#queendom puzzle problems

[seokmattchuus]

Mnet stays picking ugly ass names

#dumb fuck ted talk #I refuse to believe a random ass person came up with that shit #i just know mnet had that stashed away and knew they'd get shit on if they said they came up with it #normalize giving temporary groups GOOD names #queendom puzzle #queendom puzzle problems

[twstjam]

Memory Lane Part 2: Faded Scars

Characters focused on: King of Beasts!Leona Kingscholar & GN!Reader

Word count: 2.2k

Summary: You're an innocent isekai victim... until you accidentally step on a cranky lion's tail.

Or: You wander into another world and meet reincarnations of cartoon villains (who were REAL and also your friends in a past life). Leona-centric chapter.

Masterlist

AO3 Link

The Queen of Hearts, the King of Beasts, the Sea Witch, the Tactician of the Sands, the Fairest Queen, the Ruler of the Underworld, and the Thorn Fairy.

Together, they're known as the Great Seven.

Or at least, that's what Ace had told you... right before him and Grim got collared for burning the Queen of Hearts's statue and you got arrested into having tea time with his boss.

Now, you're told that Riddle was the Queen of Hearts in a past life. According to him, her powers and memories had been passed down the previous rulers of the Queendom of Roses and that he was the current inheritor, thus making him the current ruler of the kingdom (queendom?).

Or at least, that's what you got from his long-winded spiel. He had explained it with a sort of manic, frantic look in his eyes that made you fear he might actually behead you after all, which then died down into a sort of defeated acceptance when you only nodded and smiled at his rambling. The disappointment on his face made that fresh feeling of unexplained belonging twist in your chest, but what in the world were you supposed to say to all that?

Oh that's so cool that you have the memories and powers of a controlling, temperamental tyrant! Based on how you're so uptight and everybody shivers at the sound of your name I'm sure it didn't affect you negatively in any way! Let's totally be friends like we used to be in a past life! Sure, why not! ?

That was another thing you can't quite wrap your head around. He knew you? In a past life? Or at least, the Queen of Hearts did? And you were some sort of "Beast Tamer" that was the only person that the Great Seven listened to?

Oh yeah, as it turns out, Riddle isn't the only one with the memories and powers of an evil fairytale villain. There are others like him, and apparently one of them was here at the Castle of Roses.

"This is a very puzzling situation," Riddle had sighed as you stuffed your face with more desserts in an effort to drown out how much of a stranger you suddenly felt in your own body. The queen sitting across from you had his brow tightly knitted in an intense expression, deep in thought. "I can sense that your essence is theirs, just like all the others, so you should be able to remember. For the past hundreds of years, we've never had a problem like this before. Everyone's always been able to access their past memories just fine..."

He had trailed off and you paused in the middle of taking a bite out of another cupcake (why are these desserts so good?!) at the sudden silence. His gaze was still really far away, as if he was watching an intense drama unfold instead of the untouched strawberry tart in front of him.

He blinks and suddenly he's back to fairytale earth. The crease in his brow disappears as he looks back up at you and you can practically see the light bulb go off above his head.

"Maybe... we can use something to jog your memory."

That's how you're here, standing in the sweet-smelling garden and face-to-face with another thing in this world that wants to kill you.

If you really were a "beast tamer" in a past life, you must've really sucked at it. Or maybe you just didn't inherit the beast-taming abilities like you didn't inherit the memories, which was just your luck.

You don't really believe anything that Riddle had said about you being some sort influential figure like the Seven (except for what he said about your past self having a knack for getting into danger, which you don't doubt a single bit) but right now, as you're staring down a cranky lion man, you really hope he was somewhat right.

"You've got some nerve stepping on my tail and just walking away," the man/lion/furry growls. His mussed dark hair falls over his eyes messily, but you're still able to spot a scar over his left eye. On top of his head are a pair of furry ears, stiffly folded back in irritation. When he talks, you catch a glimpse of inhuman canines in his mouth. "Ain't nothin' worse than bein' in the middle of a nap and havin' some jerk step on your tail."

"As we might have it, the inheritor of the King of Beasts is here at this very castle." you recall Riddle saying, followed by an irritated sigh. "Not that I have any idea where he is... he's always slacking off who-knows-where and has his retainers running around doing chores for him. We must find him. I'll have some of my card soldiers looking as well. He's hard to miss: he's a lion beastman with dark hair and a scar on his eye."

Ears, tail, a head of luscious dark locks, and a scar...

You hadn't put it together before, but in hindsight, you really should've been able to figure it out before you stepped on Scar from the Lion King 's tail. Not that it'd have increased your chances of survival.

"Sorry—! Um, your majesty...?" He was a king, right? But— Wait, Scar wasn't the king in the movie. That was literally the whole plot... you think. You can't really remember. Even if you did, that knowledge would only be useful if the fairytales you knew actually did align with the history of this world. Wait... the Lion King isn't a fairytale! …Or is it?

The lion man is still glaring at you. You pull your mind back into the moment and try to instead think of ways to not get eaten.

...Would it count as cannibalism? Agh, question for another time!

"I wouldn't know anything about having a tail but uh, I'm sure it's not fun to get it stepped on," you stammer with a forced polite smile that you hope looks apologetic, or at least pathetic enough that he'd consider you not worth snacking on. "I'm really, really sorry. I really didn't mean to disturb your nap! But it's actually good that you're awake. The queen's looking for you, soooo..."

"Hey." You flinch at his sharp tone and your back springs up straight. Your blood turns cold with fear as you feel him examine you closely before he speaks again, "Look at me when I'm talkin' to you."

You're not eager to get up-close and personal with his sharp-looking teeth, so you do the smart thing and look up.

His eyes are green (just like the cartoon lion) with slitted pupils, like a cat's. Having never seen such a thing on a human face before, you find yourself transfixed... and then blinded.

The lion man's eyes go wide before he blinks and they suddenly start glowing a bright yellow. You squint your eyes against the light but you don't look away.

The same thing had happened with Riddle earlier when you met him. You hadn't been looking as closely then as you were too busy trying to control your erratic heart rate, but it's hard to miss when someone's eyes change from grey to red.

Just like Riddle's did, the glow in the lion man's eyes fade as suddenly as they had appeared and you're looking at a pair of green eyes again. You think his pupils go round (just like a cat's do!) but you don't have time to be sure as you're suddenly being shoved under an arm and against a hard chest as the lion man throws his head back with a loud laugh.

"Of all the herbivores!" he exclaims boisterously, a stark contrast to his drowsy anger earlier. He practically squeezes the breath out of you and you wheeze weakly.

As you're suffocated to death, your life flashes before your eyes. You see green eyes, dark hair, a scar… Wait, this just happened, didn't it?

There's a lion in front of you. A massive, full-grown lion with a mane of dark hair and a conniving smirk. For whatever reason, you don't run, and that proves to be a mistake when the lion suddenly climbs into your lap and curls up on top of you even as you scream and shove at him. You feel his chest rumble with a laugh when you give up struggling and flop back defeatedly.

You blink and your vision focuses back on a man lion instead of an actual one. The one that was actually holding you down and under an arm instead of a massive furry body. There's a very obvious difference, but you swear the smirk on his face is the exact same, eyes, scar, canines and all.

"Finally decided to show your face, huh?" the lion man chides. You only keep staring at him. You can't move even though you want to. Like with Riddle, your body suddenly feels like it has a mind of its own and your actual mind is telling you things that don't make sense but feel like they should .

The silence between the two of you turn awkward when you continue to let yourself be dragged around like a limp doll. The lion man's expression shifts drastically from a friendly one to one of shock and you almost fall on your butt when he suddenly pushes you away.

"Ugh, I hate it when that happens…" he growls. He's turned away from you, but it's obvious from the sound of his voice that he isn't only exasperated but also embarrassed.

That makes two of you.

"I don't know what that was but I do know it was super weird," you say with a shrug. Lion Man whirls around to level you with another glare, but unlike earlier, you don't flinch. You know he's not going to pounce. Not actually.

"That never happened," he snarls. He steps into your space and you can feel his hostility, but all it does is make you defiant (You mourn the loss of your self-preservation instincts, but hey, at least you're not trembling like a newborn kitten). Lion Man points his index finger at your chest and you can feel his claw-like nails through your shirt. "We're not friends , alright? Just 'cause you used to be chummy with Scar, doesn't mean we're going to be all buddy-buddy, got it?"

He aggressively jabs your chest at each emphasis and you almost stumble off your feet. You mirror his glare and shove his hand away by the wrist.

"You don't have to get your fur all fluffed up," you scoff and a low growl rises in his throat, but you're not dissuaded. "It's not like I want to be pals with you either."

"Great," Lion Man huffs, turning away. "I'm in a bad mood on account of bein' woken up from my nap, so unless you feel like losing a tooth, scram."

You're just about to bite back your assent when a voice suddenly calls back from across the garden.

"Leonaaaa!"

Lion Man curses under his breath. You hear footsteps approach the two of you, and a scruffy-looking man (? He's so small and scrawny that he could be a boy for all you knew.) appears down the path. He has animal ears and a tail too, but his ears are bigger and fluffier and so is his tail.

If Lion Man is supposed to be Scar, then could this guy be a hyena?

"Leona! There you are!" he says with a wide, relieved grin. You'd assumed he was one of the card soldiers, but with a closer look, you realise he isn't at all dressed like one. "I knew I'd find you here."

"Ugh, and now I've got this guy on my tail..." Leona groans, turning his irritation onto the new stranger now. "What is it, Ruggie?"

"Riddle's lookin' for ya," the hyena boy—Ruggie—replies without missing a beat despite the deadly glare trained on him. "Says it's important inheritor business. He's even got the guards looking."

"Inheritor business, huh." Leona's ears rise at that and he glances at you over his shoulder. "Wonder what about."

"Beats me." Ruggie shrugs as he crosses his hands behind his head. "But you should probably go see him before he boils over."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm on it," Leona says gruffly as he stretches out his back and limbs. "I don't feel like gettin' collared today. I'll go see what he wants."

Before he leaves though, he turns to you, but instead of looking angry, he looks thoughtful this time. Riddle had had a similar expression earlier, where it seemed as if he was looking at something that wasn't actually there. Not in the present at least.

"I'm guessin' you're comin', huh," Leona sighs, sounding put-upon, and walks past Ruggie towards the end of the garden. He waves a dismissive hand in the air as he says, "Just remember what I said. I'm not waitin' up for you, and don't expect me to."

You roll your eyes at his back before walking after him with Ruggie tailing behind you (probably to make sure Leona actually makes it to Riddle). Leona is far ahead at this point so you could be wrong, but you think you catch the quietest little chuckle from him.

#twisted wonderland #Twst #leona kingscholar #twisted wonderland au #twst au #twst reader insert #memory lane by me #Memory Lane Part 2 #matcha writes a bit

[keep-ler]

What I hope RU Next can achieve is a somewhat healthier attitude towards girls and women in survival shows. Idk but watching GP999, QD2, BP and now QD Puzzle really puts into perspective how both producers and fans are so quick to demonize every girl who breathes in the wrong direction while only bringing up the positives when it comes to guys.

Part of why boys planet was so fun to me personally was that you really got to see everyone becoming friends. Yes there was evil editing, but even then fans had way more sympathy for the guys who got edited poorly, when earlier they took what mnet had to say about the girls at face value. Everyone talks about the friendships in boys planet, but friendships in girls planet and queendom got mostly ignored in favor of fanwars even when the trainees themselves talked about how close they had gotten. “Attitude” seems to only be a huge problem when it comes to girls. Like remember the Woonggi/Phanbin banter? Obviously that was super light hearted and fun, but can you imagine the reaction if two girls said stuff like that? They would’ve been called rude, bullies, probably would never have their debut supported. Why do we only judge girls so harshly?

Since the girls on RU Next are, from my understanding, all hybe trainees, it’s in hybe’s best interests to not create a bad image for any of their potential future idols. That’s why I have some faith that the editing, and by extension the fans, will be kinder to these girls. I have my problems with the show (a 12 yr old seriously??) but in regards to how girls on survival shows are viewed, maybe things can improve. If this show sets a precedent, we could hope to see less pitting women against each other in kpop. Hopefully this will not just be a hybe privilege, but can extend to how survival shows are handled in general.

