#ergo a lot of background listening

[tunedtostatic]

In This Essay I Will this graph very nicely demonstrates why singer-songwriter abigail lappell is my #1 most listened to of 2023 in spirit

[bookishfeylin]

this was a while ago (a couple months at this point i think) so i might be misremembering, but once in the comment section of an acotar critical video a commenter kept claiming that tamlin was never retconned (which... im not sure what else youd call one of his defining traits in acotar- being observant- suddenly disappearing due to trauma when he was still observant post-amarantha at the end of tar, or some of his values and opinions suddenly also changing in maf, but alright) because throughout the first book he was, according to them, manipulating feyre- specifically lovebombing her. they never specified which events led them to believe this, just that it happened. thoughts?

*sighs*

This argument is one that, unfortunately, I've heard many, many, many times over by now, and have made several posts about in the past. Because, truth be told, it's the best rebuttal they have when you point out direct retcons. The problem is that Tamlin manipulating Feyre, or even lying about his values, is disproven both in the book and in the sequels that follow, and this is because a lot of Tamlin's characterization is based on Feyre's observations of Tamlin, especially at times when he's not aware she's observing him (in contrast to Rhysand telling Feyre what to think about him every other page in ACOMAF).

A very good example of this was with the dying Summer Court faerie. Tamlin and Feyre care for the faerie as it passes away babies, and this scene is viewed by many as a good character moment for Feyre that establishes her kindness under a gruff exterior, but the same is not said for her other half, likely because all the Feysands who reread ACOTAR view all of Tamlin's actions as inherently manipulative. The problem here is that Feyre was never supposed to be present. Feyre was supposed to be asleep in her bedroom on another floor of the manor when Tamlin returned with the fae, and it's only through coincidence--her having a nightmare about killing Andras that wakes her up--that she's present to see Tamlin extend kindness and try to help the faerie in the first place. Ergo, Tamlin's action here can't have been an attempt to manipulate Feyre because Tamlin never expected Feyre to be present, and the kindness shown to lesser fae, and by extension, what that says about how Tamlin views individuals in lower socioeconomic classes than him, is a genuine facet of his character.

There's also a lot of background established about Tamlin that simply can't have been done on purpose by him to manipulate Feyre. What, did he start taking in refugees from other courts like Alis and her nephews because 50 years prior he had a psychic dream about Feyre and he wanted to make himself look really appealing to her? Did he treat them well solely so Alis could make him sound good to Feyre to convince Feyre to go UTM?

I also take issue with people arguing that Tamlin was love-bombing Feyre. It was already discussed before here by someone who's pro-Feysand who also picked up on this (and this ask is already getting longer lol so I'll just link it here and reblog it later) but the TLDR is that Tamlin demonstrably does not want to manipulate Feyre per another conversation she listens in on, and he decidedly chose to abandon the goal of making her love him when he sent her home. Every single "Tamlin never really love Feyre he was just love-bombing her and manipulating her" argument forgets that fact for some reason??? Like he sent her home before she could even do what she was supposed to. He sacrificed himself and his people to eternal damnation for her, without ever expecting to see her ever again. He offered himself to the woman he's known since childhood to shield Feyre from harm. So if you want to argue that, like the beast character he was based on, Tamlin originally brought Feyre to his manor for the purpose off making her fall for him to break his curse, then fine, but it's impossible to argue that throughout their relationship and by the end he was manipulating her and had no genuine love for her.

TLDR: it's a stupid argument that relies on selective reading and I hate it.

[performativezippers]

If you don’t mind me asking, how did you find a writing agent to represent you? Been interested in writing a book for a while and I thought you might have some pointers since your posts are so informative and I think you’re an awesome writer :)

Great question, and thank you so much!

Background: The reason you get an agent is because you're interested in having your book published by a publisher (not self-publishing). Not all publishing houses require you to have an agent, but all of the big ones do, and many of the other legit ones. Some big exceptions are boutique small presses, like Ylva, for example, who accept unagented submissions and sometimes even solicit people.

But in most cases, if you want to be published by a publishing house, you need an agent, which is because these houses do not accept book submissions from authors. they only accept them from agents; ergo, to be published you need to submit, and to submit you need an agent.

Answer to your question: The way you get an agent is by applying, a lot like a job application. Here are the steps:

You need to write your whole book first (unless it's nonfiction) and have it be as good as you can possibly make it. That means beta readers, editing rounds, everything. Get it to the level where if you were self publishing, you'd be done.

You write what's called a query letter for your book, which is essentially a cover letter. Title, word count, comparison titles, plot hook, character intros, take them through about 50% of the plot, establish clear stakes, plus a bio about you. All of this in 400 words, mind you. This is often the hardest thing you'll ever write. I find the podcast "The Shit No One Tells You About Writing" to be the very best way to learn how to do this, and also a LOT of great stuff about writing craft. I listen religiously even though I haven't queried in years.

Research agents. There are thousands of agents out there. Some don't rep in your genre, some are not accepting queries (only working with the clients they already have). You can follow them on social media and search "Manuscript Wishlist" or MSWL to see what they are looking for.

Start querying! Send your query letter and sample pages (usually the first 10-50 pages, depending on what each specific agent wants) to agents, usually in batches of 10-15 at a time.

WAIT

Some agents get back to you very quickly. Most never get back to you at all, and you figure sometime between 6 weeks and 6 months is a pass. It's a very awful, sad, dehumanizing process that you need to be prepared for.

I queried for a year. I queried 65 agents. I only received one offer of representation. I think this low success rate was because I had a weird book that was outside of any typical genre (this was my fault, not that I created something new) and a bad query letter, but my writing was good and my now-agent saw potential in me.

But I will say this: If the only reason you want to write a book is to be published, you should either be good with self-publishing, or not do it. The odds of being published are astoundingly low. There are many many more talented authors than there are slots for debut novels. It takes talent and perseverance and luck to make it through all of these processes and emerge with a book deal, especially from a large publishing house that will pay you an advance and treat you well.

So I'd say, write the book if you want to write the book. Make it a joyful process whose best possible outcome is it being written. And then when you're done with it, if you're ready to drink from a firehose of research, resources, rejection, and hope, then fucking do it!

[chaos0pikachu]

I liked your explanation about the opening sequence to The Sign. I will start by saying I have a background in literary analysis, not cinema, which is a whole other ballgame which is why I am writing to you. (Which is also why books and movies are not one to one translations, they can't be). Lately there has been a lot of negativity toward the confusion surrounding Phaya's and Tharn's powers, especially how Phaya and Tharn got to the cave. I was not surprised by the lack of explanation though. If this was a book I would say that the characters themselves are caught in forces they don't understand, grasping for how to fight against a literal God and so confusion in the narrative parallels that confusion in the character POV. We see a little of Docs POV but only in connection with Tharn or Phaya. Thanks for listening to my ramblings. Have a good week!

There's been a weird negativity towards The Sign since like, ep07 when they banged and idk why but I refuse to let it get me down lol The Sign is one of the few BLs that's ambitious and I gotta give it it's gold stars of the week for that alone

For me, I'm willing to see if the powers thing is just the show withholding information or if it's leaving it ambiguous on purpose. Personally I'm not the type of viewer that needs everything laid out for them in logical order. Like, I don't need to know if all the kitchenware in Beast's castle was actually a human, the castle is enchanted ergo all the shit inside is also enchanted. Why are the servants also cursed, cause it's a fairytale and they are? They're an extension of the Beast himself as a character? Sometimes adding explanations or over explaining sucks the magic and fantastical elements from a story.

Like, I'm a One Piece fan so I'm really used to information being withheld for a very long time lmao

That said I also understand the frustration because there does seem to be a set-up happening for the "who" or "why" of the golden light powers. It could be a lot of the things, I like reading the theories. If none of them happened I think I'd be a bit bummed but honestly that just opens up a ton of possibilities in fic.

I continue to be disappointed there's not more fic for The Sign since it's one of the few BL shows that really lends itself so well to a vast amount of possibilities for diverging from canon, or exploring the worldbuilding, or AUs etc etc.

Either way, The Sign is def one of the better BLs I've watched and I'll stand by that lol

[peralta-guaranteed]

After that Jake-Mac-Rosa fic, you dropped this queen: 👑 Next time, a Jake-Mac-Holt piece?

Oh dang, THAT's where I left it. Thank you for that. 🤪

Grandpa Holt is always a pleasure to write, but let's try for some Dad Holt too...

"Is everything alright, Peralta?"

Jake has been sitting off to the side of the group for a while now, so Holt finds it necessary to inquire. He's not used to the eager detective being so closed off and quiet unless something is wrong, and nothing he can think of right now strikes him as 'wrong': they have been celebrating the end of a rather arduous case for Diaz and Boyle, and Peralta had been as helpful as he could be as a tertiary, which was not his preferred position at all. The first round at Shaw's had been paid by himself as Captain, obviously, and the next by Diaz, so Boyle has promised to shoulder the third, were it to happen. Ergo Peralta could not be thinking about his usual money problems, which have lessened anyway ever since Santiago took over his budgeting.

That means something else entirely must be 'wrong' in order for Jake to keep out of the conversation, only reply when he is mentioned by name, and drift off to a corner of the bar while the other congregate around the various game options of the room.

"I'm good, Captain, thanks." Jake answers with a smile and an obvious lie, so Holt doesn't even bother replying, just raises one of his eyebrows a quarter of an inch, which he knows usually gets him results with Peralta. The ensuing sigh shows that it is still working.

"It's just..." Jake shrugs and rubs the back of his neck, another tell of his discomfort. "This is my first night out alone since the baby."

"Indeed." Holt replies. "I remember your phone call to Amy to inform her you would be back late today."

"Yeah." His hand is still on his neck, the other one clutched around his half empty beer bottle. "She told me to have fun. But..uh... I still kinda feel like I shouldn't be here."

"Do you think having a child robs you of autonomity? I know I am not speaking from experience, here, but it does seem to me like you are allowed to enjoy time away from your family, especially if your spouse insists you do."

"Getting drunk at a bar while my kid might be crying at home doesn't feel like the responsible thing to do, is all."

"Ah, I see." Holt nods, and he does see - he actually sees a lot more than what Jake might be trying to imply in his statement. He remembers how he used to self-medicate with alcohol in the past, after ending his relationship with that defense attorney, or even before, while feeling heartbroken over Santiago. He also remembers anecdotes about his father's drinking, not from Peralta himself, obviously, but from the rest of the squad, whenever Jake would cancel on a promised night out after Roger Peralta's visits. As much as Holt hates idioms, one of his most despised is probably 'the apple doesn't fall far from the tree', and Jake seems to fear it as well.

"Here is my solution, then, if you are willing to listen." Jake looks up at Holt as he's standing in front of him, and his hand drops from his neck. "You make the beer you are currently drinking your last for the night, and spend some quality time with your colleagues instead, enjoying a few parlour games, and then you head home at an agreeable time and still see your child before he falls asleep."

Jake grins and takes a sip of his beer.

"Sounds like a plan, Cap." He nods, and Holt doesn't ignore the fact that Jake has been using this shortened nickname for him a lot lately, and how eerily similar it sounds to 'Dad' in his voice.

(An hour later, he receives a picture on his cellphone from Peralta: The man himself, asleep on his couch, with his infant son equally asleep on his chest. Santiago must have commandeered his phone, and Holt is glad for it.)

-*-

"Grampa!"

The sound of that little voice echoes through the hallway as loudly as the ensuing footsteps, and Holt feels something warm and solid wrap around his legs.

"Hello, McClane." He smiles down at the little boy currently clutching his knees, and he smiles back before raising his arms in an obvious demand to be lifted up. Holt obeys it immediately.

He notices Mac looks surprisingly tired for an otherwise very energetic two year old, and Amy, who's now following him to Holt's side, looks equally exhausted.

"Good afternoon, Captain. I'm so sorry, I should've messaged you that I have to bring Mac in for an hour, the babysitter cancelled and the day care couldn't keep him longer than-"

"It is quite alright, Santiago. McClane knows how to behave himself at the precinct, right?" He gives the little boy in his arms a look, and receives a strong and eager nod in reply, the curls on his head bouncing back and forth. If anyone were ever to question Peralta's parentage, that alone would classify them as an imbecile. "I can watch him for the time being, if you have paperwork you need to get in order before leaving for the day."

"God, Captain Holt, would you- that would be so- I was going to ask Rosa, because I know she's at her desk-"

Amy seems far more frazzled than usual, and Holt realises that her regular schedule must be in quite a disarray, considering she has been a single parent for about a week now. Mac must not have been making it easy for her, either, nor must the baby currently growing in her stomach, which has started to show about a month ago, at which point they finally informed the squad about it (when everyone had already figured it out just like last time).

"RoRo!" Mac yells, happily, almost leaning out of Holt's arms, but he quickly hugs him tighter.

"Your aunt Rosa is working, McClane, and we should not interrupt her. We can spend the time in my office, and you can draw if you would like."

"Roro working." He echoes like a little parrot. "Like Daddy."

"That's right." Holt has learned from the parenting homepages he's visited that you are to encourage a child trying to talk and string together a coherent topic, no matter how long it might take.

"Daddy's working away." Mac continues, and out of the corner of his eye Holt sees Amy's forehead wrinkle in worry.

"Yes, your father is in New Jersey for the week to work on a special case." It's not a dangerous case at all, rather a boring standard task that happened to involve some out-of-state suspects, but Jake had still been trying to hand off that trip to anyone who might be willing to help him out. Seeing his son with bags under his eyes and his wife with stresslines around her mouth and her hand on her belly, Holt understands why.

"He comes back." Mac says next, and it is a statement, but the look in his eyes makes it a question, and Holt is quick to answer. He's glad that he has a definite answer to that, instead of the empty promises and assurances he sometimes has to make as the head of a police department.

"Yes, your father will be back soon. In two days, in fact."

Mac holds up two grubby little fingers, and Holt nods with so much fervor it surprises himself.

"Very good, that is two. Only two days and two nights until your father is back home." The worry in Mac's eyes seems to dimish a little at that as he stares at his own fingers. "If we go to my office, we can check on the calendar exactly how long that is." He barely waits for another nod before taking the diaper bag out of Santiago's hands, who whispers a quiet, but relieved "Thank you" to him. He understands again that it means far more than to thank him for taking care of the child for an hour so.

(If he uses that hour to assure Mac several times that no matter what, his father will always find a way back to him with far more emotion in his voice than he'd usually use, well, no one needs to know. Peralta certainly seems happy about the picture he sends him of Mac with his captain's hat behind his desk.)

-*-

"Congratulations." Holt's hand on his shoulder is heavy, but not uncomfortably so, and it gives a quick squeeze before dropping.

They've done the whole customary introduction to the newborn baby, the apparently necessary picture round, and now Kevin is having an amicable chat with Amy in her hospital bed. They've waited two days for their official visit, to give the new parents a chance to get at least a few of their bearings. (Holt was there merely an hour after the birth, of course, with the rest of the squad, but that was a moment of joyful chaos and many voices.) Now the room is filled with an almost serene quiet, Amy's and Kevin's voices low and comfortable in the background as Holt watches the man he truly considers a son hold up his new granddaughter.

"Do you want to hold her again? I know you already did for the photos but-"

Holt only nods and takes the infant out of his hands with perfect ease. He's more used to a wriggling toddler now, but he still clearly remembers the days when Mac was equally quiet and frail in his arms. The little one in them now is asleep amidst all that is happening, her tiny mouth open just a fraction, and he feels her arm bump against his chest while she seems to be having a dream.

