too.

Ruby:: Jaune.

Jaune: How does feel bitch? To be motherless, having to show nothing for all life's struggles but a girl who once fantasized about another man.

Yang: *cries*

Ruby: Really, Jaune?

Jaune: I mean I may have messed up a few times. But I was right on the majority of things and I produce great results.

[a-star-that-burns-brightly]

Ranking all of the Milgram Birthday Outfits on a scale of 1/10 because it's 3AM over here and I have to do school things at 6 (Inspired by this video) ↓

Already off to an incredibly strong start, because as we know, Haruka is perfect and can do no wrong. Dog? Little sister? Who's that? Sounds like a myth honesty. Alright, jokes and Haruka bias aside, very nice ! Relatively plain all things considered, but that's quite fitting for Haruka (I mean, have you seen how this kid dresses normally? I'm somewhat surprised that he didn't go for a full white look. Wonder if Muu helped him out when choosing his pieces) I also love the color blue, so bonus points for that. (shut up I know I just said I would ignore biases) Overall, I give Haruka Sakurai a 8/10 !! Lookin' good, buddy ! ↓

Yuno looks so pretty and the outfit is SO cute !! I love the frilliness of the shirt, the pleated skirt is really cute and in general I love the shades of pink chosen for this outfit, and those SHOEEEES girl where did you get those give me name and address. I honestly have no complaints at all I give Yuno Kashiki a 10/10 !! Absolutely gorgeous girl !! (Also it's unfortunate we're only ranking the outfits and not the cakes, because the decision to give Yuno a fucking staircase cake was genius) ↓

...Mannn, I wish I could say I liked this outfit so badly. The outfit itself is alright, if a bit basic, and Fuuta looks very handsome ! But I can't help but feel like black would've been a better choice for him than dark brown. And Fuuta...my guy...WHY those shoes? I could've maybe forgiven the outfit colors if you didn't decide to pair them with shiny gold...sneakers? What the hell even are those? Get better shoes, man. Overall, I'm giving Fuuta Kajiyama a 4/10. I like the outfit it'self (minus the shoes), but the coloring brings it down a lot for me. ↓

Christ, no wonder Muu got model deals ! Look at this queen right here !! She looks absolutely gorgeous, the dress is beautiful and I love the Beauty And The Beast inspiration. The earrings being inspired by an hourglass is a very cool detail, and the heels look great as well ! I genuinely don't think I have any faults with this one Muu Kusunoki gets a 10/10 ! Nice job dressing to impress ! ↓

One chance Mr. Kirisaki, one cha-- Ahem. As I was saying, Shidou looks amazing in this outfit !! I'm usually not a fan of there being so much white on it's own (I sound like a certain horror fanatic, sheesh.) But Shidou reallly rocks it, and the purple accents are very nice in comparison !! I also really like the shoes for some reason. Shidou is being added to the list also consisting of Muu and Yuno where I need to see who their shoemaker is For Shidou Kirisaki, I give a 9/10 !! Very pretty man. ↓

Mahiru looks very pretty here ! I love the poofy hair accessory, and the birdcage earrings are a very nice touch. That being said however...the dress is a bit too plain for me. I cannot help but feel like something is missing here that would make the overall outfit look way better. A sash maybe? Despite that though, Mahiru Shiina gets a 6/10 !! Looking ready for a date !  ↓

Ooooh...Kazui stans forgive me, but I'm pretty indifferent to this outfit. It's not bad mind you ! Kazui looks very handsome in it, and I like the blue chosen for his tie. But it's the same problem with Mahiru where I feel like it's a bit too plain and could've used something more, like a pattern on his vest or pants. Also though his shoes aren't the atrocity that is Fuuta's, I feel like a black or even a dark blue akin to Haruka would've looked a lot better in comparison to the rest of his outfit. Kazui Mukuhara is granted a 5/10. Not the best, not the worst. Sorry old man. ↓

AHHH SHE LOOKS SO CUTE !! It's like if the frilliness from Yuno's outfit was upped to twenty ! Amane's dress is adorable and looks very comfortable as well, I want a bigger sized version for myself. I also really like her big bow, as well as the blue shoes. But most importantly, Amane seems to be genuinely happy wearing it, and as a fandom, Amane's happienss takes priority. Amane Momose, you'll be getting a 9/10 from me ! Good on ya, kid ! ↓

Ahhh, he's so cute ! Look at how polite he looks ! The blazer is nice, and also blue. Blue bias. And the boots absolutely fucking SLAY. The way his hair is styled looks very nice as well ! I also think this is the closest we have gotten to official art of Mikoto smiling genuinely, and I personally think we need more. And more. And more. Mikoto Kayano gets a 10/10 !! Very cute boy ! ↓

Ma'am, I politely and respectfully ask you to break my neck mercilessly-- Ahem. As I was saying. KOTOKO LOOKS FUCKING AMAZING !! The undershirt oh my god the FUCKING UNDERSHIRT !! Absolutely adore it so much. The colors are all very pleasing to the eye, the skirt is very cute, and the heels look cool as hell !! But Kotoko also looks cool as hell in anything, so is this really fair? Kotoko Yuzuriha has obtained a 10/10 ! Absolutely gorgeous.

[asettledsky]

My internal Huskerdust headcanon is that Husk is just super awkward when it comes to anything suggestive pointed in his direction.

He's not inexperienced or anything. When he's actively engaged with a partner he's fine. It's just that as soon as he thinks anyone else is perceiving him sexually he just completely loses his cool.

It's why he blushes so much when Angel flirts with him to get under his skin before they get to know each other.

Flirting with Angel one of one after mutual interest is established? Loves it, can definitely hold his own. Angel flirting with him or describing anything sexual when any of their cohorts in the same space? Nope nope nope nope nope, abort! Abort!

This is not usually a problem. Angel does try to be respectful of his boundaries. Most of the time anyway (he likes getting him flustered every once in a while because it's cute).

It does, however, become a little bit of a problem when Angel's coping mechanisms activate and he goes into his overly flirtatious persona in a tense situation.

So I'm just picturing that Husk has unwittingly developed a reputation for having terrible aim in gunfights because the more difficult they are the more snarky and suggestive Angel gets with him.

Husk still hasn't quite forgiven Angel about that time he draped himself over Husk and practically moaned "I knew my big daddy Husky-wusky would come to save me" in his ear. He was able to shoot the guys, but only because he had an automatic and shot everything else on the street too. That was just embarrassing.

[slowlydifferentbluebird]

Do you still do “How would (X) react to?” Would love to see you do a “How would IVE react to Y/N after accidentally ignoring/neglecting them during a fanmeeting/concert.”

Gosh, it has been so long since I did one of these the last time. I don't even remember why I stopped, probably I was just overworked. I guess writing one of those can be fun from time to time, so yeah, I'll write it for you🙈

IVE reacting to Y/N ignoring them during a fanmeeting/concert

Gaeul

The oldest was confused about your behaviour. You two always had a great chemistry on and off the stage, but right now it almost seemed your first time working together. She tried numerous time to pose with you during the night, but you always were with another member. She smiled through the pain and waited the end of the stages. You didn't even notice and you were more confuse than her when she asked for explanations. However you two made peace in few time and a night of cuddles was the best way to close that silly story.

Yujin

If Yujin could overturn the table, she would have done it in that instant. She was the leader and she must behave in the perfect way, but, oh boy, she was so pissed at you for not accepting her flirt during the fanmeeting. Maybe she was too much in character but she hated seeing you being lovey-dovey with another member. She acted cool during the event but at the end she took you in another room and she gave you lesson(how? That's up to you👀)

Rei

The japanese girl was good in hiding her feeling and she really tried her best to be all smiling for her fans, but she could swear you didn't look in her direction for all night. She even tried to catch your attention, waving her hand in your direction but it almost looked she was invisible for you. After the show, she came to your room and she explained how bad she felt for your actions. You immediately hugged her and promised to be more careful the next time. Feeling your touch, her smile came back in no time.

