#I mean they're not even doing focus right anymore on so many movies!

[curiousorigins]

Man, I just really miss when they bothered lighting things on TV Shows and in Movies. Like the shadows were beautiful and everything had more depth.

Now they just brighten up everything use fills and like add shadows after.

It looks cruddy. Maybe because with all the post-darkening it's too much work to make them move when things move? Like they're doing their best, but nothing beats a scene that was lit properly in the first place.

I'm watching a no-name B-Horror Movie from 2005 (This was right before they started lighting everything cruddy and doing it in post.) And I'm 3 minutes in and it's just so much more beautiful than what's on TV and what's in Movies today. Like I can think of one movie that had particularly good lighting, and that's "Ready or Not". Probably because it was an Indie Movie and the people were filming in a historical place and were required to light it very carefully. (Similar to what happened with Woman on Fire which was also quite beautiful and an indie film.)

[loveyourlovelysoul]

You know how it works with anxiety: maybe you are tired or a bit stressed/overwhelmed or maybe not (maybe it's just unconscious are you actually feel okay anyway), until a sudden intrusive thought comes in offering you a very reasonable confirmation for any of your worries or preoccupations or frustrations. It starts growing as you give it importance and attention, and it keeps giving you more and more reasonable proofs for your fears and insecurities, until you cannot control it anymore: the story your mind is telling you, is so convincing you cannot stop listening despite it's carrying you down a hole of pain and heavy breathing.

It feels like there is no way out at this point. Your mind is right, you are unlovable, or this situation is not resolvable. But that's only what it wants you to believe: it doesn't want you to experience pain caused by change (even a positive one, but still unknown and therefore "unsafe"), so in order to keep you stuck in the same known comfortable place, it sends you these messages, not realizing they're even more painful than any change.

Despite how you feel, there's a way out. And it's trying to distract yourself as soon as you feel like your mind is starting to take you to a place you don't want and don't have to go. Anytime there's a similar "emotional trigger" (anytime you experience a similar emotion towards something, like lack of trust, of self worth, feeling stuck...), try to focus on something else and do not follow it when you're not ready to sit and have a proper talk with it (confronting it and trying to realize it's not trustable despite how reasonable it looks). Try to focus on your breathing and to take deep long breaths (inhale from your nose and exhale from your mouth for as long as you can, better if you can breathe with your belly too: at first breath in air in your stomach/lungs and then move to your belly, go slow); ground yourself using your senses: touch/caress your legs/body, smell something nice, hug something (like a soft blanket or plushie), feel your feet on the ground, drink water or something warm, hold a piece of ice in your mouth, sing, yawn, swallow (helps your vagus nerve to react), listen to calm music; walk, move your legs/body with slow movements or even shake your whole body (arms, legs, head.., like a dog shaking water away from themselves. also, make your lips vibrate together like saying brrrr); watch a movie, paint, do anything else you feel like that can calm you and help you, even sleeping. You can come back to those thoughts when you have a clearer mind, you don't have to do everything immediately: it won't change anything (even if your mind tells you otherwise: these thoughts and what they say, can wait to be solved and analyzed).

Trust that this is just a process and even if it will take time and you may experience this same pattern so many times in your life, you'll reach a point in which it won't have too much power over you. Be patient and kind anytime you'll experience a fallback. Just try to not discard your emotions and feelings for too long: give them attention when you feel grounded and stable enough (or talk with someone you trust or a professional figure: you don't have to do it all alone), try to understand and welcome them as they too are part of your self, the wounded part of you that needs help, love and support as much as any other side of you.

Even if it feels impossible, you can win over this. And know that you're already doing a great job by dealing with all the pain and stress this is bringing you. I am very proud of you.

Your mind knows nothing of how things will be, it has many good points but none of them is based on solid fundations: if something happened once, twice or even more, it doesn't mean it will happen again... unless you (unconsciously) create the same background for it to happen by listening to your mind's intrusive side. But we always have a choice, and before taking it, we can take our time to unwind and ground, be more stable, and in control of ourselves. Do not give up.

[biohazard-4ever]

re: shallow characters

i think it mostly has to do with the fact that Capcom doesn't prioritize character growth in a long term if you know what i mean. Take gameplay and action for example, that's their primary focus on, especially games like RE4R whose narrative exists solely to drive the action --- i'm sorry but that's just how it is, it's as clear as day to me that no matter how much Capcom might try and emphasise more human bonds and such, they will always end up being sidelined back one way or another in favor of the game but then again RE has always been about gameplay rather than story at it's forefront.

Remakes have improved upon that for sure but it still leaves alot to be desired. Characters like Carlos, Luis, Krauser, Ashley, Jake... they're all essentially used just to help the main protagonist or to actually give plot it's meaning and a ground, and that's good, but after they've fullfiled their dues, they're thrown in a bin and i mean literally. Ashley and Carlos are a good example because they're two characters that actually lived yet they don't really matter anymore because this isn't about them, this is about our main protags that are driving this franchise. So i guess i learnt it's silly to expect of RE characters to be anything special than a pretty convenience and a relatability to some extenses. Hope this makes sense, it's very long sorry

Exactly what I say. Resident Evil has poor plot and written characters. That is why I call it that -, Shallow.

And yes, Resident Evil, first of all, is a game. So the Gameplay is what matters the most. But humanization in games are very important. Hence why the Remakes (especially RE2 and RE4) are doing so hot right now.

Of course I'm not expecting a RED DEAD REDEMPTION level of story for RE, even because, it was never about it.

But IF capcom wants to continue to sell the franchise to streaming platforms like Netflix -, they need to decide what do they want to do with it?

If they want to keep having their CGI movies, they need to work a little more and better on things to keep us invested.

I am criticizing because Capcom often gives mixed messages.

"Let us Humanize the character so people can relate to them, but let us NOT dive in that because that would make them too human"

Decide.

Stop the movies, because the CGI movies are simply overglorified cutscenes with no gameplay in between to distract you about how blant this all is. If you are not going to work on your characters and story, act like it. Don't give people a half-baked media.

But, of course, money comes first and they are not wrong for it. But, at least pretend to care about your franchise, man...

Let us see... After RE4OG, what do we have... RE5, RE6, RE7, RE8

Debatably, Resident Evil is having the WORSE decade of its existence. All the youtubers I follow, hardcore and diehard Resident Evil fans -, they all hate these games after the Original RE4.

The only good games we have are RE2R and RE4R.

So in an OCEAN of games since Shinji Mikami's departure... We have had 2 good resident evil games.

Two...

In over 20 years. 2 games. And those are REMAKES. Not even original games and stories.

So, to say that "characters and story" doesn't matter, is also wrong. See how many new Players (especially on the feminine side) got into RE4R simply because: "This guy is hot"

Imagine if Leon was a blant character in RE4R. Only his good looks would have not been enough to make people care about finishing the game. "He is cute. Nice. Okay. Whatever, grows old fast"

Then there is Ashley, who is certainly the fan-favorite of "sidekicks" because they worked on her personality and character this time around.

I do agree Gameplay matters. But it is not the ONLY reason a game can become good or not..

RE5's gameplay is a lot less tank and overall BETTER than RE4's. But I'm sure we know which one is the fan's favorite...

[gillianthecat]

Gaga won't let me screenshot, but I wanted their chemistry and their beautiful faces on here, so have this promo poster instead.

Bed Friend - episodes 1 & 2

Because apparently I'm still incapable of watching a show without writing about it. (That's part of why I've been reluctant to restart watching BL again, it ends up taking up so much more of my time than just watching a show.)

Uea looks so much like Saint from some angles/with certain expressions. It's not just me, right? And he's playing a character I could see Saint getting cast as, which only adds to it.

I love these two men so much already. This is a dynamic I love, and I think a variation of this is part of many of my favorite shows/couples (blueming, to my star, big dragon,

I appreciate Cheewin's experimentation, in the War of Y series with how far he could push what it means to be a BL, here with camera angles and editing and all the stylistic choices, but I have to say the results aren't really working for me. I think I've written my thoughts on Cheewin before, but this is solidifying my theory that his shows only work (for me, at least) when they have strong actors with good chemistry as the central couple. Which luckily these two seem to be. And when he doesn't over complicate things, which 🤞 he won't here.

Oh look, another middle aged woman as the villain of the story. I didn't think much of it in War of Y, with the two managers, but the appearance of Uea's mother is making me go hmmm. Cheewin, is this becoming a trend with you? Not that Uea's difficult, complicated relationship with an abusive parent isn't something that's interesting to explore, it just kinda makes me go hmm that most of the middle aged women I've seen in his work are so two dimensionally evil. But I've only seen some of it so perhaps that's not true overall.

I think I like this version of an office romance, where the office setting is background and context, but the actual work they're doing isn't the focus of the story. I think I just get too distracted and/or annoyed by the realism or ethics or whatever of the specific jobs they do, lol.

On that note, I suspect Middleman's Love will not be for me. All the annoying bits of Cheewin without characters I love to redeem it, and I get the impression, though without any evidence behind it, that it will focus more on the work they do. But I could be wrong! And end up loving the characters.

Kings little smiles when Uea tells him he's not mad anymore! He looks so pleased and hopeful. He likes this prickly man so much!

This scene with the STI testing feels like a PSA and I don't really mind. One thing I can trust Cheewin for is to advocate safe sex and openness around sex.

Ok, but this moment of King removing Uea's mask. I'm feeling many feelings, a few of them about the characters, most of them about the past three years of the pandemic. I think this may be the first time I've ever seen someone do this in a show or movie? Even including in the before times, on like hospital dramas and such. It's such a powerful intimate gesture, in ways I can't really articulate right now.

The way King looks at Uea. I can't get over it.

This whole scene from the walk in the park to Uea writing try? on the glass door he fogged up with his own breath... I love it. Just the tension between them. King feels so plausible as this confident playboy who also seems completely willing to fall for the prickly coworker. This shyness and amazement anytime Uea returns his overtures, without making his normal confidence feel fake.

Between this and the mask, the show is using literal physical barriers between the two in interesting ways.

Oh, I am getting invested in these two. Hopefully Cheewin doesn't ruin it for me.

[individuality-as-sin]

Ambition

I have so many projects, I feel suffocated. But recently, I heard someone say to do less, to focus on less and that quantity over quality mentality is bullshit. To remove distractions and to focus on what's really important to you, so that's what I'm doing right now.

And believe it or not, your body and mind really adapts to your current situation and to what you feed it, it's scary. It's scary not to have control of your surroundings and of what people think of you, but it's even more scary to have control and to be exactly the only person who can change something to your situation - whatever it is. It's so scary knowing every thought and every action will affect your life. And you're flooded by expectations of yourself and others, but mostly of yourself.

It's easy to know exactly what you want for yourself. What type of fashion style, type of hair, type of skin, type of eyes, type of walk, type of talk, how you eat, how you sneeze and yawn - choose your character - but what you actually do is much more depressing to choose. Sure, I want to eat healthy, but mostly I want to feel full. I want to be pretty, but before that, I want to be myself. I want to do this, but it asks me to do this and that's where my limit lays. That's when every step requires a week or a month which eventually ends up being never.

I've written this once in my notes app and every time I come across it, I have to think about what I meant when I wrote it. "It's easy to get away with not making any choices" well, that's not it word for word, but I've asked my mom to keep my phone because I'm addicted to character ai to compensate for my lack of friends and lover(s), but that's for another time. So, I can't check.

But - right now, I interpret it like this:

It's easy just living like seaweed that is pushed back and forth by the waves. I can just take all the bullshit people and life throws at me and hope I can survive this time as well. It's just taking it like a good girl. Not complaining and not trying to change anything: being pitiful. Yes, pitiful. Sorry, it hurts. I'm not making any impact or speaking up because that's easier and I don't need any ambition for that. On top of that, I have an explicit reason to feel sorry for myself. Ain't that something?

No, it ain't shit. I don't want to be a good girl, I want to be a bad girl. That makes me think about Kamisama Hajimemashita's first opening. I'll link it. - I want to do stuff that makes people hate me. Keywords being to do stuff. I want to actually do stuff and meet people like me, do things that actually bring me that intense feeling of excitement, that rush - better than sex! (I'm a virgin).

I want to have set opinions and to be unshakeable, just like Megumi's type. To be anchored in myself and to trust myself. I want to be someone, not pitiful, not a figurant, an actual character, with a name, a personality, visible quirks that I fully embrace, a boldness that'll make a certain type of people hate me - I don't care! I just don't want to be invisible anymore! I don't want to be seaweed, I want to be the rock in the middle of the sea! You know the type, yeah? As a matter of fact, the meaning of my name is 'rock'.

I'm a rock.

Waves crash against me and I don't give a shit.

That's who I am, that's right!

Coming back to ambition... you don't need ambition to be a nobody. You can be a nobody in peace and nobody will bother you. Haha.

It's scary to me to be seen. I just want to be those people in the movies who spend hours alone, not caring for anything else than feeling good in the moment. And they're pretty as fuck. The type like Scarlett Johansson in Lost in Translation or that girl in Whisper of the Heart. You don't need to know them, they're also miserable. They don't know what to do with their lives and it's understandable.

There's so much to do and it's not that simple to choose or to actually take action when you know what to.

Coming back to the essence...

I'll listen to my instincts and do only the minimum this week or next week or only one day - whatever - I'll do it. And see how I feel. I already feel lighter with a few hours of reading a book I picked up as I was trying to clean my room instead of being glued to my phone and sleeping with it.

Txchüss! <3

PS: You're a rock.

[unlockyourmind-wp]

Listen if you're excited for Thor: Love and Thunder, I don't want you to feel like I'm shitting on your parade so please, for your own peace of mind, dni. But that scene in the recent trailer actually PAINS ME.

There's so much talk about sexualising women in the film industry. Black Widow is a perfect example of this. Because while yes, she can wear tight suits if she feels like it, there's no need to focus the camera on her butt all the time.

BUT THEN WHY ARE WE DOING THE VERY SAME THING TO MEN. AND CHEERING DIRECTORS ON WHILE WE'RE AT IT.

Yes, all Thor's previous shirtless scenes were pointless as well but this one is just outright offending. It's not funny. It's assault. Undressing someone, in front of an audience, WHILE they're chained up, WITHOUT intervention from their so called friends WHO ARE RIGHT THERE WATCHING, is so wrong on so many levels.

