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#also I know the song predates both shows I’m kidding
galwithalibrarycard · 2 years
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Weird to see Running Up That Hill so associated with Stranger Things lately, because that song is in fact from my favorite show, Bones (2005-2017). Specifically used in episode 2x11 Judas On A Pole- despite the fact that in my head I always associate it with Booth saving Brennan and Hodgins in Aliens in a Spaceship.
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devilsrecreation · 5 months
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More Outlander episode ideas
(buckle up cuz there’s a lot)
Jasiri trying to help the other Outlanders with their problems, while simultaneously learning about them (which would be the first episode)
Aibu trying to fit in with Jasiri’s clan in order to impress Chungu while Kifo tries to befriend Kenge while bonding with the other reptiles (this would be the episode where she meets Ushari)
Kupatana episode, where Jasiri tries to get everyone into the spirit of Kupatana
-Bonus if it’s a “Christmas Carol”-themed episode (cuz that’s not cliche at all) with either Kiburi or Kenge acting as Scrooge
Kiburi learning how to be a parent upon taking in Wakali
Episode with Shupavu and Njano making amends with Hodari and essentially being a bad influence to him. They end up ditching him in a moment of danger but come back and help him after remembering their motto: reptiles gotta stick together
Trail to Udugu but with Dogo and Kijana?
Kenge teaching all the kids (and the skinks) how to fight
Baby’s Day Out-inspired episode with Tunu and Wema going on an adventure while Janja, Chungu, and Cheezi go after them to make sure they don’t get killed
-Ushari is actually the reason the cubs get by without a scratch. The boys on the other hand…not so much
-Bonus if Nne and Tano, having nothing better to do, follow their friends and watch all the chaos happening from a reasonable distance
-Honestly, this probably happened with all the Outlanders. Goigoi with his kids, Tamka and Nduli with Wakali while Kiburi was busy, and Mzingo with Janja’s whole clan as cubs
* Halloween episode-Maybe there’s a legend the skinks tell about the Elephant Graveyard being haunted by the spirits of dead elephants and other animals. They tell everyone on a certain night, they rise up from the dead to haunt the species of the predators that killed them. To prove they’re not scared, Kifo and Aibu join Kiburi’s float (who don’t believe in the legend) to spend the night. It doesn’t help that Ushari is making the unexplainable happen along with the horrifying moans and noises within the graveyard. It turns out that it’s just Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed, who told the skinks the legend so they would leave them alone lmao
- Kiburi is basically the guy who says that there’s an explanation for everything, since he’s the bravest of the bunch (although he does get scared in the end but he still tries to fight)
- Aibu claims she’s there to prove that being shy doesn’t mean she’s skittish, but Kifo knows she’s trying to show off to Chungu
- Ushari doesn’t make himself known until the end, where he explains it to Kifo and she explains it to the rest
Kifo: Ushari just wanted to pull a little trick on us
Kiburi: Well tell Ushari he’s a dick
- Possible twist that there really ARE other spirits in the Graveyard and the “legend” turns out to be true after all lmao
- “I’m a crocodile. Whatever it is, it’s not getting back up.”-Kiburi at one point
Valentine’s Day episode-Just a cute little episode about certain animals playing matchmaker and everyone finding a date for The Sherehe ya upendo” (Swahili for “Celebration of love”). You know the Family Guy Valentine’s Day special? It’s kinda formatted like that
Episode where Njano and Hodari both get kidnapped (I dunno by who yet), which causes Kiburi, Shupavu, and Kenge (cuz why not lol) to team up with Makuu and Kinyonga
- Kenge gets to play the mediator for once while Shupavu and Kiburi are busy arguing with their rivals. He basically tells them to put aside their differences and shut up (You know you’ve hit a new low when KENGE has to tell you to stop fighting)
- While the rest are all arguing, Njano and Hodari are just vibing like the besties they are
- Skink lore, anyone? Maybe we get to see how Shupavu and Njano know each other and how they fell in love?
- Also maybe a song about how they miss each other
- Hodari and Kinyonga are totally crushing on each other, they just don’t know it’s mutual
Episode centered around Nduli and Kiburi’s sibling-like relationship, where Nduli misses how they used to be as kids
-Basically everything I covered for Nduli here is covered in the episode
“The Secret Life of Neema”-basically an episode about what Neema does when he’s not with his float (secret double life lol)
-Off the top of my head, maybe he’s known as a phantom hero who saves other reptiles from danger but it’s just a thought.
-Bonus if Nne and Tano are the only ones who know about it but refused to say anything to respect Neema’s wishes
-Double bonus if said episode features the rest of the float’s curiosity about Neema and they figure out his secret. We’ll see how it goes from there ;)
Previous ideas I’ve mentioned:
Jino’s debut
Body swap
The henchmen getting kidnapped (same as the link for Jino’s debut)
And of course, “Kifamilia means Family”
*panting* Okay….I think I got them all now
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themultifandomgal · 10 months
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Warning long post/ rant about Colleen Ballinger. If you don’t want to read this then please feel free to ignore but if you want to rant away with me then be my guest. If you guys know what’s going on and have opinions then let me know. Let’s talk about her shit show of an apology.
First of all the whole thing was just clearly aimed towards her young fans to make them feel bad for her, she did it in a song to make it easer to consume and unfortunately it’s kinda catchy so it’s going to be stuck in everyone’s heads. Children are so impressionable. The human brain doesn’t actually fully develop until your mid 20s so you can only imagine how the brain might be working at ages 9-16 (I don’t know how old her youngest fans are)
“Toxic gossip train. Chugging down the tracks of misinformation”
Where? What misinformation? Your giving us no evidence! Explain it to us then?
“Tie me to the tracks and harass me for my past, these rumours look like facts of you don’t mind the gaps I won’t survive in the crash, but hey least your having fun”
Stop with the woahs me attitude. If they’re as you say rumours then why is there photo/video evidence of the things you’ve done and said? What gaps? Are we talking about how in your first apology video you made it out that Adam asked you for the underwear and it was his fault? Not that you and Corey literally asked if he wanted them? Oh and even if you were joking around why did it never occur after that sending a 14 year old underwear (no matter your age) is fucking weird? How did that not cross your mind when you had weeks to think about it. You even said his parents would think it’s weird so why do it? Also who the hell is having fun? I know Adam isn’t and Becky and anyone else you’ve hurt.
“Today I only want to talk about the facts”
Well where are they? You didn’t tell us anything except you want a pitty party!
“Many years ago I used to message my fans, but not in a creepy way… more of a looser type of way”
Errr that’s still creepy, wanting to best friends with under 18 year olds when your 30 odd….. did that not cross your mind? Oh wait no of course it didn’t.
“I haven’t done that for years you see… I took accountability”
Weren’t you in a group chat with miners up until like a week ago? Oh and when did you take accountability?
“The train is made of lies”
Wait so we’re they mistakes or lies?
“I would never make a mistake like that”
Your right we wouldn’t because we know talking to underage children is wrong whether your intention is ‘innocent’ or not because it isn’t. There’s a huge power dynamic at play that I can’t see that you weren’t aware of or if not you someone around you.
“She did some things I do not like in her past so everybody gather round because we’re about to attack but not based of facts”
Ohhhh so you didn’t ask Adam (a miner at the time) to send a pic of his ass? Oh wait…
Well you didn’t tell these kids all about your messy divorce did you? Ah ok erm….
Ok but you definitely didn’t talk about your husband penis size…Ah shit.
Hmmm ok then these one is a no brainier. You definitely didn’t ask KIDS favourite sex positions because everyone knows that you just don’t do that… oh you did? Oh
Let’s move on shall we?
“I also wanted to take a moment to talk about the Miranda girl…. shes PG13…..that’s why you won’t find my videos on the YouTube Kids app”
Erm I think you’ll find that you can find Miranda content under ages 5-8 so before you tell us these ‘facts’ maybe you want to check them out first. Just a thought?
“Was it my intention to manipulate”
Ah so you admit doing that?
“I’m not a groomer, I’m just a looser”
Your both. Grooming someone doesn’t always have to be sexual. Also imagine if that will hold up in court!
“I’m not a predator even though a lot of you think so, because 5 years ago I made a far joke”
It wasn’t just a fart joke. You asked an underaged girl to come up on stage. She was wearing a romper and you spread her legs. At no point did you or any other adult stop it or even try to protect this young girl at all. She said she felt violated and awful and your just say with your ukulele undermining what YOU put her through calling it a FART JOKE. It’s not a joke. None of this is and anyone who thought this was ok is sick!
“I never had any bad intentions, but I do feel like shit”
Oh well then we all forgive you for being inappropriate with minors in privet group chats and on your YouTube channels.
I haven’t even spoken about half the other shit that she’s done like letting a 9 year old put his hands down her trousers for a ‘bit’ or how horrible her book is, or how she laughed about having to have her dog out to sleep. This whole thing was just a slap in the face. I felt like she wasn’t being serious at all! To all of you who have been effected by Colleens harmful decisions, I am so sorry and so proud of all of you who have shared your experience. To those not ready that’s ok don’t feel pressured to have to open up about anything you don’t want to.
I’m going to leave some videos and channels to check out about this. The first one is SWOOPs deep dive which will have a hell a lot of sources and information. Sending you all positive thoughts!
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darkestprompts · 2 years
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What about DD characters as animals in general instead of dogs. BH being a barn owl is a popular one and I can't see it any other way. GR would be a secretary bird or any other kind of graceful bird. That one I picked specifically because they are vicious killers despite looking beautiful. Jester as a maned wolf would be fitting. Red and black color scheme with lanky legs and strange barks
I’m gonna end up doing an animal behavior especialization course for all the wrong reasons. Let’s fucking go!
Some of the heroes come with pre-baked animal themes that are obvious, like BH and raptor birds, SB and serpents/cobras, Houndmaster and dogs. PD is probably meant to be some kind of corvid. I think all of those fit well enough and require no explanation.
I like your Secretary Bird idea for GR, they are not only graceful, but also quick and precise. I like to imagine that her husband would have been a snake she knocked on the head. 
While maned wolves have the right visuals for Jester... Idk, they are known for being shy loners. He's more of a marmoset. They have adapted to urban areas and live in groups. The noisy little bastards will break into your home, eat your food and then throw stuff at you. Or a ferret? Slinky little dudes that need a *lot* of play and socialization. Super curious too.
Antiquarian is a squirrel. Hoarding little jerk that doesn't fear god nor man. Five ounces of whoopass.
MAA I imagine as a big proud buffaloo. Chilling by the water until some dumbass predator decides it wants to be yeeted 10 feet in the air and then skewered. Gotta protect the herd.
Leper is like... an elephant. Super smart and caring gentle giants but also will destroy you if you piss them off. No kidding, they will actually seek out humans to take revenge and wreck their entire shit.
I’m torn with Hellion. I like the lioness theme** of her CC trinket and it kind of fits the fact that she’s a loner, but only because she was cast out by her people, who are definitely war-like hunters. But did you know that a jaguar has more bite power despite the smaller size? They are less about running down prey and more about powerful, decisive blows. Their jaws are adapted to crush skulls! Since Hellion is a high damage fighter that gets debuffs the longer she uses her skills, that aspect fits her better... Maybe her problem was being a jaguar among lions.
** I should acknowledge that Hellion has both a wolf theme and a “warhawk” theme. I didn’t opt for wolves because they are primarily endurance hunters that rely heavily on tactics, coordination and patience to take down large prey, since they are much smaller than large cats. And the raptor theme fits in much better with BH and GR.
HWM is a trash panda. It’s true. Listen. Raccoons are urban animals (which by itself requires smarts), that can survive on anything, have little skillful hands and like to hang out on their own. Trash. Panda. Boy.
Vestal... Maybe a horse? A domesticated prey animal that can therefore be skittish, but by god if it fights back your life is over. Otherwise can be helpful and sociable, and help people in medical situations. I feel like a lot of it applies to Crusader too, except it’s more that he’s a farm animal repurposed for battle and made to look imposing and intimidating... Vestal is like a sweet therapy pony and Crusader is a warhorse that bites.
Flagellant is a badger. He just is. He’s the motherfucker getting bitten by an apex predator 10 times his size, shaking himself off and turning back to intimidate the shit out of them. Badger Flagellant don’t give a fuck.
Abom in human form makes me think of a fox. Scared of people, hunted by humans and larger prey animals, crafty, gets a bad rap. Transformed abom is something crazy like a bearmoose.
Occultist... I’d say some type of highly intelligent parrot. What’s more notable about their intelligence is their language skills, after all, and Alhazred is a liberal arts guy. Also shows his fun/silly side (he sings camp songs, come on).
Arbalest could be an ibex. Herd animal that nonetheless likes to go out and explore and whose main defense tactic is staying out of range (but can still break your bones if you push your luck). 
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thepaininurneck · 3 years
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Okay, wow, never in my life did I think a music video involving giving Satan a lap dance would delve into a conversation about gay rights ( and how gay men are portrayed in media ), but Lil Nas X broke the world with MONTERO, so here I am. We’ve got three things here that I think are important - Internet culture, religion, sexuality. These are the things that I think people are getting too uptight over/not upset enough over, and I wanna rant for a bit, so bear with me on this one.
First, I LOVED MONTERO. I’m a whore for religious imagery/theming/etc. being used in media, and as a former Christian and an openly gay woman, it makes me very happy to see it used in a spiteful manner. MONTERO was gorgeous - sexual, unapologetic, and so clearly pulling straight from Biblical stories. The religion used commonly against us ( here in the US, at least, because I know other religions can be just as oppressive, if not worse, and Christianity isn’t the dominant religion everywhere ) being used in a way that’s expressive of our lives is beautiful. The very clear message of “Oh, I’m going to hell? That’s okay,” is perfect - for so many LGBT people in this country, we’ve been told that we’re condemned to eternal punishment because of something we can’t help. LNX took that in stride and made it art, with MONTERO and the video. I am in full support of it and will be throwing it on my horny playlist.
But here’s why I think this is so important - MONTERO’s release has exposed, in my opinion, where the real issues lie in Western culture. WAP did this too, a little - both of these songs, and their accompanying videos, were criticized using children. “Children watch you”, “how could you expose kids to this”, etc. were complaints hurled at Cardi B and LNX over their music. And in LNX’s case, people used his previous success with Old Town Road - I saw one tweet saying Old Town Road is “every kid’s anthem”, and that their children love Old Town Road. Which is problematic - how can you complain about MONTERO, but allow your child to listen to a song with lyrics such as “Lean all in my bladder”, “Cheated on my baby, you can go and ask her”, “Bull riding and boobies” - Old Town Road is not a child-friendly song by any means, but LNX didn’t include naked breasts, or ( as far as I’m aware ) market the song in a way that showcased those lyrics. So parents let their children enjoy their funny horse song, never looking into the words their kids were hearing daily. But with MONTERO, because they saw at a glance that it was an issue, they assumed this meant the previously “child-friendly” artist LNX, the man behind the funny horse song, was suddenly trying to indoctrinate their children. When in reality, LNX has never catered to kids. He’s always been open about his music and himself, and it’s entirely the parents’ faults for not better monitoring what media their children take in. It is never the responsibility of the creator to change their content for an audience they didn’t want. MONTERO, and WAP, both exposed just how internet culture has allowed parents an excuse to be lazy, hands-off pieces of shit, and demonize creators further.
MONTERO also exposed how homophobia continues to follow us, in how many comments there were calling LNX predatory, claiming he was indoctrinating children and pushing agendas - and, with Kaitlin Bennet’s actual racist comments, now he’s being slandered. ( if you didn’t see that beef, TLDR: Kaitlin asked “do you still see your dad?” w/ blatant intent to hurt, LNX replied with “yeah and I’ll fuck yours”, to which Kaitlin accused him of threatening to rape her father and several small, conservative ‘journalists’ ran with it ). I don’t like throwing around the word homophobia, but this isn’t new - gay men have been called predatory for a long time and demonized for even small gestures like holding hands. And now, an openly gay man made a video celebrating his sexuality ( which isn’t a new topic: look at any music video from the early 2000s for more examples of people expressing sexuality ) and given fuel to these idiots to continue pushing their narrative of “gay man predator, gay man bad”. Fortunately, it’s a lot less than it would’ve been thirty years ago. But the fact that it still happens on this scale, enough that journalists pick it up as a story, and governors, Candace Owens and other prominent homophobic conservative figures jump on the bandwagon....it’s sad. A man celebrating his sexuality shouldn’t be demonized the way it is, and MONTERO is doing an amazing job at spitting in people’s faces.
Cutting myself short here, I think MONTERO was a gift. It’s a work of art in many ways, but the social response it generated is also a blessing in that it shows what we need to prioritize - which is self responsibility. No one is forcing you to watch the gay man give Satan a lap dance, nor are they forcing you to buy his shoes. No one will ever force you into that - you, a consenting adult/teenager, willingly watched it. You’re reading this now of your own choice. If your child is watching MONTERO, you should blame yourself if you’re mad - why didn’t you monitor them better? Teach them to avoid things they don’t recognize online? You failed as a parent to protect your child from what you deem harmful. That isn’t anyone’s fault except your own as their active guardian.
Sex, talking about sex, grinding, lap dances....those aren’t new to music videos. They’ve been happening for decades, actually - early 90’s and 2000’s videos had a lot, and I think some 80’s had them. MONTERO didn’t invent NSFW music videos, the only difference is it’s gay and dared to use religious imagery ( which also isn’t new, but that’s another rant I don’t want to get into ). For once, I actually agree with the masses - this outrage was mostly fueled by homophobia and dumb Christians. And to any Christians reading this ( that didn’t get offended, because if you got genuinely upset by this drama, fuck you ); you’re cool.
Anyways, yeah. I think MONTERO was awesome, LNX killed it as always, and I hate conservatives. Goodnight.
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bbhyeoliskooks · 3 years
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hellooo !! can i request a reaction for txt when they see that an idol from a different boy band has a crush on their idol!s/o bc they think that idol!reader is single,,
❝𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭, 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬!❞
TXT’s reaction to seeing an idol from another boy band have a crush on idol!you and obviously getting jealous.
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Genre: Few cups of fluff ~!
Warnings: Maybe suggestive from jjuniebug... or so...
(so sorry this took so long my gosh 😭😭 also i liVE FOR THIS??? HONESTLY??? LIKE LITERALLY I WOULD LOVE TO SEE THIS AND BE THAT PERSON SKLFDJ catch txt getting a bit jelly over hereee 😏😏 n e way, yea hope you like it lots and that it makes up for the time being losttt 🧍 btw... i’m so sorry if i get one of the members from another group’s personality wrong :(( just know i can always edit it since i don’t want to make any of you mad~~)
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최 연준:
° 𐐪𐑂 YALL DONT GET ME STARTED ON HIM I CAN ALREADY IMAGINE THIS VIVIDLY IN MY HEAD KSJFDS
° 𐐪𐑂 Anyway... the two of you would be backstage, chatting it up a storm and congratulating each other of how great your guy’s performance was for a VERY long time- enough for it to be suspicious
° 𐐪𐑂 No one could really suspect a thing tho... like... the two of you were being very cautious just in case about that, however it was a bit too crystal clear to see that there was some attraction between the two of you 😏
° 𐐪𐑂 And you know how as I said, quiet?
° 𐐪𐑂 Well,,, haha,,, I guess I forgot to mention one thing
° 𐐪𐑂 It’s-- as obvious to the staff... idols... people who walked there that you absolutely were in la vie en rose with each other~~
° 𐐪𐑂 Because up close, any sane person would definitely see there was something going on between you and Yeonjun with the soft yet playful flirting in both of your eyes
° 𐐪𐑂 Are we that shocked??? you’re dating in secret so obviouslyyy 🥺🥺
° 𐐪𐑂 how scandalous~~ hehe~~ (i’m kidding, it’s really not scandalous at all???)
° 𐐪𐑂 ++ Sometimes Yeonjun would get bold and make physical contact with you so... I mean he knew no one was going to spread rumors to snakes like Dispatch and... why not when he could show everyone he loved you the most?
° 𐐪𐑂 Before talking and catching up about some random stuff, you ask him if you can go to the bathroom first and ofc he says yes bc he’s best boy !
° 𐐪𐑂 ... cue the 5 minutes later...
° 𐐪𐑂 so after you’re done doing your business and all... you come face to face with??? GUESS WHO???!! TAEHYUNG FROM BTS???!!!
° 𐐪𐑂 **insert gasp**
° 𐐪𐑂 You pretty much did after you accidentally bumped into him
° 𐐪𐑂 but it was all good actually ! you were just dying inside since you just embarrassed yourself in front of the one of the greatest people in the whole entire world
° 𐐪𐑂 Taehyun was really sweet about it tho and he only smiled at you, making you grin back at him easily since the atmosphere wasn’t as awkward anymore
° 𐐪𐑂 “Ah, you’re Y/N from (), right? I love how you performed today! I’ve been listening to your songs for a while but I have to say that I adore your voice much more,” he complimented with a smug wink
° 𐐪𐑂 You just gaped at him, feeling your ears burn up immediately
° 𐐪𐑂 “M-my voice?! Taehyung, that’s so sweet of you to say! Thank you so much!”
° 𐐪𐑂 From then on, the two of you decided to talk more about yourselves and got to learn more
° 𐐪𐑂 All that time and you didn’t realize you could enjoy talking with someone so much and how you weren’t nervous in front of him at all???
° 𐐪𐑂 Bc by now, you would be a stammering mess before him because he really was one of the coolest guys on earth
° 𐐪𐑂 And yea that’s Taehyung for you 🥺 he’s such a sweet boy like mom i love him
° 𐐪𐑂 It had just reached almost 10 minutes of both of you talking, and it was time for the boy to go on stage and perform
° 𐐪𐑂 You were a bit sad since you probably couldn’t get to know him more as a good friend considering both of your schedules...
° 𐐪𐑂 but luckily ! Taehyung was enjoying this too and he pulled out his phone, ready to ask you something he’d been meaning to for a while
° 𐐪𐑂 “Do you think I could treat you sometime? Actually, I’d love to get to know you if you’d like and it’s okay for you to say no,” now the boy in front of you went from confident to shy in a second, his hand flying to the back of his neck to nervously scratch it
° 𐐪𐑂 Eyes widening with excitement, you were going to jump at the opportunity to say yes until-
° 𐐪𐑂 Pulling you close and wrapping his arms around your waist from behind emerged Yeonjun with a not so hidden sour expression as he held you tenderly in his embrace, not daring to ever let you go
° 𐐪𐑂 “Taehyung Sunbaenim! The staff told me to come get you for your performance! You better hurry up and go there, so you won’t be late.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Well... at least Yeonjun’s tone was polite but both you and Taehyung could obviously tell it meant something else- more like back off, which you weren’t surprised
° 𐐪𐑂 Getting the hint Taehyung took a few steps back, giggling at the evident passive aggressiveness from the boy
° 𐐪𐑂 “Thanks, Yeonjun! And I’ll be sure to be there, thanks so much for the heads up.”
° 𐐪𐑂 You couldn’t help but groan quietly at the tense atmosphere now and how the boys waved goodbyes at each other- although you were sure your boyfriend was more than happy enough that the “predator” went off by himself
° 𐐪𐑂 Once Taehyung was gone, you were surprised to hear how silent Yeonjun was behind you, biting his lips so as to not mess up and say anything disrespectful
° 𐐪𐑂 Nonetheless, you had to say that you were worried about the sudden change in his demeanor
° 𐐪𐑂 “Jjunie, is there anything wrong?”
° 𐐪𐑂 “I’m so sorry,” he muttered, burying his head into your neck, “I shouldn’t have acted like that... I know Taehyung Sunbaenim didn’t mean any harm or you either... I promise I won’t do it next time.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Knowing he truly felt sorry, you just turned around to look at him more clearly, lifting up his chin so that he’d cheer up even from the tiniest bit of affection
° 𐐪𐑂 And. Oh. My. Gosh. His. Adorable. Puppy. Eyes. That. Shine. So. Brightly. You. Fall. In. Love. Every. Time.
° 𐐪𐑂 “It’s okay Jjun,” you cooed, cupping his cheeks, “But don’t be so jealous next time, you know that you’re the only one I see.”
