#meanwhile Gil sits with her and talks with her

[softquietsteadylove]

I’d love to see some angst for the circus AU! Kro can’t be too happy that Thena keeps gravitating toward the lowly veterinarian 👀

Thena dismounted Angus, landing on one foot then the other. She hit her final pose, arms in the air, counting to three.

"Good!"

As soon as Kro's cane tapped the ground, Thena all but crumbled. At first she just hunched her shoulders, then she slowly sank to her knees, her chest heaving for breath in her tight, sparkling costume.

"Thena!"

He leaned over her, his hands hovering near but never on her. He bent, tilted his head, trying to see her and asses the damage. His worry was always evident, not that being a veterinarian qualified him to look after the health of the human performers.

Not that they had a proper physician in the company anyway.

"Thena, are you okay?" Gilgamesh asked gently, still hovering close but never making contact with her pale skin.

She nodded, although her gasping for breath was plain to see to everyone around the ring. She put her hand up to tell him she didn't need his assistance. Again, her hand drifted in the direction of his, but the two never met. "I-I'm okay, Gil."

Kro eyed them as he made his way down from the stands. "Run it again."

The vet looked up, glaring at him with a surprisingly intimidating expression, for someone always smiling. "Are you crazy? She can't do it again--look at her."

Thena only continued to get paler and paler.

"Are you telling me what my wife can and can't do?" Kro had no problem demanding, getting in Gil's face and using every inch of height he had on him.

"I'm saying that Thena is exhausted," Gilgamesh insisted, meeting his glare head on, like two dogs nearly locking heads as they bared their teeth.

"I'm fine," she huffed and puffed. She finally did pull her head up, indeed white as a sheet, "just...give me ten minutes."

"It's almost time for lunch anyway, boss," another stage hand suggested gently.

Thena remained on the ground as a few more came to her defense as subtly as possible. She looked up at her husband, "please?"

He all but snarled, picking up his cane in his hand.

Gilgamesh flinched, hunching closer to Thena, in front of her. He had thought Kro would pick up his cane and strike her in her defenseless position.

Kro looked at them both with as much disdain as he could afford to show so publically. "Half an hour--then I want tot see a run of the full show, front to back!"

The cast and crew held in their groans, all of them well beyond tired from their ruthless schedules. But Kro turned his back to exit the tent, leaving his staff - including his wife - to their work.

"Are you okay?" Gil whispered to Thena, kneeling down closer to her again. "You don't look so good."

Thena leaned into the press of the back of his hand to her cheek. Her eyes closed in pure bliss. "I just need to get off my feet, have some water."

Gil offered her his hand, letting her lean all of her weight on him as she stood. He wrapped his arm behind her and around her shoulder, holding it as gently as he would a bird in his palm. "Come on."

He helped her hobble over to the stands, even the old and unvarnished wood being better than being on her feet. Once they were both sitting, she continued to lean on him, seeming to fit right into his side like they were made for each other.

No one even batted an eye.

Thena reached for his cup of water eagerly, ready to gulp it down.

"Hey, easy," he spoke gently, like he did with his wounded animals. His hand tipped the cup up to her lips, letting her sip just a little at a time. "Don't make yourself sick."

He held the cup for her, letting her sip gently. Their hands met on the painted outside of the old tin, fingers brushing. She didn't even blink as he raised his palm to her forehead.

"I really think you should rest, Thena," he said just above a whisper. "You're probably coming down with something, you're so tired."

She didn't argue, just looked down at the water mug of his she held onto. "Kro won't have it. I haven't missed a single show since...well, since we were young."

The vet''s face hardened, "he's pushing you too hard."

Thena shrugged, "in sickness and in health."

The vet only looked angrier and angrier.

"Here y'go, Miss," one of the crew brought her a bowl of what they had cooked up for the cast meal that day.

She smiled at the extra piece of bread sitting along the side of it, "thank you."

Gilgamesh made no attempt to go get a serving for himself, sitting with her as she picked up a spoon and started poking at the meat stew. She took a small bite. "Not hungry?"

She shrugged again, poking around for smaller pieces of meat, or the beans they had used to fill out the body of the soup.

"Wait here," he put his hand on her knee before standing.

Thena watched him go, taking another sip of his water.

Kro kept quiet, despite the urge to demand what the hell all of that was. He knew that the vet had an obvious fondness for his wife. Plenty of men did--it was one of the many things that made him the man he was.

But this was more than a naive infatuation. More than a schoolboy crush on someone unattainable. Not only was his softness beyond want and desire, but it was not unrequited, which was the worst part.

Kro had never seen such an expression on Thena's face as when she was with that Gilgamesh.

Thena would light from within. Her eyes would become more green, her smile would lift, everything about her seemed to brighten. He knew what signs to look for. No matter what his relationship with her was, he undeniably knew his wife's behaviour. He wasn't a fool; he could see that whatever feelings the veterinarian had for her, she harboured them as well.

"Hey."

Kro remained as still as possible in his little spot in the tent's seam, where he could keep an eye on them.

Thena smiled as Gil came back with another bowl, he picked up hers and exchanged it with the one he brought back, making sure that she kept all three pieces of bread. "Gil-"

"You don't like meat."

That was ridiculous. When Kro had first found her, she was living on some remote, godforsaken little farm with her daft old father. She was used to living on animal meat.

And yet Thena looked...elated--and touched.

Gilgamesh started eating the bowl that had been brought to her. "But you need protein. I dug through it and got as much of the beans as I could. They'll keep you full. And eat the bread! You need the energy."

Kro scowled. He had no idea when eating meat had started bothering her. But he could bet it was because they had started using animals in the show. Blasted beasts were making her soft.

"Thank you."

Gilgamesh also laid his jacket over her bare, trembling legs as they ate. He scarfed down her bowl, with arguably less in it. He had given her his piece of bread, too.

Thena still ate slowly (it always infuriated Kro how long she took to eat a simple meal). But she ate more constantly, not breaking as she chewed the beans gently between each bite.

"I know you don't wanna say anything to him," Gilgamesh began. He was about to say something about Kro again. "But you're gonna get sick, Thena. Tell him you've sprained something, or I'll say that something's wrong with the equipment! But-"

"Gil," she said gently, her voice lulling him back into a sense of calm. She put her hand on his, "it won't do any good. I could fall off the tightrope and onto the ground before he would cancel a show willingly."

"I won't let that happen."

"I know," she smiled at him again. She had never smiled at Kro like that once in all their lives together. "Just don't let him catch you talking like this."

Don't let him see the way she loved him, she meant.

Gilgamesh put his hand over hers. "I'm starting to care less and less about what he catches me doing."

Those sounded like fighting words.

"Truly, Gil," she asserted, slipping her hand away and moving over on the bench, as if she had sensed Kro watching them. "Let me handle him."

"Handle what?"

Gilgamesh nearly jumped up from the bench in reflex, but Thena didn't move. As far as she was concerned, she had nothing to hide. She picked up her spoon again, "myself. I'll do the run through, but that's all I've got left for today."

Kro walked around the stands and over to her, shoving his cane against the chest of the defensive young veterinarian. He leaned closer to his wife's face. "You're done when I say we're done."

She glared right back at him, "I don't have anything left. Unless you want me to collapse during the show tomorrow."

She wouldn't be threatening it if it hadn't happened before. It was just once, and Angus - of all the beasts - had run to break her fall. But the crowd had been so scared that they had had to end the show early, even offer refunds.

Ever since then, if Thena said she was truly and deeply done, then she was done.

Kro leaned up and out of her face, although he looked at her no differently from how he looked at Angus or any of the other beasts. "Fine, one full dress rehearsal, then we break for the day. You better be ready for tomorrow."

"I always am."

Kro grabbed for his cane, only to find his hand holding onto it. That felt like a fighting gesture. "Problem?"

Gilgamesh let go of it, glaring at him without any trace of his usual nervous energy. "No, sir."

"Good," Kro snarled at him before turning to leave again. He really would leave this time. He could take his meal in their sleeper car (Thena never liked eating with him these days anyway).

By all means, the veterinarian could pine and yearn for his wife all he liked. She was still his, as far as Kro - and the sanctity of marriage - was concerned.

Whether she wanted him or not.

[descendant-of-evil]

Under Her Shadow| Gil LeGume

Pairing: Platonic!Gil x Mal's Sister!Reader

Word Count: 1,667

Trigger warning: this story contains themes of emotional neglect and family dysfunction.

A/N: This is my first attempt at writing a one-shot, so please don't be too harsh on me...

Summary: Basically it's a sad & lonely-reader meeting and befriending the ball-of-sunshine that is Gil LeGume...

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

You stand in a secluded alley on the Isle of the Lost, watching as Mal and her friends wreak havoc on the poor inhabitants of this forsaken place. You are Mal's younger sister, but it often feels like you don't even exist to your own mother, Maleficent, who openly favors Mal over you, always praising her older daughter's every move and putting her on a pedestal. Meanwhile, you are left in the shadows, feeling invisible and unwanted.

You watch as Mal struts around with her new friends, Jay, Evie, and Carlos. They are now the most infamous gang of Vks on the İsle, known as the "Core Four", and Mal is the leader. They’ve been inseparable since going on that crazy quest (that you weren’t part of) to retrieve Maleficent’s scepter: The Dragon’s Eye.

As you see them all laughing and joking together, a bitter wave of loneliness washes over you (despite knowing that deep down, you'll never fit in with them, no matter how hard you try). You have no one to talk to, no one to confide in, and no one to call a friend.

You try to approach Mal, to see if she'll pay any attention to you, but she brushes you off with a wave of her hand. She's too busy with her new friends, and you're just an afterthought. As the day wears on, you find yourself feeling more and more isolated. You watch as Mal and her friends plan their next scheme, and you know you'll never be a part of it.

Eventually, you decide to wander off on your own. You find yourself in the docks, sitting on a barrel, feeling sorry for yourself. You can't help but wonder why your mother doesn't love you as much as she loves Mal. What did you do wrong?

As you sit there, lost in your thoughts, a shadow falls over you. You look up to see a boy standing in front of you, his arms crossed over his chest. It's Gil LeGume, son of Gaston.

"What are you doing here all alone?" he asks, his voice surprisingly gentle.

You shrug your shoulders, not really knowing how to answer.

"Are you okay?" he asks, concern etched on his face.

You shake your head, tears threatening to spill over. "No," you whisper.

Gil sits down beside you, and you're surprised at how comfortable you feel around him. You've always been too disgusted by Gaston and his sons to talk to them, but Gil seems different.

"What's wrong?" he asks, his voice soft.

Trusting your instincts, you take a deep breath and tell him everything. About how Maleficent favors Mal over you, about how you feel invisible and unwanted. About how you're always left out and never included.

Gil listens intently, his eyes never leaving yours. When you're finished, he puts his arm around you, and you lean into him. It's the first time in a long time that you've felt comforted.

"You know," Gil says, "Blood-Family isn't everything. You don't need the approval of your mother to be happy."

You look up at him, surprised. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, that you shouldn't have to strive to be like Mal, for Maleficent’s approval. You don't have to follow in her footsteps. You can be your own person, and make your own choices. You can do whatever you want and be whomever you want to be… That’s what İ did and İ’ve never been happier."

You nod, feeling a glimmer of hope for the first time in a long time. Maybe he's right. Maybe you don't have to be in Mal's shadow forever.

Gil stands up, pulling you to your feet with him. "Come on," he says, "Let's go to Ursula’s Fish and Chips, I heard that the fries are on discount today."

You smile, feeling a weight lifted off your shoulders. Maybe today isn't so bad after all. And maybe, just maybe, you'll find your own place in the world, away from Mal's shadow.

As you and Gil walk through the Isle of the Lost, you start to see things in a different light. You notice people and places that you've never seen before, and you begin to realize that there's a whole world outside of Mal's group.

You and Gil sit on a bench, eating your chips and talking about everything and nothing. You tell him about your favorite things, like reading and drawing, and he tells you about his love for pirating and sports.

It's the first time in a long time that you've had a real conversation with someone, and you realize how much you've been missing out on.

When the sun starts to set, Gil walks you back to your home. You thank him for spending time with you, and he gives you a smile that makes your heart flutter.

As you walk into your house, you're surprised to see Maleficent waiting for you. She looks angry, and you feel a pang of fear in your chest.

"Where have you been, Y/N?" she demands, her eyes narrowed.

"I was just out," you say, trying to keep your voice steady.

"Out where?" she snaps.

"Just around," you say, feeling a knot form in your stomach.

Maleficent glares at you for a few more seconds before storming off, leaving you standing there, feeling small and insignificant.

You walk up to your room, closing the door behind you. You sit on your bed, staring at the wall, feeling tears sting your eyes. You thought maybe things were going to change, but now you feel like you're right back where you started.

As the night wears on, you can hear Mal and her friends laughing and having fun outside your window. You try to ignore them, but their voices carry, taunting you with their happiness.

You pull your blanket up around your shoulders, feeling alone and forgotten. You try to remind yourself of what Gil said earlier, that you don't need to be like Mal or her friends, that you can make your own choices.

But it's hard to believe that when you feel so unloved and unwanted.

Eventually, you fall asleep, but your dreams are plagued with visions of Mal and Maleficent, both of them looking down on you with disdain.

When you wake up in the morning, you feel drained and exhausted. You don't want to face another day of feeling like you don't belong.

But then you remember Gil's words, and you decide to try to take his advice. You grab a notebook and start to write, letting your imagination run wild.

As the day wears on, you find yourself getting lost in your poetry, forgetting about the world outside your bedroom window.

You're surprised when you hear a knock on the balcony of your window. You look up to see Gil standing there, a shy smile on his face.

"Hey," he says, "I was wondering if you wanted to hang out again today?"

You smile, feeling warmth in your chest. Maybe things are starting to change after all.

Together, you and Gil explore the Isle of the Lost, discovering new places and things to do. You feel like you're finally starting to find your own place in the world, as your own person.

As the sun starts to set, you and Gil sit on a rooftop overlooking the Isle of the Lost. You talk about everything and nothing, and you realize how much you've come to value his friendship.

"You know," Gil says, "You're pretty fun to hang out with."

You laugh, feeling a blush rise to your cheeks. "Thanks," you say, feeling a happiness that you haven't felt in a long time.

As the night wears on, you and Gil walk back to your house. You say goodnight, feeling a sense of contentment that you haven't felt in a long time.

But as soon as you open the door to your house, that sense of contentment disappears. Maleficent is waiting for you, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face.

"Where have you been, this time?" she demands.

You feel a knot form in your stomach as you try to come up with an answer. "Out with a friend," you say, your voice barely above a whisper.

Maleficent glares at you, her eyes narrowing. "Out with a friend? Fool! Villains don't have friends, only allies… Your sister is a leader with three minions, why can’t you be more like her?" she says, her voice dripping with disdain.

You feel tears sting your eyes as you realize that nothing has changed. Maleficent still sees you as inferior to Mal, and nothing you do can change that.

But then you remember Gil's words, and you find a newfound strength inside of you. You stand up straighter, looking Maleficent in the eye.

"I'm my own person," you say, your voice steady. "I don't need to be like Mal to be happy."

Maleficent's expression softens for a moment, but then it hardens again. "You'll never be as good as Mal," she says, her voice cold.

You feel a sense of defeat wash over you as Maleficent walks away, leaving you standing there, alone and forgotten once again.

But then you remember the happiness you felt with Gil, and you realize that you don't need Maleficent's approval to be happy. You have your own interests and your own passions, and you don't need to live in Mal's shadow anymore.

From that moment on, you start to embrace your own identity. You spend most of your time with Gil, exploring the Isle of the Lost and discovering new things. You draw and read and write, finding joy in the things that make you unique.

And even though Maleficent still sees you as inferior to Mal, you now know that you don't need her approval to be happy. You have your own place in the world, away from Mal's shadow, and you've finally embraced the fact that you don't need to be anyone but yourself to be happy…

[lendmyboyfriendahand]

Even more in the older kidnap fam fic

At Amon Ereb, accommodations for the twins do get marginally more comfortable.

It is, after all, a proper fortress complete with prison cells. All the Feanorian fortresses have them; for criminals, or captured orcs they want to interrogate, or for the rare occasions the sons of Feanor were aware they needed to be stopped.

The cells have solid stone walls and floor, with metal gratings for doors, so the prisoners can't escape by setting a fire or digging.

Some of the cells are missing doors, where the metal bars were taken down and reforged into armor or weapons, but there are still several in good shape.

And the Feanorians are putting both princes in one cell, anyway. It will be easier to guard one place than two.

Elrond and Elros are very agreeable to sharing a cell, rather than being put at opposite ends of the dungeon, with who knows how many days or weeks before they see each other again. And it's not like they'd have actual privacy with their own cells, there's going to be a guard outside constantly.

They are marched down by a half dozen guards, with their arms tied. Once Elros is untied, he has to stand his facing the wall opposite the door before the guards will bring Elrond forward and untie him.

Elros kind of wants to laugh at how intimidating he and his twin apparently are, to warrant this hassle, but it's not funny with swords inches from his brother.

Still, eventually all the guards leave, except for one who locks the door and stands across the hallway.

The cell has a bed, a chamber pot, a bucket of fresh water, and a bed roll designed for camping. There's room for one person to pace, if the other sits on the bed.

Elrond and Elros can talk to each other. Not unobserved, but without a sharp deadline. Better than since they left Sirion.

After reassuring each other that they have no serious injuries, they compare their experiences of the battle, particularly the end.

Elrond and Elros conclude that Elwing is dead, but the Valar sent an eagle (or perhaps another bird, Elrond is unsure of the species he saw) to retrieve the Silmaril.

The Valar have sent eagles to help the house of Fingolfin twice before, and retrieving Fingolfin's body was a lesser favor than saving Maedhros's life (as evil as he is). It's reasonable that the third aid from eagles would be even smaller, not saving the queen's body but saving only her jewel from her enemies.

Elros and Elrond are still confident that it's better than the Feanorians having the Silmaril, though. Who knows what evil they would be able to accomplish with its light?

They are very sad though that their mother is dead. And it's been over a year since Earendil left on his latest voyage, so he's probably dead too, though Elwing hadn't admitted it where they could hear.

That makes Elros king of Sirion, heir to Gondolin and Doriath. Elrond kisses his brother's hand and pledges his fealty.

