#I obviously understand the main target of this okay

[takemebacktowheniwassane]

"god I hate people who draw falsettos marvin this way" "fuck people who draw whizzer like that'"

*edited*

...guys, do you know what an art style is???? cuz', this seems pointed. I see what you mean. I completely agree.

But hear me out. Along with these posts, could we consider? Maybe? Some constructive criticism? People should draw them more accurate.

They SHOULD.

But how should they do it? Realism art? It's a foreign concept to me. I try and it absolutely fucking sucks and i'd love to be a part of this fandom showing that the characters are real people but

It's kind of

Just

Very "do this. No other explanation. Change it."

Look, I really want to. And I am trying. But could we like, make a space for teaching people? Cuz I am stumped dude like fr. Need some guidance.

sincerely, a tired lesbian who is infinitely more tired of seeing this everywhere. thanks

[bandzboy]

saw this thread earlier and decided to share

[hidden-nowhere]

okay it's almost 1 am i fucked up my sleeping schedule and won't go to sleep at least until 4 am it's yapping time

I understand that Rogue came out after AC3 and obviously AC3 writers didn't know that Rogue's will write in Shay in canon and that's why he's not along the Connor's targets, but some in lore explanation would be cool. like idk Achilles trying to hide his mistake out of shame or smth like that.

my friend suggested that maybe considering the fact that Shay went after the artifact after the events of the game he wasn't consider Colonial Rite Templar, but like in the "Well, there's a cliffhanger for Unity" scenes he considered himself one. so... idk, sounds a bit strange.

also I would really want a (good written) in canon interaction between Shay and Connor, considering they both had Achilles as a mentor but with completely different outcomes of it with one being the destroyer of Colonial Brotherhood and other pulling it out from non-existence. (p.s. I would be also interested in their different or maybe not so views on Haytham)

another suggestion for it - Achilles POV on these events (maybe in book. I know not everyone likes them, but I'm not really interested in Achilles as main character in the game...). And by these events I mean both AC3 and Rogue, maybe with with a little bit of his years as a pupil of Ah Tabai. this man lost his family, lost brotherhood and was fucking shot in the leg, I want to know what was going on in his head. like, after all these events he was alone for 9 years, what was going on in his thoughts when young Connor showed up at Homestead with "Yes, you are going to train me. I won't take no as answer.". Had he on some level to the end was afraid that the history will repeat? That he will fuck up again? That Haytham in the end will change Connor's view of these things? As unfinished Rogue is and feels (don't get me wrong i like this game but the fact is the fact and gods knows how i wish that development of this game hadn't been rushed), it gives Achilles as a failed mentor really interesting background.

anyway, i would want to hear someone else thoughts on this so....

(i only used this gif cause i like how his face change as he accepts "the challenge" sue me)

[marzipanandminutiae]

Actually, the wise women/Cunning Folk system was Norse in origin and the rest of Europe had wise women replace their own ritualized medical systems (think sleeping at Asclepius's temple) because Europe was conquered by Danish tribes during the end of the Roman period.

No seriously, Scandinavians have (or had, it's dying out because of how good their healthcare system is) a long history of kloke folk that dates back to the pagan seidrmadrs.

Considering what the medical system was like back then, most of the wise women were in many ways a good deal less quackish than the men with MDs, considering they understood the wonders of antiseptics and MDs looked at the concept as some rustic superstition.

No, actually, I want wise women back because their services were free. I mean, yeah, they'd obviously charge a fee NOW, but Granny Weatherwax's comment that, "They didn't pay in cash, but rather in respect, which was cold hard currency" was actually a reality for these women, considering their communities protected them from the witchhunters.

Granted, the witch trials were a little more complicated, considering the word for witchcraft in Nordic countries was troldfolk (who were believed to send curses via illness), who were fought by the kloke folk. ("Sickness is curses sent by the Jotuns" is metaphorically true...) Wise women didn't get properly killed off until the Progressive Era, due to modern medicine finally being both effective, available, and doctors passing laws against "quacks".

Okay, so, by free admission, early modern Nordic history is VERY NOT my main area of expertise. This could all be entirely true for Scandianvian vernacular magic/folk healing practice. But I definitely now it wasn’t true for all practitioners termed “wise women” across Europe.

Just looking into the system of Scandinavian wise women superficially, though, it seems that they- like their British counterparts the cunning-folk, who I’m more familiar with -didn’t need community protection from witch hunters because they were seldom targeted by them. Based on the better sourced parts of the “cunning folk” Wiki page, a charge of “superstition” seems to have been brought against Scandinavian wise women more often, and they did get arrested and sentenced fairly frequently. But the sentence wasn’t usually capital, and for some of them it seems to have acted as good advertising.

(Also in Britain and British colonies, cunning-folk often acted as witch-hunters. So, sorry, granddaughters of the witches they couldn’t burn: you’re actually the granddaughters of the witches who threw innocent people under the bus to deflect suspicion. Or because they genuinely believed those people were evil. Or for the payout. Take your pick.)

I’m also not sure about the assertion that their services were free. In Britain, at least, cunning-folk definitely did not work for free as a rule- why would they, when this was their livelihood? They often received payment in trade rather than currency, but...they very much did expect payment of SOME sort, as I understand it. You have to eat somehow, after all, and I’m not sure one could run a totally self-sufficient farm and a folk medicine/magic practice at the same time.

And even if you could, still better to have Old Tom down the lane mend your fence in exchange for physicking his cow than do it yourself, right? Save yourself the work.

The assumption of total altruism is one of my big issues with this ask series, and the other is the idea that wise women knew Good Medicine and doctors did not. Obviously, yes, early medical doctors were often convinced that folk medicine practitioners had nothing to offer the field, and I’m sure some practices by some wise women/cunning-folk worked.

But.

Some of the latter were also, to put it bluntly, full of shit.

There WERE people, unfortunately, who used the title of “Wise Woman” or “Cunning-Man” or whatever to fleece their community out of resources in exchange for dodgy cures and ineffective charms. Because that’s just how humanity goes: some people are good, some people are evil, and some people are just out to make a buck (so to speak) however they can. I find it very hard to believe that all laws against Quackery(TM) were totally motivated by early modern doctors’ fragile egos, simply because bona fide quacks have been around forever. From my past research, it seems that that British cunning-folk at least seemed given to pronouncing illness that doctors could not diagnose, the result of curses or hexes. While many did practice herbalism, and some herbalism has medical value given that many medicinal chemicals now usually synthesized are found in plants...there was another side of it, too, that could frequently involve attributing medical problems to magical causes.

And I would be very surprised if that were a phenomenon exclusive to Britain and its colonies.

I understand the longing for a time of free, quality medical treatment from your local badass village wisewoman, protected by her reverential community from evil doctors and omnipresent witch-hunters. I really do. But it seems to me that, for a variety of reasons, that time never actually existed.

(Also I would definitely like a citation on the antiseptics thing. Just because they thought garlic could ward off evil or something doesn’t mean they understood that it had antiseptic properties, or advocated for using it in effective ways. And I can’t really blame doctors for questioning ideas like that- phrased that way, it does sound like rural superstition. If nobody knows the background logic behind why something works, and it only works some of the time, and the people saying it works are making that claim for reasons that fly in the face of then-current science...you might understandably think it doesn’t work at all.)

(It’s not like the cunning-folk were saying “use autoclaves for your surgical tools to avoid infection!” and the doctors shot back with “INFECTION IS A MYTH INVENTED BY SATAN!!!!” At least, not that I know of.)

[magicshopaholic]

Never Have I

Summary: During a break in Seoul, Jimin runs into Sooah - and she’s not alone. Meanwhile, Hoseok sees a different side of Chaeyoung’s life.

Pairing: Jimin x OC, Hoseok x OC (different OCs)

Genre: Exes; humour, banter, flirting, bickering, angst

Word count: 11.3 K

Rating: 18+

Warnings: language, a lot of alcohol, peer pressure, shady characters

A/N: It’s happening! Jimin is back to dealing (or profusely not dealing) with his baggage when it comes to his ex, and Hoseok is back to being a pain in the ass for his best friend’s little sister - just a day in the life 🖤 Takes place a couple of months after A Phone Call and about six months after Movie Night.

Tagging: @bbl32 @quarter-life-crisis2 @meirkive @dreaming-with-happiness @confessionsofamarshlily @jiminjhang @xjoonchildx @tarahardcore @infinitehobi @handfullofcandids

Listen to: “anna (go to him)” by the beatles

jimin masterlist | hoseok masterlist | main masterlist

Sooah checks her phone as she steps out of the building, squinting slightly at the sunlight. The battery is depleting fast; she hopes it’ll last until she gets home. She considers plugging it into her scooter, when she remembers. Whipping around to run back into the building, she halts in her tracks when she spots her target jogging out of the building in Sooah’s direction.  

“Hey!” The younger girl - for she has to be younger; no one her age still has bag tags with fur on them - waves and stops in front of her, panting slightly. “Sooah, right? You forgot this.” In her hand is Sooah’s power bank, slightly frayed on the edges but still sturdy and reliable, her name written in the corner in silver ink.

“Right, thanks.” Glad she doesn’t have to go all the way back inside, Sooah tucks her yoga mat under her arm and smiles. “Your phone good and charged?”

“Yes, thank God. You’re a lifesaver,” adds the other girl, rolling her eyes dramatically. “I wouldn’t have been able to concentrate on the class at all if my phone had died.”

“You concentrated alright, from what I could see,” remarks Sooah. “That was a hell of a backbend.”

Her smile brightens and she looks almost shy, as though she isn’t used to getting compliments. “Thanks.” She tilts her head up towards the sun, her long hair shining in the brightness. “Any plans for the weekend?”

Don’t start. “I did have plans but then my boyfriend got called into work which is where he’s going to be all weekend.” She shakes her head, trying not to sound too disgruntled. “Unless something goes really right and he gets a couple hours off tonight, I’m probably going to sit around with no one but myself for company the entire time.”

The girl winces, and Sooah gets the impression that she truly understands. “Well, I mean, if you’re not doing anything…” she begins, shrugging, “my roommate and I are having a party tonight. If you want to come?”

Sooah squints and frowns, somewhat amused that this girl doesn’t seem to realise she’s invited a total stranger to a party at her house. She asks the first question that pops into her mind. “You, uh… where do you live?” 

“Hongdae,” she supplies. “There’s going to be drinks and music and dancing… I mean, only if that’s, like, your thing,” she clarifies suddenly. “Totally cool if it isn’t.”

“No, it’s… it’s definitely my thing,” murmurs Sooah honestly, realising she’s actually considering it. “I - will your roommate be okay with you inviting someone she doesn’t know? Or he?”

“Oh, no, Sungmi is cool. We both have free reign to invite whomever we like.” She leans in a bit then, lowering her voice. “To be honest, I won’t know a lot of people there,” she confesses, looking a bit sheepish. “So I just thought a familiar face would be nice. But, no pressure. Obviously.”

“Of course.” Sooah nods. “I’ll let you know if I can.”

“Sure.” She smiles again. “I’ll give you my number; you can text me in case you decide to come.”

“Cool.” Sooah dictates her number as the girl saves it. A moment later, she hears a ping from her own phone. “Got it.” As the girl waves and starts to leave, Sooah suddenly remembers. “Hey, uh… what’s your name, by the way?”

She looks confused for a second before her eyes go wide. “Oh, God, I’m such a ditz. I’m Chaeyoung,” she says, skipping back over and sticking out her hand for Sooah to shake. “Hope to see you tonight, unnie.”

—

The sun is just setting beyond the horizon when Jimin exits the elevator of the Big Hit building into the basement, with a spirited young idol who’s apparently just made his debut.

“... saw you in Wembley, too,” he gushes, in step with Jimin. His youthful face is full of energy and wonder, and his smile is the exact kind that Big Hit looks for to plaster on billboards everywhere. “My group was in the audience - we couldn’t believe it. The stage was just on fire.”

Jimin grins, a mixture of gratitude and pride. Next to him, Hoseok cracks a bashful smile. “Oh, come on. We all saw your debut. You guys are fantastic - you’ll be at Wembley in no time.”

The younger idol - Alex (“half British, half Korean”) - almost chokes. Even taller than both of them, certainly Namjoon’s height, he looks almost deferential. “We’re just learning from you, hyung,” he says humbly. “Even the hours in the studio are crazy - but it’s worth it.”

“Make good use of the free time you have then.” In a sweet yet clear way that they must now part, Hoseok pats him on the back and waves. “Have a good evening, Alex.” He and Jimin walk towards their car as Alex goes in the other direction, his shoulders clearly reflecting the tiredness Jimin remembers from his own debut days.

“Shit, I feel for them,” he muses, watching him until he disappears behind a pillar before turning to Hoseok. “Remember when Jungkook tried to sneak us that half bucket of fried chicken and got caught?”

“And put the blame on Taehyung?” Hoseok chuckles at the memory while Jimin laughs. “Man, we really had to beat some sense into that kid.”

“Still a work in progress,” remarks Jimin as he climbs into the shotgun seat of the car. While Hoseok adjusts the rearview mirror and straps himself in, Jimin checks his hair and smirks at his reflection. “The blond really suits me, doesn’t it?” 

“I can’t believe we have to go to this,” grumbles Hoseok, sighing and reversing out of the parking spot. “Such a bad idea.”

Jimin deflates, realising that this tirade of it’s such a bad idea that had been a constant during their recording session just now, was only going to continue throughout this car ride. “Hyung, I’ll say it again. We don’t have to go.”

“Yes, we do,” mutters Hoseok, driving out of the private exit at the back of the building. “Chaeyoung invited me - because I invited her to my house. If I snub her invitation, she’ll probably go running to her brother or something.”

Jimin squints skeptically. “Really? She’ll go running to her brother if you don’t attend a house party thrown by her roommate?”

“You don’t know her like I do, Jimin.”

He rolls his eyes at Hoseok’s serious tone, unable to understand what it is about that girl Chaeyoung that riles him up. “Fine. Can we listen to music?”

“Knock yourself out.”

Jimin connects his phone to the stereo and puts it on shuffle, easily bopping to the music while Hoseok drives with a scowl on his face. Finally, he speaks again. “Hyung? Seriously, what’s wrong?”

For a moment, Jimin thinks he isn’t going to answer, but then Hoseok sighs. “Nothing.” His fingers tighten on the steering wheel. “I just don’t know how to be around her. She’s different and grown up and… we were never really friends.” He shrugs uneasily. “It’s just weird.”

Jimin nods, not quite understanding the extremity of his friend’s reaction. Still, he tries to be supportive. “Well,” he begins, shifting lower in his seat, “speaking as a person who just met her, she’s pretty nice. Fun. You’ve met her a couple times, too, haven’t you?”

“Yeah, at that shoot for Vogue - but she was only filling in for someone,” says Hoseok. “We didn’t really get an opportunity to say anything to each other except a hi.”

“It’s a good start.”

Hoseok cracks a smile. “Thanks for coming with me, though. I know I probably hijacked your Saturday night.”

“Nah, not really. I didn’t have plans.”

“And now your plans involve hanging with Chaeyoung all night.”

“I don’t mind. She’s cute.” When Jimin gets no response, he looks up and does a double take when he sees Hoseok staring at him. “What?”

“She’s cute?”

Jimin rolls his eyes. “Come on, hyung, don’t be weird about this,” he says dismissively. “She is cute. Jungkook thinks so, too,” he adds casually.

“Do I need to put a leash on you two or something?”

He snickers. “Kinky. Do you think Chaeyoung would -”

“I will drive us into a tree,” warns Hoseok, “and I won’t regret it.”

“No, you won’t,” he retorts, unimpressed. “This is Suga hyung’s car. And I was going to say: do you think Chaeyoung would mind that you brought me along?” Jimin clicks his tongue. “You’re being really high-strung about this. Do you have a crush on her or something?”

“Ugh. Let me know if you see a tree, yeah?” When all Jimin does is hum in response, Hoseok sighs. “I don’t think she’ll mind. She said herself that she won’t know a lot of people there, so she’ll probably be glad to see a familiar face.”

“You’ll be one of those familiar faces, too,” points out Jimin. “That’s probably why she invited you.”

“I guess.” Hoseok is quiet for a minute. “I know she’s not going to complain to her brother. It’s just easier to think that because I don’t know what she’ll do otherwise.”

“Here’s an idea: get to know her.”

Hoseok makes a choking sound. “Let’s not get carried away here. We’re not friends.”

Jimin is about to point out that they can be, but for some reason he feels as though the suggestion would be lost on his friend. He therefore leaves Hoseok to his pensive thoughts and stretches in his seat, feeling like he’d rather enjoy this impromptu weekend plan than sit around and decipher his friend’s many sounds and sighs every time Chaeyoung is brought up. In fact, if he’s learnt anything since he was a wee rookie, like that Alex they just met, it’s that free time cannot be treated callously.

With that thought, they reach Chaeyoung’s apartment twenty minutes later. The sun has now fully set and the buzz of a Saturday night is all around Hongdae. Hoseok parks a couple of buildings away and both of them keep their heads low as they pass the crowd, smoothly making it unseen.

