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#[ just... unpacking 😬 ]

rebouks · 6 months

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Previous // Next

[water running] Robin: Mama-.. am I weird? Courtney: Everyone’s weird in their own way, that’s what makes us special. [Robin knew his mother was lying, but she was also telling the truth; as ever, he struggled to pick apart her words] Courtney: Did you have fun with Jude tonight? Robin: Kinda-.. he wants to live with Oreo. Courtney: I’m sure he does! Robin: When’re we getting another brother or sister? Courtney: Uh-.. I’m not sure. Robin: Soon? Courtney: Probably not for a while yet, honey. Robin: Oh… Courtney: We’ve got our hands full with you n’ the twins for now, huh? [Robin shrugged, his stomach dropping; he shouldn’t have said anything] Courtney: One day though… [Robin wasn’t sure how, but he’d managed to upset his mother, again. He glanced at Lou, at the floor, his shoes-.. anything but her] Courtney: Do you still want a bath? [Her words were calm, but the tumultuous knot of emotions she buried within her soul weighed just as heavily upon his. His chest tightened, his head hurt, it was too hot, Lou started yowling-…] Courtney: Robin? [Robin wrung his hands, trying to remember what his mother had asked] Courtney: Do you want a bath before bed..? [He did, but not from her, not now-.. how was he supposed to say that without making things worse? He couldn’t] Courtney: You’ve got five minutes to decide whilst I get changed, okay? [Despite the familiar ache in his mother’s heart at his sudden refusal to communicate, Robin remained silent] Courtney: Okay…

#ts4 #sims 4 #simblr #ts4 story #sims story #forever in between #fib #courtney finch #robin finch #ᓚᘏᗢ #ough #there's so much to unpack here #but.. maybe it's not time to understand it fully yet #just like poor robin #and kinda cookie too tbh..#😬

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raainberry · 7 months

Note

As NAYEON'S birthday and her giving us "No problem" live performance!

You gotta try It!! (If not busy ofc)

Idol;Im Nayeon. Song "No problem " by Nayeon

No Problem

« An absolute bop that Nayeon sang specifically for ME to enjoy. »

Nayeon x gn!reader

Fluff

synopsis - a wave of fatigue pushes you to cancel on an early morning date with Nayeon. she doesn’t mind though.

wordcount - 1.5K

A/N - You are absolutely right anon I did try, but it took me a week to get inspired and I don’t like to force things so here we are SORRY, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO NAYEON THO 😬🎉

Maybe putting your bed against the window wasn’t the brightest idea you’ve ever had.

It was cute a few months ago, when spring brought its prettiest days. You enjoyed the sunlight, and the breeze on the hotter ones, reading books while your girlfriend napped in your lap.

Now that summer came to an end, though, fall announced itself with a few rain drops falling through the window before landing on your skin.

You retracted your leg into the covers, groaning to yourself as the light forced you to open your eyes.

You stared at the open window, feeling the same breeze that helped cooling down the room from the late summer heat of the night before.

The thick, grey clouds were nice to look at. Somewhat of a new and more interesting sight after weeks of clear blue skies, one you found comfort in.

It would have been cute now too if you’d just closed the window.

You sighed, sitting up enough to close it before letting yourself fall back against the pillows. You were too tired to stay up any longer.

It had been a very long week, filled with overtime and whatnot. It was all a blur, you barely knew what happened, but you sure were feeling the aftermath…

You looked at the time on your phone. 8:32am. You were supposed to meet up with Nayeon in a couple of hours. She wanted to check out this new café that opened down her street, but with the looks of things on your side, it looked like it would have to wait…

“No problem.”

You smiled at your girlfriend’s words as if she could see it through the phone.

“You’re too good for me.” You sighed dramatically, making her laugh.

“Why? What did I do?” She asked in between giggles.

“I just called you to cancel on something you’ve been looking to do, I feel awful yet you’re not even a little bit upset about it.” You explained.

“Y/N, you’re not feeling well, the least I can do is be understanding. It’s not like you’re canceling for no reason.” She assured. “I will be upset if we don’t see each other, though.”

You smiled once more, “I was just about to ask you to come over instead.”

“And I’m already on my way. We’re so perfect for each other.” She joked, making you laugh.

“Just hurry.”

And just that she did.

You barely had time to shower that she was already making herself comfortable under your roof.

“Y/N!”

“Yes, Nayeon, how can I help you?” You asked, rounding the corner into the living room where she was unpacking some takeaway bag.

The sound of your voice made her turn to you with the brightest grin, matching her eyes, and that’s all you remember before she crashed into your arms, hugging you tight enough to show you how much she’d missed you.

And just in case that wasn’t enough, she voiced it.

“I missed you so much!”

“It’s only been a week.” You chuckled, downplaying your own feelings.

“Yes, and look in what state I get you back.” She pointed out. “All worn out and not fun. You haven’t even kissed me yet.”

She pouted, removing any want and need to tease her from your mind.

“Well, you didn’t give me a chance to.” You argued.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance before puckering her lips. That earned her a long awaited kiss as you couldn’t resist the sight.

“You’re lucky you’re cute enough.” You smirked, earning yourself a push as she turned back to the takeaway bag.

“What did you bring?” You asked, looking over her shoulders as you wrapped your arms around her waist.

“Coffee from the new place.” She smiled. “You couldn’t go so I brought it to you.”

The gesture warmed your heart. She was so sweet to you, you felt undeserving at times like these. You knew she didn’t blame you, nor did she mind it, but you were still mad at yourself for not being able to push through this fatigue.

It’s been going for a few weeks now, but as you barely had time to recover, it only piled up with time.

Although it was new to you, Nayeon was familiar with the feeling. That’s why she was so understanding. You knew that, but still… She still made sure to include you in her packed schedule. She still made sure to show up.

You usually did too, which is why you couldn’t help but feel bad for not being able to return the effort this time around.

“You wanted to go that bad?” You frowned, feeling even worse.

“Yeah, it was so cute, Y/N you would have loved it! There were flowers and green everywhere, and the barista was so nice.” She gushed, turning around in your embrace to face you.

You put on a smile as quickly as you could, not wanting to bring her mood down on top of everything else.

“I’ll go with you next time, I promise.”

That promise, along with your smile, seemed good enough for her to overlook the negative.

She saw right through that smile you offered her, but she knew you didn’t want to sulk. She knew you wanted to cheer up just as much as she did, and that was her job.

So she simply smiled back, and handed you the coffee she’d ordered for you.

“Your favorite.”

“Thank you.” You let go of her waist to grab the cup, giving it a smell before bringing it to your lips.

“How is it?” She asked, curious. “Good, right?”

You nodded approvingly, “So good. I might just go live with you, and go there every day.”

“Very good excuse. I’ve taught you well.” She smiled, pinching your cheeks.

She loved to find silly things to use as an excuse to be even closer to you. The first one was the cold as you started dating last winter, which she used to steal one one of your sweaters. The last one was your place being closer to her workplace than her own apartment, which she used to sleep over last week, and a lot of other times.

“So what do you want to do?”

“I just want to spend the day with you doing nothing…” You said truthfully, inviting her to join you on the couch with open arms.

She happily accepted the invitation, and practically jumped into your arms where she felt herself get squeezed against your chest almost immediately.

“Will that make you feel better?” She asked, freeing herself away enough to look at you.

Her gaze held such care for you, all you could do was smile out of shyness. You couldn’t believe she she felt the same way you did about her.

It made you all giddy, leaving you with nothing but the urge to kiss her. It was the only way to express what you felt for her in those moments.

So you brushed a hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear before placing a kiss on her lips, where you tasted a bit of her own coffee.

“You have no idea.”

“Then it works for me.” She smiled, resting her head back against your chest.

The two of you ended up cuddling on the couch all day, alternating between lazy activities such as watching and commenting dramas, as well as napping. Sometimes, one of you would fall asleep during an entire episode, but only because you knew the other would catch you up on what you missed.

It was all simple, really, and maybe that’s what made you love that day so much. All you did was appreciate her presence, relishing in the warmth her body and mind provided in this cooling weather.

It was healing almost, how easy it was to be with her.

People painted love as this complicated, unreasonable thing. An idea you agreed with as you often found yourself wondering what even the point of it was.

But that was before she came along.

Sure, it sounds cliché, but that’s another idea about love that you agreed with. More and more, every day since you met her, and that day wasn’t an exception.

You went to bed with a heart even fuller of love for her than in the morning, and when she asked to spend the night again, you thought it would explode.

The stars were hiding far behind the clouds that night, but your window somehow made it all look pretty anyway.

The two of you stared up at the sky, enjoying how close you were to each other as if you hadn’t been glued together for ten hours straight.

At this hour, you usually talked about random things, emptying whatever weighed on your mind lately. Those conversations carried you through the night until sunrise a few times, but tonight was not going to be one of those.

Not a word had been spoken in a long while when you felt yourself drifting away. You fought it, wanting to stay in the moment for as long as you could, but it seemed like Nayeon was rooting for you to lose.

You rested your head on her shoulder, an arm wrapped securely around you while the other allowed her hand to wander around your scalp. She loved to play with your hair, she found it as relaxing as you did.

Good thing you loved it too.

You never stood a chance against this peaceful setting.

“I love you.” You mumbled, needing to get it off your chest before sleep knocked you out.

“I love you too.” She smiled, leaving a kiss on your cheek.

“Thank you for today.” You mumbled again, this time you sounded half gone, which amused her.

“No problem.” She said, squeezing you a little tighter.

Needless to say, you went to sleep with a smile that day.

And every day after that.

How couldn’t you with a love as easy as this one.

#nayeon x reader #twice nayeon #twice x reader #twice imagines #twice #im nayeon #kpop x reader

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delopsia · 3 days

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Not sure if you’ve answered this before…but who’s the most desperate for it when Bob gets back from deployment?

I feel like it’s Rhett and he’s an absolute menace until he gots Bob inside him. He teases and pushes bobs buttons until it happens, riding that fine line of getting denied for being so awful but Bob can’t resist. But after one orgasm each then Rhett gets punished while Bob takes care of reader but lets be honest, he was craving a punishment too.

I...done got carried away 😬 oops

A part of me is inclined to say that Bobby himself is the most desperate of the three; he's just not as vocal about it. For the past several months, Rhett and Reader have, at the very least, had each other to play with, but Bob? He's been crammed on a ship, in a tiny room full of people, and into an even tinier bunk bed.

The most intimate touch he's had came from his own rushed hand while in the shower, and the only thing he's seen of Reader and Rhett have been the occasional photos and videos that they've sent. Some erotic, some mundane, it's a true mix.

And maybe he'd get found out a little faster if Rhett wasn't so damn distracting. Leaning up from the back seat and letting his breath fan out against Bob's pale neck, pressing his palm to the small of Bob's back when they step through a door. He even slips into those cute, pastel pink shorts when they get home, long legs and thick thighs on perfect display, lounging in bed while Bob fusses with unpacking.

The Reader knew he was going to do this, not because Rhett Abbott is a predictable man (though he usually is), but because they jokingly orchestrated this several weeks before. And that's why they keep distracting Bob just enough to keep him from snapping on the spot, stringing him out until their dinner plans are over. It works so well that they reckon he might last through a movie or two.

But then Rhett mistakenly drops something and bends down at just the right angle to brush against Bobby's crotch, and Bob's patience shatters.

It wasn't even Rhett's intention to set him off. Not like that, at least, but it's hard to argue with being bent over the arm of the couch. Maybe Bobby finds a cute, heart-shaped plug when he yanks down those goddamned pastel shorts. Maybe there are lingering marks from when he and the Reader had a little fun before they headed to the airport.

Rhett's at his prettiest when he's being railed from behind. A hand tangled in his hair, forcing his head up, his arms trembling on either side of the Reader, hot breath on their chest, nothing but choked noises and mindless babbles. It's been so long since the Reader last watched his tongue loll out of his mouth, panting like a damn dog.

But the Reader has gone and incriminated themselves, and though there's a brief shower intermission, they find themselves bent over the kitchen sink. Head in Rhett's lap, feeling the way his hands roam across their naked back while Bobby pushes into them. A sharper pair of eyes might notice Bob's own poorly hidden desperation, but those aren't in the room right now. Too distracted by the Reader's whine and the soft smack of skin on skin.

It's not until morning that Rhett and Reader realize how damn bad Bob's got it. Hell, they're still snuggled together, blinking away the sleepiness in their eyes when a faint squelch catches their ears. Bobby, in his own little world, carefully fucking himself on his own fingers.

Those cheeks twinge with pink when he opens his eyes to find an audience, but shame is something he hasn't known in years. Rhett's sore, and the Reader isn't in the mood to fight with that strap-on, but it's hard to resist digging out Bob's favorite toy. Snuggling up on either side of him, taking turns slowly fucking him with it. But that's not enough either.

And it's a good thing that everyone took time off because it takes a damn week to wring him dry. Even then, Rhett reckons Bob might jump his bones every time he slips into those tiny little shorts.

#robert bob floyd #rhett abbott #bob floyd x reader x rhett abbott #delgato's asks #hawthorn au

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mybiasisexo · 5 months

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Entangled - Part 9

Pairing: Chanyeol x f.Reader Chapter Warnings: Alcohol Consumption | Language take a shot whenever you see the f word smh Word Count: 8.3k Author Notes: So...Im sorry 😬? But aye, what's a story without a beach chapter, am I right?? I can't believe how close we are to the finish line. I think we have 3 chapters left ??? give or take. wooow will I actually finish a story for the first time in my life?? (like a real one not just a lil scenario haha). Sorry for the late update, I was gonna post on yeols bday but thought this wasnt a great present lmfaooo As always, dont be shy with letting me know your thoughts on the chapter, a def will need to know how you all feel at the end of this one 😮‍💨. Thank you to everybody still rocking with the story, it means sooo much to me 💕 and give our boy chanyeol some loooove MWAH!!!

It doesn’t take Seulgi and you long to change and head down to the beach. Being able to see the guys from up in your room, you join them quickly.

They got their hands on a grill somehow, and you find Jongdae already cooking on it, beer in one hand.

“Already looking like a dad, Dae,” Seulgi announces in greeting, taking in his unbuttoned green Hawaiian shirt, oversized sunglasses, and fisherman’s hat. He grins brightly and rewards her with a fresh piece of juicy meat.

Beside Jongdae and the grill sits a long table covered with food, drinks, and a bluetooth speaker currently playing chill R&B. A little further behind him is a blue canopy to block the blazing sun from your sensitive skin, chairs littered underneath it.

This area of the beach is privately owned, for hotel residents only. Despite how large the hotel is, only a few other families dot the shore, all far enough away that your little party is practically secluded.

You drop your bag onto a chair and dig into it, pulling out a bottle of sunscreen. You rub it into any skin of yours exposed before walking out of the canopy, holding it up for everyone to see. “Who needs some?”

Sehun and Jongin come running towards you, both only wearing swim trunks. You suck your teeth, their backs are probably already screaming at them.

Jongin gets to you first. You turn him around and begin to apply the protective lotion onto his back, where it will be hard for him to reach.

“We missed you last night,” he says.

“I know,” you reply. For some reason, your throat constricts, dragging your voice down to a deep mumble. “I’m sorry for leaving. I just….”

“I understand,” he says, patting one of your hands. Throwing his head back, he tosses you a sweet grin. You return his smile before handing him the bottle so that he can cover the rest of himself.

With Jongin preoccupied, Sehun makes his way over, already trying to get a read on you. He understands the language of your body enough to fill in blanks you don’t even know are empty.

“Good afternoon,” you greet, keeping your voice neutral.

“He’s in the water,” is his reply.

“Who?” Damn this man. He’s good.

He scoffs. “Please, you’ve been scanning the area non stop since you’ve arrived. Baekhyun had to drag him out as soon as he got here. He was getting pretty worked up about something. I’m assuming it was the fact you weren’t here.”

“Weird,” is your convincing response. You push his arm, leading him to turn around so that you can attempt to save him from skin cancer.

“Weird, indeed.” Despite not being able to see you, his curious gaze can still be felt. “Makes me wonder what happened after you left the reception.”

