#the ONLY reason i mashed these up was because they were my first and second most played songs on iTunes

[maidragoste]

Chapter Two: A United Front

The Hunger Games AU

Katniss!Jacaerys x Peeta!Reader

Chapter One Chapter Three

First of all, thank you very much for all the support that the first chapter had! It made me really happy to see every comment and reblog, it really motivated me to continue writing 🥰🥰

Please let me know again what you thought of this chapter in the comments, as always, likes and reblogs are appreciated too 💖💖

My inbox is open so I'm always willing to read your headcanons, opinions and answer your questions.

Disclaimer: English is not my first language so I apologize for any mistakes.

Jacaerys was irritated. Firstly, because it is evident that you had already begun to play in front of the cameras since when you two arrived at the train station you did not bother to hide your tears, you probably thought that perhaps this way you could get a sponsor or else your strategy was to show yourself weak and like an easy prey to later fight in the arena. That's what Sabitha Vypren, from District 7, had done in her games.

The second reason for his irritation was his uncle. Larys hadn't said a word to him since before the Repair or even now that they were on the train heading to the Capitol. This was supposed to be the time for them to prepare strategies together, for Larys to give them advice on surviving the arena, but his uncle seemed more focused on enjoying the pork chops and mashed potatoes. Jacaerys was also eating, he was ready to eat everything he could to gain the most muscle mass before the games started, but now and then he would stop and stare at Larys hoping that at some point his uncle would decide to speak.

“So, what do we have to do for Jacaerys to win?” you asked, breaking the silence and making him choke.

You were the first to react, you quickly got up and started hitting him on the back until he finally spit out the piece of meat. Effie looked at him with disgust.

"Are you okay?" you asked, looking at him with concern and now caressing his back. Jacaerys noticed how his uncle looked at the two of them with interest. He had no idea why, neither of you two had done anything extraordinary, he made a fool of himself by choking and you ran to save him…Well, I had to admit that your action was striking, someone else would have let him die by drowning to have one less competitor in the arena, not only that but you just said that you wanted to help him win. It didn't make sense… Unless it was another strategy to gain his trust only to then stab him in the back in the arena.

"I'm fine," Jacaerys responded, putting his hand on your arm to stop your caresses. You blushed and moved away from him as if you had been burned by his touch. “What do you mean by that you said earlier?” he asked you once you sat back down.

"You have a chance to win, Jacaerys," you declared as if it were obvious. Evidently, he couldn't hide his confusion because you continued talking "You know how to hunt and you have good aim. Every time my father buys you squirrels he says that the arrow always hits the eye, you never ruin the body" the boy felt the heat rise to his face at your words and he was sure he was blushing because suddenly you seemed to be stopping yourself from smiling. "So if either of us has a chance of winning it's you. I'll probably be one of the first to die but I think I can be of help in the interview" you said the last thing looking at Larys.

Jacaerys felt his appetite disappear. It didn't sit well with him to hear you talk as if you were already resigned to dying. "She's got a good right hook," he said, looking at his uncle. He couldn't let Larys give up on you quickly, if you lost his interest then he surely wouldn't bother trying to help you win. "Lucerys told me. She hit a boy who was bothering him and gave that idiot a black eye."

"Jacaerys, I won't be able to win just by hitting people. Besides, there are surely tributes even bigger than that boy, they will attack me before I can even land a hit on him."

For a moment he had the image of an unknown tribute mercilessly attacking you with a sword before you had the chance to defend yourself. His stomach fluttered at the image of your broken body.

"You, on the other hand, can attack from afar with your bow. If you hide well you can have an advantage" you continued and went back to eating without realizing that your companion was looking at you with a frown.

Your attitude was irritating him. You should have been trying to impress Larys by saying what other things you can do but instead, you keep talking about him. It did not make sense. It had to be a strategy or maybe you were thinking it was a lost cause to try to win the games by having him as a district partner and his uncle as his mentor. You probably believed that Larys would choose to put all the chips on him just because he was his nephew. That made him furious.

"She can lift weights. I saw her lifting sacks of flour"

You suddenly dropped the cutlery sharply on the table. "Enough, Jacaerys," the annoyance was evident on your face and in your voice. "Don't try to make me feel good just out of pity, please. I know I'm going to lose. Everyone knows that." "You made a gesture with your hand to let you continue talking when you saw him open his mouth." Do you know what my mother told me when she came to say goodbye to me? There may finally be another winner in 12. She wasn't talking about me" you said looking into his eyes.

Everyone knew that your mother was a witch but Jacaerys never imagined that she would be one with her own daughter. It was cruel to tell you that when perhaps it could be her last talk. She should have faith in you. Or at least give you the benefit of the doubt. He wanted to comfort you but he had no idea what to say. Besides, he didn't think his uncle would be happy if he saw him being nice to you. He would tell her that he was weak and that he didn't come here to make friends.

So Jace settled for looking into your eyes, hoping that you could somehow understand that he didn't want you to give up.

"Oh, darling, that's horrible," Effie said, breaking the tension between the two of you, placing a hand on her heart, she seemed genuinely moved. "I think you should try hard to win and prove your mother wrong."

You didn't say anything, you just gave a sad smile to the district escort. A moment ago Jacaerys felt bad for you but now he can't help but think that maybe you only told your last conversation with your mother to gain Effie's sympathy and get her to talk about you to her friends in the Capitol. He hated analyzing everything you did but he couldn't let his guard down with you if he wanted to go home to his brothers. He was sure that if Lucerys was with him and could see what was going on in her mind he would tell him that he was being paranoid. But maybe it wasn't wrong for him to doubt you, Jace thought when he noticed that Uncle Larys seemed to be evaluating you with his gaze.

“Let's start to see who his competitors are,” Larys finally spoke, ending the dinner.

Jacaerys was relieved to see that your stylist had put you in an outfit just like his, at least if he ended up making a fool of himself at the parade he wouldn't be the only one. You're wearing the same shiny leather boots and the same full-length black leotard with the cloak that flutters in the wind. The only difference between the two of you was that your suit seemed closer to your body, highlighting your curves.

As you are taken to the lower level of the Renewal Center, Portia, your stylist, along with her team can't stop talking excitedly about what a sensation you two will be. Cinna, Jacaerys' stylist who came up with the idea of setting their outfits on fire, seems tired of the congratulations. Jace couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he, too, was nervous that it wouldn't work and would end with them dead. You didn't look nervous, which shouldn't surprise him considering you were probably used to fire since he worked at the bakery.

Once they arrive, they basically find a giant stable. The opening ceremony is about to begin so the stylists are having their tributes ride into carriages pulled by a group of horses. Cinna and Portia lead you and Jacaerys to their carriage, both of them carefully arranging the posture of the two of your bodies and your cloaks before stepping aside to talk something between themselves.

“What do you think of the fire?” Jacaerys asked you in a whisper. He tells himself that he's just talking to you to distract himself from his nerves.

“At least we're not naked,” you replied, shrugging your shoulders. Jacaerys grimaces as he remembers those poor tributes who had to parade naked covered in black dust. It had happened years before his uncle became a victor, the only reason why everyone knew about that incident was because whenever the games approached on television they did a recap of the best kills, the best dressed as well as the worst deaths and the worst dresses. In the latter, those poor tributes always appeared.

“Uncle Larys definitely wouldn't have let that happen. He probably would have hit them with his cane as soon as they told him that idea,” Jace said with a small smile as he imagined his uncle hitting the stylists and scolding them. You must have imagined the same thing too because you started laughing. Your laughter was contagious so he soon joined you, feeling his nerves disappear for a moment as well as the heaviness in his shoulders. Cinna and Portia will probably be upset that you two lost your posture but neither you nor Jacaerys seemed worried about it.

"If something goes wrong I promise to take out your cloak while you take out mine," you said trying to get serious again but from the corner of your lips, it was evident that you wanted to smile.

"Deal," he agreed with a small smile.

Jace's calm demeanor disappeared the moment he saw his uncle. He tensed as he watched him walk towards the carriage, ready to feel his eyes judging him and scolding him for acting like a child. His uncle was right to be angry, now the other tributes would see them as weak and stupid.

"I want you to present yourself as a united front," Larys said, surprising his nephew.

"What?"

"If you want to win then you have to do everything I say" the mentor reminded them "So you will go out, hold hands, and greet the audience" In his tone of voice there was no room for discussion but Jacaerys had many questions. He couldn't do any of them because when started playing the opening music Larys headed for the exit.

"Come on, don't look so upset. It's not like I have scabies," you nudged him. If he hadn't been focused on seeing the tributes from District 1 in his glowing robes then he would have noticed how the sparkle in your eyes seemed to have dimmed.

It's not many minutes before you and Jacaerys are near the doors. As the District 11 tributes leave, Cinna appears with a torch. You and Jace don't have time to back away when the stylist turns on both of your cloaks. The three of them sigh in relief when they see that it worked.

“Remember head up and smile. Oh, don't forget the most important thing, hold hands. They're going to love you!" Cinna quickly tells them before getting out of the carriage.

Jacaerys hesitates before taking your left hand. Unlike him, you don't hesitate to intertwine your fingers with his. You give him one last smile before his carriage enters the city. The crowd seems alarmed at first when they see the fire but then they soon begin shouting both their names. Jace can't help but feel overwhelmed by the feeling of everyone's eyes on him so he focuses on staring at the screen. For a moment he is breathless, the two of you look wonderful, especially you look brilliant as you wave and blow kisses to the crowd. In the low light of twilight, the fire illuminates both of your faces and your cloaks seem to leave a trail of flames behind. Cinna got what he wanted and gave you both a chance, no one would forget about you two, you really made a sensation.

You squeeze Jacaerys's hand and remind him under your breath to “Smile.”

Then he tries his best to give his best smile and starts greeting you. Someone among all these people must have wanted to sponsor him. This was an excellent opportunity to win over the audience and he had to take advantage of it. He remembers the words of his uncle Larys, so he raises their joined hands, making the screams increase even more. When they enter the City Circle they lower their hands but neither you nor Jace try to let go. During President Snow's speech, Jacaerys is distracted by feeling you caress his skin with your thumb, he tries not to think about it too much, he tells himself that you must be nervous and you do it unconsciously. Luckily it doesn't take long for the national anthem to be heard and the carriages travel around the circle for the last time. Jacaerys notices that the screens seem to show you two more than the other tributes.

He finishes confirming that it was not his imagination once you arrive at the Training Center and get off your carriages. As Cinna and Portia remove their cloaks, you and Jacaerys notice the angry glances of the other tributes, especially Royce Baratheon, the burly boy from District 2 who volunteered, and his district partner Agatha Durrandon.

Jace notices that the two of you are still holding hands so he lets you go.

"The flames suit you well and you have a beautiful smile" you declared with a smile making him blush.

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[bluesest]

A Diarrhea Camp

In the "Orange Lake" camp there have always been adventures of all kinds, from wasp chases, to cases where for certain reasons, some campers used to have… stomach problems.

On this occasion a large group of campers arrived at the big green forest, where they will share great moments together. Jeremy was one of these campers, he was the rebel of the group, always looking for a way to get into trouble. On the third day, Jeremy insulted a fellow camper which was heard by the camp guides and as a punishment, he would have to serve the food dishes to the campers of the place.

That's how it all started, he hated having to work when he was supposed to be having fun with his buddies, in short, he was annoyed by the situation. On the first day, almost finishing his shift he overheard two of the campers complaining about the food:

"Wow…is this stuff even edible?"

"Is this supposed to be mashed potatoes?"

"The only thing pure here is how my stomach will end up after eating this."