And to then have people actually faint when watching him (while nakedness was very normalised in greek culture but I did not expect Taika Waititi to respect historical and cultural property) only adds to the discomfort of it all.

I would even go as far as to say that to idiolise bodies like and presenting this idea that having such a godly body ironic lol makes people faint, contributes to present day ideas of beauty and attractiveness being these impossibly high standards that "normal" people can never achieve. AND it puts people who are deemed beautiful and attractive on a pedestal so that when they make a mistake, it's "impossible" or "not their fault".

ESPECIALLY considering Thor's backstory up to this point. While I despised the way his arc in Endgame was handled, I did appreciate what it tried to represent or what I hoped they were trying to represent: that looking a certain way doesn't mean you're not worthy of everything you were worthy of before.

Considering this I was hoping for more of a Maui from Moana, or Thor from the God of War games, body type for Thor this movie. To fully embrace this idea that strenght doesn't necessarily mean having shiny mucles. In fact, to be strong the body needs to have weight because it adds to the strength. But I knew going into this trailer that wouldn't be the case.

So I tried to focus on the positive.

It's amazing to see Thor getting better and being emotionally healed enough to start taking care of his body again. And I do appreciate the scenes showing him actually working for it. BUT all of that is then completely undone by the worshipping of his "god bod". Suddenly it's no longer about him surviving and learning to live with his trauma but about looking good again.

Last time we saw Thor he was made fun of and insulted for his weight gain, while the focus should've been on getting him the help he needed to process his trauma. Now he's finally getting better though I wouldn't go as far as to say he got the help he needed because a mere workout isn't gonna do it and he now he's back into shape and once again he's made fun of for his looks.

All this character is anymore is a pretty object to look at. Of course people laugh when his clothes are removed against his will. Because does he look uncomfortable, angry or sad? No. The opposite, he jokes about it.

Nothing that happens effects him and so nothing he does effects us. Even when it really really should.

[your-daily-biaswrecking]

I recently discovered your blog and I thought I could make a request since they're open🥰🥰🥰

I'd love to see a scenario where Jin has a s/o who is not ready to have sex yes but she feels guilty for that

In the bathroom at the house party, were you and Jin, making out. His lips full and soft, fitting between yours nicely. The best kisser you had ever met. And the pleasure almost made you cave and do more, until you felt his hands move to your pants and you squirmed away.

"Sorry, I–" you mumbled, and Jin was pulling back immediately, fearing he had done something wrong. Your whole face was burning and you looked down. You really didn't want to say no to him, didn't want to miss your opportunity to be with him. But was this really the right way and moment? Losing your virginity hastily in a bathroom of someone else's house? "Can we... not do this?" you whispered hesitantly, biting your lip.

Jin pulled his hands instantly off you. "Oh, yeah, of course! Sorry!"

And you felt bad for making him think you didn't want him. "No, it's just that– sorry, just not right now. Not here."

But he was shaking his head frantically, hands on your arms to stroke you reassuringly. "No, yeah, I get it. I'm sorry, like... Where are my manners? I should have at least bought you dinner first." His tone was light and he smiled at you, making you relax and feel more comfortable in the situation. You liked his reaction, liked that he wasn't making you feel at all like you were irrational for it; it wasn't something you could say for lots of men. Jin bowed his head, scratching his ear and looking at you through his lashes. "So... Can I buy you dinner?"

"Oh..." Was he asking you on a date? You honestly didn't think you'd ever get that from someone like him, the fact that you were drunkenly making out in this bathroom was already more than you could ever wish for. "Sure... I'd like that..." you breathed.

And Jin came closer, hands on your hips again yet a lot more softly this time. "Can I... Continue kissing you?"

And you nodded lightly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'd love that."

Kissing him was more than enough for you. He kept his promise and took you out to dinner, and the movies, and for drinks, and shopping... It wasn't even two weeks of you going out and he introduced you to his friends. As his girlfriend. You were under the misconception that in order to get in a relationship at your age you had to have sex first. But Jin proved you wrong. You were his girlfriend because he liked you and he liked spending time with you. And he liked kissing you. When you confessed that you were a virgin to him, he had a "so that's why" moment but didn't say anything else about it. He only just kissed you. Always.

You kept thinking about that, though. About how he certainly had needs that couldn't be satisfied with just making out with you. Even though he didn't ever show anything like that, you knew. What if he broke up with you because he couldn't wait any longer? Should you just give in? You didn't feel ready yet and you didn't want to do something you would regret later. Jin made you feel good, emotionally and physically, and in moments such as when you were sitting on his lap and devouring each other in front of a TV show long forgotten, you felt that punch of guilt for not being able to take it further. His hands pulling your hips closer until you could feel how hard he was underneath you, moans caught in his throat that were begging for more. Hard for you. Hard because he wanted to fuck you. And you knew you would just end up leaving him with nothing and he would have to take care of it by himself yet again. There must be a limit to how many times he can do this.

"Jin," you breathed, pulling away. His eyes were foggy, hard to focus on yours, lips red and swollen from all the biting. He looked so hot. Almost needy as he waited for your words. And you sighed with a whine. "I'm so sorry."

"What for?" he asked quickly.

You dropped your head on his shoulder, burying your face in the crook of his neck. "I'm– I'm sorry that I can't..." Sorry that you can't help him with the erection he had pressing on your crotch.

"Can't what?" His hand stroked your hair, trying to get you to pull back so that he could look at you. "Baby, I didn't ask you to do anything."

"I know..." He didn't ask but you knew he wanted to. You squirmed a bit when he moved, still trying to look at you, yet he ended up pressing on you harder. And perhaps it was what tipped him off as to what was going on.

"What, baby, you think just 'cause I'm hard I want to have sex?" He chuckled. And the reaction wasn't what you expected, so you pulled away until you could look at him with a pout.

"Don't you?"

Jin opened his mouth and then bit his lip, scrunching his nose as he thought of how to reply. "It means you make me feel good. Baby, guys get hard all the time. I get hard every time you send me a selfie. I get hard every time you call me telling me you're coming over. It's excitement. It's not a sign that I have to have sex immediately."

His words made you relax a bit, just like always, yet caused you to feel a different kind of uncomfortable too; hot from the inside. Did he really like you so much he got hard just at the thought of you? You squirmed around in his lap. "Are you sure?" you mumbled, chewing on your lip. "It doesn't hurt?"

Jin laughed. "Why would it hurt? When you kiss me all I feel is euphoria." And he leaned in to peck your lips once more. You got even closer, his hard-on still pressing on you but not making you feel guilty anymore. You kind of liked it now. And you kissed him deeply again. "You know I'll wait for you as long as you want, baby," he whispered between your lips. "Just don't stop kissing me."

Masterlist

[wydguk]

exile - kth

pairing: taehyung x reader (ft. namjoon x reader)

genre: angst, tae and y/n are exes

warnings: really angsty.... there are arguments and screaming matches in here... sort of toxic relationship? they're bad at communication

word count: 3.4k

summary: it took you five whole minutes to pack the entirety of your relationship with taehyung and to leave.

note: I'M BACK!! namjoon has like one line in this i'm so sorry T.T there's like zero fluff. like absolutely no fluff. and chaeyoung makes an appearance in this! it's up to you if u wanna picture park chaeyoung (rosé) as chae or son chaeyoung from twice as chae lol.

ALSO! this is based on taylor swift and bon iver's song exile on the folklore album! i do not own the song or the lyrics in any way, shape or form.

/

i can see you standing, honey

with his arms around your body

taehyung walks out of the store, scrolling through his phone. his day is just as mundane as it was yesterday and will be tomorrow. it’s been mundane since he last saw you.

his feet suddenly come to a stop when he hears your laugh ahead of him, but he shakes his head, reprimanding himself for thinking about you again. he’s about to continue his way down the street when he hears you laughing again and he looks away from his phone to see you laughing in someone else's arms.

he blinks. once, twice.

you’re there. you’re really there. he can hear his heart pounding in his ears and falling to his feet and jumping up into his throat all at once at the mere sight of you. you seem to notice him too, eyes widening before looking up at whoever you’re with. only then does taehyung register the fact that you’re not alone — you’re with someone else while he still wonders what went wrong every night before he sleeps.

you look happy. pure, genuine happiness is written in your eyes. the stranger’s arms are wrapped around you as you avoid taehyung’s eyes, continuing down the street as you listen to what your partner is saying. taehyung feels sick to his stomach.

laughin', but the joke's not funny at all

“you know, i’ve been thinking about removing my spine. i feel like it’s only holding me back!”

as you walk closer towards taehyung, he can hear the joke the other man is making.

you let out another laugh just as you walk right past him and he frowns. that is one of the worst jokes taehyung has ever heard and you laughed at it like it’s one of the best. which is misleading, considering the fact that taehyung used to tell you jokes all the time. his jokes were definitely funny. how have your standards gotten so low?

he lets out a breath he didn’t even realise he’d been holding, but this only allows him to smell your perfume, and it’s still the same perfume he’d given you on your last birthday.

your last birthday is probably the last time he really felt content. whole.

to pack us up and leave me with it

and it took you five whole minutes

holdin' all this love out here in the hall

taehyung doesn’t like to think of you because in spite of all the good memories, your last argument still ricochets in his head. withstanding the shouts and crashes is impossible when all he wants is to remember you laying in his arms, sharing a tub of ice cream.

three weeks after your birthday, you and taehyung sit at the dining table in silence, staring down intensely at your food. you haven’t fought since the week after your birthday, when you threw insults at each other just because the other couldn’t keep up with chores, or call to say they were okay. taehyung still thinks about the way you shouted at him.

-

“i don’t remember why i ever wanted to be with you!”

taehyung exhales, running a hand through his hair. “you don’t mean that, y/n. you’re just upse-”

“upset? yeah, i am upset. why shouldn’t i be? am i the one making mistakes? no! it’s you. it’s all you, taehyung!” you yell. “you have some nerve, taehyung.”

“so now it’s my fault? everything is my fault, because you’ve been the perfect girlfriend this whole time. you haven’t made a single mistake, and you have nothing to own up to, because you’re just so, so perfect, aren’t you, y/n?” taehyung is breathless and his blood is boiling.

“shut up! i don’t care. talk to me when you’re mature enough to own up to your mistakes.” you walk off and slam the bedroom door, leaving taehyung speechless. “real mature, y/n! go ahead, keep slamming the doors like it makes you any more mature.”

-

taehyung is jolted back into the present when he hears you set your fork down onto your plate. “tae, are you going to finish that? i’m about to wash the dishes,” you speak quietly, standing up to go to the kitchen. “i’ll wash it myself,” he replies, and he watches you enter the kitchen without a word.

he follows you in after a few minutes, where you’ve just finished washing your own dishes. instead of leaving, you lean against the island counter and he looks back at you. “i think we need to talk, tae.”

taehyung lets out a low chuckle as he looks down at the sink. “go ahead,” he’d already seen this coming, but now that it’s here, he doesn’t know how to act.

you’re silent. only when taehyung faces you do you speak. “i think we should break up,” you start. “i know,” he replies. “is this okay with you?” you reach out for his hand but he runs it through his hair before you get the chance to.

“y/n, you don’t have to stay if you’re not happy. regardless if i’m okay with it or not, i can’t just ask you to stay for my sake.” he sighs. he’s handling this better than he thought.

“thank you, taehyung.” you’re crying, but you wipe away your tears before they can fall. “i’ll… i’ll go soon.” you don’t look at him because you if you do, you know you’ll be crying your eyes out and convincing yourself to stay.

taehyung sits on the couch and stares straight ahead at the television screen, which is playing an action movie he has no intention to pay any mind to. all he can focus on is the sound of you shuffling around behind him, packing everything you own into your suitcase. he thinks about how easy it is for you to pack up the entirety of your relationship in a few minutes.

“tae?” you call out, standing by the door. his heart shatters when he realizes this is probably the last time he’ll see you in a long time. he gets off the couch and takes in your face, capturing your visage into his memory one last time. when you reach out for his hand, he doesn’t avoid it again. he won’t be able to do this again.

“i love you,” he whispers. “i love you too,” you look down at your intertwined hands before walking out and closing the door, leaving all the love behind with taehyung.

if you’ve thought about him since then, you won’t admit it, and he doesn’t know it.

i think i've seen this film before

and i didn't like the ending

taehyung refuses to think about the breakup again. he hates the way it ended.

you're not my homeland anymore

so what am i defending now?

taehyung watches you walk farther and farther away from him, and all he wants to do is reach out for you. he wants to rip you away from that stranger and feel you in his arms again, feel your warm hand in his.

but you’re not his anymore, and he let you go all those months ago. he has no reason to feel this way. the green eyed monster shouldn’t be clawing away at his rational thoughts, yet still taehyung’s feet are begging to let him run after you and make you his again. he wants to return things back to the way they were, to the pure love you had for each other.

he has no reason to feel this way.

you were my town, now i'm in exile, seein' you out

when did things change? you were his home and his heart. it’s been months and he still doesn’t understand.

i can see you starin', honey

like he's just your understudy

you’re laughing at another one of namjoon’s jokes when you feel someone’s eyes on you, their stare heavy. when you look ahead, it’s taehyung. the same taehyung who you left alone in his apartment all those months ago. the same taehyung you laid with in bed every night. the same taehyung whose shirt you spilt coffee all over, and the same taehyung you met at the museum all those years ago.

it’s taehyung.

your eyes widen and you turn away as quicker than you can blink, muttering underneath your breath. “it’s my ex.” namjoon’s grip around you tightens. sneaking a glance at taehyung again, you can see how his eyes are unblinking. it’s not written on his face or in his body language, but from his eyes alone you can already tell how he feels about namjoon.

there is nothing violent or scary about his stare, but it’s almost arrogant. he looks at namjoon like he’s just a temporary replacement despite the fact that you both know you’re never getting back together.

like you'd get your knuckles bloody for me

taehyung isn’t a violent person. he’s the type of person to calmly talk things out, the type of person to break up a fight. he’d never even hurt a fly. once, you watched as he picked up a spider and let it crawl across the balcony railing while you shrieked from inside.

so it’s shocking when you watch as his hands twitch and his jaw clenches. taehyung’s definitely protective, but what does he have to protect now? why does he look like he’s about to pummel namjoon into the ground? he agreed to let you go.

second, third, and hundredth chances

balancin' on breaking branches

you gave him so many chances. so many opportunities to apologize.

but did he? no.

those eyes add insult to injury

he probably thinks you got over him quicker than you did. in fact, it took you weeks that bled into months to get over him. there were numerous occasions where you considered knocking on his door and taking it all back, but you never could. it drained you emotionally just thinking about it.

