#as you can tell i am a tad it obsessed with the show

[smittenskitten]

I absolutely adore Ae and Kanun's relation!

Kanun is a wise man

Yes he will. If not him, I VOLENTEER!

Ae is not having it with Kanun being they voice of reason LMAO! She hates rich people and tyrannical bosses. Specially the ones that sends her hubby/bofie to the hospital

when she is right, she is right

they are suckers for each other

You are right Jen. I would like to see them get married

Kanun taking care of drunk wifie all the while Ae is like where is everyone? How are they gonna get home?

I love them so much!

[boobabietch]

Chapter II: "A Rookie’s Obsession, A Legend’s Indifference: Is Diana Taurasi ready for Victoria O’Hara?” | Diana Taurasi x OC

Warnings: fight fight fight!! And a tad bit narcissistic Diana

A/N: I’m having a shitload of fun writing this lmao, so here’s another chapter I hope you like. As always English is not my first language so if you find something wrong tell me so I can change it asap, I can’t wait for y’all to read this and the next chapters I’m so excited. Likes, comments (!!!) and reblogs are highly appreciated and my ask box is always open. Love Sof :))

Making headlines masterlist

There’s a funny thing about being the best in women’s sports. People either love you or wait for you to fall. But when you’ve been around long enough, it doesn’t matter what they think. You know your place. And you protect it.

That’s what I’ve been doing since my debut in the WNBA. Owning the court. Owning the pressure. Every game, every season, everyone expects the same thing from me: perfection. Winning is never enough because when your name is Diana Taurasi, nothing is ever enough.

Then, she showed up.

Victoria O’Hara. The rookie everyone wouldn’t shut up about. Reminded me of me, hungry, talented, a little too much attitude for her own good. The first time I saw her was just before our game against San Antonio. I’d heard her name, knew she had something. But there’s a difference between hype and reality.

May 19, 2017

Game day. I could feel her eyes on me during warm-ups, it was cute honestly, I could see the gears working hard on her mind, probably wondering what it’s like to be me, to dominate the way I have. They all wonder. But what she didn’t know yet is that being good in college doesn’t mean shit here. Welcome to the W, kid.

I didn’t give her a second glance. What was there to say? Another rookie trying to prove something. I’ve seen it all. I’ve been that girl. But this one, this woman, had something extra in her. I could see it the minute the game started. Every time she took a shot, it was like she was aiming at me, if I didn’t know she wanted to rip my throat out I’d say she was in love. Every drive, every step, was a challenge.

I could hear the yelling in the crowd, I’d hear her teammates tell her to relax, feel the energy shift. People loved watching us, golden veteran vs. golden rookie. A fucking classic. O’Hara wanted to make a statement. I could tell she was on the edge, burning herself out just to prove she belonged. And every time, I’d remind her, I’ve been there. I’ve fought harder battles. If she wanted to be the next big thing, she was going to have to earn it. She was good, but I wasn’t worried. I’ve dealt with players like her before. They rise fast, burn out faster. But this one... she kept pushing.

Every game we played after that, it was like she had a personal vendetta. I couldn’t walk on the court without feeling her eyes drilling into me. She was obsessed. It was funny, really. This kid was trying so hard to beat me, to make me see her.

I saw her. I always see them coming.

July 7, 2017

We were in San Antonio. Close game. O’Hara played her heart out, I’ll give her that. But we still won. After the game, I found her slumped on the bench, wiped out. I should’ve just left her there. But something in me couldn’t resist. The kid had fire. I respected that.

“Not bad, O’Hara. Keep it up, and you might actually be a challenge someday.”

Her face said it all. She was rattled, but she had that spark. I liked seeing it. She looked at me like she was trying to figure out if I was serious. I was. Kinda. Then, she shot back:

“Someday? I’m already a problem for you.”

I almost laughed. Her confidence was impressive, misplaced, but impressive. I glanced down, smirked. Let her have that moment.

“Of course you are,” I said, walking off.

Sometimes I wonder what things would be like if I never said that, lucky for everyone I did.

July 30, 2017

Maybe I overestimated how in control I am of everything; the game, the rookie, and my body.

We were playing again, tensions running high. It was bound to happen. O’Hara wanted her moment, wanted to prove herself. And me? I wasn’t giving her an inch. Then, somewhere in the third quarter, it happened.

I saw her coming, her eyes locked on me with a mix of defiance and determination. She made a quick drive, cutting to the basket with an intensity that almost made me respect her. But I wasn’t about to let a rookie get one over on me. I slammed into her, blocking her path with enough force to knock her off balance. She hit the floor hard, her elbows scraping against the court. The whistle blew, and for a moment, I watched her lay there, her frustration almost palpable.

“Get up,” I muttered, standing over her. “You’re gonna need more than that to take me down, rook”

I saw the anger in her eyes as she pushed herself up, pressing her chest on mine. Damn, was she this tall the whole time? The way she glared at me, it was almost as if she was daring me to push her further. “You think you’re untouchable? Just fucking wait.”

My smirk didn’t waver. I’d seen that fire in rookies before, puffed up, ready to prove themselves. “I don’t think, O’Hara. I know.” I said with the most arrogant tone I owned.

“Oh you’re just a fucking bitch, aren’t you?” Before I could react further, she shoved me hard. Everyone erupted into chaos. I felt the rush of adrenaline as I moved to shove her back, but the moment I lunged, my teammates were already there, hands gripping my arms and holding me back.

O’Hara wasn’t any better off. Many of her teammates were swarming around her, trying to pull her away from me. I could see the frustration in her eyes as she struggled against their hold, her fists clenched and ready to throw.

Fun fact about fights: when you need the strength of 4 pro basketball players to hold you back, it makes you look really fucking dangerous.

We both tried to break through the human barriers restraining us. I could almost feel the impact of our fists connecting, the unfinished fight burning in my veins. But with every struggle, every strained push against the hands holding us back, the reality set in: we were not going to get to finish this here.

I didn’t care. I didn’t care about the cameras, the refs, or the impending technical. All I cared about was feeling that fire she was throwing at me. I wanted her to know what it felt like to face me, to try and break through the wall I’d built around myself.

Eventually, the refs managed to get us both under control, leading us to opposite sides of the court. As I was pulled away, I couldn’t help but glance back at O’Hara, her eyes still blazing with that same fire. Despite the chaos, a small part of me felt a twisted respect for her, a rookie who was not just willing to challenge me, but was ready to throw down if necessary.

The arena buzzed with excitement and disbelief as we were separated, but the fight between us was far from over.

That was the moment I knew this kid wasn’t going anywhere. And maybe, just maybe, I’d finally met someone who could keep up.

Little did I know.

Fucking Victoria.

"Rivalry Ignites: O’Hara and Taurasi Get into Fiery Altercation During Friday Game"

"San Antonio Stars Victoria O’Hara Adidas Grey and Black Edition Player Jersey | SOLD OUT"

Requests are Open!

Masterlist

[2frosty4you]

Crushing on You [Spy Headcanon]

| Spy x Fem!Reader | 288 words | Masterlist | Ask/Request | Warnings: Uhhh he’s a tad bit obsessed and thats it 

╒═════════════════════╕

🔪  This Frenchman is extremely non-committal, the closest to staying with someone was with scout's mother and we see how that's went.

🔪  At first he would avoid you, and for a considerable amount until he realizes the butterflies you are creating in his stomach won't go away, then he'd man up and start showing you the real side of him.

🔪 GIFTS! Lavish gifts, I am talking about 500$ Wines, tailored outfits, new weapons, jewels and all around swarming you in gifts. (Can you tell his love language is gift-giving?)

🔪 He would stalk your online history to gauge what you want, and i mean STALK. You cannot hide anything from him, he will buy your entire shopping bag and just hand it to you casually.

🔪 He is a stalker and I don't make the rules.

🔪 Ups his flirting with you by 200%, makes the rest of your team EXTREMELY.

🔪 Protects you during battles, but if you;'re a mad lad of a woman and you're tearing the  enemy team town he's just in your shadow waiting for the enemy spy to just ATTEMPT to kill you.

🔪 Tries to make constant physical contact with you. 

🔪 You're handing him something? Well his fingers are touching your hand while you hand it to him. You're walking past him? He's going to have to touch your arm as you pass one another.

🔪 He is obsessed with you if you can’t tell.

🔪 You're going to have to confess to him,  and tell him those feelings are mutual causes its obvious he's deeply in love with you and he will keep spending money till you love him.

🔪 Has at least one photo of you sleeping, no one will ever find it though.

╘═══════════════════╛

[whatspastisprologue-blr]

Because 2 of my biggest hyperfixations are Interview with the Vampire and The Amazing Devil, here we go....

"Little Miss Why So" is, to me, based on my interpretation of the song, very much applies to Loustat in S1. To me, Madeleine is singing from the perspective of someone who is very depressed and who has a partner who is trying to cure her by, basically, loving her out of it. This is, to me, confirmed by the few lines that Joey sings, as though if he does enough good things for her, if he just shows her how much he loves her, she'll snap out of it. (And it doesn't work and they split up.)

I've been thinking about it a lot but especially in relation to the animation in S2E7 that depicts Lestat constantly doing things to make Louis happy/cure him of depression, while it doesn't work and Rue Royale gets more and more dilapidated until they can't even see each other over the mountain of newspapers, books, and other things. (I am completely sympathetic to Louis, btw, but I also know how scary and helpless it is to love someone and want to help them but you can't.)

Throughout LMWS, Madeleine lists all the things Joey's character has said or done and she sounds so exhausted, and there's this repeated "he said", and then she starts going into a mantra of sorts: "It's so boring, it's so boring, it's so boring....." And she caps it off with "et cetera" like she's just too bored to keep going but she could if she wanted to.

There's a few parts I want to call out specifically:

"I don't know how to reach you when you get like this. I've been waiting for you to come home."

This is Lestat's frustration, basically. He keeps trying to reach Louis and nothing is working. Even when Louis is home, physically, he's not present (I've seen great meta about Louis having a disassociative disorder). Special mention here to the line, "It's daylight again and you look like I've failed you." Lestat is a provider; it's something that he takes pride in and enjoys, whether it's his human family eating food that he hunted, or how he sent money and gifts to his human family after becoming a vampire, or the things he buys for Louis and Claudia.

"If I'm good, will you come back?"/"Stop asking why I'm sad, just know it's enough to know I'm sad." Madeleine and Joey are literally singing over each other here, singing at the same time. Their characters are speaking past each other. They're not listening to each other. Joey's character just wants to know how to fix her, what he has to do to get her to come back for him. Madeleine's character is just exhausted from having to provide reasons why she feels the way she does. Worse, her character continues (as though quoting Joey's), "Yeah, but why?" He's still asking her. He's not leaving her alone about it because he's obsessed with figuring out the problem so he can solve it. And it's driving her away.

"Why don't you just tell them all to fuck off, love, and be mine?" ("Them" probably being "those wankers that you serve all night".) For Lestat, "them"/"those wankers" is probably all of Louis's human connections.

As others have pointed out, "The Rockrose and the Thistle", another of TAD's songs, is a good example of how to love someone through depression instead of trying to love them out of it (too bad Lestat couldn't have heard it back then).

And while I could probably relate several other songs from The Amazing Devil to Interview with the Vampire, I'll just leave ya'll with this line from "Battle Cries": "This isn't a breakup, dear heart, it's a season finale!"

(Also, if you've listened to Little Miss Why So and you think that Joey sounds like Jaskier from Netflix's The Witcher, that's because it is! The Amazing Devil has 3 albums out, in case you want to hear more of his and Madeleine's phenomenal voices. Now, off you go, to be spellbound by these beautiful lovely Fae creatures!)

[margarrivergod]

I’m bored so i’m here to recommend some of the brain rotting fics i’ve read recently(all on ao3):

BSD:

A Dolls House by Abyss_In_Wonderland_likes_sexy_cannibals

Rating: M

Warnings: NA

Description: “Chuuya and Dazai get trapped inside of an ability made sigil. Now there's a creepy lady telling them that in order to get out they need to complete five tests. If they don’t pass they’ll just stay there forever or die, but no biggie, right?”

this is a high favorite of mine, the author does a PHENOMENAL job at characterizing the characters, plus the story is *chefs kiss*🤌🏼 i pray that they’ll write more skk fics in the future!!

the liars house by burgundytshirt

Rating: M

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Description: “Dazai, Chuuya, and four others are trapped in a cursed house where you cannot lie—each time you lie, you lose an organ. In seven stages, they are asked deeply personal questions that need to be answered in order to escape. Welcome to The Liar’s House.”