“Not something I really want to talk about.” You wince, knowing you’ve slipped up and said too much. The simple sentence bares a lot to unpack, and Sehun loves other people’s dirty laundry.

But, in Sehun fashion, he doesn’t push. It’s one thing you love about him. Instead, he faces you and grabs the sunscreen, silently lotioning the rest of his body. When he’s done he reaches over to you, pulling at the black kimono you had meticulously put on over your swimsuit, to return the favor.

“Sehun!”

He yanks the thin fabric and it falls off your shoulders. You both freeze. He only lifts an eyebrow as his eyes rake down the expansion of your exposed skin littered in harsh dark bruises. His gaze lingers for an uncomfortably long time. You want to pull away, but find yourself paralyzed, a mouse caught in the stare of a hungry snake.

“Stop staring.”

The voice is gruff. A wet hand pulls at your arm, ripping the kimono from Sehun’s frozen hand. You stumble backwards until you hit a chill wetness that makes you hiss as it soaks into your back. Sehun’s eyes are the only thing to move as they shift to the person protectively hovering behind you. His expression is cool, but you catch the way his eyes alight in amusement. Swallowing thickly, you work the courage to see who’s caught his attention….

Chanyeol stops glaring at Sehun long enough to spin you around so that you’re facing each other. With gentle fingers, he fixes your pullover, maneuvering it so that it’s covering your neck, hiding most of the damage.

He clicks his tongue in dismay. “This won’t do.”

“I have a shirt,” you inform in a small voice. “It doesn’t have a collar though.”

“One second.” Chanyeol walks away, no longer blocking the radiant view of crashing teal waves, powdery sand, and miles of blue sky. White clouds speckle the troposphere, the negative image of your neck and chest. Off to your right, Sehun still stands, a glorious statue made of pale marble.

You can’t bring yourself to acknowledge his presence.

Chanyeol returns. In his hands is the ugly Hawaiian shirt Jongdae was wearing.

You become aware of the rashguard covering his torso. The collar is high, covering the base of his neck where any hickeys can be hidden, although you can just barely see the start of one peeking out. You curse yourself for not thinking of buying one.

“May I?” He gently asks. Is that not how he asked to strip you last night? The reminder takes your voice, as does the reserved look in his eyes. He’s testing the water, trying to see where you both stand at the moment. You nod, allowing him access to touch you, lost in his grim expression.

Gently, ever so gently, his fingers brush over your shoulders, sneaking under the thin garment. You battle a shiver as he lifts the back of his hands, knocking the fabric off with his knuckles. You roll back your shoulders, helping him make the cover cascade onto the sand below.

Chanyeol’s bright eyes wander over your flesh. He grunts in satisfaction at the sight of the marks he’s made, pride coloring his features. And you’re transfixed, gulping back saliva flooding your mouth like high tide. Your breathing grows erratic, fingers itching to touch him in return. Apparently that tension hasn’t fully gone away. Looks like you’ll be attracted to him for life.

You want to say something, want to voice an excuse to get your hands on him, but a sharp whistle cuts through the air before you can speak, breaking the spell Chanyeol has you falling under. You blink away your thirst, remembering where you are, of the audience you have.

“Looks like you got into some fun last night!” Jongdae, the culprit of the whistle, points out in a yell.

You’re now hyper aware of all your friends. Baekhyun, who you’re just now noticing, sits in the shallow part of the water where the waves roughly push him, dressed identically to Chanyeol. He’s looking in your general direction, squinting against the sun to see what all the commotion is about. Seulgi stands beside Jongdae. She’s in the middle of applying sunscreen, one of her legs lifted like a flamingo. She doesn’t have to say anything for you to hear her ‘oh shit’, wobbling as she balances on that one leg. Sehun is still staring right next to you, but the whistle was able to jolt him back from stone. Then there is Jongin, who jogs back to where everyone is congregated to curiously see what is going on.

Being the only one moving, your head spins over to him, seeing how his mouth slacks and his eyes widen in shock.

“What happened?” He asks, concerned.

Embarrassed, you snatch the shirt out of Chanyeol’s grip, rushing to put it on so that everyone will stop staring at you like you just told them you murdered someone.

“Mind your business,” you snap. You regret it instantly when Jongin’s face falls like a kicked puppy. It can’t be helped, you have a tendency to lash out when embarrassed.

“Dae! The meat!””

Gratefully, a hard gust of wind blows in, lifting the aluminum foil with the cooking meat off the grill, falling onto the sand.

That distracts everyone from you. You thank a higher power.

Jongdae stares forlornly at the meat, watching sand coat it like seasoning.

“What are you doing!” Baekhyun yelps, rushing to his feet. “Pick it up!”

That pulls Jongdae out of whatever trance he was in and he lurches forward, grabbing the hot foil and tossing it onto the end of the table. He hisses and shakes his hands, sticking a reddening thumb into his mouth.

Baekhyun rushes over to the table for quality control and his shoulders slump at the damage.

“This batch is no good.”

“Way to go, Jongdae,” Chanyeol chides. He then peeks over to you, surreptitiously checking your reaction.

“Shut it!” Jongdae snaps back.

Seeing a good opportunity to escape, you go to make your way over to Seulgi. Chanyeol is not having that, and you only get one step in before he’s snatching your wrist, holding you in place in front of him.

“Don’t go,” he begs under his breath.

You refuse to look up at him, knowing that whatever expression he currently wears will kill what little resolve you have. You know you need to discuss what happened the night before, and why he woke up alone this morning, but you hate confrontation and don't want to have this conversation right at this moment. To be honest, you just want to relax for a bit. Is that so wrong?

You remain silent, not really sure what to say to get him off your back for the time being.

“Just talk to me,” he urges. “You were gone when I woke up, and….”

He falls silent, and you can’t resist the temptation any longer. You break and lift your chin, sucking in a breath at what greets you. It’s that same tortured expression from yesterday. Nerves, apprehension, and defeat swim in his opaque orbs, purple his lips. And you know you can no longer prolong with conversation. He’s hurting. You’re hurting him, and it’s not fair to keep tormenting him like this.

“Did I do something wrong?” He asks dejectedly, intently searching you for the answer.

You open your mouth to answer him. To tell him no, he did nothing wrong, but then Seulgi is calling your name and running up to you. She grabs the arm Chanyeol isn’t holding. “Let’s get in the water. It’s hot.”

She completely ignores Chanyeol as she heads for the shore, dragging you with her.

��I’m sorry,” is all you’re able to get out before you’re pulled completely from his gentle touch. He releases your wrist without a fight, letting you retreat glumly.

“I’m going to have to talk to him eventually,” you tell Seulgi, rolling your eyes. You hit the water and hiss from the shock of the freezing temperature.

“You two don’t get much talking done when you’re together,” she answers, breathless from the cold of the water.

Ignoring–and also maybe even embracing–the pain from the waves chilling your warm skin, you both run until you’re thigh deep and then dive right in, swimming deeper into the abyss.

You float on your back and try to focus on the paradise you’re in, instead of the devastated look in Chanyeol’s eyes. To no avail.

There’s some crashing noises that pull you upright to see Baekhyun running in to join Seulgi and you.

When he’s close, he jumps onto Seulgi, pulling her under water. Not one to miss an opportunity, you hop onto his back. The three of you break the surface, sputtering for air.

You stay secured around Baekhyun as you all catch your breaths.

“What the hell,” Seulgi coughs, splashing him in the face. He laughs, but chokes on the sea salt, and you squeal when you’re caught in her attack.

Letting go of Baekhyun, you swim back around so that Seulgi and you are turned towards the shore with him facing you both.

“Is he still sulking?” He asks.

You dare a glance over to where Chanyeol is, refusing to acknowledge how quickly you’re able to seek him out. He’s in the chair you had claimed, watching the water with a sullen pout as he rests his chin in his hand.

“Oh yeah,” Seulgi answers. “The clouds around him are turning gray, he’s in such a mood.”

“He wouldn’t be like that if you’d stop avoiding him, you know?”

“I’m not avoiding him,” you say. “We just spoke.”

Baekhyun snorts. “Yeah and I can tell you’re both on the same page. Nice talk.”

He throws you a sarcastic thumbs up, you stick your tongue out at him.

He grows solemn. “Please, say something to him. The poor man is beating himself up right now.”

You sink further into the water, dipping in until your mouth is submerged, and run a hand over the tiny waves bobbing you.

Beside you, Seulgi sighs. “I may have ruined their talk.”

Baekhyun throws his head back and groans. “You’re killing me, Smalls.”

“How was I supposed to know?” She asks. “It looked like they were about to ditch us and fuck again. I’m just trying to help her not make another decision she’s going to instantly regret.”

“Whatever happens between them is their business, Seulgi,” Baekhyun says, sounding uncharacteristically reasonable. “You have to let them work through it their way.”

You wave your hand above your head like a needy sim. “I’m right here, you know?”

Seulgi pouts like a chastised child. “You’re right.”

Both Baekhyun and you spin your heads towards her in surprise.

“Did you just say I’m right?” Baekhyun asks. His shock quickly morphs into cockiness, if the grin splitting his face is any indicator.

She’s now the one to groan. “I will not be repeating myself.”

“I’ll cherish the moment for the rest of my life.” Baekhyun turns to you and his smile softens. “Talk to him soon. He’s getting annoying.”

“I will. I promise.” You assure. “Thank you, Hyunnie, for doing this. I know it isn’t easy for you either, being in the middle like this. I appreciate it.”

He shrugs. “You’re both my friends. I want to see you happy. I just hope you can work it out.”

Jongin and Jongdae come barrelling towards your group. As soon as you see your sweet friend, you can’t help but hold your arms out for him.

“Nini!” You cry. He laughs and falls into your embrace, tackling you back into the depths of the sea. When you both emerge, you apologize for yelling at him.

“You’re forgiven,” he says, never taking anything to heart. “But I was surprised. I didn’t expect to see all your bruises. It looks like you got beat up.”

You whine his name. “You’re making it worse.”

“Hey, they do say that weddings are the best place to pick up chicks,” Jongdae says. “Well, I guess dudes for you. Unless….”

He gives you a wicked smirk and you splash him.

“Anyway, good on you for getting some. You deserve it.”

“Thanks, Jongdae,” you say dryly, rolling your eyes. “Also, my bad on the shirt. I forgot I was wearing it before I got in here.”

He takes notice of his button down floating around you and gasps dramatically. “You better wash it before you give it back. It was expensive.”

You look at him skeptically. “This tourist shirt?”

“Do you really think it’s a good idea to have those two cook the meat?” Baekhyun asks, putting your incoming argument with Jongdae to a halt. All five of you turn to the last people still on dry land. The tall boys stand over the grill, Chanyeol with the tongs in his hand. His eyebrows are scrunched as he listens to Sehun adamantly speaking, nodding and answering occasionally. it’s a deep conversation you don’t want any part of.

Jongdae shrugs. “I need a break. It’s hot.”

You all play in the water for some time. Once hunger becomes too great to ignore, you swim back to the beach. Immediately, you crack open a cold beer, nearly moaning when it hits your belly. Now this is what you need. You’ve been sober far too long.

Jongdae wasn’t lying about the heat. Even under the canopy, you can’t escape the sun’s harsh rays. You succumb to the weather and peel off Jongdae’s now dry shirt, not caring anymore if the other’s see your marks, it’s already old news.

Slowly, you all make your way to the table. it’s out in the open and everyone is a bit hesitant to sit out there, but that’s where the food resides. Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol take off their shirts, overwhelmed by the temperature.

“Holy shit, Yeol,” you hear Jongdae say. “What happened to you?”

Everyone glances over to the tall man and your heart sinks at the sight of his exposed back. It’s hard to miss the rows of scratches you carved down his shoulder blades, red and angry.

At the mention of his name, Chanyeol turns around, revealing his neck, shoulders, and chest that look exactly like yours. Actually, his marks are deeper, darker. You were really letting him have it. In your defense, he did encourage you to do your worst, so it is hard for you to find any sympathy to send to the giant.

A loaded silence fills the area as he locks eyes with you. You sigh. That’s enough of an answer for everyone.

Giving up, you chug your beer empty as the extra heat of everyone’s attention bounces back and forth between you both, connecting the purple and blue dots.

“No way….” Jongin’s fingers trace the trail of his eyes. “Did you two…?”

You close your eyes in dismay. You’re going to hear it now.

“Wait a damn minute!” Jongdae’s loud ass voice echoes over the speaker. “You mean to tell me Chanyeol was the one who left those hickeys on you!?”

He gives you an impressed grin. “You naughty girl.”

You simply sink lower into your chair.

“Are you guys together now?” Jongin asks, bouncing on his toes in giddy excitement.

“I mean….” Chanyeol searches you out in hopes you’ll answer that question for him as well.

The attention has you awkwardly laughing, readjusting yourself so that you’re sitting properly again.

“Please, you guys,” you say, laughter coating every consonant. “It’s nothing.”

Chanyeol’s head tilts at that, eyes fluttering in confusion. “What do you mean ‘nothing’?”

Your heart sinks as you realize you’ve made matters much worse. Chanyeol’s getting worked up now, and the last thing you want is to fight in front of everybody.

“I just mean it’s not a big deal.”

If your first sentence was you putting your foot in your mouth, this one is the whole damn leg.

“Not a big deal?” He repeats skeptically. He turns so that he’s properly looking at you, making sure he’s understanding correctly. “You think us having sex is ‘not a big deal’?”

“Okay,” Jongdae drawls. “Not together then.”

“That’s not what I meant,” you begin to explain, really wishing this conversation wasn’t happening like this. “It was a big deal to me, okay? But they shouldn’t expect more because of it.”

“Like us getting back together?” He continues to question in a monotonous tone. “You’re saying that they shouldn’t get their hopes up about us getting back together just because we had sex.”

“Exactly!” You clap, glad he understands.

“So that wasn’t us getting back together?”

His disappointment is hard to disguise, and it makes you feel bad. Again you’re reminded that if you’d just talked before this wouldn’t be happening. You sigh and prepare yourself to explain where you’re coming from.

“Chanyeol–”

“Meat’s getting cold,” Sehun interrupts, ending the real conversation before it can start. You’re grateful for it, still not mentally prepared to break Chanyeol’s heart any further, although it seems you may be past that point. Chanyeol’s jaw is tense, honestly everything about him is tense as he nods his head like he finally understands something before stomping over to the table, sitting at the end furthest from the canopy. He grabs a beer, cracking it open and guzzling it down rather aggressively.

Everyone else reluctantly takes Chanyeol’s lead. When Baekhyun passes you, he grimaces, politely letting you know that you messed up. Sehun is the last to walk past. He stops and reaches a hand out for you to grab. You sigh before taking it, allowing him to pull you up.

“The last thing I want right now is a lecture,” you tell him.

“I’m just checking on you,” he assures. “You good?”

You stare at him. ‘Do I look like I’m good’ written all over your face and he grins, gaining the reaction he wanted. It’s gone as quick as it comes, an air of seriousness taking over.

“I thought we talked about this.” He starts.

You point a finger at him. “Lecture.”

He purses his lips and lets his attention wander to the table. Everyone is trying their best to lighten the mood. You look also and are surprised to see Seulgi attempt to make small talk with Chanyeol, although he doesn’t appear that interested in the conversation.

“Okay, no lecture, but let me say one thing.” You groan. “Don’t leave this island with unfinished business. That’s only going to hurt you both more.”

You’re still taking in the table as he speaks, and Chanyeol must feel it because he’s looking back at you. He holds your stare for a few seconds, then catches himself and breaks the contact. It’s selfish, but you’re comforted by the familiar longing still lingering there.

You nod at Sehun’s words, turning back to him. “Yeah. Got it.”

He doesn’t believe you and his expression says as much.

“Hey! Hurry up and grab a plate!” Jongin orders you both.

Sehun pats your arm and heads over to the table, you follow a few steps behind. The food is delicious and the alcohol starts flowing. Soon the sun starts its slow descent, and with full bellies, you all relax more. At this moment, you can’t help but to miss Junmyeon. He’s always the one taking pictures, annoying everyone by forcing you all to pose for what feels like hundreds of photos. Sehun, his successor, makes sure to take as many candids and selfies as he can. You find it easy to smile whenever the camera is focused on you, even when Chanyeol is also in the frame.

