#and i’m not gonna discuss either thing on main anyway either

[janiedean]

bro honestly i had to say it.... referring to the israeli occupation of palestine as israel/palestine DISCOURSE is very... improper. from a political, historical and maybe even humanitarian standpoint. you're not obligated to, but i suggest you read something from pappè/khalidi/said/kadman <3 it's important in this day and age to be educated on this matter

anon thank you for the recs which I will check out because I’m interested in reading on the topic in general (I read said in university btw I’m not completely out of touch) but like…. I wasn’t talking about THAT ^^’

the post in question was about the whole k*ndrick vs dr*ke debate and I will absolutely call it discourse when it’s 6k notes of people arguing in a circle while not giving a single source for us foreigners who are not familiar with the topic not being us american or not into rap music, i never heard a song from either bc it’s not on my radar and i’d appreciate a source which isn’t saying if you aren’t familiar with that music scene you have a bias (like i don’t listen to rap music bc 99% of rappers sing fast and I’m esl and I can’t follow it, I do listen to some italian rap so…..:…)

and for that matter i spotted the terf bc she said she was allowed in disliking the whole genre bc misogyny so like… next time ask first what it was about if you’re concerned about it instead of presuming? like sorry swear this isnt meant to be passive aggressive but i wouldn’t refer to the the isra*l/p*lestine question as discourse at any point bc i think it’s the most complicated sociopolitical situation in existence atm which requires more nuance and knowledge to discuss on main than I ever have had or will ever, and I don’t think people getting killed nonsensically at that level is discourse nor I ever did, so again thanks for the recs and I’ll see to check them out but like I wasn’t talking abt it in the first place

[jujumin-translates]

[A3!] ★ Main Story | Act 14 - DREAM CATCHER | Episode 20 - To the Outside World

Staff: Now, allow us to announce the results. The successful applicants are--.

Muku: …

Staff: Number 3462.

Muku: --Gh.

Staff: Only successful applicants will be asked to stay for the meeting afterward.

Staff: All others please leave the room. Thank you very much for your participation in the auditions.

Participant A: Sigh… Excuse me.

Muku: …Excuse me.

Staff: Ah, you, number 3333--.

Muku: …?

Staff: Unfortunately, you were a little too young for what we were looking for this time, but you were in the running during the selection process until the very end. We’d love to see you apply again the next time around.

Muku: --I will. Thank you so much!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Phone notification*

LIME

KAZUNARI MIYOSHI ☆: Is it about time for the audition results?

Tenma Sumeragi: Is he even gonna get the results right away?

Yuki: Didn’t he say he was gonna leave first?

Kumon: I hope you passed, Muku~!

△△△: I really hope you passed~!

Muku: …

LIME

Muku: The audition just finished.

△△△: Good job!!

KAZUNARI MIYOSHI ☆: Good worksies~!

Yuki: How’d it go?

Muku: I didn’t get in.

Kumon: WHAT!? SERIOUSLY!?

KAZUNARI MIYOSHI ☆: They must’ve been blind~.

Muku: “But I was still chosen as a finalist out of 4000 applicants, so because I was able to give it my all, I have no regrets.”

Muku: “I want to grow even more as an actor for when the next chance comes along. That’s why I want to keep trying.”

Kumon: “Gotcha… Let’s do our best together!”

Kazunari: “I’m sure you’ll get in next time, Mukkun!”

Yuki: “If that’s how you feel after doing it, then I think your challenge was already a success.”

Tenma: “Good job.”

Misumi: “You were a good boy, Muku~.”

Muku: Ehehe…

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Banri: Gotcha. Well, auditions can be influenced by all sorts of things, and some luck ain’t gonna hurt either.

Tsumugi: And I’m sure that there were things that weren’t written out in detail in the application guideline as to what kind of actors they were looking for.

Tsumugi: But the fact that you made it to the final selections shows just how good you really are.

Muku: Thank you so much.

Muku: Anyway, Kyu-chan and I were discussing what would be good ways for us to grow more as actors…

Kumon: There’s a limit to what we can do by ourselves, and I wanna “challenge” myself more in the outside world like everyone else is doing!

Banri: Even when ya rehearse with other troupes, it still doesn’t really feel like you’re gettin’ out there…

Tsumugi: If you both want to grow as actors, why not try doing a workshop?

Muku: A workshop?

Kumon: Now that you mention it, there’s sometimes information about them on the bulletin board on Veludo Way.

Muku: Yeah. I’ve never participated in one before…

Banri: Ah, if that’s what you’re lookin’ for, I got a notice from the Andromeda Theater Company the other day about a workshop aimed at actors.

Banri: The guy runnin’ the workshop is Miyazaki-san. He was the instructor for the workshop aimed at directors that Director-chan and I went to.

Banri: He’s got a kind-lookin’ face, but he’s real harsh.

Muku: Oh…

Kumon: Harsh, huh…

Banri: Well, it ain’t like he was bein’ unreasonable. The points he made were spot-on and real informative.

Muku: I-I want to participate!

Muku: I’m nervous, but I want to “challenge” myself to grow even more than I’ve grown now.

Kumon: Yeah, I wanna do my best too! I’m anxious, but… If I’m with you, Muku, I think I can do it!

Kumon: I’ll grow even more and surprise everyone!

Banri: Aight, then I’ll forward y’all the notice with the info.

Tsumugi: Do your best, you two.

Muku: We will!

Kumon: Let’s do our best, Muku!

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[gremoria411]

A question I've been half-pondering since you posted some of your thoughts of G-Witch -- are there any series that you think do particularly neat things with design lineages (either aesthetically or otherwise)?

Obviously in G-Witch, you've got this lovely variety in mobile suit design, with each corporation having a different, easily-identifiable style. But there's also things like how both styles of 'suit in Gundam Wing (Gundams and Leos et al) trace back to Tallgeese, so you have a 'progenitor' mecha running around.

Oooh, that is a fun one. Off the top of my head I can think of around two series that do really interesting things with Mobile Suit Design Lineages, Mobile Suit Gundam Iron Blooded Orphans and Mobile Suit Gundam 00, but Gundam Wing, Witch From Mercury, SEED and the Universal Century in General all have examples worth discussing.

Note: I hit the character limit here, so this post’ll just be part one, and contains my thoughts on 3/4 of the main units in 00. I’ll talk about the fourth and other series in a subsequent post.

Admittedly, most of these are the titular Gundam’s design lineage, but there’s enough grunts that are worth discussing too.

First of all, Gundam 00

I’ll fully admit the above graphic is overkill for what I’m going to actually be discussing, but I think the design lineages of the four main Gundam’s is very very good, because each unit is clearly delineated into a speciality. (I’m gonna define them by their Third Generation Entry, since that’s the ones in the first season of the show).

Exia - Blue, with a focus on close quarters combat (I.E. Swords, to the point its original developmental code was “Seven Swords”).

Dynames - Green, with a focus on long range and sniping.

Kyrios - Orange, a transforming mobile suit that has high mobility.

Virtue - Black and White (sometimes with purple), Initially seems to be the Heavy Weapon Gundam, then later you realise it’s just full of absolute bullshit. It’s great I love it.

The second season, movie and side manga all add to this development line, so you can see how each concept develops over time. It also provides alternate equipment options for the main units, variants on a theme if you will. (I’m going to ramble a lot here, so I’ll identify which unit I’m talking about in bold).

Exia, for example, is the melee Gundam, one of two Gundam’s designed to primarily deal with any traitors to Celestial Being (I should do an analysis post on 00 sometime……, anyway). It accomplishes this by incorporating weaponry specifically designed to get around GN defences which, at the time of its inception, is unique to celestial being (this is why it’s got solid swords in addition to beam weapons). Its immediate predecessor, the Astraea, is probably the most stable of the original second-generation gundams - it’s designed for melee combat and doesn’t incorporate much experimental systems into the mobile suit itself. Because of this stability, it’s typically used for testing weaponry slated for other Gundam’s, such as the proto GN Launcher. This is further evidenced when it’s modified into the Astraea F by the Celestial Being support organisation Fereshte, since it’s the mobile suit of choice for that organisation when circumstances don’t demand a different unit, again because of that versatility. The Exia’s successor is the 00 Gundam (which I habitually just roll into the 00 Raiser, since it’s only around for about three episodes). The 00 Gundam is fitted with two GN Drives instead of the standard one, which should give in a far greater output. In practice, it needs to be fitted with the 0 Raiser, a little stabilisation plane thing, in order to run stably. This becomes the standard loadout for the Gundam, and it becomes the 00 Raiser. The 00 Raiser has slightly less swords than its predecessor the Exia, but makes up for this by incorporating the Raiser Sword, which essentially turns the entire Gundam into a sword hilt. The 00 Gundam’s Variants, the 00 Seven Swords and XN Raiser are essentially the 00 Gundam with even more swords and bladed weapons bolted to the frame (I’d like to specifically call out the Seven Swords for having GN Katars, which is just neat, honestly). As Setsuna’s penultimate suit, we have the 00 Quanta, which dares to ask the question “laser-shooting psychic swords?”, and can also freely teleport, just in case you thought distance was going to make this easier. The 00 Quanta Full Saber is probably what you’d expect by this point - the 00 Quanta with a bunch of extra swords strapped to it. (The ELS Quanta’s not, strictly speaking, a combat Gundam, so I tend to look at it as its own thing). The Exia line starts off basic, but eventually takes the concept of “sword” to greater and more ridiculous levels.

Dynames, is a sniper, but it develops very differently to the other Gundams. The original Dynames and its successor Cherudim were developed for Neil Dylandy, an excellent sniper. However, the Cherudim and its successors were piloted by Neil’s brother Lyle instead. Lyle was not as good a sniper as his brother, and so his Gundam’s were subsequently reconfigured in order to be more effective in large-scale combat - rapid fire rifles and submachine guns as opposed to “true sniping”. So, though the line shares several visual elements and retains a focus on ranged combat, it changes with its pilot.The Dynames was armed rather simply - a sniper rifle and two pistols, with supplemental armour being added. This is likely a direct response to its predecessor, the Sadalsuud. The Sadalsuud is notable for two reasons - it was configured more as an information-gathering unit than a combat machine, and it was notably lacking in armour. The Sadalsuud F incorporated a pinpoint GN Field in order to get around this issue, but the Dynames simply incorporated more armour as a result (likely due to practicality). The Gundam Cherudim, Dynames successor, incorporated missile pods and GN shield bits in addition to its pistols and sniper rifle, with its GWHW/R pack adding GN Rifle bits to the mix, giving the Cherudim far more guns to use. Another equipment pack, the Cherudim SAGA, even went so far as to be a “Seven Guns” counterpart to the Exia’s “Seven Swords” philosophy. Lastly, there is the Gundam Zabanya, which incorporated GN Rifle Bits and GN Holster bits, casting off its original sniping specialisation for a mass battle focus. “You don’t need to be a better shot, you need to shoot more bullets”, indeed. The Dynames line shows the progression from scout, to sniper, to more sniper, to Gundam with a billion guns. This is directly due to the influence of its pilot and the difference between the brothers - Neil’s a Sniper, Lyle’s a Gunslinger and so the line is adjusted accordingly.