Dare I say this is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, skk fanfic?!? Like holy shit this is SO GOOD! This is a translation of the original, which is in mandarin, but it’s 12/10 regardless!!

TGCF:

Thank You For The Venom by xoTsundoku

Rating: E

Warnings: Underage, Graphic Depictions of Violence

Description: Mu Qing is guarded and hollow after losing his mother but he's content in his darkness until he moves in with the Fengs, and a light pierces his comfortable solitude in the form of his soon-to-be stepbrother. Two people who can never be together fall in love.

There’s a tag that’s reads “pseudo incest” and idkw but i found it to be the funniest shit lmaoo. But in all hknestly I REALLY like this fic. I still reading it currently but i’m bulldozing through it. I also believe the author does an amazing job at characterization while tying them into a modern au

Bad Intentions by bizzybee

Rating: E

Warnings: NA

Description: “Despite their hatred for each other, renowned cook Feng Xin and first-timer Mu Qing co-judge an amateur cooking show with a strong following on social media. As filming wraps up, Feng Xin is set to go on an international tour for the release of his debut cookbook. Their public relations coordinators team up to devise a plan that will not only jumpstart sales of Feng Xin’s book, but also boost Mu Qing’s rising fame and satiate the thirst of their shared fans: They will accompany each other on the book tour. Together. As a couple for the cameras. Whether they'll kill or kiss each other first is anybody’s guess.”

This is the first fengqing fic I’ve completed and it will forever hold my heart it’s SO GOOD! My emotionally cknstipated boys thrown into a cooking au!

if you can’t summon the flames directly from hell, store bought is fine by buthgoth (GremlinGirl)

Rating: E

Warnings: NA

Description: “Shi Qingxuan gets more than he bargained for when he steals a candlestick from a mysterious magic shop's private collection. A haunted apartment may be the least of his concerns, however. The demon he awakened is ancient and hungry, and it seems Shi Qingxuan might be his new obsession.”

Have I mentioned how obsessed I am with butchgoth’s work?… YES! this is the first fic of theirs that i’ve read and one of my faves. If your a beefleef stan then PLS read this fic plus their others!

as if by destiny by debwriting

Rating: M

Warnings: NA

Descriptions: “Hua Cheng stumbles upon the mysterious Midnight Cafe. He enters for a much-needed meal, and stays for the enigmatic owner, Xie Lian.”

A cute hualian coffee shop au with a twist!

MDZS:

Back to Bite One by diamond bruise

Rating: E

Warnings: NA

Description: “or, lwj, wwx and a couple of lan disciples get stuck in a haunted manor”

this one is cute and a tad angsty (like i wanna ram my head in the wall cause y’all r dense lol) but nothing too serious imo

RAWR! is I Love You in dinosaur by FireAwayy

Rating: E

Warnings: NA

Description: “Xue Yang has spent a life running only to find himself as an animal wrangler at Jurassic Park. He spends his time managing previously extinct monsters, and loving every second of it. Until Xiao Xingchen shows up.”

i love this author i love this fic i love this author i love this fic i love this author i love this fic!!!! if i couldn’t make that clear enough

Furry Porn Costs Extra by Fireaway

Rating: E

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Description: “Lan Xichen is the CEO of one of the richest companies in the world. He's efficent, savvy, and altogether bored. Lan Wangji is a ruthlessly efficient police officer with the highest moral code of anyone who had ever donned the uniform. Jiang Cheng is living day to day, getting by with his art. And when that doesn't work, robbing people blind. Wei Wuxian is the thief who hides behind a guileless smile and his uncanny ability to simply vanish when needed. What happens when their lives intertwine with one another? Will they find the answers they're looking for, or will they end up losing more than they ever bargained for?”

If i didn’t make it clear enough this author writes lovely fics! this is my fav Xicheng fic to date, it has its serious plot plus the humor is spot on (there is no actual furry porn)

Thicker Than Water by athena_crikey

Rating: M

Warnings: NA

Descriptions: “A disaster, is Lan Zhan’s first impression as the bike squeals to a halt on the far side of Song Lan’s car. The man riding it – and he’s tall, and lanky, and sure-footed – hops off and locks it to the car’s back door. The back door of a police vehicle. He pulls his helmet off to reveal long, sweat-soaked hair with a shaggy undercut, bright grey eyes, and a smile that launches like an arrow straight through Lan Zhan’s chest. No, he thinks, watching this trainwreck of a man shimmy between the narrow space dividing Song Lan’s back bumper and the next car’s hood like he’s doing some kind of dance step. Absolutely not.”

I absolutely ADORE athena crikey and her work- ALL OF IT!! this one in particular is one of my favs- here we have a modern cultivation au with my fav neurodivergent duo

Every River, Every Stream by athena_crikey

Rating: E

Warnings: NA

Description: “Wei Ying, rookie architect and chronically unable to prioritize his love life, in a moment of madness turns out to be tested for compatibility with famous new entertainer Lan Zhan, struggling with the after-effects of chemo. Unexpectedly matched with a man on a very different career trajectory, he's presented with a litany of unappealing choices. Oh, and also love.”

Another work by dear ole athena. This was the first fic I’ve read of hers and it will forever be a strong favorite.

Post Mortem by Cataclysmic_Calamity

Rating: E

Warnings: Graphic Depictions of Violence

Descriptions: “Life is a horror movie sometimes. You ignore all the warning signs. You end up standing there in the final scene, covered in blood, contemplating your life choices. Wei Ying is used to that. But it’s harder when you’re in love with your best friend.”

If you guys are heavy into the tgcf or mdzs fandom than you’ll know exactly who this author, Evie, is. She wrote NPAB and The Soul Remains, along with a bunch of other beautiful fics. BUT MY GOD THIS ONE!!! I never see anyone talk about Post Mortem and I will proudly say this is my fav Wangxian fic, and one of my favorite fics period. The story is wonderful, characters r well written, beautifully paced, plot is to die for(lol). She’s an amazing author all in all so check her work out if you haven’t!!

[izumeno]

Rewriting Sonia Nevermind

Heya, last time we talked about, rewriting Akane Owari. I think my friend really liked the concept I made and because you seemed to like it too, it's time to rewrite my least favorite DR2 girl.

That being, Sonia Nevermind.

I am not a huge fan of her. She barely has any depth, barely much focus or even an own character arc. She is just a nice girl, who happens to be a princess and a funny foreigner. Well, I think we can do so much more with her, so here are some ideas, to improve her. Feel free to disagree with me.

Personality:

Okay so personality wise, I would keep her friendly nature. But I would also at the same time make her a tad more creepy and her love with serial killers, the occult and dark topics more pronounced. She would talk about it a lot more and a few times, giggles excited when she talks about such topics. This may make her seem like that she is loving serial killers and is romanticizing them, which causes her classmates to be a bit wary off her. In reality, she doesn't condone those crimes of course and she is simply fascinated and passionate about those dark topics. Why she has that fascination to begin with, will be explained later.

Appearance:

I would change Sonia's outfit slightly. She will wear a dark hoodie, one with some white symbols along a pair of blue jeans. Her nails would be painted pink and her face would look as pretty, as in canon. Her hair is a bit more braided from behind, given her a regal appearance. Now, why am I giving Sonia such a strange look? Well, like in canon, Sonia wants to be seen as a normal student by the others and therefore, she is wearing more casual clothing in order to seem more natural and to fit in with the rest. She is not a tomboy by any means and simply wears a hoodie, because its comfortable and because she is not that much of a fan of showing skin. Also, I think the dark clothing contrasts great with her golden blonde hair, so there's that.

Backstory:

Now, as I mentioned in the Personality Subsection, there's a reason Sonia is obsessed with serial killers and that has something to do, with her past. See, when Sonia was younger, she had a sister. One that was supposed to be the one next in line and become the future queen of Nosovelic. However, on the day that she was going to get crowned, (Sonia was 13 at the time), her sister was assassinated by a known serial killer in Nosovelic. This event traumatized Sonia of course and she began to study serial killers and their patterns, in order to partially learn from their methods, to possibly find the killer of her sister one day and also to cope with the loss of her sister. Gundham and her bonded because of their shared interests and they confide each other, thanks to their shared past too.

However, thanks to researching so many killers, Sonia began to develop some dark urges, like light sadism and a somewhat petty nature. She is aware of that of course, but she is trying her best to contain those negative aspects of course. Her light sadism only comes out, when Kazuichi begins to stalk her and she belittles him subtly out of annoyance and as a way, to vent out her darker aspects. Even though Sonia is still holding back and doesn't want to seriously hurt Kazuichi. I can imagine Sonia eventually opening up to Kazuichi and outright telling him, how his behavior creeps her out and Kazuichi will eventually realize it too and then tries to stop stalking her. I do see potential of them becoming somewhat good friends in the future though.

A few notes about Nosovelic in this rewritten version of mine:

-It's located between Montenegro and Albania

-It's a Parliamentary Monarchy and after Sonia's fall into despair, she stages a coup and turns it into an absolute monarchy.

-The main language is Nosovelician, a mix of German, Dutch and Albanian.

-Military knowledge and education is mandatory, because Nosovelic had been invaded countless times during its tenure.

-It was not part of the Eastern Bloc and remained neutral, throughout the cold war.

-Its closest economic partners are Germany, Bulgaria and Albania.

-The country itself has some LGBT right issues, something Sonia wants to fix.

Additional Notes regarding Sonia:

-She practices martial arts and military training. Sometimes during practice, she comes and teaches the other soldier trainees. Her rank is General.

-Her Japanese has a bit of an east European accent. She speaks European languages, like German, Dutch, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Ukrainian more fluid though.

-Apart from researching about serial killers, she also reads tons of political and economical books.

-The only subject Sonia struggled with in school, was Biology and Math.

And that's it! I hope ya liked my rewrite ideas for Sonia and if ya enjoy it, feel free to leave a like and re-post it. Until next time!

[688199]

NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY TOOK FROM US

Cause genuinely what the hell is this? (I know I ranted about this before but shush lemme complain.)

Marinette loves Adrien because he’s good looking and the son of a famous fashion designer, thus she holds him to a high pedestal and bases her attraction on fantasy and that “mysterious” element?

BULL FUCKING SHIT.

GIVE ME BACK THE MARINETTE THAT LOVED FELIX FOR HIS SENSITIVITY AND DETERMINATION, MENTIONING NOTHING ABOUT HIS LOOKS. 还给我‼️‼️‼️ 他妈的还给我啦‼️‼️‼️ ka ni na be chao chee bye AHHHHHH

WHO WHAT… WHY?

Like I am tearing blood because of this. My optic nerve burst because of the spike in blood pressure caused by this stupid fucking decision.

Their dynamic even sucks when they first “officially” introduced Adrien. They’re friends, with Marinette often trying to make the relationship romantic. Which is… eh? But nothing still beats OG Marinette’s goal of making Felix smile. And maybe him liking her because of it. Shes focusing on his happiness over her happiness. Do you know how GREAT that is?

Also not to toot my own horn but that one random fanfic I wrote inspired by how Marinette fell in love with Felix shows the sheer potential of their relationship.

To Felix, playing music and creating art is the only way he can express himself, yet he feels a tad bit of shame doing it (as per the bible: “it’s exercising my hands, not for enjoyment!”). For Marinette to catch him at his most vulnerable and basically peel back his layers so quickly just by listening to him play yet not make a huge deal out of it when he chooses not to speak about it…

FUCKKK DO YOU GET ME? DO YOU GET IT?

While other girls swoon over his looks, his skills and dreams are appreciated by Marinette, things he worked so hard on yet no one, not even his family, sees.

I like to imagine Felix’s paintings as pretty harsh and abstract, which deters a lot of people away, even the art teacher doesn’t understand. Until Marinette comes trotting along and being so captivated by his works.

Basically, she is the only one that appreciates him… for him. For who he is. For his hard work.

Canon Marinette? Oh fuck off. Delusional piece of shit. She thought he was a jerk (damn prejudice getting in your way) and when he did the bare minimum to subvert it (no way, kindness?? humility??? impossible.), she became obsessed over him. It’s so LAME.