"She is as perfect as her older brother, Jake."

"Yeah." Jake smiles, and there's nothing of that boisterous, loud, cocky detective grin left in it that he used to know. It is soft and kind and full of love, and it might be one of Holt's favourite expressions. "Amy did a superb job again."

"As did you."

"I'm sure I don't gotta explain this to you, Cap, but I didn't really do much." Jake jokes, and Holt can tell he's trying to divert the attention to a simpler topic, but sometimes things must be said.

"You do a lot, Jacob." He continues, then. "Far more than a lot of fathers do. Far more than many would expect of you. And you do it all perfectly right, with heart and determination."

Jake nods, swallowing down a lump in his throat, it seems, and it might be a step too far for his already emotional state, but Holt feels like it needs to accompany his accolades.

"I am very proud of you, son."

Jake is very obviously fighting back tears as he replies.

"Thanks, dad."

The little girl in Holt's arms stirs right at this moment, and Jake seems to want to interject immediately in fear that she'll start crying, but she simply stares up at Holt with impossibly big, brown eyes for the first time. And he realises, just as he did two years ago when Mac's little hand tightened around his finger for the first time, that there is a child in this world that he would literally do anything for. There are four of them now, even if two of them have not fallen under the category of a child for several decades.

"Hello, Maya." He says to the little face that seems to be inspecting him. "I'm Captain Raymond Holt. Your grandfather."

He looks up at Kevin and Amy, who've stopped their conversation while Amy is lifting her phone in their direction, and then at Jake, who's looking at Maya as well with shining eyes. Then he looks back down at Maya, stretching her arms out of her swaddle as if she's reaching for him.

"You are a very lucky little girl."

[sunderedazem]

Notes from the Alderaan Enclave: A Crechemaster’s Records

Rating: Teen

Summary: Excerpts from the journal of Jedi Master Norran Kelm, Crechemaster and Instructor of the Alderaanian Enclave (destroyed circa 11 ATC during the Alderaanian Civil War) as are pertinent to the history and development of Jedi Battlemaster Corrain Gealai, Hero of Tython. Agents should be cognizant of extensive reference to internal Jedi affairs and policy, to include esoteric uses of the mysterious "Force Abilities" many Jedi inexplicably possess. Suspension of disbelief is required for the following topics: Telekinesis, telepathy, psychometry, preternatural senses, precognition and clairvoyance, and other lesser-known applications of the Force.

Records Declassified from SIS Dossier #3397-424G, Security Clearance Aurek

(or: a young Jedi Knight's infancy and childhood on Alderaan, as told in snippets by his extremely tired Crechemaster)

Author Notes: This is the prequel to my other fic, Crescent Moon Rising, which focuses primarily on Corrain as a budding Jedi (and will continue through the Nathema Conspiracy, if all goes well). I'm mostly writing this because of some EXCELLENT tumblr posts about Jedi Padawan Chopped edition: Lightsaber cooking, and how horribly wrong that always goes. Also levitating toddlers. Basically I wanted background infodumping with lighthearted kidfic nonsense.

Tags below Cut! (Link is the title)

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category:

Gen

Fandoms:

Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic (Video Game)

Star Wars Legends - All Media Types

Characters:

Male Jedi Knight | Hero of Tython

Jedi Knight | Hero of Tython

Original Jedi Character(s) (Star Wars)

Jedi Knight Characters (Star Wars)

Satele Shan (mentioned)

Orgus Din (mentioned)

Jaric Kaedan (Mentioned)

Additional Tags:

Kid Fic

Jedi Training (Star Wars)

Jedi Culture & Tradition (Star Wars)

Jedi Younglings (Star Wars)

Jedi Shenanigans (Star Wars)

Padawan Shenanigans (Star Wars)

Jedi Babies & Children (Star Wars)

Crechemasters are the strongest Jedi in existence and we all know it

Alderaanian Culture (Star Wars)

Planet Alderaan (Star Wars)

POV Original Character

Original Character(s)

That's Not How The Force Works (Star Wars)

Prophetic Visions

Force Visions (Star Wars)

Child Abandonment

Force Bond (Star Wars)

My Jedi Knight's backstory

Headcanon: Alderaan Enclave

Headcanon: Youngling Internships

Headcanon: Zakuulan Scion Culture and Customs

Essentially this covers from my Knight's birth through his depature for Tython

And is mostly him just getting into shenanigans with the other younglings

it starts out explaining how he even ended up on Alderaan though

so his mother's part in the fic is a bit on the heavier side

most of the rest is him just causing Problems.

listen Jedi younglings HAVE to be the sweetest kind of nightmare

adorable kids who can levitate themselves to reach the cookie jar?

small children who can steal toys from each other by grabbing them with the Force?

adorable but a nightmare

Ergo lots of shenanigans

also some (unintentional) misgendering

Misgendering

Corrain's an infant when it happens

as soon as he can talk he's vocal about being a boy and the Jedi just roll with it

but before that it's not like they really know

they do their best

Trans Male Character

Trans Character

trans main character

[tortoisesshells]

Everyone loves the blooper reel line of "Bare breasts and ankles all the way" but I am absolutely in awe that you turned it into a heartfelt fic that has an in-character Norrington expressing emotions to Nellie, who is not sure she's ready to hear it but she does like to listen to him talk. I also learned a lot about Boston and Latin primers, so as always your work remains educational!

[pls note that i very nearly did a spit-take onto my keyboard when I received this ask! for everyone following along at home who has no idea what's going on ... the blooper from Curse of the Black Pearl in question. fair play to Keira Knightley for giving us a line that has haunted me since 2003.]

You all were very kind to not throw rocks at me for writing an AU branch of Customs which starts out with me stealing plot points from North and South pretty much whole-cloth - Nellie doesn't get up in front of a crowd to defend Norrington from the consequences of his actions, but the end of Chapter 4 truly could have gone very differently, considering she ends up in the middle of Long Wharf in precious little more than her damp chemise and Captain Hendrick's jacket after saving Norrington from drowning. There was room in there for a romance novel marry-to-protect-her-reputation thing, and by golly, I ran with it.

(the problem being then that Nellie and Norrington having to get married in Chapter 4 functionally cuts the main plot of Customs off at the pass, because it's the 18th century and Nellie loses her legal standing to control her late husband's property when she remarries - ergo, no more smuggling, though Nellie isn't any fonder of Norrington's office having married into it than she is covertly opposing it in the base continuity. Let us all shed a tear for liberty, or something.)

If Boston circa 1738 had anything like a robust market for political cartoons in the vein of Gillray or Cruikshank, I'm sure Nellie would have been subject to one or two scathing ones - as it is, in the original continuity, there's one background comment about Nellie taking off her mourning dress literally and figuratively in the context of the rescue, and there's several more that Nellie has cause to dwell on in this AU; writing those made me feel slimy, and it got folded into Nellie and Norrington's first major disagreement - Nellie insists on not acknowledging those comments, no matter how humiliating she finds them, and somewhere-north-of-ask-but-south-of-demands Norrington from responding to them, either. It's ... a litmus test, I guess. That he listens to her in the matter is, perhaps, the only reason she's willing to make a go of it, even if she's pretty convinced he is only going to bring her to more grief.

Jury's still out if she still kills Lieutenant Nibley in this one, though. I might write a follow up to get through the events of DMC and AWE?

(send me the title of a fic I’ve never written and I’ll talk to you about it!)

[hteragram-x]

Firefighter AU (again)

It’s been a while since I posted anything about this AU, but I got some inspiration and finished new short story. This time about Virgil and Remus briefly discussing their jobs and characters. I think you can read it separately and still get what’s going on, but if anyone’s interested I’ll link previous related posts.

[HERE] is the introduction, [HERE] are some general HCs, and over [THERE] you can find previous story where Remus and Virgil met for the first time :>

--- ----- --- ----- --- ----- --- ----- ---

Word count: 1348

Relationships: technically Dukexiety, but they’re not there yet

TW: mentions of fire (what a surprise), mentions of dead animals, mentions of a car crash, swearing

--- ----- --- ----- --- ----- --- ----- ---

-

The phone rang for about half a second before Virgil picked it up and gave his practiced introduction. It was calm and quick. Then he fell silent and let the woman on the other side of the line speak, listening carefully and responding with a few instructions. In an even voice he explained that the team has already been sent, that the fire engine was on its way. That there was no need to panic and that someone else has already called and now the only thing she should do is patiently wait, sit at a safe distance from the flaming car, and keep him updated if anything bad happened before the brigade arrived.

He made sure the woman was safe, said goodbye, and let the conversation end.

 Then he leaned deeper into his chair with a heavy sigh.

“I have a question!”, the loud yell right behind Virgil nearly sent him flying to the floor. He glared at Remus, clutching his headset and trying to readjust it before it slid off his ears. Why was he still surprised by these random outbursts? He should have gotten used to them weeks ago.

“What kind of question”, he asked in a tired voice very much aware that getting mad at Remus would only make his behaviour more annoying. Or worse… it’d make Remus upset... “The one I answered forty nine times already or something new?”

“A new one!”, Remus beamed sitting on a spinning office chair and moving closer to Virgil. “And if you’re exaggerating anyway you could’ve said sixty nine. That would’ve cost you nothing.”

“It would also cost you nothing to not say that right now, and yet you did”, was a slightly drained response.

"I always do!”, Remus giggled in a surprisingly cute way and leaned even closer, still remembering to not push Virgil too far from the desk. They were both currently at work, so distracting his co-worker too much and slowing down his response for even a few seconds could have potentially tragic consequences. Remus was definitely a careless person, but not when it came to other people’s lives. That fact was often shocking even to those who knew Remus for a very long time.

Virgil lifted an eyebrow making a “go on” kind of gesture with his right hand.

“Okay”, Remus started excitedly sounding as if he was trying to hype himself up to do something difficult. “How do you do it?”

Virgil lifted his second eyebrow in a silent question.

“I mean: how do you stay calm during the calls. Why do you even work here? I can scare you by saying “boo” in quiet monotone. And then you talk with panicking people who just crashed their car into the lamppost like it’s nothing!”

To Virgil’s credit he put a lot of effort to making his brain not fixate on the “Why do you even work here?” part of Remus’ words and not see it as a kind suggestion to fuck off. He mostly failed, but the intensions were there.

“I- I’m not sure”, he responded carefully after a moment filled with sounds of a chair squeaking under Remus who was usually unable to stay still for more than four seconds. “I have a separate… headspace for work, I suppose. I dunno how to explain it. Just like… switching to a different mindset when it’s something professional. Don’t you have the same thing with putting down the fire? I assume you don’t stare creepily at other people when you enter the building that’s in flames”, he added with a small smile, reminiscing their first encounter.

“Usually I don’t”, Remus answered with slightly disturbing, cheerful honesty that Vigil learnt to expect from his chaotic co-worker. “But, yeah… you’re right. I can be calm when I’m professional. And I’m way less tempted to taste fire when I’m fighting it. You know? Like… you don’t think so much about eating a bear when it’s chasing you down the extremely narrow path where trees are getting closer and closer until the forest gets very dark and there is no way to escape anymore.” Remus finished a rushed sentence with wide, light-hearted smile that lit up his face not unlike a lighter with which he almost singed his moustache on regular basis.

Virgil blinked at him and slowly shook his head.

“O- One thing at a time, okay?”, he answered finally. “Let’s leave the bear out of this for now. I know I shouldn’t ask, but did you just say that you’re ‘tempted to taste fire’?”

“Yeah!”, Remus answered with enthusiasm sending Virgil another bright smile that somehow still looked nice despite some unhinged glint always present in his green eyes. “You can make so many tasty things with fire. Like grilled vegetables! Or…”

For some reason, the fact that Remus was vegan never failed to astound the confused operator. Maybe his dietary choices would be less unexpected if he also didn’t rate every dead animal he ever saw on the street on a scale from ‘probably inedible, not enough fur’ to ‘no one touch that! It’s my lunch’.

“…or potato chips!”, Remus finished a long list of foods. ”Those are kinda made with fire?”

“…yes?” Virgil said carefully, not really sure where this line of logic was even going.

“See?! Fire makes tasty things. Ergo, hypothesis, fire is tasty too!”

“That’s… that’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard today…”

“Well, jokes on you, because I’ve said something much more stupid only twenty minutes ago. You just weren’t there!”

“I’m not sure this defence is as strong as you think…”, Virgil sighed, annoyed at himself for a tiny bit of fondness that seeped into his voice. “Anyway! Please don’t eat fire.”

“Fine”, Remus said tipping his head back with a huff. “You’re so boring.”

“And you’re a dumbass. I can’t believe I was scared of you at first…”

“You were?!”, Remus asked delighted despite knowing this information before. It was always nice to hear that he actually frightened someone, even if it was a guy scared of drinking with a straw for the fear of chocking on it one day. Or maybe especially if it was that guy.

“Shut up…”

Surprisingly, Remus did fell quiet. They sat in silence for a few minutes glad that the phone stayed silent as well. It was nice to have a few minutes of peace and calm before someone else needed help. It meant that people were safe and it let them just appreciate each other’s company in the half-empty office.

“By the way… I do get the whole ‘work mindset’ thing”, Remus continued suddenly as if they never stopped or changed the topic. “It’s like I have a separate brain and personality that kick in when it comes to these things. I see everything differently.”

Virgil nodded in understanding.

“I’m less scared when I know I have to help someone.”

“Exactly!”, Remus exclaimed, once again almost making Virgil fall out of his chair. “I have that too, but I become more serious instead! So you’re a coward, but a protective one. Got it.”

“Get out of my office.”

Remus laughed and didn’t make a single move to exit the room. He sat more comfortably in his chair, reaching into a pocket for his favourite lighter with luminescent tentacles painted over sparkly black background. It was one of the most “Remus” things Virgil has ever seen.

The next stretch of silence didn’t last as long as Virgil would have wanted. After about a minute his phone rang again, distracting his from very vivid visions of the firehouse burning to the ground because of Remus’ negligence. He gave his colleague a brief smile and promptly answered the call, his head immediately clear – the thoughts about anything irrelevant temporarily forgotten. Few seconds later the alarm went off and the dishevelled firefighter jumped off the chair with a serious expression. He gave Vigil last look seeing his focused eyes and calm, patient face. Then he switched his own brain into appropriate mode and run out of the room towards Roman and the rest of his brigade.

-

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Next part is [HERE].

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My one-person general taglist: @imma-potatoo

My one-person taglist for this AU: @isabelle-stars

I used the term “taglist” very loosely here :D

[lovingmyselfcore]

Chapter III; You Ever Just Shoot Yourself? No? Me either...

Is this even good?? Not feeling very confident about this, it always seems better in my head

“Jude! How are you feeling?” Lilliver’s voice was way too loud for so early in the morning.

I’d just arrived, after a lovely morning filled with throwing up, Vivi’s barely contained laughter and voicemails from Madoc yelling at me to show up at work.

I threw myself down next to Garett on the couch and glared at her, “This is your fault.” I pointed a finger at her and glared.

Van snorted, “You’re the one who decided to get that drunk. We had nothing to do with that.”

“She invited me out, ergo, she is to blame.”

“That makes sense,” Garett said sarcastically and I turned my glare on him, a jolt of satisfaction running through me when he actually edged away with his hands raised in defense.

