#or the beginning of your befriending arc
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There is a level of deep, bitterly poetic and cruel irony in Astarion's death and his eventual fate as a vampire spawn. Laughable, even. Lamentable.
Where do I even begin. I once posted here my thoughts on who Astarion was before Cazador took him; and all my thoughts were based on what we can assume to be canon from scraps on information in - game and interviews with Neil. That Astarion Ancunin who was laid into the ground at Baldur's Gate cementary was a corrupt magistrate, a shining example of power abuse, indulgence, hedony, existence in privilege without any service to the world around.
We also know for a fact that Astarion is not a good person in a moral sense. Again, Neil Newbon himself talked about it. He has capability to grow, mature, open himself up, soak in the positive influence and feel for others, but he never will be the default upstanding type. That is simply not at his core.
This is why (I am aware we're talking a fictional character, headcanon is free to all in whichever way they think it suits and pleases them) I cannot for the world believe in all the fanfiction based on the notion of the tragic, tortured soul unjustly attacked and turned into a vampire, because to me - it misses the entire depth and essence of Astarion's personality and arc. He was not a "worthy" persona before Cazador; in fact, the beating he got from the Gur was well - deserved and the near - death experience... Probably so as well. Maybe if anything, this would open his eyes and force him to reflect at least a bit on his choices in the position he was occupying. (But given that he mentions begging Cazador to turn him to be able to take revenge, I highly doubt that.) So yeah... The man got what was coming to him. He deserved it.
But what he got in the end once Cazador allowed him to drink his blood and had him in his hold? Two hundred years of misery and abuse beyond description, being completely stripped of any identity and personhood? No one deserves that. Such fate should not be thrust upon anyone. Ever.
It is the cruellest, most wicked twist of fate that it took that kind of ordeal to change a corrupt little elf's view of the world and force him to even acknowledge the existence of evil deeds and abuse of power - something I am quite sure he never gave any thought to before. It took being transformed into an utterly helpless victim to make him truly see that there is good and bad and perpetuating the bad leads to pain and misery for the innocents (and you can never be sure if not for you as well), and only then, at his most pathetic, most vulnerable, after centuries of torment, it took meeting, trusting, admiring, being grateful to, befriending / loving and being influenced by a genuinely good and kind person (probably the exact opposite of who he was before) to shake and cause some shift in his inner moral compass, or rather the way he was choosing to use it. The full circle, a poignant, unwilling journey from the one abusing power, to the enslaved puppet of someone with considerably more power abusing it in the most inhuman ways possible, and this time to his own woe, to the one person able to break the abusive cycle given the right influence.
Isn't that simply poetic in the most sickly sense? A tragicomedy, if you will.
Forget about Astarion Ancunin. The grave was good for lovemaking and sharing an important moment, but whoever was laid there was not anyone worthy of your time (just like "Ascended Astarion" )The one who stands by your side now is. Your Astarion. The new Astarion, the same "lovable rogue" with a taste for theatrics, drama, debauchery, beauty, murder mayhem and loose morality, but - a better person all the same.
[follow up post here
https://www.tumblr.com/glitteryinknotes/733162725841289216/a-little-follow-up-to-my-previous-post?source=share]
#astarion#baldur's gate astarion#baldur's gate 3#baldur's gate 3 astarion#baldurs gate astarion#bg3 astarion#astarion bg3#bg3#baldurs gate 3#astarion analysis#astarion ancunin
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Who are these fun characters and why are they taking over my dash? /pos /please tell me abt your blorbos
i'm assuming you mean these little guys:
These guys are my newest silliest dudes from the webcomic School Bus Graveyard! It's free to read on webtoons here and is currently in talks to get a TV adaptation soon so now is 1000% the time to be getting into it!! It's basically a supernatural mystery about six high school freshmen from Georgia who go on a field trip and end up sucked into a demon dimension every time it hits midnight! It's super cool - the pacing is very good imo, a good balance of the Main Plot (oh no we need to survive the Demon Dimension again, also Why Are We In A Demon Dimension) with character development and backstory stuff!
The characters are badass but in a way I feel is very realistic? Like, not just "oh i'm the protagonist suddenly i know how to judo flip armies the moment i'm in danger" but more like "i'm going to train for months in self defense classes to build up some basic muscles" kinda way. The characters themselves are also pretty well fleshed out - they're not just the typical archetypes. Like, the "weak bullied nerd kid" isn't JUST a weak bullied nerd kid, he has well developed motivations and backstory and simultaneously realistic and satisfying character growth.
There are implied potential/future romances but it is so NOT the core point of the story, so whether or not that's your thing you can either ignore it or get excited about it in equal measure. The characters also aren't just edgy and gritty "we must deal with this alone... augh misery woe is us..." they actively do what they can to use all the resources available to them (including trying to get help from their parents, which is an ick for me in other media when the kid protagonists just refuse to ask for help? or assume they can't without trying? anyway).
I would say to be careful about any warnings at the beginning of specific chapters, because some can get quite violent.
The six main characters, without giving to many spoilers, are as follows under the cut (cuz this got long):
The protagonist Ashlyn, an asocial ballerina with her loving ex-military parents, who has a condition that gives her incredibly sensitive/enhanced hearing (she ends up using this to help detect the monsters after them, since they're otherwise silent to the other protagonists!)
Aiden, a creepily-smiley ex-homeschooled rich kid who has no concept of social convention or personal space. Has forcibly chosen Ashlyn to be his friend during his first year in school against her will and ends up accidentally setting off the chain of events leading to the Plot. (I love him. He definitely has Every Mental Illness <3)
Ben, Aiden's incredibly physically intimidating cousin, who is mute and so, so sweet and gentle and follows Aiden like his shadow, in part to take care of him when Aiden's antics get him injured and in part because Ben's muteness makes it incredibly difficult for people to understand him. Aiden, however, can understand his nonverbal communications with ease
Taylor, a friendly girl's girl who tries (often in vain) to befriend Ashlyn. Is also a talented mechanic who ends up putting googly eyes on her weapon once they end up in the Demon Dimension. She's the most Emotionally Aware Person Here but also she's like, 15, so, the bar is on the floor
Tyler, Taylor's twin brother, a somewhat aggressive and rude baseball jock who mostly Minds His Own Damn Business aside from his clinginess to Taylor. In fact they wear matching outfits in almost every episode of the comic it's so funny and cute. Is often found fighting bullies to defend their victims so i forgive him for all his own asshole crimes he's just a dude. he's one of my little guys
Logan, who is canonically compared to a puppy. Shy, intelligent, and incredibly empathetic! My partner's favorite character who has one of the best character arcs so far imo. Likes photography, astrology, and gardening. I think they should give him more guns, as a treat. He can never have enough
anyways thank you for the ask! overall i highly recommend - it's still ongoing, we're currently in the middle of season two!! the mystery is unfolding, there's funny and sweet moments along with the intense ones, and i am INVESTED. :DDDDDD
#school bus graveyard#ashlyn banner#aiden clark#ben clark#taylor hernandez#tyler hernandez#logan fields
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but like. can you imagine being deku and being so besotted with your childhood best friend who hates you, genuinely hates you, for something entirely out of your control. and they've built so many walls between you and you can never fully understand what you did to make them hate you that way, especially since you used to be so close and you don't know how to make it better
AND THEN getting into UA and seeing other people try to befriend this person and do what you tried to do and succeed, like... almost effortlessly. and you start to think 'well maybe my childhood best friend isn't difficult to befriend or all that reluctant to let people in. maybe it was just me.' and, as painful as it is, you try to learn how to accept that the person who had such a profound impact on you doesn't even care that you exist.
AND THEN you literally fight out your feelings with this person and you finally begin to feel like you're on the same ground, like you're finally beginning to understand each other. it'll never be what you dreamed of, but it's close enough. you'll take what you can get.
AND THEN! like two movies, many episodes, a couple literal and metaphorical awakenings and one batman arc later, you find out that NOT ONLY did this person actually care so much all along, they were actually just as obsessed with you as you were with them and that in their eyes, it was YOU who shaped who they were and who they are and had such a profound impact on their life. YOU were their image of victory. that every time you weren't looking, they were looking back. FINALLY, the two of you can finally be what you were meant to be together.
and then they go and fucking die.
#(and then he gets resurrected and spends the next couple panels sharing Yearning™️looks w/ deku#while the villain they are literally actively fighting is having the worst homophobic dog moment of his life)#like man bkdk be normal about each other challenge (impossible)#mha spoilers#mha#bnha#bakudeku#bkdk#midoriya izuku#bakugou katsuki#mha deku#mha bakugou
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okayy, this one is a bit long so bear with me please!
imagine, in a au world where the league of villains get a redemption arc and so they get to go to u.a.; them with a gentle and kindhearted reader who is willing to befriend them while everyone else is still a little wary. im thinking, kind and empathic like tanjiro and is able to make them feel as if they really have a chance at changing.
you dont have to write all of the LOV, it can just be shigaraki, dabi, and toga! i dont want you to have to write too much.
Toga’s scenario sounds exactly like the beginning of Wednesday
Tomura Shigaraki
People were definitely hesitant to give this man a second chance. He was doing his best but no one believed in him. He got a job at U.A. where he could teach the students about how destructive quirks can be and how to limit the amount of damage done to any party. This was arranged so that he could be on close watch.
There was one teacher he had taken a particular interest in. They were an up and coming Hero, as well as Aizawa’s assistant. They always greeted him with a smile and a wave, and they were also the one who showed him around U.A.
You were his first friend, proof that he turned over a new leaf and left behind a life of crime. You always made him a bento for lunch (he loves your cooking) and always tried to have at least 3 conversations with him.
After a while, he asked why you were so kind to someone like him. He wasn’t wary or anything, he was just curious. You smiled and said ‘to me, being a hero means giving people a second chance. Society turned its back on you first, so you had every right to be angry. I’m just sorry I couldn’t help you sooner.’ This made him blush a little.
Eventually, after being work friends (and just friends in general), Tomura got the courage to ask you out. He was about to go in and hug you when you said yes, but he looked at his hands in disdain. You pulled his gloves off the table and handed them to him, and once he put them on you wrapped your arms around him. You pulled back a little to place a kiss on his cheek and he stiffened but then relaxed and wrapped his arms around you as well.
Dabi
People were wary of him not just because of his actions but also because of his appearance. The scars he got from his quirk obviously showed and he had staples and stitches. When he got a job at UA, he had to teach the older students about how destructive quirks can be and how not to inflict too much damage to yourself while still pushing yourself past your comfort zone.
You were assigned as his teacher’s assistant, and that caused you both to become close over time. You were the only one who actively tried to befriend him. Before class, as you both set everything up for the day ahead, you would always shake his hand and give him a warm smile before making your way to your corner desk.
He was grateful for you. You made his life that much easier, and he appreciated it a lot. You would spend your lunch breaks at his desk while discussing everything that came to mind. He’s even told you about a few of his villainous journeys.
One day, during one of these lunch breaks, he asked why you were so kind and genuine. You smiled and told him, ‘Well, it would be kind of weird to teach the next generation of heroes without reflecting the virtues a hero should have. Plus I figured that there was more to you than what most see.’
Eventually, after class on a Friday afternoon, he called out your name before you left. You turned and gave him your full attention, and that’s when he asked you out for a date at 7. You suddenly felt shy before nodding. Dabi walked you out before he pressed a kiss to your forehead and headed back to his apartment.
Himiko Toga
Since she was young enough, she was transferred mid-semester as a second-year student. After all, she had gotten nearly perfect scores on the written Entrance Exam and showed great Battle IQ in the practical Entrance Exam.
You were one of her classmates, and your teacher gave you the task of showing her around and bringing her to her dorm. Instead of looking at her in disgust as most of the other students did, you had a friendly grin and shook her hand.
You both instantly became friends. You would have study sessions that ended in laughter because you both were doing impressions of your classmates. You became assignment partners, lunch buddies, basically each other’s ride-or-die.
One day, during one of your study sessions, the conversation got serious for a second. She asked you why you were so nice to her even after learning about her actions and you held her hand in your own. You told her, ‘A hero is supposed to give everyone a second chance. That also means former villains.’
Eventually, once you were packing up after class and getting ready to head to your dorm, Toga pulled you aside and asked you out. Once you said yes, she almost tackled you to the ground in a hug while peppering kisses all over your face.
