#SHE‘S A FLAWED PERSON

[alma-artts]

My roman empire is how the majority of people misjudge every single gilmore girls character it angers me so much

[curseddistinguishedly]

E!False vs HC!False is actually really interesting if we look at it through creation VS creator perspective

E!False is a reflection of HC!False‘s flaws and strengths. She acts the way False would in her situation, but she lacks the identity that comes from living experience of which she remembers none. E!False is in constant fear because she’s not in control of her life, she has no knowledge to understand this world, she’s been just thrown into, there are no previous achievements, events, people which would help her identify herself so she has to find these herself, but she’s unable to due to her debilitating paranoia, which ones again is a flaw we can in HC!False. E!False tells us of her faint steampunk memories and evil plans of revenge, but the return of full memory doesn’t do anything for her. She‘s already lost in identity that is not hers but of someone that is the reason for her suffering, and the saddest part is that she doesn’t really have time to explore herself beyond that. She’s broken by HC!False leaving, because that’s the only person who can see her, but she cannot get that closure.

HC!False on the other hand can identify herself and others, she is the 4X times MCC champion, 10+UHCs, one of the earliest Hermits, Queen of Heads Hearts and Bodyparts and also the main narrator of E!False‘s story. She knows everything and the moment she realises that, her paranoia that she had in her first crossover episode decreases by like a hundred. She’s unsure but knows enough that she understands how to deal with things surrounding her, although still with unnecessary caution. HC!False deliberately tries to hide her flaws from the viewer veiling the story to be more about how it was a necessary, not even evil, deed, to exile E!False, supposedly violent, without memories into The Rift, something she knows nothing about. False built her own reflection but the moment it started reflecting her own faults she disregards it as something to be afraid of, and she doesn’t understand (or accept) that she’s part of the problem. HC!False doesn’t see herself in this mirror, she sees something more twisted, out of her control and so she throws the mirror out as if she won’t see it again in the glass window of her castle.

HC!False tells us everything, E!False doesn’t acknowledge the viewer half as much as HC!False does. Instead we‘re shown what she‘s going through but it’s the HC!False that tells the reason for these events, many times contradicting them. Because HC!False would say that E!False is doing good:) and then the next episode E!False is showing us her head collection. And we don’t know why False contradicts the events, it could be lack of knowledge, lack of integrity, good faith and on and on.

The point is — E!False is HC!False, but HC!False isn’t E!False. E!False’s attempts to find that identity beyond are faulty because things outside it require experience she simply never had, but there’s recognition of herself as not a good guy, HC!False either doesn’t have or denies that she has.

I am the shape you made me. Filth teaches flith.

… or whatever

[therapyandprozac]

Rough Drabble 🙈 - Long distance is nearly impossible for everyone…except of course the scarlet witch

Wanda x reader — no smut, just fluffy as shit —

Words: 580ish

You are sitting in the airport, her playlist in your headphones, and your bright pink suitcase at your feet. You’re waiting for Wanda to come pick you up, but you don’t mind. You found a nice quiet corner, with the least amount of people and the most amount of plants. Your phone rings for a facetime call and you answer immediately.

“Hello, my love!” You say.

“Hi baby, I went to the wrong airport. Stupid GPS took me to the one just south of us. I’ll be there in…” There is a pause where you can tell she’s looking for her ETA. “27 minutes! I’m so sorry but I’m on my way!”

“Don’t worry about it Wanda, it's really okay! I’ll see you soon, love you!” You smile as she raises her hand and signs “I love you” in ASL. Hanging up, your music starts again and you rest your head against the wall. It was a six-hour flight and you were exhausted. You’re lightly jostled awake. Through foggy eyes, you see long red hair and jump to your feet. Hugging her so tight, you were glad to have her in your arms again. Hugs, tears, and kisses are shared between the two of you. It had only been 4 months since you last saw each other but it felt like a year. She throws your carry-on over her shoulder and holds your hand, on the way to the car.

“Look see I made a sign and got flowers and everything for when you got off the plane but my dumb-ass GPS made me miss it.” Wanda says feigning anger as you open her car door.

“They are lovely, baby.” You lean over and kiss her over the armrest. “I appreciate the thought.” You whisper into her mouth as she shakes her head.

“Alright, home!” She says triumphantly as she kisses you a final time before starting the car. She tries to turn on the music but the Bluetooth doesn’t connect, she fuses with it for a bit. You open your phone and laugh.

“Your car likes me better! I guess it’s my turn to pick the music!” You stick out your tongue at her and she jokingly glares at you. You put on your long distance playlist and hold her hand for the whole ride. Talking about the flight and catching up, you remember just how much you missed her. While she‘s focused on the road. She starts singing to the music and you smile. Her voice is like a blanket wrapping around you, safe and warm. You’re focused on the profile of her face, the curve of her nose, her beautiful blue eyes. You are completely enamored by the entirety of her.

When you arrive home you drop your stuff just inside the door. Before she pushes you gently against the wall and kisses you. Low and slow, not out of passion or need. Just those kisses you give after so long apart, soft, and love filled.

Most people are awful and I can always find a flaw or something I hate about them. She’s the only person who you don’t have anything you don’t like about her, she’s perfect in every way. She doesn’t see what I see…she sees flaws and imperfections, where they simply do not exist.

[imminent-danger-came]

I love reading your tags- especially when theres just even MORE info dumping there.

The least favorite character ask made me giggle a bit, "This character that appeared for a single episode is actually pretty cool. And this character is really awesome in this particular context. But ALSO I really like this character with very little actual screentime."

You‘re absolutely right though! Characters whose only purpose is to fill a particular role are chosen really well too! Like the Host Girl; sure, she doesn’t really have a personality or anything, but she doesn’t NEED to have one. As you said, she‘s collateral damage. She gives us more insight to Wukong, she shows us just how ruthless he can be. He‘s willing to kill the epitome of innocence: A child. A defenseless little girl with a cutesy voice, who was just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

(It‘s also worth a mention that, contrary to Wukong, she revealed a softer side of Macaque. Not to the extent the fandom built it up, but in an arguably more meaningful way. He‘s worried/feels bad for a total stranger. Even if it was only a concerned look, she once again gave us a deeper insight to a member of the main cast.)

And the characters with less focus either have really genuine interactions (Yellow Tusk with Azure) that just endear you to them, or they drop a banger line (like the Jade Emperor) before their purpose is fulfilled.

Nothing wrong with being a plot device if it‘s done well!

This wasn‘t really much of an ask rather than me rambling. Sorry.

I welcome rambles in my ask box! Half of you that show up in my ask box could just write your own analysis posts.

And you're also totally right! There isn't anything wrong with characters that are there just to function as plot devices. Sometimes a child is there just to be a child, and that's all they need to be. I think I feel this way about Megapolis (a name for the city that hasn't even been mentioned in show). Like it's a city filled with innocent people, it's MK & the Gang's home, and that's all it kinda needs to be tbh. LMK has to be extremely tight with what it chooses to focus on because of time constraints, and it does that well. When it comes down to it, focusing on the characters/plot is more important than focusing on the setting (which I think debatably wouldn't contribute much anyways—like we don't need more of a reason to care about the city, you know?).

I have this same opinion when it comes to the Demon Bull Family, which may be an unpopular take, but the truth is that a lot of their development happened off-screen. After ROTSQ and until we see them again in 3x06, it's clear that there have been positive changes between Red Son and his parents. I think I've seen some folk want Red Son to cut off his parents entirely, but that kinda goes against the core of his character. Part of Red Son's appeal for me is his complete devotion to his family despite their flaws (saving them in ROTSQ and EYD, attempting to save them in 4x09). Red Son and Princess Iron Fan only ever wanted world domination because that's what DBK wanted, and after that failed—they gave up. They hit the bricks. Red Son then started a food business with his dad (jealous of MK and Pigsy's noodle shop mayhaps?), and I think it's telling that DBK would even agree to do that to begin with. DBK and PIF's disregard of Red Son may not be acknowledged in the way people want, and I get that, but it's not that it didn't happen. I'd say there's another jump in their development between the end of 3x14 and the beginning of 4x09, where the fact that DBK calls out for Red Son as he gets taken away shows a closeness between them that we hadn't seen before. It's also clear that DBK has grown past the person who only wanted to create the world in his own image, chastising Azure Lion:

Demon Bull King: "How many times must you be struck down chasing this same foolish dream?"

(4x09 Roast of the Monkie Kids)

-

(Plus "This pursuit of yours has warped your mind brother—it is the only reason I could imagine that you would have the nerve to assault my home and harm my family!" echoing PIF in 1x10 "Come to your senses, this power has poisoned your mind!"; Azure unreasonably considers DBK a traitor like DBK had unreasonably considered Red Son a traitor, etc.)

DBK, unlike plenty of other antagonists in LMK (Spider Queen, LBD, and Azure specifically), learned to stop and accept the world as it was. He failed as a conqueror, but he still had his family, and he could try and not fail as a father for his "half-baked son"—or that's how I interpret DBK anyhow.

((I also want to bring up the fact that DBK didn't dare use the Samadhi Fire ring he had to power himself up with Red Son's furnace in AHIB. Like, even the Mr. Bull King has some restraint—there are prices too great to pay for the world, hence why he gave up on world domination after 1x10, when he almost killed his wife and son.))

To me it makes the Demon Bull Family feel like characters that exist outside of MK & the Gang, and can grow/change even when they're not on screen with our main characters, and I think that's cool. We also legitimately didn't have time for anything else.

[ot7heaven]

NEVER LET YOU GO

Pairing: idol!hobi x manager!reader

Genre: fluff, angst

Words: 4275

Warnings: none

Chapter 1: Hot Chocolate

Next Chapter: San Man

Series Masterlist

OT7Heaven Masterlist

Baek Hana is the type of person you’d want if you were in any kind of trouble. Quick witted and intuitive, she has the impressive skill of being able to read people like a book. However, you mustn’t let her quiet, calm exterior fool you. There’s a storm raging inside of her. She lives for weekends in karaoke booths. Weekends away on the coast. Loud concerts and hectic festivals. Letting her hair down is a necessity for her. Though she’s kind, polite and well spoken, Hana loves to let loose when she’s off the clock. She’s the life of her friends’ parties. The firework in all of their lives. It’s not often that you meet someone as calm as a puddle and as vibrant as the Northern Lights. She’s special. Special in ways that she’s too modest to understand. That’s the thing about people who are late bloomers, her personality is just as gorgeous as her face. Her friends never have to cry alone, dance alone, or get into mischief alone. She’s the type of friend we all want, whether or not we deserve her. She’s the type of girl mom’s would love their son’s to bring home. Those lucky enough to call themselves her closest friends fondly call her by her childhood nickname of Hunny. She’s… a force of nature in an understated way.  That’s Hana - a woman who lives her life full of love, in all of its forms. If you’re lucky enough to see that side of Hana, you’re part of her inner circle. Despite all of the pain and misery that life brings as you grow up, Hunny’s the type of person who’s never seen without a smile.

Or rather, that was the old Hunny. Since her boyfriend left her she’s not been herself. She’s lost and lonely. She‘s 27 - this should be when she’s happy and carefree. He was perfect. She had to constantly remind herself that Gong Yoo hadn’t jumped out of the screen to sweep her off her feet. Tall, charming and smart. Kind, funny and adventurous. For almost 4 years they were an unbreakable team. The golden couple. He encouraged her to bring out the silly side she had to hide as she grew up. She found herself getting lost in new hobbies and interests that were only brought into her life because she met him. The Yin to her Yang. The stars to her moon. The kimchi to her fried rice. He fiercely embraced her flaws with such enthusiasm that she felt invincible. With every progression in his career as a gallery curator, her pride grew and grew. She was immensely proud to stand by his side as his partner. He felt like the one. He wasn’t perfect in many senses of the word but he was Hunny’s brand of perfect.