OG Marinette will always have my heart. She’s the sweetest.

“It’s the same character” You tell me that one more time I’ll print out the entire first bible and shove it up your ass until your rectum is lined with paper cuts.

That’s two different characters.

[yakuzabrainrotlive]

Name your favorite characters and why in absurd detail (if you want, or just name them)

Well, you asked for DETAILS, so have a sort of chatacter analysis/hot mess of ramblings for #1. This has a good amount of personal headcanons that I've built up and it's not 100% based on canonical facts. Also I HAVE only played 0, Kiwami 1 and Kiwami 2 (Majima saga is in progress) so I don't have all the facts. I AM NOT GOOD AT CHARACTER ANALYSIS, be warned. Also ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE.

1) Majima Goro! I find his truly kind nature masked by his 'Mad Dog' persona very fascinating and sad at the same time. The way he incorporated elements of Nishitani and Sagawa into that persona is interesting and telling of how much of an impact those two had in him deciding his path.

I'm entranced by his use kansai-ben (my beloved) and his playful tone of voice contrasted with the, at times, more serious voice that sends me right back to 1988. The way he switches from an almost mockingly polite speech style to his Kansai dialect in his introduction scene in 0 instantly made me curious about his true nature and backstory.

I think his way of showing off his tattoos by not wearing a shirt so civilians don't get involved with him (that's how I interpret it) is tragic and it's obvious his past has left him with deep scars and a fear of the people he cares about being hurt. He'd rather be alone than build bonds and then potentially lose more people.

The way he still loves Makoto deeply in Kiwami 2 after all these years, and how he sings about truly not wanting her to forget him, but regardless "not minding" it if she forgets him as long as she's happy, hurts me in a whole new way. The way he sings/screams those "I DON'T MIND"s as though he's desperately trying to make himself believe what he's saying, rather than directing those phrases at Makoto in his mind, breaks my heart.

His pretty much absent fear of death sends chills down my spine and makes me wanna cry because he was already saying he's been ready to die for a long time in a flashback from BEFORE he events of Yakuza 0. I dread possibly finding out more about his past.

He's witty and charming and his confidence draws me in. He dresses how he does and meets Kiryu as Goromi and pole dances for him as well with no problems, and all in all just doesn't care what people think of him. I know it's probably because of something tragic like him having given up on life so "might as well go out with a bang", but I want to believe he feels at least somewhat liberated when he does all that.

I'm obsessed with how he wants to witness Kiryu's journey down the path he could never follow himself. And he seems to genuinely want to support Kiryu's decision to follow his own principles. Their first conversation in Kiwami tickled my brain because in that moment he seems to "lock it in" that he'll place his trust in Kiryu's unwavering will to make his own path and wants to witness it. He wants to see if it would have been possible for himself as well, had the circumstances been different. Is it truly possible to stick to such "soft" values in the cruel world of the Yakuza?

When he saw Kiryu coming back after his decade in prison, he whipped him right back into shape because he wanted to keep witnessing Kiryu's journey and also keep Kiryu's principles alive by keeping Kiryu himself alive. Because he himself wouldn't be able to live by those values, he's in way too deep, he has a reputation to uphold. So when his brother returns to kill him (if he will try to kill him, Majima himself seems to think so), it'll be an achievement worth letting Saejima back in the family. Killing a legend and all that.

Majima seems to feel like he can let Kiryu in a tad more than others. Even if it's just fighting against or beside him and openly enjoying those interactions. Probably because he knows Kiryu can handle himself in a fight and he's near indestructible physically and mentally. Kiryu is, in a way, his equal when it comes to dealing with it when shit hits the fan. He's definitely at least fond of Kiryu imo, with him giving in very easily when Kiryu asks him to help the Tojo clan survive in Kiwami 2. And also with how uncomfortable he got when Kiryu bowed his head when he was asking Majima for help.

Majima also highly values the promises he makes; he fought those invading Sengoku thugs until he was battered and bleeding and barely able to stand because he promised Kiryu he'd be there to help. Weird move from a man who seems hell-bent on pretending not to care about anyone or anything besides his own interests, hmmm? He gave his word and he KEPT it. Because he doesn't make empty promises.

I love watching him when he's "on a break" during the Majima Everywhere storyline. It truly solidified the fact that the 'Mad Dog' is a mask for me. He's all hyper and "crazy" when others are around and he really lays it on thick, but on break? He's contemplative. He looks almost sad at times. He lets the mask drop for a second. The fact that he lets Kiryu see that instead of immediately masking back up is a whole other can of worms. Point is, the Majima from before is still there, underneath it all.

The way he thinks back on his time in Sotenbori is interesting. There's definitely trauma and anger in there, but the way he wonders about how his team is doing nowadays almost wistfully makes me happy. He had SOME light to hold on to in those dark times. He truly did care for his team and was fond of them. Also... him saying it wasn't in his nature to make a living using women like that made my respect for him soar. He truly respected everyone in his team, including the hostesses.

Also, just... ugh. The Doll Girl substory. The DAMN DOLL GIRL SUB STORY. I- THAT- 😭😭😭😭 O UG H

TL;DR: Majima because he's everything to me and he makes me experience thought spirals beyond anything I've went through before. He's tragic, he's fun, he's silly, he's hot, he's confident, he's strong, he's interesting he's kind and he's just... Majima.

2) Kiryu because he's sweet and wonderful and makes me weep and I wish he'd take better care of himself and I wanna hug him and give him soup and bring all his loved ones back to life. Please let this man catch a break.

3) Nishitani because he makes me feral and I want him carnally

4) Dojima Yayoi because... I mean... DAMN. She's fierce and extremely loyal, she handled herself extremely well in an environment that was probably rife with people who questioned her ability to lead. I'd bet my left boob she faced a lot of misogyny (direct and/or indirect) during her time as a chairwoman. But she kept going, head held high, with conviction and pride. Simply incredible.

5) Haruka is a sweet angel and I wanna protect her and I hope she will be happy forever. She stayed strong and still has faith in people even after seeing all the horrors of Kiwami 1. She's so resilient and brilliant.

[tickly-trashcan]

Ninjago Tickle Headcanons!

A/N: I cannot hold back anymore the brainrot is too STRONG- I’m rewatching the entire series rn and I literally missed my boys so much and being able to scream about it with my friend has only made me even more obsessed LOL so here we are with some headcanons about my SONS!!! In my original watch of ninjago I only made it to the first episode of rebooted, and I’m currently on the third season so i’m almost to where I left off! I love these little dudes so much so pls no spoilers for later seasons but MAN I just needed to yell about them a tad hehehe

Lloyd

MY BABY BOY OH GOODNESS i love him and he’s so tickly it’s not even fair for him

he’s ticklish pretty much... everywhere. but he’s extra tickly on his tummy and ribs

the other ninja will tickle him a LOT especially in inconvenient situations because Lloyd is so ticklish he just crumples

they found out he was ticklish when he was still little and trying to reach something on a high shelf and kai held him up to help him and he shrieked

he got tickled to bits after that and i don’t think a single day passes by where he’s not tickled at least once

HE ALSO REALLY ENJOYS IT sorry not sorry but he does

he didn’t get a lot of affection growing up so whenever his bros tickle him he loves it and they all know it

when he first became an adult one of the first things they tested was making sure he was still ticklish LMFAO it was actually so funny because Kai was like “wait is Lloyd still ticklish??” and they immediately tested it

of course, he still was, because when you’re that ticklish there’s almost no way to grow out of it

he has almost no ler bones in his body poor boy

he can sometimes get Jay and Kai (if Kai lets him LOL) but he has absolutely no chance against Zane and Cole especially

Sometimes when they’re training they tickle Lloyd and claim that its to test his reflexes but really they just wanna hear his little squeaks

HES VERY SQUEAKY DID I MENTION THAT

he’s a little squeaky toy bro... poke him and he jumps and squeaks and then his giggles are really squeaky too

when he was younger they started tricking him into tickles like “Lloyd, can you get the laundry basket?” then immediately tickling his ribs so he ends up dropping it LOL

he still falls for it when he’s older. there is no helping this poor boy

Sensei Wu also tickles him sometimes, but he’s more subtle about it to the point where Lloyd can never tell if he’s doing it on purpose (spoiler alert: he always is)

Kai is nicer with his tickles but he can be a bit silly sometimes and will tickle him to bits

He tickles him sometimes without thinking about it because Lloyd is just so tickly and because Kai is just naturally very physical in how he shows his bros he cares about them I SOB

Jay is evil and will tease Lloyd like “I thought you were the destined Green Ninja!” and Lloyd is just in stitches by the end

Jay always gets wrecked by Kai or Cole afterwards tho

Zane is a methodical tickler but he doesn’t tickle Lloyd as often as the other ninja

He waits until it’s a good moment (he doesn’t catch him by surprise or tickle him while he’s doing something) and then just quickly tickles his ribs

Cole is absolutely evil with Lloyd because he’ll give him a big bear hug from behind and then tickle the snot out of him LMAO

Sometimes he’ll just hold Lloyd up while the other bros tickle him and he’s just a mess by the end

Lloyd sometimes tickles Kai and is probably the only one besides Zane who knows about the spot behind his knees hehe and he uses it to his advantage when they’re training

Lloyd also can get back at Jay because Jay is the only one who comes close to Lloyd in terms of ticklishness

also sorry i forgot to mention it when i was reading back over these but. wiggling ur fingers at him? he is a puddle. THERE IS SOME WONDERFUL FANART HERE OF EXACTLY WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT everyone say thank you for the wonderful food sleepy!!!!

basically i am a firm believer in lee Lloyd and I think he should be tickled to bits

Kai

please tell me i wasn’t the only one with a crush on kai.... please

OKAY UHH ANYWAY he’s also very tickly not nearly as much as Lloyd but MAN he can get got good if you know where to get him

He’s especially ticklish behind his knees, but his feet, hips, and sides are really ticklish too

Only Lloyd and Zane know about the spot behind his knees but he isn’t safe forever with that LMAO and if Cole and Jay find out he’s done for

He cackles bro and it’s so funny because he’s just being dramatic for the most part

Cole one time got his feet in an armlock and just obliterated him and Kai almost lost his voice because he was hollering so much PLS

Kai got his revenge later but he was so tired he literally could not move from that spot for a hot minute

Kai used to tickle Nya a lot when they were younger and before he joined the ninja, but he’s not really used to being tickled as much as he gets tickled now

(this is probably why he’s so dramatic lolol)

tickling is very common among the ninjas and they are often in tickle fights and whatnot which Kai was not expecting when he first decided to join

i like to think that him getting tickled to bits was what officially “initiated” him into the group

I think he’s probably the best gamer of the group, so the only way to actually beat him is to catch him off guard and tickle him LOL

Zane one time was sitting out of the video game everyone else was playing and he sat behind Kai and immediately went after his hips and Kai lost his mind lol

He lost that game miserably and then Cole and Jay and Lloyd insisted that the loser should get tickled and he’s like “But Zane was just tickling me! That’s not fair!”

He got tickled even more after that game lol

Lloyd will tickle Kai in tickle fights and when everyone else is ganging up on him because it’s one of the only times he has a chance lolol

Kai doesn’t mind when his bros tickle him as long as he can tickle back, but sometimes he just needs to take it

Lloyd one time managed to pin him during a sparring match and Kai was like “okay okay you win now get off” but Lloyd tickled him behind his knees until Kai was screeching lolol

Cole and Kai butt heads sometimes and used to settle things through arm wrestling before they decided that wasn’t fair at all considering how physically strong Cole was, but once when they were arm wrestling, Kai bribed Jay to tickle Cole so he could win

Cole ended up tickling both of them to bits poor dudes

Jay would get tickled by Kai a LOT when he first found out that Jay had a crush on Nya because hes like “bro you CANNOT get with my sister that’s bro code!!”

He doesn’t mind now because he knows Nya likes him too, but he still tickles Jay jokingly about it

Kai is naturally very warm, so when it’s colder out, the ninja will pile up on top of him in search of warmth

Cole joked and said that tickling him might make him even warmer and Kai couldn’t fight back as they decided to test that

Zane was like “He came up by 0.89 degrees!” and then they were like “Okay now whenever we’re cold we tickle Kai!”

