#his father and his family are a great inspiration to him because together despite everything they have been able to get ahead

[growingwithem]

Eunhyuk donate 40,04 million won to support children and adolescents taking care of sick family member at an age when they need to be taken care of ❤️‍🩹

On April 4, the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation said "On Eunhyuk's birthday, the Super Junior member donated 40,040,000 won to support children and adolescents who care for relatives (children and adolescents who care for relatives or relatives who have difficulties such as disabilities, illnesses and mental illness).

The donation delivered by Eunhyuk is the amount raised by adding the proceeds from Eunhyuk's fan meeting held on March 30th & Eunhyuk's personal expenses. Eunhyuk said, "Since I was a child, seeing my father working at a child welfare center, I wanted to become a person who can help children when I grow up."

Choi Woon-jung, director of the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation's Seoul Regional Headquarters 2, said “I am grateful to Eunhyuk for taking an interest in children and adolescents taking care of their families, a blind spot in child welfare, and spreading a good influence."

Eunhyuk continues to do good deeds since 2021, such as donations to support children's housin.

[alicedash2]

Luffy's first love, Child!Luffy x Child!Reader (inspired by ponyo)

Repost

Collaboration with: @gatitties 💗💞💖

Her post: 🪼

I think is everything okay now, I will change something if I found something

Luffy found a weird fish!

🐟🌊🫧🌈🪼🦀🐙🐠🌈🫧🌊🐟

In the East Blue Sea, in the deep of the ocean, there was a small village that had been abandoned by its former inhabitants. However, now only one family lived there—a man with deep bags under his eyes, long white beard, and a slight hunchback. He maintained order at the bottom of the ocean, helping and nurturing marine animals. His house was large and peculiar but well-lit with various animals around. Inside this house lived YN, a small and chubby fish. For a while, YN had wanted to escape. After all, her "father" didn't allow her to leave because she was too young and careless. Despite being the most mature and largest among her sisters, she still couldn't go out.

The "species" of YN isn't exactly a fish, they are similar to the fish-men of Sabaody, but rarer and more special. YN emerged from a relationship between a human and one of the inhabitants of that village, who are creatures similar to humans but with the ability to control oceans, animals, and transform into either human or unique fish and extravagant forms

One day, while her "father" was tending to and raising new fish, guiding them to their destiny, YN sneaked out through the window, spying on her distracted father. Quickly, she fled. Being still somewhat small, she couldn't swim fast, but luckily, she managed to cling to one of the fishes swimming swiftly. Together, they headed towards the coast. Suddenly, they were caught by some merchant ships with long hunting nets. In the chaos, YN, trapped among the struggling fish, finally managed to break free. However, it didn't take long for her to be targeted again, this time by a large fish intending to prey on her. Despite YN's powers to control fish, tides, and others, she didn't know how to use them yet. Her only option was to flee, which almost failed if it hadn't been for another fish that hunted down the one chasing YN. The impact of the bite and the speed was so great that YN was flung towards the coast and landed directly in a glass jar, where she struggled to escape. In this moment of despair, YN managed to use her powers to call for help from a small group of fish, who quickly went in search of someone or something to help YN

°•°•°••°•°•°•°°•

Luffy, a small boy of 7 years old, was walking along the coast of his island, playing with the water and collecting some shells he found, putting them in his blue bucket. It was a sunny and comfortable day when he saw a small group of fish, for some reason, circling between his legs and nibbling on his skin. He tried to shoo them away, but the fish followed him. He attempted to catch one with his hand, but one of them jumped and resumed circling around him.

"What? Why are they following me?"

Without success and without an answer, the fish began to swim slowly and perform acrobatics away from him, then stop. Whenever Luffy approached them again, they swam a few meters away and stopped, as if waiting for him. He followed the little fish to a certain spot on the coast, a more secluded area. When the little fish guided him to another fish trapped in a glass jar, Luffy realized that the struggling fish was peculiar, a species he had never seen on that coast. He approached the fish, which was a bit large and chubby. Luffy held it, relieving it, and tried to pull the glass jar it was trapped in, but with little success. He tried harder, managing to break the glass jar with a nearby rock, freeing YN. As Luffy cleaned up the glass shards, he accidentally cut himself, but he didn't pay much attention. When he went to comfort YN, he noticed that she wasn't moving until he felt YN licking the small wound that was bleeding on Luffy's finger.

"Ah?"

Luffy was confused, but quickly grabbed his bucket again, pouring out the shells and filling it with water. Then, he placed the little chubby fish inside. The fish remained motionless for a few seconds, tense, thinking that the fish might have died. However, it soon started swimming normally, which relaxed him.

"What a strange fish, I've never seen a fish like this before."

Luffy commented with a huge smile. The fish itself was quite different, it didn't have exactly fins, scales, or gills, but it was a beautiful and cute fish. The fish had a round face, small arms, and even hair, which in this case, was YN's hair.

As Luffy walked back to the village, the tide rose violently along with the waves, as if trying to attack Luffy and take YN back. But Luffy didn't pay much attention.

"I'll show this to Ace and Sabo!"

So, Luffy ran to DanDan's house with his bucket full of water containing the fish he had just saved. When he got there, he looked for Ace, who was nearby.

Meanwhile, YN's father appeared above the waters, with only his waist visible. He saw Luffy with YN.

"...this is terrible...hm, terrible and terrible...yes, terrible..." he said, rubbing his hand on his beard.

°°°°°°•••••°•°•

"Ace! Ace!"

Luffy ran up to the older boy, who looked at him already annoyed.

"What's up, Luffy?"

"Look what I found! A really weird fish!"

"A fish? I've seen many and..."

Ace stopped talking as he saw YN, who was swimming happily in circles.

"What...the heck is this?!"

Ace looked closely at YN, who was still swimming cheerfully.

"What an ugly fish!"

"What? Don't say that! How mean, Ace!"

Upon hearing this, little YN glared at him and spat a jet of water in the boy's face, making Luffy smile and laugh.

"W-What?! What a bold little fish! Give me that fish; I'll put it in the fire!"

"What?! No! Stay away!"

"Quick, give me that damn fish!"

"No!"

A few hours later, in the evening, DanDan and others had already prepared dinner. When Luffy came down and joined them for dinner, he didn't hesitate to bring his new friend along. Luffy placed the bucket with YN on the table, the dinner was rice and meat.

"You must be hungry, right? Here, have some rice."

Luffy offered rice, but YN slowly looked at Luffy's meat.

"....meat? Here."

Luffy tore off a piece of meat and handed it to YN, who didn't hesitate to simply take all of Luffy's meat, leaving him indignant.

"Hey! Don't take all the meat! That's all I have!"

Luffy said as he tried to take the meat back from YN, but he only managed to retrieve half.

YN enjoyed the meat with great pleasure and happiness.

The next day, Luffy, still with YN in the bucket, was with Ace, who was still wary of YN.

"Ace, Sabo!"

The boys heard their names being called, and when they turned, it was Sabo, running towards them.

"Sabo, look what I found yesterday!"

"What is it?"

"It's... a fish... I think."

Sabo approached and looked at YN, who had a sweet smile.

"It's cute! Have you given this little fish a name yet?"

"A-Ah..."

Luffy took a moment to realize that he hadn't named YN yet, but when he started thinking, YN stuck her head out of the water and said:

"YN!"

Luffy, Ace, and Sabo fell silent for a moment.

The fish spoke.

Luffy shouted and almost spilled the bucket on the ground, but Ace held him back. Ace and Sabo looked scared.

"It spoke, the fish spoke!" Sabo said, a little trembling.

"That's not a fish!" Ace said, in a low tone.

Luffy composed himself and stared at YN.

"You can talk...you can talk!"

Luffy stomped the ground in happiness.

"How amazing!"

"Luffy!" YN said, her voice cute and happy.

"Yes, it's me!"

"I like Luffy!"

YN started swimming in circles and doing pirouettes, making Luffy blush a little.

"I like you too, YN!" Luffy said in a soft tone.

Once again, Luffy was in the village, and Shanks was there. Nothing better than introducing his new friend to Shanks. As soon as Luffy entered the bar, he had YN in the same bucket of water.

"Shanks! Shanks!" Luffy ran to the counter. Shanks looked at the boy with the same smile as always.

"Hey, Luffy! What do you have there?"

"It's a fish, but...I don't know what kind of fish it is. And she talks too."

"...a talking fish?"

"Yes! Come on, YN, say something!"

Luffy put YN on the counter, where she leaned against the edge.

"Shanks!" YN said.

Shanks looked surprised. He held Luffy by the shoulders and looked serious.

"Luffy, listen to me. You need to return this fish to the ocean."

"Why?"

"It's not good. The "father" of this fish's species is one of the survivors of the village that was massacred by the Celestial Dragons. If this fish stays with you, she might end up dead. It's unknown how many of her species are left, but they were crucial for some islands..."

"I'm not going to! I won't, I won't!"

Luffy stomped his feet.

"If they find out you have this fish, they will kill her, and who knows what will happen to you...or to your island."

"Luffy!" YN said.

Luffy got angrier, with tears in his eyes. He took YN and ran away, back to the mountain.

"I won't leave you, YN..."

"Luffy!" YN swam happily.

°°•••°•

A few more days later, Garo came to visit his grandchildren, Luffy didn't know if he was hiding YN from his grandfather or not, but it was useless, Garp ended up finding out and went to talk to Luffy, who was on the beach

"Luffy..."

"um, grandpa?"

"...this fish"

Luffy was soon surprised

" I'm not going to give it back! She...she's my friend! "

"Yes, you will."

YN's "father" appeared, riding on one of the kings of the seas

"She can't be with you, boy"

"I won't let you get her!"

"boy, don't make me repeat myself, I don't want to take YN by force from you"

YN's father said in a threatening tone, causing kings of the seas to appear, Garp prepared himself for any fight, Luffy, hesitantly, refused to give back

"I already said I'm not going!"

"either you give her back, or I sink her entire island, boy, just for YN to be here is a risk to all the only survivors of her species!"

while they were arguing, YN sneakily got out of the bucket and entered the ocean, she swam a few meters and screamed

"Luffy! run!"

Before Luffy could act, large waves began to appear and hit the coast violently, Garp was quick to take Luffy and get out of there, but little by little the island was almost being flooded by the waves and would be sunk by possible future tsunamis, but YN submitted to return with her "father" with the promise that he would not harm any living being in the village Foosha" was the last time Luffy saw YN that day

°°°•••°

A few more days passed, and Luffy was very depressed. Even with the help of Ace and Sabo, they couldn't find YN.

Luffy was walking around the village, and he saw Shanks outside the bar, talking to Yasopp. He approached with a sad look.

"Still haven't found her?" Shanks asked, and Luffy just shook his head negatively.

"Luffy... this way is better. She's safe now. Maybe one day she'll come to visit you."

Luffy cried; he didn't want visits. He wanted to be with her. As much as she was a fish, Shanks took Luffy to his ship so he could cheer up a bit.

When he got close to the ship, strong waves began to appear, and on them, a colorful little fish. During this time without seeing YN, she managed to create a form that allowed her to walk. It was strange, but she did it in a hurry. Luffy smiled when YN reached the shore. She ran with the bucket that Luffy had left on the beach and been washed away by the waves.

Shanks widened his eyes when he saw the little creature with legs and arms running to Luffy. Shanks tried to grab YN, but she dodged him. Her form was finally complete when she acquired her human form, a slightly chubby and cute child, wearing a vibrant dress. She ran and threw herself into Luffy's arms, rubbing her face against his cheek. When they let go of the hug, they looked at each other.

"YN! You... you've changed!"

YN just laughed and stomped the ground, dancing.

"Do you like it? Took me a time for create my human form!"

Luffy jumped with joy and hugged his friend again.

"Shanks! YN is a human now, look!"

Shanks was incredulous, unsure of what to do or say, but it didn't matter much since Luffy took her hand and ran to his brothers. In the end, YN became part of them too. Garp, now that he understood what had been done, adopted her as his granddaughter and wouldn't let her "father" try to take her away either, as she had won Garp's big heart. That cuteness and innocence, now Garp himself called her the "princess of the seas" and "My princess"

DanDan didn't accept it at first, but she saw that YN could be useful regarding food, managing to easily bring fish.

YN was very well accepted by the village. Her father had made a deal with Luffy

that he should protect her with his life since YN is still a rare species, who acquired a human form and still managed to escape both her father and the Marines (Garp). And so, Luffy did.

It didn't take long, but Luffy was in love with YN, whether it was love or not, he couldn't stay away from her. YN agreed to join Luffy's crew and would help with whatever he needed. She was Luffy's first love, and now Luffy wanted to conquer the seas together with YN.

[tyttamarzh]

CONGRATULATIONS DEATH FAMILY!!! This is a megapost for celebration. 💗

Today marks one year since the arrival of Chayanne and the birth of the Death Family! And I have prepared a series of gifts to celebrate!!

First in the list… well, I wanted make a special something, so, I decided reunites all the arte that I made about them and create a commemorative video… I thinks isn't a big deal but… I hope you can enjoy it! Really I love this family, really I love them, and I make this whit all the love in my heart. 💕

It was incredible to realize that by putting all this together I could tell a small story, I really feel bad for not drawing more moments with Phil and the children, I think it is very noticeable that my main is Missa, so the song and everything seems to be from its perspective (but that's okay, because there really is very little material focused on him and his perspective).

Now a little remembrance:

That day… the adoption day… when the destiniy unite Phil and Missa with the "D" tickets.

They had to choose an egg to adopt. Missa left the decision to Phil (who initially wanted chose Dapper), who finally, at the crows' insistence, opted for that nice guy with the ducky floatie.

So they had to give him a name, this time, Missa was the one who decided and at the insistence of the Missaurios, he chose the name "Chayanne"

At that moment our little warrior was born, at the same time that a loving, protective and warm family was formed that did not know that it would have to go through a thousand obstacles in their life in the island.

From the beginning, Chayanne was encouraged to become a great warrior by his parents. His father Missa encouraged him to be a protective hero and his father Philza's stories about the legendary Technoblade inspired him to become an invincible fighter. Chayanne has been through great dangers and has had to make difficult decisions despite his young age. That has helped him become what he is now, someone very strong who was able to stand up to his father, Phil, being possessed by Enderking, to save him.