They still had their own independent lives, preferring to live alone. But, nevertheless, she thought he might pop the big question soon. She could feel it. That’s what made the break up so shocking and hard to digest. They were going to spend Christmas together and celebrate with all of their friends. The whole month of December felt special and extra festive. There was magic in the atmosphere that gave Hunny an abundance of optimism. Then, just a few days before Christmas her partner in crime decided that he didn’t love her anymore. He said it was over between them and nothing could make him stay. She tried to talk things through but his mind was made up. He just saw her as a friend and was too stubborn to fight for the passionate love they used to share. People change as they grow but they should have grown together. Mundane is safe, and sometimes that’s perfect. She thought they were comfortable and deep in love, not boring and stale. Their mutual friends refuse to take sides but she knows that she’s the one they should be supporting. She feels wronged and betrayed by his lack of respect and understanding. He can’t bring himself to answer her calls. Maybe he feels consumed by guilt and doesn’t want to add to her pain. But he’s the one who caused her pain. Breakups are never meant to be easy but she felt like the shell of who she once was. It was only her second big breakup and it made her question if love was unnecessarily cruel for the sake of being cruel.

At least her career was going well. She was the assistant manager of an upmarket spa in her hometown. She was well on her way to becoming the general manager of the spa when she got the opportunity of a lifetime. She was invited to interview for a position at a fancy hotel, under the same company as the spa she was working at. This new spa was set in a very fancy hotel in Seoul. The bright lights of Gangnam could be the escape she needed. Her hometown just reminded her of her ex who was avoiding her. The comforting streets where she grew up only seemed to act as purgatory for the happy memories of a relationship that she’d lost forever. The memories would never leave, even though they were painstakingly reminding her of loss. When she was offered the promotion, Hunny felt a suffocating weight lift off her shoulders. Perhaps all of the pain could be left behind, along with everybody who needed to be left in the past.

Hunny was tired. She was more than just tired. She was physically and mentally exhausted. She knew that the promotion at work would come with more responsibility, but she was ready for that. Her body just needed to get used to the new life she found herself living. As the nation’s capital city, Seoul was bound to be full on. It was bound to be loud. It was bound to be full of bright lights. This was something that she knew. It was still overwhelming for her. All she wanted to do was spend her Saturday in bed catching up on Business Proposal. But she suddenly got a craving for hot chocolate, the kind with too many marshmallows thrown in for good measure. And when that tempestuous craving hits, there’s simply no ignoring it. So she dragged herself out of her warm bed and stumbled over to her closet.

She knew better than to decide against a hoodie considering it was still the middle of March. The sun may have chased away the rain but the wind continues to howl outside her window. The kind of howl that is making her wish she had the ingredients to make herself a hot chocolate at home. Unfortunately she can never remember to buy milk. Something so simple, and yet, it often seems to slip her mind. She still wanted to look good because she could see someone she knows. Though the chances of that happening are low, she still feels the need to make some kind of effort. Trust today to be the day when everyone she knows in this city decides to go to the same cafe.

She drew two symmetrical flicks on her eyelids. If there’s one thing Hunny can do, it’s draw her eyeliner perfectly on the first try. She’d call that useless skill a party trick if it were interesting enough. She threw her hair in a calculated messy bun and looked around her room for her pink lip gloss. It was on her desk as she used it yesterday. It’s always on her desk because she uses it daily and needs to locate it quickly. So, where is it now? After searching hastily all over her room, she finds it on the rug under her head to toe mirror. She picks up her lip gloss and applies it. She lets out a yawn as she places the lip gloss back on the desk. She inspects her outfit in the full length mirror. Black skinny jeans and a black hoodie with a Bart Simpson design across it. She laughs at the funny cartoon on her chest. Bart is leaning against his skateboard, wearing sunglasses, as a speech bubble above him reads “eat my shorts”. Equally comfy and cute, her outfit is almost complete. 

With a quick nod, she walks out into the corridor, grabbing a small leather bag and a black and white tartan scarf. She slightly parts her bangs in the mirror near the door to her apartment, making a mental note to book a hair appointment sometime next week. Another thing that she’s not been on top of lately. The weather outside is still on her mind, praying for a short and dry spring season. Hunny really hates being cold. She’s so sensitive to the cold that it can get painful for her. Hoping that the weather is kind to her, she makes sure she has everything she needs. Purse? Yes. Keys? Yes. Shoes? Yes? Scarf? Yes. Sliding her phone into her jeans pocket, Hunny psychs herself up to brave the cold. She takes a short moment to enjoy standing in her warm apartment. And then just as swiftly as she hopes to return home, she opens the door to her apartment and speed walks out of the building.

Finally feeling the comforting warmth of the hot drink in her hand, Hunny makes her way to the exit. The weather wasn't as horrendous as the wind made her believe it to be. She decided to have a slow stroll home, clutching the warm beverage close to her chest. Nearing the exit, she heard her name. But that can’t be right. They called out her nickname. Everyone she knows in this city knows her by her legal name. They're all colleagues. She hasn’t gotten close enough to anyone to allow them to use her childhood nickname. She’s been Hunny for so long that when someone calls her Hana, she knows there’s some distance between the two of them. But the voice calls out “Hunny” again. Taken back a little, she looks around until a pair of piercing eyes meet hers. Overcome with joy and shock, the smile on her face is unmissable. Walking as fast as she can with a hot drink in her hand, she walks over to the table in the darkly lit corner of the cafe.

“Hobi oppa? Is it really you?” Hunny says with a laugh in disbelief. Of course it’s him. She’ll always be able to pick him out of a sea of people. He’s forever been the person who stands out in a crowd. His bright inquisitive eyes have always lit up like festival lanterns.

The tall man grins from ear to ear and confirms. “It’s really me”. He giggles and rises from his chair to engulf Hunny in a hug that feels like home. He no longer smells like cheap hairspray and hair gel. There’s an air of sophistication about him. She’s never smelt this cologne before but she already knows it’s a new favourite of hers. “Have I really changed so much that you don’t recognize me?” 

“No, you’re still as handsome as the day you left,” she remarks as she looks up to inspect his face. His smile still reaching his eyes. Joy written all over his face. She doesn’t know if Hobi will ever lose his childlike wonder. It’s woven into his DNA, surely. It’s been so long since she felt his warm embrace. She didn’t realise how much she missed being squashed by his arms. “It’s just a shock to see you considering you’re probably very busy with work.”

“Yeah, I have been busy lately. I’m actually just taking a break from dance practice.” Hobi says, as he takes in his childhood friend. There’s something different about her. He probably wouldn't have recognised her if they hadn’t have spent their teenage years glued to each other’s side. “So, how have you been lately? Take a seat,” he smiles, gesturing to the seat next to him.

“I don’t even know where to begin! So much has happened since we last spoke.” She says with a slight sigh. 

“I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to keep in touch. We said we were going to be best friends for life when I left to become a trainee. And I’ve seen you just once since I left.”

“Actually, you’ve seen me twice,” she teases with a smirk. “You came home for New Year and your birthday. And then you were so busy being a trainee, working hard to make your dreams come true. It’s really not your fault that we lost touch, Hobi. It’s just one of those things.” She places her scarf on the back of her chair.

“I guess you’re right. But I should have tried to find your number each time I had to get a new phone.”

“Yes, Hobi. You’re the worst friend in the world. You win that award”, she jokes.

Laughing, he takes a sip of his ice americano. “What are you doing in Seoul?”

“I actually moved here last month. Still trying to get used to the city, if I can.”

“It does take a bit of getting used to, that’s for sure. Do you work in the city?” he asks, leaning in.

“I just got promoted so I’m now a spa manager in a hotel in Gangnam. At first I wasn’t sure if I should take the job, but now? I just wish I was promoted sooner! The hotel is so fancy and the job comes with lots of nice perks.” She beams.

Hobi’s face lights up with a genuine smile, ”I’m so happy for you, Hunny.”  

“Thank you,” she says, sipping her hot chocolate. Her eyelashes dance on her rosy cheeks as she savours the blend of subtle spices of the drink. There is no way that she could have made a drink this indulgently tasty at home, even with all of the right ingredients.

Hobi hums as he takes in Hunny’s face. “You look so grown up. It suits you. You’re a woman! My little Hunny is now a woman, then? Huh?” His eyebrows raise with mischief.

She laughs shyly, “I’ve had a big old glow up. We all know I needed one.”

Before Hobi can interject, someone is standing behind Hunny with a confused look on his face. Hobi looks up, which prompts Hunny to look up. She sees a pair of beautiful catlike eyes staring down at her. His skin is so pale and poreless, she’s sure he was carved out of marble. It would have to be the finest marble shipped from Italy. Carefully crafted with precision to achieve heaven in human form. Her mouth goes dry as reality hits her. She knows exactly who she’s staring up at. She can’t lie to herself and say she hasn’t dreamt of meeting him. And now that he’s close enough to smell, she thinks she has died and gone as close to heaven as she’s ever been. In all of her years of being an army and watching Bangtan from afar, she could have never guessed that he would smell like vanilla, and what’s that? Amber? Firewood? All she knows is that it smells manly. And it suits him.

“Ah, Yoongi hyung. This is my childhood best friend, Hunny. I mean Hana,” Hobi says with a shy smile.

As he sits down next to her, Hunny swears he can hear her heartbeat. “Nice to meet you, Hana. I’m Yoongi.” Yoongi offers a genuine smile, albeit a brief one.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Yoongi,” focusing her attention on Hobi, she reluctantly says what she wishes she didn’t have to. “I think I should get going now. I’ve already taken up too much of your time. You’re supposed to be enjoying your break.”

“We’ll have none of that talk! You could never take up too much of my time. What kind of catch up would this be if it was over already?” Hobi rubs Hunny’s arm, reassuring her that he also doesn’t want to say goodbye so soon.

Looking at Yoongi, she smiles weakly. “I don’t want to intrude. You’re here to have a coffee with Yoongi, not me.” 

“You can stay. I don’t mind. I’m just happy to be here drinking coffee,” Yoongi laughs.

Feeling more relaxed, Hunny takes a sip of her hot chocolate. Noticing it starting to get cold, she decides to stop drinking. She’ll order a fresh one if she stays here long enough.

Hobi perks up, “We should exchange numbers! I promise not to lose it this time.” He hands Hunny his phone and she passes hers over to him.

Yoongi looks over at Hunny from the corner of his eye. Something catches his attention which he cannot ignore. “Eat my shorts?” he laughs.

Hobi looks down at her hoodie, “Oh, is that Bart Simpson?”

“Of course! He’s a legend, how could you not recognise him?” Yoongi asks in disbelief. 

“Hobi, I expected better from you than to completely disregard the leader of a generation.” Hunny shakes her head.

The three of them let out hearty laughs as a few people on nearby tables glance over at them. It feels as though no time or distance has separated Hunny and Hobi. It’s just like how she had hoped it would feel once they reunited. She always knew they would reunite somehow.

“Did you hear about Taemin’s wedding?” Hunny asks Hobi, as the thought suddenly pops into her head. She grabs a hold of his hand with urgency to tell him the juicy gossip.

“No… What happened?” he asks inquisitively, raising his eyebrows.

“Ok so promise not to laugh too loud.” Hunny instructs.

“Now I’m intrigued about Taemin.” Yoongi jokes.

“I promise.” Hobi says, looking at Hunny intently.

“So he married Hari, which I think we all saw coming since we were 15.”

Hobi hums and nods along, fondly remembering his childhood living on the same street as Hunny and Taemin. He sometimes wishes life could be that simple again.