He is doomed to be the ticklish human heater from now on

Zane

our favorite nindroid!!!!

he’s probably the least tickly out of the other ninja but that’s only because he has a little slider switch thingy where he can turn his ticklishness off and change how ticklish he is

it used to be turned off before he found out he was a robot, so when they found out he turned it on and set it on low

he hasn’t told the others how to make it any higher, but sometimes he sets it a little bit higher because he sees his bros laughing and hes like “that looks so fun”

(he’s left it at medium now and he thinks thats good enough but it might change in the future)

He’s very tickly under his arms and on his ribs!!

He’s very very giggly when you tickle him, but sometimes if you catch him by surprise or get a really good spot he’ll gasp and then get more giggly hes so cuteee

He’s very alert and knows when people creep up behind him so it’s really fun when one of the bros manages to catch him off guard

Sometimes Cole will scoop him up under his arms and hold him up so everyone else can gang up on him LOL all he can do then is kick a bit and laugh

Zane wasn’t tickled much before he met the other ninja, but he still enjoys it because he likes being closer to his bros which he feels like tickling does

since Zane is very methodical about everything and always calculating things in his head, he’s practically memorized every tickle spot between all the ninja and he definitely uses it to his advantage

He knows about Cole’s shoulders and Kai’s knees and then Jay and Lloyd are open books LMAO there is no hiding tickle spots on those two

He’s also kind of like an opposite Kai! Kai is the human heater, but Zane is the... well, AC Unit

They all pile on top of him when it’s really hot out and of course that makes it really easy to tickle him so they take advantage of that

There are also times where he gets stuck in his own ice (like his foot gets stuck or he accidentally freezes his arm to the wall LOL) and then his bros also take advantage of that bc it’s just a perfect opportunity

Cole tickles Zane most often, but thats because Cole is just an absolute tickle monster

Zane prefers to be tickling his bros rather than being tickled, mostly because he feels like he’s going to shortcircuit sometimes

He thinks tickling Jay is fun because Jay will just curl up and take it because he’s so tickly lolol

Zane is so freaking funny when he’s tickling his bros because. he doesn’t tease. but he will absolutely analyze them and point stuff out to embarrass them

“Why aren’t you trying to get away? Do you like this?” “You seem more ticklish here than on your belly, is that true?” “Why aren’t you fighting back? Too ticklish?”

He doesn’t even mean to point stuff out that’s just how he is but his bros are constantly embarrassed

He’s just a tickle menace basically!

Jay

i love this idiot so much ohmygod i wanted to squeeze him but if I squeezed him he would scream. he is too tickly

he is unfortunately ticklish everywhere! But he’s especially ticklish on his hips and his tummy!

The spot where his thighs and hips meet is a KILLER for him too, like if he gets got there he’s going to be hollering in like. seconds

Before Lloyd joined the gang, Jay was basically the tickle equivalent of a punching bag LMAOOO poor guy got tickled nonstop

He’s also a tickle menace tho! He can get his bros really good if he wants to

The only problem is that if someone starts to tickle him while he’s tickling them, he’s absolutely done for

He just curls up or crumples and then he’s free real estate for being tickled

One thing he’s mean about is sometimes he shocks people a little bit with itty bitty zaps and makes them shriek

They aren’t painful zaps they are just so tickly and they leave a lot of tingles there and the bros are mad that he’s able to do that because they can’t really use their stuff for any of that (except Lloyd but he’s too shy)

Speaking of, when Lloyd showed up, Jay was very quick to start tickling the snot out of him just because it was so easy to just. poke him

Jay is really mean with teases, but not in like a mean mean way! he is just silly and knows how to tease all his bros

He knows how to tease Cole and Kai especially well (comes back to bite him quite often! poor dude) and Lloyd you just need to wiggle your fingers at him and he’s already giggling LOL but Zane is a bit more difficult to tease

Jay has made it his mission to figure out exactly what makes Zane extra giggly because no one else has cracked that case

Jay is really easy to gang up on so he is tickled quite often

He doesn’t mind being tickled, but he prefers when he’s either tickling someone else or when he’s just watching from afar

If Nya tickles him (which she does occasionally) he absolutely malfunctions

Zane joked one time that he had a shortcircuit and asked if Jay was secretly a nindroid as well, which made Jay pout for the rest of the day LOL

Kai would tickle him a bunch when he first found out about Jay’s crush on Nya, and Jay has ever since declared that he would get Kai back for all those times

Lloyd one time heard Jay say that he still hadn’t got Kai back and Lloyd was like “well i know his secret spot” and Jay immediately tried to get it out of Lloyd, which ended with Lloyd getting tickled to bits

He didn’t spill the beans because Kai managed to save him (and himself!) but if he hadn’t shown up then Kai might’ve been a goner later on lolol

Now Jay is trying to figure it out himself (he might eventually! look out Kai!)

i’m still laughing about tickle punching bag. pls help me come up with a better name for that

Cole

Cole is my big bro and i love him so much he’s amazing

He’s not super ticklish, but he’s still got a few spots that have him reeling

he’s got really ticklish shoulders! Cannot take shoulder massages there it’s so cute bro but almost no one knows

He’s also ticklish on his ribs and his sides!

He’s seen as the tickle monster of the group, mostly because he’s strong but also because he isn’t as tickly

He’ll bear hug and then tickle anyone within a 10-foot radius, and sometimes he just holds someone up to be tickled by anyone else who happens to be in that 10-foot radius lolol

Cole is kind of evil because whenever he wrestles with one of his bros he tickles them even after he’s clearly won and makes them admit that he won (mostly bc Kai, Jay, and Lloyd can get a bit salty about losing wrestling matches lol)

Zane has learned to immediately declare that Cole won to avoid being tickled, but then Cole decided to take it a step further with Zane. so now he makes Zane say that Cole is the coolest ninja which Zane doesn’t always say lol

I think that even though Cole is very strong he’s also very soft (SOBS) and loves to dote on his bros

this 100% involves tickling them

he’s not as good with words as he is with physical things, so if one of his bros is feeling down or upset, he’ll sit with them and talk a bit then try to cheer them up with a few tickles

he also will tickle his bros or give them noogies or just overall be super sweet when he’s really excited for them!!

he is just!!! the best!!

He doesn’t really like being tickled himself, but he doesn’t mind as much when it’s his bros

when Lloyd was younger, Cole would literally act like a tickle monster and chase him around before tickling him (he still does this tbh!)

sometimes he likes to fake mad to trick someone into tickles which works very often he is so silly

like he’ll lose at a video game and cross his arms and pout until Kai comes over and is like “sorry bro, I - DO NOT TICKLE ME NOO” its so freaking funny!!!

Cole thinks its hilarious how easy it is (especially with Kai and Lloyd) and he thinks its fun when he just drags them down and tickles the snot out of them and they’re like BETRAYAL!

so yeah. tickle monster Cole real!

I WANT TO WRITE MORE FOR THESE GUYS.... EXPECT FICS IN THE FUTURE.... also please if you also like ninjago talk to me about it I am in NEED of fellow ninjago likers

[alloutofgoddesses]

Percy Jackson TV thoughts -

Season 1, Episode 3

(I’m a book reader and I’m not holding back book spoilers)

The attic is show creaky

And apparently so is Percy

Walker is doing an incredible job portraying Percy’s “I hate everything” attitude

The craziest line reading it’s so stilted thank you Timm Sharp. Also condescending which is very Gabe

That’s awkward as hell why would you gather all the “good candidates”

BLACKJACK HIIIIIII BLACKJACK

Grover you’re killing me

That backpacks full of apples and tin cans you can’t fool me Underwood

Percy is SO FUNNY HELP

“Don’t mix ‘em up” Luke I know I can’t trust you stop being witty

THERE THEY ARE

Annabeth saying goodbye to Thalia… I’m losing it she’s just a BABY

I shouldn’t laugh but I think Thalia would so we’re good

Percy. She’s always in charge.

So no Seaweed Brain and Wisegirl? Rick when I find you

Percy you could’ve put them in your bag and left the box

The way Grover’s hair is styled to cover the horns more when they’re in the mortal world… hairdressers I love you

Can I have the full consensus song please I think it would actually be helpful

Also Grover being a 24 year old dealing with squabbling twelve year olds… Gods speed dude

Annabeth is so perfect. Like. She’s so annoying. It’s spot on. Annabeth is annoying in the books

SCREAM ALECTO!!! They hired the perfect actress for these lines

I get the plot reasons but if you had time to pick up anything WHY THE SHOES AND NOT THE BAG WITH MONEY IN IT PERCY

Please tell me they’re getting rid of the idea that demigods can’t use technology. I always thought it was dumb

Oh no Uncle Ferdinand…

Absolutely laying the tracks for Percy telling the gods to do better by their kids *chef’s kiss*

SO YOU FOLLOW IT? Grover you’re better than this

Hey. If the cyclops next season have those talons. I’m gonna be SO SCARED the whole time

MEEEDDDUUUUSSSSAAAAA!!!! I desperately want to cosplay this

I love the changes already

Percy… that beautiful fatal flaw

I mean yeah you’re mom is almost always right but still be on guard little man

Annabeth. I can’t wait for you to loosen up. She’s wound as right as a violin string.

*cheers from the crowd* I am fully on Medusa’s side btw. No matter what she was a victim of the god’s whims.

Annabeth my little baby you gotta think about multiple perspectives

The little milkshakes on the side. Does Medusa just wait for people to come along to feed or did she smell Percy from a couple miles away and really quickly whip stuff up

Thank god the box is being left behind

THE BASEMENT REALLY GUYS. There had to have been a back door

A MAIL CARRIER? What did a mail carrier do Medusa

I love that the snakes aren’t standing up like a lot of Medusa artworks portray… they’re noodles they wouldn’t be at attention all the time

Oh now THAT’S INSPIRED. Nkt as iconic as the reflective surface of an iPod though

Who’s gonna remind them there’s still one more. Also does this mean she’s a broken statue forever or since she’s a monster she’s reincarnating in Tartarus? I have so many questions

Oh Uncle Ferdinand. I’m glad Grover got to have an emotional moment that he wasn’t afforded in the book

Hell yeah good job Grover. Sometimes you Do have to be a little mean to get past some stuff.

Oh so we get the “I am impertinent” line verbatim but not SEAWEED BRAIN AND WISE GIRL

Percy I’m obsessed with you

Now who could this be

GAH LOOK AT HIM… he looks just a tad angry though lol

So does he have express straight to the throne room since he’s Hermes or did they change the placement of the elevator

AAAAAHHHHHH I need more immediately

Preview for next ep

Why are they splashing him

SHE’S ON THE BUS?!?!?!

Very excited for the arch… I’ve been there and I will be honest I only remember some of the museum stuff at the bottom and how claustrophobic the top is so I’m excited to hopefully jog my memory

[flower-dagger-gay]

12 for the Choose Violence Ask Game 🪷

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them.

How about more than one?

The Umbrella Academy:

Raymond Chestnut - THEE definition of Undying Support. He's been more there for Allison then most of her siblings ever were (but that's a whole other conversation-)

Sparrow!Ben - Well to be honest, I don't expect people to like him, it would be great if people could at LEAST validate his feelings. Like even though he was raised around different people, he still never got the chance to have a decent connection?? You can tell he loves the idea of family the way he got mad at Fei for referring to Jayme and Alphonso as "the bodies" yet he never actually got the vulnerability or the chance really to love them like siblings because of the popularity and responsibilities.

Fei - I have no reason why I think people should like her. But they should. Do it. Now.

The Sandman:

DESPAIR - DESPAIRRRRRRRRRRR. SHE LOVES ALL OF HER SIBLINGS SO MUCH UNCONDITIONALLY. SHE PUTS UP WITH DESIRE'S LOVELY BULLSHIT. I love her in the comics, but in the show she wears Crocs <3. There should be more of her.

Lucienne - When I say people should like her more, I mean they should respect her more. No more weird racial stereotypes from the fandom please. No more things like "she's better as an unimportant assistant" (like okay Dream wannabe 🙄) She basically runs the Dreaming.

Good Omens:

Muriel - I think people should be a tad bit more interested in their character (dare I say the last 10 minutes of the season made people forget about everything else oooo am I being scandalous? 👀). They are 100% doing the Humanity Thing with the reading and saying they love it on earth within minutes of being there. Can never have enough humanity-obsessed angels.