Chayanne has managed to combine his role as a warrior with his love for cooking, a hobby he acquired after spending an afternoon baking desserts with Missa (who taught him how to cook from the first days). His great passion was always encouraged by Philza, who always helped him obtain materials and encouraged him to create various dishes when necessary for a task. Despite still being a child, Chayanne has become the best chef on the Island.

From the first days Death Family became one of the most loving and functional families on the island. Phil and Missa built something beautiful, all thanks to his warm heart and tender, protective fatherly attitude. I know that there have been several bumps in the road, things cannot be perfect, but it has been thanks to the love that they have for each other that they have managed to move forward despite everything and have managed to overcome the obstacles. Thanks to that, I now know that no matter what happens or what problems arise, they will be okay, because it is the four of them against the world.

But that's not all I have to say. I can't celebrate this union without talking about the incredible relationship between Phil and Missa.

When this family started, I never thought it would become an important part of my life and it has all been thanks to the incredible chemistry that the two of them had from the beginning.

No one would have imagined pairing Philza, being one of the most experienced Minecraft players, with Missasinfonia, probably one of the least experienced on the island (but in my opinion the one with the biggest heart), would create this unique, loving and angst dynamic at once. Circumstances have created a panorama that has turned them into the sun and the moon, being a couple that longs for each other for not being able to be together, a couple that constantly demonstrates their love for each other in different ways, who always keep in mind to the other, who fight to defend what they have and who make the most of the few moments they can be together, giving us adorable and incredible moments that are capable of driving us crazy and feeding us well enough to keep us alive, desperately waiting for the next eclipse.

However you want to see it, romantic or platonic, whatever they are doesn't matter. What difference does it make if they have been able to give us moments that have managed to steal our hearts? What they both have is very special and labels don't really matter, the only thing that matters is being able to see them together once again creating unique and fun moments together and with their children.

Today I want to celebrate the birthday Chayanne and the Death Family, but I also want to celebrate Phil and Missa as a couple. THEM, simply THEM. Because their dynamic and their strong feelings for each other have managed to create a beautiful community and have brought us all together here, to toast them and wait for their reunion. Thank You! 💖

[metalomagnetic]

hello!!!! i just caught up on IRTB and firstly, one writer to another, let me say your juggling of plot and so many complex family dynamics is so commendable, I'm so inspired by you!! secondly, I just found your tumblr, and I am shocked by the amount of Orion hate. like, is he a morally great dude? of course not, but he's actually one of my favorite characters even though he's dead lol. he fascinates me, I get so excited every time that he pops up!!! him and Bella (and even Rodolphus??? i'm both thrilled and horrified by this) are my absolute faves, but Narcissa is running close behind<3

sirius has been my favorite character since I read the books, but you've finally hit the nail on the head with his characterization I think!!!! excellent work so far, and all the love<3<3<3<3

PS- I know i'm coming from an anime fic blog, but i've been reading harry potter fic since i was like 12, this is just my current hideout spot LOL

Thank you! ❤️ It runs really is a very plot heavy fic, and I'm glad you think it's handled well.

Orion hate comes from his treatment of Walburga primarily ( I assume) though he also did quite the damage to Sirius and Regulus.

He is one of my favourite characters as well, especially because he's dead. But he was a nightmare of a husband, and not the greatest father. However, his wife wasn't exactly a saint, either, so that marriage went to hell in a basket, and they are both responsible for it, and for how they fucked up their children. Despite that, I love Walburga, too. She and Orion are so special to me (I wrote like 30k one shot for them, because I had to. I wanted to understand their relationship before I could explore it properly in It runs ). They are two complex individuals that loved each other once, that grew up together, and there was still love there, but also so much bitterness and hate by the end. Still, Orion was the one with the power in their relationship, and while Walburga was awful, she was forced into many circumstances quite against her will, so this is why Orion shoulders more of the blame, and is more hated for how it all went down. I console myself knowing they had a few good years together, where they were actually happy, despite everything. And while I don't know how or if I will include it in 'It runs', in my head canon for the story, Orion and Walburga reconciled at the very end, or at least made peace with each other. Despite her many flaws, Walburga took care of him when he most needed her.

Rodolphus always surprises me in my story, by how much I end up loving every version of him I write.

Bella is my Queen, and Narcissa my princess.

So happy you're enjoying this story and the characters, especially Sirius! ❤️

[romchat]

Story of Kunning Palace Ep. 20: To be free like the birds

What I love about good prison scenes is that they often reveal which of our characters are truly free.

For Yan Lin, Jiang Xuening, and Xie Wei, Episode 20 poses the following question: to what extent are we prisoners of the fate we've created for ourselves?

Yan Lin

Ironically, Yan Lin is an actual prisoner but he’s probably the freest of all our characters. He's finally free from his unrequited love of Xuening, free from the politicking of the palace, and, as @tomorrowsdrama beautifully observes, free from the burden of revenge. However he meets Xie Wei next, it won't be as the ruthless man from the story's original timeline who was hellbent on destroying those who had betrayed him.

Despite Xuening's worries, Yan Lin's exile grants him the opportunity to grow into the impressive man he always had the potential to be. @dangermousie used the word irrepressible to describe him and it's such a perfect word that encapsulates Yan Lin's boundless love and spirit. As Yan Lin and his father are taken away to Huangzhou because of their crimes, he shouts to Xie Wei the poem that inspired his courtesy name:

There will come a day when the roc finally goes up against the wind, flying up to the highest sky. I, Yan Hui, will return safely."

He will return as a great general, one who upholds peace in the world.

Jiang Xuening

I think it's a lovely touch how both Yan Lin and Xuening are symbolically represented by birds flying through the sky. Episode 1 kicked off with a bird of prey soaring above Xuening's poor childhood home and descending upon the palace. Young Xuening had always dreamed of escaping her difficult life but found herself in a different type of prison once she entered the palace. Empress Xuening narrates:

"If I knew this would happen, I would not have wasted my life chasing after fame and power. I should have traveled far and wide, to see the vast land and waters, to be free like the birds."

So when Xuening fails to escape the prison after visiting Yan Lin and she encounters an undercover Zhang Zhe, she's also granted a rare freedom: to figure out what she truly wants from life.

In previous episodes, Xuening mused about what it would be like to forsake palace life and be with Zhang Zhe, but at this point, her feelings for him are largely based on their interactions during the original timeline, not the current one. When she suddenly finds herself joining him to infiltrate the rebels, it is both a chance to explore the world beyond the constraints of the palace while also getting closer to him.

As viewers, many of us have been wondering when Xuening will realize her feelings for Xie Wei and abandon her pursuit of Zhang Zhe. And I think that shift will happen soon. Look at how dark, almost sinister, it looked when the doors of the prison were opened and they began their journey to the rebel hideout. Together, Xuening and Zhang Zhe are embarking on a dangerous adventure that will most likely illuminate just how ill-matched they are.

Xie Wei

Up until this point, everything has gone according to plan for Xie Wei. Like he fine-tunes his qin, he has fine-tuned his revenge plot against the Xue Family to perfection. Ruthless and methodical, he is the puppet master of everyone's fate.

But what I've found so tragic about Xie Wei's character is that even with all the power he has amassed, he still lives within the confines of a prison he has created for himself. Like he had sacrificed himself to save the Crown Prince and those 300 other children when he was a boy, he is now sacrificing his goodness and true sense of self to execute his revenge. "I am not a good person", he warns Xuening over and over again--and he isn't, not really (despite some evidence to the contrary).

Which makes his willingness to reconsider his plans to save Xuening even more incredible. Look at the simmering panic on his face. He warned her never to tell others who she has in her heart, and yet here he is, allowing his carefully crafted plans--the one thing that defines him-- to unravel as he makes plans to leave the palace to go after her.

[blainesebastian]

diving deep

words: 1,609 ship: austin butler x reader summary: austin and reader work on the same film together where reader has trouble coming down from an emotional scene on set warnings: mentions of familial loss  notes: while i am taking requests, i am pretty much just writing where / when i feel inspired, hope ya’ll enjoy :) masterlist is here (along with ccg masterlist linked at the top)  tag list: @killerqueenfan, @austinbutlermischief , @elizabethrosecresswell, @gigisworldsstuff, @stylespresleyhearted

One thing that you’ve particularly enjoyed about acting is that you feel like you can step into different versions of yourself—maybe versions that would never see the light of day if it weren’t for a particular film or character you’re attempting to bring to life. It’s been one of your favorite experiences because nothing is the same twice. You suppose that should be fairly obvious, but you also know that a lot of people have the same methods when it comes to acting.

For yourself, you’re always trying to tap into something different, a new part of yourself. That can come with outstanding results and equally as many consequences.

You’ve always been one to feel your emotions deeply and you realize it’s helped you gain a lot of track record with your films. Your characters become very real to you because you tie those emotions to them—you realize there’s a double-edged sword to doing this. Those emotional ties can quickly become weights that are capable of dragging you to the bottom of the ocean if you’re not careful. Because you dive so deep to access raw emotions, sometimes it’s hard to come back up for air, to disconnect yourself when the scene is yelled cut.

It's been manageable depending on what the scene needs, what the film wants, what type of character you have until, well, recently. You’re not gonna lie and say these past few days on set haven’t been difficult.

You’ve been lucky enough to land a role in an upcoming drama-romance film with Austin Butler, playing alongside him as your characters grow, change and eventually become romantically entangled. Unsurprisingly, falling in love with Austin is easy—he’s so wonderful to work with. He’s been kind, thoughtful, persistent, and reliable. He’s dependable in reading lines and practicing and he’s always willing to brainstorm how to take on scenes together. He’s really a castmate’s dream…and still so early in his career. It’s nice to know that stardom doesn’t go to everyone’s heads—he’s as every bit lovely as you’ve heard.

It’s this scene that’s been really giving you trouble. You’re not reaching deep enough; you can tell with how the lines are playing out. You’ve gotten great notes from the director, Max, you’re mostly just annoyed with yourself that you’re not pushing it in the direction you want it to go.

“Don’t strain yourself,” Austin tells you over coffee before you head to shoot. “You’re givin’ everything you can.”

You’re not and that’s the problem. Sure, the scene has been turning out fine—but you don’t want ‘just fine’, you want excellence, you want feeling. You know there’s compelling dialogue but you don’t want that to be the source of emotion.

Closing your eyes, you take a deep breath and center yourself as you settle into the diner booth that this scene takes place in. Regardless of how you feel about it? you’re certain that this is probably the last time you’re going to run through these lines. They’ve got workable footage and despite you wanting to make this ‘perfect’, a film has a schedule to keep.

Austin gives you a soft smile once you fix your gaze on him, playfully nudging your ankle underneath the table. A wordless relax. You give him a twitch of your lips in return, before allowing yourself to sink.

In this scene, you’ve just lost your father to some shady dealings at his work, though you’re not sure what exactly happened. Austin’s character works at the same place and you’re begging to somehow get into his office to try and get some answers. There’s loss and grief and heartache and love and you’re trying to manage all those at once as your eyes gather tears.

Focus, concentrate, lines.

“Please,” You say—your character is not above begging but she doesn’t want to have to, “No one will tell me what happened, I just need to be around his things? Find some closure.”

If Austin’s character was teetering on the edge before, he’s definitely not now. His face swims with empathy, his hand slipping across the table to settle on yours, “Alright.”

A few more lines are exchanged, Max yells cut and Austin smiles as he comes up to the table. He leans his palms on the surface, giving both of you a onceover before nodding, “Definitely more emotion this time around but I think it works great for the lines and relationship already built up between the characters.”

Your instincts had been right, and God, while you know it shouldn’t feel so good to be validated? It does. Grabbing a napkin from the dispenser on the table, you wipe your face, giving Max a watery smile.

“Thanks Max,” You begin to maneuver yourself out of the booth, “I just need a minute.”

“Yeah,” He nods, “Take all the time you need.”

There are still a few tears slipping down your cheeks as you make your way out of set, your hands shaking as you try to ground yourself in reality. This is the consequence of diving deep, of reaching down inside yourself for core memories that will produce honest emotions. You just have to back out of it, slowly.

You close your eyes, leaning your shoulder against the outside of the set building, taking a deep breath in through your nose. You hear people come and go around you, working their typical jobs on set, except then someone hovers. Distantly, you know exactly who it is without opening your eyes.

“I’m alright,” You tell Austin quickly and yet your voice catches, as if to give you away.

Austin shakes his head as you open your eyes, tilt your chin up to look at him, “I wasn’t gonna ask—just wanted to know if I could get you anythin’.”

And that’s…that’s so nice without being overly pushy and you hate that one emotion just topples into the other. A soft laugh that wants to come out of your chest ends up sounding like a strangled cry and God, this is so embarrassing. Your cheeks dot pink and you shake your head, running your hands along your face,

“God, I’m sorry,” You sniffle.

“I’ve been there,” Austin smiles softly, leaning his shoulder against the set building as well. His hand moves to smooth over your shoulder, squeezing, “Difficult to come down from.”

Of course he understands and despite feeling that painful lump in the back of your throat, that actually does help. You shake your head, pushing your hair over your shoulder. You knew what you were doing when you pulled a scab off a healing wound, raw nerve endings now bright and sharp in your chest.

“I uh—I lost my grandfather last year,” And you have no idea why you’re telling him this, like you need to explain why you can’t get your shit together. “We were close and I guess I never really—” You let out a shaky breath, shrugging your shoulder, saying ‘got over it’ doesn’t feel right.

“Let myself feel it.” Maybe it was stupid to use that as emotional leverage, even though it registered the reactions you wanted.

Austin doesn’t try to guilt you or say that he understands, even though you know that loss is very much a universal concept. Instead, he lifts his hand to brush a tear track from your cheek, “I’m sure he’d be very proud of you.”

It’s the last thing you expected him to say and you don’t think you realized how much you needed to hear it until that very moment. A solitary tear slips down your cheek even though you’re smiling and Austin lets out a soft, affectionate noise.

“Come here.” He whispers, taking a step forward and wrapping his arms around you.

You find yourself letting out a breath of relief, eyes fluttering closed, nose and lips pressed to his shoulder. Not only has Austin been an incredible support system as a fellow actor but also a really good friend—someone you can lean on and talk to. You hope he knows you’re always available the same way.

