#i'm glad this artist hasn't backed down

[not-poignant]

Do you know an artist I Am Luna Sol? Her antis went wild and it is really scary... check her twitter com /iamlunasol/status/1531760416967245826

Hi anon,

Unfortunately while the situation with that artist is terrible (no, I don't know them, I'm not in their main fandom), this is something I've seen happen again and again to many artists for the content they create. This is not the first time I've seen something this bad happen, but...I've seen worse. (Which isn't to minimise the trauma that this artist has repeatedly gone through simply for drawing ship art, it's horrendous.).

Antis are just like this. They have done it to many artists and writers. Some are proud when they make someone need to go to a hospital because of their mental health from constant bullying and abuse. They have actually tried to kill artists and writers in the past.

I would also add that in this day and age, mass-reporting someone you don't like on Tiktok and Instagram happens all the time, even if you're not in fandom. I follow a lot of immunologists and doctors on Tiktok who educate about Covid being real and a threat, and they get mass harrassment all the time with real consequences of being banned or having many posts removed. Likewise, an autistic person I follow on Tiktok, has had their account banned several times because they get reported for being, well, autistic. They've had to create back up accounts. I think it's happened 3-4 times already this year alone. It's not just an anti phenomenon, but it doesn't surprise me that antis use the same tricks as the fascists, the most far-right of the anti-vaxxers, and the ableist, bigoted puritans.

But yeah, honestly, the extreme antis are vile (personally I think most are, but some antis do grow out of it eventually and actually realise they're believing stuff that's just straight up factually untrue and using it to viciously and cruelly and maliciously harm people, it might be a tiny percentage, but still). Antis are, imho, one of the biggest scourges all fandom has ever seen. And they are going to get worse until creators are given more tools to deal with them.

[number1mingyustan]

Expiration Date (2/2) ☾✹

GIF by shatsusik

artist!joshua x model!fem!reader

Genre: smut, hurt, angst

Warnings: cursing, brief smut, explicit smut, mentions of pregnancy/miscarriage, arguments, a lot of angsty sad stuff

Summary: there’s only one way to go from here

Word Count: 4.1k

_______________________________________________

part 1

Out of the 206 bones in your body, you don't have a doubtful one that believes Joshua Hong is not your soulmate. Everything in you believes you were meant to be together.

You'd bet money that it was written somewhere in the stars.

He loved you and you loved him.

When you first met, everything fell into place with him so easily. He was kind and caring and things were simple with him. He would never shy away from compliments, often painting you because he thought you were so beautiful.

His muse.

It wasn't until he started painting you that his career really began to take off. His previous work was less abstract and interpretive, often capturing different colors and shapes. He never painted people, but of course that all changed when you came around.

His work was known before you, but his popularity skyrocketed, gaining worldwide attention and giving him much more credit within the art world.

You became a large part of his art. He's often mix different shapes and colors with your features. Your eyes, your breasts, your legs, everything he found beautiful about you really.

It gained a lot of attention and people grew curious to know who the mystery woman that appeared in all his new art was. Much like Joshua himself, they too thought she was beautiful.

But that was then. When your relationships still made you feel like you were floating and the honeymoon phase felt like it would never end.

You and Joshua Hong were meant to be part of each other's lives, you don't question that. However, you do question how long you were meant to be together.

---------------Two Years Ago ---------------

"I'm just so glad you guys were able to come down here and visit," Mrs.Hong says for the fourth time since the two of you arrived in LA.

You smile at her excitement.

"I hardly hear from my son since he moved all the way up to New York," she continues, shooting her son a glare.

Joshua rolls his eyes playfully. "I call you every week. Don't be so dramatic."

"It's not the same," she frowns. "I like having you here with me."

"Yeah well I've been busy with my art and everything," he sighs, pulling you closer to his side. His hand is on yours, thumb drawing small circles on your knuckles.

You lean into his touch, breathing in his natural scent. He's so warm and comforting. "Yes... extremely busy," you pout. "He does so much nowadays I can't even keep up with it all. All kinds of projects and interviews, don't know how he does it."

He smiles at you. "I've got the best support backing me up," he pats your head lightly. "With you by my side, I can handle anything."

He opens his mouth to speak again, but he's interrupted by the ringing of his phone.

"Oh- one second. Angel is calling," He excuses himself from the table and exits to take his phone call.

Angelina Yoon, his manager. You absolutely despised her. She was a great manager, you give her credit for that. She's incredibly smart and good at her job, but on a personal level? Couldn't stand her.

You didn't like the way she talked to you or the way she talked to Joshua. She flirted often and acted rudely toward you. Of course any time you brought it up to Joshua, he brushed it off. He'd tell you 'you're being dramatic' or 'she's just doing her job.'

Fucking Angel.

Not a very fitting name for her.

"Soooo where's the ring?" His mother asks, grabbing your hand and inspecting your fingers.

"Ring?" you ask.

"He hasn't asked yet?" she raises an eyebrow.

"I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Aishh this boy," she sighs. "Four years and he still hasn't popped the question."

You retreat, pulling your hand back slowly and pushing your hair behind your ear. "Oh yeah... I mean it's fine. He works so much you know? I think he's just waiting for a better time.... did he mention anything to you about it? L-Like is he planning something?"

"No, I'm afraid not. If he is planning for it, he hasn't told me about it yet at least. I just assumed after all this time he would have done it already. I'll have to talk some sense into that boy," she scoffs.

Your heart breaks a little, but you don't let it show. It's already been a few months since it was first brought up. It was in a similar manner, his mother had brought it up in conversation months prior and put ideas into your head. But that time, Joshua was sitting at the table and he didn't seem too keen on the way his mother had suggested it.

You asked him about it that night and he explained to you how it wasn't the right time with his career taking off. It hurt, but you were understanding. It was something you strayed away from even bringing up.

It stung though.

When Joshua's art first started to gain popularity, Angel suggested keeping your relationship and identity a secret. No one knew who you were, they just thought you were pretty and that Joshua captured your beauty perfectly.

It would create more buzz for him to be capturing some sort of mystery woman. Angel talked about how much it would help his career to keep you in the shadows and him in the light. So you did it.

For nearly the first three years of your relationship, you were a secret. A mystery, a pretty face on a canvas with no name, a nobody. It wasn't easy, having to sneak around and keep your entire life private.

Part of you thinks you lost yourself in those first three years, but that's an entirely different issue.

Thankfully, after you did finally go public with things, the modeling agencies came flooding in and you were in high demand.

"Don't worry about it... I don't want to put any more pressure on him," you give her a half-smile.

She feels for you. "You're too nice sweetheart."

Before anything else can be said, Joshua walks back into the kitchen with an excited smile. You and his mother both look at him as he sits back down.

"So.. Angel just told me there's a huge art exhibit coming up in Sydney, Australia and their main exhibit just fell through so they want me to replace them," he beams.

"That's so great Joshie!" you smile and hug him. "I'm proud of you."

"Thanks honey, they want me to do all new pieces though, and they need me in Australia in two days. The exhibit is in three weeks," he explains.

"But we're supposed to stay down here for another week... and then we have our trip planned for Aruba. Josh... the whole point of this trip was so that we could spend our time together and with family. I cleared my schedule for this Joshua." you sigh. "Besides how are you gonna put together a whole exhibit's worth of pieces in two weeks."

"I know baby... but this is important work stuff. You understand, right? We can always plan another trip, but this is a big opportunity for me. My work would be extending all the way into Australia," he places his hand on your shoulder. "Besides I'll probably just use those sketches I've been working on"

"I mean yeah... it's really great Josh, for you. What about me? I cleared my entire schedule for this," you frown.

"I know baby, I'm sorry. I'm sure we can just book two tickets and you can come with me if you want," he suggests.

"I think I'd rather we just go home. You'll be working a whole bunch in Australia anyway," you bite the inside of your cheek.

"There's no time to go back to New York honey. They want me out there in two days. If you want me to book you a flight home, I can do that if you really wanna go back, but I can't go with you. I'm gonna have to leave straight from here. I was hoping you'd come with me."

You frown. "I don't really want to fly alone."

"I mean, you can stay here with mom, until I get back of course. I won't object to it, but I've got to book my flight in the next few hours. So just let me know ASAP," he leaves a quick kiss on your head and stands back up.

"Sorry ma, I'll come visit soon," he hugs his mother and kisses her cheek. "I promise... love you"

His footsteps grown faint as he makes his way upstairs for the night. Your heart breaks a little more. His mother glances at you, she really feels for you.

"I'm getting tired... think I'll go join him," you tell her with a sad smile. "Thank you so much for dinner, I appreciate it."

You give her a light hug before disappearing into the bedroom with Joshua.

_____

He got you pregnant that night. He was much more excited than you were, he couldn't keep his hands off of you. Pulled you onto his lap not long after you walked into the room.

He was quick to strip you and pin you down onto the bed. You were still upset, but the pleasure was a temporary fix for the pain.

Sweaty and passionate lovemaking between the thin sheets of the old bed. His hands were all over you that night. You let the pleasure consume you, allowed it to pull you away from reality.

He told you how much he loved you as he drilled his cock inside of you, even had to cover your mouth with his hand to keep you from being too loud. He whispered dirty words and sweet nothings into your ear and left purple hickies along your skin. He pounded into you over and over again that night, switching positions halfway through.

The bed was old, creaked and shifted every time he thrusted his hips into you. You came twice, once on his fingers and once on his cock.

And when he came, he came inside of you. It wasn't unusual for him to do so, but for some reason your birth control wasn't very effective that time.

You wouldn't know it that night, but you realize that was the best and worse night of your life.

Because as quickly as it came, it went.

You stayed with his mom in LA for the next month while he was in Australia. He didn't call you every day the way he said he would, but that wasn't the least bit shocking. He ended up having to stay another week after the showcase to meet with different people about his work.

While he was sitting in meetings and being interviewed, you were pacing around the bathroom anxiously awaiting the results of the pregnancy test sitting on the edge of the sink.

You didn't tell him until you went back home to New York. You ended up flying alone anyway, Joshua thought it was pointless to fly to LA and then New York when both of you could just go to New York and see each other at home.

He was beyond excited when you did tell him and foolishly got your hopes up about what the baby would mean for the two of you. You'd convinced yourself that having the baby would make Joshua more involved. You thought his excitement would translate into him being more present.

But then you lost the baby two months later and it caused you two to drift more. The doctors told you it was a miracle you were even able to conceive in the first place. They said you were basically infertile and if you were ever able to somehow conceive again, the fetus wouldn't even make it through the first trimester. You fell into a depressive episode, making reckless decisions driven by hurt and pain.

You had to quit modeling and be admitted. The next 9 weeks you got treated and you got better. Although things got better, you'd never say they reached the level of good.

Better is simply and improvement, not necessarily success.

Joshua never saw it that way. He didn't see the way you were still hurting and suffering. He thought you getting treatment and getting better meant that everything was okay. He thought that because you saw a therapist twice a week, that you would just be okay. Because you took two small pills every morning, he thought you were no longer suffering.

It's your own fault partially, you played the role. You hid your hurt well, contributed to his thoughts about you being fine. At first, it seemed like he cared a lot more. But with him constantly asking "Are you Okay?" it was easier for you to just say yes. It was easier for him to believe it too. He threw himself back into his art and didn't put in the extra effort to ensure the well-being of your mental health after that.

It took two years and a very heated argument for him to really see it.

---------------Modern Day ---------------

The bed is empty when you wake up in the morning. It's not a foreign feeling, unfortunately. But with everything that occurred last night, it feels worse than usual.

You're not sure where your relationship stands right now. There's a tightness constricting in your chest and you're dreading the idea of getting out of bed.

After nearly ten minutes of you rolling around in the bed and avoiding it, you finally got yourself out of the bed. You wince when your foot first meet the bedroom floor. A reminder of everything that occurred last night.

After you go into the bathroom to brush your teeth and wash your face, you walk cautiously and quietly through the penthouse. The temperature dropped again and the marble floors are cold on your bare feet.

When you reach the living room, you don't see Joshua anywhere. His blanket and pillow are still on the couch, but you don't see him anywhere.

You let out a breath of relief. You're really not ready to speak with him yet.

You walk into the kitchen, seeing that the glass is still shattered on the ground. You reach down, picking up some of the larger shards.

"Don't worry about it, I'll clean it up," Joshua says from behind you.

You jump at the sound of his voice. You weren't expecting him to come up behind you and startle you. However, you remain silent.

"You need to take your meds, it's past 11. You were asleep for a while," he says and begins picking up the other large shards of glass.

You stand to your feet and nod. You don't look at him, you can't. You simply walk around the island and open on of the cabinets to grab your medicine.

"You have been taking your meds everyday, right?" he asks.

It feels even colder in the kitchen suddenly. The tension in the air hasn't subsided. If anything, it's grown thicker.

"Yes Josh," you say.

Even after all those nights of sleeping alone, Joshua greeted you with a good morning and a kiss. At the very least you could expect some sort of greeting.

But now? Nothing.

"Don't forget to eat something," he reminds you quietly.

You nod. "Right."

You pop a slice of bread into the toaster and wait. It only takes two minutes, but it feels like an eternity. Joshua grabs the dustpan and broom to sweet up the glass.

It's uncomfortable quiet. Your stomach is turning in knots and your leg is bouncing anxiously.

"Where did you just come from? I didn't know where you were," you finally break the unbearable silence.

"On the balcony, needed some fresh air," he says, continuing to sweep up the remaining glass.

"It's thirty degrees outside."

He shrugs, disposing of the glass properly. "Just needed some fresh air. It's not much warmer in here anyway, damn thermostat is broken."

He avoids eye contact with you, stepping away from the kitchen quietly. Your heart rate spikes.

"Joshua..." you start. "We have to talk about-"

You're cut off when your toast pops up.

"Your breakfast is ready," he says shortly and fully leaves the kitchen.

Your eyes follow him. He walks back into the living room, grabbing the blanket he slept under and folding it back up. His footsteps fade as he disappears into the penthouse toward your bedroom.

You sigh and take a few bites out of your toast. You don't have much of an appetite with the way your stomach is churning. You chase the two small pills with a sip of water before walking toward your bedroom.

When you step into the room, Joshua is already in there making up your bed. He's cleaning to distract himself, to avoid you.

" 'Shua," You say quietly, leaning against the door frame.

"Wait," he continues folding the blankets on your bed. "I'm doing something right now."

" 'Shua," you say a little louder.

"Did you wash your dishes? I know you used a glass for the water," he asks.

"Joshua." You say firmly.

He sighs, giving up and sitting down on the bed. He runs his hands from his face up to his hair. You sit down on the bed next to him. In reality it's only a few moments, but it feels like an eternity of silence.

"I'm sorry," he starts.

"Don't apologize... we both said some hurtful, but truthful things last night," you bite the inside of your cheek.

A beat.

"You were right... I did give up on us a long time ago. But it wasn't unprompted, and I want you to understand that. I gave up before you could."

"What?" he asks, turning his head to look at you.

"You work so much... and so hard. I had no idea artists did so much until I met you, but your work has always been your priority. I love that you're passionate about your art, but you'll always put your work before me."

