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reservoirreputation · 2 months

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Why Not Both?: Extras

Notes for my ResDogs fic of the same name

title ideas, as I’m not totally sold on ‘Why Not Both?’:

Chaos Trio

Hate Fucking

summary: Larry and Vic are both into the new guy on the crew, fresh-faced Freddy. Both wanna shoot their shot, but the other guy is constantly cockblocking. Freddy goes from confused to flattered to annoyed in record time, and tries to scare at least one of them off; he’s interested in both men, and it’s up to Larry and Vic to figure out what they wanna do about it. Shock of all shocks, Vic agrees- and Larry can’t let him win, quickly agreeing, as well. Freddy plays it off like he’s won, in the end, but has a constant inner monologue of ‘oh SHIT, what now??’ going through his head.

the world, expanded: AU of the events of the film, but Freddy isn’t a cop. It’s still Vic’s first job fresh out of the clinker, still on probation. Joe expresses some caution, and wants to ease Vic back into work (could be Vic got beat up in jail, got sick, maybe something happened to Eddie? To Joe, even? Maybe Joe’s plans for the jewelry store simply fell through, maybe there was a leak in the LAPD warning him about their plans to get in Joe’s inner circle. A moment even, of showing how competent Freddy was in the film to get as far as he did, and how the undercover job could’ve gone tits up before it ever got off the ground, in the hands of someone else. Really, this is an examination of ‘what if everything else in the story remained the same, but Freddy went down more the path of ‘Orange’ rather than ‘Officer’, showing that he was fully capable of both since as long as he could remember.

Still have it be the first time Larry and Vic interact; have Joe be cautious, probably about the LAPD tip, and want any of his guys to work alone, but for there to also be no big jobs. And, wouldn’t you know? Vic Vega and Larry Dimmick have never met. And if this thing between Vic and Eddie is that serious, Vic should get to know some of Joe’s oldest and most trusted allies. So, these two buddy up as a pair, maybe an occasional word from the other dogs, especially Blue.

After a couple of stressful, small jobs, Larry and Vic blow off some steam at a local watering hole- and someone quickly catches Larry’s attention. Cute older guy, likely in his 40s. Larry starts off talking to him, goes to use the bathroom, comes back out-

-and Vega’s flirting with his catch.

During a moment where the cute 40-something is gone, Larry asks Vic what the fuck he’s doing? ‘Aren’t you with Eddie?’ ‘we’re not exclusive.’ ‘Well, how big of you. Now why don’t you leave this guy to me? I wasn’t exactly being subtle about my intentions’ ‘shouldn’t what’s his name get to choose? Put on a better game, and you’ll have nothing to worry about.’ and Larry doesn’t care for this, just lets it go. Frustrated, sure, but he’s not in high school and doesn’t need this immature bullshit. The next time, about a week later, they’re at a different bar, and Larry has his eyes on a new prize; a gorgeous woman, closer to his age. It’s only been a few months since ‘Bama, and Larry’s more in the mood for dick, but he’s certain that Vic won’t care about cockblocking him on this. Which, of course, Vic has to go and prove him wrong, and do just that.

Vic motivation: he actually finds Larry attractive, and could use his words, and be very clear about his intentions, but he just loves winding people up so much. Maybe even foreshadow it with a ‘fight’ between Vic and Eddie at the start of the story. So, Vic really wants to sleep with Larry, but wants to piss him off, first.

Multi POV or only one? I think Larry’s POV is necessary, maybe some of Freddy’s, but the comedy of Larry’s ‘OH’ moment when he realizes Vic’s into him really hinges on us (the reader) being on the outside when it comes to Vic’s motivations.

The outline:

-Open to Joe’s office, and he’s giving Larry the lowdown on Vic Vega’s release, and how he’s anxious about any big jobs, because of the LAPD leak. How he’s shelved the jewelry store idea, and wants Larry to walk Vega through his probation. All that Larry knows about him is what Eddie rants and raves about, and thinks that Vega can’t be too bad.

-First time Larry and Vic meet, and Larry gets a bit of the creeps. Realizes pretty quickly that he’s met Vega’s kind before, and that the guy’s likely a psycho, wonders what the hell Eddie sees in him.

-As a bonding exercise, Larry, Vic and Eddie go out for lunch. Vic just endlessly antagonizes Eddie, and Larry wonders how the hell they can stand each other. Maybe a narrator moment of Larry looking away, and Eddie and Vic giving the closest thing to puppy dog eyes that they’re capable of.

-A recap of the first week, and various smalltime jobs. Larry mostly drives, leads the charge, and Vic starts needling him about this, implying that Larry’s a control freak. Larry doesn’t take the bait, keeps his place behind the wheel. He does feel a bit ridiculous though, physically taking charge when Vic’s obviously so much bigger than him (a fun parallel to that one scene in BSN)

-First bar, Larry’s trying to ignore Vic’s general weirdness, and sees a hot, younger guy as the perfect distraction. Cockblocking ensues.

-Another recap, this time of week two. A meeting with Joe, where he’s starting to get more comfortable with the idea of a medium-sized job. Wants to bring in a new face, has his eye on a few guys, including the likes of Dennis (Brown), Mark (Pink) and Freddy (Orange). Wants Larry to go over these potential hires with him soon, probably take Joe another week to really check these guys over, make sure there are no undercover fucks/snitches, considering how close the last call was.

-Second bar in as many weeks, Larry tries shooting his shot with a woman around his age, thinking that Vic’s just gay, but the guy makes a point to ruin Larry’s chances (be it by flirting with the woman, himself, or by scaring her off). Larry’s really annoyed, but still tries to be the bigger man. He justifies his just- letting it go, by convincing himself he needs to more professional, and that these bar trips were still very much on the clock.

-Week three, and the auditions begin. Blue joins as a panel judge of sorts, and Larry’s in quiet awe because he’s heard so much about the guy. So, Larry, Blue, Joe and Eddie go through the new candidates (another throwback, this time to S&R, but instead of a panicked Larry looking for his LAPD contact-) and Larry’s kinda happy to be rid of Vic, feeling like he can properly breathe for the first time in days. Sure, there was downtime at home, but work always promised more interactions with the psycho. Funny enough, Larry’s mind keeps wandering back to Vic, showing that distance does make the heart grow fonder. All that goes out the window when Larry lays eyes on Freddy Newandyke. Instant connection, palpable chemistry, and Larry’s smitten. He finds himself thinking as well, ‘Finally, something that Vic can’t mess up!’ and tries to push down the odd feeling of guilt that rears its ugly head.

-At home, able to digest everything, Larry (attempts to) comes to his senses: he likes the new kid, Freddy, but he’s so young, even younger than Vic (ad why should Larry make that comparison to begin with?). That, along with how new the kid is to a more organized operation, it would be all kinds of gross to take advantage of that; surely Larry could say ‘jump’ and the kid would ask ‘how high?’. It’s unethical, unprofessional, and, besides, ‘what would Vic have to say about it?’

-The next day, Joe tells Larry that he and Vic are doing so well as a duo, that he thinks Larry can fit more on his plate. Blue’s taking on Dennis and Mark, so it’s only right that Larry and Vic take on Freddy. Happiness surges, and is quickly tamped down, as Larry agrees to the arrangement, because what else is he supposed to do, to say?

-The first job of the new trio. If Larry’s a people person, and Vic’s the muscle, then Freddy’s a smooth talker. Where there’s a generational gap between Larry and some of the people they have to talk to, Freddy fills in the gap, quite nicely. Larry can’t help but reflect on this with pride, at the end of a long day.

-The fourth week, and fourth bar. Freddy’s been giving Larry signals all week, and Larry can’t help but get his hopes up… because it’s plain as day that Freddy’s been sending the same signals to Vic. Again, trying to be the rational one, Larry figures that Freddy’s just got a flirty personality, and doesn’t mean anything by it. Only, one particular talk between him and the kid clinches it, and he knows for certain that Freddy’s interested. Larry’s high on love, though it’s too soon to call it like it is. He heads to the bathroom, cleans up a bit, justifies sleeping with the guy, that Joe can’t be that much of a hypocrite, giving Larry shit over a coworker lay while letting Eddie and Vic continue on, unbothered, and is also just so jazzed that a young, confident catch like Freddy wants anything to do with him. He’s so high on the potential lay, that all the air is sucked out of the room when he leaves the toilet-

-and sees Vic chatting Freddy up. Like the two previous outings, Vic’s ready to spoil his catch. Larry, completely fed up at this point, isn’t willing to let Freddy get scared off/swept up just like that.

Notes on outline, draft #1: to make it stand out more from other fics, and vary up the locations, cut down on the amount of bar scenes. Maybe only have 2: the first weekend, and possibly Larry and Vic stop by a gay bar for the sake of convenience, and the auditions, where we meet Dennis, Mark and Freddy for the first time. Week two could be a taco truck by the beach, and Larry seeing the older woman out in the wild. Week four/Larry’s pass at Freddy can be in the car on the way home; maybe Larry’s hoping for privacy, but the route means dropping Freddy off, first, so he tries to make the proposal while they’re getting dinner (though Larry’s not really hungry) and he keeps waiting for Vic to give them some space, like heading off to the bathroom, or even just calling Eddie to pick him up, something. Just to get a variety of settings and locations.

#reservoir dogs #fanfic #writers #writing #behind the scenes #extras #nerdy shit

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franniebanana · 3 years

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CQL Rewatch - Episode 3

I just love their outfits here, and since I didn’t comment on that in the last episode, I wanted to say it here. I love the whole color palette they used for Lotus Pier. The donghua goes heavy on the purple and black, but I really love how they incorporate lavender and teal and other blues. It’s just very pretty and soft and relaxing. Such a nice place. I keep having a debate with myself about where I’d rather live. I think I’d be more comfortable in the Cloud Recesses, but I’d never be able to deal with all those rules!

Ah, yes, everyone’s favorite peacock. He played this part so perfectly: just this pillar of grace and poise, except when he’s around Jiang Yanli, and he just becomes butter hahaha. I like his son a lot better than him, but he and Wei Wuxian have some great scenes together, and it’s fun to see him grow alongside everyone else. He’s not just a mindless clan member who does everything he’s supposed to. He’ll stand up and fight for justice too.

It’s easy to forget (myself included in this) that Jiang Yanli is the oldest of the three of them, especially in this show. She’s so much smaller, so soft-spoken; she isn’t going to be the next leader, because that’s Jiang Cheng, being the male heir. But this is one of those scenes where she really is the big sister. Wei Wuxian is fighting with her fiancé’s retinue, Jiang Cheng is just trying to stay out of it and be polite, so she has to step in and put an end to it. I love when Jiang Yanli gets some screen time and lines, and isn’t serving soup. Don’t get me wrong—I like seeing her take care of them, but it’s more mothering than being a big sister. I think the moments when she’s standing up for her brothers and for herself are really special. You can’t blame Jiang Cheng or Wei Wuxian for loving their shijie so much.

Gotta love Wei Wuxian taking every opportunity to throw some shade at Jin Zixuan. I love all of it, and I eat it up—I am the target audience for snarky Wei Wuxian. And at this point, Jin Zixuan just ignores him—good on him. He keeps that up for all of a few days.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

YOU FORGOT THE INVITATION!

Sorry, but the first time I watched this, I wondered why there was this big close-up of something with “Lan Clan of Gusu” written on it. I’m a dummy, okay?

Omg they translated ge-ge as “buddy.”

Okay, but here we go! Shut out of the Cloud Recesses. Also, where did they change? I kept thinking they changed at the tavern, but when they left, they were wearing their same Jiang Clan clothes. So, somewhere along the way, they put on their pretty white robes. I’ve got nothing else to say here, because we’re about to see another great entrance from Lan Wangji.

I love how his entrance is accompanied by the guqin. His presence is so ethereal, so otherworldly, yet he’s so grounded as a character. He turns everyone’s heads, including Wei Wuxian’s. I love that Wang Yibo is in reality shorter than Xiao Zhan, so they gave him platform boots to make them more even. But the height and stature gives the relationship a whole different dynamic.

Anyone who knows me knows I love my yaoi/BL. I could go on and on about my favorites, but I won’t do that here. There’s one thing I don’t like about it, and it’s that you can always tell who the top and bottom is just by how they look (sometimes artists subvert this, which I love!). The donghua for MDZS does this (I haven’t read the manhua, but I have seen some screenshots, and I think it also does)—Lan Wangji is so much bigger than Wei Wuxian. And while it’s aesthetically pleasing, it just bugs me, okay? I like the idea of Wangxian being roughly the same size and height—I don’t really know why, I just do. Also I definitely headcanon them both as switches at this point.

I don’t think Lan Wangji would have given Wei Wuxian the time of day if he hadn’t heard this. He’s already impressed that Wei Wuxian picked up on the weird stuff/wicked sorcery going on—he’s made a mental note of him. I’m sure he’s a little disappointed that Wei Wuxian immediately gets on his nerves, but he still pauses before leaving.

Lan Wangji is never going to be a fast friend—he’s not going to be anyone’s best friend right away. You need to gain his trust and that does not happen overnight. Though the setting is anything but realistic, their relationship and the steps it goes through are incredibly realistic. They grow together—they grow on each other (it’s not as if Wei Wuxian really cares about Lan Wangji at first either—think of how many times he calls him a fuddy-duddy. I think his main goal for quite some time is to get on Lan Wangji’s nerves and tease him. Wei Wuxian is used to charming his way in and out of things, but he can’t do that with Lan Wangji).

Yibo’s piercings! That’s it. That’s why I took this screenshot. But, weirdly, I always look at stuff like that.

He has such a swagger here, going up the steps, but I think it’s really just Xiao Zhan trying to climb the stairs without tripping on his costume. XD

It’s funny how surprised Wei Wuxian is to have the silencing spell used on him, even though he had been put under it earlier that day. Frankly, I don’t blame Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian hit him with a bit of a sucker punch there, implying that the girls only liked him for how he looks and that they’d be disappointed by his demeanor.

It’s such a popular trope (enemies to lovers), but I don’t think that makes it inherently bad or less effective as a storytelling device. On the contrary, when done well, it can make or break a story. As I said earlier, their relationship is very realistic, yet has enough fiction to make it fun. I watch these early scenes with a big old grin on my face, and I’ve seen this one probably around four times now, maybe more (I keep watching the Special Edition for all that wangxian goodness).

Okay, let’s watch as Wei Wuxian digs his hole deeper and deeper. The look on Lan Qiren’s face this entire time is priceless. Like, who is this miscreant who just barged in here, telling me how he is breaking all the rules and expecting me to feel bad for him? Meanwhile, Lan Xichen, with a smile: I won’t blame you for breaking the rules, but let my brother who hates you decided your punishment, okay? Thanks!

Peak comedy before it gets all serious again.

She’s so gorgeous!

But I’ll be frank with you all, I don’t like that they expanded Wen Qing’s role in this way. She was one of my favorites in the book, but shoehorning her and Wen Ning into the Cloud Recesses kind of drives me nuts. And then the stuff with Jiang Cheng, while kind of cute, just doesn’t really hit right with me, and I don’t think it was executed well at all after a certain point—but I’ll babble about that when the time comes. So, while I appreciate expanding female roles, I didn’t really care for this bit in the Cloud Recesses. I would have been fine with them adding scenes of what she was up to with the Wen Clan—that would have been really cool, actually, because we don’t get to see much of anything other than the Nightless City. And maybe I’m biased because I quite enjoyed the archery contest stuff in the book that they kind of piecemealed in the show.

It sounds like I’m just whining about this show, but I actually really enjoy it.

I like this moment between the twin jades. We don’t get a ton of these and this one is particularly quiet and peaceful. The contrast between them and Jiang Cheng/Wei Wuxian is so stark—the twin jades are so formal and a little stiff, while the twin prides are off the wall, hitting and teasing each other—but this doesn’t make either one less caring than the other. What’s obvious from this scene is how much both of them care about each other: Lan Wangji wants to do what he can to help, because he knows how much pressure is on Xichen, and Xichen is just worried about his younger brother. Even though you don’t find this out until later, you can tell that the two boys had to grow up very fast. Neither one had much of a childhood, and I think Lan Xichen does take on a bit of a father role to Lan Wangji as well.

Other episodes: 1 | 2 |

#cql rewatch #lan wangji #wei wuxian #wangxian #lan xichen #jiang cheng #jiang yanli #jin zixuan #wen qing #cql #the untamed #mdzs #mo dao zu shi

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deltaengineering · 3 years

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that was the winter anime 2021 that was

Still not quite ready for a dozen posts about how terrible the likes of Combatants Will Be Dispatched are, sorry. Watch Vivy though, it owns. Here’s some more things that are (mostly) good. As always, worst to best.

Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki S3

Yatogame has long run out of hot Nagoya facts and its ensemble comedy never amounted to much, so now it seems mostly content to just spam more and more wacky character designs. About the only thing that it has left going for it is that 3 minutes a week are more effort to drop than to watch, so I expect them to make a movie next. 4/10

Go-toubun no Hanayome S2

Quints is a weird one. S1 was a barely good enough (i.e., well above average) implementation of the ages old harem chestnut. S2 is actually better at the core of its appeal, since it gives all the characters a sharper profile (things like taking Nino from joke to badass and making Ichika a villain are no mean feat), but it does pay a steep price for it. You see, to deliver a steady drip feed of meaningful character moments it apparently has to rush through the source material at a breakneck pace, which completely wrecks the "story" part of this story and makes every episode seem like a recap. And it still keeps wasting precious time on vestigial nonsense like its framing device and the Kyoto flashback scenario that was already the worst part of S1. But by far the most annoying aspect is its insistence on keeping all the options valid, since it prevents any real progress and makes everything seem arbitrary and pointless. So sure enough, after a season of much ado we still don't end up anywhere — you can't really raise the stakes if all at stake was "who wins" to begin with. It's watchable and even enjoyable scene-for-scene but it's getting harder and harder to call it a solid show overall. 5/10

Skate Leading Stars

I was watching this primarily because I didn't like Yuri on Ice much and wanted to see if something that is a blatant attempt to cash in on it would be better — because while YoI delivers on one aspect (being hella gay), it really is an absolute shambles of a sports show. And sure enough, Skate Leading has none of the auteur appeal of YoI, but it just works much better. In particular I appreciate how it managed to make me care even a little about a cast of assholes, which is a nice contrast to the nauseatingly ingratiating way YoI tries to make you love its characters. Also, Skate Leading is just generally cheap and unambitious, so not susceptible to trying hard and painfully flaming out on the presentation side like YoI is. But at some point you gotta let go of these comparisons and on its own Skate Leading is... just fine, I guess? Competent, mildly engaging, not very memorable. And that's probably where it loses to Yuri on Ice in the end after all, even if I think it's "better". 6/10

Idoly Pride

Idoly Pride sold itself on me with a really good (and hilarious/tragic) first episode that was just too bizarre to ignore — I mean, how can you ignore GHOST IDOL MANAGERS. Well, the majority of the show isn't like that. It's a competent and solid version of the idol franchise show, yes, but it really had more potential than that. Especially midseason, it gets lost in these dozens of characters, and while they're all likeable, it does seem like a waste of a good story just centered on Mana/Kotona/Sakura. By the end it comes back around to the heart of the matter with a Maeda-style sob story, which could be a disaster but seasoned veteran Jukki Hanada makes it work anyway. Overall, there's quite a bit of ridiculous hacky melodrama in this, but quite honestly that's the best part and I wish it would concentrate more on it. The rest is just okay. 6/10

Yuru Camp S2

Yuru Camp is still likely the best pure iyashikei show when it gets down to business. Compared to S1 though, this seems to happen less and less. At its peaks (i.e., basically any quiet moment with Rin) it's at least as good as ever, and there's some good cast additions like Mini-Inuko, but it appears that Yuru Camp simply has run out of things you can do with camping and it fills up the time with other... stuff. This stuff includes the generic school club shenanigans it was never particularly good at, and a gigantic helping of crass consumerism. Yeah, I would say the majority of Yuru Camp is just a straight up infomercial at this point, which itself ranges from the perfectly acceptable (which cute anime isn't about food constantly), to the sketchy (I don't know whether the Izu tourism board cut this production a fat check, but if they didn't, Yuru Camp still gives its best effort to make it seem that way) to the highly irritating – I am aware that camping requires gear and you can't just ignore that, but you most definitely do not require whole arcs dedicated to talking about raising funds for the purposes of acquiring the Lamp of Comfy Happiness at your friendly local Caribou™ either. Not to mention an arc where the aforementioned lame school club does the same, for double irritation. Make no mistake, this show is so riddled with scenes that beg for a solution to embed affiliate links in video files that it makes me wish I was watching something as anticapitalist and underground as Love Live. And irritating really is the last thing a show with this core concept, as stellar as it is at that, can afford to be. Bummer. 6/10

SKOO the Infinity

Skoo has one really huge asset: ADAM, its magnificent villain. It also has one really huge liability: Reki, its not magnificent protagonist. To be more specific, it's very good at anything outrageous, physics-defying and silly, such as most scenes ADAM is in, and quite bad at anything serious, dramatic (in a serious way) and down to earth, such as most scenes Reki is in. So, what's the verdict? Well, the rest of the cast is more ADAM-like, and Reki's co-protagonist Langa is fine as the straight (yeah, right) man. The tedious buddy drama is a comparatively small part of this show, and at least it pays off quite well in the end. Seriously, I was ready to give this a 6, but the final episode is probably the best one of the show, in all of its aspects. That's really not something you see often. Skoo's a great time. Except when it's not. 7/10

Non Non Biyori Nonstop

Speaking of the rare good ending, what about we gave one of those to a slim and inconsequential slice-of-life show? NNB has always been solid, comfy and amusing quality with a couple of standout moments (usually something with Renge), and Nonstop has that plus an ending as conclusive as any show of this type is ever going to have. Besides, it does a lot of things right by focusing on more characters than the central 4 (especially Konomi has great material in S3), it expands the universe just enough to not get stale, and it moves things forward — It's definitely a lot better than the movie, is what I'm saying. Apart from that, well, we're three seasons in, if you have any interest in this you probably don't need me to explain what's good about NNB at this point. Bonus points for being nothing but an ad for the manga. 7/10

Wonder Egg Priority

Oh boy, so here's the big one. Wonder Egg is the rare Meaningful Arthouse Show About Real Issues You Guys, as you might have heard. And well, the long and short of it is that it's a very good show with quite a few glaring problems (besides not actually being finished due to production issues, but what we have is enough of an ending to be able to meaningfully talk about it). In particular, one problem: WEP is, at its core, one of these metaphorical Magical Girl-ish series that are just a thin layer of abstraction over coming-of-age or societal problems. The issue is that "metaphorical" in this case means "literal" and "thin" means "basically nonexistent". This show is not subtle regarding what it's about, at all. This is a double-edged sword — on the positive side, some things really should just be said aloud, and I'm really, really fucking tired of the Ikuhara style of "here's some wacky things, maybe a blog post will eventually tell you how it's actually about the most important thing ever" obfuscation — if it's really so important, just spell it out. On the other hand, there are limits to this and when a second, different Ai appears I don't really need a voiceover line telling me that yep, this show is about parallel universes now. WEP spells out many important things, but it also spells out many things that are implicitly clear or better left vague. Not to mention that with being so obvious up front, the show's tendency to leave figuring out what it's actually saying about it up to the viewer can leave the wrong impression. Again, I settled on the opinion that it's subtle after all where it counts the most, but you might easily get the impression that it pulls its punches (Ikuhara does this the exact other way around — once you figure out what the fuck he's talking about it's abundantly clear what he's saying about it).