You take a moment to breathe him in, the sandalwood of his cologne mixing with something distinctly him, comforting in a way that you can’t quite describe.

“Thank you.” The words are a bit muffled against his shoulder but you think he hears it; he squeezes you before pulling back.

“C’mon,” Austin says, motioning towards the tents in the distance, “Lets get some breakfast.” Doesn’t matter that it’s like, seven at night, but you kind of love that. “Think the next scene we’re shooting is where we’re fightin’—sure you won’t have to dig too deep for that one.”

A soft laugh escapes your chest and you shake your head, straightening your shoulders as you begin to walk with him, “Pretty sure the script says that I slap you.”

“Did you want to practice that, or?”

You grin, already feeling a lot better. You’re not sure he’s right though—from what you remember about the script orders, “Think a kissing scene is next, by the way.”

Austin purses his lips, “So you want to practice for that?”

You playfully smack his chest with the back of your hand even though you’re smiling (and thinking about kissing him).

“Just checking.” Austin winks and slips into the food tent to grab two plates, beginning to pile them high with breakfast items.

You feel that same flush heat the back of your neck and cheeks all over again for a different reason. At least you won’t have to dive deep in order to find affection and attraction for your upcoming scenes.  

[avelera]

I've been thinking about "Giving Sanctuary" and by extension how I view Dream and Hob as fathers to adult children who have died, and kind of wanted to articulate how I view them in that light, because there's a very specific kind of fatherhood I envision for both of them and it's not the same.

Think of this as sort of a "Behind the Scenes" DVD commentary for "Giving Sanctuary" :)

Dream as a father - so with Dream, I see his marriage to Calliope and his fathering of Orpheus as something he did while he was young.

Now, canonically speaking, Dream is billions of years old and 3,000 years ago is hardly younger within that span if we take that at face value. But if we don't, and we take it more that maybe Dream's maturity is more closely tied to humanity's sophistication, as the lord of their dreams, then bear with me for a second and imagine that in terms of maturity, Dream is roughly in his early 20s when he marries Calliope. (This is also slightly inspired by Tom Sturridge having become a father in his early 20s and my sense he brought some of that to his performance of Dream.)

There's a very specific energy that comes with Dream and Calliope getting married out of a certain "young love" that's technically adult but maybe not fully grown or wise yet. The kind of young love that could absolutely be destroyed by losing a child together. Years later, when Dream rescues Calliope, they feel like a couple now in their 30s who still feel fondness for one another but have understandably remained apart ever since. They're different people now, people who were fundamentally changed by the loss, and the people they are now don't necessarily have an interest in getting back together, even if they can *remember* their old happiness together.

Likewise, to me, Dream feels like someone who lost a child when he was young, perhaps so young that most people of his age (speaking in human terms) have never even had a child much less lost one. He has no peers to share the grief with. Certainly none of the other Endless have families and those that have children, like Desire, don't seem to view them parentally or affectionately, they're just pawns.

So even within his own family, Dream is unique in having had and lost a child that he cared about. He doesn't have anyone to really relate to about it and I personally headcanon that the Dream we know, the dour figure that is weary of life, whom Death is trying desperately to rekindle before he self-destructs from his own depression, came into being with the loss of Orpheus. As an adult, Dream has been shaped by a loss that happened in his early adulthood. It has given him maturity but not necessarily wisdom, rather it has left him bitter, distant, and brittle because he never properly healed from that loss or came to terms with it.

Hob as a father - in contrast, Hob feels like someone who became a father relatively late in life, and after a great deal of planning. He waited until he was well-established, rich, with a knighthood, and able to shower all his life's accumulated achievements on a child that was very carefully planned.

Then, despite doing everything right, he lost that child anyway. His son was an early adult, Hob was at the time of Robyn's death, mentally, I'd argue, a middle-aged man, and it shattered him. He "didn't go out much after that" and it sounds like, if you do the math, he didn't go out much for roughly 20 years. There is a very specific grief one hears about with parents who lose adult children, especially at an age where they don't expect to have any other children, a lifetime spent together, putting your hopes in them. Hob clearly loved Robyn, who was his only son with his by then deceased wife, leaving Hob utterly alone after having such high hopes. Parents you hear about who went through this are destroyed and never really recover emotionally. I could go into some specific examples but first of all, they're all just gut-wrenching, and second I don't want to make light of those losses, but suffice to say those accounts are informing how I write Hob.

Hob and Dream relating to one another as fathers of deceased, adult sons - Now going back into the fic a bit, there is that energy of two men of roughly the same mental (if not literal) age, one of who lost a child as a young man, one almost too young to have a family at that point (again, according to my perception, not the literal numbers) and how he relates to Hob who more recently lost an adult son while more mature himself, having waited a long time to have one.

I think on some level, Hob pities Dream all the more for perceiving that this loss hit Dream while he was almost too young to have fully enjoyed a life himself. Certainly this loss has poisoned Dream for a much longer period than Hob has been poisoned by his own. The bitterness is so entrenched in Dream by now that he almost wishes he *could* erase the memory of his family, because he's lost so much of himself to mourning them, whereas Hob still would not trade their memory because being more mature when he lost them gave him a certain relative resilience and wisdom about the world, he can cherish the memory and mourn them without wishing the pain would just go away.

Hob is also, by extension, in a slightly better place to advise Dream through his grief, even though he's technically younger, because unlike Dream, Hob always knew he'd lose them but Dream very reasonably approached Calliope and having a child with Calliope from the belief that he would never lose them both (it's arguable if he thought Orpheus would be a god or demi-god and thus immortal too but let's say for the sake of argument that he did expect Orpheus to be immortal too). He was even more blindsided by the loss that never should have happened, whereas Hob was blindsided by a loss that happened sooner than he expected.

Dream feels his mistake towards Hob was not warning Hob in advance that to have a wife and child would mean losing them, given the gift of immortality was limited. He has no advice for Hob because the entire exercise around giving Hob immortality was Dream proving the point that no one could suffer through what he has gone through, or survive eternity, without wanting to die. He is, especially within the fic, looking for confirmation of his own worldview that life is unbearable through putting Hob through the same experience. He can try to help Hob by assisting him materially and being there for him as a friend, but Dream is also learning how to do that, how to be an adult, mature partner, as he does so.

Whereas for Hob, looking out for someone else is something he has done as a mature man. He misses being a husband and father. Having Dream to look out for isn't something he has to learn how to do, it's something he has always felt more natural doing and he's restored to a stronger sense of self by having the chance to do so again.

Anyway, that's it, just a little behind the scenes DVD extra for Giving Sanctuary :)

[editorofeverything]

Just speaking to the void, but I was fangirling as I rewrote one of my chapter to my Daminette fic and I cannot get over what good parallels there are between Marinette and Damian.

Like, Marinette's this sweet, kind, caring, talented, silly, goofy, clumsy girl who had to grow up too fast. All she wanted to do was survive school, maybe get a boyfriend, have a good time with her friends, and nurture her growing talent and prestige in the fashion world. She loves her parents and family, and she is this exuberant, friendly gal who makes friends with just about everyone. Then, she's given this huge responsibility of being a hero and having to learn how to fight and lead and protect everyone and everything from ultimate destruction, all while keeping her secret identity and constantly feeling like a failure in both her superhero and civilian life. Before being LB, she slept in because she was a heavy sleeper and she stayed up too late being inspired to design, or playing video games with her parents, or doing homework like your average preteen girl. After she became LB, being a superhero took over her regular life. There was no balance. Then came losing Master Fu. Then came Lila, making Marinette's life horrible as a civilian to the point she could become akumatized- which she can't because she's LB. And then her friend- who she became a superhero for- all but abandons her for Lila and makes excuses for her even after learning Marinette's LB. Marinette gains a lot when she became LB- her confidence, a partner, a new love, power, respect, integrity- but I would argue that she lost that much more- Master Fu, her friends (to an extent and bc of Lila), her childhood, her teen years, her normal life, Luka as her boyfriend, a peaceful night's sleep- I could honestly go on. She was an abnormally talented, kind, wonderful girl who would grow up to rule the fashion world if given the chance, and then she had to change when she became LB. She grew up fast and was burdened with a power and responsibility that she never wanted in the first place, and her normal life began to fall apart.

And then there's Damian who grew up with all these expectations to be the next leader of the League of Assassins and was groomed his whole life to rule the world with his immortal (immoral) grandfather at his side. He was taught how to be the perfect assassin since he was born. He was expected to be the perfect offspring of Talia al Ghul and Bruce Wayne/Batman, the world's greatest detective. And he loses everything he's ever known at the young age of ten- his grandfather, his mother as she take over the League, everything he's ever known- and is sent to his father, who he's heard so much about because, despite everything that happened between them, Ra's al Ghul and Talia both have huge respect for Bruce/Batman, and this ten year old assassin is faced with his great father hating who he is and what he was trained to do. Damian starts out with the batfam hating every minute of it. He thinks he's in the right, that they're soft and unwilling to do what it takes to protect the world by taking out the ones who threaten it. He scoffs at his father's rules that all life should be protected and to never kill another, no matter how much you think they deserve it. It goes against everything the League taught him, everything he's ever known, and he spends his childhood learning and failing and learning again how precious life is and how the League and everything he grew up learning is as evil as some of the villains they put behind bars. He becomes a vegetarian and adopts a cow, a dog, a cat. He plays video games and learns that he likes to draw. He goes to school and suffers a mundane life every kid his age goes through. He finds a family and friends and a team falls in love. He spends the second half of his childhood learning how to become a hero instead of a dictator, and it changes him for the better.

And when you put them together, the parallels in their stories and personalities really play off each other well. She had the world at her feet and became restricted as she became a hero. He was restricted to be exactly who his grandfather and mother expected him to be and the world opened up to him when he left them behind. They both suffered and grew up despite everything standing in their way, and I think that creates a strong bond between them when they get to know each other.

(It's also hilarious thinking about how they would handle the other's situation. Like Marinette would absolutely become the favorite child in the Wayne household if that's how she became a hero. And then Damian would take over the League and run the world if that's how he became a hero, which wouldn't be good exactly, but he would likely learn over time (I think))

[restlessmaknae]

silenced

After your best friend disappears and the government doesn’t want to help, lies are discovered and the truth slowly unveils itself as you see your art-rid country for the first time for what it truly is: a land of manipulation, lies and total control.

➳ Characters: Insurgents!Ateez x female!reader/you (best friend!Yeosang and subtly implied love interest!San)

➳ Genre: dystopian, action, the movement-inspired au

➳ Words: 10.2k

➳ Warning: mentions of blood, being shot, guns, protests, manipulation, brainwashing, bullying, corruption, being orphans

➳ Dedicated to: @lily-blue​. Have the happiest birthday, my dear! I’m so happy that we can celebrate this day together again ❤️

➳ Ateez taglist: @dat-town, @tranquilpetrichor​, @effulgentfireflies, @americanokisses​, @kuleo26​, @anime-lover-2020​, @wccycc​,  @littlestartonightsposts​,  @koishua​,  @squiishymeow​

“It’s a lie.”

Those were the last words of your father’s that you could remember. You faintly remembered the creases on his forehead, the sharpness of his jawline, the dark, almost midnight black shade of his eyes and the firmness of his grip before he let go. Had to let go, to be precise.

At least, you liked to think that it wasn’t an illusion, that he was real and not just a made-up version of your father in your head. However, sometimes you believed that this scene was just a reoccurring one in your dreams because according to the ones who had taken you in at the orphanage, you had been abandoned by your parents at the age of 4. The reason for that had been that your parents had been Insurgents, and couldn’t have cared less about a child. Insurgents were the ones called by the government who went against the most basic rule: no art in any form. No music, no dance, no paintings, no poems, nothing of that sort.

Since the Great War of Art when artists and art lovers had gone against the ruling party, leading to great losses including innocent people, the government had banned all forms of art, and did everything they could to detain any last piece of art and silence any hum that could be turned into a song. You could only see art pieces in history books, so that you would know what to look out for to tell the police, but music had long been gone from your country. It was said that art was a fabricated lie; that art pieces only contained misleading, anti-government messages and tainted the truth.

It was a disgrace to be the children of Insurgents, so you had been an outcast at the orphanage and no family had come to pick you up. It had been fine as long as the kids who had known what your parents were had been adopted, but the stigma still lived with you up to this day. There had been only one person who hadn’t cared about that, and that had been Kang Yeosang, a similarly abandoned child of Insurgents. He had come 2 years after you, and he had cried in a closet at nights, muffling his sobs, so that no one else could hear him, but you had, and that’s where your friendship had blossomed from: mutual understanding, shared pain and a sense of belonging.

You two had grown to become best friends as years had gone by, and after turning 18 with still no parents, you had joined the government’s adult orphan program which provided you with a shared flat with someone else - in your case, it was Yeosang - in exchange for you working for the government. You and Yeosang were both administrative specialists, though under different institutions, and had continued living together. Since your housing was taken care of, you had enough to live by and you believed that there was nothing more fulfilling than working for the government that took you under its wing despite who you were.

You believed that until one day, your best friend went missing, and even the government didn’t want to help you find him.

Each morning, you started work by listening to the government’s agenda which emphasised why art was toxic, how the government tried to protect you from the lies of art, and how you should always believe in yourself for you could do so much, the government would always be there to help you - to rid of pain, to erase the small cracks in your perfect world, to ease your worries.

However, when you went to report Yeosang missing after you hadn’t been able to reach him for two whole days, he hadn’t come home for the night and he hadn’t left behind anything, the officers didn’t want to help.

“There are no missing people in this country,” the officer told you sternly. His tone was professional, and you knew that you were using this tone while working because it was the guideline, but right now, his emotionless state bugged you. “Everyone has a direction, everyone has a plan, everyone belongs somewhere. If he did leave, he would come back sooner or later.”

“He didn’t tell me anything as to why he would leave, that’s why I’m worried,” you reasoned, keeping your voice stable. You didn’t want to cause a scene, but Yeosang’s disappearance moved something in your heart. He was the closest thing you had to family, and losing him after being an orphan all your life seemed like drowning yourself would be a less painful experience.

