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sanstropfremir · 3 years

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please talk more about key as a performer!! :) i love hearing ur thoughts.

i feel like he’s not appreciated enough? everyone knows he as the fashion guy on the group (which valid) but imo hes shinee’s all rounder. literally Great at singing and dancing. (i mean all of shinee is good. but i have to be honest sometimes i can’t listen to taem/minho’s vocals. they’re not as strong compared to the other 3.) and i’m super excited to see what he has in store for his upcoming (rumored) solo!!

i too am excited for his comeback!! key's solo music is some of my favourite; one of those nights and i wanna be are pretty consistently in my top rotation and i wanna be is probably one of my top mvs for styling + design. i wish he had had more of chance to promote before he enlisted but hopefully that will be remedied this time around.

i do agree that he is shinee's allrounder, and he's an allrounder in an uncommon way for idols, which is in his technical prowess. he's an extremely good technical dancer and singer, which is an understated kind of impressiveness that i can't think of very many other idols having, maybe rain? i wouldn't even call taemin the same level of technical performer, because he's not a technical performer: he's an economical one. taemin does exactly the right about of movement to convey the point he's trying to: no more and no less. he purposefully pulls back when he's not in centre in shinee and you can occasionally catch him flub nonessential points (in any of his solo choreos also) because he knows where people are looking; this is the mark of someone who has a both a deep understanding of their body and a natural inclination to moving in it. he does a similar thing with his vocals, but from the opposite place. taemin is not a natural singer; he has a pretty short range and his tone is a little weird, but he's done a ton of training and worked very hard to make those flaws into a unique sound that is instantly recognizable as him. is it to everyone's tastes? nope, it's not even to mine half the time, but i've never mistaken a taemin track for any other vocalist.

key, on the other hand, does everything perfect. precision is very deeply ingrained in the way that he holds himself himself on stage and he doesn't let himself slack at all. i'm going to try my best to explain this but i don't know if it's going to make any sense. key pays a lot of attention to the technical aspects of performance because he has to. although he does have a higher natural aptitude/ability for singing than taemin does, he doesn't have the same understanding of his body, and he didn't have a guaranteed debut spot. he's not as good a vocalist as jinki or jonghyun and none of them compare to taemin in physicality, so he poured pretty much everything into being as technically perfect as possible, because he can't generate the same kind of intuitive body understanding. i sound like a crackpot but i promise this is a thing: you have a better innate understanding of how your body moves in space the younger you start working with that body. i've skateboarded since i was 8, competitive swam until i was 13, and i have a third degree blackbelt; i'm very aware of the way my body moves and my reflexes are extremely fast: in the accident where i broke my elbow five years ago the reason only my elbow broke and not my entire face and forehead is because i had the reflexes and training to know to cover my head. taemin started as an sm trainee at 11, and he'd obviously been dancing for some time before that. i'd hazard a guess and say that key probably didn't starting learning how to dance until he passed his audition at 14 (for reference, some ballet masters will say that 14 is too late to start learning and you will never become a principle dancer if you start then), and that means even though they both had approximately the same amount of training (both entered sm in 2005), taemin had more formative years training than key did. he's a great example of the old adage "everyone can sing/dance/act, you just have to practice" because he really did work his ass off.

it's also worth mentioning that key is known as the fashion/funny one because he engineered it that way. like i said, he wasn't going to stand out on talent alone, so he picked an area in which he could make himself stand out. every group needs someone who is good on variety shows/guesting/hosting and the other four are not well suited to it (jinki is too quiet, jonghyun has no filter, taemin is.....a weird cryptid at the best of times, and lee sooman literally told minho to shut up and look pretty), so key saw the spot he could take and he took it. and that's still his spot; he's not even a year post-discharge and he's already on the host panel of two very popular variety shows (amazing saturday and i live alone), and he just signed a massive promotional deal with taeyeon for olive young, plus all of the other smaller stuff shinee has done in the scant 7-8 months that shinee's been officially back. he's styled himself into a variety star because personally i think that's where he's more inclined to be. i do think he loves music and performing, especially as shinee, but i haven't seen the same drive to create performance in his solo work as i have with jonghyun or taemin's solos. the both of them have very strong underlying drives in theme and concept and creating a holistic experience with their work (jonghyun more musically focused and taemin more performance) and while undoubtedly key makes really fucking great tracks that i LOVE, they don't say as much. i know he's said that the new stuff will be something very different for him so maybe that means we'll be getting something wild. i'm always holding out hope for a concept album, but it's not like i'm gonna not listen to his stuff just because it isn't #makesyouthink or whatever. good music for the sake of good music is still good music.

#key #key w #kpop questions #kpop analysis #there's been a lot of people on twt saying how people only know kibum for being the 'sassy' one and honestly.....he did do that on purpose #i dont think kibum has done a single unintentional thing in his life he's too smart and calculated for that #i just think he likes being famous more than he likes the artistic process of being an idol #he's extremely well spoken and a great storyteller and he's more naturally suited to social performance than stage performance #and none of this is bad - in fact it makes him that much more of an allrounder #but you can be good at something and it still is just a job #i know ppl wanna hype up their faves and he does absolutely deserve credit for being as skilled as he is #but he's not really billing himself on his 'idol' skills first #i think it's fair that people see him as the funny fashion one because he's the one pushing that #and especially recently people that have been seeing him on amasat and i live alone have been seeing the social side of him #which is extremely caring and supportive #his i live alone episodes were 1) making food for his neighbours and fellow hosts #and taeyeon #2) making food and taking care of taemin just before he enlisted and 3) spending time with his military friends #he cares very deeply about people and his very diverse skillset and fame make him an ideal host #especially when there's been SO many terrible and unkind ones #again - he has seen a gap where he can fit and he's filling it #tbh i think his variety show work is a lot more important and effective in the industry in the long run than him making more music #even though i would still like him to make more music #kibum please i am (im)patiently waiting #im sorry anon this was probably not what you were wanting me to say but would this be a post from me if it didnt have a hot take #i just realized i barely talked about vocals but also in my defense i am not the vocals person #this is very long i was not expecting to have so many things to say #kibum #answers #text

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taketheringtolohac · 3 years

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hello this is very silly but. I am a certified blaseball baby (s19) and sometimes I feel like I missed out on the "golden" era of blaseball where so many inside jokes and wonderful things were made. do you have any advice on how to get over this lol and how to engage in the community in a meaningful way? thanks <3

This has been sitting in my ask box for a while now but i think i've finally collected my thoughts on it! Thank you for the ask, it isn’t silly at ALL, i think about this question a lot as someone who got into blaseball in season 2 and has kept up rigorously since, and i have been trying to find an adequate way to answer this- so here we go!

I think the first thing to really say is that a lot of feeling excluded from things... isn't your fault. Blaseball requires a lot of in knowledge! and when you're getting into it it really just seems like EVERYONE is in the know and somehow you are the only person who isnt, and thats because of the MASSIVE learning curve that blaseball has because of all the sun rules and new mechanics and the era of expansion being DESIGNED to overwhelm you. And people tend to forget that once they're In the Know, and a lot of people (myself included) really get caught up in remembering these AWESOME moments that happened in the early game, but the thing is it's not YOUR responsibility to make YOURSELF feel included in the community- that's people who already know what the hell is going on's job!

But the thing is, new in jokes are being made LITERALLY daily. The mints just made ANOTHER one today- these things happen all the time and you never know which ones will be super important in the future! Like gurgies, while out of fashion and common use now, was originally just a stupid mints way of saying blooddrain gurgled but we freaking said it so much and said it EVERYWHERE and people REMEMBERED it for being cursed and now thats something people say across the league. Here's the thing, it may sound really unhelpful but also- so what? Why does it MATTER that you weren't here when "wimdy" was coined? You're here now! You are witnessing blaseball happening and blaseball history being made by the second! I know just telling people dont get caught up in what you missed is really hard and doesn't really work, but i think trying to embrace that mindset will do wonders for you not just in trying to "get over" (which i dont really like as an expression here, i dont think this is something you really just get over you kind of have to keep confronting it! i do it too! a lot!) but also just for interacting with blaseball as a whole.

There is SO much that happens in blaseball and you will NEVER be able to catch all of it- thats part of the beauty and horror of it- but really learning to accept that you WON'T be able to catch all of it is part of a healthy relationship with blaseball! You don't know everything that's happening with every team at every moment- and then something will totally blindside you when something WILD happens to them and god. To me that is part of what blaseball is about. I've been here for 22 seasons and I STILL don't know anything about some of the original 20 teams. And that's ok! New things are always happening! Players are always dying! Players are always getting shadowed! They're feedbacking, reverbing, eating peanuts, getting shelled- they're part of blaseball of course things are happening and really trying to embrace that chaos will take you a long way.

Another thing to keep reminding yourself other than that things are literally always being made is that you yes YOU have an impact on the league. Whether it's just voting or betting (do people still bet? surely some do) or idol switching or even just watching the game, YOU are making some kind of impact. That's part of the narrative design of blaseball, it's quite literally designed so that fans can be directly involved in the splort. Even if you didn't MAKE the lore for a character, you can still talk about them! Participate in conversations and make jokes and memes about them! What you VOTE for matters, and you don't have to make the most money (lord knows i gave up on that seasons ago I'm just trying to make a decent amount now) but all it takes is a single ticket to get that blessing or that will your team (or just you lmao) wants. You can unredact things in the library! You can give peanuts to dead players you like! And you also can just MAKE shit up all the time. Whatever you say about anyone can be true to you. I know I'm not the only person who has wildly different hcs for players on teams that aren't even my own, let alone the ways that my hcs differ from the common interpretation of my own team's players. Or even the ways that my hcs DO converge or even just build off team ones, or are directly adjacent to them it's all equally valid! Today I said "Leo Baron wears heart shaped sunglasses" and people went wild over it and started just talking about it. You have that power with everything in blaseball! You control the buttons you press, and you impact the league! And you impact other people on your team!

The last thing that I really do recommend doing is just... hanging out with your team on discord, if that's your jam. You don't have to talk much! For what it's worth though, I think all teams are really receptive to new players and captains/representatives are there to try and make you feel welcome, as far as i know. Even if you're not a "new" player anymore you're still newer, and that still counts! If you're having trouble finding a way to start participating in conversations, I recommend just watching a game with your team. It's REALLY easy to talk about something when you're all seeing the same thing, and a lot of the things you say are pretty much prompted by the game as well! You know, like "come on Twooney hit a double" or "Marco please steal its the bottom of the 9th and we want to win-" but then in watching matches you also get to learn chants and see how people interact with each other. This is how I integrated myself into mints culture and became comfortable talking in chat which I know isn't for everyone but hey! It's what I got! But when you hang out with your team and get to know people you start to actually feel like part of a community, and when you feel like you're part of something bigger than yourself it eases the burden of feeling like you missed something because you're living in the moment! EVERY game has the potential to be EARTH SHATTERING for a team in blaseball, ANY game can be the next "most iconic" game for your team. Beating yourself up over not getting into the game earlier isn't gonna help, and cool shit is happening daily! That's what's so fucking cool about it!

I really hope this helps you, anon, and anyone else feeling this way. blaseball is for everyone! It sucks that people aren't being more mindful of what they say and how they interact with newer fans! In all honesty, I don't really even know how to answer this because it's such a complicated question- but the thing is all the older fans should be thinking about this question because they are part of a community composed of many people joining at different times with different levels of knowledge about the game itself, baseball, communities and really everything. Just remember that YOU are in charge of your own blaseball experience and things are ALWAYS being created! Maybe even YOU could create the next big blaseball thing- after all, almost everything in blaseball was created by an ordinary fan who was just saying something that came to mind.

#anon ty so much for asking me this its. so important to me. and also :') im glad you trust me to answer it!#i feel like this wasnt as well articulated or helpful as it couldve been but i did try my best #IF ANYONE ELSE HAS ANYTHING TO SAY PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD ON EITHER IN THE REBLOGS OR THE REPLIES OR TAGS OR WHATEVER #maybe i am a bit too dismissive. anon please let me know what you think i need to know if this was helpful or not.#if u have more questions like anyone who is newer to blb or trying to get into it pls dm me! i love questions!#either on here or if ur on the blb discord im a mint cap now uh. youll probably know which one if you know my blog lmao #whichever people are comfortable with! i am cool just say you found me from this (or my other) blb posts #i love love love talking about this kinds of stuff AND blb so like its more than chill! its one of the reasons i became a cap LOL #long post #blaseball #proxy roxy asks

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kingstylesdaily · 3 years

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Stevie Nicks Answers All Our Questions About Harry Styles

Of all the disciples to worship at the altar of Stevie Nicks, none have managed to capture the attention of rock’s reigning priestess quite like Harry Styles.

The 26-year-old rocker (who this week received three Grammy nominations) is the Gucci-clad poster boy carrying the torch for a bygone era of music history that the Fleetwood Mac frontwoman helped crystallize. Styles recently cited the group’s 1977 (and still charting) classic “Dreams” as one of the first songs he learned the words to growing up. Their friendship began in 2015 after the former One Direction member presented his idol with a hand-piped birthday cake after a Fleetwood Mac gig in London. (“Glad she liked carrot cake,” he later said.) The years since have seen the duo’s mutual affection blossom into one of pop culture’s most cherished bondings.

Last year, when Styles inducted Nicks into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he proclaimed the 72-year-old “everything you’ve ever wanted in a lady, a lover, in a friend.” Nicks has gushed about him in interviews as everything from “the son she never had” to her “love child” with bandmate Mick Fleetwood. Styles earned her official seal of approval after covering “The Chain” every night of his first solo tour in support of a record that sounds closer to Crosby, Stills & Nash than anything he released under his prior band.

“Harry could’ve lost a lot of fans, but he didn’t,” Nicks recently told Vogue over the phone. “I’m so proud of him because he took a risk and didn’t go the One Direction route. He loves One Direction, I love One Direction, and a gazillion other people do too, but Harry didn’t wanna go the pop route. He wanted straight-up rock and roll circa 1975.”

Nicks has been embracing some of the busiest years of her dual careers as both Fleetwood Mac frontwoman and solo sorceress—and doing so amid a global pandemic. Since she last performed with Styles at the Forum for his Fine Line release show in December, she’s released a 24 Karat Gold concert film and “Show Them the Way,” her politically minded single and first piece of original music in six years. After Miley Cyrus asked for Nicks’s blessing before releasing her “Edge of Seventeen”–tinged “Midnight Sky,” the two joined forces for an exhilarating new mash-up titled “Edge of Midnight.”

In honor of Styles making history as the magazine’s first solo cover boy, Nicks caught up with Vogue to answer all our questions about their cosmic connection. Currently beachside with her quarantine bubble in Hawaii, she’s been doing what one would expect Stevie Nicks to be up to during a pandemic: writing new music, dancing around her house to “Watermelon Sugar,” and “casting little spells.” As befitting rock’s foremost storyteller, our intended 30-minute chat turned into a two-hour confessional about her love of Styles, working with Cyrus for the first time, joining Fleetwood Mac, the president-elect Joe Biden, the Met Gala, betta fish funerals, and much more.

ksd note: edited to only include Q&A about Stevie and Harry!

Did you get a chance to look through Harry’s cover story yet?

Right before I called you, I sat here and looked at all the pictures on my new iPad. What can I say? That’s my Harry. I think the thing that’s most wonderful about him—and I’ve told him this, and sometimes I think he takes it the wrong way—is that he’s such a kooky guy. He’s the type of person you’d wanna live next door to. He’d look out the window, see you having a hard time planting flowers, and rush out asking, “Can I help you with those roses?” “Sure, but you are Harry Styles, right?” That’s who he is.

I really only know him to a certain extent, but I have gotten to experience some big moments in his life, like when he released his first solo record at the Troubadour. I always think of Tom Petty saying, “So, you wanna be a rock star or you wanna be a pop star?” It’s two completely different things, and he really could have gone pop like his friend Zayn [Malik]. I was sorry that Zayn didn’t keep going more because I thought he was really good. But he took the pop route, which I think was right for him. Harry could’ve lost a lot of fans doing rock and roll, but he didn’t. Harry did a long tour with that first record and said, “I’m a different person now. I have a full-on rock band, and this is what I’m gonna do.” With many of my records, I’ll stuff down peoples’ throats until they like it, and that’s exactly what he did. Then he went away and wrote Fine Line, one of my favorite records.

What were your immediate thoughts listening to Fine Line for the first time?

Me and four of my friends sat with Harry in his living room in London and listened to it a few times before it came out. But it wasn’t really Fine Line yet. The first time we listened to it, nobody really said anything. The second time everyone started to go, “I think this song is great, but it should be second in the sequence.” By the third listen, it was five girls screaming, “Well, Harry really now, I think you need to take these four that are called Harry Songs and do this and that—” while he’s sinking in his reclining chair thinking, Are these women ever gonna leave? Thanks for your opinions, but oh, my God, stop already.

What changed when you heard the record in it’s finished form?

This record means a lot to me. When it was all put together, I listened and said, “Oh, my god, the Beatles live.” A whole lot of people live in these songs. Fleetwood Mac lives there. I live there. When I listen to “Fine Line,” I hear melodies that would’ve worked on “A Day in the Life. “It has that same kind of complexity. I think the Beatles would’ve thought, Here we’ve influenced a young man who took some incredible things from us and made them his own years and years later.

Earlier this year you posted a message saying that Fine Line is Harry’s Rumours. Can you elaborate on what you meant by that?

When Harry asked me to do “Landslide” with him at the Forum, I asked why, and he said, “Because I want you to be there. You were there for my first night at the Troubadour for the first record.” That night I wrote him a letter that said, “This is your Rumours so you have to really respect it and adore it because these kinds of records sometimes don’t ever come again.” Fleetwood Mac went on to make many great records, but people would bet their life on the fact that Rumours was the one. And this might just be the one for Harry. We were all kind of the same age when we made Rumours. I was 28, and Lindsey [Buckingham] was 27. I actually don’t even know how old Harry is—he’s that timeless to me.

Do you have a personal favorite of his songs?