"That's not true," he defends.

"It is."

A beat.

You and Joshua Hong were meant to be, not meant to last. You shared your best and worst moments with him. You spent nearly 6 years creating unforgettable memories and sharing experiences you hold dear to your heart.

Your love was like a candle, it was once lit and burned with fiery passion. But it eventually burned out and faded into nothing but melted wax.

Fire may be pretty to look at, but touch it and you get burned.

"But I love you,"

"You don't.... not anymore"

"Don't try to tell me how I feel."

"Josh-"

"I don't know what it is you're trying to get at or do here, but it's fucked up. If this is you're way of trying to make excuses for falling out of love with me or something, then that’s just wrong Y/n.”

"Joshua! This relationship is not the way it was five years ago and you know it. You couldn't even thank me in your speech last night."

"You told me you were over that. I told you tha-"

"Stop cutting me off and let me speak!" you shout. "You forgot to thank me in your speech while I was standing in front of you with a painting of me displayed in my background. I have become an afterthought in your life and not a priority anymore. You managed to forget about me while looking directly at me... and a painting you did of me. If you loved me, if you really loved me, I would have been the first person you thanked. I wouldn't have slipped your mind Joshua. It may have been a mistake, but it told me everything I needed to know."

He frowns.

"You think you still love me because you love the idea of me. You-you love the way I look on a canvas and in exhibits. You love that even after 5 years of painting me, it still makes you money. But those fucking paintings don't have feelings he way I do," your eyes start to water. "You love the way Angel validates your artwork of me and is constantly working to get your work out there. You would never forget to thank Angel, because she's not just an idea or an afterthought to you. She gets you what you want and I just... don't."

"Oh my gosh how many times do I need to prove to you that I'm not fucking Angel?" he groans and stands up.

"Are you seriously still not listening to me? Not once did I accuse you of fucking her, and that's all you took away?! Fuck's sake Joshua!" You exclaim and stand to your feet. "I'm done."

"What do you mean 'you're done?'"

"It means... I can't do this anymore."

"So what... that's it? You wanna break up because of an argument?"

"IT IS NOT JUST AN ARGUMENT!" You scream. "I don't know how many ways there are for me to say it. I am exhausted, mentally, physically, emotionally. Last night... you said you weren't the only one who lost the baby. But when was the last time I modeled Joshua? I didn't get that chance to just jump back into my work after the loss. I'm sure it affected you, it was a horrible thing to go through, but I didn't just throw myself back into my work and move on. I am still struggling every day and you don't love me anymore. I have no reason to stay here with you."

The truth is... Joshua knows exactly what you're saying. For the first time, he's really really listening to you. He knows what you're saying is true, but he's having a hard time accepting it.

Joshua has never been good with criticism, being an artist and all.

The room is silent aside from you sniffling as you wipe away your tears. Joshua feels the knots twisting in his stomach and it's making him feel uneasy.

“I’m sorry… I know I should just accept it but I can’t. I’m hearing you, I really am. I just don’t want to let go… I won’t just throw away the last five years between us.”

“We can’t keep doing this Josh… holding onto nothing. There’s nothing that could really fix us at this point.”

“We could do therapy..” he suggests.

“Pay $200 a week just to have someone tell us what we already know? C’mon Josh, you know you don’t have the time for that.”

“I’d make the time.”

“You haven’t for the last few years… let’s not kid ourselves”

“So… you just wanna give up? You don’t want to try anymore?”

“I have been trying Josh. But it’s exhausting and there’s no point if there’s nothing worth holding onto anymore.”

“So… you don’t love me anymore either?”

“What?”

“You don’t love me anymore, do you? It’s not just me, right?”

“Yeah Josh, it’s mutual.”

His heart aches when you say it. The words leave a bitter aftertaste on your tongue.

"Okay," he says finally.

"Okay what?" You sniffle.

“Okay then… we’re done. There’s no point in staying together anymore.”

He runs the palms of his hands from his face to his hair and inhales.

“I hate that is had to come to this,” you say quietly.

“Yeah… me too” his voice breaks. “I can be out of here by tonight… you can keep the penthouse.”

“I couldn’t afford to live here on my own anyway, I’ll probably just uh- go back with my parents” You sniffle.

“You don’t-“

“It’s better that way, really.”

Silence fills the room. There’s so much to process. You really just ended things with the love of your life, your soulmate, your Joshie.

He sits on the floor with his back against the bed. He tilts his head back and sighs. You join him, sitting in an identical position next to him.

It doesn’t even feel real yet.

You’ve spent the last 5 years by his side with your mind filled with thoughts of how your story would unfold.

The aching in your heart hasn’t stopped, but you know this is for the best. It was long overdue, past the expiration date.

Much like a carton of milk, you can only drink it until it expires. Once it expires, it's no longer good and there's no way of restoring it to the way it used to be.

_______________________________________________

© number1mingyustan - Do not repost without permission.

[orangesaek]

Have you seen that tiktok where someone's boyfriend asked for lunch and the showed it off to his coworkers/friends so proudly?? Kinda like an unboxing video lmao

( https://www.tiktok.com/@barstoolsports/video/7136210152868351274?lang=en )

I was hoping you could write a scenario where Mark ask if you could bring him lunch and he gets so happy he shows it off to everyone, doesn't even want to eat since he wants to keep showing it off:) I love your writing and hope you have a good year ❣️

hi! omg i'm so sorry this took so long 🥲 i hope you're still around to see this & let me know what you think 🥲🤍 oh, and i wish you a wonderful year 💕 i've never come across the vid, but I watched it before writing this! thanks so much for the reference 🤍 it was really cute 🥹

a/n: slightly proofread (my brain's not really in perfect condition to review everthing sorry)

It was already way past lunch time, and the guys of 127 have yet to eat something after breakfast—especially Mark, who probably felt the hungriest out of everyone (alongside Haechan, since they chose to sleep some more and skipped breakfast that morning).

Although you have reminded Mark time and time again to never skip his meals and to eat on time as much as he could, you couldn't really blame him for choosing sleep over food though. You understood how hectic his schedules have been lately, and there's not much you could really do about it.

You knew how much of an actual foodie Mark was. He was the type of boyfriend to send you links to new restaurants for your next date, or send you recipes to whatever delicious food he ate overseas and asks you to cook them for him. So to know that he hasn't been eating properly lately got you worried. He must be extremely exhausted to prioritize sleep more.

And that's how you ended up visiting their company with a lunch box for him in your hands that day.

You walked your way to the front desk and greeted the receptionists warmly. Being Mark's girlfriend wasn't an enough reason for the company to give you access to his workplace whenever you wanted, that's why whenever you had to give him something whenever he's at work, it's either you give it to him prior or one of their managers will come to get it for him.

"Hi, I'd like to leave this for NCT's Mark." you said as you placed a paper bag on the marble desk. The receptionists smiled awkwardly before looking at each other with hesitance in their eyes.

"We're so sorry, ma'am, as we are not allowed to keep gifts or anything at all for the artists." one of them said, and you nodded in understanding.

"Oh, no, it's alright. I understand. One sec," you said before taking the paper bag off the desk and getting your phone. You smiled quickly at them and took a mental note of the questioning looks on their faces as you dialled a number. Of course, you couldn't just straight up tell them you're actually Mark Lee's girlfriend.

"Oppa~ how are you?" you greeted on the other line. "I'm glad to hear that. I'm doing just fine. Actually, I have a small favor to ask..."

You glanced back at the receptionists and gave them a shy smile before placing your attention back to the call.

"I'm really sorry. I know you're probably busy right now, but I'm actually down here at the front desk with Mark's food." you said quietly. As soon as the call ended, you turned around to face them again and gave them another smile, to which they smiled (rather unsurely) in return.

You looked around and found an empty seat around the corner and made your way there. You took out your phone again and looked at your lockscreen. It was already lunch time, but knowing how their practices go, they were probably still too far from taking a break. But that didn't stop you from smiling widely at your phone.

Your lockscreen was of Mark in a green shirt with a guitar. It was when he had called you in the middle of the night to sing you a lullaby when you texted him that you were too stressed out to have a good night's sleep. You guys weren't even dating yet back then, but it was one of the countless times he showed you just how much he really loves you.

Not long after, you heard footsteps coming nearer to where you were seated, and looked up to see their manager greeting you with a smile.

"Hey," he said as he opened up his arms for a hug. You smiled back and stood up to return his hug. "Mark would have been really glad to see you."

It was no secret that you have gotten along really well with their managers. They were like the reliable and wise brothers you never had, aside from the other NCT members. And Mark was thankful for all of that.

After exchanging conversations and saying thank you, you went on your way. You took out your phone and sent Mark a text, letting him know that you have dropped by and that their manager picked it up for him. With a smile, you went back home, excited to receive a reply from your boyfriend.

"Excuse me, sir? Who was she?" one of the receptionists asked as the manager walked pass by them to the elevator. He stopped in his tracks and gave them a small (but polite) smile.

"Her? She's Mark's girlfriend. Better remember her face for next time." he quickly said before proceeding to the elevator, chuckling to himself at the surprised looks of the receptionists' faces.

Their manager quietly went back in to the practice room with Mark's lunch on his hands, and placed it on an empty table. His arrival went unnoticed by the members as they were too focused on monitoring their dance in the laptop.

"I just hope the food won't get too cold..." he sighed quietly as he looked at the guys who have now walked back to their formations and started practicing again.

"Hyung, can we eat after this? I'm starting to feel dizzy," Jungwoo told their dance teacher as he held onto his stomach and patted it gently, indicating that he was getting really hungry. The other guys mumbled to themselves in agreement.

Their dance teacher nodded and asked for the boys to do one more round of practice before letting them go for a break, telling them to resume practice in 2 hours.

As soon as the music ended, all of the guys let out a sigh of relief, including their manager, who couldn't wait to let Mark know that you have dropped by with his lunch.

"I'm gonna order some Chinese food. What do you guys want?" Taeyong asked as he went to his bag and took out his phone. The other guys, except Mark, have told him what they wanted to eat. Taeyong looked at him, waiting for his choice of food.

Mark just finished wiping his sweat off with his towel and hung it around his neck.

"Oh, me? I don't know... I think I'm just gonna skip lunch today." he said quietly. The guys looked at him in worry. They all knew he hasn't eaten anything the entire day. Yuta was about to protest when their manager walked towards them, holding a medium-sized paper bag.

"I'm afraid a certain Mark Lee's not skipping lunch today." their manager said as he held out the bag in front of Mark, and placed it in his hands. Mark just stared blankly at the bag, not really sure why it was handed to him. Their manager chuckled lightly and gave him a light pat on his shoulder.

"A beautiful lady dropped by a few minutes ago to give this to you." their manager said before giving him a knowing smile. Mark's eyes widened in realization and grinned widely. The other guys have started hollering and teasing him, with Taeyong saying something along the lines of, 'baby Mark's so loved'.

"Thanks so much, hyung." he said. Mark was still smiling to himself when he realized you might have tried giving him a call or sent a text message. He quickly went over to where his bag was and took out his phone, chuckling quietly to himself as he saw your name in his notifications. He bit his lips, smiling, as he read your text message.

'Hey, cutie. I hope your day's going well ♡ I made you lunch and dropped by the company earlier. Your hyung-nim came down to meet me. Anyway, eat well, okay? Stop skipping meals or else >:('

Mark sat down the floor and placed the paper bag beside him as he typed in a reply, completely ignoring the teasing remarks of the other guys (to which they eventually just let him be and continued on with their food hunt using Taeyong's phone).

'Hiiiiii :) we're having our break atm :)' he replied before sending in a couple more follow-up texts.

'I wish I could have seen u today :( but thank u for dropping by :') and for my lunch :')'

Mark opened his camera app, held the paper bag close to his face, and took a selfie. He went back to the messaging app and sent you the picture.

'I'm sooo so so super-duper lucky to have u :((( i love u so much ♡'

'but what do u mean by or else?'

"This is just one of those days I wish I had a girlfriend, too." Doyoung mumbled to himself quietly as he looked at Mark's happily-in-love face. Unfortunately for him, Johnny heard him clearly and started teasing him.

"I can help you create a Tinder account, you know." Johnny said, raising his eyebrows teasingly. Doyoung just frowned at him in response before playfully punching his arm.

"Melkkk~ we're gonna order some dessert. Want anything?" Haechan called. Mark turned his head to face the other guys who were crowded around Taeyong, and shook his head no.

"What are you having for lunch?" Jaehyun asked as he laid down on the floor.

"Oh, right. I haven't opened it yet." Mark chuckled to himself. He found a small box at the top, a bento box below, some disposable utensils, and a small vacuum flask on the side. He took out the contents and carefully placed them on the floor.

The guys quickly gathered to where Mark was, feeling intrigued by what he's having for lunch. They all knew how good of a cook you were, and they were excited to know what was on the menu today.

"Start with the small box, hurry!" Haechan said rather impatiently.

"Just let him be." Doyoung reprimanded lightly, although he was just as curious as Haechan was.

Mark opened the bento box and gasped loudly, with the others gasping along after seeing what you have prepared.

"OMG! It's so cuuute!" Jungwoo exclaimed as the others smiled in agreement.

"Dude, if I were you, I wouldn't dare destroy this masterpiece." Johnny commented. Mark just smiled even wider, feeling his heart full of love. He grabbed his phone from his pocket and took a picture of the food. He was about to send you the picture when you sent in a reply.

'excuse me? I'm the one who's lucky to have you >:*'

'and i love you too, but if you don't finish your lunch, no sexy time for you, Mr. Lee >:('

The guys whipped their heads when they heard Mark giggling to himself as he was typing away on his phone.

"Okay, I don't want to feel extra single today, so I'm gonna go away." Haechan said jokingly after looking over at Mark's phone and reading your reply. He stood up and made his way to the couch as the other guys followed suit, (im)patiently waiting for their orders to arrive, completely leaving Mark in his own world.

'oh no :(( i can't live without our sexy time :'( i gotta make sure no grain's gonna be left uneaten then' Mark replied, still smiling and giggling to himself. He placed his phone on his thigh as he took the small small box and carefully opened it.

Mark let out another gasp as he covered his mouth with his hands. The guys craned their necks from the couch in curiosity.

In the box was a small cake with a watermelon design on it. Small hearts were also drawn around it.

"Awww~ guys, look! Look! It's a watermelon cake!" Mark proudly showed off to the other guys, to which they grinned at how cute it was.

Mark took a picture of the cake and sent it to you, also asking you if you were the one who made it as he knew that you were also quite skilled in baking.

'yaaasss :'> u like it?' you replied.

Mark couldn't help another smile to form on his lips. He couldn't count how many times he has smiled in less than 30 minutes. All because of you.

'awww how perfect could u get :'( told u i'm super duper lucky to have u :'( thanks so much, my love ♡♡♡'

Mark took the spoon was just about to start digging on his lunch when he stopped to admire it again. For the nth time that day, he let out another smile. He set the spoon aside and grabbed his phone again to send you another text.

'babe, i'm sorry, but i can't bring myself to eat this :'(' he replied before sending you a picture he previously took of the food.

