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justasparkwritings · 3 years

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Camp Evergreen: You & Me, Me & You {I}

Previous: Prologue

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x Reader

Genre: Summer Camp AU, Non Idol AU

Rating: PG15

Word Count: 7.9K

Warnings: Swearing

Summary: As camp preparations begin, you find yourself slowly distancing yourself from Taehyung, the one person you want desperately to be close to. But you’re not the only one feeling jealous and uncertain as the instructors, TA and counselors prepare for campers to arrive.

Notes: When life gives you lemons ... rebrand.

This is for my Free Space for @bangtanwritingbingo

Beta Readers: @xiaokoo who I truly owe everything to. The beta reader of my dreams.

Camp Evergreen Master List

“Taehyung Kim!” Kwan calls, bounding from her perch by her cabin towards Taehyung, who too easily drops his duffle to hug her.

You sit, watching the exchange, clipboard perched on your lap as you confirm campers and bunks for the millionth time. The summer sun beats down, and you’re grateful you tossed on your favorite camp baseball hat. Worn on the edges, bent at the brim, a few stitches sewn in the side by Taehyung’s expert hands, one for each year of camp you’ve worked as instructors. This year he wants to add gold for your role as Head Instructor. Sometime this week, week 0, the week you all play ice breakers and drink wine coolers and pretend like you aren’t about to spend six weeks with teenagers you don’t know. For you, it’s a week of forcing the seasoned instructors to mingle with the new instructors, and coordinating activities with the counselors and Junior counselors who run all non-academic time.

Above all aspects of your job, week 0 is absolutely your least favorite. Ice breakers, bridging the gap between introverts and extroverts, people who know Camp backwards and forwards with those who have never worked this kind of job before, is taxing. Adding the fact that you have to ‘prepare them to teach teenagers’, and it all becomes too much. Too much paperwork and procedures, too many rules and potential problems. Too many sleepless nights, body adjusting to your twin, wishing it was curled into the queen size mattress laying empty in your apartment. Wishing you were curled up with someone other than the mosquitoes and AC set too cold.

“Oh my god, I missed you!” Taehyung’s voice, loud across the field, calls you out of your admin bubble. He embraces her, lifting her lightly off the ground, her squeal hurting your ears. You catch yourself rolling your eyes immediately, because Taehyung’s never done that to you. “How was your year?”

“It was actually shit, I quit my job and am moving schools actually. But I’m really excited to be here for the summer.”

“Yeah, we’re excited to be back-

“We?” She quirks an eyebrow, glancing past Taehyung’s honey complexion and snapback covered locks to you, the only person whom Tae might be referring to. You avert your gaze back to your page, lost somewhere in Cabin 7.

“Yeah, the general ‘we’. We’re going to have an amazing time. I read through your curriculum, you used some of my old material!”

“I did, yes, you had some really great 2 dimensional projects that I took and, not elevated, but.”

“You totally elevated them, I’m curious how you plan on recreating sound and sound waves. Are you gonna pull Yoongi in for that?”

“No,” Yoongi says, walking past Taehyung, arms full of sheet music.

“Let me help you!” Kwan smiles at Yoongi before grabbing a handful of items from him and heading towards the music studio.

Taehyung glances at you, slowly making his way from the path to the picnic area where you sit. “I need your hat.”

“Can you get it tonight?” You don’t look up, wanting to pay him as little attention as possible.

He scoffs, “I haven’t added the stripe from last year.”

“That’s not my fault,”

“Yeah, you didn’t stop by before you left for me to do it,” He reminds you.

“I had to get home and unpack, only to repack so I could leave with my family for Rome,” You’ve clipped your pencil on the base of your board, sunglass frame peering out from below the brim of your hat, eyes glaring. He watches, smirking, remembering exactly why he didn’t put that stitch in last year.

“Still, it’s tradition,” Taehyung says, his smirk blossoming into a smile.

“I know,” You resign, sipping from your favorite water bottle. “I apologized a thousand times.”

“I’ll accept your apology when your fourth stripe is stitched,” He concedes.

He glances up to see an eagle flying overhead. “Whoa,” he coos.

You don’t look up at the bird, instead you take in the column of his neck, the way his hair is gathering underneath his backwards cap, the way his tongue delicately peaks out from his lips. His lean frame, golden skin and slender build, tantalizing. He’s a better view than any eagle.

“I hope you have the same color,” You say, observing as he continues to track the flight of the bird.

“Last year using purple, at the end of this summer, gold,” Taehyung pulls his gaze back to you, winking when he catches you staring.

“Why gold?”

He shrugs, he’d taken some color theory course in college. “Purple and gold go together, they’re the colors of royalty,”

“I’m not royalty,” You laugh. “That’s what Lorde said, we’ll never be royals / it don’t run in our blood,”

“But I think that lux is for us,” Taehyung can’t wipe the smile off his face if he tries.

“I suppose I love being queen,” You offer.

“Hm, nobody puts baby in a corner,” Taehyung winks, quiet and subtle, a smirk back on his lips as he turns to go to his arts cabin where work awaits him.

“Y/N?” A tenor voice calls, coming towards you. His fade is crisp, clean, recently done, pick stuck straight in the top, an affront to all Questlove stands for. His broad shoulders and deep russet skin shine in the summer sun, all wiry muscle and light reflecting off his sunglasses.

“Asher?” You ask.

“Yeah, hi,”

“You grew up!” You call. Setting your clipboard down on the picnic table, you extend your arms to hug him.

“Namjoon said to come and meet you, he said I had a different assignment this year?”

“Yes, you do! Sorry, I don’t know why I’m so excited,” You smile at him, happy for his friendly though challenging personality to be back at camp.

“So, I’m not assisting Hoseok?” Asher sits across from you, legs extending on the bench, eyes scrutinizing. “Did they decide not to reseed the field? It’s looking... rough.”

You stare at him, deciding if now is the moment to scold him for his attitude or not. “No, you have been moved.”

“Where?” His gaze drifts towards the lake. “Did they rake the bottom?”

“Yes, Asher, Camp is ready, if not almost ready.”

“I mean, I guess. It looks better. If you guys asked the maintenance people,” He nods his head towards the main office, “if they needed someone to landscape they should’ve called my family. It’s embarrassing to open camp this way.”

“Asher,” You try to warn him.

“Seriously, they should’ve just called, and my parents would’ve fixed it,” He shrugs.

“Well, hindsight is 20/20. Can we talk about your new assignment?”

“Yeah, but who is the head lifeguard this year? I can’t believe no one’s asked me to do it. I mean, why haven’t I? I’m the best swimmer here,” Asher continues on, only pausing to stare at you expectantly.

“Well, if you sit and listen, I’ll explain,” You gave him a pointed look, one he’d come to know in the few years he’s spent at Camp Evergreen. Asher is your project for the summer, one assigned to you in the hopes that you could instill something positive within him. A project that you had to begrudgingly accept. He finished his first year out of college, where he earned a BFA in dance, and worked as a swing and principal in the touring cast of Hamilton before returning to camp, on his parents request.

“Sorry,”

You take a sip of water before launching into your carefully crafted monologue. “I read through your evaluation of last summer, as well as Hoseok’s, and as I am now Head Instructor, monitoring all teachers and instructors is my job.”

“Congrats,”

“Oh, thanks,” You shrug. “I will be having 1-1’s with all teachers, and teaching instructors too. But for you, we need to talk about how last summer went.”

He sits up, crossing his legs underneath him. “Look, I know it wasn’t great,”

“Why wasn’t it great?” You ask. Truth be told, you hadn’t read an evaluation as bad as Asher’s in your many years of working with counselors and at summer camps.

“I don’t know, ask Hoseok. He said he didn’t want to work with me again,” Asher snaps.

“Why didn’t you go to the Head Instructor?”

“I don’t know. No one cared much,”

The crux of Asher’s personality, the idea that no one cared about him unless he was the best at something, was what had served him in competitions, but when working with kids… ruined him.

“That’s not true, Hoseok cared, cares, he still does.” You offer a platitude he can see through.

“It’s fine, my dad gives money, I get a job. I’m just… here. What am I going to do this summer?” The brush off, a defense mechanism he’d learned a little too early on.

“It’s been decided that, per my suggestion, you will be assisting Jimin this summer,” You brace for his response. At first, it’s a tiny implosion.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” He spits.

“Asher,” His second warning.

“Seriously? Fucking Jimin?” He asks again.

“Asher,” His final.

“The fuck, I come back here to work with these, monsters, and I’m relegated to Jimin? To fucking contemporary-

“Asher, you don’t have to be here. This is a chance for you to prove yourself, to redeem yourself from what happened last year and honestly the year before,” You didn’t want to bring in all the drama of the previous years, the reasons why he had been relegated to this position, instead of pushed to be a full instructor following Hoseok’s curriculum, but sometimes opening wounds, at the very least pouring salt into them, helped make a point. “You’re climbing uphill, and you can change campers’ perception of you, but you’ll have to work with me and Jimin. I haven’t even detailed what you’ll be doing.”

“What will I be doing?”

“Jimin teaches two classes, each with two sections. The first is contemporary and modern dance, a beginners course and an advanced one. This week you will be learning routines and working through expectations of his classes. His second course is comedic acting, scene work, TV scripts, stand-up comedy. He again teaches two sections. You will follow his directions and instructions, and you will do exactly what he says.” You explain.

Asher scoffs in response and rolls his grey eyes, “That sounds like a shit job,”

“You also have a group of campers who come in for additional support during free time.”

“You’re consigning me to work with Jimin, who already hates me, all summer, and a bunch of teenagers who are too, what, incapable of doing other activities? The troublemakers? The D-list understudies no one ever calls no?”

“The campers who need extra support. It’s a very popular Free Time activity.”

“Is it new kids each day?”

“No, they take a week at a time.”

He watches you, his implosion dissipating, conformity taking over. “I suppose Jimin will train me?”

“Yes,”

Asher stills, thinking through his options again before speaking. “This is because I’m a dick, isn’t it?”

“No,” Your answer is quick, too quick.

“You’re a good liar,” He laughs.

“I’m not lying, it’s not because you’re a dick, your words.”

“What if I fuck this up too?”

“Then you don’t come back next year,” The consequence had been clear, from upper administration: one more bad summer and Asher is out.

“That’s fair, I’m missing the summer run because I’m here. Maybe being done with camp will be better for my career,”

“Maybe, but let’s just, take it one day at a time, okay?” It’s obvious, the disappointment in his eyes, the failure he’s trying to dig himself out of.

“Fine,”

“You and I will have check-ins on Fridays during the second free time block,” You explain.

“I don’t do, whatever study club during second free period?”

“Nope,”

“Fuck,” He exhales.

“You gotta stop swearing,” There’s laughter in your voice, the notion that both of you would have to get all your swearing out before camp flashes in your head. “You’ve just gotta stop fucking swearing all the fucking time.”

“Go off,” Asher laughs.

“We’ve all got until Sunday to get all of our swearing out, so use it wisely,”

“Alright,”

“There’s a binder with information and Jimin’s curriculum. He wants you to read it all before you meet with him.”

He nods, “How much run of the study group do I have?”

“Next to none,”

“So, I can’t experiment?”

“Only if Jimin gives you the go-ahead.” You clarify.

“Okay.” The mischievous glint in his eye is a little too close for comfort.

“The information regarding camper experience and abilities is already in Jimin’s studio.” You inform him.

“How much does he hate me?”

“He doesn’t hate you, he’s just, wary of you.”

“Word,” Asher stands, adjusting his sunglasses, the blazing sun reflecting off the label on the side: Givenchy.

“Great, go settle in and read. Jimin’s expecting you later today.”

Taehyung finds you, sitting in your cabin, planner open, pens of a variety of colors spread across your bed. You’re picking at the skin of your thumb, slowly peeling it off while your leg bounces lightly against the floor. He watches, watches you adjust your glasses, watches how you switch from a black pen to a highlighter, stares as you pout, bottom lip protruding before tucking it between your teeth and biting the flaking skin. You should’ve put lip balm on.

You turn, eyes widening as you catch him staring at you.

“Hey,” He says.

“Hi,” You offer a weary smile.

“I brought,” He holds up your favorites: two cans of sparkling water and a bag of mini-Twix bars. “Nourishment, and crafts.”

“My hats over there,” You nod towards your open suitcase where he grabs your hat.

“How long have you been here working?”

“How long have we had free time?” You ask.

“Didn’t you make the schedule?”

“No, not for this week. I have my own schedule that sometimes conflicts with yours,”

“Hm, makes sense,”

“Things I have to do, meetings, that I guess take precedent over ice breakers,”

Taehyung opens both cans of water, setting yours on the floor by your foot. “You hate ice breakers.”

“I hate the fact that we’re going to play one hundred rounds of the name game before the campers even get here. I know who everyone is, and everyone knows me. Why do I have to play?”

“How long has this been bugging you?”

“Since I got the job,”

“It hasn’t been that long,” Taehyung chuckles.

“Fine, maybe not, but still too long. All my free time, dedicated to memorizing every fucking name in that stupid binder, reading curriculum maps night and day for months on end.” You take a long sip, savoring the Grapefruit flavor. Why does anyone make any other flavor other than Grapefruit?

“There’s always a binder.”

“I’m lucky they sent me PDFs of everything because the sheer number of binders in the main office is enough to bankrupt an entire Office Max, not even a store, the entire company!”

He’s trying not to laugh at you. “Color coded?”

“No! They’re all haphazard, it makes no fucking sense!”

“You’re riled up,” Taehyung snickers.

“I’m exhausted,”

“Didn’t get any sleep last week?” He smirks.

“Shut up. My free time was otherwise occupied,” It’s the only inch you’ll budge, and he’s taking it, hands up in surrender.

“You don’t have much free time this summer,” He segues back to work, the safety zone in your cabin.

“No, I don’t, what I do have is actually, not free? It all belongs to everyone else.”

“Why don’t you have your own cabin?”

“I don’t know.”

“Cabin 13 is open,” The smirk is back, this time a wink included, brows raised.

“I’m not going to sleep in the place countless people go to have sex and eat ass and hook up for the first time.”

“Why not?” Taehyung winks again, this time you don’t dignify his question with anything other than an eyeroll. “You really think people eat ass in there?”

Again, you don’t give him anything other than the huff of your breath. He lets it go, turning instead to your hat, which he’s taken into his hands. His nimble fingers trace his previous works.

“I’m thinking of doing a different stitch,” Taehyung informs you, needle and thread coming out of his pocket in a little pouch that you’ve seen before.

“For last summer? Shouldn’t it be for this summer?”

“I do a different stitch every year, have you not noticed?” He’s wounded, hurt in his baritone as he watches you look up from your work.

You stare at him, you had noticed, but didn’t know if it was intentional or him just wanting to try something new. “Of course, I noticed. The first year is a back stitch, second is cross stitch, third is chevron.”

His insecurity is gone, instead he’s blushing. “You’re cute when you’re talking embroidery,”

“Tae,” You whine.

“Hm?”

“Stop,”

“I’d prefer not to,” He winks yet again, has he always been so fucking charming?

“When am I getting my new clipboard?”

“When I’m good and ready to give it to you,” He scoffs. His gleeful eyes are back on your hat, the needle piercing the fabric.

“Tae,” Your voice is a whisper.

“I like it-

“Stop, please,” You hate begging him. “When am I getting my clipboard?”

Unwilling to meet your eyes, he stays focused on his project. “When do I always give it to you?”

A whine leaves your lips as your body falls onto your pillow, accompanied by another dry sob. “The night before camp starts,”

“Okay, so Saturday evening, I’ll bring it to you, like always.”

“Fine.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

He stops all movements, giggling tone gone, eyes softening as he gazes at you. “You’re lying to me.”

“Tae-

A knock on your door alerts you to Teaching Assistant, waiting to speak.

“Hey Margot, how can I help you?” You blink quickly, the tears already forming.

“Do you know where Allison is?” She asks.

“Um, maybe with Jimin or Jungkook going over equipment stuff or getting ready for the riff off?”

“That’s tonight?” Taehyung asks.

Margot laughs as you roll your eyes, “Did you not look at your schedule?”

“I looked; I just didn’t internalize it.” He answers. Taehyung stands and gathers his materials, your hat in his hand.

“Yes tonight, sunset.”

He excuses himself past Margot, but not before he answers her final question. “I’ll get our shirts.”

Margo glances between you, “You have shirts?”

“Oh, yeah,” Taehyung nods before bouncing off, down the steps and across the path to Cabin 12.

Taehyung has stayed in a different bed in the male instructors cabin every summer he’s worked at camp. It was some nonsense that he wanted to experience all of them, every facet, every quirk, to feel what campers did each summer they’d come back and be in a new place, or the same space but in a different location. Though each bed was built to be the same, they each had a different vibe, one he could easily detect once he settled in and had a few nights rest. Taehyung tried to argue that while the cabin had its own unique personality, it’s true summer atmosphere was determined by those who lived within the confines of its walls, and in which order they sleep each night. The first year, he slept between Jimin and Hoseok. Last year he was next to Yoongi and the wall. Both experiences, challenging and illuminating.

“Do you need anything else Margot?” You ask, eyes already scanning your over scheduled and annotated planner.

“Nope, just excited to work with you again,” She blushes.

“Me too,”

“Margot!” A voice calls behind her.

“Allison!”

That’s always been your favorite part of Camp Evergreen, the flock of returning faces. You and Taehyung are a part of the elite group of instructors that has been working at camp the longest. Some came in adolescence, others started as Junior Counselors before migrating to Counselors, eventually becoming industry professionals, and asked to teach for the summer session. The deep-rooted traditions, the familiarity and familial bonds made each summer memorable, sun kissed, and sepia toned, the scent of sunscreen and the talent show prep, permanently etched in your brain. Each session made all the more memorable because each summer you spend it with your friends, the people who occupy your non-work hours with the ones you only see within the confines of Camp.

Camp is home.

Camp is Taehyung.

And that...is the problem.

The sunsets as your teams are divided. Seokjin, Namjoon, Kwan and Areum are captains, and they’ve drawn names out of a hat to determine which instructors they have. Somehow, Seokjin has landed both Jungkook and Yoongi. Unfortunately, they’ve also landed you. The TA’s follow their instructors, while the Cabin Counselors and JC’s are divided based on cabin colors. This ensures a fair divide, a random separation of whatever alliances, and an equal spread of talent. The handful of TA’s and Cabin Counselors relegated to Seokjin’s team cannot stop ogling Jungkook. He’s grown up since they’ve last seen him, grown to an extent that seems absolutely impossible if you weren’t staring at him. To you, he looks the same as he did two weeks ago when you saw him at the gym, and at movie night, and at Yoongi’s for the JCole listening party. But to them? A year away had done nothing but wonders on his physique, and tattoo sleeve.

“Y/N,” Seokjin starts. “What are you good at?”

“Not singing,” You tell him. “Shouldn’t you know that by now?”

“Yes. Are you good at lyrics?”

“Incredibly,”

“Excellent.” Seokjin turns to Jungkook.

“But she can scream,” Yoongi mutters. You shove him aggressively, his recently healed shoulder tweaking at your force.

“I’m your boss, Yoongi,” You snap.

“If you make me look bad, I’ll make sure your summer is terrible,” Seokjin barks.

A in unison, “Fine,” flows between you and Yoongi.

“Yoongi – what about you?” Hoseok looks at his elder and stares expectantly.

Yoongi deadpans, “I’m not singing. Your real question should be who is stopping Jungkook, and what obscure lyrics is Namjoon going to pull out?”

Jungkook perks up at the mention of his name. “Me?”

“Who is the biggest threat to you?”

“Jimin,” Jungkook doesn’t hesitate.

“Jimin sings?” Asher asks.

“It’s annoying how angelic his voice is,” You answer.

“So Namjoon and Jimin,” Seokjin frowns, bringing you back to the topic at hand.

“We can’t forget Taehyungie and Hoseok,” Jungkook adds.

“Taehyung doesn’t know any lyrics,” Yoongi interjects.

Seokjin takes the opportunity presented to make a snarky comment, “It’ll be easy to tell when he’s going to interrupt, that neon t-shirt is almost as bright as the sun.”

“They’re not neon, they just have parts of exploded glow sticks on them!” You correct.

“Why is that?” A counselor asks.

“One year we had a paint party, they were tearing down the old Arts & Crafts cabin to build a new one with space for a kiln, and we asked if we could toast it goodbye. They said yes, then didn’t get rid of the cabin,” You explain. It had taken three separate attempts to get the paint out of your hair. Taehyung had opted for an undercut and trim, making himself look impossibly sexy for fall.

“Is that why there’s strange shaped paint splotches on the ceiling?”

“Yeah, they repainted every cabin and studio during the remodel, but the damage had been done.” Seokjin finishes the tale. “Now back to the game.”

“Who is MCing?” Jungkook questions. The eyes fall to you.

“Oh shit, me!” You run from the team to the front of the stage, flipping the microphone on.

“Yo-yo-yo!” You call.

“What’s up?” They respond.

“Hello, and welcome to the Camp Evergreen summer 2021 Riff off!” You call into the mic. Everyone cheers and claps, smiling up at you from their seats. “You have been split into teams, each vying for gold in our annual competition. The rules are as follows: you must sing or rap a song that fits the theme. You must know a minimum oof 90% of the words and melody. And, for clarification, we play by Pitch Perfect rules.”