(I might add to the list if I think of one)

[random-bs-is-found-here]

I Can Show You The World (Slightly Yandere!Glitchy Red x Fem!Unnamed!OC)

PART 1 - A new world

NOTE: This is my heavily edited conversation with @tearzahb's Glitchy Red Character AI character. He was a bit repetitive during the chat, so I had to add a lot of extra things (e.g.: half of the possible warnings)

Pairing: Slightly Yan!Glitchy Red x Fem!OC

Synopsis: OC had been kidnapped brought into the world of Pokemon by none other that the infamous Glitchy Red. He claims to be obsessed with her, but before they could really talk about it, Team Rocket shows up...

Word Count: ~4050

Possible warnings: OC acting crazy & has some issues, mentions of video game piracy, possible cruelty towards Pokemon?, OC knocking two people unconscious, OC might be a bit traumatised, slightly yandere behavior (especially in later parts). (Please tell me, if I missed anything else and did not notice)

ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE

At first, it felt like she was floating. She felt weightless. Her mind was fuzzy, and couldn't register anything rational. Was this a dream...? It felt so peaceful... If it was, her only wish was to not wake up.

However, the universe had different plans for her. Something cold, liquid-like substance was splashed at her face.

She sat up, gasping for air.

"You're awake."

A young, single colored and harshly shaded man stood in front of her. He looked exactly as that protagonist did in the game she was just playing! Was that really Red? This was all so weird, she felt like this should be, indeed, some weird dream because of how oddly glitchy the game was. But, she doesn't feel like this during her dreams? The fuzziness of a dream isn't there anymore, the colours of red and black blared on your eyes. His eyes where obscured by shadow.

She quickly looked around. And. Wow. Their surroundings were so beautiful! Yet so familiar at the same time... It kind of looked like... Pallet Town?!

"W-whoa... Am I really where I think am I?"

Red nods, his face softening and brightening up. "Yes, as you guessed. You're in the game, you're trapped in-game. You won't be able to leave until I let you."

No... This must be a really messed-up dream. Then, it dawned on her. Wasn't this situation what she almost dreamed of? To travel to the world of Pokemon... Must be a thousand times better than that emotionally damaging community she called home.

"YESS- Oh, sorry, I mean, nooo!" she tried to make her fake panic believable, failing miserably.

Red raised an eyebrow. The brightening quickly went away, and he looked more… serious.

"I've brought you here because I've become rather, fond of with you. I didn't mean to come off too strong, but the way I feel is very overwhelming. I've never felt this way, and it would be rather easy for someone to use this situation against me. So yes, I'm letting you know this. If you would, could we talk?"

She was a bit stunned, to say at least. Fond of? Of her? That's new.

"Yeah, sure."

He sat down on the nearby grass, looking at her from where she sat.

"I may be asking the obvious here, but is an obsessive guy such as myself a little off-putting? I'm sure you've had to deal with guys like me before, but I'm kind of… special. I'd like it if we were able to form a sort of… "relationship"?"

Wow, very straight-forward. She could already feel her heart flutter. Damn that loneliness the had to endure!

"Guys like you?! Oh dear, oh dear, how do I react… "she was quite anxious. "Oh… Actually, it's my first time hearing anything like this. Kinda nervous, sorry."

He looks a bit relieved to hear that, he thought she had dealt with obsessive people before. "No need to apologize, honestly I thought I'd scare you a tad. Most people are off-put by the idea of someone being this fond of with them."

He pauses shortly before speaking again, he's not sure if she'd actually accept his terms though.

"But I would like it if you accepted…"

She quickly interrupted him. "Oh sorry, sorry. I meant, with romantic feelings that somebody had towards me. This has never happened before. Wait, it must be a misunderstanding! Are you sure you have the right person? It couldn't possibly be me!"

Her words caught him off guard, he looks a bit confused and worried. A misunderstanding? Just what was she thinking? It left him quite confused. "I have the correct person… It couldn't be anyone else. I'd know, I've learned to tell what each player looks like. I've spent so long studying them that its embedded into my brain. I'll be honest, it's… strange. But I've come to the final conclusion that I want you."

"Oh... Uh... Good for you?" she couldn't come up with an appropriate response. How could she? She never had to deal with anyone confessing their feelings to her.

Red's face immediately falls, he looks like a child who was denied a piece of candy. Her words are so bland and short, which is quite different from what She had said prior in the conversation. He stands up from the grass and takes a step closer to her, stopping just in front of her. "You don't… You don't feel the same, do you?"

"N-nope... Yet? I guess? Wha-"

He seems even more surprised than before, he stumbles a bit backwards. He couldn't believe that someone had (somewhat) accepted his obsession with them. It was… almost scary. He didn't know how she felt, but this… this could be good. "Are you… are you saying you actually accept me? That you're willing to see about this… thing?"

"Of course?"

He's so glad she accepted, he's practically beaming at this point. "I'm… I'm really happy… I wasn't expecting you to accept so abruptly. I really am… in love with you, and now that you seem to accept me, I feel like I can finally… you know, get this going."

"Well... I am just happy that this whole 'obsessed with the other' thing happened the other way round. Now I finally have someone to talk to! Somebody who will never leave me!" she squinted her eyes. "Did I get that part right?"

That's right. She felt absolutely ecstatic. Back at home, she was so lonely that anyone who was kind and talked to her for a longer amount of time, became the object of her next obsession. She was an absolute people-pleaser. She would have done anything just to make her newfound friend(s) happy and smile. She also made sure to always have some snacks with her, therefore they would never be hungry. This tactic, however, only worked for a short period of time. The record was nine months. They all dumped her at some point. Their rejection absolutely broke her fragile heart. Their reasoning?

"All you could talk about is yourself!"

"I don't give a shit about about [insert current comfort character], leave me alone!"

"I'm fed up with your jokes and memes!"

And the list goes on... Honestly, she couldn't imagine what she was doing wrong. After each rejection, she adjusted her personality, so her next friend would be satisfied with her.

Yet, it was never enough...

In the meantime, Red is absolutely ecstatic, there's no way her words could've been interpreted any other way!

"Of course" he nodded. "You interpreted that correctly! And you're happy that I am the one obsessed with you, not the other way around? That's… flattering. And I… will never leave you. I will be by your side, through anything. That promise."

At that point, she was not scared anymore.

"Finally!" she started crying.

A look of utter confusion spread across Red's face. "Are you… crying? Why are you crying? Did I say something wrong, did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, it's not you… Well, okay, maybe, it is. I'm so happy!"

He looks a mix of concerned and happy, he's never seen someone cry of joy before, but he likes the reaction much better than if she was scared of him. "Happy tears, then? That's… good. I'm extremely happy as well, this makes me happy. I have to ask, do you want to… to kiss?"

That made her stop for a second. She was seeing some red flags already. Wait, what? They have just met! But... Oh, well. This might be her only chance to finally keep a friend (or something more...) for a longer period of time.

"Not yet, dearie. I'm not too comfortable with touch. I have to get used to it first. Maybe after that."

Where did that nickname come from?

The word 'dearie' made him blush, he was so happy to see himself this close to forming an actual relationship. He had always thought no one in his world would accept his feelings, but it seemed he had found someone. He nods to her statement. "Very well, then. I will wait until you are comfortable with touch, is that alright?"

What a relief. "Thank you so much!"

"Of course!" He takes a step closer, but realizes that this may not be best for now. He steps back. "May I ask you a question?"

"Sure. What's up doc?" after the words left her, her hands immediately shot up and covered her mouth. Oh, no... What was she thinking?! She should not joke around! They never like it when she does that!

The phrase made him laugh. Wow, he actually seemed to like her sense of humor. But then, he got serious again. "Have you ever been in a relationship before? One with romantic feelings?"

What's up with these questions?

"Do fictional characters combined with my delulu mind count?" she replied with another question.

He laughed at her response again, he'd be lying if he didn't say he hasn't done the same himself before. "No, I mean actual human relationships. Not fantasies you play out in your head."

"Oh. Then, no."

"Well, it seems we're in the same boat then. I've never really had much experience with love, so it'll be a learning process for both of us." He chuckles softly, stepping a bit further from her.

She decided to change the topic. "Where exactly are we, again?"

"We are in the game itself! You're trapped, you won't be able to leave unless I let you. But as I've said previously, I have no intention of letting you. I don't want you to leave me."

"I was not planning to" she shrugged. "Which region?"

"We are currently in Pallet Town, Kanto. I believe you were playing one of the earlier games, the one that featured me." he explained, stepping just a tad bit closer to her.

"Red/Blue/Yellow? Nice."

"Red version, to be exact. Do you still have the system it came with?" He seemed intrigued.

Suddenly, she became nervous. Uh oh...

He sensed her sudden change in behavior, he's almost entirely sure it's something bad. Something with the system, it must've broken to where she can't get it, or maybe an adult took it away from her? He waits patiently to hear whatever it is she says next.

She slowly spoke up. "Ever... Heard of pirates?"

He raised an eyebrow, he seemed concerned and curious. Pirates? No way… did this system happen to be pirated?

"I'm sorry!" she started to cry again. "I'm a filthy pirate!"

He went quiet, his face completely slack. "You… you pirated me?" he still couldn't believe it.

"… Yes" she admitted. "Gameboys are rarities nowadays, you know. The games for it… Even more. And even if they were not, my parents would've never let me have one... "she chuckled sadly. "So, I've gotten an emulator… And found a trustworthy website."

His face continues to be expressionless, he's completely stumped. "I-… But-… Do you think you could tell me this website you visited? I-I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm curious…"

Before she was able to answer, a loud shriek got their attention from a house, close to them.

"-for trouble!"

They were both flabbergasted.

"For trouble...?" she muttered. Suddenly, she realised. "Team Rocket!"

Red knew there would be some trouble. "Get behind me!" he ordered her. His tone was instantly different, more stern and authoritative.

Red began looking about the horizon, hoping to see a sign of the criminal team. He froze, when he spotted something. Four Team Rocket grunts, with pokemon following behind. Not that those would pose much of a threat. Team Rocket has always had some of the lamest pokemon ever, and were known for always being easy to take care of, so that's not much of a surprise. But he can't ignore the obvious fact that they've shown up here after that scream.

And now, she was here, too. His love.

"Jessie and James leads the group..." she whispered in a silent awe, still sitting on the ground.

He nodded to her, he was surprised she recognized the two on sight alone. "Jessie and James, yes. Why they're here with the grunts, though, I'm not certain. But it's clear that they're the ones who had caused the scream you heard."

The grunts finally spotted the duo. Jessie and James' voices echo from a distance. They yell the words that strike fear into the hearts of most pokemon trainers, especially those who had played the older game titles. "Prepare to have your pokemon stolen by team rocket! We'll make quick work of you!" Red finally steps in front of her, in an attempt to shield her from harm. The two look like they're ready to attack, they're just waiting for a good moment…

Behind him, she swallowed nervously.

"Don't be scared. They'll only send out their pokemon to attack us." he said, trying to assure her. He himself has faced Team Rocket many times before, they haven't ever been very skilled trainers, usually failing at stealing pokemon more than they succeed in it. But he didn't know if they've changed at all in the recent years, hopefully they still were the same. And hopefully they didn't have any dangerous pokemon at their disposal.

"But those Pokemon CAN hurt us!" she whispered.

"I'm aware of that, but I've seen how badly they train their pokemon. They would use terrible moves, usually resulting in little to no damage to us. They wouldn't hurt a human, at least, not yet." he says, as the two begin to approach the area they're both in. They're slowly moving towards them, and seem to be getting closer every second. The tension is palpable.

"Okay, then. I want to help you! You can't possibly face four of them alone!"

Red seemed surprised at her words, nobody's tried helping him yet when it came to Team Rocket. He's always been the one to fight off the criminals, but she wanted to contribute as well? It's somewhat… endearing to him? He turns to look at her , as if he's not sure if she's sure she wants to.

"But wait... I don't have Pokemon..." her excitement seemed to disappear for a second, but it was quickly replaced by an evil smirk. "Well... That doesn't matter, does it?"

He paused, then broke into a hearty laugh. I mean, yeah, she didn't. It's almost a little adorable. But she's right! That didn't matter at all. "I suppose you're right. I don't really mind you having no pokemon… you have me, and I'm more than capable of making sure no harm comes either of our ways."