'look at this. who in their right mind would eat this pretty little thing, really :( i should have this framed or something'

Mark stared at his lunch as he waited for your reply, still admiring the food you had prepared for him. His lunch actually consisted of some of his favorite dishes, including the kimchi jjigae that was in the flask (which he has yet to open, by the way). You knew much he loves it.

Meanwhile, the other boys just quietly looked at Mark, feeling the overflowing love you both had for each other.

"If it was any other day and I didn't know why he's being like that right now, I would say he's gone crazy." Haechan said quietly but just enough for the other guys to hear him.

"Well, we can't really blame him for being crazily in love with his girlfriend. I mean, I would too if she was my girl, to be honest." Taeil commented, a soft smile forming on his lips as he looked at Mark's still-smiling face. The others just nodded in agreement.

Mark quicky picked up his phone when it vibrated, signalling a reply from you. He opened the text message and chuckled softly at your reply.

'just eat it. i'll make you a prettier one next time, don't worry :*'

'don't text me until you're done eating >:( with proof!'

Mark typed in an 'okay' with a lot of heart emojis before putting down his phone again and looking at his food. He grabbed the flask, opened it, and giggled in delight at what he saw.

"Guys," he called as the tried to show them the contents of the flask, and the other members looked at him in wonder.

"It's kimchi jjigae, my favorite!!!" he shouted while his members just laughed heartily at his excitement. They were happy to see Mark so happy.

Mark was about to put the paper bag away when he saw a small folded paper left inside. He wondered what it was and took it out. It was a letter you wrote for him, and Mark smiled softly as he read the message.

"To my one and only love, Mark. I wish you nothing but good health above anything else. Even though we couldn't possibly be together all the time, I hope you know you're always on my mind :) words just cannot express how much I love you, my cutie little watermelon boy ♡"

Mark placed your letter on his left chest, feeling so grateful to experience this kind of genuine love from you, his first-ever girlfriend, and also hopefully his endgame. He has made it his personal mission to make sure he's gonna spend the rest of his life with you.

Haechan let out an exasperated sigh and abruptly stood up from his seat, both hands on his hips. The guys whipped their heads to him, clearly puzzled, including Mark, who was still holding your letter close to his heart.

"Hyung, do you want us to feed you or something? Coz your food's getting cold. Like, seriously. I'm concerned."

- end.

[singular-yike]

So what's the deal with everybody's favorite spoopy mirror Mitsumo?

It's been a while since my last post, hasn't it? I'm glad to be back doing another one

I've been busy with my Len'en Tweet Collection project recently, a thorough translation of all tweets related to JynX and Len'en! Check it out if you'd like, but it is mainly just for archival purposes, any info will be logged on the Len'en wiki eventually.

Now! Back to our topic of the day. One might think that there won't be much going for this stage 1 boss, especially since they don't even contribute to the world-building much, unlike Souko.

I thought that would be the case as well, but as I did my research, I found that there's actually still quite a bit to go through with them. So, let us take a dive into this silly-looking mirror and their tagalong!

Visualized Mental Scars — Mitsumo (and Terumi!)

Name: Mitsumo

The name Mitsumo (照雲) is a simple one, comprised of two kanji meaning "illuminate" (照) and "cloud" (雲) respectively.

These are likely taken from the first kanji in shouyoukou (照妖鏡) and ungaikyou (雲外鏡) respectively, the type of object Mitsumo is/inhabits, and the youkai Mitsumo is based on. More on them later.

Name: Terumi

Terumi (輝美), Mitsumo's little tagalong, also has a simple name, the two kanji meaning "shine" (輝) and "beauty" (美) respectively. This name is also a pun on the Japanese word for "mirror", kagami (鏡), as the two kanji can be read as kaga and mi respectively.

Background: Evil-illuminating Mirror

The only concrete piece of information we have about Mitsumo, is that they are a "evil-illuminating mirror" youkai.

An "evil-illuminating mirror" (照妖鏡 CN: zhàoyāojìng JP: shoumakyou) refers to enchanted mirrors originating from Chinese legends that are able to reveal a youkai's true form or magic.

In Japanese tales, they're more often known as "demon-illuminating mirrors" (照魔鏡 shoumakyou) or "youkai-felling mirrors" (降妖鏡 gouyoukyou).

And that's all we know about Mitsumo. Notably, it's not even clear whether they are the mirror itself or a spirit inhabiting the mirror.

Abilities

Project Trauma

Mitsumo is known to have two major abilities, chief amongst them is their ability to "project trauma".

The verb used in the original Japanese is utsusu (映す), which refers to the action of a mirror capturing a reflection and showing its image upon its surface. But also to project something, like onto a TV screen or onto a wall.

So we can surmise that Mitsumo is able to show whoever looks into them their greatest trauma, destroying their minds and taking them over as a vessel.

When this happens, that headband with the tiny mirror apparently manifests on their victims head, and Mitsumo gains total control over them. This is needed because, being a mirror, Mitsumo cannot move by themself much, and thus requires assistance.

Producing Clouds

As we can see in BPoHC though, Mitsumo and Terumi ride on a tower of clouds to fly about and fight the protagonists.

This is revealed in a Kanae stream to be an ability they employ when they're getting ready to fight, as it allows them quick escape should their vessel get struck down in battle.

However, this apparently consumes much youkai energy, so Mitsumo prefers to avoid using it if they can.

Mythological Basis: Ungaikyou

Mitsumo is likely based on the ungaikyou (雲外鏡 mirror beyond the clouds), a youkai first seen in the 18th century artist Toriyama Sekien's Illustrated Bag of One Hundred Housewares (百器徒然袋).

Above: Toriyama Sekien's illustration of the ungaikyou

Not much is known about the original ungaikyou, not even what it can do, simply that it exists, at least according to Toriyama.

However, as you can see from the illustration, the mirror rests on a tower of clouds (or mirror stand that is designed to look like clouds), and has a rather silly face in the mirror.

This design is quite heavily reflected in Mitsumo, with the clouds they produce and the many eyes on the mirror.

Origins

The accompanying text for this entry reads:

In my dreams, I thought to myself, "The so called 'evil-illuminating mirror' is able to capture upon its surface the forms of various bizarre things, so when I think about what happens when its shadow is captured, what came to me was this youkai."

It is frankly unclear what Toriyama means by this, though what is agreed on is that this likely suggests:

This youkai is likely invented by Toriyama, if inspired by a dream.

This youkai is likely based on the evil-illuminating mirror.

Not much can be gleaned from this, so we could try turning to its name instead. Ungaikyou, the "mirror beyond the clouds".

It's been suggested that perhaps the name is a reference to the Classic of Mountains and Seas (山海經), read sengaikyou in Japanese. It's a classical Chinese text that notably features a great number of descriptions of Chinese youkai, over 350 of them.

Additionally, it's been suggested that the "beyond the clouds" bit of its name refers to the "clear skies", which is further a metaphor for how the evil-illuminating mirror is able to reveal the true form of things, unobstructed by illusions.

Abilities

While Toriyama does not give any description to what the ungaikyou actually does, later writers have expanded upon the youkai and gave it a variety of somewhat similar abilities.

In the 1997 Dictionary of the Monster (幻想動物事典) by Takumi Kusano (草野巧), he gives the ungaikyou the ability to "show humans the image of a youkai they could become".

In the Illustrated Compendium of Youkai (図説　妖怪辞典) by "Youkai dot com" (妖怪ドットコム), the ungaikyou is given the ability to "control other youkai whose form has been reflected in the mirror".

These two abilities can be seen to combine into Mitsumo's ability, showing whoever peers into them a horrifying sight and then taking over their body.

Nature

As mentioned, there's not much we can tell from Toriyama's original depiction, but many later interpretations group it, and in fact every youkai in this book, into a group of youkai known as tsukumogami.

The word tsukumogami (付喪神 gods/spirits that posses [things that are] ruin[ed]) has been applied to applied to many different things, so what it specifically refers to isn't exactly 100% clear-cut.

In general though, the modern understanding is that they are objects that have existed for 100 years and thus become alive, gaining a spirit of its own.

For the most part, modern interpretation of the ungaikyou considers it a tsukumogami, often of an evil-illuminating mirror.

While there are 2 major examples that differ from this, they clearly do not relate to Mitsumo, so I've elected to omit them.

As far as I can tell, there's nothing that directly indicates that Mitsumo is actually an ungaikyou, let alone a tsukumogami, so there's nowhere we can really go with this, unfortunately.

Mini Theory: What is Mitsumo?

I have a small, not very substantiated theory about Mitsumo that I thought I might as well share anyways.

This theory is based on 2 major facts:

Mitsumo seemingly has a torii shrine gate with them, though warped in a malicious direction, judging by the horns.

Mirrors have long been objects of worship in Japan, popular as shintai, an object in which the gods' spirits dwell, at Shinto shrines.

My little theory goes, that Mitsumo was once worshiped as some sort of god, likely thanks to them being an evil-illuminating mirror, helpful in combating youkai and dispelling evil.

Mitsumo could have been a god that dwelled in the mirror, or they could simply be the mirror's own consciousness once it got old enough and gained a spirit.

Nevertheless, when worship of Mitsumo eventually faded away, they felt betrayed by his followers. These negative feelings eventually boiled over, corrupting them and transforming them into a youkai.

It is, after all, often said that youkai and gods are two sides of the same coin, the difference being only in whether they're worshipped by humans or not. Sometimes, one being can even be both at the same time.

That's all this theory is, that Mitsumo was a god whose worship faded, their resentment towards this transforming them into the malicious youkai that we know today.

Ending

And that's all I've got on Mitsumo, not a lot, but not little either.

They're a rather straight-forward character, all things considered, and yet they still have an air of mystery about them, it's the wonderful charm of Len'en, really. Let's hope that we'll get to learn more about them in the future~!

As usual, I hope you enjoyed~! :)

[random-writing-thoughts]

Taglist: @pickleking8, @voodoomorph, @thegosty, @motivationequaldead89, @voodoomorph, @anonymousewrites , @temponameh, @suspiciousmuffin , @talesofurbania1 , @organizedchaos03

If you want to be added, or I missed your name, let me know and I can add you!

Thought #206.7

Warnings: blood mention, injury mention, beatings, swearing

Previous

Villain was roughly tossed into Civilian's bedroom. He hit the ground hard and swore under his breath.

The two guards walked in after him and shut the door.

"What to do with you." The Guard on the left said cracking his knuckles.

"You guys going to tell me your names before we start this or do I have to make them up?" Villain said standing up wiping away the dust from his pants.

The guards looked between each other and smiled.

"Fine." Villain pointed to the one that crackled their knuckles. "You're bonehead." He pointed to the other one. "And you're just stupid."

An ear piercing scream traveled through the apartment. Villain froze and stared at the door.

That was Civilian.

"Guess that's our cue." Stupid said. They rushed Villain and caught him by his waist.

Villain pushed against their shoulders. "What is he doing to her?"

Bonehead came over and grabbed Villain's hands pinning them to the ground.

Civilian let out another scream.

"You have to help me stop him." Villain said angrily. "You're ok with what he's doing?"

Another scream ripped through the apartment.

"You're ok with him hurting her?"

Bonehead laughed. "I didn't know you actually cared about her. I thought that was just to save face. Who knew she had you wrapped around her fucking finger."

Bonehead let go of Villain's wrists and punched him in the face. "Pull him up." They ordered.

Stupid looked at Villain with pity.

Sadness.

"Come on get him up." Bonehead said again.

A softer scream came from outside the door.

"Doesn't sound like we have much time left." Stupid stood and pulled Villain to his feet.

"I'm sorry" They whispered as they pulled his hands behind his back.

Bonehead stood and faced Villain. They smiled and punched Villain in the stomach. Stupid held Villain back as Bonehead kept going.

There was a knock on the door and Bonehead stopped.

"Have you finished what we talked about?" Ex's slimy voice oozed through the door.

Bonehead looked at Villain who was relying on Stupid to hold him up. There was blood dripping from his lip and his black eye had already started swelling.

"We have." Bonehead said with a smile.

"Perfect. Let's compare work and see what needs to be done next."

Bonehead went to Villain's side and helped Stupid carry him out the door and into the living room.

Villain gasped.

Blood was everywhere.

There was glass scattered everywhere. The coffee table by the couch had been over turned and a bloody knife had been driven into it.

Villain searched the room until he saw Civilian lying in a heap behind the couch.

"Damn Ex. What'd you do?" Bonehead asked stepping away from Villain. "Looks like a Pollock in here."

Villain staggered and collapsed to the ground.

"Well that is her favorite artist, so I had to help spruce up the place, you know."

Villain rolled his eyes. "No he isn't." He whispered. He crawled towards Civilian. "Civilian."

Ex waved him off. "You can try. She passed out and hasn't woken back up." He turned to Bonehead and Stupid. "So what did you end up doing?"

Bonehead started telling him all about how they had beat the crap out of Villain, while Stupid looked at Civilian with sadness.

Villain ignored them and got to Civilian's side. He softly touched her shoulder. "Civilian." He whispered.

She stirred and winced cracking her eyes open. "You look like hell." She said softly with a laugh.

Villain smiled. "You're not in a place to talk." He traced a cut on her face that went from her forehead to her nose. "What did he do to you?"

"I'm so glad you asked." Ex said smiling down at them. He grabbed Civilian by the hair and pulled her to her feet.

She winced, but didn't claw at his hand. Instead she held her right hand close to her body.

"Exibit A." He grabbed the hand she was cradling. She winced and started breathing fast. Her hand hung limp, and her wrist had started to bruise.

Broken.

"This is for the art she had on her walls. Due to the contract she signed there will be three more of these." He let her hand drop and grabbed the other one.

There was a stab wound in her palm with blood dripping down her arm. "Exibit B. This is for trying to get a restraining order on me."

He dropped that hand and smiled at Villain who was glaring daggers at him.

"There are many more, but we don't have much time." Ex started pointing at the various bruises. "For not returning my calls."

He pointed at the cut on her face as well as a few more. "For not returning my texts."

He let go of her hair and she dropped to the floor, scurrying as fast as she could to Villain. Villain pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her.

"There will be many more punishments, but unfortunately she passed out on me." He chuckled. "And that's no fun."

"You're a psychopath." Villain said through gritted teeth. "What did she ever do to you?"

Ex's smile fell. "She didn't follow the rules. She thought she could get me to fall in love with her and give her everything I had just so she could leave." He banged his hand on the counter. "Just like all the rest."

"That's not true." Civilian said softly.

Ex turned his attention to her. "What did you say?"

She swallowed. "I said that's not true."

Ex snapped and Bonehead grabbed Civilian prying her from Villain's arms. He pulled her to her feet so she was facing Ex.

Ex shook his head and smiled. "Would you like to say that to me again."

Civilian glared at him. "That's not true. I loved you. I didn't care that you were rich. I would have loved you even if you weren't. You were my everything." She stepped forward. "I loved you up until the day you made me sign that contract. Then I knew that I had been wrong about you the whole time. I thought you loved me back, but no."

Ex stepped forward opening his mouth.