"Rather, how your diarrhea will turn out after eating this attempt at food."

Hearing this, Jeremy couldn't help but get a feeling, one he had never felt before, it was a mixture of need and the obscene, like a great desire inside his heart that made him start sweating. He thought, "Just imagine how those unusable toilets would end up if any of these guys had an urge."

Night came and he was in his cabin with 5 of the other campers:

"Hey, I don't recommend you go to the bathrooms in this place, they're worse than last year, I'd choose a tree to mark my territory over that attempt at hygiene."

"And when it's your turn to do number two?"

"First of all, it's called shitting, second of all, I wouldn't have a choice to be honest."

Again that feeling came, piercing his chest and making certain parts of his body start to fill with blood. "Do I really like that kind of thing…? Naaahhh… but I should be able to do something to prove otherwise… I have an idea!"

While no one was looking, Jeremy grabbed his backpack and searched through his clothes, "I usually usually put all the medications on my shelf when I leave… Here it is!" Among several capsules he found a hand-sized bottle of a powerful laxative, and if you're wondering why a person would have a big bottle of laxative, well, let's just say our friend has had trouble with unclogging the pipe when he usually eats a lot of junk food.

The next day it was time to execute the plan, he waited for the cooks to be distracted to pour at least a small spoonful of the laxative to each of the dishes, the taste was not going to be a problem because the food itself was disgusting, Jeremy's conscience kicked in and almost caused him to stop his plan, but his desire was stronger, and that's how around 40 campers were intoxicated with laxative.

Once he finished his work, he grabbed a plate of food and sat down with his companions:

"This tastes a little weird than usual, but it's still gross."

"There are lots of activities at camp today: canoe paddling, swimming, a foot race, arts and crafts and among other things, what will you guys be doing?"

This just added more excitement to the matter, many of them would have to cut their activities short because their stomachs wouldn't hold out for long.

Twenty minutes passed and Jeremy was sitting on a log when he spotted a camper in the distance trying to hide the fact that he was carrying a roll of toilet paper in his hand, he was Jeremy's first victim, or at least the first one he could observe.

Slowly he approached him taking care that he didn't see him, surprisingly he got to the bathroom earlier which was because the camper could barely take small steps. When he arrived he saw that the bathroom had only two compartments, it was a typical wooden latrine with a large hole in the floor as a toilet, there are about 10 of these bathrooms around the camp, but even so they were not enough for the large wave of diarrheic young people, Jeremy hid in the second toilet and with a knife he had in his pocket he made a hole that allowed him to see everything that happened in the first latrine and that made it difficult to observe what was happening in the second one from the first toilet.

Finally he hears the first door creaking and being abruptly closed, he hears a small voice: "Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!" followed by the sound of the boy's pants strap to then drop his pants, after that the boy was able to free himself:

*PPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT* *HSRQQQHRHRHRSQRSRSHRSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSQRSFS FFFFFF*

The first blow was a devastating one, you could tell from afar how he'd been holding that in for a long time.

*GASP* *PPRRRRHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHHS* *PPFFFFFFFFTTT* *SQHHQSHQHQHQ* *PPPFFFFFFFFFFTTTT* *PPPFFFFFFFFTTTT*

The second one violently hit the hole, liters of liquid was expelled from the small anus of the subject that was not enough to expel everything in one blow:

"Why me?!?!?!?!?" *PPPFPFPTTT* *PPPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSSQHHQSHQSHQSHQSHQSHSQHSQH*.

Sobs began to be heard which were confused by the drops of brown liquid coming out of the poor boy, Jeremy was able to fill his desire, but this is not where it ends. Suddenly a knock was heard at Jeremy's cubicle door:

"Hey buddy, excuse me, but have you cleared the bathroom yet? I just really need to go, and to be honest, the guy next door sounds like he's just getting started."

Jeremy took his eyes off the hole, opened the door and answered, "All yours", he was a tall young man with some muscle, his clothes were stuck to him due to sweat, and with a smile he thanked Jeremy obviously not knowing that he was the one who was to blame for his suffering.

The big guy closed the door, Jeremy almost left the place disappointed until he saw a small hole that would allow him to see what was also happening in the second cubicle: He saw how the tall guy started to undress, he was the type of person who undresses to go to the bathroom when it is something urgent, Jeremy managed to see part of the guy's penis before his ass fell into the toilet:

*PPPPPPFFTFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTT* *PSSSSSSSS*.

The first blow was weak compared to that of the previous person, who by the way was still expelling large amounts of poop in embarrassment as he knew a new person entered with the same problem:

*PSSSSSSSSSSSS* *PPFFFFFFFTTT* *PLOP*.

The second hit was somewhat disappointing for Jeremy, apparently this guy was having a bad constipation, he was about to leave to find other campers until a big noise made him stay:

*PPPSFFFFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF* *PPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR* *HQSHHSQHQHHSHHSHHSHSSSSSS* *PSPSPSPSSHSHSHHHHSHSHSHSHSSS* *PLOP* *PFFFTFTTT* *PLOP* *PRRRRRRRRRR* "Aghhhh!"

The smell hit him all at once, a mixture of bread and meat with a hint of pepper, the man managed to unclog his pipe and managed to release a third shocking wave as the first person had already finished and proceeded to clean himself up Tall: "Uffffffff I really did have to get rid of a couple of extra pounds…wait a minute…I FORGOT TO BRING PAPER…*KNOCK* *KNOCK* hey, I know you're in there, could you lend me some paper? I really need to clean up the mess I have on my butt."

Shy: "ummmm… Ok… but don't finish it all, I'm afraid this is a… diarrhea."

Tall: "Don't worry, I have more in my backpack, just let me know when you want to hit the porcelain again."

Shy: "That would be strange…"

Tall: "In another context yes, but come on, we both heard and smelled what was going on in each other's toilet, we're like bathroom bros!"

Shy: "Well… do you want to go paddling after this… with me?"

Tall: "Sure, why not, I don't have many friends around here either."

Those words reminded Jeremy of one of the other activities which would be interesting for his new hobby: canoe paddling, just the thought of a person having an emergency in a place surrounded by water and the only way out is using brute force which raises the risk of causing an anal leak, is something that fascinated Jeremy. As he left the area he saw that very few campers were around, that was a sign that most were already affected and that only those with strong stomachs were not affected, even so sooner or later they would all fall.

As he made his way to the lake he could see the start of the foot race that he heard in the cafeteria, there were 5 contestants, all of them were sweaty, but only one had a worried face, apparently 4 of them had already used the bathroom and the sweat remained as a souvenir. The camper was wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt with tight black shorts that exposed his well polished legs.

The guide started the race, the one in the yellow shirt that we will call as "Runner" was in first place, apparently his urgency gave him the strength to explode his legs and want to finish the race as soon as possible, not even Jeremy taking shortcuts could catch him, so he followed him with his eyes, after 5 minutes the runner reached the finish line but he did not stop there and kept running, in the distance Jeremy could distinguish something between the runner's legs, a big lump, Jeremy decided to chase him again, he could even see how liquid diarrhea began to drip out of the shorts: a big lump, Jeremy decided to chase it again, he could even see how liquid diarrhea started to drip out of the shorts.

The runner arrived at his destination and after 1 minute Jeremy arrived too, while the runner was making a huge effort to take off his tight shorts without causing a mess, Jeremy took advantage of his urgency and opened a hole with the razor to observe what was going on inside: he saw how an agitated camper with big legs was undressing and with the speed that made him win the race he made his ass reach his own finish line:

The first wave was brutal, the smell was starting to permeate Jeremy's eyes, but also permeating the great view of what of the biggest asses Jeremy has ever seen in his life.

*PSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPS* *SQSHHSHQSHQSHSQHSHQHSHQHSHQHHS* *GASP* *PPPFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTT* *PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR* *PSPPSPSPSPSPSPSPSHHHHHHHHHH* *SQSHHSQHHSHQSHQSHQSHQSHQS*

The second wave did not disappoint, so strong was the smell that Jeremy's eyes began to water and in his mind he said, "someone ate a lot of garlic today, didn't he?"

*PPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFTFTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT* *PLOP* *PLOP* *PLOP* *PLOP* *PLOP* *PLOP*

By the third, things had calmed down, Jeremy pulled his face out of the hole, wiped his eyes with a handkerchief and set out to continue with his original plan: go to the lake.

There was only one person already in the lake, a brunette person wearing a swimsuit, he looked ridiculous wearing that knowing he wouldn't touch the water, but Jeremy was not one to judge as he was doing worse.He approached the dock and in the distance he saw how the "swimmer" started hugging his stomach, Jeremy imagined that sporty body squeezed by that blue suit and when he saw him heading towards a secluded shore, Jeremy set out to run just to reach to hide and get a better view of the swimmer's butt. It wasn't easy but he finally got there before him, he positioned himself in a small bush as the canoe was parked:

Swimmer "Oh my god, the toilets are too far away and… I don't think I can hold on… shit."

*PPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTT* *PPPFFFFFFFFFTTTT* *PPPFRRTRTRTRR* *PPPFRRTRTRTRR*

A machine gun of farts was coming out of that tight ass, with force and desperation the swimmer started to quickly take off that suit exposing that under that suit was hiding a nice ass, he barely managed to free his ass and started to shit without even squatting down:

*PFPDPDPDPDPPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPPS* *PPFPFFTFTFTFTTFTF* *PPDPSPSPSPSPSPSPS*

They were wet farts coming out forcefully as they were inundated by waves of violent diarrhea, it had a dark color and stank pretty bad.

*PRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRP* *PSPSPSPPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSPSSSSSSS* *PRPPRPRPRPRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSSSS* *PRPPRPRPRRRRRRRRRSSSSSSSSSS*

Followed the liquid, there was no trace of any solid material, the frequency of the farts was going down, but they were much louder, at this part the camper could barely squat:

*PPFFFFFFFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTTF* *RPPRPRPRPRPRPRPR* *PRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPRPR* *PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS* *QSHQSHHSHQSHQSHSHHQHQSHQHSHSHSHS* *PPFFFTFTTTT* *PPFFFTTTT*

An even more powerful jet made the swimmer tremble causing him to nearly lose his balance and fall into his own fecal material. Finally, the poor camper finished and wiped his butt with the lake water hoping no one had seen him.

Jeremy seeing that the swimmer left was ready to return to his cabin and rest from the marathon he ran all day, but something strange, in the mud of the forest he saw footsteps, a trace of someone walking through the forest and so far did not return, Jeremy exhausted did not miss the opportunity and also went into the forest.

5 minutes was the time Jeremy was walking among the big trees, he was about to return when he heard some moans, when he looked out he saw another camper sweating, walking and hugging his stomach, so Jeremy decided to deviate from the dirt road and hid in the trees following the lost camper.

He looked exhausted and dizzy, he stopped for a second and changed his route next to a tree, defeated, he slowly dropped his pants leaving his somewhat flat butt in the air:

*PPPPPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTTT*. It was just a dry fart, apparently yet another one who is constipated.

Slowly a monumental poop made its way out, it was so big that it couldn't easily pass through the poor boy's anus:

*SQHHQSHSHSHSHSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH* *SPLASH*.

Finally, it fell leaving the way free for:

Shit was falling and exploding as it hit the ground, many flies around started to approach the boy which made the situation more uncomfortable:

*PRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR* *PPPPPPPFFTTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF* *PQSPSPQSPQSPQSPSSSHHSHSGSS* *PFFFFFFFFFFFT* *GASP*.

Camper: "I think… I'll stay in camp…"

He slowly took several sheets and wiped his bottom, they were rough but worked well for the situation. After leaving, Jeremy walked over to the pile of shit and admired it by touching a certain part of his body.

