#anon is very wrong and easily refuted

[forwheniamweak]

100AD "...but those who were sent to Alexandria as interpreters, gave him only the books of the law, while there were a vast number of other matters in our sacred books. They, indeed, contain in them the history of five thousand years;..."Josephus Antiquities of the Jews Book 1 preface par 3

200AD "All the years from the creation of the world amount to a total of 5698 years, and the odd months and days." Theophilus to Autolycus book 3 ch 28

236AD "Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 years must be fulfilled" Hipplytus Extant Works and Fragments Exegetical Interpetation of the visions of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar

254AD "After these statements, Celsus, from a secret desire to cast discredit upon the Mosaic account of the creation, which teaches that the world is not yet ten thousand years old, but very much under that, while concealing his wish, intimates his agreement with those who hold that the world is uncreated." Origen Against Celsus book 1

300AD "For when a thousand years are reckoned as one day in the sight of God, and from the creation of the world to His rest is six days "Methodius Extracts From the Work on Things Created par 9

350AD"Therefore, since all the works of God were completed in six days, the world must continue in its present state through six ages, that is, six thousand years." Lactantius Divine Institutes book 7

373AD "Although both the light and the clouds were created in the twinkling of an eye, still both the day and the night of the First Day continued for twelve hours each" (Commentary on Genesis 1, p. 287).Regarding the First Day of creation "No one should think that the Creation of Six Days is an allegory; it is likewise impermissible to say that what seems, according to the account, to have been created in six days, was created in a single instant," St. Ephraim the Syrian Commentary on Genesis I

379AD "(Some) have attempted by false arguments and allegorical interpretations to bestow on the Scripture a dignity of their own imagining. But theirs is the attitude of one who considers himself wiser than the revelations of the Spirit and introduces his own ideas in pretence of an explanation. Therefore, let it be understood as it has been written. St. Basil the Great, Hexaemeron 9:1, pp. 135-36

395AD "Moses, I say, who was born some thousands of years after the Creation of the world" Gregory of Nyssa Answer to Eunomius’ Second Book

397AD "At this command the waters immediately poured forth their offspring. The rivers were in labor. The lakes produced their quota of life. The sea itself began to bear all manner of reptiles...We are unable to record the multiplicity of the names of all those species which by Divine command were brought to life in a moment of time. At the same instant substantial form and the principle of life were drought brought into existence...The whale, as well as the frog, came into existence at the same time by the same creative power (5:1, 2, pp. 160-62) He (Moses) did not look forward to a late and leisurely creation of the word out of a concourse of atoms (1:2, pp. 5, 7). And fittingly (Moses) added: He created, lest it be thought there was a delay in creation. Furthermore, men would see also how incomparable the Creator was Who completed such a work in the briefest moment of His creative act, so much so that the effect of His will anticipated the perception of time (Ibid., 1:5, p.8). The Church Fathers were unanimous in asserting God creates immediately and instantaneously, that it is His word which produces all things and is not the property of the waters or earth to bring forth life. St. Ambrose of Milan - Hexaemeron 7:2, p.107

407AD "But the world, though subsisting now five thousand years, and..." John Chrysostom Homily 10 on the Statues par 5

420AD "The world was created by God nearly six thousand years ago,"Sulpitius Severus Sacred History book 1 ch 2

430AD "Unbelievers are also deceived by false documents which ascribe to history many thousand years, although we can calculate from Sacred Scripture that not 6,000 years have passed since the creation of man." Augustine City of God Book 12 ch 10

YEC is not the default or historic christian view and is actually a rather recent doctrinal development

while I doubt that, I also don't care. My opinion is dictated by what's in scripture, not what other people think

[shatar-aethelwynn]

What "obsession", my dear? You have attacked "The Greek" (!) with absolutely no reason in a comment under a post of one of your friends having as subject something totally irrelevant (the Egyptian faience frog). Who exactly is the obsessed? Anyway, your reply to my last message was very weak and totally beside the point, as you have objected essentially nothing to what I had written. Not that my expectations were much higher, of course. To remind you only one aspect, your friends are in no way specialists in Late Period Egypt (to put it mildly). Moreover, to assess what the classical sources say and their value on any subject, one must have a knowledge and understanding of the context and content of these sources, things that your friends totally lack. So, I repeat my question, on the basis of what expertise exactly do your friends reject totally the classical sources on Late Period Egypt, but also refuse more generally any value to the work of major classical authors? If you search a bit, you will find quite easily that Egyptologists who specialize in the Egypt of Late Period have a much more open-minded approach on this subject and exploit what the classical sources say on Egypt, in combination of course with the Egyptian sources. You will not find many specialists in Late Period Egypt howling in chorus "Herodotus is my b...ch" or "F...k Herodotus", as your friends do on this site, moreover fanaticizing on this topic their ignorant fanbase. However, it seems that you profess that all intellectual authorities may be criticized and even vandalized, except the Supreme and All-Encompassing Egyptological and Historical Authority of your tumblr friends, which is for you absolutely immune to criticism and totally beyond question. And of course you completely failed to grasp my point that not only the ancient Egyptian, but also the cultural heritage and the classics of other peoples deserve respect and should not be vandalized. You don't have either any grasp (again to put it mildly) on the place and importance of the work of the great ancient Greek classics in the cultural heritage of the whole humanity. But I will not continue this interaction with you. I will only suggest that, just for a change, you consider the possibility of stopping being the blind admirer and the maid of your tumblr "academic" friends and of trying to develop some kind of independent personality. Bye and best wishes for your future.

Ah, so it is you. Tell me, have you created another account and are messaging me on anon so no one else can attempt to do to you what you've done to my friends for two. fucking. years. Or have you finally decided I'm worthy of the same lack of respect you have shown to my friends by logging out to message me because I've blocked you?

I have refuted you repeatedly in the past without once changing the point I was making and you proved incapable of reading comprehension then, so why should I bother now? You're just going to ignore anything I say, continue to slander my friends to fuel your self-righteous arrogance, insist that I have wronged you personally without showing any proof that I have done so, and display nothing close to the calm rational discourse you claim to expect from us.

But, once again, because I doubt you remember: I do occasionally use Herodotus in my research, which I have never denied and have stated before. Since I don't study the history of historiography, I don't generally find him to be particularly enlightening. I don't think he's anything important for studying Egypt. He's fine for the Greeks if you ignore the mythological stuff and the heresay, but when there is a conflict between the accounts of the Egyptians and what Herodotus says, Herodotus is wrong. Herodotus is not a trustworthy source for ancient Egypt. He has served his purpose historically and can now bow out of 90% of the Egyptological discourse as either demonstrably wrong or irrelevant. You equate "Herodotus said this sentence", which does appear in many books on Egypt at a lay-reader level because he's a relatively familiar name, with "yeah, you can go trust whatever he says" and no Egyptologist will ever agree with you on that. Especially since those references to Herodotus are rarely more than throwaway lines that could easily be removed from most books without any consequences.

You also still fail to show an understanding of both what historical criticism is and how it actually works, as well as what kind of website you are on.

Oh and congrats on admitting you still hate-read their blogs even though they've blocked you too.

[cafeinthemoon]

The Senju brothers finding out their little sister is going out with Madara 💥

Lately I’ve been into family drama and such, so when anon requested this I couldn’t say no lol Btw thank you, anon, for this scandalous incredible idea 😘

In this scenario/list/idk we have the Senju brothers finding out their younger sister and Madara are seeing each other. As you might expect, the news provoke different reactions in each of them, but the main point is how she will deal with this situation.

So I’m gonna shut up now and leave you with this:

Fandom: Naruto | Senju Brothers

Warnings: none, just a heated argument and a looong list ahead

Symbols: ��� | ◻ | ▶▶

Hashirama

Being Hashirama and Tobirama’s younger sister, of course you and Madara were known to each other, but being more than just a friend to him wasn’t in your plans… until now 😳

You used to admire and respect each other, not only because of the alliance between your clans, but mostly because you both were worthy being praised. Plus Hashirama has always been talkative about his best friend’s qualities, which slowly transformed the way you saw the Uchiha leader, but you only noticed this a few weeks ago

During a meeting/party/whatever at your brother’s house, Madara and you spent more time than usual talking to each other. Turned out that you discovered many things in common beyond the fact that you two were shinobi, including your views on life, politics, etc.

If Hashi noticed something, you couldn’t tell, but it was strange that during all the time you were there together he didn’t come to join you (not that you complained about it)

You and the Uchiha saw each other a few times on the next days, and the feeling of familiarity between you only grew. You weren't sure of how to call it. You were fond of each other, but saying that you were just friends didn’t seem to be enough now

You both agreed that it was too soon to name it as a date or something, so you didn't tell anyone, not even your brothers

You wanted to be sure of your own feelings before making a statement. Were you still friends? Were you really in love? Was it just a crush, a superficial attraction? You wanted to understand what was going on

During this time, Hashirama didn’t make a comment or anything that suggested that he was aware of this situation, so you were a bit surprised when one day, he came to talk to you about it

“So you and Madara are engaging in a secret romance and you dared leaving your big brother out of this, y/n? Where did you learn such behavior?!”

“Don’t you really know?”, you smirked

“Excuse me?!”

“Am I the first person in this family to keep secrets that involve Madara, Hashi?” 😑

THE REDNESS ON HIS CHEEKS WAS PRICELESS LMAO

Hashirama was your elder brother aka the person who has been taking care of you since your parents left this world, so not only his worries were valid, but he also had the right to know, so yeah, he was a bit disappointed that you didn't tell him first

Now, I think his feelings about this were not as plain as some can imagine. In fact, he had a mixture of contradicting feelings and ended up talking about them more than demanding an explanation from you

On one hand, he was happy because he loves you both, so finding out that his little sis and his soul brother might have started a relationship was exciting 💖

On the other hand, he was worried because you were even younger than Tobirama, while Madara was not only older but more experienced than you and he knew his friend’s flaws better than anyone else

However, Hashi was an understanding person and was willing to listen, so you explained your feelings and your reasons to him, as well as part of your conversations with Madara, pointing out that making things this way was a mutual decision, for the best of you two and the people you knew

He pointed out that despite not calling your meetings a date, you two were already thinking as a couple 😏

You blushed and asked him to keep quiet, at least for a while

He promised you he would not say anything, but not before hugging you tight and crying about how his lil sis was growing up so fast saying how much he was happy for you two 💓

Tobirama

Prepare yourself to get your ass smacked and burning for an entire week lmao

Okay, so as you can easily imagine, it didn’t take much effort from Tobirama to find out that something was going on between you and Madara

It wasn’t that you two were reckless, it was just that your second brother was not stupid an observing man (and tbh how hard it must be to keep a secret from a smart sensor shinobi, uh?)

Unlike Hashirama, who took some time to connect the dots, he noticed small changes in your routine and behavior since the start

Why have you been so quiet, distracted lately? What has been occupying your mind? You were spending more time alone and/or out, and (yeah, he noticed that) you weve more concerned about your looks and manners than usual. Of course you were up to something 

Besides, you’ve suddenly became too defensive towards Madara and the Uchihas in general. Anything Tobirama said that sounded slightly negative about them was promptly refuted by you. You seemed to have a deeper understanding of their ideologies now, as if you were having long conversations with their leader

So, it was with no surprise that you saw the storm coming ⚡

One day, Tobirama came to your room without warning and just by looking at him you knew he figured it out 

How did he find out? Hashirama and his big mouth, probably. Or did he follow you and saw you two together? Well, he could have simply traced your chakra and once he sensed Madara’s close to you, the riddle was solved. But did it matter now?

His first words: “What is it?”

You don't need an explanation: you little sis + Madara Uchiha problem™ + maintaining your privacy keeping secrets from him

And now you were a brat possessed with the Uchiha evil, and not just with any Uchiha evil but with MADARA’S Uchiha evil 🔥🔥🔥

There was no way for you to have a normal conversation in the current circumstances. You had a heated argument, and I’m sure you’re capable of imagining what it means to have a heated argument with Tobirama

“Tobi, listen to me, I-”

“No YOU listen to me you brat possessed with the Uchiha evil”

Your brother didn’t even let you speak. He stated that not telling anything to your elder brother was not only wrong, but some sort of betrayal, then started remembering serious sh*t from the past when you were so young that you couldn’t even carry a sword the right way and everything you’ve already heard from him countless times before

But now you were done with his incapacity of simply listen, so you just stated that your elder brother Hashirama already knew it and that it was you who asked him to keep it a secret just for a while

“Hashirama is our leader, and if he knows and approves it, that’s enough for me and that should be enough for you too!”

“Hashirama is too soft with you, and this is why you behave like this!”

“Like this how? Living my life without asking for your permission? Is that what you mean?”

“Being unnecessarily connected with a man with whom we need to be careful in our treats, that’s what I mean. Our elder brother purposely ignores the fragile spots of this alliance and you know it, so there’s no excuse for your attitude!”

“Speaking like this about our ally could be considered some sort of betrayal, Tobi. If I was you, I would be careful!”

“Why? Are you going to tell him in your next date?”

“GET OUT OF MY ROOM!”

“Yes, I’m getting out and having a serious conversation with our brother about this!”

“Tobirama, the war is over! We all have to move on, whether you like it or not! So instead of wasting your time with something that’s none of your business, you should go and live your life as well!”

Yes, you lost your temper, and you only realized it when your brother fell silent and lowered his tone

“You are right, lilttle sister. But let me tell you something. My way to show that I care about you might not resemble Hashirama’s, but my feelings towards you are not less deep than his”

You were heartbroken after he left, yes, but you had to stand your ground. Tobi could be very controlling if he was given space to, so you had to learn to deal with this early in your life. In this point you were better than Hashi, who was too easygoing for his own good, so you felt like you had to be strong on your resistance for both of you, otherwise Tobirama would dominate every aspect of your life without even realizing. You loved him as well, but your decisions didn’t have to always gravitate towards him

Still, you weren’t proud of your words about the war. That was a sensitive matter for Tobi. Despite his silence about it, you sensed he was offended. You knew you went too far 💔

The conclusion

Later, Hashirama came to mediate the conflict, and he had some words for both of you. When Tobirama and you found ourselves in the same room, you were about to start a new argument, but your eldest brother elevated his chakra and demanded you to be silent, bc now it was his time to speak

“Brother, I understand you are worried about our sister and I am sure she acknowledges your efforts to protect and guide her, but that doesn’t give you the right to interfere in her decisions regarding her own life. She’s right to remind you about our alliance with the Uchiha clan and to say that we need to move on. If moving on means starting a relationship with Madara in her case, things are what they are. It is her life, not yours. And do not think I haven’t talk to her about this. Y/n is no longer a child, Tobirama. She’s aware of the challenges of maintaining such connection with the Uchiha leader”

“Little sister, I understand that our brother’s way to express his worries uses to irritate you. It happened many times when you two were little. But that doesn’t invalidate the honesty of his intentions. He loves you and cares about you as much as I do. Besides, I’ve already talked to you about thoughtless mentions of the war. That was a though period for all of us, which includes your brother. You were not with us at the battlefield, that’s true, but you weren’t immune to the dark consequences of what happened at it. You mourned our siblings with us, but you were too young to understand everything that was involved. That was not Tobirama’s case. He doesn’t talk about it, but he has his reasons for that, and this must be respected”

Hashirama left you two hoping you would be capable of getting along again, which eventually happened, but at its own pace

The next day you found Tobirama working at his desk. He already acknowledged your presence, but that didn’t discourage you. You hugged him from behind and said you were going out to the river, and he could come with you if he wanted to fish. His first response was a groan

“Is there more people coming with us?” = “Is there any possibility of Madara showing up?”

You kissed his bristly hair

“No. Just us. I promise. And when we get back, I’ll cook fish for you”

Your brother’s next groan meant many things at once, “I agree”, “Thank you” and “I apologize” being some of them 😜

[aces-of-the-center-court]

hello dear anon, when this request came, I was already in the process of writing for the setters (Kageyama, Kenma & Oikawa) for this particular prompt as well, so I have decided to just combine all five into one! I hope this is ok, thank you so much for requesting! :)

warning: long post ahead.

Sakusa Kiyoomi:

When hanging around him and Komori, it would mostly just be you and Komori talking

He would find you strangely intriguing at first because of how similar you were to him in the sense that you both despise germs, but he would still be closed off in the beginning

Gradually as the two of you get closer, he would slowly initiate conversations with you in spite of how useless, unnecessary or unimportant it is

“Where’s Komori?”, “Have you eaten?”, or “Good morning.” – Alrighhht perhaps not too useless but the conversations usually end after your response unless you decide to follow up

When it’s just him and Komori, he would sometimes ask where you were and if you were coming despite it being volleyball practice (which means you would not be around by then)

Yes, to be honest, he would have realised his feelings for you even without Komori pointing out for the 937820th time and jokingly teasing him

He would handle his feelings for you quite well and not act any differently from before – he would listen when you’re speaking, sometimes ask questions or even insert some prickly input before being cut off by Komori

Would not show his feelings for you and would likely take a while to consider asking you out

Each time he sees you, the words he wants to tell you – his confession – would be raging to come out of his mouth so badly he’d lose count of how many times he had stopped himself

Likely to bluntly confess his feelings for you out of a blue, even if you’re not alone with him, be it the classroom, during lunch with other classmates around etc.

I really like you… he would think, “I really like you” he would let out on accident

When those words came out of his mouth, he would be visibly surprised and stiffen up, hoping you did not just hear that

You would have obviously heard it, no matter how noisy the class is, and would recognise that voice anywhere – with or without mask

Sharing the look of surprise on your faces, when you look at him, his eyes would widen and he would flush pink to his ears

Your face would also redden when you noticed his change in demeanor.

Miya Atsumu:

This boy is sure experienced in handling his fangirls, but not so much his rival

Surrounded with fangirls that would unconditionally validate whatever he says, he’s never met someone so insistent in trying to prove him wrong until he met you

You two would constantly battle one another in wits until one of you out-argue the other

Though the battle results have been pretty even thus far, frustration from being proven wrong on multiple occasions would accumulate in him

He’d find himself thinking back on some of the debates and think of some comebacks he should’ve used, then mentally prepares for the next dispute

He’d slowly find the disputes fun and enjoy spending time squabbling with you

Though he’d hate to admit at first, he would know that he’s starting to look forward to the next time he sees you

Would find you more and more amusing the more he learns about you through bickering

He’d realise that he’d want to know more about you – is there more to you than a rival he constantly bickers with?

“You know, I’ve been thinking. It seems that we got off the wrong foot,” he’d say during the next encounter with you before the squabbles start, “how about we start over and get to know each other better instead? Who knows? We could be more than rivals.”