“The last salon that I worked in was next to the photography studio, so I picked up their wedding photos for them on my break one day. So when I get to their house they let me be the first person to see their wedding photos. Bearing in mind we’re all seeing them for the first time together. It was a magical day full of love and happiness. Most of the photos caught that wonderfully. Everyone looked photogenic. The photographer was amazing. So I don’t know how he missed something this big. But he somehow did. Hari’s brother pulled down his pants and his butt was barely an inch away from Taemin’s back. Like, Hayoung’s bare flesh was so close to touching his bespoke tailored suit.”

Hobi bursts out laughing  “And he didn’t know?” He wipes a single tear from his cheek.

“No. If he knew, he wouldn’t have reacted the way he did. He cried, which isn’t something to laugh about but what happened next is next level.”

“I’m guessing Taemin doesn’t have much luck?” Yoongi asks.

“That would be an understatement, “ she laughs. “He phoned Hari’s brother right away. So before Hayoung can even say hello, Taemin shouts ‘Why did you put your butt on my back? It was my wedding day. Your noona is on the brink of tears.’ Like, he was so angry. His voice even broke at the end of the sentence.” She looks over to Hobi, “Taemin isn’t the same Taemin that you used to know. Now he’s mature and serious so this was a side of him that I thought was buried so far deep within him.”

“I can’t even imagine him being mature.”

“It was a gradual process.” She counters. “But there’s more to this story.”

“I’ve always wondered where Hobi got his wild side from. It’s your hometown!” Yoongi laughs.

“As much as I love my hometown, no one normal that I know is from Gwangju.” Hunny laughs. “Anyway, Taemin must have dialled the wrong number in a rush and the person who responded wasn’t Hayoung.”

Hobi’s eyes widened again, which must have been the 50th time that happened this afternoon. He and Yoongi were both on the edge of their seats. Yoongi was quickly learning that Hunny was the storyteller amongst Hobi’s friends. She always knew what details to extract to emphasise an emotion or feeling. Whilst Hobi rushed to the punchline, she liked to build a picture and let the punchline sit there for a while.

“He actually phoned one of his employees. Which is even more embarrassing considering he owns an insurance company. He’s the king of being professional and serious at work. He ended the call so quickly. I wonder if that employee was brave enough to mention it at work.” All three of them now have tears in their eyes. This impromptu catch up has turned out to be the vitamin their tiring days needed.

After a few more funny stories and sharing details about their new grown up lives, the childhood best friends had to part ways.

“It has been so good catching up with you, Hunny. We’re not going to leave it so long next time, okay?” Hobi says, pulling her into a long hug.

“Okay. I promise.” Hunny says, speaking into her Hobi’s warm chest. As she wraps her arms around his slim torso, she makes a promise of her own: to never let life get in the way of friendship again. Hobi had promised to be her best friend for the rest of his life but she had also promised him the same thing. She had been acting like a stranger, barely an acquaintance of his. Could she really blame his career for being too big to allow her to still be a part of his life? Even as children, she was in awe of how effortlessly cool Hobi was. Of course he was now living a super cool life, in a world where Hunny didn’t belong. She hopes that now they both live in the same city they have a chance to reconnect.

“I’ll miss you Mister Hoseok.” Hunny pouts.

“I’ll miss you too, Miss Hana” Hobi’s pout is almost identical.

“It was really lovely meeting you, Yoongi.” Hunny says with a smile in his direction.

“It was lovely meeting you too. I don’t know if I should call you Hana or Hunny.” Yoongi laughs awkwardly as he scratches his neck.

“You can call me Hana now, and then if we meet again you can call me Hunny.”

“Ok.” Yoongi nods. His eyes turn into mini crescent moons as he smiles. Hunny can’t help but be drawn to his cute mannerisms. The way that he is just as inviting as Hobi. The way that he welcomed her to gatecrash his break. She can read people on first meeting and she’s glad that Hobi has someone like Yoongi in his life.

As Hunny walks back to her apartment, wind in her face, she cannot stop smiling. It almost feels as though she has made a new friend today. Hobi isn’t the same 17 year old that left their hometown. He’s a man now. He has a new circle of friends in a new city and a fulfilling career. She’s been rooting for him from a distance as an army. But knowing that he really is as happy as she’d hoped? That’s the best news she's heard in a while. She has a good feeling about the week ahead. Even stress at work cannot ruin her mood this week.

Hunny is laying on her bed listening to her chillout playlist. She’s not tired enough to nap but there’s something calming about laying in a darkly lit room, lounging about in cosy pyjamas. Her phone buzzes beside her. Recognising it as her text message tone, she decides not to move until the end of the song. She finds herself singing along to LeeHi’s H.S.K.T. As the song moves through the outro, she rolls over and takes a look at her phone. Her eyes light up when she opens the message.

Hobi Oppa: Hey Hunny. I really enjoyed catching up with you earlier. I miss you already. Would you be able to meet up again soon? Friday maybe?

Her fingers work as fast as they can trying to keep up with the thoughts in her head.

Hunny: Hobi oppa! I miss you so much! I didn’t realise how much until I saw you. I finish work at 6 on Friday. 

Hobi’s reply is instant.

Hobi Oppa: I can pick you up from work. We can have beer and fried chicken whilst ignoring what’s on the television, if you like?

Hunny: Sounds like a plan. I work at Byeol Nagwon Salon. It’s inside Hotel Nagwon, along the river. My shift ends at 6 but I probably won’t be outside until 10 minutes later, it takes a while to sign out.

Hobi Oppa: I should be able to find that easily. And don’t worry. If I have to wait for you, I can just use that as a way of blackmailing you in the future. I’ll see you on Friday.

Hunny: And suddenly I’m scared of even being just one minute late… I can’t wait until Friday. See you then!

Just another week of work. Just another week of being on her feet for many hours. Just another week of making small talk with coworkers she doesn’t know all that well. Once again, Hunny falls into a deep sleep before she can finish the episode that’s playing on her laptop.

[thephantomessoftheopera]

You really made me obsessed with this book (thank you) I have three questions, if you don’t want to answer I can understand.

1. How do you interpret Christine feelings towards Erik? I saw so many different points of view, some say it’s father like, the other it’s just pity etc

2. The common way of seeing this story I found was that raoul loved Christine as a person and Erik loved her as an item, and that’s why he couldn’t set her free. I don’t know how to feel about it, I feel it comes more from musical than original novel? Your thoughts?

3. How do you feel about the book “phantom” by Susan Kay? Is it fun to read?

I am really not sorry for causing your obsession with this wonderful book! And thank you for the great questions, I‘ll do my best to answer them ❤️!

1. One of Christine‘s most defining traits is her ambiguity - her true feelings are and will always be a mystery, and this is one of the charms of the story. Readers will forever try and figure out what really goes on in her heart, because we never get her internal perspective. So here is my interpretation:

Christine‘s feelings for Erik are perhaps best described as extremely conflicted. Before she learns the „the Voice“ is only a man, she says that he and Raoul were both „the equal halves of her heart“. And when Raoul asks her if she would still love him if Erik were handsome instead of ugly, she doesn‘t want to talk about the things she keeps hidden at the back of her mind, „like sins“. So there are several indications that her feelings for Erik go deeper than just pity, but she is also very much afraid of them. She‘s also horrified of his face, and she fears for mostly Raoul‘s life, but also her own. And beneath everything else, there‘s this strong connection that they share through their passion and talent for music. So there are a lot of conflicting emotions there.

In the end, her feelings for him made her strong enough to overcome her fear and horror of his face. Pity is a rather feeble emotion, and I don‘t think it would give Christine the necessary strength to do what no one else had ever done: accepting Erik as a human being and looking at him without fear. So yes - I think she cares about him very deeply.

From the Leroux novel, I never got the feeling that Erik was a father figure to her. The „Angel of Music“ was, in addition to teacher, more like a trusted friend and confidant. And from the moment he reveals himself to her, he makes it very clear that his intentions with her are entirely romantic.

2. Yes, I agree that this is a take that seems to be based on the musical more than the novel - where the Phantom seems to want her as an instrument to sing his music. This is not what Erik wants in the novel though. Here, he wants to marry her and spend a normal life together with her. It‘s not explained how he fell in love with her, but it‘s not hard to imagine that Christine with her kind heart, her voice and talent, and her beauty would be attractive to Erik (Raoul initially falls in love with her „angel‘s voice“ as well). But it‘s quite clear that Erik does love her - and the ending proves that his love for her is real and true. This is why he is able to let her go in the end.

3. Susan Kay‘s „Phantom“ is beautifully written and a very enjoyable read. It has a few flaws, but overall I would absolutely recommend it. Just have some tissues ready when you reach the ending…🥺

[ladyofthenoodle]

So your pedestal talk made me think of this movie called The Wedding Date. In it, a guy finds out something distasteful about his fiancee and he's talking to a friend and he says "I've had her up on a pedestal ever since... since the day I put her up there." and it's a good moment about how he realizes those expectations and ideals he has about her are ones he created, not her, and how he needs to accept her with her flaws if he's going to love her, not just love an idealized version he created

i have not seen that movie since it was released in theaters so i have zero memory of the context of this line 😂

but yeah i think that does illustrate my point that this is not the case for lovesquare. adrien knows and accepts ladybug has flaws. and marinette was not the person putting adrien on a pedestal or creating an idealized image of him because that idealized image already existed and no matter how much she fawns over that image, that’s not the adrien she‘s in love with.

adrien literally watches marinette sneeze and thinks she’s the cutest person he’s ever met and marinette has seen adrien run into a sliding door with her and still goes around claiming he’s perfect, so when marinette calls adrien perfect she doesn’t mean he’s flawless she just thinks he looks really dreamy when he slams into that glass pane

[ponds-of-ink]

Dr. Scraptrap… Headcanons?

Remember when I said I’d do something with Dr. Scraptrap?

Welp, that day‘s finally arrived. Sorry for the wait. Here’s my two cents on how Fazbear Entertainment might handle this guy. Maybe I’ll do a comic book sketch later. Why in that style? You’ll see.

*Was made to address Pizzeria Sim’s mysterious Spring-Bonnie counterpart some people mentioned in forum sites. Yes, the in-verse game as well.

*Fazbear Ent. decided to turn him into a villain for the Glamrocks to face in the Glamrock comic book series. He was going to be as basic as they come, but the creative team wanted to flesh this guy out. As in, give him an actual character.

*The backstory he was given is that he was a rabbit performer injured in some freak accident with his show partner. Something that left him horribly scarred with a huge, brain showing gash on his forehead. He was so horrified about his new looks that he forced himself to live in the streets until everyone forgot about him. This explains the Easter egg in Fury’s Rage… Well, in-universe.

*Unfortunately, he couldn’t do this forever. He had to find a permanent shelter and get back to work somehow. Thankfully, he remembered he had a science degree and decided to set up shop downtown. He then makes a surprisingly honest living, repairing enemy robots aside. However, he never let himself forget that accident. So, he decides to become a more personal enemy to the Glamrocks, since they’re the closest thing to his old partner.

*He usually lets his new machines do the dirty work, since he’s still recovering at this point. When he gets to full strength, then maybe he’ll fight them face-to-face. Freddy’s the one he looks forward to the most.

*Also has a prosthetic/cyber arm. You know the one that holds the vial in the arcade cabinet? Yup, that’s the one.

*He wears lab coats and gloves to cover up the metal arm and scars. He can’t do much with his forehead, so he decides to leave that alone. Eyes too, but that’s less of a concern.

*Has Scrap Baby as an assistant later on, though she‘s probably named something else. They actually would’ve met during his alley days, where she tried to help him along. He returned the favor by offering her a more stable job as both a caretaker and a henchman. To his surprise, she agreed to both.

*They have an actually good relationship, workshopping plans together and seeing what works. Scraptrap feels like he should keep this professional, but he wants to be her friend deep down. He feels, however, that they just wouldn’t work. He blames his own flaws rather than her for that one.