Upon arriving back at camp, his friends told him the news that several campers had severe diarrhea.

[laiqualaurelote]

Ok but for the file thing, I'm DYING to know more about "The first thing Isaac chopped in half with his hand was the BELIEVE sign" pls <3

thank you for this ask for the WIP game! this is an extremely cracky AU in which the Richmond Players all start manifesting superpowers.

The first thing Isaac chopped in half with his hand was the BELIEVE sign. The second was Zoreaux.

To be fair to Isaac, he had failed to chop Jamie in half. (More on this later.) Thus, while Jamie went off to sulk and Zoreaux ambled up to poke at the broken sign saying, “Maybe we can make a new one?” Isaac thought nothing of clapping him on the back and replying, “Sure thing, bruv.”

His hand went through Zoreaux like a hot knife through butter. Zoreaux didn’t exactly fall apart, but he did sort of peel away in two halves like a melted clock in a Dalí painting. He was screaming the whole time. It was the modern art mash-up nobody wanted to see.

Isaac gaped at him in horror. The other players were yelling. “Bro! What did you do!”

“I didn’t – ” began Isaac. 

Zoreaux was still screaming. Weirdly, there was no blood or anything. The edges of him seemed to have been pinched off, like Play-doh.

“We must put him back together!” shouted Dani. He and Richard were on their knees, trying to jam the two halves of Zoreaux back together, only Zoreaux seemed to be drooping and stretching through their fingers. “Mon dieu,” gasped Richard. “He is like cheese! But not good cheese! Like the cheap mozzarella from Pizza Express!”

“Osti de tabarnak de sacrament!” shrieked Zoreaux. “What the fuck is happening!”

“I got the duct tape!” called Will, rushing in. He tossed the roll to Sam, who began trying to tape Zoreaux back together as the rest of the players rushed in to try and help. 

“Wait, wait.” Something was happening as Sam’s hands brushed against the halves of Zoreaux. They seemed to be melding back together. “Sam!” cried Dani. “It’s you! You are healing him!”

“Wow,” said Sam, staring at his hands as they knit Zoreaux back together. “Wait, I need to make sure he’s aligned properly. Can I get more light?”

Everyone was temporarily blinded as Dani burst into a blazing ball of brilliance.

“...okay,” said Sam after some time, “way more light than I needed, but thank you.”

“De nada, Sam!” 

It was at this point that Trent Crimm walked into the room. He stopped and put on his glasses, as if that would clarify the tableau of the AFC Richmond team duct-taping their cloven goalkeeper together while one of their strikers was blazing like a lighthouse beacon and their captain stood in the corner with his hands apologetically raised in the air. 

“What,” said Trent, “the actual fuck?”

*

Trent’s first thought was that he would have to re-pitch his book as a fantasy novel, because nobody was going to take it seriously as non-fiction any more.

“So you’ve got healing hands,” he repeated to Sam.

“I think so?” Sam stared at his hands. “Or maybe I just have the ability to stick things back together. I don’t know. Perhaps I should test it on another injury?”

Across the locker room, O’Brien cleared his throat. “Sam? Can you touch my butt?”

Trent and the players turned to stare at him. 

“Not for gay reasons,” O’Brien clarified. “For science.”

“Both of those are valid,” said Sam. “I would be happy to touch your butt for you.”

Trying to ignore O’Brien casually dropping trou in the corner, Trent removed his spectacles and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dani’s brightness was giving him a migraine. “I’m sorry, bruv,” said Isaac to Zoreaux for the thousandth time.

“It’s okay,” said Zoreaux. They had yet to remove the duct tape, just in case, so he looked like a very poorly-wrapped package. “It didn’t actually hurt. I was just freaking out, bro.”

Babatunde was holding on to Zoreaux’s little finger and walking across the room while Bumbercatch followed him with a measuring tape to see how far the finger could stretch. “Three metres!” yelled Bumbercatch as Richard tried to cross the room to his locker and ended up having to do the limbo under the finger. “Okay, take it around the corner!”

“I just thought,” went on Isaac, “‘cos I touched Jamie, and I didn’t chop him in half…” He trails off.

“What?” said Jamie. And then, as Isaac made a move towards him, “Whoa! Are you fucking mental?”

“Sorry.” Isaac backed off. 

“Could I test a theory?” ventured Trent. “Bearing in mind that I mean this as a purely scientific inquiry.”

“Sure,” said Jamie. “Whatev – oi!” he yelled as Trent stabbed him in the hand with his pen.

The pen snapped in two. Ink splattered over Jamie’s hand, the skin of which remained unbroken. Jamie screwed up his nose. “That’s disgusting, man.”

“I think you’re invulnerable, Jamie,” said Trent.

Jamie considered this. “That mean I can’t be hurt?”

“I believe so, yes. We’ll have to run more tests to be sure.”

“Huh,” said Jamie. “Sick.”

“It worked!” O’Brien yelled from across the room. “It’s a miracle! I’m healed!”

“Okay,” said Trent wearily, “so we’ve got…five superpowers that have manifested so far. Anybody else feel a superpower coming on?”

“I got one,” called out Jan Maas. “I’m always right.”

The locker room erupted in laughter. “Shut the fuck up, Jan Maas,” they chorused.

Jan shrugged. “I’m just saying.”

[mattivoda]

This post isn’t targeted towards this person in particular but I see this same sort of tiktok come up on my timeline every couple of months and it feels me with a very specific RAGE because of how wrong it is about the core message of this show.

For those who don’t know, the music from the TikTok comes from the musical The Last Five Years, made by Jason Robert Brown. It originally opened in Chicago in 2001, then making its way to Broadway in 2002 after great reviews from critics and audiences.

the elevator pitch of the show is simple; a writer exploding with success (Jamie) and a struggling actress (Kathy) and the rise and fall of their marriage.

Normally this would be a pretty basic musical, right? However the true genius comes from one key part of its storytelling: the order at which the story is shown to you.

Jamie performs his side of the story in chronological order, from the start of the relationship ending with their divorce. Kathy, however, tells her story flipped; starting with their divorce and ending when Kathy first meets Jamie.

The two actors almost never interact on-stage, singing solo songs for every single song except for the act one ending song The Next Ten Minutes, where Jamie proposes and the two marry.

Now you might be asking: why is this important to the story? and which character was supposed to be the “bad guy” in the marriage?

If you delve into the story and look at the way the story depicts both characters’ perspectives on what happened then an obvious fact becomes clear:

Jamie is an asshole and was the main problem in the marriage. You aren’t, and never were supposed to side with him.

Throughout the show, Jamie is shown to be obsessed with his own fame, gloating about how he seems to only be able to exponentially succeed in his writing. His obsession makes him blind to the struggles of his wife, even going as far as deluding himself into thinking his wife’s struggles is simply her being jealous of his success. By the end of the show, Jamie cheats on Kathy and proceeds to blame her for not allowing him privacy.

THAT’S why the storytelling of The Last Five Years is so compelling. By only showing these characters seperate from each other, it forces us to become familiar with Jamie and Kathy as individuals rather than a couple. It allows us to see Jamie’s douchebaggery up-close and personal, with the entire first act highlighting this glaring detail and allowing us to see the consequences of this as his marriage devolve in the second act. Just the simple fact that Jamie’s story is chronological creates a beautiful dichotomy between Kathy’s frustrations, sadness and abandonment and Jamie’s cocky, happy-go-lucky success story.

Before I finish writing this and go to bed, i’d like to say I don’t blame those who hold this view for thinking this about The Last Five Years for one reason only; the only way they got to see it was the movie version.

the film adaption of The Last Five Years (2014) decided that the reason the musical worked was because “interesting timeline go brrr” and decided to keep the original timeline, but instead had both characters constantly interacting.

Instead of having this abstract deconstruction of these two characters, with both Kathy and Jamie monologuing their personal thoughts and emotions separately, they mash together and create this weird, realistic depiction of a breakup. The performances from Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan were amazing, don’t get me wrong, but these choices in the adaption rip the emotion and soul out of its inspiration and sell the corpse for $20 a viewing.

Jamie and Kathy’s marriage is a cautionary tale about what happens when you don’t listen and understand your partner. It is not a desperate attempt of a composer to appear in the right about his marriage and it shouldn’t be a sloppy retelling of a failed marriage with a quirky form of storytelling. Please please PLEASE if you agree with this original TikTok’s message just know you are so UNBELIEVABLY wrong.

tldr; you are not supposed to side with Jamie!!!! he is in the wrong!!!! that’s the whole point of the musical!!!!! don’t watch the movie it sucks and is innacurate!!!!!!! RAHHHHHHHHHHHH

[fosermi]

since animation is literally your major, is there any details from the Sonic X Shadow generations clip we saw today that you might want to talk about?

OK SO major spoilers under the cut for the preview of the Sonic x Shadow gen prolouge

i was WAY too busy fangirling to give a proper analysis BUT when it does come out fully i might just do one, also please take note im still in my second year of studying to be an animator so these are purely my opinion. for now i can point out a few things that i genuinely want to talk about.

first thing that stood out to me was that 2D-3D style of animation, definitely something i dont think we've seen be done for the franchise before (correct me if im wrong) and it reminds me so much of RWBY in a way. There were some bits that, to me, looked choppy BUT THEN AGAIN those were the parts that needed to be choppy for emphasis reasons, specifically it was at the start where Shadow is having some sort of break down. its obvious from how choppy his movements are in comparison to the smoothness of the rest of the preview that shadow was genuinely shaking. with that 2D-3D style that choppyness looks janky as fuck but its so perfect for conveying how uptight and bottled up shadow's emotions are. its so hard to try and capture what im saying but trust me its there!!

second thing i wanna point out are the camera angles. they shift so much to serve the dramatization of the scenes and its so ✨JUICY✨like i shit you not, i cant stop staring at the different camera angles and going "oooohhh ahhhhh" and trying to rationalize the reasoning for those angles because HOLY SHIT they're so good and they actually do serve a really good cinematic purpose!! its easy for people to get lost in the changing of perspectives and camera angles but this? oh this does it so good that it actually drives the plot FORWARD instead of it seeming like separate scenes mashed together.

third thing I'll point out is the scene color shifts. when doing something cinematic, ambiance is key. so when the scene shifted from this soft and comforting blue hues

to this eerie red so suddenly with our only warning being a slight shaking of the screen??

that made it such a surprise that it gets the viewer on alert!! a good thing!!!

now i can go on and on about the different colors for each scene but let me just touch up on this one scene in specific:

it quickly goes from hopeful gold/good light to ominous black/no light, very contrasting, which can mean oh so many things... most notably; maria's hope vs shadow's resolve.

fourth thing ill touch up on are the frames where shadow runs. specifically the one where he runs out of frame from maria.

we get almost 1 frame of a model and then...

these frames here? chefs kiss, perfect. showing us just how fast shadow really is, so fast that we the light from his airshoes doesnt catch up until a fraction of a second later!!! even the glow in the doorway changes to reflect that short millisecond split.

fifth thing ill point out and its a small little thing thats making me absolutely rabid:

he fucking glows.

and yeah, sure, you can argue that its bounce light, its most probably is bounce light since its under harsh light conditions BUT if that was the case the glow wouldnt be this vibrant of a shade and it would give an aura and not specifically on his markings. just a little thing i noticed that i will get to screaming about when i post this.

last thing i wanna touch up on is the sound effects. they were just so very crunchy and pared up with the animation style?? oh it was delicious!! i have some issues with the lip sync but then again they were trying to go for an anime/western cartoon hybrid style here so its bound to be off on the lip sync.

anyway, thanks for listening to my silly ramblings, its nothing too impressive just a fangirl fangirling. now if you'll excuse me, ill go scream to the eclipse nation about glowing hedgehog.