“he made you so happy, y/n,” chaeyoung says as she tries to shake you out of your trance. “just text him or something.” giving up, she flops down next to you on the bed, snatching the tub of ice cream out of your hands.

you groan, shoving your face deeper into the pillow. “he hurt me so bad, chae. i don’t know if i can just forget about it all just to go back to him,” you sit up and let her feed a spoonful of ice cream into your mouth.

“you don’t have to date him again, dummy. it’d still be a good idea for you to get some closure at the very least, right?” you hate how chaeyoung is always right, especially when it comes to these situations. “i don’t want closure.” you state grumpily. “i’m just gonna stay here with you every day and cry about how much i miss him.”

“if you’re gonna do that at least buy your own ice cream…” she hums, and you grin at her before eating another spoonful.

you don’t like the way he’s looking at namjoon. it only rubs in the fact that he’s being jealous when he has no right to be.

it’s completely unfair.

i'm not your problem anymore

so who am i offending now?

before you broke up, he was always complaining about the little things you would or wouldn’t do, nitpicking at the simplest of details. in time, you got used to his nagging and he got used to your habits. even now, in your head, you still hear his voice reminding you to do this and not to do that.

his friends didn’t seem to like you all that much, so you tended to stay home whenever taehyung invited you to spend the night out with his friends. although he’d always frowned whenever you turned him down, he’d brush it off and leave you alone to your sleepless nights waiting up for him.

“text me next time if you’re coming home late, okay?” you whisper as you look at his fluttering eyelashes under the covers.

“i will,” he mumbles sleepily before drifting off, arms tightly wrapped around you.

he never remembered to text you.

it’s foolish of him to look at you like that. he looks agitated and offended and sad all at once but what could you do? he wasn’t yours and you weren’t his to take care of anymore.

i think i've seen this film before

so i'm leaving out the side door

you hate the way he’s making you feel in only a few short seconds, so you look up at namjoon again and laugh at whatever joke he’s making again. it took you this long to get over taehyung and you weren’t going to throw it all away just because you’ve seen him again.

so step right out, there is no amount

of crying i can do for you

when taehyung arrives home, the first thing he does when he gets into his bed is cry. he’s always been alarmingly good at suppressing his emotions but seeing you again after so long has taken its toll on him.

he hasn’t cried like this in a while, but it hurts just as much as the last time.

-

two hours later, taehyung stares up at the ceiling when he suddenly feels the urge to text you. before he knows it, his fingers are typing away uncontrollably and pressing the send button. instead of reading what he sent you, he sets his phone down on his bedside table and falls asleep.

when you arrive home that night, you check your notifications and choke on your spit when you see that taehyung has sent you a message. “chae,” you call out, throwing yourself onto the couch. humming, she comes out of her room. “taehyung texted me.”

her eyes bulge out as she throws herself onto you and pulls your phone out of your grasp. “no way!” she yells, standing up and raising her hands up to her mouth. “you’re kidding me!”

“don’t get too excited!” you laugh, sitting up straight. “he just wants to meet for coffee. it’s no big deal!”

“no big deal? y/n, you haven’t spoken since you broke up!” she lets out a breath, placing her hands on her hips. “he has some god-level timing. right when you and namjoon start going out? unbelievable.”

you reach for your phone, almost tumbling off the couch when chaeyoung pretends she's not returning it to you. begrudgingly sighing, she throws the phone into your lap and cuddles into your side and continues her earlier humming. "it doesn't matter if namjoon asked me out or not. there's going to be nothing romantic about our meetup. we're just gonna talk about whatever he wants to talk about and that's it!" you decide. if you keep repeating it to yourself in your head like a mantra you might start to believe it.

"isn't it strange though? how he's texting you out of nowhere after months and months? he's thinking about you, y/n!" chaeyoung giggles.

"well," you start. "i did see him earlier today while i was out on my date with namjoon…" chaeyoung whips her head around to look at you, shock written all over her face. "y/n, you're joking," squealing, she flails her legs around giddily. "you guys are meant to be. nsmjoon won't mind. he'll understand when he sees you two together."

"chae!" you whine. it would be devastating to break namjoon's heart after how good he's been to you. "i can't break his heart like that, he's done nothing wrong! he's a perfectly sweet guy and he really does care about me."

"are we talking about taehyung or namjoon?" chaeyoung teases, a smirk on her lips.

"chae…" you groan.

"fine, fine! i'll stop. but you have to meet him for that coffee. it's going to be the best coffee meeting you'll ever have in your life. i can feel it in my bones."

you hate how you hope she's right.

-

never being the patient type, your leg bounces restlessly as you wait for taehyung at your table. the coffees you bought for the two of you are still steaming hot when you look up to the sound of the door bells jingling and lock eyes with taehyung, who gives you a sheepish smile.

"hey," he starts. sliding into the chair opposite you. "you didn't have to get me this," he motions toward the coffee.

pushing his cup closer towards him, you shake your head, a tight-lipped smile plastered across your face. "it's nothing," you reply. "so why did you want to meet me here?"

unbeknownst to namjoon, you didn't cancel your plans with him because you had a supposed dentist appointment. if you told him you were going to meet taehyung he surely would've stood guard outside your door to prevent you from leaving while chae would lecture him on letting you make your own decisions.

it was easier this way.

"i just figured we haven't talked in a while. what's up with you? how's it going?" he says. you narrow your eyes at him and take a sip of your coffee. "what reason do we have to talk? we're not in each other's lives anymore." you decide. setting down your cup, your fingers lightly drum against the table, and you watch as his face drops and his eyebrows furrow.

"maybe if you didn't walk out on us we'd still be in each other's lives," he mutters. "w-what?" you gasp, taken aback. "you let me go! i asked you and you said it was fine. would you rather have us both unhappy but still in a relationship?"

leaning back, he sighs. "i was happy, y/n. you-"

"but not happy enough! not the natural happiness that wasn't always on the edge of turning sour. didn't you notice, taehyung? all this time, we've always walked a very thin line." you rant, your feelings getting the best of you. "i didn't and i don't want you to settle for the bare minimum, lo- taehyung." your heart stutters when you almost let his old pet name slip, his eyes meeting yours, unblinking.

taehyung stares at you for a moment. "and how did you know, y/n? that i wasn't happy? that i wasn't content or whole in our relationship?" you pause, throat constricting. "yea, i let you go. but i didn't want to. not for a single second did i ever consider willingly letting you slip away from me. but what could i do? you still left, i had to let you because i knew you'd be happier. but ypu, you didn't even hear me out, and you never gave a warning sign."

"i gave so many signs!" you protest. "i-"

"and i was just supposed to catch on? you couldn't even say it straight to my face?" he's unrelenting, eyes burning holes into your soul. he's angry and he's hurting and you know it's partially your fault. maybe even wholly. "all this time, i never learned to read your mind." he scoffs.

"yea, i guess you never learned to read my mind. and i'm sorry i expected that much from you! but you never turned things around. you didn't try to figure out what was going wrong and if we could mend it." you sputter, and you feel your cheeks starting to heat up.

"i'm saying! you never gave a warning sign. what could i do?" you've never seen taehyung look so small and defeated, and your heart aches in your chest. all you want to do is take him into your arms and tell him everything will be alright.

yet you can't. maybe all those months ago you could've. and you thought you had moved on and you thought he had too, but it's become glaringly obvious that none of you have.

"tae…" his eyes widen and he blinks at you. "taehyung! taehyung. i should go…" you murmur. taking his hand, you study the lines on his palm and the divots on his knuckles and let out a watery smile.

"you always do," he replicates your smile and watches as you stand up. "i love you."

"i love you too," you whisper.

when you walk away, you half expect him to chase after you and beg for you to stay, but you know it's too selfish of you to want it.

when you walk away, he half expects you to turn around like they always do in the movies, but he knows your pride always gets the best of you.

you've both seen this film before, and neither of you liked the ending.

/

note: very unedited and also this was a bitch to re-stylize on tumblr. thank you very much for reading! like or reblog if you enjoyed it and feel free to tell me what u think :) my asks and my dms are always open!

[cinnaminsvga]

yeah i don't interact with fandoms i never really have, so i get how easy it is to lose interest in it. but with bts it's easy i can go and rewatch and remind myself why i loved them in the first place. (besides music their personalities are>>) and the only fics i ever read or actively waited or looked for were yours. but i also don't like consume content like i used to so i feel like maybe i've grown. but someone way older than me told me that as people get older they don't just lose "interest" life would be boring and sad usually it's switched to something else or depression acting up, and i had a theyre right moment (the were 50, and used a bunch of different things, actors, movies, video games (theirs), shows, anime, even binging netflix, knitting, they said the gym too, basically everyone has a something that they focus on or interested in, in some way and that it's okay. not to be pathetic but i broke down and was crying about how nothing interests me and i can't find new ones either (and it had been a year for me too) but maybe that's what's being a grown up and what it's like. and they were like sweetie no. *rant* and i was like oh they're right) there was more to it. but yeah lmao

i'm glad you realized the love you still have for that little cat man<3 i hope you always have love for something or someone no matter how crazy or sad or numb or happy or exciting life gets for you! yeah! sometimes a frog video post or something pops up and i'm like "didn't zee once like frogs?? i wonder if she'd like /this/ frog" all i remember now was a frog that was living its best life!

well if you're writing again that's good for you! (you were always a writer, personally i think if you can world build and actually get it into words you get to claim your a writer) it takes talent! no matter how long it takes. i've sent asks of wishing you well before but it's been awhile, but i still always wished you the best and hope you're doing alright/taking care of yourself!

a yoongi fic? sounds interesting. hey though.... if you ever feel down remember you had so many asks of people letting you but as yoongi wanting him to have a happy ending! and loves your characterization of him which means by extension....🤪

YEAHHHH like what i mean by interact with fandom culture, it's more like "consuming" fandom culture, yenno? like reading fics, looking at art, etc. so with bangtan, i don't really do much of that anymore, but i do still watch their videos and sorta keep up with their schedules and stuff, which is all fine and dandy but GOD i miss being obsessed ig??? maybe that's just my adhd talking but somehow i've forgotten how to enjoy media a normal amount instead of being unhealthily fixated HAHAHAH

and what that person said is true!! unless you're like, going thru something, people don't totally lose interest in everything - often times, they just move on to the next thing. and that's exactly what's happening to me tbh!! lately i've been really deep into this other fandom (cough) and i know that's the main reason i've lost interest in bangtan :-( but yeah!! we grow and we go as i like to say,,,

but i'll always like bangtan!! which is why i'm still adamant to write some fics for them, but just not with the same excitement as before. it's like... dialing down from a 100% to a 80%, yenno? mayhaps i'll write froggie!yoongi because i'm insane... who knows...

and thank you for reading my fics btw HJASDHJSA idk how i became your go-to bangtan fic writer, but that genuinely means a lot!! i just hope that when i drop my next fic, there will be some people who are bothered enough to read it LMAO exciting times ahead!! cinnaminsvga is not dead, just resting!!

[budzdorovanatasha]

I dont know how much angst you're willing to do. But maybe something in the Endgame series where Natasha is being really tough in reader, because she's so stressed and things seem hopeless, maybe telling R that they aren't trying hard enough and that they don't care enough. R spends a few days just practicing trying to show Nat they're trying their best, and they end up getting sick from over working.

I’m too tired to edit this, so I hope this is good enough

————————————————————————-

Natasha had spent the last fifteen minutes pacing the room, growing more frustrated by the second. You knew she just wanted her family back, so did you. But you were thinking a bit more logically than her at the current moment. Normally your girlfriend was the one who made sure everything was thought through, but when Thanos happened, she’d been making all decisions based on her emotions. 

Things seemed hopeless, probably even more so because of your exhaustion. The two of you had poured over anything that might help bring your family back, not sleeping. 

“Okay, I can’t think anymore,” you sighed, rubbing your eyes when the words started blurring together. “I need a break, I need sleep and food. And so do you.”

She shook her head. “How can you leave right now? We need to be working on saving them.” 

“We are. But I’m no good to them when I have to reread the same sentence fifteen times.”

“You’re not trying hard enough,” Natasha argued. That stung, even if you knew she didn’t mean it. 

You didn’t reply, standing and leaving the room. You did take a short nap, unable to sleep more than a few hours. Though you knew you were giving it your best, maybe you should have been working harder. Shaking your head you got out of bed and rejoined her in the living space. 

“I’m sorry I said that,” she said quietly when you took a seat at your desk. You shrugged, opening your laptop. You weren’t exactly mad at her, but you weren’t happy either. She wouldn’t relax until she found answers, and that meant she’d be high strung and tense in all of your interactions, which didn’t sound like fun. 

It was quiet as you two worked, shuffling through old files and papers. When the time came to seventy-two hours without sleep for her, Natasha couldn’t push herself any further. 

“I’m going to get some sleep,” she sighed, disappointed in herself. You nodded. 

“You could probably use some too,” Nat murmured, her features softening for the first time in days. 

“No, I’m going to keep working, but thanks.” Your tone was on the cooler side, something that did not go unnoticed by her, even in her exhausted state. 

“Okay,” she whispered, briefly touching her lips to your forehead before leaving for the bedroom. 

The next few days went by in the same way, you refusing to sleep while even Natasha took a few breaks. She was beginning to worry that her stupid comment had affected you more than she thought it had. 

It was three days later when your body had decided it had enough of your constant working and exhaustion. You felt run down, a headache making it difficult to focus on anything. By the time the day had ended, you were sniffling, congested, and trying to not face the fact that you were coming down with something.

The next morning, you couldn’t even breathe out of your nose, something you found quite annoying. You’d never gotten sick this fast. 

