#I assume one of them is the woman that was zoomed in at the end?

[ikeameatballspoisonedme]

BobbyBroccoli is genuinely the best video essayist on YouTube hands down. If I live in the US I would've ran to subscribe to Nebula

[leaderwonim]

WHAT’S YOUR ETA ?!

pairing. exbf’s best friend!heeseung x fem!reader

summary. although heeseung’s always believed in bro code, he can’t help but call you when he sees your boyfriend, park sunghoon, cheat on you with some girl at a party. don’t worry though, heeseung can prove he’s much better than sunghoon.

“Hey! Y/N?” The voice of Lee Heeseung comes through your phone, his camera shaky and pointed at the ground which was covered in what you can only assume is confetti.

“Heeseung?” You say quietly, rubbing your eyes as you sat up from your bed. “Don’t you have a performance later?”

“I cannot believe this,” you recognize the voice of Park Jongseong, who recently became close friends with you after discovering you both liked cooking.

“Isn’t that your boyfriend?” Heeseung moves the camera view from the floor towards the pool of a house you don’t know, zooming into what looks like your boyfriend, Park Sunghoon, talking to another girl.

“Hurry up and get over to Lia’s house!” Jongseong says, eyebrows furrowed. “Oh my God—look at them.”

When the camera finally clears, you realize it’s Yuna standing next to your boyfriend, touching and grazing his arms while he smiles down at her.

Unable to handle it any longer, you practically jump up from the bed, running into your bathroom with your phone in hand.

“Hey, me and Jongseong have to perform,” Heeseung speaks up. “We’ll call you back!”

Heeseung hangs up the FaceTime, and you want to slam your head against your mirror when the sleepiness wears off and you let what you just saw sink into your brain.

“It’s always the girl that he tells you not to worry about,” you say grumpily, brushing your teeth so harshly that the toothbrush practically falls out of your mouth.

By the time Heeseung and Jongseong finish their performance, the crowd was cheering like crazy, but they were both too concerned as to where you were to care.

“Hey Hee!”

The voice of Park Sunghoon almost makes the two boys fall back first into the pool, but luckily Jongseong gripped the back of Heeseung’s shirt tightly so they wouldn’t trip.

“What’s up?” Heeseung chuckles nervously, eyes wandering around to see if Yuna was hanging around nearby.

He knew Park Sunghoon all too well to know that he was most likely going to take Yuna to his house after Lia’s party. Sunghoon was his best friend, but that doesn’t automatically mean Sunghoon was a good person.

“Your performance was killer, man.” Sunghoon pats Heeseung’s back, “you too Jongseong, the way you dance was just flawless.”

“Mhm.” Jongseong tries his best to smile at Sunghoon, which didn’t work because it looks like he was constipated.

“Okay.” Sunghoon awkwardly smiles, patting Heeseung’s back one more time before descending back into the crowd.

“What was that?” Heeseung says, laughing so hard he has to clutch his stomach. “Your eyes were twitching and you looked like you’re gonna poop!”

“Shut up!” Jongseong pushes the older boy back in annoyance. “I didn’t want to speak with that cheater, Y/N’s my friend.”

It was as if Jongseong’s mention of your name spawned you to the party because there you were, walking up to them with the angriest look a woman could have.

“Where is he?” You say, scanning the crowd with a glare.

“Whoa there,” Heeseung places both his hands on your shoulders, “do you really want to do this here? I don’t want Sunghoon to embarrass you.”

“Who says I’m going to end it?” You say, challenging the two boys who’s jaws practically drop to the ground.

“What? Cmon! He’s real bad Y/N, just end it.” Jongseong begs.

“He’s right,” Heeseung says, bambi eyes dosing down at you. “Don’t indulge him.”

“Promise me you’ll pop his tires with me if he embarrasses me?” You ask Jongseong, who automatically nods as he lets out a small giggle.

“Popping his tires and keying his car.”

“Okay,” you take a deep breath. “I’ll do it.”

You spot Park Sunghoon easily now, it wasn’t so hard when Shin Yuna was all up on him.

“Sunghoon!” You yell, which attracts the bystanders nearby. “You cheating bitch!”

Sunghoon’s expression quickly turns into panic, his face converted into a nervous fit of giggles that past you would’ve found endearing and cute.

“What on earth are you talking about?” He chuckles, grabbing your arm as he smiles at bystanders. “Can we not do this here?”

“Oh we’re doing this here.” You elbow him in the stomach, which works because he groans and loses the grip he had on your arm. “We’re done, over. I’ll mail your shit to you so I don’t have to see you ever again. And if you try to come back, I’ll make sure to have Heeseung beat your ass.”

Sunghoon’s eyebrows furrow and his expression darkens. “Heeseung? Why would my best friend beat my ass for you?”

“Oh, you don’t know?” You grin. “He was the one who told me you were cozying up with Shin Yuna you bastard!”

“Okay—that’s enough,” Yuna steps in, which only fuels your anger even more.

“You’re so lucky I don’t believe in violence.” You spit out at both of them in disgust.

“Oh please, you wouldn’t dare to hit me.”

“But I would.” Sunghoon has no time to react to Heeseung’s words because his face was already met with the older boy’s fist, making him collide with the floor.

“Holy shit!”

“Sunghoon!”

While Yuna’s busy helping Sunghoon off the ground, Jongseong grabs both you and Heeseung, running towards Lia’s backyard door.

“That was fucking amazing.” Jongseong breathes out. “You punched your best friend.”

“Yeah,” Heeseung sucks in a breath when he realizes it’s starting to bruise. “He’s definitely gonna kill me.”

“Not if I kill him first,” you mumble, carefully grabbing ahold of Heeseung’s hand. “We’re gonna need to bandage your hand. Come to my house.”

Jongseong watches with a smirk as you still hold onto Heeseung’s hand. He walks behind the two of you, happy that you were finally with someone better than Sunghoon.

“This has happened more than once, hasn’t it?” You say, frowning as you patted Heeseung’s bruising hand with ointment.

“I saw it before but you weren’t there,” Heeseung says, sucking in his breath. “I didn’t want to believe Sunghoon was cheating on you so I waited to see if he was gonna do it again. And he did.”

“What an asshole,” Jongseong adds in. “I’m gonna key his daddy’s money Mercedes Benz.”

The three of you laugh, the sadness of the situation wearing down slowly.

“Thanks for telling me Hee,” you say, finally making eye contact with him. “I know you guys were friends for a while.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I won’t do what’s right.” Heeseung sighs. “Remember when you couldn’t come to Jongseong’s birthday because he wanted you to help him with economics homework?”

Jongseong lets out a gasp. “Oh my gosh, now that Heeseung’s mentioned it, you did miss my birthday because of that fucker!”

“And remember when I got into trouble? He ditched me even though I’m the closest friend he has.” Heeseung chuckles bitterly. “Or when I got broken up with and Sunghoon told you not to comfort me because it wasn’t your place.”

“I now realize how much power he had over me,” you say, lips curving into the saddest frown Heeseung’s ever seen.

“Hey—it’s okay.” He reassures you. “You were being manipulated by him, it’s not your fault.”

“It’s really not!” Jongseong yells from the living room.

You two roll your eyes at his small commentary, and when you lock eyes again, Heeseung can’t help but break into a smile, admiring how beautiful you looked.

“You deserve better.” Heeseung says breathily.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” His eyes trail down to your lips before looking up at you with those brown bambi eyes again. “You deserve better like me.”

Heeseung doesn’t have to say it twice before you’re crashing your lips onto his, the shriek of Park Jongseong and a cup breaking goes unnoticed by the two of you.

[luvrlou]

What Happens in Mykonos Stays in Mykonos

Pairing: Wroetoshaw x fem!reader

Warnings: Swearing, Drinking

Summary: After a drunken night of clubbing Harry and Y/N exchange some intoxicated words.

A/N: Heart eyes for Harry

Word Count: 1.8k

"Harry and Cal are sleeping, and Y/N is watching a movie, I think?" Callum told his camera, this made me look up.

"I'm seeing how close we are to landing," I replied, Callum zooming his camera into me. "We're landing in about an hour and a half."

The man nodded, "we should probably wake up the boys, they'll want drinks before we get off." I agreed, going to wake up the boy on my left, Cal.

"Fuck off Callum!" He groaned, coming to his senses, "oh, hey Y/N!" He smiled seeing it was me waking up.

"Hello Cal," I replied.

"Here, what's this!" He chirped, looking at the drink on my table, "a cheeky malibu and pineapple juice, interesting." He observed, reaching to take a drink.

"Woah there! That's mine!" I replied, grabbing the cup before he could. I swiftly downed the drink, before muttering a snarky, get your own to the lanky boy.

I looked over to the end of the row to see Harry groggily talking to Callum. The plane was separated into rows of four, an aisle splitting them in half. I sat in the window seat, Cal in the seat next to me, Harry and Callum sat in the other side.

Before we knew it the flight attendant was back to cruising up and down the aisle with the drinks trolley. When she reached our row we all gave her a list of drinks, a Guinness for Callum, Malibu and pineapple juice for me, white wine for Cal and a vodka coke for Harry.

Since we were at the back of the plane the woman seemed to have all the time in the world, she handed the boys their drinks. While she handed me mine she spoke, "so what one of these lucky boys is your boyfriend?"

The question caused me to laugh, "none of them, I'm just an old friend!'

"Really?" She seemed extremely shocked by my answer, "I mean you're gorgeous how could they not be all over you!" Her comment made Callum laugh while Harry reddened.

"Awk thank you!" I smiled back at the attendant. She smiled back before walking back up the aisle.

"Did you see Harry's face!" Cal cackled, looking at the embarrassed boy at the end of the row.

"Shut up Cal!" He shouted back, sipping his vodka-infused drink. His clear irritation made me, Cal and Callum laugh between ourselves.

We spent the remaining hour or so on our phones, sparing a few words between the four of us every few minutes.

"This is your captain speaking, we will be touching the ground in about fifteen minutes, the weather is lovely so the landing should be smooth." The strong Scottish accent, which belonged to the captain, boomed over the speakers that lined the sides of the aircraft.

Much to my surprise, getting through the airport was extremely fast, I'm assuming everyone was in need of a cocktail. Luckily our villas were about twenty minutes in a taxi.

"Okay, who wants what villa?" Cal said, as we all arrived in front of the two villas.

"I call dibs on this one!" I shouted, running up to the door of the one on the left, "I saw on Booking.com that this one had a hot tub in it!"

"Oh yeah! I want that!" Callum exclaimed, joining me at the door.

"Okay, Harry and I will take this one," Cal concluded, walking towards the one on the right, Harry following.

Callum and I chose our rooms, despite them being almost exact parallels to each other. Mine had a king-sized bed with white and dark blue bed sheets, and a bathroom attached. It also had a large mirrored wardrobe and a small balcony with a deck chair.

"Y/N! Callum! We're going out soon!" Harry's voice echoed up through the white bricked stairwell.

I could hear Callum run downstairs, "I'll be like twenty minutes!" I shouted down.

I went over to my case looking for something nice to wear, I was thinking of a summer dress of some sort since I've been sweating buckets since I got here. I rummaged through my case, picking out a white lacy dress. I put it on and coated my eyelashes with some mascara and slipped my feet into a pair of wedge sandles.

"Coming!" I yelled as I approached the top of the stairs.

I jogged down the stairs, when I reached the boys they had just finished their cans of beer. "You look lovely Y/N," Harry commented as they all stood up.

"Aw thanks, Harry!" I gushed at the boy in front of me. "Right let us go! I need to get pished!" My statement received cheers from the boys.