Speaking of Chanyeol, the beer, good food, and friendship seems to be working in lifting his spirits. His loud voice carries throughout the beach, and you catch his boisterous laugh from time to time. You’re relieved to know that you haven’t completely ruined this trip for him.

By this point, the sky is a lovely pink and orange, and you’re a bit tipsy. You close your eyes and sway to the beat of whatever song is playing, snapping along. Someone holds your hand, causing your eyes to spring open to see Jongin gently urging you out of your seat. You allow him to drag you into a clear patch of sand near the waves. You start dancing with him, connected hands swinging between you both as you reluctantly laugh. Jongin is your designated dance partner. He’s one of the better dancers of your group, and you’re shy. He got into the habit of getting you out onto the dancefloor to loosen you up in college. Now is no different. You both roll your bodies and sway your hips to the beat, encouraging each other. The longer you dance, the closer you get, until your forehead rests on his collarbone, arms wrap around each other’s waists, and Jongin’s cheek presses atop your head.

“Are you okay?” He softly asks.

His question causes your vision to blur. You stare unseeingly into the now gray sea, waves crashing urgently and tighten your hold around his torso.

“I don’t think so,” you confess.

“I don’t understand,” he says, sounding both confused and frustrated. “You both love each other, right? Why fight?”

“It’s not that simple, Nini. I wish it was, but….” You shake your head, not really knowing how to finish the sentence.

“Is it because of her?” He presses.

You close your eyes at the reminder of Yerim, another person your actions will hurt, and she’s yet to find out of your betrayal.

“Partially,” you admit.

Jongin rubs your back. “It'll work out. As long as you know what you want.”

You wipe your face and pull back to smile up at him, clipping his chin affectionately.

“Now that we’ve had that talk,” you say. “Let’s dance! We’re on vacation! I need to feel like it!”

He chuckles and spins you around so that your back is pressed against his torso.

“Turn the music up!” He orders. Whoever is in charge of the tunes obliges and you’re pleased when a song you can grind to comes on. You throw your arms up into the air and instantly lose yourself to the music, dancing back on Jongin who matches your moves easily.

Not really paying attention to your surroundings, you fail to notice someone joining your little party, but they make themselves known by gripping your arms, ripping you out of Jongin’s hold.

“What the–”

For the second time today, Chanyeol has pulled you away from someone. His hands are wrapped so tightly around your forearms, you wince from the pain. He doesn’t catch your discomfort, too busy giving Jongin the fiercest stare you’ve ever seen.

“Get the fuck off of her!” He snarls, dragging you even closer to him so that your face is pressed against his naked heaving chest.

You lean back and attempt to stare him down, but all you see is his sharp jaw.

“We’re just dancing,” you explain defensively.

That makes him look down at you, and you nearly gulp from the fury reflecting in his black orbs.

“That’s not how you ‘just dance’ with someone!”

That’s when you notice the way his words slightly blend together, notice how unsteady he is on his feet.

“You’re drunk,” you point out disappointedly. Remembering how good that did you both the last time he was under the influence.

He chuckles darkly at that. “So are you.”

Ugh, you aren’t anywhere near as faded as he currently is. You attempt to free yourself from him, but he’s holding onto you too tightly to break. There is no escape.

“Chanyeol, Bro, I swear that’s all we were doing,” Jongin calmly reassures.

“Don’t call me ‘bro’,” Chanyeol hisses. “You’ve always been like this, Jongin. You were always touching her! Don’t think I never noticed.”

“She’s my friend,” he says slowly, carefully, as if he’s speaking to a child.

“And she was my fiance!” Chanyeol all but roars. “But that never stopped you!”

You glance around. His outburst draws everyone’s attention and they watch the three of you curiously. Baekhyun and Sehun start to get up from their seats, probably intending to de-escalate the situation, but you don’t want to get anybody else involved. This is between Chanyeol and you. What is happening now is the consequence of you stalling the ‘what are we’ conversation you should’ve had the night before.

“Leave him alone, Yeol,” you mutter. “He’s not the one you’re mad at. It’s me.”

He doesn’t even spare you a glance, too focused on the man behind you. “Why won’t he answer me then? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“I promise I–”

Before Jongin can finish defending himself, you cut him off by putting your hands on Chanyeol’s chest, throwing your weight to shove him. In any other circumstance, he wouldn’t have budged, but his inebriation works in your favor, making him stumble a few steps. Unfortunately, he takes you with him, and you fall forward. He lets go of your arms to catch you by the waist, steadying you both.

“You okay?” He asks with worry.

“Yeah,” you huff. You pat his shoulder. “Why don’t we go for a walk?”

There’s a boardwalk a few meters away that looks deserted, that is probably the best place to have this discussion. Not waiting for an answer, you easily break his hold and start walking towards it. Chanyeol says something to Jongin you can’t catch over the sound of the sea, but it sounds smug enough that you sigh deeply in dismay. You’ll apologize to Jongin tomorrow, you promise to yourself.

When you pass the table, you lock eyes with both Baekhyun and Sehun.

“It’s okay,” you assure them, not even sure if you believe it. It’s enough for them, they stand down and nod, trusting you.

The journey is silent. The sun has disappeared completely by the time you’re on the worn wood, enveloping you in an almost foreboding darkness. The crashing of waves are intense beneath you, doing nothing to soothe your nerves. When you reach the end of the walk, you turn around to the man you know was following you the whole time.

He’s on you before you can even speak. His mouth moves roughly against yours, urgent and desperate. His frustration is felt, as is his still present affection. You fall easily into his kiss, giving into him as naturally as you always have. Your hands curl around his neck, pulling him closer. He cups your face, the palms of his hands squishing your cheeks, puckering your lips more for him to devour. He walks you backwards, until your bare back hits the splintered wood of the banister. it digs into your skin, making you whimper, but it’s not enough pain to distract you from the punishing pressure of Chanyeol’s lips.

The groan he lets out in response is tortured, long fingers desperately begin pulling at the band of your swimsuit bottoms, eager to feel all of you again.

In sync, your mouths fall open, tongues colliding and lewdly twirling together. God. Fuck. You want him. You want him so bad it’s driving you crazy. You’re going to fuck him again. You’re going to fuck him right here on this damn boardwalk, space be damned–

But, that’s exactly the problem, isn’t it?

“Stop,” you gasp between kisses.

He hums before tilting his head to kiss you even deeper. Those wandering hands of his slide down to squeeze your ass. You shutter and press yourself more against him, slipping your arms fully around his neck to drag him lower so that he’s curved over you. A sheen of sweat the only thing between your boiling bodies.

Still, you can’t bring yourself to fall back completely into the make out session. Disappointment floods you. Seulgi is right, the two of you can’t be alone for even a second without falling into this toxic habit.

Now annoyed with how weak you are, you finally muster the strength to shove Chanyeol back, officially breaking the kiss.

With much needed space between you, you feel the fog of lust begin to clear and can think better. Chanyeol doesn’t say anything or make a move to resume what you interrupted. No. He just stands there, watching you with an expression you find hard to read as you both attempt to catch your heaving breaths.

“What?” He finally asks, voice hoarse and deeper than hell. “You don’t want me anymore, Mel?”

There’s no sorrow, none of the longing or anger he’s shown throughout the day, which is surprising. It’s almost as if he knew this was how the night was going to go. Like he knew you were going to push him away.

“That….” You swallow thickly. “That’s not it.”

“Then what’s the problem?” He asks, taking a step towards you. You try to counter it, but that leads to more wood stabbing you. You’re sure some break the skin. He takes another step and now he’s directly in front of you, a mere breath away. He lowers his head to be more level with yours, giving you a close up view of his wound up fury.

“The problem,” you nearly stutter, overwhelmed by the hostility now coming off of him in waves. He’s never directed his anger towards you–the situation maybe, but never you–it’s intimidating and scary. You lick your dry lips, trying to find your voice, and he watches detachedly. “My problem is the opposite, Chanyeol. I still very much do.”

“That doesn’t seem like a problem to me.”

“Look at us!” You say. “We can’t be alone for five seconds without being all over each other! Last night was not supposed to happen the way it did! We weren’t supposed to sleep together!”

“But we did,” he snarls through clenched teeth. “And that means something, whether you want it to or not!”

“All that it means to me is we need space. This is too much for me, Yeol. We need time apart to figure out what the hell we actually want.”

“What is too much for you?” He asks, sounding exasperated. “The way I feel about you? The way you still feel about me? What is there to figure out? We still want each other, nothing else matters!”

“We still want each other physically!” You clarify. “I can agree with that, but the longer we’re together, the more I think that’s all we want!”

“Of course not!” He finally yells. You flinch from the volume and that makes him catch himself. He huffs out a breath before repeating in a much gentler tone, “of course not.”

He grabs one of your hands, thumb caressing your knuckles. “You are way more than that. You always have been. This is more than physical to me.”

Everything inside of you is screaming to believe him, and he himself is asking for that. For you to have faith in this, and to give it a chance.

“Then why didn’t you say it back?”

He doesn’t answer. Instead, he stares at the forming tears in your eyes and the slight wobble of your lips in confusion. He searches for the context to your question. It takes a minute, but then his eyes widen in realization and his mouth falls open, a slight ‘oh’ leaving before he’s snapping it back shut. The look he gives you after that is something akin to pity.

And there is your answer. You pull your hand out of his grasp, using it to wipe away the tears that slipped past your waterline. “Whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

He scrambles in alarm from your withdrawal. “Can you please stop saying shit like that?”

“Why?” You snap. Your irritation grows with every second he doesn’t give you the answer you desire. “It doesn’t. I didn’t mean it anyways. It just slipped out, so…yeah.”

You fidget nervously and try to make out the waves crashing against the wood underneath you. You’re so focused on that, you miss the way Chanyeol recoils in shock. You also miss the reigniting flames of his dimming anger.

“So when you told me you loved me, you didn’t mean it. Yet, you’re mad at me for not saying it?”

Him saying it out loud makes you cringe in embarrassment. As if he hasn’t done enough, you sense mockery in his tone. When you meet his eye again, the anger is still there, but it’s mostly frustration you notice.

“I’m not mad that you didn’t say it,” you deny.

“Yes you are!” He lets out a humorless laugh. Yeah, he’s definitely frustrated. “Is that what all this is about? Why you left this morning? Look, I’m sorry! It wasn’t because I didn’t feel the same, I was just…preoccupied.”

“Preoccupied with what?” You ask in disbelief.

He gives you a steady look, eyebrows raised in a way to say, ‘you know what’. It takes a minute for you to decipher what he’s alluding to, but then you remember what happened right after your little confession and groan his name, appalled.

“See?” He’s grinning like a madman now, pulling at your arms in an attempt to catch your attention. “That’s all I ever wanted to hear. And once I did, I couldn’t control myself anymore. You telling me you love me made me cum.”

“Be serious right now,” you say, frowning in disgust.

“Oh, I’m very serious right now,” he says, that gleefully large grin still on his face.

You throw him a skeptical look. “You’re smiling and talking about cum. You think this is a joke.”

That makes his smile slowly disappear. He says your name. “I don’t think this is funny. I’m telling you the truth. You want me to prove it to you? Hm? I’ll say it right now. I lo–”

“I don’t want to hear it now!” You interrupt in a shout. “If you had said it then, things might’ve been different, but you didn’t. I don’t care why you didn’t either. That was all the confirmation I needed. We have no idea what we want from this.”

“Here we go again,” he groans, walking a bit away from you.

You jut your jaw at that. “I’m going to repeat myself until you get it through that thick skull. Whatever happened, happened. It’s done. We’re done.”

Chanyeol’s frustration is back with a vengeance. His fingers run through his dark hair, yanking at the strands as he starts pacing in front of you. “How can you say that when you had your tongue down my throat minutes ago? You let me cum inside you! You told me you loved me! And that’s it? There’s mixed signals and then there’s whatever the fuck you’re doing right now.”

“There you go talking about cum again,” you mutter to yourself. Louder, “I’m being realistic! It’s only been three days. Three! And, what? We’re just supposed to pick up right where we left off? Act like the past few years never happened? That’s not how this works, and I doubt that’s healthy. We need more time.”

“I already told you that I’ll always love you, and I meant that. I know you’re scared, Mel. Hell, I’m scared too. You’re right, things are moving fast, but that’s because we still care for each other. I know you still love me. You wouldn’t have said it if you didn’t. This wouldn’t be us pretending we never broke up. This can be us realizing that we’re better together. That we’re even stronger now that we’ve had time to figure out who we are apart. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

“It was,” you’re quick to emphasize the past tense. “But I’ve changed a lot since the last time you saw me, Yeol, so stop acting like you know me.”

Something you say catches his attention, and he narrows his eyes suspiciously. “You haven’t changed much.” He says your name. “I still know you, probably better than anybody else here. Just like you still know me.”

He’s stilled from pacing, and it’s a bit ominous after watching him frantically walk for the past couple minutes. He runs a hand over his face tiredly and lets out a heavy sigh. “So, that’s really what this is about.”

You raise an eyebrow questioningly and he laughs, shaking his head.

“I was hoping it wasn’t, but what you just said…. It all makes sense now.” He’s muttering under his breath, talking to himself.

“What are you going on about?” You ask.

“This morning, when I woke up and you weren’t there, I knew. I didn’t want to believe it, that you would do something like that, but I knew what happened the moment I realized you had left me.”

Your body begins to shake, and it isn’t from the cold. Foreboding chills your spine, causing goosebumps to rise, sharpening once he locks eyes with you, the accusations hard to miss.

“You still hate me.”

His hands curl into tight fists at his sides, trembling–as are his shoulders, his voice. He closes his eyes, taking deep calming breaths you doubt help him much.

“And now you’re telling me you didn’t mean it when you said you loved me. That you changed since the ‘last time I saw you’. Was that your plan all along? To seduce me? Make me think you still gave a shit so that I’d let you fuck me and then leave? Was last night revenge sex?”

“No,” you gasp, genuinely shocked by his conclusion. “I already told you, it was a lapse of judgment–”

“I’m not playing this fucking game with you!” He shouts. His voice breaks, just like his heart currently does. “You don’t get to hurt me again. You can’t play with my feelings everytime I allow myself to be open with you. Maybe you’re right, Mel. Maybe I don’t know you anymore, because I never thought you could do something this fucking cruel.”

“Me? Cruel?” Your anger flares up. “What the fuck about you? You come here, bring some other girl you care nothing for, and then pretend like we never knew each other! Then proceeded to ignore her the whole time to flirt with me any chance you got!”

“We’re not talking about this trip!” Chanyeol dismisses. “I should have never brought her, I know that now, but that’s not what this is about. This is about the time before that, when you gave me back the engagement ring!”

Sehun mentioned the night before the wedding that you have a baseless grudge against Chanyeol, one that twisted the love you have for him, crossing that thin line over to hate. He was positive you made something up, a ‘lie’ he called it, to keep Chanyeol at arm’s length from your heart in order to protect it. The truth is that Sehun grew cocky. He believed so deeply that you couldn’t keep anything from him, that it was impossible to with the way he can so easily read you, that he never suspected when you did. It was only one thing. One thing you decided to keep to yourself, refusing to confide in even Sehun. The reason? To protect the man in front of you, the same way he protected you.

The last thing you want is to bring it up, but technically, Chanyeol is doing it first.

“Gave it back?” You’re in total disbelief. “You took it back the morning after you slept with me and then completely ghosted like I was some one night stand!”

“That’s what you wanted!”

“When?” You ask, baffled. “When I invited you over? Or was it in the middle of us having sex?”

He runs a hand roughly through his hair. “Okay, but why did you invite me over?”

“Because I–”

He doesn’t let you finish, his own anger from that day getting the best of him. “Because you wanted to give me the ring back!”

His voice has risen, and it silences you completely.

“Fuck!” He’s saying your name again, but there isn’t an ounce of affection. “You wanted to return the ring. It was the one thing–the only thing that gave me hope. I told you to keep it, because I knew as long as you still had it, there was still a future for us. But then you called me. It hadn’t even been a year since our separation–because that’s what we were, separated not broken up–and the first time I hear from you it’s to tell me you want to give me back your fucking ring!”