Wonyoung

Wony is used to receive attentions, by the fan, the members and, in particular, you. You were her partner in crime, but right now the only crime you were doing was ignoring her. She had to make a "fake" complain in front of the public to have you by her side again. And from that moment she linked her arm with yours and never let you go for the rest of the fanmeeting. In the next day you better expect a lot of comments by her about betrayal and similar lol

Liz

Liz was so afraid of something she didn't even do. But if you were ignoring her, there was a reason, right? Well, actually no, you simply had your head on the clouds, but the poor girl couldn't have known that, so in the next days she tried her best to be forgiven by you: gifts, praises and a quantity of attention you have never received from her. When you finally understood what was all that about, you promised yourself to not ignore the cutie anymore, so you started to give her even more attentions that she wanted to🙈

Leeseo

It was a miracle that the maknae didn't start to cry during the fanmeeting. She always seek for your approval and when you started talking to everybody except her, her heart cracked a bit. When you noticed her lucid eyes tho, you immediately ran to her, asking what was wrong. Was she feeling sick? Did somebody piss her off? You were worried and ready to throw your hands at the same time. That was enough to make her understand that everything was okay and you didn't hate her or anything else. However for all the day you were extra-protective with her, keeping her close to you till night

~~~

Well, Anon, I hope you liked it. I'm definitely out of the loop and it might be not that great, but at least I tried 🙈💙

Zazá

[restinslices]

hiiii :D

would it be okay for you to do bi-han, liu kang and kung lao x hypermobile reader if you're not too busy or anything?

like reader has alot of pain in the knees, back and gets frequent migraines and they try to help?

Hey bookie, I wasn’t ignoring you. I was just procrastinating 😭. Finally got to it though! When I looked it up a hypermobile person seemed like a double jointed person but with occasional aches but obviously there could be stuff I missed since I’m not hypermobile. Because of that I mainly focused on the things you brought up however if there’s certain things I missed, you can always request again.

Bi-Han

When it comes to your joints moving more than normal, I don't see him making a big deal about it 

I don't see him being like “omg that's so cool” but I also don't see him being like “that's freaky”

It's something he notices but doesn't point out

When it comes to pain he'll suggest stretching it out, which might do the opposite but it's what his brain conjures up first 

I just feel like stretching and trained assassins go hand in hand

He knows multiple stretches that focus on those areas and that's what he'd suggest first 

There’s also other physical activities like walking for your knees

His brain goes to physical things

If all else fails, he's a walking ice pack 

I don't think he'd necessarily want to be an ice pack but if I'm the wind under your wings, spit out a couple ice cubes for me 

As for migraines I am a firm believer that Bi-Han as the oldest brother is a mini medic

He'd assume your sick so he'd advise you to drink tea, eat soup and keep your eyes closed so they're not being strained while looking at something bright 

If you get migraines often he'd buy some thick ass curtains so the sun doesn't peek through 

He may be a lil asshole but I'm gonna stay delusional and believe he'd be a good partner 

He's a good man Savannah- 

Liu Kang

I also think he wouldn't make a big deal out of it 

He might comment on it but you'd be forgiven for thinking he forgot about it 

Idk how you could use this in fighting but if you could, all 3 of them are impressed 

When it comes to pain in the knees and back, he's the opposite of an ice pack 

His power might work better with aches and pains. Depends on your body

I doubt heating his hand up would be difficult for him 

He mostly wants you to rest and take warmth baths to soak your joints 

Him and Bi-Han are mini medics but Bi-Han is more of a physical therapist. Also sitting around is a problem for him. Liu Kang is more patient and understands that there’s nothing wrong with taking a break and letting yourself heal

He probably also knows a bunch more healing methods I don't 

He's been around the block for awhile. He knows how to do other things besides leave someone concussed 

Assuming you're a regular human, he knows how weak your body is (no tea no shade) and you really need to rest or you'll break down 

That's his thought process with migraines as well

Has you sleep a lot more since migraines can be eased with sleep 

He knows all the tricks in the book. You know when your parent is like “you have a headache? why don't you *insert the most old and outlandish bullshit*”? 

That's him 

You'd think he'd use all this worldly knowledge to oh, idk, build an empire or smth but no

Kung Lao

He wouldn't make a comment in a mean way but he would do a double take 

Maybe I'm wrong but I would imagine people don't go “hey! How are you? I'm hyper mobile btw” 

So when he sees a joint kinda move funny he's thinking “am I tweaking? I gotta be”

But then it happens again and he's like “aight, what the fuck was that?”

He asks a few more questions but that's kinda it. He won't ask your whole life story. If you wanna share more, then you will 

When it comes to pain you gotta thug that one out-

I'm joking… slightly 

Liu Kang is a demigod. Bi-Han is a human but got magic powers. Kung Lao is a normal person and only has a hat

And I don't wanna hear about the magic shit in his moves. In the game I'm pretty sure he only has that hat. The hat is cool and all but my point is, he can't magic any pain he feels away 

He knows better than anyone that sometimes you just gotta take the shit on the chin and try to go on about your day 

However, that wouldn't be his only solution 

Regular human who can't make his own ice packs means he's a regular human with tons of medicine 

Medicine he'd obviously share 

He'd even buy some specifically for joint pain and keep it on him for you 

Same with medicine for migraines 

He probably has way more of those so he can't carry all those bottles but he carries some in his pocket 

He actually has a phone so he's for sure looking up ways to help with any pain or discomfort 

Whatever comes up, he'll suggest to you or help you with 

Your pain won't go away the quickest with him but it's obvious he's trying his hardest 

I did not mean to give Kung Lao the most-

[thepringlesofblood]

little tidbits of Ragh, Porter, Jace, and Kalina lore from the past two seasons that you probably forgot about

SPOILERS for freshman & sophomore year obvs, as well as up to ep 16 of junior year [which is when I am writing this so if shit changes that's why]

Ragh got the Kalina disease from Porter

Kalina said Lydia Barkrock's name in FHSY - she says "I'm going to go kill Lydia Barkrock"

(source: 2:18:52 of ep 6 of FHSY)

What Ragh saw on prom night freshman year that made him a threat to Kalina: Jace and Arianwen talking to a third, invisible person. Then Porter steps in and does a type of barbarian healing spell that involves blood transfer, infecting Ragh. Then, as Ragh is walking home, Kalina threatens him, as he can see her now. So. BOTH JACE AND PORTER ARE AND HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY SUSPICIOUS INDIVIDUALS FROM THE START.

(source: 49:53 of ep 4 of FHSY)

We have never properly addressed the fact that Fig (and Emily Axford) did not start hating Porter completely out of nowhere. The triggering event was the Corn Cuties Incident at the very beginning of freshman year. In the immediate aftermath, after they go get Vice Principal Goldenrod (aka Kalvaxus), he orders Jace and Porter to keep watch over the crime scene. Fig rolled an insight check to see how Porter was reacting to the whole situation (Jace immediately started screaming at the sight of all the corn and blood and bodies). Brennan tells her 'Porter doesn't look all that surprised'. This is the spark of the Porter distrust.

(source: ep 3 of fantasy high, 20:49 for the insight roll, 32:30 for Jace & Porter going through the crime scene while Riz is hiding and observing)

will update with anything we learn, no guarantees on when tho

speculations meta under the cut

now i hear you screaming crying throwing up saying that Porter has actually been kind of cool lately, and I understand. personally i have not forgiven him for not signing gorgug's mcat in the first place, but i can see gorgug has, and thus many of you have. he does have some good things to say about the importance of anger and being able to channel your aggression.

however, I thought Vice Principal Goldenhoard was kind of cool before the finale of season 1, and I thought A Certain Frosting-haired Motherfucker was kind of cool before ep 9 of acoc - Brennan is excellent at making you trust people you should not be trusting. Also, although we know Porter wasn't in on the palimpsest plan [he gets sucked into one], that doesn't mean he wasn't in contact with Kalina at all.

there's one scenario I can think of in which Porter would be innocent, which I consider to be unlikely but possible.

We're post-Prompocalypse.

Jace has to be evil for this to work. imo Jace is demonstrably some level of evil (the talk w Kalina and Arianwen) but just in case you're on the fence. He also has to know that Porter is infected.

Porter is there, and does not know that he is infected.

