#it is simply v important to me. i must interact w the things my friends put online. they must know that i love them

[cutearose]

I know most people dont use tumblr the way I do (clicking into their friends n faves blogs n scrolling til they catch up to where they were last time) but I do have to say that I think my blog is a lot of fun to scroll through and more people should scroll through it regularly

[yakocchi]

Becoming a Family With Him, Part 3 // Shuichi, Hikaru, Rhion, Luke, Eisuke

so this came out, as further celebration for the anni. VERY GOOD, much more appreciated than the prior story set lol that one was kind of boring but i get it

they made the kids for all the... kid-less ones, and the eisuke one that used to be VIP-exclusive is now here for everyone to buy (rip those ppl who gacha for it)

my rambling behind the cut (spoilers!!)

shuichi // as ud expect, shuichi has a literal hime ass looking girl (kikyo) for a daughter. she’s only 6, but is pretty calm and ladylike. She even calls her parents with –sama so... ok luckily shuichi does not strip down all the way in the presence of her daughter and only takes off his suit coat. thanks dad

anyway since shuichi has a break coming up, he wants to have a family trip how nice. but then the dang girl wants to go over to see eisuke WHAT when soryu exists and lives a block away? unrelatable, im closing the app anyway eisuke is her first love, which wtf he’s like 20 yrs older than u. even worse, mc says she’s been in love since she was like 3.

shuichi is reconsidering the benefits of democracy in his mind but eventually relents. but then they’re still following the fucc-days rule they set years ago. well, as he says in the story, RULES ARE RULES

blah blah i don’t want to go over everything bc then it’ll be boring reading the story when it comes out in engl right? also im tired bc it’s 1 am and i just want to play toontown in bed but nothing really bad happens. they are a v cute family bc shuichi is a pleasant and mature dad. kikyo and mc even do a little surprise for him at the end and it is very sweet. i feel like out of all the families, this is the most ideal

mad hatter // so they have twin sons named Rui and Kai. Rui is the childlike one that resembles Rhion in personality, Kai is the more mature one that resembles Al. man i forget that boy’s name but u get me i know they only can use stock bgs but it’s killing me that these dang kids get to sleep in what looks like separate king sized beds.

even though rhion is now a father of two, he still acts like... 10. i mean he still horni but it makes me feel weird

later it’s revealed that Ota teaches them both as an art tutor bc they both showed an interest in art. this is cute bc ota is bad with kids in this universe LOL

the ending on this one was weird cuz the kids didn’t show up in the entirety of the last ep bc it was about WORK. so uh... interesting

hikaru // so their son is named akari. haha get it because it means light. like how hikaru also means light. can mc name her kids unrelated to their father or is that against the Geneva convention

this kid actually acts like an actual little boy. like what hikaru would’ve probably turned into if not for the whole sad backstory. the story starts with akari just bringing a dog randomly home one day. he actually saved the dog (it is very cute bc he did not want the dog to cry), and then after a talk they decide to keep the dog as long as akari knows the responsibility of taking care of an animal.

so next day, the bidders come over to their house and everyone’s like woaw a dog. lol they come into their house as guests and eisuke and mamo still demand for beverages, they all suck

akari names the dog... “Light” (Raito) and i want out of this nightmare. Naturally bc Light is an abandoned dog it’s still kind of bad with interacting with things. But then Light suddenly be giving the ( ╹ਊ╹) to soryu bc remember, animals love him. everyone clowns on soryu for being an unintentional dog whisperer and then akari is like “soryu san pls make me ur apprentice” and he gives some advice like approaching it slowly, and talking to it from the front instead of back.

blah blah there’s a situation where Light goes YEET after a Doberman gets all angry and then hides bc then another dog is scaring it. hikaru swoops in to the save the day as the Real Dog Whisperer. ok it’s cute when hikaru actually gets to look cool  for once LOL

luke // luke is cute on the bc “pre-story” scene he’s actually pretty open to the idea of having kids; he actually goes “well imo we should think abt it pretty soon, but i wanted to hear ur opinion on it” but then he gets horni. and then he’s like “our kids are going to have your collarbones. awesomeee im looking forward to that” ....ok

ok cut to the actual story and they’re in Japan. Luke’s kid looks... strange versus the others. why are his eyes so big? omg voltage his eyes arent going to be saucers just cuz he half white also the kid’s name is Yuri (Or Urey). They couldn’t think of any other Brit-styled names? Like Harry? Henry? William? Wilfred? hey stan be my princess btw he’s pretty cute, though he gives serious “timid kid that gets bullied in the children’s movie” vibes. He calls Luke “daddy” and mc “mammy/mommy”.

so luke talks about his relationship w/ soryu and eisuke and then yuri is like “i want friends like that” wow cute but also find less ethically-complicated friends

so luke lets yuri meet a young patient of his (haru) so they can be friends. they get along so it’s good. haru gets in critical condition later so luke zooms outta there to do the operation.

LOL but at the end yuri is like, “i want to make more friends. (...) can i go to the bidder’s room from now on?” this boy works fast

And then he’s like “Eisuke-san... please be my friend.” HIS POWER. even eisuke was like :O so then eisuke orders a whole bunch of food and books up to the penthouse. But then yuri’s like “...i like eisuke’s eyes” and everyone’s like oh man that’s gonna be his fetish

Baba: why have u started to have an interest in eyes Yuri: I read it from one of daddy’s medical books Hikaru: wtf u can read that at 4??? (...) Soryu: wat Yuri: um... i want soryu to be my friend too Yuri: bc soryu’s eyes are also powerfully cool...

eisuke // ok this gets an extended ramble bc the more annoying the story the longer i must complain

so you might be thinking, “oh so this is gonna be a flashback in some in media res styled story with your 2 kids, u know in the style of the others” and well, no you just go straight to white screen into the flashback, back when eito was smaller and thus a little more cute. well it’s not really false advertising bc they did say “reminisce” in the description. but i wanted to see eito be a good big brother for a moment! or... less good? man i wanted to see kaito go waaaah like a baby idk i wanted to see him exist

so back to the story they cut to small eito. even as a smaller punk he does fight with his dad a little, just w/ a more narrow vocabulary to work with. tho at this point he’s still pretty sweet so clearly eisuke clowning him day and night was a negative effect on his development. (doesn’t treat his child like a child) (child grows up to a punk that doesn’t respect him) (surprised pikachu) being the son of a billionaire means that this child has to go study at a very young age and listen to MOZART. no child of eisuke ichinomiya will be listening to degenerate bops like lee taemin’s criminal next day they all go to the very fancy school that eito will be attending. eisuke does a speech, but then eito is all like “why is papa over there all the time” in reference to how all the other parents in attendance are having fun with their children, but eisuke is busy talking to other people for business and connections etc. etc. mc kind of has a hard time trying to explain it to eito bc... it’s honestly poor parenting... eiji shows up after arriving late, and he’s like “gramps is gonna be with ya today! instead of papa” which is cute but then she’s like psst thanks for coming and im like oh... so grandpa just didn’t randomly come to the open house for fun he’s just gonna be surrogate dad while real dad is busy... aw... and then at the end eito’s like FUC THIS KINDERGARTEN. eisuke is like “(smh) don’t yell in public. (despite everything) you are still the eldest son of the Ichinomiya family”

and so afterwards it’s clear that eito does not want anything to do with this school. he just sits in the classroom until mc is there to pick him up instead of playing in the courtyard or w/e, wanting nothing to do with the other kids.

so later there’s a hiking trip for the students and both of their parents, and mc asks eisuke if he’ll be available for it. eisuke is like, “i have a business trip that day, so I’ll have to adjust my schedule” and he’s been very busy in the opening of a new business or w/e. mc tells him to not do so much for something like that and that it’s ok if she goes alone with eito on the trip.

it’s the day of the trip, and mc goes alone with eito. she notes that a lot of dads did indeed come along for the trip. she apologizes to eito and says that she did talk to eisuke about the trip before, but he’s simply busy for this day. and im like... but girl, you were the one who told him not to change his schedule for the trip. yes a trip may seem less important than business ventures, but don’t make it sound like you weren’t the one who stopped him. lol. idk why im pressed abt this single line of dialogue bc later she does realize she fucced up there well eito is just like w/e about it and has pretty much accepted that sort of thing

anyway eito goes missing later and one of the kids said that he told eito that his dad (eisuke) didn’t come bc his dad thinks that his work is more important than his son. so eito got mad and ran off somewhere

and then mc finally gets the lightbulb moment that eito... wants to see his dad!! he ran off to go try to see him somehow??? !! wow so sweet

it’s raining like a mf but then in her search for eito eisuke randomly pops out of nowhere. He’s like “ho i did not remember saying that i wasn’t coming” and she’s like “im sorrryyy” and both me and him are like “just find the dang kid”

ok yea they find eito, he starts being a good student, and u start to see where he starts being antagonistic towards his dad LOL etc. etc. lol this story annoyed me so i don’t feel like doing the rest of the play by play orz

anyway thanks for reading my garbage LOL

[warmau]