*He‘s still self-conscious about his injuries. Any insults about his appearance will cloud his judgment, making him more prone to slip-ups. The ones about his gash do the worst damage. He might actually break down if it’s something he hasn’t heard about it before or hits too close to his own line of thinking about it.

*Other than that, he’s rather calm and collected. He’d rather go “Heh, I’ll come back with a better plan” than actually get upset about something. The Glamrocks probably don’t like the fact that his big brain keeps coming up with stuff so fast.

*Fazbear Ent. plans on doing a crossover with their version of Malhare/Glitchtrap from Glitchy Maze at some point. Whether or not it’ll be a Jekyll and Hyde case or a virtual cloning situation remains to be seen.

[lysmune]

Promises of

      A thousand things that she believes the Demon Prince to be, and a thousand times he proves her wrong.

(Diavolo/F!Reader)

     Promises of a painful, slow death is what she believes he’ll give her, but a radiant smile dispels her fears. With liquid ambrosia for eyes and vermillion-struck hair, she’s never seen someone so intimidating, so contrary.

     “I hope your year in the Devildom is a great one!” the stranger chirps, loud and booming, and friendly.

     “Thank you,” is all she manages.

     Promises of a scornful, prideful visage  is what she believes is his flair, but he bears no ill-will towards the hubris of humanity. A thousand lights splayed below the balcony, a gaze set onto the distant future, graced by the soft glow of hope, he tells her that he wishes for peace, more than anything.

     “Don’t all you demons despise us?” she piques and he laughs deeply, sonorous in the never ending darkness.

     “Maybe, but I,” and he turns to look at her with a gentleness that she’s never thought to find in a hell-spawned man, “I find human souls, flawed as they are, beautiful.”

     Promises of friendship is what she believes would be the farthest thing possible, but when he calls her in invitation to see the black roses blooming in his greenhouse, she finds that maybe, it isn’t the most far-fetched situation.

     “Look!” he exclaims excitedly, pointing towards a small bird, tufted in crimson, its winding onyx tail fluttering as it perches itself on the flower’s stem. “It’s a black-tailed canary. It’s a bird native to the Devildom.”

     “How pretty,” she comments, watching the bird fixate its beady eyes on her before it takes off into flight.

     Lord Diavolo chuckles beside her. “Seeing such lovely things up close really does lift my spirits,” he murmurs in awe, in wonder, underscored by a melancholia she can’t quite fathom.

     In response, she presses her hand on his shoulder, humming in agreement; he simply smiles.

     Promises of gold is what she believes would catch his fancy, but his curiosity lies in the fleeting moments caught in polaroids. From swirling pink blossoms to the grin of an aquarium’s beluga, to the cascading reds of a maple autumn and a white winter’s falling snow; he finds joy in all these.

     “This is my favourite,” he notes fondly and she leans over to look at the object of his attraction. It is the simple snapshot of a summer daybreak, the first light of dawn. “The sun never rises here in the Devildom, so I’ve always been curious about it. Your world’s truly blessed.”

     How the Underworld’s Prince is so much of an optimist, she’d probably never know, but it warms her to see him so full of life.

     When he passes the picture back to her, she shakes her head and, with more than a little uncertainty, presses her fingers against his hand.

     “Keep it,” she insists. “Consider it a gift for the hospitality you’ve shown me.”

     Promises of an uneventful night is a relatively easy feat, she believes, but the seven brothers prove her wrong when she’s crowned the guest of honour. They shower her with neatly wrapped gifts, words of gratitude and a group hug so earnest it moves her to tears.

     They take turns dancing with her tonight, seven brothers gliding through seven different musical pieces. Mammon steps up into a bold, thrilling hustle; Leviathan sways with unusual confidence in a jazzy foxtrot; Satan twirls her into a fittingly passionate tango; Asmodeus sweeps her around in an excelsior schottische; Beelzebub rounds a blustering, grinning quickstep; Belphegor drifts into a draping, dreamy carousel and Lucifer, unsurprisingly, leads her gracefully into a viennese waltz.

     What does surprise her, however, is when the Prince comes up to her, requesting her for a dance. “If you’re not too tired, of course.”

     She smiles and places her hand atop his, letting his fingers curl around hers. “No, it would be my honour,” is all it takes for him to capture her breath in a slow, seamless waltz that lasts a beat longer than it should.

     Promises of a shrinking distance isn’t what she foresaw, but he is insistent in having her company, which she, admittedly, isn’t too bothered about. He greets her jovially when he meets her in front of AkuDonald’s, dressed down in a maroon Oxford shirt and beige khakis, a pair of shades completing his look; she wonders if that’s his way of avoiding attention.

     As they both stand in line, he strikes up polite conversation, questioning her how she’s been, how her classes are going, how she’s finding RAD and the seven brothers, and she is, quite frankly, genuinely surprised by how much she’s come to enjoy the entire affair. He’s about to answer when they hit the front of the line, a tired looking demon snippily asking for their order.

     Like always, she goes for the fried shadow goose AkuBurger, the six-pack AkuGizzards and a blushberry slushie. He takes a little more time deciding, but eventually settles for the Hellfire DoubleAkuBurger and a Blackburn coffee before he insistently pays for their meal. Tipping her head down in thanks, she takes the tray and leads him towards a relatively private corner in the joint where he tucks into his lunch undisturbed.

     “Do you come here often?” he prompts and she shrugs, swallowing her food down.

     “Enough,” she responds. “The food here is generally safe for me to not die from.”

     He chuckles. “Not a fan of Devildom cuisine?”

     “Just not nearly as bold to eat something with ‘Double Poison’ tacked onto it,” she explains. Catching him eyeing her gizzards, she picks one up in between her fingers and offers it to him. “They’re good.”

     Leaning forward, without so much of a warning, he takes it from her hand with his teeth and she stiffens, embarrassed, unsure if he’s being serious or just messing with her, or if he’s just dense.

     “You’re right,” he answers, happily smiling as he licks his lips, “they are.”

     She tries not to think about it too hard, simply nodding in agreement before they pass the rest of the time with small-talk, light banter and the never-ending cringe of dad jokes so terrible she has to laugh at each one. Once they’ve finished and exited the premises, he thanks her for her time today, smiling as he always does.

     “I had a lot of fun,” she gladly admits, to which he hums, pleased.

     “I did, too,” he reciprocates and then, a little less playfully, a little more seriously, “If it’s alright with you, let me walk you home.”

     “You don’t -“

     “I want to,” he assures, insists. “I enjoy your company and I’d like us to spend more time together.”

     She warms at his boldness, more evident today than any other, at the way he tentatively reaches for her hand in consent, in invitation, and she accepts it with a nod. With a smile that crinkles his eyes and a careful hold, he leads her back to the House of Lamentation.

     Promises of constant contact is something she’s sure he isn’t one to keep, especially given his consistently packed schedule, but when she’s back in the Human World, her D.D.D rings most often with his name.

     He fills her days with updates on work, on Lucifer’s increasingly baggy eyes, lamenting at how much less bright the Devildom is without her.

     “You’re being dramatic,” she chuckles as she picks up a carton of eggs. “It’s not that bad.”

     “No, it is,” he implores with a huff. “The brothers miss you, including Lucifer, even if he denies it. Teasing him is no fun anymore,” he protests and she clicks her tongue at him. There’s a pause before a sigh, then, “I’m not being honest here.”

     “No?”

     “No,” he repeats; “I miss spending my time with you, I miss being able to see you, I miss talking to you in person. I miss you; I miss you a lot.”

     She runs her fingers through her hair and oh, fuck, he really shouldn’t spring these things onto her. She’s sure he can hear her heart over the phone when it’s this loud.

     Tightening her grip on the trolley’s handle, she responds with an, “I miss you, too.”

     Promises of staying away are best upheld because they’re the smarter option, the safer option, but when she’s back in the Devildom, she‘s compelled to see him again. Barbatos directs her to his study, knocking on the door before he leaves her by the room just as Lord Diavolo lets her in.

     The wind is knocked right out of her chest when he scoops her into a tight hug and she eases into his arms, burying her face into his chest. He smells faintly of warm spice and agarwood, of a familiarity she’s sorely longed for.

     “I’m glad you’re back,” he whispers, the hint of a tremble in his voice.

     “I am, too.”

     Promises of subtlety is a given, she believes, but he hasn’t much thought for it when he clasps a golden bracelet onto her wrist. It is a simple chain, studded with tiny opals, and much too lavish for someone who’s come here as an exchange student.

     “This is a little excessive, don’t you think?” she asks, raising a brow as she fiddles with the accessory, to which he frowns.

     “Do you not like it?” he inquires and she shakes her head.

     “No, I do,” she assures, and she really does. It’s a beautiful piece of jewellery, it’s just that, “I’m not quite sure if I’m so deserving of such things.”

     At that, he takes her hand, pulling her a little closer. “You are,” he affirms softly, gently lacing his fingers with hers. “Let me be a little selfish.”

     She chuckles. “You’re being selfish by giving me a gift?”

     “No,” he replies as he levels her with a crackling, sparking gaze and her heart skips a beat. “I’m being selfish because I want you to myself.”

     Promises of indulgence are what she believes to be a demon’s domain, but he simply holds her in his arms most nights, content with the simple pleasure of having her there with him, of talking to her, of hearing her say his name without the formalities.

     “You’re not anything like I thought a demon would be,” she muses as he hugs her tighter from behind, letting her head rest on the line of his shoulder.

     He chuckles, pressing his lips to hers sweetly, briefly. “No?”

     “I expected them to be a little more ...” she trails off in search for a word, then, “churlish.”

     “I can be,” he mumbles while he lazily nibbles at her ear, patterns kisses into her jaw and the exposed column of her neck. “I’m just being polite.”

     She hums. “Maybe.”

     “You don’t think so?”

     “No,” she responds with a peck to his cheek, hand coming up to the side of his head, pulling him closer against her. “I think you’re just a touch holy.”

     His skims her skin with tongue and teeth, breaths warm, chuckling as he does. “You’re bold to say that to the Prince of Hell.”

     Promises of a Lord unshaken is what she believes the demons see, but behind all the closed doors, he bares his vulnerability to her against the starless, perpetual nights.

     “Do you want to talk, Diavolo?” she asks. He’s silent for a moment before he offers his hand to her. She takes it and he pulls her to his side, letting his arm drape down to hold her at her waist.

     Overlooking the city sprawled under him, he sighs. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m doing the right thing,” he confesses under his breath, the uncertainty wavering his voice. “I want peace between all the realms, but do they? Do my people?”

     "You don’t think they want that?”

     “We’re demons. War is within our very nature,” he states simply, pressing her a little closer to him. “A few of us are fallen angels, others human, but most demons were born here, and all of us are vengeful, resentful creatures,” he murmurs; she says nothing. “The fallen angels want nothing to do with the Celestial Realm, the human-turned-demons carry over their hate and the rest of us have just always had a taste for destruction.

     “For most of us, we’ve always felt like the two worlds looked at us with nothing but contempt. When Heaven smites an angel unruly, they’re punished into being a devil; when humans talk about eternal torture, we’re the very picture of it. Demons are a proud folk, we give back the respect we’ve been shown, but when everyone has only ever hated us, what is there to be but bitter? And the cycle keeps going, it has for the last thousands of centuries.”

     “I’m sorry,” is all she can offer and he chuckles.

     “Please, it’s alright,” he assures with a smile, though it’s wearied with the burdens of a leader. “I’m just ... wondering.”

     She isn’t sure what to say to him, if she can even comfort him. She’s no angel, or demon, and even as a human, she’s never been a particular occult; she’s just an exchange student who lacks understanding of the tension’s nuance.

     “Look, hey,” she starts, “I know I’m not the best person to say it, but your people respect you. They might squabble with Heaven or us humans, but they’ve put their trust in you; otherwise, in all honesty, I think they’d have just eaten me and Solomon alive.”