“And risk getting trampled on by your fangirls? Yeah I’ll pass.” You would refute by habit

BUT. THIS. BOY!! Even if you had rejected him 100 times, he would ask you out 101 times

Even if you treat him coldly and ignore him, he would persistently try to get closer to you

Gradually, he would make it quite obvious that he has feelings for you

Would casually tell you multiple times that he likes you though you would just ignore him

He would also continuously act sweet and flirtatious towards you and sometimes even sly to make sure he gets to spend some time with you

If he were to get disturbed when you two are alone, he would be very upset – very, very, annoyed and pissed

And if ever, his fangirls do go threatening or intimidating you, he would be the first to know and immediately send those flies away

You would also progressively start to find him amusing in his stubborn ways and would decide to indulge in him more frequently

Atsumu would have definitely picked up on this and for the 102th time, he would ask you out  ⁠— this time, he may not just be left disappointed with your answer.

Oikawa Tooru:

This man here is very experienced and thus would easily realise his feelings for you early on

He would just be outrightly flirting with you, like he does with many

The difference is that he would find himself naturally gravitating to you and possessing this feeling of wanting to talk and be with you

It might be because he finds you easier to talk to since you understand him well underneath his flirtatious and easygoing front

His flirtatious remarks would hold more meaning and truth to his feelings when it’s meant for you than for others

Would flirt a lot more when with you compared to others

Even among the crowd that he’s flirting with, he would make the most eye contact with you

Due to his flamboyant attitude though, despite sometimes playing along with his flirting, you would not take his advances seriously obviously

He would realise so and decide to start being more serious in pursuing you

While flirting as usual, he would casually add in comments like “You’re the only one for me~” to which you would wittily retort, “Yeah right, how many ‘only ones’ do you have?”

“I’m serious.” He would say in a deep voice, free from his usual flirty tone as he locks eyes with you

He would want to make sure you’re aware of his feelings for you so that you would start seeing him in a different light

To show the sincerity in his confession, he would stop his flirting altogether and would only focus his attention on you

When you notice the changes in him and his flirting, you would start to take him more seriously

He would take his time before conveying his renewed confession to just have some quality time together with you genuinely

He would be very straightforward when confessing his feelings for you though it would be out of the blue, perhaps when you’re walking home with him and just chatting casually, he would declare his feelings there and then.

Kozume Kenma:

Other than his games, Shouyou and volleyball, Kenma was starting to have you on his mind more than he would like to admit

Whenever you’re with him, he would feel his heart throbbing and would be very conscious of it, causing him to stiffen up especially when in close proximity with you

As he’s unfamiliar with these types of situations, he would not know what to do and may act awkwardly around you as a result

He would think to himself that this is not the type of situation or position he should be in due to his self-consciousness and how it disrupts his rhythm

It’s tiring to keep feeling like this… maybe I should just put these feelings away… He would decide to try to brush off these feelings of his

Despite that however, he would find that his eyes unconsciously drift to you whenever you’re around

He would also start to talk more about you or bring you up in conversations e.g. “y/n seemed a little tired today, I wonder what’s wrong…”

Kuroo would have quite instantly notice the change in Kenma and tease him, asking why he’s so concerned about you lately and if he likes you

He would be a little annoyed at Kuroo and put off his comments, saying that he’s just worried for you as a friend

Although he wouldn’t admit it at first, he would later realise after contemplating Kuroo’s remarks that he does seem to have feelings for you

Subsequently, he would try to have more contacts with you by initiating interactions

Would express his feelings in his own way, that is, in game – giving you special limited edition items to help you win and level up for example

If he senses some competition (e.g. someone flirting with you) he would feel annoyed, but would not express it and would just be quieter than usual

At this point, it’s safe to say that most of the team would have realised what this new change in Kenma means

With Yamamoto trying to exert his seniority in his experience with unrequited love, he would try to give him advice on how to ask you out etc while Yaku would tell him with a warm motherly smile and happy tears in his eyes that he can come to him if he needs help

Basically, the team would be very supportive (while teasing him occasionally) which would annoy Kenma a whole lot to be honest

It would take him a lot to actually confess to you but when he does, it would be when you two are alone, probably in a space he’s comfortable, and tell you his feelings forthrightly.

Kageyama Tobio:

Whenever you’re around, he would feel himself heating up

In class or during volleyball practices, he would constantly be distracted with trying to figure out what he’s feeling or with thoughts of you

If possible, he would wish to put these feelings to an end so he could focus on volleyball, but things have been this way for months now

After a long contemplation, he would finally decide to seek Sugawara’s advice but face much trouble describing his feelings and end up replacing words with “bah” and “gwah” instead

Despite the initial difficulty faced while trying to understand Kageyama, Sugawara would shortly come to an understanding and explain that what Kageyama is experiencing is a crush he has on you while slightly teasing him and tousling his hair saying how he has grown

Though he would still be confused after hearing it and unable to comprehend his feelings, he would try his best to act as normal as possible around you – not without failing completely

He would be very conscious of your presence and start acting weirder unintentionally

Concerned, you would confront him to clarify if you’re making him uncomfortable

“No, not at all! That’s not the case! It’s never been!” He would insistently deny in an awkward manner, leaving you to heave a huge sigh of relief (even though you would still feel that something is amiss), and you would return to your usual smile

At the sight of your smile, he would start getting flustered all over again

What… why is my heart palpitating even when I’m not engaging in any physical activity? It was at this moment that he would finally understand that he does, in fact, likes you

After this realisation, he would always be a little restless around you

He would also quite often offer you his packet of yoghurt or milk and share the food he has on him, but would yell at Hinata if he tries to steal a piece

When he gradually feels comfortable enough to confide in you, he would bluntly confess in a descriptive manner

“My face feels hot and my heart races when I see you or think about you, which I can’t help but always do by the way. I don’t know what I should do…”

Basically, he would describe the way he feels for you in an attempt to seek help from you about this foreign emotion

[socksual-innuendos]

Regarding The Pinup Zine Rumors

So I had my fun dunking on some stupid claims the past few nights and I would like to make a formal post on it since I am the moderator on the zine that handled character assignments and approval. 

So, for all of you fortunate enough to miss this, let me catch you up to speed. There are some people in this fandom who really enjoy throwing the word pedophile around when they don’t get their way or want attention, and given the zine’s success, they just had to find something to wank about. In this case, it was Jerry the Punk, a Great Khan in New Vegas.

The rest will be undercut due to length. General warnings I guess, if you can read the accusations you can read this post. If you can MAKE the accusations, try not to blow a gasket for being wrong.

Jerry the Punk is a side character in Red Rock Valley who can join the Followers of the Apocalypses. According to some people, he is ‘coded as a minor’ and we shall take that at face value and deconstruct it since there is nothing canonical about him being a minor.

Here is the claim in question

Now, firstly I would like to take full responsibility here for this characters inclusion in this zine. For general topic’d pieces, I gave our artists some suggestions of side characters and which factions they were part of. Where it came to the Followers of the Apocalypse, I had searched the wikia for known male characters in that faction. This lead me to seeing Jerry and looking at his page, which you can read here.

With that said, let’s dive into this objectively, since being subjective about this is no grounds for accusing someone of pedophilia.

Objectively, what we see on his character wikia.

This is Jerry, and here is his general Bio. No age, so that leaves things a wee bit tricky eh? Lets dig further. 

Here is some additional info, maybe we should check here for clues, such as the voice actor.

Listed as MaleAdult05

I could take the time to actually find Jerry’s lines in the files if you all would like and see if there is coded evidence that he gets defaulted to AdultMale#, which defuncts this claim immediately, (even Contreras isn’t named in the audio files as Contreras :^) 

EDIT: Jerry’s lines are found within the folder MaleAdult05, and with his age never specified or said to be read down as a teen, he is therefore not ‘universally read’ as a minor

For a more thorough write up on how Fallout as a whole handles its child and teen characters, please read this.

Lets move onto his quest! Cry Me A River.

Please check the quest wiki page and listen to the audio. He mentions about how the Followers brought books to his tribe when he was a kid and he’d read the old world poetry for hours. 

Already he refers to a time when he was a kid, which he talks about as if Long Ago and would be strange for a teenager to refer to as such, subjectively. There is not much else in regards to the quest as far as I am aware.

“He is minor coded” and “He can be read as a minor” then evolves to

“Literally referred to as a child in every interaction he’s in”

We are given no direct lines despite there ‘literally’ being mentions of this in every interaction about him. And who is saying this if so? To Papa Khan, everyone’s a kid. To Benny, the Courier’s a kid. Does every exact line of ‘kid’ mean that they are in fact a minor and not just younger or more immature than the person calling them that? Considering he’s not Khan material, I can see him being treated like he’s still a kid, especially since he has yet to SUCCESSFULLY pass the rite of passage. Here the second passage is from Bitter-Root’s wikia page

UPON REACHING THE AGE OF ADULTHOOD, you get the shit kicked out of you. Even if you want to argue that Jerry is alive and therefore hasn’t gone through initiation due to canon statements, another canon statement directly refutes it, and we are back to square one.

As for the argument of OP being distraught at the idea of a 16/17 year old being lewded up. I think that they would have a lot more issues than just us if they truly believed that Jerry was a minor and truly knew all there is to know about this rando NPC

Because Jerry canonically writes about fucking. Guess New Vegas is cancelled right?

So, objectively we can see that no, no he is not easily ‘read as a minor’. In fact we had 28+ people who are very against lewding up minors not read him as a minor. This does not account for the other people unaffiliated with the zine that I had talked to, but also did not read him as a minor.

Please be fully aware, headcanons are not canon, and personal interpretations of a character are never means to throw such hard accusations around. The people who are skeeved about this can feel how they want but that does not give them the right to make hard claims about someone they don’t know and they don’t care to talk to to clear things up with.

We as artists do hold a right to be outraged when someone foregoes talking directly to us so that they can make false claims of something genuinely horrible, so please check yourself if you think that this is an over reaction on our part or that this comes off as rude.

For those of you wishing to discuss this NICELY, I will be open to talk about it, off anon, and in good faith. All other interactions will be meme’d 

[taeggukstime]

So it's more about having your opinions heard by other tkkers who don't believe the same as you so you can have more of them on your side and seeing your way of things?

This anon is talking about this previous answer of mine: https://taeggukstime.tumblr.com/post/673254109214834688/if-you-dont-believe-theyre-together-anymore-and

Hmm not really? What side? You think that debunking specific beliefs is my way of trying to prove that TK have a specific relationship status during a specific period of time? That's not my intention!! When I go against certain beliefs I don't have any theory in mind and in the process I may even destroy the foundation of my own theory. Unlike jokers that are trying to debunk TK's romantic involvement, I'm simply trying to distinguish between facts, perceptions, reasonable speculation, and misinformation/misinterpretations so as to have a better understanding of TK. I don't mind people having different views on their relationship, having different overall theories (for example, believing that they've been in a stable relationship for years). Figuring out those things is very hard and there's so much margin of error, so much subjectivity and lack of insight. When I make my theories available to the public I'm simply doing it in case it makes sense for someone and helps them somehow, but I know I may be wrong. The only thing that bothers me are the obvious misconceptions that can be easily refuted. On the other hand, when speculation is recognized as such, has somewhat of a basis and can't really be proven as either wrong or right, I have no problems with that. It's fair game in my eyes. Of course, I'm using my personal judgment...but I trust myself to give moments the benefit of the doubt if I'm not sure enough. If anything, I can be biased towards TK. If I go against one of their “moments”, believe me, there's huge reasons to do so. If someone totally disagrees with my judgements they can simply disregard them or ignore my entire existence. I say my part, point things out, give info that some may have lacked and move on. If someone reads my "debunking" and changes their mind about specific beliefs, well, whatever they think about their overall relationship is a whole different story. That might not change at all and it's also not my objective.

You know, some people get why I act the way I do, some don't. It's fine if you don't.

~ Answered on January 22, 2022 ~

[zhonglishrine]

Can i have a oneshot for gogol comforting his crying s/o?

Pairing: Nikolai Gogol x Reader Word Counts: 2.3k Note: Hello anon! Please forgive me for taking a long time to do your request! Since it was the first request on my blog, I thought I wanted to make it special. But I was stuck with writer’s block. So I used my old work before and re-edit it instead so it will be slightly different to match with the request! I’m sorry and I hope you will enjoy it and special big thanks to @soukokuwu​ for helping me proofread this one! Really, thank you so muchhhh <3!!!

It was empty.

In this dark cold continent, there was nothing but void and darkness inside. You either existed or your mind was playing a trick on you. It felt like a grand illusion - that nothing was real. What you were searching for was not there. Nothing you did would ever make you feel complete in any sense. There was always this feeling that haunted you, always reminding you of how miserable and disgusting you were. Gnawed and woven to your very soul like wild ivy tendrils wrapping around your empty heart and kept whispering down to the deepest recesses of your mind.

You were a monster.

You were a demon.

You were a human with no heart.

You were no different than a dead soul.

Then, why were you still alive?

For what purpose were you even here?

You shut your eyes tightly. You wanted to scream and block every deafening sound that suffocated you in this insufferable world. It exacerbated and tightened in your chest the more you struggled. Had it not been your sanity that kept you sane, you would already be consumed by madness. But would it be better if you just let yourself loose? Let it take over and become nothing but a shell of a living monster? Would it be better just to let what remains of you and burn it into a fire of anguish and let it turn to ash? Let it destroy you with the spite and hatred you harbor towards everything?

You were desperate to reach for something.

Anything.

And that was when he came along, when you were at a loss, as though he knew.

"Would you like to join the Decay of Angels?" He had said, with eyes as vacant as yours, but his hypnotizing violet eyes beneath that moonlight was much deeper and darker. It feels like you would lose yourself and drown in it if you were to stare any longer. Yet without exchanging any further words, he seemed to understand the unspoken pain that has festered through your being at that very moment. You looked exactly like a lost child that desperately needed guidance, that needed to cling onto something.

"...What will I get if I join you?"

"You will be free. From your sins."

That was what he had offered. His soothing, saintly voice was like a remedy that could mend your broken soul that needed salvation, which had been beyond redemption at that point. You had nothing to lose and thus accepted his invitation back then, with a little hope thinking something might change. But after so many years, it still remained the same. You were still the same old you. No matter how much you wanted to pretend, you could never fake a smile and pretend to be happy. It felt like it would be hypocritical- like it would only make you lose sight of yourself even more.

Then, what is it that you were searching for, actually?

Why were you still here?

A soft sigh escaped your chapped lips as you stared long at the night sky above. The stars twinkled, a million light-years away from the orbit. Yet you still reached out your hand, as if attempting to pick one and keep it in your pocket in a futile endeavor.

"A beautiful night, isn't it?" a familiar voice chirped, interrupting your time alone. You were never one that liked the companionship of others, but even so, no matter how hard you tried to ignore him, he'd just pester you even more and pop out randomly, much to your distaste. He was the last member of the Decay of Angels that you would want to interact with.

"Why are you here?"

"Aww, don't be so cold with me~! I merely passed by and just wanted to say hello to you~" Gogol winked and gave you a finger gun, as though his intentions weren't obvious.

"Bother someone else."

"Ah, are you upset that I'm not Dos?" He smirked as he guessed that.

You felt that he could easily read right through you and you didn’t like it - the feeling of being exposed. Fyodor was a man of mystery, a puzzle that you couldn't solve. You thought of him as someone who understood you and despite the terror associated with his name, he was still someone that you respected profoundly. Not out of fear, but maybe, admiration. But you hated that Gogol was right. You wished you were talking to Fyodor instead of the clown, and Gogol had gotten it right on the nose. And yet here you two were, with different circumstances that bring you two to join the association, even with different goals.

"Shut up. Just leave me alone, will you?"

"Aw... but no one wants to play with me. Even Sigma is busy. But you have been doing nothing but stargazing~ Don't you get tired doing that every night? If it were me, I'd die of boredom!" He flailed his arms in an attempt to get your attention. You cursed under your breath. This clown was too energetic for you to handle.

"None of your business what I do." You replied back to him crudely. But he took a seat beside you anyway, sitting by the edge of the building and swinging his legs back and forth with those comical pointy shoes of his. For someone his age, he acted rather childishly. Though, maybe that's just one of his antics as a clown. But he was the epitome of someone you could never understand. Since you can ever be two-faced like he is.

Gogol hummed. "You always come here, why is that?"

"I told you; it's none of your business."

"Aw. Here I thought that we were friends~" Gogol made it sound like he was hurt by your words.

You ruefully snorted at that, "Funny hearing that coming from you." Did he think you were that naive? Naive enough to think that you two were friends in this organization that was solely established with terrorists that can backstab you at any given moment?

"Is it not right? You've been with us for years, yet you seem so distant. Just like the stars." He remarked while spreading out his left arm to the sky.

"Is that so?" You looked up at it again, attempting to count the innumerable stars, albeit knowing how futile it was.

"Say... why did you join the Decay of Angels?" You posed the question to him, though you weren’t really curious. You just needed something to fill the awkward silence.

"Why, indeed. If I must answer that, why don't you tell me your reason first?"

Reason. You were still unsure about it yet. Why? You had killed so many just for that answer alone but the book that was your mind still drew a blank. Nothing was written on it yet. Was it because you were drawn to Fyodor's words at that time? Had he lured you in with nothing but empty promises?

"Perhaps… I was searching for the meaning of my existence." You curtly answered, but your mind still pondered on it.

"Then, have you found it?" Gogol asked, evincing interest to know as he turned to look at you sideways. There was something between you, something that somehow made you feel connected to him. Both of you were pawns that would soon be disposed of once you have served your purpose. It didn’t scare you, though. You would do what you had to, even if that meant dying in the end. The only thing you were scared of is regret - of not finding what you were searching for in the first place.

"...I don't know. Maybe not yet. Maybe I never will." You said, feigning nonchalance. "Then, what about you?" Now it was your turn to look into his molten gold eye, the one scarred with a vertical cut. Was there a story behind it? You wonder inwardly, but you couldn’t bring yourself to ask Gogol about it. In the Decay of Angels, every member came from a different background and it was unknown what they did before. If you asked him he might tell, either in a jesting manner or make it overly complicated, like another riddle you had to solve.

"I search for my freedom. Just like a bird that soars the skies without being bound by anything," he replied with a wistful tone and his expression softened, "I am seeking for a perfect freedom, like that."

"Freedom, huh..." You repeated, "you're one strange guy." Indeed, he was. Nikolai Gogol was an enigma himself, just as Fyodor was. As though he was standing between the bridge of psychosis and rationality that he wants to get rid of. You failed at understanding his essence, but you could empathize with his pursuit.

