#and yes I'm still alive - it's just that I keep forgetting about Tumblr
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ender-voidron · 7 months ago
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Okay okay okay, this has happened enough, despite me clearly saying in my masterpost to not do so. Before you get too far in and start pointing fingers, I'm going to make this disclaimer:
THIS IS NOT AN ATTACK ON ANYONE!! THIS IS ME STATING HOW I FEEL!!
With that out of the way, let's get into it.
This morning, I woke up to a message in my inbox. I won't say from who to protect their privacy. They prefaced the ask with something along the lines of "it's okay, nobody else cares either." So right away I knew what this was going to be about. They then proceeded to ask to be asked about, whether they were doing okay and were still alive. At the end of the message, they asked why nobody answered their messages, and stated they were losing hope in humanity because of the silence they were receiving.
I did not want to wake up and see that first thing. I understand things are in an absolutely awful state in that area of the world. I understand that there are so many innocent people suffering over there.
However
This does not mean I want to be reminded of it every time I open tumblr. I come on this site to have fun and forget the horrible things that are happening worldwide. Call me selfish for it all you want, but this is how I decide to spend my time here. It's a cleanser to my own mind. I can't look after every stranger that comes into my inbox either begging for donations or acknowledgment. That's not what I am here to do. I am here to share my own art and see art from other people, along with animals just being their dumb little selves.
I understand things are hard for the people in that area of the world, and what is happening just isn't right, but I really don't have anything to give, nor do I want to be dragged into it. I have my own problems to deal with, and while they are definitely not as severe, they are still problems nonetheless. I can't keep my mental health in check when people are coming into my inbox and asking for these things, people I have never interacted with even once. It makes me feel bad when I see these messages that are begging for something from me, makes me feel guilty when I really don't want to.
Yes, I understand that this is the only way for some people to get the funds they need for basic survival. But asking just for simple acknowledgment in a way that is designed to guilt trip the one being asked is just not okay in my eyes. I don't know if manipulative is the right word here, but that's how it feels to me.
Please keep in mind that this is just my opinion, and if you disagree, then disagree with me. Just don't attack me for speaking my feelings.
I need to put this out because I don't want to close my askbox off from everyone. All I'm asking is not to fill my askbox with these cries for help, as that is not why I have my askbox open.
TL;DR, I don't want to open my inbox to see cries for financial help or acknowledgment. It makes me feel guilty, and I don't want to feel that way when I come on Tumblr.
Thank you for understanding.
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fairyminnie444 · 5 months ago
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hey i just read the paragraph you posted and im honestly so glad you did because you being the interpetur of the loa to all of these people on tumblr that are just trying to find themselfs and create the life they want can be tiring and draining especily when you, as a human are ever evolving and learning new things about yourself and the law everyday. I did also see that you were going to go study Neville's books and teaching, but also keep in mind that even though his teachings were very rich with a lot of meaningful and impactful information he did die over 50 years ago and I'm sure that if he was still alive today, his teachings would've advanced and grown to be more complex with experience and time, so do not forget to also learn from your own experience in your own being as a human because Neville was just as much as an interpreter as you are Neville did not create the law. He just understood what it was and there was many other individuals that weren't recognized as much as he was that probably were more developed and were able to see the law from even bigger far-fetched perspectives so don't limit yourself to Neville because he is as much of a human as you are and the real God isn't from a book that he wrote but from your mind and your "I am" nobody else's. so essentially what I'm trying to say is do not hold any limits on yourself just because Neville didn't write about it or because Neville didn't find an answer for whatever you are trying to understand but I'm sure you already knew this. i just wanted to tell all the followers u have on here that if you take ANYTHING from the loa is that EVERYTHING you ARE and EVERYTHING you SEE, ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that is INSIDE of your awareness you WILL see reflected in your realitly. this is a hard thing to say because there was a point where i didnt want to accept it in my journey to but, STOP ASKING QUESTIONS AND JUST BE. its so simple that people think there must be some hidden secret behind how it works. In essence, saying "it is the law" is just a way for humans to interperet it to eachother through language. this IS the way of life. you are always right even when you are wrong. "today is a terrible day" yes!! it will be! "today is the best day of my life" yes!!!!! absoulutely!! TRAIN yourself this law. go ALL IN this law and BE this law. the identity that has to ask questions to feel reasured HAS TO BE FORGOTTEN. REMEBER WHO YOU ARE. the version of you that has what you want isnt siting typing up an novel about how they arent getting what they want. they are RECIVING IT NOWWW. RIGHT NOW. everything is now. so BE FKN GOD NOW everything is ONE. god said let there be light so there was fkn light. bring that damn light into your life and stop being the loser or the victim thats "fed up" or always "doesnt get what they want" that version of you dies now. it never existed. you are love. you are whole. you are complete. you are what you say you ARE. and to the creator of this page and to anybody that needs that help watch " The Power of I Am" on youtube its this guy named Eric that will keep you motavited, on track and true to yourself. And also "the souls playground" she has more in depth videos about how the world works and what we are in true essese as beings of consciousness, but she isn't as straightforward as the first YouTuber I mentioned just watch both of them and see which one you resonate with more 💗💗💗
Yassss. Btw I watched the power of i am on YouTube and it’s so good. Gonna leave it here to add in this. 🩷
youtube
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dreamsandstars24 · 11 months ago
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To be known by you
I'm just gonna giggle like a little girl and drop this here in Tumblr.
This is a little peek into something I've been working for a while now. It's gonna be a series (elucien/gwynriel) but the main characters will be Elain and Gwyn. ELRIELS, BRYRIELS OR WHOEVER OTHER TOXIC SHIP YOU BELONG DO NOT INTERACT.
WARNINGS: Honestly, just two girls being girls (👩‍🦰🗡👱‍♀️🌸).
Enjoy this little peek! And don't forget to show your support, I really want to keep this one going.
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Elain was convinced that she, as a matter of fact, did not belonged in the night court.
But then, she didn't belong in any court.
The proof was how she had asked to go to the house of wind to visit Nesta and Cassian, but since Nesta was not there and Cassian had to go somewhere she wasn't allowed to know because she wasn't a member of the inner circle, they had dropped her off at the house and told her that someone would go and take care of her soon.
Now, she was there, a grown woma--female, and she was waiting for her nanny to come and pay heed to her needs.
She didn't know what was more pathetic: the fact that they thought she needed a nanny, or the way she simply accepted it.
Currently, she was looking around the library, remembering those first months where she had been reborn, remembering how empty she felt at the way she had lost everything. She still felt like that sometimes.
"You must be Elain." A voice behind her said, curiosity being laced with the delicate voice of the female.
Elain turned around ready to find an actual nanny, but instead she found a tiny red haired girl with teal eyes and a million freckles, with a toned body being covered by illyrian leathers.
The female blinked at her, and Elain found her voice. "Yes," She mumbled and then shook her head clearing the whispers in there. "I mean: yes, I am Elain."
The red haired girl nodded and closed the library door behind her. "Well, I must confess that I was expecting to take care of a kid." Elain blushed furiously which caused the red haired girl to hurry and explain. "Not that there is something wrong with needing someone to take care of you! Because it is okay, I should know ," the girl shook her head with a sight. "What I mean is that the way Cassian said I had to come and they way he worded it made me believe I would be babysitting."
That unsettled Elain. The inner circle had stopped protecting her a long time ago and had started to keep her locked within herself. They didn't told her anything, they kept quiet always, they didn't include her in plans that could possibly affect her.
And Rhys, by the cauldron, Rhys acted with Nesta so horribly simply because Nesta hadn't kept Feyre from going into the forest to hunt. Sometimes, when Rys was being a total arse, she imagined herself getting up and screaming at him that she was also guilty of it, that Nesta wasn't the only one to blame.
Sometimes the guilt ate her alive. Yes, she had no idea about hunting like Feyre or being aggressive like Nesta but she knew how to grow things. She could have grown vegetables to feed her family instead of spending all that money on flowers. But the inner circle only blamed Nesta, and kept Elain in a cocoon that was starting to deem a bit too tight.
"I do not need a nanny." Elain mumbled quietly, not wanting to offend the female that had clearly gone to babysit her in good graces.
The red haired girl nodded. "Noted. What about company? Azriel is going for bloodshed today in training and even though I am up for a challenge most of the time, I have my cycle and I feel near death."
Elain nodded curiously even though the mention of the shadow singer had moved an old wound inside her. Her mind whispered a name and Elain couldn't help but ask, "what is your name?" The female walked to one of the couches, giving her a soft smile.
"Gwyneth Berdara, but you can call me Gwyn." She recognized the name.
Gwyneth Berdara, one of Nesta's closest friends. She had won the blood rite as a carynthian, was a valkyrie and was an acolyte in the library.
Not only that, but she was also Azriel's mate.
The knowledge made her wince a little. After winter solstice, after the fiasco with Azriel, she have had a vision.
Azriel had gone with Rhys and Elain had been left clutching her necklace for dear life when the vision suddenly struck her. In her vision, Azriel was laughing but she couldn't hear his laugh, his eyes were sparkling as he stared at someone, and then a blur of red was going in circles around him, with a soft laugh echoing through her mind; his shadows were twirling freely and peacefully, and when the blur stopped, she saw red hair and Azriel gave a step forward and whispered "Gwyneth."
Elain had been able to see the threads of the mating bond between them, had seen the love and the longing in Azriel's face and she had known that she didn't stood a chance against it, so she had left the necklace behind and walked to her room, just a few door away from her own mate, and cried herself to sleep. Now, his mate was right in front of her and she was sure he knew who she was.
Her knowing who he was seemed impossible, but that was not her business. She had enough with her own mating problem, or in better words: the lack thereof.
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mylittleredgirl · 1 year ago
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dear smut4smut author 🔥
Thank you in advance for writing for me! I’m very easy to please as a reader and love being surprised, so I hope you can write something you like.
There were so many wonderful tags in this exchange and I signed up literally 30 seconds before the bell rang, so I may have missed adding some of my always-loved kinks to every request, but I do always love them! You can also assume "and similar tags" are okay for the requested tags. This tumblr has anon asks open if you want to tease or clarify!
I'm usually a "they are/could be really really in love (even if they don't know it yet at the time of the fic)" kind of shipper, but I made a note in the M*A*S*H section where that's kind of different!
--
💕 I love: canon divergence | complications (e.g. emotional baggage, working together while in a relationship, traumas inflicted by canon) | episode-related fics | fix-its | friends to lovers | happy/hopeful endings | hurt/comfort | “it’s just casual” to lovers | other canon characters included in the fic | pining | polyamory dynamics | 5-times | all ratings are welcome.
🔥 Kinks enjoyed: aliens made them do it (or local canon equivalent) | blow jobs | body worship (especially related to body changes like aging, scars, weight gain, etc) | edging | hand jobs | masturbation | soft dom/sub (bondage and praise yes; pain and shame no; bedroom dynamic not 24/7 lifestyle) | watching/voyeurism | sweet I-love-you sex works for me too!!
⛔️ DNWs: alternate-setting AUs* | bashing of other characters or past canon relationships | crossovers (except between series in the same universe, like star trek) | hurt no comfort | non-canon nicknames | non-sexual bodily fluids in sex scenes | permanent character death | spelling out accents (for human characters) | unplanned pregnancy unless noted | zombies or blood-sucking vampires (other canon-typical aliens and cryptids are ok!).
*AU clarification: I don’t want alternate-setting (coffee-shop, law office, regency, etc) AUs, but I LOVE what-if canon divergence AUs of all sizes: fix-its, what if X episode ended differently, what if Y foundational thing didn't happen (e.g. “what if Agent Scully wasn’t assigned to debunk the X Files in the pilot episode, but she and Mulder met another way”), as long as they are still the same characters in the same canon universe.
--
🌃 Stargate Atlantis 🌃 (John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay/John Sheppard/Elizabeth Weir)
My home-field ship is Sheppard/Weir, and I love them in every weather! I have also read some great ot3 fics and there really aren't enough of them to meet all the potential. John and Rodney both love her so so much in canon and are people who really don't know how to process or express that, and it makes me want to see how they figure it out... or make it messier. If you're writing that ot3, it's important to me that Elizabeth be a full and loved participant in the dynamic (and not just a guest or a ghost in a McShep fic).
In any case, I really want Elizabeth to be alive! Equally fine with fics set in seasons 1-3, AUs where Elizabeth is rescued or comes back another way, or fics where "that just didn't happen." I'm fine with "came back wrong" or suffering along the way as long as at her core she's Elizabeth and it ends in a hopeful or happy way.
Tags requested:
"Thank God You're/We're Alive" Sex
Aphrodisiacs
Body Worship
Can't Stop Thinking About It - Can't Forget One Night Stand
Clearly The Fact That We Keep Having Sex Is A Series of Unrelated Bad Decisions
Comfort Sex
Desperate Arousal
Dom/sub - Soft Dom
Established Relationship - The Inherent Romance And Eroticism Of Being Known
Hand Jobs
Hurt/Comfort Sex
Masturbation
Mutual Pining
On the run together [Maybe they rescue Elizabeth but can't return to Atlantis for some reason...?]
Praise Kink
Reunion Sex
Sex Pollen
trapped together
Trauma Recovery
Voyeurism
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👽 Stargate SG-1 👽 (Clone Sam/Jack)
I love this ship when they’re still themselves, but now with some understandable existential angst and alienation from both their past and new lives. I love exploring the tension between what they have lost and this new life they have, and the challenges of navigating a relationship when they spent so long NOT being in a relationship. Sexually, it must be so strange (and perhaps also so fun?) to have new bodies with old souls and skills...
"I know it's still you in there" Sex
Body Worship
Comfort Sex
First Time
Hurt/Comfort Sex
Mutual Masturbation With Intent to Watch Each Other in Lieu of First Time Sex
Playful Sex
Praise Kink
Semi-Public Sex
Shower Sex
Tender Sex
DNW: Either of them having sex with other teenagers. DNW exception: I usually DNW unplanned pregnancy, but I'm ok with pregnancy scares or unplanned pregnancy for these two.
