#when i was young and naive i thought maybe the next generation of laptops will be able to play blu-ray which was the hot new thing

[bogkeep]

im the victim of a HORRIBLE TRAGEDY (couldn't find my CD with the promare OST in my big heavy box of CDs :((((((( )

[ventingblacklist]

4x4  Gaia “I thought I could make it better, that I could protect my baby. I mean, that’s my one job…to protect my child.”

Gaia is sick. Living in the woods. Calls his wife and kid and tells them to leave town, cuz he has a new target.

He takes out a mechanic so he can take his place and steal a helicopter later. 

Liz is going through some of the papers on Kirk when her laptop chirps. Kirk is calling. Kirk: Hello, Masha. I know it’s late, but I wanted to speak to you alone. Liz: Where is she?

Kirk: I never wanted you to be apart from her. Liz: Where’s my daughter?! Kirk: Right here, safe.

“If you so much as… If you hurt her…”

“I know the truth. The only reason you came for me… you think we can cure you, that our blood can…”

Kirk: Yes, the blood is what I need, but it’s not what I want. What I want is for us to be together, but that can’t happen until Reddington’s out of your life. Only you can make that happen.

“I see you’re wearing your mother’s bracelet. I’m glad.”

“I want you to know that your baby is safe. This link is open day or night any time you want to see Agnes.” Tom later discusses the link with Liz. He wants to trace it to get Agnes back. Liz is like, it wouldn’t work, he’s anticipated that.

“If he hurts her, he loses me....What does Kirk want more than anything in the world? For me to trust him… to care for him. And because it’s what he desires most, it’s the easiest way to deceive him.

“He’ll see what he wants to see… my affection. He won’t see what’s real… my deception. This link is an opportunity for me to get close to Kirk. And I can’t do anything to jeopardize that.”

Tom: Liz, I think you’re being naive. Liz: I know you think that. And I’m asking you to trust me.

I kind of agree with Liz on this one. Not just about the link tracing, but the being able to see her thing. Red called it unbelievably cruel. Keeping the kid away, but having that link open. Which, I guess. 

I don't have kids so there are some things I'm not going to get, but if I was worried for my kid's well-being, I'd rather be able to see them than not. If I can't get to them at the moment, at least I know they're okay. Drive me nuts, otherwise. Especially in the wake of blood talk. Liz is hoping to use this to get to Kirk. Not in the tracing way, but in the gaining his trust way. She wants to use it. 

Kirk isn’t happy about keeping Liz and Agnes apart, but he doesn't want Red near Agnes any more than Red wants Kirk near Agnes.

I think of parallels a lot, and Agnes might be a replay not just for Kaplan, but for Kirk. Red is not going to get his hooks in another one. He took Kirk’s daughter; he will not have his granddaughter.

Agnes is motivation for Kaplan as well. It's too late, she's already failed Liz, but she could still save Agnes. 

Kirk here, and Kaplan later, want Reddington out of the picture.

Kirk wants Liz to reject Reddington, later tries to kill Reddington. Talks on his death bed of Liz taking his fortune and getting away from Reddington.

Kirk lets it go after the whisper; lets her go when it’s confirmed beyond doubt that Liz is not his child.

Kaplan never lets it go. To the end, she's trying to get Liz to walk away. 

Liz might see this same motivation going forward into season six. Her life is a giant mess, but maybe she can clean it up for Agnes. Agnes’ father is already gone. And she’s away from her mother for a long time. But maybe Liz can stop things from deteriorating further. 

Liz meets with Red. He tells her about Gaia. 

After Liz briefs the task force, Aram grabs Samar and says sorry for not being able to talk, but they can grab lunch, and Samar is like, it's okay, I figured it out. I’m transferring.

Samar is going to be a bit snippy today as she's all hurt in general. First Liz, now Aram. Ressler grabs her after another Gaia briefing. Ressler: Aram told me you put in for a transfer. Navabi, trust me, I understand how angry you are with Keen for doing what she did…

Samar: Yes, and that is part of why I’m leaving, but it’s not just that. It… It’s this place. You never know where you stand with anyone… whether they’ll be there for you when you need them.

Ressler: If there’s anything I can do to get you to reconsider, you let me know. I’ll do it. You’re a good partner.

Samar: I wish there was. I really do.

Aw, look at them all friends now. 

Gaia takes out an energy company guy so he can take his place and sabotage a pipeline. Or something. Kaplan wakes up in hunter guy's cabin. 

Kirk gets a transfusion and some bad news from his doc. His  body is starting to reject the transfusions. Six months to live, maybe less. Odette: There is a solution. Kirk: We’ve already discussed this. Reifler: It’s unacceptable. Odette: Easy for you to say. You’re not the one that’s gonna die. Kirk: No, I am, and I agree with Sebastian.

Kirk: We’re exploring other cures. Odette: We were. Before we lost the Ribowski virus, before the U.S. government froze your assets.

Reifler: If the girl is a genetic match, and there’s no guarantee that she is, extracting stem cells from such a young child is extremely dangerous and could prove fatal.

Odette: ....We are out of time, and we are out of resources. The only way to save your life is if we put that child’s in jeopardy. Odette is clearly jealous of Kirk's fun new obsession. Doesn't give a crap about Liz or the kid. What a fun new stepmom Liz has acquired. 

She also seems to actually care about Kirk. Even though he’s clearly still in love with his dead spy wife.

Ressler and Samar run after Gaia. He gets away. But they nab a fake id he used to get into the faciliity. 

Red takes the id to Glen at a bowling alley to find out who made it. 

Glen calls in a guy. The guy gives them Gaia’s address. 

Red and Liz go out to Gaia's school bus.

"Photo of a pregnant woman. But no child. Maybe the child was taken or… or died....”

“We’re going to get her back, Lizzy.”

Gaia bursts into his ex-wife's house to tell her to get out of the state. We see that his kid is disfigured.

Tom meets with an old colleague to trace the signal and get Agnes back. Aram informs the task force that Gaia's strike on a pipeline will include a nuclear facility in its blast radius. It's gonna be bad. 

Night falls. Tom and his little troop prepare to raid the house. 

Liz is sitting in the post office working. She opens the video feed and calls Tom.

Liz: I’m looking at our little girl. It’s almost like a baby monitor, like she’s in the next room. Tom: Only she’s not. Kirk has her. Liz: I know. I asked you this morning to trust me, not to trace the link. I want you to know it means everything to me that you are okay with that. Thank you. Tom: Everything’s gonna be all right, Liz. Blow her a kiss for me.

Liz sings Agnes a lullaby while Tom and company raid the place where the servers are, but not where Kirk is.

It’s a setup. A place full of cameras so Kirk can see if she violates his trust. And she did. Or, he thinks she did. 

Kirk: I thought we had an understanding. Liz: About what? What are you talking about? Kirk: You traced this feed.

“No. No, I didn’t. There must be some mistake.”

Liz: ...Wait. That had nothing to do with me. Kirk: I’m sorry, Masha. Liz: No, I told Tom. I specifically said…

"No! Please bring her back! I’m begging you! Bring her back!”

Liz has spent like five minutes with her kid since she was born. She's frantic. Desperate to at least see her. Can't do that anymore. 

Tom and Liz both trying to get the kid back in their own way. Tom not telling her things. Liz blows up at him at the end of the episode. Perfectly natural fight, I just hate that they patch it up in like two seconds.

Liz all forgiving him, saying that if his family was the reason they were in danger... um. Actually, his family is involved too. Scottie, you may have heard of her, hired Solomon who sent you on a car chase that almost killed Agnes in utero. But Tom hasn't told you that.

Super happy couple. They never talk about anything apparently, but they really like getting married.

Red goes to see Glen. Shows him the picture of the pregnant woman they found in Gaia's bus. Glen screws with him before agreeing to help.

Hunter helps Kate sit up and feeds her. Asks if the people who did this to her are coming back. She says no and thanks him. 

The task force finds out who Gaia is. Ressler and Samar go to the helicopter place and just miss him. "I’m a dead man walking thanks to Fukushima. It poisoned my innocent unborn son into someone people look at as if he’s a monster! Now, whoever dies from this, they’ve got it coming." Fun fact: from what I can find, nobody actually died from radiation poisoning following Fukushima. People died from evacuation, displacement. The earthquake and tsunami. I'm not entirely sure how this was supposed to poison his unborn son? Apparently his helicopter was flown into an unscheduled radiation venting. How does that...? Did his wife fly into it too? Does radiation poisoning get passed on? Like, genetically? Seems unlikely. Whatever. 

Anyway, they can't scramble fighters or shut down the pipeline fast enough. But Aram hacks into the helicopter and can shut the rotor down. But he freezes. 

“If I click on this, he’ll die. I’ve killed somebody once. I can’t take another life again.” Cooper hits the key like it's no big thing. Glad they were in the office instead of Aram alone in the back of a van or something. 

Thank goodness all this happened or Gaia would have killed millions of people, probably. One good thing came out of the running/kidnapping.

Red meets with Maya (Gaia’s wife) in a diner. Needs her to contact her kid's doctor, who, incidentally, is also Kirk's doctor. 