In conclusion, give me more friendships! I know that some of these girls will grow close, so let’s stop pretending they all secretly hate each other. Again, both the producers and fans have a responsibility to not put down other women just to lift up the girls they like.

#r u next? #ru next? #runext? #hybe #belift #gp999 #boys planet #mnet queendom

[mygirljunhee]

Crazy how someone would use Queendom Puzzle as an excuse for voting in Build Up when:

Kei: back to musical theater with her Yoon Sang produced solo album - announced in December 2022 - nowhere to be seen. (I actively voted for her. I regret it. Give me that album)

Yeoreum: unemployed

Yuki: last release was a rushed single made with a Queendom Puzzle set, $2 and a dream.

Yeeun: about to start collecting unemployment.

Yeonhee: this is a Woollim problem let's just burn down Woollim.

Nana: also unemployed, but maybe for not much longer.

Hwiseo: doing fine! but to be expected given Rose Blossom's success

3 out of 7 girls are collecting and Kei might as well be where is that album? The other 3 got rushed releases (two being singles) all in August/September before EL7Z Up's debut.

So I'm not super thrilled for anyone competing in these survival shows.

#like I watched Queendom Puzzle - most of it at least #it literally did nothing for everyone #I'm a fool and thought they'd actually have a global tour like they announced #Because I'd sacrifice literally any of you & your fave idols to hear Kei sing live #addy.txt

[neoninky]

TWST Fanfic "Her Lost Voice": Chapter 14

Inky's Links: AO3: Masterlist: Third Story Decided! (Coming Soon)

Chapter 14: Wish I Could Be

"Hi Azul...c-can we talk?"

Elise felt every nerve in her body vibrate with anticipation as Azul gently floated down to the sand and when the light made his silvery hair shine as he drew close. She was surprised her tentacles didn't braid themselves together at the sound of his voice.

"What's on your mind, Elise?" Azul's voice seemed a bit heavier than normal but the male octopus retained his usual polished smile. She laughed a bit at the question. 

"Oh well, many things. I hope you don't mind?" when Azul silently rested on his tentacles in front of her with a grin, she continued, "Azul, a lot has happened this summer and a lot is still going to happen very soon. And honestly, I'm very...very scared."

The tremor in her voice caused one of Azul's tentacles to gently wrap around hers once again. The only difference was that Azul did it on purpose this time. He didn't speak, only waited and listened patiently for her to explain. 

"I appreciate everything you, Jade, and Floyd have done for me," her smile was soft and tentative, "You three aren't nearly as scary or dubious as people make you out to be." 

Azul wasn't surprised that their reputations had proceeded them, however, one thing did puzzle him greatly, "You were right there when Jade and Floyd fended off those sharks and you can still say that? To the guy who got you tangled up in his backfired scheme, to begin with?"

Somehow this made her laugh, "Yes, without a doubt. I never want to get on your bad side for sure. But things are different down there than on the surface. Merfolk are more upfront, ready to fight for whatever or whomever they want. To do whatever it takes to get where they want to be. It is a bit terrifying, but I respect that ambition. You're not only intelligent but cunning which can cause some trouble sure," Azul felt a bit embarrassed as she playfully smirked at him," But...it is something I admire about you. You make your own way in life and don't let anyone stop you. So it's not you or them that I'm afraid of, Azul. I...I'm not sure I want to go back to being a human." 

A spark of disbelief, and maybe a bit of hope, suddenly lit up in Azul's mind, "Y-You...don't? But why? ...well aside from your horrendous sibling." 

Another soft laugh, "Siblings. I have an older brother as well. He's too busy getting ready to take the throne to really pay me any mind though. But that's the problem: he has a purpose. Even Emily. She'll probably marry some prince or lord from another king or queendom to bring more prosperity to ours. And then there's me...I've felt like an outcast every since my mother died. Everyone in my family withdrew from each other since then. And well, you saw how highly Emily thinks of me first hand. But, in spite of all the danger, I felt more wanted, more at home with the Leech Family, with Luna and Cowrie. And you and your family too."

Azul tensed momentarily as Elise unconsciously scooted closer to him. Instead of pointing it out, he merely asked, "The senior internship you had before all of this, what was it and why did you choose it specifically?" 

The princess hummed as she confronted the truth of the matter, "I didn't really choose it myself. My brother did. I went along with it because I suppose it was because it reminded me of Mother. Mother always loved the sea and its inhabitants. She advocated for finding a way to continue our export and import trades via our established trade routes but feared that our ships' fuel would only pollute the waters and harm all sea life in the long run. So I was to intern with our fleets to find a better solution...but honestly? I don't think they were going to actually let me do that much being a royal and all. They were more or less just placating me out of obligation to the crown prince."

"I suppose I shouldn't feel too bad about ruining 'your' plans then?" Azul was hiding true guilt behind a bit of sarcastic banter. Elise saw right through it and decided to play along anyway.

"Feel bad? Not at all. You did look kind of cute when I was furiously scolding you, Mr. Ashengrotto. So I feel properly vindicated," she giggled, making him nearly explode on the spot. 

"C-Cute?!" his face grew hot as he sputtered, trying to glare right into her amused face, "I am many things, MISS Coralette, but cute??"

"You're right. Handsome suits you more than cute, Azul." 

Her words slipped off her tongue faster than Elise could process them. Now it was her turn to be oh so flustered as she slid away from him, "Um I...I mean, yes that is true b-but-" 

"But what?" 

Azul was suddenly looking her right in her wide eyes with a gaze that was worlds more unwavering than he was moments before. Elise was almost convinced that he had been body snatched while she blinked but no, that was not the case. Azul felt just as nervous and uneasy as he had since he realized his budding feelings for this girl, but now he was feeling something much stronger than all that. Azul felt desperate to know the truth and it only made him weirdly courageous.  He could spin a multitude of reasons as to why Elise Coralette wouldn't desire him just as much as he did her but unlike him, she was far more honest in her words and expression. She let slip a hint of what he wanted to hear from her just now. The moment she realized it herself is when Azul saw her real feelings surface. At least what he hoped were her real, genuine feelings. Her shy, girlish blush. The way her eyes went wide only to dart away from him. This was the same sort of body language and cues she gave off whenever Rielle was brought up to her in the past. Surely it meant what he thought, what he wanted it to mean, yes? YES?

"Elise," he coaxed as gently as possible in his brewing state, "Tell me. Please." 

His stormy eyes were the most honest she had ever seen. They were frustrated and pleading as he leaned in. They were alone here. Entirely in their own little world. Knowing that and seeing him this way felt strangely sacred to Elise as she started to close the gap, feeling her whole body give in to its unspoken urges. 

"Azul...I think that..."

"Yes?"

The last thread of hesitation snapped as her turquoise eyes locked onto his deep blue steel ones. She took a breath and then a leap of faith before her nerves got the better of her.

"I think that I'm really scared of not seeing you guys all the time...of not waking up and knowing you're right here. I'm scared to become human again because then I'll be away from not only Luna and Cowrie, and the twins, but I won't be able to be with you." 

A jolt of adrenaline rushed his system as he took in her words. As eager as he had been seconds before, Azul still felt a part of his mind backhand him with doubt, "When you say 'be with you'...?" He almost looked around as if Elise was talking about someone else. The poor boy was caught between self-doubt and wanting.

She blinked in disbelief before gesturing to him with both hands, "Azul, you are the densest clever person I have ever met. Yes, I mean you specifically! I have feelings for YOU! Do I need to sing it for you?!"

For a split second, Elise was convinced she saw part of Azul's soul leave his body. The boy's eyes froze wide on his otherwise blank face and only his tentacles moved. She half expected one of them to slap him back to the present. Seconds later his soul returned and all his blood rushed to his face, "You...YOOOOU have feelings for ME? Wait what happened to your dream prince Rielle?!"

He suddenly regretted his outburst once he saw the scowl on her face, "Ehem, ok 'dream prince' might be a bit much. Forget I said anything." 

Elise crossed her arms as the scowl softened, "I know...I had a ridiculous and obviously one-sided to everyone but me crush on him for the longest time. I thought it was 'love' but...it was just bloated infatuation and wishful thinking. If I didn't feel this time was more  genuine I wouldn't have said anything." 

Azul suddenly felt like his mother was getting ready to appear and whack the ink right out of him with an arsenal of her toughest spoons, "I-If we're being honest, then...you're right, I am pretty dense. I didn't realize I had feelings for you until this summer even though I've been attracted to you since that day you waltzed into my office and struck a deal with me on your own terms." 

Elise's tentacles curled in on themselves as she felt a rush of giddiness, "Really?"

He laughed, "I mean you are beautiful. I always thought so but you had such confidence and wit about you that day. I was so accustomed to having the upper hand and you caught me off guard and charmed me and everyone else around you so easily. It was astounding. How could I not be both impressed and taken with you?"

The princess looked him up and down with all sorts of questions in her gaze, "Is it really so surprising that maybe I see you in a similar light?" 

"Oh absolutely," he deadpanned. As happy as he felt, the boy still couldn't comprehend the reality right in front of his face. No matter how far he had come, there was still part of him stuck in the overwhelming shadow of his past.

A sweet smile spread across her face as she tucked a wild strand of hair behind her own ear. Uh oh...that look only meant trouble for him. "Azul, you really have no idea how attractive you are both physically and mentally, do you?"

She scooted closer to him, closing the gap once again but even further this time to the point that her lips were just a whisper away from his. Her eyes held the baffled boy to the spot with how they sparkled. "It's ok that you don't realize it yet," she spoke so softly, "It's part of your charm. But know this, I've been in the company of many, many handsome and witty boys. Please forgive me for realizing only recently that none of them hold a candle to you, Azul Ashengrotto. That is the honest truth." 

Stardust was the only tangible thing in existence Azul could equate to how he was currently feeling. He hung on every sweet syllable that left her lips until he finally voiced the feeling that had haunted him for weeks, "I don't want you to go." 

Before he could even blink, Elise's soft lips collided with his as her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him into her embrace. His arms encircled her waist as Azul leaned into the kiss without a second thought. For the first time, his stubborn legs didn't have to propel him whatsoever. They just relaxed as the two of them melted into each other.

...and what started as a tender moment quickly turned into panic. 

A spark formed on Elise's neck before blooming into a burst of light. In seconds, her tentacles melted away into two human legs, her skin became much lighter, and her eyes dulled and widened with terror. Azul's whole body tensed at the sight of the human girl floating in front of him and couldn't move until a flurry of air bubbles rushed out of her mouth. The octopus quickly braced her into him and swam as fast as he could while yelling for help. In seconds, he and Elise were caught by teal and monochrome blurs that quickly took them back to the landing.

The room echoed with Elise's rough coughing and ragged, desperate gasps for air as Luna and Floyd lifted her from the water. Azul clung to the side, still mostly emersed in the water, staring in shock at the drenched princess. The dress she had worn before lost its vibrant color just like the rest of her.

"Elise, breathe. Keep breathing," Luna carefully steadied her friend as Floyd left to find Jade. 

Once she settled, Elise slowly sat up and stared at Azul before looking down at herself, "W-What..." 

Everything grew hazy as crystal clear tears formed in her eyes. Any voices speaking to her fell on deaf ears as she began to sob. The twins returned with towels immediately. Luna grabbed one and started to dry Elise off. All Azul could do was watch her cry as his heart sank. Her mouth opened to say his name but it was interrupted with another sob as the boy launched himself out of the water just enough to hold her and whisper over and over again to both of them.

"It's alright. You're alright...it's going to be alright."

~

Azul's office door slammed shut and locked behind him. Jade, Floyd, and Luna were left to speculate on their own in the empty Lounge. Inside the office, Azul laid Elise down on one of the sofas. Neither one of them said a word the entire time Azul had rushed her down the hallway, carrying her in his arms as if she were light as a feather. She sat sniffling as he paced about the room. He wordlessly stepped into a side bathroom and the sound of running water could be heard. She swallowed down a fresh wave of tears and called out to him in a weary voice, "Azul..." 