--
🍺 Cheers 🍺 (Sam/Diane)
This couple is the platonic ideal of “toxic ship that needs to be together monogamously forever as a quarantine measure so nobody else ever has to be part of this.” I love them. They’re the worst. They have incredible sex and want each other so bad it makes them look stupid. I NEED them to annoy each other til death do they part. I will happily read smut, fluff, angst, unhealthy coping mechanisms, hate-sex-but-secretly-I-love-you-sex, canon-like comedy disaster shenanigans, even an unlikely-fantasy version of them where they go an entire loving fic without torturing each other because they've figured things out feeds my heart.
Tags:
Alternate Universe - Soulmates [they would hate this sooooo much!! a true escalation of their dynamic in the show to cosmic levels]
Argument leads to sex
bickering as foreplay
Clearly The Fact That We Keep Having Sex Is A Series of Unrelated Bad Decisions
Clothing - Black tie dress code
Faking Sex to Fool Someone Watching Results in Real Sex
Kept Constantly Aroused [just imagining them doing a "who will break first" torture game all week in the bar...]
Oral - Sneaking away from public event for risky semi-public cunnilingus
Position - Table Sex
Position - Wall Sex
Reconciliation Sex
Slap Slap Kiss
unexpected tenderness
Wedding Night
--
⛑ M*A*S*H ⛑
I'm brand new to this fandom! As of writing this, I have watched through season 4 and it is rewiring my brain daily. They're all trapped together and so they love each other and hate each other and admire and need and pity and sometimes they just like each other. Everyone is horny and everyone's a little pathetic. They're all obsessed with each other in one way or another and I'm obsessed with them!!
I'm always happy to read romantic love, but in this case, these clowns are so situationally codependent that I think "flawed human people who need something in a hard situation and get some of it from each other through sex (and learn something about themselves or each other/maybe grow closer in some way through that)" rings true! (This is not a request to not do romance though if that's what rings true for you.)
About the ships:
I am obsessed with Frank and Margaret's dysfunctional relationship, I have spent waaaay too many hours thinking about What's Wrong With Them. They are so horny it's doing them psychological damage (and doing psychological damage to everyone else in the 4077 who has to think about it). You know they fuck so well.
Hawkeye/Trapper/Margaret has the potential to be really hot or kind of silly or even... surprisingly sweet. I answered an ask about it recently here!! Either this is a case of her calling their bluff because she's fed up, a circumstantial case of irrepressibly horny people huddling for warmth, or maybe they're really taking care of each other when they need it.
Trapper/Margaret: I soooooo wanted them to hook up [and probably regret it] [but could they stop at just once??]. I mean she's hot for him and he's got a lot of charged energy around her and they'd both really like to put each other in their place... 🔥
Hawkeye/Trapper: They are together in all kinds of weather! They are besties, the automatic plus-one for any shenanigan, they're so open with each other, they're so physically affectionate, they'd do anything for each other... (I also answered an ask about them.)
I just realized I didn't click on Hawkeye/Margaret and now it looks like I specifically excluded them.
Hawkeye/Trapper/Margaret/Frank: This one is kind of a writing dare tbh, but the comedy doubles act in every scene with these four makes me curious how it could happen. Couple swap? Both couples having sex in the same place but expressly NOT paying attention to each other (jk unless...)? Is this what will finally get them out of the time loop????
Tags:
"Thank God You're/We're Alive" Sex
Awkward First Times
Can't Stop Thinking About It - Can't Forget One Night Stand
Clearly The Fact That We Keep Having Sex Is A Series of Unrelated Bad Decisions
Clothing - Coming In Pants
Comfort Sex
Desperate Arousal
Frenemies with Benefits
Friends With Benefits
Huddling For Warmth Leads To Sex
Praise Kink
Sex as a Team-Building Exercise
Sex Chicken - 'I won't back down first!' mentality leads to sex
Sex gets paused to deal with PTSD then maybe returned to
Slap Slap Kiss
Switching
Threesome - A/B have sex while C watches
Threesome - F/M/M
Time Travel - Time Loop can only be broken by having sex with specific person
Voyeurism
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🛸 The X-Files 🛸 (Doggett/Reyes, Doggett/Reyes/Scully, Mulder/Scully/Doggett/Reyes)
Doggett/Reyes is a lifelong ship for me, and I love the season 9 dynamics between Doggett, Reyes, and Scully – how they work together professionally, their developing friendships and trust, and their romantic attractions. Some of the draw of an ot4 with all the agents is the idea that their affections for everyone in the group are not equal and not the same, so that makes for a fun dynamic. How does it happen? How do they not just end up killing each other?
Tags:
"Thank God You're/We're Alive" Sex
Blow Jobs
Clothing - Black tie dress code
Comfort Sex
Hand Jobs
Hurt/Comfort Sex
On the run together
Playful Sex
Telepathic Bond [so fascinated by Monica's spooky visions and how she's convinced Doggett has them too...]
Threesome - A/B have sex while C watches
Threesome - Established Couple Seducing Third Character
--
That's all! :) I hope you find something fun here to entertain you. Thank you again!
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holocene-sims · 2 years ago
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get to know me (sims edition)
thank you so much to @dandylion240 for tagging me!! <3
i feel like everyone has done this bad boy by now, so i don't know who to tag, but please consider yourself tagged if you see this and want to do it!
what's your favorite sims death?
ngl i love the jelly bean death from TS3. when i was younger, if i got bored of a sim, i'd just feed them jelly beans over and over until they kicked the bucket and i could get rid of them.
if not the jelly bean death, then mummy's curse! it's way too easy to get sims cured of it, though, so you really have to commit to letting them suffer through it.
alpha cc or maxis match?
i'd say somewhere in between! i much prefer maxis match, but i'll use alpha occasionally. if i do, it's probably for specific clothing items that no one has made in mm style yet.
do you cheat your sims weight?
for story sims, yes. for gameplay sims, no. i really don't care about it in gameplay and i just let my sims look like what they look like. but in my story, i do cheat it because i keep VERY tight control over those characters. i like continuity and making sure everyone sticks to their canon, but also, when things do change, i like to plan for that to happen in the narrative at a logical point in time for the character.
do you move objects?
constantly!
favorite mod?
literally anything that gives me god-like control over my sims. NRaas and MCCC are my loves <3
first expansion pack?
it was world adventures for TS3.
i remember when i bought the base game on PC for the first time. picture it - september 2012. supernatural just released, seasons is on the way. everyone and their mother is watching lifesimmer. i played one household, an opposites attract couple. i got bored, killed the husband, and then never touched the game again.
at least, i didn't touch it until i watched LGR's reviews and bought world adventures! yay, interest revived.
do you pronounce live mode as aLIVE or LIVing?
i always say it like "liv"
who's your favorite sim you've ever made?
unequivocally, it's grant <3 my beloved
also his future love interest, who i will continue to tease simblr with by vague posting about them
have you made a simself?
yes, but i never play my simself or use them for anything.
what is your favorite EA hair color?
black or red, 100% - they look amazing on every single sim. like i challenge myself to find a sim who doesn't look good in black or red hair. i don't think it'll happen!
i love the unnaturals, too, but more in TS3 because i can customize them to my heart's desire and give sims their natural root color.
also unpopular opinion but in TS4, the original blue black is wayyyyy better than the new one!
favorite EA hair?
honestly, just the curly hairs. me and giving sims in every game curly hair are an inseparable duo
favorite life stage?
you know, i don't think i have one favorite, but i can tell you which one i hate. i HATE playing as kids. they can't do anything and they're not interesting and their clothing options are horrible. babies, infants, toddlers, teens - all okay! kids? NOPE BORING
yes, i would rather play with a burrito or bassinet baby than a kid.
the kids are slightly better in TS3 because i feel like it's easier to get them to make friends, plus i can ship them off to boarding school if i really want to, but they're still not interesting...
are you a builder or in it for the gameplay?
gameplay and stories all the way, baby. i hate building. will i do it occasionally? sure. does it make me want to eat my monitor so i never have to stare at my poor life decisions ever again? yes!
are you a cc creator?
yes and no. i love doing recolors tbh but most of them end up being only for my private game. i've not shared very much on here publicly. i always want to and then i forget or just don't feel like cleaning up my files to be sharable.
do you have any simblr friends?
a few, yes! i'm very shy and short on free time to browse tumblr so i suck at reaching out, but i've made a few amazing friends and lots of close mutuals, i'd say. i'm always wanting to make friends on here, though, so hey y'all, let's be besties! if i follow you, i treasure you. trust me!
do you have any sims merch?
i've never seen sims merch to begin with?
do you have a youtube for sims?
i've had two LMAO. i had one as a kid where i uploaded gameplay clips. i had one video get a decent set of views (okay, like a hundred or something, idk) where i did a world adventures time lapse.
and then i started another one in like 2019? i did speed CAS and decorating videos in TS3. i deleted all the videos, though. i did think about reviving that channel a while back and doing let's plays for sims and RPGs, but then i got paranoid about people hearing my voice. i had the mic and everything ready, left over from a school project.
you know, sometimes i still think about using that channel but i probably won't.
how has your sim style changed throughout your years of playing?
i don't know. i think they've always looked kind of the same. i always lean towards making sims with freckles, big eyes, long noses, curly hair, and who aren't skinny and never wear a color other than black. if you ever see a sim of mine with features that deviate from those, just know that it was a severe struggle and concerted effort to do so.
what's your origin ID?
i'm not giving that out to the whole wide world. though, you can DM me for it if we're mutuals and you want it for any reason!
who's your favorite cc creator?
i love rusty-sims and sifix because they make absolute top-tier formalwear cc. formal is my least favorite outfit category in any sims game and they make it so much easier to work with <3
how long have you had simblr?
this particular one? since december 2021.
how do you edit your pictures?
basically not at all. i use gimp to crop and add borders, then photopea to add text on my story posts.
what expansion pack is your favorite?
it's definitely not world adventures. what do you mean it's world adventures? i've never ever ever mentioned on this blog or in this post that i love world adventures. i don't know where that assertion is coming from!
it's world adventures
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aviiarie · 10 months ago
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FURINA'S WIFE ANON!!!!! IS HERE!!!!!!!! with a long tangent of stuff probably ARGH MY CONDOLENCES IN ADVANCE
this is . Adding to the post about whose bed would be comfy becAUSE I SAW FURINA MENTION WAHOO MY CHANCE TO SHINE!!!!!!
10/10 comfiness from me (i am 100% totally unbiased! Entirely!) because i feel like she'd definitely have ten million plushies . and not just drowning her bed until you can't see the mattress but literally everywhere in her room. There Is No Way She Doesn't. the plushies themselves provide. so much. and she has tea parties with them and all and OHHH MY GOD I HAVE IDEAS ABOUT DATES WITH HER... SITTING AT THE TINIEST TABLE YOU'VE EVER SEEN WITH HER AND HER PLUSHIES..... TEA TIMING IT UP.... WAAAAHHHH WAAAAHHHHH STILL THINKING ABOUT THE ANGST YOU HAVE INJECTED INTO US WAAAHHHHHHHHH
i am a shriveled up grape shell of the untouched. innocent version. of myself before i read that fic. happiness no longer comes naturally.
ALSO ACK THATS GENUINELY SO UPSETTING THAT TUMBLR THREW IT INTO THE VOID. LIKE LITERALLY WHY. got a notif when you made a post about it and went to go check most recent under furina x reader and for sure, it wasn't there :[ ACTUALLY SUCKS SO BAD because reading it you can really tell how much work was written into it and just AGRGHHHHHH sucks sucks sucks... it's wonderful to know that we're any help at all, if that's possible in the slightest :'D so sorry that happened but but for whatever it's worth it was an amazing read and just. So. Fantastic. there's not nearly enough words of enough strength that could possibly describe it juust oohkh my god I STILL CAN'T GET OVER THE PEARL NECKLADCE HEART SNIFFLE SNIFF AARHRHGBGJNGNN
because she would want to do that. furina would want to house you, the most important of anything to her, right over the source of the blood coursing in her body. it pulses, and the first thing it meets is you before travelling throughout the rest of her. just as she would have no life without it, both literally and metaphorically, she has no life without you.
sorry sorry sorry again EEK it's my first time being like a. designated anon. if that makes sense. with like my own little name and signature tag ARGH DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S CALLED But The Name Tag Thingie. AND I'M SO EXCITED TO SHARE MY THOUGHTS WITH YOU HEHEHEHEHEH i feel very not judged here this is wonderful
THANK YOU SINCERELY FOR THE FOREHEAD KISSES!!!!! HUGS YOU VERY TIGHTLY UNTIL LIFE FORCE IS SQUEEZED OUT although not too much because that would be akin to exploding which we do NOT want AND THEN FINISHING BLOWS WITH A SEPARATE FOREHEAD KISS BECAUSE I AM SO SIGMA!!!!!! WAHOO!!!!!!
SIGNED . WITH LOVE . FURINA'S WIFE ANON. WAHHAHAHAHA
okay you've convinced me. i amend my previous statement, furina's bed is now a 10/10 in my books. YOU'RE SO RIGHT THOUGH???? she would have so many plushies, all in different sizes and styles just scattered across her bed. and every single one of them is named, and she never forgets what they're called; the little white swan is blanche, the big fluffy cat is mademoiselle chat, the blue otter is little neuvillette.... etc. etc. DATES WITH THEM WOULD BE SO CUTEEEE LIKE LITTLE PICNICS TOO WHERE SHE SETS OUT FOOD FOR ALL OF THEM.... imagine if she set up little puppet shows with them too, just making wild stories and acting them out with her plushies... that would be adorable :O
IM SORRYYYYY i'll write some happy fluff for furina soon. promise 🤞
BUT RIGHT??????? like damn, tumblr. i know pride month was in june, but that doesn't mean you have to throw a perfectly good lesbian in the void. the positive response i've got on it has made up for it though, so thank you again. at least it wasn't a total waste of energy :")
YES YES YOU GET IT!!!! that's exactly what i was going for with the fic, furina wants to keep you close, she wants you close to your heart, she just isn't ready to accept why. you are what is keeping her alive, the thing keeping her going. without you..... AUGHHHH YOU GET ME SO MUCH!!!!
and no no no apologies!!! i'm thrilled to see you in my inbox again :DDD i love all of my lovely designated anons, everyone is welcome to share their thoughts here!! there is no judgement, only incoherent rambling about our favourite characters HAHAHA
HUGGING YOU BACK!!!! WAHOOO!!!
