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#aaaa I will edit later it looks weird
lilac-udon · 8 months
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spacefinch · 1 year
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Pokemon Incorrect Quotes: Sinnoh Edition
Team Galactic Grunt:AAAAAAaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAaaaaaaaAAAAaaaaaaHHHHhhhhh!
Looker: Why are you running? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING?
Dawn: I'm in me mum's car, vroom vroom.
Johanna: Get out of me car!
Dawn: Aww.
Barry: *handing out Drifloons* I have no soul. Have a nice day!
Cyrus: I don't have one either.
Dawn: *filming*
Professor Rowan, walking into his lab every day: 
"Hello."
"Hello."
"Hello."
"Hello."
"Hello."
Lucas: See this man? He’s a magic man. He’s gonna touch this hot fire.
Flint: *touches electric fireplace*
Lucas: Oh man, he’s a magic man.
Looker: Why don’t we just relax, or turn on the radio? WOULD YOU LIKE HAM, OR—
Fantina: Hi, I'm Fantina and I'm your freestyle dance teacher.
Looker: *slides down a ramp* Good evening.
Dawn, Lucas, and Barry (gathered around a lettuce): Cabbasu, cabbasu, cab-a-su, LETTASU, LETTASU, LETTASUUUUUU!
Barry: We actually have the chip reader now.
Lucas: Oh yeah? *pulls out Dorito* hmmmm….
Barry: Oh it’s not gonna work with that kind of chiiiiii…….
Transaction completed.
Barry: I go to Home Depot
Barry: I eat the tools
Palmer: Stop it
Barry: Crumch
Cynthia: I swear, the next one of you to say "weird flex, but okay" is going to regret it.
Bertha: …
Flint: … 
Aaron: …
Lucian: Preposterous boast, but alas.
Cynthia: *facepalm*
Lucas: Early to bed, early to rise, Burger King burger with Burger King fries
Dawn: Later to rise, later to bed, Burger King burger on Burger King bread
Barry: Eat at morning, eat at night, I participate in a Burger King fight
Volkner: Normalize replying to emails with "what."
Lucas: Hey did you hear that Joe contracted ligma? They had to do a surgery on his updog.
Professor Rowan: Who’s Joe? What’s ligma? What’s updog?
Lucas: *inhales*
Dawn: Non-binary people don't owe you androgyny.
Barry: One does owe me money, though.
Dawn: No offense but…
Istanbul was Constantinople
Now it’s Istanbul, not Constantinople
Been a long time gone, oh Constantinople
Now it’s Turkish delight on a moonlit night
Every gal in Constantinople
Lives in Istanbul, not Constantinople
So if you’ve a date in Constantinople
She’ll be waiting in Istanbul
Even old New York was once New Amsterdam
Why they changed it I can’t say
People just liked it better that way
Lucas: asadsfjdsglgjlks
Professor Rowan: What is that?
Lucas: It's a keyboard smash
Rowan: How do I do that?
Lucas: Just press any key lol
Rowan: 7
Barry: How long does someone have to be dead before it's considered archaeology and not grave robbing?
Cynthia: As an archaeologist, I find this a VERY AWKWARD QUESTION.
Barry: Answer the question, grave robber.
Barry: Before you leave the house, think of the acronym "WOWEE:"
Wallet
phOne
Wkeys
Egg
Egg (backup)
Volkner: You don’t have to "ship" things… just a reminder.
Lucas: Yeah, you could deliver them inste94q0ugpwsb nglsjki/rrhxbijbvnldkzOLHLNF>O(PJFVD
Volkner: Poor thing… walked right into an electrical fence while speaking…
Looker: *banging on door* OPEN UP, IT’S THE POLICE!
Lucas: It’s okay, I’m innocent.
Looker: THE FASHION POLICE!
Lucas: *looking down at sandals over socks* Oh no.
Fantina: Spirits, if you are here, speak to us.
Roark: JUST A CITY BOY, BORN AND RAISED—
Volkner: *reading AA battery label* Aaahh.
Volkner: *reading AAA batteries: AAAAAHHHH.
Volkner: *reading AAAA batteries:* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Palmer: Barry, go put those popsicles back.
Barry, grabbing all the popsicles and sliding away: YOU CAN'T MAKE ME DO ANYTHIIIIIING
Cyrus: We all die someday.  You either kill yourself or you get killed.  Whatcha gonna do?  Whatcha gonna do?
Barry: Really? EVERYBODY was kung fu fighting? I find that hard to believe. Stop feeding me these lies.
Lucas: Well it was really hard to see if it was everyone, you see they were as fast as lightning.
Dawn: And to be honest, it was a little bit frightening.
Lucian: Coca Cola can remove rust from metal, imagine what it’s doing to your body.
Byron: Pfff, getting rid of the rust, idiot.
Lucian: THAT'S NOT HOW IT WORKS!
Byron: Hmm... I've been drinking cola and my body's rust free... not sure where you're getting your facts from...
Cyrus: Team Plasma is going to change the world.
Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars: For the better?
Cyrus:
Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars: . . . For the better, right?
Flint: We can bake these cookies at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, or 4,000 degrees for 1 minute.
Cynthia: No, that's not how you make cookies.
Volkner, zipping into the room: FLOOR IT!
Flint: How about 4,000,000 degrees for 1 second?!
Cynthia: You're GOING to burn the building down.
Flint: I'M GONNA HARNESS THE POWER OF THE SUN TO MAKE THESE COOKIES!
Volkner: DO IT!
Cynthia: NO.
Roark, in front of a fence with Cranidos behind it: Even the babies are some of the most dangerous animals in the world, so I built this cage to keep them secure and there's no possible- OH MY ARCEUS
Byron: *hands Barry a harmonica*
Byron: you play it, you get a million Pokedollars, but a million people will die-
Barry: *furiously plays harmonica*
Byron: BARRY NO-
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kin-the-muffin · 2 years
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****OWL HOUSE SEASON 2 FINALE SPOILERS****
**AGAIN**
yall
im sorry i didnt make this sooner
i just
i needed some time to process everything…
first up on the line we have:
WILLOW MAKING EVERYONE FEEL BETTER MAKES ME SO HAPPYYYYYYYYYY SHES SO GOOD AT IT AAAA-
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im sorry, wasnt she a wild witch??? why is she cheering for philip AT the day of unity???
what was that weird thing philip did to make the scar disappear? was it a hybrid of illusion magic or something, as it did reappear later?
is it weird that i feel a bit sympathetic for kiki?
AND WILLOW SO SMOOTHLY CATCHING HUNTER LIKE THAT?!?!? AAA- AND HIS EARS WENT RED, AS WELL AS HIM BLUSHING!!!!!!!!
AND DARIUS STOPPED TO PROTECT EBERWOLF????? THAT IS SOMETHING I WOULD NEVER HAVE EXPECTED
‘i dont want to see another human life destroyed by this place’ UM? BUT?? IT WAS YOU?? WHO DESTROYED CALEB’S LIFE???
and OH MY GOSH LUZ WAS SO CLOSE TO BEING PETRIFIED!! WHERES A MOMMA HARPY EDA WHEN YOU NEED HER????
that was a wicked stunt luz pulled on philip, making only the glove invis mustve taken serious concentration
hunter protecting willow from falling rocks was so fricken cute
‘a child from the stars’???
woooow, philip, tryna manipulate hunter WHILE youre fighting is low, even for you, also it is confirmed! caleb is the name of philip’s brother
ok ok, so king’s dad trapped the collector, and now king’s emblem can make him invisible from them? so king’s dad knew that the collector was a threat, even to A TITAN, which is very concerning, to say the least
really random thing but now eda only has one arm?? and they treated it so casually???
ok there goes the collecluz theory, as cool as it was, but also the collector looks AWESOME and people are already going straight to ‘i believe in collector supremacy’ which i think is a bit brash, considering, yknow, THEM???
sooooooo…rip philip! yikes, thats a scary show of power. BUT HUNTER’S FACE??!!??!?!?!?!?!! I DONT EVEN KNOW HOW TO FEEL???
hot DANG THIS KID IS POWERFUL, THEY JUST CASUALLY MOVE THE FRICKEN MOON
GUYS GUYS GUYS OK THIS IS REALLY HARD TO SEE, BUT TRUST ME, THE COLLECTOR’S EARS ARE ROUND, LIKE, HUMAN-ROUND??? HUH????????
that little bit of, um, i dunno what to call it, philip?? getting on hunter is VERY CONCERNING, to say the least
‘luz, im so happy i had you as a big sister’ WOW OK I DID NOT NEED MY HEART ANYWAYS THANK YOOOOOU
WELL THIS IS JUST LIKE AMPHIBIA
in other news, ‘GIRL LOST IN FROG LAND?? HOAX??’ ITS CONFIRMED YALL ITS CONFIRMED
HOPE YOU HAVE ROOM FOR FIVE MORE TRAUMATIZED TEENAGERS IN YOUR LIFE, CAMILA, CUZ NONE OF THEM HAVE MOMS SO GET READY!!!
and lastly, some of that philip-goop got back too. yay.
edit: ok i may have been misinformed about the release date and im so so sorry for any excitement/disappointment i may have caused..
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ellenent · 1 year
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Triangle Strategy spoilers!
Just finished playing the Golden route! Finally got my happy ending ;w;
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If they showed us more about the wedding I would cry lol but yeah, I was so happy!! I know maybe this ending is too optimistic, but after seeing the other endings, I don't care lol
Also, I saw this and I'm like Anna is so short? kdjfkdj She looks like a child
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Or Benedict is too tall? I wish we had the height chart for all of them, didn't know Serenoa is also higher than Frederica (in my head they had the same height)
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I was wondering if they would reunite, I was happy that they did! Of course I would prefer like a scene where they meet again and talk "hey I'm your mother" (and I was expecting something like this in the battle with Lyla, but the dialog was kinda vague). And now I feel kinda bad for killing her in Frederica's route ops But Anna can still adopt Quahuag, she already got Decimal adopted lol I think I missed the final side story of him, but it's okay I think
I really liked the part that Serenoa finds another path option; I tried to think for myself what the solution would be, and I was pretty satisfied with the plan!
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He looks so sad and small lol
The part where they divide the regiments caught me off guard; at first I was in panic, because I was so used to my favorite units, that I wasn't sure if I would succeed in the battles. Not knowing how they would go, which characters would fit the best the strategy and not being able to change them later got me nervous lol but I tried to balance all regiments (put at least one mage in each, one archer, etc) and leveled up the characters I didn't like to use that much (and later realize some were great actually!). The Frederica's regiment was the one without a unit, I never got to recruit Cordelia, so If I replayed the game again in the future, I would go for her! But the Benedict's battle was the hardest, at least I knew a strategy that would work best because of that one battle in the first chapters of the game.
And I really like how the battles went! I liked that even I couldn't edit the units, if you got a good strategy, you can work it out! I think I just didn't like that I couldn't edit the rings each character got (like Benedict had one that I wished to remove and give to a character in another regiment, so yeah makes sense we couldn't do this). Anyway I was happy to get out of my comfort zone for a bit!
The revelation of the hierophant was a little weird for me, because I already didn't expect it to be a person lol actually I didn't even think something was behind the curtain lmao to see it was a robot was the least of my problems. The battle against Idore was way harder on Frederica's route, this one was pretty okay after I killed all the automatons. I liked that all the characters had something to say to him lol
Overall, I really really enjoyed this game! I like tactics and political games like Fire Emblem, but I liked this even better; it feels more realistic, the gameplay is harder too (at least for me that likes to over level my units, TriStrat said I couldn't lol), the fact you have to make decisions all the time and they all have consequences is pretty nice and made my anxious lol convincing the others to vote for the path you wanted made me feel good lol I was a little afraid of playing this because I didn't like Octopath Traveler that much, so it was a great surprise for me! :D
I haven't done Benedict or Roland's route yet, but now I'm at 100 hours and I feel I must play another game right now lol and I don't know if I have the heart to do them actually lol I want to make some fanart aaaa I already read lots of fanfic, avoiding spoilers, but now I'm free lol
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lovelyfaustus · 2 years
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i love the trancy household! may i get some headcanons on gender neutral noble insert visiting the trancy household for the first time? i wanna see the trancy household hospitality! bonus points if alois invites ciel to come along as well!
i love the trancy house too aaaa and YES i love this request ueue euue aue ae TwT <3
cw: gender neutral reader, prob alois being kinda dickish to hannah idk
——————
GN! Noble visiting the Trancy manor for the first time :-)
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(lets pretend theyre over to spend the night)
- to be invited to THE Trancy Manor is like. a dream come true. fr fr 💯💯
- Claude greets them at the door with a simple, “We’re honored to have you here, please come in.”
- Alois legiterally SPEEDS through the center hallway of his mansion, he’s heard so many good things about them! he wants to meet them!!! WOOOO
- ngl. i feel like Alois wouldve ordered Claude to find out their favo dishes so he could win the noble over. like. BOOM youre my friend now :^)
- Hannah is told to show them to their room for the night, Alois was vvvvv persistent on telling them to ignore Hannah’s,,,, Hannahness? like to not pity her at all for anything ever
- After Hannah and the noble leave, Claude begins makin their fave food, probably thinkin “damn. this shit look like my great granddaddys foot fungus” bc hes a demon n stuff right so human food is a no go for him
- erm. Ciel what u doin in the 23rd guest bedroom. what the fawk?
- Hannah showed them back to the foyer of the mansion where Alois stood, tapping his foot impatiently
-“What was taking you so long?” “(name) did Hannah make you uncomfortable at all?” *side eye af at Hannah*
- The noble prob askin why Ciel’s there
-Alois explains that he was desperately trying to get Ciel, explains his whole life story, ending with Seb killin his village so he has to steal Ciel from him for revenge n stuff. He wants to fight Ciel and them to judge who wins if neither die.
-Since this is the first time meeting either of them there’ll be no bias right? BOOM
- “erm. mane im just. i came here for a good time man wtf”
- All of the servants are ordered to stay back and only watch
- The noble sat between Claude and Hannah and just. this is so awkward for them please bc all you can hear is Alois and Ciel making weird fighting noises and the occasional ‘thud’ of them hitting the ground
-Claude is side eye-ing them now, prob thinkin about how Alois is not gonna let them leave his mansion alive if they decide Ciel wins
- to summarize the fight, Alois lost </3 Ciel apparently “cheated” and Alois wants a rematch. FINALLY the butlers decide its time for food WOOO
- Later Ciel leaves the manor with v minor scratches, Seb following
- Alois is upset ofc now so he’s sent to bed while Claude aids him and Hannah shows you to your room for the night, apologizing for the weird event and offering a lullaby or story of some sort
have to go now bc at school BYE ill edit later i promise
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michelemoutons · 3 years
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and at last, the post that maybe three people maximum have been waiting for...
em's comfort retro rally videos: a masterlist!
in a much-needed return to this blog's roots, and as an antidote to all motorsport- and life-related chaos, i now present to you: the first edition of em's favorite retro rally videos!
general disclaimer/info: these videos mainly come from the group B era of the world rally championship (wrc), which generally speaking was in the '80s. i am only human, so expect a lot of bias toward my personal favorites...which will become very apparent as you read this list hehe. also i'm not even gonna pretend to be an expert on this or anything. a lot of these are literally just based on Vibes
table of contents
i. my top 5 rally coverage videos
mainly coverage for television, recorded on VHS and uploaded to YouTube by some truly incredible people
ii. honorable mentions
not rally coverage, but retro rally videos nevertheless
often documentaries, mini-doc features, interviews
for all videos, i have indicated the language (most are in english fyi); if any links fail or videos disappear, send me an ask or DM and i'll remove the culprit/find an alternative link.
and now, onward!