Every one represents a different thing to me. “Sunflower” is such a great little song. He loves to do crazy videos, and one time I called him and said, “I have an idea. You’re gonna be a bee, and the sunflower would be your girlfriend, and you guys would get married and live in a beehive with your little bee children. You’d sing the lyrics ‘kiss in the kitchen like it’s a dance floor duh duh duh’ and show this entire bee relationship.”

What did he think of that pitch?

When I finished, the other end of the phone was silent. I said, “No, really, think about it. It’ll be fantastical like a Francis Ford Coppola movie.” He’s like, “Yeah, okay...” [laughs]. I also love the “Adore You” video with the little fish because I have my own special relationships with fish.

In what sense?

I always have two beta fish, but they have to be separated otherwise they’ll kill each other. I stick my finger into their aquarium, and the blue one will swim around my hand like a little dolphin. When my fish get old and suddenly die, I have funerals for them in my backyard where I play Celine Dion. I have them filmed, and everything [laughs]. It’s too much, but I thankfully haven’t had any recent fish deaths. I haven’t even been able to sit down and show Harry the videos of my little fish, so when I saw the “Adore You” video, I couldn’t believe it.

Why is it important for you to foster these relationships with younger artists like Harry who’ve been so openly influenced by you?

I’m inspired by them. I’m inspired that Miley wants to make music with me. I’m inspired that the Haim girls are my biggest fans—and I theirs. A lot of these kids are making the amazing records I’ve been waiting for them to make. I’m not like other 72-year-olds. I listen to current music because I want to be current. When people find out how old I am versus the music I’m listening to, they think it doesn’t gel at all. I’ve been collecting musical knowledge since I was in the fourth grade listening to the singles my grandfather used to bring home. I listened to Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers until the sixth grade when R&B radio became Top 40. I said goodbye country and hello R&B, so it’s not like I’m ever stuck on one thing. What I love about Harry is that he’s very old school but still modern. And that’s kinda like me.

You both also transitioned from massive groups to equally massive solo careers rather seamlessly.

When I decided I wanted to be a solo artist, I’d only been in Fleetwood Mac for a few years. I tried to figure out a way to do it gracefully because I didn’t wanna break up the band. I just wanted to sit at my piano and write poetry. After we did a record and a really long tour, the band scurried off to different parts of the world while I’d just be home writing songs for a year and a half. What did they care what I did while they were all on vacation? I’ve always said all the way through these two careers I’ve had: If you’re in a band first, never break it up.

Do you think One Direction would ever reunite?

I think it’s a good idea. For all we know, One Direction is completely broken up forever. But I think those guys are friends, and five or ten years down the road, they could all go, “You know what, wouldn’t it be really fun to do a One Direction tour?” Because that’s what people do. I wouldn’t be surprised if they did reunite at some point just because they can. And because it would just be fun. Harry is the kind of person who would never stomp on that idea. He would never say, [imitates posh English accent] “Never! I would never do that again!” Because why not just keep the door open?

Was there any particular detail or passage in Harry’s cover story that stuck out to you?

According to this article, he can get in a car with his friend to drive all over Europe then drive back by himself. I stopped driving in 1978 because my driver’s license expired and I’d already made a lot of money. I very smartly thought, “You know what, if someone even hits you and it’s not even your fault but you’re a little drunk, you are done. You’re finished, and the fortune that you’ve made is gone, so why should you drive anyway?” By then me and Christine were very cloistered, but Harry’s able to live a freer life because he’s a guy. He’s like Mick. He has a free life.

Would you say that you don’t?

I’m only comparing us in the way that Harry goes off to the Bahamas to work on songs, then flies back to L.A., then London, then Italy—I can’t do that. I can’t do that by myself. He’s able to do whatever he wants by himself, and it’s a whole different way of life. Being that Harry is a guy, he’s able to be a loner more than I am. As a woman, I’m not free to do all that. Even when I was his age, I couldn’t just get off anywhere I wanted. When we were on the road, Christine and I didn’t have a clue in the world what the boys did. We went to our rooms with security guys standing outside. It’s not like we ever escaped to go club-hopping in downtown Manhattan. We never got to live that life, so freedom as Harry knows it is very different than it’s been for me.

Did you ever have any figure in your life who provided some sense of mentorship the way you have to artists like Harry?

I didn’t really have anyone. If I had any guiding force at all, it probably would’ve been Christine McVie because she was five years older than me. And five years is five years, you know? Chris was friends with Eric Clapton and knew all the famous musicians in London. She’d married John [McVie] and done a bunch of records with Fleetwood Mac before I came along, so she’d been in the music business for a long time. I was breaking up with Lindsey when she was breaking up with John. She was my therapist and my go-to person for just about everything. We had each other to get through that really difficult situation where no one was gonna quit the band. Christine and I kept the whole thing together by telling the three men, “You quit because we’re not stopping” Thank God I had her, but on the other side of that, thank God she had me. We really were a force of nature.

** I’m curious to what extent fashion plays a role in your and Harry’s relationship. Have you** gifted him any accessories that were significant to you?

I actually gave him a ring at the Forum thing. It’s very masculine and has a pink stone in it. I told him it was a pink diamond, but it really isn’t. It would’ve cost $5 million. It was mine, and I really loved it, but I thought, This should be for Harry. You can see it on his hands in the “Falling” video where he’s playing the piano. If Harry and I were in a band together, we’d be trading all kinds of crazy stuff.

What are your thoughts on him being the first solo male cover in Vogue’s history?

It makes me feel so inspired. I’m extremely jealous he’s on the cover of Vogue because I’m 72 years old and have wanted to be on the cover my whole life. I’m such a magazine hag, so I’m incredibly jealous of Harry, but I’ll get over it. As far as all the crazy things he’s wearing, you do whatever you have to do to be on the cover of Vogue. I’m very proud of him, and I think it’s great that there’s a man on the cover…but I should’ve been in the corner off in the distance [laughs]. Did you know I’ve never been to the Met Gala?

We would be honored to have you at the next gala and every one after that. I’m putting this in the article to make sure it’s in the public record.

As Mick Jagger says, “We still have our freedom, but we don’t have much time.” I would like to be not much older than I am now so I can wear a fantastic outfit and entertain everybody. It’s a dream of mine, and most of my dreams have come true, but I need to not be 90 when it happens.

Harry and you could perform together.

We wouldn’t even have to rehearse. We’ve got a couple of duets that are really great. We do “Landslide” and “Two Ghosts” together really well. We actually have five or six terrific acoustic numbers that we could do at the drop of a hat.

You hinted earlier this year that there might be a role for Harry in the miniseries based on the stories of Rhiannon. Is there any update there?

This is probably the third-biggest thing I’ve ever done in my life after Fleetwood Mac and my solo career. There’s a lot to be done in the movie business before I can start riding my horses across the mountains of Wales. I’ve signed with a movie company—I’m not gonna tell you who—and we just signed a writer. I’m not gonna tell you who that is either, but there’s an amazing part for Harry. My favorite character in the series is the only man who goes through all four books. He’s a magician who doesn’t wanna be king, and I think Harry would just be so perfect.

Have you and Harry discussed collaborating on any future music together?

We’re open to making music together because we’ve been very successful when we go onstage just to do one song. I would love to be in a band with Harry, but even if I never saw him in person again, he’s made a record that breaks my heart in a million places like Fine Line. As far as music goes, there’s plenty of fun things that he and I could do. We can just reach out to each other and do it. I’m always ready to slip back into those high-heel black suede boots and become my alter ego.

via Vogue.com

#kingstylesdaily #Harry Styles #hs: mention #Stevie Nicks #november 2020

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hlupdate · 3 years

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Of all the disciples to worship at the altar of Stevie Nicks, none have managed to capture the attention of rock's reigning priestess quite like Harry Styles.

The 26-year old rocker (who this week received three Grammy nominations) is the Gucci-clad poster-boy carrying the torch for a bygone era of music history that the Fleetwood Mac front-woman helped crystallize. Styles recently cited the group's 1977 (and still charting) classic “Dreams” as one of the first songs he learned the words to growing up. Their friendship began in 2015 after the former One Direction member presented his idol with a hand-piped birthday cake after a Fleetwood Mac gig in London. (“Glad she liked carrot cake,” he later said.) The years since have seen the duo's mutual affection blossom into one of pop culture‘s most cherished bondings.

Last year, when Styles inducted Nicks into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, he proclaimed the 72-year old “everything you’ve ever wanted in a lady, a lover, in a friend.” Nicks has gushed about him in interviews as everything from “the son she never had” to the “love child” of her and bandmate Mick Fleetwood. Styles earned her official seal of approval after covering “The Chain” every night of his first solo tour in support of a record that sounds closer to Crosby, Stills & Nash than anything he released under his prior band.

“Harry could've lost a lot of fans but he didn't. I’m so proud of him because he took a risk and didn’t go the One Direction route," Nicks recently told Vogue over the phone. "He loves One Direction, I love One Direction, and a gazillion other people do too, but Harry didn't wanna go the pop route. He wanted straight-up rock-and-roll circa 1975.”

Nicks has been embracing some of the busiest years of her dual careers as both Fleetwood Mac front-woman and solo sorceress—and doing so in the midst of a global pandemic. Since she last performed with Styles at the Forum for his Fine Line release show in December, she’s released a 24 Karat Gold concert film and “Show Them the Way,” her politically-minded single and first piece of original music in six years. After Miley Cyrus asked for Nicks's blessing before releasing her “Edge of Seventeen”-tinged “Midnight Sky,” the two joined forces for an exhilarating new mash-up titled “Edge of Midnight."

In honor of Styles making history as the magazine’s first solo cover-boy, Nicks caught up with Vogue to answer all our questions about their cosmic connection. Currently beachside with her quarantine bubble in Hawaii, she’s been doing what one would expect Stevie Nicks to be up to during a pandemic: writing new music, dancing around her house to “Watermelon Sugar“ and “casting little spells.” As befitting rock’s foremost storyteller, our intended 30-minute chat turned into a two-hour confessional about her love of Styles, working with Cyrus for the first time, joining Fleetwood Mac, the president-elect Joe Biden, the Met Gala, betta fish funerals, and much more.

Did you get a chance to look through Harry's cover story yet?

Right before I called you I sat here and looked at all the pictures on my new iPad. What can I say? That's my Harry. I think the thing that’s most wonderful about him—and I've told him this and sometimes I think he takes it the wrong way—is that he’s such a kooky guy. He’s the type of person you'd wanna live next door to. He’d look out the window, see you having a hard time planting flowers and rush out asking "Can I help you with those roses?" "Sure but you are Harry Styles, right?" That's who he is.

I really only know him to a certain extent but I have gotten to experience some big moments in his life like when he released his first solo record at the Troubadour. I always think of Tom Petty saying "So you wanna be a rock star or you wanna be a pop star?" It's two completely different things and he really could have gone pop like his friend Zayn [Malik]. I was sorry that Zayn didn't keep going more because I thought he was really good. But he took the pop route, which I think was right for him. Harry could've lost a lot of fans doing rock-and-roll but he didn't. Harry did a long tour with that first record and said “I'm a different person now. I have a full-on rock band and this is what I'm gonna do.” With many of my records I’ll stuff down peoples' throats until they like it and that's exactly what he did. Then he went away and wrote Fine Line, one of my favorite records.

What were your immediate thoughts listening to Fine Line for the first time?

Me and four of my friends sat with Harry in his living room in London and listened to it a few times before it came out. But it wasn't really Fine Line yet. The first time we listened to it nobody really said anything. The second time everyone started to go "I think this song is great but it should be second in the sequence." By the third listen it was five girls screaming "Well Harry really now, I think you need to take these four that are called "Harry Songs" and do this and that—” while he’s sinking in his reclining chair thinking "Are these women ever gonna leave? Thanks for your opinions but oh my god stop already."

What changed when you heard the record in it’s finished form?

This record means a lot to me. When it was all put together I listened and said "Oh my god, The Beatles live." A whole lot of people live in these songs. Fleetwood Mac lives there. I live there. When I listen to "Fine Line” I hear melodies that would've worked on “A Day in the Life.“ It has that same kind of complexity. I think the Beatles would've thought “Here we’ve influenced a young man who took some incredible things from us and made them his own years and years later.”

Earlier this year you posted a message saying that Fine Line is Harry’s Rumours. Can you elaborate on what you meant by that?

When Harry asked me to do "Landslide" with him at the Forum I asked why and he said "Because I want you to be there. You were there for my first night at the Troubadour for the first record.” That night I wrote him a letter that said “This is your Rumours so you have to really respect it and adore it because these kinds of records sometimes don't ever come again.” Fleetwood Mac went on to make many great records but people would bet their life on the fact that Rumours was the one. And this might just be the one for Harry. We were all kind of the same age when we made Rumours. I was 28 and Lindsey was 27. I actually don't even know how old Harry is—he's that timeless to me.

Do you have a personal favorite of his songs?

Every one represents a different thing to me. “Sunflower” is such a great little song. He loves to do crazy videos and one time I called him and said “I have an idea. You're gonna be a bee and the sunflower would be your girlfriend, and you guys would get married and live in a beehive with your little bee children. You’d sing the lyrics “kiss in the kitchen like it's a dance floor duh duh duh” and show this entire bee relationship.”

What did he think of that pitch?

When I finished the other end of the phone was silent. I said "No really, think about it. It’ll be fantastical like a Francis Ford Coppola movie.” He’s like “Yeah, okay...” (laughs). I also love the "Adore You” video with the little fish because I have my own special relationships with fish.

In what sense?

I always have two betta fish but they have to be separated otherwise they'll kill each other. I stick my finger into their aquarium and the blue one will swim around my hand like a little dolphin. When my fish get old and suddenly die I have funerals for them in my backyard where I play Celine Dion. I have them filmed and everything (laughs). It’s too much but I thankfully haven’t had any recent fish deaths. I haven't even been able to sit down and show Harry the videos of my little fish so when I saw the “Adore You” video I couldn’t believe it.

Why is it important for you to foster these relationships with younger artists like Harry who’ve been so openly influenced by you?

I'm inspired by them. I'm inspired that Miley wants to make music with me. I’m inspired that the Haim girls are my biggest fans—and I theirs. A lot of these kids are making the amazing records I’ve been waiting for them to make. I’m not like other 72-year olds. I listen to current music because I want to be current. When people find out how old I am versus the music I'm listening to they think it doesn't gel at all. I’ve been collecting musical knowledge since I was in the fourth grade listening to the singles my grandfather used to bring home. I listened to Buddy Holly and the Everly Brothers until the sixth grade when R&B radio became Top 40. I said goodbye country and hello R&B, so it’s not like I'm ever stuck on one thing. What I love about Harry is that he's very old-school but still modern. And that's kinda like me.

You both also transitioned from massive groups to equally massive solo careers rather seamlessly.

When I decided I wanted to be a solo artist I'd only been in Fleetwood Mac for a few years. I tried to figure out a way to do it gracefully because I didn’t wanna break up the band. I just wanted to sit at my piano and write poetry. After we did a record and a really long tour the band scurried off to different parts of the world while I’d just be home writing songs for a year and a half. What did they care what I did while they were all on vacation? I’ve always said all the way through these two careers I've had: if you're in a band first, never break it up.

I know Beyoncé because I spent a day with Destiny’s Child making the “Bootylicious” video. I owe them a debt of gratitude because that’s the one time I ever got to pretend I played rock-and-roll guitar! But when Beyoncé made the decision to be a solo artist she did not see herself going back to Destiny's Child every couple of years. And that's a perfectly acceptable decision because sometimes that's what people wanna do. I, on the other hand, said why not have the ability to go back to Fleetwood Mac whenever I want? Being a Gemini I get bored really easily, so being able to have those two careers was great.

Do you think One Direction would ever reunite?

I think it's a good idea. For all we know, One Direction is completely broken up forever. But I think those guys are friends and five or ten years down the road they could all go "You know what, wouldn't it be really fun to do a One Direction tour?" Because that's what people do. I wouldn't be surprised if they did reunite at some point just because they can. And because it would just be fun. Harry is the kind of person who would never stomp on that idea. He would never say (imitates posh English accent) "Never! I would never do that again!" Because why not just keep the door open?

Was there any particular detail or passage in Harry’s cover story that stuck out to you?

According to this article he can get in a car with his friend to drive all over Europe then drive back by himself. I stopped driving in 1978 because my driver's license expired and I'd already made a lot of money. I very smartly thought "You know what, if someone even hits you and it's not even your fault but you're a little drunk, you are done. You're finished and the fortune that you've made is gone, so why should you drive anyway?” By then me and Christine were very cloistered, but Harry's able to live a freer life because he's a guy. He's like Mick. He has a free life.

Would you say that you don’t?

I'm only comparing us in the way that Harry goes off to the Bahamas to work on songs then flies back to LA then London then Italy—I can't do that. I can't do that by myself. He's able to do whatever he wants by himself and it's a whole different way of life. Being that Harry is a guy, he's able to be a loner more than I am. As a woman I'm not free to do all that. Even when I was his age I couldn't just get off anywhere I wanted. When we were on the road Christine and I didn't have a clue in the world what the boys did. We went to our rooms with security guys standing outside. It's not like we ever escaped to go club-hopping in downtown Manhattan. We never got to live that life so freedom as Harry knows it is very different than it’s been for me.

Did you ever have any figure in your life who provided some sense of mentorship the way you have to artists like Harry?

I didn't really have anyone. If I had any guiding force at all it probably would've been Christine McVie because she was five years older than me. And five years is five years, you know? Chris was friends with Eric Clapton and knew all the famous musicians in London. She’d married John [McVie] and done a bunch of records with Fleetwood Mac before I came along so she'd been in the music business for a long time. I was breaking up with Lindsey when she was breaking up with John. She was my therapist and my go-to person for just about everything. We had each other to get through that really difficult situation where no one was gonna quit the band. Christine and I kept the whole thing together by telling the three men "You quit because we're not stopping” Thank god I had her, but I think on the other side of that thank god she had me. We really were a force of nature.

I’m curious to what extent fashion plays a role in your and Harry’s relationship. Have you gifted him any accessories that were significant to you?

