#a very similar incident happened in my hometown

[odinsblog]

The crew of a massive container ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore early Tuesday warned of power issues before the collision, which caused the bridge to collapse into the frigid Patapsco River, officials said.

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said the warning from the ship’s crew likely saved lives.

“We’re thankful that between the mayday and the collapse, that we had officials who were able to begin to stop the flow of traffic so more cars were not on the bridge,” Moore said. He called those officials heroes.

Moore noted that the bridge was up to code at the time of the collapse. He said the collapse was a “shocking and heartbreaking” event for the people of Maryland who have used the bridge for 47 years.

(continue reading)

[boxchewr]

concept for young ghetsis, pre- and post-incident that left him with the injured eye and arm as seen in canon ghetsis. more explanation of my thoughts on him below

pre-incident ghetsis i imagine was similar to how silver acted. a bit of a bully, pushing people around, looking to become the best without regards to treating his pokemon well. he differs in that he's a horribly sore loser and makes it known when he does, despite his strategy of an all-out attack being incredibly predictable every time. born with a weaker leg and used his cane his whole life, is insecure over being seen as "weak" because of it. his home life was also probably... not great either. despite it all he still manages to make some friends, and heads off on a journey with them to conquer the pokemon league...

then, the incident happens. all he says is that he tried to catch an incredibly strong pokemon... but it didn't work and nearly killed him in retaliation. despite all odds, he survived... but clearly something changed after that. his arm and eye never healed quite right, leaving his arm very weak and his right eye totally blind. he became very quiet for a while after that, very reserved and distant from others. he developed trust issues, believing that those around him only pitied him and saw him as weak and usable. he'd lash out at anyone showing him sympathy or offering help, believing that in order to not be seen as weak, he had to be able to help himself and couldn't rely on others, even shoving his friends away. his desire to win and be the best turned into an insatiable lust for power, an overcompensation of his own insecurities... soon becoming the keystone of his motivations. he cannot be weak or pitied, he must be powerful. the MOST powerful. feared and revered, incapable of being hurt like that ever again...

and then, one day, he simply vanished. went off on his own and wasn't seen again by anyone from his hometown for a very long time. he became manipulative and cruel, honing his public speaking skills, soon finding n in the woods... and then we know what happens from there

[whichwoods]

Aemonds roommates seem so fun so far😭

oh they are!! ty and barry, aemond's 2 Normal Friends from college who aren't very normal at all, are near and dear to my heart. here are some silly hcs about them <3

his first year at mac through a glitch in the system aemond is put in a four-person suite with three other guys — ty, barry, and corren. aemond is secretly nervous and doesn't want to be That person already so he doesn't ask to be moved

aemond and ty share a bedroom their first year. ty is weirded out by the prince of westeros thing for precisely one day before his extroverted nature kicks in and he becomes determined to Break Down Aemond's Walls. this is mostly done by talking at him and forcing him to discuss their music tastes (may be projecting w how i befriended my first roommate at college)

he also gets aemond into like. a series of absurd situations their first semester together that slowly but surely bond them for life, much to aemond's chagrin. honorable mentions include The Cattle Incident, the Honor Society Clam Bake Post-Game Orgy (neither of them knew this was happening), and Getting Stuck in the Hidden Tunnel Under the Forensics Building.

corren leaves halfway through their first year to pursue his career as a soundcloud rapper. they're all kind of relieved (they do not stay friends with him lmao, though they'll sometimes amicably like his posts promoting his self-published albums)

through a series of mildly unfortunate events aemond, ty, and barry all end up visiting barry's hometown in rural dragonstone their first spring break freshman year, with his old-school faith of the seven grandma and high school class of 8 people. that week aemond witnesses his first genuine exorcism

next year the three of them do not want to chance getting another corren and also don't deem anyone else worthy as a fourth roommate, so they rent a kind of shitty house off campus to live in for the next three years.

ty says he's going to build them a deck so there's, like, seven planks hammered to the side of the house for a year and a half. one day luke gets bored while he's over and starts to finish it.

on the fake beard. that's a phase barry goes through their junior year. he gets very into an astrologer with a similar look he's learning about the same semester

outside his immediate family, ty and barry were some of the first people aemond told about his and luke's baby. they're also both in the wedding party <3

they definitely visit lucemond and the baby all the time when she's born. she grows up knowing them as her uncles. :)

[mothfinite]

okay okay okay here we go: what my s/is are doing during the different idw arcs!!!!!!!!!!

part 1 (just moth for now) cuz this post turned out way longer than i thought it would

some stuff definitely varies when factoring in different ship timelines but im just gonna do a general run down of things that happen no matter what

moth !

fallout / battle for angel island - the first half of the arc, theyre definitely doing some r&r after the war. they probably show up after sonic saves spiral hill but before mr. tinker is introduced. since they live just outside of their hometown, they go out to help when a badnik attack happens. sonic, catching wind of the attack, arrives to help moth defeat it. theyre later called in to help in the fight against neo metal.

metal virus saga - this one heavily varies depending on the ship timeline, but regardless of ship, moth narrowly escapes when their hometown is overrun with the virus and meets up with sonic, worried for his well being due to his affliction. they immediately join the efforts to evacuate different cities and towns, using their powers to avoid zombots as best as they can. they manage to last until the incident happens with restoration hq, where they get lost in the chaos and backed into a corner, fighting like hell and swinging their flail to no effect, creating a bubble shield with their powers that will only last for so long. amy is distracted by saving cream, and doesnt notice them. espio sees their bubble and tries to reach them in time -- but before he can make it, the bubble shatters and the horde swarms them. in the shuttle, when amy performs a headcount, espio delivers the news that moth also didnt make it out just before vector turns as well. their next appearance is in the horde of turned friends that swarms angel island, where theyre also cured like the rest.

tangent: bad guys - they ONLY show up here in the mimoth timeline where theyre basically persuaded by starline to see mimic again. they spend most of their time glued to mimic's side cuz hes basically the only one they have even a fraction of trust in. they disappear halfway through, when starline kidnaps them.

chao races & badnik bases - regardless of timeline, by the time this arc starts theyve been kidnapped and project luna v2 is well underway. they dont show up in this arc aside from a luna cameo/mention at the VERY end

test run - no mentions or cameos here

zeti hunt! - theyre semi-mentioned, but not by name. theyre at starlines lab for the time being

trial by fire - with surge and kit being sent out to Cause Trouble, luna is sent out as well, to different areas. the chaotix is handling their missing persons case, and are recieving multiple calls from different towns in response to someone who looks eerily similar to the person on the posters. they try to investigate, but get caught up in the other cases related to the power surges.

impostor syndrome - this is the first full appearance of luna v2. they're fully under starlines control at this point - not really having the same ""free will"" (heavy quotations) as surge and kit.

battle for the empire - luna is initially with starline until eggman attacks, where theyre then sent off to make sure surge and kits missions are going successfully. they end up stumbling across belle and metal and start to follow them. this leads them to witnessing starlines death. they have to be pulled away by belle, eyes remaining locked on the rubble as they run. they finally get brought back home in the end and start their recovery arc

overpowered - moth's brainwashing is effectively reversed, but its made clear that theyre not fully themself. their memories are scrambled and fuzzy, and their personality is just off. theyre recovering during all of the main stuff so they dont have much of a big role in this arc.

urban warfare - if they were Real there would probably be a mini-arc juuust before this arc to show their recovery. they convince the team to let them come along when sonic calls for backup. they help out as much as they can in their condition!

and thats everything up to the current misadventures arc!

[kopivie]

Please share Ying’s profile when you’re done with it!

-🎻 anon

AAAAAAA YOU'RE ENABLING MEEEE but i am so in love with ying and the kind of person they could become in the lore of this world.. i also finished ying and proceeded to start making the next character who is based on my closest online friend, so hi, here's what i got down today :D

ying's profile

hometown: unknown

residence: wan shi tong's library

pronouns: she/they

age: 17

bender? (yes/no): air

appearance: see below (left is while they're living with wan shi tong, right is after they've left and gotten cleaned up)

about: ying's origins are completely unknown. the only hint about where they may have come from is their airbending skills. they use airbending in the library to acquire certain items, to move faster or quieter, or to play with the knowledge seekers. they are not a fighter, and have never been exposed to violence.

> ying was taken in by wan shi tong very reluctantly. initially, he wanted to leave the infant for dead, but the knowledge seekers appeared to have a desire to nurture the child, so he allowed it to remain. wan shi tong does not care for ying in the way a father would for his daughter. he instead sees ying as a liability, and therefore goes to extremes at times to ensure that they remain within the library and away from humans.

> ying bears the appearance of a fox in order for humans to better communicate with the hostile wan shi tong and the non-verbal knowledge seekers. she's a bridge between the two worlds, so to speak. humans who visit often take a liking to her, but ying is cautious and crafty, as well as extremely anxious. she'll watch the humans from afar and admire them instead of interacting with them. she learned about human bonds through a book that a human brought in and actively tried to establish such a bond with wan shi tong, but her affections were cruelly rebuffed.

> later in the story, i plan to have her leave the library (probably in an incident similar to when sokka discovered the eclipse and wan shi tong buried the library to prevent humans from ever stepping foot in there again) and join team avatar. she'll learn of familial and platonic love, and she'll likely learn how to speak the human language via team avatar as well. she's the glue that holds the team together since they all will have an instinctive desire to protect her.

keep in mind though, she is not the avatar. she is merely blessed by the spirits and maybe, if i feel up to it, she will act as a spirit guide due to her connection to the spirits. the spirits gifted her with that appearance and it just so happens to be permanent, so..

but yeah! that's my ying profile :D i love her so so much, she's so cute and i'm currently working on another profile! i dunno about central plot just yet, but with all the pieces in place thanks to atla's solid worldbuilding, i may have something very soon.

[miastideclock]

please take the boygroup sorter on biasorter.tumblr.com and post ur results, i'm so curious

bah, your wish is my command: lets get to it i would also like to add that these results are PURELY based off of how much of their music i listen to, i can't name a single person in half the groups here lmao

stray kids is anyone really surprised?? im not

bts same with this one, very much expected

seventeen also very predicted

the rose this surprised me a little bit ngl, but when i look over my playlists it checks out

shinwha i did NOT see this coming wth

shinee my guess was that shinee came over shinwha but here we are

block b i used to be a HARDCORE BBC but fell out of it almost as fast as i got into it and i have no idea why

winner they have some good party bops, but i don't listen to a lot of their slower songs

got7 same as block b, i was a massive fan few years ago, but now i barely listen to them?? i listen to jackson's songs a bit and im super excited for their comeback coming up!!

super junior y'all, their early music is my SHIT- nothing gets me going quite like some early 2000's bops

astro i haven't really kept up with them, but every now and then a song of theirs is reccomended either on tiktok or on spotify and i add it to my playlists

ateez i'm not gonna lie, they have some great tracks, but im deadass scared to get into them. they are intimidating as fUCK

nu'est i was a fairly big fan of them a while back, and it was mainly because of minhyun i watched produce 101 season 2 :)

pentagon their songs give me such summer-vibes, so whenever i need me a good pick me up, i blast their music and pretend its mid-july lmao

24k i listen to only a handful of their songs, but the few songs i listen to, i listen to like all the time hehehe

wanna one i was SUCH a big fan when they were promoting, and it absolutely shattered my heart when they 'disbanded', but its like they say, all good things come to an end :(

day6 they give me a sense of home when i listen to them, but i haven't been supporting them a lot as of recent

infinite there was a solid two month period in like 2016 where i would pretty much give my life for these men, but one day i just forgot they existed, so if i put my music on shuffle and their songs come on, i look like thats so raven, just zooming to a different point in time- its weird

ikon i never really informed myself on what happened with them and b.i. which is 100% my own fault, but ever since the incident i haven't listened to them. idk, it wasn't really on purpouse.

b.a.p i only listen to them during VERY special occasions. when me and my hometown friend are out driving at night during the summer, we always blast their music, it's become tradition by now

the link for the sorter here! let me know if our results are similar!!