#bnha#bnha x reader#mha#mha x reader#my hero academia x reader#my hero academia#boku no hero academia x reader#boku no hero academia#tomura shigaraki#tomura shigaraki x reader#shigaraki#shigaraki x reader#tenko shimura#tenko shimura x reader#dabi#dabi x reader#toya todoroki#touya todoroki#touya todoroki x reader#himiko toga#himiko toga x reader#toga#toga x reader
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Since I rarely saw (y/n) being an executive alongside Hanma and Kisaki, here I go with platonic Hanma, (y/n), Kisaki trio. Those two spoil you when you are very much capable of buying your own things, probably teased you for being single when those two ARE THE REASON WHY YOU'RE SINGLE, won't date you but won't allow anyone to touch you either. You're probably hated by the girls Hanma and Kisaki surrounded themselves with tho.
IM FEELING SOME HCs SO HAVE SOME ANON - these takes place in the future between the Bloody Halloween arc and the Black Dragon arc
Masterlist
Toman Executive Reader + Yan BFF Hanma & Kisaki HCs
Yandere Platonic Hanma & Kisaki
how you managed to befriend these two delinquents of all people is a different matter, but needless to say once they were fixed on you, they don't ever leave again
if you already had another job, too bad, you don't anymore - Hanma and Kisaki would have pulled out all stops to get you out from there, even if it meant burning the entire company down
these two (mostly Kisaki) definitely only agreed to you being a Toman executive alongside them because it would be so much easier to keep an eye on you
none of the other Toman executives understand why you are even an executive to begin with, as you’ve never been a formal part of Toman before - you only pulled in much later on once Kisaki became Mikey's right hand man
and neither were you able to stomach the mere mention of murder, let alone any of the more more awful and gritty crimes that Toman gets up to
you're barely even present at the regular earning meetings, since your job is a very surface level job, in charge of running of their smaller shell companies, and you don't exactly bring in the big bucks for the gang
but of course no one is going to question Kisaki about it, especially not if Mikey has already agreed to it
you're still given a hefty salary despite contributing almost nothing though, courtesy of your two friends
but that doesn't matter, since they would buy everything for you
house? nope, you stay with them in their Toman penthouse for "safety reasons", and no one seems to be be willing to rent or sell to you for some reason
clothes and bags? oh whaddya know, they mistakenly bought the wrong size/fit/style/gendered clothes again and its perfectly in your size and suits you - you don't want to these extremely expensive items to go to waste do you?
food? why do you want to go out and eat when they have their own personal, vetted team of chefs who can whip anything you can think of up?
you're spoiled and pampered whether you want to be or not, because Kisaki and Hanma are incapable of seeing you as anything but that small fragile friend that they made all those years ago
and you would always be that small friend to them who couldn't even take a fall without crying, let alone throw a punch to save your life
you weren't built for this world, certainly not their dark, messed-up world, and therefore it's up to them to shelter and protect you
you brighten their bloody lives, so its no wonder that these two love to spend every minute they can with you
anything that the two don't like, such as clothes that were too skimpy for their taste or that they didn't look good on you, gifts given to you by people they didn't approve of, would evaporate the moment you turn away
and you can't get a straight answer out of them what happened - they wouldn't lie to you, but that didn't mean they wouldn't run circles around your head with what they did with your stuff
no way would you be ever able to beat either men in their game of words
if not one or both of them being at your side constantly, they have an excuse to have a full team of their most trusted security forces accompany you absolutely everywhere
cameras and microphones absolutely everywhere in your home, at your office, in your car, hidden trackers on you and your stuff
these boys can't function without knowing everything about you and what you were doing - they just simply have to know that you were still alive, you were okay, and you weren't doing anything they wouldn't approve of behind their backs
like meeting strangers, getting into trouble with other gangs, or worst of all, finding a partner
even during meetings they have updates on your whereabouts and actions constantly pinging their phone
starts getting visibly fidgety when the updates go quiet for five minutes, to the point one or both of them would stand up and leave the room to call and get a hold of you
despite being part of the literal yakuza, you still have a set of rules that you have to follow, laid down by your two friends, which included not allowing you to get your hands dirty with actual yakuza work (the irony)
good cop, bad cop kind of system I would image, though the boundaries between good and bad are kinda blurred when it comes to Hanma and Kisaki
Hanma is more often than not the good cop; a lot more relaxed when it comes to you and your rules - more than happy to turn a blind eye to anything less than serious if it met you would come running to him to hide from Kisaki
would also be the one to spoil you rotten, taking you out for shopping and partying (at private Toman clubs with selected people only of course)
whereas Kisaki would be more the bad cop more often than not, being the one that has to remind you and hold you to their rules, and dish out the punishments whenever you break them
be it smacking you on your hands to the more severe locking you in a room for a week with no contact
but Kisaki does have his soft moments and Hanma does have his tougher moments - each of them have their boundaries when it comes to you and your antiques
they don't want to have to break bones or cut flesh to get you to listen to them, but push them to far and you probably wouldn't like what they become when their need to protect you and their jealousy get out of hand
no dating is an unspoken rule for you laid down by Kisaki, especially so among the other executives, though not that you know about it
doesn't matter if its a boy, girl, or anything in between, the only people in your life should just be Hanma and Kisaki
but you're still a sight for sore eyes when you do get invited to their manager meetings, with the rest of the executives being able to breathe a bit easier and relax even in the presence of Kisaki
they know that your presence means that none of the two would be pulling any funny business
neither like to have to beat the living shit or execute someone in front of you, so that is usually kept behind close doors
they keep an eye on the few executives who they think might be more of an issue to handle if they get to you, or they think you're one charming smile away from falling for
you have tried making small talk with a few of them, only for the reaction you get being for them to simply look away and pretend you haven't said anything, to whoever it is scrambling to get away from you
friendly, smiling face at you; dirty, warning side eye when facing away at everyone else
neither Hanma nor Kisaki would touch you either - no no, they can never see you in that kind of light
and neither did you see them as potential romantic partners
so single you remain, even if its against your will - none of your dates ever seem to go right, if they even turn up
Hanma lives for excitement, so drugs and girls seem to be up his alley whenever he ventures out into the night, whereas Kisaki doesn't seem to be the sort to go out of his way to get girls, but no doubt with his position of power there will be those who want to be seen with him and maybe even catch his eyes
so no doubt you would always be crowded around by jealous girls who can't believe that of all people you're the one that seems to always have Kisaki's and Hanma's attention
they won't tolerate any sort of actual malice or slander tossed your way though, and especially not any sort of advance on you though Toman should know better
a general increase in crime can be noted on those nights that they allow you out
p.s. if you read this, thanks for reading to the end! do consider coming to join us on Discord! i'm always there and I love TR
#tokyo revengers#tokyo revengers x reader#yandere tokyo revengers#yandere tokyo revengers x reader#kisaki x reader#kisaki tetta#hanma x reader#hanma shuji#tokyorev x reader#tokyo rev#tokyorev#tokyo rev x reader#tokyo rev x you#kisaki tetta x reader#hanma shuuji x reader#hajime kokonoi#inui seishu#shiba hakkai#sano manjiro#tokyo revengers mikey#cheesus answers
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a travesty ive barely posted meta for artagan here when anyone who knows me knows ive written universes about him. so, a bit to ponder on:
something interesting about artagan - and by extension many fae in cr in general - is how thoroughly he's defined by selfishness as the core value of a fae, when we are shown time & again even before artagan gets his redemption arc that that isnt true.
now, arti is selfish. hes the definition of lust, & sloth, & sheer debauchery. he'd rather sit back than help even his favorite little tiefling (at first - more on that later). he would rather abandon his followers to an island that would destroy their memory than attempt to lead them.
but.
he planned for his followers to land on rumblecusp because to him, a fae, losing memories was completely Insignificant - and he literally did some of their paperwork to help them along, and did the work to ensure travelercon left them with each other. he was benevolent enough to vm their first meeting, showing incredible patience despite their disregard for him. he saved vex from drowning. he chose to befriend jester after seeing her be hurt by lord sharpe's son. he comforted jester when he could, when he never needed to. this is all before The Travelercon Kick, before he agreed to help the m9 into the feywild & shift time for them for no price, before he helped jester battle trent/omentis and made sure his spells did not hurt innocent bystanders.
this isnt some garuntee that he, pre-jester, was any saint. but what sticks out to me is how much the trait of selfishness is vastly applied to him. not only does sehanine's angel refer to him as a selfish creature twice, but he refers to himself that way the episode before. it is as if he has endless history with being called that, as if he is the most vile creature by virtue of being an archfey, and he made peace with that, leaned into that until jester walked into his life.
which always leads, in my head, to thinking about the fae of this show in general. they are so vastly blanketed as dangerous. and some are. but the more you analyze it the more you see how it's less integral to their being, and more what they accept they are. if youre seen as a monster, and whimsy is inherent to you, you will play the role to see what happens (i see this in characters like ira immensely). we see the younger generation of fae raised away from these generalizations - fearne & morrighan - break the stereotype near entirely. sure, fearne picks pockets and loves her friends lowkey possessively - but weve seen time & again how thats playful, and gives way to so much selflessness she's falling apart at the seams, only just now telling the party her fears. and morrighan shows no possessiveness at all, being shy & near subservient as a waitress. they are living proof that a fae's worst traits are a matter of nurture.
watching artagan is watching some of his peak fae-court upbringing begin to break down by exposure to a different world. i always recall how both he & ira hiss at the feywild for its contradictions, its rules when it's a land built for free wills - which implies the fae are not let to be themselves, but have their culture shaped by courts so strict they wont even let fae leave to exandria. the worst ideas about them begin to shatter the more cr tells us how fae society has fallen into something like an oil slick into an ocean - literal imagery used by athion & yu. the fae's free existence has been polluted.
artagan was our first example of all of that. and how it's possible to become better.
#artagan#critical role#critical role meta#long post#fae#fearne calloway#morrighan ferus#yu suffiad#ira wendagoth#athion zathuda#campaign 2#campaign 1#campaign 3#exandria unlimited#exandria unlimited: kymal#van speaks
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The Owl House's First Reveals
The Owl House is a master class in archetypal storytelling. I have a whole post entirely dedicated to how it corresponds with one of the most iconic secret world magic school stories of the current era. But the key to good archetypal storytelling is that it engages with the archetypes and stereotypes.
By this, I mean that the characters fit specific tropes. The mentour, the bully, etc. But this is entirely superficial. To every character in this series, there is more going on under the surface that adds nuance to the characters.
The Owl House is lauded for its reveals. The unmasking's of Bump, Hunter, and Bellos are iconic, but every character in the show wears a metaphorical mask, that being the archetype they embody. When these are removed, or chipped away at, things get interesting. And nowhere is this more obvious than in Lost In Language
Let me explain.
SPOILERS AHEAD
Let's start with the obvious. Amity. This is the episode where we learn about Amity's whole deal and where Luz makes some majour steps towards befriending her.
I don't think enough credit is paid to the voice acting here. Because Mae Whitman (@whitmanmae), who voices Amity, is doing something with affectation.
When Amity is introduced, and in most of her early scenes, there is an air of superiority in her voice, it sounds like there is a permanent sneer. This only falter when she gets angry or stressed. It's something Amity is putting on intentionally, it's a character choice.
So, what happens when Amity stops with the persona and starts being open and honest? Then Whitman drops the affectation and assumes a different speech pattern. The voice acting changes to match the change in character.
I bring this up here because the scene above, with Amity reading to the children, is the first time we see Amity's relaxed voice. This is the voice that will go on to be the most iconic and synonymous with the character. This is the mask that has been removed, and underneath, is a character who is completely fine putting on voices and reading to children, with zero care about being embarrassed.
It is also worth noting that the hair dye is starting to run thin here. The colour of Amity's hair is an important metaphor for her character arc, and here, as the mask slips, the dyed appearance is fading to reveal the roots underneath.
The storybook motif of this episode plays into this theme.
I have said in the past that Luz has a fairly flat character arc, and I meant it. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have flaws to overcome. This episode dives into one such flaw.
The reason that the series utilises archetypal storytelling so much, is because that is how Luz thinks. Luz's flaw is ignorance, or more accurately, naivety. She very much wants life to fit with the archetypes that she has in her head. That is why she gets scammed in episode two, and that's why here, she directly causes the problems of the episode. She tries to play with storybook rules, she tries to take shortcuts to friendship. This causes problems because, as I have stated, there is nuance to these characters, and as such, shortcuts don't work.