“Jesus,” breathes Hoseok, when they step into the building. His tone betrays nothing except that of something unexpected, and Jimin can’t help but agree. Chaeyoung’s apartment is meant to be on the second floor, but it’s no matter since the entire building seems to be in party mode. It looks like how college dorms are portrayed in movies, with young adults bustling around in various styles of clothing, a thin haze of smoke permeating every corner, and thumping music that seems to be playing through the walls.

“Are you sure she lives here?” Jimin asks as they gingerly step in. He dodges a couple sharing a cigarette and grinding to the music at the same time. “Maybe you should call her.”

“No, this is it,” replies Hoseok grimly, snaking his way around a bunch of guys chugging huge mugs of beer. “Come on, I can’t wait to see how this generation parties.”

As it turns out, the aforementioned generation parties alright. The door to Chaeyoung’s apartment, while open, is still on a floor that’s less crowded. There isn’t as much smoke and most of the partying seems to be happening indoors. 

Hoseok and Jimin pause at the door, peering in hesitantly. Jimin, at least, recognises no one - although he sees a couple of people do a double take at the sight of him. He smiles back charmingly while next to him, Hoseok gets on the tips of his toes, as though hoping to spot Chaeyoung in the middle of the party.

“Let’s just go inside,” suggests Jimin, and pulls Hoseok with him by the arm. The apartment is small but lively, seemingly held together at the seams, but has the unmistakable air of cool. Jimin can tell, especially when they walk further into the apartment and he catches a glimpse of someone familiar.

“What the -” 

But she’s disappeared. Jimin frowns, knowing it’s too much of a coincidence for Sooah to be at this party, this awfully random party, but also knowing that he’d recognise her face anywhere. “Hey, hyung, did you just see -”

“Chae!” Hoseok’s voice is filled with a mixture of exasperation and relief, and Jimin turns to see Chaeyoung making her way through the crowd towards them, a glass of dark liquid in her hand.

“Hey, you came!” She sounds bright and cheerful, not to mention rather relieved as well. “And you brought Jimin! Hey,” she adds with a light laugh, reaching up to give him a one-armed hug. Jimin raises his eyebrows at Hoseok’s stony face over her shoulder and stifles a laugh.

“Wouldn’t miss it,” he says cheerfully, straightening his jacket and running a hand through his hair, trying not to make it too obvious that he’s still searching for the face he knows he saw. He forces himself to look at Chaeyoung. “Nice party.”

“My roommate’s party,” she corrects, shrugging and looking around. “I unfortunately don’t have friends cool enough to smoke out of rolled up bills and still be doing body shots in this day and age.” She chuckles, but doesn’t sound judgmental. “It’s fun, though. You look great,” she adds, fingering the lapel of his jacket.

“Hey, thanks. You, too.”

“Thanks,” she replies sheepishly, sounding slightly self-conscious. “You look good, too, oppa,” she says after a moment, turning to Hoseok.

Hoseok, who’d been watching this exchange with no signs of amusement, takes a moment to realise he’s being spoken to. “Oh, uh - thank you. So do you,” he says a moment later, glancing and immediately averting his eyes from her bare legs under the short skirt she’s wearing.

Chaeyoung seems satisfied with this level of small talk. “You guys should meet Sungmi - she should be here somewhere…” She trails off, peering at the crowd.

“And Sungmi is… your senior?”

“Yeah, from college. Her boyfriend is here, too,” she adds, turning back around and taking a sip of her drink. “He’s pretty cool. Kind of quiet. But his tattoos are rad.”

Hoseok raises his eyebrows while Jimin makes a noise of appreciation, still subtly searching the crowd for her. “What, uh, what kind of tattoos?” asks the former.

“Nothing much. A tattoo sleeve on his arm, a bunch of stuff on his back,” she supplies, her head bopping subtly to the music. “The usual. His cousin’s are even cooler.”

“His -”

“Yeah, they hang out here a lot. Oh, there he is!” She points to the far end of the living room where a guy in his late twenties emerges out of a hallway, a tall girl swaying to the music beside him. His hair is a frozen blue, and Chaeyoung seems to have missed his most important tattoo - the one on his face. “That’s Ice, and Sungmi with him.”

Even Jimin lets out a low whistle, glancing over at Hoseok who looks scandalised. Neither of them bother to ask if his name really is Ice.

“How, uh -” Hoseok swallows. “And, uh, where - where did she meet this gentleman?”

“A concert.”

“Yeah? What was he doing at the concert?”

Chaeyoung gives him a look. “I don’t know. What do you do at a concert?”

Jimin snickers while Hoseok narrows his eyes. “I perform. What does Ice do?”

“Oh. Duh.” She lets out a light laugh. “He was just in the crowd. She met him while he was filming the mosh pit.”

Hoseok chokes just as the most familiar face comes back into view for Jimin - and this time, she spots him, too. “Of course,” he whispers, his heart already racing as her eyes light up with recognition.

Next to him, his friend seems to spot her, too. “Hey, is that Sooah?”

Chaeyoung frowns in surprise and turns around as Sooah makes her way over to them. In a shimmery top and black jeans, she looks, once again, like she just heard about this party and turned up to it, dressed to perfection for the occasion. 

“Guys, hi!” She sounds more relieved than any of them at the sight of familiar people and immediately reaches up to give Jimin a hug before moving to Hoseok. “I had no idea you’d be here,” she adds, sounding slightly breathless and turning to Chaeyoung.

“Yeah, same here -” Jimin starts to say, but Chaeyoung beats him to it.

“Wait,” she says, pointing to Sooah and Jimin, “how do you two know each other?”

“Oh, we’re -” She catches Jimin’s eye and gives him a small smile. “We’re old friends.” She looks at Hoseok. “How do you guys know each other?”

“Same,” replies Hoseok, gesturing to Chaeyoung. “We’re old… neighbours.”

Chaeyoung wrinkles her nose. “Smooth.”

Hoseok makes a face while Jimin swallows, feeling the familiar rush of excitement and anticipation at seeing his ex-girlfriend. “I didn’t expect to see you here,” he says.

“I didn’t either,” she agrees, taking a sip of her drink - a whiskey, from the looks of it - and nodding. “It was shaping up to be a pretty shit weekend in all, but then someone -” She throws a friendly arm around Chaeyoung’s shoulders and squeezes it “- invited a practical stranger to a party at her house.”

Chaeyoung chuckles, a faint blush spreading to her cheeks. “You’re not a stranger. Today was our fifth class together,” she points out. “But I’m glad you know these guys,” she adds, pointing at Jimin and Hoseok. “I was feeling a bit guilty, thinking you’d only have me and your boyfriend for company.”

Jimin’s mind does a double take but he can’t immediately pinpoint why. When he notices Sooah’s gaze flicker to him, he remembers.

I was a bit nervous to tell you that I’m seeing someone, if I’m being honest.

He’d balked at the word “seeing” but thankfully, Chaeyoung’s remark answers a question he didn’t think he’d be able to bring himself to ask - at least, not without letting Sooah think he really cared.

“You guys should meet him, too,” she says lightly after a moment. “He’s really great.”

“Of course,” he says, glad to hear his voice sounds normal, for if he really thinks about it, he doesn’t mind. 

As he thinks about it, he scans the crowd, automatically wondering which one of the guys in this room could be Sooah’s new boyfriend. There’s the one in the middle of a circle by the sofas with a charming smile and a girl on either side of him; if this were high school, this guy would be Jimin’s first guess. But if she doesn’t know anyone at this party then neither does her boyfriend, so Jimin moves on.

There’s another guy by the dining table where all the drinks are, wearing ripped jeans and a leather jacket - in the summer: also potentially Sooah’s type. Then there’s one by the balcony, not really standing outside but not standing inside either, smoking a cigarette while he stands alone. Not quite Sooah’s type of boyfriend, but definitely Sooah’s type of distraction.

Jimin’s brought out of his surveillance when Hoseok nudges him. “I’m going to get a drink,” he says, somewhat pointedly. “You want one, too?”

“Um…” He meets Sooah’s gaze, who gives him an innocent smile. Fighting one of his own, he shakes his head. “You go ahead. I’ll, uh… I’ll think about what I want.”

“Okay.” Hoseok shrugs and turns to Chaeyoung, his tone shifting. “Alright, what have you kids got to drink here?”

She clicks her tongue as they walk away. “Sungmi is, like, two years younger than you, oppa…”

Jimin watches them, fully aware of Sooah taking a couple forward until she’s right next to him. He catches a faint whiff of her perfume, something like roses and sugar.

“You look great,” she says, giving his frame a quick once-over.

He tries, for a moment, to think of something witty to say but gives up. “Thanks. You, too. But you know that,” he adds.

“I hoped.” She nudges his shoulder softly. “I’m really glad to see you.”

“You are?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Sooah holds his gaze for a second before her shoulders fall slightly. “Come on, Chim. This isn’t going to be awkward, is it?”

Jimin flushes, suddenly feeling rather juvenile. “Of course not. It’s really good to see you, too, Sooah,” he says after a moment, realising he means it.

“Great.” Sooah nods in what he imagines is sympathy. “I would… really like for you to meet him.” There’s no need to specify who “him” is referring to. “If you’re okay with that.”

“Of course. Sooah, come on, I know we were… fooling around,” he says, and they share a sheepish smile, “but we haven’t dated in years.”

“Five years, to be exact,” she remembers softly.

He swallows. “Yeah. We’ve both dated since then. It’s not a big deal,” he adds, not fully sure if he even believes it himself.

Sooah watches him for a moment before nodding. “That’s true. I guess we’ve just never been friends while dating someone else. This would be the first time.”

“That’s a lot of pressure.”

She laughs and squeezes his shoulder. “I have faith in you, Chim.”

“And I have faith in you. Which is why I hope that I didn’t get replaced by a guy wearing metallic buckles in his jacket.”

She immediately turns in the direction he’s gesturing in, before snorting. “God, no. It would be so difficult to take off,” she adds cheekily.

“That’s what I thought.” He taps his temple dramatically. “The guy with the red hair, though -” He points at the makeshift bar, “he just drank the foam out of the mug while he poured his beer.” He lets out a low whistle. “Come on, that’s got to be impressive.”

“Everything a girl looks for in a guy,” she agrees dryly. “Any other guesses?”

Jimin grins, for this exercise feels like a crash course in Sooah’s romantic past - the one list Sooah has admitted in the past that was topped by him. 

“Oh, I don’t know. How about that one over there? We all know how much you love facial piercings.”

“A real winner.”

“And he’s got one of those cool wrap-around earphones. Sooah, you may just have hit a jackpot with -” He breaks off when he sees Sooah’s gaze shift to something behind him.

“All worthy guesses, Chim,” she begins, clearly trying to suppress a smile, “but it’s time you met the real one.” She pats his shoulder and grins. “I’ll be right back, okay?”

Jimin takes a second to process this abrupt change in topic but turns to watch her wade through the crowd, only to reach -

“Fuck.”

The word falls out of his mouth before he can help it, and he hasn’t a clue what it means. All he knows is that when he sees Sooah reach up to hug debut rookie half-British-half-Korean Alex, he almost wonders for a moment if coincidences really do occur in the universe or if the universe just enjoys fucking with him.

As Sooah brings Alex over, Jimin is suddenly conscious of his hands. They hang by his side uselessly before he quickly stuffs them into the pockets of his jacket, just as Alex catches sight of him.

“Jimin sunbaenim!” Alex exclaims, loud enough that a couple of people even turn to look. “Sorry,” he mutters sheepishly. “I didn’t know you were going to be here, too! Sooah, do - do you know him?”

Sooah doesn’t speak for a moment. She looks up at him and nods before, with what looks like an enormous effort, she turns to Jimin. “Yeah, we know each other from school,” she says to Alex, while her gaze bores into Jimin’s, as though daring him to say something.

Jimin, for all his self-control, gives her a wide smile. “It’s true,” he agrees. “Sooah was the most popular girl in our class.”

“Really?” Alex grins down at her and they seem to share a momentary private joke. “Somehow, I can believe that.”

“And Jimin was the best dancer in our class,” she adds, nudging his arm. “And the best at math.”

“I can believe that, too. The dance part, not the math,” corrects Alex immediately. “I mean - I’m sure you were good at math, too, hyung.”

There’s a moment of awkward silence before Jimin chuckles. “It’s okay. You didn’t tell me this was your night off.”

“Big Hit must have gotten more lenient over time,” offers Sooah, giving him a knowing look.

Alex doesn’t catch on. “We’ve been rehearsing for three days straight so they gave us tonight to go home. But I haven’t seen Sooah in a while, so…” He shrugs and puts an arm around her shoulder. Jimin is surprised to see the smile that involuntarily appears on her face, when Alex continues. “You would know what that’s like, though, hyung.”

Jimin doesn’t say anything for a moment. “It’s the price of debuting,” he says finally, slowly looking over at Sooah, whose smile fades slightly. 

“Seems like it’s worth it.” Before Jimin can process why this response stings something ancient in his heart, she turns to Alex. “Let’s get you a drink?”

“Oh…” He winces apologetically. “Sorry, noona, I can’t drink tonight. We have that shoot tomorrow…”

“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot.” She bites her lip before linking her arm with his. “Alright. Why don’t you come with me while I get a drink? You should say hi to Chaeyoung, too.”

“Yeah, of course. I’ll see you around, sunbaenim,” he says to Jimin, eyes shining, before he and Sooah leave for the drinks’ table.

Years and years ago, when Jimin had first accompanied Sooah to one of their high school parties, he had wondered for the umpteenth time whether they even made sense together. When they were alone, they did. They laughed, bickered, kissed in empty classrooms and texted all night underneath the covers. Beautiful, popular Kim Sooah was goofy and silly and funny and adorable, and Jimin felt like he’d won the lottery at sixteen.

But out in public, Kim Sooah was Kim Sooah, and Jimin was the boyfriend that everyone subconsciously frowned at momentarily before smiling and introducing themselves. Sooah hadn’t left his side, though, not even when her friends had called her over, not when the drinking games had commenced. She’d given him his first drink - a vodka - a little hesitantly.

“This doesn’t make me a bad influence, does it?” 

She’d bit her lip, red and plump, as she tugged her tube top up her chest. Jimin, who’d been fairly curious about alcohol anyway, had only one answer in mind.

“Of course not,” he’d said, smiling and taking the glass. “I need to fit in with your friends eventually, don’t I?”

“Don’t worry about them,” she’d said dismissively. “It doesn’t matter what they think. You don’t have to drink that if you don’t want, Jimin.”

He appreciated it, but Jimin knew he had a rare opportunity. Boys like him didn’t attract the attention of girls like Kim Sooah; if he had any hope of sustaining this, he needed to prove he could fit in with the cool kids.

Across the room, Sooah mixes herself a gin cocktail, hands moving with ease. Next to her, Alex reads the label of a soju bottle before muttering something to her that makes her laugh and nod. 

“Wow, you’re Jimin, right? From BTS?”

Startled, Jimin turns to see a girl about his height, her face flushed as she takes in his appearance. 

“Um -” He clears his throat. “That’s right.”

“Wow, I can’t believe it,” she breathes. Behind her, a couple of more people spot him, their eyes going wide. “Can I take a selfie with you?”

“Uh, sure.” Before he knows it, she’s leaned over to him and raised her phone, clicking a series of pictures in succession in which she’s pouting and he’s just about registering what’s happening.

“Thank you,” she gushes, reaching over and giving him a half-hug that he returns hesitantly. “Find me later,” she says in a low voice before stepping away. “If you’re still here.”

It takes Jimin a moment to gather his bearings, even as a lightness spreads through his insides. Suddenly confident, he struts over to where Sooah is standing next to the mantle, this time by herself. 

“So,” he begins, leaning against the wall next to her as she scrolls through her phone, drink in her other hand. “Where’s my biggest fan?”

Sooah doesn’t even look up. “Probably in a dark room somewhere, stalking your flight schedule?”

“Not him,” says Jimin, unfazed. “My other biggest fan.” He leans closer to her, his bangs brushing hers. “Noona.”

“Don’t start, Jimin.”

He laughs. “What? I thought you hated being called noona.”

“I don’t hate it.”

“Really? You threw a piece of chalk at Taehyung’s head when he called you that once.”

“That’s because he was fucking with me,” she clarifies, finally looking up at him and holding up a finger. “Secondly, it’s a little hard to get annoyed by it as you get older. There’s too many people calling you that all of a sudden.”

“Including your boyfriend. Where is he, by the way?” Jimin asks, scanning the crowd briefly.

“He ran into someone he knew.” Sooah turns to face him, leaning sideways against the wall. “Jimin.”

“Sooah.” He grins down at her, his gaze involuntarily flickering to her red lips. “Did he mention that I ran into him at Big Hit?”

“No. Was he supposed to?”

“Fans do that sometimes. How have we never been introduced before? I mean, we seem to have a lot in common.”

Sooah scoffs. “This might surprise you, but you are not first in line of the people I want to introduce my boyfriend to. But wait a second,” she adds, straightening up slightly, “weren’t you dating a girl, too? When do I get to meet her?” She looks around, as though hoping to spot her. “You didn’t bring her?”