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totallyfrandom · 5 months ago
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justanotherfluffreader · 3 years ago
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Genshin maybe? Please Zhong Li ,Venti,Ninguang, Kaeya, Hu Tao Reacting to Mc being a survivor of the Archon wars … :)
Reacting to you being a survivor of the archon wars
A/N -> Hey anon! Super cool prompt you've got there :)) Hope I wrote it the way you had in mind! Also just note that as I pick this whole tumblr thing up again after what, a year? the writing may or may not be consistent and all that <-
Characters -> Zhongli, Venti, Ningguang, Kaeya, Hu Tao <-
Warnings -> Mentions of blood, death, but kinda fluffy? <-
Zhongli
※He recognized you from the first time your eyes met.
※However, he wanted to be certain that you were the same person he thought you were
※Sometimes you would catch him looking at you, and you worried that he would find out- after all, you had gone into hiding after the war to escape from the other archons,
※So, you decided that you should tell him before word got out
※"Zhongli, do you have a moment?"
※He wasn't super surprised- his memory has yet to betray him
※But he's glad that you, who knew him even during the wars, are still alive with him
Venti
※He felt like he remembered you somehow, but couldn’t quite place it
※So of course he consulted his fellow archon friend out in Liyue
※"What was it you wished to discuss?" Zhongli asked, calmly sipped his tea
※"Ah, Y/N. Yes, they... fought in the archon wars. It is truly wonderful they survived."
※And suddenly, he remembers everything
※Upon returning home after a long day, Venti runs up to you and hugs you
※"I'm sorry," he whispers. "I remember you now."
Ningguang
※Being so powerful and well-known in Liyue, it wasn't much of a shock when she heard of rumours about you and her
※However, she wasn't prepared for one to really be true
※When walking around the jade chamber one day, she heard the words "Ningguang... S/O... archon?" from afar
※Although she tried to forget about it, she eventually gave into her curiosity
※"Y/N? Do you by any chance have some special connection to the archon wars?”
※Needless to say, you ended up telling her about your identity
※Not knowing what else to do, she embraces you
※"If there's anything you need to say, it's okay. It must have been hard for you, was it not?"
Kaeya
※He understands.
※Both of you had to conceal your true identity, and he knows the distance it put the two of you away from everyone else all too well
※"A secret for a secret... would you like to hear about my origins? Maybe you'll find we have more similarities than we thought."
Hu Tao
※Tries to keep the conversation lighthearted, but still shows she cares
※"Those were surely hard times... would you like to do something to get you mind off it?"
A/N -> i think i got kinda lazy at the end (sorry)-- and to anyone else reading sorry for my inactivity, im thinking i'll try to write more <-
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oceangirl24 · 2 years ago
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Sick Day
I'm behind on Tumblr in general, but wanna share some story snippets. If you like what you read, I'd love to know. ❤️
"Don't say it." She poked him in the chest. "You are not going to die. And neither is he."
Jon was silent for a moment then leaned over said in a whisper of desperation in her ear, "Can I go with you?"
She pulled back from him. "You're being ridiculous!"
"I don't do sick, Aud," Jon leaned again the door frame again. "I have a hard enough time taking care of myself when I'm sick. I don't know how to take care of a kid! You remember that cold I had in January?"
"Yes, I do. And I'm very thankful colds only last a week. I was this close..." she put her thumb and forefinger up to his nose. There was little space between her fingers. "To requesting another cooperating teacher to finish my student teaching with."
"And you wanna leave Shawn with me?"
Audrey shook her head in exasperation.
Shawn, who had been listening from his bedroom, struggled to the door. He wasn't thrilled with being left with Jon either. "Audrey, are you really leavin'?"
"I have to, Shawn. It's just for a little while. I'll be back Monday morning."
Shawn stared out into space. "Then I'm gonna die," he whimpered.
"See!" Jon said, shoving his hands in the teen's direction. "You leave, we die."
Shawn walked over to Audrey and leaned into her. "Take me with you. I'm too young to die. Jon can't keep fish alive."
Audrey put her arms around him. "To be fair, the fish are partially your fault. Jon thought you were feeding them and you weren't."
Shawn considered this and panicked even more. "And you're still gonna leave me alone with us? What if I forget to feed me?"
"You can survive without food until I get back if it comes to that." Audrey heard about "man flu" before; she just didn't believe it existed. Apparently, it did. "I cannot believe you two are acting this way. Shawn, I'll give pass to you because you're sick." She looked at Jon. "But you have no excuse."
"All right," Jon mumbled, unhappily. He knew they had to let her leave. "Fine. Go. Please hurry back."
"I will. I just need to make sure my dad is okay. I never know when the next crisis will be his last."
"We understand, Aud," he reassured her. "Tell Richie we said hello and hope he gets better."
Shawn held onto her tighter. "Tell Pops if he passes on to the other side this weekend, I'll see him real soon. I might even beat him there."
Audrey rolled her eyes and told them firmly, "Nobody is dying this weekend, okay?"
Jon gave Shawn a displeased looked as Audrey hugged the boy goodbye and gave Jon a kiss on the cheek.
After she left, Jon and Shawn stood in the living room staring at each other. Shawn sagged against the wall near the door deeply upset that Audrey left him. His head and the right side of his face ached unrelentingly from the sinus infection. He was exhausted from being kept awake for most of the past several weeks from congestion. He wanted nothing more than to curl up on Audrey's lap and let her rub his head until he fell asleep. He could rest with Audrey there.
Jon, on the other hand, was nothing like Audrey. He was likely to throw a blanket and some tissues at him and tell him to sleep it off like he did that morning. Jon did not do comfort. Actually, Jon didn't much of anything even when Audrey was there. He just stood in the kitchen with his hand over his mouth watching them. He only did anything when Audrey asked him to do something.
I am gonna die! He thought as the pounding in his head increased. I want my Audrey!
Jon squinted at him and frowned. "So do I. But we won't have her until Monday. Gotta make due."
Shawn rubbed his temple. He didn't realize he'd said that out loud. Shrugging it off, he went over to the couch and sat down. After a few minutes of sitting, that awful dull ache increased until it was an intense pain running through his head. He stood up abruptly and almost passed out from the equilibrium change. After regaining his balance, he started to walk back to his room. As he moved, the pressure in his head lifted some and brought the pain to a more bearable level. Wondering if it was some sort of fluke, Shawn began to pace his room and the hallway. Yes, he definitely was feeling better. Maybe it was psychological, but he didn't care. His wandering took him into the living room where he ended up doing laps around the couch.
Jon was sitting on the couch trying to watch the Rangers game which was very hard to do with a teen endlessly circling in front of the screen. After several frustrating minutes and missing Mark Messier go bardown on Flyers goalie Ron Hextall, Jon said, "Hey, I thought you were dyin'."
"I'm trying to stay alive since you won't help."
Read the Rest:
AO3 FFN Wattpad
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walkingstackofbooks · 2 years ago
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DS9 2x21 The Maquis Part 2 thoughts (I'm re-watching, so there may be future spoilers)
"You don't want peace, Cal. You want revenge." Yeah, that seems true enough.
It's interesting to see the Federation hatred of Cardassians so closely; we've seen a lot of Bajorans hating Cardassians, and occasionally Miles too, but while the Stafleet officers on DS9 sure don't trust Cardassians, it's easy to forget they were at war not so long ago too.
"What about Commander Hudson?" "... I'll have to talk to him." Sisko is the most loyal friend.
"Establish a dialogue with the Maquis. They're still Federation citizens. I'm sure they'll listen to reason." Oh you're sure, are you?
The It's easy to be a saint in paradise is SO good, I see it a lot on Tumblr, but it's so much better in context
Kira's stunned expression during Sisko's speech is wonderful :3
Hehe, I'd forgot they'd be interrogating Quark about Sakonna, excellent.
"Do you expect us to believe that a Vulcan would be interested in you for your lobes?" "Vulcans are a species that appreciate good ears." HAH. Also, are you jealous, Odo? :P
"How long do I keep him in here?" "Forever." Gotta love Sisko's deadpan XD 
"I don't see what difference it makes whether we do it [execute Dukat] or they do it." I don't care either, but will someone do it, please? As a favour to me?
"The Central Command wants him dead. That's reason enough for us to want him alive."
Evil mind meld!
Dukat is insufferable, but I do enjoy watching him be a villain
A wild Sisko appears!
Dukat is so completely puzzled by the attempt at dialogue and reconciliation XD
"Tell him I still have his uniform." I love this recurring motif in this episode.
Ugh, I don't like Dukat looking comfortable.
Huh, information setting up for Cardassian trials later on the show
"Cardassians don't make mistakes." "I'll have to remember that"
I am SO looking forward to Dukat being crushed by the news that no, Central Command were not trying to rescue you, they just blamed the whole thing on you and left you for dead.
HAHA YES, that took the wind out of your sails DIDN'T IT.
"I'm sure you would have done the same for me." Love how that has left Dukat speechles.
"Ah, but the Xepolites have never been caught."
"I'm not just any Cardassian." Again, I really love seeing Dukat in action, he's so skin-crawlingly good at what he does, even if it's awful. You can see Kira having bad memories of threatening Cardassians in the background.
Yiss Sakonna and Quark again
"My emotional state is irrlevant." "Well, my emotional state is very relevant."
"Do you propose to lecture me on logic?" "I don't want to, but you leave me no choice." XD
"Then I'll make it so simple that even a Vulcan can understand." HAH. I do love Quark's turns of phrases
"They have weapons. You have weapons. Everyone has weapons!"
I hate that Quark is so good at this, but he sure did just go and outlogic a Vulcan.
"So we'll have three ships and they'll have two. The odds are in our favour, anyway." This made me chuckle a bit just because it's the simplest maths and post-GE-reveal he'll be calculating absolutely ridiculous odds, not just 3 v 2 XD
"That's not going to give us much of an advantage, Julian" And added to that, he was wrong! 😅
Dukat's approving look at Sisko...
Oh no, Dukat is gonna fire isn't he.... Aghhhh don't do this to Ben!
Oh phew, he didn't. Glad I was wrong
I love how Sisko and Dukat play off each other. "I will not kill a good man for trying to defend his home." "You disappoint me." "Don't expect me to lose any sleep over it."
Hmmm, it's interesting to wonder if they hadn't succeeded and a war had begun at this point in time, would the Dominion have ever got involved?
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dissonantdreamer · 4 years ago
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Am I being oversensitive when I say I find some of the hatred towards TLOU2 to be disturbing? I saw someone post fanart of Ellie gleefully killing Lev in front of Abby and celebrating how it would've been the "better" ending. It's so hypocritical considering haters complain about the characters being 'ooc' but then have Ellie enjoy killing an innocent child. She broke down after torturing Nora and killing Mel, a pregnant woman, but sure, murdering Lev would be so "badass" of Ellie. Ugh. [1/2]
These are the same people who claim Abby is a sociopath and then they cheer at edits of Ellie murdering a child with ease. Every day I am more convinced some fans never cared about Ellie beyond her being Joel's daughter/sidekick, and that TLOU2's message of all-consuming hate and bias is more accurate than people give it credit for. Anyways, sorry for the long message. I appreciate your takes on this game and the TLOU community on tumblr is a breath of fresh air compared to other places. [2/2] (To make it a bit easier to answer I put your asks together) I don't think it's oversensitive to be aware of how horrendous some of the "fans" treat the women of the last of us. It can be annoying and upsetting to see. Ellie became the headstrong woman she is because of Ashley. She took a character that was initially going to be a basic sidekick type and made her into this feral little badass that was ready to say everyone she could. Part One is good because of that, they were able to make this world seem real and these characters alive because there is, among all the desolation and hopelessness, a child who not only has the cure for humanity, but still believes in a world long gone, one that is worth her time. That extends to Joel, not just the cure. Ellie is loved because she was smart, and reliable, and like she did for Joel, she grows on you. Yet she is still a product of that world, she has to fight for those things. That means fighting to survive. People forget that in this world that these characters exist in, most people don't derive pleasure from killing each other. Even Joel expresses his dislike of it, but he has to. If he is going to survive and keep his loved ones safe, he's going to fucking do it. We see that in his conversation with Tommy. Ellie isn't running around Seattle killing swaths of people for fun (and I'll point out depending on your game play style she doesn't have to) she's not killing Abby's crew for fun either. Jordan was to save Dina, Nora was her attempt to embody Joel and it visibly breaks her, Owen and Mel was brought on by high tension and panic and resulted in her feeling deep guilt. Holding a knife to Lev's throat (something done out of pure desperation for this pain to end) probably fucked her up too. Sitting in the water, thinking about how that could have been her and Joel at one point. Going after Abby was a twisted mockery of "after everything I've done it can't be for nothing" yes she has a loving partner and family, but she hasn't healed, Tommy hasn't healed and two broken people feeling hopeless doesn't mean they will enjoy the suffering, it means that if this Abby is dead, they'll heal. We saw Abby go through that process and we know, it doesn't. I say this often, but there are folks who love these games because they want a simple black and white Harry Wormwood view of the world " I'm smart; you're dumb. I'm big; you're little. And there's nothing you can do about it." There always is something you can do. That something will always take a lot of growth, and an active effort to want to grow. Joel changes, he grows. As does Abby. As will Ellie. When you play a series, you are going on a journey with this characters, not everyone wants to go on that journey. Unfortunately these people are vocal about it, even still. Which says more about them than anything. Life is easier when you put things into a binary, because you don't have to think about nuance, you don't have to view things as they truly are, you have your good vs bad outlook and you keep your head down at any sign that the world isn't that easy. Some people don't want to face that complexity. You play as these characters, but no one knows them better than the team that brought them to life. Joel was traumatized and that manifested in this anti-hero type that the some people love to play. But his character is more complex than that, the world he operates in is. Broken people always are. thanks for the ask anon, and for being patient with my response. Luckily we have a chill group here and there's always a place to discuss
elements of the game respectfully
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remmammie · 3 years ago
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Hello, can I ask you for hc domestic Sora au please?