Otabin is the embodiment of this. A character warped beyond all recognition by a tiny nuance in the drawing brought to life. A little change has a big impact and turns him into a different character who cannot be treated the same way.
Interestingly, the conflict resolution is literally just write your own story and you would assume this moment works, with the cape and the staff. But it doesn't. Why? Because it's Luz writing herself into someone else's story. She's not Luzura yet, because to be Luzura, she needs to be Luz first, and she's avoiding that.
In the end, the story is written together, and it starts with:
Luz needs to right a wrong
For the new story to begin and the relationship to actually work, Luz needs to let go of preconceived expectations and start taking the story as it is, instead of adding to something it is not.
That's how she befriends Amity as the episode closes. Instead of trying shortcuts, she sees something personal to Amity and offers to help. The book. And it causes Amity to open up, slightly.
But, I titled this post The Owl House's First Reveals and I did intend to put "reveals" in plural. Because there is another character who has a side of them revealed. Eda the Owl Lady herself.
This is the episode in which we see the maternal side of Eda. Specifically, we see the lack of it. Eda is unconditionally one of the series' main parent figures. The others being Camilla, Bellos, and the Blights (Argue about Darius and Bump and whoever in the comments). But at the start of the series, she has no skill or interest in the subject, or does she? Eda takes in King and Luz on a whim, because they looked sad or in danger, and she passes that off as just something one does. The instinct is very much there, the skill? Not so much.
This episode shows Eda learning the skills of parenting. She has to put up with the babies and learn their ways in order to earn spending time with the teenagers. This is the start of Eda's arc into becoming the matron of the Owl House and the resistance later on down the line.
So, in conclusion, people are complicated. This episode sees Luz and the audience learning about the nuances of characters, even as the characters themselves learn these things about themselves.
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#rants#literary analysis#literature analysis#what's so special about...?#the owl house#toh#the owl house amity#the owl house luz#owl house#the owl house eda
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finished the teal mask and oh boy do i have thoughts…
(SPOILERS FOR THE NEW DLC IF YOU DONT WANT SPOILERS PLS DO NOT READ)
god. kieran. kieran is so refreshing from a character perspective. kieran is like the anti-hop. it kind of feels like he’s the protagonist and we’re the classic jerk rival, doesn’t it? this guy clearly has Issues and i really like that, im enjoying this sort of “why can’t i beat you” rival trope that gamefreak’s been doing lately. they nearly did it with hop but with kieran they’re really going full in. the character arc that kieran went through in this dlc was actually difficult for me to watch, seeing this poor boy destroy himself mentally. the first time i battled him for the final time i actually lost, and i was hoping that he would get to keep ogerpon because altho shes cute and i adore her, i felt so bad. but ofc thats not the way the cookie crumbles. kieran is socially awkward, he doesn’t know how to communicate, and he’s never had a true friend. then florian/juliana comes along and suddenly there’s someone who seems to genuinely enjoy hanging out with him that isn’t, yknow, related to him. but then that person that he was so eager to trust goes along and begins befriending and helping a pokemon that hes adored all your life behind his back. i relate to kieran a lot and ofc yknow the absolute maniac arc hes about to go through is probably not healthy but i rlly hope this ends up being good for him. he idolized ogerpon because of how he related to her story, not because of the actual living creature she is. i wouldnt be surprised if it turns out he doesnt value his pokemon as actual living creatures either. i could see him being like a reverse silver, as he grows colder growing to not even care about his pokemon.
on the other hand, carmine! carmine was such a delight, i was genuinely not expecting to enjoy her as much as i did. sure, she also has Issues and has probably been a negative effect on her brother, but at the end of the day she is also just a kid. she probably has no idea what shes doing, and i dont think shed ever hurt kieran. she went through a lot of growth in the dlc and i can see her trying to become a better person with the help of florian/juliana and repairing her odd relationship with kieran.
also, it seems like she kind of has to play a parental role for kieran, as its implied that their parents arent around. thats another thing that separates kieran and carmine from siblings like hop and leon (and oh my god im just realizing all the parallels between hop and leon and kieran and carmine). its implied that the galar bros had a good childhood, and hops Issues dont start until hes set off on his journey and leon is a full adult with an actual life. with the kitakami siblings, if you read between the lines you can tell that theyve had a harder time growing up. with carmines comments on tourism and how it’s negatively effected their town and give her Trust Issues, that obviously fucked them both up a little, seeing that people only valued their hometown as an attraction, and that they themselves were a part of that attraction. and of course we dont know what the issue was with their parents. also, why are they going to school in unova? (side not oh my god it is so obvious that we’re going to get bw remakes in gen 9 or a legends unova game)
kitakami is such an interesting region. obviously its tiny, it has one town and then everything else is just untamed land. i feel like something Else is going on here. or maybe its just small idk
i love ogerpon a lot i think shes adorable and i love that we got to run around with her before she joined our team and it makes the whole “ten year old catches legendary thing” feel more realistic
also why are ogerpon and the loyal three legendaries i feel like they should be mythicals them being legendary feels Wrong
anyways these were my silly thoughts on the dlc and i hope kieran turns out to be the bb leagues champion (pulling a blue) and also i dont trust briar now time to finish my pokedex and talk to legends arceus pandering i mean perrin and if i see anyone call carmine a terrible person i will trade away your ev trained competitive team ok bye
(also this scene made me emotional)
#pokemon#pokemon scarlet and violet#jocey plays games#pokemon scarlet and violet dlc#the teal mask#trainer florian#trainer juliana#trainer kieran#trainer carmine#MASKSHIPPING GANG WHERE ARE U AT#spoilers
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Class 1-A band
I wondered about this group’s dynamic:
One last band reunion... before they're all shipped of to war.
Kaminari’s probably the only one, who's really friends with all of the band members:
Pre-band, Jirou and Yaoyorozu were already close friends, but Jirou and Kaminari might have had established their electric [I'm not sorry] chemistry even earlier.
To Bakugou, Kaminari's probably the second real friend that he made in his life (or more like Kaminari made himself Bakugou's second real friend).
In another post, I had headcanoned Kaminari as being one of Class Mom's favourite kids. They can be seen laughing together in the background several times. I would count KamiMomo among the underrated background friendships, as I can see them being good for each other: Both are sensitive souls and at the same time, also very encouraging towards others. Kaminari was also the one, who immediately interupted Yaoyorozu, when she attempted to give 1-A and 1-B the "you are not obligated to fight against a lethal opponent with me" - speech, and instead assured her, that she would not face off against Gigantomachia alone.
Tokoyami and Kaminari apparently got closer to each other through the band. Tokoyami's thoughts during Kaminari's big (that should've could've been more elaboratived on) badass scene during the Gunga Mountain raid, outright stated, that he views the latter as a very good friend.
The rest of them? Aren't really close to each other.
...
After the cultural festival arc, Bakugou and Jirou were put into the same team during the joint training arc. Zero-emotional-stakes-fight aside, they are not shown to interact in any manner, that could be interpreted as significant to the relationship between them.
[Tangent rant: And no, I don’t count Bakugou saving Jirou by stepping on her, as significant interaction. Quickly gassing up a minor character and have Bakugou’s defeating them to "prove" how awesome Bakugou’s “teamwork” is, isn’t really convincing, if the audience didn’t get the chance to know the rival character and get invested into them beforehand. The audience is simply told and expected to believe, that Tokage Setsuna's really, really very capable. Usually. We never got to see any of it... dammit, lazy-ass writing! - rant end.]
It’s kinda difficult to make friends with someone who refuses to use your name for most of the time.
How does one become friends with Bakugou actually? Let's see:
Kirishima: Made himself into Bakugou’s morality chain,
Kaminari: I feel like Kaminari befriended Bakugou, bc he subconsciously felt that Bakugou would need his friendship (yes, Bakugou needs Kaminari much more than the other way round),
Todoroki: Just wants to be friends with all of his peers (except maybe Yoarashi Inasa),
Sero and Mina might be counted as Bakugou's friends to a lesser extent.
What do these people have in common? All of Bakugou's friends do 90 % of the work to maintain a relationship with him. The only reason how building rapport with Bakugou is possible, is, if the other person is doing most (if not all) of the rapport building by themselves...
Yeah, you're an ass, Bakugou.
I feel like Jirou, Yaoyorozu, and Tokoyami would have a more “normal” reaction to Bakugou’s character: Aka backing away from the snappy Pomeranian and leaving it tf alone. Most people don’t want to/can’t put up with disrespect and unwarranted anger for an extended amount of time – understandably, especially if they usually receive little to no positive feedback ever.
I headcanon that Bakugou feels slightly uneasy around Yaoyorozu, ever since her assessment of him at the beginning of the school year. I don’t think he ever held a grudge against her for that. Nevertheless, Bakugou’s a very proud individual, even after significant character development. Having someone - especially someone who’s not a senior but a peer – rip apart that superior self-image he had of himself with such sober laser-sharp accuracy, seemed to have been… almost traumatic to Bakugou and his gargantuan ego. I feel like he would subconsciously avoid being alone with Yaoyorozu. As in, if they happen to find themselves alone with each other e.g. in the common areas of their dorms, he will try to leave quickly.
Tokoyami is not amused.
Beyond each other's battle prowess, I don’t see Bakugou and Tokoyami having a lot of respect for each other. Or to put it more mildly: I don’t see them having much patience for the each other's antics.
[Funnily enough, in the gag comics, Dark Shadow - in the form of a little human girl - made a ranking list of who/what she likes the most: Apparently, Bakugou ranks third, just behind Tokoyami himself, and Todoroki.]
...
But yeah, no surprises here. Kaminari gels with everyone. Bakugou gels with no one... except those, whose skins are a lot thicker than the average, and thus, wouldn't mind his verbal abuse too much.
Kaminari Denki: Everything mentioned above, as well as a lack of self-preservation.
What about TokoJirou?
Well, Tokoyami and Jirou got a moment of joint badassery during the final war. From that single interaction, I’d say, his dramatics and her snark go well with each other - be it directed towards each other, or united against others. Aside from that, we haven’t gotten much of them together, unfortunately. However, I believe they get along well, and I can see them becoming friends.
[Actually, the drama CDs gave us Tokoyami accompanying Jirou to a haunted house (while Kaminari chickened out). It includes Jirou asking to hold onto the hem of his uniform, and Tokoyami reassuring her fears. It's all very cute, go look it up on yt!]
And the TokoMomo dynamic?
We know that Yaoyorozu's self-confidence took a critical hit, after she lost against Tokoyami in the sports fest at lightening speed. She seemed to have been very shocked about how the match play out. We could assume, that she had been relatively self-confident previously. But we actually don't know, if it used to be more stable. And while Yaoyorozu's match with Todoroki against Aizawa gave her back some self-confidence; from then on, we're privy to more of her thoughts - most of them centered around self-doubt.
So either she'd never encountered a roadblock before losing against Tokoyami, and their match was to her, what her own assessment of Bakugou was to the latter. Or, Yaoyorozu has always been prone to second-guess herself a lot after encountering setbacks.
While he probably didn't pay half as much mind to his quick victory against Yaoyorozu as she did, we know that Tokoyami can be quite observant. I would have been interested in his thoughts about their match, as well as the resulting consequences for Yaoyorozu's self-confidence.
How would these two interact, if they were to be alone with each other? Very politely for sure. But what other aspects could their interactions have? How could they become closer friends?
#bnha#mha#mha thoughtbunnies#mha friendships#class 1a#class 1a band#kaminari denki#bakugou katsuki#jirou kyouka#yaoyorozu momo#tokoyami fumikage#bakukami#kamijirou#kamimomo#tokokami#tokojirou#tokomomo#class 1a headcanon#bakugou katsuki headcanon#jirou kyouka headcanon#yaoyorozu momo headcanon#tokoyami fumikage headcanon
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In Defense of Sebastian Sallow.
Lately I've seen a lot of people who generally liked him in the beginning slowly start to change their minds, calling him a toxic manipulator & saying he was using MC for his agenda from the very beginning. I strongly disagree and in this post I'm going to give my reasons why I don't believe he's as black and white as people have begun to paint him.
I also want to add that everyone is entitled to feel however they want about his character & storyline. The purpose of this post isn't to imply there's a right or wrong interpretation, it's all just my opinion. Being able to discuss and debate this character is the very reason why he's by far the most interesting, or even realistic, companion in the game.