Jimin frowns and it takes him a second to place the name. Ahnjong. The name, still one of the sweetest he’s ever heard, swims through his mind, as does the disastrous ending to their date two months ago.

“Yeah, that…” He rubs the back of his neck. “We, uh… we decided to see other people.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Not like, say, your boyfriend.”

“Jimin,” she repeats.

“Sooah.”

She sighs. “God, you’re cocky.”

Jimin chuckles as she rolls her eyes. “Hey, I love my fans, alright? They are what keep me going, Sooah. You should be more respectful of that.”

“Shut up.”

“What? You used to be one of them,” he reminds her.

“Yeah, and now I’m dating one of them.” She holds his gaze. “He’s my boyfriend, Jimin.”

“He’s a rookie.”

Sooah raises an eyebrow. “And?”

Whatever Jimin had been about to say goes straight out the window in an instant. “And…” He pauses, desperate suddenly to change tacks “… where does he find the time to date?”

She shrugs. “I don’t know. Where did you find the time to date?”

“I didn’t,” he points out forcefully. “That was the problem, apparently.”

“That was not the -“ Sooah breaks off abruptly, exhaling. “No. No,” she mutters, shaking her head before looking up at Jimin. “You really want to do this now?”

“You’re the one who brought it up,” he shoots back, even as his heart races. All it takes is a momentary lapse of emotion for them to fall back into the darkest pits of their history, and Jimin isn’t sure she wants that. Not with her new boyfriend in the vicinity.

Sooah sighs and looks away uncomfortably. “Look, aside from the girl that I met at yoga class today for the first time, I don’t know a single person here. Except for you.” She tilts her head and frowns slightly. “Can we please not do this now?”

A vision of teenage Kim Sooah, soft cheeks and sparkling eyes, whining cutely at him for the first time clouds Jimin’s mind. Even sweaty after volleyball practice with her hair unbrushed and tumbling down her shoulders, she was irresistible.

“You know Hoseok hyung,” he points out after a moment, mimicking her position.

She shakes her head. “Doesn’t count. He’s busy. In fact,” she continues, just as Jimin opens his mouth “word on the street is, he’s been prowling around the apartment and was last seen in the kitchen, taking pictures.”

He frowns. “What? Like, selfies?”

“No, pictures of the kitchen.” Sooah drops her hands from her hips to her sides. “I mean, I’m sorry to tell you this, Jimin, but your friend might be a crazy person.”

None of this makes a jot of sense to Jimin. He stares at her before clearing his throat. “Okay, we’ll - we’ll circle back to that,” he says quickly, pinching the bridge of his nose. “So… what? We’re going to play drinking games until your boyfriend joins us?”

“Yes,” she answers, looking relieved. “That’s exactly what we’re going to do.” 

“Fine. Twenty questions.” He smirks.

Sooah rolls her eyes. “Oh, God. Okay, twenty questions. But I’m warning you, you may not actually want the answers to some of your questions.” Her gaze darts to something over his shoulder and Jimin turns to see Alex wave back as he talks to a girl. “Do you mind if he joins us?”

Do I ever. “Hey,” he says, shoving his hands into his pockets, “I am all for hanging out with -“

“Do not say my biggest fans.”

Jimin scoffs. “I was going to say… I’m all for hanging out with my ex-girlfriend’s… new boyfriend.”

Sooah gives him a look before chuckling. “You are so transparent, Chim.”

Jimin laughs. “What? You can invite him if you want.”

“Nobody should play drinking games with you,” she states, poking him in the chest. “Not without supervision.”

He nudges her shoulder playfully with his. “You’re supervising me, aren’t you?”

“And we both know I’m a really good influence.” She taps his shoulder and grabs his arm, steering him to the drinks table. “Go on, choose your poison. Oh, wait, I know your poison,” she chuckles, grabbing the vodka and cranberry juice.

Jimin snickers as she makes him his drink, taking sips of her own from next to her. When she hands him the pink cocktail, smelling like just the right combination of sweetness and youth, he suddenly feels as though the entire night was leading to this: a wild Saturday night with Kim Sooah.

“Cheers.” She clinks his glass with his and watches as he takes the first sip, grinning when he dramatically smacks his lips.

“You can become a great bartender,” he tells her genuinely, his face already feeling warm from the vodka. “If this entire event planning thing doesn’t work.”

“It’s worked out well so far,” she says serenely. “I get to meet a lot of pretty cool people that way.”

Jimin bites his lip, remembering the last time he’d attended an event she was working at. He wonders if she’s truly being so bold as to bring that up, when he remembers that a work event is also where she’d met Alex. His drink seems less pink all of a sudden.

Sooah doesn’t seem to notice. “Okay, I’m going to go rescue Alex now,” she says. “I’ll be right back.”

“For twenty questions?”

“Or something.” She rolls her eyes but smiles, already taking a step in Alex’s direction. “Don’t make me regret this, Chim.”

Jimin simply raises his glass in response as he watches her go. Across the room, Alex doesn’t seem at all like he needs rescuing; his smile is the smile, the media smile that’s drilled into every trainee as he nods at the girls speaking to him. 

It’s not quite Sooah’s move, he reflects. Jealousy had never been part of the many issues they had dealt with, which made sense given that there had never been another person that had entered their relationship. Just the two of them had been enough for it to implode each time. 

As she reaches Alex and joins the conversation with ease, however, it occurs to Jimin that his data points are limited to their relationship only - and just because she wasn’t jealous with him, doesn’t mean she doesn’t get jealous at all. 

The realisation confuses him to no end, as does the annoyance that comes with it. He gives her a proper once-over; she’s as gorgeous and sexy as ever, still somehow the life of the party despite not knowing anyone, but the attraction ends there. There’s too much baggage that prevents him from going further and the fact that one of them is in a relationship can finally signal the end of their ambiguous connection.

Sooah leans into Alex’s side then and he puts his arm around her shoulder. Jimin rolls his eyes, deciding he can’t watch this anymore; just because they’ve moved on doesn’t mean he needs a front row seat for their honeymoon period. He turns around and heads into the kitchen, only to be met by Hoseok with his phone pointed at nothing in particular.

“Uh, hyung?” Jimin steps in gingerly. “What are you -”

“Look at this,” interrupts Hoseok, not taking his eyes off the screen until he clicks a picture. He points to something in one of the lower cabinets and Jimin peers over his shoulder to check it out. “Look at how close the gas line is to that plug point.”

“The -”

��What if it sparks?” Hoseok shakes his head, eyes wide and manic. “The entire apartment could catch fire!”

“That’s a bit unlikely,” points out Jimin hesitantly. “And… why are you taking a picture of it?”

“I’m sending it to her brother,” he mutters, going back to examining the offending gas line. “God, this is so typical of Chaeyoung. So irresponsible.”

“So your solution is to tattle on her?”

“Well, she’s not going to listen to me.” Hoseok scoffs, turning and pointing to one of the upper cabinets. “Look here. Do you see that?” he asks, tapping a splintered piece of wood jutting out at his eye level. “I almost knocked my head on it.”

Jimin raises his eyebrows. “Well… she’s about six inches shorter than you so it’s probably not as much a problem for her?”

“Irrelevant,” he dismisses immediately. “Anyone could get hurt. Look, I don’t like having to take such drastic measures, alright?” he continues. “But believe me, she is going to resist every single suggestion that either of us -“

At that moment, a shorter figure comes barrelling into the kitchen, leaving a faint flowery scent in her wake.

“Oh, God, it’s true,” she exclaims with dread. Reaching forward and snatching Hoseok’s camera, she gasps as she sees the picture on it. “Jesus Christ, oppa, why do you have to be such a freak?”

“I’m the freak? Look at your gas line!” 

“There is nothing wrong with -”

“Chae - do you have any idea how dangerous it is to have it so exposed that it’s -”

“It doesn’t even matter! It’s not my apartment,” she reminds him, throwing her hands in the air in frustration. “It’s Sungmi’s, and I can’t go around changing things without discussing them with her.”

Hoseok glares at her before exhaling through his nose, apparently trying to calm himself. “What about this?” he demands, pointing at the broken cabinet.

Chaeyoung raises her eyebrows “What about it?”

“Do you need her permission to get things fixed, too?”

“Um, kind of, yeah,” she answers, looking a bit incredulous now. “I can’t afford to get things fixed by myself in any case. And besides,” she continues, reaching up and tapping the piece of wood, “neither Sungmi or I can even reach this.”

“I’m sure Chan will be more than happy to help you out.”

Even Jimin, who hasn’t known Chaeyoung very long at all, knows from the way her eyes widen that this was the wrong thing to say.

“Oh, of course you think Chan needs to come to my rescue!” She scoffs and places her drink on the counter with a loud thud. “You really don’t think I can make it a second without my perfect brother, do you?”

“That’s not what I meant! I just - okay, I’ll pay for it,” he backtracks hastily. “I don’t mind, really, just as long as you -”

“Seriously? I don’t even know when I’ll be able to pay you back.”

“You don’t have to -”

But Chaeyoung cuts him off. “And you’re overreacting, oppa,” she informs him, folding her arms across her chest. “The only person who can even reach this is Ice, and he’s never brought it up in all the -”

“Ice? How often is he over here?” He whips around to look at Jimin, as though expecting him to have the answer. Before Jimin can stutter out a response, however, someone else joins them in the kitchen.

“Hey,” a voice drawls, sounding like it’s coming from miles away. Everyone turns to see the aforementioned Ice, blue-grey hair, facial tattoo and crooked smile on full display. In one hand is a glass of whiskey and in the other, a joint between his fingers. “Thought I heard someone say my name.”

“Oh… hey, Ice,” says Chaeyoung, taking a step back.

“Hey, hey,” he replies, swaggering into the kitchen with that distinct aura of speaking from far away. “Everyone having fun?” he asks, reaching down to hug Chaeyoung without warning, who simply pats his shoulder as he steps away. 

Ice doesn’t seem to realise, drifting sideways to hug Jimin next. “It’s a party, yo,” he informs them, raising his joint. “Come on in, man,” he says to Hoseok, apparently waiting for a hug. When he doesn’t move, Jimin suppresses a snort, immediately burying his face into his glass. 

Ice frowns, looking mildly confused. “No?” He places a hand on Hoseok’s shoulder. “I like this one,” he says to no one in particular.

Hoseok, clearly speechless, simply stares at Ice’s hand before looking back at him, and then at Chaeyoung as if to say Really?

Even Chaeyoung shrugs, looking somewhat embarrassed until a few more people enter the kitchen and Ice is successfully distracted. 

Jimin, who had been greatly enjoying the episode between Hoseok and this girl from his past who irritated the life out of him, takes this opportunity to intervene.

“Alright, who needs another drink?” he asks in a low voice so only the two of them can hear.

Chaeyoung turns to him as though just realising he’s there. “Jimin,” she states, “will you please tell Hoseok that he’s being insane?”

“Oh, grow up, will you?” Hoseok snaps back.

“You grow up -“

“Okayyy, tensions are high,” interrupts Jimin soothingly, “because everybody’s too sober.” He turns Chaeyoung around by the shoulders and steers her out of the kitchen. Hoseok follows without a word, rolling his eyes.

They reach the drinks table again where Sooah seems to have successfully rescued her boyfriend. 

“Sooah!” Jimin points at Chaeyoung and Hoseok frantically. “We have a sobriety emergency for you.”

“On it,” she replies, without missing a beat. “Cosmo for you and… Hoseok? For you?”

“I’m driving,” he answers sullenly.

“We’ll get Suga hyung to pick us up,” interjects Jimin hastily. “He’ll have tequila,” he tells Sooah.

“Perfect.” She bustles around the tables, gathering her paraphernalia and mixing a row of drinks with precision. Jimin watches with admiration, amusement and a bit of nostalgia while stealing glances at Hoseok and Chaeyoung beside him, both of whom glare in opposite directions.

“Alright, drink up, everyone.” Sooah passes a drink each to Hoseok and Chaeyoung, followed by one for Jimin. “You need to freshen yours up, too,” she adds with a smirk.

He holds up his half-finished drink. “But I’m not -” He breaks off when Sooah clinks her own half-empty glass with his. “Right.”

“Bottoms up, Chim.”

Both of them guzzle down their drinks in one go before emerging, warm and flushed. Jimin’s face feels like it’s on fire and his throat burns. But when he spots Sooah shaking out her hair and reaching enthusiastically for her fresh drink, he rallies.

“Cheers, guys,” he says, turning so that Hoseok and Chaeyoung can clink their glasses, too, when he notices something amiss. “Alex,” he adds, raising his eyebrows. “No drink for you?”

Alex, standing a step behind Sooah and smiling as he watched them drink, looks surprised to be spoken to. “Oh, I - I have rehearsal tomorrow.”

“And?”

“And… well, I don’t – I don’t want to be hungover during it.” He chuckles sheepishly. “Yeonjun hyung will kill me.”

“One drink won’t get you hungover,” says Jimin dismissively, reaching for a can of beer on the table and tossing it to him, which he catches at the last moment. 

“You don’t have to drink that, Alex.” Sooah cuts in. “Jimin.”

“What?” Jimin half-chuckles, but there’s suddenly far less humour in it. “He can’t be the only one not drinking. They’re called drinking games for a reason.”

“I don’t mind,” says Alex quickly. “It’s just one drink, noona. And… beer doesn’t have sugar,” he adds a bit uncertainly, glancing at the label.

“Exactly. And he’ll work off the carbs at practice tomorrow, anyway.” Jimin grins. “Been there, done that.”

Sooah fixes him with a steely look that he returns innocently, taking a sip of his vodka drink. Behind her, Alex’s face seems to crease at the mention of carbs. 

“Just one,” he mutters to himself, before holding it a few inches away and cracking it open. A bit of foam overflows and drips on the floor, but he takes a big gulp anyway. “Good beer,” he says after a moment.

“We also have breezers -” Chaeyoung starts to say but Hoseok catches her eye and shakes his head an infinitesimal amount, causing her to fall silent.

“Alright, now that everyone has their drinks,” continues Jimin, deliberately not looking at Sooah, “we can begin. Twenty questions, you said?”

“You said. And drinking games are perfectly possible without alcohol,” adds Sooah, apparently not about to let this go. “Remember your first drinking game?”

Jimin’s smile fades a bit as flashes surface from the recesses of his memory: a crowded house, a glass of Coke - and laughter from his classmates. Sooah hadn’t rushed to his defense this quickly then. 

“Yeah, I remember,” he replies after a moment. “Just making sure Alex doesn’t make the same mistake.”

“That’s not your call, though. He can decide what he wants to do.”

“Wow, did you hear that, oppa?” Chaeyoung pipes up. “Sound familiar?”

Hoseok scoffs. “Seriously? How is what I said similar to this?”

“It’s the way you said it, like you think I can’t do a single thing right.”

“That sounds familiar,” mutters Jimin into his drink, just loud enough for Sooah to hear.

“Oh, God, Jimin,” she snaps, rolling her eyes. “Now you’re just reaching. You can drink if you want, but you don’t get to tell others how to -”

“It’s a party! Let loose here because you can’t anywhere else - remember when you told me that?”

“I remember that that was in the context of you worrying about your math homework at a party, Jimin.” 

Jimin gasps, his cheeks growing hot. “Never have I ever worried about my math -”

“Oh, are we playing Never Have I Ever?” A voice interrupts them, sounding incongruously excited. Everyone turns to see Sungmi and her boyfriend Ice in tow, holding a drink and a joint respectively. When no one responds, she frowns. “No? Damn, this party must be going worse than I thought.”

“We can play Never Have I Ever,” offers Chaeyoung, turning to the others. “I’ll go first. Never have I ever… poked my nose in someone else’s business,” she finishes, looking straight at Hoseok.

He gives her an unimpressed look and takes an exaggerated sip of his drink, wincing slightly. Meanwhile, everyone else in the circle takes a sip as well, some sheepish, some shameless and, in Jimin’s case, with a bit of guilt. 

“Your turn, Jimin,” says Chaeyoung, sounding satisfied.

“Okay, um…” Jimin wracks his brain, the alcohol suddenly making his mind swim. “Never have I ever dated a carbon copy of my ex.”

He watches as all the expression leaves Sooah’s face, but he turns away, looking questioningly at everyone in the circle. Hoseok wrinkles his nose while Chaeyoung snorts and shakes her head. Sungmi tilts her head thoughtfully and takes a sip, however. Across the makeshift circle, Sooah deliberately places her glass on the table while, to Jimin’s surprise, Alex takes a small sip of his beer.

“Alright, your turn, hyung,” says Jimin after a moment.

Hoseok’s eyes widen as he scrambles for a question. “Um, never have I ever… been to a party where I don’t know a single person apart from the host?”

Every single person in the circle takes a drink, including Ice, who takes a sip of his girlfriend’s. 

“That was a good one,” remarks Sungmi, smiling with humour. “Okay, I’m next - and we’re going to make this exciting now,” she adds, rubbing her hands dramatically. “Okay, never have I ever… had a sex dream about someone in this room.”