When he didn't answer, Elise began to worry. Doubt began to pelt her like a sudden hail storm. Now that she was human...did Azul's feelings change? Was everything different now? Too different??

"Azul," she began to sob again. Hearing her cries the boy rushed to her side and held her face. He looked so worn and so scared. 

"Are you in pain? What is it?" he asked nervously. Elise just shook her head. Ironic that now her voice was working properly all on its own now and yet here she was...absolutely speechless. Azul felt like he was going to fall apart any second now as he stood back up.

"I'll have a warm bath ready for you in just a moment," he couldn't look directly at her, "I don't want you to catch a cold. After that...you...you can sleep in my room. I'll stay in here-"

Azul felt a sudden tug on his sleeve and saw the desperation in the princess' face. More tears rolled down her cheeks as she silently begged him. She wanted him to stay. She was even more terrified now, "P-Please, Azul. Can you...can you please stay with me? I'm sorry if I repulse you now-" 

Everything clicked all too fast and he was overwhelmed, desperate to change her mind and to put an end to these thoughts. Azul sat next to her and hid his ashamed face in her damp hair, "Stop it. You don't repulse me. You could never! That's not why I'm acting like this! Everything just happened so suddenly...I-I feel like I'm going to lose my mind. Please know that I meant everything I said before. Please just give me a moment..."

~

Several long minutes later, Azul left Elise to bathe in peace and recover. He promised that he would be back very soon, that he just needed to fill the others in. When he stormed back out into the Lounge, his anger was palpable. Jade rose from his seat and began to approach his old friend, "Azul-" 

"Fine," his voice was rigid, his eyes avoided looking at any of the eels, "Everything is just fine. Elise is human again. Just as she should be....no additional steps needed." 

The twins shared a worried look as Azul began to laugh dryly to himself. It sounded awfully familiar and bitter. So familiar they feared he might Overblot all over again. The look in his eyes was barely sane.

"She loves me. She wanted to stay with me, with us, under the waves as a mermaid. A perfect happily ever after! We even kissed and that triggered her reverting back into a human princess!" he laughed wildly, "True Love's Kiss isn't a load of shit after all! Isn't that wonderful?!"

"Hey Azul," Floyd muttered anxiously, "It's not all that bad, right?" 

Azul's tone snapped straight into anger so quickly the twins thought the glass tanks would shatter, "Not all that bad, Floyd?! Oh no NO! Of course not! You and Jade found your mates, won the day, and now can be with them without any obstacles awaiting you but me? The slimy, scheming octopus that fucked all this up from the start? Seven forbid I find the perfect woman and have her return my pathetic affections! Our first kiss literally damned her right back to the shore!"

His voice was raw as his hands shook. Luna could only imagine how upset Elise was. Jade and Floyd stepped forward to try and calm the dorm leader down once again. 

"Azul...calm yourself. How are you supposed to make a proper strategy with your head full of so many pitfalls?" Jade placed a firm hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Yeah Azul, take it easy. Octi-chan loves you. Isn't that the most important part??" Floyd drawled as he casually put his hands behind his head, "You wanted to get one up on Rielle remember?"

Azul's bitter mood halted on his dumbfounded face as the twins gave him matching smug grins. He immediately straightened himself up, trying to reform even a shred of the dignity he hurled out the window just now.

"Of course I did," he huffed, "Just not...exactly...like this but..." 

"Azul-kun," Luna's melodic tone rang across the lounge from where she stayed seated, "I imagine Elise is just as upset if not more so than you. She needs you now more than ever." 

The look in the siren's eyes was genuine kindness. Azul felt it warm his core underneath the surface. She was absolutely right. He needed to get ahold of himself before anything else could be done. He sighed, suddenly feeling embarrassed at his dramatic outburst. 

"Forgive me," he pushed his glasses up and cleared his throat, "I must look like such a fool right now." 

"Eh, a little bit. Reminds me when we were kids and we had to keep pulling you out of your octopus pot," Floyd started to chuckle along with Jade before Luna appeared between them and smacked both of their arms with a pointed look. The siren hushed the brothers and approached Azul with a smile.

"Azul-kun, your frustrations are very understandable. This whole ordeal would be unbearable for a far lesser man," she gave him a supportive nuzzle against his cheek, making her mate pout, but she ignored it, "You and Elise need to rest. It's late now. I trust her in your care." 

The siren sauntered back over to Floyd and gave him a tender kiss, "We all need to rest. Let's leave the next steps for tomorrow, hmm?" 

~

The twins returned to their room and Luna to the grotto for the night. When Azul returned to his office, he found Elise clean, dry, and wearing an extra set of his pajamas as she curiously stared at the books lining the walls. She paused and placed a hand on top of the wooden box that held the enchanted dagger. Her hair was straighter, more of a dark raven color like before. Her tired eyes had faded back into their human shade of minty green. Her body language alone was enough to tell him that she felt frailer now. Azul closed the door behind him and wordlessly went up to her like a moth to a flame. She gasped as he suddenly wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind as he rested his head against hers.

"I'm so sorry," he barely managed to whisper, "I'm so sorry about all of this." 

He felt her cold delicate hands touch his and her head gently lean into his. Elise barely moved at all and yet he felt like she was the only thing holding him up right now. 

"Don't be..."

~ 

By some miracle, the rest of Octavinelle remained undisturbed by the night's sudden events. Inside Azul's bedroom, Elise was snuggly wrapped in his arms as the two of them rested quietly under his blankets. Any other time, he would have felt it inappropriate to have her in his room let alone his bed but after that night, Azul couldn't stand not having her close by. For a while, neither one of them spoke. There wasn't a sound aside from their breath. Not any light aside from the soft aquatic glow from the water surrounding the dormitory itself. 

"What happens now?" Elise's quiet voice finally asked, muffled against Azul's chest.

His entire body and mind ached with heavy exhaustion as he weighed his answer carefully, "I'll find a way for you to come back home with us permanently. I don't know exactly how long it will take but I will make it happen. I promise. And..if you so desire...eventually we could...uh...well, we can talk about the far future another time." 'Become mates' is what he wanted to say but somehow it felt like too much of a request to make right then and there. He wanted it to become reality but for now, he just wanted to put her at ease as much as he could. 

He felt her shift in the darkness to look him in the eyes directly, "Thank you, Azul." 

Azul melted as he felt Elise press her lips to his again. He swore they continued to kiss again and again in the dark until they both fell asleep in each other's arms. 

~

The next morning was an immense challenge. When word got out that the Mostro Lounge wouldn't be opening that evening, the entire campus knew something was amiss in Octavinelle. With that said, no one had the guts to ask questions to the towering twin eels or the very exhausted and distracted dorm prefect. No one except a certain redhead.

"Azul...are you alright?"

From the other side of the alchemy cauldron, Riddle watched Azul vacantly stir the pot on repeat like a broken record player. Judging from their last conversation and the octopus' current state, something absolutely devastating must have happened to Azul. And Riddle wasn't too far off.

"...and now she's human again," Azul muttered quietly, still stirring.

Riddle stood frozen, processing everything he just heard, "Oooo...kay wow. That is a lot."

Yes, Azul had told him everything. Everything. Normally Riddle would have flipped his crown over the fact that a fellow dorm leader had been hiding female students in his dormitory but given the circumstances of the very, very complicated situation...Riddle made the rare choice to ignore Azul's blatant disregard of the rules. Plus this did also explain why Floyd was barely paying attention to him lately and who was he to complain?

Riddle did a quick check over his shoulder to make sure the professor wasn't too close by before whispering, "So you need a spell or potion to turn her back into a mermaid permanently. Have you ever made one  before?"

Azul sighed heavily before stirring in the next ingredient Riddle had poured in, "Unfortunately even with my thorough studies and experimentation, I have yet to succeed in making the change permanent without some sort of definitive catalyst. Like a stupid kiss." 

He had to fight to not roll his eyes at the concept of 'True Love's Kiss' yet again. If he didn't hate it before, he absolutely despised it now! When his grandmother suggested it as a possible antidote to Elise's situation, it sounded like some sugarcoated placation. His face suddenly warmed itself as he remembered their first kiss. Then the second...and the third...and the fourth with her soft form pressed into his under the blankets that still smelled like her-

"You kissed her several times didn't you?" Riddle asked with a very straight face. Azul nearly flung the giant spoon across the room in shock. Before Azul could even string two syllables together, Riddle explained with a somewhat bashful expression of his own, "I remember what it was like the first...couple of times," he cleared his throat and quickly jotted down some notes.

"...Didn't that happen inside the Mostro Lounge?"

Riddle's face turned pink, "I thought we were alone and the moment was too good to end right away, ok!?"

A sudden whipcrack and yell from Professor Crewel made the two boys jump and duck back into their assignment with laser focus. 

~

Elise quietly stared at her reflection in the water as she dipped her feet into it from the Octavinelle landing just on the other side of the Mostro Lounge. They remained unchanged, pale, and human. It was growing late in the day, Azul had told her that he wanted to look into some additional sources in the library before coming back. She began to smile when she saw a familiar black and white shape zip towards her underneath the water's surface. Only when she realized that there were two of them did her breath catch in her throat. Both Cerith sisters' heads poked out of the water as they swam up to her.

"Cowrie!" Elise tried to keep quiet just in case anyone but the twins were outside the door, "What are you doing here?" 

The younger sister laid her head affectionately against the princess' legs, "Luna told me everything." 

Luna pulled herself out of the water to sit next to Elise as she changed into her human form, "Knowing my sister, I knew she'd want to be here too." 

Elise let out a heavy sigh as her eyes grew watery, "Thank you both..." 

"I know you probably feel really out of sorts right now buuuut," Cowrie poked the princess' cheek teasingly with the tip of her tail, "You and Azuzuuuu? Ooooooo!! It's about damn time!"

Luna chuckled but still hushed her sister to be quiet. Elise's face bloomed into a glowy shade of pink as she shyly laughed and batted the tail away, "Cowrie stoooop..."

"Is he a good kisser?" Cowrie grinned mischievously up at Elise and Luna gave the poor girl a similar look.

The princess didn't bother trying to play coy and just laughed and rubbed any imposing tears from her eyes, "I love his kisses...I'm going to miss them for a while." 

A fresh wave of tears suddenly spilled over as Cowrie and Luna frowned, "What are you talking about, Ellie??"

Elise had made her decision early that morning. She had woken up before Azul and enjoyed the sight of his peaceful resting face. Before she could enjoy it too much, however, she heard her phone buzzing on the nightstand. It was her brother calling. 

Thankfully no one else was awake either and she quietly made her way down the hall into a solitary washroom before locking herself inside and answering the phone. Her brother was almost eleven years her senior and rarely took the time to speak with her or Emily. Especially not about anything casual. So when he jumped straight into his reason for calling, she wasn't surprised.

"Big Brother, hello-"

"Elise. I trust you are well," his voice was that of a man on a schedule, "I'm calling on behalf of Emily since you two seemed to have a tiff recently." 

Elise rolled her eyes on the other side of the phone. Of course, her sister would wrap the truth up in a polite little bow and label it a 'tiff', "That's one way of putting it, yes. What does she want?"

"You two have never seen eye to eye on much of anything since we lost Mother but we're hoping you can set that aside and attend her wedding. You are still family after all." 

A wedding? Already? "Emily is ENGAGED? She didn't mention any suitors the last time we saw each other." Suddenly she was even more furious at her sister for trying to sweeten up Azul right in front of her face!

"I don't see how that matters," the prince said curtly, "Father will be stepping down soon and I want to make sure everything and everyone is taken care of before my coronation. Emily happily accepted the suitor I proposed for her and that ensures another ally for our homeland." 