In fact, this show is so good at subtle, quiet character moments that it calls into question the need for big huge fighting fantasy layer in the first place, especially since I'm not a fan of the fantasy designs and the fights aren't great. Sure, they look impressive on a technical level (this show is very good looking in general), but the lack of actual impact or rhythm makes me think this is not made by people who are very familiar with action and maybe they should have asked some seasoned shounen veterans for this — or just, you know, not do it. They can (and do) impress with character acting in quiet scenes just the same. And while Ai's character story actually does pay off quite nicely by the end we got, and Momoe and Rika are also handled well, Neiru's backstory is significantly less good, not to mention the whole Frill subplot regarding the show's mythology that they introduced just before (and that's the part to be resolved at a later date), which is a huge can of worms. We'll see how well they handle that, I suppose, but as it is it's a weird and vestigial detour that doesn't add much besides thematic headaches.

But yeah, apart from all that — I like it, a lot. Great character writing in the details, cool looks for the most part, tons of ambition, and a message that I consider to be appropriately handled — for the most part, and for now. Not quite ambitious arthouse anime at its finest, but also not a pretentious disaster like Sarazanmai, Monogatari et al. 8/10

#anime #review #winter2021 #Yatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki #Go-toubun no Hanayome #Skate Leading Stars #Idoly Pride #Yuru Camp #sk8 the infinity #Non Non Biyori #wonder egg priority

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springday-aus · 3 years

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Enemies to Lovers!AU with Xiaojun

—

Group: NCT [+ WayV]

Member: Xiaojun / Xiao Dejun

Genre: fluff, comedy, romance

Type: Bulletpoint AU

Word Count: approx. 2.4k

so, you’re Xiaojun’s enemy (he thinks of it more of his number one attacker tho)

it wasn’t hard considering he’s always on fight or flight mode and considering his friend group….

fight mode is always activated

(ง’̀-‘́)ง

so it started when you became friends with Ten

the guy is so sociable, so you were bound to meet him and his other friends someday

but jesus christ, there were soooo many of them

it was a party; he threw a literal party of just him and his friends

and then there were others who turned it into a rave (i.e. Hendery, Yangyang, Chenle and Donghyuk)

anyways, you got to mingle and make so many new friends

it was going really well

until Xiaojun entered the picture

things went well with him too, until you made a joke that didn’t exactly land with him

but it landed well with the others

Lucas: “who in their right mind would like mint chocolate”

Xiaojun: “but I like mint chocolate”

You: “then you’re not in your right mind lmao”

YangYang: “I mean, is Xiaojun ever in his right mind tho”

everyone laughs

except for one person

Xiaojun stood up, staring you down for a hot second, before trying to argue back

in which YangYang was the main responder

you didn’t really think much of it, laughing away with the others

but, to him, you just declared war that day

it shouldn’t have bothered him as much as it did

but it did

so, from then on, things just got rockier

bc he started picking fights with you over the littlest things or he would argue with your points no matter what

you didn’t really think much of it bc he was also being picked on everyone else and you were like

every man for themselves huh

it wasn’t until he personally attacked you

it happened on Halloween

and he made an underhanded comment about how he’d look better in anything compared to you

so you made a “friendly” bet

but then you lost

bc Xiaojun looked better in the Jasmine costume than you and he def knew it too

and when he smirked at you

the grudge had been built

that’s probably when the mutual enemy status circulated around your friends

although, if they’re being honest, it’s so entertaining

especially since most of them like to gang up on Xiaojun too

and because of that unity, it’s only made things worse

from what the others can tell

you two don’t hate each other, but you def don’t get along

it ranges to food (e.g. mint chocolate chip incident that NO ONE lets go)

Lucas: “mint choco ain’t shit”

You: “retweet”

Xiaojun: “the attacks”

YangYang: “we cannot trust a man who eats bread with fucking lao gan ma”

You: “you eat what with bread?”

Xiaojun: “shut up. all of you.”

to activities

cue you two fighting about what movie to watch

Xiaojun: “Titanic is a classic!!!”

You: “it’s a joke, there was rOOM ON THE FUCKING DOOR”

Xiaojun: “IT’S ROMANTIC. HE SACRIFICED HIMSELF SO SHE CAN LIVE.”

You: “THAT’S NOT ROMANTIC. THAT’S SUICIDAL, DUMBASS.”

this feud is def bc you’re both petty as fuck

the bickering is nonstop

but, if the nct boys are being honest

they’re lowkey confused bc Xiaojun is supposed to have a really high emotional tolerance

he doesn’t even yell this much at YangYang or Ten

(excluding that one time he hit YangYang with that pillow very hard)

but he does blow off his top when it comes to you

which is sus to a lot of the boys

whenever someone does ask him tho

he just kind of……………

mumbles underneath his breath and then moves onto something else

meanwhile, Yuta: “isn’t he always like that?”

Kun: “who wants to tell him”

lmao, I’m kidding

kind of

anyways, you two are really just going at it

what changes?

you have to go to the dentist and get your molars removed

which means someone has to take you and go pick you up

obviously, Ten was going to do that, considering you two were the closest

so he dropped you off and you had your surgery

so what happened?

welp, your buddy Ten forgot he had a prior engagement and, hence, was unable to pick you up

cue him spamming the groupchat

and Lucas exposing Xiaojun

Lucas: Xiaojun isn’t doing anything Xiaojun: you don’t know that Lucas: I do tho, go pick up (Y/N) Ten: I’ll buy you anything from that green tea cafe you like for a week Xiaojun: deal.

so he came to pick you up, both willingly and unwillingly

and you……. you were more than a hot mess

you were just a mess

you basically were just blacked out that entire time after they gave you the laughing gas and completed the surgery

so you remembered absolutely nothing.

your roommate: “this is what you get for doing drugs”

You: “IT WAS PURELY FOR MEDICINAL USE”

You: “IT’S NOT LIKE I DID CRACK”

either way, your roommate let you know of the situation, taking note of how your enemy had to take you home

which

again

no recollection

your roommate: “he’s fucking hot tho”

You: “ugh, I know”

but that’s also when you decided

Ten is a dead man :)

Ten: “I’M SORRY”

You: “YOU BETTER FUCKING BE”

Ten: “I KNOW”

Ten: “............................................but………………………………….”

Ten: “maybeyoushouldalsothankhimfortakingcareofyou”

You: “sorry not sorry, I’m contemplating murder rn”

Hendery: “what do you call a murder against a friend?”

Kun: “don’t”

Ten:

You:

Hendery: “it’s a homie-cide”

You and Ten: “NOT NOW”

anyways

you knew he was right

so after you calmed down, you went to Xiaojun’s place (thanks to Ten), with some sweets to thank him

Lucas opened the door, let you in, and left to go to the gym with Sicheng

Xiaojun came out of his room, a couple of minutes after, disheveled from his nap

and when he saw you in his living room couch, his eyes widened, darting around to avoid looking at you

You: “hi”

Xiaojun: “hello”

You: “why do you look so scared? I’m not gonna jump you”

he stays quiet, the blush becoming more apparent on his cheeks

You: “Ten told me you took me home after my surgery, so…………………… thanks”

Xiaojun: “he bribed me with pastries”

You: yeah, sounds about right

You: “still”

You: “um, I didn’t know what you would like, so I brought some sweets you can just go through”

Xiaojun: “thanks”

it’s silent for another moment and you consider bolting out from the apartment, Wizards of Waverly Place, Harper-style: “see ya in p.e.!” kind of a thing

but he speaks up once more

Xiaojun: “are you feeling okay now?”

You: “uh, yeah, my jaw still kind of hurts”

You: “but I have meds they prescribed to me for the next month or so”

he decides to stop beating the bush:

Xiaojun: “so do you remember what happened yesterday?”

You: “to be completely honest, no”

Xiaojun: “you… did a lot of things”

You: “what do you mean I did a lot of things”

Xiaojun: “you also said a lot of things too”

You: “..... are these things recorded?”

Xiaojun: “maybe”

Xiaojun: “some”

You: “dELETET HEM”

you actually considered tackling him, but deemed as too Yang-Yang-like

You: “what did I say”

Xiaojun: “I didn’t realize you thought I was handsome”

You: “wait what?”

Xiaojun: “you said, you had a crush on my ‘fine ass’”

You: “you know what? I think I’m gonna pull a Jack and commit suicide, goodbye”

Xiaojun: “ah, ah, ah, you said like, which is… present tense”

You: “semantics”

Xiaojun: “but did you like me at some point?”

You: “does it matter?”

Xiaojun: “yeah, it kind of does”

Xiaojun: “bc even tho we bicker, it’s, like, our thing”

Xiaojun: “plus, you’re kind of cute when you’re threatening to rip off my eyebrows”

You: “I did what?”

Xiaojun: “it’s no different from how you treat me now”

You: “I thought it’s because you don’t like me”

he just kind of shrugs, rubbing his neck rather sheepishly

Xiaojun: “you’ve seen my friends; arguing is our way of showing our affections”

You: “so, you’re saying this is your way of telling me you like me?”

Xiaojun: “I mean………“

Xiaojun: “are you saying you like me?”

You: “are you saying you like me?”

*cue another argument about who likes who*

eventually, he found a way to shut you up

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

cut to Lucas and Sicheng coming back from the gym to you and Xiaojun making out on the couch

Lucas: “NASTY”

Sicheng: “what did we…. miss?”

Ten somewhere: I fucking called it.

anyways

you both decided to date that day

and you two still bicker an insane amount, which includes you nitpicking Xiaojun’s tastes to Xiaojun refusing to delete those videos of you under the laughing gas despite your threats

but, the only difference is, your arguments can end with a kiss

and it always freaks out the guys whenever you do

Donghyuk: “I’m too young to be seeing this monstrosity”

Mark: “ngl, this is nice for them—they’ve stopped arguing”

YangYang: “I weirdly prefer them arguing over them with those sappy eyes tho”

You: “we can hear you”

Chenle: “but when have we ever cared?”

You: “I’m gonna beat your ‘01 liner ass istg—”

Xiaojun: “calm”

oh, you know what’s fun about your relationship?

you two can’t agree on some stuff right?

so whenever you have to decide something, say a movie or dinner, you two just heads-or-tails it

(there’s also this cute app where you put your options on a wheel and let that decide—the amount of times you’ve used that on your dates…… anyways)

most of the time, on these dates, you seem more like an old married couple and it’s super cute

it’s bc you’re already used to your worse sides coming out—the really petty ones, the screaming ones, the ugly ones

ofc these aren’t from serious arguments that occur

(remember folks, it isn’t healthy for you and your partner to always be fighting)

but when serious arguments do occur, you both take time to sit down and talk face-to-face

it’s hard to get into actual arguments with him, especially since he really is understanding and tries to pay attention to the smaller details

Xiaojun: “I like learning more about you”

You: “you can’t just say that kind of shit to me”

like, yeah, he’ll debate with you all night about why he needs to read the words of his book out loud but, by the end of the day, you’ll lay your head in his lap and listen to his voice as you fall asleep

speaking of which, you love listening to him sing to you

he gets a bit embarrassed sometimes about it, but seeing you smile so brightly at him makes him forget about it

because even tho you two bicker about little things, in the end, it just makes you two laugh at one another and how ridiculous you’re being

I almost forgot, so Ten thinks of him pairing you two off right?

so, whenever he does something annoying to either of you, he’ll constantly bring it up

Ten: “I guess this is how you two treat me, your personal cupid—”

Xiaojun: “yes, yes, we are grateful for you”

You: “but it would be nice if you would stop making those annoying sounds”

Ten: “what annoying sounds?”

YangYang: “that’s just you talking”

okay, no, but yeah—the nct boys are glad this rivalry is over because it was really just…. stupid to the core

but also bc you two look super sweet together and seeing you two making each other happy rather than annoyed is adorable

but just bc you two got together doesn’t mean the pettiness isn’t still there

You: “what type of freak sleeps with their eyes opened?”

Xiaojun: “I’m sleeping next to you, of course I need to keep both eyes open”

You: “RUDE”

Xiaojun: “and yet here we are”

You: “son of a bitch”

Xiaojun: “YOUR son of a bitch”

You: “eh, I’ll take it”

60 notes · View notes

katsuflossy · 4 years

Text

For the Sake of the Mission

Pairing: Aizawa Shouta x reader

TW: obscenities, slight sexual scene, angst

Word Count: 2.3k

Taglist: @sunset-novice-writer @goatsenpaiultimate

A/n: I’ve decided to change it from 18+ because it really isn’t just please use descretion as there are uncomfortable scenes. Asides from that I’ve gotten this idea from some British show my mom was watching so props to y’all who’ll now the reference. Please enjoy!! (Edited)

The whirring of the vents took advantage of the silence in the room, making up most of the sounds in the metal chamber. It made the air cold, scattering goosebumps on your skin even though around you wore a black sweater. Walls showed no sign festivity, bare of any creative artworks, just reflective of where you currently are. A face devoid of any emotions looked back at you, but even without proper clarity you knew the purpose of the reflection; it wasn’t a giant metaphor to reflect on your mistakes and crimes nor was it supposed to be calming. Its purpose was to make sure you had nothing else left to blame. The only blame was to lay you and your “confessions”.

The interrogation room was like a confessional that didn’t allow you to come back from mistakes.

The contact of soft yet pointed footsteps on the tiles of the floor now dominated the mechanical drone of the vents. Like a sly fox purposefully tapping around its prey as a taunt. Your heart never raced harder before this scenario. Getting caught in the middle of a police raid will definitely pull you into more trouble than you are already in.Your eyes switched from the wall to the ominous black window in front of you. You can’t see them but they can see you. Hell, you don’t even know who is behind that window, gauging your entire reaction at this moment. But that wasn’t what struck your heart in fear.

The footsteps could be heard behind your seated figure. Its dynamic raised louder, practically echoing through the vacuum of a room. You swallowed with much tension as the knob turned, breaking the new presence in the room.

You wondered who it was and prayed it was a low ranking police man. If it was Naomasa, Kenji or any other high ranking officers, your cover would be blown and two sides would place, on your head, a hefty bounty, dead or alive.

Black boots stepped across your vision as you peered on to your own attire, crinkled and worn from the activities you were caught in. The whirring dominated the room again as he laid on the wall, one leg used to support his weight. Your eyes finally connected to his face.

“I spoke at your funeral, you know that right?” You stared blankly into his face. Aizawa wasn’t deterred from your deadpanned face however.

“Imagine making a eulogy for someone you care so much about, believing for 3 months they have died only to have her right in front of you again—” He moved to the chair on his side of the room, “not saying a word to you. Like it has just been a bad dream.”

You kept your tongue on a leash. Your gaze went to the window and back to the hero. He sighed in discontent before placing his hand on the recorder, lifting it up to show the lack of light on the device.

“The recorder is off and there’s no one behind there. So your words stay with me.” You sighed in relief however the situation now seemed more tortuous than what you were fearing.

“I know.” Your voice breaks in soft waves to Aizawa’s ears which croned to get more. After all, he went from listening to you everyday to straight radio silence. There was no explanation or your ‘death’ and disappearance and he had endured the worst. But now he has a chance to find answers.

“I did some little digging,” your head whipped back to his own as he went on, “the most I’ve found was a covert special ops able to infiltrate the League with only two members. One uses death to gain the respect of the league members in order to join their ranks and get a bulk of the information while the other stays on the side of the heroes. I’m assuming the former is you and the latter—“

“How did you get that information! You’re sleuthing around could ruin the whole mis—“

“You were dead.” His words ran echoes through your ears and sent chills down your spine, not in the ways that it used to. In three words his raw emotions shook you to your core and shook your trained mind. It seeped in back the old memories that had been blocked out for the sake of your profession.

“The latter, they’re keeping airtight, I’m assuming only the high members of the Commision have that intel.”

Panic began to whirl around you. If Aizawa had been able to collect such intel on you, others would too. And those ‘others’ are willing to go to any lengths necessary to find that information at the sniff of betrayal. Aizawa sat back and drank in your appearance. Your hair grew in the short but torturous span of 3 months and your skin accepted more battle scars. You should be seen as disheveled, crooked and less attractive but Aizawa thought you were the most beautiful person he’s seen in the past months.

“If you worry about your espionage being revealed, don’t. I used Shinso’s brainwashing quirk to get one of those Commission heads to confess.” Your eyes widened at his honesty.

“Shouta! You can get yourself prosecuted for that!” His eyes glared straight into your own as he scowled further.

“And the same goes for you. How many years do you think you’ll get for faking death and joining Japan’s most notorious villains.” As taken aback you were, you chose to defend yourself.

“It’s my job. You know well if I didn’t obey the Commission’s wishes then I would face even more serious consequences.” You paused your speech, abruptly realising how much anger you had concurred in such a short time with the League, something that should’ve never happened in the first place. You took a deep inhale of air.

“I had to do it for us. I did it for those kids. At the very most, I did it for the citizens of this country.”

His heart and mind were at their final battle. He thought about this reunion nearly everyday and how he would approach you. One route depicted his lashing out at you, the anger bursting through the mask of hurt. On the other route, he pulled you in a tight embrace, hands roaming all over your body to ensure you were in fact real. Now that his manifestations became reality, he couldn’t choose. The concealed pain in your eyes held up a black window like the one on the other side of the room. Only thing was that he was the only one able to see you, the real you.

What did the Commission drag you into? What have you seen?

His heart softened, sending him back to those free late nights, laying on each other watching stand up comedy with a bottle of liquor. You were just bubbly, cracking jokes that rivaled those of the comedian.

His hardened shell finally broke. He let out an airy laugh.

“To think that saving humanity would let us lose the ones we feel human around.” You hummed in dreadful agreement, stripping down a little of your wall as well.

“Indeed, I miss being able to walk outside fearless of any attack from the police or other villains.”

Your words made you sound like a true villain, but he knows you, your way of talking, your body language, your love language.

He leaned back in the chair, letting his back lay against the cold metal as you did the same, making yourselves comfortable as much as you can.

“Tell me. What have you been doing in the last three months?”

You began retelling your life as a spy in the League, how Shirigaki didn’t introduce himself to you until after the first month and the personalities of each villain. You made sure to redact certain information for the fear of roping Aizawa into the same situation they have forced you into, until you blurted out your recent command.

“The last drop off I’ve had they told me I wasn’t close to unfolding the master plans despite leaking various missions that could’ve led to disaster. I had to get close to the members, bond through hobbies, be their entertainer— shit those bastards said to use my womanhood to—“ Aizawa’s eye widened at your slip up, after noticing how careful you were selecting your words. You cleared your throat, heart beating at the speed of light.

“—basically just get buddy buddy with someone.”

“No, that was not what you were going to say. Finish your sentence.”

Your throat was suddenly dry as you tried to swallow down your fear. You took a second in attempting to gather yourself before responding.

“Shouta, I just said they want me to make a friend with one of them—“

“That was not what you were going to say—“

“Well that’s confidential Shouta—“

“I believe I should know when my girlfriend is forced to seduce one of the League’s members.”

You kept your mouth shut, allowing the vents, attempting to blow the tension out of the air, make up for your silence. Shouta stayed still, only moving he exhaled with shaking, tense shoulders, like a volcano ready to erupt.

“Which one is it?” His words came out with a sense of danger, a warning of eruption. You chose to stay silent.

“Shigarki Tomura?” You were silent.

“Dabi?” You were silent.

“Mr. Compress?” Your eyes darted to the side, in an attempt to avoid him from looking into your eyes. But he knew the answer already.

“Fucking shit!” He stood from his seat, a screech emitting through the air before he placed his hands on the table, calming himself down. His anger begged to throw the chair, break the table, punch the walls however he knew the outcome of that route. Many officers would rush in after the commotion before arresting you on sight.

So he breathed, he breathed until the thick humidity of anger evaporated off of his body.

Meanwhile you sat down, guilt gnawing at your heart without hesitation. Your eyes darted to the cameras, one at the corner of the room behind your back and the other on the table, turned off from seeing the look of despair in your eyes.

Your mind went back to the scene before the police raid. Atsuhiro’s hand gently holding your neck as the other laid on your hip. His body firmly pressed against yours, letting you feel the hard bulge on your lower back. He skimmed your ear, calling you a “pretty flower” before zipping down the dress from your back. The dress they bought for you. Just as he was about to kiss you, the police broke down the door of the hideout you were stationed in. Astuhiro escaped and you, along with the little lowlife villains, were the sacrifice.

Your head hung low, shame clouded your thoughts. You couldn’t even look him within the eyes and Shouta saw that. His heart hurt for you like how yours were hurting for him. He slumped his shoulders and let out a sigh. There may be another route he had to choose in order for a better reunion.

“I would’ve never fathom a situation like this. I don’t want you to do this and just the thought of another man touching you makes my blood boil.” You flinched at the harshness in his tone.

“But for the sake of our lives. Do what you need to do.” You snapped your head up to his face, confusion set on your features as he continued.

“It hurts me, like how it hurts you. And judging by your reaction, I know you don’t want to do this also. But if it is my feeling you are trying to protect, don’t, because I know you’ll come back to me at the end of this.”

Within this safe space Aizawa made, you cried. You cried for the first time in the last two months before being a part of the elite League members. The feeling of being human was brought to the forefront of your mind, showing the (Y/n) has known from before. His own eyes stinging from the tears on his waterline.

“Hey.” He lifted your chin to look at your face.

“Promise me you’ll come back to me.” Your cheeks dewy from your tears and your lips red from the blood rushing to your face.