I actually gave him a ring at the Forum thing. It’s very masculine and has a pink stone in it. I told him it was a pink diamond but it really isn't, it would've cost $5 million. It was mine and I really loved it but I thought "This should be for Harry.” You can see it on his hands in the "Falling" video where he’s playing the piano. If Harry and I were in a band together we’d be trading all kinds of crazy stuff.

How did you come to decide on your all-black stage uniform?

I started getting paid when I joined Fleetwood Mac but up until then I didn't have any money to buy food. All of a sudden we were going on tour so I just packed up my normal clothes. We started eating because there was room service and there I was gaining ten pounds in the middle of the tour. I didn't fit in any of the clothes and I didn't have time to shop so when I got home I said “I can never do this again.” I knew a friend who knew a designer and I told her I needed a uniform because I can't be thinking about what I wanna wear every night. It makes it so much easier since everybody that's in Pittsburgh isn't necessarily gonna be in Philadelphia. Harry's done the same thing with his white pants and pink shirt.

What are your thoughts on him being the first solo male cover in Vogue’s history?

It makes me feel so inspired. I'm extremely jealous he's on the cover of Vogue because I'm seventy-two years old and have wanted to be on the cover my whole life. I’m such a magazine hag, so I’m incredibly jealous of Harry but I'll get over it. As far as all the crazy things he's wearing, you do whatever you have to do to be on the cover of Vogue. I'm very proud of him and I think it's great that there's a man on the cover… but I should've been in the corner off in the distance (laughs). Did you know I've never been to the Met Gala?

We would be honored to have you at the next gala and every one after that. I’m putting this in the article to make sure it’s in the public record.

As Mick Jagger says, "We still have our freedom, but we don't have much time." I would like to be not much older than I am now so I can wear a fantastic outfit and entertain everybody. It's a dream of mine and most of my dreams have come true, but I need to not be ninety when it happens.

Harry and you could perform together.

We wouldn't even have to rehearse. We've got a couple of duets that are really great. We do "Landslide" and “Two Ghosts” together really well. We actually have five or six terrific acoustic numbers that we could do at the drop of a hat.

You hinted earlier this year that there might be a role for Harry in the miniseries based on the stories of Rhiannon. Is there any update there?

This is probably the third-biggest thing I've ever done in my life after Fleetwood Mac and my solo career. There’s a lot to be done in the movie business before I can start riding my horses across the mountains of Wales. I've signed with a movie company—I'm not gonna tell you who—and we just signed a writer. I'm not gonna tell you who that is either but there’s an amazing part for Harry. My favorite character in the series is the only man who goes through all four books. He's a magician who doesn't wanna be king and I think Harry would just be so perfect.

Have you and Harry discussed collaborating on any future music together?

We're open to making music together because we've been very successful when we go onstage just to do one song. I would love to be in a band with Harry but even if I never saw him in person again he’s made a record that breaks my heart in a million places like Fine Line. As far as music goes there's plenty of fun things that he and I could do. We can just reach out to each other and do it. I’m always ready to slip back into those high-heel black suede boots and become my alter ego.

This interview has been edited for clarity and space.

#harry styles #stevie nicks #vogue magazine #251120

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shyrose57 · 3 years

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Brothers anon and ah, its just me than. Links on tumblr break half the time for me sorry bout that!

1: Mostly how it looks in the actual episode but with some changes. Its gaint, even has multiple floors, most rooms have a glass dome roof with iron railings (3-4) lining the bottom of the glass. The hallway typically have windows leading up to the roof, but the roof and both floor are a mix of materials like iron, copper, wood, and even gold. The most complex room is the Council room, which has a a higher roof than the rest, with mostly wood railings that go all the way up and lead to a circle at the top. The Council is the group that leads Mizu, they have 1 leader of every Idol to represent the different opinions of the citizens, with 1 special member that doesnt belong to any Idol, and is instead used to represent the opinions of people who either haven't chosen a idol yet, got kicked out of a idol following, and just to give a unbiased opinion most of the time. They do make most decisions, mostly those relating to topics like construction, farming, money distribution, where people can live, etc. And they also mostly agree on most subjects and don't agure, but they do have massive disagreements on topics and problems like Representation in other Cities/Kingdoms, trading, visitors and immigrants, and sometimes supply missions.

3: Situations like taking care of his siblings (I have decided Benjamin shall have siblings) and friends, and he was also put under extreme stress as a kid in school and family life, but unlike Ranbob, he managed to successfully communicate his struggle and find coping mechanisms. Also when he went off to live by himself for a bit, he was under sudden extreme situations where he had to make split second decision. So he just learned from everything thats happened to him over time.

8: Levi exists purely to make Watson and others go insane. People claimed it was made up because they claimed most events as unrealistic (like Doomsday, Techno escaping a death trial, Pandoras Vault (they believed it impossible for something to be inescapable)). Plus the fact it seemed cruel such young people where faced with such trauma that no sane person would let it happen, and the fact most historical important items couldn't be found, people claiming that they where made up (also cause if the land was that exposed to such devastation, it would've collapsed on itself). No to both of those, by this point their to far away from Dream for him to have a direct meaningful affect on the group, and while the residents of Kelalen know it was Dreams sword, the group does not know. Nope! Mizu came about years after Kelalen was forgotten about and shamed. And Mizu was only made because of the growing number of believers in the SMP history was causing disruptions in both the political sense and educational sense, so it was made to separate the "outcasts". Though Mizu eventually grew as big as most cities, and greatly civilized and advanced, though they where still often "forgotten" about and basically seperate from the Kingdom that set them up and became their own place (though not officially).

They do have a friendship! Its not super close but their definitely friends. Ranbob is definitely a worrier, he heard that two of his friends almost died he immediately goes to them and fuses over them. And when their recovering he doesnt leave their side, infact Benjamin has to drag him away from the two just to get him to eat. And he refuses to sleep unless he's like directly on top of them. Yeah, Cletus challenges Grievous to a parkour challenge over a Delta Basalt, and he happily accepts. They end up giving everyone a heart attack after Cletus slips and almost falls onto a magma block. Jackie plays in soul sand and dumps a handful down Rans shirt, Watson teaches Charles and Isaac how to make gold from gold nuggets and more Piglin culture. When Cletus is cleared to be ok and Jackie stops getting soul sand in areas he didn't even know existed. They all sit in a circle and decide what they should try first, with Ran and Watson watching carefully and preventing them from drinking anything that they recognized as harmful. But other than that they just let the others do whatever.

10: Because he couldn't use it, when Dream was a full human he used to be able to access his powers at his own will. But after his spirit got linked to his mask his power greatly reduced. To the point he relies on others for his powers, more specifically, he needs them to be exposed to him for a certain amount of time (like 2 weeks) until he can use their own essence/spirit to help his powers. When the group of people came after Ranbob left, they stayed for a long time, especially after they took the mask with them. Dream got the power back. Cause it is a "I worked to hard to give this up." Type situation. Ranbob was his first victim and the first person he had control over in decades, he considers Ranbob the puppet he was meant to have and refuses to let him go. Everyone is the nat to him, but specifically Ran. Cause Ran was the only person who survived the murders, so Dream sees him as a kill that was taken from him that he needs to fix. Everyone else to him is nothing more than an annoyance, and he's more than happy to use them as nothing more than a stepping stone to kill once he's done with them.

13: Ran is stronger than everyone else, Jackie is faster than everyone else, and Watson is more acrobatic than everyone else. Sorry can you reword "Is Jackie considered stronger than them aside from shared tactics, or is it the other way around?"? I dont completely understand sorry. Kind of, I'll say. There can only be 3 ranking members, but it can also be 2 Corporals and 1 Sergeant.

14: They where caught off guard, but also knew something must be going on due to the fishermen staying closer to Ranbob than normal. He never got too far, as he isnt very fast and Charles and both Isaac tend to be fast enough to get him. If the episode is really bad bringing him back can lead into physical fights but it rarely gets into that, as it seems like Ranbob really doesn't want to fight them most of the time, and holds himself back.

Well, I hope it’s working for you now, cause that sounds less than ideal, honestly.

1: Well, Mizu sounds gorgeous, quite frankly. As for the council having a member of no idol, what about that? People can get kicked out from an idol group? Why? Do some just never choose an idol? Also, how’s the housing situation there? Are there like, apartments on one of the floors, or something? Why does the council not really agree on outside affairs?

3: Not gonna lie, I’m rather curious. What kind of life did Benjamin lead to be under such heavy stress? Does he relate to Ranbob because of this? And what was he doing when he lived on his own to need to make fast-paced decisions? Also, siblings! What’re his siblings like?

8: He sounds like it.

And hm. There are several things I’ve taken from this.

Do totems no longer exist, if they don’t believe Techno could have survived, or did that particular piece of the story just get left out over time?

Has Pandora’s vault fallen? And why would people find it unbelievable? If it’s the future, shouldn’t they have even more advanced technology than that? Or is it simply the lack of evidence that leads them to disagreeing about it’s existence?

They don’t believe people would have been so cruel to the younger ones? Oof, um. Well, at least that says something about the future, I guess.

Mizu sounds like it has an interesting history in it’s self. How do Ran and Ranbob feel about being in a world that basically shunned the people of what would eventually become their home? Do they ever have issues when people find out they originate from Mizu, or worship an idol? From how you put it, it seems like that wasn’t really looked upon well, since they shunted the people who did it to Mizu.

Friendships for the win! Maybe not close, but it sounds like an interesting dynamic. Charles honestly seems pretty mild, and as you said, shy, so putting him with Mr.Random And Chaotic certainly sounds like something. How did these two become friends?

And honestly, it sounds like everyone had a lot of unique experiences in the Nether. It also sounds like Ran and Ranbob were probably an inch from a heart-attack the entire time, considering the shenanigans ongoing. It sounds kind of cute that Ranbob was only sleeping when he was close to them though, and it gives me the image of a giant fluffy cat, so win-win there.

10: Interesting. Was Ranbob not enough to fully return that power to him when the Fishermen first came and took him? Or did Dream just not think they’d get that far and not react in time, when he still had that power from his puppet?

And, uh, wow. Dream was certainly off his rocker before, but that’s definitely cemented now. Is anyone aware he thinks of Ranbob in such a way? Does Ranbob know? How are everyone’s feelings on that-besides y’know, ‘gonna murder Mr.Mask Man’. How does everyone feel about being considered as ‘nats’?

13: Huh. And yeah, I confused myself rereading that. Basically, is Jackie considered stronger than those two? You said they were mostly on par, because of the shared tactics, so when it comes to cutting those shared tactics out of the picture, does Jackie come out on top?

14: So the gang could tell? If I may ask, what were the tells that gave Ranbob away?

#Brothers AU #dream smp #dream smp au #tales from the smp #ranbob #ran

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vetlan · 3 years

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Summary: There's a certain thrill to this, her feathers bristling as a chill runs through her. It almost takes her back to her youth. Almost. Neither of them is a young duck, but from the sharp glint in the masked mallard's eye, she can tell they're sharing the same thought: age has only brought them closer to their prime, not further from it.

Notes: See, I wish I could explain this, but all I have is the flint inside my head and also "haha wouldn't it be funny if" mindset. My writing style can be best described as "I don't know where this is going but I like it". Is the ending totally rushed? Yes. I sat down to write this all in one go but then work called and said I had to be in there in the morning, and I do like my sleep.

Characters: Launchpad McQuack, Bentina Beakley, Jim Starling, Drake Mallard, Your Suspension of Disbelief Please I Beg You

---

Although she wouldn't say that she and Launchpad were the closest of friends, she had still developed a soft spot for the chauffeur and how he brightened the kid's days, and so his presence was genuinely missed the more and more time he spent in St. Canard.

The stories he told when he came back, however, almost made it worthwhile.

It all started with a movie set.

Needing to confide in the loss of an idol, but not wanting to burden the kids with the heavy subject, he jumped on the chance to talk to her, Mrs. Beakley offering her ear upon seeing the pensive look on the usually jovial duck. Everything that happened that day, he let out in a nervous and even slightly guilty ramble that at first, she didn't understand… until he got to the part with the breaking and entering into Scrooge's movie studio.

But he assured her that things worked out! So she let him continue, her glare only slightly disappointed… until it softened into a sympathetic furrow of her brows.

It was a bittersweet story, admittedly, wherein Launchpad got to meet with a childhood idol only to learn that sometimes, meeting your heroes only shows you their flaws, and how you can't help someone who doesn't want to be helped. Yet, through that, he managed to find a genuine friend in the shape of one such Drake Mallard, and she couldn't help but poke fun at the young man, ever one to get a crush on every passing pretty face -- let alone one that shared his niche interests. He bumbled through his words, assuring her it wasn't like that, and they shared a comfortable laugh, the weight off his shoulders now.

And just like that, this story was tucked into a mental manila folder, dated and put away in the tidy office that she imagined her mindscape to be.

A corner of it stuck out, wouldn't let her close the drawer.

Bentina picked at it from time to time, trying to find what wouldn't let her put it to rest, a crossroads puzzle drawn out when she already knew the words.

(Declared missing, assumed dead, never found.)

She let it be. It wasn't her story to unfold.

The next one came as filler to a bigger story, but it captivated her nonetheless. Launchpad rattled off excitedly about fighting villains side by side with Darkwing Duck, about how scared he'd been but yet how cool it all was, and Bentina was almost jealous, but she's had enough excitement to last her a lifetime. No, what got her attention was the mention of a child in the middle of all of this, and eventually, under her prying, he confessed to all the things she had already figured out. Yes, yes, Drake was Darkwing Duck.

What she cared about was that his friend Drake had taken a young girl under his literal and metaphorical wing until the girl's grandfather could be found. It was nice and all but was he equipped to care for a child.

No, Launchpad didn't have much of a choice in the matter, he was going to take her to Darkwing Duck, and she was gonna give everyone there a masterclass on childcare and welfare. They might be well-meaning, but a diet of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches paired with hamburgers and fries isn't a diet a child should grow on, and from her past experiences with free agents, they aren't the perfect role models for self-care.

She tried not to acknowledge the thankful sag of Darkwing's shoulders as a smile threatened to tickle her beak, just as she tried not to see another little girl in Gosalyn's place, and how she doesn't want another to repeat her mistakes.

To protect, but not to smother. To teach, but not to scar.

(She was all too familiar with taking on parenthood unprepared.)

This memory, too, is filed away fondly, even if the bulk of its annexes means that again, her drawer won't close shut. Old habits die hard, she was a director once, and with the sight of someone so positively green with nothing but bravado and want to do good propelling them forward she couldn't stop herself from looking over his shoulder, pointing him in the right direction.

And she alone understood the strain in his voice once he finally relents and lets her in, calls her one late Duckburd night. He knew it was true, but he couldn't be the one to say it and with a tired sigh, Beakley accepted the burden of connecting a name to the gruesome crimes that had been popping up in St. Cannard.

Jim Starling, now seen clad in a mismatched parody of his old costume, seemingly set on doing his best to tear down Darkwing Duck's reputation.

(A masked mallard has been causing havoc, and civilians only know the one.)

And just like that, the stubborn folders she'd been fascinated with for months now are pulled out and inspected, and she tells herself not to get dragged into this -- she had a mansion and multiple children to take care of, she retired. But as Launchpad himself witnessed, Bentina Beakley had to see things through.

Loose ends and open-ended questions were unacceptable.

Where has he been all this time? How was he managing to get away with his crimes? How long has he been planning this? Does he have help? What will he do after this?

But just as he resurfaced, back under the surface he went, and Bentina tried her best to swallow down her frustration when Darking was the one on the line, now left with nothing but vague footage of a lookalike in a different costume to clear his name.

(It did nothing, but he didn't give up on the city, and that too felt bittersweet.)

There was one thing, however, that she had on Darkwing Duck. Contacts. A considerable amount of them, and she wouldn't lie and say she wasn't considering sharing them if Darkwing Duck proved his worth. And learned to play nice with others.

St. Canard might have gone silent, but a caped duck dressed in yellow maiming people as he goes on a massive crime spree across various cities is very hard to miss. But where before Jim did everything in his powers to make people think he was Darkwing Duck, now he seemed almost offended by the comparison.

You are to call him one thing if you know what's good for you: Negaduck.

A mouthful, in her opinion.

Still, there was a pattern to it, and in the morning after news would always come to find that something has been stolen by F.O.W.L. while Negaduck positively demanded their attention. There was no confirmation on if he worked for them directly, but whatever the case was, there was a connection there and she… admittedly saw it as an excuse to look into it with Scrooge's permission.

Alone.

Much like Darkwing Duck, her hesitation stemmed not from putting herself in danger, but the precious people in her life -- a blood racing adventure is one thing, a bloodthirsty ego-maniac with a chainsaw is another. If she had her way, Negaduck would never as much as step foot in Duckburg.

But first, she'd have to find him, and all it took was following the pattern he blazed through the map, trailing right to the next city over. It was more of a sense of when he'd strike, but Bentina had a hunch for that too -- all it took was remembering who was behind the mask.

What day of the week has the biggest pay-off? At what hour is the bank full? When would it be most dramatic? Jim Starling is a showman to his core, and he can't perform without an audience.

Well, hopefully, he wouldn't mind a fan of his cutting in line.

Armed to the teeth, he looked almost cartoonishly evil, and she's not a single second off in ruining his entrance, dropkicking him away from the bank's beautiful skylights, hopefully, they could manage their fight without ruining -- ah, shots immediately fire in her direction, shattering the skylight behind her and sending the people on the inside of the bank into a panic as glass rains on them. That's a shame.

The shots don't stop, however, and the other duck's aim hones in on her as he gets back up, a pure snarl on his beak at having his big entrance ruined, and he unloads an entire clip into the wall behind which Beakley was hiding behind just to make sure she knew that he was a little upset. This doesn't calm down the screaming inside.

"You! Ruined! My! Entrance!" With every word, he sprays the wall with more bullets, storming his way over to where he saw the other duck hide, but when he turns the corner with his gun at the ready, there's no one there -- not in front of him, at least.