Sitting at your desk with a blanket wrapped tightly around you, you stared at your laptop, trying not to show Natasha that something was wrong. 

But there was an itch that was growing in the back of your nose and while you found it ridiculously annoying, the idea of not being so congested sounded fantastic, and you tried to hurry the sneeze along by looking up into the light. 

“Huh... h’tschoo! Hetschioo! H’h..hupshoo!”  

“Bless you?” Natasha said, phrasing it more as a question than a statement. 

“Thank you,” you sighed, annoyed at how congested you already were again. 

“Those sounded strong,” she observed, a little surprised. Usually you sneezed on the quieter side, and not typically so many at once. 

You shrugged, trying to sniff, but getting hardly any air through your nose at all. It seemed like your nose had decided to become blocked in the span of a minute, annoying you to no end. 

Your girlfriend continued on her work and you tried your hardest to focus on anything at all, but you hadn’t slept in forever, and the words were starting to blur together. 

“Y/N?” Natasha hummed a few minutes later. You turned to look at her. 

“What if that thing that Carol was talking about is our next lead?” she asked. 

“It could be,” you nodded, trying to remember what the blonde had even said. The second you’d spoken, Nat had forgotten all about what she’d asked. She’d never heard you so congested in your life, not even when you’d had pneumonia. 

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked, her voice impossibly soft. You flushed, already knowing she’d caught you. 

“You already thought I wasn’t working as hard as I should be, so this just would have been a convenient excuse for me to stop working, and I didn’t want it to be like that,” you answered. Her face fell, self-hatred already overtaking her features. 

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured. “I’m stressed and exhausted, but that gives me no right to lash out at you, which is what I did. I know you care, possibly more than me. And I know we’re both trying our best. I shouldn’t have snapped. And I’m sorry I made you feel like you couldn’t tell me when you weren’t feeling well.” 

“You’re overworking yourself, Nat,” you whispered. “And it’s scaring me.”

“I know. I just... feel guilty if I’m not constantly trying to bring them back.”

“I know, me too,” you admitted. “But we won’t be able to bring them back if we’re thinking with only one percent of our brains.”

She nodded, knowing you were right. “I think we could both use some sleep, a movie, and food.”

“I could not agree more,” you groaned, rubbing your fingers around your temples, and then at the spot between your eyebrows in an attempt to relieve some of the tension caused by your congestion. 

“Here, let me,”  Natasha said softly, moving to sit on the edge of your desk, her strong, but gentle fingers taking over, going in circles at points that stored the most congestion. You moaned a bit, taking even the slightest hint of relief that her ministrations brought. 

“When did you realize you were sick?” 

“Last night,” you answered, coughing a bit. 

“Last night,” Nat repeated quietly, switching to running her fingers through your hair. Last night she’d slept beside you, and hadn't noticed anything. The thought had her plummeting into a pit of self hatred. 

“Stop,” you said knowingly, tugging at the hem of her shirt. “You’re exhausted, you’re not working at your usual spy level.” 

“Yeah.” 

“Let’s just maybe take today off. Rest, sleep, eat.”

“We should invite Steve for dinner, I doubt he’s eating.”

“Are you feeling up to that?” Nat asked. You nodded. 

“I could use seeing him, and you, if I’m being honest.” 

“You see me every day, Y/N.”

“Not doing anything but working, though,” you argued lightly. She nodded, kissing your forehead. 

“I’ll go call him. Get settled on the couch, babe.” 

[williamaltman]

All the ending theories for the 4th movie

So, I just thought of compiling all the endings I can think of for the 4th movie (which, for god's sake, better be the last one).

These are sort of general "how can the status quo be after this movie is over", under the assumption that it's meant as the final ending, and with the fates of Madoka and Homura as the focus.

1) Undoing Rebellion: I find this one unlikely, especially after finding out Urobuchi started working on the script soon after Rebellion, but basically: Madoka gains her memories, becomes one with the Law of Cycles again, and takes Homura with her. I guess Sayaka and Nagisa being back to life is the biggest difference with the original ending (and, well, Homura being gone). It's a very logical and easy to come up with ending, and I would be ok with it, but as I said, I don't think they would make Rebellion just to then undo it.

Especially when, as I said, this is apparently not a matter of them starting the movie years later, in which case maybe they would look back and think "Hm, yeah, let's go back to the previous status quo", but Urobuchi actually having an idea of where to go from the beginning.

2) Things stay the same: This one sounds ludicrous, but I guess we can't rule it out. Basically, Homura is able to keep her barrier and Madoka on earth and continues ruling everything which makes this whole movie pointless, no, no way they do that, right?

3) No More Magical Girls: I think some people think this already happened in Rebellion, but it didn't. Homura mentions the Law of Cycles still existing separate from Madoka. We also saw the Concept Movie with them as magical girls.

How and where we would get there I have no idea, but it's what a lot of people seem to think it's the solution, and I can see why so it's definetely possible imo.

4) No More Incubators: The idea is presented in the show... And many thought that was what Madoka would wish for. Yeah, he said it's likely we'd be living naked in cages, but... Well that's not what happened in real life, so who knows! They could create any kind of interesting status-quo in a incubator-less world in the Madoka universe. Again, no idea how to get here though.

5) Homura is reset (Rebellion reverse card): In many ways this movie feels to me like a reverse Rebellion already... I mean, Madoka is living in this new world where everything is fine and she thinks her life is great then she slowly starts finding out the truth... At least that's the vibe that the Concept Movie goes.

So I can see the ending being exactly a role reversal of Rebellion: Madoka, now back to being Madokami, sends Homura in a world without her, this time without any memories of her previous life, where she's a transfer student again. I think we can agree that Homura's love for Madoka is what resulted in this whole thing, both for the show and Rebellion, so I think it makes sense for that to be the "solution" to finally put an end to things.

It sucks though because it literally erases all of Homura's character development... And as a Madoka fan I absolutely HATED when that happened to her. Who knows though, so many people seem to think it's a good thing that Madoka "gets to live a happy life on earth again" and think Rebellion is fine for that reasons, so who knows what the reaction from the fandom would be... I guess divisive, but I would be frustrated again...

6) Balancing the universe: I have thought of this for a while... Basically Madokami is back again, but Homura stays as a demon, maybe cause Madoka can only erase witches and she's not that anymore. So basically, both Madokami and Homucifer would stay in their ascended forms and balance the universe with hope and despair, like a literal yin-yang, it could even be kinda romantic as in that they're together in the higher plane of existence...

The way it kinda falls flat though is that Madoka isn't really an actual god of the whole world though, but more like just the goddess of magical girls... Either way, cool for the fact that it doesn't erase anyone's character development. And the possible "MadoHomu cosmic endgame" angle it could have.

7) Planet gone, everyone dies: Pretty self-explanatory. (and dumb??? I saw someone say they wanted that once and I was like... why)

8) MadoHomu dies: Well, that's one way to really end the franchise. A demon can't just keep a magic barrier around earth and create chaos forever I guess, and if the law of cycles is separate from Madoka, I guess she wouldn't be "needed" anymore.

Since they're deities at least to some level maybe they'd just go to some kind of heaven and hell, simply not interfering in the world anymore but still being Madokami and Homucifer... Or maybe they would really just stop existing completely.

9) We MagiReco now: Doppels are on the main timeline! Instead of being taken by the law of cycle, now magical girls just get to use their witches as a badass form, just like in KamiHama.

That way, Madoka gets to be a magical girl, not have to sacrifice herself and not have to leave her family, but still remember everything from before that (or not?) and live happily ever after. Maybe she can even keep the Madokami look, since at the end of Rebellion she started glowing and got her golden eyes... Idk about Homura with the whole devil thing though, but I guess they could be nice and give her this too somehow.

The fact that the script for the movie started being written in 2014 and has been finished for years, got me thinking up a conspiracy theory that maybe MagiReco's whole concept actually came from Urobuchi himself in the 4th movie, that they've been just holding off from us for some reason.

10) Time-travel happy ending?: Well, since the movie is called "Walpurgis no Kaiten"(turning the tide? Revolution? Heaven? I've seen many translations lol), I guess there's the possibility of traveling back to the past back to Walpurgisnacht somehow??? And maybe if they can beat it they can chill?

Not sure what that would mean for Madoka and Homura though? I guess Madoka never makes her wish, and Homura is not a demon as she seems to be physically back to where she was at the beginning of the month every time she went back, rather than how she became, only keeping the memories of previous timelines...

11) Madokami/Homucifer fusion: I don't know why but I kinda thought about that and think it it would be kinda cool? Like, Madokami sort of absorbs Homucifer, similar to taking magical girls through the law of cycles, and since Homura's corruption is so immense and above a witch, which is what she can really erase, they sort of create a new being that's a mix of the two... The real endgame is literally becoming one! loool.

12) Improved Law of Cycles: This is an obvious one so I don't know why I didn't say it before: Instead of magical girls vanishing when their soul gem is corrupted, they simply lose their powers and go back to being human. I feel like this goes better with the message of the franchise than erasing the magical girl system entirely. It's basically just a tweak to make the original show's ending a better status quo and deliver more on the "magical girls spread hope" theme that Madoka wanted to honor.

[corruptedconfessions]

Kiri.. the lad... the shark man... the rock... reacting to a fem reader who has WAY more kinks than he thought. Like, they're just friends with benefits and she reveals she has both a daddy and feeding kink. OBLIVIOUSLY this means she likes him, right?! Clearly, this is her trusting him enough to let him take her away from everyone else to be with just him. Kiri knows exactly what to do :) and your kink just makes it easier! (You dont have to do those kinks if they're a squick, I just love them)

Ngl I headcanon that both Yandere!Kirishima and Yandere!Bakugo would have feeding kinks. Kirishima gets off on being a big strong manly provider. Bakugo gets off on seeing you eat food that he cooks, and seeing you wrap your lips around his creation. The weirdo.

Anywayyy before I get carried away

 Tag list:

@shorkbrian​ come get ur man

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It had been several months since you had started sleeping with the hero Red Riot, and at first everything had seemed like a dream. Not only was he eager and open to exploring any kinks you brought to the table, and often got even more into them than you. The sex had been great, and the random drop ins with take out clutched in his arms had been cute, but it had quickly gotten old. 

You had enjoyed the state of your current relationship, the two of you were compatible as hell in bed, but it didn’t go past that. There were no ties between the two of you, no feelings beyond the occasional wet dreams or dirty thoughts you had about him at work. 

At first when he would drop in occasionally without notice, shove his way into your apartment, ignoring your protests or complaints you had just rolled your eyes, taken whatever food or gift he shoved in your arms and accepted it. But then it kept happening. Nearly everyday he showed up at your home even when you told him not to, ignoring you when you told him to leave, getting angry when you told him you had other plans with other people. You had shrugged off the warning signs and started not answering the door at all and no longer texted him for hookups. Any crying emojis or pleas for at least a booty pic were left on read, ignored. 

And then he had started showing up at your work, still clad in his hero uniform, bringing as much attention to himself as possible as he held an obnoxiously big bouquet of roses or a teddy bear, or whatever cliché little sappy present he chose for that day. He would hover by the only exit, his face lighting up whenever he saw you, a bright grin crossing his face as he practically bounded over to you, shoving his latest gift in your arms and lavishing you in so many compliments and sweet words that you had no choice but to force a smile and let him lead you out to his car, his hand a little too tight around your shoulders. It always ended with you cornered in his apartment, being offered drinks, food, movies, sex-endless amounts of things that you couldn’t even begin to turn down until it was too late for the hero to feel “comfortable” letting you leave. It always led to you staying the night and having to deal with hours of cuddling and endless kisses. 

Every morning started with him trying to smoothly imply that he could take care of you, something you always ignored as you shrugged off his hugs and kisses, practically darting out of his apartment, feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. 

He clearly wasn’t taking any hints, maybe it was time to break it off cleanly before things got any worse. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, baby! It’s about time you called me over again! Ignoring me wasn’t very manly of you, but that’s okay, i’ll always forgive you~” 

Before you could open your mouth the redhead was swooping down, kissing you hard and roughly nipping your lower lip before practically shoving you out of his way, forcing his way into your apartment as he immediately headed towards your kitchen table. 

“I bought sushi from that place downtown you like! It was a bit of a detour, but anything for my baby~!”

You frowned, shutting the door behind you before following him into the kitchen, watching as he immediately started spreading the food out across the table-way more than the two of you could ever eat. Your stomach rolled at the thought, memories of Kirishima stuffing food in your mouth and then rubbing your swollen stomach as you whined and cried, too sick to fight him and he cuddled and doted on you, often fingering or eating you out while rubbing your stomach, ignoring you as you whined and cried.

You were ashamed of how much you liked him stuffing you full, even when he didn’t seem to understand and always took it too far, like he always did. 

“Kiri-”

“Look! I even stopped by that sweet shop you like and got your favorite~ Maybe we can eat it while watching a movie later!” 

“I don’t really have time tonight, im going-”

“Look! I got us a nice wine, Fatgum said something about it having really nice acidity and legs and blah blah, I don’t really understand it all! I just know if it tastes good, I drink!”

He laughed heartily as he eagerly pushed you into your seat, taking up the seat across from you as he started dishing out the sushi between the two of you rambling the whole way. Every time he took a pause to take a breath or shove some food in his mouth you tried to speak, just to be immediately talked over by the redhead as he suddenly remembered some urgent stupid thing he had to tell you. 

“Look, Kirishima-”

“Don’t be like that, baby! What have I said about that, call me Eijiro! Or Daddy!” 

A sly grin covered his face as he purred out the last word, making your stomach roll as you resisted the urge to go across the table and smack him. 

“Whatever, what I was trying to say was-”

Just as you thought you had finally caught his attention his eyes drifted down to your untouched plate, an annoyed look flickering across his face, disappearing so quickly you wondered if you imagined it. Not that you had much time to question him or think about it since in a split second his face had changed back into that perverted grin as he snatched one of the pieces off your place with his chopsticks, holding it up as his eyes darkened with lust. 

“Come on, baby...Open up for your daddy and maybe you’ll get to eat something else as a reward~” 

His voice was a low rumble, nearly a growl, something that made you freeze up in your seat in fear for a moment. No. You weren’t letting this go on another second!