Kh4 gives me too much vibes and I can't tell anyone about it but I would love to imagine more on it so much ( ; w ; )
I was still on my mini hiatus when you sent me this so I couldn't find the time to write it then but I have the time now my exams are over! I'm very very excited for KH4 too so feel free to talk to me or the rest of KH tumblr about all your thoughts hehe
I considered both Quadratum Sora and just a modern AU too so there's the best of both worlds. I also assume you meant Sora on his own but I'd be happy to write some for him with an s/o too!
Sora Domestic HCs
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Ah, domesticity. Sora never gets to stay in one place for too long, sadly, especially not with other people so he really has to get used to living alone or with someone who's not his mother.
Sora definitely strikes me as the kind of boy who's quite messy but not because he's lazy - he just forgets that, yes, he does need to pick up the clothes on his floor because, yes, he can (and will) fall over them all the time. Probably not to the point of leaving dishes in his bedroom, though.
I would not let this boy anywhere near a kitchen! At least unsupervised or without instructions. Yes, he did work at the Bistro under Remy's supervision/control, so he luckily knows basic kitchen and cooking skills. I don't think he'd make anything too wild, and he doesn't follow recipes very well but somehow still manages to make really good tasting food! It's incredible! He's strangely a natural!
Tell you what, though, Sora really oddly enjoys gardening! All the pretty colours and the general joy of keeping something happy and alive has Sora completely hooked. He doesn't know a whole lot and has to keep quite a big library of botany books, but Sora has quite the green thumb! And, if we're talking Quadratum Sora, maybe Strelitzia would help him out!
Sora needs a shopping list if he's going out shopping by himself. He'll spend, like, an entire afternoon brainstorming for things that he actually needs and wants, then still ends up getting distracted by everything in a store. He's a very curious boy, I can't blame him.
Oh, he'd absolutely have an animal of some kind. A dog would match his energy amazingly well, I can totally imagine him with a bigger dog, laughing while he gets dog kisses. Bless.
He tries his hardest to stick to a routine with waking up and going to bed, but ends up going with the flow and usually ends up falling asleep with his phone in his hand watching animal videos and waking up late because his phone is dead.
As for a job, Sora would thrive in either retail or some sort of childcare. He loves to entertain, so dealing with kids, especially younger ones, would be perfect for him! And helping people is a pretty big part of his life so he wouldn't mind the occasional bad experience in retail if it meant he helped people the other 90% of the time.
Sora adores wearing clothes that are just a little bit too big for him. He loves the freedom they bring and honestly feels pretty cool when coming up with ways to style his wardrobe, no help needed! We've seen Nomura's art, we know how stylish Sora is in modern clothes.
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definitely-not-a-wasp · 4 years ago
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I'm okay with a bunch of disorganized rambling honestly 😂. But if I had to narrow it down then I guess I want to know about main and side characters and how they compare to the original?
I know that tumblr is the Prime Site for disorganized rambling, but I have perfectionism issues. But that is a great question, nonnie, and I will be happy to ramble is a slightly less disorganized fashion.
When reading Maximum Ride as a somewhat-formed adult who discovered they enjoy English classes about 3.5 years ago, I noticed that JP, when writing, doesn't understand consistency. At all. Which means, in many ways, I have a free sandbox to work with.
Spoilers for my rewrite WIP, because I strongly believe that if a story would no longer be good if one had spoilers, then it wasn’t a good story in the first place.
I'm trying to keep the backstories the same, plus or minus the scientific method and a few characters (RIP my OCs. I want to bring you back so bad but it wouldn't fit with the thematic narrative). I've mostly kept their (starting) abilities the same, too. Without further ado, I'm going to introduce some WorldBuilding. (If I'm good at nothing else, I'm good at world building)
First off. Logically.
How are they getting Cable?
How are they getting internet?
How are they getting money to eat and stuff?
JP's answer: handwave it off. Sometimes you need to ignore logistics for the sake of plot. This is an answer I'd accept from an author that I like, such as Julie Kagawa, that makes amazing worlds, characters, and narratives that I will happily handwave a few things that wouldn't work in the real world. James Patterson, on the other hand, did not make any of that; he made a cool concept, some good rough-draft characters, and nothing else, and therefore this is an unforgivable sin.
Wasp's answer: They are not getting any of that.
Introducing Cottagecore.
The house is off the grid. Solar Panels and a wind turbine create electricity. They have their own well. They grow their own food, raise livestock for eggs, milk, and wool, and trap fish for meat. They get money through dumpster diving and pawning. They still have to steal half of the necessities they can’t make themselves. They do have a TV, but it can access about three channels on a clear day. Internet is only a thing when they go to the public library.
Giving the flock a background that’s heavy in farming and livestock rearing shores up the plot holes mentioned above, but in my opinion, ties the flock more tightly to the environment, thus giving them something tangible to lose when they have to leave the E-shaped house. Because they’re not just leaving a house and a safety net— they’re leaving their entire way of life with no promise of getting it back. It also gives them a tangible connection to the earth in case I want to actually pursue the global warming themes.
Main Characters
Maximum “Max” Ride (Birthname: nonexistent)
First off, I'm letting her be Latina, James Patterson.
In the original, Max was very much the headstrong, independent, action girl. Leaning into Strong Female Character (TM), but overall she had a strong, solid foundation and enough character consistency through the first three books for me to not have to just make an entire new character. However, I felt that she was, in some ways, a bit too Action-Girl and Strong and Capable. Yes, Max is incredible and competent, but she’s also fourteen. She’s a child.
In the rewrite, Max’s character is still headstrong, independent, capable, and sometimes not the best at listening to others. All of that’s the same. But she’s that way not because of girlboss energy, but because there’s no one else to do it. She doesn’t want to lead, necessarily. She wants to get some rest and let someone else handle the problems life keeps throwing at her. But she knows if she did that, the responsibility of leader would fall to Fang and Iggy, and she can’t ask that of them. She doesn’t want to place that burden on anyone else (Look, there’s a reason I chose Ayano’s Theory of Happiness as one of her signifier songs, okay?). Her narrative is very much centered around burden, and also around loss. She lost her cultural heritage when she was taken away from her birth family, she lost her childhood to being a leader, she lost a good deal of her friends to the school (RIP my OCs), she lost Jeb, and then she lost her stability. And she’s going to lose a lot more before the end of the story. So a lot of her character arc deals with learning that there are some things she can’t fix, some things that can’t be recovered. She can’t get the E-shaped house back. She can’t get her Little Baby Angel back, even after they rescue her. She can’t get her friends back from the school. And instead of working so hard to recover those or find something to replace them, she has to learn to live with that sense of loss and move on with her life without feeling guilty for leaving things behind. And she has to learn that asking for help and sharing her burden is selfish or weak.
Other changes I made that don’t necessarily fit into her narrative arc, but you asked for rambling so rambling you shall get:
Max hallucinates, because mental illness is also a prominent theme in the rewrite. She doesn’t have a psychotic disorder, but her C-PTSD causes visual/audio hallucinations, especially when she’s stressed or sleep deprived. 
Max ends up having a Gender Discovery throughout the story and goes by He/She pronouns eventually. I don’t know when, but it will happen.
As far as genetic modifications/special quirks go, she can fly faster than the rest of the flock, but not 300 miles per hour. She averages about sixty mph with diving speeds of 240. She cannot breathe underwater or shut down her organs on command. She also has the Super Special Power to predict the weather, but that’s not because of genetics, it’s because she has chronic pain in her right arm that gets worse when weather fronts change.
Her favored weapon is her trusty rebar that she picked up from a condemned building. I think she’s going to name it eventually but I don’t know what yet.
Fang (Birth name: Gabriel Xue)
In canon, Fang is characterized in early books by being the “dark, strong, silent type”. He’s probably the most reserved member of the flock, to the point of falling into the Brooding Mystery Man trope in parts of the book. They care a lot, but they’re not the best at conveying that, especially with the younger members of the flock, and at times their high empathy leads them to making mistakes. Despite the high empathy, he’s often compared to a robot due to his lack of expression and external emotions.
Well, first change is that they’re not a man, so jot that down—
If Max’s narrative is centered around burden and loss, I would probably say that Fang’s is centered around humanity and moving on. None of the flock was treated as human while in the school, but Fang was more often than not treated like a wild animal due to “behavioral issues”, and therefore had and continues to have a difficult time considering themselves real and alive, let alone human. This manifests through a several different ways— where in canon Fang definitely had a ‘fight’ reaction, in the re-write they have a ‘freeze’ or ‘shut down’ instinct. They’re selectively mute for multiple reasons (including derealization, jaw pain, the fact that they didn’t learn how to speak until they were 10, and genuinely forgetting it’s something they’re capable of), a period of Cotard’s syndrome, and a tendancy towards self-loathing and self-sacrifice. In short, Fang is still halfway stuck in the mindset that most of the flock grew out of when they escaped in the school, and doesn’t know how to move past it.
Much of their character arc revolves around not necessarily seeing themselves as human, but learning to treat themselves as human even when they don’t feel like one (or even feel real), and knowing that just because they don’t feel human all the time doesn’t mean anyone else can treat them the same. They never start easily expressing their emotions, and they’re always going to be selectively mute, but they learn to accept that those aspects of themself aren’t character flaws or signs that they’re sub-human. 
Other additions to Fang’s character include:
They don’t get their hair cut in New York. It stays long through the entire series. They have the longest hair in the flock by the end of the series, and they can wear it in so many styles.
Fang uses they/it pronouns because themes of reclaiming the weapons used against it and, more importantly, Gender.
They’re actually really good at spelling compared to the rest of the flock, because they and Iggy communicate with Print-On-Palm when they’re nonverbal, and they’re nonverbal for some pretty long stretches of time. 
They and Max have... zero romantic tension. At all. There is none. The number of times Max calls them her sibling/little sibling in the first arc alone is staggering, and that will not change.
Igneous “Iggy” (Birthname: Jamsetta “Jamie” Griffiths)
I’ve talked about Iggy before. Canon doesn’t give us much to go off of, but from what’s shown, he’s smart, sarcastic, has sharper edges than Fang and Max, and also has a sizable ruthless streak. So that’s what I have to go off of.
The big difference between Iggy and Fang&Max is that Iggy has a much better memory of the School. Most of the flock have areas (months or years) that they don’t remember, or people that they’ve blocked from their mind, but Iggy... doesn’t. So he’s the one that remembers all of the other AVIAN test subjects that were old enough to have names and identities but died due to complications. Max might have the burden of leadership, but he has the burden of memory. And that has lead to both a massive fucking guilt complex, because why did he survive when they didn’t, and, as mentioned above, a ruthless streak that he doesn’t shy away from.
Which is to say, by the end of the story, Iggy has the highest kill count.
I love, love writing Iggy next to Max and Fang. I love writing Iggy next to Gazzy and Nudge. Because, I say this with all of the love of the world, but Iggy is not a good person. He is loyalty and love incarnate, and the world can burn down if he and his siblings are safe. Max and Fang will always try to save as many people as they can. They will wonder what’s wrong with them the first time they kill and don’t have a mental breakdown about it. They are good in a way that Iggy is not. He’s okay with killing Erasers. He’s okay with killing humans. He’s okay with killing people who might not necessarily deserve it, if they show themselves as a threat or are simply in the blast radius. He knows perfectly well that most of those Erasers he’s murdering are four and five and he is okay with that, because a lot of the AVIANs were that age when they died. (Yeah, in the rewrite it’s not Fang who has an issue with Ari; it’s Iggy who wants the 7-year-old wolf-boy dead.) 
And this is, of course, juxtaposed with Iggy being really, really good with Nudge and Gazzy (especially in the beginning). Because, again, he actually remembers being a child. He remembers a lot of kids that died and is therefore fiercely protective of the kids that didn’t, as well as fiercely protective of the innocence that he never got. So he’s the one that cooks their favorite foods when they’re having a bad day, always makes time when they want to talk about something, and convinces Max to let them go to that toy store in New York because, yeah, he Max and Fang aren’t kids. They never were. But Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel can be. (And if he has to be a murderer to preserve that, then he’s perfectly okay with that.)
He and Angel don’t get along very well, though. The telepath doesn’t like hanging out with the person with the most clear memories of the school.
Other additions:
Iggy is trans and says trans rights
He also has paranoid episodes, because C-PTSD. Sometimes they’re very helpful. Sometimes they are not.
I actually decided that he’s one of the flock that doesn’t meet their parents. I know in canon he did, but I always found that very clunky because it didn’t add to his character. He was one of the characters who, until it was convenient for the plot, seemed to care the least about his family. I’d much rather give that to a character whose arc would benefit from it.
Iggy! Gets! Older Sibling Rights! Seriously, he’s two months younger than Fang, he is just as capable.
Iggy does not know braille because Jeb decided it wasn’t necessary for him to know. Iggy is also the best speller in the flock, because Print-on-Palm was the only way to talk to Fang for a solid year. Yes he mocks everyone over this.
Iggy is the only member of the flock that enjoys swimming and can take into the air from water. Everyone else in the flock is incredibly jealous.
Nudge (Birthname: Monique Robinson)
If Iggy is defined by his memories, Nudge is his polar opposite. She was seven when she left the School, but she has next to no memories of it. She is missing a lot of time in the first year she escaped. And that causes... a lot of things. It makes her feel disconnected from her older siblings, it gives her the ability to function in society in a way the other’s can’t, it lets her feel less grief over the ones that didn’t make it and she doesn’t remember, it makes her feel guilty that she doesn’t remember what she’s old enough to know. 
Basically, in order for me to keep the character of Nudge as I saw her (more extroverted, not afraid of the world, fascinated with humans like her siblings aren’t, desiring to fit in instead of isolate), I had to put a little bit of distance between her and the flock. Of course, she loves them— that will in no way change— but she’s old enough that she should remember the school (and her dead friends) unlike Gazzy and Angel, but she can’t, and she very much fears forgetting the flock if anything happens to them. So she’s trying desperately to keep the flock close and wants desperately to experience the world at the same time, and doesn’t know what to do when she can’t have both. That’s her biggest character conflict throughout the series, along with that in-between area where she’s not quite where her older siblings are but understands so much more than Gazzy and Angel, and where she stands in that.
So yeah. Nudge’s journey is that in looking for belonging in the world, in her family, and in herself.
This is why she’s one of the ones that gets to find her parent, James Patterson. 
Other additions include:
She never straightens her hair. Never. Her resources at the E-shaped house aren’t perfect, but she still has learned how to take care of her hair and has a few styles she cycles through.