° 𐐪𐑂 True to your words Yeonjun seemed to cheer up at this and smiled brightly, the one that always made your heart melt whenever you see his face flowing with ardent joy
° 𐐪𐑂 But yea, remember how we all know he has such a shocking duality?
° 𐐪𐑂 ... we were absolutely not ready for Yeonjun to quickly slam his hand against the white boundaries of the room, almost pinning you to the wall if you could call it that, and whispering in your ear so teasingly it made you crazy:
° 𐐪𐑂 “Now, how about you make it up to me for leaving me back there for 10 minutes? I think you deserve a good punishment from me, baby.”
° 𐐪𐑂 gosh.... i just... okay moving on with the holy water???
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최 수빈:
° 𐐪𐑂 Fridays where you had to MC was certainly the best because you got to spend it with a very special someone~
° 𐐪𐑂 A very special someone who would do their very best to make you laugh and succeed at it every time he forgot to say his line
° 𐐪𐑂 A very special someone who encouraged you to be confident even in front of your favorite idols whom you were dying to talk to
° 𐐪𐑂 A very special someone who comforted you when you thought you weren’t good enough in front of the TV screen... and someone who cheered you up by giving helpful advice with soft kisses on the nose as well~
° 𐐪𐑂 Oh wait, who was that very special someone?? You guessed it! Only the sweetest boy ever, Soobinnie from TXT !
° 𐐪𐑂 You couldn’t be more than happy to say yes to interviewing idols with him even if the questions were already scripted with a small piece of paper
° 𐐪𐑂 Every moment with him in front of the cameras was heaven to you, to hear his perfect voice echo inside the walls in the room
° 𐐪𐑂  Perhaps the idols behind you could tell you were whipped for each other at this point... you honestly wouldn’t be surprised but you didn’t want to release the fact that you were dating since it wouldn’t do good for both of your images
° 𐐪𐑂 This time, the idols behind you were the one and only Stray Kids !
° 𐐪𐑂 An excellent group with excellent music~ (maybe I should stan, hehe)
° 𐐪𐑂 The questions only took a few minutes since they were just talking about their song, but you had to say you enjoyed every single second of it
° 𐐪𐑂 And with the bunny grin on Soobin’s face, it looked like he was pleasant himself too
° 𐐪𐑂 Although, every good thing has to come to an end~!
° 𐐪𐑂 The cameras just turned off after getting the perfect cut and you were waving off to a few of the members when one of them came up to you with a huge smile on his face
° 𐐪𐑂 You noticed he had a lot of freckles on his face which definitely made him even more prettier, and you welcomed him with the same expression back
° 𐐪𐑂 “Hi, Y/N! I hope I’m not bothering you, but I just wanted to say that I absolutely love your songs. Oh sorry, I didn’t introduce myself. I’m Felix, if you didn’t know,” he looked off to the side shyly but didn’t expect to see you kindly answer him back
° 𐐪𐑂 Honestly, he looked really sweet ! But you were wondering why he made some time to talk to you all of a sudden before catching up with the rest of his members on a time crunch
° 𐐪𐑂 “No, it’s okay! Actually, I’m happy you came up to talk a little since I wanted to say that I love your songs as well. Um, did you need me for anything?”
° 𐐪𐑂 The boy just shook his head, moving closer to you so you could at least hear him better,
° 𐐪𐑂 “Well, I sort of do... if it’s not too much to ask, do you think I could maybe take you out some time? And it’s fine if you say no! But I’d really like to get to know you.”
° 𐐪𐑂 The heat of your ears was a bit too much now, and you could feel yourself becoming a wee bit too warm in your outfit
° 𐐪𐑂 ...you couldn’t lie to him, he seemed like a nice boy and all that you’d definitely love to have as a friend but how were you going to tell him you were already taken if both your boyfriend and you agreed to keep the relationship a secret in the first place?
° 𐐪𐑂 From beside you, you could hear Soobin sigh longingly, waiting for you to come talk to him after a while of not seeing you
° 𐐪𐑂 He was a few feet away from you, staring down at the situation as if that was going to do any better and scare the other boy away
° 𐐪𐑂 What do you expect??? The bby boy misses you sm :((
° 𐐪𐑂 And he gets very polite so he won’t be able to do anything until it gets too far for him 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 Seems like the type to accidentally get the wrong order thanks to the mcdonalds staff but accepts it anyway bc he’s too scared nice to say anything (just like me for example)
° 𐐪𐑂 As I was saying, the two of you just glanced over at Soobin who had a somewhat grumpy look on his face, leaning on his hand while sitting down
° 𐐪𐑂 The sight was definitely something to see... it only peeked obvious jealousy but it looks like the dude from Stray Kidz wasn’t able to see it just yet 😭
° 𐐪𐑂 But to you, who absolutely knew Soobin inside and out not mentioning the fact you dated him, could tell that boy was CLEARLY in envious pain watching this
° 𐐪𐑂 “Yeah, of course! I think we’ll be really great friends too! Maybe once our schedules are free, then we can meet up somewhere.”
° 𐐪𐑂  Subtly nodding your head to where the jealous bby was sitting, you hoped it would be enough for him to figure out in the meantime
° 𐐪𐑂 Felix, seeming to understand what was happening between the two of you, just chuckled handing you the tiny paper of his number in hands
° 𐐪𐑂 “Okay then! I hope we can be good friends in the near future. Just let me know whenever you want to hang out, and we’re good to go!”
° 𐐪𐑂 And with that, the other boy left, scrambling to catch up to his group which was already far away
° 𐐪𐑂 It was silent for a few minutes until Soobin heaved out another sigh, but it was instead one of relief once he saw that every staff and performer was out of the room for a little while
° 𐐪𐑂 “He obviously likes you,” he muttered, sticking out his bottom lip to create the most precious pout you had ever seen, “it’s not fair at all... why does everyone have to like my significant other?”
° 𐐪𐑂 You just smiled knowingly at his tone and pulled him up from the floor-- did he always feel like this whenever someone asked you for your number?
° 𐐪𐑂 Taking his fluffy cheeks in your hands, your thumb rubbed against his cheekbone before booping his nose with a teasing touch
° 𐐪𐑂 “Soobin, I love you, silly. There’s no one who can ever compare to you, okay? It’s alright to get jealous sometimes, but
° 𐐪𐑂 He puffed out an amused chuckle through his nose, satisfied at the answer you gave him, smirking that omg smirk that really had your heart beating too swiftly like the first time you met him
° 𐐪𐑂 “I’m really lucky to have you... I swear every single person on this Earth is in love with you? But now that you’re encouraging me like this, I feel just fine. But... just in case, could you promise to stay by my side forever, please?”
° 𐐪𐑂 He held out his pinky finger, gazing at you expectantly as if to wait for your answer, but wasn’t it evident enough?
° 𐐪𐑂 It really was impossible to say no to those puppy dog eyes 😌
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최 범규:
° 𐐪𐑂 It wasn’t hard to miss that Jongho from Ateez liked you more than everyone else usually did
° 𐐪𐑂 Beomgyu could certainly tell
° 𐐪𐑂 Yes he was staring at the other boy’s reaction for some time (although it was mostly you) while your group was performing and he could see that same boy squirming with excitement whenever it was your turn to lead the stage
° 𐐪𐑂 Yes he was deathstaring him down when they shook hands, but at least he was polite enough to smile back when all the cameras were flashing in their faces
° 𐐪𐑂 And man... did he hate it as much as he tried not to show that jealousy itself
° 𐐪𐑂 Of course he thought nothing wrong of Jongho !
° 𐐪𐑂 Truth be told, he actually wanted to become friends with them since he found them to be such a talented and strong person who could easily break apples with just a flick of his wrist
° 𐐪𐑂 it intimidated him sure sskdsd like what if he was the apple in jongho’s hands instead...
° 𐐪𐑂 OKAY IM GETTING OFF TOPIC IT MUST BE BC ITS LITERALLY 2AM ON A MONDAY NIGHT
° 𐐪𐑂 But when it came to you.... Beomgyu really had no chill in wanting needing to protect you always like omg pls 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 The glares he sent poor Jongho who didn’t know the two of you were in a relationship was laughable man
° 𐐪𐑂 Maybe it was bc of his hairstyle he didn’t know 🧍 but he would for sure figure that out soon enough when he was brave enough to finally come talk to you after your performance~
° 𐐪𐑂 This choreo was exhausting but you were starting to get the use of it after tons of practice and performing !
° 𐐪𐑂 You were happy tonight with how it came out, so you were going to ask for your breathtaking boyfie how it looked in order to appease that weird craving for his opinion
° 𐐪𐑂 When you came to the backstage where everyone was congratulating you, you weren’t the very least bit surprised to see Beomgyu waiting for you
° 𐐪𐑂 but instead of the usual cheerful mood-boosting smile he had on his face, was the sour frown that had you thinking curiously in your head what the matter was
° 𐐪𐑂 Before you could even ask him what was wrong, someone cut in and you weren’t able to ask him just yet
° 𐐪𐑂 “Wait, Y/N, before you go! Can I just say that you did really well on the dance tonight? I mean you always do, don’t get me wrong, but I think you did extra amazing for this one.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Excitedly you smiled, whooshing behind you to see that it was one of your favorite idols from one of the greatest bands in the universe
° 𐐪𐑂 “Oh gosh, really? Thank you so much! I wasn’t planning on
° 𐐪𐑂 Under his breath Beomgyu muttered to himself as he was watching this, “oh look, here comes the boy trying to steal my bby..”
° 𐐪𐑂 gosh why is that hot to me i need some help-
° 𐐪𐑂 “Yeah, of course it was! I don’t know about you but you have to know that I practice that dance if I were you since I love it so much!”
° 𐐪𐑂 what.
° 𐐪𐑂 You were so taken aback that you just chuckled nervously before chatting a bit more
° 𐐪𐑂 A few more minutes passed by, and Beomgyu couldn’t stand seeing you laugh at all of Jongho’s terrible jokes
° 𐐪𐑂 To him it was as if you were forcing yourself to laugh at all his jokes, but that really wasn’t the case ksfjsk Jongho was just a funny dude
° 𐐪𐑂 But all that time you were worrying about your boyfie and why he was so sad :(((
° 𐐪𐑂 You hated seeing him in the corner by himself, looking at most likely nothing on his phone and you wanted to talk to him since there could be something wrong
° 𐐪𐑂 It seemed as if the clock saved you bc wow !! Thank gosh the time for Ateez to perform since you needed to help gyugyubear at onceee
° 𐐪𐑂 “Maybe we could switch numbers? Would it be okay with you?” He shyly suggested, something much more different compared to the confident aura he had earlier
° 𐐪𐑂 you would’ve loved to take time for that but noooo :(( beomgyu was getting his stuff and leaving??? IN FRONT OF YOU???
° 𐐪𐑂 “Umm, yeah!” You swiftly agreed, glancing back at Beomgyu who was about to leave from your sight, “but I have to go! I’m so sorry, maybe next time?”
° 𐐪𐑂 poor dude was feeling very confused when you ran away just like that??? but he got over it by shrugging and going onstage since he had better things to worry about skdfjs
° 𐐪𐑂 Hurriedly you went off to Beomgyu, tugging onto his arm so that he’d pay attention to you
° 𐐪𐑂 It took a few tries thanks to the pettiness he was trying to pass off, but eventually you did it... somehow
° 𐐪𐑂 “Is there anything wrong?”
° 𐐪𐑂 “No. There’s nothing.”
° 𐐪𐑂 “Nothing? Are you sure?”
° 𐐪𐑂 “Positive.”
° 𐐪𐑂 “Beomgyu, just tell me what’s wrong, dude 🧍.”
° 𐐪𐑂 “That’s it, you’re calling me dude and I don’t like it all 🥺.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Wait, was that just it 😭😭?? You wanted to die right then and there after worrying so much for nothing and being so tense during your conversation with Jongho
° 𐐪𐑂 “Wait, Gyu, are you being serious? So nothing was the matter?”
° 𐐪𐑂 Well now he couldn’t lie to you :(( at first he was going to act like he was fine but with the way you were looking at him :(( he simply couldn’t !!
° 𐐪𐑂 “Fineee. I’m jealous, and I don’t like it because he’s so close to you. I can’t help it sometimes since I tend to overthink too much but I know you love me since we’re together but I just-”
° 𐐪𐑂 CHUUU !! CHUU !!
° 𐐪𐑂 Seeing him panic and ramble on and on, you cupped his cheeks and pressed your lips against his so he wouldn’t have to be that anxious anymore
° 𐐪𐑂 As much as you loved hearing his voice, you didn’t like it when he got sad about your relationship... so hopefully a little kiss would do the trick?
° 𐐪𐑂 AND YESSS IT WORKED YOU GOT THE BOY EVEN MORE WHIPPED FOR YOU PLSSS 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 After a few seconds you pulled away, much to his disappointment but he was more than happy enough you did that thooo 😏😏
° 𐐪𐑂 “Ahh my bby!! I don’t love him!! I love you!! And so much at that!! I’m glad you trust me with your feelings and told me this, but you always have to remember that my heart belongs to you, okay? It’ll always be and I know you know that too,” you sighed while kissing him yet another time
° 𐐪𐑂 It was such a sweet moment but... how were you getting through this without him teasing you until now??? well surprise, surpriseeee
° 𐐪𐑂 “If this is how you’re going to act every time I get jealous, then I better become jealous even more at this point~~”
° 𐐪𐑂 “Oh be quiet, Gyu, now the mood is ruined 🗿🗿.”
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강 태형:
° 𐐪𐑂 “Wait, Y/N... is that you?”
° 𐐪𐑂 From all of the clamorous chaos in the room, you were stunned to hear the familiar but relatively a much deeper voice compared to before in the same place as you
° 𐐪𐑂 It had been a while hearing it and you were tearing up just knowing who it was
° 𐐪𐑂 It couldn’t possibly be him... could it? A few years had passed since the last time you saw him so hearing him in the same workplace as you- well technically the - was almost too hard to believe
° 𐐪𐑂 But no, he was right in front of you, smiling like an angel as always- that same smile that was so contagious it made everyone else in the room light up
° 𐐪𐑂 “Jisung (from NCT)? You’re kidding me right now... But it’s been so long since I’ve seen you! Don’t tell me that I completely am missing the fact that you’re actually here? In this moment? Right now?”
° 𐐪𐑂 He only laughed at you, inching so much closer each second that you felt as if you were witnessing a delusion or something of the sort
° 𐐪𐑂 “No, it’s really me, Y/N! I’ve missed you... do you think we could catch up for a while? Just for a few minutes if that’s okay with you,” he offered, reaching his hand out to you
° 𐐪𐑂 You could only say yes after glancing up to see Taehyun’s reaction, but he just smiled- clearly encouraging you to go so that you could meet up with an old friend during your break time
° 𐐪𐑂 You hastily said goodbye, pondering if Taehyun was really going to be fine with it since you thought boyfriends would become suspicious of what other boys’ intentions were
° 𐐪𐑂 But thankfully, Taehyun being the best understanding boyfriend he was, plainly stated that it was more than great for you to go since you could talk to someone you trust
° 𐐪𐑂 but ahhh you weren’t sure- perhaps you really liked it whenever someone showed their love through jealousy (ofc not too over the top since that’s just toxic), and he didn’t seem to have any interest in becoming sad at all
° 𐐪𐑂 ++ Like you’ve noted before, he wasn’t one to get jealous since he trusts you very much ofc 🧍 but maybe.. just maybe...
° 𐐪𐑂 Your sliver of getting some attention and feeling love was shut down when Jisung brought you along to where he wanted to talk to you alone
° 𐐪𐑂 It was the clean white hallways where really nobody was ! The only people there were the two of you so you easily understood why he chose such a random spot like this
° 𐐪𐑂 And yea.. that’s where all of the getting to know what happened after training started and the two of you, curious to hear a few juicy details about whatever, were completely entranced in alllll of the stories you each had to tell
° 𐐪𐑂 MAYBE FOR LIKE 25 MINUTES OR SO????
° 𐐪𐑂 Taehyun sat in the other room scrolling through his phone mindlessly, but all the meanwhile wondering when you were going to come back
° 𐐪𐑂 He knew it was going to take longer than what he was at the very least patient for, but this long???
° 𐐪𐑂 The poor bby just moped around as he looked through moas’ comments, too bothered about you to answer any of them with a happy feeling
° 𐐪𐑂 And with you? You barely noticed the time, and so did Jisung as well
° 𐐪𐑂 You were both talking about random topics as well so when the line below appeared out of nowhere, there was no lie saying you were paralyzed with shock
° 𐐪𐑂 “You know back then... I’ve always wanted something more, but since we became idols it never happened. These days have always been work, work, and more work but I think that if we make it work, then we’ll be able to love each other well! And you do have the same feelings for me too, right? You told me just before I became a trainee so I never really got time to tell you that I felt the same way.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Oh, the way your jaw dropped when listening to him was just... something that should be hung in a museum
° 𐐪𐑂 W-was that a confession or....? 🧍
° 𐐪𐑂 “Y/N? Is everything okay? You seem to be... spacing out there.”
° 𐐪𐑂 But you weren’t 😭 You were dying inside thinking of how sudden it was and what you should say back???
° 𐐪𐑂 bc you already have a bf and he’d give the whole entire world just to make you happy 🗿🗿
° 𐐪𐑂 The familiar clacks of someone made you jolt, and from that scent you absolutely knew who it was right then and there
° 𐐪𐑂 “Taehyun, what are you doing here?” You whispered, getting up too quickly that could’ve showed how thankful you were for him to come and save you at the last second
° 𐐪𐑂 “Okay, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to eavesdrop on your conversation! But I had to come get you or else your one hour break would run out and the staff would get mad at you for not coming earlier.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Jisung shot a confused glance at you when your boyfriend kept whispering in your ear, so you just held up a hand to let him know
° 𐐪𐑂 “Ah, sorry, but I think I have to go now! But thanks for the contact, we’ll need to exchange phone numbers next time because I really enjoyed talking to you! You’re such an amazing friend; I’m sure that we’ll become even closer in the end.”
° 𐐪𐑂 If that wasn’t enough of a friendzoning response, then idk what is 😔
° 𐐪𐑂 Jisung shot you a soft smile, albeit you could see a bit of sadness in it... you felt bad but you didn’t have the heart to lead him on like that
° 𐐪𐑂 “It’s okay! Go ahead, it’s more than fine with me. And yeah, I guess we’ll talk more next time!”
° 𐐪𐑂 Without any word, you solemnly waved a goodbye before wondering if Taehyun’s words about the one hour break was really true when not that much time passed anyway
° 𐐪𐑂 “Is it already time for me to prepare? Thanks for letting me know, otherwise I would’ve been dead meat by now!”
° 𐐪𐑂 He didn’t respond, and you raised an eyebrow at his reaction after giggling yourself at your stupid joke
° 𐐪𐑂 “Love? Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
° 𐐪𐑂 It was certainly awkward right now, and you hated it more than anything but you couldn’t place your finger on what made him to act like this
° 𐐪𐑂 “Taehyun?” You tried yet again, running faster to catch up on his too quick pace that only dripped of hurriedness
° 𐐪𐑂 And just like that the boy stopped after you called him for the third time, ceasing you in your tracks just to look back at you with a grimace on his lips
° 𐐪𐑂 “You’ve gotten me all twisted, love, that it’s quite pathetic. And yes, I am totally jealous even though I know I shouldn’t be.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Oh... so that’s what it was 😏😏
° 𐐪𐑂 He never admitted he was jealous those other times either so this was just-- wowww 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 “My love, it’s you that I’m with,” you huffed, getting close enough to intertwine his fingers with yours, “and it’s you that I’m going to be with forever, whether you like it or not. You have no reason to be jealous since I completely adore you! I want to be with you, can’t you already see how much I’m whipped for you?”
° 𐐪𐑂 He didn’t answer for a few seconds like you expected, so you pretended to be sad and turn away
° 𐐪𐑂 But when you did, he immediately grabbed your arm-- something you weren’t surprised of since he was the softest boy at heart and couldn’t be too mad at you for too long
° 𐐪𐑂 “Love, don’t go! I’m fine, I already know that and I love you too... it’s just that-”
° 𐐪𐑂 “So you were jealous...”
° 𐐪𐑂 “N-no, I wasn’t jealous- you heard nothing!”
° 𐐪𐑂 You caught him off guard by kissing him on the cheek and booping him on the nose until you could see the softness of his cheeks turn crimson red
° 𐐪𐑂 “Awwe, you cutie. Now let me make it up to you by giving you my utmost attention until break is over!”
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휴닝가이:
° 𐐪𐑂 Ahh my bby Hyuka, i’m just so in love with him pls 🥺
° 𐐪𐑂 Well... speaking of which, who wouldn’t be in love with a sweet boy like him???
° 𐐪𐑂 Obviously not you, that’s for sureee 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 N E WAY--
° 𐐪𐑂 You just came back from performing one of your most popular songs and the adrenaline rushing through your body was enough to happily keep you on your toes as you
° 𐐪𐑂 You were really happy tonight and you were hoping to share that same joyfulness with the best boyfie ever, Hyuka who supported you in whatever you chose to do !
° 𐐪𐑂 Why though?
° 𐐪𐑂 Because this just had to be one of your best performances yet !!
° 𐐪𐑂 Like the way how you looked gorg on stage with your charismatic presence 🥺??? You knew it yourself that you looked amazing dancing and singing along with everybody... and the fact that they were fully enjoying it too was the true icing on the cake
° 𐐪𐑂 Kai must’ve seen it, huh? You were itching to see his proud smile and reaction of you since it would definitely make the passionate swelling in your chest boost 100%~~
° 𐐪𐑂 But right now, he wasn’t anywhere to be found :((
° 𐐪𐑂 Usually he’d be waiting at your dressing room whenever the two of you went to award shows together
° 𐐪𐑂 Or he could be at his dressing room and you asked the txt boys but... nooo he wasn’t there eitherrr 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 So... you decided to look for him ! He could’ve gotten lost, who knows ++ there could be some good food somewhere...
° 𐐪𐑂 Searching for Kai, surprise caught your features when someone with a very familiar face passed by
° 𐐪𐑂 Unfortunately it wasn’t your boyfriend whom you were looking for :((( but it was Jay from Enhypen and he seemed like a cool dude !
° 𐐪𐑂 I mean... you needed some idol friends anyway so why not talk to him ?
° 𐐪𐑂 Well, it all started with a polite hi and hello from senior to junior...
° 𐐪𐑂 The two of you ended up talking a little while that you ended up forgetting that your original task was to find Kai and ask him his opinion about your performance
° 𐐪𐑂 Somehow Jay made the conversation flow really easily and the two of you wouldn’t be able to stop talking to each other about literally everything
° 𐐪𐑂 It was like he was an old friend of yours and you were finally catching up... he was just that great of a dude yuh
° 𐐪𐑂 Maybe 5 minutes passed by...
° 𐐪𐑂 or 30, who knows...
° 𐐪𐑂 While Jay was talking, you glanced at the clock on the wall before him and almost gasped from how distracted you were
° 𐐪𐑂 LIKE HOW DID 30 MINUTES PASS BY THAT QUICKLY????
° 𐐪𐑂 and you promised you would get ready by then but now you spent all of your time talking to Jay when you could’ve been catching up with Kai 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 Although that itself wasn’t a bad thing at all, actually ~~
° 𐐪𐑂 You were more than happy to make a new friend in Jay ! And maybe the two of you could at this point be very good ones if you talked a lot in the future
° 𐐪𐑂 ++ You were happy talking to him, so if he was okay with it, then you definitely were !
° 𐐪𐑂 True to your words, you ended up talking to him a little bit more until he told you he needed some time to prepare for his stage
° 𐐪𐑂 A few goodbyes here and there passed between the two of you and he handed you his number to talk whenever you were bored to which you easily agreed
° 𐐪𐑂 And as promised, he was about to go as his shoes made some clickity-clacks against the spotless floor until-
° 𐐪𐑂 “Wait, do you hear that?”
° 𐐪𐑂 You just looked at him and knitted your eyebrows, confused as to what he was saying, “hear what?”
° 𐐪𐑂 and then BOOM! You could definitely hear it now???