We all ventured out of the villa complex and found a club which was about five minutes away. "What does everyone want to drink?" Callum asked.

"A piña colada please," I asked, the boys all asked for one too, sending Callum on his way. "I needed this getaway." I stated.

"Same, London is getting too stressful these days," Cal replied, causing Harry to hum in reply.

We all grinned thirstily when Callum came back with four piña coladas, we all grabbed one.

"To Mykonos, and Harry for suggesting this holiday!" Cal cheered lifting his cocktail. We all clinked glasses and took a sip out of them.

About four cocktails later we got up to leave, I could tell that Harry and Cal were on the tipsy side, surprisingly Callum and I were more on the sober side.

At the next club Cal immediately got up to get tequila shots from the bar, Callum's face was full of regret. "Getting flashbacks to the last time we did shots?" I laughed.

"Fuck off Y/N!" He groaned.

"Shots!" Cal bellowed, returning to the table with a tray of sixteen shots on it.

We all took four each and sat them in front of us. "Last to finish them buys the next round!" I challenged, picking up one of the shots.

I downed mine quickly, taking the next one as soon as the liquid slipped down my throat. "Harry! Drinks are on you!" Callum laughed, pushing him towards the bar.

"We'll all have margaritas, make sure they have limes on them!" Cal ordered.

When Harry returned we all started to drink our margaritas, "Y/N, what are the odds, out of ten, that you'll do body shots off of Harry!" Cal asked.

Harry's complexion instantly grew rosy, "okay." I agreed, waiting for Callum to count us in.

"3.. 2.. 1.." He counted.

"7!" We both shouted.

"Yes!" Cal and Callum shouted in unison, high-fiving each other. "We'll go get salt and a lime!"

"Are you okay with this Harry?" I asked the blonde boy next to me.

"Yeah," he hummed, "it's all a bit of fun, yeah."

When the boys returned they had massive smiles on their faces, Callum with a tub of salt, and Cal with a lime and a tequila shot. "Come here Harry," Callum said to the red-faced boy.

Callum dipped his finger in his margarita and put some salt on it, rubbing the salt and sticking it to Harry's neck. Cal handed him the lime and sat the shot on the table.

"Have fun Y/N!" Cal drunkenly giggled. I made eye contact with the boy and went to lick the salt off his neck. I downed the shot, receiving whistles and cheers from the two boys. Lastly, I took the lime from Harry's mouth.

"Look at Harry!" Callum yelled, making me burst out laughing and remove the lime from my mouth.

"Sorry, Harry," I smiled softly, kissing his cheek chastely.

We got one last round of shots, this time they were Sambuca shots. "Come on, I need some chips," I announced. The boys all hummed i agreement.

Luckily, there was a street food shop down the street from the club we were sitting in.

"Excuse me," Harry asked the man who as behind the counter, "do you guys do just chips?"

"Yes." The man answered.

"Can we have four portions, please," He asked, the man nodded in return.

"Where's Freezy?" I asked, looking for my lanky companion.

As if on cue the blonde boy entered the restaurant, a bottle of white wine in his hand, making me grin wildly.

"God bless you Cal Freezy!" I beam, running over to him, stumbling drunkenly. He handed me the bottle letting me take a swig before snatching it back.

Cal and I sat up at the high window tables, swapping the wine between us, waiting for Callum and Harry to arrive with the chips.

When they came over they chucked the styrofoam boxes of chips down on the table and flung themselves onto the chairs. I smiled when I felt Harry drop his head onto my shoulder.

"You can have the last of the wine," Cal mumbled, handing me the bottle. I quickly downed it before digging into my chips.

"Are we going to head back to the villas after this?" Callum inquired, finishing his chips.

"Nah, I want to stay out!" I argued back.

"I'm going back after," Cal stated, clearly having had too much to drink.

"I'll stay out Y/N!" Harry answered, which made me cheer with happiness and embrace him tightly.

After eating we went our separate ways, Callum and Cal went back to the villa complex. Harry and I went further into the area we were staying, looking for yet another club.

After about 10 minutes of walking, we came across another brightly lit nightclub, we both entered, going straight up to the bar. I ordered a pink gin and Harry ordered a vodka and lemonade.

After drinking both of our drinks we got onto the dance floor. Wrapping my arms around his neck we swayed together to the music, one of his arms draped over my waist.

"You look beautiful tonight Y/N," he mumbled, his face extremely close to mine.

I could feel his hot breath fan over my face. "You're just saying that because you're drunk." I whispered.

"No Y/N, I've always thought this, I think I'm falling in love with you," his drunken voice raved.

I was speechless, the only thing I could think to do was kiss his soft lips. Our mouths tasted of straight alcohol as they fought against each other. When we leaned back he sent me a goofy smile.

"I think I'm falling in love with you too."

"Let's take this back to the villa, yeah?" He asked, leading me off the dance floor.

"Fuck yeah!" I giggled following him out of the venue.

"What.. the.. fuck." Cal's shocked voice echoed through the now lit-up room, I looked up and around the room. It was Harry's room, the flashbacks from the night before started to fill my once hazy memory.

"Oh shit!" I shrieked, waking up Harry, who had an equally shocked expression.

"Fucking hell! Callum will love this!" Cal burst out laughing, cackling as he left the room.

[grellestie]

a piece made for a fic that does not exist <3

(tw blood)

BUT here's a bloodless version for the gang who don't likeda blood (i understand)

just pretend like i gave her the glasses chain whoopsie

(zoom to see more of my mistakes!)

and as always

below the cut is the fic i never actually made and the version WITH blood.

now the anti-blood people are gone, let get into it-

here's the excerpt i made up;

Nightlife isn't exactly for everyone... However this cute bar attempted to make itself welcoming to anyone visiting. It was surprisingly large yet only appealed to the militant populous more than any regular guest. As long as you served time, you were welcome and most likely could see old friends of old. But even then, normal patrons can definitely have a good experience too! What the bar was most known for was its' gardens. They prided themselves on their pure white roses along with other flowers. They were never a tint red, yellow, or what have you. Not to mention, what was obvious to any botanist worth their salt, how healthy and vibrant they really were. The bar was always worth going to even if you didn't have anyone to experience it with, the atmosphere, the loving air, and people around you created the experience for you. Even despite the times of the unexplained deaths, it was able to sit as a community and be something that felt safe no matter how many more bodies dropped and met their unfortunate end. Even after the bar is long destroyed, it'll be something to truly remember...

However, this night wasn't something meant to be remembered... At least that's what he thought. Just another night to be free and maybe find a beautiful lady to take home! But that's just a little too ahead of himself. He needed to find one he got on with first. His eyes glanced around the room until he saw two beautiful women talking with each other. The first one was a gorgeous blonde, her makeup was a little smudged but hey! It's a bar! The other was a little bit more... mysterious. He couldn't see her face which was a shame but he could perhaps fill in the blanks when it comes to just knowing someone with such striking crimson locks could be just as beautiful if not more than the other.

As he was about to start attempting to flirt with them, the blonde got up first and then the other followed. The redhead seemed to take some time before heading right behind the other woman, however. Her shifty looks around didn't really make her look so innocent. She didn't seem to fit in with the bar at all. It was more casual yet she was dressed up. Her steps seemed so quiet and unloving compared to the loud and warm sounds of the bar. Something just didn't seem right at all... Nobody seemed to notice what had happened except for the man. He decided that maybe he should be the one to check on them. If it's nothing, he can blow it off like it was just for a smoke break.

The walk towards the garden was... extremely off. The echoes of people celebrating were dissipating as he walked away yet they only felt like a distant memory. His shoes clicked as he walked and the sound was deafening, almost more than the growing silence This was just a normal thing right? Maybe the murders were just becoming more and more on his mind and he was overthinking it... Maybe he is just being paranoid. He decided to linger outside the door before opening it.

...

...

...

There was a slight yelp- Not a scream but definitely the sound of someone caught off guard. Without any hesitation, he opened the door. He wanted to run and see what happened but he kept a steady pace instead. He saw what he assumed was a body but it didn't look right, it just looked to be a large pool of blood. The blood splatted onto the perfect white roses, painting them a depressing red to mark as a reminder to what had happened. It was almost satire of a murder scene. He looked up to the woman with red hair attempting to clean the blood off of her glasses. She was completely soaked in blood and seemed somewhat shaken. Poor thing... Seeing such a safe and secure place be still subject to something so horrible must have been hard for her... Which he what he wanted to think until his eyes met with hers. Her chartreuse eyes were so... unforgiving yet dreadfully cheerful. She kept looking and didn't really... seem to grasp what she was looking at until he cleared his throat. She smiled entirely insincerely and he couldn't help but keep staring. He needed to break the awkward silence

The woman's voice seemed to be pretending to be calm. Yet her shock wasn't one of someone who saw someone just die. He wanted to run away and get help but he couldn't help to stay.

"Are... you alright...?"

"Oh! Never better."

"What... What happened? There was a woman with you and she's... there." He crudely pointed. "Were you two attacked... Why would this murderer only go for her and not you...? Come to think... I only saw you follow her over here..."

That last sentence would have sent any killer over the edge, he thinks, yet the woman seemed to keep her composure despite being clearly upset, said by her body language.

"Hm~ Aren't you a smart one? Well... I'll explain everything if you help me back to my room. How's that sound?"

and there u go!

(zoom for worse quality! and reblogs are always appreciated more than likes but hey! i'll take what i can get in this economy!)

also dumb comic bc im not immune to the funnies (based on a "life is deranged" strip);

okie bye bye now <3

[dumborangecat]

Fionna and Cake predictions!! !SPOILERS!

(these are heavily based on parts 1 & 2 of my analysis, and reference them frequently so they might not make sense without reading it) (they also may contradict eachother as i have multiple different ideas for what may happen)

Just realised i accidently became the very thing i hated, and called something an ‘analysis’ while most of it is just going over the plot, please take this as a token of apology

1. The vampire universe.

Based on the images we get and the order they come in for the trailer, my guess is that when Simon and the gang arrive in vamp world they get jumped by a group of vampires. Based on the fact we seem to see them in a different place later without any convinient new travel companions it’s likely they make it out without help.

I have 2 ideas for the canon that we see pointed at Simon Fionna and Cake (SFC since i’m too lazy to keep typing all that)

- The canon is manned by a vampire and shoots out either more vamps or maybe even marceline herself. The image we see of her zooming through the air she’s in a very ‘aerodynamic’ pose, with her arms right to her sides and knees entirely unbent, the same pose one would be in if they’d just been shot out of a canon, while the other vampires are very spread out, looking more like cats when they lunge at their prey. This would also explain Simons shock and concern compared to F&C’s more tame ‘oh there’s a canon now’ type look. It would be pretty shocking to see basically your daughter about to be shot out of a canon, directly towards you.

- The canon actually shoots out the garlic bombs we see go off later. This theory also means i’ts likely manned by (probably) Huntress wizard we see later (presumably) shooting at either SFC or the vampires. I think she likely does this because she’s never seen these people before and assumes their either vampires, or just some other threat. This still explains simons shock (sort of) as it’s not everyday you see a garlic bomb canon, and he’s smart enough to realise that probably means their mistaken for a vamp, while fionna and cake have never seen a garlic bomb before and would just be confused.

If if is marcilene coming out of there, that probably won’t go over well when she realises that it’s simon she’s being shot at. We don’t see her simon in the trailer or intro yet, but based on the fact that she’s likely evil here, it’s safe to assume he’s no longer around to teach her proper morals and such. Whether he died, left her, or something else happened, we don’t know yet. But based on which of these 3 happened she’ll have a very different reaction to see simon now. It’s also possible that the crown just made him crazy way earlier, meaning he didn’t have as much time to like, ensure she doesn’t go evil by teacher her stuff like ‘vandalism is bad’ n stuff. If that is true, i think her hearing that there’s a simon out there who isn’t corrupted by the crown but is activly trying to be would royally piss her off.