The Kyrios is probably the simplest to talk about, since it was piloted by Allelujah/Hallelujah Haptism and was designed to maximise its aerial profile. The Kyrios itself was armed with beam sabers, a beam submachine gun and claw shield, with various optional missile packs, typically used in quick strikes. Its immediate predecessor, the Aubulhool, was barely a mobile suit at all, being essentially a proof-of-concept for the transformation mechanism. Nonetheless, it would also be used as a quick strike craft by celestial being when required. The Arios is essentially the Kyrios but more so - it has a new rifle, and the original beam submachine guns and claw shield have now been integrated into the mobile suit itself. The GWHW/M pack gives it a missile pod and swaps the rifle out for a GN Cannon. The Arios is also unique in that it incorporates a support mech - the GN Archer, which is essentially a smaller, simpler Arios for all intents and purposes (it’s not on the chart, but it was adapted from the Gundam Artemie, the bee-looking Gundam at the top-right). The Arios Ascalon is essentially the Arios fitted with various pieces of equipment originally slated for other units - a GN sword from the Exia, missiles from the Dynames and a GN Launcher from the Virtue. This makes it far more versatile, while still retaining its excellent mobility. It’s another one I’m quite fond of, simply because I find the versatility appealing. That and I think the Arios looks good in red. The last unit in the line is the Gundam Harute - designed from the ground-up as a two-man space superiority fighter. It’s also designed to leverage the abilities of its two/three super-soldier pilots, incorporating the Marute Mode which allows its pilots to fight in-sync (it’s…. Not quite clear how it does this, but 00 runs with the “quantum innovators understanding” stuff quite a bit, so I’m not too concerned). The Harute also incorporates GN Sword Rifles, which are scissor gun-swords (fun), as well as GN Scissor bits and a nice lovely missile container on the rear. Kyrios and its derivatives are largely concerned with doing the same thing - a fast attack plane that’s also a Gundam. It’s a very good, very achievable concept, so it’s neat seeing how the line develops over time. I’d like to note that the Harute is basically a culmination of everything that came before it, but considering I’m quite fond of it, perhaps I’m a little biased there.

I’ll talk about Virtue and other series in a follow up to this post, since I managed to hit the character limit for the first time.

But in essence, I think 00 does interesting things with its Gundam Design Lineages because each unit has a specific role, so it’s interesting seeing how they develop within that role, and seeing how their pilots influence them. The vast amount of other units added in supplemental material further sheds light on the in-universe development patterns and general “goals” of each unit. Exia retains the sword focus, but takes it in more esoteric directions as Setsuna himself moves toward his awakening as an innovator, Dynames undergoes a shift from sniping to gunslinging when its original pilot dies and celestial being replaced him with his brother (which is a very weird process, now that I think about it). Kyrios basically hits the nail on the head first time with its mobility and fast attack focus, with Arios basically just adding armaments, however his eventual understanding with Marie enables the addition of the GN Archer and eventual development of the Zabanya, which raises its mobility to even greater heights. On the other side of the coin, the units seen during 00P and 00F provide context for their successors - what worked and what didn’t, and how they developed.

[afterschoolcrewz]

ok so i watched this interview today

and Y’ALL the material .. more below bc of speculation and episode title spoilers

okay so first of all there are two things the cast talked about in particular that i’m fairly certain we haven’t seen yet in this season so they could potentially be coming soon !! first is a new barbara duo/dynamic that we haven’t seen—more on that later bc I have thoughts—and apparently a really good jacob scene involving the kids that had everyone breaking on set. it could happen next episode since it’s centered on him but idk since tyler was the one who brought up how he kept laughing and gregory and janine have a separate plot-line that’d keep them away from jacob? so i’m thinking it’s gonna be in either 2 ava 2 fest or the party.

now back to barbara, i think the duo isn’t going to involve a character already in the main ensemble because the way they were discussing it made it seem like it was somebody more unexpected/chaotic. ( to quote tyler it “makes his stomach hurt” ) SO .. and hear me out .. i think it’s gonna be janine’s mom. we have the mother’s day episode coming up so vanetta is definitely gonna an appearance and i think it’d be so fun to see them teaming up together ?? and there is so much comedy gold / potential ahh. anyways this interview made me even more excited than i already was for the rest of the season i literally cannot wait

[aleksa-sims]

Simselfstory

The next day D. & I went to my parents to pick up our cat and some of my stuff.  Last night, we talked again. We decided to just stay together for now, to see..... how things will turn out.

There was also something else D. told me. Since he was getting better while he was away, he thought about starting his own business, bcs he quit his job. My Dad offered to help him.

The two had this in mind anyway. They talked about it months ago and now it was time to inplement things. I don’t want to go into too much detail rn. It will explain itself over time.

Mom: You have to take your pills regularly, D. This is important! The same goes for you, A.! The more time passes, the better you’ll be and hopefully..... forget what happend. 😞

Dad (to Daniel): The main thing is that you are safe & fine. Soon we have a lot to do and distraction is always good! But one thing I want to mention again. No matter what probs you two have, even if you relapse, talk to us!! None of us will blame you for asking for help. We want you two to be well, okay?

Daniel: Yea, I got it. 😔

Dad: And what about you A.?

Me: Yea, ok! But I want you to help D. with that job thing.

Dad: Of course I’ll help him. And actually we could start immediately, but if we proceed as planned and discussed, it may be that you and Daniel have to move. 😕

Me: Um... okay. I am prepared to do whatever it takes. 🙂(😟)

Daniel (to me): You...are really ready to move? To.... my house!? 😯

Me: We’ve talked about it before, and..... now that I’m pregnant, why not? You, me and.................. our Baby? 😳

Daniel: I love you, so I’ll love your Baby, too. Our Baby! And well, N.'s Baby. 🤨

Mom: Are you serious about this, D.? Can- and do you even want that?? 😟

Daniel: Yes!

Me: We decided to try and I have to talk to N. about it too.

Dad: However you decide to continue, together or .... separately, I will help Daniel. I’m just clarifying this, so you don’t make your decision dependent on that.

My Dad and Daniel kept talking about their new plans, while my Mom couldn't stop asking me questions.

Mom: You really wanna move? You know what kind of... strange things his mother did there. In that house! 😟

Me: It's a pretty house. I like it there. And she moved out, it's all fine. Besides, I have other worries rn, as you know.

Mom: That’s what I’ve been trying to make clear to you these past few weeks. But well, now you're pregnant. Either you two accept this and move on, or you’re really getting a divorce.

Me: He wants us to stay together. And actually I want the same. I don't wanna lose him.... I’m moving back to our apartment with him for a short while, see if Daniel and I can make it? And, I'm gonna talk to N. I don’t want to disappoint N. or hurt him. I have to come up with something. A soloution! 😟🤯

Mom: In other words, it's either/or? There is no other way out, A.!

Me: Who says that? You?.... I’m gonna do what’s right for me, Daniel and Nico, not for you or anyone else. 😒

Mom: What are you trying to tell me?.... You can’t do the same thing you did back then. This isn't normal!.. And you were unhappy! That’s not what you want! And I’m sure Daniel won’t agree with that. 😦

Me: I'm going to do what I got to do.

Mom: I know you A.! You won’t do anything. You will wait until one of them.......... goes nuts.

Me: I don’t think so. 😒

Just before Daniel and I wanted to leave, Ana also had some questions for me.😩

Me: Everything you are about to say, drop it pls.

Ana: Um.... ok! Have you had makeup sex? Or, no! I’d rather call it... homecoming-sex.🧐 I mean, you didn’t really fight, he just... took off.🤷‍♀️

Me: No, we didn’t!! We talked!

Ana: Then it's obvious! You want N.! With him you couldn’t wait even 24 hours. Plus, he knocked you up. 🤷‍♀️😬

Me: Ah...yup. You know, we'll see S. later. Are you joining us?

Ana: Nah! Sounds like a double date, I really don’t feel like it. I have other plans. And now go and have fun with your..... man. 😏

Me: Who are you having fun with, Ana? 🤨 Dennis?

Ana: Are you jealous of me for Dennis? 😜

Me: Ugh!... NO! 😖

Ana: Don't worry, sis. I’m not dating Dennis, a messed up guy. NO thanks! I have fun...... with myself. 😄

Me: Hmm?... I know you Ana! You have a secret. And you know me, baby sis. I'll uncover it. 😏💁‍♀️

Ana: Weirdo!

Ana really had a secret. At first I thought she was back with Adam or something, but no, it wasn’t Adam. Just that much, I get why she kept it a secret. 🤭

Previous/Next

[heavens-sin]

By liking this post you are agreeing to the following:

I get full rights to bother you about our characters.

this is including, but not exclusive to: Moodboards, tagging you in things i think our characters would do, musings, random starters, playlists, etc.

My undying love and affection

A special spot on my carrd just for you ♡

me sending lots of stuff in your inboxes from meme/ask posts.

This is also the call for shipping. if this is something you are interested in. if you’ve not reached out already (Though if you want to further discuss things, my IMs are open! considering.. the fucker I'm portraying - pairings are gonna be heavily selective. and discussed thoroughly with muns. ) 

if youre already on my list you dont have to worry! this is just for new followers :> though please still like this so i can make sure youre still interested since ive been absent for a while. if not let me know! ill still bully you [affectionate]

Shipping with me can include, but is not limited to:

All them tropes.

Platonic love, antagonistic shit, etc.

this will also include the not so pleasant troped ones. of course this should be approached with extra caution. its not meant for everyone. and will be tagged and hidden under cuts.

thats including nsfw topics. all will be hidden under cuts.

Exclusive shipping rights which includes your own tags and ship verse. (I am still a multi-ship, but the exclusive ship partner does mean i will only ship with your version of a character)

Expanding ships we currently have.

Anything in between you’d like to scream about me with.

Fair warning: Shipping with me does include me becoming absolutely insufferable eventually about our characters. Also I'll only be accepting people as mains that I either already write with, OR we don't write atm but we are actively talking through IMs to plot or organise a thread or whatever.

(although i’m very willing to pop into your IMs anyway to discuss things if we havent written/talked but you are interested in being mains/exclusives).

[yarameijer]

SO I HAVE A BRAINROT - I'm just gonna share my thoughts here with you because, well, why not? Yara, you've become a safe place of mine and generally, make me feel so entertained and content with your writing especially since the pandemic🥹 I hope you're doing well there, and I hope you'll feel better soon!

But anyway, onto the brainrot: What if Tenma has ADHD? How would the story go? How would Raimon and his friends react to this? How will they deal with it? Or how will Tenma deal with it?

I imagine that could be the reason why he can be impulsive (I've searched that impulsiveness can be a main sign or symptom of ADHD, but to those who has ADHD, please feel free to correct me, I don't mean to offend anyone.).

I also imagine that Tenma can be forgetful at times and thus would forget to drink his medication and his friends would be the ones to remind him just in case. Speaking of, I feel like he'd either have a hard time focusing in class or unable to sit still during class. Either of them works in this AU, I guess?

That's all, I'd love to hear your thoughts and your personal headcanons about this AU! Have a great day and once again, praying for your recovery!

Hey!! Sorry for the incredibly late reply, I just sort of dropped tumblr without meaning to. And every time I opened it I ended up procrastinating even more… whoops.

But! I’m here now! So let’s get to it!

(Tenma with ADHD is honestly not something I have considered before. Please understand that all my experience with it is from having classmates in elementary school with ADHD and research I did online to answer this, so it might not all be accurate, but I’ll try my best!)

Tenma is already a very active and excitable kid, which means that when it comes to soccer, not overly much changes? It’s a great way to burn off energy and move around a lot, which is really helpful for him! The way his ADHD shows mostly is through the way he moves; he’s constantly fidgeting, or playing with things he’s holding, or bouncing his knee up and down. He just can’t seem to sit still for longer than a few minutes, which, again, when it comes to soccer, doesn’t matter overly much. Outside of training and matches, however, especially during team discussions or strategy meetings, it can get distracting and even cause tension especially in the early weeks of the schoolyear.