"I was just property to you. Maybe that's why every other girl left. Best Friend will never love you the way I did, because she is looking for someone with money. I wasn't. I wasn't trying to use you. I was..."

Ex slapped his hand over her mouth. "You're a liar." He whispered.

"No she isn't." Villain said sharply.

Ex growled and motioned for Stupid. Stupid came over and pulled Villain to his feet.

"No more talk. We've got plans for you two." Ex pushed past Civilian and quickly exited the apartment.

‐-----------------

Hacker stared at the screen. Their face had paled. They shook their head and turned to their other monitor.

"Did you get all of that?" They asked Officer on the other screen.

Officer nodded. "Looks like we have a warrant we need to get."

[bengiyo]

The Eighth Sense Eps 1 & 2 Stray Thoughts

I've been so busy this week that I'm only now finally able to sit down and start this show. I've seen some reactions and gifsets, so I'm excited to begin.

Episode 1

The first two minutes are moody intro into in media res start. Okay, I see the indie film vibes folks called out.

What is up with folks going out to drink with old classmates only to be envious and salty? Goddamn.

Ah, nevermind. They're just being boys.

To think we had made so many strides to get folks to stop smoking only to be back here now.

I'm a fan of the bar owner.

I'm absolutely fascinated by the etiquette rules about drinking soju that come up in these shows all the time.

This drunk guy is so obsessed with Jae Won.

The country boy is so valid for not involving himself in a stranger's drama.

He is also valid for following that same guy the next way at school because he couldn't help but be curious about him.

This poor boy. They need to stop giving him a hard time about directions. He is an artist!

I just don't think Jae Won needs to talk to his ex if he didn't want to, and these guys' meddling isn't fun.

There is intense homosexual energy in the space between these two.

The coach is a little too friendly about the cutie pie thing, but I don't mind it.

I'm with Ji Hyun. He should be allowed to try new things without much explanation.

Well well well. We haven't shared earphones in a while. Welcome Back, old friend.

Episode 2

I am a bit worried that Ji Hyun hasn't disclosed that he can't swim.

Not sure how to read the separate zoom ins on each lead's face in the waking scene on the bus.

Damn, Jae Won. You don't need to be so broken up that you don't get to room with the freshman.

They're supposed to be surfing but everyone looks bundled up. That water is probably cold.

It's interesting how much this show is using its runtime to show mundane things like these two walking together.

The posture in the suit scene was deeply compelling.

I'm so glad Jae Won asked whether this boy could swim before they got into the water properly.

As a fan of Shelter (2007), I'm enjoying the surfing content.

What does Eun Ji know? Why is she so bitter about Jae Won hanging out with Ji Hyun?

Shower scenes where one asks the other way they're shy also never get old for me.

Eun Ji is mean mugging the fuck out of them at the grill.

Everyone seems really intent on who Jae Won may be dating.

Still, this swimming club campfire looks cozy.

Mmm, Jae Won and Eun Ji feel bitter.

Jae Won, my man, I need to understand you next week.

This show is in line with the aesthetics and vibes I enjoy in queer cinema, so I will be watching all of this. I plan to continue Stray Thoughts.

[rollercoasterwords]

Dear Rae,

I am sorry I simply can not shut up, THE FEAST YOU SERVED US. My head is in my hands and I am shaking my head just drowning in the immensity of it all. I really didn't want to come here with some corny tapestry metaphor but the bayeux could never, one thread snags and another one weaves a new, even brighter , image onto the fabric, !!!

You gave us Lilly (lilly pining for james, sire.. i've never even seen this) , slutty James potter (he is my life line), The Midas reveal???!! The regulus plot line thickens- you said he was really dead but... dead in what way... who did james want them to ask?? The rabbit hole deepens...the red pill is down my throat we are in howls room in the moving castle.... "you're so used to looking away"... the unicorn blood (I'm scared), seeing remus in his own glamour for so much of his POV, the weight the line has always carried some how even heavier... it is on my neck and I cant breath!

You dropped one the most beautiful lines i've ever read in my life, what did you even do with yourself after you wrote; "every so often the universe makes an artist of itself in its arrangement of atoms into a body of matter" ... I was personally not okay, I could have gone my whole life without seeing those words strung together but life was really looking out for me today.

The detail about the gold earrings for the werewolf SW was just... such an incredibly visceral detail and coupled with the golden leash. The image of them in the cage together ..

I think what I loved also about remus POV was that although their perspectives were so vastly different, there were still moments where they didn't miss each other and where what was going on between them still felt undeniable? Sirius may be oblivious and Remus may be playing him like a fiddles, but he's gotten under his skin still hasn't he. He hates it but it's true. Theres also always such an innocence to Sirius, even when he's guilty and seeing that through Remus eyes was truly so gorgeous as well !

Thank you so much, Rae, your story means so much I COULD WRITE SO MUCH MORE but i'm trying to practice restraint.

Please take care!!

looking forward to having you back in July , or whenever you're ready <3

hi omg loving the metaphors....the imagery....will of course be holding my silence on any spoilers but 🤭🤭🤭 yes many possibilities indeed....

also glad u liked the artist line bc i actually hate it lmfao everytime i read back over that bit i'm like god i need 2 change this it's insufferable....but alas i was too lazy 2 go back and rewrite so. appreciate knowing that it was not as annoying as i thought it was

and remus playing sirius like a fiddle 💀 v true i was giggling + kicking my feet reading people's comments like 'omg remus is falling for him....' although. well u r perhaps correct abt sirius getting under his skin....who could say.....

tysm 4 the kind words 💕 💞

[londonspirit]

It's hard to wrap our heads around the fact that Max's Our Flag Means Death has already reached its Season 2 finale — serving as proof that life for pirates can be just as tumultuous and unpredictable on land as it is on the open sea. Although Stede (Rhys Darby) and Ed (Taika Waititi) saw themselves reuniting in epically romantic fashion on a beach (before having to jump in and help Zheng [Ruibo Qian] swordfight a bunch of foes, that is), their plan to reassemble the crew of the Revenge and take back control of the Republic of Pirates didn't come without some losses. Namely, Ed's first mate and loyal right-hand man — and newly-dubbed unicorn of the crew, Izzy Hands (Con O'Neill) — fell to a gunshot wound, but didn't slip away without some important parting words that Ed himself needed to hear.

Now, the future of the crew is looking divided once more — but on a somewhat happier note this time around, as Stede and Ed are settling down in that innkeeper life while watching the Revenge sail off into the sunset under the command of Frenchie (Joel Fry), and all set to the tune of Nina Simone's swelling and ultimately hopeful cover of "The Times They Are a-Changin'." It's unclear where the show will go next, but ahead of the finale, Collider had the chance to sit down with Our Flag Means Death music supervisor Maggie Phillips to break down some of the best needle drops, from O'Neill's cover of "La vie en rose" to making Kate Bush the unexpected artist of Season 2 to collaborating with show creator David Jenkins and so much more.

COLLIDER: Before getting into some specific episode moments, I wanted to ask you about the teaser trailer for Season 2. Something that a lot of people were talking about was that Prince song that gets used ["The Beautiful Ones"]. Did you all get to decide what song that was in the trailer?

MAGGIE PHILLIPS: We did. That was a song that David [Jenkins] asked me about. I don't know if he asked me about Prince or that song in particular, but that's the first song that David and I were like, “This is the song for the show,” before trailers were even thought about. We tried to get it into Season 1, and there just wasn't a spot for it. I'm a huge Prince fan and have been since high school. For Halloween, when I was 17, I dressed up as a B-side Prince song. It was a song called “Scarlet Pussy.” It was a red cat. [Laughs]

Prince has been kind of off-limits for my whole career. Prior to his death, he was very picky and very expensive, and it was just something I was never really able to place. Then, when David brought it up, it was like two-and-a-half years ago, his estate was still being settled in court, and I was like, “I don't know if we can use it,” and then we were trying to use it, and it didn't work out. Long story short, we tried again to place it in Season 2, and there just wasn't a spot for it. So then, when we were doing the trailers, I don't normally get consulted for those, but David asked me to watch it and asked my opinion. Since then, Prince's estate had been settled, and I had heard that, actually, his estate wanted to place his music. It was perfect, and I'm glad that the first time I placed a Prince song was for Our Flag Means Death. That was a song we're very happy about.

Have there been any big instances where a song doesn't fit somewhere in the season, you can't find a place for it, or where you've tried to get your first choice for this show specifically, and it hasn't been able to happen for whatever reason?

PHILLIPS: No, none that come to mind. I don't think we've had any denials. The big moments in Season 1 we cleared before they even started shooting. Cat Stevens and the Fleetwood Mac were costly, and that meant cutting corners elsewhere, but we got everything we wanted. We weren't shooting for the stars that much. At this point, in Season 2, it's been easier to get yeses, I will say that. Kate Bush in Episode 3, her manager was very specific. Kate wanted to be a part of it, and she was very excited about the use and stuff. The show is so popular, with enough of an audience that people want to be a part of it, which is very exciting.

When I talked to David before the season, he said that he always picks a song and that's the song that's all-encompassing of the whole season. For this season, he said Kate Bush, "This Woman's Work." Obviously, we get it in a very pivotal moment in Episode 3. I wanted to ask you about the conversations around that song and when it was going to be used.

PHILLIPS: It recontextualizes the song and the lyrics to make it work with that scene. That song was written for a movie, She's Having a Baby, with a totally different subject and lyrical subject in mind. The funny story about that song is I advised against it when he told me he wanted to use it. There were two reasons: the more egotistical reason was I had placed it in The Handmaid’s Tale previously, and I hadn't actually pitched that song. I had pitched “Running Up That Hill” for that episode, but the showrunner decided to use “This Woman's Work,” and I was like, “That's a bold choice. Some people are going to love it, some people are going to hate it.”

More importantly, it was right after the Stranger Things Kate Bush phenomenon, and I was like, “Dude, we are going to look like we are copycats, that we didn't have an original idea, and I'm worried about the backlash there.” David knows what he wants, and he was like, “This is our show. It's an original, and this is the right song for this moment.” Taika wanted to use the song and was very attached to the song, too. So it was a Taika/David collaboration, that song.

I remember talking to my team and saying that this could be potentially embarrassing, this song in this spot, but then, I watched it. I read the script. I'm not privy to the conversations about how they're gonna shoot it and what part of the song they're gonna use, but they had obviously figured that all out — because I watched it and really was emotionally charged. I remember getting chills, and I emailed David right away, and I was like, “You were so right. That song is gorgeous there.” I feel like it changes the song. It becomes a new creative moment. That's what's so cool about this job. It's rare, but sometimes you'll put a song to picture, and the song will change, and the picture will change, and it's sort of that movie magic, and I feel like they did it there. So I just was along for the ride and got to eat my words

Speaking of a music moment that gave me chills, Episode 2, that Timber Timbre song, “Run for Me,” bookends the episode and is used in very different contexts with very different parts of the song. At the beginning, it's Blackbeard wallowing and depressed, and at the end, it's this very sinister, dark place. What was the process behind choosing that song and also choosing to use it in two very different places?

PHILLIPS: That was all David. I wish I could claim that that was me. I read it in the script. I'm a fan of Timber Timbre; I put them in stuff years ago. I’ve followed their career since they started, so I knew the song immediately and read the script with that song in mind. No, [that was] just the genius of David Jenkins.

How often are you getting scripts from [David] where the song choice is already in there?

PHILLIPS: It's rare, because typically he asks me before he writes a script. Typically, he’ll email me while he's in the writers’ room. In fact, I'm sure he did about this one because it was so intricately woven into the script, and he's not going to write it without knowing that we can clear it and can afford it. Since I know Timber Timbre, I've used their stuff before, I was like, “Go for it. It'll be affordable and easy to clear.” In that regard, he might have asked me for some [other] stuff, and I'm like, “Stay clear.” Those might be the only denials we've gotten, from me, but there aren't many these days. There used to be a lot more that were hands-off. These days, people want to be seen.

I also love the use of “Strawberry Letter 23” during the raid on the wedding in the first episode. It's juxtaposed against the violence and the terror of the moment.

PHILLIPS: It's such a sweet love song. The lyrics are so innocent and sweet, but it's like the way that Shuggie Otis — it's swagger and cocky and just whimsical and has that strong melody and the instrumentation. That was on one of my playlists for Season 1, and then [David] wrote it in. All the big moments in Season 1 and Season 2 that are on cameras like that, those don't come in post. Those are when he's writing the scripts, so there was never any other song that was attempted for that spot; that was always going to be that song.

With that in mind, what's the song at the end of that episode, where Ed and Stede are both looking at the same moon and having their respective conversations?

PHILLIPS: It’s "Pygmy Love Song" by Francis Bebey. It’s supposed to capture the pain but inherent beauty of true love. It’s romantic but tragic at the same time, like Stede and Ed’s love story —at this point in the story.

I also wanted to about Con [O’Neill] singing “La Vie en rose” in Episode 6. I feel like that's a moment that fans are going to be really excited about. I personally did not know he could sing!

PHILLIPS: I don't know if he knew he could sing either. That was a very involved clearance. It took a long time to clear. Anything that's international, and this was through the French office, takes a long time. Americans are very quick, for better or for worse, and the French office is not. We started clearing that, and it took us months. We were getting to the point where we were like, “Are we gonna be able to use this?”

Then Con was anxious about singing in the first place because it's not something he does normally, and then was anxious about singing in French. So we had to change the clearance because originally scripted, we wanted it to be in French, and going back to English, that actually was a whole other boring clearance story. To get it approved in English was harder, but we got it. Then, while we were waiting for approval, the actor had taught himself phonetically how to do the French version, and we recorded both options, and the French was so effective that that's what we stuck with for most of it.

I love that moment. [Con]'s such a good actor. Oh my god. That episode is just really powerful, and that song works really well Sometimes when you're not a trained singer, but you're an actor, you're acting the singing as opposed to singing it for the aural experience, so it becomes more emotional in a way. You're not worried too much about pitch and getting it right, and so it's more about the character who's singing it. Especially when you're singing it not for a soundtrack but in a scene. They're not singing it for the performance, they're singing it for the cathartic release, and it is going to be more emotional. That's why I think it's so powerful, the way he does it. Yeah, I love that scene.

Do you have a personal favorite song choice from Season 1?

PHILLIPS: My favorite, because I love the way it works, and it's also just for me a personal triumph, [was] to get Moondog in at the end of the pilot. It was such an odd choice. I always like it when I get in stuff that people don't know. I love the Beach Boys — it's a song that many people don't know, “Our Prayer,” in Season 1, Episode 4, where they meet. I love the “Seabird” song by the Alessi Brothers, I think it's the end of Episode 5 in Season 1.

Kate Bush has become one of my favorite moments [in Season 2], as a moment singular to just the show and the story themselves. It was also the visual of Stede coming down as a mermaid. It's just so absurd, yet it’s so beautiful and so powerful at the same time. I don't know how they do it, but they do it. I could watch that Fleetwood Mac scene over and over and over again in the end, the shot pulling back of them laying on the ground, and Stede goes, “You've come back,” and Ed is like, “I never left,” and then the wink. I love that moment so much. This show is just hands down one of my all-time favorite shows I've ever gotten to work on.