In practical terms though, Elros and Elrond aren't sure this changes the situation at all. Sure, Elros is king - of a people he can't reach.

They're still prisoners, and there is no Silmaril to trade them for - though of course they are brave warriors who would rather die than give such a holy object over to the evil Feanorians.

They seem to be just here as hostages, so Gil-Galad doesn't sack Amon Ereb, and because the Feanorians still have enough pretense at honor not to kill enemies who surrendered.

The first of those conditions has no end date, and the second only does if they're unlucky. Elros and Elrond will be prisoners until they learn if peredhel can die of old age.

Meanwhile: Maedhros has commanded the guards to keep a watch on the cell, feed the prisoners from the same food as the soldiers, and stop them from escaping. Preferably non-lethally, but if the prisoners reach the courtyard go ahead and shoot them.

He's taken a report from the seneschal, confirming nothing has changed at the castle in his absence.

Maedhros has made his own report of names of the dead, so their work can be redistributed among the living. He's passed on news of Elwing's escape with the jewel, and the signs of orcs they saw on their way. No one pursued the army from Sirion though, which is good.

Maedhros does all the tasks that need to be done to settle his army back in the castle, or at least all that can't wait a day.

He then locks himself in his room to cry over his dead little brother.

Pretty soon it turns to screaming. Wordless cries of pain, insults to the Valar and Eru, curses to the idiocy of child queens.

It's audible outside his room, but he doesn't care. Let them think him mad, being sane has never won him a battle. (Nirnaeth Doriath Sirion, never achieving his goals, and always those he loves dying for him.)

The soldiers are uneasy, but tell each other loudly that it's just his nightmares. Lord Maedhros is sane while awake, and none of them will judge for troubled sleep. Definitely that.

From the prison cell, all that can be heard is the occasional scream. Elrond and Elros thought they were the only captives, but is someone being tortured?

Maglor sleeps for a day straight on arriving at Amon Ereb. He's the best rider left, and switched between advance scouting and Singing their trail cold as needed for the whole journey. It's not literally true that he hasn't slept since Sirion, but he hasn't been fully rested since they marched out from Amon Ereb.

He's still the first one to approach the twins for conversation though, late the next evening.

He's done diplomacy with Fingolfin after leaving him to die, how much worse can it be?

(Okay, he didn't actually get any concessions out of Fingolfin. And he gave up his entire city. But no one died! And people unassociated with the royal family were exchanging small items and food with each other! He's sure it would have taken less than a century to create an actual formal relationship.)

@tar-thelien asked to be tagged for updates!

[runawaymun]

“I’m extremely fond of Elrond in all sorts of relationships and various constellations and polycules” can you give some examples? Excluding ROP Elrond bc I’m not that interested in him (respectfully, still think he’s lovely)

Hello hello! 💕 thank you for giving me an opportunity to ramble about some more brainrot!

So excluding Rings of Power, here’s some fav polycules:

S-tier: Celrondir — Celebrían/Elrond/Lindir (hobbit films) I’m really fond of the Elrondir ship but I can never justify setting Elrond up with someone and not involving Celebrían, so in my head Lindir got a crush on Elrond, Elrond got a crush on Lindir, and meanwhile Cel was in the background also mildly attracted to Lindir (but mostly they’re just besties) & she was like ‘ok now kiss’. Bonus points if they eventually all get married to each other — peak sweet anxious wreck Lindir getting doted on by Cel & Elrond, but also Lindir and Elrond mutually sitting there fawning over their hot wife. Meanwhile Celebrían has this lil harem of husbands who adore her (and she and Lindir gossip about Elrond like girls at a sleepover). I just love them your honor.

S-tier - QPR Celrondgalad - I’m very much of the opinion that Elrond and Gil had some mutual devotion/fealty queerplatonic intense thing going on in the second age. Absolute platonic soulmates (who occasionally had sex). Celebrían and Gil were best buddies & like literally nobody was a bigger Celrond shipper than Gil. He loved seeing how happy they made each other 😭💕 and like Elrond and Celebrían didn’t really get a chance to talk about this because of Gil’s fate, but Elrond got this impression that he needed to break off the QPR thing with Gil, meanwhile Cel was like “what we have and what you two have are two completely different things and not mutually exclusive”. So at some point they did end up talking about this and once Elrond sails and reunites with both of them, it’s very much a “hi this is my husband and this is my best friend who’s my husband’s boyfriend” and I love them for that

A-tier - Celrondgalad 🤝 Celrondir - in a Celrondir verse, Lindir sails with Elrond to reunite with Cel and then also gets the shock of his life getting invited into a four-person polycule with the High King(tm) and is extremely embarrassed and worked up about this. I can’t really see Lindir and Gil being a thing except for besties who bond over their adoration for Elrond.

B-tier (fun to think about sometimes but mostly as a joke) - Celronduil and Celronduil 🤝 Celrondir - Celebrían and Thranduil tell Elrond to get in the car, loser, we’re going shopping. Weird on the surface but the more you think about the more entertaining the dynamics get. Especially if you toss Lindir in for fun because he is but one poor wet pathetic meow meow in a polycule of extremely strong personalities. It amuses me so I daydream about it often.

Basically all of these naturally revolve around Celrond, because I headcannon that Elrond just wasn’t really interested in romantic relationships very much prior to meeting Celebrían (except now I have a Celebrimbor brain worm that is changing that…), and Celrond is so endgame to me that all of my polycules are born out of me trying to reconcile my other pet Elrond ships without having to wave away my OTP 😂 plus it just makes sense. Elrond has so much love to give and I feel like he deserves a polycule. As a treat.

[nocompromise-noregrets]

For the WIP game, tell me more about the Elrond and Durin fic! What's it about? Set during the timeline or the show, or before?

Also, rarepair junkie that I am, I am intrigued by Legolas/Haldir. What gave you the idea to put them together?

aaaaa, thank you so much! <33333 I wrote a little bit about the Elrond and Dúrin thing here - it's set during the timeline of season one, or at least the bit I've written so far is. :D It's mostly Elrond musing about his heritage and his friendship with Dúrin, and how Dúrin Gets Him without even trying, whereas 'his own people', particularly Gil-Galad, only see a part of him. I suspect Disa will be turning up before the fic is done. XD

Meanwhile, the Legolas/Haldir thing, about which I am rather excited - I'm writing it from one of the prompts for the tribute collection for Keiliss, which is basically 'Legolas/Haldir in Ithilien', and it's sort of building on a few hints I put in my TRSB2021 fic as my artist Sylanna had asked for a bit of Legolas/Haldir if I could squeeze it in. In a nutshell, Legolas had a bit of a moment with Haldir after the battle of Helm's Deep (in which, as is traditional for me, Haldir DID NOT DIE but was wounded) but didn't get chance to actually talk to him or do anything about it before they all had to leave, and he is very pleasantly surprised when Haldir and his brothers pitch up in Ithilien wanting to join his little colony. It also has a few hints of my series Silent Affinity, in which Rúmil and Éowyn strike up something of a friendship after Helm's Deep, because I can't put them all in Ithilien without those two being friends. :D Here's a snippet of what I've got so far:

Around the middle of our second summer in Ithilien, my little colony receives a small delegation from the Golden Wood, riding slowly along the road that leads from the North; it receives much more traffic now, as we establish ourselves here with supplies from my father’s realm.

Well, I say ‘delegation’. When they draw closer, I realise that it is in fact Haldir, the Marchwarden of the Northern Wood, and his two brothers Orophin and Rúmil. I met the three of them briefly when the Fellowship entered Lothlórien upon our quest, and again at Helm’s Deep when Haldir led the combined forces of Imladris and Lothlórien to our aid; but I do not know them well. The last time I saw them, Orophin and Rúmil were sitting one either side of Haldir’s pallet on the floor of a room in the keep as he lay sorely wounded, cared for along with his injured fellows by the women of Rohan and the others of our people who had survived.

“Mae govannen!” I call to them, dropping out of the tree where I was keeping watch to land upon the road in front of them. “Welcome to Ithilien, mellyn-nín!”

“Mae govannen,” they echo as they draw their horses up before me, and all three of them are smiling.

“What brings you to our little settlement?” I ask, and they exchange a glance, looking at once conflicted, wary and, somehow, free.

“The Lady will sail West before the year is out,” says Haldir, “and the Lord is going to Imladris to live with his grandsons -”

“And keep an eye on them and make sure they don’t bring the place down around their ears,” Rúmil puts in with a merry laugh and Haldir rolls his eyes.

“I think there is more to it than that, gwanûr-nín,” he says mildly. “In any case, the Lady and the Lord gave all of us the choice as to whether we would follow her West or follow him to Imladris. We asked for permission to join you here, if you have need of us.”

I suspect there's going to be a bit of slow-burn yearning-and-pining before Haldir's brothers and Éowyn knock their heads together and make them stop being idiots. :D I'm hoping to get it done in time for the collection opening on the 19th, but we shall see.

Thank you for asking! <333333 if anyone else wants to ask me about any of my WIPs, the list is here.

[siswritesyanderes]

Hi! I’m curious: if you had to be the obsession of one yandere from each of your favorite fandoms, who would you choose and why?

Oh, that’s such a good question! I hope I don’t forget any fandoms. (Every time a question like this comes up, I forget all of my interests, lol.) I’m going to go ahead and include a lot of fandoms in this post, regardless of how much I like the thing itself. (I’m clarifying this because you said “favorite fandoms” and these aren’t necessarily my favorites, lol.) Boy, here’s hoping I don’t learn anything about myself, answering this question. Okay, in no particular order:

Harry Potter:

Okay, I’m thinking Newt or Tom Riddle. Newt is really good at caretaking, he’s soft-spoken, and I know from Les Mis that Eddie Redmayne is able to sing (which, in my mind, means Newt can and he’d sing lullabies). Meanwhile, Tom is powerful and, pre-Horcruxes, not too bad-tempered. He’s got followers, which is good for many reasons; he’s not sadistic like Bellatrix; on the whole, he’s a fairly balanced yandere with a surprising number of benefits.

Or Fred and George; they’re prodigies at what they do (They’re pretty much inventors); they’d be self-aware and fun as yanderes; and also they’re canonically kind of ruthless. Yeah, I think I’m settling on Fred and George for this one.

Twilight: 

By the metric of appearance, Seth or Caius. But if I’m taking everything into consideration, maybe Demetri? His power has great yandere potential that would only backfire on me if I’d already escaped, which I probably wouldn’t manage anyway, since I’m a human. He’s high enough in the Volturi that I’d be safe from most everything, but not one of the main three, which is good because I think being Caius or Marcus’s mate would invite a lot of scrutiny from Aro (and he killed Didyme), and being Aro’s might invite sassiness from Caius; just generally, I wouldn’t want to get in on whatever bond they have unless it was a poly thing where they all cared about me. Also, I’d rather avoid Aro’s power if possible, though I suppose having him be yandere for me would be like empirical evidence that even my entire history of thoughts is attractive, which would boost my ego to an absurd degree. You know what, maybe Aro. 

Then there’s also Benjamin, who has a chill personality, awesome power (especially since fire is the thing that kills vampires; being able to control it is like extra immortality on top of the existing immortality), and the innate freedom of not being a part of the Volturi. Yet, if he were to be recruited by the Volturi, you know he’d be as high-ranking as Demetri, if not higher. Again, safety. Demetri, Benjamin, or Aro, on the vampire side. (No Cullens, since they’ve actively provoked the Volturi and I don’t trust their ability to keep me safe. If Cullens were on the table, though, Jasper and Alice.)

Wolf-wise, I feel like Leah would be a really considerate and protective yandere, and since she’s the fastest of the wolves, I think she could get me out of most danger. Maybe Jared, since the only things I know about him are that he has a sense of humor and he can be SUPER manipulative (Like, that “Lee-lee” thing from Breaking Dawn was ruthless.), and that’s a valuable skill in a yandere’s tool belt. But ultimately I guess I would have to choose Jacob, since any of them would be physically unable to disobey him, even under yandere circumstances, so there’s no guarantee they would protect me no matter how much they wanted to. (Also I wouldn’t have to go through the turning process, if I’m with a wolf instead of a vampire.)

Final answer, Aro, Benjamin, or Jacob.

The Hunger Games:

Boy, I would say Snow, because I know he would pull strings for me and give gifts and stuff, but I also feel like he’d be kind of a selfish yandere. Like, he’d be kind when it’s convenient, but he’d ultimately be looking out for his own happiness. I love Finnick, but I feel like yandere traits for him would manifest too selflessly; like, I’d be worried about Finnick, as a yandere. Johanna “There’s no one left I love” Mason would be fiercely protective, but not worryingly selfless. She’d be clingy and spirited and probably beat some people up over me.

Divergent: 

Definitely Peter! He stabbed a guy in the eye in canon! He’s got an intersection of creepy and pragmatic going on, kind of like a human version of Jasper from Twilight, but without the racial baggage. I get that a lot of people thirst after Eric, and Eric definitely has more power than Peter, but his personality doesn’t interest me.

Percy Jackson:

Percy or Leo. Powers and personalities are perfect for yandere. Nico and Will, if they’re bi; I’m not caught up on Trials of Apollo, so I’m not sure.

WAIT, maybe Reyna?? The confidence, the metal dogs...Yeah, Reyna is awesome, too.

Descendants: 

Harry, Uma, and Gil as a unit. Just all three of them at once. They’re pirates, they’re already so steamy and intense about their relationships in canon (or Harry and Uma are, at least), and they’re all very attractive. If I had to choose one, I think Uma. Or Ben, since he’s a really nice guy with a strong moral compass, at least in the first movie (meaning a yandere interpretation of him would most likely become extreme in his morals, rather than corrupt), and he’s the king.

Detroit Become Human:

(I’m literally only making this a category because I find it unbelievable that any yandere Markus is characterized as, like, a rough and dominant yandere.) Markus was a caretaking android for an old man; he would be very loving, understanding, and supportive. His revolutionary energy is not turned against his loved ones. Nothing in canon suggests he would ever be rough with someone he loves. (Connor, meanwhile, is an android cop who is rough with his friends in canon, but lots of fan works characterize him as soft. Puzzling. Maybe uncomfortable, from a racial standpoint, since Markus is a man of color.) 

Also, Ralph is the absolute perfect mix of well-meaning and delusional and intense. Ralph is perfect as a yandere. Why isn’t there more yandere Ralph?? I love Ralph.

And also Jerry, because he’s cheerful and there’s a lot of him. Just a thousand of this one guy, all in love with one person? Yandere gold.

Undertale:

Sans. Or Asgore. Let’s move on. 😅

Legacy of Orïsha:

Roën. Easy. Another pirate, with emotional intelligence and a sense of humor! Self-aware but with a loose moral compass. I love him.

Avatar: The Last Airbender:

Having thought it through, either Jet or Mai; Jet is a charming yet hot-headed rebel, and we’ve already seen what it’s like when he’s like when he takes his ideals to an extreme. He would absolutely flood a town for his loved one, which, now that I’m saying it, shouldn’t be phrased like a desired outcome, but we’re talking yandere here, so it’s fine. 

Mai, meanwhile, would seem dry and casual while also doing the most. She would be satisfied with just sitting in silence, which is chill. And given her wealth, she might ‘gilded cage’ me. Then again, she’s not very forthcoming with praise or positivity in general.

Actually, yeah, just Jet.

MCU:

Listen, I really dislike Wanda in canon, but Wanda and Vision would be the best yanderes. Their powers, Wanda’s tendency to not take responsibility for her actions, there’s a lot there. And, like, she’s generally nice to people she cares about (and Vision is a Mjolnir-lifting sweetheart); she’s pretty much exactly right to be a yandere.

Maybe Nebula, since I want to give Nebula a hug and let her win at tic tac toe or something. She would fire the very biggest guns at anyone who made themself a threat to me, but one-on-one she’s so soft and frank and I love her.

(I want to say M’Baku because Winston Duke seems so lovely, but M’Baku the character seems too strict; we’ve never seen him with a loved one.)

Dandelion: Wishes Brought to You:

Jieun, in his good end, or Jisoo, in his bad end. Look, my friend got me into this game in high school; don’t look at me. Jieun is smart, psychic, very chill, and a king. Jisoo is practically the opposite. Both work very well as yanderes.

[memento-magicae]

Foster

The house by the stream seemed to blend into the woods around it. Blink, and it seemed like the trees bent to form a cabin-shaped mass. A wide range of things grew around this quiet part of the Shroud, the tall cattails in the nearby pond, the grasses touching the creaky porch, and a little boy who wandered about during the day.

The little Keeper boy could count his number of suns with his single hand. Soon he could count his age with two. He could do it well when he started learning, as it was the many fun things he could do.

He didn’t have toys like what children in the inner city could get from the Carpenters’ Guild if they were really good. He was not naughty in most senses, but the gil went to everyday’s bread and cheese, and occasionally a sweet honey cake if he was good. Besides, Selhe’to taught him that anything could be a game. He could pick up a stick, and he could have a wand, a sword, a spear if it was long enough. Sticks were around aplenty. Even the conjurers had their sticks.

Today he didn’t need to go to the conjurers to learn, so he would bend down to talk to the white flowers growing near the pond. If he was lucky, a frog might listen to him too.

“Maman is busy again. I wish I could go sell bread with her and oma and opa… Sel said he’ll be back to play but he’s taking so long.”

The white dandelions barely sway.

“I learned a new trick the other day. If I put my hand to the wood and hold it there really long, I can make it grow…!”

He runs over to the wall of the wooden house with a half-wobbling motion. A tiny branch had sprouted from the side of the house, bearing tiny leaves. The dandelions continue to sway wordlessly. The boy returns, bending down to stare at the silent white flowers. His face droops knowingly into a frown. Without pulling out its stems and roots, he blows upon its puffy seedhead. Each seed floats away like petite white umbrellas.

The boy may be small, but he wasn’t small enough to grab onto one and fly away. Meanwhile, the sun continues to hang in the sky above, having barely moved. He returns to sit on the porch, leaning against a pillar. Burying his head in his knees, he remembers the other trick Selhe’to taught him. Everything he liked, everything he wanted, even if the most impossible of things could come in a daydream.