A fist from behind him is headed straight for the side of his head, but the feeling of the brim of his hat brushing against something tipped him off and so he dodges down, causing Beakley to instead whiff her punch and slam her fist into the wall, but any pain from that she's quickly distracted from when the bottom of his automatic is slammed into her beak, the bigger duck stumbling back. Reactively, her hand reaches for it as she sucks a tense breath in through her pained teeth. She's had worse, and the hard glare sent his way definitely let him know so.

It seemed to frustrate him. Good.

"I would hope that an actor of your seniority would know how to improvise."

And that seemed to infuriate him. Even better.

"If you're looking for autographs, granny, I can't seem to find a pen…" There's a theatrical apologetic show of patting himself down, but Beakley predicts his attack from the saccharine grin on his face, a dagger brought out from his inner jacket in a sweeping arc that she pushes to the side, yet it still manages to cut the very tips of a couple of hairs loose. "But I can CARVE one right into you!"

After that, the gun he had been shooting at her with is tossed to the ground in favor of being more aggressive with his melee attacks, quick jabs that she has to doubly focus on as to not get stabbed and not cut herself while redirecting, looking for any opening to wrestle the dagger away from him.

"Flattered for the offer," she starts before ultimately kicking Negaduck back just so that she can catch her breath for a precious few moments, well aware it could mean he draws another weapon on her, "but I'll have to say no. I'm afraid I can't say I'm the biggest fan of your more recent works."

"Bah! Everyone's a critic these days!" He almost barks a laugh at that, slowly unholstering the shotgun from his back, relishing the wide-eyed look Beakley gives him as she's the one that closes the distance between them now, fists in a flurry to keep him from being able to actually use it. Both hands on the shotgun, he pushes against her, only to then pull it back towards himself when she tries to wrangle it out of his hands, patronizingly close for just a couple of seconds. "Everyone's been telling me to let go, try something new!"

There are sirens in the distance.

"Well, here I am!"

He lets go, and Beakley stumbles half a step back, not quite as much as he'd hoped, but he still tries his luck with a jumping kick to her already bruised beak -- instead, he gets the butt of the shotgun slammed into his stomach before his foot makes contact, and his years of stunt work have him performing a perfect roll as he recovers, but not without a hand at his bruised midsection, a grin still on his expression.

"I can assure you, this is not what they meant." It falters, however, when Beakley doesn't break eye contact as she tosses the shotgun off the rooftop, the masked mallard looking as if she'd tossed away one of his toys.

The sirens grow louder.

Negaduck straightens up, then, making a show of stretching his limbs and taking a little too much pleasure in how his back cracked as if reading up for a second round. Even Beakley couldn't help but roll her shoulders and wrists at that, feeling the tension pent up inside her.

The knife is back in his hands, and he's tossing it up nonchalantly in one hand, trying to read the bigger duck in front of him, gather any clues at all about who she was a person.. and coming up absolutely blank. He hasn't even seen her hanging with that actor kid, so what were her stakes? Why bother talking and entertaining him with a fight?

"What's it to you, anyway?"

(Questions. Answers.)

"You will not step foot in Duckburg."

He brings the tip of the blade to his beak, pouting with it at his lips as if deep in thought before giving her a look that let her know exactly what he was about to say.

"Or what?"

The sirens are deafening.

She throws herself at the other duck, and he has the gall to laugh, even when his own brand of martial arts blended with stuntwork starts to lag behind her skills, honed over a lifetime. There's a certain thrill to this, her feathers bristling as a chill runs through her. It almost takes her back to her youth. Almost. Neither of them is a young duck, but from the sharp glint in the masked mallard's eye, she can tell they're sharing the same thought: age has only brought them closer to their prime, not further from it.

But neither can afford to stay on the roof much louder, a helicopter approaching in the distance, law enforcement speaking on a megaphone from the bottom of the street.

Her thoughts stray for a second, and a smoke bomb is deployed. She loses sight of him --

There's a sharp cut on her feathery cheek, and she can feel them getting damp from the cut, and Beakley turns around in an instant, her hand clasping anything she can get a hold of. His cape --

But as when she reaches to restrain him, as the smoke dissipates, he is nowhere to be seen.

The signs of their fight are as clear as day, his discarded weapons are where they were left, yet the only thing left of him was the damned cape. A shaking fist clenches in the fabric, before ultimately Beakley forces herself to relax, and find her own means of escaping attention. She did what she set to do:

Interrupt Negaduck, interrupt F.O.W.L.

Leave a message.

She would get her selfish answers some other time.

#dt17 #fanfics.#bentina beakley #jim starling #negaduck #bro its 1 am im sleep deprived dont @ me this is all gonna make sense later i think #if you think i re-read this before posting im sorry to say you think too highly of me

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autisticsupervillain · 3 years

Text

The Makara Sisters

Ladies and gentlemen, it's finally here. My villainstuck Calliope post. @icedreaper I certainly hope you enjoy my friend.

Now this. This provides me with a fascinating challenge. How do you corrupt someone who is inherently good? Calliope is the heroic half of Caliborn. That seems as close to incorruptible as you can be in the Homestuck multiverse. Well, Calliope is about to learn that good is a very subjective term. The road to hell is paved with good intentions after all.

Our tale begins on Earth C. Calliope had moved in next to Roxy, as she was one of the people she knew best. Calliope is still a bit of a fangirl and casually rooming up with the people she idolized is kinda overwhelming for her. As such, she spends most of her time with Roxy and her friends. It’s not until years later that she gets to have another long conversation with any of the Beta Kids.

It happens during a party. The 5 year anniversary of the day the kids beat the game. Roxy had voided up all the necessities, with a little help from Jane for reference. That night, Calliope sees Dave sitting at a table completely smashed. Calliope asks if he’s doing alright and immediately sees through Dave’s bullshit when he insists he is. Calliope is best friends with Roxy. She knows what grief drinking looks like at this point and that’s exactly what Dave is doing. If he were sober, Dave would be able to keep his mask on and brush of Calliope's concern. But, he’s completely hammered, so he starts running his mouth. Dave admits that, while he was setting up the speakers and trying to get the music to sound right, Dirk surprised him.

The way Dirk was dressed, with his hat and his shades, and with how much he’d grown over the years, for a minute, Dirk looked a lot like Bro. Dave freezes up and flashes back for a minute before Dirk snap him out of it. Dirk comforts Dave about it as Dave vents his heart out at him for a bit. Basically retreading the conversation from when Dave gives him that big hug. Bro’s abuse still happened and that still creeps in sometimes. So, it’s good that the Striders can have these conversations. After a few cracks at how “fucked in the head" they are, the Striders begin pondering their counterparts. More specifically, Alpha Dave. Dave speculates that Alpha Dave was who he would’ve grown up to be if he didn’t have John, Rose, and Jade to lean on. Of course, sense Dirk doesn’t really know him well enough to define Alpha Dave as a person, that doesn’t really clear anything up. That just leaves the uncomfortable question of what a Dave without friends would’ve looked like. Especially with the way Bro turned out.

Soon the party started, and Dirk advised Dave to have fun and take his mind off it. Dave tries, but finds he can’t. It’s eating at him more than it should and he decides to go for a drink. One drink turns to several and then Calliope showed up.

At the end of his drunken ramble, Calliope expresses her sympathy. While she doesn’t know Dave very well, she knows someone in a similar situation to Alpha Dave. She mentions her God-Tier counterpart and reassures Dave that, while Calliope did become a much colder person, she did not become a bad one. Dave is a good person at heart and Calliope assures him that he always will be, regardless of what happens. That’s when Dirk and Rose show up. Dirk thanks Calliope for comforting Dave and explains that he figured something like this would happen and went to fetch Rose to help. Calliope watches them drag Dave home so they could talk to him in private before returning to the party.

The next day, Dave invites Calliope over and thanks her for giving him someone to lean on. The two start visiting regularly and they quickly become friends. They talk about their alternate selves often and Dave eventually mentions that he would’ve liked to meet his Alpha counterpart, if only to put his fears to rest. When Calliope asks if he’s ever discussed this with Dirk, Dave says that it’d be awkward. Bro was a terrible person and all it’d do is make Dirk feel worse about himself. So, Calliope just suggests asking John to let him visit Alpha Dave and Dave goes quiet. He takes a deep breath, figuring that he’s already dumped a lot on Calliope as it is, so there’s no backing out now. He admits that he’s scared to see what his Alpha counterpart is like. Dave has quite a few flaws himself and given how Dirk turned out…

Calliope mentions Davesprite, who had a nasty life himself but still turned out to be a good person, but Dave still remains hesitant. He clams up and Calliope admits that this is probably a conversation he should have with Rose or Dirk. Calliope apologizes for making her company awkward but Dave still thanks her as she leaves. He needed a fresh set of eyes to look at his issues before he began talking them out with his closer friends.

After a few days of stewing on the issue, Dave finally calls up Rose to have a chat with her. Rose brings up a lot of the same points Calliope and ultimately gets to the root of where this new issue comes from. Now that Dave has had time to process how harmful most of what he’s been raised on actually is, he’s worried about how it’s effected him as a person. Basically, he’s worried he might end up as a terrible person because Bro was a terrible person and that constant fear of failure that Bro’s abuse instilled in him is keeping him from just dissipating these feelings logically. Sure, Dave knows he’s not a bad person. He knows, logically, that he’s just a kid trying his best to be a good person. But, Bro instilled a bunch of self loathing in him by constantly beating the shit out of him when he was a kid. That doesn’t just go away. Rose is smart and she knows Dave well enough to comfort him, but she’s not the psychoanalytical genius she used to think she was. The only advice she can give him is from the heart. So, she admits that Dave venting to her was a good first step. But the only one who will know whether or not meeting Alpha Dave will help or not is him. All she can do is listen to and support him. It’s up to Dave to decide if he thinks that will be enough.

A few more days of contemplation later, Dave approaches John and asks him to help meet Alpha Dave.

The two Dave’s talk for awhile, after Alpha Dave calms down from seeing two young men in pajamas spontaneously appear right in front of him. Alpha Dave sympathizes with the younger Strider once he’s all caught up and admits that he didn’t have the best life growing up either. So that’s why he’s being earnest when he says that Dave’s handling it the best he can. Your upbringing doesn’t define you, you define you. And Dave has defined himself a good person who loves his friends and is working hard to work through his trauma. After a big hug, Alpha Dave asks if he could meet Dirk and Davesprite.

On the day of Dirk’ birthday party, Dirk is greeted at home by three Daves instead of two. Cue Strider group hug.

After a long party, Alpha Dave expresses how happy he is to have finally met Dirk. He expresses how happy he is to see two versions of himself grew up to get happy endings and shows how proud he is in Dirk. Even if he’s destined to die, he can die happy knowing that his little bro grows up happy.

Calliope gets caught up by John about the goings on after Alpha Dave returns to his own timeline. She’s happy to know that she helped the Striders, indirectly or otherwise, and Dirk thanks her for giving him the happiest party of his life.

After everything winds down and people start turning in for the night, Calliope thoughts return to God-Tier Calliope, thanks to Alpha Dave reminding her of her. She contemplates if getting to see Earth C and make friends like she did would make her happier.

She waits a few months before asking John for help again, letting him cool off from all the time traveling, partying, and emotional catharsis. She asks him to take her to wear the Green Sun used to be so she can grab God-Tier Calliope’s body and bring her back to be revived by Jane.

God-Tier Calliope is very put off by her new surroundings. A massive, life filled world, filled with other sentient, sapient life forms. She has a hard time opening up and she always comes off as distant next to her counterpart. Not unpleasant, just cold.

She tries to open. Tries to make friends. Calliope insists that this is what made her happy. But it just doesn’t click. Calliope ponders the problem over before coming to a realization. All the ways she was able to contact her human friends. All the technology. All the toys. That had to be given to her by someone. Both Calliopes have vague memories of someone caring for them when they were younger… but they just couldn’t remember who.

So, Calliope asks John for another big favor in order to find out who raised her. When the two find out it was Gamzee, Calliope is ecstatic to have a father figure like what Jane and John had, only for John to cough awkwardly and elaborate who Gamzee actually is. John doesn’t know all the details himself, but he does know that Gamzee apparently killed some of Karkat’s friends and attempted some more horrible stuff. Calliope is distraught but John can’t give any more details. Neither Karkat or Vriska like to talk about it. Dejected, Calliope and John return where Calliope briefs her God-Tier counterpart on the situation.

So, God-Tier Calliope just teleports over to Karkat and bluntly asks about Gamzee. The naked, showering Karkat proceeds to screech his lungs out.

After patiently waiting out Karkat’s tantrum, Calliope clarifies that Gamzee may have been her father. Karkat pauses before shoeing her out of the room so he can finish his shower.

Then John teleports in to warn him about Calliope and Karkat screeches again.

After Karkat finally wraps up and gets dressed, he and John sit down with the Calliopes to explain. John questions whether or not he should be a part of this, but Karkat insists. Honesty is the backbone of a healthy relationship and the Gamzee thing has been eating at him for awhile now. Karkat explains that Gamzee was one of his best friends, even if he didn’t always treat him like it. Which is something that Karkat regrets seeing how he snapped and started murdering people. Karkat would’ve tried to calm him down, stop him, but that plan got shunted aside thanks to the retcon. Karkat goes into self loathing mode, he doesn’t even know why Gamzee started killing people and he blames himself for that. Calliope reassures him and John helps pull him out of his funk while God-Tier Calliope just bluntly asks when and how Gamzee raised her. Karkat admits that he has no idea and that he doesn’t know where to find him now. All he can confirm is that he’s still alive. God-Tier Calliope leaves the conversation at that point, allowing her mortal counterpart to catch up with her later.

Calliope asks about her chilly demeanor and God-Tier Calliope still admits that she doesn’t still fully get this friendship thing. She can see that there’s something there between her counterpart and her friends, but she doesn’t fully get it. She just can’t feel it. After all, she’s a healthy Cherub and Cherubs don’t have friends. Regardless, Calliope tries to help give her a push in the right direction with some nicknames. From now on, everyone will refer to God-Tier Calliope as Callie, calling back to Roxy's nickname. After all, Calliope loved it when she was befriending Roxy, so surely it’ll grow on Callie.

Calliope and Callie start scouring the globe for Gamzee’s refrigerator. However, Jake ends up being the one to find it. Callie coldly thanks Jake for his assistance and awkwardly hugs him. She almost crushes his ribs, but it’s the thought that counts. Hugs are a thing that friends do after all. Callie informs Jake that, while the exact details are personal, Gamzee could potentially still be dangerous and they might need him for backup.

When Gamzee stumble out of the fridge and adjusts his eyesight, the first thing he sees is Calliope. His first instinct is to envelope her in a hug. Nearly a minute passes before he notices Callie hovering over them and Jake training a gun on him.

Gamzee tries to hug Callie as well, but she pushes him back and starts interrogating him. Even when being held several feet in the air, Gamzee is still gushing over his daughter and Callie events puts him down at Calliope’s insistence. Gamzee’s blabbering comes to a dead halt once Callie bluntly asks why he killed Nepeta and Equius. Jake notices the mood shift and awkwardly excuses himself from the conversation, making sure he’s still in yelling distance.

Gamzee sits down, stares up at the sky and confesses to everything. He killed for two reasons. One was in service to his dark master Lord English, whom he believed would destroy reality and replace it with the Dark Carnival. An eternal paradise, free from all the abandonment and suffering he’d been cursed with. The other reason was Calliope herself. When he met her, when he first saw her hatch, he fell in love with her. She was the first person in his life to love him unconditionally.

He goes on into detail about how Lil' Cal, the Gamzee part of Lil' Cal talked about Calliope in his brief moments of clarity. Gamzee didn’t believe it until he met her himself.

Calliope isn’t sure what to make of her surrogate father. He’s a bad person by his own admission and the fact that he was, to an extent, motivated by her just makes it even more complicated. Callie rests a hand on her counterpart’s shoulder and asks Gamzee why she didn’t get this treatment. Gamzee hazards a guess that his counterpart wanted her to survive in that timeline. Cherubs grow best on isolation after all. It was even something he considered doing in the main timeline, given he loved Calliope more than her “brother". Callie suggests that they take Gamzee back to the house. Live with him for a few days. Give Calliope the chance to know him and sort out her conflicted feelings, while also making sure that he’s being monitored by one of the most powerful God-Tiers on Earth should he prove to be untrustworthy.

Jake doesn’t ask what their conversation was about, as he feels like it was a private affair. He’s confident that his dear friend and her alternate counterpart can handle whatever it is they’ve gotten themselves into. However, he is asked a question by Callie: What’s a sister? Gamzee kept referring to the two of them as such. Jake and Calliope explain the concept of siblings to Callie and the two decide too adopt the term. Callie and Calliope. Twin Cherub Sisters.

Over the course of the next few months, Callie and Calliope get to know Gamzee better. Gamzee is fully remorseful for his actions. He reveals more of why he took the path he did to his daughters overtime. He talks about the Sopor. He talks about his faith. He talks about his dad. Eventually, he even brings himself to talk about Tavros.

The sisters notice the way his demeanor shifts. The mood always lightens whenever he talks about Tavros. He looks like he’s somewhere else, somewhere warmer and nicer. In those brief moments, Gamzee looks like Gamzee again.

He refuses to tell them who killed Tavros. He insists he doesn’t know.

Meanwhile, Jake has been incredibly shifty on the details of his exhibition with the Calliopes. His friends know he’s hiding something from them, Jake can’t lie for shit. But, when pressed, he tells them that it’s something the Calliopes wanted him to keep secret. So the subject is left alone.

That is, until Vriska Serket catches wind of it.

It starts innocuously enough. John heard about Jake’s little trip, so he asks about it at the next anniversary party. Jake says the matter is private, so John drops the issue. Vriska overhears and starts hounding him for details. Jake went on an adventure with the two Calliopes and didn’t invite her? This is the most interesting thing to happen in ages! What happened? Who’s involved? What’s going on!?! Jake finds he can’t slip away and ends up accidentally dropping Gamzee’s name. Vriska’s enthusiastic interrogation suddenly turns death serious as she starts squeezing the facts out of him.