-bennie♡

[unexpectedly-haunted]

hi hello and welcome to my new renchanting ghost au!! martyn’s a ghost hunter, ren’s a ghost, and there’s more information below the cut :D

starting with martyn!

officially he’s a ghost hunting youtuber, but off camera he’s a paranormal researcher and self-taught exorcist. 

he used to be a skeptic, but there was an Incident, and after that he decided to study the supernatural and try to stop similar things happening to anyone else.

he was already a youtuber, so he just switched tracks to keep making money. in his videos, he goes around and is incredibly annoying to all the ghosts so they’ll be sure to try and beat his ass when he comes back without a camera. he’s found it’s the most successful way to get proper encounters, and it’s fun!

ignoring all of the near death experiences, severe injuries, reoccurring nightmares, and constant feeling of being watched, it’s going great.

genuinely though, a few years into this whole thing, martyn’s got a pretty decent grasp of the supernatural and how to survive and deal with it.

to make it clear: his goal is to learn as much as he can and kill/trap/suppress anything dangerous, not hunt indiscriminately.

then he revisits an old haunted house in his hometown for a halloween special, and meets ren.

when martyn arrives and starts filming, the house is dead. there’s nothing at all, not even the mundane sounds you’d expect from an old building. still he does his usual routine, insulting the potential ghost and poking fun at the ridiculous summoning circle in the attic. as soon as the camera’s off, there’s an ice cold presence behind him.

martyn turns to see a full fledged spectre, form flickering and unstable, blood pouring from a gaping wound in his neck. the figure glares at him with glowing red eyes and commands him to “Leave. Now.”

it’s the worst fake scottish accent he’s ever heard.

martyn laughs so hard he almost falls over, and the ghost has never been more offended.

however, once it’s clear martyn isn’t going to be intimidated into leaving, and isn’t (immediately) going to exorcise him, the ghost agrees to talk.

ren’s a very new ghost, relatively speaking. most ghosts or spirits martyn runs into are at least a decade or two old, but ren’s only been dead for a couple years.

he also can’t remember much about his life at all, aside from his name and some vague flashes. now that ren knows martyn isn’t a danger, he doesn’t mind sharing. (he’ll say anything to keep him here. he’d do anything. he’s been so lonely)

surprisingly, martyn keeps coming back, and they become good friends!

and that’s how it starts! i’ve got other ideas and plans for art, so maybe expect more on this :D

[anonymeqaupdates]

Fixing it before it broke, Book 2 final thoughts part 2 : The OCs

Quite a few Ocs appeared in book 2! Between the Kingscholar family and the Halloween mobs, here's some information on them and the inspirations behind them!

Let's start with the least relevant two, that will make a return later on in the story, the two trouble maker and leaders of the pervert invasions Magicam Monsters : Matt and Lucas

Honestly, they're idiots and sorry Deucey but their intentions towards you aren't exactly pure. Not that they'd ever be too overt on it since being attracted to guys isn't something you should admit too in their eyes. You can guess what kind of issues we're going to have with them the next time we see them when we visit Deuce's hometown. They're very, very vaguely inspired by Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum and are named after the actor that plays them in the Tim Burton movie, Matt Lucas.

Using actors, writers and VAs names are one of my M.O. for Twisted since I want the name to be linked to the characters I'm inspired of. It's also the case for the OCs in chapter 40, Hayden who is inspired by the caterpillar is named after the actor in the 50s movie adaptation, Arnie was named after the Arne-Thompson catalogue of folktales. He's supposed to a be a Grimm like character, mostly the archetype of the sibling of the protagonist, the one that isn't quite as smart or deserving as the protagonist of the tale. To finish off Finbar is named after one the adaptation of the six swans tales when the author was kind enough to name the brothers that got transformed! So he's the youngest of the six siblings, who in some versions ends up losing an arm or get stuck as a swan forever. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen to him here! Piers isn't named or based after anyone, I just needed a name at the time. Same for Mehdi I'm afraid. I did have a reason to use that name (and I know of it's meaning) but my reasons are too personal to share here.

Now, for the Kingscholar family!

The hard part was finding name that respected the logic of the name system of the movie since Twisted did so for Farena and Cheka. SO what do you do when don't know Swahili? Use scrap concepts of the Lion kings movies of course!

Dwala is Farena's wife and the mother of Cheka. She's of course my version of Sarabi. She appears laid back and fun loving but she's also a huge fan ass kicking and doesn't takes anyone craps. She usually leaves Leona to his own device but if she feels like her brother in law is getting too indolent or moppy she will make sure to get him out of it by any means necessary. Her favorite go to method to get Leona to move his ass and touch grass? Her son Cheka. What's great with five years old is that they have no filters and are more astute than they look. She 'weaponized' that particularity against her husband and her brother in law at multiple occasion. She tends to go straight to the throat and doesn't like long complicated solution to problems unlike Leona and Farena who are both a lot more cautious. Leona privileged cunning and Farena diplomacy. Dwala prefers fists to solve her problems. She used to be Farena's bodyguard and so she's privy to all of his past relationships. She isn't jealous, but at the same time she has no problem reminding him of incidents such as 'that one time with the twins' or 'the one that dumped her martinis on your head.' Needless to say Farena make sure to never forget any of their big events. She was the one to flirt with him first, betting she would last longer than any of the others. Yeah, she was right on that one.

She's named after one of the sister of Sarabi that was scrapped from the Lion King.

Chuki is Leona and Farena's aunt, the mother of three children with only two living at the time Fixing it before it broke takes place. She's inspired by Zira, the antagonist of the Lion King 2. Since her name is supposed to mean hatred I simply searched for something similar in Swahili and ended up with Chuki. Her backstory is pretty fleshed out in Fixing it before it broke and A moment of inattention but to sum it up she's the one in charge of overlooking Ruggie's region. She takes advantage to the poor living conditions for cheap labour and deal her illegal mystium exploitation in peace. She's pretty ruthless and doesn't hesitate to 'punish' the population to assert her authority like for the death of her first son. She's responsible for paralyzing Ruggie's uncle and it was the unsafe practice of her mines that led to Ruggie's parent death after a tunnel collapsed, crushing everyone insides. She doesn't actually loves anyone, she's only in for herself and doesn't hesitate to use everyone, including her own children, as tools. Yuu's and Ruggie combo attack didn't kill her, but even if it hadn't, she has suffered some serious brain damage from this. Though those details was spared from Yuu who was seriously concerned about killing someone. Ruggie however couldn't care less and is happy to know that she's living in misery until her execution.

Nunka is the equivalent of Kovu, still from the Lion King 2, his name is from the first draft of the character. Unlike his movie inspiration he wasn't raised as the golden child but as the scapegoat. He's a bit like the Bruno of the family if you will. Still it allowed him to see how unhinged his mother was and he decided to come clean to his cousin's wife over his mother plans to attempt at Cheka's life. Dwala recruited him as a spy and it was thanks to him they managed to put up the ambush on Halloween Night. Right now he's in custody until Dwala manages to prove he's not a threat. He's only fifteen so the laws will go easy on him. He's also a mage, not as talented as Leona or Farena, but good enough that NRC already extended an invite to him. Dwala is intending to use that tidbit of information if for one reason or another Leona would decide to extend his stay in NRC by repeating his third year once more. Leona doesn't like his cousins very much, Nunka is a bit awkward around him and it annoys him. A lot. Poor Nunka just thinks Leona is impressive and doesn't know how to interact with him. He's not good with aggressive people, how the poor bean survived for so long is a wonder. I haven't figure his UM yet.

Shetani is Leona's cousin and the twin of Nunka. She's named after a scrapped name for Vitani from the Lion King 2. Her name means demon/devil and she's proud of it. Her mom raised her to lead her group of thugs and she started to value herself on her abilities to please her mother. She's a bit fucked up but she still listen to her twin who acts like her moral compass from time to time. Despite her mother teaching she doesn't enjoy hurting defenseless people and the idea of murdering the toddler of her cousin disturbed her. It was her who stabbed Ruggie with her UM who allows her to 'send' anything to her target. She made sure not to hit anything vital since it was a sneak attack and would have been a dishonorable kill in her eyes. Anyway the loss of her mother and the betrayal of her twin is weighing heavy on her and it may come back to haunt the cast later. She's going to have an Azul breakdown is all I can say. However just like in the Avatar comics, not all hope is lost for her yet and she may have her own shining future at a mage college for girls, who knows?

Now for the last part let's focus on Leona's newly acquired ability that is directly pulled from the cartoon the Lion Guard!

[starlightshore]

Question about your DP AU but what are the main trio's families like? I think you've talked about Jack and Maddie a few times, but not in depth. Anything different between Sam and Tucker's parents? How much do the parents know about each other or what their kids are up to?

oof this topic is hard cause its been a long time since i watched the actual show (minus the two eps i watched to answer asks) and well, there really isn't a ton to work with regarding Tucker's Family. they seem nice. that's all we got. there's not even a "personality" section on their wiki page.

in the fandom, oddly enough, there's only one fic that comes to mind rn that had tucker's parents be semi-important (or at least, relevant) i can't remember the name rn but its like, "nobody knows au, tucker is a reluctant psychic who has to find a serial killer AU" which was a banger. i don't have a lot to go off of, so in all honesty I'm likely just going to make shit up to make things more interesting.

(img description in the photo)

putting all of this in a read-more cause its loooong.

What we DO know is that Danny and Tucker were "best friends since forever" so, here they are as besties from like, kindergarten. We can easily assume Maurice and Angela (Tucker's parents) don't mind the Fenton's antics, or at the very least tolerate it enough to allow Tucker to be exposed to their strangeness.

Meanwhile Sam would be going to some Rich Kid school. To up the ante, my take has Sam do something so scandalous and horrifying that this rich family moves from New York to a small town in Minnesota.

Sam isn't actually proud of it, but plays it off as if they are. cause like, yeah, their parents are never going to let them live it down. which is a success. We never learn what the hell happened, it's Sam's Noodle Incident.

Anyway to lay low from the shame of the event, they move to Ida's hometown (Sam's grandma) and it's Sam's punishment. They're "grounded for life."

To Jeremy and Pam's ignorance (Sam's parents) Sam is HAPPY to be away from the big schools and high end life. Not that they'll let them know that, like, ever.

I have no idea if this is canon or fanon but there's the idea that Jeremy and Pam are too busy and negligent to be aware of what's going on in Sam's life. And as long as Sam isn't repeating the New York Incident, Sam is probably fine to do as they please. They know now to keep a low profile.

Jeremy and Pam hate the local Fentons, first for being Weirdos and then later for bringing in the ghosts. (Which honestly, like, fair...) Poor Danny and Jazz get lumped in, seen as bad kids despite just Existing within the family.

The Only Normal Ones (tm)

For contrast, Tucker's family is middle class and very loving and attentive parents. Not helicopter level, but more than the average parent. Maurice and Angela keep track of Tucker's social media and worry about him -especially once the ghosts come out.

i won't go too into too much detail since i might make that fic, but I do want to give Tucker's family more importance and screen time. I won't be saying how but it'll be a nice development.

Danny's family is the same as they are in canon on a surface level. Some details are changed, but we get a similar result.

So for context: pre-portal ghost sightings are rare and people are quick to either see it as: superstition, a hoax, or misunderstanding of natural phenomena. The Fentons believe there's a natural explanation -until some shared childhood experience throws them into believing the paranormal. But they hate how ghosts are seen as gimmicky. They believe in the REAL science.

They want to use Math and Physics to explain the supernatural. They believe in a different dimension with different laws of nature, and they're going to uncover it! And obviously, they do with the Portal.

They study it with the help of Vlad's funding (who's relationship is different in this AU -he's still an evil bitch as always tho) they create the portal and study it alongside Vlad's team. (This is my work around from keeping the Fentons away from the GUI) Their personal bias against ghosts is something more "neutral" rather than "evil."

Personally I think misguided science is more interesting than outright witch-hunting styled ghost hating. the core conflict is the same, but it makes the parents more rational and grounded to science. This is a personal preference, each have their strengths. Regardless they've got big egos and jumping into a literal Unknown field of science that has it's own new physics, of course they're going to fail and misunderstand things. (science is failure just written down or however that saying goes)

[maddiesbookshelves]

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur (April 2022)

Hwani's family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest, near a gruesome crime scene. The only thing they remember: their captor wore a painted-white mask.

To escape the haunting memories of this incident, the family flees their hometown. Years later, Detective Min — Hwani's father — learns that thirteen girls have recently disappeared under similar circumstances, and so he returns to their hometown to investigate... only to vanish as well.