One noteworthy thing is that Tenma rambles, without really meaning to. He’s already got some insecurity issues, and that coupled with a hyperactivity disorder means he’s likely to just ramble on especially when he feels unsure or excited (AKA whenever he talks about soccer). It doesn’t do much to endear him to the more reserved members on the team, and it’s a habit he’s very bothered by.

Unfortunately Japan is not as supportive towards people with mental disorders as other countries, which in this case means that although Tenma has an official diagnosis, he prefers to keep it quiet. On the team, Aoi is the only one who is aware of this, and has been a genuine blessing to Tenma ever since elementary school. While Tenma mostly suffers from the hyperactivity part of ADHD, he can have trouble focusing, or rather be too active to really sit down and focus on for example studying. Aoi and Tenma were not in the same class before, but they were in the same year and she would offer her notes and extra tutoring whenever Tenma needed, and by the time they join Raimon Jr. High, it’s become an unspoken routine. Tenma and Aoi hang out more often than they do in the original story; they’ve got a few set homework sessions every week at one of their houses, and usually spend at least some time every week studying in the library.

Their little study sessions are quickly joined by Shinsuke, and later on the rest of the first-years, although neither Tenma nor Aoi ever mention the reasons they started them. Aoi is very defensive of anyone making a comment about Tenma’s attitude towards schoolwork (which is thankfully not often necessary amongst the team, beyond a few mishaps at the start) but also very strict towards Tenma if need be.

I imagine the older students sometimes help out with schoolwork as well, although not always towards Tenma specifically but rather just the first-years. Shindou and Kirino at some point figure out Tenma’s got ADHD, and Shindou at some point mentions it privately. Tenma freaks out a bit, but Shindou reassures him he doesn’t mind, and is especially helpful when Tenma becomes captain later on, taking on a supportive role.

Despite the tension at the start of the year, eventually that fades as the team gets to know each other better. Shindou tends to be a bit of a crybaby (but don’t mention that on pain of death). Hayami stutters his way through most of his conversations and once literally screeched in the middle of match because Kariya (no further explanation necessary). Tenma is known to start rambling when he’s excited and once climbed every tree next to Raimon’s soccer field because Aoi said he should (she meant well, but it did get them some weird looks). Hikaru’s way of dealing with intense frustration is to go to a secluded spot and scream until he calms down (boy, was that a fun training camp).

Tenma eventually tells Shinsuke on accident, but Shinsuke doesn’t really care either way and is just happy to hang out with someone who can be just as, or even more, excitable as himself. Tenma doesn’t really tell the rest of the team for a while, though; at some point he does, after they’ve been friends for longer, but to be honest, Raimon being so (unconsciously) supportive has gone a long way with making him feel more confident about himself. Whereas before he wouldn’t mention it because of the stigma, now he doesn’t mention it because it doesn’t seem like anyone on the team really cares? They’re all weird. They’ve all got their little quirks. Tenma having an unexpected obsession with fidget spinners really doesn’t even reach the top 10 of ‘weird’ in their lives.

I hope you enjoyed, and again, apologies for the late response!

[11thwardtls]

Memory Defrag | TRACK 3 - RECORD B | Azekawa Kinari's Ward Mayor Novel Translation

Warnings and Disclaimers:

This translation is not professionally done and is not proofread. Edits and clean-ups may come at a later date.

Not a 1:1 translation either and some liberties into localization were taken into account.

This novel will contain spoilers for the Ev3ns Main Story: "Chained Up Scarlet".

Appropriate Content and Trigger Warnings will be added if needed.

May be used for quotebots/masterlists etc.

I am not fluent and self-studying Japanese (albeit at turtle speed), this was translated by ear and with the help of a JP dictionary, so please feel free to point out any errors!

CW: Discussions about Death and Terminal Illness, Referenced Suicide Attempt

—/—/—/—/—/—

The data has transferred into its next phase. 

Reflected into my retinas, I found myself in the Azekawa Family’s living room where I was developed and spent my days in.

“Shut up already, you shitty dad!” 

Kinari was yelling.

He was eighteen years old. It was at that age that I was modeled after him. We had the same exact appearance.

He was wearing his high school uniform and he had a grim expression on his face.

“Watch your words, Kinari!” 

At the same time, the developer was similarly raising his voice.

“Where did you go when you skipped out on going to the hospital?! Make sure to see the doctor today!”

“Why do I have to go to the damn[1] hospital everyday?! It’s not like I’ll get any better if I go…!”

“Why can’t you understand that this is for your own good?!”

The depths of the developer’s heart is overflowing with cries of sadness.

The feeling of being unreasonably worried. The feeling of being uneasy and helpless. 

At the same time, he is also feeling uncontrollably furious at his son who won’t listen to his heart and continues to rebel against him.  

“Anyway, I’ve got plans to go karaoke[2] with my friends today. I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow.” 

“Just karaoke?”

“Hey, if I’m gonna drop dead tomorrow, I might as well die doing what I love, right?!”

Watching through the developer’s memories, this Kinari was akin to brightly burning fire. 

A blazing, fiery blue inferno. 

At the very least, that’s how it appeared in the developer’s eyes. That’s what is being conveyed to me. 

A strong life force that burns fiercely and with all of its might, despite being cloaked in death. 

Kinari was shining with intense emotions and sheer will. 

With such momentum, even the developer was overwhelmed. 

“If I’m dying anyway… I’ll die singing.”

After spitting it all out, Kinari left the house.

The developer fell to his knees and covered his face with one of his hands. 

“...Kinari…”

[I’ll find a way to make you sing forever. I swear on it, I’ll make sure you’d get to sing as much as you want.]

I can feel the developer’s heart trembling. 

Feeling despair knowing that it would be impossible, he decided to complete that life extending treatment no matter what. 

He was filled with determination to make that happen. Because Kinari will definitely become a singer, after all. 

Did Kinari know about how his father felt?

As an android, I do not know the answer to that question.

All I know is that despite the developer’s strong determination, his hopes did not bear fruition.

[I only realize the things important to me when it’s too late.]

[Perhaps that’s just the way life is.]

Suddenly, from the corner of my memory, his words that I heard the other day came back as if they were flickering.

My vision then went dark.

—/—/—/—/—/—

Somewhere, I could hear the sound of rain. 

From within the darkness, a faint light from a street lamp shines through the window.

Inside that gray landscape, Kinari was there, crouching down and crying out.

[It hurts, it hurts, it hurts.[3]]

[It’s frustrating, so frustrating, so frustrating.]  

A painful emotion was surrounding Kinari. 

[Why do I have to die? I want to live too.]

His screams of agony blended in with the sound of rain. 

Whose… memory is this? 

The developer’s or Kinari’s?

That desire to live was unyielding more than anything else. It was strong, intense, and harsh, burning away at his heart with a redundant force that it seemed as if it could reduce his human body into ashes.

That’s what I understood. 

—/—/—/—/—/—

As the image disappeared from my retinas, my consciousness went adrift into slumber. 

I’m currently in semi-conscious mode.

[Would you like to suspend Sleep Mode?]

[Would you like to continue viewing data?]

Without replying to these message boxes that have appeared, I reflected on the video I had just seen, as well as the emotions I felt while watching it.

I wonder what this feeling is.

Something feels afloat within my heart. 

…I’ll think about it for a moment.

This heavy, bleak, sharp feeling is probably—Sadness. Sorrow. Frustration.

Perhaps these words would be close enough.

…Why did the ‘Original’ refuse to go to the hospital?

Doubt flooded my mind.

He wanted to live an intense life.

If he thought about it logically, he’d have a higher chance of surviving had he gone to the hospital.

I also wonder about the words, ‘I want to live’ and ‘If I had to die, I’d rather die singing’, which of them were his true feelings?

Raito, too, had said something similar. 

If I recall...

When I first met Raito, the person who had accepted [The Death Prophecy], despite having no desire to die, it’s as if he dove straight first into a trap just to kill himself.

Humans do not live their lives with a focus on rationality.

Sometimes, they act out because of something else compelling them to do so, those of which could be called emotions, desire or hope.

To this day, I still cannot comprehend it.

However, there are now ‘feelings’ that come to mind at present.

If the current ‘me’ relives and experiences what I had in the past, will I accept them?

Will it help develop the sensitivity as I had asked for?

I closed the page as I overwrote the browsing data with new findings, then responded to the message box. 

[Would you like to suspend Sleep Mode?]

No.

[Would you like to continue viewing data?]

Yes. 

This time, I opened the past recorded data that I had saved myself.

—/—/—/—/—/—

Translation Notes: 

1 - Kinari uses a very rude speech pattern here which felt difficult to translate into English, so I added a swear word instead. Gets the work done, I prommy. Also if it helps, og!Kinari uses 俺 (ore), and our!Kinari uses 自分 (jibun), in case anyone wants to know how to tell who speaks apart for reading the raw JP text.

2 - Might be completely an unreasonable note / speculation again, but this karaoke plan might be the same one that ties in with Tao’s novel: Back to the 99 Track 1-2 / Main Story SideA-01 and SideB-07. 

3 - This series of lines is repeating, 悲しい and 悔しい 3 times over and over. The flow when literally translated felt off so I translated them with the hopes that the word choice conveys something similar!

—/—/—/—/—/—

Directory:

Main Page | TRACK 1 | TRACK 2 | TRACK 3 | TRACK 4 | TRACK 5

[homenecromancer]

regarding this post, and the Dune sequels by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson

So I haven’t picked up any of these Dune followups in about twenty years, and for all I know, the books released in the intervening time are much better. And I’m operating off memory here.

But the main reason I’m content not going back is that… they’re not all that good. At best they’re about equal to some of the fanfiction I’ve read lately. At worst, there’s some deeply goofy worldbuilding and plot decisions. I should back up and give a little context.

The books I’m talking about here are written by a team of Brian Herbert (Frank’s son) and Kevin J. Anderson, who has written a lot of spinoff novels. I went to go check out his other work — he did a few Star Wars novels and three X Files novels, among others, and here is a very telling quote from his website, describing one of his original novels:

Unpretentious, unapologetic storytelling that transports busy readers to other worlds for a quick escape and fast-paced entertainment

Which… is both a perfect description of his writing and the absolute opposite of the Dune novels that Frank Herbert wrote. I’ll get back to this in a moment, because there’s another important detail: the Herbert+Anderson team, according to them, work from outlines and notes left by Frank Herbert before he died. So far they’ve gotten seventeen books out of these outlines and notes — Frank wrote six Dune novels.

OK. So. I do not envy the H+A team the effort required to imitate Frank Herbert and live up to his legacy — Dune and its sequels are dense books that interweave science fiction storytelling with politics and philosophy, all in a prose style that’s hard to mimic. I think they’re legitimately trying their best, and working on a compressed timeline compared to Frank. (The original six books were published over the course of twenty years — H+A have put out seventeen books in the 25 years since 1999, and they are not short.)

The problem is that, unless they’ve really switched things up, the H+A team put way heavier emphasis on the storytelling, and almost none on the politics and philosophy. So their Dune novels are much quicker reads than the originals! In my paperback edition, Dune takes about 150 pages of small type until the “action” begins — Herbert really takes his time setting up his characters and setting, and begins to explore his main theme of the risks of political power. And then the main characters find themselves in nonstop life-threatening peril.

I… do not recall the H+A Dune novels having themes in the same way. A lot happens, but like. Dune is constantly saying things to the reader about how, say, carefully-orchestrated plans can easily go awry in tragic fashion, and also there are dozens of memorable setpieces. The H+A Dune novels have memorable moments, but they all feel rather shallow. The deepest thing they’re asking you to consider is gonna be, like, “wouldn’t it be fucked up if weird robots ruled over people?” And yeah, that would be fucked up, but it doesn’t have the staying power of some of the weird ideas in Dune.