(TW for occasional flash photography in many of the night sequences of the videos, as well as a gif included in this post)
i. my top 5 rally coverage videos
in which my bias toward audi sport, mouton/pons, mikkola, toivonen, and vatanen are put on blast for all to see 🥴 i am not an expert in anything i am just very good at research and a whore for aud—[SNIPED]. for the sake of brevity, i narrowed my favorites down to 5. maybe another time i will share all the rest!
also, a general note about the commentary: sometimes, the commentary around michèle and fabrizia can get... weird. keep in mind, they were the most prominent female team partnership around that time, and the first to nearly clinch a wrc wdc, and to modern ears, the commentators really didn't know how to act around them. personally, it wasn't horrible for me, i just ignored the weirder bits, but i understand if others might find it off-putting. also for the sake of your sanity don't read the comments.
5. Rally of the 1000 Lakes, 1984 | finland
link: overall coverage (eng)
podium: vatanen/alén/toivonen (full final results)
comments: this was definitely a rally for most of audi sport's drivers to forget: bar stig blomqvist, who came quite close to the podium finishers with a 4:14:01 to henri toivonen's 4:12:57! both hannu mikkola and michèle mouton had to retire from the race, which may lead you to wonder: why does this rank among my favorites? well, it's always fun to watch group b rally cars sailing through the air against picturesque scenery, and this video also contains an intriguing (at least for me!) look at the scrutineering process, with drivers at their most casual.
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owie :( they were fine though!
4. Lombard RAC Rally, 1981 | britain
link: overall coverage (eng)
podium: mikkola/vatanen/blomqvist (full final results)
comments: hannu winning by 11 whole minutes even after rolling his car in the middle of the forest is actual legend behavior! anyway this was michèle's first wrc outing in britain, and even though she and fabrizia had to retire, they still did quite well, consistently running high in the leaderboards after the first few stages. and that's considering the fact that michèle had a bad cold for much of the rally and had to ask fabrizia to drive the car to service park for her at one point bc she was so tired. which fabrizia did... with a pencil in her mouth. lot of big names in one video—also, jean todt makes an appearance as a co-driver!
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shamelessly poached off of one of my text post edits
3. Marlboro Safari Rally, 1983 | kenya
link: overall coverage (eng)
podium: vatanen/mikkola/mouton (full final results)
comments: ok can i just say how stunning the video presentation is?? the opening sequence is just!!! the shots of the wildlife! the sprinting giraffes! wow! anyway the visual of drivers in deck chairs just tickles me for no reason, and michèle please tell me what you ask for at the hairdresser's and also where you got that orange blouse (this is obviously not just specific to this rally, she always eats and leaves no crumbs). this was michèle's first entry and only finish in kenya (and of course it was a podium mwah). it was also her last wrc entry in the A1 quattro, as she switched to the A2 for the rest of her program in the '83 season. also this is one of my favorite podium pictures ever.
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lksdjffnnkd there's almost too much to unpack... fabrizia somehow surviving in high waist jeans in a hot car... michèle's do-it-yourself shorts... this podium picture was the subject of a very frantic video chat conversation between myself and a friend at 2am a few months ago
2. Rallye de Portugal, 1982 | portugal
links: short recap (eng) | overall coverage 1, stuck in the middle of two other rallies. timestamps in descrip. (eng) | overall coverage 2, very vibey with cool music (ita... also peep walter röhrl speaking italian)
podium: mouton/eklund/wittmann (full final results)
comments: GOD I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH AAAA! michèle's first podium of '82 being a win? this rally being the one where there's footage of her going shopping with fabrizia afterward? (more on that later) them winning by 13 whole minutes? and that's not even considering THEE most poetic victory ceremony of all time! in fact let me talk about that bc the racing and the win aside, that's why it's so high up on my list! literally poetic cinema! it's night, they're standing on top of the car and floodlit and surrounded by cheering crowds but they may as well be the only ones there in their own little world, laughing at each other and barely even having to look to each other when they're raising their hands—like god! shut up! we get it you're besties 😭
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and now... last but certainly never least...
1. Lombard RAC Rally, 1982 | britain
link: overall coverage (eng)
podium: mikkola/mouton/toivonen (full final results)
comments: firstly, if you were to ask me about my dream podium, this would be it. hands down, across all series of motorsport, my comfort podium would be hannu, michèle, and henri in any order. (there's such a cute picture of them from this rally on pinterest, standing in order on a staircase. henri is not looking at the camera because he is laughing at something michèle is saying and it's such a Vibe but i cannot find it wah). the battle for second between michèle and henri ran down to literally the last stage, and their times are separated by seconds, which is just wild to me. the context of this rally deserves another post, which i honestly don’t have the energy to make rn, but just take my word for it that it threatens to destroy me if i think about it too hard! anyway this is just such an awesome rally and i’ve watched this video so many times haha
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i love this rally so much that i actually had a character in a story i was writing attend the ceremony captured in this picture as a small child and made it a formative moment in her life. no, there is nothing wrong with me.
ii. honorable mentions
(is it obvious who my faves are? yikes)
'Group B - Avec Michele Mouton' (eng) - taken from a longer feature presentation about group b, a segment specifically about michèle. a friend once described its vibes as ‘a synth wave edit of an 80s anime set in a cyberpunk world about racing’
'1983 Audi Sport National Rally with Michele Mouton' (eng) - in which michèle takes journalist sue baker as a co-driver for a spin in an A1 and a rally win. fun behind-the-scenes video
'Intervista a Fabrizia Pons, la Regina delle Note' 1, 2, 3 (ita) - very thorough interview which is mostly fabrizia telling all sorts of stories, including the very entertaining story of how she found out she was going to be michèle’s co-driver. also what a badass title
'2008 Otago International Classic Rally' (eng) - THE BESTIES REUNITE THE BESTIES REUNITE!!! michèle and fabrizia reunite for a rally that fabrizia convinced michèle to join, they suffer some problems but there are plenty of wholesome bestie moments to be had
'Michele Mouton hurls Group B Audi Quattro up Goodwood hill' (eng) - i mean, self explanatory. the sound of the chirping tires? asmr could never. very short watch if you want a quick pick-me-up
'1990 Louise Aitken-Walker feature' (eng) - a video featuring a female rally driver from scotland and her point-scoring run at the rallye monte -carlo. i am convinced that louise was john finnemore’s inspiration or at least an influence for the character of linda fairbairn. no my hat is not made of tin foil what are you talking about
hannu rocketing around michigan back in 2017 (eng)
hannu flying around goodwood in 2015 (eng)
sometimes i listen to fabrizia's recent onboards (yes, she's still at it!) and this one is one of my favorites, from 2016 (ita)
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wincore · 4 years
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youngblood | lee donghyuck
pairing: haechan x reader
words: 9.1k
genre: ‘bad boy’!au, fluff, angst(?)
warnings: language, juvenile crimes (do NOT try shoplifting, speeding and vandalism, kids)
a/n: okay omg i finally got around to editing this and you guys should know by now this au doesn’t mean he’s bad and just.........annoying........... (also it follows troublemaker’s style but like............it might just be my fav troublemaker part aaaa)
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The first day you meet Lee Donghyuck, he picks a fight with you. Or you pick a fight with him.
That’s not how the first day of high school should have gone.
It surprised you, just a little, to be toe-to-toe with someone so easily. Did he like picking fights for fun? You looked him up and down, the ink over his forearm meant to be shown and a strange friendliness in his eyes. Not exactly the bully type, you weren’t sure what to make of him. Movies spoil reality when it comes to things like this. Rumors are even worse. You took a slow gulp anyway, Donghyuck’s eyes on you unnerving.
He leaned in slightly to match your height. His tone was lilting and he phrased his words light-heartedly, a pretence you found funny. “I have no interest in you, kid. I’m going to keep it that way.”
“We’re the same age, you know?”
Your reply went unheard. It was just misunderstanding that got you there—you mistook his locker for yours and it’s not your fault you happen to have the same passcode (a little weird though, definitely). Lee Donghyuck said if you were allowed to take what’s his, he should have the same privilege, the word thief at the tip of his tongue. He was a little daunting, you suppose—taller than you were, in all black and several piercings and tattoos poking out on wrists. Maybe it was the undulating rage of being fourteen and at the stage of heavy regret in later years, maybe it was the wariness around strangers. You weren’t quite afraid of him; just that a fight on your first day didn’t seem like a very bright start in a new city. Although you assured him you didn’t touch his stuff, you handed him your bear-shaped keychain. (“You can have this if you want a gift so bad.”)
When Donghyuck laughed, giving it back almost immediately with a cheeky grin—you couldn’t decide whether to let the confusion show on your face.
“Don’t be a pushover, newbie.”
You frowned. “Who’re you calling a pushover?”
You don’t remember the rest of it but you found it very hard to not have mixed feelings about him. You’re trying to have a normal fun high school life for fuck’s sake. You didn’t think he was the awful sort of person—but it was almost as if he was trouble’s very own lovechild. There are better weapons against him than falling into pointless playfights.
Lee Donghyuck. Funny guy.
The school bully image was a lie, no doubt spread by someone more than annoyed with his antics. Of course, Lee Donghyuck either didn’t care or didn’t know, wits always about him like some sort of eccentric defence mechanism.
You admire him in a way, but you wouldn’t be caught dead telling him that.
Lee Donghyuck is popular, full of jokes and fun but a little rough on the edges all the same. But you have to assume he must have some demonic heritage. You could say you have a strange relationship—friends but not. You hate him but don’t. While you’re sure there’s at least a little bit of sunshine hidden beneath those black T-shirts and inked skin, there’s a bit more than hidden sides to young troublemakers—things that don’t involve misunderstanding.
Lee Donghyuck looks like danger. (And danger attracts attention of all kinds, you’d noticed in a few unfortunate heart-eyed classmates.) You’ve seen him in enough fights to have respect for him, making you wonder why he doesn’t join the debate team already. It might have something to do with how his victorious smile gets on everyone’s nerves, the way they groan at Donghyuck’s sudden affections afterward. They don’t hate him—mostly. He’s honest and he knows exactly how to press people. That doesn’t change the innocence in his arrogance or the clear distinction of his spirit.
Of course there are bad people; Donghyuck just isn’t one of them. He just tries too hard to look cool. (“Sunflower,” he’d called you, pulling a face. “I know you’re dense. But maybe start being afraid of me so you don’t ruin my reputation.”)
The sunlight falls against the web of your thumb, your fingers rapidly moving to match the pace of the game on your phone. Five minutes to class, you’ve got nothing better to do.
“What, trying to beat my high score again?” Donghyuck pulls the chair beside you to sit, his arms resting on the desk as he continues to stare at you.
“Believe me, Donghyuck, not everything I do is for you,” you chuckle, tapping on the play again button, catching the look on his face out of the corner of your eye.
Donghyuck looks visibly irked and you think maybe your decision to be so annoyingly passive has been the right one if it bothers him. Ah, but you won’t tell him that. You’re having the time of your life this way.
“Well,” Donghyuck begins but frowns instead. “Whatever.”
It’s not every day you get to win—Donghyuck does get under your skin. You just don’t have to show it. Sometimes his own friends decide they’ve had enough, the classroom shenanigans making you laugh. You don’t want to get started on the chaos that unfurls every time Donghyuck walks into class and straight up picks a fight with anyone in his eyesight—even Jaemin has his “Lee Donghyuck!” moments. Donghyuck is friends with everyone and that means he gets to get on everyone’s nerves.
You smile to yourself thinking of Donghyuck yawning deliberately at Renjun trying to make a point. Call him a demon, call him a disgrace; he knows how to make people laugh.
You pass Red’s diner on your way back home, as usual, the unusual red and white checkers replacing the normal concrete sidewalk by it. It’s always soothed you to see bright colours in this side of the city, the beige and coffee aesthetic far too dominating for its cause—something to keep up with the larger, fancier (more pretentious) metropolises.  It’s also the oldest; your friends told you the number of baby pictures everyone has on the wine-coloured couches is, in more appropriate words, fucking astounding.
You wish you’d moved here earlier. The thing about little cities is just that—they’re not all that little. Something everyone seemingly loves to boast about, the romance of a small town and its delicate simplicities. It’s nothing alike. You’d know. You enjoy it more here. You like all the food outlets and stores lining the streets and further up, less congestion and more dog parks—all places you love breezing through in your free time. There’s an amusement park too, a forty-minute drive away into the middle of nowhere and if you’re not mistaken, the city centre has the best clubs and bars. Sunshine drips through every nook and cranny—it’s everything you’d expected a city to be.
You stop in your tracks at the sight of distinct brown curls in the alleyway between buildings. Donghyuck doesn’t seem to be in the best of situations, a tougher, much larger guy shoving him against the wall. They seem to be speaking, and something about Donghyuck’s smile doesn’t give you a good feeling about what’s going to happen.
Before the guy’s fist meets Donghyuck’s cheek, you yell, two pairs of eyes shifting focus to you. You feel your heartbeat quicken, Donghyuck raising his eyebrow and shooting you a confused look.
“Don’t- don’t hurt him,” you say, cursing at the meekness of your voice.
The larger man laughs, a sound like nails on a chalkboard and you cringe. Donghyuck mouths at you to get away but immediately shuts up when the man turns to him again.
“You got a little lover come here to protect you?” he says, looking at Donghyuck with amusement.
“No, that’s not—”
“I hate little brats like you,” he huffs, shoving Donghyuck once more, this time a little harder. He lets out a pained whine, eyes squeezing shut as he drops on his knees.
You take a hesitant step back when the man makes his way to you, blood rushing to your ears when he raises his hand. Your arms go up by instinct and you’re met with a hard push, falling to the ground with a whimper.
You’re picked up by the collar, struggling to not let fear show on your face.
“Tell your boyfriend to stop messing around my store, okay, sweetheart?” he threatens, voice lower.
With that, he drops you and leaves, the adrenaline in you not quite down yet.
“Donghyuck?” you call, worried as you spot him lying still in the alleyway. You’re about to get up and go to him when he responds, whimsical as ever.
“I’m okay!” He raises his hand with a peace sign and you sigh, annoyed.
“Really?! What were you even doing?”
“I ate some cookies for free, big deal,” he says before he suddenly raises his head with a lopsided grin. “Is sunflower worried about me?”
You groan, dusting yourself as you get up and walk over to him. You throw him a light kick at the side to which he whines overdramatically and scrunches his face into something pained. Lee Donghyuck could be hit by a bus and he’d play it off with fingers guns and eyebrow wiggling.
“Become a chainsaw-juggler or something if you want to do something dangerous,” you complain, “And get up!”
Donghyuck wrinkles his nose. “As always, you have such boring ideas.”
He does get up the next moment, although with a large show of holding his back and several whines about near-death experiences as if he’s not the one bringing it upon himself. You’re sure his back is bruised but he doesn’t acknowledge it as anything more than a joke. There’s also a gash on his cheek he must have received earlier. It’s no surprise he has a fresh batch of wounds—you think he spends more time in the nurse’s office than in actual classes.
“Why do you pick fights with people clearly stronger than you?” you grumble as he dusts himself off.
“Oh, don’t misunderstand me,” Donghyuck says, straightening, “I would’ve got out of this pretty clean without you.”
You roll your eyes. “Sure thing.”
Donghyuck frowns, a huff leaving his mouth.
“I don’t mean to brag but that guy would have been running for his life if you hadn’t butt in,” he shrugs, trying to sound less ruffled.
You laugh at his expression, forgetting about your bruised arms for a moment.
“You should treat me,” you say, the thought passing your head. You don’t have change and you’re really craving some strawberry milk.