Determined to find her father and solve the case that tore their family apart, Hwani returns home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village — and reconnects with her now estranged sister — Hwani comes to realize that the answer lies within her own buried memories of what happened in the forest all those years ago.

Would I recommend it to anyone? Absolutely, more than The Silence of Bones but I recommend all 3 of Jane Hur's works, to be read in the same order they came out in (to keep the best for last).

Level of (dis)satisfaction based on the summary and my expectations? Expectations exceeded, this second novel was great!

My thoughts on it? I loved this book, in particular Hwani's and Maewol's relationship, which was very realistic. The atmosphere Jane Hur manages to create is just oppressive enough for this kind of mystery. You can feel the evolution in her writing, which was nice. The mystery itself was more captivating than in The Silence of Bones but not as much as in The Red Palace.

I was relieved to see that neither Hwani nor Maewol were involved in a romance plot that would have felt forced.

Also, the fact that the story takes place in 15th century Korea was fascinating: there were a lot of little cultural elements that I didn't know about (we've already established that I'm a total noob when it comes to Korean culture) HOWEVER I did know about the Haenyeo thanks to my japanese tourism classes (don't ask) so I was proud of myself for that one. But I ended up learing stuff, including the whole human traffick where girls were sent as tribute to the Ming Empire, it as fascinating and disgusting at the same time.

In any case, I'm really looking forward to Jane Hur's next book, A Crane Among Wolves, even if I'm dreading the romance a little, based on the summary (but that's the case with every book, haha).

French version under the cut

La famille de Hwani n'est plus pareille depuis qu'elle et sa petite sœur ont disparues avant d'être retrouvées inconscientes dans la forêt, près d'une scène de crime épouvantable. La seule chose dont elles se souviennent est que leur ravisseur portait un masque blanc.

Pour échapper au souvenir troublant de cet incident, la famille fuit le village natal. Des années plus tard, le détective Min — le père de Hwani — apprend que treize jeunes filles ont récemment disparues dans des circonstances similaires et décide de retourner au village pour mener l'enquête... seulement pour disparaitre à son tour.

Déterminée à retrouver son père et à résoudre l'enquête qui a déchiré sa famille, Hwani retourne au foyer de son enfance pour suivre les indices. Alors qu'elle déterre les secrets du petit village et renoue avec sa sœur, Hwani se rend compte que les réponses à ses questions se trouvent dans ses propres souvenirs réprimés de ce qu'il s'est passé dans la forêt toutes ces années auparavant.

Est-ce que tu le conseillerais à quelqu’un ? Absolument, plus que The Silence of Bones mais je recommande les 3 livres de Jane Hur, à lire dans leur ordre de sortie parce que c’est l’ordre dans lequel je les placerais (en gardant le meilleur pour la fin).

Niveau de déception/satisfaction par rapport au résumé et tes attentes ? Attentes plus que satisfaites, ce second roman était super !

Avis sans spoiler ? J’ai vraiment adoré ce livre, en particulier la relation entre Hwani et Maewol qui était très réaliste. L’atmosphère que Jane Hur arrive à créer est oppressante juste comme il faut pour un mystère. On sent un peu l’évolution dans son écriture, ce qui est sympa. Le mystère était plus prenant que The Silence of Bones mais n’était pas aussi prenant que The Red Palace.

J’ai été soulagée de voir que ni Maewol ni Hwani n’ont été impliquées dans une intrigue romantique qui aurait été forcée.

Aussi, le fait que ça se passe à la fin du 15ème siècle en Corée était assez fascinant : y’avait des petits éléments culturels que je connaissais pas du tout (on a déjà établit que je suis une noob en culture coréenne) MAIS je connaissais les plongeuses Haenyo grâce à mes cours sur le tourisme japonais (ne posez pas de questions) donc j’étais très fière de moi. Mais du coup j’ai appris des choses, notamment sur le trafic de jeunes filles avec la Chine des Ming, c’était fascinant et dégoûtant à la fois.

En tous cas j’attends avec impatience le prochain livre de Jane Hur, A Crane Among Wolves, même si je redoute un peu la romance au vu du résumé (mais ça, ça vaut pour tous les livres, haha).

[true-blue-megamind]

FAN THEORY SUPPOSITION SUNDAY: The Warden

SPOILER WARNING!  It’s still a thing, and, if you haven’t yet, you still need to watch Megamind.  (If you have seen it already, however, you need to see it again.  Because it’s awesome.)

Yes, yes, the post is three days late this time.  Real life has to take priority and such. So sue me.  (Don’t really do that.  LOL!)

For that same reason—or more accurately because this week has exhausted me—I will attempt to make this post shorter than usual.  We’ll see how that goes.  My money is on “not well.”  LOL.

Anyway, today we’re going to look at a subject that often divides the Megamind fandom: the Warden and his relationship with Megamind. There are several fan theories—I mean, suppositions—surrounding this, but I’m going to be focusing on a few of the main ones.

The first of these is that the Warden was actually a father figure to Megamind when he was young, allowing him to be raised in jail not out of cruelty or disinterest, but because it was the only way to keep him safe from shadowy government agencies that otherwise would have performed all sorts of experiments on the blue alien.  This both accounts for why a child would be allowed to grow up in what is clearly a high-security prison for dangerous adult criminals—something that, admittedly, needs some sort of explanation—and fits with widely accepted sci-fi and comic book tropes. (From Area 51 to mysterious “Men in Black” type organizations, fiction is full of government agencies created to study extraterrestrial life and technology.)  Some even go so far as to suggest that the Warden may have tried to adopt Megamind officially, but was blocked from doing so by these same entities. On top of this, such an idea also offers room to re-imagine the Warden as a much more interesting, complex, and sympathetic character.  Indeed, there has been some excellent fan fiction written about this pseudo-parental relationship.

Art: Fathers And Sons Day by tabbydragon

There is some evidence to support this.  The first is that, although the Warden behaves harshly toward Megamind in the “jail-break” scene near the beginning of the film, Megamind himself seems to be trying to engage in a playful exchange: pranking the older man, wishing him a good morning, and even teasing him.  While some say that this is simply Megamind’s personality as well as his determination to always appear indominable, others suggest that, perhaps, the blue man is trying to recapture a lost amiability between himself and the prison Warden.  It is possible that, when he was younger and less villainous, Megamind might have exchanged friendly jokes and greetings with the man in charge of the jail he called home.  It has even been suggested that the Warden is so hard on the blue man at the beginning of the film not because he hates Megamind, but because Megamind’s life choices have hurt and alienated his father figure. This idea finds some support in the facts that, when Megamind leaves jail to confront Titan, the Warden wished him good luck, and at the end of the movie, that same man seems genuinely happy as he watches the television broadcast of his one-time prisoner being named Defender of Metro City.  Finally, there is some evidence from the comics which, although not truly considered canon, as I’ve mentioned before, do offer some material for fan theories.  In the “episode” entitled Bad Minion! Bad! Megamind runs into the Warden in a bar, and the latter offers the former advice.  There is certainly a somewhat fatherly feel to the scene.

The second theory is exactly the opposite: that the Warden either did not care for or outright disliked the former supervillain.  Unfortunately, as fun as the Warden/Father Figure concept is, this second, darker idea has far stronger evidence to support it in the film itself.  (Try not to hate me, everyone.)  These clues range from the obvious to the subtle, but there are quite a few of them to be found.

During the first scene in which we see Warden interact with Megamind, he doesn’t behave like an angry, disappointed father—at least not a good one.  He isn’t merely surly toward Megamind; he is absolutely nasty. The Warden verbally condemns the alien, telling him that he’ll “always be a villain,” and essentially steals what he believes is a gift for the blue man, even taunting him by saying: “I think I’ll keep it!”  This hardly seems like the actions of someone who once felt any sort of affection for the extraterrestrial.  That same portion of the movie holds another clue as well: the screens monitoring Megamind’s brain activity.  Indeed, in original concept art for the film, the system appears both more invasive and more nightmarish.  It seems that, far from protecting Megamind, the Warden may have actually allowed him to be experimented upon.

Next, there is the newspaper article at the beginning of the title sequence, which bears the headline “Hometown Boy Makes Bad.” It’s hard to see what the paper says, of course, even if you bother to really notice it, but luckily for us Liz (Demishock) wrote a wonderfully thorough blog post which, among other things, provides a transcript of the “news story.”  In it, the Warden is quoted as referring to young Megamind as a born villain as well as abnormal.  

You don't know this kid. I've watched the little criminal since he was in diapers. This kid is just a bad seed. I've got experienced, hardened criminals in here who are afraid of him - I mean, have you seen the size of his head?…  It's not like he's a normal kid… I mean, have you gotten a good look at his gigantic blue head? I don't know where you come from, but where I come it's just not right.

Granted, there seems to be some truth to what the Warden is saying, as the article also mentions that Megamind, who can hardly have been more than seven years old at the time, has basically been put into solitary confinement for the safety of other prisoners following an unnamed incident, adding that the other inmates “refused to point fingers for fear of retaliation.”  (This fits with the fan theory that young Megamind would have had to both fight and develop a fearsome reputation in order to protect himself. You can read more about that in the post How Strong is Megamind?) However, the Warden seems to dwell a lot on the fact that Megamind looks alien, and he displays an obvious dislike for the young boy.

Finally, there is evidence hidden in the school scene, although it’s easy to miss. In an amazing two-part video series, Megamind: A City of Deception. YouTuber The Theorizer illustrates several hidden clues about Megamind’s early life and how it it led him to embrace villainy.  (I will very likely write another post going into more detail about that at a later date.)  One thing that The Theorizer discovered is a seemingly innocuous detail in the background during the popcorn scene.  Take a moment to examine the images below.  Look closely at the blackboard and you’ll see a paper cut out of a school bus.  Look even more closely at that and you’ll find something odd: the bus is full of crayon-drawn children except for one figure: an adult male, riding in the back of the bus, who looks suspiciously like the Warden as he appears at the beginning of the film. 

In a movie where so much attention is given to small things—I mean, seriously, the animation team actually went through the trouble to write a news story for a paper that was on the screen less than ten seconds—this cannot possibly be a coincidence.  (You can learn more about the artists’ amazing dedication to detail in my post What’s Hidden in the Animation?)  Although it is vaguely possible that Megamind, painfully aware of how much his appearance was despised, chose to draw the Warden’s face instead of his own, most fans believe there is a darker reason for this oddity.  

Think about it: the Li’l Gifted School for Li’l Gifted Kids is built close by a jail with a strangely similar name: Metro City Prison for the Criminally Gifted.   It’s clearly a small academy, yet the only two known aliens in the city—who, by the way, have extremely different social backgrounds—both just happen to attend there.  And now the prison warden appears to be somehow involved with the elementary school?  It’s bizarre.  Add to this the fact that the young alien adopted by a privileged family—a boy who possessed super-strength and laser vision—seemed inclined to be a bully, (as is made obvious by the kickball scene,) and a disturbing fan theory emerges.  Adults realized that Wayne Smith, the child who would eventually become Metro Man, might prove dangerous if left unchecked, and came up with a plan to turn him into a hero instead.  Wayne was showered with praise, conditioning him to seek public approval, but a superhero needs a nemesis.  The strange-looking, unwanted blue boy who’d already been labeled a criminal would have seemed like the obvious choice.  If this is true, then Megamind was purposefully, albeit covertly, groomed to become a supervillain from a young age, and the Warden played a major role in doing that.

So there you have it.  Two competing fan theories concerning the Warden’s connection with Megamind.  Both have some evidence supporting them, and there are fans who are firmly dedicated to one or the other.  Which is true?  Did the Warden care for Megamind like a son but distance himself when the boy turned to villainy?  Or did he judge and despise Megamind but come around to liking him when he finally realized what sort of person the blue man was deep down?  The fact is that those questions can be argued for hours on end.  No matter which of these suppositions you prefer, however, the mere fact that even a minor supporting character is complex enough to offer room for this debate speaks to the impressive amount of work and devotion that went into creating this amazing animated film.

[scrawnytreedemon]

Neurodivergency, and Sephiroth

Right, I’m going to see if I can try and explain why this reading appeals to me.

For some background, I’ve watched a full silent LP of the OG, watched Advent Children, and am largely familiar with his characterisation in Crisis Core(though it gets a bit patchy in some areas). I am not familiar with his characterisation in KH, Dissida, or any other spinoff appearances.