Stablehand!AU Mingi

*partner to prince!yunho au “*this post was commissioned | commission info | other ateez aus 

a plain and simple stable boy with a heart of gold and absolutely NO filter about anything

his parents taught him to be hardworking, loyal, but above all - always speak the truth

and that’s why 

he can’t lie to save his life. can’t even keep a secret even after he promised he would, and not because he doesn’t want to 

but the guilt paints his ears red and he’s stammering and making up excuses that make no sense

until finally he just blurts out the secret and everyone is like mINGI and he gets embarrassed but really everyone should know by now that he just 

he’s transparent to a fault

maybe that’s why animals love him so much - ever since he was a kid, running through town with stray dogs at his heels

trying to smuggle in kittens into the barn - thanks to his effort, there are about five of them now

and the other stablehands know the king and queen HATE having strays around so they hide them 

mingi can’t lie - so he usually just shoves two cats into his overalls and runs off before he has to face any of the royals

because oH he’s gotta go uhhhhhhh clean the pasture again

isn’t lazy, but when he’s got down time he enjoys a nice sleep up in the hay storage area

looks undeniably handsome with his rolled up sleeves and strong arms carrying saddles - but he is o b l i v i o u s 

many of the maids think he’s cute and offer him treats from the kitchen which he always accepts with a big, shining smile that sends him swooning

but he’s like munch munch thank you!!! with his mouth full and the older stable hands are like ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, this kid ,,,,,,,,,,,, when will he learn 

he’s younger than a lot of the other workers in the stable, so he doesn’t work with any of the personal royal family’s horses

instead, he takes care of the knight and carriage horses, hauling hay back and forth, grooming them when they’re not on duty

and when he was a kid - his father did the job before him - so he’s been around these horses since they themselves were just little colts 

so he refers to them and everyone who works there as his “family” ,,,,, because well ,,,,,,,,, to him they really are 

the prince, yunho, used to be a very close friend of his 

sneaking off to play with mingi in the gardens when his tutors couldn’t catch him, but as they both grew older

mingi had sensed that yunho had drifted away - become too important to spend his time with a stablehand, instead attending to the business of a budding prince

but as much as mingi misses him, he didn’t let it bother him much

he’d always had a knack for friendleness - because he’s managed to be on good terms with just about,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, everyone else

from sous-chef seonghwa

to eccentric gardener wooyoung

to the maids, giggling and making his head spin as they moved past him and into the palace in circles - skirts twirling and tickling as they passed by

and of course ,,,,,,,,,  the royal knights

mingi’s been enchanted by them ever since he can remember, watching them ride into the town

silver armor, large swords, the crest of the royal family proudly displayed on their shields and on the flags that flew in behind them

he’d always wondered what it was like - to serve the country, to battle, to wield such a beautiful but powerful weapon

his father used to have to tug him away by the ear because he’d stop in the middle of his chores to run down and see them parade in

now that he was older, and worked primarily in the barn that housed their steads, he even got close to some of them

always greeting them with stars in his eyes - getting feverishly pink when one of them offered up their sword to him

“try and swing it around - see if you like it!”

they’d joked and mingi had never felt more embarrassed and excited in the same moment - picking it up by the handle

and gasping aloud

“it’s so heavy!”

“nothing like those wooden toys you had as a boy, huh mingi?”

even though he spent so much time around them 

the majority of the knights were aged and treated him almost like a boy rather than a man

he wasn’t sure if he was friends with them - or if maybe they’d all cherished the work his father had done so they resorted to treating him like a son of their own

that is of course until you joined

you - like mingi - were the youngest in your profession

and on top of that you had been assigned one of the most important tasks a knight could hope for 

you were the prince’s knight

standing by his side, gifted by the queen and king with both the knight’s standard long sword but also a crossbow engraved with the rubies that matched those in the prince’s crown

your horse, wonderland, was kept in the biggest stall and fed with better grain than the rest

and your armor was lined with white silver - you were on another level than other knights

you were not one to dally around in the stables, go to the bars for a drink, no you were almost like royalty yourself

you had also been obviously selcuded from the rest of the knights - who rarely interacted with you 

and who possibly even envied what they deemed as “favoritism” from the tyrannical royals that ruled over all of them

and when you’d come into the barn early, before even the sun had fully shown herself, you had taken off the helmet you seemed to never shed

and mingi had seen your face

a face not shown even once before, for even when you attended by the prince's side you never took your armor off

and if you had to - there was always some sort of thick, velvet mask hung up around your mouth 

so mingi couldn’t believe it - seeing you like this - 

you were - you were - 

“oh no!”

mingi’s voice resounds through the wooden walls, his long and clumsy legs tripping over the hay barrel he’d been standing before

as he lands like a fish on the barbeque right before your feet

on instinct - you draw your sword - the sharp edge out and hovering mere inches away from poor mingi’s nose

“stable boy?”

he jumps to his feet so fast you think for a second he’s got to have the dna of a spring hare

and he goes sickly red

“i - i - i -”

the lie won’t roll off his tongue, no matter how hard he tries

“i was simply ro-rolling out the hay and i had seen you and you were so beautiful - i mean you were so ,,, so ,,,”

his brown eyes can’t meet yours - he feels like you’ll shock him straight with lightening

so he tries to think of a word that can save him from this mess

“you were just so KNIGHTLY! i was surprised!”

you take to blinks, sheath your sword and step around him and ignore the floundering apology as you make your way to wonderland’s stall

mingi senses what he assumes is anger, and that you’re probably upset with him for being so silly, that he dashes over a moment later and asks

“w-would you like me to bring wonderland’s saddle?”

again, you blink twice -

“no-”

“ill go get it!”

you aren’t sure how on earth he sprints to the rack room and back so fast, carrying everything you need from wonderland’s bridle to the saddle blanket 

grinning at you with the goofiness of a field scarecrow

you reach to take them off his hands and suspiciously hum as he doesn’t show any signs of moving away

“stable boy”

“yes? do you need my help?”

you see the happiness - you think? - make his whole body shake-up to his shoulders

“don’t you have morning duties to attend to instead of watching me take care of mine?”

he jumps again and you really don’t know where this energy of his is coming from

but he bows, nearly hitting his head on the stall’s door as he mumbles that you’re right - he must be going now!

you’re in slight disbelief about the whole situation, reflecting on it again as you ride out into the pastures and pull your helmet out of your saddle bag 

you slip it on over your head - and suddenly that stable boys voice rings in your ears

“you were so beautiful”

wonderland tugs at your reigns and as soon as the memory comes, it fades as you focus on starting your practice

when you return, hours passed breakfast and even lunch 

there is an uproar in the barn

before anyone spots you, you spot them

a group of knights all circled around that red-headed stable boy

“you really SAW them?”

“i reckon it’s that sneaky merchant’s child - who else could lie their way up to such a position as the prince’s guard?”

“nah nah - it must be a wizard of some sort, well mingi what did they look like - spit out!”

one of the knights pulls mingi down into a playful hold - the cap he’s wearing tumbles off and rolls all the way to your feet

and all eyes suddenly turn to you

the knight lets mingi go and you lean down to grab his cap - only for mingi to stumble his way over and fail to snatch it before you do

“im sorry i-”

“stable boy. follow me.”

the entire barn falls silent as you walk through it - no one really looks your way again

all pretending to busy themselves with other things as you tilt your head and mingi rushes to open the back gate

“you’re not taking wonderland into her-”

“no, just keep walking.”

mingi looks over his shoulder once more - but follows you down the grassy path and into the back open pasture 

there’s a post where you tie up wonderland’s reigns and then turn to him 

you pull the helmet off your head and mingi’s entire face physically flushes

“were you telling them about what i looked like?”