“I am sure he will come back. If he does not come back after a week, he has somewhere else to be. People come and go in our lives, that is part of how we grow,” he continued in a practised, calm manner, bobbing his head to emphasise his words.

You let out an aghast sigh in return, not being able to digest the fact that he would leave without saying anything. The flat was intact when you had gotten home the day before after work, so there could have been nothing as outrageous as someone breaking in or kidnapping him. Since the Great War of Art, crime had been nullified, so that could have happened only in the worst case scenario, and Yeosang was no one special - in the most positive way. Thus, rationally speaking, no one could have come to get him.

“Should there be anything else I could help you with, please, let me know. If not, would you be so kind as to let the queue move?” The officer dragged you out of your concerned thoughts and pointed at the line of people behind you. Most of them were probably here to report an Insurgent, pick up their newly printed official documents or register for one of the many exams the government held to help people enter the workplace or higher education.

“Sure. Thank you so much for your assistance!” You bowed out of respect, left your waiting number on the desk and walked away from the office, your heart still as heavy as it had been when you had walked in.

The government had to be right. It was always right, you shouldn’t have doubted them, doubted yourself. Maybe Yeosang had indeed needed to leave somewhere, but he had had a difficult time saying goodbye. Maybe he hadn’t wanted to make you sad, to cause pain. Here, people lived to make this place better and to make each other content. Not happy because happiness was fleeting, it was an illusion often portrayed by art that couldn’t be reached in real life, but content. Contentment ran the offices, the institutions, the systems, and contentment suppressed anger, fear and pain. Contentment was the reason crime was almost non-existent in your country.

At least, that’s what you had learned. That’s what you had been taught. That’s what you kept hearing each and every day by sitting through the government’s agenda before work.

However, there was a tiny voice in your head that told you that either Yeosang had gotten into trouble - maybe by the Insurgents, maybe by something that had caused a crack in the system - or he had indeed wanted to leave. If it had been the latter though, you couldn’t have believed that he had just left without a word, especially after the last conversation you had had with him.

“What would you do if you were free?” Yeosang had asked at the dinner table, over the plate of your government-assigned food. In order to keep people’s health in check, everyone was assigned their own diet and daily menu, picked up in the morning at work and aimed at leaving nothing behind at the end of the day. Your health was monitored monthly by your own set of doctors, and this system proved to elevate the overall wellness in your county, hence promising a longer life that didn’t need so much medication and so many hospital visits.

“What do you mean? We are free. We are out of the orphanage, having a flat, having a job and food on the table. What more could you want?” You had quirked an eyebrow at the boy, not accusing, merely curious. This was your definition of freedom. Wasn’t it his?

“I mean… if you could have any job and live anywhere, wouldn’t you want to do something else?”

“No, Yeosang. The government is working so hard for us to keep such a balanced system. I’m thankful that they’ve given us a new chance after being abandoned by our Insurgent parents,” you had reminded him in case he had forgotten. There had been something passing through his features, but you couldn’t have pinpointed what it had been. It had definitely not been contentment.

“You’re right,” he had said and proceeded to eat. You had left it at that, and asked him about his day at work instead.

It had been nothing out of the ordinary, but maybe that conversation should have meant that he had been indeed intending to leave? You couldn’t have understood the reason why, but you had trusted him that he had made the right decision, and so, you had given up on searching for him.

A few weeks had passed by since Yeosang’s disappearance, and you had convinced yourself that the officer had been right: he had left on his own accord and he was doing fine. Otherwise, you would have heard of him, right? Someone would have called you on his phone that was still unreachable.

Instead of worrying about him, you continued living your life how you had done prior to his disappearance. Working, eating, doing the household chores, sleeping and volunteering to tend to public gardens on the weekends. Listening to the news of the country’s cities becoming more and more prosperous, companies doing well and more people taking the workplace entry exams than a few months before made you a proud citizen. It was a good place to live in. It was where you belonged.

However, the next Monday when you went into work, something happened. The government’s agenda was interrupted. It was usually screened and you listened to it through earphones as well, so you could see and hear your leader as well as possible. This time though, the screen glitched and only jumbled words could be heard through your earphones.

As usual, people didn’t panic at first. You were told and trained to keep calm at all times, and this was no different. However, the more this continued, the more fidgety everyone became.

“Stay in your seats, please! I will look into the matter. I am sure it is just a system error,” the supervisor in the room noted with a rigid edge to his words, then left the room. Everyone became a bit more relaxed, and a lot of them put down their earphones.

However, you were frozen in place, not just by the situation itself but also by what you could hear through your earphones.

“It’s all a lie.”

It was a robotic voice, nothing like the voice you remembered from your memories (or dreams?), but it still struck you as if you had heard your father’s words.

“Do doubt yourself. At all times. The government isn’t here to protect you. It’s here to isolate you from the truth,” the voice continued, and the way it said the complete opposite of the government’s agenda troubled you. Who was this? What was going on? Was it the Insurgents’ doing? But the government said that they monitored them all the time, that they couldn’t disturb the public anymore… So just who was this? Why were they lying?

Despite the racing thoughts in your head, the voice continued.

“The movement is here. You should prepare yourself. Brace yourself to face the truth, and remember: doubt yourself. At all times. Doubt the government.”

The voice was cut off, and suddenly, the screens were replaced with images of art pieces in all kinds of shapes, sizes and colours. You could only wear dull colours - black, white and grey -, so to see art pieces like in those history books of yours in vivid, almost blinding colours made you feel uneasy. Then, you saw people moving in an odd way. It was as if they were possessed, doing the same thing at the same time with the same preciseness. Sounds could be heard too, but they were odd. It was as if they connected. As if there was a flow to them, and absentmindedly, your fingers tapped to the beat of the sound. Could it be music? You had never heard anything as disturbing as this before… Yet, you had never heard anything as touching as this before. It wasn’t even just contentment that you felt. It was something else, too. Something new.

The next sound that registered in you wasn’t coming from the screen or your earphones. It came from outside, and despite the supervisor telling you all to stay in your seats, people rushed to the windows and peeked out by pulling the curtains to the side.

“This can’t be happening,” you heard someone whisper, and as you stepped closer to the window, you realised what she meant: the flying drones that monitored the city at all times were up in flames and falling to the ground, hitting it with muffled sounds.

“Is it the Insurgents?”

“What are we supposed to do?”

“Are we safe?”

The panic that had been long gone from people’s voices since the stabilisation of the system was back, and you had this gripping feeling in your heart for it reminded you of how your father had sounded before he had let go of you in your memories. No. This couldn’t happen. This system was foolproof. There had to be an error, a human error, it couldn’t have been caused by the Insurgents.

However, in between the smoke and flames caused by the falling drones, you could see blue… Blue capes. Those… Those weren’t allowed. You could say that your eyes were playing tricks on you, but you were on the first floor, you could see it well for yourself. Those were blue ones.

In the next moment, one of those who wore the blue cape turned around and looked up. You felt the ground open up beneath you, the sight rendering you speechless. Your eyes must have been playing tricks on you. It couldn’t be… Yet…

It was Yeosang. It had to be. The same warm brown eyes, the same jet-black hair, the same softness to his cheeks, the same dimples hiding behind his lips. However, the confidence he wore was unfamiliar. Or maybe it wasn’t even confidence… but rage?

As he was about to turn back, you didn’t think twice. Even though you had been told to stay in your seat, you had already broken that instruction, and now Yeosang was there, and you just couldn’t let him go without an explanation. So you ran downstairs, out of the building, passing by people asking you to stay inside and stay calm, and ran after the figures in blue.

You coughed constantly through the smoke, and you needed your eyes to adjust to the grainy, hot air, but eventually, you caught up to one of the blue caped figures. However, when you tapped his shoulder and he turned around, he wasn’t Yeosang. These were more fierce eyes with a piercing stare and a darkness sitting in his features that was nothing like Yeosang’s.

On the other hand, when a piercing sound could be heard, you saw a figure falling to the ground, and as he fell back, the hood of his cape fell off and revealed Yeosang.

“No!” You heard yourself cry out even though it seemed unfamiliar - both the emotions in your voice and the high pitch of it. Instinctively, you crouched down to the struggling Yeosang whose hands were going to his bleeding leg.

The sight made you so confused. He had been shot. But by whom? Guns weren’t allowed to the public, only to the government. Why would they shoot him? While it was true that he was wearing blue, he was innocent. You didn’t know who these people were in the blue cape, but he couldn’t be one of the Insurgents. You had known him most of your life. He couldn’t have been one of them, so why had they just shot him?

“It’s okay. It didn’t go too deep,” Yeosang mumbled with a feeble smile as he looked up at you. You didn’t even remember the last time he had smiled at you like that, and it felt so wrong for him to smile at you in such a situation. The sight made you freeze in place. Maybe he wasn’t the Yeosang that you knew.

“We have to go, they are here,” someone behind you prompted, and helped Yeosang to his feet who was seemingly able to walk even though he was limping and he was wincing from the pain.

“There’s a hospital down the street, you should…”

“Do you think they would treat him at the hospital after shooting him?” The earlier boy with the piercing gaze asked, and you were so shocked by his statement that the words you were trying to say died on the tip of your tongue.

After that, it was a mess of screams and smoke and noises that seemed close yet far at the same time, and you were struggling to see well due to the little bursts of fire around and the continuously steaming smoke from the damaged drones. What you saw was nothing like you had ever seen on tv: this was similar to the pictures you had seen in your history books instead. This should have never happened, not just the fire, but the system glitch and of course Yeosang…

You were so conflicted as to what was going on that you couldn’t move. However, someone reached for your arms and started pulling you with them. When your eyes adjusted to your surroundings yet again, and you caught a flash of blue, you stopped.

You couldn’t go with them. It wasn’t right. This was violence. You weren’t a part of this. You had nothing to do with violence.

“Come on! You can get shot here,” a deep-voiced guy told you, and pulled on your arm.

“They won’t shoot me. I’m innocent.”

“Do you think they care at this rate? The moment they saw you crouch down to Yeosang, you became their target, too.”

“But I’m not one of you,” you insisted, still trying to keep your voice calm and void of any emotions even though what you were feeling now was far from contentment. No matter who they were, you weren’t like them. It wasn’t just the blue cape, but the fact that they were out here when everyone was told to keep inside. You should have listened to the supervisor. You had broken the instructions. You had doubted the government.

“They don’t care. Come on!” Yeosang winced as he said the words out loud, and it took another gunshot fired close to you to prompt you to follow them. Despite not knowing what they were or where they were going or why they had Yeosang, seeing the only person in your life who you would call family in pain because of someone who was shooting around here, you followed them. It didn’t feel like it was you though. You were too occupied by the guilt of breaking the supervisor’s order to care.

The place you ended up at was nothing like your government-assigned flat even though it looked like one from the outside. From the inside, it was muddy, no one seemed to take care of it well, and there was such a disarray of things - maps, pictures, newspapers and such - lying around that it unsettled you. Both the sight of it and the thought that you were close to anything as messy as this place. An order was set for a reason everywhere you went; it was to avoid chaos that led to the lack of contentment and that led to the lack of an organised, thriving, flawless system.

They were prepared with a first-aid kit though, so they could take care of Yeosang’s bruise while you were watching in silence, still trying to process what had just happened and matching the names that were thrown around to the faces around you. It was a bit like an out of body experience, so what happened around and what was said, it all seemed like it happened to someone else, not you.

“It seems they aren’t scared to use weapons in public anymore,” the orange-haired boy - Mingi - mused out loud as he was sitting in a chair, occasionally glancing in Yeosang’s direction and also yours. You had never seen anyone with dyed hair, but you doubted that it was his natural colour because the roots of his hair were still black. How did he even colour his hair?

Even though all of these boys looked at you suspiciously, they didn’t voice it out and carried on as if you had always been there. You had no idea whether that was because Yeosang had told them about you or because they were waiting for you to speak up, but you were still so confused about the recent events that your thoughts were more occupied by the questions that the things you had seen triggered in you than the expressions on their faces.

“There weren’t a lot of people around though. It still seems that the government is keeping them under control, and they listen to them,” the leader-like figure - Hongjoong - concluded as he was putting a dressing strip around Yeosang’s bruise. Hongjoong had said after examining it that if the bullet had gone deeper, Yeosang might not have survived because he would have lost too much blood and because the bullet had been too close to his kneecap. In this case though, the blood loss was manageable, yet he would need a few weeks of rest to avoid putting too much pressure on his injured leg.

“Not everyone though. I saw people picking up the leaflets we left behind,” Yunho - a boy with surprisingly soft features to his wide built - mentioned, and you wondered if you had seen leaflets before. Some papers had been flying around, but you had assumed that they had been from the streets in general. It seemed it had not been the case.

“Good. We’ve raised even more awareness, now it’s time to plan the next one,” San - the guy with the piercing gaze - announced as he glanced in your direction for a few seconds. Then, he averted his eyes to Yeosang’s features, and there was such an indescribable expression on his face that you had no idea what to think - what was he thinking? -, but your stomach twisted nevertheless.

“Easy, tiger,” Wooyoung chuckled as he threw his arm around San’s shoulders who casually shrugged him off. “I think we have something else to take care of first,” he added, and now all eyes were on you.

You were not used to the attention of so many people when you didn’t know their intentions. At the orphanage, people hadn’t cared after a while because you were the child of Insurgents. At work, you were just one of the many employees doing the same job, you were no one special. Right now though, you couldn’t decipher whether they were looking at you as if they had wanted you gone or as if they had planned on using you.

However, before anyone could speak up, the door opened from a nearby room and a boy with chestnut-brown hair walked out of it.

“All the cameras are taken care of. No traces are left behind,” he announced surprisingly beamingly, though when he caught sight of the big bandage around Yeosang’s bruise, his smile faded. “Now, that was not a part of the plan,” he hummed, looking a bit more concerned, but it was still subtle compared to the way his eyes widened when he saw you sitting between Yeosang and San. “Nor was she as far as I know,” he looked around, confused, and it took a bit of time on everyone’s part to recall the previous events in order to explain the situation.

“Oh, so you’re the girl from the orphanage Yeosang keeps talking about,” the guy put the pieces together after the explanation, and he spoke so lightly as if Yeosang hadn’t even been there with you. Now it made more sense though why everyone acted so casually around you - Yeosang had talked about you to them. So why had he left without saying anything? “I’m Jongho, by the way.”