A sort of silence seems to spread through the circle. Swallowing, Jimin takes a hesitant sip of his drink, glancing as quickly as he can at Sooah. She takes a sip, too, her eyes on the contents of her glass the entire time. Apart from them, Alex takes a sheepish sip, and Sungmi and Ice both take turns as well. Jimin feels something move next to his elbow but ignores it, eager to move the game along.

“Babe, that was an easy one,” drawls Ice, winking at the circle. “We’re all people, we all love, we all dream,” he rambles, taking another long puff of his joint. “I’ve had dreams, too, you know? I’ve had dreams about my lovely lady here -” He pulls Sungmi to his side by the waist and kisses her neck “- I’ve had dreams about my tattoo artist, I’ve have had dreams of Sungmi and my tattoo artist, Sungmi and her roommate -”

“Wait, what did you say?” Hoseok begins sharply, but Chaeyoung immediately interrupts him.

“Okay, no, the game, the game! Uh, Ice - it’s your turn, I think,” she adds hastily, stepping closer to Jimin. But Ice waves a hand good-naturedly.

“Nah, I’m good, sweetheart. I live here, in the mind and the -”

“Okay, moving on,” interrupts Sungmi, and Jimin guesses her boyfriend has finally made her uncomfortable as well. “It’s, uh - your turn,” she says, pointing at Alex. “I’m sorry, I don’t know your name.”

“Oh, I’m -”

“This is Alex,” says Jimin brightly. “He’s Sooah’s boyfriend.” Sungmi’s blank expression tells Jimin a moment later that she obviously has no idea who Sooah is either, but she shrugs eventually.

“You go, Alex.”

“Um -” With his wide eyes, full and parted lips, and his hair falling effortlessly over his forehead, he looks like every label’s dream idol. Jimin taps his foot impatiently, an act that doesn’t go unnoticed by a few others.

“Okay, uh, never have I -”

“Make it a good one, Alex,” warns Sungmi.

“Ah, I’m sure he will, unnie,” snickers Chaeyoung, raising her glass encouragingly. “Come on, Alex, the pressure is on!”

“- ever - okay -”

“They’re just kidding, babe,” murmurs Sooah with a smile, squeezing his arm.

“Only a bit,” adds Jimin, winking and ignoring her frown.

“- lost my virginity to someone in this room!”

Everyone processes this before a few chuckles break out. “Alright, that was a good one,” allows Sungmi. “Not one I can drink to, unfortunately.”

“Yeah, we may have gone into historic territory here,” agrees Chaeyoung, “but you just made the game a lot more interesting. Cheers.”

No one seems to notice Jimin and Sooah lock gazes for a moment before quietly sipping their drinks. Memories that Jimin had always treasured threaten to resurface, but there is nothing he wants to be reminded of less at the moment. 

“Your turn, Sooah.” Alex nudges her gently. 

“Right.” She clears her throat and stares at the floor. “Never have I ever lied to someone while breaking up with them.”

Jimin scoffs audibly but it fortunately gets drowned in a sea of agreement, with almost everyone taking a sip of their drink. He doesn’t, however, shaking his head slightly at Sooah. A part of him is unsurprised; this had to happen eventually. There was seldom a time when he and Sooah got together and didn’t begin descending into their history - and it was never pretty.

“My turn, then,” chimes Chaeyoung. Her drink is almost over now and she stumbles slightly next to him. “Um… never have I ever been cheated on.”

Sungmi rolls her eyes and drinks, as does Hoseok. Across from the circle, Sooah lifts her drink to her mouth and pauses for a moment before drinking. Her eyes flicker to Jimin before looking away.

His heart thuds in his chest. Nothing would ever be good enough for Kim Sooah. Not two years of a relationship, not how much they meant to each other - none of it. All that would ever matter to her would be how they broke up - even if part of it wasn’t true.

“Jimin?”

He comes out of it, chewing the inside of his lip. “Never have I ever…” His eyes dart up to Alex, who seems to be realising that something is awry. “... dated another idol’s ex-girlfriend.”

No one drinks, predictably. Jimin ignores the “huh?”s and the joking groans, his gaze solely on Alex who, frowning at Jimin, slowly takes a sip of his drink. Next to him, Sooah closes her eyes. 

Jimin waits to feel victorious, for it’s clear that Alex now knows about his and Sooah’s shared history. But a deep-seated bitterness creeps through instead. New boyfriend in, old boyfriend out.

“Okay… who’s next?”

“Oh, that’s me, I think,” says Hoseok distractedly, reaching out to steady Chaeyoung. “Um - I don’t know. Can I pass?”

“I’ll take your turn.” Sooah’s voice rings out, calm and sharp. She looks at Jimin through steely, heavy-lidded eyes; standing next to a tall and handsome boyfriend, Jimin can almost imagine this is high school once again - but in a parallel universe where she would ever look at him with anything but affection.

“Never have I ever caused a friend’s break-up.”

There are scoffs from around the circle, with Sungmi and Ice both taking a sip each. From next to him, Chaeyoung takes a sheepish sip as well, while Jimin glares at Sooah. The cranberry and vodka drink suddenly looks vile in his glass and he feels like he could throw up.

“Think I need some air,” he mutters, turning around and leaving the circle amidst the mild chatter. He places the glass on some surface on the way as he nudges his way through the crowd of drunken young adults. He just about exits the apartment when he realises he has no plan whatsoever of where to go, but he knows he can’t go back. So he carries on, reaching the end of the hallway where the warm summer breeze of the night gives him some respite from the haze of smoke at the party.

He hears footsteps behind him then, right on cue.

“Storming out, Jimin?” The footsteps stop abruptly. “Really?”

He doesn’t even turn around. “Don’t start, Sooah.”

“Jesus Christ. You have to grow out of this.”

“Grow out of this?” Jimin finally whips around, momentarily surprised to see her standing so close to him. Goosebumps have erupted on her bare shoulders but she doesn’t seem to have noticed.

“Yeah. It’s been long enough.” Sooah gives him a distinctly unimpressed look, as though this fight isn’t worth her time.

“You know what? Why don’t you just go back to your boyfriend?” Jimin says scathingly.

“I will, just as soon you stop - okay, no, you are not walking away from me right now.”

Jimin rounds on her the moment he hears footsteps behind him again. “You completely attacked me in there!” he blurts out accusingly.

“Because you attacked Alex!” Sooah sighs in frustration. “He’s my boyfriend, Jimin. You can’t go there - you know that.”

“You’ve known Alex for three months. And you’ve known me for six years, Sooah,” he reminds her, knowing deep down that it hardly matters. But the words spill out like they’ve been pressing up against his vocal chords, desperate to get out since the evening began.

She’s quiet for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek. “Yeah, well.” She gives him a look that’s part firm and part sympathetic. “Unfortunately, current boyfriend trumps ex-boyfriend. I’m sorry, that’s just the way it is.”

Jimin scoffs, ignoring his stomach sinking. “What happened to old friends?” 

“You are an old friend, but you’re also my ex. And boyfriend trumps -”

“Yeah, I got it,” he interrupts her, rolling his eyes. “I thought it was all in good fun,” he says after a moment, looking away from her. 

Even without looking, he can hear the skepticism in her voice. “Really?”

“Yes. I - I may have gone a bit overboard in the end,” he admits, swallowing as he remembers Alex’s confused face, the realisation dawning on him. “I just… didn’t expect to see you here tonight.” Definitely not with someone.

“Jimin, it’s been five years,” she reminds him in a low voice. “We’ve both dated other people since then; it can’t be a surprise that -”

“I don’t care that you’re dating him,” he interrupts her again, realising as he says it that it’s true. He doesn’t care, not really. Not like that, anyway. “You and I dated in high school. I never expected us to end up married or anything. Okay? We’ve all moved on.”

Sooah doesn’t say anything, just continues looking at him, a small frown on her face. She’s confused.

Jimin can relate. It’s immeasurably frustrating not being able to put his finger on the problem. “It’s just weird… seeing it up close,” he finishes lamely, knowing it’s the best he can come up with right now.

“Even now?”

“Yeah. I mean, the last time I saw it up close was…” He shrugs. “... when we were sixteen. With Daehyun.”

Sooah’s eyes widen right on cue. “Oh, God,” she exclaims, taking a deep breath.

“Come on, you know that -”

“If you bring up Daehyun one more time -” 

She’s interrupted by the door to the apartment thudding open. A couple of people spill out, loud and drunk. Sooah turns back to him.

“Alright. I’m done.”

“Are you?”

“Yeah. Because I can’t have this conversation one more time, Jimin.” She shakes her head. “I’m going back inside.”

“Yeah, you do that.” Jimin watches her walk back inside, steps quick and steady, despite how much she’s drunk all night. Just as she enters, two people pass her by. Jimin realises with a start that it’s Hoseok and Chaeyoung.

“- only came here to criticise me!” Chaeyoung’s voice is loud and shrill compared to Sooah’s low one. 

“If you think this is criticising, then you’re missing the point,” says Hoseok loftily, rolling his eyes. “I just don’t want you to kill yourself, okay? Sorry for being the only adult around here,” he mutters, striding down the hallway towards Jimin.

“Oh, please,” she snaps, scoffing. “You’re just programmed to find something wrong with everything I do.”

“And you’re just programmed to be a brat!”

“Great! Now you sound like my dad. Why don’t you call him and have drinks over it?”

“Seriously? I’m looking out for you because you’re my best friend’s sister,” he points out, turning around to face her. “I didn’t have to spend my Saturday night with Fire and Ice, you know?”

“Oh, because she has red hair? Clever.” Chaeyoung crosses her arms across her chest. “And you know what? Your best friend,” she continues, “doesn’t give a shit, alright? He knows I’m not twelve anymore. If he doesn’t care, why do you?”

“I - I don’t!” Hoseok sputters, going red in the face. “You know what? Fine. Hang out with that Ice and his group of Neanderthals - I don’t even care.”

“Great,” she says sarcastically. “Now you sound like the Hoseok I grew up with!” With one last glare, she turns around and stalks back into the house exactly the way Sooah had a few minutes ago.

Hoseok stands motionless for a moment before turning to face Jimin, eyes wide. “What the hell just happened?”

Jimin shakes his head, lost for words. “I have no fucking idea,” he mutters. “Do you want to call Suga hyung or should I?”

—

The doorbell rings and startles Namjoon, who spills a couple of drops of milk on his t-shirt.

“Damn it,” he mutters, dropping his spoon back into the bowl of cereal and holding the t-shirt away from his chest. “Can you get that?” he asks Jungkook, who’s sitting across from him at the breakfast table.

Jungkook nods and heads towards the door as Namjoon disappears into his room, opening it to see someone he hasn’t in a while.

“Sooah?” He chuckles in mild disbelief. “Um - hey, noona. Didn’t expect to see you… here.”

“Yeah, I know,” she says lightly, biting her lip. “Is Jimin here?”

Jungkook’s pause before he nods tells her that he knows something happened last night. “Come on in. He was pretty drunk last night so he went straight to bed,” he adds, shutting the door behind her and beckoning her inside. “I’ll just get him.”

Sooah nods as he shuffles inside, hearing a door open and him softly calling Jimin hyung. “He’ll be right out,” he says generously, coming back out from the hallway and going back to the kitchen table. A minute later, Jimin emerges from the same direction, his hair messy and eyes still a little droopy. He doesn’t look wholly surprised to see her.

“Morning,” she says after a moment. “How’d you sleep?”

“Crap.” He gives her a quick once-over. “Are you hungover?”

“Not in the least. You?”

He shakes his head, frowning a little at the movement. “Nope. Not at all.”

“Right.” Sooah falls silent, glancing surreptitiously at Jungkook as he scarfs down his breakfast. Jimin copies her, and they stare at him until he looks up from his phone.

“What?” he asks through a mouthful of cornflakes.

“Hey, Jungkook,” she begins. “Um, do you mind if…” She trails off, biting her lip when Jungkook simply frowns.

“Leave us alone for a minute?” Jimin prompts, and Jungkook immediately nods.

“Oh. Yeah, okay. Right.” He climbs off the chair, gathering his bowl, a plate of toast and a bowl of ready-to-eat kimchi, with his phone piled on top of the bread. “I’ll just… finish inside,” he mumbles, balancing everything and precariously walking inside.

Jimin turns back to face her again. “So… what’s up?” He frowns as she throws something to him, catching it easily. “Hangover pills?” he reads off the label. “I told you, I’m not hungover.”

Sooah shrugs. “Just keep it. For some other time.”

“Okay,” he says, slipping it into the pocket of his track pants. “Thanks. Was that it?”

Without his hair styled and his expensive clothes, he looks… young. His cherubic face, even with a straight expression and tired eyes, stirs an old, innocent adoration in her.

“I wanted to talk about last night,” she says. “Sober.”

Jimin shakes his head. “We don’t have to. I was - I was a bit of a dick, I know.”

“Yeah… but so was I.” Sooah’s eyes flicker to the floor. “I got defensive when you were picking on Alex and… I may have said some stuff I didn’t mean to.”

He nods slowly. “Guess I didn’t know what it’s like on the other side,” he says, cracking a half-smile. “I’m sorry if I… did I get you in trouble? When he found out that we used to…” He gestures between the two of them.

“No, you didn’t. He was a little surprised, yeah, but… kind of impressed?” She shrugs. “He really looks up to you.”

“That’s nice of him, I guess. He seems like a good kid.”

She chuckles. “He’s not that much younger.”

“No?”

When he doesn’t say anything further, Sooah sighs. “Jimin… I didn’t mean to say all that stuff last night.”

“No, you were right. Current boyfriend trumps ex-boyfriend,” he repeats, swallowing. “You weren’t the only one thinking it.”

“No, Jimin, that’s not true. Okay, fine, it’s true if I have to choose between them,” she amends, rolling her eyes. “In that case, I’m forced to choose my boyfriend over my ex.”

“Yeah. Right.”

“So don’t make me choose.” Just as she’d expected, Jimin’s shoulders relax, as though he hadn’t considered this. “Jimin, you are my ex but you don’t have to be just that for the rest of our lives. Come on, we’ve been broken up for longer than we were together - isn’t it time we actually became friends?”

“Friends?” He says it like it’s a foreign word. “I - Sooah, I get what you’re going for, I really do, but…” He takes a deep breath, like he’s bracing himself to say something. “I don’t know how we’ll do as friends, honestly.”

“Why? I can be a good friend,” she says, a little defensively. “I had a pretty good circle of friends, you know?”

Jimin chuckles. “No offense, but that is not a group I want to join. Come on, you’re talking about your high school friends, right? Sooah, they were awful,” he confesses, shaking his head. “Those girls didn’t have a shred of loyalty - they’d sell their mothers for gossip. And those guys you hung out with?” He exhales in disgust. “They weren’t friends. They were complete jerks and they just wanted to get with whichever girl would give in first.”

There’s a moment while Sooah processes this. “Right,” she says. “Okay.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,” he says immediately, the regret audible.

“I know you didn’t,” she assures him. “I know, Jimin, because you’re a good guy. You were the best person I knew,” she admits, hoping he believes her. “That’s why I fell for you, and not any of those other jerks.”

Jimin says nothing, his eyes falling to the floor. 

“You still are one of the best people I know,” she adds after a moment. “And I don’t want you to just disappear from my life because I’m dating someone. I’d rather have you as my friend than this - this guy from my past I hook up with a couple times a year.”

When Jimin still doesn’t respond, she sighs.

“Fine. Whatever. I’m still your friend.” Sooah stares at him, hoping for something, anything. “Bye, then.”

“You really think it’ll work?”

“Yeah, I do. We get along pretty well, in case you haven’t noticed. We can try at least,” she adds when he continues looking doubtful.

“You’re sure you won’t fall in love with me?” he asks seriously.

Sooah stares before snorting. “Jesus, Chim,” she says admonishingly as he bursts into giggles, “don’t say whatever pops into your head.”

“Sorry, I forgot you’re dating another idol now. Probably not a big deal for you,” he allows.

“It wasn’t a big deal when I was dating the first idol either.”

“Not even with his abs?”

“I preferred his calculus notes over his abs.”

Jimin makes a face. “Some friend.”

Sooah smiles back. There’s still something resembling hesitance in his expression, but she hopes it’s temporary. It’s unchartered territory for both of them, but a necessary change. She suspects it was what scared Jimin last night in the first place.

“I should go,” she says after a moment. “I just came to…”

“Ask for my forgiveness?”

She rolls her eyes. “Sure.”

Jimin grins, and she breathes a silent sigh of relief. He walks her to the door and for the first time in a long time, Sooah looks forward to their common future.

“By the way,” he asks, just as she’s stepping out, “you - you don’t actually think that I cheated on you. Right? When we broke up?” he clarifies.

Sooah frowns. “Um… no. Why - oh, the game? Last night?”

Jimin nods, his lips pursed. “You drank.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that.” She shakes her head and pats his arm comfortingly. “That wasn’t about you. Like you said,” she adds with a half-chuckle, “most of them were jerks.”