“n-no! they were asking, but i - i didn’t -”

he looks just as lost as the first encounter you two had

long eyes somehow managing to get wide and worried, like a puppy scared of scolding

you put your helmet under your arm and stare at him as he fumbles, but swears he didn’t say anything

you almost feel a little bad - seeing just how disheveled he’s getting

without another word

you march back toward the barn and mingi only snaps out of it long enough to catch up with you as you step into the barn

with a loud noise, you let the heavy knight’s helmet fall to the floor

everyone turns and you bluntly say

“here it is, my face.”

you pull your sword from your side and point it out toward the group of shocked faces

mingi watches in fear

“and if any of you bother that stable boy about it again - be a man and come and bother me about it instead.”

there are grumbles that are hard to make out, but you brush past without looking at mingi once more to return to wonderland

he falls back against the barn wall and slides down as the power in his knees seems to give out

woah - they looked so,,,,,,,,,,,,,cool.

you don’t make much of the event, though you are a little pensive about the fact that everyone now knows how much younger you really are than the other knights

the rumor had been that you were young compared to the knights - who were mostly all reaching the end of their 40s 

you sigh, lifting your crossbow as the dawn settles on the shoulders of the palace

you aim it steadily to the front, where a dummy made of straw is waving it’s fake arm up at you

you line up the shot and just as you’re about to pull the arrow back

you hear someone call your name

your first instinct is someone is calling you to the aide of prince yunho’s side

but to your surprise, although you refuse to show it, it’s the stable boy

what’s his name? ,,,,,,,,, mingi?

“are you practicing?”

he asks cheerfully, jogging toward you with a large smile

the stars are apparent in his eyes as he looks your crossbow up and down

“i’ve never seen them up close! are they heavy?”

you narrow your eyes

“do you have business with me?”

he shrugs, the signature red flannel you’ve never seen him take off is slightly baggy even though it’s obvious that his build is broad

“no, i just spotted you after doing the pasture cleanup and thought i would say hello!”

“why?”

your tone comes out way more bitter than it has to be - but you can’t help it, your defense walls are always up 

“oh because,,,,,,you know,,,,,,,,,,,,well,,,,,,,just checking up on a friend?”

the word makes your head snap up toward the boy

“when did i say we were friends?”

he chuckles, waving his hand and deflecting the cold words you’ve conjured up

“you stood up to all the other knights for me! if you hadn’t - they’d pester me for weeks about -”

“i wasn’t standing up ,,,,,,,,,,”

something makes you stop - and you don’t know why, you can’t exactly pinpoint it 

but the innocent happiness spread across mingi’s features makes your usual bluntness flatter

“hmm?”

“nothing, stable boy - im don’t really like people spectating my practices.”

mingi blossoms pink again

“ah- my apologizes! ill remember that!”

he bows, hand over his chest as he bounds back to the barn

you want to focus back on your work - but then something tugs at you to watch hid disappearing figure

and your crossbow nearly falls from your hands as you see him turn too - waving a casual goodbye as he turns the bend and into the stables

what a weird boy........

you shrug - once more pushing the thought and the moment into the back of your mind

but ,,,,,,,, mingi doesn’t seem to allow this

instead, he continues being as bright as ever when you’re around 

even though the other knights avoid you, and some of the royal staff even seems a bit intimidated by your prowess and position

mingi is seemingly oblivious to it - and any other cues that you would prefer to be alone

instead, he makes a habit of being there just as early as you are

and you’re there well before 5 in the morning  - and before, when it had just been you and the horses

it’s now you, the horses, and mingi

who greets you with a smile and asks if you’re going to practice out in the fields again

one week - he even preps all your gear for you before you arrive

at one point as you’re walking wonderland out, mingi accompanies you - chattering about something that happened over the weekend

when you inquire

“why are you always here in the morning? you don’t have to be here just to see me -”

he stops, but then gives you a small laugh

“oh, no you’ve got it all wrong - the stablehand who usually works through the night is out sick so they need someone to come in before the sun rises. i got picked because im the youngest!”

an emotion you haven’t felt in ages washes over you, embarrassment

of course! he might be too kind for his own good but that doesn’t mean he’s doing anything special for you!

excusing yourself, you quickly pull wonderland along and are thankful for the helmet that covers what you can only suspect is a small blush over your own cheeks

to be fair - you know you shouldn’t deflect the help and kindness mingi is showing you

it’s just, being a knight - the prince’s knight - and training to be a warrior since you could remember hadn’t helped you become the best “people person”

you were praised by a lot of the trainers you had that your steadfast will and lack of emotions was perfect for a knight

but you also knew, deep down, that it had made you miss out on a lot

and maybe that’s why seeing someone like mingi, who could befriend the likeness of a stone, just reminds you of that fact

you find yourself deep in thought about it as you walk beside the prince’s horse - the royal family riding through the town 

most civilians are not happy about having to bow on their knees for the evil king and queen

and you haven’t been a knight for the prince for too long - but you can tell the hardened expression on his face is hiding a secret guilt

as much as you weren’t a social butterfly, you could read people

maybe the prince and i are more alike than we think........i wonder..........was that mingi boy ever his friend?

you look forward, hand on the helm of your sword and can’t help but wish that the frightened children

who hide behind their parents

could know, you weren’t some monster- some unkind, dangerous knight - but someone who really wanted to be good

children probably like mingi, he has the kind of aura that would make them feel safe

you feel a tightness in your charge

could i be the same way one day?

it could have been that day, or the others where he’d shown you this side of himself, but you start to enjoy mingi’s company

so much so that you choose to visit the stable even more, sometimes even bringing your lunch from the barracks out to the pasture

when mingi first spots you, he asks to join you

showing off the sad-looking sandwich he’s so proud he made himself

you giggle at how funny he looks flashing it around like a gourmet leg of meat

and the sound startles mingi 

“d-did you just la-laugh?”

you turn quickly, eyes borrowing into your own food

“you. you were being silly, can i not laugh?”

“no! of course you can! laughter is my favorite sound!”

 you look down - trying to fix your stare back onto the grass or the checkered cloth which mingi’s half-eaten sandwich rests upon now

but you can’t help it

you look back up at him - the sun shines off the dark brown of his eyes 

and he’s looking back at you

sometimes you find yourself in wonderland’s stall after a particularly hard day of training or even worse-  a day spent entertaining the rich elite of the country in useless events like sparrings or whatnot

you brush the twigs and mud from wonderland’s mane and shrink a little when your “fellow” knights cheerfully walk by

blabbering and calling out shots for what bar they’re going to go tear apart together

you never get invited to these outings, thankfully - you’re not a big alcohol person and plus you don’t think knights should spend time acting like fools in front of the townspeople they’re supposed to protect

but a part of it still hurts - being ostracized never gets easier

but now, you look over your shoulder when you hear someone lean against the stall door

mingi waves, says he’ll be unloading the new feed outback if you need him 

you give him a small nod of approval and pretend to get back to brushing

the moment his footsteps round out the corner, you bury your face in wonderland’s warm neck 

she makes a small sound and you mutter a “no. it’s not like that.”

although you’re trained not to trust anyone that isn’t a fellow knight or the prince himself - you start to trust mingi

so far so that when he comes down to see you in the practice fields outside the knights barracks

you don’t immediately ask him why in the world he’s come here - but you let him stay and watch

as you lift your sword up, bringing it down powerfully on the dummy made of straw and hardwood

mingi claps and it’s slightly embarrassing and you suddenly wave it around by the helm

“want to try?”

you think you see christmas lights burst in his eyes as he hops the fence with the agility you didn’t know he had in him

he takes the sword, albeit you can tell his hands are shaking, but his grip is like that of a childs

you shake your head

“here let me show you-”

you put your hand on his and the warmth of his skin sends a surge through you that you hadn’t felt in a while

you pull back - like you’ve been burned - and mingi’s face of excitement turns to worry

the sword clamors to his side and he reaches out to take your hands in yours

“are you alright?”