We only really get shots of (probably) the middle/start of the episode, so there isn’t many clues to the ending but i have a few ideas. (Hopefully) seeing marcy again and likely getting reminded of how the crown hurt her before, would at the very least begin planting the seeds of doubt in Simon’s mind about the crown and if he won’t give it up for himself, he’ll consider giving it up to avoid hurting his friends n family back in ooo. Overall i’m super excited for that episode and the more in-depth look into simon and marcy’s relationship it’ll hopefully give.

2. Weird desert world thing!

Starting off we know this is set post-vampire world because the entire time Fionna is wearing this new green jacket (that honestly reminds me of Magic-woman-betty’s jacket but could just be a coincidence) that she doesn’t have in vamp world.

We get quite a few less shots of this episode sadly, so there’s less to work with, but i do have some thoughts,

Every single image we have in this desert place only has either Fionna, Cake, or BMO. Absolutely no Simon. leading me to believe somethings happened either to him or all 3 of them causing them to be seperated. What? I’m not sure, it’s possible he was captured by the scarab which would by an interesting route to go and (if people are correct about her being scarab’s boss) coukd even lead into Golbetty apearing, or there could just be a mix up and someone in the workd kidnapped him or smth. Either way it looks like he’s MIA for now.

BMO seems to be super importsnt this episode, getting a sort of dramatic-ish reveal but more importantly she has Ice kings secret tapes, and seems to be playing them for F&C. F&C seeing the tapes would no doubt change their perception of both Simon and Ice king, hopefuloy having them realise just how horrible possesing the crown was, but also seeing how Ice king wasn’t actually a fun guy who wrote silly little books but someone who was incredibly sad and lonely. This new perception of the two would hopefully lead them into no longer wanting ice king to put on the crown, and instead trying to find a different way to save their world.

It could also show to fionna that magic and adventures aren’t as fun as they first seem, and maybe push her into accepting her ‘mundane’ and ‘boring’ world as a place she actually does love and enjoy and is okay living in.

3. Simon & Betty (flashback)

we only get 4 images of this and they paint a relatively small picture about what actually happens but they paint one nonetheless

Based of these 4 images, it looks as though Simon and Betty are on a date of sorts. Simon also runs to Betty before she catches the bus to the airport for her trip. The date could happen before or after she doesn’t board the bus, but i think it’s after, not only because it’s a dark photo but i just don’t see how it would fit (narrativly) if it happened first. Basically it seem to be a flashback to the day simon and betty first met, fairly simple.

While i can’t come up with any more then that for the flashback, i do think it’s either something we see right before golbetty, or even during golbetty. possibly like a ‘remeber when we first met, and blah blah blah’ type thing to try and get betty to remember being betty (if she doesn’t in her golb form)

That’s all i can think of, i would add a golb section because of all the forshadowing we get but the foreshadowing isn’t enough to tell me what actually happens with golb so i left that out.

I’ll either look really smart or really stupid once fhe next episodes come out and i can’t wait to find out which

[soft-persephone]

Jake Johnson Bonus Facts

Girl dad of two twin girls. The inteview playlist will go into details for you.

He was married his whole acting career!

Very sweet.

He built this log cabin during the pandemic and even did some of his zoom interviews in it.

We now know, I don’t remember if it from an interview with another podcast or on his own, he revealed that the photographers asked him if he wanted to put on shoes first before they started and he said no.

They are in his backyard and he’s one minute away from a pair of shoes, and he said no, for no reason at all.

That’s why we love him. (Or me at least. I can’t actually speak for you guys.)

I forgot three movies for part one, but also, tumblr won’t let me add any more photos to part one, so it’s fine. However, So sorry!

Ceremony

One of the first big movies he’s done. I don’t have all the facts on it, but it does have the earliest release date of most of his movies, so it’s safe to assume.

He’s not the main character, but he does have somewhat of a large role to the plot of the movie.

I’d argue it’s still worth watching!

Lee Pace is in it! As well as Uma Thurman!

It’s about this young guy who’s in love with this married woman and somehow he ends up at their wedding retreat and keeps trying to win her back, but she’s kinda leading him on. . . Or maybe she isn’t and he’s delusional.😏

Maybe it’s trying to be deep, maybe it’s not, but Jake Johnson is funny and he does drunk wacky uncle brother so well.

It’s not as intense as I’m making it sound.

It’s actually a joy with sentimental moments.

And also like watching a car wreck level of drama.

No Strings Attacthed

Mid 2000s typical romcom with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman.

Ludacris and Mindy Kaling is also in it!

That’s it. That’s the movie.

Jake Johnson is the wacky guy best friend of the main guy and he doesn’t have a lot of time in it, but it’s not a super long watch and he has a horrible goatee in the first few scenes. So that’s pretty fun to see.

And his character has an odd nice guy side quest romance going on with another girl.

It’s supposed to balance out how assholey the main couple gets to each other sometimes, but not really.

Imagine if hallmark was fancy and had a bigger budget and wasn’t afraid to say fuck and show sex.

Also!

This movie got him Nick Miller on New girl.

I think the writer of new girl was working on this movie and she liked him in this and it played a part in him getting picked for his audition!

Safety Not Guaranteed

A wacky movie about these journalist trying to find a bug story and the woman of the group deciding if local crazy guy actually can time travel or not.

Despite how wild the plot is, it is oddly super romantic and endearing…….or maybe it’s the part of my brain that finds the oddest things romantic because it wasn’t presented in a typical romcom formula.

Jake is a little mean in this one if I remember correctly, but I think that’s something we all like about him. He’s fun to watch when he’s angry or mean or yelling or maybe I’m just telling on myself.

It’s not my favorite, but it was a super fun to watch. It’s well made and if nothing else gets you, the suspense of knowing if the guy is really crazy or not will.

More fun facts!!!

He loves talking business so there’s more in common with him and Doug Renetti than you might think. It’s a bit of his. He does this a lot on his podcast We’re Here to Help.

He loves doing indie movies.

He has love for everything he does and truly won’t take a role if he doesn’t like it in some way or feel like he would enjoy the experience from working on it or working with the other people there.

He lives for collaboration and a group effort and team work. Which he talks all about in some of his interviews.

He likes having a say so on his character and trying to do as much as he can with it, and if you ask me, it shows in everything he does, and it’s a part of why all of his charters have a certain Jake Johnson feel to all of them. However, he is still a good actor and they are very distinct in their roles and purposes for each and every show.

He’s just, very good at his job.

He also talks a lot about his life in certain interviews and I tried to compile them in a playlist that you can find on

This post.

If you are a sports fan, go to YouTube and search Jake Johnson Chicago Bears or Cubs or ..sports…

I’m not sure tbh.

He looks homeless sometimes, especially during the pandemic interviews, but I am used to this and find it endearing. If you’ve never seen him look like this and are weirded out or disgusted, I am sorry and not sorry.

I only watched them because i can listen to him talk about anything. I just like hearing his voice and looking at his face.

It’s amazing background noise when you have to work or study. Some of these sports podcast are so long and go on forever.

If you want help finding access to some of his more hard to find movies, please let me know and I will help as much as I can. Do not hesitate to dm me for any additional information

Thank you for reading, and I really hope these two posts have helped!

[naraven]

HSR ACTOR AU

summary: everything is the same but honkai: star rail is just a tv show, nothing is wrong so nothing is actually the same, but!! i was brainrotting over this with @faesther and i think we both learned: we are both the most delulu people on this planet 😋

wc // 945

tw // the tingyun neck snap is kind of glossed over but not that detailed

[dan heng/dan feng]

A shaky camera records what seems to be a phone focused on a young man, and muffled giggling comes from behind the camera. The recording shows a greenscreen background and a set of what appeared to be ruins. The camera zooms in toward the man, hanging out alone. Literally. 

“C’mon, Dan Heng, do the thing! Do the magical girl transformation!” Cheers an energetic girl behind the camera, and one could assume she was the one holding the phone. Another girlish laugh joins in behind the camera as the camera shakes with each laugh. 

“They picked the worst time to be taking a break. I can’t feel my left rib cage when I’m not moving.” The man dubbed ‘Dan Heng’ grins at the camera while swaying back and forth two feet off the floor. On either side were wires holding him up, and unintentionally or not making him sway. A gray haired young woman pushes him slightly and the three laugh hysterically as he swings even more.

The camera pans to ‘Blade’ and ‘Yanqing,’ who were staring at the script before their mini break ended. The teenage boy idly twirls his sword around, almost hitting ‘Blade,’ before noticing the camera. He jogs over and opens his mouth to pretend eat the camera.

“Are you even in this scene?” He joins ‘Stelle’ in pushing ‘Dan Heng’ back and forth. 

“Doesn’t matter! Are you even ready for your big scene with Magical Girl Dan Feng?”

“For the last time, I am not a magical girl.” The man being swung around protests, and the camera does nothing to help the unflattering way his legs swing like pendulums as he continues to be assaulted on both sides.

The group continues fooling around before time is called, and ‘Yanqing’ goes back to join ‘Blade’ to start the scene once more.

“Oh no not the sword again…” ‘Dan Heng’ sighs, “I’m already heavy enough alone, do we really have to add another weight on here?”

“Don’t be a baby, it’s gonna slip out soon anyways!” The voice behind the camera cheers.

‘Yanqing’ goes over his lines once more, watching as ‘Stelle’ stops ‘Dan Heng’ from swaying any more. The camera shows the teen whining as he has his own wires to worry about now. ‘Blade’ and ‘Kafka’ head over their own spots in the scene.

“We really bullied a teenage boy in this scene, didn't we?” ‘Dan Heng’ mutters as ‘Blade’ helps relieve his sore sides.

“Not you, it’s the other you.” 

“Same difference.”

~~~

[horn-y]

“Surrender!”

‘Dan Feng’ deftly swam through the air, swerving swords whizzing past his ear. ‘Yanqing’, for his young age, was firmly in the zone. He prepared a counterattack against the boy and he spotted ‘Blade’ preparing an attack of his own. His laughter echoes around the entire set, sending chills down ‘Dan Heng’s’ spine. 

‘Dan Heng,’ not wanting to be one-upped, goes through the motions that he had practiced with the other two on the set. He turns around, focused and in the zone himself. He could feel the eyes of off-set actors and staff and the cameras pointed at him, as ‘Dan Feng.’

Everything pauses for a moment. He and ‘Blade’ make eye contact, and rush the young boy. ‘Yanqing’ braces himself and prepares to parry the both of them, and ‘Dan Feng’ has to commend the younger actor for his confidence.

‘Blade’ brings back his weapon, swinging down at ‘Yanqing-’

“Cut!”

‘Dan Feng’ pauses, the sudden strident sound catching the attention of everyone. Before he could ask what happened, ‘Blade’ leans toward him.

“Oh, your horn.”

‘Blade’ bends down to pick up a branch-like prop, and it looks very similar to what he put on for his ‘Dan Feng’ outfit.

He brings a hand to his temple, and sure enough, there's a lack of horn on the right side of his head. He groans, leaning onto the wire in frustration.

“Nooo, we were doing so well…” He cries, covering his face with both hands.

‘Blade’ reassures him as he helps him put his horn back on. His praises are kind and well-meaning, but he can’t help but feel bad about the whole thing. If only he had noticed this stupid horn falling off earlier…

~~~

[sister snapped]

*SNAP!*

“HOLY FUCKING SHIT-”

“AHHHHH WHAT ON EARTH!”