—

Thank you for reading. Don't forget to drop a review :)

[exeggcute]

there's a developing story in Australian media about Tiktok pixels collecting unauthorised data in an aggressive manner via their ads on thrid party websites, and I was wondering what a Professional like yourself made of it

ooh reading into this now... full disclosure that (1) until/unless I get another job in adtech I am technically not a Professional anymore lol and (2) pixel tags weren't a big component of my last role so I only have a fairly basic understanding of how they work. but from what I'm seeing here it sounds like the main issue with tiktok rn isn't the data collection per se, since these pixel tags are functionally identical to the ones employed by facebook and others, just that tiktok isn't obtaining user consent the way other companies are ostensibly do. although even that seems like a convenient lead-in for the whole Oh My God A But Chinese Company Is Doing It thing.

and tbf I kinda can pull that in both directions—on one hand facebook in particular has gotten in a lot of trouble before for bad data collection practices and putting that data in the hands of people who used it to (maybe, allegedly) sway public opinion, so the general fear underpinning this thing is like, not unfounded right. (even though I don't think the issue behind the cambridge analytica scandal was centered around tracking pixels specifically?) on the other hand the very nature of facebook's rocky history re. data and privacy proves that western companies can and will spy on their users and it's for sure disingenuous to act like ~shady foreign governments~ are the only ones with any incentive to do so lol.

I guess you could argue that facebook's incentive for all the spying was simply Making Money, even if they took money from people who did use that spy data to spread propaganda; like, to the parent company, the propaganda wasn't the goal. whereas many will obviously argue that with tiktok data some undefined form of propaganda is the goal. but seeing that tiktok ads are a multi-billion dollar enterprise(!) I'm way more inclined to believe that tiktok is also spying for the sake of Making Money. clearly a whole fucking lot of money!

this is something I've for sure said before but I also wholeheartedly believe (and to some extent, know, although again pixel tracking isn't my exact wheelhouse) that advertising data is a lot less granular and therefore less useful than most people imagine it to be, which severely limits the kind of compromising shit you can pull under normal circumstances.

even in the article I linked, where they talk about tiktok pixels being able to track the shopping/browsing habits of users, basic device info, and occasionally some PII like phone numbers and email addresses... like, okay, so let's say tiktok knows that junglejim4322@yahoo.com used an iphone to look at a website that sells orthopedic shoe inserts. or even maybe something more salacious like, idk, questionably legal gas station dick pills. from a "let's use tiktok to spread propaganda" perspective I really struggle how that information would be valuable or what you'd do with it other than emailing that person outright to taunt them about their fucked up feet and/or dick? (if the goal is to show people certain kinds of content in tiktok's app then certainly you have both the means to do so and plenty of behavioral data to draw up on in the app itself. it's a literal video platform lol.) otoh from a "let's use this data to create advertising segments" perspective then you can easily monetize this info by telling advertisers that you know a guy who's a prime target for ads about podiatry treatments or whatever, in which case advertisers are more eager to spend money on ads because they think they're talking to a relevant audience. and in that case advertisers don't really care what the guy's name or email is, just that he ticks certain boxes that make him a worthwhile use of ad dollars. and even in cases where bad actors do want more specific data for shady purposes, it's pretty difficult to collect it and even harder to propagate it across different platforms; one thing I think gets overlooked a lot with cambridge analytica in particular is that it happened on a platform where users willingly share their full name, birthday, gender, relationship status, political leanings, job title, etc. outright, and then create connections between other people who also willingly share all that info. in some ways I don't think it could've happened anywhere but facebook, because this is a situation where you really didn't have to squeeze anything out of users—they just came out and told you! (it's also part of why non-shady facebook ads are so lucrative; you don't have to guesstimate audience data when you can literally just specify that certain ads should only be shown to people whose profile says they're between the ages of 35 and 55.) and as far as I'm aware tiktok just does not have anything remotely approaching that kind of profile data.

anyway lol. as far as I can tell I think this is a GDPR-y consent issue first and foremost, which will probably turn into a thorny battle over whether tiktok can/will be held to EU data standards or similar statues with a good helping of Chinese Company Bad mixed in for good measure. also side note but remember the whole thing about tiktok data transparency but the american company they put in charge of it is fucking oracle?

[zoroara]

for the khr ask game, 🗡️!

Okay first, you have now entered "things i've thought about way too much" territory, Obviously we are working under the understanding that i would not have the fragile little shit body I have because it would not matter what the weapon is my bones would die using it <3.

Anyway Read more be upon ye cause I'm going in for the long ride here.

Firstly, while the ask is specifically of "weapon" there are multiple khr characters that use more than one weapon. So I'll put my main one and then the small additions I'd make. the 3 other options are just side arms to the main one.

A bastard sword. This would be the main one. Though heavier due to it's length it is used to be both one handed and two handed. It's utility in terms of how it can be used is one of the better blades for melee combat and since this tends to be what's happening over let's say mounted combat, makes it a better choice than some other swords. It's thicker and tougher so it has an easier time deflecting and blocking than things like the rapier which may snap under the pressure.

Since it's not sharp all along the blade it can be held at different lengths which is useful in close quarters for stabbing and if you flip it around you can use the pommel as a bludgeon and the whole sword as a flail. Though uncommon in Khr this is also really really useful against armoured opponents and people with shields due to the force it sends through the body, and the different hold allows to target specific points of the body.

Now for the Side arms options:

First side arm option:

Unsurprisingly a Buckler. Now most people incorrectly identify all circular shields to be bucklers however it's only really the small kind of cap like shields that are true bucklers. Their small size meant they could be made sturdier without becoming too heavy for the user to quickly combat. Though they don't look like much protection at first glance there's a good reason for their use.

Though mainly used to protect the sword hand they also had several other functions, as they can act as a sort of floating armour point, that due to both how much more sturdy they are and their shape could deflect many weapons well. They also double as a bludgeoning weapon due to the sort of bump in the middle of it. Additionally a skilled user can actually use them to catch an opponent's weapon and trap them allowing the user to control the fight from there.

Second side arm option:

Look you are probably not quite thinking of this but a gun. It was extremely common for sword users to use guns as an off hand once they were introduced. Especially when guns were still slow and had trouble reloading. It's literally a great option to have one if you can and gives range that a sword obviously wouldn't have.

The one problem is a lot of modern handguns aren't exactly made for one handed reload, so you have to go more with some double action revolvers, or for a more modern gun probably the Smith & Wesson M&P. Of course after future arc there people don't really reload their guns anymore with the heavy use of flame so at that point the whole debate on which gun doesn't matter nearly as much.

Third and Final side arm option:

Parrying dagger, in a sword fight, which it seems if you're carrying a sword in khr that is what most of your important fights are going to be, is an extremely useful tool. Though not as effective in terms of other types of melee fights it's still usable. Parrying daggers are made to help manipulate your opponent's weapons and are sturdier for it. There's a few different shapes of them and though the "trident" and "swordbreaker" look and sound cool they were incredibly rare and not exactly easy to use, their cons outweighing their benefits.

I would choose the ones that are designed with waves in them, as their form though a little silly are actually really good at damaging the hands using the blocked blade by causing impact in several places, and these waves are more likely to catch the weapon and give you more control.

Thank you for listening to me ramble about this i really really like weapons.

[nekropsii]

putting my head in my hands and groaning, man i have no idea why it was the striders in particular that had so much (honestly *still has* since i've absolutely still seen it in the year of our lord 2023- now 2024 huh) incest whether it's dave/bro, dirk/dave or, in the special case if it being a type of selfcest also, dirk/hal fuck i've even seen the occurrence of dirk/alpha bro, none of their alt selves were safe.. like what is it about them specifically where it was so.. appealing (barf) :|

I don't know why they're such heavy targets of it. Okay, like, I know why logically speaking, but I don't understand why it's still so common, like... Emotionally speaking. It is a little shocking going into the Homestuck tag, or one of the Strider tags, and seeing that kind of thing... You know, maintagged, with no content warning tag on it? Full blown maintagged incest ship art with nary a tagged warning in sight. I've even seen it so that the fandom and characters are tagged, but the ship isn't, so you just straight up do not have the option to filter it. Obviously it's still going to exist, but Tumblr went on this whole phase of making sure you tag things correctly and keep that kind of thing out of main tags. I'm pretty sure that was even advocated for by the Proship crowd, and still is to an extent? Then again, a lot of Tumblr's actually decent politics have been walked back in favor of some horseshit that is objectively worse... :/

Anyway, back to the logic behind it- it has to do with the aforementioned Dave Sexyman Status. No one is normal about the Striders- Dave's role as the fandom's designated Tumblr Sexyman has made it so that being really weird about him and any character adjacent to him (be it Dirk or Karkat) is pretty normalized. Striders just tend to be the vessel people project their sexual proclivities onto. Age + age discrepancy in the scenario either doesn't matter or is a highlight. Same for familial relation. It's always going to be a thing people are into, unfortunately, I just wish some people would at least have the decency to keep it within their own circles, or at the very fuckin' least tag that thing. There's a lot of people who really want to avoid that kind of content for one reason or the other, and getting hit with it out of nowhere can really mess up someone's day. Not tagging it with anything filterable while maintagging it is just inconsiderate as hell to people who have been through some kind of trauma adjacent to that and do not want to see it getting turned into ship material. Hell on Earth.

[ssahotchnerr]

I absolutely LOVED your expanded thoughts on the Foyet arc with the earlyseasons!reader AU I’m gonna give you my playout of the arc in my head lol cause i’d love to see what you think :) i’ll spilt this into two asks boxes one before the altercation episode and then another for the actual episode with Foyet Altercation so its not so long!

Ok starting when Aaron gets back from the pig farm case, in my AU reader and Jack aren’t there because they went out of state to visit reader’s family and during the time Aaron is being tortured they’re being driven back to their shared home by a trusted neighbor.

Reader walks into the home through the front door with Jack in her arms and see’s the scene in front of her, panics and drops off Jack with the trusted neighbor and comes back to the scene to try and figure out what happens. When she’s left stumped she calls up Emily and from there everything is the same other than the small detail that when reader finds out Aaron is in the hospital she picks up Jack instead of Morgan and Jennifer doing so.

Everything in the hospital plays out the same they say they’re tragic goodbyes (I headcanon that when both reader and Jack walk out the room Aaron either has to send everyone away to cry or he almost has panic attack 🥺). NOW TO SPICE THINGS UP reader is in the early stages of pregnancy when she and Jack are sent into the witness protection program, i’m thinking maybe 3-5 weeks, like she doesn’t know until a little bit later after cutting contact with Hotch. Now idk how long went by since Jack was actually placed in the witness protection program in this arc but for this AU reader is barely even showing (maybe they’re there for four months tops until the altercation)

cw; discussions of pregnancy, stress, mentions of violence, fem!reader

okay first, i love everything about this, and two, the concept of reader finding out she's pregnant?!?!?!!? omg omg omg i need to elaborate on this

i've always headcannoned something similar- like in s12 when they all go into witness protection due to scratch, reader finds out she's pregnant then, but i kinda like this concept more?!?!

can you just imagine all the mixed emotions reader would be feeling😭 first to name, obviously the stress of being put into hiding without aaron, and the last time seeing him being in a hospital bed? like the man was stabbed nine times, he's extremely lucky to be alive, and then within a day being sent away like that? obviously there's the worry for his state in terms of recovering, like yes he was awake, but that doesn't mean a complication still can't arise out of nowhere. then, there's the idea of something happening to aaron while being gone. like yes, reader and jack are being targeted and that's the main focus, but so is aaron?!? who's to say aaron is not being constantly stalked by foyet, or foyet could turn the tables and go after him again. then obviously there's the worry for jack and reader's state :( jack is too young to understand, so he's asking so many questions reader can't answer without scaring him :( he's constantly asking where his daddy is :( if he's feeling better, because again, the last time he saw him was at the hospital, and just the stray of questions pertaining to normal routine? why can't he play with his toys at home, or have his favorite plushy with him since they couldn't stop at home beforehand, why can't he go to preschool, things like that. it would just make reader so :((( because she has to make up different reasons.

and the hospital discussion about them going into hiding :( aaron would be putting a brave face on, as he normally does, but reader can see right through it :( she knows he's hurting, but he doesn't want jack, and reader, to get scared :( even when reader gets weepy, aaron is forcing himself not to cry too :( so i second that he would have to send everyone away to cry :( like watching reader and jack leave??!!? it would ruin him :( there's the impending danger, and he knows what foyet is capable of. like with shaunessy, it was ten years. given the bau is the bau and they tend to resolve things quicker, aaron knows this probably won't last that long, but part of him worries it will be :( and don't get me started about the guilt he feels about not making the deal :( of course, he fully believes he made the right decision of not taking it, because he's him and he refuses to play foyet's game, but yet he feels guilty because he put the whole family in danger :( and that's the one thing he can't particularly forgive himself for.

and then reader finding out about her pregnancy?!?!? again, a complete mix of emotions. first, the happiness of bringing a new life into the world with the man she loves 🥹 they've been talking about having a new baby and have been trying for a while, but finding out under these circumstances :( now yet another little one is in danger, not being able to tell aaron at all- he has no idea he's officially the dad of another baby :(, and going through the tough, early stages of pregnancy without him. like maybe when reader was pregnant with jack (given haley is nonexistent), morning sickness was awful, she was constantly nauseous, etc., but aaron was always there to provide comfort, and this time, he's not :( and also, reader is sad about aaron potentially missing out on the entire pregnancy :( like when she was pregnant with jack, it was so exciting when she first started showing, felt kicks for the first time- the two of them were so so happy and couldn't wait for him to arrive, it was such a special time :((( but this time around, that won't be the case. and reader is definitely worried about giving birth without him. again- there's no telling how long this is for, and it's terrifying. part two

[alovelyburn]

Rambles about the Millenium Falcon Arc Part 5

...long time no see. 

I actually did start writing this a month ago, but it took a bit to get my brain back in the right place after so long away. BUT I’M BACK hi.

Rambles about the Millenium Falcon Arc Part 5

Even though I do think Isidro is meant to evoke Guts he’s obviously not a 1-to-1 comparison, like he’s much more of a chaos imp than Guts ever was. Also he’s scrawny – I do wonder if he should focus more on ranged combat given how good he is with missile attacks. This doesn’t matter at all, but I’m warming up, lmao.

One of the things Miura talked about when he discussed the reason for the reaction for whatever such and such a character was this idea of designing characters to bring out different shades of Guts in order to make him a more multidimensional character. I think this is something he really excelled at – it’s interesting to see his more mentorly side coming out, not to mention the difference between the way Guts treats Isidro and, say, the way Gambino treated him does highlight Guts’ generally better... nature. 

And that’s interesting because I’ve talked a lot before about how post-Eclipse (and pre-meeting Griffith) Guts had taken on a lot of Gambino’s traits and attitudes... which is arguably not the best way to navigate the world. But that’s a side of him that comes out mostly when he’s alone and frustrated – when he’s a kid on the road, for example, or after the Eclipse but before meeting Puck. Which is to say, it’s a self-defense mechanism for when he feels lost or angry and lonely without a lot of outlet. When he has people around he chills out considerably, which makes his attempts at being a lone wolf feel a little self-destructive. 

I just love how Guts is completely disinterested unless there’s some kind of fight involved. More than that, though, as a pretty straightforward person I suppose he doesn’t have a lot of interest in interacting with people who are wearing a civil mask and carrying ulterior motives.

As for Serpico, it must be odd watching her change so quickly and so completely. This is the beginning of a longer subplot with him watching being weirded out by it and I guess kind of jealous and kind of saddened that Guts and their companions were able to change Farnese in ways he was unable to and thus make her a much healthier and less troubled person.

Okay so as a sidenote, I do really get tired of this. I understand that Casca and Farnese are the most helpless in the group, but the thing where they are constantly the ones targeted for danger is a little meh. You could argue that in the case of trolls it makes sense – given what we later learn about their actions and breeding habits – but it’s still repetitive because they end up being swept up and pulled into troll haven or whatever together again in the future, so like maybe a different plot point? Like the trolls’ presence could have been announced with a battle scene and then Casca and Farnese could have been separated from the group later without eliciting a kind of “oh this again?” type of response, I’m just saying. 

Anyway, you know the deal, me and fight scenes are like, eh.

The introduction of magic definitely changed the tone of Berserk. Miura did mention that he made it difficult to manage and slow to start up for balance reasons, and I do think the balance has been largely maintained but it obviously did change the scale of the series and the battles – same with the Berserker armor, for example. This isn’t actually a problem for me in theory but I think the one thing I wish he had done is... I guess better foreshadow the existence of all these things, right? 

Like I don’t expect him to have witches in the BSM arc for example – he hadn’t even thought of it yet, he didn’t even know what the main conflict of the story would be until volume 3. But it would have been cool to have more of a buildup leading into Flora and Schierke’s introduction. 

Anyway it doesn’t bother me that much, it’s more like the existence of the Hawk prophecies – a missed opportunity that was probably missed just because he hadn’t thought of it yet.

I wonder if Ivalera is going to like, make more of an impact on me during this readthrough. Because honestly, this is volume 24 right? She’s been with them for almost 20 volumes, and I never remember that she exists.