Anyway I don’t bear either Brian Herbert or Kevin J. Anderson any personal ill-will. Their Dune books just don’t do it for me the same way as the Frank Herbert originals.

Also Anderson’s writing process is interesting — I can’t seem to make this a proper link no matter what I do (????) but he discusses it on his blog at kjablog.com/dictating-writing-hiking . And that method explains a lot, to me — I don’t know about him, but I would not be able to imitate Frank Herbert’s prose style by dictation while hiking, even if I had the ability to revise later. Makes sense that the text of the H+A Dune novels sounds like Kevin J. Anderson more than it sounds like Frank Herbert.

Oh and fun fact I learned writing this: Kevin J. Anderson lives in my state. Wild.

[therhythmafterthesummer]

Safe Haven (M) ~Bang Chan | Epilogue.

Pairing: SpaceRebel!Chan x WitchQueen!F.Reader Themes: Fantasy AU | Sci-Fi AU | Royalty AU | Soulmate AU | Slow Burn | Mutual Pining | Angst | Smut | Fluff. Series Warnings: Third person POV · Very loose and liberal usage of Star Wars concepts (mostly to refer to weapons and tech). you don’t need to know anything about SW to read this, trust me · Physical descriptions of the main female character such as: can visibly blush, having long hair, and being short · Violence · Swearing · Mature themes and language · Original characters · Graphic smut (later chapters) · Mentions of the members of other groups (later chapters) · No one is straight, beware · Each chapter will include its own individual warnings. Chapters marked as M (Mature) either include highly detailed violence, or smut.

Chapter Warnings: mentions of death · mentions of alcohol consumption · graphic depictions of intercourse (smut warnings under the cut). Word Count: ~8k | AO3

Due to all the abovementioned warnings, this story is intended for a 18+ audience only. Minors do not interact. ✰This chapter has been reworked as of 16/08/2023

Previous Chapter: Day 159. | Series Masterlist.

Author’s Note: i’m gonna tear up, i can’t believe this series is fully posted now. this was probably one of my most ambitious projects yet, it started as just an idea and next thing i knew three months had passed and the series was over 100k words long… anyway, if you’ve been reading as i’ve been posting, or if you’ve been reading after it was all posted, thank you ! i hope you enjoyed the ride and i hope you had as much fun as i did with it :) (don’t shy away from dropping in my ask box any comments or curious questions you might have, i love talking about safe haven and its lore lol).

Smut warnings: handjob · nipple play [F.Rec] · fingering [F.Rec] unprotected penetration [piv] · cockwarming · creampie.

Disclaimer: the story presented in this work does not represent Stray Kids in any way; anything described in this story and all actions performed by the characters are purely fictional, this was created just for good fun.

“Chris… Wake up”. 

The Queen was frantically trying to wake Chan up, which only made him whine and turn around away from her in his sleep.

“Christopher Chan, wake up!” With a tight grip on his shoulder, she started shaking him, which finally got his attention.

“...What, love?” His words came out slurred, and his voice was groggy with sleep.

The room was still dark, save for the twin moons’ light filtering through the drapes hanging over the windows of their chambers. Her Majesty stood up from the bed. The sudden lack of her warmth next to him shocked Chan’s senses, finally waking him up. “What happened? Are you okay?”

She hastily got herself into a robe, and tied it messily around her waist. “The Frequency’s calling. A baby’s been born into the royal line”.

Her words came down on him like a bucket of cold water, waking him up fully. He flung himself from their bed to get into a robe of his own right as she was darting out the door. Freyja just looked at them from her corner of the room, where she’d been sleeping before the ruckus, looking utterly offended by their interruption.

They ran through the corridors of her wing, although Chan wasn’t really sure where they were running to, he just followed her wherever she went. As they moved, her words sunk into him…

A baby…

Sure, they had discussed babies–adopting one, mostly, if a kid ever needed them. Considering how dire the last biological child of a ruler went, the Queen was adamant on not having children of her own. Which was fine by Chan. Even if he loved kids, he had no real desire to bring a child of his own into this world, he was truly content with his life just as it was.

Regardless, as they had explained it to him, the High King was the one in line to adopt the next ruler that was born into the royal family. Which was information he was glad to have. Had he not known, he would’ve been shitting bricks at this very moment.

They were about to turn left around a corridor when the High King himself suddenly appeared out of it, and Her Majesty crashed into him with a loud ‘Oof’. He was also just wearing a robe, clearly having been woken up in a similar fashion to the Queen. Hoseok was right behind him, also half naked in the middle of the corridor. 

Holding the High King’s upper arms tightly, the Queen’s eyes frantically scanned his face, just as her words rushed out of her mouth. “You’re gonna be a dad”.

“I’m gonna be a dad”, he repeated, with wide eyes. His voice was slightly airy. “Holy fucking shit, I’m gonna be a dad. What am I gonna do? I’m a horrible person! I can’t have a child!”

Hoseok was about to say something, but his words died on his tongue with the sudden loud smack that resonated in the corridor. The High King brought a hand to his face, where the Queen had slapped him.

Her Majesty brought her hands back to His Majesty’s shoulders, and gripped him tightly. “Don’t panic. You’re gonna be a great dad. You love kids, you’re responsible, and caring in your own way”.

Wrapping his arms around the High King’s waist, Hoseok pulled His Majesty to him. With his chest flush to his back, Hoseok rested his chin on the High King’s shoulder just as the Queen moved away from them.

“We are going to be dads. You’re not alone, sweetheart”, Hoseok sounded much more confident than His Majesty did. His eyes were glossy and sparkling with love and adoration when he reassured his partner.

“Holy shit, we’re gonna be dads”, an incredulous laugh passed His Majesty’s lips, and he turned around so he could hug Hoseok tightly against him.

Chan felt warm, and his eyes watered slightly at the sight. Draping an arm over the Queen’s shoulders, Chan pulled her to his side and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

“You are gonna be an aunt”, he whispered against her hair.

Her Majesty chuckled, turning in his hold to hug him close by the waist and murmur against his shoulder. “And you are gonna be an uncle”.

Chan and the Queen weren’t married, but they might as well be.

They had discussed it many times in the past, but it was something they just hadn’t done to this day. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to, they just never truly felt the need to.

Everyone already knew they were together–or, at least, Chan hoped everyone knew, considering they’d been very publicly together for four years already. He was even living in the castle, sharing her chambers, and, in a way, filling in the role of Prince Consort for political affairs when needed, even if they hadn’t married yet. Which was extremely amusing to him, since he was still pretty much working as a ship repair engineer with Talboot.

As it turned out, just as the Queen had predicted when they had officially started their relationship all those years ago, Chan was really good at filling in that role. It wasn’t that different from being the leader of a rebel unit, if he were honest.

He had the advantage of having Hoseok there with him. Since he’d gone through the same changes, the man was able to point Chan in the right direction when needed. He wasn’t sure if it was the same in other monarchies, but when it came to his Queen and her brother, it was just so easy to fall into their dynamic, to follow their lead and guidance when needed, that Chan felt no reservations when he started to be more present in their numerous commitments.

“Holy shit, we need to go”, the High King removed himself from Hoseok’s frame, and turned to the Queen. “We can’t go like this, my dear. We should at least get presentable”.

Her Majesty chuckled, shaking her head slightly. “Fine. Let’s meet in thirty minutes here again. It’s gonna be quite the trip… Seems like it’s further north, isn’t it?”

He hummed, and his eyes zeroed in on Chan.

“Channie, you’re coming, right?” The High King’s eyes were pleading, which almost made Chan laugh. He hadn’t really thought if he was supposed to go or not, but the man clearly wanted all the support he could get, and who was Chan to deny him of that?

“Of course I will, Your Majesty”, Chan answered confidently, tightening his hold around the Queen.

The dungeons of the castle were by far the only unwelcoming place within the structure. They were dark, musty, and the air was heavy with magic.

After four years of living surrounded by magic, Chan had somewhat become attuned to it, even when he wasn’t a magic wielder himself. It wasn’t like he could sense magic per se, but he could always feel the Queen’s magic around him, and this place was full of it.

There weren’t many prisoners in the dungeons. In fact, there was only one–the Charmer himself, Ike.

Chan had come here only a handful of times throughout the past four years, and he did it only because he wanted to be there to give some emotional support to the Queen. Every time she talked to the man, it was as if her old wounds opened again, as if she regressed back to her teenage years when he had killed her parents, when he had almost killed her, so Chan couldn’t bear to leave her on her own.

Even if the last thing he wanted was to see the Charmer’s face, he would always ask to go with her. Which was why he was here right now, standing by the dungeon’s entrance, with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes trained on the Queen as she walked towards Ike’s cell.

“What do you want?” Her tone was flat, if only a little harsh when she addressed the man.

Ike was sitting on the ground of the cell with his back against the wall. He’d been well fed all these years, but he’d clearly lost a good amount of muscle mass, which left him looking just like a regular dude, if only a bit too thin for someone his height.

As the Queen had explained it to Chan, the bracelets around his wrists, the anklets around his ankles, and the thick choker around his neck negated his magic completely. They made it so he could no longer pull from the moon–nor any other element–to harbour his power, which was probably why he had become so withered.

“Ah, you’re still carrying around your foreign lapdog?” Ike was eyeing Chan with a wicked smile on his lips, almost snickering. “How’s daddy?”

Sometime after he was imprisoned, Ike had learnt about Chan, about his past and the Charmer’s own involvement in it, and since then, the man made it a point to remind Chan and the Queen of what he’d done to Chan’s family any time they were in here.

Chan clenched his teeth, noticing the way the Queen’s hands curled into tight fists by her sides, and, as he looked at her, he didn’t care about the Charmer’s taunts, all he cared about was for her to not let his words affect her. Sure, Her Majesty had finally gotten full control of her powers, so she no longer had random outbursts when provoked, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t actively try to hurt him.

“What do you want?” She asked again, her tone still flat. “I don’t have all day, Ike”.

“So, a baby…” Ike let out a wicked laugh. “Whose will it be? Yours? Or my dear little brother’s?”

The Queen tensed a bit, but her tone didn’t relent. “It’s none of your business. You left, remember? You killed our parents and left. Whatever happens with the royal family, with my family, is not of your concern”.

Ike chuckled. “Oh, but how could I not be curious when the Frequency still reaches me?”

“It only does because you’re here. It doesn’t mean anything”, Her Majesty was tense, but she was speaking with confidence, and Chan felt a great deal of respect towards her for it.

“Maybe you’re right”, he shrugged as his fingers lightly drummed where they rested on his bent knees.

“Is this why you so eagerly asked to talk to me? For family gossip?”

“Yes, family gossip. But not about the royal baby”, Ike took a deep breath. “For the record, I still hate you. I still think you don’t deserve to rule, much less harbour the Shadows–”

“That’s bold of you to say, considering I’m standing here, harbouring the Shadows because they accepted me, because I am them, while you’re sitting in there”.

“–But, all this talk about babies…” Ike disregarded the Queen completely, ignoring her comment altogether. “Made me realise I do have one regret in life…”

Her Majesty tensed, and Chan had the urge to walk closer, but he resisted it, knowing she didn’t want him to be too close to the man in the cell.

Ike scanned the Queen’s face from where he sat, keeping silent for a moment before he finally spoke again. “I laid with a Liralean woman who had migrated to Ursis, and she had a son five years ago. My son. I left them a few weeks after he was born, so I assume he doesn’t know who I am. I wanted to come back once I had fulfilled my goal… Clearly, I couldn’t do that after you so rudely ambushed me”.