If he hasn't been collaborating with Kalina, why would he? It's established that the Shadowcat Plague has no symptoms other than "you can see Kalina", and was spread far beyond just Fallinel.

[e.g. in fhsy, they do a livestream of Kalina, and responses are mixed between people who can see her and people who can't (1:11:38 ep 17)] so he could just have it by happenstance.

Alternately, it's possible that Jace infected Porter at some point over the course of the school year. I'm not saying they fucked (I mean they could've but I don't think that's what happened). It's established that spit can do it too - in the nightmare forest, Kalina tries to get Kristen to bite Riz to reinfect him (20:44 ep 17). Sharing a cup, a bottle, a fork, a whistle, anything your mouth goes on could've done it. Or Porter could've done the blood-sharing healing spell to Jace at some point.

Regardless, Kalina tells Jace that Ragh needs to be infected, Jace tells Porter to go heal Ragh, keeping himself uninvolved.

otherwise it is just too coincidental that Ragh is infected exactly when Kalina needs him to be. Either Porter's in on it, or was manipulated by Jace.

and then Fig's dirty 20 insight check to see that he doesn't look surprised would have to just be him going 'yeah it makes sense that arthur aguefort would do something this batshit, just another day at aguefort adventury academy'

[gunilslaugh]

Regretting The Bet (Happy Ending Version)

Little Disclaimer: I'm still on hiatus I just didn't want to leave my lovely readers hanging too long for these happy endings since I don't exactly know when I'll be back.

All members  – * - * –

Summary:Xdinary Heroes sincerely regret ever making that bet. They feel horrible for hurting you, but when they run into you they find out that you’re just fine. (Happy Ending Version)

WC:~3.3k

Warning:none

photo not mine credits to owner.

Gunil

“I hope I never see you again.” Gunil keeps hearing you say those words. He remembers the pain in your eyes and the anger in your voice. Your last conversation haunts him. It’s been a few months, but he still plays it over in his head everyday. He feels absolutely horrible. If someone asked him right now what his biggest regret was he would answer making that bet. Betting that he could make you fall in love with him. He doesn’t even have excuses to make about why he did it. Maybe he thought that it would make him seem cool, although how would doing such a horrible thing make him cool? It made him a massive jerk. Perhaps he thought that it could give him some type of street cred, but who would want street cred about being a guy who played with someone’s feelings? Even any possible reasons he tried to think of could never justify for what he did. Gunil is only left with the consequences of it. 

Gunil was stopping in to grab a coffee before heading into the studio for the day. Much to his surprise he finds you inside the shop as well. You’re with one of your friends and you look really happy. It makes Gunil feel relieved. He thought that you would still be hurting, like him. However you deserve to be happy and Gunil was about to exit the shop, to let you keep being happy when, “Gunil!” you called him. He was even more surprised you said you never wanted to see him again. He turns to look at you and finds that you're approaching him.

“Y/n,” he says.

“Can we talk for a minute?” you asked. You just keep surprising him. 

“Yeah, sure,” he agreed. The two of you went and sat at a table. He notices your friend watching him like a hawk, but he knows he deserves it. “You look good,” he said. 

“Thanks,” you smiled. 

“You don’t have to believe me, but I am really sorry about the bet,” he apologizes. You know he is, you can tell by how awful he looks.

“I do believe you. I’ve forgiven you too. I was really upset at first, obviously,” you chuckled. “I healed from it though and I’m doing really well now.”

“I’m glad.” Gunil opens his mouth and closes it again, hesitating about what he’s about to say. “I miss you and I want you back. I know that I don’t deserve you back, but I seriously regret what I did. I want to make it up to you. Could you give me a chance, another chance?” Gunil is so nervous that he thinks you might be able to see his heart beating in his chest. He’s expecting rejection but a part of him is hoping that,

“I miss you too,” you say. Gunil lets out a breath, but he’s not feeling relieved yet. “I don’t really trust you right now,” Gunil’s breath hitches. “But I am willing to let you earn it back,” you finished. This time Gunil lets out a breath of relief. 

“Thank you so much.” Gunil reaches out, taking your hand is his. “I promise I’ll never hurt you again.

“You better not.” You held his hand back. Gunil feels like the luckiest man alive.

Jungsu

Jungsu didn’t take the money just like he said he wouldn’t. He regrets everything. He never should have made that stupid bet. 

“You act like such a nice guy, a caring guy, a sweet guy. And I fell for it.” Jungsu’s head falls into his hands as he recalls your words. Why did he have to make that bet? He could have just dated you normally. Been a nice, caring, sweet guy that you would fall for, but no he wanted to prove that there was more to him than being a nice guy. Even looking back that sounds so stupid. What did he think was wrong with being a nice guy? Jungsu guessed that he did get what he wanted. He doesn’t view himself as a nice guy anymore. He hates himself, thinks that he is pathetic and a horrible person. He hurt you and he will never forgive himself for that. 

Jungsu is out wandering the streets. It’s night and the air is chilly. Jungsu didn’t bother to put on a jacket because he didn't care. Presently he didn’t care about himself because he was a horrible person. He thinks he might be going crazy as he sees a person who looks exactly like you coming up to him. There’s no way you would ever willingly approach after what he did to you. 

“Jungsu, why are you out here? It’s late and cold.” Jungsu blinks his eyes multiple times. Was it really you? Were you really standing right in front of him? “Jungsu?” You waved your hand in front of his face. 

“Y/n?” His voice almost cracks.

“Hi,” you said. 

“I really am sorry, so sorry. I’m a horrible person for what I did. I never should have done it. I regret it so much. I didn’t take the money either for whatever that’s worth,” he began to ramble, leaning forwards. His knees even looked like they might buckle any second. 

“Jungsu, Jungsu.” You reached out, taking a hold of his arms, scared that he would fall. “It’s ok. I’m ok. I’m great actually.” 

“You do look great,” he voices, looking you over. “I miss you so much it hurts.” he whispered, almost like he didn’t want you to hear it. “I’d do anything to have you back.” His words were even quieter than his previous whisper, but you still heard them. 

“Maybe you really are a nice, sweet, caring guy. A nice, sweet, caring guy who did something incredibly stupid,” you emphasized. 

“That’s exactly what I am and I’ll do anything you want for me to make it up to you. Please come to me y/n,” he pleaded. Jungsu now takes a hold of your arms too. Fingers loosely wrapped around your elbows. His eyes look at you with desperation, waiting for what you’ll say next.

“Anything?” you pressed.

“Anything.” he nodded his head firmly.

“Then go back home and out of the cold. If you’re sick we can’t talk about figuring us out tomorrow,” you smiled gently. The word “us” rings through Jungsu’s ears and brings warmth to his body. 

“Thank you,” he tells you sincerely. Then he releases his hold of your arms, wishing you a goodnight before rushing back home.

Gaon/Jiseok

“That’s how I feel knowing that I was just a bet.” Jiseok sighs, sitting down on his bed. You weren’t just a bet. He knows that you don’t believe him, but it is true. After getting to know you he fell for you too. He stopped caring about the bet. That’s why he never told the members when he found out that you fell for him. They only found out after seeing a “love you” text that you sent him. You don’t know that though and you also don’t know that he returned the money his members paid him for winning. He didn’t want it. It made him feel bad. In fact he was even planning on telling you about the bet, but he didn’t know how to. He knew that telling you about it would risk losing you. He didn’t want to lose you, so he thought he would take the time to plan it all out. Figure out how to tell you in a way that hopefully wouldn’t result in you leaving him.

Alas you found out before he could. He tried to tell you the truth, but you didn’t believe him. He can’t blame you though. Jiseok wanted to explain the situation to you so badly, but he could see how hurt you were. How your trust for him had been broken, so instead he let you go. Watching you walk away he wanted to chase after you, but he knew at the time it wouldn’t do any good. 

Now all he can think about is how he should have never made that bet. How he should have called it off. Why didn’t he call it off? Why did he make such a huge mistake?

Jiseok was on his way back to the dorm after finishing up practice when he crossed paths with you. Ironically enough it’s the exact same spot the two of you broke up. 

“Hey Jiseok,” you spoke up first. 

“Hey,” he said back. 

“How have you been?” you asked him. 

“Not great, I feel really bad y/n. I did really mean it when I said that I cared about you. I made a mistake not calling the bet off. I regret even making it in the first place too. I’m sorry,” he answers. 

“I believe you and I accept your apology.” you tell him. 

“Then is there any way that we could get back together or could I at least explain myself?” he questioned. 