Ah, Schierke. It’s almost fitting that the kind of lighter/less grim tone came in with her because the anime vibes kind of did, too – green hair and all that. I should clarify that I don’t actually mind the lighter tone or the magic or anything, I just think it’s interesting how quickly Berserk went from like grim gritty low fantasy that borders on horror to like epic fantasy adventures. This arc is kind of a transitional point since the trolls are very old Berserk, but obviously the introduction of Schierke and Ivalera really bridge into new Berserk.

Okay this is a little bit of a tangent, but it’s something I was just thinking about today. 

So Casca is, for me, uhh... so many a series has a character in it that’s like a major part of the story but you just can’t warm to them and kinda wish they weren’t there because they feel kind of like baggage. That’s how I feel about Post-Eclipse Casca. Like during the Golden Age she served a narrative purpose right, she’s a foil for Guts and then his love interest and then one of his greatest losses. Cool. 

Post-Eclipse though I’m just not sure. Don’t get me wrong, I know she’s involved in the story, like half the story is about getting her to Elfhelm. But – and im not sure whether I can articulate this properly but I’m trying – I feel like even though the story revolves around her, she is nonetheless an extra appendage to the plot. She’s a MacGuffin. Her existence causes people to run around trying to do things but she herself is not involved in those things or even really important to them and there’s no purpose she serves in the story that couldn’t be served by something else without much of a change to the core of the plot. 

Guts could get to Conviction any way – he could just go there because of the revelation from Griffith, he could get dragged there by Farnese and then escape, he could just be led there by fate – there’s nothing inherent to the Conviction arc that requires him to be chasing Casca. You could say her biggest contribution to the plot post-Eclipse is as a Griffith-obsession-meter, like if he doesn’t care about her, then he’s in full Griffith-fixation mode, and if he’s focused on protecting her, his Griffith obsession is waning. 

I don’t know. There is a large part of the fanbase (most of it in the English speaker quarter, in fact) that perceives her as the third protagonist and really puts a narrative weight on her but I honestly think it’s mostly headcanon and cope, lmao. She’s a MacGuffin. 

Anyway the reason this section kinda set me off on it is because Casca gets kidnapped or spirited off to Trollhaven twice in this one arc, and she was sexually assaulted twice since Conviction, and she was sexually assaulted and pushed around and used as a MacGuffin for most of Conviction and while this is somewhat true of Farnese as well at this point (the troll thing anyway)... Farnese then becomes a much more formidable person under her own power whereas Casca languishes, gets her memory back, has multiple unconsciousness-inducing flashbacks and then gets kidnapped. 

Hmm, I guess the gist of this rant is just “Casca is a character Miura randomly decided to hook up with Guts for drama and then kept around so that Guts would stay mad, and it shows.” 

And of course it helps that Casca ends up spending more time with Farnese than Guts so that relationship isn’t’ really emphasized very much outside of a “what is she to you? Oooohh I think I know....” comment every like 8 real world years. 

Anyway if she turns out to be crucial in a way that is unique to her later, I’ll be relieved but for now I’m eh.

/rant mode off

So one of the things I really enjoy about Berserk is this feeling that Griffith’s presence, or even the promise of his arrival, inherently changes the world. Before the Eclipse, apostles became more active, and after it they were obviously more present than they had bene before. And after Griffith’s reincarnation, the barrier between the physical and the astral planes start to blur a bit, bringing the monsters out and strengthening the magical gifts of people like Sonia. His presence is such that he changes the world simply by being there... in various ways. Obviously things like bringing the trolls into the world aren’t great, lmao.

And, of course, Guts understands what’s going on even if no one else does yet.

Establishment shot! I’m sort of fascinated by Flora’s mansion if only because it doesn’t actually exist in the physical world.

Now that I’ve gone into that whole rant about Casca, I will take a moment to say it’d be cool if there turned out to be a reason she randomly went digging in the golem – an instinct through her connection to the Moonkid/Griffith, maybe, or just an instinct in general. It’s not something I expect to come up, to be clear – she’s probably just being a curious child since she’s mentally a toddler. But you know, wishful thinking.

This image really sent me off on a death spiral into one of my more obscure theories, which I’m not going to talk about because I hate being wrong about things I’m not ready to be wrong about. But anyway I did look a bit into the meaning of the pentagram which told me... first of all that the use of the pentagram seems to precede any of the meanings we know to ascribe to it, which make sense. But also, that the points of the pentagram represent either the wounds of Christ, the senses, or five elements.

This sent me into a rabbit hole of reading up on elements as understood in different cultures. What I found interesting was like, it seems most places (most) have the same four elements we still talk about today at least to some degree (like it might be wind instead of air, but you know), but there’s sometimes a fifth thing – spirit or heart, for example, in the case of neoplatonic elements, or void/emptiness for Japanese philosophy. 

And then I thought about the way Miura liked to combine the philosophies and religious tenants from different cultures instead of trying to fully replicate a specific perspective in his work. Rather the cosmology of Berserk is a little bit of everything, you know? Which made me think... considering the fifth element in Berserk’s world to be Spirit or Emptiness works very well with the way Berserk is set up but it also tends to imply that there’s a fifth elemental lord, unless the joke is that the element is emptiness so the spot for the lord is empty. I’ll probably yada yada more about this when I get to Schierke’s spell in the village because she does say something interesting that I think bears commentary. 

But the way Miura repeatedly put the pentagram in a prominent position  - even having a whole panel that was nothing but the pentagram, strikes me as interesting and significant.

But one of the things is this: I believe that all religions in Berserk are faces for the same underlying powers – IoE and the Godhand (and perhaps some other servants who fulfill different functions but we don’t know about that). It explains why the old Godhand look like ancient gods, and it explains why Flora triggers Guts’ brand, which is supposed to react to demonic power. Because in the end, she’s still drawing from the same well but in a different way.

Guts being polite as usual, lmao.

It’s interesting that Flora seems to know she’s going to die soon. I know that you could interpret it as her knowing that she is just getting too old and weak, but considering she tells Schierke that they’ll meet again, which refers to the Casca’s Mindscape sequence 30+ volumes later, I assume she has some kind of plug into the future, albeit in a limited way. Skull Knight seems to be similar.

After this Guts says, “It’ll protect against that” with the image of his beast self raping/killing Casca. Which makes me think this scene fuels people’s assertion that he was possessed when he did that, which he wasn’t. But I do think the possessions prior kind of kicked him in that direction and he was unable to extricate himself from it until he was made violently aware of his own dark side and how dangerous it was. 

Okay so now we’re going to talk worldbuilding, its my favorite thing.

Bringing this back.

 Okay so, I’m just going to break this down into a form I can better reference, rofl.

The Astral plane is, as Griffith would say, where they become one – the afterlife, and also the home of supernatural forces and beings. When someone senses/believes in something that is technically part of the astral world hard enough the thing becomes visible in the physical world, which is why elves have become recognized in the physical world. Later we’ll find out that the astral world’s... stuff used to be a much greater part of the physical world but started disappearing from the physical realm as people drifted from the perspectives that allowed them to be perceived, which continues right up until Griffith brings them back together. 

Then the Realm of Idea (the graphic misnames it) is... it kind of reminds me of the concept of the Root in the Fate franchise (and also several actual world religions nevermind that though). The origin of all existence, the blueprint of reality. 

And subrealms: 

Physical Realm – where people usually are. 

Interstice – a shallow level of the Astral Plane that mostly just looks like the physical realm. This is where Guts and Casca are because of the brand. Also where things like ghosts come from when they haven’t realized or accepted their deaths and headed back to the Vortex. 

Nexus – a deeper part of the Astral and the space opened by the Behelit/location of the Sacrifice ceremonies. This is interesting to me because Miura once said that in order to injure an astral body, the person trying to injure them has to be in the astral plane as well. Which brings to mind the arguments over whether the Godhand can actually be hurt – people say they must be mortal to some degree because they protect their bodies – e.g Void deflects Skull Knight’s blow and the only time Femto ever defends himself vs Guts is during the BSM arc when the Slug Count uses the behelit to bring the Godhand out.  But it makes sense that they defend themselves during Eclipses or Sacrifice ceremonies because during those moments, the entire area is sucked into the Nexus, which means they can be injured in ways they cant be if they’re just walking around on the physical world. Thus, for example, the impossibility of injuring Griffith in the physical world. 

The Vortex – A deeper level of the Astral Plane where the megapowers are, e.g. the Godhand, the Element Kings etc. The sea god from the pirate arc, like that. 

The Abyss – where the Idea of Evil hangs out.

This page is often cited as proof that there is a heaven and hell, but Flora really is just engaging in conjecture. That said, it does seem like there are places that are more or less pleasant within the astral plane, at least on lower levels like the Interstice, so I suppose its possible that they exist in the Vortex as well. This is one of the areas where I’m the most conflicted because there’s a pretty strong indication that post-death humans lose their sense of self and join the sea of souls where no one has any individuality or identity, but there’s also this comment about karma and such. Plus we do know that some humans do not just melt into the  vortex because Flora herself instead became a Daimon although we don’t find that out for a long time. 

Right now, I’m sort of operating with the idea that post-death a person retains a sense of self for a certain period of time, during which their experience is dictated by their karma, before they eventually break apart and join the sea. But that’s just a fan wank it’s really an unknown at this time.

This comment is interesting because it brings to mind Schierke’s later comment that the four elemental kings are the same beings that are named in scripture as the four cardinal angels of God. As I said earlier, all religions are one religion.

What did I say the other day? Even witches refer to Griffith as an angel. This kind of burns my bum because people focus on the demon thing very strongly and tend to either ignore the other side of them or suggest that they’re not really angels but are pretending to be – I think Guts even suggests that at one point. But Guts is biased and Flora would know better than he does.

Not for nothing but Guts is being stupid here. Not too surprising, but like what is he going to do, summon them and launch himself at them? They’d crush him like a bug without moving. Come on, man. 

But in all seriousness, Guts’ absolute faith in his ability to find a way to win is one of my favorite things about him, but it’s also what leads to him having a mental breakdown when he cant hit Griffith later. I don’t think he’s ever considered the possibility that there’s something he can’t fight his way through. 

This also confirms, btw, that Guts hasn’t given up on revenge just put it on hold until he can get Casca to Elfhelm. Otherwise why would he still be trying to figure out how to get at the Godhand? It’s also the best indication that he isn’t only angry at Griffith but at the entire group of them. I assume it’s not dissimilar to the way Skull Knight runs straight at Void if he’s there, but he wont turn down an opportunity to throw a blow at any of them.

So, one of the things that fuels speculation that Casca might be destined to use that Behelit is that... when it comes out, and they’re talking about it, she seems to be drawn to it for no real reason, right, like she just comes walking toward them making interested noises and Farnese has to pull her away. 

The obvious counter would be that she comes out because Flora is about to talk about her and Guts’ mission to protect her, but she didn’t really need to be there for that – people talk about Casca and Guts’ relationship or his intentions with regards to her without her being there all the time. 

It’s interesting. It doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but given Miura’s ways it wouldn’t surprise me if it did.

He didn’t listen when Godot told him this before, no way he’s listening now. 

But really she doesn’t seem to be trying to tell him to give it up, which doesn’t surprise me – she’s a friend of Skull Knight’s, so I’m sure she understands how pointless arguing with someone in this situation can be.

“The fate associated with it rests in the hands of its master who sent it.” I assume that’s IoE but it does highlight the fact that Slan seemed to be able to affect its reaction/availability to Guts.

When I try to figure out who the behelit might belong to, though, I admit I have a kind of difficult time imagining who it could be aside from Casca or Guts. If it’s Guts, then I would expect it’s there for him to ultimately resist, thus finally breaking the chains of fate that he’s been fighting but accidentally getting further caught in for years. If it’s Casca, on the other hand, I think that ends badly for her. There’s a small chance that such an option could appear for her to give her the chance to turn it down as well, but I’m not sure I believe that she has it in her. 

I also can’t think of anyone else that the behelit would really fit in a way that advances the story/moves toward the fulfillment of the narrative promise, really. So I still think the best bet is Casca, though that doesn’t guarantee it obviously. If it’s Guts, on the other hand... well, I guess he’s craving his power right now, isn’t he? I mean in current chapters.

I feel you, Guts.

But no, I gather she means that they’re the servants of the Idea of Evil (unnamed but still), and that they’re mysteries because humans can’t go to where they are, even in astral form, thus they remain mysterious.

Okay translation rant. I wanted to make sure that “If he is the Hawk of Darkness, then he is dreadful” was actually accurate, which it is KIND OF? 

What Schierke is saying is 

あの者が黙示録に記された五番目の御使いが受肉した姿。。。闇の鷹なのだとしたら者恐るべきことです。

That person is the [incarnated form] of the fifth angel written down in the [Book of Revelation]. If (he’s) the Hawk of Darkness he is.... [dreadful] 

So a couple of things. I’m showing dictionary definitions because it’s good to show receipts, lmao. 

-The word translated as incarnation is specifically the incarnation of Christ.

-The word used for revelation is specifically the Book of Revelation, though it also means Apocalypse – Utena fans may remember it:

-Finally, the phrase translated here as “dreadful”,

So it does mean dreadful but also fearsome, formidable, like a dangerous or difficult adversary. 

So okay one thing I notice about Miura is that he liked to use ambiguous phrasing – the phrase translated as “you’re the only one who made me forget my dream” for example, also means “you’re the only one who let me forget my dream.” Similarly, the word translated as “evil” in a lot of places in Berserk also means “magic” or a supernatural force of some kind, and sometimes it makes more sense that they’d mean magic but the translation still says evil. 

I’ll be honest, I think he did it on purpose. Because for example a sentence that means both “let me forget” and “made me forget” reflects the conflict within Griffith himself about Guts’ impact on him and how it affected his goals, which were both burdensome and meant to be his most important thing. So in the discussion of which way it was intended to be read, my main thought is “both.” 

How this relates to this sentence is just this: It’s translated as dreadful which isn’t inaccurate but in the context of the discussion Schierke and Flora are having, Schierke isn’t talking about how awful and deplorable the fifth angel is, she’s talking about how Guts has to be crazy to go against him because he’s absurdly powerful. But that doesn’t mean I don’t think her statement is meant to evoke how terrifying he is, either. But even so, and this isn’t the translator’s fault because English doesn’t work the same way Japanese does, but... I can’t help thinking that just saying “dreadful” makes it sound like she’s just saying “he’s awful and deplorable” rather than that he’s a frightening opponent or person. And that doesn’t make sense because Schierke was previously shown to be sort of unsure about whether he would be the savior or (something) else. 

It’s also interesting that he doesn’t name some random prophecy but rather the biblical Book of Revelation. And that he didn’t have Schierke refer to Griffith with a normal “incarnation” or “bodied form” or whatever – because there are words for that – but rather as specifically the incarnation of Christ. It does make it very clear (VERY clear) that Griffith here is envisioned as the Berserk equivalent of a Christ-figure as predicted by the Berserk equivalent of the Bible. The fact that he’s served by, you know, apostles should also be a clue about this, but I know people like to suggest he’s an antichrist instead, but I mean... 

He’s both isn’t he? I mean I know I’ve talked about this enough but it does make sense that in a world where God is the Idea of Evil, the Christ-equivalent would be a more complicated figure as well. 

I just think it’s interesting like... Miura uses a lot of Catholic concepts and imagery in Berserk, but they don’t always mean the same thing as they do in the real-world religion. People often try to read Berserk with I guess real world Christianity in mind, and I get it because of the very obvious parallels, but I do think it’s a bit of a trap.

The thing I wonder a lot – although I guess it’s more like I think about it a lot than that I wonder about it – is the relationship between Skull Knight and Flora. Later I’ll ponder on it in greater depth but it’s interesting to me that even after seeing what happened to Gaiseric she still has this belief that fate can be countered. It’s very different than, say, Skull Knight who kind of lets slip during the death of Elfhelm that fate often cannot be overcome, but that people fight anyway because it’s just the nature of humanity to fight fate (and lose). 

Flora’s view echoes Guts’ though, from the Conviction arc when he said he doesn’t believe in causality because he and Casca were meant to die but didn’t. On the other hand... is that really true? Like, Zodd said death would come for him – a death he cannot escape. But Skull Knight was the one who implied to him (right after he left the Hawks) that he could survive it. And if you think about it, given that the demon child/moonkid became Griffith’s vessel there’s a good argument that Casca was always meant to survive, too. 

So. I know a lot of people take Flora’s word as gospel, but a lot of characters say things that contradict so they can’t all be right. Though I do think there’s a decent argument that she’s the least biased and her view possibly reflects the attitude that Miura himself brought to the table since he did say he wanted there to be hope in the story, as well.

This has nothing to do with anything but the sylph thing kind of freaks me out. I don’t think I could wear clothing that’s coated in little “living” things, eep.

And honestly, wtf is wrong with Puck? HOW DOES HE NOT KNOW THIS, HE’S FROM ELFHELM.

I have such conflicted feelings about how Farnese and Casca just got some silver shirts (and a silver knife). Because the thing is, I understand that Casca uh probably can’t trusted with a weapon right now, and that Farnese isn’t a fighter at all. But I still feel like some kind of, say, elementally empowered weapon would be helpful for Farnese at least, considering how often these two get kidnapped or spirited away or trapped in dangerous situations.