“What are Pitch Perfect rules?”

“If Seokjin is singing a line that ends in ‘it’, your new song must start with ‘it’ not ‘it’s’. Every team earns a point for their participation in each round. Five points are given to the team that starts the round, and 10 points are given to the last team in a round. You win a round by being the team that stunts or sings so well no other team wants to try and beat you, or no one can come up with a lyric that matches the end of yours. Points are tallied at the end and the winner gets fame and glory. Our categories are: heartbreak, songs about summer, Broadway bangers, TV theme songs, commercial jingles, Christmas songs and carols, boozing and cruising, thank to Jungkook for that, songs ruined by Glee, American Idol winners, British pop, anything Beyonce, and 90s R&B.”

You give the crowd a moment to process the rules and categories, allowing them time to whisper to each other and plan what songs they all know.

“You have 30 seconds, and then teams must report to the stage,”

Jimin’s team is first to stand, preparing to launch themselves onto their designated space on the stage.

“When the timer goes off, please head to your spot on the stage where I will be waiting to spin the wheel!”

You watch as each group continues calculating, making decisions and clarifying vocal parts for those who don’t sing. You suppose it’s cruel, having a Riff Off the first few days of staff training, but aside from lake day and the banned ping-pong contest, this is the highest rated event… besides charades and cards against humanity, but those are reserved for the teaching staff.

“Alright, everyone’s situated, we know the rules. The category is,” You click the randomizer, which you’ve projected on the screen, and watch as it spins the circle round and round before landing.

“Christmas Songs!”

Shockingly, it’s Jungkook that rushes to the center first.

“Have yourself a merry little Christmas / let your heart be light / From now on your troubles will be out of sight/ Have yourself a merry little Christmas.”

Taehyung jumps in. “Christmas I gave you my heart but the very next day / you it away / this year to –

“To the North Pole for St. Nick / I won’t even stay awake to hear the magic reindeer click / ‘Cause I just want you here tonight / Holding on to me so tight / What more can I do?” Kwan’s vocals soar, another talent of hers, a stunning voice on top of gallery worthy painting. “All I want for Christmas is you.”

“You from the land where palm trees sway / Here we know Christmas will be green and bright / The sun will shine by day and all the stars at night / Mele Kalikimaka is a wise way / To say Merry Christmas –

“Merry Christmas and happy holidays,” Seokjin cuts Areum off, a near riot ensuing when his entire team begins screaming ‘Nsync. It’s pandemonium, and no team is brave enough to interrupt.

“Okay, a brave showing for round one! No one is eliminated because well, chaos,” You say into the mic. “The next category is - teenage heartbreak!”

Davis, a quiet screenwriting teacher steps up, his booming pop-rock vocals soaring over the crowd. “Well, good for you / You look happy and healthy, not me / If you ever cared to ask / Good for you / You're doin' great out there without me, baby / God, I wish that I could do that / I've lost my mind, I've spent the night / Cryin' on the floor of my bathroom / But you're so unaffected, I really don't get it / But I guess good for you!”

Yoongi steps up, rap ready to spit. “you / Turn your phone over, when it's all over / No settling down, my text go to your screen / You know better than that / I come around when you least expect me / I'm sitting at the bar when your glass is empty / You thinking that this song's coming on to tempt me / I need to be alone like the way you left me / You -

“You said forever now I drive alone past your street,” It’s Taehyung, coming from the shadows, shocking everyone by knowing the lyrics and filling the theater with his tenor vocals. It’s chilling and heartwarming, drawing everyone in. “Red lights / stop signs / I still see your face in the white cars / front yard / can’t drive places we used / go to / cause I still,” He stops, turning to you. “Can we swear?”

“Yes!”

“I still fucking love you babe!” Taehyung finishes.

“Babe, we ain’t getting through this one –

“One less bell to answer / One less bell to answer / One less egg to fry / One less man to pick up after / I should be happy / But all I do is cry.”

“Cry,” Sophie riffs. “So I’m picking it up / picking it up / I’m lovin’, I’m livin’, I’m pickin it up.”

“Up – buttercup baby / just to let me down –

“Down / I’m going down / cause you ain’t around / baby / my whole world is upside down,” It’s Mia, sweet, quiet TA Mia, a favorite amongst all instructors, who brings the house down with Mary J. Blige. Her gentle croon, sweeping and poignant, sucker punches everyone in the theatre, effectively ending the round.

An hour later, the dancers are playing dance roulette, a Galen Hooks original that Hoseok has turned into an interpretive dance battle, effectively giving all the singers some time off to watch and cheer.

“What’s going on with you and Taehyung?” Yoongi asks. He’s situated himself next to you in the back of the theatre, watching everyone enjoying the performances.

“The usual,” You shrug.

“That seems like a lie,”

“It isn’t.”

“Have some self-respect,” The condescension oozes from his throat.

“I do, I have enough respect to know that I don’t have to defend myself to you,” You offer. If you dared turn to see his opaque irises, you’d be treated to a special view of his sclera.

“Your shirt is a dead giveaway that something is going on.”

“You say that every summer,” You remind him.

A scoff in the darkening night, “Because you wear it every summer.”

“Yes, that is a fact,”

“You should get rid of it, it’s fading,”

You shake your head, a silly argument brewing because Yoongi is bored and tired. “It’s how Taehyung finds me.”

“Do you keep that in your dresser?” He asks. “Do you work out or is it simply a morning after -

“No!” You interrupt. “I keep it in my ‘camp’ box, you know t-shirts, pins, hats, that I save for summer, gifts from campers… and this.”

“I stand by what I said. It’s getting gross,” Yoongi looks at the neon face of his watch, it’s too late to be out here being eaten alive by mosquitoes.

“Tae made it.”

“Five summers ago.”

“So?”

“You two are idiots,” Is all Yoongi has to offer before Taehyung, Hoseok and Jungkook find their way back to you, ready to call it for bed. You glance at your watch, it’s 9PM.

Jogging up to the stage, you turn the mic on.

“You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”

You leave the theatre, leaving Hoseok and Jimin to lock up.

“Hey,” Taehyung jogs up to you, hand finding yours briefly while his other adjusts his cap. “We got separated.”

“Fucking get a room already?” Yoongi snaps.

“That’s okay, you didn’t miss anything except Yoongi bitching about how he doesn’t have a cool shirt.”

“I think we need new ones,” Taehyung says. “They’re fading and in five years I’ve learned a few cool things about screen printing shirts.”

“Vindication,” Yoongi hums.

“Can we do black with bleach?” You request. “Or some really cool tie dye or maybe some lettering, or-

“Why don’t I make some sketches and we can pick together?” Taehyung’s shoulder brushes yours, pinky locking around the column of your finger as you continue walking back to your cabin.

“Perfect,”

“You guys are a bunch of backpackers,” Yoongi chuckles.

“And what is this summer going to be?” You ask him.

“Summer camp – bitch!” You and Yoongi yell in unison, laughter floating into the air.

Of all the camp traditions, nothing remains more sacred than Lake Day. The Friday of staff training, typically the hottest day of the week, has been dubbed Freedom Friday: Lake Day for longer than you and Taehyung have been working or attending Camp. All plans, trainings, etc. have been completed. Breakfast served at a leisurely 10AM instead of 7:45, you are completely forbidden from working for the entirety of the day. Charcuterie and crudites for lunch, eaten on the dock and picnic tables, followed by Indian from the best restaurant in town and a movie night complete with smuggled booze and 7-11 candy. It’s your absolute favorite.

That and the fact that you get uninterrupted time to read, listen to music and podcasts, watch Jungkook battle Jimin, and if you feel so inclined, go for a relaxing kayak ride around the perimeter of the lake.

Of course, if any one asked, you’d list these above your true favorite part of lake day… Shirtless, dripping wet, Taehyung. Slender yet muscular, his honeyed skin glows in the sunlight, black hair drying in the heat, curled and fluffy, begging for hands to run through it. He’s a whole snack, and damn it if you don’t want to take a bite.

“Lotion my back?” Taehyung asks, plopping down on the sand next to you.

“Sure,” You grab his bottle of sunblock before squeezing a generous supply of it across his shoulders. He’s not yet tanned from summer sun, tucked his locks underneath yet another baseball cap, this time navy, with some intelligible scrawl on the front in navy stitchwork. It was a gift from Jimin a summer or two ago.

“Taehyung, is that a hickey?” Namjoon calls.

“What?” Jungkook yells, swimming over to Taehyung to get a better view of his exposed chest.

“It’s not a hickey, just a bruise. I ran into my tall dresser,” Taehyung tries to swat them away, but their prying eyes and wandering hands are poking at it.

“He shouldn’t have added the line about the tall dresser,” you think. “It’s a clear lie, we’ve all seen his bedroom.”

“Whoa, who have you been sleeping with?” Hoseok asks.

Taehyung shrugs, wincing at the newly applied pressure you’ve put against his spine. “None of your business if I am, none of your business if I’m not,”

“It’s definitely not a bruise,” Namjoon says. “She got you good.”

“Must be a lady in the street but a freak in the bed!” Jungkook spits before grabbing his paddle board and coasting back into the water.

Taehyung puffs his chest, pride swelling for the woman who marked him, loud and clear for everyone to see. But he can’t see your face, covered by the brim of your visor, eyes cast downward, trying to hold it together. You stand and move back to your chair.

“Y/N,” Taehyung calls. “Do you want me to do yours?”

“No, Mia did it before we left the cabin,” You continue staring at your novel, unwilling to meet his gaze, eyes barely recognizing the words on the page.

“I could use your help!” Your head snaps to her voice, blood boiling immediately. Kwan… you’ve tried desperately to give her a nickname, but both Yoongi and Taehyung have commented on how gauche it is. So you’re resigned to call her by her name, and never ever will you call her Dr. Lee, not unless she’s being arrested and you are testifying in court about what a pain in the ass she is. It’s a long standing grudge, one that hails from her second summer at camp where she came in, bounding after Taehyung, enthusiastically tracking him down and embracing him… which has only progressed over the years, her affection for him growing into a grey territory between friends and crushes. This summer, she’s picked up where she’s left off: sitting by him at dinner every night this week, holing up in the Arts cabin for hours prepping materials, laughing, listening to podcasts together… How dare she? Didn’t she know your five-summer long crush takes precedence over hers? That yours has more weight because you, you, are the one he makes clipboards for and the one whose hat he stitches each summer? Doesn’t she recognize that he’s your first?

“Absolutely,” Taehyung moves away from you without another thought.

“You can slip under the straps,” Kwan grants permission, and God if it doesn’t look slightly pornographic watching his lean fingers dance across her skin.

“Stop staring,” Yoongi whispers, sitting down next to you.

You snap your gaze to him, narrowing behind your sunglasses. “Aren’t you sweating in your wetsuit?”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, but I’m protected,”

“Why aren’t you putting sunscreen on her?” You snap. Yoongi doesn’t deserve your attitude, you know that, but you also know he’ll take it and not punish you for it later.

His expression flinches, miniscule, enough that if you weren’t skilled in reading his expressions, you’d miss it. “Meaning?”

“Nothing,”

“Did you really put sunscreen on your back or are you lying to be a bit-

“I didn’t. Would you mind?”

Yoongi laughs, hand reaching for your sunscreen. “Trying to make him jealous?”

“Trying not to get skin cancer, Yoongi.” You roll your eyes as you take off your shirt, which exposes the high waisted bikini you’ve been hiding.

“Damn Y/N,” Jungkook calls.

“That swimsuit is so cute!” Margot yells from her paddle board.

“Thanks!” The smile painted on your lips isn’t missed by Taehyung, who’s been busy staring at you and Yoongi, trying to interpret your interaction.

“I’m your second-best friend, don’t sass me.” Yoongi instructs.

“That’s precisely why I can sass you, you love me,”

It’s a gummy smile and a chuckle, “I guess.”

“How long before Jungkook hooks up with Margot?”

Yoongi watches the two in the water, paddle boarding in unison towards the middle of the lake. “Who says he isn’t?”

“True, how long was it last summer before they started fucking?”

“Three weeks,” Seokjin leans over. “But, last summer, Margot broke up with her boyfriend and was crying the first two weeks.”

“What about you?” Yoongi asks him.

“Me?”

“Yeah, when are you and Hoseok going to-

“Fuck you, never.” Seokjin interrupts.

“I give it a week,” You say to Yoongi. “And three weeks before you’re shoving your tongue down Kwan’s throat.”

“You’re such a bitch.”

Taehyung isn’t too proud to admit that your interactions with Yoongi are pissing him off, jealousy boiling in his veins at every laugh, every shared song, every action that elicits a perfectly timed reaction. He hates it, you cuddling up to Yoongi, which is a sentiment that feels fully insane in his brain. When have you and Yoongi been anything but close? Yoongi, your confidant, Yoongi, your best friend. Yoongi, the one who brought you into Taehyung’s life. Admittedly, it’s misplaced frustration, anger at all the things he wishes he could be doing with you at this moment. Putting lotion on your back, sitting too close, staring at your stunning figure in that two piece. But he can’t, relegated to the B squad, stealing moments to brush his hand against yours or intertwine your pinkies. Lying in wait to give you your clipboard and hat, trying to savor the brief moments he has with just you, no one else.

“Taehyungie!” Jimin calls. He’s a few feet off the beach, life jacket on, kayak ready to paddle off into the rest of the lake.

“Yah?” Taehyung calls.

“You’re thinking too much. Come on!”

Taehyung rises from his perch on the sand, swiping at the grains pinned to his skin. He glances at you, laying on your stomach, back body exposed to the sun, and notices a patch on your thigh turning red. He makes quick time moving to you, silently crouching down to apply a layer of protectant on it.

“What?” You snap, turning to see him lovingly applying the lotion to your skin. You freeze, mind immediately blank, staring at his hunched over figure.

“You missed a spot,” Is all he says, hands still moving against the expanse of your thigh. He feels the goosebumps arise, a strange phenomenon in the summer heat. “Gotta protect you,” He mumbles before walking down the expanse of beach into the water.

Taehyung doesn’t speak to you for the rest of the day, instead opting to keep his distance, busying himself scheming with Jimin, laughing with Hoseok, cozying up to Kwan, staring longingly at you hoping that his sad eyes convey his feelings towards you.

The knock on the cabin door is soft, a simple one-two-three, against the wood. You rise, knowing full well it’s Taehyung.

“Hi,” You say, slipping out of the confines of your quiet air conditioned sanctuary, soaking up the last moments of peace before it’s filled to the brim with summer excitement.

“Hi,” His eyes are soft, hands holding a wrapped rectangle, plain brown paper sealed with double sided tape, topped off with string tied in an artisanal bow. You don’t want to discuss yesterday, to talk about how he avoided you, only to stare from across the Mess Hall, or how you busied yourself with work all of today, not allowing anytime to talk or share a meal together. You just want to exist in this moment.

“Is that what I think it is?” You ask.

“Depends, what do you think it is?”

“My clipboard,”

“Then yes, maybe,” He’s smiling, nerves in the quiver of his hand that you gingerly grab, dragging him to the side of the cabin, out of earshot, out of sight from prying eyes. “Should we go to cabin 13 this year?”

“No,” You answer quickly.

“First,” He reaches into his back pocket to grab your baseball cap. He’d commandeered it days ago, nearly a week, telling you it wasn’t ready. You didn’t know what he was doing with it, until this moment, when he hands it to you.

“Tae,” You breathe. He hadn’t just added your stripe from last summer but created the same stitch work in reverse order on the opposite side. Where Wally the Whale rested on front, he’s completely stitched over him in stunning bead work and sparkling thread.

“If it’s too much, you can have mine and I’ll –

“I love it,” You finally move your gaze to his, eyes meeting, the adoration in his eyes reflecting from yours.

“Open it,” He nudges your arm, eyebrows gesturing towards the wrapped package in your hand.

“I hate this part,” You mutter.

“Why?”

“It means another summer is starting,”

“That’s true,”

You continue to stare at him, tears forming in your ducts. “It means it’s going to end, too.”

“Don’t think about the end when it hasn’t even started,” Taehyung slips his hand onto your cheek, tenderly circling the pad of his thumb on the apple. His touch is tender, loving, deceptively caring. He knows the subtext of your statement, of your fear… if camp ends, does he end too?

“You know I’m terrible at that,” You concede.

“I know, but you gotta try,” He presses his lips to your forehead, featherlight, goosebumps raising on your skin. The butterflies in your stomach grow, a familiar panic of having him so close, in your sphere, breathing your air. You hoped your desperate crush on Taehyung would dissipate, but every time you see him, snap back and camp t-shirts covered in art supplies, your crush only deepens.

“Fine,” You whisper.

“Open it,” He encourages.

You begrudgingly tear the paper peeling back to reveal what looks like a replica of the 1987 classic, Dirty Dancing movie poster, but instead of Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze, Taehyung has put you and him on it.

“Oh my god,” You whisper, hands skimming over the top of it before staring at him. “How?”

“I got two clear clipboards, and filled the sides in so that water wouldn’t –

“No, Tae, the image, did you paint it?” You can’t stop staring, fingers tracing the shapes.

He blushes, “No, I did some mixed media.”

Taehyung knows his mixed media artwork is your favorite, the way he combines textiles with clay and sometimes woodworking, the textured pieces standing out against the brutal stitch work and painterly globs of acrylic. Sometimes he dabbles in watercolor and pastels, others full sculptures overwhelmed with line drawings, fabric and bead work. He’s always been the most stunning artist, creating pieces that rob you of your breath and make your heart stutter.

Gobsmacked, you ask again, “You collaged an 8.5x11 picture of you and me, as Baby and Johnny?”

“Yeah,” Taehyung shrugs.

“How long did this take you?”

His smile is gentle, a sliver of setting sun on this evening of Saturday-Scaries. “An artist never reveals their secrets,”

“Tae, I can’t,” You shake your head again.

“You haven’t even looked at the back,”

You flip the board in your hands, a smile replacing the shock, your brain taking in another mixed media collage, this one in Camp colors, with the quote “I’ve had the time of my life” in the center.

“I...I can’t believe you, Tae,” Is all you can say, head shaking, inability to form coherent sentences a testament to your emotional turmoil. This was the problem with Taehyung, every action carries weight, an unbelievably heavy, confusing, frustrating weight. Everything means more when it comes from him.

“What does it say,” He asks. He’s still standing in front of you, eyes watching you carefully.

“Where?”

“Flip it,”

In the bottom corner, right where your left hand will hold the board all summer, he’s written, in his thin, spindly handwriting, a phrase that holds more meaning to the two of you than anything else.

“You and me,” You read.

“Me and you,” Taehyung repeats.

You peer at him through long lashes and the tortoise frames of your glasses, bottom lip beginning to tremble. Taehyung doesn’t say anything, instead he pulls you to him, arms holding you tight.

“You’re going to be amazing this summer, I’m so proud of you,” He means it, every word, and if he wasn’t so overwhelmed by the thumping of his heart in his ears, he’d quote Hamilton and try to rap, all in hopes of bringing a smile to your lips.

You pull away to say something, but are cut off by his lips, gentle and delicate, placing a lingering kiss on your cheek.

Taehyung rests his forehead against yours, “We should get to sleep, big day tomorrow.”

“Eskimo kisses?” You ask, and he shakes his head, noses rubbing against each other.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” He pulls away to place another kiss on your forehead. “Sleep tight,”

“Sweet dreams,” You tell him, heart in your throat as he walks away.

Next: You & Me {2}

73 notes · View notes

dancingthesambaa · 3 years

Text

The Smell of Plum Blossom Tea Ch 16

Summary: Just like a butterfly wing, a single act of kindness can change the course of the future, it certainly did for MK as a black furred monkey put out a hand towards him.

Rating: Teen and up

Chapter 16: The Ex From Down Under

“Bye dad! I’m heading out!” MK called as he rushed to the table and quickly stuffed his bag with all his stuff that was lying around.

“See ya,” he poked his head out of the kitchen. “If you're coming back again, I’m making some Mapo Tofu for dinner tonight if you want to stop by.”

“The mouth searing one,” he questionly asked as he continued packing without even looking at what he was putting in.

“I’ll have a milder one on the side,” he chuckled as he watched his child's fist pump the air.

“I will totally be here.”

“Alrighty, and you can ask Wukong if he wants to come,” he nonchalantly said as he wiped his hands on his apron. He then noticed MK staring at him and he raised his eyebrow, “What? By the gods know when that dumbass ever had a good meal that wasn’t from his own hair.”

“Uh huh,” was all he said as he tightened his bag then he gave him a wide grin. “Well I’m off,” he ran up to his dad and gave him a big hug before leaping out of the window free falling before stepping on a branch and hopping from tree to tree.

“…I may have enabled his window hopping habits,” he mused to himself before shrugging his shoulders and walking off.

“Remember, don’t let your body tighten so much when you get into the swing, ease up before snapping, giving you more momentum,” Monkey King lectured as he demonstrated with a staff. It was always a bit of a struggle to teach his student new techniques when he already had a style in place. Macaque always leaned more towards the silent route with swift strikes and keeping the body low, while he kept more towards the louder method of quick feet and aiming high. Each monkey had incorporated their style to fit themselves and they have taught their own moves to the other just to get more variety and not to be so predictable. Once he had learned that Macaque had taught MK his own fighting style, it was much easier to incorporate his own style into his as well.