Your head is spinning, attempting to comprehend everything he just admitted, filling in blanks you have been trying to figure out for years now. You hate to admit it, but some things are starting to make sense.

“So, which was it then?” You question rather calmly. “You were still hurt from when I broke things off, so when I reached out you saw your chance to return the favor? Or was it because you thought that’s why I asked you to come over, so you got upset, slept with me, and left as a big fuck you?”

“Neither,” he reveals, evident disgust from your thought process. “Sleeping with you that night just happened. I didn’t do it with the intention to hurt you.”

“Sounds familiar,” you point out. He pinches the bridge of his nose. It feels like you’re going nowhere. Like you’re speaking in circles. “But okay, fine, say I believe that you didn’t do it to hurt me. Why did you leave?”

“Because I didn’t want what happened that night to become our normal,” he admits. “You knew how I felt about you, and I didn’t want you to take advantage of that–of me. Come on, Mel, you’ve always known the power you have over me. If you had told me that night that all you wanted from me was sex, I’d given that to you. Hell, if you told me right now that’s all you want, I’d give it to you. I’d give you anything. You’re my Melody.” He takes a deep shaky breath. “But I knew that if I reduced myself to that just to keep you, it would destroy me. I didn’t want to lose myself like that. And I don’t ever want to hate you. That’s why I ultimately left. Took the ring–like you told me to–and ran before you could change my mind. That was me setting a boundary for myself. I had to let you go before I allowed you to use and break me.”

Your heart sinks at his explanation. “Do you really think I’d treat you like that?”

“Do you really think I’d make love to you and not mean it?” He counters.

Again, you’re back at square one. Blinking at one another, trying to figure out where you stand in each other’s hearts. With the newfound knowledge of Chanyeol’s thoughts on that infamous day, you look internally. To be honest, his words don’t sway you much. The hurt from that day is still painful. You vividly remember the way your heart shattered when he was nowhere to be found. To add salt to the wound, he had blocked you on everything, so that you had no way to contact him afterwards. Yes, you really did believe he was capable of doing that.

“No matter what your intention was that day,” you start. “The result is still the same.”

Once Chanyeol hears this, you watch him build up a wall, closing you off from him for the first time. Until right now, you believed he wasn’t capable of doing that to you. That it couldn’t be helped or that he felt comfortable enough to let his guard down in your presence. But watching all the vulnerability, all the honesty, all the affection he had for you vanish before your eyes, you realize you have been giving yourself too much credit.

“I guess that makes us even now, right?” He asks bitterly.

You turn away, partially out of guilt, but also because you can’t stomach the haunted shadow dulling him. He’s right, in a sick way. You both ran away, hurting the other despite the reasoning behind it.

“So, that’s it then?” He asks when you fail to say anything.

“Chanyeol….” You turn back to him and instantly are bombarded with regret. You can so easily fix this. If you really want to, you can tell him that you forgive him for that night, that you truly never meant to hurt him and that the night before meant everything to you. You can walk off this boardwalk hand in hand, laughing with giddiness from falling back in love with your soulmate. Rejoining your friends who would be nothing but ecstatic and supportive of you working through your issues and returning to one another. You can do that. It will only take one simple sentence.

But you don’t forgive him, and you haven’t really resolved anything. Your new relationship would be built on the foundation of ignorance, avoidance, and lust. You didn’t want that, not if it is the cost of having him back at this moment. You both have some healing to do before jumping into this again, and this conversation proved that. You aren’t ready.

“I–yeah. I think it would be for the best if we end things here.”

“Yeah,” he agrees in defeat. He sniffs and scratches the back of his head. “You’re probably right. There’s not much else I can say to make you stay.”

He takes you in one more time. In his reluctance, it’s as if he’s giving you a chance to change your answer, but you both know you won’t. Guess he does still know you well. He clears his throat and without saying goodbye, walks away.

He’s about to clear the walk when you’re yelling at him to wait.

He does. He faces you and watches with wide eyes as you run hastily over to him. You stop at a safe distance, close enough to see him under the dim moonlight, but far enough away that you can’t feel the distracting heat of his body.

He observes you warily, probably wondering how you’re going to break his heart this time. It’s that bit of doubt that made you run. There’s one last thing he needs to know, the one thing he needs to take away from this conversation, if nothing else.

“I don’t hate you.”

It’s the last thing he expected, and his reaction reflects that. His eyes grow glossy and he does his best to blink the unshed tears back, while also fighting the frown weighing the corners of his lips, causing them to tremble. Wordlessly, he reaches out to you, cupping the back of your head, and you let him. You allow him to touch you, to bring you close to him, relishing in his heat against the chilling bite of the ocean’s breeze. He pulls you in and presses a tender lingering kiss onto your forehead.

“Thank you,” he whispers against your skin.

And then he’s gone, taking all the warmth with him.

And you watch, as his fire dims and he blends with the gray of your surroundings before disappearing out of sight.

You pray to god that’s not a metaphor.

series m.list | main m.list

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taglist @byunparklimchoi, @defloey @notyuji @hisungovenaocare @theawesomehero7714

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edenfenixblogs · 2 months

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Spent the day with a friend and it was so fun. If every day could be like today, I’d stay where I currently live.

But even we very carefully avoided discussing המצב so it was still like we were living in different worlds.

The closest I got to bringing it up was when she complimented the Drawfee posters on my wall and I was like, “Thanks, I’m looking to replace them though.” It was a belated bday celebration for her from when I was out of town and had to miss her initial celebration. I didn’t want to be a downer, so I avoided bringing it up as much as possible and I def didn’t tell her I’m moving within the year.

She will easily be the person I’ll miss most here. She’s been the only person I can text about antisemitism any time, but I think even she may have muted me on here. Which I understand. But the people back home haven’t muted me. And I don’t have to pretend to be ok around them.

And ultimately, I’m living half a life here because I don’t want to beg people to care about me. And if my suffering is so great that they have to look away, then it should also be enough for them to check on me about proactively.

Hanging out with a friend and not talking about everything was so nice it was like breathing fresh air after being stuck in a musty cave. But she went home and I feel like I’m suffocating again.

It’s so overwhelming. The isolation is so impossibly overwhelming I cannot even begin to explain it to people who aren’t going thru it.

It’s the kind of thing that would make me ask myself, “Is it me?! Is it just that I’m bad to be around and that nobody likes me?” Except I know it’s not, because a whole group of people back home—both related to me and not related to me—do actually get it and check in on me. When the chips are down, I know they have my back more than anyone else. And so for me and for the future I’m building, I have to go back.

It’s such a brutal blow. But this friend? I will miss her more than anyone else in this whole state and I hope she doesn’t fall out of touch with me. So many emotions, dudes. It’s all so much. I keep wanting to actively unpack the trauma of it all but I can’t because it’s still happening.

One positive thing that comes from all this is that can move up my timeline of when I start trying to get pregnant, which is awesome. I’m ready for that part of my life. Even though I’m sure maternity leave in my new state will suck worse than it would here, financially and time wise. But at least I’ll have a lot of familial support when I’m back home, which I wouldn’t have here.

Now I just gotta pray I’m actually able to get home and that I’m actually able to get pregnant. 😬😬😬😬

#personal #trauma stuff #SMBC journey #some good stuff #some bad stuff #life and the future are complicated but very worth living

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doulayogimama · 2 months

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I know I’m a dramatic baby, but I’m so sad that I’m not in BCN / don’t know when I’m going back.

The moment we left MIA airport, Kevin and I were both kind of culture shocked already 😂 The drivers were so aggressive, there was tons of honking when there was clearly nothing to be done except wait. Barcelona had traffic too, but damn.

I miss it with every fiber of my being. I feel crazy that I miss a city / country this much. Like my soul is upset that we found the perfect place and then just left it.

I told Kevin I would try for a 3rd baby if we move to Barcelona sometime after baby 2 is born. He was like “whoa, that’s a big incentive for me” - he knows how much I hate being pregnant but he would have 4-6 if I agreed to it 😬

I know this sounds terrible and I’m sure I can unpack a lot in therapy about it — but being free from both families and their very strong cultures was amazing. I love my family, but the very passionate, ingrained eating disorder, constantly criticizing everyone is something I would not want to be a part of regularly. Kevin’s family are very religious people. I’m tired — I’m 30 years old and feel like a whore for wearing yoga pants around my in laws (women only wear dresses or skirts) or like a teenager when I’m sneaking out for food during pesach (it’s a real bitch to find good to eat as a vegetarian in an ashkenazi Jewish family — the Sephardim are lucky, they get rice/hummus/beans/tofu).

I just feel like I can’t be my true self in either family. I’m too hippie/minimalist/democrat for my Miami family and I’m too goyim for my in laws (as loving and accepting as they have been, it will always be the elephant in the room that I didn’t convert).

I love both of our families. We are both so lucky to have them. But … I feel better about my self and my life when I see them seldomly.

#I feel like this makes me a bad person #but it’s the truth

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dorizardthewizard · 3 months

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Galactik Football season 3 rewatch, eps 13-15

Episode 13:

Funny how the Pirates, who have the most motivation to find the contact, are the ones supporting an immediate evacuation whereas Brim Simbra is going for the “no need to panic people” route

Brim Simbra: He's right. Especially since many people will leave Paradisia right after the final anyway. The evacuation has to take place calmly.

Well fuck all the retail workers and support staff on Paradisia then. You guys are at more risk because we'll only announce a proper evacuation once all the visitors are gone <3

Again they missed their chance to have D'jok and Sinedd taunt each other at the start of the match, their roasts used to be hilarious

The way Mei is just watching them with her hands crossed sfdjhds girl, be ready!

Man I complain about Sinedd but D'jok's behaviour is annoying me more

Lol why did they just let the cat walk in, didn't they know about the incident at the start of the season?

Damn they really joker-ified Harris

Brim Simbra this wouldn't be a problem if you'd just ordered an evacuation

Luur came to watch the match in his football kit I guess

Damn, Galactik Football tournament finals can never go on without a disaster huh?

Why does it look like everyone has left the stadium already (that is a FUCK ton of people by the way, SEVERE danger of fatal crowd crushes. Which wouldn't be happening if you pre-emptively evacuated everyone, BRIM SIMBRA) but D'jok, Mei and Sinedd are still taking their time getting off the pitch?

I find it a bit hard to believe that D'jok's so far gone he'll literally just stand there as the stadium falls apart around him. In season 2 it was because he was in shock at least, and anyway this is all kind of a re-hash of the end of season 2 but worse

This is so funny they're just standing there 😭 Unbothered

I do love Sinedd saving D'jok and that his excuse is that he can't fight him if he's dead dsfjkdf it's hilarious

Seeing the flux effect on the 2D animation is so uncanny!

They seemed to be able to switch to using the flux for different purposes pretty quickly, like in football it mostly just gives them more power/speed/agility but they immediately have no problem channeling the Breath outwards and shooting it at stuff

It's a huge moment though, seeing them use the flux outside of football. If there were more seasons it could have been cool to see this as a can of worms opening and a debate around the potential loosening of the rules, with a balance between the benefits flux can bring vs the dangers

Sinedd you dumbass they would have left already, that's how evacuations work. Although I see him being too scared of losing them again to think rationally

TRAIN BRAWL! TRAIN BRAWL! Spider-man 2 eat your heart out

RIP Harvey, a real legend. And flux war veteran!

Of course she's a serpent lady

ooo look you can see the space jump gates! Cool little bit of background lore on how travel works in this universe

Where tf is Sinedd

Ahh Phoenix is going down with the ship, pretty cool moment

DAN DAN DAAAAAN

Episode 14:

Aww Thran and Ahito holding hands 😭😭

MARK JUST... DANGLING MICRO-ICE BY THE LEG?? It's kind of cute he's comforting him in his own way, although Micro-Ice's very valid reaction to all this is still played for laughs lmao

Ok so how sentient ARE the robots in this show? Sidney is obviously very sad about Harvey being gone, and we've seen the Technodroids have normal conversations before. But everyone's reaction whenever Sidney gets sad is just 😬😬😬 awkward LOL. Are robots like second class citizens in this universe? No one believes their emotions are as real as humans? But are they?? So many questions

Artegor coming over to help Aarch with unpacking sdhsdfjj and blaming himself for encouraging them to go to Paradisia 😭 Their hug 😭😭 Going feral over them

Wuh... in the middle of a good natured conversation he just,, throws the trophy? Why? It's so random 😂😂

So did Aarch and Artegor actually resolve their dispute, as dumb as it was? Oh it was just thrown in to have drama for a couple of episodes and now suddenly they're good? Ok sure

Aw Norata seems so much happier now, look at him excitedly showing off rare flowers

So these kids just.... use the flux? And NO ONE has noticed this yet? It's just... they were notified IMMEDIATELY that Rocket had used the flux to save Tia, how is this continuous use going undetected? I guess we already had that question considering Tia already knew how to use the flux in season 1, but with her you could at least make soooome sort of assumption of her being sheltered somehow as a daughter of diplomats. Maybe the flux society only noticed Rocket's flux use so quickly because they always make sure to track GF players really closely, but still if these kids are just chilling using it all the time, on GENESIS, it looks like the flux society are worryingly shit at their job lol

But that's the thing, season 3 introduces SO many crazy new concepts – new tournament, mixed flux teams, players moving to other teams, using flux outside of football, characters moving to different roles to shake up the status quo... so much interesting stuff but the execution just flubs it, especially with the character development.

Damn Tia's got gymnastics skills!

Oh so the last time we saw Sinedd, he was running back into a collapsing stadium to find his parents and we had no idea if he'd made it or not, and now the next time we see him he's just chilling walking with his team? I don't know much about direction in shows like this but I feel like we should have had a scene where he reunites with Mei at least before this??

Actually come to think of it, D'jok ends up on the Snow Kids' ship during the evacuation and we never get to see their reaction to him! Of course at first they all just want to survive and are obviously worried about him, but what about after? Was it awkward? Did they talk? TELL ME

Sinedd is a dick cutting Mei off like that but kind of sweet to see him refer to the Shadows as family

Wait have D'jok and Sonny interacted since Sonny got healed? I feel like we're sorely missing some father and son interactions here, and D'jok has been really needing it! And where's Maya in all this??

Mei is right to question the “parents” with how sketchy they're acting, but it's tough. Sinedd's finally got that part of himself back and there's no way he'll consider the idea of losing it again.

New flux society guy agreeing to move the date of the GFC, ooooor you could try and catch this guy? Useless mfers

Episode 15:

Show really doesn't give us any detail on how someone actually masters another flux. Like how does it work?

Oh Mei's getting sick now from the Smog, but how did Sinedd get over it? He did have symptoms of Smog poisoning in season 2 but I don't remember him ever getting cured like Artegor did? Aarch had to quit the Shadows because it had gone too far, is it actually something you can just overcome? Is it different for everyone? Is it down to overusing it? So many questions!

I like that Mei was just like. NOPE this is hurting me, even if I liked you I ain't staying! As she should.

Ooo Yuki's mastering the Elektras' flux!

Wait so everyone thinks team Paradisia are actually from the planet? Which iirc only became habitable not that long ago? I'm confused on the origins of these girls, how are they cyborgs? Do they have any lives and family outside of the team Lord Phoenix assembled? I mean they're not androids? I feel like since they're closely connected to a main character, they should have gotten some more backstory.

Oh so D'jok left team Paradisia already? Why exactly? He seemed all about winning with them. We don't even get a scene of him leaving them and their reaction??

What?? D'jok's just decided to do coaching all of a sudden? Because of one little encounter with kids playing football?? He was obsessed with winning tournaments like 5 minutes ago how did this change come about??? Like. I can SEE the vision and D'jok becoming a mentor figure is a fun idea but... we need to see the steps of getting there!

That Lightnings girl is so cute though

Mei says she only left temporarily but um... sis that was not the impression we got lol you disappeared abruptly and sent everyone heartfelt farewell messages

English dub goofs up again: D'jok says he'll never go back to the Snow Kids after what THEY did, but then goes on about how HE messed up and they'll never take him back. And again, what made him realise he was behaving poorly? You can't just set up a character's development, then suddenly show them once they've reached a conclusion. Was is the near-death experience? The fact Mei still wanted to help him despite how he'd acted? His loneliness finally catching up to him? I WANT ANSWERS

Mei: Don't you want to play for the cup? D'jok: We've done it, Mei. We've won twice! What's the point?