He scoffs. “For what?”
“For saving you.”
You expected a retort, at least. Donghyuck pauses for a moment before a worrying grin floats up on his face. “Sure. Come with me.”
You narrow your eyes at him but follow nonetheless, walking side by side. The sunlight makes his skin glow, the hue on his cheeks perfect were it not for the dried blood from the gash. His eyes shine when he smiles, mischief or not, when he’s telling you about how you should try vandalism and robbery sometimes, they’re pretty fun. It’s a Donghyuck trait—to be able to live like this and still call it fun. You look at his lips once and immediately look away. What a silly thought. They’re regrettably pretty, though, despite being busted often. The sun has been kind to Donghyuck, with the colour of his skin full and the confidence you’d only find in someone made of sun flares.
So that’s why.
You stare at the motorbike parked at a clearly No Parking area, the metallic red gleaming under the late afternoon sun. You’ve never been on one before but something tells you Donghyuck would traumatise you far too much to try again. You cannot agree to get on that.
“Hop on,” he instructs.
You hesitate. “Where are we going?”
“To the centre, of course.” He smiles brightly. “There’s a bunch of bakeries and eateries over there.”
“You can just buy me some strawberry milk from a vending machine around.”
“Well, I forgot my wallet,” he says, looking up to think, “I left it at my job.”
You furrow your eyebrows, not believing a word. It’s Lee Donghyuck after all, the opposite of predictable, and arguing with him will only cost you your breath.
“A motorbike and no leather jacket?” You smile, regaining your composure. “I mean, not everyone can pull off the leather jacket, of course.”
Donghyuck rolls his eyes overstatedly. “I don’t expect you to be smarter but stereotypes? Wow.”
You do get on the bike, however, with some pushing on Donghyuck’s side. More importantly, you somehow don’t end up traumatised despite what you supposed. It felt good, wind in your hair and although your legs were stuck to the sides of the bike like glue, you found yourself enjoying the scene around you speeding by. The fact that Donghyuck can be careful was beyond your knowledge and understanding.
The buildings are a little taller here and while you’ve been here before, the sight never fails to make your heartbeat quicken. There’s something inevitably calling about this place. You’d love to explore when there are nightlights around each corner.
“Your wallet?” you remind Donghyuck.
Donghyuck feigns surprise, gasping. “Right! It was in my pocket. But I have no money.”
“What? We came all the way here for nothing?!”
“No. I have a plan.” Donghyuck grins, pointing towards the pretty glass door of the bakery across the street.
“Oh no,” you say quietly as the realization dawns, “We’re not stealing.”
“Then you came all the way here for nothing.”
You sigh heavily into your hands as Donghyuck tries to sweeten his grin, clearly trying to convince you.
“You really don’t have to be this annoying, you know that?”
“It’s a choice,” he says, pulling a face, “And I do it because I excel at it, thank you very much.”
You reluctantly follow Donghyuck into the bakery, people bustling in and out, mostly for their fix of evening coffee or tea. There are photo frames around pictures of coffee beans, tea leaves and pastries, all against a soft orange wallpaper. It’s not as small as it looked from outside, you realize, with its capacity for people quite enough. The smell of chocolate is predominant, hazelnut and coffee wafting in from the left side.
“Free samples!” Donghyuck gasps, before turning to whisper to you, “You know we can try one of each, right? That saves us some trouble.”
You’d be lying if his lips so close to your ears didn’t make you jump a little. You take short steps behind him as he eagerly walks to the counter.
“Ah, is this a new type?” Donghyuck asks, beaming at the woman behind the counter. She raises an eyebrow at the ear piercings and tattoos, gracing him with a smile nonetheless.
While he’s engaged in conversation, you stare at the two of them confused till you’re met with a light kick at your foot. You give Donghyuck a dirty look, who keeps pointing towards the samples with his hands under the counter.
“You’re supposed to shove some into your bag, you know?” he leans in to whisper, exasperated, when the lady leaves to enter the pantry.
“Well, how was I supposed to know, genius?” you shoot back, crossing your arms.
Donghyuck looks around nervously before taking a few of the tarts and carefully placing them in your bag.
“Don’t move too much or you’ll crush them,” he warns in a hush.
The woman returns again, with a warmer smile and Donghyuck goes back to his clever, silver-tongued words. He’s so awful, you think. But you can’t deny the exhilaration in your chest, a giddy feeling of doing the wrong thing in a way that feels right.
You end up having the free samples afterward, pretending to contemplate buying as the woman looks at the two of you expectantly. It’s delicious, sweet chocolate manipulating your taste buds to want another bite almost immediately after you’re done.
“We do offer couple discounts, too!” she says, beaming.
There it is again, the unsettling implications—accusations almost. Since when do the two of you look like a couple? You’re obviously too young to be looking the sort of way most lovers do and where the fuck do they see any love anyway?
“Uh,” Donghyuck begins but can’t seem to form a sentence.
Before either of you can say anything, the woman is called by another customer and you look at each other at the same time.
“We should go,” he says, quickly, “before they realize we’re not buying anything.”
You nod and sneak out of the shop as quickly as you walked in, Donghyuck suddenly picking up the pace till you’re at least a few blocks away.
“You’re so slow,” Donghyuck teases, laughing when you reach him, out of breath. He adjusts his shirt, dark as always, such that it doesn’t stick out of his pants awkwardly anymore. The tattoos on his left arm catch your eye, muscles beneath flexing as his moves his arm, a strange pattern of ink. You don’t think they’re real if you’re being honest—that field of sunflowers. They’re too pretty.
You’re so annoying, you think, despite the smile forming on your face as you follow him down the lane.
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What a frustrating personality, the thought crosses you at night, as you kick away the blanket at your feet. He ended up paying for some ice cream at a nearby shop anyway, right after you’d finished having your stolen goods by the dog park. He said summer needs some ice and he’ll oblige just this once with whatever few notes he has left. (“Summer just ended, idiot.” “I can’t hear you.”) The first bite had immediately given him brain freeze, a whine escaping his lips as he held his head in an attempt to soothe it. You found it cute—yes, cute, a terrible choice of words for him. It doesn’t mean anything, you tell yourself. It’s almost within his personality to intrude upon your thoughts like this—gods, you hate even the letters of his name that form so easily in front of your eyes.
The buzz from your phone gives you a fright as you quickly open it to two texts from Donghyuck. You adjust the brightness before you read it, your heartbeat embarrassing you at its rate.
demon child, 11:36 PM
btw today wasn’t a treat you still have to pay me
food is expensive you know
You smile. A part of you warns you shouldn’t.
demon child, 11:37 PM
or you can pay for next time
Your smile drops. Next time? What is this, a date? You shake your head instinctively. Like you’d make it out alive of a date with Lee Donghyuck.
you, 11:37 PM
sure thing little stingy man
demon child, 11:38 PM
wow that was fast do you like me or something
You roll your eyes. You might have really decked Donghyuck in the jaw in another timeline, where you knew how to deck someone in the jaw.
You feel a certain static in your heart, hoping you’re mistaken as you respond to his texts for the rest of the night. Lee Donghyuck needs to have the last word all the time, and you lose count of how many times you huff, only giving in when the tiredness in your eyes seeps to the rest of your body.
You think you smile in your sleep that night but you can’t be sure.
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The thing about bad days is that you notice nothing outside of them when you’re having them—but you forget you ever even had them when you’re not.
You end up at school with a lack of will to pay attention to classes. It’s well into the semester, and that means it’s time for you to get to some serious studying, except, well, you can’t. You’re decent at academics—or so you’d like to think. You’re average at best and there’s a nagging thought eating away at your brain at a painfully slow rate.
The college application deadlines are near.
It doesn’t help to be second and third best at almost everything. You nod along to everything Jihyun is saying; really, he aces every subject without trying. His words aren’t exactly…encouraging. You thought his notes would be your ticket to a dream college except he’s not quite the person you should be asking help from.
You’re suddenly not sure about all the friendly competitions you’re running.
You’re starting to feel too worked up these days, worry tugging at the back of your head every moment. It’s lonely when your friends are busy with their own struggles so you stay quiet. You’re a big kid, you tell yourself, you got this.
Except you really don’t.
“Woah,” Donghyuck interrupts you and Jihyun. “You look like you used the dryer on the wrong setting.”
Sometimes, it’s really not the best of situations to have your seat beside Donghyuck. You glare at him, keeping your notebook on the table with a loud ‘SLAM!’ You turn your head to find him smiling. Oh, he better not start now.
“Ah, (name),” he says, grinning, “what’s got you so upset today?”
“Nothing,” you insist, trying your best to control your scowl.
It’s been two weeks since you ‘hung out’ (committed minor crimes) at the bakery. Your friendly bickering since then has been not-so-friendly, you think with a grimace. He’s been getting under your skin—not a favourable thing when you’re against Lee Donghyuck.
“(name).”
You look up to see Jihyun, almost always devoid of any emotion behind the eyes—even if he’s smiling.
“The notes you asked for,” he says, keeping the notes on your table and turning around, almost as if he’s glad to be rid of conversation.
“Oh, and,” Jihyun turns back around. “If you’re hoping to get into any college at all, I hope you keep the right company.”
There’s contempt in his voice and your eyes trail to Donghyuck’s, a little confused if not bothered. You shouldn’t be surprised to find him grinning, laughing almost. You think Donghyuck’s confidence is a good substitute for a leather jacket.
“Hey, come on now.” Donghyuck leans back in his seat, smiling like a kid. You wonder where all that sunshine’s coming from. “Are you still mad about me beating you at that MUN thing?”
Jihyun smiles. “Don’t jump to conclusions. I wasn’t referring to you, of course. And there’s worse things you’ve done.”
Your teacher walks in, drawing everyone’s attention instead as they scurry back to their seats. Donghyuck’s eyes linger on you for a second longer, his face blanched before he turns away and rests his chin on his palm. You think you weren’t supposed to steal so many glances at him throughout the class.
The day somehow manages to draw energy out of you even further. Worries aside, Jihyun’s been strangely demanding—are you even that close? Should he be asking you to bring things this way? Should he be making you run errands? You’re so close to losing it before you realize you can’t. He’s helping you, sort of. You groan into your hands during break, ignoring Donghyuck’s eyebrow raise from beside you. It’s unfair and while you’re sure it’s all light-hearted, you have another name to curse when you run into a problem. Ah, the scorn of high school kids is truly incomparable.
You almost sigh in relief at the last ring of the bell for the day, getting up a little too enthusiastically. You get some admonishment from the teacher at that but you forget once you’ve reached the gates, almost running out faster than your friends. They let you go with a laugh, your desire to get home and take a nap triumphing every other thing on your mind. Some days are meant to be forgotten.
Cursed as you are, you bump into Donghyuck a few blocks from the bus stop. He adjusts the collar of his plaid shirt in a hurry, the black T-shirt underneath so worn out, you wonder how many years he’s been wearing that. The symbol on his baseball cap is probably related to a demon cult, you think. It being related to a metal band is also a possibility.
“(name),” he says, grinning. “What a coincidence.”
“Don’t pick a fight now, demon,” you huff before he can continue.
“I didn’t even say anything.” He raises his arms defensively. “Yet.”
You have the intense desire to punch him. When did the tables turn to this? Weren’t you supposed to be the calm one?
“You had fun running errands for President Snob?” he snickers.
“Well, I didn’t want to,” you say, your shoulders dropping, annoyed as you are. It makes you a little upset for something to affect you that much. You wish you were like the kids who barely cared about things like college applications, enjoying life either way. You wish you didn’t have this strange pretence of a person you are. You wish you were like Donghyuck.
There’s a pause.
“Come on. Don’t let anyone push you around like that.”  His voice comes off as exasperated. Donghyuck isn’t the kind of person to let worry show.
You look up, a little surprised. Before you can open your mouth, he cuts you off.
“There’s some festival going on at the centre,” he says with a shrug. “Lots of food trucks. Wanna come?”
You furrow your eyebrows, a frown taking shape over your lips.
“Stealing off others doesn’t exactly make me feel good about myself,” you say, hugging yourself. As fun as the adrenaline rush was, it’s better to stick to morals, whatever they may be.
“I’ll pay,” he says, his smile incredulous. “I promise.”
You raise an eyebrow. “What, you got a credit card lying around somewhere?”
“Nope,” he responds, rolling his eyes. “No credit card. Don’t believe in money.”
“Then how do you plan on paying?” you ask, frustrated.
“Trust me,” he whispers, urging you to follow him.
It turns out Donghyuck happens to know every food outlet in the city and also happens to have been kicked out of half of them, which is oddly impressive. He’s also worked several jobs in local eateries, the old ladies more than fond of him. (“Who wouldn’t find my charming smile adorable?”)
“You hobgoblin,” you exclaim, huffing. His story about vandalism on the bleachers shouldn’t have been as amusing, or endearing, for that matter.
“According to our lovely folklore, hobgoblins can warm your heart,” he replies, as-a-matter-of-factly.
“That is definitely not true. You just have to respond with something, don’t you?”
“And what of it?”
A (surprisingly) within-speed-limits bike ride away, you end up in a flurry of colours and crowds—you gasp at the large line of food trucks lining the pathway leading to the people’s square. You’ve never seen this before, looking from place to place. A lot of them look like they’ve come from pretty far.
At the square, there are wooden stalls of food out for trial by the people, shopkeepers encouraging the few tourists there are to try the local food. You spot various fishcakes, dumplings and street toast with glimpses of strawberry and banana milk decorating the stands in between. There are old upbeat songs playing through the speakers attached to the electricity poles, faint enough to be drowned out by crowds but loud enough to enjoy a little dance to. You didn’t realize you were smiling till you turned around to see an amused look on Donghyuck’s face.
Time only seems to fly—like when you’re done with your favourite song and it just wasn’t long enough so you hit repeat. The truth is, a song is barely four minutes—and yet you feel like you saw a movie, a story in it; so very curious because you were so sure it was too short.
Donghyuck walks side by side with you to where his bike is parked. (You wonder if he ever travels without it. Gas isn’t exactly cheap.) There’s little distance between the two of you, something neither of you seems to notice. You bite into the sugar candy, the sudden crack sound in the quiet lane making the two of you laugh despite the surge of sugar on your tongue. You forget what you were talking about.
“Why do you even steal, Donghyuck?” You ask softly. You paid for some food today, some were free samples and mostly, there was nothing illegal involved. Donghyuck didn’t particularly want to cause trouble either. You don’t want to be a bad judge of character.
“Because I can.”
What an expected answer. Is there anything Donghyuck can’t do?
“Don’t you feel bad?” You raise an eyebrow. He’s always been so confusing, but when he starts to make sense, you feel like you should’ve seen it that way in the first place.
“Are you talking about our sweet bakery? You really think a company as big as theirs would notice some free samples are missing?” Donghyuck says, making a face. “In a city no one cares about?”
You don’t say anything, puffing your left cheek in contemplation.
“Look, I could spend the rest of my life looting as much as my arms could carry and I would never be able to make my crimes pose even the smallest threat to a single shitty millionaire.” Donghyuck waves his hands about in a gesture that implies indifference.
You suppose he’s right, walking up to him and continuing your journey up.
“I’m not justifying myself,” he says, voice softer, shoulders relaxed. “Stealing’s bad. Other people are affected. I know. It’s just that I like having more choices than they give us. We should try everything we can, you know?”
Is that why he’s always up to something? Flitting from club to club in school, running around the entire city like it’s his own?
He shakes himself immediately, cringing. “Ah. Ew. I can’t believe you’re getting to my head, sunflower. Yuck. You’re ruining me. Did I just monologue?”