‘Welt,’ although hiding his own shock, turns to scowl at his fellow members of the Astral Express, “Didn’t you know this was going to happen?”

“NO??” ‘March 7th’ snaps her neck just as quickly as ‘Tingyun’ did, and ‘Dan Heng’ worries she might need to be reminded how to properly do such a stunt safely.

“Sorry, sorry, I forgot…” ‘Stelle’ calms down quicker but still has to swallow thickly. ‘March 7th’ clings onto her costars arm, the tension loosening as she pets her head.

Staff were on set, offering ‘Tingyun’ a towel. They asked, concerned, if she needed a break, and she insists that she could do a couple more takes. She turns to her ‘benefactors’ with a sly smile on her face.

“Sorry, I scared you that bad, huh? Just make sure your reaction isn’t too genuine in the real take.” She boops ‘March 7th’s’ nose, to which the girl blinks at.

“Phew, yeah, alright, I’m ready now! I won’t freak out too badly the next time for sure.”

‘Stelle’ sighs, “You sound like you’re talking more to yourself than to her.”

The director calls for the scene to start once more. ‘Welt’ pats both ‘Stelle’ and ‘March 7th’s’ head before going over to his spot on the scene, “Just remember not to yell that loudly again. You got this, you two.”

“Thanks, sir…”

[eggtrolls]

Good: got interviewed by the Wall Street Journal (HELLO) about the artificial turf situation and then spent a few hours hanging out with the angry mothers (+ the single cool nb person) at the park and gave them much of my cool park organizing wisdom (and ended up coming up with the name of their organization 💁🏻‍♀️). They’re super enthusiastic, they were really receptive to my ideas, and I’m jazzed to see what they come up with. They’re getting their name, website, and social media gang together and I’m going to hook them up with some park resources so they can turn up to the community board with at least one notch under their belt

Not good: They’re so brand new! None of them know anything about plants! They had never considered trying to clean up the park! They have no idea how the process of [checks notes] ANYTHING works and they’re snotty about it because they assume(d) everyone would immediately jump to address their complaints! ‘The park administrator lady was dismissive of us’ yeah because you were telling her how to do her job when you have no idea what the fuck you’re talking about re: the larger issue. What actions are you presenting besides saying ‘we don’t want you to do this’? You say you don’t want turf but you’ve presented zero alternatives, you have no plan on how to move forward given that construction has already started, you have nothing organized, you presented no factual information just a bunch of highly repetitive and emotional anecdotes including comparing synthetic turf and the lack of a report about its composition to the Soviet government’s handling of Chernobyl!!!!

Very not good: the majority of people know each other from a mother’s group so while we were being, you know, interviewed for a front page story in the WSJ, every! single! one! had their child either attached to their faces like a fucking barnacle or running around and pingponging off their bodies. At one point a little boy walked up a random woman, who was not his mother, and started hitting her leg and screaming I want cookies I want cookies like hello???? Whose fucking kid is this! And she just acted like it wasn’t incredibly annoying and he kept doing it until I said ‘other people are talking you need to wait your turn’ and then he was completely silent until a full five minutes later when his actual mother showed up. She then gave him a) a cookie b) an iPhone to play a video game (full volume) while seated directly next to the WSJ reporter until I suggested they move down the bench. Are you fucking kidding me. This is the metro New York reporter for a newspaper of record interviewing us about a major environmental cause. All of these kids are under THREE YEARS OLD WHY ARE THEY HERE when I’m trying to tell this journalist about the lack of a Parks capital budget!!!!!

Bonus: the park moms were joking that I don’t like kids because I was the only person childless who told a kid to stop behaving badly (insane and authoritarian behaviour To Them) but then they left and a tiny 5 year old girl named Esmé on a scooter zoomed over to me and asked if I would race her because she didn’t have any friends and we chased each other around for a bit while her parents smoked on a bench and she ran over my foot but apologized. When they left, she gave me a single piece of popcorn and two huge hugs and said that we were best buddies 🥺🥺🥺

[szallejhscorner]

King of Diamonds - Part V

•♦•♦• When Chishiya Shuntarou accepted to remain in the Borderlands as a citizen, I knew there was nothing I could do but to accept as well. •♦•♦• 

AN: In case anyone wants to be added to a taglist, just say so in the comments (:

Chishiya eventually threw me out of his room so he could get some rest. It only made sense since he had been shot twice just a couple of days ago, and while I didn’t want to leave the comfort of his presence, I soon found myself strolling through the main floor, searching for either a familiar face to talk to or something else that could help me find my place in this world now that I belonged to it.

I supposed that Rikki wouldn’t be around now since she had wanted to meet friends of hers, and I didn’t know of anyone of my friends who had accepted the citizenship. They had all been sane enough to decline, except me. But thinking about it, none of my decisions had been exactly sane when it came to Chishiya.

With a long sigh, I glimpsed into open doors at both sides of the hallway in search for anything interesting. As I passed the refectory, I grabbed some small snacks to eat on the way. Only few people were sitting there in small groups, silently talking to each other. I had assumed the room would be filled to the brim since it was evening and plenty of food waited to be eaten, but as I returned to the hallway, the main source of noise seemed to origin from further down. The more I approached a half-opened double door, the more I could hear laughter and shouts of excitement.

At first I was hesitant to walk through, unsure if I was allowed to be there after all, but since no one tried to keep me from entering, I took a deep breath, stuffed the remains of the sandwich I had eaten into my mouth and passed the door.

A huge, cinema-like hall stretched in front of me, although it had more resemblance with the monitoring room from the beach. Dozens, no hundreds of huge monitors covered the walls all around me, and I immediately realized what they were showing.

New games. New players.

Countless people were already playing for their lives, most of them still completely unaware of just how cruel the Borderlands were. They looked desperate, confused, frightened, some of them really angry. All games had already begun, and I avoided my eye from a monitor that suddenly zoomed into the footage of a girl burning to ashes. Luckily for me the sound was either shut off or so silent that I couldn’t hear the screams, but the agony on the blackened face had been enough.

The games had begun, and already people were dying. Some of the easier games were coming to an end and I saw people cheering for their victory, and some monitors turned black since everyone had died in a Game Over.

“Always easy to spot the newcomers, cowering like beaten dogs when they see this”, a deep voice mocked behind me. I turned around to face a tall and tattooed guy who was probably in his late forties and had his head shaved entirely bald, and I could already tell that I wouldn’t like him. He bumped my shoulder and gave a raspy snicker before exiting to the hallway.

I rubbed my arm and walked to a bunch of desks in the middle of the room, where a handful of citizens were gathered around huge boards that had been constructed. Since they didn’t force me to witness death or any other form of violence, the pin boards caught my interest and I supported my hands on one of the tables to get a better view.

Several dozen notes hung there and it was easy to see through what they meant. “That’s… all the games!” I gasped as I read through some of them, giving all the important information about the game type, difficulty, rules and even the solutions.

Someone shifted next to me, and I glimpsed towards another woman about my height, with a tidy ponytail and a good amount of makeup in her face. It made her look like a doll, but somehow it suited her. “Yep”, she begun with a grin that seemed much friendlier compared to the baldhead, “every single game for the next three nights. In case you want to participate.”

“Wow. That seems unfair to me.” Right now people died and fought for their lives, and I could just go and pick one game I was in the right mood for. More and more it dawned on me what it really meant to be a citizen – and how clueless we had been as players.

The woman shrugged. “I thought so too, at first. But think about it! Didn’t we play all those games already, with no one telling us how to do it? We earned us a bit of fun now that the games are nothing but, well – games for us.”

“A bit of fun before we die in the face card games, you mean.”

“Oh, the pessimism.” A hand was reached out for me to shake it. “Welcome to the real Borderlands, then! I’m Myoka Himari.”

Now that I faced Myoka, I noticed that her hair was almost black but her eyes were piercingly blue, quite unusual for a Japanese. It made me wonder if she wore contact lenses or if this was her true eye color, but of course I didn’t ask. I introduced myself instead, and Myoka followed me as I circled the round of tables, scanning the different games that were displayed here. The range went from One of Clubs to Ten of Spades, but the most interesting ones were the Hearts games. Just like the Witch Hunt, the solution usually was quite simple and would allow all players to survive, and yet I knew that it wouldn’t end that way. Not with time pressure and fear blinding people’s minds and fooling their hearts.

“Searching for a game to play tomorrow?” Myoka asked with a certain excitement in her voice, and I really wondered why everyone here was so eager about playing. I had seen more people die than any normal human could bear in their lifetime, and still death was everywhere around me, never ever leaving me in peace. That was the price to pay in order to be close to Chishiya. More and more I doubted that it had been the right decision to stay.

I let out a sigh, trying to shake that thought off. No matter if I wanted it or not, it was too late to change anything. My way back home had been shut off forever, and the only way out was to die. “I wonder”, I muttered instead of answering Myoka’s question, “if those games repeat every relaunch. I can’t seem to recognize any of the ones portrayed here.”

Myoka hummed, backing against one of the tables as her eyes wandered to the notes. “Some do. Not every game will be played each round, but I already attended some of them before.”

“Who’s the organizer, then, if not us citizens?”

“The dealers, of course”, Myoka explained as if this was common knowledge. Maybe it was and everyone knew except me. “They choose from a pool of already existing games and locations, and they also prepare the areas. And clean them afterwards”, she added with a smirk.

“Huh.” I threw a look over my shoulder where a group was making some noise in front of a monitor. Some were cheering loudly, others were complaining, making it obvious that there had been some kind of bet. “We do nothing but observe, then?”

Myoka pushed herself off the table and begun to wander around the hall, expecting me to follow her which I did. “We can do a lot! Participate in games, mingle with the players. We’re even allowed to manipulate things to a certain degree.” Judging from the smirk in her face, she had already done that or at least enjoyed the thought of doing so. “Those who want to apply for a Face Card usually take the time to prepare their games. The big ones are up to us, you know. Almost no restrictions.”

Most of the monitors were going dark now as the night progressed. I thought back to the Face Card games I had played only a week ago. It suited Hibiki to have chosen the escape room-style for his game, but it made me wonder if he had had help with the details since parts like the hidden message on the map or the chemicals seemed too thought out for such a child. And I could easily hear the King of Hearts laugh while he set up the table with poisoned food. Had it been there already for the first round, where all players had died? Or had it been an extra add-on for the second try, to spice things up?

No one would ever tell me the answer.

“Myoka…” I begun, hesitating to continue. Her strikingly blue eyes stared into mine, a silent order to speak on. “Did you know any of the former Face Cards?” She had yet to tell me how many relaunches she already had witnessed, but this obviously wasn’t her first one.

The woman shrugged. “None of them close enough to care. We’re so many, it’s hard getting to know everyone by name before they die.”

I realized that Myoka was leading us out of the huge hall, and I felt relief upon entering the brightly lit hallway. Many people had lost their lives already, and even so early into the new stage, citizens were out there, pretending to be normal players and risking their lives in games even though they didn’t have to.

There were indeed lots of people hustling and bustling around us, making me wonder just how many people were living in the Borderlands overall. Hoping to get an answer from Myoka, I spoke my thoughts out loud.

She simply gestured me to keep on following her, until I found myself in a slightly smaller hall than the monitoring room, although it was still huge compared to the normal chambers we resided in. A lone monitor covered one entire wall, and it was so gigantic that I couldn’t take it all in at once.

At first it was hard to make out what was shown on the monitor, but the closer I approached it, the better I could read the names. Hundreds, if not thousands of them.