OK this is super interesting, I'm gonna link @millimononym 's post here about D'jok's potential arc (hope that's ok!) because I think it fits really well with this. For a guy obsessed with destiny, hitting his peak early could really mess with him. You could have such an interesting arc about this and accepting that life goes on and that our lives don't have to be defined by reaching some greater goal or purpose. It's about doing it with your friends and, if the show delved a little bit more in the whole post-flux war climate, it's also about being a symbol of hope for a planet that basically suffered the apocalypse. People joke about how the Snow Kids won three times in a row straight away, instead of doing the anime lose -> train to get better -> win scenario, but you could actually address this and use it to the story's advantage!

Aww Lun-Zia can't do it :( I can't remember what happens but it would be cool if she actually couldn't master the Breath, sometimes no matter how hard you try things just don't go the way you want

Wait so um... is no one questioning how the Paradisia girls still have their flux even though the planet is dead? And what are the girls even doing right now? They have no home and no Lord Phoenix, who took care of everything for them. And where did Nina-8 come from??

The Elektra's support of Yuki is so cute. Also kind of interesting lore that their planet is far from the other planets, and hence its residents find it very hard to connect to the flux, so much so it was assumed they didn't have one. A cool explanation for why the team hasn't shown up yet!

Oh she's been selected by the Wambas!! Of course they would want her on their team after seeing her play at Paradisia. Well that wrapped up nicely! Still, this confirms she was just some rando on the beach. And what was she up to before the tournament anyway? I wish we got to know more about her

Mark immediately has a crush on Nina-8 but somehow not Nikki-4 who looks just like her? XD

I don't mind Yuki staying with the Elektras actually, its the Elektra's first GFC and I can see her wanting to go further with them. And sometimes that's just life! Going on new adventures

#galactik football #dori watches galactik football #my posts

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itsclydebitches · 1 year

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RWBY Recaps: "Altercation at the Auspicious Auction"

Happy, uh... Tuesday, everyone! I'm a little bit behind 😬

Man oh man, but do I have mixed feelings about this episode. While drafting today's recap I kept trying to come up with a summary to start with; an abbreviated takeaway of my overall thoughts - especially for any readers who don't feel like wading through the whole post. Unfortunately, anything that simplistic kinda misses the point, so you all are just gonna have to settle for a, "I'm a glass case of mixed emotions!" while we unpack this episode.

First, a note about our title. Last week I bypassed commenting on "A Place of Particular Concern" for the simple reason that I wasn't sure what to do with it yet. Now, I think I understand the general vibe that RWBY is going for, though it does surprise me a little. The alliteration of "Altercation at the Auspicious Auction" is definitely catchy, but it doesn't have much of a Wonderland feel to it. Carroll's chapter titles were, by and large, descriptively straightforward:

Down the Rabbit-Hole

The Pool of Tears

Advice from a Caterpillar

Who Stole the Tarts?

You get the idea. They're very accessible for a child because although the combination might be new - how does one get advice from a caterpillar? - every element is familiar. They know what a rabbit-hole is, a tart, a pool, tears, etc. just not how those elements are fitting together in new ways. RWBY's titles, meanwhile, are a little more complex. Which isn't a bad thing, they're just not titles that would have fit well into Carroll's original or, arguably, fit the whimsical, fairy tale, 'This is kinda for kids' vibe of the Volume thus far. If anything, what we've gotten reminds me of Lemony Snicket's work. An auspicious auction sounds like it belongs smack dab in the austere academy.

Anyway, let's get into the actual story. Last we left off, Volume 9 was struggling significantly with its tone and I'm sorry to say that things haven't improved in that regard. If anything, the introduction of better written, more emotionally driven scenes means that they're suffering from the endless gags surrounding them and those gags, in turn, feel all the more out of place. We open on the girls all looking out on the world that Blake has revealed to them, though none of the emotion from last week has transferred over. Ruby and Yang are just kinda blank as they stare ahead, whereas Blake and Weiss appear intrigued by what's before them. Blake I can understand - the episode goes out of its way to frame her as the book nerd who's prepared to navigate this world and though I mentioned in a recent ask that Ruby feels more like the fairy tale lover to me, I do really like that Blake is given agency as the bibliophile again - but Weiss spends the entire episode having an absolute crisis over navigating a fairy tale, so why she's animated looking smugly pleased at this development is beyond me.

This is a common problem though, especially is modern RWBY. Unless the story is going out of its way to highlight a particular emotion (such as Ruby's depression at certain points) then everyone is given randomly generic expressions to fill a shot. Rarely do I feel like the smaller moments accurately reflect the overall mood. If a character is angry, they're just as likely to be smiling while someone else talks; if a character is frustrated, they're just as likely to appear content when the focus is no longer on them. In some ways this highlights the difficulties inherent in animation - you can't just let an actor do their job in the background, you have to actively conceive of and construct a characters' every micro-expression - but, the issue of crunch aside, it's still something the show could improve on. If your character is on screen, make sure their expressions actually matches what's been going on.

So we're off to a slightly rocky start and then, of course, we really kick things off with a joke. Yang wants to know if they're just going to stand around thinking about this in silence, or...?

Yeah, we definitely needed the meta acknowledgement that there was a break between episodes and we don't technically know how long the girls were staring at the view in-world. That's absolutely the best way to follow up on Ruby collapsing over the death of a friend🤦‍♀️

It'll come as no surprise to anyone who has seen the episode that this will be a common complaint from me today. Consistently the writing portions out moments for Ruby to be sad about what's happened, neatly separated from the rest of the story, and everything surrounding those moments works very hard to undermine that emotion. For example, in this moment I couldn't help but re-frame what we've been given through Yang's perspective: she saved her little sister and in the process fell into a terrifying void, waking with the thought that she's probably dead. Her arm was stolen from her and she somehow encountered a (meant to be) terrifying beast she wasn't able to fully defend herself against. This led to her reuniting with her team and the realization that them being here meant that they failed spectacularly to defend the world above. Weiss confirms this by tearfully admitting that one of their friends has died and Ruby is so shocked that she passes out.

So how does Yang react to all that? With incredibly bland questions about whether Ruby is okay. No physical comfort. Lots of jokes about their situation and, as we'll see later, an endless desire to punch someone's lights out - but even that is presented as a cute character quirk, not a symptom of her trauma. Yang - and everyone else - is only reacting to the horrors of Volume 8 when the story wants them to react, the Bad Emotions flipping on and off depending on whether the writers want another gag or not.

But I'm getting way ahead of myself. The point is that we begin with this sarcastically cheery tone and segue right into more animation humor. Ruby says that it's impossible that they're in a fairy tale, but Blake points out Little as evidence. (Side-note: how is that irrefutable evidence when the woman giving it is part CAT?) A highlighted mouse and Ruby's sweat-drop convey that yes, this is really happening! Because we can't convince the characters without those humorous details.

Oddly though, Little agrees with Ruby? We see them nodding along when Ruby says they can't possibly be in a fairy tale and right now I'm not sure if that's because they agree with the idea that their obviously real home can't be equated with a made-up story - something Little will outright say in a moment - or if they're just agreeing because, frankly, Little seems confused 99% of the time, but possesses enough emotional intelligence to want to make Ruby happy.

Regardless, with Little acting as (shaky) proof, Weiss revises Ruby's statement to say that it's "improbable" that they're in a fairy tale and we get the trailer line, "Let's look at this more logically, shall we?" You know, I think this line comes across much better here than it does in isolation. It's still not going to be winning any voice acting awards, but the flow of the conversation helps it out quite a bit.

However, I think Weiss', “Okay. I see your point of view. I’m going to go over here now" sounds so much worse.

Before that though she runs through all the plot we've already seen or, in Yang's case, was mentioned off screen while Ruby was unconscious. (And yes, the fact that Yang told everyone about her harrowing journey when the most important person in the world to her couldn't listen in still bugs me.) They all fell from the sky, Ruby met a talking mouse, Weiss and Blake encountered killer vines, and Yang had her arm stolen by a purple racoon. As if the deadpan nonsense of that wasn't enough, the scene needs to inject even more humor by having Little interrupt with a shouted "FRIENDS! :D"

Please note that nothing in this scene emphasizes - or even hints at - Ruby's current emotional state. From the flat expressions as she listens in, to the tiny smile when Little celebrates their friendship, this Ruby is indistinguishable form the girl we've seen for the last four-ish Volumes. As I mentioned above, it's an ongoing problem for me that the Volume is consistently separating Ruby's depression from, well, everything else. I'm not saying she has to be sobbing every second of the episode, but if you can snag a random scene - especially one so soon after her faint - give it to an ignorant RWBY fan, and expect that they'd have no idea based on this animation that she was dealing with the traumatic death of a friend... you need to go back and re-write that scene.

The absurdity of Yang's experience results in Weiss giving up on her logical approach. She gives that line about going over there now, bye-bye, and then we see... uh...

What is this? I have nothing against Weiss struggling with them being here - that actually makes a lot of sense for her character - but do we really need to convey her struggle like this? I literally cannot take the emotional beats seriously when they're surrounded by this Chibi-like silliness. Worse, later in the episode Weiss' comedic grumbling will return and actively interrupt Ruby's grieving.

But we'll get to that.

“As crazy as it sounds, something about this is familiar," Ruby says and then the girls realize that what they've experienced sounds an awful lot like "The Girl Who Fell Through the World." And by "an awful lot" I mean it's nearly an exact, one-for-one recreation. Cool concept! Too bad the viewer barely knew this story existed before the girls landed here. If you'll recall, the fairy tale was mentioned back in Volume 8 when Oscar was captured by Salem, which tells us that the writers realized what they wanted for the upcoming Volume and hastily tried to shove a reference in so this didn't come entirely out of left field. However, this wasn't a successful attempt imo. All we learn from Oscar's conversation with Ozpin is that a) a girl fell through Remnant, b) she wound up in a new world, and c) she returned to Remnant sad because she'd been so changed by her journey. Nothing in that tiny summary tells us what the world was like, or what Alyx experienced there, the two things that would help sell the idea that our characters recognize this environment and the things they've been through. Hell, we don't even learn the girl's name prior to Blake info-dumping the plot. "Alyx" exists only in Roman Holiday, a book I read and 100% did not remember learning the name. How's the average fan not obsessively plugged into every RWBY side-project supposed to emotionally invest in this?

Here then, we see another case where RWBY needs long-term revision. Given that they'd be basing an entire Volume around this fairy tale and putting an emphasis on the girls' knowledge of this story, we needed to spend time actually showing that the girls possess this knowledge; that it's of cultural significance to them. Give us a flashback of Summer reading the fairy tale to a young Ruby. Have the girls reference it during their Beacon days - Weiss makes fun of Ruby for still reading fairy tales when they're unpacking their room, Blake admits that it's one of the few tales she likes because of what Alyx needs to do to survive, Yang reminisces about sharing the story with her little sis. Give us Pyrrha bringing it up when she's asked what her favorite tale is. Ozpin hints during their travels that everything they grew up with is more than it seems, hiding grains of truth. Jaune reads bits of the story to his nephew, they overhear a version while the people of Mantle are trying to find comfort while they wait, there are posters up in Atlas for a movie adaptation coming out next Spring... Obviously some of these aren't possible - I never expected RT to invent a time machine and actually revise the earlier Volumes lol - but if you're going to pull this, "The characters knew this story all along and it was a super memorable part of their childhood" card then there needs to be something to set that up. And if you can't backtrack due to the medium you're writing in, you put off the Ever After Volume until you've done at least some of the work to properly prepare for it. At the very least you do more than have Oscar randomly mention it post-torture session, complete with no identifying information for the viewers to recognize once the Volume 9 trailer drops.

Or, they might have conceived of this as a tale that isn't well known and the girls are damn lucky that Blake is well-read enough to have come across it. But as it stands, Ruby suddenly recognizes where they are, Yang agrees, Weiss casually tosses out that oh yeah, of course they've all read this as kids. Obviously. You just never heard about it until now. Funny that! I found this particularly annoying when Blake suddenly reveals that the entirety of the premiere makes up the plot of this tale: Alyx falls a long distance, meets a bunch of mice, has to deal with killer vines, meets a Jabberwocker (why bother changing the name to little?), and had her knife stolen by a racoon. This is only impactful if the viewer can see the similarities as they're happening and come to the early conclusion that, oh wow, they're reenacting a Remanent fairy tale! What RWBY actually does though is present a bunch of seemingly random events, leaves the viewer for a week, and then comes back to say, "Actually you know what? That was all important!" But, I'd like to emphasize, not in a way akin to foreshadowing. This wasn't deftly planned; a trail of subtle breadcrumbs that the viewer can look back on and go, "Oh my god I should have realized!" We haven't the slightest idea that they're reenacting the plot of a fairy tale until Blake announces that... after its all occurred.

As the girls realize they're living out Alyx's story, there's understandably a bit of push-back. How can that be? It's fiction! (Even though, you know, by now they're well aware that their headmaster lived through a lot of 'fiction' too.) Little pipes up that this place isn't make believe, it's where they live... but doesn't actually provide any useful information beyond that.

Blake then proceeds to lay out the rest of the fairy tale's plot and also, presumably, the basic outline for our season: Alyx beat the Red King at his own board game, met the curious cat, encountered the rested knight (interesting description. I assume that'll be Jaune?), and finally escaped back home through the tree. Of course, if the girl we saw in our opening is really Alyx, then she didn't get back to Remnant (or wherever else she might be from. At this point I'm not putting it past RWBY to introduce a MCU-style multiverse. Especially with the Justice League crossover coming out). Right now, I'm not sure how to reconcile this idea. If Alyx never escaped then how did her story - and all its personal details - make it back to Remnant? Did someone else escape to tell her story? Does Ozpin have some world-traveling powers that we don’t know about yet? Does Alyx?

Maybe that’s not Alyx and this question is pointless.

Ooor maybe this question will simply go unanswered, leaving us with the plot-hole of how her story became a fairy tale so common that everyone from farmers out in Patch to corporate princesses in Atlas grow up on it.

(RWBY has a lot of world building diversity, don’t worry about it.)

Anyway, I do appreciate that this gives the girls a solid reason to seek out the tree. Last week I honestly thought they might be heading there under the ‘logic’ of “Why not? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯” Yes, the tree is massive and at the center of the land, but that kind of marker is only useful if you already know where you’re going - it doesn’t necessarily imply an exit. If anything, my first attempt to get out would have been via the ocean, given that some, like Ruby, appear to have come in with the tide post-fall. Plus it’s the only boundary we’ve seen. But what RT wrote holds together, even if the delivery had problems: Ruby was seeking higher ground and then realized she’s re-living a story where the tree is the protagonist’s way out. Well done, that tracks.

From there though things continue to struggle. Weiss reminds Ruby that she hasn't even found Crescent Rose yet and I thought, foolishly, that this would result in some kind of acknowledgment? Meaning, it's really easy to view this as a symptom of Ruby's declining mental health. As her encounter with Jinxy will demonstrate, she's so hopeless right now that she can't take joy in the things she once loved - or even care about their existence. Weiss is clearly concerned that Ruby hasn't found Crescent Rose, but no one else is concerned that Ruby isn't concerned. There's no mildly shocked, "Oh" from Ruby as she realizes, oh yeah, she's without her beloved, hand-made weapon modeled after her Uncle, perhaps also in connection with her mother, the thing she once turned to for comfort when she didn't know how to make any friends. Ruby: 'I should probably care that I've lost that, huh?' But we get zip in regards to her realizing that this emotionally significant object is still lost in the Ever After somewhere. Worse, no one else reacts to Ruby's lack of reaction. Alarm bells should be going off in Yang's head at the moment, but the episode is too focused on comedy and flirting to let her really check in with her little sister. Yang has come to the realization that Ruby horrifically lost that fight, watched her faint in response to the death of a friend, and now she doesn't even blink at the idea that her prized weapon might be gone for good. By all means, give us bumblebee, I WANT more canonical content (more on that below), but there's a time and a place. Ruby still not having Crescent Rose should be a huge deal for her and when it's not that should be a huge deal for Yang.