“So,” Van started, his eyes gleaming with laughter, “Baby Greenbriar was the one who brought you home, huh?”

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah, Cardan drove me home.”

“Anything you want to share with the class?” I didn’t like his tone at all.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You said that you two despise each other?” Lilliver reminded me, sitting down on my other side.

“We do.” I said with a snarl, “I wouldn’t be all that broken up about it if I never have to see him again.”

None of them responded and I felt like I had to justify myself. “I didn’t ask for him to drive me home.”

Garrett opened his mouth but was interrupted when Lilliver’s phone rang.

“It’s Dain.” She said, hurrying to answer it.

Garrett, Van, and I all went stiff, watching her face as she answered. Despite her sitting right next to me I couldn’t hear Dain, only her occasional yes, or no sirs.

When she hung up she met Van’s eyes before looking at Garett, avoiding me entirely. “He wants her in it.”

Van leaned forward, brows furrowed. “She’s so new.”

“I know.”

“How much does he want us to tell her?” Garrett asked.

The three of them were acting like I wasn’t there and, honestly, it was pissing me off.

I moved to ask what exactly it was when Lilliver spoke again, “We’re not telling her anything. He is.”

~~~

“Is anybody going to tell me what the hell is happening?”

I felt like I’d been asking that question for hours, despite Dain’s call only being 10 minutes ago. It didn't help that none of them were answering me.

Their silence was making me nervous, what was it I was about to be 'in'? The Greenbriar's were a family of narcissistic, rich air-heads but here were Garrett, Van, and Lilliver acting like I was about to find out they needed a new hitwoman, it was unsettling.

I was still sitting on the couch, at Garrett and Lilliver's insistence. They'd left to accompany Dain from the Greenbriar mansion to where we were meeting to talk. Van and I were the only two left in the trailer, and he was pacing the length of the tiny room. He looked worried.

As I opened my mouth to question this entire situation again he halted, turning to face me and raising a hand to quiet me.

"Look, Jude," Van said finally, taking pity on me. "I know you think the Greenbriar's are all shallow and mindless, but there is so much you don't know about them." I felt annoyance shoot through me, he was acting like I was some stupid child. "How they got so much power and money. How so unlike the personas they display on the show are from the calculating creatures underneath. They got their power, Jude." He held out a hand to help me up. I didn't take it.

He moved towards the door and before he opened it he spoke so quietly I strained to hear him.

"You're about to learn what they do to keep it."

The room suddenly became twenty degrees cooler.

~~~~

Van and I arrived before Dain and the others did. 

It was a small house, only a few miles from the trailers and hidden behind a small forest. I wondered what was taking them so long to get here as Van swung the door open.

My first thought was how weird this was. A three-room house. The main room, the one we were currently in, a table with chairs, a singular bookcase filled with bins and containers, and no real signs of life aside from the barren kitchen tucked in a corner. The next room was curtained off. The third room was a tiny bathroom.

Van closed the door behind me and sat heavily in one of the chairs. He looked at me when I made no movement and gestured to the chair next to him.

"Sit." A dry laugh, "Stay awhile."

"Van," I said quietly, my voice still echoing in the room. "What is this place."

He sighed, "The 'war room'." The what? "We have all our meetings with Dain here."

"Why not just at the trailers? Or the mansion? Or literally anywhere else?" 

He met my eyes, voice so serious it startled me. "Anybody could be listening there."

What. The. Fuck. This is insanity. Van was acting like these were secrets worth more than my life. Like the Greenbriar's were harboring some kind of dark and even deadly secret.

The door opened and Van stood up, bowing his head as Dain entered. 

“Sir,” Van said, motioning to an empty chair. Dain sat, his eyes never leaving me.

His gaze made me feel gross like it was coating my skin in a layer of filth I couldn't get rid of.

Lilliver and Garrett sat down, Lilliver shooting me an encouraging look, Garrett not looking at me at all.

"I heard you're a clever liar, Jude."

I raised my eyebrows, meeting his probing gaze, "Am I?"

"You're good at fighting?"

"Why don't you find out?"

Lilliver, Van, and Garrett all looked at me, their eyes open wide.

Dain's voice got dangerously low, "Don't talk to me like that. It won't end well for you. I promise."

Van's hand wrapped around my upper arm, forcing me to break Dain's gaze.

"What do you about them?" Dain asked, gesturing to the three of them.

I didn't know what to say. His tone told me that whatever I said would not be the right answer. That I wasn't going to impress him.

"I don't know exactly what they do for you," I ceded. I hated giving him that but it seemed like the only right answer.

"What they do for me?" He leaned forward, towards me. "They do whatever I tell them to. You do whatever I tell you to, isn't that right."

I stiffened, "I don't know what you're talking about."

He grinned, "It's not that hard to understand. You do whatever I want, whenever I want. And you never question me. Understood?" 

I didn't respond and he lunged across the table, grabbing my arm and squeezing tight enough to bruise. "If you repeat anything that is said in this room, to anybody, ever-" He trailed off, tightening his grip.

I nodded, it was the only thing I could do. I was sure I could fight him, but from the way Dain had been acting with the others, I doubted they would fight on my side.

  He released my arm, leaning back, reclining in the chair in a way that reminded me too much of Cardan.

"I need you to do something for me. But first, I suppose you need to know some background."

Lilliver looked to Dain, once he nodded she spoke, "We do anything to help Dain. With anything."

"Our main objective is to allow him to keep his power within the family," Van said.

"There are a lot of things happening within my family that are not within the public eye," Dain said, eyes scrutinizing every move I made in my seat. "My father is sick." I raised my eyebrows, Eldred hadn't seemed sick every time I'd seen him. Granted, it was only on the show, I haven't seen him in person in a long time.

"Which means the Greenbriar's are all out for each other." Garrett said, "We are fighting to be sure Dain comes out on top of that fight."

I furrowed my eyebrows and held my hands up, "What do you gain in you 'come out on top'?"

"My family has their fingers in a lot of different pies," Dain said, "A lot of power in a lot of different communities. A lot of connections, and a lot of dirty money." He raised his eyebrows like he knew I understood what exactly he meant.

"From what?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know. 

Dain shrugged casually, "Blackmail, the occasional 'disappearance', drugs and the like."

I froze. I'd assumed as much but I still didn't like the sound of 'occasional disappearance'. “No,” I said, standing. “No, I’m out. This is insane.” I gestured to them, “You are all insane and I’m leaving. Find someone else to do your dirty work.” I spat at Dain. “If you even need one. You’ve got three people who for some reason are wrapped around your finger.”

I walked towards the door when an arm shot out and stopped me. I whirled, attempting to knock Garrett’s feet out from under him. He lept back bringing an arm up to deflect my punch. We fought for what must have been only a minute before Van and Lilliver helped him wrangle me. 

My struggle was futile, they had me pinned.

Dain strode forward, unaffected as ever. He stuck two fingers under my chin pulling my head up. He scanned my face before purring, “Feisty,”

I resisted the urge to spit at him. With Lilliver, Garrett and Van undoubtedly all armed and definitely willing to take me down if Dain even raised a finger, that wouldn’t end well for me.

“Do you care about your family, Jude?” He asked. “What are their names again?”

He dropped my chin and went to sit back down. They forced me back into my chair before Garrett and Lilliver sat down themselves, Van was at my back, ready to tackle me if so much as blinked wrong in Dain’s direction.

He held up his hands as if he had counted to ten, “Madoc and Oriana.” He put two fingers down. “Vivienne and her girlfriend. Heather right?” Two more fingers. How did he know- “Your weaker other half, Taryn, of course.” Another finger. Cue a low growl at me. “And that adorable little brother of yours. Oak. Imagine what I could have done to them if you decide to tell anybody what happened here. Imagine it, Jude.” I saw red, shooting forward in my seat. 

I wasn’t fast enough, Van reached out and caught me, tugging me forcefully back against the chair. I struggled against him until a click. It was quiet, but there was no mistaking it.

I leaned back a little more and my suspicions were confirmed. This absolute motherfucker had pulled a gun on me.