“Kirishima! Enough!”

Freezing from where he had been leaning all the way across the table, pushing the piece of sushi to your lips, the redhead stared at you with wide confused eyes. A weaker soul would have hesitated at the innocent hurt eyes that were aimed at you, but you didn’t waver staring back at him, face twisted into an annoyed scowl.

“B-baby? What’s wrong? Did they mess up the sushi, I'll go back and get you some more if you’d-”

You growled in frustration, tangling your hands in your hair when he ignored you yet again, immediately making up his own excuse and assuming your feelings, never taking a second to just let you talk. 

“I can’t do this anymore! I thought you would take a hint when I stopped inviting you over, or when I stopped sleeping with you, but you just don’t get it!!”

Frozen in his seat, wide confused eyes stared up at you as his eyebrows knitted together in concern, a scarred hand reaching out for you, flinching back when you immediately leaned away from his touch with another frustrated growl. 

“It’s over, Kirishima! I don’t want to sleep with you anymore!! And I'm sick of you coming around here all the time and acting like we’re something we’re not! I don’t want to date you! I don’t want anything to do with you!!”

The innocent confused look on his face just infuriated you further, all the frustration and anger from all these months finally bubbling over as you screamed at him. Your eyes burned as you desperately pushed back the frustrated tears that threatened to spill over as he slowly stood up, reaching for you again, frowning when you stepped back to avoid his touch. 

“W-what do you mean? Have I done something? What are you talking about? Wh-what, baby-”

He flinched back as you immediately glared sharply at him, running a frustrated hand through your hair as you resisted the urge to stomp your foot in frustration. This is exactly why you didn’t do relationships, you hated this part, hated those hurt eyes staring at you, hated the attachment that always ended poorly...

“Stop calling me that, I'm not your baby! We just fucked, Kirishima! It doesn’t mean anything! You’re the one that started showing up at my house, at my work. ‘Have I done something?’ are you kidding me?!”

The redhead stood back as you yelled at him, watching you with hurt splashed across his expression, one hand clutching his other arms bicep as he flinched away from your harsh words. 

“I-I just wanted to spend time with you...”

You fell silent watching him with a soft frown, your anger melting away as his voice softened, sounding near on the edge of tears. 

“But I don’t want to spend time with you.”

The words seemed to cut like a knife, sharp and harsh in the air, the hero standing across from you physically flinching back as if in pain as they were spoken.

“Look...I think it’s time for you to go. I can pay you back for the sushi...-”

You turned your back to him, stepping towards the kitchen to grab your purse and lead the heart broken hero to the door when something hit the back of your head, your body crumpling to the floor with the impact. 

Everything was spinning, yet the only thing you could focus on was the throbbing pain in your skull. Vaguely you could feel wetness on your face, but your vision was too dark to see what it was. Everything felt so far away...

Right as you blacked out, falling limp against the kitchen tile, the hero finally came to his senses. Horror filled him as he looked down at your limp body, his fist still clutching the neck of the wine bottle he had smashed over your head. 

“Oh my god...”

Dropping it, letting the glass shatter along with the rest of the bottle that was floating in the wine spilled on the floor, he immediately reached out, gathering you up in his arms princess style as he lifted you off of the floor.  

“It’s okay, It’s okay...Shh, shh shh, baby. It’s okay, I'm gonna take care of this...”

He mumbled frantically to your unconscious form as he stepped away from the mess he had made, his hands shaking as he stared down at your unresponsive face. What did he do? What should he do now?!

What else was he supposed to do? You had tried to leave him! Tried to make him leave! You were his reason to live, his sunrise, his sunset, every waking moment had been about you! He...he needed you. He couldn’t let you get away!

Clearly...Clearly if his feelings were this strong you had to feel the same, right?! You were just...were just...scared! Scared you weren’t enough for him! Anyone would be scared to meet their soulmate, right?! It would all be okay once he...once he explained to you that he loved you!

He understood now, all of this, your entire relationship was just you trying to tell him that you were ready! That you wanted him to take you and take care of you, but he had been stupid and hadn’t noticed what you were saying! You had just gotten anxious, afraid that he wouldn’t still love you if you relied on him so much!

You didn’t need to worry, silly! He’ll take good care of you, just like a daddy should after all! He made some mistakes but the two of you had all the time in the world to work past it! He would make it up to you, he was sure. All you needed was time and this silly little misunderstanding would be in the past and the two of you could move on!...Right?

He clutched your limp body closer to his chest as he carefully opened the front door, stepping out of your apartment and rushing down to his car. Luckily none of your neighbors were out to spot him, not that anyone would ever question such a high ranking hero like Red Riot! Still, he didn’t want anyone but himself to look at his baby...

No one would ever look at you ever again.

[echo-three-one]

Chapter 38

THE ROAD SO FAR

The EIGHT-Thirty Appointment

John 'Soap' MacTavish

London, UK

Following the events of Shepherd's surrender to authorities, the members of Task Force 141 who went rogue in pursuit of him had been exonerated from treason. This meant that from then on, life would be a little more 'normal'. No more hiding in public, no more lack of equipment, no more secret hiding areas.

This prompted Laswell to recreate the task force she once poured her heart on, with a few changes to its jurisdiction. With Ghost, Roach and Alexandra still recovering, the remaining members were invited to celebrate their success.

"So John, now that 141 is back your main focus will be Nero. Do you want the reassigned members back?" Laswell asked Price while they exited the building. Soap overheard this because he thought he was the John being called.

"If it's still okay and not much of a hassle, then yes." Price replied.

"What about Kyle?" Laswell added.

"No. Not yet. Just keep an eye on him." Price mused and turned to Soap, who quickly turned to focus back on Alex as he pushed his wheelchair.

"Excuse me, Captain Price. Can we talk for a moment?" Samantha interrupted as they stopped on their tracks. Alex turned out of curiosity, wondering what matter they were discussing.

"Hey hey hey. What was that about?" Alex asked Soap and France, who continued walking. Laswell turned to the next right as she already finished her conversation with Price, waving at Alex and the rest of the 141.

Soap chuckled at the CIA. This was about Samantha's surprise for him and he shouldn't spoil it.

"Well, with 141 back maybe she just wanted to know where she will be now. Nero no longer needs the IP Address and she's been through a lot." France reasoned, making Alex frown.

"You know… I want her safe and all but I also want her within my reach. I've lost her far too many times already. I'm not going to lose her again." Alex grumbled making Soap and France look at each other, their faces were worried at their sorry excuse.

"I think Samantha feels the same way too. Maybe she's bargaining for staying at 141." Soap lied, making France question him quietly.

"You know what, Alex? Don't overthink this." Soap tapped his shoulders reassuringly.

"Overthink what?" Samantha inserted. They fell quiet and Samantha slowly asked Soap to let her push Alex as they moved forward, Samantha being excited of what's next.

"Well, we did a great job. I guess." Soap quietly commented sarcastically, earning a soft elbow from France.

"Ow!" he exaggerated and turned to France, his face looked bewildered.

"Way to go, John." She sneered and followed the two on their way to their appointment, riding Soap's trusty jeep.

The drive to the surprise area consisted of mostly Soap and Francine acting like couples while they drove. Soap could see the two murmuring at each other whenever Soap would argue with France on whatever's going on in the road.

"I always wanted to try out some London restaurants." she mused, looking at the place they just passed by.

"Yeah? I could see you as the fancy kind." he chuckled at his guess.

"What does that mean?" France gave him a suspicious glare. Soap looked at her, feigning surrender.

"I just said it as is. You're the kind of person who would want fancy stuff." He explained, focusing back on the road.

"I-"

"Come on. You don't have to read everything I say between the lines. Sometimes, I'm just a simple man" he whined and Alex and Samantha burst out laughing, causing the two to be quiet.

"Are you sure there's nothing going on with you two?" Samantha asked, making the silence a little bit more awkward.

Soap carefully rolled his eyes toward Francine, who was actually looking down and blushing. He really had no definitive stance on whatever's going on between them, and if you ask him, he'd love to assume that they're already together. But he remembered that he told her that he'll be patient, and that's the only thing that's hindering him from taking her to the next level.

"Well…" Francine croaked, her voice was shaky and Soap was actually worried that she was already under pressure.

"We're here." Soap interrupted, wishing he did the right thing. Alex quickly looked outside to see where they actually were.

"What is this place, Soap? Where did you bring us?" Alex asked and Soap just nodded.

"I'll let your girl fill in everything for you. This was her idea after all and we're here to help her out." Soap replied as he assisted him to his wheelchair and watched the two enter the establishment.

He then knocked on Samantha's door as she was still out of focus.

"There's a coffee shop across the street, we could wait there until they finish." He invited her for another coffee date. Hopefully this time, there would be no more emp phone wielding persons to interrupt it.

"About Samantha's question…" She muttered.

"Don't pressure yourself about it. You actually owe me for saving you, by the way." He chuckled, already opening her door.

France slowly stepped down the vehicle and turned to Soap, her head looked up to his face.

"Look John. There's no other reason I can think of that would make you wait anymore. I really enjoy your company, your personality, and I'm curious about everything else about you. So, if you've been waiting all this time ever since that night, my answer is that I'm ready." She smiled, and John's eyes widened at the sight of her. The message made him hug her tight, lift her up and spin her around briefly while she giggled at the feeling.

"Wow. You don't know how much you made my day, France!" he sighed as he slowly set her down and closed the door and made their way to the coffee shop.

"I missed these so much!" France happily chewed on a slice of blueberry cheesecake, with a few crumbs stuck on the edge of her mouth. Soap smiled as she watched her enjoy the simple things in life, a thing he was always looking for in women.

Most of his dating life were his parents setting him up on business dates and most women there were far too serious. They looked like they haven't enjoyed anything in years. Some of them admittedly loved to have fun, but their idea of fun was far too complicated. Like expensive travels and luxurious shopping sprees, none of them piqued Soap's interest.

However, Francine was the first one who begged to differ. It's like every great idea in John's activity book is enjoyable for her. Simple things such as Netflix, Cinemas and even this coffee shop date, made her smile.

"What's funny?" Francine asked as she noticed the odd smile on his face.

"Oh nothing… you just looked cute eating that whole thing. It makes me want to buy a whole cake and watch you smile and eat that all day." he mused, imagining how things would've been if they weren't in public. He could've been tasting that cake from her mouth already.

He quickly grabbed a tissue and wiped off the crumbs as Francine blushed in embarrassment.

"I'm sorry. I didn't notice it was there." she blushed shyly and looked down.

"Nah… why apologize. I was thinking you were hinting at me to kiss you. Like what most movies and cliché shows would mean." He scoffed and sipped on his coffee.

"Ha ha. Well you could try. As if I'd let you." She smiled bravely, but Soap could see her weakness behind that smile. She's raising her guard up again, and it's always like that when people are around.

"Wow. Umm that went differently." Soap commented, attempting to let France open up. This has been a common trend with her lately, toughening up when people are around but when they're alone, she's still strict but less tense.

"I'm sorry. It's just-" She hesitated and turned to the window.

"Say, how long would it take for them to finish?" She asked. Soap also turned to the building and shrugged.

"I don't know. Honestly, I'm excited for him. They make the best prosthetics around here and it'd make Alex's life easier. It'll look and weigh and bend like an actual leg." he said proudly as he turned to France who was looking at him weirdly.

"What?" he asked as he checked his phone which just beeped.

"Actually, they're almost done. And they're asking for an order. I'll just go get some for them, you stay here." He added, holding the thought, wiping his face and proceeded to the counter.

The reformed Task Force 141 would soon be back in business as papers were already approved by the board. They'll be situating themselves on American soil as their previous base was compromised by the traitorous General.

As for their last day on English soil, the rest of the team stayed in a penthouse condominium unit owned by the MacTavishes.

"Wow. This is top class!" Samantha mused as Alex plopped himself on the couch, his new leg quickly rested on the table. He's been in it for only a few hours but he already got the hang of it.

Samantha shot a glare at Alex's actions to which he shrugged on, prompting Soap to reply.

"Don't worry Samantha, make yourselves at home. We don't use this place anyway so help yourselves out. I promise it'll be fine." he eased as Samantha slowly plopped down beside him as Alex's arm rested on her shoulders. Soap actually wondered if he could do that to her too, get comfortable, open up, just normal stuff.

"I'll go get tea." he quickly said to himself as his imagination got the best of him as he walked to the kitchen. France quickly followed him to help out.

"Fancy place you got here, John. I wonder how many girls you've brought in here." She mused standing in front of him, helping with the teacups. Soap eyed her for a second and replied.

"Honestly, I can't count. I used to stay here when I studied and that was years ago." he replied as seriously as possible, looking at the changes on her face. She's actually jealous.

"Yeah. Figures. I saw your photos from earlier years. It was no doubt you'd have a lot of women over." She chuckled, nervously at it. Soap saw through her as she started to get curious about his life. A sign that she's ready to stop lowering her guard. Soap on the other hand, wanted her to feel special. Asking her out as soon as possible would make him come out as a desperate one, so he planned to do it the long traditional way. Which he actually despised, he would want to hug her so tight right now and it was already killing him.

"What about you? How many different rooms did you wake up to already?" he asked, changing the subject as she was already starting to feel bad about her question.

"Me?! Only a few. And most of them were owned by you. I've been very serious about my life choices that I never let myself loose." she sighed as Soap raised an eyebrow.

"Let loose? Like going out to parties?" He added.

"Yes. But broader. Like letting myself loose. I've always followed the path I wanted to be in, not letting any distractions bother me." she explained, blushing at it like it's a secret she was too shy to tell. Soap on the other hand, didn't quite get it.

"So you mean…" He tilted his head.

"Yes. Since birth, I never had a boyfriend." she looked down in embarrassment for the second time today.

Soap gulped. He didn't actually know how to respond to her statement. Sure he wanted to be the first one, but now wasn't the time. It would feel forced. And he wasn't a fan of forced relationships.

The kettle whistled and the two of them quickly responded to it as they both reached out for it, their hands met just by the handle.

"I'll take care of this one." She said as Soap slowly let go of her soft hands and watched her pour it on, carrying it to Samantha and Alex who were already giggling through a romcom.