Everyone I've talked to about working on this show is having an absolute blast.

PHILLIPS: I also think — I'm always talking highly of David, but he deserves it — it comes from the top down. That dude is super creative and very collaborative and also just kind, and that's rare when you're a showrunner/creator. He makes it such a pleasurable, fun experience with a lot of hard work, which is hard to do — to make people work really hard and challenge themselves, but then they want to do it because it's fun and rewarding, not because someone's cracking the whip.

[thetragicallynerdy]

Alright, I'm back for one more for the wip folder game: jim ed modern flower shop tattoo parlour biker au ☺️

Ooooh yes yes!!!! I think I've rambled about this one elsewhere, but I can't find it, so here you go! This one is a long sad t4t Jim/Ed modern au where the gist is:

Ed, recently divorced from Stede, gets in a bar fight with a homophobe. Jim saves his ass and takes him home because he's too drunk to remember his new address

They become friends, and eventually lovers. Very much a vibe of Ed coaxing feral cat Jim into a relationship with love and good food.

Jim in this one has multiple warrants out for their arrest, and is a little stuck in "I need to kill the remaining few siete gallos, but fuck, I'm so tired of it." They work under the table at a bar, have basically no connections besides Ed, and are just scraping by.

Ed is also trying to rebuild after divorce, making a new home etc.

There are a lot of mental health and trauma vibes with both of them.

Eventually Jim gets stabbed, saved by Ed, loses their shitty bar job, and gets offered a job in Stede's flower shop (Stede is still good friends with Ed, or at least, they're rebuilding the friendship). Ed, meanwhile, is a tattoo artist with a shop nearby. So, the tattoo parlour/flower shop aspect is VERY loose.

This one also features Jim who hasn't had an actual relationship or friendship like, ever, and is terrified of commitment and always ready to run, and pretends Ed is just their FWB until they can't anymore. Very "yeah we're fucking but I won't say I love you or call you my partner for 75 thousand words" vibe

It's my baby. This is absolutely my most self indulgent h/c fanfic. No idea when it'll be finished but I adore it so much have I said I love it so much??

Anyway here's a snippet XD

--

Jim struggles to sit up on their shitty mattress on the floor, and it makes Edward doubly glad that they let him make a copy of their key. They look like shit still, hollow cheeks and skin that still hasn't regained all its colour.

"You're here early." Their voice is a slur, and he frowns, not sure if it's because they just woke up or if something is wrong.

"Last appointment of the day got cancelled, thought I'd come over. Sit the fuck back down, don't get up, I can come to you."

They slump back down with an audible sigh, waiting until he makes his way over and sits on the bed beside them. When he kisses them they relax into it, hand curling around his thigh in a way that feels lovely. Like maybe they're starting to feel comfortable with casual touch that's doesn't lead to something more. Like maybe they're starting to feel comfortable with him, with them, together.

"How're you feeling?" he asks softly when he pulls away.

They yawn, blinking when their jaw clicks together again. "Okay. Fucking tired, man." The hand on his thigh edges higher. "I don't think I can do a ton, but you can ride my mouth, if you want. Or my hand."

He stares at them. "What?"

"That's why you're here, right?" They yawn again, barely bothering to cover it with an elbow. "So we can have sex."

It hurts far, far more than it should. He forces a laugh, picking their hand off his thigh and dropping it back to the bed. "I was there when the doctor spoke to you, Jimbo, six weeks until you can do strenuous activity." When they open their mouth to argue he taps them on the nose. "Which means you've still got five fucking weeks to go."

They look terribly lost, which hurts even more than the assumption. "... then why are you here? You only come over to hook up."

To hook up. As though they hadn't been practically dating for months, now. Fuck. Fuck.

He thinks bitterly about how he'd told Stede that Jim was his friend, and wonders when he got so good at underselling things. Does Jim even think that the two of them are that much?

Instead of asking he hefts the backpack still in his hands up. "Well, now I'm here for movies and dinner. Pick one while I get started on the soup."

Jim stares at him like he has two heads. "Soup?"

"Yes, dummy, soup. You know, delicious meal with broth and vegetables thats easy on the stomach? I'm making you enough to last the week. Brought you groceries too. Those muffins that you like."

They look down at the backpack in their hands, face twisting for one brief moment before settling into careful neutrality. “… you didn’t have to do that.”

“Sure I did.” He leans in, presses a kiss to their forehead before pushing himself to his feet and heading for the groceries left by the door. He doesn’t want to see whatever their face does next, isn’t sure he could take it. “That’s what friends do, mate. Take care of each other.”

He doesn’t see it, but he hears it.

“Oh,” Jim says, voice soft and small. “Okay.”

If anyone feels like dropping me an ask for the WIP folder game, my long list of WIP titles is here!

[starlightshadowsworld]

Danganronpa 3: Despair arc episode 5.

Thonks.

Into a flashback of kid Ryota being bullied by some kids.

Having rubbish tipped onto him as they call him dirty and taking photos.

Kids are scary man.

Poor Ryota.

And his parents suck, and he copes by watching cartoons.

This got way to relatable.

Cool seeing his set up and such but man he's so stressed which... yeah, shout out to all the artists and animators out there.

Ya'll are great.

Back to Chisa heading to the Reserve Course.

Aaand we don't see it, it's skipped over of course.

I get that it's her punishment and it's a downgrade from her usual class which she loves.

And I know kids can be asshole's.

But I just hate that teaching these kids is considered a punishment.

These kids are looked down upon by everyone at the main school, it's just sad seeing that everyone really was against them.

Hammering the point that any one of those kids could've become Izuru Kamakura.

And for teaching them Chisa was treated awfully for it.

It's werid seeing Juzo calmly talk to someone.

Chisa's heard about the Kamakura project, I think it's too late though.

This sounds werid but I'm kinda glad they're not gonna be able to save Hajime.

Because can you imagine if they got him out and saved him?

The Reserve Course would probably be shut down or something especially knowing where the funds for it were going.

Hajime would be more depressed than ever, and these guys are not the people to give the "You're more than a talent speech."

Unless it's Chiaki than its a whole other story.

But than they'd be seperated and Hajime is back to square one.

... Fuck is the good ending for Hajime bring tortured so bad he literally becomes someone else?

I mean it does get better, hopefully if the end of Danganronpa 2 is any sign.

But man that's sad.

Did not need to re-live Juzo beating Hajime.

Ohh so they covered up Hajime being involved by saying he's been expelled.

Clever.

And looking like Jin Kirigiri wasn't involved, as they say the other staff on the board run the school.

Idk if its better or worse he wasn't involved.

Because either way he's enabling it.

I really like the idea of him being in on it, but than regretting it.

Much like the Director, case of history repeating itself.

And that guilt playing into his actions in the first game.

And partly why he kept Kyoko at arms length, he didn't want her getting caught up into this.

But also knew if Kyoko was near him she would snuff out the project easily.

It's okay if he's not, just makes him both a bad headmaster and a bad father.

"Make sure you're students don't make the news again."

Oh you're in for a rude awakening.

But Nagito's gone missing.

Suspicious.

And we get a shot of the applications of the 78th class.

Hell yeah.

And Jin looking at Kyoko's. Incase we forgot she's his daughter.

... Chisa why would you want to be Munakata's anything nevermind beloved?

Sworn enemy maybe, but beloved?

Aww the class having a celebration for her that's so sweet.

And Chiaki planned it, and she's been holding the class together.

Love that for her.

Fuyuhiko pretending he doesn't care but he does.

Man I missed these guys, even though it hasn't been long at all.

Hiyoko got taller, holyshit.

Gundam and Sonia giving a toast in true Gundam fashion might just be the sweetest thing I've ever seen.

Ryota saying he has no time for friendship.

I get your busy man but you can't stop friendship.

It will find you, you will be friended.

And yes that is a threat.

... Wait a sec... That wasn't Ryota, that's Imposter?!

Twogami my boy! I was wondering where he was.

Awh he's been covering for and looking after Ryota.

That's so sweet.

"This show can't end till its characters get a redemption."

I hope so.

"People can flake you out but carbs are always there."

Same ol Twogami.

He's not wrong though.

A plane and a fancy car.

..... SHE'S HERE.

And she put a bomb in her purse, or her purse was a bomb.

Either way that limo is gone, heh unintentional rhymes.

Junko Enoshima has entered the building.

As fabulous as ever.

And of course she's narrating her own life and insulting Mukuro at the same time.

I like how Mukuro's voice is almost monotone, balancing out Junko's more loud upbeat voice.

Junko's narration including the tragedy, so she had this shit planned from the get go.

This afternoon in fact.

Man imagine joining secondary school like what are your goals?

Oh I'm gonna destroy the whole world.

Can't even call her overconfident because she did it.

Mukuro being... Infatuated? With Junko doesn't suprise me, mainly cos I've seen that clip of them in the limo before.

Without context.

But even than makes sense, they may be the despair sisters but Junko has always been the mastermind behind the whole operation.

And for Mukuro to go through and do this shit for Junko, yeah she's gotta care for her a lot.

... Maybe too much...

The fact they both talk while Junko casually tries to kill Mukuro, I guess that's how they bond.

Because if they wanted to, they could kill the other.

The only one who would and succeeded was Junko.

"What an affect my bloody corpse would have on her."

Honestly, yeah I think it would. Junko wouldn't have killed her if it didn't give her despair.

Love that Mukuro didn't even know about them going to Hope's Peak.

Once again Junko is the brains of the operation.

Love the friendship between Ryota and Twogami.

And it makes sense why Ryota is so focused and why he spends all his time on his talent.

It's all he had growing up he has to make it.

Has to.

Annnd Ryota passed out.

Poor guy.

Twogami, my dude there are better and easier ways to get someone to help you.

Rather than just grabbing Mikan and dragging her away.

Poor Mikan.

So Twogami realised he was struggling and got him to stay with him.

That's sweet.

Probably wasn't the best idea given it enabled him to overwork himself so much.

But still sweet.

I'm sad we don't get to know his name but I guess that's the point.

I like to think if he had one, Ryota knew it.

... AHHHH MAKOTO!!!

My boyyy!!

I didn't think we'd see him in the despair arc, or at least this early but here we are.

Oh Makoto, look at how happy and not traumatised he is.

Savour this moment.

His little pep talk to himself.

Annnd Junko's here narrating about her plan and drawing Monokuma.

Imagine telling her the random kid before her is the one who's gonna defeat her.

"Who knows maybe fate will drop someone into my lap."

Oh it will... And there he is.

Hi Hajime.

And incase we didn't know if already, Juzo's verbal and physical best down of Hajime was the final nail in the coffin and why he agreed to do the project.

Fuck you Juzo.

"You'll be fine."

... No... No he won't.

[phantomdoofer]

Chapter Four - Amicos

Peppino stretched as the sun rose. He stared at the ceiling from his couch, thinking. It was the second day since Giuseppe had shown up and turned Peppino's world upside-down. Yesterday he had received a message from an unlisted number:

Well, she didn't kill me. I may have a couple of cracked ribs, though. And thank goodness for the beard, else she might've broken my cheekbone. She wants you to come see her, of course. We're visiting Gustavo tonight. I'll be in touch when I can. G

He chuckled. Glad Ma still has that much spice in her. He knew her health was failing. Giuseppe was right, he should go visit. Who knew how much time he had left with her. The thought was... sobering. He'd only had a few years with Papa before he was taken. All his friends except Gustavo were gone. He was happy that his... brother was going to be in his life again. But his Ma had always been his touchstone, his rock. She had taken him in after the war, still half-mad with grief and shock. Put up with his drunken stupors, his rages, his depression, until he finally managed to get a life started.

Not today, he thought. Tomorrow. He'd close up early and take his scooter over.

He stood up and headed off to prepare for the day.

~~~~

Lunchtime, and Gustavo still hadn't contacted him. That was unusual. Even if he wasn't coming in, he always contacted Peppino. He was meticulous that way. It was a good trait to have - Peppino himself could be sloppy, absent-minded. You're a classic artiste, amico, Gustavo had told him one day. Too bad his bills didn't see it that way.

Peppino handed a customer their pizza. "Sorry for-a the wait, I'm a bit short-staffed today. Buona giornata!" They thanked him and left, the next customer stepping to the counter. I wish he'd at least contact me. He was getting concerned, his customers the only thing keeping him from starting to panic. He idly memorized the customer's order as he thought. Giuseppe said they were visiting him last night. Did something happen?

As Peppino quickly tossed the next pie's crust into the air, his phone buzzed in his pocket, and a knock came at the back door. Oh, grazie a Dio, he thought. He laid the crust on the board and wiped off his hands, then went and opened the door. "Thank goodness amico, I was getting worried-"

Except it wasn't Gustavo. It was Brick, looking concerned. Again Peppino was astounded by how human the giant rat could be. She sniffed at him, poked him with her nose, and looked pointedly in the direction of Gustavo's place.

Something was wrong. He checked his phone.

The same unlisted number.

Gustavo needs you, fratellino. It didn't go well. G

His heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly finished the pizza, apologized to the other waiting customers saying he had a family emergency, and quietly closed up the shop. Before he could hop on his scooter, Brick grabbed him and tossed him on her back. "Ehi, grosso ratto, non così in fretta-!" Too late, she was off, going as fast as his scooter. He relaxed on her back - it was a surprisingly smooth ride.

~~~~

When he arrived at Gustavo's apartment, he found one of Giuseppe's people waiting outside the building. The young woman approached him as he got off. "Mr. Spaghetti, glad you're here." She eyed Brick. "Damn big rat. Anyway, your friend didn't take it well last night, so the Major asked me to keep an eye on the place. He hasn't left yet."

Peppino nodded. Gustavo's parents had long passed. As far as he knew, he didn't have any siblings. It was just him and Brick.

Considering his own shock, he could only imagine how Gustavo felt.

"I'll-a check on him. It's OK, I don't think I'll need any help."

She nodded. "I'm still going to stick around. The Major's too concerned for me to do otherwise." She grinned. "And it's a nice day out."

Peppino nodded and started up the stairs.

Here it is. He knocked. "Gustavo? Amico? It's me! Do you mind if I come in?"

Silence.

Brick nosed the flowerpot next to the door. Peppino reached in and found a key. Really, Gustavo? A key in the flowerpot? That's the oldest trick in the book. He gently unlocked the door, and Brick pushed in past him.

Peppino gently closed the door behind him, then turned to look. Gustavo's home was just as he remembered it from the last time he'd been here - potted plants everywhere, some decorative, some herbs. The lingering smell of spices and pasta. A faint smell of rat. But he noticed the plants looked a bit wilted, and the smell of rat was stronger. He saw, just visible over the back of the couch, a faint hint of red-brown hair.

Gustavo.

Peppino approached slowly. "Gustavo? Amico? I was worried about you. Brick came and brought me here."

Silence.

Peppino walked around the couch. Gustavo was sitting stock-still, staring straight ahead. The classic thousand-yard stare. Oh no. He'd had this reaction so many times, but he'd never seen it on Gustavo, even when the stocky gnome had been wounded saving him. He was always cheerful, solid. To see him like this was like seeing the moon fall from the sky. He approached and carefully sat down beside him. Easy, Peppino, play this extra safe. He waved a hand in front of Gustavo's eyes. Slowly, he blinked. He turned to look at Peppino, a faraway look of recognition on his face.