“Oh, okay.” You cross your arms. “That’s my fault now. It’s a good thing to be honest, asshole.”
“La, la, la.” Donghyuck puts his fingers in his ears, sticking out his tongue. “Can’t lecture me if I can’t hear you.”
You punch his shoulders, his laugh accompanying the evening blooming in full colours above you as you forget you’re already on your journey back.
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You reach Red’s before nightfall, a sort of pitstop for kids like you when it’s time to go home before the night soaks into you. Donghyuck feels lighter in his chest as he enters, the jingling pleasant and the smell of waffles even more so. He just can’t believe you’re the reason he’s here.
“Obviously, we’re going for chocolate waffles,” he says, crossing his arms.
The tables outside are better than the stuffy humid air inside. Donghyuck’s complaining didn’t let you take even a step inside.
“We just ate,” you reason, your eyebrows furrowed. “And honey is always better!”
“Eh, what do you know?” he says, resting his elbow against the table. “I was raised in this diner, newbie.”
“Yeah, you and a million other rats.”
He presses his tongue against his cheek to stop the smile, although he reckons he’s doing a terrible job of it.
Get yourself together, one voice pipes up in his head.
Or say it. Ask them out. Yeah, the other voice is a piece of shit. That’s not going to work out.
Donghyuck didn’t realize he’d fallen silent, a daze over his eyes. He blinks a few time to regain focus, the peach hue across your cheeks coming to his attention. It’s adorable, if he could just reach out and place his palm against your cheek, just lean over the table and—
Fuck. No way.
“Stop staring at me like some sleaze,” you huff, eyes flickering between him and the table.
“Why would I stare at you?” he retorts, resisting the heat on his face. “You’re not that pretty.”
“Right,” you say, rolling your eyes as you hold your arm.
The lights lining the eaves flicker on almost at the same time, the sky still in transitionary lilac and you look up with your lips parted, something akin to curiosity in your eyes. Pretty. It could just be the reflection of the lights though—Donghyuck’s not exactly the poetic type. He wants to curl his lips at the notion, but it’s not very smart to have all his thoughts show up on his face.
“Can we stay here a little longer?” you say, eyes still on the lights, occasionally shifting to the sky.
“Your parents will worry.” Donghyuck thinks for a moment before mumbling, “It’s not safe.”
“Then drop me home,” you say, your eyes shifting to meet his, an unusual confidence in them.
He’d be lying if he said he didn’t feel the skip of his heartbeat.
Donghyuck thinks he should pat himself on the back for not speeding all the times you were with him on his bike. He loves the thing to death, although he’s had it for barely a year. The jolt of adrenaline and the freedom blooming in sprouts within his ribcage should be a dead giveaway to what he feels about speeding. Donghyuck’s never really cared about rules. Break them, bend them—it’s up to him and he loves that feeling of control. Whatever people think of him, they’re nowhere close to the truth. They’ll never know just how much he has everything under control.
Except you.
How annoying, he thinks to himself as he feels the speed picking up and your distant warmth behind him. He feels a little tingle in his chest, the way he always does when he gets the urge to do something reckless.
What if he were to speed up just a little? No, that would be childish. He should definitely not do that.
You wrap your arms around his waist with a squeak at the sudden jerk as he revs up the bike, a grin growing on his face despite his attempts to hold it back. You’re warm, compared to the sharp winds grazing him and he wants you to hold onto him like this a little longer. If he’s not childish now, when else will he be?
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You hadn’t realized you’d fallen asleep, faint sunlight hiding behind the curtains ready to present the evening to you. A celebratory nap for the end of the deadlines that’s been haunting you overextended a little bit more than you’d anticipated. Just a few more weeks and it’s the finals and then, it’s all over. You stretch your hand out to switch on the lights, groaning when you can’t seem to reach it and reluctantly getting up.
You startle, a little yelp leaving your mouth at the knock on your window. What in hell? Either you haven’t slept enough or you slept too much.
You let out another yelp when you see Donghyuck’s face. There’s a band-aid over the line of his jaw starting to peel off and another one over the bridge of his nose. His hair looks recently washed, underneath the cap he’s wearing the right way for once, a pleasant smell wafting off him. You wonder what the occasion is for him to have cleaned up like this.
“Did you just climb up to my window?!”
There’s a pause.
“Yes.”
There’s another pause.
“Anyway,” he continues, “Since you’ve been enjoying my premium Haechan recommendations lately, I’ve got another plan for you.”
“Haechan?” You tilt your head. “Full sun? Is that why you call me sunflower?”
Donghyuck’s cheeks colour. “That’s- That’s not- We’re going to the club today!”
You find the sudden fluctuation in his voice cute. You suppress your smile, before giving in to his constant nagging for you to hurry up and follow him. (“Why would I get out through the window?” “Won’t your parents, like, kill me if they saw me at your front door?”)
There’s no bike today. In a way, you’re sad it isn’t there; the memory of your arms around Donghyuck making you feel hot in the cheeks for wanting it again.
“I finished my budget for fuel because of you,” he complains.
“No one asked you to be a show-off,” you retort.
He opens his mouth but says nothing, resorting to pull a face at you instead. Public transportation it is today. Even if there’s, what, nine subway stations in the city, Donghyuck seems to have already planned out the route. He walks with a bounce to his steps, turning around to walk backward facing you just to laugh and call you slow.
You run up the stairs to the station, another evening beginning something yet anew. The clouds disappear, replaced with the tiles of the station roof as Donghyuck eyes something in the distance.
“Oh no,” you say, your gaze traveling to wherever his is fixed. “We’re paying for the tickets. Hell, I’ll pay.”
Donghyuck grins at you and before he can make the stupid decision of jumping over the faregate, you grab the back of his collar, a choked sound leaving his mouth. You pull him by the sleeves of his hoodie to the ticket machines, relatively empty when the old folk use the ticket booths instead.
“You’ll go to jail if you murder me,” Donghyuck says, whining as he massages his neck. “It’s not pleasant, let me tell you that.”
“You’ve been?”
“Not yet.”
The club Donghyuck was talking about turns out to be more of a music joint, really. The letters ‘No Smoking’ spelled clearly beside the entrance, you eye the guard nervously. A rather skinny man who seems to be in his early twenties, you wonder how Donghyuck knows him as he lets the two of you in. You don’t have time to ask as you’re pulled in, a gasp barely leaving your mouth at the force.
It’s different inside. It’s not as dark as you’d expect, a rather mellow set of colours spread through the place. There’s a band playing songs from the 80s, the sound of indie rock pulsing through the place. Some people are dancing, some sitting at the round tables, looking as if they’re waiting for someone or, at the very least, a pretty stranger.  
You look up at Donghyuck, a hum on his lips as he thinks.
“The song’s so boring,” he says finally. “Let’s change it.”
“It’s a live band, Donghyuck.” You deadpan. “You can’t press next here.”
“It’s called requesting, stupid.”
Donghyuck runs off before you can say anything, suddenly awkward about standing alone in a room full of people. You look around—the amount of people isn’t too much but at the same time it’s much more than you see in your average crowded room. Most of them are sitting, now that you see clearly, some with ramen on the tables, some with beer and chicken. There’s a bar at the other edge, people joking with each other over drinks.
You’re not sure how you’d describe it but it smells like people in here.
You look around further, curiously, at the beige wallpaper and vines decorating the edges—it’s larger than you thought a club would be. (But really, the only images you have are of purple and blue lighting on giant drunk crowds when you think of clubs.)
“Hey, pretty.”
You startle at the voice, an older man standing beside you. He seems to be a little old for a college kid, a rather impish look on his face with a very prominent grin.
“Uh, hi,” you say, unsure.
“You don’t come here often, do you?” He leans his left side against the wall.
“No, not really.” You’re a minor. Technically, you’re not even allowed in here.
Your nervousness seems to have shown up on your face because the guy straightens, a little smile on his face.
“Woah, don’t look so worried.” He laughs a little. There’s a scent of alcohol in his breath. “Will a friendly handshake make you feel better?”
You look on, a little unsure but definitely surprised. You go along with what he says, the movement of your hands in the childish pattern bringing a smile to your face till eventually, you’re laughing.
“I don’t mean to be too forward,” he says, “But you’re, like, a kid, right?”
You straighten, stammering out words of denial. You don’t want to be kicked out. You’ve never been kicked out of anything before.
“And that’s your boyfriend right there?” He asks, pointing over to Donghyuck having a conversation with the bass guitarist.
You think you turn pink, but you shake your head vehemently.
“Well, don’t worry, kid,” he says, laughing. “Enjoy it while you can. Not everyone gets to have a partner in crime.”
With that, he walks off to the bar after a wave of goodbye and a smile, making you wonder if adults really are the same as you. You smile a little to yourself.
You yelp when you’re grabbed by the arm, Donghyuck’s own arm linking through it.
“I’m gonna teach you how to dance,” he says, grinning. “Be prepared to thank me.”
You furrow your eyebrows at him and right when you open your mouth the next song starts with a drum solo. You look at the band, confused. They’re all grinning, however, and soon the song steadies into an upbeat sort of mood. You think you smile, but it’s probably just in the eyes.
“Eyes on me, loser,” Donghyuck says, smiling wide at you.
You turn back to him, an indescribable amount of emotions surging into you. Lee Donghyuck is a phenomenon of a person, you think, almost ready to voice it out loud.
More people join in with the dancing, the place seeming much fuller now that you see everyone up. You catch the man from earlier throwing you a wink and a finger gun in a friendly gesture. You laugh in response, Donghyuck complaining about your lack of focus. (If you’re being honest, you think he meant your lack of attention to him.)
You can’t count the minutes or hours—what’s the difference, really? Donghyuck smiles through his eyes, telling you you’re a terrible dancer (and that, of course, not everyone is born perfect like him). You learn to love the unknown songs, each note catching on to a new piece of your heart as Donghyuck shows you a move to copy, singing along gibberish lyrics to the songs he doesn’t know. It’s weird how you can mould into songs like this, songs you don’t even know—their beats pulling out different people and melodies making that person familiar.
There’s a soft halt when Donghyuck catches something through the corner of his eyes. He makes a face that spells out ‘yikes’ before leading you off the dance floor, snaking through the crowds till you’re back to the entrance.
“What’s wrong?” You say, eyes scanning his face.
“Oh, nothing, really,” he says, an unsure lilt to his voice.
Your question answers itself at the gruff voice barely audible over the music, a notch louder than when you’d entered.
“Hey, kid!”
Your heart jumps against your ribcage at the uniform of a police officer by the entrance, thinking whether everything really had to go wrong right now. Is underage dancing a crime? You didn’t drink and—oh, the entrance probably said 19+.
Donghyuck’s eyes flit from place to place looking for an escape when the officer confronts him, grabbing him by the shoulder.
“You’re the kid that’s been stealing around the shops, aren’t you?”
“Uh, no?” Donghyuck raises an eyebrow, the expression on his face almost comedic. “You’ve got the wrong kid, officer.”
“And what might you be doing in a club? Where’s your ID?”
“About that…”
Donghyuck pushes the man with his elbow, leg extending to trip him, catching him off guard. You’d even be impressed if the loud crash didn’t make you yelp in surprise, looking at the two of them with terrified incredulity.
Donghyuck takes off running almost immediately after before backtracking and gesturing at you exasperatedly. “You know you’re supposed to run when I run, right?”
“What the fuck just happe—”
Donghyuck doesn’t wait to explain, gripping your hand in his and tugging you to match his insane pace as you exit through the entrance.
It takes a while to reach the subway station even at that speed and with the distant shouts of the police officer prompting you to move faster. The sky’s much darker now—you think it must be well into late evening before night gets ready to clutch the time. Donghyuck moves with careful calculation, taking turns in places you have no clue about and soon you’re running up the stairs with your breath barely caught in your throat.
The station lights are dim but you’re good as long as you don’t trip over something. You turn to the ticket machine in panic when you hear the officer’s voice by the gates.
“No time!” Donghyuck pulls you away, effortlessly jumping over the faregate and looking at you expectantly.
“I can’t do that, Donghyuck!” you complain, panic rising in your chest, adrenaline drowning the rest of it.
Before you can say anything more, Donghyuck reaches over the gate, pulling you up by the waist and grabbing your hand all over again to run down the stairs to the tunnels.
“Hey!”
You hear the shout of the lady behind the ticket counter, clearly having seen your misconduct as you pray for her to forget your face. You’d like to be able to use the subway for future travel.
The train’s about to shut its door when you reach. Donghyuck treads quickly on the stone before he jumps on, pulling you in just in time to avoid getting caught in between the sliding doors.
For a moment, there’s only the sound of heavy breathing and the movement of the train on its tracks, the burning in your throat drowning out other senses. You slide down to crouch on the floor, your face hot and sweat drenching your forehead and neck. Your shoelaces are undone, you notice, no energy left in you to reach out and tie them into your perfect knots.
There’s a few moments of silence as you regain your composure.
“What was that?!” You laugh, unable to control yourself as you clutch your stomach. “You almost got arrested!”
He joins in with his sunny laughter, crouching down beside you. “Man, I really thought I was done for.”
After a few moments, Donghyuck sits with his legs crossed atop the passenger seat, the coach mostly empty save for you and an old couple at the far corner. He animatedly recalls a story of another near-arrest he had, with you laughing beside him.
A thought passes you in between jokes and stories—what if everything was like this always? Just the two of you, in a room full of people, in a room without people. You think you’ve started looking at Donghyuck a bit too much. You’re not sure about regretting it.
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Donghyuck’s been getting the strangest of impulses these days.
He tilts his head away from you to check the time on his watch, the gentle weight of your head on his shoulder reassuring, even if it’s hard to admit. It’s half-past ten and he’s been staring at you for a little over an hour now. Who falls asleep in the subway? Sure, there being not many stops, the journey between each is longer but Donghyuck wouldn’t be caught dead drooling on someone’s shoulder like this.
You shift, Donghyuck immediately moving to cradle your head with his hand so it just doesn’t drop off. Your lips are puffed even in sleep as if you’re still caught in an argument with him. He chuckles to himself. It’s so like you.
Cross the line. The voice in his head says. Just dip your head a little and…
Your head leans into the skin between his neck and shoulder, a shot of electricity pulsing through him at the contact. There’s a race of thoughts within him, thoughts he shouldn’t be having.
What is he so afraid of, really? What is he, Lee Donghyuck, so afraid of? Love? That’s the lamest thing he can think of.
It’s true, though.
Fucking voice of his conscience—loud thoughts are more a pain in the ass than anything else. Donghyuck will resort to cowardice if it be so. He’s not going to be reduced to something he’s not just because he’s head over heels in his own feelings for you.
Donghyuck pushes the hair from your face, craning his neck to be able to see you better. Wanting to love, wanting to be loved—what a stupid thing to fear. He sighs, closing his own eyes and checking the time once again. He’ll wake you up in a few minutes when your station’s near.
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You stop at the medicine to store to buy antiseptic cream and some band-aids. Donghyuck says he doesn’t need it, he has some at home but you must be good at convincing. There’s a little garden of scratches on his palm even he’s not sure when he received.
You sit in the empty parking lot, under the only streetlight that seems to be working in the area. The convenience store beside you is there to provide its twenty-four-hour lights if not anything else. There are some people out on nightly walks, you notice when you look at the sidewalk. It surprises you a little to see shapes of people against midnight blue.
You’ve never been out so late. You text your mom to remind her you’re still alive before you can turn your attention to Donghyuck.
“Okay! Enough!” He retreats his hand, complaining. “My hand smells like a pharmacy at this point.”
You lean back against the streetlamp, sighing.