"Way to go, John." he muttered to himself with a sigh as he ran his hand on his hair.

The day actually felt worse as France continued to remain quiet towards Soap as she invested herself on the television, third wheeling on Alex and Samantha.

Soap pondered about the words he chose to say to her and those he didn't over a steamy shower.

With the place having only two bedrooms, it was inevitable that France would sleep beside him but he also considered sleeping on the couch to respect her privacy or something like that.

As soon as he exited the bathroom, he saw France already tucked on her side of the bed, scrolling through her phone.

"Hey there." he muttered as she rolled her eyes to him and back to her phone.

"Hey." she said nonchalantly, her eyes dead focused on her screen. Soap quickly grabbed his nighttime clothes and slipped them on.

"Are you in any way excited for tomorrow?" he asked, trying to keep her from interacting with him.

"Yeah. A little." she said as she turned to him and smiled.

"Listen, about earlier today, in the kitchen..." he said.

"I'm not mad, John. I just wanted to say it out there so you could understand me."

"Tell me what you feel."

"Embarrassed."

"Why?"

"Because I looked like a fool earlier. When I told you I was ready and now I feel that you're the one who isn't. You told me you would wait but-" Soap placed his hand on her face, gently touching her cheek.

"France. You don't have to worry. You're still the one I'm thinking about every second. I just… wanted to do this the slow and steady way, where I would show off how worthy I am for you. I want you to enjoy the whole John MacTavish Experience." he smiled and she slowly turned her frown upside down.

Soap wanted to take a picture of that smile and plaster it all around the room as his heart started to pound like crazy, his face unknowingly moving closer to hers. They both started to close their eyes as they let their lips do the talking, but in a quiet and intimate way. Soap felt France's greed for his kiss as she slowly learned how to beg for more of him. It was true that she had no experience on these things but something told him that she's starting to learn some tricks herself.

Soap didn't hesitate to retaliate as she released a soft groan, a sign of her being content as her hands slowly grazed his arms, her thumb softly pressed his biceps, digging deeper as their tongues clashed. After a few more seconds, they both broke their kiss as they gasped for air.

"Yeah. Go sleep on the floor before we do something stupid." She giggled and Soap nodded in agreement as they quickly shuffled about, set their beds and called it a night.

Next Chapter - The SEVEN Inch Wound

Notification Squad my Beloved

@samatedeansbroccoli @smokeywhalee @enderio @bumblingbee1 @ricinbach @whimsywispsblog

[deathbydarkelves]

I decided to make playlists for Cathala and Tarinne plus explanations for why I chose each song because I entered one of those ADHD fugue states and if I didn't finish this task I would die

Anyway here are the two links (they're youtube playlists because I don't have spotify. I would obviously recommend using an adblocker if you're just gonna watch on youtube) and the explanations for each song are below the cut :) Each playlist is about an hour long.

For Tarinne’s:

1. Foggy Nights: I consider this her theme so putting it first as a sort of intro only makes sense.

2. Here’s a Health to the Company: I think this works as an example of her general disposition. She’s a people person, and always a fan of singing these sorts of songs in taverns, on ships, or what have you. It also kind of feels like a sendoff to soldiers, which I imagine symbolizes her joining the Sentinel Army and quickly thereafter fighting in the Third War.

3. Wartime Prayers: Somewhat self-explanatory, this is symbolizing her seeing war for the first time, but I also included it because the last line transitions SO WELL into the next song.

4. The Hollow: This song is an intro to an album I've never heard so I don't know the context, but I really love it because it sounds like someone praying to their deity and like I mean c'mon. Elune. Tarinne's praying to Elune to guide her through the war. Do I need to elabo-

5. Wave Walker: KILL DEATH MAIM AHAHAHAHA

6. Isil Elun’falo: Just a super rad fan-made night elf song that's basically "wow we sure do love Elune" said in twenty different ways for four and a half minutes. But it ROCKS and I LOVE it.

7. Chewing Cotton Wool: This song is about losing a loved one (I did have to check but yeah that's what it is) and I use it to symbolize Tarinne losing her mom during the war. The last line, which includes the song's title, I especially like. It's referring to how morticians (apparently) put cotton gauze in a corpse's throat and mouth to keep body fluids in and make the face look more natural. So there's a fun fact for you.

8. See U Soon (Song for Dad): Just a short lofi piece to rest a bit, and it was also chosen because the title's in reference to Tarinne growing closer to her dad after losing her mom. She still visits him at his leathers and furs shop in Stormwind fairly often, especially after dangerous adventures. She just wants to make sure he knows she's alright ;-;

9. No Lullaby: Right back into it with a song that I use to represent Tarinne's general feeling of not being able to go home because it's not there anymore. She's felt like this since the end of the Third War, but it's especially strong since the whole Teldrassil thing. But I like the ending, "who said you're on your own," because it contrasts the repeating of "alone" in the rest of the song. And it's kinda like "hey, listen, you're not the only one who feels like she can't go home." I mean that's probably how basically every single night elf feels right now skxnks

10. The Moss: This song juxtaposes classic fairy tales with scientific facts about the world and I love it to BITS. I'm using it here to represent both Tarinne's love for storytelling but also her sort of... part-time historian/archaeologist/conservator career.

11. Rasputin: I just associate this song with her for some reason and this was the best place to put it.

12. Electric Feel: Moving on to focus more on Tarinne's relationship with Cathala now. This is an extremely great and somewhat 😏 song that I also included because the electricity theme is appropriate because Cathala has lightning powers and y'know it's from Tarinne's perspective or whatever.

13. Bedroom Hymns: You know why this is here.

14. Movement: I can't talk about love songs without talking about Hozier, okay. This is just a nice, slower song to relax a bit with.

15. Never Let Me Go: I have an entire goddamn music video in my head with Cathala and Tarinne for this song and it’s very dramatic and emotional and I had to include this song or I’d die. Basically just listen to near the end of this song when she's repeating the title over and over, and imagine the two of them seeing each other at opposite ends of a battlefield after the dust settles and they rush towards each other and fall to their knees holding on as tightly as they can because they got separated early on and each thought the other was dead. Then you'll know how I feel when I listen to this song.

16. Nothing That Has Happened So Far Has Been Anything We Could Control: First of all I love the title, and second of all there's a big section in the middle (1:49 to 2:47) that I like to interpret as the two of them grappling with the fact that they're not really quite sure who or what they're fighting for anymore. Their people, yeah, but there's so many alliances and semi-permanent enemies and only-on-every-other-thursday-enemies all intertwined and the world is just so very confusing and they're trying to make the best of it. Elf school didn’t include international, interracial politics in its curriculum. It did however include how to properly plant trees, and AP calculus (this is a joke).

17. In Dreams: I like to imagine this song is something the two of them would say to each other, as a way of saying “even when everything we know is gone, even when the world ends, I will still be by your side. And if I’m not, don’t fear, for I will find you.” It makes a nice note to end on :)

For Cathala’s:

1. muse: Just a nice lofi intro to get us into things :) I don't see this song as her theme, like I do with Tarinne and the first song in her playlist, but I like it quite a bit. I don't actually really have a theme for Cathala yet, I'm currently going with a version of Way of the Monk from WoW's OST but I'm still looking for something better.

2. Frogs Singing: I included this because it's about just appreciating nature, which works because night elf and also mindfulness and meditation is a whole thing.

3. Tongues: This is a song about feeling distant from your peers which is like Cathala's whole existence! She's this weird mix of two cultures and ultimately she feels out of place regardless of where she is or who she's with. Also the theme with not understanding what people are saying works because the poor woman had to learn Pandaren from scratch and that shit ain't easy. I think blizz said somewhere probably that Common is just a language that EVERYONE knows inherently because Video Game but that's bullshit in my opinion. I'll allow spells that let you understand foreign languages to an extent (Comprehend Languages from D&D lets you understand the LITERAL meaning only, which I like), but every culture and species in the universe knowing Common is silly if you think about it for more than two seconds.

4. Kung Fu Fighting: I'm legally required to include this song. Also I prefer the Kung Fu Panda version, I'm sorry.

5. Harder Better Faster Stronger: I vicariously experience having a great work ethic through Cathala and that's why this song is here because she has 999 Determination and does Too Many push-ups every day or something idk. I was gonna say "every morning" but I have a headcanon that elves only need to sleep every couple of days (sort of a nod to "elves don't need to sleep at all" from D&D, and to explain why NIGHT elves are active at all hours of the day) so that doesn't work.

6. What's Up Danger: This song is Cathala's whole Vibe. Almost zero threat assessment skills in this woman's brain. If it can be punched, she will punch it.

7. Eye for an Eye: Fairly self-explanatory, it's a song about wanting revenge so... yeah. Checked that box. It was this or The Vengeful One by Disturbed but ultimately The Vengeful One's religious symbolism probably makes it fit better as a Tyrande theme lol ("I'm the hand of god, I'm the dark messiah." Did you mean: the Night Warrior)

8. Survivor: Cathala's survived a lot of shit and this could kinda be her making fun of herself for it because "Gods, man! Don't I deserve a break!"

9. Ashes: Really the reason I include this song is the last chunk (2:42 to the end) because holy shit. Listen, if I was gonna include a song with fire motifs, it was gonna be a somber one like this.

10. Into the West: This can kinda represent Cathala just trying to fucking breathe and recover from Teldrassil. Also works because I dunno it has stuff to do with the elves in LotR, I haven't seen those movies in a while. It sounds nice and is melancholy so I included it.

11. Like Real People Do: Cathala loves Tarinne a lot you guys have I ever menti-

12. Into the Wild: Tarinne changed Cathala's world for the better and she's super fucking grateful she has her by her side. Kinda goes without saying but you know.

13. Chasing the Moon: I have a vague music video in my head for this of them falling in love and it's very cute so there's that. Also it's in this specific spot because hey she may be deeply traumatized but she's still got a fair number of things/people in her life that make her happy so :)

14. Follow My Girl: I've got a theme going in my head that while Tarinne is fairly certain of her place in the world, Cathala is still trying to find hers. She outlived all her connections on Pandaria because Elf Lifespans(tm) and the only members of her family still alive are distant relatives she never knew very well.

15. Wish That You Were Here: This works both to represent Cathala on Pandaria feeling super homesick, and for more recently after Teldrassil. Either way, it's a message to her parents and sister.

16. Mr. Fear: She does her damnedest to hide it but she's absolutely terrified something like Teldrassil's gonna happen again! That fear drives her to do everything in her power to protect who and what she can. As long as they're not Forsaken, cause she's still got her biases, that compassion even extends across faction lines. She never really got the whole Alliance/Horde thing anyway. Innocent people shouldn't have to die, regardless of who or what they are.

17. Ordinary Day: Not to get super out there but I think this song works as symbolizing Cathala really trying to hold on to her faith in Elune, but ultimately feeling pretty abandoned. I mean she can clearly see Elune's influence everywhere. But Elune sure ain't doing Cathala any favors as far as she can tell! It also ends the whole playlist on maybe a bit of an uncertain/open-ended note, because this "losing faith" aspect is a new thing with her and will definitely be something she continues to struggle with for a while. On a related note, I should say Tarinne is still very much devout but she gets what Cathala's feeling and doesn't force anything on her, and vice versa. And Cathala wouldn't become atheist, the night elves aren't monotheistic and she still worships all the other deities, it's just specifically Elune she's a little :/ on.

[june2734]

The Short Lived Golden Age of Nerdy Web Shows

There was a time between the years of, let's say, 2007 to 2015 that I like to call the golden age of nerdy web shows. It consisted of a lot of small low to no budget productions that had a lot of heart, the kind you just don't see very often anymore for some reason. Many of these show have found a dedicated home on streaming services like The Fantasy Network, some have even gained enough steam to be featured on big name services like Netflix and Amazon like The Guild and LARPs The series respectively. I'm not exactly sure why the web show trend died out so hard, maybe the crowds just aren't there for them anymore like they use to be with some many pieces of high budget productions on streaming services vying for their attention. Every once and a while I'll jump onto Google to try and find new web shows that have that same heart and feel but rarely if ever do I come up with anything. As far as I can tell the only place new nerdy low to mid budget web shows or films gets any attention is at GenCon or small streaming services like The Fantasy Network. Who knows if there will ever be another nerdy heartfelt web show created that captures the spirit of those old series I hold so dear to my heart, but regardless if it happens or not I'd like to bring some attention to a few of my favorites. They may be old by the standards of the internet and maybe even cheesy by today's standards, but I really think they were something special and if you give them a shot maybe you'll think so too. If you have any others that you think would fit in with shows like this feel free to let me know.