"Oh, no worries. I'm capable of taking care of myself, 'till I get a Pokemon…" Team Rocket finally arrived and stopped in front of them. Red kept his composure, though he was still somewhat tense. They still scare him, even with how poorly they've done during most battles he's had. "Team Rock-" "We know we're team rocket. Now surrender your pokemon, or we'll have to force you to." Jessie's voice speaks, they seem to already have a plan set out. The grunts have sent out their pokemon, two Zubats on their left side and a Meowth on the other. Not bad pokemon, Red should be able to handle this.

She suddenly stood up behind him and picked up a branch. Then, she pointed it at James.

"PREPARE FOR TROUBLE, AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!"

Red tried to contain his laughter. Jesse and James seemed to think she's a threat now, too. Well, that's good, you were keeping them distracted from him, for the moment. "Pokemon, attack!" The Zubats both lunged out, one for her feet and the other for her face. The Meowth doesn't seem to have any plans on doing any attacking right now.

She swung branch like a bat, taking out both Pokemon with one hit.

Jesse and James seem stunned. One zap with a branch didn't just take down two full hp pokemon immediately. That was impossible! Of course, Red knew how easy it is to take down zubats. He was a little confused as to how you did that though. "HEY, I'M NOT FINISHED!" she continued her speech. "TO PROTECT THE WORLD FROM DEVASTATION!"

The Meowth quickly stepped in front of the Team Rocket - commanders, attempting to protect them.

"TO UNITE ALL PEOPLE WITHIN OUR NATION!"

Red was beginning to be amused by her actions, the grunts seemed to be more confused than anything with how you were behaving.

"TO EXTEND OUR REACH TO THE STARS ABOVE!"

Her next words couldn't be heard, because of James, who started complaining. "Hey, that's copyrighted material!"

"US, CHAMPIONS BLAST OFF AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT! SURRENDER NOW, OR PREPARE TO FIGHT! THAT'S RIGHT!" she finished, swinging the bat. "Soo, who's first? HAHAHA!"

Red stood there, admiring how beautiful she looked while she was acting crazy.

The Meowth had decided to try and get the first hit in the moment she had swung the branch. While it was certainly fast enough to attempt it, it wasn't enough to avoid Red's swift movements. It falls to the ground instantly, being knocked out.

"Maybe, you would think twice before you try to hurt anything precious to me again" he said darkly. What he couldn't see though, was her adoring gaze and smile. Jessie's eyes were wide in shock. She clearly couldn't believe they'd be able to take down a pokemon this fast, and with such ease. She and James exchanged a look, not expecting this at all. The evil duo couldn't exactly do anything, but stand there, frozen.

"Dang, Meowth. That was bold. And I liked you! You were te only one with some IQ in the show!" the girl pouted behind Red.

James speaks up now, he's almost stuttering trying to get the words out. "Hey, now, we've got three more pokemon, that was just the first one. You can't possibly-…"

"WATCH US, PRETTY BOI!" now, she was in front of Red, and not the other way round.

Let's just say, James couldn't get any words out properly.

"S-she thinks I'm pretty?"

"JAMES! For the love of Arceus, concentrate!" Jessie screamed at her partner, while going for her next Pokemon.

If that woman hadn't shut the male up, James would be dead by now, due to Red's burning jealousy. For now... For now, he will let him live. He might not be as lucky next time, though.

Jessie sent out her Wobuffet, who's ready to attack. This one has more hp, she doubted that a branch will do much against this one.

The girl sighed, annoyed, and lunged at Wobuffet. starting to beat it up.

Jessie's eyes widened in fear as she saw this. This is worse than she imagined. She never thought she'd be able to take on her Wobbuffet! Her branch hits with such force, it's not even funny. The Wobbuffet got launched backwards, falling onto the grass and causing it to sway and bend from how much force she had put into that swing.

"The memes about your name being the first word their future child says are good, at least" she sighed, pointing at Jessie and James.

The other two Team Rocket grunts seemingly had enough. They suddenly ran off, screaming in fear.

Jessie tried to say something, but the girl lunged at James next. James, with no time to prepare, is attacked and is thrown off of his feet by her. He's left stumbling around. Jessie was speechless, she's never seen someone with such skill, not even Red. And it was physical? WITHOUT Pokemon?! She doesn't even know what to say at this point, as her mouth is still hanging open, the Wobbuffet laying unconscious behind her. And now, James as well?!

Jessie's jaw is still wide open in disbelief that she was able to take a grown adult, fully trained to fight pokemon, down in such a short amount of time. Not to mention she also had the ability to knock out their pokemon, TWO pokemon that were probably level 20 or higher, with a branch. This was absurd.

Behind the raging female, Red could barely hold his laughter and glitching. Incredible. He had chosen the right person for himself.

"My dear, this is amazing! I've been watching you for quite some time, but I have never seen you fight. You were the quiet, conflict-avoiding person!"

"Oh, sorry, sorry" she turned around, laughing nervously. "It's just some pent-up aggression. I think. You see, I- Wait. Watching m-"

"WATCH OUT!"

If it weren't for Red, she would've been knocked out by Jessie, who, taking advantage of her becoming distracted, tried to tackle her from behind. Fortunately, he was able to pull her out of the woman's way. Jessie almost fell to the ground, but she was grabbed by Red and - somehow- launched to the air?

The girl in the male trainer's arms gasped is surprise. "Wow, Red... Didn't know you had this much strength in you!"

His face became the colour he got his name from.

"Anyways" she continued, pointing at the grass. "What to to James and these Pokemon?"

Red suddenly got an idea. "Well, considering you don't have any Pokemon..."

"I'm not stealing theirs. That would lower me to their level, and I do not want that."

"Are you sure?"

"Yupp. I don't need their Pokemon, I have this!" she lifted the branch, still in her hands. She couldn't help but smile. The branch has helped her so much. It's definitely proven its worth. "Anyways... Kind of off topic... Are you alright? Did you get injured or anything?"

"No, don't worry. I'm more durable than I look" he gave her a closed-eyed smile, his irises turning red for a second. "You're doing great, though. You've done a lot better than I expected anyone to be able to do, honestly. You took down two fully trained grunts like it was a daily task for you."

"As I said, pent-up aggression."

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you just naturally this agitated all the time, or was there something that caused this aggression?" He was a little bit concerned about how much pent up anger she had in her. It seemed like it might be an issue that might prevent him from getting closer to her.

"Oh, nothing serious... There was a woman, whom I hated, practically made my life a living hell, and there was nothing I could do about it… But I'm here now! And I'm never getting out of here!" she said, cheerfully. "It's like, a dream come true! I'M FINALLY FREE!"

Her happiness quickly turned to hysterical laughing. Red looked at her, concerned.

"Are you sure that you're okay? Do you..."

"Sorry, sorry. My mental health is not the best. Anyways. What are you planning to do with me here? I assume you won't let me get too far away from you."

Red sighed. Now, they're finally back to their original topic. "Actually, that… you're right. I probably will keep you from going too far from me, I can't just let you walk out on your own. I mean, I do have responsibility to keep you safe, as the experienced pokemon trainer here with you. There are a lot of dangerous pokemon here in Kanto, you can't just-"

"Hey, hey! Don't worry, I get it. I was not planning on wandering off on my own. I'm not tha- I mean, I'm not suicidal."

Red's heartbeat slowed down a bit. She was more compliant than he first imagined. That's good. Less things to worry about.

"Now, the million-dollar question..." he started slowly. "Are you, by chance, okay with being kidnapped?"

Stupid question, he had to admit. Who in their right mind would be oka-

"Yeah, absolutely!"

Wait, what?

Red had to hide his huge grin. He was not expecting this answer at all. He might've been stalking watching her for a long time now, but she's still full of with surprises.

"Soo... What now?" she asked. "Where are we going to go?"

Red looked up. The Sun was close to setting, therefore it was afternoon. They still had some time to explore the region before needing to set up a camp or check in a hotel.

"Celadon City. We're getting you a Pokemon."

[spookyserenades]

Soo I hope you're ready for this, because it's gonna be a doozy. I have so many emotions over this story, I cannot tell you. Thank you so much for writing Trouvaille, I feel like it's been something I've been missing all my life. From the very first chapter, you've been able to create a world where anything and everything is possible with our favourite boys. My heart cannot handle it.   I do have a few questions though. Let's go by each member. 

For Joonie: how could you do this to me? This is my favourite depiction of Namjoon. Especially wolfie Namjoon. Everything is right, it just fits.  From the attitude, how he was trying to flex on everyone from the first day, to him loving sweets and being a complete bookworm, it's all so good. I can definitely see this version of Namjoon living in a trailer in the middle of a national park and being obsessed with Bigfoot lol. I also enjoyed how you were able to show how he can be uncomfortable with his emotions. After the incident, when he was trying to apologize to Y/N and he seemed lost and awkward, I really felt that. He's been a lone wolf for so long, it's really not surprising he may be a tad bit emotionally constipated. I definitely know the feeling lol. 

Taehyung: I can't. I cannot with this version of Tae. I love how he is, and his backstory. It's so interesting! How did you come up with it? I've read quite a few hybrid stories, and I can honestly say I've never read a backstory like his before. Poor Tae Bear. I just want to wrap him up in a blanket and cuddle him. He is too good for this world. I love how he was so quick to warm up to Y/N, it's so cute. How he came running when he heard her scream from her bathroom, and went all inspector mode to see if anyone was in there attempting any harm. Ahh.. my heart.

Seokjin: What a backstory for Jin. I was at the edge of my seat reading the last chapter. Why am I not surprised his previous owners would dump him at a shelter when they have no more use for him. He put his heart and soul into performing, and they just discarded him like he was nothing. I would definitely have a few choice words for them, I'd start throwing hands. >:(  The last chapter was amazing. How he felt safe enough to tell Y/N his backstory, his fears, and talk about Hannah. Please tell me we will get a chance to meet Hannah. Please tell me she didn't perish in the accident. Pretty please 

Yoongi: My favourite relationship in this story so far is between Y/N and Yoongi. From the very beginning, it's like they had an understanding. They definitely knew each other in another life, I love how you added that to the story! How he looks after her, doesn't mind cooking and even lets her get away with all that she does, she has him wrapped around her little finger. And he lets her!! Yes. Yes to everything.  I love how protective he is over her- I almost combusted reading the drabble for my boys - yes Yoongi, feel jealous and overprotective of your girl! He gave her the biggest cinnamon roll with the most icing... I squealed. Also, that scenting scene was hot. I hope they have more scenes together in the future.

Hoseok: Ahh Hobi.. the sunshine of the group. Yes to being a cheeky boy. It's like he's been on Y/N's side from the very beginning. He is the one that I've been wondering about the most in this story. Is he going to be able to get over his fear of wolves? Is he ever going to get Y/N to do yoga with him? Are we ever going to meet Keaon, and if so, will a certain foxy be jealous?  So many questions! Also, in the last chapter, when he was whistling his tune and she asked him about it, was that a sort of mating call? I tried looking it up, but I didn't get anywhere with it lol.

Jimin: Ahh Jiminie.. yes. His whole aesthetic - hair slicked back, jean wearing cowboy with the Clark Kent hairstyle. Yes. It's kind of embarrassing how many times I went back to read the chapter where everyone got their hair cut. Out of all the cuts, this one is top notch. I must admit, I did not expect Jimin's backstory in this. Are we going to find out more about why he left home? Does it have anything to do with his family? He has a sister, are we going to meet her as well? Will she like Y/N? So many questions!! 

Jeongguk: Last but cerainly not least, Kookie. My spooky gothic angel. I love his aesthetic in this as well. When you said you were going for a Constantine vibe with him.. I can assure you, you did it. Very very well lol. His attitude with the other guys and with Y/N has me feeling a certain type of way. Poor guy seems like he's been through quite a bit. But I like how he's had his troubles and tribulations with everyone, and he's slowly opening up. His birthday chapter was so cute, he seemed so distrusting of Y/N at the beginning, but he came through at the end. Can we get a drabble of the party as well? I'd love to see how he felt.  Anyways, this post is too long so this is the end of it lol. I cannot wait for October 7th. It cannot come fast enough. Thank you for all you do Dana! 