I’m going to be looking at this with an autistic lens, as, hey, I’m autistic, however much of these patterns aren’t exclusive to autistic people by any means and thus are fairly applicable to other labels.

This is an explanaition on why I find this element worth considering, and while I hope that others can relate or take away something from this, in many ways it is highly personal and not intended to be a decleration on Sephiroth’s ‘true nature,’ as it were. I’m not claiming that this was intended by the writers-- Infact, I’d be very surprised if they considered it, at all --As many of the traits he exhibits could be brushed aside as due to his upbringing.

That being said, let’s get into it!

1. Alienation

A common thread in neurodivergency, autism in particular, is some form of alienation. This doesn’t necessarily mean being outcast-- I, for one, have been largely accepted by those around me, and yet there is still that sense of being ‘other‘ that’s always been there, long before I even had a word for it.

Now, of course, in Sephiroth this is more related to his lineage, and how it’s expressed in... well, everything. Even still, I find value in expanding that, and considering just how getting the sense you’re implicitly divided from your peers.

There is, of course, the matter of Sephiroth’s literal isolation-- However, as fun as those scenarios are to play around with, I don’t think Sephiroth was raised wholly, or even mostly in the labs. The reason being that it would be nigh impossible to have hid just what made Sephiroth different, especially knowing how observant he is. It’s clear that Sephiroth had had extensive contact with other children, as epitomised by the line:

“I knew ever since I was a child, I was not like the others. I knew mine was a special existence. But this is not what I meant!” 

Sephiroth was painfully aware that he is different, even if he didn’t know exactly how. It is at once an oddly thrilling, and lonely sensation. Thrilling, because-- Hey! --You can do and see things others can’t and/or wouldn’t; and lonely, because it makes it hard to relate to others or have them relate to you.

2. Socialisation

I would like to start off by saying that, while I find it a tad more faithful and endlessly less grating than Sex God Sephiroth, Sephiroth is not a complete and utter social failure. While it’s clear he has difficulty articulating emotions and understanding others, it’s very clear even still that he knows how the game works, and knows how to play it.

This is going to dip far more into speculation territory, so buckle up.

A thing that, perhaps, I don’t see talked about often enough online when it comes to neurodivergent experiences, is that many things that are considered ‘normal‘ get experienced as systems that we need to actively learn and maneuver-- Socialisation especially!

Now, of course there is always some degree of social interaction being a give and take, a step forth and step back, regardless of neurotype, but it’s dialed up far more when you deviate from ‘the norm.‘

If I can give my own example, a thing I struggled with when I was little was humour! Not because I didn’t find things funny, or didn’t know what it was, but because I had issues grasping at the machinations of what made something funny. This lead to alot of nonsensical jokes that left my siblings confounded, until I picked up a joke-book, and started analysing from there. It was mostly alot of puns, which! Due to their simple structure, are a great way to learn the basics! I didn’t even know this was unusual, until my mother pointed it out to me years later.

And that method goes for alot of things.

Sephiroth, above all else, is observant. He makes efforts multiple times throughout the OG and Crisis Core to check up on others and ask how they’re doing. He asks Cloud how he feels returning to his hometown, and about seeing his mother, and urges Zack to check up on Aerith in Crisis Core, to name some notable examples. Even if you get the sense that his attempts are, perhaps, a little ungainly, it makes it clear more than anything that Sephiroth tries.

I think the reason that people have leaned alot more into the overly-awkward perception of Sephiroth in recent times, is because it humanises him. I feel there’s been far more of a shift within fandom to focus on the mundane, on relatability, on humanity. A veneer of endless, effortless confidence really isn’t that sexy anymore-- When sexual-appeal even comes into the matter, at all.

That being said, this section more than anything, I think, is very easy to brush aside due to his... interesting upbringing. Depending on how you construe the timeline, Sephiroth got sent to war as early as twelve, and wouldn’t have had much of an oppurtnity to develop these skills in a healthy and timely manner.

Even without that, a degree of social awkwardness is far from exclusive to any particular neurotype-- It’s the way it arises in him, though, that piques my interest.

3. Analysis and Obsession

This... I think, is the one where I’ll be grasping at straws the most.

While, yes, the obsessive research demonstrated in the OG during the Nibelheim incident and even before that to a lesser extent in Crisis Core could be some indication of a degree to absolutely immerse yourself in a subject in that Very Autistic WayTM, more than anything these are brought on by dire circumstance(the former especially by the question of his very humanity), and as we don’t see Sephiroth as a child, it’s uncertain as to whether he displayed these behaviours as such and to this degree under ‘normal‘ circumstances.

Even so, I get the feeling that Sephiroth is very analytically-minded, in a very Stranger In A Strange World sort of way(not in any way referring to the 1961 novel by a similar name, lmao). I get the feeling he’s the type of person to pick up some highly-esoteric text just for fun and come away with a menagerie of strange and unusual and obscenely specific factoids that he’ll remember for the rest of his life.

Like, someone might mention a topic offhandedly, and though he’d keep his mouth shut because He’s Like ThatTM, a slew of all the little bits and pieces he’s seen or read on the matter over the years would just jump to mind.

What I’m trying to say is, I think Sephiroth would take joy in painstakingly pouring and mulling over topics that not many people would have the consideration nor the mind to hold any long-term, inimate interest in.

If the last point was easily brushed aside, then this one you’d merely have to breathe and it’d fall apart. Nonetheless, I feel that within fandom’s current common framework with how we perceive Sephiroth, this wouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

I, however, want to make it clear that I can see the issue with labelling Sephiroth as neurodivergent. He could all too easily fall into the cliché of cold, emotionally and socially-inept, often rather callous depictions we see all too often in the heavily-neurotypical media that sees us as Missing Something; less than. Things have gotten better, but even still, there’s such a tendency to flatten us down to the things we can’t do, or lawd as us Potential Einsteins in spite of it-- Which, just, while it happens, on the whole it isn’t very helpful or realistic to expect this from us.

We are by no means a monolith, and while I take comfort in the idea of a neurodivergent Sephiroth, I understand that for some, it can feel like taking on a label to a character that vaguely fits the stereotype, and thus, perhaps, insinuating that to be autistic you have to look Like That-- And when it comes to villains in particular, it’s all too easy to dip into demonisation.

This isn’t even getting onto some of the issues that’d have this fall apart, were we to look at other symptoms. The first that comes to mind, and one that even I, as innocuous as I am, experience: sensory overload.

While it is entirely possible that Sephiroth learned to deal with it accordingly in life, or was forced to surpress it, because Shinra’s Science Department(cough cough Hojo) has been shown time and time again to force its subjects into little boxes and blame them for any failures expressed, the fact is that such a symptom could make fighting on the battlefield downright impossible.

Again, this is something that could’ve been given a ‘solution‘(as much as you can or even should think about long-term surpressing your basic thresholds), it nonetheless remains an issue.

I just hope that, on the whole, this served as some food for thought.

TL;DR: Sephiroth is autistic because I Vibe With It.

Also, happy Disability Pride!

[crystaljins]

Endless

Characters: Yoongi x Reader

Word count: 7.4K

Synopsis: You aren’t the chosen one. You’re not gifted with any special powers, or secret abilities. You’re just a plucky orphan who decided you’d come along for the ride. 

Bringing down an empire is no biggie, right?

Yoongi x reader

Notes: I actually really don’t like this fic, in all honesty. It’s definitely one of my weaker ones, but since I put a lot of effort into writing it, I thought I’d post it anyway! I’m having a real big writer’s block and everything I write just feels.... jilted and inauthentic. IDK. I feel like I’ve lost my ability to tap into what a character feels T.T ANYWAY even if I don’t like it, maybe you will! So please try and enjoy

This is written for @thebtswritersclub​ March prompt, “Adventure”!

Warnings: Poss some fantasy type violence? Sparring, Yoongi is a little mean sometimes but he has RESPONSIBILITIES! Lots of conversations from very not-socially-distanced positions. Mentions of wars and evil empire

Genre: Fantasy, angst-with-a-happy-ish-ending

It’s easy to see that Yoongi is angry. From the heavy thud of his boots against the firmly packed dirt to the furious hunch of his shoulders, everything about him screams that he is livid. Even the way his travelling cloak flutters about his form is ominous, like the dark roil of storm clouds on a distant horizon. 

You follow closely behind, meek and sufficiently scolded. He’s been like this for the better part of the afternoon, ever since you left the previous town behind. 

“Um,” you pipe up, hoping to power through the stormy silence that hangs over you. You’re rewarded with a lethal glare- no one does cold fury quite like Min Yoongi.

Hanging your head, you sigh, continuing following at a dutiful three paces behind the furious man. You find yourself missing Jungkook, sure that he would have the ability to overcome this kind of tension, were he here. Or even Jiyeon, as much as you dislike her- perhaps the “chosen one” wouldn’t trigger such ire in her fated mentor. Really, any sort of third companion would do, if not to pacify Yoongi, then at least to keep you company. Long silences aren’t really your thing, after all. 

You square your shoulders, straightening. At the next town, Jin and Hoseok await your arrival, and then you will have at least two more companions to chat to when Yoongi enters one of his “moods”.

Not that his “moods” happen very often. For a man who is almost infamously gruff and who seems to permanently have a scowl etched upon his face, his actual personality is fairly calm and unbothered. Years of journeying across the realm of Adlentur have resulted in an attitude where there is very little that can truly throw him off. 

Apparently, you possess that unique ability, for the calm mask he often adorns is nowhere to be seen. Even when you’d followed him out of your hometown and demanded to accompany him a lick of ability, magical or not, to warrant your accompaniment, he hadn’t batted an eye. He had merely squinted thoughtfully at you while Seokjin and Hoseok insisted that you would merely be deadweight, before turning around and announcing that if you couldn’t keep up, you’d be left behind. 

He’s doing his best to leave you behind now; you’re struggling to keep up with his rapid pace. It’s so speedy that you feel a twinge in your freshly-healed ankle. With a wince, you stumble a few steps, and the ground comes rapidly rising up to meet your face. Before it can make contact, however, a stabilising hand encircles your elbow and you’re yanked upright. 

Yoongi stares at you, a delicate but angry flush creeping across the high points of his cheek bones and down his neck. 

“Thanks.” You offer sheepishly, before gingerly setting your weight upon your foot once more. The healers had warned you that the fractures were severe enough that even with the extensive healing you’d likely still be a bit tender for the next few days. 

“Does it hurt?” He demands, and you wince. You straighten and shake your head. 

“It’s just a bit weaker than normal.” You rush to assure him. These are the first words he’s said to you since you woke up in the clinic of the village you’d been staying in. Since then, he’s sort of just stormed around in a furious silence. 

The incident that had set him off had been an attack on said village. Of late, the sporadic surges of nightmarish beasts that left few survivors and decimated village populations were becoming more frequent, and this particular village was no exception. This village was lucky in that it had a protector; Yoongi is gifted with special abilities and highly trained in combat. You have no idea where he got the abilities from and why he is so skilled, but it saved your life when he first came to your village, and it didn’t take him long to begin saving lives in this village. 

But Yoongi is only human (you assume), and the beasts were numerous and powerful. People can slip under the radar in times of chaos and he hadn’t noticed the small child in the path of danger. 

You had, though. You had seen the oncoming danger but unlike Yoongi, you are not trained in combat. You aren’t gifted with special abilities. You’re just an orphan who witnessed what he could do. You’re nothing special. 

But you couldn’t just leave the child to die. 

According to the healers that Yoongi had carried your broken, bloody body to, you had gotten off easy. A broken ankle, a shredded arm and deep lacerations across your body. The healers had been skilled and Yoongi had supplied them with some of his own magic to give them the ability to heal your wounds- within just twelve hours the only remnants of your scuffle with the monster was a slightly weakened ankle and some ugly scars from some of the deeper wounds that even the healing magic couldn’t overcome. 

Despite his foul mood, Yoongi’s hands are gentle as he guides you to sit on a nearby rock. He crouches before you and reaches for your ankle- his hands are warm as his thumb slides against the ball of your ankle. He’s so careful as he rotates your ankle upwards, testing the range of motion. Even in his anger, he treats you like you’re made of glass. 

