#anyway the trio finally all interact! yay!

[haunted-xander]

When she came too, she was in a bedroom she's never seen before. Her chest felt heavy still from her actions the other day, but having had proper rest helped her keep her mind steady. The door opened and Nagito came in and sat on the edge of the bed. "You're finally awake! What a relief. I was beginning to worry you'd die in your sleep!" His voice was soft and calm, betraying no emotion. Oh, Komaeda-kun. That's right... I did find him, didn't I? I'm glad... He seems okay. "Nanami-san, I'm so happy I could see you again! And to think even someone like me could help you in your time of despair! I could just-"

"Don't bother her so soon after waking. Her mind is still shaken, she needs peace." A dull, monotone voice cut off Nagito's ramblings as a man she hadn't notice come in leaned against the now closed door. Kamukura-kun... So he's joined Komaeda-kun now? Better than Enoshima-san, I guess... "Ah, of course. You're right as always, Kamukura-sama. My apologies, I didn't mean to overload you so quickly! I was just so excited... Haaahahaha~ the amount of hope that'll be born from your journey... I can't wait to see it~" Nagito wrapped his arms around himself and started shaking and drooling, all while breathy laughter escaped his lips continuously.

...Komaeda-kun's kinda easy, huh? He gets super excited so quickly... She looked back to Izuru and noticed his blank expression had shifted into slight exasperation. If he's working with Komaeda-kun, he probably deals with this all the time... He doesn't seem too annoyed though. "...Komaeda-kun... Where are we?" There were many questions she wanted to ask, but she thought it best to start simple. "We are in an abandoned house Komaeda and I have been using for some time now." Ooooh, they're roomates. Wonder how that happened. "...Nanami. You have more questions. Go ahead and ask." Izuru made a face that made it clear he knew exactly what she was thinking, but made no move to correct her or explain the circumstances. Huh. So it really is like that. Didn't expect Kamukura-kun to actually indulge Komaeda-kun like that. Cool.

"...Well, why did you help me, Komaeda-kun? You're also..." Hesitating to say it out loud, she trailed off instead. "Brainwashed? Despaired? I am aware of my situation, Nanami-san. Unlike the others, it appears I've managed to keep some hold of my mind. It is quite hard to tell what's my own thoughts and what is her influence, however..." At the mention of that girl, his face grew dark and his tone harshened considerably. "Oh yes, her... Junko Enoshima... The person I hate... and love... the most of all... I want nothing more than to see her dead..." His eyes spiralled with mania as he started shaking uncontrollably. Unlike previously, this didn't seem to be from excitement. He was rapidly coming undone. "Huh...? Do I... hate her...? Huh? Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh-"

"Stop that." Izuru grabbed his face, snapping Nagito out of his spiral. "How boring. Your mind is strong enough to resist her brainwashing, yet awfully weak to the thought of that boring girl. I much prefer you with your mind intact." He leaned closer until their noses were almost touching. ...Is he gonna...? I guess that'd help snap Komaeda-kun out of it, but is that really appropriate right now...? "Ka-Kamu-Kamuk-kura-s-samaaaaa... I lo-love youuuuuu... I hate y-you............" Nagito began rambling about nonsense until he passed out and ended up falling backwards onto Chiaki,s legs. Is he okay...? I hope this isn't a common occurance... Poor Komaeda-kun... At least Kamukura-kun is here to take care of him, I guess... "...It seems the questions will have to wait until later. Rest, Nanami."

"...What about Komaeda-kun?"

"I will take care of him. He will be fine." Without another word, he picked up Nagito's unconscious body and left the room. Chiaki decided to go back to sleep for the time being.

+ A bonus!

[victorluvsalice]

-->Fortunately, chatting with the other customers went a lot better. Hell, Smiler not only managed to ring up Geoffrey Landgraab for a box of tomato sauce, they even got some money advice in the bargain (judging by the Focused moodlet they had after the interaction)! And the hits just kept on coming --

Alice finished up her workout in time to ring up Emilia Ernest, Victor’s dueling partner from the last episode, for a box of cheese (because even if she can't greet customers, she can apparently finalize sales – logic!), then – after a bathroom break – went out to have some zoomies as the Fury was starting to get a little high from her being cooped up in the break room all this time. She then returned and plopped down by one of the planters for a nap, only to be chased back inside the break room by the rain. Can't have wet werewolves stinking up the joint!

Victor sold some Playful scent to Lily Feng and a box of vegetarian MREs to Ukupanpio (one of the Sulani mermaids) before his growling stomach forced him to take a quick break, grabbing Cameron’s abandoned microwave pastry (which wasn’t great but at least filled him up), before returning to sell a Purple Parallel flower arrangement to Annette. Which I was frankly glad to see, as the flower arrangements did NOT seem to be garnering a lot of customer interest before. Come on, guys, we have so many flowers...

And Smiler, of course, was the selling MVP, ringing up Cameron Fletcher for a box of mayonnaise; Venessa for an Energizing scent; Penny for box of meat substitute; and Nalani for a box of veggie MREs! All while managing to ignore the fact that Judith Ward was visiting and the paparazzi were taking pictures of her in the bathroom. XD At least now I’m sure customers can use it! We also had Yuki yank a quill fruit out of one of the produce fridges, though the game really wasn’t fond of her doing that, spitting out an LE. I’m not sure my game likes some of Brazen Lotus’s mods, unfortunately...might need to consider a mod folder clean-up in the future...

-->Anyway – by this point, it was getting a bit late in the day, and everyone’s enthusiasm for the store was flagging. Victor took some time to magically clean the produce stands and the bathroom sink before going for a nap on the break room sofa, while Alice similarly did a little more working out, licked herself clean, then curled up on the break room floor for a snooze of her own (as her werewolf instincts were demanding another one). Smiler was still keen to talk to people, but as it was getting to be about 6:30 PM in-game, I figured it was about time they closed up and had them do just that. Final totals of the day – eleven items sold, for a total profit of $4,932! Not too shabby. AND it wasn’t quite as laggy – the game still had a nasty habit of pausing when customers grabbed items or when someone was trying to clean up out-of-stock signs, but it wasn’t NEARLY as bad as it was the last time I played the store. Seems like having less for sale did actually help in that regard, yay! :) Anyway, I was all ready to pack it up and send the trio home –

[rayshippouuchiha]

Heya, Ray. Tis I, back here again to ramble your ear off!

So in terms of timeline, I'm still somewhat obsessed with Figuring It Out™ but I've been trying to go easier on that front. But here's the stuff I found whilst on my merry adventures!

Nagato is in Amegakure. Nagato, an Uzumaki descendant, is in Amegakure. Oh while it is possible that a clan's members could very well live outside their village I decided to take it to mean that Uzushio was already down by then. Nagato's age when his parents died, and his age when he met the Sannin, are not stated so it's “???”.

The wiki states his age was 36 in Shippuden, if I remember correctly. That means he was 33 in Naruto part 1. And with a bit of fiddling I found that Minato and Kushina would've been 36-37 in Naruto part 1 had they lived. So there's a 3-4 year age gap between them.

Honestly I thought the gap would be bigger than this.

But nonetheless I can try and maybe extrapolate that Nagato, Yahiko and Konan could've been 3-4 when... they met the Sannin...

I have not watched that scene in years but they do not look 3/4 in that scene in my memory. Wtf?

I came to that conclusion because Minato was apparently 10 when Jiraiya came back and started training him. And Jiraiya was in Amegakure for three years. Minato would've been 7 at the beginning of that three-year period and thus the Ame trio would've been 6-7 by that point which is... isn't it way too young? Jiraiya wtf? Kishimoto??? Explain???

Anyways moving on, I deduced that there was a 13(/14) year age gap between the Sannin and MinaKushi. So Jiraiya would've been like, 23 when he came back.

I made Dan like, two years older than them. I found no evidence that he was indeed three years older than Tsunade but hmm... not like there's a huge difference between two and three anyways so I don't know why I bothered with that—

This gives us two whole years before he dies and Tsunade leaves. Yay. Maybe cousin shenanigans afoot?

I have yet to decide Nawaki's age. All we know is that he died at age 12 and that he died before Dan did, which isn't a lot to go on...

(though he may already be dead by the time Tsunade met Dan because well... iirc her hairstyles are different and the fact that she has the necklace back but I may just be being dumb and stating the obvious)

For a very long time I'd been trying to pin down Kushina's age when she came to Konoha but now I just went: “screw it, she's eight”.

Which means the Sannin and Hoshiori would be 21.

I just went completely random and assigned Sakumo's age as being four years older than the Sannin. I do not know why, just roll with it.

And since there's like, a ten-year age gap between MinaKushi and Kakashi, Kakashi would only be born in the year Jiraiya comes back. Tsunade's still around.

Uzushio's fall might've been the final straw on the camel's back that made everything escalate into war, but I wouldn't really know since I need to know more about the Second Shinobi World War.

But still! This half-assed ““timeline”” of mine gives Hoshiori to prance around wrecking shit in the frontlines. That's fun.

Also apparently samurai exist in the Naruto world. I'm trying not to give into my impulses and have tiny Hoshi interact with Land of Iron. Fuck.

(why is there only one samurai nation and why hasn't it been invaded already— what are their techniques like? I wanna know more)

Hopefully now that I've got the “who's where in this particular time frame” thing down hopefully my damn brain will finally let me write.

God there's so much and you're parsing through it so yeah may the writing gods bless you and Hoshi

[wonderland-in-bloom]

kingyo-chan...literally

[second year boys]

HEEEEEEY GUYS!!!! (i promise requests will be opened soon) so this is going to be something a little bit different! as many of you know, i usually write reader inserts but today i decided to be writing something with just the boys for the sake of fueling my satisfaction of interactions with the boys, and idk i felt like writing something for myself today~ and i have a smol question....are y’all okay w/ chara x chara? like yaoi/bl/shounen ai bla bla (although a is still kinda confused who she ships who with lol) i’ll also happily take requests of a canon chara x canon chara (if y’all are comfortable w/ it of course) :))

this oneshot will consist of the second years: riddle, ruggie, the octavinelle trio, the scarabia duo, and silver! and i’ll be labeling this oneshot in my masterlist as twst boys!

anyways hope you guys enjoy this -3-

♡

“LISTEN up you dogs!” a very familiar scream pierced the air and made its way into all of the student’s ears. divus crewel officially started class. today was quite a special occasion as the whole second years had a conjoined alchemy class. azul was thrilled, after all it was his best and most liked subject, thus he was just beyond excited. he wondered what kind of task professor crewel would give them that day. “today we’ll be focusing on a potion which can transform those who drink it into mermen.” 

some of the octavinelle students cheered, including the octavinelle trio. “yay!!! maybe we can use this to bring some of the students down back to our home hmm?” floyd cheered. “indeed, floyd. it will certainly be interesting.” jade added. “however!” professor crewel’s voice boomed again. “i will be picking your partners.” groans could be heard around the room. “damn it! i can’t be with you then jamil.” kalim whined. jamil awkwardly chuckled but thought to himself, thank god. riddle was panicking to himself and fidgeting immensely. please don’t let me be stuck with floyd. please don’t let me be stuck with floyd. please don’t let me be stuck with floyd. PLEASE ANYTHING BUT THAT! professor crewel took out the list of names written on parchment paper. he cleared his throat and this was when riddle started to feel even more anxious. “jamil viper and azul ashengrotto.” jamil sighed in relief. he didn’t have to be in such a hassle. azul just smirked. jamil was a clever person, and they wouldn’t have any problems working together. 

“jade leech and kalim al-asim.” kalim cheered. “pleasure working with ya, jade!” jade just smiled. “of course. the pleasure is mine.” yes it was rather a chaotic pair...but at least it wasn’t going to be that disastrous. “ruggie bucchi and silver.” ruggie sighed. he didn’t exactly have a problem with silver but they weren’t that well acquainted either. he was just thankful he didn’t get someone problematic or chaotic. riddle sunk in his chair. he knew exactly what this meant. professor crewel went through all the names of the students, and riddle knew that everyone had a pair. and all that was left....was floyd. “floyd leech and riddle rosehearts.” riddle slammed his head on the table, causing a student beside him to jump in shock. “why out of all people...why?!” he muttered to himself. he soon felt an arm slung around his shoulders. “yaaaaay! it looks like we’re a pair kingyo-chan!” please kill me now.

“fufufu, it seems as if riddle-kun and floyd are a pair.” azul chuckled as he stared at the two. jamil was already up and ready and lit the flame to the cauldron. the two of them knew it was going to be easy peasy. “i hope nothing bad goes wrong.” jamil just sighed as azul started to read out the instructions for the potion. “ah kalim-san, please be careful.” kalim jumped back from the lit up flame below the cauldron. “phew! almost got burnt there.” jamil’s ears twitched and furrowed his eyebrows as his furiously threw the ingredients into the cauldron. “it’ll be alright, jamil-kun.” azul assured him. “hopefully.” he mumbled to himself as he started to stir the concoction. 

“ah, one fish tail please silver-san.” ruggie and silver did surprisingly well. ruggie just read the instructions out loud while silver just followed in pursuit and did everything ruggie said. surprisingly, they worked well together compared to the other pairs. “do i stir now?” ruggie shook his head. “it says here to wait for thirty seconds.” they were actually functioning properly. who would guess? as ruggie was about to stop the stopwatch, his ears perked up as he heard a shriek from beside him. “WAAAA~I THOUGHT YOU SAID LIZARD’S TAIL?!”  kalim was panicking as he put in the wrong ingredient into the cauldron. jade was trying his best to calm him down but also not lose his shit. “kalim-san, it’ll be alright. we’ll just conjure another batch after this.” jamil heard all of this from where he stood and gripped the wooden stirrer so tight it was almost crushed under his grip. “i do not trust anyone else to be his partner. not even myself at times.” he was basically just a tired mom at this point. poor jamil. 

meanwhile over at floyd and riddle’s cauldron, it was quiet. awkwardly quiet. by the power of the queen of hearts, please don’t let anything bad happen. riddle kept to himself and stirred the potion. “ne, ne, kingyo-chan~ aren’t you excited to try this potion out?” riddle gulped. “it’s against the protocols for students to be trying out the potions without official permission from the professor. besides, we better be careful to not get in contact with the potion, or else...” floyd pouted as he started to pour the concoction into a vial. at first he carefully eyed which one but eventually got bored and distracted from his task. he didn’t even look at where he was pouring the potion until he heard a gasp from beside him. riddle was covered in their potion. “uh oh...” there was a poof of red colored smoke. when the smoke cleared, floyd looked down to see...a small red goldfish flopping on the floor. “k...kingyo...chan?” he scooped up the little goldfish in his arms. it continued to flop around. 

“but the potion was supposed to make you into a merman...not an actual goldfish...” floyd wondered to himself as he stared at the small fish in his hands. riddle wasn’t able to speak but he was thinking to himself how much he needed water. if he could speak, he would scream at floyd and demand to put him in water. he was a fish after all. but alas he wasn’t able to and just continued flopping around. “what happened here...OH MY GOD WHAT IS THAT?!” azul came over to see what happened and his jaw dropped when he saw the goldfish in floyd’s hands. “riddle-kun....is now a kingyo.” azul panicked. “JAMIL-KUN GET SOME WATER IN A LARGE BEAKER. NOW.” jamil heard the panic and worry in azul’s voice and rushed. 

he ran, water occasionally spilling out of the beaker but he managed to make it in time for azul to scoop up ‘riddle’ from floyd’s arms and into the beaker. he was able to swim around now and breathe. phew. he was safe. “HOW ON EARTH DID THIS HAPPEN?!” azul screamed slightly, getting attention from the other students. “oya oya, floyd what did you do?” jade sighed as he saw the commotion. “WAAAAAH! IS THAT RIDDLE-KUN?!” kalim gasped as he tried to get a better look at the goldfish in the beaker held by jamil. “KALIM! OI! CAREFUL!” jamil scolded him as he tried to steadily hold the beaker. professor crewel stepped closer to the incident. he scolded floyd for being so irresponsible and not careful, but also riddle for not watching what floyd was doing. in the end, he just told azul and jamil to quickly come up with an antidote to reverse the mess. meanwhile ruggie and silver were watching from afar. 

“shishishishi, i wonder what they got wrong.” silver took a closer look from where the two of them were standing. he glanced at their cauldron. floyd and riddle’s potion was raspberry in color, while silver and ruggie’s were a mauve color. the instructions stated that the mauve color was how the final potion should be. he then remembered how the color was a raspberry-like color before they added the fish tail. “ah. they forgot the fish tail.” ruggie thought about it for a while before he snapped his fingers. “of course! good analysis silver-san!” 

“sheesh, what is with everyone else and the fish tail. such an easy task to do but everyone apparently messes it up. shishishsi what an interesting day today is.” 

♡

yours truly wants to make a comic w/ astra and le boys but haduh the dedication isn’t there ;-;

love, a♕

[campcampfanfan]

Let me start off with saying, these two fanfics are my favorite of all time. They are incredibly well written, exciting, and overall amazing. I am writing this review because 1) I’m bored and 2) This fic deserves a proper review. And I admire Forestwater. That too. I will be reviewing both parts, The Adventures of Tigger and Eyeore and Tigger and Eyeore: Camp Campbell and beyond. I am also splitting this into two posts, so yeah. Also, Trigger warnings for Swearing, Smut Review, and All Caps. The other post will have trigger warnings on it as well. So, enjoy!

So, the first chapter. What happens? Gwen arrives, reading, and David scares her on accident. She thinks he’s a camper, which I started bursting out laughing. He does act and looks like a camper, which makes sense. Anyways, our amazing lead, Gwen, realizes he’s another counselor, and is shocked. She reflects on not being able to Campbell, and they begin to get to know each other. Honestly, this is such a nice scene. Don’t ask me why, it’s so nice. Like, just the way they interact is so soothing and nice. It’s a good first chapter! 

Second chapter! This was super cool to see what could have been. I really love this scene with Gwen and David, as it has them interacting about what they would do, what they are free and just… talk. It’s nice. Also, expanding on Gwen’s love of trash T.V is amazing. Thanks for that, Forest. Amazing Gwen introducing the amazing Bob Ross, and it’s perfect. Whatever, amazing chapter. 

Third chapter. The 4 S’s? Amazing. If y’all don’t know what that stand for here's the paragraph. It’s amazing, read it: 

“Oh, no. She really should've checked with David to make sure whatever he had planned didn't include the 4 S's: Stab, Smash, Shatter, or Seriously Fuck Shit Up. Glass bottles fell under at least 3 of those categories.”