“why - why would you care?”

the retort comes from a place you’ve thought was long since forgotten and mingi’s eyebrows furrow in innocent confusion

“because you’re my friend, that’s why i care. are you hurt?”

the guilt of such a venomous questions floods over you and you relax suddenly

“im fine, just a sudden cramp.”

he’s still holding your hands as he turns them over in his own

the size of his palm nearly doubles yours

“it must be from holding that heavy as hell sword all day huh? seriously, how do you do it?”

he leans down to pick it up and you giggle again, the noise making mingi all giddy again

“well - you can’t be weak and a knight -”

“oh i would never call you weak - you are the protector of,,,,,,,,the prince.”

mingi’s cheerful voice falters for a second and you can’t help but let the questions from before fill your mind again

out of curiosity, you ask, “mingi, since i let you play with the sword and all can i ask you something?”

he swats away one of the many flies that have come with the setting sun

“sure”

“were you and prince yunho,,,,,, friends as well?”

 that shadow of old pain crosses over mingi’s features and he opens his mouth - but doesn’t really say anything

you take a moment - reprimanding yourself for prying into something that’s not your business and probably causing unwanted feelings to resurface

but mingi chuckles suddenly and you look to see him shrugging - arms thrown up in the air

“who knows - who knows! we would play a lot when i was young - you know, chasing each other around the barn and annoying my father to no end. but, im a stable hand and he’s a prince. friendship and all of that,,,,”

he waves it off into the air 

“it doesn’t mean much to people like him.”

you think you sense the small notes of abandonment mingi must have felt - the roles that he and his friend have to play that have split them apart

and it shocks you because - even with such an energy that pulls you in, it was possible for mingi to be abandoned by someone close to him

by someone he treasured

you’d always that it was just people like you - conditioned into choosing isolation over anything at all - that got left behind

suddenly you don’t want to talk about these things anymore, and you never want to hear those droplets of pain in mingi’s voice again

so you take the sword from him and smile

big and as bright as you can

“want to try shooting my crossbow instead?”

again, the lights come up in his eyes like stars, and the memories for both of you that hurt so much are once again pushed down - down - down

that being said, you think about what mingi said over and over again as you spend your time by the prince’s side

you were never ,,,,,, overtly warm to anyone - but your cold shoulder is even colder now 

eyes bleakly staring ahead, the only response you have for him anymore is “yes, your highness.” and his parents seem quite content that way

but when you’re delivering him home from a royal ball three towns over

he hops off his horse and drops the bag of chocolates and other delicacies he was sent off with

“whatever ive done to make you hate me, take this and see it as a reason to get over it.”

you stare at the bag then up at yunho

even though his eyes look like his parents, i know he’s not like them. but that doesn’t matter - he chose to hurt mingi, right?

you shove them back in his hands

earning a wide-eyed look of shock at the utter defiance a knight can never show to the one they serve

you don’t seem to care at all though

“you should give these to someone who’d really enjoy them. i hear the stable boy really likes sweets.”

“m-mingi?”

suddenly you hear footsteps rise from behind you, turning around - you ready yourself to protect the prince - even if you don’t quite like him right now

when all you see is the queen’s new tailor, a young and sweet thing, that yunho has been having over a lot recently

you stand up, sheathing your sword and bowing once to the prince

“ill bring the horse in.”

you say, taking a hold of the prince’s steads reigns and leaving him with the tailor, bag of candy still in hand

why,,,,,,why did i just act so curt to the prince? because of mingi? am i going insane? 

you shake it off, approaching the main barn slowly and looking around - the stable hand for the royal’s horses is nowhere in sight

so you take to the task yourself, shrugging off your outer armor and placing your equipment neatly on the hay barrels outside the saddle room

“what are you do-”

a voice comes from behind you and before you can stop your instincts - you pull in your elbow and then thrash it back, hands up in fists as you turn in a jump

clenching your teeth in defense

“o-o-ouch! woah you pack a punch!”

“mi-mingi?!?!”

the tension you’d built up to pummel whoever had snuck up on you melts away

you fall to your knees and pick up his head - watching with horror as a small amount of blood pours out of mingi’s nose

“i didn’t mean to i thought you we-”

“hey, i - i shoulda known not- not to sneak up on the best knight - oh my god this hurts im - im - oh im passing out now-”

he faints and you panic, lifting up his large body to the best of your ability and slinking him back off to your barracks

you tuck him in, pressing a makeshift bag of cold ice to his nose and hurry to the main barn to finish putting the horse away

when you return, mingi is still out cold - you apologize in a little voice and sit down beside him 

you change the ice on his forehead and push back his bright red bangs

he really is handsome, he’s got bone structure that could even rival prince yunho,,,,,,,

you think - but stop yourself short - half because you’re getting all red thinking about mingi like that

and the other half because the candle has gone out on the desk beside the bed

you get up to light another one, when a warm hand reaches for your own

“don’t leave again,,,,”

mingi’s voice, lower than usual beckons and it sends an unfamiliar feeling through your skin

his fingers are barely on your wrist, really you could just shrug them off and be on your way

but something makes them feel almost like curling chains pulling, pulling you back onto the bed

“don’t go,,,,,,,”

his voice grumbles and you can’t believe you’re letting your body take over your mind

pushing yourself down beside mingi, laying back as that hand on your wrist drapes over your waist

“are you asleep?”

you ask cautiously - scared but hoping bizarrely that he’s just having some kind of dream 

that’s why he’s acting like this

but mingi’s head turns slightly, eyes opening in the dark and you’re a knight so the small sound is amplified to you

just like your gasp is when he mumbles

“no, but if you lay down beside me i think i might just feel safe enough to drift off,,,,,”

you swallow, your heart feels tighter than before you go into battle

you glance through the dark and remember you shut the door

you let mingi’s arm coil even more around you and press you up and into his chest

“happy you punched me”

he mumbles against your hair

“im so sorry mingi i didn-”

“means you feel bad enough to let me hold you like this - huh?”

you don’t know what that means - you don’t even know if he really says it because this all feels like it’s happening in some lucid afterthought

you close your eyes - and listen to the beating of mingi’s heart

do friends usually sleep together like this?

you want to ask, but you the soft cocoon of his warmth and the tiredness of your bones does not let you speak another word

you awaken at the crack of dawn - on instinct you’re always up early - and yelp when you feel a hand on your stomach

only to turn and see it’s still mingi

he sleeps through your small exclaim and you’re both thankful and a little impressed

but also,,,,,,,,

“mingi, mingi get up - if you’re not there for the morning shift the other stable hands and the knights will get -”

he blinks himself from the cloudiness of slumber and smiles at you like a puppy

“you’re even more beautiful when you’ve just woken up.”

the words make you stumble back and they’re on your mind for literal days

like literal days - you find yourself at the barn, cleaning up after wonderland and it’s just mingi

you’re escorting the prince somewhere but your head is full of mingi

and even when you walk by and see the prince, tall and awkward

fumbling as he hands mingi a box of what you assume are some kind of chocolates - you have to scutter by before they notice you 

because mingi cannot know that all you’re thinking about is mingi

you’re on cloud nine - maybe even cloud ten or eleven 

and ,,,,,,, it makes the blatant dislike from the other knights and the insolent yelling of the queen all nothing

because when you turn around, wiping sweat from your forehead after training

you see mingi waving from the end of the field

and as you run up toward him, he catches you and suddenly he’s leaning in toward your lips

your first real kiss keeps you up without sleep for two days straight, you nearly fall asleep at your post on the outer wall and are saved only by wonderland’s nuzzling nose in your face as one of the other knights approaches

you haven’t seen mingi since it happened - but you can’t wait to get off this duty and run to the barn

“you’re being sent to king hongjoong’s country - they’re short a knight for the king and you were recommended.”

your sleepy disposition fades and you straighten up

“wh-what? then who is going to be the prince-”

“that’s not your business. here is the official query signed by the queen. you are to pack your things immediately and go.”

you don’t bother to read the parchment, instead you turn wonderland around and are about to hop up and ride to the stables

tell mingi what’s going on 

when the knight stops you

“you are taking one of the other steads. wonderland is staying here, she’ll be the prince’s new mare.”

“what?”

everything feels like a nightmare, packing your small amount of things into a napsack, having your crossbow being taken back by one of the queen’s servants

the horse waiting for you outside is unfamiliar and you beg for a chance to go back to the stables once

but two knights push you out and toward the awaiting ride

just as you take a hold of the reigns, the two knights flash big - meaty grins at you

“shouldn’t have let your guard down for a stable boy huh?”