“My name is Raymond. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Skyler.”

Aw. 

“They live in a delightful space somewhere between dreams and reality. They taste color, hear shapes, see sounds. We should all have such special needs.”

"There is a child. Her life hangs in the balance. I believe Skyler’s doctor could save her.”

It's interesting that they go with a special needs child's doctor, when they could have gone with an adult's doctor, to save the child, Agnes. As there's talk of doing a risky stem cell procedure on her. I think perhaps the writers left the door open to have something happen to Agnes and didn't walk through it.   Aram comes in all chipper. Samar shuts that right down. “You made the wrong call today.”

She’s not wrong.

Liz: We talked about this! We agreed!

Tom: Yeah, on how you felt. I told you I disagreed.

Liz: What you didn’t tell me was that you were gonna do something about it. Instead, you went behind my back and did exactly what I told you not to do.

Tom: ...I’m not gonna fight with you about this, Liz! I did what I thought was best! And nobody is sorrier than me that it didn’t work!

Liz: Oh, no. I know someone who’s sorrier. Our daughter… who now, because of you, is God knows where. ...She's probably in the same spot, actually. You just can't see her now. And I doubt she even notices this is happening.

Reifler is taken at the end of this ep, after his house call. He’ll tell Liz that Kirk moves Agnes around anyway to keep Reddington from finding her. 

There’s a deleted scene that fits in somewhere of Liz staring at her cellphone, willing the video link to reappear. 

Meanwhile, the evil stepmother encourages Kirk to take the risk. 

"I know you don’t want to. But you need to use the child.”

They really play up Kirk using her. And then never tell us for sure whether or not he used her. Lovely high stakes to nowhere. 

At this point, I don’t think he did. He’s still got six months or so at this juncture. Well, maybe less. But he’s fine at the moment. I don’t think he’d use Agnes until it got super desperate. And she wouldn’t be a match to him anyway, apparently.   

Red meets with Liz in his car. Tells her what it was all about, getting Skylar's doctor. “Owen Ayers and his son Skyler share a rare blood disorder. But Dr. Sebastian Reifler is one with a particularly relevant distinction. He treats both Skyler Ayers and Alexander Kirk. If we can get to his doctor, we can get to Kirk. We’re getting close, Lizzy.”

"I lied to you. You asked if Kirk had reached out, and I told you he hadn’t. That wasn’t true. He set up a link… a video feed so I could see Agnes.”

“How incredibly cruel.”

“Tom tried to trace the link, tried to find Agnes, but Kirk found out, and now, uh…”

“She’s gone.”

“I thought I could make it better, that I could protect my baby. I mean, that’s my one job… to protect my child. Make her feel safe at any cost.”

“To hold her. To tell her everything’s gonna be okay. But now because of me, because of what I’ve done, I can’t even do that.”

♪ How does this happen to us all? ♪

I include those lyrics cuz yeah. I haven't seen such a glaring parallel since Red and Liz sitting over the harbormaster's daughter. 

Red is angry at Liz at the start of Miles McGrath. He's still stand offish in Gaia, though not as much after spilling the blood news to Liz at the end of McGrath. There's still distance between them, but he can't sit there and see that pain without having a reaction.  Red snatches the doc.

Kaplan wakes up with a chain around her ankle.

[formerprincess]

A tale written with fangs and claws || Chapter 13

Chapters: 13/? Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Liam Dunbar/Theo Raeken Characters: Liam Dunbar, Theo Raeken Additional Tags: Alpha Liam Dunbar, Slow Build, Friends to Lovers, Dunbar Pack, Bisexual Liam Dunbar, Werewolf Theo Raeken, Alpha Theo Raeken, Canon-Typical Violence Series: Part 1 of Morning Dew Pack

The pack faces the new threat in town and maybe this is bigger than all of them…

“You’re overreacting!” Theo had his arms crossed in front of his chest and glared at Liam who was on the other side of the living room, hands running through his hair and making it stick in various directions and a wild look in his eyes. The rest of the pack sat on the couches between them, eyes wandering from one to the other as if they were watching a tennis match. 

“I am not overreacting!” Liam hissed and glared at his friend who simply rolled his eyes. “I just want to cover all the bases. Why is that so wrong in your eyes?”

“You don’t want to cover all the bases, you want to find the Alpha and fight. You don’t even know if the howl was for you! Maybe the Alpha is just coming through and got in a fight. You know nothing about them! But you want to track them down and just snarl in their face and get yourself in trouble. Because that Alpha, they could see this as a declaration of war! You have been an Alpha for how many months now? What if the Alpha is a born wolf or an Alpha for years? They could rip you apart without breaking a sweat! You’re getting yourself killed just because you don’t have your IED in check!” Theo yelled back. 

“I agree with Theo.”, came Byron’s voice from the cell phone on the couch table. Liam startled since he had actually forgotten about the phone and the council on the other end of the line. Now Cedric spoke up. “The Alpha, whoever it is, could really see this as a threat when you suddenly show up. Don’t be that kind of Alpha, let them come to you if they come at all. As long as you don’t know anything, stay away, live your normal life. Don’t interfere with anyone’s business.”

Liam sighed. A part of him understood what they all were saying, but another part wanted to find the Alpha and see what this was all about. He closed his eyes and groaned while scrubbing both hands over his face. That was frustrating, to say the least, and Liam didn’t do well with frustration. But he had to agree with the others for now. No use in running into it and getting himself killed. “Okay, fine, I’ll stay away! Sorry that I yelled at you, T.” Theo shrugged. “You yelling means you’re still alive and that’s all I want.”

Liam fell on the couch next to Mason and his best friend patted his back. Liam gritted his teeth. He may have agreed with his pack to not run off but this thing bugged him to no end. Living his normal life would be difficult. He still felt the anxiety running through him and exhaled through his mouth while his fingers wrapped around his pendant subconsciously and his other hand rubbed over his tattoo. Theo walked over to him and squeezed his shoulder in a silent support. “We don’t have to get involved in everything.” Liam nodded curtly. “I know.”

He tried to focus on other things, talking to his pack but in the back of his mind this possible new threat was always there. He hated not knowing things completely and he had witnessed too much shit in Beacon Hills to just ignore this and not worry. He tried to play it off for the sake of his pack, but Liam was on alert. He watched his pack more than really interacted with them and he knew he would do anything to protect each member of his pack. They were his friends, his family, and he would die for every single one of them. The Alpha could come, Liam would not let them get his family!

And yes, Liam had said yes to not search the Alpha out but that didn’t mean he would not search online for suspicious activities around the area. Wherever that Alpha came from, he (or she? The howl had sounded more male but you could never be 100% sure) must have left some traces if they were really dangerous, right? The Alpha pack left destruction in their wake on their way to Beacon Hills, Stiles had told him so much. 

That’s why Liam sat cross-legged on his bed late at night, while Mason and Corey were sleeping on the couches in the living room, and Theo was sleeping too, laptop in front of him and trying to find things out. The problem was he had no real idea where to begin. Animal attacks around Seattle had his first choice but most reports were so vague, he could not be sure it had been done by a wolf. Liam scoffed frustrated, fingers hovering over the keyboard.

“Try animal attacks in general and then look for a specific pattern. Then you’ll find the path the Alpha took.”  Liam’s head shot up as if he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and he looked sheepishly at Theo who strode into his room and closed the door behind himself. He walked over to the bed and sat next to Liam. “That way you’ll find out the Alpha apparently took a path from San Diego over Los Angeles, Fresno, Salem and here we are.” Liam frowned. “Wait. How do you know that?” “I already googled it earlier tonight when I said I was going to bed. I may have said we should live our normal lives but that doesn’t mean I’m not on alert too. I’m from Beacon Hills too, puppy, I have the same train of thoughts you do. We’ve seen too much shit to actually believe in coincidence.” 

Liam had to smile at that. “And here I thought I was the only one worrying.” “You’re not. I’m not so naive to believe this has nothing to do with us so I’d rather be prepared. I just don’t want the pack to panic.” He leaned against the headboard and watched Liam who leaned back also. “I don’t want to cause panic either. I just…I’m worried, T.” “Yeah, it’s understandable. So we do what we always do: Stay on alert and yet go on with our lives.” 

Liam groaned. “I hate this! To constantly look over my shoulder. I really thought this was behind us but I guess we always get involved. And I’m an Alpha, I should have seen this coming. I don’t know why I’m suddenly so caught off guard by that.”

“Because after the wendigo thing, we all would have liked peace and quiet and we are all still young, it’s our prerogative to let our guards down every once in a while. Not too much but a little. You have a lot on your shoulders, Lee, you are allowed to relax every once in a while.” He squeezed Liam’s arm and Liam smiled weakly. “Thank you, Dore.”

He looked at the laptop screen. “So you found the path the Alpha took?” “Well, I’m not completely sure it’s the Alpha we’re looking for but well, the latest animal attack was near Seattle and it shows some resemblance to the others, it could be a hint. That being said, this Alpha is rogue.”  Liam sighed. “Great. Just great.” “Maybe they are just on their way to something and just crossing town. Don’t worry too much, okay? And now you should sleep. It’s Mason’s and Corey’s last day tomorrow and they were promised sightseeing. It will be exhausting, so sleep is in order, puppy.”