You didn’t see a reason to introduce yourself since everyone had already known who you were, so you kept quiet. Not that Jongho seemed to mind because he casually plopped down on one of the unoccupied chairs and bore the silence that weighed on all of you before Yeosang decided to break it.

“Why did you run out of the building back there?”

His question was very much reasonable for you had gone against what had been asked of you. However, as he was looking at you like that - like the person you had grown up with -, you were tormented just yet again if it had been worth it. How had he ended up here with these guys?

“Because I saw you, and you left without saying anything, and I just felt like… I have to see you,” your voice came out hoarse, and you were quieter than you had intended, but there was no judgement in Yeosang’s eyes, there had never been.

“Weren’t you told to stay inside?” Seonghwa mused out loud, and despite his neutral tone, you felt something light up inside of you. It’s not that you had been dragged here against your own will because you hadn’t; you had actually escaped with them because upon the severity of the situation - Yeosang being shot -, you had feared of something happening to you as well. You had never been afraid of death for it was a natural part of life, but in the midst of smoke and fire and the sound of gunshots, something in you had been switched on.

They might have been right; out there the government couldn’t have known that you were innocent. On the other hand, you weren’t even that innocent at all. After all, it seemed that Yeosang had gotten into trouble, and even though these boys might not have been Insurgents, they were surely rebels. Rebels that you should have never ever crossed paths with.

“I was, and now seeing what you’re doing, I regret it. I should go and turn myself in for breaking an order.”

“You did the right thing.”

“What?” You shrieked upon San’s compliment. You couldn’t even take it as a compliment for it was all too wrong to have done something like this. “What I did was outrageous.”

“It was brave. Brave because your feelings for a lost friend were stronger than the brainwashing you had been through, and this is exactly what we need,” he continued, keeping the eye-contact with you, and no matter the fact that Yeosang was on your other side, you couldn’t avert your eyes to look for assurance in your best friend’s eyes because the way San looked at you was pinning you to the ground.

However, the term ‘brainwashing’ triggered something in you, and you bolted to your feet. You hadn’t been brainwashed. It was them who were in the wrong. You couldn’t stay here. It was dangerous. They were dangerous. They were against the government who had raised you.

“No matter what your intentions are, don’t count on me. I’ll leave and tell them about what I’ve done, what you’ve done and…” You warned them as you started walking towards the door you had entered through. You were already reaching for the doorknob when Yeosang’s voice stopped you in your tracks.

“Do you know how your parents really died?”

You turned around, your response automatic. It was a reply you had prepared for anyone asking, and Yeosang should have known better than anyone. You didn’t even see the point in answering, but you did nevertheless.

“They were taken away by the government because they were Insurgents, so I suppose they died afterwards.”

“They were executed for saying the truth, for standing up for themselves. I know you won’t believe me, but you will believe this,” he counter-attacked as he turned to Mingi and told him something about a footage of a particular day. Mingi was searching for the tape for a bit, but then, he put it into the player and the lifeless TV screen came to life, showing people marching down the streets.

You had only seen such a scene in history books, but those were black-and-white, and to see the actual colours made you feel nauseous. People actually wore colourful clothes. People had colourful hair. They had paintings in their hands and they were singing - or at least you guessed so because it wasn’t like talking. It was rhythmic, it was powerful and it was undoubtedly beautiful. The way all those different voices became one. As opposed to the pictures in your books, they were peaceful. No one shouted over the other, no one pushed the other. They were just marching.

“It was taken on the day you said you had been taken to the orphanage. There was a mass protest, and if I’m not mistaken, you’re also there,” Yeosang woke you up from your stupor, and rendered you speechless.

No matter how much you would try to deny, he was right. As the camera zoomed in on the people, you saw him. Your father from your memories. He was holding the hand of a woman and a little girl. You.

You three were content, and you too, you were singing along with them. The way you looked at each other was loving, and seeing the woman by his side - your mother, you could only guess - made your heart churn. You looked so joyful. You had never seen others around you so free, so happy. Yes. Not just content but happy.

Then, gunshots were heard and the idyllic moment was interrupted, panic rose from the rows of people around. The camera zoomed out to show massive cars making a way through the crowd and shooting. Screams and cries could be heard. Groups of people were torn apart. Bloodspots started painting the ground.

“No. This must be manipulated,” you whispered in confusion, looking at the boys around you one by one, but all of their faces were calm as if they had already made peace with the fact that it was true. “Where did you get this?”

“From a neighbouring country’s TV channel,” Jongho explained sternly, and you furrowed your eyebrows.

“But it’s illegal to stream the neighbouring countries’ TV channels.”

“Why do you think that is illegal?” Seonghwa raised an eyebrow challengingly, but before you could answer, he continued. “Because the government doesn’t want you to see the truth. The truth about what happened even before the Great War of Art, the truth about how we’re actually stuck here and other countries around us are thriving, the truth about what art truly means to people.”

The more he talked, the more confused you were. While it was true that it was illegal to stream the neighbouring countries’ TV channels and to travel beyond borders for that matter, you believed that it was because this is what everyone else did. This is what was the norm. However, when Mingi switched to an actual news report about your own country, portraying the employees sitting through the agenda each morning, people walking down the streets void of colours and such, you were totally speechless.

“I don’t understand. Then, why do others know about this and don’t do anything?”

“For the same reason you’re not leaving this country and you rather believe in the government. Because they fear the government here. Because they see what happened to people who were trying to fight for democracy, and because just by having these footages, they are also risking their lives,” Hongjoong elaborated patiently, but you felt like the room around you was spinning.

It was just too much, too much to take in when what you saw on the screen and what you had been told were complete opposites. Then there was the picture of your parents and little you engraved into your head, and suddenly, your father’s words of it being a lie made so much more sense. You had probably been taken away from them during this protest, and that’s how you had ended up at the orphanage on this given day. Still, the fact that the version of your father in your memories was actually real and not just a dream made your stomach drop.

“We’ll give you some time alone now,” Hongjoong broke the tense silence that fell upon the nine of you, and prompted the boys to follow him to the room Jongho had come from. You watched them leave, except Yeosang, still unable to form coherent words, and burst into tears only when the door closed behind them.

You had so many questions - too many questions -, and it was just too much at once. The last few hours from the organised system error, Yeosang being shot, the escape from the chaos on the streets, the footage of your parents and you and everything the boys had said seemed so unbelievable, yet your eyes couldn’t betray you. The missing holes in the government’s messages about the neighbouring countries, the restriction on travel, the intention behind art pieces, the way they had shrugged off a missing person’s whereabouts all seemed to come together, but still, it was difficult to see everything through a new lens; a lens that had been said was wrong.

So may your tears be because of the absurdity of the situation or the fact that you could see your parents for yourself and realise that the scene in your head with your father was actually true and not just an illusion or a dream, but Yeosang didn’t say a thing about them. Even when you apologised because crying was a sign of discontentment and in your country, everyone was supposed to be content, he told you that you were allowed to cry, at least here, with him you were.

“How long have you known about this?”

This meant a lot of things in your case: the footage with you and your parents, the government’s wrongdoings, the truth behind Insurgent family members dying… However, Yeosang was patient enough to tell you everything. Since he had been a bit older when he had gotten to the orphanage and he had come a year after the Great War of Art, he told you that he remembered snippets of music at home, of his mother singing to him at nights and his father keeping some paintings in their basement. They had tried to live a double life - still making art while complying with the government’s regulations -, but they had gotten caught, and that’s how he had been separated from his parents. The government had tried to manipulate him into thinking that it hadn’t happened that way, but he still remembered, and that’s why he had been crying so much at nights - because the memories with his parents didn’t align with what the staff at the orphanage had tried to tell him.

So deep down he had always known, but the trauma of a child watching how his parents are forcefully separated from him and then never seeing them again lingered with him, and he had kept his mouth shut. Until he had met Hongjoong by chance, and after that, he had kept meeting the group, and decided to leave his life behind once and for all - knowing the consequences all too well.

You didn’t need to ask why he hadn’t told you about this beforehand; you knew that you might have even reported him for being an Insurgent a few hours ago, but the recent events had shaken you enough to be cautious. He also briefly talked about others’ stories - how Hongjoong was actually one of those who made drones for the government, hence he knew how to attack them as well; how Jongho got to the databases through Yeosang’s access to the government sites; how Mingi’s parents had moved abroad illegally after the Great War of Art when he had been really young, but he had come back to join The Movement here to open people’s eyes to the brainwashing -, but it was still a bit unbelievable to you.

“What’s The Movement?” You inquired at this point, though you faintly recalled that you had heard of it when they had hacked the agenda video.

“The Movement is what we’re doing, what we’re planning. Ultimately, we want to show people the truth, but the only way we can do that without violence is through actions like we did today. We attacked the drones and not people because we didn’t want to hurt anyone in the meantime,” he explained confidently, and this was such a new side of him. Yeosang was usually quiet, reserved and shy, but he had a certain - different - aura around him this time.

“But then why did they shoot you today in broad daylight?”

“I think they’re sensing that we are powerful enough to do something like this, so they also have more powerful responses. Plus, it’s not like they would show it on TV, or the ones witnessing the scene from the nearby buildings would believe that it’s for anything but their protection,” he elaborated bitterly, but you had to give it to him that he was right. A few hours ago, you would have thought the same.

“Is it safe to be here then? Can’t they track us all the way here?” You blurted out as it dawned on you just how casual they were being here. As if no one could have caught them.

“It’s a building of Seonghwa’s father’s. His father is a government official, and Seonghwa uses the upper floors as his flat. We use the basement as the base of our group, otherwise, his father thinks he uses it as a storage. No one would suspect anything because Seonghwa’s father trusts him and because there are no cameras, no drones here. The privilege of being a government official’s son.”

There was no malice in his words this time, though you could sense that it was more out of respect towards his friend than anything else. It was also very eye-opening to you that there were so many of them actually working for the government or being close to the core of the government and still getting through with The Movement. Just how blind everyone else was - including you - that they couldn’t see the signs, yet these boys could?

You couldn’t ask more because the door of the nearby room opened and Seonghwa walked out of it as if he had heard that you had been talking about him. As opposed to that though, he merely announced:

“I’m going to make dinner. Don’t mind me,” he said as he walked across the room to get to a door that led to a stairway. Oh, so that was how he could move between the floors inside. You remembered getting to this part of the house through a door that was at the end of a downward slope and under some bushes. Very smart, you had to give it to him.

Before you could ask, Yeosang explained that since Seonghwa’s father was influential, he didn’t need to follow his government-assigned meal plan strictly. He could buy as much food as he wanted and make as much food as he wanted given that he still went for the medical check-ups.

“Are you done, lovebirds? Can we get out of here now?” Wooyoung poked his head out of the nearby room, and you had no idea what to do with the implication. On the other hand, Yeosang just laughed at his friend, and it was such a foreign yet warming feeling that you were struck. He reminded you so much of your younger self in the footage that it hurt; was it worthy on the government’s part to create a world void of laughter in exchange for total control? That was when it struck you yet again just how badly you had been brainwashed into thinking that this was the way to live - void of laughter, happiness, art, colours.

“If you’re comfortable with having them around,” Yeosang turned to you, his eyes carrying worry. You still felt a bit numb to everything that was happening around you, so you didn’t actually have any feelings - neither negative, nor positive - to hold onto, so you nodded.

Afterwards, something that you thought couldn’t happen actually happened: you felt comfortable around these boys. They were laughing and joking around, sharing stories, stealing food from each other without actually getting angry and making sure that you felt involved despite not pushing you out of your comfort zone. Seonghwa’s cooking was also excellent, you didn’t even remember if you had ever eaten something so flavourful and truthfully, after the events, you were quite hungry.

You still didn’t trust them fully and you were still shaken up, but they helped you plan ahead because just like Yeosang had been on a secret wanted list that Jongho had discovered ever since his disappearance, you had also made your appearance on that list after today.

“So either you stay here with us and don’t go out there again because they might be coming for you. Or you can act as if we had kidnapped you and still say that you don’t know where our base is because you couldn’t see it well and start a new life. If you feel more comfortable with the latter, we might not be able to protect you as much as we could if you decided to stay with us,” Hongjoong mapped out the possibilities, and there was no point in disagreeing with him.

After all, he was right: you had gone after them, you had gone against what the supervisor had told you, and it seemed that you were on their list that they hadn’t told you about when you had been searching for Yeosang. Alas, you had been the stupid one to ask for their help, though you hadn’t known better back then.

So you decided to stay for a night at least, but little did you know, it was more difficult to fall asleep than you would have thought so.

After tossing and turning on the mattress they had provided for you for some time, you decided to leave the room and not disturb the others. You were in a room with Yeosang, Hongjoong and Jongho while Wooyoung, San, Yunho, Mingi were in another one, and Yeosang saw it more fit if you stayed beside him (and away from Wooyoung who kept calling you two lovebirds). Seonghwa had also offered to let you sleep in his bed on the upper floors, but that would have been more uncomfortable than this.

The two rooms were neater than the main lounge area with the maps and all, everyone had their own mattress and bedlinen, clothes were semi-organised on the shelves and all the boys had a part of the drawers, so they could store their stuff there. Since you had arrived with basically nothing, not even your phone or your bag, you didn’t have anything to put away, and you could sleep in a change of clothes only because Seonghwa landed you some of his oversized clothes that were clean and smelled of lavender, and since his house was fully-equipped, there was everything for you to wash up properly and all. He also seemed to have a spare one for every item.

You tried to walk out of the room quietly, making sure to close the door behind you with as little noise as possible. Then, you made your way to the couch in the lounge area, and almost sat down on it, but through the dim-light from the nearby lamp that was on, you noticed a figure already there and almost tripped as you took a few steps back. The figure reached for your wrist and steadied you as he rose from his seat.

“Are you okay?” San inquired gently, and since he couldn’t see that you nodded, you mumbled a quiet yes in return. The boy let go of your wrist as soon as he heard your answer, but before you could take that as an offence, he actually turned the nearby lamp to a brighter level, so you could see his features better, not just his outline.

He kept his eyes on you while your eyes were adjusting to the light and your surroundings, then moved to the end of the couch, indicating that you could sit down beside him. You tilted your head, pondering about what he was doing here at this hour, but decided to ask about it while contemplating whether to go back or stay here.