Also, David said the tucked away line was gold. I think I physically squealed at that. Honestly, not too much happens other than the fire thing, but you know, good chapter! 

Fourth chapter. Wow, I’m getting through this faster than I thought I would. They are in forest?!?! At night?!?!? Alone?!??! … Nice. Capture the flag! Good idea!... Do I not have any more criticism for this chapter? It’s just amazing and well written? Also Gwen read Twilight? Oh who am I kidding, of course she did. WHEEZE… 

Chapter five. Amazing. Perfect. Fucking perfect. David being terrified of scary stories, the bastard trio being the bastard trio, and a behind the scenes look at what would have happened during the credits. The Gwen and David leaving for Spooky Island after dusk and being scarred for life is amazing.

Chapter 6 fuckers. Really good chapter! We gotta love David falling in love with Gwen. Love it. Also, jokes hit home. Good job! Also, um, I love Gwen’s self doubt issues? Not like, love it, I’m not glorifying it in any way, but I…. to do that. Let’s be frank, I think I suck ass, so I relate to Gwen. Me too, girl, me too.  Also, the magazine thing was so well done? I don’t know how to explain it, it was just a good scene of David looking over Gwen’s magazine’s and wondering if she thinks she needs it. And Gwen’s nicknames for the kids? Very nice. I know I’m not paying attention to the big plot points and shit, but the details and small things make me very happy! I like the small things, and I enjoy it. This is my review, ok? I get to pick what it’s about.

Already on Chapter 7! And OH MY GOD, BON BON MY BELOVED. Amazing! Lovely! I’m crying and I'm so happy! This might actually be my favorite chapter? Like, I love this one. And David plays Wheel of Fortune? Hello, that’s amazing. This is just fantastic? I don’t know specifically why, but Gwen and Bon Bon have the best damn dynamic. Gwen’s taste in men is trash, ok? Except David. That’s it. But anyways, Gwen discussing her exes with Bon Bon was a perfect scene. I kinda love Bon Bon acting as a more advice figure? Forest, if you are listening, please, if she ever comes back, more of that. Gwen patching David up is nice and sweet, and I just overall love Bon Bon??????

Chapter 8 is sad David. I just love David talks about how Gwen sees herself and tries to help?? Like, I don’t know if you guys read “Taking Charge” By Azeran on Ao3, but that’s a very good example of David recognizing Gwen’s unhealthy behavior and trying to help. Once again, Friend Forest (Can I call you my friend? Are we just mutuals? Idk?), I kinda love the idea of this fic, and would love to see a chapter about that, or maybe even…. A smut chapter????? Haha, just kidding, Unless? Wow, that was super long just ranting. Sorry, Sorry. Time to talk about the actual story. We love Gwen’s want to kiss David’s forehead. Amazing. They are practically dating. Alright, hurrying this up, I’m just going to make the next paragraph about the next few chapters. 

More Gwenvid stuff, and it’s amazing. Gwen has more self doubt, which I relate too, and David comforts her! Perfection. We also love Gwen slowly loving her job, it just feels so nice. Also, David being kind of unintentionally racist is really funny from Gwen’s point of view. Like, it wasn’t funny in the episode, but it’s so good in this fic???? Ok, two chapters down,sorta. Gwen being a mom to Harrison and Nerris, which is amazing, and David walking in at the worst time made me laugh. Good job once again! Rest of the chapter is them chatting, and I am a sucker for it. Then, the special scene. Order of the Sparrow, Max and David fighting, but in this point, it’s in GWEN’S point of view. I love this. Too much. I just-

Aanonfoofinfliwehfuehfifuheifuhriuheriufhew

Sorry, getting off topic (sorta). This chapter shows Max’s softer side and how Gwen cares for David. It’s just… incredible. And then…Chapter 12. OH MY GODS. What the hell. I was so excited, and I was right. When I read this the first time, I was not disappointed. Can I just… say how much I love this? It’s such a good fic, and the finale was as promised. Gwen expresses her self doubt, they chat, and then…

GWENVID.

Ok, I’ll make a whole separate post about why I like this version of Gwen so much, but Gwen’s so… real. I sympathize for her, feel for her, I just know what she’s going through. I just feel sorry for all she’s gone through. Then, they... ehm…. Do the horizontal tango. The dirty. The morning delight. Smut. Boom. Not going to lie, well written. You did good, Forest, you did good. Thanks you for.. That. It was good quality.

So Tl:DR, This fic is fucking amazing and possibly the best one in the fandom. Good job, @forestwater87 Yay!

[anxiouslyfred]

Death and Clouds, Everything Soulmates

@loveceit it’s saying something when I literally forgot I threw in 15 as when they get the poems and now can’t see that as being anything but Humans wanting a set age when they should know the poems by.

In the story I’ve got Dee’s poems written down, but the thing is, We’ve got 4 otherwise immortal beings in the story, one of which was literally around when the land was coming back into large continents after breaking apart. The poems are recorded by the person they’re for.

The only rules with the poems are that you will have a 4 line poem for every soulmate you have and if you have multiple and they are shared the rhyme schemes will match. That’s actually how Remus and Virgil realised they were soulmates, because their poems for Dee both have exactly the same rhyme scheme, down to the sound that’s being rhymes.

Most people will get their soulmate poems by hearing them. It’ll be a whisper in their ear, often happening for days anytime they are alone so they can’t mistake it as someone around them saying the poem. For the deaf or auditory impaired, it almost comes as automatic writing or drawing. If they aren’t literate they will get an illustration that makes up their rhyme and find themselves doodling it while alone, and only that, if they can write though then it will be words they can’t stop writing down.

Early on most people would memorise their poems, and repeat them in a whisper as they head to bed and wake each morning. As society progressed however more people keep them written down in some form. There are soul paintings, embroideries and all sorts of ways people have recorded the poems for themselves. Dee just got some nice parchment and tried to do calligraphy for each of the poems he heard.

Anyways, onto our Trio’s poems

Dee’s Poems

Given you’ve already read these in the story lets start here.

The poem that was about Virgil (and shit how did I get their pronouns wrong for their poem Dammit):

He watched the lands form again

And runs before he can remain.

When overwhelmed he is gone,

But never together alone.

Virgil by the time they meet Dee had become a God to various humans hundreds of times and each time suffered the consequences, so instead if they ever do encounter a human they even slightly gets along with they will disappear from them completely. I did for a while think of having Dee live a little longer knowing them and encountering this abandonment  but that just felt mean in all honesty. Plus wouldn’t exactly make sense given I knew from early on that it would be a panic reaction from Virgil that killed Dee.

We covered in the last post just how old Virgil is, but what I forgot when talking about them is that their initial panic response beyond lightning strikes is literally vanishing. They’ll still be wherever they were when it happened, but nobody will be able to see or tell, beyond perhaps a bit of a draft moving through the room. Remus, and I think Dee, will be able to know where they are when this happens, in fact a little scene that didn’t fit involved Remus climbing on furniture going “Couldn’t find me blustery?” when first trying to calm Virgil enough to have a cloud form.

Virgil is fairly literally rarely alone now, because they will seek out their family and friends where possible.

The poem that was about Remus:

Not as old as one supposes

Still younger than the hills.

Crimes are what he composes,

Anarchy what he wills.

Dee has been living with his best friends being a demon and a vampire where all he really knows age wise is that they are Old, and for some reason for both Virgil and Remus I like’d the idea of putting some form of age marker in both poems about them.

Anarchy is literally the first identifying thing Dee says about Remus, and while the poems are in no way clear about who they are referred to they are meant to be understood within a short time of meeting your soulmate. If there’s much that can identify Remus in an instant it would be anarchy and crime. 

His first conversation with Dee went basically as below, after Remy was knocked out

R: Now that buzzkills sorted, what does he think you need me for?

D: You’re not Roman. Who?

R: Remus, his brother. Are you a killer?

D: No

R: Thief? Some other sort of criminal?

D: Talk show host, much as politicians like to say donations are a crime.

R: Well I’m stumped, nothing I can do for you. What were you talking about?

Yeah if Dee didn’t have his mind on Virgil’s poem in that moment he might have started wondering about his other soulmate before dying.

Virgil’s Poems Next

okay now you get to judge if I actually did match the rhyme schemes up cause I think there’s one where I didn’t completely

Virgil’s about Remus:

Older than can first be seen,

More unpredictable than the Earth,

Destroying royal power is his queen

Madness rules his hearth.

Virgil and Remus met long before capitalism and the power hungry using those methods, but there was definitely still unfair civilisations and a lot of corrupt monarchs, which Remus took infinite distaste to. Kinda wanna write a short thing about this later so won’t say much more on that. 

As old as Virgil gets before making his family, it’s easy for him to think Remus must be a newly turned demon, but actually at that point Roman and Remus have been demons for 6 or 7 centuries although that’s only learnt after he meets Roman.

fairly sure the madness doesn’t need spelling out for Remus.

Virgil’s about Dee:

Others first will recognise,

His death no such disguise.

Still he offers hundreds his prize

Before finally free to the skies.

The first two lines are basically going, your soulmate is going to die and someone else will know they’re your soulmate before you. I did want to include comments about disguises because the way Dee views his talk show personality is as a disguise, perhaps it’s a helping people disguise, or a lecturing corrupt people disguise but either way very much hiding his personality.

The talk of prizes comes from that too, given Roman probably has spoken about Dee before Remus or Virgil meet him, they’d have heard about his show and the gifts or prizes he’s constantly giving out.

I wanted Dee to be able to relax and be free as a ghost and with his soulmates. Literally I want him to at least be able to fly with the wind thanks to Virgil’s powers

Finally Remus’s poems

Remus’s about Dee:

Confrontation he defies,

Breaking power imbalance tries.

Watch his words for the lies

As all too soon he dies.

With Dee once more I was trying to make it so they would have a chance of recognising in the first meeting if it wasn’t for other things having their attention. Remus did literally face Dee racing to lay on his bed to try and stop him getting the poem from under his mattress. If there’s a way to avoid confrontation, whether yelling, or physical, then Dee is going to take it.

I definitely wanted the death in their poems about Dee so here is is again, but I don’t have much more of an explanation for this one beyond the ways Dee interacts with the world regularly.

Remus’s about Virgil:

He watched the mountains growing tall,

And burrowed beneath them all.

He’ll disappear for noise and people,

But keeps love safer than any steeple.

Okay for some reason I always think of Steeples as safehouses, towers on churches meant to protect or hide people in them. That’s why I used that because I was thinking of Virgil and Remus meeting in a European area sometime after the catholic church raised to power, possibly late Tudor period. Wiki search doesn’t support how I’ve thought of them but meh, I’ve written it now.

One of the places Virgil will retreat from the world after any amount of people have turned against him is caverns, some of which he was the original cause for, but later got claimed as hide outs by demons before they started just integrating into human society. So yay, bringing his age and his likelihood to avoid people into the poem as well.

Other Soulmate related things

Remy and Roman do have another soulmate they are looking for, but I never wrote them any poems at all regarding each other or their third. I was thinking it could be either Patton or Emile but never settled on who.

When Remy was a guest on Deceit’s show there had been arguments over the validity of polyam soulmates that week and Remy was very strongly for the support of them, claiming he had multiple himself. Dee cornered him after the show to ask if he knew both and say he also had 2 he’d never met. That’s when Remy and Roman make it their goal to match-make for this human specifically

[as-write-as-rain]

Once Upon A Dream (remix) - Chapter 2

Pairing: Bucky x Reader

Summary: A Sleeping Beauty/Winter Soldier remix, featuring the reader as a SHIELD agent who might have powers (or just a really finely tuned intuition)

Warnings: None. If you’ve seen and enjoyed the Captain America films, you shouldn’t find anything troubling here.

The second chapter of my Fairy Tale AU for @moonbeambucky’s 5k Writing Challenge! I’d hoped to get it out sooner than this, but I’ve been under the weather.

Chapter 2

“Hey, Y/N, wait up!”

You were just heading out of the locker room, ready to get home and take a nice long bath. It’d been a long night, and even though you’d managed to catch some sleep on the jet, you still had a few too many bruises for comfort (thanks to some Algerian goons). But when you heard Natasha call your name, you paused and held the door open, waiting for her to catch up.

She gave you a grateful half-smile when she reached you, and you nodded in response as you started walking again. “How’s your back?”

She grimaced and stretched. “Eh, I’ll be alright. At least Rogers took most of the damage by crashing through the window first. Yay?”

You chuckled. “Must be nice to have super healing.” You glanced back over your shoulder, but the hallway was empty behind you. “Did he head home already?” Even as you asked the question, you felt a twinge that told you the answer was going to be no.

Sure enough, Nat was shaking her head. “He made a beeline for Fury’s office as soon as we landed.”

Now it was your turn to grimace. “I did notice he wasn’t happy when you guys got back to the jet,” you admitted. “I guess Fury will have to finally tell him about the project now. They’ve been putting it off for too long, anyway.”

Nat sighed. “Yeah, probably. I don’t think he’s gonna like it, though.”

That was the understatement of the century. “Probably not,” you agreed. You’d reached the garage, so you stopped next to your motorcycle and started putting on your helmet. “I’ll check in on him later, make sure he’s doing okay.”

She smirked and gave you a little wave as she sauntered over to her car. “Have fun.”

You scoffed a mirthless laugh. “Of course!”

As you’d predicted, Steve showed up at the Smithsonian exhibit in his honor early that afternoon; you’d noticed it seemed to be a favored destination whenever he was feeling unsure about where he fit into this modern world. He was wearing his classic “disguise” – a baseball cap – as though the top of his head was the only thing that identified him as Captain America.

Yet, it somehow seemed to do the trick; as usual, the patrons of the museum were more focused on the exhibition than on the people around them, and with the exception of one small, observant child, he maintained his anonymity. Perhaps it was because the exhibit always made him out to be something larger than life – so when he slouched in here in a nondescript cap (Cap in a cap, ha!), he was so unassuming that nobody even looked twice.

He didn’t blink an eye when you silently fell into step beside him. He’d noticed early on that you had a strongly developed intuition and you tended to follow it unflinchingly. It never steered you wrong, and you had learned to trust it – and by extension, Steve trusted it too. You appreciated that about him: that even if you couldn’t explain how you knew something, he always went with your gut anyway. That’s the kind of thing that makes a person a great team member.

And the fact that he never once treated you like it was something weird or creepy…well, that’s the kind of thing that makes someone a great friend.

You’d shown up mostly to be a comforting presence to Steve, so you didn’t impose yourself upon him or force him into conversation. You could tell that he just needed to know he wasn’t alone; other than that, you left him to his own thoughts. While he was preoccupied with his soul searching, you kept a casual eye on the crowds, and every now and then perused one of the displays. Most of them you knew by heart, and you had the video loops memorized from all your previous visits to the museum with Steve. Yet, as always, your heart stuttered when the section dedicated to James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes came into view.

Mindful of the heat rising to your face, you tried vainly to ignore the memories that flooded your mind – if recalling moments in a dream could even really be considered memories. Thankfully, Steve was too lost in his own head to notice your discomfort, and you took the opportunity to study the picture of Bucky obliquely. His eyes looked every bit as soulful as they had last night in your dream, but for some reason his hair in these pictures (and the footage) always looked weird to you.

What was it about this guy anyway, that made him such a frequent figure in your sleep? He’d been dead for 70 years – the words on the wall made this fact very clear, as did Steve’s haunting retelling of the memory that often kept him awake at night. Yet your mind couldn’t seem to accept that truth, and by now you had grown accustomed to his near-nightly presence in your dreams, for the most part.

Normally, a recurring dream would be a warning or a signal about something you needed to look out for – an omen that something was about to happen, or a sign that you needed to interpret. At least, that’s how your dreams used to be, when you were growing up. At this point, you could only vaguely remember what it was like to not dream about Bucky.

And these dreams weren’t technically recurring either. They were different every time, and the only constant was the presence of James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes. A man you’d never met, the long dead best friend of your best friend, a stranger who didn’t feel at all like a stranger. You felt like you knew him intimately – because you’d seen him, talked to him, interacted with him, pretty much every night for the last decade or so. He felt like a real person to you, and your adventures felt like real memories.

Hell, you felt significantly closer to him than you did to most people in your waking life.

Sure, sometimes Steve appeared in your dreams, too, but he was never the focus – which was strange, given that the two of you were so close in real life. It was always more like a cameo appearance, a side character; and most of the time if he did show up, you still barely even interacted with him. Bucky was always the focal point, no matter what else was going on in the dream.

The whole thing was just…weird. You couldn’t make heads or tails of it. And you’d certainly never mentioned it to anybody else. What were you supposed to say? “Hey, you know your best friend whose death traumatized you? I have lovey-dovey dreams about him all the time – long before you and I met, actually.” Yeah, no. That conversation would be super awkward, not to mention pointless; it wouldn’t change anything, other than making Steve feel uncomfortable.

And who else could you tell? Natasha would jump all over you and tease you about it, and anyone else…well, you couldn’t be assured that word wouldn’t get back to Steve. After all, Bucky was his friend, someone he actually knew and cared deeply for. For you to dream about him was the equivalent of dreaming about a celebrity, someone you’d never actually met and only knew about through second- or third-hand stories. And if people knew you dreamed about him pretty much every night? They’d think you were more than a little obsessive. And honestly, who could blame them?

Shaking your head to clear it, you tried to bring your mind back to the present. You filed into the darkened alcove behind Steve, and joined him on the bench to watch the much-loved interview with Peggy Carter. This was the room that Steve generally spent the most time in, and you could probably repeat her speech verbatim if someone asked you to. So, in order to keep your mind off the things you really didn’t want to think about right now, you set yourself an objective: trying to count how many times Director Carter blinked during her interview.

Outside the museum, you and Steve checked out one of the food trucks lining the Mall, then sat down on a nearby bench to enjoy your treats. A cool breeze blew across the grass to ruffle your hair, and you spied a handful of colorful kites soaring high above. Down closer to the Washington Monument, a trio of college students tossed a Frisbee back and forth. To the rest of the world, it was a lovely late spring day, perfect for relaxing: sunny and warm, but yet not close enough to summer to be hot. You would have loved to join in, if it weren’t for this pesky foreboding that wouldn’t seem to leave you alone.

Steve smiled with nostalgia as he opened his Cracker Jack box. “I can’t believe they still make this stuff,” he mumbled, pouring the mix into his hand and shoving it in his mouth.

You grinned. “Does it still taste the same?”

His expression turned thoughtful as he crunched. He took another mouthful to be sure. “I feel like it tastes even better than I remember? But it’s not like I got to eat it all the time,” he hastened to add. “It was mostly a special occasion food, saved for ballgames and stuff.”