The rest of the information was frivolous compared to what halted Elise at once, "Is Father alright? I thought he was going to wait-"

"Elise, I don't have the time to fill you in on our family's affairs. Especially when you've wasted your time running off to who knows where and disregarded the internship I arranged just for you. Do you have any idea how this will reflect back on me when I have to explain things to your school's administration?" 

The princess felt her temper flare and burst all at once. She had had enough. Elise was nineteen years old and legally didn't have to answer to anyone but herself anymore and she'd be damned if she kept quiet any longer!

"You wouldn't have to fill me in after the fact had you kept me in the loop in the first place!" she quietly hissed, "Speaking of which! Did you even stop to think as to why I never showed up for my internship? Or did Emily omit that part? Oh let me guess! Something about me running off with my little slimy creepy eel pets? Just throwing all responsibility right out the window to splash around in the ocean all summer hmm? Well, you know what...believe what you want. I don't care anymore! I'll go to her stupid wedding. I'll say my peace to our father, MY father, and then after that? I'll find my own way in the world without the crown or your help! You can forget you ever had an embarrassment of a baby sister!" 

....her brother didn't bother calling back after she hung up on him. No messages. No calls from her sister or father. Nothing. That was that. Elise would give up the royal family name and find a new purpose for herself while Azul did his best to bring her home. To their home. 

Luna and Cowrie stared wide-eyed at their best friend as she told them the whole story, both of them absolutely speechless. Elise just sniffled and laughed bitterly. 

"There's no point in me staying here now that I'm human again," she rubbed her eyes and continued with conviction, "I won't be gone forever. I just need to go home and set things right. For sure this time. After that, well...there's no way I can graduate on time and get my mage license without some sort of additional study. I'll focus on that while Azul does his best over here. And you guys..." 

A lump formed in her throat as she looked at her two beloved eel sisters, knowing everything they had been through their entire lives and just this summer alone. Fresh tears wet her mint green eyes, "You're safe now. You'll both be safe and happy with Jade and Floyd and the Leeches. We'll see each other again, sooner or later. And then we won't ever have to say goodbye again."

Luna wrapped her arms around Elise's shoulders as Cowrie jumped out of the water to hug Elise on the other side.

"Does Azul know?" 

~

He did.

Not every detail but enough to seek help from the library...he just didn't actually say which one.

Madam Lorelei was expecting him any minute now at her usual table at the Leviathan Club. When he entered and rushed past the staff to the second level, both his mother and grandmother were there waiting for him. 

"My darling boy," the grandmother said with gentle understanding in her eyes, "Come, sit." 

Azul greeted his mother with a hug and kiss on her cheek, not bothering to hide the frustration in his eyes. These powerful women raised him and were far too clever to not notice it on their own. Azul had called and explained most of the situation beforehand but seeing him in person filled in all other gaps. 

"So...it would seem she found her prince after all, precious," Madam Lorelei's tentacle lifted the teacup to her red lips. 

"It would seem so," his mouth was tight and his voice bitter, "Had I known that pursuing something like this would take her further away from me..."

"Azul," his mother huffed, "Dear Elise returned your feelings. Complications aside, it's a wonderful thing, sweetness!"

"Your mother is right, my boy. I may have had my doubts before but...well, your mother's friend, Madam Leech, had quite a lot of praise for her and her boldness. Besides, this may be a good time for the princess to return to the surface for a time," Lorelei's voice was cryptic as she stared out the windows, "There's a storm brewing across the borders. The further away she is from it, the better." 

"What do you mean, grandmother?" Azul asked tentatively. It was no mystery that the two families controlling the city had tensions running high but the waters felt denser than before he left. The worried look on his mother's face spoke volumes as she lowered her voice.

"You boys got those poor Cerith girls out of here just in time. Things have been getting worse between the two houses. Ventuno Muraeni was killed on Leech property just the other day. I haven't seen Indigo Cerith since he came by to tell me you had left for school...I hope he's alright."

Azul had a bad feeling in his gut. He had known the Leech family since childhood. He grew up with this ongoing feud happening right outside his family's door for years. An upset or an event here or there was fairly normal. As long as he or anyone else not involved kept their noses out of it, they were guaranteed safety. But now that the lines had been crossed and blurred between the two families...were any of them safe from becoming collateral damage?

"The dagger I gave her, does she still have it, Azul?" Lorelei suddenly asked.

"I have it. It's safe at my dorm. She has no need for it now so I can return it-"

"Don't be so sure, darling," Lorelei cut him off with a wagging finger, "Before this was a favor for my dear grandson's friend. Now it's personal. I'd rather my future granddaughter-in-law keep it close for the time being. Just in case. She may not need it for any magical purpose but a weapon is still a weapon," she took another sip before giving both her daughter and grandson a sharp look, "Don Leech nor his predecessors have given me any reason to distrust their clan. However, I can't say the same for Don Muraeni and his abyssal scum. We'd all be wise to watch our backs no matter where we are." 

Madam Lorelei stood up gracefully from the table as she wordlessly slid a piece of parchment over to Azul before giving one last warning, "Return to school, for now, my dear. I will see what I can do on my end but for now, you were never here and this conversation never happened." 

Azul knew how this world of theirs worked, "Of course, grandmother. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule." 

~ 

Once Azul stepped into the empty Mirror Chamber, only then did he read the parchment Madam Lorelei had given him. His eyes narrowed and filled with more questions than he could count. 

Watch out for Proteus, Don Muraeni's eyes and ears.

Tagging: @nuitthegoddess @iscarlettappel @foxwitchaine @1ndigowitch @wysteriadelights @evieyouknow @ladyrosemoon @victoria1676 @aiimee9 @honey-milk-depresso @espada188 @feldya

#neoninky #twisted wonderland #sacred crown chronicles #her lost voice #ao3 fanfic #ao3 writer #twst oc x canon #octavinelle #cerulamare #azul ashengrotto #jade leech #floyd leech #the cerith siblings #luna cerith #cowrie cerith #indigo cerith #under the sea mafia #more eel mermaids #twst oc schools

[wiria-lae]

Ellis Lewis: Student Profile

SUBJECT TO FUTURE EDITS.

Ellis sounds similar to Alice. His last name is pronounced like “Louis”, but the Lewis is from Lewis Carroll’s name.

Picrew from here.

Ellis Lewis (ルイス　エリス) is a third year student at RSA in Class A (Student No. 5), based on the Alice from Alice Through the Looking Glass. (I will preface by saying I have never read or watched either story, though I plan to get around to it... eventually.)

He'll be turning 18 in December on the 27th (he is 17 at the beginning of the first semester).

He stands at 173 cm (5' 8"), and is left hand dominant.

Ellis is from the Southern Isles of the Queendom of Roses.

He is the leader under the White Queen’s faction in Rosenheart. He came to this position at the beginning of his third year, after the previous two leaders had left their positions to focus on preparations for the future.

He's the student club leader of Tea Leaves and Relief Club. It's advertised as a tea appreciation club, though one student describes it as a "competitive social gathering", where people try to one-up each other on their tea ceremony performances. Besides the actual tea making and serving process, it's a relaxing environment.

His UM is called Perfect Pitch, which serves as a hack for his learning ability. It allows him to easily pick apart things that have logical reasoning behind them and break them down into chunks that are easier to understand. As a result, he performs exceptionally well academically, and has top grades at RSA. He's also good at matching puzzles, though he struggles with irrational problems. If there are rules for a problem that must be held true, then Perfect Pitch can find the answer.

He didn't have many friends growing up, partly because of spending most of his life on an island far from the mainland where few people lived, and partly because he grew up struggling to understand the emotions of others.

#wirian premise #wiria's cosmos #twisted wonderland #twst #twst oc #Ellis Lewis #has been sitting in drafts eroding away #incomplete post but I want to get it out

[boysplanetrecaps]

The Great Produce 48 Rewatch: Ep 4, Short Hair (AOA) Challenge

Hello and welcome back to the Great Produce 48 Rewatch Recap Thingy! We’re chugging along through our first group challenge mission. We already saw the Love Whisper team, and in the previous post, we saw the Great Peekaboo F*ckup of 2018! Now it’s time for team Short Hair. What terrible, unforgivable, barely noticeable mistake will the MNET editors pick up on this time? Only one way to find out. Let’s dive in! 

We pick up at 16:53 in to episode 4. (Or use this link for it with Spanish subtitles -- best I can do right now, since hte other link doesn't seem to be working.) The whole Peekaboo performance was actually just a pre-credits sequence, as it turns out, and now the episode will… start, I guess. 

Lee Seungki calls the two teams up to the stage. Oh no! They all forgot to wear pants! It’s just like that dream I had the other night!

Team 2, who I’ll call “blue team”, introduce themselves as “High Class.” 

Left to right, they are:

Lee Sian, 19, from Idol School, who fell from C to D and was ranked 18th in episode 3.

Hasegawa Rena, 17, who auditioned alongside Noe, fell from D to F and was ranked 54th.

Imada Mina, 21, from theNever Ending Ferris Wheel group, who rose from D to C and was ranked 64th.

Ahn Yewon, 17, one of the YGK+ models, who has lived in F and is ranked 88th.

Matsuoka Natsumi, 21, also from Never Ending Ferris Wheel, who rose from F to C and was ranked 55th. 

(Originally, Tanaka Miku was in this group, but she had to leave due to an injury.)

The red team introduces themselves as “Sneak a Peek.”

Left to right, they are:

Yu Minyoung, 18, the always squinting mint polka dots wearer in Celeb Five who moved from A to B, ranked 32

Jo Yuri, 16, future soloist, the one who fell from A to F, ranked 19th. 

Takahashi Juri, 20, future member of Rocket Punch who auditioned with Mako, rose from B to A and is ranked 29th.

Kim Minseo, 15, yellow polka dots in Celeb Five, stayed in C, ranked 39th

Kojima Mako, 21, auditioned with Playing With Fire, rose from C to B and currently ranked 23rd. 

Kim Sihyeon, 18, future member of Everglow who rose from B to A and is ranked 13th.

Dance Bae notes that Red team has a lot of popular members, but that we never know who will win until the end.

Subtitles: now with 100% more Spanish! 

We zoom back to the practice of group 1 (red team), When we left off, this group was getting along really well and had chosen Juri as their center despite her polite protestations. We go to dance practice, and Dance Bae is NOT HAPPY with Juri’s performance. She stops and asks the group, “She wanted to be center and you let her? But it seems that she has absolutely no idea what she’s doing.” There’s supposed to be a “domino effect” movement -- where each moves in turn down the line -- and Juri is off-beat, ruining the effect. Since she’s in the middle of the line, it really has a major effect. Oh no!! Juri!! Dance Bae makes them do it again and again and again.

I should note that I love Juri from having watched Queendom Puzzle. In the now-times, Juri has a beautiful, smoky-toned voice, a ton of stage presence and charm, and a hilarious 4D personality.  She’s just great. But back in 2018, maybe some of this hadn’t settled in for her yet. 

Juri feels terrible about making her whole team anxious.

Dance Bae says, “I’m sorry but… you’re doing a bad job at the moment. This will hurt your feelings, but I don’t have a choice. With Juri here, you girls will have a problem. “

The editors splice in a picture of some rain to indicate how we’re all feeling.

LTR: Kojima Mako, Kim Minseo, Juri, Yu Minyoung, Jo Yuri, Kim Sihyeon 

Sihyeon stammers a bit, as we hear her voiceover saying that she feels like she’s been doing a terrible job as team leader, and that she’s worried about how sad this is going to make Juri. Before Sihyeon can say anything more, Juri says -- starting off in Korean and switching soon to Japanese -- that though she appreciates the opportunity, she thinks they should change positions to help ensure that the group wins.

Though Juri holds it together when talking to her group, bowing out gracefully, she interviews that she is upset that she didn’t do a good job despite how hard she worked.

They decide to vote for a new center, so they can show Dance Bae something different next time. They’re about to vote (and MNET does some annoying editing, whatever) when Jo Yuri says, “Actually, I think that Juri really suits the center from what I’ve seen, and I know she can get better with more practice.” Everyone seems to agree, and Juri begins to cry in earnest, harder than she cried when she thought she was resigning. 