° 𐐪𐑂 IT WAS KAI RUNNING OVER TO YOU, PANTING DRAMATICALLY AS HE SNEAKILY PLACED HIS HANDS ON YOUR SHOULDERS 😭😭
° 𐐪𐑂 You jumped at his touch a little, shocked to see him so suddenly when he was gone for at least 35 minutes
° 𐐪𐑂 “What is it, Kai? Is there something wrong?
° 𐐪𐑂 “No, NO! Nothing is wrong- I just need you to come look at this real quick!”
° 𐐪𐑂 Hurriedly Kai tugged you on the hand and you laughed loudly, following his lead to take you somewhere
° 𐐪𐑂 Jay laughed as well, waving towards your direction as the other boy dragged you along to another place
° 𐐪𐑂 “Alright, bye then, Jay! I’ll text you!”
° 𐐪𐑂 With the grin he was giving back, you were sure he would respond too
° 𐐪𐑂 However, that wasn’t really an aversion to what was going on rn 😭
° 𐐪𐑂 As soon as you were out of sight from everyone, Kai seemed to be a quiet mess, staring down at you like you were doing something weird
° 𐐪𐑂 The two of you were all alone now, but it was close enough to the staff’s room where they did your makeup
° 𐐪𐑂 Although it was pretty weird he was acting this way, considering he was a chatterbox whenever the two of you were together no matter what
° 𐐪𐑂 “What is it, Hyuka? What did you need to show me?”
° 𐐪𐑂 Because of the silence, you couldn’t help but wonder ! What he was thinking in that head of his- you couldn’t possibly be sure at all with the quietness all around you
° 𐐪𐑂 “I didn’t have to show you anything,” he finally responded with a blank expression, “I just had to get you away from a love rival who was obviously fighting for your love.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Well wow that was some bluntness-
° 𐐪𐑂 But a love rival??? You could completely understand why he was acting like this now- and it was all because he was jealous 🗿
° 𐐪𐑂 “Kaiiii,” you whined, pursing your lips tight together and bringing his hands into yours, “I’ve missed you too and I know we haven’t been talking much thanks to schedules but you have to know that I love you the most out of everyone here!”
° 𐐪𐑂 ._. <-- aka the same face he had while listening to you, so you went on
° 𐐪𐑂 You truly found this situation to be entertaining but you weren’t going to say it out loud ! Hopefully he would really see that you were being sincere though because you really did love him the most in the world :(((
° 𐐪𐑂 “Jay may be a great person and all, but you know that it’ll always be you that I choose. And why is that? It’s because you’re the one who stole my heart, not him, you fool.”
° 𐐪𐑂 Now the smile on his face was enough to convince him you were happy enough with the truth you gave
° 𐐪𐑂 Him believing you was one of the best feelings you’ve ever had and you were going to ask if he wanted some ice cream but he beat you to it, taking you by the hand and keeping you close by his side,
° 𐐪𐑂 “I absolutely do have the best bf/gf in the world... I just have to treat them with some ice cream after jumping into some weird conclusions! Also, what’s Jay’s phone number? I might talk to him instead 😏.”
° 𐐪𐑂 ...what were you expecting...
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Posted: 4/26/21- 3:00am
(it’s literally monday today and i have school 😭 i didn’t expect to stay up this late but oh well iggg 🗿🗿)
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lunarfeat21 · 2 years
Text
Malevolence
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Excerpt
The forest is little to untouched by any negative connotation made from mankind. End of story.
That is until this night, they become a witness to something wicked. Right in this very ravine they’re in as they become silent when a sense of dread approaches.
———————————————————
Chapter 1 - The Finding
Eyes are ahead on the path they’re in, the brightness of the moon shone the way like a giant flashlight in the dark sky with little stars it gives.
A grimace face is what he had, fear and regret had been with him all day.
“Jack” the girl spoke then yawned.
“Yeah Miko?” The fellow Jack replied as he too yawned, must have caught Miko’s yawn or he’s tired as well.
“Do you know where we are at this point? We never ventured into this part before.” Despite being exhausted, she didn’t hide her worry as if she was afraid.
“No.” Jack once more as he expressed his concerns, also acknowledging the fear.
“Good, I was scared to think they’d ever find us after today.”
“Let’s not mention it out here until we find a safe place.”
The sound of rocks crumbling underneath their soles as they hiked on the stony hill, along with the crunching of dead leaves and twigs.
A soft snore from the small boy being carried by the older in his mid teens on his back, Jack chuckled to lighten the drowsy mood, then fell back to silence.
It was usually peaceful in this forest, nothing dark or tragic ever happened day or night. No murder, no missing persons, no strangely activities, no legends, nothing. Just nothing ever happens in Jasper beyond this wilderness. 
Cue to the wind howled above the tree lines as they made their creaky, and wispy talks. Crickets and other nightly sounds recite their traditional songs, like they knew it for their lifetime and handed it to later generations on.
Just then a very loud crack echoed through the forest as the night silence, it sounded very close as both Miko and Jack jumped while Miko let out a shriek which in turn woke the small boy and he screamed.
Miko quickly covered his mouth and the three were dead still, stilled as statues as the crash stopped. They hear their faded hearts pounded as the adrenaline rushed, dreading that the horror might come out and snatched them. However, they synchronized and hid in very dense bushes like scared prey items for an unknown predator out there.
They know deep in their guts that there is more than one predator, and it confirmed the fear when two voices echoed along with a series of beeps and boops.
It sounds like the unidentified trio are arguing by the indication of volume, tone, and aura it gives. Notably the contexts of the voices are from a male and female, the beeps are safely said to belong to another male otherwise.
At first it was a bit hard to decipher what they’re talking, however it grew louder and louder as heavy metallic footsteps were heard just 15 ft away just down the path opposite from where the kids were.
Jack, Miko, and the little boy with them in the thickets watched as a large leg from the femme came in view along with her group. They swear the air became thick to breathe, yet showing no struggle to move when the female spoke rather aggressively.
“You think we ever explain this to the children?! Tell me Bulkhead, why would they understand!?” Snapped a blue female robot at her green much larger male companion.
“Beep beep beeeep!” Another beeped which he was sandwiched between the two.
“I’m not sure about the other two,” inquired the green bot known as Bulkhead, rather in a gruff tone “but Miko does understand unlike your partner on the other hand Arcee.”
To top it off, his optics shifted towards the female in question. Now offended by his attitude, Arcee’s winglets shot up and began retorting back in a sassier way which irritated Bulkhead. Bumblebee, on the other hand, tried it butted in by beeping mid argument.
“Oh really, didn’t I recall one time that you nearly lost Miko in the mines?”
“Beep beep beeeep!”
“Hey now, it’s just a one time thing! There’s no need to rub it in like that time Jack mistaken Soundwave as you!”
“Beeeeep!”
The three children quietly snickered at the rebuttal, it brings such memories, the good and bad. It’s the adventures they won’t ever forget, nor their times in battle.
The light fondness is shattered by the shrill voice from an older woman, making them silent and grabs the attention of the bot trio. Emerging from the path the bots came is indeed an old woman, wearing an old and tattered gown that of a nun. 
The children immediately noted her clothing as odd, traditionally, the nuns wore black gowns with white caps to cover their head except the face. This old prune’s gown is a dusty ugly citrine yellow, and her white cap is extremely dirty that resembles brackish water. Her grayish wiring hair is peaking through the sides of her wrinkled face, her black pupils looked a bit big like she took some unknown substance.
“Oh no…” the small whispered dangerously to his companions.
“I know Raf, it’s her…” Jack muttered as he bats an eye at the mysterious lady.
“You know this lady?” Miko spoke as the little trio watched the lady scowl at the Cybertronians, mostly scowling Acree and Bulkhead.
“Yeah,” Raf began “meet Jasper’s infamous delusional exiled nun, the so-called ‘prophet of the universe’ alright.”
“A nun?” Miko gave the young boy an incredulous look “You must be joking, she’s no way a nun.”
“Yes she was.”
“Okay, what’s her case then?”
“That’s Mary Stoner, a nun supposedly appointed as the next fledged nun.” Jake softly spoke, batting his eyes periodically at the intruders outside of the thickets;
“However things went downhill after she lured and attempted to kill a child, she claimed that ‘God visited her in her dream one night, told her she was destined to be the next prophet, and all she has to do is sacrifice a child.’ You could imagine how it ended.”
Miko gave a hard blink as she sulked back in the thickets, and let her mind wander. Raf and Jack observe as the screaming ex-nun Mary makes hand gestures around, they both zero in to listen to the conversation.
“-and aside of you all yelping around like stupid youngsters! Which reminds me, did you locate the children!”
“No ma’am,” Arcee firmly answered, she can feel the angry tense aura from Mary along her growling in frustration. “However, I firmly believe that the sacrificial items hadn’t gone far. I can feel it in my spark.”
“Let’s pray for that and your spark!” Nun Mary barked “we cannot afford any more mistakes of this ritual, and we hadn’t that much trouble since some green oaf ‘accidentally’ showed the tools and ancient scripture to that loud pink brat!”
“Okay, I made a mistake! There’s no reason for you to flip the fragging lit off Mary!” Bulkhead retaliated, Mary and Bulkhead argued along with Arcee backing the old nun up.
“I’m not a brat.” Miko pouted, returning to her spot to hear the boy's verdict.
“Alright, they are distracted.” Raf quietly announced as the Cybertronians and nun continued to argue “this our only chance to make a quiet getaway.”
Without any further communication as the children silently back away to the deeper parts of the forest, now people like them expected each other to be like one dumb character accidently stepped on a branch or other typical horror senarios; surprisingly, none of them ever hear a crunch of a twig. To be honest, this is a bit too easy of a getaway. “Ha, this is too easy!” Miko muttered while tipping away, and in just any horror scenario when any moron. Saying anything ‘too easy’ can change real quick, and that’s what happened when an extremely loud crash from above it fell. 
An enormous branch clashed down along taking other smaller branches as it made a loud crash, right in front of the kids.
“Shoot.” Miko cursed.
To make matters worse, the heavy metallic footsteps and voices of doom echoed towards where the children are. They clearly heard the crash and Miko’s cracked voice.
“Do you hear that!” Nun Mary screeched as she ran with her bony thin legs  “I heard the loud brat, she and the rest of the items must be near! Catch them before they make a skit!”
“On it ma’am!” Arcee responded as she transformed to her earth alt mode in the form of a bike and she drove towards the runaway prize, in response to an upcoming party that they don’t want part of, but a unifying run from the blue bike. The three headed for any obstacle to buy their time, but ultimately slowed the pursuers. Well it definitely worked for one, it ended the insane old woman’s chase as she lost her breath, Bulkhead and Bumblebee passed by while snickering at the old prune’s misfortune, and it earned Nun Mary a sour attitude.
Weaving between large rocks and twisted trees, it was impossible to make sure none could catch them at the same time diving into claustrophobic spaces to their discomfort. Mostly to Jack in his case, it awfully reminded of that time when getting chased by Arcee’s archenemy Airachnid  just for his head as a specimen and giving her old rival a bitter medicine of Tailgate’s death. He shuddered at the memory of it, and had to remember this moment, instead of Airachnid, but replace her with his guardian.
Disgusting, but sad mental image.
“Jack!” the disoriented voice of Arcee called in his imagination, it sounded like her, but mixed with two other voices he recalled. “Jack!” she called again, this time faded with the other sources clear, it immediately sounded like Miko and Raf. That’s when reality hit him a bit too late as he crashed into the ground, skidding a few meters down then stopped. While he is a bit stuck on his version of switching chase, he fails to pay attention to the fallen tree caused by one of the Bots in the distance attempting to stop the kids in their tracks.
Groaning as pain spiked up, mostly around the necks as he felt small slips of liquid from the cuts when he cupped his hand around the wounds. Skidding beside Jack and helped back on his feet, Miko and Raf both gasped at the wounds then their eyes met Jack’s as a trickle of blood slid down from his forehead. “Oh my gosh, are you alright?” Miko asked while examining the wounds he sustained, while Raf expressed his concerns as he jumped and managed to nap Jack’s collar. “Does anything feel out of place? Are you breathing fine?”
Getting choked while shaked is not what he had in mind, grabbing both of Raf’s hands to stop him from his collar. Now that Raf stopped holding his collar while Jack finally caught breath, he replied. “Hey, I’m alright, besides the cuts and Raf’s grip.”
“Oh you’ll be alright.” came the crack from the Nun appearing out of the fog in the distance, following this unveiled series of the surrounding trees crashing right after another, blasted one by one from the Bots who came close as ever.
“Damn it!” Miko hissed as she and the boys huddled as the Autobots’ shadowed the light provided by the moon, a cackle from Nun Mary overhead.
———————————————————
“Soundwave, did you have any luck pinpointing the humans?” inquired the ever so fearsome, yet short patience of the Decepticon Warlord. It was rather unusual for the silver giant, speaking in some shallow appearance of concern when Laserbeak returned after a quick scouting in the forest where the children were apparently kidnapped. Maybe he should brush off the footage he and the other members saw, but for some reason he cannot ignore the fact how Prime’s warriors acted.
 Especially the rumors he heard about this Nun Mary character, he can’t point a digit why, but she and the children are what he is after. Once he had them in his possession, now the Autobots can’t fulfill the summoning of a sacred event. He and his Cause will summon an evil version of this ‘event’ just for power and immortality to rule Cybertron for eons to come. Oh he can feel Unicron pulsing through the Dark Energon running in his veins.
Now gazing back to his ever loyal friend, disgruntled when Soundwave gave a firm shake, a no is the answer he gave. A growl from frustration then came a sigh, closing his red optics, maybe Megatron accepted this answer. “Alright, you may continue to search.”
And with that while turning to deeper parts of the Nemesis, Megatron left Soundwave to continue his work at the deck. Hearing the loud footsteps faded, Soundwave turned to the direction he left, and after a few head swishes from the empty deck to make sure no one was in the room with him. Once he declared the room is empty for good, Laserbeak detached from her resting spot and immediately plugged her wires to the deck computer, and Soundwave typed away for mere seconds to reveal a red blinking dot on a geographical location somewhere on the mountains not far away from the Nemesis location on air.
These mountain terrains are extremely rough, but are good places for sacrificial ceremonies due to the region's abundance of cave systems. He deeply cared for Megatron as a close friend, but this time he drew the line, he had to mutely lie to him. Soundwave knows this, he knows what happened to those that are getting sacrificed, and he will not let history repeat itself. 
Laserbeak made a soft, concerning chirp for her master as Soundwave balled his servo, shaking violently as a horrid memory flew before Laserbeak detached the wires and returned to Soundwave’s chest to lock her resting spot. After a quick log off and left the deck, venturing outside the moving ship as the winds blew furiously, threatening anyone weak if they fell and being ripped to shreds. Soundwave is not imtimited, he plunges off the ship and transforms to a stealth jet and heads for the exact coordinates where the ceremony is held.
He must save them, he must save the children from becoming the next victims of this dark time. Even if the mission might cost a casualty.
———————————————————
[Chapter 2]
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becomewings · 3 years
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The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>
    BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 2 / 4
« pt. 1  |  » pt. 3
Introduction
JungKook’s and YoonGi’s stories are the first of the paid content in BTS Universe Story and are substantially more detailed than the episodes covered in part 1. As this led to longer summaries (4.2k and 3k), I have added “tl;dr commentary” at the bottom of the post after a section of additional thoughts. This commentary summarizes the parenthetical asides I made throughout the summaries and may be of interest as standalone reading to those who have already played the game yet would like to review its connections to the BU texts and MVs.
Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD
This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media
Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission
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The Boy on the Threshold
In this story, SeokJin works to uncover the motivations behind JungKook’s nightly street wandering, instigation of fights with thugs, and decision to jump from the roof of a construction site. He was aware of the “darkness” within JungKook but never thought that he would give up on himself. SeokJin is determined to find a way to make JungKook think “I want to live” on his own.
In the afternoon on 11 April Year 22, SeokJin drives by the crosswalk outside Songju Jeil High School. Spotting a grim-faced JungKook, he gets out to greet him. JungKook visibly brightens and pelts him with question after question, finally finishing with, “But how come you’re here at school?” If the player chooses the response “I came to see you” rather than “I was in the neighborhood,” JungKook seems a little disbelieving due to the coincidental timing but nevertheless pleased. SeokJin offers him a ride, thinking that JungKook will not carry out that night’s actions from previous loops if he gets home right away. In the car, SeokJin reminisces aloud about the day they all met. On 3 March Year 19, all seven boys arrived late on the first day at Songju Jeil High School and were scolded outside by the Dean. (Aside from the absence of extra students, this scene looks very similar to the BTS Begins Middle Scene VCR, including the detail of YoonGi arriving last. This VCR predates official BU content.) When the Dean spotted SeokJin in their lineup, he reduced their punishment of community service for one month to just that afternoon. After classes, the boys cleaned the annex. The old classroom-turned-storage room became their secret hideout where they enjoyed various activities like dancing, playing the piano, and spending time with one another. JungKook appears happy as they chat about their school days, although in one path, his face falls after he remembers when he and YoonGi were caught in the annex. SeokJin is concerned, but JungKook insists, “It’s nothing.”
They say goodbye outside JungKook’s house, but SeokJin watches to make sure he goes inside. JungKook hesitates before ringing the bell at the gate. His mom answers, surprised and at a loss by his unexpected arrival. She asks him to come back later because his father’s relatives stopped by, and the intercom cuts off before he can answer. (His mother remarried, so this is really his step-father and family.) SeokJin wonders if JungKook has no one to lean on at school or at home and if this is why he wanders the streets at night. He asks JungKook where he wants to go now. “The beach… the one I went to with you guys,” JungKook answers, then says he’s kidding when SeokJin hesitates, thinking about the night ahead. SeokJin invites JungKook home instead, hoping to keep an eye on him before he needs to save NamJoon at the gas station.
In his bedroom, SeokJin hastily takes down the map and notes pinned on the wall of the boys’ incidents around the city. After letting JungKook inside, he shows him a box of photos from their time together in school. While JungKook browses, a notification on SeokJin’s phone reminds him of Songho Foundation’s inaugural ceremony that evening. Songho Foundation is a scholarship foundation funded by his maternal grandmother’s estate, and his father formally introduces him on this occasion. SeokJin also receives a call from his father’s long-time aide, a man he refers to as Uncle JunHo, who instructs him not to be late to the ceremony. Claiming it won’t take him long, SeokJin asks JungKook to stay there and wait for him to return. He is worried about leaving JungKook alone but also concerned that bringing him to the gas station after the ceremony will make him late to intervening in NamJoon’s incident.
In the lobby of the hotel hosting the Songho Foundation Inauguration Ceremony, SeokJin recognizes many important faces from around the city: Song JunHo, his father’s aide; Seo HyunJung, the city’s deputy mayor; the CEO of Youngjin Engineering & Construction Company; a professor from Munhyeon University; and the Jeil High School principal, Jo JinMyung. SeokJin doesn’t want to cross paths with the principal but is drawn into a conversation with him, the mayor, and his father, Kim ChangJun. “Assemblyman! Congratulations on the launch of the scholarship foundation,” Deputy Mayor Seo says to Kim ChangJun. “I hear that your son has been accepted to Munhyeon University? You must be happy that he’s attending your alma mater.” Kim ChangJun shakes his head. “He still has a lot to learn.” She remarks that everyone knows how well SeokJin has grown up and inquires about his career plans. The player is presented with three choices: “I haven’t decided yet,” “I want to become a good person,” and “I want to become someone like my father.” SeokJin’s father continues to look grim while the others chuckle in response to the first two answers, but his expression softens at the third, which SeokJin knew would not rub him the wrong way. Deputy Mayor Seo proposes to Assemblyman Kim that they establish a regular meeting to discuss community development, mentioning that it would be better if he could invite the city’s prominent citizens and give a speech. Assemblyman Kim agrees, telling his assistant Song JunHo to make note of it. The ceremony concludes, and the guests head towards the hotel’s restaurant. SeokJin is wary of his father’s watchful gaze but impatient to carry out the rest of the night’s plans. While his father is surrounded by other people, he informs Uncle JunHo that he has to leave to work on a group project. SeokJin slips out of the hotel and heads to NamJoon’s gas station.
While SeokJin is gone, one of the photos in the box catches JungKook’s eye. It shows the seven boys sitting on a wall with the ocean behind them. (This photo resembles the shot in Euphoria at 5’32” except that they appear to be wearing school uniform shirts and slacks.) A flashback retells the afternoon of 12 June Year 19 when the boys cut school early and visited the sea, trudging over 3 kilometers under the scorching sun to find a boulder that is rumored to make your dreams come true. (The date is not specified in the game, but the memory closely follows this set of entries in The Notes 1.) Everyone collapses in disappointment when they can’t find the rock at its designated location. JungKook is tired but not as disappointed as the others—just walking there with them is enough for him, even though he often feels uncertain of his place among the group. He gets up on the pier railing, reflecting: “I’ve always liked walking on the edge of walls or on top of lines. Focusing on centering my gravity means that I don’t really think of anything else, and the boundary—not quite a part of either place—always felt like where I should be.” Balancing precariously, JungKook walks until someone grabs his arm. YoonGi scolds him not to do this. JungKook assures him that he will not fall but privately thinks: “YoonGi would often grab my arm when I walked on railings. The others would look after me, too, after seeing him do that. I liked their helping hands. It felt like they were telling me that I should go to them. That this wasn’t my place. Maybe their hands were why I walked on the railings.”
The story returns to the present in SeokJin’s perspective. He rushes back to his room after saving NamJoon and finds JungKook asleep, leaning against the bed with the photos still scattered around him. Feeling both relief and regret, SeokJin quietly coaxes JungKook to lay down and sleep more comfortably. JungKook wakes up and says he should go home after hearing that it’s past ten o’clock. The game cuts briefly to SeokJin’s father in his study with his aide. Kim ChangJun asks Song JunHo to fetch SeokJin, as he needs to know what goes on for the foundation. JunHo says that SeokJin must be entertaining a guest for the group project because he spotted an unfamiliar pair of shoes in the entryway.
Back in his bedroom, SeokJin is startled when his father knocks on the door. It’s rare for his father to visit the second floor of their home, so he let his guard down while chatting with JungKook. “F-Father.” Stammering, SeokJin flinches and gathers up the scattered photos. “Did you leave the ceremony early to waste time like this? Even lying to say you were doing a school project?” asks Kim ChangJun. His cold and reproachful stare suffocates SeokJin. When his father’s eyes scan to JungKook standing awkwardly at the side, SeokJin is plunged into a childhood memory. On 10 October Year 9, 9-year-old SeokJin hid a school friend who was being chased by scary men in his bedroom. His father arrived and asked if the boy was Mr. Choi’s son, saying people had come to take him. When Kim ChangJun ordered him to “be a good boy,” SeokJin froze and was powerless to stop his friend from being handed over. The following day, SeokJin was told his friend transferred schools. (This event is also depicted as the first entry of The Notes 1.) In the present, SeokJin struggles to think of an explanation, smothered by that memory and his father’s pressuring stare. JungKook timidly speaks up. “I was only here to visit for a short while. I was actually about to head home. Hey, I’ll go now.” SeokJin knows he can’t leave him alone yet and finally forces himself to move. “Father, I… I’m going to go out for a little while.” He runs outside, but JungKook is already gone.
The story cuts to JungKook’s perspective as he arrives in a familiar alleyway. He is thankful that SeokJin was so considerate to him but feels that he shouldn’t have gone to his home since it made things more complicated for his friend. “YoonGi even got expelled because of me… Why do I always mess things up for the people around me?” JungKook thinks. The player is presented the choice to either text SeokJin or call YoonGi. In the first path, SeokJin calls JungKook while he is mid-text and says that he’ll come pick him up, but JungKook declines, thanks him, and hangs up. In the second path, JungKook fiddles with his phone, wondering if YoonGi will be annoyed or even answer. He remembers when they crossed paths a few days earlier. On 7 April Year 22, JungKook heard a familiar tune while roaming the dark streets and saw YoonGi playing piano through a broken window of a music shop. YoonGi stopped and eventually staggered out of the shop without noticing JungKook reaching out to him. JungKook tried to play the music by memory, and suddenly YoonGi returned—just like their days at the classroom. (Note: In his 7 April Year 22 entry of The Notes 1, YoonGi is drunk and stumbling by an empty construction site when he recognizes a clumsy piano tune that he’d been playing “not long ago.” But when he runs to the music shop and finds JungKook, the text does not indicate that he remembers this is his second visit to the shop this evening. Additionally, the Wings short film First Love seems to reference some of the events of this night—or evokes YoonGi’s distorted memories of it, mingled with a representation of JungKook’s later accident.)