He could jump in cotton ball clouds and tumble around like they were giant pillows. He could climb to the tallest tree in the Shroud to watch the stars. He could peek into the trunks of old trees and find honeycombs without the threat of stinging bugs. He could…

The gate out in the yard creaks open. A young man and a woman stroll in, idly chatting as the blue sky started to darken. Noticing a familiar figure curled up on the yard, the young lady gasps as they both rush over. His tail was entwined around his legs, and the gentle heaving of his body accompanied by the occasional snore suggested a healthy regularity.

“Thank the Lover, he’s just sleeping.”

“Poor fellow must have fallen asleep waiting for us.”

Selhe’to brushes the wooden pillar that the little boy had fallen next to. Perky green leaves had sprouted from tender branches growing out, though he was sure that he built the house with logs and planks, and not a whole tree.

“Might have to talk with the conjurers. Think he’s starting to show signs.”

“This early, huh…” He brushes the boy’s ears gently, ruffling his hair. The moment he stirs, he carries him up with one sharp hoist. Maman bends over to kiss him on the forehead, and gives him a longing smile.

He never had to grow up in a tiny shack, or wear patchwork cotton tunics instead of well-fitted shirts. Or grow up without the mother who gave him his name. Yet, he continued to smile and laugh whenever the three of them were together. After all, he never had to know what could have been home. He only knew home.

[keepingupwithfundies]

BuB Season 10 Episodes 4-7

It’s a rainy long weekend here, and I managed to catch up on the Bringing Up Bates recaps. From Christmas to making plans for Valentine’s Day, the Bates family is quite busy with four babies on the way and three budding romances. 

-T

*Episode 4: 'Tis the Season For Surprises

Katie is teaching Ellie, Addee and Callie how to curl their hair. Katie says she is the only older girl in the house right now, and so she wanted to do a fun bonding activity. Ellie, Addee and Callie are not sure about learning themselves, but Katie says they should learn now before she leaves. The girls say they will miss Katie, but Callie is looking forward to having her own closet in the girls room. Travis will be coming soon, and Kelly says engagement is inevitable. His sister is recently engaged as well. Kelly asks Katie if they have any timeline, and Katie says she'll know when Travis talks to her dad, since he'll tell her mom and her mom will tell her. Everyone laughs, but agrees that Kelly isn't great at secrets. Kelly says Nathan is bringing his girlfriend as well, and everyone is excited to meet them. Katie is glad the pressure will be shared. The family will be spending Christmas all together, since Alyssa is due in February, they're not sure she can make Valentines.

Meanwhile, the guys get to work decorating the house outside of the house. Jackson is just back from Alert and wants to get the lights up. Jackson is glad to be home for Christmas after Alert, and Zach is there to see Jackson but got put to work on the lights. Nathan pulls up with Esther, and the family is excited to meet them. The work stops, and everyone rushes over to meet her. Esther is excited to meet everyone, and Whitney in particular is glad to meet them. Esther is also from a big family, and she says "the more the merrier!"

The couples (also Trace) gather for a bonfire, and also for a chance to meet Esther. Nathan teasingly makes Carlin move so he can sit next to Esther. Everyone works together to try to start the fire, and John jokes that the fire just needs "more people with more ideas to get it going." Eventually it starts burning, and Carlin asks for Nathan and Esther's story. They met at a mutual friends wedding, and Nathan thought she had the bluest eyes he'd ever seen. A week went by of them chatting, and Nathan wanted to be more than friends, and they kept talking everyday. Esther told him she wanted to be with him as well, and they've been talking for about a year. They waited a bit to go public, but they seem very happy. Carlin says she wanted to support them, and they're all glad that Nathan is so happy. Nathan asked Esther to be his girlfriend on her birthday, and Nathan says they'll see about the timelines but Nathan knows Esther is the one. Nathan genuinely seems thrilled, and the night is a success.

At Zach and Whitney's, they are decorating gingerbread men for a gender reveal. Whitney says she is excited for their fourth baby, and the plan is to give blue or pink cookies as a gift to the grandparents at the Christmas family photos. There is going to be multiple announcements at that time, Zach says. Bradley hopes for a boy, and Kaci wants a girl (shocker). Whitney is excited to tell everyone at the party.

Josie and Kelton arrive at a parking garage to do their gender reveal with Willow. Josie is excited to share that they're having another baby, and they don't know if it is a boy or a girl. They are going to find out by doing a photo shoot with her friend. This time, they wanted it to just be their little family finding out together. So, they twist the poppers and celebrate, but the episode doesn't show the color. They plan to tell everyone at the Christmas party.

It is time for the Christmas party, and Kelly says they have tried to be careful during covid (ok) and so Tori's family is sick and unable to make it, but everyone else was healthy and there. Zach and Whitney get their cookies ready, and then it is time to head out for pictures. The family pictures begin, and then it is time for the big family photo. It is very cold out, but the family gathers together for the photos. Then, it is announcement time. Josie goes first, and gives her father-in-law a gift. It is an ornament, and one side says "Baby Girl" and the other says "Hazel Sloane Balka." Everyone celebrates. Zach and Whitney go next, but Zach gives them one without color first as a prank, and then they get the cookie with the blue frosting. Bradley is so happy to have a brother. Erin is announcing on behalf of Tori and Bobby, and Kelly is excited to learn they are having a girl named Charlotte Raine. Everyone gets out of the cold, and Gil gathers the family to talk about Jesus. The family then sings carols. Gil says there are four new babies on the way, and two new relationships in the works, and there is a lot to celebrate.

*Episode 5: Home Sweet Home & Nathan's Love

Michael is at Tori and Bobby's new house, and Zach, Whitney and kids walk over to knock on the door. They are excited to be neighbors. Bobby says it was time to look for a house, and they haven't had a lot of luck until Whitney let them know the house two doors down went for sale. Bobby and Tori jumped on it, and they got the house since the original homeowners loved Zach and Whitney. The cousins are so excited to be close, and Bradley in particular is excited. Tori has asked Erin and Chad to decorate the house. Bobby has been working from home, so he has a desk in the bonus room that will eventually be Charlotte's. The boys have a room, and then Tori shows of their room. Brandon and Michael are thrilled for the new homeowners, and Bobby and Tori are so excited to be close to the family again.

The family goes on an outing to the zoo, which is one of Kelly's favorite places, for Layla's first birthday. Everyone is wearing masks, and Carlin is excited for Layla to see the animals. The family walks through the zoo. Kelly says the monkeys are her favorite, since they're so active. Carlin says she can't believe Layla is a year old, and she remembers all the memories they have made. Carlin says that Layla is their sunshine, and they are obsessed.

Alyssa and John are getting ready for their new arrival, and Alyssa says you would think they would be ready but technology keeps advancing and they keep getting cooler new items. Alyssa says this time around, she will be in the hospital with a doctor instead of a birth center with a midwife. The hospital rules are strict because of Covid, so Gil and Kelly will have to meet the baby at home. They set up their swing, and Alyssa says they have reversed the order with having kids young so that they will be able to enjoy their adult kids and grandkids younger too.

At the Bates Sisters Boutique location, Chad and Zach are working on getting everything functional for the boutique. Whitney says they are lucky trying to run a small business with all the talents in their family. The sisters arrive, and they are impressed with all the work that has been done. Erin says she has been sick and missed a lot of what has been going on, but she is excited to get to be part of the progress now. They go into another room to discuss the location of the photo shoot wall, since that is very important to their online branding. Erin suggests a location, and talks about how to turn the storefront area into an actual storefront. Everyone is excited by how far the boutique has come in such a short time, and they are excited to see where it will go.  

Zach is back to doing tree work with the family, and he says it is like no time has passed. Nathan is there, and he says he isn't home very much but it is satisfying getting to do tree work with his siblings. Zach says he forgot how much work tree work is, and Zach says he wants to be 56 and moving around like his dad instead of 33 and moving around like he is. Carlin says her dad is getting older,  but he is still the man. Jud and Jeb joke that is is getting too old. The tree job goes smoothly, and the guys start talking about Esther. Nathan says he wants to be with her forever, and he is thinking about the ring. Nathan thinks about a spring engagement and a fall wedding. Nathan says he is ready to change her from a girlfriend to a fiance. Nathan wants to fly her to the Bahamas, and they talk about ideas, but Nathan says he thinks he should run them by some girls to get their opinions. They get back to work, so Nathan can catch his flight out.

*Episode 6: A DIY Date and a Delivery Day

Erin and Chad and Bobby and Tori are on a couples getaway in Gatlinburg. It was a gift to them from Kelly and Gil for Christmas. While there, Erin has brought them to a place called Board & Brush, where you get to DIY home decor. First up, they begin distressing their wood. Then, they stain it. They talk about Tori's pregnancy- she is just about halfway, and feeling good. Chad asks Bobby about having a girl, and they are excited. The instructor spends some time showing them how to use the drill, which Tori thinks is useful for herself and Bobby, but not that useful for Chad. Chad tells them about the boutique project, and they are looking forward to moving in in a week. They complete their projects, and Tori is excited about hanging it up in their house.

Alyssa is preparing for her baby, and she has her daughters pack their bags to get ready for when the baby comes. John comes in to help them, and he says being a girl dad is a lot of fun. Alyssa starts handing out plastic bag filled with outfits for them to go. They finish packing, and Alyssa says they picked the name Maci Jo, Maci they just liked and Jo is for her mother and grandmother Betty Jo. Kelly is super excited to have a grandchild named for her, and says she can't stop saying the name.

Effortless Beauty Co is doing a stylized shoot at Castleton Farms, and they are thrilled about the opportunity. Katie gets to work on makeup, and she makes conversation with the models about looking forward to her wedding. Katie says she is ready for the ring. The shoot goes well, the bride loves her makeup, and Katie says she can't wait until she gets to be in the client chair.

Brandon and Michael arrive at Zach & Whitney's, bearing lasagna and homemade bread. Zach and Whitney are thrilled to get to enjoy Michael's lasagna. Zach & Whit's house is crazy, since the boutique is taking up half their house right now. Michael talks about her sewing business, which took the back burner during school but it is growing fast. Michael is volunteering at children's hospital for now while she figures out what is next. Everyone agrees that it was a fun dinner and they need to do it more.

Alyssa calls her mom, and says she thinks she is in labor. Alyssa wants to give her mom some time to make plans. Alyssa is just in early labor but she wants her parents to start heading their way so they can meet Maci. Alyssa gets everything ready to go, but now she is wondering if it is labor or not. Alyssa starts walking because she just wants labor to get going so she can be done. Alyssa has usually had shorter labors, but this one is taking its time. Alyssa has been having contractions for a while, and so she is heading to the hospital to see if they can help her progress. In the hospital, Alyssa gets an epidural and is making quick progress. The doctor lets John help deliver the baby, and he is thrilled he got to help.  Alyssa is pleased with her hospital experience, but she is excited to go home and introduce Maci to everyone. Gil and Kelly arrive in Florida to meet Maci. Everyone is thrilled for the Webster family and wants to meet Maci.

*Episode 7: Lawson's New Love and the Boutique's New Digs!?

Chad has been working on an old camper since he loved camping as a kid and he wants to do it with his family. The camper is old, but it has good bones and they are completely redoing it. They step inside the camper and talk about what they want to change. Gil and Kelly joke that they are going to make the camper incredible like they always do. Erin says that with 2020, they look forward to getting out there and making new memories all together.

Kelly is preparing for Valentine's Day, but Kelly isn't as prepared as she usually is. Nathan and Lawson walk in, and Kelly says they need to pick about the theme. They debate different ideas, and Katie walks over to get involved. One of the little kids suggested animals, and Kelly facetimes their group text and Zach gets on to share his opinion. They joke that no matter what, Zach will come as a cowboy again, and Lawson jokes that he will be a better cowboy. Zach says he won't, since he doesn't have a girlfriend-and Kelly says Lawson actually might have some news in that department. Zach asks if he is bringing Nathan again, and Lawson says he has upgraded in the beauty department. Kelly says Lawson was traveling a lot to California, and she thought he was working but she then learned that there was a girl in California that he liked. Everyone agrees on the animal theme, and Kelly is glad to start getting to work on the party.

It is Boutique moving day, and there is a lot of clothes being transported to the new location. There was a huge moving sale where 5,000 dresses where sold which enabled them to move. It was a huge group effort to move the product. Trace and Chad load up a truck load to take to the new location, and then the team goes into the new location. Everyone is so excited by the new space- Chad has built a beautiful packaging station for the boutique. There is a lot of work still to go, but they are excited for the new space for their store.

Lawson and Trace are looking for Duke, Lawson's dog. Trace jokes that Duke likes Trace better than Lawson since he is spending more time with him. Lawson is preparing to take him to training for a few months. Jackson comes out on the porch, and he has unfortunately broken his arm snowboarding in Colorado. Jackson had surgery with 13 screws and two metal plates put in his arm.  Trace mentions that Tiffany was on the trip to Colorado, and he has been spending a lot of time in California. Lawson said his girlfriend Tiffany joined him on the trip. Lawson says it is early in the relationship but a great trip. Lawson says she is coming to Valentine's Day, and everyone is thrilled about that. Gil and Kelly are looking forward to spending more time with her. Nathan is glad they're both in relationships at the same time, and they are excited to see how this pans out.

[set-phasers-to-whump]

car accident

prompt: car accident

whumpee: malcolm bright

fandom: prodigal son

hi! this is kind of a fun interpretation of car accident rather than the traditional route. it’s set in the midst of 1x13 when malcolm falls on gil’s car and can be seen mostly as canon compliant though there’s a little more whump thrown in here than is visible in the show :) hope you enjoy!

He crashes through the window, the explosion following close behind him. The bulletproof vest protects him from the brunt of it, but he feels the heat, feels pieces of glass cut him, ripping tears into his suit. For a helpless second he falls, eyes wide at the explosion rushing out of the building above him, and then his back slams into the roof of a car with a horrible crunching, crashing sound, and bits of metal and glass rain down atop him. 

He makes a noise between a cough and a groan, rolling over slightly onto his side and taking a look around at the carnage, car alarms blaring around him, ears ringing. He looks at Gil, Dani, and JT as the three approach him. “I think I’m gonna miss my flight.”

He lies back against the wrecked roof of the car with a sigh, closing his eyes as the pain begins to really hit him.

His whole body hurts from the impact, though thankfully nothing feels broken. It just hurts, a painful ache that’s especially bad across his shoulders and upper back, which he supposes had made contact first. 

“Are you...okay?” 

He opens his eyes at the sound of Dani’s voice, and takes a slightly wheezing breath to respond. 

“Not too bad.”

“I’m calling 911.”

“No, Gil, there’s really -” he cuts himself off with a cough that makes him feel like his body really is exploding this time. “- really no need.”

He can’t quite see Gil, but he pictures the look on his face as he agrees, hears the tightness in his voice. There’s something about it that makes Malcolm feel...off. “Okay. I’m not calling 911. As long as you can walk out of here.”

He can do that. 

If he can just sit up. But the roof of this car is covered in jagged bits of metal and glass that cut into his palms when he tries to push himself up, and his legs just slide out uselessly when he tries to use them to get himself up. 

“A little help here?” he suggests, looking around at his teammates as much as he can without lifting his head. 

A second later, JT’s grabbing one of his arms, and Dani’s got the other, and then he’s sitting up and looking around and making the horrible realization that he knows what car this is. 

Which explains why Gil’s still standing where he’d last been, rather than being one of the people to help him up. He’s looking at Malcolm - and at his car - with this pained expression on his face, because Malcolm’s hasty, slightly stupid plan has ruined it. 

“Yeah,” JT says, evidently noting the expression of horrible realization on Malcolm’s face. He pats Malcolm’s shoulder in sympathy, which hurts. Malcolm groans. 

“Sorry.”

JT and Dani help him off the smashed roof of Gil’s car, silently supporting him between them, his arms around their shoulders. He limps along with them over to the sidewalk, casting a backwards glance at Gil, who’s still standing there, looking at the smashed wreck that is his beloved car.

They lower Malcolm down onto the curb, and JT walks off to talk to Gil. Meanwhile, Dani bends down next to Malcolm for a second, looks him in the eyes.

“Are you sure you’re good?”

He nods. “I’m sure. I’ve had worse.” He smiles, hoping to come across as reassuring. 

“Yeah. That’s not…” Dani trails off. “Never mind.” She stands up, shakes her head at him when he tries to follow (not that he gets very far before his hurting body is forcing him back to the ground, anyway). “Quick thinking, Bright. Glad you’re not dead.”

“Me too.”

He watches her walk off to where JT and Gil are talking, and begins to feel an emotional pain well up in him, alongside the physical. Sure, he’d saved himself, but he’d wrecked Gil’s car. Gil loves his car more than just about anything. And now Malcolm has gone and destroyed it. 

He has to get up. He has to go to Gil and tell him how sorry he is. 

Malcolm staggers to his feet, this time forcing himself to stay standing through the pain. He wraps an arm across his torso like it’ll help keep him together, and starts walking over to where his team is standing. 

Every step he takes makes him feel like he’s about to collapse, and every second that passes makes him feel worse about what he’s done to Gil. Everything hurts.

He makes it maybe halfway to his destination before his legs decide they’ve had enough. They turn to nothing underneath him, and a sudden dizziness rushes through his head, and he’s falling again, falling, falling…

And then he’s not, but he’s not on the ground. Someone’s holding him up, holding their arms around him, and it hurts a bit but mostly it feels nice. Safe. It’s Gil. 

It’s Gil. 

He pulls back from Gil’s arms until he’s looking him in the face, apologies tumbling from his lips. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I didn’t - I ruined - I -” 

“Hey,” Gil’s voice cuts through his panic, and he sounds so gentle, so concerned, that Malcolm wants to cry (or maybe he’s already crying? It’s hard to tell). “Kid, it’s okay.”

What?

“Aren’t you - you’re not mad? I ruined your car.”

A brief pained look passes over Gil’s face, but it disappears almost immediately. “Of course I’m not mad, Malcolm. All that matters to me is that you’re okay.”

“But - your car.”

“My car,” Gil says, and he pulls Malcolm back into his arms, so gently it barely hurts at all, “is not nearly as important as you. You got that? She’s - was - my car. You’re my kid.”

He’s definitely crying now, the tears running down his face, stinging his bloody cuts from the glass. He presses his face into Gil’s shoulder, barely noticing the increased pain from the slight change in position. 