Every name had a number assigned, and while most of them were displayed in white on black ground, some had been colored red. “More than three thousand players!” I uttered in disbelief, still trying to take it all in.

“Yesss.” Myoka nodded. “In a week, a few hundred of them will be dead. At the end of stage one, probably four of five hundred will be left alive. And if they succeed to clear all Face Cards…” She paused, recalculating. “Last round, we had seventy-five survivors if I’m not wrong. And thirteen of them decided to stay – including you. I don’t know if it’s possible to get insight into the former launches, but I think the numbers are always about the same.”

Seventy-five out of three thousand. Not more had survived, and it was frightening. This world was even deadlier than I had thought!

Next to me, Myoka was stretching her upper body and patting her stomach. “A lot to process, I know. And if I’m being honest, I could definitely use something to eat now. A steak, maybe? Care to join me?”

I shook my head, unable to speak. What stretched out in front of me captivated me in a way that prevented my feet from moving, and I knew my stomach couldn’t handle food right now. The sandwich was already causing nausea, however I tried my best to keep it in.

Myoka clapped on my shoulder as a goodbye. “Alright, see you, then!” She disappeared into the hallway and hurried towards the refectory while I could do nothing but stare at all those names. Over three thousand, and it was just the number of newcomers. Every several weeks, thousands of people were sent here to die. Just... how did no one ever notice back in the real world? How could so many people disappear from the surface without causing any suspicion?

It gave me goose bumps to think that someone might have stood here and watched that board, reading my name and Chishiya’s while having similar thoughts. And someone before them… and before them… a never ending cycle whose only way of escape was death.

Upon so many names, the possibility was high to find someone I knew. Yet I didn’t recognize a single one, and once I had scanned almost every name, my eyes were burning and my head threatened to explode with pain.

As I turned around, a single beeping noise caused me to throw one last glimpse over my shoulder. All at once, several names blinked a few times until they changed their color to red, and I hurried out of the room while a tear rolled down my cheek. Midnight had just passed, and those names were all the people killed by lasers because they hadn’t taken care of their visa. Since it was only the first day, I supposed they had died of lack of knowledge.

Hurrying through the hallway, I didn’t dare to lift my head whenever I passed another citizen. They sure would see me crying, but there was no need to show them the guilt and misery I felt. All of them were here because they wanted to. The thought of becoming a citizen, manipulating players or even killing them didn’t scare anyone else but me. It was obvious that I didn’t belong into this world, and I wondered if those feelings would ever vanish.

Rikki had said that she knew of nobody who remained here more than a handful of relaunches. Maybe I’d be the one to change that, because I couldn’t imagine becoming a Face Card and either being responsible for the death of others or dying a terrible death myself. Chishiya would lead Diamonds game after Diamonds game given he survived, but one day he’d be dead. It was inevitable, and I couldn’t follow him to the very end.

Maybe I could find a way out after all?

I barely noticed how my feet flew up the stairs and how door after door rushed past me. It was a miracle that I found the room that was now mine without accidentally stumbling into someone else’s home, and I avoided looking into the mirror as I brushed my teeth and washed the tears from my face.

Sleep was what I desperately needed right now, since the headache wouldn’t get better and my eyes burnt mainly from crying now. Yet I wouldn’t be able to close my eyes being here all alone, so I eventually headed for the medical wing and tiptoed to Chishiya’s room.

It was dark inside and I heard nothing but Chishiya’s calm breathing, however I knew he was awake the moment I opened the door.

“Hey, Chishiya… can I sleep here tonight?” I whispered straightforward, and the blonde shifted in his bed, apparently to look at me.

He stayed silent for a few moments before his low voice interrupted the quietness. “Why?”

I sighed. “There’s so much I have to talk to you about, but we better leave that for tomorrow. For now… I’m frightened to be alone.” The thousands of names turning red would follow me into my dreams, and only Chishiya could keep them away from me. This part I kept for myself of course, since the blonde would only call me childish and pathetic. And still he understood.

“Snore and you’ll be out.”

His bluntness made me smile, and I climbed into his bed, cuddling up to Chishiya to give him a kiss. The hug only lasted for a minute before I turned around, because I knew he wouldn’t sleep as long as my touch constrained him. Sleeping right next to Chishiya in the same bad was already something I highly appreciated, and I whispered a “Good night” before I allowed sleep to lull me in.

And as I had predicted, Chishiya’s presence caused it to be a dreamless one.

[somecrocanadian]

A Volunteer from the Past

So, instead of finishing a final project I wrote this to procrastinate. I hope you enjoy this!

~~~

President Snow sat in his velvet chair watching the reaping ceremonies across the districts, paying special attention to district 12s reaping. He watched as the camera zoomed in on Katniss, the only female tribute. He could tell she was barely keeping it together. Good. Her symbol of hope would be no more. 

Snow watched as the overly dressed Effie pulled out the single slip of paper from the bowl, a small smirk appearing on his face.

“Katniss Everdeen!” She called out.

The camera closed in on Katniss’s face as she barely held it together. Snow could only imagine what was going through her head. His smirk only got larger. Checkmate. 

Snow was lost in thought he almost missed the sudden turn of events before him.

“I volunteer!” An unmistakable voice called out. One that froze Snow right to his core.

The camera panned to the back of the crowd showing an 80 year old woman, with long white curls, wearing that same dress.

“My name is Lucy Gray Barid,” She said walking forward as the crowd parted before her, “Victor of the 10th Hunger Games.”

“It can’t be,” Snow muttered. After all this time she was still alive. How? He had killed her in the woods with the mocking jays. Why resurface now? Everything was so perfect, why would she resurface?

Snow went back to that day in the woods 65 years ago, a day that he never truly forgot. He remembered getting bit by a snake, shooting at her, watching her fall, finding her earring, then hiding the guns. He never saw a body, he had assumed that her injuries would kill her. There was no way to recover from a gunshot in the woods, especially with his impeccable aim. Either way he sent soldiers to track her down, even if it was just to recover her body.

Snow has to force himself back into the present. He made sure all records of the 10th Hunger Games were erased, that no one even remembered Lucy Gray. There is no way to prove her claims. That’s why Snow was speechless when the mayor came out and tested her DNA with a sample he had from an ancient looking document and it matched.

How is that possible? Snow made every effort, albeit discreetly, to make sure that she was erased. Who missed the mayor's records?

Snow missed the male reaping, too caught up in his thoughts to pay much attention. 

That filthy district bitch doesn’t deserve to be alive. She was hunted down. Who confirmed the kill? Why did I never see a body?

The broadcast cut but Snow didn’t move, too caught up over Lucy Gray to care about anything else.

~~~

Once Snow had recovered from his shock he sent someone to confirm that it truly was Lucy Gray and not someone trying to impersonate her, though he already knew the truth. Then he sent someone else to figure out who was on that mission to find Lucy Gray, and to execute every single one of them. He also sent someone to fetch Tigres, if one woman from his past was causing issues he was going to be sure the only other one would be faithful to him. 

It only enraged him further to learn that Tigres was nowhere to be found. Maybe she hid Lucy Gray all those years ago, maybe she was behind it all. One final act to stab him in the back after everything he did for her. She’d be dead soon too.