In the present (11 April), JungKook wonders if YoonGi is doing well. He has thought about him since their chance encounter but doesn’t have the courage to call him first. (The narrative paths rejoin here.) JungKook wonders where he should go now yet doesn’t want to think about anything. He stops in the middle of the road, and a passing car’s headlights make him dizzy. SeokJin arrives in the distance and shouts his name, but JungKook just thinks, “One more step from here. Just one more step, and everything ends.” He steps in front of the honking car. SeokJin calls him in the distance, and JungKook feels everything slip farther away. The glass shatters and the loop resets.
Awakening once more on the morning of 11 April, SeokJin vows to protect JungKook until the end. The memory of arriving too late as JungKook threw himself in front of the car reminds him of how he was also unable to protect his childhood friend when he was 9. He needs to devise a new plan, since JungKook practically ran out of the house when confronted by Kim ChangJun. The story cuts to that evening, with JungKook looking at the photo in SeokJin’s bedroom. This time, SeokJin ignores his phone’s buzzing reminder about Songho Foundation’s inaugural ceremony. He asks JungKook where he’d like to get next and, when he doesn’t have any ideas, offers him a tour of the university campus.
JungKook seems happier looking around the campus, the cherry blossoms in full bloom. SeokJin uses this opportunity to ask him if anything is on his mind and if school is going well. JungKook answers nonchalantly, but SeokJin remembers how grim he looked at the school crosswalk that afternoon. He asks if JungKook still hangs out with the other guys. “HoSeok and TaeHyung are working part-time jobs. The others… I’m not sure,” JungKook answers, expression darkening. SeokJin wonders if he shouldn’t have brought it up but still presses him. “How come? You should talk to them from time to time.” “But it’s because of me,” says JungKook. “The reason why YoonGi was expelled… It was because he was trying to protect me.” 
SeokJin either responds “It’s not your fault” or “Don’t think that way.” Following the first choice, JungKook insists, “No, it’s my fault. YoonGi wouldn’t have talked back to the teacher if I wasn’t there.” SeokJin shakes his head. “No, you couldn’t really do anything given the situation.” JungKook replies that he should have at least apologized and that he never had the chance to tell YoonGi he was sorry. “That’s how you felt, huh… I should’ve done more. I’m sorry,” SeokJin apologizes. JungKook shakes his head with a smile, but SeokJin knows that he doesn’t understand what he really meant. (Per events in The Notes 1, it is technically SeokJin’s fault that the teacher found them in the classroom.) If the second dialogue choice, “Don’t think that way,” is chosen, JungKook questions, “How could I? When it was because of me.” “No…” SeokJin is not brave enough to say that he’s the one to blame. The camera (i.e. the animation) starts wobbling as though SeokJin’s vision is swimming. “SeokJin?” asks JungKook in concern. “I should’ve done more. I’m sorry.” The episode ends with the same dialogue and animation of JungKook shaking his head with a smile, except that in the second path the camera is still wobbling from SeokJin’s perspective. (This is the only episode I noted in the game that has a slight difference in endings based on the player’s final choice, although it is essentially cosmetic.)
Episode 5 opens with a more detailed memory of 11 June Year 20 from JungKook’s perspective. The high school was holding an open house for parents. Not wanting to stay in a classroom, he wandered off and heard piano music drifting from the annex. JungKook slipped into their classroom hideout and settled down to listen. YoonGi continued to play without acknowledging him. The music helped calm JungKook—it seemed as though YoonGi understood how he felt and was trying to console him. The sound cut off abruptly as the door slammed open. “You rascals! What are you doing here?!” the Dean of Students demanded. He slapped JungKook, knocking him down. A flurry of verbal abuse poured over his crumpled form. YoonGi shoved the teacher’s shoulder and stepped in front of JungKook. “Wow, look at this kid… You put your hands on a teacher? You better be prepared, Min YoonGi.” With that ominous threat, the Dean departed. JungKook spoke from the floor. “Hey, sorry for making you—” “It’s nothing,” YoonGi cut in. JungKook wondered why he helped him. It was the first time someone had protected him, and he believed that he would never forget the view of YoonGi’s back. YoonGi asked why JungKook was smiling. “I don’t know.” Still smiling, JungKook touched his throbbing cheek. YoonGi stared at him before breaking into his own smile and sitting down next to him. They sat there wordlessly for some time. The feeling of growing closer to YoonGi made JungKook feel giddy the rest of the day. But YoonGi did not come to school the following day, and two weeks later, he was formally expelled. (The encounter with the teacher and YoonGi’s subsequent expulsion are also referenced in JungKook and YoonGi’s 25 June Year 20 entries in The Notes 1.)
In a brief interlude in the present (11 April at the university campus), SeokJin reflects again that he does not have the courage to confess to JungKook the real reason why they drifted apart. He walks with his eyes trained on the ground until JungKook calls for him to look at the cherry blossoms floating in the wind. The scene cuts to 30 September Year 20 for another of JungKook’s school memories. He stood outside the school’s annex, reflecting that his friends probably didn’t know that he went there every day. Although school was a place he found awkward and unfamiliar, their hideout was a space for him that put him at ease. On that day however, only HoSeok was inside the classroom, gathering up the items they’d left behind. JungKook realized that the time they spent together was now a memory and would never return again. (This is also an entry in The Notes 1.) Back in the present, SeokJin notices that JungKook looks grim once more and tries to improve his mood by asking if they should go to the beach. JungKook privately wonders: “Do you think YoonGi would go? And no one knows what’s going on with JiMin. Will we really be able to go together like we did then?” Holding up his pink camera, SeokJin says they should take a picture to commemorate the evening. They’re both smiling in the photo, and he hopes that they’ll all smile together again one day. After their campus tour, SeokJin walks JungKook home, ignoring the many calls he receives from his father’s assistant JunHo.
At the crosswalk outside the high school the next day (12 April), SeokJin reflects that staying with JungKook instead of attending the inauguration ceremony seemed like a good choice. He prevented JungKook from jumping off the building and stopped NamJoon’s incident too. But SeokJin wants to keep an eye on JungKook for a few days. While he’s waiting, the principal Jo JinMyung approaches and greets him, asking what brings him to the school. SeokJin tries to excuse himself, but the principal brings up the ceremony. “I thought you’d be there, but you weren’t. Did something happen? Why weren’t you there?” Caught off guard, SeokJin either answers vaguely (“I had something important to do”) or honestly (“A friend had an emergency and I couldn’t attend”). JungKook joins them slowly during the exchange, and the principal seems a little suspicious regardless of the player’s choice. In the “honest” path, he adds, “Next time, think about what's truly important before acting.” The paths rejoin when the principal smiles pointedly and mentions that he should call the Assemblyman soon. SeokJin wonders if Jo JinMyung intends to tell his father that he was with JungKook. Kim ChangJun did not approve of the time SeokJin spent with his friends even in school. “Father thinks it’s useless to have human relationships that don’t help you succeed.” When he and JungKook are in his car, SeokJin notices that the principal ominously watches them pull away.
Later that day, SeokJin meets with his father in his office. Kim ChangJun looks exhausted. Though they’re similar heights, to his son he seems like a massive grey wall. “Why didn’t you attend the inauguration ceremony yesterday?” he asks. SeokJin either lies (“A professor asked me to do something last minute”) or answers honestly (“A friend had an emergency and I couldn’t attend”). The ultimate result is the same: Kim ChangJun speaks after a long moment of silence. “The one thing I want from you is for you to be a good son.” “Yes,” says SeokJin. “I don’t think it’s a difficult task. You may leave.” As he exits, SeokJin hears him call Song JunHo and worries that his flimsy excuse will fall apart. Running into the principal may have made matters worse too. Despite his uneasiness, SeokJin has no choice but to keep going and trust that everything will work out. While NamJoon and JungKook are safe for now, he wonders if he can be a person for JungKook to lean on for comfort whenever he needs it so that he will not resort to such an extreme decision again.
SeokJin visits JungKook after school every afternoon the following days. On 15 April, JungKook asks if it’s okay for him to come like this every day. SeokJin assures him, “Yeah. I come to see you because I want to.” He observes that JungKook still seems to take social cues from him rather than acting comfortably, so he encourages him to either pick what they do next or where they should go eat. On 19 April, however, JungKook does not appear at the school gates. SeokJin tries calling him, only to learn that the number isn’t in service. Someone shouts his name, and HoSeok emerges from the Twostar Burger across from the school. “I had heard you were back, but I didn’t think I’d see you here in front of the school.” HoSeok digs a piece of paper out of his pocket, explaining that JungKook stopped by earlier. “He said he’s switching schools.” SeokJin asks where, but HoSeok doesn’t know. This has never happened before in a loop, and SeokJin wonders if he caused it. HoSeok hands over the paper, which JungKook requested be given to SeokJin. It’s a drawing of the cherry blossom tree they saw together, with a thank you note written at the bottom. SeokJin hopes that his suspicions aren’t correct.
Hunting for clues to JungKook’s whereabouts, SeokJin visits Jeil High School’s administrative office the next day (20 April). He receives slightly more information if he acts like he knows the Director of Administration, but as the student records are confidential, the man only reveals that JungKook transferred to a boarding school. On 30 April, SeokJin is summoned to his father’s office. Kim ChangJun asks him to sit down and continues speaking with his aide, Song JunHo. He confirms an upcoming appointment with the Deputy Mayor before asking, “Oh, did you take care of that incident?” “Yes. Do you mean the one concerning the Jeil High student?” JunHo responds. “I’ve taken care of the issue with the student.” Heart racing, SeokJin realizes that his father was behind JungKook’s transfer and deliberately let it slip as a warning to him. On their way out, Uncle JunHo adds, “SeokJin. You do know how difficult it was because you didn’t attend the inauguration, right?” SeokJin promises that he’ll be at the next meeting. Back in his bedroom, he decides that he made the wrong choice in this loop. He wanted to be someone JungKook could always come to, but instead he pushed him farther away. HoSeok calls him at that moment. Voice wavering, he relays that JungKook has disappeared. Some of his classmates stopped by the restaurant that day, inquiring if anyone talks to him often.
The story cuts back to 25 April with JungKook in class at his new school. His mom likes the dormitory here, and he suspects that she feels more comfortable without him at home. School, home, the dorms—he doesn’t belong in any of those places. While pairing up the students, the teacher notices that they have an odd number now and asks JungKook where he wants to go. He closes his eyes and remembers a voice: “JungKook, let’s all go to the ocean.” He thinks, “I want to go…” The scene jumps to JungKook walking towards the ocean shore. The glass shatters.
SeokJin opens his eyes on the morning of 11 April. He wonders what caused the loop to reset and assumes something must have happened to JungKook after he transferred schools. Again, he could not keep his promise of getting them all to the ocean. The episode ends with SeokJin sitting atop the seaside observatory at sunset. (This is a key location on 22 May Year 22, recurring in The Notes and depicted in the HYYH On Stage: Prologue short film and Euphoria MV. It looks the same in the game.) SeokJin ruminates on what may have happened to JungKook and where events started going wrong. He thought he could be the person JungKook needed to lean on, but he failed. This arc concludes with him wondering: “Was my method wrong? Or is it not supposed to be me? Maybe… If the person who’s supposed to console JungKook’s scars and be there for him isn’t me… Then, who can save JungKook?”
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The End of His Gaze
SeokJin’s main challenge in saving YoonGi is the unpredictability of his actions between loops. The opening of this story is no different. On 2 May Year 22, SeokJin chases YoonGi after he leaves his workroom with a heavy bag but loses sight of him in the streets. As soon as he picks the nearest motel, black smoke pours from one of its windows. (The sign matches the motel in YoonGi’s scenes of the I Need U MV.) YoonGi ignores the commotion outside the room’s locked door. Once again, SeokJin is too late, and the glass shatters, resetting the loop.
Waking in his bedroom on 11 April, SeokJin considers how YoonGi backs himself into a corner no matter how or when he tries to intervene. It’s different from the incident with NamJoon because no outside person or situation is involved. SeokJin realizes that if YoonGi’s struggle and variables that make his decision so unpredictable are within him, then the only way he can stop YoonGi is by truly understanding him. He takes out his old camcorder from high school, hoping its footage may reveal some clues. In the first video clip he plays, YoonGi is off in the corner of their classroom hideout drawing music staves but speaks up to tell HoSeok and TaeHyung not to play a prank on JiMin. SeokJin wonders if YoonGi still writes music and remembers the piano in his workroom. In the second video, TaeHyung quibbles with NamJoon, who is tired yet refuses to take a nap until YoonGi pushes some desks together and tells him to lie down. SeokJin focuses on YoonGi for the rest of the video, but he is either motionless or off camera. He finds a similar challenge within his photographs: he has less than ten solo photos of YoonGi, and though his face is visible in group pictures, he is never looking at the camera. Still perusing the photos, SeokJin overhears voices from the camcorder. “It being here is a secret. Okay?” TaeHyung whispers to YoonGi. “What’s a secret?” SeokJin in the recording asks. TaeHyung and YoonGi, standing by the piano, both whip around. TaeHyung dismisses it as nothing and shushes YoonGi when he asks, “Why are you hiding something like that?” In the present, SeokJin wonders what they hid in the classroom and decides that it’s worth investigating in case it can help him save YoonGi.
On 15 April, SeokJin visits their old classroom hideout at Jeil High School, which is still being used as a storage room. The player can choose from a total of four locations to explore, provided they select the piano last. SeokJin identifies his father’s name alongside the message “Everything started from here” on the graffitied wall (he first saw this note in his 25 June Year 19 entry from The Notes 1). Even after thoroughly examining the piano, he does not find YoonGi and TaeHyung’s secret or anything else useful. Uneasy at leaving YoonGi alone for so long, SeokJin leaves the school and parks in front of his friend’s workroom. YoonGi appears to be safely inside, so SeokJin browses through the old video files on his camcorder and finds one that continued recording after he thought he had pressed the stop button. Listening to his and YoonGi’s voices, he recalls a forgotten memory of the day they walked out of school together.
The majority of episode 3 plays through a memory of an afternoon that SeokJin and YoonGi walked out of school together (date unspecified; this event is also referenced in YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry from The Notes 2 and the similar Note accompanying Map of the Soul: 7). SeokJin receives a text summoning him to the principal’s office. The office is empty yet suffocating when he arrives. Principal Jo JinMyung arrives and apologizes for making SeokJin wait. SeokJin looks down, heart suddenly heavy. The scene cuts to YoonGi entering the storage classroom as he thinks about all the days he doesn’t feel like going home. It’s not a comfortable place for him, yet there’s nothing for him at the school either, except for the group’s hideout. He feels awkward in the oddly quiet room and puts some sheet music on the piano’s rack. But when he thinks about how no one is there requesting songs from him, he can’t bring his hands up to the keys. The flashback transitions back to SeokJin’s perspective following his meeting with the principal. As expected, the principal wanted him to report on YoonGi’s behavior. SeokJin spoke carefully so as not to tip him off about anything, but he hears internal whispers calling himself a hypocrite even when he’s laughing with his friends. Fretting over how much longer he can protect YoonGi, SeokJin runs into him at the classroom hideout’s door. He hopes YoonGi doesn’t notice how flustered he is, but YoonGi doesn’t say anything beyond confirming that he’s heading home. SeokJin tries to strike up a conversation as they walk out together, but the conversation awkwardly fizzles out whether he brings up food or the weather. YoonGi points out that his phone is buzzing, and SeokJin’s camcorder falls from his bag as he looks for it. YoonGi waves him off when SeokJin films him to test that it still works. He sheepishly lowers the camcorder and forgets to turn it off. YoonGi breaks the uncomfortable silence when they are almost across the field. “Is something up? You didn’t look very happy earlier.” Heart pounding, SeokJin tries to laugh off this sharp question with an excuse, but YoonGi stares straight at him. “You’re awkward too, SeokJin.” “What is?” “Your laugh.” YoonGi pauses before continuing, “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?”
The scene fades back to the present in SeokJin’s car (15 April). He can’t make out the rest of their conversation in the recording or remember what he answered. He wonders why YoonGi asked him that. SeokJin was always tense then, afraid that his friends would learn of his meetings with the principal. Did the others notice, too? While he’s lost in these thoughts, someone outside shouts, “Fire!” Flames erupt from YoonGi’s workroom. Realizing he should have focused on YoonGi and not the video, SeokJin runs into the building. As he tries to open the locked door, he hears the glass shatter.
The fourth episode opens on the night of 11 April with SeokJin watching JungKook and YoonGi walk away from the construction site and towards NamJoon’s container. A few days later, SeokJin spots JungKook on the sidewalk on his way to YoonGi’s workroom. When asked where he’s going, JungKook avoids his gaze and replies, “I was just… walking around.” SeokJin knows this is because he has nowhere to go. Not wanting JungKook to keep wandering and remembering that he was once close with YoonGi, SeokJin invites him along. The perspective switches to JungKook as they enter the workroom. It reeks of alcohol, and YoonGi is fast asleep among empty bottles. “YoonGi… will be okay, right?” he asks. SeokJin picks up the bottles without responding. A memory from their school days occurs to JungKook. TaeHyung chased him around their classroom hideout, trying to snatch his sketchbook and succeeding when JungKook found his escape unintentionally blocked by YoonGi standing in the doorway. JungKook was dismayed when YoonGi called TaeHyung over to the piano so they could look at it together, but then YoonGi deceived TaeHyung and threw the sketchbook to JungKook. In the present, SeokJin doesn’t want to waste time while YoonGi sleeps. He taps a lost-in-thought JungKook on the shoulder and says they should leave, but JungKook responds that he will stay until YoonGi wakes. 
Back again at the classroom hideout, SeokJin hunts further around the piano. He uses an old mop handle to fish out a piece of paper from underneath it. The hidden secret turns out to be TaeHyung’s abysmal math test. Dejected, SeokJin slumps to the floor. On this level, he notices a small handle on the piano’s lower panel and uses it to pop off the cover. Faded music sheets are wedged into the piano’s frame. A phrase on one of them catches SeokJin’s eye. (함께 라면 웃을 수 있다 : The Korean is not translated in game, but Google translates it as “if we are together, we can laugh.” This recurring phrase is instead translated as “we can laugh when we’re together” in The Notes 2. In YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry, he also reflects on finding the note written in the margins of the music scores he took from the classroom. The handwriting isn’t his own. Additionally, a similar sentiment is expressed in a line of You Never Walk Alone, which is the basis for one of the BU-inspired Graphic Lyrics books.)
This message reminds SeokJin of YoonGi’s question: “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?” “This moment is the answer to that question,” he thinks, initiating a flashback to 20 March Year 19. The boys gathered around HoSeok in the classroom, chattering excitedly about the new club he’s leading. TaeHyung jokingly called him “Mr. President.” HoSeok told him only members could call him that before asking YoonGi if he wanted to join. “I’ll allow you to join without an audition, but only you.” TaeHyung exclaimed that he was just trying to get YoonGi to call him president. “Oh, it was obvious?” HoSeok chuckled. “Acting up again, huh?” YoonGi spoke up from the corner. The memory fades, returning to a pensieve SeokJin. He clearly remembers YoonGi’s face as he laughed with the others. “When did we stop laughing? Did it start that day, when I ruined everything?” SeokJin wonders. “It’s my fault,” he says aloud, standing there with the sheet music in hand until the sun begins to set. (Note: the date of the memory may be a typo. On 20 March Year 20 in The Notes 1, TaeHyung overheard SeokJin in the classroom informing the principal of the trouble he and YoonGi had gotten into. SeokJin realized that NamJoon heard it but not TaeHyung, who remained hidden out of sight and then pretended not to know. It’s not impossible that this memory really occurred in March Year 19, but most of them had only met at the beginning of that month.)
On the night of 15 April, SeokJin follows YoonGi at a distance from his workroom to an alleyway bar. (It is possible but not entirely clear that this is the same day SeokJin found the sheet music at the classroom, which is why I did not specify the date earlier.) It appears that YoonGi visits this bar often since the owner asks him if he has money today. SeokJin sits at a table behind YoonGi and watches him knock back shot after shot. Deciding that he shouldn’t leave him alone any longer, SeokJin musters up the courage to join him. YoonGi doesn’t look surprised to see him. He smiles before looking down again. SeokJin attempts a natural conversation to catch up. YoonGi asks why he didn’t come along the night when everyone got together at NamJoon’s container. “It’s been awhile since we’ve all seen each other, and JungKook… Never mind. You were probably busy.” SeokJin apologizes and inquires how JungKook is doing, then turns the same question on YoonGi when he replies that he doesn’t know. “Anything new with you?” SeokJin presses when YoonGi avoids his gaze. “Well, as you can see.” YoonGi dodges a direct answer.
The restaurant owner brings them a second glass. They are quiet in a restaurant full of chatter. SeokJin brings up the past to break the awkward silence, asking if YoonGi remembers the day they walked out of high school together. “Why do you ask?” says YoonGi. SeokJin explains that he remembered what YoonGi said to him that afternoon. “I want to ask you the same thing you asked me then.” SeokJin is nervous but continues, not wanting to waste this opportunity. “When was the last time you genuinely laughed?” YoonGi is silent for a moment. “Who knows.” SeokJin encourages him to think about it. “What good is it whether I remember or not? It wouldn’t change things now, even if I remembered.” YoonGi’s refusal to express his feelings upsets SeokJin more than his indifferent tone. “I just wish he would open up to me so I could figure out… anything. If only I could tell him,” SeokJin thinks. His internal narration continues over a shot of him in high school looking at his phone: “Or maybe… If I went back further in time, mustering up the courage to protect my friends, and prevented YoonGi from being expelled. If I did, maybe now we’d be…” “What’s with that expression?” YoonGi’s voice snaps him into the present, and he stares at SeokJin the way he had when they walked home from school. “Nothing, just… I feel like it’s been a while since I last saw you and I’m wasting time with useless subjects. It’s nothing—” SeokJin tries to laugh it off, but YoonGi interrupts. “You’re the same as always… There’s something there in your expression, but you say that it’s nothing.” This remark hits hard, rendering SeokJin speechless.
YoonGi’s words echo in SeokJin’s head even after he arrives home later that night. How did YoonGi notice what SeokJin thought he kept well-hidden? He once viewed YoonGi as someone who was indifferent to the world and trying to distance himself from everything. It dawns on SeokJin that he is mistaken. He opens his camcorder, hoping to see something new with this changed perspective. A recording plays in which he, YoonGi, and JungKook are the only ones present in the classroom hideout. When YoonGi starts playing piano, JungKook gets up from the desk and carefully stands by him. YoonGi doesn’t seem bothered and continues to play. Suddenly, he stops. “You wanna try?” In the present, SeokJin wonders why he asks JungKook that out of the blue and replays the footage, feeling like he missed something. This time, he notices that JungKook begins chewing his nails before YoonGi asks him. “Can I?” says JungKook. “Why not? It’s not my piano or anything. You can play if you want to.” At YoonGi’s words, the color returns to JungKook’s face and his hands drop from his mouth. SeokJin watches a little more of the video. As the recorded YoonGi patiently corrects JungKook’s wrong notes, he realizes that YoonGi doesn’t merely ask JungKook to play on a whim but out of respect for him.
SeokJin turns his attention to his box of photos. The player can choose up to three to examine. SeokJin realizes that YoonGi is a little further behind the group and not looking at the camera not because he feels left out or is avoiding attention, but because he is always watching how they are all together. YoonGi knows us very well, he thinks. He stopped JungKook from biting his nails by asking him to play the piano rather than acknowledging it directly. He saw through SeokJin and recognized when his laughter wasn’t genuine, even after several years apart. SeokJin thought that YoonGi wanted to give up everything, would never open up to anyone, and experienced feelings that were impossible for him to understand. “But if we were the ones to make YoonGi laugh… It may be possible to save YoonGi,” SeokJin reflects. With more determination, he vows to save him. “I’ll save him no matter what, because we can laugh when we’re together.”