 He hadn’t treated you like this when you first started out. He’d just kind of begrudgingly tolerated all your quirks, watched as you bulldozed your way into his little travelling party. But then, as time went on, he’d become more tentative. More careful. He’d tell you to hide when an attack came on the village so you didn’t get in the way. You’d meet a new person and his arm would come up in front of you, like he’s shielding you from a threat. It’s almost subconscious. But it’s annoying. 

“It’s fine.” You say, tugging your ankle away from his grasp as sitting straighter on the rock. You feel like a haughty child when he raises weary eyes to glare at you. 

“It was shattered yesterday.” He reminds you. “If we’d been in any other village, you’d probably be out of commission for months. And I would’ve left you behind because we have to save-“

He cuts off abruptly but you can fill in the blanks of what he’d say. 

An ugly thought overcomes you; what if I were her? It’s poisonous and burns in your chest. Jealousy is an ugly emotion but you’ve been familiar with it a long time. Ever since Yoongi and his crew arrived at your village in search of the long-awaited “chosen one”. It’s probably a dream every orphan harbours; that they are special and unique and wanted, and the murmurs that followed Yoongi’s arrival had probably triggered a similar feeling of longing across the many orphans that take up residence in your village. 

Alas, that chosen one is not you; you remember your parents very clearly. Warm, kind, loving. They succumbed to the plague that had left the orphanage you grew up in overflowing. In such a full and overwhelmed establishment, it is easy to sneak in an extra child. And that’s what Jiyeon had been. Always on the outskirts, a little special and unique. She could never quite fit in with the other kids and for some reason you’d always resented that. Not only that; the way she never even seemed to try. She possessed some unique spark, some unfathomable dignity. Alone, dirty-cheeked, unwanted even in an orphanage, and yet there was always something special in her. And it never left her even as the two of you grew up and took your leave from the orphanage.

It hadn’t taken Yoongi long to find her- apparently Seokjin had some sort of specialised divination powers and he’d known who she was the instant he’d laid eyes upon her. Agnes, the local breadmaker, had taken her on as an apprentice and you’d even been in the store when they entered, seeking her out. There’d been something mysterious and terribly exciting about them- it had felt like the opening scenes of those adventure novels Jungkook would read out to the other kids in the orphanage. 

And you’d witnessed the disaster that had followed- the attack on the village, your home, by those merciless monsters, the death of people you’d known, and Jiyeon’s ensuing kidnap. Someone apparently didn’t want Jiyeon taking up the mantle of her destiny.

You’re not sure why you insisted you come along on the journey to save her- you never liked Jiyeon. You didn’t know Yoongi or Seokjin or Hoseok. And your closest friend was adamant that he’d stay behind to assist in the rebuilding effort of your village. 

Maybe it was something ugly; a desire for it to have been you instead. The one with special, hidden powers and an endless exciting adventure before you. As Yoongi looks up at you, you could believe that maybe that was your motivation. Maybe you wanted to be the one he was looking for.

“I would have caught up.” You finally say, instead of sharing any of those ugly thoughts. “If you’d left me, I’d have hunted you down and followed.” 

Yoongi gets abruptly to his feet, and you nearly tumble off the rock in surprise. 

“You’re a fool!” He cries. Your eyes widen, but he’s lost to a tirade. Alabaster skin has flushed a furious crimson and the dark points of his eyes have hardened- they glint at you like unyielding steel. “Don’t you understand what we’re doing here? We have to rescue the chosen one or the world as we know it is over. We’re on a time limit! This isn’t some fun whacky adventure with friends- peoples’ lives are at stake! And you’re just throwing yourself around like a thoughtless child!”

You stiffen defensively. 

“I’m not being thoughtless-“ you protest, anger heating your words as you spit them out, but Yoongi cuts you off.

“You are! What powers do you have? What abilities? None! I allowed you to come because I didn’t think you’d get in our way so much!” He snarls at you. You throw yourself to your feet, your eyes blazing and your heart thundering furiously in your heart. “Instead you’re throwing yourself into fights you know you can’t handle! You should have left the kid to me!”

“So I was supposed to just sit and stay where you’d left me? Like a dog?” You cry. “When people are dying around me? When a child was about to lose his life?”

“You were supposed to not get hurt!” Is what Yoongi shouts. 

And then he goes abruptly silent, his mouth closing so violently that you hear his teeth click together. He cups a hand over his mouth and turns abruptly away, shoulders hunched. 

The change in mood is so sudden that you feel like you have whiplash; you almost lose your balance with the about-face. Yoongi keeps his back to you for a long moment, and there’s something hurt about the way he curls himself away from you. Finally, he takes a long, shaky inhale and when he finally turns back to you, his eyes are glazed with emotions you can’t understand. It’s not fair that he gets to stare at you like that, that he gets to make you feel two feet tall. 

“Why did you come?” He finally asks, levelling you with a wary look. 

The air feels heavy. You and Yoongi have had a good relationship from the beginning- he’s a little protective and a little bit gruff, but on the whole he’d looked out for you and if anything, you felt closer to him than you did to Seokjin or Hoseok. So this is likely the first time the two of you have clashed like this. 

It’s probably the question he should have asked when you first demanded you accompany him. He should have questioned your motives. He’d had just enough interaction with Jiyeon to work out that she was a bit of an outcast before she’d been kidnapped; he should have known that she’s not your friend. Maybe that’s why you’re so fond of Yoongi; because he hadn’t asked any of those things. He’d looked at the plucky orphan and given you a chance. 

You’ve questioned your own motives many times; why are you on this journey? Why didn’t you stay in your rightful place with Jungkook back at the village? Why did you insist you help rescue Jiyeon? There are motives you can’t shake; that it was for glory. Recognition. So that you could play at being hero. So that you could catch the attention of the mysterious, handsome stranger who is currently eyeing you like you’re an unfamiliar but dangerous beast. 

But you want to believe the motive in the depths of your heart is true; that are your core, you are good. 

She’d met your eyes, the moment before those beasts grabbed her. She’d stared straight at you and begged you for help.

“Because people need help.” You finally say. You gaze straight at Yoongi, willing him to understand. Willing him to believe. Willing him to see the good in you that you want to believe is there. 

Yoongi offers you a searching gaze; deep, dark eyes seem to pierce through to your very soul. He’s always had sharp eyes- he picks things up faster than anyone you’ve ever met and he notices things that no one else would even think to look for. It’s terrifying and exhilarating to have all the focus directed completely on you, even if it is only for a heartbeat. Like he’s disassembling you, piece by piece. 

And then he turns away, shoulders stiff and posture ready like a well-trained soldier, and he begins to march off. 

“You get two days of recovery. And then we start your training.” He glances over his shoulder at you. “If you’re to accompany the chosen one on her journey, then you must be able to defend yourself. Otherwise, if you continue to burden us like this, I shall chain you to your home at the village personally.”

And you can’t read his expression for the life of you, but there’s just something fond about the way the light glints off his steely eyes. 

++

“Can’t I train her?” Seokjin complains, chewing through a mouthful of dried meat. He looks you up and down like he’s seizing up your weakness and you stick your tongue out him childishly. “I think she needs some work on her defensive skills; perhaps I can come at her with a stick and she can try and fend me off.”

“That just sounds like you want revenge for the mouse she put in your bedding this morning.” Hoseok offers helpfully. 

Yoongi chews through his rations slowly and thoughtfully before levelling a glare a Seokjin. 

“You can train her as soon as you best me in a fight. If you’d like, we can test that out right now and I can give (Y/N) a day off-“ 

“That’s fine.” Seokjin hastily cuts him off. “You know what, actually I think I need to do some meditation this morning, make sure they haven’t shifted Jiyeon’s location and that we’re still heading in the right direction.” He scurries off, not sparing a look behind him and you resist the urge to snort in laughter. Perhaps the mouse had been unnecessary, but some sort of revenge had been required after all Seokjin’s recent comments on the amount of time Yoongi had been taking to train you. 

It had been months now, since Yoongi had decided you needed training; you were still a beginner by all means but Yoongi is a good teacher and with each day that passes you grow more adept. It leaves you a little sad; had he been able to mentor Jiyeon and cultivate her special abilities like he intended, perhaps the world would already be saved and the growing evil sealed permanently. 

“You never did say why you decided to start learning to fight, (Y/N),” Hobi comments conversationally; though he is just as much a coward as Seokjin, he does have some sort of immunity to Yoongi’s withering glare. This leaves him undeterred by Yoongi’s subtle hints that he is unwelcome at your training sessions, for the most part. 

“If she’s coming along on a dangerous journey, she needs to learn to defend herself.” Yoongi cuts in. He finishes the last of his meal, and gets to his feet. He stretches languorously, like a  cat, peering at you through squinted eyes. “I’ll give you an hour and then we’ll get started. We’ll make camp here for tonight and cross the river in the morning.” 

He wanders off, leaving you with Hobi. Hobi watches him go with mild curiosity. 

“What happened between you two when we got separated?” Hobi wonders aloud. He tilts his head and stares at you. “Something just... seems different with you two.” 

You pause to consider; true to his word, Yoongi had given you another couple of days to recover, and then he’d started his training. The two of you would spend the day hiking and in the evenings when you’d made camp for the night, he’d teach you the basics of combat. But despite his rigorous training, there was no denying that Yoongi treated you differently after that day. Not hugely different- his protectiveness hadn’t changed, and he wasn’t any less gruff than usual. He just seemed... a little warmer. Kinder, even. Except when he was training you and then he’d turn into a demon spawned from the depths of hell. 

“Nothing we haven’t already told you; a village got attacked, I got injured, and Yoongi decided I should be trained in combat to stop it happening again.” You recall. Hoseok shakes his head in absolute bafflement. 

“See, those all sounds like standard things for Yoongi, but then he also doesn’t seem like Yoongi. He’s so... different with you.l Hoseok admits. “I’ve known him for years now, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d say he...” he trails away, before looking at you curiously. “Ah.” He makes a little noise of understanding. 

You lean forward eagerly. 

“What?” You ask. Hoseok holds a thumb and forefinger to his chin thoughtfully. 

“Nothing. I just want to try something. Hold still.” And that’s all the warning you get before Hoseok dives at you. Your eyes widen as you lurch back, but you are caught off guard and so Hoseok is able to pin you easily. 

“Hobi!” You cry in protest, but he just grins and leans in close. You can’t help but notice how compromising the position you are in is, pinned beneath Hobi, and when he drops down low enough for his mouth to tickle your ear, you can only imagine what the pair of you look like to a third party. 

“Yoongi’s the jealous type, by the way.” Is what he whispers, and that’s all he manages to tell you before a very loud throat clear interrupts him. 

Hobi leans back, settling on his heals but not bothering to get off you. Yoongi stares down at him, unimpressed. His lips are pressed firmly together, but otherwise his expression is unreadable.

“Ah, Yoongs,” Hoseok says cheerfully. “I was just thinking I’d test (Y/N)’s reflexes. See how your training is going for myself.” 

“Hoseok.” Yoongi says cooly. He smiles but it has no warmth in it. “Surely you’ve seen me fight enough; are you doubting my ability to train her?” 

He offers a hand out to Hoseok, who accept it cheerfully. Freed from Hoseok’s grasp, you sit up, brushing dirt off your tunic and then glaring at Hoseok. 

“Never.” Hoseok says warmly. He’s entirely too cheerful and smug and you don’t know why.

“What the hell, Hobi-“ you snap, but Yoongi cuts you off. 

“I changed my mind, (Y/N),” he says abruptly. He pins you with shimmering dark eyes. “We’ll start our training now; Hoseok has just helpfully pointed out some shortcomings.”

“You’re welcome.” Hoseok offers, before taking his leave to find Jin.

He’s gentle as he helps you to your feet. 

Everything about him is almost overly careful, as he leads you away from the camp site to a small clearing. There’s a tension to his figure that you don’t quite understand- it reminds you of the fight you’d had, where he’d turned away from you, overcome with emotion. 

Yoongi takes a long, deep breath. 

“Are you ok?” He finally asks, when the tension has bled from his posture. You nod cautiously, and Yoongi nods awkwardly to himself, before sighing heavily. He shoves a distressed hand through his hair, and the dishevelled look makes him look younger, somehow. Yoongi hasn’t been very forthcoming with personal details about himself, particularly his age, but normally he looks just a bit older than you. But the look he gives you now is almost boyish, like a confused child lost in the woods. 

