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krysphycookiez · 4 years

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stray kids | you as the female maknae

synopsis: you’re the female maknae of the infamous k-pop group stray kids! let’s see how you get along with these eight chaotic boys

genre: fluff, platonic, imagines

pairing: stray kids x maknae!reader

a/n: wowza another female maknae au post- yes i have an obsession with these types of writings and i have no regrets. expect a lot of these extra member au’s for boy groups and girl groups

❦

you’re his smol baby child and nothing will change his mind

chan just wants you to be happy and he’s really good at showing that, whether he makes sure you’re always healthy or just doing daily check ups on you

if you don’t end up taking care of yourself he’ll get really upset and probably give you a long lecture

one time you actually cried because of his scolding because you felt really bad and he started crying too

if he feels like there’s something up with you and you don’t open up, he usually plans with the other members to do little things to cheer you up

and those plans work all the time

he knows how much you struggle with the idol life because of his own past struggles so he empathizes with you very well

if you’re an english speaking foreigner, he’d be very chaotic with you and felix

but then it eventually just turns into chan being done with you and felix’s bullshit

nags you sometimes but he just wants you to be careful- so for the most part he just lets you be

when your time of the month comes he’s usually the best at handling the situation (jisung i’m looking at you)

he also let’s you mess around with his tracks, but he makes sure you don’t do anything stupid. as you once almost deleted a whole new track

hugs you from behind a lot to remind you that you’re loved and a precious cinnamon roll

he’s a soft leader for you and it’s just downright wholesome

ngl you had a crush on minho during trainee days, i mean- just look at him for crying out loud

that silly crush soon disappeared and now you see him as a best friend

though hyunjin knew about this past crush and obviously tattled to minho. now you’re his main target for flirting

speaking of flirting, he always tries to make you as flustered as he can cause he just loves your reactions

he also initiates a lot of skinship with you cause you’re like a small teddy bear to him, also he just likes cuddling with you in general

if you’re part of the danceracha, you and him would start a lot of weird shit with hyunjin and felix

hell even if you aren’t part of that sub-unit you still find a way to cause chaos with minho

also you ask about his cats all the time cause you love them a lot, and that just boosts his cocky attitude even more

he gets very possessive of you when it comes to your guy’s friendship

cause he’s the type to say “no one outside of stray kids is allowed to talk or even look at you”

ofc he’s joking though lmao

you two are like an old married couple. a lot of bickering goes on between the two of you and that just becomes the butt of stray kids inside jokes

and both of you are very petty with each other too. like- you know when your little sibling hits you so you hit them back? yeah that’s the two of you

overall both of you have a really strong friendship, and other people get jealous of it pretty easily, even stray kids themselves

you took felix’s spot as changbin’s favorite member overtime

he’s your number one hype boi, he always gets pumped up whenever you do something like singing or rapping cause he’s amazed by your talent

probably let’s you toy with side soundtracks so he can see your production skills

overtime you have gotten better because of him, and you’re very grateful for that

he does a lot of aegyo with you cause he just loves you so much, and he also hugs you a lot too

you tease him about this height but he reminds you that you’re shorter and this leads to bickering

also since he’s not the shortest he probably rests his elbow on your head to tick you off or to get a reaction out of you

most of the time he gets a fist to the stomach but it’s still worth it

he also makes sure you aren’t overworking yourself, even if he’s one of the more busy members

if you’re feeling down the drain he buys you some of your favorite food and snacks to cheer you up, and it works for the most part

because of the attention he gives you, felix sometimes starts petty fights with you and the other members get easily amused by this. especially changbin himself

you also just find a lot of comfort within him cause he’s really gentle with you

and because he smells good all the time too lol

changbin is an equivalent to an emotional support dog. loving and very energetic

the two of you are l o u d asf

hence why you and hyunjin aren’t allowed to share a room together anymore. you had a laptop in your shared room and you guys would watch horror movies that would scare the living shit out of y’all

hyunjin likes to take you on shopping dates so both of you can either eat something together or go on a shopping spree

and mini fashion shows start too lmao, he probably gives you like a million clothes to put on

if you’re one of the main dancers, he’s the reason why you are able to dance as well as you can today. cause you felt close to giving up but then he came in and encouraged you to keep going

during his trainee days, his fights with jisung would scare you. one day it got so bad you started crying cause you didn’t want them to hurt each other

they then realized what they did and hyunjin was the first to apologize, even buying you your favorite drink to make up for it

he tries to steal your attention from minho and that almost results in his deathbed

no one’s stopping this boy from doing anything to get your love and attention tho

whenever you guys aren’t together you text a lot, and you guys send each other cute memes in the process

you guys are just like north and south you can’t stand to be away from each other

he also loves to cuddle with you. whenever you get a nightmare you usually turn to him to sleep with so you can feel the comfort of his loving arms

the other members know about this and they get jealous of that sometimes

hyunjin sees you as the little sister he never knew he needed, and he just wants you to have the best possible life he can offer you

let’s be real here, jisung probably didn’t know how to talk to you during trainee days cause he thought you were really pretty

he’s never basked in the beauty of someone so elegant before

the only time you guys really started talking to each other was in the skz survival show, and in that span of time you two grew extremely close (and if you ended up getting eliminated he’d get really sad)

he’s scared to let you into his production studio cause he’s scared that your clumsy ass would do something, but you never really do anything

if you speak english you two probably have weird conversations in english. quoting vines and inside jokes

on break days he takes you out to get boba and just chat, and usually in the morning when it’s less busy and more peaceful

he lets you take his hoodies cause he thinks you look adorable in them, and also when you give them back to him they smell like daisies

if you get hurt in any way, shape or form he gets very upset cause he really doesn’t like seeing you in pain

one time he caught you crying to yourself because of hate comments directed towards you and his heart shattered

he actually ended up tearing up himself and offered to buy you something to make you feel better

if you’re one of the main vocalists you and him probably have high note competitions, since the two of you probably had iconic high note parts

you also pinch his cheeks a lot cause you like how he just looks like a cute squirrel

which results in him pinching you back

jisung would cherish you like treasure since you’re so valuable to him, and you’re one of the reasons he’s able to keep going in his harsh idol life

a few simple words to sum up your friendship; a cacophony of chaos and screaming

you and felix just have the weirdest but at the same time also one of the strongest friendships in stray kids

if you’re a foreigner the friendship is even stronger, cause you two can relate more easily, and ESPECIALLY if you’re an english speaking one

also if you’re australian like him, the chaos is just even worse. a bunch of australian slangs here and there as well as saying inside jokes

he definitely texts you at 3am to talk about something he thought of or just to send you stupid memes

also probably infected you with his dabbing and fortnite phase

you also probably tease him about his sexy moments on stage, like when he lifted up his shirt. which also made you want to see his abs again

to get back at you he lifted your shirt on stage in front of STAYs to show your own abs and everyone went crazy, and he ended up getting his ass kicked

you two are also like emotional support for each other

since you guys are some of the youngest and had some of the hardest times you know when somethings up, so you two just go and hug/cuddle with each other to let the other one know it’s okay

and you’ve also come up with a way to communicate with each other without the other members knowing to talk about personal things, like a secret language

and if you didn’t have supportive parents in the idol life, felix would automatically connect with you cause he went through something similar

this guy just also wants you to feel safe and loved cause he knows what it’s like to feel so alone

overall you and felix are like two peas in a pod, very alike in many ways but will turn to each other for emotional support or just to feel better

dandy boy seungmin is such a little shit around you

he always teases you and always finds a way to tick you off to see your reactions, such as playing with your hair or stealing your clothes

so you being the petty little bitch you are, you do some things that will trigger his pet peeves, like make a room dirty or not doing chores

and that’s how you developed your evil maknae side, all because of this devil puppy

but even then the bickering isn’t always that bad, that’s just how you two show your love for each other since you guys literally don’t know how to be nice to each other

unless it’s about food or games, then there’s civil acts going on

seungmin actually likes to hug you because you’re like a smol baby chick, but it never really goes further than that

INSULT BATTLES ALL THE DAMN TIME

and it’s usually seungmin who wins them, but when you do win them it’s always a very witty victory

seungmin also knows when something’s up with you. if you suddenly stop acting like a savage around him he knows something is up

so he then investigates, comforts you and caves in to take you out to the mall to make you feel better

he doesn’t think he’s helping that much when those times come to you but he actually helps a lot, cause he gives of this comforting aura that makes you feel safe

also he smells like roses too lmao

seungmin is your pretty and bitchy best friend, but at the end of the day he will always be there for you

the two of you are the; done with everyone’s shit duo, at least when the two of you aren’t causing chaos

you and jeongin are very close in age, so naturally all of the members baby you and while the attention is endearing, it can get out of hand sometimes

so the two of you team up to pull the ultimate pranks on all of the members to get back at them and record all of their reactions

of course this results in scoldings and getting chased by an angry hyunjin holding a broom but it’s still worth it

both of you also compete for who can get more attention if you aren’t getting tired of it

and this can also lead to petty bickering that the other members watch in amusement (and they probably fucking grabbed popcorn too)

jeongin has a good sense of judgement, so he knows when the mood is feeling down

and he usually drags you to the side to plan a way to cheer up the members or bring up a lighthearted mood, since he knows the two of you would make a good plan

he doesn’t really like skinship but he finds it cute when you hug him or hold his arm

and the other members get pressed about this cause you’re allowed to hold his arm but they can’t even touch him with their fingernails

both of you have definitely tried to cook together

and fail miserably, which resulted in MORE scoldings and a temporary banishment from the kitchen, but the way you guys cooked was very funny

you made him a smoothie to make up for the fact that you got him banned from the kitchen cause it was mainly your fault

jeongin would be a more chill and laid-back friend, but he’s still very caring for you and will protect you at all costs

❦

a/n: waeeeee another one done! i had a lot of fun writing this and i hope you guys enjoy it as much as i had fun writing it.

also lee felix get your sexy ass off of my twitter feed i don’t feel like simping

this is @/krysphycookiez logging off... ♡︎

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twentiethcenturymoviesandtv · 3 years

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The Goonies: A Product of the Times

Released in 1985, The Goonies came along right smack in the middle of a decade well-known for its movies centered on youth. While there are plenty of fond memories of the ‘teen oriented’ films like The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Adventures in Babysitting, Hollywood of the 1980s was focused on more than just the teenagers: it was also pretty heavily focused on what it was like to be a kid.

From Flight of the Navigator, The Explorers, and The Monster Squad to E.T., the Extra-Terrestrial, a lot of the films of the 1980s were about the adventures of people under the age of 14: children. Ranging from sci-fi to comedy, to horror, to adventure, the movies about kids during this decade of the new and untested were getting as big as everything else: more and more impressive as an entire subgenre of children’s movies starring up-and-coming child stars (Drew Barrymore, Fred Savage, River Phoenix, Corey Haim, and plenty more) sprouted up out of the ground, playing the gambit of genres and allowing children to act in ways that hadn’t been deeply explored before. These weren’t adult films with roles for children: a lot of these were movies about kids.

Instead of movies like The Champ or Aliens, starring children in side roles, films like The Goonies, Return to Oz, Stand By Me, and Time Bandits starred kids in the main roles, carrying the stories themselves with incredible performances, broadening the horizons for adventure films about kids, for kids.

Such is The Goonies, a film that really could only have been made in the 1980s.

How do I know that?

Simple.

As we’ve discussed before, no film ever made is separate from the culture it was created in. Every single movie, television show, radio broadcast, book, newspaper, comic or song ever made has been directly impacted by the culture and other pieces of media surrounding it.

This seems pretty obvious: after all, a product made by people living in a certain kind of culture is going to reflect that culture. No film is an island, and while that seems pretty self-explanatory and without much need for discussion, in an era with more and more pieces of media debated as to their worth to a modern viewpoint, it leaves those of us who enjoy older movies with a very important question:

How ‘dated’ is too dated?

It’s not as easy a question to answer as it might seem.

See, ‘dated’ is an interesting term.

Typically, the word ‘dated’ is used to apply to anything discernibly created in a specific time period. It’s synonymous with ‘old fashioned’, when applied to a film, it carries the implication that the movie is less understandable by those looking from outside that particular culture or time period, worsened by the cultural drift. This would be a film that hasn’t ‘aged well’, most often describing contemporary films of the day. By contrast, a film that’s considered ‘timeless’ is the exact opposite: a film that remains completely understandable following a change in the culture. This is a film without a cultural footprint or identity, without any actual context, able to be enjoyed no matter how much time has passed.

These are words that get thrown around a lot in the film world. There are plenty of arguments over which films are timeless, and which are dated, whether Die Hard shows its age too much to be enjoyed, or whether Commando is too ridiculously ‘80s to be watched in any other context, but the fact is, the argument is a lot more complicated than it seems to be boiled down into.

We’ve talked a lot about definitions, but the fact is, by strict definitions, no movie, or any piece of media ever made, is actually ‘timeless’. Every film is a product of its times, but that does not mean necessarily that they are defined by their times. With this in mind, films like The Terminator and Predator, while set and made in the 1980s, are not exactly dated, because they are not defined by the 1980s. Anyone with the slightest understanding of the idea that times change can accept things like hairstyles, music changes, and special effects. Like I said, a film is considered ‘dated’ if it is less understandable or enjoyable in hindsight, from a place outside of that specific culture, and things like the movie tips and tricks of decades past are fairly easily forgiven.

Less easily overlooked are ideas.

If a ‘timeless’ film is a movie not defined by its own times, then a ‘dated’ one is a film that is defined by its culture, typically in a negative way.

So, the question is: which is The Goonies?

Timeless iconic kid’s adventure film, or dated ‘80s flick?

Well, it’s kind of hard to say at first glance.

By externals, there’s no question. The way the kids are dressed and Mouth’s use of the word ‘gnarly’ pretty clearly set this film in the mid 1980s, as does the fact that nobody has a cell phone to call their parents. But as we’ve already established, there’s a bit more to it than that.

The cast is fairly typical of its day: all white except for Rosalita, the Spanish-speaking housekeeper, and mostly male. The two female Goonies do allow for a little more range than is sometimes portrayed in kid adventure films, with a Tomboy and Girly Girl dynamic that normalizes more than a standard Token Female per group, and even Mama Fratelli (although by no means a role model for young girls) balances out by being a memorable villain, bringing the gender ratio a tiny bit closer to even than a lot of contemporary films. With that said though, there isn’t really anything that I’d argue idea wise in this sense that dates the film terribly badly, aside from a series of fat jokes at Chunk’s expense and a moment where Andy is given the unfortunately expected treatment of having her date try to look up her skirt, which was considerably more shrugged off at the time (although she does get him for it later, offscreen).

And there are other elements too that indicate that this film is from a different time:

A PG in 1985 for a kid’s film was very different from a PG now, and it shows. The language used by a lot of the kids, as well as the violence, drug jokes, and other material has proven to shock more than one fan who went back to watch The Goonies as an adult. And that’s not all: the basic concept of kids banding together in this way, while making a resurgence in the form of Stranger Things, hasn’t really stuck around for very long.

After the 1980s, the ‘band of kids’ adventure story somewhat died out. By the 1990s, the ‘kid’ adventure stories calmed down, with lower stakes and less danger, and while the trope still appears in ‘retro’ nostalgia pieces, for the most part, we simply don’t see it anymore, and the idea still tends to bring to mind stories like Stand By Me, The Monster Squad, and even It.

It’s just a statement of fact, and not nostalgia, to look at this film and remark: “They don’t make them like this anymore.” Because they don’t.