SeokJin visits YoonGi every day after their meeting at the bar, responding that he’s making time to see him when asked if all university students have this much free time. They grow more accustomed to each other’s company, but SeokJin’s glimmer of hope fades as alcohol and aimless wandering continues to fill YoonGi’s life. Since just visiting YoonGi’s workroom seems meaningless, on 24 April SeokJin decides to show him the sheet music he found in the hideout, hoping it will encourage him to resume songwriting. Upon seeing the music, YoonGi has a flashback to 25 June Year 20, the day he received the school expulsion notice. He ran immediately to the classroom and played the piano as though possessed. The anger refused to settle. He shoved all of his sheet music into the piano and vowed to never play the piano again. In the present, YoonGi asks, “Where’d you find this?” At his cold expression, SeokJin wonders what he’s done wrong and explains aloud that he just happened to find it in the hideout’s piano. The papers fall from YoonGi’s hand, scattering across the floor. “Leave,” he spits. “What? Min YoonGi, what’s going on?” SeokJin asks. YoonGi shoves him. “Just leave.” “Don’t do this, let’s talk for a moment,” SeokJin tries again. But YoonGi replies, “I have nothing to say to you.”
YoonGi avoids him after that. On 25 April, SeokJin calls him numerous times without any answer and finds only torn sheet music and empty bottles in his workroom. He remembers YoonGi’s last words to him and says aloud, “It can’t be. No way.” An ominous thought crosses his mind, but he forces it out to focus on recalling something from memory. The story cuts to him running down a street, trying to figure out where YoonGi went to set the fire in the last loop. (It is never clarified what SeokJin’s “ominous thought” is—it may refer to YoonGi setting a fire or possibly even a suspicion that YoonGi figured out SeokJin was involved in his expulsion.) SeokJin finds the same motel (the one with the sign like in the I Need U MV) and rushes upstairs in a cold sweat. Faced with a hallway of identical doors, he doesn’t know how to locate YoonGi’s room. Whether the player chooses for him to call out to YoonGi or “think of something else” (which results in him pulling the fire alarm), the result is ultimately the same. SeokJin forces open the last closed door with a fire extinguisher, but the room is empty. Filled with regret, SeokJin wonders what he has done wrong. “Like an idiot, I… I knew that the location and method of YoonGi’s attempt could change, and yet…”
“Fire!” someone yells. The motel across the street erupts in flames. “No! Please…” SeokJin begs, falling to his knees. “How can I stop this tragedy? … Am I not enough to stop it?” The story ends as he hears the glass shatter once again.
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Additional Thoughts
For me, JungKook’s arc really draws back the curtain on SeokJin’s private life. It demonstrates SeokJin’s challenge to balance saving his friends and maintaining his own daily life, particularly fulfilling the duties that fall to him as a prominent assemblyman’s son. We see little of this side of him until The Notes 2, when his perspective has already drastically changed.
JungKook’s reflection about his habit of walking along the edges of walls is an interesting moment of self-awareness. This “tightrope-walking” is depicted frequently in the MVs.
The car accident and loop reset at the beginning of JungKook’s 4th episode suggests the possibility that the I Need U MV depicts JungKook deliberately stepping in front of the oncoming car rather than accidentally. (Maybe people have already interpreted it this way, but personally the thought had never occured to me due to how it’s shot and acted.) The car accident is a recurring theme in the loops for JungKook, particularly as he is struck the night of 22 May and comes to believe that it was SeokJin who hit him.
This internal dialogue of SeokJin’s from YoonGi’s arc gives me a lot to think about: “If I went back further in time, mustering up the courage to protect my friends, and prevented YoonGi from being expelled. If I did, maybe now we’d be…” SeokJin’s first experiences of the time loops are depicted in the Save Me Webtoon. At that time, he believes that 11 April is the date that he can begin fixing things, but it’s not clear if this ability granted by the cat-like creature truly gives him control over to which date the loop resets. (It is more obvious that he cannot control what triggers the reset itself.) Does he ever go back earlier? Only *ahem* time will tell, but if you want some more food for thought, please check out these interesting quotes that occur before 11 April Year 22.
As mentioned above, the following “tl;dr” commentary summarizes the parenthetical notes I provided in the summaries in case you want to review them on their own.
The Boy on the Threshold — tl;dr commentary
SeokJin’s flashback to 3 March Year 19, when all seven boys arrived late on the first day at Songju Jeil High School and were scolded outside by the Dean, looks very similar to the BTS Begins Middle Scene VCR (aside from the absence of extra students), including the detail of YoonGi arriving last. This VCR predates official BU content.
The photo in SeokJin’s collection that catches JungKook’s eye resembles the shot in the Euphoria MV at 5’32” (the seven boys sitting on a wall with the ocean behind them) except that they appear to be wearing school uniform shirts and slacks.
JungKook’s flashback to the night of 7 April Year 22 expands the context of his reunion with YoonGi, adding that he is drawn to the music shop by a familiar tune and through its broken window sees YoonGi playing piano. YoonGi doesn’t notice him when he staggers outside, and JungKook tries to play the music by memory. In his 7 April Year 22 entry of The Notes 1, YoonGi is drunk and stumbling by an empty construction site when he recognizes a clumsy piano tune that he’d been playing “not long ago.” But when he runs to the music shop and finds JungKook, the text does not indicate that he remembers this is his second visit to the shop this evening. Additionally, the Wings short film First Love seems to reference some of the events of this night—or evokes YoonGi’s distorted memories of it, mingled with a representation of JungKook’s later accident.
I mentioned in part 1’s introduction that every episode’s ending is identical regardless of the decisions made by the player, but the end of episode 4 is actually cosmetically different (a wobbling camera/animation effect) if the second path is selected for the last choice. The dialogue is the same.
The end of episode 7 depicts the seaside observatory. This is a key location on 22 May Year 22, recurring in The Notes and depicted in the HYYH On Stage: Prologue short film and Euphoria MV. It looks the same in the game.
The End of His Gaze — tl;dr commentary
The motel sign at the beginning and end of the story matches the one visible in YoonGi’s shots of the I Need U MV.
When searching the classroom hideout for clues on 15 April, SeokJin identifies his father's name alongside the message “Everything started from here” on the graffitied wall. He first saw this note in his 25 June Year 19 entry from The Notes 1.
Episode 3 presents a memory from both SeokJin’s and YoonGi’s perspectives of the afternoon that they walked out of school together. Although the date is unspecified, this event is also referenced in YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry from The Notes 2 and the similar Note accompanying Map of the Soul: 7.
On his second attempt at searching the classroom, SeokJin finds sheet music that was hidden inside the piano. A phrase written in the corner of one paper catches his eye: 함께 라면 웃을 수 있다. The Korean is not translated in game, but Google translates it as “if we are together, we can laugh.” This recurring phrase is instead translated as “we can laugh when we’re together” in The Notes 2. In YoonGi’s 2 August Year 22 entry, he also reflects on finding the note written in the margins of the music scores he took from the classroom. The handwriting isn’t his own. Additionally, a similar sentiment is expressed in a line of You Never Walk Alone, which is the basis for one of the BU-inspired Graphic Lyrics books.
SeokJin has a flashback of 20 March Year 19 in which the boys are excitedly chattering about HoSeok’s new club. However, given the larger context of this moment (both in the past and what prompts it in the present), the date of the memory may be a typo. On 20 March Year 20 in The Notes 1, TaeHyung overheard SeokJin in the classroom informing the principal of the trouble he and YoonGi had gotten into. SeokJin realized that NamJoon heard it but not TaeHyung, who remained hidden out of sight and then pretended not to know. It’s not impossible that this memory really occurred in March Year 19, but most of them had only met at the beginning of that month.
Did you learn anything new from these stories that I did not specifically mention? Let me know in the replies or tags! Please stay tuned for part 3, featuring JiMin and HoSeok’s stories.
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secret-engima · 3 years
Note
Here I am. The anon who enables. The enabler anon. Send forth your RWBY verses' rambles *opens arms wide to receive* (only if you want to of course)
ANON WHO ENABLES. ENABLER ANON. BLESS.
Wolfcury:
-Blake isn’t sure what to expect of her new teammates, but Ruby having a GIANT WOLFDOG is not one of them. It takes- a long time for Blake to not flinch and throw herself onto something high whenever Mercury shows up, even though he TRIES to not be a gremlin and bark or prank her.
-Weiss lasts maybe three days before she breaks out the baby talk. Because while Mercury is big he’s still a dog and we’ve seen how Weiss responds to Zwei. Mercury is annoyed by the baby talk and ignores her until Ruby convinces Weiss to “please just talk normally”. Then he will permit the scratching of ears.
-Weiss and Blake are both going to be SO SHOCKED (and upset) that Mercury is actually a person and they were never told.
-Ruby gets super into prosthetics and the building of them because of Mercury. She knows they can get him a prosthetic human leg, but it’s not going to transform into a wolf leg when he does. That technology just- doesn’t exist in that specific way yet. So Ruby decides at age ten or so that she’s gonna make one.
-Ruby: It’s transform when you do and it’ll be great and it’s also gonna be a *gun*.
-Mercury: Ruby I have teeth and claws, I don’t need a gun for a leg.
-Ruby, excitedly drawing prototype blueprints: GUNLEG.
-She does in fact build him a transforming gunnel with Velvet’s help. Mercury is a goodnatured Sigh.
-MercuryxEmerald is the eventual ship planned, and Yang teases him mercilessly for it once she’s sure Emerald is serious about defecting to the good guys. I’m also dabbling in Rosegarden (is that the ship name? OscarxRuby) because the idea of Ruby going from “ew crushes” to having one of her own amuses the heck out of me.
Always I Dreamed (Raven AU):
-Raven has a propensity for adopting things, as evidenced by Ozpin and later Emerald. But it doesn’t stop with them, and her habits are infectious. At various points in Yang’s childhood, she gets a gruff ex-assassin sibling from Mom (Mercury), two adorable cousins from Uncle Qrow (Ren and Nora), one angry older sister bandit (Vernal), a Cool Big Sister Figure with Fire Powers (Amber), and of also another Big Sister with Many Issues of The Anger that Raven carefully helps her work through. This particular big sister is a fav of Ruby’s because she can make cool toys from black glass.
-Yes Raven is fixit adopting Cinder
-No I didn’t see that coming either, neither did Raven. It just kinda- happened.
-Raven absolutely sings RWBY songs sometimes. Usually “Home” as a sibling lullaby for Qrow and later Team STORQ, then later All Our Days for her kids. But sometimes she can be heard humming other themes under her breath.
Azur verse:
-I’ve mentioned that Ozpin is a former Khara and proceeds to adopt Azur the feral Khara child, but I can’t resist touching on how Azur and Qrow meet.
-Azur is feral bby. He woke up in this world in the wilds and his Semblance (or magic, Oz is still not sure which it is) saved him from Grimm, and Azur tended to follow Grimm everywhere because they kept the other predators away. So this child is very feral when Oz finally coaxes him into his house. Azur is also protective and dedicated and knows that the only two people who come here are Ozdad and Housekeeper Lady.
-So when Qrow, very drunk and newly returned from a mission, decides to crash on Oz’s couch, Azur doesn’t have a clue that this is normal and fine. Cue Qrow being attacked and knocked out by a very persistent and angry 7-10 year old.
-Ozpin comes home to a trashed living room, a very proud Azur, and a Qrow who has been tied up using every bit of rope, string, or wire Azur could find and is nursing both a concussion and a hangover.
-Ozpin unties Qrow and explains he’s welcome here once he’s stopped laughing himself sick.
Dragon Yang:
-Yang really likes Ozpin. *Really* likes him. It’s not a crush or anything, but she went from a world soaked in magic to Remnant which has barely any left and it makes her feel off balance and numb. Then she goes to Beacon and the Headmaster HAS MAGIC. She can feel it. So she starts to heavily gravitate toward him when possible because he feels “normal”
-Ozpin, who has been the object of many school hood crushes, takes a bit to realize that Yang is not yet another student with a crush. And then he’s confused on why she keeps falling into his orbit when possible.
-He has no idea that in this magic-starved world, he is basically the living equivalent of dragon slayer catnip.
-Oznip.
-Ruby also thinks Yang has a crush and is thoroughly grossed out because *Yang he’s a TEACHER*. Yang just laughs at her baby sister’s discomfort.
Noctscar:
-Luna wakes up slowly, in fits and starts and dreams of rain and a knife in her side. She wakes up to the cold, to the loneliness, and then wakes up further because no child should have to deal with this.
-Luna wakes up when she is once again eleven years old and stares at herself in the mirror.
-Weiss Schnee, second daughter of Willow and Jaques Schnee, looks back. And looks *tired*.
-Her sister has already joined Altas academy and is on the fast track to the military, and though she loves her sister, it smacks greatly of Ravus from a lifetime ago and Luna cannot bear to look at Winter sometimes because of it.
-She dotes on her little brother, on poor Whitley who is neither stubborn like Winter or an old soul like Luna and yet is stuck in this abusive, neglectful household. She tries to shield him from mother’s blank stares and father’s sharp bursts of temper. She has lived with bruises like this before, better she take it than Whitley.
-When she is young, she hears on the news in school that there was a mining accident, that a great many Faunus died. While the rest of her classmates titter, one girl who Luna always avoided because she hung out with a crowd Luna didn’t trust, bursts into tears and turns bright blue. The other girls recoil. Luna sits down next to the girl and holds her hand, not hiding the tears falling from her own face at the thought of such massive loss of life.
-She never sees the Faunus girl again, but it is a wake up call. A reminder that something is very likely *wrong* with her father’s company. So she investigates.
-She is twelve the first time she sneaks out in a hoodie and a little painted theater mask. She makes it all the way down to Mantle, and there she reaches for blistered hands and weary souls. She is no longer an Oracle, but magic is of the soul and she remembers it well. When she calls, golden magic answers. She heals until she is exhausted, and somehow she manages to make it home without falling over or getting caught by Klein. She does it again, in between recitals and school and taking care of Whitley, she continues to sneak down to Mantle. Never speaking, never showing her face (they would hate her for her blood if they knew, she knows, reject her help if they saw her white hair and blue eyes), but always helping and healing where she can.
-The people of Mantle name her. Ghost, they call her.
-Moon Angel, the Faunus whisper. Helper, healer, lost soul.
-When she is thirteen, Luna signs up to a combat school despite her father’s disapproval. When Whitley clings to her in fear that she too will abandon him as Winter has (Winter visits to rarely, and always her attention rests solely on Weiss when she does and it makes Luna so *angry*), Luna tells him her plan. She will become a Huntress, and when she has her license, nothing will stop her from coming and taking him away from this place. She will be able to make money to provide for them, to free them from this cold palace of finery and recitals and empty wine bottles and bruises under their clothes in the shape of a man’s hands.
-When she is seventeen she applies to Beacon rather than Atlas, in defiance more than desire. She bids Whitley goodbye and promises once again to come back for him, he just needs to hold on a little longer.
-There is faith in his eyes as he waves her off. Luna died keeping her word, her duty, in another life. She will do no less here.
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walkerwords · 4 years
Text
“The Savior Sessions” Part 2 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader
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IMAGE CREDIT:  Gene Page/AMC
SERIES MASTERLIST
Summary: Part two of the Savior Sessions. Negan asks about how the reader met Rick Grimes and they have a question of their own. 
Word Count: 2231
Warning: None
Song I Wrote To: “Lost On You” by LP
Note: Thank you so much for the love on the first one. As I said before, these are just going to be uploaded at random, but I was having writers block so this came out of it while I work on my other works.
---------
It was early the next time you pushed open the heavy door that led to Negan’s cell. 
“Rise and shine,” you sang as you entered, biting into a fresh apple. Negan was already awake, sitting on the floor of his cell bouncing a tennis ball against the stone wall. 
“Have you always been so cheerful in the mornings?” Negan asked and then succumbed to a yawn. You smiled as you took your chair and positioned it once again in front of the bars.
“Absolutely not,” you answered. “Mornings were the bane of my existence before the world ended.” 
“What changed?” he asked. 
“Probably the fact that Walkers woke you up no matter what and if you slept in, you risked being eaten or murdered in your sleep,” you finished with a shrug. Negan just shook his head, already amused. “Oh, I got you something,” you told him and then dug into the bag at your side and produced another apple that you had grabbed from Eugene’s backyard. “Breakfast.” Tossing the piece of fruit through the bars, Negan easily caught it, turning it over in his hands. 
“Special delivery from my new favourite person? How did I get so lucky?” Negan asked as he took a bite of the apple. 
“You’re locked in a cell because you started a war with Rick Grimes, I wouldn’t exactly call that lucky,” you said. 
“Actually,” Negan said, getting to this feet, “he started it with me.” 
“Optics,” you said with a wave of your hand. Negan chuckled and collapsed onto his cot, watching you through the bars. 
“So, what has been going on with you, (Y/N)?” 
“Not much,” you said, “I was roped into helping Porter with something yesterday that I highly regret.”
“How’s that?” 
“Eugene needed some help scavenging for scrap metal and parts for some new radio he’s going to attempt to build. We went to an old office building about forty miles West and after looking for a couple of hours, he finally found what he was looking for…in the ceiling.”
“Oh no,” Negan said as he took another bite of his apple, clearly absorbed in your story. 
“And of course, I was the only one who could fit into the small space so I hauled my ass through the ceiling to grab his damn wires. I have never been a fan of small spaces, but this felt like I was crawling into my own casket. Not a fan and no matter what Eugene wants, that will never be happening again.” 
“Ah, Eugene,” Negan mused, “I do miss that weirdo. I did have a soft spot for him at one point.”
“Until he went all double-agent on your ass and blew up your bullets,” you said fondly as you remembered that particular day in the field. 
“Can’t win them all, (Y/N),” Negan said. 
“No, you cannot,” you agreed. Sitting further back in your chair, you crossed your ankles. “What about you? Anything interesting happening around here?”
“How would I know about anything that goes on in this postcard of a town?” Negan asked with a glint in his eye. 
“I know that you listen to us through your window,” you said, pointing to the small hole that offers him a peek at Alexandrian life. Negan smirked, leaning back against the stone wall, matching your position. “Out with it.”
“Very well. Gabe and Scott were arguing about something to do with the council. Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but Scotty boy isn’t on the council, right?”
“He’s not,” you confirmed, “but he’s one of Michonne’s right hands when it comes to security. Normal for him to have concerns. He’s practically Judith’s personal bodyguard these days.”
“As if Miss Grimes needs one,” Negan said with a smile. 
“You should see her when she used the sword,” you told him. “She looks just like her mom.” 
“Always knew she was a special kid,” Negan said. It was silent for a few moments as the two of you finished off your apples and basked in the quiet. Eventually, it got too much and you finally spoke. 
“I’ve been thinking about heading over to the Kingdom,” you said, “check in on the King.”
“That guy is weird as shit,” Negan said, “and what was up with the tiger?” 
“Shiva?” you asked with a grin. “She was incredible. Ezekiel was a zookeeper before the Turn and he saved her when she got hurt once. When everything went to hell, he went back for her and the two of them took on the Walkers together. Shiva was with him every step of the way.” 
“What happened to her?” he asked, noticing your use of past tense. “I didn’t see her after the day everyone rode in here.”
“Walkers got her,” you told him. “Ezekiel was cornered and she fought them off to save him, but there were too many of them.” 
“Damn,” Negan said.
“Yeah, tell me about it,” you said. Shiva’s death had hit you pretty hard when Jerry had told you. When you had met the big cat, she had immediately taken to you. Besides Ezekiel, only a few people were able to get close to her. Yourself, Jerry, Daryl, and Carol were those people and all four of you had mourned the loss of Ezekiel’s tiger for weeks after her demise. There was something so primal about hunting alongside the cat and as weird as it was, it felt almost natural to move through the new world alongside a predator such as her.
“So,” Negan said, snapping you out of your reverie. “What’s on the agenda for the day?” 
“That’s up to you. I’m just here as a sounding board,” you told him. 
“We both know that’s not true,” Negan said as he smiled at you. You shrugged and waited. Eventually, he sighed and gave up. “Fine, fine, I will start,” he said. “How about you tell me how you met the infamous Rick Grimes.” 
“I can do that,” you agreed and settled in for the story. “I met Rick the same day that he was reunited with his wife and son. Do you know what happened to him at the beginning of all this?” 
“No,” Negan said, intrigued, “do tell.” 
“Well, you know he was a cop, right?” Negan nodded. “Right, so before the Turn, Rick was shot on the job and he ended up in a coma. His partner, Shane, tried to get him out of the hospital when everything happened, but he couldn’t wake him up and so he left him behind so Shane could get Lori and Carl to safety. He barricaded Rick’s hospital room to keep him safe and then he left. Rick woke up well after the Walkers began taking over and he was all alone in the hospital.”
“Jesus,” Negan said, cringing at the thought. 
“He ended up meeting Morgan not long after and he explained everything that had happened.”
“Stick guy?”
“Yeah,” you nodded, “eventually, Rick made it to Atlanta to look for the refuge centers, but of course the city was overrun. He was pretty much screwed until someone saved his life and got him off the street.”
“Who was that?” Negan asked and you paused. You had tried not to think about Glenn now that you were tasked with speaking to the man who had murdered him, but now it was unavoidable. Negan waited while you tried to control your anger that swelled in your chest. 
“It was Glenn,” you said, “Maggie’s husband.” Recognition flashed in his eyes and his face fell, but you continued. “Glenn was just a kid then, but he risked everything to get Rick to him and got him to our group that was scavenging in the city. They’re all dead now, but they were good people. Well, all of them except for Merle Dixon, Daryl’s brother. He was a piece of work…”
“And what happened to him?” 
“The first time? Rick handcuffed him to a rooftop cause he was being a racist misogynist and then eventually Merle cut off his own hand to get away. The second time, this asshole we had problems with killed him and let him turn. Daryl had to put him down.” Negan’s brows rose at that, but he didn’t interrupt. “Eventually, Glenn, Rick, and the others got back to our camp at the quarry, and Rick, Lori, and Carl were reunited. Lori introduced me to Rick shortly after.” 
“Did you two get along?” 
“Not at all,” you laughed as you remembered your first meeting. “I didn’t like him when I met him. He was too...uptight. Daryl also hated him for leaving Merle, but those two worked it out eventually. Rick just showed up and took charge and it bugged me, but I soon realized he was the best person to lead us and so we all fell in line. He ended up saving our asses more times than I can count so I guess we made the right decision after all.”
“Hero type, huh?” 
“No,” you disagreed, “if you knew everything he did to protect us, you wouldn’t call him a hero. He was just one of the only ones to do what was necessary to do what needed to be done. I learned a lot from his actions.”
“Meaning what?” Negan asked. 
“Meaning I learned quickly how to kill someone when it was necessary to keep my people safe. We all did.”
“Even Carl?”
“Even Carl,” you agreed. “As I said, we’ve all done things. This world never cares how old you are, you just have to survive.” 
“Who was the first person you killed?” he asked. You stared at him as the images flashed through your mind. The face of the man whom you killed as he went for Tyreese when the Governor attacked the prison. You could still feel his blood on your fingers as you removed the knife from his skull. It was the first of many kills, but it was still the first. 
“We’ll save that one for another time,” you said.
“Did I touch a nerve?” he asked, but it wasn’t his usual snarky comeback, he genuinely seemed concerned. You smiled at him.
“I’m a lot tougher than I look, Negan,” you told him. “You can’t piss me off that easily.” 
“Good to know,” he said. His expression changed then, watching you as if trying to read every inch of you like a book. “I can see the gears turning in your head, (Y/N).”
“Is that so?” 
“I know you have a question on your mind,” he said. “Go on, ask me what you want to know. God knows I’ve been doin’ all the damn talking.” Negan was right, you did have something you wanted to ask him and it had been on your mind since the day Jadis, or rather, Anne had shown up at the gates of Alexandria looking for Rick.