"Funny hearing that coming from you~" He retorted with your earlier words. "But birds and stars, are they not so different?"

"How so? They are two different entities, to start with."

"Because both are up far in the sky, seemingly unreachable for a mortal like us. Even so, we still gaze at them longingly, wishing upon the star, wishing to fly, wishing to escape from this warm, wet hell."

You couldn’t refute that. Technically, he wasn’t wrong.

"Then, have you found it?"

Gogol looked at you again, his eye reflecting every little light in the world that you see. He softened his countenance as if he actually understood what lay within your heart that you tried to conceal.

"Maybe I do. Now that I met you."

Within the span of a second that felt like an eternity, your heart thumped loudly in your ribcage, like he took your breath away at that moment with his gaze alone.

No...

Don't fall for it.

Don't fall for it again.

It would be the same. He would just be like the others. He too, would leave once he saw what was inside - that which was hiding and cloaking you in the darkness, that which enshrouded and imprisoned you inside.

And just like he said, you were exactly like the stars.

You were in front of him, and yet you felt so distant and too far away to reach.

"...It's nice talking to you. But I must take my leave now..." You wanted to withdraw yourself before you started to harbor hope and belief in someone again. Before you fell for it again, only to be tripped afterward. Only to be deceived, left broken, and uncared for years.

But he held you back by your wrist.

"Won't you stay a little while longer, my dove? A star will one day perish, and I would feel so lonely if you are truly gone." His voice somehow pulls the strings of your heart. But you know better than to fall for him.

"Wouldn't it be better? You don't know who I am..." You tried to break free, yet he was stubborn, he didn’t want to let you go. "I am not what you think I am... I'm just another monster who has no heart. You shouldn't get close to me..." Your eyes were already starting to well up with hot tears. The stinging pain in your chest throbbed, each passing second with him made you feel suffocated, as though causing you to drown in your own misery. Inevitable it was that you would bring him down with you as well.

"...Or else, you would destroy yourself too," you warned him,

"You’re either human or you are not, either you are a monster with no heart or not, what difference does it make?" He questioned you back, "Be whatever you want to be. It's your freedom, it’s your life, it’s your call."

"It's easy for you to say that... I'm not like you."

"Then tell me, what do you wish for every time you look at the stars? Have you no will for yourself? Have you not wished to break free from your cage as well?"

"I..." Stumped with his questions, you gazed into his eye once again, tears blurring your vision. Everything that was pent up inside you until this moment felt like it was crumbling, disintegrating into dust. Like waves crashing against the sand, such brittle was your resolution now when faced with his raw, naked, and pure emotions when he took off his clown mask.

"I want to... I just want to escape from this place... from my demons..." You said with a trembling, shaky voice, all the remaining strength in you threatening to leave the more you looked into his eyes. What kind of pain does he hide behind them? Why did it hurt you as much as well? As ironic as it sounded, in this moment, he looked more human than you were.

"Then, I will be the one that frees you from it now, my dove. Go, fly to the stars as you wish." He said and held you near, and contrary to his words that coached you to be free, he actually looked like he never wanted to let you go, yet you felt strangely safe and found warmth in his arms. You felt like you were finally being liberated from that which imprisoned you in that bottomless darkness. Even if what you see is just a glimpse of light. Then, that should be enough rather than nothing at all.

"You are beautiful when you soar free that way."

Two humans. Two monsters. Two beating broken hearts.

Under that starry night that illuminated the sky with constellations, it's like your fate entwined and mirrored each other on how almost tragically similar it was, with the demons that were trapped inside the both of you, seeking solace in each other's existence to remind you that you two were still human beings that just wished to be free.

[mayfriend-archive]

Totally understand if you're not up for it and fully recognize the ronald mcdonald dom/sub anon vibes which is an AMAZING post btw but like...now i'm curious, what the hell did Lord of the Flies anon DO that got him blocked for the discourse? like...i just can't wrap my head around high school lit being...uh...that inflammatory i guess?

Okay so, I'll start by saying I've had a new anon from apparently the same anon saying they are NOT the person I blocked, just a rando making the same points, but I'll answer your question anyway just to set out why this person in particular got blocked, out of the several thousand who reblogged/commented on that very successful addition to the LoTF post I made.

First off, I added the 'real life Lord of the Flies' story because I thought it was a good story. I had read about it only a couple days beforehand in Humankind and, after reading out the entire chapter to my parents who weren't very interested, I was excited that there was not only a post where it would be relevant to post, but that I wouldn't be hijacking it, as it was already rejecting the widespread interpretation taught in many schools, that humanity is inherently savage.

When making the addition, I a) did not think it would get more than a couple reblogs, because the post was already at 50k notes and I figured anyone that might be interested would already have seen it, and b) I did not know the very specific context that prompted William Golding to write the book; all I knew was that he had been a teacher at a public school (basically, the poshest schools in the country - think Eton, Harrow, very 'old money' places that pump out Conservative politicians by the bucket-load 🤢) who hated his job and the boys he taught (which, valid), and new information I'd been given in Humankind - that Golding had said to his wife one day, "Wouldn't it be a good idea to write a story about some boys on an island, showing how they would really behave?" - which had no mention of The Coral Island by R. M. Ballantyne, which I have since learned was the text that Golding loathed enough to write an entire novel in refutation of - and included what I considered a very telling letter from Golding to his publisher, in which Golding wrote of his belief that 'even if we start with a clean slate, our nature compels us to make a muck of it.' Another Golding quote that I believe portrays his belief in humanity's 'innate savagery' is that "man produces evil as a bee produces honey."

Obviously, the author of a book putting forward the case for humanity's inherent goodness was going to oppose Golding's hypothesis; Bregman not only noted Golding's literary accomplishments and beliefs, but his personal life.

When I began delving into the author's life, I learned what an unhappy individual he'd been. An alcoholic. Prone to depression. A man who, as a teacher, once divided his pupils into gangs and encouraged them to attack each other. "I have always understood the Nazis," Golding confessed, "because I am of that sort by nature." (Humankind by Rutger Bregman, p. 24-25)

I have bolded the part about him as a teacher, because it is incredibly relevant to the original post that I commented on, which begins with a comic of a teacher locking her class in to see them 'recreate' Lord of the Flies, something which the follow up comments before mine staunchly reject as both misunderstanding the point of the book, and the fact that it took the kids in Lord of the Flies a significant amount of time without adult supervision to go 'savage'. This misreading of the text is widespread enough that when Golding won the Nobel Prize for Lord of the Flies, the Swedish Nobel committee wrote that his book 'illuminate[s] the human condition in the world of today'. Whether or not they misread it is beyond my expertise - they do at least mention the factors of the outside world neglected by many when analysing the book, but still seem to believe it says something about human nature as a whole rather than just, to quote thedarkbutbeige 'British kids being rat bastards' - but Golding quite happily took his Nobel prize on this basis. Which, in fairness, I would too. It's a fucking Nobel prize.

It was with this knowledge, and this knowledge alone, that I stated in my now very, very widely read comment that Golding 'wrote the book to be a dick', in response to the tags of the person I reblogged from. As I said, I now know that Golding did not write the book (solely) because he hated the kids he taught, but as a response to The Coral Island and the general idea that clearly the British were inherently civilsed, whilst the people they colonised and enslaved were inherently savage. So. That's the background.

The anon - or rather, the person I thought was anon - was the sole exception out of dozens of replies, who instead of telling me about The Coral Island politely decided it was time to go ALL CAPS and regurgitate points already made by thespaceshipoftheseus, and implied that the only reason that the real life Tongan castaways didn't go all Lord of the Flies was because they weren't British. Not because they weren't surrounded by violence like the boys in Lord of the Flies, or there wasn't a World War ongoing, or that they weren't the upper, upper, upper crust of a class-obsessed society like Britain - but because they weren't British. A complete inversion of the concept that Golding was trying to get across - now, instead of all of humanity being equally prone to savagery in the right conditions, it was solely nationality that determined it. As in, the British were inherently savage, but nobody else was.

I, trying for humour, made the terrible mistake of replying to them.

I won't lie, I was absolutely blown away that this was real life. What I think they were trying to do was be that Cool Tumblr Person who, after somebody's been shitty on a post, goes to their blog and sees something Damning in their about/description. In an ideal world, I imagine I'd have gone nuts or done something Unforgiveable. In what I can only call the rant that followed, they stated several times that I needed to go back to high school to get some 'proper literary analysis' skills and that the story of the Tongan castaways was completely unrelated to the point at hand which. I mean, I disagree, considering that I made the addition, but I couldn't get my head around how commenting on a post that was already rejecting the thesis that the 'point' of Lord of the Flies was that humanity was inherently savage and was, in fact, about how kids - British or otherwise - learn how to function from the adults around them, and that traumatised, terrified children aren't going to create a mini-Utopia, and put forward a real life example of how without the key additions of an ongoing world war, a colonial Empire and the subsequent mindset of thinking you are 'inherently civilised' and therefore can't do anything wrong, actually, people just want to take care of each other.

A friend has since asked me why I even have 'england' in my description. To be honest, it's a timezone thing - I talk to a lot of people online who don't share my timezone, and it generally makes me feel like if I don't reply immediately because it's 3am, they have the tools to see that I'm not in their timezone and not just ignoring them. I did consider changing it to 'british' or 'uk' after it was... 'used against me', I guess, simply because I didn't want to deal with it, but you know what. No. Not gonna do that. I am from England, and I have never hid that fact. I have a tag called 'uk politics', during Eurovision I refer to the UK's act as 'us' (even if I really, really don't want to. Because James Newman slaughtered that song and it was downright embarrassing), I regularly post stuff in my personal tag about where I live (and mostly complain about this piece of shit government). If people really think my nationality makes every point I make null and void, then they don't have to follow me or interact with my posts; tumblr is big, and I am one medium-small blog very easily passed over.

I did reply to them, trying to explain the above, but their next response really just doubled down. Because I used the word British instead of English - foolishly because the posts above mine focused on Britishness, and also because although Golding was English and taught English kids, the pro-Imperialism author of The Coral Island, R. M. Bannatyne was actually Scottish so, ding ding ding, falls into the 'British' category - they then decided that I was somehow trying to pretend I wasn't English and made all the same points, before ending with this doozy:

At this point, I knew there was nothing to be gained from replying, because if we're whipping out conditions like they're pokemon cards then there's no actual conversation anymore, and I'm not going to start mudslinging like an identity politician. They made up their mind, and I figured there could be no harm in letting them think that they 'won' by blocking them instead of replying.

Until the ask. INNATE ENGLISH SAVAGERY did, I'll admit, make me think it was them, back again. I even thought up a really good response approximately 12 hours after I replied, I was that sure. Until the second message came in, and said they were just someone who came from the post and made the same point by chance. So the saga draws to a close... for now.

It may have been them, it may not have been - the anon feature makes it impossible to be sure, but as the second message I got said, we're in a heatwave. It's too hot to argue. And I've just written a goddamn essay about a book I dislike anyway.

My pasty English ass is going to go melt. If there's Disk Horse, do not tell me. I am Done™

[thetaylorfiles]

To your anon asking about TTB promises. She promised no second wedding, no male pronouns or male love interests on Lover, a coming out, Karlie leaving in August, no Josh at holidays, no way they go to awards, absolutely would she not include him in her documentary because it woul be about coming out. The list is rather long. The truth is people left over stopped calling her out on always being wrong. And every month for the last 2 years dont worry, its almost over the girls are fine.

Wow. Great memory.

Let’s list all of TTBs lies, promises and predictions that never came true. For posterity.

TTB promised there would be:

[[MORE]]

1. No Joshlie wedding. At all. And no second Joshlie wedding. (Both happened!)

- in fact the plan, according to TTB was: to gently introduce Kaylor to the public.

- announce engagement > call off engagement > have Taylor be seen providing emotional support to a heartbroken Karlie > after a while, explain that spending time together amid this upset made them realize they were more than just friends!

Oops. Never happened.

2. No male pronouns on Lover (several songs with male pronouns!)

3. No male love interests on Lover (clearly a male interest in Lover. And no, London Boy isn’t satire. It’s tongue in cheek)

4. Karlie being “free” in August each and every year. (and many, many more times)

5. No Josh at holidays.

(Yet somehow they seem to be together for thanksgiving and NYE and several Jewish holidays every single year.)

6. Joe and Taylor not attending awards shows together (so far they’ve attended: Golden Globes, Cats premiere, and NME awards)

7. Joe not being included in the documentary (Taylor literally runs into his arms backstage)

8. The documentary would be about Taylor coming out

I remember (and edited to add other peoples recollections)

9. Taylor was supposed to come out after Rep tour was over.

10. Taylor was supposed to come out the day she announced her new single “ME!” In fact, the announcement was meant to be her coming out, but instead was her new single.

11. Joe would be gone before Rep Tour

12. Joe would be gone after Rep Tour.

13. Joe would be gone before Lover Promo

14. Joe would be gone after Lover release.

15. Karlie would be free from Josh literally too many times to count. She always says that the contract is up in August. Then she says Karlie re-ups.

16. Taylor was going to come out on the last day of Pride month but scrapped those plans and instead released her statement about Scooter and Scott. That the masters changed everything so she couldn’t come out.

Now, had she intended to come out, and changed her mind that very last day upon learning of the master sales, she would’ve had to:

- add 4 new songs about a male

- chang all pronouns on lover from “her” to “him”

- remanufacturing every copy (how many DNAs did that need)

- create and chang diary entries

- all this would’ve had to be done whiles Taylor spent the first week of July with her friends on vacation. And while Karlie was on a yacht with Scooter, posting several instagrams documenting it.

- Then she went straight into filming ‘Lover’ video with a man. All this in a matter of a week or two, while on vacation, right before Lover came out. (Thanks to the anon for help!)

17. She claimed Karlie never followed Joe, when in fact, she did after K’s Rep concert. A week later, she unfollowed him. Also her sisters and Josh unfollowed Taylor in that same time frame.

18. She claims that when a beard wears blue, a breakup will occur and Taylor will be free of her contract. That Taylor plans it this way. TTB has said the inevitable breakup is going to happen when Joe wears blue numerous times yet this has never come to fruition.

19. Any time there is an article about Joshlie or Joe and Taylor, ttb claims its ALWAYS “seeding” a breakup. Yet, the breakup never, ever comes. (And no one in entertainment uses the phrase “seeding”. That’s a pure conspiracy theorist term. Like “crisis actor”).

20. She once promised a nervous anon that Josh and Karlie would never actually marry. They’d only be faux engaged to make it all seem real.

21. Claimed that Karlie and Josh didn’t go to New Zealand together over the New Year. Said Josh went alone and Karlie only flew in one day to take all the pics with him- in multiple clothing changes- to get all the pics necessary for the “stunt”. Even though everyone outside of Kaylorland already believes they’re a married couple and the “stunt” got zero publicity.

22. TTB claimed many times no beard would ever attend an important event or red carpet with Taylor. Then Joe went to the Golden Globes with her, then the Cats premiere, and then the NME awards. Oops! Wrong each and every time.

23. When Joe and Taylor vacationed in the Turks and Caicos TTB claimed Joe was flown in for a quick photoshoot and flown right back out. Except the next day, he was still there and there were new pictures.

24. Claimed for MONTHS after the Joshlie wedding that it was a “photoshoot”, not a wedding. That it would soon show up in Vogue. Then it was Vogue Brazil. (The wedding was never in a magazine)

25. She also claimed it was all a giant ad for Dior. The photoshoot would be one big advertisement for Dior. (The wedding was never an ad anywhere for Dior)

26. After several Vogue magazines came and went after, TTB claimed that Josh was having the article and photoshoot put on hold so that they could release it at a time that Trump made a big gaffe and Josh would need good press. The idea being that if Trump messes up, this somehow reflects badly on Josh, though it never has.

27. TTB and Kaylors claim that the reason why Karlie and Taylor stopped hanging out in public was so as not to tarnish Taylor’s reputation by being associated with Trump. Yet, Kelle went backstage at Rep after Trump was elected.

Anyone who knows about magazines or has seen the documentary The September Issue knows that the magazine layout is planned months in advance and articles and photo shoots are put in in a timely manner. Someone like Josh would have no bearing on getting to hold it back. (The wedding never showed up in any magazine and Trump made gaffes constantly).

28. TTB also claimed that they were no longer being seen in public anymore so that the public would start to ask and wonder why they weren’t “friends” anymore. Which would “seed” a coming out story.

29. Ttb claims she’ll have definitive proof this Monday, 9/7/20/, in the form of “tea” she’s been dangling in front of her followers for months now, that will prove the existence of Kaylor.

And she posted a submission that proved absolutely nothing! Just a screenshot of Karlies insta story from May that shows the reflection of one open white umbrella and one closed white umbrella. Apparently Taylor has two white umbrella near her pool in Beverly Hills. Ttb believes this is definitive proof that Karlie and Taykor have been together in LA for months.

This was wholly underwhelming and easily disputable. Taylor’s jet has been in Utah, with Joe posting a few pics of him hiking there. Her jet has also been in RI. Then the jet went to England. While the jet doesn’t prove Taylor wasn’t in BH the whole time, it sure does make it much more likely than a reflection in glass of an umbrella.

30 TTB claims that josh posted an Instagram on 9/3 of a sunset to indicate the sun setting on his relationship with Karlie. A message sent to Kaylors. No divorce as of yet!

31. Going along with the above, TTB also claimed that she expects Joshlie to announce their divorce on 9/4/20 because it’s the slowest in the news cycle. A Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend. Yet, no divorce news and Trump calling fallen soldiers “lovers and suckers” is dominating the headlines.

32. Prior to the Kushner biography being released TTB predicted/promised that it would mention Josh’s homosexual proclivities in some way: the bearding or Mikey. And at the very least, it would paint him to be the giant criminal that she claims he is.

Instead it did nothing of the sort. It only talked about how strong his love for Karlie was. That despite his parents being unkind and unaccepting to her for several years, he stuck it out with her. It also addressed her conversion to Judaism.

33. Ttb likes to claim that Karlie never converted to Judaism. She says that because Karlie has never spoken the exact words “I converted” that it means she hasn’t. Despite the fact that many Jewish people have told her that when Karlie told Andy Cohen that she “joined the tribe” that, was, in fact, how Jewish people say they converted.

Karlie has also spoken at length in interviews and her own musings about her conversion. Ttb still refutes this and sometimes will post anons who write in questionable and anti Semitic references.