You nodded in understanding, and tore open your package of Astronaut Ice Cream. You’d bought it in the Air & Space gift shop while anticipating his arrival; it made for a great snack, and you didn’t even have to keep it cold. Sure, it tasted a little like cardboard, but the flavor had grown on you somehow.

The two of you munched in silence for a bit, watching the chattering crowd of schoolchildren who were amassing nearby. Harried teachers were attempting to wrangle them into organized groups, desperately counting heads to ensure all their charges were present. Some of the less-obedient children were running around harassing mobs of pigeons, frightening them into flight like feathered bowling pins. You chuckled at their antics, but Steve remained pensive.

“Did you know?” He eventually asked. He kept his voice low, out of habit; one never knew who could overhear.

You didn’t have to look at him to know exactly what he was asking, but you attempted to make light of the situation. “About Cracker Jacks? Yes, I’ve actually been an expert in eating them since early childhood.”

He snorted. “It’s called Cracker JACK. Singular. You wouldn’t call it ‘pop corns’ would you?” Bantering with Steve was always comforting; but before you could do more than smirk in response, he dropped his voice again, adding, “And you know that’s not what I was talking about, Y/N.”

Behind your sunglasses, your eyes casually skimmed the vicinity, making sure no one was near enough to listen in. “I knew,” you admitted quietly. “Fury briefed Nat and me at the same time. I warned him you should know too, but he made me promise not to say anything. He wanted to be the one to tell you.” You dropped your gaze to your silver packet of half-eaten pink styrofoam.

Steve sighed. “I don’t like it, Y/N.” He folded up his Cracker Jack box, and tossed it into a nearby trashcan with casual skill, as though it were perfectly natural to throw something that far with barely any effort. “But I suppose you already knew that.”

You nodded, studying him out of the corner of your eye. He didn’t seem angry, or even upset. He just seemed…morally troubled. His struggle was intellectual, rather than emotional – though no less agonizing. You put a comforting hand on his arm, hoping to reassure him. “I don’t like it either, honestly. The whole thing gives me a bad feeling.”

He frowned. “Well, that makes me feel even better.”His sarcasm made you bark a laugh, even though this was no laughing matter.

“I’m not going to caramel-coat it, Steve, something is going on. Something just beyond what we can see.” You leaned forward, elbows on your knees. “Precisely what, I don’t know. But I’m working on figuring that out.”

Steve let out a long breath you hadn’t been aware he was holding. Slowly, he stood, wiping the crumbs off his hands. “Well, I guess I’m just going to have to be patient. If anyone can get to the bottom of it, it’s you.” He beamed at you, and you returned his smile. You felt honored that he had that much faith in you.

You just hoped you wouldn’t let him down.

He bid you adieu, saying something about visiting an old friend. You knew exactly which old friend he meant, but you let him have his privacy. It’s not like you were interested in tagging along – and besides, you had a mystery to solve.

After he left, you slumped back against the bench with a frustrated growl, clenching your fists. The crinkle in your hand reminded you that you had yet to finish your snack, which perked you up immediately. You popped another piece in your mouth while you ruminated over the evidence at hand.

The mission yesterday had gone mostly to plan, but you’d been having a strange feeling for awhile now that had increased acutely while you were on the Lemurian Star. What was Jasper Sitwell doing on a launch ship in the middle of the Indian Ocean? What answers lay encoded in that data that Nat stole from the ship’s hard drive? 

Your sixth sense was going crazy, filling you with an uneasy dread and the certainty that something bad was on the horizon. But what? And what would be the best course of action to take, if you wanted to avoid it – or, at the very least, minimize the damage?

As you crunched away, you tuned into your deeper intuition, trying to determine the root of your growing alarm. Suddenly you stopped mid-chew, nearly choking on the vaguely-strawberry space dust as you gasped at a sudden impulse: you needed to call Director Fury immediately. 

Or better yet, Maria Hill.

[peterstanslizzie]

Re-watching Lizzie Mcguire: Episode 1.25 (Facts of Life)

We should give this trio a group name. I mean, Andi Mack has the ‘Good Hair Crew’, which comprises of Andi, Buffy and Cyrus. So, it’s only fitting that we give this group a name. Any ideas?

- Gordo has too many eggs in one basket; On top of having to finish three book reports and a science project, he decided to burden himself even more by joining glee club. This is so he can diversity his school resume with non-academic activities. 

- Side note: It’s cool that the writers acknowledged that Miranda had joined glee club back in episode 1.14 since it was kinda randomly thrown into that episode. 

- Mr. Escobar clearly isn’t impressed with his students’ singing chops and urges them to practice at home. After their glee club session, Lizzie suggests to her friends they should try out for the ‘Fact-athlon’. They don’t think it’s a great idea since Gordo is already under a lot of stress.

Getting a reward is always good motivation

- But when Lizzie brings up the fact that the winners will get a free trip to Miami, the tone suddenly shifts from nay to yay. Plus. this would be a nice addition to Gordo’s already packed resume. 

Bring it on ‘Fact-athlon’!

Preparation

- Lizzie and Miranda are busy studying and quizzing each other History facts in Lizzie’s living room. Gordo arrives and is supposed to bring donuts for his friends but he ate them on the way. That’s literally me lol. 

- Gordo mentions to them that they need to get a faculty advisor for their team. Lizzie suggests a teacher who has a huge head but apparently, Kate has already snatched him; So I guess Kate’s also competiting in the ‘Fact-athlon’. Luckily, Gordo says they have Mrs. Trimmer as their back-up. 

“What does a cannibal call a phonebook? A menu”. I don’t think jokes are Lizzie’s thing lmao.

- The next day in school, Gordo draws up a study plan that recommends 4 hours of studying each day in preparation for the upcoming competition. I have a lot of respect for those who are willing to put themselves through these kind of things, even if it’s all for a prize. 

- We come to find out that Mrs. Trimmer has left the country (for no stated reason...) and Mr. Dig will be replacing her as their advisor for the ‘Fact-athlon’. I think Mr. Dig is great and all but good luck to them lol. I will still give him the benefit of the doubt though. 

Team Lizzie vs Team Kate

- We come to find out later that ‘Team Kate’ comprises of her, Claire and Larry; Smart strategy to rope in Larry. Team Lizzie is about to start their study session with Mr. Dig and they brought in with them every math book they can get their hands on from the school library. 

- But with Mr. Dig, you can’t expect to have a conventional study session with him; The only study tool he’ll be using to teach math is a deck of cards. This doesn’t sit well with Gordo because he feels that they should be studying from books and not from playing blackjack. Gordo and I share the same sentiment on this. 

- But after getting teased by Miranda for being an “old man at 13″, Gordo decides to go along with Mr. Dig’s creative way of teaching Math, Science, English and History. And we then get to see a montage of him doing just that. 

No shade but Team Lizzie is just clowning around whilst Team Kate is actually doing the proper preparation for the ‘Fact-athlon’. Don’t get me wrong, Mr. Dig’s method of teaching by showing is definitely effective but when it comes to a trivia competition, cramming facts into your brain as much as you can in a short period of time is the best strategy. 

Day of the Fact-athlon

Team Kate is getting down to business but as you can see, 2 of the 3 members are a nervous-wreck

VS

Team Lizzie seems confident but maybe a little too confident

- The competition then kicks off with English History and Team Kate is owning Team Lizzie from the get-go. As expected, Team Lizzie doesn’t know all the black and white facts like the dates and names when it comes to historic events. 

- As Team Lizzie continues to get creamed in the ‘Fact-athlon’, Lizzie comes up with a plan to get out of the competition without forfeiting by telling Gordo to fake being sick and asking Miranda to trigger the water sprinklers. They follow the plan accordingly and manage to get themselves out of the embarrassing situation they were in. If I were them, I would be worried about getting punished for doing all of that lol.

I love how Gordo committed to his fake heart-attack though 

- After the whole fainting and water-sprinklers fiasco, Team Lizzie are sitting on the stairwell suffering from their epic defeat. Team Kate rubs in their faces that they’ve lost so badly that Mr. Dig is quitting as a teacher. Yikes! Now things are getting serious.

- The find Mr. Dig packing his things from the classroom and they plead with him not to quit. They tell him that they’ve learned a lot from him and he has shown them that learning can be fun and how seemingly boring subjects like World History can be interesting. Now that’s the ultimate goal of a teacher; To inspire his/her students.

- Also, it turns out that going to Miami wasn’t the best prize for Team Kate:

Kate got bit by sand fleas, Claire stepped on a sea urchin and Larry got extreme sunburn. Wow, they were really unlucky over there.

B-Plot: Matt and Lanny are Starting A Band

- In the kitchen, Matt asks his parents if they have any musical instruments lying around the house that they can borrow. Sam suggests his old guitar he had used when he was in his own band with his cousin and his friend called “Midnight Sam and the Love Patrol”. Matt, Lanny and even Jo don’t seem impressed with this and they even laughed at the idea that he was in a band. 

The song they were playing in this video was actually pretty good. I wonder if it’s an actual song in real life?

- Before I continue, I have always wondered why isn’t Matt in school for majority of these episodes whilst Lizzie is? I know this is a fictional show but it’s a funny pattern I’ve been noticing for quite some time now. 

- Anyways, they are holding auditions to find a third band member in the backyard and Matt’s parents seem to be okay with the idea; They are such chill parents, I can’t. After viewing a bunch of ‘meh’ performances (well I thought that the oboe player was pretty good), they finally get a good audition...from a grown man by the name of Rick Marotta.

This is an adult who wants to be in a band with a couple of kids....I have questions

- I looked up Rick Marotta and he’s legit a big-time drummer in real life! His credits include playing with Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, Steely Dan, John Lennon (as mentioned in the show) plus Carly Simon, Stevie Nicks and Randy Newman. Woah, impressive! But anyways, he is the best one so far and he gets the gig! Later, they start playing together for the first time and let’s just say, they don’t sound too good.

- It then escalates to the point where Sam and Jo can’t even stand the sound of them playing anymore. It’s cute how they don’t want to disappoint Matt by telling what he can or can’t do but if I were them, I would definitely put my foot down and ask them to stop the ruckus. Like please.

- We fast forward two days later on Sunday and Matt’s band is holding their first ever live performance and I must say; They look stylin’:

And they gave an incredible performance. Bravo! Of course it’s unrealistic for them to get so good after a short period of time but hey, I can definitely let this slide. 

- In the end, however, Matt and Lanny want to move on to another hobby instead of continuing on with their band *facepalms

Overall Thoughts

- I really enjoyed re-watching this episode. They did a great job making an episode that centers around a ‘Fact-athlon’ quite entertaining. Plus, the writing and the dialog used in this episode was really witty. Kudos to Douglas Tuber & Tim Maile for writing this episode. 

- I also like how they showcased the contrast between traditional ways of studying versus interactive/non-conventional ways of studying. Obviously, the former is more effective when it comes to trivia contests/quizzes but the latter makes students enjoy and really soak up what they’re learning. I also have to give props to Arvie Lowe Jr. for doing a great job as Mr. Dig in this particular episode. I loved seeing the bond between him and Lizzie, Gordo and Miranda. Teachers like him are absolutely gold.

- As for Matt and Lanny’s storyline, it was pretty good. I obviously don’t care about it as much as I do with the A-storyline but I definitely have to give them credit for their performance towards the end of the episode; It was great and I also like how Matt/Lanny didn’t annoy me as much as usual lol. 

[sirius-archive]

Chaos Theory Pt. 4

Warnings: Swearing, Underaged drinking. 

Word Count: 6064 (holy Heck)

A/N: omg this is sooooo late I’m sorry guys. Like, really, I am. It’s been freaking insane and I’ve been literally going out of my god damn mind. Anyway, I finally got this finished so yay. Also, I could not find a translator that could properly communicate what I was trying to say so I’m sorry for people who actually speak Latin and read this and are like ....wtf??? 

Summary: While staying at the Burrow, Reader has an awkward interaction with Harry, and the Trio get into an argument of sorts. She thinks that things can’t get any worse until her father makes a surprise visit. 

Chapter Four:

On a good day, Adrien Arden is an award-winning journalist.

The charismatic and charming editor-and-chief of the largest source of wizarding news in the world. A clever leader adored by his colleagues and friends. A winner of several accolades for his service to the wizarding community and a personal friend of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. He’s the handsome, brooding widower with eyes that have the ability to draw you in and a smile worth more than all the gold in Gringotts. During his years at Hogwarts, he had been destined for success; a Slytherin Prefect and Head Boy and was regarded fondly by peers and professors alike.

On a bad day, Adrien Arden is a father.

A perfectionist with standards higher than a crowd of rowdy teenagers at a Weird Sisters concert. A workaholic and a ghost who drifts in and out of your life like the tide; pulling you in when he thinks it’s necessary and pushing you away when he realizes it isn’t.

Sometimes, you pity Adrien Arden.

It must be such a lonely existence; to work and work without receiving a reward. To have such ravenous ambition that has consumed every aspect of your being, pushing you further and further until you reach the edge. To realize that he’s repelled all the people who matter away, to not realize that all those galleons that sparkle and glitter in the family vault are worthless compared to the love and respect of his two children.

And it’s this pity that motivates you to keep a calm and level-head. It’s this pity that compels you to be the good little daughter for the sake of relative peace. And it’s this pity that helps you realize that family is the only way to keep your mother’s wishes alive, even though she isn’t.

Luke, however, is not so forgiving.

You don’t think there was ever a time where Luke got along with your father. Perhaps they are too similar, and for this reason, they clash. Whatever the reason is, though, it’s clear that Luke hates Adrien with every cell in his being, and if anyone ever doubts that, then all they had to do is step into the Weasley’s kitchen and glimpse at the razor-sharp glare Luke is giving your father right now.  

A heavy tension blankets the room in uncomfortable warmth, grating against your skin like sandpaper, and you fiddle with your bracelet to expel the nervous energy tickling your fingertips. You can almost feel the anger igniting the air around Luke, stiffening his spine, sharpening the edges of his jaw, curling his hands into fists.

Mrs Weasley must sense it, too, because she rolls her sleeves up and flashes a dimpled smile, “I’ll let you three spend some quality time together.”

Luke scoffs but doesn’t say anything more, most likely out of respect for Mrs Weasley. Mrs Weasley hurries off as your father draws a carefully guarded smile across his lips. It’s polished and professional, much like he is.

“I’m so relieved that you’re all okay,” Adrien says, and for a moment you actually believe him.

“Took you a while to remember we exist,” Luke spits, indignantly. The insult bounces off Adrien’s layers like a Protego spell.

“I’ve been...busy at work,” he says, calmly, “I’m sure you can understand.”

A derisive scoff issues from the back of Luke’s throat.

“It’s okay, father,” you say, trying to keep your tone reassuring, “We know that you’re busy.”

“Too busy to be a father,” Luke mutters, darkly, not meeting his eye.

Adrien ignores the comment, “I don’t have a lot of time but I just wanted to check in and see how you’re both going. Did you have fun at the World Cup anyway?”

“Yeah,” you shrug, “it was nice. I mean, before all of the chaos it was actually a really lovely night.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Adrien smiles fondly.

“Oh, Mr Arden,” says a familiar voice from behind you, and a shy, blushing Hermione steps forward. Ron and Harry follow behind her.

“Hello Hermione,” Adrien flashes her a smile and nods at Ron and Harry, “Hullo boys. Good to see you three again. How are you all?”

Harry shrugs, “We’re good, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“Well, considering the night we just had we’re not exactly going to be prancing around picking flowers and shooting rainbows out of our asses,” Luke snaps, coldly, and Adrien narrows his eyes on him, working his jaw, grinding back whatever he wants to say. 

A loud, obnoxious beeping startles you, and Adrien glances down at his screeching watch.

“That’s all I have time for, for now. I have to head back to the office and submit some papers.”

“Glad you could fit us into your tight schedule,” Luke scowls, “Just leave. No one wants you here anyway.”

Your father clears his throat and bends down to embrace you awkwardly. You wrap your arms lightly around his neck, wondering whether its normal for a fatherly embrace to feel like you’re hugging a pole. He pulls away quickly and straightens, moving toward Luke. Luke folds his arms across his chest and steps away, refusing to look at his father. Adrien heaves a heavy sigh.

“I’ll see you...later,” he says and he gives your friends a weary smile, “I’ll send you an owl.”

Adrien walks into the kitchen, thanks a blushing Mrs Weasley for her hospitality, and leaves. You turn to Luke.

“Well that was...” you trail off, silenced by the expression on Luke’s face. His mouth is screwed shut and his eyes are glaring daggers in the direction where your father left, “Luke?”

Luke isn’t listening, though. Instead, he charges forward, nearly knocking you aside, and strides toward the door.

“Luke!” You call out, but Luke reaches for the door knob, yanks it open and slams it shut in your face. You push it open and peek through the crack.

“Why did you really come?” Luke demands, storming up to his father, “You don’t just decide to pop in after weeks of not seeing us!”

Adrien sighs, exasperated, “It’s as I said; I really was concerned for your wellbeing. Both you and your sister.”

Luke lurches forward and for a moment, you think that he’s going to tackle Adrien to the ground in a fit of fury. Instead, he rises up to his father, spine straightened in deadly determination. “Keep my sister out of your rotten mouth.”

Adrien narrows his eyes coldly on your brother, like a sniper taking aim, “Is that a threat, boy? Because if it is, you’d better follow through with it. I did not raise a coward.”

Luke bristles, “You have no right to think of her as your daughter when I was the one who raised her. I looked after her and protected her and held her as she mourned. I was the one who took her to Diagon Alley, bought her her first wand and school robes. I did the job you were supposed to do while you wallowed in self-pity and abandoned us as though your own children were a burden, stopping you from your precious work.”

Adrien steels, a dark expression falling over his sharp features, “Lukas Adrien Arden, if you ever doubt my responsibilities as a father again, I will personally ensure that it is the last thing you do.”

Luke steps back from the looming figure of his father, “You’re up to something, I know it. And I’ll find out, I always do.”

Adrien’s entire demeanour shifts and an amused ghost of a smile teases the corners of his lips, “I don’t doubt that. You are my son after all.”

“I’m nothing like you,” Luke spits, venomously.

“Oh but you are,” Adrien clamps a hand on Luke’s shoulder. Luke struggles under Adrien’s grip, but his grasp is like a vice, locking Luke into submission, “And when the day comes that you realise you are, you’ll regret every bad word you’ve ever said to me.”

You stare as Luke jerks away from Adrien’s grip and staggers backwards. The tension is stifling, like an ominous cloud of thick fog creeping over you, and you have to physically step back from the door to remember how to breathe again.