“maybe if you were half the knight everyone made you out to be - you wouldn’t be so east to set up?”

they snicker as you ride off - confused, hurt, but worst of all the lingering on your lips stays

you’d lived your whole life hating the fact that you were alone, wishing it on no one 

to be abandoned by everyone around you because you were told it was better that way

and now

i hope you know mingi, i would never leave you of my own choice - you’re my friend, you’re my friend that i - that i - that i love, that i love so much more than the word friend could ever encompass -

you arrive at the border, a man from hongjoongs court welcomes you

“do you know why i was sent here?”

he gives you a sideways glance of pity

“you’ve been banished from your country, they said you stole from the prince.”

mingi stares up at yunho, who himself is holding back tears of apology

“just when we were becoming friends again, mingi im sorry i couldn’t keep them-”

mingi puts up a hand - a smile spreads across the worn-out features of his face

he’d thought you died, he thought either the queen or another knight had done it

but you’d just been framed - at least you were alive

“don’t worry yunho. thanks for the sweets by the way.”

he gets up, patting the prince on the shoulder and after three steps around the bend of the barn

mingi throws down the stupid box of chocolates that goes flying everywhere 

he isn’t mad at the prince - he isn’t mad at you - he just never thought those important to him would be taken away again,,,,,,,,,,,

the weeks go by and you aren’t even allowed to write to anyone from your homeland

king hongjoong is of course, kinder than the tyrants that you served - but all he knows about you is that you were apparently a thief

banished from your country

you were told you were going to be his knight, but understandably that would be impossible seeing as though everyone saw you as untrustworthy

instead, you were stationed at a field far far far from the center or the border

just out in the brush of the forests, your horse - an old and cranky draft horse as your only companion

all of that training, all of those years spent throwing away what makes me human ,,,,,,,, to end up here - alone on the outskirts of humanity. i should have just become a shop owner or a mundane merchant. 

you look at the weapon you’d been issued, a rusted hand blade - not anywhere near the prestige of a sword

you take it, throwing it with perfect aim at one of the trees - and even as the blade lodges in it - no birds fly out of the branches

it doesn’t even make a sound 

you go over to lodge it out of the bark, but it won’t even budge

another thing i’ve lost forever........

you’ve lost count of the weeks - you didn’t want to keep track because you’d lost hope 

but you’re almost a little sickened by the proposal king hongjoong delivers to you one night

“there’s a wedding in your homeland, apparently the prince has overthrown the king and queen.”

“a- a wedding? he had a ,,,,,,, a suitor?”

hongjoong’s eyes go wide

“i thought you’d know, you were his knight after all?”

you look down

“guess i wasn’t so good at that though was i?”

suddenly you feel hongjoong’s hand on your shoulder 

“either way, he’s lifted your ban and i want you to go as my knight. ok?”

you honestly think you should refuse, but you miss your homeland

you might have nothing there - no real family or friends - but you miss it either way

the familiar smells, the hills you spent so much of your time wandering through and training in, wonderland and of course - 

“lives were lost, but ultimately the king and queen have been imprisoned.”

he’s ok, right?

you agree, if only because you want to make sure mingi is alright after the rebellion 

and even if he refuses to meet your gaze - just seeing him will be enough to last you an eternity

so you ride off with the king, presents for the new king and his love thrown into the carriage 

you try to focus and calm your heartbeat through the long travel, but you can’t - you can’t because seeing mingi again -

the entire town is vibrant, you haven’t seen it this colorful and happy ever - not even when you were young

there are flowers, live music, the laughter of children everywhere

one of them even runs up to you - hands full of candy as an offering

it takes you back to the days where you’d walked beside the king, queen, and prince

and everyone had silently bowed their eyes away - scared and disgusted by you all

but now they were just so vibrant - they all reminded you of him. 

“i believe the king told me to meet him at a shop somewhere in town where is beloved’s family works, but the horses need a break - would you take them back to the barn, the stable hands should know you’re coming.”

king hongjoong requests and you comply, swallowing the lump in your throat

the stables,,,,,,,,are they still the same?

you take both your horse and the king’s along with the carriage back up the familiar route to the palace

it’s been a while, but your body remembers it by instinct and as you make your way up - the sun starts to set

you turn and look up at it as it waves goodbye, slowly sinking into the horizon

when i see mingi, i don’t deserve to even look him in the eyes, but i want to one last time - one last time to look at the boy i love -

“well ill be damned, is that an angel or am i the luckiest stable boy alive?”

the voice makes you freeze - every inch of your skin feels alive and you turn

tears pricking at the edges of your eyes

mingi throws down his cap, the same red flannel shrugged over his shoulders as when you first met him

and he rushes toward you

when he wraps his arms around you - picking you up like you’re lighter than your armor - you don’t believe it

“are you really here?”

you both ask at the same time, before mingi bursts into laughter and you can’t help but watch him in shock

“i - i thought you’d hate me for leaving -”

he pats down your hair

“you didn’t leave though, you were forced out. i mean - i hope my kiss wasn’t THAT bad that you would runaway forever you know?”

he’s joking, but you push past that - you shake your head and lean up, lips against his

you’re crying and the tears stain mingi’s cheeks

he pulls back to try and clean them off, but you don’t let him as you kiss him again and again 

and again

until the horses insistent neighing is the only thing that breaks you two apart

you can’t believe it - that you’re with him again, and that he knew it - he knew you wouldn’t leave him 

“ok, let’s get these guys in the barn. also wonderland will kill me if i take up all your time.”

“wonderland?!”

you jump, excited to see your old friend as you run passed mingi who calls after you with a little bit of a whine

“why didn’t you look that excited to see me?”

you disappear into the barn and he grins to himself as he follows you in with the horses

the wedding is the next day, and it’s as grand and as happy as all the villagers and the prince himself could ask for

mingi of course beelines for the cake and when he takes a bite you ask him how it is

rolling your eyes as you lean in to help pat away the stray piece that’s gotten on his cheek

“it’s ok, but i think our wedding cake has just got to better!”

you get so embarrassed that when you’re back to your seats

prince hongjoong is slightly convinced you’ve caught a fever and prince yunho gives mingi a secret highfive 

[paperclipninja]

Younger post-ep ramble 6x11

I may be on holiday but if you think that’s going to stop me offloading some thoughts and feelings about this week’s episode of Younger, ‘Holding Out for a SHero’, then you’d be sorely mistaken (any chance to over-think and over-analyse my fave fake reality). In saying that, this will be a briefer version of my usual post-ep ramble, what I shall refer to as Ramble Lite™. There were parts of this episode I really liked and parts I felt disappointed with, but it largely played out in a way that I expected, with the exception of that twist at the end! Hats off to Joe Murphy for that fab misdirection, I may have gasped.

This episode opened with Maggie in her tomato garden looking radiant and Liza filling her in on the decision not to see Josh anymore because it’s complicated and feelings and that undeniable thing called chemistry (or something like that). I applaud Maggie’s consistent use of Chaz (I really hope we get to hear her say it to his face at some point) and Liza stating out loud that she chooses Charles, but this scene also delivered one of the two big moments of disappointment I had in this ep. If anything was ever going to be out of character on this show it would be Liza, a writer and editor, being unable to come up with decent adjectives to describe the man she is supposedly in love with. Yet here she is describing Charles as ‘a peer’ and ‘appropriate’ as reasons for choosing to be with him. For real? I understand the effort to paint him as the sensible choice vs. the less sensible, the head vs. heart, in this triangle that’s been resurrected. This particular way of describing men has always served a clear purpose in the Youngerverse and ngl, my alarm bells went off in episode 7 when Michelle referred to Charles as ‘appropriate’. Liza uses this exact term to describe Richard, the horrendous man Michelle sets her up with in S1E2 who starts reading emails at the dinner table on their date, he’s ‘age appropriate’. She also described Jay as nice, viable, legitimate prospect, sure, but she also sobbed on his shoulder because she was so in love with Charles that her heart was aching at the thought of missing the chance to be with him.

It feels so painfully deliberate, Charles has gone from intellectually invigorating and romantic and been relegated to safe and ‘appropriate’. My disappointment comes from the fact that if this triangle must remain in play, there can be two men who are vibrant and compelling and really different, without painting one as ‘boring’ and one as ‘fun’. Knowing the way Liza talks about the important people in her life, with such admiration and affection, I feel she would at least say Charles is intelligent and romantic or kind or thoughtful or SOMETHING better than being ‘a peer’ and ‘appropriate’. I do believe that as viewers we often form our own interpretations of characters and when they don’t behave the way we imagine we are disappointed, but in this case it’s the disappointment that Liza’s entire reason for being attracted to Charles is being reduced to the idea that it’s sensible when we have been shown this is simply not the case. Phew, glad I got that off my chest (and so much for Ramble Lite™ lol).

Once in the office Liza is running Diana through the wedding planning, which frankly I cannot wait to see all come together. I love that Liza’s already secretly planned a bachelorette party and really does know Diana well enough to know she’ll want one (so many lols @ Diana’s, ‘yes that’s why I was bringing it up, because I don’t want one’ and could Liza look any more pleased with herself that she’s managed to pull the wool over her eyes? Adorbs). Charles arrives looking for Kelsey and is wanting to see how she would like to break the news that he is once again publisher, because that’s how they work now that they’re the dynamic duo and have I mentioned this week how much I LOVED seeing their dynamic last week? Kelsey proves that she has indeed kept her head and announces that Millennial secured a new investor and that Charles is once again in the boss seat and I am once again extremely impressed with Kelsey this season, as is Diana (and honestly if you have the D.Trout stamp of approval, what more do you need?).  I will also never tire of seeing Diana, Kelsey and Liza as true peers and now friends, it’s undoubtedly a highlight of season 6.