“I can’t believe we ran away from a police officer,” you say, a goofy smile on your face as you stretch your arms in front of you.
“There’s always a first.” Donghyuck grin. “You don’t have to thank me for that, by the way.”
You roll your eyes. “One of these days, you’ll regret it. How long do you plan on being reckless?”
“How long do you plan on pretending you don’t enjoy it?” He asks, face leaning in with a sly smile.
You think you feel heat on your cheeks, you can’t be sure, but you end up scoffing, a rather losing response to someone who’s used to winning.
“You’re clearly into my devilishly handsome face,” he continues with an exaggerated shake of his head. “Does my recklessness turn you on? Don’t you think I look good? You can’t blame m—”
This brat.
You yank him by the cloth of his hoodie to get face to face, noses almost touching. Watching the confidence drain from his face, you’d laugh but it’d just give away the sudden adoration you feel. What a shame this demon was blessed to be so cute.
There’s a pause the length of a breath.
Donghyuck’s eyelids flutter close just as he presses his lips against yours, a soft sound escaping yours. He places a hand against your cheek as nimbly as possible, something pushing him to deepen what you have. You give in, humming into the kiss as you pull yourself closer.
For all the havoc he wreaks, Donghyuck isn’t necessarily a bad kisser. His lips are soft—his investment in lip balms improved since you first met him and the scent of whatever he used is delicious.
It’s a few moments of kissing when Donghyuck suddenly pulls back.
“I don’t deserve this,” he says, eyes flickering.
You look on, unsure. It’s not like him to falter. “What- What do you mean?”
“I mean,” he responds, looking at his hands, “that I’m really not good enough. I’m just- I’m not who people think I am. Hell, I don’t know who I am. It’s just- I don’t-”
You place your hand against his cheek, his rambling fading away as he looks into you.
“Even if you like me because you think I’m fun,” he continues, “I mess things up, you know? I mess things up really bad. If you get hurt- If- Ah, I don’t know what to say.”
“I really like you, Donghyuck,” you whisper, “but you’re making no sense right now.”
There’s a pause within the night air.
“I…I put a kid in the hospital,” he says, voice low and upset. “In middle school. I- I didn’t mean to! I can’t remember what happened but…we had to pay the bills and- and we’re still recovering.”
There’s a stifling silence. You lift his chin up so he faces you, the inability to see his expression troubling.
“I still feel guilty,” he whispers. “I do things for fun. And I fuck up the consequences.”
Donghyuck’s calculating and careful. You already know that.
“It’s okay,” you assure him, not finding any better words. “We’re big kids now.”
“But that doesn’t mean—”
“I’m not saying anything like that,” you interrupt. “We’ll still fuck up, you know? Adults fuck up. Doesn’t mean we don’t do things at all.”
“God, I hate you lecturing me,” he groans, looking away.
You crack a smile, still holding his face, the side without the band-aid. Donghyuck doesn’t say you’re right, a short chuckle on his lips instead before he leans in to peck you on the mouth, slowly turning into another kiss.
You think you hear the buzz of fireflies, spring’s darlings, although you didn’t know they’d be found here. Donghyuck looks pretty under the streetlight, as you connect mole to mole, an airy feeling in your chest, almost bubbling over.
You want to tell him he’s amazing, but you figure you’d tend to his ego some other day.
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“Hey, you got that leather jacket!” you exclaim when you walk into class, Donghyuck’s head in Renjun’s chokehold.
He’s quick to defend himself, shaking Renjun off him and scoffing. “I didn’t get it because you said so, obviously.”
You shake your head with a laugh, sitting at your place. Donghyuck smiles to himself before dropping it to shoot some comments at Renjun.
“Nothing going on with our precious demon there?”
You look up to see Jaemin smiling at you, clearly onto something. You haven’t told anyone yet, every rendezvous a ridiculously honest secret.
You turn your head to see Donghyuck consuming a bag of hot Cheetos in what seems to be a competition with Zhong Chenle. You shake your head, furrowing your eyebrows at the scene. What’s even going on in their heads? If anything at all, that is.
Jaemin clears his throat, bringing your attention back to him. He has some sort of expectation in his eyes.
You laugh, more than enough to answer him. Really, being fond of Lee Donghyuck shouldn’t feel so much a crime as the city lights in his eyes do.
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parismemes · 3 years
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THINGS I’VE SAID ON DISCORD (OCTOBER EDITION) AS SENTENCE STARTERS.
“tell me everythng.” “HEHEHEHEHEHEHE” “i have read every single one of them and do not intend to stop” “i on principle only like songs that go hard” “I DIDNT THINK IT WAS GOING TO BE THAT SAD WHAT THE FUCK” “heehoo. water boy.” “why i always sleep through this shit i hate it here” “gacha games count as gambling” “im also there. im laughing” “u r doing so much math and im just like hehe money” “what the fuck what the fuck NOOO what the fuck im dfgjhhfjgdhjfgkjdkghjd” “what a traumatic backstory” “I CAN SEE YOU READING MY MESSAGES IM GONAN GET FINESSED OUT THE FUCKIN WINDOW“ “THAT’S not good!” “if hes a fraid of dogs that sounds like a him problem” “i honestly deserve recognition for the absolute shit i just pulled off” “YES FUCK YEAH YEAH YEAH HELL YEAH FUCK YEAH HELL FUCKIN YEAH WOOOOOOOOO YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!” “why the fuck would you want that” “yeah hes my only one true love” “by a few i of course mean like 600″ “no one fucking appreciate me” “thank you ___ for being the only person who appreciate me” “i reveal it in pieces and make you put it together like a puzzle” “im smart and never regret it“ “see, i just dont think thats right” “i will continue dangling it in front of your face like a scientist dangling bait in front of a fish (who is also in a maze)” “hes actually like an absolute fucking nerd a complete fool a fucking dumbass” “sorry your message glitched and i cannot read. anyway back to my leverage over you which is forcing you into a corner,” “it's not extortion because i don't know what extortion means” “why do they talk like exes. its because they are exes” “TIME SENSITIVE QUESTION PLEASE RESPOND” “he's a content creator he'll be fine” “what does this mean? but yes” “NICE NICE NNICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE NICE” “for future record ___ just used the word poggers” “look at all these fuckin blondes” “its only been like a week and a half at most” “hes doing it out of affection” “ISNT THIS THE FUNNIEST SHIT YOUVE EVER SEEN” “you are terrible and also the worst” “i was going to send it at midnight but i got distracted trying to figure out the most barebones way to say happy birthday without sounding weird” “do you think i get punished more or less if i do sins” “i dont think the sins count as extra points if you commit them on the way to hell” “run over pedestrians” “i am slowly descending into insanity today, as a hobby” “you are a shit boy. a little shit boy go eat boxes“ “it's ok. we can figure it out later” “i didnt notice at first but it is in fact All The Fuck Over” “ITS BEEN OVER 12 HOURS” “hey guys just turns out we might have a ✨ gas leak ✨” “im sure if we put our braincells together we can figure SOMETHING out” “curious georg” “thank god. i could and would have argued this for several hours” “i think the worst thing ive heard today is someone calling the movie enchanted a reverse isekai” “i should not and will not stop” “i was RIGHT AHHAHAHAHAHAGAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA” “that wasnt a question you read it wrong” “i have no idea who this is but that wont stop me” “THIS MAN REALLY SAID HEAD EMPTY WHAT IS MONEY” “sometimes i say things and its best to just pretend you know what i mean” “WOT THIS” “I DONT WANT PEE ON MY BED“ “tired of all these stupid fuckin plants” “could you even really consider jelly filled donuts donuts?” “actually everything is real” “if you eat cereal for dinner, you're not having fucking breakfast” “i think my in real life superpower is that i have freakishly fast metabolism” “i dont care if you are evil you are MY TYPE” “you dirty criminal” “is a dessert item a dessert if it isn't eaten after dinner? discuss” “ok im done for the Right Now” “found a concerning orb. in the sky.” “HOW DID YOU KILL THEM” “why do i do this to myself why do i keep doing this” “the only simp here is me” “I No Longer Wish To Know!“ “DID THEY JUST END AN ENTIRE SPECIES” “WE ARE DETERMINED” “this is also really funny by virtue of the fact that these people are all fucking british” “they throw rocks at me and say we want the himbo” “THE CONTEXT IS IMPORTANT HERE” “its something that i SPECIFICALLY am passionate about” “hanburnger?” “thats just what living with siblings is like” “howd she get there? fuckin beats me dude idk” “i remember everything i am like a shark with an abnormally good memory” “i am sorry that you are predictable” “Hey Guys, Just Checkiing In To Make Sure You Got My Joke, Just Making Sure, I Just Wanted To Check In And See If You Got The Joke, Because I Was Afraid You Wouldnt Get It, So Im Just Checking In,” “i marked your worm” “what are you gonna do. unsend whatever you send me? i am Shaking in my fuzzy socks rn” “you Know i hate the idea of being wrong” “You Did Not Need To Stroke His Ego” “i am too stupid to live and if i was not vaccinated my genes would have no chance of being passed on because i would be dead” “~the oldest anarchy server in minecraft history~” “am i shaking because of adrenaline or rage.... who can tell” “I HAVE SO MUCH ADRENALINE IN ME BUT ITS 1 AM IN THE MORNING” “jokes on u i fucking HATE ___ i think hes the worst” “JUST IMPULSE MADE BROWNIES AT 9 PM HEYOOOO” “cry about it more bitch boy maybe piss your pants while ur at it” “im getting so casually toxic back to toxic gamer boys” “itll be fiiiiiine” “we are all stupid mice who take turns being the piper” “queen of bargains is me i am the queen of bargaining and scoring deals” “its not TECHNICALLY a direct threat but also yes it is” “i see a demon i go possess me then bitch boy u wont” “AAAA THE FUCKIN VIIIIBES” “IM NOT GOING TO STOP BEING MAD ABOUT IT”
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astrarche-x · 3 years
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The Poppy War: thoughts
Context: I saw this book heavily recommended on tumblr and even though I didn't research it (to avoid spoilers), it looked like something for me. I also realized recently that I haven't read a modern high fantasy in a while, so when my friend told me "hey, I've read this book and need someone to rant about it with", I was like "sure can I borrow it?". It is worth noting that my friend's tone was rather disapproving and we mostly share our taste in books, but still, I approached The Poppy War with a very favourable mindset.
Which didn't last very long.
Fortunately, after some time the book got better, so: disapproval first, praise later.
- the first part, aka Rin's time in academia, was so predictable and cliche I went through it purely out of malice (to be able to roast it). It was fitting every cliche you can find in a books set at school and bore me to death.
- Jiang: aaaa. This is coming from my personal experiences, but I've had a hard time with my "cool but weird" teacher lately and I just can't get past this trope without being angry at writers who do not acknowledge how toxic it usually is. (tho in Jiang's case it was more or less ok) Also the reveal of his backstory was very predictable.
- Rin: i couldn't bear how "edgy" she was. I started to like her when the actual war begun and she turned from "i'm not like others lol" to "i'm so scared, i want to be safe. also what is sleep". (also because she has been a chaotic mess the whole time and the war actually made it more believable). I had issues with her character though - for example she comes to the academia when she's like 15/16 and even though a lot happens to her over the course of the action, i had a feeling she hasn't actually matured. Did she develop? In terms of abilities, knowledge, rage etc - yes. But I didn't think she was more mature at the end and it really bothered me (as i was still picturing as a 15-year-old and had to constantly remind myself that she's an adult now).
- self-harm: uuh handled in a weird way? It's obvious that Rin's self-harming to cope with stress in academia is not healthy and the context shows that the heroine is under immense pressure which has a bad effect on her, but the narrative seems to present self-harm as a necessity to manage life and never really condemns it - not only explicitly, but any negative consequences of it are also absent.
- this book (and Grishaverse) would be more enjoyable if I hadn't taken that basic Russian course. I cringed every time I read Kitay's name (and it appears quite often...). Literally why name your character China? It's such a bad idea...
- I don't know if the original edition has trigger warnings, but oh boy, i kinda wish Polish one had them too. Not that they would actually stop me from reading this, but I started this book with intent to get some nice escapism with a tad of intellectual challenge and I wasn't quite prepared for what I got. I saw a post that talked about how in fantasy or sci-fi wars are a thing that just happens and serve more as a plot device, but are not treated as like an actual tragedy and how this isn't the case for The Poppy War. I think this is a very good point and I very much agree with this but I wish this book was marketed in a more accurate way (with mention of the genocides) than "cool protagonist goes from poor orphan to badass" (almost literal description from the back cover).
- on genocides: the Golyn Niis part was so hard to read. It totally gave me flashbacks to the time when we talked about Shoah in Polish lessons in high school and I had to read like 4 short stories by Tadeusz Borowski about Auschwitz, one novella by Zofia Nałkowska about investigating Nazi crimes and one book about the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising by Hanna Krall & Marek Edelman* (and it was all in the span of like 1-1,5 month) - all of which were written by survivors of said events, so it was an extremely difficult and emotionally exhausting read. Parts of The Poppy War had the same effect on me, so it shows the author really did her research and is to be appreciated, although while I would like to know what happens plot-wise in the next parts of the trilogy, I think it would be too emotionally draining for me to read.
- Having said all this, I found the Speer genocide theme really interesting. The legends and propaganda surrounding it, its impact on both country politics and Altan's (and Rin's) personal stories... Also I really liked how Rin's perception and understanding of it changed. Plus it served really well as a backstory - its effect on the whole plot was huge and manifesting in unexpected places but without the feeling of being hammered into reader's head.
- Altan: that guy. He was an interesting character, but a very unlikeable one. He was such an asshole... (And yeah obvs still trauma and all that but he really was one). Also I found it confusing that at the end of the book Rin was like "omg his power is so strong because he's fueled by revenge!"... duuh? It was obvious since her convo with Jiang about lore students?
- But generally Rin's relation to Altan was for me one of the strong points of this book. I'd say that Rin's emotions regarding him were very realistically written - admiration, longing for approval, the feeling of similarity, anger, frustration about his expectations, the need to rise to the challenge he posed, to be his equal... And then the shock as he fell from the pedestal she constructed; the understanding, the pity and the sadness. I loved how complicated that was and that we as readers got to see that Rin's Altan and the actual Altan were two different persons, even though the narrative is close to Rin's POV.
- Chaghan: he was my fave character. This is, again, personal, but works of fiction work 200% better for me if the characters are well-written - which The Poppy War rather lacked: few characters were interesting and even less were likeable. Chaghan was both - maybe he didn't have a big arc and was rather a secondary character, but he was intriguing, had that close bond with Altan (I ship them) and also was the most competent person in the cike (Quara was the second one). He was very straightforward and had that no-bullshit attitude, but unlike Rin, Altan etc., what he said and his actions actually made sense. So every time he had to went away from the main character I was devastated...
- What I really enjoyed about this book was the parts about shamanism. I'm not an expert about what goes on in modern fantasy, but I have a feeling that a character of a shaman often appears in a very exoticised way (wonder why is that /s), whereas in this book it was treated seriously and was a basis for a great magic system. 9/10 very original take, highly recommend.