It’s sort of distressing, seeing Luke so riled up when he’s usually so smooth and refined. He looks and acts like a completely different person like someone has hijacked Luke’s body and is puppeteering his words and actions. It’s a persona that emerges whenever your father is around, a defence mechanism Luke has carefully honed after years of loathing and disgust.

It’s...unhealthy. Unnatural. Worrying.

Stepping away from the door, you turn and start toward Luke’s room, hoping you’ll be able to chat with him later. You doubt you’ll have any luck but he needs to know that you’ll be there for him in all the ways he was for you. Before you can make it up the stairs, though, you walk into a nervous-looking Harry.

“Hey,” he says, tearing a hand through his hair.

“Hey,” you echo, a small smile tugging at the corners of your lips.

“I...wanted to apologise-” Harry starts, but you cut him off with a raised hand.

“-You seem to be apologising a lot, lately,” You say, and Harry’s lips quirk into a sheepish smile. You mimic it as you continue, “I don’t know what’s going on, and if you don’t want to tell me then I respect that. I just...I want you to know that you can talk to me. I’m here for you, I always have and I always will be.”

Harry hesitates for a moment, his mouth moving around silent words, as though he’s carefully stringing them together. Laughter echoes from the backyard, ringing through the silence. You’re just about to say something when Harry beats you to it, his voice low, “Follow me.”

Intrigued and a little surprised, you watch as Harry scales the winding stairs, the sound of the floorboards groaning in protest filling the growing distance between the two of you. You start to follow him until you reach his and Rons shared room and he pushes the door open, inviting you in. You climb onto his bed and Harry closes the door behind you, fidgeting nervously with his glasses. Something in his expression seems hesitant, as though he’s debating on what to say. You wait patiently.

“It’s my scar,” he finally murmurs, “It’s been hurting lately and– I think it may be connected to the attack at the World Cup.”

“Oh,” you say, trying to swallow back the distant ache throbbing in your throat, “Oh, Harry. This is...this is serious. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

“I was going to tell you,” Harry says, quickly, the words flying from his lips like a practised excuse, “In the Forrest when we were looking for the Portkey. But then...then Cedric came and I didn’t get a chance to talk to you alone.”

You study Harry for a long moment, eyes sweeping over his fidgeting form. He seems unsettled, a little nervous, perhaps hesitant, like he’s trying to tackle something on his tongue back into his throat. You figure it could just be his nerves, but you can’t help but wonder if he wants to say more.

“Is that what you guys were arguing about this afternoon?” You ask and Harry nods, “Why was Luke there?”

Harry blinks at you, “What?”

“Why was Luke there?” You reiterate, calmly, “I heard him arguing with you.”

Before he can answer, there is a tentative knock at the door and a moment later, Ginny’s head pokes out from behind it. A small blush blossoms beneath her freckled cheeks when she notices Harry but then her eyes drift toward you and she raises a sharp brow.

“Mum says dinner is ready,” she says, her voice soft.

“Okay,” you and Harry blurt at the same time and Ginny nods as she closes the door.

You slide off Harry’s bed and straighten, “I don’t know about you but I’m starving.”

Harry chortles, his smile loose, relieved  “Yeah, I could really go for some roast chicken right about now.”

You smile at Harry, “Thanks for telling me.”

Harry nods and gives a half-hearted smile, “Thanks for listening.”

As you descend the staircase, chatting lightly and smiling easily, a sense of nostalgia overcomes you like a wave of warm sepia and it almost feels like old times without all the secrecy and nervous energy. It almost feels like, for a fleeting moment, it is just you and Harry and nothing between the two of you. 

Almost.

***

After a delicious dinner and a scrumptious dessert, you and Hermione sit in front of the fireplace, Hermione in the armchair and you sitting crossed-leg on the floor. Your Quidditch World Cup article sits in your lap as your eyes scan the parchment, reading and re-reading. 

“Is Luke okay?” Hermione suddenly asks, not even trying to clip the worry from her voice, “He wasn’t himself at dinner.”

You look up from your work, pushing your hair off your face, “He always gets like that around my dad,” you admit with a small shrug, pretending that it doesn’t bother you, “He just needs his space.”

Hermione nods, though there is an expression of worry creeping over her face and you study her, noting her features carefully. Before you can question her, Fred sidles up to the two of you, eyes glinting mischievously.

“Hey you two,” he greets, smirking wolfishly, “We’ve got a couple bottles of booze and absolutely no regrets. Wanna join us?”

“Please tell me this isn’t a giant orgy or something,” you retort and Hermione blushes furiously.

“Nah,” Fred shakes his head with a grin, “Though I’m open for persuasion.”

You snort and shake your head, smiling, “Only in my nightmares.”

Fred clutches his chest in mock hurt, “Aw, we could have been something special.”

“You’ll get over it.”

“And what exactly are we going to do?” Hermione asks, her brows raised expectantly. Fred straightens importantly.

“Get pissed.”

“She was only asking,” you quip and Fred rolls his eyes.

“Get sloshed. Buzzed. Wasted. Inebriated. Intoxicated,” he narrows his eyes pointedly at you, “Drunk. What else are you supposed to do with fire whiskey? Bathe in it? Because we’ve tried and it’s not…good.”

“But we’re underage?” Hermione says, eying Fred suspiciously.

“So?” Fred shrugs, “You’ve already broken the law by helping a wanted fugitive escape, not to mention several hundred school rules. What’s another stupid law?”

A pale pink blush tickles the apples of her cheeks and Hermione averts her gaze, “Right.”

“Come on guys,” Fred whines, imploring you with large, pleading eyes, “You’re always putting yourselves in constant danger. Why not relax for the night?”

“He’s got a point,” you shrug, turning to Hermione. She chews her bottom lip thoughtfully, giving Fred an appraising look. Finally, she glances at you and gives a small nod.  

“Alright,” she says, lifting her chin slightly, more confidently, “but I’m filling my own glass. I don’t want you pouring me a drink.”

“Why? Don’t you trust us?” Fred asks, grinning wickedly.

“You don’t want me to answer that question.”

Fred shakes his head, forlornly, “All you young whipper-snappers going around and breaking an old man’s heart.”

“As (Y/N) said, ‘You’ll get over it.’”

You bark a laugh and high-five Hermione. Fred wipes an imaginary tear away and pouts exaggeratedly.

“We’re meeting at 11pm,” Fred leans in and lowers his voice to a not-so-quiet whisper, “That way, mum and dad will be asleep, and they won’t get suspicious.”

With a smirk and a wink, Fred whirls off and saunters out of the room. You watch him leave, nibbling your bottom lip, twirling and twisting your bracelet between your nimble fingers. Somehow, for some reason, you have a feeling that the night isn’t going to go as smoothly as Fred thinks.

***

At ten to eleven, you, Hermione and Ginny tip-toe out of her bedroom and make a slow start to the stairs.

The corridor looks odd like this; cloaked in darkness and completely void of sound or movement. The Burrow has always felt alive, pulsing with life as though it were a heart pumping blood through the veins of the house. Come night time, that heart seems to falter to a stop, leaving the house eerily quiet. You shiver.

“This is weird,” you whisper, “It’s so quiet. I feel like I’m walking through a graveyard.”

Ginny shudders, and in the pale light of your wand, you see her face contort into a scowl, “Thanks for the commentary. Now I feel paranoid in my own house.”

“It’s okay,” Hermione murmurs, softly, “Mrs Weasley and Mr Weasley are here, too, don’t forget.”

“That makes me feel even better,” Ginny drawls, sardonically, “If a murderer doesn’t leap out and slaughter me where I stand, my mum will.”

“No one is going to kill anyone–” 

A loud groan interrupts Hermione mid-speech and you all jump, spinning around to face the source of the noise. Clamping a hand over your mouth, you muffle your shriek as Hermione gasps and staggers backwards toward the railing and Ginny fumbles with her wand. It slips from between her fingers like a stick of butter and clatters on the ground. Heart racing, you raise your wand and heave a sigh of relief.  

Harry and Ron both stare at the three of you, eyes wide, faces flushed and chests heaving. Harry bends down and grabs Ginny’s wand, handing it to her with a gentle smile. Ginny squeaks a breathless ‘Thank you,’ and darts back to your side. Ron gawks at you, his expression somewhere between bemusement and frustration.

“Bloody hell,” Ron curses under his breath, “It’s just us.”

“Well don’t sneak up on us!” you hiss, “You nearly scared us to death!”

“Sorry,” Harry mumbles, sheepishly, “Let’s just go before we get caught.”

You start toward the stairs and begin descending the creaking staircase. 

Somehow, every step you make seems to amplify, ringing through the house like a blaring siren, as though the house is designed to alert Mr and Mrs Weasley that their children are sneaking out after curfew. Trying to balance on the tips of your toes, you slowly descend the never-ending staircase, contemplating whether it was such a good idea to leave the comfort of your bed in the first place.

“Luke seemed kind of off at dinner tonight,” Harry mutters leaning forward, “Is he…y’know?”

“He just hates my dad,” You whisper back, surprised that Harry noticed. You’re about to make a joke out of it but Hermione shushes you into silence from over her shoulder. As she turns back, though, she misses a step and stumbles forward.

“Hermione–!” Ron gasps from behind you and you listen for a loud thump, but it never comes. You direct your wand to the end of the staircase and find Hermione lying in someone’s arms.

“Oh, Luke,” Hermione murmurs, flustered, several shades of red rippling across her face, “Thanks.”

“No problem,” he smiles softly at her and she straightens, brushing down her clothes and combing a finger through her hair.

You all reach the bottom of the staircase and playfully punch Luke in the shoulder, “Looks like she fell for you.”

To your surprise, Luke doesn’t respond to your terrible joke. He just scowls and shakes his head, moving toward the back door. You blink at him and follow.

“C’mon, really? Nothing?” you ask as he pushes the door open, “No ‘I thought you were better than corny puns?’”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Luke murmurs, stalking through the backyard and toward the tree house. 

“Is he going to be okay?” Hermione asks beside you, watching him with concern in her eyes.

You chew your bottom lip nervously, “I–I don’t know…”

The tree house is actually a lot safer than it looks, which is oddly ironic since Fred and George give no consideration to safety whatsoever.

Thick planks of wood are nailed to a gap in the large tree as though they are sitting in its palm, branches stretching like fingers around it. There is a wooden railing that surrounds the platform, fairy lights intertwined around it. Alternative pop music plays on low, the sound prevented from leaving the treehouse by the silencing charm Fred had cast, containing it in a bubble of sorts. There are light bulbs, all different shapes and sizes, strung together and hanging from the branches overhead that act as a roof. Right in the centre of the ‘roof’ is a large hole that brags a beautiful view of the midnight sky, freckled with stars.

It’s actually kind of beautiful. Serene, almost.

You down the rest of the drink and raise your chin to the stars, lost in their beauty. You can almost feel the stardust raining down on you, sinking into your skin, filling you up with a beautiful, ethereal light, like there is an entire galaxy bursting to life inside of you. You’re not sure if it’s the fire whiskey humming in your veins or not but you feel like you could just step off the balcony of the treehouse and float away.  

“Beautiful, aren’t they?” a familiar voice says from beside you, and you turn to find George Weasley gazing up at the stars with you, an expression of awe painted across his face, “Do you know who else is beautiful?”

“Please, don’t finish that sentence and ruin this beautiful moment,” you murmur and George snorts.

“You don’t like hearing compliments about yourself?”

“I don’t like cheesy pickup lines.”

George shrugs, “That’s fair. Though I was going to say that I was beautiful but never mind.”

You chortle, shaking your head and grinning broadly at him. He echoes it, lips curving into a grin you may never get tired of seeing, “You really know how to cheer a girl up, don’t you?”  

“Only the ones I like,” George smiles softly, softer than anything you’ve ever seen him wear.

“Well, I’m grateful anyhow.”

George drapes an arm over your shoulders and pulls you to his side protectively, provoking a laugh to burst boisterously from your lips.

“So, are you and Cedric…?”

You flush, cheeks burning, “I–I don’t really know…”

“Well, just so you know, he talks about you a lot,” George says, “Our friend, Juniper Cross. You know Juniper?” You nod, recalling the beautiful Hufflepuff in George’s year, “Anyway, she says he talks about you like you ‘put the stars in the sky.’ His words, not mine.”

An odd, sort of airy feeling circles around you and floods you like helium, lighter than air, ascending the five layers of the atmospheres and disappearing into the universe.

The moment is broken by Fred, who yanks another bottle of fire whiskey from a crate and holds it over his head.

“Who’s up for a game of ‘Never have I Ever?”

“What’s that?” Hermione asks and Fred blinks at her.

“You’ve never played ‘Never Have I Ever?’” George asks, bewildered, “Hermione, what have you been doing with your life?”

“Never Have I Ever is a classic drinking game,” Luke says, sitting beside Hermione, “Basically, you have to say something that you’ve never done and everyone who has done said thing has to drink. For instance, if I say ‘Never have I ever… snogged a girl from France’–”

“–We would call you a liar,” Fred interjects, and Luke rolls his eyes.

“–Everyone who has snogged a girl from France would have to take a drink.”

“And we would call them liars,” George sniggers and you snort, bumping his fist with your own.

“The person with the most alcohol left in their glass wins,” Luke continues, ignoring the snickering Weasley twins.  

“And if you say a ‘Never have I ever’ and no one else has done it either, you have to drink from everyone’s glass,” Fred smirks deviously, and Hermione raises her brows, her fingers finding the hem of her sleeves.

Luke studies her with benevolent eyes, his past frustration melting off his shoulders like ice in the early spring, “If you’re not comfortable, you don’t have to play.”

A gentle shade of soft pink flourishes on the apples of Hermione’s cheeks and her lips quirk into an awkward smile, “No, it’s okay. I’ll play.”

“Are you sure? We’re all friends here, and we want you to be comfortable,” Luke smiles, reassuringly.

Hermione nods, and George claps a brotherly hand on Luke’s shoulder, “Ever the gentleman. If I wasn’t in an exclusive relationship with myself, I would totally date you, man. Like, put out and everything.”

Luke just gives a half-hearted smile and a modest shrug. He looks like such a different person to the Luke you saw earlier that day, seething threats at his own father and brewing in a venomous mood. Even when you met him in the kitchen earlier that night, Luke had seemed guarded and brooding and nothing like the sweet, considerate and boyishly charming man he is with Hermione.

You all sit crossed-leg on the ground in a circle and, with a looming sense of doom, you find yourself sitting between Fred and George, an unsavoury position for anyone to be in. Before you can escape to the other side of the circle, Fred and George begin filling up several glasses and hand them around the group. Fred pauses in front of Ginny, sculling her fire whiskey with a wince and filling her glass with chocolate milk. Ginny folds her arms across her chest, glaring dangerously at her brother.  

“No alcohol for anyone under 14,” Fred says, wagging a finger at Ginny, “It rots your brain.”

“Good thing you don’t have one, then,” Ginny grumbles, rolling her eyes and snatching the glass of milk out of her brothers’ hand. Once everyone has their glass, the game begins. Unsurprisingly, George volunteers to go first.

“Never have I ever…met a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon called ‘Norbert’, tried to smuggle Norbert out of Hogwarts but got caught in the process and consequently lost Gryffindor one hundred points,” he says before adding, “Oh, and got sent to detention, too.”

You, Hermione, and Harry exchange guilty glances and take a swig of your drinks. The fiery liquid surges down your throat like molten lava and pools delightfully in your lower belly, the alcohol crackling in your veins.

“Technically, I wasn’t there when they tried to smuggle Norbert out,” Ron argues, raising his arm to reveal the thin scar knitted into his skin, “Norbert bit me, so I was in the Hospital wing.”

“You still met him,” George points out and Ron’s confident expression falls, grumbling as he takes a sip from his cup.  

“Alright, Harry, you’re up next,” Fred grins, pointing at Harry with his glass.

Harry’s brows furrow as he thinks, the tip of his tongue poking out between the soft cushions of his lips. Once again, Harry seems so…relaxed. Perhaps it’s the alcohol, or the company, or both, but it’s a relief to see him so unguarded and it shows in how easily he’s smiling, how warm and inviting his gaze is. And when he catches your eye, his lips quirk up into a small smile and it feels…nostalgic.

It feels like it used to.

“Never have I ever…been kicked out of a bar?”

Fred and George groan in unison and take a swig of their drinks. To everyone’s surprise, Ginny does, too. While the rest of the group gapes at Ginny, their jaws slack and eyes wide in disbelief, Ginny gives a nonchalant shrug, her eyes glistening in the low light as she recalls the moment.

“I may or may not have hexed a certain, misogynistic Ravenclaw who was getting on my nerves,” she gives a sharp, cat-like smirk, resembling her rebellious, older brothers “I don’t regret anything.”

Fred and George pretend to sob tears of pride as they slap Ginny on the back, “Look at how far our precious, little sister has come. We taught you well.”

The game moves around the circle, jokes and laughter thick in the summer air as your drinks slowly begin to dwindle.

When it finally reaches Fred, he flashes a scheming grin, and he raises a confident brow, “Never have I ever…had a crush on Cedric Diggory…”

Everyone narrows their eyes on you expectantly. You sigh, rolling your eyes as Fred sniggers devilishly.

“Fuck you, Fred!” you snip, throwing the rest of your drink back. Your head spins in languid circles as try not to splutter, and in the warm ambience of the room, your eyes find Harry’s; gazes colliding for a long, lingering moment. Harry doesn’t shy away, in fact, he’s the boldest you’ve seen him since the World Cup, and something hooks around your lower belly, yanking it up into your throat.

“Okay, (Y/N), your turn,” Fred juts his chin at your glass and eyes you hopefully. You heave a sigh.

“Alright. Um…” you pause thoughtfully, and then your lips pull into a grin when you catch Ginny’s eyes, “Never have I ever…had a crush on someone in this room.”

Fred and George stare at Ginny and she sighs, taking a swig of her chocolate milk. She pokes her tongue out at you playfully and you give her an apologetic look. She shrugs nonchalantly, though she doesn’t seem entirely bothered. Strange, you think, she must be getting over Harry. You never really anticipated that.

You never anticipated Hermione and Harry taking a nervous sip from their drinks, either.

“Woah,” George says, eyes flitting between the two of them, “What’s going on here?”

They seem hesitant in their answer, weighing their options, gauging each other for a response like they’re dancing tentatively around the subject. You and Ron exchange a surprised look, the tips of Ron’s ears an odd shade of red. Something tight and nasty coils inside of you like a sleeping snake.

Hermione and Harry exchange a look, and Harry shrugs “Nothing. We’re just answering the question.”