In most movies today, kids don’t run around in tunnels, having a blast and looking for buried treasure without their parents or any adult supervision, with their lives in danger, all the while quirky, peppy music assures the audience that everything’s going to be okay. That’s not necessarily good or bad, it just means times have changed, and that the way that The Goonies was made was directly influenced by the types of movies coming out at the time.

However, while that style may bring to mind the 1980s, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s specifically enjoyed in that era.

As a matter of fact, there’s a lot about The Goonies that’s like that.

The basic premise of the story, while not necessarily common anymore, is still understandable to people decades later. Just because we no longer dress or talk like 1985 anymore doesn’t mean that the core essentials of the film are rendered completely unrelatable. Kids still become friends and don’t want to move away from them, that much is understandable. Even though the style of filmmaking has changed, the characters really haven’t: we all know a Data, or a Mouth, or a Chunk, or a Mikey, sometimes we even are one of them. Kids understand the danger they’re in: not just losing their lives, but their homes, their friendships. These characters and their story still ring true decades later, even if there are things about it that point to its creation being set in the mid ‘80s.

In short?

No, The Goonies probably couldn’t have been made today. But that doesn’t mean it can’t still be enjoyed today.

There’s surprisingly little that actually harmfully dates the film itself, and the film is, in many ways, just as exciting and fun as it was when it was first released. Honestly, there’s the possibility that due to the lack of movies like it made today, the film actually has a larger impact and is more unique and memorable now than it was in 1985.

And while the quality of the film has not shifted, as the time around it does, I think we’ll find that as the film gets older, more audiences will continue to discover it, forty, fifty, sixty years later and find that the movie still tugs at a nostalgic part of them and makes them feel like children again.

The Goonies is a fun, exciting, charming story that has remained beloved so long partially due to nostalgia, but also because people genuinely love the story and characters, proving that a film is ‘timeless’, not because you can tell what decade it was made in, but because it has endured, because people still enjoy it after the culture has changed.

If you can watch The Goonies and love these characters and enjoy their adventure, it doesn’t matter that Mouth is wearing parachute pants or that some of the character cliches haven’t been used in thirty years. In the end, a film’s quality has little to do with how easily we can tell what time the film was made in, and a lot to do with what it’s about, and how well people remember it. If that’s the criteria, then The Goonies is pretty timeless.

The Goonies has lasted this long as an ‘80s staple, and an adventure movie classic in general because no matter if it’s 1985 or 2085, people can understand it, enjoy it, and relate to the characters and themes. And that’s the reason it will continue to endure.

It’s been over thirty years since those kids first trekked into the caves to save the Goondocks, and the audience for this film has done nothing but grow since then. The characters and the heart of the film have gone unchanged since then, still entertaining and even touching audience members who remember what it was like to be a kid and want ‘their time’, and they will continue to endure for decades.

Thank you guys so much for reading! If you have something you’d like to add or say, don’t forget that the comment box is always open! I hope to see you all in the next article.

#The Goonies #The Goonies 1985 #80s #1985 #Film #Movies #PG #Adventure #Comedy #Family #Sean Astin #Josh Brolin #Jeff Cohen #Corey Feldman #Kerri Green #Martha Plimpton #Ke Huy Quan #Richard Donner

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youarejesting · 4 years

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Quarantine.30

[Masterlist] Editor: [Yoongisauce] Pairing: BTS x reader Friends2Lovers Genres: friendship, drama, romance SLOWEST OF BURNS. until the anticipation kills us all… Rating: PG-13 and above Summary: Your brother works with a few BigHit dance teams and whilst having permission to accompany him at work the city shuts down banning anyone from stepping outside for a whole WEEK while they disinfect the streets. If you step outside you might get arrested, shot or poisoned by the chemicals they are emitting through the city. Words: 1.6k Announcement: I am sorry if the tags haven’t been working hopefully they are working now. please let me know if they still aren’t working and I will look into it further. Hell I will personally send you a link in your DM’s if it doesn’t work.

I also changed my lay out on my tumblr page and I don’t particularly love it but it was the one I like the most still working on finding the right look.

[Part 1] [Part 29] [Part 31] [Tag Yourself Here]

With all the courage he could muster, Seokjin zipped your suit back into place; patching up the suit with some medical tape he found in the bag and securing your breather back into place. Tears fell as he knew you were fading away. You woke to the sounds of his movements.

Realizing the need to get up and move, you could feel yourself getting worse. The morphine had long since stopped working. You forced yourself up, opening the backseat and properly fastened your breather. You moved to the front of the car reaching into the glove box for the spare key to your brother’s apartment, finding the spare car key attached.

Your eyes fell shut for the briefest of moments before forcing them open once more. You started up the vehicle and drove off before Seokjin fully emerged to sit in the passenger seat. You knew the general area you were in, having traveled it a few times previous.

“Let me drive?” He asked and you shook your head immediately, regretting the action when your head started to spin.

“I have driven in the fog multiple times, let me.” You were so close. Your injured leg was completely numb but still managed to cause so much pain. Seokjin watched you like a hawk, looking scared out of his mind.

“We are almost there. That’s the clinic right theee…”

You fell forward against the wheel both hands sliding down off. Lunging across the centre console, Jin grabbed the wheel sliding his foot onto the brake. He engaged the hand break causing the vehicle’s back tires to spin out and slide across the road. He covered your body with his as the car bumped into the street pole with no more force than a bumper car.

He immediately exited the car, running around to your side of the car and scooping you out. Glancing at his surroundings he noticed the tires had left black tread marks down the street. You did have a habit of crashing headfirst into situations. He shook his head, getting back to the fact you lay unconscious in his arms.

The clinic was two buildings back and Seokjin carried your practically lifeless body to the health centre. Looking down at you he remembered everything. You knew how to make an entrance into someone’s life that was for sure.

From the moment you crashed through the door on the day you met. Joking with them over dinner and teasing them like you were old friends. You were as timid as a category five Typhoon, laying waste to the land around you. Making hearts skip a beat when you flashed a smile or gave a flirtatious comment.

There was something exhilarating about you that kept him coming back, the kindness in your heart was the new life growing stronger after a storm. The way you moved so smoothly in the dance studio. He wanted nothing more than to suffer through it all, to see the clouds disappear and for sweet gentle hands to embrace him like a soothing balm.

“So, you think Lee Jong-suk is better looking and makes a better male lead than, the, Kim Seokjin?”

“Who is Kim Seokjin?” You had said looking up at him curiously, hiding a playful grin behind wide eyes.

“Me!” He almost screeched, “This handsome face right here— I am Kim Seokjin.”

“Handsome?” You tilted your head as if examining a work of art in a museum and honestly you felt like he was truly a majestic being. “I mean I guess some people might find this sort of face attractive”

He chuckled remembering how he started blatantly showing you tweets and memes of himself and Army calling him ‘worldwide handsome’.

“See! They call me ‘Worldwide Handsome’ There is no face more handsome than this”

“Then why did Taehyung win ‘Forbes most handsome man’ in 2017 and tell me Hyung how many times you have… Oh right, you haven’t won have you?” Jungkook had cut in, loving to tease the eldest

The pillow fight that followed was filled with flushed faces and your sweet giggles. Seokjin remembered Hoseok unable to stay awake any longer, the alcohol taking effect on him.

Reaching the clinic, Seokjin realized he had been talking to your unconscious form. He was begging for you to hang on. Pleading for your forgiveness and admitting his feelings without hesitation. He regretted never telling you in person how much you meant to him. Sure, he brushed the surface of the topic but it was the wrong time to tell you his true feelings.

The middle of a rescue mission wasn’t the time for a confession. “When you wake I will tell you every day how much you mean to me.”

A gloved fist thumping against the glass door of the clinic alerted a doctor, who hesitantly approached before realizing you were regular citizens in trouble. Even though you both dressed like the gunmen.

Allowing you in, Doctor Chang immediately recognized your face and directed Seokjin to the examination room while collecting equipment. “Get her out of the suit and tell me what happened. I need to know everything. When did this happen?”

“Jungkook was kidnapped. We planned a rescue mission and left later that morning. As we headed back she was shot. We’ve been hiding in the trunk of a car waiting for the men to leave.”

“So it has been roughly how many hours?”

“13 hours?” With shaky hands, Seokjin wiped your forehead with a cool towel, “She wouldn’t wake up.”

“Well, grab this pack and follow my lead. We are going to scrub up.” Doctor Chang watched him reluctant to leave your side and sighed, “Quickly, we have to clean and stitch the wound and— judging by the time frame— attach a drain. I will need your assistance while the nurse goes to fetch the fluids, painkillers and antibiotics.”

Seokjin was concentrating on the doctor's words, following his orders while trying to hold himself together. The doctor had finished suturing the wound and began delicately attaching a small drain to it. “Her injury is badly infected from how long it was left untreated. But this is a critical time, if she makes it through the night then the worst is over”

“The hospitals have been notified that the military is on their way to deal with the gang of gunmen, so let’s have some hope.” Doctor Chang patted Seokjin’s broad shoulders, something that he would usually describe as strong and protective, now looked nothing but weak and helpless. He felt as if they were hollow, empty shells trying to hide the idol from the horrors of the world.

Hours passed and Seokjin watched the nurses move you to a small cot to recover comfortably. In the next bed over, a soldier looked over empathetically. Seokjin walked the quiet halls, as the night grew dark, thinking about the boys and hoping they were okay. He had left the walkie in the vehicle two buildings away, so he had no way of contacting the boys.

Walking along, he saw a vending machine selling different ramyeons and despite the situation, he longed for the comfort food brought him when he was feeling sad.

As he pressed his hand against the glass his stomach called out. The sound of a coin being inserted into the machine followed by another made him move out of the way, “I am sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, you looked hungry. Pick whatever you like,” Doctor Chang smiled, moving to the next machine and ordering a coffee.

Seokjin chose a flavour he enjoyed, listening to the doctor’s tired speech. “I haven’t slept well in days. When this fog lifts I think I will be much happier. I want to feel the sun on my back and let the warmth seep into my skin. What about you? What do you want?”

“I want my home. I want my family.” Although Seokjin said he wanted to see his family, which was true, at this moment he meant the boys. If he closed his eyes he could picture it now; each of them in the comfort of their own home, away from prying eyes. Where they could be themselves with more than subtle touches and glances.

They would all be cuddling on the couch in the living room. He would lay his head on Namjoon’s shoulder and reach over to lazily rake his hand through Taehyung’s soft hair, singing deeply. His arms stretched out tickling the side of Jimin’s belly causing his giggles to fill the air. Yoongi would be asleep, his head in your lap and legs over Hoseok’s, while Jungkook carried lunch to the coffee table and the argument would be heated about what movie to watch.

Not one would be able to settle on a movie huffing at one another. But within a few seconds, Jungkook would wiggle between you and the couch, his legs either side of you and wrapping you in his arms. He would bury his face in your hair, inhaling the sweet strawberries and cream scent that lingered from your shampoo and everything would be alright.

He pulled away from his daydream realizing the doctor had fallen asleep. Taking the full coffee cup from the tired man’s hand and setting it down, Seokjin stripped off his coat and rolled it up. He rested the doctor's head on it, hoping the man would be able to sleep well. He finished the coffee and food before heading back to watch over you. The morning was an hour out and then you would be out of the danger zone.

[Part 1] [Part 29] [Part 31] [Tag Yourself Here]

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acc3ssdenied · 5 years

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HOW JIMIN STOLE CHRISTMAS | pjm

SUMMARY: it must have been the eggnog that persuaded Jimin to finally act on his seven-year old feelings when he began to get jealous at how close you were to another one of your friends.

PAIRING: reader x jimin

GENRE: fluff, angst, non idol au, idiots to lovers au

WARNINGS: mild strong language, alcohol consumption, jimin and oc are so stupid and oblivious it causes physical pain, the ending is wholesome it makes me mushy.

WORD COUNT: 8.0k+

A/N: merry belated christmas everyone <3 i hope everyone had a great holiday, i started working on this on christmas day which is why this is so late — my timing is impeccable, i know. I hope you enjoyed reading it, I really like how it turned out and maybe i’ll do a second part next year?? i love you all :))

23rd December

As soon as the last leaf fell for the year, you would become a Christmas-centric monster. Every time a friend would enter your house, there would be a new variety of gingerbread to try or a new type of tinsel wreathed in your hair. They would find it both endearing and terrifying; it was adorable how enamoured you were with the holiday whilst, simultaneously, your grim figure covered in dough from a cake explosion and a rogue piece of tinsel in your teeth (don’t ask how) was a reoccurring sleep paralysis demon of theirs.

Christmas was your favourite time of year; it was the only time when your entire group was together at once. For half of the year, Jimin would travel with his work; Jungkook was studying in Kyoto and only came home at the end of semesters whereas the others all had busy jobs that limited how much free time they had. Nowadays, the one you saw the most was Hoseok who came over every weekend for movie nights that were mostly spent with him cowering behind the sofa as he cursed you out for choosing a horror movie. Thankfully for him, the festive season was a mandatory only-Christmas-movie showing so your weekends were considerable less tearful on his end.

Things had changed a lot since you all first became friends, Jimin and you were next-door neighbours and went to the same middle school as Taehyung so the three of you had always been joined at the hip until you turned eighteen. Namjoon lived across the street from you both and would drag Hoseok over to see the three of you. By the time you were thirteen, you had managed to grab a hold on Yoongi and Seokjin who always seemed both tired and amused by your antics. Somewhere along the way, Taehyung swooped Jungkook under his wing and he easily fit in, you all adored and doted on him.

It could never have last forever. Yoongi and Seokjin were the first to go, both attending Yonsei University and becoming too busy to spend as much time with you all. Then was Hoseok and Namjoon, the former studying at a dance academy whilst the latter attended a conservatoire in the centre of the city. The triple-threat (you, Taehyung and Jimin) all went to different universities and Jungkook would only see you on the weekends before he went to Kyoto to study computer science. You and Jimin had gone from being inseparable to exchanging texts and video calls when he was on the opposite side of the world and sporadic sleepovers when he wasn’t working himself half to death. But, the love between the eight of you had never faded away.

As a consequence, you would turn Christmas into the biggest extravaganza every single year without fail. It would be a week-long affair where they needed to be at your house every day and the final day would be New Year’s Eve with a large party that included the rest of your friends. This was what lead to you, sat in a pile of flour on December the 23rd as Hoseok perched himself on your kitchen counter with an uninterested expression on his face.

“I hate Christmas,” you mumbled softly, tossing some of the flour against the cupboard in front of you as you scowled petulantly.

A knowing hum came from above you and, without stopping his twitter marathon, Hoseok replied, “No you don’t,” in a sing-song voice. Scowl deepening as you gathered another handful of flour and tucked it behind your back.

Clicking your tongue reluctantly, “No,” you admitted, shuffling slightly so you faced him as you suppressed the mischievous smirk creeping up onto the corners of your lips, “I couldn’t hate Christmas - otherwise, I couldn’t do this,” you thrust your hidden hand into his face, the white powder exploding into a cloud in front of his face before you jumped to your feet and slid behind the kitchen counter. You bent at the waist, holding your stomach lightly as you laughed at the frozen expression of surprise on his face.

Dramatically, he raised his hand to his face and brought it away to examine it coating his hand. Sighing slightly, a deadpan expression settled on his face and he pushed himself away from the counter. As you calmed down slightly, you noticed that he was slowly beginning to approach you, a wicked smile appearing as he opened his arms before pursuing in a playfully menacing manner. “No, no, no,” you muttered, arms raising in surrender as you scuttled backwards.

“What?” he asked innocently, glancing around, “I just want a hug,” he shook his hands teasingly and you took a larger step back before turning and running. Unfortunately for you, Hoseok was far more athletic than you and was quickly able to flip you over onto the sofa, pinning you down so he could tickle you mercilessly.