“Why did you kill all of Jadis’ people? What was the reason for wiping them all out? Was it vengeance or were you just bored?” You hadn’t meant for it to come out as harsh as it did, but this was something you needed. While Jadis wasn’t your favourite person, she had helped your group when it was needed and before she disappeared, she had become a key member of the group. Negan sighed and you could see that the question bothered him. 
“I didn’t kill them,” he said in a low voice. “I ordered Simon to go and speak to her and get them to drop their alliance with you, but I never wanted him to… Simon killed Jadis’ people. I didn’t know about it until she told me herself.” You watched him, trying to see if he was lying, but you also knew he wasn’t a liar. In fact, Negan’s whole thing was that he never shied away from the truth. It was annoyingly charming and something that you admired and found incredibly irritating. 
“So, you’re not a cold-blooded killer then,” you concluded. 
“Not always,” he said with a slight shrug.
The sun was getting higher in the sky now and it began to stream through the small window of Negan’s cell. You knew you would have to leave in a bit. You had promised Aaron that you would watch Gracie so he could run an errand. And by errand, you knew that meant meeting up with Jesus. The man thought he was being slick, but you could see right through his lovesick lies. It was adorable. 
“(Y/N),” Negan said, gaining your attention once again. “Let me ask you this because I have been curious since our last visit.” 
“Shoot,” you said. 
“What was your vote on what to do with me?” he asked. 
“We didn’t vote,” you reminded him. Rick had made the decision and that was that. 
“Well if you had,” Negan said, “what would you have chosen?” You thought about telling him, but a part of you loved keeping him on his toes. 
“I’ll tell you next time,” you said as you got up from your seat. 
“Tease!” he said dramatically as he fell back on his cot. You rolled your eyes but didn’t stop the smile that spread on your face. 
“Not used to getting what you want, Negan?” he looked over at you with narrowed eyes. You leaned over and wrapped your hands around the bars. “Tragic.”
TAGS: @thanossexual
@yes-sir-hotchner​
@boom-bunny​ 
@delusionalteenagewhispers​
@sophia-gwendolyn​
@ritajammer21​
198 notes · View notes
Note
Possibly a big ask to get just out of the blue but: what are your Supernatural season opinions? Which one is your favorite? Least favorite? Did you watch long enough to have showrunner opinions? If yes, which showrunner is your favorite and which is your least favorite? If no, which season that you haven't seen most tempts you to get back in the Supernatural trenches? Answer exactly as many of these questions as you want to. Carry on.
You know, I am not sure how long this Ask has been sitting here, because my Tumblr notifications are borked -- I hope not long? If long, I apologize, I wasn't ignoring it on purpose!
Okay, so I have more than the average number of Supernatural opinions, probably, but I'll try to keep this to a dull roar! Inside Me There Are Two Wolves: one of them believes that only the original five seasons of Supernatural are worth defending in any way, the other really, really loves seasons 11 and 12. The Kripke Era had a lot of problems, particularly in its treatment of women as bodies without agency and its treatment of Black men as literal predators, but also for all its flaws, it had a kind of coherence and narrative drive that comes from being the product of a dude who obviously cared about it and had something to say. Taken on its own, seasons 1-5 are a brutal and compelling story about the traumas of being men in a universe that's been absolutely destroyed by its Fathers: on almost every level, it's about these abandoned and brutalized boys discovering that their entire reality is the product of an abandoning and brutalizing God, populated by authority figures who are universally demanding and arrogant, but also completely fucking useless. It's quite literally about Sam and Dean trying to hang onto their souls and their own agency when everyone around them wants them forced into shapes formed by conflicts that fell into place at the beginning of time. It's hard to remember, but back then even the Lucifer plotline was about that! It was about the damage fathers inflict on sons! Things were about things, in the Kripke era!
Then we get to the Gamble era, and. Woof. I actually -- don't hate 6 and 7? Like everything Sera Gamble touches, those two seasons are kinetic and memorable and funny and weird and hit some really, really great emotional beats. There are Some Problems, but Gamble was saddled with a pretty dire job, trying to find a way forward after everything about the series really had effectively wrapped up in Swan Song, and I think she did an okay job. People got mad at her for killing Castiel, but you know, damn, I give her this: that was a storyline. Like, this character who was fresh out of the cult he was raised in becoming disillusioned by how messy normal life is and deciding that maybe people need better authoritarianism instead -- the way he's driven to take too many risks by the fact that he's abandoned and desperate -- Crowley as a legitimately scary villain while still being charming af -- and the tragic resolution of Castiel being torn apart by both his hubris and his heroism. It's actually really good. I understand why people didn't want what Gamble was serving up -- and I'm able to like it because it was undone later, you know? -- but she really did commit to a full season of character arc and saw it all the way through to an earned ending, and I gotta respect that.
I genuinely hate seasons 8 and 9. I think everyone is a dick, particularly but not exclusively Dean, to the point where I just find it a bummer to watch. I mean, you get Benny, and I love Benny. You get, I dunno, bits and bobs of decent episodes, but overall they are very fucked up seasons in my opinion. So Carver era is on thin fucking ice with me, but I do think you start to get a rebound in season 10 with the Mark of Cain stuff, although I wish they'd managed to keep Cain around longer. All the really good Claire stuff starts happening, which is nice because Claire, but also because for once the show is really letting itself go back and deal with the mess these protagonists leave behind them constantly. Castiel and Claire have maybe the most interesting non-Winchester relationship on the show. Oh, and Rowena shows up around here too, right? Love her. So the back half of Carver, 10 and 11, are starting to really gain traction for me. The world is building outward, secondary characters are starting to be genuine characters in their own right, the politics of Heaven and Hell get a little richer and more interesting. The show is really starting to feel like it takes place in a universe, which is great because we love the Frigging Winchesters, but they shouldn't be the only thing going, right? We have 15 seasons to get through! Season 11 is basically bracketed by what are probably my two favorite Supernatural episodes: Baby and Don't Call Me Shurley. (I think I'm the world's only living Metatron fan; I fucking love that little dude.)
Dabb takes over in 12, and I really, really, genuinely love season 12. I fucking love Mary. There are so many episodes I adore -- Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox is a special favorite of mine, and I remain pissed off that the Banes twins never made it to recurring status, bluntly that feels wildly racist to me -- probably the best three-episode streak in the show is Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets to Regarding Dean to Stuck In the Middle (With You), three just almost perfect episodes. So I was poised to really love the Dabb era. I wanted to! My body was ready!
And I do really love the first chunk of season 13, the Widow Winchester arc. Obviously I'm a romantic, love that for me, but it's just also really good? The acting, the writing, the psychological complexity of Dean wanting Jack to be Bad so he has an outlet for his anger and Sam wanting Jack to be Good so he can retroactively parent himself and raise a Lucifer-tainted child who isn't crippled by self-loathing. Billie's great, and it looks like she's going to start being one of the major powers of the universe. Unfortunately -- with the occasional exception of this or that solid episode -- that's kind of the end of Pretty Good Supernatural. Season 13 kind of unravels; season 14 always feels like it's looking for itself (which is a bummer, because I wanted very much to care about Michael); season 15 is, idk. Idk about any of it, it's all pretty pointless. I feel bad complaining on some level, because the show's been on for like fourteen years at this point! It's kinda justified in feeling a little worn out. But the reality is that the later seasons systematically undo all the expansion that had excited me earlier -- the Wayward Sisters crew pretty much vanishes when the spinoff isn't picked up, Naomi and the angels stop doing anything, Crowley's gone, Mary's gone for much of it. We're just kind of futzing around with monsters who don't seem to matter (very much including Lucifer, who hasn't mattered in ages) and a lot of Jack, who. I try not to shit all over, because I know he's a popular character, but I find him just ungodly boring. Everything in the last two and a half season just feels like it's headed nowhere in particular, and also it bored me. The Empty deal is just sadness porn; it doesn't have any resonance or meaning in terms of Castiel's character, it's just him agreeing to die for his kid, which is okay, it means he's a loving dad, which he is, but there's no conflict there, ergo no real drama. It's just mean; it happens because it'll make us sad, and no other reason. Rowena is the only strong secondary character left, and her ending also doesn't feel particularly relevant to her, it's just a generic Sacrifice to Save the World. Everything just feels like they're autogenerating plotlines, rather than letting the actual needs and drives of the characters shape the narrative. So while I have this weird split personality with Carver where I either hate what he's doing or I love it, most of the Dabb era is just. There. It doesn't make me feel anything except kind of tired and embarrassed. Which is a bummer, because I have an inexplicable fondness for Dabb, probably just because of how much I love s12. I wanted to love his seasons! I did love his first season! I feel like maybe something happened when the CW rejected Wayward Sisters? I know that was kind of his darling, and it feels like maybe losing that kind of sucked the joy out of him, and he's kind of checked-out by the end. That's genuinely just my guess, however.
That's Professor Milo's Intro to Supernatural Studies, don't forget to fill out your course survey on the way out!
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shintorikhazumi · 3 years
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“Dance For Me.”
A/N: Here’s your pole-dancing AU you bunch of thirsty… people on discord. Idk, I’m bad at… trashtalk if it’s not for self-defense. I also don’t cuss unless it’s in fics. Because I’m technically not cussing, the characters are *wink wink*.
Batting second after Lary! Khazumi~ Coming in! Unless someone already finished before I did and I didn’t notice, haha.
I’m not one to write NSFW. At least not for public… consumption. Borderline, yes. But like… I suck at NSFW, not gonna lie. I’ll try my very best?
I'm also sorry that I can't write pole dancing very well. Hope you can... picture out what's going on. haha.
Weirdest thing I searched for confirmation while writing this was ‘during intercourse are your pupils constricted or dilated’ Because my mind is so lost rn hahha.
My timeline here is before Christmas. I’m sorry. I need it.
Basically, I'm sorry for this trashy fic.
ayt.
Enjoy?
~Shintori Khazumi 
This… is not quite what Diana expected when she left Akko this morning for work at the estate.
The past few months, Akko had been busy with teaching her classes at Luna Nova, on top of performing her scheduled weekend shows in town that the woman just wouldn’t give up the chance to do. Always for the smiles, always for the people’s happiness.
And Diana loves her for that, she really does. Dear Beatrix, she loves her wife- of three years now- to death.
But while she had been excitedly looking forward to the holidays, winter rolling around, expecting that she’d finally have her wife-mind you- all to herself, said wife had other plans, it seems.
Akko had agreed to be booked almost daily this season, and despite being home in Diana’s arms each night, she had absolutely zero energy to do anything but snuggle up to the former heiress and fall asleep in the blink of an eye.
Diana had pouted for days on end, telling Akko to give her one day, to spend just one day with her.
Akko, despite all her regrets of leaving her wife like this, couldn’t just cancel. But she had promised to dedicate the two days before the twenty-fifth, right up ‘til the end of vacation to her lovely spouse.
And Diana has to reluctantly agree. She knows in her heart that this is Akko’s passion, it’s what makes her the amazing woman known for her beautiful believing heart.
Diana just needs patience. So much patience.
But then, on the day of Christmas Eve, she gets a call from the manor. It’s related to the estate. About a sudden accident with one of her people. She couldn’t not go. At least she’d try to finish up early so she could offer her remaining time to-
Akko’s phone rings.
It’s a special request. A little girl’s birthday. And she just had to see the amazing Kagari (-Cavendish) Atsuko perform her special magic. Now this wouldn’t have been that much of a problem had the party been in the morning or early afternoon, however it appeared as though it would take place around five pm. Diana knows it will run overtime. It always does. Everyone loves to bask in the presence and utter warmth of ‘Atsuko’ after all.
So, Begrudgingly, they both prepare for their respective agendas, Diana feeling absolutely depressed over the fact that she would be coming home for Christmas eve to an empty house, cold halls, devoid of the calming scent and lovely voice of her wife singing her favorite Shiny Chariot showtune from the kitchen as she cooked all of Diana’s favorites.
Akko notices. She always does.
She walks up to the sulking blonde, cupping her face in her hands, chuckling at those pouty lips, those teary eyes. “I’m really sorry, my Diana.” She whispers. “Really, I am.”
Diana sighs in defeat, pulling her wife into one last bearhug before work.
“Can I at least have my own Magical Atsuko show?” She uncharacteristically turns her puppy eyes to her wife, only ever showing Akko this spoiled child within.
“I’ll only give you the very best.”
“With a little song?”
“Whatever you’d like
“Mm…” Diana nodded, looking down at her feet before raising her head, one last question on her mind. “Dance for me?”
“Sure, sweetheart.” Akko laughed, nuzzling her nose on Diana’s. “But for now,” She pinches the taller witch’s nose playfully before planting a kiss. “This is for the kids.”
This is DEFINITELY NOT “for the kids”. For any kids. For anyone for that matter. Diana would never show this to anyone. Over her dead. Lifeless. Fucking. Body.
Nonononono. Diana shakes her head a thousand times internally.
No.
Just no.
Diana gasps as she drops her suitcase on the floor, the contents spilling out at the impact. She had not expected this of all things. She imagined coming home to an empty house, no Akko, and miserable reheated food.
She hadn’t expected unlocking her door to the smells of a rotisserie chicken, some wine, and Akko’s homely scent.
She wasn’t expecting the low thrum of music in the background. She didn’t think that her wife would stand in front of her, in her usual show outfit- no. Wait. This isn’t her show outfit.
Like hell she’d wear that to a children’s party!!
No, this. THIS… This is a knock-off Shiny Chariot costume that is far too skimpy to be sold to the young and pure fans of Chariot. This is one of those costumes you’d see them sell adults for dumb pranks on Halloween, or see it at those kinds of shops.
How did Akko even get that?
Online?
The internet is truly fearsome. Shameless. So Shameless.
And so is Diana as she gawks at her pretty wife, donning a very short white skirt, a top that very much exposes her midriff- technically, only holding together those perky mounds-, a cape that is probably the only thing covering her wife that can be counted as decent, thigh-high- gosh- those thigh-high boots, hair free of that small side pony-tail; and that signature white witch hat tops off the ensemble.
“Welcome home~” Akko greets with her usual cheer, expression innocent and beaming, before it shifts a sultry color, tone dropping into a hushed invitation. “Diana.”
Said woman is quiet, she struggles to form a response.
Akko.
‘Let’s try saying your wife’s name now, Diana Cavendish.’
“A-A-A-A… aaahhhh…”
Oh, Great Beatrix, give me strength.
A lot of it. A trolley’s worth, if you must.
…-and stamina. Please. Strength and stamina to endure.
And Clearly Diana isn’t wishing to hold her ground against temptation.
She might just have a long night ahead.
“Diana.”
“Y-yes! I’m l-listening. Very clearly… most…. Definitely…” She says whilst staring at the gracious amounts of cleavage-
“Of course you are, babe.” Akko chuckles in that sickeningly sweet tone, taking a step forward as Diana takes one back. “Where are you going?” She takes another, as does Diana in the opposite direction, her back meeting the hard wood of their front door.
“N-nowhere, I’m… I’m Home.” Diana feels her hands become clammy, shaking, as she wonders where to put them.
“Heh~… I thought you were running away or something.” Akko smiles kindly, actions not as kind. She traps Diana with her body, arms on either side of her head. “And I wouldn’t like that. Would you?” Her eyes flutter innocently, lashes long, eyes wide.
There was clearly only one correct answer.
“N-no.”
“Good.” Akko laughs like gentle chimes, pleasant to the ear.
Diana smiles, feeling a little more relaxed.
-Before one hand comes off the wall and now climbs up her torso, Akko’s index and middle fingers walking up to Diana’s tie before her hand takes it, pulling it out of the vest.
“I always liked it when you wore ties.” She murmured, eyes blank and scrutinizing the tie. Before Diana could respond, Akko was already resting her head on Diana’s chest, hand absent-mindedly twirling the thin red tie. “I also like that you wear my colors on you.” Akko raised her head, pulling on Diana’s tie so that their faces came so incredibly close to one another, lips a hair’s breadth apart. “Tells people that you're mine.”
That effectively steals the air out of Diana’s lungs as Akko steps back, still holding fast to the tie, pulling Diana along, as if on a leash. Her Japanese wife leads her to the living room and sits her down on their amazingly comfortable couch.
But not even that could ease Diana’s tense nerves.
“H-Hi.”
“Hi, Diana.” Akko greets back, leaning over her wife, a finger gliding from the base of Diana’s throat to her jaw, tipping it up to guide blue eyes up to meet the most intoxicating wine. “What was your last little request for me this morning, again?”
“I- I… uh… um…”
“Yes?” The brunette lowers her body onto Diana’s head tucked between the poor heiress’ shoulder and neck, peppering kisses along her jaw. “Please remember, darling. I really want to do it for you, you know?” She chuckles, biting on a certain spot near Diana’s throat making her yelp, then licking the area to ease the pain. “I prepared really well for it. I tried so hard for you.”
Definitely not the only thing that was hard, Diana thinks.
An uncontrolled whine tears its way out of the blonde’s mouth, mind desperately trying to remember what the hell she last asked.
Then it clicks.
“D-dance…”
“Hmm?”
“Dance for me…?”
Akko seems elated with her answer, nuzzling her neck once before pulling away, Diana missing her warmth… or heat. Or both.
“With pleasure.”
Diana is sure there will be a lot of pleasure involved.
With a flick of her wand (where had Akko hidden that?), a pole rises from the floor in the open space of the room. Akko stalks hypnotizingly towards it, grasping the hard metal with one hand before smoothly pulling herself into her first twirl.
‘Oh Great Nine. This is one of those dances, isn’t it?’
Diana swallows so painfully, finding her throat constricted, the opposite to her dilating pupils as she watches her wife with the focus of a predator waiting on its prey.
Off goes the cape, and Diana only now realizes just how little of her wife’s ass is actually covered by that skirt.
She loves Akko’s ass- She loves Akko. Period.
-along with her thighs and bottom.
She admires her better half’s toned body, muscles flexing and simply wonderful as Akko spins herself around the pole gracefully, hanging onto it with only one hand. The elegance of the movements allows Diana to forget her barely restrained arousal, leaving her in awe for a few moments.
Then a toned leg wraps itself around the pole, Akko rolling her body up against it, turning her gaze to Diana, eyes half-lidded and so sinful. All that talk about grace- screw it, right now.
Another twirl, and another, and another.
Akko climbs her way up the pole so sensually, Diana wishes she were the one being climbed like that. Then Akko stops near the top, almost as though she was frozen. Diana waits with bated breath, before Akko’s hands suddenly release the pole, falling backwards; and Diana panics, thinking something happened and her wife was about to hit the ground hard- but only the hat does so. Akko’s body hangs smoothly in the air, legs squeezing tight, flexing those amazing thighs.
Oh, to be between them instead.
The spinning restarts. Repeats over and over, legs stretching out, then pulling in. At times, an arm would reach out, almost as if it were inviting the audience in, to come closer; to come touch this performer. Then Akko lowers herself to the ground, movements sophisticated, nimble, body poised, and oh so sensual. It’s an interpretative dance, and there must be story behind it.
Diana just doesn’t have enough brain power to process it.
She gasps as her wife stands up; the skirt is forgone, leaving Akko in racy black panties that matches her top that might as well not exist. And again, she’s on that pole, embracing it, caressing it with one hand, down to her body, allowing her palm to slide down her chest to a taut stomach, abs glistening in sweat, before reaching down her legs, and between her thighs, then out, back to latching onto the pole.
The loss of garment shouldn’t distract her. She’s sure this action was to give her wife better grip on the pole. Definitely the reason. Yes. Not because this was… was a… that.
Of course.
Breaking the unspoken rule of silence, a voice suddenly begs for her attention.
“Diana…”
Fuck.
“Nnmm!”
Diana throws her head back for a second, needing to relieve her burdened senses at the sight that had just greeted her mere moments ago.
Akko had basically rubbed herself against the pole, her most intimate place surely touching it as she slid up then down, dropping into an air-split, barely hovering over the ground, still twirling, yet painfully slow this time, basically presenting herself to the very red mess breathing heavily on the couch.
Diana’s not sure she can stay seated anymore. She’s been holding back. She’s certain she can’t keep holding back.
“But why are you holding back?”
The question throws her for a loop, eyes so wide, as she stares at Akko’s tantalizing figure, draped over her pole, breathing as difficultly as Diana is.
She releases her show equipment, leaving the pole to disappear as she strides forward provocatively, halting in front of Diana, placing her hands down on the blonde’s open lap, freeing them from their squeezed-together position just moments ago. They massage at Diana’s thighs, and the heiress moans, unsuppressed.
Her dancer takes a seat on her lap, hands busying themselves with loosening Diana’s tie a bit more, removing it from her before Akko slings it around her own neck.
“You are so mean, Diana… even after I called for you so many times…” Akko whispers against her lips, eyes fiery and slightly angered. Diana’s hands are guided to rest on Akko’s hips as she grinds against her wife needily. “Utterly horrible.”
It should be the winter season as it was Christmas. Diana knows that the outside world was harshly cold and chilly, but that temperature did not seem to apply to her. Most definitely not within Diana, and most definitely not between her leee-heeeeg- ‘damn you, Akko’.
“Why would you not come for me?”
‘Which ‘come’ might we be discussing here’, Diana wonders.
“I… I didn’t know… my apologies.” Diana stutters out, distracted by the hand touching the inside of her thigh.
“Even when I made it so obvious?” Akko pouts, biting Diana’s shoulder angrily as her hands make quick work of the taller witch’s buttoned shirt. Those same hands splay against her collarbone and shoulders, caressing and teasing, moving to the back of her head to massage her scalp. The Head of Cavendish gets pulled into a long kiss, her significant other’s tongue pleading entrance as it licks along Diana’s full lips, thighs squeezing Diana’s legs.
Diana permits, giving the appendage access to explore her mouth completely, sometimes brushing against her gums, and gliding along her teeth, entangling with her own tongue. Akko pulls away with a rough nip on Diana’s lower lip.
The latter’s hand is held captive, guided somewhere along her lover’s body.
The heiress fails at hindering any sounds from escaping her as she feels hot liquid drip onto her fingers, before pooling into her open palm. So that’s where Akko had brought it.
“Diana.”
Her eyes are bewitching. Fitting of her occupation. They hold Diana’s gaze a prisoner, not against her will. They compel her to do something. Akko rubs against her once more, and Diana whimpers aloud.
“Diana.”
Arms tighten their loop against Diana’s neck. Akko’s voice still sounds calm and controlled, but her actions tell Diana that she is anything but. She’s basically riding her at this point.
“Diana.”
“Y-yesh?!” Hooded, dark, tempting. Akko’s eyes were all those things. And maybe Diana’s were too.
“Diana.”
“Yes���?” Diana feels a switch flip as her finger slips into that wet, heated space and makes Akko cry a lovely tone. She goes deaf to the world, all her focus on the woman shivering delightfully in her arms.
  “Diana…”
  “Yes…”
  “Dance with me.”
A/N: So… sequel?
~Shintori Khazumi
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popculturebuffet · 3 years
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Darkwing Duck: Just Us Justice Ducks
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This is it. 7 reviews, 10 episodes, 2 teams,  7 brave heroes, 13 villians but only 5 of which are relevant here. All leading to this. One big final review of one of the most loved, most important and most awesome Darkwing Duck episodes, the ONLY two parter outside of the pilot in the show’s long history. If your just joining us, as hinted at in the opening sentence i’ve been doing reviews of every episode of darkwing duck featuring the first apperances of the Justice Ducks and Fearsome Five. The only exception was Megavolt, but I ended up doing Negaduck instead, so I could cover both Megs and the original version of Negsy in one fell swoop (A great idea and comission from longtime supporter of the blog WeirdKev27). All so I could give this the build up  it deserved and get the background I didn’t have years ago when I wanted to watch this, wanted to see all of the first apperances first.. then just didn’t get around to it, not even finding out the episode order is an utter nightmare.  While i’ve given out about this before, allow me to do so again: Due to prioritzing what got done first over proper order, ALL of the justice ducks first appearances eps were aired after this and while Morgana at least got an episode before this, it was her second appearance. Same with LIquidator and Quackerjack though like Morgana, Quackerjack still got an episode or two before this one. So yeah as a result to most kids it was a bunch of heroes just introduced, up against two new villians and 3 old faviorites. You kinda see the problem. It’s why I watched it in chronlogical order: to have this be a gathering of established heroes against darking’s worst foes... and the debut of the worst of THE worst, the true Negaduck at long last. So with the proper build this deserves and not much else to say, let’s look at this two parter and see if all my effort was worth it and if the hype is real. Let’s, get, dangerous under the cut
We open in St. Canard in Darkwing Duck’s secret HQ over the bridge, where he’s getting ready to go out with Morgana and does... things to his hair. 