“Let’s start your explanation. Then we’ll see.” Your answer invokes a spark of hope in Jiseok. Maybe he hadn’t lost you for good.

“I did first approach you because of the bet and that was wrong. As I got to know you I fell for you. Fell for you really hard. I didn’t care about the bet. I didn’t even tell the members that you fell for me. They only found out after seeing a text from you. I also returned that money they gave me. I didn’t want it. It made me feel horrible. You’re weren’t just a bet to me. I was actually trying to come up with a plan on how to tell you about the bet. Hopefully tell you about it in a way that wouldn’t end in you leaving me, but you found out before I could. I knew that if I told you all this then you wouldn’t have believed me, so I let you go. Even though I really wanted to chase after you,” he explained.

“Ok, let’s get back together,” you state. Jiseok launches himself at you in a hug, letting out endless thank yous. 

O.de/Seungmin

Seungmin returned that day from the cafe and immediately started arguing with Hyeongjun. 

“Why did you tell them? You ruined everything!” Seungmin yelled as he held Hyeongjun by the collar. The other members were quick to separate them. 

“Yes, I know I ruined your fun, but you were just playing with them! You were gonna break up with them after you won the bet. They deserved to know. I couldn’t just let you play with them!” Hyeongjun yelled back. The other members and Seungmin were shocked. They never heard Hyeongjun shout like that before. Seungmin went to his room, slamming the door behind him. He wasn’t actually mad at Hyeongjun for telling you, he was mad at himself. Hyeongjun was right. He was just playing with you. He was gonna break up with you at the end of the three months. However, seeing how hurt you were, being seconds from breaking down. All because of him made him see how awful what he was doing was. He regrets it. 

The sights of you walking out of the cafe and the last words you said to Seungmin, “I hope I never see you again.” keep stabbing him in the heart. The event even haunts his dreams and sometimes he wakes up with tears in his eyes. He finds that he misses you. That all those dates he took you on weren't just so he could win the bet. He actually really enjoyed spending time with you. Seungmin thinks of it as karma. It’s what he gets for doing a heinous act. He hopes that you’re doing better than him. That you aren’t still hurting because of an asshole like him.

Seungmin is in a convenience store buying some snacks for the dorm when the bell chimes, alerting that someone has entered. He looked over to the door just in time to see you entering. He briefly thinks about hiding. You did say that you hoped you never saw him again. 

“Seungmin!” Before he can even decide you’re calling his name. He’s surprised to say the least. However he is pleasantly shocked to see how good you look. Your eyes are bright, you’re wearing a smile, your outfit is cute. 

“Hey y/n,” he greets you a bit awkwardly.

“I’m not mad at you anymore Seungmin,” you inform him. Seungmin doesn’t know what he did to deserve that. 

“Thank you. I’m really sorry for what I did. I mean it. I’m not only sorry because Hyeongjun told you. I’ve come to regret what I did. I was being an awful person. I’m sorry I put you through that. You didn’t deserve it…and I miss you too,” he apologized. You can tell he’s sincere. 

“Sounds like you did some growing up,” you said. Seungmin nodded. “Oddly enough,” you started. “I miss you too.” That ignited a spark in Seungmin.

“Will you take me back then?” he asked hopefully. “I know things will be different after what I did, but I really want to try and make things work between us,” he added. It’s probably only been a few seconds, but each passing second feels like an eternity for Seugmin as he waits for your response. 

“I want to make things work too,” you finally answered. Seungmin thinks this the most relieved he has ever felt. “Let’s talk about it tomorrow.” Seungmin couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come.

Junhan/Hyeongjun

Hyeonjun really didn’t want to hurt you. He knows that it doesn’t sound believable because if he didn’t want to hurt you then why did he do the bet? Hyeongjun doesn’t have a simple answer for that. Honestly he was interested in you before he even made the bet with his members. In some twisted way the bet gave Hyeonjun the confidence to go up and talk to you. As to why he didn’t call off the bet after your relationship started, Hyeongjun doesn’t know himself. He wished that he had though. He regrets taking the money. He regrets buying something with it. He felt so much guilt that he returned what he had purchased. He also gave the members their money back. Hyeongjun desperately wishes for a time machine. A way where he could go back and fix what he did,but he can’t. He wishes that he tried to explain why he did it, instead of telling you goodbye. Because even if you didn’t believe him at least he would have tried. Maybe one day you would believe him and know the truth. What’s done is done. He has to live with the consequences. The guilt, the pain, the heartache. He’ll deal with it because he knows that he deserves it. 

Hyeongjun likes to go to your guy's old spot. To reminisce on the good times you had together. The times where he was just happy to be with you.

“You still come here?” Your voice caught his attention. He turns around to see you. He almost can’t believe it. He thinks that he might be dreaming.

“Yeah, reminds me of good times,” he tells you. You smile. It’s just as beautiful as he remembers. 

“It reminds me of good times too,” you state. 

“I know you probably still won’t believe me, but I really didn’t want to hurt you. I returned what I bought with the money and the money. Because it didn’t feel good, it felt horrible. I shouldn’t have gone through with the bet. I regret not calling it off. I really just wanted to be with you y/n. I’m sorry for everything,” he expressed.

“Thank you. I’ve forgiven you a while ago Hyeongjun,” you tell him.

“I was actually interested in you before making the bet, but I was too scared to approach you. I guess in some type of messed up way the bet gave me the confidence to talk to you. I was so happy when we got together. I should have called the bet off after that. I have no reasons to explain why I didn’t. Only that I regret it. It’s the biggest mistake I ever made. Like I said earlier I just wanted to be with you. I should have found the courage to talk to you some other way. Then I never would have hurt you,” Hyeongjun explained.

“Yeah that would’ve been better,” you say. 

“I still want to be with you y/n. I understand if you don’t want to be with me after everything, but I’d like to be with you again.” Hyeongjun talks to you with the courage he wished he had at the very beginning.

“I think it’ll take some work, but I want to be with you too,” you spoke. 

“I’ll do all the work I need to do,” Hyeongjun says purposefully.

Jooyeon

“Don’t be too sorry you did win the game. I fell in love with you, so congratulations. I hope you had fun playing.” Jooyeon hasn’t been able to play games after you said that. Anytime he tries he thinks about how he hurt you. You were right he did know what he was doing. The bet sounded like a fun game to him. He wanted to play and win and he technically did both of those things. However it wasn’t worth it. He didn’t have fun playing, well maybe at first, but definitely not at the end. He regrets it so much. He was foolish and awful. 

Jooyeon kept that plushie that he won that day. The one you harshfully shoved back into his chest. He doesn’t know why he keeps it though, it only tortures him. Reminds him of how horrible he was. Maybe that’s why he keeps it. It’s like a form of self punishment. He hugs it to sleep as he cries wishing that he hasn’t been so dumb. That he could still be with you. 

Jooyeon stands in front of the arcade. The last place he was together with you. He comes here sometimes to think about that day. What he possibly could have said. What he shouldn’t have said. Maybe if he just came clean and owned up to it all you could have found a way to forgive him. That two of you could have worked through it and still be together. 

“Aren’t you gonna go in?” Jooyeon can’t believe the voice that he is hearing. He must miss you so much that now he is hearing you. When he turns around he finds that he is not imagining hearing you, it’s actually you. 

“Y/n,” he says in disbelief. 

“Hi,” you greet him. 

“And I no I’m not going in. I can’t play games anymore,” he reveals.

“What? You love games.” Now you are the one in disbelief. 

“Not after I hurt you. Making that bet was one of the dumbest things I ever did. I viewed it as a game that I wanted to win, but I regret it all. It wasn’t fun and horrible towards you. I did enjoy our time together though for whatever that’s worth. I liked gaming with you and going on dates. I do care about you. I’m in love with you.” Jooyeon almost can’t believe that last sentence left his mouth. It’s not like he had anything to lose though. That last sentence shocked you to your core. 

His game was supposed to be about you falling for him.

“You are?” you questioned. 

“I am. I realized it the day you left.” He chuckles at the ironicy. “I love you. I want you back. I know I don’t deserve you, but I’ve grown. I’m not stupid enough to hurt you again. If you’d give me another chance,” he states. 

“I don’t fully trust you,” you started off. Jooyeon’s heart sank. Thinking that he has lost you for good. “But I think you could win it back,” you finished. Now Jooyeon’s heart skyrockets with joy.