I will only be discussing his arc until the end of the quest 'In The Shadow Of The Estate', in which you visit his family home and investigate the surrounding area - else this post would go on forever. Naturally, there will be spoilers ahead.
- If you're sorted into Slytherin, he's likely the first person you speak to in your common room. He immediately expresses interest in how you ended up at Hogwarts after the dragon attack but doesn't press you for answers. I think, like everyone else at the school, he's just very curious about you. He generally also seems to have a thirst for knowledge like his parents had and I think most people just assumed he's sus from the start because he's a charming Slytherin.
- Within the same conversation, if you express interest in Sebastian's book and the Dark Arts, he warms up to you instantly and calls you a "kindred spirit" - likely because no one else in his life shares his views on the subject.
- If you're sorted into Gryffindor (ikdr!), Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff, you meet him in your first Defense Against The Dark Arts class and beat him in a duel. From this point, he becomes a friend to you and I truly believe he's just a generally nice, personable guy who will befriend anyone.
- In terms of the Hogsmeade visit, I'm told Seb & Natty have mostly the same dialogue/actions so I don't think there's anything special to discuss there since if Natty has sincere intentions in opening up and befriending you, why shouldn't Sebastian?
- Just wanna talk about a tiny instance he proves his genuine care for MC that really stood out to me even though the action isn't exclusive to him: In the Three Broomsticks cutscene when Rookwood points out that he's looking for MC, Sebastian will - without hesitation - jump out of his seat to take on a fighting stance. It's made very clear that he WILL protect you if it comes to blows.
- The next time you see Sebastian is when you ask him about the Restricted Section. Even if you aren't totally transparent with him, he easily agrees to helping you & risks getting into more trouble despite the fact that he won't gain anything from it.- One might say he agreed to help because he's nosy, but he ends up leaving you alone and wishes you luck before chasing after Peeves. He also never forces you to expose what you've learned.
- "I like having friends who are in my debt." This line for some reason has become "proof" that he's a manipulator to some people and personally, I don't see it? I saw it as his way of cracking a joke & lightening what was a very stressful situation for the MC. Added to the fact that even after he takes the fall for you and you thank him for it later, he brushes it off as if it's not a big deal. Also, he never holds it over your head and at no point in the game does he make you feel indebted to him.
- Additionally when he's caught, he has no idea that you're watching. Therefore his instinct to protect you and make sure you stay out of trouble is entirely sincere.
- Something else that a lot of people reference when talking about how he's a manipulator is him supposedly spilling all his secrets as a means of gaining your trust: immediately inviting you to Crossed Wands, betraying Ominis' trust by showing you the Undercroft, telling you about Anne's curse etc. Again, I disagree. This is a 15 year old boy, he's definitely not an evil mastermind; in fact, I'd argue he's too impulsive to even consider making long-term plans like that. Now this might be a reach on my part but I think he's yearning for a similar companionship as he had with Anne. Sebastian even says later in the game that the curse has completely changed her, and not just physically. I think the reason he's so open so quickly is because he's genuinely just more excited than anything to have a new "partner in crime".
- I also want to remind everyone that only in the Undercroft are you "forced" by the game to tell him the whole truth if you've chosen to keep it a secret. Yet regardless of whether he knows about your special abilities or not, he still treats you exactly the same. He's still just as charming, teasing, friendly and genuinely gives you the feeling that he likes you. I'd even go as far as saying he's the only companion who really feels like a friend (which I think comes down to his personality, writing + his voice actor's amazing line delivery).
- Also in the Undercroft, he doesn't really have anything to gain from letting you in or teaching you Confringo. In my opinion, he knows there are dangerous men after you (even if you haven't told him yet) and just wants you to have a means of protecting yourself since you're "behind" on the work.- It could be argued that he just wants a secret place to practice forbidden spells with you but at no point in the game does he force you to learn the Unforgivables. [In a meta sense, he has to reveal the Undercroft to you regardless since it plays a massive role in the main quest.]
- In the end, he invites you to Feldcroft to meet with Anne so you can hopefully cheer her up. I can't see any "manipulation" in this either since he didn't plan for the argument with his Uncle Solomon, nor did he plan on Anne suddenly falling ill. I think that when it comes to Anne, he generally has good intentions, and genuinely wanted her to meet and befriend you like he had.
- After the whole debacle in the Sallow house, you and Sebastian snoop around Isadora's home and end up back at the Undercroft. It is only here that he finally understands your abilities and brings up the idea that your ancient magic COULD help Anne. Sebastian has exhausted every single option in his arsenal at this point and I think he's just clinging to anything he hasn't explored yet. But he only brings it up here, he never even considers it prior to this which is why I believe him being kind to you, helping you and becoming your friend had no secret intention.
In conclusion, I don't believe he's been manipulating the MC from the start. I truly believe his intentions in befriending MC were sincere and that he does "change" as he delves deeper into the Dark Arts. With characters like Sebastian, I don't think it does them justice to be put in a box. He's just too complex for that, and when making your final decision in the game keep in mind that this fictional kid is neither totally good nor totally bad, he's just human.
#sebastian sallow#hogwarts legacy#sebastian x reader#sebastian x you#ominis gaunt#anne sallow#solomon sallow#hogwarts legacy sebastian#hogwarts legacy ominis
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Emmet breaks spacetime to find his brother this, Emmet goes feral without his brother that (which you shouldn't take too far btw), where are the Ingo goes apeshit fics. Where are the fics where Ingo single handedly corrals the gods into getting him (and Akari, if she's tired of being in charge after having to save the world) home. This man is depressed one day about his memories and then his unovan religion socialization kicks in subconsciously and he goes 'no fuck this. I am going to get my memories back whether they comply or not' and that escalates into 'i am going home no matter what' and also 'i am going to be happy. I will make it so'. This man didn't get raised with the values of TRUTH and IDEALS for nothing. That shit sticks in your mind so much even if you don't personally think about it much. Have you seen how many times unovans mention truth or ideals in the games. They're important to them. And they're important to him.
I don't even mean that Ingo becomes a villain or anything. I just mean to say he sees a child befriending gods and goes 'hey what the fuck. If they can do that i can do something about my own situation as well for sure' and don't try to tell me the gods wouldn't listen to him. First off i believe Arceus and everyone else do love their creation, they just sometimes don't understand it. Second of all even if that wasn't true not all the gods agree with each other. If Arceus couldn't or didn't want to do anything he could just ask giratina. Or dialga and palkia. How would palkia help? They bring him to celebi. There's no way he wouldn't get celebis approval especially with palkias help.
What? The Pearl clan wouldn't let him go? Lmao what are you even talking about. Even if they didn't want him to leave the position of warden they value space very much. They'd want him to find his own before all else, and even if they didn't Irida would and her judgement is the most important one in the clan. I'm pretty sure she mentions wanting to travel, too, so she might join Ingo for a time as well.
Something is wrong in Unova upon his arrival? Impossible. Unova loves their Subway bosses and Emmet loves and trusts Ingo enough for that not to be a problem. Even if he didn't Chandelure would be proof enough of something off. i don't think she would just feel her trainer's soul disappear in a split second and not cause a commotion, she'd immediatly begin to freak out. Even without that you know what always fixes shit? Communication baby. This man will not let something go until they've properly discussed it. If the other's opinion is still the same after they've all explained themselves, then fine. But i guarantee you it won't be. If communication is difficult for some reason there is nothing that stops him from making it easier or doing it anyway. He can also go to a god again and have them help out of it's something he can't do anything about himself. Grudge? Gone. Death? Xerneas'd. Legal trouble? Over.
There is nothing that can't be fixed, especially in the pokemon world. It's going to be exausting, and probably very taxing on the mind, but it would be worth it so much. And there is no way Ingo and Emmet aren't both going to go to therapy anyway in the end.
Even if the gods couldn't fix it and send him home, they'd at least grant them both peace of mind. A letter, a picture, sent back or forward in time. With proof that it's real, obviously, and that yes it is god that brought this to you, so there's no misunderstandings. And don't tell me they can't do that, you've seen the arc phone. A space time distortion, conveniently timed on both sides, courtesy of dialga and palkia. They're going to get to be happy eventually, whether that means moving on or being reunited. Though there's like no way they don't get reunited lol
#truth -> wants to know the truth about himself#ideals -> will#willpower#determination#whatever you want to call it#alternatively he could track down volo and forcefully redeem him so he tells him all his secrets and finds celebi#or befriend giratina#i mean whoevers fault it is for him being there they owe him#submas#ingo#emmet#warden ingo#subway boss ingo#subway boss emmet#ingo and emmet#arceus#dialga#palkia#giratina#celebi#pla#pokemon legends arceus#pokemon legends#pokemon arceus#subway boss nobori#subway boss kudari#subway bosses#tagging all this because while it started as a demand for determined Ingo who wants to see and make sure his brother is ok#it just became a submas reassurance post#and i want everyone to see. if i can reassure even 1 person with this i will be very happy. i know i'd like to hear this from others myself
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COPYCCINO — 52: heal the wound
synopsis: soobin has been talking to who he thought was his unrequited crush on messages, only to find out through a visit to their coffee shop that it was in fact not them. not only does he meet the real y/n, he runs into their friend yeonjun, an ex friend of his who he has some unresolved issues with. as soobin and the real y/n are getting to know each other, yeonjun and soobin are working through their misunderstandings, as well as trying to figure out who the catfish was.
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a/n: written (7.9k) + smau. swearing, lots of apologies, probably some mistakes but look away!! this was very long awaited i’m so sorry y’all but copyccino is back, with the anticipated redemption arc ❤️
…
y/n walks into the building along with kai and taehyun, not expecting too much. in all honesty, they’re slightly relieved to leave their hotel room after remaining in there for so many days. this is the most normal that they’ve felt, though it doesn’t feel the same. this is barely half of their group.
they just want everyone to be together again. they weren’t even able to befriend each other like y/n had hoped for. everyone being one big group of friends was their biggest wish.
they all greet the lady behind the desk as taehyun reaches for his phone to show her what they can assume was their reservation. one look around and y/n can see what can be appealing about this place. originally, they thought it catered more towards little kids but there are some teenagers and young adults present as well. that makes them feel a little less embarrassed.
y/n follows along behind the two boys and they stand right where the maze begins. there are a variety of occupation rooms on different sides of the building where people can choose which one to enter. a fire station, a hospital room, a classroom, you name it. y/n waits with their hands on their side, their sweater paws snuggling down comfortably.
“so, where do you want to start?” y/n asks casually as they look at their friends in front of them.
“there was a room i wanted to check out,” taehyun recommends while he gestures his head towards the left. “it seemed interesting.”
y/n nods with no suspicion, still following along as it was taehyun they were talking about. he was usually never up to anything without being transparent. the trio begins to head over to the room as kai and y/n follow loosely behind taehyun who seemingly knew the way.
kai remains quiet, convinced that if he speaks up he’ll somehow give everything away, blowing their operation. his eyes trail from the paintings scattered around each hallway before he glances over at y/n, noticing their demeanor for the first time today.
“hey, are you okay?” he speaks lowly in y/n’s space, not wanting taehyun to hear, though the boy was already distracted in trying to find the room to notice. “your eyes look a little red.”
y/n looks at kai for a split second before looking straight ahead again, nodding their head softly. “yeah, i’m fine.”
if you considered going through your texts and photos with your boyfriend and best friend last night to be fine. it hit y/n like an emotional wreck realizing how things currently are. their last text from soobin being that he’ll never stop missing them. they can’t help but wonder if he still stands by that, even now. if he still misses them. the thought made them cry to sleep.
kai opens his mouth to continue to say something else before taehyun announces right in front of the room where they’ve finally arrived. “it’s this one!”
the two boys head straight inside while y/n takes a moment to look at the plaque that’s next to the door.
police interrogation room.
y/n furrows their eyebrows as they wonder what they would be doing here, why they would be interested in checking this room out. still, with a tilt of their head, they walk in with an open mind.
just as it’s intended, it’s quite literally, an interrogation room. black and navy accents on every piece of furniture and walls. there’s a glass border in between two sides of the room. the first side has some chairs where there’s voice machines on the glass for the officers to speak to the suspect. the other side is where a round table is placed, for the interviewers and the suspect to sit. on the left there’s a door to enter inside to be questioned. it’s almost eery how similar the environment is to the real thing, like they’re actually being called in for a crime.
after looking around the room for a while y/n glances at kai and taehyun, who are seemingly having a non verbal conversation. they stare at each other while taehyun has his phone in his hand, looking at it every now and then as if he’s waiting for something to pop up.