[laurfilijames]

Heyyyy love! Okay, Idk if you have spoken about this before but what inspired you to write Breathe? Other than Will being scrumdelicious. But how long did it take you to think up the idea of it and then get it into writing ?? 😇

I actually haven't ever been asked this and I've been so excited to answer it despite how long it's been sitting in my inbox (I'm sorrrryyyyyyyyy 😭)

Long story short; the first time I watched Triple Frontier I KNEW I needed to write for Captain William ‘Ironhead’ Miller and the moment he stepped onto that stage, he owned every part of me.

To make the story longer; Charlie once again was so captivating playing his role and added so much depth to his character and gave more than enough to embellish on.

Will Miller is seriously my idea of a perfect man.

Looks? Check.

Military personnel? Check.

Wounded Warrior (mentally and physically)? Check.

Strong and masculine? Check.

Devoted to his duty and brothers (in the literal sense as well, hi Benny 👋🏻). Check.

Able to keep his shit together (mostly, also see; Benny). Check.

I'll stop myself before I get too carried away because I can go on forever as to all the reasons why I love this man.

So after the first time I watched it, I immediately started it over and watched it again.

And then again.

And again.

It was like an epiphany. I HAD to write for Will Miller.

I'd say by the next day, I already had plans to write for him, and the main premise of Breathe was noted down in a mish-mash of thoughts in a document.

I knew Will would be suffering long-term with his PTSD and reader would be helping through it all while they fell in love (hello, hurt/comfort 🤤).

I had just started my own gym journey at the time and was obsessed with being there and feeling good and was discovering how difficult training can be. (Still to this day when I'm struggling with something at the gym I imagine the TF boys and everything they've gone through, and picturing a sweaty, pumped-up Will is all the fuel I need to push myself). To me, it all plays in with Will’s character so much and knowing Charlie is so dedicated to physical activity whether for himself or for a role, it helped to inspire this idea of reader and Will hitting it off between sets 🥵

When I wrote the first chapter I really wasn't sure if it would successfully turn into a series. I had ideas of course (and smut to fulfill!) but it was a quick 1.8k that was sort of “take it or leave it” and was my intro to writing for the Charlie fandom. Dipping my toes if you will.

And then the second chapter came. And then the third quickly after.

I was hooked.

I wrote four chapters that I was so proud of and then my muse went in other directions (Jax, Jay and Pete were lurking) and then it took me a few days shy of a year to make the next update.

I had a few encouraging friends to help that next chapter happen and now the series has exploded with interest and I am in constant awe at the response!

I've really pushed myself with expanding on plot and adding a level of angst I never have before, and I only have my friends and readers to thank for being so enthusiastic about it and helping inspire me as I go. 💗

I have plans to finish the series within a chapter or two, something I’ve never done in my writing career (the thought is so bittersweet 🥲) but most of my stand-alone Will fics can easily tie in to this story, and I know I will always write for him even after this story is ‘completed’.

I'm not sure if this is at all the answer you were looking for �� but I'm so grateful for you asking it and again I'll apologize for taking so long to answer! I just love this series and talking about it always breathes (lol) new life into it and keeps me motivated to keep going!

THANK YOU!! 😘💗

[noforkingclue]

The Heartford Arms (OC x River Cartwright x Reader)

It's here! Bisexual panic River is here!

Hope you guys like it!

Slow Horses tag list: @cillmequick

It was an accident that River found the pub in the first place. He was walking around, trying to clear his head from another shitty day in Slough House, when he ended up walking in a random direction and resisting the urge to throw himself in the Thames. The pub looked… nice? Small and down a cobblestoned alley. It clearly looked like the type that locals mainly used. No fancy overpriced cocktails or pub grub that was less pie and mash and more sous vide cuts of meat with pomme puree and micro veg.

All in all, it was the type of place that River wanted to go into. Drinking alone on a work night was never a good start but he needed this.

There were a couple of people already in the pub. Dark oak floors and counter with a hint of rich brass. The seat covers of the booths were a rich red but time had faded the fabric. It felt old. Not the false old of some of the newer pubs. This was a pub with History. The few people looked over when River came in but quickly absorbed themselves back into their pints. The only person who didn’t look away, and seemed out of place, was the bartender. His gaudily coloured shirt was an unpleasant bright spark in the otherwise comforting gloom of the pub.

River approached the bar and looked over the beers on tap. A few microbreweries (this bartender seemed like the type of knob to have them) but then there more usual, expected beers that River would expect a pub like this to have.

“What’ll be mate?”

River looked up and locked eyes with the bartender. Fuck, his eyes. Fuck, his face. Maybe that was why he wore that hideous shirt, to distract people from his impossibly handsome face. To River’s surprise, a pint was put down in front of him.

“But I-” River started but the bartender held up a hand

“Nah, mate I get it.”

Oh fuck. He spotted River staring.

“When I had to deal with Jackson Lamb all fucking day I had that same look on my face.

Wait? What?

*

If anyone asked River why he kept coming back to the Heartford Arms he’d said that it was because Robin gave him cheap pints and on a Slough House salary every little helped. Well, that was part of the truth but also there was another reason…

“River! Good to see you. Usual?”

And there was the second reason.

Beaming smile. Actually happy to see him. All round good person. Knew his order off by heart and would actually talk to him without sneering.

Fuck.

“Yeah, thanks.”

“Are you sure I can’t tempt you into something new?”

You grinned at him and you poured his pint. Fuck, you could tempt him into hell and back but instead River shook his head.

“Just the usual, thanks.”

“Come on Riv, don’t you want to try something new?”

River jumped as Robin practically silently walked up behind him. Robin gave him a sympathetic look and when you’re back was turned whispered,

“Sorry, bad habits are hard to break.”

“Don’t mention it.”

You turned back and gave the two of them a beaming smile. You didn’t know about them being Service or Slough House and River wanted to keep it that way. River could sense Robin relaxing next to him and couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Robin got to work with you day in and day out. Robin ran a successful business. Was handsome, charming, funny and had the balls to leave Slough House. Everything that River didn’t have. Why would you looked anywhere other than at Robin?

“Cheers.” said River as he moved into his usual booth

You stared at him with worry etched across your face. You leant closer to Robin.

“Is he ok?” you asked

Robin sighed, knowing he couldn’t tell you the whole truth.

“He will be,” he said, “he just needs his head screwing on.”

*

It’s funny how quickly good things can come to an end.

River had popped out briefly for a cheeky lunchtime pint. Lamb was fuck knows where and Slough House was unusally quiet. Well, now River knew why.

“Hey River! Come join us!”

Min’s voice carried through the quiet pub and River groaned. He slowly approached the others and said,

“How the fuck do you know about this place.”

Louisa nodded towards Robin who was already pouring River his usual.

“Left before you joined,” she said, “did he keep that from you.”

“No. He just didn’t let me know that you guys came in as well.”

River sat down heavily and sighed,

“Well this place is fucking ruined.”

“Don’t say that,” said Min, “where else are you going to find a pint for less than a fiver in London?”

Well, that was true. Even the dirtiest Spoons was still expensive. Robin put down River’s pint and said,

“Don’t let Lamb catch you guys here.”

“We won’t.” said Min

“How many times have we been here and he hasn’t caught us.” said Louisa

“Why, you still afraid of him?” asked Min

“No.” Robin said, a little too quickly earning a smirk from the trio

“Does he even know about this place?” said River

“Oh yeah,” said Robin grimacing, “came in one time and stunk the place out. Fucking arsehole. One day I’m going to bar the cunt.”

“Good luck with that.” said Louisa

“I’d like to be in when that happens.” said Min

“No you don’t,” said Louisa, “you know he’ll just ban us from coming here.”

“What Lamb doesn’t know can’t hurt him.” protested Min

“He’ll find out,” said Robin, “he always has a way of finding these things out.”

Just at that moment the door to the pub opened and the four of them looked over nervously. Instead of the imposing figure of Lamb, a rather tense looking Catherine entered. She was clutching her bag tightly and looking nervous. Robin immediately hopped up and said,

“Catherine. It’s been too long.”

“Yes, well,” she said curtly, “you run a pub.”

“I do serve tea and coffee and soft drinks.”

“Well,” Catherine said, “still…”

Robin winced, realising he put his foot in it.

“Sorry.”

Catherine gave him a soft smile, knowing that he didn’t mean any harm. She turned her attention to the others.

“Jackson wants you three back in the office,” she said, “and for Robin to stop serving you at lunchtime.”

“He said that?” asked Robin with raised eyebrows

“Not quite those words.” admitted Catherine

“Seemed a bit too restrained for him,” said Robin, “but you guys should leave.”

Robin clapped River on the shoulder, causing River to blush and Min and Louisa to share a knowing look. Robin moved behind the bar where you were. River’s gaze drifted to you and you gave him a bright smile before looking back at Robin.  Robin smiled down at you and you laughed at something he said and got out a cocktail shaker.

“Thank fuck,” muttered Min, “she trying to teach him how to make a decent cocktail.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” asked Louisa

“It’s got to be better than the shit cocktails he serves us.”

The rest of the conversation was lost on River. He was too busy focusing on the way Robin touched you and the way you leant into his touch. You laughed at Robin’s attempts at making a cocktail.

“Cute couple.”

Now this snapped River out of his thoughts. He looked down at Catherine who was looking at you and Robin. River clenched his jaw briefly before downing his pint and slamming the glass on the table. He stormed out of the pub, earning a confused look from Catherine.

“What was that all about?” she asked

“River’s pinning.” Min said in a low voice

“Over who?” asked Catherine

“We don’t know,” said Louisa, “although my money’s on y/n.”

“Nah,” said Min as he double checked he had his bag and all his belongings, “it definitely Robin.”

Catherine watched them leave before slowly following. If Louisa or Min had bothered to ask her, she would’ve said that the answer was obvious.

It was both.

[the-monkey-ruler]

what are some plot holes in jttw? would be fun to try to make sense of it as a fan

Hmmm, surprisingly not a terrible amount at least when I did my first and second run-through! It helps that in the story, each arc is nearly a self-contained story within itself so really they don't like contradict each other. But that doesn't mean that this story is perfect as this was made with a combination of multiple of stories that Wu Cheng'en collected and gracefully mashed together to create this novel.

I would say the biggest plot hole you would see people bring up is why Wukong is so much weaker on the journey compared to his Havoc in Heaven. He went against 100,000 soldiers and even defeated the Jade Emporer, about to smash his head in if not for Buddha coming in last minute. And the out-of-story reason is that... there NEEDS to be a story at all and we can't have Wukong bulldozing through every arc, that isn't isn't actually a compelling narrative. In-story-reason we are never given but I have two! One is that Wukong lost power under the mountain, not just from being weakened and he has to slowly regain his strength but that he lost his mental fortitude. Wukong was defeated in battle for the first time (not including his draw with Erlang Shen) and everything he knows about might is right is gone. He has not only lost the battle but also lost the foundations of his philosophy. His actions do have consequences and while he was able to use his power with near reckless abandon he knows how this self-awareness to himself he didn't have before that is almost mentally blocking him from using his full strength, something that even he refuses to acknowledge within himself because that would be confronting that part of himself. Another theory is that the demons that he fights along the road ARE just stronger than demons he has fought in the past. That a new generation of demon, inspired by the legend of the Demon Monkey that took on heaven, gained power rapidly within the 500 years he was down and Wukong found himself unprepared for a new world of demons that were aiming to be just as powerful as him.