She becomes the default person Max sics on people when the flock is trying to befriend them. Also their de-facto diplomat around strangers.
As in canon, she does take some time away from the flock to expirience ‘normal life’. This does not last long due to the stress of being separated from her siblings/not being able to help them and [REDACTED]
Nudge is... not the only person in her head. I’m not focusing on it much because she doesn’t actually know and neither does the flock (I don’t know if they ever figure it out during the series, either), but she has dissociative identity disorder. She’s not aware of her alter(s?). Her alter isn’t super aware of her, either. 
The alter that I’ve developed is named Oxy and is not super aware of the outside world. In her eyes, she’s still seven and they’re still at the School. She would not recognize the body as her own if she looked in a mirror.
Nudge actually leaves the flock for a while to pursue her dream of living a normal life. She deserves it. She learns how to make muffins and the basics of software development. These things are unrelated.
Gasman (Birthname: No first name, surname “Falk”)
Honestly, writing Gazzy is kind of hard for me. Partially because I’m not great at writing kids, and partially because I feel like he’s a pretty surface-level character in-series that... isn’t super compelling in canon. But even if that’s the case, I try to treat all of my characters with respect, so here we go. In my rewrite, he escaped when he was four, which was half a lifetime ago for him, so his memories are ill-defined. Therefore, he managed to circumvent a lot of the trauma that the rest of the kids have, and not in the way Nudge did, which is by creating an elaborate blockage in her memories. 
Which means Gazzy... really doesn’t know how to deal with all of this traumatic stuff happening. So much of his development turns out to be a coming-of-age narrative. Learning how to deal with the horrors of what his siblings grew up with. Learning the fears that they had the entire time. Losing his innocence when everyone around him never had it in the first place, and being so terribly alone because of it. Because, really, how can you explain such a deep loss to people who never had what he had? How can they help in a way that matters?
Also, relationship-wise, I’m slowly deteriorating the relationship between him and Iggy. Slowly. Or, changing it, at least. Gazzy hero-worships Iggy in-series, and for good reason, because Iggy is super cool, especially in the eyes of an eight-year-old, and especially when Iggy has taken care to cultivate parts of his behaviors to be child-friendly. Part of growing up is seeing the flaws in your heroes, and Gazzy has to learn how to deal with it. End of the series Gazzy is much less closer to Iggy than beginning of the series Gazzy, and neither of them are really okay with that, but they learn to live with it, because that’s really all they can do.
Notes:
I’m keeping the mimickry! It plays a bit of a bigger role because that’s how Gazzy learned to talk. I’m debating whether or not he has his own voice or if he just borrows the flock’s as he sees fit. He also uses it to scream really loudly and occaisonally burst the eardrums of Erasers.
At one point he cosplays as Jessica Jones. No you don’t get any more context than this.
He has a horrible sense of fashion.
I’m changing his name eventually because it sucks. He’s either going to change it to Gannet, Garrison, or Ivy Mike temporarily, and permanently to Zephyr. (I never said I was going to make his name GOOD, because he’s eight, but it’s changing. You’re welcome.)
Angel (Birthname: No first name, surname “Falk”)
It’s just... a completely different character, at this point. I’ve changed so many things about her in an attempt to make her consistent and act like a six-year-old and work in the whole “telepath before she has a solid sense of identity”, so it’s a different character. Also, I’m tired of writing coherently or in paragraphs, so have some interesting facts.
She has epilepsy! Super severe epilepsy! I think she might also develop juvenile MS in the future because her brain has so many scars from being a fucking six-year-old telepath. There’s no way she could get out of that unscathed.
She has more memories of the school than Gazzy, but only because she keeps accidentally reading the minds of Max, Fang, and Iggy. On a related note, she interacts with Iggy as little as possible.
The mind reading means that she has a hard time developing as a normal child with a normal sense of identity or reality. She can’t tell how much people are individual people and how much they’re just extensions of her. Conversely, she can’t tell how much of herself is actually her instead of the thoughts/opinions/identities of someone else. It’s... kinda fucked? But also super not-her-fault. 
She’s albino because white wings. Also, because I thought it was cool. This also means that her vision sucks, though. Also she has the biggest straw sunhat and the most stylish sunglasses a six-year-old can have.
She’s responsible for Max shaving her hair off.
She has the highest swear count because I think it’s funny. She’s the only person allowed to say the fuck word in writing. Everyone else can only say ‘hell’ and the occasionally ‘damn’ but she can say whatever she wants for dramatic and comedic value.
She is NOT THE FUCKING VOICE, J*MES P*TTERSON.
Honorable Mentions
Jeb
I’m skipping Jeb because of how little I care about him. He’s a little bitch, next character.
Ari
STILL HASN’T BEEN REVEALED AS AN ERASER. I’ve been writing for 50,000 words and he’s over here saying ‘nope nope not yet, not dramatic enough’. He’s had speaking lines but has refused to make himself known to Max. I am so frustrated with this seven-year-old wolf-child that I’ve already considered how I would kill him, if I decide I want to kill yet another child in my writing.
So, my main thoughts for Ari is that he... really just drew the short end of the stick in every possible way. While Jeb didn’t sign him up for Eraser expirimentation, he didn’t do anything to stop it, and pretty much cut his losses when he realized this expiriment made a wreck of his ‘perfect, unflawed’ son, because Jeb doesn’t consider children of any species to actually be humans. So, Ari really hates his dad, which makes things complicated, because he also really loves his dad and really wants his approval. 
Which means that he also really hates Max, because she’s the child that always got Jeb’s time and attention, even when Ari was human. I think, on some level, he knows that trying to tear Max down to a less-favored level isn’t actually going to help his situation— infighting for the love of an abusive parent won’t make them any less abusive— but he’s also seven, and his development is already severely stunted due to becoming an Eraser, and he doesn’t see ‘leaving ITEX’ as an option like the Flock does. ITEX is his everything. It’s all he’s ever known, and they tell him he’s doing the right thing, and he wants them to love him. He wants his father to love him. He knows that if he ever questions ITEX, his father will never love him. So it must be his older sister that’s ruining his life and being a horrible child, and once Ari drags her back down to his level, Jeb will realize who the best child is and love him properly again.
Ari, on an even deeper level, does care for Max quite a bit, because she’s his older sister and he wants that to mean something in a way that ‘Jeb being his father’ obviously doesn’t. He wants what she made for herself, and he hates the Flock because she loves them and obviously doesn’t love him. 
Ari, if anything, is the product of neglect, and both loves and hates everyone who shows a chance of caring about him. And he’s seven, so he can’t notice these patterns, let alone break them.
So. Notes!
He doesn’t look like an adult. I thought that was gross and unnecessary. He’s seven, but he looks closer to thirteen or fourteen. Still young enough that he looks like every Eraser’s little brother, and the Erasers high-key treat him like it.
On a related note, he’s the only Eraser who can talk. The others don’t have the mental capacity or vocal structure to replicate human speech, but they can understand language (at about the level of a two or three year old) and are very good at nonverbal communication. This is why Ari managed to climb the ranks despite only having three years of “service” and also looking like a tween.
He doesn’t have an expiration date because that is SUCH a stupid plot point.
I’m giving him a chainsaw! I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but he deserves to have a chainsaw and GODDAMN I will give it to him.
Emergency and Gene
The OCs that I love and also killed pre-series. They don’t have any scenes, because they’re dead, but their deaths greatly effected Max, Fang, and Iggy, and they are very commonly referenced. Their voices are probably Max’s most common hallucination, to the point where she sometimes pretends they’re ghosts that she can talk to. They’re not ghosts. They’re dead.
Dr. Valencia Martinez
I’m actually keeping her pretty close to canon— loving, supportive, the type of person to take in a gsw victim with minimal questions. The difference is that rather than kindness fueling her actions, it’s incredible guilt. She has three goals surrounding Max: Give her as much support in any way she can, teach her as much about chicane culture as possible, and never let Max know that she’s her birth parent.
(She’s probably going to fail at AT LEAST two of those, but it’s the thought that counts.)
Notes:
She has a pet fox named Robin Hood that she rescued from an exotic animal salesman that got arrested.
I think I’m going to kill her. I don’t know yet, but it’s on the table.
Anne Walker
Y’know, the fake FBI Agent. Who’s not actually a fake in my story because I hated that plot point. She’s genuinely an FBI agent who put the Flock into pseudo-witness-protection in order to build a case against the Institute of Higher Living, accidentally got attached to her prime witnesses, raised them for a few months, realized a [SPOILER] and promptly had to let them get the hell out dodge.
I really like the Anne Walker that lives in my head. She is a VITAL part of the Flock’s development, their mental/emotional recovery, and adding to their safety net to fall back on. She serves them as their first adult role model, and is the first adult to show them what parent/child are supposed to look like from a healthy perspective. Though she has several fuck ups, she becomes someone that the Flock genuinely trusts and loves, which makes it all the more difficult for them to leave when [REDACTED].
Notes:
She and Max do butt heads initially, because Max is paranoid and also afraid of becoming uneeded. This ends up being incredibly important because Max needs to learn how to live and find meaning in life without being the designated Leader/Parent/Big Sister
Anne, at one point, sits the entire flock down to teach them about consent, which was something no one ever talked about with them before. She goes in talking specifically about consent in a romantic/sexual sense (because they’re fourteen and that’s something they need to know), but quickly turns into a full-fledged no, people are NOT allowed to do that to you, what the FUCK.
She’s responsible for giving the flock a laptop. It’s because Angel is online schooled (bc telepathy makes actually learning difficult) and was therefore provided with a computer.
Anne is also allowed to swear, but only when it’s funny.
Michael “Grey” Rivers
Aka Grey from the Sewers Aka GR3Y H47 Aka Mike from the Bronx Aka Gifted Child Syndrome Incarnate Aka Would-be-in-MIT-if-his-parents-weren’t-horrible. He’s my son, your honour.
Basically, his backstory boils down to him being a genius, getting into MIT at 14, his (horrible) parents wanting a perfect child who could “make it out” of the Bronx and represent his family/neighborhood/borough to the world. When he inevitably failed their expectations due to stress, a schizophrenic-spectrum disorder that completely alienated him from the rest of his support network, and refusing to take his psych meds because the side effects were horrible and they made it harder to think (and therefore pass his classes), they kicked him out. He fully intends to go back to MIT when he turns 18 and has control of his finances/scholarships/medication/therapy.
So that’s how the flock meets him. 
Mike ends up in a very prominent support role for the flock both in technological persuits (helping them track their parents, helping them get information from ITEX, trying to disable Max’s chip and failing multiple times until it becomes a matter of personal honour—), in helping the older members of the flock figure out how to deal with hallucinations/delusions (because he’s actually been to therapy, unlike them), and in being one of the only people who talks to them and helps them without any ulterior motive. He’s not trying to build a case against ITEX/The Institute of Higher Learning, he’s not double crossing them, he’s not plagued with guilt. He just genuinely wants to help them, and they genuinely want to help him, and that’s their first introduction to a healthy, non-codependent relationship.
My many disorganized notes on Michael Rivers:
He’s from specifically Morris Heights, Bronx, NYC.
He would say that his last name is actually Rivera, but his grandparents changed it to Rivers so it would sound more English, and his family has been in America for so long that he doesn’t know much about any Latino heritage he may or may not have. He identifies as African American, not Afro-Latino. He’s just bitter that his family felt the need to change their surname to have better opportunities in New York.
Nudge aggressively befriends him pretty much the moment she meets him, bullies him into teaching her how to code, and he very quickly adopts her as his pseudo-little-sister.
His delusions in the book seemed to involve government conspiracies, but as that’s the one delusion that is proved correct in the book, I’ve decided it would be best if his delusions and reality intersected a bit less if I don’t want to write him having a manic/paranoid episode in the second scene he has screen time. So his delusions are more based on “none of this is real”, “someone is recording everything I do and setting me up to fail” and “my ill-wishes on people can and will come true if I dwell on them too long.”. Government conspiracies are one of things he is skeptical about because he thinks most conspiracies are either “CIA admitted to this twenty years ago” or “antisemitism”.
He’s taking online free college classes that don’t actually give him any college credit, but they have good information and help him feel like he’s working towards something. He plans to double major in computer sciences and electrical engineering, minor in marine biology. He’s wanted to join NOAA since he was twelve and he is nothing if not stubborn.
There you go. These are my characters, now. I have custody.
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anasticep · 4 years ago
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Why Julie and the Phantoms is a masterpiece of a show. Part 2. Heroes and Villains or Let that foil shine
NOTE: Thanks again for your kind response to Part 1. I never expected that. It being my first tumblr post and a first meta in quite a long time I was blown away. I read all the tags, some were really hilarious. About having more than one brain cell xDDD I laughed so hard. It means a lot.
NOTE2: Please remember that the gifs are made by me, so don't crop, edit or give as yours.
Part 1.
Before diving into meta, I have to mention that the Villain of the story is actually one of the best in the decade. He’s cool, evil from the start, we understand his motives and we certainly are not supposed to love and make excuses for him. The writers made sure of that. So back to the main topic.
A foil is a character who contrasts with another character; typically, a character who contrasts with the protagonist, in order to better highlight or differentiate certain qualities of the protagonist
Foils in literature are not necessarily antagonists. A friend can be a foil or sometimes even a thing, a song. Whatever can make a good and real contrast to the protagonist. But it’s not very simple to use this author’s device and not fall down a deep hole. Because you have to make sure you did just the right amount of work to make it understandable for a reader, the things you want to contrast are definitely there and still you don't waste a character. On TV it can be even harder given limited air time. And, well, I don’t come across this device being used in full very often nowadays. It’s usually good and evil fighting for the plot. That’s why I personally appreciate JaTP so much.
Caleb is clearly a foil to Luke. As much as I’d love to say that Julie also has one, that’s not entirely true, at least not this season. Carrie is not her foil though it may seem so, and I really think that’s cool as Julie’s journey is being presented through her own demons and I'm going to cover that next. That being said, of course Caleb doubles as an antagonist plotwise, but I personally consider him being written more as a contract to Luke so we could see and appreciate his character and journey better.