The book pitch of the week is extremely timely (as always), a manners for millennials piece that aims to counteract the generation’s greatest shortcomings, such as ghosting exes and not RSVPing to weddings. This episode really did have some stellar lines and the fact that Liza can now drop jokes in meetings, such as her ‘neither was I’ response to the author’s ‘I am not proud to be a millennial’, is the kind of goodness I am here for since the lie is no longer a thing. Naturally Liza and Diana are both very interested in finding out more about these topics and it turns out the best way to get some finality with the ex is to write a good ol’ fashioned Dear John letter (best way to get those RSVP’s -unknown). This is reinforced nicely in Charles’ office, when Liza leaps off Charles’ desk as though she and Charles were caught christening the damn thing (which would’ve been very ok by me and at this point you should know I’m not at all sorry) by Diana bearing flowers and note from Alice the author letting them know she will not be publishing her book with Millennial (so no Charles, the flowers are not for you).  All this talk of how good letters are leads to Liza penning her Dear Josh letter that night, which we only catch a tantalizing glimpse of initially, before the narration and accompanying montage when Josh actually receives it.

While it was only brief, Charles asking Liza how she feels about him being back as publisher and her answering honestly, she just wishes Kelsey hadn’t been unceremoniously stripped of the title, is yet another lovely insight into their relationship. Charles continuing with, ‘what about you, always thinking of others, how do you feel?’, excuse me while I clutch my heart at the sweetness of it all and seriously, does ANYONE ever ask Liza this? The family picture on Charles’ desk is noted and it’s great but I also can’t help but feel it’s somewhat ominous so I’m putting my gush on pause (v. open to being proven wrong on this).

Kelsey and Zane continue to be all over the place, I have so little investment in them as a pairing and I really think it’s because I have simply not seen enough of them together to know whether I care, though I have enjoyed a number of their interactions recently. It also doesn’t help that Zane has been many shades of douche this season. Since professing their love for one another, he is being caring at the start of this week’s ep, apologising and saying he feels partly responsible for Kelsey’s demotion and trying to allay Kelsey’s self-doubt. It is Kelsey who says that she doesn’t know how to do this with Zane and that one of them always loses (the old editors-who-were-peers-and-then-one-became-the-boss-but-now-they’re-peers-again curse), which returns Zane to Douchetown in time for the staff meeting.

I felt for Kelsey, it would be so hard sitting in that first meeting with Charles at the helm again, though him going through all the acquisitions and saying these are a credit to Kelsey’s impeccable instincts was great and necessary. But then Charles brings up the Arabian Seas book and the ‘we’ enters the conversation, along with a list of books that sound like they belong on the bargain shelf because yawn and yes it’s fine that Charles has his own instincts, but Zane in this meeting is awful. Kelsey calls him out, she is clearly and rightfully angry about the unfairness of her entire situation and she warns Charles to, ‘pay attention…and you too Liza. I didn’t have any boundaries at work and look what happened’. I have no idea if this is foreshadowing but I feel like it could be juicy if it was so let’s keep abreast of any future developments (yes that is a boob pun and you’re welcome).

Highlight of this whole scene of course is Liza ripping into the guy and the whole office when Kelsey walks out of the meeting and can hear that her meme has been made into a banger of a tune. We get fearsome Liza schooling the entire room on the fact that Kelsey did get the money, ‘that’s why we all have a job, she’s a goddamn hero’. YESSSSSS Liza *praise hands*. Kelsey in turn agrees to speak at the girls school event that Lauren put to her earlier (yes it IS ok to be angry and Kelsey no longer distancing herself from her social media mistake but using it as a platform to empower others and be a role model…where do I sign?).

Lauren was in ultimate PR and friend mode for Kelsey this week, trying to figure out how to spin Boobgate and trying to see the positive side of all the invitation cancellations. I always say it, I know, but Lauren’s unrelenting advocacy for her friends is absolutely one of her best qualities and her line, ‘you are an example of a woman who made a very simple mistake and the patriarchy seizing that opportunity to tear you down’, was fantastic. She also very much latched onto the SHero theme and I appreciated her use of the word at any given opportunity.

It is as Lauren and Josh are leaving to catch an Uber to Inkburg Midtown that we discover this means he is very relieved Claire doesn’t have to move to LA now. I really don’t get this. I said last week that Josh is far too woke to expect the mother of his child to bail on her career aspiration just so he doesn’t have to move to LA, especially considering he knows the struggle Liza faced in her own career journey after having Caitlin (who you may remember is her daughter…or was. Current status unknown). If we’d seen in their conversation Claire saying that she really doesn’t want to move but she can’t see another way to give Gemma the life she hopes, then ok, Josh finding a way to up his income is ace. So I do hope we find out at some point this was the case, because Josh deciding he’ll get more money so Claire and Gemma can stay for his convenience, it’s just nope.

Though I do have to say that the biggest benefit of Josh securing the Infinitely 21 partnership is getting to see more Shelly because omfg I cannot with her. The way she talks about paint colours, giving her personal number, the line I could not believe I heard, ‘but seriously, Josh, unload on me’ ( I love that this season has seemed censored af compared to previous ones – I don’t love this but you know what I mean- yet lines like this get dropped in. Too good), I am in awe of her complete and unabashed lust for him.

It is between picking paint colours that Josh finds the letter from Liza and it is heart wrenching. And beautiful. The emotion really is palpable as Josh leaves the store to find somewhere to read it once he realises what it is. The flashback montage is certainly something that hasn’t been utilized in the show and it really leaves such an impression. Coupled with the narration of the letter, it really captures the impact of Josh on Liza’s life and Liza’s genuine commitment to make her relationship with Charles work. If this show was wanting to move these characters past this old relationship it would have been a poignant and perfect way to do it. However it plays out in the long run, I thought it was really well done.

The hands down highlight of this entire episode for me was Diana’s bachelorette party. Lauren running at an unsuspecting Diana screaming, ‘get in the Hummer bitch’ is one of the funniest moments of the series, I will be laughing for eternity. Liza reminding Diana that, ‘I get you’, yes she does and I just love everything about seeing these women, all the Younger women, out together. I feel like the focus of this episode really got pulled to the other drama but this is the first time we’ve ever seen every female character of this show together in a room and I feel like THIS IS A BIG DEAL. Maggie schooling Diana on how strip clubs work and SO many brilliant lines, as Diana waves her money in the air only to tell the first stripper, ‘You’re a lot, no thank you’, then ‘Hi, little one’ as she flags another. The hilarity does not stop with Diana, Lauren’s, ‘here’s a fiver, you should smile more’ is every kind of YES (I sense a whiff of Liz Lemon in that line and I approve). As Liza and Kelsey talk about men and work and blah, Diana tries to bring them back to the purpose of the evening, ‘ladies, there are bulging crotches in your faces, can you focus?’. Listen to the Queen people. Yet another Diana wedding related event in which she ends up asking, ‘how did tonight become all about you?’ and I was thinking the same Diva. *Eyeroll*

The Hummer ends up at Inkburg because Lauren wants to help Diana fulfil her wish of doing something she’ll regret for the rest of her life (and obviously the reason they all need to be there is so Liza and Josh can have their post-letter confrontation). They are all so drunk, it’s hilarious and I would watch an entire feature film about the antics of this group while inebriated. Seriously, take my money. From Lauren’s, ‘Get out of the hummer Doana’ to Maggie’s, ‘I forgot we were in a car’, they cover the entire drunk person spectrum. On top of that we have Diana’s penis balloon hat position which just cracks me up because I am 10 but my fave is Diana saying to Josh, ‘John, just something small, tasteful and literary’ and then as she’s leaving, ‘it was nice to meet you Jake’. Obvs a wise choice not to go through with the tat but I’d love to know what Diana would have ended up with.