A deafening silence fell in the room. Chan’s eyes widened at the confession. When they were on their way here, the Queen and Chan had discussed that perhaps Ike was going to ask to be released–again–or that maybe he’d just try to get her to have an outburst, but this was something they clearly didn’t prepare for.

“Why are you telling me this?” Her Majesty’s voice was barely a whisper, clearly taken aback by the whole thing.

Ike shrugged, and his face was completely serious. “If I’m going to rot here, at least I want to see my kid. Even if just once”.

The Queen turned around, and started walking towards the exit without saying another word. Chan knew that face, it was her guarded face, and she was clearly making an effort to not let her emotions show when she spoke to Ike. Right as she reached Chan by the entrance, Ike spoke again.

“What? You’re not gonna give a dying man his last wish? How rude…”

She stopped, her eyes found Chan’s, and she took a deep breath. He reached for her hand to hold it in his, and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

“You’re not a dying man”, the Queen turned to look at Ike, her hand still in Chan’s, slightly trembling–whether it was because she was nervous or because she was completely furious, Chan couldn’t tell.

“Yes, well… Sitting here, I might as well be”.

“If you really care about this child of yours, the best thing you can do for him is never meet him. He’ll grow up just fine without having his crazy, murderous father by his side”, she turned back towards the exit, holding Chan’s hand firmly and tugging him forward as she walked.

Just before they reached the stairs, they could faintly hear Ike shouting in the background ‘Have you got no heart, wench? At least think about it’. Tugging on her hand, Chan walked towards the stairs and started climbing them to get as far away from the man as possible.

“Well… That was certainly something…” Chan commented as soon as they were back outside, squinting slightly, since the sunlight was almost blinding him after spending a while down in the dungeons.

“What a fucking jerk… How convenient, now that a royal baby was born he suddenly wants to reunite with his son? Bullshit”, Her Majesty moved forward with heavy steps, still holding onto Chan’s hand.

He followed suit. “Are you gonna tell your brother?”

“Hell, no. At least not yet. He’s got more important things to worry about than Ike’s mind games”.

Stopping his movements, Chan tugged on her hand to get her to stop as well. “Don’t let him get to your head, love”.

Her eyes scanned his face for a moment, and her façade eventually crumbled under his gaze as worry finally painted the features of her face. Moving closer, she wrapped her arms around Chan’s waist, and buried her head in the crook of his neck, just as his arms came to rest on her shoulders, and pulled her closer to him.

“Thank you for coming with me…”

Chan chuckled softly against her hair before he moved to press a kiss to her forehead. “How could I not? I must fill in my role as your lapdog!”

“Gods, don’t even joke about that”, she let out a tired sigh. “I almost blew his head off, I swear…”

Chan laughed at that, pulling himself out of her hold. “Come on, let’s go to the Bloom Bakery and stuff ourselves full of sugary treats. We deserve it”.

After taking a hold of her hand, he pulled her along, leaving the entrance to the dungeons behind them.

As it turned out, the inclusion of a new member of the royal family was one of the few things that were actually celebrated extensively throughout the whole planet.

Especially designed banners hung from every lamp post, some people even hung them from their house’s windows, and different types of desserts and spirit drinks were prepared throughout the towns to welcome the new member of the family.

When the four of them had travelled north to meet the baby, they had found her being taken care of by some old ladies in a temple. With a mop of black hair and tanned skin, the royal baby reached for His Majesty as soon as he hovered over her little cradle.

‘She’s so small…’ The High King had mumbled back then, bringing her into his arms right after. He was a tall, bulky man, which certainly made his daughter look incredibly tiny in his arms. That fact was highlighted even more the moment Hoseok, who was also tall and bulky, stood by his side to coo at his daughter as well.

Chan must admit that he might’ve shed a tear or two at the sight, completely endeared by the entire thing. Much like it happened to the Queen and the High King–and those before them–her mother had passed shortly after birth, so that same night, they had taken the little baby back to the castle with them.

It was tradition for a grand ball to be held when a new member was born into the royal line, so the High King and Hoseok–as the fathers of the baby–had prepared just that. They invited people from all over the planet to the castle so they could celebrate the birth of their daughter together.

Food, music, fancy and not so fancy dressing gowns… It was quite the event. Those that arrived much later and couldn’t fit inside the ballroom, settled to celebrate in the castle town. The place was booming with life as people drank, ate, and danced all around.

Chan was, admittedly, a bit overwhelmed by the amount of people and the noise. The Queen had to greet a new group of people that made their way into the room, and seeing the look on Chan’s face, she simply smiled at him and told him she’d be fine, that he should leave for a bit if he wanted–which he was immensely grateful for.

So Chan left the ballroom, moving around the ocean of people to find a less crowded area in the castle.

As he moved along, he stumbled upon a man, and just as he was about to apologise, he found himself staring at Skallarg, that old man that almost chopped his hands off on his first day here.

Chan being Chan, regarded the old man with his best shit-eating grin, offering a ‘Ah! Skallarg! It’s good to see you again’, relishing the way the man visibly gulped and his right eye started to twitch.

‘Ah, Chan, wasn’t it?’ There was restraint in Skallarg’s voice, and Chan was admittedly having a field day.

He simply hummed in response, nodding in Skallarg’s way and regarding him with a ‘I must go now, but I sure hope you continue to enjoy the celebration of my niece’s birth!’ before he went on his way.

As he walked away, Chan couldn’t help but revel in how the man’s face went red with rage when he said that.

He crossed many corridors, each a bit less crowded than the last, and when he thought he’d found the place he was looking for, he stopped in his tracks at the sight of Wang Eun and Minho eating face behind one of the wolf statues.

‘About damn time’, Chan whispered to himself when he started to backtrack.

Minho and Wang Eun had gotten extra annoying lately, with their painfully obvious flirting, and the cryptic phrases thrown at one another.

Until one particular day Changbin got fed up and told them to ‘Just fuck already and stop making me watch you make a fool of yourselves’.

If there was anyone in this world that could keep up with Wang Eun’s philosophy around relationships, it was Minho–or at least that was what Chan thought, so he wasn’t really surprised to see them there.

Removing himself from the crime scene, Chan made his way to the furthest corridor he could find next instead. Until, he finally found an empty balcony where he could enjoy some of the cool evening breeze.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, just enjoying the sight of the twinkling stars, and the two almost full moons in the sky. Noise and ruckus could still be heard from far away, but it wasn’t overwhelming or bothersome, so he quite enjoyed the almost silence of the night that mingled with that ever-present hum in his ears at this moment.

After a while, Chan felt a presence approaching, but he didn’t really need to turn around to know who it was.

As he rested his elbows on the stone balustrade of the balcony, a pair of arms sneaked around his waist. The sudden warmth against his back was familiar and welcoming.

“Hey”, the Queen whispered in his ear, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Chan brought a hand to one of her arms, and softly caressed her skin. “Hey, you”.

With her chest pressed firmly against his back, Her Majesty tightened her arms around his middle. In this position, a quick flashback of the night they first kissed in the castle’s pool played back in Chan’s mind, bringing a smile to his face.

“You okay?” She pressed a soft kiss on his neck, and goosebumps immediately rose under her lips.

Pulling on her arms, Chan exerted just enough pressure to get her to release her hold, enough for him to turn around. His hands rested on her waist briefly, only to slide them down to the small of her back almost right after. Her arms crossed behind his neck, letting him press her closer to him.

“I’m fine”, and he was, truly. “Just wanted some fresh air”.

The Queen hummed, scanning his features for a moment, until her eyes settled on his lips. “You sure?”

Chan just chuckled, and leaned in to kiss her.

It was almost crazy to him how even after four years, he could still hear that hum intensify in his skull every time she came close, and how his heart would flutter. Even now–as their lips moulded together, just like they’d done countless times already–her warmth spread to every fibre of his being, from the crown of his head to the tip of his toes.

The light scratch of her nails on his scalp as she threaded her fingers in his curls made him hum, and that fire deep within him suddenly ignited. With the first tug of her hand on his hair, Chan pulled away from her lips. The kiss was getting into dangerous territory, and they unfortunately still had a long night ahead of them.

A pout formed on her lips, which made him chuckle.

“Needy, love?” Pressing her further into him, Chan’s hands dipped lower on her back, just the tiniest bit.

“Maybe”, she pressed a trail of kisses from his cheek, to his jaw, to the soft, tender flesh on the back of his ear.

The action made Chan inhale a shaky breath, and his fingers lightly dug in the small of her back. “You’re dangerous, witch…”

The Queen chuckled, and her breath fanned over the skin of his neck, raising goosebumps upon contact.

“Isn’t that why you love me?” She pulled away from his neck to look him in the eyes, with a soft smile lighting up her features.

“One of the reasons”, he admitted. “Why? Do you want a list? I can pull out my list right now if you want”.

“Depends. Is my bum on the list?”

“It’s in the top 5 for sure”, Chan was serious when he spoke, which only made her laugh. The sound, coupled with the mirthful look on her face, made it so Chan couldn’t hold it in anymore, so he broke into a laugh as well.

As their laughs died down, a comfortable silence settled between them, and, for a moment, all they did was look into each other’s eyes.

Chan could feel the words bubble on his tongue, the question that had been floating around in his head for a long time, but he hadn’t gotten the courage to ask.

Maybe it was the joyous celebration that’d been taking place the past few days, or maybe it was the influence of the twin moons on him. Regardless, he felt courageous tonight.

“Would you like to be fully bonded to me?”

There was no hesitation in his voice, he was completely serious, and the moment the words left his mouth, it felt like a weight had finally been lifted off of his heart. Now, it was up to her to decide.

Chan and the Queen had known of their bond for a long time, since even before Chan moved in to the castle.

One night, during one of their many pillow talks on their now shared bed, Chan had told the Queen how he’d often feel as if there had been a bee floating around in his head whenever she was close, to which she responded by sitting up suddenly, and with shocked words of ‘You feel that, too?’ flying quickly past her lips before she frantically scrambled to her feet and out of bed.

A quick look at an old book forgotten in her study confirmed her suspicions, which made her literally facepalm herself at how long it’d taken her to realise.

The act of bonding was something solely reserved for people like Chan and the Queen–or like Hoseok and the High King.

Only those who’d been granted a bond by the moons would be able to perform the ritual. Bonding with someone was something that went beyond marriage, and that was recognised as such.

So, bonding with the Queen would mean that Chan would become part of the royal family. He’d officially become Prince Consort, he’d be added to the royal tapestry, and Hoseok’s title would change to High Prince Consort. All of which, Chan didn’t give two shits about.

He didn’t care about titles, nor having people recognise his union with the Queen. All he cared about was her, of being tied to her for the rest of his days. The moons had been calling him lately, igniting a primal need within him. And if they were calling him, they were surely calling her, too.

Her Majesty looked at him for a moment, with her eyes round in surprise, darting all around his face as if to make sure he was serious about it. Chan’s heart was beating fast in his chest, and the silence was deafening as he patiently waited for her response. Right before his brain hit the emergency button, he saw the genuine smile light up her face–only for a brief moment, though, since she connected their lips immediately after.

With her kiss and her tightening hug he could hardly breathe, but Chan didn’t care. Even if the Queen hadn’t given him an answer, he already knew. He could feel it in every graze of her tongue, in the way her hand gripped his shirt, in the all-consuming warmth emanating from everywhere she touched.

The Queen pulled away  from the kiss, but kept her face close, gently brushing her nose against his. The tender gesture made his heart swell in his chest.