“Thank you. I’ll do everything to win it back I promise,” He grabbed and held onto on of your hands tightly. 

“Let’s go inside,” you said.

[apple-orchards-writings]

CL kylar is so cool now... i'll be giggling and twirling my hair in his lap as he sends another cult member to death for asking why i'm sitting in his lap 'right now??'

any attack on you is an attack on him! everyone who speaks to you now would be sooo overbearingly nice just to get on kylar's good side.

also i want to bury my face in his neck and fall asleep because i BET those cult meetings are boring. he probably gets grumpy (unless he kept you up all night) bc he wants to show off how cool he is to you but if you give him a couple neck smooches he changes his tone completely. if anyone wakes you up its. not pretty.

he's sooo whipped it's hilarious. honestly, if you butter him up ust a little with a few kisses or cuddles, you're exempt from almost any rules. Like yeah, his followers are on a strict schedule and must always adhere to his law, but you? you can waltz up to him while he's giving a sermon, whisper something in his ear and he'll immediately follow you, abandoning his flock and letting his other disciples take over for him. the followers are always weary of how they treat you, because the moment your smiling gets a millimeter smaller, someone is getting sacrificed in the most gruesome way possible. You now have a small altar for gifts so they can keep you happy.

falling asleep in his lap in a meeting oughghh, that's so cuteee. Yeah, he's super conflicted, cause on one hand, you're adorable and this is of course a sign that you trust him with your life, but on the other hand, he's sulking a little, because he wanted to show you how to run the cult and "epic pwn the noobs" (tell me he wouldn't use outdated video game slang i swear, he probably asked a follower to steal new consoles). also, you have to pay attention, some of these duties are gonna be yours one day ! however, if you drool on him in your sleep, all is forgiven, and his robes are curiously missing from the laundry basket.

[classicalshorts]

Yellow Varieties

Welcome to this the sixth entry in Cool Colours. Yellow is wonderful and represents rather a unique case in this series' exploration. To look at the word at first glance, you would be forgiven for thinking that our word yellow has no links to Latin whatsoever. You would be both right and wrong, however. There is a link and a rather neat and unusual one. The word yellow is more closely connected to German 'gelb'. But it doesn't look like that either, you say. So, here is a brief glimpse at this lovely colour name's history. It stems primarily from the early German word 'gelwaz', to which the Italian 'giallo' is also related. Both stem ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European (henceforth PIE) word 'ghel-' which meant 'to shine'. Now PIE, is now widely believed to have been an early, now extinct language, from which most European languages and Sanskrit were all born. Now, here comes the Latin link. Latin is also descended from PIE and its word for pale yellow, helvus, comes from the same parent stem as German 'gelb'. So, it is linked to the word, it is just a relative that evolved slightly differently. Also, if you read the Latin helvus, pronouncing the 'v' as a 'w' (as many argue it should be) the connection with our 'yellow' becomes clearer.

Our trip through the colour yellow does not stop there. I have three further Classical terms for yellow for you that bequeathed us words in English. Let us start with Latin.

Have you ever read that you should get more of the vitamin Riboflavin (B2) in your diet? Well, the 'flavin' part of the word comes from the Latin flavus, meaning 'yellow', often a golden or reddish shade of yellow. 'What's a vitamin got to do with 'yellow'?' ,you ask. Well, the flavins are a group of organic compounds, from which Riboflavin is derived, and their colour is, you've got it, YELLOW. They are very important to life. So green might be life, but it appears yellow is, too.

Could your hair be described as 'fulvous'? No, it does not mean it is voluminous (full-vous, get it? Never mind). Again, this rather old-fashioned and probably forgotten word comes from another Latin word for 'yellow', this time fulvus, which denotes a brownish, tawny yellow. It was often used to describe lions.

Lastly, can I ask you if your daffodils betray a xanthic hue? So, we head over to the ancient Greeks for our penultimate yellow word of today. The Greek word ξανθος (xanthos) could denote hair that was blonde or even auburn, so again it can denote a reddish gold.

Crocus is our final shade today. Now, we see crocuses that are pink, blue, and yellow, but Greek word (κροκος) originally referred to the saffron plant, which yields a famous rich yellow colouring. There is even rather a sweet instance of it being used in a Greek text to describe the colour of egg-yolks.

The bright, cheerful colour yellow therefore, not only has a great etymological (i.e. word family) history, but it also has many different variations in Classical terms. EGG-sellent! Okay, there's a reason I'm a classicist not a comedian. I hope you enjoyed this instalment. See you on the next one.

[littlewestern]

James. let's hear it, I wanna hear your spicy mamma mia ship opinions on funny red train 🤌

I struggle to nail down my thoughts about James's relationships about 75% of the time, but thankfully @greatwesternway functions as my extant, offsite brain for when mine doesn't work and reminded me of some good ones.

DUCK:

ALRIGHT! Before everyone starts beating me with hammers for typing yet more words about Duck, let me defend myself.

This is probably my favorite relationship that James has in the series, though I can't say I ship it per se. But the pieces are all there, right?

James finds Duck suuuuper fucking annoying, and it's really easy to see why. On a surface level, Duck talks about one thing all the time, he comes off as being no fun (read: more interested in doing his job than looking splendid or pulling important trains), and despite not being splendid or gorgeous or even really remarkable in any way, Duck has all the independence and responsibility that James claims to desire.

This obfuscates the true nature of James's disdain, though. James doesn't dislike Duck because of anything so superficial as looks or station. James is jealous. God, he's so jealous!

Duck, unlike James, places a great deal of value and importance on his identity as a GWR engine, but he also slots beautifully into life on the NWR without much issue. (There was that hiccup with the diesel, but that's besides the point, you can't account for what diesels will do to a yard.)

James, by contrast, has never felt at home on any railway and so has leaned into the idea that he is simply an individual. Who needs a shared identity when you can just be red? Certainly no sour grapes to be found here, nope, no sir! James is just fine by himself and he doesn't need anybody else to feel accepted and wanted and like a real part of the railway.

But Duck... Duck seems so happy! He just does his jobs and works hard and, as if by magic, gets everything James claims to want. He has a branch line, gets consistent recognition for being Really Useful, and no one's ever double or triple-checking to make sure he's doing his jobs without complaint or fuss. He's even got guys who laugh at his jokes! No one ever laughs at James's jokes... It's hard to watch the guy you dislike get everything you think you want.

Of course, James doesn't actually want a branch line or responsibility or any of those other things. What he wants is the belonging, the simple satisfaction of having confidence in who you are without the cherry red veneer James has to throw on top of everything. When Duck rolls on by with his slip coaches and seaside line and the respect and admiration of everyone he works with, James gets a glimpse at what his life could be if he'd only set aside his pride and insecurity. But it's not that easy, is it?

It would be easy, however, to take this in a shippy direction. For James, any strong feeling (positive or negative) about another engine tends to turn quickly to a desire for acceptance, but I fear it's doomed to be one-sided in this case. Duck has guys who like him a lot more than James does, and they're all ten times more responsible and less troublesome than the NWR's number 5. Handsomer, too, in Duck's estimation.

TOAD:

PUT. THE HAMMERS. DOWN.

No, listen! I'm completely serious! Toad is so good for James in Toad's Adventure. And why wouldn't he be? Toad is good for everyone, but especially James.

He only takes Toad on because he has to have a brake van, but by the end of the ordeal not only does James learn a valuable lesson about how accidents are more easily forgiven than simple neglect, he also has gained such a great amount of respect for Toad that he sets him up to tell the whole story to a rapt switching yard. This is such a cool move by a guy who has gained a reputation for being incredibly Not Cool, especially not to his own rolling stock.

Toad is an interesting pick to me because he's a veritable font of wisdom and practical advice, and James is great at taking that sort of knowledge to the next logical conclusion. James the Critical Thinking Engine. Toad would be indispensable for him to have around consistently but he also never poses the kind of threat to James's ego that another engine might. Toad can also stick up for himself when it matters, so you won't see him rolling over if his engine starts to mistreat him. Maybe not the best for shipping, but it's a relationship dynamic I really like.

Thanks for the ask!

[tavina-writes]