“Juri, please don’t cry!”

“You can do it!”

Sihyeon says, “It has to be so hard for her. She had to learn a song she’d never heard, and on top of it she was the center. My heart is with her. I think she’d be feeling angry and discouraged if she had to give up the center position this way.”

Juri is grateful for their understanding. She tries again and works hard. Ganbarimasu! 

And then… it’s time for the performance!

Here is PD48 Editing’s blessed edit.

Mako, Yuri, Minyoung, Minseo, Sihyeon, Juri

Clockwise from bottom left: Minseo (kneeling), Minyoung, Mako, Juri, Sihyeon, Yuri (kneeling)

Jo Yuri: main vocal  Takahashi Juri: Sub vocal 1 Kim Sihyeon: sub vocal 2 Kojima Mako: sub vocal 3  Yu Minyoung: Rapper 1 Kim Minseo: Rapper 2

My thoughts: 

Overall, a really good performance, though not necessarily mind blowing or anything like that.  

Vocally, they sounded really good on the whole. Yuri hit the notes cleanly and well, with a nice vocal color, though she didn’t hold the notes quite as long as I think she should have. I mean, she’s 16, it’s fine. Juri’s voice wasn’t like it is nowadays, and that’s ok, she still did well.

The two rappers, Minseo and Minyoung, actually had a lot of energy and sounded about as good as you could hope they would. They also brought a surprising amount of charm and confidence.  

As usual it’s almost impossible to tell if their dance was synchronized because the camera work was focused on their faces, but what I could see looked mostly fine. Here and there I think I noticed Juri a tiny bit behind the beat, dance-wise, unfortunately. 

Stage presence wise, Mako, Juri and Yuri were the weaker spots. Mako had a cute smile that didn’t quite fit the “sexy” feel of the dance, and Juri looked a little scared the whole time, like maybe she was thinking about the dance steps or something. She wasn’t connecting to the performance. Yuri also sort of was just going through the motions. The way she sort of sang a given note and sort of stopped gave this energy:

If I could have stepped in and just changed things, I think I would have put Sihyeon in the center. She performed this like she was a lost member of AOA -- smiling, pouting, flirting, hair flipping, the whole nine. She did great. 

The MNET Edit:

We get a lot of reactions to Yuri’s various high notes, and some shots of the audience loving it in general. Not really any annoying instant replays, either.

The judges gush about how good Yuri was. Soyou says, “I’ve liked her since the beginning.” Dance Bae adds, “She’s a good dancer, too.” 

And that’s where we leave it for now, as Team 2 takes the stage.

Team 2 (Blue Team)

One more time:

Lee Sian, 19, from Idol School, who fell from C to D and was ranked 18th in episode 3.

Hasegawa Rena, 17, who auditioned alongside Noe, fell from D to F and was ranked 54th.

Imada Mina, 21, from the Never Ending Ferris Wheel group, who rose from D to C and was ranked 64th.

Ahn Yewon, 17, one of the YGK+ models, who has lived in F and is ranked 88th.

Matsuoka Natsumi, 21, also from Never Ending Ferris Wheel, who rose from F to C and was ranked 55th. 

(Originally, Tanaka Miku was in this group, but she had to leave due to an injury during this rehearsal period.)

When we left off, the Japanese members of the team had chosen Mina to be center over Sian, out of fear that making Sian the center would make them “Sian and the girls.” We were left with the question of whether that was a good decision. 

We dive right in with a voice over from Sian, saying: “At the beginning, I didn’t think it would be that important, but I felt it when we chose the center. The fact that you’re not from here could be an obstacle.” This overlays the shot of the Japanese girls choosing Mina, and this shot…

… Sian trying to teach herself the choreo while the other girls are sitting working on the lyrics.

There’s also this shot:

That’s not a mirror -- that’s a frosted glass wall. Some girls are practicing in the room, and some are practicing in the hall outside. Again, not working together. 

Sian interviews, “I didn’t even know what to do.”

We go to dance rehearsal, and Dance Bae is NOT HAPPY. Their formations are all off, and their synchronization is non-existent. It really shows how little they rehearsed it together,  and Dance Bae says that they’re all basically just doing their own thing. “How could it be so bad if you practiced? Have you practiced hard? Together?” 

Rena interviews, “We couldn’t practice dancing together as a team. The Koreans focused on practicing the choreography, but we Japanese were focusing on memorizing the words.” With different priorities, they were dividing up their time differently. 

We see the girls at dance/rap practice. It’s not great. Mina in particular is clearly having a lot of trouble with the fast rapping. Soyou give them this look:

Then she says, “I don’t really have much to tell you because I couldn’t really hear you well.” She sings a single line twice, once in full voice, and once in a breathy, hard to hear voice, to demonstrate the difference between how they should sound and how they actually sound.

Cheetah, that queen, says, “You’re not really close, are you?” And Sian thinks to herself, oh God, they noticed. It’s my fault because I’m the leader. I kept torturing myself like that.

That night at the dorms, Ah Yewon tells Sian that Cheetah was right -- that they’re not going to get anywhere the way they are, that they have to open up to each other and get closer. Sian decides that she’s right, that they have to try to practice openly together and try to understand each other. 

The next day, they’re in one of the rehearsal rooms, and I think they must have a translator there because Sian is speaking in full speed Korean. 

One of these people has to be a translator, right? Also, note that there are still six girls on the team.

Sian says, “It’s not like we didn’t want to be close. The problem is the language barrier.*

*Me typing this translation of a Spanish subtitle of a Korean sentence spoken to some Japanese speakers is so many layers of language barrier. It'd be even funnier if you, dear reader, are a non-native speaker of English. Especially if you also don't speak Spanish, Korean, or Japanese.

Mina says, “I’ll try more.” (I can’t tell if she’s speaking Japanese or Korean because there’s another sound at the same time she’s speaking, and she speaks really softly.)

Sian says, “I’ll try to learn some Japanese,” and Mina waves her hand from Sian to herself and back again. Sian adds, “I hope we can build up our team work.” The Japanese members nod in agreement, and then Sian says, “Oh god, they scolded us so harshly today! I hate getting negative comments!” And all the girls stand up for a big group hug. Yay! Oh no, it looks like Natsumi is crying! Boo! 

Natsumi voiceovers that she wants to help Sian build their teamwork. Yay team!

More “hwighting” and less fighting, please. 

The next day, Sian gives the Japanese girls something she made/wrote down, to help them remember the steps. They thank you and Natsumi reaches out to touch her hand in gratitude.

They all interview that they are working better as a team now. 

No one mentions it, but at some point Miku got injured and had to leave. That sounds really dramatic, MNET. She wanted to stay, from what I heard, so it had to be a pretty bad injury. There must have been a lot of tearful conversations on the topic. Maybe you’d want to show that? Or show the girls scrambling to redistribute parts and learn new formations…? Oh, but you can’t show it, because it makes you look irresponsible, like you’re not taking good enough care of these young girls and letting them get hurt because you push them too hard. Well, thanks, I guess. 

Anyway, by dress rehearsal, there are only five of them. The judges don’t smile much as they run through their performance, but at the end, Soyou tells them that they more stable than group 1, with good pronunciation and good teamwork. And Dance Bae even comes back stage to tell them that their hard work paid off.

“I’m very grateful!” … “I want to cry….”

Sian congratulations her team, and Natsumi begins to cry again. Who is this girl? Is she me? 

Sian interviews that she made themselves believe that they could do it, and then they did it. 

But can they do it on stage in front of an audience? Let’s find out!

The performance:

Here is PD48 Editing’s blessed edit.

Natsumi, Rena, Sian, Mina, Yewon

Clockwise from bottom left: Natsumi, Rena, Mina, Sian, Yewon.

Side note: What are these shoes? Are they… high heeled loafers? What is happening? 

My thoughts: First off, how does Natsumi get her hair THAT glossy?

I mean, all the girls have really pretty hair, but Natsumi’s is on another level. It’s like her hair is made of black onyx, or a dark iPhone screen, or something. It’s wild. Check out her fan cam to see it in action. 

Anyway, this was not quite as good as the other team, mostly because of the vocals. They were all on key, and no one made any obvious mistakes, but listening to them sing, it was impossible to imagine that this is a professional debuted group. They sounded like a high school talent show group. 

Lee Sian was brave to take on main vocals when that isn’t her area of expertise, so I don’t want to ding her too hard -- she sang well enough to be a sub-vocal in a real group. And that’s a compliment, I swear! So good job, Sian! Did she knock my socks off? No, but she did alright-right-right. 

The other four also did well considering, but it’s not as if I want to put this on a playlist and listen to it over and over. Of the three Japanese girls, only Rena seems to avoid the characteristic nasal sound common in these AKB48 members. Natsumi and Mina both have unpleasant vocal color, but at least they are on key, so they’ve made big progress. Main rapper Yewon raps kind of off key, which I know sounds crazy but part of what a rapper does is pick up on a tone to rap in, and Yewon didn’t do that quite correctly.  

Dance wise, I don’t really know, because the camera work is obstructive. Nothing really obvious goes wrong, I’ll say that. I think that 

Stage presence wise, I think this group has a slight leg up on the first group. They all have pretty good to great facial expressions, and they’re all reasonably confident-seeming. Yewon is a bit…

… too much. 

Mina has a great trick of letting her eyes close a little, and then opening them wider suddenly. It’s like, a power-smize!

 

It works. 

Revisiting the issue of center, and whether or not putting Sian in the center would have made it “Sian and the girls,” I think it’s relevant to note that Sian was the main vocal. If your center is also your main vocal, then it starts to feel like Destiny’s Child. So, yeah, it makes sense for someone else to be center, and Mina was the best choice among the remaining girls. I think they should have raised that issue during the discussion of who should be center, but maybe they did, or tried to, and had trouble with the communication. 

In the MNET edit, we see the judges praising their pronunciation, and praising Sian’s ability to look right at the camera. We also get a few instant replays of some of Sian’s high notes. 

When they’re done, the judges are proud of them, and Cheetah looks so cute.

“I’m proud of them.” “Me too.”

Dance Bae says that they, the trainers, think that Team 2 did better than Team 1, but notes that you never know how the audience will vote.

“Good job, everyone!”

The girls hug backstage, and Sian said that they’re hoping for a miracle. 

For this part, I have a link with English subs. 

The girls teleport to the locker room Results Zone…

More power to the transporters! We’re losing the signal! 

They’re sitting on like, foam rubber blocks. MNET, seriously, WTF?

Sian, Rena, Mina, Ahyoung, Natsumi

 Natsumi’s face (far right) is so expressive.

It’s time for the results. The background music is the same music they always used in Face Off when they were revealing the creature makeups, which is so funny to me. 

As usual, they reveal the results in a “versus” format -- Main vocal versus Main vocal, etc. What’s kind of strange is that we find out that there was no “sub vocal 1” on the blue team…? I guess that had been Miku’s part, but it’s not as if no-one sang those lines, so I’m confused. Anyway… 

Both the main vocals, Jo Yuri and Lee Sian, get a ton of votes -- 152 and 148, respectively. 

That’s fair as they both did well and are also pretty and popular. The second highest vote getters on each team were Japanese -- Mako on Red with 120 votes, and Natsumi on blue with 90. Juri is ready to blame herself if her team loses, but neither center did exceptionally well; Juri got 52 votes, and Mina got 36. Here is the full list:

Team Red (win):

left to right:

Yu Minyoung 28 Jo Yuri     152 Takahashi Juri 52 Kim Minseo 26 Kojima Mako 120 Kim Sihyeon 64              Total: 442, Average 73.67 

Team Blue (lost):

Very classy of them to applaud for team red. 

Left to right:

Lee Sian 148 Hasegawa Rena 50 Imada Mina 36 Ahn Yewon 16 Matsuoka Natsumi 90 Total: 340, Average: 68

Juri interviews, tearfully, that she feels bad about the whole thing. Her team was so nice and believed in her, and she feels like she let them down. “It’s because of them that I was able to go so far,” she says. “I’m so grateful to my team.”  