Gamzee is enjoying his quiet time at home, waiting for his kids to come back, when Vriska bursts through the wall. A brutal, bloody fight breaks out that lasts most of the night. Right when it looks like someone’s about to win, the Cherub Sisters get home. Callie steps in an demands to know what the hell Vriska is doing. Now that the two are restrained, Gamzee and Vriska argue instead. Calling each other murderers, abusers, manipulators, and every other nasty word the two can think of. Gamzee finally lets slip that Vriska is the one who killed Tavros.

Callie promptly hefts Vriska up by her neck. Even Calliope is giving her weird looks as Callie demands an explanation. Vriska stammers to think of a justification, but she comes up short. Killing Tavros was one of the few things she regretted, after all. Instead, she calls in back up. Vriska fully expects Callie to kill her, so she mind controls Terezi. Everything comes to a halt back at the party as Terezi suddenly shouts about Vriska being attacked down at the Cherub household.

John teleports everyone over there, causing mass chaos when they see what’s happening. Karkat demands an explanation from Gamzee, Callie demands an explanation from Vriska, Terezi demands an explanation Callie, and everyone is yelling at everyone. John, Jane, and everyone else who is trying to get people to calm down are drowned out in the sea of noise, until everything suddenly freezes. Aradia asks everyone to calm down, putting some emphasis on Callie specifically seeing how she’s probably strong enough to just break out of Aradia’s time stop.

What proceeds is effectively a trial, with Aradia reigning as Judge. The question of who exactly is on trial almost sparks another argument, but that gets shut down quick. Both Vriska Serket and Gamzee Makara on trial today and both immediately start flinging dirt at the other. The argument goes in circles as the two throw accusations and excuses at each other, forcing Aradia to break up a few fights. Vriska claims that she had an abusive lusus as an excuse, Gamzee points out that at least she had lusus. Gamzee calls Vriska out on her abusive behavior, John mentions the Pre-Retcon timeline. Vriska calls Gamzee a murderer and Gamzee has to be restrained from beating the shit out of her for what she did to Tavros.

Eventually, the whole thing comes down to a vote. It’s decided that they can’t really hold Gamzee accountable if they’re not going to hold Vriska accountable, as they share a lot of the same excuses and crimes. Regardless of what they’ve done, they still have loved ones among them, especially in the form of Terezi and the Calliopes respectively. Basically, the policy is “live and let live". Earth C is a place of new beginnings for a lot of people. Maybe it’s best to let them start over.

Later that week, Vriska vents at Terezi about being compared to Gamzee. I mean, Gamzee was the big threat that she saved everyone from. Vriska is the good guy here! Terezi points out that Vriska nearly got them all killed and Vriska meekly concedes the point. Vriska decides she should put her money where her mouth is and try to apologize to Gamzee. After all, they’re supposedly really similar and they both just want to me better people, right? So it should be no problem for her to just walk in and apologize.

Gamzee still gives her a chilly reception when she shows up and Vriska isn’t one to take insults lying down. Things quickly escalate into an argument from there before Callie breaks it up and asks Vriska to leave. This pattern repeats for awhile. One would approach the other, an argument would ensue, and Karkat or Callie or Terezi or whoever would intervene and split them up. It happened yearly, then monthly, then daily. Karkat is especially frustrated because he thinks they would make great kissmesises, but neither of them want to go there. Gamzee refuses to give her the time of day for what she did to Tavros and Vriska is so bothered by their similarities that she keeps approaching him about it. This leads to arguments, fights, split ups, and the cycle repeats.

Eventually, Calliope gets an idea. Gamzee’s main hang up with Vriska is what she did to Tavros, right? So, they can just resurrect Tavros, have him forgive Vriska, and problem solved! It worked great with Dave’s issues, so it should work this time. John is getting a bit tired of constantly refereeing their fights himself, so he agrees to help them. They just snatch Tavros’s body from the latest point in the timeline and resurrect him. Problem solved.

Things go off the rails very quickly. Gamzee and Tavros are ecstatic to see each other again and Tav nearly bowls him over with a hug. But, when he asks for a catch up on what everyone has been up too, Gamzee hesitates. Ultimately, Gamzee is serious about wanting to be a better person, for the sake of his daughters', so he decides to be honest. He tells Tavros everything that he did. Everything that happened and why. He even explains what he planned to do to Terezi.

Tavros doesn’t forgive him.

Tavros sees the similarities and they’re enough for him to not be comfortable around Gamzee anymore. He leaves and tells Gamzee not to contact him.

Gamzee tries anyways, to no avail. He begins to shut himself off from the rest of the world. He doesn’t even speak to Karkat anymore. All the good progress he made begins going down the drain. His best bro, his first bro, doesn’t think he’s worth it anymore. What’s he supposed to make of that?

The Cherub Sisters comfort him, try to get him out of his shell. It works, to an extent, but Gamzee quickly becomes possessive. It gets worse day by day, from Gamzee stalking them to him trying to keep them from leaving the house. The Cherub Sisters go to Rose for advice, given she’s the psychologist, but she admits that she’s a little out of her depth when it comes to Gamzee. She advises spending some time away from him and letting Karkat take care of him. He’s his moirail, after all, this is his job.

But, when the sisters go on a trip, Karkat struggles to bring Gamzee out of his shell. He’s far to despondent and doesn’t seem to react to anything Karkat tries. Whenever Gamzee’s about to open up, he looks at Karkat and sees another person he failed, betrayed, and immediately clams up.

When the Sisters get back, he’s an even more possessive, self destructive mess than he was last time, to the point of watching them sleep every night. Calliope decides that they need to time travel again to fix this. John is hesitant, given last time apparently didn’t work out, but he agrees to help. This time, the sisters decide to grab his lusus. But, when introduced, Gamzee’s lusus turns around and swims away, which only sends him further down into his spiral. It’s gotten to the point where Gamzee flat out forgets to eat or sleep for days on end. When the sisters go to him again for help, John tries to refuse, stating they’re just making things worse, but Callie demands that he help out.

This time, the sisters bring Gamzee a recouperacoon to help treat his newfound insomnia. This ends with him diving head first back into addiction. Even Vriska seems concerned when she comes over for another argument, only to find him blankly staring at the ceiling. The more Gamzee’s mental state decays, the more desperate the sisters get to help him. At first, John blatantly refuses to help them any further, because all they’re doing is making things worse, but then he relents when Callie actually threatens him into helping.

When John had dropped them off on a dead planet in the middle of a seemingly Doomed Timeline, he seemed confused. Callie explained to Calliope, once they were out of earshot, that she heard a legend once of a powerful Cherub who got her hands on the Treasure. The Cherub rampaged her way across the multiverse for centuries, leaving countless bodies in her wake, before being killed by a legendary Void Player. They’re there to obtain the Treasure from her body.

None of them notice the torn up Muse of Space outfit hanging on a tombstone. A memorial to an old friend.

When he brings the sisters back, John takes them to Dirk and Dave in order to stage an intervention. They’re creating a negative feedback loop. Gamzee’s falling further into his funk, which is making the sisters more desperate to help him. This causes their actions to become more hasty, which leads to them making short sighted mistakes, leading to an ongoing cycle. The sisters agree to stop meddling and claim they need time alone to sort things out.

But, it’s to late for that now. If some had stopped them sooner, talked to them a day earlier, the sisters could’ve been talked down. But now? It was to late. They were committed now. Their father needed them.

Their plan is simple. Callie reasons that the reason the Gamzee is still suffering, still losing, is that he was thematically predestined to. That’s the theme of his character. Tragedy and comedy. The duality of a lethal joke character. So, if they change what his theme is, what the narrative of his character is, they can change his fate. It makes some sort of sense… even if it is a desperate long shot when you think about it

So, how does one change the themes surrounding one’s character? They just need to change his aspect. Rage is defined by chaos, destruction, discontent, and the aforementioned duality. They just need to change his aspect to something else. And, in order to do that, they need a ritual.

All of reality is made up of games within games. Copies of SBURB that generate copies of SBURB on and on. Those games are made up of code and code can be decompiled. They just need to find the debug tool, reprogram Gamzee’s aspect, and thus eliminate all the thematic suffering that plagues his character.

In order to find the Debug Tool, the Sisters need to jump through some hoops. Using the Retcon Powers, Calliope and Callie approach a random Lord of Light, asking him to use his absolute knowledge to confirm their theory. He obliges, mostly to avoid fighting a powerful Muse of Space. Apparently, in order to find the Debug Tool, you’d have to gather up the fragments of its code that are hidden around Paradox Space. Luckily, the Lord knows where they are, thanks to knowledge being Light's mo. He gives them a list of what to search for and where to find it. The Sisters depart on their journey.

Calliope and Callie come across a Doomed version of Beforus and explain their quest to the local version of Feferi. The Empress admits that she does have something like that and is, in fact, happy someone has come to take it off her hands. The last time she tried messing with that strand of code, she ended up glitching a nearby galaxy out of existence, so she resorted to locking it up and throwing away the key.

Unfortunately, things begin to go wrong once Callie tries interacting with the fragment of code. The Sisters are effectively script kiddies in this “the multiverse is all code" analogy. Meaning, they don’t fully understand what they’re doing and they’re to desperate to fully care. Once the Sisters leave with the code fragment, Beforus's timeline begins glitching. It starts out like a particularly buggy Bethesda game and quickly descends into a lovecraftian nightmare. The Sisters only realize the damage they’ve caused when they see the timeline they just left “crash" and corrupt itself, leaving only buggy horrorterrors and amalgamated monstrosities in its wake. Calliope is horrified to see that they just destroyed an entire timeline, but Callie tries to remain calm. While she’s clearly shaken, she reasons that they can just undo the damage once the Debug Tool is put back together. It’s not like they can save the timeline now, it’s the only responsible thing to do. Calliope reluctantly agrees.

This pattern continues. The Cherubs travel from timeline to timeline, collecting bits of code and leaving buggy messes in their wake. With every piece collected, more damage is done to the very foundation of Paradox Space. Not only do timelines break apart, but survivors who escape said timelines act as viruses that allow the broken code to infest other timelines. People become living, unwitting Trojan Horses, spreading their glitches to other sessions. The spread only gets worse once the infection reaches the dreambubbles. Those who don’t die suffer as unrecognizable abominations.

This just makes the Sisters more desperate to fulfill their goal. Gamzee becomes an afterthought as they start racing to save reality.

Word soon spreads of the precursors of this event. Descriptions of the Capricious Makara Sisters, who would steal the keystones to your reality and doom your timeline to destruction.

The Alpha Trolls and the Ancestors in the dreambubbles team up to try and quarantine the event , with Aranea communicating with Vriska to inform Earth C of the ongoing apocalypse. The Earth C team help out where they can, but they begin to hear things about these so called Makara Sisters. Descriptions and details through the grape vine that sound hauntingly familiar. It’s Roxy who pits the pieces together as her gut sinks in horror.

The Makara Sisters teleport in to find a piece of the code, only to find their friends waiting for them. Roxy, Dave, Karkat, Dirk, and everyone else tries to reason with them. To talk them out of this crusade. The Cherubs don’t know what they’re doing. That’s the whole reason things got this bad. If the complete the Debug Tool, much less use it to mess with something as important as Aspects, they could potentially destroy all of Paradox Space. Quarantine efforts are making good headway, they don’t need to risk all this.

It’s to late though. Calliope is convinced that the Debug Tool is the only thing that can prevent Armageddon. During their argument, Callie breaks down in tears.

Gamzee was the first person she loved. Not appreciated, not cared for, loved. Over time, she’d grown attached to Gamzee. She learned about this things humans called family and she fully embraced it. Gamzee was her father and Callie was going to save him.

Calliope comforts her sister after her breakdown, allowing the two to teleport away.

The Makara Sisters continue collecting pieces of the code, destroying more timelines and making quarantine that much more difficult, until only one remains. The last piece of code, buried deep within Earth C's core. And all that stood between them were all of their friends.

No matter what happens, Roxy will always remember Calliope as her friend.

#villainstuck #long post #the makara sisters #calliope #god-tier calliope #roxy lalonde #dave strider #jake english #john egbert #karkat vantas #gamzee makara #vriska serket

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mydisasteracademia · 3 years

Text

Random Izuku Midoriya Headcanons

BABY BOY. Send tweet.

I’m not getting into manga spoilers of course.

This lil’ green bean is your biggest cheerleader. You wanna be a hero? Hell yeah, he’ll be there to encourage you while you work for it! You wanna be a vigilante? A little more concerning, but he wouldn’t rat you out to the cops unless you did something really illegal (like kill heroes, Stain).

On the flip side, if you became a villain, he would be heartbroken. At first he’d insist that you were probably coerced or brainwashed into joining, but once you both cross paths and he realizes that you joined willingly... well, he’s gotta take you down one way or another. Thankfully, he’s willing to go easy on you if you’ll just let him take you down.

SERIOUS MORAL COMPASS. Growing up idolizing heroes can do that to you in the long run. Izuku believes in doing the right thing, even if it goes against a law in doing so.

You know those memes where people compare “stereotypical delinquent” Bakugo to “nerdy goody-two-shoes” Midoriya? Yeah, those are 100% correct. Izuku would absolutely throw down any day of the week, regardless of who the person is. If he perceives them as working against the side of good, your ass is getting Detroit Smashed. And not in the sexy way.

At least he’s incredibly loyal. Izuku is the kind of person who would help you run from the cops if you were justified in what you did. After going to Yuuei, his worldview of ‘good’ and ‘bad’ as been knocked a little off-kilter as he’s gained experience in the field, but his core morals still remain. He’s just a little more likely to break laws to achieve it.

So happy to have actual friends that he documents literally everything you tell him. His slightly-creepy habit of writing everything down (and mildly stalking you) might come out for a bit, so if it creeps you out, please tell him to back off a little. He’s not doing it to be creepy or perverted, he’s genuinely just a little clingy because he has horrible abandonment issues. Doesn’t mean it’s not creepy, though.

Ah yes, he can be a bit clingy in your early stages of a friendship. It’s a bad habit that he has to shake, but with your help, he’ll be able to ease up a little.

If you identify as female, good luck getting past the super blushy phase with him. This poor boy is so nervous around girls, it’s likely that you might think he’s weird in the beginning just because of how red he gets and how he can’t stop stuttering in front of you. Getting paired together during PE will greatly help him get out of that shyness, though. Training and battle do wonders to get him to focus and see past your gender differences.

Are you non-binary? Genderfluid? Trans? No problem! All you have to do is say something and he’ll address you accordingly. He has literally no problem accepting you for who you are. Depending on how you identify, he might get curious and ask tons of questions. He’s not trying to irritate you or mock you! He just wants to learn everything he can about your identity so that he can better understand you. He’s so eager to learn, it’s adorable.

Headcanon that he has an absolute GLOW UP in his second and third years of high school. Y’know All Might when he was training with his Quirk for the first time? Yeah, that. He’s already hella ripped, but imagine him with a growth spurt (putting him somewhere about 5′8″ to 5′9″). Imagine. IMAGINE. Girls crush on him. Boys crush on him. Everybody is just so amazed at how much he grew up.

Genuinely sees good in just about everyone, no matter how villainous.

That being said...

Heavily dislikes Endeavor, and not just because he made the connection between him and Bakugo when they met at the Sports Festival for the first time (and especially when Shouto talked about his abusive behavior). Wouldn’t wish ill on him and wouldn’t randomly antagonize him, but he cringes whenever he hears someone gush about the (now) Number One Hero and works harder to encourage Shouto in his own ambitions as a hero-hopeful.

“All Might wouldn’t have abused his children,” he’s muttered on at least one occasion. “All Might doesn’t have a massive steel rod stuck up his ass 24/7.”

He is glad that Endeavor is trying to change, but will not give him any wiggle room when it comes to his behavior around his family.

Gave Shouto an All Might figurine for his birthday, partly as a petty jab at Enji, and mostly because he knows how much his friend loved the hero when he was growing up. (Shouto absolutely loved it. It stands proudly in his bedroom now.)

100% the type to freak out over new up-and-coming heroes and ask for their autographs as a grown-up, then start crying out of happiness when they ask for his in return. His love of heroes never really fades as he gets older, it just matures with him.

Sometimes when dealing with the more egotistical heroes, he genuinely wonders about Stain’s ideology. “Stain was probably right,” he says to himself, before snapping out of it. “No, focus, Izuku. Hero-killing is off the table.” Sometimes it’s reeeeally hard not to think about.

He’s ran into Spinner once or twice. The villain was kind of awkward around him, but he was polite enough (and was quite obviously buying groceries and not causing havoc), so Izuku was polite enough to leave him alone. They ended up bonding over having to deal with trigger-happy, hot-blooded teammates/friends. Whenever one sees the other, they either wave and keep moving or just nod politely.

Please, just... give me Izuku/villain friendships please. I crave. I need.

#deku headcanons #izuku midoriya headcanons

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smolkooks · 4 years

Text

second button - k.taehyung

pairings: reader x taehyung, childhood friends!au, best friends to (almost) lovers!au

word count: 3k

content and warnings: fluff and angst, mentions of bullying, implied female reader

summary: you loved taehyung. you weren’t sure why you never said it out loud.

( notes: this is a lil intermission from working on how long pt2 that i thought up and had to get down...hope you guys like it <3 please do not plagiarise my work! all character/idol representations are purely fictional! )

when you first met kim taehyung, he was a rowdy kid with messy hair and mud on his face. he had little black-framed glasses, and freckled cheeks that were sun-kissed from spending so much time playing tag with his friends. his uniform shirt was untucked, the bottom button undone and his school shoes ripped at the soles.

you still remembered the first time you ever spoke to him. he’d just been given lunchtime detention—it must’ve been fourth grade, or third, or something like that—and his teacher had given him lines to copy, for talking too much in class.

lunchtime detentions at your school were odd—the teacher would make the student sit outside the classroom, copying lines, while they went to eat their lunch. if the kid ran away, parents were called by the principal, and no kid wanted that—it was enough to keep all of the students planted to the spot.

for some reason, when you saw him sitting there on the bench, frowning and looking almost on the verge of tears, you went up to him. your two other friends were gossiping with each other, and you decided that you’d ask him what he was doing.

it was probably pure curiosity that drove you to sit down beside him.

he glanced up upon hearing you approach, squinting as he pushed his too-big-for-his-face glasses up his nose bridge, “who are you?”

you noticed that there was no mud on his face today, and giggled to yourself as you replied, “y/n.” you swung your legs back and forth as you glanced down at the piece of paper on his lap—the one he had been scratching away at.

at the top of the sheet was a neatly printed sentence:teacher jeong, i am sorry,i will not talk in class.

taehyung had copied it maybe twice, with pencil, below it, in messy chicken-scratch that wriggled up and down the lined paper so much that your eyes widened comically.