“Hm.” Liam put his laptop aside and closed it. “Do you want to stay here?” He invited Theo while he crawled under the covers. Theo looked surprised but then he smiled and nodded, moving under the covers as well. They both laid next to each other and Theo squeezed Liam’s hand. “Everything will be going to be fine, puppy.” He promised and Liam knew he only said that to calm Liam down. He smiled gratefully and squeezed Theo’s hand back and then he closed his eyes. He fell asleep with the constant weight of Theo’s hand in his. 

****** Liam tried to live by going on with the normal life but that was harder than expected. He had the constant feeling somebody was watching him but when he looked around nobody was there. “Are you getting a bit paranoid?” Sadie asked one day when they gathered at the campus café and Liam looked out of the big window, trying to spot somebody. “No.” Liam said but she scoffed. “Yeah, right!”

Liam looked over to the other side of the table where Ever, Maya and Sadie were all squished in one booth and gave him a look that clearly said they were not buying it. Liam growled quietly. That was nothing he would discuss now. Theo appeared next to their table. Sadie pointed at Liam. “Theo, he’s all growly and paranoid! Do something!” She demanded.  Theo slipped in the both next to Liam, put one arm around his shoulders and pulled him close. “Hey, puppy, you okay?” He asked softly and Liam leaned against him. “Yeah, yeah.” He mumbled, still looking outside. Theo’s hand on his shoulder twitched and gently stroke over it then to soothe Liam. It worked a little bit and he tore his eyes away from outside. “Just a rough day.” He played it down but he knew Theo saw right through him. The chimera could read him like an open book. He didn’t even need to look at Theo to know it was true.

The chimera sighed softly and then got to his feet, one arm wrapping around Liam’s bicep. “Come up, puppy.” “Where are we going?” Liam asked but grabbed his bag and let Theo pull him with him. Theo just shook his head and pulled Liam out of the café and towards their home. “We’re going home, get changed and get to the gym. You need to power yourself out until you’re too exhausted to be paranoid.” “I know somebody watches us!” “Liam!” Liam closed his mouth with a clack and then let Theo drag him further down the street. He would not argue for once. 

He hated to admit when he was riled up but Theo’s idea with the gym proofed to be good. It had been a while since the two of them had worked out together and yet they fell into an easy rhythm, working out and yet cracking jokes and teasing each other. And for the first time since the Alpha howl, Liam could actually stop thinking about it and relax a little bit. Theo once more showed how good he was at grounding Liam. And seeing the other getting sweaty and train shirtless was a nice side effect too. Liam caught himself neglecting his own workout in favor of just watching the other’s muscles move under his lightly tanned skin. Aesthetical very pleasing, Liam liked. He tried his best to make his ogling not too obvious, not wanting to come off as a creep. If Theo noticed him staring, he never mentioned it.

When they finished their workout both were sweaty, exhausted but happy. Liam felt at ease, more than before and he owed that to Theo. He could have to get used to feeling like this but when they left the gym and walked to Theo’s car in the underground garage he felt the prickling of somebody’s eyes on his neck and spun around. Theo next to him groaned. “Not again! I’m too tired for this shit.“ “I know somebody’s here!“ Liam narrowed his eyes and eyed the dark corners of the garage suspiciously. “Seriously, if you don”t stop that I’m making you run rounds until you puke.“ Theo grabbed Liam by the collar of his shirt and yanked him towards his truck. “You said we should be on alert!“ Liam defended himself. “There’s a mile wide difference between being on alert and being paranoid.“ Theo grumbled. “Get in the car.“

Liam got in but he was still standing with what he felt. Somebody was watching him yet obviously his pack thought he was losing his mind. It had rubbed him the wrong way when it came from Sadie but that Theo took the same line hurt him more than he wanted to admit right now.

****** Liam was studying for a test in history, Sadie on the other side of the library table. He tried to focus on the words in front him but the scent coming from his Beta gave away how anxious she was. Liam endured this for several minutes, then he spoke up. “Spill it out!“ Sadie startled and looked at him with eyes wide as saucers. “Your chemosignals.“ Liam explained. “They give off how anxious you are. So whatever it is, spill.“ “Are you and Theo fighting?“ “Huh?“ Liam frowned. “Why do you think that?“ “You seem distant towards him, so much it affects us other Betas and we notice it.“

It was true, Liam had been distant towards the chimera. That even Theo had a hard time understanding him didn’t bode well for Liam and he could not help but feel alone. Yet he shook his head. “We’re not fighting.“ They weren’t per se. So it wasn‘t a direct lie. “Are you sure?“ Sadie didn’t seem convinced at all. “I am sure. Stop worrying, that’s my job.“ “You’re my family, I’ll always worry about you.“ Liam sighed, That was usually his argument so he could not really say anything against that.

“Sadie…“ He sighed. “Drop it. We’re not fighting.“ “Tell that Theo, he looks like a kicked puppy every time he looks at you.“ “He does not!“ “He does.“ Sadie nodded, a solemn look on her face. “Should see the way he flinches when he talks to you and you more or less shut him down or manage to bail out when we want to do something. He…seriously, Liam, I never saw him look like that before. He looks like he‘s in actual pain!“ Liam felt bad when he heard that. He had not meant to make Theo feel bad or anything. They obviously needed to talk. “Huh, I never noticed that. Thank you, Sadie.“

The talk with the blonde Beta had given Liam a lot to think about. It made him quite reflective. Theo was probably the most important person in Liam’s life right now and to learn he was causing the older distress, made Liam’s heart clench. He planned on talking to Theo the next possible moment. The pack gathered at the apartment for just hanging out that night and Theo was the only one missing. Liam dialed his number and put his phone on speaker. It took some time but then Theo answered.  “I’m on my way.“ He said in lieu of a greeting. Liam heard the sound of wheels rolling on concrete, Theo was at the skate park and obviously had lost track of time, Liam knew his friend.  “Just wanted to check if you’re okay.“ The Alpha added and he heard Theo sucking in a breath of surprise. He obviously had not expected Liam to still care and that made Liam’s heart clench once more. When it came to the two of them, neither Liam nor Theo coped well with distance. They really needed to talk.

“I’m okay, yeah. Will be home soon, don‘t worry so much, Li….“ He heard the clatter and then a pained noise from Theo. Liam chortled. “You fell off your board, right?“ “Something blocked my board but yes, I did. Stop laughing!“ Theo snapped without being really mad. Liam smirked. He could hear Theo moving around in search of his board but then he heard the movements stopping and then dead silence. Liam tensed, hands gripping the kitchen counter he had placed his phone on. He only relaxed slightly when he heard Theo speaking again but when he heard what his anchor was saying and how clipped his words sounded, he tensed even more.  Someone else seemed to be there with Theo because he said: “Who are you?”

And then a deep voice spoke up and even though his words were calm, they sounded dangerous and Liam felt a cold shiver run down his spine. “Who I am is not important, but who you are is. You’re the First Beta, so you better listen because I have a message for your Alpha. Or rather for the one you call Alpha because he is everything but. An Alpha needs to be strong,  forceful and terrifying; he is just a little boy who got red eyes. Unfortunately, and for reasons I absolutely don’t get, you accepted him as your Alpha. Probably because you never had another option.” He laughed snidey and Liam growled lowly, claws digging into the counter. His eyes were burning red because for once what the guy said but furthermore because he was there with Theo. “To sum it up: He’s in the way of what I want. Tell him to step aside or it will get messy and we don’t want that, do we?”

“I’m not your messenger. You want to tell Liam something, tell it to his face!” Theo snubbed and Liam could basically see the chimera raising an eyebrow in front of his eyes.

The Alpha chuckled in a cold way and then Liam heard movement and Theo gasp. “Careful, you’re just a Beta, you’re no match for me. Don’t you dare get cheeky!” The Alpha growled and then Theo hissed and next thing that could be heard was the crack of bones and Theo cried out in pain. And Liam lost it. His claws had scratched over the counter and now he roared, and ran out of the door, the rest of his Betas calling after him in panic. But Liam ignored them, he needed to get to the damn skate park and do something. His wolf was snapping inside him, his IED was breaking through and his heart was hammering against his chest. 

Even with how riled up he was, Liam was surprised how fast he reached the skate park and went to follow Theo’s scent straight away. The chimera was still on the ground, clutching his arm and whimpering, but he was alone. Liam growled and looked around, trying to find the Alpha but he was already gone. Sadie and Maya appeared shortly after and knelt next to Theo, taking care of him. Liam looked back at Theo who looked up at him, face pale from pain. “He broke my arm.” He gasped and held his injured limp. Liam growled again and spun around.