     He cracks a small, tiny smile at that.

     “You needed mutual agreement between all the realms for this exchange program, and you did it. If that tells me anything, it’s that they’re probably tired of all the fighting, too,” she surmises. He laughs, just barely, before he bends down to kiss her forehead, letting it linger.

     When he pulls away, he says, “Thank you, that helped.”

     “Did it?”

     He hums. “A little,” he responds, loosening his grip on her. “I need to be alone for a while, is that okay?”

     “Take all the time,” she answers. Placing a quick kiss onto his cheek, she turns on her heel and walks away. Comforting demon royalty isn’t something she’s good at, and maybe she never will be, but space? Space is something she can give him.

     Promises of ‘unto death do us part’ is tradition, the idea of a romance that spans the fire of life until it’s snuffed out by a swing of the scythe, but she believes that mortality is fickle to him. A being of a thousand years that will live on for a thousand more, and she fills in the mere potential century; a year for him is a decade for her.

     Yet here he is, knotting the string of his life to her in promise. “Make a pact with me,” he declares, bringing her hand up to his lips, kissing her knuckles as though she were royalty.

     Her breath hitches. “Diavolo.”

     “Let me be yours,” the demon pleads, yearns, longs and she’s a little taken aback by the openness of it all.

     “You don’t have to,” she says but he surges, drawing her in.

     “I want to,” he asserts, unyielding, though she’s still unconvinced.

     An act of binding. That’s what it means to be tied down to a contract, and she knows full well what the consequences are, for the both of them, should any of them trespass their terms. With the seven brothers, she did as the situation demanded, but with Diavolo, there’s absolutely nothing that warrants it.

     He seems to sense her unease, because he squeezes her hand, brings her closer. “It’ll be fine,” he assures; “Let me show you what you mean to me.”

     “I know where I stand with you,” she tells him as she raises a hand to cup his cheek.

     “Do you?” he asks in rhetoric, pressing his lips against her pulse, eyes locking onto hers. “You needn’t ask and I’d gladly give a century of my life for you, freely offer you my soul, and even if you love me less, leave me for a human, I’d regret none of it.”

     She swallows his words when he presses his lips to hers, wholly engulfed by the sincerity of it all. Gentle as always, tender as always, and none of the demon she’d thought he’d be, his hand coming up to caress her face. He leaves her lightheaded, breathless, forehead touching hers, the warmth between them near unbearable.

     “I trust you, utterly and entirely; let me show you that I do,” he murmurs and she clasps her hands behind his neck, her lips hovering above his.

     “Nothing I say will change your mind, will it?”

     He chuckles. “I’m afraid not.”

     Promises of sacrifice and loyalty, they aren’t taken lightly by the laws of a contract, but he pledges himself anyway, so readily and so staunchly she almost falters.

     In reverence, he traces the mark - his mark - that runs from her shoulder and coils around her arm, marvelling at the sight of it. “Was it painful?” he asks as he glances to her, worry underscoring his words.

     She shrugs and offers him a smile in hopes it’ll reassure him. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

     Leaning in to thumb a kiss to her clavicle, he chuckles low. “Sometimes I forget you’ve made pacts with the seven strongest demons here,” he says and the pride in his voice makes her chest swell.

     “Eight,” she corrects while she cards her fingers through his hair, trailing the curl of his horns, eliciting a quiet, pleased hum from him.

     “Eight,” he repeats in satisfaction before he lifts his head up to meet her and she, emboldened, enraptured, captures his lips in fervour.

     Agarwood and warm spice, she drinks the taste of him, smoky lapsang and carbon ashen. He spills her name into her mouth, once more into the spellbound night when she punctures a soft bite into the juncture of his neck, a hymnic praise that makes her feel nothing less of otherworldly. He almost - almost - whines when she pulls away, chuckling as she does.

     Under her, he’s nothing short of breathtaking, with topazes for eyes and vermillion hair, and dark skin marked by black, steeped in gold. Triangular patterns of red hiss around his throat, the newly formed pact pulsing with magic and she trails her fingers across them, enamoured.

     “You’re beautiful,” she finds herself professing and he lets out a quiet laugh, Adam’s apple bobbing under her touch, the sound reverberating.

     “I’m all yours,” he surrenders and she’s touched, honoured by the sincerity of his proclamation. “I will be until you say I no longer am.”

     “And I, yours,” she promises before she laces her fingers with his and kisses him once more.

[hyunjinspark]

I‘m usually someone that reads INSANELY fast, but I‘ve just spent SEVERAL hours reading the new chapter because I wanted to relish it and all the things it made me feel, so I really let every single word you wrote sink in, rereading pretty much every paragraph several times… I was truly dreading seeing the masterlist link, signaling the end of it.

I don‘t know how to put it in words, but your writing is… tangible? I‘m truly feeling everything Hyun and Y/N go through like it‘s happening to me. Despite the melancholic mood the angsty parts have me in, it became my comfort story, and despite being my comfort story, I don’t feel calm at all reading it. I feel like my heart ist going to burst reading it. It kept fluttering and leaping or clenching and dropping, like how you feel when you fall in love with someone before you know whether or not your feelings are reciprocated and you‘re afraid and anxious, but you also feel giddy and warm inside despite the restlessness. Long story short, your writing makes me feel things so intensely.

Y/N is such a wonderful character, so soft, endearing and attentive. Being in her presence would for sure feel like you‘re in a safe space. It sucks that she‘s, admittedly, a bit of a doormat because I feel so sorry for her when she gets mistreated in any way - I‘m looking at you, Hana (but also Yongbok now, too). But I definitely get it. I love that you made her flawed and relatable (because many of us take so much more shit than we should), it leaves space for development in Y/N herself, not just her and Hyun‘s relationship. I do really hope she stands up for herself one day. Hyun is also beautifully written, you describing the tiniest actions and habits has me in a puddle every time. I also feel like he‘d be like this in real life.

Another topic I wanted to touch on: Yongbok. I loved his character so far, even found the little hints at him being jealous very endearing, but the way he acted this chapter was almost erratic, alarming even. I might sound dramatic, and it could be me being oversensitive as I was in an abusive relationship, but his behavior raised HUGE red flags for me. The ownership, almost, of Y/N and her attention, the way his switch was flipped every time it didn‘t go his way or he wasn‘t the center of Y/N‘s universe, it seemed nearly obsessive and it was (jokingly) mentioned several times that he always steals her away and wants her for himself even in the friend group, not even from Hyun, like he sometimes wants to isolate her. I honestly don‘t know if it was even your attention to make him seem like a toxic person, but I loved it. It was brave from a writer‘s standpoint because he is a well-liked character, unlike Hana (whom we‘re already expecting to fuck up at this point like she always does as opposed to Felix), and someone who’s so loving and doting usually. The contrast held a really good shock factor, especially because it wasn‘t just a "normal" fuck-up on his side, it was GRAND, imo. In real life, this is someone I would walk away from, even if he‘d been my best friend all my life and even if it happened just once, but I can also see how many people wouldn‘t see it as that bad after he‘d apologize (honestly don‘t know if I‘m overreacting because of my own trauma), which is is why it makes me excited to see how you‘re gonna deal with it as a writer. Making up sooner or later would be the expected move (and I think it‘s gonna go that way), but then again, there were so many unexpected things in A Star Lost that it makes me wonder if you‘re gonna shock us again, same goes for Y/N‘s relationship with Hana. I have so many more thoughts on that topic alone but I don‘t wanna be a bore.

I also felt so confused as to why no one wondered why Hyunjin came back, everyone just seems to think it‘s like a vacation and no one wondered if there‘s a deeper meaning to it (talking about both the other characters and your readers), so I kept thinking I‘m reading between the lines too much for thinking that something happened, so seeing Felix mentioning it to Y/N was a relief. Excited to see what you‘re gonna do with that as well. Maybe include his alleged bullying scandal? If so, please include his "Play With Fire" video from when he came back in the story because that video made me go feral, lol 💀

I was so happy about getting a glimpse into Hyunjin‘s point of view and even though we knew he likes Y/N back as it’s completely obvious, I still felt relief washing over me reading him saying it. Is it weird that Hyun‘s POV almost felt intrusive?

Okay, this has gotten way too long now. I‘m really sorry for being a bother with such a long ass text but I really needed to dump my feelings and thoughts about this. I loved it, your writing is otherworldly. Can‘t wait for you to bless us with another chapter and see how things will develop, but please don‘t stress and get lots of rest. Sorry if there were any errors, English is not my first language, nor is it my second 😅

By the way, I would love if I could be 👑 anon! Have a nice day/good night, wherever you are and whenever you read this! ✨🤍

hii love ! im sorry for getting around to these a bit late, i was busy with writing the next part haha.

but thank you so much for sending such a lovely review in ! i read really fast too, so the fact that you took longer and more time to cherish each sentences makes me so happy. some stories are meant to be read slowly, so the atmosphere can be absorbed and i like to imagine slwy as one of those.

the way you describe it makes my heart full. i did wonder before adding all the angst, if that would somehow change the “comfort story” connotation, but you describe it so well 🥺 that’s the feeling i want to depict, the nervousness and excitement and pits of anxiety just like how they’re falling in love.

yn is a safe space indeed :( there’s definitely a lot for her to learn, and develop ! im happy you noticed that.

thank you for telling me your opinion on yongbok so candidly ! he is one of the most liked characters so j did wonder if people would dislike the story if i portray him in a negative light, but you’re right. the way he behaves in this situation is incredibly toxic, alarming and possessive.

hyun’s pov feels intrusive indeed, since we’ve never known what he feels for her but the confirmation of his developing feelings still doesn’t solve half of the conflicts that they would face, so i felt it was necessary to make his character’s intentions clear.

thank you. i loved reading this. thank you for your time and of course you can be 👑 anon !

[ellanainthetardis]

Is Effie a rebel? In the books, Haymitch and Plutarch fight for her to stay alive. So she can‘t be meaningless. In the movies, she‘s in 13 but she doesn‘t seem too pleased to be there. So is she a rebel? Does she really understand what Katniss, Haymitch etc. are fighting for? Does it even matter to her? I can‘t really tell from how she‘s portrayed in the movies. What‘s your opinion?

I don’t think she’s a rebel no. She could have been if given the choice after the 74th I think. In my HC Haymitch is brought into it around that time and if she had been asked too I think she would have gone. Thirteen is very different from the idea of helping « rebels » to end the games though and I don’t think she likes it. The movies…. Character wise I prefer the books so… but in the movie is clear she’s been brought there against her will… still she fights for Katniss…

I think at the end of the day her loyalty goes to her team and that’s the kids and Haymitch. I don’t think she has great martyr aspirations like Cinna because like Haymitch she has self preservation down to a t. Effie is the kind of person who would happily take a bullet for someone she loves but not for a cause. She does understand why they’re fighting for though and I think she’s even in favor of what they’re fighting for. I don’t think she likes the games anymore or the fact the districts are being crushed but at the same time she wouldn’t like the methods thirteen employs and she definitely does not like coin. She knows a snake when she sees one. She’s in for her team.

She has her flaws, Effie… but I think unwavering loyalty is one of her qualities and that loyalty is for the children and Haymitch.

At least that’s my opinion, anon.

Ask an anti and they will tell you she’s just a selfish empty-headed money-grabby person who wants to put district people down in the dirt…

[sunny-sings-sooth]

more oc asks💅

color codin: pink is for the character the question is bout, orange is for other characters mentioned.

《~•°🌸aiwin🌸°•~》

is amy in aiwin's pov a good person, or is she more grey? does he have any strong opinions on her? is he neutral w her?

what would ya say is aiwin's fatal flaw(s). like wraght, greed, peide etc,

how was his childhood? was it good, or bad? did it affect the way he sees the world and people now?

w whitch animal do ya associate him w? can ya explain why?

what are his opinions on the gods? more specifically apollo, hermes and dio?