34. There was a period of time where TTB claimed that Josh needed Karlie as a beard in order to get an inheritance from an old aunt of his. This aunt stipulated in their will that he MUST be married to a woman in order to collect the money. Shockingly (to no one) TTB started claiming this right after josh and Karlie got married.

A few months later, the aunt and the inheritance disappeared never to be spoken of again. Which was absurd to begin with considering Josh is reportedly worth $800 million. Which could be off considerably, but even if it is? Even if he’s only worth $100 million? Yeah, he’s good. He doesn’t need an aunts inheritance.

35. These days (September of 2020) TTB is claiming that Karlie is staying with Josh in the contact for bearding willingly. This is a drastic change of narrative from years past when she claimed he was essentially blackmailing her to stay. For the Aunt inheritance, for not telling the world her and Taylor’s secrets, etc.

**** this hasn’t been updated in a few months. It’s now Dec. 1st. I’ll do my best to fill in a couple more below soon. There’s been a handful or two of lies that need to be recorded.****

36. People Mag announces that sources close to Karlie say she’s pregnant with Josh’s kid. Ttb refuses to believe it until Karlie herself confirms it, though in the past she has specifically stated that People is the one mag you can trust as publicists use it as a vehicle to get the truth out about their client.

36. Ttb stated emphatically and multiple times that IF Karlie is pregnant it CANNOT be a Kaylor baby because it would not tarnished by having a Kushner last name and being tied to that “organized crime” family. Nope. Taylor is in no way involved.

And now that Karlie has confirmed the pregnancy, what do uou know? Ttb conveniently changes her time, forgets all she’s said in the past and seems to be firmly on the “oh, it’s totally a Karlie/Tayklor baby. I thought so all along”.

Now, Karlie is there willingly. And when an anon asked whyC her answer was “it’s all part of the narrative.” As if that’s a sufficient answer.

37. TTB said Joe and Taylor’s career paths would never intertwine.

And now they’ve written 5 songs together. One on which he played the piano too.

There’s a lot more especially about Karlies pregnancy but I don’t have the time or energy to fill it in right now. Back soon to do it.

Anyone else remember anything specific? Let’s come up with a comprehensive list.

[lemonietrinket]