“I will come back to you. I promise.” The corner of his lips lifted up in a bittersweet smile. He let go of your chin to walk towards the door.

“I’ll try to delete that tape from the camera, when I walk down the hall to the right, take the fire escape down the left. Okay?”

“Okay.” Your eyes looked at the camera’s peripheral vision, noticing it didn’t have a view on the front of the door.

In a haste you turned around and ran towards the pro-hero. As soon as he turned around, your fingers entangled in the strands of his hair, pulling down his head to mold your lips with his. A passionate tango of tongues danced within your maw, recollecting the feeling of old times. It wasn’t a goodbye; it was a promise. You both know it.

As your lips parted from his, you wrapped your arms around him, spanning the broadness of his back, and laying your chin on his shoulder. He embraced you with the same tightness. You whispered in his ear.

“For the sake of the mission?”

“For the sake of the mission.”

You released him and stepped back into the door frame, remaking the space you’ve left from three months ago. This time, a sense of hope will pull you through as you complete your mission. And an anchor will keep you grounded to the ones you loved, and not to the villains reaping your empathy.

As he turned to the down the right hall, his eyes met yours before disappearing past the corner. Your training kicked in, both physical and mental, and you ran down the hall to the left.

#aizawa imagine #aizawa shouta imagine #aizawa x you #aizawa shouta x reader #aizawa x reader #shouta x reader #shouta aizawa x reader #shouta aizawa #bnha imagines #bnha aizawa #bnha aizawa x reader #bnha shouta x reader #eraserhead #bnha shouta aizawa #bnha x reader #bnha x poc!reader

213 notes · View notes

zelskzerker · 3 years

Text

Mangadex went down so I read alot 1/7

Lets review a bunch of isekai and related stuff I binged because mangadex went down. The scale will be a single thumbs up to a single thumbs down in terms of how much I would consider recommending it in general.

Legend

Chapters 1-51 Pretty straight forward in most aspects. For the best. Nothing crazy bad or good happening, making it surprisingly straight forward for an isekai. [Insert isekai startup here] but this time the MC is given a super magic body and the knowledge of ancient magic. Which he promptly uses to create a griffon buddy. Gets a THUMB IN THE UPPER CORNER for just being a nice, believable stay in a world, but I have read some stuff that really has interesting sparks the way this doesnt. MC is brutal at times and General Princess is cute. They make a good pair for each other. Although there are no ecchi situations, that artist really knows how to slide in the lewds, whether its mid combat flourishes or pre chapter artwork.

The Black Create Summoner: Revolt of Reincarnated

All Chapters

Truly is revolting. A resounding THUMBS DOWN. Apparently this was just an advertisement manga, which means that its intentionally incomplete and unsatisfying. Ontop of that, the sketchy artwork was generally rough and got worse to look at the more it went on. [Insert isekai startup here] but this time he has a grimoire that lets him summon stuff he draws. The power isn’t used that much though or in that creative of ways. Characters didn’t really leave an impact except maybe the elf little sister that is stubborn yet knows she is incompotent and recruits a dragon out of stubbornness.

Minotaur’s Sweetheart

Chapters 1-16

So what if a minotaur accidentally seduced the adventurer that was assigned to kill him? This is a good romance manga deserving a THUMBS UP because the pure-hearted minotaur boy and the unmarriageable adventurer girl actually develop a relationship and progress as people. The manga is ultimately about monsters and humans interacting and is fresh due to having a plot that evolves the situation a lot beyond the initial setup of the manga.

Moon-led Journey Across Another World

Chapters 1-64

[Insert isekai startup here] but this time the god of the new world calls the MC ugly and banishes him to the edge of the world to die off. In order to help out the MC, the god of our world (Tsukuyomi) gives him a bit of power. The MC is funny to watch once you realize that he is an incredibly cautious pureboy and expecting every common street thug to potentially end him but in reality he is a god-rivaling cataclysm himself and never realizes. He is so powerful that he recruits the blue haired mist dragon, Tomoe, and accidentally turns her into a weeaboo. Tomoe can read minds and access pocket space with her mist ontop of her sick weeaboo katana skills. She really shines as the most mature person in the story, gaining information that no one else in the story has and carefully withholding it from the MC in order to protect his innocence. She is a DAMN good tomboyish waifu and sarashii is a blessing. Other main girl is yandere spider, Mio, which has shockingly good and well conveyed bouts of emotion. She has an extremely rare “can’t cook at all” joke that is explained due to her “eat literally anything” nature. In terms of plot, the MC hates the god of the world he is in and pretty much plans to do everything she doesn’t want him to. Which means mingling with humans, and eventually, god slaying/usurption. Odd think about this manga is that it’s heavily Japanese-inspired. That may sound odd because its a manga, but generally isekai are most medieval/western skinned than this one which leans in on Japanese mythos. Just look at the god of our world in the manga.

THUMBS UP.

The Unsuccessful yet Academically Unparalleled Sage ~A Cheating S-Rank Sorcerer's Post-Rebirth Adventurer Log~

Chapter 1-10 So lets set up this genre here. This is a part of the “reincarnation” genre, which is a spinoff of isekai. They generally depict a very capable mage who reincarnates themselves into the future of their own world. At which point they realize that although they were pretty strong in their day, they are now practically a god in the deteriorated modern day. This genre will hereby be indicated by [Insert reincarnation startup here]. For this manga in specific, [Insert isekai startup here] but this time the MC could only use lightning magic and was the best at it but failed the gene gacha then [Insert reincarnation startup here] and he fails gene gacha again but is still the walking thunder god. These kinds of manga are always precious when the MC can walk through the world and see the fruits of their past labor. Specifically through Merlin, the MC’s adopted demon daughter who has grown up to be his heritor and bridge human/demon relationships. Truly adorable and heart warming. Lacks a bit of spice from themeing or ongoing plot due to its short length however. THUMB IN THE UPPER CORNER.

Older Elite Knight is cute only in front of me

Chapters 1-17.1

THUMBS UP. This is an oneshota manga where shota is a chad with incredibly good tastes. A really good ecchi manga with a light hearted story featuring Haru(the shota) knight that joins Karen’s(the oneesan) knight crew. As with all good romance manga, the main plot isn’t romance. Knight shenanigins are always happening, with a big (and lewd) bad entering recently. Top tier variation on the lewds, even including a princess loli in on the fun. Must read for all oneshota fans.

Lonely Attack on A Different World

Chapter 1-91

[Insert isekai startup forma de classroom here] but this time the MC gets leftover garbage skills and has to learn to survive. Learning to survive thus makes him the most op and he can magic trick his way out of literally anything. Strong start as the whole classroom first tries to get their footing, but after the starting arc is done this manga starts spinning it’s wheels. The manga is kinda lacking in themes, overarching plot and end goals, so stuff just happens to make this a sort of slice of life trap room escape manga. Magic “just works” in this universe so its not very dramatic when the MC pulls out a new trick out of his bag of million tricks. Just kinda stagnates too much for my liking. THUMB IN THE BOTTOM CORNER.

The Unwanted Undead Adventurer

Chapters 1-34

Rentt Faina, the MC, is a good guy with no talent who aspires to be a legendary adventurer. But then he gets turned into a skeleton, giving the chance to evolve his way to greatness, kinda like in Spider isekai or Dragon isekai. The MC is most like Goblin Slayer in his serious and knowledgeable approach to the world, how characters that know him revere him. End goal so far is just him seeing how far he can evolve as he comes across other vampires and vampire hunters. Really want to see him go to the top. Fuckin great art. Girls drawn perfect. Like the hat on the guild girl, but nothing beats the witch Lorraine. THUMBS UP.

Teihen Ryoushu No Kanchigai Eiyuutan

Chapters 1-13

THUMB IN UPPER CORNER. Pretty funny comedy about a lord of a poor land who wants to be a stereotypical evil lord but can only use healing magic. Therefore he bumbles his way into accepting a heretical cult nun, beast men who hate humans, etc. All the girls are to crazy for him to want to sex them(weak. give the assassin nun your babies). Most interesting parts are aforementioned nun, his fujoshi assistant, and the MC’s willingness to use his power to commit heretical and immoral warcrimes.

The Undead Lord of the Palace of Darkness

Chapters 1-11

Art average, don’t come to this one for spectacle. It’s strength is in the subertfuge that it’s recently-necromanced-back-to-life MC goes through to get his Master killed and to later, probably, evolve into a vampire. MC isn’t evil though, just wants to survive. Main girl on cover was born and raised to hunt vampires but has a compassionate heart. Obviously she goes easy on and relates to MC. Story is still kinda in it’s first arc so the overall trajectory of the story is a bit hard to gauge and not quite satisfying enough by its own right. Probably a thumb up with more chapters but for now THUMB IN THE UPPER CORNER.

The Reincarnated Inferior Magic Swordsman

Chapters 1-38

[Insert isekai startup here] but this time.... uh... THUMB SIDEWAYS. Usually I am patient, but 31 chapters with no goal and just barely plot? Wow. Saving grace is uh... I guess the world of “other isekai people existed but they sucked because they didn’t level uncap like MC” could go somewhere but. I take it back, lowering this one to a THUMB DOWN.

The Invincible Sage in the Second World.

Chapters 1-12

[Insert isekai startup here] but this time a pro mmo player in a game called “Broken Balance Online.” Guess what his class, the sage class, was considered in the game? Not far along enough to really pop off but it isn’t horrible. MC is moderately cautious to a healthy degree which is actually rare in most isekai. THUMB IN BOTTOM LEFT CORNER.

The Dark Queen and I Strike Back

Chapters 1-29.5

Although technically an isekai, no isekai startup here. This a battle manga with a big mystery on the backdrop of a war. That is to say, the MC gets teleported to a world to kill the demons but he ends up defending them from the humans with all he’s got. Of special note is the complete seriousness of this manga that whiplashes into debauchery like tentacles, the above cover, oneshota, and even really dark jokes in some of the omake. That tonal lash effect will be either make or break, and it is a HUGE make for me. I love when a single piece can have both absolute serious scenes and utterly lighthearted and fluffy ones. Or in this case utterly lewd ones. May the average-human-amount-of-perverted MC one day slam some demon lord loli. THUMBS UP.

Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers

Chapters 1-24

THUMB SIDEWAYS. Has the feeling of a nerfed slime isekai. Nerfed in all ways except romance. Art surprisingly good.

#Legend #The Black Create Summoner: Revolt of Reincarnated #Minotaur’s Sweetheart #Moon-led Journey Across Another World #The Unsuccessful yet Academically Unparalleled Sage ~A Cheating S-Rank Sorcerer's Post-Rebirth Adventurer Log~#Older Elite Knight is cute only in front of me #Lonely Attack on A Different World #The Unwanted Undead Adventurer #Teihen Ryoushu No Kanchigai Eiyuutan #The Undead Lord of the Palace of Darkness #The Reincarnated Inferior Magic Swordsman #The Invincible Sage in the Second World.#The Dark Queen and I Strike Back #Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers

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iohourtime · 4 years

Text

Think Note Vol #89 Buddy

Myojo 09.2020

(Please let me know if there are any errors.)

Chinen, who hasn’t fought [with me] in the last 13 years, is my important buddy.

“Kiwadoi Futari - K2 - Ikebukuro Sho Keiji Ka Kanzaki · Kuroki” (Dangerous Duo - K2 - Ikebukuro Station’s Criminal Investigation Unit’s Kanzaki & Kuroki*) is a drama about two cops who are complete opposites of each other in terms of personality, values, and investigation methods. For Yamada who’s working hard in this lead role, another buddy who supports him is…?

* Why are most of his recent drama / movie names so long? Semi Otoko is a blessing!

---------

Now that the “stay home” orders are lifted and work has restarted, I feel myself switching on. Although I wondered if I would hate losing my gaming time at home, indeed there is nothing more fun to me than when I’m working! With that, the shooting of the drama, “Kiwadoi Futari - K2 - Ikebukuro Sho Keiji Ka Kanzaki · Kuroki” began. When I received [the offer] - both at the time when my casting was confirmed and when I found out I’ll be working with the current heartthrob Tanaka Kei-san, I was very happy. My impression of Tanaka-san* is that while he is acting non-stop and he also appears in variety programs, so he’s an unbelievably busy person. When I first met him, I asked him lots of questions like “Do you have time to sleep?” However, when I heard him say that he had time to properly rest, I felt relieved (laughs). Actually, when I watched Tanaka-san at work, I noticed that he has a mischievous side. If I have a long break on the set of the drama, I will go to the gym, but every time Tanaka-san sees me doing that, he will [pretend to be] shocked and say, “You’re kidding~” One day, Tanaka-san approached me, smiled and said, “Yamada-kun! I have some free time, what do you think I’m going to do?! I’m going to my personal gym!” (laughs) While he is so cute here, of course he is very stoic about his acting and he’ll ask me, “For this scene, how should we do it?” Although I’m [technically] the lead, the way Tanaka-san moves on set feels more like the lead, so I am learning from him every day.

* Eh, he’s not Kei-chan yet?

What I ask for in a buddy is someone who knows me well and will support me. Being the “let’s attack first and think later”, “special forces commander*” type of guy that I am, I am unable to take a step back and provide “covering fire*”. That’s why I need someone who can analyze the situation behind the scenes and stop me when necessary. For me, the one who is close to me and who I called my best buddy is Chinen (Yuri). Chinen can look at things objectively and most important of all, he knows me very well. Chinen gets what others might not like, and conversely, what things others do like, and he’ll act accordingly, so it is easy to be with him. I started working closely with Chinen slightly before the formation of Hey! Say! 7. That means we have been together for 13 years or so and we have hardly argued during this time, so doesn’t that speak for our relationship?

* Gaming related analogy, I suppose?

If I have to pick other members as a buddy… the candidate will change depending on the purpose. I will want to plan the live tour together with Yabu (Kota) chan, but if it’s gaming, it'll be Dai-chan (Arioka Daiki). He has great sense and ability even in games he is playing for the first time. If we are talking about vacationing together, it’ll be (Takaki) Yuya or Inoo-chan (Inoo Kei). Especially Inoo-chan since we have the same taste in food, so it will be a fun trip. Although I don’t like to plan anything while I’m travelling, I think Inoo-chan is also the type who enjoys going on trips on a whim (laughs). If I need to form a comedy troupe, then it’ll be Yaotome (Hikaru) san. Since I am the one who tsukommi* at everything and he won’t say anything but boke* back, won’t [our team-up] be really funny? If I am going to work with a member on a police drama, then it’ll be (Nakajima) Yuto. If it’s related to acting, then no matter what genre it is, I obviously want to work with Yuto. Surely, I will be playing Tanaka-san’s Kuroki’s type of unconventional character while Yuto will play my Kanzaki’s type of serious and by-the-books character. That will be another “K2” and it’ll be nice if we can do this someday.

* Obviously, we are talking about the manzai double act comedy where one person (the funny man) plays dumb on purpose and lets the other person (the straight man) react to it, either seriously or snarkily.

“You must watch K2" - Kanzaki

#myojo #think note #yamada ryosuke #translations

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mark-absolutelyfullycapable-lee · 4 years

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Bad Boy in Love | Lee Donghyuck [1/2]

Summary: Lee Donghyuck is kind of a douche—old news—but will he change his ways when the one girl he wants (you) rejects him—or even worse, likes someone else?

Pairing: Donghyuck x Reader

Genre: angst, fluff, comedy, Bad boy!Donghyuck (i guess lmao), lowkey enemies-to-lovers

Warnings: some swearing

Word Count: 7.3k

A/N: hey guys! i’m back again!!!!! lemme start with saying i’m so sorry i was gone for like forever! life gets in the way sometimes, but i’m back. anyways, I named this “Bad Boy in Love” because i was listening to Man in Love by infinite while i wrote this lmaoooo. anyways i thank you all for your support and i hope you enjoy this Donghyuck scenario<3 idk about you guys but i think i’m pretty funny ahahhhaa

☯︎

“I swear, she better not try to talk to me again. Like, do I seriously look like I’d date someone like her?” You hear Donghyuck’s friends laugh as he tells them a story of how he rejected a poor girl’s confession.

You scoff and turn to your friend, Renjun. “He’s such a douche. Why would any girl like him? Or any of his stupid friends?” You question why the girls at your school go for guys like Donghyuck and his friends Jeno and Mark. Donghyuck is a jerk--no--he’s the jerk.

Next to you, Chenle, your best friend, chuckles, stealing one of your fries. “It’s because they have hidden charms, Y/N.”

“Hidden charms my ass.” You whisper, rolling your eyes. You seriously wonder why all guys can’t be like Renjun or Chenle or Jisung. They’re all so sweet and they’re gentlemen. Even your friend Xuxi, who is the King of Dumb Decisions, is more mannered that that trio.

But Na Jaemin definitely takes the cake for the King of Perfection. He’s got it all. From his looks, to his grades, to his personality. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t have a crush on him. Who wouldn’t? You and Jaemin have only known each other since the beginning of the school year, but you’ve both taken a liking to one another. You keep your feelings for Jaemin to yourself because he’s a great kid and you wouldn’t want to ruin the friendship you both are building together.

Speaking of Jaemin, he shows up with an English textbook. “I’m so tired from studying. I feel like my brain’s fried.” He says sadly as he takes a seat next to you, putting his head on your shoulder.

“I’ll take your mind off of it.” You assure him. Jaemin lifts his head off your shoulder and smiles at you before putting his arm around your shoulder. You feel the butterflies go crazy, but you ignore them.

As Jaemin puts his arm around you, you don’t feel Donghyuck’s gaze on you. He’s very annoyed with this kid who transferred from God knows where and is already making more progress with you than him.

“Dude, just talk to her already.” Mark says, resulting in Donghyuck shaking his head, taking his eyes off of you.

“I don’t like her, why would I talk to her?” That’s a lie, and Donghyuck knows it. But how could the Lee Donghyuck, proclaimed Bad Boy like a nobody girl like you?

“Yeah, like any of us believe that. We know you like her.” Jeno chuckles, earning a punch on the arm from Donghyuck. He brushes it off. “You better confess before someone else does.”

“Oh yeah, aren’t her and that transfer kid dating?” Mark asks, pointing towards Jaemin.

Donghyuck rolls his eyes before standing up to throw his lunch tray away. “They’re not dating. She doesn’t like him.”

“He definitely likes her. I don’t get why he doesn’t just tell her. Who would turn Donghyuck down?” Jeno shrugs at Mark’s statement and question.

Meanwhile, Donghyuck’s brain is somewhere else. There’s only one thing on his mind: Is Y/N dating that stupid transfer student, Jaemin? He keeps telling himself that he shouldn’t be worried about you, but he is. That kid has no right to come in and steal you away from him.

“She will be my girlfriend.” Donghyuck whispers to himself.

“Dude, that’s seriously creepy.” Mark says to his friend as the bell signaling the end of lunch rings. Donghyuck ignore’s him and the trio gets up, along with their followers, and begins to exit the cafeteria.

Donghyuck’s eyes travel over to where you and Jaemin are walking. He’s officially in a bad mood because you and Jaemin as a ‘thing’ is taking over his brain. “I hate him.”

“Who? Jaemin?” Jeno jokes, making both him and Mark laugh.

Mark slings his arm around Donghyuck’s shoulder. “There’s no reason to hate him. You’re the Lee Donghyuck. You can get any girl you want.” He reassures him.

Donghyuck nods. Mark’s right, he thinks to himself. I am the Lee Donghyuck. I’m the school’s most notorious bad boy. All girls have had a crush on him at one point, so why is he so worried about you not liking him back?

“Hyuck, homecoming’s coming up soon. Why don’t you ask her with like a sign, and shit. She’ll definitely say yes.” Jeno suggests as the three walk down the hall towards their seventh period classes.

Mark suddenly claps and cheers loudly at Jeno’s idea, causing you and Jaemin to look back. For a slight second, you and Donghyuck make eye contact. It doesn’t last long because Jaemin quickly says something, taking away your attention from Donghyuck.

Whatever Jaemin said is making Y/N laugh way too much. For a minute, Donghyuck swears he hears his name, and then the sound of yours and Jaemin’s laughter.

This will not do. Donghyuck sends daggers to the back of Jaemin’s head. He’s going to take what’s his—you—and he will destroy Na Jaemin along the way.

Jeno taps Donghyuck’s shoulder, bringing him back to reality. “Why are you staring at the wall like that? Come on, we’re already here, might as well actually go to class.” Instead of following Jeno into the classroom, Donghyuck makes his way towards the bathroom. Homecoming is two weeks away, so if he wants to make this plan happen, he has to move quick.

As he gets to the bathroom, he hears humming coming from inside. He walks in to see Na Jaemin washing his hands.

“Na Jaemin.” Donghyuck says loudly, catching Jaemin off guard.

Jaemin turns around to dry his hands with a smile. “That’s me. What can I do for you?”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes. This guy. “I need you to stay away from Y/N. You have no business with her.”

“Y/N? She’s one of my close friends. We’re always together, I can’t stay away.” Jaemin smiles sweetly at him.

Donghyuck puts his hand on his head, trying to calm himself down. Is this kid really that stupid? “Are you dumb? Just don’t question it! Stay away from Y/N.” He shouts.

As he finishes his sentence, the two boys hear a gasp come from the door. They turn to see Y/N’s number one, all time, ultimate best friend: Zhong Chenle.

“What about my Y/N? Why does Jaemin need to stay away from her? Why is Lee Donghyuck worried about her?” Chenle steps closer to Donghyuck with every question. If anyone knows Chenle, they know he’s pretty much scared of nothing (except haunted houses and spiders).

“H-hey, don’t come closer or you’ll regret it.” Donghyuck says, his voice unsure. He’s not scared of this kid hurting him—he’s afraid of him telling Y/N he likes her.

Chenle snickers, crossing his arms and giving Donghyuck a mean glare. He takes a brave step towards the older boy. “Excuse me? Did I just overhear you talking about my best friend?” He raises his hand in a fist, preparing to hit Donghyuck if he has to. “Now tell me what you were talking about before I beat it out of you.”

Donghyuck involuntarily flinches violently away from Chenle as Jaemin watches on in amused fascination.

“F-fine.” Donghyuck shouts. He stands up and straightens his jacket up as he looks at Y/N’s best friend. He clears his throat. “I-i—he...J-Jaemin’s threatening my chances with Y/N.” He says defensively.

Chenle sighs, clicking his tongue in disapproval. “Silly Donghyuck. Jaemin has nothing to do with that. It’s all you.”

“What?”