"Peppino?" he said, faintly. "Amico?"

"Sì, Gustavo," Peppino said, "Sono qui. Ero preoccupato."

Gustavo looked down at his hands. He'd squeezed them together so tightly the nails had drawn blood. The blood had run down onto his pants, but it was long dried. The sight disturbed Peppino even more. Gustavo looked up. "Men came last night, to talk to me. One of them looked like you."

Peppino nodded.

Gustavo looked back down. "He... told me things. Things that didn't make sense. He said I was... a clone. Of another Gustavo. That it happened when I was little." He shivered. "He told me so many things about the other one. About how the government stole him away, and made me. How they were friends. Like brothers. How they traveled around the world." Tears started to well up in his eyes. "I asked where this other me was, why if it was so important I know these things, why he wasn't the one telling me." The tears started flowing. "He told me he died. He died. Saving him. I died."

Suddenly Gustavo was wrapped around Peppino, bawling. "I'm not dead! I'm not a clone! I'm here! I work with you! I have you and Brick and- and-" he choked. "That's all I have."

Peppino was crying, too. "Oh, amico. I'm so sorry." He stroked the gnome's hair, hugging and gently kissing the top of his head.

After a while, Gustavo spoke again. "He... the one who looked like you... said he didn't like telling me. But he said I had to know. He said... there are a lot of people who are clones, all over the country, and the government is going to announce it." Gustavo sniffed. "He said... you were one. Of him."

Peppino stroked his head. "Sì. It's true. At least I think it is." He told Gustavo of the meeting in the basement, their long discussion, the revelation that broke the other man. Gustavo watched with red-rimmed eyes, unusually silent.

Finally, he spoke. "So, it really is true. But... how? Why would they do such a thing?"

Peppino shrugged. "He said it was still classified, but it had to do with people with special talents."

Gustavo sniffed again. "But what special talents do I have? I can't charge through metal and stone, or run up walls, like you."

Peppino chuckled. "Amico, I've watched you pick up barrels with one hand I couldn't lift with two. Gnomes are special."

Brick snuggled her snout into Gustavo's lap, snuffling his face. He grinned, rubbing her snout. Peppino relaxed. Grazie a Dio per quel topo. "The man was crying when he left."

Peppino looked down. "You reminded him of his friend. Losing a friend... one like you... is hard."

Peppino grabbed Gustavo's hand. "You were my friend all through that war. When that damned tower showed up, you helped me. Afterwards you came to help me even more. I will always be here for you, amico."

Tears welled up in Gustavo's eyes again. He buried his face in Brick's fur.

Peppino held his friend's hand and patted his back until the sun went down.

<<Previous/Next>>

[papermint-airplane]

Get to Know Me - Sims Edition

If you saw me accidentally post this before I filled it out and had to private it really quick, no you didn't. 😚

Thank you for the tag, @simsdastra! ❤️

What’s your favorite Sims death?

In Sims 2, the satellite death and death by flies. I used those constantly.

In Sims 3, the meteor death (obviously) and the time sickness death. The meteor one because of how devastating it is while still making your surviving Sims a shit load of money and the time sickness one for how existentially horrifying it is. You just get Marty McFly'd right out of reality! 😱 I haven't had a Sim die that way when it wasn't on purpose and I'm willing to bet not many other Simmers have either. It's a pretty rare death.

In Sims 4, it's the pufferfish death and the Rabid Rodent Fever death. So visceral and mildly disturbing! When Sims 4 gets it right, it gets it right!

Alpha CC or MaxisMatch?

Alpha hair in Sims 3 because it's an absolute necessity, but I don't mind most of the EA clothes so I guess that's Maxis Mix?

When I played Sims 4, I was Maxis Match all the way except when it came to makeup and skin details.

Do you cheat your sims weight?

Not as much as I cheat their muscle slider. I find it preposterous that a Sim with no muscle definiton can go for one jog and come back shredded. I am constantly cheating their muscle mass back down to a more realistic level.

Do you move objects?

Of course, how do you live without that? In fact, I even have a button on my gaming mouse programmed to it.

Favorite Mod?

The transmogfrifer mod by icarus_allsorts and the stencil remover by velocity grass. I use these so much, I forget they're not naturally in the game.

First Expansion/Game Pack/Stuff Pack?

Like, the first one ever? Sims 2 University. I played Sims 1 back in the day but I never had a single expansion pack for it. I didn't even know what expansion packs were until Sims 2.

Do you pronounce live mode like aLIVE or LIVing

Both. 🫣 I don't know which way is the "official" way, so I just alternate my pronunciation depending on what feels right at the time.

Who’s your favorite sim that you’ve made?

Aiden. 👽

Have you made a simself?

Many times! I've had Simselves in Sims 2, Sims 3, and Sims 4.

Which is your favorite EA hair color?

In Sims 3, you don't have to use swatches for hair so I almost never use the premade ones. However, there is a nice deep reddish brown that I quite like. I use it as a base frequently.

Favorite EA hair?

Most of the Sims 3 EA hairs are horrible even with retextures, so...none lol.

Favorite life stage?

I'm gonna be boring and say YA. 🤷‍♀️

Are you a builder or are you in it for the gameplay?

Gameplay. I can't build to save my life.

Are you a CC creator?

No, I want to make CC but I have no artistic talent and I wouldn't even know where to start.

Do you have any Simblr friends or a Sim Squad?

I do not know what a Sim Squad is but I do have Simblr friends! And Sims Reddit friends.

Do you have any sims merch?

No but I did once make a bunch of tiny resin plumbobs.

Do you have a YouTube for sims?

Haha no, I do not have the time or face for YouTube.

How has your “Sims style” changed throughout your years of playing?

It hasn't changed that much, honestly. I am a bit more story-focused and a lot less murder-y, but that's about it. For the most part, I still have attention span issues and tend to start a lot of new saves lmao.

What’s your origin id?

Rabbitmancer. You can add me if you want but I almost never turn the online features on in game so it doesn't really do anything.

Who’s your favorite CC creator?

@aroundthesims, no question about it. ATS has literally everything and I have downloaded all of it. 😱

How long have you had simblr?

About...a year? I don't actually know. I've been on Tumblr in the past, though I left around 2015-2016, but I never dove into the Simblr community. @happy-lemon talked me into starting a Simblr and I'm so glad she did!

How do you edit your pictures?

I don't edit my pictures all that often because I do not know what I'm doing. I use ReShade and if I need to make minor edits, I'll do so in Paint.NET like a pleb.

What expansion/ gamepack is your favorite?

Sims 2: Open For Business. In fact, it's my favorite expansion of all time.

Sims 3: It changes often but it's Ambitions right now. There's so much in Sims 3 to love!

Sims 4: Uh... I plead the fifth. 😑

I am tagging @happy-lemon, @oasislandingresident, @spaceapples98, @bool-prop, @hazely-sims (lol if I'm the millionth person to tag you again, disregard), @camisulsul, @sim-songs, @ninjaofthepurplethings, @neillesimstories, and @autonomousllama, as well as anyone else who wants to do it and hasn't yet.

[pokeexehasstoppedworking]

Isle Connections Ch4 Familiar Faces

(Warning: Y/n has a fight with Avery. Mentioning of toxic relationships/families. This chapter will probably cover a period expanding over a few weeks to a few months. Will slightly reference the Twilight Wings series.)

You were confused about both of those guys to say the least...but you weren't sure about anything right now. And Gloria was right. So far the most either of them had done was be rude and try to cheat, even though Kara's way could've gotten someone hurt. Plus they did apologize and they were being punished instead of Mustard brushing them off which was good..

But you'd still be keeping a VERY close eye on both of them!

Bit enough of that. You were excited to see what surprise Mustard was going to gift Gloria. So after some rest and a quick lunch, you and Gloria both gathered back in the main training room to meet Mustard and see what he had to say.

"Ah. There you are, Gloria," he greeted you both with a smile, "Keeping this old man waiting huh? Since you completed all three trials, I give you the secret of the master dojo." You were expecting him to pull out a new uniform or maybe actual armor but instead he held up a...pokeball? "Now then. Come on out."

The pokeball was given a light toss. Light sparkled out and revealed to you both a... Little bear cub wearing a white sash tied around its head? The strange pokemon got you both to look wide eyed in surprise. It was SO CUTE!! The absolutely adorable little pokemon struck a pose immediately like a martial artist kicking and throwing a few punches before it paused finally seeming to notice you two and Silver staring at it. It froze before gaining a frightened look, and turned to flee and dove behind Mr. Mustard's legs. After a few seconds peeking out from behind him.

"AW! The wee thing's so cute!," Gloria gushed making Mustard chuckle.

"This pokemon is in fact the secret armor of the master dojo," he explained, "Say hello to kubfu. I know. I know. It's tiny. But raise it with diligence and it'll become strong enough to see you through any battle like a suit of armor. No opponent will ever get past it. This one in particular has amazing potential. Problem is it's a bit shy. It doesn't seem to have much confidence in itself.  So I was thinking maybe if it joined you I'm your training here, that'll help break it out of it's shell a little bit. So take good care of kubfu, Kay? It's now in your hands." He held the pokeballs out to her...and she slowly accepted it in awe. 

Wait...The kubfu has a similar problem to Gloria. Did that mean that Mustard planned this out in the beginning? This could actually work out really well for Gloria! 

"I won't let ye down, Sir!," Gloria gave a determined face clutching the ball to herself. "I promise ta train extra hard and help em out!"

Mustard smiled wider. "I'm glad to hear that because the special training I'm going to give you will be hard, but if you're willing to work then I'm sure you'll surpass it soon! Now then the first thing for you to do is to become best friends with Kubfu." Said Pokemon perked out a little more from behind his leg. "You need to build trust. Kubfu really hasn't had the chance to explore the world outside the dojo so maybe it'll help you become better friends if you let it have a look around. Once you're best buddies, we'll start harder training in earnest! Just stop by and let me know once you think you're ready for that." 

Gloria nodded at him before looking down at the kubfu and kneeling slowly. "Hi, lik guy. Oh you're so cute. Do ya wanna have a snack with me?" The pokemon looked back to Mustard who just nodded before it slowly shuffled out and nodded up at her. "Kay then! Let's go n' get us some grub!" 

"Gloria." She looked at Mustard. "You're real training will begin next Monday. If you're really are serious about this training then you shall need to listen to what I say."

She nodded standing back up. "Ya got it! I'm as ready as I'll ever be!"

He smiled wider. "Good. For now focus on bonding with Kubfu over the weekend."

"Oh! M' not done with my dex challenge yet!," she excitedly looked back to you. "We can all go exploring together an' finish it! And we can also go explorin' for those guys missing digletts!!" 

You nodded. "Yeah. I bet exploring places together would be a great idea for you guys to bond."

And so it began. Gloria started training hard with the kubfu and you tagged along on her adventures of finding random digletts and taking pictures left and right. The shy pokemon was still shy hiding from everyone but it seemed to warm up to Silver a bit the longer they were out together and Gloria's contagious adventurous spirit seemed to rub off on it a little bit. Then Monday came and her real training started. She was woken up bright and early with everyone else and made to train alongside all the others including Avery and Klara. Sit ups,push ups, running laps, but most of all battles. Hard battles that Mustard initiated between her and the older more experienced students in front of a crowd always. Forcing her to get out of her comfort zone and work hard to defeat them while everyone watched. It was pretty hard work like he promised it would be but Gloria as you learnt was VERY determined and stubborn so she would push through it in time. You were just stuck watching from the sidelines cheering her on as she did so. You also saw Avery and Klara take part in their punishments. Sometimes you'd see them doing exercises until they were sweating like crazy as Ms. Honey or Mustard watched to make sure they did it. Sometimes you passed a room in the girls' wing and heard Klara whine and grumble as she scrubbed a toilet. Other times you saw them taking care of the dojo's pokemon. One particular day you heard music coming from the kitchen. Wait. Not music singing.

"Hush Little poke don't say a word ~ Avery's gonna pick you a oran berry.~"

It sounded like a pokemon twist on the classic hush little baby song.  And it was coming from the kitchen area. Curious you poked your head in and paused at what you saw. Avery was knelt petting the slowpokes and hummed to their happy faces. You continued to stare at them for a moment before Silver just walked up to you and chirped . Causing you to jump and Avery immediately turn around and you broth froze as you made eye contact. For a long moment none of you said anything before you sputtered.

"Uh...S-Sorry," you held up your hands, "I was just getting a snack for my drizzle! I didn't know you were using the kitchen."

"I-... I-It's perfectly alright," he squeaked out looking embarrassed.

"Yeah..Um. Gloria's waiting for me to help her find digletts. Ok. Bye!"

You quickly fled the awkward scene snatching Silver up in your arms with a loud squeak. Avery still paused watching you retreat before shoving his face in his hat and screaming in embarrassment. It seemed Avery started to avoid you more after that awkward encounter which you also didn't mind. To get over the embarrassment you just focused on helping out Gloria with her side quests outside of her training to put it in the back of your mind. However you both were again be surprised a week later. You'd both just gotten back from your little expedition to find more digletts and their trainer was so happy he kept gifting Gloria Alola Region pokemon. He must've really valued his digletts. When you both walked up to the dojo with your pokemon, you ran into none other than Klara who was sweeping the steps by herself with Ms. Honey watching.

"G' afternoon, Klara!," Gloria greeted waving a hand to her catching her attention. "Tis a nice day huh?"

Klara sighed. "I guess so. If you don't mind working."

"Yikes! Ya still working on that punishment?"

"Master has the last day of our hard work literally marked on his calendar. Until then I'm gonna have to work hard ...But if it means I'll be a gym leader then I'll happily train hard and accept defeat!" Your brows rose. Well..That was certainly a positive response considering how she was before. "Again sorry for everything. Hey. Do you think we can battle again sometime? Fairly this time! I've been training hard and I bet I can beat you this time!"

Gloria lit up! "Yeah! I'd love too! We can totally battle again!"

Klara smiled. "Hehe. I'll be looking forward to it-"

"Look out, Ladies!"

You three jumped back as two of the male students attending the dojo struggling to carry ..A giant vending machine? Behind them two delivery men wheeled past another vending machine and behind them was two more delivery men carrying a rotomi machine. You all watched as the eight men walked by with Ms. Honey guiding them. 

"What the world is that about?," you asked.

"Oh. A couple corviknight came by with a big delivery and a new visitor just a few minutes ago," Klara said. "Apparently Ms. Honey is updating the dojo."

"OH! That's what Ms. Honey meant by a delivery with the watts." You both looked at her. "Y'know? That power supply that comes from the wishing stones n' dynamax dens. Ya can use 'em as currency n' Galar. Ms. Honey said she needed a lot so I gave 'er all the watts I had. I was nay usin' them anyways."

"How many did you give her?"

"Um...I think three million three hundred eighty thousand." You both gawked at her. The broom slipping from Kara's hands and onto the steps. "....What? I told ye I never used 'em."