Also, I'd like to point that this loss makes Ruby incredibly vulnerable here (as the brief Jabberwock encounter demonstrates), potentially highlighting her less than passionate desire to keep herself safe. So is Yang - or even her other teammates - at all concerned about Ruby's mental health? Her own sense of safety?

Barely. They're not showing much.

I give Weiss props for trying to reach Ruby in a few moments, but Blake and Yang are too busy being wrapped up in each other to bother. (Which could be an interesting conflict/character flaw if the show acknowledged it.) This is the same problem we had in Volume 8: why is Yang worried about Blake when she had a huge fight with Ruby? Because RT can't figure out where to put their bumblebee moments so they don't actively draw away from the other relationships.

Before that though we need to have another gag moment, this time through flashback images of Yang having her arm stolen.

Look at this.

Who decided this was a good tone for the Volume? The contrast between past and present says it all. Yang is looking quite serious as she recalls presumably falling to her death, but we can't take her seriously because the trauma of that is undermined by a circle of cartoon stars over her head. Having her assistive device stolen while she was vulnerable makes Yang furious? Well, it doesn't make the viewer furious because they're too busy laughing at her dramatic reach, Jinxy's equally dramatic, evil design, and the cartoon-y white eyes/exaggeratedly open mouth. Notably, Blake is laughing too, rather uproariously, and I'm surprised that I haven't seen any non-RWDE grumbling from the fandom. After all, weren't people upset when Tai made a joke about Yang's arm, insisting that it was the height of insensitivity? How dare he say such a thing! ... never mind how Yang reacted to it. For me, a father knowing his daughter well enough to help jolt her out of an angry spiral, weeks after the event occurred, is better than a school friend laughing at the traumatic event mere hours after it happened... but that's just me. Apparently, shipping trumps all because it's presented as cute and wholesome for Blake to laugh over Yang having her assistive device stolen after the worst night of their lives. Disarmed, am I right?

Nothing in this scene tells the viewer to take the theft seriously, so... I don't. Yang went through something incredibly difficult after an already horrific night? No she didn't. She experienced an average annoyance, something to laugh at - as Blake demonstrates.

Deciding that they need to track this Jinxy down (I'm not challenging the need for that, especially when it's Yang's arm, but is no one planning to find Crescent Rose too?), the girls head to the nearest town. Cue the already overused joke that Little will lead the way! And then they don't.

We get more info-dumping about this story, including that Alyx accidentally started a war in the town because she went blundering in without understanding their customs. Blake is worried that fictional history might repeat itself which I like because yes, you should be worried about that! Not just because it's basic human decency not to sow chaos in the town you're visiting, not even because they've already seen themselves repeating Alyx's story (fall, mice, vines, theft) and thus have an excellent reason to think that they might repeat her mistakes as well, but because what has this group been doing since Volume 6 except blunder into places and sow chaos? Not intentionally. I am always fully aware that our cast is written to be well-meaning heroes consistently doing the best they possibly can for the people, but even if we believed that they truly had done everything within their power to help (which I often don't), their "best" has still caused irrevocable damage. Intentions aside, the group has tampered with one of the world's few remaining sources of communication, drew a terrifying grimm toan unsuspecting populace, tested the already shaky relations between Kingdoms, lied to their one remaining ally in a way that did nothing to help his declining mental health, risked a major operation on literal, blind trust (which wouldn't be so bad if the story hadn't gone out of its way to paint that as stupid, but only when a non-Team RWBY memeber does it), sat around drinking tea while an actual apocalypse was happening outside, lost two of the magical relics that may well doom the world (a failure that I personally wouldn't blame them for if they hadn't been so stupidly brazen in their "protection": not putting it in the vault, carrying it on their belt, not sending someone through to Vacuo with the Staff, etc.), and to top it all off, made the conscious decision to obliterate two cities, evicting a fourth of the world's population, without even TRYING to find a way to work around that nearly unimaginable consequence. Without even acknowledging it.

Yeah, they should absolutely be concerned about bringing chaos down on these people. The fact that for once they don't when narrative logic says they should is so painfully, hilariously ironic.

What really grinds my gears though is that none of the others care about this possibility when, as outlined above, they should. MAJOR kudos to Blake for being the voice of reason here, but Yang is all, "Yeah, but [Alyx] was kinda a mean person, right? She lied and cheated her way through most of the book."

OH BOY, YANG. HAVE I GOT NEWS ABOUT YOU AND YOUR TEAMMATES.

We don't need a rehashing of all the times they - Yang in particular - have lied, cheated, or been needlessly mean to others, so I suppose all I have left to say is that she's at least consistent? I mean, Yang is by far my least favorite of the group nowadays, especially the version of her that would sneer at Ren for daring to point out that they've made horrific mistakes, but for what it's worth this is the attitude we've come to expect from her. Us? Fuck things up? Never! We're perfect! We're not like mean old Alyx who would do something as awful as lie to people.

Weiss tries to defend Alyx's actions by saying that "she was trying to survive" and grousing that the morals are too simplistic. That's a position I can respect, though I wish it weren't coming from a show that, at the end of the day, pushes such a simplistic perspective. As we've seen plenty of times in the past, RWBY continually claims that it has complex morals while not actually engaging with complex morals.

Just to hammer the point home, I'd like to point out that this conversation about harmful actions and gray morality is broken up by Ruby poking a sleeping Little, trying unsuccessfully to wake them up. After all, nothing highlights the complexity of your story like continuing mouse gags.

Let's put all that aside for a moment though. I've been jumping around just a bit, discussing some conversation pieces out of order because it works better with the flow of the recap. Now, we come to a crucial moment I previously skipped over:

The bees.

Being over a week late with this recap, pretty much everything that needs to be said has been said, to the point where even some non-RWDE folks are tentatively going, "So is that it then? Is it confirmed? Can I say with complete confidence that it's canonical?"

Well... no.

But it's the closest we've ever gotten.

It's also a setback.

Let me explain.

While Blake is laughing it up over Yang having her arm stolen, she gets very flirty. In fact, I think we can make a case that her laughter is exaggerated in an effort to catch Yang's attention, though that doesn't detract from the problem of what she's laughing at in the first place. Regardless, Blake is clearly enamored with Yang in this moment, grinning, leaning real close, teasingly touching their fingers together. They don't hold hands, but the desire is obviously there, and Weiss responds to the flirting with a, "It's about time."

Now, the reason why this is the closest we've gotten to a canonical confirmation is 100% because of Weiss. I wouldn't argue for a moment that this scene wasn't deliberately flirty, but it still holds a certain level of plausible deniability, which is the exact problem all the other Yang/Blake scenes have. Yes, forehead touches, hand-holding, and blushes are all coded as romantic, but until you actually confirm a relationship or interest, homophobes can come back with, "I blush at compliments/hold my friends' hands/they were just overwhelmed after nearly dying! Why do you hate platonic intimacy so much??" (To be clear, I do mean homophobes in this example, not the ace/aro community who might want to see the same things, but for very different reasons.) In fact, I recently came across a tumblr post tagged for arospecs upholding forehead touches over kisses:

Now, I certainly get what OP is saying (and it's worth pointing out the obvious: they don't know anything about my recaps, aren't responding to RWBY, etc. The post just came across my dash). There's an intimacy here that rings as more heartfelt than what we often get with a kiss. After all, kisses are a dime-a-dozen in television, just not for queer people, and largely in response to those restrictions, queer characters have historically been coded through other, intimate touches. So yeah, for some - even those who aren't aro/ace - a forehead touch might mean so much more in a pairing than an outright kiss. But note that the texpost starts with, "sure, fine, your characters kissed, whatever." OP is imaging a scenario in which that confirmation is a given. They kissed. So what? We want more meaningful interactions than just that!

"Just that" being the key phrase. Blake and Yang don't have "just that." They have not kissed. They have not been confirmed, so to argue for forehead-touch supremacy here is insufficient. It's like going, "Who cares about the core outfit. The best part is accessorizing!" Sure, that's a legit opinion, but for anyone who doesn't have any clothes yet, a pair of earrings and a scarf isn't going to cut it.

Despite all this, the line "It's about time" isn't attributed to anything other than romance. If a character looks at two others and says that, they're not talking about anything other than a decidedly non-platonic interest. So this, on its own, is definitely something to celebrate and is by far the most solid piece of evidence that the bees will be 100% confirmed by the end of the Volume.

Nevertheless, I have to ask: why are we still in the flirting stage?

Yes, Weiss makes a 'They like each other' comment that really can't be interpreted as anything else, but the comment itself translates to, 'It's about time they admitted they liked each other.' Now, if Blake had kissed Yang - or asked her out on a date, said "I love you," whatever confirmation we're each personally leaning towards - then we'd be golden. It's about time they did that? Yeah, it sure is! But the actions Weiss responds to are that flirty dialogue and a minuscule hand-brush, both of which we've seen before. A fair bit, actually.

This is what I mean when I say the moment is regressive. Weiss is acting like Blake and Yang have taken this huge step forward in their relationship, but the reality is that they've gone backwards, from full-on hand-holding to tentative brushes. The hand-holding already wasn't enough, as established, but now we're meant to cheer for an aborted hand-holding instead? I suppose it's possible to read this purely from Weiss' perspective. Meaning, she wasn't out in the shed when Blake took Yang's artificial hand. She wasn't at the Adam fight (even though she should have been...) to see their actual step forward, clasping hands as one and promising to defend each other. And though she was there, I doubt Weiss was paying them any mind when they had their moment of comfort on the airship, or even when Yang complimented Blake's new haircut. So yes, from Weiss' limited perspective this might actually be a significant change. Most of the girls' development has occurred in private and they haven't shared these changes with the group, so of course Weiss is going to go, 'Oh wow, Blake is leaning in close and teasing Yang with intimate finger brushes - they've never done that before! It's about time! :D'

But - and this is a crucial 'but' - neither the story nor RWBY's marketing present this as something solely from Weiss' perspective. Despite making this "It's about time" statement to Ruby, she doesn't come back with any additional knowledge to catch Weiss up to speed. There's no moment when Blake and Yang turn around to reveal that, oh yeah, we've actually been flirting like this for a while - culminating in an on screen admission of their feelings. And the official RWBY twitter puts out stuff like this:

The audience isn't supposed to work through who knows what like I've done above, they're just meant to celebrate that omg, the girls touched fingers!! Never-mind that they've gone past that before and, as said multiple times, that's not enough.

Do I think the bees will be confirmed this Volume given that this is the most overtly anyone has acknowledged the relationship? Yes. Do I think it's a problem that after nine years we're still in the barely flirting stage when other, straight relationships - even slowburns like renora - have already been explicitly confirmed? Also yes.

RWBY is writing this badly and I again question where most Yang/Blake fans are coming from. Either you're old enough to recognize queerbaiting and are likely wary as fuck that we'll get a repeat here, or you're young enough that you've grown up with queer ships that are unambiguously canonical within the first few seasons - if you even had to wait that long - in which case this 'Are they or aren't they?' dance should seem ridiculous. All I can imagine is that the RWBY fandom's tendency to rewrite canon has led to a legitimately inaccurate reading of the text. The same way that people will claim that their headcanons 100% happened on screen and will not be dissuaded even when you stick screenshots under their nose and go, "Look! That's literally not happening here!" I wonder how many fans imagined up a romance and just... honest to god think we've already gotten it. Not that anyone is literally hallucinating or anything, just that there's this pervasive trend of imprinting what one imagines onto the text. What do you mean Ironwood wasn't a dictator the whole time? What do you mean Ruby is repeating the actions she's criticized others for? What do you mean Blake and Yang aren't dating? We've spent so long rewriting the canon online that it's now hard as hell to differentiate between those creative hopes and what has actually happened on screen.

So yeah. I want to praise this moment. I am praising it just because this is the most we've ever gotten out of RWBY in terms of non-background character queer rep, but damn is it still falling short of what it could be.

It's worth pointing out that Ruby has no reaction to her sister almost-dating her teammate, but I give this a pass because Ruby is so obviously lost in her own, dark thoughts. In fact, she doesn't even seem to follow what Weiss is commenting on. As we'd expect, their semi-private conversation turns dark and Weiss stops walking. “It’s all gone. There’s nothing left for me to go back to," she says.

I'm really glad they're acknowledging that Weiss didn't just broadly mess up along with the rest of the group, but that she, specifically, has lost her home too. I honestly thought the acknowledgements would end there, but when Ruby tries to comfort with a, “You did the best you could for Atlas, Weiss” she shoots back with, “We hatched a crazy plan that put a whole kingdom at risk!”

Yeah you did! Thank you for finally saying that!! If we can't have heroes weighing the repercussions of their actions prior to engaging with them, at least give me heroes who will grapple with their mistakes after the fact. I mean, like with Yang I have a very hard time taking Weiss' grief and self-recrimination seriously when the majority of her struggle has been depicted through absurd gags... but beggars can't be choosers. This, coupled with Ruby's closing line of the episode, gives me more hope for the girls' development than I've had in years, certainly more than we got from Ren's argument with Yang.

As a sidenote though, I wish they hadn't hidden Weiss' face for the majority of this scene. I liked it when this cinematography was used to emphasize how she was hiding from her teammates - AKA when she was keeping Penny's death a secret - but now? Everyone knows everything (for the most part, anyway) and it would add a hell of a lot for the viewer to be able to see the struggle taking place on Weiss' face. Of course, the animating of emotions this Volume has been iffy, as acknowledged earlier, so maybe it is for the best that they didn't try and then fail to depict that kind of sorrow. Not when vaguely wet eyes and mostly blank expressions have been our norm. Still, when we have this important a character moment I don't want to be staring at Weiss' back, or her ridiculously complicated belt. Let me see her.

(I just realized that combining those screenshots makes it look like Weiss has messed up shoulders and a head turned round backwards whoops lololol.)

Another weird detail is that Weiss seems to be under the impression that Jaune may have saved the Relics. Sorry, but what? I'd buy this as a holding out hope situation if the whole group didn't know that Cinder had the Lamp and if Weiss, as the last to fall, wasn't at least vaguely aware that Cinder had snagged the Staff too. I mean, I'd have to re-watch the finale to get the exact timing, but I don't think it was that long between Weiss falling and Cinder flying off to make a new wish. Besides, what's the healer of the group going to do against a fully powered Maiden, especially without the rest of his team? It's not a literal mistake/retcon, just a really weird thing to have your character believe. I'm kinda getting the vibe that the writers didn't want to list all the ways the group fucked up - because yeah, that's overwhelming. That's what we've been saying! - so some mistakes are just kinda... glossed over. 'Well sure, we destroyed a Kingdom, Penny died, and we're now lost in this world, but maybe the Relics are still safe!' Mmm no, sorry. The only 'Well maybe' I'll accept is in reference to the people of Atlas being safe because yeah, there's no reason for Weiss or the others to know that they wound up in a grimm-infested sandstorm. I definitely give Weiss a pass for not realizing how her wish screwed them over - "One way ticked to Vacuo" - because it literally took Oscar summoning up a memory he didn't have to figure that out. I mean, I'm in full agreement with what others have said: it would be great if Weiss did realize/learn that at some point and was forced to grapple with the fact that the lack of help she's so angry over was, in fact, her fault... but I don't expect her to realize that on the fly, especially not when she's dealing with so much else in the Ever After.

I mean hell, I can barely remember the last sentence I wrote here. If you wanted me to backtrack through a conversation I had hours ago to find a linguistic mistake I made - when I don't even know there is a mistake I'm looking for - I'd be screwed lol.

As the conversation continues Weiss also acknowledges that learning about Penny's death must have been "a lot to hear" and - pushing back against my earlier frustration with the characters' expressions - Ruby actually looks affected by this. By and large I think this is the best interaction we've gotten in a while, right up through Ruby just walking away, unable to even respond to that statement yet. Unlike hiding Weiss' face, or Ruby fainting instead of otherwise reacting to the tragedy, this doesn't feel like a cop-out, but rather a legitimate, believable response. She's not capable of processing this yet, let alone chatting it out with Weiss.