Chenle walks up next to Donghyuck and slings his arm casually around the older male’s shoulders. “I need to make sure you actually like her and see if you’re just trying to play with her emotions or not.” Chenle explains. He turns to look right at Donghyuck. “And if you’re just trying to mess with her, you will feel my wrath.”

Donghyuck gulps at the malicious smile on the younger boys face. For such an innocent looking kid, he sure can be scary.

“Chenle, lay off of the poor guy. You’re scaring him.” Jaemin gently pulls Chenle off of Donghyuck. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t find this amusing though.

“H-he is not scaring me.” Donghyuck scoffs defensively.

“Sure...” Jaemin chuckles.

“I’m Lee Donghyuck. I’m not scared of anything, okay?”

Ignoring that, Chenle speaks up. “So tell me. Do you really like her or are you just trying to make her another one of your conquests?”

“I-I think I like her.” Donghyuck admits. “She makes me feel weird, nervous and tingly.” Chenle looks at him for a moment before sighing.

“You’re such a pervert. I’ll answer your questions about her. Don’t think I’m gonna help you though. You’re on your own for that part, buddy.”

“What? Really?” Donghyuck asks, pleasantly surprised. Chenle nods, looking at his nails. “What’s her favorite color?” He asks.

Chenle stares at Donghyuck for a moment. He can’t be serious, right? “What the—I literally said I would answer any questions you have about her and this is what you ask? What her favorite color is?” Chenle yells exasperatedly, beginning to walk out of the restroom. “I give up. You’re on your own.”

“No! Wait!” Donghyuck whines, pulling Chenle’s arm desperately. “D-does she like him?” He gestures towards Jaemin, who waves as he exits the bathroom.

Chenle sighs before patting Donghyuck’s shoulder. “She’s definitely waiting in line for the love rollercoaster. He just might like her too, so if you’re going to do something, act quickly.” He explains before beginning to walk out. “I got out of class to get a drink from the water fountain and I’ve been missing for like seven minutes. If I get in trouble, I’m blaming you, Donghyuck.”

“Y-you better not tell anyone about this.” Donghyuck stutters out.

As Chenle leaves, Donghyuck runs into the last stall and sits on the floor. He pulls out his phone and immediately starts writing his plan.

This has to work or else Donghyuck will be devastated.

☯︎

It’s been two days since Donghyuck’s bathroom encounter with Jaemin and Chenle. Donghyuck has had lots of time to think about how he should ask Y/N to homecoming. He’s prepared everything and as soon as the bell signaling lunch rings, it’s go time.

“Dude, stop being nervous. It’ll be fine.” Mark chuckles, hitting Donghyuck upside his head.

Donghyuck smacks Mark’s hand away and tries to fix his hair. “I am not nervous, I’m Donghyuck. Now leave me alone.”

“Just remember, confidence is the key to success.” Mark declares firmly, with his fist in the air.

Suddenly, the three of them hear a scoff coming from the left of them and then Chenle passing them. “The key to success? Who are you? DJ Khaled?” He rolls his eyes. “Let me see your sign.” He demands, pointing to the rolled up poster board in Donghyuck’s hands.

Donghyuck slowly unrolls it before holding it up for Chenle to see. Chenle’s eyes scan the paper before he throws his head back in laughter.

Donghyuck looks at the sign and furrows his brows. Now, he’s worried.”What? What’s wrong with it?”

“What do you mean what’s wrong with it?” Donghyuck looks at his poster. I guess it is a little plain. His poster read ‘Y/N, Come to HOCO w/ Me!’ He signs before throwing the paper on the ground. “She’s never gonna like me back!”

Chenle rolls his eyes and reaches into his bookbag. “I made a backup, because for some reason, I new you were going to mess up!” He flashes an annoyed, but pleased with himself smile at the older boy.

“Hey, who are you? He’s the Lee Donghyuck! Don’t talk to him like--” Mark stands up and steps towards Chenle. Chenle stares at Mark with an unamused expression.

Donghyuck pushes Mark away from Chenle, quicker than you can stay absolutelyfullycapable. “Dude, stop! He’s like, scary.” He whispers. Jeno and Mark look at each other, both highly confused, but they just shrug.

Chenle glares at Mark and Jeno before handing Donghyuck the poster. “Here.” As he passes the posterboard over, the trio sees visible trails of glitter falling from it. The poster unrolls, and Lee Donghyuck is more than amazed. The poster reads:

‘I’m Lee Donghyuck and I really like you, if you come to hoco with me, I’ll stop being a douche!’

“This is,” Donghyuck breathes out. “The best thing I’ve ever laid my eyes on--I mean, besides Y/N--but this is great! How long did it take you to come up with this?”

“Like two minutes.” Chenle says, casually going through his phone as they approach the cafeteria. The bell rings, and the students begin pouring out of the classrooms, ready to chill with their friends.

Usually, Donghyuck is not nervous in front of crowds. But today is different. He’s actually afraid of being rejected by you.

Meanwhile, you’re clueless as to what’s about to happen--and so is Jaemin. So when you hear the cafeteria errupt into cheers and screams, you’re confused. But when you feel a tap on your shoulder, you turn to see a very nervous looking Lee Donghyuck holding a poster. Confused you ask if it’s for you, to which he nods, shyly.

This is bad. You think to yourself. He looks way too serious to be playing a prank on you.

Donghyuck takes a deep breath before walking closer to you. “Y/N! I like you and I want to go to homecoming with you! Would you please go with me?” Even though you don’t necessarily like Donghyuck, you’re not heartless. He took time out of his life to do all of this and ask you to homecoming. You’re not going to harshly decline his request in front of a good chunk of the student body.

Beside you, Jaemin turns to Donghyuck as well. “I already asked her. We’re going together. Sorry, man.” He sends an apologetic smile to Donghyuck.

The look on Donghyuck’s face is enough to bring the cafeteria to silence. “I-I’m sorry, Donghyuck.” You apologize, embarrassed at all the attention on you. From how you perceive him, you expect him to get angry and start a fight with Jaemin. Normally, he might, but since you’re here and you already hate his guts, Donghyuck decides against it.

“I-I, Y/N-it’s,” He stutters out, ears red as ever. “It’s okay.” Flustered out of his mind, Donghyuck sets the sign by Chenle, who’s sat next to you, and hastily walks out of the cafeteria.

Why do I feel this way? Did I just get rejected? His mind is all over the place. As he exits the cafeteria, he can feel his heart racing—it’s loud and beating quite fast. Donghyuck stops right as he enters the bathroom. He places his hands on his knees and tries to catch his breath and slow down his heart rate. Donghyuck is starting to feel even weirder—if that’s even possible. His palms are becoming even more clamy than before, his heart is still beating faster than the average rate, and he feels a lump forming in his throat.

Lee Donghyuck doesn’t cry! He tells himself. Why would he cry over you when he could get any other girl?

Because he really does like you—more than he originally thought.

Donghyuck clears his throat and stands up with his back facing the mirror. There’s no way he could look at himself in this state.

“You’re so stupid, Donghyuck!” He yells at himself, punching the wall. First off—mistake. His tears threaten to fall, but Lee Donghyuck has been trained over the years to not show when he’s feeling emotionally overwhelmed because ‘men aren’t supposed to display how they feel’. He’s been through worse and he’s kept it together. Why is it so hard for him to stay put together now?

Donghyuck is forced to pull it together when he hears someone enter the bathroom behind him. He turns away and wipes his eyes, so even if he had tears, they weren’t noticeable.

“Are you okay?” It was Chenle. He feels bad, because he feels like it’s partially his fault for te situation. If he had known that Jaemin asked Y/N, he would have never let Donghyuck embarrass himself like that. But not even Chenle knew Jaemin asked her.

Donghyuck coughs loudly to clear his throat. “Of course I’m okay, I’m Lee Donghyuck. I don’t get my feelings hurt by pretty boys who are smart, nice, have great personalities, and steal the one thing I actually want, away from me.” He shakes his head, keeping his face out of Chenle’s view. “Why did you let me go out there and embarrass myself?” Donghyuck questions in a hushed voice.

Chenle feels really bad right now, but at the same time, he thinks that maybe Donghyuck has learned a lesson. “To be fair, I had no idea that Jaemin asked her.” He puts his hand on Donghyuck’s shoulder. “But I think you needed a taste of your own medicine for once. This is how you make so many girls feel all the time. At least Y/N wasn’t rude to you like you are to the people who confess to you.”

Donghyuck hates it, but Chenle’s right. He knows he’s a jerk, but he never really stopped and thought about how others felt from his actions. “I don’t want to feel like this again.”

“If you’re still serious about Y/N, I have an idea. The least I can do is help you guys become friends.” Chenle says to him. Donghyuck spins to face the younger boy, nodding, signaling him to continue.

Chenle explains his plan, and halfway through their last period, they’ve finished planning. “I don’t know how to thank you.” Donghyuck sends a genuine smile to Chenle, who chuckles softly.

“Just be good to Y/N. Seeing her happy is enough for me.”

Soon enough, the end of the school day approaches, the weekend is officially here, and Operation Take-What’s-Mine begins.

☯︎

“So when were you going to tell me that Jaemin asked you to homecoming?” Chenle questions, slamming him lemon water on the table. Every Friday after school, you and Chenle go to the same cafe and get food, since the cafeteria food isn’t that good. You knew something was wrong with Chenle when he ordered the lemon water instead of his usual chocolate milk. He only orders a water when he’s feeling mature, but a water with lemon? You knew something was on his mind.

You sigh. “Chenle, I didn’t even know we were going together until he said that to Donghyuck.” You explain to your best friend.

“What do you mean you didn’t know?”

“He never asked me. When I said something to him after the whole lunch situation, he just said that he knew I didn’t like Donghyuck and he didn’t want me to go with him out of guilt.” You tell him. Chenle is shocked, but quickly grins widely.

“This is great news!” He cheers. “Excuse me, can I get a chocolate milk?” He shouts to a waiter passing by.

You squint at him. Why is this good news? “Why are you so happy? He’s not even going with me because he likes me.”

Chenle laughs at your sad expression. You’re seriously getting annoyed with him laughing in your face about a boy not liking you. “Y/N, I’m about to say something to you I never thought I’d say in a million years,” He begins. “I think you should get to know Donghyuck as well. See who’s better for you, Jaemin or Donghyuck.”

You scoff at him. “Chenle!”

“Y/N!” Chenle shouts back. “Don’t tell him I told you, but this kid has a serious crush on you! I went to talk to him after he walked out of the cafeteria today. I think he almost cried.” You’re honestly speechless. “He’s changed recently. He’s a lot nicer now than he was before.”

You sigh. “It’s not like I’ll be mean to him. Of course I’ll be decent to him.”

“Okay, great. Let’s go to that party tonight then.” Chenle smiles, clapping happily like a seal.

“Party? You?” You ask, shocked. “You at a party? Chenle, you don’t even know what the word party means.”

“Actually, I threw the littest party in the history of the 6th grade so... check your facts, honey.” Chenle sasses back. “We’re going tonight and there’s nothing you can do to change that.”

You sigh again. Once Chenle gets like this, there’s no changing his mind. “Fine. I’ll go to the stupid party will you, but you owe me.”

Chenle claps, happily. The waiter brings his chocolate milk and the two of you continue talking, but about other topics.

Meanwhile, Donghyuck is flipping out. Chenle texted him saying that you agreed to go to Jeno’s party and now Donghyuck is rummaging through his closet trying to find some presentable clothes.

“If I’m being honest--” Mark begins, but Donghyuck cuts him off.

“If you’re being honest, you think she won’t care about what I’m wearing. Yeah, yeah. Well I care about it. I have to look good.”

He states. Mark raises his hands in defense. “I was just trying to help. Chill.”

Donghyuck sighs. “I-I know.” he runs his hand through his hair. “This is an actual chance to impress her, and I don’t want to screw it up.”

“I know, man. I think she’ll really like the real you.” He tells his younger friend. Donghyuck and Mark bro hug before he pulls out a random shirt from Donghyuck’s dresser. “This looks nice.” And that’s what Donghyuck goes with. A lavender button up, to show Y/N his classy yet casual side.

Donghyuck is ready to prove to Y/N just how much he actually likes her. His and Chenle’s plan should work out perfectly.

Jeno’s family isn’t necessarily ‘loaded’, but they do have a nice sized house. You’re stunned as you and Chenle pull up to the house. “There’s already so many people here.” You say as you and Chenle step out of the uber you guys took to the party. Chenle gives the driver money and gets out as well.

“Yeah, it’s Lee Jeno’s party we’re talking about. Of course there’s a lot of people.” Chenle links his arm with yours. “No doing illegal things under any circumstances!” He demands.

“That’s not what’s on my mind anyways.” You mumble as you guys walk through the back.

“Hey, Y/N--OH MY GOD! Is that Zhong Chenle at a party?” Xuxi yells across the yard. He’s standing at the back door to the house, and waves you guys over. But before you can follow Chenle over to Xuxi, you feel a tug on your arm.

As Chenle leaves your side, you turn to see the one and only Donghyuck standing in front of you.

“H-hey.” He stutters out with a small, nervous smile on his face.

“Hey, Donghyuck.” You respond. It feels kind of awkward at first, but that’s expected.

“Do you wanna go inside? It’s kind of chilly out here.” He suggests, gesturing for you to go in front. You nod and walk towards the door. “You look really pretty, by the way.” He compliments you, quietly.

You feel your cheeks become heated. “Thanks. You too.” You say, before realizing your mistake. “I mean, you look handsome!”

Donghyuck chuckles as he pushes the door open for you. “It’s okay, I know what you meant.” As you two enter the house, you immediately see Chenle on the table with a red solo cup in his hand.

“That better be non-alcoholic!” You point at him.

He looks at you incredulously. “Y/N, I’m a junior in high school! Let me live and mind your own business!”

You roll your eyes before you see Xuxi waving his arms, trying to grab your attention. He mouths the words ‘it’s water’ and you laugh at your dumb best friend. You smile a little to yourself before Donghyuck grabs your attention again.

“Hey, uh, wanna go down to the basement?” He asks you a little awkwardly, pointing his thumb over his shoulder.

You eye him incredulously. “The basement? What the hell? No.”

Donghyuck panics a little. “N-no, I didn’t mean for it to sound weird like that. The basement is quieter and we’d probably be able to talk down there.” He explains in a rush. You nod.

“Alright, I guess we can.” You shrug, beginning to follow him towards the stairs.

“You know, it’s good that we’re going down here.” Donghyuck starts telling you over his shoulder. “Nobody will disturb us. We kind of have this little pact where if we’re seen taking a girl into the basement, nobody will come down and bother us.” He smiles as a feeling of dread begins washing over you.

The two of you reach the door leading to the basement stairs only to see a very sketchy, dark stairway. “Um, Donghyuck? I don’t know if I want to come down here anymore...”

“Don’t be silly, Y/N, it’ll be fine.” He grabs your wrist, forcing you down the stairs along with him. You prepare to run and scream when you notice that the basement isn’t, in fact, creepy. It’s actually really nice. “Oh, awesome. Mario Kart’s up! Do you like Mario Kart?”

You look at Donghyuck with a strange expression on your face. “U-uh, yeah. I like Mario Kart.” You nod slowly.

“Awesome. Wanna play? I call Baby Mario.” Donghyuck races to the plush-looking couch and quickly grabs one of the two controllers laying on it. You carefully walk over and sit next to him, grabbing the last controller and watching as he sets up a 2-player game for the both of you.

You each select your characters--him going with Baby Mario and you going with Baby Peach--and the game begins. “Y/N, I like you and I want you to have an actual good impression of me but...” Donghyuck turns to face you, giving you a sympathetic look. “But you're about to get destroyed right now.”

You scoff, tightening your grip on your controller. “Fine. Let’s battle, DongYUCK.” You glare at him.

Donghyuck frowns at that. “Am I really that disgusting?”

You roll your eyes. “Let’s just play.” And you do. The two of you race through all three laps of the chosen level and, to your dismay, you’re left in twelfth place spinning out of control across the finish line due to one of Donghyuck’s sneaky bananas.

“Aren’t you supposed to, I don’t know, let your date win in these types of games?” You ask him, a little irked that he hadn’t let you win.

“Yeah.” Donghyuck nods. “You let me win.” He grins happily at you. You roll your eyes, wanting to be mad, but it’s hard to pretend to be angry when he’s giving you such a sweet look.

“Whatever.” You snicker.

Donghyuck sets his controller down and moves closer to you on the couch, a slight blush appearing on his face. “Wait, you said this was a date.”

“I mean, isn’t that what it is?” You ask, placing your controller next to his.

“If you want it to be.” Donghyuck looks anywhere but you.

“You’re acting like this is a date.” You chuckle.

Donghyuck clears his throat. “Uh, yeah. This is a date, Y/N.” He readjusts his jacket and turns to face you. “You want to get some food? Jeno ordered like, thirty pizzas.” You nod, with a small smile. The two of you get up and begin to walk up the basement stairs. He pushes the door open and the both of you exit.

“I don’t wanna lose you in the crowd, stay close.” Donghyuck tells you. You decide to grab his hand so you don’t get lost. When you feel Donghyuck’s hand tense up and see him look back at you with wide eyes, you avert your gaze. This is just so you don’t get lost. It’s not like you want to hold his hand or anything.

The two of you make it to the kitchen where Donghyuck goes to fetch you guys some water while you get both of you some pizza. You stand there, staring at the make-your-own-pizza setup, which you think is weird because who sets up something like this at a house party? You dismiss that thought and begin putting ingredients on the pizzas when Donghyuck sneaks up to your side.

“What are you doing?” He asks you, making you jump a little.

“What does it look like? I’m making your food.” You roll your eyes a little, but Donghyuck takes the plate form your hands and throws it in the trash. “What the hell?”

“Never take ingredients from the bowls.” Donghyuck shakes his head.

“Then where am I supposed to get the ingredients from, huh?”

“You have to look under the table for the fresh stuff.” He says, lifting the table cloth to reveal better looking food.

“How would I have possibly known that? It’s not like I’ve ever been here before.” You say as you reach for another plate. You put the (safe) ingredients on both yours and Donghyuck’s pizzas and follow him to what looks to be the dining room, but it has a couch?

“Jeno pulls the couch in here because he doesn’t like people sitting at his dining room table.” Donghyuck explains as he leads you over to it. It doesn’t make a lot of sense, because who’s going to follow that rule at a house party?

The couch is pretty crowded, but he is the Lee Donghyuck, so it doesn’t take that long for people to leave when they seem him approaching. You two take a seat and begin to eat your pizzas.

“Wow, you put together some decent tasting pizzas.” Donghyuck says, astonished. “I’m shocked, to say the least.”

You roll your eyes. That’s not even a compliment. You watch as Donghyuck takes another bite. “Wow, you’re a messy eater.”

“What?” You can just barely understand what he’s saying as he speaks with a mouth full of food.

“I said,” You grab a napkin from underneath your plate. “You’re eating so carelessly. There’s food all around your mouth.” Before you can even think, you’re reaching over to wipe the pizza sauce off of Donghyuck’s face.

Donghyuck is obviously taken by surprise as you clean him up. And he’s not the only one.

“Y-Y/N? What are you doing?” Both you and Donghyuck turn to see Na Jaemin staring at you with wide eyes. “Why’re you with him?” He takes a step closer to you guys.

“Jaemin?” You quickly move your hand away from Donghyuck’s face. “What are you doing here?” You question.

“No, Y/N, answer my question. What are you doing here with Donghyuck?” The look in Jaemin’s eyes are sharp and menacing as he glares at Donghyuck before looking back to you.

You scoff a little. “Why are you being so rude? I’m not obligated to tell you anything.”

Jaemin takes a deep breath. “I-I just wanna know why you’re here with him. I thought we had something.”

“What?” You stand up. “Jaemin, two people can’t be together if it’s not discussed.”

By now, an audience was starting to form. “I thought it was obvious, Y/N! I thought you understood the signs I was giving you!” Jaemin raises his voice, frustrated. “And the homecoming thing? Wasn’t that enough for you?”

“That’s not how any of that works. You can’t just assume, Jaemin.” You respond, quietly. You feel guilty, but upset at the same time, and that’s evident to Jaemin, Donghyuck and everyone else watching. “I think I wanna leave.” You say to Donghyuck. You begin to walk out of the house, Donghyuck following close behind.

“Y/N, wait.” Jaemin calls after you. He attempts to grab onto your wrist, but he’s forcibly pushed away by Donghyuck.

“Dude, hands off.” Donghyuck warns. Jaemin glares at him before looking to you again.

“Y/N... are we at least still going to homecoming together?” The sadness in Jaemin’s voice makes you turn around to face him, only to see Donghyuck attempting to manhandle him.

“She doesn’t want to talk to you. Just go away.”

“Donghyuck, it’s fine.” You sigh, turning to Jaemin. “At this point... I don’t think it would be a good idea for us to go together.”

With that, you walk away, Donghyuck by your side as you walk down the street and away from Jeno’s party. It’s silent until Donghyuck elbows you not-so-gently. “I know I should have said something earlier, but my car’s in the opposite direction.” He chuckles awkwardly.

You sigh, shaking your head. “You’re an idiot.” The two of you turn around and walk to his car.

You and Donghyuck reach his car. He opens the passenger side door for you before jogging to the drivers seat and starting the car. “Where do you want to go?”

“What are we doing here?” You ask in confusion as Donghyuck parks on the side of the street. What the hell are you guys doing in this rich ass neighborhood? Homeboy ignores you. He walks up to a very nice looking house. Nicer than Jeno’s. “Donghyuck! Are you trying to break in?” You question panickedly. You seriously do not want to catch a case, especially before you finish high school.

“We have to sneak to the back and climb up the lattice.” Donghyuck says calmy, ignoring you once again. He leads you towards a bush, covering part of the fence. He squats and holds back part of the bush, revealing a hole leading to the backyard. “Ladies first.” He smiles.

“What the hell, Donghyuck! I’m not helping you break into a house!” You shout.

Donghyuck stands up hastily and shushes you. “I’m not breaking into any houses!” He whisper yells. “We have to sneak in because if my brother wakes up, I’m dead.” He explains.

You freeze. “Wait... you live here?” You ask in disbelief. Donghyuck nods, slightly embarrassed. “Wow, that makes no sense.”

Donghyuck gestures for you to crawl through the hole--which you do--and quickly comes in behind you. He then pushes past you and begins climbing up the back of the house, only to open a window and scurry back down. “You go in first. Just in case you fall, I’ll be here to catch you.”

You scoff. “What makes you think I’d fall? I actually won the Rock Climbing Relays in fourth grade.” You inform him, a matter-of-factly.