“Are you sure? You’d have me on your skin forever… Forever’s a long time”, her voice was barely a whisper, the implication that she’d think Chan wouldn’t be happy with that decision pulled at his heartstrings, almost unpleasantly, but he decided to ignore it.

Chan kissed her, a brief, chaste kiss. Instead of answering, he decided to ask, “what do you think about it? Or rather, how do you feel about it?” He added, lightly drumming his fingers on the small of her back.

Her Majesty went quiet for a few moments as she gathered her thoughts, keeping her hand on the back of his head, mindlessly playing with his hair.

“When I think of you having me on your skin forever…” She pecked his lips briefly. “Makes me feel warm. I feel like my heart grows ten sizes. And knowing I would have you on my skin forever… feels like that tenfold. Bond or no bond, thinking that I’ll be spending the rest of my life with you just makes me feel so full of love… so full of you”.

Chan hummed, lightly brushing his nose with hers before leaning in to press a kiss to her lips.

He wholeheartedly agreed with the Queen’s description of the feeling, since her words expressed his own feelings perfectly.

Chan had no doubts in his mind, he’d never had them. He was certain that he’d never get tired of this, of having her close, of being able to display his affections, of her.

So, he pulled back from the kiss, confidently, lovingly, adoringly looking her in the eyes. “Then you know my answer to your question, love”.

Her Majesty giggled. Her eyes were full of love and care, and her face glowed with joy.

“I do want to, Chris, my darling. I’d love to be fully bonded to you”.

The bonding ritual was to be performed in a very specific spring up in the mountains. So, in the afternoon, before night fell and the two full moons were going to be shining bright in the sky, Chan and the Queen hopped onto a speeder, and made their way through the forest and up the mountain. Chan drove until the forest got so thick they had no other option but to walk.

“Jeongin’s finally getting his engineering licence”, Chan said as they walked through the trees.

“About damn time”, the Queen chuckled. “He’s smart, but my Gods is he lazy sometimes…”

“Yeah… At least now he can actually work on ships instead of doing paperwork only. It was eating him alive, and Talboot was getting tired of his whining”.

“I’m happy for him, though”, the Queen smiled as she swatted a tree branch away from her face. “I saw Felix this morning, by the way. He needed some help with this potion he’s developing. I’m still amazed at the ingredients he uses, sometimes I don’t even know how they actually work that well”.

Felix had moved to a town further south to become the apprentice of a friend of the High King’s. There, he’d been mastering his potion skills. Funnily enough, Felix was quite adept at potions–even if Chan still held a grudge from that time he dyed his hair fire-red by mistake. Felix had really come a long way, and he genuinely felt proud of his friend.

Chan ducked under a few branches as he kept moving. “Did you shadow travel to him or…?”

“Nah, he appeared here for a bit and then left again. He was sad he couldn’t see you”.

“Well, if only he didn’t come when I’m at work every time then maybe we could see each oth–Shit!” Chan tripped with one particularly thick root, and almost fell on his face.

“Gods, my love, you okay?” Chan simply let out a breathless ‘M’fine’ to answer the Queen’s question as he straightened himself. “I don’t like this. Wish I could shadow travel to the damned cave. At least we’re close-ish…” she said simply, trying to not fall as well with all the intertwined tree roots littering the ground.

By the time they’d reached the cave they were looking for, it was already dark out. The Queen conjured a bunch of orbs of light to illuminate their path, and the things finally settled around the walls of the cave once they entered it.

The cave was spacious, with walls carved in the shape of pillars. Towards the farthest end, there was a wall covered in runes. Water was spilling from random holes in it, and falling into a spring right below it.

It felt slightly humid there, but the gaping hole in the ceiling of the cave kept the area well ventilated. The hole also provided a lovely view of Lira Le’s evening sky, twinkling stars greeted them, and half of one of the twin moons showed its head.

The Queen briefly looked back at Chan with a smile on her lips, only for her to look forward towards the spring right after, and started to slowly remove her clothes. Her shirt came off first, and just the view of her nude back already tempted him to reach out and touch her, but he stayed put. Her boots and her trousers followed soon after.

The sight of her completely naked was, still to this day, a treat to Chan’s eyes. It caused blood to rush from his head to his already interested cock.

Since Her Majesty had successfully harboured the Shadows, and her magic was no longer volatile, the tattoos all over her body had become less dense. Chan could now see more spots of bare skin peeking between the runes that spread over her form. These days she kept her chest and neck almost entirely bare, most of the ‘ink’ was spreading over her limbs and part of her back.

Chan honestly didn’t have any strong feelings about the change. Covered in runes, bare, he truly just adored any and every one of her facets equally.

As soon as the Queen got rid of her clothes, she dived into the spring, and resurfaced moments later to look at him, regarding him with a teasing look in her eyes.

“What? Are you chickening out already?” She taunted, which only made him scoff as he snapped out of the almost trance he’d been in.

Chan removed his clothes in record time. His hands were slightly trembling with excitement as he got himself bare. He realised then just how much he wanted this, to formalise their relationship forever–not like he didn’t know it before, but being here solidified his decision completely.

The moment Chan dived into the spring, he started to feel tingly all over, and he wondered if it was part of the whole experience, just like that ever-present hum now reverberating a tad louder in his skull might’ve been.

The water was warm, much like the castle’s pool usually was. It was a perfect contrast against the cool evening air coming from the hole in the ceiling of the cave.

Chan broke the surface to find the Queen’s form already in front of him, and his hands found purchase on her waist to pull her body flush against his. Their lips connected almost immediately, their tongues found each other, and moved against one another with practised ease as her fingers threaded in the hair at the back of his head to tug him even closer to her.

Pulling back from the kiss, Chan’s hands moved from her waist to rest on the curve of her ass, while her hands moved to his shoulders, and the Queen started gently massaging him, just like she often did.

“So, now we just wait?” Chan asked, pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Now we just wait. Both moons need to be at their highest, we need to be able to see them both from the hole above”, the Queen pressed kisses on Chan’s neck, and goosebumps rose on his skin wherever her soft pecks landed.

Chan hummed. He, admittedly, got a bit distracted when his hands started massaging the supple flesh of her bum, especially when her grip on his shoulders tightened the slightest bit while he fondled her. Her shaky intake of breath didn’t go unnoticed, and the action fuelled a wave of lecherous thoughts that clouded his reason immediately. “What should we do to pass the time, then?”

With a chuckle, the Queen pressed a kiss on his jaw before moving her mouth close to his ear. “Play a game of charades, clearly”.

Her palm pressed against his erection, and his hips instinctively bucked forward to get a bit more friction. Chan turned his head, so their mouths could meet in the middle in a heated kiss, just as she wrapped her hand around him.

Slow, languid pumps teased him, his senses zeroed in on the feeling, and she tightened her grip just slightly, in the exact way she knew he loved.

One of his hands stayed on one of her buttock, massaging and groping the flesh as much as he wanted, while the other moved further up, until it found the soft skin of her breast. He squeezed the tender flesh briefly, just before the rough pad of his finger grazed her jewelled nipple, making her moan softly, almost quietly against his lips.

It didn’t matter how many times he heard it, every time she moaned, groaned, or cried out from his touch, his heart would overflow with joy, and his cock twitch. The Queen knew it, too, so she let herself enjoy his touch and show him how much she liked it every single time.

“What a weird game of charades”, Chan mumbled when their lips disconnected, just as his thumb and index finger pinched and twisted her nipple in just the exact way he knew she loved.

Her laugh melted into a strangled moan, and her hand stilled around him. Meanwhile, his fingers continued their attack on her chest, his other hand soon joined the fun as well to provide equal attention to the unattended breast.

“Fuck, I…” She was trying to come up with a response, he knew it. But the words died in her throat the moment he dived in to press kisses on the sensitive curve of her neck. While his hands worked her chest in unison, his hips lazily moved to get some friction from her now still grip around his length.

“What was that?” Chan couldn’t help but tease her, and his lips moved up from her neck to find the shell of her ear and lick it softly.

“I–Ugh… I don’t–don’t even know anymore”, she pouted, taking in ragged breaths.

“Always so sensitive, my love…” Chan chuckled, placing a soft kiss on her cheek bone. The gesture was tender, even if what was happening below the waterline was anything but.

“Just love it when you touch me”, she whispered against his mouth, just before she leaned in to kiss him.

Chan hummed in agreement. He loved to touch her, too. 

Placing her free hand on his shoulder, Her Majesty used it as leverage to hoist herself up, releasing him from her grip with the movement. Her legs wrapped around his middle, her arms rested on his shoulder, and pulled him close. Chan’s hands moved from her breasts with the motion, his arm came to wrap around her waist, and he pressed a hand between her shoulder blades to pull her flush against him.

Their kiss was slow, sensual, expert tongues moving against each other. Their noses brushed slightly, tenderly, with every change of angle. They just kept it that way for a while, savouring one another, sharing their love, just like they had done countless times in the past four years.

Eventually, Chan moved, his hands found purchase on her bottom, and he made a beeline to one of the protruding surfaces on the side of the spring below the water. He carefully placed her down, and her legs loosened their grip around his waist a bit so she could get comfortable in her new seat.

Chan released her mouth, and moved to press a tender kiss on the apple of her cheek. His fingers teased her slit with slow movements, until he finally found her clit and started drawing circles on it.

“It’s crazy to think this place was built to fuck”, his lips attached to her neck. With his free hand, he started teasing one of her nipples, pressing kisses wherever his mouth would fall.

Her Majesty chuckled, slightly breathless as the movement of his hands picked up. “We don’t have to fuck, you know? It’s not like it’s mandatory”.

“Oh, but we will”, Chan laughed, starting a trail of kisses from her neck, all the way up to her ear. He tugged on her earlobe with his teeth, and the hand on her clit finally moved lower to stuff her full with two of his digits.

Her mouth seeked his, and he turned his head to catch her lips with his own as kept stretching her open. Soft whines spilled from the Queen’s lips, his fingers on her chest continued gently pinching her nipple, while his thumb started to rub her clit.

Every graze of her tongue against his own further kindled that fire within him. Every whine, every moan, and her tight, warm walls around his digits tempted him, and the need to have her crumbling under his touch was certainly increasing by the minute.

When Chan pulled away from her mouth, he felt air escaping his lungs at the sight.

“So pretty, my love…” He pressed a loud kiss on her lips, making her laugh breathlessly while his fingers worked her up.

“Darling, please… Wanna feel you…” She whispered against his mouth, between pecks of her lips.

“What? Are my fingers not enough?” His fingers curled up to hit that area within her walls that had her moaning and squirming with his touch.

“Shit…” The Queen chuckled, sinking her fingers into his shoulders, gripping him tightly. “I can’t believe you’re trying to tease me when we’re about to bond”.

“Tough luck, love. You’re about to be stuck with me forever”, Chan chuckled, pulling his fingers out from her core as he pressed kisses around her face.

“Willingly and proudly”, there was a soft smile on her lips when she said it. She brought one of her hands to the back of his head, and pulled him closer, finally sealing her words with a kiss.

Heat spread on his face, but he decided to ignore it. Holding his length in his hand, Chan gave it a few pumps, pulling away from her kiss to line himself with her entrance.

Slowly, his cock diligently stretched her walls, while he looked deeply into her eyes, and relished the feeling of her wrapping snugly around him, relishing the look in her eyes as he did. The hold of her legs around his middle tightened, bringing him even closer, and she pressed a brief kiss on his lips before pulling back to look him in the eyes again.

One of the twin moons came fully into view from the hole above their heads, illuminating the space completely. The orbs of light conjured by Her Majesty were now perched only towards the entrance of the cave, further away from them.