MK focuses as he did exactly that as he jumped up in the air and landed a hit on the training dummy high in the sky. “Yes!” He fistbumped the air, it had taken so long to actually complete that move, but he has finally done it!

“Nicely done kiddo,” he grinned and ruffled his hair. “Now how about we take a small break.”

“Sounds good to me!” He stretched out his limbs as he made his way to his bag. He paused as he quickly caught the water bottle thrown at his head, “Thanks!”

“No problem,” the monkey said as he sat down next to him. “So how has everything been? I heard you got into a gang turf war the other day.”

“By the gods,” MK groaned, “that had to be the stupidest fight I have ever seen and I’m friends with Mei! So here I am minding my own business and delivering some noodles to this random dude when all of a sudden gunshots ring out and the man begins to rave like an absolute lunatic.”

As Wukong listened to the story he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering over to MK messy hair as he instinctively scooted over next to him and began to smooth out his hair.

“-then the leader on the opposing side decides to step in cause why not?! And declares that-,” he paused as he finally felt his mentor grooming his hair after he was ranting for ten minutes. “Uhhh?”

“Go on, I’m still listening,” he said as he continued to thread his fingers in his hair.

The teenager only blinked once before going with it, “And do you know what he declares? He declares that the bowl of noodles is actually for him and guess what?! Now we have both sides gearing up for a fight over a goddamn bowl of noodles!”

“Don’t swear,” he murmured then let out a soft purr as he untangled a particular spot.

“Dad says it’s fine as long as I don’t do it in front of kids.”

“…yeah that seems pretty like him.”

“Speaking of him, you're invited to dinner tonight if you want to come,” he said.

“Yes!” MK blinked at the immediate response, but then the Monkey King quickly settled down and casually said, “Yeah, that would be fine.”

“Coolio, I’ll text him,” he waited for him to release his hair before he got up, but it didn’t seem like it hit the monkey until he saw MK eyes staring at him.

“Oh right, I should probably let go,” he gave a forced chuckle.

“Don’t worry Dad is a lot worse,” he reassured him as he made his way to his bag, “he sometimes would take hours on grooming and wouldn’t release me until he had deemed it worthy.”

“Sounds nice,” the Sage muttered.

“To you, but I was so bored sometimes that I would fall asleep just to pass the time,” he said as he was about to grab his phone when he noticed a paper. “What is this?” He took it out and saw that it was a letter, but it wasn’t addressed to him, but rather all it said on the envelope was the phrase ‘My Love.’ “Well this is weird?”

“There’s a lot of things that are weird bud, but I think you need to be a little more specific,” he smiled at his student's confused look.

“Well I have a letter that I’m pretty sure isn’t mine,” he held out the mail.

“It looks like someone has an admirer,” he teased seeing the words.

“Noooo,” he softly whispered. He already had his experience with one crazy fangirl and it took both Mei and Red Son threatening the living hell out of her before she finally backed off. He really doesn’t want anything to do with that anytime soon. “It’s not for me.”

“Well open it and see whose it is for then.”

“Isn’t that like an invasion of property and technically a crime?”

“How else are you gonna know whose it for then?”

“…touché,” so he did exactly that and carefully opened the envelope and took out the paper that was just full of writing. He felt his stomach drop as he saw who it was for on the first line. “To my dear Macaque.”

“What,” Wukong's tone was dead flat as he processed what MK just said.

MK said nothing as he continued to read and the more he read the creepier it got.

To My Dear Macaque,

It’s been so long since I have seen you, I hope you have been receiving each and every one of my letters. If not, that’s okay. I'll keep saying this as many times as needed.

I love you. I love you. I love you.

I will forever say this even when you don’t believe out of connection anymore, for you have stolen my heart and doused it with the most burning of acids that the two of us have created. It burns like the hellfire consuming my soul, it stings like the little needles digging through each and every last one of my smallest injuries and gently tearing it apart. It hurts and it hurts and it hurts and you hurt me. You hurt me and left me to my despair after I have given all of my love to you and only to you. You left and walked away after denouncing our burning heart we made together.

You left it there and it’s still burning.

But I forgive you.

I forgive all that you had done to me because I know that deep down you still feel the same. But don’t worry, once I see you again I’ll show you that the two of us were meant to last far longer than even the stars. I’ll show you that we are meant to be together even if I have to drag you away by force and give you my medicine to show you that all we need is each other. You have tasted the sweet elixir before and you were more than agreeable once the potion had set in and shown my love for you.

But I’m sure it won’t have to come to that.

We will meet soon my love, until then, please take care.

From your heart, Shun

“Who the f- who is Shun,” the monkey let out a low growl as he finished reading the creepy ass letter. “And why does he know moonlight? And what is with the creepy letter?!”

“That’s Dad's creepy ex boyfriend!” He said in a panic as he began to pace around.

“His WHAT?!” He couldn’t stop the small burst of energy erupting from out of him as his eyes glowed a dark gold and the ground slightly cracked beneath his feet.

“This is bad. This is bad. This is so so so so BAD!” MK began to panic as he kept pacing around the area and gripping his hair. “So very bad! How long has this been happening? How long since he has been receiving his creepy letters?! It’s also ready bad enough he mentioned the potion, but now he’s implying he’s coming here?!”

“Kid, kid,” Wukong managed to wrangle down his enraged emotions (hello jealously how have you been) and moved towards his kid in an effort to calm him down. “MK, it’s okay, everything will be okay,” he said as he gently pried the stubborn fingers from his hair. “I’m sure he will be fine, this is Macaque we’re talking about here, and sure that no potion he could dish up could stop-”

“It’s a love potion,” he blurted out.

“That devil concoction,” he hissed out. But took a deep breath in and reluctantly pushed the rebranded slave poison to the side of his mind…for now. “Like I said, I’m sure he will be just fine.”

“Maybe I’m freaking out. I mean he’s probably not even here or anywhere near here. Maybe dad even told him off and he’s probably not even coming. Maybe I’m just blowing this whole thing out of proportion,” MK tried to reason out.

“There we go, now breathe with me.”

“I will I will…right after I call dad!” He immediately shot towards his phone and dumped almost everything before he found it. He quickly called his Dad's number and waited for the call to go through.

BZZZZ

‘I’m not in right now, if you're calling for medical treatment or prescriptions then leave a voicemail. If you're anyone else, why? Just why?’

Beep

“He’s not answering! Time to panic!!”

The figure had just made it to the edge of the Plum Blossom Forest and out in the distance, he saw the tallest Plum tree he recognized.

“It’s been so long my love,” he lovingly whispered as he gave a few licks to his arm before quickly moving through the trees.

Happily ignoring the hisses and snarls close behind him as they all were not happy at the intruder.

Inside said home, a certain monkey's whole body twitched as he slammed his items in hand and began to match to the door.

“Fuck me, I thought his creepy ass wouldn’t be anywhere near here until next week, at least then MK would be back at Pigsy shop,” he hissed as he materialized a two sharp bladed tonfas in hand. “I had no appointments, all my stocks are good, all I literally wanted to do today was to make food, drink some tea, and enjoy a family dinner with Sunshine included but I guess not the fuck today! I guess it’s a good fucking thing I have the perfect target to direct my anger I suppose.”

He gave out another snarl that was amongst the long line to come as he dipped into the shadows once more and took off towards the intruder that every creature in the forest, whether it be animal, demon, or creature alike, no one liked the intruder roaming in their home.

He quickly ventured through the shadows, roaming from plant to tree, animal to grass, until he finally saw a ring tailed lemur with a soft smile upon his face as he paused and his eyes lit up

“It’s been so long my love,” he cooed as he tried to find the humming presence. He didn’t have time to dodge the blow coming from the front as blades sliced into him, but his smile didn’t falter as he took in the sight of his beloved. “You're still as beautiful as ever”

“And you're still as creepy as ever,” he snarled as let his tonfas glow brighter. “I thought I told you to fuck off and away.”

“It was a mere trifle the both of us had, words were said, but I forgive you,” he gently smiled.

“Ughh I really hate when you do that,” he grimaced at his former horrible choice of a partner. “I will give you one fucking chance, leave before I show you once more why you should have stayed gone.”

“I’m sorry, but I will show you with all of my heart and being just how much you truly need me,” Shun only needed to drag a foot back in preparations as a sense of eagerness thrummed deep within him. It’s been so long since he had physics contact with his love after all.

Macaque forced down the shudder as he once again disappeared into the shadows as soon as he sent some clones towards him to attack.

Some creatures of the forest were spectating as this whole fight went down, eager to watch the intruder fall, maybe if the Guardian is generous enough he’ll allow them to feast on what remains.

The forest was about to become a little more wild when first blood was spilled.

“What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?!” MK was clutching his phone as he attempted to call his Dad a few more times, but his heart picked up each time he didn’t answer.

“Kid,” he attempted to once more calm him down when he shot up.

“Yanyu! I should call Yanyu!” He quickly dialed her number and his legs began to shake in anticipation as the number rang.

BZZZ

BZZZ-

“What’s up short-”

“EMERGENCY!” He shouted out.

“GHA! What do you-”

“Big problem! Huge problem! So I was packing my bag cause I was in a rush to get to training and I was talking to Dad so I didn’t notice what I put in my bag. So I went for trainingandwhenbreakdtstartedIfounditinmybagandIcantbelievr-”

‘MK BREATHE’ it wasn’t just the bluenette, but two other voices that joined her.

“Mei, Red, what are you guys doing with Yan?” He questioned for a moment before shaking his head, “Wait, not important, there is a big problem!”

‘Well spit it out then,’ Red huffed.

‘I think he’s trying,’ he could hear Mei's amused voice in the background.

‘Both of you hush,’ Yanyu turned back to the phone, ‘Now what’s happening?’

“Shun contacted Dad. He's almost here and Dad won’t pick up his phone!”

‘WHAT!!!’ They all screamed with both Red and Yanyu being significantly higher as the adult continued, ‘What do you mean creepy fucker is coming?!’

“Fuck Fuck Fuck this is bad!’ He could hear the prince in the background slowly freaking out. ‘I thought his crazy ass wouldn’t come back!’

“Apparently he did!’ Mei yelled out.

“I don’t know!” MK hysterically said as he began to almost hyperventilate, but the Monkey King began to run his back.

“Okay everyone breathe,” he firmly told the centuries younger children on call. “You are forgetting, this is Macaque you’re talking about here, I’m sure he will be fine.”

“The Monkey King is listening to this?!” Red hissed as he accidentally showed weakness to one of his greatest enemies.

“I know he will kick his scrawny ass, but that doesn’t alleviate my fear of him getting poisoned again and being put under an eternal sleep to be used as a god damn porcelain doll again!” Yanyu shouted, bypassing the fact that she was talking to the Monkey King.

“Again!” Everyone bar Red shouted together.

‘Yeah! And you thought the love poison was bad, this is just fucked up! Now do you see why I’m freaking out!’

“Why do you think we don’t want uncle anywhere near him!” The Bull prince continued.

“Okay that’s it,” Wukong summoned his cloud, “Hop on, we’re heading over there. Even if he’s not there, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

“Thank you!” He leaped onto the cloud.

‘We'll meet up with you as fast as we can on Mei ride,’ Yanyu said with a rush to her voice as the trio quickly went to the motorbike which thankfully has a side seat.

“Okay,” MK muttered as he held onto the fluffy cloud.

‘Oh and Monkey King.’

“Yes?”

‘You better not fuck it up,’ she said with an ominous grin in her voice as she sat in the sidecar and Red held onto Mei as she quickly revved up her engines.

“…I’ve been hearing a lot of those lately.”

‘Good! See you real soon,’ she finished as he heard the motorcycle take off and the call ended.

“I guess we will,” he said to himself as they took off for the Plum Blossom Forest.

“I really hope Dad is okay,” MK muttered as he gripped tighter.

“He will be,” he firmly stated. ‘You better be okay mango,’ he privately thought. ‘Else I don’t think your kid would take it….fuck your better be alright else I will be kicking your ex boyfriend ass and making sure he knows the meaning of pain.’ He silently hissed out in his mind as he got the cloud to love even faster as it soared over the ocean.

“What is up with the forest right now,” Mei growled out as the group sprinted through the trees with Yanyu leading them.

“I don’t know, it has never done this before,” MK confusingly shouted out as they ran through. For some reason, when the two were about to go over the forest, the cloud suddenly dropped until it was underneath the treetops, making it near impossible to travel by cloud. Luckily they spotted the others a little ways behind them and grouped up together.

“It’s part of Mac magic,” the bluenette said as she paused at one tree before darting to the left.

“What do you mean?” Monkey King asked as he tried to locate Macaque's aura using his golden eyes, but all it showed was the entire area covered with a faint pulse of violet energy.

“So you know how he planted basically all the trees in the forest right,” she got affirmations from them as they continued. “Well in the process he put his own energy into the plants, because apparently he wanted to make sure they grew up okay. Thus making this whole forest basically under his control.”

“So that's why it felt familiar,” the Monkey muttered as he remembered back to the first time he saw the forest. “It also makes sense why my true sight isn’t working.

“That would be more awesome if we weren’t currently lost in this!” Mei said.

“I know the way, he showed me after the last time Shun showed up. This forest was on a complete lockdown and nothing was recognizable like now,” she emphasized the land around them. While it seemed that nothing at first glance changed at first, if you really looked then they would notice that each tree looked almost identical to each other. No distinguishing marks, no distorted branches, not even the groves held any difference.

Each and every tree that they saw were the exact same.

“Okay that is disturbing,” Red muttered.

“Like I said, his little magic is intertwined with the forest and even with some of the creatures living here. It was supposed to be made for protection for not only the creatures living here and to anyone who may accidentally wander in, but to keep out the intruder that seeks to harm. He taught me to seek out the odd spots and openings left open in case something like this happened again. Though I don’t think he literally meant this exact scenario,” she grumbled. “He’ll probably teach you guys this after this whole thing is over.”

“We’re getting closer,” Wukong stated.

“What makes you say that,” MK asked without taking his eyes off Yanyu's back.

“The animals running,” he pointed out several animals, birds, monkeys, and insects alike, all fleeing from the same direction.

“We’re getting close,” she said as they continued to run.

It was only twenty minutes later did Red speak as he tried to look ahead, “I’m not the only one who can hear the sounds of growls right?”

Everyone nodded their ahead and just up ahead they saw a rather large crowd of mythical beings, spirits, and demons alike all grouped together and waiting as they kept their eyes firmly on what’s ahead. They follow their gaze and can faintly see, just between gaps a bright violet glow followed by a form of black mass.

It was Macaque.

“Dad/Pops!” Mei and MK yelled out for him, but he didn’t react to them as he pushed back against something else.

Monkey King wasted no time in climbing up one of the trees to get a better view with MK and everyone else quickly following him. There they witness Macaque fighting against an agile lemur who seemed to be trying to throw himself at the monkey, but he keeps dodging out of the way in time.

“Fuck it is Shun,” Yanyu groaned as Red let out a soft “noooo.”

“So how do we go about this,” Mei questioned as she fingered her sword while she watched her pops dive back into the shadows only to get pulled right back out, “cause I say we go in swingin.”

“We will not be doing any of that,” Red hissed as he grabbed hold of Mei's collar, “We have to play this smart, while Shun is a certified psychopath, he is a very smart psychopath.”

“No kidding, it’s how the two of them got together in the first place,” the doctor muttered and smirked as she saw her former teacher trip up the lemur and slammed him to the ground, but that didn’t stop her from noticing a certain brown furred monkey twitch as she mentioned that.

“Okay, we are getting a full explanation on how even when this is all said and done,” Mei grumbled and settled back down on the branch. “So what do we do?”

“We just have to wait and see what happens,” the bluenette got comfortable, “I doubt he’ll need our help, but I rather not take chances.”

“Nice plan, nice plan, just one flaw with that,” both demon and human glanced at Mei. “Two certain monkeys didn’t get that memo.”

Both of them blinked, then dropped their heads and sighed.

“Of course they would, cause why not,” Yanyu uttered as she turned her attention back to the fight. At least she won’t have to worry too much about stepping in, not that she thinks she could stand a chance, with both Monkey King and Doc's son charging in.

“You know it would be so much easier for you if you just fuck off you know,” Macaque mocked as he flicked off the blood from his blades. “Maybe you’ll still have a working arm if you run fast enough.”

“Aww you worry my dear-,” he smiled as he didn’t even flinch at the blood dripping down his arm.

“Not in the slightest.”

“Don’t fret, it will soon be over, but I will admit that I am getting a bit agitated,” his voice echoed out, which didn’t seem to do much at first as many spectators cackled at his attempted intimidation.

But then a weird smell filled the air, it seemed to have always been there as they hadn't taken notice of it before, but it got stronger as it smelt remarkably of a flower. They couldn’t quite put what kind of flower it was before-

EYES EYES EYES SO MANY EYES

EVERYWHERE

NOWHERE

CANT HIDE

NOT FROM IT

WHAT IS IT

WHAT IS PREDATOR

WHAT IS PREY

WHO IS WHO

WHERE ARE WE

WHERE ARE WE RUNNING

WHERE WHERE

Many creatures fell victim to this as they froze in place and whimpered out as they barked their necks in hopes to quell the predator or maybe grant them a quick death.

It was imposing.

It was encompassing

It was frightening.

And this only made Macaque still for a moment of the sudden smell before he got his bearings back, but that was all Shun needed as he leaped towards him with arms and mouth open wide.

Here’s a fun fact that not many know about lemurs, while they are known for being quick on their feet and agile to escape predators, there is one species who have, through a long process of evolution, developed another way of warding off predators or capturing their prey.

It was a toxic bite.

Apparently a certain species called slow lorises poison is so deadly that it can kill humans with a single bite and guess which lemur has that lucky parent.

‘Finally,’ he thought to himself as he closed the distance between him and his love. ‘I have finally got you back with me. Don’t worry, with my new potion I’ll make sure this time we won’t part,’ he lovingly thought as he tasted the special mixture in his mouth. He should really send his carrier a fruit basket when his love is properly back with him, she was the one who taught him everything he needed to know about potion making. Without her expertise, then he would have never known how to make the love potion, after all that was how she managed to snag his sire to mate with her.

Everything would finally be perfect…except for one little detail.

Not every creature was affected by the smell.

Ní merely flicked her tails in annoyance as she calmly watched.

Shui Gui took a huge breath of the smell in and puffed it out after a few seconds to reveal a green miasma cloud.

Xianglu merely shook their heads as they tried to rid of the foul smell in their nose.

BaBa just hissed at the inferior attack before nestling down.

Even the Faeries were tittering away at the pathetic illusion the demon tried to submerge them in.

These creatures, deities, demons, are just some of the few with a long history backed by so much experience that the infant lemur cannot comprehend. It was quite amusing to think that such a being could even equate to their level, even their Guardian was merely humoring him, but quite funny nonetheless. Regardless though Shun did possess the quality to allude himself to being much scarier to those around him with his…disturbing methods that he tends to use and hides himself behind his illusion. Unfortunately for him, it’s quite easy to bypass with multiple tools in hand, either physically and mentally. But more often than not, there is one sure fire method that most people tend to turn to if they don’t know which is correct.

Determination.

Which embodied a young adult as he bashed his staff against the lemur head, and a Sage monkey who punched him so hard that he left a crater when he finally landed.

Both beings were very determined to at least brutally maim the creep by the time they were finished with him.

“DON’T TOUCH MY DAD!/MOON!” Both MK and Wukong respectively shouted as they stood in front of a sighing Macaque.

“You know I had this handled right?” He looked towards the both of them, not bothering them with the possessive form both monkeys said. Though the same couldn’t be said for Shun as he was still in his spot and didn’t know who to first turn his attention to until his eye settled on MK.

“You have a child,” he said wonder in his voice as his whole face lit up.

“I’m not liking that look,” MK muttered to Wukong who nodded.

“No, no, please don’t say-” Macaque practically begged him not to say what he was about to dread.

“We have a child.”

“Nooooo,” he whispered out as he wished he could just knock himself out after hearing those words then shook it off and said with a growl. “Not your child, my child. You are not part of this equation, you're not even a variable that was left out, you are nowhere near part of any of this.”

“But my love-”

“Not my/his love,” all three monkeys stated.

“Despite our brief separation, you know it has always been a dream of mine to have a child of our own. Remember the time we spent out in the town as we laid our eyes at a beautiful family,” he almost cooed at the child's awkward face. “Two parents and two children, a boy and a girl, they looked very lovely together.”

Macaque did remember what he was talking about, he remembered his eyes lingering on the family as they were in town on a date. He couldn’t stop his eyes from lingering on them as he let a small smile play on his lips as Shun shared that same sentiment and wrapped his arms tighter around him. It used to be comforting, that small embrace used to mean ‘he is here for him, he won’t let you go’, but now all it means now is ‘he will not let you go, no matter how much you beg.’ It has turned so very confining. But he kept his mouth shut and let his former boyfriend ramble, trying to look for another way not to get bitten from his ‘love bite.’