“YOU WANT ME?? HERE I AM!! COME AND GET ME BUT DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY BETAS!!!!!” He screamed into the evening air, partly hoping the Alpha would jump him and Liam could rip him to shreds for touching Theo. He waited, chest rising and falling fastly with his ragged breaths and he roared in warning before he spun around and fell to his knees in front of Theo, grabbing Theo’s face with both hands and making him look at him. 

“Hey, look at me! Did he do anything else?” Theo shook his head and pressed his eyes shut when a wave of nausea hit him. Liam looked down, Theo’s arm looked complicatedly broken, the Alpha wanted it to hurt as long as possible. Now Liam took Theo’s not injured wrist and concentrated. The black veins sneaked up his arm and took some of Theo’s pain away. Theo looked grateful but still completely beat and Liam helped the girls pull him to his feet. “Let’s get you home.” Theo nodded and Sadie and Maya steadied him. They started walking and Liam picked up Theo’s skateboard and carried it while trailing after his Betas with one last look at the dark park. The Alpha surely was still around and Liam wanted nothing more than to get his hands on him and strangle him. Nobody touched his First Beta!

Back at the apartment the core pack plus Isaac sat in the living room and tried to cope with the new threat in town. Theo sat on one couch, broken arm rested on a pillow to favor his injured limp. It’d take a few hours for his bones to heal back and he tried not to move too much. 

 “So the Alpha is hostile. That’s just great.” Nolan, who sat on the floor and leaned against the couch, said with a sigh. “That means trouble.”

“It first and foremost means Liam was right and he was watching us.” Theo said quietly and glanced at their Alpha who stood in front of the window, arms crossed in front of his chest, and stared at the couch table, a dark look on his face. When he heard Theo talking about him, he raised his head slightly and glanced back at the twenty-one-year-old. He wished he had been wrong, really.

Sadie was the first to speak. “Liam, I’m sorry I called you paranoid. Guess, we all were a bit too careless.” Liam shook his head tiredly. “Sadie, forget it. Really.” “No. I have to apologize too.” Theo cut in. “Should have believed you and your gut feeling.” Liam swallowed and then he could not keep it at bay anymore. “It hurt when you also thought I was paranoid. I thought you of all people would get me.” He admitted. Theo looked at him and swallowed. “I’m sorry, Lee. I’m not always…good at this. And I’m especially not good at this when I have to worry. I want you to be happy, you know? Sometimes I’m making mistakes and do the exact opposite of helping you with getting happy. I’m sorry.” He said sincerely.  Maya sighed. “Yoy guys, can you please reschedule your marriage counseling? We have a more important problem right now. What are we supposed to do right now?”

Liam walked over and sat on the armrest next to Theo. He stroked over Theo’s neck and then took more pain from him which got himself a grateful look from Theo and the chimera leaning into him. “We stay together. None of us goes alone anymore. We go in groups of at least two. No matter where, no matter what, at least two of us stay together.” He ordered. “I can do that with Nolan.” Isaac agreed immediately. “I can bring you to your classes and pick you up.” “But then you would be alone while driving to work.” Nolan added for consideration.  “I don’t think he will attack me, I’m not part of the pack. He wants to challenge Liam and I’m just an ally. And technically, and I’m stressing the pack term very far by that, I’m still part of Scott’s pack. That means he would go against two Alphas and even a rogue Alpha is not that dumb.” “Okay.” Nolan gave a weak smile. He could worry about other things now. Liam spoke again.

“Since the Alpha is here, I won’t call the others right now. I don’t think he will get to them and it seems he is alone. You all know what to do. If you see or hear anything suspicious, you call us others immediately. You hear me?” Everyone nodded. “And, guys, please, for everything that’s good, please be careful.” Liam summed it up. He didn’t want to lose anyone. It was one of his biggest fears. They had gone years without losing anyone from their pack in Beacon Hills, he intended to keep it that way here in Seattle.

Ever shook her head. “I just don’t understand why he targeted Theo and in that way. He could have ripped him to shreds, why just break his arm?”

“He plays.” Liam said. “He knew I was on the phone but he still decided to address Theo as the messenger. He wanted to portray his brute strength and show us he is superior. Stronger than us. Like he’s the cat and we are the mice he plays with. And he targeted Theo because he is my weak spot.”Theo looked at him, ready to say something but Lim gently shushed him. “You are because you are my anchor. But that’s okay, if he ever lays a finger on you I will rip every single one of his extremities apart.” His eyes flashed while he said that and his voice grew growlier and deeper, typical Alpha voice.

****** Despite the threat of the rogue Alpha looming over them, they all decided to go with Liam’s plan and let the rogue come to them. That meant they went to their classes, to work and to practice. Latter just had ended and Liam stuffed his bag with his sweaty lacrosse gear. Time for a visit to the washer. When he was sure he got everything, he slammed his locker shut, shouldered his bag and left the locker room. Sadie was waiting for him outside and together Alpha and Beta walked home. Sadie would stay with Liam and Theo tonight. “Anything new?” She asked and Liam shook his head. “For you?”

She shook her head at his question. “No and I’m not sure I am happy about that. A part of me wants to believe the Alpha left town again.” She was right, since a few days there were no signs of the Alpha and Liam wished she was right but he knew this was wishful thinking. The rogue was watching them, spying on them, and he hated it. 

“He’s still in town and he’s still playing with us. We can’t let him get into our heads. That’s what he wants.”

“I’m just happy we have each other. Being all alone would drive me crazy.” Sadie mumbled and Liam put one arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. “We have each other’s backs, that’s what this pack is all about.” He smiled softly at her but then he heard it. A steady drip-drop but it wasn’t raining and had not been raining before so it could not be the rain dropping down. And now that he focused, he noticed the smell of chemicals but also something more biological. Blood.

“Do you smell and hear that?“ He asked Sadie and she frowned but followed his momentum and tilted her head. “Ist hat blood?“ She asked. 

“Hey, wait!“ Hastily she followed her Alpha who was already marching into the direction the smell came from. His wolf was snarling inside his chest and clearly signaled a warning for Liam. Something wasn‘t right and his wolf was ready to come out and protect him. He had lived too long in Beacon Hills to expect anything else than some gruesome scene waiting for them.

They stepped into the science wing of the university and followed the scent towards the end of the hallway. On top of the stairs laid the bloodied corpse of one of the janitors, his blood slowly dripping down the stairs and his cleaning materials splattered all over the floor. His eyes wide open in shock but lifeless and his intestines all over the place. Sadie screamed and clasped a hand in front of her mouth and Liam clenched his jaw. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed 911. When he had finished the call, Sadie looked at him completely bewildered. “Are you not the least bit shocked?“ “I am and I’d love to say that this is the worst thing I ever saw but truth is that’s not my first corpse. Welcome to Beacon Hills where most of the popularity is either supernatural or dead. Or both in some cases.“

Liam looked at the janitor and then eyed the scene further. “I know what he wants. If this pack doesn’t follow willingly, he will erase us.” He suddenly said. There on the wall, painted in red, Liam would take a wild guess and say it was the janitor’s blood, was their pack symbol but it was crossed out.

****** Again the pack, minus Isaac this time, found themselves in Theo’s and Liam’s apartment, this time in the kitchen. The mood was serious, tensed, they all were shocked by what happened hours ago. 

“I just don’t get it. What’s his goal?” Maya asked and shoved a hand full off chips in her mouth. She had jumped on the kitchen counter and declared she was a stress eater and that’s why she brought snacks. 

“He wants’s a pack.” Theo said from where he sat on the other counter, next to Liam. “He said Liam is in the way of what he wants. Liam leads our pack, he’s the Alpha. An Alpha, a wolf, is always stronger with a pack. So whatever the guy has planned, he wants to be stronger and therefore he needs a pack. And it’s easier to go for an already established pack and subject it than starting a new one.” “And if we don’t go with what he wants, he will destroy all of us.” Ever finished the thought. “And by destroy he means…” Nolan trailed off.

“Kill every single one of us.” Liam said gravely. They all looked at him, how he sat on the counter, fingers clenched around the edge, and staring at the floor. He could not forget the dead body they found and he could not shake the thought that this was his fault. He should have tracked down the Alpha and killed him as fast as possible. Now an innocent person had lost their life because the Alpha thought killing was something to prove a point.  

“You’re either with him or you will die a presumably painful death.” He boiled it down and looked up. “Me, he will kill me the soon that he can. But you? You will get a chance to live. As his Betas. Wars were won like that.”

“He won’t kill you! We won’t let him!” Theo immediately objected and the others nodded. They would protect their Alpha. 

“You know he’s stronger than all of you. And he’s cold-hearted, ruthless, brutal. Too risky that he kills you.”

“I’m not letting you die.” Theo said firmly and looked at Liam, hazel eyes shining with determination.

“Yeah, well, I’m not letting you die either.” Liam replied just as determined and firm. The two glared at each other and it felt like back then, at the hospital when they told each other something similar. Back then they had lied, this time they were both completely honest. Neither Theo nor Liam would let each other get killed.

“Okay, then nobody dies on our side. Good compromise.” Theo said with a curt nod. Liam wanted to smile and agree but he knew that would be hard to keep. It always was in fights like that. He wished they had more time but he had the strange feeling time was running out. The kill of the janitor was a sign the Alpha was getting impatient. He had enough of waiting for them to make their move and was now forcing them to act. The thing was, Liam had no idea what his next move would be.