Right there, naked under the moonlight, stuffed full of his cock, the Queen was glowing. Her twinkling eyes looked at him with such care and love Chan thought he might’ve blown his load right then and there.

“You’re so warm”, Chan pressed a kiss on her lips, making her chuckle. “So warm, and tight, and beautiful, and mine… Driving me fucking crazy, fuck”.

Neither of them moved, Chan stayed buried to the hilt in her, while her legs around him kept him in place. They kissed as much as their hearts desired. There was no real rush to get anything done, for the time being, they just enjoyed the feeling of their naked flesh against one another. It didn’t matter if they’d done this countless times before, it was still just as fulfilling and satisfying every single time.

“I still can’t believe you let Wang Eun pierce you”, Her Majesty said when she pulled away from the kiss, bringing her hand to Chan’s chest and lightly flicking his jewelled left nipple, which made him chuckle. The sensation was still oddly pleasant to this day.

“Remind me to never get drunk with him again. He’s dangerous”.

“Oh, really? If I recall the story correctly, you asked him to do it. Insistently, even”, she leaned in, and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“That snitch…” Chan chuckled against her lips, moving his hands up and down her thighs underwater.

“You know… Whenever we do it on a surface like this, in this position…” She commented when Chan’s lips moved from hers to instead press gentle pecks on her shoulder. “I always remember that first fuck on the table”, she added with a giggle.

Chan laughed at that, looking her in the eyes again. The memory was still fresh in his mind, as if it’d happened yesterday. It always brought a bashful smile onto his lips, and spread warmth deep within him. “I still can’t believe you let me fuck you on the table that day”.

“We’ve done it in much worse, much more uncomfortable places since then, haven’t we? Besides, if you hadn’t fucked me on it, I would’ve certainly fucked you on it”, after bringing her hands to cup his face, she squished his cheeks, making his lips pout.

He couldn’t help but giggle, especially after she’d placed a kiss on his lips. When she pulled back a bit, her hands rested on his shoulders again, and she softly caressed his skin.

“I don’t think I’ve ever told you this before”, Chan’s hands lightly massaged her thighs. She squirmed a bit whenever his fingers dug into the flesh. “But that day, the moment I saw your flushed face looking up at me, with your cunt stuffed full of my cum, I realised I was madly in love with you”.

Chan felt her inner walls clamp hard around him when the words came out of his mouth, which both amused him and made him leak fluids inside of her.

The comment made the Queen chuckle. She intertwined her fingers at his nape, and finally loosened the hold her legs had around his middle.

“Wanna know a secret?” She asked, kissing the tip of his nose.

Chan made an act to gasp. “Always”.

“I realised I was in love with you after you kissed me in the pool the first time”, her words took him by surprise, his eyes opened wide at the confession, and his cock twitched involuntarily.

“I never told you, but, when I left that night, I was so panicked I ran to Sol’s chambers and woke him up. I think once I spoke to him, he figured out that we were destined for one another, but he never said anything… Oddly enough, even without mentioning the bond, he was the one who helped me understand back then… Understand whatever it was I was feeling. You know I can be a bit clueless with these things…”

“Wow”, Chan moved his hands from her thighs to her waist, and gripped her tightly, pulling his hips back a bit, only to thrust forward, starting a slow rhythm. “That long, huh?”

“Don’t–Don’t look so smug”, her eyes fluttered closed when he started to move, he pulled his hips back until he was almost all the way out, only to thrust back in as deep as it would go. “As if back then you weren’t drooling over my cleavage the entire time”.

“Mmm”, Chan’s lips attached to her neck, and he started suckling purple roses on her skin. “Prettiest tits in the galaxy”, he brought a hand from her hip to pinch one of her nipples. “Truly the luckiest guy in the whole wide universe”.

Her Majesty let out a breathy laugh, bringing a hand to his hair as he rested his forehead on her shoulder and his hips kept the slow pace.

Her confession made him reflect briefly, even among the current hazy state of his mind. At the time, it’d been hard for him–for both of them–to cope with their feelings, they’d pushed them aside for the greater good. Chan felt truly grateful now that, at the very least, they succeeded, and have been able to make up for the lost time in the past handful of years.

Straightening himself, pulling away from her shoulder, Chan looked the Queen in the eyes. His pace didn’t relent, he continued to move in and out of her, and a pink flush spread over her cheeks under his heavy gaze. 

“I love you. I’m utterly, madly in love with you. I’m going to be until the day I draw my last breath”, her inner walls clenched hard around his length, with want, with need, and her eyes started almost sparkling when he brought a hand between their bodies to rub that sweet bundle of nerves between her legs.

She leaned in, and kissed him, moulding her lips to his. Chan felt the urgency in the Queen’s kiss, he could feel all her feelings pour into him, and he hoped she could feel his pouring into her. Even if his hips kept that tantalising slow pace, his thumb was moving a bit faster, making her whine softly against his mouth.

All of a sudden, he felt movement in the water, and bubbles started forming over the surface as the twin moons of Lira Le shone their light into the spring.

The sudden movement didn’t really take Chan by surprise, he already knew this would happen, just like he knew what would happen after. For once, he’d picked up a damn book and informed himself on the matter…

The water bubbled for a while, his thrusts and the movement of his thumb on her clit picked up. The Queen held onto his shoulders, and her hips rolled to meet his movements–or, at least, as much as she could move while being slightly pinned down by him–enhancing every graze of his length against her walls.

Chan felt the itch come after a few minutes of this, once the twin moons finally conceded their bond. The bubbling water drew shapes against him, and he started to feel a sharp tingle on the skin of his chest, right above his quickening heart. Her Majesty took in a shaky breath, separating her lips from his to look at him, to really look at him.

Chan couldn’t look away from her, and the Queen couldn’t look away from him. The movement of his thumb quickened when he felt his own release edge close.

The hum in Chan’s head rang especially loud at this moment, just as he focused on every scrunch of her nose, on every clench of her walls, on every moan that fell from her lips. He knew the Queen was close, and he just needed her to let go.

“C’mon, love. Wanna feel you come around me, please”, Chan’s voice was barely a whisper, words of encouragement started falling from his lips left and right as he finally quickened the pace of his hips. At least, as much as he could with the resistance of water around their bodies.

After one particularly hard thrust, she gave him a warning before she came undone, and a groan of his own escaped his lips when he felt her walls spasming repeatedly around him. Her legs were trembling a bit, but she did her best to keep them in place around his middle. Bringing both hands to her hips for leverage, he started to chase his own high.

“All for me, all mine…” Chan whispered against her lips, pressing pecks as his hips continuously collided with hers.

“All yours”, the Queen whispered against his lips, and her hand found its way into his hair to tug him gently. “All mine”.

“All yours”, he reassured, moving faster.

The expression on her face and the feeling of her around him brought his release closer by the second, and her soft ‘I’m so, so in love with you, my love, my life…’ was the final push he needed to finally let go. With an appreciative groan, he finally came, pumping her full of him.

The bubbling of the water around them started to die down, while the two of them sat there, catching their breaths.

Chan opened his eyes–he had honestly not even realised he’d closed them–and looked at her, really looked at her.

In the Queen’s eyes, he saw all the love, all the want, all the appreciation and the respect she had for him, and, when his eyes moved lower, he saw the new, fresh rune painted on her chest, right above her heart, just as she looked at the matching one on his chest. 

Cupping her cheeks, Chan brought her to him, kissing her deeply as so many different emotions bloomed within his entire being. He felt impossibly full–full of love, full of admiration, full of her.

When he pulled back from her lips and looked her in the eyes, he saw his own feelings reflected in the Queen’s eyes, and her genuine smile rubbed off on him. He couldn’t help but let out a goddamn giggle just at the sight of her.

Even when they’d spent years together already, Chan was excited at the prospect of this new chapter in their relationship. One he hoped would be full of happy memories, one filled with much more fortunate encounters, one filled with love and respect, and, most importantly, one that would last until his final day.

Author’s Notex2: just as a fun fact, i’ve been using Chan and the Queen as my characters for writing practice, so i have a shit-ton of drabbles within this universe (things that happened within the story, things that happened between the main story and the epilogue…). i’ve written the Queen’s POVs to certain situations, i’ve written about the development of their relationship, and i’ve written about them fucking in any way i could think of hahaha (and i’ll probably continue to write things with them every once in a while !) so if you’re interested in those, let me know ! i might post them once i get time to clean them up (if i do post them, i might just post them on my AO3 account, i haven’t decided yet). Once again, thank you for reading my self-indulgent mess !

Update: i’m posting the drabbles on AO3. here’s the link- post story drabbles/One Shots.

Previous Chapter: Day 159. | Series Masterlist.

© therhythmafterthesummer 2022-2023. all rights reserved. do not repost or translate my stories.

[olivers-cocoapuffs]

Good morning

I'm thinking of putting criminal psychology as my perspective career after this year (I'm probably going to need to have a couple, if they don't just straight out make me chose one for definitely as a third year)

My issues are showing in the fact I want this career

Not more than writing but my anxiety won't let me do writing so this is better. I just offload all my issues in the beginning of these asks I swear

Sorry

Any issues you want to discuss?

Anyway

What is the best animal? And why?

I need the why to judge you.

That was two questions, wasn't it? Or does it count as three? Three, I think.

Sorry again

Have a day that will put other days to shame please

good morning to you too (barely)

you should do it!!! i get to choose my senior subjects soon, and depending on which school i’m at i already know what i’m choosing (no one has everything figured out. you could change your mind in twenty years)

not really? I also want to do psychology somehow. The only thing stopping me from criminal psychology is my aversion to gore

U could do writing on the side and psych as ur main career

we’re still working on my application to that school next for next year. Either way i’m gonna move in w my aunt (missing two naplan results, two report cards and a birth certificate)

platypus. they’re genetically so strange but also adorable? Racoons come second on that list

i’ll be in bed till someone drags me out. Sleep well

[heavens-sin]

𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒 𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 !

By liking this post you are agreeing to the following:

I get full rights to bother you about our characters.

this is including, but not exclusive to: Moodboards, tagging you in things i think our characters would do, musings, random starters, playlists, etc

My undying love and affection

A special spot on my carrd just for you <3

This is also the call for shipping. if this is something you are interested in , if you’ve not reached out already. (Though if you want to further discuss things, my IMs are open considering.. the fucker I'm portraying - pairings are gonna be heavily selective. and discussed thoroughly with muns. ) 

Shipping with me can include, but is not limited to:

All them tropes.

Platonic love

this will also include the not so happy troped ones. of course this should be approached with extra caution. its not meant for everyone. and will be tagged and hidden under cuts.

thats including nsfw topics. all will be hidden under cuts.

Exclusive shipping rights which includes your own tags and ship verse. (I am still a multi-ship, but the exclusive ship partner does mean i will only ship with your version of a character)

Expanding ships we currently have

Anything in between you’d like to scream about me with

Fair warning: Shipping with me does include me becoming absolutely insufferable eventually about our characters. Also I'll only be accepting people as mains that I either already write with, OR we don't write atm but we are actively talking through IMs to plot or organise a thread or whatever.

(although i’m very willing to pop into your IMs anyway to discuss things if we havent written/talked but you are interested in being mains/exclusives).

[inkykeiji]

Hi Clari!! I hope you’re doing well!

I saw that you’re gonna be exploring publishing some of your works and that’s so crazy exciting!! Is that your main goal? Like, working towards seeing your work on store shelves is what keeps you going?