For a moment, Gil just holds him, supports him, lets him cry. But after a bit, he pulls back, one arm still on Malcolm’s shoulder. He looks Malcolm up and down, then meets his eyes. 

“There’s an ambulance here,” he says. “Because of the explosion.”

Malcolm opens his mouth to object, but Gil shushes him before he can speak. 

“You don’t have to go anywhere. Just let them check you out, okay? Make sure nothing’s broken.”

That’s reasonable, Malcolm figures, and he nods his agreement. He can let the paramedics check him over, get just enough pain meds from them to make the pain bearable, head home and change his clothes, and get back to work. 

He’s got a killer to catch, after all.

aaa thanks for reading! this was a little short but i had the best time writing it, and i hope you enjoyed! <3

[myfavoriteskdramas]

So guys, I've wanted to do this kind of list since a lot of time ago, of the kdramas that from my point of view are underrated, and I think more people who loves kdramas should give them a chance and watch them, so here is the first part:

1. Hogu's love aka Fool's love.

Ho Goo has a twin sister Ho Gyeong. He has tried to pass the civil service examination, but has failed for 7 years. He also has never dated in his life. One day, he meets Do Hee. She was the most popular girl back in his high school days. She is a member of the national swimming team and has a burning desire to win. She also talks like one of the guys. They spend the night together, but the next morning he finds a baby next next to him and Do Hee is gone. After Ho Goo meets Do Hee again, he becomes involved in a complicated romantic relationship and a dangerous friendship.

Link where you can watch it: https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/hogoos-love

2. The tale of nokdu aka Mung bean chronicles (one of my faves).

Jeon Nok Du is a man with extraordinary ambition to experience the big, wide world. With looks, brains, and athletic abilities, he is the epitome of perfection. After being swept up in an incident, he disguises himself as a woman to join a mysterious all-woman community and meets Dong Dong Joo.

Dong Dong Joo is a prickly gisaeng trainee. Along with her fiery personality, she is clumsy, has absolutely no sense of rhythm, and is tone-deaf, which makes all of her peers look after her. However, she is skilled with her hands as she can make anything if given the right tools. Unable to stand injustice, she speaks her mind.

Due to this fact, Jeon Nok Du ends up saving Dong Dong Joo from a dangerous situation. After that, she suddenly becomes Jeon Nok Du’s adopted daughter and he decides to live in the widow village for 1 year.

Link where you can watch it:

Is on Viki but you can watch it in this link too https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/mung-bean-chronicles

3. Clean with passion for now.

Jang Sun Gyeol has wealth and good looks but suffers from severe mysophobia. He is obsessed with cleaning and even owns his own cleaning company. However, he meets a carefree and untidy girl named Gil Oh Sol after she enters his company as a new employee.

Oh Sol has worked all sorts of part-time jobs while striving for a full-time job and does not have the luxury to date or be clean. She gave up on being neat after facing the tough reality of the world and is known for always wearing her trademark tracksuit. But she has a bright personality and does not mind getting dirty. With the help of Oh Sol, Sun Gyeol faces his mysophobia and also falls in love with her.

Link where you can watch it: https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/clean-with-passion-for-now

4. Live up to your name aka Deserving of the name.

Heo Im, who is born in a concubine family in Joseon era and has very outstanding medical skill, is frustrated about his career as he fails to climb to higher positions in the government because of his background. By accident, he travels through time to modern Seoul 400 years later and meets modern doctor Yeon Gyung. Thinking that Heo Im is weird, she hopes to get rid of Heo Im but instead, they travel back to Joseon together again.

Link where you can watch it:

Is on netflix, but you can watch it too in this link https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/deserving-of-the-name

5. Live On (Just finished one or two weeks ago) if you want to watch a short kdrama, this one it only has 8 episodes.

Live On” is set to be a romance story that follows the lives of Baek Ho Rang (Jung Da Bin), who is at the top of food chain at her high school where being trendy and popular brings higher social status, and Go Eun Taek (Minhyun), a perfectionist who is the head of the broadcasting club. Baek Ho Rang joins the broadcasting club in order get help from Go Eun Taek in uncovering the identity of a mysterious figure who is trying to bring to light parts of her past she wants to keep hidden.Baek Ho Rang immediately shot up to social media star status because of her beautiful looks and is one of the most popular girls at Seo Hyun High School. Despite being at the top of the social pyramid, she only has one true friend as she believes she is the center of the universe and looks down on others. Meanwhile, Go Eun Taek is in charge of the school’s broadcasting club and is someone who is sensitive, detail oriented, can sometimes be irritable, and plans everything out perfectly. Though he is strict and inflexible when it comes to his leadership, he never shies away from any task that is given to him and is loved by his fellow students.

Link where you can watch it:

Is on Viki but also you can watch it in this link

https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/live-on-2020

6. Dinner Mate.

This drama is about a young woman going through a rough breakup with a longtime boyfriend she’s still in love with, and a young man who’s a serial dater and kind of tired of relationships. They both like to eat out but dislike having to go to nice restaurants alone, and they happen to meet while waiting to be seated at a restaurant, each of them alone. The hostess mistakes them for a couple and offers them a couple special, which prompts them to sit together and end up having dinner together. After their first unexpected meeting, they meet and have dinner together weekly. That’s how they strike up an unusual friendship where they get together just to eat out, and over multiple dinners, they open up to each other about their relationship troubles and grow closer.

Link where you can watch it:

https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/dinner-mate

7. Oh my venus.

This is a drama about two Childhood friends meet again in their adulthood and find themselves making a bet on a “diet challenge”. The story focuses on their journey of searching for love and health.

Kang Joo Eun meets Kim Yeong Ho, who agrees to be her personal trainer to help her get healthier. As they work on her physical transformation, they both discover they have feelings for each other. As they grow closer, they heal each other's emotional wounds and fall in love.

Link where you can watch it:

Is on Viki but here's the link too

https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/oh-my-venus

8. Cheat on me if you can ( Is still on emission, there's only two episodes left).

For her work, best-selling crime author Yeo Joo researches how to make a murder look like an accidental death. Next to her is her younger husband, Woo Sung, who is a family man and works as a divorce lawyer. Woo Sung still thinks he's a sexy, attractive partner, and lives on with his wonderful marriage life. However, lately, Yeo Joo, who would rather be a widow than a divorcee, starts finding some of his behavior suspicious. Could he be cheating on her? Could Woo Sung possibly be enjoying a thrilling affair behind her back? Yeo Joo tells it straight: If he cheats, he will die.

Link where you can watch it:

Is on Viki but also here's the link https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/if-you-cheat-you-die

9. The beauty inside (one of my faves).

Han Se Kye is a top actress, also known as a troublemaker, with many rumors around her. To others, her life appears as a mystery, when in fact she is faced with a strange occurrence where she must change into a different body and new identity for one week a month. She encounters Seo Do Jae, a brilliant man who is an executive at an airline company. He seems to have it all: a perfect appearance, knowledge, and a good job; but he has a secret too. He suffers from Prosopagnosia, the inability to recognize faces. However, he manages to hide this from the world, every day he makes an effort to remember people by their personalities.

Seo Do Jae's life begins to change when he meets Han Se Kye. She is the only person whose face he can recognize. But with Han Se Kye's constant disappearance and change how long can she keep her secret?.

Link where you can watch it:

https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/the-beauty-inside-korean-drama

10. Royal secret inspector aka Secret royal agent (is on emission now, there's a few episodes left).

Set towards the end of the Joseon era, Sung Yi-Gyeom placed first in the state examination and he now works at the Hongmungwan (administrative and research department). He doesn't have a goal or ambition for his life. One day, Sung Yi-Gyeom is caught gambling. As punishment, he is assigned to work as a secret royal inspector. His job is to eradicate illegal acts and corruption by public officers. He carries out his new job with the help of Hong Da-In and Park Chun-Sam. Hong Da-In is a female inspector and solves cases with Sung Yi-Gyeom. Park Chun-Sam is Sung Yi-Gyeom’s servant. Park Chun-Sam is talkative, affectionate, and tearful.

Meanwhile, Sung Yi-Beom is Sung Yi-Gyeom’s younger stepbrother. His father is a nobleman, but his mother is a slave. Due to his mother's low social status, his father does not accept him as his real son and he is barred from having certain opportunities. He opposes his older stepbrother Sung Yi-Gyeom.

Link where you can watch it:

https://dramacool.so/drama-detail/new-secret-royal-inspector

[softquietsteadylove]

Hello birdie 🖤✨

I've got something for the Life Interrupted AU.

Thena isn't feeling well lately and is considering to go back into this hellhole where she's getting drugged to unconsciousness. She's packing her stuff when Gil shows up. He's trying to talk it out of her.

(And I definitely didn't had this Idea because I'm stuck in one of those hellholes, lol)

✨🖤Hugs an Love🖤✨

"Going somewhere?"

Thena sighed, setting down one of her shirts and staring down at her bed. "I was thinking about it."

Gil walked further into her room, having just arrived. "Druig texted me. Really surprised me to hear from him, but he said you've been acting weird--wants me to 'talk to some sense into you'."

Thena let out a humourless chuckle. "I'm surprised he decided to entrust you with that task."

"Gotta say, I am too," Gil agreed quietly until he was standing behind her. "I have to agree--you seem a little anxious lately."

She had been nervous, jumpy, and Gil knew it. They hadn't been able to go out on a date in weeks because she felt on the verge of a panic attack at the thought of having to navigate crowds or risk running into someone. "Maybe...maybe I should consider-"

"Don't," he whispered, placing his hand gently over hers. Her bag was already half full. "Don't say you're going back to that place."

Thena squeezed her eyes shut, tears already burning the insides of them. "Where should I go, Gil?"

"Anywhere else," he concluded. He pulled her hand away from packing up as if she were sailing off into the horizon. He moved slowly and gently until he could sit on the chair in the corner of her room and look up at her. "Please, Thena, just talk to me."

When he was seated lower, she had no excuse not to look at him. But she stared down at his hands, holding hers so, so gently. "Druig and Makkari have been looking at places again."

Gil raised his brows. "That...that's good...right?"

It was. It was what she wanted. She wanted their lives to continue on after the ugliness of the last year. She wanted her brother to feel free to settle down and marry the love of his life. And he could do that without worrying about his sister, she was determined.

"He keeps asking me to see them," she admitted quietly, as if Druig had his ear pressed against the door and would be wounded by overhearing her. "He keeps picking rooms that he says can be mine--if I so choose."

"So," Gil prompted, giving her hands a little squeeze, "what's so bad about that?"

Thena shook her head, looking up around the ceiling of her room to keep her tears from falling. "I'm not some child he has to drag around with him. He should be choosing a home to suit him and his wife, not worrying about his burdensome sister."

"Come on," Gil whispered, his eyes drifting downward from the sheer weight of Thena's discouragement. "You know he doesn't think of you like that."

Thena sighed, pulling her hands from Gil's and plopping herself on the corner of her bed. She pressed them to her head, trying to keep them from shaking. "I know he doesn't. That is exactly the problem."

"Okay, so you don't want him worrying about you," Gil shrugged, turning in the chair to face her head on again.

Thena stared down at her knees. She wasn't wearing her work dress and stockings with a tight ponytail. But she couldn't bring herself to wear soft sweatpants anymore, opting for athleisure leggings and a cardigan at even her most comfortable.

"What else?"

She toyed with her fingernails. "I don't want to live here alone."

Gil nodded again, leaning back in the chair.

She hunched over herself more, despite her sore back. "It's not about the cost, it's...I can't be here by myself, thinking all these...things."

"Okay, so we'll find somewhere else for you," Gil leapt at the opportunity to suggest an alternative. He leaned forward again, even scooching toward the edge of the seat. "I'll help you look."

She smiled, although she still wasn't feeling the intent behind the action. "Druig offered the same. Even Makkari--but that's not the point."

Gil seemed to understand what she was getting at. And of course he did, it was Gil. He was sweet, and understanding, and he always seemed to know what she was trying to say, even if she didn't have the words. "You want to find a place for yourself."

She sighed, looking at her hands again. "I don't seem capable of anything these days."

Gil took her hands in his again, rubbing his thumb over her skin. "You know that's not true."

She wasn't as sure as he was. She never was--never had his confidence, or positivity. It was something she both envied and admired about him. She loved it about him. "Maybe-"

"No!"

She blinked, taken aback by his outburst. He was always so soft spoken, especially with her. She had never heard him so much as raise his voice. The only things he did loudly were laughing and sneezing.

"Maybe nothing!" he pressed, standing from the chair. "That place never did you any good. I don't think it does anyone any good! And I will not let you go back to that misery!"

Thena's eyes fluttered, her back straightening. Her heart began to squeeze at the sheer volume of things, but this was Gil--she was safe with him.

"Thena," he finally quieted again, kneeling in front of her. "You never have to go back to that place, okay? I don't care if you have a nervous breakdown--I'll take care of you. I'll take better care of you than they ever would in there. Just--just promise me you won't go back there because you're worried about burdening people."

She blinked, those tears she was trying to hold back finally falling. It was completely dark outside, her small bedside lamp offering minimal lighting. But it caught Gil's features in just such a way that made him seem so beautiful. "I don't want to go back there."

"Good," he nodded, turning her hand so he could press his lips to it.

"But," she gasped, her lip wobbling. She clung to him. "But what if I'm not me, anymore?"

"You're exactly who you need to be," he said without a hint of doubt in his voice. "You're Thena."

So completely unwavering, her Gilgamesh.

"You're my Thena," he repeated, softer this time, kissing the back of her other hand before pulling her up to stand with him. His hands slipped around waist to rest at her back. "That's all you need to be."

She wasn't sure who 'Thena' was, at times. At least, not as she knew herself before all this. Gil kept saying that the past year was a part of her, for better or worse. But she just wanted to leave it behind--to revert to the version of her that had existed before it all.

"Look," he whispered, still holding her so gently. "Maybe that's easy for me to say. I didn't know you before. But the Thena I know is pretty damn amazing."

She let another laugh, still not humoured in the least.

"She is," he chuckled, though, and he did mean it. He leaned closer, touching his forehead to hers. "She's this badass translator, works in a big, fancy office. She's actually pretty funny, if she's in a good mood. Kinda likes messing with me."

"I do not."

"Just a little," he contested, scrunching up his nose faintly. "But I think that side of her is cute. And she's tough--way tougher than she thinks she is. And she's an incredible sister, even when her brother is being a pain in our ass."

"Our?" she interrupted.

"Our," he confirmed, touching the tips of their noses together to silence her. "And I know he's just worried about you. That's why he keeps saying you can stay with them if you want. But I guess he doesn't really know it's stressing you out."

Thena sighed, dragged back into the depths of her problems like plunging into ice cold water. "How do I tell him?"

Gil skipped over that question, still busy holding her, almost swaying as his weight shifted from foot to foot. "So, this Thena--I mean, to me, she's the most incredible woman in the world."

"Gil," she sighed, trying to pull him from his reverent description of her.

But he nudged her head until he could kiss her lips, also gently. As gently as everything else about him. "She's the woman I love, plain and simple."

Oh, did she ever love him. She had gone from being someone who probably didn't really believe in love for herself at all to being head over heels for her sweet, gentle giant.

She sighed as she kissed him again, leaning up on her toes to loop her arms around his neck. Kissing Gil always made her feel more human--more grounded and real. It took away the buzzing in her head and replaced it with with a heavy and pleasant sedative that could spread through her veins.

Gil stayed close, his forehead against hers, lips still faintly puckered. "Better?"

"Hm," she sighed. She didn't need to explain herself--not to him. She ran her fingers gently through the hair at the back of his head. If only she never had to go to work, or take public transport, or go to house viewings where the realtor would look at her oddly. If only she could stay in Gil's arms every second of every day.

"Good," he sufficed to say, tapping his fingers against the back of her sweater. He moved his hand to her hip. "So, about this living situation-"

"Right," she sighed the heaviest she had yet (which was saying something).

"Hey," he nudged her gently, pulling her eyes up to him. "A unit in my building is going on the market for next month. It's the one above mine--sweet old guy is moving out to be closer to his grand kids."

Oh. Living that close to Gil--being neighbours?

"I can always ask him if he'd be open to a lease trade-off," Gil suggested, although he was unable to hide his excitement at the prospect in his smile. "What do you think?"

Being that close to Gil? Being his upstairs neighbour?

His smile wobbled faintly, turning sheepish as he looked away. "It's a little more modest than this place. But it's a one bedroom, and it's not a bad location. And-"

Thena stood on her toes, pressing her lips to his, even with a cliche 'mmwah' sound. He looked dazed after the firmer kiss, which made her smile genuinely for the first time that night. She leaned against him heavier, but he steadied her without a second thought. "I think that sounds perfect."

"Really?" he asked, beaming like a dog about to receive a treat with a wagging tail.

She took his cheeks in her hands, "it sounds wonderful, Gil."

"O-Okay," he laughed, sounding near hysteria. But he pulled her against his chest in his arms, even lifting her off the ground slightly as he spun them. "This'll be amazing, sweetie, I promise!"

He needed no promises. The thought of having him a mere flight of stairs away was already comforting, in a sense. And she had been to his flat plenty of times. He was right, it was in a good location, and it wasn't any further from her office than she was now, all things considered.

Gil set her on her feet once more. "I'll talk to him tonight."

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," she advised gently. It wasn't often she was able to offer a calming voice of reason these days; it felt familiar, even soothing. She toyed with some some stray hairs of his. "I may have to apply, like everyone else."

"Peh," Gil waved in dismissal again (making her laugh, again). "The old guy loves me. And that's before I tell him some sob story about wanting my girlfriend to move in so we can be closer."

Thena blushed softly, toying with the hem of her cardigan. Sometimes she had to remind herself that Gil wasn't just 'someone she was seeing', and actually the man she had known for more than half a year and had been dating for more than half that time, now.

"It'll be great," he whispered, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "We can carpool to work, I'll be right downstairs if you ever wanna talk--or cuddle."

"Gil," she admonished, but it came out as a light and air whisper as he kissed her cheek again, his five o'clock shadow against her skin.

He stopped nuzzling her just to look at her more solemnly. "You should tell Druig."

"It was your idea."

"Exactly," Gil made a face, shrinking somewhat. "He'll kill me."