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Excellently terrible hair do.. seriously I love a good pompadour as much as the next person, probably unheathily more than the next person, but this isa bit much and adding a curl to it is just.. 
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I mean Superman’s hair looked better at this point, and for those wondering “Wait superman usually has a pretty good look”.. welll. 
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Yeah.. post-ressurection.. he had a mullet. Look there are only 4 people in the world who can pull of a mullet: Brock Sampson, Patrick Swayze (God Rest his soul), Hank Venture and Daniel Cooksy as a teenager. And he ALSO put a curl in it and it still looked okay because that’s one of this things along with being selfless, and idiots calling him bland for you know, being a kind hearted symbol of humanity at it’s best. But man the mullet was just not for you bud. 
Morgana naturally tries to change it while Gosalyn watches and...
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Yeah as you can probably guess a LOT has happened.. and all off screen. Morgana is not only fully on the side of good apparently, but she and Darkwing have gone from simply flirting with one another to dating AND Gosalyn has met her and they fought the astro mummies together.. no wait that was the Caballleros yesterday.. but still eveyrthing else is PRETTY important stuff and even with the messed up episode order the kind of thing you’d ASSUME an episode would be made about. I mean this is her meeting darkwing’s kid for fuck’s sake. That’s a big step in any relationship let alone one just starting out. And trust me, I didn’t miss anything: every other morgana ep seems to have them already in a steady relaionship. I DO think it’s stuff like this why some fans aren’t crazy about this relationship. Me I think he’s honestly too good for her. 
But before they can go out for whatever vauge date they were going to have the power goes out and DW notices it’s megavolt and prepares to go after him only for Morgana to question him about their date. 
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Morgana.. sweetie.. the entire city is blacked out. Nowhere will be open.  But Gosalyn offers an alternative, Morgana go along with him and while both are reluctant they go with it. So Darkwing confronts Megavolt... and soon finds a bunch of chattering teeth. Yup, it’s Quackerjack as the two have teamed up, and together easily defeat Darkwing, putting him in an electric chair. The two also really get along which makes sense: Both have similar personalities, being kinda nuts indivdiuals with a singular obession , which compliment each other as toys often need electric power after all. THey strap darkwing into an electric chair, that got dark fast and he begs morgana to save him.. only for her to accidently turn him into jello. I mean.. they say pudding but.. their diffrent things. Just because world famous sexual predator Bill Cosby promoted BOTH for the jell-o brand doesn’t mean Jello is magically pudding. If he could magically make one thing 
Point is Darkwing is jello, the villians mock him then set up some kind of device and head off.. while also mentioning a mysterious boss. I wonder who it could be. 
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Nah.. too obvious. Darkwing is humilated and of course blames. morgana.. for saving his life.. as while the jello humilated him he’s also you know not dead. 
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Anyways Darkwing storms off while Morgana worries he likes her. Morg.. the guy got pissy because you saved his life the wrong way with some bad aim. And before that clearly just wanted you there as a trophy to impress you instead of because he valued you in any way but your looks, because let’s face it he’s shown no intrest so far in any way that isn’t superficial and neither have you in him. You both need to actually try to deepen this or end it.  Anyways enough me ranting at 90′s cartoon characters, it’s time for our next Justice Duck to enter the episode as Stegmutt is selling hot dogs now, but no one stops because they just.. run in terror. Poor guy, good thing he’s too oblivoius to notice. Maybe Dr. Fossil had a point.  Back to the plot and it turns out the next phase in the Fearsome Five’s plan is to take out the police... okay so wait are they the bad guys or not? Questions for later. Point is we get a nice mismatch as Bushroot’s timidity contrasts perfectly with Liquidator’s showman ship and he drowns them out. Darkwing prepares to attack, but gets interrupted by Stegmutt, refuses his help.. and we get the best and most iconic gag of the episodes: Darkwing makes a joke about playing pretend.. and senseing Stegmutt is a dummy have him pretend to “put out the darkwing”.. which equates to pulling a Droopy while saying “put out the darkwing”. So the two villians finsih their job and high five and this is one of the most charming parts of this 2 parter: the camradere between the five minus negaduck. The other four just.. easily bond and enjoy each ohters company, only fighting ONCE, and then being on the same page after that. 
It’s also what makes them so deadly: the go too for ANY superhero team in any medium is to simply get the vilians to fight each other as most vilian teams are built on REALLY shaky ground, a mixture of egos and ambitions that unlike with most superhero teams, can’t really be overcome with the greater good.. because their only in it for what they want. The thing that keeps any of these groups together longterm.. is camradere. I’ts why the Flash’s Rogue’s gallery is easily one of the most dangerous; while there are outliers like the reverse flash, most of them are part of the rouges, and ascribe to their rules and morals.. and thus the camradre and support that comes with it. One guy with a cold gun or a super flamethrower or a weather wand or mirror powers.. is pretty damn tough. All four and more together, willing to bail one another out, having their own tailor and weapons hookups. The four remind me of that: a bunch of guys who have the common goal of beating darkwing but likely just.. hang out when not trying to do crimes. Well except negaduck, hence the four thing. By not being able to just easily turn them on one another, it means you HAVE to take them all at once. Even if you got rid of negaduck as both the comics and the 2017 reboot have shown.. you still have 4 immensley powerful, quackerjack included, supervillians who easily can work together instead of a bunch of angry assholes who tend to work better one at a time and just with a united goal. Point is Darkwing Duck is Darkwing Fucked.  Darkwing once again refuses help and yells at Stegmutt, because he’s been evne douchier than usual, and then makes the mistake of yelling at Neptunia, who promptly has her octopus friend throw him into the distance because .. well he deserves it. So while Darkwing patches up that wound to his pride and his spleen, we finally meet our vilians new boss: NEGADUCK. And... they do not explain why a guy who looks exactly like drake is here, if he has any relation to the other negaduck he was inspired by, or why any of them would trust him. This would bother me more.. if A) it wasn’t too much of a stretch for darkwing to have foes we hadn’t seen given the whole casefiles thing and B).. well okay this isn’t really a logical opinon but since when have that stopped me. 
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There’s a damn good reason that Negsy has one of the biggest episode counts of Darkwings villians. The guy is just.. the perfect foil to Darkwing, the Joker to his batman, the reverse flash to his flash, the green goblin to his spider-man, the sabertooth to his wolverine. He’s Drake’s equal and opposite number. While Drake can’t take two steps as Darkwing without wanting some attention, Negsy is happy to avoid having any until the moment strikes. While Drake wants attention as much as he wants to do the right thing, Negsy just simply loves doing what he’s doing. To quote the Spies are Forever song “Somebody’s Gotta Do it” “Can’t you see.. how much I enjoy this, i’d never avoid this, cause buddy i’m a diffrent breed. This is my calling, and though it’s appaling, I love making people bleed.” 
He just LOVES being evil. He’s as comically devoted to being a bad guy as Darkwing is to being a good one. He loves the idea of being able to shoot a bunny, he revels in his villiany and he loves every second. But as I said unlike darkwing he dosen’t let his flaws get in the way of his villiany as much. He still does on occasion, he’s still a version of Darkwing after all, but he has his eyes far more on the prize and is far less prone to distraction. He dosen’t care about toy deals or infamy.. he just wants to watch the world burn and laugh manically over the flames. While his obessions CAN be used against him.. as this episode shows it only lasts for a bout a second and he’s usually ready for it. He’s a Drake with no morals, no connections and few drawbacks. And he’s also every bit as clever, with him winning for most of the two parter. And not because the plot needs him too.. he’s simply THAT good at planning, with his plan here being geninely clever. I’m REALLLY hoping for Frank to lead the reboot because combining ALL of this with his reboot backstory will be divine if he gets to. Negaduck was very much worth the hype. 
So his next plan, itself clever.. is to dress up as Darkwing and inflitrate SHUSH, taking out the next possibly thing that could stop them. And he does so easily, even while Darkwing is there and to show off just how friggin awesome he is predicts what Drake will say. The only thing that trips him up is drake hilarious pointing out a cute bunny, because he and the other Negsy apparently share the same burning hatred, causing him to get out his shotgun. And can I just say how wonderful it is he can use a shotgun?  That’d never pass nowadays, which isn’t the worst thing but i do question why VILLIANS can’t be shown being reckless with fire arms. Their the bad guys, kids aren’t going to see it as a good thing. And they still equate laser guns with guns. They aren’t going to trivilaize gun violence because of Darkwing Duck or Looney Tunes. 
Even being found out Negaduck still acomplishes his goal and floods thing. So now both the cops and shush are down, and things aren’t looking great. Darkwing’s still determined he can do this himself and beat them.. but it’s transparent that not only he CAN’T and won’t admit he’s outnumbered but freely admits he just wants the biggest win of his career by taking them all out 4 to 1. Probablem is.. he’s not spider-man and this isn’t the sinister six. As I said he’s not fighting a villian group whose egos clash so badly , at least whent hey first formed, they have to take turns or in later iterations have some member blackmailed in> Their working in concert. He needs help but as we’ve seen multiple times now Darkwing just can’t accept it. He has to be in the limelight and while he does have to relearn the lesson .. it works better here as personality flaws aren’t the kind of thing that fixes itself overnight. Sometimes never. It feels less like it does sometimes in cartoons, where the character just.. never fucking learns, and more like Darkwing has learned it.. he’s just so very human and thus can’t resist sliding black. Less peter griffin more bojack horseman is what i’m saying. I mean there are still bits of just poor writing, but for the most part his ego is like most of his enimies: he just can’t get it to stay beat. 
So it won’t suprise you that when the national guard and gizmoduck are called he’s not happy. You may recall when I reviewed “Tiff of the Titans” I REALLY hated this verison of Gizmoduck. He was concited as Darkwing but treated like he wasn’t, treating the daring duck of mystery like a criminal for stupid reasons and was generally pretty useless and obnoxious. The fact that hamilton camps gizmoduck voice sounds not like a 20-30 something like Fenton is but like Grandpa Simpson mixed with a dash of dudley doo right dosen’t help. 
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It’s not lost on me that Dan Castellaneta’s character is NOT the one that sounds like Abe Simpson either. But while that problem is still around... the rest of them.. aren’t. Gizmoduck’s character development actually stuck from last time, so rather than be a dick to darkwing he’s warm, friendly and happy to accept his help when Darkwing shows up, thinking his old “Buddy” is just volunteering to help instead of screaming at him for doing his job. Not only that but while he still has elements of a standard superman type “Cape” hero parody... their more toned down and actually funny with him giving giant speeches, and that being useda gainst him and being over the top.. but still being the noble, big hearted hero you’d expect from the roll, just wanting to do good not for the Glory he gets anyway, but because people need him. In short.. he’s 100% better thsi go round. Well okay 80.. he still sounds like this. 
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Gos also brings Morgana along, because apparently she forgot the entire episode where her father was so obssed with being noticed he tried to upstage his 10-12 year old daughter... and you know the hundred other times Drake put his ego over his job. 
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So he naturally wants to shoo her while Gizmo. .warmly welcomes the help because he recognizes that people are counting on them not counting on him.  Just then the villians make their move and activate the electro slave device from earlier which.. does nothing like that’d sound like and just creates a giant electrical wall, cutting off ST. Canard and bringing the plan full circle: The villains have now cut off the town and taken out almost anything that could oppose them. And despite you know everything Darking only gets more pissy when Stegmutt and Neptunia show up., Stegmutt because he still wants to return Darkwing’s change as Darkwing bought a hot dog from him and Stegmutt’s also a really sweet guy and Neptuina because well... .the ocean’s her thing and a bunch of bad guys just put a giant line through it she’s now on the other side of. Gizmo suggests the obvious: It’s a day unlike any other when a threat no one duck, or fish or dino duck, can face alone. It’s time to assemble! And Gos is more than excited about the idea, suggesting the name Justice Ducks which.. is honestly fairly weak in my opinon. Not BAD but very clearly just “Justice League” with Ducks in it. Given how good the series is at names, you think they’d of taken more than five minutes on this one. Maybe it was disney mandate I dunno.  But the concept itself.. is brilliant and I wish it came back in other epiosdes; Taking a bunch of other heroic characters in a setting and making them into a team is always a great idea, it’s why the tmnt unvierses have been using the mutanimals more and more lately, and they do ballance each other out nicely. You have a nice contrast of powers: while multiple have super strength, stegmutt is your bruiser, Gizmo is the tech guy, darkwing’s the strategy, morgana handles magic and Neptuina can swim in anything and is super strong and agile outside and inside water, so as long as she can keep hydrated, she’s useful> Which by the way has ALWAYS been the case for aquaman.. except the superfriends version. 
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He really does suck and ruined it for the rest of them till Jason Mamoa and his mighty abs, coupled with Geoff Johns run on the charcter that served as the foundation for that movie, finally rescued the character from a fucking decades old cartoon’s smear campagin.  They have the makings of a great team.. it’s just Darkwing dosen’t want a team and screams at everyone to get out and that he dosen’t need them.. I mean he does try to be softer on Morgana but.. he’s still a dick and she really should dump him. Seriously, their attraction is superficial, at this point at least we’ll see in Feburary if it gets any bettter, he dosen’t respect her as a person, and now he’s having to restrain himself at yelling at her.. for HELPING HIM. When he clearly needs it. Holy shit... I was not prepared for that amount of douche. And this would sink the two parter.. were this not clever setup for one hell of a downfall and not a key part of his character. Like has been said: Ego is a massive part of him, and as Tad Stones has put it his real arch enemy. It’s been the basis for several episodes and as we saw in the pilot was his motivation for getting into crimefighting in the first place. He means well and clearly has a heart.. but this is just as much about thwarting evil as it is the attention. And here it’s used perfectly as in the reverse of the gizmoduck episode, where he wanted attention but for fully understandable reasons and judged Gizmo more on stealing his thunder, which while petty i’ll admit is a bit fair given Gizmo did NOTHING in St. Canard but got the key of the city while Darwing had saved it multiple times at this point. 
Here he’s being petty and selfish.. and he has no good reason. It’s just his own ego wanting the credit for everything when it’s not what he or the city needs. Honestly this feels like an ahead of it’s time parody of how Batman would be written when written poorly sometimes in the years after this episode:  a massive dick who thinks he knows better than everybody else and everything else should be entrusted to him because he’s the goddamn batman, the kind who throws people out as potential parts of his family for petty shit and acts like a controlling ass and okay maybe this is spiralling a bit. But the refusal to see any other way is right? Yeah that defintelyf its darkwing like a glove and eveyrone leaves either bummed or pissed at him. And the most pissed? Launchpad who while agreeing to it, his face and tone clearly mean he’s disapointed in his buddy for acting like this when now is REALLY not the time. 
And I wish.. we got more on this because Launchpad disappears till the ending scene after this. No really. Despite being Darkwing’s best friend and sidekick and despite warranting a spot on the justice ducks and despite having every reason to pitch in. he just vanishes. I mean Ducktales may of gone overboard in not having him around since Let’s Get Dangerous, but at least that’s a valid reason: he has another family, he’s really busy and Scrooge has another talented pilot to do the job for him. Granted he’s clearly still doing it offscreen at times but he was both a major part of an hourlong and will be part of any possible spinoff. And hell even back in season 1 when the character ballance was at it’s worst... Donald and Beakly at least HAD reasons for not being in a whole lot of episodes: Donald HATED his uncle, HATED adventure, and HATED the fact his kids were following in their mothers footsteps as he only saw death at the end of it. While they SHOULD have found ways to include him more and his exclusion was pretty bad... he at least had a reason. Here launchpad just has to go now his home planet needs him. And he’s not the only one Gosalyn gets more, she’s worried about darkwing, we’ll get to why in a second and wants to go but Gizmoduck refuses.. and then ALSO vanishes. Which makes even less sense as when has Gosalyn EVER listned to an authority figure? Especially when her dad might be dead? It’s just grossly out of character for her to agree to sit things out and not just tag along with steggmutt anyway once gizmo can’t stop her. I do get this is about the justice ducks but there’s no reason to neglect the other main characters. At least have Negsy capture them too or something. Cripes. 
So yeah the “thinking he’s dead part”. Darkwing sets out to find the five’s lair and misses the big honking flag Negaduck set up, but finds a crumb, puts two and two together and finds them.. as Negaduck planned. Down to the crumb thing as, in my faviorite line of the episode, he planned on Darkwing missing the flag and focusing on the flimisiit clue instead. Naturally they kick his ass, EASILY, and throw him out a window to his death and in classic bond villian fashion don’t check for proof of death. Krakoa would be ashamed. So part one ends with darkwing duck getting thrown to his possible death...
Only for part 2 to pick up with him landing in a trash truck before exiting. And this.. is what makes the ego parts tolerable.. Darkwing.. earnestly reflects, depressed he let his own ego get in the way of things and shoo off his only hope, and thus let the villians take over the city, with Bushroot’s plants harassing people, quackerjacks teeth running the police, and Megavolt having taken the power company and using it to shake down locals and Liquidator flooding part of the city for a plan we’ll get to in a moment. He’s at his lowest point and tht’s while it work: his hubris DOSEN’T get unpunished, he’s fully sorry for it and while he dosen’t out and out apologize to them, he’s not only genuinely contrite but does work well with them and evenly when he finally does get back to them.. but we’ve got a bit to go before that.  So with Darkwing missing Gizmo takes over as big good and not bein ga prick eagerly takes the others help Neptuina nopes out of helping, which fits her personality, so with only three left because he dosen’t consider children useful  which shame on you. I mean i’ts responsible from a real world standpoint but not from a cartoon show standpoint. But anyways they split up gang: Gizmo will go take the power plant back, Morgana will try and use her spells to find the lair and Stegmutt will find darkwing. I do like despite how they neglect Gosalyn that her friendship with Stegmutt was remembered and used as a plot point here. 
So we then get to a rather repttitive part of the two parter. It’s not lacking in good gags or character moments but it’s basically the same scene repeated 4 times just with a diffrent scenario and gag for each of the justice ducks and the fearsome five member they encounter. They do their respective schicks the hero is defeated.. this is 5 or so minutes of a 20+ minute episode. Not TERRIBLE stuff, iv’e seen worse repttition, but not terribly intresting compared to the rest of the four parter.  So, Neptuina encounters Liquidator, whose scheme is selling rafts to people to not drown in exhange for a millioin dollars.. or whatever they have he’s not picky, and they fight but Liqui ultimately wins, Gizmoduck, in the best of the four sequences, swoops in to stop Megavolt and not only lands on his foot.. but spends so long speechifiing Mega gets him from behind, phrasing. Stegmutt hilariously tries disgusing himself with Groucho glasses and is bested by Quackerjack, and Morgana finds the lair but gets taken out by bushroot, though her pet spider archie escapes to go warn the others. 
So after all that Archie makes it back to darkwing’s hq.. only for launchpad to squish him. “ew a bug!”.. just a great quick laugh. Thankfuly he’s more resilent than the average spider and is fine once Gosalyn scrapes him off and they now know the five are in trouble. Also I was wrong Launchpad does return.. for this one scene. And neither get into action once Darkwing returns and after an overly long bit of him deflecting blame to the point I was screaming. 
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That being said it is nice when once Darkwing is aware of the situation he gloats a little.. but still goes to save them without any hint of caring about doing it all himself. He learned his lesson.  So at the Lair of the five, Negsy shows what a sadsitc bastard he is, another great side of him.. from a writing standpoint at least. It shows that like darkwing despite a comedic exterior.. he’s VERY dangerous. And he’s set up speciic tourtures for each of the five he has: He’s hooked up Gizmoducks armor to a device that lets him control it’s power flow, so right now it’s entirely drained.. but he can overload it and electrocute him to death when he flips THE SWITCH. Neptuina is stuck under a heat lamp and will fry when he hits THE SWITCH. Stegmutt is stuck in a weightless enviorment that will also loose air when he hits THE SWITCH and morgana is in a chair that will crush her tod eath when he hits.. THE SWITCH... he really loves THE SWITCH and props to him. A lesser villian would’ve had all the traps have a diffrent trigger which while making it harder on any rescuers is just a time waster asking for the heroes he hasn’t gotten to yet to break free. And while it is based in his sadism he still fully intends to watch the deaths personally. Seriously he’s got all his bases covered.. and would’ve won.. if it wasn’t for the rest of the five.  The rest of the five are fighting over territoiry: Buddies they may be but they all want the pie. Negaduck, in his most badass scene shuts them up by pulling out his signture chainsaw for hte first time and scaring the crap out of htem, then using it to carve up the model of the city: They each get a quarter.. and he gets all the loot. Which they dont’ like but agree to to not die today. Though really... what’s the value of that? They have a full city held hostage, control over a quarter each, and no real way to SPEND the loot without letting someone else, say scrooge mcduck, in to stop them. Just give him the money and let him sit on it Smaug style. You get a quarter of a new york sized city to yourself to live out your dreams. I’d love that... maybe nto become a supervillian for that but still, point is you have carte blanche jsut take the W.  Darkwing meanwhile uses Nega’s scheme against him and plans to be delivering skulls, after flowers only piss nega off, and then knocks the guy out.. though his attempt at playing Nega fails as the Four have wisely decided that since they outnumber him and a four way split of the loot is better than none of it, to kill him. Nega.. is not pleased and just wants them to attack him, and they do, and it seems darkwing’s going to have a front row seat for THE SWITCH. But Darkwing recovers, and we get a great tug of war between him and negsy as the switch is turnd on and off on and off till Darkwing finally wins, and then frees Morgana and apologizes and has her free Gizmo, and so on and so on. So our team is reunited, Darkwing’s finally ready to lead and thus we get our battle cries “Justice Ducks, ASSEMBLE!” “Fearsome Five, GET OVER HERE!” And the two face off
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And the battle.. is fantastic. Easily the series best so far as everyone gets a moment to shine. Neptuina takes out both Liquidator and Megavolt, this time beating liquidator by creating a whirlpool inside him and turning him into a watery tornado and crashing him into megavolt before he can get stegmutt. Gizmoduck beats Quackerjack handily by using a drill on the teeth, great gag then giving Jacky some ansteic.. a boxing glove to the face. And Stegmutt takes on bushroot and when unsure of what to do.. we get a truly wonderous callback as Stegmutt.. honestly dosen’t know what to do.. so Darkwing gets some payback and tells him to “put out the bushroot, put out the bushroot” you can guess what happens next
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Or if you want the more recent versoin
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Point is three down two to go, and we get a call back to the pudding thing with Morgana trying to hit liquidator.. before Darkwing in a show of how much of a team player he is now, offers his help, simply having Morg teleport some instant pudding mix over the guy... I mean at least it’s brown this time even if i’ts still  in a jello mold. And to finish it off he and gizmo awesomely use a mixer on both sides. So our heroes have triumphed.. almost. Negs has the controls for the barrier and runs out planning to destroy st canard if they refuse.. then being Negaduck decides fuck it i’ll do it anyway... but Darkwing stops him and we get a slapstick beatdown as DW uses an anvil a pie and other classics and utterly curbstomps his nemissi in an wesome scne. The day is saved, the generator shut down and the city freed.  So we wrap up with the Justice Ducks celebrating.. with Gos and Launchpad. I have an inlking how that conversation went. 