The second plot hole you see many times in the arcs is maybe asking 'why is it that Wukong could use sleeping bugs in his arc and he doesn't in every arc' or like 'why doesn't he just turn invisible every and just snap demons neck' or something like why doesn't Wukong or the gang use like their magic powers in more complex plans to take down their enemies and that is similar to the first out-of-story reason that there needs to be a narrative and there is a lot of magic powers that cannot all be counted. In-story-reason is that Wukong is an impulsive man and usually does pick his first plan before thinking out others, as I will say he does show that he is a fan of espionage and can transform into anything to sneak into his enemies' lairs. He COULD just make the whole room pass out when he is just a fly on the wall sure but that wouldn't be nearly as fun.

There was a time Wukong claimed he ate humans but this cannot be true as later Sanzang has Wukong perform a life-giving magic that neither Bajie nor Wujing were able to do because they have eaten humans before. This mostly likely being that Wukong only said so to make a point to Sanzang but in reality, he has never eaten a human because his soul is still pure.

Azure lion appears twice in the novel, once as the Lion-Lyxn Demon and returning as the Azure Lion in the Camel Ridge Arc. This appearance is not commented on but it isn't impossible considering the first time he was asked to be a trial, and the second time he was running away from his Master.

Erlang Shen burning the mountain is most likely him following the nine familial exterminations where all families of a criminal must pay for their relatives' crimes. We see that Wukong actually THANKS Erlang Shen the next time they meet, even calling him his sworn brother, after seeing his Flower Fruit Mountain. While never outright stated this is to be believed that Wukong was grateful that Erlang Shen didn't not follow those orders to the letter and kill all his monkeys, rather he spared enough to still live on the mountain. This would still show Erlang Shen as a rebel in his own right which does follow his own lore.

Bailong doesn't get involved in most of the journey but this could be that he lost his scales and horns in his punishment. While not stated this could have greatly devalued his powers or perhaps even taken away his abilities to turn back into a dragon altogether until they reach the West. We see that he can still transform into a human form but he reverts back to his horse form when injured.

Wukong claims that he got his sleeping bugs from a bet from one of the Heavenly Kings, but we also see that he can MAKE the sleeping bugs with his fur as well... meaning that him having the real bugs is a moot point. He keeps enough to make sure they can reproduce.

Never try to power scale. Wukong is able to defeat Nezha, but wasn't able to defeat Bull Demon King (despite him running away every time before the fight could finish), but the Bull Demon King was taken down by Nezha just shows that all these guys are powerful yeah but like every battle is circumstantial and like while some people are strong, some are stronger just for this fight.

Wukong's demon-revealing eyes unable to tell if Azure Lion or Sanzang were the true form, could suggest that Wukong's eyes are always infallible. This was brought up to me recently by Ryin but Wukong's eyes work more like to see aura rather than x-ray vision, as he can tell when someone is a demon but he can't tell what kind or who really underneath. He does this again in the Jade Rabbit Arc where he knows that the princes is a demon but their aura isn't strong enough that he can tell who they are under their human disguise.

Not really a plothole but they can't just fly all the way to the West cause Sanzang can't stay on the cloud being a mortal. We see this at the end where they recount that he hasn't done all 81 trails and he loses his cloud mid-flight causing the scirptures to get wet.

It is never stated that Wujing ate all of Sanzang's past lives but it could be suggested since Wujing's necklace is made from nine scripture pilgrims, suggesting that perhaps Sanzang never lived past 30 in all his past lives. This is more of a theory than anything else.

Wukong's staff being stolen in the Twany Lion Arc despite being so heavy no one could lift it. This could be that Wukong is able to command the weight of the staff and thus he made it light for the servants to pick it up as they made replicas for the king but that it has to be within his range to make it heavy again.

Sanzang has healing spit and we never get to see that in action again after he cruses his grandmother's blindness.

These are some theories/plot holes that I have found, but honestly there isn’t a lot. Xiyouji has the advantage of having several self-contained arcs within the story that that does help keep up with consistency. I would say that the only big problem is that if a character uses a power in the past, it can be questioned why it’s never brought up up again, but that’s hardly “plothole” and just a miss opportunity. But understanding from a writing perspective, it does require the plot to go on!

Overall, if I missed anything or anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to add!

[drafgost]

Grippy

Man I’m so pissed that this is gonna be my first post but I have GOT to break my silence for Grippy. I need to know why these cheeks hit the fucking airwaves. She a ten piece like a mcnugget. What else can I really say? We’re talking about Grippy by Cash Cobain & J. Cole.

I’m not usually going to dive into the lyrics this much, but something about this song broke me. Every bar is straight ass and I’m compelled to talk about it. Grippy. I’m also going to be much more organized than this, but I’ve lost my. Fucking. Grippy. On what semblance of sanity I retain.

The song starts immediately with a dull ass beat and J. Cole briefly describing the progression of a relationship between him and a girl.

“She like my kick game

And when you know me, you don’t kick game

I put her front row at the Knick game

Now she in my phone with a nickname”

Unfortunately for us all, after a line where it seems like he’s actively trying to come up with said nickname because he’s just saying “it’s, it’s, ummm”, he tells us that she’s down in his phone as Grippy. Why? Don’t worry, he guides us through his thought process, just in case we were lost.

“Grippy, I call her that ‘cause it’s grippy”

What else, Jermaine?

“She thick in the hips, she a hippie

And she thick in the lips, she gon’ lick me”

-

“When she see me, she say she gon’ strip me

She gon’ chew on this stick like it’s Wrigley’s”

I don’t want to know that, Jermaine.

I don’t know why he thought this next bar would be a reasonable thing to say, but he also just said he wanted Grippy to gnaw on his wood like a beaver so I think dude was just operating on some real hell dimension vibes.

“She said she was gay until I slayed

Now she strictly dickly”

There’s no bars of noteworthy ass past this point from J. Grippy pages him and he hits 150 to get there, running Hollywood Cole a $100 base fine for speeding if the Grippyverse takes place in Cali. He has a Grippepiphany. We learn that Grippy is wet. Cole introduces Sabrina and Tiffany and they only pass one third of the Bechdel test. After he states that he “tryna see how that glove gon’ fit” (this is what OJ died for) and that he “wanna feel like [he] touchin’ [Grippy’s] kidneys”, he offers to take her kids to Disney.

That was utterly terrible, but we’re not done. You fucking buffoons have sorely neglected the real villain of this track: Cash Cobain.

“I wanna kill it like rest in peace

Eat on that pussy like it was a recipe”

So far, not worse than Grippy. A real Trojan Horse of pussy verses. How bad could it get?

We have a brief respite while Cash fucking rambles while saying random women’s names, but then he throws us one of his best bars on the song:

“You piss my bitches off like a potty”

More woman rambling. He wants to make Jess a mess, he has something he must confess, he wants to see her undress and is about to send her his address. He wants to fuck Millie ‘til she’s dizzy, and wants her to “suck it sloppy, make it spitty”. Finally, while still addressing poor Spitty Millie, he delivers his magnum opus:

That’s all lots of unpack, and we can truly only scratch the surface. The Grippyverse is immense, and I was certainly overwhelmed by Marvel-level character buildup clogging the narrative artery. Grippy, Sabrina, Tiffany, Destiny (rest in peace), Pregnancy Scare Shanti, Zari, Mia, Jada, Mash Potatoes Kayla, Good Vagina China, Shy Niyah, Toni Macaroni, Polisher Lexi and a possible second Destiny, Marni and her immense conflict, Jess the Mess, and Spitty Millie are all introduced in the freakiest fucking four minute role call I’ve heard to date. How do they relate to each other, if at all? We know the first three are friends, as Cole state’s he thought the whole clique was bad but liked Grippy the best. Are the two Destiny’s aware of each other? Did Polisher Destiny murk Destiny Rest In Peace to take her place? Why doesn’t Cash want to talk to Marni? What did she do to piss off bitches like a potty? Why is the beat so fucking boring?

I haven’t touched on how the song sounds. It sounds the same. The whole song sounds like a trickle of consistent noise. The beat is boring as shit and remains boring as shit the whole run. I listened to the song a few times to really get a feel and kept forgetting it was on once I began to ignore the lyrics.

The one ounce of joy I derived from this song were the initial Genius annotations that were later replaced by people just desperately trying to make sense of this pile of wet sawdust by explaining the potty bar, and what a pager was. “UNC FREAKY” was a much better thing to read than exposition on why Jermaine Lamarr Cole immortalized some poor woman as Grippy, which was readily evident within context.

My Final Rating of Grippy

Lyrics: 2/10

One point awarded for the potty bar. I won’t explain myself. Another point awarded out of respect for Destiny Rest In Peace (peace be upon her, Amen)

Vocals: 5/10

Literally just so average. Nothing special and nothing terrible, and just not worth giving anything other than an average score.

Sound: 5/10

Once again just so infuriatingly bland. Absolutely nothing special about it whatsoever, for better or worse.

Overall Score

Averaging my numbers equals out to

But I will not tarnish my good name by rating this hot bowl of mac n cheeks so high, so it gets a

[noonaishere]

Music of the Heart [J.YH] - sixty-two | two giants

The next day, you and Jongho sat at the table as you discussed ideas for his album while Hongjoong worked on something on the computer.

“Did you see her new mashup, hyung?” Jongho asked.

Hongjoong smiled. “I did. Interesting how she decided to make a mashup of your ballads, hm?”

You laughed.

“Don’t be jealous, hyung, she’s mashed up almost every single song you’ve produced already.”

Hongjoong laughed. “What reason would I have to be jealous?”

DOOF!

Something heavy hit the studio door, making you all jump and turn towards it. The doorknob jostled for a second, and Maddox spilled into the room in a frenzy.

“Are you okay?” Hongjoong asked.

Maddox laughed, tried to take off his messenger bag and got caught in the strap, struggled for a moment, and threw it onto one of the couches, knocking his glasses off in the process.

“Hyung, calm down!” Jongho said.

All of you looked at him, confused.

Maddox pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled up whatever it was. “Doyun…” he said breathlessly, “Has been kicked off the project!”

“What?” The three of you asked in unison.

Hongjoong stood and grabbed Maddox’s glasses off the floor and handed them to him. Maddox exchanged the glasses for his phone, open to an email. Hongjoong sat and read it as Maddox put his glasses back on and fixed his hair.

“How did you not see it?” Maddox asked.

“I put my phone in the desk because I kept getting distracted.” He handed Maddox his phone back and pulled his own out, presumably to look for the email.

“He’s really off the project?” You asked.

“He is!” Maddox said happily.

“How? Was it the accusations that were leaked on that employee website?”

“Accusations?” Jongho asked.

Hongjoong cleared his throat. “I have an email from the CEO.”

You, Maddox, and Jongho all looked at each other for a moment and waited for Hongjoong to read it all, his brow furrowed as he did so. A few minutes passed as you all sat in silence.

“What does it say, hyung?”

“Hmm.” Hongjoong looked up with the expression of a father who just learned surprising news. “Doyun’s been dropped from the company.”

“What?” You asked in disbelief.

“Seriously?” Maddox asked, for the same reason.

“Wow…” Jongho trailed off.

“Is it because of what you said to him?” You asked.

“It would seem so.” He looked back at the email. “It would also seem that once he started to ask around, and when people were assured they wouldn’t lose their job over being honest, a lot of the newer staff came forward with stories of how he mistreated them.”

You nodded. “I saw in a video that someone posted in a public forum about it, and people from airlines and hotels left comments with how he treated them.”