Thena rolled her eyes, her spirits lifting by the moment. "It's not as if you're offering to shack up with me yourself."

He didn't laugh at her joke. He didn't even seem to realise it was a joke, just shrugged one shoulder. "I mean they're both only one bedroom units. Plus, I imagine you want some space for yourself for a little. Feel like you have some more control?"

Well, he was exactly right about that, as always. Although she hadn't expected his rebuttal to be that they would need a larger space if they were to live together. She just blinked, "precisely."

"So it's decided," he grinned again, and gave her another kiss for good measure. "I'll go talk to Karun, you talk to Druig. He really is worried about you."

"I know," she mumbled, feeling properly chastised. She unlinked her hands from behind his head and squeezed his forearms. "I'm sure he was desperate to call you."

"And I'm suggesting you move into my building instead of in with him?--he's gonna have my head."

Thena laughed genuinely for the first time that night. "Don't worry, I'll protect you from him."

Gil stared at her in a way that made her toes curl. He bent his head down to sneak into the crook of her neck under her jaw. "I know you will."

She shivered as he left a kiss on her pulse point.

But he left it at that, pulling away and standing to his full height again. It left her feeling chilly, needing to pull her cardigan tighter around herself. "Okay."

Thena nodded, letting him take her by the hand. She did have to talk to Druig--about everything. About moving and also about how she would be okay without him hovering over her shoulder. She would be okay without that hell hole and its medication and she would be okay even if she felt like this different version of herself, possibly forever.

Gil grasped the doorknob with his other hand, the door not fully closed and letting in just a sliver of light from the rest of the house. He held her other hand, giving it a squeeze. "Ready?"

She nodded, holding his hand tighter, just in case she needed it. But she smiled, "ready."

[dragons-bones]

FFXIV: A Moment of Ordinary

Wolmeric Week #3: Casual/Modern

A/N: Uh. I worldbuilt again. Oops. But hey, the shippy stuff is still there! Just, uh, took a bit to get to, this time. XD

Day 1 || Day 2 || Day 3 || Day 4 || Day 5 || Day 6 || Day 7 || Bonus!

RATING: T WORD COUNT: 2353 WARNINGS: None! Cross-posted to AO3

--

“One hundred forty gil.”

“Fifty gil.”

“Fifty? That’s obscene, these artichokes are the first of the harvest! One thirty!”

“Don’t you dare pull that shite with me, Arenlona, I know for a fact the Bismarck has first purchase rights on the first harvest of damn near everything the Stead grows. Sixty.”

The first market day of spring at Red Rooster Stead was always a boisterous affair: makeshift stalls lined most of the paths through the main compound and spilled out beyond the walls, manned by botanists and farmers selling a wide variety of produce and other goods. Spring asparagus and lettuce and broccoli and parsnips; oranges from the vast Cedarwood orchards; pineapples and kiwi from the Stead’s offshoot plantation in Raincatcher Gully; honey and beeswax; mutton and pork and buffalo in various cuts; even fish, fresh caught that morning. There were food stalls selling bread and fruit juices and roasted meats and vegetables to the hungry shoppers; even stalls where the Stead residents and other local farmers were selling yarn and knit garments, assorted leathers goods, embroidery, bead and shell jewelry, whittled decorations. A pop-up smithy was at the edge of the makeshift market repairing farming and gardening tools.

The press of people along the Stead’s paths was enormous; most were either other farmers or home owners from around Lower La Noscea, or the residents of Mist come to do their weekly shopping without having to trek to Limsa Lominsa. Some Lominsans, too, came here; Synnove had seen Melkoko haggling over buffalo tenderloin, two of her sister Sirens dutifully carrying the crates of vegetables she had purchased earlier, and a trio of baby arcanists sharing a bag of roasted walnuts who had excitedly waved to her.

Aymeric was…somewhere, in the scrum. They’d gone in different directions to get as much shopping done as possible before the crowds swelled to suffocatingly large at noon.

Synnove finally wound down her own haggling—one hundred gil for a small crate of artichokes, plus another hundred or so spent on fennel and rutabagas—and waved to Arenlona as she joined the throngs walking through the Stead. Ivar and Galette trotted over from the nearby snack stall, and she bent down to accept the gil-pouch from Ivar. Thankfully, carbuncles who understood exchanging gil for goods and services were a familiar sight to the Stead’s farmhands, so that was one less thing to worry about on market day.

“Do you know where your sibs and Aymeric went?” she said as she stuffed the pouch in her pocket and stood upright, carefully balancing the crates of vegetables in her arms. The carbuncles had all gone with Aymeric, at first, before her emerald and ruby came meandering along to find both her and a treat.

The girls wanted to see the sheep, Ivar chittered. He managed to get his matching harmonic to sound bland.

Galette giggled.

Synnove groaned. “Oh, no.”

Galette giggled again, and Ivar joined her.

Sighing, she strode briskly through the crowd, her carbuncles on her heels, until she’d left the main compound and the crush of people wasn’t quite so great. She headed first for the hitches where many of the visitors had left their chocobos, herself included. Trifle eyed her when she approached, but the draught chocobo knelt without prompting, and Synnove quickly stored the purchases away in her saddlebags and panniers, idly noting Aymeric must have been by at some point at seeing a few crates of fruits, two jars of honey, and a carefully wrapped package upon which an ice crystal sat that was likely either meat or fish.

Once she was finished, she gave Trifle a pat on the neck, and the chocobo loomed upright once more, shaking her feathers back into place. Synnove glanced down at the carbuncles, but before she could say anything, both Galette and Ivar did that pre-jump wiggle of their tails and then leaped into the air and onto the draught chocobo’s saddle. Trifle warked, unimpressed, and turned her head around to give the pair a gimlet stare. Galette reached up and gently patted her beak with a paw.

Synnove laughed. “Well, I suppose that answers my question if you wanted to see the sheep, too.”

The siblings chirruped at her and loafed onto the saddle, ears flicking, while Trifle huffed and resettled herself. With another laugh and a scritch for each of them, Synnove headed in the direction of the sheep pens.

Most of the flocks in La Noscea grazed the pastures north of Cedarwood and up to the southern shores of Bronze Lake; the Red Rooster shepherds only kept a small flock at the Stead, primarily to make crossbreeding for specific traits easier to track before introducing those traits more widely into the larger flocks. But the flock at the Stead was wildly popular with many of the local children (and no few adults), and the shepherds usually allowed visitors to pet or brush some of the calmer ewes…in exchange for educational lectures on animal husbandry or the La Noscean wool industry.

Synnove smiled ruefully as she trudged up the short hill to where the sheep were kept. There was already a small crowd of excited children pressed up against the fencing, some parents standing aside and talking amongst themselves while keep an eye on their charges. Now, where was—ahah!

She slowed down, hooking her thumbs into her belts as she strolled closer.

Aymeric wore a soft cotton shirt of deep blue with black wool breeches tucked into knee-high leather boots; with neither Naegling on his hip nor a bow slung on his shoulder, he looked like just another farmer or homesteader gazing out across the pen. Something about seeing him dressed down always left her fond and pleased. Perhaps it was the way the tension bled out of him, the way it only rarely did in Ishgard when he needed to be on alert for a sudden emergency requiring either the Lord Commander or the Lord Speaker. His shoulders loosened and his spine was no longer quite so rigid, an aura of content softness draping around him instead.

He turned as she came up next to him, and he grinned, bright and happy, eyes crinkling at the corners, and Synnove smiled back, helpless to do anything except push herself to her toes to kiss his cheek and bask in his presence.

“Hello, dearheart,” she said as she dropped back to her feet, leaning into his side when his raised his arm to make room for her. She slid her own arm around his waist as his settled on her shoulders. “Did you manage to keep from raising Chartain’s blood pressure today?”

Aymeric kissed the top of her head and nuzzled against her hair before he responded. “It’s too easy to rile that man up,” he said, mischief coloring his voice. “He takes the barely-existing rivalry between La Noscea and Coerthas shepherds far too seriously.”

“Oh, don’t be mean!” Synnove swatted at his chest, but Aymeric merely caught her hand and raised it to his lips to kiss her knuckles. She firmed her expression, refusing to let his affection distract her, tempting as it was.

“Mean would be managing to get Estinien to stay in place long enough to drop him on Chartain’s doorstep and watch the two get into a row about wool quality,” he said primly, then pressed another kiss to her knuckles at her reluctant laugh. “And for the record, no, I did not. I believe one of the other shepherds saw me on the way with the girls and wrangled him away elsewhere.”

She laughed louder, shaking her head, and finally glanced out at the pen properly.

Tyr was in a staring contest with one of the rams, ears canted at the ninety-degree angle that for him generally conveyed his lack of impressment. The ram trotted in place, snorting and acting like he would charge at any moment, but sitting upright as he was, Tyr had to look down at him. The ram was intelligent enough to realize that Tyr likely belonged in the “thing that herds me” category rather than the “thing that will steal my ladies from me” or “thing that will eat me” categories, but not quite enough to know he should back down before Tyr bowled him over.

And the twins were being themselves, and bouncing atop the thick wooly backs of the ewes, leaping from sheep to sheep and giggling while the onlooking children cheered them on. Roksana especially was making a game of it, deliberately aiming for targets a distance away to make a challenge for herself, while Amandina was more sedately hopping along with no discernible pattern but rather the fun of it. The shepherd on watch was keeping an eye on them, but was leaning up against the fence without worry; the girls being silly was a common enough sight to most resident of Lower La Noscea.

Synnove watched them fondly for a moment, before she finally called out, “Girls! Tyr! Time to head home!”

The girls and the watching children all went awwww, but Amandina and Roksana obediently changed course and hopped from the other side of the paddock to where their mama and papa stood. Tyr, meanwhile, reached out with a paw and bopped the ram right between the ears; the ram’s eyes crossed and he bleated unhappily, but the distraction was enough for her big topaz carbuncle to leave without incident, trotting towards the fence and leaping over it easily to sit at her feet and headbutt her stomach.

Hi, Mama, Tyr chittered happily.

“Hello, boyo,” she said, freeing her hand from Aymeric—he made sad eyes at her, which she ignored for now—to reach down and scritch behind his ears.

The twins, meanwhile, finally made it to the fence, and leaped from there onto her shoulder (Amandina) and head (Roksana).

Hi Mommy hi Mommy hi Mommy hi Mommy hi Mommy, the girls chorused excitedly, as if they hadn’t seen her in days rather than a bell or two.

“Hello, kiddos,” Synnove said, patting first one twin and then the other. “Have you been good?”

YEAH!

We helped Papa get oranges!

And pears!

And FISH! Yummy yummy fish!

Honey, too, Tyr added helpfully, ears twitching in delight. Can we bake honey spice bread with it?

“That sounds like a fine idea,” Synnove said, to triple cheers.

Aymeric chuckled, though she felt it more than heard it with how closely they were still pressed together. “They helped me pick out a little gift for you, too,” he said brightly.

The only reason she didn’t whip her head up to stare at him was because of Roksana hopping up and down on her hair. Instead, she carefully picked up both twins and set them on Tyr’s back as the topaz carbuncle stood upright on all fours; then she whipped her head around to stare at her beloved. “Aymeric, you didn’t have to—”

“But I wanted to,” he said softly, smiling at her. He leaned down to kiss her nose. “And I like to.”

With a flourish, he presented her with a small leather pouch he pulled from his belt. She sighed, only a little exasperated, but held out her hand obediently, and into her palm he poured a pair of earrings: a gold ring suspended from simple hooks, and from the rings hung gold chain links of varying lengths with pink and cowries dangling at the ends.

Synnove couldn’t help the awed ooooooh that escaped her. “Oh, they’re lovely! Thank you!” She hadn’t put in any earrings this morning before they’d left for the market, so she reached up to hook them into her left, then her right.

Aymeric absolutely did not play fair in any aspect of his life: love, war, and gift-giving. Earrings were her favorite type of jewelry, and she had bought herself more than one pair from the jewelry stall here in the market before. She shook her head, both in defeat and to hear the pretty clinking of the shells against each other, and beamed up at her knight. “Thank you,” she said again.

“You are, as always, most welcome,” he said warmly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “My beautiful Synnove.”

Warmth suffused her and a blush bloomed on her cheeks and she beamed even more; she loved his endearments for her, but she loved best how her name rolled of his tongue, how much affection with which he infused it. She took a long moment to revel in all the joy he brought her before she quietly sighed. “Let’s go home, hm?”

“Mmm,” Aymeric hummed with one last nuzzle, before they began walking arm in arm down the hill and towards the chocobo hitch. Tyr followed, his baby sisters looking around excitedly from his back. “We have some honey spice spread to make.”

“And artichoke dip,” Synnove added.

Tyr boofed excitedly. You bought artichokes?! He pushed his head against her knees, shoving, and pulling a surprised yelp from her as she stumbled momentarily, kept upright only by an also laughing Aymeric. He ran in front of them, boofing happily, Come on come on let’s go home already! before he raced on ahead.

An absolutely wicked thought came to mind, sending a bolt of heat through her that settled low in her belly, and Synnove decided to indulge it. She glanced around, noting no one was nearby, and so, as she walked, she leaned up to murmur in Aymeric’s ear while a sly grin pulled at her lips, “And then after lunch, we can send the carbuncles down to the beach, and I can wear absolutely nothing but these earrings.”

Aymeric’s eyes went wide, pupils dilating to swallow up the beautiful icy blue as he nearly stumbled himself now. He stared at her askance—and then hot, feral greed briefly overtook his expression and he swept her up into his arms, to her shrieking laugh of surprise.

“No time to waste, then,” he playfully growled as he picked up his pace to a light jog, and Synnove ending up laughing nearly the whole way home.

[aer-in-wanderland]

구미호뎐 | Tale of the Nine Tailed - Lost in Translation EP03

The saga continues: part three in a series in which my sister and I pick our way through all the (mis)translations, humour, and cultural subtext that dropped from the fan-subbed version of TotNT. Thank you so much to everyone who bought us coffee - this one’s for you. ;) 

Before we begin, for anyone just joining us: EP01 / EP02. 

We pick up back where we left off last episode with Yeon dressing Ji Ah’s wound. 

Yeon’s line that’s subbed, “Stop being a crybaby” can be a bit hard to translate. The word he uses is ‘eomsal,’ which literally means, ‘the exaggeration of pain; feigning pain; a great fuss about nothing.’ So he’s essentially saying she’s overreacting. I'm not a fan of the use of the word ‘crybaby’ here though personally.

“Long time no see, Lee Yeon.” > > > 12 Hours Earlier.

We see Thirsty meet his ignominious end in a toilet (we never got character names for these guys so I’m just going to call them ‘Thirsty’ and ‘Hungry’).

Elsewhere on the island, Rang fishes a curse doll with the man’s picture on it out of the surf. That’s quite the atmospheric shot. Point to the director.

Episode 03 Title Card: The Secret of the Dragon King 

We open the following morning as Ji Ah and the man who found the body (who Ji Ah refers to as ‘Captain’) examine the scene.

Sub: “Being at sea wasn’t enough and he drowned himself to death.” I’m not sure that sentence even makes sense. I would have translated the man’s line as: “Ho~ Let no one say he wasn’t a seaman. He managed to kick the bucket by drowning [even on dry land].” 

Sub: “Talk about it being all for nothing. This is what he gets after throwing himself at his life.” Um, what now? The line is: “Human lives are so futile. And after he clung so viciously to life, too.”

Lol Yeon. “I see someone threw a party.” I like this sub. What he literally says though is: “Oh~ Looks like it was a really special night.” (‘special’ here is in English). 

Sub: “He smells like a stinky fish.” What Yeon literally says is: “Ugh, a smell like rotting fish is coming from this kid!” Yeon refers to the man as ‘yae,’ which literally means ‘this kid,’ but can also be used to refer to inanimate objects. So, either way...pfft

Appropriately, the BGM playing as Pyung Hee casts her curse is ‘Shaman.’

Back over to Yeon and Ji Ah as they investigate the body. The chyron on the screen reads: ‘The first survivor of the Milky Way (Deceased)’ Irony-(probably)-not-intended. 

We get another chyron not long after, over a shot of Pyung Hee’s father’s head being returned to shore that reads: ‘Seo Gi Chang (Died aboard the Milky Way)’

Lol None of this has stopped Yeon from nomming on his banana milk. I had thought the milk made him seem like a little kid, but according to Korean fans, it’s also, apparently, commonly enjoyed by old men. heh

Sub: “Besides, they’re not good looking enough.” This is a mistranslation. Yeon’s line is literally: “And besides, I don’t like the look of their faces.” What he means, though, is the feeling they give off, rather than their actual ‘looks.’ It’s a common expression in Korean. If I was translating instead of explaining, I would probably render this as, “I don’t like the look of them.”

As Ji Ah drags him out, however, Yeon can be heard saying, “Ah~ I judge people by their looks~!” I’m 98% sure this is another LDW ad lib. Basically, LDW made a joke of his previous line, as if to say Yeon cared about the look of them because they weren’t attractive enough, when really his line meant they seemed shady. It’s almost as if he predicted the bad sub...

We get a brief scene featuring the second (and only named) survivor of the Milky Way, Jin Shik. Oh, and his headless ‘visitor.’ Creepy.

The music underscoring Hungry gorging himself on raw meat is making everything worse (or possibly better, if disturbing is your jam)

I’ve said it before, but I would watch an entire series of Yeon and Ji Ah being a supernatural investigative duo.

Pfft Yeon refers to Seo Gi Chang as ‘the head’ (mogaji). I’m not sure if I should call that indelicate or irreverent. It’s a bit of both, really. 

Yeon’s line here is subbed as, “What happened on the boat?” but it should more properly be: “What did you do on the boat?” He’s not just asking after the sequence of events; the line is a clear accusation.

Sub: “We met an unexpected storm that day.” Actually: “Rough wind and waves hit the side of the fishing boat.” (i.e. causing it to capsize) 

I appreciate that Yeon sits back here and allows Ji Ah to take the lead. 

So, as it turns out, the 11th hell is actually a fishing boat (I’m sure the cast of 1N2D will back me up on this).

Fun fact: This sequence was filmed in a green screen pool and then made to look like the middle of the ocean with CG.

As an aside, I love that Ji Ah deduced the whole story on her own and that she uses that knowledge to corner Hungry psychologically. Also, that her strategy proves more effective than Yeon’s threat of violence. It’s not so much a ‘you catch more flies with honey,’ as a ‘brain over brawn’ sort of deal. 