Dain grinned, “So, Jude. Tell me. What are you going to do? It doesn’t seem to me like you have very many options.”

~~~~~~

"The biggest threat to Dain is Balekin." Van had sat down, leaving me alone in my seat. Dain had instructed him to leave it on the table and he’d done so. Resting his hand on top of it. Right in my line of sight, where I couldn’t forget about it. Not like I’d forget even if he put it away.

Lilliver was talking now as if what had just happened was just a fever dream. They were explaining to me more what was happening. Not like it was really helping.

His lip curled in distaste, "Elowyn is my father's not-so-secret favorite as I'm sure you know." I nodded. "But she doesn't want it. None of my sisters do, for their own individual reasons. But, Balekin wants it."

They didn't even mention Cardan.

This was insane. There was no way they did what my wild imagination was acting like they do. I'm being dramatic. This isn’t really happening.

"Prove yourself," Dain said suddenly.

The intensity in his tone startled me, "What?"

"You know things now. But I want you to prove you aren't going to run to any of my family and tattle." He stood up and walked around the table until he was towering directly above me. "Would you kill for me, Jude?" His voice was soft.

I didn't answer. How the hell was I supposed to answer. Well, I knew what he wanted me to say.

"I don't think there's anyone for her to kill right now, sir." Lilliver's was an angel. A perfect angel trying to save me from whatever was going to happen if she hadn't. Dain and I both looked at her.

He sighed, very dramatically, and Jude was reminded again that he was Cardan's brother.

"I suppose you're right." Suddenly he held his hand out. “Give me that gun.”

"Sir?" He asked. Van and Lilliver looked just as confused but he didn't respond.

Garrett pulled a gun out of his pocket and I edged away as Dain flicked the safety off.

He motioned for me to take it, "Shoot yourself."

"What?" Van asked. Lilliver made a distressed choking noise.

I evaluated him and the situation. The soft sunlight filtering in through the small window above the kitchen, reflecting off Dain's golden hair. He was haloed, almost like an angel. An angel with his own cadre of spies against his own family, who have undoubtedly done unspeakable things for him. An angel holding out a gun and instructing me to shoot myself with a bored expression. 

I stood up, he was taller than me but I stretched until I could almost meet him. He wasn't kidding. He wanted me to shoot myself, and I had a sinking feeling that was the least of what was going to happen to me. What I was going to do.

I took the gun, bouncing it in my hand, getting a feel for it. "Where?"

His eyes flashed with what, if I didn't know better, might have been admiration. “Your arm will be fine.”

I held the gun up, pointing it at my opposite arm. What. The. Fuck. Was I doing? This is insanity, that was all I could think about, it was running through my brain on loop.

Then I squeezed.

The shot echoed, bouncing around like a scream in a canyon. I don’t know if I screamed, I don’t know how they reacted initially. I do know, however, that to this day, in a small cabin tucked away from everyone there’s a bloodstain on the floor, right under a thick oak table. A girl died there. A girl whose biggest concern was fighting her adopted father about having to be in the same room as her high school nemesis. A girl that wasn’t going to come back.

Lilliver was holding a cloth against my arm, muttering something to herself. I refused to blackout. That would be showing too much weakness.

We were on the floor of the cabin. They were crouched over me. I had no idea where Dain had gone, and even though I should, I didn’t really care.

“You’ll be fine, Jude. I know how to take care of a gunshot wound.” Despite what had happened today, I didn’t fight her. I didn’t trust her. But I didn’t fight her.

“You did good. You did good.” Garrett’s voice was almost indistinguishable from the rush in my head.

My ears were filled with water that was soaking into my brain. It was going to come bubbling out of my mouth, my nose. I was going to drown within my own body.

Van’s hand wrapped around mine. “Welcome to the Shadows.”

Tag List (Let me know if you want to be in it!):

@ladyofbloodandroses @foreverscreaming @cultofvamps

[beggingwolf]

Do you have any Tumblr blogs that inspire your writing/you draw a lot of inspiration from?

there's a single braincell that I use to play hot-potato with @malk1ns and @ticklefighthockey, so a fair amount of writing stuff comes from one of us saying something and another going "...please elaborate on that."

honestly, though, a lot of my inspiration comes from out-of-house, so to speak. I read* a lot (though I'm currently working through a very large reread, and will be embarking on two other rereads after that, so my material isn't the newest, ha), and I listen to music a lot, and those remain the two biggest "inspirations" for me, I think.

*I listen to audiobooks when I run and drive, mostly!

it's healthy, imo—if I turn to fandom/in-universe inspiration too much, I worry about lifting ideas from other people or becoming too derivative. when I was younger and dreamed about being a NYT bestselling author (lol), a lot of the stories I'd write would be almost 1-for-1 copies of what I'd most recently read. I had a whole spy universe that was lifted from the Alex Rider books, a big ol' romance that was half-Twilight and half-all-the-YA-romances-Twilight-inspired, etc.

I've gotten better about not copying story ideas whole-cloth from what I read, but I also just try not to shit where I eat. if I get inspiration in-fandom, it usually comes from playing ping-pong with the communal braincell with friends or from getting inspired over what other writers do well (as in, I love this writer's version of sid, or this writer's use of background characters, or this writer's ability to write domesticity well, etc.).

that being said, I love incorporating real-world events and backstory into my fics, so the torchtoburn primers have gotten a lot of traffic from me.

thus: most of my inspiration comes from out-of-house. I'm currently cooking up an idea based on a magic system from one of my favorite books (though don't hold your breath—I've got some other fics ahead of it in the queue). I have a copy of Putin Country on my kitchen table because I'm interested in writing a more nuanced version of Russia and Geno's relationship with it. I listen to music every single day, and music has always been my #1 inspiration tool (ergo why I have a spotify for my fics, lol).

which is to actually answer your question: not really! I think my writing and creativity is at its best when I bring my "outside" interests into my writing. it's going to give me a more unique flavor and also I think it's just most interesting to write the stories I'm interested in, and that stretches wider than my tumblr ecosystem :)

[taehyung-rambles]

Who Was the Center in Each BTS Era? (Up to Permission to Dance)

As an opening statement, I’m gonna advise anyone reading this to look at my blog to see if I’ve done this with the B-sides yet because I plan to in the future, which should be a pretty interesting post.

So, this post is exactly what it sounds like. As if I haven’t gone through the BTS eras enough on this blog (and I will continue to do so), we’re going through them again because sometimes I just wanna binge all the BTS music videos. What we’re gonna do is look at a few different options for who ended up being the center--if their was one--for all the BTS eras. 

Those options will be: no center, center, co-centers, secondary center(s), and MV center(s).

Before anyone else says it: I know Jungkook is the center of BTS, but BTS have always been really flexible with their positions, and believe it or not, Jungkook isn’t the sole center most of the time. So, that’s why this post can even be a thing.

A couple things to bear in mind here: this is not based on line distribution. This will apply to the B-sides more than the singles, but there are times--even with BTS singles--where one member may not be the most represented within the song, but they were clearly chosen to center or co-center the song. Of course, more times than not, the center or centers are the most represented, but not always. There’s one high-profile one toward the end in which that is the case. Obviously, when I say “secondary centers,” that means that the member isn’t as prominent in the era as they would be if they were a co-center, as this would mean they and one or more of the other members are equally sharing the load.

This list also has zero to do with biases. I bias Taehyung like nobody’s business, but--and I’ll say it upfront now--he’s not been the center in very many instances (at least, not in the BTS singles; if you’d like to know about his time being the center in the B-sides, check that post out). Also, I’m considering almost all aspects of BTS’s eras when making these decisions. I’m thinking about the MV, I’m thinking about the choreo, I’m thinking about the vocal; the only thing I’d say I’m only considering sometimes is the marketing. I’m not going out to do a bunch of research on how BigHit advertised these songs to people for this post, so there won’t be a lot of talk about photoshoots or interviews or anything like that. That being said, I’ll probably talk about it when we get to Dynamite because the marketing for that was everywhere, and it’d be difficult not to know which member(s) they were pushing the most to sell that song.

Finally, as you can see by the above list, I’m going to be mentioning a MV center or centers--if it applies--for each MV. This is, obviously, something that can’t be done in the B-sides version of this post. The reason I’m adding it here is because there are quite a few examples of BTS MVs that really heavily feature a certain member when they aren’t that prominent in the vocal or the choreo. However, as the MV is also a part of marketing for the song, whichever member(s) were chosen to be the face of the MV have an important, central role to play. In fact, in many ways, the members that end up being MV centers without being a center in any other way often become one of, if not the, face of the era for a lot of fans. So, clearly, the MVs hold a lot of weight, and can sometimes overshadow the actual track for many people.

DISCLAIMER: Most of this is based on how I perceive the face(s) of these eras. Some of my conclusions are weird, and I can’t explain them, but it’s what I feel is true about these songs. Ergo, yes, there’s gonna be songs where two members have the same part, but only one feels like a center. Sue me. All the members have their different ways to shine, and that’s what makes BTS the best.

Center: Namjoon

Namjoon just feels like the center of No More Dream. If you’re listen closely to the vocal, he’s obviously a big foundation for the song to stand on since he’s got all these supporting parts. Those parts add up to make him the member--no questions asked--with the most airtime in No More Dream. That’s not really why I chose Namjoon for this position, though. No More Dream really felt like an introduction to BTS with Namjoon as the MC. I guess a better way of saying that is that Namjoon really came off as the leader of BTS in this era. So, I didn’t really have to think much about who I was giving this position to because it seems obvious.

Secondary Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

So, I feel like some people would say Jungkook’s the center of this era, and that’s fair. The reason he’s listed as a secondary center here is because he didn’t feel like he had much in-your-face presence; it was more like, if you were looking for Jungkook, you could find him within the song and the choreo easily. I don’t know if that makes sense. It’s not like the chorus is a background piece or Jungkook’s rap verse isn’t fire, but he just isn’t as prominent as Namjoon is.

Jimin is much less of a secondary center than Jungkook in the No More Dream era, but if you consider the choreo, Jimin is extremely prominent. It’s one of those situations--which happen more often than you might think--where a member doesn’t actually feel that present in the track itself, but if you are visually consuming it in any way at all, that same member sticks out the most. That’s how Jimin is here.

No MV Center

I thought hard about whether Jimin and Namjoon should be in this category because of the insert shots, voiceovers, and the choreo, but I think that has more to do with the entire package of the era than it does with the MV alone. The conclusion I came to was the MV doesn’t have a center. This section probably seems redundant, but it’ll make more sense once we get to an era that actually has an MV center or two.

Center: Jimin

This one’s probably pretty obvious to most people. I mean, this is a Jimin era. Usually, eras that are so heavily weighted to one member are Jungkook eras, so it’s interesting that the We Are Bulletproof Pt.2 era was such a Jimin era. I don’t know how to go into this further, but Jimin’s got the most parts--parts in the chorus, namely--so Jimin’s also the center in the choreo the most. I mean, I know this isn’t about taking the person who has the most airtime and giving them this position, but sometimes the eras do translate literally like that, and thus is this one.

Secondary Center: Namjoon

I was surprised, going through the MV, how much Namjoon appeared like a secondary center. I’m realizing that, for most of BTS’s early career, Namjoon was an important anchor for BTS’s music. That’s how it was in We Are Bulletproof Pt.2. It’s because all these parts that seem more like part of the beat than actual, singable parts go to Namjoon, so his presence runs underneath the entirety of the mix.

No MV Center

I know it seems dumb to talk about this when I say there isn’t a center in the MV, but this is kind of where I get to talk about the other members and how they fit into the era like, for instance, if any of them were close to being considered a center. Surprisingly, We Are Bulletproof Pt.2 is kind of the exact opposite; it didn’t seem like the MV really tried to enunciate any member specifically. Like, even in No More Dream, you could tell Namjoon was featured a lot, but this era didn’t do that. I found that interesting. I guess it’s probably because they were all just dancing on a chess board, but ya know.

Center: Jungkook

I couldn’t tell you why I don’t co-center Jimin with Jungkook, but Jungkook really feels like the face of this era. I don’t know if it’s the fact that he starts off the song--after Namjoon’s intro--or because he starts the choruses or what. I guess it might be because it’s a chorus that repeats during its two halves, so Jungkook’s voice is the one you’re going to pay attention to, since it comes first. Plus, this song was obviously produced to compliment his vocal tone because his voice is, not only layered under the other members’, but has more punch to it than the other vocalists’, as well. By that logic, clearly Jungkook was supposed to be the center for this era.

Secondary Centers: Namjoon & Jimin

So, as far as Namjoon goes, it’s the same thing I’ve said already: he’s working as the foundation for this song by filling in all the extra bits that support the track. Jimin, though, I wasn’t planning on adding--and I’m not really adding him because of the choruses. By the end of the N.O choreo, you’ve got Jimin in a central spot to finish off the performance as the instrumental closes out. As that part is so long and so clearly focused on Jimin, I couldn’t not put him down as a secondary center.

MV Center: Jungkook

Here we have our first MV center. Now, I will say there are stronger examples of an MV center, but Jungkook was obviously the main character in the school scenes of this MV. Of course, the school setting didn’t last the whole MV--and it’s not like the MV stopped and turned into a short film for a quick second like we’ll see later--but Jungkook still stuck out.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

So, I really struggled trying to pick out which members were the most prominent in this song, but we’ll talk about why with the next member. Jungkook and Jimin are the centers of this era for basically the same reasons. Both of them are on the chorus, and--more importantly--both of them stick out in the chorus. Both of them have these opportunities to be charismatic that they use really well, and both of them are out front during the choreo most of the time. It all adds up to them giving off “center energy.”

Secondary Center: Taehyung

I really thought Taehyung would be a co-center, as well, but he disappears halfway through the song. To be clear here: if we’re talking about the parts that Taehyung had in this song, and if those parts had ranged the entire song, Taehyung would be the sole center of this era. Like, watch any performance of this song, let alone the MV and dance practices, and tell me he doesn’t give off center energy. Anyway, after his parts are over, Taehyung falls to back of the dance formation and effectively vanishes--which is a real shame because he makes this era for me. Enough of my biased rambling--long story short, the first half of Boy in Luv has Taehyung as a center, and the last half doesn’t. A secondary center is the option that meets in the middle.

MV Centers: Jin & Yoongi

Straight off the bat, because of the scene during the bridge, Jimin and Jungkook are also kind of MV centers, but I’m not looking for “kind of’s” here. Jin and Yoongi were the ones who had the flirty scenes with the actress in the MV, so they stuck out a whole lot. It created a bit of a story around each of them and their characters in the MV, and the other members didn’t really have that.

Center: Jungkook

Who was jumping out their skin being surprised by this one, am I right? I mean, if we even talk about the choreography alone, this would be super obvious. When I first started learning about idol groups, this song is what I thought a “center” meant. This is obviously no shade to Jungkook himself because the members probably didn’t really have a hand in who was getting the most airtime or how much airtime that would be in comparison to everyone else, but BigHit really wanted to push Jungkook for this song. 

I guess it was probably because he’s the youngest, he has a clear and soothing voice, and he’s the exact type of boyfriend material that’s easy to sell to young fans. I know this song has deep meaning that came from Yoongi, but the way this song was presented was so fluffy and soft, and my guess is that Jungkook fit the bill to be the face of it.

No MV Center

I mean, yeah, Jungkook stuck out the most, but that was because of the choreo, which is already covered by the center position. As far as the MV itself, no member stuck out more than another beyond the choreography. Jin, of course, does have his moment with the rose, but a.) that’s a part of the choreo, b.) it wasn’t long enough for him to be considered an MV center anyway, and c.) that piece of choreo can’t even make him a secondary center because the vocal line distribution was so heavily tipped in Jungkook’s favor--again, not throwing shade at Jungkook; just stating how the song is divided up. The long and short of it is that, while the choreo had central-ish parts for Jin and definite central parts for Jungkook, the MV didn’t do anything more with them than with the other members. No MV center this time.

Co-Centers: Jimin, Taehyung, & Jungkook

Just to give myself a backdoor here in case I change my mind on this later, I’m gonna say that I was sure the 95s would be secondary centers here, but after watching the MV and really paying attention to the choreo and line distributions, I think all three members of the maknae line stood out equally during their parts. Actually, the 95s do have a stronger vocal presence than Jungkook does, but Jungkook owns the choreography, so it more or less balances out.

I will say that Taehyung doesn’t feel as prominent as Jungkook does on the chorus, so that’s what made me want to put him down as a secondary center. However, the post-chorus is absolutely enough to make Taehyung stick out like Jimin and Jungkook. Jimin--dare I say--is the most center-like out of all three of them as far as general feeling goes. Again, considering everything, they’re all equal, but Jimin really reads like a center in Danger.