"Uh...Right. Anyways..You said there was a visitor here?" You looked back to Klara.

Klara shook her head. "Yeah. A short kid like you." She pointed at Gloria. "Only he had this hair color that reminded me of poison types. It was all purple-"

"That sounds like Hop!" Gloria's suddenly yell had you both wincing as she beamed brightly before turning to the dojo. "HOP, HOP, HOP, HOP!!" Throwing up her arms she dashed for the dojo.

"Wow...She sure has spirit."

"Tell me about it. Try stopping her from jumping into danger all the time." You took a moment to look Klara up and down... before sighing making a choice. "Hey, Klara." She looked at you. "I just...Wanted to apologize for how I acted towards you." She blinked surprised. "I was pretty mean to you too and I wanted to apologize for everything I did. Do you think we could forget everything that happened and start over?"

Klara still stared before smiling. "TOTES!! I was a jerk too so I totally deserved it but like now I can start over with everything! I'm still gonna beat your friend though!"

You smiled. "Thanks. I look forward to IT-"

You were interrupted when Gloria just grabbed you by the arm and yanked you by the arm behind her. "C'MON Y/N!! DON'T KEEP US WAITIN'!"

You were yanked along by Gloria across the way and right up to the door that she threw open hard enough to make it slam loudly against the wall catching everyone off guard and to look over as you both came in but stopped just a few feet in the middle of the room. Mustard was there as well and didn't even flinch as Gloria came crashing in only smiling at you both. However you both interrupted him talking to someone. That someone had purple hair and turned to look at you both with bright golden eyes blinking. There was a moment of silence as the two stared before a smile graced his features.

"Oh. Hey!" Hop smiled brightly at Gloria. "Welcome back, Glory."

"HOP!!" Before anyone could stop her, Gloria rushed him. Practically tackling him in a hug that had him teetering back waving his arms before the two friends fell backwards onto the ground. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!"

"It's nice to see you too, Gloria." Hop managed to say from his now sitting position smiling brightly despite having been half tackled to the floor hugging one of his best friends back. "I missed you too!"

"Let him get some breathing space, Gloria."

Hop snapped up hearing a familiar voice. "Y/N!" Smiling he pulled both of them up standing and broke the hug to smile widely at you. "Boy! It sure has been a while! Things haven't been the same without you guys and Victor back at Postwick." He then smiled at Gloria again. "But it looks like you've been working hard keeping up your training here at the dojo eh?" 

"What are you doing here?!," Gloria piped up completely happy. "I thought ya was studyin' under Sonia!"

"Surprise!" Hop held up his hands with a bright smile. "That's just the reaction I was hoping for! I'm here at the Isle of Armor to research more of that dynamax phenomenon and gather a few max mushrooms samples for Sonia."

"Why isn't Sonia doing that?"

"She's doing some really important research in the Crown Tundra for the Chairwoman, so she asked me to take care of things here! And I'm glad I did. OH!" He turned back to Gloria. "I almost forgot! You're never gonna believe this! Victor got picked up as a gym leader in training too!"

You both gasped. "No! Really?!" 

He nodded. "Nessa hand picked him herself right after we saved Galar again!"

"You did what again?!"

"Oh right! You both dunno.  I'll be happy to tell ya everything but first I gotta get settled in." 

"Yes." All of you turned back to Mustard now who smiled ever patiently. "I heard that you two were friends. How delightful! Hop here was just asking permission to camp out on the Isle. But where's the fun in mucking about in the mud? I was telling him he should just stay here at the dojo."

"I mean it'd be loads easier than camping  out for a long while, but are you sure I wouldn't get in the way?" 

"Everyone's welcome to stay here at the dojo. Don't be shy, My Boy. Besides we're practically family already. You're the little brother of our Leon after all! Hmm...We still have some max mushrooms stored away that Gloria got us a while ago. I'll dig those out so you can bring this Sonia person some samples. In the meantime feel free to make yourself at home! I'll have Honey set up a room for you and get you a room key later."

"Yeah. It's true. Lee did train here when we were both kids. Alright. You twisted my arm. Hope you don't regret it because I'm staying." 

Mustard laughed. "The more the merrier. I'm as pleased as a gold plated punch bowl!"

Hop bowed. "Thanks so much, Mr. Mustard!" Hop blinked looking upside down at Silver and Gloria's kubfu. "No way!" He snapped back around startling the tiny bear pokemon. "Is that a kubfu?!"

Said kubfu dove behind Gloria's legs before peeking out. "Yeah! Yeah! I've been trainin' with him forever!"

"That's so cool! They evolve into ursifu but they can only evolve a certain way...but I forgot what that is."

"Ah! That reminds me." Mustard again spoke up. "I've got something I've been meaning to tell you about Kubfu, Gloria. Or it's evolution ursifu. The truth is the lovable rascal is capable of gigantamaxing too."

Gloria looked shocked. "Wait really?!"

"Yes but it's a bit tricky since it can't stand the taste of max mushrooms so max soup is off the menu unless you can find a way to make it more appealing. There's a certain something you can find here on the isle though that'll make even ursifu gobble up the soup. And that certain something is.." he paused for a long time giving you all a serious look..... Looking at them so long Gloria and Hop exchanged glances. .....Mustard suddenly smiled goofily again. "Actually. I forgot what it was. Oopsie daisies."

"Are you kidding me?!" "No!" Both looked defeated. 

"Hahaha! You're more fun to tease than your brother ever was!" Mustard chuckled making Hop give him a deadpanned look. "But the certain something I'm thinking of is sure to make the soup more palatable to kubfu once Gloria manages to evolve him and it has something to do with another pokemon." Another pokemon? That was a big clue right there! "Now I think I'll leave you two to figure out just what it is! Give it a good think! You're on your own kiddos! he world is your cloyster so get cracking!" He turned to leave but paused and turned back to Gloria. "But don't think you can slack off on your training just because your friend is here. I still expect you to join me for training."

Gloria nodded. "Of course, Sir!"

Mustard smiled again before he walked off making Hop shake his head. "Uh...Is this how you're training usually goes?"

"Pretty much."

"Yikes." Hop shook his head again before smiling. "I've got no rapidash in this race, but even I'm curious about this certain something. I think I once read something about ursifu in a book too.." he hummed thinking hard and crossing his arms. "It's the wushu pokemon right? The book said it lives in the mountains of a far off region." 

"Does it really?"

"Huh? You didn't know? Don't you have one?"

"Tis still just a kubfu."

"Oh..right. But I read somewhere ursifu is mad for some kind of sticky honey!" A 'AHA' look of realization came over his face. "Gloria! Honey is made from the nectar of flowers and plants right?! And Mustard said the special thing comes from another pokemon! So maybe we need some nectar made by pokemon that look like flowers and plants!"

Gloria lit up. "Hop, you're a genius!!"

"And if we're looking for those kinds of pokemon I'd reckon they'd be in the forest! I'll be able to look into dynamaxing along the way so count me in on exploring! There's a forest beyond that big marshland right?" Gloria nodded and he lit up. "Bet I can beat you there!"

"You're on!"

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" You held out your arms making them both stop. "It's too late in the day to go out again and we just got back, Gloria! And Hop hasn't even gotten his room yet either!" You rose a brow crossing your arms. "Besides, you also have training tomorrow with Mustard. Remember?"

Gloria groaned. "That's right. I totally forgot."

"It's ok!," Hop assured her with a smile. "We can go the day after tomorrow and look around! And then I can tell you guys everything that happened to me and Vic!"

Gloria again lit up like a firework. "An' I can tell you everything that happened here! And ya can help me find all these digletts and finish up me dex challenge!"

"I'd love to!! This is gonna be awesome! Just like old times!"

Indeed it was. Just like old times. The day after the next you had to stop the two from just taking off without you and grab them back to stick together. Hop and Gloria didn't right away go to try and find this mysterious nectar. Instead they spent most of that day looking for digletts and catching up. Gloria told Hop all about her trials and new rivals here and in turn Hop filled you both on everything that happened back home. Apparently two troublesome twin who you met before had discovered the ancient grave of one of the heroes because they just so happened to be descendants of said heroes and had a book from him passed down. And then they went around Galar releasing wild dynamax pokemon on a rampage in the gyms AFTER stealing the ancient shield from Zacian and Zanazenta. Then Hop and Victor with help from Sonia and Piers had to go around and fight all these pokemon and chase them down only to finally corner them in Hammerlocke where they forced poor Zamazenta to power up painfully. So they had to battle and calm them down. Luckily they were able to get the ancient shield back and have the two troublesome twins arrested and returned the ancient weapons to the pokemon.

..... Y'know. Typical every day hero stuff in the world of pokemon.

You were shellshocked for a while by this but considering every you've been through up til now, quickly had just accepted it. Oh. Also apparently Hop decided to be a scientist like Sonia(which you already knew would happen-) and was studying under her. Good for him! Also apparently Nessa had taken an interest in Victor after seeing his actions during the gym challenge and helping to save her gym. She had offered to train him as the new water type gym leader which he happily accepted and you thought that actually suited him nicely. However Victor had his own problems battling. Being too serious and not having too much confidence in his battling skills unlike Gloria who was VERY confident about battling and only suffered from stage fright. Which she was really getting better at! Mustard's training was really working! Leon also sent him to get training with someone in the Crown Tundra. According to what Hop told you, Victor actually seemed to be getting much better too. He was actually letting loose a little and having fun battling and building up confidence. Good. You were glad Victor was getting better too. 

But back to the present day...

When not training the three of you explored the Forest of Focus. Hop suggested you find a liligant first to try it's nectar. And you all found one...Sorta. You all managed to find a lost petilil. The poor thing had apparently been separated from it's mother and had clung to Hop's leg until you all managed to find her. Gloria laughed the entire time and you had to admit it was funny and pretty cute. The grateful liligant was more than happy to allow Hop to take some nectar from the giant flower on her forehead. Unfortunately it wasn't the nectar you were looking for so Hop suggested you all find an applin instead since apparently they also were a pokemon that created nectar and were actually pretty common pokemon on the isle of armor. You all managed to find an applin but it rolled away quicker than you expected it to and all three of you lost sight of it before you knew it. Stopping at a fork in the clearing of trees. 

"Crud!," Hop stomped down a foot looking left and right down the paths. "Which way did it go?!"

"I don't know. Ugh. What do we do now?"

"The fastest way to find it would be to split up and cover more ground."

"What?!" You snapped to Hop. "Absolutely not! What if you two get lost?!"

"I'll stick with Gloria and we'll go together!," Hop easily assured you. "We have our phones so we can call for help or use a map to get back! And Glory has her cinderance! We can have them shoot fire in the air like a flare if nothing else works!"

"Yeah!" Gloria piped up. "C'mon Y/n. Relax and help."

Well...Mustard did say Gloria needed to do more things herself. You groaned but nodded. "Alright. You guys go that way and I'll go right. But keep your phones handy and call me if you find it or need help. And try not to get lost."

"Don't worry, Y/n! Besides getting lost is Lee's thing not mine."

"Well don't pull a Leon." Both laughed but agreed before turning and excitedly making their way down the left path leaving you with Silver. With a sigh you turned to start walking down the right way. "C'mon Silver. Let's go find that applin and get back with the others. Keep your eyes open for an applin.

With a chirp Silver loyally followed you down the right forest pathway. The warm sun beat down on you and the sun shown brightly above the sky. A lot of wild pokemon could be seen running around the forest between the flora and fawna. Playing, sleeping, eating, and just living out here in general. It was beautiful. You wished you had more of this peaceful life growing up. Such bliss. However you didn't see a single applin anywhere. Darn it! But you kept looking and looking and looking. Farther and farther you went. Looking everywhere and pushing apart tall grass and bushes to peer behind them. No such luck. Only finding every pokemon besides applins. Ugh! Where could it have gone?! You were just about to turn around and call it quits since clearly the applin didn't come down this way or if it did it was already long gone when-

B O O M-!!

What sounded like a giant crash sound sent pokemon running away from you and Silver diving behind you once again as you turned up to the sky. You knew what that noise was by now. Someone was having a pokemon battle out here. But...who? You were practically in the middle of nowhere! Maybe someone was catching some wild pokemon? For whatever reason your curiosity got the better of you and you started to head towards where the sounds came from. Bushes and grass pushed out of your way as the sounds of a man's desperate pleas cutting through the air making you feel a wave of panic and run faster. Someone was in trouble! They needed help!

"Where do you think you're going?!," a familiar man's voice asked. "You WILL battle me again!"

"Aaah! P-Please put me down!", another man's voice yelled out. 

You ran and ran until you eventually rounded around a giant tree and froze at what you saw. A beautiful clearing stood before you beautifully covered in wild flowers however that wasn't what caught your attention. It was the two men in the middle of the field. Standing there clear as day was Avery with his back to you and one hand held up. Above him in the air was another man who bore a panicked look surrounded by the same blue aura that was levitating Avery's pokeballs. He frantically ran through the air kicking his legs and arms about to no avail not able to escape Avery as he levitated him in the air. 

"Please put me down!," the floating man pleaded again almost on the verge of crying. "I-I don't want to battle anymore!"

"Not until you battle me again! I barely have any worthy opponents on this isle so you'll do!," Avery refused bringing him closer. 

You stared in disbelief before you scowled hard at the sight. "YOU PUT HIM DOWN NOW!!!" Avery jumped as whirled around wide eyed. Freezing as soon as he saw your form stomping up to him only to stop right in front of him and pointing at his face. "What the heck do you think you're doing?! Put that guy down!"

Avery still seemed in a state of shock before shaking his head and frowning. "Now you see here! This man is my opponent and I will have another battle!"

"Are you confused?! Or insane?!," you shouted back to him pointing at the still panicking man. "That's holding someone hostage!"

"I don't expect you to understand of course. No one would understand my problems with-"

He didn't get get to say anything else when two hands grabbed his shirt front and YANKED his tall form downwards to stare deeply at your snarling face as your hands balled into tight fists holding his still. "Alright. Listen up you wannabe psychic psycho! Since apparently you can't read minds I'll spell it out for you instead! What you're doing is basic kidnapping and holding someone hostage! You don't seem to realize how bad that is! It's no wonder you never were able to be a gym leader!" Avery flinched. Hard. His face falling into a shocked look of hurt. "You. Put. Him. Down. N O W!!!" You ended your yell with a little shove to Avery.

....The man instantly fell to the ground with a loud thud. Taking the opportunity, the man scrambled up and immediately fled as fast as he could. Dashing across the field and disappearing quickly into the treeline. You waited until he was safely away from Avery before releasing the blonde man and stepping back still scowling.

"Don't you EVER do that again!," you snarled at him pointing, "If I EVER see you doing that again to ANYONE not only will I tell Mustard but I'll tell Leon and the Chairwoman too!"

With that you turned around and stomped away from his hurt face with Silver running to catch up to you. Avery continued to stare helplessly at you before the pokeballs fell from his head pathetically falling to the ground before the first few years filled his eyes.