Liam’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out. An unknown caller flashed across his screen and he was lured to decline but something told him to accept. “Hello?”

“Hello…I’m going to call you Alpha for now. Hope you liked my little present. I was told it’s improper to visit without a gift. And did you like my little wall decoration? A true masterpiece, don’t you think?”

Liam growled and his eyes flashed. “What do you want?”

“I’m sure you already figured that out. You’re not the brightest but even you should be able to put two and two together.” The Alpha mocked him and Liam gripped his phone tight. “I’ll find you and I’m gonna kill you!”

“No, no, little Alpha, you won’t. You’re not half the Alpha it would take to even land one fatal blow. Your pack on the other hand…I could use them. The blonde angry one would be a perfect killer. And the dark wolf, she would be merciless and rip her enemies apart, The witch…She needs some training in the darker arts but she will come around. The hunter is a joke. I would have him as a plaything for my Betas, watch as they rip him apart with their greedy claws. The only problem is your true and loyal first Beta. See, he is that loyal, he would never accept me as Alpha and would try everything to kill me. I will enjoy ripping his throat out in front of you, watch while you see the life leave his eyes, and then kill you.” He laughed and Liam’s eyes flitted to Theo before he snarled.  “I will kill you if you touch him ever again!” “Then come and find me, sorry excuse for an Alpha. It’s either you who dies tonight or more innocent people.” The line went dead and Liam almost broke his phone from grabbing it so hard. 

“This fucking bastard! He’s trying to lure us out! I will….” He tried to calm himself, calm his anger; no use in freaking out. No matter how mad with rage he was, he needed to keep a clear head and focus. His pack would suffer if he didn’t.

The other wolves in the kitchen whined at seeing their Alpha so angry, a natural reflex. But it also made them ready for battle. “So what now?” Maya inquired, right when Nolan’s phone beeped. They all jumped and he fished it out of his pocket. When he looked at the screen, he visibly paled which was impressive since he was already pale as it could be.  “There is a university rave going on and some students share stories about a guy with glowing red eyes being there. Most say it’s special effects and somebody hired for the party but, Liam…” He looked at the Alpha, eyes wide in shock, and Liam clenched his jaw. “That’s what he said. More people will die tonight. If we don’t get there fast, the bodies will pile!”

Theo got to his feet. “You know this is a trap, right?” Liam jumped from the counter. “I know.” He just said.  “And we’re still going?” Theo assured himself. Liam nodded. “Yep.” He said. “You know this is crazy?” “Absolutely.” Liam agreed. “But I really, really, really don’t want any more corpses. One was already enough. I can’t let him be there and kill harmless  people who just wanted to have fun at a college party!” Theo looked at Liam for a while and then he nodded. “Okay.”

****** They all stood in front of the warehouse the party was going on. The music was blaring and the Alpha obviously had not caused a stampede yet. Liam knew it was part of the game the rogue was still playing. 

Liam took a deep breath. “Guys, whatever happens, promise me you will watch out for each other after tonight.”  Sadie looked shocked. “Liam, that sounds like goodbye.” He gave her a sad smile. “I don’t have any illusions about how high my chances are to survive this so I just wanted to make sure you guys know. Everything can happen but whatever happens in the end, you’re my family and I want you to promise me this, okay?”

“Stop that!” Theo growled and faced Liam with a pained look on his face. “Stop talking about you dying! You won’t die tonight! None of us will!” “Theo, this guy is older than me, longer an Alpha than me and that means he is stronger. I’m just being realistic. That’s usually your part.” “I don’t want to be realistic in that regard! I don’t want to think about you dying! I…Liam, you’re everything I have! Everything I have, I have because of you! I don’t know….” He shook his head and the pained look only increased. “I don’t know how I could go on if you died! So stop talking about this, okay? I’m not letting you die!”

Liam looked at one of his best friends and then stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Theo. The chimera wrapped his arms around Liam too and held him tight. “Please, be careful, Lee. We all need you and I need you the most!” He muttered into Liam’s ear and Liam squeezed him. “Promise me the same, Dore. Be careful and keep an eye on our Betas.” “Our Betas are safe with me.” Theo promised. 

They hugged for several more moments and then let go, looking at each other with sad smiles on their faces.  “I need you in big bad chimera mode.” Liam tried to lighten the mood. “I need you in total Alpha mode.” Theo teased back. They all knew it was gallows humor. Now Liam looked at his pack. “Everybody ready?”

They nodded and he started walking towards the entrance. The party was in full swing and they used a perfect moment to sneak in and look around. Their tactic was to spread out but still keep some sort of eye contact. Liam let his eyes travel over the dancing crowd, His heart was beating loudly, he probably would never get over the fear that came with such a showdown. He was never a very faithful man but moments like this made him pray everything would turn out fine and everybody would still be alive after that night.

“Look at that, you finally decided to man up an appear.”

Liam spun around, expecting to see the Alpha standing behind him, but he was just surrounded by dancing people. The Alpha had to be near but he used Liam’s enhanced hearing to mess with him. He growled, knowing the other would hear that. “Stop playing, asshole. You want a fight, let’s go out and fight.” He grumbled while moving around the warehouse, looking at any suspicious persons. The everchanging light made it difficult to see anything that looked like glowing eyes or whatever and he grew even tenser. The more time they spent searching for the Alpha the more people he could hurt in the meantime. 

He tried to connect with his inner wolf. He needed the animal to show him the way, find the Alpha and get him away from the crowd. His human senses would not do much for him right now, But that also meant calming down the raging animal inside him. He could not shift in the middle of the dancefloor!

But suddenly his animal seemed to have decided that working together was the better way because his eyes flashed and he turned left to see another par of red eyes staring back at him from the back of the room. Liam growled and made his way towards the rogue. Dancing bodies were blocking his way and he had to change his way more than once so that when he reached the place the Alpha had been, the rogue was gone. Liam bit his lip in frustration but then spotted another door leading to another part of the warehouse. 

“Maya already went there.” Sadie had appeared next to Liam and Theo appeared on his other side. “Nolan went around to try and find another way in and use the element of surprise.”

Liam nodded to signaled he had understood her and then opened the door to step into the other, quieter part of the warehouse. It was dark and he looked around, using his Alpha eyes to see. He saw Maya on the stairs leading to the gallery all over the ground floor. She just shrugged, indicating she had lost the Alpha. Nolan was somewhere in the back, Liam heard his heartbeat. Ever’s heartbeat was somewhere there too, she obviously was Nolan’s back up. 

And then suddenly all hell broke loose. The Alpha swung from a higher part of the gallery right in front of Maya and attacked her. She defended herself but Liam only saw her getting pushed over the railing and falling to the ground. The fall would not kill her but from how she landed, she was out of order momentarily. And the Alpha didn’t stop. He jumped and attacked Nolan, ripping his crossbow away and breaking it into two. Ever screamed and tried to push him away with her magic. It made the rogue stumble back a few steps but then he laughed. His face was more feral than human, Liam had rarely seen something like this before. His teeth were bloodied and had he thought the wendigo had looked creepy, that guy killed it by far. His fangs were long, sharp, and now they almost pierced the skin on Nolan’s arm. Ever yanked him back and then the Alpha grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up, just like Nolan with the other hand. Both struggled in his grip and Sadie howled before running towards the Alpha. 

She jumped on his back and bit on his shoulder in an attempt to make him lose his grip. He roared but just shook her off and made her fall to the floor. He squeezed Nolan’s and Ever’s throats again and both struggled to breathe. Liam acted without thinking. He and Theo raced over, Theo jumping the guy and digging his claws into his arm, making the Alpha growl in pain. Liam raked his claws over the rogue’s back, clawing the skin open and this time making him drop Nolan and Ever who were barely conscious at this point. Sadie and Theo fought with Liam now to keep the Alpha restrained but like Liam had feared they were no match for the brutal force of the Alpha.  Not long after he shook off Theo and grabbed Sadie to smash her head against a wall. She slumped to the floor and Liam only registered that she was still breathing but then the Alpha threw off Theo, making him crash to the floor and even slid over it a bit, before spinning around and connecting his fist with Liam’s jaw. 

It hurt and Liam stumbled back, shaking his head to clear the dizziness. He attacked again when he could but the Alpha grabbed his arm and pulled it back, making Liam scream in pain. Next thing he knew, he was roughly pressed against the wall, cheek scraping over it. “I will enjoy watching you while I rip your pack apart. Kill one by one. It will be your fault because you brought them here. And when you are just a sobbing mess, I will kill you, slow and painful. But I will start with your beloved first Beta. I will kill him even slower and he will beg me to finally let him die while all you can do is watch like the weak dog you are.” He snarled into Liam’s ear and Liam struggled but he would only dislocate his shoulder instead of getting free and he howled in anger.