“Are you sleeping here?”

“No. I can’t sleep, so I came out here to let my thoughts race,” he answered genuinely, his voice coming out hoarse. The piercing gaze he had given you the first time your eyes had met was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he seemed a lot more vulnerable and weary. There was a certain degree of softness to his features, yet, there was firmness in them - a growing boy shedding his adolescent self while his more mature features were coming through at the same time. Maybe it’s because of the severity of the recent events, but it surprised you how young he was, and well, how young they all were.

You bobbed your head, taking in his answer as you sat down beside him. Even though you were practically strangers, there was just something comforting about him - about the way he had caught you just a minute ago and how he had just sat there, thinking.

So even when he asked about your reason for occupying the lounge room, you didn’t take it as anything more than genuine curiosity. Despite the fact that you were still fighting with the thought of everything being a lie, you couldn’t deny that they had been looking out for you ever since you had run out of that building.

“I can’t sleep either. Yesterday’s been… a lot,” you concluded quite briefly, though there was so much more you could have added. It was just that you were so used to not complaining since it was seen as a sign of discontentment and that was something the government was trying to suppress, you would have felt guilty for going on about your feelings.

Instead, you let silence take over the two of you, covering you with serenity and empathy. San didn’t push you for more answers, nor did he want to ask you about anything else. Instead, he started talking about himself in hopes of making you feel more comforted (you could only guess).

“I can understand that. I was like that once. When I met Hongjoong, I was angry and wanted to give him up even though he saved me when my classmates bullied me,” he admitted with a resigned sigh, but you furrowed your eyebrows in question.

“But bullying is illegal…”

“Not if you’re the son of a government official, and they were,” he pointed out with gritted teeth, his bitter memories dripping off his words. There was so much rawness in his voice and in the way his shoulders tensed as if he was recalling those days, ready to fight back, that you had no reason to doubt him. Bullying was a serious issue, something that was severely punished by law, but if the children of government officials had targeted him, it seemed that they could have easily gotten away with it. You could have easily questioned San, but seeing how Seonghwa hadn’t been caught hiding his group of friends in his basement, you could believe that it was true.

“My parents were once rich too, but they had to turn their art academy into a general study academy due to the war. That was still not enough for the kids to not pick on me even though my parents had never brought up anything art-related since. And kids can be cruel, it’s just that the government doesn’t want you to see the ugly side of schools. My parents also told me to keep quiet. When I didn’t, the next thing I knew was that the academy was gone and so were my parents. No goodbye, no letter, nothing, they just disappeared.”

One could have said that the boy’s words were cold, but you could see those microexpressions that gave him away - the frown deepening on his face, the way his lips twitched at the mention of his parents, his eyes taking on an even darker, deeper shade and his shoulders not easing up.

“And the government didn’t want to help, right?” You could only guess based on your experience, and the boy didn’t even disagree. Which just made everything even more heart-breaking.

“No. They’ve said I was better off without them and put me up for adoption. That was just one more reason for the kids to bully me, and that’s when I met Hongjoong.”

You didn’t know whether you had any right to ask about his life, but he didn’t seem to mind doing so. It was really difficult for you to accept that someone could be so open about his struggles like him because not even Yeosang had shared about his concerns as he knew that you wouldn’t have believed him, and in your society, talking about your struggles was seen as bashing the system. If there was something wrong with you, it had to be because the government-assigned diets didn’t work or the work system wasn’t successful enough or such, and so people didn’t complain or vent or anything of the sort.

However odd it was, it dawned on you that you didn’t mind listening to his story. It gave you a better picture of what kind of backgrounds these boys had.

“So did you grow up with him?” You mused out loud, not exactly knowing where this fit into his timeline with the others.

“Sort of. It’s not on paper, and he’s only a year older than me, but I did. No family adopted me, but Hongjoong always came by my school to check on me and he also showed me how to fight, how to make stuff and fix objects.”

In a way, it was like how you and Yeosang had found each other despite not being blood-related. It seemed that the children of Insurgents or those who had been wronged by the system somehow found each other. You just had a difficult time believing that it had taken you so much time to see the truth for yourself and believe it.

On the other hand, San didn’t bash you or comment on your past. If anything, his words were comforting and his stories helped you have a better understanding of the boys and how they were working on The Movement. The Movement was a nation-wide chain of organised events with the aim of showing the truth to the public. There had been other instances not just in your city but across the whole country as well, but just like you had never seen anything bad reported on TV or news sources, you hadn’t heard of it before. The previous day would probably not make it into the news either. However, the boys knew that they were growing stronger and stronger because more and more people were searching for the truth, showing up at their events and joining them.

These events were connected, and usually, they left behind clues about the next one - where it would take place and when -, but a lot of times they were merely putting on banners from afar or destroyed drones like today - which could be done from the privacy of Seonghwa’s house just like the day before. However, to make sure that the clues were left behind, some of the boys always went out in their capes. Since Jongho took care of the cameras and drones, their faces couldn’t be seen either, but it was their symbol nevertheless.

The thing was, the government scarcely could prepare for their attacks because just like you had been told earlier, no one would have suspected Hongjoong who was working on the drones for the government, Jongho who was monitoring the system security or Seonghwa who was a government official’s son. There were many others like them scattered around the country, and it was almost ironically easy to destroy the system from within this way.

That night though, you merely took these stories and connections with you to sleep, you didn’t act yourself. However, that seed of rebellion was planted in your heart.

During the next few days, you were still torn over the things you had known (or you thought you had known) and the contrast with reality. Your emotions were all over the place as well, and it was so unlike you to act so troubled that you felt guilty. However, the boys were understanding and patient as they knew that it was part of the process of coming face-to-face with what was going on in your country. So they didn’t take it to heart when you were throwing accusing sentences at them and they didn’t get fed up with your sudden outbursts. If anything, their support throughout this period showed you just how well they knew this feeling, and it showed you that here, with them, you could be yourself with all your different sides and many different feelings.

They were also working on finalising The Movement and its upcoming events. You learned that there were so many groups of Insurgents scattered around the country, and they were using their own phone line to communicate - perks of having someone work with them who knew such things -, so they always knew what was going on in other parts of the country because otherwise, they would have no idea. That was just what the government wanted though.

For instance, Bang Chan and his group of Insurgents were planning on interfering with the public transport a few days later, and they were in your city as well. However, in other cities, there was Keeho and his group who were about to screen some real footage from the past on bridges and at traffic lights where usually traffic information was shown, Sihyeon and her group were about to disrupt the monthly public service exam where usually hundreds of people take part whereas Chaewon and some other girls were testing out displays close to the border that would connect to the nearby country’s TV channels and show what they were screening about your own country. There were all kinds of events going on, you just wished every one of them would go according to plan and they wouldn’t end up in any casualties.

Now that you saw everything from a very different point of view, you could put the pieces together, and realise that having been rid of art, colours and all sorts of freedom of expression - let it be your clothes, your diet, your hair or the way you live - was so that the government could have a better control over the people. Since discontentment was seen as something bad, people feared speaking up even though they might have been struggling or wanted to have a better tomorrow - just like the boys around you and the groups of Insurgents around the country.

“Are you sure you want to be a part of it?” Yeosang asked the day before you were about to join them on their upcoming protest where they would use footage to show government officials’ houses, bullying scenes at school and higher-ups threatening their employees - something that could only happen because these were areas without cameras. However, Hongjoong had directed minuscule flying cameras to these places to record what was going on. They would show these on billboards because it was very likely that they would make citizens angry or at least frustrated as to what was going on.

“Yes,” you bobbed your head, your decision in joining them more firm than ever. You had felt so wrong for how oblivious you had been - for understandable reasons - and for being a puppet to the government when people were rid of their freedom, their money, their dignity and their life around you just because they knew what was the truth.

“It’s unlikely that anyone will notice you, but stick to San. He will help you out should there be any disturbances,” he advised gently, and you let your lips curl upwards. Yeosang had never stopped worrying about you since the day you had run after him and even before, he had been worried that you might end up getting hurt because of his disappearance. However, he had felt like he needed to leave because that was the only way he could be true to himself, and it was best if he hadn’t dragged you into this.

On the other hand, you had stayed on your own accord, and so, he had done his part to look out for you despite still limping and needing rest. All of them did look out for you actually, and more often than not, you found yourself having conversations at night with San who seemed likely to have trouble sleeping for he had too many worried thoughts. Due to his traumatic past, you couldn’t blame him. He had always been shamed for who he was, and just like you, he had been brainwashed into thinking that his parents were terrible people, and that he should have been glad that the government hadn’t disregarded him. 

So you trusted San and that he would watch over you because Yeosang had been the one going out with him, but he couldn’t do so now due to his leg. They didn’t even ask you to take his place, but you wanted to. You wanted to do something. 

“I know,” you mumbled to Yeosang, glancing in San’s direction who was currently listening to Wooyoung’s whining regarding the T-shirt that had shrunk in Seonghwa’s washing machine. You had no doubt that San would protect you - he had the built for it and he also had the determination -, but it felt odd actually being under his watch. It was odd and unfamiliar, but not in a negative way.

You were ready for this, and now more than ever, you felt like this was the right thing to do.

In a world where there were no vivid colours, it was like seeing the sunrise for the first time when they were slowly re-introduced, the palette spectrum growing wider and wider.

In a world where there could not be anything but contentment, joy, sorrow, disappointment, excitement and curiosity made their way into people’s every-day life, re-colouring their emotions.

In a world where the rich could do anything and the poor were looked down on even for whose children they were, the right social system had to be introduced, treating everyone as equal, and helping the less fortunate.

In a world where art was suppressed, hearing San’s lullabies at night was like a gift of its own, a treasure passed down from mother to son and then onto the other loved ones.

In a world where everyone was put into boxes, where you couldn’t be yourself, where you couldn’t express yourself, the freedom of finally being accepted and even cherished for your uniqueness was unfamiliar, a little scary, but ultimately, something that you would never take for granted again.

Because a new world has to come to erase all the pain, suppression and manipulation, but alas, the past couldn’t be undone, yet the hope for a new and better tomorrow was still there. In unity, in freedom, in love.

Soon, the expression ‘Insurgents’ was celebrated, not punished. Soon, you could be all free. Through months and years of constantly growing efforts, a new world came, and you, you were a part of making it come true.

This was what The Movement was all about.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading the story! It means a lot to me.❤️

If you want to read more stories of mine, let it be for Ateez or for other artists, consider signing up for my taglist here.

Have a lovely day/night!

[arcade-writing]

-leans in here totally casual-

Would you.. perhaps, tell me about your Mysterio?

Name: Quintin Beck

Birthname: Vyacheslav Beck

Nickname: misty, magician, Quinn, Slava, Solomon

Other names: the great Mysterio

Age: 26

Body type: twunk

Height: 5'10 (6 ft in heels)

Sexuality: aromantic, pansexual

Religion: Jewish

He moved from Ukraine with his family when he was 11 to New York

+ his tattoos (both arms are the same) normal vs In the dark

Lore/ story facts:

Man of many talents! Has an engineering degree, a degree in fashion and costume making, did courses to be a magician and a degree in film and creative media

Went from making and designing backstage props at his local theatre to becoming the Tech guy and then, starting a small film business by himself. It didn't go very far but with his skills he was asked to work on other movies. He agreed, able to make a living for himself

Even had a short apprenticeship at Oscorp for engineering, meeting Mason and then joining together as a Duo. Mason Caring for him like a father. And still supporting him as a Villian.

That was until, Scout arrived. (My spidersona) Scout was asked to star in a short film about himself but discovered that there were cameras everywhere - hidden. Even in private spaces. All to figure out his identity and share it with the public. Once that came out he made it known to the public and they got sued. After all, a risk to his identity could be life threatening. Causing Quintin to be out of service despite being a bystander and due to the bad rep, struggled to get back into work due to it. After all, no one wanted ties with a problematic company.

Whilst he didn't harbour any Ill will on Scout it was already hard getting through the industry as it was. So, he decided to keep uplifting his own film business - but if he was to make it about the hero. He needed a villian.

He decided to take on the role of Mysterio and amaze all of New York as the newest Villian for Spider-Scout to face. Documenting it all. People loved it! To get so close to the life of a hero and a new enemy - it was exciting! As time went on he became inspired by Scout. He noticed there was a kinship in their interests. It become more civil between them. He's now basically a blogger - crafting shows of illusion and magic for the public.

(+ the lil colab we did together coz it looks so good✨)

Traits and small facts:

His favourite food? shakshuka. Always feels warm and well fed afterwards

His smile is always crooked but wide, he has 1 dimple on the right side of his face. He definitely emotes better with his hands than his face.

When he's Mysterio is like he's a completely different person. Confident and bold. Grand in everything he does. Speaking louder than New York itself. He feels so comfortable behind a mask.

Also as Mysterio, as he streams alot of his fights, he acts like a show host. A floating microphone with him to capture every word.

He cries so loudly. Hiccuping and sniffling. Lips wobbling as long streaks of tears down his face. Is easily moved to tears at a good film or a piece of music that really touches his heart

He's actually pretty good at lying, just doesn't like to. He likes being an honest genuine person unless it's necessary.

He expresses his joy very visually, a small squeal will escape him before he immediately starts to conceal it. Definitely a laugher - always letting out one in some way or another. Big smiles and jazz hands.

he's not one to get angry. He doesn't enjoy it nor strive to feel it. He's very good at keeping himself in check but when it does? He's so quite. For such a loud animated guy, he can become so stiff and quite. Firm in his words and forcing back a snarl. It's uncanny.

being nervous is almost his constant. He's shy. He's built like an extrovert but as the personality of a shaky dog. Abit anxious when it comes to social interaction because he fears he'll be too much too soon.

Despite his inability to feel romantic attraction, he is a hopeless romantic. He LOVES love. He thinks it's beautiful. He had to learn to stop mourning his lack of it and realize he can love in many ways. But that doesn't mean if someone asked for a fake date - he wouldn't make sure he's best fake date ever. Flowers? Fancy restaurant? You name it! It's a performance he won't fail at!

He does smoke, non nicotine tho, he smokes through a long pipe for aesthetic. The plant it's infused with dyes the smoke and makes it turn from a light blue to purple.