You didn't see much of Avery after that day. You met up with Hop and Gloria who had managed to indeed find and capture some nectar from the applin after it fell out of a tree and onto Gloria's head. Turns out the nectar wasn't what they were looking for either so it would take Hop and Gloria some research and brainstorming to figure it out. In the meantime as days passed, they buried themselves with FINALLY being able to finish Gloria's dex challenge and going around finding more and MORE run away digletts and trading them back to the guy. Gloria was also able to trade a bunch of other people for other different regional pokemon. Some of which she gave Hop who blushed a bit. Ah. Looks like the crush was still strong with him. Which reminded you-

"Hey. What pokemon did Gloria give you?," you asked him one day while Gloria was busy training. "I know she gave Marnie a purloin and Bede and Victor a pokemon too. So what did she give you?"

Hop blushed deeply and rubbed his neck as he did before chuckling. "well....I guess you'll know anyways once she finally confesses her love to me."

"Say what?"

"She gave me an applin before she left!," he smiked widely. "I knew she liked me better that that cotton for brains Bede! I haven't brought it up yet cuz I wanted her to focus on her training! HA! Take that Befe! In your face!!"

You facepalmed hard. First she gifts Bede a lovdisc without knowing the meaning of that and now she mistakenly gifted Hop an applin. Sigh. Gloria's love rivalry continued. At least you knew what happened to the applin Gloria left in her backpack for so long. Days also passed. Gloria still trained hard and you and Hop Always helped her with her turn in chores. Kubfu and her was getting bolder and bolder and she even got to battle Ms. Honey whom gifted her a special pair of league cards as a thank you for helping to spruce up the place. She also gave Hyde a lot of watts too to power up his strange machine and had gotten a polygon pokemon from his as a thanks. Gloria also seemed to have gotten along better with Klara even having a rematch battle with her. Klara lost but she seemed to be taking it a lot better than she did previously. However...Avery was barely present at all. In fact it was like he was mostly invisible. When he was doing training or some of his punishment chores, he would either turn away from you or do everything he could to avoid eye contact, and would pretend you didn't exist when he was assigned to do chores alongside Gloria. Silent and keeping to himself which was... actually odd. Maybe you scared him a lot more than you meant too. You had found out that Avery did end up rebattling Gloria again too after her training but that was the extent of it. Until one day you spotted something strange. You exited the kitchen after getting Silver a snack and found Gloria and Hop posing with Klara for a picture before she signed something for Gloria and haded her another league card.

Confused you walked up to them as Klara left. "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Y/n!" Hop smiled brightly at you. "We finally found out what that certain something Mustard was talking about is!"

"That's great but what was Klara talking about?"

"Oh! We finally figured out who they are! Turns out Klara n' Avery are gym leaders from the minor division!"

You stared stunned. "Really?"

Hop nodded. "Yeah! Klara just started out a year or two ago but she wasn't exactly ready for the position yet, so she came here to train. Looks like she'll be ready though in no time!"

"What were they doing in Postwick then?"

"They were having a meeting with Lee to see if they could run the gyms again but he didn't think they were ready yet. So they came back here for more training." Smart choice on Leon's part. Hop sighed putting his hands behind his head. "I do feel kinda bad for Avery though."

You rose a brow. "For Avery? Why?"

"His family was really hard on him and they didn't treat him well from what I overheard Lee talking about." Both you and Gloria looked shocked.

"Ah. Ye poor lad."

Hop nodded with a sigh. "You see his entire family has always ran the psychic type gym but once he started making everyone who beat him levitate well ...From what I heard they almost disowned him after nearly getting kicked off the league circuit. Lee was the one who saved his position and Avery came here soon after. I think he's doing a lot better too...But it's weird. He's been really down lately. I wonder why?"

You knew exactly why.  A very bad and guilty feeling settled deep in your guts as you realized that-....You had really messed up. You had messed up BIG TIME. 

"So anyways we can find what we need by taking a flying taxi over to the honeycomb shaped island off the isle. Wanna come, Y/n?"

You numbly shook your head. "Nah...You guys go ahead...I need to think over something."

"Alright then. C'mon Glory! Let's go get that max honey!"

They both left leaving you shellshocked and numb for a while. Somehow you managed to stumble your way outside and sit on the steps of the dojo putting your head in your hands. Arceus you messed up badly. You didn't know Avery was-...That he-...That his family-..You buried your head in your hands groaned loudly again. What were going to do?!

"Y/n?" You jumped up and looked right at none other than Ms. Honey. She was giving you a concerned look. "Sweetie you look down. Did you get into a fight with someone?"

You stared wide eyed. "How did you know?"

"I have my ways." She slowly sat down next to you. "What happened?"

You groaned looking away. "I got in a fight with someone because he was doing something really bad but now I found out he came from a bad family life and now I feel bad but at the same time I don't think I was in the wrong because what he was doing was back. But now he's been down a lot and someone told me he has been working hard to get better so now I feel even more bad and he's avoiding me like the plague. So I have absolutely no idea what to do!!" You grabbed your head frustrated.

Honey blinked and didn't say anything for a real long time before looking down. "You know when my hubby told me he wanted to open a dojo of his own, I have to admit I had a lot of doubts. I was still working at my previous job at the time and there was simply so much work into getting the dojo built. Let alone the question of whether anyone would want to move to an uninhabited island like this just to train at an unknown dojo."

You stared at her blinking widely at her. "What.. happened?"

..She gave a soft huff shaking her head. "We got into a couple fights. I didn't want to put everything in this in case it failed I thought he was crazy to try and start this idea all those years ago going about this all the wrong way...and he was throwing everything at it instead of taking time out to plan it out. But..I eventually realized that fighting with someone who was trying hard in the wrong way wouldn't help them. You have to talk it out and help them." You stared at her wide eyed. "So we did and I finally agreed to give it a shot. My hubby and I put our all into this place and years later when Hyde came along all our previous students pitched in and helped us through it. We've made it to where we are today because we got help from so many people. This has been an entirely different chapter of my life, but it's turned out to be a great one." She looked at you with a smile. "So you see...Whether people need a little or a lot of help, they'll always be better afterwards. For some people it just takes a little bit longer and a bit more help."

You stared at her for a long, long moment before sighing and turning away. "Yeah. I guessed I messed up there."

"Well it's not too late," she assured you patting your back. "You can still apologize."

"I don't even know if he'll forgive me."

"Oh I bet he will. If I know Avery, he'll shake it off and bounce back quickly."

You whipped to her wide eyed. "How did you know it was Avery?!"

She smiled. "I have my ways." She stood up again. "Just think it over. Ok, Sweetie? I'm sure you both would feel better if you talked it out. If you want to find Avery just talk to my hubby. He always knows where he's gone training."

With that Ms. Honey left you sitting there staring.. before you sighed again.

[ask-idv-shepherd]

Rosalyn// {*Pearce…! *} *hurrying towards the shepherd, her eyes a bit watery for some reason*

Rosalyn// {*I-I,,, I’m so relieved you’re back, I got so worried,,,,*} ;u; 🌸✨👉👈

"R-Rose!"

Immediately, Pearce scooped the Puppeteer in his arms, hugging her close, the Shepherd glanced upwards at his beloved before noticing her eyes.

"O-Oh! Oh Rosalyn, d-did I hurt you!? H-He hasn't done anything uncivilized to you has he!? H-He didn't make you o anything -with him right!?"

Quickly setting her down, Pearce started to check over his partner, knowing how he gets, he didn't want to leave any unwanted marks on his beloved.

"I-I'm glad I'm back too... God, I'm sorry... T-To put up with my own demons for so long... i-it must have been worrying."

Keeping his beloved close, Pearce nuzzled into Rosalyn's hair, whimpering quietly as he did. Perhaps it was his way of asking forgiveness.

(@idv-artists-trio)

[strangestcase]

I will make a final statement on the dramaTM and then shut up about it, you know, not make it worse, because I know myself.

I guess it would be hypocritical of me to not apologize.

I will step up and admit, I've been petty, I've been annoying as hell, I've been stubborn, and I have overdone myself more than once. I have not been gracious at many times and I completely understand people are upset about it. It was never my intention to hurt anybody, and I say this completely honestly. But holy shit, looking back, do I fucking jump to conclusions.

Also, for context, it hasn't helped that I'm not exactly in a good place mentally lately due to personal issues.

As a... I wouldn't say content creator, but as a writer and artist, I also struggle with criticism at times and I would be lying if I said that having critics, no matter how civil, is not a walk in the park. That we can all agree on. I imagine it's not fun, as a pretty anxious person myself, to have a few people call you out on some bullshit -regardless of if they're right or not- because, trust me, I have been there, and I should have been more mature, being aware of that. However, I will make the point that the "harassment campaign" you are talking about is just three or four mostly cloutless people complaining about immature behavior on part of a popular artist; on your end, we have the big names of the fandom overreacting at the plight, no matter how ridiculous, of a blogger that has a fraction of a fraction of your fame.

It would be dumb to pretend I have not stepped on people's toes or pushed their buttons the same way it would be dumb to pretend the other side hasn't done the same in differnet ways. So let me reiterate: I am genuinely sorry if I've made any of the people involved feel bad or insulted, though I would be very happy if they made the move to likewise apologize for their behavior, because it's not like I'm super happy about the way they've treated me. Once again, if you stay in your lane I'll also stay in mine and vice versa. Like. Sure. It wasn't good of me to vague other fans, I'm self aware enough to see that now, and I wish I had been able to see it earlier, but it isn't good of them to screenshot my blog and spread rumors about me, you know?

Let me be clear here: I don't want anybody to harrass anybody, go after anybody, or start any more shit. God knows I've already had enough and I wouldn't want to drag more people into this. Any sort of disagreement or beef there is in the fandom should stay between, well, the people affected, like that's OUR problem to sort out? Not yours? So please and for the love of all that's holy don't stoke the flames from this point on because right now we're all just angry and sad and scared and. Um. That doesn't feel great.

Cool?

Cool.

Anyway. I still stand by my opinions, and anybody who knows me knows I'll die on whatever hill, but I have no issue with admitting that an angry Doc is a very petulant and immature creature, and now I'm seeing the consequences. So. All I can say right now is that I sympathize with the fandom at large, understand why they're angry at me, and just... I suppose sit down and be more reasonable even in the face of people who aren't exactly being it. Turn the other cheek and all that.

All this aside, I'm glad we are... kinda cooling down, and having enough emotional maturity to not involve more folks. I'd hate if this got any bigger, and I'm sure that's something we all believe.

TL;DR: I've gone a bit too far and admit I've also overreacted in regards of the current fandom drama, and feel sorry for it. But also please it wouldn't kill you to do the same? I promise I will do my own thing from now on, just be a bit more chill next time someone complains about you. If I can admit I've been too belligerent so can anybody honestly.

[thelighthousestale]

Goodbyes and Surprise Greetings

[Ginny's brothers have abandoned her at the Burrow while they go to school or leave the country. But then she gets a surprise visitor.]

The final days of summer sun casted a warm glow over the Burrow as Ginny and her mum returned from King's Cross. The departure of her brothers to Hogwarts always put Ginny in a bad mood. Why couldn't she be older so she could go with them and play around the castle? Why did she always have to wait for everything? This year was worse than all the other years because this time Ron left her all alone for the first time in her life.

She stomped through the yard, making the chickens scatter as she approached. No more hunting for kelpies in the stream, no more games of gobstones, and no more reading the Adventures of Young Merlin together. The world suddenly seemed a bit dimmer and less fun without Ron.

Ginn decided the chickens were no fun either and walked up to the house. Dad had already left for work that morning so it was just Ginny and Mum in the house.

"Oh come, Ginny, cheer up!" Mum was back in her overstuffed armchair, knitting a sweater. "Why don't you write a letter to your brothers? If you send it now it will arrive in time for the welcome feast. I'm sure they'd appreciate that!"

Ginny nodded her head. Maybe she will write them the best letter ever and include some drawings of them all playing together! They will read it and miss her so much they'll come back to get her and take her back to school with them!

Ginny bounded up the stairs and into her tiny bedroom. A discarded ball of thread and beads on her desk caught her eye – the remnants of the friendship bracelet she had crafted for Ron. But he had dismissed it, claiming that only girls wore bracelets. Ron was stupid. Maybe she was glad he was away. She'll write a letter to the twins only, leave Ron out of it, that will make him jealous!

Determined to draw the best card for the twins, Ginny sat at her desk and pulled out her best crayons. She got them for her tenth birthday a couple of weeks ago. The drawing really was one of her finest works if she said so herself. She thought she captured the movement of Fred and George soaring through the air on broomsticks really well.

Her mother's voice called her for lunch, but Ginny, immersed in her artistic endeavor, continued adding little clouds to the parchment. She remembered what Charlie said about signing her name on her drawings, they'd be worth more with her name on them, so she got out her quill and signed her name in the corner when a knock on the door interrupted her creative flow.

Ginny swung open the door, her eyes widening in surprise as the familiar face of her eldest brother, Bill, greeted her. "Hey Ginny!"

"What are you doing here?" she squealed, unable to contain her excitement as she jumped on Bill, wrapping her arms around his neck in a big hug.

"I came to have lunch with my favorite sister. Except she seems to have locked herself in her room and hasn't joined us in the kitchen yet," Bill teased.

Ginny jumped down from Bill, grabbed his hand, and pulled him inside. "But you live in Egypt! That's a long way for lunch!"

Ginny knew exactly how far away Egypt was because Percy had made her a special map when she wouldn't stop crying after Charlie left for Romania over the summer. On the map Percy had placed a heart sticker in the south of England to mark where she lived at The Burrow, a star sticker in Scotland where Hogwarts was, a rainbow sticker in Romania where Charlie was working with dragons, and a sticker of a tiny blue bird over Egypt where Bill lived. Bill's bird sticker was the farthest away from her heart sticker on the map that hung above her tiny desk.

"Today is a special day, though. I get to finally spend time with you without our annoying brothers," Bill replied with a grin, swinging his arm with hers.

"Really? You came all the home just to see me?!"

"Yep, I had to convince the bank to send me to England for a work trip though, I don't think they'd let me skip off work just to see you."

"Oh, so you'll be going to Diago Alley? Can you take me with you? Fred says there is a dragon that guards the gold at Gringotts. Can I see it?"

"Sorry, Ginny, I can't take you to see the dragon. Mum wouldn't like that one bit. But I can take you to get ice cream, we can have a special date tomorrow. How does that sound?"

Ginny clapped her hands. Bill was the best older brother for a reason.

"Are you working today?"

"Nope, I'm here to spend all day with you and I'll be staying here all week when I'm not working."

"So you can help me find kelpie in the stream?"

Bill gave out a chuckle, "I think the stream is too shallow for kelpie. But I am sure we can find some tiny fish to keep in a jar if you'd like."

Ginny beamed up at Bill's smiling face. She was so lucky, oh how Ron will be jealous when he finds out that she gets to spend a whole week with Bill without him! Looking back at her desk she saw the abandoned bracelet, she looked back to her brother and offered, "Bill, do you want a friendship bracelet?"

"I'd be honored," Bill said, kneeling down to let Ginny tie the beaded bracelet around his wrist. They had matching bracelets now. Maybe, Ginny thought, being the only one at home was going to be better than she thought.