“kim taehyung, this is so messy!” you exclaimed, and the boy heaved a sigh, running a hand through his curly hair.

“i know,” he said tiredly, quickly covering his writing with his tiny hand, “i don’t know how to write better. teacher jeong has already made me redo it three times because it was so messy.”

you frowned, “didn’t she teach you how to do it?”

sullenly, taehyung shook his head, his glasses sliding down his face as he did so. he noticed quickly and immediately was shoving them back into place, “she just ripped up my paper and told me to do it again.”

you sighed disapprovingly, thinking of what to do to make him feel better, and then you announced, “if she won’t teach you, then i will.”

taehyung gave you a confused look, “you’re not a teacher, y/n. you can’t.”

you scoffed, taking the pencil from his right hand gently, “first step, you’re holding your pencil wrong. are you right-handed or left-handed?”

he scrunched up his nose, “left-handed. but my eomma says i should use my right hand, but i can’t! it’s so hard,” he grumbled, kicking at the dirt.

you took his left hand, “well, if you prefer your left hand, then i don’t see why you should switch.” you gently positioned his fingers into a correct pencil grip, and said, “this is how you should hold it.”

he stared at it, eyes full of wonder, “teacher jeong never told me that.”

you laughed, picking up the paper on his lap and taking his hand—you started with the first character, carefully helping him trace out the shape, “there. that’s the first word. try writing it slowly first.”

taehyung was awestruck, and he admired the character for a long second, not quite believing that he’d written it—well, sort of, anyway, “you’re good, y/n.”

you giggled, patting him on the shoulder, “thanks, tae.”

taehyung stared after you as you skipped back to where your friends sat—that was the first time anybody had called him that.

every time taehyung got a detention—and got lines to copy—you’d always show up, and sit down next to him, and keep him company. teach him how to write neatly. you were his best friend, truly, even though he never said it. he spoke with you more than he spoke to any of the boys he hung out with, who were only interested in who could run the fastest. it was taehyung—he was the fastest runner—but he’d started to find sprinting all lunch boring by fifth grade. running around the field stopped being exhilarating and started becoming boring after doing it every day with the same people for almost three years.

but talking to you never got old.

“taehyung, this is your third detention this week,” you said, not in an angry way—but rather, you sounded worried, “are you doing okay in class? is joohyun getting you in trouble again?”

the two of you, despite growing extremely close, had never been in the same class before. the closest you’d gotten was one you were next-door to him in fifth grade, but that was it. however, you knew all about the things that happened in his class, and he knew all about yours—because the two of you spoke so much.

the particular kid in question—yang joohyun—had been the cause of half of taehyung’s detentions last year, and was known for blaming all of his mistakes on his classmates—taehyung being the bully’s main target.

he’d gone to another class this year, thankfully, but it didn’t stop you from glaring at him every time you passed by him in the corridor.

“no, no,” taehyung quickly denied, i just wanted to talk to you more.

but he didn’t say it out loud, because—well, he didn’t know exactly why he didn’t say it out loud. maybe he was worried that if he told you the truth, you’d get angry and stop speaking to him, and he definitely didn’t want that.

you were the only person beside his own siblings whom he could talk for hours with, and he didn’t want to lose you. lunchtime detention was the only time that the two of you could talk by yourselves—without your respective friend groups teasing you for it.

“your handwritings’ so much better!” you exclaimed, sliding into the seat next to him, “look at that…have you been practicing?” it was the truth; the characters he’d written on the paper that sat on his lap were far neater than anything he’d written before—probably neater than your own writing.

“a bit,” he said shyly, scratching his neck, “my sister helped me with what you showed me last week.”

you nodded, smiling, “that’s good! soon you won’t even need my help—,”

“no!” he cut in suddenly, and shocked by how loud he’d yelled, almost fell off the bench, “i mean,” he stuttered timidly, “u-um, i still need your h-help.”

“o-okay,” you said, eyebrows furrowing, “tae, you know that you don’t need to get a detention to talk to me, right? you can just tell me and i’ll go over to your house or something. i only live down the street from you.”

even though he flushed deep red from embarrassment at having been figured out so easily, the thought of you visiting his house made butterflies flutter excitedly in his stomach.

“really?” he said, blinking in surprise.

“of course,” you said, seeming genuinely confused why he was so shocked, “i’m your friend, tae. right?”

he giggled shyly, “right.”

and so began your visits to his house, and him to yours. every tuesday, thursday and sunday evening you’d go to his place—because your eomma had late shifts on those days and you didn’t want to be alone—and on all the other days, he’d come over. being an only child, you didn’t have any complaints with being away from home (even if it was only down the street) because taehyung was good company.

he made a good study partner; he was a good learner, and his handwriting had gotten exponentially better over the past few years. possibly better than yours, especially after he started learning to write with his right hand, too—you always joked that he was two times as good, now that he could write with both hands.

even though he was less shy—you were in ninth grade, after all—he still seemed generally the same to you. the same messy hair, big glasses—perhaps just minus the mud on the face thing. he didn’t really run around as much as he used to anymore, now that he was studying so much all the time, so that meant he didn’t get so dirtied up every day. your friends had stopped teasing you after eighth grade after it got boring for them and returned to their usual conversations, which you loved way more than being teased about taehyung.

you also got well-acquainted with his two younger siblings, and his eomma, who would bring in plates of various fruits as the two of you studied, notes sprawled all over the carpeted floor of taehyung’s bedroom.

something changed in tenth grade. neither of you could tell what it was, but somethingwas different. that something made itself clear one tuesday night, when the two of you were studying for a massive exam on thursday and were close to passing out on the floor, over all of your homework papers.

“taehyung,” you said sleepily, nudging his arm, and he turned to face you from where he was tiredly writing on his notebook.

“yeah?”

you giggled, even though you were exhausted, “you look so pretty.”

he was pretty. you didn’t know what it was; in the past year, he’d grown up so much. he’d gotten so much taller, and his hair was less messy, even though it was sometimes still full of chaotic curls, especially after long nights of studying. his eyes had become brighter and he’d ditched his glasses for contacts—even though he looked good even without them, part of you missed it, because he was so cute whenever he’d scrunch his nose up to adjust them.

sometimes you still caught him doing it out of habit.

he flushed a bit at your words, though you didn’t notice—in your tiredness, all you saw was his smile as he responded, “you’re prettier.” he leaned a little closer and booped you on the forehead affectionately, “look at this pretty hair and these pretty eyes. the prettiest ever.”

your lips quirked up in the corners and a rosy blush rose to the apples of your cheeks.

he exhaled, after a long moment of silence, “if i asked nicely, would you let me kiss you?”

you laughed lightly, and answered without a second thought, as though the answer was obvious, “of course i would, tae. why wouldn’t—,”

“can i?”

“what?”

“can i kiss you?”

you breathed, “of course you can.”

he exhaled quietly, moving so that his elbow was propped by your head, and he was leaning over you. you closed your eyes, and gently, he pressed his lips to yours.

the kiss was soft, like the summer sun, and you sighed in satisfaction as he caressed your hair with his hand. the room falls away, and the two of you become lost in each other—your heart skipping beats—and you lose track of time. suddenly, there is only you, and taehyung, and nothing else. your hands went to his curls, and he breathed your name, “y/n.”

when you broke apart, the two of you just basked in each other’s presence—homework forgotten—until you fell asleep.

it was strange that things started to change then, the same year that taehyung told you he was leaving—for seoul, he said, the big city.

it was no secret that he was handsome. he told you that a company had reached out; told him that they would like to invite him to become a trainee. a celebrity, too, soon—hopefully, taehyung told you excitedly.

you were happy for him, you really were, but at the same time, there was an odd ache in your chest that you couldn’t name. a strange feeling that left you crying yourself to sleep that same night that he told you.

it was odd, because you knew what it was, deep down, but your mind wouldn’t admit it. your heart wouldn’t.

you loved kim taehyung.

you had for maybe years—before either of you even knew what the word love meant. you still didn’t, but for some reason, using it to describe the feelings you had for taehyung felt right; comfortable. like it was obvious…what other word was there, if not love?

but you didn’t say it out loud, because—well, you didn’t know exactly why you didn’t say it out loud. maybe you were worried that if you told him the truth, you’d be upset and stop speaking to you, and you definitely didn’t want that.

so, you kept silent—only offering him smiles and positive words every time he would tell you about his train tickets, his new trainee clothes that had been arriving over the past week, and the new people he’d meet. he told you all about the things he would send back to you from seoul—the new food he’d bring back for you to try.

you were endeared at how excited he was, truly, but every time he talked about seoul, your heart ached.

in truth, taehyung was trying to sound as happy as he could to avoid thinking about the fact that he wouldn’t be able to see you for months after he left. he never told you, because he didn’t want you to feel like it was your fault that he had doubts about going, but…

he still remembered the tears in your eyes; tears you desperately tried to blink away, as you said goodbye to him at the train station. his train was going to leave in fifteen minutes, and neither of you could quite believe it.

“tell me about seoul,” you said, looking down at his coat and straightening his jacket to distract yourself from crying, “eat well. remember to eat your vegetables, okay?”

“i will, y/n,” he said softly, brushing your hair out of your face, “don’t worry about me.”

“tae, i—i’m going to miss you,” you whispered, voice shaky, “i know it’s selfish but i will.”

“it’s not selfish,” he assured you, pulling you into a hug as you begin to sob quietly, “i’ll miss you too. but i’ll be back soon.” he was glad that you couldn’t see his face because he didn’t want you to notice the tears that were rolling down his own cheeks, even as he tried to comfort you. “i’ll bring you those little stamp things that you like to use on your homework books.”

“thanks,” you said, although it barely sounded like a word through your uneven breathing, “tae, you’ll be amazing. i know you will. i’ll see you on t.v. soon, yeah?” you found it in yourself to laugh a little at that, and he chuckled, too.

“don’t worry about me, y/n,” he said, pressing a kiss to your forehead before he gently let go and took a step back from the hug, “take care of yourself. make sure my sister is good.” he joked, squeezing your shoulder.

just as you were about to reply, though, his eyes suddenly widened and he almost dropped his bag, “y/n, wait, i have something—,” he rummaged through his coat pockets and brought out a single, familiar button, pressing it into your palm quickly, his voice suddenly shy, cheeks rosy.

“it’s the second button of my uniform,” he said, meeting your eyes timidly, “it’s a thing i saw that people do—because the second button is closest to the heart.”

you flipped the button over in your hand. it was golden, from his primary school jacket—the same one that he’d been wearing when the two of you first met. you smiled.

“it’s a bit silly,” he chuckled, smiling a little sadly, “but i just didn’t want you to forget. you know.”

“tae…thank you,” you pulled him in for one last hug, letting yourself bask in his presence for just a little longer—pretend like everything was normal, “take care of yourself.”

***

it had been almost a year, and taehyung still hadn’t seen you again. every time he thought of you, his heart ached, and it made him miss you so much. he did everything in his power to not think about you too much, outside of his weekly letters you.

the reception in your hometown was so bad that letters were faster and safer—and so the two of you sent mail to each other to keep in touch. aside from writing to you, he focused on practicing with his new groupmates, the boys who had become his second family; his home—even so, he didn’t tell them about you. not yet, anyway, not when everyone was so focused on practicing and debuting.

it was on the day of bts’ debut showcase that he was reminded of you vividly—by jungkook, surprisingly.

he had been filling in some sort of form, and he was so absent that he hadn’t even noticed the younger boy approach him.

jungkook gasped as he looked over taehyung’s shoulder, “hyung, your writing is so neat!”

taehyung smiled softly, feeling nostalgic. “thanks, jungkook.”

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mwolf0epsilon · 4 years

Note

A story of Sammy stumbling upon siren head?

Summary: The studio wasn't the only place hiding the lurking horrors of the world.

---

[[MORE]]

Freedom had come with a lot of existential dread and lingering doubts. It hadn't been the oh so sweet respite that everyone had coveted so much, not when they were still abominable creatures made of cursed ink (and in some cases machinery). Still, for all that they'd worried, Henry had pulled through and prevailed.

He'd not only gifted them their salvation from Joey's nightmarish dream, but also offered them a way to live unafraid in a world they no longer belonged in. He gave them a house, food, clothes, a life worth living.

Never once did he ask for anything in return. A true loyal and kind friend to those who desperately needed such a charitable heart.

"You don't need to repay me. I'm only doing what's right, and besides I got that house after my uncle died... It never really felt right to move out of town with Linda and the girls, and I never knew what I was going to do with it." He'd humbly dismissed any offers to repay his kindness. "You all need a safe place where you can recover and slowly reacquaint with normalcy without anyone judging or fearing you. The location is perfect."

And it was. An isolated corner of a vast forest, with nearly no signs of civilization. Easy for Henry to check up on them since he knew where to go to reach it, but out of the way enough that not even hikers came by often.

It helped that it had a bit of a... Dark reputation. Missing cases, strange sightings, and creepy sounds in the night. A deterrent for sane people with a yellow streak.

For someone like Susie and Allison who looked human enough to pass off as such if provided with an appropriate disguise, it was a bit of a hassle. Grocery shopping (when they were in the mood to be seen by the oblivious folk in the nearest town) took longer due to such a long trek.

For others like Tom and Buddy who were living cartoon characters it was a more comfortable experience. They could go out and feel the sun upon their skin without fear of what may happen if they were spotted.

And then lastly, for beings like Sammy, the Searchers, Butcher Gang, and for Norman, it was both a stark reminder of their inhumanity, and a blissful respite from the crippling dissonant thoughts that made them oh so prone to violent outbursts.

In the woods there was no one they could hurt if they lost their senses (which was not as common a thing as it once was, but still something the Projectionist suffered with on the regular). In the woods there was peaceful silence where they could wade through the madness and regain their footing. In the woods they could almost be their former selves.

Granted this was a double-edged sword on one regard: The Projectionist tended to wander far and not recall how to come back.

If Norman ended up somehow stumbling back into society, there would be trouble. Which is why Sammy was assigned to follow him every time he felt like going for one of his "little walks".

At first the once-music director had scoffed and been incredibly annoyed at being saddled with such a responsibility. He was not in a capacity to look after himself, much less a 7, nearly 8, foot tall half-ink half-machine man that could easily render him into ribbons if he set him off. Norman's transition from coherent sentient thoughts to downright feral and highly aggressive behaviour was too unpredictable for someone who's memories tended to evade him easily.

But then, as pointed out by Allison, Susie wouldn't be able to calm him because she knew neither sign language nor Morse code (which he'd learned specifically from Norman when he was still human just for fun), and Allison herself was not overly close to him so her presence would only distress him further.

When he'd still tried to refuse, Tom had resorted to threats which he'd returned in kind. In the end it was the pleading looks of both Jack and the rest of the band that got him to relent. But not before barking at them to never say he wasn't a charitable and patient man (things he really wasn't, considering his short fuse and unwillingness to socialize when he was in a particularly sour mood).

Once he'd committed to the task, Sammy found that the sounds of nature soothed him. Watching after the Projectionist wasn't too bad either, as he thought the large monstrosity looked quite happy as it wandered aimlessly, occasionally looking up at the expanse of darkening skies. Sunsets seemed to spark something more human in Norman. Got him to sign more and sometimes vocalize his words (as painfully gritting to the ear as that may be). It reminded Sammy of... Of times long past. Ones where he'd consider this brute as a bright and very accommodating (if not a little annoying at times) friend.

A friend he dearly missed even, for no matter how much they tried, Norman would never go back to being who he was before the studio chewed him up and spat him back out as something some would consider a dubiously smart animal.

The peace also sparked something in Sammy himself. It made him feel more grounded, more like himself, to the point where his form would shift accordingly. Because their bodies were reacting to their slow recoveries.

Over time a few Searchers had slowly become Lost Ones, and a few Lost Ones had begun transitioning into human forms. There was always something a little off and cartoonish about them, but it was progress nontheless. People were remembering who they once we're, and that was more than they'd ever accomplished in that hellhole.

Sammy sometimes could see his true face reflected back by a puddle or larger body of water, but it was a fleeting thing.

At times he could even feel his unruly curls brushing against his neck and shoulders, but they weren't the dirty blond he'd remembered. They were an inky black that upset him slightly, but better than the shiny bald head he'd had for so many years. Less saddening than the yellow glow of eyes that should have been a soft hazel, and much less startling than the sharpness of his teeth. Somehow he always got the nose right, which was adding salt to injury considering he couldn't regenerate his pinkies.

The Projectionist's walks were moments of introspection. Ones where he was sure he'd be able to get his true form back, even if slightly altered.

So imagine his annoyance when one such moment was marred by his selfish distraction...

He wasn't entirely sure when he'd lost sight of Norman, or for how long he'd spaced out just staring at his reconstituted face on the nearest reflective surface, but the moment he noted just how dark it was Sammy knew he'd fucked up.

They'd been wandering for hours and he'd been so absentmindedly worrying over faded memories that he'd just let the Projectionist wander off to the nearest flower patch to marvel at all the pretty colors (prettier than old sepia and inky tones that had made their horrid existence oh so much duller). He'd gotten so stuck in his own head that he'd never noticed his charge moving off to explore further and further into uncharted territory.

They'd never gotten so close to the mountains, and now? Now Sammy was sure he'd never be able to find the Projectionist again. He'd failed Norman.