I wonder what the axe did.

This lead in to the thing where his sword is kind of magical from fighting magical things is pretty interesting to me because... for years the theory was that his sword could hurt Griffith because of that. And it seemed like a decent theory but of course is proven completely wrong on every level. Misdirection! That is, unless the “he cut a hair off of Griffith’s head” theory turns out to be true but that seems increasingly unlikely since it hasn’t come up at all.

By having the brand, Guts and Casca are basically just walking around in the afterlife all the time – at least the edges of it, so I guess they ended up in tune with the dead even though they themselves didn’t literally die. It seems the Apostles also kind of walk that line, which makes sense given their connection to “hell” or whatever. It’s kind of wild to think about the house they’re hanging around in not technically existing in a physical sense.

I mean in fairness he only left her behind once, it was just a really long time. 

Anyway, this just reminds me of the time I got that Ask from someone kind of ranting about how Guts has to be with Casca because she’s the only reason he’s still human, which was kind of stupid. Don’t get me wrong, I recognize that protecting her is a strong motivating factor for him, but obviously he was already fighting to remain human for the entire series and I also think... the path he has chosen as a defender and as someone who no longer throws his connections away is as much a part of his continued humanity as Casca herself, specifically – that’s why the Beast always tells him to ditch the whole crew not just Casca. 

Also, as I recall, Flora had some knowledge that she was going to be killed soon which... I imagine made it somewhat relieving for her to not have to explain why Casca couldn’t stay there. Also... 

It lends this bit a poignancy.

Okay so... I often wonder about the specifics of Flora and Skull Knight’s relationship... and to be more specific whether her role in his life was similar to Schierke’s role in Guts’ life. Was she his spiritual anchor before he got eaten by the darkness? If so then you could say she failed, which Schierke is also in danger of doing in current canon since Guts is losing his shit. 

There are so many things that make me sad about Miura’s passing. There’s the obvious human element in itself, but there’s also things like how he talked about doing an arc of the Skull Knight’s history, and how on the DVD for the memorial edition ova, a note came up saying things he says may no longer be applicable. I mean for obvious reasons. But does that mean we’ll never know the deal? I hope not. I want to know what Flora did that got her exiled from Elfhelm and what Skull Knight’s goal really is... I mean this is whiny because everyone has the same concerns and thoughts, but you know, just thinking.

And there it is – bringing to question whether Guts is actually acting in free will or not. Because what I get from this is that Flora asks him why he’s trying to get Guts to do certain things or go certain places, and whether it’s because he feels sympathetic or for some selfish reason, and Skull Knight is basically like, even if I didn’t personally lead him around, he may well be led by causality anyway. 

It reminds me of the guidebook noting that Skull Knight seemed to be trying to lead Guts in a certain direction.

I think Skull Knight is ultimately meant to be a cautionary tale for Guts, like... this is what he becomes if he doesn’t let go of his anger and choose his connections and humanity instead... which is not what Gaiseric did back in the day. This does kind of make me wonder to what degree I just talk myself around thinking Guts primarily relies on Casca for humanity though, because one major difference between them seems to be that Casca didn’t die but Skull Knight’s wife or whoever that was did. 

Although I guess that’s odd too because Dannan seems to be his ex in some way that isn’t wholly literal.

And this is a really interesting bit for me, because it’s Flora continuing/finishing her comment earlier about God giving them fate – the fate called encounters. So when she tells Schierke God gives us fate and we humans choose it, you can suppose that she isn’t so much talking about Schierke being destined to do such and such but rather she’s talking about Schierke having the option to accept the opportunity to know and involve herself in this story or not. 

Also, a final little thought-break – the way the witches here talk about God is interesting to me because it does seem like they buy into the “religion” of the world in a way you wouldn’t necessarily expect, right, like Flora directly references fate being sent by God. They also refer to the God Hand as angels, and later Schierke will explain that the element kings are basically biblical archangels by another name. 

And that goes back to all religions are one religion – the same elements with different names and viewed through different prisms but nonetheless the same beings. I kind of think of the different religions within Berserk’s world as... looking at something from one angle vs another angle. Like if you stand in front of something it looks one way and you can only see the front and part of the sides, whereas if you stand to the side you see its side and only part of its front and back, etc. Point being, it’s still the same thing, it’s just that different perspectives or belief systems “see” and name different parts of it. 

That thought leads me down some interesting rabbit holes with Berserk though. 

Anyway, next up, trolls.

[winns-stuff]

LO RANT:

I’m gonna say this cause I’ve been seeing a lot of Minthe edits and finally understanding more and more of her perspective. Persephone is a homewrecker, absolute homewrecker and if this was anyone else the fans would’ve thrown a tantrum because why is it Persephone can get away with knowingly accepting affection, gifts, money, clothes, and even a phone from Hades but Minthe is shamed for also receiving things such as that.

It’s just so annoying and incredibly incompetent to me how they literally do the same things all the damn time yet everyone loves Persephone. Me personally, I hate her with all of my heart I truly believe that she’s very malicious and self serving at the end of the day. She reminds me of those villains targeting old lonely vulnerable rich men all for their money while trying to mask their behavior behind a sweet innocent character…. Oh wait. She’s literally doing just that, like always she’s doing shit like that. She literally took money out of Hades’ account for an apartment without even asking, yes you can argue that they discussed about Persephone moving out but that doesn’t just give someone the okay to take their money and run with it to buy stuff you want. She’s always being a huge extreme brat and it really makes me feel like Demeter is a victim of her damn behavior (I’ve always thought this but it just gives me more reason for it now) because how the hell are you going to get upset at your mother for coddling you when you accept and even welcome being babied by everyone around you. This whole independency thing falls through the floor when you realize that Persephone doesn’t want any independence, all she wants is to be able to get away with things she does and obviously Demeter was more strict with her (unlike Hades) so she couldn’t necessarily do anything without being watched.

I genuinely feel for Minthe, not her actions but her mental state had to be breaking apart with every single day and those two assholes just made it worse. Persephone was always aware that Minthe and Hades were together yet she still allowed herself to be seen publicly with him, she allowed him to get physical, and she didn’t mind kissing him right after they broke up. She was obviously waiting for them to break up to do more bold moves just to spite Minthe and she didn’t even care about how she would feel. I get that you’re jealous that Hades is giving his money away to someone who wasn’t you but that doesn’t mean that you could basically start seeing him and playing fucking house right in the office that she works in. That’s trifling as fuck and I’d be pissed too because not only are you embarrassing me in front of Persephone by showing her that I’m not worth any dignity or respect but you’re embarrassing me in my own workplace as well, you just know that the assistants and other staff members were spreading it around like wild fire and that had to be so stressful to deal with.

Speaking of that actually, fuck Persephone for that because she keeps whining and crying about how rumors made everyone at her college not want to speak with her yet she’s completely fine with doing things that actively ruin Minthe’s reputation and make her a spectacle for everyone to see. That’s one of the main reasons why I don’t feel any sympathy for her and I don’t see why so many people are so keen on protecting her, she’s really not shit and she’s genuinely a terrible person and we all know that if she were a real person no one would like her at all. At least Minthe had a reason for asking Hades for money, she literally only had him to rely on since he insisted on paying for everything and giving her a job, there was an obvious dependency on Hades that he started his damn self (which I have no idea why he thought trapping Minthe into this relationship she never even wanted in the first place would ensure not only a good relationship but a good marriage as well, like you made her lose her job which was the only thing keeping her from getting evicted and he knew it, his job was the only thing keeping her afloat and knowing Hades I just know he paid for the rent by himself cause that’s just how he is, he did the same with Persephone when they went shopping he insisted on buying things for her and spending money, it’s not insane to think that he did the same thing with Minthe’s apartment and her bills) what’s Persephone’s excuse of sticking around Hades and receiving money and gifts from him? She’s incredibly privileged and the heiress to a whole company if she wanted to actually be independent and get a job of her own she could’ve. She’s not like Minthe, she has lots of powerful connections whereas Minthe only had Hades, so she just enjoys being spoiled and she chooses to use only Hades’ money for the things she wants.

Last thing, but I find it incredibly telling that Hades was never truly there for Minthe emotionally. He only wanted to be there when he wanted something from her, never not once did he stand up for her or show her off half as much as he does with Persephone. He’s loud and open about his relationship with her while we barely even see praise coming from Hades and Minthe, it was almost as if he was embarrassed to be with her similar to what the comic wanted us to think with Minthe’s introduction. He listened to Hera bag on his girlfriend even before Persephone was in the picture for probably centuries and never did he ever say anything about it. He’s fucking friends with her! He’s friends and completely fine with everyone who has ever said something bad about Minthe and he doesn’t even care about all the things they said about her. And you expect me to be on their side? After everything you’ve shown us, I’m supposed to be happy that HxP are the only people getting happy endings and no one else that they screwed over to get there? Absolutely the fuck not.

That’s the end of this rant, I’m tired and incredibly irritated with the main couple they make me want to eat my own scalp. It’s so annoying how everyone lets them get away with anything yet Minthe and her fans are just evil for even having a shred of sympathy for her, like y’all stan a murderer and a slave owner. There’s no right choices.

[kristsingto]

GMMTV 2024 Pt.1 Thoughts

So, after sleeping and processing that GawinKrist wasn’t fixed (don’t have anything against pairs not being fixed as a concept but I had really hoped GawinKrist would be fixed as someone who really enjoyed their partnership; though I guess I should have expected this after seeing them separated by the merch previously) I decided to rewatch all of the trailers released during the livestream and talk a bit about my feelings on each trailer.

The Interest

I’m oddly excited for this, even though it doesn’t seem like what would be my type. It’s probably a combination of finding Bright stunningly handsome and being a fan of P’Waa in general. But because of it being a film, I have no idea when I’ll get to (if ever) see it. So I’m not thinking too much about it. I’m a bit disappointed by the now more lighthearted tone of the storyline, the show being much more of a romcom than the film I expected from the mock trailer. I haven’t watched the original “Man In Love,” so I don’t know what’s closer to the original story, so I won’t comment on it. I hope this film is great – at least the cinematography looks wonderful.

My Precious (series)

I am not interested in watching this show. Feel-good first love M/F romance, specifically this sort of young people in a coming-of-age story, is not something I typically watch, and the trailer hasn’t really hooked this. I feel like I am not the target audience for this. Happy for my friend @gaiaxygang, though, seeing as I’ve heard him talk about wanting to watch My Precious for his cat (Chimon) many, many times.

Ploy’s Yearbook

More teenage love. This time, with a group of main girls named Ploy. I had “I’m Tee Me Too” flashbacks at that, actually. Seeing Aye and Mond in the cast for this had me very excited, as I wanted to see them, but otherwise, not anyone I’m overly attached to. I’ll say I’m much more excited for the adulthood part of this show than the highschool part.

We Are

I wanted a PondPhuwin romcom. I did not understand that asking for one had the monkey’s paw-esque cruel twist attached of it being directed by New Siwaj. Supposedly, this was originally a WabiSabi project. I wonder what made it turn into a GMMTV project? I find it interesting how they brought side pairs in as main pairs this series, in a large ensemble cast. This is also the engineering gayboys rep of the lineup, it seems! I saw those engineering shirts! Though this seems to focus much more on the artistic men, ahaha. I will be tuning into this for my PondPhuwin – even if I have doubts on the ability of it to both be a well-written show (director) and balance 4 main couples (though the trailer seemed to do 4 couples quite well). Anyway, this is hilarious to me knowing @gaiaxygang is a big MarcPawin + WinnySatang and also hates New Siwaj. I laughed very hard.

The Trainee

I love the grounded ensemble comedy vibe of this show. While this is an OffGun series, I feel as if it’ll also be more of a workplace show, which I find charming. Also, I am intrigued by the subplots. I’m really excited for this – it’s a Parbdee production – that’s promising! And okay, I’ll be frank with everyone, I am obviously 100% excited for this show as someone with Offgun as my ultimate favorite BL pair. They look delightful here, and seeing them finally escape college is like food for the soul to me. It’s all I wanted! And they look so adorable here. I’m definitely tuning in for this show, it’s exactly what I wanted but didn’t dare to wish for when I heard the rumors of Off and Gun in the same show. This is OffGun’s world and we’re living in it. Now can Cooking Crush start airing?

Only Boo

The lighthearted tone of this was quite interesting. A show with an idol wannabe is intriguing to me, and I enjoy it, though seeing so many people I do not recognize threw me off at first. I find the idea of not being able to date because of the contract a bit overplayed (though this could be due to me enjoying BL where one is a celebrity or wants to be such) I think I’ll be waiting to see what people say about this show before tuning in, whenever it airs, unless the official trailer really hooks me later on.

Pluto

Now THAT is a show trailer! Most exciting plot GMMTV has shown us in ages, definitely from this lineup. Twin identity swap! (reminds me of Who Are You, what with Namtan, actually) A blind character! Two GL pairs! This looks so promising and is probably the newest type of show we’re getting from GMMTV. Hopefully pt.2 follows suit in really making me excited for the plot of a show. Shocking pairs, but a strong cast and premise. Honestly, this show reminded me of certain k-dramas I have watched in the set-up. Also man, that last scene. This is going to be something really special!

Peaceful Property On Sale

Such promising staff, and it’s for a show with Tay and New? I was grinning so hard. Mook is here also, and looks interesting! Jan! And I fucking love New’s character, he looks amazing, and I loved the hints at hidden depth. This may be the New character that really fully steals my heart. Tay being more shy is also killing me. That NewTay moment! Who would have ever guessed they were going to make a comedy ghost hunting show! Saw some doubts about it being a romance between TayNew, and honestly it doesn’t look like one, but I couldn't care less either way. Show looks stellar, and I love the vibes of it. I didn’t expect something like this, and I’m so hyped about it.

Ossan’s Love Thailand

I was just floored. The least expected Japanese BL remake (I’d have said almost anything before this one) and featuring EarthMix. No idea how I feel about this, so I’ll just move on.

My Golden Blood

I wanted a vampire series. Setting aside my personal feelings, I am definitely tuning into this to see how it goes. Hopefully the effects are better in the proper series. I find it charming they play basketball together (fitting to their real selves) and I find it great seeing Neo here! Honestly, though, this show is very much giving the vibe of a Wattpad book. And I could enjoy that (I did, after all, read Wattpad stories a lot when I was younger) or I could not. We’ll see. It’s definitely very interesting to see GMMTV produce a show like this. I’ll keep my hopes up.

Kidnap

Very cautiously excited for this series. If you know me you know I love kidnapping – which might sound weird but like it’s all about that reluctant kidnapper falling in love with the man he wasn’t meant to have feelings for. Vice versa falling for someone who kidnapped you and having to reckon with the complicated feelings that come with that, along with the consequences of everything, because there’s a reason for the kidnapping in the first place! Not very big on the cast but goddamn if I didn’t go “Man, I wish there was a kidnapping BL for GMMTV 2024. Too bad I don’t think they’d go for it,” like two days ago. So yeah, I’m excited, even if I don’t have full faith.

Summer Night

Might watch this for Phuwin, but honestly, not really feeling this. Guys who like the same girl, another highschool series where Phuwin is meant to be the “unpopular loser” type, a pretty basic premise. I’m just not very interested in the story – Phuwin is cute as hell though, and I like JDPP, so I’ll probably tune into this.

Wandee Goodday

This one looks ridiculous, and I like it. It also seems to be the overtly sexual show of the lineup, which is quite interesting. A friend-with-benefits story with GreatInn. One of the stronger comedic shows to me, and I’m interested in where it’ll go. I’m tuning in.

Highschool Frenemy

A remake of a drama I never watched. So, I feel like this is the darker highschool story of the lineup for 2024, which is interesting. Honestly, all of the darker shows in this lineup have felt like a breath of fresh air, oddly enough, mainly because of the sheer amount of lighter shows. A part of me wonders if pt.2 will reverse this feeling, or if this is how GMMTV is planning the next year to be like. I don’t have much to say on this one, might watch it, might not. I’ll just say, though, that this trailer did not hold my attention at all.

My Love Mix-Up

The moment I saw that eraser I went: oh my god it’s GeminiFourth Kieta Hatsukoi. I actually thought about this before? I was like haha, what if GMMTV picks up Kieta Hatsukoi, it would fit in, haha. And in my head I was like well it would go to GeminiFourth or something. So I’m gonna claim I was on the wavelength for this. However, I am not that excited. They could have gotten something else, I swear. And I’m not the biggest fan of the source material in the first place. We did not need another Japanese BL remake. But I guess the story does fit the GeminiFourth vibe, so we’ll see. Now I’m gonna be on edge if they ever remake Utsukushii Kare (my favorite BL of all time).

Enigma s2

Okay, so, I’ve been saying I want this every day since I watched Enigma. The vibe of the narration immediately got my brain racing, like, is this it? Then Win showed up and I was still in disbelief, but yeah! Enigma s2! We’re getting it! I am so excited to see it, and I’m incredibly curious about how it’ll go. Are they getting Bright back as the main villain? What’s Toey’s character going to be like? Is this going to focus more on Ajin’s story? What about Prim? I’m so, so excited for this one. And I hope it keeps up the level of quality s1 was on!