《~•°🌸amy🌸°•~》

how did amy meet aiwin? what was her first impression of him was? her first thought?

whitch color do ya associate w amy? are there any reasons for it?

did amy ever recieve a formal education? did she ever went to school, or did hermes teach her everything?

if amy could change one thing bout herself, what would it be? would it be her looks? her personality? her childhood?

what are her deapest fears? her darkests insecurities? what would amy consider worse than death? or maybe even hell?

Chaos my dude you’re a real one

Aiwin:

1. Aiwin starts off with seeing Amy as basically a child who doesn’t understand that people aren’t inherently good and that you cant just hurt yourself to help others. A naive idiot who confuses the hell out of him. As time goes on, this perception changes greatly, can’t say much without spoiling

2. From the seven deadly sins it would be envy for sure. He’s envious of all the things he can’t have: comfort with his emotions, a childhood, friends. Outside of those I would say just his inability to allow himself to healthily feel emotion. Man hasn’t cried for years but really needs to.

3. Oh man. It was bad. Very bad. Forced to suffer high expectations and not allowed to thrive, soon became a victim of child abuse, then forced to become an assassin. This all planted some terrible toxic masculinity standards in his head and trust issues.

4. Well he’s known as ”Huntsman” as in the huntsman spider. These spider don’t even have to set traps for their prey because they’re so big and fast that they can just run it down. I think that really fits Aiwin because he’s super dangerous and a balance of strength, speed, and “venom” like them.

5. Oooh this is a fun one

Apollo: Initially despises Apollo because of the whole drama with Amy. Eventually he grows to respect the man since Apollo helps Aiwin with all the chaos the other two gods cause. Apollo helps Aiwin process emotions and Aiwin helps him with the issues with Amy. Apollo basically adopts him.

Hermes: Aiwin cannot handle this man. Aiwin likes things neat and orderly, Hermes is chaos. The god causes him so much stress poor dude has a will written where he gives everything to Amy. He does admire Hermes‘s intellect and when he’s actually not dealing with the mess he likes to learn stuff from Hermes.

Dionysus: It’s like Hermes but with no redeeming qualities. Aiwin cannot stand Dionysus, as the god has made it his mission to crack through Aiwin’s uptight shell. He actually kinda looks down on the go, writing him off as dumb and a nuisance. Dw, he will have this ideology challenged.

Amy:

1. Can’t say much without spoiling, but he’s her math tutor. She thought he was quite intimidating and was surprised to find him actually quite nice.

2. Yellow, firstly just cuz of the whole sun thing, but also because it fits her duality: warm and bright on one end, dangerous and overwhelming on the other. Also deep red/reddish orange cuz of her rage.

3. She has gone to actual school but retained nothing from it (except maybe from music classes). Anything important to her she learned from Hermes (thievery, hacking) or taught herself (playing the guitar, dancing).

4. Lot of contenders but I think top would be her brain. She thinks she’s very stupid and that’s what’s causing her to screw up so much and cause so much harm. She wants to be smart and clever like Aiwin and Hermes but her brain is just built for different types of intellect, which she fails to see.

5. She‘s afraid of living a worthless life. That one day, when she takes her final breaths, she will know she did nothing but cause pain. She despises so much about herself: her idiocy, her body, her messed up brain. Being totally alone is worse than death to her, and considering Hermes can’t visit often, she faces that a lot. Being purposeless is also worse than death, and she struggles with that too. She’s basically living in her own little hell, and when the story moves on and more people get dragged into her mess, the self blame and hatred only grows.

[johannas-motivational-insults]

Adora might be autistic too

Alright, most people in the SPOP fandom agree that Entrapta is autistic, as her coding is extremely obvious. However, some of us also believe that our beloved protagonist Adora is on the spectrum as well. She comes off as quite the aspie, and while Asperger’s is no longer a diagnosis in the DSM-V (but is in other manuals), it falls under the blanket diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and its diagnostic criteria is still useful in analyzing people for signs of the disorder. In analyzing Adora’s character I will refer somewhat to both disorders, with the understanding that Asperger’s is a specific manifestation of ASD.

I would like to preface this by saying this is a headcanon and people are free to disagree with me. Some of these characteristics I’m going to bring up could also manifest because of her very sheltered upbringing in a cult-like atmosphere or mental illnesses such as anxiety and complex PTSD (both of which she arguably has). I am autistic myself, so obviously I am inclined to interpret these symptoms this way, but to each their own. It’s also worth noting that Adora has a lot of symptoms that cross over with AD(H)D, a cousin disorder to ASD, and it’s totally possible she has both.

In any case, there is now enough evidence hinting at Adora’s neurodivergence (especially now that the Rebel Princess Guide has been released) that I feel the need to explain this theory in detail instead of just occasionally mentioning it. So here goes...

She’s naive/easily manipulated

This one doesn’t really need explaining, we’ve all seen it. Adora assumes people are telling the truth because why would anyone lie to her? That is such a relatable spectrum feel. She was handily brainwashed by Shadow Weaver in the Horde, while some of the others didn’t seem to swallow the propaganda so easily. This is of course partly because of the special attention and affection Adora got from Shadow Weaver, but she had to be vulnerable to manipulation in the first place for it to work.

Later, she trusts Huntara easily in the Crimson Waste despite Bow and Glimmer’s warnings about her questionable character. Adora happily follows her into a trap even once Bow and Glimmer tell her they're going the wrong way, reasoning it’s probably a shortcut rather than reevaluating her misplaced trust. This can be partly explained by how she‘s gay af for Huntara, but still.

(Interestingly, the episode cuts straight from this moment to the obviously autistic Entrapta going against her own friend's advice and refusing to give up on the portal machine despite the obvious warning sign of Hordak’s violent dismissal. Parallels, much?)

Her difficulty understanding other points of view

A lot of Adora’s conflict with Catra is predicated on misunderstandings, and she has a hard time understanding the effects her actions have on other people, Catra in particular. For instance, she misunderstands Catra talking about ruling the Horde together as being purely about power, while Catra’s actual goals are safety and Adora’s companionship. That miscommunication is not just Adora’s fault, but it illustrates that she has difficulty understanding other people’s needs and motives without being explicitly told.

This isn’t just a problem with Catra, either. In general Adora has a difficult time understanding other’s motives and feelings. For instance, she doesn’t understand Glimmer’s insecurity over Bow’s friendship with Perfuma at Princess Prom, and she can’t fathom why Entrapta would choose to work for an evil faction, going so far as to assume she must have been brainwashed into it. This is because, just like with Catra, she doesn’t understand that some people’s priorities are not the same as hers.

Autistic kids tend to reach developmental milestones at different times than neurotypicals, sometimes being way ahead and other times falling behind. One such marker that is usually slower to develop and often stays impaired is theory of mind, our ability to a) understand that other people have different perspectives and b) understand those perspectives. Adora’s difficulties being able to put herself in someone else’s shoes definitely lines up with this symptom.

She’s clumsy

For someone so athletic, Adora sure lacks coordination. This is a commonly cited symptom of people with Asperger’s, though it shows up in people with other forms of ASD too. In general, autistic people often have difficulty with fine and/or gross motor skills, and this can lead to being accident and injury prone. According to Catra in 3x05, Adora bumps her head a lot. That may have just been a callback to 1x01, but either way clumsiness has been part of her characterization since the beginning, one of her many loveable, adorkable qualities.

Her lack of social and self awareness

Adora can be painfully oblivious to her own inappropriate behavior. There’s several examples of this throughout the series, one of the more costly ones coming at Princess Prom. Shocked by Frosta’s youth, Adora fails to register how maybe this (in front of Frosta, with all eyes on her) is not the time to remark on it. She immediately realizes this was the wrong thing to say (or at least not something she should shout), but that small delay causes both her and Glimmer a lot of embarrassment.

Part of the issue here is that she loses control of her volume, which in itself is a common problem for those of us on the spectrum. This isn’t the only time we see her have this problem, either, and it’s amplified (tee hee) when she’s drunk/infected.

More generally, one of the funniest examples of Adora’s poor social awareness comes when she barges into Huntara’s flirtation with the bartender in the Crimson Waste. She’s so focused on her task of recruiting Huntara that it doesn’t even occur to her that this is an intimate moment and intruding would be rude.

In the Rebel Princess Guide Adora also says she wishes Queen Angella would let her make some adjustments to the uniforms of the Bright Moon guards, which implies she tried to make these suggestions already. Maybe she figured She-Ra could suggest anything, but as both a newcomer and a royal subject that’s a bit of a faux pas. Chances are, that went right over Adora’s head.

She can’t read a room to save her life (literally)

This is another, more specific aspect of social awareness. Adora has difficulty picking up on the implicit rules (social norms) when she enters unfamiliar situations, and has a tendency to step on toes because of it. She also doesn’t understand when her friends try to nonverbally communicate what she’s doing wrong, and nonverbal communication deficits and problems with social awareness and insight are two major symptoms of ASD. One specifically listed example is “difficulties adjusting behavior to suit social contexts”, including:

Lack of response to contextual cues (e.g. social cues from others indicating a change in behavior is implicitly requested)

Unaware of social conventions/appropriate social behavior; asks socially inappropriate questions or makes socially inappropriate statements

Here’s a couple specific example of times where Adora misses or misunderstands nonverbal cues to change her behavior:

At her first Rebellion meeting she doesn’t realize that maybe she shouldn’t sit in the special-looking chair, and doesn’t clue in that that’s why everyone is freaking out.

In the Crimson Waste, Glimmer responds to the growling bar patrons surrounding them by suggesting that maybe these aren’t the kind of people they should be asking for help, but Adora persists. She jumps up on the bar and makes a speech trying to get directions (which is socially inappropriate for the context as well as dangerous), somehow missing all the scowls from the patrons as well as Bow and Glimmer’s wild gesturing.

Panic over unfamiliar social situations

Adora’s anxiety about going to Princess Prom could be attributed to many things, not just a spectrum disorder. Her obvious anxiety, for one, though to be fair there’s a high comorbidity between the two disorders. In any case, it seems the unfamiliarity of the situation is a sticking point for Adora in particular, while Bow and Glimmer are nothing but excited for their first ball.

Adora’s anxiety seems to stem mostly from being overwhelmed by the prospect of entering a new social situation with a whole bunch of unfamiliar rules to remember. She’s still learning behavioral norms outside of the Horde, and this is a huge jump up in terms of difficulty for her fledgling social skills.

To cope with her stress she goes overboard trying to prepare by making a conspiracy board of sorts, flash cards, and an obstacle course. And at the ball itself, it seems like she’s even rehearsed how to behave.

This probably isn’t only relatable to autistics, but it’s very relatable to us. Creating and rehearsing behavioral scripts is a common strategy to avoid embarrassing ourselves in public. Unfortunately, as we saw above, this works for about five seconds before Adora botches the whole thing by commenting on Frosta’s age.

Extreme stress over details

In general, Adora is a very anxious, perfectionistic person who hyperfixates on details, a very autistic trait. As mentioned above, this is wonderfully illustrated by her overpreparation for Princess Prom. She’s broken down the overwhelming list of rules in the invite into categories to make it more manageable, gone into detail categorizing people’s relationships to each other, and learned trivia about the guests in order to feel more prepared. Yet, somehow she missed the important fact that the hostess is only eleven years old.

Unfortunately this hangup doen’t only affect her, but also her friends and allies. The overarching theme in “Roll With It” is how debilitating Adora’s anxiety and perfectionism can be. Her eye for detail and ability to see flaws in plans is actually very valuable, but she gets so hung up on every possible thing that could go wrong that she can’t accept imperfect solutions with calculated risks.