Something which he absolutely refused to let happen. If not out of pride, then out of shame. He'd rather die than return to the others without Polk in tow, knowing they'd add it to the list of things that made him a genuinely horrid person (aside from ritualistic murder and allowing Joey to manipulate him to the point of idolizing a false god). That wouldn't do.

Sammy wouldn't be able to live with the scorn. So he trekked further to where he assumed the hulking ink creature had gone.

Henry had told them stories. The ones about the people going missing. Freaky tales that had unseen horrors lurking amidst the trees and skulking in shadows. One such creature he seeked (for the Projectionist had become one of these fabled cryptids just by being an out of place being in the woods), but the others he'd heard of, although fabricated, were mysterious and spooky to him.

Having such shluck looping in the forefront of his mind like a bad film reel was troublesome. It made him hesitant the moment he heard anything that sounded out of place.

Steeling his nerves was hard. Despite being made of ink, his heart was very much still human, so he felt instinctively fearful of the unknown. Those silly stories were genuinely scaring him and he resented Henry for being such a good narrator.

With every step further into the mountainside he hoped to see the light of Norman's lens, and hear the clicking of the projector he had for a head.

He was not expecting to hear... What sounded like an emergency broadcast.

It was so sudden and confusing that it made the ex-music director pause in his tracks. An echoing call that spanned miles, like it was being projected from up high.

Looking around his surroundings he saw nothing out of place. Just rows upon rows of trees and a watch tower in the distance further up north.

Turning his head more slowly yielded the same results. Nothing that could broadcast that loudly in sight... Until he saw it...

At first glance it looked like an old siren. Rough and weathered, rusty looking from a distance. Very strange to be found this far away from civilization. But then he really took the time to stare at it. Noted just how off the towering thing was, and then realized... Those sirens hadn't any speakers. They had teeth.

As soon as his mind picked up on this very fact, he saw everything else. And then, before he could exclaim in terror, he was up in the air held in a massive far-too-human-looking hand, and being pulled closer to said teeth.

Sammy screamed as he felt the pain of being bitten into, upper torso pulled into this nightmarish thing's eager maw, only to then be unceremoniously spat out and tossed on the ground. The shock and pain made him deconstruct into a puddle and, to then aggravate the issue further, the beast stepped down on him as if insulted by the vile taste of ink.

Sammy didn't much care. He lost consciousness soon after.

When Sammy came to, the sun was rising. He was groggy from the pain and confusion of being violently assaulted by something straight out of a Lovecraftian novel, and the intense light washing over his eyes didn't help.

Wait... Light?

Blinking away inky tears, Sammy found Norman staring down at him with a posture that read clearly of concern. The poor thing had likely found Sammy's puddle form and been fretting ever since.

The composer thanked whatever god was out there that the monster that attacked him hadn't found the Projectionist. He wouldn't have had the sense to run.

"H-home. Let's go home..." He whimpered weakly, despite the creature before him being deaf and unable to read his lips properly considering he currently had none. The pitiful look of him must have clued the bigger ink being, however, as Norman scooped him up with ease and began the trek back. Sammy directed him, mostly through pointing when he seemed unsure, all the while keeping an eye for that... Siren-Head thing that thankfully found him too disgusting to consume.

The one perk of his abominable state...

Needless to say, they were never coming back to these parts. Not as long as he allowed it. Some things were better off left undisturbed.

Because, as it turned out, the studio wasn't the only place hiding the lurking horrors of the world...

#Eps Writes:#Bendy and the Ink Machine #BATIM #Sammy Lawrence #Norman Polk #The Projectionist #Siren Head

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blu-joons · 5 years

Text

The Boys Don’t Think You’re Right For Him ~ Min Yoongi

Every day was a battle when it came to assuring your boyfriend’s friends that you were the girl for him. You knew you weren’t the ideal girlfriend of an idol, you didn’t fit convention, you were your own person, but that was the main reason Yoongi had fallen for you.

“I still think you’re beautiful, that’s all that matters,” Yoongi whispered, running his hands through your hair, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “They’ll come around.”

You loved his enthusiasm, but you struggled to be the same. For months now you tiptoed around the studio, not wanting to come face to face with any of the boys or staff in fear of how they would treat and respect you.

Yoongi wasn’t prepared to give up as easily, however. Other people’s opinions simply never mattered to him, no one was going to tell him who he could or couldn’t date, his business was his business, and no one else’s.

“I just feel like we’re fighting a losing battle, everyone hates me and I know I’m not welcome here, maybe I should head home.”

He sighed, bringing his hands down your body, resting them on your hips. Your body was his favourite thing in the world, he loved coming home to cuddle it after long days.

“I’m not having you be made to feel this way, you’re my girlfriend, and if they aren’t happy, they can go somewhere else,” he said, pinning you down into your chair.

“Yoongi, you don’t understand how hard it is for me, your members don’t like me, and the band is way more important than me.

If he didn’t know better, it sounded like you wanted to break up with him, listing all the reasons why you struggled day to day in your relationship.

“You’re just as important to me, I don’t care what everyone else thinks, and you shouldn’t either. They will learn to love you, you’ve just got to trust me.”

“I’ve trusted you for months and nothing has changed. If I felt worthless before, they all certainly make me feel even worse about myself.”

“Stop,” he sighed, peppering kisses all over your face, “you’re flawless, you should be confident.”

You softly smiled, resting your head on his shoulder. “I wish I could be sometimes, but it’s just hard when there is so much negativity.”

“I understand jagi,” he whispered.

“It means a lot having you around though to try and make me feel better.”

He shuffled around so he sat in front of you, taking your hands in his. His eyes met yours, the soft shade that always comforted you whenever you were feeling down.

The two of you sat in the rehearsal studio, whilst the other boys took a break, Yoongi wanted to check in on you and make sure you were okay.

“Let me show you how much I love you,” he whispered, attaching his lips to yours. His hands came up, tangling in your hair, bringing you closer to him so you could wrap your arms around him.

“Yoongi, what if the boys come back?” You asked between kisses.

He sighed, glancing back at the door quickly before turning his attention back to you. “No one is around, don’t worry about them, they’ll get the message if they come back. Just kiss me, okay, we’re going to be fine.”

“Okay, I trust you,” you mumbled.

Whilst the two of you became lost in your embrace, the boys made their way back to the studio, peering in to see the two of you in a heavy make out session on the chairs. Jungkook went to open the door, but Namjoon stopped him.

“Look how happy he is, we can’t interrupt this,” he told them all. “I know that we’ve all been sceptical about Y/N but look at him right now.”

They all glanced in, easily seeing just by his body language how in love he was. “I think maybe we need to cut Y/N a bit of slack.”

“Maybe she’s not as bad as we first thought, anyone who makes Yoongi happy is good with me,” Hobi added.

They didn’t mean to, but they soon found themselves staring in. Seeing this side of Yoongi melted their hearts, they could see how confident he had become since meeting you and how happy he was with all of your love.

“Maybe we need to apologise and learn to be more accepting of her, if for anything else, Yoongi’s sake. He’s clearly serious about her, and although she may not be what we accepted, if she’s who Yoongi loves, we need to accept that,” Jimin spoke.

“I agree.”

“We all agreed,” Jin clarified for Taehyung, “we all need to realise that Yoongi’s happiness comes first, and if this is his happiness, who are we to stand in his way? All we ever really want is for all of us to be happy.”

Back in the studio, the two of you pulled away, catching your breaths, jumping as the studio door opened and six boys piled in.

“Is it safe to come in now?” Namjoon teased. Both of you fell back in embarrassment, red tints on both your cheeks. “Don’t worry, we don’t mind, it’s nice to see the two of you in love and happy with each other.”

“Really?” Yoongi asked, confused as to where the change of approach had come from. “You’re not going to come in and lecture the two of us again?”

They all shook their heads, one by one walking over to give you a massive hug, whispering reassuring words into your ears, letting you know how please they were that Yoongi had found the one to make him happy.

Yoongi glanced over at you, shrugging his shoulders as they each patted his shoulder, pushing him back towards you. The two of you stood in shock as they all looked at each other, Jungkook stepping forwards.

“We’ve not been fair, and we’re sorry. Y/N, you are beautiful, and we know how lucky Yoongi is to have found you,” Jungkook smiled.

“I’m glad you think so,” you replied. “Yoongi means a lot to me,” you added, taking his hand in his, “all I’ve ever wanted was for your support.”

“And from now on we will,” Taehyung assured you, “everyone is beautiful in their own way, and we can see that now, mainly by the big grin on his face.”

Yoongi smirked, brushing Tae’s hand away as it pointed out his smile. “I’m glad you’ve all come to realise how great a girl Y/N is.”

“I may not be what you were looking for on the outside, but on the inside, I’m a great person, filled with love and care.”

“Which is just one of the reasons I love her, and I hope you all can too.”

---

Masterlist

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iwillgetridofyourangerforyou · 4 years

Note

From same anon who have huge crush on Webigaza: aww you're welcome! 😚💕 Actually I had an ask about her but I forgot to send it to you yesterday 😅 What do think of Webigaza? I mean, about Webigaza as both cyborg and pop-idol who have to maintain her popularity, her ambition/obsession, and the huge burden her body had to endure as the result of higher body modification percentage (I thought someone pointed out Webigaza's body was "overheated" quickly after she striked an attack?). Thank you 💖

Hey anon~!

I’m so glad there are other people who like Webigaza so much! I was so afraid she was going to be a relatively difficult character for people to like. He has the young, reckless, popularity seeking, ‘fake’, pop-star vibes for sure. From the seemingly self-destructive behavior to a hyper-awareness of her fame, she definitely has a worrying resemblance to some other ‘icons’ in that category.

(Sarah Lynn from Bojack Horseman, and Miley Cyrus)

I’m tempted to be extremely pessimistic about her character, even though I do like her quite a bit. Unlike most character’s that I’m mostly ambivalent towards at first, Webigaza seems to have lodged herself into my heart somehow. I’ve been seeing that although ONE doesn’t ever give his characters a ‘get out of jail free card’ he almost always gives them a way -forward- and I didn’t know how hungry I was to feel hopeful about a character like this until she appeared.

One of the things about Webigaza that I’m most optimistically looking forward to is that she *wants* to be a hero and I think that’s very meaningful. She’s not satisfied with wealth and fame. At the moment it’s difficult to speak much about the specifics of her motivations but it seems that her drive is at least partially fueled from Envy and that particular emotion can actually reveal a lot about a person, who that person really wants to be (which weirdly often is something close to what they already are without realizing). I think that *she* thinks she wants to exceed Amai Mask, but why Him specifically? The top A-Class hero worked body and soul to be a ‘beautiful symbol of justice’.

In Amai’s words “A professional hero must always be a beautiful symbol of justice.” I think that’s an honorable thing to aspire to be and I get the impression Webigaza has taking this idea to heart.

It breaks my heart a little bit to imagine how Webigaza would react to meeting Amai Mask when all I want for them both is to learn from each other and grow together, like brother and sister perhaps? At the moment it looks like she can and would give ~anything~ to become a strong hero (doesn’t that remind us of someone?). She’s clearly very ambitious and she’s going SOMEWHERE Fast.

I think a lot of people disparage ambition itself as a character flaw but that’s never really sat well with me. I’m a bit of an ambitious person myself, and I think ambition is pretty sexy in a person. I think ambition should be moderated, controlled, like a fuel source. If an engine didn’t get some fuel it wouldn’t run but too much all at once can be explosive. It’s also important to moderate ambition because focusing too much on the RPMs and MPH can mean you’re not enjoying the experience of driving your tripped-out new sports car. Speaking of RPMs, I think you’re right, there were a couple of posts I also saw that discuss Webigaza overheating here is one of them: https://the-nysh.tumblr.com/post/619899864633032704/a-missed-line-update-to-chapter-126

Webigaza is inspirational to me because she’s going to be what she wants to be no matter what the cost. I don’t really understand people who invalidate the hard work and pain she put herself through, they’re not her, they can’t decide if it’s worth it for her or not. I just hope she finds the root of her envy so she can divert some of that massive amount of energy into actualizing herself more fully rather than attempting to be a carbon copy of Amai Mask. I think a lot of people think of cybernetics as a ‘short-cut’ to power, but I’ve never believed it was quite so simple. If it’s a short cut, it’s like some people are taking a winding path on a smooth slope up a mountain while others are treacherously free-hand climbing the mountain. The destination is the same perhaps but the path chosen is a deeply personal choice of the individual and what their capacities are.

The difficult truth of life, no matter what path you take, is that nothing is certain. Not every sacrifice may produce the desired results. Most choices are permanent or have permanent ramifications. And that’s something that every person has to face head-on if they want to live a life which is fulfilled, where the regrets we face are processed, the losses we experience are grieved, and the new opportunities provided us are embraced with child-like enthusiasm. If you want to climb that mountain, climb it. But you better-the-fuck understand what that mountain is made of (as much as possible), or you’re in for a rude wake-up call. If you find yourself on the wrong path it’s so important to re-adjust and forgive yourself, don’t beat yourself into the dirt, life will do that for you. Just do everything you can to rise above. Take care of yourself!

In short, I’ve adopted this precious child. I want to protect her. I absolutely support her passion and drive and I hope she’s doing. I will always have a soft spot for people who literally give so much of themselves for their dreams because sometimes that’s really what it takes. But I hope she’s doing for the right reasons. I worry for those around her who could want to take advantage of her inner fire. And I worry that she doesn’t value herself enough. She’s my cyborg sister for life. <3

#one punch man webcomic #webcomic spoilers #webcomic #one punch man #webigaza #cyborgs #anon #ask #asks

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shywitchiness · 5 years

Text

Connecting to witchcraft again ~✨🌹

This for the people who maybe don't feel as interested in witchcraft as they used to and what to get back into it. Maybe you’ve tried doing a deep dive into all things witchcraft and came out disappointed.

Firstly ✨🌹

Maybe you need to actually dedicate some time to your craft. ✨

In order to actually get good at something or get back into something, you need to actually practice it and if its important enough to you. It could be time to stop reblogging and scrolling through witchy posts and actually put some things to the test.

Maybe you're in a lull 🌹

Literally, a lull is a temporary interval of quiet or lack of activity.

Magically, though, it's a time where you can't do something because energetically you’re tired. This is completely normal! Everyone has these energetic collapses, and anything really can energetically stunt you. Stress, anxiety, your emotions in general, burning yourself out, etc. Maybe you’re out of practice and that caused you to have a lull.

For me, lulls are something I just completely pull myself out of. Instead, I typically implement small witchy things into my daily life.

Take care of your health ✨

Whether it be physical, mental, you need to take care of your health! This can have a massive effect on the flow of energy, how motivated you feel, how spells work for you, etc. It controls a lot.

Look into yourself rather than others 🌹

When looking for magical healing, we often look to others and what they are doing. we may forget that we are different people and we have different needs. I think that it's a good start to find help, but you shouldn't rely on someone else to tell you what to do.

Start at the beginning - go back to the basics ✨🌹

Meditation ✨

I think that most people would say that mediation is a good foundation for a practice. I would say that it really helps you be more present and calmer. It seriously will give your brain a break and its great. It's the only thing that I've found that does that for me. (and I'm literally the easily distracted person ever) You don’t even have to do it every day starting out, because it will be super hard getting into it. I listen to guided ones otherwise I get super distracted. I use Headspace and its great! They have a mediation for like everything! They have 10 meditations that are free, but if you want access to more then you would have to pay for a subscription. If you are a student though, you can get it for $9.99 for a whole year of Headspace okay so this sounded sponsored as heck but it wasn't lollll

Maybe look over the types of witches/basics of witchcraft again🌹

Starting over is never a bad thing, not to mention it can be a good way to find a new practice. Having a “beginners mindset” is always good. Keep in mind, that you will never be at a place where there is absolutely nothing new for you to learn! You could look back into sigils, everyday witchcraft, the elements, crystals, spell types, the energy points, casting a circle.

that being said Don't rely on outside sources like Tumblr to build your practice completely ✨

Yea sure Tumblr is a great resource for information and for me it is super useful, but it is your responsibility to take information and then somehow adapt it to you and your needs (but this is just my opinion, take this with a grain of salt)

Lastly ✨🌹

Once you finally have gotten more connected to your practice again, don’t spread yourself thin! ✨

What I mean by this is, if you do readings don't do too many because you're excited, or don't take on to many spells....don't overextend yourself.

Start small implement a morning or night ritual! 🌹

It can be either or both! if you need help coming up with one specifically for yourself, feel free to message me and we can think of something together.

Some Extra Things ✨🌹

These are things to spice up your practice, maybe if you just need something more to do.

Finding a new path of witchcraft to focus on!✨

It could be that you just aren't connected to the path you are on

Buy a witchy book 🌹

Books like The Green Witch by Arin Murphy, Basic Witches by Jaya Saxena and Jess Zimmerman, The Witch’s Book of Self-Care by Arin Murphy, Wicca By Harmony Nice.

Find a group of witches ✨

Online or otherwise! Tumblr is crawling with witches looking for a community maybe contact one of them to create one! even me tbh!

Possibly get a mentor(s) 🌹

Sometimes having someone who holds you accountable and checks into your progress can make you want to do good! It could be very good for productivity!

Incorporate what you love in your mundane life into your magical life! ✨

ex) tea, technology, books, music, journaling, video games ( one that I incorporate is animal crossing etc.

Sometimes its fun to have a witchy idol! 🌹

What I mean by this is a character from maybe a cartoon that was a witch or someone that has powers! I've heard of people using Hermione, Elaine from the Love Witch, Akko, Sucy, Lotte, and Diana from Little Witch Academia. Recently, I've been finding inspiration in the Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, the witches in it just seem too cool!

#witchcraft #witchy #witch #witches #green magic #green witch #Magic #magical #witchy tips #witch tips #magick #mine #op #spells

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thebiasrekkers · 4 years

Text

No Words - pt 2

Pairing: Taehyung x OC

Type: Series

Genre: Idol, Poly, Interracial, Tall Female, Smut, Angst, Fluff [if you squint]

Warning: Dirty.