Unfortunately, this engaging emotion doesn't last for long. As expected, I've seen posts in the larger RWBY fandom criticizing our criticisms, claiming that all RWDE folk want are "doom and gloom" for the girls; something "edgy." To which I can only respond with a "Nah." I like horror and tragedy and morally gray storytelling, but if we're defining "doom and gloom" as a work that has nothing but hopeless pessimism to impart, I'm not here for it. All I want is a Volume that appropriately engages with the darker tone introduced in Volume 3 and ramped up like WHOA in Volume 8, without cracking its foundation with constant, contradictory jokes.

In short, we have really done without another, humorous' moment where Little proves themselves useless - they have no idea what lies beyond the bridge, despite offering to guide Team RWBY on this journey - as well as a long sequence (long for a 15-20 minute episode, anyway) wherein Little tries to build themselves a home because...? I mean, I get that they don't know their way back to the village, but what made them think they weren't continuing on with the girls in the first place? I think the logic is loosey-goosey because the writers just wanted an excuse to have Little build a rickety home to fall apart. While singing. While the group has over-the-top reactions to that. Gags upon gags upon gags.

Continuing on, they arrive at the town and I've gotta say, I really like the design here. The red of the architecture pairs nicely with the deep green sky. As a fantasy aesthetic, I mean. I do wish this had carried over onto the actual streets though. We loose that cohesion among the townspeople and, frankly, they look bad in comparison.

We get a little discomfort from the girls as they navigate among sentient game pieces and we're shown a closeup of a flyer advertising the birthday of "His Most Royal." I'm writing this paragraph having seen Episode 3, so kudos to RT for keeping that title vague. As the groups awkwardly move through the crowd we get what is, hands down, the best line of the Volume so far:

Blake: "Just act like you belong."

Little: "I've always wanted to be long, but I'm still just small."

Hilarious. Witty. 10 out of 10. That's the kind of Caroll-esque humor that could permeate the Volume without undermining the darker tone. Too bad this is currently a one-off moment.

They spot Jinxy's caravan. “So what’s the strategy?" Yang asks, eagerly looking back at her teammates. "Just start roughing 'em up, or what?” Ah yes, Yang. Start an attack with innocent, defenseless civilians all around you. I honestly hate how her solution to everything is still 'Get angry and punch things.' Not because that's a bad trait in a character, but because Yang specifically went through an arc to get better at that. Yet instead of improving, or have a story that engages with her failure, she's just as impulsively violent as she's always been, but now it's treated as a justified response at best, a cute quirk at worst. Here we've got Option #2 with Yang smiling, acting like beating up Jinxy is a fun outing for her and her friends.

And you know what? No, I don't really care that this is all to get her arm back because as the girls should have learned by now, the Ever After doesn't follow their rules. We know, post-scene, that Jinxy is legitimately a conman who knowingly stole Yang's arm, but crucially none of the characters know that. Not for sure. This is a world where mice talk, vines move on their own, people are made out of wood, and most don't even know what a human is. The group should at least be questioning Jinxy's motivations in a world where everything is (supposedly) so topsey-turvey and, in turn, questioning whether it's right to go in gun's blazing. Hell, I actually would have liked that better. Give me a Jinxy who honestly didn't realize he was doing something wrong. You were just lying there, possibly dead, that metal thing is clearly not a part of your squishy body - it detaches! - and as your mouse friend will clearly tell you, it's not stealing if no one sees you do it. What are you so upset for? Give me a scene where Yang has to acknowledge her, 'Attack first, ask questions later' response to every. single. problem. Give me a RWBY where Yang is allowed to be wrong again.

Blake at least tries a peaceful approach. She looks as uncomfortable with Yang's attitude as I am (is that ever going to come up in their budding relationship?) and reminds her that Alyx bartered for her knife back. Yang's response?

"Yeah, I think I'd rather hit him :D"

We get our first real look at Jinxy when he comes out to start his auction. I'll admit this never even crossed my mind while first watching, but uh... yeah. I see what people mean about the Romani stereotyping. The brightly colored, free-flowing clothing. The caravan. The travel (the fact that Jinxy can trick these townspeople implies that he's never been here before; never staying in one place for very long). The characterization as a dangerous charlatan scamming unsuspecting innocents. It's not a one-to-one comparison - stereotypes very rarely are - but there's enough there to catch a glimpse of the writers' bias. It's unfortunately a rather common bias and, as said, one that those like myself won't always immediately spot, but that's why it's important to point it out. There are so many ways of depicting a conman. Why did you choose the version that looks distinctly like a marginalized ethnic group?

The answer is likely just ignorance but again, that's why we discuss such things. We need to help others - and ourselves - do better in the future.

Obviously unaware of the uncomfortable implications, Weiss exclaims that Jinxy is oh so cute and Blake comments that he looks older than he appeared in the book, perhaps providing evidence that a significant amount of time has passed since Alyx fell. We learn that Jinxy screws over people by selling trash disguised as treasure, so Yang will have to let her heart tell her which is her arm.

Spoiler: Yang doesn't use her heart to find her arm. Oh, she correctly identifies her arm, but only because it's the most arm-shaped, yellow colored thing on the stage. I honestly expected that not to be her arm because that's how situations like these go in stories, right? It's never the most obvious choice... but in this case apparently it is! I want to emphasize though that Yang does not choose this because she has an emotional connection to the object. We are explicitly shown what that connection looks like via Ruby and Yang, in comparison, basically points and chooses at random.

So that's an awful way to depict her relationship with an assistive device, but it is consistent. We see Yang first emerge with her arm with very little fanfare - the audience doesn't watch her decide to put it on for the first time, nor do we see her actually experiencing those first moments. From there her arm is used largely for jokes - scaring Nora, new puns - or is left behind to get an advantage in a fight. (Which, I'd like to clarify, I don't dislike on its own, but it is relevant in the grand scheme of how Yang approaches her prosthetic.) Last Volume she's given a line about how it is not an important part of her identity, it continues to be used for humor purposes now, and when a fantasy mouse says, 'What does your heart tell you? Which is your arm?' Yang's response is a straightforward, 'I don't know.' For me, this moment perfectly encapsulates how hollow Yang's disability journey has been, all the way back to her simply not caring that another disabled ally procured her a state-of-the-art device. Though it makes for a lackluster scene, to put it mildly, I admittedly would have scoffed if Yang had felt some call to her arm because when has RWBY ever established that? It hasn't, so yay keeping things consistent I guess?

Also, just the fact that all of Jinxy's wares are bits of trash disguised as treasures says a lot. Unlike my little rewrite above, we don't get any exploration of Ever After's culture that reveals that Jinxy has no idea what this arm is, why it might be important, etc. So literally the narrative is just saying, 'Others think Yang's assistive device is trash' and we leave it at that. Fantastic.

As said though, Ruby does feel a pull towards the little doll on the stage, though she can't say why. As she stares, Jinxy sells his first 'treasure' for... a hug.

...

.....

..........

"And what happened, then? Well, on Tumblr they say that Clyde's small heart grew three sizes that day. And then – the true meaning of RWBY came through, and Clyde found the strength of ten turtles, plus two!”

I'm not gonna lie, I thought that detail was super fucking cute. Hugs acknowledged as incredibly valuable? Hell yeah! I like that the townspeople are paying in ways beyond handing over [insert fantasy money name here]. That's a nice world-building detail and when Jinxy has to give the hug back when his con is exposed? Fantastic. This scene might be struggling like whoa with the larger concepts, but many of the details are really nice.

When it's time to sell the arm both Yang and a nearby royal guard raise their hands. However, Jinxy asks for "knowing what it is to feel love" and, with a glance at Blake, Yang gives up the bid. If they were going to tease the ship some more, maybe specify romantic love? As it stands, Yang should be backing down regardless of whether there's a relationship in the works because love as a broad concept would have her losing everything: love for her sister, her teammates, her family, her home, for adventure. That's not a Blake specific thing, that's a, 'Holy shit he's asking her not to be human anymore' thing.

So it makes sense then that a wooden puppet, nameless and identical to every other guard, existing only to serve "His Most Royal" would be able to pay that price.

Of course, losing what she assumes is her arm (because remember, she doesn't actually know that yet) makes Yang angry. Check out Blake's totally chill, not at all worried, definitely not uncomfortable look.

Finally we come to the doll, which Ruby immediately bids on. However, like Yang's, Jinxy asks too high a price: fill this jar with hope. It's a bit on the nose, but I like the idea, as well as the shot of the doll sitting dejectedly through the jar's reflection.

However, I think this moment would have had far more of an impact if Ruby had tried to fill it. Sure, she's clearly struggling right now, but why doesn't Ruby at least make an attempt? Especially given that one of her most defining traits lately is to sink deeper into denial: I'm fine, everything's fine, we're going to get home, we're going to fix things, why would anyone be doubting that? Of course I can fill the stupid jar! Let her angrily charge up to the stage, snatch the jar, glare in annoyance because duh it's going to fill... but then it doesn't and her expression falls. That's when Jinxy can say, "You can't, can you?" Simply announcing that to the audience is probably the least compelling way to go about this. Oh, our story is telling us things again rather than showing them? Groundbreaking.

While all this is going on Little has scampered up on stage to fucking steal the doll and you know what? Good on Little. That's the first thing they've done that hasn't felt like a waste of time. I especially like that this calls back to the Ever After rule that it's not stealing if no one sees you do it. "Fairs fair," they say.

Given that Little took the 'treasure' before Jinxy received his payment, his spell is broken and all the objects are revealed as the 'trash' they always were. The random citizen finds a mouse in his hands, the guard screams as he sees Yang's arm in his hands, and the doll turns into...

Penny's sword.

(Get it? The green doll was a green sword belonging to a not-real girl? Everyone got it, right?)

Say, did anyone else expect it to be Crescent Rose? Ruby feeling an emotional connection to an object while her beloved weapon is still missing, lost in a world where a Racoon picks up any random objects to sell? That would make a LOT more sense than Penny's sword winding up in the Ever After. As I explained in an ask, Penny made those swords out of her Maiden powers and they disappeared as soon as Cinder struck her in the chest. Of course they did, she likely lost control of her aura/magic as soon as she took a killing blow. But apparently the swords actually hung around despite Penny passing her powers to Winter, despite being dead, and were... blasted? All the way to the edge of the bridge?? From a blow that didn't have any force behind it??? Yeah sure, totally believable.

So instead of resurrecting Ruby's love for the weapon she designed and re-arming her before the team faces any real danger - because there are no battles these first two episodes - we get another emotional moment without a real foundation underneath it. The writers were so eager to continue Ruby's grief arc specifically through Penny (even though SO MUCH has happened that she could be triggered in any number of ways) that they just kinda... forgot to set that up...

I do like the moment itself though. I think Ruby's frantic run to the sword, her gasp, her clutching the sword to her chest and crying over it - all that is well done. Certainly better than much of what we saw in episode one. I just wish this wasn't so freaking contrived.

In the realm of not setting things up, we get another severely awkward moment as the group "escapes." I put that in quotation marks because, well, the problem is that they're not escaping from anything. Jinxy isn't trying to attack them for revealing his con, the townspeople don't mistakenly blame them for things, and though the guards will show up in a bit, they're notably not seen chasing them yet. So we've got Yang and Blake booking it out of there, Weiss walking leisurely away, Ruby barely paying attention, all of it with nothing seemingly happening in the background.

Then they wind up back in the forest with:

Yang [out of breath]: "Those people... take auctions... VERY seriously”

No they don't? This implies that the people were turning on the girls for ruining their auction, but none of the civilians were paying them any mind. The most we see is the guy who bought the bunny getting his hug back which, you know, is kinda the opposite of a mad crowd threatening violence for this deception. Yang functions more as a threat at the start of all this than the group they're supposedly running from. Blake literally starts freaking out about how they're "ruining everything!" and I'm like you didn't? Nothing happened?? I mean, yay Blake continuing to take responsibility for their actions, but in this case the girls legitimately didn't cause any problems. In the story Alyx started a war because she didn't know how to properly deal with the townspeople, so I expected the team's visit to go equally as bad; something to explain Blake having a crisis once they'd left. All they did was reveal a conman though, a conman everyone is only passively angry at. Please give me my hug back, sir, and shame on you for tricking us. We will all calmly disperse now.

I know it's years too late, but RWBY really needs to learn how to show what they want depicted on screen.

We learn that the theories were right about the weather being influenced by others' emotions - or at least Ruby's emotions in particular. As she sits down with Penny's sword a localized storm starts and, in a few moments, we'll hear a guard shout that someone's sad over there. So this is a useful tool for showing (good job!) that Ruby is really struggling right now, even if she appears calm on the outside, and I'd have so much more to praise about the scene if it hadn't been ruined by freaking Weiss.

Seriously, forget Little. Weiss is by far the most annoying character this Volume.

So after Ruby fainted at the news that her dear friend had died, unexpectedly discovered her sword, and now sits with a grief so heavy it magics up a storm to drench them all, her teammates do... nothing. Honest to god they do nothing. Yang has a single, "Ruby?" before the scene is stolen by Weiss having a temper tantrum. She doesn't like Blake's idea that they're following in Alyx's footsteps - even though everything they've done has followed in her footsteps - and starts ranting about how "We are not in a book!" and even if they were, they know the ending takes place at the castle, so let's go. Does Weiss care that Ruby is sitting there in shock, even after she tried to connect with her earlier? No. Does Yang care that her sister is loosing it two feet away? No. Does Blake? Nope. Does the narrative? Absolutely not. Ruby sits in background while Weiss has more stupid comedy moments, getting trapped in a loop and hitting herself in the head with a rock.

I keep seeing celebratory posts about how the show is tackling Ruby's grief, but it's not? It's introducing her grief and then immediately ignoring it. Ruby cries and then finds a cute mouse to distract her. Ruby faints and just brushes past that - she's fine. Ruby finds her dead friend's weapon, but why would we focus on that when we can watch Weiss hilariously knock herself out? I feel like the stock answer to these complaints is always something along the lines of, "They're working up to Ruby's breakdown," but frankly I don't care if they are. The execution is atrocious now and a sudden swerve into respectful storytelling isn't going to change that.

Plus, as I've mentioned previously, these moments don't help convince me that the girls care for each other outside of the dramatic, self-sacrificing actions added to finales. Bad enough that everyone ignored Ruby's faint and extended no care towards her, but now they're literally just standing there as she suffers. This is by no means a new problem, but the heroes have become so passive the last few Volumes. What happened to Black who marched right up to Weiss and let her how important the faunus are to her? The Yang who squared off against her mother just to reach her little sister? Weiss delivering a cup of coffee and checking in with her newly acknowledged leader? Say what we will about Volume 8 - and we've all said a lot - but at least there Yang puts her arm around Ruby and tries to comfort her on the steps, no matter how much denial that comfort required. Now? Now Yang just stands there because again, why comfort her little sister when Weiss is making a fool of herself?

At least this has some basic care and human decency behind it.

"This way!" the royal guards yell. "Someone's sad!" Yeah and her teammates don't care. Sure, we know in the way someone knows who reads the script, or who knows the writers' intentions, that of course Team RWBY all love each other so, so much... but man, would it kill them to show it more?

As the guards show up we get an interesting shot of Ruby that mirrors the one with Jaune's blade--

--and then she pulls herself together enough to face them, deciding that if Alyx went to see the Red King then they will too.

Ruby offers to give the guards “the weapon of a powerful warrior," AKA Penny's sword, and what follows is a legitimately emotional speech:

"[She was] the most powerful [warrior] to ever live. She was touched by magic and she gave her life for thousands. She took a message of hope to the stars and she saw the world through better eyes."

At least, it would be legitimately emotional if it hadn't been undercut, again, by all the comedy. We just had Weiss loosing it. The guards all "OOOOOO" loudly over the sword. Then they burst into exaggerated tears at Ruby's words, complete with their toy horses crying too. I've said it a million times now and I'll say it again: you can't expect me to take these moments seriously if the story can't take them seriously.

Also, I have to ask... why is Ruby giving the sword up? The logic is that they're trying to get to the Red King, but they were already heading to the Red King. That is, the guards were after them, trying to take them into custody for ruining the birthday present. So why bother with this bribe? It's simply not necessary, especially since they're still basically escorted as prisoners, guards on all sides. It's not like these guards are presented as terribly intelligent. All Ruby needed to do was go, "Oh, we're so sorry for ruining His Majesty's special day. Yes, please take us to him so that we can apologize in person. Your Majesty, can we please make it up to you by playing some games? Etc. etc."