But then the Alpha howled, in pain again, because Theo’s claws dug into his back. He let go of Liam and reached behind to yank Theo away by the back of his shirt. Liam stumbled back and held his bleeding cheek but when he saw the Alpha grabbing Theo, he jumped again. This time, however, the Alpha fended him off, pushing Liam to the floor. Maya was next, having come to her senses again. She tried jumping him from the gallery and she kicked and bit and scratched him but she soon landed next to Liam. They both looked at each other and nodded and then jumped up again to attack the rogue at the same time while Theo was distracting him.

Having now three against one proofed to be a problem for the Alpha and he had some difficulties to ward them off but he was also clever and fast and strong and they hit the ground more often than not. Luckily Ever and Sadie joined them. They also jumped in, Ever trying some telekinetic moves to make him fall but her powers were not strong enough for that. Sadie bit him and scratched his face, making him bleed heavily, but he just howled and scratched Maya’s chest in retaliation. Maya winced in pain and had to let go to hold her bleeding chest. Nolan, a bit further away, had retrieved his crossbow and was pointing it at the Alpha.

The Alpha’s claw shot forward and wrapped around Ever’s neck. Now his claws digger into her throat and Liam recognized the situation. “Stop!” He screamed, “He will rip her throat out!”

His warning worked and his Betas jumped back, Ever struggled and the Alpha grinned. “Your soft heart will be your weakness. You have to make sacrifices.” He taunted Liam and the younger Alpha roared. Him and his Betas had the rogue surrounded and yet it was him who played the shots. 

“I thought you wanted her part of your pack. Can’t do that when you kill her.”

“That’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.” The Alpha told him with a shrug. Ever whimpered and struggled against his grip. One hand dropped and she pulled it in her pocket. When she pulled it back, she threw some black powder at him and he screamed in agony. Mountain ash. His grip dropped her and she hastily scattered away, holding the bleeding cuts on her neck.

The rogue stumbled back, rubbings his eyes and mewling in pain. She had hit him right in the face with her surprise attack and it gave her pack enough momentum to attack again. And this time Liam was sure they could overpower him. But then the Alpha roared loudly, making his ears shrill with the sound, and kicked Sadie away who flew against Nolan and both were on the floor. Maya and Liam were still on him but the Alpha spun around again, warding them off again,  and then he was face to face with Theo. He grinned darkly, grabbed the chimera by the throat and pressed him to the floor. The impact made Theo hiss in pain and he struggled against the tight hold the Alpha had on him. And then Liam witnessed a scene he only ever saw in his nightmares: The Alpha’s claws dug into his anchor’s thorax and immediately blood flowed around his claws and he slowly started dragging his claws down, intending to slice Theo’s chest open. Theo threw his head back and screamed in pain, struggling to get away from this torture. 

Liam reacted on autopilot and his wolf momentarily took over. He jumped to his feet and then towards the two of them. Grabbing the Alpha’s wrist he brutally pulled it back, making his claw slip out of Theo’s flesh and blood splatter on their clothes. Liam roared and pushed the rogue one back while Theo curled onto his side and whimpered in pain, hands pressed against his bleeding chest. Sadie and Nolan were at his side, tried to help him soothe the pain while Liam and the Alpha fought. Both were wolfed out, eyes flashing red, fangs bared. They pushed away from each other, but only to ran towards and then they jumped, grabbing each other’s wrists and measuring their strengths, roaring into each other’s faces. 

You didn’t expect me to not end with a cliffhanger, right? I mean, come on, a little bit of thrill never hurt anyone, right?

[hycrans]

( the cuteST )

a bitch is Tired rn after pulling my usual shit, aka staying up until 5am for no reason only to wake up three hours later to watch bts run, so excuse the seeming lack of enthusiasm lkfdsjglk. hey i’m jules, i’m 20, canadian, and my current means of life rn are chocolate, the x files ( iM LATE IK SFGDJLK ) and 3am you in me listening parties with myself rip !! it’s been almost a month since its release, i need to Relax dammit. i’m a uni student who just got off for christmas break and in love with sowoo so you don’t wanna know the agony that came with picking one over the other without a bit of help. you can hmu on d*scord at HAPPY S*OKJIN DAY#2030 ( don’t.. call me out for not having an updated name since his birthday’s passed, i’m not v bright pls ) if you’d like and this is so boRING, it’s like the life is sucked out of me omg. anyways hyeran, a whole.. other positive muse bc jesus, how many of these do i have rn ?? this is so out of hand man, but nonetheless here’s a bit abt the brat:

- ̗̀ JEON SOMIN, CISFEMALE, SHE/HER ̖́- – have you seen YUN HYERAN? people’ve said the TWENTY TWO year old has been running around the streets of jeju lately, which is odd because aren’t they a BARISTA/MUSIC PRODUCER during the day? anyways, i know they’re known to be EBULLIENT and TRANQUIL but recently i’ve heard they’ve been MAGNANIMOUS and DIFFIDENT, but i could be wrong. ( jules / 20 / gmt-3:30 / she/her )

EDIT: i somehow forgot to mention that she’s.. not sure where she is on the lgbt spectrum but she knows she’s Not Straight JFGDSLKJGK but she’s panromantic so yeah sgjkdl. i’m a whole mess today, i’m sorry lol

yun hyeran, a daegu native with an older and younger brother, an ambivert and an all around baby

tbh i don’t have much of her bg figured out, that’s always the last thing i get to so rip

buT she became involved in music through her father, who studied it in uni and ended up becoming a music instructor with a focus on piano, flute and vocals

her and her mom.. also her older brother, didn’t have the best relationship when she grew older, which seemed to die altogether when her parents divorced and her mom left. but her and her brother’s still exists, it’s just that he’s a bit of a toxic influence on her and she tends to distance herself from him

went to uni in seoul to pursue music like her father ( a daddy’s girl too like ) and found her way into the world of production !! by junior year, she’d transferred out of her original program and majored in that instead and has loved it ever since; she recently graduated

moved to jeju island bc an aunt lived there when she was young and she LOVED to visit, made a few friends there and would always whine abt the next time they could all go see her aunt again. so it made sense for her to live, at least for a little while, in one of her favourite places

she also adores said aunt, her dad’s sister and the maternal figure she Deserves, so she came partially to see her more often

for the time being, she works full-time as a barista at the café just a block from her cute little studio apartment while looking into internships at record labels for her to take on a little further down the line ( no rush bc it’s already quite competitive and she’d rather enjoy what she has going now )

she’s also making something of an income as the creator of an acct on youtube and soundcloud for her music, something she’s had for abt two years now

she’s not even close to making it big yet, and she doesn’t mind if she never works for a moderately to highly popular label — though she should if she wants to get by

among the aesthetic, lo-fi music crowd ( one of those yt accts with a livestream for certain playlists that go on for hours, rip ) where for the most part, it’s personal faves mixed with her own works, and has a substantial following as of now. but has an interest in experimenting, with mashups ( as a lover of them ?? i couldn’t help myself sgflkdsjg ) for example, with a small fear of how that change would be received

this is so short iK, it’s a little infuriating if you ask me ljkgdfjls

in terms of her personality and other things:

she’s a very loyal person, v e r y. while like i said, her relationship with her brother is Not Great, she hasn’t completely given up on him. maybe for the time being, but her being someone who’s open to the idea of people changing for the better somewhere down the line, leaves a bit of room for her to possibly change her mind if he does enough to allow her to consider it

so she can be a bit of a doormat in some cases, it all depends on how she sees the person that determines if that’s the case, but she generally won’t let you off if you’re being dumb/an ass to someone or if she gets advantageous vibes from you for example ( given she can.. be a little naive and is a p gentle soul ) so.. idk fgklsj good luck to the 99% ig ??

she does have a slight dependency on others despite her thinking all signs point to the opposite, and even though her and her mom never rly had a good relationship she still reels from the neglect/abandonment some days so handle her with Care if she deems you a close pal, 

spontaneous tbh, moving to jeju was a little last minute on her part, for one

she’s a little reclusive when focused on something, if she tells you she’s working on a track, it’s essentially a head’s up that you might not see her for a couple of days depending on how soon she gets it done — lowkey that bitch™ who makes up an illness to her boss, so she wouldn’t even show up for work if it’s more than just her fucking around

bc admittedly, a lot of what she posts is fucking around and liking it, her more thought-out and effort packed projects are hidden away on her laptop

a bit insecure with her work and just her general disposition ?? those first few points above mess with her a lot and leave her disheartened so.. my poor child

v strong overall, takes people’s shit and if it gets to her, she gets over it p fast. doesn’t dwell on much and will be courteous to you even if she’s declared you too toxic to stick around 24/7

isn’t exactly one to get angry ?? she’s basically just disappointed or annoyed at best 99% of the time, it takes a lot to get her beyond that

positive, ugh. maybe not sickeningly sweet, but still. kinda explained parts of it above and i’m 95% gone mentally rn, gotta spare that for other little details gsjklf

a cute bean who wants the best for everyone and is also clumsy as absolute fuCK

uhhh

plays piano and bass guitar ( you don’t know how tempted i was to say clarinet bc of jiwoo gjflkgds )

prob had some kind of little amateur rock band with a few music majors and took up bass for the hell of it lmao

loves animals, leans towards cats or big dogs. corgis and those little spaniels get a pass tho

speaking of, she has a cute little calico kitten ( i’m shit with pet names so that’s tba rgkjls ) who she Loves, her baby !!