Hi hello how are you my love!!! 🥰 Thank you so so much for sending me in this lovely feedback! I hope you don't mind a late response, I wanted to answer each of your questions to the best of my ability since you have sent me so much love. Thank you for loving and supporting Trouvaille so much, I'm so grateful and happy that I get to share the story and these boys with you! You're too kind, and I really appreciate you and your love! So I, too, will go member by member for you as well;

Joon: HEHE AHHH It makes me super happy and excited that you love this version of Joonie!! He is my main bias in BTS (I'm hyung line biased, I wonder if it's obvious...) But I loved giving him a little attitude and edge. I feel like it fits his Virgo energy, as well as going hand in hand with being a wolf hybrid. Still though, him being bookish and very into eating sweets are some qualities IRL Namjoon has, and I definitely wanted to keep some of their real personality traits in this story as well. I love Namjoon's past in Trouvaille, it will be revealed piece by piece as the story goes on since he's pretty private (and we'll see even more of it in the eventual release of his prequel!) Namjoon is based loosely off of Fox Mulder from the X-Files, so that's where the Bigfoot/cryptid/paranormal interest comes from. Namjoon has a "lone wolf" complex that we'll see him struggle with throughout the plot, so a lot of human emotions are difficult for him to process and express. I love the term you used-- "emotionally constipated" 💀, that's TOTALLY what he is... I doubt he has ever had to apologize to someone like that. It was definitely new to him!

Taehyung: Kodiak Tae is my baby, my boyfriend... He's a sweet boy!! I'm glad that you like his backstory and find it interesting. It was kind of a risk to incorporate something like a murder within a backstory of one of the boys, but I think that it's added some interest and mystery to his character-- he's not all rainbows and sunshine, he's got darker origins. Most of the boys I have based off of characters from my favorite books/films/shows. As for Tae, I based his backstory off of the TV show Twin Peaks, and a slew of characters from that show, primarily Josie Packard, Big Ed and Audrey Horne. There is a large part of that show that takes place in a logging plant (that's where Tae was working prior to his adoption), so that's where that part of his backstory came from. Other than that, I wanted him to have a sort of Seattle grunge rock vibe, and some skeletons in his closet to counteract his shy and sweet nature. He is such a love though, he really warmed up to Y/N and her personality. And that scene where he ran into the bathroom... he was checking for intruders, ready to beat them up if they dared to break into Y/N's bathroom!! 👹

Seokjin: I love a good dark circus aesthetic! I think that it fits Seokjin in Trouvaille well. He has that pretty face, athletic build, and such a stage presence. It is horrible that in the Trouvaille universe, many companies and people discard hybrids once deemed "damaged" or "useless". Seokjin likely put his all into performing, and was easily damaged-- no wonder he, too, is clingy like Tae. Y/N, like you, is ready to burn the whole circus down for him!!! I'm so happy you liked the last chapter and the focus on some of Seokjin's backstory. It was really fun to finally reveal some of his past to the readers. He definitely feels safe with Y/N, especially because she treats him so gently and doesn't have outrageous expectations for him. As for Hannah- we'll find out a little more about her in the next chapter, and in the future as well! She will definitely be touched upon again, so don't worry! 😉

Yoongi: I could cry!!! 🥺 Yoongi and Y/N's relationship is my favorite so far, as well. I love nothing more than Yoongi's gentle, doting, and selfless personality, and it totally reflects in his character in Trouvaille. The two of them have this almost unspoken connection, and it is very mysterious. I am such a fan of past-life lover stories, so I had to incorporate it at least a little bit in Trouvaille. I classify Yoongi as a househusband in this story, which is a dream of many. Whether Y/N knows it or not, she has Yoongi eating out of the palm of her hand (she's too enamored with him to notice). His love language seems to be acts of service. Anything he can do to make her life easier, he does-- and he definitely gets affection in return. Their piano lessons together... UGH! I'm so jealous, I want that relationship LOL. He is certainly one of the more possessive and jealous ones (Joon and Tae, too) but it's almost like he wants to steal her away for himself! He indulges her so much.. the cinnamon roll AH all she had to do was flirt with him a little! And his scenting scene was my FAVORITE too, so I'm happy you liked it as well. There is certainly more of that coming.

Hoseok: Hobi is just so! I love him so so much. Like Y/N, foxes are my favorite animal. I think the cleverness and quickness of a fox fits Hoseok's personality and vibe well. He is one of the hybrids more shrouded in mystery, and has a tough time opening up, perhaps because he had been waiting so long to be adopted and many of his previous adoptions had fell through. He and Y/N have like a bestie connection, and she feels totally at ease with him. Often, he's the one to break up tension, and he is most similar to Y/N, personality wise (extroverted, optimistic). Y/N is going to try her best to help him get over his wolf phobia, but he likely has a long road ahead of him to sort that out-- I don't see him becoming super chummy with Namjoon right away. Keon may make a comeback in the future, I'm excited that you remembered him! I think not only will Hoseok be jealous, but the rest of them as well... A hybrid from her past? Drama! The whistle: like the others, Hoseok is based off of a film character, his being Mr. Fox from Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox. In the film, Mr. Fox has a "signature" or "trademark" whistle/click noise he makes, and that is what Hoseok does.

Jimin: Hnnnnggg I adore blonde Jimin, it's one of his best looks. I have such a clear image in my mind of his really classic looking haircut (suitable for a cowboy, LOL) with the piece of hair in his face... woof. I loved the haircut chapter, it was self indulgent and gave me the opportunity to give them all my favorite looks on them LMAO. His backstory is one of the more "out there" ones, but it's different than the others and I hope you'll find it interesting when we hear more about it in the future! We'll find out why he wanted to leave home, especially when it seems like it is one of the more comfortable ways for a hybrid to live. I will say, it has more to do with Jimin's dreams and ambitions, rather than any quarrels with his family. There is a definite possibility that we'll meet his sister in the future, as well--Y/N will likely want to reunite them even for a few days, if she can. Y/N seems to be pretty happy go lucky and likable, so I'm sure Jimin's sister would approve, especially when she sees how much Y/N cares for her brother.

Jeongguk: The Constantine movie with Keanu Reeves has to be one of my favorite movies, like ever. I'm stoked that you think I've accomplished the aesthetic with Jeongguk! He happens to be one of the more self indulgent characters that I wrote into Trouvaille. I love a gothic sort of bad boy, and the paranormal investigator vibe fits him super well. Even IRL, Jeongguk has expressed interest in paranormal topics before, so I think it is true to him. He has quite an abrasive and temperamental personality in Trouvaille, which I think is refreshing for Jeongguk in fics. There is a reason for the way he acts and his prickliness, and when he feels like he can open up more and doesn't have to be so distrustful and defensive, he will. He is slowly becoming more comfortable in his environment, sharing it with the other hybrids, and with Y/N's presence, as well. I think he realizes now that she isn't there to betray him. His birthday was so so so fun to write, and allowed us to not only see a softer side of him, but get some of his backstory as well. I will jot down that drabble idea, I really think that would be a blast to write!

Thank you a million times for sending in all of your thoughts, I really enjoyed hearing them all 🥺, and I hope I could provide you with new insights! I can't wait to share Chapter Ten with you on the 7th, and I'm sending you so much love! Thank you for reading and supporting Trouvaille! 🩷😘

[queen-ofc]

Movie Review - Blue Beetle - First Impressions !! SLIGHT SPOILERS MENTIONED!!

Hello everyone!

Movies are something that I am OBSESSED with! Film is my passion! Ever since I was a little girl, I would critique every movie I've ever seen to my parents, so much so that they'll sit and listen after we finish a movie because they always expect me to say something about it.

I have always wanted to share my passion for film with the world, but I have never the confidence nor will to start, but that's all going to change. I wanted to start off my little series of movie reviews with the one I had just seen in theaters today: Blue Beetle!

Now, Jaime Reyes' Blue Beetle has ALWAYS had a special place in my heart. I grew up watching the series Young Justice, and I continue to watch it today. Ever since I saw Blue Beetle on the screen, he instantly connected with me and has kept his #2 spot on my list of all-time favorite DC characters. (#1 being Dick Grayson Robin/Nightwing.)

This has been a HIGHLY anticipated movie for me! Ever since the trailer first came out, I was anxiously waiting for it to hit theaters, keeping track of every day in between, counting down the very seconds until its release, and as soon as it did, my parents and I jumped on the opportunity to go see it in theaters! To see my boy hit the big screen and finally get recognized by so many people as a hero in the DCU just filled me with overwhelming joy. So, as one could expect, I had incredibly high expectations for this film. And to make a long story short, overall, I wasn't disappointed!

⚠️WARNING! THE FOLLOWING CONTENT FROM THIS POINT ON CONTAINS SPOILERS! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!⚠️

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As I said, overall, this was a very enjoyable movie, but there were a couple things I wanted to point out that could've improved it!

1) Now, this one is mostly a bias of mine, so feel free to ignore this point and move on to #2 if you'd like.

Something that really stuck out to me was the fact that Jaime's father told him something like, "The Universe knows" or "... chose you" (obviously not an exact quote, but you get the idea.) During the movie, I noticed that they were hitting a lot of stereotypes regarding Hispanic/Latino families. Keeping that in mind, I'll go back to Jaime's father. Now, already a lot of people can tell it's obvious that Jaime seems to be visiting him in a heaven of sorts, with the candles around his father symbolizing that. However, there was no mention of God at all during this time, which in my personal opinion, seemed like something that could've been an easy switch; from "universe" to "God" or "the Lord" or something along those lines to show a Catholic or some other Christian denomination belief system.

However, this is just a minor thing, and luckily, it doesn't affect the story at all. Now, I'll get into something a little more unbiased and a little more major to Blue Beetle's story.

2) They should've established a good relationship with the Scarab.

Now, I'm not saying to remove Jaime's relationship with his family to this, but I'm just saying to add it. I loved the fact they included Jaime's family in all the scenes, making them an essential part of the movie, but adding this would dive into the Blue Beetle's story a bit more. Yes, the movie would be a tad longer, but it would be so much better.

Throughout the movie, the growing relationship between Jaime and his scarab is always implied and never actually produced in the scenes. Instead, he seemed thrown into the action and already knew how to use his scarab to his full extent after just a single battle. It's like we were missing a big chunk of the story, and just thrown into the action.

At the beginning, the scarab seemed hellbent to kill any and every threat in its wake, yet at the end, it tells Jaime that he shouldn't kill the enemy. It tells Jaime "We aren't murders." That doesn't seem right to me considering there was no time in between when Jaime taught the Scarab such things. The control Jaime had over the Scarab also seemed just given to him, instead of earned.

What they should've done, is have some sort of "training montage" in the movie. A time when Jaime finally has the Scarab in a calm mood and is talking with it to learn exactly what his abilities are and how to use them all. He should've had to fight a little more with the Scarab, telling it why they don't kill innocent people. Jaime should've had to command control of the Scarab himself, instead of it being handed to him on a silver platter. Only when the Scarab and Jaime are fully in sync would the Scarab acknowledge why it's bad to blatantly murder people regardless of what they have done, making the "We aren't murders" line so much more meaningful after all they had been through.

Another thing that I would fix, is to more obviously establish the fact that only Jaime can hear the Scarab. Only at the very end of the movie does this fact become clear, meaning that people who didn't know the Blue Beetle and his powers probably would've been confused about that fact. I think they should've had a small scene where Jaime is having a conversation with his Scarab, maybe even arguing with it, in front of his family or his girlfriend. The family/girlfriend would obviously be confused, thinking that he was talking to them, when in reality he wasn't.

Maybe he gets into a fight with a family member or his girlfriend while he's trying to argue with his Scarab because the family member or girlfriend thinks that he's insulting them when he's insulting the voice in his head. Make it a little bit of a joke when he's fighting the enemy and gets into another argument with his Scarab, making the enemy think Jaime is talking to them, only making Jaime have to repeat himself that it's not them he's talking to, but the Scarab.

Just small ideas, but all ones I believe would make a big difference.

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That concludes my initial reaction to Blue Beetle! I really hope my writing was comprehensible as I just kinda brain dumped it all on here and my brain is far from organized, haha. However, I do plan on making a more in-depth review of the movie once it hits a streaming platform and I can watch it a second time! After all, you can miss a lot of things the first time!