As soon as it was confirmed that it really was Lucy Gray, Snow invited her over for dinner. He would serve her the best meal then poison her to force Katniss back into the games. A small setback didn’t mean the end to his plans. 

~~~

“Coriolanus, I’d never thought I’d see you again,” Lucy Gray said entering the dining room.

“Leave us,” Snow said, dismissing the staff before they had fully served the meal. They all knew better than to question Snow and left quickly.

“I go by Snow.”

“Yeah, but I like Coriolanus better. It has a nice ring to it. It’s been a while.”

“Yes, quite. I thought you were dead.”

“I’m sure you sent men after me but I’m quite good at hiding.”

Snow didn’t know how to respond to that, Lucy Gray didn’t need one; “As I starved away in hiding I’m assuming you won that prize of yours and was able to afford as much food as your heart desired.”

Snow stayed silent.

Lucy Gray reached forward to grab the water pitcher, “Though I never figured out who that third person you killed was, and it definitely wasn’t your old self because I see him right in front of me.”

“I’ve killed a lot more than three people, Lucy Gray,” He said, trying to deflect the question. But saying her name out loud distracted him, a small voice in the back of his head was reminding him that this is the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with at one point.

“I know you have, but who was your third? You killed Bobbin in the area, Mayfair, the mayor's daughter, then someone else before you killed me,” Lucy said, now pouring Snow a glass of water, “Who was it?”

“Sejanus,” Snow said, “I sent a recording of his plans to Dr. Gaull and she ordered him to be hung.”

Snow took a long sip of water, this was something he had buried long ago, he didn’t need to drag it up again.

“Really? Your best friend?” Lucy Gray questioned, “All for power and money I assume,” She said, taking a sip of water.

“He was weaker than someone in the capital should have been,” Snow said, but something didn’t feel right.

Lucy hummed in response. Then pulled out an old compact from the folds of her dress.

Snow’s eyes widened in response, “You-”

“Yes, good-bye Coriolanus Snow,” She said. 

Snow was speechless, there was nothing he could do to stop this, he was dying and fast. What would become of his family name without him there? He couldn’t go out like this! Not killed by some district scum.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a gentle singing voice.

“Strange things did happen here, no stranger would it be,” Lucy Gray sang as both of their noses began to bleed and the room went out of focus, “If we met… at mid-night, in the hanging tree…”

The pair were discovered a few minutes later by a servant, slumped over on the table, dead.

[butcharyastark]

started black sails, mostly through s1. thoughts so far:

i LOVEEE characters who are definitely morally terrible and you know it and they know it and the narrative knows it but theyre fascinating to watch. im talking abt flint. that man sucks so bad but i love watching his scenes and dynamics.

that ^ would apply to miss guthrie (i forgot her first name) too but i hate her too much for that. consistently wish she was off my screen xoxo

oh my god im so glad the fucking beach camp plot with max is overrrrr. i already zoomed on her as a fave and ik from others she has great plots or characterization or themes later and im v excited for that and im very glad this bs is over

BILLYYYYYY NOOO what the fuck is going on he cant be dead yet can he??? also maybe im misreading but both billy and morley (?i think. i dont have everyones names yet lol) both dying technically offscreen in accidents while isolated with flint after its known they have reservations abt his leadership.... flint did you fucking do this....

honestly i dont give a shit abt mrs barlow or whatev i forgot her name but unexpectedly the priest seduction sideplot is kinda fun and hot. idk why.

i did not expect this to be a sorta game of thrones spartacus vikings etc type tv show but i am kinda vibing actually surprisingly.

I LOVE WHEN SHOWS LET THEIR CHARACTERS AND ACTORS HAVE ACCENTS.

i like that one dude (??? guy with weird sideburns) and anne bonny's whole Thing but i'd like both of them a helluva lot more if 1) he had had ANY reservations or morals abt the whole max situation and 2) if anne bonny had not immediately spurned max after getting her freedom bc hi what the fuck shes been thru enough what is ur fucking damage??? i thought u cared ???

i thought silver would have way more of role so far tbh i thought he'd be like the ProtagTM but so far hes kinda not passing the sexy lamp test. boyfailure? legend? idk but its funny and surprising

i want vain or vane or whatever the fuck his name is to die in a fire. unfortunately hes also kinda interesting onscreen. but i hope he dies brutally later heart emoji

wanna know where the mr. scott plot is gonna go... i thought his convo w the kidnapped woman in the ship hold was v interesting and ik from other ppl this show somewhat goes into discussion of the transatlantic slave trade (some handled badly and some well afaik?) and im curious if shes gonna be a recurring character now or if hes gonna be a pirate bc i assume he cant go back to nassau so like whats going on now??

veryyyy curious abt how this show is gonna end its seasons and do season finales.... i hope theres drama. may update this post w my thoughts after i finish s1 in fact

uhhh OH THE OST FUCKS SEVERELY and the intro (maybe just s1 intro idk if theyre gonna change it) is soooo fuckin cool.

salute emoji

[misosick]

dirty little secret - just another regret | bang chan

pairing: bang chan x reader, ??? x reader genre: uni!au, predebut/idol!au, manager!reader, slow burn chapter warnings: chan is a bit of a prick, that's it i think word count: 960ish

author notes: chapter two! this chapter brings us up to the 'present' more or less. poor y/n is getting baptised by fire, does it get any better? who knows? (me i know heheheheh) enjoy this chapter! feedback is welcome but not obligatory!

taglist: @idunnomanmynamewastaken (send me an ask to be added!)

previous chapter | masterlist | next chapter

It took a long time to get over Chris. You can’t remember how long, but it had to be done. You remember the first time you saw him with a girl in public. It felt like a punch in the guts, he was so reluctant to be seen in even the same area as you, but he was more than happy to be seen flaunting this other woman. You don’t recall a time you’ve run faster than that day. It got easier after that though. You decided Australia was no longer the country for you and chose not to stay after graduating, leaving behind all your friends, and all the memories. That ended up being one of the best decisions of your life. Upon moving home, you found a job almost instantly. Better yet, the company you worked for paid for your return to university, allowing you to pick up a degree in human resource management. You remember your manager mentioning that they had close ties to a large entertainment company in Korea, who had an opportunity arise to work with one of their more popular groups. They recommended you for the role, and following a Zoom interview, you landed the job.

So, here you are. In a foreign city, in a foreign country, on a foreign continent. You had a basic grasp on Korean due to taking the time to start learning prior to moving, but is that enough? Hopes and prayers only do so much, but that’s what you employ when you head into a high-rise building bearing the letters JYP. It’s a clean building, but all that’s on your mind is not saying the wrong thing and insulting the young lady at the reception desk.

“Hello, I am Y/N Y/L/N. I’m here to see Song Minhye.” Your broken Korean seems to work this time. You watch intently as the receptionist quickly types away and instructs you to take a seat. Not long after, a tall woman with a dark bob and killer legs exits the elevators to your left. You stand immediately and bow politely to this woman who you assume to be Minhye, your new boss.

“Hiya! Lovely to finally meet you! I’m Minhye, you must be Y/N? I’d love to chat get to know you more, but your induction is going to be intense, so we do have to keep moving.” Her looks do not match her voice. She’s chirpy, bright, and very excitable. You flash a smile and follow her back into the elevator, as she presses the 8th floor button, and the carriage starts moving. Maybe this wasn’t going to be as hard as you thought, at least one person in this building speaks English.

“So, you just moved here, right? From… where was it? It’s escaping me now, but I know it was a hell of a trek! I hope you aren’t too jetlagged! First things first, meeting the boys!” The elevator stops at the 8th floor, Minhye almost pulling you towards some form of dance room judging by the mirrors. You can vaguely seem some guys around your age in there, some drinking water, some stretching, you’re pretty sure you see a couple of taking selfies like white girls. One of them looks familiar, he’s on his laptop, clicking away at something, but the cap he’s wearing obscures his face a bit.

You don’t have time to ponder on it before Minhye is bursting into the room to a chorus of Korean words you don’t yet understand, tugging you in behind her. You look around and find a group of 7 very sweaty young men, and one man you thought you’d never have to see again. Your mouth goes dry, and you swear you’re about to pass out, but you won’t let anyone know. You were just a fling, something to pass the time and relieve stress. Nothing worth noting.

She starts speaking to them, and you assume she was introducing you to the men in front of you, but you still don’t know what’s going on. In fact, the only part of her monologue you understand is your name.

“Y/N, I need to go grab some things from my office before we keep going, I’ll be back in a sec!” And with that, Minhye’s out the door. You’re stuck in a room of strangers. The floor is rather clean as you rub your hands on the front of your thighs to try gather some courage to introduce yourself. Thankfully, someone else speaks up.

“Hi Y/N! I’m Changbin, nice to meet you!” The shortest of them steps forward and bows before extending his hand to you. You bow back and take his hand, shaking it gently and dropping it.

“I’m Jisung! You can call me Han or Hannie though!”

“I’m Seungmin!”

“My name’s Minho. Welcome!”

“Hey, I’m Felix. Everyone said you spoke English best, if you need help learning Korean let me know!” The Australian accent shocks you, but it’s thicker than you’re used to, and the voice is deeper. A cat-like boy steps forward, you can’t help but smile at the juxtaposition of his voice and appearance.

“Yeah, I do actually! I might take you up on your offer, my Korean’s nowhere near as good as it should be.” You laugh, somehow getting pulled into a bro hug. You ignore the stare burring holes into your back. The other two boys introduce themselves as Hyunjin and Jeongin, and you’re left looking at Chris. You watch as he swallows thickly and gains some composure. It’s impossible to distinguish the look on his face, but he is feeling something other than the nostalgia of seeing someone for the first time in years.

“I’m Bang Chan. Good luck, I doubt you’ll last long.”

[gxldencity]

I GOT to learn more about Dolores!

@allyennah also asked this lmao

Full Name: María Dolores Adelaida Alvaros y Marasigan

Gender and Sexuality: bisexual (cis) woman

Pronouns: she/her

Ethnicity/Species: Half Drow/Half Human

Birthplace and Birthdate: 10th day of Ches 1464 in a small barangay (town) in Cupang, Sina Una :)

Guilty Pleasures: Kids. She would never have them and had nightmares about being a parent but she's fond of them on their own. Like she's so weak to kids. The one time she got utterly mad so far was when Kagha was threatening to imprison and torture a child (like...the eldritch powers truly came out when Dolores was intimidating her to spare the kid)

Phobias: spiders lmao. She would not last a day in her father's homeland in the Underdark. Kar'niss would be an interesting person to meet.

What They Would Be Famous For: She already is (in)famous in the islands of Sina Una for nearly destroying an entire town :).

What They Would Get Arrested For: Murder :) and bc of her pact (which IM still trying to figure out the full conditions) she has been almost arrested in every town she's been in but thanks to the "kind" mercy of the eldritch creature she has a situationship with, she almost always gets away.

OC You Ship Them With: None tbh :) she truly zoomed in at the one person who has been appreciative of her efforts this entire time and has planned out their life together lmao.

OC Most Likely To Murder Them:

Also none. If anything Dolores would probably adopt them.

Favorite Movie/Book Genre:

Comedic plays I'd say. Anything to make her laughs.

but okay okay assuming this in the modern day and they share the same media as we do, she'll be a Romance novel and movie lover! She's a perpetually tired eldest daughter. She'll love the escapism and unabashed joy of a good Romance novel. The Brown sisters trilogy by Talia Hibbert would be her favourite.

Least Favorite Movie/Book Cliche:

Same idea as the last question...assuming this is in the modern day and we share the same kind of media as they do then she generally won't be a fan of doorstopper books and incomprehensible movies. She can appreciate the artistry of them but that's it lol.

Talents and/or Powers:

Aside from the powers given to her by her patron, Dolores is good at weaving and has knitted shawls and scarves for the camp. (Withers is fond of the hat she made him)

She's also highly organized and good at most housework thanks to her parentification :)). Not that she likes doing them. She still hasn't cooked for the camp because she finds no joy in cooking.

Why Someone Might Love Them:

Dolores is fiercely loyal and wears her heart around her sleeve. She has a lot of love to give. She's also compassionate and a good listener, an open shoulder to cry on.

A lamplight left on in the darkness, leading them home...so to speak :)

Why Someone Might Hate Them:

She can be overbearing, thanks to her wanting to find fulfillment with being needed. It's like something that she clashed with nearly everyone in the party early on bc like...just bc they have problems doesn't mean she has to solve them or god forbid use her illithid powers to read their minds (Gale and Wyll did NOT like that at all). She can be nosy as well and it is something she struggled with Shadowheart at the initially as u know Shadowheart prefers to keep things a secret as part of her calling to Shar.

How They Change:

She learns that it's okay to be selfish from time to time and not to sacrifice herself constantly. She also learns to channel the deep-seated anger she had for her family into something more healing. Like finding peace doesn't necessarily mean forgiving and forgetting the person who has harmed you.

Why You Love Them:

Dolores is like...my answer to most eldest daughter stories I've encountered :)). They almost always are too fluffy and ends with the daughter forgiving and reconciling with her parents after years of neglect and/or abuse. And that is fine I guess but I hate how most of the narrative around eldest daughters is basically that.

Sometimes your parents are abusive and they suck ass. Sometimes siblings also perpetuate the same kind of abuse your parents and living in the same abusive environment does not excuse or forgive their actions. And it's totally okay to have a negative reaction to this, to be utterly pissed off and angry about your situation.

It's fine to be resentful and hate your family. If they didn't want to be hated then they could've spent the entire time you're alive not being...abusive.

And there is absolutely No Need to dress eldest daughter obligations as "a way to show love to the people she cares about." Fuck that lol. Dolores can love and want to care for her family without being forced to give up her freedom to care for her siblings bc her parents suck at being parents.

Without getting too deep into it, Dolores is the most personal OC I've ever made. Moreso than the Ryder twins who were already very personal OCs (but for a different time period in my life and a different set of trauma lmao). There are some parts in her backstory (which I shall eventually post) that are similar to things that happened to me irl. While my family isn't That bad compared to Dolores' own family, a lot of the feelings are still there lol.

[ohblackdiamond]

ace’s eighties vlog

this home movie of ace before and during his hammersmith odeon concert in 1988 london is oddly interesting, in places. the video/audio quality is not good. it’s not exactly a kinder, gentler ace or anything, but it is a pretty off the cuff, honest ace. he films a brief, somewhat deprecating overview of his hotel room (including a look at a framed photo of a woman that’s definitely not his wife and the comment that “the best part of this trip so far is this jacket,” followed by a zoom in on the jacket’s patch, which he found cool) before heading out to join with the rest of the band and head to the venue. 

you get the very obvious impression that for all that ace had been to london prior as a member of kiss, he had never gotten much of an opportunity to sightsee. (lydia comments on this regarding kiss’ first trip to japan, saying she and jeanette were really the only ones who really got a chance to see anything while over there-- the boys were mostly stuck.)

during the drive, he’s pointing at various tourist attractions/historical buildings and asking about them (”this is... this is hyde park? this is hyde park. ... i should’ve taken this camera with me yesterday.” “is that where princess di lives?”) as he tries to record them on the camcorder.

it was kind of neat to see since i’d assumed at this point in his career, roughly 15-16 years in, he would’ve been basically inured to any interest in any area he was performing in, since he’d toured all over the world. he keeps pointing his camcorder towards a much fancier, modern hotel (the royal garden) and saying “this is the hotel we should’ve stayed in... and didn’t...” he’s definitely bitter, though it’s no comparison to paul from around the same time; ace seems more resigned. there are about a dozen fans outside of the venue hours and hours prior to the show, holding albums and yelling excitedly. around the very end of the recording, you can see the fans crowding around as ace and the band leave as well.

cameos include a very young eddie trunk, the 1988 members of frehley’s comet (of course), and, unless my eyes deceive me, gordon gebert. it may not be worth a close perusal or, indeed, much perusal, but it’s an interesting look at the way things were for ace at this point. ace is fairly quiet and toned-down, though he cracks a few jokes and makes some dry comments here and there. per basically everyone who ever worked with ace, up until probably the 2000s, he was able to play even when trashed out of his mind. he’s definitely sober for at least the early parts of this in the hotel/car, though-- that being said, it looks as though they arrived at the hammersmith odeon around lunchtime, probably a solid seven or eight hours before the show, so i can’t exactly vouch for his sobriety any time past that. kind of neat stuff.

[wreywrites]

Tiger Shark

Part One: The Shark

Chapter 2

We reach the Capitol late that evening. We get off the train and into a car that takes us from the station to the Tribute Center, a twelve-story building with who knows how many floors below ground for the training center. Finnick leads us inside and into an elevator. The doors open on the fourth floor.

A gorgeous, if rather over-decorated, sitting area awaits us. There is a large table at one end, already laden with fruits, pastries, and an assortment of other snack-type items. We sit and nibble on the food, Finnick telling us that we are one of the first districts to arrive. The others will arrive throughout the night and into tomorrow afternoon, and there is no point preparing for the Parade when we aren’t all here to have it. So we get an extra evening to enjoy the Capitol.

“Or at least this lovely apartment, home of so many of your dead forebears, and me and Manta. We’ll get you up bright and early tomorrow to start discussing strategies, and then in the afternoon, you get to meet Marius.”

He sounds excited about this, but I am not. At least, if Marius is the same stylist Four has had for the last ten years, I am not excited. Marius, like so many of the stylists, goes overboard in trying to make the tributes from Four look like they came from Four. Some years they are dressed as fish, one year they wore nothing but strategically-knotted fish nets, and I am very afraid that because Mako and I are eighteen and at least above-average appearance-wise, that is the direction Marius will go. I do not want that at all.