“Hoseok’s always been nosey.” He comments. “He likes to do unhelpful things because he thinks he’s helping me.” The almost frazzled way he says the words is so unlike the composed man you know; you feel like you have whiplash and you don’t even know the reason behind his sudden and unexpected fluster. 

“You mean pinning me?” You wonder. Yoongi nods, agitated, before stepping close to you. 

“What did he say to you?” He asks. “When he was... he was... I saw him say something. What’d he say?” 

You pause to recall the cryptic words- that Yoongi is the jealous type. It’s certainly an interesting little tidbit to know; a small part of you wonders if that jealousy would ever be directed at you, but you dismiss it just as quickly. But for the life of you, you can’t think why Hobi might have brought it up in such a context, or why he even thought it appropriate to pull the stunt in the first place. 

“That you’re the jealous type.” You share, wondering if Yoongi will offer any further clarity or insight into the situation or if he will keep his thoughts to himself like he often prefers to do. 

Something sparks in Yoongi’s eyes, and this, at least, is an easy emotion to interpret; irritation. 

“Let’s just get started.” He grumbles. He guides you through your regular warm up. You’re thankful you’d eaten earlier than the others for you’re sure you’d have a nasty cramp if you hadn’t. Yoongi is short and clipped in his delivery and it’s clear the hounding from his peers earlier has left him in a foul mood. 

Finally, after a series of difficult drills that he’s been practicing with you, he allows you a brief reprieve. 

“You’ve come a long way.” He observes, while you take a long drink from a waterskin. When you stare at him questioningly in response, he settles down next to you and offers something close to a smile. It’s a little terser and a little awkward, but there’s a warmth to his eyes that you’ve steadily become acquainted with despite the rarity of its appearances. “Give it another few months and you’ll be able to keep up with even Jin.” 

“I probably won’t.” You remind him. “Jiyeon’s being held at the next town- you’ll probably be too preoccupied training her to have these sessions with me.” 

Yoongi stiffens, just slightly, but you’ve become accustomed with the way he expresses himself throughout the journey and you know the statement throws him. 

“I can manage two pupils. It might even be helpful for her to spar with someone closer to her skill level.” He finally says. You nod, getting up and stretching, bouncing from heel to heel as an indicator that you’re ready to go. 

“I suppose it might.” You offer, but now your mind is preoccupied. In the next few days, the four of you will enter into the territory where Jin can sense Jiyeon is being held, and they will begin her rescue mission. Following that, Yoongi had planned to withdraw to his hometown where he can safely train her in preparation. From there, the campaign begins; they must raise up an army mighty enough to take on the Empire and remove whatever curse upon the land the Shadow Emperor has wrought. It’s a long, arduous path ahead of them, one you definitely hadn’t thought through. But with your meagre, beginner fighting skills, surely you shall be more hindrance than help, as pointed out by Yoongi all those months ago.  

Yoongi picks up on your distraction when he’s able to pin you in a fairly simple maneouvre. He plants a forearm against the base of your throat and pins your legs beneath the weight of his body. His body is warm against yours and the force of the blow that sent you sprawling has you breathless. You bring up your hands, trying to dislodge his arm, but he’s stronger and surer than you and it doesn’t budge.

“Distraction can cost you your life.” He comments, and his voice is a low rumble. His breaths come deep and heavy- warm puffs of air tickle your skin and his torso heaves against yours. 

“Sorry.” You mutter. The pressure against you eases as Yoongi sits back but he doesn’t shift his weight off you. 

“I was distracted too.” He admits. He rolls off you and straightens, dusting off his pants before extending a hand to you. “Let’s leave it here and pick up tomorrow. It might even be our last training session without Jiyeon so I expect you to work hard.” 

You take his hand and the mention of her name has something dark and ugly churning in your stomach. This whole situation has your heart sitting cold in your chest like unyielding stone. You had confessed to Yoongi that you had come along on this journey because someone needed help- what about after? What role did you have to play in all this? Yoongi had just assumed you would continue to accompany them, but is that really what you should do?

“I’m the jealous type too.” The words come out of you softly, unbidden- you almost don’t realise you’ve said them until you see the way Yoongi stiffens. 

“What?” He asks, turning back to face you. His expression is about as readable as a blank page- you’re sure the Emperor’s fortress would be easier to breach. 

You swallow deeply and steel yourself. You’ve already said the words- it’s time you faced these pesky feelings before you make a decision you regret. 

“I’m the jealous type too.” You confess, a little louder. “I don’t want to be your second pupil. I don’t want to be someone along just so Jiyeon’s less lonely and has someone to spar with. I like training with you. I want to keep training with just you. And the thought of sharing this time with her... it makes me feel jealous.” 

Yoongi is silent, staring at you in confusion. It takes him a few baffled blinks before he manages an answer. 

“We don’t have enough time for two separate sessions.” Is what he offers, the words slow and almost slurred in confusion. “And Jiyeon’s training takes priority.” 

It’s a slap in the face, even if Yoongi doesn’t mean it in the way you’re thinking. He doesn’t seem to understand, but you want him to. You want him to comfort you and take away the ugly feelings storming inside you. 

“I’m not talking about training.” You finally say. “I’m talking about us. You and me.” 

Yoongi looks like you’ve just punched him in the stomach- the look of absolute bewilderment on his normally calm face would be funny if your heart didn’t feel like it was about to plummet straight through your body into the ground below you. 

“I have feelings for you.” You blurt. “And I’m scared. Because Jiyeon’s the chosen one. She has to be your priority. The world needs that. But if she’s the priority... if she’s the one that needs to be trained and cared for and raised.... where does that leave me? Less useful than a packing mule.”

Yoongi’s expression is stony, but you can see the emotion shining in his eyes. His normally composed exterior is completely shattered, and for just a brief second you catch a glimpse of fragile, vulnerable longing. 

And then his expression steels and it’s like a door slamming shut. 

“I don’t have time for feelings.” Is what he says. He’s brusque and his words are firm and if you hadn’t caught that glimpse of emotion, it would almost seem cruel the way he delivers them. “And if this is what you are spending your time worrying about, then I think it best you return to your village.” 

And then he leaves you, alone in the clearing to clean up the mess you’ve made of your own heart. 

++

Despite his rough dismissal, you do not go home. You’ve come too far to not at least see Jiyeon safe and rescued. What comes after is something you can worry about when it actually happens. 

Seokjin and Hoseok can tell something happened, but they are awkward and unsure about how to proceed since both you and Yoongi refuse to speak of it. Instead, the two of you arrive at some sort of wordless truce; he won’t send you home and you won’t bring up your feelings again.

The four of you arrive at the town where Jin can sense Jiyeon’s presence. It’s a fairly unremarkable town, just small enough that it’s hard to enter without people noticing your presence but just large enough that they probably can’t guess at your motives. It takes a few days of reconnaissance to discover where Jiyeon may be; this town happens to house a small, undercover faction of the emperor’s top mages, and a days’ hike out of the village holds a secret dungeon. 

The decision is made to leave you behind, and though normally you’d insist you accompany them, a piercing glare from Yoongi has you meekly agreeing to stay overnight in the in . Your instructions are simple; if the four of them do not return by 6am the next morning, you are to cross the country and head to the town of Sabre, Yoongi’s hometown. From there, you should find the aid necessary to rescue the chosen one, and from there it will be up to Yoongi’s friends and family to replace Yoongi’s role as mentor and teacher to the chosen one. 

You’re seeing the them off under the cover of night when Yoongi finally acknowledges you.

You’re about to turn back to the inn and retire to the room that you’d hired out when he calls your name. You turn back in surprise; Jin and Hoseok watch in confusion as Yoongi walks towards you. He shoves a hand through his hair in distress before coming to a halt before you. 

His expression is oddly soft as he casts his gaze over you. 

“I’m sorry.” He murmurs. It’s soft enough that Jin and Hoseok can’t hear,  but you hear the words as loud as day. “I’ll... I’ll see you in the morning.”

Despite everything, despite the ache in your chest, despite the overwhelming worry and concern, despite the fear, you smile at him. He looks surprised for a moment before you notice the slightest curl form at the edge of his mouth in a weak smile. 

“I’ll see you in the morning.” You promise. 

You do attempt to sleep that night; after all the plan is to leave straight away and flee to Sabre as soon as Jiyeon is rescued. You have a long an arduous journey ahead of you and you’re the only one who has the luxurious option of sleep. But you only manage fitful bursts, filled with nightmares. Finally, the dawn rolls around, though you do not feel rested in the slightest. 

You rise with a sigh, readying your scant belongings and changing into appropriate travel gear. 

And then, you wait. Waiting is agony- that’s something you learn as you settle beside the window of your small room and watch the sun peek between imposing stone buildings. The sky warms from a dull grey into a blushing pink, and then a bright blue. And all the while, you catch no glimpse of your friends. Six am comes and goes. No one had warned you how deeply terrifying your role would be. Waiting and uncertain. Are they dead? Captured? You do not know- they didn’t grant you the luxury of any information; just left you behind to deal with the mess, under the guise of “safety”.

Stiffly, you rise from your position. You do not dare check the clock. You do not want to know how long past the meet-up time it is though it must be at least a few hours. Your instructions had been to leave strictly as 6am lest people

come looking for you, but that hour has come and gone.

“You’re a liar.” You mutter to yourself as you step out into the crisp morning air. It had only been last night that he’d promised to see you again; so quickly he broke his promise. 

You kick the dirt aimlessly before beginning a quick stride for the edge of town, your head down. “A coward and a liar.” You assert, though your voice is thick with unshed tears. 

You’ve just stepped into the woods that surround the edge of the town when you hear the crunch of boots in dirt and the clink of armour; soldiers are out and about. Perhaps they’re searching for your friends after a successful mission and Jiyeon is safe; perhaps they’re searching for any backup to exterminate and ensure her continued imprisonment. 

You’re searching for a way to conceal yourself when an arm wraps around your bicep and nearly yanks you off your feet. You stumble back into a firm, warm presence, and one hand covers your mouth while an arm snakes around your waist, stifling your cry. 

You don’t hesitate to utilise the momentum of your fall. You swing your elbow around to where you estimate your attacker’s abdomen is. They release a soft “oof” and you utilise the way that their arm goes slack to swing forward in the same moment you bring the heel of your foot slamming down over theirs. 

They grunt and hunch over in pain.

“It’s me!” A familiar voice hisses, releasing you so that you can whirl around and see your attacker.

“Yoongi?” You say, before remembering the approaching guards and lower your voice. “You’re here?!”

“I am.” He comments softly. “Jin sensed you hadn’t left yet and I.... came to get you.” He confesses. 

A clank of armour and the distant sound of voices has the two of you freezing; now is not the time for reunion. There will be time for catch up and explanation later. For now, you are in imminent danger until the soldiers pass you by. 

Yoongi secures a hand tightly around your wrist and guides you through the undergrowth in a low crouch. He moves in the opposite direction of the voices, brushing branches out of the way. 

“There’s a hollow ahead; we can hide there until they pass by and then we’ll make for town. The others will be waiting for us there.” He glances at you over his shoulder. 

You don’t know what passes through his expression, but you feel his grip tighten just a fraction and his pace quickens. 

The hollow he speaks of is a tree- rain has washed away the soil that the tree clung to. In its place, twist, skeletal roots knot and weave to form a dark space just large enough to hide some if they scrunched themselves up very tightly. You pause to raise an eyebrow at Yoongi. He pointedly ignores your scepticism, pressing pointedly on your shoulders until you obediently crawl into the space. He is not far behind- you feel the warmth of his form as he crowds you in. You’re about to comment that you don’t feel particularly hidden when you feel the brush of his magic; the shadows around the roots thicken. It’s a spell you’ve seen before- people’s eyes seem to just slide over the places that Yoongi’s shadows conceal. 

“So are you going to tell me why you’re still here and not halfway to the next town when we agreed you’d leave three hours ago?” He murmurs from where he is crouched over you. Crushed up against him like this, he is a large, foreboding presence. Were it not for the glint of warmth to his eyes, the relief at seeing you safe, you could almost be afraid of this terrifying man. If he is, indeed, a human at all. 

You could do a lot of things in that moment- pour out the anxiety and worry and misery and anger you feel and watch him boil in it; instead you release the fragile shard of vulnerability you had been trying to keep a tight hold on. 