* books mentioned: "Medaliony" by Zofia Nałkowska, "Zdążyć przed panem Bogiem" (eng: Shielding the flame) by Hanna Krall & Marek Edelman, Pożegnanie z Marią by Tadeusz Borowski
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need1etail · 4 years
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How is is it that made you've made me want to cry for Twigpaw in the latest chapter? 😭 In the books, I found her annoying for the most part. I think it's because you've touched on her relationship with her adopted family, and how she still struggles to see they love her, even when they actively show they do. In the books, she doesn't seem to give two fucks about them, unless they can do something for her. It bugs me how the Erins shit on adopted family so much. In your AU, though, she hangs out with them (esp. her siblings!! I love all the lil conversations. That interaction between her and Snowbush before the meeting was ... *chef's kiss*) and stuff, so they're closer. Even so, you really highlight how much she loves them, despite how she feels this desperate need for more, and to have that connection with her blood related family. I think it will make it even more potent later if (and I hope you go canon's route, since that's the part where I began to like her a lot) you still decide to have her go to SkyClan for a while, then she realizes her heart truly lays in ThunderClan, and what she was looking for was there.
Btw, I'm seeing those GoldenDove signs, and fam, you got me WORRIED lol! I mean, Goldenheart is still clearly pining for Dovewing, while she obviously only has eyes for Briarlight now, but I get the sense that she wants kits? Judging by the conversation that happened in the medicine cat den, when they were talking about Ivypool and her mates deciding to hold off on a litter? Is Dovewing going to ask Briarlight if perhaps Goldenheart can be a donor so they can have kits? ...But then there's that whole "he still loves her thing" that can make that a big Yikes(tm) moment, for the drama. I wonder how Briarlight would feel about that, if she discovers Goldenheart still loves Dovewing. I detest TigerDove (it just feels so manipulative and yucky during OOTS and his super edition) in canon, so I'll be interested in how this pans out, seeing as how she's so devoted to Briarlight here!! I trust you'll make it ace and less gross than canon did 😌 I'm very hyped so sorry for the rambles! Haha
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AAAA I love reading your ramblings don't worry haha. Thank you so much for this lodnshdhbs I hate Twigbranch in canon tbh 😂 she's annoying and selfish and wants everything to go her way and everyone just? Lets her be that way? It's weird. I'm glad you liked the Snowbush scene I absolutely adored it as well. Snowbush and Lilyheart deserved better.
As for Golden and Dove their relationship is going to be. Weird throughout this whole rewrite. There's going to be unresolved feelings between the two of them and they're going to make mistakes, but I will say their relationship will be much different than it is in canon. I agree that their relationship was really. Ehh. Borderline abusive I suppose? Not horrible but Tigerheart was always so pushy and wanted Dovewing to do what he wanted. It was annoying. Briarlight and Dovewing will be okay in the end tho, that's all I'll say.
Anyway long story short thank you for your rambles 💓 You're so sweet I hope you like where everything goes.
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syncogon · 4 years
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[RS] PV 2
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it’s ya boi back with more commentary. and hopefully fewer screencaps bc i don’t actually have as much time as my wordy and useless rambles as well as the quarantine situation might suggest alas
- who’s talking in the opening line? kela?? if so, the voice is totally off, but the theme of “the world belongs to the strong” is consistent with quotes from him and themes from that whole arc
- i guess this is a dream / unconscious sequence... i’m sad to see him like this. also one of the analyses i read was like you can track when in the movie a scene probably takes place by the progression of the markings on his skin, which is very obvious and i should be paying attention to that more -
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^ i really like this visual. and i like how the galaxy eyes designs are all so distinct
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^ Alliance soldiers i think, guessing from the uniforms? bc I thought the Eyes had all black uniforms. but i’m not sure. actually it prob makes more sense it’s the Eyes. rip the one guy facing the wrong (?) direction
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^ actually these shoes are consistent with Eyes designs i think. nvm. also is that the announcer robot guy?? why is his body so small is that his real body or something??? what’s happening to him rip
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^ what the FUCK is with this tattered cloak design?? it was definitely not tattered before? he would definitely look better with just like, a normal cloak, his cloak would never get tattered unless intentional, this is just a really weird and creepy image. then again ig if it’s part of the dream sequence, but this is implying that this is redeye’s actual design, and i don’t like it. tbh s1 redeye outfit with the short cloak was great
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^ kiss kiss ki-
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hope we see more of jupiter, the city design is tbh quite cool. though i wonder what exactly this Eye thing is supposed to be? is it part of the tower and just always here? 
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THE ENEMY’S GATE IS DOWN
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flashback scene! but what about? the golden cube or the engine maybe? but i was hoping for something more interesting.
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AW FUCKING HELL THIS FUCKER IS BACK.
FUCK.
ARGHHHHH.
ngl im really disappointed that they decided to bring kela back, i think that defeats the narrative significance of an especially significant arc. we’re already done with this antagonist! let’s move on! it isn’t cool or hip or logical to bring back antagonists when their story arcs have come to such a clean end! throw trash away when you’re done! ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh i have more to say but i should move on maybe i’ll write another post/rant or something
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yo what the fuck is going on here though. i don’t even know what planet that is jesus
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wait is this. a hypothetical or like. an actual. planet. 
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ok so. WHOMST THE FUCK is this??? another galaxy eyes secretary? or someone higher rank? surely not the head honcho bc if so i will be super disappointed. actually his vibe kind of reminds me of kela. we’ll see i guess, hope he brings something interesting to the table. 
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it’s the guy from the poster! ppl say most likely he’s involved with auroras’ backstory somehow. our four major protag backstories all had like mentor figures, so maybe this is auroras’? but following that logic he shouldn’t be here in present day tho, so. 
wonder what the pink smoke is tho, and also why he’s being shot down, and also everything about him :0
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but what’s with the shattered... glass? rock? tornado thing around maidang? hmm. and they’re all just watching... and it’s in the arena with that ox man statue 
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white eye. in action! 
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AAAAA so i got 2/3 right. so weird seeing ox man just walking tho lmao his proportions look wack he’s way skinnier than i expected. 
hey, hey. kela. look at me. 
bitch.
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i like this cut. is it significant? who is this galaxy eyes person OH WAIT if the rumor is true that aur was formerly Eyes then he must be story related to this guy somehow... maybe he was sold to medici or something who knows
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this was so cool!!! like sanji from one piece. i dig it.
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this actually almost looks 3D modeled for some reason haha
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wait so is this... the finals of the tournament? 
what. is the context of everything in this set i’m so curious aaaa
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is this a) a cool app of diya’s abilities b) the Eyes guy from earlier attacking but what is that supposed to do, capture magically? c) aur/diya (jidi) moment???
... yeah somehow this whole scene looks 3D modeled. maybe it’s the lighting.
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fun char designs to look at?
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damn those muscles. but yeah i think a lot more markings appeared after this moment in his revival fight
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mmmm.
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red eyes... and is the stone purple now?? ahh.
also the cut from this to redeye was really cool! their eyes were like overlapped in positions. so cool. i wonder if this was intentional
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maidang has gotten so much better at fighting, like, the basics. i dig it. 
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emotional but this just reminded me god i miss s1 diya. competent. cool. occasionally sassy. the movie just made her worry about maidang and weak, it’s like her only personality trait. (actually is this shot from the first movie? i don’t remember.)
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god the more i think about it the more the jidi agenda feels like a thing. anyway what’s he blowin up hm.
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i kind of wish we got backstory on why this is a bee haha but i like how it’s so distinctive
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so cool!!!
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beat his ass!!!
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tUrBUleNce also gudong so worried :( 
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:0
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cool new power app??? is this her power. i just thought it was but maybe that one shot of her wasn’t her using her power. who knows.
also the cut from this to aur doing basically the same thing..... (adjusts glasses)
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see?? the shading looks fake. hhh
AIGHT ok that’s all. actually there were sound/voice/line comments which i will edit in later. 
ok it is later.
- “i just saw the galaxy eyes fleet surrounding jupiter” sounds like tang wude actually! so im excited, that’s reason for him to get back here in time?
- “i already knew the eyes wanted to destroy solar” sounds like medici...?
- “people need heroes, and to become a hero one must pay a price” ok i really like this line it’s super cool, but i can’t say who is or might be saying it. one of the new antagonistic chars possibly?
- “there is a word called ‘miracle’” sounds like medici, as does “the era of new heroes”, though the latter could be someone else
- rest of the lines are all either maidang or diya or gudong
other thoughts:
ppl kept commenting in chinese on the youtube vid like whens the release like it says right there! on the video! in chinese!
still no medici (visually) or shu, huh. 
sound quality for the trailer was wack tbh. hopefully the movie won’t be like that.
i’m a little worried, actually, that this has lost the core of what made it so good. that it’s become cheap. but only time will tell. i’ll still have hope. 
anyway countdown continues let’s goooooooooooo (pls let me be able to watch...)
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bulletdove · 5 years
Note
if u could change anything about aoaf what would u change?
AAAA this is such a good ask, thank you, i spent Way Too Fucking Long on this
(disclaimer: i don’t exactly support RPF, but i think it’s fine to consume it critically. it’s part of fandom, whether we like it or not. and fandom is an area of academic interest for me, so... you can’t understand something without researching it. yeehaw.) 
so here’s AOAF: the extended cut. ideally part of a critical edition, because i have academic aspirations.
AOAF stands on its own really well as original fiction, because it didn’t get into heavy speculation and based itself off of “what if”. but the plot was more emotionally loaded than the characters were, i think? (so as far as RPF goes, it’s not that scandalous or ethically dubious.). extended cut would be an Original Fiction type of deal, the same basis as the original one but taking the characters in a different direction and obviously renaming them
the ship plot was good, but that’s extremely Fic (which is a draw of the genre, but also seriously limits the development of non-romantic relationships) so that’d be changed. more family interactions in the present that aren’t for the sole purpose of advancing the ghostf*cking plot, flashbacks to frank and his mom and frank and ray and frank and dewees. other friends hanging out, getting to know mikey. (i need to do a reread, but ray and bob and co. weren’t really that memorable...)
higher stakes. the kidnapping scene fell flat because you knew nothing was going to happen, mikey couldn’t die because he’s mikey, all that stuff. higher stakes for the dead character, too - i need to do a reread, but plausible risk of permadeath would help intensify things.
mikey subplot is of utmost importance. barely anybody who writes RPF seems to know what to do with him as a “character” - since his public persona is/was awkward, super quiet, but still super well-liked? and nobody really wants to figure out the why and how for a minor character, since he always ends up being a minor character - but i’d like some in-depth exploration. bringing out the parallels and differences between him and frank, the dead kid and the maybe-dying kid (assuming heightened stakes), and having them hang out more, is something i’d really like.
i’d have mikey and frank be friends, but also butt heads a lot and rub each other the wrong way - mikey’s a kid and he’s terrified of dying, doesn’t want his mom and gerard and his friends back home to go on without him, wants to explore this freaky town that feels like it’s breathing down his neck [it’s creepy, but he has a good feeling about it], wants to get the chance to be a kid again but also doesn’t want to die before he has the chance to grow up, and keeps having these freaky dreams about a marching band dressed in black. frank has (mostly) made his peace with being dead, thinks his family and friends have moved on without him and been pretty okay, wanted to get the fuck out and grow up but not sell out (gay punk rights), and he knows everything about this shithole and hates that it kind of feels like home. he’s a perpetual kid who knows he can’t grow up until he leaves; mikey’s too grown up already but he’s younger and moodier and both more and less at peace with life and death. they have a lot in common, but they can seriously butt heads.
i’d give mikey a heightened awareness of the supernatural, more mobility (definitely an ill-advised wander through the woods or three), and have him and frank have weird effects on each other.
i liked the sense of weird-hazy-small town that exists out of time, and not wanting to be there but also not really being able to leave (in different ways - frank’s literally trapped, the ways are just waiting and don’t know how long they’ll be stuck there, and their estimates keep changing.) deliberately developing that by having the teenage characters thinking about college and stuff or mrs. way thinking about plans for when they move away again and finding that those plans don’t feel pressing, that they might end up there forever, and maybe that might be liveable? (there’s definitely something wrong with that town, and it’s not just frank) good shit, more emotional depth, frank freaks out but they don’t know he’s a ghost at that point and don’t get it, fuck yeah
a more complicated plotline. more subplots. i think bringing in a different mystery than frank would make it more of a traditionally Literary work, and bring out unexplored dimensions in the characters and the worldbuilding. this time maybe it’d be donna? things around town are pretty strange, the police department is definitely corrupt, her kids keep vanishing in and out of the woods and not telling her the whole truth, gothic etc etc. haven’t thought that part out very much, tbh.
more character depth and development for gerard - AOAF would be the perfect time for him, a depressed kid with a sick brother and dead ghostfriend, to get really fucked up about life and death and his relationship to them, and stop feeling like an early death is some kind of romantic inevitability and realize oh god he really doesn’t want to die, he doesn’t want mikey to die it’s not fair, frank being a ghost is cool on the surface but really it’s just awful, and is it really fair for him to be dreaming about his plans for after he graduates when frank is trapped here forever, and mikey might be too? (could bring this in in the kidnapping bit, idk. and some late-night chats with donna.)
more explanation of Why Frank Is The Way He Is. more flashbacks, more backstory, more insight into how he has seriously mixed feelings about his undeath and is trying to be okay with being trapped in the woods forever but really fucking isn’t but also feels like him and the water washing over his bones run at the same frequency - it’s part of him, but he wants more. more detail about that part.
ray and frank interactions. frank looking in on ray’s family, years later.
frank exploring more of the town than the woods - he has to have stood at the edge of the woods and stared as far as he could, he must have been curious, he must have wanted to know what was going on. he gets out of the woods, runs around town, is proud of it for changing and getting kinda-sorta-better? in parts? but hates it for moving on without him. 
better ghost mechanics - i really disliked how it felt so easy and handwaved. blegh. the tree-phone was cute tho...  (frank would gain mobility in degrees, not all at once, i think. and there would be side effects. more thought needed.)
the epilogue/sequel/whatever was cute, i wouldn’t change that except to make gerard’s eventual successful career a bit more ambiguous - and maybe mikey would die instead of your suggestion of gerard dying, i think that could work maybe. might be between the main plot and the epilogue, though.
showing more of frank’s unlife, and more of the other ghosts - absolute must. mikey spends a weekend at home, sneaks out, sees a dog in the woods that isn’t there, dreams about guitar lessons. 
i swear there was other stuff that i talked about with you but i don’t remember... i didn’t mean to make this a whole Manifesto but i’m trying to get everything in in detail sfdklkfsdl rip
slower development of the romance plot, slower realization that frank is a ghost (but less over-the-top oblivious gerard), more developed main and side characters, more side characters (this story was a dudefest! where are the girls.), making the ending feel less contrived (all of their friends are suddenly there, and everything is okay? it needed a more drawn-out conclusion)
this wasn’t supposed to be this long, or take this much time >.