MV Center: Taehyung

All the members have got their individual scenes in the MV that are used for the inserts, but Taehyung’s scenes were clearly supposed to be the central ones since they, you know, ended the MV with him cutting his hair off. Even besides that, though, Taehyung’s parts in Danger came along with the best camera work and set design. I mean, there’s a better way of saying that, but I don’t know what it is. Like, go the MV and look at the first post-chorus so you can see how they framed Taehyung during that part. That really made him feel like the central member in the MV.

Center: Taehyung

This is one of two (or few, depending on when you’re reading this because new music is always coming out) eras in which I can 100% say for certain that Taehyung is the sole center. If we’re talking B-sides, that number might increase a bit, but as far as singles go, Taehyung really does not get the opportunity to be the sole center that often. Anyway, explaining this would be like explaining the obvious. The brief for this era was “impish bad boys that look like they’re thirsty as fuck.” And Taehyung fit the brief.

No, but seriously, BigHit clearly wanted to sell War of Hormone as a song by a bunch of punk kids that have just a little bit too much fun, and if 2014 Kim Taehyung wasn’t a little punk, I don’t know who would be. Not because Taehyung’s actually a womanizing asshole--Taehyung’s clearly the softest and kindest person ever to exist--but because he can tap into that sensual and mischievous type of character really easily. He’s an actor after all. Plus, there’s the whole “sexy growling thing” they obviously wanted in the vocal, and Taehyung’s the go-to member for that.

Secondary Center: Jungkook

Here’s why Jungkook is the War of Hormone era’s secondary center: they needed a cute member to calm the whole thing down. I’m now going to put myself in the mind of BigHit as they were producing this track.

“We can’t have Taehyung out here killing everyone with his growls and his expressions and that tongue thing he does. We’ve clearly gotta put a soft bad boy character in there so this song doesn’t entirely decimate our fanbase. Put Jungkook in.”

In the same way Taehyung fit the super-duper bad boy brief, Jungkook fit the cutie pie bad boy brief, and that was needed to balance out Taehyung’s parts in this era. All vague descriptions aside, Jungkook was used as a support for Taehyung in the War of Hormone era, or that’s what it felt like, at least--despite Jungkook having more airtime. If, in any universe, Taehyung ever went easy on us, this era could’ve been a co-center era for the two babies of BTS. However, Taehyung chose violence, so Jungkook didn’t get a chance to pop out as much. Considering their overall discography, though, I’d say that’s fair enough.

MV Center: Taehyung

I’m mostly saying this because of the end of the MV where the actress--or her character--picks him, but also, Taehyung’s stage presence in this song kind of makes him the MV center anyway. Not the choreo--even though he’s the center of that for a lot of the time, too. I’m talking about his attitude, his expressions, his gestures, and on and on. That kind of made him the central figure, for me. Plus, you know, Taehyung got the girl or whatever.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

This song is so freakin’ weird because Jungkook has exorbitantly more airtime in the studio version of I Need U, but Jimin features really heavily in the choreo because they give him most of Jungkook’s final chorus when they do it live--which obviously means that Jimin centers in the choreo the most. So, it’s like: listen to the song, and Jungkook’s the center, but watch it live or in the dance practice video, and it’s Jimin. Either way, both of them read like centers to me. Even though Jungkook is in the song a lot, and therefore, has a big presence, Jimin’s vocal is the one I associate with this song because it fits so well while sticking out just a skosh.

MV Center: Taehyung

Most of me was thinking that there wouldn’t be an MV center for this era because every member had a story that ends up getting carried into the Wings album era, but then I remembered that the original MV for I Need U literally stopped everything dead so Taehyung could hit his in-verse father in the head with a bottle. And then, after that and a couple seconds of showing a few of the other members, the MV cuts back and forth between hardcore violence and Taehyung laughing with the other members. 

The MV goes, “Wow, look at this. Taehyung’s so happy. Oop, now he’s stabbing his father with a broken bottle--oh, he’s happy again, that’s nic--oh. Oh, no he’s back to stabbing his father--no, look, he’s happy, so... Damn, that’s a lot of blood.” I mean. I don’t know if they knew already that Taehyung was good actor or what, but BigHit nearly gave him a short film all to himself. So, yeah, I’d say Taehyung takes the center position for the I Need U MV.

Center: Jungkook

I’m kind of naming Jungkook here because I feel like I have to, but I want you to know that the For You era is really close to not having a center, in my opinion. It’s more so the parts they gave Jungkook that made me put him down as a center. He starts the song, he ends the song, he’s got the first chorus, and there are parts where you go, “Oh, they’ll probably let that member sing here,” and then you get to the next line, and you’re like, “Ah, no; they went with Jungkook.” That’s not a bad thing, mind you, because Jungkook’s vocal is perfect for this song; it’s just that Jungkook had more airtime than the other members by a good bit. Again, I’m not making this list according to that, but it’s gonna be a factor in a song where every member sings on the choruses.

MV Center: Jungkook

Do I need to go into this a whole lot? Jungkook’s trying to get money to see this girl he likes, so the whole MV is about how the other BTS members are struggling alongside Jungkook but put together the means for him to go see the mystery girl. That’s the K-drama, and Jungkook is the lead. I mean, fair enough; Jungkook could definitely be the lead in a K-drama.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

I know this is a hardcore Jungkook era, but Jimin sticks out, like, a lot. At the very least, you’ve got to credit the choreo to Jimin in the same way you would for Jungkook. I mean, yeah, Jungkook’s vocal pierces the entire song, so he’s obviously going to center for this era. He’s a forefront figure in the choreography, as well, and putting him in that costume for the MV is essentially assault. However, I think Jimin managed to make his presence just as big through the choreo and his unique vocal tone. So, I’ve got to give the Dope era’s center position to both of them.

No MV Center

Since this MV is basically just the choreography, I can’t say Jimin and Jungkook were centers just because they were the choreography leaders for Dope. Actually, I thought the overall MV was almost equally representative of each member since they all had a different concept with their wardrobes.

Center: Jungkook

I mean, Jungkook just permeates every single cell of RUN. The choreo, the vocal, and nearly everything else are extremely centered around him. There’s not really a whole lot else to say. When there’s such a large difference between line distribution for the members, it makes it obvious that that member will be in the center of the choreo most of the time, as well. That’s the case for Jungkook in the RUN era.

Secondary Center: Jimin

This era is a little bit like the I Need U era, but Jimin doesn’t stick out quite as much. He does stick out enough to be considered a secondary center, though, because he’s also highly represented in the vocal, so he’s got mirroring parts in the choreo. Jimin doesn’t have as much of a focus in this era as Jungkook does, but it’s close.

No MV Center

I thought this would be like the I Need U MV, but it really wasn’t. You’d think Jungkook’s the center because of the bit where the camera zooms in on him while everyone is partying, and then the rest of them are gone, but there’s also several bits where Jin has close-ups while he spaces out. Or maybe Jungkook could’ve been the center because, after the music stopped, he looked back at the camera. But that can’t be it either because Taehyung had bits like that of him falling into and coming out of the water at the beginning and end of the video. Maybe it was Jimin because he got pulled into the room toward the end of the MV, but it was Namjoon who was pulled in at the beginning. Basically, they were all well represented, so there’s no center to speak of.

No Center

This song isn’t really supposed to have a center, is it? I mean, we can talk about who had the most airtime, but that’s not what this is about. I think this song was supposed to be a message from all the members, so one member wasn’t going to stick out more than others. That’s just how it goes sometimes.

MV Center: Taehyung

Taehyung being the MV center is stretch, and I know that, but he does have bit of a role that makes him stick out at the end. It’s kind of like Jungkook being the center in the For You era--it doesn’t feel totally accurate to give it to him, but it also feels inaccurate to not give it to him. There’s that little bit at the end of the MV where Taehyung steps out of the maze at last and the other guys are waiting for him on the other side. Taehyung’s also the one to look back at the plane or camera or whatever at the very end; basically, Taehyung gets more solo shots in this MV than any other member, as far as I can tell without actually counting, so he takes the center position.

Center: Taehyung

I wasn’t actually planning for Taehyung being the sole center for this era, but I feel like I can’t really justify anyone else co-centering with him. Taehyung does feature fairly heavily in the choreography, but a lot of the reason he ended up the solo center for the FIRE era is because of the part he was given. As someone who had heard “bow wow wow” everywhere before even knowing what K-pop was, I’d say it’s safe to call Taehyung’s part the most globally iconic--though Yoongi’s part is obviously the most iconic within ARMY. Plus, the end of FIRE is almost a full minute of just Taehyung’s solo with group vocals around it, so. I mean, he’s got hella presence in this era, no doubt.

Secondary Centers: Yoongi & Jungkook

Initially, I thought Jungkook was going to co-center with Taehyung because Jungkook is extremely centered within the choreography, but the “eh eh oh eh oh” part feels more like a supporting piece--which is absolutely fine, by the way. However, Jungkook is pretty damn close to being a center for the FIRE era because his vocal is absolutely everywhere, and he’s the center for most of the choreo. As an aside, I kinda wanted to add Jimin in this category because of the 333, but ultimately, that wasn’t enough to support him being a secondary center, for me.

Yoongi, I’ll be honest, I’m kind of putting in here because he feels like a center for the era after all the attention his opening line got. If I’m looking at the choreo or even the vocal, Yoongi doesn’t stand out as much as it seems (though his verse in FIRE is one of the best rap verses in BTS’s discography; fight me about it), but the fact that he opens and closes the song has a large overall impact on my perception of the FIRE era. Yoongi is definitely one of the faces of FIRE, at the very least.

MV Centers: Jin & Yoongi

So, though Yoongi wasn’t the main center for this era, in my opinion, the MV does make it seem like he is. Which, I guess, is mostly because of the opening scene before the music actually starts. But whatever; Yoongi still sticks out regardless. For Jin, I don’t know if it was because he doesn’t have that much airtime or what, but the scenes in the MV that focused on Jin were really focused on Jin. No other member got that kind of solo within the MV, so Jin’s parts seemed like they were meant to be special.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

I don’t know how to explain why this is how it is, but this is how it is. It’s one of those eras where the amount of airtime does predict the centers because of how much more airtime Jimin and Jungkook have compared to the other members. I mean, that’s what a main and lead vocalist are for, I suppose, but it ends up with these two being pushed so far forward in the Save ME era that you can’t really make room for another co-center. They’re also the two with the most central pieces in the choreography, but that’s obvious with how much airtime they have. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, either, because BTS’s discography celebrates all the members at one point or another. It’s just that Save ME was a song that suited Jikook the best, so they’re the obvious centers.

No MV Center

Since this is an MV that’s literally just choreography, there’s obviously not going to be an MV center. I mean, if you wanna say that Jimin and Jungkook’s parts meant they had more close-ups, and so they’re the MV centers, then fine, but that’s a bit of a cop out.

Center: Jimin

This is one of the few--maybe even less than that--clear Jimin eras where Jimin is the only center. It’s not really that he has so much more airtime than the other members, but Blood Sweat & Tears is a song that just fits Jimin. He actually doesn’t have much central time in the choreo until the end and at the beginning, but it’s another one of those feelings I’ve got. I’m not saying this to alienate the other members because I actually do have my own opinions on who owned this era (check that post out on my blog, by the way), but this song makes Jimin shine the brightest. Every member has a song that does that for them, and this is Jimin’s. 

Secondary Centers: Hoseok & Jungkook

Are you screaming at me for not considering Hobi a co-center? In the studio version of Blood Sweat & Tears, I’d probably put Hobi in as a co-center, but considering everything from the track to the choreo to the live performance, Hobi’s presence is just a touch smaller than Jimin’s. Just a touch. Like, they split his post-chorus with Jungkook live, and Hobi isn’t really a center in the choreo after a certain point, so it’s a bit like Taehyung in Boy in Luv.

As far as Jungkook goes, he’s not really a strong secondary center for this era, but he’s enough of one that he has to make this list. Part of it is because of his additional parts in the live performance and the choreo, but it also feels like Jungkook was meant to act as a visual and performative support for Jimin. I don’t know if that makes sense to anyone else, but it does it me.

MV Centers: Jin & Taehyung

I was gonna put Jimin here, too, but he only got that one shot at the beginning where Yoongi covered up his eyes that felt like it was really Jimin-focused. Taejin, though, had their own little mythology film going on. The Blood Sweat & Tears MV is the prime example of “this member doesn’t actually have much going on in the song, but the MV is all them, baby.” That’s how it is for Jin in this era. A lot of people say Jin is one of the ones who owned this era, and a lot of that has to do with the MV, what with the statue-kissing and all.

Tell me why I don’t feel like Taehyung was as big of an MV center as Jin even though Taehyung had a shirtless scene with slits on his back where his wings apparently used to be. I don’t understand, either. But I’d say a shirtless scene with wing slits is a pretty good reason to be included as an MV center.

Co-Centers: Jin, Taehyung, & Jungkook

After consulting the choreo because, you know, the MV doesn’t have it, I came to the conclusion that, both vocally and choreographically, these three are the centers for this era. Spring Day was initially an era that I thought didn’t have a center, and I don’t think it does have a super defined center, but I do see Jin, Taehyung, and Jungkook as the more prominent members. For one, the choreo really clearly centers around Taekook more than the other members, but there’s also the fact that all three of these members really stick out in the vocal itself. I landed on these three for my co-centers, but Spring Day is really close to not having a center at all.

No MV Center

I thought this was going to go to Jin because I thought I remembered him featuring in the MV a lot more, but he didn’t really. Actually, I’d say Taehyung and Jungkook are closer to being MV centers since the beginning has a little scene with Taehyung before the music starts, and there’s a bit around the bridge in which Jungkook has some solo-ish focus, but those things still aren’t quite enough for this position. All the members had their own inserts and settings, so it felt fairly equal all around.

Center: Jungkook

This was another era I was sure didn’t have a center, but Jungkook’s extremely prominent. Actually, I thought, if anything, the rap line would center in this era, but even they don’t seem nearly as prominent as Jungkook. It’s just that the lyrics are really repetitive for the vocalists, and Jungkook bleeds through all the vocal line parts. At least, it really feels like he does. As far as the vocalists go for this era, Taehyung’s vocal is the only one that sticks out, aside from Jungkook’s. But Jungkook’s vocal sticks out above all the other members--in terms of prevalence, mind you; the best parts of this song are obviously the rap verses. As such, he’s really active in the choreography, as well. It felt like I, more or less, had to give Jungkook this era.

Secondary Center: Taehyung

I can’t tell you why I’m putting Taehyung down. I was about to move on from this section, and my brain said, “Think about the chorus,” and so, I ended up here. This is all about that feeling I’ve talked about already. I think it’s because Taehyung’s the one that starts the chorus, and he’s got really powerful choreography to go along with his already powerful vocal. It makes his presence in the track and the live performance feel a lot bigger.

No MV Center

I mean, yeah. It’s a choreography-driven MV. When you’ve got the bits with them running or whatever, Jungkook centers a bit, and Namjoon kind of feels like an MV center, too, but a lot of that has to do with the choreography being shot the way it was. It’s the same with Taehyung since he got some great framing during his choreo parts. But prominent choreo parts do not an MV center make.

Center: Jungkook

I mean, there’s not really any way to get away from this one. I don’t blame BigHit, though, because Jungkook’s clean vocal is literally made for bright pop songs like this one. It makes sense that they’d want to use a vocal that blends in with the instrumental so well. As we know, the vocal affects the choreo, so Jungkook felt like a strong foundation to this song that the other members built upon. I don’t think many would argue that Jungkook is the sole center for the DNA era.

No MV Center

Can you believe I’m not putting down Taehyung, Hobi, and Jimin as a type of center, even though most people think this was Taehyung’s era, Hobi’s best work, and even though Jimin is the only other member on the chorus? Somehow, even though they all feel prominent in my memory of this era, diving back into it revealed that Taehyung is only prominent in the intro, Hobi is only prominent at the end, and Jimin is only prominent on the first chorus. How weird, right? They’re all almost secondary centers, though.

Anyway, that had nothing to do with the MV center, did it? There isn’t a true MV center because this MV is mostly the choreo. However, Jungkook is the closest one to being the center, simply because he’s got that little whistle bit at the beginning. Obviously, one scene isn’t enough to list him here, though.

Co-Centers: Yoongi & Hoseok

Don’t ask me why I didn’t put down Namjoon, too. I wish I could say something other than “because this is what felt right,” but that’s the situation. I’m sure most people would say Hobi is the sole center of this era, and that’s entirely fair, but I felt like Yoongi brought his presence to MIC Drop just as much as Hobi did. The two of them, more or less, have the same amount of time in the center for the choreography, as well. Again, I wish we could be talking about Namjoon, too, but despite him having the most airtime in this era, he didn’t feel quite as front-and-center as Hobi and Yoongi. His verse is still fire, though.