You know, my friends, if I wasn’t already a Juri fan from getting to know her on Queendom Puzzle, I think I’d kind of hate her at this point. MNET shoving her in my face, and focusing on her storyline above all else, it just makes me kind of irritated. I know Juri is awesome-sauce, though. So this is just further proof that MNET is The Worst. Thanks, dumbasses. Thumbasses. 

And with that, we’ll wrap up for now! Thanks for sticking with me so far! See you next time, when we cover Team Mamma Mia.

#bpr recaps p48 #produce 48 #akb48 #rocket punch #iz*one #Jo Yuri

[lilytheflowerwrites]

twitter's down and i wanted to make a Queendom Puzzle ranking so here:

4. Dance the Night Away /Don't Call Me – I'm sorry they're both just sort of boring? I don't like the originals that much either so I guess that's just source material problem, the girls did the best they could

3. Shut Down – It was fine I think... Wish they did more with the concept they went for, it was just sort of underwhelming. Also I think Sangah and Hwiseo did okay with rapping but Fye was a bit overshadowed for me, I think maybe she should've done one of the raps instead... Still, it wasn't bad!

2. Nxde / Only One – I'm biased towards Nxde because it's probably the song I like the most out of all the original ones but also Dohwa ate that up, she absolutely knows how to do concepts like this. Other girls were great too (shout-out to Suyun pls debut) but Nana's rap wasn't the best, I think she should've picked a skilled rapper for the team to begin with... Just my opinion though! And the Only One stage was also great, it's never easy to pull off a Boa song but they absolutely did! And it was amazing! I genuinely have no idea how it got less votes than DCM... Like, it was everything, from the beginning to the end, and they managed to make it interesting despite only having two members.

1. Fighting – boy oh boy was I wrong when I didn't expect much from this performance. I didn't watch the whole episodes, only the performances, but I've heard this team in particular had trouble with their song and I'm so so glad they ended up going with this particular concept, it was so fun! I love Juri's deep voice, Elly finally got justice as the main vocal, Yuki and Jiwoo did great with the raps, JooE and Sujin did everything right (I'm sorry if I missed them a little in this performance, it's just that everyone was so great). Should've been first, honestly, even if most of my picks were from the other groups. They made me smile a lot and just left the best impression out of all six performances.

[naaicha]

the problem w queendom puzzle and like all the other shows that try to use debuted idols (like the virtual idol one idr the name) is it just becomes a popularity contest and it’s so so stupid and kpop fans should never be allowed to vote for things ever

#i already know sangah’s not getting a single good thing out of this show and i’m upset about it #but at least the h1key girls seem to be getting a big boost which is nice bc i like them

[dxavoidant]

Unpopular Opinions because i'm bored:

🧑‍🏫 How on earth do teachers NOT get paid anywhere as much as doctors? Keeping the future generation of citizens educated and keeping human alive, to me, is equal responsibility.

🐮 Unpaid overtime and unpaid internship should be criminal cases and the business owners who practice these should be FINED into bankruptcy no matter what.

🛍️ It's mind-boggling so much that right-wing female commentators still don't know that they are being used, and are not nearly as appreciated as their male counterparts. At the end of the day your main audience (mostly men) aren't going to listen to some random "females" nagging.

👸 Calling fellow women a "pick-me" for sharing different socio-political views than yours is anti-women behavior. Unless that pick-me is JustP**rlyThings because she is not a woman; she is a puppet.

🥱 I know this is not unpopular but cis- is NOT a slur. True, I don't like being called cis because I feel like the society is already divided enough, and I expect people to respect that. But is that prefix a slur? A reach. Stop playing victim game, please.

🐙 I came across this comment on Youtube:

And I had to agree to disagree. Sometimes hits are hits because the person singing the song is popular, even if the song is not their style at all.

😒 I will never understand Kpop girlgroup stans and their criteria for stanning. I will try to watch Queendom Puzzle because I like a lot of girls attending this show, and I hope the girlgroup stans do not ruin the whole show (and the final supergroup) for calling that girl ugly and this girl rude. I mean, aren't y'all tired hating on women in the name of women empowerment?

I see, Bora is getting a lot of hate from the stans for now. Y'all girlies and simps don't know how to watch Mnet's shows smh.

🙎‍♀️ To use Beta as an insult is pathetic af. Y'all reek Losers-who-cannot-take-the-L energy rather than Alphas y'all claim to be.

🤡 The whole circus pops up when y'all say that women doesn't deserve equal pay as men because women's job are less physical. Hunney, men can occupy women's roles in women's jobs just fine and still get paid more. Meanwhile, jobs remotely for men (physical jobs) are less likely to hire women who apply for the same position because employers are aware of physiological differences between the sexes. If we REALLY have the power to just choose our jobs, we would see more women do robotics, construction, electricity and oil rigs right now. We just ask for equal pay, not victimize ourselves. That's another topic for another day. We are not blinded to the problem which is right in front of us, and refused to be gaslit by men in this men's world.

🫠 This one is REAL UNPOPULAR: Subjecting oneself as a victim to cast a spotlight on a societal cause is attention seeking behavior. It is not the same as being a victim. If you have to put yourself as a victim of something, that cause is not major, and it is understandable why the public dgaf about your silly "movement." I have no sympathy for people who subject themselves as victims when they can simply opt out. However, real victims of unfortunate events have all my heart and support.

And yes, I am not the kind to romanticize social movements. I look at them with an objective lense. It might look cute and hopeful and heroish in pictures, but behind victory, there are losses. And loss is never cute.

#dx venting #unpopular opinions #teachers #feminism #equal pay #cisgender

[seokmattchuus]

The more queendom puzzle goes on the more frustrated I get (?)

It really is just popular contestant dick riding and I don't even know why since some of these girls can do just fine back in their groups?

And the live votes as well. We obviously know how fair those are 🙄😒 Is it so hard to just have an objective on-site voting system since fan votes are already a thing.

You can smell the final lineup from a mile away at this point, like?

#dumb fuck ted talk #free my rp girls they don't deserve this #and i'm glad my wooah bbys are getting well deserved recognition #but the constant set up of best vs worst is exhausting why can't it be a valid puzzling throughout the songs #also. the instant karma that gets thrown around #like puzzles saying queens team can't pull off glow up but then go and do what they did for bad blood LIKE PUH-LEA-SUH #the universe did not have their back #especially when glow up ended up being that bitch #like that's the only performance i remember #anyways #free rocket punch #queendom puzzle #queendom puzzle problems

[anonarat]

Witch Blood Chapter 4 & 5

Chapter 4 - Salt and Skin

 It was a few days after her abortive trip with Spite, and Caprice was wrestling with an entirely different problem to her love life. As a precaution, she had withdrawn herself to her writing room, relaxing in the comfortable chair she had positioned in the room, and fiddling with a wooden puzzle from Krat. Mostly it was to give her hands something to do as she wrestled with the conversation at hand.

 You must build up your suite of charms child. Three claws and a scale are hardly sufficient to save a country.

 Why do you insist on calling me child when I am a grown adult? Caprice challenged Prudence, her brow furrowed.

 That is what you focus on? No, of course you do, you have been raised proud, said Prudence, almost to himself, then to answer Caprice’s question, I call you child because everyone here is but a callow youth to me. I have existed near a thousand years. A few short decades are nothing.

 I’m sorry, you’re how old? We were always taught that a spirit was born with the person, why isn’t this more well known.

 Most spirits are, Prudence paused, forgetful. No that’s not quite right, not fully themselves. Most of them are completed when they fuse with a living human. No. Apologies, it has been a long time since I had it explained to me, but what I’ve said should be close enough to the truth that it does not matter. I am different, I was to be your spirit from the outset, that of the one who saves Lach.

 Why did the gods make you so far in advance then? asked Caprice.

 That is a good question, and one that I cannot give you an answer for at the current time. I am certain there was a reason for that decision though. Now, child, you are deflecting.

 I’m sorry that I don’t want to murder innocent people, replied Caprice.

 Then find ones who are not innocent, said Prudence, as if it were the most straightforward and obvious thing in the world.

 That is much easier said than done.

 Let us try a different track then. I know you’ve had lessons in this child. What do you if a stalk of grain is found with Rose Blight?

 You raze the field and salt the earth. And give the farmer a new patch of land.

And there is Rose Blight in this kingdom. The good grain may need to be destroyed to prevent the bad grain from soiling the rest. So too must you destroy something that might be good to protect everyone from what is evil.

 There is a gross difference between grain and a person. Killing the bad along with the good is not acceptable.

 Tell me then, is marching to war to protect homes and people wrong? Killing those who oppose your queen? Some of them are good people, heroes to many at their home, responded Prudence.

 But what they are doing is in service to evil.

 Is it though? You’ve been taught of the horrors that Lach committed in the name of colonisation and the glory of its kings and queens. Should Lach thus be struck down? If that is what you feel child, then do nothing. I assure you that doom is approaching with increasing swiftness, said Prudence, waiting a little before pressing on with his point, Would you be seen in your underclothes as soldiers ransacked Lach? Would you be caught sleeping as your house was set to fire? You must arm yourself child, you must ready yourself for the fight.

 Damn you Prudence, said Caprice, throwing the puzzle in her hands at the far wall. It impacted softly and fell to the carpet, still in one piece.

 Better you and I than the Queendom.

~~~

 So it was that Caprice found herself out hunting again. It had been Prudence’s suggestion that hunting down a selkie blood would be among the best options. Somehow he had some idea of what charms could be made from each of the bloods.

 While a spirit was supposed to guide and help teach the blooded, it was rare that they knew things that they didn’t learn along with the one they were bound to. Certainly they were astute, and did not seem to forget things, it was odd. Perhaps they knew more than the previous spirit bound had said, or perhaps he was explaining the instincts she felt when she had made that first kill. It didn’t really matter how he knew.

 She had learned it when she had first slipped away from herself and made her weapons and armour from the dragon blood. While some of the charms she could make matched with what the blood could do, others seemed to bear no relation to the power of that blood.

 Caprice didn’t really want to admit to herself that after falling in the river the thought of a charm that would let her breath for many hours no matter the situation, was tempting. The second charm she planned on making would be something of a catalyst, or a key. Once consumed, neither poison nor venom would be able to find purchase on her. According to Prudence, the effect differed depending on which blood used the charm, but he only knew the effect on a witch blood.

 The third, and perhaps most useful was a charm that could dissolve the inanimate. Gruesome as it was, it would make the disposal of bodies without evidence considerably easier.

 This had led her down to the docks, where the river bloods congregated. The low blood name for selkie bloods. It still unnerved her that with proper training, any of the low bloods would be the equal of a noble blood. If another country ever realised or knew, they could martial an army on an unprecedented scale.

 As she stole into an alleyway, Caprice’s mind began turning, connecting points of information she hadn’t realised were linked. It was only after the purge of witch bloods that low bloods had begun appearing. Many of the nobility were promiscuous that there were plenty of bastards. Witch bloods needed a blooded to use their power. It was only recently that more claims of bastard ancestry were being brought to the courts.

 Well done child. I’m glad you worked it out by yourself.

 They killed their own children, and the children of others, Caprice felt horror at what her kind had done.

 Indeed. What other way could one gain power and dispose of a bastard at the same time? There was a reason that witch bloods were eventually decried as anathema to all nations.

 I already feel sick. I don’t want to do this.

 You are here now child. Do not waste this opportunity. Each day you are slack is another day when the calamity might overtake the land. Whether you want to or not should not enter the balance of your actions this night.

 Caprice almost ignored Prudence, intending to set off to her home, but his presence weighed heavily in her mind. It was like a strict school teacher standing over her shoulder. All he could do would be to berate her, but Caprice would not be able to escape. She certainly still felt like a child in the face of that.

 At the late hour, the dock area was mostly deserted, with many of the sailors and boat men having taken to the naval quarters that were offered to all who regularly fared across the water. The shipping companies paid a dear enough price for them that they would make sure the crew used them.

 Most vessels would have a sentry or two, and there was no way she would be able to sneak up one of the gangways. No, she was waiting for a ship to come in, or a boat. The winding paths that led away from the docks and to the warehouses were perfect for an ambush. All that was required was patience and finding a suitable straggler.