“so what exactly do we do here?” y/n questions, almost out of boredom. there’s really nothing much to this room. it’s probably not nearly as fun as the other rooms in this place.
taehyun looks down at his phone and y/n can see the reflection that is a notification on his screen through his eyes. taehyun gives kai a curt nod, and kai heads over to the door that leads the way into the interrogation room. he then grabs y/n’s arm and throws them into the room in a rush, locking the door right after. y/n exclaims in confusion and slight frustration, staring at the two boys harshly through the glass screen. kai seems to be antsy while taehyun remains to be calm and situated.
“hey! what’d you do that for?” y/n protests, having to yell in case they couldn’t hear through the glass. they walk towards the door and attempt to open it, though it’s locked shut. all that can be heard is the door knob jiggling profusely and y/n’s complaints.
as if on cue, the door behind taehyun and kai opens as new guests walk inside.
or a guest.
y/n recognizes a familiar blonde close the door behind him as he faces the front. the space between taehyun and kai leaves y/n to get a perfect glimpse of him.
yeonjun.
y/n’s face that had previously been scrunched up from confusion eases as they wonder what the boy was doing here. kai seemed to have been thinking the same thing as he sends taehyun a widened pair of eyes with an expression, ‘you really got him to come.’
yeonjun slowly heads more inside and makes eye contact with everyone in the room. the expression on his face is something that y/n couldn’t quite make out, or one that they couldn’t expect. yeonjun’s eyebrows momentarily cross each other as he gets used to the scenery and the people here, but he soon drops the struggle and blinks himself back to reality. he does a quick nod and sniffs in some air. it was almost like he was expecting something. like he knew what he was in for.
taehyun walks over to the door that leads into the interrogation room itself and opens it wide. y/n sees his arm stretched out, indicating that someone should walk in. y/n trails onto taehyun’s view and realizes he’s looking right at yeonjun, who’s looking back at him with some caution. taehyun confirms something through his gaze and yeonjun gives him one last look before he glances at y/n. they quickly lay their eyes off of him and find something else to stare at, the ground being their best choice. y/n can hear a sigh escape from yeonjun’s mouth as his footsteps can be heard through the quiet atmosphere. their eyes remain on the concrete tiles and it’s the sound of the door closing and yeonjun’s sneakers right next to theirs that indicate he’s now in the room with them. standing right next to them.
what is going on?
taehyun stands next to kai once again as he checks his phone, waiting for the last person to arrive. kai becomes anxious, being that some minutes have passed already. beomgyu and sieun should’ve brought soobin by now.
kai nervously pans over at the glass wall, meeting eyes with y/n, who wants answers, and yeonjun, who’s unexpectedly rather calm. he lets out an anxious laugh as he sends the two a thumbs up, quickly putting his hands away as he realizes how stupid it looks.
he leans to taehyun with a low voice that’s filled with worry. “where are they?”
“they’re here,” taehyun replies while looking at the messages on his phone, scrolling to the most recent text. “beomgyu said they got caught up once soobin realized sieun was here too.”
that doesn’t bring any ease to kai’s mind. if soobin reacted to seeing sieun suddenly be here, what makes them think he won’t be agitated to see everyone else here too?
“well-”
kai is cut off mid sentence when the door opens widely for the last time, and both he and taehyun straighten their positions as taehyun puts his phone away. sieun walks in first, beomgyu second.
soobin third.
the room starts to get crowded so it takes soobin a while to register who else is here. y/n and yeonjun, who have been witnessing this whole thing, saw the first two enter and can presume who else is here as well. once sieun stands next to taehyun while kai heads over to the door, ready in place, they see soobin crystal clear.
and he can surely see them now.
soobin’s pupils grow large as his mouth agapes wide open, finding the situation at hand to be unbelievable. y/n and yeonjun in the same room, everyone else looking awfully suspicious. he looks at beomgyu with distrust, mentally asking him why he lied. soobin places a hand out in caution, his hoarse voice being present.
“what’s going on?”
instead of looking at the hurt boy, beomgyu sends kai a head nod as a signal, leading to kai opening the door once again while beomgyu runs at soobin and pushes him inside. kai locks the door in a rush to signify the end. soobin bangs on the door while he shouts more questions and frustrations, everyone else disregarding him.
the two boys head over to join taehyun and sieun, who send them a judgmental pair of eyes.
“you could’ve done that differently?” sieun asks in disbelief.
beomgyu laughs dryly as he crosses his arms proudly while he looks at the trio inside.
“it’s not as fun.”
the three were now all together. y/n, who was filled with confusion but slowly started to piece everything together and can only dread where this was going. yeonjun, who seemingly knew where this was going and has prepared for it, open to see where this all goes. soobin, who’s just lost, but his spirit resembles a burning fire. each of them are spaced apart, y/n standing in the middle with their arms hugging their shoulders, their knees barely keeping them intact. yeonjun stands farther to the right, crossing his arms once soobin had entered the room, his demeanor becoming more stern and defensive. soobin on the left and can only remain still and straight, wary of what could happen.
what a perfect combination.
the trio can hear a cough through the incoming voice machine and it gathers their attention. the group on the other side are all seated into their chairs, hands folded together in a polite and professional manner. in any other instance this would be deemed as unserious, but in their case, the tension was building sporadically.
“we’ve gathered you here today-” taehyun begins to address before he’s cut off by a laughter next to him. beomgyu covers his mouth with his hand as he cackles into it, thrown off by the seriousness. sieun hits the boy in the arm and it’s like a switch went off because he pulls himself together with a straight face.
“…because you all need to talk,” taehyun continues, finally encountering the issue at hand. the trio make sense of all this and they continue to consider what he says. “you need to work through it, not just leave off the way you did.”
kai taps on taehyun’s shoulder and gestures on which button he should press on the voice box. taehyun sees that he wants to speak, so he shows him which one. kai adds onto taehyun’s sentence.
“we’re all friends. or we once were,” kai relates to soobin and yeonjun, who each look down at the ground for a second, feeling the words hit them. “if you really cared about each other in the slightest you would do your best to fix all of this.”
“there’s miscommunication going on here,” sieun adds next, her voice radiating some sweetness to lessen the tension. “at least try to understand each other.”
sieun lets go of her button quietly as she looks at beomgyu next to her, expecting him to finish their monologue. beomgyu gets the hint and presses his finger onto the machine, glancing at each of them before he stares into soobin’s eyes in a genuine manner.
“we all made the effort to bring you together. you should do the same to come out through it.”
beomgyu’s voice rings through their ears as the trio remain silent in thought. y/n wants to look at the boys next to them to get some kind of sign as to what they were feeling, but they can’t. y/n goes through each pair of eyes in front of them as they finally land on taehyun’s, who’s looking right back.
“what do you want us to do?” this is the first time yeonjun and soobin has heard their voice in days, and they’re temporarily thrown off. y/n’s voice comes across more small than they had intended, but that’s how they feel inside.
“there’s a table right behind you,” taehyun says as they each look behind them. “just sit and talk.”
“we can hear you,” beomgyu adds quickly with a smile, ready to see the show.
though they were given instructions, they still don’t move. soobin barely shifts in his place and y/n feels too heavy in their own weight. the scene is reminiscent of a group of kids who are too shameful to do their parent’s punishment. not too much of a difference.
“they’re not doing anything,” beomgyu says through his teeth, not breaking his forced smile while he makes sure he’s not pressing the button for them to hear.
taehyun watches in front of them as he sits back relaxingly, arms crossed together, a sly grin on his face. a spark can be seen through his eyes.
“i think not.”
the group glances at the front again and stunned expressions take over each of them. soobin and y/n watch as yeonjun walks with careful steps towards the table and sits down with the same crossed arms from earlier. he sets his gaze onto y/n, one that leaves an impression that he's ready to listen. as if it were some kind of spell, it leaves y/n to head to the seat in front of him, taking their place behind the table.
soobin watches the pair with prudent eyes as he carefully thinks about his decision. he looks over at beomgyu one last time for any kind of confirmation. the boy can only nod in assurance. soobin takes the gesture and glances back at the table, meeting eyes with both y/n and yeonjun. y/n’s showcase desperation while yeonjun remains to be indifferent with soobin. that already seems to be a development from last time. he's let his guard down. at least some of it.
soobin quietly huffs out some air and walks over to the last seat, his footsteps being the right amount of movement. the layout of the table makes it perfect for the group to see the three of them perfectly, none of them showing their back to the front. there was a measured amount of space between them, y/n on the left, yeonjun in the middle, soobin on the right.
another silence ensues as the ball is now completely in their court. taehyun mentioned to the group that they can only guide them so much, but they have to do the rest willingly. he said they’d be there all day if they have to. at some point, the silence will get to them.
soobin plays with his hands that were intertwined in front of him, avoiding eye contact as much as possible. yeonjun stares out onto the flat, round surface of the table, his mind wandering somewhere else with a fazed look in his eyes. y/n wonders what to do, their only resort being to look at kai for some comfort. he sends them a reassuring grin, reassuring enough to bring y/n to say something.
“i’ve…done a lot of thinking these past few days,” they start off hesitant, but it certainly captures the boys’ attention. they look at y/n intently, which only brings more pressure onto them. y/n feels themselves get lost in their words due to the sudden attention and looks over at taehyun for some support. he nods at them softly, encouraging them to continue. it’s with that gesture that y/n remembers the conversation they had with taehyun.
it’s not your fault, if you think about it.
“i think you two have some resentment that you need to figure out before you take it out on me.”
y/n stuns them with their words, y/n even feeling the effect themselves. yeonjun and soobin know that they have issues, hell, everyone in this room knows that they have issues. someone that’s not one another telling them that? the reality stings. maybe the truth can heal the wound.
it doesn’t take long for yeonjun to speak up after that, giving y/n’s words some time to simmer in their heads. he chooses his words carefully and as best as he could. he doesn’t want to hurt his best friend again, and he doesn't want soobin to take something else from this than what he is intending.
“i do have some resentment…towards you,” yeonjun speaks lowly as he gestures his head forward at soobin, who can only listen.
this time it’s yeonjun’s turn to look at taehyun for some assurance, to which taehyun services. now is the time for yeonjun to say how he really feels. he was unable to do that when this all started, his emotions took over him too well for him to be reasonable. maybe it’ll be different this time.
“i don’t know if you know this, but my entire life i’ve been compared to you,” yeonjun starts, barely managing to keep eye contact with soobin, but it’s enough.
“yeah, i know. you wouldn’t expect it, but it’s true. my parents questioned my values and thought yours were intellectual, so they wanted me to be like you.” yeonjun leaves his exposition with a pause, thinking about how to bring this around. everyone in the room waits patiently, with some anticipation.
“and then we went to high school,” yeonjun sits back in his chair as he sighs out a pitiful laugh. “it only got worse.”
“you weren't a loser anymore. you didn’t need protecting, which i didn’t mind doing by the way. everyone only saw the nice traits about you and started applying them onto me. it’s like i wasn’t my own person anymore, i was just your friend. the person people wanted me to be. i knew then that’s what it must have felt like when we were in grade school.”
soobin timidly nods in agreement as he blank stares at yeonjun’s shirt. nothing that captivating, but anything to avoid eye contact. throughout soobin’s life he’s been under yeonjun’s shadow. he got bullied for not being cool, not being like him. high school changed his life. people had a new definition of cool and he fit into it. he had his own shadow at that point, and yeonjun was behind it.
“i didn’t know that,” soobin replies sympathetically. yeonjun’s arms remain guarded as the half smile stays on his face, still staring into nothing. he doesn’t say anything.
“and then i got a girlfriend,” he says with tightness in his voice. if y/n wasn’t engaged before, they certainly were now. this is what must’ve started everything, and it seems like the truth they knew was only one sided. soobin closes his eyes while he scrunches his eyebrows together, dreading the returned topic.
“someone who only saw me for me. she liked me.” yeonjun sits more straight like he’s getting down to business.