He uses this plant for other purposes for his magic tricks - it is a non addicting herb that was discovered that simply as the trick of changing smoke colour.

Songs I feel that relate to him:

https://youtu.be/zgI56IFtQto

https://youtu.be/UH48socoj28

https://youtu.be/smkbWP79fus

https://youtu.be/dPlg9viUdQc

[brujitaadinbo]

From this same Kdrama (I swear to God it is a true gem of a production)

I was inspired by the second leading couple; They were truly destined to be together, but those hearts were stubborn and blinded by circumstances and by stupid things that they could let pass.

Dong Mae and Kudo Hina. They have great parallels with Sabine and Ezra and I explain why.

Dong Mae is a wounded man, rejected by Korean society and who takes refuge in the wrong people to make a place for himself in this circle. Living a life on the edge, he begins to understand that he is on the wrong path and tries to do things as best as possible, in love with Ae Shin, but in a very harmful platonic way, he lets himself be carried away by his feelings, spoiling many things. The question is; what he feels for hina.

Dong mae has a very strong bond with Hina; They know each other for being in this harmful circle, her story is just as tragic; They see each other as "friends or as if they were brothers"

But the way they treat each other is not like a simple friendship. We know that there is a limit that makes us understand the difference between the treatment as "brother friends" and the treatment you would have with that special person.

Then you begin to see how Dong Mae, despite being platonically in love with another woman, sees Hina with eyes of love, he takes care of her, he protects her, he is around her, as if he couldn't get out of his orbit, he consoles her and if she were necessary he would give his life for her.

We then see Hina, a hard-hearted woman with a very painful past, separated from her mother, sold by her father to the highest bidder. She lives with a deplorable man and her only way to be free is to become a widow.

Meeting Dong Mae in this circle of dangerous people, she gains a reputation, and with him, they have a very balanced relationship, she sees him as her "friend" and tries to fall in love with Eugene, because that man is more than its type. But something happens, something can be noticed, she feels jealous of Ae Shin, not because Eugene is in love with her, but because she knows that Dong Mae loves Ae Shin in a platonic way and does not reciprocate.

She takes care of Dong Mae, saves his life several times, supports him and watches over him. When he disappears, she sinks into depression, loses interest in living and in a moment of madness, joins the cause of rebellion and sacrifices herself. In a very sad and emotional moment, she realizes that Dong Mae is alive, she manages to say goodbye to him and says something to him that reminds me a lot of Sabine searching for Ezra's memory and having that longing to find him.

Dong mae carries Hina, because she can't move anymore. They are walking towards the shore of the beach and in her last moments she tells him "That man is no longer in my heart, I let him go a long time ago…

I waited for someone else, in the hotel's backyard, in the streets, on the tram I waited for him in his room. "I prayed that he would return alive, that he would return in perfect condition but the only one he loves is Ae Shin and he is crazy in love, that love drove him crazy and I still waited for him."

She recognizes her feelings for him, the deepest and most cautious, he begins to understand everything and it hurts him, because his feelings for her are there but there is also that stubborn platonic love for Ae Shin.

Sabine reminds me a lot of Hina because she separates from her family, becomes a tough woman, and in the meantime meets Ezra. Ezra lost his way and joined the wrong people, then somehow straightens his path, meets Sabine and that "being something more" relationship that always passes for passing as if they were "friends and brothers."

Then Ezra disappears, leaves and Sabine sinks into a depression. She decides to give up everything and take care of Ezra, his things, wait for him, continue longing for his presence. So when things get tough Will they somehow tell each other what they feel? Will they actually show their deepest and most mutual feelings?

I hope so.

[littlesparklight]

<3 thank you @papillon82fluttersby :D

The Rules: Tag (9) people you want to know better and/or catch up with, then answer the following:

Four ships:

Zeus/Ganymede: feel like it'd be a crime not to start here, haha. I've always been into mythology, but randomly thinking about Ganymede's myth a couple years ago now (that long!!) got me wanting to read Greek myth stuff, and I started with the Iliad (for the Trojan-related angle) and the Bibliotheke, and so. I might currently be more focused elsewhere but this is still my beloved ship <3 You can do so much with them, and, especially, I'd say, by interpreting them as mutually in love. There's obviously other m/m couples in Greek myth and even one of those that at first looks tragic doesn't need to end that way (Apollo/Hyacinthus) but there are so many reasons Zeus/Ganymede is the one that has me by the throat.

Menelaos/Paris: Honestly, looking back I'm not quite sure how I didn't zero in on this one from reading the Iliad itself the first time, because this is definitely one of the flavours of ships I love. This ship is also what led to, first, Helen/Menelaos/Paris for me and then Helen/Paris, because 99% of the time I just don't care at all about het ships. This ship is also why I currently am like I am about Paris! Make no mistake, I didn't hate or dislike him before that, either, like the majority of Tumblr (and elsewhere) seem to do; reading the Iliad I mostly thought him kinda hapless and inoffensive, so going from there and liking him wasn't that big of a step. The possibility of them having bonded during those nine days in Sparta (or in Troy!), going from friends (or more) to enemies with complicated feelings still in the background is just so damn juicy to me.

Carmilla/Laura: original novella flavour! One day I hope to do a rewrite/retelling of my own, that would definitely end with Laura going or otherwise together with Carmilla, one way or another. The way Carmilla talks to/about Laura and what they feel for each other is just. so great. The caterpillar quote. The one about Laura loving her or hating her, and especially "love will have its sacrifices; no sacrifice without blood". And you know. The boob-biting to feed is extremely inspired and very hot, even if Le Fanu undoubtedly didn't mean it that way. I don't care. They're mine now. :)

Darth Vader & Luke Skywalker: Since I am so deeply into gen&family ships aside from romantic/sexual shipping, it feels, again, like a crime not to mention these two. The ST might have broken the back of my fannish engagement in SW currently, but these two? I love them. I love Luke's impossible and earnest belief in his father's inherent goodness, I love that fucking scene at the end of ESB where Vader reaches out and Luke reflexively, despite everything, says 'father?' HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE IT???

Last song: Oh, uhh... I don't remember, but it's possible it was Teeth by 5 Seconds of Summer (happens to be one of my Helen/Paris songs for late war lol). I end up listening to a row of songs while drawing, sometimes (which is the only time I can listen to music and actually do something else at the same time), but it could have been another one, just as well.

Currently reading: Iliaden - en cover, by Dimitrios Iordanoglou, which is a (pretty heavily, sometimes) abridged and modernized version of the Iliad where the language is extremely slangy sometimes and the setting has been moved into "present day". Everyone uses guns and stuff. Apollo's main epithet is now "the Bomber" lol and he uses bombs and grenades. It's both extremely fun(ny) and really interesting, even if the language used sometimes make me wince even when I get why he's chosen it. But it's exactly because I know the changes he's made etc. that makes it extra interesting. When he keeps lines word-for-word from the Iliad they both stick out and fit in very well and it's interesting to see that, too. Also, and much longer than the above, is Paris in the Epic Tradition : a Study in Homeric Techniques of Characterization by Roberto Nickel, his thesis from 1997! I've mentioned it before; Nickel is exploring the possibility of the Iliad having changed/presented Paris (a lot) differently from how he might have been in traditional oral epic material. It's really interesting!

Last movie: Dungeon and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves! Loved it, a lot of fun, and despite how long it was, it all moved along at a good clip, nothing dragged.

Craving: Uh... :C Fics/art for my rare pairs? lol

Tagging: @a-gnosis @battlinghurricanes @crowlilies @my-name-is-apollo @scribeprotra @kebriones

[delta-gambit-au]

[[THE STOICISM OF THE FATHER]]

Presenting one of the 28 Swatchling siblings of my AU. Though all Swatchlings are able to change their range of colour depending of their mood or upon request, these Swatchlings were born of a particular colour in the spectrum, which matches with their personalities but doesn't lock them in one single mood (as the mind is fickle and malleable as clay). They are "shards" of the original body of Swatch.

Glace is one of the Swatchlings who has the longest of legs, thus making him taller than average. I drew inspiration from the bird Sagittarius serpentarius for the design of his character. I guess the opposite could be said for Tempranillo (who was born with shorter legs compared to his size and now sports robotic motorized legs as an adult Swatchling).

Glaze is naturally the most impassive of the siblings, being born with an apparent stolidness that hid strange preternatural capabilities for computation. He's regarded as the one to have failed to convert his previous drone personality to the one of a fully fledged independent Darkner. Talking to him requires of a particular technique because Glace is unable to understand nuances. He will take everything literally so one must have great care with the choice of words while asking him for something. He also speaks in the same way as Queen, but with all the feelings removed and in a more hoarse synth voice.

Because of this apathetic nature, usually none of the siblings hangs with him outside of work, only Ciel. Glace was the first to be drafted by Ciel for his personal "guerrilla", admiring his sibling's natural traits and gifting him a weapon on behalf of Swatch, who also acknowledged that such tool would suit Glace to increase the defensive power of his flock and deck better the defenses of the Palace at large. Glace is then seen mostly following Ciel as if he were some manner of personal bodyguard, and the loyalty Glace shows to Ciel is only matched to his obedience to their father. The times Queen has ignored Glace because of taking all of her words in the literal sense are countless, and she only tolerates him around because of his practical usefulness, but would rely on Swatch to issue any commands to Glace. She is jokingly worried about Glace turning against them because she knows about A.I. Being a Crapshoot, and would ask Swatch to take good care of "His Borgling".

In all, despite being a cold-hearted Swatchling, he still has his own moral boundaries, being a zealous protector of his family and of those who is charged to defend. He would be also the only one daring to question Ciel without making this one to burst a fuse. The honesty of Glace is what keeps Ciel sane, as he knows that only subjectivity will come out from the beak of his brother, relying on his input when Ciel wants to hear a second opinion. This steeliness of Glace has tempered the fortitude of Ciel in a positive way, and Swatch has seen this improvement on Ciel after he paired them together for work. He thinks that Glace is what keeps the furore of Ciel at bay, and since then, his squabbles with Marama has diminished somewhat. However, he's still worried that Ciel's paranoias might end rubbing on Glace, but the Swatchling seems to be enduring through all of them in the only way Glace knows: impassionatingly.

As an integral part of the Bird-Butler-Band (BBB), Glace doubles as the beatbox of the group, complementing the keyboard of Tartaglia with a myriad of new electronic sounds. Once his sibling Fenouil composed a score for Glace to sing to and to increase the repertoire of the band. The song was named "Hero Facing the Black Sun" and it was Fenouil's way to say that the one who would never succumb to despair in the event of an apocalypse would be their sibling Glace.

Though his strength is on par with the average Swatchling, his abilities excel at keeping the enemy at a distance while snipping the the weak-points of the target. His weapon of choice is a custom Walter WA 2000 that Swatch made for him, baptized as the Chanterelle Noir. He wields it upside down as he has no need for the scope in order to triangulate the targets with pin-point accuracy.

If not available, he's also able to use any other fire-arm, but has special predilection for his rifle as it was a gift from his father. He can summon and unsummon it at will. Like his father and all of the other Swatchling siblings, he's also able to shed feathers from himself that can turn into dart-like birds to attack enemies in a pinch. These feathers can regrow at will and the amount is tied to Swatchling's remaining stamina.

Along with his siblings, he's a shard of Swatch, embodying the cold-hearted nature of Swatch's subconscious. Swatch keeps special care of him, because Glace reminds him to the apathy he could have succumbed to if not rescued on time by Queen and Tasque Manager. He desires the best for his progeny and wishes for Glace to be always on the side of ORDER and to never side with CHAOS, to avoid his son to fall into that dangerous spiral of nihilism that almost seized his sanity and Darkner heart in the past.

Thanks for reading all of my non-sense (if it makes sense to anybody).

[nesiacha]

Fernand and Helene Iveton a couple in the Algerian revolution ( part I)

Fernand and Hélène Iveton

Today, I come to pay tribute to one of the most fascinating couples who inspire me with the utmost admiration regarding the revolution (the Algerian Revolution): Fernand Iveton and Hélène Iveton, née Ksiazek. On the surface, everything seems to contrast between this couple: he looks older than he is, while she appears younger than she is; he is a communist pied-noir (from the Algerian Communist Party), whereas she harbors deep distrust towards communism due to her father's persecution in Poland. Yet, they are united by love as well as their fight against the injustice faced by oppressed people and an unparalleled bravery. They could have simply enjoyed their love, but they took all the risks to help the oppressed and participate in the liberation of a colonized people (namely the Algerians).

Fernand Iveton was born on June 12, 1926. He was a child taken in by the public welfare system (he was born to a Spanish mother named Incarnacion Gregori, who died when he was two years old). His father, Pascal Iveton, took him in and gave him his surname. Along with his communist family, he was one of the few pied-noirs who refused to despise Algerians (which was rare, to be honest). Pascal Iveton was dismissed under Vichy in 1940 due to his communist convictions. Fernand, although following in his father's communist footsteps, was rather isolated and focused more on his role within the CGT as a union delegate. He was a close friend of Henri Maillot, also from the PCA, who was equally outraged by the injustices suffered by Algerians. The horrific events of May 8, 1945, only strengthened their convictions for an independent Algeria (here’s a quick summary of what happened: https://www.tumblr.com/nesiacha/749903094886907904/8-may-1945-in-algeria?source=share). One of the great leaders of the Algerian Revolution, Didouche Mourad, said of Fernand Iveton, "If there were more people like him, many things would have changed."

Hélène Ksiazek, wife of Iveton, was born in Dolany, Poland in 1921 to Joseph Ksiazek and Sophie Cicha. When she was 8 months old, her parents moved with her and her older brother to France. She loved her parents but found her father, in her own words, generous but violent. She had to work like them as agricultural laborers. She loved dancing because her father played the violin at popular evening gatherings. However, the physical violence she endured from her father (belt beatings) led her to leave the family home at 16 by marrying a Swiss worker. They had a child together, Jean Claude, but according to Hélène, she and her husband had nothing in common and their separation after three years of marriage was not amicable. During World War II, one of her uncles, Slawomir, who stayed in Poland, was tortured for an entire night by a Nazi officer before being killed with a sword. Hélène's parents in France hid Jews during the occupation, and she also hid a friend's brother who was part of the resistance. However, this was discovered, and the Vichy authorities summoned her. She wisely did not go and took refuge in Switzerland until the end of the war.