Jae’s Divine Intervention ||| Wonpil x Reader, Jae & Reader

Summary: Jae finds out about your crush on Wonpil and naturally takes the mick out of you. And when you get to play detective, you find out he’s perhaps more supportive than you would normally imagine.  Genre: Humour, fluff [if you guys dont find this funny then i... its just me] Warning(s): Some cursing all done in jest (2x sh*t) Word Count: 7735  Theme Song: Tonight - The Solutions; Dive - iKON; Hold - Winner AN: A request from anon, hope you enjoy! I’m sorry it took a while, it’s a lot longer than I usually write tho so I hope that makes up for it gender neutral reader

~~~

“Wonpil?!”

“Jae, I swear to christ—”

“Wonpil?!” Jae’s voice was rising in pitch by the second, a look of astounded horror on his face.

“Yes, Wonpil, what’s so—”

“Our keys? The snake? Our snake that plays the keys?”

“Really, you’re still using that? That’s like, three years old Jae—”

“You—you took one look at the pink sweater and went hmmm, yes, this is the hot stuff, real sexy—”

“Jae!”

“—any man that wears this I will date him on the spot—!”

“Jae!” 

The man cackled, leaning right back into his gaming chair with his head tipped over the side. “Oh my god this is just...!”

You pressed your tongue to your cheek, waiting for the grown man to gather himself up. Though, knowing Jae, it could well take a while. “You finished?”

He swung back, elbows coming to his knees with his eyes incredulous. “Kim Wonpil?”

“Yes.”

“Not Brian?”

“Why would it be Brian?”

He inhaled through his teeth, tutting. “It’s always Brian. And then, of course, yours truly.”

You sighed, rolling your eyes. “I regret ever talking to you.”

He sat back, sending you a smirk. “Nahh, you would never regret me.”

“Can we just go back to discussing like, dinner tonight?” you glanced distastefully around at his room, taking note of the pile of laundry abandoned by his wardrobe. “Like I came into your lair for in the first place?” 

“Hey, easy there—!”

“Honestly Sungjin would have a fit if he comes in here,” you announced, a mischievous glint in your eye.

“Well it’s a good job he isn’t coming in here.” Jae easily met your stare, pursing his lips, knowing full well that starting a battle with him would be the hardest you could try to win in the dorm. You backed down, but didn’t shy away from his stare as he pressed his fingertips together, taking on the role of a faux mastermind, “But no, dinner can wait, because this—this—is much more intriguing.”

Taking in the nod of his head, and the smug grin on his features, you realised that you weren’t going to escape as you’d hoped. Might as well be comfortable.

“Now,” he began once you took a seat on his bed, flicking a rogue sock to the floor, “start from the beginning. When did you realise that you were hopelessly in love with this, Mr Kim.”

“Since when was this an interrogation?” you interjected. “Also I am not ‘hopelessly in love’!”

“Infatuated?”

“No!”

“Lovesick?”

“Not a bit!”

“Helplessly inclined on the edge of your seat to hang upon his every little word?”

You didn’t even answer him that time and merely glared at him. 

He nodded pensively, patting a finger against his chin as he murmured, “In denial, interesting...”

“What?!” 

He changed tact. “Do you not know the exact time for your realisation for your deep feelings?”

“Even if I did I wouldn’t tell you,” you sulked, folding your arms crossly. He let out a quiet ‘aww’, which you ignored to the best of your capacity. “What has gotten into you?”

“I’m just trying to work out if you are,” he cleared his throat, “fit for my closest colleague and good friend. After all, we’ve been through so much, I wouldn’t want any harm to come to him—”

There were many things wrong to his wistful, jesting sentence, but there was one thing that you had to refute: “Last week you told Sungjin you would sell Pillie out for half a churro.”

His smart mouth stopped for a few seconds, and you figured briefly that you’d perhaps won and could leave. Alas, you were mistaken.

“Refers to Mr Kim as ‘Pillie’, indicating a very special degree of endearment, interesting...”

You groaned, falling back onto the rest of the mattress, asking the world what you’d done to deserve this.

Truth be told, Jae wasn’t worried for his bandmate or you in the slightest. Hearing your accidental slip of your feelings, everything seemed to come together at once and fit like two missing jigsaw pieces. You both had traits that accentuated the other, and you got along so well. If you two got together, he discerned, there would be few power couples that could compete.

He didn’t understand shipping culture, but this was perhaps his one exception. It just made sense! His soft charms next to your harder ones, your sense next to his sunny optimism, the both of you still sharing much in common.

“Six months,” you suddenly admitted.

“Hmm?”

“My, you do delight in my torment,” you grumbled before shooting him a look that softened as you continued, the memory trickling to the surface and making it impossible for you to not smile. “I’ve liked him for six months. It hit me when he fell asleep on my shoulder on our trip up to Incheon.”

One of those shared things being bouts of shyness.

He decided in that moment that it was time for some divine intervention.

“That’s a long time ago,” he mentioned, “and you haven’t done anything about it?”

“How could I?” you countered, though it was more sad than feisty. “How do I confess to the gentlest, happiest soul? How am I supposed to even know if he likes me back? He’s cuddly with everyone, you know.”

One glance at your crestfallen eyes that shone through your little chuckle lit a spark in his head.

“Don’t you worry, Y/N. God works in mysterious ways,” he reassured, sending you a wink.

And so began the grand unravelling of The Great Jae’s plan. 

Step 1: Establish if the Feelings are Mutual

The first step, as Jae understood it, was crucial—nothing else could be done until he knew if the keyboardist also had a whopping crush on his friend. And they had made some fair points about how hard it would be to calculate whether Wonpil was just being friendly affectionate or more than that.  

So, to get the answer cleanly without collateral, Jae concocted a plan so cunning he could put a tail on it and call it a weasel.

The next day, Jae slipped into the practice room, after locating his whereabouts through a super secret and effective method dubbed as ‘asking Sungjin’. He strode up to the keyboard set where the younger was staring intently at one of the keys, swiftly adopting a confident stance—he would not be swayed by any sneak attacks, and especially not attempted deflections with puppy eyes: a weapon he knew his bandmate was highly proficient in.

Hearing him mumbling about whether they should invent a H note, Jae made the choice to enact Step 1, taking advantage of the possible surprise characteristic.

“Wonpil, do you like Y/N?” 

Peering up with his classic bright smile, Wonpil answered him swiftly, “Yeah!”

Jae frowned, the response seeming too quick. He had to comprehend it as a misunderstanding of his question. He pressed the charge. “Well, yeah, I figured you liked them, but I meant it as in more of a—”

“I know how you meant it, hyung,” he looked back at the keys, testing a C tentatively.

“Oh.” Jae was surprised to say the least. “How did you...?” 

“I’ve been waiting for one of you to ask me,” he explained poutily, “you always seemed to tease me about it when I didn’t have someone, and then as soon as I actually fell, not a peep.” 

Jae had to admit that the entire exchange had caught him off guard, as he became distinctly aware of how slowly the cogs were turning in his head. “You were... waiting?”

He nodded urgently at the sound board, twisting a dial as he held his ear closer to the instrument.

“You know the sound isn’t on right?”

“The key is squeaky.”

“Oh.”

“Of course I was waiting,” Wonpil replied simply, taking a simpering pause, “aren’t you going to ask me?” 

Jae watched as the younger suddenly sat up and swung himself to look at the legs of his keyboard stand, giving them a good wobble. There was no doubt a squeak then.

“Ask what, about what you like about them?” he suggested, not really sure himself. 

“Finally!” The younger threw himself back out from underneath the instrument. “Everything, hyung, I think I’m actually in love! Their laugh, their kindness, their eyes, their jokes—I feel like I’m going to burst whenever I see them, like into just, laughter, I can’t stop smiling, I just want to hug them and kiss their nose...” When he knocked his head back up to him, his smile was even brighter, his cheeks lightly blushed. “Is this what Younghyun-hyung means when he says that love hurts?”

Jae was more than happy to hear proof—it meant Step 1 was a success after all—but hearing the sap did mean he had to hide his grimace.  But now he was presented with a more severe problem, as he knew full well that wasn’t what the bassist, who could dip into the realms of emo territory, meant at all by that phrase.

It didn’t mean he was going to explain it. Especially seeing those eyes brimming with adoration for his closest friend—he cursed at himself giving into the puppy eyes after all. 

“Yeah, probably,” he answered vaguely, opting to change the subject, “well, I’d better be off, thanks!”

“Hey, hyung, where do you think you’re going?” Wonpil called after him as he attempted to make a tactical retreat, having gathered the information he needed. 

Jae turned around, lying through his teeth as his brain searched for an excuse. “I... well, I need to go and do...”

“Without wishing me good luck on fixing my keyboard stand?” he enquired, pouting childishly from the other side of the room.

“Good luck...?”

“Ok, you can go!” he announced, sending a wave. “Bye!”

And with that, Jae exited the practice room, frowning at his reflection in the glass of the window as he passed through. Wonpil was strange sometimes, that was for sure. 

It didn’t matter in the long run though, it was going to be your problem soon rather than his—a thought that elicited a snicker from him—and with Step 1 complete, he could proceed to Step 2. 

Step 2: Create the Confession Arrangement

Jae had figured that the third step would have required the most work, but he had be drastically wrong. He’d presumed coming up with the perfect scenario for a confession would have been easy, but once he’d sat down in the living room to think in peace, an hour later he found himself lying on the floor, staring up at the ceiling, without a single idea in his head. 

Chasing the tails of all the ideas that taunted him and skipped just out of reach every time in his head, he barely heard the sound of someone else entering the fray.  And he would have continued to have done, had the newcomer not come to stand beside him and peered over his sprawled body.

“Hyung, are you ok?”

The deep voice snapped his eyes from where they were transfixed on the ceiling to the cherubic face of Dowoon, currently in the process of devouring a pretzel.

Jae snorted, still barely comprehending his presence. “Of course.”

The younger tilted his head to see him somewhat the correct way up. “Are you sure? You’re laying on the floor.”

“I am aware, and yes, a hundred percent,” he answered, putting on a confident front as best he could, “this, young padawan, is the sight of a master at work.”

Dowoon hummed in an agreement of sorts, “Oh, right.”  He took a deep bite of the sweet dough. “What are you working on?”

Jae finally recognised the notable rustling of a paper packet, his eyes falling to the treat. “I am devising the most wondrous plan the world has seen to—is that my vanilla pretzel?”

“No.”

He said it so quick and devoid of emotion there was no way to tell whether it was a lie or not. Jae was left peering up at the man as he took another bite, who sent him a thumbs up as a form of endorsement.  “Right. Well... I am devising a plan that will get Wonpil and Y/N to admit their feelings for one another and finally unite as the planet’s best ship and sail off into the distance together!” A victorious grin on his lips, he looked like a man that had already found success. “I have already completed Step 1 with peak success, now I must move to Step 2 and—”

“What was Step 1?”

“Finding out whether their feelings were mutual, of course!” Jae guffawed, surprised that Dowoon could not connect the two dots.

He peered over to him again to see him frowning as he angled himself to take the final bite of the pretzel. Before he could ask what the matter was, he preempted him, stating, “You didn’t know?”

That caught the eldest off guard. “What?”

“You didn’t know that they both like each other?” he glanced towards him, eyes expectant as he shoved the dough past his lips. “I thought everyone knew.”

“Well, I...” Jae coughed, quickly covering his back, “...there’s a difference between assumption and ascertaining proof, maknae. Now that I have evidence I may move onto Step 2.”

“And that is?”

Jae caught the tone of curiosity this time in the intonation of the man’s deep voice, making note to take advantage of it as soon as possible. “Create the confession arrangement. I must make a scenario where the only possible eventuality is that the two confess to one another their true feelings.”

Dowoon nodded, licking his fingertips free of leftover sugar.

“You wanna help?” he enquired, angling his head to get a better view of his band mate’s features, waiting for the smile to arise.

“Sure.” Discarding the paper bag on the coffee table nearby, he lowered himself to the floor, laying on his back and mimicking his elder. 

“Good choice,” Jae clapped, turning his attention back to the ceiling.

“What ideas have you got so far, then?” Dowoon began, drumming his fingers against his stomach as he followed suit.

“Well...” Panic filtered through Jae’s system, as he suddenly realised he didn’t have even the tiniest beginnings of a thread to follow, let alone a part of a suggestion. “We could lock them in a room,” his mouth said before his brain could catch up. He cursed to himself in his head. No, that was stupid. It was so inhumane! 

“What, like an escape room scenario?”

Jae’s head immediately tilted towards the man lying beside him. Yoon Dowoon, as things turned out, was a secret genius. 

Without warning, he laughed, getting to his feet and grabbing the younger by his hand to pull him up after him. “Yes! Exactly like an escape room!” He held him by the shoulders and asked, “Do you have any ideas for any puzzles? Or riddles? Could be an anagram, or a pattern somehow, maybe general knowledge based?”

Dowoon thought long and hard for a moment, and it showed on his face, his dark eyes going wide as his jaw dropped. “No, but I know where to get the keys to the locks on the doors.”

Their eyes met for a good few seconds as Jae mulled over the decision of whether to bring up how he had obtained such knowledge. He finally rationalised he’d ask at another less frantic time. 

“Great!” he exclaimed, before ordering, “You go sort that. I’ll go get some pens and paper. Be quick!”

And so Step 2 was in motion.

Step 3: Organise the Confession Arrangement

“Ok, listen up soldiers,” Jae declared, “because here’s the plan.”

He was stood at the front of the work room beside a board that he’d stolen from the marketing block, proudly displaying a rudimentary plan of the dormitory and accompanied by several haphazard arrows drawn in a dying pen. He overlooked the rest of the room courageously, eyeing up his gang of abductees volunteers, who merely stared at him confusedly in return. 

“Why am I here, again?” Sungjin suddenly enquired, glancing around the room. “This surely is one of those Things-We-Don’t-Tell-Sungjin-About things, right? I’m pretty sure I’m not supposed to know about this.”

“But none of us do...!” Jae uttered, rolling his palms to encourage the others to catch onto his meaning. They didn’t. “None of us know about it, yeah? Because none of us did it!”

“But that makes no sense,” Sungjin rationalised immediately, “because someone will have had to have set all the puzzles up?”

Jae didn’t have an answer to that. To both a blessing and a curse, however, he didn’t have to reply to that question. He just got another one in its place.

“I’m sorry, wait, what are we even doing?” Younghyun interjected, glaring at the hastily dictated plan with a curled lip. 

“Getting Wonpil and Y/N together, we’ve been over this, Brian.”

“Surely they can just... do it themselves though, right?” Sungjin countered, squinting at the header of the board. “It really doesn’t require an all-out, multi-step plan—is this Step 3?” 

“Good to see you’re checking the diagram,” Jae retorted.

Younghyun’s voice was incredulous, “How many steps are there?!” 

“Four.” It was Dowoon’s turn to interrupt, it seemed, and he piped up fluidly before Jae could try to regain any control upon the late night board meeting.

“What were steps 1 and 2?!”

“Step 2 was inventing this beautiful idea,” Jae started.

Only for Dowoon to finish, “Step 1 was him working out if Wonpil liked Y/N back.”

It was their turn to eye Jae up in disbelief, a chorus erupting:

“You didn’t know?!”

“How can you’ve not known?!”

“All he does is pine after them...!”

“Alright alright!” Jae called, pleading for the three to settle. To his fortune they did, but most likely only out of the prospective joy of him further making a fool of himself. “The past steps don’t matter, I need your help now to complete Step 3. You will all reap the benefits of Step 4, when this is all a success because—as you said—all Wonpil does is pine after Y/N. This,” he pointed assertively to the diagram, “will put a stop to all that!”

Silence settled over the room as the three all glanced at each other, all nodding in some form in agreement. 

Jae took the chance and continued, his hand laying out the directions on the board as he spoke, “So, all we have to is move Wonpil to Y/N’s room, and set up the puzzles in there. Sungjin, Dowoon, you’re on set-up, Brian you’re on lift duty. It is all objectively simple, but one wrong move could wake either of them up thus exposing the entire ploy and I’ve yet to come up with an excuse so you’ll be on your own.”

“Of course,” Younghyun muttered, not even bothering to look Jae in the eye to convey the sense of how done he was. 

“You’re not helping?” Dowoon piped up, his soft features portraying a slight hue of hurt.

“I can’t, Y/N already expects me. If I’m caught then there’s zero opportunity of a follow up plan—at least one that features me,” Jae explained, ignoring the mumbles of ‘perhaps it would be better that way’ that echoed around the room. He shot a look to the one he suspected the most of being the owner of said grumblings, watching as he leant back in his chair. 

“Can this not at least wait ‘til tomorrow?” Younghyun requested, emphasising his point with a yawn. 

“No! Y/N is out Saturday, and regardless we must strike while the iron is hot!”

This sent the energy of the room from benevolent boredom to startled flurry.

“It’s happening right now?!” The leader desperately looked to the eldest for reassurance that this was most certainly not the case, only to find none.

“Yep,” he stated, a shrug on his shoulders and a smirk on his lips. “Once you’re done, you make sure you leave no trace of yourselves and lock the door. Leave the key on the living room table and then you may return to your own rooms and do what you wish—as long as there is no noise. If their sleep is interrupted, the plan could quickly go south,” he finished with a clap, “now, positions everyone! And good luck!”

With only a few groans, the three practically sprung into action, much to Jae’s surprise. Dowoon piled up the props and prompts riddled with such in his arms, Sungjin holding the door for him and Younghyun who both head out in quick succession. 

“Thank you, Sungjin,” Jae called to the door. He received an expression of many emotions—disdain, disbelief, bemusement—all around a set of very bright eyes. He exhaled abruptly in what was a laugh that demonstrated that mixture, before leaving with the shake of his head.

It was showtime.

You awoke gradually to the sun streaming through the wide gap between the curtains. Groaning, you cursed to yourself about how you’d forgotten to close them the night before.

After admitting that if you wanted to go back to sleep or even just lay in your bed in peace for a bit longer the curtains would have to close, you sat up, only to swear you had shut them the night before.

Rolling out of the covers dozily, you hobbled over to the window, squinting against the light, where upon the curtain tie you found a piece of paper dictating a series of hand-drawn triangles in shades of pink, grey and white. Rubbing your eyes you tried to detach it, only to find it secured with string. 

Feeling confusion flush through your bones as quickly as the sleep left them, you looked across the room to see another sheet of thin card this time, roughly torn at the corner and branded with a giant, rounded, crimson splodge adorned with a malformed triangle of green. 

Both thoughtless and speechless in entirety, your eyes frantically searched the room for further signs of intrusion. To your disturbance you found your room littered with rudimentary placards, decorated with strange arrows directing to one another, or strange looped calligraphy. One was stuck crudely to a Star Wars shopping bag, and as much as you enjoyed The Rise of Skywalker, you definitely did not have a bag for it. Another was blatantly an anagram. Making the mistake of looking up you were confronted with a gigantic poster of a film with the title and cast heading covered by MS Paint swirls. The image depicted seemed familiar, but it didn’t make their staring faces any less intimidating as they glared at you from your ceiling.  It was as if you’d walked into a nightmare that was haunted by puzzless.

“What the actual, ever loving f—” Your voice cut off as soon as your gaze finally rested back upon your bed. Only to find someone else in it. 

Thoroughly creeped out, your brain ricocheting through thoughts and questions like they were caught in a hurricane—who is that, how long have they been there, they were sleeping right next to me, they snuck into my room, is it a sasaeng, did they do anything—you were ready to charge towards the door and yell your lungs out for help.

Until the figure shifted in their sleep, their arms thrown up cutely by their head which peaked out from behind the duvet. It was Wonpil.

Breath catching in your throat, your hand clasped itself to your mouth in an effort to not shriek in surprise more than anything. 

You’d shared your bed with Wonpil. He’d been right beside you, his beautiful face just inches from yours, sleeping peacefully with his hands sweetly gripping the covers and his adorable little snores—

Your heart lurched at the image your mind conjured, for it to then crash over the fact that he had the audacity to sneak into your room.  The conundrum before you left you in turmoil—you couldn’t believe that you’d fallen so hard for a man who would break into your room in the middle of the night and disregard your privacy so blazonly. 

It didn’t make any sense. You’d known Wonpil for a while, and he showed so much respect the entirety of that time. Yes, he was clingy, but you could think of multiple occasions where you had told him to back off and give you space, because you were stressed or angry with someone else or even just too hot to let him lay on your shoulder, and every time he did. You couldn’t think of a single time when he came into your room without knocking either. 

But was that enough to discount the ‘first time for everything’ rule?

Given the circumstances, perhaps it was.

Regarding the mess of your room again, it was plausible that Wonpil could have put up some of the weird pieces of card, but he couldn’t have done it all—not without help at least. Taking in the height of your ceiling, he was too short to reach it. Had someone stood on your bed you would have woken up, there was no doubt about it, and you didn’t have a desk in your room, so there was no chairs to stand on. The nearest ones were in the others’ rooms, but it seemed too far of a stretch—especially since you knew that there was one person that could reach.

Jae.

You glared in disdain at the corner of your room as if you were on The Office, until you remembered that you weren’t alone in the room. 

Taking a deep breath you silently made your way across your rug to the side of your bed. Kneeling in the soft cotton you took in the sight of Wonpil closer this time, resisting the urge to stroke his soft cheek that he’d puffed out as he pouted in his sleep. Perhaps it wouldn’t be long before he woke. 

“This wasn’t you, was it,” you murmured to him, taking gentle delight in how he wriggled towards you in his sleep at the distant sound of your voice. He looked so sweet, and the concept of being able to wake up to him beside you every morning made heat rush to your cheeks like a tsunami. 

He was so good at making you smile, he could do it without even trying. The thought reminded you of when he had gone out of his way to somewhat try to, making you his chosen target for the only ‘prank’ he’d ever performed. He’d decided that he would for his prank debut place  tiny plastic dinosaurs around the place for you to run into. You’d been bemused, but only for a day, quickly finding him out after catching him placing one in the fridge. 

It was fortunate that you’d been reminded of the memory—even if you were primarily focused on how angelically he’d giggled a threadbare excuse that neither of you believed for a second but only made you fall in love further—as it that had been a while ago, and filling your room with strange and distastefully carried out puzzles was not what you figured his prank comeback would be. He would at the very least make them look nice. 

“I’m sorry for doubting you,” you whispered, tucking the blanket further to his chin to keep him warm before getting to your feet again. You had to admit, you got a bit of a rush out of playing detective, and with a theory hot on your mind, you knew it wouldn’t be long before you found evidence that proved it.

First you checked the door it discover it locked as you had expected. Then you moved to the puzzles.  Staring intently at the placards, you found that they all pointed to someone who was either awful at editing and drawing alike, or had simply done it in haste and didn’t care for the visual outcome. However this was not as concrete as you’d imagined. You definitely couldn’t see it being anyone other than Jae but after checking several puzzles and not seeing a single bad joke or reference in sight, you were beginning to doubt your first impressions.

Hearing the bed creak and a groggy whine muffled by a yawn, you flicked your head away from your wardrobe. There you found Wonpil sat up in a nest of your duvets at his waist, with dishevelled hazel tresses endowing him with faux cat ears or sorts. He was barely awake and hardly functioning, blinking lethargically while he slowly returned to the world of the living.

“Morning,” you greeted with a stutter, clearing your throat sheepishly straight after.

His lips spread cutely into a grin. “Morning...!” he sang. 

It took several minutes of you trying to maintain your gaze on the messy art piece that was sleepy Wonpil, before giving up and disappointedly returning to the barely-legible riddle in your hands, for the man to finally speak with up with a frown.

“Wait, why are you in my room?” he enquired, rubbing his nose. “Did you sneak in...?”

“Actually you’re in mine,” you corrected, squinting at the calligraphy so as to let him come to terms with the situation.

His eyes opened in a flash, glancing around the room in astonishment. “Oh my god why am—I’m in yours?!” He gushed with apologies. “I’m sorry, Y/N, I didn’t sneak in I promise, I don’t remember coming in here! I don’t understand... did I sleepwalk...?”

“If you did it would be a first,” you stated, chucking the paper to the bin near your closet and staggering to your feet, “it’s ok, Pil, I’m not mad. Besides, I think you were carried.”

“Carried?”

“You always were a heavy sleeper. But that does mean that Younghyun or Dowoon are in on this, which means I don’t understand what this whole thing is,” you explained, glancing up at the ceiling and sighing exasperatedly, “do you recognise that movie?”

Following your line of sight, he jumped at the sudden pair of eyes that he found staring at him. He shook his head. “N-no. Y/N... what’s going on?”

“Apparently the guys decided that for their latest prank they were going to make an escape room of sorts, and then stuck you in here with me for double the fun.”

“But why?”

You shrugged. “I guess they’ll open the door if we figure out all the puzzles of something. Problem is these puzzles are like, stupidly hard.” You pointed over to his right. “Like, why is there a mutant tomato on my wall?”

“Ew,” Wonpil said with a grimace as he beheld the visage of the red splodge. 

“I know right. Whichever one of the did it should never consider art school. Like, ever.”

Silence fell over the two of you as your eyebrows knit together, once again thinking over the possible answers to any of the dozens of puzzles. Wonpil meanwhile slipped out of your blankets and headed towards the door.

You had half a mind to call out to him and say it was locked, but you figured he’d already worked that out, so instead you watched him out of curiosity. 

He came to the door with a stop, rattled on the door handle once, then twice, before pressing his face close to the wood. “Sungjin!” he wailed, before pressing his ear to it to listen.

For several moments there was complete utter quiet over the room and the dorm outside. The only sound that could be heard was the birds outside, and even they broke into quiet when they heard an unusual absence of chatter. 

Then out of the blue Wonpil stiffened in his place, before leaning in even further, his features alert. 

After a few seconds you enquired mimicking the quiet, “What is it?”

“I think I just heard someone tell Sungjin that he ‘needed to remain strong’,” Wonpil looked at you quizzically, “what does that mean?”

“Sungjin’s in on it too?” You were hugely surprised by that, so much so that you couldn’t hide it in your voice, the volume tipping out of the realms of a murmur. You’d thought it was a certainty that Sungjin was not aware of what was going on, because he was too mature to play along. But you’d clearly gotten him wrong this time around.  “Th-that must mean this is serious,” you continued, slipping into a slow pacing motion across to the window and back, “that it’s super funny, or that he goes to seriously gain something from this.”

“But how is this funny, I’m not laughing...!” Wonpil said with a pout audible on his lips. He wondered if there was a funnier side that he was missing out on due to his concern for you overpowering it. He didn’t like how you stepped back and forth, even if it was only slow and steady and hardly impulsive. He didn’t want you to be stressed, he wanted you to be happy.  It dawned on him that it was becoming increasingly harder for him to hold himself back from meeting you part-way and bring you to a stop, his hands brushing your shoulders and squeezing them gently in reassurance as he met your eyes— He shook his head, sending him hurtling out of his imagination just in time to hear you agree.

“Exactly, unless he wrote some of the riddles and his sense of humour was not what I thought it was—what we thought it was.”

“But Sungjin would never use stuff this bad!” he cried, hand motioning to the poorly executed diagrams while his eyes trailed away from you and onto the tomato on the wall. “He would be much more careful than... that—I don’t think he ever could make something that ugly!”

“Exactly!” you echoed his tone of urgency. “Which means he stands to gain! But what the hell does he get out of locking two people in a room with a bunch of evil puzzles?”

Watching your form become gradually tenser by the second, Wonpil’s resolve against his desires loosened before unravelling entirely.

He strode unusually powerfully across the floor, his body blocking you and your pacing in your tracks. His proximity startled you, but as his hands came to gently held your shoulders you realised how tense your body had accidentally become.  Taking a deep breath as best you could with the biggest crush you’d ever had standing right in front of you, you slowly began to calm down. It was just a stupid prank, there was really no reason to get worked up to that extent, or anywhere near it. 

Your thoughts drifted from the circumstances you were currently trapped in however, supplanted by the feel of Wonpil’s touch, and the way his eyes met yours. His eyes were so pretty you felt yourself sink head over heels in them whenever you accidentally made contact. And the emotion that filled them to the brim at that moment and let them glimmer even more than normal in the radiant sunlight caught you even further off guard. You’d seen it a lot, even in large doses, and how it made him look even softer, even more adorable, made you almost spill words from between your lips. However like this, you could barely handle it. 

“Sorry,” you said, willing your voice to remain stable unlike your heartbeat.

“No, don’t be sorry! We’ll get...” It felt like he didn’t want to end his sentence but forced himself to. “So, they’re all in on this?”

His hands fell away from you, just as you looked away from him, unable to catch your breath otherwise. As it turned out it was a lucky move at the right moment. “Yeah, it seems so. N-now why? That’s the question. I don’t know, but what I do know is—”

Having pulled away, you’d begun to walk back to the door, thinking up the words to perhaps call out and talk them into freeing the two of you. Though as you did, your peripheral caught the odd transformation your closet door had done.

After performing a ridiculously overplayed doubletake that would have appeared to any onlookers out of context as fake, you noticed that there was a nearly full-sized image of a deep chestnut archway with the poor illusion (due to the angle) of a small opening inside. Drawing nearer you were able to make out a speckled grate suspended in the right wall of the wooden box.

What the image printed over three sheets of paper was sprung to your head immediately, much alike the jigsaw pieces jumbled in your head slotted together. 

It was a confession chamber. 

You had to confess, but not to a priest.  To Wonpil.

“God works in mysterious ways...” you remembered from the previous day, uttering the words as you replayed them in your mind. “Jae, you shit.”

Wonpil came to your side, peering round to take in your features, searching for an explanation in the sheer beauty he always found there. “What’s wrong?”

“I know how to open the door!” you announced proudly, the sense of victory washing away as you came face to face with what you had to do however. 

Wonpil’s characteristic sunny smile rose to his cheeks, all while you sat there barely able to stomach your anxiety. “Yay! What do we have to do?”

You didn’t know how to go about it. You didn’t know whether to tell him, to ramble, to keep it simple, or to just kiss him like you wanted to for however long it had been. “Confess,” was all that tumbled from your mouth, and you immediately regretted speaking at all.

The subject of your affections stood as silently as you did before him. You could see the rush of thoughts in his head, his cheeks flushing as he finally spoke up, “Confess our... sins?”

“Not sins, no...”

It was at that moment you realised your feelings were mutual. He wouldn’t look you in the eye like he always did, he was skipping over the obvious conclusion,and he wasn’t drastically denying a single thing. He didn’t run, nor hide, in fact he leant towards you. It was only a fraction of an angle, but with a small bite of his lip the air fled your lungs.

“Do you...” you breathed, taking a tiniest step towards him—you’d been so close already, but now he was practically against you, just not quite—as your fingers twitched at your sides, “do you want me to do it?”

His nod was strong compared to his voice which was so delicate, as if he couldn’t believe what was unfurling before him. “Please!” 

With his encouragement you let those ready fingers ease up to the edge of his jaw, gracing the fine stubble there as you sank you palms against his cheeks and held your dreams in your hands. “Wonpil, I’ve liked you for so long... I fell for you, more than anyone I’ve ever met before. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“Don’t say sorry, I didn’t tell you either,” he reminded with a chuckle, his dark eyes bright and shining and wide at you coming ever closer, “and not being near you makes my heart ache so please, just kiss me and make it stop forever.”

You didn’t have to be asked twice.

His hands barely had enough time to snake around your neck as you bridged the gap and let your lips meet at last. And it was like the whole world sighed in relief. 

His lips were so warm, the softness etched with all his thoughts and his moments of anxiety and sadness. You wanted to kiss them all away, so that the only ones remained were the ones out of happiness, out of his smiles and playfulness. 

It had been so long since you’d began dreaming of this moment, and now it was at last happening you never wanted it to end. But it had to end, and though you felt more than ready to deepen it, there was a click from the door behind you. 

Springing away from each other in surprise, you immediately both looked over to the origin of the sound, your hands meeting in place of your lips.

“It worked?” Wonpil asked the air more so than you, his free fingers extending to the handle tentatively. 

You drew to him, letting go of his hand to place your own on his shoulders a you peered over them. “I think it did!”

Taking a quick glance at you, he twisted the brass and pulled gently, his jaw dropping as a gap formed.

You were free. Though a small part of you was disappointed, probably completely interested in staying in close proximity to your crush without disturbances for as long as possible.

Except he was no longer your crush! Your heart lurched as the awareness dawned on you. Completely disregarding the situation, you mumbled so only he could hear, “Does this mean you’re my boyfriend?”

Wonpil turned his attention back to you, giggling as he stroked your hair. “Of course dummy. Did I not convince you?” He squished your cheek. “We can do it again if it’ll help!”

You had to laugh, wanting to roll with his suggestion entirely, though seeing a shadow approach through the gap in the doorway you had to turn the offer down for now. “Real soon I promise!” After noting his pout that very nearly overwrote your decision in one fell swoop, you continued, “Not when the person who organised this is right outside.”

Your boyfriend threw his head over his shoulder to see a head duck out of sight. You watched as his eyes swept the room before falling intently on the bed—more specifically, the pillows. “Do you want revenge?”

Catching onto his idea and grinning at how childish and petty it would be—in context that the plan had actually worked—you didn’t hesitate, wanting to get a piece of that ‘divine intervention’ that had thrown your morning into disarray when he could have at least warned you.  Besides, it wasn’t like you could turn down a man so precious twice. It would be akin to heresy.

Grabbing both pillows you handed one to Wonpil and came to a halt by the ajar door. “Remember, play dirty when it comes to Jae. He deserves it.”

Sporting his characteristic sunny smile, your boyfriend let out what you had to discern was a cackle as he slipped through the door and led the charge. “You don’t have to tell me.”

A thwack resounded through the dorms from just outside your door and you had to stifle a laugh at the scream that followed.

Perhaps Wonpil didn’t need your help as you had admittedly first expected. 

But where was the fun in that.  

“I’m telling you we could’ve put the movie on the side of her wardrobe!” 

“And I’m telling you it wouldn’t have fit!”

“...You’re never lifting me again.”

You gathered your breath after your surprise revenge assault, sending Dowoon and Sungjin an incredulous look as you passed. Clearly not all your deductions had been correct. Oh well, things had still played out correctly, and catching sight of Younghyun bringing your boyfriend into a side hug as he gushed about how you managed to save them both—clearly playing up the drama but hey, who were you to stop him, you had no qualms with being a knight in shining armour—made a proud blush rise to your cheeks.

Coming further into the living room, you intercepted Jae who had returned from your room after clearing everything up all by himself as you’d ordered.

“I still have no idea why you made me do all that!” he protested as soon as he caught your eye. “This had nothing to do with me! It was, hundred percent, Dowoon. Just Dowoon. He got sick and tired of your pining and...”

You folded your arms, expression proving just how much you didn’t believe his bullshit. 

“You don’t believe me!” he exclaimed, hands flapping. “What have I done to deserve this! Am I not a good friend? Loyal? Like a brother—”

You sighed, shaking your head as you walked over to him, before slipping your arms quickly around his chest. He was startled by the sudden display of affection, but hugged you back nevertheless. “Of course I don’t,” you chuckled, “but we wouldn’t be friends if I did.”

He scoffed at your words, but tightened his arms around you with a smile. He couldn’t have felt prouder in that moment, especially with Younghyun being dragged by Wonpil out of the room [to head out and fetch groceries?] who was delightedly babbling about how soft his best friend felt to cuddle with for real this time. Sungjin meanwhile rolled his eyes at the exchange, padding away and back to the kitchen. 

“Ok this means I can ask what made you work it out.”

You sputtered, though immediately gave in. “The confession chamber on the closet.”

“Ahh that was a good one,” he sighed happily, only to change tact soon after as the realisation sunk in, “wait that wasn’t even mine!” You laughed against him, you head tipping back as he searched the room for the true culprit. “Dowoon was that yours?”

You didn’t hear an answer, though hearing the curse that fell from Jae’s mouth offered enough indication to know that the response was in some shape or form affirmative. 

Laughter bubbling away into the air, you slowly pulled yourself away from the friend that had practically become an older brother to you. He let you go smoothly, but before you parted from him fully, you stood on your toes and whispered, “Thank you,” a smile on your face that was almost as bright as the ones Wonpil always received.

He sent you a grin, followed by a wink, as you followed after your new boyfriend. Leaning so he could see round the corner, he laughed quietly at how you subtly shoved the other man out of the way so you could take Wonpil’s side. 

His heart swelled as your hands naturally found each other’s, linking as if you’d been together for years. It came with a side of a dull ache, as that was what he wanted for himself too.

He wasn’t dismayed for long however. You now owed him after all, and you were well aware of it.

He couldn’t wait to see what you’d come up with. 