Josh calling Liza out on writing the letter and trying to walk away never talking to him was completely fair enough. Him reminding her that she said she would always be there for him, be Gemma’s aunt Liza, he’s not wrong and his hurt and confusion are understandable. But it is so nice to finally hear Liza making a choice and sticking to it (whether she does or not in the future). Josh saying that he gets it, she’s scared of what they were, they still are, it’s powerful and her defensiveness of Charles when he says that she’s making the safe choice is exactly the right response if she really means she has chosen him. And not because I love Charles and Liza together, but because Liza is standing up for her choice and her ‘don’t you tell me what I feel’ retort is so charged and fierce and I love it. ‘I know this is hard to accept Josh, but we were a moment in time. But the time has passed’ - this whole scene is wonderfully acted, the chemistry between these characters has always been strong and this is no exception. And obviously I agree that they need to move on. However my second big disappointment for this episode is the, ‘you forget Liza, I know you. I know when you’re lying (a couple of seasons of thinking she was 26 might contradict that but ok), especially to yourself.’

I absolutely understand the sentiment and I completely appreciate the setup for the zinger, ‘you wrote a letter to the wrong guy’ (though I do take issue with that line in general considering Liza has just said she’s made her choice. Even a simple, ‘I think’ in front of it would’ve made it less arrogant), but if this setup is leading to a Josh and Liza reunion down the track, then I would have preferred the execution be different because to me, this is not insightful or romantic, it’s Josh once again questioning Liza’s understanding of herself and her needs (I know it’s meant to be him trying to get her to ‘be real’ but it just doesn’t land like that for me). I have no doubt lots of fans are jubilant but it feels manipulative and is not a tactic that compels me to think they might have something worth revisiting. If after Liza said, ‘I love him more’ Josh had looked at her with that heartbreak in his eyes he can convey so well and said, ‘well then I hope he loves you the way you deserve’ or something and walked away, then THAT would show growth and make the possibility of him being an option again (which is clearly where this is all heading) far more compelling IMO.

So in one of the best bait and switch moments this show has delivered, Liza returns to the loft and has a good hard look at the gala photo with Charles and Michelle and Tom (and in my head she’s thinking about how good it is she and Charles promised each other they won’t go to things like that anymore) before we see another letter starting, Dear Charles. And just when all the Team Charles Stans were going to have a collective meltdown, it turns out it’s Kelsey writing her resignation letter and we all exhaled but then didn’t because Kelsey, what are you doing??? So. Much. DRAH-MAH, so little time.

Ramble Lite™, that was a good joke wasn’t it? Can’t believe we’ve reached the finale but I am also very ready because WE GET TO GO TO A WEDDING!!!! Better get my neckwear sorted…

[takaraphoenix]

Can I just say something, Hazel is not v. realistic. Like I'm 13 and i can't say the same for all 13yolds but neither me nor my friends dream of growing old w/ a husband and like rick makes her and sammy to be soulmates and that's not how a 13yo's mind functions. Also, she shouldn't be completely dependant on her. And as someone who has experienced racism its v wierd that she only experiences in her schooling rather than also w/ her mum and even in new rome. 1/2

2/2 : And Rick just randomly makes the chracters diverse but then he forgets that race is a part of character. I mean Hazel was living in the 40s as an African American and now when she’s resurrected we hardly hear anything about her experiences w/ racism. It’s not realistic. I’d expect her to maybe have some centering as a character on that. I just think that Rick cannot display characters out of his perspecitve at all and im just very annoyed. idk what do u think on this all

When I was thirteen, we all didn’t quite think past the point of high school graduation - our life was in the now. We definitely did not think about growing old and picket fences.

But yeah, I said it in a post before - many posts by now - but Riordan writes only what he himself experiences. And that is the life of a fifty year old white CIS het man. And while I can’t attest for the CIS part because I’m not reading that one series that features the genderfluid character, you can feel every other aspect of that list very strongly.

You can feel the “fifty year old” when you read about literally every single teenager dreaming about the white picket fence.

You fan feel the “white” when you read Hazel, Reyna, Piper and Leo.

You can feel the “hetero” when you read the clumsy coming out of Nico at the end of Heroes of Olympus. And actually also in Will’s flippant attitude when talking to Nico about it, because in my experience as a fledgling lesbian, older and more experienced gays and lesbians were being very gentle and welcoming and not like “LOL that’s why I was trying to talk to you for so long because I’m gay too!”. That was just to retcon in that Will was also gay; had Riordan actually cared about the gay sub-plot before, then we would have had interactions between Will and Nico in PJatO.

You can feel the “man” at every female POV in the Heroes of Olympus series. Every. Single. One.

Gotta admit, as a white girl from Germany, I do not know how things are for black people in the US (you know, beyond the generic news coverage online and the police propaganda in cop shows), but nowadays with things like Black Panther, Black Lightning, Dear White People, Timeless (seriously, the part that I adore most about that show is how it dives into the female and black history, the kind that’s brushed under the rug), also gotta mention One Day at a Time here for the Latinx representation, I realized just how very… white-author the Heroes of Olympus characters feel.

Especially with Hazel it infuriates me because she comes from a different time and to include how her experience is, how things have changed - and worse yet, how things haven’t changed - would be so incredibly interesting. How she experiences everything.

I mean, seriously, Percy got shunned for being a son of Neptune because Neptune was feared - but so was Pluto. Just how awful must it have been for the black daughter of Pluto in New Rome…?

But oh no, worry not, the black girl from the 40s with no knowledge of the modern world perfectly integrated into New Rome in 2010. No issues here at all.

We live in a time and age where not everyone can be straight and white.

We live in a time and age where representation isn’t just asked for, we demand it, because the world isn’t straight and white.

So the author of the book series where every single major character was white started sweating. (Beckendorf and Ethan were the only non-white characters and oh look, both got killed off.)

So he… he literally just looked around what there is to represent and just slapped a label on each of his characters, like a check-list.

We need A Black Character - Hazel, check.

We need An Asian Character - Frank, check.

We need A Gay Character - Nico, check.

We need A Native American Character - Piper, check.

We need A Latinx Character - oh, let’s be generous on that one; Leo and Reyna, double check.

I didn’t notice that back then, when I first read the books. But by now…?

I’m not saying I could do better - heck, unlike Riordan I also have the disadvantage of living in Europe and thus not even second-hand witnessing what the American Experience might be like for people of color - but if you decide to write a major book series and represent something you are not familiar with - may it be being gay, or from a different cultural background, or being a woman - then you should at the very least put the research into it to back it up.

Or, the easier cop-out, stick to what you did before.

And I don’t mean that as “just write whites”.

It really would be less of an issue if Heroes of Olympus had still been only from Percy’s perspective. Because we would have only gotten to meet the characters through Percy’s eyes - and not their own.

Because then we wouldn’t have had those flashbacks to Hazel’s past, we wouldn’t have to question how it came that those characters didn’t think about certain things or complain how they all seemed to think about other things collectively. And literally no one would have complained about a lack of POV changes, because PJatO didn’t have those - it was all Percy, so no one would have questioned if the sequel had also all been Percy.

It’s one thing writing about characters, but it’s different writing as characters. And in my personal opinion, Riordan shot himself in the foot by making HoO a POV split between this very diverse cast of characters, without having the actual background knowledge to flesh them fully out.

Not to mention the part where I generally think that going from one POV up to three and then to seven and nine different POVs had already been too much of a jump, but if you do that with so many different characters, who should also all have a different feeling to them, that only makes a difficult task that much more difficult.

Now, obviously, having the Seven all be white males would have been a disaster and also the wrong choice.

There are different things that could have been done though.

Like I mentioned, keeping it Percy’s POV, which we all would have been used to and no one would have questioned (heck, even if he had just done it a Jason and Percy POV due to Lost Hero).

Doing actual research for the things you write about. Also an option.

Or dialing down on the unknown. Let’s not forget, he wasn’t just juggling seven characters who represented something he wasn’t personally familiar with (also including Annabeth, because girl), out of the total of nine main characters all but three were completely new and had to be introduced.

In my personal opinion, he should have carried more characters than just Percy and Annabeth (and then later on also Nico, but not important enough to be one of the Seven) over into this book-series.

Clarisse, for example - she is over twenty, she is an experienced fighter and hero. That’d be a female character to be fully explored, but who has already been introduced (and would have made more sense than Frank, Hazel, Leo and Piper on terms of them literally having been introduced to the demigod world barely months prior with a total of one quest of experience before going to war).

Chris Rodriguez, who while never explicitely stated to be Latino as far as I remember, the name does imply and Riordan could have doubled down on that and included him. Hermes is a very diverse god, considering how much Riordan played with the powers of not overly powerful gods like Bellona or Aphrodite or Hephaestus, he could have done the same with Chris. It’d also have been fascinating to see the former traitor work hard to earn back his place at camp and to explore the mental strain put on him in the Labyrinth.