~~~

 After about three quarters of an hour, Caprice thought that she had found the perfect target. He had been the last one to drop a crate off at the warehouse, and had stopped for a minute to catch his breath. Her knife made quick work of him, her hand covering his mouth as she slit his throat.

 With her teeth grit, Caprice had stuck her hand in the wound, searching for bone. When she’d found it, she tried to enter the same trance as she had with the dragon blood, but to no avail. When she touched the bone, she felt nothing. No power. The man was unblooded. With no choice in the matter, she drew her hand out.

 Gods and damnation, she cursed vaguely towards Prudence, he wasn’t blooded. Curse it all. I’ve just killed someone who shouldn’t have even died. I thought this was supposed to mean something.

 Calm down child. Your nights work is not done yet. If you don’t want his death to be in total vain, you must kill again, replied Prudence, and you must still deal with the body. Leave it until you have the necessary charm.

 She was shaking. It truly was one thing to kill when you knew that it brought you closer to a goal, and quite another to have a life taken for no reason other than a mistake. Already she was cursing herself as a fool. Her breathing becoming rapid. Her arms wrapping around her body trying to elicit some comfort.

 Caprice was thankful that Prudence didn’t say anything as she composed herself, and just remained a comforting presence in her thoughts. Even then it took a while for the shivering to subside, and she felt more herself, albeit with clothes stained with blood. It was a mercy that no others had chosen to take the route that she lay down. None to scream bloody murder.

 I’ll do it, Caprice thought to Prudence, once she had finally calmed down enough, I’ll see this through.

 Good. You are strong enough to do this.

 Like a bloody shadow, Caprice returned to lingering in the dark, waiting for another victim. Even so, she felt sick to her stomach. The stench of blood from the man she had killed surrounded her, his blood stuck to her clothes. She hoped it wouldn’t give her away. Doubts and fears roiled in her stomach. While she had resolved to see this through, it did not make it any easier to actually follow through on that resolve.

 Despite trying to keep calm, fear and dread of discovery rolled around. Her thoughts were plagued with ideas of disaster. It was if she was a stuck cart, the wheels spinning but only ever bringing her back to the same place. She castigated herself for her folly and poor planning. As if everything that could go wrong had done, and would continue to do so.

 Prudence only stepped in to break her out of the harmful cycle when he noticed something that she should really have picked up on herself.

 Child. Can you recognise what you are hearing? There is a group of sailors offloading their cargo now. You have another chance. Be careful and swift.

 Caprice blinked a few times before using the tangible goal in front of herself to propel her forward, out of the quagmire of her mind. While she hadn’t been trained in stealth exactly, etiquette training had included how to move quietly when needed, and now it was very much needed.

 “Gods, this stuff weighs a ton. What are they shipping in these things.”

 “Not for us to worry about. Though probably some of that fancy rock. We were in Varnesse right? And those high and mighty shit heads love that crap.” The sailor speaking spat to punctuate her sentence. It all felt rather vulgar to Caprice, though perhaps she should have expected that, as they didn’t have proper upbringings.

 “You’re probably right. Let’s get it ditched and get to bed.”

 “Screw that. I need a break. I’m good at the water shit, not this hauling about. If you want to carry this the rest of the way yourself, I ain’t going to stop you.”

 That sounds promising, said Prudence.

 “Fine you lazy ass bastard,” said the other sailor, before the pair lowered the crate to the ground at a junction.

 Should I wait? Caprice asked Prudence, her hand shaking as it hovered over her knife.

 Do you want to kill both to have more chances, and more potential charms? Asked Prudence in return.

 I just want this whole thing to be done as swiftly as possible. But I don’t want to kill another unblooded

 Use a claw. You have three, and it will be the surest way. You must get used to collateral damage, and this could reward you well.

 Or lead to another innocent death, replied Caprice

 Stop your complaining child. You are delaying what you must do. You should not put such things off, it will only make them harder.

 It felt as though it was an argument that Caprice could not hope to win, in part because she really did want to return home, and the comfort it provided, away from this dirty, messy, vulgar place. Committing herself, she extended her mind to the claw charm in her pocket and activated it.

 While logically she knew it wouldn’t hurt, Caprice still expected pain as her left arm deformed. There was a sound of tearing cloth as her arm grew thicker, and longer, covered in blood red plates. Instead of fingers, she had razor-sharp talons, sharp enough to cut through most protections, and hot enough to sear the soul.

 The pair of sailors looked up when they heard her, but already she was running towards them from the side alley she had been in.

 “What the-” was all the first sailor managed before she gouged out his chest cavity. She tried to scream, but had not the lungs to push air through her throat. Her companion looked on in shock as he was drenched in her blood. Caprice didn’t hesitate, piercing his skull with her talons.

 As the top of the skull in her hand divided into four neat sections, the sailor’s body fell. Caprice began breathing heavily. Less from the exertion, and more from panic. It had been so terribly easy to kill them, and if she wanted, the charm had more than enough power to maintain this for a good while longer. It was suddenly so very easy to see why witch bloods had been the most feared of all the great bloods. They could burn like the fires of the sun for a short while, a whole life’s worth of power in a few scant hours.

 Make your charms child. And hurry, this place is exposed.

 As ever, Prudence felt like a voice of reason to Caprice, and the bone was so much easier to grasp after she had dissected the pair rather than merely stabbing them. She let her left arm return to normal. What had looked ugly seconds before was returned to just being an arm. There wasn’t even any blood on it.

 Almost as soon as she touched bone, Caprice entered the fugue-like state associated with her blood. While Prudence had known a few of the possibilities, the array of choices she had was nearly dizzying. Despite this, Caprice stuck to the original plan of the charms she would make. Certainly they were beneficial to her current situation, and she could just make different ones later. After all, there were plenty of selkie bloods around now.

 With the resources on the first body, she’d managed the breathing charm, which was small and almost like a fish scale, very different from the dragon scale that she held. The catalyst looked and felt like a piece of raw flesh, albeit bone coloured. The single dissolving charm was a viscous substance. Calling it a dissolving charm was wrong though. It was like an acid that could eat through just about anything when she triggered the charm.

 She was rather fortunate in that the second body was also that of a selkie blood. As she began to work the blood into the bone, she felt a sense of vindication, one of the few emotions to pierce the haze she worked in. It wasn’t exactly satisfaction, it was just the simple fact that her actions were always right.

 As she left the state of working, Caprice trembled. If that was how witch bloods felt while working then it was even clearer how they had gotten so twisted and corrupt. It was a very real danger to her.

 Child, you can think on this later. For now, we must dispose of the remains.

 You’re right. Of course you’re right, thought Caprice back, pocketing the six further acid charms, and the singular charm of fog that she had made.

 Once she had disposed of the bodies and returned home, Caprice got rid of the now ruined clothes she had been wearing. It had been a small mercy that none of the staff had seen her caked in blood and dirt. Stealing into her room, she headed straight to her bathroom to try and clean the blood from her arms and face. No matter how fastidiously she scrubbed, no matter how clean they looked, she still felt dirty.

Chapter 5 - Guin’s Move

 After a restless night of sleep after having gone to bed much too late, Caprice both wanted rest, and knew that no more would be forthcoming. That was probably for the best in truth, for today was the first day she would be attending the royal court. Nothing much would be expected of her at least. Just to watch and listen as various nobles presented their conflicts and request, or observe any judgement that could not have been resolved in a lower court.

 As heir to the last great house, Caprice wouldn’t be in the first two rows of seats, but she would be the closest to the throne on third row of the right-hand side. It was rather comforting to know where she sat, as the jockeying of all the other houses meant you really had to know where you belonged or risk insulting others or denigrating yourself.

 While there were benefits to her position, she would have to make absolutely sure that she appeared suitably awake, and didn’t drift off part way through. She would be in clear sight of the throne, so failing to pay attention would be easily noticeable.

 Stretching and grunting in a rather unesslike fashion, Caprice dragged herself out of her bed. Despite her difficulty sleeping, the light of day made the events of the previous evening seem like nothing but a horrible dream. It disturbed Caprice that she seemed to skirt away from the responsibility of murdering three people.

 When she thought about it directly, she was sick to her stomach. Yet the birds called as they had the previous day. The light was bright and beautiful. Caprice glanced in the mirror. Where last night, she had seen hideousness, and brilliant red stains, now she looked as though nothing had happened.

 You’ve always known that your decisions would affect a great many people, even if you didn’t have the prophecy to fulfil. You’ve been taught to be resilient child, and you will need that resilience to see this through to the end. That you still feel disgusted by your actions is good. Life should never be taken without cause, it’s just that your cause is the greatest the nation has ever known, said Prudence.

 Was that supposed to be in any way comforting, because it really wasn’t.

 I wouldn’t say comforting. It is easy for witch bloods to be consumed with the desire for power. You need that power, but you cannot give into the desire to take for the sake of taking. You have a purpose, and you must see it completed, but I do not want you to lose yourself in the process.

 Thank you Prudence. Gods this is hard though, replied Caprice.

 Things worth doing are rarely easy; but that doesn’t mean you can just abandon them. You have the strength to carry you through this.

Caprice conveyed a feeling of gratitude back to Prudence before ringing the bell to summon Malevolent.

~~~

 While it is wasn’t her first time in the throne room, it was Caprice’s first visit as a noble. It was a genuinely impressive sight. Five rows of tiered seating on either side, with a gorgeous golden Ashan rug leading up to the dais where Queen Apathy von Lach sat. The throne for the prince consort had remained empty since the death of Mediocrity von Lach. To the queen’s left, set slightly back was a second empty throne. Disaster von Lach, heir to the queendom rarely kept up with his appointed duties, according to rumour.

 Allegedly he routinely stumbled into council meetings late and hungover, but the queen tolerated it all. It was as if she was blind to his faults. For all that, Disaster was decisive, and had supported a number of measures that were widely supported among the noble bloods, usually because they helped to line their pockets further. His negotiations with Trivel were also legendary, somehow managing to secure a strong trade deal.

 Further back still sat Malice and Spite. Malice had a bored expression on her face, which lit up when she saw Caprice at the entrance. Spite was busy looking over the agenda, making the odd note next to one of the items. Caprice fought the urge to wave down the hall to the pair. This was neither the time nor the place for such things. She was an adult, she shouldn’t be so childish.

 Looking at Caprice as she walked to her seat, one might have described it as serene or peaceful. In reality, she was just tired and distracted, hiding behind a neutral mask. Only barely did she have the wherewithal to return her father’s nod of acknowledgement as she passed in front of him to reach the stairs up to her seat.

 Even the individual chairs were extravagant. A deep red cushion on each, with a bench extending out from the divider between each row for any papers that the nobility wished to have ready access to. Charity von Leance was seated in the seat that was rightfully Caprice’s. While she had been aware that House von Leance’s star had been rising, she was surprised to see just how far.

 Caprice raised an eyebrow at Charity, both parties knowing full well that Caprice was the higher ranked of the two, despite being functionally unblooded. Charity stared back defiantly at Caprice. For once, Caprice’s exhaustion was a benefit, it was far easier to not look bothered by Charity’s antagonism. So she just kept looking down at Charity until she became too uncomfortable and was forced to move.

 That the other chairs had mostly been already filled meant that Charity could have attempted what Caprice had just done, but she wouldn’t have the excuse of being from a great house. Essentially it had put Charity in an untenable situation. If she tried to exert her position, she would have rubbed a number of other noble bloods the wrong way. Equally, she would have to take a seat much further away if she didn’t force her way in. The whole attempt at a powerplay managed to backfire for her nemesis spectacularly. As Caprice settled in, and directed what attention she had towards queen Apathy, she could here mild disruption as Charity muscled some of the other heirs further down.

 Why did she think that would work? Caprice asked Prudence.

 Likely because you appear to her as unblooded. No doubt there are a group of nobles who feel that you should be seated as far away from the queen as possible, or that you are still just a child.

 Well, you still refer to me as such, said Caprice, needling back in a somewhat friendly manner at the spirit.

 I’m different. I’m like your guardian, and I am very old, replied Prudence, defending himself.

 In that case, should I start referring to you as a gramps?

 Please don’t. That would just serve to undermine any advice I gave you.

 If you keep on calling me child, I may just have to use it as a countermeasure.

 Direct escalation is rarely the correct way to resolve a conflict, said Prudence, and then a pause, just for effect, child.

 Caprice groaned in her head back at Prudence. She didn’t want to annoy him too much, as he often had useful advice, or at least pick up on subtle cues that she would otherwise miss. Well, she wasn’t sure exactly how useful advising someone to murder people was, but even that was supposed to be for a good cause.