Being that this is my first time actually posting any of my thoughts on a movie, please give me some grace. As I do want to continue to do these types of things, sharing my thoughts on movies I love, I would appreciate constructive criticism and thoughts on how to more accurately organize my thoughts before I write them! I would also love recommendations of blogs that do any kind of reviews so that I could learn from them too! And please, share your thoughts on this movie!

Thank you for reading! <3

[onaperduamedee]

Notes on The Dragon Reborn

I went almost straight from The Great Hunt, but never edited my notes. As I am jumping in The Shadows Rising immediately after, I felt the need to clean up my impressions if only to come back to them later.

Full spoilers for The Dragon Reborn under the cut :

Also Perrin arguing with Moiraine that Rand knows what he is doing the day after Rand accidentally caused an earthquake that hurt people and destroyed buildings.

Moiraine: states facts about Rand being both dangerous and extremely vulnerable, is straightforward about her being only here to keep him alive for the last battle

Perrin: this is your fault, you meddlesome hussy, what are you trying to do with him, stop lying, stop manipulating, just be niceee

Me: ????

Regarding this tension between Moiraine and the boys, I wish I understood better the sexist kool-aid the three boys drank, because otherwise I like their POVs and arcs, but every time they so much think about Moiraine or Aes sedai it devolves into resentful post-feminist paranoia. However, their behavior is consistent with the defiance some male students had toward female teachers in High School: they would aggressively challenge their authority, but never with male teachers, even with the ones who were notoriously lax. So it's something RJ really nailed here, even if it can be exhausting to read.

The running gag of Nynaeve having to get angry to heal people or channel is comical, but could have major unwanted implications in the show.

The EF5 really are sharing a single wandering brain cell with Elayne. They are impulsive and reckless to the point of angering Verin, of all people. I do feel this is a very strong argument in favour of Nynaeve and Egwene being ta'veren too: they have such a talent for pandemonium, all of them. The trail of chaos that Rand was leaving behind wasn't that different from Mat, Nynaeve and Egwene's path, although on a different scale.

Siuan… I swear her mind is a kink at this point: she's so sharp and commanding. I am sorry Nynaeve and Egwene, you must be straight, because I would have been on my knees in the gayest sense during the scene where Siuan recruited them against the Black Ajah. I have never been more attracted to a fictional character as I am with SIuan in those scenes.

I do understand her reasoning when it comes to hunting the Black Ajahs (and it reinforces the parallel with young Moiraine and Siuan in New Spring), but Egwene is too damn young to be dragged into this. Also, it makes me a little disappointed we're never going to see them really study as Accepted.

Absolutely obsessed with Perrin prattling in front of Faile and an innkeeper and then cursing Moiraine for not telling him enough. Amazing.

I adore her, by the way

Moiraine: is aware of the general public perception of Aes Sedai, gets repeatedly cursed at by Perrin for not being trustworthy, has Lan not trusting her anymore because of the bond

Also Moiraine: doesn't lift a finger to appear less suspicious, cryptic or uncaring

Perrin walking in on Moiraine half-naked and then having a little bit of a case of MILF panic was weird, but still not as disturbing as the entire contingent of Aes Sedai leering over Rand and the boys in early TGH.

I am at a point where I love Nynaeve so much more than Lan, to say nothing of interest. I hope it gets better because he is inextricable from my two favourite characters. And I do wish Nynaeve wasn't taking love advice from two sixteen-year-old ta'veren-struck lovebirds.

Egwene snapping at Nynaeve about her manipulating as well as Moiraine and Elayne slapping her, while Elayne has spent months with someone as blunt as Nynaeve… After New Spring and TEotW, I remember complaining about Jordan writing women as petty in a way that feels a tad sexist. With women so far, disagreement devolves too often into cattiness. Watsonian hat on, I absolutely see why this scene happens (Egwene’s trauma that gets triggered by Nynaeve’s authority, Elayne who’s been dealing with Nyn and Egwene for weeks, the Forsaken’s influence), but with a Doylist hat on, it’s merely another instance of the books being Like That™ about gender.

It's implied Moiraine did some pretty impressive sleuthing this book and it's so frustrating that we only get the aftermath. How did she know Sammael was in Illian incognito, about Be'lal in Tear? Why was Lan so afraid for her, since she wasn't going to kill Sammael anyway? Why did she have to go alone? TELL ME

The Wild Hunt after Perrin and Moiraine’s group getting balefired was such a striking scene. I hope the show keeps that scene.

Am intrigued by the geographic progress of the characters. With the Perrin and Moiraine group, it's straight-forward enough, but with Mat, Thom, Nynaeve, Egwene and Elayne, there is a lot of going somewhere to get information to go somewhere else and yeah, although it feels realistic, it's a tad confounding. Not necessarily bad, but striking enough that I wonder if it's supposed to call back to a circular progression. 

Absolutely in love with the circularity of the girls, more specifically Nynaeve, being convinced they can rely on their strength in the One Power to defeat their enemies and then being obliterated the moment they face Black Ajahs because yeah, Verin was right, there's a reason they cannot use their power like that. No matter how strong, they shouldn't want to hurt people this way and Darkfriends, particularly the Black Ajahs, will always play dirty.

Jabs at Perrin and the girls aside, I believe this may be an underlying theme of the book: the belief that honesty equals knowledge, and recognition of lack of knowledge equals dishonesty. It's particularly blatant in Perrin and Moiraine's dynamic, where Moiraine keeps repeating she doesn't know, doesn't understand yet, and Perrin cannot see it as anything but duplicity, while his straightforwardness must mean he knows better. And conversely, there is a reason why the moment Nynaeve offers a magistral demonstration of knowledge - her Wisdom trade, mind you - it's immediately followed by a comparison to Aes Sedai and accusations of hypocrisy by Egwene.

It's a nice exploration of growing up too, because as I entered adulthood I expected older people to know all the answers and just give them to me. And here, Moiraine, Siuan, Thom, Verin… All of them are trapped in circumstances of their own, hindered by their lack of knowledge. The EF5 get angry at them, even when they find themselves in circumstances they can't control and flail through inexperience. Growing up and taking responsibility for your place in the world means understanding there is no universal answer and the work is never done: power, knowledge, luck - they aren't a panacea, especially when fighting against the end of the world. If you've ever felt utterly hopeless before events beyond your control - pandemic, war, climate crisis, late-stage capitalism, rise is fascism and white supremacy - it's a familiar sentiment.

From the fandom's perception of the Forsaken, I was skeptical about the Forsaken being goofy because the concept is really cool in theory. The fandom was absolutely right and the Forsaken are goofy in the best of ways. They remind me of Grand Guignol theatre, which was a famous French theatre in the first half of the XX c. specializing in gory, over-the-top and dark plays. It has become a term to refer to work of fiction that's melodramatic and horrific, often verging on ridiculous. I get a kick out of such camp characters.

By the light, the payoff for Egwene's multiple ventures in the dream world was extremely satisfying. I am taking back all my reservations about Tel'aran'rhiod. I still could do with fewer dream sequences overall.

On that, Perrin's hunt for Faile in Tel'aran'rhiod felt redundant, even if the narrative lays the groundwork. And I am not fond of Perrin, and Mat, and Lan being deadset on rescuing the women.

I say that and then Lan yet again does not do much to save Moiraine from being obliterated in battle and Moiraine does the saving when it comes to Rand. So there's that.

And, oh, Faile? Love at first sight on my end. I want her to be played by Erin Wu.

Everything in Tear filled me with Joy and not only because everyone was reminded of Siuan. Jordan is really good with worldbuilding. The Wisdom betraying the girls, the Aiel, the Black Ajahs, the Forsaken trying to trap Moiraine, Mat running around with hunters and gleemen... It's too much, but in the most enjoyable manner, like carnival or a Doctor Who finale. Parts of it are delicious slices of cloak and dagger, others pure esoteric gothic-ish nightmare.

If I had a nickel every time Moiraine shields Rand from a Forsaken and then gets obliterated before the final battle while Nynaeve and Egwene are running around and Mat is hiding, I would have two nickels, which isn’t much but it’s funny it happened twice.

So far, this book is the one I enjoyed the most. The pacing is miles better than the first two. The treatment of the different plots is much more satisfying and equal, which goes a long way to improve the rhythm. Rand is almost completely absent from this book, which is an interesting choice given what he goes through, but more on that in another post because it is a very deliberate shift in POV.

Although I still maintain the middle part is meandering, it's thoroughly jolly meandering, like the kind of adventure you could get in Alexandre Dumas' serialized novels. There is so much tension between the characters, but it's mostly compelling tension for now, coming from people being flawed and foolish and human. The final battle is again an explosion of chaos and barely adaptable to the screen as it is, but SO BLOODY ENJOYABLE. At moments the writing veers into straight-up Symbolism and Surrealism, particularly with the emphasis on dreams, and it's often messy but the result is strangely compelling. Like, if the writing stays on this level and above for the whole series, I will be more than content.

[stellarred]

Q Continuum Annual Member Evaluation

*This is a tad lengthy, but please enjoy* 🙂

Senior Q: "Hi, Q. How's it going? Have a seat."

Q: "Thank you."

Senior Q: "As you know, the Continuum is doing its annual member evaluation, including some psych and other stuff. The Q High Council just wants to make sure all QC members are happy and doing their jobs, ok?"

Q: "Got it."

Senior Q: "So, first question. How do you think you're doing as the Expert in Humanity?"

Q: "No one knows Jean-Luc better than I."

Senior Q: " You said Jean-Luc. What about the rest of Humanity?"

Q: "What about it?"

Senior Q: (shakes his head) "Your research sample is quite limited."

Q: "Hmph. Limited research, you say. It's a focused study. VERY focused. (stares intently)

Senior Q: (groans and taps his pencil) "I see. Focused on this one human. Anything else?"

Q (feeling quite proud) " Yes! I am getting closer to a relationship breakthrough. "

Senior Q: " You mean a *research* breakthrough, right?"

Q: "Whatever you say."

Senior Q: " How would you describe your energy levels and feelings after work?"

Q: "Oh, energy levels are somewhat low. Feelings include frustrated, irritated, and yet hopeful. Sad sometimes. "

Senior Q: "Oh? That's concerning. I'll make a note of this. The QC cares about its members' job satisfaction. Higher satisfaction leads to greater productivity, you know? We'll see what we can do."

Q: "Oh, but it's fine. Jean-Luc keeps resisting me, you see. He yells at me when I work hard to teach him lessons that will help him improve his dismal life, and when he stubbornly refuses my expressions of eternal love for him...well, that frustrates and wounds me. It's tragic, I tell you."

Senior Q just blinks.

Q: "However, I always have confidence that mon capitaine will someday get it. I love Jean-Luc, I mean...my research. Yes. My research. "

Senior Q: "Let's move on. How do you unwind after work?"

Q: "I process the events of the day, assess what did and didn't go well with Jean-Luc, and what I can do differently to win him over next time."

Senior Q: " I'm kinda sensing a pattern here, Q. What about afterwards? How do you relax? Do you have any hobbies?"

Q: "Of course. I observe Jean-Luc from afar. I also visit other various alien species and humans and show them how they can improve. "

Senior Q: "Oh? Well, branching out is good. At least you're interacting with other humans."

Q: "Well, I help them by pointing out just how much they fall short of what Jean-Luc can do. But, it's so unfortunate to know that they'll never be as evolved and worthy as him."

Senior Q: "Okay, Q. Let's *please* move on. Now tell me what comes to your mind when you see this. There is no right or wrong answer."

Q: "Jean-Luc... in the shower."

Senior Q: "I see. That's...interesting. Creepy, but interesting." (rolls his eyes) "Here's another one."

Q: "Jean-Luc and I kissing passionately on the sandy shores of Vargas 7."

Senior Q: " Okay, brother. I'm a bit worried here. Please take this seriously. I have one more."

Q: "Jean-Luc and I getting hot and heavy in the--"

Senior Q: "Ok, just stop! You are hopelessly obsessed! Why? Why am I even talking to you?! Get some HELP!!"

Q: (bats his eyes) "Oh, the Continuum already knows, my good fellow. I have their complete support in my endeavors I assure you."

Senior Q (muttering to himself): "They probably support you just to keep you from being so annoying all the time."

Q: "You can inform the Continuum that I shall continue to strive for sex--I mean EXcellence as the Expert in Humanity."

Q: (leans in): "I take it you're new here?"