1. Origins
Caleb and Luke have extremely similar backgrounds. They are both natural performers. They know how to deliver, because c’mon, “Now or Never” is something and so is “The other side of Hollywood”. Stage is their natural habitat, their element, power. Although they channel this power from completely different places.
Let’s start with our little ball of energy. It’s emphasized TWICE that he doesn’t care about the money aka the physical side of art.
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All Luke wants is to make music. Connect with people. He is so happy just to be heard despite him loving to perform. Making music is what makes him feel alive and basically that’s enough. I think if there was no “hologram” magic at all, Luke would have still been extremely happy to make music with and for Julie. Because that’s the way he is.
But Caleb doesn’t know that. He knows, and I’m standing by that, right away that Luke is the one to aim at. Because we always feel the similarity in people. If Luke said yes, Reggie and Alex would have followed. So Caleb recognizes the passion and shoots at them what he thinks is appealing. And, oh boy, he delivers.
“The Other Side of Hollywood” is a perfect song to emphasize Luke and Caleb being foils for each other. Follow me here:
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But these lines come from very different places. For Caleb the only thing that matters is himself. He owns the show, he IS the show. It’s about being famous, drowning in applause, admiration. Look at how he performs. Confident, yes, but still very much in control. He must keep his perfect face. No flaws, no real emotions, no real connection (Did you miss ME? I did too // This band is back). Whereas Luke is simply living the best time of his life each time he performs. Is it just jamming? Bring it on. Doing fun riffs? He’s all for it. He doesn’t care how he looks (though who could deny gorgeous sweaty Luke), he owns the show just because he is a natural.
So back to the business. Caleb immediately puts the boys in his own shoes:
On the other side we live like kings // Your soulprint on the walk of fame on the boulevard of your wildest dreams // I got your glamour, got your gold, got all you’ll ever need
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And, I mean, he is not that wrong. You can see the appeal on the boys’ faces. They are young, passionate, handsome, talented musicians. Of course they wouldn’t deny fame. Of course they would want all that to some extent. And Caleb is very sure he pulled the right strings.
Watch me make a move, I’m your number one choice
Also I have to mention, as we are talking about TOSOH (IKEA name again) and it being a foil for Luke, thy lyrics still don’t forget about what is important for Reggie and Alex (we’ll talk about that just a bit later):
Welcome to the brotherhood -> Reggie
Where you won’t be misunderstood -> Alex
Then again, lots of foreshadowing in the song, if you listen carefully the lyrics are stressing the true colors of the offer:
A tomb with a view
Man, what a metaphor. I would have run out of there the minute I heard this line. But our boys share one brain cell (I can’t get over how funny this is) and it’s currently taken by Julie, so I don’t blame them.
Disappointment is huge. Caleb read it all wrong. So we are moving to the next point in our Heroes and Villains essay.
2. Recruitment
It’s very cool that Caleb offers the boys to join his band right after Luke offers Julie to join Sunset Curve. They both are going out of their ways to get that (although have different budgets apparently. But look, they live in a garage). Luke made a hit with a bunch of Julie’s not very well structured lines (I love Flying Solo with all my heart as a song, but as a poem it just looks weird to me) to impress her, and we all saw the show Caleb had thrown to impress the boys. Plus food. And fancy dancing. But here is where contrast comes again.
Caleb offers to join the band, yes, but only as backup singers. It’s his show, remember? It’s only about him. He doesn’t care if they are even good. He wants their magic under control.
Share the spotlight with ME / How do you like MY new band?!
Luke offering Julie a spot in the band is a completely different story. He saw what she is capable of. He instantly knows she must be the key to a new sound, a new level. And he, a natural performer, frontman, lead guitarist, steps back and gives the spotlight to Julie. To think about it, he could have just got her magic under control by giving her simple lines, incorporating piano in the songs and that’s all. They would be visible, he would still be a center of attention, and Julie herself wouldn't mind that much. But that’s not who Luke is. Yes, there is a funny scene of “Hey, I’m your lead singer” and “you don’t have to be mean”, but it’s just messing around. Because right after that he finishes Flying Solo, writes several other songs with Julie, seeks her approval of Sunset Curve songs and basically follows her around like an adorable excited puppy.
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Moving on and back to the rejection. Again the writers are mirroring them. Julie quits the band & the boys decline the offer. What does Luke do? Well, he tries the way he knows: books a gig, makes Reggie and Alex sing in perfect harmonies and does his puppy eyes thing. And it doesn’t work. And Luke goes to reflect and then probably try to come up with a plan. But something tells me he would not have haunted Julie until she joined them.
What does Caleb do after the initial rejection? Puts a cursed stamp that leaves them no choice but to join HGC. You don’t need to say more.
But in fact the more I think about it, the more I suspect Caleb also not possessing enough mental capacity for a human being. Like, if it wasn’t for Willie, how would they even know? Has Caleb planned to simply show up one day and casually explain? Look, foils in everything.
“You’re in a tough spot… So, you wanna join the band?” | “Looked like it hurt… you know where to find me”
But we sidestepped a bit.
3. Pulling the strings
After the song Caleb comes out to consolidate his success. What he does is clever and, btw, that’s the only time he becomes Julie’s foil. They are stating basically the same thing.
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Again, Julie is concerned about the band and the boys, while Caleb is only concerned about having them under control. But they both are pulling basically the right strings.
What is interesting, Caleb actually impressed the wrong person (and that person is our sweet Reggie). Luke follows the string Julie pulled. Although the offer is tempting, he insists twice that they are in a band already directly to Caleb and then in Eats&Beats he says "It's like Julie said, we have a new band, a new sound». No matter what Caleb promised, Luke is not affected at all although Caleb’s offer is a very-very safe choice.
Speaking about using friends as foils, Alex and Reggie also serve as contrast characters for Luke at some points. Luke’s indifference to money is first stressed through Alex who is clearly the chief accountant for the band. His lines about not getting tips, living in a garage and «it’s a little bit about the money» are waved aside by Luke. Reggie is clearly the most affected by the whole Bobbie thing. His lines «I don’t care what Julie said, I’m glad we scared Bobbie», «So we’re gonna forget about getting back at Trevor?» are getting a clear contrast by Luke’s «It’s what Julie said, we have a new band, a new sound» and «He has to live with that guilt».
While editing the article I realised a very cool thing I haven't noticed before. How badly Luke wants to go on tour. And again that's another thing Caleb offers as if reading his mind. That's actually brilliant, to think about it.
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Caleb is a VERY good reader. He tests the waters with a speech about disappearing from stage and going around the world and all dreams coming true. Still he doesn’t know the boys and especially Luke, so his phrase “no real connection” doesn’t register that much.
But he learns. Remember the lines I’ve marked before?
Reggie is afraid they will not be together after they cross over. He is in desperate need of a family. So wouldn’t it be nice to spend the rest of your afterlife with your brothers? (Reggie's main insecurity is loneliness, feel of a broken family. That's why he is the most concerned about crossing over. Will his family stay intact?)
Alex is insecure, and not being understood by the people closest to him will always hit hard. So welcome to a place where you won’t be misunderstood. And actually we know there is a guy you like and find comfort in. (Alex's insecurity is growing up in times when he could not truly be himself even with his family and for sure not believing he would ever be able to find someone meant just for him)
That mirrors the whole Luke’s beach speech perfectly. Only comparing them we can truly appreciate why Luke is the leader. He shuts down his own demons to make Alex and Reggie remember that they are not alone (“and I believe in you”. sorry. Olicity fan).
Caleb makes them suffer to get what he wants. But this time he is careful with the words aimed at Luke. Yes, he repeats his words about vanishing and applauses BUT he makes sure that his words about CONNECTION are the key words for Luke. Intense look, calming voice, touching - these are all elements of hypnosis. And Luke is in a daze. (Continuing the parents' thing, for Luke the main insecurity is not managing to connect with his mom. Maybe that's such a big thing for him: through all these people he wanted to find that connection with her)
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4. The Hero’s journey
That’s the best part actually but I won’t be saying anything new or that you don’t know. Luke is made of lyrics and music. That’s his soul, heart, that’s the feeling running through his veins. He doesn’t need anything other than that in his life. Playing for eternity is “a gift no musician would ever turn down”. But he actually does turn it down. As well as his dream to go see the world with his band (is there covid in jatp universe?). He is the one who resists the hardest to the pull. Luke, who always has a guitar in his hands, doesn't want to play. Because it’s not only about the music now. He has this amazing girl in his afterlife who was willing to accept them for who they were, helped Luke battle his own demons, eased his pain and made him open up. And it doesn’t make sense any longer without her anymore. “And you’re a part of me now till eternity”.
Caleb, being Luke’s foil, completely misses the whole point of connection. It’s not in his nature. His house band are just recruits (Just so happens you’re in luck we’ve got a vacancy). For Luke his band is his family (We are the only family we ever gonna need). The Connection theme is one of the main in the show. And it’s so cool to show it focused through Luke whose best way of interaction is a touch. But not being able to touch Julie Luke has to find other ways, although it’s not that simple for him. And Julie backs that up: We connect in so many other ways. They literally touched each other's souls. Without knowing she put a stamp of her own on Luke, Alex and Reggie. They’ve never felt loved enough, appreciated enough, supported enough. They’ve only had each other. And Julie’s stamp is love. And for Luke (as well as Reggie and Alex) from now on this girl is worth dying for all over again.
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So yeah. I hope you enjoyed it, as I for sure enjoyed writing. There is gonna be a part 3 about Julie and a few honorable mentions of parallels of the Pilot and the Finale (I hope at least to do all that). I’ve also figured very very cool connections in the songs and I can’t wait to share.
Also as I was heavily speaking about The Other side of Hollywood, @catty-words has a wonderful meta on rain metaphors here (sorry for tagging, if you don't want to be tagged), check it out if you somehow missed it. It's super clever.
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billyhargrove-imagines · 5 years ago
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Kindred Outsiders: Pt. 1
Pairings: Billy Hargrove x OC
Warnings: Cursing
Word Count: 2374
A/N: Hello! This story was originally posted on my fanfiction.com account but I decided to bring it to tumblr as well :) Anyhow, this story is going to take place in the beginning of summer & will later lead up to the events starting in the beginning of season 3. Gif used isn’t mine. Enjoy!
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Indiana is…different.
I moved out here merely two weeks ago from Los Angeles, California. My father died from a plane crash over a month ago. He was on his way home from a business trip. My mother, on the other hand, isn't in the picture because she passed away from cancer 5 years ago. I was 15 years old at the time.
I couldn't stand being alone in my father's mansion any longer. It just wasn't the same without him. It caused me nothing but pain having to enter a home where I am not greeted a simple 'hello' from my father. Dinners were always lonely so I ended up resorting to going out with friends almost every night for dinner, followed by drinking at home from my father's in-home bar.
When it came around to bedtime, I felt a pit in my stomach whenever I passed my father's office and didn't see the light shining under the crack of the door. He always worked in his office late.
One day I made a bold move by giving my aunt Joyce a call and moved in with her in Indiana a month after the incident. Aunt Joyce is my father's sister.
Her small house is nothing compared to mine and lacked the useless amenities I was used to. But I didn't care. Living here so far with her, Will and Jonathan was much better than living back in California all alone. Sure, I had friends but it doesn't compare to family.
Since I am an only child of my parents, I inherited all of their money. I also made a selfless decision and paid off my aunt's mortgage. When I told her the news, I was thanked with a slap across the face followed by a tight hug. She never wanted any handouts from my parents in the past and still doesn't til this day.
It is 1pm and I just clocked out for my short shift at this clothing store in the starcourt mall. Yes, I have a great amount of money in my bank account, but I still wanted to keep myself occupied by working a part time job. I didn't want to just sit on my ass all day. Especially since I still don't know what I want to do for my career. I am 20 years old and time is ticking, but I don't want to waste my time and money on schooling when I don't know what the hell I want to do yet.
After every shift I've been stopping by the ice cream shop, Scoops Ahoy and I always see the same duo, Steve and Robin. I've become quite acquainted with them and I learned so far that they're fresh out of high school.
"Let me guess, rocky road?" Steve said with a grin.
"You know me too well, Steve." I replied with a smile, stretching my arm out to hand him cash.
"God Steve. Just ask her out already." Robin added, rolling her eyes playfully and crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned against the back counter.
"Can you not?" Steve snapped his head at Robin, cheeks flushed red.
"Very funny, Robin." I let out a chuckle and waved goodbye to the duo as I licked my delicious ice cream on my way out.
As usual, I took my time walking through the mall. I wanted to make sure I finished my ice cream before I arrived to my car and headed home. A variety of families, couples and friends seemed to be enjoying their shopping trips. Though word on the news is that many local business owners are enraged about the mall being built due to losing business.
A familiar female voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Hi Victoria!" Aria, my eccentric coworker greeted me, her shoulder-length blonde hair bouncing as she kept up to my steps.
"Hey Aria, I thought you're off today?" I asked, still enjoying my ice cream.
"Yeah I was just shopping around for a gift for my mom's birthday next week." She briefly lifted the shopping bag in her hand. "Did you just get off or are you on lunch?"
"Um, I just got off."
"Yay! I'm going to the pool after this. Join me so I'm not alone!" She suggested. "There's also this hot hot hot lifeguard they hired last week. I went to school with him!"
"Okay sure. But I'm not really into that."
"Come on, Victoria." Aria groaned. "I know you don't have any plans today."
"No I meant the hot lifeguard or whatever. Not into that." I gave a dismissive wave of my hand before taking a generous lick of my ice cream.
"Oh. You're into girls? So sorry. I didn't know."
I snorted in amusement, but internally I was rolling my eyes at her. She's always been quick to make assumptions.
"No no no. I like boys." I made known. "I just don't care to drool over a piece of meat. But I'm down to take a dip in the pool."
"Oh! Okay. Sorry. Sorry again."
"It's fine Aria," I dragged. "I'm gonna go home and change out of this and I'll meet you there."
"Yay! Okay bye!" Aria shouted with glee before going our separate ways. She sure can be annoyingly hyper sometimes, but she's the only real girlfriend I've made here so far. Robin is always working and when she is off, she's always busy doing god knows what.
Like clockwork, my ice cream was finished off before I made it outside to my car. Or should I say my late father's black 1984 Porsche 911. It's quite showy for someone who now lives in Indiana, but this car was my father's baby. I'm never letting go of this.