~~~                               ~~~                               ~~~

We watch the reaping. Caesar Flickerman is delightful and strange as always. Twelve goes first, and there is Haymitch Abernathy, the man who is only a household name because he won the last Quarter Quell out of a field of forty-eight (impressive) and because he is always so slobbering drunk that no one can believe he hasn’t fallen off the stage at a reaping yet (a cause of second-hand embarrassment for almost everyone). A woman draws the names. They don’t even register in my mind. I have decided that it will be easier to kill these people if I don’t know their names, if I know nothing about them, if I treat them like the lobsters I love to dive for. So I tune out their names, but I do get a good look at them. The girl is probably seventeen or eighteen, but one of her arms is misshapen. It puzzles me, how that could happen.

Finnick voices the question I assume we all have, and then answers it just as quickly. “Not sure how she could have done that. Must have been born that way—they don’t start in the mines until they’re eighteen.”

The boy from Twelve is younger, maybe fourteen or fifteen, but his arms appear to both be fully functioning. Then comes Eleven, where they draw the name of another older girl and a tiny boy who must have just had his name drawn in his first reaping. The odds were evidently not in his favor.

More districts come and go, the standard fare. I start really paying attention when Two comes up. Unsurprisingly, both are volunteers.

“Careers,” Finnick says disdainfully. “Everyone else wins it fair and square, takes it like a man, and then we’ve got One and Two with their-”

Mags shoots him a look and he stops. Four has had our fair share of volunteers too. Not as many as some of the others, but enough to where I can almost guarantee the poorer districts call us Careers too.

Then they show us. Casca calls my name and I stand there like an idiot. In the hours that have passed since the reaping, the filmmakers have had time to go through the footage and edit it down, zoom in on Tributes as soon as their names are called, find their families and show their reactions.

And I look like an idiot. With the camera tight on Jade, Coral, and me, I turn to them, smiling, laughing almost. And they are terrified. I wait for the shoe to drop, for the realization to show on my face, but Casca says again, “Annie Cresta?” and my face simply settles into a look of pure resolve, and I walk toward the stage. Somehow, they have found a high shot of the crowd. Maybe from the security camera on top of the Justice Building, facing the square, and the image is in fact as striking as I had imagined. The tanned faces all pointing to me, following me as I make my way to the stage, confidence in every step.

“Well done,” Mags says.

I turn to stare at her, but before I can question it, Finnick nods. “Your reaction was perfect. You look relieved they called your name. Smiling like that? Amazing. Couldn’t have made you look cockier if I’d had days to plan. You’re making my job easy.”

“What?” I frown.

“People love that, especially here in the Capitol. A confident Tribute. Not a volunteer, and not someone that has to be drug up to the stage, but someone who hears their name, smiles, and goes for it. You’re already acting like a victor, and they will love you for it.”

The screen cuts to Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith.

“Well, Claudius?” Caesar says, beaming at his diminutive broadcast partner. “What do you think? If you could place bets right now, where would your money go?”

“Hmm,” Claudius thinks for about half a second, then says, “The girl from Nine, Jilly?”

Caesar nods.

“And Andromeda and Tychus from Two.”

“Always formidable Tributes from Two,” Caesar says, nodding again.

“And I think the Tributes from Four are a pair to watch as well, Mako and Annie.”

Caesar is still nodding. He brings up a replay of our reaping and begins more commentary. “See the confidence here,” he pauses the video as I smile at Coral and Jade. “She’s smiling. That’s a girl who knows she can win.” He plays the clip and it shows Mako walking forward. “And see the way he walks. That’s a fellow who has no fear of the arena.” They show the two of us shaking hands, towering over Casca, who in fairness is very short already, but Mako and I are both very tall, so we serve to exaggerate each other’s heights well.

“Now Caesar, we’ve got a lot of older tributes this year. Do you think that’ll make these Games different from those from the last five or ten years, when it’s been largely a mixed field?”

“I do think it will change things, but I don’t know how. Part of me thinks the bloodbath will be even bloodier this year, because it’s usually the older and stronger tributes who go for the cornucopia, so there will be more of them fighting. But,” Caesar pauses, “that also means more of our tributes will be more evenly matched. It’s hard to tell. What do you think?”

Claudius laughs. “Oh, I’ve no idea, but you always have several, so I just thought I’d ask!”

Caesar laughs too, then signs off by saying, “And we’ll be back tomorrow to show you the Parade of Tributes!”

The screen starts a rerun of the reaping. Finnick shuts it off.

“There you have it, top five already. Good job kids.”

Mako mumbles something that might be “Thanks,” then stands and says, “If we have to get up as early as you say tomorrow, I’m going to bed.” He walks to the hallway, then stops. “Which one’s mine?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Finnick calls back. “I’ve slept in all of them and they’re exactly the same.”

Another disturbing thought sponsored by Finnick Odair.

Mags says something to Finnick, then she too heads to the hallway and leaves my line of sight.

Finnick and I sit in silence for a few minutes. He nibbles a roll, then makes direct eye contact with me, picks up a strawberry, and eats it in the most seductive manner I think even he could have conceived.

“Why?” I say, more annoyed and exhausted than anything.

“Because I knew it would bother you.” He picks up another strawberry and eats in like a normal human, which is somehow more off-putting. He picks up a third and offers it to me.

“No thanks, you and those strawberries seem to have a special relationship and I’d hate to ruin it.”

“Suit yourself, honey.”

“Stop that.”

“No.” He leans forward, staring into my eyes. It’s like a riptide. I can’t escape that gaze. I am forced to stare back as he eats the third strawberry. He chews slowly, taking his time, dragging out my suffering. I can’t look away. It’s like watching a ship battered to pieces on the rocks—you just can’t not watch.

He swallows, maintains eye contact, and grins. “I like you, Annie.”

“Why?”

“Tell you what, you start asking more intelligent questions, and I’ll quit calling you honey.”

I stare at him.

“I’ll take that as a yes.” He reaches for another roll. “It’s got cream cheese, want one?”

“Sure.” Why not, really. Might as well sort of enjoy myself.

He hands me the roll, then grabs another for himself. “I like you because you are so… I don’t know what the word is. You can take it. You can handle me, which, let me tell you, not many girls can.”

I curl my lip. I did not need to know that detail about his private life.

“You’ve got all this stuff that the Capitol’s provided for you, and you just don’t care. Nothing gets you, or if it does, you’re very good at not letting on. And you blushed when I ate that strawberry.”

“Can we not talk about that? Ever again?” The words come out in a rush.

He smiles, showing all of his perfect teeth without even trying. “If you say so.”

We finish the rolls in silence. And still neither of us gets up.

After perhaps ten minutes, Finnick looks at me with an actual normal, neutral expression that a normal human would use in normal conversation, and says, “So, what do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t. There’s nothing, I’m just not tired. I wouldn’t sleep if I went to bed, so why go to my room?”

He raises an eyebrow. “Clearly you’ve never tried showering in the Capitol. Magical experience.”

I wish he would stop saying things like that.

“Seriously though, you wouldn’t sit out here with me if you didn’t have something on your mind that you wanted to talk about. You would’ve left when Mags did. That was your social out, right there, and you just watched her leave.”

I take a deep breath. “What about Mako?”

Finnick nods. “The odds are very high that one of the Careers will take him out. He’ll be high on the hit list. You’ll be only slightly lower because you’re a girl and they don’t know that you run a fishing crew too. The real question is what you want to do while you’re both alive.”

I shrug. “I know I need allies.”

“That you do. Every victor has allies at some point. Even Mags had the girls from Three and Ten.”

“What about you?” I know the answer. I remember his Games. I want to see if he’ll admit it.