“Uh, whatever. Just climb.” He rolls his eyes. You start your journey up the lattice, and to be honest, it’s kind of scary. “Don’t worry, I’m right behind you.”

“Wow, that makes me feel so much better.” You say, sarcasm dripping from your voice.

After what seems like forever, you reach the window and pull yourself through. You glance outside to see Donghyuck almost to the top. You reach your arms out and he gladly takes a hold of them. You help him through, and once you’re both finally in, you take a look around. It’s a long, dark corridor with pictures lining the walls. In the majority of the pictures, you see Donghyuck, an older boy, who you assume is his brother, and a lady, who you can definitely tell is his mother.

“Follow me, my room’s this way.” Donghyuck takes your hand and gently pulls you down the hall. His room is at the end of the hall, and when you enter, you’re shocked, to say the least. “So, this is the crib.” He chuckles, awkwardly.

Donghyuck has polaroids all over his room and fairy lights. It’s definitely not what you though Lee Donghyuck’s bedroom would look like. “Can I look at these?” You ask as you pick up a photo album.

“Oh, uh, I guess. It’s from, like a long time ago. It’s embarrassing.” Donghyuck’s face becomes red. You open the photos and you can kind of understand why he would be embarrassed--because half the pictures aren’t old, and look to be from the past school year.

“You were so cute!” You gasp as you point to a baby picture of him.

“I still am.” Donghyuck jokes. You laugh, but silently agree with him. The kid is pretty cute and the both of you know it.

After looking through the pictures, conversation flows naturally between the two of you. You talk about everything, answer questions about yourselves, but there’s one thing on your mind that you want to ask him about. “Donghyuck?” You say his name.

“Y/N?” He smiles at you.

“I like this side of you,” You begin. “Why don’t you show this side at school? Why do you act like such a jerk?”

Donghyuck knew this was coming. And to be honest, he doesn’t really have an excuse for his disrespectful behavior. “I... I don’t know.” He admits. You tilt your head in confusion, but allow him to continue. “I guess I like the attention I get.”

“From the girls?”

“I guess.” Donghyuck blushes, but begins to ask you another question, but this time he’s completely serious. “What do you see in Na Jaemin?”

“W-what?” You’re taken off guard. Is it really that obvious that you take some interest in Jaemin?

Donghyuck chuckles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I’m serious, Y/N. What does he have that I don’t?” He gazes up at you. “What’s so good about him?”

You ponder on his questions for a few seconds. “Jaemin is just... You’re a little...” You shift at the tension. “You guys are too different to compare.”

“Just say what you want Y/N. I won’t get offended, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

You sigh. “Well, to be honest,” You clear your throat. “Jaemin is like every little girl’s dream boy. He’s smart, athletic, tall, and--boy--is he handsome.”

Donghyuck rolls his eyes, but lets you continue.

“But you, Donghyuck--you’re an interesting character. At first, I thought you were just a douche bag, but you seem to be so much more than that!” You laugh at the thought. It’s only been one night, but you feel like you could definitely get used to the real Donghyuck.

“I hope that’s a good thing,” Donghyuck chuckles, leaning against his headboard. “Because I really like you, Y/N.” You blush, once again and stay quiet, unsure of what to say.

You feel the bed move and you soon see Donghyuck’s smiling face. “It’s getting pretty late. Let’s get you home.” With that, he gets up and walks out of his bedroom, leaving you flustered. You quickly follow him out and exit his house the same way you came in. Your night with Donghyuck definitely went better than expected.

☯︎

The day of homecoming actually came very quickly. But, surprisingly, the only people you have spoken with were Chenle, Jisung, and Donghyuck. After the party at Jeno’s, you and Donghyuck formed a good friendship. Your relationship with Jaemin on the other hand, is still in shambles.

“I’m sure he’s sorry. I mean, it’s just not like him to have no remorse.” Chenle says to you as the two of you walk to the drugstore. You needed to get a few last minute things to prepare for homecoming, and Chenle decided to tag along.

You sigh. “I know, I just--I don’t want this to ruin our friendship for good.” You enter the store and head straight to the makeup section, because you were definitely not forgetting fake eyelashes for the second year in a row.

“Y/N, this is Na Jaemin we’re talking about. Trust me when when I say that everything will turn out okay.” Chenle pats your shoulder, reassuringly. “Now, why did you need these things again?” He points to the eyelashes.

“Because I want them. Now please, can you help me pick the best ones?” You ask your best friend. Chenle chuckles and nods.

As you and Chenle get the last minute things you need from the drugstore, you hear a very familiar voice come from the aisle over.

“I think a mask with charcoal would be the best to use before homecoming. Don’t you agree?”

You glance at Chenle, but you see him already walking around the corner. “Jaemin! What’s up? I haven’t seen you in a while.” Jaemin? You internally panic. Chenle won’t bring you into the conversation, right?

As Chenle disappears from your view, you try to quietly tiptoe in the opposite direction. Honestly, you could have been successful if it wasn’t for your best friend’s big mouth.

“Actually, I came here with Y/N. She’s right over here.” You cringe as you hear Chenle’s words. What a friend.

You slowly turn back around to see the person you’ve been avoiding: Na Jaemin.

“H-hey, Jaemin. What’s crackalackin’?” You chuckle awkwardly.

Jaemin sends a soft smile your way. “Long time no see, Y/N. How’ve you been?”

“I’m good, and you?” You keep up the basic, yet awkward conversation, hoping it will end soon.

“I’m great.” Jaemin’s smile never leaves his face. “How’s Donghyuck? Are you guys dating?”

Your eyes dart around at anything but Jaemin’s face. Luckily for you though, Chenle chimes in. “Her and Donghyuck definitely are not dating.” He says sassily. “They’re just talk--” You hurriedly slap a hand over Chenle’s mouth, laughing nervously.

“We’re just friends.” You tell Jaemin, feeling a bit bashful as he looks at you with an expression that tells you he doesn’t believe you.

“So, um... are you still mad at me?” Jaemin asks, changing the subject.

“Of course I’m not.” You feel the tension in your shoulders disappear. “I’m just as much in the wrong as you are.”

“Still, I feel like I caused all this.” Jaemin frowns slightly. “I’m really sorry, Y/N. I just want to go back to normal.”

You smile at that. “Then let’s go back to how things were before. It sucks not being able to hang out with you like we used to.” Jaemin’s expression lights up. “Friends?”

“Friends.” Jaemin takes your extended hand and shakes it.

“I’m so happy that I have someone to hang out with besides Chenle now.” You chuckle. Jaemin shares your sudden happiness.

“Jaems? Jaems, where are you?” A very familiar voice calls out.

“Jaems?” Chenle scoffs. “Don’t tell me whoever that is is looking for you.” He crosses his arms as Jaemin’s face suddenly reddens. Suddenly, Lee Jeno’s head pops out from around the corner.

“Jeno?” You ask, confused. Jeno’s expression looks just about as shocked as your voice.

“Oh, Y/N, hey.” Jeno greets, awkwardly. “Jaems--I mean, Jaemin, I’m ready to leave when you are.” He coughs out in a quiet voice.

You glance over at Chenle who is already looking at you in disbelief. Na Jaemin and Lee Jeno? Together? Strange.

“When did you two become friends?” Chenle raises an eyebrow at the pair in front of you two.

“Funny story actually,” Jaemin chuckles, slinging an arm around an uncomfortable Jeno. “After mine and Y/N’s fight, I got really upset and kind of made a scene, but Jeno calmed me down and helped me get home safely.” He explains.

You nod, still surprised at the match. Although the duo is quite strange, your mind continues to wander back to your argument with Jaemin. He looks at you with an apologetic expression. “Y/N, I really want to say sorry for what happened at the party,” He says. “I just didn’t want Donghyuck to hurt you. But I see that he’s been pretty good to you and if you’re happy, I’m happy.”

You hug Jaemin. “Jae, I’m sorry too. Can we just forget everything that happened and be best friends again?” You ask.

Chenle coughs. “Close friends. I’m the best friend, don’t forget.”

Jaemin ignores him as he hugs you back. “Of course, Y/N. I missed you.”

You feel so much better. You honestly thought you would spend your homecoming night upset about your broken friendship, but luckily you made up with Jaemin.

“Thank god you guys fixed that, I was getting stressed.” Chenle flips his hair. You chuckle before exchanging goodbyes.

“See you guys tonight.” You waves to Jeno and Jaemin.

“Yeah, see you guys.” Jaemin waves back. “Save me a dance, Y/N.” He smiles before turning to leave the store with his friend.

166 notes · View notes

octania · 4 years

Text

Icy summer explosion (part 3)

Bakugo x Reader

Shoto x Reader

Genre: Romance, Drama, Comedy, Smut

Warning: Smut, Cursing

Type: Series

Words: 2666

Characters in this part: Bakugo, Shoto, Deku, Kaminari, Kirishima.

Short description: A tense summer love drama between you, Bakugo and Shoto. It all starts in summer paradise, but where will it end and how?

_____________________________________________________

The coast was clear. Y/N could finally catch her breath.

„That was one hell of a show..you are not so bad after all, mermaid.“- the first that came out of the darkness was Kirishima. He smiled at her with gratitude. The others came out as well, with an expression of relief on their faces. Only one of them did not share their momentary joy.

“What were you thinking? You literally could’ve killed yourself! What if you have landed on your head, breaking your neck?!”- Bakugo was now in her face. He gritted his teeth in anger.

“Ease up buddy, she is fine, she saved our asses, be grateful.”- Kirishima approched Bakugo, calmly putting his hand on his shoulder, but Bakugo wouldn’t have that. He shook him off.

“That was not the point asshole! She literally jumped down the rocks! It was reckless and stupid!”- he continued, pointing his finger on her legs.

“Look at her legs! I am surprised how you are able to stand!”- all of them now lowered their gaze on her thighs and knees. It was true, they looked pretty bad and painful. From all that adrenaline Y/N forgot about the pain for a moment. They skin was all starched and bleeding and bruises were already visible. She tried to move one leg, pretend that everything is fine, but the sharp pain prevented her from moving the foot more than a few centimeters. Her expression gave her state away, and it angered Bakugo even more.

“Damn it!”- Before she or anyone else could say something, he knelt in front of her. Having him this close once again and now staring at her legs on his knees, made her heart race and cheeks fire up. She thanked the Gods they were all in the dark, and could not see the treacherous colors of her cheeks. His fingertips started to touch her skin, checking the damage carefully. She could hear him cursing under his breath.

“It’s not too deep, but still is not good. We have to clean it before it infects.” – suddenly, she felt a grip on her writs. He pulled her hand slowly to his lips. He bit the end of her sleeve. Like and animal, with one pull , he tore the material with ease. He grabbed one part with his hand, pulling it all the way to her elbow, then again grabbed it between his teeth and pulled once more, until it didn’t break fully, leaving a long piece of fabric in his hand. They guys stared in shock.

“What are you doing?”- Shoto asked with a husky voice that hid disapproval.

“What are you all staring at?! What?! What does it look like I am doing?! We don’t have nothing else here but this.”- and it was true, they were all in their bathing suits and flip flops. She nodded, looking away. His face remained furious, as he started to cover up the deepest cut she had, gentile as possible. She let out a quiet sound from pain, that almost made his hands shake.

“Did he hurt you?”- Shotos voice was deep, filled with concern. She shook her head.

“I am fine.”- she replied. Once he was done, he stood up. Turning to the guys.

“There you useless shits, I did what I could. And you call your selves heroees. We need to reach the apartment, and mend that wounds properly.” – once again, his words sounded like commands, but no one wanted to disagree. Except…

“Our room. Yes, five guys, one fucked up naked girl, with even torn clothes. Sure, does not look at all wrong. Not to say, nooottt at all suspicious.”- Kaminari said irritated. The others wanted to slap him on the head as usual, but they didn’t, because as hard it was for them to admit, he was right.

“We can’t just walk around with her like this, if he get spotted, her effort to hide us was all in vain.”- said Deku.

“Guys, its ok! I don’t need to come with you! I will go to my apartment and mend myself. Really, you have done enough!”- she said. She didn’t want to cause them no more trouble.

“Do you have anyone at home who can help you? Come here to get you? Because Im not…”- he coughed, correcting his sentence quickly. “…we are not leaving you here alone or letting you go alone.”- Shoto stared in her eyes, making her realize he will not discuss this any further.

“No..but..”-she started, but stopped when he turned his back to her, facing the guys.

“We are doing this, we will find a way. And I have a slight idea how.”- he started walking to the exit of the stone labyrinth.

“But first, I need to get my jacket. I left it on the one of the beach bars that we almost burned.”- he went out of the cave before anyone could disagree, but he can still hear Bakugos swears and nagging, but he didn’t care for that. He had other problems now. He slowly went to the surface, looking around carefully. No one was there. The teens were gone, and he could even see their footsteps in the send. He hurried, trying to stay in the shadows to reach the place they were at. He managed to miss the spot because how deep in his thoughts he was. He didn’t understand why, but he was worried…too worried. It was normal to them as heroes to do everything in their power to protect people, but this didn’t feel like that. He knew she was never in some real danger, and even the thing that did happen to her could be easily resolved by just taking her to the hospital. Even now. But he didn’t want that, he didn’t want her to leave. Furthermore, he did not trust others when it comes to helping her.

“What the fuck..”- he said to himself. He only just met her. He literally knows her for about one hour. But…she impressed him more than any other woman ever had. Her modest behavior, her courage and intellect when she was trying to keep them hidden…her endurance when she was clearly in pain…how her hand fit perfectly in his when they were running on the beach. He didn’t even realize it, he was smiling. Warm feeling consumed him, and it was not from his fiery side. Once more he gave himself permission to think about her face. How the fire light played a game of dancing shadows on her cheeks, how the glow in her eyes were almost magical. And he possesses fire…that means he can recreate that enchanting moment once more.

“Y/H…”- he tasted your name on his lips once more. To see how it fits in his mouth, how it sounds in his ears. He was even a bit surprised to realize…it was a perfect match.

* * *

They were running now. The streets were empty but they didn’t want to risk it. They were fast, moving like cats, unseen. Y/N was so impressed she had a filing she was floating. Just 20 minutes earlier, Shoto managed to collect his jacket. They covered her with it, hiding the torn sleeve. It was long, looking like a dress on her, but still she was half naked. She didn’t have time to think about that, she had so much on her plate already. They agreed to reach the apartment with her, disguise her as one of them and walk in the apartment like nothing is wrong. They would put her in the middle, cover her head with the hood of the hoodie, to fool the cameras, and one of them will have to climb up to the apartment through the window. She wanted to disagree, but Shoto didn’t want to hear about it. He was determent they do this. The only one who was not happy about this plan was Bakugo, but he didn’t directly disagree.

“Fucking idiots..”-that was the only thing he said before they moved on. Bakugo. She slowly turned her head to look at him with the corner of her eyes. Deku was carrying her on his back, and Bakugo was right next to them, just a few meters away. The anger on his face was gone, but the serious look remained. She questioned herself why he would want to risk so much just to help her. Was it because of what happened in the water? Did he feel guilty? The look on his face all along was nothing even close to guilt. She could not reach a normal conclusion. Her thoughts were disrupted by a voice.

“You ok back there?”-Deku asked softly, with a friendly smile. He reminded her on her brother, his foolish face. It made her feel a bit more relaxed when she remembered her brother.

“Um..yeah.Sure.”-she smiled, hiding her concern and fear of what might happen next. They have reached the building where their apartment was. It the building was tall and lavish, very different from the old style of this island. It was obvious that this was intended for the upper class. The guys stopped just on the corner before the main entrance, as Deku slowly let Y/N go. Just when the pain was getting better, her standing made it all come back in a flash. She bit her lip, giving her best to hide it.

“Are you ok?”- that voice, again, sharp and direct, wrapped in concern. Shoto.

“Yes, I can do this.”- she said with determination . If they could this for her, at least she could walk for them. Her answer didn’t satisfy Shoto, but he knew there is not much he could do before they reach the apartment.

“Ok, we shall do this quickly as we agreed. No quirks, we don’t want to draw attention, so we need to do this the old fashioned way once more. Just one more thing needs to be decided.”-he looked up to the balcony on the third floor.

“Who will play the role of the Spiderman?”- once more, Kaminari could not hold in his bitch side. Seeing that the climb would be more then dangerous, Y/N turned pale, being certain she does not want to go on with this.

“No, no way! This is enough! I am fine God damn it! And I am going home now!”- she said, not even looking at them anymore. She didn’t want to risk this, it was more than foolish. For one moment, she thought her legs were pain free, like nothing happened at all. But soon enough she realized, she was not even walking. Once more the feeling of being in the air. She turned furious, facing Kirishimas silly face.

“Excuse me Y/N, but I think it is better if he stick to the plan.”- his smile was filled with unbelievable warmth. Smile that exuded good intentions and friendship. The kind that is usually built over the years, but he was showing it to the complete stranger. She could not help but the melt and get sad in the same time. How the people were looking at them as meat, good for nothing but saving others or making a fool of themselves on the shows. She barely kept the tear in her eye, and smiled back nodding.

“Thank you!”- he said with joy, turning back to face the guys, letting her go.

“Move aside retards,like any of you can do shit without your quirks. Better yet, like any of you can do shit even with them.” – Bakugo pushed Shoto and Kaminari aside and started to walk to the wall.

“I hope you will make this as painless as it can be..Meet you up there.”- Shoto said in a low voice, ignoring Bakugos insults. Bakugo said nothing, disappearing in the dark corner of the building. They entered the hallways. Considering it was almost 2 a.m., guests were asleep or at least in their rooms. The plan sounded simple. Put her in the middle, surround her, make her unnoticeable as possible, just nod at the lady at the front desk, keep her head under the hoodie and dodge the cameras, enter the elevator and then straight to the room. But everything sounds easy in theory, because the little cracks in the plan are becoming more visible only when the plan is set in motion. They were half naked, she was much smaller than them, security in this place was high obviously because the guests were important people… But the guys looked like they were ready. It made Y/N wonder how many times they had to act just to get a little privacy. She was lost in her deep thoughts for a moment, trying to walk as fast as they were. To help her, Kirishima was right behind her, holding her elbow, giving her support. Shoto was in charge to get everyone to do their part correctly. As the tallest, he was in the front, covering her as much as possible. Soon enough , they were few meters away from the elevator. The only thing that was left was to fool the old lady in the front desk. She gazed at them with a smile. They smiled back, trying to continue without a word

.“Did you have a nice time?”- she said suddenly. Damn it…Shoto cursed in his mind. Without stopping, he replied.

“Yes, this island is beautiful.”- short and respectful. Just when he thought that was it, the lady said in a panic.

“Oh my God, is that blood on you?”- they froze. She saw her, it is over.

“Izuku what happened?”- she pointed on his ribs. Little blood stains were on him, but the blood was not his. When he carried Y/N, her legs left bloody marks. Shoto exhaled with ease.

“He is fine, he scratched himself on a rock as we swam.”- Shoto replied as Deku nodded with a smile.

“I am fine really, just want to take a shower and rest.”- Shoto said and started walking, as the others followed. They said goodnight to the lady, entering the elevator fast. They all exhaled with ease. It was almost over, they just needed to reach the room. And they did, without any more distractions. When they entered and turned on the lights, Y/N had a feeling she entered a dream house. A huge white room with modern stuff, classy and clean. But the thing that occupied all of her attention and made her mouth open was the glass wall and the view it provided. She almost lost herself in that hypnotic view of a dark see in motion, but the unsettling thought crossed her mind and made her shiver.

“Where is Bakugo?”- she said, turning. The guys started checking the rooms and calling his name, but no one was there. The panic was slowly throwing its strings around them. Their hearts almost stopped as the sudden sound of thunder pierced the sky, making a blinding flash. The dark water reflected the light, crashing its waves in the same moment.

“Bakugo..”- the sound escaped Y/N shivering lips as she saw his silhouette on the other side of a glass wall. He was holding himself on the edge of fence, with the rest of his body still hanging on the other side. The guys didn’t even manage to move, he twisted his whole body, jumping over the fence and landing on his feet. She watched him in shock. He stood there in the dark, as the rain started pouring. She could see his deep breaths, chest moving, making every muscle alive and visible. The water fallowed the shape of his tight jaw. He licked his lips to gather the water from the rain, exhaling once more, before he looked up straight at them. He ran his hand through his blonde hair, making the biceps twitch. His face held no emotion , it was cold as a stone. His eyes were barely visible, but the expression he had was anything but soft.

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cultureisdarkbeer · 4 years

Text

Book 1 of the Rooted in Friendship series

The Beginning

In the Beginning, when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was without form or shape, with darkness over the abyss and a mighty wind sweeping over the waters. Then God said: Let there be light and there was light. God saw that the light was good. God then separated the light from the darkness. God instructed Chris Carter to call the light “Scully” and the darkness “Mulder”. Wait.....What?

Mulder woke to a sharp pain in his shoulder. He lifted his head and a newspaper clipping stuck to his face. He had drifted to sleep while reading some literature on Mariette Field Air Force base. He looked at his watch which read 10:23 P.M. and rubbed his eyes. It wasn’t unusual for him to sleep in the office, in a way he preferred it. The unusual part is any sleep he was able to get at all. He glanced over at the television set that was causing his morning wood to twitch from the sounds emanating from it. There were two doctors. One receiving oral pleasure and the other giving to a voluptuous naked woman with an alien mask over her head. He smiled knowingly and got up to turn it off and head to the bathroom.

Mulder slid onto the barstool of the dimly lit tavern and tapped on the cherry wood of the bar. “Hey Fox, the usual?” asked the bartender.

“Sounds good Joe.” Being the only bar he frequented, although not often, him and the bartender had become buddies. He liked it because it was dark, walking distance from his apartment, and no one from the FBI ever came in. Mulder was not the social butterfly. He looked around to make sure his suspicions were true; that he knew no one. He was now considered a comedy routine. A freak show the other agents pointed and laughed at. If they only knew. A short-haired brunette sat down on the bar stool next to him. She was thin, with legs up to her neck.

He took a deep breath and tried conversation. “How do you like this weather we’re having?”

She seemed slightly startled but then gave him a smile once her eyes took in everything there was to behold.

“Unseasonably hot wouldn’t you say?” Mulder continued.

“I’ll say,” she returned fake fanning herself. “What brings you here?”

“I live up the street. Just got out of work.”

“What line of work lets you out at this hour?” Her tone was very seductive.

“FBI Agent.” That line always helped reel them in, he thought. That’s right honey, tall dark and mysterious.