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tabooneko · 6 years
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Dance with Devils My Carol -Limited Edition Special Booklet- Special Talk ~Devil’s Sweet Talk~
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Hi~! It’s been a long time, huh? ;D Today I have something special for you~
My dear friend @kiruriru-art translated two interviews included in My Carol Limited Edition Special Booklet! ;D She is also an amazing artist, so be sure to check her blog! ^^
As always PLEASE DON’T REPOST OR CLAIM AS YOURS
If you spot any mistakes, please let me know! ^^
Enjoy~
Title: Dance with Devils My Carol -Limited Edition Special Booklet- Special Talk - Devil's sweet talk Part one: Rem, Lindo and Roen Part two: Urie, Shiki and Mage
Translation: @kiruriru-art QC: TabooNeko
Devil's sweet talk
~Rem's , Lindo's and Roen's part~
 Roen: So, allow me to announce the things we want the girl we like to do for us. Rem: It started so sudden without any context... Lindo: Hey! At least explain the situation. I was suddenly called here and I have no idea what's going on. Roen: It's an interview article. In order to collect stories about love I'm going to ask about yours even if I don’t really want to. Rem: He admitted so bluntly that he don't want to ask... Lindo: If you don't want it so badly, don’t accept such a job. Roen: Don’t mind me. What's more important, please answer. Lindo: Stories about love,huh? Even if you ask so suddenly, only my younger sister’s face comes to my mind. Roen: Could you please not start with such a problematic topic? Lindo: What’s the problem? Rem: I'm asking just to be sure, but is your sister an object of romantic interest for you? Lindo: Hm? Why are you asking such a question? Rem: No, even if you return the question with such a puzzled look on your face. Roen: Let's stop here before we go too far. What do you want the girl you like to do for you? Lindo: Well... after all I want her to call me by my name. That alone will satisfy my heart. Roen: Ah, at the beginning of the relationship calling each other by nicknames or first names. It certainly gives a special feeling, right? Lindo: Yeah, that's right. 'cause it will be painful if she always calls me „brother”. Rem: WAIT. Just as I thought, the one you are thinking about is your sister, right? Is romantic relationship between brother and sister even socially acceptable? Lindo: Why are you so flustered? Did I say something weird? Roen: ...Let’s don’t go into details after all and just continue. Rem Arlond, what about you? Rem: The things I want the women I like to do for me... right? If I were to be forgiven, I would like her to... call me by my name. Lindo: That's what I’ve said! Rem: It's not like I intended to copy you. I'm dissatisfied myself but it looks like we have the same answer. Lindo: But you are always called by your first name. Rem: I WANT TO BE CALLED ONLY BY MY NAME! WITH LOVE! *(he means without -san, not Rem-san, just Rem) Roen:...And this is what a heir of Arlond family is screaming while clenching his fist? Rem: What are you so concerned about? Roen: Nothing... I was just thinking about the fate of the Demon World, don't pay attention... Lindo: Well, it's troublesome to have the same answer as him, but being called by first name is a nice thing. Rem: You can really feel that you’re getting closer thanks to it. It’s simple but not bad, don't you think so? Roen: I see... that's right. I don't have any objections. Lindo: Even you have times when you want to be called by your first name? Roen: Of course. I’m always called doggy, mutt or Pome. Lindo: Is, is that so? Must be hard that you’re always treated like a dog. Roen: Even though I want to be properly called Pomeranian! Lindo: THAT'S WHAT YOU MEANT!? Rem: By the way, I want to ask, between Roen and Pomeranian what do you prefer to be called? Roen: Both are an extreme honour for me. Only because it’s that person’s voice that is calling me, I'm more than delighted. Lindo: Hm? That person? You can't be possibly talking about my little sister, right?! Roen: Well, who knows? Lindo: Tsk... I won’t let my little sister call you by your name! I will tell her later to call you Pome! Rem: Now that's a real harassment. Roen: That being said, we all agreed that „the thing we want the woman we like to do for us” is to call us by our first name. Are you satisfied?
Devil's sweet talk
~Urie's , Shiki's and Mage's part~
 Urie: Eh... Even though talking about love makes me excited, WHY ARE THERE ONLY MEN HERE? Shiki: I also think that it's really boring without her here. Mage: It can't be helped, right? Then, let's get started. So, what are we talking about? Urie: Like I said it's about love stories. The type of woman you like or memory connected to love. Mage: WHAT!? W-wait, I ain’t gonna talk about it! Shiki: It seems like you've understood it just now. Moreover, your face is red, it’s gross, you know? Mage: Shut up! Urie: Ok, ok, let’s continue. If everyone talks without any order, it will be boring, so I'll ask first. Then, Mage, what about girls make you feel moved? Mage: Why are we starting from me?! There's no way there's something like this... Ah, wait. That's right, when she was crying... Shiki: Aaaa, her crying face is thrilling, right? Mage: That's what you think! It's not like that, it's... it feels like it's tightening. … MY BELLY. Urie: DON’T YOU MEAN HEART?! Mage: IT’S CLOSE ENOUGH! Urie: It’s not! Then it becomes a normal stomach ache. Shiki: He probably just ate something bad. Stomach ache, huh? ...A sudden pain coming from inside of it. It can become a habit. Urie: I’M NOT GONNA APPROVE SUCH A FEELING! I told you it's about love stories! Ok, enough of Mage. Shiki, beside crying face, what do you like about her? Shiki: Crying face is no good? I see. What about the moment when she laughs innocently. Mage: Huh? Wow, you said something honest. Shiki: I can imagine the moment when that smile dies in despair. Ah... it's becoming unbearable. Mage: WHAT!? Urie: ...I thought that this was coming. I mean, I just couldn't think of any other outcome. Mage: As usual you have a weird taste.  Don’t you want to protect her smile? Shiki: Why? I think she is more attractive when she looks pitiful. Urie: Let’s stop, Mage. Knowing more about this fallen angel’s preferences won’t make you any good. Shiki: Heee? But I wanted to tell you some more. Urie, even you said that you like her crying face. Mage: What!? Seriously!? Urie: Right, I said it. But I meant something different than Shiki. Butterfly that shyly waters her eyes with tears. Isn't that lovely? Mage: I don't get it at all. Both of your have such twisted hobbies. Shiki: Hehe, I was praised. Mage: IT'S NOT A COMPLIMENT! Urie: But you know. You were the one that said that her crying face makes you feel moved. Mage: Huh? Ah... now that you said it, that’s right... Shiki: Then, all of us like her crying face, right? Mage: Uh! Don't say it like I'm one of you! Urie: Well, we're devils so it can't be helped. We sometimes feel like making a cute girl cry. Mage: But I'm different! Shiki: The three of us agree with each other. Not bad, right? Mage: Like I said, there is no point in making girls cry! Urie: Oh, but I don't want any other man to see her tears. Shiki: Me too. I want her all to myself. Urie: That's making us rivals, right? Shiki: Right. Huhu, I'm looking forward to see who can make her cry first. Mage: You who are reading this. RUN AWAY NOW! AS FAST AS YOU CAN!
~The end~
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tumblunni · 6 years
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Okay it seems we don’t actually have a full res pic of all the pokedex and that pic actually was compressed to the point of unviewability even on desktop tumblr?? And clicking through the link it seems it’s really hard to run this supposed rom file of the beta, and there’s debates about its authenticity cos the file claims it’s the ‘spaceworld demo’ yet we have limited pics of that demo and the titlescreen was different. So it seems weird that this would be labelled as that very specific demo, unless it’s a.. beta of a demo, i guess? That could be possible cos people are saying it literally just crashes when the world map runs out, instead of having your usual ‘thanks for playing this is where the demo stops’ message. So AAAA I wish I was smart enough to understand all this technical talk, and to do the hex editing stuff to actually play the rom myself! But for now I guess I’ll just wait with baited breath and hope there’s more updates as people pick it aprt.
it would REALLY suck if it turned out to be a fake rom hack or something, tho. i hope that’s false and the confusion is just cos it was a fragmented rom or a demo for a different event than people think it is, or something. But tbh it would be a prime time to release a fake demo hack, since we recently had the first new slice of beta info on the early generations that we’ve had in decades. it would be a good time to ride the hype on the speculation about ‘gorochu’. BUT then it doesn’t seem like a rom hack because wouldn’t it actually be a straight up rom, then? like actually playable without a bunch of editing and datamining and running through five emulators at once? i would think it would be harder to fake a non functioning rom that’s still rescue-able, yknow? and why would they even do that, nobody would even be expecting a non-functioning rom so it wouldn’t add more authenticity. We haven’t ever got ahold of any beta roms for the gameboy games so we don’t have any preconceptions about what file type nintendo stored them as. But then on the other hand it seems really unlikely that we’d suddenly get a burst of new info on stuff that was never even remotely mentioned before by nintendo. But then again nintendo itself just did that with gorochu! And TCRF is a really credible source, and they actually dug up that screenshot of beta girafarig SO MANY YEARS after we first heard nintendo talk about the concept, and it matched perfectly with what we were expecting. And it just dropped out of NOWHERE overnight and left zero signs of where the user managed to find it, yet was still proven to be legit...
Also like seriously half of the gold and silver beta art looks completely non-legit, its all in a wildly different art style! I don’t know if anyone’s ever found out why that is? Like does it just mean they had multiple artists at the time and were still experimenting before they settled on sugimori as the main one? But gen 1 had already had a full set of sugimori art by then. but then again later interviews had nintendo revealing that ‘half of gen 2′ were actually designed in the process of making red and green, and they just got cut out because of cartridge space. (So basically, beta stantler + 30 others were what became missingno.) So it could be entirely plausable that these gen 2 mons were designed BEFORE some of the gen 1 ones, and thus had different art...? Though there’s also the theory I had which i haven’t seen anyone else talking about. Considering how the Spaceworld Beta has been super shrouded in myth and we only have first hand accounts of what the pokemon vaguely looked like, maybe these ‘beta artworks’ are actually fan art someone made while attending the convention? like not fake betas or anything, i mean someone was trying to quickly jot down the mons while the demo reel played, cos they couldnt take pictures. And then all the confusion of passing info between japanese and english fandoms in the early days of the internet could mean this stuff was archived as ‘early official art’ and not ‘artist’s recreation of unreleased promotional material’. I just started thinking about this because the screenshot of beta girafarig ended up being EXACTLY the same pose as that artwork of it. And it’s very rare that sprites exactly mimic the official art, especially back in the gameboy era where the sprites were rudimentary and inconsistant between versions. So it seems more plausable that this maybe proves the art was drawn by someone seeing that sprite?
Further potential proof- the ‘beta art’ of Silver:
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Now that’s not only a wildly different art style but he’s drawn with super big cutesy eyes and cheek blush. I mean that could indicate his personality was completely different back then, or it could indicate this was someone drawing their own interpretation of a different official art, who didnt know what role this character would have in the actual game. Also we’ve heard people saying that Silver’s gender was unknown at the time of this first beta appearance, so that could potentially mean this fan artist draw him shoujo-style cos they headcanoned the new rival would be a girl? or just that the androgenous style of his appearance would equal a personality that was typical of an androgenous anime character- i.e a cutesy shy boy or a rowdy tomboy girl, etc. Tho tbh that whole line of theory confused me because this beta silver seems to have similar short hair to his redesign way later. I don’t think this design would be remotely perceived as ‘androgenous’ if the art style wasn’t drawn cutesy like this. So maybe this was indeed the early art style? And man, who knows, maybe the inconsistancy of sugimori already existing just means that they weren’t gonna keep sugimori in the second game? The very sketchy nature of these artworks could make sense if it was an attempt to completely redesign a new style for the sequel, so every generation would look different. I wonder what genre of anime every other region would have looked like! I’m imagining some sort of mysterious Clamp-esque style for sinnoh maybe, since its the ‘relic region’? And maybe unova would have even been american cartoon style!
Anyway in summary bunni is very confused and also bunni really fuckin misses silver’s old long haired design and will NEVER FUCKING UNDERSTAND why they gave him the exact same hair as roark and mars in the same generation they introduced roark and mars. (I dunno why people don’t include roark in the family headcanons. Mayb just cos his without-hat look is only seen briefly in anime?)
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straydays7-blog · 6 years
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My Day6inNYC Experience!
EDIT: I typed this up in word and pasted it into Tumblr. Tumblr kinda make some things look a little weird so excuse that please.
This is super late coming but as soon as I left NYC I had to cram for a ton of exams and now that most of those are over I can take the time to talk about my experience seeing Day6 perform live and even hi-touching them;;;; This post might be a little bit all over the place, but I cant help but to feel SO MANY FEELINGS when I think about this okay. Its still so surreal I cant believe it actually happened it felt like a really good dream okay. Also, I wish my English were better to express myself here I have so many emotions I wish to express but honestly, I dont know how Id even describe these feelings in any other languages I know SO ILL TRY MY BEST WITH ENGLISH. Also, fair warning, thisll probably be really long so prepare yourself.
Okay, first things first. I arrived like 30 mins early to pick up my P2 wristband and apparently had I been a little earlier I could have seen day6 enter the Town Hall! Somehow, even though I was not the first that arrived at the venue to pick up my wristband, I did end up being first in the P2 line. And lord behold. Someone opened the backstage door. Then and there, I caught a glimpse of Sungjin, playing his guitar singing his part in the You Were Beautiful chorus. EVERYONE AROUND ME STARTED SCREAMING LOL. I was in such shock. Sungjin is so beautiful (in present tense) and has one of the best voices Ive ever heard okay. I dont think I really realized until then I was going to see Day6, like the band that inspires me to work hard every day and makes me so happy. Even though I had bought the ticket and everything that brought me to NYC, it felt surreal and then I knew it was R E A L. Theyre real and I was about to watch them perform live and even meet them afterwards like what the heck? After getting my wristband, I picked up a fanproject banner that would later be used to move day6 to tears:) These boys are so wholesome.
I went back to my hotel for a while after that because it was rainy and windy so walking around didnt sound so nice. Around 5:30 I left to get a bite to eat and then head back to the venue. Ended up getting a burger at Five Guys (and okay totally off topic from seeing Day6, but the Five Guys burger I had in NYC was so much better than any Ive had here in VA? Or maybe excitement makes stuff taste better.) I arrived at the venue at like 6:00 and the line was already pretty long! There were some My Days handing out photocards and I bought a Sungjin badge from one girl. (This experience is gonna make me sound so Sungjin biased but omg my bias is definitely Young K)
Once I was in the Town Hall I decided to buy a lightstick to cheer for the band! Id already ordered some of the other merch from the Subkulture Shop, because I was literally only traveling with one backpack and didnt want to buy more than I could fit in to take back home.
I had no idea on which side my seat would be, I only knew I would be 12 rows away from the stage. So, when I found my seat I was beyond happy to see I was on Young K and Wonpils side of the stage omg. With a really clear view of the both of them also! All the MyDays there were so sweet man, I had a great time talking with some while waiting for the concert to begin. Though I do honestly really wish that @mikulinneamew or @reading-river would have been there with me. Day6s instruments were already set on the stage and oh my goodness I fell in love with Sungjins Gibson Les Paul. Its white body with the black pickguard and golden hardware is SO BEAUTIFUL. Makes me want to go out and buy a Les Paul just like it, but going to this concert I used money I was originally saving for a new Fender P-Bass (That aint happening for a while now lol) but I am so not complaining. Sungjins Martin acoustic is also really beautiful, but I still prefer Taylors. Young Ks bass is also super pretty. Really, I was drooling over these instruments while waiting for the concert to begin.
Its two minutes before the concert was set to begin and everyone is already chanting “DAY6! DAY6! DAY6! DAY6!”. Shortly after the lights went dark and the screen behind the stage started to play a video introducing the members (And can I say I love how so many of their songs were mashed up perfectly in that video like wow Id love the audio of just that)! One by one then the members came on stage. First Dowoon, then Wonpil, followed by Young K, Jae and last but not least, leader Sungjin! While the video was finishing playing I could see Young K getting his bass tuned and ready to perform. I started tearing up here already because they were right in front of me? Unreal, but yet so real.
And then, the first song was: I WAIT! One of my favorite songs already ;; (what am I saying, all of their songs are my favorites) Such a high energy song for the first one. It was perfect to get the crowd hyped and pumped for what was to come! Then there was me crying of happiness and singing along though omg. DAY6 IS SO COOL PERFORMING. Sungjin and Jae rocking out on their guitars, Young K thumping on the Bass, Wonpil playing the Synth and Dowoon rocking the drums! I loved how connected the audience was with the band too like out of all the live performances from bands Ive seen, this one was definitely the one with the most chemistry with the audience and music! All of the “I WAIT!” chants were so nice to hear with the music aaaa. THE SONG ENDED SO FAST. All songs went by so quick really, but hey that just means youre having a great time.