Secondary Centers: Taehyung & Jungkook

Should I be doing this because I feel like it’s true? I guess we’ll find out. I don’t know; it seems pretty clear to me that JK and Taehyung were meant to be secondary centers for this era since they got the most central parts in the vocal line the most often. I feel like this is partially influenced by the fact that both of them murder the choreo when they’re in the center for MIC Drop, but I really do feel like these two stuck out.

No MV Center

Let me tell you, though, if we were bringing choreography into this discussion, Taehyung in the MV would make this list easily. He’s so aggressive in the MV, you know? No, but, this is another choreo-based MV. You know the drill by now.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

This one’s another obvious one for most people, I would imagine. Actually, at first glance, this looks like it’d be Jungkook’s era as a center, but Jimin has a lot of prominence, as well. The best way to describe it is that Jimin was the strong support he’s meant to be for Jungkook considering their positions as main and lead vocalists, as well as lead dancers. However, because of the refrain, Jimin then ends up also feeling like less of a support and more of a center in his own right. Basically, there was a lot of good give and take between Jimin and Jungkook for the FAKE LOVE era, which is why I ended up seeing both of them as co-centers.

Secondary Center: Jin

I’ll be honest--I don’t really get the feel of a secondary center from Jin in this era, but I can tell that that’s what he was meant to be. He’s very present in the vocal, and that translates to him being present in the choreography, as well--which ends with him in the center, if you recall. I don’t think this era is quite the era for Jin as a center, but he does still feature really prominently, regardless of how my perceptions may be situated.

MV Centers: Jin, Jimin, & Jungkook

This is another instance where I thought Jin was going to seem like a stronger MV center than he was, but it’s really the visuals of him toward the beginning-what with the windows shattering and all--that stick with you. I still think the theater of Jin’s scenes are enough to consider him an MV center. For Jimin, his piece wasn’t as stand out, but you can tell Jimin had extra focus on him when compared with Taehyung or the rap line. In the scenes between the last pre-chorus and the last chorus, Jimin did have a scene where most others didn’t, so he felt like enough of an MV center to include here.

Jungkook is probably obvious. He had a fairly long scene in between the last pre-chorus and chorus, so there’s that, but the overall MV seems to have more images of him than the other members. I imagine Jungkook was probably the main character for this story, though all the members had really cool set pieces and insert shots.

No Center

I really was gonna sit here and be like, “Oh, yeah! Namjoon’s obviously the center!” But, listen, everyone’s parts in IDOL stick out so much that I don’t think it’s fair to say that Namjoon was the sole center. In fact, I’d say Jimin is actually the closest thing to being a sole center in this era, but it’s really only vocally because, as far as the choreography goes, he feels just as well represented as the other members. Ergo, this era is too chaotic for any one member to take the spotlight. Namjoon is the face of IDOL, though. And, vocally, Jimin’s pretty damn close.

No MV Center

I mean, the chaos was too much. Yes, Jimin has special focus on the bridge and during the final dance break on the chorus, but again, that’s just one piece of the whole. At the beginning, you’ve got a lot of shots of Taehyung, and then you’ve got the rap line having multiple focuses since they have two verses each. Jin and Jungkook got some cool focus during their parts, too, so an MV center isn’t really possible to find.

No Center

Jimin sticks out the most in this song, don’t get me wrong, but that’s mostly because his vocal on the chorus sounds so special. It doesn’t exactly work out to be even in a literal sense, but the vocal line at least seem like they have equal airtime in this era since they all get to sing on the chorus. That meant that a true center wasn’t going to be a thing, especially since it’s almost one of those songs where every member has their piece and then they disappear for the rest of the song.

No MV Center

I mean, should I call Taehyung the MV center because of the beginning and end? I don’t think so, since it was only a few seconds each time, and the rest of the MV was choreography. I mean, Taehyung did kind of feel like the face of the MV because of that, but I don’t know that it’s enough of a reason to put him down here. He’s the only option for an MV center, anyway. Maybe I’ll feel the need to change this later. We’ll see.

Center: Jimin

I’m still convinced that this was supposed to be an era dominated by Jimin. We’ll talk about Taehyung in a second, but when I first watched the Boy With Luv MV, I thought that Jimin was the clear center. I still do, even though my opinions on who owned the era are a bit different. Jimin is pronounced in the choreography, but his vocal is exactly the right color for a song that’s this bubbly. The choreo obvious matters a lot, but I think Jimin’s voice, more than anything else, is the face of this era. I know that sounds weird because of what I just said about Airplane pt.2, but that era was more like, “Wow, Jimin sounds so unique,” and the Boy With Luv era is like, “Jimin is the song.” So.

Secondary Centers: Taehyung & Jungkook

Jungkook does not feel like a secondary center to me because I find that he gets lost a bit in the Boy With Luv era, but like in the FAKE LOVE era with Jin, I know that Jungkook was meant to be Jimin’s support for this song. Jungkook feels nearly as pronounced in the choreography as Jimin does, and his clear vocal serves to fill in when necessary for this pop track, which is one thing Jungkook’s vocal color does best.

Taehyung, though, for all intents and purposes, shouldn’t really be a secondary center since his standout parts are the opening to the choreo and the parts on the chorus he shares with Jin. However, I don’t think you can find me any ARMY that genuinely deny that Taehyung isn’t, at least, one face of this era. Most people I’ve seen discuss the Boy With Luv era ardently agree that Taehyung owns the era, no questions asked. Whether it makes sense within the standards we’ve laid out for centers so far or not, Taehyung, his vocal, and his visual absolutely dominate this era. In terms of being the face of an era, Taehyung may come out on top as the sole center, but for the purposes of keeping this list objective, a secondary center he shall be.

No MV Center

Again, like, this is another situation in which Taehyung would be brought up if we were talking about the choreography; so would Jimin. Their visuals are so heavily tied to this MV, but it’s all attached to the choreography. Outside of that, no member had more solo focus than another.

Co-Centers: Jimin, Taehyung & Jungkook

I know some of you will be upset that Jin isn’t in this list, and I understand. Initially, Jimin wasn’t going to be in this list, either, but his vocal felt like it fit the tone of this song the best. Actually, here’s how I came to this conclusion: Lights was made for Jimin’s vocal tone, but Jungkook and Taehyung clearly stick out the most. As such, Jimin doesn’t necessarily have less prominence than the babies of BTS, but the babies of BTS were strong in this era. Jimin still deserves to be a co-center because of how well his vocal fits this song, but Taehyung and Jungkook were fucking power vocalists in the Lights era, so they’ve got to be centers, as well.

MV Center: Jungkook

This MV feels a bit like the Magic Shop VCR; it’s a lot like Jungkook is frozen or lost, and the other members find him. It’s not so pronounced like it has been for other MV centers, but it was still clear to me that Jungkook was the main character for this MV.

Co-Centers: Jimin & Taehyung

I mean, this would be an obvious choice if you really listened to Make It Right. When we don’t have choreo for a song, we’ve got to look at the vocal, right? The 95s are all over this track. Admittedly, the live does take just a touch of that away from them during certain performances, but the studio version of Make It Right is littered with Vmin. First of all, their solos are pretty pronounced anyway, but even if you listen to the crowd vocal on the “Oh, I can make it right” lyric, you usually only hear Taehyung plus the rest of the members singing in a clump underneath him. And if it isn’t Taehyung you’re hearing on the main vocal, it’s Jimin. Or Jimin and Taehyung. Like, I don’t know if it’s because these two have the most unique vocal tones in BTS or what, but their individuality really shone in the Make It Right era.

No MV Center

Unless the MV center is ARMY? I don’t know; Make It Right is one of those stage mix MVs, so it wasn’t gonna have a real MV center anyway. Unless the MV center is that animated couple that’s in the original version of the music video? Nah, I like the the idea of ARMY being the center more.

Center: Jungkook

I don’t need to go to the MV for this because Jungkook’s got hella pipes that’s he’s using for a hella long time during the bridge of this song, and that’s so much center energy. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an era that feels like all the other members are about equal, and then there’s Jungkook. It is what it is, though; I mean, the man is the center of BTS, after all. If I’m being really honest, though, the bridge is the only thing that makes Jungkook the sole center of this era. If Jungkook’s solo on the bridge wasn’t a part that caused the rest of the song and choreo to stop dead, the ON era probably wouldn’t have had a center at all because I don’t feel like Jungkook was all the pronounced anywhere else in ON. I guess me putting him down as the sole center tells you how impactful the bridge was, though.

Secondary Center: Jimin

It’s the “hey na na na” line, you know? No, but really, both in the choreo and the vocal, Jimin is a big foundation for ON. I mean, obviously Jimin has parts besides that line, but even as a whole, Jimin feels like a part of the basic structure for, both the track, and the choreography. I’ve felt this way about other members in previous eras, and I don’t know how to explain it well; think of it as though Jimin is a part of the beat. It’s essential to ON’s sound, even though it may not always stick out as an individual piece.

MV Center: Jungkook

Jin did have a bit of focus at the beginning, and I almost put Taehyung down as an MV center because there was a good bit in the middle where it was literally just Taehyung, but the entire story of the MV revolved around Jungkook, like, escaping slavery or whatever. I mean, the man blew into a conch shell and ran up to the top of BTS’s Pride Rock; if that’s not MV center energy, I don’t know what is.

No Center

I’m gonna keep it a buck with y’all: the vocalists nearly all sound the same on the chorus of this song because of the effects on their vocals. It’s kind of cool, though, considering the message of the song. Like, the lack of individuality is almost an extra piece to the lyrics, but I swear to you, Taehyung is the only one who sounds distinct on the chorus of Black Swan. As such, no one could’ve really been the center for this song. As you can probably tell, the vocalists are usually the centers--if there is one--and that’s because they get the choruses, which repeat the most; they have more opportunities to be the centers. In an era where their uniqueness is stripped away, there’s not going to be a center.

Also, if you’re asking, “Well, if Taehyung is so distinct, why isn’t he the center?” the answer is: because all the vocalists have basically the same parts. Yoongi, actually, would be the closest, in my opinion, to being a type of center for this song, but the chorus is the base of Black Swan, and so Yoongi doesn’t quite fit, either. Nothing wrong with an era without a center, my friends. Just means more central time for every single one of our boys.

MV Center: Jimin

Clearly, this was going to be the case. I don’t actually find Jimin to be that prominent in Black Swan, but the MV is what makes everyone say Jimin is the face of this era. And there’s a good reason for that. The Black Swan MV is such a wonderful platform for Jimin’s gorgeous, gorgeous artwork. It was like a portfolio of his talent, and it’s absolutely captivating watching him dance. Of course, Jimin does have a small bit of centralization that the other members don’t have in the stage choreo, but the MV is where Jimin got to really shine. Black Swan is really the only era where, rather than a song fitting a members vocal, we got to partake in a song that complimented a member’s dance style. I hope BTS do more with this kind of combination later for other members because Jimin getting to shine like this was really lovely.

Center: Jungkook

There’s really no other reason for this other than Jungkook’s vocal is very nearly the entire song as far as vocals go. Again, sometimes airtime predicts the center, and in this case, Jungkook has, like, double the amount of airtime when compared to the other members. So, obviously, Jungkook representing this era was the overall goal. Stay Gold is another one of those songs that benefits from a vocal tone like Jungkook’s, so that’s probably why Jungkook got such a large focus for this era.

No MV Center

Taehyung’s the closest thing to an MV center since he’s got that bit at the end where the camera focuses on him while he releases magic from the tree or whatever. So pretty he looks in the Stay Gold MV, by the way. If you’re watching all the way to the end, it does feel like, “Wow, Taehyung’s a bit of a main character,” but it’s really only at the end. So, no MV center this time as everyone had really beautiful set pieces that got shown fairly equally.

Center: Taehyung

Call me biased; call me whatever you want, but Taehyung’s presence is so fucking strong in Dynamite. Yes, Jungkook has a lot, a lot of vocal focus; yes, he centers in the choreography the most, but have y’all seen Taehyung’s attitude? Dynamite is the second era on this list that I’m sure Taehyung is the sole center for. Here’s where we’re gonna talk about marketing a bit. Taehyung’s visual was used to absolute death for the Dynamite promotions. I’m assuming it was because the retro look was especially fitted to Taehyung’s style, but Taehyung was everywhere. Not to mention the parts in Dynamite Taehyung got were really important pieces of the song--such as: ending the song. The choreography, as well, though not centered around Taehyung, was absolutely dominated by him regardless because of the way he decided to carry himself in this era. I don’t know; maybe I’m seeing things other people aren’t, but to me, Taehyung was obviously supposed to be the face of Dynamite.

Secondary Centers: Jimin & Jungkook

I don’t think Jimin is as strong of a secondary center as Jungkook, but I do still think Jimin’s role in Dynamite was really important. It’s sort of because he was a foundational piece, but it’s also because Jimin came off as bubbly and fun during the Dynamite era, and I think that helped to sell the overall visual of the song.

Jungkook, I’m sure a lot of people will say, should be the center for this era. I feel like I can kind of tell that an attempt was made to have Jungkook be the center, but then Taehyung and his charisma kind of ended up blowing up once Dynamite was released. Jungkook, to me, has the true foundational pieces of Dynamite. The beginning of the choruses, for example, are the catchy parts of the chorus, but not the punchy parts of the chorus. You see what I mean? Jungkook did have the first verse, too, of course. I’ll say this: vocally, Jungkook is absolutely the center of this era. It’s just that, as a total package, he didn’t stick out quite as much as Taehyung.

No MV Center

I mean, the beginning makes it feel like Jungkook is the MV center, but every member has their own set and solo shots. Plus, you’ve got the improvised choreography and the insert shots where every member appears to be equally represented. I don’t really see Dynamite as an MV with a definite member at the forefront.

No Center

So, there is a definite excess of Vmin in Life Goes On, which I think is beautiful because their vocal tones are full of emotion, but I don’t think that necessarily means they’re the centers of this era. If we were going based on airtime, Taehyung would be the sole center because of the amount of airtime he’s got, but again, I don’t know that it’s fair to call him a center for just that reason--even though Taehyung is very prominent in the vocal. Mostly, Life Goes On is a song BTS is giving to ARMY, so it feels like they’re all singing it to us, and no single member sticks out more than another.

MV Center: Taehyung

Jin does have a bit in the MV, just before the final chorus, where the camera stops on him for a moment, but it’s only that one part, so I couldn’t really call him an MV center. Taehyung--in the original version of this MV, at least--was definitely the one leading the narrative. Most of the MV was the boys having fun or singing to the camera, but there were also the clips of Taehyung driving BTS around, looking at an arena, longing to perform; it seemed like Taehyung was chosen to convey BTS and ARMY’s feelings about the pandemic and how much we all miss each other.

Co-Centers: Jin & Jimin

I gotta be honest: getting a handle on the Film out era is kind of difficult because it feels like such a fragmented song--and that makes it beautiful, but it’s hard to pin down a representative for this era, even though it definitely feels like there is one.

Obviously, I’ve decided that there are two. Again, without choreo, we’re looking at the vocal. To me, Jin and Jimin’s vocal tones stood out the most in Film out. I found both of their contributions to this song to be absolutely stunning, but even being objective, Jin and Jimin seemed like they were supposed to be the ones sticking out this much. I assume that’s because this is a very ethereal song, and I think I can confidently say that no other member has the monopoly on songs that sound like Film out than Jinmin do. Jimin’s angelic adlibs and falsetto was the thing I noticed right away when listening to this for the first time, but the more I listened to it, the more Jin came to the forefront, as well. We may only have vocals to go on for deciding a center--especially since Film out wasn’t marketed much--but Jinmin’s vocals really took center stage for this era.

Secondary Center: Taehyung

I really don’t know what it is that makes me see Taehyung as secondary center for the Film out era and not Jungkook, but Jungkook didn’t feel that prominent at all, despite having written the song. Taehyung felt like the anchor for Film out, which is something I noticed within my first few listens. Jin and Jimin were definitely the shining stars, in my opinion, but Film out still needed Taehyung for balance. The last half of the song is where all three of these members shine the most, and I think it’s really clear that Taehyung’s vocal was able to add a depth of emotion to Jimin and Jin’s. I think secondary centers, to me, are the members I can tell are being used as supports for the center or co-centers, and that’s what Taehyung was for Film out.

MV Center: Jin

This is the exact opposite of Life Goes On, actually, because Taehyung was the one who was last seen in the MV, which makes it tempting to see him as an MV center, but Jin was the one present in the narrative for the whole MV. I don’t know what that narrative was for certain, but I think it was something like looking in from the outside and getting lost in some kind of metaphorical storm. Jin was the one doing all that. So, he’s the MV center, for sure.

Co-Centers: Taehyung & Jungkook