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Darkwing relcutnatnly is forced to eat his own words and admit he both enjoys the team and needed their help, before heading off on that Date with Morgana.. though Gizmoduck tries to make it a group thing. Dude no one likes a third wheel.. not even when i’ts ninja brian. So Darkwing uses the iris out to escape, but Stegmutt does try and give that quarter back first, with Darkwing, in a genuinely sweet moment, telling him to keep it and then going off, having earned his happy ending and grown as a person.  Final Thoughts: This episode was WORTH the build up I gave it. It turns out I really didnt’ need most of the intro epsidoes, as while it enhances the villians the heroes are all given decent enough introductions apart from morgana so tht even without the context of how darkwing knows these people it still works. It’s a thrilling, tightly paced for the most part, hilarious and wonderful two parter that ties a huge chunk of the show together into one hour long masterpice. I had my issues of course and i’ve stated them: Gosalyn and Launchpad doing nothing, the pacing towards the middle of part 2.. but otherwise.. it’s perfect. It’ has a great character arc for darkwing on top of everything, once again having his ego bite him in the ass but in a unique enough way it dosen’t feel like a retread of the pilot, and having him genuinely feel bad about it and grow. a bit smug when he learns he has to rescue them sure but he’s never smug to the heroes themselves. And ironically.. he gets his big moment. While he dosen’t beat the five himself he still infliatrated their hq, beat up their leader, saved his friends and then beat negaduck all by himself AGAIN. It may of not been the big moment he wanted.. but it’s the one he needed.  As for the road to the justice ducks itself.. it was a fun ride. Only one honestly two bad episodes; Tiff otf the Titans and Paint Misbehavin and even those had their moments, paticuarlly Misbehavin’s art sequences. The rest of the episodes ranged from alright to standout and overall it was a hell of a time.. so i’m going to rank all the ones i covered leading up to this review. Just Us Justice Ducks (Both Parts) Negaduck Beauty and the Beat Dry Hard Jurassic Jumble Ghoul of My Dreams Something Fishy Fungus Amongus Whiffle While You Work Paint Misbehavin Tiff of the Titans And i’m proud to say this is the first ongoing project on the blog, the first story arc or what have you, i’ve completed. While I DID do a four parter of catch as cash can, this is the first one i’ve done over several months that i’ve completed and i’m proud of it. Does this mean i’m done with Darkwing?
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Next week we’ll be wrapping up some more unfinished buisness with another Darkwing Double Feature, this time covering the short career of Quiverwing Quack and in Feburary, and the reason I spent so much time catching up, we’ll be seeing both Morgana and Negaduck again just in time for Valentine’s day. After that?
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We’ll just have to see won’t we? So until there’s another rainbow, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. 
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365days365movies · 3 years
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March 2, 2021: The Last Unicorn (1982) (Part 1)
I, uh...I wanna talk about zoology.
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It’s my profession of choice, although if I’m going to be specific, it’s ecology and ornithology, based on my Masters. But while my expertise is in birds, that doesn’t mean I have any particular preference. So, let’s talk mammals. Specifically, I’d like to talk about horses.
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Horses are odd-toed ungulates (Order Perissodactyla) belonging to the family Equidae, with only one living genus (Equus), which includes donkeys, zebras, and a FUCK-ton of fossil progenitors. Not gonna go into horse evolution here, since it’s a vast topic on its own, but the group dates to about 54 million years ago, during the Eocene period.
There are specific features that define modern horses as horses, including a single hoofed toe for walking on, a body built for running with high stamina, and a large cecum in the intestines for breaking down fibrous and herbaceous material. It’s a group native to North America, Africa, and Asia, with the modern descended horse descended from a somewhat unknown ancestor in Central Asia.
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They’re grazers rather than browsers, which many similar sized herbivores are. And, of course, they have a close relationship to humans throughout prehistory. Their main systems of defense against predators are the afore-mentioned running capabilities, a VICIOUS kick (especially horses like zebras), and a high-range of monocular vision due to the position of their HUGE eyes.
In terms of sexual selection, it’s essentially based on physical competition between the males in a population, which are usually formed into reproductive harems. That’s one male with multiple females that live within an established range. The females have their own dominance schemes, while groups of males exist in bachelor herds before establishing a harem of their own.
And those two paragraphs help explain why horses don’t grow horns.
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Animals like this bighorn sheep, as well as antelopes with impala and gerenuk, perform intrasexual selection using their horns, the size of which determine the fitness of an individual male, with the fights settling any potential ties for watching females. And that’s the main reason why herbivorous mammals grow horns, and horses have come up with different social structures to compensate. But OK, couldn’t they just horns anyway? 
Remember the stomach I mentioned earlier? Here’s the thing; hindgut digestion, which is what horses do...not the most nutritionally efficient form of digestion. In order to maintain their running lifestyles, they invest all obtained energy and nutrients into building muscle and other important functions. Fact of the matter is, they just can’t devote enough energy and nutrients to the physiologically expensive act of owning a horn. They do have a close relative that does that, though. However, they’ve sacrificed their speed, intelligence, and even their eyesight for their horns, as well as beefing up their physical defense with thicker skin.
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YUP! So why talk about this? I mean...you know why.
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OK, so that had basically nothing to do with this movie, but a post like this has been building since I mentioned the gerenuk a little bit ago. Sorry, had to get it out. Anyway, yeah, unicorns are impossible, but they’re still a hallowed mythical creature. National animal of Scotland, one of the most prominent symbols of medieval mythology, a magic-using ethnic class in a mythical kingdom composed of a horse-based majority that also includes normal horses and pegasi...
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You know, unicorns. So, I’m definitely interested in what would happen to make a unicorn, well...the last one. My bets are on something man-made, like deforestation or another for of habitat depletion. Could be poaching for the horn. After all, that’s what’s been driving rhinoceros species to near-extinction (or actual extinction in the case of the western black and northern white rhinos. RIP Sudan, you goddamn king).
But let’s find out rather than speculate! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!
Recap (1/2)
During medieval times, in a mystical wood called the Unicorn’s Forest, a hunter shows unease to his companion. In the forest, there are no seasons, and the beasts are protected from hunters, as long as there is one unicorn left if the forest. That last unicorn is...the Unicorn (Mia Farrow), who learns from the hunters that she must be the last of her kind.
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The opening credits, which are a gorgeous animated medieval tapesty, are backed by the song “The Last Unicorn”, by America (damn, nice pull). Gives the whole thing a Renn Faire feel. Never been to a Renn Faire, but I’d love to go to one, honestly.
Anyway, the Unicorn is in doubt that there are no more of her kind in the world, as they live forever, and she would know if there are none left...right? However, they can also be killed and trapped, so...I mean, they might be dead, Unicorn. As she’s thinking on this, the most Rankin-Bass butterfly ever shows up singing a ballad of love. This is...the Butterfly (Robert Klein), a bard-erfly (see whay I did there) who won’t stop singing, despite the Unicorn’s pleas to tell her of other unicorns.
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Butterflies, apparently, repeat to anything they hear around them Which involves like, a lot of non-medieval songs. There’s one about the A-train, apparently, which makes...just NO fucking sense. As the Unicorn also shows frustration at this anachronistic little bugger, he breaks his songs to tell her than the Unicorns have all been chased off by “the Red Bull.”
...I’m going to hold it off as long as I can, but the joke WILL come. It WILL come.
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She wonders if she can truly leave the forest, then actually does so in order to find the other unicorns. She happens upon a farmer, who attempts to tame her, as he only sees her as a horse. Apparently, men can no longer see unicorns as they are, and usually only see them as white horses. So, there may be unicorns in the world after all!
Not sure why she doesn’t go back to her forest after realizing this, but...OK. She continues on, backed once again by a song performed by America, called “Man’s Road”. Real talk, I’m digging the music in here, which is my inner folk rock fan talking.
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While she finds nothing on her journey, she’s instead found by Mother Fortuna (Angela Langsbury), a witch who runs a carnival that needs a new exhibition. With her comes Ruhk (Brother Theodore) and magician Schmendrick (Alan Arkin), the latter of whom actually can see the Unicorn as a Unicorn.
At the carnival, Schmendrick introduces hiself to the Unicorn, wanting to get her out of there. Meanwhile, an audience is fooled by Mother Fortuna’s illusory magic to see a manticore, satyr, and the Midgard Serpent, when in reality they are an elderly lion, ape with a twisted foot, and really sad snake. However, the Harpy that she has IS real, and a major threat to Fortuna were she to escape.
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That night, Fortuna speaks to the Unicorn of the Red Bull, owned by a King Haggard. The Unicorn asks Fortuna to free both her and the Harpy, two signs of the same magical coin. Also...is this a kids’ movie? Kinda thought it was until I noticed that the Harpy has, well...pendulous breasts. Literally the best way I can describe them. Also, three of them, so...there’s that.
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After she leaves, Schmendrick arrives to free the Unicorn with his magic...and he’s shit at it. Like, REALLY shit. But thankfully, he’s a decent pickpocket, and stole the cage keys from Ruhk. He lets the Unicorn free, and she in turn releases the other animal prisoners, Harpy included. Which is NOT great for Fortuna, who’s IMMEDIATELY killed.
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The two leave together, and head on the Unicorn’s journey to find her own kind. She cannot grant Schmendrick his wish to become a true magician, but he still gives her information about this world, and King Haggard, who seems like bad news.
On the road, the two encounter a gang of thieves of the road, who work for Captain Cully (Keenan Wynn), a short and portly leader of bandits. His mistress is a woman named Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), who’s endlessly frustrated by Cully’s regular failures. They befriend Schmendrick, who impresses them with illusions of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Although, it’s not his illusions, but those of the Unicorn, trying to help.
Doesn’t help that much, though, as the Robin Hood-hating Captain Cully ties him up to a tree after all of his men and Molly leave. A frustrated Schmendrick mutters a spell by mistake, and brings the tree to life.
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And then my girlfriend fuckin’ broke. Here she is, below:
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Ravishing. Yeah, she’s watching this too, and when the tree came up, her words were, and I quote:
...a smooth-talking horse, a three-tittied harpy, and a BOOBED TREE!
Boobed tree is an expression I will find a way to use in my life. Also, this is ABSOLUTELY not a kid’s movie, and that is one busty-ass tree. This tree, called...The Tree (Nellie Bellflower) is in love with Schmendrick, and is enraged by the appearance of the Unicorn. However, the Unicorn undoes Schmendrick’s magic, and puts the t-horny tree back to sleep.
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The two encounter Molly Grue, who’s astonished to see a Unicorn. She cries, as she was been waiting to see one since she was a young maiden, but now she isn’t one anymore. Interesting implications there, but moving on. Molly wishes to join them, and while Schmendrick isn’t super down for that, she wins the Unicorn’s trust when she points out that they’ve been going in the wrong direction. Whoops.
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OK, with that, let’s break for Part 2! See you there!
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes — my first impressions
(I’ve shared my thoughts and feelings about the book in the spoilers chat group, but I’ve waited awhile as a courtesy before posting them on my blog. The book has been out for over a month now so ***TBOSAS spoilers ahead***. These musings are not particularly organized and are a bit rambling and repetitive.)
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I read the book over the course of 3 days, and then recovery afterward took several days beyond that. I love the disturbing coming of age tale that Suzanne Collins has crafted for Snow. Everything she wrote for him was trauma-informed. He experienced the severe early life attachment trauma of losing both parents between ages 3-7, which is old enough to have developed the capacity for love because he received that from his mother, and young enough for the severity of the trauma to be difficult to impossible to integrate, especially in an environment of poverty, hunger, manipulation and deception to hide the family misfortune. He spent his whole life trying to control the chaos which was really just trauma on repeat within himself. This showed up as perfectionism in school and ambition for more than survival. He was the ideal candidate to be groomed by Dr. Gaul. Under all those conditions, the kid didn’t really have the capacity to become anything other than a tyrant.
I enjoyed the unfolding of his relationship with Lucy Gray. I felt the intensity between them (trauma bond), and I felt their mutual recognition in 12 that the intensity didn’t mean they were compatible. The running off together near the end was a last-ditch effort for both of them at survival. If they hadn’t found the guns and actually had run north, then in time they probably would have abandoned one another, since they wanted opposite things: safety and control VS freedoms and song. In a short time I believe they would have resented and detested each other. 18 years old was too late for him. His patterns were already well established.
I think SC showed us every ounce of fluff that Snow had in him. There just wasn’t much fluffiness to work with. The book ended with me believing he had a capacity for love; he wasn’t a psychopath just a deeply traumatized person. I think it’s telling how in the middle he said something like, “I think she (Lucy Gray) may be in love with me.” Rather than, “I think I may be in love with her.” In that relationship he felt excitement within idealization which faded in reality and would have moved toward increasing disgust toward her if the ending had played out differently. It’s hard to have fluff when the characters motivations are self-centered. The opposite of Katniss and Peeta whose relationship unfolded as they were both trying to protect others. Snow felt as much for Lucy Gray as his capacity allowed, but the chaos in feeling and in relationship was the opposite of what he wanted for his life. When he started being irritated with song, that was ultimate sign of death for that relationship. Lucy Gray WAS song. And beyond the idealization phase he would have detested her.
The plot was so thick with characters and details. SC used 3rd person perspective for this one but it wasn’t omniscient. We only got to see through Snow’s eyes. I enjoyed those moments that felt more fluffy where we saw clearly the complexity of his character and humanity. This really is a coming of age story. He’s becoming the man he already is. Gaul’s influence was the clincher. She was a predator and manipulated Snow on the path he actually wanted most. I feel for him. Throughout the book and still. I even feel now for the tyrant he becomes. That’s masterful writing right there.
I like how in the end Snow vowed to marry someone he didn’t love, recognizing that love was too chaotic. I’m thrilled that Lucy Gray added verses to the hanging tree song for him and then all those years later Katniss sang those verses. I love all the insight into Snow’s obsessive hate for Katniss, not just everything she stood for but also everything she reminded him of that couldn’t be controlled. I like understanding how Snow grew his affinity for using poison. I believe he’s haunted his whole life by the memory of Lucy Gray, but he flips it around in his mind that he controls the haunting. Maybe he eventually poisons his wife because he grows tired of sharing space with someone he doesn’t care about and doesn’t desire possession of. He’d justify the killing of course, like with all the killings. Self-justification and execution will only get easier for Snow as time goes on, especially under Dr. Gaul’s tutelage/mind-control.
My favorite aspect of this book was SCs willingness in this sociopolitical climate to make bold statements about the value of freedom and its ability to endure as a human quality despite years of tyrannical control and propaganda. I view her as a hope-giver. Her writing is courageous. I felt deeply for young Snow, even knowing how his story would play out. The predictability of the novel was my only complaint. After reading a couple of chapters I said to my daughter, “I think Lucy Gray will win the Games and then Snow will end up killing her.” When Gaul showed up, I said to my husband, “She’s going to groom him. She’s going to manipulate him and in the process turn him from a manipulator into a master manipulator.” Done. Possibly done. And done. I like the idea that Lucy Gray lives on and makes a free life for herself. I like that Snow would be eaten alive his whole life by that possibility which is beyond his control.
I mentioned in a previous post that the conversation between Snow and Lucy Gray about safety and control vs freedom and song is the most important conversation of our time, and SC has solid guts to acknowledge that freedom will endure long after the Capitol is gone. And the conversation ended there. Because it’s the deep truth about humanity that propaganda is designed to fool us into not believing: People are fundamentally enduring whether or not they have the “protection” of government control. I was beyond thrilled to read that conversation in YA novel because it’s fringe now to speak this truth openly and her readership is gigantic. I loved watching the connection between Snow and Lucy Gray begin to disintegrate in this mutual understanding that they wanted different worlds, and the world that they each wanted was fundamentally appalling to the other, regardless of those moments when they felt an aliveness in each other’s presence , the kind of aliveness that’s always present in the idealization phase of a trauma bond.
This book was so raw in its presentation of starvation in the Capitol, cannibalism, the Snow’s salvation in those awful lima beans. All the pressures that would drive a young person to grow to detest chaos and wild. This lineage of trauma in the Capitol informs my understanding not just of old tyrant Snow, but the other Capitol characters. And makes the likes of Cinna and Cressida and Plutarch all the more awesome to have chosen a different path. Even Effie who is so much about control and appearances in this singularly thinking way ultimately sees through the veil and understands this kind of control is a profound injustice. I view the book as a prequel in that it’s so intimately connected to the series of 3 and makes those characters, plots, settings, and other details so much more rich. It’s been years since I last read the books. I’ll do so again next time with more clarity.
Dark novel. Not graphic, but oozing with the darkness of humanity. It’s great, and I’m not sure I can ever read it again. There’s so much real. Though I’d LOVE to see it on film. It would be easily translatable to a couple of screenplays. They’d need to cast a Lucy Gray who can sing well and act even better, and a Snow who can carry both the film and carry a tune but without the quality of a professional singer.
I didn’t expect to feel so deeply for young Snow. SC is deep into midlife, and she knows real shit about trauma. She is able to convey it to a YA audience without being overly graphic or disturbing — unless people are ready to be wholeheartedly disturbed. There were a few plot points that felt contrived, like housing tributes in the monkey enclosure, otherwise this book was smashing. I know this because days later I was still smashed. I’m recovered now and ready to reread The Hunger Games trilogy.
I can’t see myself writing TBOSAS fanfiction, but I feel like the bit of writing I do about that universe has already been influenced by the prequel.
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la5t-res0rt · 4 years
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Wanted to ask about beetlelyds, sorry, I thought it was technically cannon? Like in the old comics after the show ended she grew up and married him. Sorry I’m an old school fan and have no idea why this whole thing is such a big deal. Wasn’t the actor like 20 too? I’m sorry if I sound very dumb. I’m not used to this new tumblr.
youre fine you are one hundred percent allowed to especially when you do it civilly as you have done here
first of all the biggest issue faced in the whole what is and is not canon debate is the fact that there are three (four if you count the limited comics run) publicized iterations of my media
i will go over each very briefly just kidding this is going to a long answer so i will spare the dashboard with a readmore
there is the movie which im sure you dont need me to explain the plot since youre an old school fan but basically the climax is that yes beetlejuice does go for the marriage angle in exchange for stopping the exorcism of adam and barbara and his motive for this is so that he can cause as much chaos as he wants on the mortal coil but his plan is thwarted when barbara rides a sandworm into the house which promptly eats beetlejuice sending him to bureaucratic death limbo
the end of the movie features the deetz and the maitlands happily living together with lydia havign a new appreciation for her situation and beetlejuice gets his head made real small which is very funny haha 
so no in the movie they are not canon editors note the actress who played lydia winona ryder was a teenager while filming the movie she turned 17 the year it released 
the next is the cartoon which i will admit has the most grounds for being considered canon but in the end the show is about a middle schooler and her best friend who is a ghost which in itself is a pretty iffy gray area sort of thing but for a childrens cartoon to work a friendship is better than the obvious enemy status they held in the movie
anyway in the cartoon they are potrayed to be very close friends with lydia being the person beetlejuice cares about the most and honestly if you were to watch it with no prior knowledge of the media and if you ignored their massive and obvious age difference than yeah you probably would read it as a romantic relationship 
however lydia is a middle schooler and that is simply immoral
there have been writers for the cartoon who have been credited to say that a relationship is what they were trying to invoke but for obvious reasons they couldnt exactly move forward with that angle with them establishing that lydia is a child in middle school and a fully grown adult man dating a child who is in middle school is immoral and also illegal in the united states and in canada 
this isnt a good argument for whether or not something is canon and i will tell you why with one simple name and that is luke weber
if you dont know who luke weber is he was a storyboard artist on the cartoon steven universe he is known for making a lot of self ship artwork of him and the character pearl
he worked on the show isnt his material canon no of course it isnt it wasnt put in the actual publication and also if memory serves he was eventually asked to leave the project after he drew art of the shows creator giving him permission to date pearl and calling them her otp and a lot of fans hated this because the most generally accepted interpretation of pearls character is that she is sapphic so a lot of people took issue however that again is just a widely perceived headcanon it is never stated what her actual sexuality is no one in that show is because it isnt a show about that its about wait im getting off topic sorry
what im saying is what can truly be considered canon is what you see on the screen and with the cartoon they are definitely the most friendly with each other and that is why so many people in the beetlebabe shipping community take so much stock in the cartoon because it is the easiest to read the relationship between the mas romantic although that is not what the show actually provides in black and white terms
interpretation does not equal canon and in this case no matter what anyone says the fact remains that in the cartoon itself they are friends good friends yes but friends all the same
it is definitely not a show about a grown man grooming an adult and if it were you definitely shouldn’t be stanning it the extreme because grooming a minor is wrong and it is apparently a problem in the fandom
anyway if the cartoon and the movie are both products of their time and there was more leniency on content bear in mind this was the same era as notorious animation powerhouse and known predator john k who was a showrunner on ren and stimpy and he maintained a relationship with a teenager which was an open secret that nobody really took issue with because in that time being a woman in the animation industry was tricky business and your career could be ended easily if you rejected advances luckily time has moved forward and the animation industry although still full of problems of a similar nature at least people are getting called out and punished for it
you can look more into that yourself its really upsetting though
as for comics i havent been able to find good scans of them and im not willing to purchase them but in my search i never found anything about the two of them ever being married in the cartoon again because she is a child i did find a cover where he appears to be getting married and hes asking lydia to get him out of it but im not sure where the comic actually goes all i know is she is standing off to the side shrugging and looking like she doesnt really care
anyway that brings us to the musical which is set in the modern day 
in the original libretto lydia is described as thirteen but since they got an actress who was older in the updated librettos she is listed as 15 and the story is pretty similar to the movie the young girl befriends ghosts and they try to scare her family out etc etc
the major difference between the film and the musical are that lydia and beetlejuice are more like friends like in the cartoon 
she summons him to help scare after the maitlands attempt doesnt really work so he shows up and they have fun terrorizing people together however she drops him for the opportunity to perhaps get her mom back but when no one will help she goes back to beetlejuice who tricks her into almost exorcising barbara
she agrees to marry him in order to stop the exorcism and he only wants to get married so he can be alive again and cause problems on the mortal coil like in the movie in the musical he states several times its a green card thing whihc obviously doesnt make it okay but still
anyway lydia tricks him and runs off into the underworld before the wedding can happen blah blah blah she goes back blah blah and she agrees to go through with the wedding to save her friends and family with a plan to make him go away for good
theres a very tongue and cheek song called creepy old guy which points out how wrong the whole thing is but everyone is going along with it in a very comedic matter and it includes the line 
i cant believe some cultures think this kind of things alright
basically saying yeah this is very very wrong anyway they do get married and beeltjeuice is alive for like 6 seconds before lydia stabs him to death with bad art and he dies thus nullifying the marriage because death do you part etc
so in the musical no at the end of the show they are not canon because he is dead their marriage is nullified and they go their separate ways
anyway sorry about that i just need to make it very clear that these three properties are all very distinct from each other and basically all three are indeed canon since they are publicized material and arguing the validity of which one is pointless editors note all actresses who played with the exception of dana steingold were minors for the majority of their runs as lydia with sophia ann caruso the originator of the role turning 18 during the run and dana being in her late twenties presley ryan however was a minor the whole time and still is one
tldr no they aren’t canon but to the credit of some people in this fandom their interpretation isnt too far of a stretch thanks to the era and some of the writers wishing to imply a relationship between an adult and a child
i also need to address how this is all a big deal and i suggest you take a peak through my discourse tag and check out @leedia‘s blog to see some of the more harmful things done by beetlebabe shippers
the beetlejuice fandom is home to many minors after the musical came out since musical fandom is vast and the ages of its members varies and normalizing pedophilia is harmful to them not to mention the people who have been effected by sexual harassment at the hands of adults
both sides have victims of csa but one side continues to perpetuate the cycle by showing time and time again that this behavior is normal and easily romanticized in the name of coping and literally anyone who has ever been to a good and credible therapist could tell you that posting cp even if it is simulated cp isnt a really good way to cope and you can get mad at me for saying that its totally fine but and im going to remove my character veil here for just a second as a csa survivor myself i think its harmful to not only myself but many others ok the veil is back down
tldr again there is a lot of bullying and harassment going on with both sides having their own issues but there is one side whos issues run a bit deeper in my humble opinion 
thank you for your question it allowed me to talk a lot you are welcome to discuss further with me in dms if you wish i honestly recommend giving the musical a listen because it is very fun and despite what some people say its very clever and if you get a chance to see a boot of it its visually stunning
one last note that i couldnt really fit in here but a large portion of the beetlebabes shipping community ignore the musical because it openly condemns the idea of beeltejuice and lydia having a relationship and a lot of the antis take issue with much of the writing and characterizations of the cartoon just a note that i think is important since were talking about canon
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