Ji Ah: You were frightened, weren’t you? Twenty-eight days straight on a perilous life boat without water or food. They’re the perfect conditions for a person to go mad, aren’t they? First-degree burns from the hot August sun striking your body mercilessly, the boat pitching about all day; despite not having eaten, you feel as if you’ll throw up. Clenching your teeth and waiting to be rescued only works for a day or two. The more you think about it, the angrier you get. ‘Why, me? Why?!’ Around the fifth day was the crisis point. Since, in that time, not a drop of rain had fallen. Dehydration would have set in first. [...] But it’s odd, isn’t it? For having starved for 28 days, you lost too little body mass. [...] What did you eat?

Meanwhile, Yeon’s contribution to all of this is: “And you couldn’t have used a delivery app in the middle of the open ocean where there’s no wifi signal.” Pfft He has, of course, caught on to her strategy. As usual, though, he decides to take the cheeky route. 

Side note: I find it interesting that, in this universe full of monsters, the first incident Yeon and Ji Ah end up investigating together turns out to be an entirely human horror. 

Yo. Hungry deciding Ji Ah is food is just...ugh. Never trust a cannibal. 

Luckily for Ji Ah, her guard dog fox is on the job. 

Over to Rang, who asks a weeping Pyung Hee what she’ll give him in return for granting her ‘wish’. We don’t get to see her answer him, but it was included in the backstory collection.

It’s unclear to me just how much Rang is involved in ‘granting’ Pyung Hee’s wish. Like, is he the one fueling the curse somehow, or did he just teach her what she needed to know? I’m inclined to believe it’s more the latter. 

We cut to Taluipa at the Afterlife Immigration Office, who’s pissed that someone’s messing with her Death List. There’s a fun mythology-related chestnut in this scene: when Hyeonuiong comes running in, he’s carrying a watering can. Taluipa accuses him of having been watching dramas, but Hyeonuiong insists he was watering the Uiryeongsu. 

The chyron for it reads: ‘The Uiryeongsu. A tree that measures the sins of the dead by the weight of their clothes when they’re hung on it.’ The hanja for ‘Uiryeongsu’ (衣領樹) literally mean ‘clothing-amount-tree,’ so its name is essentially its function. In traditional mythology, it grows on the near bank of the Samdocheon. This is also the same tree that the Uiryeong’geom (geom = sword) mentioned in EP13 is made from.

“You watered a tree for 3 hours?” Pfft Hyeonuiong and watering can, exit stage right. 

Minor detail: I just realized I can actually see from Taluipa’s List in this scene that one of the two fishermen is named Kim Gil Sang. Still not sure which one though, so I’m going to stick to calling them Hungry and Thirsty. 

The Dragon King Scroll

Back over to Ji Ah, who examines a creepy scroll hanging in Jin Shik’s vacant quarters. Once again, the show cuts into its own dramatic tension with a moment of levity as Yeon startles both Ji Ah and me by popping open his bag of snacks with a massive bang. The contrast between Ji Ah, who’s in serious investigator mode, and Yeon, who just continues his one-gumiho snack parade, blasé as can be, adds humour to an otherwise grim situation. 

Yeon’s response of, “Oh. Sorry.” is in English, making it sound, if possible, even less sincere.

On the off chance that anyone was wondering, the snack Yeon claims as his favorite here is 솜짱 (somjjang). According to the Korean fans again, this is also a food commonly enjoyed by elderly people.

Subs: “Do you know how many people in Joseon died during the 50 years of war? 3.5 million. I’ve seen more deaths than all the funeral companies in this country.” This is another case of diagonal translation. Yeon’s line is more properly: 

Yeon: Between the Imjin War and the Manchu War, do you know how much of the population of Joseon-era Korea was lost in just 50 years? 3,500,000. I’m a guy who’s seen more funerals than all the funerary companies in Korea put together.  

[Note: Yeon is talking about The Japanese Invasions a.k.a The Imjin War (1592-1598) and The Qing Invasion of Joseon a.k.a. The Manchu War (1636)]

As a linguistic aside, Yeon refers to himself here as a ‘nom’ (rhymes with ‘home’). If you read the breakdown of EP02, you’ll recall that ‘nom’ can mean anything from ‘guy’ to ‘bastard.’ It’s not that Yeon means to call himself a bastard, though. It’s only that the typical alternative here (i.e. ‘person’) carries the implication of 'human.’ Since Yeon is, of course, not human, he opts for ‘nom’ instead. The word gets a lot of mileage in this show in relation to all the supernaturals for that reason. 

Lol This exchange about the Dragon King was great. Point to the writer. I would translate it as: 

Yeon: You’re right, but it looks nothing like him. 

Ji Ah: You’ve...seen him? 

Yeon: Back when I was a mountain god. Well, in today’s terms you’d say we attended a leadership conference together. They over-glamorized him. He’s not this good looking.

Ji Ah’s reaction is perfect too. Her, ‘I don’t even know where to begin with that statement so I’m just going to move on’ look came across loud and clear. 

Yeon’s line as he leans over Ji Ah’s shoulder is subbed: “This is just like ‘Where’s Wally?’” In Korea, the game is called ‘find the hidden picture’ (‘sumun keurim chatgi’). So the line is actually: “What is this, ‘find the hidden picture’ or something?” I’d say there’s a 50/50 chance this line was another ad lib by Lee Dong Wook.

On an entirely different cultural note, ‘Where’s Wally?’ is know as ‘Where’s Waldo?’ in North America and exactly nowhere else. Don’t ask... 

This scene features the first mention we get of Imoogi. Imoogi are among the most famous Korean mythical creatures. In most tellings, they are essentially proto-dragons, though occasionally they can be baby dragons. For example, one imoogi tale claims its imoogi was the son of the Dragon King (the same one Yeon attended a ‘leadership conference’ with). Most of the lore agrees that if an imoogi stays submerged in deep water for a thousand years, it earns the chance to become a dragon, though the caveats vary widely, and many imoogi fail. Finally, while the imoogi in TotNT is evil, imoogi aren’t categorically so; some are good, some aren’t.

Rang and the Mudang

Fun fact: Kim Beom explained in his Instagram LIVE that he chose to wear a red suit partially because the color gave off the feeling of a villain, but also because it contrasted well with the green of the forest. He also named this as his favorite Lee Rang outfit.

For anyone keeping track, Rang speaks to the mudang in banmal. She, in return, addresses him as ‘Lee Rang-nim’ and speaks very respectfully.

Okay, there are a couple of things to unpack in Rang’s following exchange with the mudang: 

Mudang: The Corrupt God, King of the Wicked. He is Lee Ryong-nim.

Rang: [Laughs] What’s with that? Ugh, I seriously just cringed! If you slap a fancy title* from the next world in front of its name, does a snake become a dragon?

First, the mudang’s line here is said in an archaic cant. Second, ‘Lee Ryong’ (properly pronounced, ‘i-ryong,’ since there’s actually no ‘L’ in ‘Lee’), is another name for imoogi.

Finally, when Rang says ‘a fancy title from the next world,’ he’s referring to a posthumous name/title. Nearly every kingdom to have occupied the Korean peninsula has used posthumous titles (시호), most often for deceased royalty. By giving one to Imoogi, the mudang is venerating him. Rang mocks this, seizing on Imoogi’s failure to become a dragon. (Let no one say he and Yeon aren’t brothers).

The subs have Rang referring to Yeon as just ‘Yeon,’ but he actually calls him ‘Lee Yeon.’ That’s a very impersonal way to refer to one’s older brother, which is, of course, intentional on Rang’s part. It serves as another linguistic cue to the audience as to how Rang regards Yeon at this point. 

A note on the evening primrose: tvN released a short blurb about it, since, as far as I can tell, the mythology was invented for the show. It reads: 

Evening primrose that has grown while feeding on the blood and flesh of corpses is the same as poison to gumiho; if they so much as touch its powder, their bodies catch flame.

While the subs consistently just say ‘evening primrose,’ this should more properly be ‘burial ground evening primrose,’ which is how the various characters refer to it. 

Fun fact: ‘Evening primrose’ in Korean is ‘dalmaji-kkot’ (달맞이꽃), which means ‘flowers that welcome the moon’. 

Sub: “Half-brothers, to be exact.” The term Rang uses in Korean is quite literally, ‘brothers from different stomachs,’ so it refers specifically to half brothers who share a father but who have different mothers. I mention it only because Korean viewers will have been given slightly more information about their familial relationship here than was provided in the subs. 

Back over to our leads, as Yeon urges Ji Ah to leave the island post-haste. His line is subbed: “I’m saying you may die if you stay here.” That’s a perfectly fine translation. For anyone curious, though, his line is quite literally: “I’m saying if you stay here, [the conditions are] perfect for dying.” 

Sub: “That’s none of your business.” Yeon’s line is more properly: “That’s not for you to know.”

Ji Ah’s response to this is very literally: “I have no intention to go home for a reason I don’t know. So Lee Yeon should find the person Lee Yeon came here to find. I have to know why my parents came to this island.” This is the first time Ji Ah uses Yeon’s full name as a second person pronoun (so basically to mean ‘you’) when speaking to him. It’s hard to make generalizations about any form of address that don’t have multiple exceptions, but in this case, using his name is a more neutral, and somewhat more familiar, alternative to some of the other pronouns she’s been using when speaking to him. To my sense, it softens her rejection of his advice a little bit.

Back to Rang. His line is a bit awkward to translate, but essentially what he says is, ‘Calling my brother a ‘mountain god’ is an overstatement/ putting it nicely.’ I might approximate this as, ‘Sure, my brother was called a mountain god.’ This is the only time in the entire drama that Rang refers to Yeon as ‘uri hyung,’ and it kills me a bit that it’s not out of fondness, but rather derision. ㅠㅠ

Similarly, when Rang says, “I’m a fox, after all. I have to repay eunhye properly,” he is, of course, using eunhye sarcastically.

The subtitle here once again says ‘the underworld,’ but Rang’s line is actually: “I’m going to go to hell, without fail. Together with Lee Yeon.” The subs really need to do a better job of distinguishing between hell and the afterlife. 

We see Ji Ah instruct Jae Hwan over the phone as to what to search for in the library records. She’s split off from Yeon since we last saw them. 

Elsewhere on the island, Yeon also makes a call, only his is to Halmeom (Taluipa) to ask about Imoogi. When this episode first aired, I thought it was odd that Yeon was using ‘Imoogi’ as if it were a name, since this would be like referring to Yeon as ‘Gumiho.’ He later taunts Terry-Imoogi about just that though (i.e. not even having a proper name), so obviously it was an intentional decision on the writer’s part. 

Sub: “If by chance Ah Eum was born again into this world, I can’t let that thing coexist with her.” This sub went a bit sideways. The ‘by chance’ has been mis-attributed. The line is properly: “There’s no way I could possibly (i.e. by any chance/under no circumstances can I) let such a thing exist in a world in which Ah Eum has been reborn.” Yeon is already sure that Ah Eum has been reborn at this point. He’s saying that because she’s been reborn, he can’t allow Imoogi to coexist with her under any circumstances.

Rang vs Ji Ah

Ji Ah returns to Pyung Hee’s to find ‘Pyung Hee’ reading Moby Dick. This is an ironic enough choice of literature to clue her in to the fact that this isn’t really Pyung Hee. Smart cookie. 

On a character note, I loved that Ji Ah’s knowledge of, and love for, world literature was threaded believably throughout the drama in a way in which it feels natural that she caught on to Rang’s hint here. Point to the writer. 

Again, for anyone keeping track, Ji Ah and Rang speak to each other in banmal, as has been the case since Rang revealed himself at Ji Ah’s house in EP01. Not because they’re close, obviously, but because they have zero respect for one another. It’s a bit of a power play on Ji Ah’s part, too, since she’s (hundreds of years) younger. 

Over to Yeon, who barges into the local market owner’s personal quarters to interrogate him. His line when he catches sight of the scroll on the wall is subbed: “Look at this.” This should more properly be: “Check these people out. There’s one here too.” The word he uses that I translated as ‘these people’ is ‘i-geot-dul,’ which is very literally ‘these things,’ so I sort of understand the confusion in the subs. He means the islanders though, not the scrolls. In contrast, ‘there’s one here too’ does actually refer to the scroll.

The knife Yeon throws hits directly over the slit pupil of the scroll dragon’s eye. Nice aim.

Back to Ji Ah and Rang. When Ji Ah accuses Rang of orchestrating the deaths of the Milk Way survivors, ‘to distract us,’ what she says quite literally is ‘to cover our eyes and ears.’

When Rang applauds Ji Ah’s deductive abilities, his line is subbed, “Awesome.” This should more properly be, “Outstanding,” or, “Exceptional.” I honestly believe he’s being sincere in his praise. Being Rang, though, he’s probably just delighted this makes her more challenging to toy with.

Having completed his interrogation, Yeon’s eyes change as he erases the man’s memory of the event. I suspect the reason Yeon is so cavalier about revealing he’s a gumiho is because he can basically ‘undo’ it whenever he wants using this power.

Ji Ah’s quiet, “I decline” is so satisfying. Also the way Rang pulls back in surprise haha I guess he’s not used to being turned down. 

Rang’s exchange with Ji Ah is subbed as: “Loosen up. Why be so stiff when it’s just good old me?” / “Let me give you some advice since that’s how you feel. Don’t gamble with another’s tragedy just for kicks. There’s a word for people like you, you know. A colossal jerk.” This is difficult to translate, and I think the subs have done a pretty good job, but a closer translation would be:

Rang: Augh— So uptight! Are you going to keep acting this uptight, just between us* (literally, ‘between you and me’)? 

Ji Ah: Between you and me, then, I’ll give you just one word of advice: Don’t carelessly role the dice atop others’ misfortune. People call jerks like you ‘sleazy bastards.’ 

[*Note: Rang’s phrasing implies that they’re somehow close/on good terms, but he’s being sarcastic, of course.]

First off, the word Rang uses for ‘uptight’ (빡빡하다) means ‘stiff; uptight; rigid; inflexible; strict.’ By this, he’s referring to how she never lets her guard down. I don’t know that any of those words properly conveys that, though. 

Second, while I translated Ji Ah’s line about the dice very literally here (in keeping with the spirit of this post), I actually like how the subs handled it from a translation/subtitling standpoint. 

Finally, the subs have Ji Ah calling Rang ‘a colossal jerk,’ but the term she actually uses (‘yang’achi saekki’) is a much stronger expletive. ‘Yang’achi’ is a term for a thug, gangster, or hoodlum. ‘Saekki’ literally means ‘child of.’ In practical use, though, it’s close to ‘bastard.’ (I really didn’t think I’d be explaining the finer points of Korean expletives when I started this series, but here we are). I approximated this as ‘sleazy bastard’ above. 

Pfft Rang being genuinely offended at Ji Ah’s language. Jo Bo Ah talked a bit about what she thought of all the explicit language Ji Ah uses towards Rang in her wrap interview. 

Subs: “When he finds what he wants, you’ll be begging for mercy.” No idea where they got 'begging for mercy.’ What Rang actually says is, “When he  finds what he wants, you’ll see hell.” Unlike in the subtitle, Rang’s warning actually has substance to it, since he’s referring to the fact that, once Yeon identifies Ji Ah as Ah Eum’s reincarnation, their fate with Imoogi will repeat itself. 

By the time Yeon rushes back to Pyung Hee’s, Rang is long gone. His line subbed as: “What did he say?” is, quite literally, “Lee Rang, that nom, what’d he say?” This use of ‘nom’ manages to come off as fairly mild. (He may be a jerk, but he’s Yeon’s jerk). 

Ji Ah’s response has undergone cultural translation to become: “Even when I order pizza, I never go for half-and-half. I always choose just one.” Honestly, though, I don’t know that it was necessary. What she actually says is: “Even when I order chicken, I don’t go for half-seasoned, half-fried; I’m the type to just pick one.”

This scene was originally longer but part of it got deleted. They released the clip, though, so I’ll translate the full exchange here:

Ji Ah: I'm saying I turned him down, your younger brother. Since I bet on this fox.  

Yeon: Let no one say you aren’t a learned (wise) woman. Is that all?  

Rang (voiceover): Don't trust Lee Yeon too much.  

Ji Ah: That's all. But...you said the two of you are brothers.

Yeon: Yeah. We’re brothers. 

Ji Ah: Why are you so hellbent on destroying each other? 

Yeon: It seems like you don’t know since you’re an only child, but, as a rule, the relationship between siblings is a lot like noir, just without the guns.

Ji Ah: There you go, deflecting the question again. Is that a secret, too? 

Yeon: If you ever happen to run into that guy again just the two of you, no matter what, run fast. That kid* despises humans. Especially humans that look like you. 

Ji Ah: Why do you keep taking cracks at people's faces?

Yeon: ...I'm hungry.  

Ji Ah: Why don’t you take the opportunity to pack up and leave while you still can? Your younger brother...it seems he’s preparing some sort of special event. 

Yeon: That’s what I’m waiting for.

*Note: The word Yeon uses that I translated as ‘kid’ is ‘jashik.’ This is another word that, depending on how it’s used, can either be fond or rude. ‘Jashik’ literally means ‘[one’s] child,’ but it’s also commonly used in the sense of ‘punk.’ It’s a bit softer than nom. You wouldn’t use it to refer to yourself, though. 

Ji Ah’s “Why do you keep taking cracks at people’s faces?” (meaning he’s insulting/taking issue with how she looks), is referencing their exchange the previous night when he told her not to smile because she was ugly.

We cut briefly to Shin Joo eating at the Snail Bride as he sizes up Yoo Ri from a distance. Come to think of it, we never got this BGM for the Snail Bride, either...

Ramen Heart-to-Heart

Lee Yeon’s one-gumiho meokbang continues. I feel like Yeon has been nomming on something in nearly every scene this episode. 

The BGM while Yeon and Ji Ah eat is a remix of Yeon’s theme, ‘The Fox’s Wedding Day.’

Sub: “Just because these ladies wear baggy pants in floral prints doesn’t mean they have kind hearts. Get digging, and you’ll find all sorts of dirty secrets.” Yeon’s line is more literally: 

Yeon: Living is all the same [everywhere]~ Just because grannies in the countryside wear flower-patterned pants doesn’t mean that even their insides are flower-patterned. If you start digging, venomous and insidious years come pouring out. 