Shrieks fell from your mouth uncontrollably, flour getting in your mouth as it drifted from his face onto yours. Beneath both of your hysterical laughter, you missed the sound of your front door being unlocked and your name being called by a familiar voice. Jimin had decided to surprise you, forgoing calling you as he usually would when came back home. He was coming straight back from Kathmandu for his work trip to stay with you for the week as he usually did for Christmas instead of stopping by his apartment - he couldn’t wait to see the smile on your face, nothing could make him happy like the look of sheer joy on your face.

It had taken 3 years for it to occur to Jimin that his level of care for you was not the same as his care for the others. Granted, he had known you for a few months longer than Taehyung but, he considered the latter his ‘soulmate’ in the friend sense: they had a level of understanding that was almost preternatural. But with you, he could look at your face and automatically feel as though the world was entirely at peace. For a while, he thought it was just because you were best friends but, it wasn’t until Yoongi pointed something out to him when the two of you were sixteen. You were celebrating 3 months with your first serious boyfriend and, for a week, Jimin has been acting strangely: he had been ignoring your texts and when the whole group was together, he’d be cold towards your boyfriend and attempt to ice you out. Yoongi suggested that Jimin was jealous, he was acting out because he didn’t like the fact that you were happy together with someone else. It took another year for him to entirely accept it.

“Should I come back at a better time?” He asked coolly, a stony expression on his face as he observes the, admittedly quite intimate, position the two of you were in. Hoseok was pinning your arms above your head as he straddled your waist, it could easily have been read into to be something that it wasn’t. Both of your heads spun to face him, wide eyes with surprise as you looked at your stern-faced friend.

As quickly as he could, Hoseok peeled himself off from on top of you and straightened out his shirt that had ridden up amongst the fight. This allowed you to leap from the sofa to wrap Jimin into a tight hug. His stiff figure immediately softened into it, arms looping around your waist to press your front against his own. Idly, his left hand came up to run through your hair as you spoke into his chest, “I thought you were coming in two days?” Your voice was muffled from your face being pressed into his hard chest but, he was still able to make out what you said.

“I wanted to surprise you.” He looked over your shoulder and made eye contact with Hoseok, sending him a cold glare that caused his older friend to visibly become taken-aback. He pulled away from you so he could look at your face, “Should I have waited until you weren’t busy?” There was enough teasing in his voice that you could safely assume he was joking but, it was fairly obvious to the older man that Jimin was entirely serious.

You rolled your eyes at him playfully, the tell-tale sign of your heart speeding up and a blush rising to your cheeks appeared as it always did when you were gonna in Jimin’s. In the back of your mind, you ridiculed the idea of him ever sharing similar feelings for you that you did for him.

“Don’t be stupid,” you said, shoving his shoulder lightly as you separated from him, “Hobi’s my Guinea Pig for a new gingerbread recipe!” The older man nodded eagerly from where he had sat down on the arm of your sofa.

This did nothing to reduce the cold expression on Jimin’s face, in fact, it only became more down-cast, “I thought I was your recipe tester...” he mumbled almost inaudibly so that you couldn’t decipher what it was that he had said.

A confused frown made creases appear between your eyebrows, your head tilting to the side slightly, “What?” The expression on Jimin’s face instantly shifted, his eyes morphing into sweet half crescents as he beamed at you brightly - the direct contrast to his face previously almost gave you whiplash.

He rubbed your shoulder reassuringly, “Nothing,” he said, eyes drifting over to where Hoseok was still sat, “Am I okay to put my things in the guest room?” You nodded in agreement, allowing him to scurry back to where he had dumped his bags in the entranceway.

No matter how jealous he was, it did nothing to stop the fond smile from creeping onto his lips when he heard your squeal of joy when the oven timer went off: a high-pitched shriek of ‘my cookies!’ filling the apartment. He had missed this.

24th December

In true Christmas Eve fashion, you were awoken by the feeling of another body pressing down heavily upon you. A sleepy groan escaped your mouth and you swatted your arm out in front of you, your instincts telling you to remove the intrusion so you could return back to your sleep. Your hand grazed against a hard chest uselessly, a giggle vibrating within it and you scowled. “Really?” you slurred, hand released by the body so you could rub the grogginess from your eyes. “Do you need to do this every year?”

The body slid off from on top of you so they were lying on their side facing you, “Yep!” Jimin sang, a wolffish grin corrupting his angelic features as you managed to peel your eyes open, “It’s 12 years of tradition!” He feigned an aghast expression, hand reaching for his chest in shock.

“It’s a shit tradition,” you muttered unhappily, lip jutting out excessively as you glared up at him. Had you not been grumpy and half-a sleepy, you were convinced that you would have stopped breathing at the sight of him. He had bleached his hair whilst he was away working and was an ashy blonde colour that emphasised the golden tone to his skin. It was early so, he hadn’t had the chance to put any makeup on but, he was still every bit as perfect without it. You didn’t know how he expected you to lie there with him looking at you like that and not feel emotions.

Jimin laughed, a child-like sound that made his eyes crease up - he would complain about this when you both had been younger, claiming ‘he couldn’t see’. He rested on his left arm, his right hand gently poking in your side as quick as an adder, “Don’t curse on the tradition!” A sound akin to a growl came from your chest and he continued, “It’s Christmas Eve, I made you breakfast just like I always do.”

Your eyes were wide awake at that; the familiar rush being around Jimin made goosebumps erupt upon your skin and you were sure that your cheeks must have been blushed pink. Every Christmas Eve since you had both moved out, Jimin would wake you up to a home-cooked breakfast. “Did you now?” You managed to get out, your lips turning up at the corners into a tiny smile.

“Yeah,” he nodded, reaching forward to tuck a rogue lock of hair behind your ear so he could see your face better, “Tae’s coming over at 4pm with Tannie as well so, I’m assuming you want to bleach every surface of the house.” You were torn between kissing and cursing at him. As soon as his fingertips had grazed against your skin, it had burned a hot red colour and made your stomach erupt in butterflies. Any form of affection was quickly eradicated by his reminder you were hosting for guests; it was one thing he arrived unannounced the previous afternoon when you were cooking with Hoseok but to have an ‘official’ guest and their dog - it was enough for you to break out in hives.

You whined childishly, hands turning into fists around the duvet as you tried to bring it up over your head. Jimin laughed before slipping off the bed and reaching over to yank the duvet away from you. Groaning loudly, you stretched your arms above your head, your cami riding up to just above your waist. He gulped, eyes flickering away to focus on anything other than the soft skin that the sight of was setting your nerves alight. You kicked your legs over the side and dragged yourself onto the floor, clambering to your feet and blindly stumbling towards him. Burying your head into his chest, you tugged him towards you by his waist and allowed your eyes to flutter closed. “Naptime,” you murmured, nuzzling into him. In the back of your mind, it occurred to you that Jimin’s heartbeat sped up but, you waved it off.

“Come on,” he encouraged, fingers rubbing circles on the bottom of your back soothingly, “I made pancakes,” he sang, trying to tempt you into moving. Evidently, he succeeded as your back quickly straightened before you ducked out of his arms and scuttled down the stairs. Jimin’s laughs echoed through the house as he trailed behind you, finding you perched at the breakfast counter in front of your plate as you bounced your knees excitedly.

Your heart may as well have stopped beating as you smiled down at the stack of buttermilk pancakes your best friend had made you, he had written out ‘I love you’ but with a heart made of strawberries instead of love. You looked up to where he was leaning against the doorway, smiling at you fondly, “I love you too, Jimin-ie.” As you looked back down at the plate, you missed the smile fading from his face as he realises you misread what he was saying.

The doorbell rang two hours later, Jimin’s fact automatically brightening significantly as he jumped up from his post for icing cookies to scramble towards the front door. You breathed out a laugh, wiping a piece of hair out your face and accidentally coating it with bright pink icing. A giggle escaped your mouth as you looked down at the set Jimin had been icing; their eyes were all wide-set and had tiny mouths with small curves for noses, they were wrapped up in hats and scarves with had pink icing on their round cheeks. You looked up when a loud bark sounded through the house followed by the pattering of tiny claws against your wooden floor.

Yeontan’s little head poke through the doorway and headed straight towards you, feet only just missing a pot of icing as he jumped onto your lap. “Hi, gorgeous!” You cooed, voice rising in pitch as your fingers scratched behind his ears, “I see you’re ready for Christmas.” Taehyung had tucked him into a dark green jumper with a white snowflake pattern, his collar had a tartan bow attached.

“Just like his Dad.” You glanced up to where Jimin’s voice had come from to spot Taehyung in an identical jumper to his dog’s, his freshly dyed black hair curling at the collar. Unable to help it, you laughed at him, shaking your head incredulously because it could only have been him to do such a thing. Cradling the pomeranian in your arms, you got to your feet and headed over to where your best friends were stood. You passed Yeontan over to Jimin carefully before attacking Taehyung in a tight bear hug, his height making him perfect for burying your head in his chest.

Pulling away, you leant up to press a kiss against his cheek as you always did. Once again, you were oblivious to the way Jimin seemed to deflate at the shared act it affection between the two of you. “How are you, Tae?” You asked, heading back over to your cookies which you began to slide onto display plates so you could leave them on the side.

“I’m pretty good,” he said, picking Yeontan up before settling on a stool at the breakfast bar with him on his lap, “My editor’s been pretty impressed with my photographs this quarter, my supervisor says I might be up for a promotion.”

Jimin paused his destruction of the leftover cookies, a gingerbread head stuffed into his mouth as he exclaimed, “That’s amazing!” Except, it was almost indecipherable as he sprayed the breakfast counter with gingerbread crumbs.

You paused your tidying to give him a disappointed look that told him exactly how disgusting you found him, he pouted and shoved the torso into his mouth in defiance. Taehyung only ignored your bickering, nodding at Jimin in thanks as he waved it off as he usually did. “Forget that,” he said, rubbing Yeontan’s tummy beneath his jumper, “How are you doing? Is Hobi still coming over for your weekly movie nights?”

As you finished setting them out, you snickered rolling your eyes as you recalled your various movie nights with Hoseok — there was a lot of shrieking and crying on his end. “Obviously,” you drawled teasingly, teaching towards Yeontan with grabby hands and cooing when the small dog was in your arms again, “Nothing makes me feel better than when he throws me on top of him so he can’t see the film to be scared by it,” you and Taehyung both rolled your eyes playfully at your words, having both been party to Hoseok’s desperate attempts to avoid a horror movie.

“I have no idea why he still comes round every week to watch them, you always choose horror movies just to fuck with him,” Taehyung pointed out, trying and failing to sound disapproving after his antics — after all, it had been the both of you that started the tradition of scaring your older friend.

Clicking your tongue, you shrugged nonchalantly, “What can I say, he loves me!” Despite you both laughing at your conversation, there was a deeply contrasting reaction from the rest of the room. Jimin let out a sound that wasn’t dissimilar to that of a child which was unhappy with the amount of attention he was receiving, his arms were crossed as he glared at the floor with his mouth in a harsh, straight line.

The smile on your face faded into a frown as you looked at your best friend in concern, “Is everything okay, Jimin-ie?” He has been so happy when you were icing cookies together and singing along to the Frozen soundtrack terribly. But, now it was as though he was an entirely different person, he had completely closed off.

Any sign of distress from Jimin disappeared as he gave you a far too convincing smile, “Yes, I’m great, sorry. I just got distracted is all.” You returned his look with an uneasy smile; something was off with him, there was a hard glint in his eye that wasn’t usually there and it was unnerving you.

“Sure, if you say so,” you glanced over to Taehyung who looked equally as disconcerted as you, “I have an idea!” You beamed at your best friends brightly, “I’ve got Trivial Pursuit in the closet somewhere, should we play it — just like old times?” Even if they hadn’t wanted to, there was no way they could have said no to the wide-eyed look of excitement on your face. They both chorused in agreement and allowed you to skip upstairs, handing Yeontan back over to Taehyung as you passed, humming Feliz Navidad under your breath as you went.

As soon as you had reached the top floor, Taehyung turned to face Jimin head-on, an uncharacteristic scowl disrupting his usually happy features, “What was that?”

“What was what?” Jimin shot back, stepping away from his best friend in slight shock from the unusual confrontational nature of the conversation — it wasn’t often the two of them would disagree, they were usually on the exact same wavelength.

Taehyung scoffed, letting Yeontan onto the floor as he began to wriggle around in discomfort, “‘What was what?’” He repeated mockingly, eyes rolling so hard they could have gotten stuck in the back of his head, “Why are you acting so weird?” He hissed at him, eyebrows forming deep furrows in his tan skin.

Jimin’s face curled up in confusion, “I’m not acting weird?” He said, voice tilting upward slightly in uncertainty.

“Oh really,” Taehyung said, sarcasm almost dripping from his words, “As soon as _____ started talking about Hoseok your mood plummeted, why?” There was an almost interrogative nature to the conversation and Jimin took half a step back, he felt slightly on edge from such a direct question coming from his best friend.

Granted, Jimin probably could have gotten away with re-directing the conversation — had his face automatically not fallen into a scowl at the mention of their older friend. Through gritted teeth, he managed to say, “I have no idea what you mean.” His body slumped, he knew that he had been caught out.

Taehyung arched an eyebrow, blowing out an incredulous laugh as he looked over his features, “Oh, I can’t believe this,” he shook his head in disbelief, “You’re jealous! This is rich.” It was Taehyung who had been the confidant to you about your many turmoils regarding your feelings for Jimin. There had been many nights spent curled up under a fluffy blanket with a half a bottle of tequila shared between you as you cried over Jimin’s latest ‘fling’. Sometimes, he couldn’t quite comprehend how oblivious the pair of you were.

Completely thrown, Jimin glanced upward as though you were listening in from directly above them, “Lower your voice,” he hissed, “What do you mean?” Taehyung was speaking as though he knew something that he didn’t and it was making Jimin nervous.

“You’re both idiots,” as he spotted the confused look on Jimin’s face, he laughed humourlessly, “God, you’re both oblivious,” Taehyung shook his head and glanced towards where you had disappeared off to, “Be jealous all you want but — don’t you dare ruin Christmas.”

25th December

“Noona!” Jungkook called out, skipping into the kitchen, “Where should I put the presents?” He asked, moving around to stand over your shoulder and press a kiss against your temple. You were pouring a mixture of dark rum and Cognac into the vat of eggnog you had set up on the kitchen counter. Behind you, Seokjin was wrapping the pigs in blankets as he stood with his chest adorned by his ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron and Yoongi was basting the roast potatoes before he could slide them into the oven.

You paused what you were doing to reach around to return a kiss on his cheek before beginning to stir in the alcohol, “They should be alright beneath the tree — just make sure Tannie doesn’t open them.” He nodded before scurrying back into the living room, you could hear him instructing the others on what to do and you smiled to yourself. You turned to call out to Yoongi, “How long left?” You were finished and the sooner the fiends you called your friends ate, the sooner you could open presents.

“Just about done,” he said softly, dropping the tray onto the side carefully so nothing was knocked. From beside you, Seokjin let out a sigh of relief as he finally began to carve the turkey whilst both you and Yoongi started preparing the plates.

Once he was finished, Seokjin rolled his sleeves up and called out loudly to the others, “Yah! Come and eat!” The thundering of footsteps quickly overwhelmed the Christmas music Taehyung had playing quietly on the speaker as they all rushed to get the best seat at the table, the three of you exchanged playful rolls of your eyes.