“and then you guys met. at the time it didn’t bother me, my two favorite people becoming friends, that’s what i should want,” yeonjun dryly laughs while projecting his voice as if he’s speaking to the universe. “then she started acting differently with me and next thing you know, i’m being broken up with.”
y/n feels the need to reach out for yeonjun’s hand to console him but manages the urge to restrain themselves. they’re in a weird place, it wouldn’t be appropriate. yeonjun leans forward and his elbows place onto the table as his eyes dart onto soobin’s, who still avoids meeting his gaze as he keeps his eyes hidden low.
“because she likes someone else,” yeonjun’s tone is unpleasantly nice, but wicked. “you.”
yeonjun can feel that he’s getting to soobin so he backs away into his seat yet again, dropping the tension that was the enclosed space.
“and then i see you two after school hugging so what else was i supposed to assume,” yeonjun chokes out a dark chuckle, like he’s pitying himself. “thought i was done with you for years, but now you’re apparently dating y/n so something’s gotta happen.”
y/n winces at the namedrop, as does soobin. y/n slowly looks away from their own hands, expecting to meet eyes with their enraged best friend. if looks could kill, they were ready for it. though they were wrong. their gazes lock together and yeonjun appears to be soft. he looks tired, either from being mad this whole time or tired with himself.
y/n thinks about what they should say and manages to come up with something, but the sound of the voice box being clicked on tells them that someone from the outside wants to speak. they turn their head in that direction and see that taehyun has his finger on the console.
“do you still assume that?”
everyone is thrown off guard at the question, realizing that the conversation will steer into a deeper direction. y/n looks over from taehyun to yeonjun, waiting for his answer as soobin remains to look at the front.
“i…don’t want to,” yeonjun says slowly in realization, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. y/n knows this habit and it’s clear to them that yeonjun is being as honest as he can be. “something’s telling me i shouldn’t.”
this fires up an emotion inside soobin which causes him to whip his head around to face yeonjun, who’s been looking at him this entire time. the first time they’ve managed to make eye contact. soobin doesn’t know how to feel. the only word that can come to mind is hope. hope that his former friend will finally be willing to listen to him.
hope that he’ll finally believe him.
soobin’s pupils widen slightly, his eyes searching through yeonjun’s to get some kind of clue. already, he can tell that yeonjun sees him differently. his eyes aren’t full of hatred and disappointment he once had the last time they ever spoke. instead, they’re expectant. asking him to prove him wrong, and not in a challenging way, but in a genuine way.
“i didn’t cheat with your girlfriend behind your back,” soobin starts off. his eyes brim with water, attempting to pull the straightest face he can to prevent them from falling. he hates confrontation, but the fact that he gets emotional enough for him to cry makes him hate this even more.
“then why didn’t you do anything?!” yeonjun impatiently hushes, a voice crack apparent, like it’s all starting to get to him.
“yeonjun,” taehyun warns through the machine. they meet eyes and taehyun raises his eyebrows with a stern head nod forward, his eyes widening slowly. yeonjun stammers out a couple of unfinished sentences while he glances back at soobin. he looks at him with subtle desperation, leading yeonjun to become quiet and nod, signaling for soobin to continue.
“did she ever tell you what actually happened?” soobin questions. this is something he’s wanted to know throughout these years and he finally has the guts to ask.
“yeah,” yeonjun replies nonchalantly. this is the only thing he’s believed after all. “she came by my house later that day to pick up her things she left. she revealed that you were the one she dumped me for and told me you liked her back.”
soobin laughs and tilts his head to the side, petty that this is what min has done. he didn’t know this, but it certainly makes sense that yeonjun could have believed it. he has to admit that the scene between them along with min’s lie, it could appear that way. though, it wasn’t.
“if i tell you what actually happened, would you let me finish?” soobin pleads. every single time he’s tried to explain himself yeonjun had been too upset to let him say his words. judging from yeonjun’s presence right now, it seems like he finally has a chance. yeonjun nods, gesturing his hand forward to indicate he’s listening.
“she did confess that she liked me, that’s true,” soobin starts off. yeonjun winces having to hear this again and he fights the urge to interrupt. “but i rejected her.”
yeonjun slowly brings his head up to face soobin, confusion taking over him. everyone in the room is ready to listen.
“she came up to me and told me she broke up with you. mind you, the whole time i was telling her that she should be talking to you and not me. she wouldn’t do that, told me the damage was already done. then when she asked if we could be together, i said no. i said i didn’t like her back, we weren’t close enough for me to even consider it. even still, i would say no. she got emotional when i told her that and asked for a hug as one last goodbye. i felt bad so i did, i hugged her because i rejected her. when she left the first thing i wanted to do was talk to you, that’s when you came up to me.”
soobin finishes off strong, getting as much of his truth out there. y/n starts to piece everything together and realizes that this story makes much more sense. the way yeonjun has described soobin to them made him sound like someone who didn't want yeonjun to have anything. now that they’re involved with soobin, they know he wouldn’t do anything like that. soobin has been through his own heartbreaks since then. he knows how it feels, why would he ever implicate something like that?
everyone awaits for yeonjun’s reaction, though it’s still not clear. yeonjun blank stares ahead of him and his eyes can be seen fluttering low as he takes this information in. he steadily stares back up at soobin and he’s met with honest eyes. yeonjun’s eyes trinkle with water and he can’t understand why. taehyun might say it’s because he’s finally realizing what the actual truth was and feels guilty for believing anything else this entire time. it’s caused him to lose his best friend and now that he’s here telling him what actually happened, it slaps him in the face. he feels terrible.
“i know you felt insecure before,” soobin breaks the silence while he still has yeonjun’s gaze set on his. his voice is nearly going to crack and soobin feels one rapid tear escape from his socket. yeonjun tries to hold back his, but unfortunately fails. his come out slower.
“but do you really think i would do something like that to you, yeonjun?”
it’s with those words that yeonjun breaks down crying, not bothering to hold back his tears any longer. everyone else is shocked, some of which have never seen him cry before. even taehyun is caught off guard, questioning if he should still play the unbiased straight man or if he should go in there and call this whole thing off. y/n pushes the box of tissues close to yeonjun, to which he grabs. soobin remains still, the only one to be unfazed by this. he always wanted to get a reaction out of yeonjun that wasn’t just rage, or coolness that he was used to when they were still friends. though he doesn't like to see him cry, it at least shows that he’s vulnerable.
“no,” yeonjun chokes into the tissue. he sniffs to regain his composure and barely manages to pull it off. “i wanted to see you as the bad guy. i was compared to you too much that i was almost mad at you. i guess when this happened i had the opportunity to do so and i took it, even if it was unfair. i was just upset.”
“i was compared to you too,” soobin replies as one more tear falls down his cheek. “it was annoying, yeah. but i never blamed you because i knew it wasn’t your fault. you were your own person, you couldn’t do anything about it. no matter how much you stood up for me and protected me, you couldn’t control how people viewed me or you. i was upset too, but never at you. no matter how much their words got to me i never questioned your character or even considered that you would do something wrong to me, because we were best friends. it hurt me that you did, yeonjun.”
“i know, and i’m sorry.”
soobin feels his breath hitch behind his throat. of all the conversations they’ve had it has never ended with yeonjun apologizing. everyone else can feel it too and are just as surprised.
“you were my best friend and i shouldn’t have assumed that you would betray me like that. i was in a place that i’ve never been in before and i didn’t know how to handle it, i only knew anger. then as time went on, i accepted our fate. it wasn’t until recently where i started questioning my actions and realized that i was in the wrong here. i can’t take back what i’ve said to you or what i’ve done, but i’m sorry soobin. i wish i never resulted to that and if i could take it back i would, i’m sorry.”
yeonjun finishes off and the two stare at each other a little longer. they feel a sense of relief take over them. soobin has been wanting to say his truth for so long and finally got to do it, the result being yeonjun believing him. yeonjun’s just been wanting to have an open mind and it finally got through him. though they can’t pick up where they left off, they can at least try to work at it. being in the same room has already been crossed off the list.
“now that i’m apologizing,” yeonjun picks himself back up to continue. he fixes his position so his body is facing his right, facing y/n. y/n feels the direction onto them and prepares themselves.
“i’m sorry for what i said at you too, y/n. i will admit i’ve felt a bit left out lately, you and kai have gotten closer and i felt that you weren’t telling me everything. then when…this happened the first thing i felt was to accuse you of keeping me in the dark on purpose. i thought about it, and yeah, i never told you guys who soobin was, even though i thought i did. you wouldn’t have known. i’m sorry for saying you have the memory of a goldfish and it won’t take you anywhere in life, that was completely messed up and i regret it. i’m just sorry for dragging you into this.”
y/n has managed to keep their emotions together but now that something has been directed at them, they’re starting to feel it. yeonjun looks at them with sincerity and regret and it’s apparent to y/n that he really means it. there’s a hint of fear in yeonjun’s eyes and y/n can tell. he doesn’t want to lose them. they are his best friend, losing one was enough but he can’t afford to lose another because of his foolish actions.
“i was thinking about this situation and i was upset too. being blamed for things i had nothing to do with isn’t exactly pleasing,” y/n confides in their feelings. yeonjun feels the guilt hit him and nods in agreement. he folds his hands together and slightly looks down, only y/n’s words could bring him back up again.
“but i can’t say i would react any better, if it were me. i was hurt when you said those things and i wasn’t sure if we could come back from that, even though i really wanted to. seeing you here it’s clear that you really mean it, so i forgive you.”
y/n’s words end sweetly while they exchange friendly glances, like things are finally normal again. yeonjun was worried it would be the end for them. y/n’s words manage to dry his tears and can only feel the dampness on his face, his cheeks to be stained pink. y/n feels like it’s their turn to disclose some things.
“you’re my best friend yeonjun. i wouldn’t want to replace you with anybody else. i’m sorry you felt like i was keeping things from you, but i swear i had no idea. this is all new to me and frankly, it was complicated. i only told kai because he was there when soobin and i met. i promise i was going to tell you and taehyun once things got more serious, i was just trying to figure out how. i just hope you two don’t think i was being secretive on purpose when i didn’t know anything.”
y/n explains their truth, carefully choosing their words as much as they can. though some of it was directed at yeonjun, it was also for soobin too. at the end of the day, both of them felt like y/n was keeping things from them on purpose. y/n can only hope they understand.
“call me jun, i miss hearing it.”
they maintain genuine eye contact and yeonjun accepts y/n’s explanation with soft words, feeling better than before. y/n feels the weight lifted from their shoulders, overwhelmed that they’re able to call their best friend with his nickname. that was one of the heartbreaks they experienced.
“i need to apologize too,” y/n and yeonjun break their stare as they hear a different voice speak up. y/n looks over and sees soobin looking at them intently. they know what this is about, so they continue to hear him out. yeonjun relaxes into his seat while he listens attentively, not aware of what this is regarding. for all he knows, he only left off on bad terms with soobin and y/n. hearing that soobin wants to apologize to y/n, he can imagine they had their quarrels too.
“like yeonjun said, i’m sorry that i assumed you had anything to do with this. i shouldn’t have blamed you when i asked you to disclose who yeonjun was. i shouldn’t have said you were lying to me. i guess i’ve just been through it enough with yun that this situation just brought up that memory again. it was still unfair for me to do that. i hate that i yelled at you, of all the people i could do that to i didn’t want to do it with you. i wish i could take it back.”
soobin scoots closer as if it’s just him and y/n in the room. he can see y/n wipe a tear away as they look at him with expectant eyes, wondering what else he’ll say. there’s only one last thing.
“but i’m especially sorry for calling you yun. i’ve reflected on it these past few days and i still can’t figure out why i did that. it was in the heat of the moment and i wish i never said it. i really mean it when i say i like you for you, not yun or anyone else. i can see that what i said contradicts that, but i swear i didn’t mean it. i’m just sorry for everything, y/n.”
soobin gulps slowly while waiting for any sign y/n could throw at him. a look of disgust could insinuate they want nothing to do with him ever again. a look of admiration could be that it’s water under the bridge, that they forgive him. y/n searches through soobin’s eyes and soobin does his best to maintain that contact and not break away. he wants to appear as honest as he actually feels.
“who’s yun?” yeonjun asks while glancing at each of them. y/n and soobin look at each other in slight panic, wondering if they should tell him since they’re dumping everything now. as if they’re connected, they both agree to wait til another time.
“we’ll tell you later.” yeonjun gives a small nod, for once not upset at the fact that he doesn’t know something. this experience really turned over a new leaf for him.
y/n gives a side smile, showcasing a dimple that soobin hasn’t seen before. was it always there or did he just never notice? his heart becomes warm just at the sight. y/n nods with acceptance as they lean back against their chair.