Ji Ah’s response then plays off of Yeon’s turn of phrase: “Is that the case for you too? I just wondered, ‘With what pattern did you live all those long years?’” (referring to the ‘pattern’ of his heart).

On a minor cultural note: the word Yeon uses is ‘mombbae pants’ (몸빼바지), which are a fashion(?) staple in the countryside. You’ll know what I mean if you run the hangeul through a google image search. That’s where the subs got ‘baggy’ from even though Yeon doesn’t explicitly say it. 

Sub: “Why have you been searching for your parents all this time?” Yeon’s line is more properly: “Then what about you? What has made you wait for your parents for such a long time?” 

Sub: “I’m the same. I’m waiting for the one I miss.” I would have translated this as: “I’m waiting for someone I miss,” which is literally what he says. 

Sub: “Why did you part ways when you still miss her this much?” This is a bit hard to translate into natural-sounding English. The word Ji Ah uses is ‘mi’ryeon,’ which means ‘lingering attachment.’ So her line is quite literally: “Your face is so full of lingering attachment, how did you come to part ways/break up?”

Sub: “The first being I loved was a human girl who ended up dying. It’s why I’m still hung up on her. Happy now?” Hmm... I would translate Yeon’s line as:

Yeon: My damn* first love was a human of all things, but she died, so I’m foolishly unable to let go of my lingering attachment. Happy now? 

[*Note: Yeon is cursing is the phenomenon of first love itself, not Ah Eum.]

His statement is witty, because the word he uses for ‘foolish’ is also pronounced ‘mi’ryeon.’ In this case, though, 'mi’ryeon’ means, ‘foolhardy and dense enough to be stubborn to a preposterous degree.’ Which is probably a fair assessment given he’s been waiting 600 years. The sub for this line made it sound like he’s saying, ‘I’m hung up on her because she’s a human girl who died,’ which would just be weird. 

Shin Joo Meets Yoo Ri

Okay, minor detail, but what exactly was Yoo Ri trying to accomplish here before Shin Joo stopped her from entering an off-limits area of the Snail Bride?

The BGM here is called ‘Skip a Beat’ (‘Kanju Jump’). I found the track title slightly surprising since it’s actually taken from an ad lib made by Kim Yong Ji (Yoo Ri) in a later episode. 

For anyone keeping track, Shin Joo and Yoo Ri are speaking in a mix of banmal and jondaetmal in this scene.

We next see Shin Joo on the phone with Yeon, whining about the whole ordeal and asking an unsympathetic Yeon to come back and retrieve his necklace for him.

Yeon’s line that’s subbed as, “Deadly?” could mean more than one thing. The line is literally, “What? The thief was deadly?” The word for ‘deadly,’ though, could equally mean that she was a knockout (i.e. gorgeous). It’s probably a bit of both.

Subs: “There’s nothing more pathetic than being blinded by a woman’s beauty...” / “But you also ruined your life by falling for beautiful woman.”  For the record, neither of them actually uses the word ‘beauty/beautiful’ here. I would translate this exchange as: 

Yeon: You... The most pathetic thing in the world, is being blinded by a woman, and... 

Shin Joo: But being blinded by a woman and wrecking your life is something Lee Yeon-nim did too, isn’t it? 

Yeon: What, you punk?!

Lol Yeon’s “What, you punk?!” is a familiar refrain whenever Shin Joo unwittingly(?) insults Yeon. The word is ‘imma’ (임마) or sometimes ‘inma’ (인마). Yeon consistently uses the former.

‘Bad Fate’

Subs: “Why is that branch broken? It must’ve hurt.” Yeon is actually personifying the tree here, which makes sense seeing as he can communicate with it. So his line is more literally: “Now why has this kid gone and made a fuss breaking [his] branch? It must’ve hurt.” Which is cute.

I actually really appreciated this short scene of Yeon healing the tree. Yeon may no longer be the master of Baekdudaegan, but this scene showed that it’s still very much a part of who he is; not just his powers, but the care he has for the forest. 

Fun (?) fact: It turns out this simple scene was actually a huge pain to film. 

Subs: “I hope you grow well.” Actually: “Eat well and grow well.” I realize that sounds awkward in English, but the line is a directive. He’s once again speaking to the tree. 

Sub: “The wind is blowing from the northwest. Something is coming.” I would have translated this as: “A northwest wind blows... Something is coming.” That’s partly a tonal choice, but it’s also a more literal reflection of the original Korean. 

We finally catch back up to the end of EP02, as Jae Hwan calls Ji Ah from the library to tell her what he’s found. This time, we see her connect the first dead body in 1954 to what the forest spirit told them more explicitly. 

The dates of the four incidents are: August 13, 1954; August 25, 1961; September 6, 1979; and September 7, 1987. Ji Ah quickly deduces that these all work out to be the same date on the lunar calendar: July 15th. In 2020, that works out to be Wednesday, September 2nd. If you’ll recall, the wedding at the start of EP01 was held on August 29, so it’s only been 3 days since Yeon and Ji Ah crossed paths at the wedding hall. 

“Long time no see, Lee Yeon.” What is it with Imoogi and choking Yeon?

Subs: “You should’ve let me go.”  More precisely: “I know, right? You should have let me go.”

Yeon’s final “What are you?” should probably have been subbed as: “I’m asking what you are!” since both his tone and phrasing have grown more insistent. 

Subs: Our ill-fated relationship would’ve ended if you hadn’t stopped the boat from crossing the Samdo River. More literally:

Jimoogi: Our ak’yeon should have ended. That is, if only you hadn’t stopped the boat from crossing the Samdocheon. 

The word the subs translated as ‘our ill-fated relationship’ is ‘ak’yeon’ (悪縁), which literally means ‘bad fate.’ In contrast to the broader, ‘destiny’ sort of fate (‘un’myeong’) however, ‘yeon’ (縁) is inherently relational. It refers specifically to the fate between two people (or even between a person and a place). ‘Ak’ (悪) means ‘evil.’ So 'ill-fated’ is a bit misleading as a translation since the word actually refers to the relationship between Yeon and Imoogi (i.e. mortal enemies), rather than the fact that Yeon and Ah Eum’s story ended tragically (as in, ‘an ill-fated love’). 

WAIT. Subs: “No. That woman is born with a face that only I can recognize. And I don’t see it in you.” What?? That doesn’t even make sense. Yeon’s line is: 

Yeon: No. That woman is born carrying a sign that only I can recognize. You don’t have it. 

Obviously, Yeon is referring to the fox bead, and I’m fairly sure that was apparent since the line was intercut with the scene in which he imparts the bead to Ah Eum, but that seems like a pretty critical line to fudge up. 

Jimoogi: “You really don’t know anything, do you, Lee Yeon?” It’s weird to me that they have Imoogi addressing Yeon as just ‘Yeon’ in the subs. That makes it seem like they’re friends or something...

Subs: “The scar is gone.” Actually: “The wound disappeared.” 

Deadball

Subs: “We hate each other too much to play catch. I actually meant to kill you.��� Wait, WHAT?! Yeon’s line is: 

Yeon: Our relationship is too makjang for that. That was meant to be a deadball, actually. 

Makjang, for the uninitiated, is a slang word taken from the phrase ‘the final scene’ (‘majimak jangmyeon’) that has come to refer to an entire genre, as well as particular dramatic elements or conventions of Korean storytelling. Dramabeans explain the term here. When Yeon says his relationship with Rang is ‘makjang,’ he’s essentially saying it’s overly fraught, not that he hates his brother. 

He also doesn’t say he meant to kill Rang. ‘Deadball’ is a Korean baseball term for a pitch that hits a player (typically causing the game to be paused). So Yeon’s just saying he meant for the ‘ball’ to hit Rang, rather than for Rang to catch it. 

On a personal note, it really bothers me when the subs spread all over the internet and they’re wrong like this. I don’t mind slight changes in phrasing or wording, but when they grossly misrepresent the characters like this it can be a bit upsetting. It’s no wonder I sometimes feel like I watched a completely different drama. ㅠㅠ

Yeon’s cheeky smile™ XD

The BGM in this scene is actually ‘The Forest of the Agwi.’

Subs: “Run away.” Yeon’s line is quite literally: ‘Get away from here,’ or even, ‘put distance between here and you.’ I mention it because I really appreciated that, despite all the danger she confronts, Yeon never once tells Ji Ah to ‘run away’ (‘domang ga’). His second ‘run away’ in the subs is also just him telling her to hurry up (literally ‘go quickly’).

The following banter between the brothers is something I mentioned in an ask a while back because all the humour had been lost in translation. To recap, though, one recurring joke the show uses plays off the word for ‘bastard/son of a bitch,’ which translates literally as ‘child of a dog’ (kae-saekki). As you might imagine, this gets a lot of mileage in relation to Rang, our resident ‘baby fox’ (agi yeou) a.k.a. ‘child of a fox’ (yeou-saekki):

Rang: This is domestic violence, you know?

Yeon: (Nodding) They say you’re supposed to raise wild children* with a firm hand (literally: hit them as you raise them), but I couldn’t do that, so I ended up raising a fox child into a dog child (son of a bitch), didn’t I?

Rang: And who was the jerk who kicked that child (saekki) to the curb? You treat me like a stray dog any chance you get. 

Yeon: My little brother, I’ll have to gift you a muzzle this Christmas. 

Rang’s line was subbed: “You keep blaming it on me, when you were the one who turned me into an orphan.” which I find fairly problematic since that makes it sound like Yeon killed Rang’s parents. It’s also just plain wrong; to the extent that I’m not even sure what went wrong in the translation process. 

The word Yeon uses here for ‘wild children’ is ‘horo jashik’ (호로자식), which many Koreans understand to mean something like a barbarian child, but the true origin, as it turns out, is a parentless child. It’s also a term used predominantly by elderly people heh

Finally, because the dog jokes dropped out ‘muzzle’ became ‘mouth guard’ in the subs, which is both less funny and less sensical. The two are also conceptually opposed, since ‘muzzle’ implies that Yeon means to protect the world from Rang whereas ‘mouth guard’ is more about protecting Rang.

As Ji Ah continues to put distance between herself and the brothers, she happens upon the mudang’s house, which she immediately clocks as such from the obangi. 

I like that Ji Ah doesn’t immediately call the mudang out for lying, but instead continues to question her knowing she’s lying. Sometimes the lies people tell can be as telling as the truth. 

When Ji Ah questions her, the mudang tells her the fishing ritual is held during the ‘Ghost Festival’. This is a Buddhist festival similar to All Souls Day. In Korean it’s called ‘Baek Joong Nal’ (literally ‘hundred-gather-day’) meaning ‘the day when all the spirits gather.’ It falls on the full moon of the seventh lunar month (so July 15th of the lunar calendar), which is, of course, the date Ji Ah identified as the day when the murders were taking place. That’s why we get the zoom in and the flash to the newspaper dates: Ji Ah has put everything together. 

Chyron: “Obangi (五方旗) A five-colored flag symbolizing ‘life, death, illness, sacrifice, and ancestors’”. This is the quick quotes version. Obangi have their roots in the Chinese philosophy of Wuxing, but for more on that, I’ll refer you to Wikipedia. In Korea, the colors of the obangi (red, blue, white, black, and yellow) are known as the five orientation colors, and are closely tied to both shamanism and fortune telling. You’ll notice these same colors flying outside the fortune teller’s in EP06.

I also appreciated that Ji Ah didn’t just foolishly drink the tea here. She was properly on her guard. It’s only that she mis-identified the source of danger.

Back over to our fox brothers. Rang’s line is subbed: “That was plenty of time.” This is more properly: “I think I’ve bought more than enough time by now.” So he’s actually quite overt in telling Yeon exactly what he'd been up to.  

Subs: “Don’t you know why she ended up on this island?” More closely: “Do you still not get it? Why that woman ended up coming to this island of all places?” 

We see the mudang encircle the creepy well with burial ground evening primrose to ward against Yeon, who is currently searching the island for Ji Ah to no avail. 

Subs: “You tricked your mom while you were in her womb.” This is a bit difficult to translate. The word the mudang uses that was translated as ‘tricked’ is ‘ggweda,’ which means to ‘lure’ or ‘entice.’ So what she means is that the part of Imoogi that was reincarnated with Ji Ah ‘lured’ her mother to the island by sending her recurring dreams. 

Gumiho

Lol Yeon: “I am the original mountain spirit, the master of the mountains and streams. Lift this darkness and lead me to her!” This is more literally:

Yeon: I am the original mountain god, the master of your mountains and streams.* Part this darkness and lead me to that woman!

[*Note: ‘Mountains and streams’ here can also be taken to mean ‘nature’ at large.]

Lol The line is met with silence and the soft hoot of a lone owl. That’s basically the director’s version of *crickets* isn’t it?

This line is another rare case in which Yeon speaks archaically, and it serves to make the command sound more formal and potentially magical. It’s also worth noting that he’s addressing the forest directly as a whole here (thus the ‘your’). 

Fun fact: When Lee Dong Wook did his TotNT VLIVE, his promotional team made him perform this line again live just to mess with him haha

The BGM here as Yeon heads off through the forest led by his (supernatural?) fireflies is ‘Opening Title: The Legend of the Fox.’ It sounds vaguely Harry Potter-ish to me (not complaining). 

For the record, Ji Ah is now speaking to the mudang in banmal out of disdain. 

Sub: “Be a sacrifice. You are a very special child.” Pfft ‘Be a sacrifice’ sounds oddly funny to me. Her line is: “Become a sacrifice. I’m told you’re a very special child.” So the implication is that this information came from someone/something else. 

Does anyone know what BGM this is as Yeon sprints though the forest? I think it might be another unreleased track, but I’m not positive...

Yeon’s “Halt!” is once again in olden speech. It indicates linguistically that he's in Gumiho mode.  

Out of curiosity, is it not odd for people watching with subs when Ji Ah’s only utterance is ‘Lee Yeon’ but the subs just say ‘Yeon’? 

Subs: “This has nothing to do with the old master of the mountain. Why don’t you keep walking?” I would have translated this as: “It is a matter unrelated to the former master of the mountain. Beg, go along your way.” She’s once again using olden-speech in her second sentence.

Lol Sub: “Says the living corpse.” I like this sub. Yeon’s line is quite literally: “With the ‘juje’ of a living corpse...” ‘Juje’ is essentially your station or lot in life, and it’s used almost exclusively derogatorily. 

Sub: “Who was it that provided you with longevity you don’t deserve?” More closely: “Who was it? The one who gave you a lifespan so much longer than you deserve?”

Yeon: “I asked you whom you serve!” (literally ‘what’ you serve). Yeon once again drops into an archaic cant for this line. It serves to underline his full age and gives his demand an extra air of authority. 

Yeon’s TAILS. I can’t believe this was the last we saw of them. ㅠㅠ Personally, I interpreted the firey tails as being a sort of ‘shadow’/ projection of his actual tails, which I assumed were actually more physically there (since he talks about shampooing them in the teaser interview). My sister thinks differently, though. Guess we’ll never know...

The BGM for this sequence is naturally ‘Gumiho.’ If you read our EP01 breakdown, you’ll know I was fully expecting this to be Yeon’s theme. But no, it’s the whimsical 'The Fox’s Wedding Day’ instead haha

Okay, Yeon just casually smiting the mudang is pretty badass. Seeing as he can command lightning, I’m pretty sure he was joking when he told Ji Ah, ‘even gumiho are afraid of electricity.’ 

If by chance you wondered what was going though Yeon’s mind when he smote the mudang, it’s featured in the EP03 subtitle poster.

I appreciated that Yeon just accepts Ji Ah at her word here when she tells him all she needs from him is one arm for support. I feel like in most dramas the male lead would have just forcefully swept the heroine off her feet amidst her protests, which I always find more problematic than romantic.

For that matter, when it became clear that Ji Ah really did need help, I appreciated that she didn’t act shy or coy and just accepted being carried without making a big deal of it. 

Pfft The way Ji Ah’s eyes flash when Yeon tells her the mudang was just a human being says it all. 

Yeon: “So you say... Excuse me, but you nearly died just now, you know?” This line is once again cheekily in jondaetmal.

*Ominous close up of the well*

Thank You

We catch up with Shin Joo at the supermarket as he talks to Yeon over the phone. 

Shin Joo’s ‘PD-nim’ has once again become, ‘the director lady’ in the subs. *Sigh*

Subs: “Your love story is more than just famous among us.” Actually: “Just how famous is Lee Yeon-nim’s love story in our world? It’s obvious your younger brother* must have been playing tricks!” 

Shin Joo refers to Rang here as ‘donsaeng-bun’ (younger sibling + polite word for person) for the same reason he calls Rang, ‘Lee Rang-nim.’ It’s an extension of his regard for Yeon, rather than for Rang himself.

Lol Shin Joo hanging up on Yeon. His love for supermarkets and fried chicken are actually in his character profile. Apparently, they’re what convinced him living as a human was worth the existential crisis that came with it. 

Sub: “I’m too much of a human to easily fall asleep after such an event. Join me.” More literally: “I’m human, so on a day like today I can’t sleep sober. You* have a glass, too.”

The word Ji Ah uses for ‘you’ here is ‘ja’ne’ (자네), which is a polite term... except it’s only used to refer to people younger than you. So’s she’s talking down to him politely haha This is what prompts Yeon’s line that follows it:

Sub: “I never said anything since it could make seem old-fashioned, but you’re too informal with me when you don’t even know my age.”

 Yeon: I kept holding it in thinking you’d call me an old fart, but you’re [using] banmal really blatantly. Just how old do you think I am?”

Yeon’s ‘Just how old do you think I am?’ is rhetorical. It’s not that Ji Ah is necessarily unaware of his true age, but rather that she acts as if she is. 

Sub: “Those over 60 are universally considered as grandpas.” Actually: “You know everyone over 60 can be called a grandpa, right?”

Pfft Sub: “Be as informal as you like.” What Yeon literally says is, “Please lower your speech,” but he uses very respectful language to say it. I’m not sure if he’s being sarcastic, or if he just hates the thought of being considered a grandpa that much haha It’s probably a bit of both.