“I couldn’t accept you’d died.” You confess. 

Yoongi’s eyes soften, and he drops his head so that it rests against your shoulder. His hair tickles the side of your neck and you feel the heavy weight of his breath as he exhales slowly. 

“I’m sorry.” He confesses. You shake your head, attempting to shift back. Some distance would be helpful to the loud racket your heart is currently making. 

“It was out of your control.” You remind him. “It’s hard to be punctual when you’re fighting against an empire.”

His arms tighten- a hand lifts from the soil and fits into the curve of your waist, anchoring you against him. 

“Not about that.” He confesses. “About.... about what you said earlier. About your feelings- I can’t stop thinking about it. About you. I have so much I must do and I can’t afford distractions and yet...... there is so much I want to be distracted by, (Y/N).”

He feels your surprised inhale, the way your ribs hiccup beneath his palm.  

“I’m supposed to be protecting Jiyeon and yet when Jin told me you were in danger...”

He doesn’t have to finish the story. Here he is, holding you desperately against him like at any moment you may crumble. He left the chosen one vulnerable, unprotected and untrained to save you. The plucky orphan who should have never been apart of this tale in the first place. 

Against your volition, you hand comes up to slide against his cheek. His eyes squeeze shut at the gesture- it reminds you of a cat, the way his eyes squint in contentment. 

“I understand.” You admit. “I.... It’s not your fault.”

Those are the only words you can muster. How else can you articulate the way it has clicked in place? The burden Yoongi bears; the long, scary road ahead of him. He cannot afford to be thinking of the things he cannot have; and he cannot have you, as much as you both want it. 

You know he understands what you meant; that your words have lifted a heavy burden from his heart. He did not want to hurt you; but he cannot drag you in. 

You lean up, tilting your head up just slightly so that you can have a brief taste of the life you could have had; if you were born in a time of peace and prosperity. Perhaps you could have wedded. Had children together. Grow old with your hands linked together, smiling with recollections of a life well-lives. His lips are soft but firm, and the kiss is filled with sadness. 

++

You eventually make the decision to go home. It’s not inmediatelt; you persevere for a while. You accompany them on the arduous journey back to Yoongi’s hometown. You assist with Jiyeon’s training as Yoongi intended. But eventually you come to accept the truth; this isn’t your journey to be on.

Jiyeon, who was suspicious of your presence at first given your history, is the one who protests the most, oddly enough. Perhaps you are the small piece of familiarity in a sea of chaos and fear, to her. And oddly, you are sad to say good-bye. Despite never liking her as a child, as an adult you begin to see it. The heart for others, the unwavering compassion and determination. She has the heart of a hero. 

But that’s why you must return home; a hero needs a home to fight for, after all.

Yoongi’s goodbye to you is subdued. He does not voice his sadness- Jiyeon even goes so far as to scold him to his dismissiveness. But you know; you can see it shining in his eyes. If he lets go, he will break down. And you are leaving to prevent that; your goodbye will be for naught if he lets himself crumble here. 

“It’s not forever.” You reassure your friends. Jin nods, tearfully, while Hoseok rests a comforting hand against his shoulder- normalky he would be the one sobbing the loudest, but he is to chaperone you home and then he will rendez-vous with the others in Yoongi’s hometown. “I’ll see you when the war ends. If any of you die, I’ll be very cross with you.”

That does it; the briefest, weakest smile from Yoongi. 

And so ends this chapter of your adventure.

 Epilogue:

The war lasts five years. Villages are ravaged, lives are lost and empires are brought to their knees. Joyous bells ring throughout your town when the news reaches you; the emperor has fallen. 

For you, you don’t think much of it. The war had left countless children orphaned, and to the best of your ability you take as many in as you can handle. Ever since you and Jungkook took over the orphanage, funds have been tight and there have been endless mouths to feed. So the news of the war ending leaves you surprisingly underwhelmed. The end of the war will not mean food appears from nowhere or make these children un-orphaned. If anything, your job gets harder now; as people lick their wounds and the fallen empire recovers, you will have your hands full with your children. 

You’re informing Jungkook of this opinion quite loudly in the tavern one evening. It’s past curfew for the children and old Bertha had offered to keep an eye on things so the two of you could have a night off. 

You’re surprised when a nearby customer snickers. Casting your gaze, you notice four hooded figures seated around the door. That in itself is not suspicious, for many travellers prefer to keep their identities concealed as they pass through. 

What is suspicious is the brief glimpse you catch of one of the hooded strangers, the slight tilt of a smirk that seems almost familiar. 

Having noticed your attention is drawn, one of the travellers lean forward. 

“Do go on.” A familiar voice sounds. You nearly drop your glass as you blink a few times. Suddenly, your heart is racing. 

“Do you know these people?” Jungkook asks curiously, eyeing the group with mild interest. 

You’re too stunned to reply, so the initial traveller, the one who had snickered answers for you. He tugs his hood off to reveal chestnut hair, a heart shaped mouth, bright glittering eyes. 

“I sure hope she does since we came all this way to find her.” Hoseok cries enthusiastically. 

You distantly hear the sound of a chair sliding across wood and then realise the source is you, leaping from your chair. 

“H-hoseok?” You cry. He grins. 

“The one and only!” He caws. He gets to his feet to engulf you in a monstrous bear hug. 

The other travellers take the opportunity to tug their hoods free; first Jiyeon appears, beaming at you, then Seokjin. 

And then Yoongi. Five years has not aged him, though you always had considered the possibility that he is immortal. 

Hoseok seems to realise he’s lost your attention, for he releases you and begins interrogating Jungkook. 

You’re far too preoccupied with the man before you. 

“Yoongi.” You breathe. 

The smile he offers you is surprisingly light and warm. Like a cat blinking contentedly in the rays of the morning sun. And despite it being nearly half a decade since you last saw him, your heart races just the same. 

“You did say it wasn’t forever.” He offers you simply. 

And as your eyes water and fill with tears, you offer him a weak smile. 

And so begins the next chapter of your adventure.

[septembercfawkes]

Burritos vs. Sandwiches--er, PLOT vs. STRUCTURE!

Often in the writing world, we lump together plot and structure (#guilty), which makes sense, because they're so intertwined. They're sort of like two peas in a pod. But they are actually two different things, which can be difficult to discern at first when you are learning the craft.

So what is the difference? And why does it matter?

Self, I'm glad you asked that 😉 because that's what I'm going to talk about today.

And I'll be using two of my favorite foods, Mexican food and sandwiches 😋 🤤, to illustrate.

Hopefully you aren't on a diet that restricts those things, if so . . . 😅

At first I was going to refer to Cafe Rio 😍 as an example, but since that is more of a regional thing (proud to say the original started in my hometown ✌️), I decided to go with Chipotle, which is at least across the U.S. . . . I think.

Anyway, plot vs. structure, Chipotle food. Let's do this.

When you go to Chipotle, you mostly have four options: burrito, taco, salad, or what they call, a burrito bowl (basically the burrito without the tortilla).

But what some of my family members occasionally laugh about is that it's all the same food. You're just picking how you want to deliver that food to your mouth.

Meaning, whether you get a salad, burrito, taco, or a bowl, you have the same food options.

I could choose chicken and black beans and then choose whether I want it in a salad, burrito, taco, or bowl. What goes in each is all the same.

This is a good example of taking a plot and structuring it.

Plot = the actual content of the story. Plot is the events, usually brought on by cause and effect, that make up the narrative. It's what happens. It's the chicken, beans, rice, and lettuce (and salsa and sour cream and . . . you get the idea).

Structure = how it is delivered to the audience. Structure is which content goes where and in what order. If I'm getting a salad, the lettuce is put in the bowl first. If I'm getting a burrito bowl, the meat and beans and rice are put in first.

In most stories, plot and structure will fit together in rather straightforward ways. For example, the majority of stories are told in a linear timeline.

But not all stories.

Some stories take place in multiple timelines, some jump all over in time (The Prestige & The Time Traveler's Wife), and some even play with the passage and delivery of time to the audience (Arrival).

In this sense, the plot is structured in a way that is not the linear order. The delivery to the audience is different than the basic cause and effect the characters are experiencing.

But September! (you lament.) What about all those story structures we've been learning about?

Well, yes, don't worry, we are going to touch on those too. It's sort of like learning about light. You can view it as a wavelength, or you can view it as a particle. They are both correct. (And it's helpful to have both.)

But the Mexican food point is, the plot is the ingredients and the structure is the delivery method. You can fit the ingredients into a structure.

K, I'll come back to that in a second. Let's talk about sandwiches.

How do we define a sandwich? Okay, well, let's not get crazy, because if we get out into the weeds, it can actually be difficult to define (I do often prefer open-faced sandwiches for one), but for the sake of this post, let's just say it's two sides of something (usually bread), and a middle or filling.

So you can have a ham sandwich, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a tuna sandwich, a panini, an ice cream sandwich, maybe an oreo, and heck, why not include those little peanut butter and honey cracker sandwiches I made as a kid?

For the point of this discussion, those are all sandwiches.

But they can each have very different ingredients. A ham sandwich vs. an ice cream sandwich? Totally different!

This is sort of like taking a structure and fitting in a plot. (Similar, yet reverse of the previous example.)

You can make any sandwich you want. But it needs to have two sides and a filling to be a sandwich.

Okay, it's important to not get too deep into this figuratively, because these metaphors are imperfect, and I don't want us to confuse ourselves.

The main point is, on the one hand, you can have a plot and structure it differently.

And on the other hand, you can have a structure that you fill in with a plot.

In either case, it's important to understand structure, because that's how the audience is going to have the plot delivered to them in a satisfying way.

I mean, you wouldn't want to make a peanut butter sandwich for someone with the peanut butter on the outside of the bread, would you? (Well, okay, maybe if it was your enemy 😈)

But let's look at some Chipotle examples first (wavelength vs. particle, remember?).

As I've been studying structure over the last year or two, one thing that has been interesting to me to consider is that while The Hunger Games book and The Hunger Games movie have essentially identical plots, they are actually structured differently.

Sure, some content is obviously different, like we get some scenes in the movie that we couldn't have in a first person POV, and the book is more graphic and Katniss a bit less of a hero in it.

But the events are by and large the same. And they are even both linear. They have the same plot.

Nonetheless the same events are structured slightly differently.

The biggest, most obvious example of this is the midpoint (which happens right in the middle of a story). In the book, the midpoint is when the Careers chase Katniss up a tree, she drops the wasp nest on them, and Peeta saves her (she shifts from responding --> action).

But because film is different than books, filmmakers had to shift the story a bit (which I'll talk about in a sec), which would have made that part in the story come too late as a midpoint. So instead, they structured the cornucopia blood bath as the midpoint of the story. Prior to that point, Katniss is responding and preparing for the Games, but after that point, she's actually active in the Games.

Same ingredients. Different delivery methods.

The book puts the emphasis on Katniss going active in a more personal sense.

The film puts the emphasis on Katniss going active in a more external sense.

And if you think about it, it's not too surprising, because books better explore the internal while film better explores the external.

But anyway! There are other shifts as well. . . .

For example, in the book the inciting incident actually occurs about 5% into the story, while in the film, it hits later (though the events are the same).

Part of this is simply adjusting to film. In the book, Katniss can relay a lot about the world to the audience in shorter space than the film can. (On the other hand, the book can be longer than a film.)

I could go into a bigger, longer explanation of all this (and am tempted to), but I want to try to keep these concepts simple, the point being that while the events are largely the same, the film had to structure the plot slightly differently.

Which can work, because as I've explained before--structural components are relative. (They have to be, because structure isn't plot.) For example, the inciting incident shifts the protagonist into a new direction--"new" compared to what came before.

Okay, but let's not get too complex! I'm sure I'm losing some people. Stick with me!

Let's look at another example that may be more obvious. Splitting one book into two films.

If you watch Mockingjay, Part 1, it more or less has the same plot as the first part of the Mockingjay book.

However, filmmakers still had to structure it as a complete film.

Remember, plot and structure are different.

Same ingredients.

Different delivery methods.

Some of the ways the filmmakers did this, is . . .

- They made the missile attack the climactic moment of the middle (Act II)

- They made the scene in the bunker and the following scene when Katniss is on camera the subsequent lull, or "All is Lost" moment. (Katniss realizes that Snow is just going to keep toying with her as long as he has Peeta.)