Finnick smiles. “Me? I had my trident.”

~~~                               ~~~                               ~~~

Mags wakes me the next morning. Not as early as I had expected, but still earlier than I would have liked, given my late-night chat with Finnick.

The four of us eat breakfast together. I can feel Finnick staring me down as he eats five or six strawberries, but I don’t look at him. I am instead absorbed by my bacon, fascinated with Mako’s cinnamon rolls (apparently a staple of special occasions in Nine). After breakfast, Finnick holds out a hand to each of us, palm up.

“Tokens?” he says. “Things from home tend to get… lost here, so I’ll keep them for you for now.”

For some reason, I trust him with this. I take off my mother’s shell necklace and lay it gently in his hand. Mako removes the ring from his right ring finger. It was his grandfather’s wedding band, a simple token of love that his grandfather had given him after his grandmother died. Mako closes his fist around it before releasing it to Finnick’s waiting fingers. “You’ll get them back, I promise, but I don’t necessarily trust your style teams with them.” Finnick turns to Mags. “I leave these two in your very capable hands. I’m going to go out and get our kids some sponsors.”

Mags nods and leads us to the elevator.

We take the elevator several levels underground. When we get out, there are a few other groups of tributes milling around. Mags hurries us by them, only stopping when we reach a door marked with a large 4. She gestures us inside.

Inside are five women and a man, and immediately three of the women rush to meet me, gushing about how I am as beautiful in person as I was on the broadcast last night. They guide me through another door, where they begin to make me even more beautiful (their words, not mine).

I suspected something like this would happen, but I wasn’t too worried about it. Being from Four, I keep my armpits and legs at least mostly shaved, and my finger- and toenails, though short, aren’t ripped or broken.

I quickly realize I was wrong about this being a painless and easy process. They thank me for keeping my leg hair under control, then wax my legs anyway. They do the same to my armpits, and then my arms, which seems excessive. As one of them—honestly, I can’t tell them apart, I’m pretty sure they are sisters and they look a great deal like each other, and on top of that, they had similar sounding names and introduced themselves quickly and almost as an afterthought because they were so focused on me—finishes my arms, the other two begin on my eyebrows. It’s the worst part of the process. Then they turn their attention to my nails, which they bemoan for being too short, but then quickly slip into a discussion of the merits of various fake nails, and must eventually settle on a certain kind, because the next thing I know, they are sticking inch-long fake nails on my fingers.

They leave my toes alone because, as Prep 2 says, “Those aren’t where the attention is. We’ll just paint them to match your outfit.”

When they finish with my nails, they finally turn their attention to my hair, and it is there that I find some relief.

“It’s simply gorgeous!” Prep 3 says, running her fingers through it.

“And so healthy! We won’t even have to trim it!” Prep 2 beams at me.

In the end, they simply wash and half-dry my hair, then leave the room. After a minute, the door opens and a man steps in.

I recognize him immediately. Marius is indeed the genius behind the fish net look. I try not to show my trepidation. I am a tiger shark.

Marius gives me a good long up-down assessment. I want to tell him not to enjoy himself too much, but that seems like a good way to get stuck in fish nets, so I keep my mouth shut. Finally, he says, “Yes, you’ll be perfect.” He summons the prep team back in, and they begin.

They tape my breasts, and already I know I am in for a rough night, if only when I have to undress. It’s that or wear the tape forever. Neither thought is appealing. Preps 1 and 2 then begin attaching oversized clam shells to the tape, giving the illusion that I killed some poor clam and used its carcass as a bra. I hate this even more.

Prep 3 puts me in a pair of skin-tight tan shorts, then helps me into a sea-green skirt that hugs my thighs so tightly I know I won’t be able to walk on my own. It loosens a little just above the knee, but not much. I reconcile myself to the fact that walking will be more like waddling, if it happens at all.

Marius shows the Preps a sketch of a complicated hairstyle, a pile of braids and twists heaped on my head. They start eagerly, and finish surprisingly quickly, though I have to remind myself there are three of them and they are professionals. Just because it would take me eighty-seven years to do someone’s hair like that…

Before I can finish the thought, Marius returns with a crown. It seems a little early for that—there are still twenty-three people I need to kill before I get one of those. It looks like it is made of coral, green like my skirt. He sets it on my brow and arranges some of the braids around it, nodding to himself as he goes. When he is satisfied, Prep 3 does my makeup—overall, a simple affair, accenting the features Marius deems “the most striking” and ignoring the others.

Preps 1 and 2 have to literally hold me upright while Marius puts shoes on my feet. They aren’t really shoes though, more like slippers, each one resembling half the shimmery, translucent tail of a koi. It takes the shoes for me to finally realize that they have dressed me as a mermaid. It’s better than fish nets.

Marius pronounces me done and a masterpiece, then he and Prep 2 help me waddle out of the prep room and to an elevator, which we then take up to the ground level and exit into the stables. Some of the other tributes are already there. Mako is nowhere to be seen, but Finnick is standing next to a pair of iron gray horses, feeding them something. Marius and Prep 2 waddle me over to the chariot, then begin to make last-minute adjustments and fix all the things that have shifted. Clearly, this outfit was not designed for movement.

Finnick is feeding the horses sugar cubes. He offers me one, and I start to decline, having flashbacks to the strawberries, when I decide that I could very easily be dead in two weeks, so I might as well find some small joy in life.

I am on my third sugar cube when Mako arrives. At first, I think he is escorting Mags like the gentleman he is, but upon closer inspection, I realize that he is leaning on her. In fact, she is probably the only thing keeping him upright as he waddles toward us. Behind him comes his stylist, a young woman who I think is named Dalia, if I remember correctly, and one member of his prep team. They begin adjusting his costume as well. He has the same tight skirt thing giving the illusion of a tail, and he also wears a coral crown (both dark blue, which matches his eyes—at least they did that for us), and no shirt whatsoever.

Marius and Dalia finish at the same time, and Finnick, chewing another sugar cube, asks, “So, how are we supposed to get them in the chariot?”

Marius shrugs, not bothering to conceal the look of absolute unconcern on his face. “I just dress them, Finnick, beyond that they are not my problem.”

I dislike him even more now.

Finnick sighs, then walks a few chariots down and begins talking to one of the other mentors. At first I am annoyed that he left us here, helpless, with only Mags, who looks as clueless as I feel, but then he points back to us and the other mentor turns and laughs. My stomach does a weird backflip and my heart starts triple-timing as I recognize the man now following Finnick back to us. It’s Gloss, the gorgeous winner from One from a few years ago.

“We’re pretty sure we can lift you two specimens,” Finnick grins at us.

Mags springs into the chariot and nods back at Finnick. He and Gloss each wrap an arm around Mako’s middle and the other behind his legs at the knee, then lift him into the chariot, where Mags steadies him and helps him waddle into position.

Once Mags has Mako settled, Finnick and Gloss do the same to me. I am incredibly conscious of how little I am wearing, and how relatively little Gloss is wearing, and have the odd realization that he wouldn’t have to say anything much or particularly eloquent to get me into bed.

They settle me in next to Mako and Mags hops out of the chariot, smiling at us.

Gloss is barely holding back laughter. He slaps Finnick’s shoulder congenially. “At least it’s not the fish nets.”

Finnick nods. “Yeah, it… well, it shows them off, I suppose.”

Which is true. Mako and I are each six feet of solid muscle with no fat to hide behind. I flex my arms, grinning at Mako. He poses as well, looking ridiculous but, I’ll grant, very attractive.

“Knock it off you two. I don’t want you messing around and falling out of that thing. You’ll never be able to even get back on your feet on your own, let alone back in the chariot. And I’m not running out to rescue you,” Finnick says. He looks genuinely concerned that this might happen.

“Oh, I don’t know, I think I’d help you out.” Gloss flashes me a smile and my stomach does that weird thing again. “Pretty girl like you, at the mercy of the District Five horses? I’d come to your rescue.”

I have what I can only describe as an out-of-body experience when I hear myself saying, “Well I wouldn’t say no. And I’ll certainly take you up on it if you’re still feeling helpful when it comes time to get out of this thing.”

Gloss laughs. “I like her!”

Finnick snorts, rolling his eyes, but I can tell that he is amused.

Gloss, meanwhile, has stepped onto the spokes of the wheel so we are on a level with each other. “Can’t tell if you meant your tail or the chariot, but I’m game for either one.” He winks, kisses me on the cheek, and then steps down and walks away.

“I can die happy now,” I say to no one in particular, staring after him.

Mags grabs my hand, then points at her eyes.

“Right, focus,” I say, nodding.

“All right, you two sexy fish people,” Finnick hands me another sugar cube, “I want you to smile, wave, look confident, all that. People already love you, I just need you to keep it that way. Tonight is about showing the muscle that comes with your delightful personalities, okay?”

We nod.

“Oh, and please hang on, at least for starts and stops. I have no doubt Gloss would come to your aide, but it’s not going to look good on the replays.” He and Mags turn and walk out of the stables, presumably to take their seats in the mentor section.

When they are out of earshot, Mako turns to me, an eyebrow raised. “Really, you can die happy? You’re going into the arena in a few days, why would you talk like that?”

“Seriously Mako? How do you want me to react? Gloss is the prettiest man alive.”

“And?”

“Be honest with me, if you had been in my place and it was Cashmere instead of Gloss, would you have done something differently?”

He opens his mouth, then closes it. “I like to think I would have, but then I remember what we’re trying to do, so I guess for the sake of the show, I would have done exactly what you did.”

Ouch. I’m also annoyed that he thinks I was acting taken with Gloss. That is absolutely not something I would ever have to fake. Nor did it even occur to me that acting that way was important to keep up our act as two people who haven’t been seeing each other for over a year.

Before I can overthink myself too much, the snow-white horses pulling One’s chariot trot out of the stable. Mako and I both clutch the top of the chariot with both hands. After several minutes, the horses start forward with a jerk, but once they are in motion, their pace remains remarkably steady, so I am confident in merely resting my inside hand on the chariot, just in case, and waving with the other. I smile at the crowd, which roars in appreciation. I suspect that they, like Claudius Templesmith and Caesar Flickerman, know we are a pair to watch.

The horses trot down Victor’s Way, stopping in a half-circle at the far end, in front of the balcony where President Snow stands. He gives a short address that I don’t really listen to. I assume it’s the same one as every other year. Besides, the replay will be on all night tonight, so I can probably watch it while Finnick and I stay up and eat cream cheese rolls. When President Snow has finished, the horses from District One circle around and trot back down Victor’s Way to the stable. District by district, we follow.

Back in the stable, Gloss and Finnick lift Mako out of the chariot and, after a brief discussion, carry him all the way to an elevator. Mags walks after them to keep an eye on Mako while they come back for me. They carry me all the way to the elevator as well, and as they set me down, Gloss says, “First floor if you get bored tonight.” He gives me another wink, then pushes the button for Four and slips out as the elevator doors close.

“Can he do that?” I say to Finnick, who seems rather amused with this whole turn of events.

“Don’t know. I’ve never tried it, though I have thought about it a few times.” Mags is rolling her eyes, but Finnick continues. “Either no one’s ever taken him up on it, or they’ve never got caught.”

There are a few seconds of silence, then Finnick says, “I can’t tell you what to do, but as your mentor, please don’t try it. It won’t make your life in the arena any easier, and he’ll still be here if you make it out.”

“You suck all the joy out of life,” I say to him as the elevator door opens to our living area.

It is then that we realize Finnick can’t carry either of us on his own, and we waddle far too slowly for his preference. So Mako and I struggle out of our skirts in the elevator, and it is now that I am glad for the shorts underneath.

****

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[witchofthescions]

[A video is uploaded!

Ernastral is standing in the Rising Stones, in front of the bar. Ephemie, a rather disgruntled-looking Elezen woman, is manning the bar and shooting Erna less than impressed looks. There's a purple-haired Viera leaning against the bar and occasionally glancing over his shoulder at the proceedings with a certain level of amusement.

"Is it workin'?" Erna asks the cameraperson.

"Yep! Do your thing, Ernastral!" Tataru says from behind the camera.

Erna grins excitedly. "Right, so, Tataru commissioned the Garlond Ironworks to make me a weapon, right? Here it is, by the way."

She holds up what looks to be a somewhat fancy mage's staff, with a crystal floating at the top.

"And I've been messin' around with it, gettin' a feel for it and all—it's perfect and I love it, obviously."

Tataru giggles behind the camera and one can practically hear the proud grin on her face.

"By which she means throwing fireballs at Hoary and letting him deflect them into the wall," Ephemie chimes in. Erna gets a bit of a sheepish look. Tataru leans around her and zooms in on a very obviously scorched patch of wall just behind Ephemie.

"Sorry!" says a man's voice from off-camera, presumably the aforementioned Hoary.

Tataru zooms back out and focuses on Erna again as she continues speaking.

"A-Anyway! I wanna show this thing in action, so let's get to it!"

"Don't hit the shelves this time or F'lhaminn will have all our hides," Ephemie warns.

The camera's view shifts, and Tataru moves back a step or two so that she can get Erna's sparring partner, a fellow Hellsguard Roegadyn man, into frame. He has a shield, but no weapon, presumably because he doesn't intend to use it for this. He holds the shield up, assuming a strong defensive stance.

"Ready, Hoary?"

"Ready!"

Erna drops into a casting stance, power gathering around the crystal in her staff. She releases a small fireball towards Hoary, which collides with the shield and, thankfully, dissipates rather then deflects. She then holds up the staff with one hand, clicks a button, and taps the bottom of the staff against the floor. Suddenly, metal springs out of the staff, transforming it into a greatsword nearly as tall as she is. She changes her grip on the blade, hefts it up, and brings it down against Hoary's shield with a loud CLANG!

She then turns to the camera with the biggest grin on her face. "This is the best nameday present I've ever gotten."

"I'm glad you appreciate it, friend!" Tataru says.

And that's where the video ends.]