The Rubberband Man by The Spinners blasted on my stereo as I drove to Aunt Joyce's house. Music from the 70s has always stuck with me. On my face are my favorite pair of black aviator sunglasses.
After a moment of driving down the familiar roads, I pull into the front of my aunt's house. I take the keys out of the ignition, remove my aviators, hop out of my car and enter the non vacant home. "Hey Jonathan." I greeted my cousin who is watching television on the couch with a full plate and fork in his hands.
"Hey there, Vic. You're home early." He said with a full mouth. I hummed in response before scurrying to my bedroom.
I searched through my dresser drawers until I found the perfect bikini for my mood, which is a two piece. I paired my black cheeky bottoms with a neon green strapless top. After quickly peeling off my work attire and slipping into my bikini, I made sure to at least cover up my ass cheeks with denim shorts before throwing on a pair of sandals.
Now I am out the door, tossing my bag of pool essentials in the passenger seat and making sure not to forget my aviators. The sun is at its peak and I am ready to cool off.
Minutes later I pull into the parking lot of the community pool for the first time since moving down here. I've driven past it plenty of times but never had the need to go yet until Aria randomly invited me.
Exiting my car with my bag under my arm and my aviators on, I hear various sounds at a short distance of people enjoying themselves in the water.
The sun is beaming down at me as I'm making my way through the gate, glancing around until I find Aria. "Victoria! Hey!" She shouted with glee, waving her hand. I found her lying on the pool lounger.
"Hey Aria." I greeted, placing my bag on the ground.
"Go on in the pool if you want. I'm waiting for him to show up for his shift. It should be any moment now!"
"Really?" Sitting down at the foot of the empty pool lounger, I shook my head at Aria in disapproval.
She scoffed. "Oh don't give me that look, Victoria." I shook my head at her, dropping my shorts and tossing it in my bag.
Aria let out a gasp out of the blue, sitting up straight. "Speaking of Billy. There he is!"
"Where?" I asked, casually pulling a flask out of my bag. I'm not an alcoholic and I don't plan to get plastered, but a little buzz is well deserved.
Aria doesn't respond. Instead, I scan my surroundings until I spotted the only male lifeguard walking the grounds to my left. He is tastefully shirtless, wearing red swim shorts, a whistle necklace and brown aviator shades. His dirty blonde hair is styled into a mullet, which surprisingly fits his face perfectly.
Billy's head snapped my direction as I'm taking a swig out of my whiskey filled flask. I couldn't tell if he was directly looking at me due to the shades masking his eyes, but all of the women's eyes were on him. And by the swagger of his steps, I can tell he's reveling in it.
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"Eh." I shrugged my shoulders, once Billy passed me and sat comfortably in the lifeguard chair. "He's alright." I lied.
From his perfectly tanned skin to his flawlessly sculpted muscles, it's as if his body was made by angels. Even from a distance, I could see that his plump lips could lose any woman in his kiss. But no, I had to feign being unimpressed because a man that looks like that is bad news for me.
"Are you freaking kidding me?" She briskly pulled her sunglasses off, shooting me a look of disgust.
"Are your sunglasses blinding you?"
I snorted. "Nope. I can see perfectly clear."
"Ugh! If you think that Billy Hargrove is just alright, then I don't even want to know what kind of men you consider perfect." Aria mentioned seriously to me as she laid back and placed her sunglasses back on.
"Don't care. I'm going for a dip." I threw my flask back inside my bag before rising to my feet towards the pool to swim a few laps.
Stroking through the water, there is no one alive who can stop me. It's a moment like this that makes me miss the beaches in California. But I close my eyes and lose myself, pretending that's exactly where I am.
Unaware how long I've been swimming to and fro, I do one more lap before I take a break and reward myself with another sip of whiskey.
As I am motioning out of the water and my feet are planted onto the cement, a deep, male voice captures my attention. "Here."
I look and it is the stud himself, Billy Hargrove handing me a towel. "Oh thanks." I accepted with a soft smile, almost hesitant because I have a towel in my bag but I didn't want to seem rude.
I begin pat drying my long, black hair with the towel and begin sauntering towards my designated pool lounger, but Billy halts me, "Hey sweetheart." I spun around to face him with furrowed brows. "What's your name?" He asked, removing his glasses to reveal his annoyingly beautiful, blue eyes.
"Victoria. And you?" I asked even though I already know.
"The name's Billy." He said, randomly placing a piece of gum in his mouth which caused me to catch a glance at his lips, then to his abs and back to his eyes. I swear I saw the corner of his lip quirk up when he caught me. "Nice to meet ya Victoria."
"You too Billy." The sun was so hot that I didn't even need to dry off my body anymore. Instead, I threw the towel over my shoulder.
"Am I mistaken or is this your first time here?" He asked, smacking his gum as he's indiscreetly giving me an elevator look.
"No you're right." Before Billy had the chance to speak any further, I pointed behind him towards the pool. "Hey, I think there's a kid drowning over there."
Just as I predicted, he cautiously looked over his shoulder and that's when I made a beeline towards my pool lounger next to Aria.
"You. Dumb. Bitch." Aria remarked with obvious displeasure as I'm searching for my flask. "I can't be friends with you anymore."
"What now, Aria?"
"Billy the hottie was obviously into you and you blew it! Ugh, the things I'd do to be in your shoes right now."
"Oh please. He's just another pretty boy that wants one thing." I implied before taking a sip. "Go over there and talk to him yourself then." Flickering my eyes, I am now seeing that Billy's back on his lifeguard chair.
"Um no. If Billy wants somebody, Billy always makes the first move. Do I look like I want to embarrass myself right now?"
"If you say so." I said, readjusting the pool lounger so that it was flat and I lied on my stomach, using my arms as a makeshift pillow. "Can you rub sunscreen on me and wake me up in 30. I'm taking a nap."
Being the good friend that she is, Aria stole the sunscreen from my bag and did as I asked. She knows I'd do the same for her.
"I know you can't see right now," she started after a minute of no words exchanged, "but he's looking over here. Probably at your ass." She paused. "I wouldn't blame him though."
She's right. I do have a nice ass.
"Billy can stare all he wants. What do I care?" I uttered lazily, eyes closed and ready to sleep.
"You're insane! If I can't have him, then can you have him for me? And tell me if it is big!" She whisper shouted, rubbing the last bit of sunscreen needed on me.
"Im not having sex with anyone, Aria. Especially not him. I'm taking my nap now."
Billy is just another handsome face with a Calvin Klein body which doesn't impress me because it seems like he's used to getting any woman he wants. But I'm not any other woman, so he can use that charm on the next one for all I care.
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joon-ipersgirl · 5 years ago
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O5 - “the coveted client”
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genre: mafia!au, angst, fluff, slow burn, mystery-thriller
pairing: namjoon x reader (f)
word count: 4.6k
warnings: cursing
summary: charismatic. beautiful. fearless without question. the ambitious team of seven young men in charge of spiral, downtown district's hottest new club, go above and beyond to provide 100% satisfaction to their clients.
after an eventful night out, you have no choice but to join the team for property damages greater than your intern salary. challenging a series of events that can no longer be left to coincidence, secrets threaten to burst at the seams as your professional and private life collide, and another - more sinister - debt is added to your total.
how far are you willing to go to pay back your pound of flesh? remember nothing is ever as it seems...
a/n: hello friends. here is part 5. leave a comment on how you're feeling about this story. i'm debating on discontinuing it from tumblr. thank you vi for reading as always. enjoy everyone :)
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full masterlist // series masterlist // previous // next
Training tonight @ 6pm. Don’t be late. You read the incoming text with a grin. Even in text, Suga is straight to the point. Shoving your phone back into your pants pocket, you leave the small kitchenette and head back to your small desk with a fresh cup of coffee in hand. You can still remember the looks of horror on the boys’ faces after Suga announced your immediate hire and it’s been two weeks since then. Was it wrong to take pleasure in their discomfort? Probably. Would you stop? Never.
“Is that a smile I spy on Miss Y/N Y/L/N’s face? The Devil must be here to collect his wife,” Paul exclaims as you sit back down. You laugh and prop your chin on your hand as you stare at him over your desktop screen.
“Can a woman not just be happy, Paul? Why does it have to come at the expense of a man?” you ask, a fake feign of hurt in your voice.
“Of course women can. Just not you,” he says with a shrug of his shoulders. You shake your head, your smile still present on your face. Paul would not ruin your good mood.
“Ouch. That one might have hurt if I actually gave a fuck about your opinion of me,” you say while reorganizing the folders Manager Kim had dropped onto your desk from the day before.
“Y/N! Language!” Laura chides as she walks into your cramped office space. You roll your eyes and flip through the countless papers on your desk to order them in order of priority.
It’s honestly a miracle that none of you manage to murder each other while you work though it’s crossed your mind several times. JM Events and Affairs is a lucrative event planning company, but apparently could not afford to at least place its clerks in a room larger than 500 sq ft. Being entry level is a struggle most days, but eventually it would all pay off and you would become a successful event planning guru. For now though, you’re stuck here with the imbeciles you had to call co-workers.
“Manager Kim wants to see us in her office,” James says as he pokes his head around the wall of the cubicle, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. “Now,” he emphasised. He doesn’t wait for you to follow.
Paul shoots you and Laura a raised brow of confusion as you grab your notepads and file down the long corridor to Manager Kim’s well decorated office. She’s an older woman who’s been in the business longer than you’ve been alive. She credits her success to always staying ahead of the trend even if she didn’t create it, though most times she did. Her style is impeccable and she is meticulous as she is jovial. She’s, quite simply, a genius.
James has already taken a seat in one of the two plush grey chairs in front of her large, industrial sized desk. Rows of colorful binders are organized on her desk - no doubt detailing the new events the company is planning on hosting. Manager Kim enjoys the arts and it’s evident from the variety of paintings that hang on the wall. Today, she’s dressed in a powder blue knit sweater that matches whatever shade of nail polish she wears tucked into a pair of belted, high waisted wide leg pants. Her matching steel toe boots peek from underneath.
“Ah, good. You’re all here,” she begins as she sits behind her desk. You gesture for Laura to take the other available seat as you stand behind James and Paul stands next to you.
“We have a new client considering the company for an event. He’s very important for future networking opportunities so I expect the very best work from you.” Manger Kim usually wasted no time getting straight to the point and today is no different. “In fact, I’ve been monitoring your work very closely because I knew a client like this would be coming very soon,” she stands from her desk, navy blue binder in hand.
“What kind of event is he planning on having?” James inquires, his pen ready to take notes.
“He didn’t give specific details, but I’m sure if we can book him for this minor event, he’ll give us the main one. I’m quite sure of it.” Manager Kim snaps the binder shut and smiles at you all. Her white blonde bob is immaculate, not a single strand out of place.
“Should we start drafting ideas now?” Laura asks.
“Yes, I need several drafts from each of you by 4pm this afternoon. Please have them -”
“Are we just supposed to forget about the other events we have coming up? This guy didn’t even give us any major details for effective planning!” Paul interrupts. Manager Kim turns to look at him.
“Well Paul, if this client is of no importance to you -” Paul tries to backtrack, but to no avail as Manager Kim continues on “- I will not need your drafts or your portfolio.” She beams at him and Paul blanches. You grimace.
“As I was saying. Please have your portfolios and 4 drafts submitted to me by 4pm today. They should be in priority order and include everything from food to colors, entertainment and venues. Remember, the customers knows best -”
“- but finesse, finesse, finesse,” you, Paul, James, and Laura finish. Manager Kim should have that framed and put on her wall.
“Lovely. Goodbye,” she waves no longer looking at you, already lost in her grueling event editing process. You knew better than to loiter and the four of you head back to your small workspace.
“You really fucked up there Paul,” you say as you sit down at your desk.
“Thanks, Y/N,” Paul deadpans. He drops his head quite heavily on his desk. Laura winces.
“It’s okay, Paul. Maybe you can still show her something and -” she starts.
“You know Manager Kim isn’t the forgiving kind,” James interrupts. “There’s nothing more he can do,” he finishes nonchalantly.
“I hate to agree -” you begin.
“No you don’t,” Paul cuts in.
“- but James is right. Manager Kim is all about quick thinking and Paul failed that test. He’ll have another time to redeem himself, but he has to sit this one out. You should be happy, Laura. Less competition,” you say with a shrug and flip open your notepad to start drafting.
“Do you even have an empathetic bone in your body, Y/N?!” Laura hisses as she walks over to rest a hand on Paul’s shoulder.
“Sometimes,” you reply. “But everyone has to eat and I refuse to go to sleep on an empty stomach.”
Laura looks disgusted at your answer and she goes back to consoling Paul. James had left the conversation a long time ago and you admired his ability to ignore almost everyone around him. His coldness and detachment made him ruthless in an unsuspecting way and you’d learned the hard way not to underestimate him. Laura would learn eventually that while people thought it was the strong who survived, it was really those who were able to adapt to any environment that really thrived.
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It’s after lunch that you receive an email from Manager Kim requesting for you to meet her in the lobby in fifteen minutes without any further explanation. You ask no questions and sit in the lobby, counting the people that come out of the elevator that were not Manager Kim. It’s already 1:24 pm and you’ve just started your third draft. Creating on a time crunch with no real guidance is no walk in the park and you try to keep your frustrations under control as you run through possible color combinations for the event.
“Y/N! There you are! Let’s go,” Manager Kim calls as she exits the building without checking to see if you follow.
You scramble to grab your purse and notepad, scurrying across the lobby in the high heels she insists you wear. Manager Kim is already seated in a company car as you yank the passenger side door open and fall into the seat.
“Very good,” she says and wastes no time pulling into traffic. You awkwardly try to secure your seatbelt as she zips through the small spaces between cars. Gods protect you from this woman and her hazardous driving.
“Where are we going?” you ask after you manage to situate your purse, coat, and notepad in your lap comfortably.
“Downtown. We’re meeting with the client.”
“We?!” you repeat, surprised.
“That’s what I said isn’t it? We’re also late,” she says as she makes a sharp right turn onto Matthews St. You barely miss hitting a cyclist and you send up another small prayer for you to make it to your destination safely.