As hard as you tried, Jungkook ended up with half of the food piled onto his plate as always and you were far too weak for the youngest to deny him. You found yourself sat between Hoseok and Taehyung with Jimin sat directly opposite to you. Just as you all finished eating, Namjoon (who had been drinking far too much Soju) started a beautiful rendition of Last Christmas and, somewhere along the way, Hoseok had joined in and was swaying in his seat, an arm wrapped around your shoulder affectionately.

Eventually, you all finished eating and you joined in the singing, your head resting on Hoseok’s shoulder as your right hand rested in Taehyung’s left. Once again, you were oblivious to the way Jimin’s entire body had stiffened when you moved closer to your older friend. Following this, Jimin has received a stern and disapproving glare from Taehyung who had witnessed the usually soft features of his face darken. Seokjin was soon able to tempt you back into the living room with the promise of opening presents and you were now laid out across one of the loveseats with your legs propped up on Jimin’s lap. A blanket was wrapped around your shoulders, you left hands in fists to keep it right with the presents you had opened on the floor beside you.

“_____!” Hoseok shouted, almost making you jump out of your skin at how loud he was, “Give me my present!” He stomped his foot childishly, exaggeratedly sticking his bottom lip out to give the impression he was a whiny infant — it was successful.

You shook your head, kicking your legs off of Jimin and ignoring the tiny whine that came from his chest when you left him. “Here,” you said, tossing the large present over to him, making Namjoon duck when the bottom of it almost slammed into his face, “Open it,” you encouraged eagerly as you made your way over to him and perched on the arm of the sofa nearest to him. You couldn’t stop the bark of laughter that came out when you saw his face drop once he had ripped off the paper.

It was a real life-sized body pillow with your face embedded into the fabric of the head. The entire room was in hysterics as they watched him look down at the gift with utter disdain. You slipped off the arm of the chair, your amusement masking any pain you felt in your back from the fall. “Now you can cling to me in fear even when I’m not there,” you managed to get out between shaky breaths. You had no idea how quickly he had moved because your hands had been hiding the ways your face contorted as you laughed but, Hoseok was above you and tickling you mercilessly, managing to drag shrieks of laughter out of you.

During the uproar you and Hoseok caused, Jimin had slipped into the kitchen and was leaning against the wall, glaring at the fridge across from him harshly. God, he wished he didn’t have feelings for you — not when it was so obvious that you would never return them. How long would he have to watch you and Hoseok flirt right in front of him, it was ruining his Christmas.

“You’re such an idiot,” Yoongi commented dryly, hip propped up against the counter in the centre of the kitchen. Taehyung was beside him and giving him an equally disgruntled look. “_____ is worried about you.”

The shorter man’s face screwed up in confusion as he glanced between his two friends, “Sure didn’t look like it,” he scoffed incredulously, head tipping slightly to where you still resided. They were telling him you were worried but, how could he believe that when he had seen how ecstatic you were with Hoseok?

Before Jimin could react, Yoongi has moved forward to clip him round the ear, glaring at him darkly as he retreated back to Taehyung’s side. A high pitched whine came from him but, they just ignored him, “_____ and Hoseok only started spending time together because she was sad about you being gone so often,” his face softened slightly, “And because she’s far nicer than any of us deserve, she refused to say anything — we took matters into our own hands.”

Taehyung sighed softly, easily identifying the confusion on his best friend’s face, “Out of the two of you, she’s the one who has more of a right to be jealous — she’s stood by and watched you fuck around with anyone that caught your eye.” This did nothing to ease Jimin’s confusion, his face contorting even further than should be possible. “I can’t say anything else just — wait to see her Christmas present for you? Okay?” It must have looked as though the two of them were lecturing Jimin quite harshly because as you entered the kitchen you froze in the doorway, a concerned look on your face as you glanced between the three of them.

“Is everything okay?” You asked, mouth turning down slightly into a frown as you quickly noticed the affronted expression on Jimin’s face.

Smiles were quick to replace the stern scowls on Taehyung and Yoongi’s faces, the former rubber your shoulder affectionately as he moved over to you, “Everything’s perfect, nothing to worry about.” The two left, not before sending a meaningful look towards Jimin.

Eyes narrowing slightly, you turned back to him but, chose not to say anything and instead, gave him a bright smile, “Come on, I want to give you your present now.” You laced your hand through his own, fingers interlocking, and pulled him towards the back door. Jimin stumbled slightly on the top step, not expecting for the two of you to be heading into the garden.

“Why’s my present out here?” He asked dumbly, his mind failing to find better words to ask you — when it came to you, he never really could think straight.

Shoulders shaking with laughter slightly, you guided him down the steps and paused in front of him, “Look up, idiot.” There was laughter behind your words as Jimin looked up with an entirely gone out expression, he hadn’t thought to check what had been happening around him.

He felt as though his breath had been stolen from his lungs, in the corner of your garden was a treehouse. There was a rope ladder leading up to the entrance which you had lined with flickering fairy lights, he could see the inside which, despite being small, was lined with fuzzy blankets and rugs so it was perfectly cosy. For a moment, he just stood there with his lips parted in shock; you had made a replica of your shared childhood treehouse. It had been built on a tree that passed over the fences of both of your gardens and it was simple enough to build ladders up from both sides. There had been countless nights spent in that treehouse, laughing quietly to not wake up your parents, shared secrets beneath hushed voices.

“Y-You,” he was absolutely speechless, a knot forming in his stomach as he took in the sight, “You built it?” There weren’t enough words to form a sentence that would explain what the treehouse meant to him.

You hummed, nodding in affirmation and you began to pull him towards the rope ladder, “Not on my own — Hoseok was a big help,” you paused at the base of the tree, “But essentially, yes.” Jimin’s chest rose and fell repeatedly, eyes not leaving your face for so long that a pink blush began to rise to your cheeks. “Come on, let’s look inside.”

You were both sat on the edge of the wooden floor, your legs dangling over the edge as you feet occasionally knocked against the rope ladder between you. Beside you, Jimin shuffled with something that he held between his fingers but, you kept your eyes trained on the sky as you tried to spot the very few constellations you could identify. Orion’s Belt, Capricorn, Cassiopeia.

“Merry Christmas, _____,” Jimin said softly, his hand extended out to with a small square box within it. You exhaled slightly, wide eyes flickering between him and the box making him nod to you in encouragement. With shaking fingers, you were able to slowly open the lid of the white leather box.

A quiet gasp filled the treehouse as you stared down at your present with glistening eyes. It was a pendant made from two interlocking circles, on one of the curves it had ‘forever’ engraved into it. But, you knew Jimin couldn’t mean this in the way you hoped he would — he must be showing his appreciation for your twelve-year long friendship, he might have even gotten one for Taehyung.

“I mean it,” he said, voice almost inaudible despite the relative silence of your surroundings, “You and I, _____, we’re forever.” At that moment, you could have sworn a shard of your heart entered your lung at the rate your ability to breathe was leaving you.

Sniffing slightly, you allowed your fingertip to trace the engraved word as you admired it with tear-filled eyes, “Yeah, we’ll be best friends forever, Jimin-ie.” You cast your eyes down to the ground, as always, you were oblivious to the way your words had made his stomach sink and twist in its place. You would never return his feelings, everything was pointless. Beside him, you were doing your best to squeeze the unwanted tears back into your eyes as you resigned yourself to the eternal position of his best friend. You didn’t want to get your hopes up. “Let’s go back to the others — it must be eggnog time now.”

There were two lost hearts in that treehouse.

26th December

Maybe the eggnog hadn’t been that good of an idea. The creamy alcoholic goodness had not lasted long after Jimin poured the majority of it down his throat as soon as he got into the kitchen. From there, the group had moved to pure spirits and liquors which was what had led to Seokjin stood on your coffee table with a wooden spoon for a microphone. As much as you hated to admit it, he was doing Bonnie Tyler’s ‘Total Eclipse of the Heart’ some form of justice as he leant on one knee, eyes closed in passion.

You were leant against Hoseok’s chest, a blanket covering the pair of you as you tucked your legging clad legs into your chest. Your hands were wrapped around a coffee mug that was, in reality, filled with rum and coke which you were sipping on in between your additions to the songs your friends were singing. Thankfully, it seemed that Seokjin’s voice was finally beginning to strain and the rest of them were beginning to quiet down, huddling on the other sofas and laughing far too loudly.

“Noona, can we watch a film?” Jungkook pleaded from his spot on your right, his doe-eyes appearing to have stars in them with the way the light was hitting them. As much as you were nowhere near the oldest of the group, they all knew that Christmas was entirely your domain.

There was a chorus of agreements from everyone else, Hoseok letting out a shriek of joy that earned him an elbow to the ribcage. “Of course, Kookie. What do you want to watch?” Quickly he leapt up from his seat on the sofa and launched for the remote, already beginning to search through what you had on-demand.

An excited squeal came from him as he began to bounce slightly on the spot, “Can we watch ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’?” In response to him, almost everyone shouted their desire to watch the film, Yoongi most notably saying that he ‘modelled his personality after him’ - in reality, he was the biggest softy of you all but, you and the boys liked to let him pretend otherwise.

“No,” Hoseok whined, leaning forward so your body was bent uncomfortably, “_____ and I watched it last week.” There was a general response of contempt from everyone but, no one was more enthusiastic about Jimin. After consuming at least half of the eggnog was not the end of Jimin’s antics, it seemed that he had also monopolised the bottles of Tequila he knew you kept in your cupboards and was now nursing a bottle as though he was 3 months old again. He had been watching you and Hoseok curled up in the corner and it seemed that extreme amounts of alcohol tended to make him highly spiteful, it only made sense to him that the reason you obviously didn’t return his feelings was because of how close you and Hoseok had become - the others were either ignorant or hiding something. Of course, had he been sober he would be entirely too aware of how ludicrous he was being but, unfortunately for everyone in the house, he was not sober.

He had scoffed overly loudly, the sound filling the room with a silence that seemed to stifle the air out of everyone’s lungs. Your back stiffened, muscles coiling up in knots as you turned in on yourself, trying to appear smaller from your spot in Hoseok’s arms. A low grumble vibrated in his chest from behind you, a hand rubbing a soothing circle on the skin of your waist. “I’m sorry, Jimin, is something wrong?” His voice was low, he leaned forward slightly so he could turn his neck to raise an eyebrow the younger man’s way.

You tried to subdue the small whimper that was building in your throat as Jimin let out an indecipherable noise that was undoubtedly a result of the alcohol blurring his brain. Hoseok clicked his tongue in mock disapproval, “I didn’t quite catch that, speak up.” Honestly, he felt that he had every right to be overprotective of you considering he had been a first-hand witness to your various heartbreaks at the sight of Jimin’s various conquests.

There was a collection of mutters from the other boys, as Jimin fidgeted in his seat - not out of nerves but rather out of stifled jealousy. “I said that there was nothing wrong,” he ground out, teeth clenched harshly as Yoongi gave him a stern look. However, this did nothing to calm Hoseok who scoffed from behind you and began to sit even further forward, forcing you to straighten yourself entirely.

“Oh really? Because ever since you’ve come home you’ve been acting pretty shit.” This time you couldn’t help the tired groan the fell from your mouth, you wrapped the blanket around yourself tighter out of discomfort. You hated when any of the boys argued, it made your skin crawl uncomfortably and you closed your eyes as if it could allow you to disappear from the room.

From behind you, shuffling could be heard that you knew was Jimin stumbling to his feet, “Maybe if you and _____ weren’t throwing your happy relationship in our faces the whole time, I wouldn’t be.” A pin could have dropped in your living room, that was how silent it had fallen — you weren’t even sure that you were still breathing. Had all of this been because of Hoseok becoming closer with you? Maybe Taehyung was right about you being oblivious.

With silver-lined eyes, you got to your feet and turned to face him, “You’re such an idiot,” you said, a wobbly smile betraying your emotions to the room. You turned on your heel, leaving the house as quickly as humanly possible.

Hoseok turned to face Jimin fully, ready to sling out a steady stream of curses that portrayed exactly how he was feeling towards him at the moment but, Yoongi has beaten him to it. “Get up!” He snarled, pointing towards the stairs as he stormed over to him, gripping his wrist tightly and dragging him out of the living room. The two left the room behind, the others whispering about what had been said and what it meant.

“Sit down,” Yoongi ordered, pushing him into the shower in your en suite. Stuttering slightly, Jimin eventually did as he asked and curled up beneath the showerhead in a child-like manner. “First, you’re going to sober up. Then, you’re going to go back out there and fix everything,” he said glaring down at the younger man coldly.

Jimin looked up at him with wide, confused eyes that made him appear as though he was a tiny puppy, “Why do we have to be in the bathroom for that?”

Had Yoongi not been irritated with him, he probably would have cooed at him but instead, a wicked smile spread across his lips, “So I can do this.” The cold tap turned on full blast, the sound of rushing water not overwhelming the high pitched shrieks that were spilling from his mouth. They could be heard from downstairs, the other boys sharing both amused and concerned glances about what exactly Yoongi was doing to Jimin.

“Should I stop now?” He asked teasingly. Jimin tried to speak up but only spluttered against the strong current of water, his eyes blurring from the liquid. “Guess not,” he said, clicking his tongue is feigned disappointment as he continued focusing the water on Jimin. This continued for another three minutes until he was sure that his friend’s eyes were entirely clear and he was sober. “Better?”

Jimin coughed, a hand brushing back the soaked hair off his forehead before he turned to glare at his older friend darkly, “Yes.”

As soon as you had managed to escape the living room your first thought was to go to the treehouse, you weren’t overtly hiding from any of them just wanting some peace where they wouldn’t see you shed any tears. You knew Jimin would come and find you eventually, you weren’t sure what that conversation would entail precisely. Had he been jealous? Your best friend should have known you better than to think you would hide a relationship from him — especially one with another of your best friends. You must have been up there for around ten minutes before anyone joined you.

The first thing you saw was the top of Jimin’s head, his ashy blonde hair was slicked back to expose his forehead — internally, you cursed his ability to make your heart skip a beat even when you were upset. As he clambered up, you averted your gaze out of self-consciousness, you knew that your skin must have been red and puffy from crying. You only turned when you knew he was sat beside you.

“Hoseok and I have always been just friends,” you spoke softly, afraid your voice would shake at all, “We only started spending so much time together because he knew I missed you.” With your head tilted slightly to face him you saw him open his mouth to interject, you placed your hand on his own gently to stop him, “Let me speak first, please,” you inhaled softly, “I’ve been in love with you since we were fourteen. It’s always been you, Jimin-ie.” Out of fear, your eyes flickered away from him and chose to rest on the bench that resided by the back of your house.

In an act of reassurance, Jimin tightened his grip on your hand and interlaced your fingers together, both of you stared down at them — you and he together had always felt so right. “I don’t remember when I fell in love with you,” he whispered, eyes firmly fixed on where your hands met, “But, I knew for sure when we were sixteen; I couldn’t stand seeing you with anybody else — I was jealous.” Plucking up some form of courage, his fingers gently grasped your jaw and tilted it so you were looking him in the eye, “No one— forget that — I only feel truly like myself when we’re together. It’s like I can’t breathe but, I don’t need to because you’re with me.”

Your cheeks were dusted with that familiar shade of pink that only seemed to appear with him, “W-What are you saying?” Your voice was only just loud enough to be heard, you didn’t want to think you had misinterpreted anything. At this, Jimin rolled his eyes at you, hand falling down to delicately rest on your shoulder.

“Tae and Yoongi were right — we really are both idiots.” Your eyes narrowed and you lips parted to curse him out but, he continued, “What I’m saying is, I love you, _____, and I want to be with you,” his eyes widened, “If you’ll have me, that is.” There was a shy smile on his face, half of him was terrified you would change your mind and tell him it was a Christmas prank — if they even were a thing.