Jungkook is a co-center, in my opinion, because it feels like he was supposed to be. I can’t really pinpoint what it is about Butter that makes Jungkook a co-center, but he’s got airtime on every chorus, which means he’s gonna be prominent in the choreo, as well. That’s probably what it is, now that I think about it. The chorus is the money piece of almost every song, so Jungkook being chosen to be in each of the choruses is a big thing.

Taehyung--look, I don’t know what it is about Taehyung, but the fact that he went from a single line in No More Dream to being this central in one of BTS’s biggest eras is insane to me. Like, listen. Taehyung got to start and end two seperate choruses--which means he’s pretty prominent in the choreo, but he’s also prominent anyway because he’s nearly always in the front--and he got to sing half of each verse. That never happens with Taehyung. Vocally, Taehyung has the most “I’m the motherfucking center” energy than he’s ever had. Something about this era has Taehyung way out in front, and I think that’s so fun since he doesn’t always get that opportunity.

Secondary Center: Jin

I wanted to put Jin down as a co-center; I really did, but the slight difference in vocal prominence between him and Taekook is what made me give him the secondary center position. Jin is still really prominent in the Butter era, though. I thought Jin really outdid himself with his vocal tone in Butter, and he’s been killing the choreo every single time they perform. Jin really does feel like one of the faces of Butter.

MV Centers: Jin & Taehyung

I wasn’t gonna put down an MV center, but didn’t Jin and Taehyung’s MV scenes stick, like, way the fuck out? Jin in that lineup scene did me in, for real. I wasn’t thinking straight for days afterwards. Plus, he’s got that scene during the second verse where he’s in that chair, looking like he owns three islands, and that feels like super big MV center energy. Then, you’ve got Taehyung in the elevator, which is one of his sexiest MV scenes, period. The attitude on him, I swear. The orange suit was the end for me, honestly. I know I just talked about how hot Taejin are, but the way they carry themselves is why it felt like they stuck out in the MV more than the other members. I feel like I can’t deny them the MV center title.

No Center

This is another song that isn’t really supposed to have a center, you know? Permission to Dance is meant to send this hopeful message to ARMY and people around the world, and I just don’t think a center was necessary because the center is BTS as a whole. At the very least, no one really stuck out to me as a sole, or even, co-center. It felt like all the boys shared the load of sending us this message, so I can’t put a center down for this era. I think, for a song like this, though, that’s a pretty damn good thing.

No MV Center

Again, this was really an equal opportunity kind of era. Other MVs have really focused on each of the boys having their own set, and one member often sticks out because of that; the Permission to Dance MV, though it had solo shots of each member, was mostly just the boys, all together and having fun. I mean, Jungkook had that solo dance bit, but that wasn’t enough to sway me.

Okay, that’s it, for now. Let me know what you guys think in the replies. I tried to keep my opinions out of this because I was just looking for which member(s) BigHit was trying to use to sell each era. I’m excited to do this with the B-sides since there’s only vocals to go on, but doing this for the singles was super interesting. Thanks for reading!

[gothicfury]

Maouju de oyasumi

Sleepless Princess in the Demon Castle.

Episode 1 Sleepless Princess of the Castle 眠れぬ城の姫

Nemurenu Shiro no Hime

review and spoilers

Genres: Comedy, Fantasy, Magic, Shounen, Slice of Life, Supernatural

Disclaimer: There will be a lot of Lol.

Lol. Let's start with that, this has to be one of the funniest and cutest anime that I've seen for a while aside from Overlord.

It's a tale about Princess Aurora being abducted by a Demon and placed in a Demon Castle where it's incredibly boring so there is nothing to do but sleep, but she can't doze off because she finds many obstacles along the way, It is after all a Demon Castle.

So the focus of the story is the Princess's quests in trying to find a good night's rest.

When she first tries to snooze she finds out that she cannot doze off because of her cheap pillow, it then becomes a mission for her to find things to aid her in her sleep.

This is where the teddy demons come in to bring her food, she sees the knife and fork from the platter that they brought, and akin to a murder movie she menacingly races her knife, ready to stab these cute teddy demons.

The teddies get scared but luckily right beside them lay a cute little green hairbrush, ergo instead of opening them up for their stuffing, she just brushed off their teddy fur, which the teddy Demons thoroughly enjoys, and for this reason, they become her minions who give her the dungeon keys to escape when she needs to, in exchange of forever being groomed. lol.

Her next undertaking was to collect things to make the pillowcase, she starts running around the palace stealing things leaving the demons hilariously worried and confused, making them think that she had escaped.

At first, she steals a furry-looking hedgehog's hair which they call a Quilladillo, then she rips off the cloth from the curtains and uses them as a disguise, tricking a headless knight into giving her rare herbs from the treasure room, which she mysteriously pulls off. She laughs while leaving the knight farcically bewildered.

She goes back to her room with her obtained materials to construct what she desired. She made some soft yarn from the teddy's fur by spinning them by hand, then she sews the herb-dyed curtains with the hedgehog's hair as a needle to make a pillowcase then she filled it up with her fluffy stuffing. Alas! her Soft Princess Deluxe pillow is complete. A game-like frame jauntily appears saying her Quest is complete making us, viewers, proud and giggling at the same time.

She hugs it and immediately feels the difference, she starts to feel lethargic from all the running around that she made, and finally she is able to fall asleep.

Next, is The Demon King finds out that the Princess had escaped. He appeared frightening at first but he actually turns out to be a funny guy and decides to have a talk with the Princess about her actions.

But when The Demon king along with his minions tried to confront her they found her sleeping peacefully emanating the peace she feels with everyone so they ended up staring at her for a few seconds and felt as if it was just a tragedy to wake her up. The demons just suggested to just have a talk with her tomorrow instead, To which the King agreed by comically walking away.

They briefly show the Princess castle along with the residents and the hero worried for her contemplating if she is in a horrible state.

The scene ludicrously moves to the Princess waking up satisfied from her long power nap, but seconds later she finds out she has sheet marks on her face and marks on her forehead from wearing her crown since she wore it to prevent her bangs from moving.

Mortified, she now decides to make a headband from the pillow remnants but she needs tools to make something cute, emphasis on the cute.

Inadvertently a demon with scissor hands come in and she focuses on the scissors as if in a trance, paying no mind to whatever the demon is saying, coincidentally some of his scissors fell, she then proposed to exchange her crown with the scissors, to which the demon happily accepted Thus she was now able to make her soft cute crown headband, Alas! The Congratulatory Quest Complete Screen appears again. Hoorah! for the Princess!.

And now the Princess moves on to a new quest, by a stroke of luck, a Demon passed by with a soft shining cape. She then prepares her scissors for the pursuit to find Luxury Sheets. She calls her teddy demon minions by clanking the brush to her dungeon cells iron bars, with the dungeon keys at hand the small demon teddies fly to the Princess with their small demon bat wings blushing with excitement.

The castle rings of snipping scissors sound followed by screams, The Princess was hunting down cloaks. Everyone was in a panic haze.

Finally, she sees it, but she finds that it wasn't a cloak instead it was a silky ghost shroud that was alive and can talk.

This is the part where you cover your mouth because our Hime apathetically says, "But I have no need for the head and arm."

Then proceeds to cut off its head and arms, killing the ghost shroud much to his dismay. This scene will get you laughing so hard, as his friend screams his name in terror whilst he dies... "Ghost Shroud!" and to top it off she leaves the demon traumatized.

Another quest complete, she gets a Celebratory "Excellent work!", from the narrator. The Princess then Enjoys herself by diving into a sea of her sheets enjoying the silky wonderful aura of the cloth she had murdered until she falls quiet slumber.

The King angered, concludes to talk to her again, but just like the other night, they find her sound asleep again and they just didn't have the heart to wake her.

Meanwhile, The hero in the Princesses' kingdom went on an exploit to find her and talked about fighting demons near the wind fortress but it was to no avail.

The Princess was now having a hard time because there was an increase of snoring demons in consequence she still can't get some shut-eye even though she made a pillow and sheet. She summons her Teddy Bear demon minions again and is determined for a quest to find a new place to sleep in; The pursuit for a comfortable bed.

The Princess finds herself lost since the castle is huge, she now sits atop of chests for treasure loots in the noble armory. She tries her luck and opens one of the treasure chests in hopes that she can salvage things that she requires. Two items fall out of a box, a talking diamond that she accidentally trips on and a shield with tornado wind which she was supposed to tumble on yet subsequently the wind catches her. She figures out that the wind was cushioning her and is quite comfortable and cinches to take it but it's too big so she uses the talking diamond to violently bash into the shield so she can take out the important part, all while the diamond was screaming in pain and disagreement.

Meanwhile, the King has a conversation with one of the demons about the importance of the shield stating how rare and valuable that item is, all while our Hime ferociously clobbers it in the background.

She was able to take the orb where the wind came out but she passed by a lava room, and accidentally trips on a blob and falls on the pool of hot lava and dies, while demons watch frantically from afar.

She gains consciousness but without control, she found it calm and relaxing, and though she found a good place to relax, she later finds out that she was revived by a cleric, and what she was lying on was a crude casket and was mortified.

Later on because of her genius she resolves the casket was closed she would get the shut-eye that she desperately yearned for. She saw some of the parts were rigid and sorts out that it needs to be smoothened, which funnily she sees the cleric horns and looks at him mischievously.

The Princess then forcibly uses the cleric horns to sand the sides of the casket while he frenziedly argues. Realizing next that it needs to be shiny, she grabs the blob that she slipped on earlier and uses it to shine the casket. In the background, you can hear zombies and demons trying to stop her asking for mercy, begging her to not do that to the blob because the blob will, die, well because it's alive. lol.

But our Hime did not listen, instead, she finished fixing her casket and is in awe of her creation, she placed her magic sheets, soft pillow, lied down inside, covered the casket, and finally, she's able to attain a quiet stupor, triumphant she falls into dreamland.

To which the last commendatory Quest Complete appears, and the narrator says, "Achieved peach and quiet."

It ends with one of the cutest ending themes "Gimme!" by ORESAMA

And just leaves you feeling cute and happy,

In conclusion, this was a really funny anime, I highly suggest you watch it. It's reminiscent of Akazukin cha cha at least in my experience. I will tell you that it falls dangerously near the kid's genre because of how kawaii it is, but I doubt it because of all the violent murders our Princess has committed.

If I will rate it, I would have to say this is a seven out of ten bunnies.

Enjoy and Thank you,

Chotto Matte,

Mat

#Maoju de Oyasumi, #Sleepless Princess in the Demon Castle.

#Sleepless Princess in the Demon Castle.

#Nemurenu #Comedy, #Fantasy, #Magic, #Shounen, #Slice of Life, #Supernatural

#Anime Nemurenu Shiro no Hime

[sepublic]

Overview of Covens

So as we’ve established in Covention, covens are essentially clubs/job-markets that witches join. Each coven specializes in a form of magic, and each member is restricted to that particular kind of magic. It’s possibly for the rest of their lives, although it’s possible that a witch can switch covens- We don’t have confirmation on this yet.

What we DO know is that, according to Gus, there are hundreds of covens, some a lot more specific than others. But above them all stand the nine, primary covens;

-Beast Keeping

-Abomination

-Plant

-Potions

-Healing

-Bard

-Illusion

-Oracle

-Construction

Starting off, it’s easy to see why these are the ‘main’ covens- They all contribute towards a major aspect of society’s roles. The Beast Keeping and Plant Covens grant Witches control over all other forms of life that aren’t already sapient members of society. Additionally, they can be integral in producing livestock and produce, creating a food supply for society that can be refined by lesser covens such as the Bakers Coven.

The Healing Coven’s role goes without saying- They’re the healthcare of the Boiling Isles, alongside Potions (which can help with curses), which likely perform additional functions as well. The ingredients for potions probably comes from the Plant and Beast Keeping Covens as well.

The Oracle Coven is incredibly useful with its fortune-telling capabilities. It can help Witch society prepare for and anticipate future events accordingly, tell the future, etc. This can go hand-in-hand with all of the other Covens, such as the Construction Coven, whose whole purpose is creating buildings from which society can live and function within.

The Bard Coven is interesting to me- I’m no expert at what bards do, but from what I can tell they specialize in music, some of which can accomplish other things. While it’s likely Bard Magic has practical utilities, it possibly fulfills the role of entertainment, which every good society needs to be content. The same applies to the Illusion Coven, which could also be used for hiding things, keeping things in line, or just maintaining order in general. Perhaps Bard magic can sway and pacify others, which when combined with the Illusion Coven, is highly potent.

Finally, there are Abominations- The disposable workers and servants of the Boiling Isles. They bypass the ethical issues of slavery by lacking genuine sapience, and seem capable of functioning as front-line soldiers, brute force, etc. No doubt they’d be incredibly useful for the handicapped and those with disabilities due to their obedience, understanding of orders, and not needing food or water to function.

Moving on from the nine main covens, we have a lengthy, yet incomplete, list of the lesser covens. Most of these I discerned from looking at the background and listening to dialogue, but so far we have;

-Succulent

-Pottery

-Cat

-Small Cat

-Tiniest Cat

-Flower

-Menders

-Sin a Bun (AKA Cinnamon Buns/Sin)

-Stylist

-Artist

-Dog

-Cooking

-Fashion

-Debate

-Cantrip

-Scrying

-Meditation

-Chef’s

-Candle Makers

-Carnivorous Plant

-Punky Potioness

-Oculus

-Prose

-Bakers

-Reaction

-Incidental

-History

-Wood Carvers

There’s also possibly the Rhyming, Swag, and Grumpy Covens. However, I’m not 100% sure on their status as actual covens, since the first and third were mentioned as jokes (and thus may be entirely hypothetical), while the Swag Coven is only seen on one of King’s bracelets from the Covention. It COULD be an actual Coven, or just a catchphrase, I’m not entirely confident.

(It’s obvious that a lot of these covens are mostly background jokes that lack any actual worldbuilding purpose. But for fun, let’s include them anyway.)

Obviously a lot of these overlap or are very similar- Succulents, Flower, and Carnivorous Plant fall beneath the Plant Coven, for example. Getting into speculation-territory, it makes me wonder if there are technically only nine forms of magic (what with how specific some of these Covens get). Perhaps the restriction only applies to the nine major covens- Thus, if a witch was bound to plant magic, they’d still be able to use spells from the Succulent or Flower Covens? Likewise, if they were specifically part of the Flower Coven, they might still be able to do Succulent Magic?

At Hexside, there seem to be Magic tracks, with only nine dedicated to each major coven. It could easily be like real-life schools teaching science, math, etc., but not veterinarian skills. However, it DOES make me wonder if there are only nine bindings corresponding to each coven, and the rest of the lesser covens are considered lesser, not just because they’re less important, but also because their individual forms of magic fall within a larger category, and thus don’t need to be restricted as much.

(TL;DR There are only nine forms of magic and all of the other covens are just really specific clubs. Ergo, a Witch can’t be restricted to only Tiniest Cat magic, just Beast-Keeping Magic because the Tiniest Cat Coven falls under that category.)

There’s also the Emperor’s Coven, which bypasses these questions and issues entirely by lacking any bindings whatsoever. Of course, only the most elite and privileged are allowed access to that much potential and variety, and it just so happens that the most unpredictable, difficult-to-control Witches are the ones reporting directly to Emperor Bellows himself. This way, Bellows can maintain an elite force of Witches who report directly to him, while ensuring they’re stronger than everyone else in order to maintain his authority. 

As a whole, the Coven System seems to not only encourage society to specialize in certain niche roles, but it also keeps Witch society weaker than those who maintain Bellows’ authority as well. It’s, as Luz might put it, “Fiendishly clever.”

[jeannereames]

Ok, important question about both DwtL and your academic work. What drove you to study the character and impact of the man who rose steadily to be second-in-command of the empire (in a way) by the time of his death?

I wouldn’t qualify him as second-in-command “in a way.” *grin* By his death, he was chiliarchos, which is the Greek translation of Persian hazarapatish, literally the second-in-command (Grand Vizier, later).

Why Hephaistion? Excellent question. My rather rambley answer…

I’m still not entirely sure what piqued my interest in him when first reading about Alexander. To be sure, the histories I read either overlooked him or actively dismissed him as no one of real importance in himself, only as Alexander’s buddy and/or lover. Yet something made me think, “He’s not getting a fair shake. Why is that?”

Several scholars attributed quarrels to him that, when I read the ancient sources, weren’t at all clear that he was the instigator, and at least in Curtius, he was made to sound rather diplomatic. I found odd this disconnect between the way the sources described him, and the way the secondary modern literature talked about him. My initial assumption was that modern scholars–mostly older white men–were homophobic … only to learn later that my assessment was too simplistic and reductive. I do think homophobia is at the root of it, but in a more complex way.

W. W. Tarn certainly tried to “save” Alexander from any intimation of same-sex liaisons. Yet others, Badian, Green, Bosworth, Schachermeyer, Hamilton, Hammond, tended to assume he had boys (eromenoi), perhaps including Hephaistion. If some wouldn’t necessarily have thought that a good thing, others—at least as an intellectual exercise—didn’t care.