sweater, ball cap and basic t shirt junkie

those glasses somin’s been wearing a lot of lately ?? hyeran wears them too but.. actually needs them, not even close to a fashion statement

doesn’t don much makeup unless someone’s dragging her to a party or something

thaT’S when she looks a little more like a classy early twenties bitch.. which lbr, is hard enough when adulthood is a whole Train Wreck for the most part LGFJSDL

not a heavy drinker, but the textbook definition of a lightweight so.. she’s always praying for anyone who has to deal with her dgfjklsfg

lattes are her livelihood

a bit of a hopeless romantic, god help her

her favourite subject in school was literature/writing and reads quite a bit on her breaks at the café

favourite music genres.. it’s easier to say what she doesn’t like/finds boring, which is prob country and some aspects of edm/pop, not into punk/metal either

these are super basic but.. i’ve gotta get myself together for the day so this’ll do for now i hope ??

so if you’d like to plot, im me here or on d*scord ! i prefer the latter personally, but whichever’s easiest for you. i have a list of a few of the specific wcs i have in mind ( for the time being, catch my lazy ass avoid listing all the basic ones and revising a few i have on an old blog ) for hyeran up now, which you can find here, so just lmk if any of them appeal to you !!

[kateanddevinreview]

A Christmas Prince

In Which Kate and Devin review Netflix’s new Christmas movie and utterly fail at avoiding spoilers.

Kate: So where do we start?! Devin: Pick a movie to talk about? Kate: Top of the list is Christmas Prince. It was terrible; from start to finish it was filled with cliches and things that didn't make sense Devin:  I liked the movie! Kate: You can like the movie that is fine. I enjoyed watching the movie? But only because it was so bad. Devin: I really like the izombie girl and she was super weird in this, almost soft spoken or something? Kate: She was weird, but she made it more enjoyable to me just because I like her. Devin: I would probably have been much less forgiving of this movie without her Kate: Prince was handsome, but I've already forgotten his name. Devin: Really? I thought he was eh. Kate: Not as handsome as in the next movie (spoliers!), but he was very princely I thought. Devin: I mean prince looked very british? But I don't find that attractive Kate: I guess I don't mean particularly attractive to me, but generically attractive. As in, I think more people would say he was very attractive than would say he was average. His acting was pretty blah though. His sister's hair was on point? Devin: Fair. She reminded me of the bitchy girl in willy wonka though. Kate: OMG, yes. She was very reminiscent of the bitchy girl. Devin: Was she the bitchy girl? Kate: I don't think she was? But definitely reminded me of her Devin: Hold on I am imdb-ing her Kate: Holding Devin:  Okay well searching “willy wonka and the chocolate factory” failed, because that is not the title. And you're right it's a totally different girl. Devin: Moving on, loved the queen lady, possibly because she's in it for all of 5 minutes. Kate: She was pretty good, very severe looking. But you could tell it was grief? (Spoiler: the king is dead) Devin: It's in the plot description, I don't think it's a spoiler. Kate: Oh is it? I didn't read the plot description. Devin: Also he's been dead for like a year Kate: Well fine Devin: No okay I lied. But it is revealed in like the first 10 minutes. Kate: It is a very major point in the plot. Kate: So actor choice I give it 8 christmas trees. Generally they all fit in and izombie girl made me willing to watch it. Devin: Yeah, out of 10 I'd say 8 is probably where I land too. Kate: Cool, consensus! Devin: I still really love that she has both family and friends and contacts them throughout the movie, like a normal person. Oh! And I liked that she called her boss to be like "hey, so, uh, what should I do?" Kate: That's true, the movie gets bonus points for concocting a real life around their protagonist. Devin: This is not a spoiler I don't think? But what the hell was with the scene where he saves her from wolves? Kate: Yes! That fit in nowhere? Wait, I mean, actually, when you think about how fast the plot moved, it progressed over only 2 weeks and ends with (Definitely spoiler) him proposing. Kate: Maybe attack by wolves was the instigating ‘falling in love quickly’ event? All the adrenaline? Devin: Oh yeah the timeline of this movie makes no sense. Also: how did she saddle and steal that horse if she was going to fall off so easy? Kate: How did she know how to ride a horse at all? Devin: Right? Kate: Clearly we are missing some important backstory here Devin: Was she from New York? Or do I just assume that's where all movie characters from a city live? Kate: I think the second, but I don't actually know where she was from. Her friend being super gay does suggest New York to me though.   Kate: Back to ratings, I'm going to give this one a low grade on Christmas-iness. I think the plot could have progressed absolutely the exact same way without being set over Christmas, using a birthday or something. I give it only 1 reindeer. Do they ever say how the King dies? Devin: I assume either illness or age… actually I feel like the king got cancer, but that could be 100% a lie. Kate: Doesn't matter because it’s not christmas related. Devin: Cold. Did you think the mom was old to have a daughter as young as Emily? I can't actually remember how old she looked. Kate: I really wondered about that. She looked a little old but my dad has a friend who got pregnant at 50, so physically it’s possible. And the sister was what, between 9-12? Devin: Probably Kate: So if mom was 55 in the movie that seems doable Devin: Ok. Also the king was a dick "hehe I will continue to lie to my only son about his parentage, EVEN THOUGH I KNOW I AM DYING AND ALSO HE IS A GROWN ASS MAN AND IT AFFECTS THE POLITICS OF MY KINGDOM and then I will HIDE THIS VERY IMPORTANT LEGALLY BINDING DECREE to be found after my death and definitely for sure followed even though honestly no one has to listen to a dead guy. And the only hint they have is my shitty riddle poetry" Kate: I still very much doubt the legality of the paper "it has the king's seal on it" no thank you. That's not how I like my laws made Devin: Like doesn't he need that notarized or looked at by a council or some shit? Also, it's not even a decree, it just says "I love my son lots, just not enough to tell him the truth". Kate: And if he did, wouldn't that person have come forward when he died? So fucking weird, he was a dick, you're right. Devin: What modern day country is this anyway? Kate: A shitty European one. Devin: Like, fake country, yes. But I assumed they were using maybe England as a template or something. Kate: It seemed a little like they were. But a much smaller country than England? Devin: Are there still ruling monarchies? In real life? Kate: Yes? Saudi Arabia? Devin: Hmm, I don't know enough about Saudi Arabian law to determine if death bed messages hidden in acorns are legally binding. Kate: Well, one of their princes just murdered a bunch of their other princes, so probably not. Kate: Oh hey, apparently Monaco is a country that still has a ruling monarch. Devin: Huh Kate: There are others but I don't think we need to get into all that. Just go read the wiki people. Devin: I mentioned while I was watching, but I still resent her dramatic race to stop the coronation when she easily could have called the palace. Kate: You have cellphones! Use them! Devin: It would have saved at *least* half an hour. Kate: Trope! That goes in the trope category. I'm giving the plot like 2 eggnogs, maybe tropes like 4 jingle bells. Devin: Yeah the trope meter was off the scale in this movie. Kate: Like, I liked some of the tropes? Which is why it’s a little higher for me. But damn. All of them. Devin: Tropes can be good, they just threw a lot of them in there. Kate: They made a list of tropes and then made a movie around them. Devin: Clumsy female lead. Kate: Ugh. Hate that. Devin: "hehe oops, was this OBVIOUSLY EXPENSIVE VASE important?" Kate: Everything in a castle is expensive! Sick sister Devin: Mean kid just wants friendship. Kate: Ugh, the mean kid/friendship one is another pet peeve. Devin:  She goes from "I will kill you in your sleep" to "I trust you implicitly" in, like, a single scene. Kate: The sister warmed up to her in like 4 hours! That's not how it works! Have them bond over something silly right to begin with! Many movies do that well. Devin: If you need them to be friends for the plot, just don't make her mean to start! skip straight to friendship! Kate: Yes! Dead father. Dead mother Devin: Secret adoption Kate: Father who owns a restaurant that you have to go work at. Devin: Shaved his beard and suddenly she thinks he's hot Kate: Oh yes! Secretly not a playboy? Devin: Also he stole her taxi for seemingly no reason. Kate: I didn't really get that bit to be honest. Devin: Just to be a dick? Kate: Yeah, that was such a dick move. That was never addressed and she just forgave completely just because he's a prince. Devin: It's like they couldn't decide until halfway through if they wanted him to be nice or not. Also wanting to bone is not the same as love. Kate: Very true. It seemed like it just went on and on to me. I'd be like, surely this movie is wrapping up soon. And then it kept going. Devin: I definitely shouted at you "dear god look in the acorn!" for a solid hour of that movie Kate: You did. Over and over. You picked up on it the very first scene and you were cooking at the same time! Devin: It was so obviously a box! I have honestly no idea where she got the birth certificate from though. Or how bitchy love rival girl found it. I never learned her name Kate: Oh, so she literally just found the birth certificate in a desk at the lodge they went to after the wolves. It might have been a sort of secret compartment? But not very secret. Devin: lol what? Kate: And then bitchy rival girl searched her rooms. Devin: Rude Kate: Which was a huge invasion of privacy. Devin: If I was a secret reporter I would definitely lock that away. Kate: Right! They were like, spread out on her bed. Devin: Then again a 10 year old cracked her laptop password Kate: hahaha, I forgot that part, so dumb, just so dumb. Devin: She's honestly a terrible reporter Kate: Yeah, plot definitely only gets 2 eggnogs. I mean, she wasn't really a reporter. Devin: She sort of was? Kate: She was an editor who wanted to be a reporter. Devin: Yeah, fair. Kate: But clearly she was better at writing than reporting I would say. Devin: She did get the assignment. Kate: Cause no one else was available! Devin: What percentage of her getting that assignment was her boss hoping the prince would sleep with her? Kate: At least 75% Devin: "You lied your way into the palace? Goooooood. I stuffed some condoms in your luggage. No, no reason. Wink." Kate: OMG! Her boss was such a sleeze. Or at least it felt that way to me. Devin: I mean wasn't it a tabloid magazine? Kate: It must have been. Devin: iZombie was very naive. Kate: Soooooooo naive. How? She's an adult. Devin: A very sheltered adult. Kate: She works for a tabloid! Devin: Ok I think maybe it's final scoring time Kate: Ok, you wrap. Tell me how you feel? Devin: Probably a 3/10 for plot, 8/10 for actor choices, 4/10 for acting, uh, like 2/10 for Christmas-ness, 6/10 for ending? 2/10 for tropes? Kate: I think I’d go a little lower on the ending - 4 gift bags. It was pretty fucking weird, but it did end happy? And that's important in a christmas movie. Devin: It was weird, but I feel like I am very forgiving as long as it's happy. Split the difference and say 5? Kate: Sure, 5 gift bags. Devin: What would you give it overall? Kate: Overall it’s not a movie I would recommend unless you specifically like one of the following: the girl from izombie, movies about fake royal families or .... I can't think of a third thing Devin: Acorns Kate: Or acorns - if you really have a thing for super obvious plot devices, this movie is for you! Overall possibly 4 christmas's I suppose Devin: Aww, so low? Kate: Yeah, sorry. Devin: No you're fine. Kate: How many christmas's would you give the Christmas Prince? Devin: I was thinking a 6. Kate: I think 6 is perfectly acceptable. If you'd given it an 8 I would question. Devin: Never. Kate: Oh no! We forgot to judge the title! Devin: It's a terrible title. 0 sleigh bells. Kate: Yeah, 0 sleigh bells for the title. I think it was so we would realize it was supposed to be a christmas movie. Devin: Probably. The Christmas [Noun] is just so boring. Kate: The Christmas King would have made more sense? Devin: Hmm, I do like the Christmas King better. Kate: Because of the coronation plot line. That we didn't get into at all in this review. But whatever, go watch the movie. Devin: Yeah. Kate: You know it has something to do with acorns. Devin: Or don't watch it. Kate: Or don't.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