You would not have to start from scratch if you take characters you already have established. It makes everything easier, both for you as the writer and also for the readers, who don’t have to familiarize themselves with half a dozen completely new main characters.

And it takes away that edge of it being utterly ridiculous that, despite both camps having veteran heroes who fought in the Titan War and are around 20 years of age, they decided to send four kids who are essentially total newbies and of whom one is 13 and two are 15.

But yeah, those are just… personal picks on how he could have handled it better. Me, I simply wouldn’t have written about a prophecy of seven because this is a damn war. Seriously, the quest for Atlas, a minor stepping-stone on the way to the Titan War, already featured five main players with Percy, Thalia, Grover, Bianca and Zoe, only two less than this entire freaking war needed according to the prophecy.

Have it be the Giant War. Feature all of those new characters, but also your already established ones. Keep it first person Percy POV and show them fighting together, instead of singling only seven demigods out in something that is supposed to be an all out war against Mother Earth.

Neither of those are be all end all kind of answers to the problem, but suggestions on how it could have been handled differently.

The important thing would be growth and as someone for whom HoO was just too much, I can not judge that. Because everyone makes mistakes and everyone grows as a writer. So if Riordan saw what he did and learned from it - I know one of the Magnus Chase mains is a Muslima, another is mute, I think, and one is genderfluid, so if all of those are handled with more respect, research and dedication and it shows that he learned from the past, then that’s good and okay, because nobody is perfect and it’s all a learning curve, but if those are also just cardboard cut-outs put in place to be Representation, then that’d be… sad, I guess. And disappointing.

But, well, due to not having read that - and not planning on reading that - I can’t attest to it. I can just hope for the best for the readers who seek representation and got giddy about the prospect. I hope they didn’t get disappointed in that.

And I hope he will continue to learn from mistakes and grow as a writer, because yeah I generally don’t wish anyone anything bad and I truly, truly loved Percy Jackson and the Olympians. He hurt himself by trying too many new things in the sequels and if he learns to handle that and return the writing to the quality of PJatO, that’d be pretty amazing.

[gentlenoms]

Ham, Chicken, Macaroni, Burgers, Mozz Sticks, Candy, Mushrooms, Pickles, Somebody Cute

Thank you for the questions! This is going to be long, so brace yourself:

Ham: Which is best? Prey going down head-first, or prey going down feet-first? Or… something else??? 

Ah it all depends! Usually Iwould say feet-first, so that the prey has a visual impression of being draggeddown… But head-first is good too; when the prey is big enough to have theirlegs stick out of the pred’s mouth hehe.

A detail about this question Inever see being asked is about the way the prey is facing. I think it’simportant, as if the prey goes down feet-first laying on their stomach, theywill be facing the pred’s teeth/the opening of the mouth. If they’re laying ontheir back, however, they will be more concerned about the back of the mouthand their own bodies – in a sense, I feel like they would be more concernedabout what’s happening to them in this situation than the other way, as theywould focus more on the exterior/the way out!

When it’s head-first, I wouldsay that laying on their stomach is the only good way… thinking about laying onone’s back and being taken down by the head gives me a bit of a headache,really.

So yeah… feet first.

Chicken: What do you like to  happen to prey after they’re eaten?

I prefer that the prey is spatout in a safe fashion. That said, there are cases where I can conceive the preyto be digested, but that is only in “non-serious”/ “fun” scenarios, and thecharacters are more like background figures. In reality (that is to say, “inthe real world”) there is something atrocious about the fate of being eaten anddigested alive that I cannot stand (there is this gif/video of a pelican eatinga pigeon which still makes me sick). For this reason, I don’t really understandhow some people can say there is “irl vore” – for me, there are none if we areto define “vore” as something exiting, fascinating and that makes me happy.

If we are not talking aboutsafe/fatal and just assume that the prey will be safe, then there are lots ofpossibilities!

Sleeping, cuddling

Communicating with the pred(usually having deep/intimate conversations –better, having a discussion aboutthe current situation)

Exploring (the stomach is bestbut it can branch to the rest of the body as well – there was a time where Iliked for the prey to explore the upper part of the intestines, never full-tourstuff mind you.)

And many more :3

Macaroni: Your ideal predator/prey?

I largely prefer both to behumans, I know thatmany people prefer for the pred to be an animal or a furry because they feelbeing eaten by a human is weird. To be honest, furry vore dosen’t appeal to meat all (there are exceptions of course), an neither does animal vore; thelatter is probably because of its closeness to reality (as I mentioned earlier),but also because I feel that an animal wouldn’t have the ability to comprehendthe appeal of vore as such. Don’t get me wrong, I love animals, but I feel likethere is something more to vore thanjust eating something alive because of survival needs/because there is no othermeans than swallowing the prey whole. Intention is key here (watch mecontradict myself by saying I like unaware preds in 10 seconds).

I prefer g/t interactions. Thereis something very specific about this that I would like to develop in anotherquestion; but to keep it simple, I don’t really like absurdly (understand:wildly defying laws of physics) stretched bodies. I like to keep a tiny bit ofrealism. The prey doesn’t have to be minuscule, but same size is not somethingI enjoy (the exception being my boy jyushi, because he is an escaped looney tunesand does whatever he wants).

Burgers: How do you like the pred/prey to act?

This varies so much! It alldepends on the character and the situation. I usually preferprotection/friendship interactions, but as I said, there can be more maliciouspred that I enjoy as well. Willing/unwilling are good in both pred and prey!Same for aware/unaware… I would say that I still have a preference forscared/wary prey. What I don’t like are excessively cruel preds and prey that aretoo cocky.

Mozzarella Sticks: The way down to the stomach, is it a pleasant idea? Do you like the tightness, or do you want it to pass as soon as possible?

Ireally like it! It’s one of the best part in my opinion; I like the tightnessfor the prey and the pred feeling that something is passing through them, givingthem a sort of inverted awareness of their body…

Candy: How do you like prey dressed while being consumed?

I likethem to be dressed – although I prefer to ignore how inconvenient that would befor the pred. Having them completely naked makes me a bit uncomfortable.

Mushrooms: How much do you like the tongue on the prey’s body? Thoroughly scavenging every inch possible, or just glazing over them gently on the way down?

Uhhh it’s 50-50. I like a goodappreciation of the prey, taste, shape, texture, etc. but not to overdo it.Glazing them to make them easier to get down is good v//w//v

Pickles: Do you like prey being chewed, bitten, or gnawed?

Not really. Roughed up alittle, yes – all depending on the situation. But to actually hurt them is ano. There was an exception once, when I was going through a rough time and Ijust wanted my legs to be *metaphorically* cut off to make me feel “lighter”. Butthis is venting and stuff, so not a normal setting.

Somebody Cute: Who’s your favorite pred/prey?

Oh gosh, this is the time you’rereally going to get me to blush in front of my computer (∗∕∕•̥̥̥̥∕ω∕•̥̥̥̥∕) ok, so my favourite preds/preys are usually my favouritecharacters, because I don’t really have ocs… so here we go…

Because I’m currently in matsuhell: Karamatsu (both pred & prey) and Jyushimatsu (both pred & prey),simply my fav beans. Musclematsu interactions (not BL though!*)  make me melt, but I must say there is not amatsu I dislike, so I like them with any other bro too. They are the onlycharacters I can see having interchangeable pred/prey roles, as I usually liketo stick to a hierarchy.

(* I’m not necessarily anti-BLmatsu.I don’t like it and I don’t support it, but I accept that there are people whoenjoy these kinds of things (I mean, who am I to judge the weird interests thatother people have?? Hahahahahahahahahahahah….hah…). Sometimes, there’s somenon-sexual BL fanart that really melts my heart, but these are exceptions).

SnK/Attack on Titan: ohhh man…here’s the big one. I haven’t really got anything on here about it since thefandom activity has decreased (and I stayed away from it to avoid spoilersanyway) but hey, maybe good stuff will come out of February? God I love this seriesso much (both the manga and the anime, so I’m hyped). Because I’m a predictableass, my favourite character is Levi, and so, uh, as pred for Eren (who is mysecond favourite)..? (〃艸〃) (God I had to check, my face is entirely red right now) Again, not in ashippy way… I just want them to be close friends… a good brotp.

Lastly, I still love SoulEater, so Death the Kid (pred)? (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄

…ok I’ve said enough. =͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞ ⊂(=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞っ☉ω=͟͟͞͞☉)っ=͟͟͞͞

[Is this seriously over 1200 words long? Christ.]