Chuckling softly, you leaned forward, fingers curling around the waves at the base of his neck, “Of course I’ll have you, idiot.” Your eyes flickered down to where his plump lips were slightly part as he did the same, your eyes fluttered closed and you pressed your lips against his. There weren’t any fireworks, honestly, you weren’t sure if there ever were for anyone but, you had never felt so at home and certain about a person than you did with Jimin.

He pulled away to breathe, his thumb caressing your jaw as you rested your forehead against his, “I love you,” he murmured, eyes only open slightly so he could gaze into your own.

“I love you,” you returned, hand pressing against the back of his neck to tug him back into another a kiss, lips gently massaging against his. Something occurred to you and you pulled away, hands gripping onto his collar as you looked at him curiously, “Why is your hair wet?”

He sighed, eyes closing in a tired form of resignation, “Yoongi showered me in cold water to sober me up.” You couldn’t help the laughter that bubbles at your lips, head ducking down in a weak attempt to hide it from him. Jimin gasped in feigned offence, trying to pull away from you but you gripped onto him tightly, you didn’t want to let go of him if you didn’t have to.

Smiling down at you softly, he murmured, “Merry Christmas, _____.” He pulled you into another kiss, both of you smiling into it as his tongue lingered at the seam of your lips i. a way that seemed to promise more.

Out of breath slightly, you moved back to whisper, “Merry Christmas, Jimin.”

There was a reason Christmas was your favourite time of year.

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wonderfulworldofmichaelford · 5 years

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Michael After Midnight: C.H.U.D. & Us

Do you like horror? Do you feel for the plight of homeless people? Do you despise Ronald Reagan and everything he represents? Well congratulations! You have a functioning heart and mind! But you also might be in to the B-movie cult classic that is C.H.U.D. This is a film that has at least partially wormed its way into the cultural consciousness as the titular monsters have become something of a go-to descriptor for any sort of sewer-dweller as well as an insult used to describe alt-righters and other nasty bastards (it works too since alt-right people do often look like they crawled out of a sewer). Unless you’re a cult film aficionado though, you may not have actually sat down and watched this film, which is a shame, as it definitely has quite a bit to offer.

But you know who almost certainly HAS watched this film? Beloved filmmaker, comedian, and actor Jordan Peele! And I know this because his second feature film Us is pretty much a semi-remake of C.H.U.D. No, I’m not joking. I would never fuck around about something as serious as trashy B-movies and Jordan Peele films. This is serious business right here. These movies are pretty similar thematically and even slightly plot-wise, but at the same time their different approaches really help set them apart and make each film great in their own right.

The big thing with C.H.U.D. is its function as a criticism towards the Reagan-era treatment of the homeless and the mentally ill. Homeless people are portrayed very sympathetically, with them going missing being what really kicks things off… or it would be, if anyone in power gave a damn. No, the people in power only start caring when people they start caring about go missing. Things go from bad to worse when it’s revealed that the C.H.U.D.s are not only mutated homeless people, but that the United States government is complicit in their transformation, having decided to dump toxic waste into the sewers. Aside from giving Jason Takes Manhattan’s ending some level of plausibility, this is a pretty brutal showcase of how society treats the less fortunate, and especially how the government treats them. As far as B-movies go, this one has the most instantly believable problem causing the monsters.

And it is similar with Us. The film has a much broader application than Peele’s previous film Get Out, which is pretty blatantly about left-wing condescending racism. But the way the Tethered function, their nature as failed experiments left behind by the government to rot, and their desire to simply be given all that they had been denied because the powers that be deemed them less worthy is not just stellar thematically, it is the sort of message that in this day and age is needed more than ever. Reagan is long dead and burning in Hell, but the evil he perpetuated still stands.

The big reveal at the end – which I WILL refrain from spoiling – changes the entire perspective of the film and showcases the Tethered as not just victims, but people who if given half a chance could easily excel in the upper world. But they were denied this chance, shunned as mindless monsters, and then are we to vilify them when they rise up to take what they deserve? Both of these films certainly show their “monsters” as vicious and violent, but ultimately they are merely scared, terrified beings lashing out at those who have oppressed and hurt them, intentionally or otherwise.

Both films certainly do show the oppressed commit monstrous actions, but it never really stops sympathizing with them, instead (rightfully) demonizing the government and the people who constantly put them in those positions of oppression. C.H.U.D. certainly is more cathartic, featuring the major government antagonist being not only shot but blown up, but it also tends to feel a tad more exploitative, what with literal homeless people being mutated, though I must stress the movie doesn’t demonize the homeless and paints them as sympathetic victims of a cruel, unfeeling government who just decides to kill ‘em all to cover up their own fuckup. This is one of the single most realistic depictions of government ever put on film, and for that C.H.U.D. deserves some praise. Us certainly paints a more sympathetic picture for its “monsters,” beginning with the story Red tells her captive audience, and while the reveal of their true nature is a bit more sloppily executed than the reveal of C.H.U.D. it still manages to bear down with the full weight of its allegorical impact with late-game revelations.

Another interesting thing with C.H.U.D.: the monsters don’t even appear all that much. When they do, they look absolutely fantastic; the suits are stunning achievements of practical effects, though the scene where one stretches its neck out is a bit dubious. But for the most part, even at the film’s climax, the C.H.U.D.s are mostly absent, with a “less is more” approach being used in regards to them. I don’t recall there ever really being more than four or so onscreen at once, and there’s no massive invasion of monsters. Honestly, it helps keep the film from feeling like a bloated spectacle, and the fact the film slowly builds up to the monsters appearing after a brief appearance in the start really helps them feel more memorable and iconic than other forgotten throwaway monsters of the 80s, while at the same time letting the mystery, atmosphere, and grimy New York backdrop congeal and allowing the message of the film to just ooze over and permeate you.

Us, on the other hand, keeps the Tethered front and center starting at the second act, but in this case this is a good thing; the Tethered have a lot more personality, seeing as they are essentially fully human, where the C.H.U.D.s are mutated humans whose last vestiges of humanity were washed away by the waste the government hid beneath the streets. Lupita Nyong’o in particular is masterful as Red, and is incredibly skilled to be able to pull off playing two roles who frequently share the screen and who are essentially copies of each other while still managing to make them distinct and different. Tim Heidecker and Winston Duke too really do a grand job as their Tethered counterparts, in Heidecker’s case probably more than his regular person character (not to say he’s bad, but seeing Heidecker selling a creepy killer is a lot more impressive than seeing him play a douchebag husband).

Out of the two, I think it goes without saying that Us is the better film. It has all around better acting, it has the most incredible foreshadowing I have ever seen with every little thing foreshadowed getting a satisfying payoff, it has a great soundtrack, it has some moderately enjoyable humor, it’s paced very well… but here’s the thing: C.H.U.D.s big reveal of the true nature of its monsters is a bit better executed. A lot of people get hung up on how Us overexplains the origin of its monsters, and while it certainly doesn’t bother me because the Tethered are still an effective allegorical implement regardless of their in-universe origin, I can’t help but feel the reveal that the government mutating homeless people into cannibalistic sewer monsters and then just… not giving a shit about it was just a bit better executed. However, I feel like watching C.H.U.D. actually helps improve the big reveal at Us by token of being so similar that the latter’s twist becomes far easier to swallow.

Both of these movies are great for what they’re going for. Jordan Peele’s Us is a fantastic horror film that uses the genre as a way to showcase the effect privilege has on those without it, whether you intend it to or not; C.H.U.D. is a classic B-movie that, while perhaps still a bit exploitative, is ultimately incredibly sympathetic to the plight of the homeless as well as extremely critical of the government that would put them in such danger. Both films are fantastic in their own right, and I highly recommend both to any horror fans, especially those who love some sweet, sweet allegory alongside their brutal murders.

Both of these films are some of my favorites for really pushing the boundaries of what a horror film can do, story-wise. I think C.H.U.D. is a bit more ambitious in some ways, being a pretty direct attack on the Reagan-era government, as well as being relatively sympathetic to lower class people in a time when that wasn’t really the norm. For its time, it really is an impressive work, while Us, while certainly delivering a message that has strong impact, is a bit more open to interpretation and honestly lacking a bit of the gut punch that Peele’s Get Out had in terms of conveying and delivering said message. Still, I think Us is just better for refining what C.H.U.D. was trying to do and delivering it in a more polished form with better actors, a better budget, and just overall more intelligence and visual flair… which is not to say C.H.U.D. was lacking either, as it paints an incredibly dark and grimy picture of New York that I absolutely love, it’s just that it’s hard to deny that Peele is just a better filmmaker than the director of C.H.U.D. and really knew what he was doing. But again: both fantastic films in their own right, and both definitely worth watching.

#Michael After Midnight #Review #Movie review #C.H.U.D.#Chud #B-movie #horror movie #horror #monster movie #social commentary #Jordan Peele #us

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westallen-world · 5 years

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Eric Wallace Talks ‘The Flash’ Season 6B: Iris Entering The Mirror Dimension, Crisis Changes, Gorilla Grodd and The Return of Wally West

Eric Wallace has previously written for DC Comics on titles such as ‘Mister Terrific’ and ‘Titans’, as well as several episodes across Seasons 4 and 5 of ‘The Flash’ TV Series. Heading into Season 6 of ‘The Flash’, Eric Wallace was promoted to showrunner after Todd Helbing exited the show to helm ‘Superman and Lois’. Our interviewer Michael Slavin talked to Eric Wallace about what has come so far this season on ‘The Flash’, what to expect following ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’, and what to expect in the remainder of the season.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: To begin the interview, what has your thoughts been on the reactions from fans to The Flash Season 6 so far?

ERIC WALLACE: Uh, what are the reactions to The Flash Season 6 so far? (laughs) I actually really don’t go on the internet.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Oh really?

ERIC WALLACE: I’m the kinda guy who y’know does the work and I hope folks dig it, and if they don’t that’s okay too. I do believe everybody has the right to their own opinion, and I tell the staff “Don’t tell me anything unless it’s somebody who liked it” as a joke.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: I mean everything I’ve seen has been positive so that’s a good sign I’d say.

ERIC WALLACE: Oh good! I know everybody thought Episode 6×07 “The Last Temptation of Barry Allen Pt 1” was freaky (laughs), y’know with the black goo coming out of their mouths, kind of a very different episode for us. And I think that what was great for me was talking to Grant about that episode in particular and how much he said to me he enjoyed acting in that one and making it, y’know how it challenged him in the best possible way and I think that’s what you see on screen, you just see an actor going for it. The director, Chad Lowe, I thought did a terrific job and I thought Sendhil did such a great job as Barry’s adversary, we got really lucky and blessed with someone as wonderfully talented as Sendhil Ramamurthy in Graphic Novel #1, which people I guess don’t know because we use the graphic novel format for our seasons now but every graphic novel does have a name, I just can’t tell folks until the season’s over because the titles are so spoilery. But that last season, Graphic Novel #1, was titled “Blood and Truth”. That’s the actual name of Graphic Novel #1 and we’re starting now with “Marathon” in 6×10, we’re starting Graphic Novel #2 which also has a name that I cannot reveal because it’s so super spoilery, and very metaphorical, because I loved English and English class when I was in High School a little too much. And very often in the writers room I’m the one calling the “theme police” on us to keep us on it.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Right, Perfect. So now I just want to pick up from the last episode at the moment. So we saw Iris enter the mirror dimension and I was wondering how this affects her character in the second half of this season?

ERIC WALLACE: Iris will grow in ways she didn’t know she could, and I mean that emotionally. Being sucked into that mirror will push her to the edge and a little bit beyond. It will literally test her sanity, which is really great because it’s given Candice as a performer a wonderful opportunity to just give some of the greatest performances she’s ever given on the show in my opinion and just knock it out of the park. One of the things that was important to me as a storyteller was, we spent a lot of time with Barry’s emotional state leading up to Crisis, while in Graphic Novel #2, which is the second half of this long season, it’s not necessarily all about Barry, we wanted to focus equally on Iris in the back half. And that’s what getting sucked into that mirror believe it or not, is going to allow us to do. Who knows what lies behind that mirror but I guarantee you it’s a different place. It’s a place that will affect her in a way that she will have to examine who she is and what makes up Iris Allen-West in all of it’s different facets and if that’s a good or bad thing.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: It was interesting when I was watching Crisis on Infinite Earths the scenes with Iris were always really interesting because she was tying our perspective back into these superhero characters so it’ll be really interesting to see where you take her next. Obviously you mentioned Crisis on Infinite Earths and it’s still a huge discussion point with the multiverse reset allowing for a blank canvas per se, how has that experience been for a writer in terms of being able to introduce and change major parts of the show and kind of do whatever you want going forward?

ERIC WALLACE: Liberating. That’s the perfect description. The best thing that ever happened to this show was Crisis on Infinite Earths, the crossover, and moving past the end of our pilot. Way back at the end of the pilot of Season 1, we see that newspaper and it’s telling us what we’re driving towards, so in a sense, the first six and a half seasons of this series have been driving towards a predetermined point, and that can be a little limiting from a story point of view, especially from a writing point of view. Now, we fast forward to Graphic Novel 2, our six and a half way point, who knows what’s going to happen now? and that’s the fun part. We can take all of the best of the past, keep it, but we can add in ways. I said to our writers in the writers room, I said “Who are the villains from the past? From previous seasons, 1, 2, 3, 4, whomever. We have the opportunity to tweak them now, just a little bit” and put on a fresh coat of paint. I use that term a lot now to describe our methodology. And you’re going to see that with several villains from past seasons, you might also see that with some heroes too, maybe one or two, who are from the past. And that’s great, it’s very liberating, very exciting, it keeps it fresh for us as writers, and I think when we’re feeling the excitement for the freshness of the stories we’re telling, hopefully that’s translating into what you, the audience, sees. It feels like the best of all worlds, it feels like the show you know and love, that feels familiar, but also maybe it just has a new coat of paint. Specifically it’s painted with a new main title credits. That is something I planned from Day 1 when I took over on the show. I said “When we get to post-crisis, it’s a brand new world. What’s the best way to visualize that for the audience and send them a literal message that says this is the line of demarcation between the previous seasons of the show and the show from this point on going forward? Well… it’s just a card that comes up with some lightning, what happens if we do 15 seconds of awesomeness” which the composer got excited about, Warner Brothers got excited about, who did just a terrific, bang up job on the title for us. And now that is one reaction that might be one of the only times where I was actually curious as to what people thought and thank goodness there seems to have been a real positive response to that and, I know this sounds kind of strange, but in a sense it’s kind of the message that sort of opens the door for everything else, so I’m glad people are kind of seeing that. And they should look for more changes, in the characters growing in ways we haven’t seen them grow before, in the story this season in the back half, not just Iris’ story but Barry’s story too, Killer Frost’s, everybodies kind of on a really wild journey that takes them to new places, and that’s on purpose. There are no rules like there used to be, pre-crisis, for stories.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: So that leads perfectly into my next question, which is what characters and locations can we expect to appear in the back half of the season that have changed or came about following Crisis?

ERIC WALLACE: Oooh, how do I answer that without spoiling anything? That’s a good question… I gotta think about that one because there is one set that goes to crazy town but that’s a spoiler, I cannot say that.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Can you hint towards it at all or?