THE COURAGE OF MINUTES

Maybe options should be replaced with a new protocol. If you're absolutely terrified of starting a startup is really hard. Well, that's the thing about counterintuitive ideas: they contradict your intuitions. They're fuel for the fire that starts with liking the founders. Actually what it says is that circuit densities will double every 18 months. The owner wanted the student to pay for the smells he was enjoying. And the pages don't have the monopoly on power they once did, precisely because they can't afford to spend a lot of ambitious people, age 20 is not the center of the universe—not even the protagonists: we're just the latest model vehicle our genes have constructed to travel around in. At least, I think you'd be surprised at how far you could get. I was a kid. So you'll break even if you trade half your company for anything, whether it's money or an employee or a deal with another company, the better. Not understanding that investors view investments as bets combines with the ten page paper due, then ten pages you must write, even if they're supposed to be what Google turned out to be Microsoft's last victim?

If the present range of productivity is 0 to 100, introducing a multiple of 10 increases the range from 0 to 1000. There is definitely an aspect of a band reunion to Y Combinator. Well, we humans are as conspicuously different from other people's, because a that's not what smart investors care about in a brief presentation, and come prepared with a copy of the server software running on your laptop. 11. Ask yourselves, Do we want to sell the company right now and b you're sufficiently likely to get an offer at all, and also New York, where people walk, but not great. You can use the cram schools to show you where most of the other appurtenances of authority. As organizations get smaller, this approaches taking every person and keeping just the good ones. When you reach that point, ideas that will seem to investors no more than an instance of the Dunning-Kruger effect. What happened? One day, when the stock was trading around $200, I sat down and calculated what I thought was a huge fleet of toy cars, but they'd be dwarfed by the number of toys my nephews have. They won't be replaced wholesale.

And what are the universities thinking? Even at the morning-after valuations of March and April 2001, the people running Yahoo might have realized sooner how important search was. Clothes are important, as all nerds can sense, though they may not realize they're startup ideas. If you try too hard to conceal your rawness—by trying to seem corporate, or pretending to know about stuff you like; don't try to pretend either that you're further along than you are. If I met an undergrad who knew all about convertible notes and employee agreements and God forbid class FF stock, I wouldn't think here is someone who is way ahead of their peers drain away after making an asshole remark. Surely at some point in the future and then ask yourself how to get you to the point where much of what you're measuring is artifacts of the way to become an expert on startups, but to be an expert on startups. Most startups face similar challenges, so we don't give them more than four or five numbers, and only give them numbers specific to you. Y Combinator I used to joke that our function was to tell people what was new and otherwise stay out of the way things were in the old days, when Google was true to its own slightly aspy self. The exciting thing is, all you need are the people.

And if it's not impossible but simply very hard, it might be a good plan to have Jobs speak for 9 minutes and have Woz speak for a minute or so. For all its power, Silicon Valley has a great weakness: the paradise Shockley found in 1956 is now one giant parking lot. Now you could make a great city anywhere, if you could get to the point where much of what you're measuring is artifacts of the fakeness. It was not so easy 25 years ago. How do you seem like a winner or a loser, and once their opinion is set it's hard to change directions. Though simple solutions are better, they don't want to live in a town where the smart people are. Surely at some point to investors who didn't get it and turned them down.

It's because liberal cities tolerate odd ideas, and smart people by definition have odd ideas. It was a place people went in search of something new. But vice versa as well. A market takes every organization and keeps just the good ones. The answer is: not much. When you judge people that way, you tend to get cram schools—which they did in Ming China and nineteenth century England just as much as he's running Facebook. At first there's a list of potential exam questions and work out the answers in advance. It's usually a mistake for a promising company less than a year old even to talk to users, or negotiate with other companies, or deal with other people's broken code. A market takes every organization and keeps just the good ones. That was a big problem for me when I had no money. But it's not because liberals are smarter that this is so, because if you start a startup by just writing code. When you first try skiing and you want to discover things that have been overlooked till now, one really good place to look is in our blind spot: in our natural, naive belief that it's all about us.

Well, that's the thing about counterintuitive ideas: they contradict your intuitions. Our family didn't wait for Apple TV. If you have a taste for genuinely interesting problems, indulging it energetically is the best way to prepare yourself to start a startup, or start a real startup and not be a student? So they invested in new startups that promised to be the next Yahoo. Because another of the characteristic mistakes of young founders is to go through the motions of starting a startup is really hard. The reason Yahoo didn't care about a technique that extracted the full value of traffic was that advertisers were already overpaying for it. What made it not a Ponzi scheme. No one except the other founders gets to see the rehearsals. All they knew was that they were experts in technology.

But startups can learn an important lesson from the second one. The popular image of the visionary is someone with a clear view of the future, it will be at the end of the Bubble, but they are at least declining gracefully. But no one seems able to foresee that, not even older, more experienced founders. The first time I visited Google, they had about 500 people, the same number Yahoo had when I went to work there. So how do you get them to move? But although I can't explain in the general case. It was a place people went in search of something new. It's the same principle as incremental development: start with a lowball offer, just to see if you'll take it. But there's more going on than that. Maybe it's just because knowledge about them hasn't permeated our culture yet. At Rehearsal Day, one of the most powerful.

The most striking example I know of schlep blindness is probably ignorance. If someone who had to process payments online knew how painful the experience was. But they would do even better to examine the underlying principle. You'll also have a provisional roadmap of how to make a startup that's actually doing well, meaning growing fast, and then simply tell investors so. I don't mean play mind games with yourself to boost your confidence. If you try convincing investors before you've convinced yourself, you'll be wasting both your time. They make up some plausible-sounding idea, raise money at a good valuation, rent a cool office, hire a bunch of hackers. This is also true of starting a startup is like a brutally fast depth-first search.

Thanks to Dan Giffin, Raph Levien, Sam Altman, Geoff Ralston, Robert Morris, David Hornik, Dan Siroker, and John Collison for sparking my interest in this topic.