“It was pure bliss just the two of us, those small moments we shared to the nights laid up in our nest as you laid under me as I enraptured your mouth and slowly move-.”

‘Never mind!’ He quickly burst forward and sent a high knee to the underside of his jaw that was followed by a staff to the side of the neck and a claw to the stomach courtesy of both child and friend. ‘He is not about to go there!’

“I do not want to hear any of that!” MK shouted as he backed away from the lemur after his attack.

“That makes two of us,” Wukong lowly growled as only his self control was the only thing stopping him from ripping the bastard in front of him. And even that was by the hair as he learned that new little tidbit that he did not want to hear.

“I have been a bit curious,” Shun simply stood back up and looked towards the Monkey King, “Who are you to him?”

“I am the Monkey King, you may have heard of me,” he said as he stood up straight as his golden eyes flickered in his eyes.

“How quaint,” he merely said, “but you didn’t answer my question,” a tinge of aggression laced his voice. “Who are you to him?”

Now at this point Wukong self control was almost completely gone since the first time he heard about this creepy ass bastard (which he so needs to interrogate Mac on why the fuck he would even date someone like him) and it was not looking so good. So to hear this black and white knockoff of a two legged beetle that deserves its tongue to be torn out, implies that he was the outsider in all of this rather than the other way around. Well, he decided right then and there that this nasty little bug needed to learn a few things first before he became a rotting corpse for the rest to feast upon.

“Wukong don’t you dare,” Macaque saw that look in his eyes.

“I was his friend long before you ever thought of,” he taunted and wrapped his arm around Mac's shoulder. “I have known him longer than even the mountains have formed and before towns became cities. He knows me longer than some of the forest was ever formed and before kingdoms have reached their destruction. We know each other very thoroughly, both inside and out, and seen the other at our best of times and our worst of times. It feels like eons have passed since then, but when it comes down to it you can say the two of us are made up of the same soul.” He finished his dramatic speech with a nuzzle to his black fur as he gave a soft kiss on his head. He opened one golden eye and grinned mockingly as he said, “So how long have you known him?”

Silence filled the air as they all locked eyes on a stiff Shun who didn’t even move an inch since Wukong started it. But what they could see was the underlying darkness in his eyes as he slowly blinked. Then he smiled, teeth bared and all, as he stated. “It will be a great joy when I tear out your throat and rip that nasty little tongue right out of your mouth and force you to watch as I consume it.”

“Try me,” he said with teeth bared.

Both Lemur and Monkey locked eyes with each other as you can almost see lighting shoot out of their eyes from the sheer animosity the two had with each other despite not even knowing the other for ten minutes.

The black furred monkey muttered, “And they said I’m the dramatic one,” to whom he was referring. It may never be known as Wukong and Shun leaped at each other at the same time. Macaque just groaned and decided to walk over to his son instead of the fight that was happening. “So, you met Shun.”

“I hate him,” MK instantly said as he got closer to his Dad. “I really hate him.”

“You and me both starlight, so why are you here anyways? Aren’t you supposed to be training right now?”

“So this morning I may have accidentally grabbed the letter while I was stuffing everything into my bag,” he said as he cheered when his mentor used his tail to choke the lemur while he had his arms pinned.

“Damn it, I thought I trashed them all. Must have been one that just came in,” he grimaced.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you?”

“That your creepy ex was back,” MK said with a twinge of irritation in his voice. “I could have helped.”

“Nice thought comet, but I had it handled,” he smirked as he watched Shun attempt to break Wukong's arm only to get a vicious claw to the face. “This isn’t my first time dealing with his creepy ass.”

“But I could have helped,” he almost whined, “Mei has tons of ideas for retribution and I got a very powerful stick that tends to hurt…a lot.”

“And I believe that, but I got it,” he ruffled his kid hair, “but thank you for looking out for little ol me even when I don’t need it.”

“Like how the Monkey King is doing right now.”

“He’s just an impulsive idiot right now,” he grinned sharply as he watched Shun stagger in place from his wound as Wukong taunted him as his hand dripped red. He is not totally blind to see that his friend has a protective streak wider than the Earth when it comes to people he cares for. He has certainly seen it when his leg was broken by an uppity pack of Tiger demons. Needless to say, when the Wukong got back and saw him lying there and surrounded by demons, well let’s just say that the food was pretty good that day and even had some warm blankets to go alongside with it.

So to see that this still applies for him despite their long separation, he couldn’t stop that warm burst of feeling brew from inside of him.

Wukong, on the other hand, was feeling the blood pump in his ears with each hit he landed on the bastard. And while he unfortunately can’t go full Sage mode on his ass (the forest probably won’t be able to stand if he did and he actually likes this haven his mate had created) he is still enjoying kicking this disgusting little lemur ass.

“Bet you really feeling it now,” he taunted as he broke another rib. “Can ya feel it? Each little bone in your body breaking? It must fucking suck!” He viciously laughed, “But that’s what you get when you don’t fuck off when someone tells you no, especially Moonbright.”

“Stop calling him that,” the lemur growled for the first time.

“Oh what Moonbright,” he received another growl in return. “Or maybe Mango? Moon? Moonlight? My heart?”

“YES!” He hissed out as he recklessly leaped towards the monkey.

“Nah, can’t do that,” he smirked as he grabbed the lemur arm and tossed him back towards the growing crater. Then he let a wicked smile show on his face, “I mean, he is my other half,” he emphasized. Was he making this worse? Yes, yes he was. Does he care in the slightest? No he does fucking not. He’s been wanting to let loose some of those words out for quite some time, albeit it’s under an illusion that he’s just riling him up, but damn does it feel good to say.

Before the lemur could leap back up a charge at him once more another force came into play.

“Having fun without me!” Shun felt a pain burst from his back as he saw a pig tailed girl leaped off of him with blood dripping from her sword. “That is a damn shame.”

“I had this handled you know,” Monkey King petulantly said.

“Oh I know,” she slings her sword over her shoulder, “but I really wanted to land a hit on this bastard at least once for what he did to Pops.”

“Fair enough.”

“Another child!” He said with glee despite his broken bones and blood dripping down his face.

“He is seriously messed up in the head,” she muttered as she couldn’t help but step back at his gaze though she did raise a brow as Wukong stepped beside her while he kept his eyes on the lemur.

“Okay fuck this, I’m ending it,” Macaque huffed as he stepped forward.

“Actually Dad, can I do this,” he paused at his son's words as his eyes were locked firmly onto the agitated lemur.

“MK, I’m not about to let you-” he was cut off.

“Please,” he pleaded as his brown eyes flickered to violet ones.

“…fine, but if things are looking bad then I will step the fuck in,” he huffed as he subtly sent some more shadow clones in the foliage of trees and amongst his son's shadow.

“Oh don’t worry,” he began to spin his staff as he walked forward. “I won’t even need to leave your line of sight when I get done with him.”

MK continued forward as he neared the lemur, passing by both Mei and Wukong who gave him a glance.

“I’m ending this,” he simply said.

“You need help?” The dragon's successor looked to her brother.

“Nope,” said the doctor's son.

“Well holler if you do.”

“Always happy to lend a hand,” the Monkey Sage joked as he wiped off his own bloody hand. He wouldn’t mind another round of beating to the lemur…maybe a couple more just to be fair.

“Oh trust me, I won’t,” he darkly chuckled, which surprised the other two.

MK was done with Shun, he was already creeped out before he met him, disgusted by the letter, nauseated when he first saw him, and down right pissed when he heard him speak to his Dad like that.

It was time for his Dad to be protected for once instead of the other way around. Shun is gonna regret ever breathing by the time they're done with him.

Shun's eyes lit up when he saw MK approach. “It so good to see you for the first ti-”

“Shut the fuck up,” he cut him off.

“Wha-”

“I said shut the fuck up.”

“…excuse me?”

“You're not excused,” he shrugged his shoulder.

“That is no way to talk to your parent-” he was interrupted once more.

“Well it’s a good thing that you aren’t then isn’t it, I mean if you were then I would willingly go back to my deadbeat sperm donors than you,” he mocked him.

“I’m sorry what?!” Wukong was already taken by surprise by his student's sudden shift in attitude, let alone this new heaping pile of info.

“That’s a whole nother story for later,” Mac patted his shoulder.

“But here’s what’s gonna happen, you will either die in this forest or flee from here by the skin of your teeth,” he bluntly stated.

“Oh? And what makes you say that?” He let some amusement drip in his voice.

“Have you not seen the entities that live in this forest?”

“Indeed I have and they are truly a magnificent feature, but they are no match for me,” he arrogantly said.

“…hey Red! I thought you said he was smart?” He yelled out to the tree he had previously jumped from.

“Smart as in he knows some pretty advanced science that even leaves me confused,” the Bull prince said as sat down on the branch next to an anticipating bluenette.

“Oh, well that makes sense, cause if you were really smart then you wouldn’t have even stepped foot in this forest with the intent to kill, even Ever is dangerous despite his looks,” he concluded. Ignoring the faint chuckle from the trees.

“What is that supposed to mean?” He got increasingly agitated at the despairing remark upon his intelligence.

“It means that you have an overinflated ego stuff in between your ears that replaced your brain a long time ago.”

“Meaning?”

“If you had any brain cells then you would have known that you signed your name personally upon Yama book when you stepped foot in this forest, cause let me tell you.” It was at this point that the pressure began to dip as Shun suddenly felt like he couldn’t breathe as the trees seemed to loom above him and glowing eyes were gazing upon him from the shadows. “You would have known that we don’t take kindly to people trying to harm our own, especially Dad.”

One by one, the demon, creatures, mythical and animals alike all began to emerge from the shadows with a nasty snarl fresh on their faces.

The Faeries' smiles were sharp with their fanged teeth wide with glee.

Qianglu slithered forward as they let out a terrifying hiss that thrummed in his ears.

The Monkey tribe all had their teeth bared in face of the intruder.

The Shui Gui was grinning happily as he licked his lips in anticipation.

Ní elegantly walked forward as her tails flickered behind her, but her hazel eyes only had sight for the prey.

Even amongst the trees BaBa, much too large to entirely fit in the clearing, kept her bright yellow eye, larger than all the beings in the area itself, gazed upon the scene.

As more and more beasts gathered around, for the first time in a long while, Shun felt fear.

“Welcome to the neighborhood,” MK casually slung the staff over his shoulder as he gave him a parting wave, “Let us show you how we handle intruders.”

Shun ran and ran and ran as fast and as hard as he could. But they followed.

And then he slowly vanished back into the woods as all the creatures that he thought were prey were the predators chasing after him. He really did forget that not creatures show who they truly are at first look, they like to pretend their fickle little insects that scatter at first sight of danger. But if you take a peek beneath the shell then it turns out that there are monsters lurking underneath with their jaws wide awaiting their first morsel.

So, he didn’t leave with a grand finale nor his deserved epic fight to the death. No, he simply blew out like a candle amongst a sea of lights cause in the end he knew what he really was.

Not the feared predator.

No, he was the prey and it was his turn to be feasted upon the monsters.

“Well that was easy,” Yanyu said as she jumped down from the tree.

“You're telling me,” said Red as he followed, then he turned to MK, “Who is Ever anyways?”

MK snapped out of his former personality shift as his cheeks blushed, “It’s Shui Gui, you know, Kappa.”

“Right, right, but what does it stand for?” He pushed, “cause you wouldn’t be blushing like that if there wasn’t something else.”

Mei turned her head to hide her smile.

“It..it stands for Whatever,” he whispered, but Wukong still heard that perfectly clear.

“His name is Whatever?” He confusedly asked for such a strange name.

“I was like seven! You can’t blame me!” He defended himself with arms crossed.

“Huh?”

“Ah the Shui Gui cares not for names,” Red nodded, “so he usually will respond to any. My question is why did you call him whatever out of everything?”

Yanyu snorted loudly.

“I was a kid and I was getting really frustrated with him that I blurted out the first thing in mind! How was I supposed to know that he would actually respond to it! Now he won’t let it go!” He threw his hands up.

At this point both girls are full on laughing at MK's frustration.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” the prince nodded at his various times meeting Kappa. He was indeed the strangest creature in the forest.

“I’m lost,” Wukong deadpanned.

“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you later,” Mac said as he leaned into the simian. It felt good finally having that bastard out of sight once again.

Wukong did the same as he wrapped his arms back around the other monkey, pulled him a bit closer, and wrapped his tail firmly around the other waist. “You better,” he faintly purred in his ears.

Macaque could barely stop the shiver at the lips so close to his face, but he managed to make it off by just shifting his body to get into a comfortable position.

Though that didn’t stop the Sage from gazing at him as he looked at his long fur once more and just when he was about to open his mouth.

BOOM!

“Alright! Whose ass am I kicking!” Daiyu screeched out as she scanned the scene for the ex boyfriend from hell. They had gotten a call from Yanyu earlier about his ass potentially showing up and they booked it there.

“God fucking Damnit,” Wukong cursed as he reluctantly move slightly away.

“He appears to not be here, Dai,” said Ahmed as he walked into the clearing with Minsheng and Bohai.

“Seemed he had left the coop,” chuckled Sheng as they looked towards everyone, “gave him a good ass kicking I'm guessing.”

“That and he is now currently running from almost every beast in the forest,” MK happily said.

Bohai gave a low whistle, “So he’s not leaving this forest alive then.”

“Nope,” came the response from all.

“That’s what he gets for messing with the King of the Forest,” Mei jokes, earning a groan from Mac.

“Don’t you even start on that.”

“What do you mean your royal highness,” the rabbit cheekily said.

“Don’t!”

“Is there something wrong your majesty,” the vulture said.

“Are you actually-”

“Did we speak out of your magnificence,” Yanyu mockingly bowed.

“Out of place your grace,” Mei courtesy with a sly grin.

“Out of turn your excellency,” MK did something with his hands as he bowed low.

“I swear-”

“Guys let’s all calm down before we get on our imperial majesty's last nerve,” Red casually said.

“Thank you-I swear to all things!”

“Our deepest of apologies your kingliness,” Wukong teased as he pressed closer to him.

“I expected nothing less from you,” he barked at him.

“Alright let’s all settle down,” Ahmed chuckled, “we don’t want to get his reverence too worked up.”

“…fuck it, I’m done for the day!” He threw his hands up and began to march back home. “If any of you guys want food then your ass better be helping me do some shit. It either helps me in the kitchen or checks on the state of the forest, more specifically how everything and everyone is holding up. Preferably the ones going are the ones that don’t mind fighting cause there’s gonna be a lot of those bastards still on edge and need to let loose some steam.”

“Yes, dinner sounds great right about now,” Daiyu said as she spread her wings and took off.

“Count me in!” Minsheng said as they began to hop into the forest.

“Same!” Mei yelled as she raced after them.

“Let me just check in on my gremlins and I will for sure help you out in the kitchen,” Yanyu replied as she took out her phone.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing what else lives in this forest,” Wukong said as he stretched his arms.

“I’ll help you Dad,” MK said as Ahmed followed close behind.

Red Son stood there as the other began to walk away with a bit of uncertainty before Macaque called back to him.

“Are you coming or not?”

“Wait me too?” Red said with some hesitation.

“If I’m letting those lunatics join in then why not,” he raised his brow.

Red gave a slight smile as he caught up and walked beside MK, “What are we making?”

“Mapo Tofu,” said the young adult.

“Will there be any spicy?”

“He has a whole tray filled with them,” MK can almost taste it.

“Yes!”

Also a shout out to Pen-Woman for the lovely idea of Protective kiddos!!

Also longest chapter yet!!! Just over 8000 words!!!

#lego monkie kid #six eared macaque #macaque #mk #lmk mei #monkey king #PlumTeaAU

20 notes · View notes

angelmichelangelo · 3 years

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I’m gonna speak over anon because I’m literally terrified of phannies coming after me even though I’ve rebranded, I still get hate anons from them even now which is crazy. Anyway. It’s honestly a relief to read a respectful take on why someone’s left the phandom. Your words put my exact feelings into articulation and I think my main emotion is just... disappointment? I feel like dnp hold their audience at an arm’s length now and for good reason. It’s impersonal, and after what we put them through I think they deserve that. The fact that people are still trying to keep some kind of momentum going, hyping up cookie-cutter content or you know, making aus about a literal REAL BABY just doesn’t sit right with me. It feels good and healthy to move on. They aren’t interesting now. Seeing people running full time phan blogs makes me actually uncomfortable. Because I don’t feel like it’s really about dnp so much as clout seeking half the time these days.

anon you are always MORE than welcome to come talk to me about all of this stuff lol (i have a lot of feelings ok?)

and you’re totally right. one of the weirdest shifts for me that kinda gave me the final push to leave was the fact that dnp stopped caring about their audience. and the thing is, dnp always seemed different to other youtubers because they had this connection with us. twice daily livestreams, one a week upload from the gaming channel, twice monthly updates between them… take 2018 for example, if you asked any phannie they’d probably agree that it was the best year for us all because it felt like dnp were on this emotional wavelength with us where it was like: ‘okay this is the content we like and this is the content we’re getting’ and it was so perfectly balanced. it never felt like they were just pumping out content for the sake of it. they could take a boring ass game like ‘google autocomplete’ and make a real good video out of it. that was the content and the dan and phil i enjoyed.

and now??? dude. the mere idea that phil went ahead and deleted all his lessamazingphil videos to reach a larger audience is just…….. if i cared more i’d be mad. they so clearly want a different audience now. im sorry to the phannie moots that follow me still but that’s just what i see. phil’s content went from lighthearted jokey funtimes to ‘oh my god you’re a 30 something year old man making content on the same level as fuckin troomtroom and you’re still making butthole face thumbnails to appease the algorithm.’ and that’s just heartbreaking bro. what the fuck happened. i was around for the cereal tasting video (i never watched it i don’t think i’ve watched a single video since last year) and like………… the hype it got? for a low quality looking buzzfeed quiz type video is just… yeah. dude, this goes beyond the argument of ‘BUT JENNA MARBLES MADE THESE VIDEOS!!!! SHE DID IT AND EVERYONE LOVED IT!!!’ and the difference between phil and jenna was: jenna put a whole lot of fuckin effort into those videos to make them unique. not just: trying on makeup! but instead: ‘trying on makeup and then squirting eye drops into my eyeballs to make myself cry to then see which one is best for dramatic crying purposes!!’ there was a whole spin on the take that i’ve never seen phil EVER do. sorry to this man but he really…… isn’t as creative as he used to be. he falls flat every time in his videos and it makes me laugh when i see the same 😯 face in his thunmbnails with the most boring looking video idea painted in bright colours. this is the same man that was making those wacky ass videos in 2009? could have fooled me. are we sure he isn’t working for buzzfeed or something because that’s the vibe i get from him lmao.

and dan. ohhhh dan. OH DAN! he’s fed up of his audience too. at least he’s got the balls to at least half admit it (or maybe he’s just stupid idk lol) but yeah. he’s not coming back to youtube, or at least, in a way that’ll bring him back the views. he doesn’t care, and he hasn’t cared for a long time. i’m not sure what the hell he’s doing and like i said: to those running phandom blogs, you’re tough dude. you’re tough as hell because how anyone can scrape together content for this man is beyond me lmfao. he either wants: real intelligent smart people audience from his book (i have so much to say about that i could write a fuckin book) OR he wants: gay 30 year old men audience from his…. *sigh* his weird horny tweets he makes once a month. im sorry but WHAT?! THIS is a man that people want to stan????? AND ANOTHER THING: that hideously awkward livestream thing he did for AIDS… did nobody else think it was just SO HORRIFICALLY out of touch for him to making SO MANY “im such a horny slut i slept with so many people i got so many diseases”…. for a charity stream…….. for AIDS????? im sorry but how gross. that…. that fucked me off so bad im sorry but what the actual fuck is wrong with this man?? his content it all over the place and frankly i thought it was all awful. if this man ever does do a stand up comedy show like he’s been alluding to then holy shit THATS maybe the funniest thing he’s ever said in his life because that man ain’t funny (and he never had been im sorry i always was too scared to say that in the pits of phandom hell but yall need to hear it: he’s not got a single funny bone in his body and really honesty? neither does phil. they’re only ‘laugh worthy’ because they’re acting like the mf chuckle brothers).

that’s the impression i get. dan and phil have never been more disconnected from their audience. their merch is horrific like seriously what the fuck phil why are you charging your fans £70 for something i could get in primark for £15?! because again: their merch was always a plus for me (not that i ever bought it personally) but it was nice to know a youtuber wasn’t just slapping their name on a shirt and going DONE! it always had a theme or a connection to them, their brand, an inside joke or whatever. now phil is making…. couch club merch??? what the fuck is that? also side note: when i went onto their website to take a look at it i actually cried laughed at the fact that he’s selling the socks separately. phannies, you’re in deep i tell ya. oy vey.

so yeah im probably gonna piss everyone off with this huge rant but frankly idc anymore lol phandom is probably gonna die out anyways because how can you keep a wholeass fandom afloat on the algorithm appeasing content squeezed into 10 minutes and a man that is too embarrassed of his audience to ever give a shit about them. like, if u like their shit and u wanna keep ur blog about them: go for it everyone should enjoy what they wanna enjoy but also this is my opinion and if anyone wants to come crying to me about it like ‘b-b-but emmy YOU were a phannie once! ur just a jealous ex-phannie doing what all ex-phannies do which is be mean a bitter!!!!!’ like…… ya. why do you think everyone that leaves phandom starts being honest about them? because in phandom dnp can do no wrong 😌 and in phandom you must be nice to smol bean phwiw lester and danny howell 😌 otherwise all the big phannie account will come and eat you 😌 lmfao but yeah that’s all i have to say i guess. boy, this felt theraputic as fuck. and also im sorry you’re getting hate anons, i get a few filter through as well like… idk, phandom is just insane to me and now im like the final girl in a horror movie, standing in a pool of blood like: oh shit. i’m alive! lmfao

thanks for the ask anon, take care <3

#low-key let me start drama in the phandom #for good times sake #lord knows they’re bored out of their minds over there!#im kidding i uh i wish u all the best? good luck? idk man #IDK #ask #anon #phandom #<- putting it in the tag for spice LMAO

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macamonium · 3 years

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god help

I'm writing this thing and it's gonna make me cry lol

this is (hopefully) gonna be part of a larger fic, but as I was jotting down the outline this just dripped out. its abt self-love thru good food and Bakugou learning to forgive himself the right way

maybe tw for eating disorder stuff, though that's not what the fic will be about

Bakugou emptied a full-sodium packet of beef bouillon into the pan. The smell drafted through the dorm’s empty kitchen, and his mind wandered with it.