The Gamers: Hands Of Fate

Zombie Orpheus Entertainment use to be one of my favorite channels for nerdy fantasy related content back in the day. You could always see the quality and passion that they put into every piece of content they out out on their channel. They're still around today but they've shifted their focus to other ventures such as the ever popular trend of live streaming table top games rather then making scripted content. That being said their old stuff is still well worth a watch and The Gamers series, particularly The Gamers: Hands of Fate, is some of their best work they’ve ever put out. The series centers around a group of table top gamers(the same that can be found in most of the other The Gamers creations by ZOE), particularly the character by the name of Cass, as he steps into the world of one extremely popular card game hopes of impressing a woman who's a huge fan of it. But this is seemingly simple premise is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this series. The show also features a secondary narrative that involves the characters that actually exist in the card game as as the players decisions in the real world effect their lives and leads one character, Buckstahue(not sure if I’m spelling that right), in particular to start questioning what mysterious forces are controlling their lives. The show is a real treat filled with twists and turns I never saw coming, it's fascinating seeing how the real world actions of this card game effects the card characters lives as well as question if and when Buckstahue will figure out what strings control her actions. The stories surrounding the other characters in the party might not be as engaging but they are by no means a weak point of the series either, many of their subplots are engaging in their own rights and pay off certain character moments established in proper The Gamers creations. If this peaks your interest then the series can still be found on Zombie Orpheus's Youtube channel or as a movie on The Fantasy Network. ZOE had pivoted more towards live streaming as opposed to the scripted content of their past but I'd love to see more content from The Gamers one day. Source

LARPs The Series

LARPs The Series first premiered at GenCon 2014 and took home the award for Best Independent Series. The year after it was picked up by Geek and Sundry as a part of a push for more scripted content on the channel which was where I and many others first got a chance to watch it. When the short trailer for popped up on the G&S channel everything about it screamed that I was absolutely going to love it, and I wasn’t wrong. The series centers around a 4 man party of larpers (AKA Live Action Role Players) by the names of Will, Brittany, Arthur and Sam and their DM (Dungeon Master) Evan as we follow their lives in and out of the game. The show is surprisingly heartfelt and sympathetic towards the characters involved in this often misunderstood and mocked hobby as it shows how larping enriches their often turbulent lives and connects them all as friends on a deep and meaningful level. These characters felt real and you really rooted for them as they deal with, work, relationships and the many other hurtles of adult life as they wait eagerly to gear up for whatever peril might befall them in their next campaign session. The show was also pretty hilarious, seeing them play out classic predicaments that any party, whether they be larpers or table top roleplayers, have experienced such as one player trying to roll to kill a tavern owner or romances between PCs were always a joy to watch unfold.  Another thing that most will notice right away is how the production value and direction are surprisingly astounding as well, especially in season 2. I was shocked by just how much quality was put into the show from the costumes and sets as well as from a writing standpoint. If you're interested in checking out the show then it can be found on Amazon Prime but they can also still be viewed for free on YouTube or in The Fantasy Network. Beanduck, the production company behind LARPs The series, is working towards a funding campaign in hopes of earning enough to produce a third season so if you have any spare change you might want to toss it their way in support. Regardless if you decide to help or not, LARPs The Series is a show that I think any nerdy individual will enjoy. Source

Glitch

Glitch was another show produced by the team over at Zombie Orpheus Entertainment, but it never seemed to get the same kind of love as many of their other productions. The concept was brilliant: What if one day you woke up and found out your life operated on the logic of video games? Well this is the predicament that a programing temp nicknamed Glitch finds himself in. Most episodes of the show centered around particular game mechanics causing problems in his and his friends lives and how he tries to figure out ways to work around or fix problems they've created. Glitch, Wyatt and Samus were all fantastic characters and it was always fun seeing Glitch trying to work through some real world problem with game logic like trying to flirt with a woman he likes using a conversation wheel like in Mass Effect or figuring out how to "defeat" his boss at work who he see's as an actual game boss. Another thing I liked about the show was how the characters really felt like real people I knew, they played games on the couch, debated about which Sci-Fi starship captains were the best, and they grilled each other in nerdy ways while working in slang from their favorite bits of nerd culture into their daily vocabulary. I always hoped that ZOE would eventually put out a second season but unfortunately for whatever reason that never became a reality. Now days the channel that originally hosted Glitch has changed their name to Burger Orchard and rarely if ever uploads anything, but luckily those original episodes of Glitch can still be found on their. Give it a watch, it's short but sweet and if you really enjoyed the show a lot there are little companion shorts that can also be found on the channel. Source

The Street Fighter

The Game Station was an early find for me back in my early college days, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I shaved away many hours watching all kinds of gaming related content on that channel instead of studying for exams. One production, created by one of the channels founders Layne Pavoggi, which came out in late 2011 and was a cut above much their already fantastic content was a short lived series was called The Street Fighter. The series centered around a single dad by the name of Phil who has just lost his job and decides to take up a short career as a professional Street Fighter player to provide for his son as well as keep his mind off of the stressful and highly competitive job market. This a real underdog story that’s extremely reminiscent of old sports 80s films where the protagonist has everything working against them, with that being said you might think that such a trope filled narrative would make things a little predictable and you wouldn’t be wrong but there’s still plenty to love since this concept has really never been explored with videogame to my knowledge. Phil is a guy you’d be hard pressed not to warm up to, especially when you see him interacting with his preteen son Ryan or his best friend/semi love interest Camile (played by former All That star and all around spectacular person Lisa Foiles). Seeing him trying to make his way into the job market, taking odd jobs here and there just to try and get by while also playing Street Fighter to destress and become better for the sake of winning a competition for money to support his son really makes to root for him through all of it. One aspect of the show that I really this is fantastic is how it feels truly authentic to the FGC (Fighting Game Community) when it comes to talking about all of the technical aspects of play Street Fighter on a competitive level. There are moments when Phil goes into detail about his “bread and butter” combos or talks about different strategies when it comes to taking on different characters compared to his main. The show was short lived but it can still be found on The Game Stations channel, if you’re looking for a heartfelt underdog story then I highly recommend giving The Street Fighter a shot. Source

Versus Valerie

Versus Valerie is a bit of series finale for a fictional character created by Hannah Spear for the character more commonly known as the Sexy Nerd Girl on her YouTube channel. Even if you didn't watch the characters vlogs over the years leading up to the web series I still think you'll find something to enjoy in this extremely charming show. It centers around Valerie Lapomme, the titular Sexy Nerd Girl, as she lives life hanging out with with her best friend Guy, shopping for comic books, going on dates, vlogging, and trying to make something of herself as a mid 20 something living in Toronto. The brilliant thing about this series is how each episode is structured like or makes homage to popular shows, films and games such as Star Wars, Doctor Who, Memento, and The Matrix just to name a few. On top of that the show is surprisingly well produced and written for something that spawned from a fictional vlog series, Valarie and Guy are much more fleshed out and all the characters including them have some really fantastic character arcs and moments in the show. Valerie’s awkwardness and extremely nerdy imagination felt embracingly relatable to me personally since I often imagine different situations in my life in relation to my own nerdy fandoms. What I was often taken aback by when I first watched the show years ago was just how enjoyable all of the episodes were in their own special way, and the pay off of it all really feels like a proper satisfying ending to the strange and imaginative journey we’ve been on with Valerie. If it peaks your interest at all then you can still find the full series on the Veruse Valerie YouTube channel as well as some of the vlogs prior to the series on the Sexy Nerd Girl channel as well. It’s well worth a viewing and aside from the fantastic lead characters of Guy and Valerie the show also managed to grab Mark Meer as a supporting character, aka the voice of COMMANDER MOTHER F^*$(^% SHEPARD BABY!!!  Source

[seventhroses]

☁️ Dreams

👩🏻 A/N: It's here! This is my first story! I just wrote it as I needed an outlet to get my mind off reality. Probably gonna write again? Idk 🤔Anyway I'm excited to share this! Not sure if it’s good BUT I hope anyone that gives it a go would enjoys it! 🥰

🌠 Geners: Fantasy, fluff, slight smut

📃 Word count: 4.9K

Since young, you always have a thing for dreams. You were told many stories of different people's dreams and you've always finds it fascinating on what goes on in there when your body shuts to recharged.

There was one in particular that had it imprinted in you till now. It was your grandparent's dreams. You can't believe that they actually met in their dreams and how their love unfolds into reality.

How can anyone dreamed of someone else when they've never cross path or see each other before? You always questioned.

You could never figure out no matter how many times they tell you their tales. But even so, it was the sweetest love story that you've heard and of course, seeing it through parts of their times, you were partially convinced that maybe dreams do come true.

As you get older, instead of popping colours of life, nightmares get the best of you. You eventually start sleeping lesser and lesser hours. Dreams were no longer the happy fluffy thing you did look forward to every night.

Today was the worst. It was one of those days, where you felt like everything was collapsing on you. This week have been so exhausting and you probably had less than 10hours of sleep in total. Having to deal with your sickening boss that always throws you with piles of urgent paper work that you end up OT till 1-2AM to finish, colleagues that act as if they're the only one that have a life outside of work and dumped their unfinished work on you.

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worst, you sprained your ankle while chasing for your last bus home tonight.

"How great.." you sighed while limping up the bus with your now sore ankle.

"Well at least, I managed to catch the bus…" Trying hard to comfort your miserable self as you found a seat and sat down. 

You finally reached home after what seems like forever. Throwing your heels aside, you limped towards the kitchen to get some ice for your swollen ankle. Walking to the living room you plopped yourself onto the sofa, turning the TV on that you have no plans on watching. You find yourself staring into the ceiling, can't help but to question about your life.

Even though you're tired as hell, you can feel yourself fighting that tiredness, refusing to let another nightmare invade you tonight. But as the clock ticks away by the minutes, you know your fight is futile.

"If only.. I just wish for one good dream.. Just one, to end this miserable week" with that, you find your heavy lids closed as you fell asleep.

The next thing you know, upon opening your eye you saw the ray of morning sun shining into your room.

Checking the time on the clock, 

"It's 11AM?!" Now, widely awake. "Did I just sleep through the night?"

Not remembering when's the last time you slept through the night without waking up with cold sweat or hyperventilating from the nightmare you had. Though, you weren't complaining. You were in fact longing for a good sleep like this.

You got out of your bed, slipping into your bunny slippers, ready to kicked start your day. You just felt really good and recharged from the long sleep. After washing up and making yourself a cup of coffee, you walk to the sofa and sat down, finding a comfortable position to plan how you should go about your day before having your best friend over tonight for dinner and movie.

While you were making plans, a suddenly feeling strikes you. Something doesn't add up, but you can't seem to put it into words.

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It's 1PM. You're dressed in your ripped jeans and cute smiley sweater ready for some shopping therapy and groceries shopping for tonight's dinner. You grabbed a pair of your most comfortable heels and skipped out of your apartment. You were in a good mood, stress free and you know that's not normal but again you're not complaining. You're going to enjoy it while it last and so you thought.

As you were going down the long flight of stairs towards the bus stop, you were impressed at how you managed to go up these 'stairs of hell' with your swollen ankle last night. That's when you realised, they aren't painful anymore. You were pretty sure it was swollen before you fell asleep but they seem perfectly fine now. You also remember falling asleep on the sofa and not in the room.

So, how did I get to the room? When did I changed into the pj? Now, lots of thoughts are flying in and you couldn't much process or find an answer to them.  Are you that tired that you can't remember what you did?

 "Be careful!!" A loud voice snapped you back into reality and you can feel a strong hand holding on to your arm.

Facing the stairs down, you're pretty sure that you will get more than just swollen ankle if it's not for this person. You turned your head around wanting to thank your saviour but came to face with a white tee and strong veiny arms that is holding on to you. You tilted your head up trying to see who's this perfect fitting body belongs to and there, you saw a pair of small worrisome eyes looking at you.

 "Are you ok? Hurt anywhere?"  he asked worriedly.

At that moment, you couldn't seem to find a word as you were too focus on looking at this charming looking gentleman in front of you.

Let's be honest, ever since you start adulting, life has been a struggle of paying off bills and dealing with your work life. You hardly even have time for yourself, so let alone finding yourself a partner to add on the struggle with.

The only male presence in your life other than your dad, is your childhood best friend, Lee Minhyuk. Well, he's called your best friend for a reason. You have been in each other's life for more than a decade and you know each other all too well. Also, knowing that there will probably be no peaceful day ahead if you guys were to even try. You and Minhyuk can't even decide on a movie together for movie night without bricking for at least 30 minutes and ended up having to tossed a coin to decide. Which, you think it's probably going to happen tonight too. So, it has never really cross both of your mind about developing your relationship into anything else more than what you guys are.

You did met a few people, go for a few dates before but that was in collage when you had the privileged of time. All that just seems so long ago.

Right now, having come face to face with this charming guy, it is sure to activate your needs for a new male presence in your life. Not to mention, this gentlemen in front of you, his visual is… let's just say, he's totally your type. With your 'love struck' expression which you probably are showing now, he figured that you should be ok.

"Hi, I'm Hyunwoo." Waiting for your answer while holding on to you as you steady your feet. 

You noticed his expression changed to a shy and smiley eye, that would totally make anyone soft.

 "Hi" … "I'm y/n." Quite sure you sounded like a robot.

A red one to be exact because you can feel yourself blushing hard and the distant between the both of you and his perfume smell is not helping at all. You can hear him chuckled. His hand is still on your arms. His warm palm on your skin certainly have you feeling the butterfly flying wildly in your stomach.

 "Are you free for a coffee?" You blurted out of nowhere and a sudden realisation that you're thinking out loud, got you in panicked mode.

 "I mean… I mean you just saved me from the probability of cracking my head like an egg... so.. " pausing and cursing yourself for the lame joke. Now, you just want to dig a hole and hid.

He laughed. "I like that" not sure if he said that out of courtesy, just so your now red af face wouldn't burst. 

"and sure. I would love for a coffee with you, Y/n. "

You liked the way he calls your name. Like you never knew it could sound so sweet.

 After the awkward invitation, Hyunwoo slide his hand down from your arm. Holding on to your hand now, he casually walks down the stairs. Going one step ahead of you as he leads you down. He turned his head to looked at you and smiled,

"Now, you don't need to worry about getting your head cracked."

You're very sure at that moment, your face was in tomato red as Hyunwoo holds your hand and walk towards the nearby café.

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"Do you stay around here?" You asked as the both of you set down on the sofa seating in the café.

"Yes, I just moved here recently and was exploring the neighbourhood. You stay around the area?"

"Yup. Not far from the 'stairs of hell'." Almost rolling your eye.

Hyunwoo let out an airy laughed "I totally know what you mean."

Taking the first sipped of his drink, he started making some sound. "Mmmm! Mmm! This is so good!"

His reaction makes you adore him. How can someone be so charming, gentle and cute all at the same time.

"Oh, what did you ordered?" you asked out of curiosity.

"Honey grapefruit tea! It's on the drink's special menu. It's so refreshing!" You smiled at him as he sounded so proud of his order.

"Do you stay alone?"

 That question was definitely out of nowhere.

 There was a short pause as you were a little startled by the intruding question. Hyunwoo probably felt that he might have make you uncomfortable, so he explained.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. Since I moved here alone, I just thought it would be nice to know people in my neighbourhood. But its ok! You don't have to answer if it makes you uncomfortable. I'm sorry for the sudden question." Looking apologetic and not sure if he sounded weird.

But somehow his explanation makes you feel comfortable enough to tell him, so you looked at him,

"It's ok, dont be sorry. And yes, I kind of stays alone. But I have this best friend of mine, that would come crushing every so often to check if im still alive. So i'm not sure if that counts." Again, cursing yourself for the lame joke but it's kind of true too.