You blink at Harry, then at Hermione. They seem to be avoiding your gaze, eyes darting around the room like they’re trying to pull excuses from the air around them. Is that what all the secrecy is about? Are they…?

“So you both have had a crush on someone in this room?”

“Er…” Harry flicks a glance at Hermione and then sweeps his gaze to you before hastily averting your gawking stare, “…yes? Why?”

“Huh,” Fred shrugs, “No reason.”

Hermione frowns, “What? It’s not like we like each other.”

“Whatever you say, Hermione.”

Hermione’s mouth twists into a thin frown and Harry furrows his brows at Fred’s blatant, off-handed remark. Tension has steeled his spine like an iron rod and he fidgets uncomfortably, his nervous mannerisms unspooling as time seems to drag by. The sepia-stained nostalgia that you had so willingly embraced begins to crumble the more he glances between Hermione and Ron, and the needlepoint sting of hurt pricks the inside of your wrist.

“Um, I think it’s your turn, George,” Ron says, quickly, nervously glancing at Harry. Does Ron know something–?

George nods importantly and continues the game, but you’re still rooted in time. As everyone else takes their turn, your eyes continue to stray to Harry, studying, observing, realising, that this is so much more than his scar. His cheeks are rosy, flushed pink from the alcohol and embarrassment, his eyes a startling shade of green against the sun-kissed skin of his face and the electric shock of dishevelled, black hair and as you study him, your head begins to spin.

You take a long swig of your drink, gulping back your anxiety, wishing that you had trusted your gut in the first place. 

***

Somehow, you make it back to your room without making a complete fool of yourself.

Hermione’s avoided you for most of the night, though you can tell that she’s nervous by the way she chews her bottom lip; it’s red and raw, the moon-crescent bite marks curved into the delicate skin of her lower lip. You want to talk to her, to ask about the secrecy, but your head feels like it’s been stuffed with cotton and your eyes are like heavy golf balls stuck into your skull and you really just want to sleep–

You pull your camisole over the top of your head and rip your bra off, an envelope falling out from its grasp.

“Oh,” you say, to no one in particular, “My letter.”

Between the visit from your dad and the Weasley’s drinking game, you had completely forgotten about it. Bending down, you scoop it off the ground and study the envelope. Your name and address are writing in elegant curlicue cursive to the point where it’s nearly unreadable. You squint, following the loops and curls, and turn the envelope over. No return address. Odd. You open it anyway, unfold the letter…

And gasp.  

It doesn’t make sense.

Your stomach is twisted into a tight, thick knot, heavy in your abdomen, weighing like an anchor plummeting to the ocean floor. Ice gushes through the deltas of your veins as though it were blood pulsing through the arteries of a cold-blooded monster, freezing your spine, paralysing you.

You can’t tear your eyes away. 

You stare down at a photo of you and Cedric at the World Cup, stained in shades of black and grey, frozen in time, smiles fixed onto your faces. And it would have been a beautiful photo, it really had, if it weren’t for the blood-red insignia scarring the back of the photo; a snake eating itself, circling around what looks like a cross between a Scarab and a skull moth.

And, beneath it, eight words strung together, bleeding into the paper like a wound.

Mus uni non habeat fiduciam autem serpens esuriit

A mouse does not trust a hungry snake

Suddenly, you wish you were drunk again.

@marauderskeeper @weaselby418 @acciorinn @hervench @harrvjpotter @depressed-octopods-art (i’m sorry i didn’t tage you before!! i just realised you replied to one of the posts!) @romanofftasha @moonpeachs

[1358456]

Review Response, May 12-18, 2019

I was hoping to get Legacy finished before I did this, but... damn.

Heart #004

1) I’m so sorry! I didn’t realise this updated until your tumblr post! I always love junior trio’s shenanigans and schemes their relationship is really nice and refreshing to me for some reason :)

Yeah, can’t go wrong with simply having multiple generations of Dex Holders hanging out together! ...

2) Eh, I liked this filler chapter. Unlike most filler episodes in anime, it was worth reading.

Anyway, I really like how the juniors reacted. At least Moon seems to be giving reasonable "support" imo. Platinum's reaction to Y mentioning the word "date" was probably my favorite part of the chapter though, as maybe it's finally starting to dawn on her. Maybe.

Awesome writing and I am very much looking forward to this little competition at the Battle Zone. Can't wait for the next chapter!

This filler does show a lot more of interactions between Dex Holders that weren’t shown before, I suppose. ... Mostly Moon, I guess, since she’s still “new”. This filler also makes a handful of Tumblr Short Stories “canon” to Heart! Such as Practice Battle 2, and The Feast. ... The Feast is just a copy of this Heart chapter, but with stuff removed and other stuff added. Not that anyone really cared about that short story. ... Which also shows in the chapter itself!

Indeed Moon shows the proper support. Not nosy like White or Y (from Legacy), but willing to help out if asked. And yes, this is the point in time where Platinum begins to realize what is happening, and then she panics because she did not anticipate it, nor does she know how to handle the new information, which then causes her to isolate herself as she tries to avoid Diamond and Pearl, just like in SA, so that she can try to sort out her thoughts in solitude. Not that she succeeds with that, causing her isolation to last much longer, so that other Dex Holders have to intervene to assist. ... Spoiling much? Ehn, who cares.

Ah, the competition for her heart... Well... that chapter is not happening ANY time soon. Probably not until next year, if that.

Legacy Prologue - Kanto

1) Alright, Nicole. On to the review for this story! Alright, first thing's first. I'm not much of a luckyshipping fan, but this is adorable. From Blue's guilt, to Red's kindness, I mean it's super cute. Though, sad at the beginning. It gets happier towards the middle, then bam! You get hit with Blue's insecurity, ma poor baby. She never deserved any of this, but isn't that life. Anyways, writing was on point as always. Though something that's different about this chapter, is that if I were to describe it, it'd be fluffy and light. Which doesn't make sense, 'cause it's actually pretty sad, but still. I can't shake that feeling. Anyways, don't know how you did it, but good job.

And thank you!

You know, you really should’ve read Destiny first before Legacy. This prologue part and Blue’s state is like a mirror to her state in Destiny. Destiny begins with Blue feeling lonely and abandoned, that gets progressively worse as someone isn’t really... ahem. But in Legacy, she begins feeling lonely and abandoned and immediately Red changes that around, leaving her feeling truly happy! ... And then her insecurity hits, which would increase “the feels” factor. But it still shows just how much brighter and happy everything is! ... In fact, if you follow the recommended order (SA, then Destiny, then Legacy), and focus on Blue, her happiness and “status” is progressing throughout all three. SA denies her the happy ending, and she’s kind of never really happy even in the very end, nor does she ever get the chance to be happy. Destiny begins with her miserable but she gets a happy ending in the end. Legacy begins with her happy! So... yay!

Legacy Prologue - Sinnoh

1) This was a simple chapter, and it was very nice. It wasn’t sweet, but it wasn’t sad either. It was almost like a slice of life chapter, but that’s sort of impossible with these characters. Anyways, I recognized the physics reference (yay!) and was rather proud of myself. Haha, but straying from that, I really like how you incorporated a lot of characters and these sort of “side stories” into this chapter, and yet it still didn’t feel too cluttered. It was very nice handling in your part. Thank you very much.

Cannot wait to read the next chapter!

Having “slice of life” chapters are important! Can’t be all chaos and mayhem, after all! Hehe. I have to give the characters some break time before the breaking time. Physics reference, huh? Free fall? Hehe... Behold the power of gravitational pull! Ahem. Hehe. Thank you very much!

... Can’t wait, eh? ... It’s been like 5 days, so... you seem to be waiting or bogged down! I look forward to seeing your review to the next and final prologue and then the actual chapters!

Legacy #006

1) So by boy Black still isn’t getting respect by the other Dex Holders, huh? Wonder if something in the upcoming chapters is going to change that? Hopefully pls?

Heh. Black will finally get true respect once he’s out of that damn rock. And so far, no one like... really commented on how he has a Bisharp now? :( ... It’s a cool Pokemon that does suit him, but... Sorry to break it to you, but... also considering how I don’t really think too highly of Black... it’s not looking too bright for him getting “respect”. ... I mean, there’s going to be a Practice Battle short story that’ll happen in the actual chapter as well where Y just destroys him in a battle (it has thematic importance for later in Legacy)... ... Sorry, Black. But... I rank the Generation V Dex Holders’ combat prowess to be one of the lowest, so...

DE #032

1) This is the first of your story’s I read and after finishing all of them I came back and reread it and I realized I really like the mixups (ruby white and sapphire black). Do you think you could ether write more in here or possibly make a whole new story for mixups.

Ah, more scrambled pairings? Certainly! Some are going to happen! ... Not too soon, but soon enough. Diamond & White, or one. Maybe Ruby & Platinum? We’ll see. ... Do note that these scrambled chapters are insanely hard for me because of the way I write the pairing chapters. So there won’t be too many of these.

[staytheb]

Fine

Pairing: SKZ’s Chan x OC [Serena] || SKZ’s Felix x OC [Melanie] Genre: idol!au, slice of life, slight fluff Word Count: 2,265 Summary: Sisters, Serena and Melanie are babysitting their niece as she plays with their dog at the park. There’s nothing more to it then that, is there when Serena happens to notice a familiar looking long-haired Chihuahua?

Warning: ... the boys are idols still and this is not idol!life with the OCs. also i used Chris instead of Chan and i stayed committed because i wrote Chris without thinking when i’m so used to using Chan. anyways, i think that’s it. there’s really no warning tbh though xD

just a little something something that came to mind and i took the opportunity to write something when i felt it. also the words spoken here and the actions done here by “Lia” are true and my niece has actually said and done those things. lol so yeah anyways, happy reading and kthxbai, Admin Lia~

Serena and Melanie sat on the soft patch of grass as they watched their niece, Lia, run along the field of the park with their pet Jack Russell Terrier, Kirby, chasing after her in the late evening.

“I can’t believe you dragged me out here.” Serena muttered towards her sister in an annoyed tone. "You don't even like going outside."

Melanie smirked while side glancing her sister.

“It's only because your best friend misses you.”

The best friend she indicated was their niece since Lia has quite a strong attachment to Serena as she’s been babysitting the three year old since she was born.

“Haha, you're funny.” Serena replied dryly. “She’s your best friend since she takes after you.”

“Not even. Anyways, Kirby needed some play time, too.”

“True.”

The pair then looked over at Lia and Kirby and noticed another dog had joined them.

“That dog looks familiar.” Serena commented upon seeing the black and white long-haired Chihuahua.

Serena cast Melanie a suspicious look.

“That’s not who I think it is, right?”

Serena shot her sister a playful look.

“Who do you think it is?”

Serena quickly glanced over her shoulder becoming alert to the possibility that her boyfriend could be sneaking up behind her and she was right.

"Ugh! I knew this was a set up!" Serena mumbled to herself as she shot Melanie a glare. "Why do you gotta do me like this?!"

"Because Chris misses you, too." Melanie replied with a laugh.

"We talked on the phone a few hours ago. I wouldn't do this to you with Felix."

"Yeah, right. You and I are alike."

"True."

"Serena!"

Serena heard her boyfriend called her name in a loving manner and she made a face with Melanie laughing.

"Tell him I got some things to do."

After saying that Serena instantly stood up to run away, but Melanie immediately reached out to grab her and took a hold of her foot and made Serena stumbled instead. Serena kicked her sister's hold off of her and ran off without looking back.

"Serena!"

Serena heard her boyfriend called from behind her again and didn't dare look back in case she would end up tripping because she knew that would actually happen.

"Serena!"

Serena shook her head still running, but should have known that she would be caught when she felt arms encircle around her from behind.

"Gotcha!"

Serena let out an inaudible soft squeal while twisting out of Chris' hold, but the two tumbled to the ground instead. She turned around while still on the ground and pushed him away, but Chris barely budged while laughing at her attempt. He pulled her towards him instead.

"Aww, don't be like that. I finally got some free time and this is how you behave?" Chris said in an amusing tone as Serena gave up.

"I thought you would be too busy working in the studio with those melodies stuck in your head?"

"Felix convinced me to come hang out."

"It takes a lot of persuading you to do anything, Chris. So how did Felix do that?"

"He mentioned you."

Chris smirked with a cheesy smile and Serena let out a groan with a roll of her eyes while trying to push him away slightly.

"You're so dumb."

"Dumb for you."

"Eww."

"You know you love me."

"I mean, I guess."

"You guess? That's not right. You're so mean to me."

"No, I'm not. You're just a baby."

"Because you're so mean to your boyfriend."

"Because the girlfriend has a boyfriend that's a very big and clingy baby."

"Wow. Is that how you think of me after all this time?"

Before Serena could reply back, the duo were interrupted by two canines jumping all over them.

"Ah, Kkami." Serena groaned as she shied away from the Chihuahua's licks. "Go bother, Chris."

Serena pushed the dog away from her and towards her boyfriend, but Kirby went to bother her instead.

"Kirby." Serena whined with Chris laughing beside her while playing with Kkami.

Meanwhile those two happened, Melanie was watching the scene with Felix beside her.

"So, how long do you guys got before returning back to practicing or whatever?" Melanie asked her boyfriend.

"Um, for like an hour or so." Felix answered with a chuckle. "I don't exactly remember, but I set my alarm before we have to leave."

"You're lucky I answered your call or we wouldn't even be here."

"What do you mean?"

"I was gonna let my phone die by watching my drama on it, but then you called and so I answered after thinking about it."

Felix cast her a side look.

"You were really debating on whether or not to talk to me?"

"Mmhmm."

Felix clutched at his heart in a dramatic way upon hearing his girlfriend's response.

"That hurts."

"It's okay. You got Changbin."

"Maybe I should have hung out with him instead of you."

"Go ahead."

Felix pouted as Melanie laughed.

"You'll live."

Felix scoffed with a roll of his eyes.

"How can I live if I barely get love and attention from my supposed girlfriend?"

"I mean, you also get a lot of love from Stays, right? That's fine. Also the other members shower you with a lot of their love and attention."

"It's not the same." He whined as he cuddled up against Melanie. "I like you the most and your my girlfriend, Melanie. You're supposed to give me those the most compare to them."

Melanie rolled her eyes, but she leaned her head against atop of his with a small smile.

"You're cute."

"I know."

"Stop picking up stuff from Minho."

Felix laughed, but didn't reply as he snuggled closer to his girlfriend.

"You're such a baby."

"Yeah?" Lia interrupted the two as she heard 'baby' and assumed they were talking about her as that was one of her nicknames.

Melanie lifted her head from Felix and turned it towards her niece.

"Auntie not talking about you, Lia."

"Oh."

Lia walked closer and stared at Felix as he stared back at the little girl. Lia turned towards her aunt with a curious look.

"Who's your kid?"

Melanie busted out laughing at the absurd question.

"What did you say?"

"Who's your kid?" Lia repeated with a small smile due to seeing Melanie laugh while also pointing at Felix.

Felix pointed at himself with a big grin.

"Me?"

Lia nodded shyly as Melanie answered her niece.

"That's Auntie Nini's boyfriend. His name is Felix."

"Hi, Lia." Felix greeted the little girl with wave and bright smile.

Lia didn't answer, but she stared at Felix with a tilt of her head with the same smile on her face. Lia turned to face her aunt and went in to hug and sit in her lap.

"She's cute." Felix commented as Melanie laughed.

"She's such a brat though, huh?"

"No." Lia disagreed with a laugh. "I'm no brat."

"Yes you are. Hey, go bother Auntie Nana."

Melanie suggested as she turned her niece around to face the other couple who were playing with the dogs. Well, more like Serena wrestling with the dogs and Chris was playing with them. Lia instantly ran over them with Melanie letting out a relieve sigh as she and Felix went back to watching the other pair.

"Auntie Nana!" Lia exclaimed happily as she flopped onto Serena to lie on top of her.

"Ah, Lia." Serena groaned after removing the dogs from her face, but now having to deal with a small child.

"I miss you."

Serena chuckled at her niece's behavior while sitting up and holding the child within her lap.

"Why?"

"Because I love you!" Lia exclaimed causing Serena to burst out laughing.

"Hey, I love your auntie, too." Chris announced upon hearing the two's interactions while moving the dogs away from him and the duo ran off to play with one another.

Lia turned to look at Chris with a tilt of her head.

"No." She told Chris as she hugged Serena tighter. "My auntie."

Chris pouted as he leaned down to Lia's level.

"But she's my girlfriend, too. I like your auntie."

Lia shook her head.

"We can't share your auntie?" Chris asked with a frown.

Lia shook her head again.

"Why not?"

"Because." Lia answered not really answering Chris' question causing Serena to laugh.

"Oh, the child has spoken. I guess I can't have a boyfriend anymore."

Chris narrowed his eyes at his girlfriend with the pout still upon his face.

"You trying to imply something there, Serena?"

Serena continued to tease him.

"Oh, Chris, not me. The child is. Right, Lia?"

The pair turned their attention towards the child who shook her head.

"What?" Serena said in disbelief causing the child to giggle.

"You're gonna share me with Uncle Chris?"

Lia nodded causing Chris to cheer in victory.

"Yes!"

Serena cast her boyfriend a look as Chris smiled lovingly at his girlfriend.

"Ugh. You're lucky I like you, Chris."

Chris giggled as he faced Lia.

"You hear that, Lia? Auntie Nana says she likes me. High-five."

He held up his hand and he and the three year old high five.

"Yay!" The pair cheered as Serena made a face.

"Whatever. Lia go play with the doggies."

Serena lifted her niece to a standing position and turned her to go play with the dogs as she ran after them. The trio played a game of chase. Serena turned towards her boyfriend and smacked him on the arm.

"Can you not like charmed my niece to go against me?"

Chris laughed at her words with a confused expression.

"I didn't do anything. She at first didn't want to share you with me. Then a few seconds later she changed her mind."

"Well, you didn't have to high-five her."

"That just happened. It was kinda cute."

"Cool then. You can babysit her and the dogs while I go back home and chill."

Serena suggested with a smile, but Chris reached out to hook an arm with hers.

"I came to spend time with you, Serena, but your niece and the dogs are just bonuses."

"Lovely."

"Don't act like you don't like it as well."

"Yeah, yeah, but next time though, Chris, please let me know that you're gonna come hang out." Serena told him as she laced their fingers together.

Chris scoffed.

"Yeah, right. If I let you know, then you'll probably tell me to go to sleep or rest or something."

"Well, obviously since you're such an insomniac and you work like twenty-five-eight."

"That's true, but I'm functioning fine."

"For now."