~~~

AN: no one can stop me from referencing my own work lmao

also a blackadder reference for anyone who knows!

also in germany there is actually an H note apparently so... fun fact.

Masterlist

[aspecpplarebeautiful]

I feel like my romantic attraction always easily fade with time... and don't know how to feel about it. Like, all my friends maintaining their celebrity passions for like, more than 100 days in a still passionate rhythm frequently and I'm like "wow, is it possible?!" I always refuted that I was in the arospec, even in the gray, because I think I was always romantic inside, even if having a hard time dealing with feelings. But now I'm seriously confused about what I felt and feel. (1/2)

Sometimes people say "oh, feelings are part of life anyway" but... I don't like the idea of changing myself. I was always like that with feelings, don't think that there's so many thins to fix about that, but about romantic attraction specifically... I don't really know how I feel about that. I don't feel like I'm equal to others and... I kinda feel bad for being like that. I wish I could feel these fluttering feelings for much more time. (2/3 sorry, ends up it is longer)

Maybe I'm just being too logical about feelings and because of that they fade, and I'm being wrong about considering being aro? I don't know, so many possibilities... (3/3)

If you want to you can identify as arospec (or gray aro or just aro) on the basis that when you experience attraction it doesn’t last very long. That’s a real aro-spec identity/experience, and you’re right that generally it’s expected that attraction lasts longer than that. 

The main questions would be do you think identifying as arospec would be a useful label for you? Do you feel like it would give you a better understanding of yourself? Help you be more comfortable with yourself?

All the best, Anon!

[girls-scenarios]

Risk It All

Idol: Tzuyu (Twice)

Prompt: h o w d y !!! I think I remember that admin Kiwi loves harry potter so i was wondering if there could be a slytherin!tzuyu (like how she's described as pureblood and stony in the Idols That Would Be In Slytherin post) au where she's a double agent, snape-style, and has to blow her cover to save her hufflepuff gf when their paths cross on separate missions.

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Sorry for taking so long with this, I do love Hogwarts au’s so I really wanted this one to be perfect. As a disclaimer, I haven't read the books or watched the movies in a while so if something is weird I apologize- I hope this was what you had in mind anon!

Tzuyu knew she was a stereotypical Slytherin. She was a pureblood, first of all, from one of the most well-known wizarding families, who only got the best supplies from her parents. She was cold, mostly towards other houses but to some other Slytherins too. She knew how to get what she wanted and could slip her way out of any uncomfortable situation. Most of all, though, she had a sharp tongue that lashed out at any poor fool who thought it would be a good idea to upset her.

But anyone who actually knew her knew that she only acted that way because it was what was expected of her. Her friends knew that her teasing was playful and that she was actually shy, which was why she acted so cold to her fellow classmates. She even had a cute smile that only her closest friends knew. But that meant nothing. She was still the perfect pureblood Slytherin, expected to do everything her parents instructed of her.

So she wasn’t really that surprised when her parents called her home, and she came only to find the Dark Lord standing in her living room. Her parents had long been extremists, and it was hardly a shock to her that they would join the dark forces. Still, there was something in her usually uncaring heart that made her want to run away as her mother motioned for her to sit down.

“Tzuyu, honey, there is someone we want you to meet.” Voldemort smiled, his sunken face contorting to reveal even uglier teeth, and she did her best not to recoil in disgust.

“Chou Tzuyu. What a gifted student you are. Your parents have told me all about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Lord Voldemort,” she said, shoulders poised and face settled into a look of feigned attention. She’d had to pretend to like her parents acquaintances before, and she could easily do it again.

“Tzuyu, as you know, we believe that Lord Voldemort has brilliant ideas on how to fix the tattered and despicable state of the wizarding world. So we have decided to join him. And we want you to do the same.” She watched in mild horror as her parents rolled up their sleeves to reveal a mark she knew all too well. The mark of the Death Eaters. Of course, she’d expected this, but it didn’t make her any less sick in her stomach to see it, because she knew what her parents meant. She had no choice. She was to join the cause.

“Of course,” she said, tongue heavy in her mouth as she watched her parents smile at their perfect, obedient Slytherin daughter.

Voldemort’s voice sent chills up her back as he chuckled. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say. It would be brilliant to have someone as talented as you within those school walls.” It was over. She couldn’t go back. But still, bile climbed up the back of her throat as he took her arm and pushed up her sleeve. 

Instinctively, she began to quiver, and her mother, mistaking her disgust and fear of the Dark Lord for fear of the pain, wrapped an arm around her her shoulders and pressed her lips up close to her ear. “Don’t worry, dear, it only hurts for a moment.” Voldemort’s wand touched Tzuyu’s skin, and she bit her lip, closing her eyes as a searing pain ripped through her arm. It only lasted for a moment, leaving behind a numb burning sensation on the skin, and she let out a gasp as he dropped her arm, not wanting to look down at the mark that now sullied her arm.

Her father cleared his throat and she opened her eyes to look up at him. “I’m proud of you for making the right choice, Tzuyu. Now, back to school you go. And remember, not a word of this to anyone.” She was still a little dizzy, but she nodded, standing up and stumbling a little as she left the room.

She didn’t even think about what she did next. There wasn’t even a pause to look down at the mark. As soon as she was back at the school, she went straight for Dumbledore's office, marching in and throwing out her arm for him to see before he could even ask her to explain herself.

“My parents joined the Death Eaters and forced me to join as well. But I don’t want to work for them. Tell me what to do.” She clenched her jaw in determination as Dumbledore looked down at her arm in shock. He gently touched her wrist, and she wanted to jerk away, the sensation of Voldemort’s touch still lingering on her skin. But she trusted Dumbledore, so she stayed still.

“Chou Tzuyu. You made the right choice by coming here.” Had she? She’d had two adults tell her she’d made the right choice by doing different things today. But this was the one she felt was right, and she didn’t care what her parents might think. “How do you feel about becoming a double agent?” She blinked. Looked up at him. “You’ll pretend to work for He Who Must Not Be Named, and give us information on the Death Eater’s movements and whereabouts. Just be careful, you mustn't let them catch you.”

“I cant do it,” Tzuyu said, lifting up her chin. She was the perfect Slytherin, after all, cunning and sly. She wouldn’t let them catch her.

Dumbledore smiled down at her and let go of her wrist, and Tzuyu knew that she’d just entered a new chapter of her life. Nothing was going to be the same now. “You’re a bright student, Ms. Chou. I’m trusting in you.”

-

Being a double agent wasn’t hard for Tzuyu. She had no special feelings for her parents, as she hardly spoke with them anyway, and she certainly had no ties or loyalty to Voldemort. There was also no need to worry about getting anyone hurt. Her Slytherin friends knew how to take care of themselves, and probably had ties with the Death Eaters anyway. She doubted they would be hurt, so really, she had no special ties to anyone that would make her worried about her involvement in the fight.

Until she met you, that is.

It was one evening after classes had ended that Nayeon pounced on her, begging her to go to the library with her.

“Come on, don’t you need to study?”

“When have I ever needed to study to get good grades, Nayeon,” Tzuyu said, turning around to shoot a look at her friend. “Why do you need someone to go with you to the library anyway?”

Nayeon flushed and quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening before leaning in close. “I’m meeting with Momo.”

“Momo? The Hufflepuff?”

“Shh, not so loud! Yes, Momo the Hufflepuff.”

“Why are you meeting with her?” Tzuyu, now intrigued, turned around with raised eyebrows, crossing her arms. “Don’t tell me you actually fell for a Hufflepuff.”

“Shut up! I did, okay? She’s really pretty and nice and she makes me laugh, what’s so wrong with that? I know you’re the perfect model Slytherin, but I thought you could maybe put house politics away for your friend!” Nayeon gritted her teeth, obviously upset, but before she could spin on her heel (or pull out her wand and knock Tzuyu out) the younger girl reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Calm down. I was just asking a question. I’ll go with you.” Nayeon’s shoulders deflated with relief and a smile came back to her lips.

“Really? Thank you so much! We agreed that we’d bring friends so that people wouldn’t think it was a date, so I was worried that you wouldn’t come.”

“She’s bringing a friend too?”

Nayeon grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. “Yeah! Hey, who knows, maybe you’ll hit it off with her friend and we can double date.”

With a snort, Tzuyu rolled her eyes. “I doubt it. But I’ll come with you. Hurry up, though, the more you keep talking, the less time you’re going to have with your Hufflepuff boo.”

The library wasn’t very busy, mostly because tests were still a while away and it was almost the weekend, which meant everyone was more interested in relaxing. Still, Nayeon led her past their normal tables and towards the darker back of the library. One turn past a bunch of shelves with a layer of dust on the books was a table tucked back into the corner, and there sat Momo. As soon as she saw Nayeon, she beamed and jumped up to wrap her into a hug.

“You came!”

“Of course I came, did you think I was going to stand you up?” Nayeon still had the snark in her voice, but it was a lot softer and more affectionate now, and Tzuyu couldn’t help smirking. If only their Slytherin friends could see her now.

“I just didn’t think you would be able to convince a friend to come, honestly.”

“I was nervous about that too, but my best friend agreed to come with me.” Momo looked away from Nayeon and her eyes landed on Tzuyu, who waved awkwardly.

“Hey.”

“Oh wow, Chou Tzuyu?” Momo let out a little nervous laugh and moved away from Nayeon. “I seriously would have never expected you to come.” The ‘I thought you hated Hufflepuffs” was obvious, even if she didn’t say it, and Tzuyu just shrugged, shoving her hands down into her pockets.

“Nayeon’s my best friend.” Nayeon beamed and wrapped an arm around Tzuyu’s shoulders, getting up on her tip-toes to do so.

“It’s fine, she won’t rat us out or anything. I know she seems scary and everything, but she has a soft spot for me.” Tzuyu rolled her eyes, but didn’t bother refuting her best friend because it was true, mostly. She also really didn’t care about house politics, she just had to pretend to. “I promise she doesn’t bite.” Momo glanced back at the table, and for the first time, Tzuyu noticed you, and her heart stopped.

You were gorgeous, which was saying something, because she’s seen plenty of beautiful people in her pureblood lifetime. But your beauty was something different, something she’d never seen before. You were nothing like the purebloods she’d met, who’d probably gotten their good looks from their parents, who assured via potions and spells that their children would be good looking. Everything about you was real, and that captured her, pulled her in and left her staring with her mouth slightly agape.

“Well, as long as you promise. This is my friend, (Y/N). She doesn’t bite either, obviously.” Tzuyu snapped her mouth shut and swallowed. (Y/N). She liked that name.

“Um, nice to meet you,” she said, but this time, she wasn’t faking it. You gave her a shy little smile in return and moved further into the table to make room for her to sit beside you as Nayeon and Momo took their seats across the table, hands intertwined.

“Nice to meet you too, Tzuyu.” From your voice, she could tell that you were nervous, and for the first time ever, she regretted being the perfect Slytherin. Suddenly, she was hyper aware of her actions, sitting down as softly as she could and gently setting her books down on the table, much different than how she typically tossed them down.

Nayeon gave her a look from across the table, eyebrows raised and a smile playing on her lips as she leaned her head on Momo’s shoulder, and she could feel her face heating up slightly as she glared down at her textbook. What was going on with her?

Licking her lips, she tried to ignore the display of affection from the two girls in front of her and turned to look at you. “Um. So did you actually want to study, or?” You let out a nervous giggle and shifted the textbook in front of you.

“I guess I should, since I’m almost failing potions.” Tzuyu raised her eyebrows. This was something she could help with.

“I’m pretty good at potions, I could help you study, if you want.” Your eyes lit up.

“Really?” You looked shocked, almost in disbelief, and Tzuyu found herself smiling one of those rare smiles that were reserved for her closest friends only. You were cute.

“Really. I promise I don’t bite.” You glanced from Momo and then back to her before nodding.

“Well. If it’s really no trouble, I’d really appreciate your help.” Tzuyu flipped open her own potions textbook and took out her quill, spinning it through her fingers.

“It’s no problem, really. Now, what do you need help with?” You perked up and leaned forward, opening your own book and scooting closer to her, and she considered herself successful.

“Well, I stopped understanding things a couple weeks ago...”

-

These library meetings became routine, and eventually they actually started feeling like double dates. Nayeon took the opportunity to tease Tzuyu about it, revenge for the years of teasing from the younger girl, but Tzuyu didn’t really mind. For the first time ever, she had someone who she looked forward to seeing, someone who distracted her from everything else going on in her life. She’d never met anyone who made her feel like you made her feel. And for the first time, she started to worry about being a double agent.

She’d told nobody about what she was doing, shown no one other than other Death Eaters and Dumbledore her mark. But for some reason, she felt like she should tell you, both because she didn’t want you to get hurt because of her, and because she didn’t want you to get attached to her, only for her to die. It was a dark thought, but a real one, that kept her up at night. She’d never loved anyone before, not any more than a friendly sort of love that she had for Nayeon and some of her other friends, like Yeri or Xiyeon. But she knew that she loved you, and that changed everything. It suddenly made what she was doing very, very scary.

She came to the conclusion that she could never tell you, because if you knew, it would only put both of you into danger. She also realized that she should start to distance herself from you, for your own good. But she was still trying to figure out how she’d do it without hurting you when it happened.

You asked her out.

She stood there mouth agape, staring at you. You sat in your normal spot in the secluded library table, except Momo and Nayeon were nowhere to be seen, and you had a blush dusting your cheeks, twisting your hands together.

“I’m sorry, I know you might not want to date me because I’m a Hufflepuff, and I probably made you uncomfortable, and you probably don’t like me-.”

“It’s not that,” she said, finally getting her mouth to work as she surged forward, making you jump. “It’s none of that. I don’t care about your house and I’m not uncomfortable and I do like you. It’s just....” Her heart sunk as she looked at your wide eyes and your lip caught in your teeth. She loved you. And she wanted to tell you that. But she couldn’t. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Why?” Your voice broke as you leaned forward, reaching out to grab her hand. “If it’s just about your house, that doesn’t matter! We can keep it secret, just like Nayeon and Momo! If you like me too, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Her heart surged in her chest, and she had to sit down, slipping into the seat across from you.

“I.... I have a secret. I’m not doing this because of me. I’m doing this to protect you.” Your face twisted and she hung her head.

“You’re a Death Eater, aren’t you. I knew it, Slytherins can’t be trusted, I can’t believe I feel for your façade.”

Tzuyu’s heart dropped and she shook her head, reaching out to grab your hands back. She couldn't take it if you thought she hadn’t been sincere in everything she’d said, and the words came tumbling out before she could stop them. “No! Please, (Y/N), listen to me. I’m not one of them.” There were tears in your eyes, but she kept speaking. “My parents, they are, and they forced me to join, but I’m working for Dumbledore instead, I swear. But it’s dangerous, both for me and for anyone close to me. And I don’t want to see you get hurt, (Y/N). You mean too much to me.” Her voice was soft now, and you were fully crying now, squeezing her hands.

“I’m sorry I assumed the worst.” She swallowed and moved over to join you on the other side of the table to wrap you up in a hug, awkward with affection but wanting to hold you. “But I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t doubt that, but I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.” You sniffed and reached up to cup her face gently in your hands, looking her in the eyes.

“Tzuyu, I love you. I really do. And I’m willing to accept that danger because I love you. I’m already in danger being a student here, what’s a little more danger?”

“And what if I die?” The thought had never scared her before, but now it did.

“I’ll just have to take that risk. I want to be with you, Tzuyu.” You had already made up your mind, and now it was Tzuyu’s turn. She stared down into you earnest eyes and took a deep breath.

“I want to be with you too. But you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone about anything we’ve talked about tonight.”

“I promise.”

-

And so the two of you started to date. For the first time ever, Tzuyu felt truly happy. And for a while, nothing happened and everything was fine.

That was until the war finally started. Although Tzuyu was now a secret part of Dumbledore's Army, she still had to help her parents and the other Death Eaters pull off their crimes. Crimes that made Tzuyu sick to her stomach, unable to watch as her own parents tortured innocent victims after playing good to the Ministry. No matter how much she relayed information to the other students in Dumbledore’s Army, there were plenty of things that they couldn’t stop, and plenty of things that Tzuyu had to play a hand in to keep her cover.

The more she saw of what the Death Eaters could do, the less she wanted you to get involved. Her own parents wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if it was shown that she was the traitor relaying information to the other side, so there would be no mercy towards you, a halfblood Hufflepuff that went against everything the Death Eaters believed in. But no matter how much she begged for you to stay out of it, you refused.