“Interesting. Do you ever go undercover? Expose the deep seeded underbelly?”

Mulder chuckled. “Sometimes. Most of my cases have to do with the logically unsolvable and unexplained.”

“Oh, like what?” He seemed to have sparked her attention. That is until he gave her his standard line. The one that caused him to sleep alone at night.

“Do you believe in the existence of extraterrestrials?” he asked in his best spooky version of himself.

“Um. You have a badge right?” The expression on her face suddenly changed and she looked at him like he just stepped out of the UFO.

“Yeah I have a badge.”

“If you excuse me, I have to use the restroom, but it’s been really nice talking to you.” Hurriedly and with a nervous smile, she collected her purse, placed some money on the bar and left.

“Hey Missy, how’s it going?” Scully said into the bedroom phone out of Ethan’s earshot.

“That’s what I wanted to ask you. Mom said you had a new assignment. I want to hear all about it. What’s it like having a partner?”

“First day so he’s still up for interpretation. It looks like they sent me there more as a spy and a validator. I think they may be looking to close the department. I’ll just enjoy it while it lasts.”

“And your new partner?”

“His name is Fox Mulder. He’s very intelligent and he is definitely not into traditional theory. I think you would like him.”

“Uh huh. You didn’t say anything about the way he looks. He must be nice on the eyes.”

“Missy! Really? He’s my partner. I’m not starting that. I’ve had enough with dating the people I work with. I’m trying to start a career.”

“Uh huh. Wow. He must be really good-looking.”

“What do you want me to say? He’s cute. I’m not getting involved, so it’s irrelevant.”

“Do you know his birth date? I could run an astrology report on him.”

“No, not yet. We are flying to Oregon tomorrow, so I’ll let you know when I get back.”

“Okay, well I’m happy your first day was a good one and I’m happy the guy you’re partnered with is hot,” Melissa said, continuing to tease her. Scully could almost hear her smiling through the phone.

“I have a boyfriend that I am currently living with you know. That usually indicates a serious relationship.”

“I told you, the numbers don’t lie, you are not compatible with him.”

Her sister was exhausting. Since the day she started seeing Ethan her sister never cared for him. “Okay Miss. I’ll talk to you when I get back. Love you. Bye.”

[Post the Pilot]

Scully was facing away from Ethan, laying on her bed, staring out into space. Her mind was a million miles away. The past week was nothing she ever expected. Brought in to debunk a man’s work. A man that was clearly brilliant, although somewhat odd in his line of thinking. It was clear that the men that brought her in were hiding something. Something that Mulder was on the verge of discovering. Maybe there was something slightly shady or maybe it was normal procedures for top secret information. Whatever the case, she wondered who that creepy man was that was always skulking in the corner of the deputy director’s office smoking a cigarette.

She shifted in bed nervously. No matter what, she would continue to do her assignment as it was described to her to the best of her ability. What about her new partner? She felt comfortable with him. Like they knew each other for ages, yet they just met. They were communicating with just a look. It was something she had never done with anyone before, not to that extent. She was able to read him like a book and she couldn’t understand how. Their banter free flowing and natural. In that instance, in the rain, those split seconds she let go and believed because he wanted her to and made the connections. Around him she had courage. The connection she felt to him, a stranger, was strong. Then she flashed on a thought right from the book of Melissa - Maybe they were meant to be partners. Just as the thought crossed her mind the telephone rang giving her a slight startle. It was her new partner. Pumped as ever. Not able to sleep, certain there was a conspiracy. She wasn’t thrilled that he was calling her so late, he was obviously oblivious to proper etiquette, but part of her liked the fact that he was so accepting and trusting of her as his partner.

Mulder hung up the phone. He didn’t like her shooting down his impulsiveness. She was going to have to get used to secretive meetings in the middle of the night if she was to be his partner. He liked her though, and trusted her much sooner than he anticipated. There was something about her. He thought she reminded him a little of his sister. Not the look, but her personality. She challenged him and wasn’t afraid to push him to make him better. She was very factual, but stiff. Stiff, but warm at the same time. Inviting. Now that he met her he was glad she was assigned to him and for the first time since Diana left he was looking forward to working with someone. She obviously felt comfortable with him. Comfortable enough to strip for him. That made him smile. She looked so much better out of those stuffy suits. Oddly enough, there was no romantic attraction, which he felt was a good thing. At least that was what he told himself. He did feel a closeness to her. One that he had never felt with anyone before. Friends at first sight. He liked that too. Mulder sighed and rubbed his face. His brain was in a million different directions again and he couldn’t sit still. Pumped with adrenaline, he decided to go for a run.

@ms31x129 @babygirlmulder1018 @season4mulder @muldermakesmehorny

#xfiles fanfic #txf #mulder and scully #xfiles #txf fanfic #rooted in friendship #todayinfic #x files #txf fic

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uniformbravo · 3 years

Text

having a full on existential crisis over an episode of anime i watched tonight

it all started with big time rush

in 2009 a sitcom called big time rush aired for the first time on nickelodeon; it was about a group of four teenaged boys from minnesota who move to hollywood under a famous producer to become his next big boy band sensation. a simple premise, launched into unprecedented success, resulting in four seasons of musical shenanigans, three full music albums, and three big concert tours, including international shows. the band, both fictional and real life, featured four attractive young men by the names of kendall, james, carlos, and logan. they quickly gained a fan base of mostly teenage girls, which resulted in online spaces created for the purpose of sharing their passion, and as is common in such online communities, this certainly involved fanfiction- lots of it.

enter me, a teen in high school who loved to write fanfiction. my big time journey began the day my younger sister decided to put on the show big time rush in the living room, where i sat at the family computer typing away. the noise caught my attention, and i got sucked into the episode. there was a boy wearing a dress on the screen. i became interested.

i watched more of the show. i typed its name into the search bar on the website fanfiction dot net. i had a friend at school who shared my interest in fanfiction, particularly of the slash variety. i introduced her to this new show i had been watching. she shared a fanfic she had enjoyed immensely with me. we dragged each other into the world of big time rush fanfiction reading and writing.

it took over my life; i lived and breathed big time rush. i began posting my own stories to fanfiction dot net. i received positive feedback; i met people. i made friends- two people in particular who became very close friends. we communicated through ffn’s private messaging system, then through email. we talked every day, we wrote stories for and with each other, we exchanged phone numbers. it was one of these friends who introduced me to the website called tumblr, where fellow fans of our beloved big time rush gathered and talked about it- a community.

it was a slow start- this website was new and unfamiliar to me- but eventually i got the hang of things and settled into my niche. i had fun, gained followers, met even more people. tumblr was a place not only for sharing one singular interest, but for accumulating all of your various interests and celebrating them in one place. it was through this aspect that i first learned of the up and coming band known as one direction.

they had released their first smash hit single and everyone was talking about it. i was wary, far too loyal to my beloved big time rush- but eventually i started to feel left out and in an effort to feel included, i decided to take the plunge and see what this “1d” was all about. it was intimidating, though- there was so much information, and no apparent beginner’s guide to tell me where to start. this drove me to making a post calling for a “one direction buddy” to take this role, to introduce me to all the most important aspects of this band. and my call was answered.

enter my wonderful friend cam, a follower of mine at the time. they were into both big time rush and one direction and were eager to provide me with all the information needed to get into 1d. while ultimately this venture didn’t amount to anything, as i lost interest in becoming a fan, my friendship with cam persisted and we grew very close. even as time went on and big time rush faded into the background to be replaced with newer, fresher interests, and our paths as fellow fandom members split, we kept in contact and remained friends. years and years of fandoms, years and years of friendship.

in the midst of the tenth year, cam developed a new interest, in a sport called ice hockey. as is tradition, they shared their passion with me, showing me their favorite team, highlighting their favorite members. we watched a game together. personally, i’ve never been one for sports, but i am quite into anime, which consists of many genres, including the “sports” genre. one in particular that i’ve enjoyed immensely in the past is the volleyball anime, haikyuu!!. this anime devotes a lot of time to explaining and depicting the sport in a way that makes it easy for any viewer to understand the rules and inner workings of volleyball. it’s exciting. it’s the first time i’ve ever even adjacently been invested in a sport. one could even call it a gateway into the world of sports.

all this to say, when i watched that game of ice hockey with cam, the same parts of my brain that loved haikyuu!! lit up and in a classic display of my specific brand of interest, i found myself yearning for the epic highs and lows of ice hockey, but in an animated format. an animated format originating in japan. a japanese animation. an anime. my curiosity burned a hole in my brain that resulted in a combination of the google search bar and the words, “hockey anime”.

to my disappointment, i found nothing- at least, not to the degree i was hoping. there is an upcoming anime, slated to air in the fall 2021 anime season, about a group of girls who form an ice hockey team together- as it is an original project rather than an adaptation, it remains to be seen whether the anime will fall into the category of “sports anime,” or if indeed it will lean much more closely to the “moe” genre. the latter is not what i had in mind during that particular search.

adding the anime called “pride of orange” to my “plan to watch” list on myanimelist dot com, i moved onto the next result: an article about an early 2010’s anime i had never heard of before. while not about the sport i was looking for, it featured a character whose signature weapon was a field hockey stick. it wasn’t even the right sport. it was a weak, insignificant link, but all was not lost.

i happen to have an affinity for watching anime i happen upon completely by random and know little to nothing about; i found the movie “anthem of the heart” purely coincidentally, when i searched the name “jun” as part of some research for one of my original characters and discovered that it was the main character of said movie, which i then watched and ended up enjoying quite a lot. another time, when i was at best buy one day i happened upon a dvd on their dedicated anime shelf for a movie called “hana and alice”, which i had never heard of before. i liked the box art, so i took a picture of it to remember the title and watched it on my own later that week; it became one of my favorite movies.

with these and other similar experiences in mind, i saved the anime in my “plan to watch” list, and, later that same week, began my watch of “sket dance.”

it’s a school comedy anime, one of my favorite genres, so it’s no surprise that after overcoming the initial skepticism i carry into every new show i watch it quickly became my new fixation. not an obsession, but something i was pleasantly surprised to find consistently enjoyable. the characters are fun, the humor is tight and fresh, and the stories are unexpectedly touching at the right moments. everything i like to see.

which brings us to tonight. the culmination of this ten plus year string of events and occurrences. getting into big time rush. joining tumblr. meeting cam. watching anime. searching for hockey anime.

i put down my apple(TM) pencil. i set my ipad aside. i downsized the ebook window i’d been referencing. i stretched; i was hungry and tired. i’d been rereading passages of various animorphs books all day. i needed a break. i needed to sit back with some food and an episode of my latest comfort watch, sket dance. it’d be nice to set the dramatic, tragic world of animorphs aside for something lighthearted and fun in its place.

well.

i sat down with my bowl of strawberries and played the episode. it finished. i watched another. this one broke the formula a bit, played with the art style. i was into it. the preview for the next episode was mysteriously blank, and short, stating only the title. it was intriguing. i’m down for the show to get a bit more serious for an episode, i thought. i’m down for some potential backstory for one of the main three. i’m ready.

i was not ready.

bruh.

b r u h .

next two episodes proceeded to take me out back and beat me to within an inch of my life, slowly at first and then all at once. barely made it out alive. questioning everything. how can a show, so silly and goofy, do that, to me. how could i let my guard down like that. how could i be so tricked, and deceived, and blindsided like this. i don’t know who to trust. i don’t know if i can trust again. whiplash so damaging, permanent. i thought i wanted answers. i thought i wanted to know backstory. i didn’t want this. i never wanted this. emptiness

how did it come to this, these twelve years of my life. had i known back then, would i have posted that fanfiction? would i have joined tumblr? would i have sook out a “one direction buddy”? a hollow husk of a person, i am left with only my thoughts to ponder this small history of mine. the things i could have done differently. the things others could have done differently. all these butterfly effect moments, adding up to what? culminating in what? it’s 2:26 am and i’m writing an essay on how shook i am over that episode instead of going to sleep. but i can’t just say nothing, you know? i need to put something out there, reach deep enough within myself to find the thing that’s still there, broken and huddled and tiny as it is. i need to feel some semblance of the self again. the me from before i watched this episode. the innocent version of myself, blissful in ignorance. it’s too late now.

that episode…………..was fucked up. that was seriously fucked up. im not okay bro they really just came in left field and slapped that in my face expecting me to get up and walk away just fine afterwards like No that isn’t how this Works y’all need to bundle some therapy sessions with ur episodes pullin that shit come ON

exhaustion is taking over the shock, i am simply tired now. i will fall asleep and when i wake up sket dance will be a happy fun show again with NO fucked up backstories ever Or Else. i’m fucking serious right now i’m gonna count to 3 and that shit better be retconned when i turn around,

screams

thank you

#tldr sket dance has some really fucked up shit in it & i wasn’t expecting it & im having a crisis #it was supposed to be funnie clown show not ouchie oof show #how did it end up like this #fuck. christ. what the fuck #retag later #ani blogging #me watchin this show: yea this is fun like idk if i see myself getting /invested/ invested but i’m enjoying myself nonetheless!#gets to That Episode: …../oh./ oh i /see./ we’re doing That Shit huh #*sound of me getting /invested/ invested*#just a neat lil show about funy jokes :)#wheeeeeeee

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theradioghost · 4 years

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hey, can i pester you for some podcast recs? something with a good dose of humour and not too many episodes to catch up on. a sprinkle of queer romance would be a nice bonus. my fave so far is tsco starship iris, and i also loved greater boston, wooden overcoats, the bright sessions and caravan. and thanks always for all your great recs! you’ve brought many hours of joy into my life :)

We Fix Space Junk -- Two intergalactic repairpeople -- a knowledgeable cyborg veteran and a former socialite on the run -- travel the universe meeting people and fixing things at the behest of the terrifying intergalactic corporation they’re trying to work off their debts to. Hilarious British sci-fi sitcom featuring Evil Space Capitalism, many many wonderful AI characters, and an absolutely delightful teenage space wasp-human-cow hybrid princess who is probably off accomplishing her grandiose special destiny somewhere offscreen while the main characters deal with things like their bosses possibly trying to kill them (again).

Death by Dying -- People have a tendency to die in odd ways in the small town of Crestfall, Idaho. Luckily the town also has an Obituary Writer, an eccentric and nameless but impeccably stylish fellow whose closest friend is the Angel of Death, and who has a knack for solving murders even though that’s definitely not his job description. Throw in walrus haikus, extremely rude ravens, Something Mysterious And Malevolent Lurking In The Dark Woods Outside Of Town, disappearing childhood homes, silent nuns, ghost bicycles, and three man-eating cats, and you get something like a delightful cross between Wooden Overcoats and Lemony Snicket. (Also, OW is peak Canonically Bisexual Dumbass.)

Less is Morgue -- Riley is a paranoid, reclusive teenager with a fondness for conspiracy theories who lives in their parents’ basement. They’re also a predatory ghoul who feeds on human flesh. Evelyn is a cheerful, outgoing young woman with questionable tastes in media. She’s also a ghost, ever since she was killed by a falling stage light at a Nickelback concert 16 years ago. And since Riley dug up and ate Evelyn’s corpse, they’re roommates! Will they ever manage to record a coherent episode of their podcast without something going ridiculously wrong and/or Riley eating one of the guests? Probably not!

Victoriocity -- The steampunk buddy-cop comedy-mystery thriller you never knew you needed but definitely do! Featuring Inspector Fleet, a grouchy, extremely driven policeman looking for the murderer of the Empire’s greatest inventor, and Clara Entwhistle, an even more driven and unfailingly upbeat rookie journalist who has just arrived in the island-spanning, bizarre cityscape of alt-history Even Greater London. Come for some of my favorite sarcastic British narration since Adams and Pratchett, stay for characters-are-begrudgingly-forced-to-work-together-until-they-come-to-genuinely-and-deeply-care-about-one-another-as-friends trope. (Also for Tom “Eric Chapman” Crowley as the aforementioned grumpy detective.)

Quid Pro Euro -- From one of the other leads of Wooden Overcoats, this doesn’t have a typical plot as such but has made me laugh so hard I pulled a muscle despite the fact that I know nothing about the EU. Which is what this near-surreal, Look Around You-style comedy is about: Felix Trench’s vision of a simultaneously hilarious and terrifying alternate European Union, seen from the perspective of a serious of educational tapes from the ‘90s predicting what the EU would look like in the 21st century. It’s hard to describe this show in any way that does it justice, but it’s incredibly funny.

Time:Bombs -- A miniseries by the exalted creators of Wolf 359, which (because they are madmen) was written, recorded, and produced in the space of one week. Also, a comedy about an NYC bomb retrieval squad on New Year’s Eve, most of whom are just trying to get through the night while their leader attempts to break a record for most bombs cleared before the calendar ticks over. Chaos and hilarity ensure.

Superstition -- Wisecracking, bi, Jewish, definitely-a-private-eye-just-don’t-check-her-qualifications Jacqueline St. James receives a message from her father, which is weird, because her parents disappeared years ago. Following the trail leads Jack to Superstition, Arizona, a town in the middle of the desert where everyone’s got secrets, assorted ghosts/monsters/cryptids harrass the locals, and the missing persons rate is the highest in the nation. As a protagonist Jack is Looking For Trouble And If She Cannot Find It She Will Create It, so while Superstition isn’t a comedy per se, it’s got a fair share of laughs and is also just so, so excellent in general.

Standard Docking Procedure -- A self-declared hopepunk scifi workplace comedy about the somewhat dysfunctional staff of Pseudopolis Station, effectively a high-tech interstellar truck stop. It’s funny and heartwarming, nothing truly bad happens, and Julia Schifini is there.

Solutions to Problems -- A morally-questionable human named Janet who has defintely never done any illegal time travel and an easygoing, physically indescribably alien who likes to go by Loaf host an intergalactic advice podcast. Are you tired of your species’ insistence on solving everything via ritual combat? Not sure how to talk to your partner about whether body-swapping has a place in your sex life? Dealing with being a superpowered teenager summoned into being by the collective will of an apocalyptic groupthink cult? Janet and Loaf have you covered! Provided that Janet’s on-and-off girlfriend, the AI who supplies the air they breathe, doesn’t kill them all first. Oddly heartfelt comedy in the form of a relationship advice radio show from the Space Future.

Middle:Below -- This show’s tagline is “Remember: bad things WILL happen,” and that is basically a lie. This is actually a short, incredibly heartwarming and frequently funny show about Taylor Quinn, the only human with the ability to pass between the land of the living (aka the Middle) and the land of ghosts (the Below). Meaning, of course, that the dead call on him to fix all their problems, with the help of a girl named Heather, a ghost named Gil, and a cat named Sans. (Also, some of the most comparatively wild live shows I’ve ever heard.)

Inn Between -- Ever wonder what fantasy characters get up to between adventures, during all that time they seem to spend at inns? This show skips all the adventuring, question, and action, instead focusing on the quiet moments between where what is Definitely Not A D&D Party meet and progress from bickering strangers brought together by circumstance to close-knit found family -- all at the inn, of course. (Lots of queer folks in here also, although there’s no romance at least in the first couple seasons.)

The Godshead Incidental -- A relatively new but very exciting and so far really enjoyable show!! Following a young woman who writes an advice column through her life in a familiar, and yet strange city where anyone might be a minor god -- your editor, your landlord, that weird guy on the street who was shouting about how he’s the God of Memory and you got into a fight with him and now you keep forgetting everything? Also, your apartment is full of pigeons now because you found out the aforementioned landlord is secretly the god of doorknobs and he’s panicking. Good luck! (Starring Ishani Kanetkar, aka Arkady from Starship Iris!)

Gal Pals Present: Overkill -- Madison, a middle schooler at a Girl Scout camp, agrees to play a game with a somewhat tastelessly bright-pink Ouija board. However, Madison doesn’t know that she’s a natural medium, and now sarcastic mid-2000s 19-year-old Aya Velasquez has joined the many ghosts who are for some reason haunting scenic Harding Park. Aya, however, will not rest until she can solve her own murder (and possibly get to know that other ghost girl a bit better, who says romance has to stop when you’re dead?). Absolutely hilarious writing of a narrator who is almost definitely wearing spectral Uggs during the entire show.

Dark Ages -- The Rivercliffe Museum of Mostly Natural History is one of the finest museums anywhere! Or it would be, if anyone ever actually visited it. Or maybe if the staff weren’t a disastrous and dysfunctional collection of criminals, weirdos, wannabe immortals, idiot bisexuals who can’t just admit they like each other, and one extremely uptight elf with no people skills. Also, it would probably help if the legendary and fearsome Dark Lord, finally returned from his millennia of dormancy to complete his prophesied conquest of the world, wasn’t hanging around watching the chaos unfold because they’ve got his crown on display. (Fantasy workplace comedy with a theme song that did not need to go that hard?)

Brimstone Valley Mall -- It’s mid-December 1999, and at one mall in South Central Pennsylvania, a group of demons are going about their evil work -- namely, working at various dinky kiosks and restaurants, hoping of achieving every demon’s dream of getting to work at Hot Topic, trying not to do too much evil because Earth is way more fun than Hell and no one wants to get promoted back home, and preparing for their band's triumphant opening performance at the upcoming Y2K party. Just one problem: their lead singer is missing. Another absolute masterwork from The Whisperforge.

Arden -- 10 years ago, Hollywood starlet Julie Capsom vanished into the woods of northern California, leaving behind a car containing a human torso that may or may not have belonged to one Ralph Montgomery. Now, private eye Brenda Bentley and reporter Bea Casely, both of whom were among the first at the scene and both of whom have their own very strong opinions on the case, are setting out to solve the mystery on their true crime podcast, Arden. Providing, of course, they can stop arguing with each other long enough to solve it. (Or, a not-really-parody-but-definitely-comedy “true crime” podcast where the crime is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet -- and even knowing that, it’s still a genuine mystery with twists and a surprise ending! -- and the hosts are wlw Beatrice and Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing. In other words, it’s perfect. Season 2 is upcoming soon and is adapting Hamlet!!)

Alba Salix/The Axe and Crown -- Another high fantasy workplace sitcom, this one a medical comedy about the titular not-very-personable witch who runs the kingdom’s House of Healing and the various shenanigans she gets into, between her somewhat scatterbrained sister and brother-in-law the king and queen and her assistants, an overly-whimsical fairy and a wannabe monk forced to do community service. The same feed contains The Axe and Crown, a spinoff set in the same world that manages to simultaneously be a sitcom about the staff of a local pub trying to stave off foreclosure and come up with schemes to beat their business rivals, and a heartfelt story about gentrification and recovery starring a gay veteran with PTSD? Which is possibly one of my favorite podcasts? (Also contains one of the most unbelievable crossover cameos possible: Leon Stamatis.)