The second song was: HUNT! I was NOT prepared for this song so early on in the show already. If I had to summarize this performance in two words: Younghyuns rap (I love it so much). I really love the guitar riffs in this song so I payed a lot of attention to Jae and Sungjin at first but man, as soon as it was rapping time my eyes were focused on Young K. His rapping timbre is soooOOO darn good. And hes such a good performer too when he does it. HE FEELS EVERY WORD HE SAYS. Hunt is such a good song. I loved it. So much.
After the first two songs, lights went back on for a moment and Jae hyped up the audience! Young K shook his head the first time everyone made noise at Jaes request, but the second time Jae asked us to make some noise BOY THAT WAS GOOD VOLUME MYDAYS HAVE GREAT LUNGS.
That was followed by: IM SERIOUS! This song is so fluffy and catchy Im pretty sure everyone was singing along in the “I cant stop loving you” part. I mean, how could anyone stop loving day6 theyre so wholesome and talented and KIND AND SWEET. Wow. Its SO FUN to watch Sungjin play his acoustic guitar he was smiling the whole time. Everyone was smiling during that performance EVEN DOWOON HE WAS SO CUTE. Its such a sweet song how can you not smile playing it or listening to it. During the acapella part Young K was shooting finger hearts and did an AMAZING adlib. I was m e l t i n g. Turning me into a puddle.
The next song was: MAN IN A MOVIE! I REALLY LOVE THIS SONG A LOT. Another really soft and fluffy song, but soOOO musically interesting. Day6 is one of the few groups that not only produces earcandy, but earcandy that is also thinking candy for people who enjoy music theory (a n d I d o) This is the only day6 song Ive actually written out a fingerstyle ukulele arrangement for (totally weird instrument choice, but Im working on rewriting it for guitar LOL). Im EXTREMELY fond of everyones vocals on this song. Especially Sungjins and Young Ks :)
After this song it was game and Q&A time! I cant remember if the preference game or Q&A was first so Im just going to talk about the preference game first.
Firstly though, all the members introduced themselves. They all looked so happy that it made me even happier LOL. For the preference game, all of the audience had to stand up and participate in a game with day6! It was so fun! First up the audience had to guess which one Jae like more, by either raising their left or right arm: The statue of liberty or Brooklyn bridge. The right answer was Brooklyn bridge and the majority of the audience (including me) had guessed it right! The MyDays who guessed wrong, had to take their seat again. Second was Bob (Sungjin). I guessed his wrong already! >3< The question was if he preferred playing Overwatch or Fifa. The correct answer was Fifa. Sadly, most people had guessed this one wrong. Next was Dowoon. We had to guess if he prefers skirts or jeans on girls LOL. His answer was jeans but it got too loud that I couldnt quite hear his reasoning. Then was Young K. Does he prefer sneakers or high heels? His answer was sneakers, because high heels are very uncomfortable (he said hes even tried them on before what a cutie). Wonpil had the most far fetched question in my opinion it was kinda funny! The audience had to guess if he likes Ariel or Snow White more. His answer was Snow White because he feels more sorry for her. Lastly was a question that would decide the faith of a lot of Jae stans hair LOL. Does he like long hair or short hair better on girls? His answer was short hair, because it makes them seem more confident. After all of those guesses only four lucky MyDays out of about 1500 were left standing! They got invited onto the stage and got a bag full of (signed!) tour merch gifted to them by Day6! It was so sweet and kind that the winners even received such a gift from Day6 themselves!
MOVING ON TO THE Q&A! Before they picked their questions to answer, Sungjin said “This! Is! Paradise!” and Dowoon sang the “Oh you are My Daaay” part of their song MY DAY to the NYC MyDays. Wonpil went first to pick his question. While each member would choose their question, the audience would sing the jeopardy theme song. It was hilarious. He chose the question: “Where did your interest in music come from?” Right when he was about to answer the question someone in the audience screamed “I LOVE YOU YOUNG K” but Young K shut her down so fast saying “Its Wonpil time!” Wonpil was flustered for a sec but then resumed to answer his question and said that he listened to a lot of hip hop when he was young and that got him interested. Next up was Young K! He chose the question: “What was the funniest moment in your life?”. He began to say that since Chuseok hes been eating more. And his most funny moment was before he came onto the stage. Apparently his pants didnt fit him anymore and he had to expand them a bit! The way he told this story was utterly hilarious and cute I can highly recommend finding a fancam of this moment omg. After him was Dowoon. His question was: “If you could have a superpower what would it be?” He said he wishes he could talk to animals. When he was in college he had a pet cat which he neglected and now he feels bad for that. He said if he could only communicate with one kind of animal though it would be bear LOL. Sungjin started imitating a bear after that and it was so hilarious omg he puffed himself up and was clawing at him. Next was Sungjin! He was lowkey dancing along to the jeopardy theme omg. His question was: “What is the hardest thing you have ever done?”. He said working towards Day6s debut was the hardest time in his life ;; He shouted out collapsedone who helped them a lot towards their debut and he was actually at the concert right there ;; Jae was the last one to get a question. He chose: “What inspired you to pursue music?”. He said he was getting into a bunch of Youtube musicians and thought he should try it out too. He met Wong Fu Productions Phil who also further inspired him to pursue music. And so Yellowpostitman was born. That concluded the Q&A! Day6 left the stage for a quick moment while the NYC Vlog-like video they made for the tour started playing. This time it was Wonpils cut! It showed the boys having fun at times square (someone in the audience screamed I SEE MYSELF and everyone laughed it was so funny) and Wonpil loosing his phone while dancing on the street LOL. I really love this vlog concept they had to play during intermission its so sweet of them.
Once the vlog was over they came back on stage and started to perform You Were Beautiful. THIS SONG IS SO BEAUTIFUL. Its one of the first songs of theirs I heard that got me into them ;; I was tearing up during this whole performance its such a heartfelt song and you could truly feel the emotions of the song being conveyed in their performance. They all sing it so softly yet powerfully. I really love Young Ks vocal parts in this song and his voice was so stable too (everyones was really) aaa ;;
The next song they performed was their debut song CONGRATULATIONS! Everyone in the audience had received a red sticker to cover their phone flashlight with during this song to create a red ocean. I wasnt in a good seat so see if it was a success or not but the lighting definitely seemed more red :) Everyone was singing along to EVERY BIT of this song it was fantastic. I love this song so much aaa. Young Ks rap makes me feel so many FEELINGS. This song was over way too quick I wish itd last forever.
After Congratulations Jae was saying that the last two songs are coming now and everyone was getting a LIL SAD that the night was coming to an end soon. (Jae didnt count the encore though ;D) Jae also took a moment to tell everyone that they should follow their dreams and not let anyone tell them that they cant make it. Even when it seems impossible to make it to your dreams he believes that we can make the jump and achieve them ;; Hearing those words from him made me a sobbing mess. For a few reasons I think. Even just seeing them perform live was a dream come true. Being in NYC (if even just for two days) was a dream come true. Its a city Id been dreaming of seeing someday since I was a little kid. Probably because music as a career has almost always been my dream. And NYC is one of the worlds music capitals. I used to want to become a concert pianist. Then I wanted to become a music teacher. Right now Im leaning more towards songwriting, production and playing guitar LOL. But as someone whos in the position where I need to decide what I want to do with my future relatively soon, Jaes words helped me so much.
Their next song was LETTING GO! And oh my goodness. I was not prepared for those buttery sweet harmonies in the beginning. I was thinking so much about what Jae had said before during this performance so Im a little blank on what special happened during this performance but I totally remember it being mesmerizing;;
Their last song before encore was I SMILE! The fanchants on this one were so strong! Everyone held their banner up which read “My Day6 which I thought I only met in my dreams is right in front of me”. I could see Young K tear up when he read it. It was so sweet :) I do wish that Wonpils synth had been a tiny bit louder because he has that cool solo part in it, but I could hardly hear it. But the whole performance was so overwhelmingly beautiful that I was crying.
After performing I SMILE they left the stage and everyone started chanting “DAY6! DAY6!” again. Shortly after they came back on stage and THEY PERFORMED DANCE DANCE. This song is so upbeat and happy and makes you forget all the stress so much I love it to bits. I absolutely love Jaes guitar part in this song too so I tried to focus on him until Brians rap distracted me AGAIN (rapper K is my weakness okay). The entire performance was so high energy it was perfect buildup to the next song they performed which was also their last performance for the night. FREE하게! This is my go-to song for escaping from the stress of life and simply basking in how powerful music truly is. So, hearing it live, as the encore really touched me (and I cried more). I felt so many emotions go through me during this performance. It felt like a reminder of why I love music so much, which sometimes is well needed. Its so energetic and uplifting. My highlight of this performance: …Young Ks rap (wow surprise surprise). Also Sungjins high note! And Jae jumping into the crowd and hyping us up even more! (If Jae tells you to jump, you have to jump.) This performance was a perfect end for the concert. I really didnt want it to end though.
After this performance Day6 bowed and thanked the audience. I dont know where to begin describing how I felt after that. I still had the high touch left but the main event was over. I felt (still feel and always will) so extremely blessed to have been able to experience that. Theyre such a wholesome, hardworking and admirable band. I felt such extreme happiness.
The night was nearly over, but the hi-touch was still left for those who had purchased a P2 ticket! Id never done a hi-touch before, so I didnt know what to expect. I only knew itd go by super quick. What I did NOT expect however, is to walk around a corner and BAM there standing is Young K, Mr. Brian Kang, THE KANG YOUNGHYUN, BASSIST RAPPER GODLY VOCALS FULL TIME COLLEGE STUDENT BUT ALSO FULL TIME BANDMEMBER HE WORKS SO HARD OK. It is a lot to take in when you see your ultimate bias being the first in line for the hi-touch. My first thought was how pretty his NOSE is. Like dang, boys got the finest nose Ive ever seen. My second thought was how intimidating he seemed though omg. But as soon as it was my turn for a brief second with him it seemed like he was glowing and flowers were blooming around him? Hes got the sweetest smile and eyes. Instead of high fiving him I held onto his hand for a second and all I could say was “I love you so much” I WAS IN SUCH AWE. He gave my hand a bit of a squeeze and said he loves me back. SUCH A NICE MAN IM CRYING.   Then it was already time to move on though and next was Dowoon! My mind was completely blank from Young K being first (I was hoping hed be last for this reason LOL) I also grabbed onto Dowoons hand for a moment and I mustve not said anything at first, because he was like “Thank you!” first (his Korean accent is adorable) so I said thank you back to him and he then gave a teeny bow like how polite omg. Thats all I had with Dowoon though (Wish I could have said more I wanted to tell him how cool he is!) But next was Jae. First impression: Hes so TALL. Second impression: Hes so NICE. I think Jae made it a thing to keep eye contact with his fans for as much as he could. I told him “Thank you so much Jae” because man especially his speech about following dreams hit me hard as I had mentioned before. Hes honestly the member I was most thankful for that night (Im thankful for them all though please dont misunderstand!) I would have hugged him if I could. His face is so pretty up close too, how can someone manage to look handsome but like a personification of Chicken Little at the same time? Jae can. Next was Wonpil! And I must say I was taken a back a little like “Who is this man?” HE LOOKS SO DIFFERENT IN REAL LIFE. In a good way of course! I held onto his hand for a moment and said “Thanks Wonpil” he nodded and had such a smug look on his face like omg. SUNGJIN WAS NEXT AND BOY THIS WAS MY FAVORITE ENCOUNTER. He was already like pulling his arm back to give a really hard high five so I was BRACING myself, because it looked like it might be painful omg. Hes the only member I actually high fived whoops. BUT his high five was so happy and so energetic! Yet it was aggressively soft? It was definitely a hard high five but it didnt hurt at all LOL. He was like “Ah yeah!” after that and I thanked him for the great show. Then the hi-touch was over for me. Even though I wish I could have had a little more time with them, I was so thankful to have had the experience in the first place.
IN CONCLUSION: This was the best night of my life so far. This definitely is not going to be the last time I see them live. If they come back to NA while Im still here you can count on me doing my best to get that P1 or P2 ticket. They better come to Europe someday too! For their next tour if it works out I might even try to go to more than one of their concerts. I was trying to go to the Toronto concert for this tour too, but my exam schedule wouldnt allow that. But I am so blessed that NYC happened. I will also definitely plan any trip to Asia around their concert schedule!
Tl;dr: I love day6 so much. See them live someday plz. Tell Brian I love him plz.
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xrkmeiqi · 7 years
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░▐ ★_let the rain pour 、
@rkzyx
it took him weeks to decide what to get meiqi and just as long to decide if he should bother giving her something on this day but he’s been doing it for years. wouldn’t it be weirder to change things now? why? because he might have a girlfriend soon— he’s still not sure because he’s yet to ask and part of him is worried she’ll say no. but yixing’s had girlfriends before and not once did he think it weird, until now. until he kissed the girl who might be the one exception but being that guy in front of meiqi makes him more nervous than being in front of jennie. that should’ve been a sign but yixing’s never been good at looking past what or who is in front of him. it’s why his grandmother jokes that yes she raised him to be a gentleman and he is one but sometimes he only is when he wants to be. a gentleman would never put a woman in the position he’s putting jennie and meiqi in now. in retrospect, he’d know this but for now? he thinks continuing to have meiqi as his princess is the same as continuing to be best friends. 
“meiqi,” he knocks on the door but it’s all for ceremonial purposes, a warning more than a question when he enters two seconds later. “guess what’s in,” an unnecessary glance at his watch and he’s grinning, “ten minutes. i’ll help you, it rhymes with…” he struggles with the english even though it’s a joke he chose and one he chose for this moment. “galentine’s.” google wasn’t his friend tonight but not a lot rhymes with valentine’s anyway. “aaaa, nevermind! 짜잔 , this is for you!” a large pastel pink box with floral design, tied with a white ribbon, is held out for her to take and he eyes his backpack near the front door, concealing the other part of the gift. inside is a pastel pink raincoat just for her, with wrapped cake pops inside the pocket. “happyearly valentine’s day! i have training tomorrow but i hope this is okay. you’ll forgive your loyal knight, won’t you?” 
she told herself she was just about ready for bed. one more video, and she would be ready to knock out for the night. but one video leads to another, and that video to one more, and soon enough she’s caught in that ever familiar spiral until she’s in that part of youtube where the video doesn’t make sense, but neither does the concept of time. it’s been hours since she’d told herself “one more video” and it’s by mere coincidence that the person who knows it isn’t “one more” better than she does is what snaps her out of her video-inspired stupor and causes her to finally realize how long she’s been sitting at her computer desk watching videos about club penguin and it’s shift to mobile. “huh? what? what’s in ten minutes?”
it’s not even that he’s let himself in that surprises her, but rather the questions he asks.
it takes her a full half a minute for what yixing has said to finally register, and when it does, she hops out of her desk chair and she practically hops over to him, smile as bright as ever and eyes glazed over form hours of staring at the screen. she takes the box from him and, with an excited grin in his direction, she opens it, fingers making quick work of the ribbon and box discarded in favor of holding the absolutely adorable pink raincoat up to her chest, feet kicking up to push the fabric forward to see how long the hemline is. “i love it!” she says with enthusiasm, jumping forward to give him one her certified Meiqi Bear Hugs, the special edition meant only for him. of course, she hadn’t forgotten valentine’s day, either, but his unexpected arrival means she hasn’t even wrapped it yet and it’s sitting there on the couch for all to see. “i’ll forgive you,” she says as she twirls, inconspicuously moving toward the other side of the room, hugging the jacket to her chest, and ending up in front of her own gift for him, hiding it with her body. “but only because this is so cute~”
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