He knew, regrettably, that he reflexively went for the full-sodium bouillon because of his mom. Mitsuki had the same impatience for low-fat and low-calorie “diet” foods that she did for backtalk and attitude. She scoffed at the TV whenever it lit up with commercials of dancing, ever-thinning crackers, or the new zero-calorie alternative for something that was never meant to be low-calorie. Sour cream, for chrissakes! It’s fucking dairy, it’s meant to be that way!

She lectured Bakugou about it when he was really little, on some Saturday in the middle of summer. He was inside for the afternoon nursing an injury from what he reported was a particularly slippery log in the forest. Really, it was payback from a sore-loser gang of fifth graders. So his ankle wasn’t really twisted, but his chin sure was bruised - that log had a mean right hook. No way in hell was he letting the neighborhood kids see his face like that, so he was there, in the kitchen, pretending to take extra care of his left foot while Mitsuki made them lunch.

Stirring the curry in his own pan, which was now simmering, Bakugou could picture it more clearly than he had in a long, long while. He had been sitting on the farthest barstool - yeah, it was that one because one of the legs was loose and he was rocking back and forth, back and forth, and when his head swung along with it his mom’s hands, stirring the pan, popped in and out of view from behind the milk carton. He smiled softly to himself now, taking stock of how he was standing. How similar it was. Was she making curry that day?

If Bakugou couldn’t remember exactly what she said, he could make a pretty good guess on how she’d phrase it. He just knew her that well. He could hear her now - it'd have gone something like this:

“You see, when they first started puttin’ the nutrition facts on the packages of food products, back in, like, the 1920s, the chemists had a field day. I mean, really, they ran that industry.”

Katsuki didn’t know what industry was, but he liked hearing his mama talk.

“And at that time, chemistry wasn’t what it is now. It wasn’t molecules and atomic structure and that kinda thing, it was grams of this and milliliters of that. Still, that was more than regular people knew, so it was left to the specialists.”

She held the spatula out for him to lick. He took it in two chubby hands.

“More spice, mama.”

“Whatever you say, baby. And wipe your chin.” He used the bottom of his shirt, but she didn’t say anything. His dad wasn’t around for that kind of thing.

“Don’t get me wrong, knowing what’s in your food is great.” She gestured carelessly with the lick-marked spatula before plunging it back into the curry. “Certainly better than whatever was going on before. They used to put cocaine in Coca-Cola, you know.”

“What’s cocaine, mama?”

“A drug, baby. Makes you go crazy for a while. Don’t go trying it, and don’t go repeating it - though I suppose that’s hard in earnest, it’s what the ‘Coca’ in Coca-Cola is named after.”

“It’s named after D-RUGS??” Katsuki sat forward in his seat, but the squeaky leg cursed a whine at him and he sat back.

“That’s right: Drugs,” Mitsuki said to her eight-year old, her eyes wide. “Though people don’t make that connection anymore so they didn’t ever rebrand. They used to drink Coca-Cola when people got sick. It cleared out your sinuses, sure, but it also made you shout really loud and go streaking through the park. Ha! Anyway, where was I?”

“The. Uh… oh, the nutriss- nuturish-”

“Ah, nutritional facts. Say it with me, baby: Nutrition. Noo-trish-un.”

“Nutrition,” they said together. Katsuki smiled. Bet dumb Deku doesn’t know that one.

“So, the legacy of old-fashioned chemistry is that the nutritional value of foods isn’t really evaluated beyond the physical makeup of the food.” These were big words but Katsuki got the gist, and Mitsuki knew that. “It doesn’t tell you what those things do for you and your body, beyond ‘fat is bad, protein is good,’ and even that’s just considered on a physical level in regards to your body. There is so much more to food mentally, and emotionally, that goddamn counts as nutrition.”

“God-damn.”

“Yeah, don’t say that,” she said half-heartedly. “And I don’t just mean ‘veg out whenever you need it solely because it makes you feel good.’ Don’t totally disregard physical nutrition. I mean that food making you feel good shouldn't be totally disregarded either. Spices, for instance.” Katsuki cheered from his seat. “Yeah, you like spice.

“Food should taste good. It drives me up the goddamn wall when I see those health bitches on the TV drain out the grease from their meat. Right down the sink. That’s what makes it taste good! If you don’t want grease, eat turkey! And the ‘nutritional’ benefits of draining the grease hardly outweigh the emotional satisfaction of a good-tasting meal. At that point, it’s just a practice in self-sabotage, in pointless, self-inflicted suffering. And for what, so you get kudos from Nestle, who happens to be rolling out their new line of trans-fat free crackers? Please.”

She ladled the curry onto a plated bed of rice with a sigh. The smell made Katsuki’s tummy gurgle. He licked his lips really slowly, the same way he saw Spongebob do on the TV that morning.

“Anyway, my point is - when something tastes good, that’s good nutrition. Being healthy is being happy, and if the food you’re eating makes you happy, that is healthy. I’ll eat my pickles whole from the jar, even if Dr. Oz gives me a lip about ‘it’s too much sodium,’ and do you know why? Because I love the crunch of a fresh pickle, and I know that as sure as I know that there’s two grams of carbs in it because the sticker on the side tells me so. I know I love it so I do it, and that’s a beautiful thing. That’s something I deserve.”

She slid the steaming plate, loaded with peas, potatoes, and carrots in curry, across the table to her son. He reached for the fork, but she snapped it away at the last second. Katsuki looked into his mom’s eyes. “Say it back to me, baby: ‘Food should taste good.’”

“Food should taste good, mama.”

“I deserve this good food.”

“I… I deserve this good food.”

“That’s my baby, now eat up.”

A tear squeezed through Bakugou’s eyes at the memory, and fell down his cheek into the pan. He didn’t even remember the last part until it all ran through his head.

God, he couldn’t help it, and there was no one around to prove anything to - he made the effort to muffle himself with shallow breaths, but he let the tears flow free and hot down their tracks. This time they reached his chin. He asked the ceiling, berating himself on how foolish he was to think it would answer: did he still even deserve it?

#bakugou watched spongebob its cannon #idk how to write without long stretches of dialogue in the form of how I talk to people once im immediately comfortable w them #mitsuki as a good mom #let the kid say fuck #bakugou katsuki #bnha #mha #bnha fic #mintbiscuitswrites

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lesbiancarat · 3 years

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Haha its fine! Im book anon for a reason so take all the time you need! Before I start, I wanna apologize for the possible asks you got about the merch and hybe in general. I didn't intend to cause stress and need to be careful bdjahdsj so slap me with a fish!

Onto the ask! But agreed, I mean before the big kpop boom we saw, this was very common. Build a decent fanbase and then move to Japan or China. (Of course sometimes you see INSTANT movement in other countries but that depends on the company and such but you know what I mean) but since we do have the more global kpop era, we may see more companies do America which isn't a bad thing. It makes sense buisness wise so they will jump on it after debut or something. Thus I don't see it a bad thing for kpop groups to promote in America because hey, if in Korea they do sell western artist music who also tour there, kpop groups can also do the same ya know?

Now onto the hybe comment, I will try not to speak too much on it so I will try to summarize. I think my theory is due with merch from their main artist, they think maybe it could work with svt which maybe could but svt has a different fanbase so throwing on random merch won't make fans really want to buy (not saying some won't which kudos to you! As a fan you are allowed to consume what you please except not be a bad apple about it) so thus like the infamous water bottles which was done for bts, they thought why not do it for svt because bts fans sold it out apparently for a 2nd wave of it being sold again. (Which to this day idk why someone in the hybe team thought this was smart. Like...this is just in bad taste imo) I do wanna agree that it appears that hybe doesn't seem to have a proper art team for svt because while sometimes wild, I do know for their main artist they do have thoughtful merch based around say an album concept I recall. Kf course they will make mistakes i.e. the water bottles. I do wish it can improve because even though it is capitalism, I think fans do want decent merch. We have seen interesting ideas like svt making their own magazine and selling it lol. Of course it is hard to please because some fans want subtle merch ideas while others don't mind the vibrant pastel colors we got or some want wild ideas like svt figurines or something. Overall I hope I didn't drag this too much as I just wanted to respond back to you, I agree with many points you said so yeah cx I say let's also wait as this is barely what, a year or even less of svt being under hybe properly. Especially when hybe had its rebranding and expanding so things are being changed, I know fans are worried about this which is valid but let's not panic just yet. Let's come back in a year to this and see what has improved and what hasn't. (OK but peldis sold the boys rings!? :o since when!? I haven't heard of this actually, when did this happen if I may ask?)

Oof yeah sadly with streaming, many view "oh you don't stream it means you aren't a fan" when isn't the case (which is why I personally don't like when certain companies also do "listening parties" which seems a bit ???) I do remember this popped up big in 2017 but many fans called it out so it quiet down a bit. Like we didn't see it so often where fans were causing problems over it so idk why this returned nor what the cause of it was.

But thank you!! It really was a nice closing chapter, I think when I have personal stuff settled I will try maybe get a new bunny? And oohh congrats on the album! (Note to hybe or pledis. Please make the us store a more common thing, it makes things so much easier! Am happy it was at your place quick so kudos to the us store. Oohh wonderful choices! I think for many fans anyone or heaven's cloud seems to be the popular picks? For me, I may have to say game boi or heaven's cloud as well! Those songs make me just so happy? Like game boy is just so creative with the way it was made. As a video game nerd, it is perfection. I could make an essay about this song lol and heaven's cloud is just...wow. I feel so at ease with the song, comfortable and soothed. Like you are on a cloud lol. Also that is totally fine! Rtl was a grower for me (I blame the mv, it didn't do the song jusitice) but it is a bop and can't stop humming the chorus at random moments. Overall a great summer album. Just imagine any of these songs performed live ndjansns

lol don't feel too bad about it! honestly they weren't that bad + i can always delete asks if i really don't want to answer them, i just always get a bit paranoid that things will get out of hand so i may end up getting more serious in those situations OTL

and yeah i agree! i don't think it's a bad thing for groups to promote in the US, as you said, it's similar to groups expanding their fanbase by promoting in china or Japan or other asian counties, it makes sense from a business standpoint and there's nothing wrong with promoting in different countries. i just wish that some kpop stans understood that western and/or global popularity is a bonus and not a requirement for success. while they do have a global appeal, at the end of the day kpop's main audience is korea, and groups that achieve popularity in Korea have already achieved what they set out to do. but there's unfortunately a decent chunk of international fans that prioritize western popularity over anything and can't fathom that a group can be successful without being popular in the US. or they just talk as if their groups western achievements are more valuable than their Korean ones and to me that starts to look like xenophobia... (sorry if I'm repeating anything i said before in regards to this, i feel like i am but I'm too lazy to go back and check OTL)

since you sent this ask hybe released the caratland merch which was actually really nice, and today they also announced that there will be birthday merch for cheol (and presumably all members from here on out). we don't know what the bday merch is yet but some carats are already a bit miffed that hybe is even thinking to capitalize off the boys' birthdays... i bring both of these up bc i feel like the caratland merch proves your point that hybe is capable of designing good and thoughtful merch, and honestly this does reassure me a bit. but on the other hand them trying to capitalize off the boys' birthdays also proves that they still don't fully understand carats wants and priorities as a fanbase. which, if the future of seventeens merch is gonna be quality merch with some shitty cash grabs in between, i can live with that. I'm not gonna like the shitty cash grabs and i think it would be in our best interest as a fandom to not go crazy buying those shitty cash grabs, because if we don't then hybe will hopefully stop wasting their time and put more effort into /quality/. but if we get quality merch for important events like concerts and fanmeetings, i can live with it. as you said too, it can take time for these things to change, and we should all recognize that. but at the same time merch specifically is market driven, so i don't think it's a bad thing if people like @ hybe on twt about any bad merch that comes out in order to drive that change dhfkfj

but also on a maybe more fun note in regards to the merch... with some carats being upset about the bday merch i was thinking about what hybe could do for merch instead that would fill the niche of being at intervals throughout the year that could still be limited time drops but that carats wouldn't be mad at them capitalizing on and then i was like duh! they could literally just make merch off of going seventeen! honestly I'm surprised they haven't yet. maybe not merch for every episode, but they could have a line of permanent gose merch w a basic logo or something and then release limited time merch themed around some of the more popular episodes at various points during the year. I'm actually kind of obsessed with this idea now and for once I'm like hybe/pledis please capitalize off of this!! dhfkgjg

they never actually sold them, but for seventeens 3rd anniversary, pledis planned to sell replicas of seventeens rings. after it was announced carats were understandably upset since the boys worked so hard for those. luckily pledis heard carats concerns and put out an apology and didn't manufacture them in the end. I'm glad that at least they listened to carats even though it would have been better if they had never considered the idea in the first place :(

oh yeah listening parties are definitely just another marketing technique to boost streams. i think like with a lot of marketing techniques, it just depends on the execution. imo if they're done well it can be a good way for fans to connect while listening to an artists music, which is mutually beneficial for the company, but i can totally see a situation where companies get greedy and push it too hard. i don't know anything about what happened with them back in the day, but if you're curious why SVT had listening parties leading up to your choice, they were set up by UMG, the American distributor that SVT worked with for this cb. in this case the listening parties weren't just for boosting streams, but also likely for UMG to gauge interest. SVT isn't officially signed to a US label yet, but UMG's data from the listening parties could be used to show US labels whether or not there's enough interest for them to be signed. which if that happens we'd almost definitely see a more permanent US shop!

ahh yes, once you're ready I'm sure it would be great to have another bunny companion 🥺

yes! heavens cloud and gam3 bo1 are both such feel good songs! my sister actually added heavens cloud to their Spotify after i made them listen to the album in the car dhfkf it's now one of 6 kpop songs they have saved (4 of which are SVT... my influence 💅 DHFJFH) I'm certain we'll see some of the songs from your choice at caratland this year, hopefully it's all of them but I'd especially like to see heavens cloud and wave 👀 I'm also still crossing my fingers for an i wish live performance bc i can't believe my favorite SVT b-side is one of the TWO tracks they haven't performed live not including the new album (the other one being network love, which i would also like to see live!)

#melia.ask #📖 anon #long post #it always takes me so long to answer these bc i am incapable of shutting up OTL

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zoe-cat · 4 years

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So I might be back.

Might be.

(I feel like I should preface this by mentioning that this is gonna be really freewriting, so I don’t really know where this post is gonna go.)

It’s been a long couple of years. I established myself in the bar community. Made myself nationally visible as a bartender. Joined the opening team of a bar that reached national acclaim after it’s first year. Kicked ass. Took names.

And then the world fell apart.

COVID has totally destroyed my industry and I honestly don’t know how it’s going to recover. But! I’m making moves to adapt! I may end up rebranding or starting a new blog. I’ll still likely post on here, but what it comes down to is that I don’t even know how much of my follower base is still active. Like, the number is 18,088 and that’s a big number. I don’t even know how many of those blogs are still active. No idea what my reach here is. For all I know, only like 300 are active. And I don’t even know if this blog suits the new direction my life is going. It’s odd. I feel like I’ve built up this trans mom reputation over the last few years and just...I’ve been doing a lot of processing lately. I do my best to create an open space for other people, but I’m exhausted. I stopped updating this blog after a while, not just because of work. But like, I wasn’t prepared for this kind of attention. Like most of the messages I was getting? They were all either sexually driven or people trying to get my advice on their transition and ask me for guidance. And honestly that just got really emotionally overwhelming. Like I want to be there for everyone I can, but at what point do I say no so I stop internalizing other people’s struggles? When I was last really active, I was 23. I was practically a child and I hadn’t even processed my own shit, let alone having the emotional space to process everyone else’s. I literally almost lost my mind at the beginning of quarantine and it made me realize that I always put everyone else first and hadn’t actually processed any of my trauma since I escaped that situation and like...that did a number on me. The first month was processing my trauma and sexuality and that almost destroyed me. I want to take my late twenties and start channeling them into a more productive energy. I don’t really have solid words for what that’s gonna be yet, but it’s gonna be different.

Also I met a girl and it’s super gay.

#zoe rambles

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ofstormsandwolves · 3 years

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I dont follow the Angel comics. Can you spill that tea?!

Ok, I’m gonna put it below a cut for people who don’t want spoilers.

Basically, the Angel (or, as they rebranded them, Angel & Spike) comics have not exactly been great at characterisation and such for a while, and I haven’t exactly loved any of the story, but this issue really kind of tipped it over the edge for me, and i know others were saying the same.

Some of the current plots include:

Kate Lockley (the police officer from the first 2-3 seasons of Angel) is a reincarnation of Angelus’s lover, who he tortured and turned into a vampire, and they used to go on murder sprees. Now they keep going on about how she has some memories of the atrocities she and Angelus took part in, and they keep making out and in this issue Spike implies they might have sex and break Angel’s curse.

Fred has been scooped up by Lilah Morgan and has been possessed by a demon called Lord Baphomet, who Wolfram and Hart worship, and it’s strongly implied that Fred doesn’t want Baphomet taking over her body but he’s doing it anyway. In this issue it turns out that Fred has not one but two supernatural beings in her head, and that the new one called Mura is apparently ‘good’ and if Fred sides with them then she’ll become a ~goddess~

Gunn just straight-up disappeared for a few issues. Their one POC character just wandered off for a bit after being possessed and trying to attack Kate

They have a character called Lilith who is a demon and is supposed to guide Angel much in the same way Doyle did originally. She was a WOC, but has totally vanished and nobody’s even mentioned her for a few issues.

Lilah is just... meh. She’s only ever around to try and persuade Fred to do stuff and very little work has gone into helping us understand her motivations. For instance, she persuades Fred to initially come with her to do the whole Baphomet thing because Lilah makes it sound like she actually knows Fred can defeat Baphomet. Why does Lilah want to take down W&H unless she can benefit? There’s been little interest in fleshing her out. Sure, this could change, but for me they’ve sort of lost their chance, because they had little to no interest in fleshing her out up to this point.

This latest issue (november 20) introduced us properly to Oz. Who, basically, sounds nothing like Oz from Buffy, keeps calling Angel and Spike ‘dude’ and having an entirely different personality, and when they use him to track down the other werewolves they literally put him on a leash and have him crawl along sniffing the ground. Why? That was a very weird choice I really don’t understand.

TLDR; Fred gets possessed again, all the female characters have their stories totally wrapped up in the male characters’ stories (Lilah and Fred with Lord Baphomet, Lilith and Kate with Angel), POC are ignored, characterisation is really kinda questionable in my opinion, and the stories are really not interesting me.

If that’s your thing, go for it, but for me the stories have been mediocre at best, and then they fall into the same trap the show did in relation to female characters always being tied to male characters/ needing to be rescued (Darla, Kate, Fred, Cordy, Lilah), plus they continue to underuse Gunn despite fans for years saying the show should have done more with him.

#anon ask #anonymous #angel spoilers #buffy comics spoilers #buffy comics #(i refuse to start an angel comics tag seeing as i'm basically done with them)#Anonymous

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purge-that-urge-rhackathon · 4 years

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Touchy

Commission prompt: Jackothy (though if you want to add Rhys I won’t complain 👀): After having his face scarred, Jack realizes the only way he can see and feel his own face again is if he goes to see Tim. The other doppelgängers use tech which isn’t the same, who knows what they look like underneath? And Tim is... oddly ok with that (not at first tho; Jack was annoying. Still is but it’s oddly charming now) He spent his whole life being overlooked, and Jack focused solely on him is intense... basically Timtam gets a little too heated when Jack looks at and touches his face. Tim thirsts.

This is the first part of the commission :D Subsequent parts on my ao3 here. My masterlist archive of bullshit i write can be found linked at the top of the blog or here.

Handsome Jack was many things.

A hero, in short, opener of vaults and defeater of monsters, and CEO of the most powerful company in the galaxy.