ERIC WALLACE: Uh, no. It’s so huge of a spoiler. I will say there is an episode where the West house, not the loft, but the house that Barry and Iris grew up in, there is a scene where that house undergoes a, shall we say transformation of sorts that’s really exciting. Our DP did something really special with that episode in general. The director did something special, it’s actually quite a special episode. That’s an example of how we can look at the same set and they’re a little bit different. Other than that though, other than this one obvious way which I can’t tell you about it because it’s so spoilery, the sets don’t really change. It’s more the characters changing, the villains changing, the scenarios that happen being a little weirder and as an example of that I use, at Comic Con I pitched out to the world what Season 6 was really all about, it was the season of Thrills and Chills. Well, Part 1 ~ Graphic Novel #1, was the chills. Literally we made a horror movie. Now, in the “new” season, Graphic Novel #2, the back-half, this is the Thrills section of the season. This is the section of the season that, and this is great because you’re DiscussingFilm, I’m a film buff. I watched a whole bunch of 1970’s paranoid thrillers to get in the mood to prepare for the back half.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Is there any one film from that genre you’d say that has directly influenced the rest of the season?

ERIC WALLACE: Ooh, I can give you three. Parallax View, Three Days of the Condor, and All the President’s Men. Those are three examples of literally if someone were to watch those three movies and then go watch all 12 episodes in Graphic Novel #2, they would see some similarities. They are hard to find unless you really study those films, but they’re there. The tone of it, that’s really what we introduce. You guys saw we introduced Joseph Carver, and what’s he up to, right? Well, I can tell you right now it ain’t good, and somebody’s gotta investigate it. And Iris in investigating it has already gotten into a lot of trouble because she got sucked into a mirror. What does that mean for her? So that’s the investigation, I’ll use thee words “paranoid conspiracy”, that’s the kind of world that’s going to be opened up here in this back-half. So it’s The Flash’s version of a sci-fi thriller. Does that make sense?

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Yeah, yeah absolutely. So sort of jumping ahead a little bit, we know that Wally West is going to be returning this season, and it’s obviously highly anticipated, we’re wondering what you can reveal about what his return will bring to this season?

ERIC WALLACE: When Wally comes back it’s not the same old Wally. Being in Tibet will change you if you embrace the tenets of tibet (laughs), he’s going to come back a little older and a little wiser, and this is a spoiler I don’t mind saying, he might just have a new ability or two, and that’s part of the fun. Sometimes abilities don’t have to be crazy and intense, sometimes they can just be darn fun. That’s another thing that Keiynan said to me when we were talking, I don’t know last week or the other week, I was chatting with him and I said “Well you know, how are you feeling?” and he just said “Wow. This is the place I always wanted the character to go, I’m so happy with what we’re doing here, It almost feels like I’m a rebirth a little bit.” And that’s exciting for him, and I literally think this is the best performance of Keiynan on this show. I think when people see this episode they are gonna love it. There’s specifically a truly great Barry and Kid Flash scene, where they really get their act together in a way they haven’t been able to do since I think Keiynan’s first appearance on the show way back in Season 2. So it was really kind of an honor to bring back that special magic between the two of them and explore how their relationship has been changed because y’know Kid Flash… his name might still be Kid Flash but maybe he’s a man now. Maybe he’s grown up a bit, and that’s what’s exciting. So look for that in that episode, I think it comes out in a really unique way that I don’t think the audience is quite going to see coming because it works into the plot and the villain of the week, so it’s really fun but it does bode very well for I think the future of Kid Flash and I’m very hopeful that this isn’t the last time we see Kid Flash. I’m anxious to see what the audience thinks, I hope they enjoy it, we enjoyed writing it and making it.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Yeah. So you mentioned how Kid Flash sort of ties into the latter half of the season, so what storylines are you excited to explore in the back half of the season?

ERIC WALLACE: Well the main ones I think would be Iris’, you know? What happens to Iris in the mirror? We wanted very specifically to get that out of the way in the opener and I’m not one of those people who like to tortue the audience, I don’t think that’s fair, I like to play fair with them, so you will find out next [episode] what is on the other side of that mirror. We’ll get exploring, you will not have to wait eight episodes and all that stuff. The first three episodes very quickly get into what’s up with Iris and what happened and what will be her journey this season. I’m extremely excited about that. I’m also excited to go exploring more of Team Citizen, which we introduced at the end of last year. It was very important not to just have Team Flash, because that investigates meta crimes and whatnot, it was very important to also have Team Citizen be an equal part of the storytelling. Allegra, Camilla, and Iris as human beings investigating real truths in the world. Let’s face it, I think we live in a time where truth and journalism has never been more important and I want to make sure that gets left even in the smallest way in our fantastical stories.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Yeah so obviously All the President’s Men that’s a clear influence from what you were saying earlier.

ERIC WALLACE: Correct. Correct. Those thrillers that I mentioned had a influence on me when I watched them in college and I hadn’t seen them in 15 years or something like that and kind of “poach the best” or “pay homage” right? (laughs) So yeah I’m very much looking forward to that, I’m looking forward to Kid Flash’s return and what that’ll mean going forward for the show. I’m very excited about exploring new facets of old villains, I’m kind of obsessed with that. So you will see at least two, I’ll give you a number, at least two old villains from the past in the back half who maybe have changed in the post-crisis world. And that’s gonna be really exciting I think for people.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: So yeah obviously a synopsis was actually released for “Grodd Friended Me”, an old villain, and what can you tell us about that coming episode and what it means having Gorilla City on Earth-Prime?

ERIC WALLACE: How can I answer that without spoiling?

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Ah don’t worry about that just say whatever you want

ERIC WALLACE: Right, sure you want me to do that. Well first of all, not a ton of people know this, everyone around here does, but Gorilla Grodd is my favorite flash villain. And I don’t mean that just in the show, even from the comic books. I am obsessed with Gorilla Grodd and have been since I was probably, y’know, eight years old. I just think that a talking psychic gorilla might just be the coolest thing ever invented. OR maybe I watched too many Planet of the Apes movies. I remember, I think subsciously, there’s an influence of Beneath the Planet of the Apes running through that Grodd story. It’s hard to see, but now that I’m thinking about it, I think that must’ve been in the back of my mind a little bit. I take the movies that I loved as a kid or in college and they go into this crazy mill of The Flash and weird things come out, so they’re not always recognizable. I was a huge planet of the apes fanatic as a kid. So I think for this “Grodd Friended Me”, I’d tell the audience without spoiling anything, look at the title. Look at what it means, I think you should take that title literally. And if we do that, you might see something in Grodd you’ve never seen before. And that’s exciting. So yes you’ve got that old villain coming back but obviously he’s not the only one.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: In Episode 1, there was a slight feature of Godspeed and we were wondering if we’ll see a payoff of that in this season? You’ve been mentioning old villains quite a lot is that what you’re perhaps hinting to or?

ERIC WALLACE: Let’s just say there will be more Godspeed coming. Who knows when or where but it will come.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Can we expect any more Barry and Iris team-ups in regards to going on missions and solving mysteries together? You’ve obviously mentioned quite a few times All the President’s Men and will that feature into them sort of sleuthing together?

ERIC WALLACE: Yes, you will literally see that in the very next episode. Without giving any plot stuff away. And it’s one of my favorite episodes. It’s so great getting to see Grant and Candice working together to solve a mystery, it’s one of the joys of this season. I hope the audience enjoys it as much as we do.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Final question, and thank you so much for your time today by the way

ERIC WALLACE: Sure, sure.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: This question comes from sort of the audience members of DiscussingFilm have asked this quite a lot and most notably asked by sort of a friend of the show named Anthony, who just keeps asking us to ask you, will The Flash’s gold boots from the comics ever make an appearance in the future?

ERIC WALLACE: Yes. They will. Eventually. But not this season. I too am a fan of the gold boots, Grant is a fan of the gold boots, but not this season. We will eventually get there, I would ask for patience.

MICHAEL SLAVIN: Right, so that’s us done, would you like to shout anything out in regards to The Flash or anything else you have going on?

ERIC WALLACE: Ah nah I’m too busy doing this man (laughs) this is sort of an all encompassing hobby as it were, but I do just want to thank all of the fans for their support, for continuing to come back every week, with whatever platform you’re watching on, it’s still greatly appreciated, and we have you in our minds and hearts when we write this episode, we might write them in a vacuum, but literally I tell my writers all the time “If you were watching this show, what would be cool to see this week.” And I hope folks enjoy the cool factor because this is the season of thrills and there will be a few, I think big surprises, that thrilled us and we hope you are thrilled too. So thank you for watching and keep watching.

https://discussingfilm.net/2020/02/11/eric-wallace-talks-the-flash-and-what-to-expect-in-season-6b-workingtitle/

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ventivante · 5 years

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Part One summary | can be found here! genre | jennifer’s body!au, college!au, horror, supernatural, humor, angst, demon!wooyoung; wooyoung x reader, mingi x reader warnings | language, discussions of death, some blatant blasphemy, and very bad/cliche humor word count | 2.1k

DISCLAIMER: this fic contains lots of dark subject matter and i will put any specific trigger warnings before each part. i do not condone the unhealthy relationships portrayed in this fic, nor do i believe the characters’ real life counterparts to display these behaviors.

happy halloween y’all!

“God, just shoot me in the face,” Wooyoung whined aloud, leaning his head back to emphasize just how unhappy he was with studying.

“Stop, you’re gonna get us kicked out again,” you whispered across the table at him.

“Good! I hate this place anyway, it reeks of decaying dreams and B.O.,” Wooyoung announced dramatically, his voice still at full volume.

Against your better judgement, you’d invited Wooyoung to study with you at the library. It was against your better judgement for two reasons: first, because Wooyoung didn’t function well in environments where you needed to be quiet and you were both already on the librarian’s shit list, and second, because you felt like you owed it to him after ignoring him all weekend.

Another unspoken reason you weren’t ready to admit was that Wooyoung had been acting . . . weird over the past few days. Even weirder than he normally was. For starters, he had dyed his hair—gone were the black locks you had grown up alongside, now replaced by sandy blond, perfectly gelled movie-star hair. His response to being asked why he’d changed it?

I got bored, he had told you, as if it were the simplest question in the world.

Of course, you knew that abrupt hairstyle changes usually took place in the midst of an emotional crisis, but you hadn’t pressed the issue further. If Wooyoung wanted to talk about things that were bothering him, he eventually would on his own terms—you had learned that the hard way.

Not only had he changed his hair, but he had started dressing really different as well. Normally Wooyoung opted for comfortable sweaters and hoodies, with some standard t-shirt-and-jeans ensembles thrown in the mix. Now he dressed as if his daily commute was on a Harley Davidson motorcycle. You didn’t know where his sudden sense of style had come from, but you guessed it may have had something to do with the aftermath of the party yet again.

Despite all of the red flags, you wanted to find out just what had caused the sudden changes, and you felt partially guilty that you had been the source of it. You figured if you spent more time with him, he would open up to you and finally forgive you.

“Come on, let’s get out of here and grab some sushi, I’m staaarved,” Wooyoung pouted as he rested his head on a propped fist, eyes wide and lower lip protruding in a wholly pathetic display.

Even though he had been acting strange, Wooyoung had been in very high spirits. He was constantly joking with you and laughing over the smallest things, not common indicators that Wooyoung was undergoing mental duress. His current behavior also wasn’t a surprise, as he’d always had a distaste for studying.

“Let me just finish these last couple sections,” you sighed as you flipped the page of your anatomy book.

“I can give you the short version: Adam shoves his dick into Eve’s vagina, boink boink boink, and that’s the miracle of life,” Wooyoung explained crudely, even throwing in a few vulgar gestures for added emphasis. “There, I even included curriculum for the Bible thumpers.”

You grimaced at his tactless anatomy lesson and shut your book without another word. “That’s gross and blasphemous.”

Wooyoung only shrugged before folding his hands on the table’s surface and fixing a now serious look on you. “Don’t tell me you’re still squeamish about sex, Y/N.”

“I’ve never been squeamish, I just don’t need to shout about it from the rooftops.” You hoped that the blush you were undoubtedly now sporting didn’t undermine your words.

“Oh, boo, so boring,” Wooyoung rolled his eyes and slumped back onto the table, his chin resting on his forearms.

“Hey guys.”

You jumped as someone slid into the seat next to you, scaring the daylights out of you. Your pen was raised, ready to attack your would-be assailant before you realized it was only Yunho—one of your and Wooyoung’s few mutual friends—who had made a sudden appearance.

“Can you not just drop in like that?” you asked, lowering the pen now that you were no longer in danger.

“I announced myself! Maybe you just need to have more awareness for your surroundings!” Yunho whispered shrilly.

“Shh!” A fourth person joined in, this time from the librarian desk, where the older woman was giving the three of you the evil eye as she let out a particularly firm shush. You ducked your head bashfully and gave her an apologetic wave, hoping to convey that you would keep your friends in check.

“Have you guys heard?” Yunho started again, now lowering his voice to a more library-friendly volume. “They found a dead kid in the woods out by Hongjoong’s frat house, where that huge party was this weekend.”

You straightened at the news, feeling your heart skip a beat. “What?”

“Well, not a kid kid, it was a student here,” Yunho continued. “But they found him just yesterday. They think it was some kind of animal attack—dude was ripped to shreds from what I heard.”

“Jesus,” you breathed, your stomach beginning to churn at the thought. “What kind of animal?”

“I dunno, a wolf or even a bear maybe?”

“Dumbass, there’s no bears around here,” Wooyoung chimed in, looking positively bored with the shift in conversation.

Yunho cast an offended glare on the newly-dyed blond. “Hey, it’s possible! Climate change, bitch! Animals can come crawling here from all over now, the polar bears are migrating.”

Wooyoung rolled his eyes. “So you think this kid got mauled by a polar bear?”

“I’m just saying it’s possible.”

“Shhhhh!”

This time a student at the next table over had expressed their own irritation at the rising volume yet again. You sent them an apologetic nod of the head before turning back to your friends and lowering your voice once more. “Do we know for sure it’s an animal? Is there going to be like, an investigation or something?”

The taller boy shrugged and leaned a little closer to you to match your tone. “Cops were all over the place earlier but it’s calmed down a bit now. I think it’s officially been listed as an animal. Or, what they think it is at least. But I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that it’s some psycho killer, stalking young, vulnerable co-eds.” He grinned widely at the end of his statement, waggling his eyebrows in an exaggerated motion before poking you in the side.

You swatted his hand away and released a noise of discontent. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Yunho, why don’t you make like a tree and leave before I chop you down at the knees?” Wooyoung posed, leaning forward on the table with an acidic smile stretching over his features.

“Come on, I’m just kidding,” Yunho laughed. “I’m sure that they’ll find whatever animal it was and put it down.”

You wished you could be as lighthearted about the situation as the other two, but the news brought on a sense of dread that was seeping into your stomach like sour milk. Had it really been a random animal attack? And if so, what kind of animal could rip a person to shreds, as Yunho had not-so-delicately put it? Or worse, what if there was a murderer wandering around campus waiting for their next victim to come along? Were you actually safe?

“There’s probably nothing to worry about at this point,” Yunho added, as if he were reading your mind.

“Good to know. On that note, I think it’s time for us to leave.” Wooyoung rose from his seat and gave you a pointed look.

This time, you actually agreed with him and began to gather your things, shoving them haphazardly into your bag. Wooyoung was at your side in the next second helping you before focusing his attention back onto Yunho.

“Try not to get eaten by a polar bear on your way home, Yunho,” Wooyoung winked.

“Bite me,” the taller boy quipped, but you and Wooyoung were already on your way to the door.

Darkness was quickly approaching as you walked beside Wooyoung back to your apartment. It made you weary, especially after hearing Yunho’s news about the attack. Your best friend, however, seemed completely unfazed by the potential danger as he slung an arm over your shoulders and hummed quietly.

“You aren’t worried?” you asked him.