“What about the drafts and portfolios? Aren’t you going to review -”
“Did I say I wasn’t?” She glances over at you from the corner of her eye and you close your mouth. You would not fail this test.
Manager Kim pulls over into an impossibly tight space in front of a large corporate building that reads Hastings and Lewis. A well established law firm if you remember correctly. It has to be at least 14 stories high and exudes the architect’s vision of simple modern design with large windows and exposed steel structural support. You both exit the car and you align your steps with hers, your heels clicking in time against the marble flooring as you enter the building. You say good afternoon to the doorman who simply nods at you in greeting.
“Hello. How can I help you?” the receptionist asks behind the raised desk, her head barely visible.
“Yes, hello. My name is Madeline Kim. I have an appointment to speak with Mr. Cavallero at 2:15pm.” You glance at the clock behind the receptionist. 1:53pm. You bite your lip to hold your outburst. To be early is to be on time, you could hear her say.
The receptionist smiles and nods as she searches her computer for the appointment. “Yes, here it is. Please have a seat. Someone will come and get you shortly.”
Manager Kim nods and perches in one of the available seats. You shake your head as you take a seat next to her, ignoring the itching in your palm to pull out your notepad and finish your drafts. You can tell by the way Manager Kim is sitting, not scrolling through her various binders or the calendar on her phone, this is a formal interview and you would not be the one to fuck it up. There would be time to finish the drafts. You would make sure of it.
“Ms. Kim?” A young man in a sharp, black suit stands in the center of the room smiling at you. 2:05pm. Right on time. “If you could follow me this way, please.” He turns towards the golden elevators and you follow behind him. “My name is Lewis Carlisle and I am the assistant to Mr. Cavallero,” he tells you as he pushes the button for the 10th floor. He sticks his hand out for each of you to shake.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Carlisle. Thank you for having us. This is my assistant, Ms. Amani Jung.” A lie, but you go with it.
“A pleasure to meet you,” you say with a bright smile and a firm handshake. He returns a smile of his own.
The elevator doors open and you follow Mr. Carlisle through the open workspace plan. This is the kind of place that promoted collaboration and teamwork. How could it not when the light airy feeling made you want to turn to your neighbor and ask them what they thought about a particular problem? JM Events and Affairs should have hired their interior designer. Maybe some of their employees wouldn’t struggle as much to meet their deadlines.
“Mr. Cavellero unfortunately will not be able to meet with you in person today -” Manager Kim’s smile tightens at his words “- but he did relay all of his expectations for the company brunch,” Lewis says as he holds open the door to a small meeting room. It’s in the center of the floor and the walls are made of pure plexiglass. It screamed expensive.
“How wonderful,” Manager Kim comments as she sits down and sets her purse down on the ground.
“Would either of you like something to drink? Water? A Coke?”
“ A water with light ice will do, thank you,” she says.
“I’ll take a bottle of water, please,” you reply and sit down beside Madeline. You discreetly pull out your design notepad along with your actual note-taking pad. Lewis nods and promises to return quickly with your drinks as well as the file containing the event details.
“You seem upset,” you comment while scribbling down the words brunch and law firm onto a new blank sheet for your fourth and final draft, your brain already conjuring up ideas.
“What makes you think that?” she asks, turning to you slightly as she too sets up her own note-taking station.
“Your smile failed to meet your eyes,” you say nonchalantly. From the corner of your eye, you see her break into a grin as Lewis enters the room, a cup of water in one hand, a bottle in the other, and a slim manilla folder tucked underneath his arm.
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“Thank you again, Mr. Carlisle,” Manager Kim says with another bright smile, her hand in his as they shake hands again.
“You’re very welcome. I’m sure Mr. Cavallero will love what you put together for brunch,” he replies.
The meeting seems to be a success and you’d gained some much needed insight for your fourth draft while being Madeline’s “assistant”. You’re no longer paying attention as you exit the meeting room and head back towards the main elevator, Madeline and Lewis making polite conversation. You run over all of your drafts as you check the time discreetly. It’s 3:20pm. You would still have enough time to review your plans and work on the others files Manager Kim had assigned. You grin in victory.
“Mr. Cavallero!” Lewis exclaims as the elevator doors open.
The man is an older gentleman with neatly groomed hair and warm brown eyes. His coal grey suit is neatly pressed, a sharp crease present in the center of his pant leg. Definitely high quality and only dry-cleaned. His smile displays a set of perfect of white teeth. As he steps out of the elevator, holding it open so it wouldn’t close, the Armani Exchange watch glitters under the artificial lights.
“Mr. Carlisle. I assume this must be our event coordinators. I’m sorry I couldn’t meet with you. An emergency meeting was called for a major case,” he apologizes.
“I understand, Mr. Cavallero. Things are sometimes out of our control. No need to explain,” Madeline says with a smile as she enters the elevator. You follow behind her. “Mr. Carlisle was quite capable. I will have Miss Y/L/N send over the final details for the event by Friday for your approval.”
Mr. Cavallero’s eyes shift over to you and he smiles. “I look forward to it. Enjoy the rest of your day, ladies.” He let the doors go as Lewis tells you goodbye, the doors closing off the last of his words.
Manager Kim’s shoulders visibly relax as you descend to the lobby, but you make no comment. Though their conversation was brief, something had clearly transpired between them. Madeline seems to have noticed you watching her as she inhales and fixes her posture. She was back to business.
“I assume I don’t have to tell you not to say anything about this meeting?” she asks as she nods her thanks to the doorman, your steps once more in sync as you exit the high rise building.
“What meeting?” You say with a grin as you wait for her to unlock the company car.
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The heat of the staircase in Spiral welcomes you again like a familiar friend after not seeing them for a long time. There is still the hustle and bustle of vendors dropping off boxes as the final details of the new designs are being put into place. People couldn’t wait to see how Spiral had fared after the robbery - which you still didn’t believe was actually what happened - and it seems like Friday’s opening night couldn’t come soon enough. Even Paul and Laura were considering stopping by after all of the shit they talked before.
You enter the main space and glance around, looking for one of the boys. Your purse bag is heavy from the event files and you head over to set it on top of the bar while resting your aching feet. Paul, Laura, and James could not believe you’d managed to turn in your drafts and portfolio at exactly 3:57pm after being gone so long; they would eventually learn to not underestimate you. You glance around again and notice a group of people sitting in one of the newly upholstered booths quietly chatting to one another across the way. Were these the new employees?
“Already lounging on the first day of the job, Y/L/N?”
You look to your left as you shrug off your heavy overcoat and see Honcho coming around the bar, a pile of clothes in his hands.
“Of course not. I just wasn’t sure who to report to,” you say with a shrug.
“Well, you’re looking at him,” he replies with a grin. You have to stop your mouth from falling open. Of all people, it had to be him? “What? Are you disappointed?” he asks as he continues across the room to the small group. You grab your stuff and walk over after him.
“No, I just thought -”
“Thought it would be Suga? As much as you like to charge in and demand shit sweetheart, Suga is a very busy man and doesn’t have the time to appease you all the time. Sit,” he commands with a jerk of his head. You narrow your eyes at him, but obey. It’s only then that you notice the other five persons staring at you in confusion as you bickered. You swallow the urge to huff in annoyance as Honcho begins speaking.
“Thank you all for being on time. Congratulations on being hired. I’m Honcho and I’ll be your manager at Spiral. You’ll meet the rest of the guys later. These are your uniforms. We have a strict adherence uniform policy, so please do your best to be dressed in your proper attire. If you have long hair, it will be tied up or back in a bun or ponytail. Ladies, we ask that you wear red lipstick to match our colors. We’ve also given you options for bottoms: a skirt or pants.” Honcho holds up a pair of each for demonstration. “Whatever you decide to wear is up to you. We only ask that all your shoes are closed toed and we would prefer no sneakers; we’re trying to sell a vibe here. Any questions?” He doesn’t wait for anyone to speak up. “No? Great. If you could introduce yourselves to each other, that’d be fantastic.” He looks over to the boy on the other side of the booth.
“Uh, hi. My name is Micah. I’m 21 and recently graduated from college.” He tosses up a small wave before pushing his glasses further up his nose. He’s narrow shouldered and naturally blonde. Cute, if you will. They would chew him up and eat him alive if he continued to be so timid.
“Hey, I’m Luca. I’m 23 and a graduate student at Oberman.” Luca definitely fit the vibe Spiral os going for with his dark hair and dark eyes. He would have no problem wooing the numerous women who would walk through the door. A great business move in your opinion.
“Hey y’all, Savannah here. I’m 22 and working part time while in school.” Another blonde hair, blue-eyed coworker. How fun. The bubbles in champagne had nothing on her as she beams at the rest of you around the table.
“I’m Jack. I’m 24 and I guess I’m here to save up for a new car? Need some extra cash,” he finishes with a bashful grin. The girl next to you snorts. Jack is a big man with broad shoulders and you would assume he was hired as additional security based on his size. Imagine a man as big as him bringing over your strawberry mojito? Exactly.
“Giselle. 21. Law student. Loans have to pay themself off somehow right?” Luca laughs and Giselle smiles. Yuck. If you weren’t already sick of the office romance - if you could call it that - between Laura and Paul at JM, you were going to have to endure another one here? Gods be with you.
“Y/N Y/L/N. I’m 22 and an event planner,” you say nonchalantly and turn to Honcho, waiting for his next instructions.
“Not going to tell us the reason you’re here?” he smirks and you roll your eyes.
“You’d like that wouldn’t you?”
“I’d like a lot of things, Y/L/N. In fact, I can think of a few -”
“Gross,” you say, interrupting him, your face turned down in disgust. He laughs.
“Always think someone wants something from you, huh?” He shakes his head, still chuckling. “Everyone, go get changed and I’ll explain your duties to you once you get back.”
The six of you ease out of the booth, grabbing your uniforms as you head to the restrooms to get changed. As you follow Savannah and Giselle, you can’t help but scan the hallway for anything you could have missed as the memory of your second night here flashed across your mind. There had to be something that you were missing.
“I hope these uniforms are cute,” Giselle grumbles as she steps into an empty stall.
“I’m sure it’ll look great,” Savannah chirps.
You step into your own individual stall and drop your stuff on the floor. Slipping out of your heels, you step out of your slacks and tug off your blouse. You hold up the uniform shirt. It’s a plain black t-shirt with the letters in red spelling out Spiral in a spiral formation. The pants are made of a faux leather shiny material. They look tight and the sides have cut outs with strings laced in them from hip to ankle. The skirt is exactly the same. You sigh. This was really the vibe?
You dress quickly and tug on your Doc Martens. Honcho would have to wait for the lipstick. Exiting the stall, you see Savannah trying to adjust the strings on her pants while chewing her lip.
“Is it supposed to be this exposed?” she asks, checking herself out in the mirror.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Giselle says exiting the stall and tugging down the hem of her skirt.
“So much for equality in the workplace huh?” you say. The two of them laugh.
The three of you return to the main space, Micah, Luca, and Jack already back at the booth with Honcho. Their eyes widen when they see you.
“Looking good ladies,” Honcho calls with his traditional large grin. Of course he would comment.
“Yeah, yeah. What’s next?” Giselle asks as she wiggles her way back into the booth, trying to cover her modesty.
“We’re going to take a tour of the facilities, get you acquainted with the space, and fill out the last pieces of paperwork. We’ll also have you help with some of the decorations; don’t worry, you’re going to get paid for this session. Then, we’ll see you on Friday for your shifts,” he replies. “Alright, let’s go.���
Again, he doesn’t wait for you to follow. As you’re setting your belongings down to catch up with the rest of the group, you spot Jin heading towards the bar. Just the man who you needed to see.
“Are you coming Y/N?” Savannah calls to you as the group heads up to the second level.
“Yeah, I’ll be right there!” you lie, knowing damn well you’re going to ambush Jin. You pretend to search for something in your purse as you double-check the group is far enough on the second level to not notice you not following before you head over to Jin.
“Well hello Jin,” you say as you wiggle your way onto a bar stool.
“Y/N,” he says with a chuckle. “What can I do for you?”
“Just answer a few simple questions.” you smile as you rest your chin on your palm.
“Alright,” he replied skeptically.
“Where’d you move the body?” The bottle of Aperol nearly slips out of his grip as he turns to look at you.
“Excuse me?” There’s no laughter in his voice.
“The body of the man in the bathroom,” you clarify. “How’d you get it to disappear like that?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he replies, busying himself with stocking up the bottles of alcohol under the shelf. He won’t meet your eyes. You know he’s lying; his body language says it all.
“Oh come on, Jin. You can tell me. It’s not like I’m going to go to the cops or anything,” you say nonchalantly. “Clearly they didn’t seem to care since they weren’t that thorough with their questions.”
“Y/N, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. You were concussed remember? Maybe you imagined whoever you’re talking about.” He glances up at you. You roll your eyes.
“Really Jin? You’re going to use the concussion line on me? You knew that I shot him; I told you that. I just want to know where you put him and why there were no reports of a missing man from the incident on the news at all,” you say with a shrug. He finally turns to face you.
“Maybe nobody reported him missing. Maybe he slipped out after you ducked behind the bar. What does it matter? Look, it was a traumatic night. For all of us. I don’t know anything about whatever or whoever you’re talking about. Hell, you probably don’t know either. Please, don’t make this working relationship anymore difficult for yourself than it already is. Just come in, keep your head down, and head out.” His hands are splayed out on the bar and the distance between you has closed significantly from when he’d started talking as he stares you down. “Worry about the things that concern you, like repaying your debt.” His tone is sharp and final. There’s no friendliness in his face either.
“Y/L/N! You’re not getting paid to sit on that pretty little ass of yours. Get up here now!” Honcho yelles down to you over the railing of the second floor balcony.
Ignoring Honcho, you cock your head and look at Jin again, thinking. “Okay Jin. Heard you loud and clear.”
You hop off the bar stool and adjust your skirt. You say nothing further as you head upstairs. It seems as though Jin would be of no help to you, but honestly, it didn’t matter. If it didn’t concern you, why was Jin lying about knowing what man you were talking about? Why had Suga tried to discreetly cover up that paper in his office the other day? What was really going on at Spiral? You’re determined to figure it, even if you have to work extra hours to do it. What happens in the dark must eventually come to light.
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joon-ipersgirl, 2020
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