The Adventures of Sir Rodney the Root -- Also a high fantasy comedy! When a witch transforms heroic Sir Rodney into a small piece of wood, his closest companion Sir Gilbert must set out to cure him by collecting several highly powerful and dangerous relics, accompanied by a snarky dwarfen thief, an imperious princess, a slightly creepy human child raised by fairies, a picky elf sorcerer, a dead unicorn possessed by the ghost of a stoner, and a bard who breaks the fourth wall too much for his own good. So far as I can tell, nobody is straight.

The Amelia Project -- A dark comedy about a secret organization that helps people fake their deaths. Which is honestly a pretty full summary, barring the two important points that 1. this show contains possibly the most continuity-warping crossover event of all time (it’s the center point of this absolutely chaotic diagram), and 2. in one episode Felix Trench plays a character named Bartholomew Fuckface Chucklepants Knucklecracker.

#podcast recs #bobbie recommends things #yujacha #asks #my posts

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vaguely-concerned · 4 years

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Some more mass effect andromeda thinky thoughts as I run around heleus getting some achievements!

- the murderous angaran ai is genuinely so fucking funny. “How are you feeling here on Aya?” “I hope you die” ��Is there anything we could do to make you more comfortable?” “BURY THIS PLANET UNDER FIRE AND ASH” “o.oookay. Goodbye then.” “I HATE you.”

- I hope I never become irresistibly moved to write mass effect andromeda fic b/c there really is no other description for a good 70% of the expressions reyes makes than :> and how could one capture that in words

- as mentioned I’ve been doing a bit of achievement hunting and in the process I’ve been switching up a lot of gameplay stuff from how I handled it the first few times around and let me tell you it’s baller as fuuuuuuuuuck -- it just looks so awesome and is so satisfying between the maneuverability of the jetpack and biotic charge and the effects. special shoutout to what happens if you biotic charge a frozen victim enemy and the biotic pull/push combination. (throwing people around like ragdolls is actually so much fun I’ve kept doing it even after I unlocked the achievement lol)

- lol lol when you get meridian online there’s the montage of every planet coming back to life, right? well the one on kadara is from inside kralla’s song, with umi looking out at everything that’s happening. and all I can imagine is her jaded-ass voice going ‘what the fUCK did that asshole kid do now I only just cleaned up after the bar brawl he started with his krogan grandpa and now he’s rearranging the entire fucking planet right from under us goddess I need a drink’

- the implication that reyes ‘cards so close to my chest you won’t even know I’m playing’ vidal just does not shut up about how amazing ryder is to anyone who’ll listen gives me so much life. when you try to be mysterious and laidback but the human pathfinder is so fucking cute tho Y____Y (also go watch his scenes if you’re being standoffish with him the entire time -- he clearly wants ryder to like him so much right from the beginning, he’s doing so much work to no avail and I feel sort of bad for how funny I find it haha. interesting that it really does seem to be an emotional thing as well as y’know the practical/tactical benefits of having the pathfinder on his side. methinks the charlatan might be a bit lonely there behind all his masks lol)

I think this is why I’m willing to give him some benefit of the doubt too, despite all the cloak and dagger stuff -- he’s so immediately drawn to ryder, who you can never make a bad person, really. something in him must respond to that, if potentially only in the ‘attracted to traits I do not possess myself’ way hahaha

- I love sam. so so much. some of the open world implementation is still grating (yes sam. yes I know I can mine this area for resources through my mining interface. we’ve been doing this for a hundred hours sam. you’ve been right here with me the entire time sam. please sam), but he’s SUCH a good and I’d argue underutilized concept (emotionally at least) and the best boy. the fact that he can get SARCASTIC on you fsdhfjsadh he’s growing and learning! he’s doing so from inside your brain which is kind of unsettling but also SO COOL! there’s something about that level of intimacy, of always knowing there will be someone there with you in your head that is super interesting and deserves to be examined more fully -- both how it could be comforting and how it’s r e a l l y not how people or ai are generally designed to work lol.

he also gives us a unique link with our dad and I wonder if the writers would have explored that in more depth if there’d been more development time -- it practically SCREAMS out an invitation to get to play/see things from alec’s POV in short bursts, like the memories you unlock except you could go through playing it as him since sam is common to both of us. (see my ‘our dad comes back through either kett or remnant nonsense in the sequel and we need to find some way to connect with him’ idea. it would be. amazing. listen alec already looked at the ethical guidelines involved in creating ai and went ‘huh interesting ideas but not for me thanks!’, don’t tell me he wouldn’t have left some loophole in so this could happen)

- reyes literally says ‘the cavalry’s here’ when we get to meridian and I for one love him more than words can express (he also asks us if we’re okay in sort of a sweet/worried way right before we get to the control room. aw buddy)

- like we don’t think of them like that because we’re in control of them and see all the stumbles and awkwardness and how young they are all the time, but damn the ryder twins must look like something else to everyone in andromeda haha. they literally stride around like demigods restoring entire planets. on voeld spring non-metaphorically follows in their footsteps. shit dude if we’re talking realpolitik here the angara must feel p r e t t y nervous about this -- there’s no one saying they can’t turn off the vaults as easily as they turned them on. I hope we get them somehow teaching the angara how to do it too, on a smaller scale at least, as a show of good faith or something in a sequel, because that power imbalance is disconcerting

- I’m glad sam and I have such similar priorities whenever we’re on kadara. ‘maybe mr vidal would know. perhaps we should ask mr vidal about this. mr vidal said something relating to this pathfinder maybe we should speak to him’ . yeah sam i know the feeling, same (it does undeniably read as sam having a bit of a crush which is. hilarious?)

- the fact that alec ryder thought ellen responded to his bad boy act in any way when what really charmed her was that he was a great big nerd <3 it’s kind of nice to see a fictional marriage that seems to have just been. nice and stable and chill? just two intellectual equals who like and respect each other very much and not a lot of drama until alec went full alec and started developing rogue ai instead of watching his wife die lol. again I would love for the sequel to involve ellen finally waking up and being like ‘death? trying to claim MY husband? I do not think so, I can die he can’t he’s not leaving me behind’ and helping out and you realize that the reason they were soulmates was that under the relatively rational and unemotional surface they’re both, at heart, batshit crazy mad scientists who are insanely devoted to each other. imagine it tho! the people of andromeda realize alec ryder is back from the dead somehow and doing some Shit out there, they put a ton of resources into curing ellen’s disease because their best shot is something to do with the implants she made, hey presto we’ve got all ryders on the board and in play.

- just want to make it clear that I’m still sad about avitus rix and hope he’s having a good day

- do you think ryder ever asks sam to read something to him ‘aloud’ in his head if he’s anxious and can’t sleep. or just to talk at him about something boring until he nods off. again the possibilities inherent in the concept!!! he has someone who’s closer to him than any other person could be, what’s that like?

- *me sticking to my sidewinder pistol the whole playthrough even though it’s laughably inefficient* I just wanna feel like a cowboy bioware please work with me here

- the male ryder voice actor has such amazing comedic timing, there’s a lot of reaction stuff out in the field he absolutely nails. I enjoy the female voice too and I like how much emotion she manages to convey towards the end of the game especially, but there’s a casual comedy in male ryder’s voice that can’t be beat. (well, it’s not hawke levels, but then nothing ever is, that’s too much to ask)

- I love vorn and kesh so much. nerd krogans unite & make out

- I still want to sit peebee down and have a long serious talk with her about emotional abuse, maybe give her a hug :( fuck kalinda

- this game does not get enough credit for how stunningly beautiful it is, it all got buried under criticism about the animations and it’s a fucking shame. the last few vaults you go through are just mindboggling in scale and visual uh striking-ness. it makes me so sad to think there won’t be any more of it D:

- I really like this mainly casual + logical dialogue options ryder I’ve found; it makes him sound like a younger and more irreverent version of his father, but also softer and less closed off and much more willing to show affection for his family especially.

- i wonder if different people’s individual SAMs will take on a certain tone/unique pattern when they’ve coexisted long enough. have I mentioned. how much I want a sequel to this game

- one last reyes note because don’t look at me okay -- I wonder how much we’re meant to read into ‘being honorable never got me anywhere’. on the one hand I’m fully prepared to believe he’s never even tried doing anything the honorable way in his entire life lol but on the other there’s also some interesting potential in the interplay of that sentence and ‘to be someone’. (there seems to be a deep fear in him both of powerlessness and of being truly seen/recognized -- he equates secrecy with safety pretty explicitly -- which seems... telling? of what I don’t know but telling all the same hahaha) like he might be saying he’s tried doing things the ‘right’ way and it didn’t work and the price was too high, so he just went for this instead with the ends low-key justifying the means. hmmm. :Ia (this is what happens when I get Attached to a character with like an hour of screentime my friends, and I’m already primed to give my entire heart away at the sound of nicholas boulton’s voice)

#mass effect #mass effect andromeda #I'm sorry about this my brain just won't shut up about this suddenly so here we go #reyes vidal #meta

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riotatthemovies · 4 years

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Today we have a true wildman, maverick of low budget film Joel D Wynkoop. Let's get in the mindset of an actor, an actor's actor. An American Brian Blessed without the beard you could say (imagine Joe D Wynkoop as Hawkman and let that sink in) . To you regulars here at Riot at the movies you will remember Joel from 2019s Terrible Two Day fest where he closed the weekends events by appearing in Clownado as the cowboy pilot. Then just before screenings shut down in the first week for March 2020 we saw him again in the first film of this year Terrible Two Day Fest with a small but high energy cameo at the very end of Dinogore.

Let's pretend we are a live audience talk show and give a round of applause for Joel D Wynkoop.

Riot: Joel you are known as a high energy guy, what do you think or even what do you hope are people's first impressions of you?

WYNKOOP: Well I hope they like my performances. There are some that just flat out say "He yells too much!" I even had an actress tell me "Stop yelling at me, you're always yelling at me" but what she didn't get is that was the idea in the movie, the Sheriff(Played by me was yelling) but she got her feelings hurt and asked me not to yell at her. "But....I'm supposed too." I told her...anyway the director pulled her aside and explained to her "...this is not real life and we were pretending" and she still didn't get it, so the director told me "don't yell at her too much." Aside from the yelling and the out of control antics of a lot of my characters, I also want to be known as the actor that can do serious stuff too. I have done parts that when they were done or in the middle of where the audience was crying because I was going for that emotional touch. I have done things that scare the audience, not to mention my co stars. My wife, before I knew her, we had just met and we did a very emotional scene when I was in her face yelling at her, later the director said to her "You were great you really looked scared." and she said "I was scared, he is a scary guy when he yells... I thought he was going to hit me." But I can also do comedy where people may say "Man Wynkoop was so funny in that" or "Mannnn Wynkoop was so annoying in that" in each case that is what I was going for. In my latest movie "THE CRAIGLON INCIDENT" I think people are going to say the latter because the character I do is annoying....but funny...I hope. If they don't like me right away or there's someone out there going "Wynkoop sucks, his movie's suck" I hope people make their own decisions if they like me or not.

Riot: Let's look back at your early break into low budget films. Which character do you relate to the most, Steve Nekoda the religious, confused martial arts man of action from Lost Faith or do you deep down feel a little more fucked up like Dan Hess from Wicked Games or maybe even worse the officer in Dirty Cop No Donut? Or is that just crazy ? If you don't feel you personally relate to them, who was your favorite character to play?

WYNKOOP: Just doing Steve Nekoda, Dan Hess or Gus Kimble I think I am a little of all of them in real life. One time... well more then once in my life...real life...I have had to step in and protect someone like Steve Nekoda would, other times I have been the smart ass like Gus Kimble and his brand of justice where I have said things like (When someone is too close to me, I mean right on my ass) I turn to them and say "Are you gonna propose?" and they say "No" then I say "Then get off my ass!" More than once I have stood up for somebody... one time I told two guys to leave the premises because the girl inside the store was scared of them. The one guy then said to me. "You got a problem with me?" I said "No, I don't have a problem with you, but you're gonna have a problem with me if you don't leave now!" He started to move towards me. I went into a striking stance and his buddy grabbed him and said "Let's go man." and they left. The cops told me later "Don't be the hero just call us next time, we have guns." Dan Hess pushed in his Truth or Dare world, is me when I get annoyed in traffic. Someone cut me off I exploded in rage, he saw me in his mirror cursing him, he stopped his car and jumped out and came after me, I jumped out of my car and yelled at the top of my lungs "Don't FUCK with me man!!" He got back in his car and left and I did the same. Hey, I'm not perfect!

Again Steve Nekoda. I am a Christian yes, I swear, I'm sorry, were all human. I will stop and pray with someone at the drop of a hat. I have ran charity events for people struggling with medical bills. I will offer you some money if they are hard up...not scammers! So I guess I am a little of all of my characters. Nick Hazzard, Dan Hess, Steve Nekoda, Parsons Cooper, Angus Lynch, Tie-Ree, Cope Ransom and a lot more. Favorite character? I think all of them. I loved Steve Nekoda cause he is like a superhero, Parsons Cooper is turned into a sci-fi superhero. Dan Hess is fun because he is an average guy with a messed up life. Angus Lynch was fun to play because he was just psycho! Same with Gus Kimble from the Dirty Cop movies. They are all fun to play, I just can't lock one particular one down. They're all fun...CLOWNADO? I loved playing that character "HAWK" for Todd Sheets!! It was a fun role to play and Todd really let me run with it. Little easter eggs too in one line almost under my breath you here my character HAWK say "I'm just about to watch a Todd Sheets Joel Wynkoop double feature, those guys kill me." Yeah I love them all!

Riot: I am honestly imagining you doing a remake of Falling Down (the Micheal Douglas movie) just so I can see you super red faced getting angry in your car and flipping out at the traffic. You have like a dozen, if not more projects on the go at any time. How's Covid treating you? Are you going stir crazy or getting some stuff done on the side? I hope the conventions come back and people can get copies of all these movies as well.

WYNKOOP: Covid? We are dealing with it. If the law, Government or whatever wants you to wear masks just wear the mask. It's not that big a deal. Yes it annoys me but I wear it because it is the law and you're keeping people and yourself safe. You know what? I knew a guy that was a nudist and he told me "Joe, I don't know why we have to wear these, these clothes, I should be able to walk around unencumbered and free, there's nothing wrong with my body, I should be allowed to walk around nude, go into the store, go to the movies, I feel like I am being persecuted against because I cannot be free and naked." Well guess what? That is what everyone is saying about wearing their masks...are you comfortable with people walking around naked in your grocery store, pet store, church, movie theater, everywhere you go? I'm not. I think if we are told to wear masks then wear them. It's "NOT" being sheep, you're being smart. If you don't believe in it... go up to a stranger and say (With your mask on) "Please hack up all over me because I don't believe in the Corona Virus... try and let spit come out of your mouth too cause I don't believe in it so I won't get it!" Then pull your mask down so you can inhale all that virus you think is "NOT" there. People say more people die from the flu then Corona? Really? Personally I don't know any of my friends that have died from the flu...BUT I Have had at least 10 friends die of the CoronaVirus in the last two months. As of writing this tonight I just found out two more of my friends caught the Corona Virus because they let someone in their home and now they have it. If you don't believe in it then you don't believe the Earth is round. Stir Crazy? Nah! If we need to get out it is because of the news. The world is really messed up now and it is all the same stories over and over again. The riots were terrible!!!!!! Anyway when it gets too much we go for a ride in the van. I just want to make movies. I can't change anything, I'm not magic. I'll just continue to make movies. Also I am editing my new movie now called THE CRAIGLON INCIDENT which never would have happened if it were NOT for the Corona Virus, I started this movie cause everyone was told to stay home, it was mandatory here! Curfew was enforced. So I asked my wife Cathy, "Hey just shoot me talking to the camera." Now spin it around so it looks like I am talking to myself as my counterpart and THAT is how The Craiglon Incident originated. It is now like two hours long in my timeline waiting to be completed. If there was no virus there would have been no CRAIGLON INCIDENT". But just editing the movie keeps me plenty busy! PLUS I ask people if they are interested in being a producer or executive producer of either or both my movies "THE CRAIGLON INCIDENT" or "BEAST MODE"(A movie we started with Debbie Rochon and Lloyd Kaufman but was shut down because of Covid) people can contact me and become producers and executive producers just by purchasing some of my movies...It's a great way to get some entertainment and build your IMDB!!!! Conventions YES!!! Me too. So many have been shut down at the last moment. We even had Tampa Bay Screams here that was slated in August but it has been moved to March 2021 and we don't even know if that will happen. Yes I miss it!! More than selling the flicks I like meeting everyone that comes to the shows. That's why I continue to do things on Facebook and make movies and sell online to keep my name out there so folks don't forget about me. I don't think I would be comfortable doing a show right now anyway, not the way things are. I have had two shoots lately, one a TV show and one a rap video and I was nervous the whole time hoping I didn't get anything from anyone. But yes it would be nice to get the world back to normal, well, not even normal... BETTER THAN NORMAL...hey that's a good name for a TV show..."Hey brother what are you doing next Wednesday night?" "Me, oh not much I'm gonna check out that new TV show...what's it called, oh yeah...BETTER THAN NORMAL".

Riot: Let this be a reminder to my regular Canadian viewers and readers of just how freaking lucky we are up here. I love America for many things but for my health situation I wouldn't trade places with you Joel for the world. Thanks for being so open with us. Ok, How do you feel your films have dated over the years? The projects you've done with Tim Ritter seem to have just as strong a twisted fan base as always if not more these days.

WYNKOOP: I think they hold up fine. You have to remember when Tim Ritter and I started there was no CGI in indie movies. It was all practical effects, if you wanted blood you made it and threw it on the actor you couldn't say "Hey put a blood splat there and make it look real with your CGI effects." Nothing wrong with CGI it is just we didn't have that then. Also editing wasn't on your home computer with Movie Maker and Premiere... (They didn't exist when Tim and I broke into this, in fact some places have credited Tim and I have been credited with the whole direct to video happening.)... it was rent an edit bay with big 3/4 machines and shuttle the tape back and forth... In the beginning for Tim and myself, Tim and I use to edit on cutting boards with splicing tape. You scratched your effects into the actual film. I remember putting "The Eight Million Dollar Boy Meets The Invisible Transport Boy" together, splicing it all together, it was an hourlong and it was hard to do that 50 feet at a time. But yeah a lot of people are like "Yeah I remember TRUTH OR DARE man that was cool!" Even Elijah Wood on all the late night shows was talking about how much he loved "TRUTH OR DARE"! "LOST FAITH" has got that same kind of attention, a lot of people really love it. BUT like all our movies... some hate them, some love them. I'll take the love over the hate... but you have to accept it all. Believe it or not I learned this philosophy from Marvel Team Up. Spiderman had just stopped the Basilik and was handing him over to the cops and Spidey said "Here you go officer, although I don't know why you would want him?" and the cop said "All part of the job wall crawler, you take the bad with the good." And that is how I take everything, especially reviews. You take the bad with the good. So yeah I think they hold up...I had a friend when STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION came out and he was like "Oh the original sucked the effects are much better in NEXT GENERATION" Well "No Duh" I told him... it's like 30 some years later but STAR TREK is still a classic show!! It still holds up today, the stories are great and I love the effects... yes the upgrades are awesome but always classic "Star Trek". There is always gonna be a better format... pretty soon movies will be like holograms and we'll be being punched in the face by the characters in the movies. Technology changes everything so you have to give them credit for the era they were made. The people that love Twisted Illusions movies and my movies are AWESOME. I divide the two because Tim and I have done alot together as Twisted Illusions and I in turn have done a lot under Wynkoop Productions and joined the two over the years. I am still a part of Twisted Illusions with Tim and he with me in Wynkoop Productions it is two small companies just trying to entertain people. We are BOTH very fortunate to have the nice people we do enjoying all of our movies and we will never forget that. I get Facebook requests all the time and I ask them "What made you want me as a friend?" and they 90% always say "I saw your movies in High School" or "I saw you in Truth Or Dare"or "I loved you in Dirty Cop No Donut" and they all say "What are you doing now?". In fact every time I think I am going to quit I get a Facebook from someone saying "I love your movies please don't stop making them." and I never will until GOD calls me home. Even then when I am gone, I hope people keep watching all my movies I have done with Tim and the ones I have done and the ones we have collaborated on. To the ones out there that watch our stuff I hope we are entertaining you because that is all we want to do, 'cause we sure arn't getting rich from it.

Joel Getting Tough in The Other Side

Riot: You do the whole package, acting, directing, producing. What makes low budget filmmaking still a passion for you and what are some of the things these days that frustrate you the most?

WYNKOOP: Frustrate me the most? Editing. I will have a whole scene in my timeline and the power goes out, I hit the wrong key and delete stuff, lightning hit the house and fries it, lightning turns out our power and I lose it. It freezes up as I am editing and I have to wait an hour for it to fix itself. When it says "SAVE" I hit no. I make mistakes when I am tired while I am editing and boom I do something wrong and it is gone and I have to start all over again. There have been problems when I was editing my TV show I was putting in the last minute touches and lost the whole thing and had to start over from the beginning again. Frustrating! I keep working at it no matter what. I like to act in all I can. When I don't have anything that is when I say it's time to make my own movie, although in this case of "THE CRAIGLON INCIDENT" it was because of Covid 19. I'd like to make more money at it but doesn't everyone?

So as you can tell I sneak more then one question in at a time and I'm glad you took the time to shoot the shit with us. I hope 2021 means we get to go crazy and make all the weirdest and wildest movies we all can think of and I look forward to seeing what you got to throw at us. Thanks again. Stay Awesome.

Also Check out Joel in Lycanimator made by our Ontario buddy Seb Godin (also of Dinogore), get the vhs horror boobs made for Wild Eye Releasing , its better then the dvd.

WYNKOOP: Thank you all for taking the time and showing some interest in this old guy!!!! It is appreciated, thank you to everyone on your staff and everyone reading this article... thank you all so much and to see what I am doing please seek me out on Facebook under Joel D. Wynkoop. Thank you!

#joel d wynkoop #bmovies #lowbudget film making #wicked games #killingspree #lost faith #clownado #lycanimator #the other side #dirty cop no donut #wildman

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neo-culture-mafia · 5 years

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Glory of Neo Culture

What was this all for? Saying goodbye to your family...for this? Drowning away college days for motorcycles and guns? Throwing away any chance of having a future; not to mention a future with a significant other. You had 21 brothers who were your ride or die, leaving you hopeless with the possibility of running away for they had a team on every continent ready to look out for you, but never leave you alone.