Her propensity to be overwhelmed by too much information (like with the Princess Prom invite) shows up here too. Adora grows more and more frustrated and overwhelmed as more princesses join the planning session, adding more variables to deal with and more people to manage. She begins lashing out and shooting down every possible solution that doesn’t satisfy her need for perfection immediately. Her behavior looks like it may be headed for a meltdown until it culminates in an epic rant revealing all her anxiety and how it ties into her insecurities about her own imperfection.

Thankfully her friends are able to reassure her that she has support and doesn’t have to be perfect, but it’s an ongoing battle, one we already saw her struggle with in “Flowers for She-Ra” and “The Battle of Bright Moon”. It’s a strong tenet of Adora’s personality that is proving difficult to shake.

What she misses about the Horde

The recently published Rebel Princess Guide contains a list by Adora of things she misses about the Horde, and this list screams neurodivergent. I’ll go through it point by point, since there’s a lot to unpack here.

THINGS I MISS ABOUT THE HORDE

1. I miss the rigid schedule. It never changed, and I always knew what to expect.

Ritualistic behavior and an insistence on sameness are often seen in individuals with ASD. In fact, it’s a major symptom. Many of us have diifficulty adjusting to changing schedules, changes in diet, or even minor changes in our environment (such as placement of objects, boy do I have stories there). We need warning when things are going to change, and even if we know it’s coming it’s still a struggle to adjust.

2. I miss the constant sound of machines and whirring. In Bright Moon, there’s always music playing, or people laughing, and birds singing. It’s nice but it makes it hard to focus!

Autistic brains process sensory information differently from neurotypicals, that’s basically our disorder at its core. Over or under reactions to sensory input are common and in fact considered a major symptom, and this entry of Adora’s specifically refers to difficulties with sensory filtering. We have a hard time filtering out information that’s irrelevant to our current task, which makes us easily distractable.

3. Believe it or not, I miss my hard cot in the barracks. My bed in the castle is way too soft!

This ties into both the insistence on sameness and sensory issues.

4. Catra… sometimes.

This isn’t autistic, it’s just gay.

Speaking of which...

She’s gay

Adora's relationship with Catra has always been queer-coded, but any doubts about her sexuality were dispelled in season 3 by the way she fawns over Huntara like a baby gay over her gym teacher. Her obvious queerness might seem unrelated to the topic of autism, but those of us within the community can attest there’s probably just as many queer people among us as there are cishets. It’s so notable that there has been quite a bit of scientific research confirming people with ASD are more likely to be LGBT and gender atypical and exploring the cause of this link.

(This needs no proving at this point, but enjoy these gifs anyway...)

In conclusion

Overall, there’s a lot of hints and circumstantial evidence suggesting Adora could have ASD. Was this the creators’ intent? Hard to say. Adora is the protagonist and one of the most developed characters, so she’s definitely not a cardboard cutout or checklist for ASD symptoms (compare that to Entrapta, a secondary character whose behaviors can often easily be attributed to autism). It’s totally possible the creators just characterized her as naive and awkward and obsessive without realizing the implications of that cluster of traits together.

Regardless of authorial intent, it’s perfectly valid to look at Adora and see representation of the ASD community. The groundwork is there. And if someone else looks and doesn’t see it, or sees something else causing this behavior, that is also fair. No one is forcing anyone to accept this headcanon (or at least they shouldn’t be), but in return please don’t disparage it. Even if she is not autistic Adora is definitely autistic-coded, and we could use some more heros with the disorder, given how we’re mostly relegated to being villains and anti-heroes (not that there’s anything wrong with us filling those roles sometimes, but a little variety would be nice).

Adora is often referred to as a dumbass, but she’s actually quite intelligent, just sometimes slow to understand how she should act and how people feel. Still, she tries her hardest, just as she does with everything else. Adora is heroic and compassionate, even if she sometimes struggles to understand others. When autistic-coded characters are so commonly portrayed as cold and unforgiving, Adora is a sorely needed exception.

[novantinuum]

Contact (Ch. 2/4)

Fandom: Steven Universe

Rating: T (No TW this chapter)

Words: 3.0K~

Summary: The first (and with any luck, only) time it happens, he’s almost 16.

Chapter Summary: Help arrives. Amethyst struggles to cope amidst the chaos.

So this fic is Steven and Amethyst centric, set during the 2 year time skip. It’s also kinda in conversation with An Indirect Kiss, and explores the idea of what could happen to a hybrid with a cracked gem. This chapter has no specific trigger warnings. It will be exactly 4 parts.

AO3 link and a link to the first chapter can be found in the reblogs! Support there or here (via reblogs) is very much appreciated! <3

____

Chapter 2: The Worry

A frantic phone call and a few minutes later, one of the decommissioned Roaming Eyes that’s been stationed on Earth carefully lowers through the gaps in the forest canopy. Amethyst lets out a sigh as it lands in the clearing with a solid thunk, her fiercely protective grip on Steven’s hand relaxing a little. Stars, she’s never been so relieved to see one of these clunkers in her whole life.

Those passing minutes are what really worry her, though. Transport will be quick now, but there’s still too many awful what-ifs hanging over her like an anvil to her gem. Like, what if they’ve already wasted too much of Steven’s precious time? What if he’s gonna be permanently damaged ‘coz of all this, since he’s a hybrid, so extraordinarily different from the rest of them? Or, what if there’s not enough water left in the fountain to heal him in the first place? Last she saw, its finite supply was pretty lacking. It’s why they’ve transitioned to healing the corrupted Gems at the Temple as of late, utilizing the Diamonds’ bottled essence rather than the scrap leftovers of the fountain water they anointed in person last year.

But Steven never bottled any of his. And now, with the source of his healing magic totally busted, there’s nothing they can do but visit the fountain and hope beyond all hopes there’s some of Rose’s tears still there.

Oh, if only they were closer to a warp. If they were, then Amethyst could’ve hefted him into her arms like she always used to when he was smaller, carried him there, then bam- they could be on location in an instant. No transport ship needed. Unfortunately though, the two of them hiked a good half hour before big ol’ nasty caught wind of their trail. Like it or not, the warp pad is simply too far away. And she’s not about to risk worsening his crack by jostling him as she runs on such a long trip.

So yeah, this particular Roaming Eye may be old, janky tech, but it’ll have to do.

The teen stiffens in her hold again, eyes growing bleary. “A… A-Amethyst?? I think I’m—“

The violent muscle contractions cut off his words as quickly as the slash of a whip. Knowing the drill by now she lightens her hold, allowing him just enough space to seize without hurting himself. She grimaces. It doesn’t even sound like he can catch a full breath as his body jerks and spasms against his control. The helpless, labored wheezing pouring out from him is almost physically painful to listen to, her own form glitching in sympathy for a split instant.

“Shhh,” she whispers, delicately dancing around the innate fear of the situation. “Don’t talk. Save your energy, remember? I-I... we’ve got ya’. Y’see there? They just landed!"

Blessedly, his seizures reach their end by the time the engines of the craft fully shut off. His whimpers slowly lessen, his eyelids fluttering shut in all his exhaustion.

Her fingers comb through his thick dark curls. “We’ll fix ya’ right up, buddy…”

She’s mopping the sweat off his forehead as the door slides ajar, and Pearl dashes out of the ship with Greg practically sticking to her heels. Amethyst braces herself for the inevitable chastising.

“What on Earth were you thinking,” the Pearl in her subconscious squawks, “letting him get hurt like this?!”

But the reprimanding she instinctively expects never comes.

Instead, the ivory Gem sprints to her side alongside the boy’s father, and— dropping to her knees— envelops her in what’s perhaps the tightest hug she’s ever received from her.

“Amethyst!” she cries, lithe fingers gripping at her long lavender hair. “Oh, thank goodness you’re okay! What happened?”

Clasped tight in her embrace, she allows herself a moment to catch her breath as the world ticks onwards around her. It’s but a small kindness. Admittedly, she’s still too shell-shocked about all of this to give a swift response, too distracted by the overwhelming reality of Greg’s anguished expression as he takes in the sight of his son lying prone before him, his paleness stark against the soft blue of his t-shirt.

“Steven!”

It’s hard to watch. Humans get so weirdly sensitive on the topic of injury— but then, she figures that’s because humans are so squishy and fragile, and always fixated on how short their lifespans are and how easily they can be cut short. Even if Steven’s special, even if in the end his crack will be fixed and he’ll likely be fine, (of course he’ll be fine, he has to be fine!), she supposes it’s only natural for Greg to worry. When the man collapses to his knees in front of him, he grabs Steven’s hand and babbles reassurances into his ear, words spoken too light for either Gem to pick up. Steven’s eyelids subtly twitch upon this appeal to his humanity.

Her glance flicks towards the Roaming Eye as Pearl waits for her to say something, anything.

“I…” she begins with marked hesitation. “I’ll explain everything once we’re on the ship. Gotta help Steven first, yeah?”

She nods, pulling away to stand. “Y-yes, of course. You’re right.”

Kneeling beside her, Greg’s voice quivers, ever so slightly. “You’re gonna be fine, buddy,” he whispers to the boy, his hand squeeze only barely reciprocated. “You’re gonna be just fine.”

Pearl interrupts his frantic reassurances with a nudge to his shoulder.

“We need to carry him,” she says, voice strained. It’s clear she’s only barely choking back her panic. “One mustn’t waste any time when it comes to cracked gems, after all!” Without skipping a beat, she leads the human’s quivering hands to the teen’s ankles. “Here, you can lift him by the legs like so, Amethyst, his torso, and then I’ll be at front supporting his neck and shoulders—“

Steven gives a soft whine, breath fast and shallow.

Amethyst swallows, drinking in the nuances of the scene. Steven’s jaw is clenched. Clearly, he’s holding back on expressing how much pain he’s in, bottling it up for their sake. Meanwhile, Greg— anxious single father that he is— is about one second away from breaking down entirely. She‘s almost scared what his reaction will be if Steven experiences another one of his seizing fits in his presence. And Pearl? Much as she loves her, uptight and fraying at the ends is most definitely not the sort of leader they need right now. Truth be told she’s not confident she is either, but hey, hard times call for unexpected solutions.

Gently, she stands to her feet and guides her away from Steven’s body. “Hey, Greg-o and I got this, P. No worries. Just have the ship ready for us.”

“I— are you sure?”

“Yeah, we can carry him no problem, right Greg?”

She turns to match eyes with him, every fragment of her being silently pleading for his agreement.

“Uh, I— sure,” he says, although he doesn’t sound so confident. “I think so. Let me just...” He huffs as he pushes himself off his knees, and shifts closer to his son’s head. “I’ll hold him up front, okay? I’m taller, an’ I’ve carried him before, an’—“

Amethyst’s tone softens. “Hey.” Straining to hold herself together for his sake, amidst all her doubts and fears, she moves to pat his forearm. Attempts to ground him. “Hey, you’re good. We can do this.”

She closes her eyes and inhales deeply to calm down her own unsteady form. No panic. Don’t let them see your panic. You’ve gotta be the mature one here. It’s gonna work out, Steven will be fine. You’ll all be fine.

Breathe. Just breathe.

“Pearl, start the ship for us,” she says once she’s balanced herself. Not a question, not a request, no hesitation in her tone. Not a confused, defective Quartz soldier waiting for orders, nor a naïve Gem clinging on the heels of the first living souls she ever saw, nor a loyal teammate constantly deferring to another’s judgement out of insecurity, out of the flawed belief that no one would ever take an overcooked runt like her seriously. No, no. Not today. Instead, as she rises above the shadowed, fettered memories of her past, Amethyst takes hold of the reigns of leadership as easily as grasping her whip.

Pearl offers a weak smile as she nods in confirmation, and starts to scuttle back towards the Roaming Eye’s door. “Yes, of course!”

Good, she thinks. One issue taken care of. Now, as for Steven and Greg...