When will we ever get something like yanxi palace and story of ming lan, the fact that they were allowed to take revenge on the people who caused the death of the women they loved most, there was no "revenge is bad" or "we're better than this" no. Ming lan schemed and planned so meticulously and ying luo when she found out Erqing played a role in the empress death she brought her in front of her portrait and strangled her to death without fear or hesitation. Dramas nowadays would get cut and censored to hell if they did anything close to that. I want my complicated badass smart women back, I'm so tired of shows trying to convince me very hard the leads are smart by having people say it again and again when the actual writing doesn't show it...

I feel your pain on this "the leads are very smart because people keep saying they're smart" nonny. I, too, sometimes question why it is that that happens, but I'm not entirely certain its only censorship at play!

I've been rotating this for a while now since I still haven't found anything that strikes me as hard as Yanxi/Minglan/Ruyi in the years since then, especially since I love political dramas with cool female leads and I'm always on the hunt for new ones. I think the Yanxi-Minglan years were a real treat for us tbh. I don't know that things are necessarily more watered down now solely because of censorship exactly, because we've always had to work around censorship. Yanxi famously cut Yingning's storyline as well as Chenbi's Korean costuming just to get by the censors, which is also why the back half of Yanxi lost like, 10? or so episodes? and we lost some supposedly STUNNING scenes in there because of those cuts to get past censors. (There are photographs that I drool over about the cut plotlines every now and again while shaking my fist at the sky.) Minglan was originally 80 episodes long instead of seventy-three. I'm not entirely certain what they cut from there, but there is a rumored director's edition with 80 episodes that I haven't been able to get my hands on that's apparently also very good so it's not like Minglan escaped the censorship cuts either.

However, like, I think stories like Yanxi and Minglan are so rare because it is very difficult to get the whole package together -- the actors, the costuming, the sets, the screenwriters, the directors, the ost, the editing, the air dates, the audience interest, the companies investing money and budget into a production, and yes, the production clearing the censorship hurdle. In my ~15 years or so of watching cdrama, I'd say that the Yanxi-Minglan years were still some of my all time highs when it comes to cdramas that really grabbed me and it's because for these productions so much of this came together. It's always vastly easier for a writer to say "this character is very smart! this character is very smart and other people know it!" rather than showing that the character is smart or setting up a plotline where the character is smart and getting the payoff back from that. We see this all the time in every sort of media. Most of it comes down to bad writing and the writers being so afraid of like, actually going for the throat rather than censorship (though of course the censorship doesn't help a writer lose their fear of going for the audience's throat on a plotline or a character moment).

So I think a lot of more recent cdramas that fall into that pit are in there more for bad writing than censorship tbh, and bad writing unfortunately has always existed, and shows that claimed their characters were super smart while also making my eyes bleed also existed prior to and during the Minglan-Yanxi years as well as after. (Looking at you Brocade Heart Like Jade, I still haven't forgiven you for baiting me.)

For the record I've been watching The Side Story of the Fox Volant which came out last year in 2022 recently with @autumnslantern and some of those scenes are dark. We're about 5-6 episodes in right now and it's been really fun and well constructed. This show definitely is not at all holding back with showing bloody deaths, societal troubles, or the implications of the jianghu being a dangerous and often miserable place. So I think that cdramas with smart people and extremely vicious moments do still exist! Or at least they did up to last year.

TLDR: I think it's a combination of "the censorship is obviously not helping" and "stories that good are rare for reasons other than censorship because it's so much harder to tell a good story."

I do feel you though nonny, when will a show like Minglan or Yanxi and a main character like Sheng Minglan or Wei Yingluo EVER COME BACK from the WAR. I WANT.

[saltywithsarcasm]

Posted chapter three of Hair of Gold

Sanji strolls into Nami's office, a tray with a vibrant fruity cocktail in his hand and smiles as he sees her deep in concentration, her brow slightly furrowed over her work.

“Hey, Nami-swan! Thought you could use a little break.” He swoons, setting the drink down on her desk with a casual wink and Nami looks up, her expression softening as she sees the drink.

“Thanks, Sanji.” She says, her tone polite but still carrying a hint of irritation, reminding him of the fight he had with Luffy back on Whole Cake Island. Sanji feels a pang of regret, knowing that his actions back then still weigh on her mind and he's been trying to make things up to both her and Luffy ever since, even giving Luffy more food than usual. Although their captain seems to have already forgiven him, she has not. He hopes that this small gesture might start to mend things between them. “You can go now.”

Sanji stands there, shuffling on his feet and tries to maintain his cool but there's a hint of nervousness in his movements. His eyes flicker around, avoiding direct contact with Nami's and his hands find their way into his pockets, fidgeting slightly.

“Just call for me if you need anything.” Sanji’s usual suave demeanor replaced with an almost desperate eagerness and leans in slightly, a hopeful smile stretching across his face, his voice a bit too enthusiastic. His eyes are wide, almost pleading as if he's trying too hard to get on her good side. His hands still fidgeting nervously, betraying his attempt to appear nonchalant. “I’ll be an earshot away.”

“Mm-hm.” Nami is already ignoring him as she gets back to her charts, her focus completely shifting away from Sanji. This kills him a bit inside; His shoulders slump slightly and the hopeful light in his eyes dims. He stands there for a moment longer, swallowing hard before turning away with a forced smile, trying to mask the sting of her indifference. “Sanji.” He turns on his heel, eager to fulfill whatever request she might have. “Luffy told me you had a panic attack earlier, you okay?”

“Of course, Nami, dear. Don’t worry about me.” Sanji motions to her reassuringly, relieved that even though she’s still clearly mad at him, the fact that she still cares enough to ask means a lot. The navigator, however, looks at him skeptically, one eyebrow raised as she crosses her arms, clearly not buying it just yet. “It was nothing, just…got caught up in my thoughts.”

“About Big Mom or your family?” Sanji hesitates, not wanting to burden Nami with his own problems, knowing she’s got enough on her plate but also knows that she’s persistent and will get the information out of him one way or another.

“I'm worried my family might try something like that again…” Sanji is afraid of Big Mom and he knows the rest of the crew shares that fear but despite that looming threat, he finds comfort in his trust for Luffy. He believes wholeheartedly that their captain will protect them all, no matter how terrifying she is. “And I don't want you guys to get hurt because of me.”

“I doubt your father-I mean, that man will try anything again.” Nami turns in her chair to face him, her expression serious and he forces a smile, doing his best to change the subject.

“So, what's the next island on our route?”

“You know we won’t let them near you again, right?” Sanji's smile falters slightly as he realizes his attempt hasn't worked and deflates a bit, giving a small nod in acknowledgment. “And Vito from Capone's crew offered to send some extra muscle to the Baratie to protect Zeff and his men for you.”

“…Huh?” Sanji tilts his head, trying to place the name then it hits him, Vito is the weird guy who was really infatuated him when he was taken from Zou. “Why would do that? We’re from rival crews.”

They maybe be in shaky alliance with them but it’s nothing like their alliance with Law.

“Don’t know but he was asking if you had vivre card too.” Sanji feels his skin crawl because Vito's interest wasn't even in him as a person but because of his family, family he wants nothing to do with. “It’s a little odd but if him being a fanboy benefits us, I suggest giving him a little attention when we run into their crew again.” Sanji sighs, knowing she's right. Despite his discomfort around the man, the idea of some of Capone's men watching out for Zeff does bring him a small sense of comfort. “But if he starts acting a little too weird, let us know and we’ll get him to back off.”

“Anything for you, my sweet!” Sanji gives a bow to her and freezes for a moment when he feels her hand in his hair, ruffling it approvingly.

“Good boy.” She tells him and Sanji practically gushes, his heart racing with excitement from the praise and slight display of affection after she’s been giving him the cold shoulder recently.

Sanji leaves her to her work, feeling like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and walks away with a spring in his step, heading back to the kitchen to whip something for lunch.

[jennyandvastraflint]