"Hey, I'm relaxing with you at the park with your niece and those two dogs along with that other pair over there. So it's all good."

"Fine, fine, but if you fall asleep, Chris, don't expect me to carry you to your dorms."

"That's fine. We can nap underneath the stars."

"You're just asking for a scandal, aren't ya?"

Chris just laughed in response as he changed his position to lie down on his back and rest his head on to her lap. Serena rolled her eyes with a smile before looking down at him and played with the ends of his hair.

"She's so funny." Melanie mumbled upon witnessing her sister and Chris' interaction with one another.

"Who?" Felix asked while looking in the direction of where Melanie was looking.

"Serena. She's just funny."

"How funny?"

"Funny enough for me to enjoy her misery."

"What a great little sister you are."

"I know." Melanie cheekily agreed with a smile.

She then cast her eyes over to her niece having fun with the two canines and was happy that the child was enjoying a peaceful outing and away from the chaos of her own home since Melanie's brother who was Lia's dad was having issues with the baby's mother. Melanie shook those thoughts away and focused her attention onto the small dogs.

"Hey." She called out as Felix replied with a hum. "Hmm?"

"How did you get Hyunjin to let you guys take out Kkami instead of him? He adores Kkami like an older brother."

"We didn't."

"What do you mean you didn't?"

"We didn't let Hyunjin know that we took Kkami to the park."

"So you guys basically dognapped him?"

Melanie concluded as she cast her boyfriend a knowing look.

"We borrowed Kkami." Felix answered confidently before faltering with the last bit of his words. "Um, without asking Hyunjin."

Melanie nudged him with a shake of her head and letting out a laugh.

"Wow. Hyunjin's gonna be sad that you took his dog without telling him."

"It's fine. He won't know. Hyunjin's busy doing Hyunjin stuff."

"Okay, yeah, right, but that might be true since he hasn't called you guys yet about Kkami."

"Like I said, Melanie. We're fine. Kkami's fine. All is good."

"Mmhmm. Sure, Felix. Sure."

"Anyways, let's go buy ice cream."

Felix suggested as he stood up while pulling Melanie to her feet.

"I'm watching my niece."

"She's fine."

"Oh is she though?"

"I dunno, but my leader is and your older sister is, too. It's fine."

"You're pretty sure that all is gonna be just fine."

"We're just gonna get ice cream, Melanie."

"Ugh, whatever. Do I have to play your supposedly coordi-noona again?"

"It's getting dark and no one's out right now. We should be fine."

"That's what you said last time."

"Don't worry."

"Fine, Felix, sure, whatever."

Melanie gave in with a slightly annoyed look as Felix happily tugged Melanie along towards the nearest convenient store leaving the other couple alone with the pets and child.

[victorluvsalice]

Well, it’s Spring Sunday in the Chill Valicer Save as of this update -- a new year for our trio! And we’re kicking things off with an update that is only FOUR PARTS. Yeah, I’m shocked too. XD But to be honest, it was a pretty chill day around the Valicer farm. . .

. . .if only because, not only did I get both High School Years and Growing Together (well, in all technicality, my parents got them for me -- belated Christmas/birthday present!), I installed a BUNCH of new mods from one Lumpinou. Including the LGBTQIA+ Mod to properly set everyone’s gender, romantic, and sexual identities. So setting that up took a decent amount of time! And by the time I figured out that and some of the other mods I’d put in, like Open Love Life (hint: if you can’t find where to update everything, it’s under Actions in the pie menu when you click on a Sim), it was easier to just have everyone hang around the farm and get themselves sorted. They probably needed the time to just chill after all the traveling around to different cities and realms of the last three updates anyway! So here’s how their day went:

-->Smiler, after getting the robot salvage parts necessary, enhanced Party Time up to level 2 (it loses charge slower now), then started work on a quadcopter toy! Unfortunately, after so long avoiding it, they got shocked halfway through the process and had to take a break before completing it. :( I had them use the time effectively, though, buying a white hen and a brown rooster for the chicken coop -- they were down to just one black hen and a rooster chick in there after so many visits from Grim! So now they’ll have proper egg production again, yay -- and maybe they can actually get to know these chickens a little better. (Especially since I’ve finally turned livestock aging off to match with the actual Sims not aging either.)

-->Alice got a little bonding time in with Shadow, then sold both her most recent books to a publisher (gotta get those royalties) before doing a bit of recycling (gotta get those bits and pieces too). Simple stuff, but important!

-->Victor -- well, when he woke up, I was finally able to gather everyone to let each other know about their new gender, romantic, and sexual identities! For reference, Smiler is now officially non-binary, panromantic, and pansexual; Victor is cis male, biromantic, and bisexual; and Alice is cis female, demipanromantic, and demipansexual (yes, she’s actually gray-ace in my headcanons -- mostly asexual except under certain circumstances -- but I think currently “gray-ace” in the mod means that Sims accept or reject touching-related romance interactions randomly, so I decided demi fit her Simself better). Everyone was very positive and accepting of each other’s new identities. :) I also had everyone agree to be non-exclusive in their relationships (Smiler and Alice were actually already set to prefer non-exclusive relationships -- while Victor was set to prefer exclusive ones. Sir -- sir YOU’RE the one with a wife and a themfriend. I reset Victor and Alice to be indifferent as that’s closer to my headcanons, but left Smiler as preferring non-exclusive, because why not?), so that’s all sorted now! :) Oh, and for what it’s worth, I ALSO popped into CAS to set some of the new conversational topic and Sim archetype preferences -- mostly just making sure everybody liked the kind of Sims the others were (Victor and Alice liking spirited Sims, Smiler liking homebodies and nature enthusiasts, stuff like that). So now they all have amazing compatibility as per the new Growing Together system too!

-->With everyone up to speed and having reaffirmed their love and acceptance for each other, Victor was allowed to have some breakfast and then go potter about in his greenhouse, while Alice went out for a jog (her resolution is to get fit, after all!) and Smiler went back to their quadcopter. They finished that up with no further issues, and then went to ask Victor in the greenhouse for a drink. Victor said yes, of course. . .

[optimisticcritique]

Gotham 4x05 - Re-watch Review

Preparing myself for Gotham’s return...while I am still watching 4x12 live, my reviews will probably not finish before it airs. We’ll see. 

More quality hard workers in Gotham. I should be surprised but I’m not.

This is so depressing...but yay to Grundy! 

More heated disagreements for Harvey and Jim. They should really just hug it out. 

Bruce feels guilty, angsty, emotional, and angry. Ready to make rash and impulsive decisions. All sounds like regular emotions, especially for his age.

That poor family. Wow, there were not a lot of people there. Were they late or was that all there was?

“Instead, you’ve been placing him in harm’s way”. I’m sorry Jim, have you met Bruce? If only you knew everything that was going on.

I’d love to see Jim try to take care of Bruce for a day (last episode doesn’t count) and watch him. It would be a lot harder than he thinks. Alfred can take the day off. Maybe go on a cruise, go hiking, visit someone in arkham, or beat up some thugs. You know, an average vacation.  

Wow, what lousy security. It is almost as if these guards were not legit and did not care that Babs had a weapon to break Ra’s out...

So, what’s the exact status of the Babs and Ra’s relationship? *Currently in love with a dusty corpse, possible resurrection still pending. I can see that being a great Facebook status to use one day. 

Yeah, Babs. I am still a bit unclear on Ra’s motivations too.

I feel Barbara is the type of person that always has something with her for any given situation. Need lipstick? Got it. Need booze? Got it. Need a way to escape an almost inescapable prison because you murdered a young boy? Got it. 

Some people believe Ra’s vibrated his sperm/a baby into Barbara to get her pregnant. Some believe it was his life force to bring him back to life. Try explaining that to a non-Gotham fan with no context. 

It’s alliiiive!

And Grundy has been born! Odd. It isn’t even Monday. 

His shirt is non-existent but most of his pants are in tact #familytelevision.

Born on a Monday, chr-crap. Am I the only one that always gets this song in my head every time I hear it? 

Imagine if Butch wasn’t the only one to be thrown in the swamp and was reborn. Gotham vs. zombie apocalypse for season 5!

 Mr. Penn has returned! <3 So wise, so patient. 

 I actually created a Mr. Penn fan club. So far I’m the only member but it’s really hitting it’s stride! 

I am surprised it took so many seasons to see Oswald actually icing his leg and showing genuine pain from it. I know it is Gotham and there are a lot of people that want him dead but he should really consider seeing a doctor.  

Oswald’s face when Sofia touches him says two things. One: What? Did you just touch me without physically trying to harm me? Two: Not having any of it. Not interested.

I forgot how many times “I’m a Falcone”, “Falcone name”, and “my father...” are mentioned by Sofia in 4A. I should start a drinking game. 

“Add a question mark, will you?” Savage. Also, let’s be real Oswald. You wouldn’t murder Carmine’s only daughter that easily. He’d be coming for you.

I wonder if things would have been better for Oswald if he just went along with Sofia’s game-knowing she is playing him-and just plays her back in return.

The real problems in life: Inability to think 3 steps ahead AND inability to solve riddles. Yes, there is a medication that fits those exact symptoms. 

Smartivia...Ed, come on, really?

Ed has a very big mouth. Dentists must love him.

I would call Ed a drama queen for reacting in that way but, to be honest, I would probably react the same if I was unexpectedly stabbed in the hand.

Fake gun lol I wish it was the same one he threatened Oswald with. Too bad I doubt it.

Hey, where did he get a fake gun anyway? How could he get a fake on in Gotham but not a real one? Did he just steal it from a child on the street? 

I was wrong. He is definitely a drama queen. 

That’s a lot of pills at once, Ed. What if they were real pills?

Sometimes I forget Ed was frozen on ice and didn’t know that Butch or Babs “died”.

Grundygma is born. 

“Man talk too much” - Edward Nygma/The Riddler in a nutshell. Yeah, he’s always been someone who never shuts up, whether his brain works or not. 

Alfred and Jim working together >>>>>> Jim criticizing Alfred’s parental  skills, which Jim knows nothing about because he is not a parent yet.

Does everyone just expect terrible security in Gotham? Is it common knowledge? I mean, Bruce seems to break in with such ease, not worrying about being caught. 

You really should of thought about whether you wanted to stab him or not  before walking inside his cell and breaking into the jail. And taking off your mask.

What was your exact plan Bruce?

Corrupt. Always corrupt workers in Gotham.

All the weapons gag. Alfred, you are truly amazing.

Jim making fun of Alfred for under crackers...we need more moments like this.

Alfred should really have more scenes with other people more often.  

I want to know how the hand grew exactly? Is he part lizard?

Grundy and Ed is the friendship I never knew I needed.

I love how Grundy assumed Ed was just hungry. He doesn’t want to be my friend? It’s just his empty stomach talking.

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach... Ed isn’t secretly in love with Grundy is he? Will that be his next love interest after this season?

Sofia playing the long game.

Does Ed honestly think flailing is enough to get free? 

“I assure you, we are not friends” Grundy’s face says: Dude, I just gave you a hot dog! Really? Did that mean nothing to you?

Grundy/Ed hug <3 Oh yeah, I’ve given and gotten hugs like that before. You know, the ones where someone nearly suffocates you to death. Good times.

Only Oswald can be a sassy eater... and be strangely entertaining when eating.

I love the small details of having a guy test his food. It’s the little things.

Oswald’s thoughts as he takes bite: “Oof emotions creeping. Remembering happiness and sadness... Nooo! Must not feel! Must leave before emotions get me!” I feel like this is a relatable feeling for Nygmobblepot fans when watching old scenes. Or fans of any ship or character in this show in general.

Oswald seems either ashamed of his leg, protective from it hurting worse, or both. Probably both.

Sofia playing the mom card. You’d think Oswald would be paranoid, given a similar situation was happening with Carmine in Season 1.

Sofia likes to tell a lot of stories from her childhood.

Ra’s really does know how to hit the right points and push someone into murdering him.

I am still surprised Bruce stabbed him. I still think Ra’s will come back though... somehow. 

And emotionless Bruce is here. Not a fan of emotionless Bruce.

Cherry! 

How does Cory feel about being called things like “string bean” and “squirt”? Always wondered how actors feel when being called those things. 

And...here comes Lee! Drinking, of course. The trio is finally here.

Over all: Great episode. I did initially get disappointed over Ra’s death happening so soon and Bruce going full blown angst but, when binging episodes, it isn’t such a big deal. Not when you know Ra’s will likely be back and Bruce will grow. I enjoyed the pairings and interactions in this episode. Edward and Grundy bond. Sofia gets closer to Penguin. Jim and Alfred working together to get Bruce. Bruce and Ra’s being honest with each other, only for Bruce to stab him. Just going deeper into what is soon about to come...  

Previous Review: 4x04  Next: 4x06

[shuakkinda-blog]

Soonyoung crushing on you !! // scenario

A bullet-point scenario highlighting our bright star, Soonyoung/Hoshi !!

Send requests for scenarios and reactions on my page if you wish :)

- special shout out to our hosh rn bc this poor boy is sick and he could use all the healing time he can get (stay healthy and rest, love <333)

- this sweetie is honestly one of the most hard working people e v e r

- he pushes himself so much

- and we know that he’s tough on the members when practicing but I’m sure that’s only because:

- 1. he knows the potential of his friends

- 2. he cares about the future of svt

- Soonyoung is just so caring to the point that it hurts him sometimes???

- I’m glad he’s resting because we all know he needs it, as do the rest of the members (especially with this crazy tour schedule they’re in the middle of)

- so really, I honor Soonyoung for everything he does, and he deserves only the best out of his career ;u;

- and with this I’m sure he’d only want to be the best version of himself for the girl he likes as well

- his determination in furthering his career would be the same when it comes to pursuing his crush

- with that said, let’s get right into the scenario !!!

- as an intern at pledis entertainment, you find yourself becoming close friends to 3 specific members of a particular svt unit:

- Channie, Savhao, and Junnie ! 

- you get to know these three performance unit boys individually, but you never get to hang out with them altogether

- so one day, your little friends tell you that it’s about time all four of you meet up once and for all

- but because of your crazy schedules, there’s really no other time to do this besides the performance team practice time

- at first you think, “hey it’d be kind of cool to see them choreographing n practicing n whatnot!”

- thing is

- there’s one member you haven’t exactly bonded with/talked to like you did with the rest of the performance team:

- Kwon Soonyoung

- thinking it would be awkward for the team leader to see you hanging out with his team, you often pushed off the idea of visiting their practices

- no matter how many times the three boys begged you to come

- you just couldn’t say yes

- you’d feel bad but you’d try to convince them that it’s for the best

- and besides, the practice is meant for them to practice, not to chat around with some intern (not like they would mind tho lol)

- imagine pouty chanhaojun @ you bc iSN’T IT JUST THE MOST ADORABLE THING???

- ANYWAYS, after much thinking, the three guys figure that there’s really no way they’d be able to hang out with you as a group unless they invite you over to practice

- so they get s n e a k y

- kind of

- okay not really

- during one of your shifts, Chan texts you:

- “y/n!! are you free right now?”

- “yeah, what’s up?”

- “can you come down to the practice room rn?”

- “you guys aren’t having practice right now, right?”

- “*suspicious eyes emojis*”

- “Chan, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want to intrUDE??” “I’m sorry, but I won’t go if you guys are busy.”

- “WAIT LISTEN LISTEN” “we actually need someone to give their opinion on this part of the choreography we’re coming up with... and we were wondering if you could take a look?”

- “uhhhhh... don’t yall have a creatives director... and an assistant choreographer LMAO”

- “yes yes but we want to know what girls like you would think of it you know :(”

- “sigh”

- “come on, just do us a favor” “and doing us this favor means you’re technically not intruding :3″

- “... fine.”

- “NDNFBLSJADFHBJ YAY OMG” “HURRY HURRY”

- so you head to the practice room, and as soon as you walk in:

- “Y/N-IE~” the boys greet you in excitement

- well except Soonyoung but

- he gives you a smile and a curt bow at least

- you give him a bow and a formal greeting as well, but that’s just about as much interaction you’ll have with him

- at first :3

- your three friends honestly just wanted you to be with them, and they finally found an excuse to bring you over to practice

- but you proved to be more helpful during their practice than they had all expected

- you gave pretty good constructive criticism on some of the dance moves and even gave a few suggestions for formations

- and your little trio LOVED IT

- but you know who appreciated your help the most?

- OFC IT’S HOSHI

- it was very nice to have another person give their opinion on the team’s choreography

- and it’s not just another professional choreographer or director doing it either

- it’s a normal person (I mean this in a good way :)

- and he thinks you’ve got a good eye for things that even the pros couldn’t catch themselves

- Soonyoung also realized how much nicer/less stressed he was when you were there helping out

- so all in all, he was really glad you came

- in fact:

- “hey, Jun, Minghao, Chan,” Soonyoung calls the rest of the team as they convene for practice the day after your visit

- the three boys turn to him

- “do you guys think... we could have y/n down here again? You know, just to help out again?” the leader looks down and paces shyly back and forth, but his face is blank

- “WAIT ARE YOU SERIOUS?” Jun says as his eyes widen in disbelief

- “yeah, of course,” Soonyoung is trying to keep his cool composure

- “YES YES WE’LL CALL HER RIGHT NOW !!”

- so they call you up to invite you once again, and since your three friends had expressed their gratitude for your help after practice yesterday, you agree to go

- you arrive at the practice room and are greeted warmly not only by your little trio

- but also by Soonyoung, who flashes a wider smile than the day before

- and it goes like this for almost every performance team practice you can attend from then on

- over time, Soonyoung would start to notice that you’re not the average, serious intern who’s just doing her job (and a little extra for their team)

- there’s a reason why his fellow team members have become so close to you

- they’re all so fond of your positive nature, understanding, honesty, and ofc your fun personality

- and these things are what draw Soonyoung to you

- if he’s being honest, he’d say he’s been attracted to you since he first saw you walking around the company building

- but your whole personality confirmed how much he was beginning to really like you

- YALL KNOW IT’S TIME TO DISCUSS SOONYOUNG’S CRUSHING HABITS:

- he’s honestly not like the rest of the members when it comes to crushing

- he’s kind of a mix of flirty and shy but you won’t be able to tell when he’s gonna be which???