Unfortunately, the misfortunes of this family did not end. After the war, her father Joseph Ksiazek returned to Poland to settle an inheritance issue. Due to Poland falling under Soviet domination, he could never return to France and faced significant problems there. He could never see his children again, much to Hélène's despair, who despite everything, had great love for her father. Hélène Ksiazek developed a deep mistrust of communism. The Iveton and Ksiazek families might seem to have nothing in common politically, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear that they have always been at the heart of people's struggles and the defense of the oppressed, knowing very well they could die for it.

It was in 1953, when Fernand Iveton had to leave Algeria for treatment, that he met Hélène Ksiazek at the family boarding house where he was staying, and she was working. They met, hit it off, and she accompanied him for his X-rays, sharing their life stories with each other. She explained that she didn’t remember her native country and what the Soviet government did to her father and many others. She dismantled all the propaganda. Fernand Iveton, who did not hide his beliefs, listened attentively and accepted her explanations. Later, he would ask her about the truths concerning East Germany. He was a communist who would never accept the oppression of others. Since he didn’t know much about what was happening in East Germany and Poland, he believed her rather than the official Soviet rhetoric because honesty was a virtue they shared.

In turn, Hélène Ksiazek listened attentively to Iveton when he told her the truth about what was happening in Algeria. She also knew nothing about the colonial reality but was ready to trust him over the French government. He told her about the racism, the humiliations, the horrific events of May 8, 1945, the fact that most pied-noirs did not want equality, the colonial militias, the inequalities, the racist lynchings, the massacres, and the sense of apartheid that the colonial society exuded. In the end, they both debunked the lies of different states to better justify their imperialism.

They quickly fell in love. Hélène introduced her son to Fernand, who accepted him with joy. Jean Claude developed a great affection for Fernand and vice versa. The only small issue was that Jean Claude kept addressing him formally, while Fernand wished he would use informal speech. Fernand eventually met Hélène’s mother. Wanting to be considerate, he preferred not to announce that he was a communist, but she quickly understood from the way he spoke. Nonetheless, they got along well… But Fernand Iveton had trouble adapting to the climate difference between France and Algeria. He often fell ill and wanted to return. Hélène sensed this, and although she understood, she felt sad until he announced that he wanted to marry her and have Hélène and Jean Claude come live with him in Algeria. She accepted, eventually with her mother’s blessing, and her initial worries about Algeria were dispelled.

The couple married there and settled as a family with Jean Claude. They adopted a cat named Titi, whom Hélène thought had affection like a dog. She was quickly accepted by her in-laws, and there was great mutual love between them. They made it clear that they would not impose their beliefs on Hélène or Jean Claude. Hélène loved her new life in Algeria, as did her son. She loved the pastries her neighbors gave her during Ramadan, the Casbah neighborhoods, hearing the Arabic language, and many other things in Algeria. But like her husband, she didn’t like the racism, the inequalities, the insults against the Algerian people considered as “natives.” However, she didn’t like being judged for smoking in public. Fernand worked as a turner at Electricité Gaz, and she as a cleaner and waitress at the social services canteen.

During the 1954 earthquake in Algeria, the couple once again worked tirelessly to help the unfortunate survivors. Yet, in November 1954, the Algerian Revolution began under the impetus of the FLN (National Liberation Front). I will quickly summarize the negotiations between the PCA and the FLN, but PCA members could join the FLN individually. Thus, Fernand Iveton, as a member of the PCA (Algerian Communist Party) , joined the FLN along with many others like Raymonde Peschard, Abdelkader and Jacqueline Guerroudj, Félix Colozzi, Yahia Briki, Henri Maillot, Maurice Laban, Georges and Reine Raffini,Laid Lamrani   , and many others. Hélène Iveton approved her husband’s choice, saying that just as the French had the right to join the maquis against the Nazis, it was normal for Algerians to do the same. She fully agreed that her husband Fernand should hide FLN members in their home. She applauded the Algerian Revolution. She will be one of the most important supporter of her husband and would be very efficent to help him in the cause as we will see later. Unfortunately, repression, injustice, and tragedy would soon befall this couple and Jean Claude.

To be continued soon (at the latest in a week).

[kathyprior4200]

Avatar Way of Water, Spiritual References

Avatar, The Way of Water was such an inspiring, heartfelt and amazing spiritual movie. I loved so much about it; the action scenes, the music, the underwater visuals and the great spiritual themes in the story.

 Reincarnation

It was interesting how reincarnation was subtly referenced. Quaritch died in the first movie, but his memories were implanted in his avatar so in a sense, Quaritch was reincarnated into an avatar. He watched a video of his human self giving him instructions and a mission to kill his rival, Jake Sully.

Quaritch says to Spider, his son while trying to manipulate him to his side, “I’m not that guy,” implying he sees himself as a better version. While talking to his crew, Quartich mentions that they had turned into the Na’vi race for their “past life sins.” One of the interesting scenes was when Quaritch finds his previous dead body, holding his skull in his hand. Finding out how his previous self died from Neytiri’s arrows must have been traumatizing and surprising. Then with a determined look, he crushes the skull in his hand, as if to say, “screw my past life, I’m a new person out for revenge.” Neytiri, determined to protect her family says to him, “I’ll kill you as many times as I have to.” Also interesting is despite their hatred for each other, Spider still saves his father’s life and Quaritch lets Kiri go after Neytiri threatens to kill Spider after her first son was killed. Quaritch and Spider still care for each other enough for survival.

 Kiri

 I really resonated with Kiri from the start of the movie. Kiri is Jake and Neytiri’s adopted daughter. She was born from the avatar of Grace Augustine, a human biologist. Kiri has no known father and appeared to be conceived by the power of Eywa, Pandora’s version of Mother Earth. Throughout the movie, Kiri feels she is different from her siblings and her family. Kiri, her sister Tuk, and her brothers Lo’ak, and Neteyam are bullied by kids from the Na’vi Sea People because of their human-Na’vi mixed heritage. But despite the odds and their differences, they look out for each other; “Sully’s stick together.”

 Kiri displays a strong bond with the various plants and animals in the movie. Kiri meditates by looking at the sunlight reflected in the water. She rides and bonds with the water creatures that the Sea People ride. Kiri, Spider, and the clan are upset that the whale-like creatures are hunted down by the humans for their anti-aging substance. Kiri uses glowing sea anemones to attack the enemy humans and glowing sea creatures to help rescue her family trapped in a sunken ship. She also lies on the grass and claims she can hear Eywa’s heartbeat. Kiri’s connection to Eywa plus her love of nature from her biological mother Grace gives her a status akin to a yogi or shaman. Kiri would be very close to enlightenment in the spiritual community. In a sense, Kiri is Grace reincarnated.

 Even though I’m not as powerful or enlightened like Kiri, my traits and background are similar. With no father, a lost mother, and an unusual birth, I’ve felt different all my life. I also feel a strong connection to animals, plants, and my family and I’m slowly getting closer to understanding God/Mother Earth energy.

  God and the Akashic Records

 Eywa is the Na’vi version of God or Mother Earth. It is the magical force that keeps everyone together and controls the cycles of life, death, and rebirth. When the Na’vi kids learn how to hold their breath underwater from the Sea People, they mention, “the sea is within you and outside of you,” it “has no beginning and no end,” and “stays before birth and after death.” Sound familiar? This is a reference to the energy force we call God, Source, Mother Earth, Great Spirit, etc. Instead of the sea, the eternal energy that has always existed is within everything and everyone. Even though most cultures refer to God in a masculine way (God, Allah, Brahman, Holy Father, etc.) it does make sense that God can also be seen a feminine “motherly” energy that gives birth to everything…but has no gender at the same time.

 There are two very deep spiritual scenes in the movie that are unforgettable. Like the Tree of Souls/Tree of Voices in the first movie, there is an underwater Spirit Tree where the Na’vi can use their long braids of hair to energetically connect to their ancestors and clan memories. Kiri uses the tree to connect to her loving mother Grace before having a seizure due to the intensity of the experience. This can be equated with having a Near-Death Experience or Astral Travel where people travel outside their body and often meet their deceased relatives or God. Since Eywa and the glowing trees contain all knowledge, they can be equated to the etheric Akashic Records, which show all events in time. The other scene is at the end of the movie where they hold a funeral for Neteyam. They move a canoe with his body in it and then lower it into the water. Neteyam sinks into yellow sea grass which embraces his body with light tendrils. Jake mentions in narration, “They say that energy is borrowed and at some point, you have to give it back.” Neytiri adds that Eywa holds all creatures dear in her heart. This references the fact that essentially our bodies are borrowed from the force we call God and at death, our energy/souls returns back to the Source. The universal energy “above” we call “God” and the primordial material energy “below” we call “Mother Earth” are in fact the same energy in different forms. The energy in plants, animals, humans, rocks, etc. is God energy condensed in physical form. If Eywa loves all living things as Herself, why wouldn’t our God-Source be the same? Those amazing scenes made me cry and they give people much to think about.

[shittyblogname]

Michael Afton Fluff Alphabet

I didn’t have any big ideas for a wholesome Michael fanfic that would have made it long enough to post, so I am giving you this instead!

I got this Template from MagicalWarlock on Tumblr!

A ctivities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Michael loves to play with these kids toys with you, especially potion making ones :’), probably likes to go hiking aswell or cook together with you

B eauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

He loves your personality, the way you love him despite his past just makes him happy :), You’re his little lovebug and he could admire you just doing the simplest of things all day 

C omfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

It’s no secret that he never received much affection himself so he’s kind of dumbfounded when it happens the first time. Michael is a great listener though and tries his best to comfort you, would probably also ask you how he can do a better job when you are feeling better

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

He would love to marry you, but is unsure to ask. What if you don’t want a future with him? If it does happen though, he’s on the fence about kids. On one side, he wants at least one or two because he thinks you would be a wonderful parent, but on the other side he is insecure about being a horrible father like William

E qual - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

He is dominant, but will let you take the upper hand when you want to

F ight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

He has difficulty forgiving & forgetting, after all that William has done to him, but if you apologize properly and give him some hugs he’s willing to forget that ever happened :)

when you two are having like a kind of discussion that turns into a argument he sounds like a smartass, kind of pissing you off but he thinks you look cute when you’re mad

if you are having a heated argument, he’s quiet and just listens

it’s a habit he got from William constantly yelling at him or finding something that he didn’t do right. You’ll definitely remind him of those times at some point and he’ll just leave the house to take a walk and give you a chance to calm down

doesn’t like to talk about it afterwards

G ratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Michael is very aware of the stuff you do for him, even if it’s as simple as getting out of bed to give him a hug when he’s making coffee, very grateful for you just generally sticking around :)

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

he keeps his Fathers past a secret to you, or what happened to him/what he is doing now. He mostly just says that he doesn’t have a good relationship with him & doesn’t like to think about him or his Family much

he’s afraid of you being scared of him because of Williams history, however he won’t keep his past and Williams part in it a secret & tries to explain it as best as possible if you have any questions

I nspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helped them overcome personal problems?

you showed him that it’s okay to have difficulties trusting someone with his emotions and thoughts. Before he thought that something is wrong with him.

You inspire him to cut off contact with his father completely & rebuild a normal life 

J ealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

Michael trusts you, however he gets more insecure than jealous when someone gets too flirty with you, he worries that you think that they are more attractive & will leave him for that person.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Post SL I’ve seen a lot of fanart of him with having kind of mutilated lips, his teeth/gums exposed a bit etc so on your first kiss he was really nervous. He didn’t want to disappoint you with his lack of “lips”, so he didn’t really kiss you back, once you two got used to eachother though he gets more confident with his kissing skills aswell :)

L ove Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

He probably ran into you by accident at work & spilled coffee all over you & took the chance to bring up the convo there :)

M arriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

He ABSOLUTELY wants to marry you!! He catches himself sometimes thinking about how your wedding would be at night when you are asleep on his chest while smiling & giggling to himself

He would propose to you in a non fancy way, most likely while you two are cooking together :D

The marriage would be very closed off, he doesn’t want his Father there or any of his remaining Family to be exact. He’s also worried that your family might refuse to let you marry him because of his looks, but if its your wish to invite them & a couple close friends then he won’t protest

N icknames - What do they call their s/o?

love, lovebug, baby, beautiful, pretty, handsome, honey, the list goes on

O n Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

He keeps it very subtle, you most likely wouldn’t notice unless you really pay attention to detail. He smiles more around you, he’ll get you a cup of coffee or tea (whatever you prefer) when he’s getting one aswell, he’ll give you his jacket to walk home with when it rains, etc.

P DA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Michael doesn’t like to show off, it just feels wrong to him and he will push you away in public if you are much of a show-off. He likes to hold your hand and keep an arm around your waist but thats about it.

Q uirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Since the “situation” with Ennard, he has hypermobility. Do with that whatever you want

R omance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

He’s a pretty cliché Romantic, but gets creative on special occasions like your birthday, christmas, new years eve etc

S upport - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

He’s your personal hype man!

T hrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice out your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Michael prefers a routine. He never had one as a kid, even if its as simple as a certain breakfast, lunch & dinner time, so he’d like to at least cook with you once per day and eat together all 3x 

U nderstanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He has difficulty showing empathy, or really getting into your situation to understand what you are going through, but he knows how to cheer you up when you are down and definitely makes a show out of it so you laugh :)

V alue - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

It goes before his relationship with William, if you don’t like him going to one of his dads new places to work there etc or do something for him, Michael will respect your concern & think it through again.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

He listens to meme music like happy monkey circle & dances to that while cooking with you 100%

X OXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

He LOVES to kiss and cuddle you all day at home!!! Definitely needs his daily dosage of cuddles 

Y earning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

He’ll look at pictures he has framed of you together or send you cheesy love letters & pretend you are around the house when he’s doing stuff, says goodnight to the pillow on your side of the bed too :(

Z eal - Are they willing to go to great lenghts for the relationship? If so, what kind of? 

He’s willing to go to a great length for the relationship, such as investing into hobbies that you always wanted to try and keeping supplies coming but he won’t be your personal servant or anything of that sorts