A kiss because the world is saved

RIGHT. This is the kiss prompt ask for @marvellouspinecone. Tumblr wouldn't let me answer the ask directly for some reason :( I'm putting this under the cut so the post isn't SUPER long. I apologise for any typos, I'm running on less than six hours of sleep and have a bad pain day. Also, I listened to a few minutes of Heritage 4 to get into the scene I wanted to write! And of course I added some Strax for youuuu <3 Tysm for the ask! I'm sorry Tumblr is being stupid :(

Jenny took the ink pen - empty now, just a pretty thing to keep in their collection - from Vastra's fingers. The moment she had stopped writing, Vastra's hands had begun to shake. Just slightly, the relief in her heart tangible.

One Hundred Kisses

The Tenebrae were bound, safely back within the ink writing carrying their new myth.

"It's over. We're safe," Jenny reassured her, and Vastra slipped into her warm, comforting embrace.

"That we are, my beautiful girl..." Vastra exhaled and looked up at Jenny. There was a hint of uncertainty in her features, her eyes heavy with pain. Despite all, despite the forgiveness, Jenny embracing all parts of her wife, there was damage she could not undo. For weeks and weeks, Vastra had been governed by the darkest parts of her, cooped up in miserable loneliness, clinging to the ancient myths she had left, her religion. That was... not gone now, but changed. To save her little family, and the planet.

"You have forgiven me so readily, my love..."

"Of course. You just saves the world." Jenny couldn't help but grin, and she pulled Vastra closer, furrowing her brows just slightly at Vastra's slighter frame. While driven by her arrogance, Vastra must have neglected some of her needs. She was slimmer, and weaker too. Perhaps that was the drugs wearing off, though. The withdrawal would hit her hard, but that was a problem for another day. Right now, Jenny was just happy to have her wife back. And if there was a darkness in some part of her mind, Jenny would accept it readily, knowing there were shadows in her as well, shadows she dare not touch or stir for fear of them overwhelming all that was light in her. "We saved the world," Jenny corrected herself.

"We," Vastra agreed, and she shut her eyes.

Jenny ran a hand down her cheek, feeling the scales that were intimately familiar. She kissed Vastra, so tenderly. Lips lingered together for a few more seconds, and Jenny relaxed into Vastra's coolness.

"Hmmm, I have missed this," Jenny hummed.

"As have I... I thought I had lost you for evermore, I..." Vastra looked away. "I love you, dearest Jenny."

"I think I deserve another kiss. I did just save the word with you and Strax..."

A laugh tumbled from Vastra's lips, and she nodded, cupping Jenny's soft rosy cheeks between her hands. "Oh my love, you deserve one hundred kisses and more every moment of the day." Their lips touched, and Jenny pressed her tongue to Vastra's lips, yearning for more, a deeper kiss. Vastra's lips split open almost immediately, and Jenny deepened the kiss. She placed a hand to the back of Vastra's head, scratched her scales just a little, teasing.

As their lips broke apart, Jenny said, "I'll hold you to that promise, just so you know."

Vastra raised an eye ridge, but her expression softened into nothing but pure love and joy in a second. "Well then... I suppose I better get started, darling." She kissed Jenny again, long and deep, and then spread dozens of kisses over Jenny's cheeks and forehead. Jenny started laughing, Vastra's lips - now warm from the nearly unbroken contact to Jenny's warm skin - wandering down her neck, tickling her a little.

A shot tore their perfect moment apart, and Vastra glared at Strax, who had just shot at Vella, knocked her out.

"Was that strictly necessary?" she asked, just slightly irritated by the Sontaran. He only shrugged.

"Madame Vella asked me to shoot her. I, however, disobeyed and merely stunned her."

"Are you warming up to Vella, Strax?" Jenny teased.

Offended by the very notion, Strax scoffed. "PAH! If you two are quite finished, we should clear out these premises and return home."

Jenny stood, and she pulled Vastra up along with her.

"Strax, would you be so kind as to carry Vella," Vastra instructed, at which Strax only grumbled more.

"Only if I am allowed to let her head bump against every doorframe we encounter." He cackled to himself and lifted Vella in his arms. The way he held her, though, avoided any doorframes colliding with the other Silurian's head, be it accidental or on purpose. He really had warmed up to her then, the threats no worse than the ones he shouted at the people he valued.

"Let us go home, my love," Vastra said, interlocking her fingers with Jenny's. She carried the heavy book under her other arm.

"Home," Jenny mused, and before Vastra could begin walking, Jenny pulled her down for another kiss.

"One hundred," she declared cheerfully. She had kept count.

[linagram]

a (very late) introduction to linagram!

hi! since the second trial is going to start soon i hope so and also i've noticed some new people following this blog, i thought that it would be a good idea to make a post like this! i think it will be useful for both new people who don't know much about my ocgram, but still want to learn more and people who are following this blog since the first trial, because i've actually never mentioned some of this information before!

(yes i know it would be better if i just added all of this to my pinned. i know. i will leave a link to this post there sjskslsl)

"Why Linagram?" Because this OCgram is named after me! :D And also because I'm bad at coming up with names and titles. Also [2], at first it was just a tag I used for my Milgram OCs before I created this blog, so yeah.

"What about the guards and the prisoners?" This OCgram actually has more than one guard (if you don't count Jackalope as another Canongram guard) and right now there's two guards (last name, first name order): Sanada Eiji and Andou Miki. There's also ten prisoners, just like in canon (same name order): Miyagawa Akio, Hanasaki Aimi, Ishizu Shun, Chiba Naomi, Sanada Kei, Yoshioka Eiko, Yano Asahi, Maruyama Yurika, Kuroki Riku and Himura Reina. After the first trial, all prisoners were forgiven except three of them: Akio, Kei and Yurika. 

"Is this OCgram connected to Canongram?" It kinda is and it kinda isn't. It shares a lot of things with Canongram, like music videos, ten prisoners, also some prisoners share things like personality traits, backstory details, etc with the canon prisoners, but it's also very different from Canongram: more than one guard has to participate in the voting process, Jackalope almost never appears (though he will appear very soon) and doesn't really play an important role (he wasn't even there to explain how everything works) and also both guards are related to the prisoners. You have probably already noticed that Eiji shares a last name with one of the prisoners and that's his brother. Miki is related to one of the prisoners as well. I imagine that this OCgram takes place a few years before Canongram, but I'm not sure how many. Also, a lot of the MVs often have scenes that look like they're actually happening from someone else's POV, like a victim or a side character's and not just the prisoner's. Most of the time it's just done to make the MVs more interesting, but you can interpret it as the victims/side characters trying to help you/the guards figure out what actually happened, if you want! The victims play a big role here in general, since the guilty prisoners can not only hear the voices judging them, but they can hear their own victims' voices or even see them too. Maybe Milgram is the victims' new home too.

"Is this OCgram connected to the light novel?" I admit, I was kinda inspired to do the whole "haha what if the guards were actually the prisoners' siblings" thing because of the novel's plot twist (even though it wasn't the exact same thing) (and also because i just thought it would be a cool concept, like wow, your sibling is one of the prisoners now. what are you gonna do), but nope, this OCgram isn't really connected to it.

"How does the voting process work?" Both guards have to talk about everyone's crimes and watch the MVs together. After that, they have to decide if they will forgive them or not. However, Eiji and Miki's morals and personalities are very different: Eiji thinks all of them deserve to die for their sins and Miki wants to forgive them. So yeah, they have to somehow convince each other that their opinion is the only right one. After that, they both have to vote them innocent or guilty.

"How will the second trial go?" I will post both pre-T2 voice dramas first, then I will post the album covers (+ song titles and preview lyrics), everyone's T2 profiles and then I will start posting their voice dramas which will also include their MV descriptions and polls. You can vote them innocent or guilty based on literally anything: their crime, their personality, their design, etc. Metavoting is fine too though it doesn't mean that everything will go exactly as you planned, hehe. After each prisoner pair's voice dramas get posted, I will write their interrogations as well (for example, if Akio and Aimi's VDs were posted, that means I will also post their interrogation soon).

"Can we send questions for the interrogations?" Yes! And you can also simply ask them questions even if it's not for the interrogations, like, if you just want to learn more about them or talk to them, haha. You can interact with them too if you have Milgram OCs as well :] And yes, you can send questions and interactions for the guards too!  