- it can be confusing tbh

- like if you give him a compliment on some solo dance he made for himself, he could either go:

- 1. “oh reAlly??” *smirk* “was it... attractive? ;)”

- 2. “oh... really?” *blushes* “thank you~” *smiles at floor*

- but I’d say he’d be pretty shy 70% of the time at the start, and then he’d slowly get more flirty as you guys become closer friends

- speaking of being close friends, Soonyoung would also put so much effort into becoming your best friend

- because he wants to confess to you knowing that you’re close to him

- so even if you reject him, he knows there’s a chance that you guys can still be friends at least

- the last thing he wants to do is lose you altogether :(

- ALSO, ONE SUPER DUPER BIG THING that Soonyoung would do with his crush is force her to dance with him

- yeaH that’s right, get your dancing shoes on bc this boy will beg and beg until you agree to dance something with him

- even if you can’t dance, he’ll still really want you to do it

- it’s just a way for him to get skinship moments with you tbh slick shit hosh, real slick

- he’ll teach you the basics first and then progress into harder and more partner-based choreos ;);)

- so you’ll be slowly building up a whole dance routine collection with your bestie !! how cute :’)

- when he’s on flirt mode, Soonyoung is a huge tease we all know this

- the cute things he’ll do to get you flustered during your dance routines would either make you laugh or make you super weak omg

- he wouldn’t hesitate to take any opportunity to suddenly pull you close while dancing, and he’ll probably charm you with a smile while he’s at it

- and as he gets used to meeting up with you to dance,

- Soonyoung would want to spend time with you A LOT MORE OFTEN

- but only with you

- so oftentimes, after performance team practice, the other three dancers would hang out for a little bit in the practice room

- but Soonyoung would be itching to hang out with you and work on your dance routine alone in the room

- so he’d be awkwardly standing to the side as the trio plays around before he musters enough courage to say:

- “uh, hey guys,” he’d clear his throat. “I kinda- I mean, y/n and I- we want to... you know...”

- “oH, do whAt?” Jun wiggles his eyebrows. Chan and Minghao laugh along

-  “HEY WE’RE JUST GONNA HANG OUT OURSELVES OKAY?”

- “Soonyoung’s making me do a dance with him again,” you’d explain

- “WAIT YOU GUYS DANCE TOGETHER???”

- “Wtf Soonyoung, you didn’t tell them?” you say

- “hey hey, you didn’t tell them either,” Soonyoung would laugh nervously

- and when the three boys finally get kicked out by Hoshi, the trio would probably tell the rest of the members about this out of saltiness lma0

- a few members would start to interrogate him about his crush, and he’d probably deny it every damn time it’s so obvious you ain’t fooling anyone buddy

- but when Soonyoung starts getting the feeling that you might like him as well, he’ll probably openly admit it to the group one day

- he’d show up pretty late to an svt meeting that Seungcheol is holding in the practice room

- “Soonyoung, why are you always so late nowadays?” Seungcheol would say in an upset tone

- “he was probably just hanging out with y/n again,” Chan would say bitterly

- “yeah, what a best friend stealer,” Jun would pout

- “hey man, y/n is my best friend,” Minghao would hit Jun in the arm

- “okay but who became her firST friend?? Das right, it was mE,” Chan would join in the fight

- “alright alright, that discussion can be held somewhere else at some other time,” Seungcheol would stop them. “Soonyoung, seriously, what’s going on? Is this about y/n?”

- “yeah dude,” Seokmin would say. “If you really like her, just admit it already.”

- “no one’s buying it when you say you don’t,” Wonwoo adds and the rest if the boys nod in agreement

- “UGH FINE, YES I DO LIKE Y/N, OKAY?”

- “and I’m sorry for always being late to these kinds of meetings and practices lately. I just really like her okay?”

- “I’m putting all this effort into hanging out with her because I really don’t want to lose her. 

- “You guys know how I am when I’m serious about pursuing something.”

- the whole group goes silent. Seungcheol thinks it over

- “Normally,” Seungcheol starts. “I wouldn’t let this kind of thing slide with me, but I can tell you really like y/n, so I’ll forgive you.”

- “But let me tell you, if she’s willing to spend that much time with you, she probably likes you too.”

- with this, Soonyoung finally decides that it’s time to confess

- one night, your hangout with Soonyoung extended a little later at night than usual, meaning you’d have to walk home to your apartment alone in the dark

- but ofc Soonyoung, being the caring person he is, would want to accompany you home, just to make sure you get there safely

- and while you guys are walking home, Soonyoung’s heart can’t help but flutter while seeing you smile at your conversation under the street lights at night

- he’d be falling so hard at this point, he’ll have to do something about it

- and as a dancer, he’s not one to tell you how he feels with words

- so when you get to your apartment, you unlock your door

- but before you can twist the door open

- he impulsively takes one of your wrists, pulls you close, and locks his lips with yours in a passionate kiss

- and you, unable to fight back the feelings you have for Soonyoung as well, kiss him back

- breathless, he pulls away from you afterwards and looks deeply into your eyes, your faces just a few inches apart

- having noticed you kissed him back, he asks

- “Is it safe to say that the feeling is mutual?”

- “why else do you think I agreed to dance with you?” you laugh 

- he breaks out into a huge smile before pulling you in for another kiss

[holydragon2808]

Thoughts on The Legend of Korra: Turf Wars (Part One)

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything original on my blog about The Legend of Korra (or just anything original period). I’ve reblogged several Avatar related posts and art (as well as things from other fandoms), but I haven’t posted hardly anything myself since the Book 4 finale! I’ll just take a moment to wave hello to anyone still following this blog and my fellow Avatar buddies (Waves enthusiastically!). S’up Peeps! OH and if you’ve yet to read the Comic, don’t read any further than this because SPOILERS! I’m pretty sure most in the fandom have read them but just in case.

 I’m a bit late to the party I know, but I wanted to get my thoughts together before I posted anything. I have to say that I was really happy with this comic book overall. They’re off to a fantastic and engaging start with this story. With the ATLA comics I felt like those were just side stories or expansions. Interesting side stories/expansions granted, but really not just vital to anything (just IMO). ATLA concluded pretty soundly overall in its own right. With Turf Wars taking place immediately after the last scene with Korra and Asami walking into the spirit portal (and TLoK having far more loose plot ends to tie up than ATLA in general), this actually didn’t feel like just a comic book. It felt like it could have been a real animated episode. They seriously could have added “Book Five” to the title and gotten away with it.

Korra and Asami’s little getaway was exactly like I was hoping for with the two of them having a good time after everything they’ve both been through. From their friendly competitions and playful ribbing at each other, to their first shared kiss (Korrasami shippers squeal lol) to the two of them confiding in each other on exactly when and how they both realized they loved the other, and so on. That Spirit Mountain or whatever he was acted kind of bitchy though. It’s okay though Korra. In your own words about the Dragon Bird spirit “ I think it can sense where I am. Not EVERY spirit hates me” lol.

 Anyway, thanks to the grumpy mountain, Korra and Asami are forced to cut their vacation short and return to Republic City because they lost their supplies in all the chaos. Before that though, Korra wants to take a trip to the South Pole via the Southern Spirit Portal to visit her parents and tell them about their official romantic relationship and their “sounds fun” lol vacation. Asami has a few reservations about all of that but Korra is just too excited to really pay attention at the moment. So Korra and Asami “come out” to Tonraq and Senna. They’re surprised at the unexpected news (from their perspective) at first, but then were all “Yay! That’s cool! I’m so happy for you both! We couldn’t be more proud!” etc., which is pretty much how the fandom expected them to take it so no real surprise there.

 I do like that after the argument that took place between Korra and her parents, once Asami pointed out a different perspective on the matter (and provided a better understanding for Korra on what exactly Tonraq and Senna were really trying to get at), Korra was immediately able to step back, admit she was wrong to not take Asami’s feelings into consideration (and admit that Tonraq was right about her overly excitable nature leading to rash outbursts at times) and apologize, a FAR CRY from her Book 1 and Book 2 (pre Avatar Wan) days when she had difficulty accepting criticism/other perspectives until she was neck deep in trouble.

 I’m hoping we see more of both the positives and negatives of Korra’s overly excitable, openly passionate nature paired with Asami’s more reserved, patient and logical one in the future (as well as Tonraq and Senna making more appearances and Korra getting the chance to reconcile with them) and how they will work through it overall. Notably, Korra doesn’t just rush off to tell anyone else either without making sure she and Asami both are on the same page about it. They sort of well….”out” themselves to their friends near the end but more on that later lol.

Anyway, the minute our favorite couple steps out of the new spirit portal in the middle of Republic City, the world wastes no time reminding both of them (as well as the audience) of their responsibilities as well as the devastation Kuvira’s attack on Republic City had on the populace. Then this greedy guy named Wonyong Kuem is trying to seize his property back from the spirits. He may be technically right LEGALLY but at this point, he’s hardly the only one who’s life has been uprooted by the unexpected new spirit portal and he’s hardly the only one who’s lost property because of it so he just comes across as a greedy sleazebag (which was basically intentional so yeah lol).

Not to mention that while I do agree that the Spirit World in general should be more welcoming of humans (Heck, before Kuvira’s attack the citizens of Republic City, with Future Industries leadership, completely redesigned the city’s infrastructure just to accommodate the spirits better and welcome them. None of them have done the same for their own world nor did they bother to help with the Kuvira crisis either), a tourist attraction with people like Kuem is not the best way to go about it…Good on Avatar Korra for showing this guy who’s boss, though as she and the Airbenders suspect, he’ll probably be back.  His type always comes back….

It also was somewhat satisfying that the spirits are getting some well-deserved karma thrown back at them. They hate the spirit portal and try to urge Korra to close it but she’s quick to point out that had they helped out with Kuvira to begin with, the spirit portal may not exist right now. They realize that they can’t make her close the portal so in Korra’s own words, they’re just going to have to “deal with it”. Korra seems to believe from the bottom of her heart that Spirits and Humans can one day live together in harmony and she’s willing to stand her ground. I’m hoping the Spirits in general will one day stop looking down on humans on principle and put more effort into making both worlds a place where they can all belong or at the very least be civil. Turf wars (in the plural) indeed….

Meanwhile, even more trouble is brewing on the horizon with the Triple Threat Triads, The Creeping Crystals, the Agni Kais, and every other Republic City gang is on the rise with the Triple Threats gaining ground as we’re introduced to the main antagonist for this trilogy: Tokuga. Let me just say that this guy can seriously throw down (Hooked swords make a reappearance in addition to chi blocking) and is an awesome (but somewhat frightening) reminder that a person does not have to be a bender in this world to be a ruthless and cutthroat badass. I’m glad that the antagonist in question isn’t another bender. Nothing against them (we’ve had some good ones from both series) but it’s just great to finally break the mold here in a way that works. The Triple Threats finally getting a serious chance to shine and show just how badass they can be is a welcome plus as well. Two-Toed Ping is worried about his life being in serious jeopardy just for name-dropping Tokuga during Mako and Lin’s interrogation.

Speaking of the police force, I’m happy that Bolin joined along with his brother. It gives the police force some serious raw power at their disposal with Bolin being a Lavabender and it gives him a chance to truly shine without all the drama of his previous job with Kuvira (and shows he’s earned back his good will with his friends and family). Nice to see the bending brothers back together again. Loved both of the brothers’ interactions with Two-Toed Ping as they were taking him back to the station. Ping is genuinely proud of both of them for making something of themselves. Bolin being Bolin thanks him in stride while Mako just tells him to shut it lol. Good to know some things never change.

Back at the refugee camp we get yet more evidence of the sheer devastation Kuvira’s weapon (and Team Avatar’s attempts to stop it) having irreparable damage on the city and leaving hundreds of people homeless. About the only humorous thing taken from all of this is that President Raiko’s approval rating is -3. That’s too funny! I don’t know about the rest of you but I’m SO voting for either Poki or Zhu Li (or both they should team up!) for the next president lol. Just think of what they could do for the city! Gotta love Raiko’s new campaign slogan “Vote Raiko! He’ll wallop tyranny with a knockout blow! (I’m like Korra….wut? lol). But credit where it’s due. At least even he admits to his campaign manager that the slogan is ridiculous lol. He’s still pretty incompetent though. When you’re required an explanation on how  rebuilding homes for the populace would restore your own good will to the common folk after they’ve been rendered homeless…yeah…he’s more concerned with keeping his job rather than actually doing it….I’m seriously hoping for Poki. Zhu Li for a more practical candidate but Poki’s good too. Meelo can be the advisor. Republic City would either have absolutely NOTHING to worry about with this trio in charge, or EVERYTHING to worry about with this trio in charge. There would be NO middle ground whatsoever lol.

It’s also nice to see that despite their newfound hardships, the refugees aren’t blaming Korra for everything this time like during the beginning of book 3. They’re grateful to be alive and know it’s all thanks to Korra and her friends and they’re happy to see her again. She offers to help the displaced refugees in any way that she can and quickly begins to find herself overwhelmed. Just when it seems like she’ll be forced to leave (and they begin to riot or something), she doesn’t want to leave as Tenzin suggests. I’m going to post what she tells the refugees because there’s no way I can say it better and it deserves recognition in its own right:

Everyone! Please Listen! I feel for all of you. You’ve all been through so much and I’m sure you’re all tired, frustrated, and angry that you’re homes and neighborhoods have been destroyed. This is a time for great change for all of us in Republic City! But a wise man once told me that change could be good or bad depending on your point of view. So maybe we could all look at this as a chance for a new beginning.

I promise to work my hardest to make sure everyone has a place to live soon. My hope is that the rebuilt Republic City will be full of new possibilities for all of us. Together, we can forge a bright future, living in balance with our planet, evolving into our best selves, and becoming who we truly want to be!

Cue the audience cheering for her and the future.

This girl….no. This young woman…I just can’t right now. As I said before, she truly believes in this vision of unity and balance between humans and spirits with all her heart and soul and she is willing to work and fight for it. We saw shades of this Avatar Korra in the book 2 finale when she gave the speech about the Southern Water Tribe being independent and forging a new path for the future. But to see her now after the hell she was subjected to in the book 3 finale and 3/4s of book four…Avatar Korra has come a long way indeed both with her own struggles and being able to truly inspire people. And we get to see that here with her words spoken with an eloquence we haven’t heard in over two seasons. Just beautiful and Tenzin’s expression as if he’s holding back tears just seals the deal. Couldn’t be more proud of her.

Anyway, after the refugee camp visit, Korra and Asami are back on Air Temple Island standing in a very familiar gazebo admiring the sunset. Kya’s “officially” out as a lesbian in the actual universe (rather than just Word of God) but of course we already knew that. It’s also nice to note that a few characters in the canon suspected Korra and Asami had feeling for each other either before the vacation or shortly after. Good to know that they’ll have an older confidante. Kya also gives us more insight on how homosexuality is viewed by the Avatarverse at large with the official canon more or less matching up with a lot of fandom speculations before the reveal. The Air nomads didn’t/don’t give a shit (which well, duh element of freedom and all), the Fire Nation didn’t care all that much either until Sozin came along and outlawed same sex pairings. Guess we can add that to his jerkbender list….The Water Tribes don’t disown people for it but are private about family matters in general. Interestingly enough, it’s the Earth Kingdom that’s the most openly against it though maybe things are a bit different now than in Avatar Kyoshi’s time who was revealed to be bisexual and couldn’t really change things on that front. I think Kya said it best regarding Korrasami, it’s ultimately their story and they’ll know when the time will come to spread the news.

Speaking of spreading the news, Mako and Bolin come by to visit them. The core Team Avatar is back together! Korra and Bolin hug a bit while Mako and Asami hug (the Borra shipper in me squealed a bit lol. Those two always had an easy friendship. More Borra friendship moments please lol). However, this time Korra asks Asami if she’s ready to tell the boys (to not have another situation like what went down with Korra’s parents and not taking Asami’s feelings into consideration), showing that Korra does indeed learn from her mistakes. Just when they’re getting ready to tell them Jinora interrupts via astral projection because the Triple Threat Triads are threatening the new spirit portal (Dammit Jinora! Dammit Triple Threats I wanted to see the boys’ reaction (particularly Mako’s) was my initial reaction).

But I instantly forgave it with seeing Team Avatar’s first confrontation with Tokuga (as well as seeing how Korra and Asami out themselves to their friends anyway but again, more on that later lol). Ghazan’s signature Lava Shuriken makes an appearance! Well done Bolin! It was awesome to see this move return, but even more awesome and heartwarming was that this truly being the moment where Mako accepts Bolin as an equal partner rather than just his kid brother he feels he has to watch out for.

Things really get crazy when the spirits show up and start attacking people because apparently Korra and her friends weren’t doing a well enough job protecting the portal. Korra tries her best to reason with the stubborn (serpent, snake?) spirit but before she can gain any ground with that, Asami is overwhelmed by a group of benders and Korra immediately rushes to her rescue. Though, by choosing to aid Asami, the wrathful snake spirit goes after Tokuga and gives the audience a rather frightening call back to the Avatar Wan episodes.  Spirits can enter a human body and reshape their anatomy to where they take on physical attributes of the spirit in question. We saw that twice in the Avatar Wan episodes (with Yao and that unlucky hunter). This spirit really screws over Tokuga but it’s not like he didn’t have it coming. Though needless to say, Korra (understandably) choosing to aid Asami and not being able to stop that spirit from turning Tokuga into a mutated freak is probably going to come back to bite her in the ass. The Triple Threats end up retreating afterwards and Korra checks on Asami and they share yet another kiss but this time in front of their friends. They all reacted pretty much how I expected. Bolin being happy about getting his “gossip” fill (and calling for double dates already lol), Opal and Jinora being supportive and Mako being a bit awkwardly out of sorts with it but not against it. Don’t worry Mako. You’ll find your special someone someday. (I’m hoping we get more comics after Turf Wars. Would like to see him paired with the Fire Lord’s daughter as originally intended as well as seeing the Fire Nation and the fractured Earth Kingdom).

Anyway, apparently the Triple Threats and Keum (again his type always come back) were working together. The latter was trying to reclaim his land by getting the Triple Threats to intimidate the Airbenders to leave. Tokuga is rightfully pissed about what happened to him and takes over Keum Enterprises as retribution. Mutated or no, this guy is not one to be tried. Looking forward to seeing where all the plot threads will meet.

Overall, I’d say Mike and the rest of the team here are off to a great start with this comic. Korrasami is prevalent, but without pulling focus from the main threat/plot (THANK YOU). They clearly learned from the Book 1 and 2 days. Everything seems to be tying together and paced rather evenly and everyone is in character. Korra is depicted as the inspirational Avatar she was born to be if still a bit impulsive at times, Asami is the calming, rational presence in their relationship and out, Bolin is still the loveable goofball (but badass Lavabender), and Mako is still the socially awkward but competent cop (even with a bunk arm right now) and so on. The artwork is incredible to me. Irene Koh outdid herself IMO. The vibrant colors, the characters, (the spirit world pages were some of my favorites), it really does feel like a legitimate continuation on exactly where the show left off. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m looking forward to part two.