“i think we all said things we regret,” y/n comes to a conclusion with insight. “it’s clear we’re all sorry, so it should be left in the past.”
with every word, y/n continues to look at soobin and the two softly smile at each other. there’s room for a new beginning, and it seems like they’ll take it.
“so…are we good?” y/n hesitantly asks, glancing at the two boys in front of them. yeonjun and soobin exchange a glimpse of each other and show a small smile. yeonjun speaks in a tone that he never thought he’d ever express.
forgiveness.
“as good as we can be.”
a chaotic noise ensues and the trio look in front of them, realizing that kai is out of his seat while clapping eagerly. he radiates an emotional audience member after their idol has given an acceptance speech.
“that was beautiful,” he speaks into the voice box. they can’t tell if the quivers in his voice is from him actually crying or if he’s playing some kind of role. either way, it’s the comedic relief this room desperately needed.
“better than any movie i’ve ever seen,” beomgyu adds while munching on a bite of popcorn. sieun looks at her side and grabs the bag, meeting stares with the boy in confusion.
“when did you get popcorn?”
beomgyu smirks as he stares at the trio inside, nodding his head mischievously. “i have my ways.”
ignoring the side conversation next to him, taehyun fondly stares at y/n, soobin, and yeonjun and sends them a thumbs up, the most genuine admiration in his eyes. he was hoping they would work it out and they did. he couldn’t be more proud of them than he is right now, and the trio feels it.
y/n scoots their chair back as they stand up, each boy following their lead. they stand there awkwardly and exchange some lost glances until they look ahead again.
“so…what now?” y/n calls out to the group. they see that they’re sharing some looks of their own, probably not expecting this event to go this far. after some murmurs, kai yells that he’ll let them out, forgetting to use the voice box. still, the trio can tell what he meant to say.
kai heads over to the door as taehyun follows right behind him. they see the doorknob jiggle until it opens, kai showcasing a bright smile to greet them. the trio is about to step foot until they see kai get pushed in, his yelps being heard throughout the room. the door closes shut yet again, the sound of the lock tying it together. taehyun heads back to join beomgyu and sieun and kai sends them a bewildered gaze.
“i think there’s more that needs to be said,” taehyun states as he nods towards yeonjun. they each look at him and yeonjun knows what he has to do as well.
the boy walks closer to kai as y/n and soobin move towards the opposite direction, giving them enough space. kai knows yeonjun is about to speak to him, but he’s still lost as to what. he was only convinced that it would be just them three who was doing the confronting.
“kai,” yeonjun talks lowly and kai’s expression softens. “i’m sorry for what i said to you that night. as you can tell, i was really upset. i used the situation at hand and took my frustrations out on you. just like y/n, i assumed you had something to do with it and that you were keeping secrets too. you’re not a suck up. the truth is, i was slightly jealous that y/n was spending their time with you. i shouldn’t have accused you of leaving me out on purpose, i know those were just mistakes. i shouldn’t have said you were taking y/n away from me. i shouldn’t have blamed you kai, you’re more than welcome to be in this group. i’m sorry.”
kai becomes speechless at yeonjun’s apology. in all honesty, he forgot that he was yelled at too. he’s been focused this entire time on saving the trio’s relationships that he didn’t realize he needed to be apologized to as well. he’s a bit flustered, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. yeonjun knows how kai can get, so he doesn’t take offense. he finds it quite endearing actually.
“don’t worry about it yeonjun,” kai replies almost breathless, a wholesome grin on his face. it doesn’t take long for him to forgive someone. “i just hope you know that you mean just as much to y/n like the rest of us do, if not even more. you still have your spot!”
yeonjun chuckles and looks back at y/n, being faced with an agreeing smile. he looks down at the ground momentarily before his own smile forms and looks back at kai. “i know.”
taehyun feels satisfied with that being resolved and walks over to the door to let everyone out all at once. what he doesn’t know is beomgyu is right behind him, ready to push him inside like the others. taehyun realizes this once he’s thrown in with everyone else, the famous door lock being heard again. he stares at beomgyu with fierce eyes. beomgyu can only return a dramatic wink.
“i’m sorry too, taehyun,” the boy whips back behind him when he hears his name, seeing that yeonjun is talking to him. for once, he’s a bit caught off guard as he’s not expecting an apology either. “i know i gave you the silent treatment after this all happened and that was mean, you didn’t deserve it. i also shouldn’t get petty not being able to call you by your nickname, i know y/n can have their thing with each of us too.”
taehyun is quite pleased hearing yeonjun’s words, finding him to come across mature. he nods at yeonjun acceptingly, finding that this doesn’t need words. they feel satisfied and taehyun looks over at beomgyu and sieun, gesturing that they’re all ready to leave and that they should open the door. the two get the signal and they walk over, as does taehyun. the door unlocks and beomgyu and sieun expect everyone to walk out, only to be dragged in by taehyun with their arms, earning a couple squeals from each of them.
now that they’re in the room, they wonder what else there could be. everyone else is confused, except for soobin. after seeing each of them dragged in one by one earning an apology, he knew he had another one to give too. soobin gives a couple steps towards the pair and they feel the attention being brought on them.
“hey guys,” soobin drags out in embarrassment. “i took out my frustrations on you and it wasn’t fair. i shouldn’t have said i wouldn’t be surprised if you guys lied to me, i know you wouldn’t. you were just trying to help me and i should’ve seen that. i was a total dick to you both and you didn’t deserve it, i’m sorry.”
if she was going to be honest, sieun expected to hear this. unlike beomgyu, she was more understanding of soobin’s behavior so she’s quick to forgive him for it. beomgyu, who was more hurt by soobin, appreciates this more than anyone else. he reaches out for soobin’s hand to which soobin returns, doing their friendship handshake before they pull in for a hug. everyone can’t help but be delighted. they pull apart and beomgyu moves to the middle, ready to announce.
“so are we all good enough to have dinner together?” he speaks to everyone, still in his carefree manner but deeply nervous that they’ll say no. “we were robbed of eating at that italian place.”
the room feels light again and everyone shares a laugh together, each saying some agreeing words. beomgyu’s elated and they all collectively agree to walk out, ready to share a meal together. each of them walk out one by one and as everyone slowly leaves the interrogation room, soobin and y/n fall behind. yeonjun is the last to walk out and sees the two still in their place and looks at them both.
“we’ll catch up,” y/n sends their friend a reassuring gaze. yeonjun glances at soobin and the two share a smile before yeonjun nods and leaves the room.
after the door closes y/n moves in front of soobin so that they're facing each other. they’ve been through a lot lately and today was certainly a day. although they’re on good terms again, they can’t help but wonder where things will go for them. they were dating, yes, but they never exactly broke up.
“so…what happens with us?” soobin feels the need to ask. he’s not exactly worried, the fact that he and y/n resolved things satisfies him enough. he just wants to be in their life, regardless of the title.
“well,” y/n steps a little closer and they’re both in each other’s space. they look up at the boy with big eyes. “do you still like me?”
“yeah, i do,” soobin confirms with a dimpled smile, the one y/n has been wanting to see. “and i missed you.”
that eases y/n’s heart after having the roughest night yesterday. looking through their texts, wondering if soobin still missed him like he said he’d never stop doing.
“i missed you too,” they reply honestly and add another thing more slyly. “and i still like you too.”
soobin lets out a squeaky laugh, one that y/n has never heard before but they love it so much. “so what do we do now?”
y/n contemplates on the spot. though things are well now, they shouldn’t rush into anything. they both need to adjust to these circumstances, after all, soobin and yeonjun have just barely made up. y/n considers yeonjun’s feelings and feels like he needs to get used to this too. everyone needs to feel comfortable.
“i think we should take it slow,” y/n offers carefully, looking at soobin to make sure he seems to be on board. “we both like each other, that’s enough. i think we should take it one step at a time.”
soobin reaches down for y/n’s hands as he intertwines them. y/n closes their lips together in hopes that he’s in agreement.
“sounds good to me.”
soobin and y/n begin to head to the door, y/n shutting off the lights as soobin opens the door, and the pair walk out together feeling lighter than they ever have.
…
please do not translate, modify or repost on other platforms.
© fairybinie
#🪐 — soobin!#🐇 — fairybinie!#kflixnet#k-radio!#k-labels#k vanity#txt smau#txt au#txt fake text#txt fluff#txt angst#txt crack#txt imagines#txt scenarios#txt social media au#soobin scenarios#soobin smau#soobin imagines#soobin social media au#txt fics#soobin fics
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the element of fire plays a big role in YeQing's relationship.
for starters, let's examine the "answer" ZGQ divined for himself on Longhu-shan:
(manhua ch. 108; see also LA s1, ep. 13 & donghua s2, ep. 9)
飞蛾扑火 / the moth throws itself upon a flame. this idiom describes a self-destructive kind of conduct, where a person knowingly brings about their own doom. it represents, in other words, both a fatal and fated attraction.
from ZGQ's pov, it was—of course—laying his life on the line to comprehend one of the Eight Supremes:
(LA s1, ep. 13; see also manhua ch. 109 & donghua s2, ep. 10)
from WY's pov, it was befriending ZGQ despite knowing he harbors other intentions:
(LA s1, ep. 23; see also manhua ch. 191 & donghua s3, ep. 5)
as such, i'm not the biggest fan of how Youku tl'ed the line as "a meaningless struggle." because neither of their choices were meaningless. both of them were acting as Zhuge Liang had: 明知天理在 但是逆大势而行 / despite knowing full well that divine order and destiny exist, behaving in a manner that opposes the momentum of the times.
indeed, it could be argued that associating with each other was not in anyone's best interest. WY even remarks in Biyou Village:
"In truth, originally I could've not defeated you... No! Rather, it should be said that originally I could've not become acquainted with a scoundrel like you..." (manhua ch. 222; see also donghua s4, ep. 4)
which is what makes their relationship even more special. they were never supposed to meet—yet their meeting was inevitable. they are equals; they abide by the same principles, even if their methods are not always the same.
in the live-action adaptation in particular, 飞蛾扑火 is a lyric in 《戎断反应》, which is the song most associated with ZLH/XH (and also FSY/JZL in s1, ep. 17).
(LA s1, ep. 6)
so... make of that parallel what you will. (this is far from the only time YeQing are directly juxtaposed with other canon couples, but i'm specifically referring to the nature and context of ZLH/XH's "forbidden" relationship more than anything else.)
the element of fire also marks the progression of YeQing's relationship in other ways.
in the Longhu-shan arena, ZGQ launches a ball of fire at WY with 赤炼......
(LA s1, ep. 13; see also manhua ch. 108 & donghua s2, ep. 9)
...which is, strangely enough, the exact same spell ZGQ uses during Biyou Village arc to force WY out of danger:
(donghua s4, ep. 5; see also manhua ch. 228)
so the imagery of ZGQ and WY always being separated by [a wall of] fire is really striking to me.
significantly, fire is also the dominant element of the Zhuge family's ultimate skill, 三昧真火 / True Fire of Samadhi, which ZGQ was never able to master until he triumphed over his 心魔 (WY & the Feng-hou Qimen he possesses):
(manhua ch. 311)
so, fire has always stood in-between these two in some way. but, like moth to a flame, they will always find their way back to each other.
(i definitely think that's the direction the manhua is currently developing in at least, esp. given that ZGQ has now found peace with himself and how he regards WY.)
furthermore, in 五行 / five elements, fire signifies a pinnacle (i.e., combustion), with a decline sure to follow. pretty neat, then, that in the donghua s2 opening 《无涯》 / Limitless, WY and ZGQ are matched with the lyrics 缘起缘灭 / fate begins, fate extinguishes:
by 五行 standards, fire is also associated with the organ: heart. given that WY is ZGQ's 心魔 / lit. heart's demon, and also that (in WYLR's words) they've 推心置腹 / lit. given their heart into the other's keeping, i think that really is just more than fitting.
and—finally—fire is related to alchemy. to tempering, to refinement, and to permanent transformation. hence:
Zhuge Qing: unrestrained as the winds, ardent as a wildfire.
Wang Ye is melting.