“Worried? About what Yunho said?” he scoffed then and only pulled you closer to him. “Definitely not. And you shouldn’t be either. You’ve got me to protect you!”

You let out an amused bark of laughter. “You? The same person who makes me kill the spiders in your room?”

“That was when we were ten!” Wooyoung whined, giving you yet another pout. “I’m a man now, in case you hadn’t noticed!”

“Please spare me the toxic masculinity spiel,” you retorted, albeit with another giggle.

A comfortable silence fell over the two of you as you continued down the sidewalk. You allowed yourself to enjoy the moment, because it felt like it had been years since you were both this close—not just physically, but also on an emotional level. You took a second to glance up at your longtime best friend and study him.

Wooyoung’s skin glowed in the waning rays of sunlight, blemish free and smooth as fine porcelain. His nose was a little large, something he had always been concerned with, but you saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. Even his dark eyes shone brightly as the day faded into dusk. And if you weren’t mistaken, you could have sworn he had been hitting the gym too—the arm wrapped around you was firm and not as wiry as you remembered it being during childhood.

You hadn’t admitted it to him, but he had grown up to be very handsome, and sometimes you found yourself wondering how things would be if the two of you had been more than just friends. It had always been a passing thought before, but now as he held you against his side and you looked up at him, the thought didn’t seem . . . particularly bad.

Just as you were rounding the last corner before your building came into view, you decided to ask Wooyoung what you had been meaning to for the past few days.

“Wooyoung, you’re not mad at me, are you? About the party, I mean.”

There was a short pause and you felt Wooyoung’s hand squeeze your arm gently, just as your phone chirped from your pocket. Automatically, you reached for it, digging it out and bringing the device up to check the notification.

It was a text message from an unfamiliar number, which made you squint in confusion. A split second later, realization dawned on you and you let out a small gasp.

It had to be Mingi, the boy you had met at the party.

You smiled at the thought then quickly remembered you had been waiting on Wooyoung to answer your question. You glanced back up at him and saw that he was eyeing your phone with a furrowed brow. His arm now felt tense and heavy around your shoulders but his voice was still light when he spoke again.

“Your friend from the party?”

“Oh, yeah, I think so. I’ll text him later—”

Wooyoung’s arm dropped from your shoulders and he took a step away from you, creating distance that might as well have been a brick wall between you two. He stared down at his feet for a few moments then lifted his head and smiled weakly. You noticed that the smile failed to reach his eyes.

“Listen, Y/N—forget about what happened at the party. I told you, it wasn’t a big deal and I’m over it. I’ll catch you later, okay?”

Wooyoung started to turn away, shoving his hands into his pockets as he went. You felt your small window of opportunity slipping away, so you reached out for him, latching onto his jacket.

“Wait! Don’t you wanna come up and watch a movie or something?” you asked, eyes wide with an unspoken plea.

Wooyoung peeked over his shoulder at you while his lips curled into a lopsided smirk. “Maybe some other time. I’ve got dinner plans.”

#wooyoung's body #ateez #wooyoung #jung wooyoung #wooyoung fic #jung wooyoung fic #mingi #song mingi #mingi fic #song mingi fic #wooyoung x reader #mingi x reader #ateez fic #mine #writings

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creativity-is-rebellion · 4 years

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More Top 20 Must-See Horror Movies

Especially now we are in isolation, who doesn’t crave a good horror movie to watch? To that purpose, I have created yet another top 20 must-see horror movies, along with why you should be watching them. So get into your comfy clothes and blanket, grab some popcorn, and settle in to watch these horror gems (WARNING: May contain spoilers).

1) Ginger Snaps (2000)

I first saw this movie when I was fifteen years old, and, watching it recently, I was still impressed how it handles the perils of transitioning from teenhood to womanhood. Ginger Snaps follows the story of two outcast sisters, Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigitte (Emily Perkins), in the mindless suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger's first period, she is savagely attacked by a wild creature. Ginger Snaps is a terrifying movie with good character development, acting is convincing and it has a fast-paced story line. If you're into well-done horror movies Ginger Snaps is the movie for you. It is one of the best modern werewolf movies I have seen.

2) Annihilation (2018)

Drawing on mythology and body horror, Annihilation is an intelligent film that asks big questions and refuses to provide easy answers. It is Sci-fi horror at its best, boasting a very intriguing and unique idea whilst entertaining the viewer throughout the film. Definitely a must-watch.

3) Green Room (2015)

A punk rock band becomes trapped in a secluded venue after finding a scene of violence. For what they saw, the band themselves become targets of violence from a gang of white power skinheads who want to eliminate all evidence of the crime. Influenced by exploitation movies of the 1970s (and punk music of the 1980s), this horror-thriller is rooted in a gripping, grisly kind of realism without resorting to lazy coincidence or stupidity. This is again a fresh take on horror and worth a view.

4) 1922 (2017)

I learned from a great film critic many years back that your own best judgement of a movie is best discovered when you realise that you are still thinking of it many days later. This Stephen King film stays true to the iconic master with all the tell-tale signs of a Kings classic: A haunting grimness that lingers throughout the movie, a tragedy and of course, outstanding performances. The mother that returns from the dead leaves you in a crazy suspense of whether it is simply a dream, a man’s demented insanity, or an actual reality. Thomas Jane’s performance was stellar and totally believable as a farmer in rural America in 1922. He actually takes you through the movie as if you were part of him and what is going on. The message that Stephen King leaves you with is dreadfully powerful of how greed can destroy all. Definitely worth the watch, especially for Stephen King fans.

5) Evil Dead (1981; remake 2013)

Both versions of this movie are great, but I have a special fondness for the original, which was Sam Raimi’s directorial debut. The camerawork is amazing for a low-budget film, and the creepy atmosphere is eerily accurate. We feel Ash’s pain when his friend, sister and girlfriend are one-by-one changed into Deadites, and the ending keeps you guessing, and wanting, a sequel. I am quite a fan of the Evil Dead franchise actually, and have just finished watching the TV adaptation Ash vs. Evil Dead. I’m savouring the last episodes, and am sad that it got cancelled. I look forward to more from this franchise, hopefully in the not-to-distant future.

6) Get Out (2017)

This film is unique, telling the tale of young black man who meets his white girlfriend’s parents for the first time. Jordan Peele’s film delivers a chilling satire of liberal racism in the US. More than just a standard-issue thriller, this brutal, smart movie is impeccably made, as well as surprising, shocking, and funny, while also offering a compassionate, thoughtful look at race. Expect only the very best a film has to offer, with a nasty twist at the end that you won’t see coming.

7) Hell Night (1981)

One of the best things about this movie which follows fraternity and sorority pledges who spend the night in a mansion haunted by victims of a family massacre is that it stars legendary Scream Queen of The Exorcist fame, Linda Blair. Other than that, prepare for a fun, wild ride, the way every good slasher movie should be.

8) Insidious Part 2 (2013)

I actually enjoyed this sequel more than the first movie, as it was less plodding and more action-packed, with an intriguing antagonist in the form of the mysterious “Bride in Black,” who turns out to be the evil spirit of serial killer Parker Crane, who, as we know from the previous movie (SPOILER ALERT) has taken over the body of Josh Lambert, and is fighting for control of his soul. I enjoyed seeing the return of Elise Rainier, who was (SPOILER ALERT AGAIN) killed off in the previous movie. James Wan directed this second helping even more masterfully than the first. A must-watch.

9) Sleepaway Camp (1983)

This is a campy slasher gem, where they cast real teenagers, which elevated the drama of the plot somewhat. Sleepaway Camp tells the story of a young girl named Angela who goes to Camp Arawak with her cousin Ricky. Once the two arrive at camp, a series of events/killings leads the campers to discover that there is a killer on the loose. Sleepaway Camp is not in any way intense or fast paced. However, even though many initially might look at as a “rip off” slasher film, the movie does get creative when it comes to the brutal killings and certain aspects to the film that no one saw coming. Including the jaw-dropping twist at the end. I’m not giving it away. You just have to watch it.

10) Cold Prey (Fritt Vilt) (2006)

This movie takes full advantage of its snowy, secluded set-pieces, using Norway’s harsh winter landscape to masterfully build tension and heighten the sense of isolation. As horror movies go, Cold Prey is a slow-starter, committing the first third of its running time to investigating the signs of violence scattered throughout the hotel, allowing the characters to theorise about what pernicious acts may have taken place before the hotel’s abandonment. It begins at the intriguing yet deliberate pace of a psychological horror film as the sequestered friends, initially inebriated and giggly, explore the hotel and sharing secrets, but the movie’s party-hard atmosphere bursts open at the 40-minute mark to reveal a black horror centre. Slick and stylish, Cold Prey is a genuine pleasure to watch.

11) The Hills Have Eyes (1977; remake 2006)

Even if it echoes a better film (namely, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the original movie is still an important one to view for lovers of the horror genre. This is a sometimes ghastly - and occasionally absurd - shocker that really gets under one's skin. Though many critics initially despised the original outing, it has since been called one of the best horror movies of the 1970s. Scary-movie specialist Wes Craven made this viscerally-violent feature on a low budget, and some horror connoisseurs call it his best. Ultimately the "normal" people strike back with a ferocious blood-lust they didn't know they had, and the question is how much a "civilised" person can be pushed before one becomes a savage. Are the Carters really all that much "better" than Jupiter and his spawn? That is a question that you, as the audience member, are required to ponder.

12) The Dawn of the Dead (2004)

This remake of George A. Romero's 1978 sequel to Night of the Living Dead soups up the zombies, cranks up the gross factor to 11, and has a lot of cheeky in-jokes about its predecessor. In comparison with the original, out are the shrieking blondes and rampaging looters, in are smart, controlled Ana (Sarah Polley as a believable nurse not afraid to wield a fire poker) and Kenneth (Ving Rhames), who is exactly the kind of cop you want walking beside you if you are facing scores of the undead.

The zombies are a bit spryer in this film, and the pregnancy of one of the main characters is not the life-giving promise it was in the first movie. But the ending is what differs most from the original. If you're a fan of the horror genre, then this flick is a welcome, if derivative, fright-fest in the school of Romero's classics.

13) The Cabin in The Woods (2011)

What starts out as another five-band teen getaway to a cabin in the woods ends up becoming a fresh take on the trope, with puppeteers behind what is taking place, in a twisted game of Choose Your Adventure. The ending is fittingly grim, but you won’t be disappointed. Definitely worth one hour and thirty-five minutes of your time.

14) The Babadook (2014)

The feature debut of writer-director Jennifer Kent is not just genuinely, deeply scary, but also a beautifully told tale of a mother and son, enriched with layers of contradiction and ambiguity. It presents grief as a demon, questions reality, and creeps out the viewer by making psychopathology seem like something that could happen to anybody. The style of the film is not teasing exactly - it's too sad and lonely - but there is certainly a hair-pulling mixture of glum laughter and vast apprehension. Is the demon real? Does it matter? That’s for you to judge. Either way, if it’s in a word, or if it’s with a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook.

15) Suspiria (Original and the Remake - 1977 and 2019 respectively)

Suspiria is a baroque piece of esoteric expressionism that you enter - and exit - without understanding so much as feeling. It's always fascinating to watch; the thrills and spills are so classy and fast that the movie becomes in effect what horror movies seemed like when you were too young to get in to see them. Director Dario Agento works so hard for his effects -- throwing around shock cuts, coloured lights, and peculiar camera angles -that it would be impolite not to be a little frightened. This entry stands out as it is a visually beautiful horror movie, a bright fantasy that lives off its aesthetic. If you are a horror fan and haven’t seen this movie yet, then you’re not living right. The remake is also worth a watch, something that is oftentimes unique in the horror genre.

16) A Quiet Place (2018)

This gripping, clever monster movie is one of those rare genre treats that seizes on a simple, unique idea and executes it so perfectly and concisely that it elicits satisfying squeals of delight. It's directed and co-written by Krasinski, who's best known for his work in comedy but translates his experience in that genre to the expert building and releasing of tension here. A Quiet Place is, in many ways, like an extended classic horror movie sequence, such as famous ones in The Birds or Aliens, wherein the heroes must try not to disturb packs of resting monsters.

At the same time, Krasinski uses his quiet moments like music, ranging from moments of restful beauty -- including a father-son trip to a waterfall, where it's noisy enough that they can talk and even shout -- to moments of pause. A loud noise can cause a jump, but it's immediately followed by tension and dread: Will the creatures come this time? The real beauty is the movie's primal quality, based on the most basic elements of life, such as survival and protection of the species. No explanation is given for the monsters' existence; they, like us, are just here. Images of water, sand, bare feet, crops, and plant life serve to underline the theme of life itself. A few overly familiar horror movie clichés keep it from being perfect, but otherwise A Quiet Place is so good that it will leave viewers speechless.

17) The Exorcist (1973)

Once famously dubbed ‘the most terrifying movie ever made,” this movie is steeped in urban legend, especially concerning the unfortunate happenings that occurred when it was being made.

If you think your teen is ready for this shocking film, keep in mind that some audience members in the '70s reportedly fainted after seeing Dick Smith's grisly makeup effects on Blair. In some extreme cases, viewers even required psychiatric care. Also, the moans, snarls, and profane utterances from Regan (most are actually the dubbed-in voice of a well-known older actress, Mercedes McCambridge) amount to some of the most chilling audio ever done for film.

Thanks in part to Linda Blair's wrenching, Oscar-nominated performance, The Exorcist was a huge hit, earning back 10 times its $10 million budget (a then-lavish sum, outrageous for a "mere" horror flick). Movie historians cite it (along with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) as the conclusive end of old-school spook shows featuring Dracula and Frankenstein and bobbing rubber bats. If you haven’t watched it yet, you may have your horror movie fan card revoked.

18) The Final Destination Franchise (2000 - 2011)

If I had to list all of the movies in the Final Destination franchise in order of quality, I would say 5, 1, 2, 3, and 4. Fourth instalment withstanding, the series is a formidable addition to the horror genre, as the invisible killer, Death Itself, stalks its victims and kills them off in creatively gruesome ways after they initially cheat death. The fifth addition contains an awesome twist at the end which in hindsight you should have seen coming throughout the entire movie. Pay close attention. The only downside is (SPOILER ALERT) that none of the characters throughout the series really survive.

19) Let the Right One In (Lat den Ratte Komma In) (2008)

Please watch the Swedish version, and power through the subtitles. This is a horror movie that is tragic on multiple levels, as it deals with a lonely and bullied boy who so happens to live next door to a pubescent vampire. When her benefactor dies, we see how the main character’s life will also unfold, and what lies in his future. A must-see film that is more than just your average horror movie.

20) Terrifier (2017)

This movie definitely gets back to basics by paying homage to the original slasher classics. Art the Clown, who we are originally introduced to in the 2013 movie All Hallow’s Eve (also worth a watch), is a vicious horror movie villain who kills just for kicks. He also subverts the horror movie trope by using a weapon which was previously considered off-limits to horror movie villains, especially those with supernatural abilites (mostly, anyway). This movie also contains one of the bloodiest deaths in recent horror movie history. I like the use of practical effects over the often-overdone CGI. What is Art the Clown? Deranged killer? Demonic entity? Who cares? Its all good fun. Watch it now on Netflix.

I’ll probably be back again some time in the future with a further 20 horror movies that are worth a watch, because there are so many of them. To everyone, take care during these uncertain times.

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polygon-streams · 5 years

Text

22/04/19 - Jenna & Pat streaming Days Gone

Pat and Jenna are streaming Days Gone for one hour because that’s how much they’re allowed to show us. The game is about fighting zombies (”freakers”), other humans, and keeping the main character’s brother alive, but mostly actually about riding a hog around. They also discuss the horror genre, Alien vs Aliens and if you can pet dogs in this game.