The sword is a needless addition and that wouldn't be a problem if it didn't (supposedly) have such emotional impact. Ruby just found this piece of Penny. This is, likely, the last bit of her she'll ever encounter... and she's going to just give that up? Literal minutes after she found it? To a bunch of identical goons who snatch it up and run off in another, stupid gag? Once again, this is not convincing me that Ruby is having an authentic grief arc. She might be sad for the whole Volume, but each individual moment is ignored or "solved" almost instantaneously. To say nothing of the fact that Ruby is without her weapon. She has the PERFECT, practical excuse to hang onto Penny's sword with everyone, characters, and audience alike realizing that her logic is hiding a harder truth: she can't give it up. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But then sure, give me a moment at the end of the Volume when Ruby must part with the sword for some reason, to save another, or further their cause. Giving it up now, especially when it's not necessary, makes the supposed attachment she feels to it ring hollow.

This is just so... meh. I honestly thought we'd be getting an updated version of this for a second.

As they follow the guards to the castle Ruby bitterly tells the girls that they need to "stop pretending we know what we’re doing." Hell yeah, Rubes, that's the first time we've agreed in a while. Whether or not anything comes of this line is still to be seen, but I'm happy that their failure - stemming from arrogant complacency - was at least acknowledged. It's definitely a hard-hitting line to end an otherwise goofy episode on.

Now! I'm off to try and write up "Rude, Red, and Royal" in... three days🙃

Thanks for reading! <3

#rwde #rwby #mymetas #RWBY Recaps

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cherryblossomsandhydrangeas · 10 months

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Sk8 Rewatch Ep11

Listen, Kid Ainosuke is fucking adorable, but that’s not going to make me forget how much of a piece of shit he is as an adult.

Poor Tadashi, it all goes downhill for you from here on out.

My boys~ 🥹🥹🥹

Listen show, you hammering me with how awful Ainosuke’s aunts are isn’t going garner any sympathy. If you wanted me to feel bad for him you shouldn’t have had him be a freak.

Sketchy is chaos incarnate and I love the little fucker.

The fact that Oka doesn’t immediately sick Sketchy on Tadashi after Reki mentioned a love hotel is a crime against humanity.

Tadashi: Everybody wants something from Ainosuke-sama ever since his father passed away. And I’m trying to rob him of his one and only respite... He’s fondling minors and he just cracked his ex’s skull open and put him in a wheelchair. I know this is your upbringing talking here, but please....

Tadashi: But, if he keeps crushing one skater after another like this, there’ll be a scandal someday. The fact that there wasn’t a scandal after he put the famous and beloved Sakurayakishi Kaoru in the hospital pretty much means he can do whatever he wants.

Tadashi: And if that happens, it’ll be all over for him. God if only.

Tadashi: I have to stop him. In a perfect universe, you did.

Kiriko never getting to raid Ainosuke’s house is a crime. I wanted to see that bastard in handcuffs.

Miya: I told you a slime can’t beat the demon king! See even Miya agrees with me that Adam’s a demon.

Will somebody PLEASE call the police?! Or atleast ride up behind them like you did in earlier episodes???

He was really planning to toss a teenager off a cliff and face no consequences, wasn’t he?

You know you’re a badass when all of the founders are trying to figure out what in the hell is wrong with you. (Reki skating off the side of a cliff.)

Oh, Reki, baby, Adam has like a veritable mountain of muscle compared to you.

Adam: I like to love others, but I fucking hate being loved! There’s just so much to unpack here.

The fact that Adam named the “technique” he almost murdered his ex with “Full Swing Kiss” is a level of evil and pettiness even I cannot fathom.

It’s a international holiday you guys!

Tadashi’s entire worldview has been turned upside down.

If I could bottle up a fraction of the catharsis Cherry must’ve felt I think I could sell it and be happy for the rest of my life.

People laughing at Adam is music to my ears.

This man really just went full fucking demon, huh?

Tadashi, no you are not wrong. You should take skateboarding away from Adam. Him learning to love skateboarding again is not going to fix the crux of his problems.

Adam: In my world, I’m the only one who exists. Yeah, that’s literally all on you. It’s not anyone else’s fault or problem that you leave people and pretend they betrayed you to make yourself feel better because you’re afraid they’re gonna hurt you eventually.

The after credits preview saying Adam forced Langa into a flamenco class. 😬🤢🤮😡😤🤬

#sk8 rewatch #sk8 #sk8 the infinity #sk8 cherry blossom #sk8 joe #sk8 ad*m #sk8 reki #sk8 langa #sk8 tadashi #sk8 oka #sk8 kiriko #sk8 miya

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potsiefaerie · 23 days

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This week on Get Therapized Nerd:

I got called out on talking about how setting boundaries and making sure to rest is helpful and makes me more efficient and productive and not thinking about it in terms of kindness to myself, and had to confess that I almost never use the paradigm of "kind to myself" for anything except for trying to give myself grace when I can't do things - because my motivation is almost always improving efficiency and productivity (just in a "doing what I want to get done" sense though not really in a capitalism sense)

I decided I actually do probably want to work on some of my phonecall-avoidant behaviors and she wrote that down (I am so gonna regret that later 😬😬😬 but it'll be good for me)

We talked a bit about my auditory processing difficulties and I realized a lot of my mishaps as a kid were partly because I was zoned out and partly probably accents??? I moved from Wisconsin to northern New Jersey to Atlanta in the same two years and those are some distinctly different accents.

(Are audio processing difficulties treatable also?? I have never even asked that or looked it up?? I wonder if there are therapies or anything. Quick, listen to this dude mumble on the radio... 🤔)

I used "should" three times in the same sentence and now my homework is to rephrase every time I find myself thinking that word, because shame is Not Helpful when you're trying to overcome executive dysfunction (there I am with helpful again - I almost said it was inefficient when the executive dysfunction is exacerbated by an anxiety disorder - not wrong but why is this my entire motivation for self care)

(Literally why does "be kind to yourself" only seem like a reasonable motivation if it's followed by "so you can be more functional" 🙃🙃🙃)

(this probably explains things about my burnout problems 💀)

(I just want to say that I am kind to myself most of the time except for the "should" pressure but I probably need to unpack why I feel like that's not a worthwhile goal unless it makes me more productive)

#get therapized nerd #personal

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toomuchracket · 8 months

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Feel like matty and the boys are the type of dads that would dress up for their children’s birthday parties 🤣🤣 like you know how you can hire entertainers who will dress up as people for kids, I can 100% see matty in like a Spider-Man costume and his kids just being mesmerised and then one of them clicking on that it’s actually their dad 🤣

HA i love this. let's say in the d word universe, lyla and alex have a phase of being obsessed with the spider-man cartoons when they get a little bit older (maybe keir gets them into it when they're over at uncle ross's house or something!), and for alex's 6th birthday matty's like "you know what? i'm gonna dress up as spider-man for a bit at his party and entertain the kids". and you're like "😬 is that wise? if they figure out it's you then all hell will break loose. tears and tantrums all round", and matty's like "babe it'll be fine they'll have no idea. i'll do like 20 mins and an accent"; you raise a brow like "you can maintain a decent american accent for that long?", and matty's like "probably. surely the actor parents genes are in here somewhere. if not, i'll just do a backflip". you wince like "really? i didn't know you could do that", and matty smirks like "well, baby, i'm quite agile" - you nod like "yeah, i knew that one, alright", and matty laughs and hugs you. into his shoulder, you murmur "i can't talk you out of this, can i?", and matty says "not at all, sweetheart"; you sigh as you pull back like "alright then. but you have to get a costume that looks like the andrew garfield one, promise me", and matty's confused like "but the kids haven't seen those films yet". smirking, you kiss his cheek and say "no, that caveat is one for mummy, not the kids", and matty's jaw drops like "oh, we need to unpack THAT one later. but alright, darling, i'll see what i can find costume-wise".

he doesn't show you the costume until the actual day of alex's party, though, A) in case he or lyla were to walk in on him wearing it or swipe onto a pic on your phone while they watched peppa on youtube (as kids are wont to do) and B) in case you went catatonic at the sight of matty dressed like one of your formative on-screen crushes (he pestered you until you admitted it, said "that's quite valid of you actually. handsome man. great actor", and giggled at how flustered you got during the laptop smashing scene when you watched the social network together). you get to ogle him for a couple of minutes before he goes out and entertains the kids, and naturally matty's a flirty little shit with you, making you feel up his biceps because "i don't feel like the fabric's sitting right, sweetheart" - he also does the half-mask kiss with you right before he goes into the garden, which makes your knees weaken a little more than his kisses normally do lol. anyway, the performance is actually a success; he manages one flippy thing, which impresses the kids and makes adam go "well, that'll be his back fucked, then", and does a semi-decent accent that george and ross will nevertheless rib him for for the next 3-5 business days. alex is overjoyed by the whole thing, and is having such a good time with his friends that he doesn't even seem to clock that matty is nowhere to be found - lyla, however, isn't so easily duped. once he's changed back into regular clothes, matty finds her hanging around in the kitchen by herself trying to steal all the gummy bears from the bowls of haribos; he's like "you alright, munchkin? i heard i missed spider-man while i was at the loo", and lyla rolls her eyes like "i know it was you in the suit, dad". there's no point lying to her, he thinks, so he steals a cola bottle sweet and says "how could you tell?", and she says "you used one of the same voices you use for bedtime stories". matty's lowkey taken aback at how perceptive she is, but before he can say anything she keeps talking like "but it was nice you did that for alex. i mean, actual spider-man is definitely too busy to come to a birthday party in london" - matty smiles at that - "but alex sent him an invite anyway because he really wanted him to be here. don't worry, dad, i won't tell him it was really you. i think it's cool what you did". and matty scoops her up into a hug like "should've realised you'd figure it out, my clever girl! and that's very considerate of you to keep it a secret from alex. secrets aren't always good, but in this instance i think it's the right thing. m'proud of you, munchkin"; lyla quietly snuggles into her dad for a second, before she says "will you teach me how to do the flip thing you did?", and matty laughs like "in a little bit, darling. but let's go and get some cake first, yeah?" <3

#the thought of matty in a spiderman costume is doing terrible things to my psyche. need it #mads answers asks #matty asks #fluff asks #d word matty #literal d word

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henrysglock · 1 year

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how some of y’all sound in the tag today…

like oh my god. people can disagree with bi Mike. it’s not personal until you make it personal. it’s literally just objective analysis of what’s presented to us in the show.

but for some reason some of y’all are out here acting like gay Mike truthers skinned your pet and gave you the hide as a gift or smth.

you’re not a victim just because my friends and I don’t agree with your analysis of a TV show, lmao.

nobody’s saying you’re a dead-to-rights homophobe for liking bi Mike, either. we’re saying you might have some biases to unpack just like everyone else who’s been exposed to heteronormativity (aka literally everyone), and that maybe you’re making judgements based on what you want to see rather than what’s actually there.

(i will say though: it is homophobic behavior to make incredible reaches for any and every other sexuality just so you don’t have to admit that Mike could be a homosexual.)

(i will also say that it seems like y’all want bi Mike so badly, and it’s sooo personal, because you want to think you could still be in his fictional dating pool 😬)

#‘but james this isn’t very nice funny shitpost boy of you!!’#i know. im fed up with the childish behavior in the tag.#mike’s sexuality discourse #byler tumblr #meme credits to @aemiron-main

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shostakobitchh · 2 months

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just wanted to give an update since I have gone MIA 😬

I moved! it was incredibly stressful and utterly exhausting, but the new apartment is gorgeous and amazing and my husband and I are over the moon about it. no more animals in our walls: huzzah!

that being said: I have not written in about a month, lol.

i’m getting back into it this weekend. we moved in march 1st and it took us about a week to completely unpack and assemble furniture (and figure out what we still needed). this week is the first time we’re coming home and just being Normal People.

ANYWAY, hope everyone is good, happy march!

#sam speaks #aim and ignite #update #writing until my hands fall off

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le-trash-prince · 6 months

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Okay I am sooooo nervous about Boston getting his hoe card rescinded by the narrative. I’d be less nervous if there were more time left in the show, but with only one episode remaining who knows what could happen 😭 It would just not sit well with me to hear Nick say that Boston doesn’t need to change only to not commit to that statement. I’m very tired of seeing monogamy framed as the only shape a relationship can take. It makes my heart sink to my stomach and my feelings about this episode are all over the place. Again, I really just need to wait and see how the final episode goes.

An open relationship is my ideal for Boston, however, I do maintain as I’ve said before that Boston and Nick need time to focus on each other, so I can’t be mad about Boston saying he’s only interested in Nick. We saw in this ep that Nick is too uncertain of Boston’s feelings to feel secure whenever Boston even so much as looks at someone else.

Even when Boston is asking Nick to be his boyfriend, Nick is too scared to believe it. He’s got to get to a point of really understanding that Boston does actually love him, and that goes doubly with an LDR looming in the near future. Non-monogamy only works with a strong foundation of emotional security, and Nick is not there right now. Honestly I’m not sure he’s even at the point of being able to handle a monogamous relationship if it’s LDR. Dating Boston just to say goodbye when he leaves could destroy Nick.

But is one episode enough time to cover that much ground without a time-skip? I don’t know lmfaooo I’m honestly so nervous because I would really hate to see Boston punished by the narrative for sleeping around and then not have those societal expectations inverted. He’s owed a big apology from his friends, but I’m also getting tired of Nick’s comments.

The way Nick constantly criticizes Boston’s habits to shield his own insecurity is a problem, and I really do want to see more growth from him in that department. If Boston weren’t prone to hooking up with strangers—he never would have gotten to know Nick in the first place. I truly hope Nick can see that someday. But that kind of understanding can take years to develop, so again I’m just 😬😬😬

I do think Boston is earnest in saying that he doesn’t want to sleep with anyone other than Nick because why would he need to right now? But I can’t see him being happy with that forever, and I hope Nick can see that too. They want to make each other happy, but I don’t buy that monogamy for life will make Boston happy.

With things continuing to remain unresolved with Dan, I do wonder if Nick will decide in the end that he’s too scared for a LDR with Boston, meaning things don’t pick up between them for a while. (Or if he will miraculously come to the understanding that enjoying his time with Dan doesn’t invalidate his feelings for Boston and the same would go for Boston’s feelings haha I wish)

I also wonder if BostonNick may simply date with the intention of breaking up after four months, which I’ve seen people do irl (and I’ve also seen people decide at the end of that period to give LDR a shot anyways because they don’t want to let go).

Admission of mutual feelings is usually enough to secure a ship in a romcom, but Only Friends doesn’t fall under that genre. Even if it’s based off of a real relationship—real life can take so many directions and real people make so many different choices that it’s hard to say what could happen.

Anyways I’ve got more thoughts to unpack regarding Nick’s feelings on TopBoston so I need to do that this week.

ETA: Please don't bring book spoilers thank u

#only friends the series #only friends #ofts #bostonnick #ofts boston #em post

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ramonag-if · 1 year

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Hello helloo author! Chapter 6?! Where even to begin, man.. Salrya, I mean c'mon now... With all that scheming around and shady business with the princess not forgetting the fact miss ma'am was legit snooping through MC'S stuff and rly though we could reconcile afterwards?? Like 😐 uh no girl. She defs did not approve of my "closer than you think" relationship with the prince however, that much was clear 😂 overall just really superb progression and am totally looking forward to more but don't forget to take breaks if need be, your health matters and we care about u. Much luv and peace!

Thank you for playing! I'm so glad you enjoyed the drama of Chapter 6 😅💖 There's a lot to unpack with Salyra and there's going to be more coming up in Part 3 👀😬

Salyra definitely will be a bit reluctant to accept MC and Irus being together and you'll find out why in Part 3.

I've definitely be on a break from the game (sigh) but more because of work and real life 😞 I am so eager to get back to writing the main game so know that a break from the game has been nothing but torture 😂

#crown of exile #answered asks #chapter 6 #salyra #princeirus

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