The two shift in tandem around the cracked boy as they prepare to lift him. In his current state, it’s imperative that they’re careful. She clasps her hands around his ankles, feeling a twisting close to her gem as she watches him instinctively flinch at her touch.

“Shh-shh, it’s okay,” Greg whispers. “We gotcha.”

“Dad,” he croaks, the first words he’s had the strength to speak in a good while.  “Duhh- D-Dad, I... Ahm- I’m suh... sss-so sorry—“

Her hard-light form nearly spikes cold with fear as he continues to mindlessly babble. Shards, now his words are becoming slurred! He’s deteriorating. They gotta make this quick.

“Steven, we’re gonna pick you up on three, capiche?” She locks eyes with his father, her friend, seeking confirmation. “Ready?”

“One,” Greg mutters, solidifying his hold under his armpits.  

“Two...”

“Three!” they say at once, hefting the teen’s full weight up off the forest floor with a grunt.

He produces a sharp gasp in response. The sound makes her cringe. She knows they can’t avoid jostling him altogether if they want to transport him to the fountain, but... geeze, she really hopes they’re not hurting him any more than he already is. And she hopes he doesn’t seize up on them again while he’s off the ground. That could turn out disastrously.

Working together, they carry him across the grassy clearing and up the shallow incline of the ship’s ramp. Slow and steady, as careful as they can be... Greg’s breathing hard by the time they reach the entrance, but his grip holds strong. Meanwhile, Pearl sits at the cockpit, punching in coordinates for Rose’s fountain. Besides her, the ship is empty.

“No Garnet?” Amethyst asks as she leads them inside, finally seeing fit to bring up the obvious question.

She shakes her head in fervent stress. “She’s still away on her mission on the Niessea Belt worlds. I tried contacting her, but—“

Steven gives a painful, keening cry, his entire body shooting rigid in their hold. Her eyes snap open wide.

Shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, not now, not now—

“Greg- Greg, hold him!” she shouts, slipping into hysterics as he begins to seize again, limbs jerking and breath coming in quick shallow gasps. She can feel the muscles of his legs spasm in staccato bursts under her hands. “Hold him, don’t drop him, you—“

Pearl jumps up from her seat upon hearing all the commotion. “What’s wrong with him??”

“I’m trying, I’m—!”

“Set him down, set him down! Quickly! We gotta get him back on the floor where it’s safe, I can’t let him get hurt again, I can’t—“

“Sh-shta...” Steven slurs, face contorting as he rides this episode out. “Puh... please, I—“

“I’m starting the ship!” the ivory Gem says, punching the last few buttons needed to close the door and launch them on their way.

The Roaming Eye shakes ever so gently as it lifts up out of the dense forest. Amethyst stumbles, legs slightly wobbling as she coordinates with Greg to deposit Steven safely on the cool metallic floor, his head resting in his father’s lap. His spasms are more intermittent now. Hopefully this means this latest round of seizing has reached its end.

For now, she can’t help but fret, swallowing with a heavy gulp as she watches Greg comb back his sweat slicked curls. Until they can fix that crack in his gem, he’s gonna get worse and worse. She knows this from experience. Simply put, being cracked long-term is a nightmare. You can’t think straight, you can’t speak straight, you lose all control of your physical form... She’d willingly poof a thousand times if it meant she could avoid janking up her gem like that again.

Which is why it absolutely shatters her to have to watch Steven suffer through this too.

She watches silently as the boy lets his eyes slide shut for now, held safe in his father’s embrace. His rest isn’t exactly restful— as evident from how his brow and nose keep scrunching inwards as he seethes from the sensation of it all— but anything is better than nothing in this state.

“So you- you said he’s cracked?” Greg asks, looking up at her with dampened eyes. His hands are shaking now. The man is clearly a hair’s breadth away from breaking down in tears. It’s genuinely a credit to his strength as a father that he’s holding it together at all.

Gently, Amethyst lifts the hem of his shirt to reveal his gemstone. The deep gouge marring the diamond at his navel says everything her words cannot. The others’ reactions are immediate, their eyes blowing wide with fear. Even Pearl, even someone who knows the power of Rose’s healing magic firsthand. Horror clutching with a vice-like grip upon her gem, she notes that the crack has expanded since she last looked.

“We were just tracking down that corrupted Gem that tripped our detectors this morning,” she explains. “But it ambushed us! I... geeze, I thought we could like, poof it no problem, but...”

“It got the jump on him instead,” Pearl says in a blunt, grim manner. She balls up her hand at her chin, expression haunted by the very thought. “Stars, I can’t even imagine how badly this hurts! It must have taken quite the hit to crack a diamond like this.”

His father rubs at the boy’s shoulder, wincing at the sight of his baseline quivering, his jaw clenched like a knife to the grindstone and his eyes twisted shut. “Is there anything we can do right now to lessen the pain for him?”

Hmm. She curls her lip, musing on this. Good ol’ Pierogi probably has human pain killers stashed away somewhere in that pearl of hers. But there’s no guarantee that such a remedy would do a single thing to help, given the nature of his injury. It’s the Gem half of him that’s hurt, not the squishy organic half. So whatever they do it’s gotta be a Gem remedy, and the only Gem remedy she can think of for an injured Gem is...

“Well,” Pearl begins cautiously, her gaze drifting between the three of them, “when Gems became cracked during the rebellion, we used to poof them until Rose could return to use her healing magic, so they wouldn’t have to deal with the trauma of glitching out so badly. But of course, Steven’s different! He’s half human. We can’t expect it’ll work in the same way!”

Although...

“Can we poof him?” she shrugs, playing devil’s advocate for a moment.

The whites of Greg’s eyes expand as he gawks at her. “W-what are you suggesting, exactly?”

“I mean, he can fuse, right?”

“Well, yes—“

“An’ same as poofing,” she cuts back in, holding up a finger for emphasis, “fusion is a sorta... shifting of our hard light forms. His organic half goes somewhere during all that, yeah? If he poofed, maybe it’d be the same.”

The man’s sunburnt face drains just about as pale as Pearl’s as he clutches onto his son all the tighter. “Uh, I don’t think now’s the right time to test a hypothesis like that. Or ever.”

“Greg’s right,” Pearl says. “There’s simply too much we can’t say with certainty about his hybrid nature.” Tears building in her eyes, she brushes her slender fingers against his cheek. “But he’s a fighter, our Steven. He’ll carry through.”

Below her, Steven lets out a soft whimper. Realization hits her with the force of a quartz’s strike that she genuinely has no way of knowing for sure how much or how little he’s aware of his surroundings right now. Her face flushes dark with shame. Held taut at her sides, she clenches her fists tight, mentally pulling away from the conversation in which clearly her stupid half-baked ideas are unwelcome and instead fixating on the quickened thrum of the hard light running in channels through every square inch of her form. A pang of anger swells up within her, all putrid and stale. What on Earth was she thinking?? He’s in agony, he’s broken, and yet she has the gall to suggest such a moronic, risky idea anyways? When his very survival hangs in the balance? Geeze. What the hell.

She’s disgusting.

She hastily stalks away from the trio to catch some fresh air, slouching against one of the windows and pressing her cheek to the glass. A small sliver of her can’t help but admire the view through the Roaming Eye’s wide windows. The ship running on autopilot, they’ve long since lifted through the clouds and into the stratosphere. It’s all white and grey swirls as far as the eye can see. The reds and pinks of sunset edging at the visible horizon greet them with warmth.

With everything else plaguing her it’s a hollow appreciation, though. No matter what thoughts she tries to distract herself with, the memory of that ill-fated fight sinks its claws into her mind more and more by the minute. Every tangible stimulus— the sights, the smells, the sounds, the pains— it all plays on repeat. It’s insufferable, obsessive. Like some self-despairing sapphire she traces each and every decision that led her here, bolds and underlines every mistake.

And no matter how many times she tries with desperation to make up for it, tries to save him, no matter how many loops through recent past she takes, it all brings her to one single, overwhelming conclusion:

All of this... all of this needless suffering...

It should’ve been her.

[sir-adamus]

you know it’s funny that people call Yang reckless when she’s never actually called out as such in show (Ruby is, she, Weiss and Blake throw themselves into danger very frequently and without much forethought - far more than Yang does, Yang’s only done it in situations where someone else is in danger, ie, situations where her own safety is the least of her concerns), like if we look back at the first three volumes:

if you watch Yang fight when she’s alone, she does prioritise dodges, deflection, yeah she still takes hits but you can’t dodge everything, especially when your fighting style literally requires you be as close to the danger as possible - when she’s fighting alongside others, that’s when she starts tanking hits more

and it’s rooted in her talk with Blake in volume 2 - “we’re going to get the answers we’re searching for, but if we destroy ourselves in the process, what good are we?” - Yang’s selflessness, when you actually pay attention to it, is incredibly unhealthy, because unless she’s alone, she’s always prioritising everyone else (and this isn’t just in fights, this even extends to her personal wants and needs; we never see her do something just for herself while she’s at Beacon, and when she finally does track Raven down, it’s only so she can find Ruby), and the implication there is that she prioritises herself when she’s alone so she can be ‘good’ later, in case someone needs her, but when she’s fighting alongside others and therefore can be of some good to someone right now? she’s prioritising them over herself (as per usual) and so is less careful about taking hits (and even then, the only time she’s intentionally taken a hit in order to charge up her semblance was in volume 6)

recklessness is the skin-deep assumption of that flaw, but the real flaw seems to be more to do with how Yang is so unhealthily selfless that she only really takes care of herself for the sake of others (which is why her ‘getting back in action’ during volume 4 didn’t really help her emotionally, because she was doing that for Ruby and so she wouldn’t feel like she’s being a burden on her father, she was just doing what she’s always done - and also why her telling Weiss she needed Blake to be there for her in volume 5 was such a big deal, because its only the second time we‘ve ever heard Yang actually talk about having something for herself; and also why it‘s bullshit that people were calling her selfish for that, especially as she‘d just expressed that she wanted to be there for Blake right before saying it)

which makes sense when you consider how she talks about the consequences of the incident in the woods when she was a kid (like she couldn’t have been older than five as she describes Ruby as a toddler and was probably younger than that given Ruby is mentioned as not having been able to talk yet at around the same time), she notes that her stubbornness should have gotten them killed, which a) isn‘t the kind of thing someone who still struggles with stubbornness would be so self-aware of and b) suggests that Yang has a very low opinion of herself, she‘s clearly haunted by the event and again, thinks she should have died - she was a small child who wouldn‘t have had any reason to believe they would‘ve been in danger or a realistic idea of how far she had to go, and in fact that she was responsible enough to take Ruby with her shows just how responsible and thoughtful she actually was even then as a little kid (even accommodating for Ruby being younger and not being able to travel as far by putting her in a wagon), because she couldn‘t leave Ruby alone (though that she was having to be the caregiver even at that age because Tai just wasn‘t emotionally present for his kids is itself a tragedy - and he was apparently leaving them alone regularly enough that she was able to plan around him not being there to take the trip in the first place)

[realmadridfamily]

I have another opinion, Sara is a good actress in my eyes but yes that show wasn‘t good. I also disagree that she is only acting because of fame, you can tell she is a very artistic person she loves art and I think it comes from her father. Her only flaw is that she knows she‘s pretty and she is kinda artificial with it, for example take Margot Robbie who is one of the hottest actresses itw but she never acts like it and has this pure charisma that‘s why she is taken seriously today

I'm glad you shared this different opinion :) As I said before, we need a few movies to see what an actor really is. Maybe someday Sara will get a bigger role and show her potential.

Margot Robbie was amazing in the role of Harley Quinn! She is very beautiful and sexy, but the most important thing is that she has a strong character that’s why most people take her seriously and don’t see her as another pretty face. It's very important when you are an actor, especially when it comes to women.