Life was uneasy and it was a daily hassle to get up and go to training -- but you were still there laying people on their asses. You needed a release from something and it never came as a clear answer. It was always hidden within one of the boys.

When you had a hard time looking over a small group of students, Taeyong was there to show you how to make yourself known. He was your all-time role model and it made you happy that he gave a damn about people, compared to some of the other mafia leaders of this world. “Make yourself bigger than you really are and get mad. They’re not gonna listen to a little pip-squeak with a small voice who is always nice.” He said lightly flicking your forehead. You nodded and waited for his next direction. He went over and sat leisurely at the edge of his desk. “Alright, now get angry.”

With Taeil, you never had a frowning moment -- even when you thought you were alone. When you had a secret relationship with a boy on the outside he knew about it. He also knew when it fell through and you were crushed but never let anyone inside your bubble. He was there with a cup of tea and a shoulder to cry on, without letting your secret get to any of the other boys. You didn’t even know he was sitting inside your closet. You just heard a thud and a curse before Taeil popped out with 2 cups of tea in hand and a package of your favorite cookies. He sighed as he set them down; grabbing a bunch of tissues from your dresser. He shook his head as he came over and wiped your tears. “Men are pigs.”

Johnny looked at you as a younger sibling. He always played around with you on the daily. He made you fight for yourself, even when you thought you couldn’t do it on your own. When the tin roof of the bomb shed was blown off, Taeyong sent you two to go fix it. Johnny put you in charge of lifting the roof off the ground; the jagged metal posing a threat to your soft palms of flesh. He watched you struggle and groan at the tough task; denying you any help even when you were pleading. Finally, his denial pissed you off and you managed to lift the whole roof onto the side of the shed. He was standing right there, ready to give you a hug. He was a man with ways of teaching lessons. “You don’t know how strong you are till you need to be. Then you just have to find the things that make you ten times stronger.”

Yuta never came around much from Japan to be lovey-dovey towards you, yet you knew he still cared. When you choked during a mission and everyone was mad at you on return, he was the first one to call you just to make sure you were alright. “Stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.” You said ripping your jacket off and throwing it on the ground in frustration. You were throwing a temper tantrum behind the privacy of closed doors, even though you were in the mood where you didn’t care if anyone else saw. “I’m so fucking stupid. I just had to fucking pull a damn stupid trigger.” You said punching your bed over and over again. The intercom buzzed on your wall next to the door. You groaned loudly and marched over, accepting the call. “Hello?!” You asked after a couple seconds of silence. “Hey. It’s Yuta.” He said and you just froze, crumpling into a ball underneath the intercom. “Listen...I know everyone is probably pissed at you...but I just wanted to say that I am super proud of you.” He said and you could feel the tears pool in your eyes. “Thank you.” You mumbled, bringing your knees to your chest. “Just know that everyone makes mistakes. It will be okay...You did good, kid.”

Kun was like a dad. Whether it was in person while he was in Korea, or when it was over Skype when he was in China; he always talked to you and made sure you had enough to eat at dinner and you drank enough water when you woke up every morning. He also made sure you had someone to go to for anything: cuts, bruises, or maybe just ranting about the most random topics till 2 in the morning. “So I told Jess, you use the sniper for long range instead of an automatic.” You shook your head. He shook his head too, throwing his hands into the air. “Unbelievable.” He scoffed. “I know right! It’s common sense!” You exclaimed and he laughed at your cute expression to your story. “I swear, I’m in training with a bunch of morons.” You shook your head, grabbing your drink Kun had made for you. “You couldn’t have said it more perfect.” He said grabbing his drink and clinking it with yours.

Every single Thursday, you met Doyoung for your usual gossip session. You would both walk to the same coffee shop about 2 blocks away, and make the afternoon free for each other. “Did you hear about the 2 new students in tier 6?” You asked as your drinks were delivered. He sat back in the chair, sipping his cold coffee. “Spill the tea.” He said as you began. “They were caught making out in the locker rooms after training. Mark was pissed, even though Jaemin found them smooching on each other.” You said and he grew a disgusted face while you nodded, confirming the story. “They both got toilet duty for 2 weeks and permanently moved dorms.” You said and he rolled his eyes. “That’s super disgusting. But you know what’s more disgusting? The outfit that Taeyong wore to the Asiatic Leaders meeting last week, like, all he has to do is ask for my help.”

Ten and you were like besties who never separated from each other. He always confided in you about some of the students he taught. You always went him to learn new ways to take the boys down when they were annoying you. So, when he was told he was being relocated to China; you were the first person he told. You both were a mess as you both held each other the night before his plane left with Kun and Lucas where they would join Winwin’s team. “This isn’t fair.” You cried as you hugged him tighter. “I know, nothing is fair anymore.” He sighed, rubbing your back. “Who am I going to go shopping with? Who am I supposed to go see the new romance movie with? We...we...that was our thing...we would sit there and laugh the who-whole time at the stu-stupid couples.” You cried and he just held you more. “I know. I’m not dying. I’m just, moving.” He said and you just groaned. “You still aren’t here.” You countered back. He just sighed but held you tighter if that was any way possible. “I am, you just have to look real hard. I’m always here.”

Jaehyun was like your dumb older brother even though he was highly intelligent. He would be the type to use you as an armrest, and ‘lose’ his balance, making you both tumble to the ground. He was still very protective like a usual older brother. You were on the way to the usual gossip session where Doyoung was already waiting. You walked through the lobby to the main gate and Jaehyun was walking through, eating some cereal. “Woah woah woah. Where do you think you are going, dressed like that?” He asked, motioning to your outfit with his spoon. “Going to meet Doyoung?” You questioned looking at your own outfit. It was what you usually wore. “Well, you should dress like it.” He said as he set his food down, taking his flannel off and throwing it on you. “Now...just button it...all the way to the top. And...wear a hat-” “Jae, it’s July.”

You and Winwin had a good relationship even though you were both stationed in 2 different countries. He would help with anything he could, whether it was with homework or it was figuring out how to fix your laptop over the phone. “Okay, just one more question.” You said and he hummed in agreement. “A bullet is shot from 15 feet away and reaches the target in 2.6 seconds. What type of gun is it?” You asked and you thought to yourself. All you heard was a loud bang from the other side of the phone. “Winwin?!” You called, your worry coming over. “Well, I can tell you for certain that it isn’t a Glock.” He said and you groaned. “You’re not supposed to shoot your men!” You said from your side of the phone. “Hey! I was helping you with your homework!”

Jungwoo makes your sides hurt whenever you see him. Always making you laugh and forget about the situations that made you want to curl up and sleep the day away. You were sitting on your bed, playing with your fingers because you just couldn’t fathom being by yourself. Your thoughts always got the best of you when you were alone. Your door busted open and you jumped. There stood what you presumed to be Jungwoo. His whole arms were filled with blankets and snacks. “We just got Easy A on DVD, and I need a movie buddy.” He mumbled behind the fluffy blankets in front of his face. You chuckled as you ran over and helped him drop the stuff neatly onto the floor. You both spent the whole night chilling and watching romantic comedies while complaining about your single lives.

You never had a dull moment with Lucas. He was just there in the background to make you laugh. You were all sitting in a serious meeting where you were negotiating with a Japanese triad that was looking for land in Korea. You sat next to Lucas with more members lining both sides of you. The curtain was dropped and you were all met with more men on the other side of the room. You all did greetings and then sat back down. Yet, Lucas kept rubbing his teeth with his finger. You kept bumping him with your elbow, telling him to knock it off and he was being rude. “That thing.” He mumbled, picking at his front tooth, staring at the other mafia boss. You concentrated on the boss and realized he had a piece of seaweed on his front tooth. You had to cough a little to suppress your small giggle. Lucas kept rubbing his teeth, making it harder for you to keep your composure. You both lost it when the leader laughed and the food flew onto the table in front of him. Lucas maintained a horrified expression as he began to point at the piece of food. You grabbed his hand and put it back down as he couldn’t help but stare at it more. You both got in trouble for being ‘rude’.

Mark was actually the one who needed you. He deemed himself as an outcast to some of the new students. He would come to you in embarrassment just to have you tell him there was nothing to be afraid of. You were making yourself a quick snack in the Junior Forces dorm. You grabbed the knife to cut the sandwich when you felt a hand on your shoulder. The hand was pulled so your grip with the knife was next to the person's neck. Yet, your weapon hand was grabbed and pinned behind your back, while the other person’s arm held your back to their chest so you couldn’t move. You looked up, seeing the familiar deep brown eyes. “Oh...uh...hi.” You said as he let you go. He put distance between the two of you. “Hey...I need help.” He said as he scratched the back of his neck. “With...?” You asked and he sighed. “How do I talk to the new students? They’re all so young and cool and I’m -” “Old?” You cut him off and he furrowed his eyebrows. “I was gonna say boring...but gee...thanks.”

You were in China because Taeyong thought you were at high-risk as you were the only girl in the main unit. A huge rival gang that was known for doing things to young girls were going around and following you. So, to throw them off, Taeyong sent you to stay with Winwin and Kun for a while. You were welcomed with open arms from everyone...except the boy from the end of the hall that always had his nose crammed in a book or in his computer. Everyone tried to tell you Xiaojun was an awesome person to be around, you just had to be in the right place at the right time. So when it was during your midnight snack run, it was a shock that was a good one. You walked into the dimly lit kitchen as you were greeted with the fridge and cupboards. You poured yourself a glass of milk and sat with the Oreo package at the island as you texted everyone back home in Seoul. “You’re quite oblivious of your surroundings, you know that right?” A new voice made you jump. “Hello?” You questioned looking around in the darkness. The lights flicked on above your head and you were greeted with Xiaojun who had been standing across from you the whole time. You both stared at each other, trying to figure out what the other was going to say first. “You have good taste in late night snacks though. I’m impressed.” He chuckled motioning to your snack. You looked over to his and saw the exact same thing was in front of him. You smiled a little. “Well, I guess great minds think alike.”

Hendery kept you on your feet. Whether it was having random dance breaks in between training sessions, or even in the middle of mission run-throughs. You both got each other when everyone else thought you were weird. He was also the only one who could deal with your sass on a daily basis. “Hendery, donkey looking, pink-loving headass.” You said coming behind him and hitting him upside the head. “Yo. Not cool.” He flicked your forehead. You both started pushing each other, alarming the other members. “Hey! Break it up!” Ten said pushing you two away from each other. “You gonna make me go crazy.” You said, puffing your chest out. “Come at me, short stack.” He said and you both ducked under Ten’s arms. People yelled and tried to grab both of you, but it was too late. What was about to come next was never expected by anyone. You both laid down on your stomachs and got into an intense session of rock, paper, scissors. You were victorious and got up to parade around the room while he laid their defeated.

You found quality and peace in Renjun’s silence. You both would sit there and do something so domestic, yet you both understood it was needed. You both sat there and sketched your respective drawings, sometimes showing the other to gain feedback. The other boys would try and crash the peace; especially Chenle and Jisung. “Y/N, do you hear something?” he would ask after so many minutes of the 2 children trying to get both of your attention. You listened to the whines and pleas for the 2 boys to answer them. You shook your head, looking at the smirking Renjun. “No, I don’t hear anything. Must be the wind?” You questioned and he nodded, both of you returning to previous activities. The said pests eventually gave up and left. Renjun scooted closer and gave you a fist bump. He chuckled and shook his head. “No one has played along in the past 2 weeks.”

Jeno was the main man you would go to when you had problems with another student or member. Ever since he became a full member of the 127 Unit, he took up some classes so he could teach his practice to aspiring students of the Neo Culture compound. “Jeno.” You said, walking into his empty classroom. He stood, writing something on the chalkboard as various glasses and beakers boiled behind him. “Hello, Miss. Thang.” He winked as he set his book down. You rolled your eyes as you walked behind his desk. “I’ve been having trouble with one of your students.” You sighed, crossing your arms. “And...what would you like me to do about it?” He asked as he flipped through the pages of his textbook. “Talk to him or something. Just, do something.” You grew frustrated. “Woah, calm down. What’s up?” He asked, putting his hand on your waist. It didn’t mean anything, he did it to most people. You saw a flash and looked over to the doorway where the student stood there with their cell phone out and pointed towards you. “That!” You yelled pointing to the kid who began to run down the hall. Jeno wasted no time in running after him out of the door in his classroom. He cut the kid off and grabbed the collar of the boy’s shirt. You followed out as Jeno grabbed the phone of the boy. “Unlock it. Now.” Jeno said. “It’s my phon-” “Wrong, we provided you with this phone. Unlock it. Now. I don’t repeat myself.” Jeno said and the boy quickly unlocked it. The camera roll was filled with pictures of you with various members. Yet, the photos were edited to make it look like it something it wasn’t. “Did you have her permission to capture these?” Was all Jeno asked. The boy slowly shook his head ‘no’. “Maybe you’ll learn some respect after this.” He said with a wicked smile and the phone was thrown onto the concrete where it shattered into what seemed like a million little pieces. “Let’s go.” Jeno guided you back to his classroom while the boy cried on the ground where his phone now laid, broken beyond repair.

He was an older brother figure that was always overprotective much like the others. He just knew how to take it to the next level though. You walked into the class you would be teaching. You would be teaching new students about the subject of disguise makeup. You worked alongside Donghyuck, where he would teach the students how to act on decoy missions and creating a real backstory on the spot and what to do when missions go wrong, while you teach them about meltable prosthetics and hideable wigs and makeup, along with concealing weapons. It was the first day and you barely got past your introduction before the door opened to Donghyuck in a pair of sunglasses and a floppy hat; his neck adorned in a feathery scarf. “Hello. Sorry I am late for the first day.” He spoke in a high voice, trying to sit in an empty seat. “Yah, get out. I’m trying to teach.” You chuckled along with the class as he put his purse on the desk, pulling out a compact. “Excuse you, but you do not know me. Don’t use informalities.” He said in a posh voice, throwing his scarf over his shoulder more. The class laughed, but you were getting more impatient. “Yes, I do know you. You’re Mr. Lee who teaches next door. Next door, where you’re supposed to be. Not in my classroom where I currently have a class.” You said and he sighed. “How are you so sure it’s me?” He asked, forgetting to use his girly voice. “Well, 1) You must’ve hit puberty rather quickly because you voice dropped in a record time and 2) Your member tattoo is showing.” You motioned to his forearm where a tattoo sleeve was not hidden. He cursed under his breath and took off his ‘disguise’. “Alright, you got me.” He said standing up and putting his regular glasses on. “I just wanted to make sure to come and help introduce you properly.” He said coming over and putting an arm around your shoulder. “I also wanted to mention that if any of your students misbehave, I have some gym socks that need some hand washing.” He said and everyone pulled their chair in closer, sitting up more straight. “Thank you...now get out.”

Your late night rendezvous with Jaemin always surprised you. Whether it was burning down an old barn to sitting in his bed and listening to some music, some nights were reserved especially for him. You both laid in the bed of his truck, random music playing over the radio. You both had been driving around the whole night where you talked about the things you couldn’t say to other members. “Listen...I want to say something and I don’t want you to get weird about it.” He sighed and you just looked at him. You knew he didn’t want to look at you in fear of something. You turned your head back to the night sky. “Shoot.” You said and he sighed. “I really...appreciate you? I’m not good with feelings and especially the concept of family...but you just make everything easier. I don’t need to be completely self-destructive when I’m with you. You just...get me and it-it makes me feel like I’m not alone anymore.” You looked over and saw his eyes closed, yet they shook as the fluid built up behind them. You didn’t say anything and just hugged him as that’s all you could do. It seemed like the only logical thing at the moment. You weren’t good with feelings either, and he understood that. You both just needed to be here at the moment.

Yangyang was one of those special cases where you both hated each other until you realized you were both stronger together. You both competed in China while you were staying. You both spoke many languages so you tried to confuse each other by speaking some that the other couldn’t understand. You both were super active and hyper, making you and him race each other at training. It wouldn’t start as a race, but it would turn into who could finish warm-up first. But one night, he heard you get emotional behind your bedroom door. He wanted so badly to open the door and tease you for crying until he learned the context. “What-what do you mean I can’t come back?” You whined and he felt your pain. He moved around as a kid and all he wanted to do was go ‘home’...but he didn’t know where ‘home’ was exactly. Now it was him and the guys. “But I’ve been here for so long.” You sighed, and he could hear the desperation in your voice. “Ok. Fine. It’s whatever. I’ll talk to you later, Tae.” He heard a couple sniffles and the door opened to your puffy eyes and face. You both just stood there and looked at each other for a couple seconds. “What?” You asked and he just shrugged. You walked past him, and usually, he would push you into the wall playfully, but now he knew that you needed someone. He followed you to the bathroom like a lost puppy while you threw cold water on your face. You patted your face and looked at him. “What do you want, Yang?” You asked looking at him, not really in the mood to play around. Yang yang looked down at his 2 ice cream sandwiches that he was going to eat in front of Xiaojun to make him angry. “Here.” He said pushing one of the desserts into your hands. “I know what it’s like to want to go home. And I know the feeling of not being able to. Just...find me if you need to talk...” He said and you just nodded, smiling to yourself. “Also, I’m sorry for being a jerk. I just wanted to tease you a bit...but I let it get out of hand.” he said. You forgave him. He smiled at you before running back to his room like the nervous dork he usually was.

The darkest days could be turned upside down by your favorite dolphin companion, Chenle. You both were the pranksters in the compound. You filled Jaemin’s hair dryer with flour and replaced Jeno’s favorite cat socks with baby socks to freak him out. You both sat outside of Jaehyun’s bathroom. The water turned off and it wasn’t long before you both were met with the screams of your older. You both snuck back down the hall where you both erupted in laughter. He stormed down the hallways, purple hair dye running down the back of his neck. He totally missed you and Chenle as he marched into Taeyong’s office, where he was already waiting for his grape headed co-worker. In fact, it was Taeyong’s idea...but you and Chenle carried it out. Some students gathered to see Jaehyun look red as a tomato in the face and purple as a grape in his hair. You and Chenle high-five each other as you both ran to the post office to mail a box of fruit to Ten in China.

Jisung just wanted someone to take him seriously. He wanted someone to have a decent conversation with without being brushed off as an annoying kid. He was wise beyond his years and you were the only to seem and get that. “So I was thinking, with the misso-” “Nah. Won’t work. Just go back to coloring or something.” One of the new members said, flicking Jisung’s notebook towards him. “Oh...okay.” Jisung nodded. The older boys got up, leaving Jisung alone and feeling embarrassed for even trying. You quickly got up, walking over and sitting down next to him. “I want to hear.” You said and his eyes lit up, but they were masked with the fear of rejection. “No. It’s okay. You probably have to get ready soo-” “Jisung. I want to see. Really.” You said and the look on his face was priceless and incomparable to anything you had ever seen before. He nodded, opening his notebook again to the diagram he drew up. “Okay, so the huge mission coming up...instead of doing an on-ground attack...how about an air-attack? We’d hit them in their weakest point. They’re already expecting something on the ground--so we should surprise them.” Jisung said you and you sat there, silently. The smile on his face slowly but visibly fell. His hands rubbed against his jeans as the fear of rejection began setting in. “But also, it’s a really dumb idea. I was just thi-” “That’s an amazing idea, Jisung. I’m just pissed that no one thought of it before.” And the smile was the widest you had ever seen on that boy’s face.

But if this is what you treasure and hold so close...why are you running? Why did you pack your bags in secret a month before you left? Why did you tell Jisung that you and he could go get ice cream next Sunday if you knew you wouldn’t be here? Why tell Jungwoo that you would go see the new romantic movie this Friday if you didn’t plan on staying here for the next 24 hours?

Why?

Out of all the love...all of it...why leave? You were safe. The boys would go through hell and back to get you what you needed because they understood you better than anyone could.

So as you packed your bag and grabbed your keys, you told Taeil that you were going to pick up more milk. Yet, they all knew your plans. They already had posts set up to bring you home if you wanted to. The boys understood you needed space, and time. You just needed an escape from reality. Yuta flew in men just to put up more post and protection. Kun and Winwin were on the edge of their seats, waiting for the call to say you left Korea and were on your way to China. Ten is in Thailand, just for the crazy chance you chose to run off to his homeland. Lucas is back in Hong Kong for the same reason Ten is in Thailand. Johnny left 3 hours ago for his plane back to Chicago. Mark left right after you did for his plane back to Canada. Renjun and Chenle are split up in China, just to make sure that if you got over -- you would be safe and looked after. Yangyang is in Germany again, covering Europe for the unlikely chance you run to Europe for a safe haven.

Taeil gulped down his water as he watched you roar your bike to life and looked back at the compound. Taeyong popped up next to him. “She’ll be back. It’ll be okay.” Taeil nodded to calm the buzzing anxiety of their leader.

You were running to Europe for a new start. You were now stuck in traffic and ready to get to the airport. Your earpiece beeped. You answered it, already knowing who it was. “Hey, Taeyong.” You sighed. “Hey.” He spoke quickly.

“Listen...” he started off and you knew he knew about your plan. “...I understand that you need to do what you need to do...but we have someone on every continent ready to bring you home if you’re ready or you need help.” He said and your throat got dry. “Yeah?” Your voice cracked. “Yeah...” He trailed off. “...we will always be looking over you. Just remember we’re all a plane ride away.” He said and you nodded, sniffling some emotion back. “...we all love you, y/n...” He trailed off and you couldn’t help but cry a little. “I love you all too.” You cracked into your mic.

“Just please remember we’re here...and we won’t forget about you.” Taeyong said and you nodded, humming in response. “Of course.” You mused. “Well it’s time for me to go.” you confessed and you heard a sharp intake of breath. “Of course, of course. Just remember to call regularly.” He said and you agreed. “Alright. See you later.” He said and you lost it. No one ever said ‘goodbye’ to each other in the unit because it meant forever.

“See you later.” You said and he hung up. You were still stuck in traffic as you approached a tunnel. A car horn beeped behind you. You turned around to see Haechan and Jeno in a car, waving you to go ahead of traffic.

You nodded and revved your engine as you quickly looked back at them. They looked like they were in pain as you nodded to them a ‘farewell’. They both jokingly blew you a kiss. You caught them and threw it in your pocket. You revved your engine and began swerving in and out of free spaces around cars.

This was it...your family wasn’t going to give up on you...it was the glory they held within eachother...the glory of neo culture

...this is it...

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