- They made retrieving Peeta and the other tributes the climax of the story.

Just to name a few. (In comparison, retrieving Peeta is structured more or less as the midpoint of the book, meaning they retrieve him, he's been hijacked, which pushes Katniss to go to District 2 and become more obsessive with killing President Snow. Aka, she becomes more proactive.).  

They took the same ingredients and structured them into a different delivery.

My next question to you is, is Mockingjay, Part 1 as satisfying as the prior films?

No, because it's only half the plot, pushed into a complete structure.

This isn't to say that it's bad by any means. I mean, if you are going to split a story in half, I feel like they did the best that could be done, probably.

But it's not as satisfying on its own.

So while structure is relative, at the same time, some "ingredients" work better in certain places than other ingredients.

I mean, was retrieving Peeta really as powerful as any of the other films' climaxes? No, because other than Katniss trying to pacify Snow through a phone call, the heroes are met with no resistance.

When structuring a story, some content works better at parts than other content.

The ingredients in a sandwich can make all the difference. I mean, even a cheddar cheese sandwich is different than a blue cheese sandwich. What kind of experience do you want to create?

Maybe consider what your audience ordered. If they wanted something sweet and indulgent, maybe give them the ice cream sandwich and not the tuna one.

Ingredients matter and make a difference.

This is a point where some writers get confused once they fully grasp structure. They may learn the Hero's Journey structure and think, This is the answer to all my problems! Everything I write now will be amazing!!

While it's true a solid structure can be 💯 amazing and do wonders (seriously). It's not everything. Which is why sometimes it can be frustrating when a writer understands a structure, but doesn't nail the plot.

Just as structure changes the experience of Mexican food, ingredients change the experience of sandwiches.

If structure is relative, what ingredients do you use where?  

What ingredients do you use, period?

Obviously it's helpful to take into consideration who the audience is (like I mentioned)--is it just you? Your friends? Readers on Amazon?

It's helpful to consider the genre too. Is this romance? Horror? Mystery? Fantasy?

What kind of conventions and scenes are expected or obligatory? What tropes are common in the genre? How will you address or twist those things?

And just as you can take your plot, and structure it for a better experience, you can also take structure and use it to better your plot. (Remember: wavelengths vs. particles)

After all, few people want the peanut butter on the outside of their peanut butter sandwich. There is a structure the audience is expecting the ingredients to follow, even if they aren't aware they have those expectations.

We decided for a sandwich to be a sandwich, it needed to have two sides of something and a middle or filling.

We probably have some idea on the ingredients we are going to use based on the sort of story we want to tell.

Let's make this a deli sandwich (more options). (Deli = genre)

I know I want to start my sandwich with wheat bread. What's next? Meat, lettuce, mayo, then pickles and tomatoes? Maybe that's not necessarily a "wrong" order, but most of the time, people are expecting mayo to come first. We grab the bread, spread the mayo on. From there, usually the pickles and tomatoes go next.

I know some people are going to disagree with me on that order--but I mean, it's a metaphor, and you get the point I'm trying to illustrate, right? I hope?

We might not necessarily know what condiment we want to use once we pull out our bread, but we know that it's the next step. So we ask, do I want mayo? Mustard? Ketchup? Miracle whip? Ranch? Hot sauce? BBQ? Peanut butter? Honey?

Well, as you might notice--some of those condiments don't typically go well with making a deli sandwich.  

Some ingredients work better than other ingredients.

And I guess you could try to skip the condiment altogether, but if you make a deli sandwich without any condiment, it's usually dry--not a satisfying experience.

So as you work with a structure in mind, it helps feed into the plot--the events that take place and move the story forward (to the next ingredient).

Say you know your inciting incident. If you are familiar with structure, you'll also know what sorts of things need to take place right after it. Typically, this is where the protagonist really reacts. When you know that structure, you'll be able to pause and think, Which reaction do I want to plug into this spot? Which reaction is best for the story I want to tell?

Makes sense? Or clear as mud?

🤦‍♀️ Structure is so difficult to grasp and "see" when you are learning, so if you don't understand everything in here yet, that's fine. Doesn't hurt to be introduced to some of the concepts though (as long as you don't let frustration take root). Like a lot of people, one day it will start to click.

At least take away these points.

Plot and structure are like Mexican food: You can take the same ingredients(plot) and structure them differently.

But plot and structure are also like sandwiches: You can fit whatever ingredients(plot) to make up the structure.

Some ingredients are more satisfying than others. And some ingredients are more satisfying in certain places than others.

And that's the simplest takeaway.

Anyone want a burrito? 🌯

[richincolor]

Title: The Forest of Stolen Girls Author: June Hur Genres: Historical, Mystery Pages: 361 Publisher: Feiwel & Friends Review Copy: Received as a gift from family Availability: Available now

Summary: Hwani's family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest, near a gruesome crime scene. The only thing they remember: Their captor wore a painted-white mask.

To escape the haunting memories of this incident, the family flees their hometown. Years later, Detective Min—Hwani's father—learns that thirteen girls have recently disappeared under similar circumstances, and so he returns to their hometown to investigate...only to vanish as well.

Determined to find her father and solve the case that tore their family apart, Hwani returns home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village—and reconnects with her now estranged sister—Hwani comes to realize that the answer lies within her own buried memories of what happened in the forest all those years ago.

Review: [This book contains child abuse, death/murder, kidnapping, mutilation, human trafficking/slavery, and mentioned/referenced sexual assault and suicide.]

I thoroughly enjoyed June Hur’s debut, THE SILENCE OF BONES, so I was delighted to find out she had another historical mystery set in Joseon Korea coming out this year. THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS features a new cast and a new mystery and is set nearly four centuries earlier than BONES, this time on Jeju Island. (There’s a historical note at the end of the novel that serves as a good starting off point if you want to learn more about the historical events that inspired FOREST.)

Our heroine, Hwani, is a great POV character for this story. Between lost memories and her years away from the island (and her sister), Hwani has an extra layer of complication atop the mystery of the missing girls. I loved her determination to find her father and to solve the disappearances, even when her investigation came at personal risk. It’s incredibly satisfying whenever the lead in a mystery realizes they’ve gone off track and has to work hard to backtrack/figure out where they’ve gone astray—and when they decide to ask for or accept help from others.

What truly makes FOREST a compelling read is Hwani’s relationships with her family. While Hwani’s search for her father drives much of the plot, it is her reunion with her sister, Maewol, that is truly the heart of the book. The two of them haven’t seen each other in years, and they both view their father very differently and lead incredibly different lives. Hwani and Maewol’s clashes feel realistic and weighty with their years of separation, and their interactions and conversations are what help Hwani see the world more clearly. She learns that people who are good to her can make bad choices with others, and she learns how many terrible things people can do when they’re trying to protect their family.

With such a strong focus on the sisters’ relationship and the overall mystery, there wasn’t much room for the supporting characters to be fleshed out. While there were some memorable supporting/minor characters, the world felt thinner than I’d like. With how wide-reaching the mystery ended up being, I think we could have used more time with the people it directly and indirectly affected beyond Hwani and Maewol. (Gahee, Shaman Nokyung, and Scholar Yu in particular are characters I would have liked to get to know better.) Still, this does mean that FOREST has a very tight focus on the sisters, and I certainly wouldn’t want to spend less time with them.

Recommendation: Get it soon if you’re a fan of historical mysteries. THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS is another solid book from author June Hur. The mystery is good, but the development of the heroine and her sister's relationship is my favorite thing about the book. If you like estranged siblings coming together to solve mysterious disappearances, this is the book for you.

Extras:

Everything Is Canon: The Forest Of Stolen Girls

Author Interview: June Hur on THE FOREST OF STOLEN GIRLS, Researching, and Korean History

[phoenix-manga]

[DCA Event] - Six Queens Event Part 1

Event Summary: One day, six of the dorm leaders have been having nightmares of living someone else’s life. Sick of the sleepless nights they consult their professors for an answer. Possessed by six souls of dead royals who had unfinished business, how will the dorm leaders handle this?

[Campus Faculty]

Six of the dorm leaders enter the faculty which got the attention of almost all the teachers. But what had them concerned were the dark circles and disheveled appearances. 

The first to rush to the girls were Asher and Florence, being the dads that they were they immediately going over to them. Duchess noticed their eyes looked different. Evonie had yellow eyes, Allison’s green eyes are a brighter green, Briar had grey eyes, Vidya had red eyes, Cerule had Pink eyes and Rozeline had blue eyes. 

The girls explained that ever since they had their eyes change color, they’ve been plagued with nightmares of someone’s past life. The professors inquired more and traced back to what might have caused this.

Rozeline recalled everything in full detail on last week, the biggest clue was the filed trip to the history museum when they approached a portrait about a historically known king who had six wives. 

Conclusion, it was probably the portrait since the only ones who stayed behind to view it were six of the dorm leaders.

Actius remembers a similar incident that happened in his hometown and the last time some people got possessed by the six ghosts, they couldn’t take it and went insane. 

That was all Actius managed to say before Florence shut his mouth when the girls started to freak out and see their lives flash before their eyes.

Florence: OKAY! That’s enough Actius, you’re gonna scare the girls!

Actius: mppfh! mggpfhh! (My bad!)

Everyone is freaking out and or trying to calm down those who are freaking out but Rozeline was pondering about a solution amongst the chaos until she has a eureka moment.

Rozeline: If we can’t rewrite history, then how about we make a musical?

Everyone goes quiet and Duchess just goes, “That’s a great idea! There’s musicals about historical figures, we could try that!”.

Bless her heart...

[The Planning]

Rozeline spent half the week in the library researching the history and lives of the six queens as much as she could. And by the end of that half week, she has a binder compiling all the details of their lives but only highlighted a select few for theater portrayal.

Rozeline: I have done my research and let me tell you...

Everyone:....?

Rozeline: The king is a ####!

So, she took it upon herself to write a perfect script and fitting songs that will honor the six wives who suffered unhappy marriages. Everyone didn’t question as she started to assign who’s going to help with the stage play.

Ella was notified and started to draw out sketches for the costumes. It was renaissance at first until Rozeline says that this is the modern era, and that the costumes should be about “the queens” and NOT “the husband”. Ella crumples the paper with a fiery gaze.

Not because she’s angry at the rejection but as soon as she heard the word QUEEN she will make rearrangements as Rozeline requested. If it’s a queen she wants then she’ll make the costumes so dazzling and regally modern that the audience will scream in admiration!

Keep in mind, when Rozeline reads her expression morphs depending on how the chapter went. And reading about the tragedy about the six wives made her wear this frustrated expression for a long while. Everyone thought she was going to implode. She went a shade of red that would out Riddle to shame.

For the stage setup, they assigned Elu and Jinlong to fix the stage. Elu is in charge of fixing the backdrop while Jinlong has the lighting. The setting submitted by Rozeline was just one which was unusual but they trusted her judgement because she’s written the school plays and a lot of them were popular.

The other five have their hands full with rehearsing the lines and singing the individual songs of their characters.

The professors on the other hand, rented out an auditorium for the stage play. Florence went all out and advertised tickets and posters about the stage play. This isn’t the first time he’s advertised outside the school but this time they had a large audience to perform for.

He rented out the stage from a very famous Broadway building.

[Crowley gets word from Citrouille]

When Citrouille got a hold of Crowley she mentions a play that will be viewed in a famous Broadway building, Crowley wants the opportunity. 

That means he will also be attending, lol. Ditch his duties to watch a play.

The students gathered around the billboard to see the poster, at first they weren’t as interested but suddenly Crowley said, “Those who bought tickets will be exempted for the day”.

Cue the blood bath that followed, students want to get a ticket.

Those who aren’t worried were those who had friends at DCA, lucky bastards.

Azul got three tickets from Cerule, Kalim got two from Vidya, Riddle got five from Allison, Ella gave one to Divus and three to Vil. And guess who personally came to Diasomnia to give the tickets? Yep, Briar went out of her way to give Malleus four ticktes to the play. Boy was stoic but when he went back to his room he squealed like a high school girl and cried tears.

Rozeline messages Jack and asks him if he wants a ticket or two, he gets two but he tries asking Leona and Ruggie they decline. He runs into Ortho and he gives the ticket to him since Ortho can record the play for his brother. 

Everyone was excited for the play in store. Boy were they in for a surprise.