“Wow,” Jongho nodded.

“Also,” Hongjoong continued as he looked back down at the email for a moment. “...Satbyeol threatened to leave the agency if he wasn’t fired.”

“Wha-- really?” You asked, eyes wide.

“Wow. He used his powers for evil and she used hers for good.” Maddox said.

“What do you mean?” You asked.

“They’re the two most popular actors at Wonderland right now, yet they used their fame totally differently.” Jongho answered. “Like two giants going after each other.”

“Wow…”

“There might be a court case…” Hongjoong continued. “It seems that the company is asking any and all people with complaints about him to come forward and has contacted public defenders to represent them. Satbyeol’s legal team is going to take charge of the case.”

“Like a class action lawsuit for a serial sex offender,” Jongho added.

“Is this the first time a company has done that?” You asked.

“To my knowledge, yes.” Hongjoong answered.

“Wow.”

“Maybe the CEO really wants to get rid of him.” Maddox suggested.

“It’s no secret that he’s an asshole.” Jongho said. “I’ve only acted in two dramas but I heard stories about him on the sets of both.”

“Jesus…” You breathed.

“T/n,” Hongjoong said.

You turned to him.

“If you want to be a part of the court case, we’ll support you.”

“Oh… I mean, what happened to me wasn’t that bad. Not like him actively hitting on Satbyeol, or any of the… any time he targeted someone who didn’t have a group of people to protect them. Maybe all those resources should be used for people who had it worse.”

“Maybe not… but it’s part of a pattern of behavior. I think that he hasn’t faced any consequences for his actions yet, because those actions were so spread out.”

“Lots of small actions everywhere, instead of a few big, concentrated ones?” Maddox asked.

Hongjoong nodded.

Maddox nodded back.

“Well… maybe I’ll join it if it seems like I’m needed. I should probably back Satbyeol up on his trying to hit on her at the elevators, at least. I’m not sure if she knows I heard it.”

Hongjoong nodded. “Let me know, I’ll put you in touch with the legal team when you’re ready. It’ll probably take a while to build the case if it’s as big as it seems.”

You nodded. “Thank you.”

The mood much lower than before Maddox arrived with the news, you all sat in silence for a bit.

“Wait…” Jongho started.

You all turned towards him.

“... if his contract has been broken that means there’s no male lead for the drama…”

You frowned. “You’re an opportunist, you know that?”

He laughed. “Well, I’ve acted a bit, maybe I should audition.”

“For the male lead?” You asked, eyebrow raised.

“Who knows? Maybe I’ll get it.”

You laughed. “Then I think you should audition.”

He smiled.

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[ninaswritingstuff]

Have a little snippet of something I wrote for my TimKon Clone Baby AU. Technically it's an ABO-verse, but nothing in this snippet actually refers to that, so this could be read as a Tim-is-trans universe.

Enjoy!

The commercials always make this stuff look easy, Kon thought, glancing between the half-empty glass jar of mashed bananas in his hand and the banana mush-smeared face of his son.

Danny was apparently in A Mood this morning. It didn’t happen often, as Danny was normally a pretty agreeable baby so long as his diaper was clean and his favorite stuffed animal was in reach, but sometimes the kid just woke up and chose violence. At least Kon had yet to be hit in the face with the stuffed rabbit Danny drug around everywhere, so overall not a bad morning.

Ellie had, surprisingly, been the easy one this morning, happily taking her portion of mashed banana. Bananas were a winning strategy with that kid; pears came in a close second. Kon hadn’t realized a baby could glower with the best of them until he’d tried to feed her mashed sweet potato. She was only marginally less hostile to mashed carrots and mashed peas.

He really hoped that wasn’t a preview of coming attractions.

“What’s got you in a mood this morning, squirt,” Kon asked. “Normally you love bananas.”

“Bah,” Danny replied, sounded way too resolute for a five-month-old.

“If you’re still miffed about the formula thing, I feel you, but it’s really the only option you’ve got at the moment.”

“Bah!”

Unlike his sister, Danny had an allergy to standard formula. Thankfully, Alfred had found a soy-based alternative that Danny wasn’t allergic to, because Tim had only been able to pump so much before he’d taken off to go find Bruce and Kon had no clue how he was gonna keep his son fed while Tim was gone when he ran out of milk. Danny had not taken the switch well, and Kon had questions about that ‘seven years under a yellow sun’ thing because the strength with which his son had shoved the bottle away the first few times could not be normal baby strength.

But answering those questions involved talking to Clark, and Kon was very much not in the mood to do that. If it wasn’t for Bart agreeing to tag along with Tim since Kon couldn’t, he was pretty sure any interaction with Clark would result in someone getting socked in the face. Even with Bart watching Tim’s six, Kon still had the urge to punch Clark in the face. How exactly was it crazy to think that maybe Batman wasn’t actually dead? So what if they’d had a body to bury? Kon had left a body, and he had come back alive and kicking. Clark himself had died and left a body only to come back later alive and kicking. Was it a long shot? Sure. Kon would give him that. But no more of one than half the shit they pulled off on a regular basis.

Kon’s entire existence was a long shot. So was Danny’s. Ellie’s was, too, if you thought about it. If Jason Todd hadn’t spontaneously resurrected for no discernible reason, he wouldn’t have been picked up by the League of Assassins and dunked in the radioactive kool-aid. He wouldn’t have come back to Gotham and hunted down Tim, beating him with an inch of his life. And if Jason hadn’t done any of that, Tim wouldn’t have been put on the antibiotics during his recovery that neutralized his suppressants and birth control, leaving him heating and fertile when Kon fucked him.

Long shots were pretty damn common in their line of work.

“Well, if bananas aren’t going to cut it today, what will?”

“Ooogah ohm da!”

All of the languages CADMUS had crammed into his head, and baby babble wasn’t one of them. With a sigh, Kon screwed the lid back on the banana jar and went to see what else was available. If Danny had a thing against bananas today, he’d probably refuse to eat the mashed pears. Kon grabbed a jar of mashed peas.

“Alright, kiddo, let’s try this again,” Kon said, settling back into his seat and opening the jar. “Open wide!”

Danny watched as Kon brought the small spoon, loaded with mashed green peas, closer to his face. In a display of proof that maybe there was, in fact, a god, Danny accepted the spoonful and swallowed after a moment of mulling it over.

“Oh thank fuck,” Kon muttered, loading up another spoonful. He needed to get at least another four or five spoonfuls into the kid before he could call it quits.

Transitioning the twins to solids was way more complicated than it sounded. Everyone seemed to have a different opinion about it, offered up a different timetable, and presented different lists of which types of foods are best for babies. He was more or less splitting the difference and hoping he was close enough. It had been two weeks, and so far neither of the twins had gotten sick or shown any other adverse reactions to additions in their diet. So he was tentatively calling it a win.

It was hard to tell if Danny was being deliberately difficult or if he was just randomly pickier than usual as Kon tried everything he could think of to get his son to cooperate. Danny hadn’t flatout rejected the mashed peas, seemed to have no problem actually eating the mush once Kon managed to get it into his mouth, but the little boy kept squirming around like the world’s most active bobble-head.

He didn’t catch the set of footsteps quite as quick as he otherwise would if he weren’t running on a third of his usual sleep schedule. Dick’s footsteps were light---most of the Bats’ were, save for Red Hood---and he moved like the highly skilled acrobat he was. He was able to sneak up on him if Kon wasn’t paying attention; even Tim hadn’t gotten that good yet.

“Good morning, Ella-bean,” Dick said, bending down a bit to get on eye-level with Ellie in her highchair. “Looks like someone had fun for breakfast.”

Half of a banana had been sacrificed to keep Ellie distracted and occupied long enough to feed Danny; Kon suppressed a shudder every time he glanced over to check on her. She’d mashed the poor fruit into a barely recognizable paste and it was smeared all over her face, clothes, and hair. She was going to need a bath.

“I take it bananas aren’t going over well with Thing 2?”

“I switched to the peas,” Kon replied. “He hasn’t spit them out yet, but he’s also not really bothering to cooperate, either, so…”

“He’s probably had enough, then. I can go give Thing 1 here a quick bath if you wanna get him cleaned up,” Dick offered, already pulling Ellie out of her seat.

She squealed and flailed her tiny, pudgy arms before settling into Dick’s arms and deciding to suck on her banana-coated thumb. Kon took a deep breath and recapped the mashed peas.

“Yeah, probably a good idea. I’ll go grab a spare onesie for her.”

“Nah, it’s fine,” Dick assured him. “The nursery’s on the way to the bathroom, I can just pop in and grab something. The DVR should still be set up for The Wiggles re-runs. Ellie and I will join you two once she no longer looks like she took on Condiment King.”

Kon snorted.

Honestly, Danny was only a bit cleaner than his sister. He’d probably have to wrangle him into a clean onesie, giving the smears of green on Danny’s current one. Hopefully he’d be more cooperative with that than he was with breakfast. Kon should probably send a complaint into Gerber; their commercials were full of lies. Even if none of the baby food jars in the manor were Gerber brand.

He snagged a small handful of baby wipes and set to work wiping away the smears of mashed peas and bananas from his son’s face. In keeping with the apparent theme of the morning, Danny squirmed away from the wipes and whined in protest.

“I know, I know, but you’ll be happier when you’re clean.”

“Bah,” Danny retorted.

“You are just as much of a menace as your sister,” Kon commented, a half-smile on his face. “You’re just quieter about it, huh?”

“Mah ohm bah!”

Once Danny’s face and hands were clear of mash, Kon stood up and lifted the infant out of his high chair. Danny shrieked and kicked, giggling as Kon settled him in a more secure hold. That tiny little fist of his gripped at Kon’s shirt, but he didn’t otherwise squirm.

“Alright, let’s go get you into something clean, and then we can check in on Ellie and Uncle Dick. Sound good?”

“Bah!

Kon was particularly careful when he set about getting Danny changed. He’d made that mistake exactly once. Cute as Danny was when he was giggling up a storm, he could find something else to giggle about.

[aufi-creative-mind]

What would have lead to Hyrule being MORE then 10,000 years old in your timeline? Most states and cultures IRL don’t even last above several centuries at most, so I wonder what’s the reason for it’s epithet as the “Eternal Kingdom” as mentioned in one of your posts

So... the name "Eternal Kingdom" is mainly what other countries outside of the Hyrule's border called them. Since from their perspective, the Kingdom of Hyrule had a very long and unbroken rule over its lands for 10 000 years under the same name and same ruling royal family. With evidences that they do have some level of divinity to back them up.

As opposed to themselves who may have gone through cycles of change. For example, my version of Ordon - their own recorded history goes back at least 9000 years with multiple eras of different rulers, governance, disasters and significant events that shape them into their present-day state. These countries and their people don't essentially need to know Hyrule's origins and take it into account with how they view this ancient Kingdom. But as far as they are aware, Hyrule has always been there. Until the day of the Second Calamity and how that shattered Hyrule's 10K year long streak.

.

As for how old Hyrule actually is, I put an asterisk on the " 10 000 years* " since it's a bit vague and they didn't really give definite dates on when exactly certain events occurred and how far apart they happened from each other.

My interpretation of the BotW-TotK timeline is that the Founding of the Kingdom of Hyrule, the Imprisoning Wars and later the First Calamity happened WITHIN the Ancient Era of 10K. And the Age of Zonai along with precedessors of the Ancient Hyruleans existed for some time before the Kingdom's founding. (The exact number of years / dates lost or forgotten from historical records ).

At least from the standpoint of BotW/TotK's present-day. Since it happened so far back in time that its all mashed together into a blur.