Aww Ji Ah promising to protect Yeon. I luff her. 

Ji Ah: "Do I perhaps have something you’re looking for?” I love that she doesn’t miss a thing.

Lol Yeon: “Who am I, Jesus? Just drink what you have.” 

The Vanishing

Subs: “Don’t ever resort to cursing people again. Karma can sting.” Quite literally: “You were lucky you kept your life, but don’t do such a thing* as cursing others ever again. They return, you know. Back on the one who casts them.” 

*Yeon uses the disparagement marker ‘ddaui’ (따위) to refer to the act of cursing someone here. You may recall it from our EP01 breakdown. 

Ji Ah chooses this moment to come running in to announce that the island has turned into a ghost town over night, which is enough to make even Yeon pause, perplexed.  

I love the way Yeon and Ji Ah exchange looks here on the dock. They don’ t know what’s up yet, but they intend to find out. 

‘Blue Moon’~~~ This worked great scored over the drone-camera pan out. I may be slightly biased, though.  

And that concludes Episode 3. Once again, thank you to everyone who commented or left feedback on the last episode! Never hesitate to send me your thoughts, even if they’re just to say what you found funny or surprising. It helps me to know what’s of interest for one thing, but I also just enjoy chatting about the show. ;)

A brief note on pronunciation/notation: for words like ‘sa’ingeom’ and ‘mi’ryeon,’ the apostrophe is there just as a pronunciation guide. So in the case of the former, to indicate that it’s pronounced ‘sah-in’ and not ‘sine’ or ‘sane.’ Similarly, for the latter, the apostrophe is just to indicate that this should be pronounced ‘mi-ryeon’ and not ‘mir-yeon.’ I could have just as easily done this with ‘Hyeon’ui’ong’ except that’s a lot of apostrophes and I set an earlier precedent of not. It’s not an aspiration or anything fancy. Hopefully that makes sense. 

Once again, I’d like to credit my sister for being the main researcher and fact-checker for these, in addition to weighing in on all the translations. I don’t always take her advice, but I do always appreciate it haha. 

Thank you also to everyone who bought us coffee! Your support is truly felt and appreciated ♡ As usual, this took an ungodly amount of time, so every coffee helps haha. For anyone just joining us (or not), if you’d like to see more of these, please consider buying us a coffee. If you follow the link, you can buy a $2 cup of virtual coffee. This helps me to gauge how much interest there is, and also how much value people place on these. If you cared enough to read all the way to the end, please at least consider it. Once I’ve established there’s enough interest, I’ll proceed with Episode 4. ;)

[notgonnarememberthis]

Standing on a Parapet

Had a breakdown. Wrote this. Bon appetite.

Jessica chokes on a breath as she slams the door behind her. She leans back against it, safely in her room once again. She stares up at the ceiling trying to blink away the tears and clear her vision again. All her clothes feel much too tight as she runs a hand over her chest trying to will the pain in it away. It works, but only momentarily.

She strips herself of the necklace that feels too heavy, and her rings that constrict her fingers and bump clumsily when she runs her hands through her hair. They clang and clack as she tosses them into the jewelry box on her vanity, not making eye contact with the mess that she is in the mirror. She clutches the wood resisting the urge to push it all over. That would surely gain more attention than she wanted right now.

She should call Gil.

She can’t.

She made sure of that.

She leans forward on her elbows rocking and pinching the bridge of her nose. She can’t cry. She can’t fucking cry. And she looks at herself. God help her, she looks like a god damn wreck. Her eyes are red rimmed, her straightened hair is loose, falling in tendrils around her face and she looks like she hasn’t slept in weeks.

She hasn’t. Not well.

Ainsley staying was a relief. Of course it was. She fills the home with dancing, twirling on the smooth floors in her socks, mimicking moves from when she used to ice skate. Her voice would light up the halls, singing (sometimes drunkenly) all of the hits from when she was a teen: Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls.

God, she never thought she’d be so happy to hear Complicated ever again.

But there were moments, god help her there were moments.

“No, you don’t understand Thomas.” Her words were spitting. “If we don’t get those passes ABC7 will get there first and it won’t be my head Jodie will be looking for.”

She had been on the phone, probably talking to some poor partner or whatever they’re called. Jessica had been bringing her tea. The tone, her words. Jessica felt like she was walking back twenty years. All down to the way she hung up, fire in her eyes until she found her mother standing there. How immediately they went soft.

Jessica almost broke right there.

The drawer slides open noisily and she whips out the bottle inside. It was the strongest bourbon she had. Saved for her wedding anniversary, Martin’s birthday, and the day Eve died. She popped the tab drinking straight from the bottle, pretending the burn would take the memories with it. Her eyes fall on the bottom of the drawer. A piece of cardstock staring back up at her.

She collapses in the chair grabbing the picture.

The photo had been supposed to go with the rest. That Christmas had something special about it, she couldn’t remember what. But Malcolm had bounced on top of her, excited chanting with Ainsley in quick tow on Martin’s side. Her son had torn open the wrapping paper so excitedly. His eyes lit up with the advanced medical texts.

“Now these are technically for college students but I think you can handle them.” Martin had said with a wink. Ainsley opened a litter of dresses and a microphone that she sang into for hours on end. She squealed with delight at every single thing she found beautiful. “She’s just like you.” He whispered in her ear.

God, was he wrong.

They had posed for a picture by the tree. Ainsley and Malcolm wearing matching sets of pajamas and their smiles brighter than she remembers them ever being.

It was their last happy memory.

Now it is singed, the photo had been dumped with the others into the billowing flames. But it just landed closest to her. Martin’s face now a burned hole, and the rest of them blissfully untouched. She had stupidly reached into the flames, plucking it out and stamping out the sides that were beginning to catch. Her finger tips were burnt, she told Gil when he inspected her bandaged hand that she was making Ainsley lunch.

He didn’t believe her.

The burn isn’t nearly enough anymore. Her tears flow freely and she sits back, cursing her own reflection. She’d spent so long telling Malcolm he wasn’t his father. Saving him from that trauma, from the words that he flinched with when teachers, reporters, hell his own father tried to ingrain in him.

He looked so much lighter when he finally changed his name.

How could she compare Ainsley to him.

What kind of mother is she?

The thought makes her shut her eyes tightly. Her cheeks on fire from the alcohol and her holding her breath trying to suppress the loud sobs that desperately want out. Ainsley isn’t far, she reminds herself. She could hear it if she was quiet enough. So she hiccups, rage and guilt flowing constrained through her veins.

There were always whispers about how she was broken. Looking at the woman in the mirror it feels like shattered is a more appropriate word. Like a doll that had been dropped so many times that there are pieces missing, a glance into the hollow bones that lie inside. Ones she fills with anything that will keep her busy.

Ainsley stopped singing as much since she went back to work. Even when she does the words are haunting, an omen. More than once she caught her singing a lullaby that Jessica doesn’t recognize. It’s absentminded, like she doesn’t know the song, only the words spilling from her subconscious as she wanders the halls.

They feel like a threat.

She should call Gil, he would know what to do.

Her fingers linger on the speed dial. Gil would comfort her. There would be a disapproving look when he saw her choice of drink but he would stay. His heart would be a beat that soothes her worries.

She can’t.

But she needs to know. Her fingers dial the number automatically.

“Claremont Psychiatric, this is Henry, how can I help?”

Hope y’all enjoyed that!! I want to be explicitly clear this is not a fic for shipping Jessica with Martin. She’s seeking out answers rather than addressing her own emotions, which is something I firmly believed she would do in canon. Meanwhile if she called Gil she would have to be admitting that something is wrong.

BUT story and beginning joke aside, I am doing better than when I wrote this. I’ve been hella overwhelmed bc I am about to move again and it’s harder than it’s ever been and super fucking sad if I’m being honest. But I’m working through the emotions with friends. Just had to write this to make myself feel a little less heavy. Didn’t work, but I got some of that bad energy out.

[dani-luminae]

Who is better in your opinion? Willa or Uma?

Oooh. This is a hard question. I love them both so much, I don’t have an easy answer for this. So I’ll look at it from a few different angles and tell you which is better (in my opinion) from there.

If anyone has anything to add, ask, or debate about this, I’m open to discussion.

Angle 1: Canon writing in introduction movie (Descendants 2 vs. ZOMBIES 2)

First “angle” is the character writing (motivation, etc.) in their intro movie. I’m not counting D3 in this. 

Uma’s original motive was anger at being forgotten on the Isle, mixed with a desire for vengeance against Mal and a will to harm Auradon. I know the fandom has latched onto her “free the Isle kids” point more than the others. She wanted the wand to free her crew and and the Isle and destroy Auradon.

Willa’s writing in Z2 however showed that she didn’t want to hurt humans particularly, she just wanted to find the moonstone and help her pack. We’re sorta left to assume that if the wolf pack found the moonstone without the humans help, the pack would have just taken it back to the forest and probably not bothered Seabrook ever again. They didn’t exactly like the place or show a desire to hurt the humans or Zombies unless said intruders stood between them and the moonstone.

In this angle, Willa definitely came off in the more favorable light. So (sorry Uma) but in this part, I think I preferred Willa here. To be fair: Disney’s half-assed writing was all over in D2, so Uma didn’t get the justice she deserved there, but seems they learned from that with Z2.

Angle 2: Character design

It took me a while to warm up to Uma’s design, although that’s mostly because the first looks we ever get of her were her sitting with Harry and Gil, so her hair combined with her dress just looked like strings to me. Not the best way to show off her design. Also wouldn’t such long hair get in the way during fights? In later promos we see her in movement and her look definitely looked better to me, but still more stylized “VK” more than “practical pirate captain.” I mostly put that down to the costume department really starting to fall down on the job in this movie. Her Cotillion dress was gorgeous, though.

Willa’s first promo showed her standing, posed, perfectly showing off her look. My initial reaction was, once again, very “meh.” I still wasn’t sure what to think of the Werewolves at the time. Fur and claw-marks were obviously the cliché for such a type of character. I’m not sure I actually warmed up to Willa’s style much in the movie, though - throughout her variety of outfits, the only one that actually sticks with me is her Prawn dress, and even then, it’s not all that memorable.

In this part, Uma definitely came off better. Her dress showed up better in the movie than in any of the promos, and the small variations on her main look that we got - jacket on, jacket off, added pants for “It’s Goin’ Down” - made it memorable. And her Cotillion dress was so amazing. Willa’s outfits all melded together and weren’t exactly memorable. (I’m not talking about D3 in this part either.)

Angle 3: Relationship to main protagonist and co.

One of Uma’s original motivations is vengeance against Mal for Mal’s terrible behavior in the past. This continues through D2 and even in D3. It got boring quickly in the third movie, being the source of much useless bickering between Mal and Uma (though Mal, of course, was never any help.) Mal and Uma’s rivalry seemed to be a focal point of the third movie, only to get resolved for no reason at the end, just because Uma forgives Mal after defeating Audrey, for some reason I still have yet to understand.

Willa’s initial reaction to Addison is hostility and disbelief, because Addison is human but has the trademark white hair of the legendary Great Alpha. While Willa is wary of Addison, she still allows Addison to come to the wolf den and seems to let Wyatt hope that she’s the Great Alpha. She trusts Addison enough to allow her to hold onto the Great Alpha moonstone necklace, and looks visibly betrayed and angry when it seems Addison has “lost” it. But after Addison and the others aide the wolf pack in “Flesh and Bone,” Willa seems to renew her trust in Addison, and even gives her the Great Alpha moonstone necklace in the end, after the moonstone has been found.

Overall, I found that Willa had a much more believable “grow to trust the protagonist” arc than Uma did. Mal spent much of her time antagonizing Uma and yet Uma somehow changes her mind about Mal after one good deed that hardly even concerns Uma except for the danger to Celia; meanwhile Addison expressed mostly open-mindedness and a will to learn and help, and while Willa mistrusts non-pack characters, she eventually sees that Addison does want to help and trusts her in the end. When it comes to this aspect of the writing, Willa is the winner here. I’m still angry at the D3 writers for a lot, but mostly their writing of Uma.

Much of this is how I came to make this post.

Angle 4: Original marketing

Let’s be honest, the original TV promos for all the VKs+Ben in D2 were crap. Just them posing and spinning around in a room that looked like a Home Depot basement. It was very underwhelming and it did not make for a good first impression for Uma, Harry, and Gil. I fondly nicknamed them “The Three Villainous Stooges” at least until we had a promo that expressed their actual competence and capabilities, when I promptly dropped that name.

The first TV promo I can recall for Willa was the one where she and the other Werewolves enter the cafeteria and saunter along to some song I don’t even remember. While it was much better than the original D2 promos, it did very little to express Willa’s capabilities either, aside from making it clear she was in command of the pack and was not to be messed with.

In this aspect, I think Willa and Uma tie for this. They both got useless and stupid first promos. Both of them turned out to be awesome and amazing characters because of this. A solid tie.

Angle 5: Current fate

Even including the whole Moonstone Mystery nonsense, so far, Willa is still residing with her pack in the forest, attending Seabrook High School, and friends with Addison and the others. Addison has earned Willa’s trust through hard work and just earnest attempts to help.

As of the end of D3 (and with no mention of Uma in any of the Royal Wedding shorts) Uma is freed from the Isle after apparently forgiving Mal for no reason, and canon says absolutely nothing else about her. Mal earned Uma’s friendship through... lying to her, betraying her, and pleading with her for her help, apparently, and then saving Celia.

Sorry Uma, Willa wins here again.

-

I love both of these characters so much, but when it comes to canon writing, Willa really got the better end of the stick. However, I definitely love Uma, she has so much potential as so much more than being forced to be Mal’s friend (and that’s what fanfics are for!)

Thank you for the ask!

[zahra-kha]

Dear Diary 25

Bad news I guess: Sahrin has a lead on Armand and they’re going to look into it. I guess he got seen trying to sell some stuff near Buscarron’s Druthers. They’ll be back in a few days.

Meanwhile, Sai and Esila went to investigate that weird note and see if they were any clues. Sai especially was adamant about not letting my friends get more involved than they already have, and that this was a troupe matter. She also thought it was a trap. It didn’t sit right with me, so I think I want to contact Gail, Tamala, and Jasper and see what they think. It’s not like I want to go behind their backs or anything it’s just...I want answers, you know? And I don’t think it’s right to cut my friends out when they literally brought me out of a...basically a coma!

That’s the bad news. The good news is that this week has been amazing! Amazing!!!

So I’ve been getting ready for this little ladies thing that I mentioned in my other entry that Quin talked about. I had signed up for it and went all in on everything meaning I was performing too! Was so nervous about it I can’t even begin! So anyway, we all got together and went shopping and I had soooo much fun!

We all met up at the shopping center and hung around until everyone showed up. I don’t really know how the subject turned from Jasper being our bag carrier to him trying on clothes but whatever, it worked out and honestly it’s not really a shopping trip until we get some unwilling sacrifice to try on clothes. And yes I had some selfish motivation at play I will not lie I genuinely think he has a nice figure and it is an absolute waste he doesn’t show it off more often. And yes I told him that, I don’t think it’s a bad thing to tell a friend they’re attractive.

I also came to the realization that Tyme - may the gods bless her beautiful, wholesome heart - has horrible, awful, terrible, fashion sense. Or at least she likes really gaudy things. I think our eyes were seeing stars from some of the items she picked out. I know if we had picked some of her suggestions for Jasper the poor guy may have just fled the scene. He looked understandably afraid for his life.

I really liked the store we went to, they had a wide variety of items to choose from, from casual to formal. Tamala, Gail, and I were able to find dresses that we liked after trying on a variety of things. Eir showed up looking for things and he took the first dress I tried on for...I have no idea. I don’t try to understand that man.

I loved Gail and Tamala’s outfit choices. They looked so pretty. Gail has this regal presence to her, I guess from her noble upbringing. (Her birthname isn’t Gail? Or something? More on that later) Tamala chose an outfit that brings out her bright personality. I told her yellow would look good on her.

I love my dress. Red is my favorite color and I’ve never really been much for dresses so this was fun to do. I’m not sure if I’ll ever wear it again but I’d like to. I paid so much gil for it I’d really, really like for this to not just be something that sits in my wardrobe!

(And I got complimented! It feels so silly to get flustered over something so simple but it’s a good feeling when the person you like says something nice to you).

So I had my dress and I managed to get shoes, accessories, and makeup! They had a really good deal going and apparently we used Penelope’s discount? Girl shops there enough to have a solid on that. So Gail and I got together all sneaky like and after finding Jasper something he could wear, got a different color of each since we couldn’t decide on which one looked better. So long as it wasn’t brown. Gods, the man loves brown which is fine it does look good on him and works for blending in and out - but expand your wardrobe sir!

So anyway after that and Eir harassing Tamala and pretty much anyone he could irritate - oh wait I forgot about Tyme backflipping her way into getting shoes. That was a team effort between Quin and Eir. Because of course it was.

Poor Tyme. I’m glad she got the shoes though, they were pretty, and I did try to pick out a pair that fit her tastes.

So after we went shopping and stressed out the poor moogle receptionist (I think she hates Tamala), we went out to eat at this place that served uh, burgers and pizza? I’ve heard of both before but never really had an opportunity to really try it out. The burgers were interesting, greasy and filling. The pizza was also really good! Jasper gave me a slice of his since it’s big and easy to share with others. It’s got a rich sauce and the toppings blend well together. 

Gail’s ex showed and it started getting a bit awkward since I got the vibe that Gail found him...uh, uninteresting? On top of that I’ve met him a few times but he didn’t remember me at all. It seemed like unless prompted, his main focus was on Gail. I can’t really comment on their relationship since it’s not my place to do so, but it was a bit uncomfortable.

I was starting to get a bit tired at that point, so I gave Jasper the other burger I had ordered (okay, I actually gave it to him because the others were talking about some grotesque stuff and I had a bet with Jasper that I’d have enough food left over for him, but I ended up losing my appetite so bets were off after that) and headed out. I was a little amused, since I don’t think he realized the bag I had given him was his. He’d come out thinking he was going to carry all of our bags but surprise! It was his bags he was carrying all along! Mwahaha!

I had. So much fun with everyone. It’s nice to get together and unwind. No stress, no worries about a threat or a fight around the horizon, just spending time with friends and getting along. Even horsing around can be fun too! I’d like to do it again sometime.