EXCITED FOR, 100% WATCHING

Enigma s2, The Trainee, Pluto, Peaceful Property

WILL LIKELY BE WATCHING

Kidnap, We Are, My Golden Blood, Wandee Goodday

MAYBE WILL WATCH

Ploy’s Yearbook, Only Boo, Ossan’s Love, My Love Mix-up, High School Frenemy, Summer Night

Conclusion: I was a bit disappointed by the same-y nature of a lot of these shows. We Are particularly is a letdown in premise despite a great cast, there’s a lot of remakes (and like I’m not against remakes in general, but there’s too many and I don’t understand exactly why), and the M/F dramas seem very basic. There’s also a LOT of BL, and yet some of them are probably being pushed to pt.2 (FirstKhao, Joongdunk, Forcebook) which signals even more BL? I’m starting to wonder which of these projects will come out in 2025, because there is just so much. Anyway, if you know me you know I’ll probably mainly be waiting for pt.2 to see Krist’s project for 2024. But in the meanwhile I’m happy OffGun is as real as always, PondPhuwin is back, TayNew are in a show, and we got an interesting GL.

[my-mt-heart]

Hi MT, I just need to say something that's bothering me for weeks.

Yes, Melissa is back, obviously. Yes, we'll probably all watch The Book Of Carol. Does that mean we aren't allowed to state our opinion anymore?

Lately, I see people hyping S2 including rumors, sightings and pics. Which is amazing of course but personally, I still have and probably will always have a bad taste in my mouth.

It's the Daryl show. It's been for 1 1/2 years. Since they announced Melissa is out and no matter how many times NR says, :she's always been involved", she wasn't.

The whole show revolves around him. Him leaving his home, getting lost, finding allies and a way back home. Even with a heavy Carol oriented second season, it's still the Daryl show. What about the subtitle for S3 or maybe S4? The main title will always be the same, Daryl Dixon.

I don't want to shit in anyone's oatmeal. It's great that people are happy and hyped for S2. I can't wait to see our beautiful Carol and Melissa again. BUT I was hyped for a Caryl SO. Look at all we get at the moment. Still no Melissa. Yes, she's been always invisible until a certain point but it's not her equal SO, it's still Daryls and will always be. In articles, interviews, they'll always refer to its name, Daryl Dixon.

If anyone is thinking it isn't intentional, I'm sorry to burst your bubble. It is, very obvious so. The SO can have 5 subtitles, it's still the Daryl Dixon show.

It doesn't matter if Melissa was pushed out or if she left on her own will (it's still making me mad but it's a different topic), as soon as she was on board they should've gone with Raise The Dead or another title.

They didn't, they won't, they will always disrespect Carol and Melissa, no matter if she chose to come back. It continues to be the Daryl Dixon Spin Off.

Everyone hyping Melissa’s return and hoping for good Caryl stories is right to do so. Some may not think so, but I’m still holding out hope (I wouldn’t have any at all if Melissa’s EP title didn’t carry any weight). That being said, everyone who’s pointing out the issues with the title, other story elements, or the things being said in interviews are right to do so too. I wish it boiled down to one’s own outlook, positivity or negativity, but it doesn’t (I hate that dichotomy). It’s not on any of the fans. Yes, there are those who cross boundaries, who harass and threaten, and that’s not okay. Criticism in general though? Not only is it okay, it’s the only chance there is to change things. You seem to think Melissa/Carol will never be treated equally. Personally, I think it is possible 🤷🏻‍♀️ AMC needs to understand what the target audience wants, they need to know their revenue depends on how well they deliver what the target audience wants, and they need to hire a showrunner with the authority and the insight into the target audience to actually deliver what they want. How can we help ensure that? Talking about it. You don’t like that Carol’s name is only a subtitle? Say so. Don’t like the shipbaiting? Caryl’s ambiguity? Retcons? The gaslighting in the media? Say so. Or, if you just want to focus on what you’re looking forward to, do that. That’s my long-winded way of saying, yes, you’re allowed to have an opinion and you’re allowed to voice it respectfully provided you also respect the opinions of others who disagree ❤️

(I don’t think I need to say this at this point, but for what it’s worth, I share all of your frustrations)

[daisydood]

Ramblings About God of War: Odin addition!

First of all: MY ASKS ARE OPEN!! I'm running out of ideas for character analysis jelp

Note: yeah I know I said I was gonna make Freyas next but I wanna talk about how much I hate him. He sucks so much i hope he dies again all my homies hate Odin he sucks so much you don't even understand

Odin: The top Gaslighter, Gatekeeper, and Girlbosser

Tis' the season to point out the diffrent manipulation tactis odin uses! God, Odin is so horrible. Hes a horrible dad, grandfather, friend, role model, and basically everything ever.

There are few things that motivate villians. The main ones are fame, money, vengence, and power. I think the thing that motivates him is solely power. He wants power over everyone. He claims all he wants is knowledge and vengence, but he just wants power, in my opinon.

For the first time Atrues went to Asgard, Odin excpictly stated he was only in it for the knowledge. But he wants power. As the saying goes, Knowledge equals Power. I know basing this entire character Analysis on one old saying doesnt make much sense, but hear me out here.

Odin loves being on top of the world. He loves having people do anything he wishes. He keeps (or, well, kept) his trusty servant, Heimdall near him at all times. He did, however, manipulate people countless times, which i will get into later. OKAY NOT THE POINT-

My point is; When Odin said that he only wants knowledge, he was telling a half truth. Odin wants knowledge in order to gain power. Because Odin knows so much about everything ever, (or, at least he says he does) people are bound to trust him more. ergo; The knowledge that Odin has equals power over the people who don't know. ...ergo knowledge = power but YOU GET THAT BY NOW.

Each manipulation tactic my least favorite old guy used on his targets

Thor: Odin earned Thors dedication by a very common tactic: Bullying. Hes so unnecessarily mean to Thor, and I think he does this because he can not emotionally manipulate him in his normal tactics, so he just resorts to bullying him like a middle schooler.

Atreus: Promises and flatter. Atreus' entire storyline is wanting answers. And here comes Odin, trying his hardest to convince Atreus that he can have those answers if he just helps him out with translating a mask. But, obviously, he has worse intentions than he claims.

Kratos: Harassment. This is the last tactic that manipulators try to use. Similar to Thors, Odin can't do anything to Kratos. After all the ranting Odin said when he went to Kratos' and Atreus' house all he said was "No," then almost killed his son. So, the only way to get him to do what he wants is physical violence.

Heimdall: literally nothing what happened there he came out the womb worshipping him

Edit: @/pgirl1986 made a really good point about Heimdall !!! Go check it out😱😱

alright folks‼️

That's all I've got for him. I hate him so much. I might add more manipulation tactics later but I think that's it. My asks are open for any thing you want me to analyze about god of war, I might even do some animes 😱😱 okay I think that's it time for tags

[prototypelq]

One of the things I really, really, Really miss in MHW is, ironically enough, variety.

MHW is a game with dozens of amazing monster designs, all with unique attacks, strengths and vulnerabilities. And what does the game force the player to do?

Grind your chosen monster again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again, cause you want that upgrade and it costs a (monster name)-gem, which has around 3% drop chance.

I think I won't be breaking any new ground by saying this has been not the best decision on the designer's part.

*to be fair, only the top-est of the top upgrades require a gem, and in my experience you don't Really need those upgrades anyway, cause they will just break the game numbers. that said, my actual experience is just the main story, and I haven't touched the enhanced monsters or the raid ones, also I have not played Iceborne, and I know for certain that the numbers in that DLC are Completely broken right off the start, so maybe that gem upgrade is actually a requirement for it. I can't say for certain

This 'single-monster grind for the rare part you need' is the thing that knocked me off MHW for a while, I am just really tired of farming a single enemy like that. It's so repetitive and boring, despite the combat in the game being stellar. I have tried to switch weapons to make the grind more engaging, however, the skill ceilling for both the weapon and the monster attack patterns is too high far that to work, and you can't get the Gem if you're switching to a less powerful monster version, so that strategy won't work either.

This whole situation is outrageous to me, especially when the game has a few monsters that I have not fought even Once. For ex. Uragaan, it just looks like a Radobaan reskin on a surface level and I don't need it's gear, so I have not engaged with it even once, also Radobaan is just more badass. Here I am, instead, grinding a single monster over and over and over.

Okay, I think I've conveyed my disappointment quite adequately, now for the solution. I think this is a great time to remember about Dauntless.

For anyone who doesn't know, Dauntless is/was s f2p online monster-hunter and I've been a big fan of it for a few years. (sadly, the game has been bought by a chinese magnate and is being driven into the ground by them)

Obviously, as a monster-hunter, in Dauntless the core loop of slaying a beast > getting gear from it > slaying a more powerful beast is the same as in MHW. The difference is that you don't need that much parts from a monster to craft gear (about three kills will secure you an armour, five total should be enough for a weapon on top, those are not exact numbers, and I am speaking from memory), buuuut you need special Orbs to upgrade it. You get Orbs from doing Patrols, and here is the simple beauty of the Dauntless' solution to the grind problem-

Patrols are hunts where your target monster is randomised from a pool of monsters. Later in game, you get Heroic Patrols, which are the same, but for more powerful monster versions, and some new elite ones start appearing only in this category.

Patrols force you to engage with ALL the monsters in the game, and prevent the grind from becoming overbearing. In Dauntless, Pangar and Hellion might seem like model reuse, However the game forces me to experience both fights, and the attack patterns of these two are quite different.

So, the game loop of Dauntless is much more interesting and varied than MHW, because it makes use of 100% of its own content, while MHW has you repeatedly engaging with only 1/31 of it (= monster you grind for gear / total big monster count base game).

From my understanding, this is more of a design oversight, rather than a deliberate mistake, as the Monster Hunter series is quite old, and the 'streamlined monster grind for rare part' was the core eastern design of the series for most of that history, made primarily for the local market. However, this is still a design flaw and MH World was primarily made to bring new audience to the series, so this was the perfect time to reassess some of the carried-over design philosophy.

[moonstone27ls]

Unicorn Warriors Eternal ep 8...

Not gonna even give a spoiler warning because... its going on an old trope thats annoying the hell out of me... actually two but I’ll get to that in a minute.

So several twists in turns with this. Good fight scenes. I actually applaud them trying to give Edred’s character some depth. By questioning/and even looking scared about their future. Soooo...  obviously we all know the Evil’s not dead. I do believe (probably possessed) Merlin when he said it was Otto. Otto’s character was very suspicious. But I don’t think either one is the evil. I think the “Evil” has agents. Fox was one of them, she’s eliminated or been replaced. Otto couldn’t (or probably wasn’t the main target) do the job and so now its Merlin. But I wonder will they have to kill Merlin? Or can Merlin get set free? Maybe...

Though I’ll be honest the factor that it went after Melinda. STILL makes me think her mother’s in there. She’s either fused or part of the “Evil” because that was always her ultimate goal to remove her magic.  

Soooo... Winston is back.. werewolf not shocked. I have mixed feelings. I know earlier I said he could be of help. But... I think the problem is the execution. There’s just a few problems in general. I don’t know if its the writing, planning, or Tartakovsky.... he never has been the BEST at romances. (Samurai Jack, *coughs the conception of Spear’s daughter* awkwardddd)

But okay gonna say it again... I FREAKIN’ HATE LOVE TRIANGLES. They bring out the worse in every character. Now before some Winston shipper gets on my ass, gonna say shutup.(sorry/not sorry) I love Edred, I GEUNINELY love this character. I want more development. But this doesn’t bring out his good side.

Argument wise as to him getting bit... its a little of all three. Melinda/or Emma?(talk on that later) didn’t have full control/ Edred probably should have at least put him closer/and Winston ... BECAUSE YOU ARE A STUPID IDIOT WHO SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN FOLLOWING OBVIOUS DANGER/AND THERE IS NO WAY YOU ARE THAT FAST. Guy can’t even beat Alfie/Seng at soccer so no not buying that. Their argument is getting tiresome. And while I get Melinda/Emma? is confused I’m like “GOD GIRL SMACK THEM BOTH AND SAY “I’M NOT PROPERTY”.

As for their fight... uhh both’s to blame. And yes I’m being bias, Winston has been PURPOSELY poking at him. But I also get that Edred doesn’t fully understand, I think he’s trying but he’s not all there. Melinda/Emma are sorta cosharing the helm. So yes naturally he would get pissed to hear a cocky little twit brag that his wife(I’m assuming they married/or would have?) is with another.

And before someone again bites my ass, I’m not ignoring his behavior. Yes but as I said love triangles bring out THE WORSE in a character. Its why I couldn’t enjoy Legend of Korra/or SVTFOE. Plus again, Edred is starting to realize that they are... in very AWKWARD situations. Because again I mentioned he’s realizing the bigger picture. They are suppose to be in those bodies temporarily, they never planned/nor wanted to stay in control and hold those incarnations hostage.

But I’ll restate this, I’m getting SICK AND TIRED OF WINSTON. Winston have some actual character development.HAVE SOME GODDAMN AWARENESS THAT THIS IS BIGGER THAN YOU! ITS NOT A GODDAMN GAME!

But thats why I sorta am not on board with him joining the team. There is no ah-ha moment. There is no real development because the writing is not consistent. Again I dunno if its the writing/or Tartakovsky, but one minute Winston goes from typical “werewolf monster”. To being fully self aware. Now I could have found that episode more enjoyable IF Winston had actually struggled with his ability. But the story flipflops. Heck a part of me is almost convinced he’s faking feralness just to make Emma come back to him.

And why? Okay first scene, he’s eating/scaring people yes. But he stops when he sees Melinda. Heck him shifting back/and forth from the moon. Now I could have gone with that. But he clearly shows control when they’re with Merlin and when he starts a fight with Edred. When Emma/Melinda screams he VOCALLY says her name. (sorry if I’m rambling)

The point is there is NO STRUGGLE. We don’t see it or get it.  I would hope we’ll get some actual development next ep but I dunno considering they only have two eps left. The story can not decide what Winston is. Just makes him look like some hellbent lover determined to get Emma back and remove his competition (yes I’m calling it he would have killed Edred if he got the chance).

I wanted some ACTUAL story with this. Not more of Winston being in the way/love triangle/ she’s MINE FOREVER, SHE LOVES ONLY ME. Its so goddamn annoying.

In my opinion (again dunno the circumstances). I would have liked to see Winston struggle with this. Actually act like he was claiming to be. Struggling to stop himself from even hurting Emma. Emma/or Edred would have to talk. SOME COMPROMISE. Let Winston actually see that Edred does genuinely love Melinda. That this isn’t some love triangle/rectangle? they are just in a loop they had no choice but to say yes to. Now one could argue he sorta had that in his argument with Edred... but I don’t count that.

Cause it was brief. There was no actual worrying. Heck I would have liked it if he looked at Edred and been all “Okay you’re so smart... this had happened to you. Would Melinda still want you? How would you approach this?”. Actually have them do something OTHER than fighting over a girl.

Then there’s Melinda... or Emma? No I’m not complaining about them. More of their situation. There’s also a lack of consistency in their storyline. We can all come to an agreement, that to a degree these reincarnated spirits are not.... “fully baked” (sorry for that analogy I couldn’t think of a better comparison). 

Okay I get that. Thats why Alfie is hippy/sorta going with the flow with his dual partnership. Edred has no full strength. And Emma was in partial control. But again it comes to mind.... how much in control is Melinda in? And why can’t she remember everything? In the beginning I thought it was because Emma was trying to fight for control. Thus we had that whole her literally arguing with Melinda to fight those statues.

But... here’s where the consistency is bothering me. She literally had an argument with Melinda in the spiritual plane or whatever. Thats the Melinda we know. And to a degree she’s still there. I even think she was there when she confronted her dad. What bothers me is that spirit wise when she had to go back to Emma. She SAW EDRED, she recognized him. That is HER LOVER, the same way Emma/Winston see each other.

So if we have this why is Melinda pushing her lover away? Why can’t she remember her life moments with Edred? Some are coming back... but hmmm... is it again she’s not fully baked?/because she shares duality with Emma? 

I just I don’t feel Tartakovsky would be showing all their past and had that last episode with flashbacks of their lovestory IF this wasn’t real. I know Winston was saying it to goad Edred. But I don’t believe Melinda’s “in love with Winston”. I think whe its Winston, thats Emma at the helm. But a part of me wishes I could hear them talk about Edred/talk about how this love rectangle is problematic/ I wanna see MELINDA (not Emma) share her moments again with Edred.

Because again I don’t think  Tartakovsky would be showing us this if he thought Melinda/Edred were a doomed relationship. I feel like this is to cement/ “yeah they’re a thing. Its not puppy love either”.

I dunno, but then again this is all an allergory for him about growing up/adulthood/changing blahblah. Anddddd Tartakovsky’s a great show giver but not the best at romance. Sooo whoooo knows. I just wish this love drama would end XD