[junioradventure]

[FANACCT] IMFACT- Tension Up Fansign+Fanmeeting (IMFACTORY) 170521- PLUS tips for these events! (Fanboy)

Hi everyone~ I’m here to share my amazing experience at IMFACT’s Fansign + Fanmeeting Event! If you were looking for reasons to stan IMFACT, I’m here to help you. Simply put, IMFACT treats their fans very well, and especially care for their international fans, as they want to have many opportunities to perform in all the countries around the world. 

I love this concept; it’s so bright, vivid, and screams energetic!

TIME TO START THE FANACCOUNT! Information about this event: - IMFACT has not had an actual fansign event in Korea for a really long time, probably since “Feel So Good” era. They had a CD signing event in Japan not too long ago, but they said it was not the same as a real fansign event. So this was a special event prepared for fans, and doubled as a fanmeeting (involves live performances). - The event participation was carried out first-come first-serve to 120 people. - To apply for this event, the process was different from the traditional fansign process. Instead of buying an album on-site or online, two requirements had to be fulfilled: * We had to send Star Empire Ent. an email with the appropriate information (name, account number, Daum fancafe ID, etc.) before the deadline * We had to send the money (20,000 won) through an account transfer at the appropriate time slot. In this case, when it hit 8pm on the day the payment period started, we could proceed with the account transfer. Because of this, having a Korean bank account was extremely helpful and made the process much easier.  - The staff provided the CD on-site, which made sense because we had to do an account transfer instead of the usual process. The CD had no wrapper and might be a special edition for this event. Nothing seems different about this album than a normal one, except the fact that it seemed like it was opened (plus there was no photocard, idk if the actual album has one or not). I transferred my money right when it struck 8 and played the waiting game. After worrying about getting in, I finally found out that I had gotten in... Thank goodness. I was waiting for a chance to meet them since “In the Club” came out. ON THE DAY OF... Okay. So the event would start at around 2pm according to the post on the fancafe. I woke up at 10ish and left right before noon. The event was held at a Catholic Youth Center (of all places) in Hongdae. I knew Hongdae somewhat but not the exact whereabouts of this site, so I wanted to leave earlier just in case I wandered too much. It turns out, the location was very easy to find, so I grabbed a bite at the convenience store and then went to the Youth Center. I had to say, at first when everyone was lining up, things were a bit confusing. We were told to go down to the lobby floor (accessible by staircase) to check-in. Apparently, the staff were calling us in by numerical order, but on the fancafe post with the official list of participants, there weren’t any numbers by our names. Instead, we had to manually count down the list of people to find our number, and we would tell that to the staff. That must have been a bit annoying for the people who were farther down the list, especially in the 100′s. Luckily, I was only number 40. The order of our names was actually our seat order. That means I was in seat 40. The staff called us in by groups of 5-10. I confirmed my identity with only an ID needed to prove it. Once I was verified, the staff gave me a piece of paper with my seat number and a bottle of sparkling water (how thoughtful!) Then it was waiting time again.

Don’t lose any piece of paper, especially one with your seat number, given to you by staff at the event. They also gave us a complementary sticky note where we write our name. We would stick this on the inside of our albums, opposite of the photo pages for the members’ reference when they sign your album.  I brought extra sticky notes to mark where each member would sign. You should always bring spare notes because you can use this chance to ask the members a question or write a lovely note for them. Note: Some groups do not allow questions, so always follow the rules and read the information carefully on fancafe updates. After a bit more waiting, we could go in! I should probably get started on the actual event and the members. OK! We were waiting when all of a sudden, THE LIGHTS JUST DIMMED AND TURNED OFF. LIKE WHAT THE. The room was silent until “Please Be My First Love” CAME ON AND IMFACT WALKED ONSTAGE, SINGING IT LIVE! My heart died for a little instant, as my brain struggled to comprehend and process what was happening. Everyone seemed to be shook because there was not a single noise from the audience when IMFACT began singing. That was such a nice surprise and ahhhh I just love that song so much. Listen and love it lots.

After that impromptu performance, the boys sat at the table for the start of the fansigning. They greeted us and said a few words, thanking us for coming to this long-awaited event. Jian tried to add some things, but he kinda hesitated and seemed so cutely awkward like awww it’s okay, you’re so precious!!  ONE RANDOM CUTE NOTE: The members commented about how many people came to this event, specially international fans (there was a handful of English-speaking fans there, and a lot of Japanese fans ((yay!))) BUT SANG ACTUALLY ANNOUNCED, “There’s a male fan here too!” AND THAT WAS ME Y’ALL. I WAS THE ONLY MALE FAN THERE AND AHHH I FELT SO SPECIAL. I waved like crazy when Sang said that, and some fans laughed. Taeho and Jian seemed pleasantly amused at this. Soon, the fansigning portion officially began. Let’s move on to individual member interactions I had~ (warning: FEELS AHEAD!!) The order was like this: Jeup→Ungjae(bias!!)→Sang→Taeho→Jian HANDSOME MAIN VOCAL, PARK JEUP ★ Jeup was so friendly and talkative!! Even though my Korean isn’t perfect, we talked the whole time. What really makes me appreciate a group is when they take into consideration your level of Korean if you’re an international fan. Some groups (not going to name names) make the situation awkward for international fans because of the language barrier. I’m not bashing these groups just for that reason, but it still is disappointing when you want to be open and flexible to your diverse fanbase, wherever they may be from. What I mean is, I had an experience with an idol group or two where members did not talk to me much, in English nor Korean, even when I was trying my hardest to speak in Korean. Thankfully, Jeup complimented my Korean skills. Anyway, he asked when I became a fan of them. I told him ever since “Feel So Good” era, and that I especially liked that track. I asked him, what was his favorite song, and he first replied, “Tension Up”, but also added, “In the Club” and “Please Be My First Love”. I agreed, saying that the trio of songs were all great. I commented that I especially think of PBMFL as 강추 (strong recommendation). Jeup burst out in laughter and complimented me again, saying that I even knew slang like “강추".  He also asked where I came from, which is like a customary question we international fans get from idols. I told him America, specifically Hawaii, and pointed at the post-it note for him.

Translation- Q:This isn’t a question, but please come to Hawaii! A: All right. We’ll definitely go. (YAAAAAAAAAAAS PLEASE COME AND VACATION IN HAWAII!!) Jeup looked at the note and actually said he really wants to visit Hawaii. I advertised the islands to him, saying that the weather is nice, the sceneries are great, and he added, “the beaches are good too”. So, he expressed that he wants to take all of the members there to have fun. Please do, we’ll welcome you warmly~ Finally, I told him his hairstyle was really nice today. It was spiked up and it really suited him! He thanked me, and I asked what he personally thought of it. J: I like it. Styling the hair upward is very masculine. Me: Right, I agree. Do you prefer having your hair styled up or bangs down? J: *thinks for a bit* I think both is good, but now, having your hair styled up is rather cool now. So I personally like it this way. Me: Yeah! Especially since nowadays it’s quite hot, right? J: Right! Then I told him I’d continue supporting IMFACT in the future. Such a cool guy~ Gonna hold you to your words, Jeup. See you guys in Hawaii. A hui ho! BOYFRIEND MATERIAL/GENIUS LYRICIST/SHY CUTIE BIAS, NA UNGJAE!! ❤ Okay, I’m already dying of feels again and I haven’t even told you guys my interaction. So I can’t believe I was actually meeting Ungjae. I spazzed about him so much recently before and I had so many feels, but it’s always so different when you meet idols in real life. I told him I’m from Hawaii, like I always do.  U: Hawaii? Wow. Me: Am I the first fan from Hawaii? U: *kind of confused* Sorry? Me: Am I the first fan from Hawaii that you’ve met? U: Ah, yes *laughs* Me: *proud* U: And you’ve come all the way to Korea. Me: Yeah, I’m actually an exchange student. U: Wow, really? *impressed* You’re really good at Korean. Me: Ah, thank you. I still got a long way to go. But I’ve been in Korea for around 9 months.  And, since this was a golden opportunity, thanks to my friend’s suggestion, I decided to just wing it and see what would happen if I wrote my bias a cute joking question.

Translation: Ungjae-yah, I like you the best ㅎㅎ Wanna go shopping together later? (I’m older so I’m using banmal/informal language) Bottom right corner of signature: Thank you!! I WAS SO SHY WHEN HE KEPT LOOKING AT THE NOTE, I WAS LIKE OMG OKAY MAYBE I SHOULDN’T HAVE WRITTEN IT, WHAT IF HE REPLIES NEGATIVELY?! But that was just my panic mode. Most idols with a good heart would play along! But since this was the first time I met my bias face to face, I was slightly worried what he would think. This is how the convo basically went: U:  Ah, shopping? *curious* Me: Yeah *laughs uncomfortably, shy shy shy af* U: *genuinely interested* What kinds of clothes do you want? Me: I like casual clothes U: *smiles* Ah, casual? Ah, I like hip-hop style so... Hongdae has a few places, not a lot. But for casual clothes... *recommends some stuff but I forgot what he said exactly, sorry bb* We talked a bit more about stores and things. It felt more like he was giving me recommendations HAHA but since he wrote, “Cool~!” on my note, then I’ll take that as a yes �� Anyway, I got pretty bold at this point and thought, well, might as well just go all out. Me: Actually, you’re my favorite member. You’re really handsome. U: *shyly smiles* *bows head slowly in appreciation* AHHHHHH HE WAS SO ADORABLE WHEN HE WAS SHY, SUCH A QTPIE I SWEAR. SUCH CHARISMA ONSTAGE BUT IN PERSON HE’S JUST A CINNAMON ROLL AHHHH STAN UNGJAE STAN IMFACT EVERYONE. Lastly, I asked him about his work as IMFACT’s lyricist. Me: So, you’re in charge of composing lyrics? U: Of course. Me: When you write lyrics, where do you usually draw your inspiration? U: *thinks* hmm... Well, I just draw inspiration from real life. When I’m thinking about something or when I watch a show or drama, I just get thoughts and write them. It was time to move on, so I gave him one last firm handshake and moved on. Thanks to his sunny smile, I was able to feel accomplished after talking to him. I officially didn’t mess up royally in front of my bias! THE SUNSHINE OF IMFACT, LEE SANG ☀ LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS GUY. HE WAS SO NICE!! He already pointed me out in the beginning but seriously, this guy is awesome. Right when I moved to him, he extended his hand out and gave me a big, friendly handshake. He greeted me, “What’s up?!!” in English. S: Ah, Hawaii~ my sister went to America. (I love that random transition of topics) Me: Really? Where in America? S: *says in English* America. For study. Me: *internally: I know Sang, I’m asking where* Where, in America? *says it again* S: *I think he didn’t specify, or he forgot, but he said she just studied abroad, and came back. I just accepted that answer lol* Me: You should come visit Hawaii!! And then he proceeds to tell me that he really wants to go. He looks at my post-it.

Translation- Q: Do you have a favorite Nine Muses song? (NM and IMFACT are same company) I told him that I really like Namyu and that they’re my favorite group, and since the two groups are the same company, I wanted to ask him what his fave song from them was. He wrote Drama, and ofc I love that song too. Darn, I forgot some other little things I might have talked to him about. But here’s another thing~ (I was just speaking my mind at this point) Me: Since there’s a lot I don’t know, who is the visual in IMFACT? S: Actually, we leave it up to the fans, who see members as visuals in their own viewpoints. Like, if a fan watches us, they’ll think “Ah, I like this one! He’s a visual!” These kinds of thoughts. So it’s an individual’s preference. *how precious is this* Me: Really? Well, honestly, I think you’re the visual. S: Ah, really? *short shy moment, gives me another handshake for the compliment* Me: Yeah, you’re really, really handsome. I can’t stress this enough, THIS GUY IS SO GREAT!! I forget what else we talked about, but at the end, I got flustered lol just.... ahhhhhhh > < NEXT, MAIN DANCER BUT TRYNA SNATCH DAT MAIN VOCAL POSITION, KIM TAEHO ♦ Taeho is really cool and just polite and nice~ I just loved his reaction when I said I was from Hawaii. He was like, “Wa, Hawaii?” like aw. And I had to tell him about how cool it was that he got more lines this comeback. Seriously, seems like all the vocals in this group can be main.  Me: Also, I really like how you got a lot of parts this time around. T: Ah, really? *smiles* You like my vocals? Me: Yeah! Compared to the older songs, you got a lot of parts. Isn’t it nice?  T: Yep~ *high-five* Thank you~ Me: Hm, how are the parts distributed, anyway? T: Actually, we each get together and divide the parts based on who fits the lines the most. We come to an agreement and split the parts that way. Like we say, “Oh, I think you would fit this part well”, and so on. Me: Wow, that’s nice~ What do you honestly think of the title track, “Tension Up”? T: I do like it. It’s really exciting. I also like In the Club and especially Please Be My First Love. That kind of style. *sly self-promo as always* Me; I agree!  T: We have more songs in store, so please anticipate them. Me: Ah, could you give me a little hint about the next track? *COMEBACK SPOILER EXCLUSIVELY FROM TAEHO* T: Compared to “Tension Up”, the next one is a bit... slower tempo. It’s hip-hop, but more... relaxing? Chill? Me: Ah, really? Sounds exciting. I’ll continue supporting IMFACT in the future~

I don’t remember much else that we talked about, but that was still a lot~ Such a sweet guy. Really cares for his fans, like all of them.  THE AWKWARD BUT SWAG RAPPER LEADER, LEE JIAN ♠ Last but definitely not least, I met Jian~ Awkward little greetings ftw. Me: Hi~ Jian-ssi~ Oh, where’d your note go? JA: Hi, it’s right here~ *looks at said note* Me: Oh *flustered af, drops head in embarrassment*

Translation-  Q: Is an IMFACT X Nine Muses collab possible?? A: We’ve done one! On the picture: Nine Muses Noonas are coming back soon, so please give them lots of support, and if a chance for a collab presents itself, we’ll do it for sure! In response to my surprise at his answer, we had a convo. JA: We collaborated before. Me: Oh right, "Dream”, right? (referring to Sang x Keumjo’s duet) JA: Actually, during the Star Empire Family Concert in Japan. Me: Oh, really? JA: Yeah. It was me and Keumjo-noona, we did a collab. Me: Ah, which song? I didn’t know. JA: Taeyang-sunbaenim’s “Eyes, Nose, Lips”. Me: Oh, I’ve never seen it. Do you think it would be on YouTube? JA: I think it’ll come up if you search it there. I told him about Nine Muses being my favorite girl group, and he mentioned that they helped IMFACT a lot, and he really appreciates them. AND HERE’S WHEN I LITERALLY SAID WHAT HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME FOR SOME TIME LOL HEAR ME OUT, OKAY? Me: Okay, this isn’t an insult, but I have something to say... JA: Okay, what is it? Me: When I look at you, Jian, I think of Euaerin. You remind me of her a lot. Like your tone... And I remember when you impersonated her. JA: Ah, really?~ *smiling* Actually, I really look up to her. She’s helped me a lot. *I forgot what he said specifically, but he was really chill and nice about this LOL I hope it didn’t offend him cuz they could be counterparts! Killer rappers and amazing dancers.*

Like look at this goddess

And then look at this hunk! LOL. Their sharp features stand out, and they’re really charismatic. (God I miss Euaerin now).  And then it was time to continue my attack on Jian. But this time, I wanted to give him a direct compliment~ Me: But Jian-ssi. JA: *interested* yes? Me:You’re really handsome. JA: *amused at my straightforwardness* Ah, thank you~ *laughs* Me: Yeah, especially this... *gestures at the amazing tie he’s wearing, bless his outfit and his whole existence* It suits you very much. Did you pick it yourself? JA: Actually, the stylists did it...  Me: Oh, well it still looks good! Then it was time to go *sad face* Me: *reads Jian’s message on my album* Ah, but don’t worry~ I’m not just a Nine Muses fan, I’m also IMFACT’s fan~ I’ll support you in the future! JA: Thank you! See you! Me: Bye bye! JA: Bye~ Junior~~ Just the way he said my name at the end made me so warm on the inside hehehehe~ they are all sweethearts. It took a long while to go through all 120 fans, but it was great. They had a little game session with the fans, where they would draw something on a notepad and then the fans guess the answer. The ones who answered would get a chance to take a selca with them. *ahhh jelly* Honestly, during that game, I was confused AF about what they were drawing LMAO I did not know how the fans could get all the right answers! I was stumped. Then IMFACT performed some songs, as this was the “fanmeeting” part of the event. They performed some fan favorites- Tension Up (of course) and Lollipop. And during Lollipop, Sang was EXTRA and ran offstage momentarily and I GOT TO TOUCH HIS HAND AGAIN~! HE’S SO GREAT WITH FANSERVICE. LOVE YOU SANG!! Seriously, they know how to charm their fans and make them feel loved! It was almost time to go, but IMFACT asked the staff if they could do one more encore stage of Please Be My First Love. The fans were cheering, wanting it, AND SO WAS I, LIKE THIS SONG IS SUCH A TREASURE. BEST CHILL SONG RIGHT NOW. Refreshing like a breath of spring air~ Their vocals were on point and it was cute because in the middle, when Ungjae started rapping, his mic turned off for some reasons and had some difficulties but the members helped and lent him a mic until it started working again. So talented and thoughtful agh.  Then, it was time to go~ they waved goodbye and the lights dimmed and turned off again, just like the beginning. Just as they had come. They all disappeared backstage, except Jeup who straggled and stayed back a little to say one last cute farewell to the audience. And that was it. A great day well spent. It was so worth the trouble of applying, even if it was a different format than I was used to. IMFACT is so underrated, and I think Star Empire is not doing the best that they can to help them succeed. Like, the members are all charming and talented and exceptional, but their title songs are not innovative, unique, or otherwise outstanding to really catch the public’s eye. Star Empire failed ZE:A and they messed up Namyu, and I feel so bad for IMFACT. But hope remains, and I will keep supporting them in their journey. I wish them all the luck for stardom.  Please give IMFACT a try. Listen to their b-sides too, they have really good side tracks, which seem to be the real hidden gems of their music. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM ME: Woo Please Be My First Love (If I didn’t stress this enough) In The Club (an excellent r&b, more somber song of theirs) Mirrorz Feel So Good (a really underrated title track, really hype-worthy) And that’s it for my fanaccount!! It’s super long but it’s all my thoughts~ I’m going to make a video for this whole experience, hopefully by tomorrow. I spent so much time on this, hahaha. Until next time~