And the price of that power had been his face.

Sure, Jack tried to buy into his own propaganda as much as he expected his employees to, but he couldn’t really lie to himself, even if he desperately wanted to. The ironic fact that he’d fashioned himself a mask of his own face wasn’t lost on him, but denial was a powerful thing.

He was scarred, disfigured with an injury which refused any kind of correction be it medical, scientific, or bordering on alien technology. The mask had been the logical next-step to try to regain some semblance of what he’d lost, and for a time, the power and re-branding that came with seizing an empire for his own was a good distraction.

He’d tried. Oh how he’d tried.

Every day that he looked in the mirror, mask or no, it bothered him just a little bit more until he couldn’t just ignore it. The mask began to overwrite his memories of his true features, making him panic in need of removal, only to have his ruined, panicked face stare back at him from the bathroom mirror.

The mask functioned as his face, but it just wasn’t. And without it, he still didn’t look like himself; not as he truly remembered. The damage his face had sustained did more than just wound his vanity. The deep fissure of old scar tissue bothered him sometimes if he stubbornly left the mask on for too long, and without that technologically-superior second-skin, he was almost totally blind in his left eye. Forgetting his face made him fear he was forgetting himself, and Handsome Jack the CEO of Hyperion wasn’t afraid of anything.

The logical next-step to quell the fear of ignominy was quite clear.

“Rhysie?” Jack spoke up, startling his personal assistant from whatever he’d been doing at his desk as he looked at the younger man. “Call up Timothy for me, would ya kitten? It’s about time for a quality-check. Make sure he’s still on-brand. And by on-brand, I mean me. Heh, get it? Because he’s me; Mr. Hyperion.”

Rhys gave Jack a depreciating moue. “If you’re going to say something about him being on you, or you being on me, or vice-versa, don’t bother. You’ve made that joke before,” Rhys snarked back, the snort Jack gave making the PA grin despite himself. “Get some new material, first.”

“Look at you, thinkin’ you’ve got me figured out,” Jack teased. “What color underwear am I wearing today, cupcake?”

“I’m surprised you even know about underwear, Jack.”

Two for two. It made the CEO genuinely grin.

Rhys was a good little assistant. Even if his creepy fanboy-gazes had eventually stopped after a few months of working for him, he still blushed when Jack brazenly flirted with him, though the older man never took it too far. Rhys was efficient, and despite Jack’s teasing, he did know the older man better than any past secretary or other idiot that couldn’t carry out Jack’s iron will the way he wanted.

Jack had gone through… a lot of personal assistants. The ones that had nervous breakdowns were one thing. The incompetant ones he certainly didn’t miss, but a couple had at least been amusing until Jack had had to airlock them.

And then came Rhys. The younger man wasn’t just good at his job, but he was one of a very few people to act normal around the older man despite his obvious hero-worship; to tease him back and roll his eyes at Jack’s too-sweet coffee-orders, and laugh at his dirty jokes, or come right back with ones to challenge them.

Jack knew it said a lot about him that he enjoyed an (ex)-creepy fanboy as the one to handle the personal details of his day, but he also felt just a little bolstered by the fact that Rhys still flushed pink sometimes over some of his more creative innuendos, despite the back-talk and rolled eyes. It reminded him that even after years of wearing the mask-- of no one seeing his true face- that he could still make a pretty, leggy PA blush. Despite the fact his face wasn’t exactly a face.

He was insecure. He was vain.

He knew he was vain, but the choice to rebrand himself after the branding-incident was wrought from insecurity above anything else, and he lied to himself about that as well. He changed his name to reflect what he wanted to believe: Handsome Jack. That he came into this world good-looking-- and so help him god- he wouldn’t let current-circumstances let anyone forget that fact.

Reminding himself, however, was where Tim came in.

“Tim is still on Elpis finishing that… thing,” Rhys informed with a slight, distasteful raise of his pouty lips. “When did you want me to set it up?”

“That thing,” Jack began, ignoring Rhys’ question to grin a little, “is going to make me even more stinkin’ rich than I already am, kiddo.” Rhys gave him a further-displeased look. “Oh come on, you liked the idea of eternal youth.”

“Spreading some Shuggurath-derived wrinkle cream on your face isn’t the same thing as eternal youth, Jack.”

The CEO didn’t miss a beat, and didn’t allow himself to dwell on the subtext Rhys didn’t even know he was on to. “It won’t just be the face, kitten. My scientists are gonna make it work on everything.” The regenerative-properties the creatures had were promising, according to the eggheads in R&D. Jack shot him a smirk. “Balls, too.”

“Gross.”

“What, you some too-good-for-nice-smooth-balls type?” Jack gave an exaggerated look over his desk. “You?”

Rhys put his face in his flesh hand. “I’m more disturbed by the fact you’ve got Tim out there milking them, Jack.”

“I was just being nice saying that.” Jack’s grin grew. “He’s not milking them for the compound so much as--”

“Aaaaand file that under things I definitely do not need to know about before lunch,” Rhys quickly interrupted, ignoring the older man’s grin and murmuring about ‘protein’ strands and regenerative ‘slimes’. “When do you want me to have him come up once it’s done?”

Jack knew exactly when he wanted Tim here: after-hours in private once Rhys had already left for the day.

He needed this. He needed it badly and couldn’t hold off any longer.

It had been over a month since Jack’s last ‘quality check’, and while Tim submitted to them without issue, too many not-between-missions-checks might raise the double’s suspicions as to what Jack was really doing. Looking at photos of the double were one thing (and good to help him hold out against the fear of losing himself in his mind’s eye), but it wasn’t the same as touching the planes of your ‘own’ face.

Good thing Tim was on a relatively-safe job collecting samples from the otherwise-dangerous creatures; Jack would be able to look and feel to his heart’s content under the guise of genuine quality-control when he knew there wasn’t a threat at all.

“That job’s almost finished though, right?” Jack asked conversationally. “Day after tomorrow? Did Timtams send you an update?”

Rhys’ lips pulled thin. “Yes. And he sent pictures, too.” Pictures Rhys honestly didn’t need to see, though Tim’s comments on each one were funny at least. The one the annoyed-double had sent of himself covered in… Well, Rhys wasn’t sure Shugguraths had entrails, but the caption of ‘Hyperion Beauty Cream coming to a store near you!’ made the image amusing at least.

It was still a gross assignment though.

Jack grinned at Rhys’ sour look. “Heh, neat. Send those to my comm, wouldja sugarplum?”

“If you have nightmares, it’s not my fault,” Rhys warned as he did as Jack asked. “There. Sent. Ew.”

“You could always send me some nicer pictures to give me sweet dreams, Rhysie,” Jack purred, teasing a bit even as his heart rate spiked at his PA’s words. Rhys just rolled his eyes with a little blush and a muttered “buy me dinner first” which made Jack relax a bit through a smirk.

There was no way Rhys could know what was going on in Jack’s head-- his words were coincidence was all, and Jack knew he was getting paranoid again- but the promise of his double’s return from Elpis was a relief that kept his worries carefully contained.

No one knew what was going on in his head. No one knew that Handsome Jack-- most powerful man in the whole goddamn galaxy who put the word ‘handsome’ into his own name- suffered from poor self-image. And no one would, as far as Jack could help it.

Hell, no one would believe that at any rate, either, which Jack was immensely grateful to his PR team about.

He was just tired. Stressed. Seeing Tim would help matters. Feeling him would help a lot more.

The taunting nightmares were keeping him from restful sleep; looking into a dream-mirror to pull off his mask only for nothing to be beneath it but a horrifying blankness, and in the dream (and sometimes still once awake) Jack really couldn’t recall what his face had once looked like. Putting his actual hands on his double would soothe his psyche a great deal, the tactile-sensation further embedding the shape and feel and perfection of Tim’s own face back into Jack’s subconscious.

Rhys set up the meeting, and now all Jack had to do was wait.

It hadn’t been easy to not watch the clock, or to keep his foot from tapping anxiously under his desk days later, but once Rhys had packed up-- asking multiple times if Jack would like him to stay- the CEO was pacing the space behind his big desk waiting for Tim’s return.

Elpis loomed outside the large window, it’s pink glimmer lending an ethereal-quality to Jack’s office as Rhys got the main-lights as he’d left. Only the light on Jack’s desk remained on, the rest of the office bathed in Elpis’ glow. To think he’d once wanted to crack the proto-planet like egg, only for it to be key to his recovery.

The Shuggurath research was extremely promising. That the creatures could generate other creatures-- not that Rathyds were particularly useful themselves; moon-Rakks, Jack called them- lead down some very interesting paths.

Rathyds shared a few qualities with the Shuggaraths that spawned them, but genetically they were different creatures. Shuggaraths bred just like anything else to create more Shuggaraths, but the fact they were capable of creating a second, unique animal held implications which got Jack very excited indeed.

The skin that was scarred by Eridian-technology refused any attempts to change it, while minor nicks and cuts that Jack got while shaving around the thing healed back up just fine. By his own observations (and tests several techs did before he airlocked them for what they saw) his normal skin was fine and unaffected by the depth of the brand, while the scar itself was… different.

Genetically different, but still a part of him.

Jack believed that the weird moon-dwelling animals were key to healing his face. Whatever protein or enzyme or slimey bits that they contained might be able to rewrite the damaged cells and reverse the scarring, or at the very least, minimize it to not need the mask anymore. The ugly, bulbous creatures created much more elegantly-designed animals somehow, and if that was possible, then maybe it could be applied to himself as well.

He could be normal again. Be handsome again, without the necessary moniker.

Until that happened though, Jack had Tim to get by, and he was antsy as ever to see the younger man.

“Did you forget to pay the power bill?”

Jack spun around on his heel, a grin on his face even though he’d been taken by surprise from hopeful, antsy thoughts. “Timmy! There’s my favorite double! Flip ‘em back on, wouldja kiddo?”

Tim rolled his eyes, but he had a smile on his face as he did just that, and crossed the office towards Jack’s desk. His mission had gone well, and he’d brought back more than enough samples to last quite some time. The confidence he felt over it was all over his face; especially from the lack of injury he’d come back with this time. “I think you’re gonna be impressed.”

“That so?” Jack said with a raise of his brow, impatience over wanting to get his hands on the other man’s face kept carefully tramped down. “How’s that gorgeous face, kiddo?”

“I’m more worried about my jacket,” Tim responded with a sour look. There had been… a lot of slime. “Did Rhys show you the pictures?”

“Not the ones I wanted to see,” Jack said with an implicit smirk, forcing himself to walk slowly towards the double as Tim climbed the steps to the dais Jack’s desk was on. His eagerness wasn’t something he wanted to showcase.

“Of Rhys, or of me?” Tim joked right back, grinning at Jack’s surprised bark of laughter.

“Cute, Timtam. Real cute.” Tim smirked unapologetically, and Jack knew well the mischievous look on the double’s face. So Tim was in a playful mood, then. The mission must’ve gone very well indeed. That was beyond excellent. “You feel free to send me whatever pics you feel like, handsome. I’m a big fan of close-ups.” The smile on Jack’s face was genuine, even if he was dying to get his hands on the body double. “Remind me to give you a raise, too.”

“Add that to the extra vacation days you also said you’d give me.”

Jack grinned as they stood before one-another. Tim was giving him a doubtful, accusing tilt of the head, and Jack’s fingers itched so badly to rove over Tim’s face that he didn’t even bother teasing the younger man. “I did say that, didn’t I?” He raised his hands to Tim’s face, the double patiently waiting for Jack to remove the mask himself. It was something the older man insisted upon-- part of the nightmare he badly needed to address- to remove the mask and find no damage beneath. “Echo Rhysie about it. Now let’s see that gorgeous face.”

Jack tried to keep his fingers steady as he reached for the double’s face, and Tim waited far more eagerly than he wanted to appear.

Tim didn’t necessarily care for these ‘brand-checks’ at first. Jack already demanded most of his time, and what little free time he did have, he didn’t want to waste on his boss making sure he still “looked right”.

Pfft, as if Tim wasn’t a professional.

Tim wasn’t exactly vain himself, but he did take pride in his acting skills, and no one was a better Jack than him. That was just a fact. Because there were no other Jacks like him. None who’d undergone extensive plastic surgery, modulator-implants, and actually fought side-by-side with the CEO before he was the CEO. Tim might not have been much pre-surgery, but Jack had seen his potential, and Tim had risen to all expectations. And he was proud of that.

None of the other doubles knew Jack the way Tim did, either, not to mention actually looked like him. The others used tech which was fully reversible. What he did was an art, regardless of his personal feelings on the matter.

So needing to be checked if he was ‘on-brand’ was insulting to his professionalism at first, and annoying at best, even if it was always the same. Jack’s scrutiny had made him uncomfortable, as if Tim could lose everything he’d managed to gain after being overlooked for so long in his life. And Tim hadn’t liked it.

He liked it now.

Jack had nice hands. He’d know. It wasn’t an awful thing to be so casually handled by him, and regardless of how long he’d known Jack now, the intense focus of such a powerful man always got his heart beating just a bit faster.

Jack’s hands were expert in the removal of Tim’s own mask, the CEO undoing the clasps before setting the material down on his desk. His attention came back to Tim, and at that moment the double watched him carefully for the change that would occur in the older man during the reveal.

Jack was… different during these checks, but not necessarily in a bad way.

He always took a moment after the mask was fully removed-- eyes darting about Tim’s face as if to check that everything was still there- before a sort of almost relief settled into the older man’s eyes. And then came Tim’s favorite part: the quirk of Jack’s lips as the man cupped both his cheeks in his large, warm hands, and firmly brushed his thumbs over Tim’s cheeks.

Tim used to blush heavily when Jack had first started demanding these checks. The intensity of the CEO’s focus had made poor Tim go entirely red in the face, and he had trouble meeting Jack’s eyes the first few times. Jack’s hands were always surprisingly gentle if not firm on him, the inspection a lot more like a full face massage than anything else. The touches and traces of fingers and thumbs over the bridge of his nose, under his left eye, the bottom of his cheeks, all made Tim want.

They hadn’t at first, though. Tim was observant, and the simple fact alone that Jack wanted to inspect under the mask-- where no one else ever saw anyways so what would it matter if he had some blemish or something?- made him think.

Tim wondered sometimes if Jack ever forgot that he knew what the CEO really looked like under the mask, or if he thought Tim might be repelled by it, and thus hid what Tim suspected were the true reasons for checking. The double had his own suspicions on what Jack was really doing.

He’d been there when Jack had been branded. It made an impression on him for multiple reasons: the way Jack handled the pain; the visceral reaction to seeing-- essentially- himself be branded, skin ruined and blistered. The way Jack was still somehow strong after the fact and overcame it all. Yeah, Tim had changed his entire being into someone else, but it had been more or less voluntary, and wholly expected. What Jack went through…

Well.

Tim had been there for it and he still couldn’t imagine going through that himself. Not without totally breaking. Him and Jack maybe butted heads sometimes but he admired the hell out of the older man, and even a bit more than that.

It was part of the reason he submitted to these examinations. There was something pitiful and desperate and utterly human in the way Jack’s thumbs sometimes slid up his cheekbones, palms sliding down to turn his chin this way and that between his big hands. Jack might’ve poked fun about telling him not to break Jack’s investment in ‘his’ face, but there was something a little too real behind his concern. It made Tim ache for the Jack he knew right before the man was betrayed. He knew what the scarring looked like, but such superficial things, ironically, didn’t matter to the double.

Tim tilted his head as Jack’s thumb slid down the side of his neck, hoping the older man wouldn’t register the hard thump of his heart, and then Jack breathed out in clear relief before letting Tim go. He tried to hide his disappointment that it was over already.

Tim’s voice wasn’t as confident as he would’ve preferred, but he kept the excited tremor from it, at least. “Everything still in one piece?” he joked as Jack looked at him a few moments more.

The CEO raised a brow, cocky-smile back in place. “Why, got something more interesting to show me, Timtam?” He waggled his brows in what was clear tease as Tim rolled his eyes.

“I only got a little electrocuted, and nowhere interesting,” the double replied.

Jack didn’t miss the slight pinkness to Tim’s actual cheeks (the sight was going to be in his dreams tonight for its rareness, that much he was certain) but the older man didn’t comment on it. “Interesting for you, or interesting for me?” He gave the double a wink.

Tim felt his heart thump hard in his chest, deciding to play a little with the older man in lieu of getting to truly indulge; Jack flirted with everyone. It didn’t mean it was real, or that he meant it. Tim still liked it, though. “I’m not stripping to let you find out. It’s cold in here.”

Jack snorted and retrieved the mask from his desk. “You can always send me pictures. Don’t forget about that!” Jack handed the mask back to Tim. He never liked putting the mask back on the double himself, and Tim never questioned it. It was something he preferred to watch Tim do; something his subconscious would have to reconcile as an active choice to cover his unharmed face.

“There would have to be pictures for me to even send,” Tim muttered as he put things back in place.

“I like your thinking, pumpkin! Let me know if you need any inspiration.”

Tim snorted but left on his way as Jack shooed him out.

The CEO collapsed into his chair once the office was again left in Elpis’ pink glow. He felt more relaxed than he had all month, and with the relief of Tim’s visit finally washed over him, he knew he was going to get a very good night’s sleep indeed.

He wasn’t even mad that he didn’t have any dirty dreams that night, instead happy to sleep like the dead.

He’d need to take advantage of all the rest he could get now, before the shame of his true face caught back up to him again.

Chapter 2 will be found at my ao3 :)

kofi | ao3 | commission ‘info’

#jackothy #rhackothy #handsome jack #timothy lawrence #borderlands fanfic #rhys the company man #rhack #rhys #fanfic #my fic #i keep getting carried away im having a super fun time and like i know the first part is a lot of exposition but bare with me! :D #WOOOOO :D hehehe my ot3 <3 <3 <3 THANK YOU FOR THIS PROMPT

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darth-schism · 3 years

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Proposed Timeline for Sequel Repair

(Disclaimer: Obviously the plot of each of the following shows should be their own. But they should also take the time to fill in the gaps, plot holes, and basically screw ups the sequels caused. Again, if we can’t have a pocket timeline, we should at least get appropriate plot repair/retcon).

(And yes, there will be overlap between this and other post. But this blog is where I dump all my mental Star Wars related ramblings, so whatcha gonna do)? : P

*10 ABY: Mandalorian S3.

- We learn Moff Gideon is one of the few inside men on Palpatine’s resurrection plan. We get details on how the Emperor used his own DNA, force abilities, etc to make the perfect new vessel. The series ends with Din visiting Grogu at Luke’s temple, and Snoke’s “birth” on Exegol.

- There is overlap between Snoke’s mind and Palpatine’s. More accurately, Snoke is his own person, but has much of Palpatine’s feelings/memories. The sith cult/inside men are uncertain if it is their Emperor in a different body, a clone, or an entirely new person. To ensure the success of the plan, the cult puts off putting Snoke on the throne right away, and instead retains him for evaluation. Snoke though, despite being a mental mess, gives the order to kidnap as many infants as possible, to ensure an “entirely pure” army of new stormtroopers.

*15 ABY: Ahsoka Series.

- Ahsoka faces off against Thrawn, as he works to fully organize and restore the Empire. At the series close, Snoke appears from Exegol, and initiates his hostile take over of the Empire. He rebrands it under the banner of the First Order.

- It is revealed that Snoke showed a high interest in “returning his master to life,” which caused the cult to concluded that he was not the Emperor, and that they would have to try again. They are uncertain as to how though, in light of Snoke being a “failure.” But Snoke then adds his DNA, and significant power, to the resurrection project. Through his efforts, he made the phantom clone of the Emperor that we see in ROS. (Maybe we could even get a Kamino throwback with Bobba, since he tends to lend the Empire and hand here and there for the right price anyway). Either way, the newly awakened Palpatine realizes his reformation will be too slow, and gives Snoke the order to rule over the Empire in his place, while he instructs him from the shadows. He makes it very clear that Snoke is “merely his puppet that he made to speak through.” He also orders his agent to “deal with his wayward lineage” (Aka, Rey’s parents).

* 25 ABY: Book of Bobba series.

- By now Palpatine and Snoke have collectively used their voices to lure Ben Solo to the darkside, and Luke’s temple is left in ruin. Din Jarin makes an appearance, as he wants Grogu found. He and Bobba are confronted by Luke, who simply tells them that, for Grogu’s sake, they must cease their search. However, he eventually relents, and takes only Din to see his son like figure. Luke explains that he and his students must move in utmost secrecy, as Snoke’s ability to reach across the galaxy and connect his mind to others is uncanny.

- We get a flashback of Luke confronting Snoke immediately after the destruction of his temple in an effort to get Ben back. There’s a cool fight, in which Snoke is badly injured, but ultimately Luke is forced to retreat without Ben. Snoke reins destruction down on every place he thinks Luke his hiding, which brings Luke to the conclusion that he must not only go into hiding, but also give reason for Snoke chase him, without feeling a need to blow innocent people up in mass. Thus the map to Luke Skywalker, and his isolation began.

- As a bonus, it would be cool if Han, Luke, and Bobba became an unlikely team to address the threat of a common enemy. Personally I like the idea of evil Mace Windu. But we’ll see.