Its implied that very little of recorded history from back then survived to present-day. Either because of written text being lost or destroyed, language drift (similar to how Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs were misinterpreted/untranslatable for the longest time until the Rosetta Stone discovery in 1799) or they were forgotten from living memory. Or even a combination of all above.

TL;DR - the Kingdom of Hyrule is estimated to be 10 000-ish years old in the BotW-TotK timeline, based on in-game lore and history. And because of their extreme longevity, the Kingdom is sometimes called the "Eternal Kingdom" by their neighbours.

--

Lastly, this is a rule I give to myself when it comes to worldbuilding, whether it be with the Legend of Zelda or...any fictional world I play around with.

The fictional world and their lore does not essentially have to be realistic, to our real world standards. It only needs to be believable within the rules of their fantastical universe. (Quoted by me cuz I made that up, 05 Sept 2023)

What I mean by this is that, it is okay to take inspiration from real world history, culture and people when building up your stories and the world that it is set in. How realistic you want your worlds and stories to be is completely up to you. BUT it is not essential. You can be as fantastical and mind-blowing as you want in your world and stories. As long as it is believable to the reader / player.

Hyrule being 10 000(ish) years old is frankly mind-bending and almost eldritch to think about. And that's okay. You can accept that official canon or not. And let's be honest, Nintendo is not that well-known for their lore building in their games. And the canon Zelda timeline is already a mess to follow with.

(Also do check out Overly Sarcastic Productuon's video about BotW-Hyrule and its environmental storytelling (pre-TotK release). It has influenced how I interpret this specific version of Hyrule).

Personally, realism for me is more of a source of inspiration rather than a hard rule to how my worlds work. I build my worlds to be...places that I want to explore. With that feeling of exploration to immerse people into what this world is like and their in-universe lore adds layers that can excite the imagination.

And that's the beauty of worldbuilding. You can make the most fantastical world with magic, dragons and aliens, or the most realistic world based on real life but with mechas, dinosaurs and cowboys. Because why not!

The only limitation is your own imagination and how you build it up.

TL;DR - You can worldbuild the most realistic or fantastical world as much as you want. As long as it is believable to the reader that they too can imagine your world in their own imaginations.

[take-it-on-the-run]

Echoes

Lucy Gray Baird x Coriolanus Snow

How could Snow know that a song written for him would come back to haunt him, all these years later?

Word Count: 1.5k

Tags: ANGST, no happy ending here folks, big spoilers for TBOSAS and The Hunger Games, time skips (back and forth), Lucy Gray gets the last laugh

Characters: Lucy Gray Baird, Coriolanus Snow, Katniss Everdeen

Read it on AO3!

A/N: This is a mish-mash of the book and the movie, and also my first attempt at fan fiction ever. I wrote a large chunk of this in the bathroom at Thanksgiving because I saw TBOSAS the night before and couldn't get it out of my head. I hope you enjoy, and any constructive criticism is always welcome! Also, I hate editing on my phone :)

Coriolanus Snow Masterlist | The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes Masterlist | Main Page Masterlist

The first time he’d ever heard the song, he was in a meadow, far from the prying eyes of the Capitol. Away from the television screens that broadcast his lover being thrust into the Games in a vain attempt at entertainment. The Games his life was bound to, forever.

The Games that, in a twist of fate, his lover had won purely through her charm and wit. The only weapon she wielded was his mother’s compact he’d given her in secret, filled with rat poison, which was returned when it was found on her person after the game. He was sure that if he hadn’t given her that compact and told her to hide under the arena, she’d have been dead before nightfall. She was a performer, after all.

She was there, Lucy Gray, sitting alone, idly strumming at her guitar. Once the Capitol released her back to District 12, she reunited with the Covey, her family, her one true reason that she needed to win in the arena.

At the time, he wanted to let himself think he was the reason she wanted to win, but deep down he knew her heart always laid with her misshapen family.

He slowly approached her, taking in the lyrics to the soft song she was singing. She sang so softly that if she sang any quieter, her words would be lost to the wind.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He strolled further towards her, eyes scanning the empty landscape until they landed on the tree she was sitting under. Its branches were dry and could barely be called brown, and Lucy Gray was using a large chunk of it as a makeshift chair.

Where they strung up a man

They say murdered three

The lyrics to the song made him stop for a moment. Of all the things she chose to sing about, why would such a beautiful girl sing such a dark story?

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

The second time he’d heard the song, he was in a forest, reeling at the pain from a trap his lover had set for him. Rain forced them to pause their journey of running from Panem, seeking shelter in a cabin among the trees. He didn’t know if his lover knew about the weapons stored beneath the floorboards, but as soon as he laid his hands on them, she must’ve thought his choice was already made.

She all but ran from the cabin, making an excuse to get food that she earlier deemed wasn’t ripe enough to eat. He knew that she was running from him, from the silver-tongued Capitol-raised son who was almost killed by her charms.

Almost.

He ran after her, gun in hand, looking to see where she’d run to. A rough trail turned into forest floor, trees suddenly the only thing he could see. He cautiously took more steps before his mother’s orange shawl he’d given her, crumpled in a small pile, came into view. Another piece of his mother given to her, being returned.

He bent down to pick up the shawl, snatching it off the ground when he felt a sudden pain shoot from his forearm. Stifling a scream from his lips, he frantically looked down, the source of his pain hanging from him.

An orange, black, and white banded snake was sunk into his skin. He ripped its fangs out from his arm with a grunt, the culprit slithering away into the grass before he could crush it with his boot.

He called out and asked the trees whether or not the snake was poisonous.

If she was trying to kill him, after everything he’d done for her.

There was a flash of bright color among the dark trees he was sure was Lucy Gray, and he fired. Without a thought, without remorse, and without a trace of the man he promised her he’d be.

He paused when he heard a grunt, a small part of him hoping he’d missed.

A larger part of him hoping he hadn’t.

He stalked through the trees, expecting to see her bleeding into the earth, but was met with her gold hoop earring, dangling with long pearls. He tucked it in his pocket, next to his compass and his mother’s compact.

He spoke again to the empty wood, saying this was enough, for her to stop.

The reply taunted him in his lover’s voice, dripping from the beaks of the dozens of jabberjays that started to circle above him.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He craned his neck up to see his tormentors, ricocheting the voice of the girl he was running away with.

Where the dead man called out

For his love to flee

The voice of the girl that was now running from him.

He raised the gun that was slack in his arms, pressing the trigger and firing at the birds. He spun on his heel, desperate to stop hearing her voice colliding off the walls in his mind.

He fired frantically, screaming at the birds to shut up, but none of them seemed to hear his pleas or fall from the sky.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

The third time he’d heard the song, his heart stopped, only for a moment. He was a decrepit old man now, his chin sporting a white beard that matched his hair, sitting at the head of the Capitol.

He faced a television screen that was broadcasting a large band of rebels, walking to the District 5 dam with explosives.

The attack was an act of treason against the Capitol, plain and simple. Giving the rebels a small glimmer of hope at rising against Panem’s government, all led by a seventeen-year-old girl.

The victor, the girl on fire, the Mockingjay, Katniss Everdeen; she went by many names, all of which made him want to crush her like the pest she was.

Even more when he learned she twisted a song written for him by a lover he wished he could forget.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He diverted his eyes from the screen, lightly pounding his fist to his chest as he covered his surprise with a cough.

Where I told you to run

So we’d both be free

He blinked, and suddenly he was back in the meadow, watching Lucy Gray play from afar. Her soft voice floating through the gentle silence of the wind blowing against an open field.

Back in the forest, hunting her down and being taunted by jabberjays as the song cut through the dense forest that still visited him in his dreams.

He dug his blunt nails into his palm, standing up and walking over to a window that overlooked a courtyard. Other people in the room were glued to the television, gunfire mixing with the voices of the rebels.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

The final time he heard the song, he was standing at a post, center attention to every eye that had invaded the Capitol. Alma Coin stood on a platform behind him, and the dearest Mockingjay stood with an arrow trained at his head.

His eyes met hers, cold and void of the emotion they held when they met. Her lips were held in a thin line, the drawstring of her bow taut against her nose.

Are you

Are you

Coming to the tree?

He raked his eyes across the crowd, and he swore for a moment he saw her. Lucy Gray, young and bright as the day he’d met her. He knew his mind was tricking itself, some rendition of his life flashing before his eyes, but he still sucked in his bloody breath at the hope of seeing her again.

He’d always been honest to the girl on fire, and for that, he hoped she’d give him a swift death; but instead, she moved her aim above him, letting the arrow fly and killing Alma Coin.

He jaw went slack, the metallic taste of his blood sliding over his tongue. She lowered her weapon as the crowd behind engulfed her form, surging at him as he closed his eyes tight.

A peaceful death wasn’t in the cards for him after all.

Wear a necklace of rope

Side by side with me

Regret didn’t surge through his veins for the countless lives he’d taken, the people he’d enslaved, or the Games; it was for the man he chose to be. Taking the guns from the floorboards of that cabin, hunting her like she was a bird with its wings broken, and swallowing her memory like a snake in the grass.

He didn’t deserve regret. He deserved a fiery endless hell that would barely serve his actions justice.

Strange things did happen here

No stranger would it be

If we met up at midnight

In the hanging tree

As brutal hands clawed at his skin, tearing his soul from his body, he brought his mind back to the memories he didn’t deserve to have. With her, his lover, Lucy Gray. The girl that was lost to the trees, erased from history in a hope that the all-powerful President Snow would always land on top.

[viridian-love]

— 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒑𝒕 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆?

relationship: familial / platonic!harry x hermione x weasleys

warnings: mentions of harry’s past abuse with the dursleys (only about where he slept, nothing graphic).

words: 964

Everyone knows Harry is tiny for a boy his age. He was usually the pick of the litter to squeeze into tiny spaces to retrieve lost or fallen objects. He didn’t mind it, nor did he mind closed spaces because of his time spent at the Dursley’s under the stairs. Sure, he’ll get the occasional panic attack in tight enclosed spaces for too long, but it’s nothing he hasn’t handled himself before.

When Harry spends Christmas at the Weasley’s with all of Ron’s siblings there plus Hermione, it’s a tight squeeze. Hermione obviously rooms with Ginny, but Molly didn’t really find a reason for the boys to move so they stayed where they were and Harry would just squeeze in Ron’s room with Ron and the twins. They were informed of it during dinner the first night of Christmas break.

“Well, I don’t see why the boys should move. It’ll be a bit of a squeeze as Charlie already shares a room with Bill and Percy already has the smallest room. Harry, dear, you’re gonna have to share with the twins and Ron since their room will be able to fit all of you,” Molly apologetically stated as she stared at Harry with a sorry gaze. The boy, bless his heart, smiled softly and understandingly back at the Weasley matriarch.

“It’s quite alright, Molly. I’m tiny, I can fit in there.” Harry let out a slight chuckle as Molly fondly rolled her eyes at the raven-haired boy.

“I dunno, mate. The twins have a lot of stuff for their pranks and it takes up a lot of room. I have my books scattered everywhere too. There isn’t really much room. Why can’t he stay with-,” Ron’s rambling was cut off by Harry’s joking hush.

“That’s fine, Ron. I used to sleep under the stairs at the Dursley’s,” Harry supplied nonchalantly as if that was the most normal thing in the world and spooned another mouthful of mashed potatoes into his mouth. As he chewed, his ears picked up on the sudden silence at the table. He lifted his emerald eyes only to be met with gazes of a mixture of shock, anger, sadness, and curiosity. His head turned as he heard Ron clear his throat.