I’ve said before, I know (or knew) several of these scholars, and their reactions were not because they were Bible-thumping conservative sorts. Quite a number would tick as atheist-agnostic intellectual liberals. Yet we are still products of our social upbringing, and it can be hard to ditch subconscious assumptions and discomforts, and intellectuals especially dislike thinking of ourselves as acting in an irrational fashion. *grin*

This complexity only makes it all the more interesting.

My conclusion is that we’re dealing with several layers. The first involves how our ancient sources talk about him; he’s emphasized primarily for his relationship to Alexander and the impact his death had on ATG. This is (if you notice) the same way most modern Alexander biographies approach Hephaistion, as well. Unconscious influence.

So there’s that. Then comes modern straight male discomfort with what two men might do in bed together, even for those who’re supportive of gay marriage and have gay male friends. They may not even be much fussed to see two men holding hands or trading a quick goodbye kiss at the airport. But sex…that’s different. I think it’s easiest to get at this with a quick comparison between how straight male readers react to gay male sex scenes in novels vs. how straight women readers react to lesbian sex scenes.

Quite a few straight guys have told me they skim gay male sex scenes, even if they otherwise like the book and didn’t mind more “romantic” m/m elements. Yet I know few straight women who do that with lesbian sex scenes. Admittedly—but telling—my sample is made up of largely progressive, liberal readers, including readers under 30. For Dancing with the Lion in particular, I’ve had at least two guys say they liked the book but didn’t think I needed to write the two sex scenes between Alexander and Hephaistion, especially the (more graphic) second one. I asked whether they thought I’d needed to write the sex scene between Alexander and Kampaspe, and you know what? They’d both completely forgotten that sex scene was there! Why? I suspect it’s because they perceived it as “normal,” so it didn’t trip a wire.

Hmmm.

Back to Hephaistion. This sort of subconscious bias can be present even in men who are fairly progressive. Ergo, yes, I think homophobia does drive some negative perceptions of Hephaistion, but it’s more subconscious than intentional. And having it suggested is usually not welcome. 😉

Just consider some reactions by liberal white “woke” folks to being shown they’re not as woke as they think they are. It’s rarely, “Oh, wow, I didn’t realize I did that…” but “No! That’s not at all what I meant/thought! You’re misunderstanding me on purpose!”

But we’re ALL biased in some way—usually more than one. I think of our lives as a journey, finding our blind spots and learning to see better. I have them still, you have them, we all have them. We live in our fences of skin and are not telepathic. We have to learn to listen, and not get defensive.

That’s hard.

But I’ve gone off on a tangent again, haven’t I?

My own interest in Hephaistion is driven by another type of curiosity, too. Not just why modern scholars had overlooked him, but curiosity about this man, who—if Curtius can be believed—was a true best friend of one of the most powerful men who ever lived.

I’ve harped on that before, but it really IS what pulls me in. Powerful men don’t, often, have a genuine best friend. Alexander did. So I wanted to find out as much as we could know about what made Hephaistion tick, and to assess his career, not just their friendship. The more I delved into his career, too, the more I wanted to DIVORCE his friendship with the king from his role as an officer. I became convinced that he didn’t succeed because he was ATG’s lover or friend. He succeeded because Alexander trusted him, and he was good at his job.

In one of the several blogs I wrote for the books’ release, I talked about Hephaistion’s personality. While (good) historians try to avoid psychoanalyzing dead people, we still have suspicions about what sorts of people they might have been.

For Hephaistion, almost from the beginning, I viewed him as a gamma male, not a beta as he’s usually perceived. He went his own way, which would have made him catnip to Alexander. I think he’d have needed a very strong personality, but Alexander clearly didn’t feel threatened by him. I think the bulk of historians are inclined to attribute that to being a follower and yes-man. He’s not uncommonly portrayed that way in fiction, too. But for me, that makes no sense. Such a friendship wouldn’t, in my experience, have lasted long, nor would such a person have dared to rebuke Alexander, as Curtius says he did, even if in private.

Speaking as a professional historian, I can’t prove that, given the paucity of our sources, only suggest it.

But that’s the beauty of fiction. Obviously, I had to spin from raw wool a lot of his background, family details, etc. But his personality in Dancing with the Lion…? No, that I didn’t make up. It’s what I do think he was like. I’ve lived cheek-to-jowl with him via research since the early ‘90s. That’s almost 30 years now.

[desertarabianhorse]

Hahaha were not homophobic (says my pastor) haha no we're just saying you should be straight! What, you're aro, you're ace? Oh, like, I guess that's fine. Don't bring it up saying it makes my church diverse though. That's rude. Oh... you're trans? Uh no you're not fuckin bitch gender is sex, don't deny who you really are. Don't pretend to be what God didn't make you to be. And he made me to be your authority, and I'm the one who really know what the Bible says. You're going to this church right? You're choosing to be here. You choose me to be your leader every time you walk in. You know that right? You're just a fucking layperson who doesn't have a whole ass seminary degree like I do, you're no fucking prayer warrior. You don't know shit about Jesus. You're not even a Christian are you? You don't even listen to my sermons! Christ, you don't even have the decency to pretend to be happy and encouraging when you're at church. What, have you lost your goddamn faith? Are you a fucking atheist? I bet you fucking are you whore. You're not a man, pretending you are is an insult to all women and femininity. Stop saying it's bad to be a woman, you disgusting bigot. You like "they"? You like "he"? Fuck you, your body makes estrogen. And because of that, I know you have a vagina, because I should know and care and think about my congregation's genitals. Ergo, you are obviously, completely, only, fully, perfectly FEMALE. And I will only ever use "she" and "deadname" when I talk to or about you. You fucking idiot. I hate you. You're fucking stupid. Why can't you just use logic, you fucking progressive tranny? You goddamn snowflake? You're a bad influence on everyone around you, you're insane. How dare you pretend to be such a great person like that. But I still want you here, yes! Because I love you just like our Lord And Fucking Savior who will send you to Hell since you're clearly an irrational atheist that's abandoned what's really good for you. And maybe I'll be able to show you some sense and some True, Christian love, and you'll understand how fucking moronic you're being right now. Fucking get yourself together, fuck. So what's the bottom line? I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH TO USE YOUR PRONOUNS!

(this is something my fundamental Evangelical pastor has actually told me to my face. I did exaggerate some, and I was never cursed at bc that's not Christlike but I was accused of everything in there. For background info, I have been an atheist for the past entire year, but I've kept it secret from my family and my church for my mental health and emotional safety. And I act like a liberal and accepting Christian, I've never give away my lack of belief, my pastor has no reason to accuse me of being atheist. And I am aro, but I still claim to be ace at church and in my family rather than bi, again, for my safety. And ofc they have no idea I'm polyam. Most of the very small congregation knows my chosen name, and most of those who know it try to use it. Excepting my parents and the pastor's family, what do you expect. They all know I use they/them, and lots of them know I use he/him, and many of them attempt to use it. Excepting my parents and the pastor's family, what do you fucking expect. I dress masc and/or adrog at church, and often a bit flamboyant, because being feminine there is too dysphoric by far. And I always wore a they/them button to church. Before the quarantine that is, I ain't going nowhere now, not even if the pastor insisted to have service live. And that last line? Yeah, he said that, word for word, to my face, while pointing his finger at me and grinning wildly. THIS is fundamental Christianity. THIS is verbal and emotional abuse. THIS is why 40% of trans people have attempted suicide. Respect us and accept us, or leave us the fuck alone.)

[tsarisfanfiction]

Snow (Tales From The Heart)

Fandom: One Piece Rating: Teen Warnings: injury Characters: Law, Bepo, Penguin, Shachi

The island appeared to be largely deserted. Law was unsurprised by the fact, as it was far north, even more so than Swallow Island, and the icebergs guarding the land were ferocious – too much so for a ship that relied on its sails. Uninhabited islands were a wealth of opportunity to both gather supplies and lay low away from Doflamingo's ever-expanding sphere of influence, so Law had decided to split up in order to investigate the area.

The snow was thick beneath his boots, giving easily under his feet but reluctant to let them rise again, resulting in an exhausting trudge through the barren landscape. If anything lived in these conditions, they were well-hidden. His fist was clutched around the fabric of Bepo's jump suit, the mink's white fur making him difficult to spot against the white background. The snow falling steadily from the sky did nothing to help.

Deciding that he was getting too cold to continue the trek, Law made the decision to return to the Tang. Bepo didn't argue, instead wrapping a warm furry arm around Law's shoulders. The mink had grown a lot since they'd met, now standing head and shoulders above even Penguin, and Law accepted the offered warmth. He hoped that Penguin and Shachi were managing alright on their own expedition. They had grown up in conditions like these, making them far more experienced than either Law or Bepo, but ever since Law had finally realised that they had no plans on leaving him any time soon, he'd discovered it didn't take much for him to worry.

He and Bepo were maybe halfway back to where the Tang was moored when there was a distant thump and they froze, looking around cautiously. They could see no change in the horizon, and after a moment resumed their journey, although with more purpose. Something wasn't right, and Law didn't like it, mentally praying that Penguin and Shachi were back at the Tang already so they could leave straight away.

Perhaps half a minute after the initial thump, the rumbling began. Law looked around again, Bepo clinging to him tightly, and finally spotted movement. Raising a hand against the falling snow, he squinted to try and identify the source before his blood froze.

The snow was moving.

Law had never seen an avalanche before, but he'd heard of them, read about them in books and listened to tales from the Donquixote Pirates about the devastating force of nature snow could become. They were deadly, his books had said. Too fast to outrun, Diamante had recounted.

The avalanche roared as it powered down the slope. It was a little way away from Law and Bepo, and they were still high enough that even if its course changed it wouldn't catch them. They were safe where they were, they just needed to wait it out until it had run its course then continue back to the Tang.

Bepo's grip on Law tightened suddenly, and he looked up at the mink to see his ears pressed back, eyes wide with horror. Law started to reassure him, pointing out that they weren't in its path, before he realised that wasn't what Bepo was afraid of.

The avalanche was in the same direction Penguin and Shachi had gone.

"They'll be okay, Bepo," he said, trying to believe his own words. They'd grown up on a snow-covered island with a giant mountain, they had to know how to avoid an avalanche. Ergo, they were safe and would be heading back to the Tang as soon as they could, if they weren't there already.

Bepo's grip increased again, and he gasped involuntarily.

"Captain," the mink said mournfully, and Law's knees went weak at the sound. "Penguin screamed."

Law's world shattered and Bepo's grip was the only thing stopping him from collapsing into the snow.

"No," he denied weakly. "They're fine. Penguin was just a bit startled."

"Captain," Bepo said again, burying his face in Law's hat. Law clung to the arms embracing him tightly as he watched the snow hurtling down.

"We have to help them," he realised, using Bepo's grip to pull himself back to his feet. Bepo stared at the avalanche, his ears still pinned back, and Law began to fight to get out of his grip. "We have to help," he insisted, and the mink blinked suddenly, his ears righting themselves.

"I heard Penguin this way," he said, before picking Law up and sprinting forwards. Law would have protested at the action, except Bepo darted across the snow with a sure-footedness he'd never be able to replicate. The snow was slowing, its damage done, and Law clung to Bepo as the mink followed signs he couldn't begin to identify towards the disturbed snow. Now closer to the carnage, Law could see that the snow had not been alone in its cascade. Littered through the fresh layer were broken fragments of trees, and even occasionally a boulder.

"Penguin!" he shouted as Bepo slowed, casting around for something to guide him the rest of the way. "Shachi!" He waited, looking around for any sign of them, as Bepo continued to pace the area. A flash of colour caught his eye and he wriggled free of Bepo's grip to run towards it. It was Penguin's hat, mostly buried in the snow. He stared at it for a moment, numb, before panic set in. "PENGUIN!" he screamed, clutching the hat to his chest with one hand as his other began to scrabble in the snow. "SHACHI!"

"Penguin!" Bepo shouted, before pouncing on a spot up the slope from where Law was clutching the hat. "Captain, I heard him!" He was digging viciously at a spot by a tree that was missing half its branches, and Law scrambled to join him, falling to his knees and clawing at the snow desperately. His hands met something soft and moving, and he grabbed hold of it. The hand clutched at him in return.

It took Bepo less than a minute to uncover Penguin's face, the older teen gasping and squinting his eyes against the snow.

"Are you hurt?" Law asked him. "Where's Shachi?"

"One thing… at a time…" Penguin complained. From the tightness of his face and his laboured breathing, Law realised he was injured. "Shachi's… here." He made to move only to let out a pained hiss.

"Don't move," Law ordered. "Where?" He'd heard that survival dropped drastically after fifteen minutes. He hadn't been counting how long he'd been looking, but suddenly he wished he had.

"My arm," Penguin said. "Held… on…" Law shot Bepo a look but the mink was already there, burrowing down beside where Penguin lay. When the arm in question was uncovered, Law winced. It was clearly broken – at least two breaks, at first glance. A pale hand was clutched around it, and it in turn was clenched around another arm.

Law wanted to help as Bepo followed the arm, wanted to dig Shachi out, but Bepo had it under control and Penguin needed help. He pulled at some more of the snow still covering Penguin's torso and legs, determined to get him out. It took too long to shift all of the snow, Law panting heavily by the time his nakama was uncovered, and the sight that greeted him was not a pleasant one. As well as from the broken arm, one of Penguin's legs was twisted unnaturally beneath his body. Moving him would be difficult.

A sharp cry caught his attention and he looked up to see that Bepo had finally uncovered Shachi. His hat and shades were missing, but more crucial was the way his torso was twisted. Bepo's gentle paws were resting on his shoulders, and Law's heart sank.

"Don't move him, Bepo," he said, making his way over to the ginger's side and tentatively exploring with feather-light touches. Like Penguin, his arm was broken – it was a miracle they'd managed to cling to each other – but Law's greatest fear was realised when his exploration reached Shachi's spine.

Broken.

Law formed a Room immediately, sending Bepo to attend to Penguin, who was starting to shiver from spending so long in the snow. He'd read up on spinal surgery, but he'd never performed it, or even seen an operation. Their surroundings couldn't be much worse, but it was what it was and Law refused to let something like that stop him as he got to work.

The damage hadn't been as severe as he'd feared, to Law's relief. Once they returned to the Tang, all Shachi would need would be rest and gradual rehabilitation. The problem, he mused as he looked at the pair of them, Shachi floating somewhere on the edge of unconsciousness and Penguin not much better, was getting them back to the Tang.

He knelt between them and began to coax their hands into releasing each other. Penguin let out a strangled hiss as his arm was shifted, and Shachi let out another sharp cry.

"Bear with it," Law reassured them, his own voice tight. "Try to relax. I need you two to let go."

"I don't… think I can walk… Captain," Penguin admitted as Law worked. "Take… Shachi first…" Law hushed him. He couldn't leave either of them behind. Both were becoming hypothermic on top of their injuries, and he feared that if he left one, they'd be beyond saving by the time he got back. And that was if they weren't buried by a second avalanche in the meantime. The snow around them was unstable, although the tree the pair of them were immediately downhill from was providing some sort of basic shelter.

"Bepo," he said once he finally disentangled the two from each other. "Carry Shachi back." The mink nodded and crouched beside the ginger.

"How do I pick him up?" the mink asked, clearly unsure of where to place his paws. Law eyed the pair of them, before flexing his fingers.

"Hold your arms out like you're already holding him," he ordered, and Bepo obeyed instantly. "Takt." Lifting Shachi wasn't easy. Takt required an immense amount of concentration, and Law had never tried to move anything as big as a person before. Gritting his teeth, he tried to manoeuvre Shachi into Bepo's arms. The mink intervened – instead of waiting for Law to gently deposit Shachi in his arms like he'd initially planned, he moved forwards as soon as the ginger was clear of the snow and plucked him out of the air with all the gentleness Law had come to associate with the mink.

Breathing heavily, exhausted by the action, Law returned his attention to Penguin.

"Law…" the older boy began, cut off when Law snapped off two more small branches from the sheltering tree and tore away the bottom of his top.

"This is just until we get back," he explained, splinting the leg as gently as he could and wincing as Penguin cried out. "I'm sorry." The older boy was too tall for him to carry properly, but Law pulled him over his shoulder, staggering under the weight. "Let's go," he said to Bepo, and the mink looked at him with his awkward burden in concern before he led the way back to the Tang. Law followed along close behind, stumbling at Penguin's weight but determined to get him back safely.

The walk was thankfully uneventful, aside from Law needing to take a break and put Penguin down every so often to catch his breath, and Law had never been so pleased to see their ship. He headed straight for the infirmary, Bepo now trailing behind, and rested both his older nakama on the beds.

It hurt to see them in such a sorry state, but they were alive and for that, Law was thankful. It wouldn't be fast, but they would heal.