“Everyone is out there fighting,” you said, the day you officially joined Dumbledore’s Army. “You’re risking your life. I can’t just stand by and do nothing. If they get their way, my family is in trouble.” At that moment, Tzuyu knew she wouldn’t be able to convince you otherwise, because you were just as fueled to fight as she was. So she stepped back and let you, hoping with everything in her that nothing would happen to you.

But this was war against some of the most ruthless wizards the wizarding world had ever saw, and you were part of the only force standing in their way. Something was bound to happen.

The day that something happened, Tzuyu was frantic. Although she’d relayed to Dumbledore’s Army that they were heading straight into a trap as both sides tried to reach a piece of the Dark Lord’s soul, the other students had decided to go in anyway, putting themselves directly in harms way in hopes of surprising the Death Eaters by knowing what the trap was and avoiding it.

“You don’t know how dangerous they are,” she hissed from under her cloak, slamming her hands down onto the table. The group was hidden away in a secret room in Hogwarts, the only place where Tzuyu and a few of her Slytherin companions could meet with the group without fear of being seen. “Even if this mission goes well, someone is going to get hurt! They have no mercy, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You can’t meet them head-on like this.”

“We do know how dangerous they are,” Nayeon challenged, “my parents are Death Eaters! We saw Cedric be murdered! Sorn’s parents were tortured until they went insane, Momo was almost killed on our last mission. Chaewon might never be able to use her arm again because of them. We know. But we have to stop them, so we have no choice!”

Tzuyu’s face twisted. Why didn’t they understand? “All I’m asking is that you come up with a better plan! There’s only so much I can do on my side, and I care too much about all of you for you to get hurt!”

“Tzuyu, calm down.” Jihyo spoke from the head of the table and everyone turned to look at her. “We understand the risks of this mission. But that piece of the soul cannot fall into their hands. We will take your advice and go in the back way so that we only encounter a few Death Eaters instead of all of them. But this is something we have to do.” Jihyo was right, and Tzuyu knew it, but she still let out a sigh and slumped down. “Don’t worry. Nayeon, Suyeon, and I will lead the group and we’ll put our other strongest on the sides, like Sowon and Irene.”

“Just be careful.” Her voice cracked, and you reached over to press a hand to her shoulder, eyebrows furrowed with worry. She was no longer the perfect Slytherin. She was just a scared kid who didn’t want to lose any more friends, and as the room fell quiet, she knew that everyone else was the same. And she couldn’t wait for this war to end.

The day the trap was set into motion, Tzuyu could hardly concentrate on what her parents were telling her to do. She knew that you were coming in on this mission too, and that scared her.

“Tzuyu, dear, are you listening?”

“Hm? Oh, yes. Sorry, I was just thinking.” Her mother raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

“I expect you to listen to me when I am speaking.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

“Lord Voldemort wishes for you to be lookout at the other entrance.” Was this fate? Or did he know something? Tzuyu was glad she was so good at staying stony, because her heart was beating like crazy inside her chest. “I expect that you won’t give any mercy to your classmates if you do see them. Your loyalty lies with Lord Voldemort. Do you hear me?” Tzuyu nodded.

“Yes, ma’am. I understand.”

“Good. Now go. They will be here at any moment.” Tzuyu nodded once more and ducked away, wand clutched so tight in her hand she was afraid she might snap it in half. Even as she approached, she knew. There were other Death Eaters positioned at the back entrance with her. Biting her lip, she desperately wished that she could warn her friends somehow as she climbed into position, nodding at the other wizards. She needed a game plan. But what could she do?

She could always pick off the wizards on her side when the students came in and caused confusion, but if anyone saw it was her, she would be outed. She could send a warning flare, but that would be the same issue. Her plan had originally been to be nowhere around them when they came in, but that wouldn’t work now, and the other students would be no match for the wizards that surrounded her, not even Nayeon and Jihyo. There were too many, too strong.

As she agonized over the situation, she heard it. The sound of brooms flying through the air. Clenching her wand again, she stood up, only to almost collapse back down. You were almost in the front, right behind Jihyo, Nayeon, and Suyeon. She couldn’t let this happen, you would be an easy target. As she stumbled back, looking frantically around at the Death Eaters raising their wands, Jihyo charged in, wand raised and jaw clenched in concentration with the rest of the group following her. Tzuyu held her breath, watching as those on the sides did their best to hold off the spells. And then Nayeon fell, leaving you open, and her eyes landed on one of the Death Eaters pointing his wand at you, opening his mouth to utter the killing spell.

She didn’t even think.

“Ventus!” It was a spell that she wasn’t supposed to know how to wield, a spell not taught at Hogwarts that she’d found deep inside a spell book tucked away in her manor’s library. At her words, the air erupted into a wind that threw the Death Eater’s from their perches and wobbled the brooms of the students even out of its range. There was a yell from one of the Death Eaters below her, but she didn’t even pause, throwing herself down onto the ledge below to point her wand at him. “Stupefy!”

Her cover was gone, but she tried not to think about it as she climbed down to run to Nayeon’s side. “Go inside,” she yelled, “and hurry!” Jihyo nodded and pulled full-stream ahead, but you broke the line and flew down to dismount on the ground beside her, shaking slightly.

“You saved my life,” you said, and she bit her lip, nodding and leaning down to check Nayeon’s pulse. She was still alive, so she’d probably just been hit by a stupefy spell. Still, she needed to be seen, she’d fallen from a high height. “But now your cover is blown.”

“I wasn’t going to let them kill you,” she said, voice stern as she stood up and looked around, wary for any other Death Eaters.

“I knew you were a traitor.” She spun on her heel, wand at the ready, to see her mother standing at the corner, watching her with cold eyes. “You’re a disgrace to the family.” The other students should have been able to get the horcrux by now, and Nayeon’s broom lay on the ground near her. If she could just hold her mother off long enough for them to get back....

“Voldemort is a tyrant,” she said, voice level as she stared back at her mother. “You couldn’t have expected me to sit by and let his actions go unchecked.”

“I expected you to be a loyal daughter.” Her mother’s wand moved from her to you, and Tzuyu gritted her teeth. “And you’ve picked up a halfblood pet? Disgusting.”

“She isn’t a pet, mother. She’s a witch just like me.”

“She is nothing like you. Your blood is pure, your lineage is proud. How could you sully your own family name?”

“I don’t care about the family name, I care about the people who actually love and care about me!”

“You’re a traitor!” Her mother leveled her wand at you and began to utter a curse, and Tzuyu jumped in front of you, eyes hard.

“Crucio!” Her mother dropped to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain, and you gasped.

“Tzuyu, that spell-.”

“We have to show them that we’re willing to fight back. That was for all my friends who have been hurt,” she said, face stony as she bent to pick up Nayeon. “Hurry, everyone is coming back. We have to go before more come.” As she hoisted Nayeon into her arms and picked up the broom, Jihyo emerged, the rest of the group following her.

“Is Nayeon-?”

“She’s alive, I’ve got her! Keep going, we’ll catch up!” The broom was unfamiliar, and it was hard to ride with Nayeon in her arms, but Tzuyu was determined. And as she flew up into the air, you right beside her, she looked back down at her mother.

“Tzuyu, are you okay?” She swallowed and turned her gaze back to you and the rest of the group. She knew she would never be able to see her parents again. She was no longer their daughter. But they had never really loved her anyway.

“I’m okay. You, Nayeon, and the rest of the group, you’re my real family. And I don’t mind risking everything to make sure you’re all safe.” The air was quiet, the chaos of the fight long behind, and you flew close to her side. Everyone had gotten out okay, and Nayeon was still breathing. The war still raged on, but they were all one step closer to victory. And Tzuyu knew this would all be worth it, as long as she could keep protecting the people she loved.

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

[dearly]

some responses/questions to my vent post under the cut. 

everything we’re seeing? i started to think they might be broken up in 2017 and everything that has happened since the “hiatus” only makes sense to me if they broke up at some point after it took place. 

i mean, even in the beginning of 2016 there were indications that they were still together, imo, including matching travel patterns and the bears until their deactivation. but that fell apart later in the year and i have a hard time imagining how they could still be together when the label that is rolling out a red carpet for harry is the same one that is stifling louis -- especially when harry has the azoffs on his side. i can’t reconcile the tightening of louis’ closet and the loosening of harry’s with them still being together.

of course, i could be wrong. they could very well still be together. i’m open to that. but i also don’t think it’s relevant. their images and their career paths have diverged to the point that it would be incredibly difficult for them to be a public couple. so i don’t see the point in thinking too much about it, if that makes sense? my focus is on

well as you’ll see below a lot of people disagree that there were any stacked cards. and the media... i’m sure they know bc papa azoff has his fingers in all the pies but they’re not going to report it as such. 

i honestly have sooooooooooo much to say about this. i’m legit curious as to where you’re coming from. are you a present day larrie? or just a harrie that saw this post and decided to complain? because i have a hard time understanding your perspective. it’s not about if he’s with louis or not. regardless of who he is dating he has received opportunities and treatment and hype that is way beyond what i think he deserves. RS cover, talk comparing him to legends before a single song was released, the SNL debut, the BBC 1 year solo celebration 4 months into his solo career (like i’m sorry but i will NEVER get over that.) how many times did he co-host the breakfast show? twice for the full duration? a whole WEEK on corden. that excessive grammy pondering campaign. this is just what happened the FIRST SIX MONTHS of his solo career.

you’re really comparing that to niall doing local iheart shows? (btw! if you’re seeing a lot of similarities between harry and niall when it comes to performances and tours... it’s because they literally have the same booking agent. so there u go.) and liam being a model for hugo boss 4 years into hiatus after establishing himself on the fashion scene (maybe you’re just not keeping up with him but uhh... yeah he worked for that?? are you kidding?)

additionally-- harry being “the face of 1d” was not organic. you realize that, right? his exposure multiplied when the azoffs entered the scene, and h*ylor contributed to that as well. it was a very deliberate move. 

i think it’s disingenuous to pretend like a lot of harry’s praise has come directly from distancing himself/dissing 1d and especially louis. it’s not about harry making sure everyone gets the same opportunities--he was already taking every chance to stand out when he was still in the band lol why would he help anyone else now?-- it’s about HSHQ not shitting on the others and using them as springboards and exacerbating the situation. it’s about him blacklisting the band. doing a “rebirth” commercial. having his bisexual headlines coming with a side of “not like that homophobe louis tomlinson.” do you understand? or do you just not care/not see it because harry is your priority?

and to be clear i don’t subscribe to the ‘winning’ narrative. but it’s out there and it’s having an effect regardless of how i feel about it. 

idk if this one belongs to the three parter above but... you’re missing the point. the met isn’t going to “change” people’s minds because it’s playing into the existing narrative. i can be annoyed about how that’s still being reinforced. and i am. 

i honestly try to keep perspective and i’ve been doing pretty well but i think the universe spitting in louis’ face just as he was getting rolling has really affected me. i cannot imagine what he has gone through, and i want him to get everything he deserves.

i was so hopeful that things would resume properly once they announced he was going back to work but it’s just been the same shit we got two years ago. this is garbage promo. and i don’t know how long i can hold on with that going on when everyone else is sailing past.

and here is a side note unrelated to these asks... i think i’m also really frustrated by a lot of the larrie excuses i see for what’s going on. i don’t engage in conversation about these things because i think everyone is entitled to what they believe and my input/pov is not necessary and not asked for. but it still....bothers me... to see the blatant hypocrisy in how harry v louis are treated by people who are supposed to root for them both. it bothers me to see people blame louis for things that he has no control over? the good ol houie narrative is so fucking annoying and it doesn’t make sense. it bothers me that people so easily dismiss louis’ ambition and suggested he didn’t want to go solo--to the point of rejecting evidence that refuted an ANON. anyway. i’m just a ball of venting today. that is all. 

[ryouverua]

Trial 6 - My Will, Our Will (7)

A new challenger has appeared!

Trial: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

Being on the other side of Shuichi’s glare and pointer finger is terrifying and now I’m understanding why all the culprits and others start freaking out so much. 8′D

Also, ooooh there it is, oh there’s Clair de Lune, i’mnotcryingyou’recrying

WE’RE REALLY DOING CLAIR DE LUNE THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH AREN’T WE

OH NO

A hope that requires two of their classmates to die... that’s the definition of ‘hope’ that was forced on them. K1-b0 is happy as long as he’s opposing despair - but Shuichi isn’t. I.... I think I understand what he’s saying.

“S-Seriously Shuichi, I really don’t get a chance to be cool very often and you’re really stealing my thunder -”

“You, uh, remember that my name is pronounced ‘Kii-bo’ too, right - ?”

“YOU HEARD WHAT I SAID!”

The music is continuing?!?! We’re using Clair de Lune the whole way through?? Man this is making even more of an impact than them playing the opening music - because there’s no triumph to be found here.

He seems so betrayed! S-Sweetcheeks, we really need to finish his last FTE when this is all over!

Oh..... oh....... oooooooh -

Shuichi why would you say something so controversial yet so brave -

“SEE!!! I CAN DO THIS TOO SHUICHI!!!”

mmm also look at my sweet v-counter skills guys -

It’s not some great overwhelming force of nature, or some grand enemy to be conquered, something that can be easily shoved into a defining box! It’s a feeling, like anything else! And sure, despair is considered ‘the dark side’, but are we just going to let them also define hope for us?

........

also. ALSO.

THESE COMMENTS. THESE COMMENTS. I-I can’t stop collecting them -

No, that’s wrong!

What are you saying, hat boy? i might steal ‘hat boy’ that’s really good

Can’t say anything now, scrub

He’s not wearing a hat anymore. THE COMMENTER CORRECTED THE OTHER ONE GFGH

What if Shuichi is the mastermind? girl where have you been for the last hour -

I wonder who’s going to live.

Hope always comes in waves.

You’re slipping up, detective.

hurry up and vote

Show me hope.

There’s hope because there’s despair.

Suck it, hope

Keebo’s not gonna lose!

Keebo is hope...

and hope lives on!

Shuichi is the cycle of despair?

Things are getting interesting.

The fight’s just started!

The endorphin rush they get when, despite all odds, the good guys win over the bad guys, reaffirming that ‘good’ always overcomes ‘evil’....

Or worse yet, they revel in it, because to paraphrase a certain someone, ‘they’ll use these tragedies to shine even brighter.’ Watching someone rise above adversity and come out the other side even stronger is inspiring. For the same reason that we enjoy playing the games and cheering the survivors on when Junko or whoever is ultimately defeated in the end, this audience eats up every round of the killing game. They can enjoy that with the privilege granted by being able to observe it from the outside, just like us. But strip that layer away, and -

I’m sorry, excuse me?

YEAH SHUICHI IS ON A ROLL HERE DON’T STOP HIM NOW

What’s with that look, Tsumugi? Is it because Shuichi wasn’t actually supposed to fight for despair? Or was the idea that he would be cheered on/convinced by K1-b0, the same way that Naegi convinced the others in the first game?

Th.... The music..... stopped....

LAZY PARALLEL WORLD!!!

oh man maybe Tsumugi can hear the music cues. Maybe she realizes Shuichi is onto something. now I’m imagining every time the music shifts Tsumugi’s the only one aware of it, and she’s also the only one reacting appropriately to it ffhg

Also, I assumed that the punishment was execution... but was... was that the mental trap???

Why wouldn’t there be?! They’re being ‘sacrificed’, aren’t they?!?!

Everything would make sense -

Oooh! Ooh - ! Is - is that what it is, then?!

Jeez, it’s super interesting to be in K1-b0′s POV for this - especially with Shuichi being the one asking us questions. Being in his POV before meant he never had the opportunity to really use leading questions like this, which really lends him an unexpected air of authority. Unexpected but earned, mind you...

HE’S DIRECTING QUESTIONS AT THE AUDIENCE NOW TOO?!?!

You continue the cycle....

Oh, poor, poor Rantaro -

Did he have the same options laid out for him? Or did he know that he would be choosing to repeat the game? He still had the determination to end the killing game.. so was that left over from his last game’s iteration? How many times has he repeated it? For that matter, how long has he been in holding while they gathered new people??? I swear that one commenter said they had waited 3 years, so???? Rantaro how old are you?? 

Was there only one person made into a sacrifice, or two like last game? .... side-eyes K1-b0 and Tsumugi -

Does... that mean Tsumugi was the mastermind last game too, or....

Also Maki as the Ultimate Survivor would absolutely tear things up. They’d have to pull another stunt like they did with Rantaro if they wanted her out of the game. She definitely has the fitness and demeanour to survive, unless she snaps on someone like she did on Kokichi in Chapter 5.

Just like Kokichi did, Shuichi is going to try and attack the game itself. His name really hasn’t come up since the motive video reveal, but I’d like to think that this strategy was inspired by his Chapter 5 plan.

What an interesting set of characters to represent despair winning. First we have Izuru, being all disdainful of their choice and mocking him with the word ‘boring’ - very much his thing, but also reminiscent of Kokichi. In fact, I suppose the despair option is very similar to the stalemate situation Kokichi installed when he was pretending to be the mastermind!

Then Celestia. She’s not a people-pleasing person. So why her? Thinking back, she was one of the most desperate to escape, despite hiding it... so maybe this is Tsumugi ‘showing’, not telling, that she isn’t happy with them choosing the despair option?

And then the hope fanboy... basically telling them that despair is the inferior option, but couching it in positive language. Passive-aggressively pushing them towards the actual answer (s)he wants - very on point for him.

Is it really okay to pass the buck like that?

In perpetuity...

I..... I don’t have an answer for that.

It does... sort of suck that he’s singling out those two in his speech, because it can feel like he’s being dismissive of everyone else - but I don’t think that’s true. He definitely appreciates the losses of everyone else, but those two were the ones that hit him hardest.

of course it’s bloody Komaeda over there having the time of his life during this speech

First of all - how strange is it that there are only a few people who look like they aren’t in excruciating pain right now. Rantaro’s face can’t be seen, Angie, Ryoma and Tenko look like they’re sleeping, and Kaito is smiling....

And - ah, Kokichi can’t even be seen. But there ‘he’ is, with his own section in this collage - I guess that third ‘body discovery’ we had in chapter 3 was the closest we would ever get to something real, huh? Poor guy...

“You said I’d be fighting the entire world, Tsumugi? Fine by me! Meet me behind the school after the trial!”

“S-Shuichi that’s a lot of people -”

“AND I’M GOING TO FIGHT EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM!!!”

That’s... true. There is a mental barrier that is hard to cross, especially if they’ve all conditioned themselves to accept real people dying for their own entertainment.

Also there are new comments, which means I am obligated to transcribe them.  Most of them is the audience turning on Shuichi, damn. Okay, here it goes:

Forget about Shuichi

You’re in despair, right?

show me the despair ending

it’s okay to feel despair sometimes... THANK YOU ANON COMMENTER

Why have we been doing this...?