What helps you get in the mood to write and keeps your motivation up? One of my goals is to be more consistent with my writing to keep developing my skills, so any advice or ideas you have to get in the zone would be taken to heart 💕

hello my friend!! <3 prepare yourself for a long and rambly answer oh my god i’m so sorry

my main goal (in life tbh) is merely to make a living off of my writing. it doesn’t have to be a lot, literally just enough to live off of. i have always wanted to be a novelist, so publishing in some form has always been a part of my plan!

my motivation, and i know this will sound silly and cliché, comes from the fact that i genuinely love writing. it’s the only thing i want to do with my life, and it’s my biggest passion, and these are the things i remind myself of whenever i’m feeling less motivated. i WANT to be creating, always. i want to create work both for myself and for others, to help us, to entertain us, to be catharsis for us, etc etc etc. this always reinvigorates me.

additionally, my screenwriting prof and i had a long discussion about motivation, and the ending consensus we came to was that, for people who want to write for a living, discipline is more important (and more consistent) than motivation. even on the days where you don’t feel like writing, you must force yourself to write—even if you think what you’ve written is bad, even if you hate every single letter of every single word you’ve put on the page, just WRITE—every day. it doesn’t matter if all you can write today is just a few sentences, or a single paragraph. all that matters is that you got something down. it is better than not writing anything at all!!! writing, like anything else, is a skill; a craft, just like you mentioned! it is something you can continually sharpen and improve at for literally the rest of your life (as is any other art form/medium, in my opinion). the phrase ‘practice makes perfect’ is very, very true.

but i think that for me personally, what helps with keeping that discipline is the fact that i love writing so so so much, and that it means so much to me, even on the days where it’s tough, even on the days where it feels like nothing is coming out right, even on the days where i’ve rewritten the same fucking scene THREE times in one day and i still hate it (this just happened to me, LMAO). i’ve also found that, even when i force myself write something and i hate it, when i come back to it the next day i realize it isn’t nearly as bad as i thought it was the day before. the other plus to this is that now, i have a base. i’ve gotten out the very basic ideas and points i want to convey, i have a foundation i can revise, rework, build off of, etc. and that ALWAYS helps. always.

i don’t know what your personal writing goals are, if you write just for fun as a hobby (incredible!!!) or if you plan to write for a living (also incredible!!! i support you in either!) but i don’t think that such rigorous discipline is necessarily required for someone who just writes as a hobby/for fun. if that’s the case, the last thing you want this to feel like is a fucking job lmao. i think that, if you’re looking to build a habit of writing, that writing every day (and starting VERY SMALL, i’m talking just a sentence or two if that’s all you feel you can manage—only you know your limits!) is a great step, especially if you use writing exercises and prompts (they’re all over the internet & pinterest, very easy to find!).

but i also think it’s very, very important to remember that there’s a fine line between being disciplined and pushing yourself versus overworking yourself and burning yourself out; again, only you know your limits there. but anyway, if you’re looking to write more often then this technique may be something to try out/to look into, just to get yourself into that habit or writing every day, or every week, or whatever your goal is! if it’s possible, try to set aside a specific time for writing every day or every week and really commit to sticking to it. if you can’t, and you find you need to be more flexible, then that’s totally fine, too!! again, it all depends on your needs, your schedules, and your preferences. i need to stick to rigid schedules to ever get anything done, but not everyone works that way, and we’re all different people with different creative processes; find what works best for you! <33

ANYWAY, to actually answer your question and stop rambling, here are some things i do in addition to discipline that help keep me motivated!

- i always make playlists for each of my works that i like to listen to if i’m feeling i need an extra push. these vary from like, the lyrics reminding me of a character or the plot, to just the vibe of the song encompassing the vibe/atmosphere i’m going for.

- going on my aesthetic blog also really helps! if you’re into making mood boards and the like, those can help a ton, too. i suck so badly at putting them together so the aesthetic blog works for me, but i know quite a few people enjoy putting pinterest boards together as well!

- i love doing character sketches and fully fleshing out each of my characters, so sometimes i’ll reread whatever i have in my notebook for that particular character (i keep what i call a ‘character notebook’ where i do character sketches, and i always do those before i begin writing the story. keeping them in a separate notebook makes it easy to keep them organized and easy to find!).

- i also have a list of my all-time favourite pieces of art (books, films, songs/albums, singular characters, video games, paintings, photographs/photographers, etc) that i will revisit as well whenever i need to (true romance is always a go-to since so many of my relationship dynamics pull from clarence and alabama!). i am constantly adding to this list! i will also add a little description along with each entry, notes on what i love and why i love it, notes on particular elements (relationships, characters, setting, atmosphere, aesthetic, etc). the list is actually something that was taught to me in university by my screenwriting prof!

here is a link to an ask that compiles most of my answers to writing advice; they mostly just reiterate what i’ve said here, but i figured i’d link you to them just in case! <3

i hope this extremely long answer can help you at least a little bit, bb!!!! know that i always support you on your writing endeavours, whatever they may be! <333

[missnight0wl]

Wow, the new Christmas TLSQ starts strong with MC's family information. Again, MC stays at Hogwarts, and Ben asks "what about Jacob?" (guess this takes place after you rescue him and before knowing your father), but MC says they can't spend Christmas with Jacob this year but doesn't mention the mother at all. I'm starting to think she went to America and stayed there or she could be dead. What do you think about that?

Actually, this scene has multiple versions. For me, it looked like this:

But when you look at the datamines, there apparently are five different options:

… which is pretty insane, if you ask me. I mean, they usually have two options: for before and after a certain event. But here, their approach was quite detailed. And seeing how this quest is the Y2 Achievement, I assume there has to be a version where Ben simply doesn’t ask about Jacob.

Still, the Mother is indeed not mentioned at any point. So, what do I think about that? Honestly?

I think it’s basically meaningless.

Here’s the thing: we’re talking about TLSQs. And I just had a discussion with my friend about how TLSQs probably should be treated as a separate reality, and it might be especially true when it comes to seasonal stories. I mean, just look at the placement of those quests. Three of Christmas TLSQs are currently marked as Y2 Achievements. In my opinion, it’s quite clear that JC doesn’t really care how they influence the main story. They simply want as many players as possible to be able to participate in them when they're released.

So, am I saying we should ignore them entirely? Well… yes and no. I think we should be more critical of them. Personally, I only consider the first Christmas TLSQ as a reliable source of information. And that’s also why I’m always so surprised when people use the rest of them as hard evidence that MC’s Mother is a terrible parent who leaves their child at Hogwarts each year. Because I might be wrong, but I truly believe that when JC was about to write the second Christmas TLSQ, some employee was like:

“Well, damn, who would’ve thought that people would be paying for this game for so long… Anyway, Christmas is coming, so we probably should have another Christmas story. But we need an excuse for MC to stay at Hogwarts. Hm, what to do… Oh, of course! Let’s use the same explanation as in the previous year!”

And then, they did it again. And then, I suppose they realised it might be a little odd. Because I’m pretty sure that the last year’s TLSQ (“Holidays at Hogwarts”) didn’t mention MC’s reasons for staying at Hogwarts at all, right? I didn’t play it, but I checked it quickly now, and I didn’t see any mention of “Mum”, “America” or “Jacob”. I’m not sure why they returned to explanations this year (and they prepared so many options), but… I just honestly doubt there’s any hidden meaning behind no mention of the Mother.

At least for the story itself.

Because while I was thinking about my reply to your ask, I realised that the Mother is not really mentioned much in the recent chapters either. I mean, Peregrine did talk about her. However, it’s been a while since we had our usual: “don’t tell Mum” etc. And I started wondering if JC is not preparing for some plot twist with her. It doesn’t make much sense, but I suppose it might make sense for JC, seeing how they executed the plot twist with Peregrine. I mean, if nobody talks about Mother’s reactions to the current events and nobody draws attention to her, we’re all gonna be so surprised when she suddenly appears at Hogwarts or something, right?

Right?

Again, I might be wrong. But I wouldn’t look too deep into that, really. Especially since, like I said, the quest is officially placed in Y2, and we know for sure that MC interacted with their mum during the summer between Y2 and Y3.

[kitkat-the-muffin]

Having an absolutely mind-numbing conversation with my friend over whether or not the Whos from Doctor Seuss count as anthropomorphized animals

Cause I’m looking at all the fanart for the Green Eggs And Ham series on Netflix and so many people are attracted to the characters, which ya know happens just like in any other fandom

But the main question here is: does this count as furry culture? While these characters aren’t human, they’re also not really animals either

It’s not like having a crush on an elven character in a DnD campaign makes you a furry, but the Whos do actually have fur and that puts them in a whole new category

This is so concerning, what even are Whos anyway? Let’s switch up examples for a second, let’s discuss Horton Hears a Who (note: I forgot everyone’s names)

If you have a crush on Horton you’re a furry cause he’s an elephant, but if you have a crush on that tiny Who president guy then what does that make you?

I randomly remembered that the president’s son in that movie is voiced by Jesse McCartney while typing this and I think I’m gonna go to bed now

For now I guess Whos are just floating in a void of unlabeled uncertainty, which I guess isn’t a bad thing as long as you aren’t weird about it

[unmeiokaemasu]

FEH nonsense tangent - 

**(I COMPLETELY forgot that long before this everyone was saying “Gullveig is  Seiðr and the summoner’s weird magic baby”, yes I completely and totally forgot that, I think my points below still stand but like. yeah. I’ll circle back to this)

I haven’t seen anyone discussing the feh main plot on here, which...honestly why would you, but anyway, I haven’t seen any discussion and I’m not on twitter so I either just missed it or nobody cares, but then I went way too far down this rabbit hole of character design and I’m annoyed that I gave my time to this feh original story, of all damn things, so I’m gonna talk about it and then be done with it.

So Alfonse mentions something about how Kvasir being Gullveig’s past and the Gullveig that they know being from the future, implying (or saying, I honestly forgot) he’s wondering where she is in their present, and I immediately went “It’s Seiðr. Seiðr is Gullveig in the present and Heiðr is the red herring, because Heiðr being Gullveig would be absolutely meaningless from a meta perspective because we haven’t bonded with her.”**(see note at top)

But now, looking at character design, I’m not sure anymore...

Kvasir has one eye covered so that either way the reveal of her right eye color will be significant. But...

...Kvasir looks like Seiðr. Just like. Full stop. Notably exact hair and eye color, as well as possibly eye shape (a little harder to tell, but put a pin that). Which, ok, that supports my original theory that  Seiðr is present-day Gullveig... unless Kvasir isn’t Gullveig. We only have her word to go by on that. And if you look back at  Heiðr, her eye shape matches Gullveig way more than Seiðr ‘s does. (I’ll also mention the forehead gems, but that’s less evidence since I don’t think they quite match position and Kvasir and Seiðr have most of their faces hidden anyway).

So I thought the twist was going to be that Seiðr was Gullveig, because it being  Heiðr isn’t very twisty because we haven’t heard form her in a hot minute, but I now I think the twist is going to be that Kvasir is  Seiðr ‘s past and not Gullveig’s at all and the two aren’t the same person. And Heiðr is Gullveig and Kvasir will be like “well this ain’t right.”

** Ok we’re back, me having remembered the whole “let’s make a baby” thing, so anyway now it’s clear why this matters, it means Kvasir doesn’t become Gullveig, she becomes Gullveig’s...weird magic mother. I honestly remember squat about what Heiðr even did when she showed up for two seconds, they said she was hurt by Gullveig somehow but I think she’s just going through magic puberty. This seems like the right level of overcomplicated familial nonsense that feh usually gets up to. ugh. well it was a...”fun” might be stretching it, but sure, a fun exercise in character design analysis anyway.