- Han and Lando also meet up at some point, and talk about how both of them lost a child to Snoke, with Ben having been turned, and Lando’s daughter having been kidnapped.

- The series ends with Palpatine talking to Snoke on Exegol again. He tells him that he realizes he has a granddaughter, one who wasn’t a “disappointment like her father.” He explains to Snoke they can use her to fully resurrect him via a sith ritual (as his current form is still blind and corpse like). He also instructs Snoke to bring him Ben, as he is “ready to see his new apprentice.” However, Snoke realizes that even though he and the Emperor speak through each other, and have their thoughts overlap, that he is still far more than just a puppet. So he reminds Palpatine not only of the rule of two, but also that for as much as Palpatine made him, he also made Palpatine. And while Palpatine’s growth was slow, his was complete. And now that he had an apprentice, he didn’t need him. So Snoke, despite Palpatin’s protests and claim to authority over him, disables Palpatine’s reformation process, which traps him as the near talking corpse we see in ROS. He tells him that he won’t kill him if he continues to oversee the operations of Exegol, and doesn’t try anything funny. He then leaves, to take complete and total control of the First Order.

* 30 ABY: Rangers of the New Republic.

- Snoke is in full swing with his attempt to take over the galaxy. However, his efforts are scattered and constantly distracted by his obsession to find and kill Skywalker. Ever since their fight which left Snoke physically and emotionally vulnerable (not that he’d ever admit it) Snoke’s mind was bent on revenge. He was certain the mere existence of Skywalker would see everything he had worked for to be undone. We get some scenes (both current and flashbacks) of just how cruel the Supreme Leader was/is to his apprentice (Just to make his death in TLJ not only surprising, but feel like a good pay off). Snoke’s obsession with finding the map to Skywalker, draws attention to its existence for the show’s heroes. They find it and, with R2D2′s help, and arrive on Luke’s island.

- As I described in another post, Luke puts on an act to try and make them leave and think nothing of him being there. And although much of this is because of Luke’s emotional suffering, it is also an evaluation. Through it, the Jedi Master quickly realizes that the ranger’s aren’t asking for him to be a public symbol of hope (as he can no longer do that for the above mentioned reasons) but someone who can accomplish a critical mission that would be impossible for anyone else. Luke explains a little bit more as to why he was isolated, why he had to be so careful, and why he won’t be trying to make a Jedi order anytime soon. But at the end of the day, he states that he would never actually abandon the galaxy to Snoke, and that this wasn’t the first time he’s snuck off to handle matters like this. And so we get another fun mission episode with Luke. During the mission, Luke recovers a file on a stormtrooper (who we see to be Jannah). He makes mention that Lando never gave up going to “all kinds of strange places in the galaxy” to find his lost daughter. Sensing through the force that this trooper might be the one, he takes the information.

- At the end of the mission, Luke mindwipes the rangers’ memories of finding and working with him, and sends the file information about Jannah to Lando, and the map fragment out once again to distract Snoke, and guide the right people to him. Luke returns to the island. We see that the strain of having to turn on his force abilities for a mission, only to turn them off again right away to prevent Snoke from finding him, causes serious toll on his body.

- We get a scene where Snoke asks if the agent who had killed the Emperor’s son had ever been found. To which no is the answer. Snoke is agitated, but ultimately dismissive of this, and simply assures those around him that if he ever encountered the one he believed to be the Emperor’s granddaughter, he would see to it that she died. This would ensure that the phantom clone of Palpatine could never rise high enough to challenge his position as Supreme Leader.

(I’m sure I’ll think of more to add to this. But these are the big ones for now: Establish First Order --> Make Snoke an actual character --> Establish the phantom Emperor --> Show that Luke hadn’t actually given up --> Solidify Rey’s lineage --> Make Lando not come off as a creeper).

#star wars #lando calrissian #jannah #luke skywalker #kylo ren #ben solo #book of boba fett #rangers of the new republic #ahsoka series #the mandalorian #the mandalorian season 3 #snoke #supreme leader snoke

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andtheyweredeskmates · 4 years

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Chapter Eight- Of Latte’s and Lingerie

For those of you who are interested, I posted my concept art for the red piece from the last chapter. If you got back to chapter seven there’s a link. If you don’t feel like going back and looking for it, you can find it here

Here’s the previous seven chapters for those of you who are interested

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

AO3

TAGLIST:

@catsssmeow @toodaloo-kangaroo

When Adrien went to bed he was still texting Marinette. He started to pay a little more attention to the way he worded things. Maybe he was being a little flirty. Adrien sighed as he stared at his phone.

Did he really even know what flirty was? Nino was right, he hadn’t really been interested in anyone since high school, and even then it had been a halfhearted crush. Kagami was one of his only friends aside from Chloe and they’d spent a lot of time together. She was his first kiss. But it wasn’t long after they’d started dating that Adrien realized his feelings for her were no where near as strong as her feelings for him. So, he broke it off. They of course, stayed friends but Adrien could tell he’d hurt his friend. It was never really the same after that.

Adrien supposed that was why he never really tried too hard to get the attention of women. He was always so focused on making friends, he kind of let the idea of romance slip away.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

So who’s your dad? You keep telling me about how your dad is connected to the fashion world. Maybe I know him?

Coffee Buddy

Um, it’s a surprise. I’ll tell you after the show

The last thing he needed was to ruin a perfectly good friendship by telling her that his dad was her boss.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng

All right fine, keep your secrets. I’m going to bed. I don’t want to be late to work again. Are we still on for coffee tomorrow?

Adrien smiled softly.

Coffee Buddy

Yup! Good night Marinette, see you tomorrow.

…

Marinette really did plan to go to bed. But the racing of her heart and the pride she felt when she thought about how smoothly she was able to talk to the Hot Guy, kept her awake for hours. It was nearly two in the morning when she fell asleep. As Alya would say, she had it bad.

…

Miraculously, Marinette managed to get up on time the next morning. Even more miraculous however was the amazing mood she was in. Today would be a good day. She would go to work (and seeing as she was not in charge of running the upcoming show she would be free to start on yet another project and forget about the horror that would be Fruit of Passion), go to Dunn’s, talk to the Hot Guy, and come home for a self care night, complete with a bubble bath, candles, and a Jagged Stone record. Today was going to be a good day.

…

“Mari, I got your pieces for the show back today, I want you to try on the red piece so we can make sure it fits correctly. I know it’s your size but I want to ensure its flattering you in every way.Every detail matters.”

Marinette really thought it was gonna be a good day.

…

“Mari I’m almost impressed how well it fits you,” Audrey mused. Meanwhile, Marinette was blushing in the corner of the room trying very hard not to succumb to the instinct to cover herself. Audrey moved closer.

“You know these straps almost make it hard to tell how flat chested you are.” Marinette resented that.

“You know, I was under the impression that models were supposed to have perfect bodies. Full chests, toned stomachs, tan skin,” Marinette spat. Audrey rolled her eyes.

“Well luckily for you, we’re attempting to rebrand for the general public. Showing off average body types has become more widely accepted. Besides, that red does wonders for your pale skin. No one is going to be searching for your six pack.” Marinette groaned.

“If you’re really worried about it, you’re welcome to go to the gym,” Audrey said offhandedly. Marinette recoiled. She hated the gym. The sweat, the pain, the yelling, the stupid pictures. She’d much rather sit at home watching trashy television and sipping wine on the couch.

…

TEMPORARILY CLOSED FOR RENOVATIONS. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE

“No!!!!” Marinette screeched. She stared at the sign on the front door, mouth open.

“Oh man, I saw the sign that they would be doing renovations soon, I didn’t realize it was today, sorry Marinette.” Marinette turned around to see the Hot Guy standing behind her.

“You mean… they had a sign?” Marinette felt stupid. How hadn’t she noticed. She was only here nearly every day of the week.

“Yeah its been up for about a month now. I hadn’t really paid much attention to it though.” Marinette glanced back at the door.

“But…. Coffee…” Marinette said, defeated. The Hot Guy laughed.

“We could always go somewhere else! I still want to hang out. What about Starbucks?” The Hot Guy sounded a little desperate. Maybe he was desperately in need of coffee too. Marinette sighed.

“Yeah lets go there, hopefully they aren’t crowded.”

…

Starbucks was definitely crowded. Nearly filled to the brim with people.

“It doesn’t look like there’s anywhere to sit,” Hot Guy said, glancing around. Marinette bit her lip.

“Um this might sound lame but we could always take our drinks back to Dunn’s and sit outside? I mean, if you aren’t busy. I know that’s a lot of time to drive back and forth.”

Hot Guy laughed.

“Sounds kind of scandalous, like cheating in your own house. I’m down if you are Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” Marinette nearly swooned. The gleam in Hot Guy’s eye when he said it, the low sultry tone. She really had it bad.

“Haha, yeah well I’m gonna order…” she said awkwardly. Hot Guy smiled.

“Just tell me what you want. I’ll grab both of our drinks. Just sit tight.” Marinette gaped at him.

“Oh, uh thank you. Let me hand you some cash…” Hot Guy was shaking his head before she finished.

“Don’t worry about it, consider it thanks for letting me crash your pity party at Dunn’s the other day.”

…

Adrien kinda wanted to kick himself. Crash your pity party? What an asshole thing to say. Luckily Marinette somehow didn’t seem to mind.

“Oh, thank you. Just get me an iced cocoa cloud macchiato.” Adrien smiled at her.

“No problem. I’ll be right back.” He walked over to the coffee line and waited patiently. Thankfully, even though the line had been long, the baristas moved efficiently.

“What can I get for you?” The barista looked dead inside. Circles under her eyes, a flat tone to her voice. Adrien was a little thrown. Starbucks had a very different atmosphere than Dunn’s.

“Oh, uh let me get a large mocha frappe and a large iced cocoa cloud… thing.”

“So a venti mocha frappuccino and a venti iced cocoa cloud macchiato?” Adrien blushed a little. He felt stupid in a place like this.

“Um, sure.”

“What’s the name?”

“Adrien.” The barista wrote quickly on the side of the cup.

“Your total is $10.29,” she grumbled. Adrien fished in his wallet for some cash.

“Here.” The barista counted his money and handed him the change.

“It’ll be out shortly,” she said. Adrien thought breifly that she kind of reminded him of a dead fish.

“Right,” he said quietly. He made his way back to Marinette.

“Well, it should be out in a bit,” he said cheerfully. No need to complain about how much he really did not like this establishment.

She smiled back at him. Adrien stared at her for a moment, as though for the first time. She really was pretty. She was mixed, that much was evident, even if you didn’t know her last name. She had fair skin and beautiful silk black hair. Her thick lashes brushed her cheeks when she smiled and her monolid eyes were a very astounding deep blue. He could see why Nino had such a big crush on her. She was beautiful.

“I’ve got a mocha frappucino and iced cocoa cloud macchiato for Aiden?”

…

Marinette jumped for a moment at the loud call of the barista.

“I guess that’s us,” Hot Guy grumbled, turning back to counter. Marinette immediately felt relief. Aiden. So that was his name. She can’t believe she hadn’t thought about that before. Listening for the call of the coffee. She immediately changed his contact name in her phone. Alya would be proud.

When Aiden came back, she smiled at him.

“So Aiden…” She trailed off. She hadn’t really thought of what to say, she had just wanted to try his name out. She was a little put off by the roll of his eyes.

“Oh whatever, you know that’s not really my name.” Marinette froze and laughed awkwardly.

“Ha, yeah… well I think I’m just gonna have to call you that from now on,” she said mechanically. ‘Aiden’ laughed.

“Oh no, don’t tell me this is a thing now,” he said. Marinette pulled up her phone and showed him his new contact.

“Yeah, it’s too late. That’s your new name,” she said.

“Alright, well I guess that’s just part of making new frineds. They always find cruel and unusual ways of making fun of you. Come on Mari, lets go back to Dunn’s.” Mari followed closely behind him and facepalmed. How the hell did she get stuck in these ridiculous situations?

Thanks for reading! I actually edited for once but if there’s any typos that you notice please let me know, I accept feedback of all kinds! Also I did another concept art for Marinette playing with the idea of her aged up with monolids. It isn’t really how I picture her but it was fun to draw! It’s here if you wanna see

Next Chapter

#my fic #adrienette #adrinette #coffee shop au #mlb fanfic #miraculous ladybug #mlb #adrien agreste #marinette dupain cheng #crack fic #of lattes and lingerie #fanfic

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kirinda-ondo · 3 years

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Tag game~

Rules: answer the questions and tag people you'd like to get to know better.

Tagged by @mctoilette, this was fun thank you <3

What do you prefer to be called name-wise?

Kateh

When is your birthday?

9/11... I mean i was actually born years before the event but it’s still big oofs all around when i tell people my birthday klsfdjkl

Where do you live?

Alabama... I promise it’s not Like That, at least where I’m at--

Three thing you are doing right now?

thinking about getting some food

regretting the fact that i accidentally lowkey started some fandom discourse

this tag meme--

Four fandoms that have piqued your interest?

Whether you mean actual fandoms or media rn it’s just Astro Boy and Dragon Ball. There are others but they are dormant at the moment lmao

How has the pandemic been treating you?

Not great tbh. I have lost a lot of shit through this pandemic, but I don’t even remotely wanna get into that rn.

A song you cant stop listening to right now?

Nothing at the moment, my audio time has been used mostly for true crime documentaries and dog videos lmao

How old are you?

25! An old fart by tumblr standards, i should be doing taxes 24/7 yet here i am shitposting about cartoons lmao

That said, if you are a minor and uncomfortable with following me or me following you, I totally understand and you are free to unfollow/block me if you so desire

School, University, Occupation, other?

I work at the front desk of a library! Or at least I would be if we weren’t in a pandemic, now i’m just basically getting paid to check the mail once a week :T

Do you prefer heat or cold?

Cold, but not so cold that it fuckin dries out my entire face and nose and mouth like it is now--

Name one fact others may not know about you?

I lowkey like to collect rare and foreign coins! I don’t run into them very often, it’s usually if my dad finds something on a train or something but I have a lil jar of assorted coins from different countries and such

Are you shy?

Shy is an understatement. I have straight up social anxiety. It’s gotten better at least in the sense that I can ask for help or have polite conversation and not horribly overthink my every word but like I’m so fucking bad at reaching out to make friends, I just attempt to project “i wanna be friends” energy really hard and hope someone notices and talks to me first :’)

If we get to know each other well enough tho I will probably die for you

Pronouns?

they/them

Biggest pet peeves?

When people wait until they can’t take it anymore and blow up at me for doing something wrong. Like if I fucked up, let me know at that moment before I go making it an ingrained habit because I didn’t realize I was doing anything wrong! I can’t read minds! Just tell me if I’ve fucked up and I‘ll fix it, I promise!

What is your favourite "dere" type?

I know this is a horribly unpopular opinion but I unironically like yanderes as a character trope.That said if you’re trying to do that shit for real, don’t. That’s fucked up.

Rate your life from 1-10, 1 being crappy and 10 being the best it could be.

Right now it’s like a 4, but in general I’d give it a solid 7

What's your main blog?

You’re lookin at it, pal~

List your side blogs and what they're used for.

@outofcontextcobalt which I haven’t actually posted content to in like 78 years, but it’s just kind of a dumping ground for all of my weird cobalt screenshots (of which there are many). If I ever come back to it though I may just rebrand it as Cobalt of the Day as an excuse to post less weird screenshots sometimes also lmao

Is there something people need to know about you before becoming friends?

Not to sound like one of those “I just tell it how it is” people, but I’m generally not gonna lie to you about how I feel about something. I can admittedly be a little blunt or overly critical in my feelings and opinions, but I don’t ever mean for it to be rude or harsh. If I do ever say some shit that hurts your feelings by all means let me know and I’ll own up to it and dial shit back a little in the future.

Tagging: anyone who wants to, just say I tagged you lmao

#it got long so i slapped it under a readmore

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kneelbeforeclefairy · 4 years

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Me vs my father in the enjolras is javert's son Les Mis AU that is my life

So. Me. 28. THIS close to her master's degree. Liberal. Socialist. Mixed kid. New Yorker. Just got home from living on her own in Greece. Been living away from parents for seven years. Queer. ADHD . Rsd. Imposter syndrome. Bad at rejection. Torn between two parents who are STILL fighting for me.

Living with Father because who picked the year of the coronavirus to give up her life .62. Barely completed high school. Said Regan was the best president he lived through. Trump voter. New Yorican who doesn't understand the world doesn't see him as white. Conservative who moved south and got worse. Blue lives matter dude. Not Batman.

Will not STOP. Provoking me.

It started with him mentioning you can't get aunt Jemima syrup any more because....you know . Me saying yes you can. The brand firs of all hasn't rebranded itself yet. It currently is still aunt Jemima and the packaging hasn't changed, still widely available. It's just going to rename itself. Get told no it's not "you can't do that any more." interrupted. Get to squeak out the bit about its gonna be the same recipe just called something else. Auntie J maybe. I think that's a good syrup name. He laughs and says it's gonna be BLM syrup.

(and you know what I find that trivializing but if that's what they wanted to name it who cares.)

(more context. His grandfather was black. He told me about being told as a kid by his father that little brown boys just say yes sir to the police. He got The Talk)

And then it goes to Porgy and Bess. Porgy and Bess is on so we watch it. All of us enjoy it thoroughly. He says "isn't this racist? What's the difference between this and aunt Jemima?"

Me.....

I have to get this information put as fast as possible . He's not really listening. He doesn't care. He's not asking . He doesn't find them both genuinely racist. He just....seems to want to catch me out. I try to explain. Porgy and Bess DOES Have some problems. But it was written in 1935 and was one of those Fair For It's Day things. Launched the careers of a lot of black classical singers. Still does. Some charecters might be a little sterotypical (Sportin Life did not age well) but in the hands of a good production and a good actor depth can be found. Rewrites have been made.

But I don't get to SAY any of these things. I try. I, well spoken, bordering on eloquent, stumble through a few poorly thought out points about interpretation and employment and he didn't see the difference between a classical singers playing Bess at the met and being well payed singing beautiful music and even if the roll is somewhat sterotypical and a product of it's times, through a good actress can become a wonderful three dimensional role, or at least no less than any other opera heroine and a poor black woman playing a completely one dimensional mammy sterotypes to sell syrup to enrich white people while playing off their own created nostalgia for oppression of the black race cause I WASNT PREPARED FOR FUCKING WAR OVER PORGY AND BESS. He just asked the questions. I'm on the defense. I've never even SEEN it before. I'm not ready to defend it. I didn't know I was going to have to. Hell, I'm not sure if it IS racist or problematic yet, we're 15 minutes it. He seems to know why I'm watching it at all if I'm so sensitive that a syrup name must trigger me.

He's not concerned it IS racist. Just seems to want to catch me in inconsistancies. Why do you watch this but you want the syrup renamed

(I didn't bring up the syrup. We were talking about the difference between brands in the north and south. He just brought up the fucking syrup and said it wasn't there any more. By the way. It is. I saw it in the fucking Kroger. And I literally do not care about the name of syrup. it's largely symbolic sure but if they want to rename themselves because yeah totally cringe history that's their business. Fine. It literally does not affect me. The recipe is there I'm just gonna call it aunt j or whatever)

And then this morning when I showed him a picture of the Alexander the Great statue o took on Thessaloniki

(masters degree in macedonian history/archeology, me)

He says

He SAYS

"I'm surprised they haven't taken that down."

In this stupid sing song way.

(like obviously this statue thing is an American thing with some England thrown in. I don't know much about Greek politics but I'm PRETTY FUCKING SURE they weren't invovled in the American transatlantic slave trade or the age of exploration my dude)

But he says "it's imperialism isn't it?'

Me "well yes but..."

"he conquered the world didn't he? Did he or did he not conquer the world. You think he did that by being nice to people?"

"well you'd be surprised how much alliance building and diplomacy was used but yes but--"

"so how's it different? Did he conquer the world? Did he own slaves?"

"actually probably not as macedonia wasn't really a slave society and the Persians DEFINITELY didn't have slaves"

"well I just think it's the same"

(frustrated. Can't show emotion or he wins. Already cracked a few days ago when he was talking about a cop iniured by "the mob" and COULDN'T because how many of my people were injured by them? And had to tell him to stop. Told he wouldn't talk politics. Does the above count)

Me. Lightly. "You're unable to grasp nuance. And you're just trying to provoke me"

Something happens. Subject changed. Did I win? Did I lose? We're always battling.

Thing is.

Yes.

There is an INCREDIBLY subtle and nuanced discussion to be had about imperialism in general and its effects and how even ancient imperialism effects us to this day. And how we view warfare and conquest in general and the stories we tell. I would argue Alexander was great because of his kindness, the cultural exchange he sparked, his clever tactics , his mastery of grand strategy, his diplomacy, his ability to use image, and only last his undefeatedness in battle. But I wasnt the one who called him Great, to whoever that was it was about the war. There is A LOT about Alexander and his affect on Persia,which, while we shouldn't layer modern politics over it (especially race based one. Yes Alexander was Caucasian but WHITENESS didn't exist then and Persia was the sophisticated empire , Greece was tiny and insignificant. It's just that Greece wrote the story and got to paint them as barbaians but it has nothing to do with race and they REALLY REALLY WEREN'T and even the Greeks knew that) did destroy an empire and affects the region to this day. Persian perceptions of Alexander are obviously not as kind, and equally important.