Hope doesn’t turn back!

The big reveal, at last

And it was just getting interesting.

We’re the mastermind.

Are they blaming us?

hurry up and refute it

C’mon, Keebo! Attack!

Force hope through.

something’s different right?

C’mon Keebo!

No, that’s wrong!

No, that’s wrong!

What’s going to happen?

mmm... Shuichi’s eyes ^q^ SWEETCHI97 STRIKES AGAIN

What are you saying, detective?

Oh!!! Oh shit!!! Shuichi you brilliant bastard!!!

“Thank god - I mean, let’s be honest, we all knew this was coming - uh, I mean -”

Actually though, how depressing. So many times we’ve talked about ‘reasons to live’, and later on, reasons to die, and lo and behold here we are, at the end of everything...

Shuichi’s learned from the best, Kokichi Ouma - sometimes, death is just a means to an end, and that end is usually flipping someone off.

Random thought - isn’t it interesting that Shuichi is the ‘lone man against everyone’ while Tsumugi, the final boss, is the one ‘acting on behalf of everyone’? When Naegi was trying to rally everyone on his side, they had known at that point that people had been fighting and dying to rescue them. For Hajime and the others, they had the defected Future Foundation members who had risked their own safety to come in and rescue them, and even had Nanami reach out to him. Shuichi, though... Shuichi came to this conclusion on his own, with everyone either against him or swept up in the narrative.

He told Kokichi at the end of Chapter 4 that ‘he was alone, and always would be’. But maybe... that’s not such a bad thing. Maybe Shuichi needed to be alone to have that clarity of thought, and to come up with a way to ‘end everything’. Anyway, it’s just an unexpected parallel I thought of - m-maybe I’m just inserting endgame Kokichi and Kaito thoughts here because the game didn’t. Whoops

I AM LIVING FOR THE TOTAL REJECTION OF THE ‘HOPE’ AND ‘DESPAIR’ THEME

TAKE THAT!!!!

It’s not your own will. 8c

Can you fight it? Do you have the ability to fight it? The strength of will?

I love Monokuma’s priorities.

OH WE HAVEN’T HAD A DEBATE IN A WHILE

omg we only have hope as a bullet

And all the noise says hope

Also Shuichi is dominating it too, holy shit! This strength in his voice is super inspiring!

thank you for bringing back angry Hanamura it’s still one of my favourite things from the second game

Ohoho I see what you did there with that line ~

i’m sorry I was just curious about the fluff text

CHARACTER GROWTH

I CANNOT BELIEVE IT

K1-B0 LEARNED TO LIE!!!! I NEVER THOUGHT THIS DAY WOULD COME!!!

“That’s redundant btw - I can read the comments just like the rest of you, and they literally are not shutting up about how much they want hope to win.”

speaking of which

What are you doing, Keebo?

Don’t give up hope!

Hope! Hope! Hope!

Please side with hope.

1 vote for hope!

I bet the mastermind is shocked. lol

Hurry up and show me hope.

HOPE!

COME BACK HOOOPE

Hope counter!

show us maki roll! oh hey she has fans too!

it’s unanimous hope.

Hope hasn’t lost yet.

Defeat despair!

cmon it’s hope again! right?

I’m routing for despair so *shrugs*

I got 10 bucks riding on hope. that’s it? weak

I’m on the side of hope, so...

I wanna break Shuichi’s fingers <3 SWEETCHI97 WHO HURT YOU

Huh? It’s hope?

So... So wow, even most of the people talking about wanting despair really did want the hope ending in the end. Shuichi read them like open books.

HE CAN! HE CAN DEFY THE AUDIENCE!!!! I’M SO HAPPY FOR YOU K1-B0!!!!

This - this is why you’re the Ultimate Robot. Forget the upgrades - the ability to learn, grow, adapt and choose your own path is another part of your strength!

WE.... WE’RE LOSING HIS POV..... We’re losing his POV?!?!

Yeah??? You wanna expand on that???

T-Though I mean, they said they’re happy to let themselves die via no vote so exactly what can they do anyway? At the end of the day, they’re viewers, right? Relegated to an observational role. Powerful and untouchable.... but in turn, that separation of realities means what’s left of the class can’t be hurt by them, either.

Tsumugi he literally said he’s fine with dying. Exactly what can you threaten him with here???

How is it that after all of this, Shuichi is still unable to fight for himself? Maybe I should amend what I said before - he is fighting for other people. They just... well, they don’t know it yet. He’s fighting to prevent future victims, and he’s trading his own life to protect them. I guess in a sense he is fighting something ‘greater than himself’ like Naegi did, but even he had ‘hope that he and his friends would survive with a happy ending’. This is... completely the opposite of that.

GOODBYE DANGANRONPA INDEED, DAMN

And we’re back in his POV!

Oh man she is not happy about this. Not at all.

Hey? Hey Shuichi? What - what the fuck does that mean? You were going to end it all right then? Mid-trial? Excuse me what the hell did you take poison with you to the trial or something -

Oh - oh. I just realized. This... This was bloody foreshadowed, way back in Chapter 1 with the escape tunnel. With Kokichi’s speech to Kaede, about how she technically had the moral high ground when she was doing all the classic ‘we can’t give up here!’ encouragement, we got to see firsthand hope being weaponized against us. It was right there.

Of course they have Naegi pleading for hope here

He’s just talking over her omfg

You trivialized their lives in the first place and now they’re supposed to consider them sacred?!

It’s literally the only thing that still wholly belongs to them, so what other choice do they have???

Wait what is happening -

I’M HIMIKO NOW??!?!?

i can’t believe she was a slytherin this whole time

I’m quietly relieved that she doesn’t ‘nyeh’ in her internal monologue

THIS IS THE DARKEST EVIDENCE BULLET FOR ENDGAME DEAR LORD

this might be worse than nihilism - at least you weren’t able to use that

How interesting to have him fighting us (along with Sakura and Peko for that matter, the former who literally threw away her life for her classmates and the latter who treated her life as a tool for Fuyuhiko). This was his philosophy and motive of his trial, but he also chose to be the killer and used his life as a means to save the rest of his class, right? Tsumugi, what are you trying to pull here?

Though I guess the whole point was that they were all trying to help the others survive, and Shuichi is getting the whole class to kamikaze themselves so...

Damn, she didn’t take much convincing at all. It’s nice that she’s repping both Tenko and Angie here. 8′)

FUCK YEAH WE NAILED THIS HIMIKO! We work well together, who knew!

Himiko is so well-spoken here. And to think that she was the first to follow in Shuichi’s footsteps - I really thought it would be Maki. Good on you, Himiko.

lmao that segway - Alright, now it’s Maki time, right?

also Tsumugi why would you phrase it in a way to piss off Maki like damn seriously??

“No seriously why would you just call me out like that.”

........................

okay she has a point actually

Never forget that we are in a class trial where almost all of the survivors are introverts who prefer their emotions on the inside.

!!!!!!!

DFJGDSKFL SHUICHI ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME

Her... internal dialogue is so interesting and immediately comes off as different from Shuichi’s, Himiko’s and K1-b0′s. It seems... angrier, maybe. Is that it? Or maybe it’s all the red lines that makes it seem that way...

This whole line of her entire self being at the whim of someone else’s writing seems to be targeted at her more-so than the others because she’s already struggled with the idea that she’s had no choices in her life, and that she’s always been a weapon to be used by others. Actually, that’s probably why this hits so hard - she thought she was developing feelings on her own and making a choice to fight to defend him, and the idea of even that being taken away from her...

“I have love, but more importantly SPITE ON MY SIDE!!!”

AND ANOTHER ONE

hsdfjgh no don’t pan over the Kaito portrait w h y my heart

Angry Mikan is still as terrifying as she was in SDR2!

As an aside, I don’t know why Hagakure repeatedly showing up is so funny to me - I swear he’s been used more than the others? I-Is he secretly Tsumugi’s favourite character? is it because he’s also older than everyone else and she finds that thought comforting -

“I won’t go far as saying I don’t want to die mind you, but I’m surprisingly neutral on the subject!”

If Tsumugi’s ‘everyone’ who she’s fighting for is the living, then the ‘everyone’ Shuichi is fighting for is the dead...

Even if it’s fiction - it’s their reality. Expecting them to understand that because it’s someone else’s fiction... that’s just not fair, is it?

Sweetcheeks has an uphill battle to fight, but to have a second class revolt in a single game....

HEY SAIHARA-CHAN DID YOU HEAR THAT? THE ROBOT’S GETTING SASSY WITH ME!

K1-B0 YOU ABSOLUTE LEGEND

THE TEAM’S BACK TOGETHER!!!

That’s... that’s it. I think we’ve done it. They’ve finally done it! They were able to turn it around after all!

THIS IS OUR TURNABOUT!!!

[ajw720]

I don’t want to come off as a hater or anything... I have a real genuine question. Anything that D, C, Or anyone related to their their “PR coverup” thing you believe does is turned around to match what you believe. You twist things and make them what you want, which is fine, I don’t care at all tbh because you don’t harass them, etc. I’m just wondering, at what point would it become real to you? I always accepted that if CC were to come out, I would obviously accept it and move on, (1/?)...

I would obviously accept it and move on, no doubts because what can i do? They said it’s real so it’s real. But what would be the point for you, the thing that C or D can do to make you say “oh, CC is not real and they are with M and W” And please don’t give me a bs response like “I know it’s real so this wouldn’t happen blah blah blah” because I know that Chill is real and CC would never happen, but I do accept the reality that anything is possible and I could potentially be wrong, (1/?)…

and I could potentially be wrong, even if I 100% don’t believe I am. I really want to ask this and again, no hate!! Just really curious (finished, sorry it’s so long

******************************************************************

Hi nonnie!  For the record, I have absolutely no issue with someone like yourself approaching me respectfully and asking a question and seeking information.  We are all entitled to our beliefs and as I have said before, if you don’t attack me, I don’t have any issue with you.  So I appreciate how you approached me and I am happy to respond.

This being said, you aren’t going to like my response.  You have to remember, I only post a fraction of what i know, and I know unequivocally, without a doubt, that CC is real.  And I know that is a frustrating response and one many will attack me for, but that is because I MUST respect the two men whose lives it would affect if I were to say more.  And out of respect for them, I will only speak about information that is available publicly.

So there is literally nothing they can do that would make me accept that D&M are real or that that C&W are real.  And i mean nothing. Trust me, I have thought the worst and even if it happens, I will never back down.  Further if CC never comes out publicly, I will still know that they are a couple and very much in love.

And I respect that you believe in C/hill.  I think that is fair, if you don’t look too closely,C/hill is somewhat believable. M/iarren on the other hand can be publicly refuted easily and those who truly believe and stan them are being intentionally blind.  

But I will say anon, if you look at C, really look at him, you will see that he is a master at playing the game and he does so brilliantly .  Sometimes I feel sad that he actually invests time and energy into showing the truth and only a small fraction of his fans see it.  Because he talks, all the time, and very publicly.

Thanks for stopping by nonnie! Sorry I couldn’t give you what you wanted.  

[lovelyirony]

Hey so if Bruce can smell the crazy on Loki what can he smell on the Avengers? Does he have to avoid our dear Bucket Barn and Tiny Star when their trauma smells so strong it would make him Hulk out in anger on their behalf? Do JARVIS and the bots have a smell? The public needs answers. -teahusbands anon.

hey you got the ask!!! and i love the idea that bruce has a heightened sense of smell, and so without hesitation, here it is: 

Bruce had always had a more sensitive nose, but now with Hulk? It was like the worst/best nose ever. He could smell everything. Which was okay. Not really. But hey. He was on the run most of the time, so it wasn’t like he was focused on his sense of smell. 

The Avengers have some of the strongest…auras? He wants to say auras. Scents. That makes a lot more sense. 

The first person he smells is Natasha. She smells like the first snowfall, metal, and just the softest hint of flowers. He doesn’t trust her. She’s terrified of him; not just the Hulk. Usually if people know about the Hulk, they are scared. But more of “hey let’s just follow the rule that says I’m going to pretend to act normal around you.” But she…Natasha Romanoff is tense. He can smell it coming off in waves. 

He has a little bit of a test with her. She says she came alone. Bruce doesn’t know why she’s lying to him, or trying to. He could see the glints of rifles pointed at him the moment he was left alone in the house. So he lets loose his anger a little bit. Mainly because Ms. Romanoff is trying to get him to come to SHIELD over a cosmic cube? Something they picked up. No matter what she says, there’s nothing that can convince him that SHIELD only wants him for the brain he has. 

No one has ever just wanted Bruce Banner. They always want more. He’s accepted it. 

The next person he meets (and sniffs) is Steve Rogers. Living legend. He…smells like old books. Gunpowder. Crisp fall air. It’s not a bad smell. Bruce finds that Steve is saying that the fact that Bruce is trying to find the cube is the only thing he cares about. 

It’s a nice sentiment, probably a lie. 

The next is Tony Stark. 

He’s overwhelming. He smells like a car garage, the inside of a new car, and the strong smell of metal after rain. His personality is…strong. Bruce is curious. 

Of course, there’s Thor. After the whole “fight in a forest thing” that Cap, Thor, and Iron Man were all in. It brings Loki, whose scent of a quiet forest, flames, and linen seeps through everything. 

Even if it’s nicer, Bruce hates how sick it makes him feel. The grin on his face. Loki is just waiting to set the Hulk off. He turns away, putting his own shirt to his face in order to smell something different. 

Thor smells like linen, an open field, and the sea. He smells the best out of everyone. 

Bruce doesn’t trust easily. Not even the people who treat him like they’d treat anyone else. But the person he doesn’t trust above all is Director Nick Fury. The man smells like gunpowder as well, but it’s sharper. There’s added notes of leather and oddly enough, oranges. It’s jarring. 

Of course, they do have a Hulk container. All-you-can-stay. If you get out of line, you might even get dropped! Bruce loves people. Always so fucking inventive. They think they can kill him–kill the Hulk. 

That’s adorable, honestly. 

When Tony Stark falls from the sky like an angel damned, Hulk can smell it. He can smell acceptance, the fading of rain-scented metal and garages. He panics. He can’t–will not die. Not today. 

He meets Clint as they’re sending Loki up to Asgard prison. Clint smells like a coffee shop, lilacs, and bacon. It’s…odd. But Bruce thinks he’s nice, for the most part. Nearly trips on their way to eat. It’s funny. 

The Avengers start living together. They all say it’s for the missions. 

It’s not. 

They start acting more like a…family. Their scents start intermingling. Bruce enjoys the new experiences. 

Except when trauma or nightmares hit. Scent tends to spike. 

Natasha and Clint tend to stay away, but they have scents that could probably be smelled from the other side of the building. They smell so strong that Bruce gets headaches. He has to lay down and put some other scent just under his nose. Snowfall and lilacs intermingle, pounding into Bruce’s head. 

No one knows about it. Bruce never says anything. 

Tony’s scent is the worst out of all of them. Mainly because Bruce? He couldn’t always tell with Tony. Sometimes Bruce would nearly stagger at the scent of Tony because it was so distressed and Tony? 

He looked completely fine. 

Bruce had to lie down. He felt bad. But beforehand, he made tea for Tony. 

Bucky Barnes, when he comes to the tower, is a whole other bag of crazy. His mind is so messed up someone could probably market a damned jigsaw puzzle out of it. There are conflicting scents–the scent of hard candy, newspapers, and apples spike with the smell of gun oil, smoke, and electricity. 

This is how they find out that Bruce can sniff things. “Cool,” Clint says. “What do I smell like?” 

“Lilacs, bacon, and coffee.” 

“Lilacs are weird, but the others are spot on! Nice!” Bruce nods. 

“I need to…lie down.” Then he faints. This causes general panic. Bruce is surprised when he wakes up. 

Bucky is nice about it. He doesn’t really stay too near Bruce. He remains calm. Bruce says that Bucky doesn’t have to regulate himself around Bruce. Bucky smiles. 

“I have to regulate myself around everyone, doll.” 

Bruce shouldn’t feel flustered. 

(He so is.) 

Bruce continues his life. Nothing much has changed. He just ignores everything once again, makes self-deprecating jokes to himself less now that Tony can hear them and scientifically refute them, (how the hell he does it, Bruce has no clue,) and Bruce also finds out that Clint doesn’t know how to make actual coffee. 

“You…you just use instant coffee?” Bruce asks. He feels like he’s going to faint again. Clint shrugs. 

“Tastes the same, right?” 

“….no.” 

Natasha whacks Bruce’s head when Clint starts singing about his French Vanilla coffee. 

“You’ve created a monster.”

“Glad to know this one’s only fueled by coffee and not by rage.” Natasha smirks, getting her own cup. Bruce realizes that the smell of flowers is coming on stronger on her. It’s nice. 

Bucky is still a mystery. He’ll come into the labs to see what Bruce is working on. He says he likes science. Bruce shrugs and shows him to synthesize stuff and make everything look about ten times cooler. 

“You like him,” Natasha says in French. 

“You are talking like you are a matchmaker,” Bucky returns back in Russian. “Stop it, Yente.” 

“You know that’s not the term for matchmaker.” 

“Yet you answer to it. How strange.” 

Bucky isn’t wrong. Natasha likes playing matchmaker. That’s mainly how she has fun without breaking laws. Mostly. 

He does think their resident “I’m not a doctor, but let me take care you” Dr. Banner is cute. His hair is fluffy. The jawline is nice. He’s a very nice man. Always quiet, respectful, but goddamn that man has a sense of humor. Bucky always laughs when he’s around. 

Bruce thinks that the scent that Bucky has–the hard candy, the newspapers, and apples comes through more and more. It’s by far his favorite scent. Not that he’s telling Tony that, because then Tony will try to match Bucky and Bruce together. 

In the end, however, it’s Bucky who initiates it. Bruce had gone to a science conference, Bucky as the security. “I don’t need security,” Bruce says. “I’m my own security.” 

“Consider me insurance,” Bucky says. “Besides, you could get kidnapped. You wouldn’t transform because you could injure people.” 

“Damn your common sense,” Bruce remarks. Bucky snorts. 

They’re on a plane when Bruce is looking at the sun setting. He looks quite pretty with the soft orange highlighting his face. 

“How the hell are you so handsome?” Bruce turns around. Bucky realizes he said this out loud. “You were not supposed to hear that.” 

“And if I don’t mind it?” 

“Dinner after your conference? My hotel room?” 

“Don’t put bell peppers on the pizza and I’m all yours.”