~~~

 Biting the inside of her cheek was the main reason that Caprice still looked attentive as the final complaint being lobbied before the queen was being handled. Just as queen Apathy von Lach was making her judgement, one of the highly ranked palace servants approached and whispered something to her. She gave him a nod, and whispered a response back.

 Even in her current state, Caprice could see the bristling among the noble bloods. Clearly this was an unusual occurrence. The queen seemed unphased by the whole thing and resolved the issue in front of her quickly, where previously she had given further thought. Something was happening, so Caprice mustered all her attention to what happened next.

 The Pay attention child, from Prudence was wholly unnecessary, but it wasn’t something that it hurt to re-iterate.

 A pair of servants opened the doors, and the herald announced the visitor to the halls.

 “Your majesty. May I present Mala Requet, High Messenger of Guin.”

 “Enter, and be welcome Mala Requet of Guin. What is the message that you bring so urgently,” said the queen, her voice carrying clear and strong. The high messenger took the invitation and approached, kneeling into a bow at the perfect distance from the queen.

 “Your Majesty. I bid you greetings from the High Enclave of Guin, and Lady Sua, holiest of the gorgon bloods. For too long have our borders been closed to one another, and we would entreat to you that we might send an ambassador to act in Lady Sua’s stead,” said the high messenger clearly.

 “Indeed, it has been a great while. By all accounts you have long been a peaceful nation,” said queen Apathy, subtly referencing the internal conflicts that had prompted the original closing of borders, “might I enquire as to who this ambassador might be?”

 “Of course your majesty. It would be Yvae Margritte, gorgon blood, and priestess to the gods.”

 “You understand that we might be wary of such an individual. We have heard tales of what your gorgon bloods can do.”

 “We understand your majesty. Shall I relay that you wish a different ambassador?”

 The queen tilted her head, her golden eyes skewering the high messenger’s head. She even began tapping the arm to the throne, deep in thought. Declining the offered ambassador would be impolitick, but accepting them would put a deadly snake in close proximity to the royal family.

 Your father just nodded ever so slightly to the queen. I suspect that you are going to be having a guest in the near future.

 “No, we shall welcome Priestess Yvae Margitte to Lach. We will make arrangements for suitable accommodations for her.”

 “You have our thanks your majesty,” said the high messenger before smoothly exiting the throne room. There was a hushed quiet as most of the noble bloods present tried to work out how best they could profit from this sudden change in events. Caprice just wanted to sleep. Mercifully, that was when the queen dismissed the court. While other members of the nobility moved to other rooms to talk and scheme, Caprice just headed home.

#Witch Blood #nanowrimo

[ifleewroteotome]

#7: Swords & Spiels

Or, the one in which Lee steals shamelessly from old and new favorites.

The Hero/Main Character: A tailor who dreamed of being a palace guard. Never thought they had any magic until it manifested at really inopportune time, which resulted in not only being  framed for a crime they didn’t commit and getting thrown out of the castle, but having to go on the run and flee home country given who was involved. Not terribly politically savvy, mostly because they can’t keep their mouth shut when they have a thought (this is also kind of a problem with their new magic). Super scrappy and a good in-the-moment problem solver. Tends to overthink things into circles if given too much time and space to do so. Fast learner, but only if they’re interested in the subject material. 

Love interests

(F) Her Majesty, the second princess: Third in line for the throne, after her older brother and his daughter. Has chosen to serve as a sort of errant knight, though officially speaking she’s a military commander (she justifies her travels by regularly visiting each outpost during her travels). Ferociously and relentlessly positive. Takes her responsibility to the kingdom very seriously, even though she spends a lot of time avoiding the actual castle and paperwork.  Happiest sleeping under the open stars, with her sword by her side and companions around the fire. Generally appears like she doesn't think things through, but she does - she’s just a really fast thinker. Has a little bit of white knight syndrome, but working on being more practical. Really bad at speeches. Neutral good.

(F) The Dragon: A creature of pure magic, though she typically hangs out in a human form, serving as a lady-in-waiting (and bodyguard) to her Majesty. Stays human mostly for the ability to easily read (all the glorious and wonderful) books humans like to write. Sardonic, clever, and often offers unique perspective, but only when directly asked. A bit inscrutable, and it’s silently understood that she’ll just...leave one day rather than deal with the rift her longevity will cause. Cool and collected, unless she’s reading and you interrupt her. Met her Majesty when deciding to check her out after a neighboring prince ran away into her mountains after hearing he’d be engaged to her. The Dragon offered said prince a job cataloging and organizing her hoard and managing her investments while she’s away, which works well for all involved. Generally finds human customs hilarious and occasionally gross. Steals shiny things. Chaotic neutral.

(M) The Honorable Knight: Her majesty’s official bodyguard and best friend. Kind of a classic golden child - earnest, hardworking, steadfast, and honorable. Has a berserker button, but it takes unique circumstances to switch - he’s generally very calm in intense situations, and has his freakouts once the danger to his liege has passed. A bit overly self-sacrificing, which occasionally gets him into trouble. The only poor soul dedicated to proper etiquette and behavior in the group. Can be really, really oblivious sometimes. Possibly spends too much time with her Majesty, the Dragon, and the Bodyguard, which has given him a very skewed perception of normal female behavior. Lawful good.

(NB?) The (mostly reformed) Assassin: Originally sent from a neighboring kingdom to assassinate the second princess and frame a noble house to start a civil war. Obviously it didn’t go as planned. Basically an angry stray cat the group adopted. Incredibly honest, but very slippery about it. Very good at misdirection and distraction. Ex-circus performer, which has given them a surprising array of useful skills. Claims to only be sticking around because her majesty pays better than their former employers, and claims that if it gets too much of a pain or the coins run out, they’ll bail, but literally everyone (except the assassin) knows better. Comes and goes, acting as a spy or messenger as needed. Chaotic good, though they’ll deny it to their last breath. 

(F) The Bloodthirsty Bodyguard: A mermaid cursed by her clan into silence and cast out of the ocean for crimes she doesn’t talk about. The cursebreaker (see below) broke the silence when he was even younger than he is now, and as thanks she figured she’d at least keep him alive until he grew up into what she assumed would be an inevitably awful adult human. Eventually adopted by his dads (both figuratively and formally) and doesn’t quite know what to do about it. Has toned down the mass murderer tendencies a bit at the cursebreaker’s request but still adjusting to human morality even after 10 years among them (and 8 with her adoptive family). Hates pirates. …Chaotic evil, but to be fair, was literally born that way.

EXTRAS/Non-love interests:

The Cursebreaker: Child prodigy who hasn’t yet encountered a curse he couldn’t break though some of them take time. A little overly serious and somber, but that’s mostly because he’s spent his entire childhood and teenage years dealing with curses, which tend to be (and do) really horrible things. Actually fairly well adjusted, just a little awkward. Really enjoys puzzles. Not scared by much. Not exactly a pacifist, but violence in general is something he avoids. Vegetarian. Loves his dads but in...smaller doses? Actually figured out on his own what big sis/bodyguard did to get thrown out of the ocean and has decided it qualifies as self defense. Chaotic good, mostly because he doesn’t really notice things like societal standards, and people need him too badly to get him into trouble for breaking laws or rules.

The Beast: A grand lady cursed to be a beast and found she greatly preferred being one to her human form. Let the Cursebreaker break the curse on her servants because it wasn’t really their fault, but kept her own. Lives happily in a gigantic magical library in the woods (which also showed up with the curse) and is much, much older than she lets on. Doesn’t get along with the Dragon, since the Dragon has openly voice her intention to annex the library into her hoard someday. 

The (Chatelain) Prince: Technically Her Majesty’s ex-fiance. To avoid the engagement, he ran away to work for the Dragon (it wasn’t personal and there’s no hard feelings) since being kidnapped by dragons is  generally a socially acceptable sort of thing for royalty to do. Now living his best life. Sends the Dragon regular updates on her invested hoard and status of her mountain domain and is generally getting lots of great estate management skills.  Frighteningly efficient and organized.  Lawful neutral.

His Majesty, the first prince: Heir apparent to the throne. Will be a great king -- and somewhat by necessity for the former, is not always a good person, though he’s never deliberately unpleasant for the sake of being so. Big picture and longterm strategy kind of person. Eerily good at reading people - to the point where most people assume he has Sight. Very regal and mysterious, except when his daughter wants to have a tea party or his wife wants to slide down staircases. Lawfully chaotic. That is not a thing. But that is what he is.

Her Majesty, the first consort: Third daughter of the neighboring monarchs across the mountains. Wife of the first prince. Just as mysterious and inscrutable as he is, but she lets the mischief show through a little more. No magic at all. A very tactical and detail-oriented person, she notices everything in the moment. Will 100% slide down grand staircase rails. Might actually eat you if you hurt her daughter. Likewise lawful chaotic. Most people find their majesties kind of exhausting, even when they’re on their ‘best’ behavior.

Her Majesty, the first princess: Daughter of the first prince and consort. A tiny, brilliant terror. It’s a complete coin toss whether she will someday either burn the world to ash or bring it, ascendant, into brilliance. Her parents are so proud. 

The Queen: Ruler and badass old lady. No really--she’s actually grandmother to the first princess and second princess (their parents kind of tried to commit high treason - it’s a long story). Eccentric, brilliant, and capable of great brutality if it keeps her queendom safe. Has had to make some horrible choices in life, but hasn’t let that stop her from moving forward. Very much like her great granddaughter. Probably a good thing she loves her grandkids, or she’d probably destroy the world just because she was bored? But since she wants to leave them as safe and happy as possible, instead she just takes really good care of things. Really good at delegating.

The King: Everyone thinks he passed away but he hasn’t. He just likes to sneak up on people and make them think he’s haunting them. And he has his granddaughter’s wanderlust, so he’s usually off wandering the kingdom. His wife was the heir to power - he’s just the one who married her. Once worked for the Dragon as her chatelain, until the Queen ‘rescued’ him. Dragon’s still grouchy that he didn’t give two weeks notice.

#otome plots #otome idea

[seokmattchuus]

I have thoughts on queendom puzzle but what if it lands me in the shit pool like my bp thoughts did 💀

#dumb fuck ted talk #the way my inbox was f u l l #it was wild #not to mention gg stans are more vicious than bg stans. i'm not trying to poke the bear #and i love cherry bullet but the ways the teams were made was kinda...not it #very dick riding popular people #queendom puzzle #queendom puzzle problems

[seokmattchuus]

Alright, imma say it

wooyeon deserved better for INVU

#dumb fuck ted talk #half the fucking industry lipsyncs what's the fucking deal #or what's that saying people always use?? 'they obviously sang it to record it' #you're gonna look me in the eyes and tell me you'd be able to sing a cover in front of your idol?? PERFECTLY #no one sings live #y'all act like she was the only one #you lipsync - downvote. your voice cracks - downvote. you're fucked either way might as well save yourself the pity party #y'all haters for n o reason #queendom puzzle #queendom puzzle problems #wooyeon #woo!ah! #wooah

[seokmattchuus]

I take all my votes back for the rocket punch girlies, eliminate them right now so they can go home and realize they don't suck as much as those bitches want them to think

#dumb fuck ted talk #they can do so much better i hate it here #they deserve better #if these song lineups end up how i think i WILL be hating #queendom puzzle #queendom puzzle problems