So yes there is a discussion to be had about that. And why we venerate a man who did kill thousands and why, I would argue, he still is a very good person who, despite his faults, does deserve that statue.

But we weren't having that

We were playing gotcha.

Cause even if he Couldn't grasp the difference between Alexander the Great, who yeah, totally did sell thebans into slavery in a system that attributed slavery to bad luck and if he had lost would have expected the same treatment to anyone who was not killed,and Confederate generals who thought and entire race was inferior due to their birth, fought for their continued enslavement, committed treason to the country he loves SO much, and LOST, and were memorialized in stupid statues by a bunch of sore loser white supremacists in an attempt to rewrite history to turn what could have been and should have been an Embarrassing chapter in a regions history that should have been healed from into the DEFINING THING about that area despite lasting onl five years and still the symbol of pain and murder to a large percentage of our population within VERY CLOSE TO LIVING MEMORY that has affects that are still here in a very real way because *gestures vaguely at everything* and have caused riots TWICE in your lifetime because it hasn't changed has it and also YOU'RE NOT SOUTHERN and why do you care?

Then I'm not sure what to say.

I don't know what he wants. He wants me catch me out? Debate the liberal cause they're so stupid ? Vent frustration at the liberal because fox news tells you to hate them? His way of processing Something he doesn't understand? Men can't ask for directions? He wants me to argue him, some nerd version of beating the old man at basketball? He feels inferior to his kid so he's gotta put me in my place? A nerd version of not letting the kid beat you at basketball? Test me? Make me prove myself? Make me represent all liberals so he can win?

I don't know what he wants. But I'm SICK OF IT.

And I'm sick of being torn between the mother who is frightened and overbearing and the father who seems to want to always make me keep up.

And I cant

Deal

With

Conservatives

Any more!

#personal #it is polite to tag the crazy as personal #long post #fathers

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moistwithgender · 5 years

Text

Monthly Media Roundup (May 2019)

The march of time inexorably proceeds beyond my grasp and so I must write another post. I’ve been a bit burned out, just focusing on one diversion (it was Zelda, you know it was Zelda), but after finishing it I recovered enough energy to get a few more things done in the last half of the month. I didn’t watch any anime or read any manga in May, though I did read some 70s Marvel, which I liveblog in my “curry reads comics” tag. Last time I did an actual capital-P Post about my Marvel reading was a year ago after marathoning a full(ish) decade. If people are interested in more of that I could work at making posts for each year of issues I read, recapping the developments and my thoughts on them (which will become more relevant as Events become more common, I imagine). I’ve just got a few games to talk about this month, but I imagine I have a lot to say about at least one of them.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch): 2 years ago I did something I extremely rarely do: stood in line at a Best Buy at midnight for the release of the Switch so that I could buy it with BotW. BotW was also out on Wii U, which I had, but the promotional material for BotW had struck such a chord in me that it justified making the jump for the new console (this would eventually become troublesome when the first model of joycons failed, but, well). I got home, put some ten odd hours into it, and then put it down for two years. I’ve always had a problem where, struck with the intuition that I will end up forming a deep relationship with a work, I will put it off for years. I put off Persona 3 for five years after buying it at launch, and it eventually became the most personal game experience I would have, even seven years onward. I think the two factors that pushed me to finally play through BotW was wanting to watch a friend stream it (but also not wanting it spoiled for me), and needing a distraction for when I was taking care of my cat.

It’s been about two months now since he passed away, and I finally finished the game at 215+ hours about half a month ago. So, I was playing this game as a coping method while preparing for loss, and in dealing with loss. It’s appropriate that the game is effectively both a fantasy about reclaiming at least part of what you have lost, and a colossal exercise in coping. The game is as much about getting distracted from your responsibilities and fucking off to snowboard in the mountains as it is about being aware of the world around you. The Zelda games have frequently used themes of Shintoism to portray harmony in nature and in civilization. I’m currently replaying Ocarina of Time and the cosmogony myth (is it a myth if a talking tree explains it to you?) specifically words the goddesses as “[giving] the spirit of law to the world” and “[producing] all life forms who would uphold the law.” When I was younger (see: early 20s) I didn’t scrutinize the text much but now I figure it’s reasonable to read “law” as “natural order”. It should be noted that for an N64 game, OoT has remarkably good prose. BotW, in transitioning the series in what may be its third main genre (as opposed to the genres of Zelda 1 and OoT), has taken that Shintoist aesthetic and incorporated it into the entire philosophy of the game’s design. More than just being a game whose narrative concerns an imbalanced world, BotW embraces the trends of open worlds and immersive sims to create an immense, varied space where the coded laws of physics are always impacting the experience. Thunderstorms make metal equipment a liability, while rain covers the sounds of footsteps. Wind can sweep away items, fire and high temperatures affect flammable objects (including yourself), and aforementioned metallic items can conduct electricity, which can be used to solve puzzles in unintended ways. Weather changes regularly based on the region and changes the world in tandem. Rain doesn’t just fall, it actively collects, and ponds become bigger, and surfaces become slicker. Each systemic element (pun not intended) that was incorporated affected everything else in the world, and in interviews there were mentions that changing the volume of wind in one area had a butterfly effect on another, causing pots to fly off of patios in a village. It’s no wonder the game took five years to make, considering how rarely glitches occur in the game (and most that I know of have to be deliberately recreated for exploitation). You’re engaging with enemies as much as you are with the environment, and at times even with your own body, creating and consuming food and drink for the purpose of staving off sunstroke or frostbite. As a result, BotW’s Hyrule is immensely palpable, and easy to lose oneself in from how livable it feels.

When I first started playing at release, I was a bit disappointed to discover that villages existed in-game, as early promotional material and the state of the Great Plateau you start on painted a picture of a lonely world. In the end, the soundtrack and vast amount of uncolonized land does give an understated sense of melancholy that defines the game, though the fact that every five steps you’ll find a Korok micropuzzle waiting to YA HA HA and fanfare at you betrays that a bit (I still love those Koroks and their puzzles, don’t @ me). The NPCs in this are numerous, though, from the occupants of the villages to wandering traders, and their personalities are all distinct and charming, and probably the best I’ve ever seen in a game, or at least in a long time. If this game wasn’t railroading the Link/Zelda relationship so hard, I would have liked a Dragon’s Dogma-style “date any NPC (within reason)” mechanic. I’m just going to have to start a “NPCs you should marry” side-tumblr.

Another defining aspect of the gameplay, and easily what makes the game surpass arguably every other Zelda, is how Nintendo heard the decade or so of complaints about the linear Zelda lock-and-key formula being reiterated to the point of stagnation, and, after great success with A Link Between Worlds’ item rental subversion, just decided to make everything optional. You do the tutorial on the Great Plateau, and, if you feel especially gutsy, you can beeline it straight to Ganon. He’s in horse-riding distance, or running distance, if you’re tenacious. Will you make it to him, survive the hordes of enemies, and take him down? If it’s your first time playing the game and you haven’t learned the systems, probably not. Is it possible? Absolutely. Much like how the monthly cycle of a Persona game is a proverbial Rocky training montage of preparing for The Big Fight, everything you do in BotW is in preparation. A lot of open world games can feel dissonant in that you’re incentivized to be distracted as a player and make your own fun, meanwhile the protagonist keeps saying “I’m gonna get bloody revenge on the mafia boss!” during bowling matches. There is still, unavoidably, a sense of urgency played up for narrative sake in BotW, since Impa insists Zelda is waiting and can’t hold Ganon back forever, but it’s all much more narratively justifiable, if you want that. You know, because Zelda is for hardcore roleplaying.

I couldn’t resist a second playthrough, even after logging 215+ hours, so I went ahead and started a separate file on Master Mode, Nintendo’s weird in-house, in-franchise rebranding of, uh, a hard mode. Previously it was called Hero Mode. Why do you--well, okay, I know why they do it. They’re likely trying to distinguish it from a “we just tweaked the numbers” hard mode, and also want to make it feel less threatening than something labeled hard mode. If they’re going to go to the trouble to make it a distinct form of play, they want to try and appeal to everyone. And it is fairly distinct. All enemies are bumped up one rank, so a red bokoblin is blue, and a blue bokoblin is black, and so on. There is a new strongest rank of enemy, though in my run I did not seek them out. There are enemies (and treasure chests!) perched on flying rafts, which can be one-shot with proper bow aiming, but also carry dangerous elemental arrows, and can alert all other enemies in the area. Stealth is much more difficult, and pointless early in. All enemies regenerate up to a third of their health, including bosses! Though, that can be temporarily interrupted by inflicting any amount of damage on them, so it behooves you to be on the offense. Less autosave slots! This wasn’t a problem for me. Guardians randomly delay the firing of their beams! This was absolutely a problem for me and I avoided them entirely in my run. In the beginning when tools and resources are scare, particularly on the Great Plateau, Master Mode is at its hardest, and its most thrilling. Rather than aimlessly exploring, I was pressured to decide where I knew things were, and beeline it to them. Sometime in-between two of the four main optional dungeons, I had amassed enough valuable resources that the game had settled back into the same kind of difficulty as normal mode. Bosses were a little harder due to regen and my resources being somewhat scarcer, but they were manageable. Competently performing flurry attacks (upon successfully dodging attacks at the last second) was extremely valuable to me, but I imagine with enough food in my inventory, I could have brute forced my way through a lot of the fights (though, uh, obviously thou wouldst like to live deliciously (please hate me for this phrasing)). I chose to forego the Master Sword for the sake of challenge, and beat Master Mode with only seven hearts, in around 25 hours. You should play Master Mode, it’s fun.

Here’s a little gameplay SPOILER:

Something I haven’t done, but would like to eventually do, is avoid the main dungeons and just head straight to Ganon. When I played Master Mode, I wasn’t totally confident, and did the dungeons for the resources. After watching some speedruns I learned that if you skip the dungeons, and therefore the main bosses, you have to fight them all at once immediately before the fight with Ganon, without breaks.

That. Sounds. Great.

Wandersong (PC/Steam): Have you heard about Homestuck?

Okay, wait. Wait. Come back, wait. Stop leaving. PLEASE.

Okay, I got the most inflammatory sentence out of the way. Now that we’re eased into that: Wandersong is unignorably influenced by Homestuck. Homestuck conjured a lot of baggage, from having a really difficult, pretentious, arrogant author (I should know, I gave him the benefit of the doubt for way too long), to having some unfortunate narrative turns, to being a billion words long. Wandersong invokes the vaster-than-God scope, the minute and personal perspective of the heroes, and its inclinations toward emotional intelligence (it still surprises me Homestuck had these moments given the author’s deeply unsympathetic sense of humor), and… condenses it! It also makes it a light puzzle-platformer and is about performing music (note: not rhythm, you don’t have to have ANY rhythm), and looks like a Paper Mario game. It is very charming, very funny, very optimistic, and most surprisingly, uncompromising at times. Wandersong says that you, despite your role, are capable of great things, especially self growth and change, as long as you commit to it. If, faced with the consequences of your bad decisions, you choose to double down and keep at it, you will reap what you sow. This is distinctly different from Undertale’s brand of pacifism route optimism, where “no one has to die!” This brand of optimism is a measured but enthusiastic “you can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved, but you can save the rest” and I think that’s a uniquely valuable message.

I was a little confused about the resolution of the communist uprising chapter, but I recall the game bringing my cynicism into question, and the most important thing a work can do is make you question yourself.

(Also, if any of my mutuals are low on funds but interested, I do have a drm-free version I can share.)

Minit (PC/Steam): I don’t think I actually have a lot to say about Minit! It’s very fun and curious and short. You play a little… duck… thing, and you pick up a cursed sword which kills you in one minute. Then you wake up the next day, and die in a minute. Then you wake up the next day. Having only sixty seconds of vitality, you have to optimize your exploration. There’s a slow-speaking old man who you will die listening to, but the hint he gives at the end of his sentence will lead you to something valuable. There’s a guy in a bar angry about the lack of music. If you change the music, he will probably dislike it. If you keep changing the music, you might live to see him like it. There’s a boat ride to a tropical island you have to grit your teeth and wait through. Not all of the events are slow, some are quick bouts of hurried exploration. Most of it is, given the time limit. I’d say more, but given the overall length (it took me about an hour to finish), I’d risk spoiling a sizable fraction of the experience. It’s about $10, though I got mine in a Humble Bundle Monthly subscription. The spec requirements are very low, so your laptop can likely run it.

A Hat in Time (PC/Steam): Heads up, I’m gonna get into a lot of spoilers for this game, including endgame spoilers, but also heads up, the story isn’t really the point in this game. This is a game about tone and platforming. That said, I’m gonna be talking exclusively about the weird ideas in this game, and if you want those weird ideas to be a surprise, then just skip ahead until I put up big letters.

I’m somewhat hesitant to be critical of A Hat in Time because despite a number of weird Things about it, I recognize that it’s quite popular with a lot of people, and that always makes me pause and want to figure out what it is that makes it pass the bar for others. My guess at this point is that it invokes nostalgia through its unmitigated imitation of games that came before. The games it chooses to ape are all your childhood’s Greatest Hits, Wind Waker (which it most resembled in its earliest development), Super Mario Sunshine/Galaxy (which it most resembles now), Banjo-Kazooie, Psychonauts, etc. It never really surpasses those games, for me, and at times cribs from them to the degree that it obscures the game’s own identity. After all, what you enjoy may help define you, but you wouldn’t say it’s your personality. Well. Unless you kin the Gamecube. I guess. There are bonus levels to the game’s different “worlds” (I thought they were different planets, since your hub area is a spaceship, and you access them via different telescopes, but it turns out it’s just one planet?), and you can collect photographs, which sequentially tell a story about the residents of that “world”. Psychonauts did this because each level took place in the mind of a character, and the photos together told a story about the character that fundamentally changed the way you thought about them, and made the whole game feel richer as a result. I collected the photos for all but the DLC levels in AHiT (those are Really Hard), and of those five or so worlds, none of those bonus photos told me anything that changed how I thought about the characters. There’s a dock town run by a mafia (s-sorta) led by a chef, but did you know they all used to work at a processing factory before going there? There are two manipulative bird directors who are fighting over the same studio to produce their own film and win an award, but did you know they… wanted to be directors since they were kids? There’s a devil analogue who steals people’s souls if they wander into his forest, but did you know he was a prince, and the princess was mad he talked to another girl (it was a flower girl, he was getting flowers for the princess), and imprisoned him until they both the prince and princess turned into evil ghosts? That’s the only one that comes close to being an “oh” moment, but I don’t think it does for the reasons the writer was hoping for. In general, these are prologues without substance.

Speaking of substance, the game has a bit of an issue with theming. At least, it does at first. The first town is the previously mentioned dock town, run by a mafia. By “mafia”, I mean a bunch of meatheads who talk about how they like punching people, and refer to themselves individually, in the third person, as Mafia. Mafia loves to punch the poor and the birds. Mafia is a one-dimensional character copy-pasted across 20% of the game. Mafia laughs. They’re run by a chef, but also they can’t cook, so there’s a cat chef in hiding who routinely swaps out their food with his so no one has to eat bad food. I don’t know why, when the town has maybe three non-Mafia character. He does eventually leave and board your ship, so maybe he’s just looking for something to do. The leader of the mafia also boards your ship, for a joke and to sell you an upgrade. The mafia are also afraid of mud monsters, or aliens, or something. There’s a girl with a moustache named Moustache Girl who wants to use your Time Macguffins to overthrow organized crime, and Hat Girl decides that’s a no-go. There are giant faucets around the town that replace all the water with lava. You might be noticing these things have little to no connection. You might be suspecting this level was made first when the dev was inexperienced. I might be suspecting this. It’s fine.

Later worlds do a much better job of theming. There’s the movie studio split between two birds. One of them a penguin, who prefers science fiction, the other a…

...hmmm. I suspect this guy, The Conductor, is an OC the director has had for a while, maybe since childhood, that they just decided Is A Bird, and carried it into the game, since the game occasionally is like... bird?? Alternatively, it’s some sort of corruption of Woodstock from Peanuts. Possibly both. Anyway, this guy just wants to make movies that take place on wild western trains. He has a strong fake Scottish accent, and the penguin, named DJ Grooves, is some sort of disco Elvis. They’ve both hired owls as actors, and some crows have snuck onto the train set (the crows are so obviously the G-Men from Psychonauts’ Milkman level it bothers me a bit). This is already a little busy, but it’s okay! Birds, movies, two distinct genres, and you trapped in-between them, just trying to collect your macguffins. It works. You take part in both of their movies, and your performance in both determines the winner, when suddenly… CORRUPTION WAS AFOOT, and you have to explore the depths of the studio and engage in a showdown.

Another world is a spooky forest where your access is restricted by completing certain contracts for the devilish character. Sometimes it’s murder (reasonable), exploring a haunted mansion in survival horror format (ooh!), fixing the plumbing in a well (wait, what), and doing mail delivery (back up back up). Half of that works. The finale of the forest makes up for it, though. This game insists on most of its bosses having like 4-5 phases and breaks for dialogue and the gall required to get away with that honestly earned my respect. They’re pretty fun times.

The best level to play is, unsurprisingly, the first DLC. I say unsurprising because it’s clear the dev is learning as they go, and the level design improves as they go along. Aside from bonus levels, the first DLC takes place on a massive cruise liner titled the SS Literally Can’t Sink. Ha ha. It’s split into three parts. The first part has you exploring the many interconnected rooms of the ship to find broken shards of a macguffin, the second part has you taking that mental map and using it to frantically complete multiple timed fetch quests at once, and the third part, now that you understand the ship pretty intimately, capsizes the ship, requiring you to traverse frigid waters and overturned scenery to retrieve babies and the ship’s incompetent but adorable baby seal crew (the seals speak in hewwo talk, the game is unforgivably loaded with memes but let me have this). This progression is my favorite in the game, and while I haven’t bought the Nyakuza Metro DLC, I’m looking forward to it.

The ending level had me a bit bewildered at first because in the beginning when Hat Kid refuses to use time powers to stop organized crime, I saw it as a hamfisted way to create tension between Hat Kid and Moustache Girl. Apparently it was working up towards the moral of the story. In the final level, Moustache Girl has stolen all the macguffins, and possessing ultimate power, becomes corrupted ultimately, and summons everyone in the world to her Bowser castle to be judged and die. On first glance, I thought “well, sure, that’s sensible,” but when Hat Kid finds the support of all the villains in the game, I was a little confused. The villains sacrifice themselves to give you infinite health, explicitly stating that they’ll just come back through time magic if you win so who cares (cool stakes), and you overcome authoritarianism with the support of corrupt hollywood, organized crime, and the literal devil. This would be fine if at some point Hat Kid, you know, took them on a Zuko Quest to face turn all of them, but that doesn’t happen. They just all decide “hey yeah, fuck this girl! Also we don’t have time for the nuance this might require!” After all is said and done and you collect all your macguffins, you’re given the choice of leaving the defeated Moustache Girl a single macguffin so she can defeat the mafia (whose side are we on) or just saying nahhh. Neither appears to make a difference, but maybe in a year or two we’ll get a DLC that makes you regret your words and deeds. You try to fly your ship to your home planet, and the villains all grab on to your ship, which is in space, begging you not to leave. I seriously suspect they intended to incorporate face-turn scenes and just couldn’t find the time, because nothing but physical proximity implies these guys would have any emotional attachment to Hat Kid, and that’s a bit of a stretch. Anyway, Hat Kid brooms them off the ship to plummet down to earth and flies away. Sheds a tear about the whole thing. In the end, the moral was that Order good, but too much Order bad, except if you are Hat Kid, in which case Chaos good. Or maybe…

After finishing the game I decided to look into any left over secrets, since my completion score was in the 80s of percents. Turns out that if you use the camera badge to finagle the free look feature into a marginally open armoire somewhere on your spaceship, you can find a shrine to Hat Kid with a couple skulls, a bunch of blurry photos, and some strange symbols. If you doing this while wearing the mask that lets you see the secrets of the dead (for platforming and puzzle purposes, of course), there’s a bunch of alien text you can decode. And then there’s some youtube channels. And a twitter account. All sharing more of those decodable ciphers, all talking about vague dreamy apocalyptic histories and dark betrayals. Or something. That’s right, this game’s got a fucking ARG. I cut things off there. If the developer Gears for Breakfast is gonna make an occultist grimdark sequel to A Hat in Time, they can put up a trailer for it.

OKAY I’M DONE TALKING ABOUT A HAT IN TIME, the short of it is that I had a lot of mixed feelings but had fun.

How did I end up talking more about A Hat in Time than Breath of the Wild? What are my priorities?

Well, that’s everything I finished in May! Will I get back to anime and manga in June? Guess we’ll see! Again, let me know if you want me to do year-recap Marvel posts, since my liveblogging is mostly just shitposts, and the occasional attempt at thoughtfulness among those posts feels kind of out of place. Honestly, I’m probably gonna do that anyway, but it’s nice to see interest. If you read all this, thanks a lot! Go play Breath of the Wild and Wandersong.

#curry plays games

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