Well, atleast your reply showed Hyunwoo some relieved as you can see the smile back on his face.  

"It would be nice if we could have…"

 Before you manage to hear finished his sentence, the whole place start to shake violently. You could hear someone calling your name very loudly, somewhere but you couldn't find the source. Scared as hell, you closed your eyes shut.

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 When you opened your eye, you were in a dazed. Minhyuk is now on the sofa beside you and shaking you violently. You frowned, now back to your sense. You were quite sure if he were to continue shaking, you would have thrown up on him that instant.

 "Babe! Back on earth?! You scare the hell out of me!" "What happen to you?!" "I came into the apartment and the first thing I saw is your dead body on the sofa!" "I mean lifeless. I mean.." As Minhyuk went on with his chains of words, you rolled your eyes at him. You can totally see that small smirked on his face.

 You had given Minhyuk the password to your apartment on day one when you move in, as he was whining non-stop about it until you gave him the digits. Since the both of you are having movie night every other Saturday, so you though it did be more convenient to do so too. But Minhyuk always says, it's for your safety so he can come by to check on you and see if you're still alive and kicking. You just want to rolled your eye, knowing all too well it's for his own convenience, as he always comes over for free meals, if not when he wants to escape from his mom's nagging. But even so, you never really mind it because he would keep you accompany whenever nightmares start taunting you.

 "What time is it now?" you asked.

 "It's almost 7PM, y/n! And you are supposed to start cooking dinner at 6:30PM!" He shouted across the kitchen while getting you a glass of water.

 You took the glass from him while trying to figure out what just happened.

 "Are you having nightmares again?" Minhyuk asked with concern on his face.

 "No, it's not a nightmare. In fact, it was a good dream." You paused.

"Well, at least it is until someone starts shaking me so violently, I thought there was an earthquake." You said to him with a somewhat annoyed tone now. He pouted.

You stood up wanting to get a quick shower because you're still in your yesterday's work clothes but your ankle give way. Now you remembered that you had sprained your ankle and it's still swollen. You realised what was not adding up. You were dreaming, that's why it wasn't hurting earlier.

And that guy in your dream, Hyunwoo.

Who is he? Have you seen him before?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

 It’s been a month since you dreamt of Hyunwoo and you were hoping to dream of him again but instead, the whole nightmare routine starts bugging you instead.

 Today, was no different as you find yourself fighting the tiredness to sleep. But after sometime, you finally can’t hold much longer and you fell asleep on the sofa. When you opened your eye and to your delight, you were at the same cafe, same sofa seat where you and Hyunwoo were at before.

 "Hey, your coffee." Looking up, you saw that smiley eyes that you were missing so much, right in front of you.

 "Hey.." You replied, fighting the urge to ask if he he's real. Afraid that it would break the spell to whatever is causing this dream.

 You decided to throw the thought to the back of your head, as you have been waiting for this to happen ever since that day, you tell yourself to enjoy it well it last. So, you turned your focus back on him.

 "How have you been?" You smiled while sipping on the coffee he got for you.

 "I'm good. And I've been thinking about talking to you again" That sudden confession caught you off guard.

 Has he been thinking about me? This is a dream, right? He's probably a reflection of what I've been wanting to hear from a guy.

Now you're very much convinced by yourself that all this are probably just in your head.

 The both of you talked for a while, enjoying each other's company. It felt nice talking to Hyunwoo and you were hoping to talk for a little longer but a loud ringing sound woke you up.

Lazy hand searching for the source of the dreadful sound, you grabbed the alarm and turn it off. Looking at the time, it's now 5AM and you know you are back at the harsh reality of work week. A sigh leaves you as you drag your heavy body out of bed.

 On the way to work, you can't help but be hopeful about dreaming of Hyunwoo again since the second time did happened.

 Indeed, you found yourself seeing Hyunwoo in your dreams for the third, fourth and fifth time in a spent of 2 months. It always happens at the same cafe. The both of you would be seating at the same sofa seat, drinking the same drinks. Even though, there's no knowing to when you will be dreaming of Hyunwoo but when you did, he never fails to makes you happy and recharged. You start seeing yourself looking forward to sleeping and dreaming again. Something that you use to love before adulting. Not to mention, nightmare have been less frequent and you were feeling better every day. It was a good sign for you.

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 And today you're dream again, the sixth time. But you found yourself at a different setting. It wasn't the usual cafe or the sofa seat that you always sat on. It was a place you are not familiar with. It was someone's home.

 It was Hyunwoo's home to be exact. You can see his family picture framed up sitting on the kitchen's table. He was smiling so brightly in the picture and you can see where he probably gets his youthfulness from. You smiled because in front of you, stands a familiar back hovering over the stove.

 "Your mum look so young and pretty." you said while admiring his back view.

 He turned around sounded in agreement. Now turning towards you, you can't help but to admire this perfect looking guy, in his home clothes and combing his hair back with his hand. He wearing a white tee that hug his body perfectly, showing his chest muscles curve and broad shoulder and a pair of shorts that shows his long legs. Unaware of yourself checking him out so openly, he chuckled

 "Enjoying your view huh?" he says jokingly as he turns back to cook.

 You cough trying to hid your blushing face, "Ahem, are you cooking ramen?" "The legendary 'Hyunwoo's ramen'?" You giggled as you teased him.

 "Yes, I promised its the real deal."

 "Are you sure is that good?"

 "Oh yes, it's that good that you would want for more." feeling challenged as he places the ramen in front of you.

"Go on, have a taste"

 He leans in on the table, moving into your personal space as you took your first bite. You're trying to ignore his extremely close presence, not sure if it's the ramen or Hyunwoo that's making you all hot now.

 "How is it? Good?" Staring at you earnestly, waiting for your feedback.

 How am I supposed to concentrate and eating with him being so close?

 In all honesty, he looks so yummy you just want to eat him instead. You can't help but blush so hard at your own desirable thoughts.

 "Are you ok?" Hyunwoo asked as his hands feels your burning cheeks and his face just inches away from you.

 Your face now so close to his. You looked at his so kissable lips and a sudden impulse urged you to slid forward and kiss him. You retreat back and shut your eyes, hoping to wakes up so you don't have to face the embarrassment from your action. But you didn't. Before you know it, you felt Hyunwoo lips clashing back on yours causing you to open your eye in a shock. That impulse and innocent kiss had turned into a heated open mouth kisses as Hyunwoo move his hand behind your head keep you closer. You felt yourself heated up from the action. You want more. He pulls away after a while, only to carry you up onto the table as he parted your legs to stand between you. He latched his lips back on yours and you swear you're feel all sorts of sensational feeling with what he was doing. Hyunwoo slowly moves his hand with lazy fingers gliding all over your body leaving hot trials and tingling feelings to where ever he passes. You can feel the shiver up your body and the tight knot somewhere inside of you wanting more of him.  

He pulls you closer to him while moving down to your neck, giving you soft open kisses. You can feel his growing bulge pressing on your centre as he grinds up against you, cause you to make soft seductive moans that you never thought you're capable of making.

 "Hyunwoo.." You murmur as you arched your back.

 He tilted his head up to look at you, so done for him just from the kisses. You can see his pupils blown; eyes filled with lust. He wants you. Before you can think of anything, you shudder as you felt the sudden contact of his palm cupping your heated clothed centre. You moaned and that encouraged him to move further. He slipped his hand through the side of your shorts and pushing your panties aside. You hissed at him when he parts your folds and starts making circle at your swollen nub. You can't remember the last time someone had taken care of you like that and saying you were a moaning mess is an understatement. You moved your hand wrapping around his now fully grown budge, wanting to help him relief from the strain in his shorts. You can hear his low moaned when you start pumping him. He sounded so attractive, yet so sweet. Soon after, both of you were helping each other to chased your much needed high.

 "Baby.." the sudden pet name got you closer to your high " I can't…" you curled your toe and shut your eyes, preparing for the rush that was going to come through.

 But talk about bad timing.

 As you opened your eye as you found yourself lying on your own bed. You rolled over, face pressed down and you screamed into your pillow venting out your frustration. You need to settle your sexual frustration. Reaching down to your panties which is now soak with aroused. 

You sighed. "I want him." 

You find yourself craving for Hyunwoo. While thinking of him, you settle your needs with the fate of your own fingers.

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 2 weeks went by after that heated dream you had. The seventh didn't come.

  "Just go to that damn cafe! It won't hurt anyone…" Minhyuk retorted over at the other side of the phone. Clearly annoyed at you talking about the cafe for the nth number of times over the months.

 You had told Minhyuk about all your encounter with Hyunwoo in your dreams. Maybe not all, you did leave the sixth encounter out to save yourself some teasing that you would for sure get from him.

 "I dont know. I mean they're dreams. I shouldn't let it bothers me so much." turning and twisting your hair on your finger while you talked.

 You have been thinking of going to that cafe ever since the first dream but you couldn't find a reason to go. You make your own morning coffee so you won't willing to spend that extra money on coffee outside. Work also got the best of you, so you go only between your work place or home. Your life it's so exhausting, so during weekends you just wants to stay at home do your overdue laundry and spend the rest of the day sloth-ing.

 Today, Minhyuk finally convince you to get out of your den and you both were planning to meet for lunch.

 "How about you go there and get me a cup of coffee before we meet?" Minhyuk suggested. Clearly taking advantage of your dilemma but, it works. You were more convince to pop by the cafe for a reason.

"You're one smart ass." you can hear his sinister laugh, knowing that he succeeded in getting himself a free coffee.

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 "Hi, welcome!" The girl behind the cashier smile as you walk through the door. In reality, you have never noticed this cafe before, so let alone visit it, but it felt familiar. The interior and the seating were the same as what you could remember from your dreams. You look at the menu board for a while, even though you know you would probably get an ice coffee to satisfy your caffeine needs as you didn't have one in the morning. But you saw 'Honey grapefruit tea" on the drink’s special menu and without much thinking you ordered it along with Minhyuk's ice coffee. You set down at the same sofa seat that you and Hyunwoo had sat on in the dream, while waiting for your orders.

Your phone vibrates.

TheannoyingBFF: Hey babe! Please dont kill me!

TheannoyingBFF: Hyungwon car broke down and he needs me to find him

You: ...

TheannoyingBFF: I'll buy you dinner tomorrow

TheannoyingBFF: I PROMISE!

You: You better!

You: Be glad that I'm still at the cafe and not on my way

TheannoyingBFF: I'm sorry and I love you!

You: I would've killed you

You: along with hyungwon

TheannoyingBFF: Hope you will bump into him, so my sin can be off set *Praying emoji*

You: ...

You: Bye

 You grabbed your drinks when your order tag buzz and went back to the sofa seat. Having your plans cancelled and with no back up, you decided to stay in the cafe for a while. This cafe makes you smile. You were happy when you're there, so it naturally makes you feel good.

 You took a sip of the new drink and with an impressed look, you mumble to yourself “Waoh, it's indeed nice and refreshing."  Continue drinking, you stare at Minhyuk's ice coffee that is place in front of the empty seat, you thought to yourself how lonely this makes you look. Like you've been bumped or something and this makes you feel like cursing at Lee Minhyuk.

 'Ting Ting' the doorbell of the cafe rang. You didnt react to it as it has been sounding out quite a few times. While you continue to scroll through your feed, a familiar voice started talking.

 "Hi, is this seat taken?" Looking at you and gesturing at the empty seat in front of you.

 You looked up, couldn't believe by the person standing in front of you. You start looking around and find the cafe seat all packed, so you turned back to him "Erm.. No" while you kind of avoid looking at him as you try to calm your nerves and trying hard not to show that "love struck" expression.

 He smiled and thank you as he set down. You moved the cup of now showing two layered coffee away, so he can have his space.

After a minute or so, his order tag buzzed and he stood up to get his drink. Your eye followed him as he went over to the counter. When he got his drink, you notice the table at the far end were about to leave and you can feel a slight disappointment in you, thinking that he would move to that available seats. 

But to your surprise, you see him walking back towards you.

 "If you don't mind, I did love to seat here. Is that ok?" His requested makes you smile.

 "I don't mind. Please seat."

 Both of you were quiet for a while, looking at your individual phones when you decided to break the silence.

 "Do you stay around here?"

A sudden Goosebumps came to you as you asked the same question, at the same place, same spot.

 He looked at you and with a soft smile, not questioning or looking at you weirdly.

 "Yes, I just.."

before he finished his sentence, you were mumbling under your breathe, like you already know what he would probably say.

"..moved here recently and was exploring the neighbourhood."

 He now looked at you with wide eyes but somehow it doesn't look like he was spooked by you but rather a sense of realisation. Like you know his secret.

He grabbed your hand and rushed out of the cafe, bring you to the 'stairs of hell'. That very spot when he first met you.

 "Do you know this spot?" trying to search for an answer from you.

 "Yes" is all you say, as you're trying to process the situation here.

 He grins, showing his teeth and his eyes turned into a smiley eye that were so familiar with.

 "This is real right?" you couldn't help but asked.

Because at this moment, you were just confused and happy all at the same time. Hoping that this could be real and not wakes up to nothingness again.

 "It is." "Let's do this all over again." Not sure what he means by his words, you waited.

"Hi, I'm Hyunwoo. Nice to finally meet you." he stretched out his hand wanting for a handshake.

 You couldn't help but to smile and hug him instead. The guy that you have been thinking of, debating if he is real or just fantasy, is right in front of you.

 "Hi.. I'm y/n" you murmur as you can feel the tears that trapped in your eyes threatening to fall out.

 He hugs you back and you could hear him say "Thank you for finally going to that cafe."

You look up at him "Did you go to that cafe frequently, hoping that you could meet me?" You're certain your face is now showing that 'love stuck' expression as you ask that question.

 "Yes" is all he said as he held your arms and gave you a kiss on your forehead. 

That moment, knew you're the one that needs to buy Minhyuk a meal and you can't love him enough for giving you the reason to go to the cafe.

 "Shall we continue where we left off?" He whispered softly into your ears and turns to look at you with a goofy smile. 

You can feel your face burning as he reached down to kissed you on your lips.

 Having to experience ‘real dream’ yourself, you now truly believed your grandparents dreams and that some dreams really do come true.