He’ll never be able to go back. (from 青春归你 | my youth and yours)
YeQing inevitably altered the course of each other's lives. (but that's for a separate post～)
#yeqing#cdrama ramblings#异人之下#i am nobody#一人之下#hitori no shita#i have too many tags for this IP i need to condense#if u made it this far thanks for reading u are a champ
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Yandere romantic concepts for Legoshi from Beastars? I'm surprised this wasn't requested yet lmao
Honestly, same. Now, I'm a bit rusty with Beastars so I apologize if he's OOC. Here you go! You're both animals but I kept it vague.
Yandere! Legoshi/Legosi Concept
Pairing: Romantic
Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Stalking, Obsession, Brief mentions of jealousy, Slightly clingy behavior, Slight delusional behavior, Violence, Overprotective behavior, Blood, Dubious relationship, Mentions of being feral, Implied murder, He doesn't mean to be scary.
Legoshi falls into the category of yandere that could be terrifying, just tries not to.
He's a wolf and by nature he can be intimidating.
Although Legoshi does everything in his power to appear less intimidating to everyone including his darling.
For the most part Legoshi is awkward and nervous around the idea of a crush.
Essentially how he acts when in love would be comparable to how he feels for Haru in the show and manga.
He's awkward and new to his feelings and vows to do his best to protect you.
Legoshi is capable of doing harm but he limits it to when you and/or him are in danger.
The wolf would never harm his darling, carnivore or herbivore....
He'd rather die than have to live with the fact he hurt you.
Legoshi is Obsessive, Caring, Overprotective, Impulsive, Patient, and Intimidating at times.
For the most part he's awkward and out of the way.
He isn't a very confrontational yandere, reclusive or his more social arc, which is partly what makes him safe compared to others.
He's also relatively down-to-earth and isn't usually delusional.
Legoshi truly is an obedient yandere who listens to his darling.
For a wolf he can be submissive to his beloved.
Legoshi usually likes to stay out of the way and watch his darling.
He likes to see you smile and speak with friends.
There's times he gets jealous but he usually isn't too aggressive about it.
He does like being included in what you are doing, however.
Legoshi is incredibly happy when he finally befriends his crush.
He was scared he'd scare you off due to being a wolf.
Yet you aren't, not by much at least if you are.
You've heard from others Legoshi is a kind and polite wolf which allows you to warm up to him.
Legoshi is definitely a yandere who reacts to compliments and praises from his darling.
The wolf is startled and awkward at first but soon accepts it.
His face never stops feeling heated and his tail is wagging after that.
Speaking of which, the wolf's tail gives away how he feels about you.
It's always wagging when he sees you and you can also notice his ears perk up when you're around.
Legoshi is obsessive over you and it's mostly due to the fact he overthinks.
Legoshi finds his mind and thoughts drifting to you throughout the day.
Which leads to embarrassment as now others are asking why his tail is wagging so much.
Legoshi would be a lovestruck yandere who's mostly innocent with his obsession.
He thinks of his crush on you as innocent and normal even when he follows you around at a distance at times.
It's not like he wants to hurt anyone over you, intentionally at least
Legoshi is caring towards his darling.
He truly tries not to be intimidating around you and shows he adores you.
Even when he eventually tries to make a relationship work he's more caring and loving than ever.
Legoshi wants nothing more than to make his darling happy.
He'll provide for you, stay around to comfort you, protect you... he wants everything to do with you.
He'd plan out a vague guideline of your future but it ends up being trashed multiple times due to how hectic his life is.
Legoshi isn't usually possessive in the beginning.
As a carnivore he has his moments, especially towards an herbivore! darling, yet for the most part he's just protective.
As a result he's almost never seen too far from you and often obsessively asks how you're doing.
He is not the most devious Beastars yandere.
Due to his nature he isn't very intense.
Legoshi may accidentally scare you at times but he desperately tries to have you forgive him.
Any forceful gesture is most of the time on accident.
He forgets his own strength at times.
Legoshi doesn't mind getting messy if it means saving you.
For Haru in the show, Legoshi would get his fur covered in blood.
The same goes for his darling.
Legoshi can go feral if your're threatened.
Biting, clawing... you name it.
He's more of a protective wolf compared to how I write Juno (a possessive wolf).
If he scares you then he tries his best to comfort you.
Even if he did lose control and did something violent out of jealousy or anything similar... he vows he'd never hurt you.
He just hates the smell of others on you. He just wants to keep you safe, that's all!
Legoshi is impulsive and doesn't think things through all the time.
This can happen when he fully relies on instincts around you or messes up an attempt at getting you to date him for some examples.
He gets a bit too eager at times.
Despite his inner instincts howling at Legoshi to just take you for himself, he tries to be a patient wolf.
He'd wait forever for the chance to have you.
Any sort of possessive behavior from Legoshi is caused by his more feral instincts.
The smell of his darling makes him yearn for you.
This makes him a bit more determined to date you, based on the type of yandere he is, you most likely will accept without much fuss.
Legoshi would never kidnap.
Murder is only done if it is a life or death situation.
Legoshi fights to protect you, deep down that's truly all he wants for his beloved darling. To protect and care for you.
It's when his instincts bubble up that his intentions turn much darker.
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ROUND 2C, MATCH 6 OUT OF 8!
Propaganda Under the Cut:
Persona 5:
[Mod's Note: Warning for Persona 5 spoilers]
Her Persona is Cinderella. Her story is about disguising herself as another person to gain acceptance.
Her persona is Cendrillon, the French name for Cinderella and the name of an opera based on the story, and it mirrors her arc in the game. When you boil her down to the essentials, she essentially made a wish that was granted by her....... fairy godtherapist to go from pauper (bland and talentless depressed Sumire) to princess (her dead sister Kasumi, bubbly, personable star gymnast). As far as she sees it, even, it's this transformation that helps her 'get the prince' (read: befriend the protagonist). Why should she win, though? Umm because she's my baby my angel my sweetie my cherub specialist character in fiction and most important girl in the universe. Out of love in your heart for me, tumblr user [REDACTED], vote for her.
GOD I LOVE HER SO MUCH ok ok ok everyone here's my autism. Major spoilers as you get closer to the end btw! - She has three personas, in order they go: Cendrion, Vanadis, Ella. The first and last are taken from Cinderella, with Cendrion being the german name for Cinderella, and of course Ella just being a shortened form of Cinderella. - She does gymnastics, although a lot of her phantom thief design is heavily based off of ballet as well! In particular the black swan mimicking the white swan, and while of course that's not cinderella, it does remind me of how Cinderella was treated in the beginnings of the story - Cinderella and her both have major sibling trauma! It's a huge point about her character. Major spoilers, but she pretends to be her older sister Kasumi for most of the game; the sad truth is that she's in fact the younger sister Sumire. She's pretending to be her older sister because she can't deal with the trauma of that day she ran out into traffic and her sister got hit instead of her. (It does not help that her therapist uses eldritch god powers to gaslight her into thinking she is her sister.) - They're both pretty and also I love sumi so much she's everything to me. unironically the character of all time NOT FOR PROPAGANDA but for mod: image because it can be awkward to find one: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/UyOsg26GnZU/maxresdefault.jpg also!!!! if you're interested in not potentially spoiling people you should call her Kasumi Yoshizawa. If you aren't worried about that though and want to be accurate, Sumire Yoshizawa is better. Or just call her Violet because that's her codename!
Initially introduced as Kasumi, she is a dorky and sweet first-year student who looks up to the protagonist as a mentor and eventually joins the Phantom Thieves in figuring out the fake reality they're trapped in. However, it's revealed that she's actually Kasumi's sister Sumire, who was always stuck in her more talented sister's shadow and yearned to be Kasumi. Unfortunately, she got her wish when her sister died saving her and her therapist brainwashed her into believing herself to be Kasumi. With help from the protagonist, Sumire realizes she was holding herself back and breaks free from her false identity, embracing her true self and rebelling against the hollow utopia. Her initial Persona--an embodiment of her true self--is Cendrillon, and her third tier ultimate Persona is Ella.
Sumire dosen't just pretends to be her dead sister, she was brainwashed into believing to be her by the final act's main villain/her fairy godfather figure, because that was her (misguided by trauma) wish as she believed that her sister was better than her. The final acts has a lot of 'making wishes come true' theme that connects her to Cinderella even more, also she does have a bit of 'save by the prince' thing going on with the game's protagonist
Cinderella:
her own movie screwed her over so bad so i need her to win at least one thing in her life ☹️ avoiding spoilers but once upon a crime cinderella is so kind and hardworking (and a hopeless romantic aww) and like damn let a girl fight back !!!!
#cinderpoll#round 2#round 2c#persona 5#persona 5 royal#sumi yoshizawa#violet#cendrillon#cinderella#once upon a crime#once upon a crime 2023#fairytale#poll tournament#poll bracket#character polls#polls
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Hunter x Hunter + Pokemon, let's go!
Like I mentioned earlier, this is the brainchild of my friend, @doodle-storm, who has completed only the Hunter Exam and Zoldyck Family arcs but knows a lot about Pokemon, with me, who knows all of HxH but barely anything of Pokemon, giving occasional suggestions. Enjoy!
We decided to do three Pokemon for the main five and only one for each of the more minor characters. I'll break it up into parts. My friend's thoughts are in green, and mine in purple.
Gon:
Togepi - "Because he's a cute egg boy! And he's filled with joy and happiness and they share it with kind people." "Aww. The spikes look like his hair too!" "Oh yeah! Also they tend to start to act like their trainers, so I can see them kind of jumping into things together."
Ursaluna - I told her a bit about Kon, who was sadly not in the beginning as he was in the manga. "He's a foxbear." "Ooh. Well, there aren't any foxbears, but there are bears..." "Maybe one that looks intimidating? Just because that's funny, and also Kon wasn't supposed to be... befriendable." "Right. Then there's Ursaring, but there's also this one, which looks more intimidating."
Wooper - "I feel like he needs a water type, you know, because of his fishing pole?" She was debating on Wooper and a few others for a bit. "...it looks holdable." "...you're right, it does. Okay, that's cute."
Killua:
Absol - "He needs dark types, I think..." She catches me looking at Absol. "Oh, right, Absol's your favourite, isn't it?" "Yeah." "I think that works. Absol shows up when there's a disaster, but it's to warn people. It's kind of misunderstood."
Sneasel - It was Lucario for a time, but she switched it at the end. "It's got the claws... also it can ride on his skateboard with him."
Alolan Raichu - "It is very important that his pokemon be able to ride on his skateboard with him. ...or!!! It could surf right next to him!"
Kurapika:
Gallade - "Oh, that looks right." "Right? It even has the red eyes, and it's a fighting type."
Cubone - "Hey, wasn't there a pokemon that... lost its family or something?" "...Cubone???" "That's it." "...yeah it wears its mother's skull." "...sorry."
Corviknight - "It also has red eyes." "He seems like he'd have a bird too." "Yeah. Also, you could give the Phantom Troupe a Tinkaton." "..." "...they attack Corviknights with rocks and hammers." "...why?" "Just for fun, I think." "...you're kind of evil for this."
Leorio:
Audino - "There aren't that many medic pokemon and they're all kind of too adorable I think?" "Oh but that would be kind of funny if he hid it behind his back or something." "That's true!"
Gimmighoul - "He needs his money. It's a little ghost!" "...oh. That's kind of sad actually." "?" "He only started really wanting money after he couldn't save his friend so... having the money pokemon be a ghost type is kind of..." We both became sad.
Stoutland - "It warms up to people really quickly and is loyal. And it has a moustache to improve its social standing!" "Hey, Leorio's always wearing a suit probably for similar reasons." (Also I insisted after seeing it was called the Big-Hearted pokemon, though I couldn't elaborate on why to my friend.)
Hisoka:
Hypno - "It led a child into the woods. Canonically. A small child." "Ah." "Like there is no doubt that was a child." "...checks out."
Meowscarada - "I want to give him the evolved weed cat. Something about its smug face." "...'looks like this man's arms have turned into flower petals'..." "Also, since it's a grass type, it'd be strong against Gon's team." "You want our boy to be weak to Hisoka???" "Well, at first! Then it's more satisfying when he beats him!"
Gengar - "Look at that face. That grin." She said nothing more. It had already been decided.
#this is part 1 - i'll mark down all the other characters later#hey friend! if you want to add any extra reasoning to this or if I forgot something please just reblog and add whatever#my rough attempt at transcribing our rambles#we spent hours doing this. or rather she did. please appreciate my friend's hard work#storyrambles#hxh#hunter x hunter#pokemon
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