Words: 2190

A/N - This is where you start praying to Namjesus. It goes downhill..or is it uphill? From here.

---

This was the most grueling assignment she could have received. She wouldn’t regret one single moment of it. How could she? A music lover who had drowned herself in every genre she could from a young age. It had been a dream to intern with the company responsible for BTS’ current tour.

It had been an even bigger shock when she was allowed to work alongside the production team. That one tour, turning into two tours that spanned the globe. She wound up living out of a suitcase, surviving on coffee, 4 hours of sleep a day, and more recipes to spread out cup ramen than she’d ever imagined.

She was still the odd girl on staff, unfortunately. She stuck out like a sore thumb where-ever they went. For one thing, she was taller than most of the females on the team. Let’s not get started on the males.

She tried to make herself as small as possible and failed miserably. The darker skin complexion, curly hair, and blue eyes gave her away. She was dependable, prompt, and thought outside the box. She learned to communicate thanks to the patient staff, lots of apps, and tenacity.

She didn’t like being obvious - but what could be done? It was always easy to find her. When she missed home, they’d find her in a kitchen in the wee hours of the morning reliving Southern and family comfort foods. Let’s just say there was an even trade of food culture.

But, like with any dream situation - there’s always something that threatens to ruin its perfection.

Sometimes it wasn’t a situation - sometimes it was a person. That person happened to be one Kim Taehyung.

30 days post kiss.

Everything was seemingly normal! They had avoided being caught by staff that night. There was a lot of alcohol consumed that night. These things happen, right? She kept telling herself that as the month zipped by. There were still moments that she could swear, his eyes lingered too long in her direction.

There was no awkward behavior between them. Everything was fine.

45 days post kiss.

Comeback season was in full swing. The schedules were tight and to the second. The boys were exhausted, and it showed. People kept energy bars, drinks, and towelettes on them at all times. Wipe sweat, coax a bite, a sip, offer the fan, and encouragement. It was hard to see them like this, practically wilting the moment they were out of the view of fans. The weather wasn’t making anything easy, either. It was sweltering and humid, and even she found herself with spare batteries to keep that small fan going. Her hair was pushed into a messy, frizzy, puff atop her head.

“Fuck this weather.” She growled softly. Tugging at the linen shirt, threatening to cling at the collarbone. She heard a beep through her headset, denoting the count time for end shots. The countdown echoed as they listened to the calls for a job well done. The Army wished them well with cries, cheers, and waves of the army-bombs.

80 days post kiss.

The boys kept smiles, waves, and proper idol etiquette on display until they disappeared beyond the staff doors. That door closed, and it was pandemonium. They were either bent over with hands-on knees, sliding down to the floor against walls, or leaning on a staff member. Everyone was sweating, there was no escape from it.

The fact that she wound up under Taehyung’s arm with another member didn’t matter. They were panting, hot, and suffering signs of dehydration. She could see their pulses throbbing in their necks.

“We need to cool them down.” The head PD came in with towels wrapped around ice-packs. There was a flurry of motion to get them out of layered outfits. Luckily, they had a desperately needed two-day break.

It took an hour to get them hydrated, calm, and mobile.

Everything went off without a hitch. Everything was seeming...normal.

Taehyung held a bottle of cold water against his neck. The world passed by in a hazy blur as they made their way back to the hotel. His head seemed to loll to the side. The city lights flickered in his gaze. The fabric of his sweats bunched in his hand, the only thing keeping him lucid.

His nostrils flared as he tilted his head to the side, her scent still there. He could again feel her skin against his from under her shirt. The trail of sweat along the column of her neck, he remembered it visibly. It gave her a glow, a sheen - a brilliance, even. They had been too busy for him to make any moves.

The shadows played along her skin, a peek of cleavage had him gulping the rest of his water down. He pulled the hoodie over his head and let the sound of the drive lull him to sleep. The fresh air in the van was enough to ease his frazzled nerves.

90 days post kiss.

The night blurred into a stumbling trip to his room. His clothes were haphazardly tossed to the floor as he pushed into the bathroom. He wanted the shower to rid himself of the day. He tried to lay naked on his bed and sleep. Taehyung ran his fingers through waterlogged strands of hair. The shower was hot enough to ease his muscles. His hands braced against the wall as the shower pelted his skin.

Massaged his skin? A groan slipped from his mouth at the sensation of fingers, kneading the knots from his shoulders. Fingers? Foreign hands. Small hands. “I don’t know who you are, bu-...” He whipped around, pressing against the shower wall. There wasn’t a chance to finish the sentence. Taehyung’s nostrils flared as his lips were captured.

His fingers slid against smooth skin, the taste of peaches, and the soft mouth that tangled with his own. The kiss broke as he pulled back, confused. “N-noona?” Her lips formed a heart as she smiled. Her arms slid around his neck as he dared to let his hands settled into the wet nakedness of her body.

Her head tilted up to him, “Kiss me again, Taehyung.”

When did the shower get hot? There was so much steam. He could scarcely make out his own hand in front of his face. It was better than the first time. Nothing was holding them back. She didn’t try to stop as his tongue pressed against hers. The scrape of his nails against the curve of her ass as he pulled her closer. She was so soft, responsive, as he pushed his hips into her.

Perfect.

Everything about her, to him, was perfect. He loved the way her skin felt beneath his teeth. The length of him pushed between her legs as he shuddered at the clench of her thighs around him. His fingers dug into her skin as tongue and teeth nibbled, licked, and marked her. The heat didn’t bother him at all. She clung to him as he pushed between the squeeze of her thighs. He was going insane with want. His hands slid over her ass, and he pulled her against him. The squelching noises as he slipped between the folds of her sex, not entering - Not yet. All he had to do was angle himself, just a little. She bit into his collarbone, and he knew there’d be a mark.

Taehyung didn’t care, not one bit. He spun her into the corner pinning her hips. She bit her lip as their eyes locked. He tilted his hips down, just so, causing the throbbing head of his cock to slip between those folds. Finally. Finally.

His tongue swept his lips as he held her firm. His whole body trembled with the effort to maintain control as he slipped upward.

…and inward.

“V.” A breathy, far away sound.

His brow furrowed as she repeated it. “V.”

There was a sudden flash of cold air that nipped at his ankles. “V!”

Taehyung sat up too quickly in the back of the van. The staff member had tried calling to wake him up. But, the side door opening and the violent shaking did the trick.

“G’damnit?!” He growled, snatching his arm away from the staff member.

“Sorry, V. I called you for ten straight minutes, and you didn’t move.” The guy looked crestfallen at his reaction. Tae ran his hands through his hair, thankful for dark clothing.

I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snapped like that. I’m just…I’m exhausted.” The PD nodded softly, moving to the side to let the taller man out.

“Just get upstairs and get some rest. We’ll send the usual up.” The PD clapped Tae on the shoulder with a sad smile and made his way inside. Taehyung’s dark eyes narrowed as he was left, momentarily, alone.

His hands were jammed deep into the front pocket of his hoodie. He was doing everything he could to keep that massive erection hidden. Everything was painful - the air, breathing, the clothing against his skin; all of it pissed him off. He held his cock in one hand, under cover of his hoodie, pulling his bag behind him with the other. He just needed to make it to his room.

Tae got his room key from the front desk and made his way to the elevator. He rolled in, slamming the keycard against the reader. The elevator dinged as the doors began to close. He groaned as his head slammed into the back elevator wall. He could feel his pulse in his hands as he squeezed himself.

“Hold on a sec!” A voice, far away, called out as the elevator began to squeeze shut. Taeyung turned around to face the corner, trying to school his face into something less malicious. The door popped open for a hot second and was allowed to close. “Thanks for -” A female voice began cheerfully before pausing. “…V, is that you?”

Taehyung’s nostrils flared at the sound of that voice. His eyes popped open to catch her reflection, full of trepidation, in the silver of the elevator interior. The look he shifted over his shoulder caused her to press into the corner of the already small space. She suddenly noticed the length of his fingers as they wrapped around the bar lining the wall. It had been three months since that kiss. She had been doing everything in her power to avoid being alone with him.

The subtle way, of course. She dipped in, making sure to say her piece and evacuate the area. Business as usual; everything normal.

And yet, it wasn’t.

She found herself staring at the resource monitors too long. There were times she could feel him staring her down from afar. It made her skin itch. The sound of beeping was so loud in the silence of that elevator.

“Yah, Noona.” He turned to face her leaning back against the cold metal wall. “You’re really here, aren’t you?” She furrowed her brow as he looked at her from the fringe of his bangs. “This isn’t a dream, right?”

“V …are you alright? You don’t look so good.” They had all been suffering from this late-season heat. The night time cool-down had been a welcome relief. She ignored the alarms ringing in her head as she moved forward to place a hand on his forehead. “Jesus, you’re still burning up.”

Her hand was soft, cold, and real. Tae could smell the heat of her again. That scent of sweet something floral, and the slight musk of sweat. He turned his face into her palm with a heavy exhale against her wrist. She sucked in a breath pulling her hand away.

Well, she tried pulling her hand away from the iron grip of his fingers. “I have to make sure this is real. If this is another dream…” Tae offered a bitter laugh as he pulled her against him. “V you nee-” She spoke on a rushed breath before he interrupted her.

“That’s not my name.” He tugged her into the corner, spinning and pinning her hands above her head. They were eye to eye; nose to nose. It was just like in his dream. That one kiss gave him the blueprint to her proportions, and she was perfectly snug against that wall. Her eyes went wide at his obviously aroused state.

“V- T-Taehyung. You need to rest. You’re overheating.” A thick swallow as she corrected herself. The grip on her wrist eased at the use of his name. They were both breathing heavily as the elevator continued to beep along steady to the topmost floor.

“I know what I need.” He was leaning in again. There was nowhere to run this time. There was nothing but time and fifteen more floors before they reached the top. Taehyung tilted his head as he leaned in. “…I need this,” spoken against her lips as her chest bumped into his. Her lashes lowered as her gaze went to his mouth.

A moan broke the sudden silence, causing him to momentarily pause.

She didn’t mean to, it slipped out. It was the contact of their bodies as he crushed her against the wall. Tae smirked against her mouth, “And you need it too.”

14 floors left to the top…

#bangtanarmynet #love in an elevator #bts smut #v smut #taehyung smut #bts imagines #v imagines #hoo boy #get your holy water ready #bias rekkers wild weekend #biasrekkers #bias rekkers

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cavesalamander · 3 years

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My brief thoughts on this season of anime!

Just a quick review of the ones I’d recommend and/or keep watching. I managed to find all of the below on Funimation or Crunchyroll or Youtube!

Horymia: (Yes) This is looking to be a very funny romcom slice of life style anime, and seems to be a fairly good one! Had me laughing a lot. The Main couple are a nerdy quiet boy who’s actually dumb as a sack of bricks using his disheveled appearance to hide his tattoos and piercings, and a popular pretty girl who’s actually a total homebody. Their friends seem to have a lot of potential to be fleshed out as the series progresses and I look forward to seeing how it goes!

So I’m a Spider, So What?: (Yes) Whooo another isekai (excited)! This time a girl and her entire class!? Get isekai’d in a massive explosion. The main character reincarnates as a trash monster in a dungeon and must fight her way up the food chain just to survive. Meanwhile her friends who have mostly reincarnated as Cool Humans or the occasional elf or baby dragon, have mostly found each other, and want to figure out what happened/why and if they’re all okay. It’s genuinely pretty funny, though leans a little too hard sometimes on the gamey aspects of this new world. I think it may get darker as it goes along too.

Mushoku Tensei: (No) Whooo another isekai (derogatory). 34 yo old man gets reincarnated and uses his worldly experience to Learn Magic Fast and creep on his mom and prepubescent tutor. If you can stomach that stuff, it actually has a fair amount of potential? It did set itself up to touch on some interesting stuff down the road, but I’m kind of Over the horny toddler/young boy trope and it kinda just seems like the protagonist is Just Awesome At Everything but not in a remotely charming way.

Cells at Work Code Black: (Yes) If you liked Cells at Work, this is that but dingier, and is able to tackle some darker themes - like what stress, smoking, drinking, and probably eventually STDs can do to your body.

Kemono Jihen: (Yes) I don’t wanna explain TOO much about the plot of this one because it looks to be a mystery series, and the first episode sets it up the characters very very well. A man from the city is called to a rural town where animals are being mysteriously killed and found rotting. He’s tasked with finding and killing the perpetrator, assumed to be a monster of some kind. It does the horror very well, and even in the first episode manages some twistyness.

The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter: (No) Even for a blatant fan service anime this one is just......... stupid. It might have a scrap of joy to it if the protagonist were anything other than a boring sycophant. His harem just all seems to be random girls who’s singular personality traits are to be in love with him in various stereotypical ways, that he just uses to min max his Cool Stats. But like, it’s not even self aware enough to make that into an interesting premise.

Sk8: (Yes) It’s a racing anime that seems super stylish and fun and very well animated. The protagonists have some cool chemistry already, and it really leans into the Underground Illegal Racing part of the fun - all the various characters who battle in death defying races through this abandoned mine, all have seemingly ordinary day jobs. Definitely worth a shot if that sounds up your alley.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies moved to a starter town?: (Probably) Okay so the premise is just there in the title and is actually pretty fun. Think: a random NPC who is considered pretty weak where the monsters are lv 50 moving somewhere where the monsters are scary at lv 5, shenanigans ensue. The MC boy is hilariously oblivious to the fact that anyone with a shred of sense can see he’s insanely over leveled to the area, and just trying to be nice and polite to everyone ^u^. The tentative nature of my recommendation is that it is kind of leaning harder on the Girls are Obsessed With Him train than is ideal. How much it depends on that as opposed to utilizing the premise to its fullest extent will have an enormous bearing on how fun the show is to watch going forward.

Ex-Arm: (Absolutely not but yes) It’s a fucking train wreck.

Heavens Design Team: (Yes) God decided to outsource creating animals to a team of angels, and works as a client giving weird ass requests for the angels to fill. Hilarity ensues, and it is peak edutainment to boot. It’s so much fun learning weird shit about animals, or trying to guess the animal these seemingly random train of failed attempts leads to.

Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist-: (No) It has a promising premise and some good moments. The main characters are solving these weird “diseases” that people get by finding the actual emotional cause and using magic of some kind to monkey paw it into a resolution. This could be really fun and interesting, but something about the execution just... falls flat? Like maybe it picks up as the season goes on but for now it’s not rly worth it.

Vlad Love: (Yes) I was going through the list of anime this season and was like wtf is this and literally just now watched episode 1. It’s about a girl with a blood donation kink and her vampire girlfriend. Literally. It’s rly funny and over the top ridiculous but like, gay vampires.

Back Arrow: (No) It’s like... fine. It’s about these two warring kingdoms surrounded by a wall with a mountain range between. They worship the wall as god, and occasionally get gifts from beyond it, in the form of mech suits they use to fight each other in. One day a boy shows up from beyond the wall in one of those suits and no memories of anything and he wants to get back. Which... could be promising I guess? But something about the show just didn’t grab my attention.

Skate-Leading Stars: (No) It’s like Yuri on ice if it was less gay and less well written I guess...? The first episode set up the Drama competently enough, but I just... couldn’t give a shit.

Project Scard: (No) For some reason part of Tokyo has been turned into a post apocalyptic hellscape where people just murder each other. They also have super powered tattoos and use them to fight each other. Animation is very similar to Handshakers - which is an Aesthetic that may not appeal to some. The first episode didn’t rly do much for me but I could see it going somewhere if it tries.

Wave!!: (No) Might have been a tentative yes if I hadn’t gone on and watched the second episode. First ep went hard with the queerbaiting cause they want to be the new Free! but with surfing, but Ep 2 just forgot all about that entirely. Dialogue is mostly boring and there’s like 3 sets, which becomes painfully obvious very quickly by ep 2.

Idoly Pride: (No) Literally looks like they ripped off the waifus of a bunch of other more popular anime and made an idol anime with the most basic ass idol plot. Nothing exceptional here.

Gekidol: (undecided) It’s an idol anime... set after a mysterious apocalyptic event? It’s mostly so far seemed intriguing as hell but not my jam. Mysterious craters destroyed parts of Japan, and its rebuilding and the MCs wanna bring light to the world. Maybe aliens exist? Idk! I’m intrigued.

I*Chu: (No) Another idol anime but this time it’s cute boys! Idk maybe this is a decent idol anime but it rly didn’t grab me and idol stuff isn’t usually my jam. I couldn’t tell anything exceptionally unique about this one from just the first episode.

WIXOSS Diva: (No, but) I don’t normally watch spin-offs of series but I didn’t realize until halfway into this that it was one cause Crunchyroll didn’t attach it to the core line. It’s like... magical girl battle idols in VR! Which honestly if you’re a fan of that it might actually be worth checking out.(edited)

Idolls!: (No) Another idol anime! But this one uses mocap 3d models. Phoned in plot line delivered by a weird tiki statue that tells the girls what to do. Seems extraordinarily low budget, and more just a way to sell music. The whole episode happened in a single set and was basically just... girls want to make it big as idols... oh no... gotta book a stage! Yay they got one! Now must get an audience! Like... ok

Hortensia Saga: (No but) Sword and sorcery fantasy setting that’s mostly sword, main character is a princess masquerading as a male knight alongside the son of her dead parents’s also dead bodyguard. The first episode is very lore heavy and felt kinda like the prologue to a video game. So it ended up feeling a little expository and trope laden, but it has potential. Seems a bit Game of Thronesy? Wasn’t like... bad or anything, so if it’s your thing you might enjoy it.

Otherside Picnic: (Yes) I think it’s gay first of all, two girls going exploring / treasure hunting / monster hunting in a bizarre mirror world to their own. Girls are cute, it’s very interesting premise and writing seems solid.

Wonder Egg Priority: (Yes) It deals with some HEAVY themes? But it’s... a bit of a psychological horror but in a way that feels very like it’s dealing with some of the real life issues. The main character girl comes across as neurodivergent, and it’s just... idk man the first episode was good and left me wanting more.

#Winter 2021 anime #Its of course flavored by my personal preferences but idc

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