"Do you already know what you're gonna do for the third trial? Are all prisoners actually dead and we have to decide if they should go to Heaven or Hell? Is this all just an experiment? Do you have something completely different in mind?" I know that it's still only the second season of Canongram and it would probably be better for me to wait for the third season and maybe I will do that, but also I just kinda decided to go wild and do something original :D I already have some ideas for the third trial and the "big reveal", but don't be surprised if it turns out to be completely different from canon! 

"Does your OCgram include any triggering topics?" Since this is Milgram, yeah, death and murder is like, the whole thing, but just to be safe, here are all the warnings (i suck at these, so i'm sorry if some of them sound like i'm not being serious or something, I JUST HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DESCRIBE THEM): bullying, self-harm, suicide, physical and emotional abuse, toxic relationships in general (platonic, romantic, etc), sexual themes (nothing too nsfw and nothing like that gets actually shown or described in detail, but it's there just so you know sjsjksks), characters get beaten up and injured in different ways (especially now that it's season 2), one of the guards is obsessed with punishing everyone so yeah, he's gonna say and do a lot of scary things, one of the murder victims was literally ten years old, derealization/depersonalization, hallucinations, literally all of them (including the guards) need therapy, like i'm sure all of them have at least one undiagnosed mental illness, stalking, harassment, some murders were very brutal, some future MVs will have elements of body horror and gore, but nothing too scary or detailed. If you find anything potentially triggering that I haven't mentioned here, please let me know! 

Hopefully, this explains how this OCgram works! If you have any questions, feel free to send them!

[yukidragon]

Is there any picture of Alice’s family? It would be cool to see them or doodle an idea what they look like :0

Sadly, I haven't been able to draw for a while now due to health reasons, and it might be a while longer before I can again. (Don't worry, it's nothing serious.) A friend of mine offered to draw the oldest three King girls for me though, which is super sweet of her.

I have made picrews of some of the family members to serve as a general idea to work from when I do eventually draw them. It's what I did before drawing Alice's concept sheet too. I find picrews to a good place to consider character appearance in broad strokes.

I'll share some of those picrews with you all if you're curious about my current general ideas. Remember, their designs (and some of their names) aren't completely set in stone yet, as I still need to draw them when I can. This just helps me better get a picture in my mind of what they look like.

As a heads up, each individual picrew can be pretty limited in its options. Sometimes skin tone, eye color, hair type, etc. just won't match with the look I'm going for. These are just the picrews that come closest to what I have in mind right now.

First up is Mama King, who I'm considering naming Lycoris or Lily.

Picrew

Soft, sweet, cuddly, short of stature but big of heart, Mama King absolutely loves her family more than anything else in the world. There's nothing she won't do to protect them and what they love.

Mama King is not only a great mother, but she's also fantastic at growing plants and has won many awards over the years. This is what led to a pretty good business online selling flowers that have been made into charming jewelry and other forms of art by her creative and loving spouse.

The family home has a decent sized plot of land to allow Mama to grow as many plants as she likes. Her gardens are truly a sight to behold, and her one of a kind flowers are to die for.

As you might have guessed, Alice has gotten a few features from her mom, such as her height, curly hair, and her wonderfully soft and cuddly hugs. The coloration, however, was something she inherited from her Papa.

Picrew

I'm still trying to decide on Papa King's name, but I've got a pretty solid idea of what he looks like. Tall, slender, and pale, this proud papa stands out in a crowd, though sometimes under some shade with sunscreen and shades on if it's someplace out in the sunlight. Sadly, being albino means you're more prone to sunburns, and his eyes are more sensitive than most. The picrew can't really give what I have in mind justice, but their eyes are a mixture of pale blue and red due to the lack of pigment.

Papa King is a sensitive soul who loves creating stylish trinkets and jewelry. He struggles with conflict, so their wife is his knight in shining armor much of the time, and that's one of the reasons why they fell in love with her. He also loves their wonderful children, as well as all the cats and dogs the family own. Though quite the homebody, his life is very full with such a busy house and their creative projects, as well as running the business he owns with their wife.

The oldest child of the King family probably doesn't really need an introduction. I mean, I drew Alice and mentioned her on this tumblr plenty of times before. Still, it feels sad to leave her out, so here's a picrew of her and Jack holding hands and dressed for a date.

Picrew

Why yes I'm shameless about my OTP. Welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy the sweet vanilla and spice.

Eventually I'll make a post with the picrews that I used to help me make Alice's concept sheet, but that's for another time. Now onto the next child in this big, happy family.

Picrew

The second oldest was named Barbara Anne, but you'd be forgiven for not knowing that, as everyone calls her Barbie, with her siblings sometimes just calling her Bar. (Alice was the one who first started using that particular nickname when they were very little and it just stuck around.)

Barbie is practically the opposite of her sweet and doting parents. She's a prickly, snarky, and sarcastic misanthrope who prefers animals and 2D characters to humans. Her personality and large stature are usually enough to ward people off. She's taken after her dad with her height and her mom with having a larger frame. Though she's a nerdy otaku, if she hits you, it's going to hurt.

Barbie isn't shy to let people know to back off and leave her alone, quick to deliver barbs and tease others mercilessly if they don't buzz off. Still, like any true tsundere, get past her prickly exterior and there's a softer side that's full of genuine love and affection waiting underneath. The only people she cares about currently are her family and the few friends she made online... and eventually a suitor who is going to need to be a good boy and heel at her command if he wants a chance of making puppies with her.

The most striking thing about Barbie is her eyes. She has central heterochromia, which means both of her eyes are a mixture of brown and blue, not unlike how Papa King's are a mixture of red and blue. She practically lives in t-shirts and sweatpants, which often are themed around anime and games she likes, or offensive snark. Her hair is always a mess, and she keeps it cropped short most of the time so that she doesn't have to bother with it.

Barbie is good with computers and isn't above a little hacking or trolling. Though she's moved out of the King house, she's doing just fine in her own apartment, making money by scamming crypto scammers and the like, among other more legitimate and actually legal jobs.

Don't tell anyone about her secret double life as a streamer with a cutesy anime waifu virtual avatar. She'll make your life hell if you do.

Picrew

Next up is Coraline. I already made a post talking about her and showing off a few of her picrews, so I'll just lightly touch on what I have in mind for her design. She's average height (making her a little taller than big sis Alice), with brown eyes, looks very sickly, and while most of her very curly hair is brown, it lacks some pigment in places. She still lives at home due to her health, and every morning Mama braids her hair up nice and neat, only for it to eventually come increasingly undone and messy by the end of the day. She favors comfortable clothes like sweaters and sweatpants.

The most signature piece of Coraline's look is her pendant. I've actually mentioned the pendant before in a previous post... or at least Alice's version of the pendant and the fact that each King child got one when they were born.

Mama King proposed to Papa with a bouquet of blue roses that she grew specially for them . Blue roses are said to be an impossible flower naturally, very rare, and growing them was her way of showing that she loved him enough to do the impossible for them. Papa preserved each one of the flowers in resin and whenever they're expecting a child, he crafts one into a custom necklace for the child, which is engraved with the baby's name and the date of their birth after they're born.

As an aside, if one of the kids ever wanted to change their name for whatever reason, Papa would be more than happy to alter the inscription to their new name.

The rest of the kids are vague as of the moment, but I know there are at least 4 more of them. They'll be fleshed out eventually over time, along with the pets and any other details about this happy family.

I hope you liked what I've got to share with you so far about the King family, and thanks for showing interest in them. I'm always happy to know that people enjoy my OCs. 💖

@channydraws @earthgirlaesthetic @sai-of-the-7-stars @cheriihoney @illary-kore @okamiliqueur