“You slept where, now?” Ron’s voice was so quiet, had it not been silent, Harry wouldn’t have been able to hear it. His eyes darted to the rest of the Weasley household and Hermione. “Uhh,” Harry started as he cautiously put his spoon down, “the, um, stairs. There was a, ah, a cupboard of sorts under there. It was where I slept up until I got my Hogwarts letter.” The tiny boy’s voice slowly grew quieter as he spoke and his fingers started to pull on the ends of his sweater that Molly had knitted him. 

The table was quiet for awhile and Harry started to feel uncomfortable, regretting ever saying anything to begin with. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Harry quietly coughed and pushed his chair away from the table. It was like the noise snapped everyone out of their trance as they looked at Harry slowly backing away from the table. His eyes darted anywhere but the people in the room as he stumbled over his words to escape the awkwardness and impending pity from them.

“I’m just gonna go, um, set up my sleeping bag. In the room. I, uh, I’ll meet you guys up there. Night. Thank you for dinner, Molly. It was delicious as always.” And with that, the little boy dashed away from the kitchen and into the bedroom where he’ll be residing in. 

The second he heard the door gently shut because no Harry doesn’t have a fear of loud sudden sounds what, Ron bolted out of his chair with his wand in hand and his face carved in absolute and terrifying fury. 

All hell broke loose.

Bill was at the opposite end of the table to Arthur so he was in Ron’s path to get to the door. The eldest Weasley nearly tipped his chair over to catch Ron by his waist and pull him back. Shouting commenced as everyone tried to keep Ron at bay and going to AK those wretched relatives of Harry’s. Bill eventually had to wrestle Ron to the floor, but even with his strength, it wasn’t enough. With Bill pinning Ron on his stomach on the floor, Charlie and the twins restrained his arms and legs. Ginny and Hermione sat on Bill’s back to keep them both down. Molly and Arthur were wrestling the wand out of Ron’s hand as Ron continued to shout profanities over everyone’s yelled attempts to calm him down.

“No! I will not calm down, Ginny! Do not even-,”

“Ron, for Merlin’s sake! Let go of the damn wand right no-,”

“Ronniekins, you have to calm down-”

“Or mum will hex you into next week!”

“Oh for Merlin’s sake, someone knock him out already!”

“Don’t you dare, Fre-,”

An audible thunk could be heard from Ron’s head as his struggle ceased and he became limp on the floor underneath Bill’s, Ginny’s, and Hermione’s weights. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief as Molly fell onto her rear with Arthur supporting her after they let go of Ron’s wand that was in an iron grip. It was a surprise it didn’t break with the force they had put into trying to pry it out of the red-head’s hand.

Ginny and Hermione carefully got off of Bill’s back and helped him sit up beside his unconscious younger brother. Everyone was panting, trying to regain their breath. The younger Weasley had an awful lot of sudden strength and it surprised everyone. Seems like he was much more protective of Harry than they thought.

[bodyfeels]

talking about loossemble... kind of copy and pasted my notes from my phone and i tried to refine my thoughts. fair warning it is kind of long but tl;dr YAY FOR GOOD MUSIC

FANATICISM - first listen i noticed how it was very cinematic for whatever reason but maybe they had a visual in mind considering the story line they have (like ending of sensitive MV, whatever was going on in girls night, etc.) and upon revisiting it again, i'm glad this intro is more an intro for the album and not an intro for the title track. it matches the themes of all the songs and maybe you could argue its only by chance just because they had the TTYL lines sneaked in there but i still think it does a good job of setting expectations for the EP

TTYL - okaaaayyyyy 😍 not gonna lie when they dropped that snippet of the first part of the chorus i was getting a little scared because it seemed jarring and it also felt too on the nose but listening to it now i think i don't mind it, especially since the second part is more actual singing or a full singing phrase.

i also noticed this when they first dropped the snippet from the "challenge", they left in the demo vocals in. i think the TTYL-ooh part is sung together with demo vocalist and member (well its either that or they are heavily filtering the members voices) but the "lalalalalalala" is completely the demo vocalist. i am here for the members of LOONA not whoever the demo vocalist is... they knew they could have had the members record that part themselves in the studio 😒

the energy of the song is kept consistent and it makes you want to dance. i think if anything i kinda wish they got crazy with it by either adding a dance break or something. the parts where there is space provide a nice break and i also really like the bridge a lot. i think it'd be nice to add something like that after the bridge and then connect it back to the last chorus.

COTTON CANDY | CONFESSIONS - you might be wondering why i grouped these two together.... i have some issues with these songs because they are practically the same song. neither of these songs are bad....HOWEVER....

i dont think they could release cotton candy as is because then it'd be too similar to boysworlds' confessions which i know boysworld have disbanded but i would not like having loossemble being sued over that HRJRJFJF

i also don't understand why they didn't just mash the songs together with how similar they are and how they practically use the same sound fonts. could have been a donna summer moment by having one section of the song being cotton, the next being candy and another being confessions.

the downside to cotton candy is its "rap" and the chorus thats too on the nose with the repetitive "you are like like like candy" that is said throughout. the downside to confessions is that it is a boysworld leftover and its exactly how they would have released it except maybe with more harmonies and it would have been their first song to be 3 minutes and longer. it also does not feel fleshed out compared to cotton candy. for example, take how there is a brief bridge in confessions which is literally only ONE LINE that suddenly goes into the chorus, compared to cotton candy's full bridge and how it naturally connects into a crazy climax of a chorus and that entire song wraps up nicely.

the following aspects i'd keep are the cotton candy prechorus, then confessions chorus. i'd keep the bridge of cotton candy and just mash the two songs together. i like the singing verses more than the "rap"/"sing talking" parts so i'd take that as well.

well tl;dr songs not bad, missed donna summer opportunity by not connecting the songs seamlessly together or having sections, don't understand why you'd have the same song twice on an EP but we move. also i think i like cotton candy a bit more

HOCUS POCUS - oh janet jackson you'll always be famous... it's really fun and i think if i have any complaints is that i wish they were harmonizing more and that they really showed off their vocals. where there are harmonies, they are very beautiful. the bridge is also everything too... a very good and solid song i love it, i wish it was longer and i hope they also promote this song on either shows or maybe even film a music video

SECRET DIARY - don't really think that weird pitch correction effect at the beginning is needed on the girls vocals at all. they need to turn up that bass in the bridge and make it gritty and obvious like fx's red light. this is also another song where they left the demo vocals on and i don't like that. i kinda wish they made this song a bit more eerie but this was really nice. i love the strings, the bridge, and kinda interesting they ended this EP on this song.

okay so i was very scared for loossemble because for a while now their bills were affected (see their side channel assemble and how they suddenly announced they're reorganizing and stopped making contents) and when teasers first dropped i saw ryan jhun's name on it and also kimmin was back so it was hell on earth for me. THANKFULLY... despite those setbacks we got good music and the members sound great and they're having fun performing

i hope they get more creative and there's more direction both in visuals and sound but this is a good start in terms of sound. i'm glad the songs are longer than 2 minutes like YAAAY this blows sensitive and girls night EP out of the water and i hope they keep it up. i hope their company gets it together and for next time, no ryan jhun and kimmin <3

[two-hands-toward-the-sun]

Besides Daniel, who else could have become Dream of the Endless 2.0?

So, I don't have a full copy of The Kindly Ones on hand right now so I may be remembering incorrectly, but my impression is that Daniel was passed the mantle of Dream of the Endless because of his unique connection to the Dreaming via Lyta being pregnant with him in dreams, and because Morpheus chose him and gave the emerald dreamstone to him (and he likely chose Daniel because of the aforementioned connection). I also like to think these two factors acted in conjunction to each other—the Endless do get to pick who their successor is, but that person has to be someone with an especial bond to their realm.

All that to say! Taking those factors into account, I started playing around with ideas of who else could have become the second Dream, in the context of the Netflix adaptation, and here's three possibilities I came up with:

1. Unity Kincaid

Unity spent over a century in dreams!! She’s a mortal human who spent almost her entire life there—that’s a damn strong bond. Also, when Morpheus was planning to kill Rose, he told her that she could stay in the Dreaming after her death, if she wished. I imagine Morpheus would have extended the same offer to Unity. If she took him up on it, she would have had a double connection to the Dreaming.

There is SO MUCH potential for some really zany humor if we start thinking about Desire’s relationship to Unity. Like. Imagine if your baby mama got reincarnated as your sibling. How weird would that be. Even Desire would be thrown by that, I think. And I can't imagine Unity would take kindly to finding out Desire only seduced her as part of a revenge plot on their brother, and also given how much she ADORES Rose, knowing Desire was just setting Rose up as a sacrifice for their own selfish reasons...oooooh, Desire, watch your fucking back honey. Family dinners were already hilariously fraught, and to add this to the shitstorm? I Would Like to See It.

Also Sandra James-Young would serve cunt in that pirate's outfit Morpheus rolled up in during the Season of Mists family dinner

2. Rose’s unnamed grandmother/Unity’s child

(In the intro I said this post is based on the show and I’ll stick with that for consistency, but this idea would really work better if we mashed comic and show canon so it’s Miranda Walker who’s Unity and Desire’s child, so feel free to imagine as such)

OKAY SO. Daniel was gestated in dreams, and you know who else was?? Unity’s daughter! It would give her a similar “claim” on the Dreaming in that sense.

The family drama is RIFE in this possibility, and you know I’m always a slut for Endless family drama. The kid that Desire sired purely as a revenge plot against their brother…has now taken the place of said brother. And is none too happy about finding out about the truth of why she was conceived.

And! There’s the added fact that Unity’s daughter is the grandmother of Rose Walker—a vortex. An incredibly powerful mortal with the power to tear the Dreaming apart. In the show, Gilbert posits a theory about why vortexes exist at all: “When a human is at the center of the Dreaming, is it not to remind us that we exist because humans dream, not the other way around?” That would be an interesting thing to think about when you become the sovereign of the Dreaming, and your granddaughter was a vortex, and your mother was who the vortex should have been all along.

And that brings us to the last possibility I’ve thought of, and one who is so dear to my heart…

3. Lucienne

*visibly struggling to present my thoughts on my beloved calmly and professionally* So, the two factors: connection to the Dreaming, and being chosen by Morpheus. It’s quite possible that Lucienne is the being who has spent the most time in the Dreaming besides Morpheus himself. “Dream of the Endless always has a raven.” Hell, it’s hard exactly what “always” means to an Endless (Death talks about being present for “the first living thing” and ravens are far from one of the first living things to die or dream—much younger than, say, sea sponges, or cockroaches), but it’s safe to say Lucienne’s been around for a longass time. She was the steward and caretaker of the Dreaming while Morpheus was imprisoned. The residents trust her and go to her for counsel. Her bond with the Dreaming is one of the most powerful save for Morpheus’s own.

As for the “chosen” component…you’ve seen the way Morpheus looks at Lucienne. He’s already chosen her twice: as raven and as librarian. And other than that, he chooses her every day, as his advisor and confidant. I’m thinking here of how Dream says “we have work to do” to Lucienne in Imperfect Hosts, and how she accompanies him to Cain and Abel’s houses when she didn’t technically need to be there: they’re a team, and they’re stronger together.

Also…there’s this added element that in becoming Dream, Lucienne would gain all the memories Morpheus had. Including memories he had of her, of everything they experienced together. She’d know everything he’d been thinking at the time, whereas before Lucienne the librarian could only have guessed. And I think that would be strange and emotional for her.

Conclusion

If anyone made it to the end of this post—thanks for indulging me! Additional thoughts and other possibilities are absolutely welcome. Please feel free to tag me if you make any posts related to this concept! <3