Link to the VOD.

The stream starts with a “Stay Tuned” screen, but Jenna is welcoming people in the chat.

“I’m just oiling my bike up, polishing my decals.”

“Yes I am steaming up my hawg”

Pat enters the chat to say “Yeehog”

Video starts at just after 6:00, Pat begins by saying “Yeehog” out loud, Jenna echoes back, Pat then immediately goes to fix sound levels

Jenna’s bike is named “The Tenderloin” and we’ll see why when she starts running down some zombies

Jenna’s played about 10 hours of this game, but we’re back to a specific save

Pat: “It seems like a video game” Jenna: “It certainly is that”

Subs get turned on, game audio gets turned down, Jenna says writing of the game is surprisingly good

Jenna: “about to make some friends”, Jenna then attacks and kills a man with a bat

Stealth is important in this game, freakers (zombies) can take a lot of damage, but stealth attacks allow one hit kills

Explanation of the game: it is like Last of Us, but with “sick hogs”

“There were no hogs in Last of Us, which I think is one of the biggest shortcomings.” - Pat

This is one hour into the game play and they’re only allowed to show us one hour of the game from this point, if they go over time Sony will send a biker gang and Jenna will be in trouble for being “too cool a biker”

An important mechanic of the game is marking “boyos” with binoculars, because enemies wander and it tracks their health

Pat thinks zombies sound like they are eating spaghetti. He also makes spaghetti eating noises. Don’t like that.

Jenna hasn’t had an issue with ammo management, Pat is excited for some “hog action”

Chat asks if the game is running at 60 fsp. Pat: “My gamer eyes tell me big no”

Chat really likes Pat’s gamer eyes

Embargo on this game is apparently pretty strict and maybe the lower fps is a preview setting

“Should we go deal with Crazy Willie’s infestation?” - Pat

Pat: “Oh, cool, you got a fleshlight” Jenna: “Uh, yeah, I guess you could call it that”

Pat, at the chat: “I said flashlight, why is everyone being weird?” (No, you didn’t)

The controller starts speaking and neither of them like it

They’re talking about hogs now, Jenna: “Hog ride real good”, “Hell yes you can drift this hog”, her previous hog got “metroided” (Pat’s word)

Jenna just ran over a zombie for chat. She did that for us.

Someone from chat says “Jenna is too good at games to know what happens when you fuck up”, Jenna is one with the hog, in tune with it

Jenna doesn’t like zombies surprise attacking her since she’s talking on stream

She goes to deal with a zombie infestation and keeps saying she’ll “release the Molly” (Molotov cocktails), she is nervous because there weren’t many zombies inside the nest

Apparently the freakers eat each other ??? like when one of them is dead, the other will eat it

Jenna kills a zombie, Pat: “Knife to meet you”

She said that if you kill a zombie, you keep their EAR!!

There are children zombies, which are called newts, and adult zombies will sometimes attack and kill them, which is “something”

There are human enemies in this game as well, Jenna: “as we all know, humanity is the true monster”

Pat says the zombs seem really dumb

He thinks they’re too easy to kill, but I think Jenna is just too good at gaming

They’re talking about horror! (timestamp 27:30, if you want a discussion about the origin of zombies in this game and whether they are infected or not)

Jenna says that she keeps thinking we’re over zombies, but we’re not, she predicts environmental horror as next big thing

“We’re seeing an emergence of horror movies where people without disabilities are forced to live the life of people with disabilities. Which isn’t great.” Go off Jenna.

Pat talks about Godzilla and climate change, also he thinks the new Godzilla looks good because it looks like a bunch of big monsters fighting

Pat asks Jenna what her favourite horror archetypes are

Jenna likes witches, but doesn’t like how a lot of the stuff is like “what if we were right for burning witches”, she also likes undead and cult stories

Jenna doesn’t like and understand the grading - she got 44% and doesn’t understand why

Pat says he thinks it looked boring, Jenna says she’s already done this story, so she knew what to expect

Continuing with horror (timestamp 31:00): Alien or Aliens? Pat likes the first one more, the second one is “a bunch of James Cameron bullshit”, they then discuss why they like the first film more

They are wondering how much of a good guy the main character is, as he kills nearly all other humans he meets, Pat: “and then a book about their murder plans falls from their body”

Oh we’re meeting Jenna’s in-game brother. A cult burned his arm because they didn’t like his tattoos. Pat doesn’t like his tattoos either. Jenna appreciates the aesthetic of a full head tattoo.

Jenna likes that every time the main character is asked where his brother is, he tells a different lie about his location.

Pat asks about “bike juice”, they then discuss game mechanics regarding the bike

Jenna’s having some hog trouble, she ran into a fence.

Jenna’s riding to go “fuck up some humans who have done nothing to us, but someone’s paying us to do it”

Oh shoot Jenna drove too far into the human’s camp and everyone is swarming to the bike, she stealth kills some from a bush, then runs away while shooting from an AK, Pat provides extra sound effects

Someone from chat asks what happens when you die, Pat says that that’s a difficult philosophical question, another ask is if the main character is going to hell, Jenna says definitely, there was some drug delivering she had to do

Jenna killed another guy with a wooden plank, Pat: “You just introduced him to the newest millennial trend: planking.”

Chat is mad at Pat for that

They discuss Rockstar-type open world games and having to do stuff for characters you don’t like

Jenna: “You know he’s [main character] a good guy, because he let that one woman go, despite killing ten people just before.”

Everyone in chat is saying that Deacon, main character, is a true feminist (probably because he saved that one woman???)

Pat points out that the location of the game is Bend, Oregon, the location of the last Blockbuster. Jenna will keep her eyes peeled for it.

“I feel like zombie fiction just gave up on scary and just goes for stressful.” - Pat

My cat just showed up to cuddle with me and I just think that’s worth noting.

Someone from chat notes that they got a blueprint for a spike bat, because you can’t just hammer nails into a bat, need a plan for that

The in-game brother says to the main character that “That code of yours is gonna get you killed”, Jenna repeats that to Pat, is this a running joke/thing for them? (Pat nods in response)

Pat has started yawning

Jenna starts riding and says “Hogs up, boys” (timestamp 51:47, I recommend listening to it), Pat asks, while laughing, if that’s what bikers say when they start riding, Jenna says that that’s what this biker says and repeats it, Pat laughs more

Pat: “Hills are sort of nature’s bike ramps”

They’ve decided to close out the stream “just ridin’”

Oh Jenna’s STUNTIN, she drives into a tree, Pat: “you are immune to trees”

Except she just ran into some people and has to kill them

She’s just freed Charlie Day from a hostage situation

Apparently the studio that made this also made Bubsy 3D? I don’t know what that is. Pat verified that with a quick google.

Pat asked if she can drive the bike into water, it killed both the bike and the main character

Pat yawns again

Jenna took out some more humans and then stunted too hard

“Ooh my bike’s really smokin’ isn’t it?” - Jenna

“It’s vapin’. You got a vape bike now.” - Pat

Jenna says that biking is the best part of the game.

Jenna’s hog has run out of juice and they’ve just decided to end the stream there

The game will be out on the 26th, that is it.

Jenna, rotating the camera: “Here’s Deacon. He’s doing his best, but that involves a lot of murder.”

Lighting round: haven’t seen other outfits for Deacon, can do hog upgrades, can do new weapons, the bike has a decal and a bandana (it’s part of Jenna’s gang)

Final note: Jenna hasn’t seen any dogs in the game, but there are wolves. You cannot pet the wolves, more “die by their hands”.

They might stream this game again once it’s out of embargo, they’ll stream also when they have other games they want to show us.

Pat has got the lunch time sleepies and that’s why he’s yawning, he says that Deacon is a bastard and “hog up, boys”, and that’s the end of the stream.

#polygon #days gone #jenna stoeber #patrick gill #pat gill #twitch #sidenote: there's two of us admins who worked on this post and sadly only one of us has a cat #winky #sofia

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yellowcanna · 5 years

Text

Two Sides, Same Coin

Summary: Since the beginning of Quirks, Yokohama has announced independence from Japan and closed itself from the rest of the world.

To this day and age, no one knows what lies within the city of Yokohama—or that was what the public was made to believe. In reality, Yokohama has long fallen into the control of the world’s largest criminal organization known as the Port Mafia.

Follow Class 1-A as their principal organized a field trip to Yokohama! In their short trip there, they must change their perspectives and learn exactly what it means to be justice and what it means to be villains.

Rating: T

Genre: Crossover, hint of shounen-ai (boy love)

Pairing: Contains mild Soukoku (Dazai x Chuuya) and Shin Soukoku (Akutagawa x Atsushi) if you squint

Author: Canna / Yellow Canna

Status: Ongoing

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◅ PREV MAIN NEXT ▻

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CHAPTER 4

YOKOHAMA

The day of the trip to Yokohama arrived faster than the students had anticipated.

Sunday at 4:45 am, Midoriya Izuku stepped out of his dorm. He was fifteen minutes early, but he found that pretty much everyone was already gathered at the school gate. Pulling along his luggage, he hurriedly joined his classmates.

“Deku-kun!” Uraraka was the first to greet him. “Good morning.”

“Ah, goodmor—NING?!” Midoriya squeaked out that last part when he saw the heavy bags beneath her eyes. “W-what happened?!”

“Seems she didn’t sleep last night, gero.” Tsuyu who was standing beside Uraraka explained.

“N-no, I think I slept for maybe three hours…” Uraraka weakly laughed as she scratched the back of her head. “I guess I’m too excited!”

Excited?

Midoriya could only muster a weak smile. He knew that was a lie. Rather than excitement, they were all feeling nervous, anxious and unease. He hadn’t gotten much sleep either…not since learning about Yokohama.

Today was finally the day where they will enter the city of criminals…how could they not worry?

“That’s no good, Uraraka-kun!” The class president reprimanded as he came over to them. “Not sleeping is bad for your body! Not to mention it will cloud your judgment and slow your reflexes when in battle!”

“Good morning Iida—KUN?!” Midoriya’s voice cracked once again when he saw the taller boy. His eyes met with those bloodshot and dry eyes that reminded him of Aizawa’s. They were staring unblinkingly into the distance with blackened bags underneath.

"I heard he's been standing at the gate since 9:00..." Sero whispered helpfully.

“Eh?!” Midoriya gapped but gasp, but when he turned to Sero, he found that the other got dark circles under his eyes as well.

No, it wasn’t just them. Now that he observed his classmates closely, they were all talking quietly, lacking their usual rowdiness and energy. Nearly all of them got dark bags under their eyes except for Todoroki, Tsuyu, Shouji, and Tokoyami—though honestly, Midoriya couldn't tell on the last one due to the feathers.

"Kacchan isn’t here yet?” Midoriya asked, immediately noticing his childhood friend's lack of presence. Kirishima wasn’t here either.

“We’re here!” A voice shouted as Midoriya turned to see the familiar and energetic redhead running over with an angry Bakugou—as usual.

"Man, I can't believe I overslept!" Kirishima laughed as they stopped before the group. “Good thing Bakugou came to get me or I’ll get scolded by Aizawa-sensei!”

“I DIDN’T COME FOR YOU!!” Bakugou roared. “I WAS JUST PASSING BY—”

“So!” Kisirhima turned to the rest of the class, oblivious to his ragging companion beside him. “Did something happened last night? You guys don’t look so good!”

“HEY! DON’T FUCKING IGNORE ME!!”

Fortunately, principal Nezu arrived at that moment with All Might and their homeroom teacher. If any of the teachers noticed the class' sleep-deprived states, they didn’t say a word about it.

“Ahem~” The principal cleared his throat as he stood before the students with his paws folded behind his back. “Good morning everyone! I hoped you all had a great rest!”

Midoriya couldn’t help but sweat-dropped like most of his classmates. Was the principal trying to crack a joke, or was he poking fun at their lack of sleep?

"First, I must thank you all for choosing to participate in this trip. It takes great courage to decide to attend this field trip, and I am happy to see that not a single student has backed out. I understand that a lot of you are feeling unease, but I am sure that will change once you've entered Yokohama."

The students stared at the white mouse quietly. Despite his words, none of them were reassured. How could they? They are entering a criminal city—an isolated criminal city.

“Inside Yokohama, there is one rule you must always remember to follow,” Nezu told them seriously, the smile he wore just seconds ago vanishing from that furry face. "That rule is that no Quirk shall be used inside the city, no matter the circumstances. Please do bear that in mind."

All at once, gasps could be heard as the students stared at their teachers in disbelieve.

No quirks?!

That’s pretty much asking them to walk into a lion cage naked without any weapons to defend themselves!

“Sensei!” Yaoyorozu quickly raised her hand to object.

“Yes,” Nezu nodded to her, giving her permission to speak.

“What if it was for self-protection? Can we use Quirk then?”

“…No, you may not.” Nezu answered.

The students couldn’t even gasp anymore. They all stared at the principal as if he had lost his mind. Perhaps he had, that would explain this ridiculous rule.

“We can’t use Quirk even if we’re attacked?!” Kaminari shouted, not bothering to raise his hand anymore.

“That’s right!” Ashido joined in.

“Absolutely no Quirk is to be used,” Nezu repeated. “As long as you do not use your Quirks, there will be no danger to you. Please keep that in mind.”

The students wanted to say more, but Nezu raised his paw, silencing all of their protests.

“The Port Mafia has sent their guides to greet you at the Tokyo harbour. Once there, they will take you into Yokohama. The ride will be two hours long. If you need to use the bathroom, now is the time, as there won’t be any stops in-between!”

Midoriya could barely hear his words, as his mind was stuck on the fact that none of them were allowed to use their Quirks.

But why?

Why aren’t they allowed to use their Quirks?

Midoriya wasn’t blind, and neither are his classmates. They all saw the principal’s expression when he had told them that they couldn’t use their Quirks. The principal was firmly set on that rule, even if they argue, he won’t change his mind.

“In Yokohama, you will be under the care of an agency called the Armed Detective Agency. During your stay, you will all be following them and observing how they work.”

“A detective firm?!” Kirishima blurted out, obviously not expecting that. In fact, none of them had expected to hear that they will be staying at such a …lawful sounding place.

So maybe…it won’t be as dangerous as they thought?

“Well, that will be all from me!” Nezu said as with a wave of his paw. “I wish you all a safe and fun trip!”

With that, the principal left, leaving behind Aizawa and All Might to take care of the rest.

“I will now take attendance," Aizawa said, holding up the clipboard with the class attendance sheet. “When I call your name, come up and hand your bags to the driver,” he gestured to the bus driver stepping out of the tour bus. "After that, you can get on the bus and find a seat."

With that, Aizawa started going through the names.

One by one, the students went up, giving their luggage to the driver and grabbing a seat on the bus.

Midoriya ended up sitting right next to a super uptight Iida. Across from them on the same row were Uraraka and Tsuyu.

Bakugou was with Kirishima at the very back. Bakugou looked as if he couldn’t care less about the whole thing while Kirishima was checking his backpack to see if he got everything.

Koda shivering in his seat while Todoroki next to him had already fallen back to sleep. Apparently, it was too early for him.

Mineta and Kaminari sat by each other, looked as if the world was ending as they complained about the ridiculous request from the principal.

Ashido and Hagakure sitting in front of them were doing the same.

Shouji and Tokoyami were quiet, but their faces showed how nervous they actually were. Sero and Ojiro were very much the same.

Jirou and Yaoyorozu quietly talking over what had happened.

Aoyama was shaking so back he looked like he was going to faint. He was spluttering and crying while Satou who was unfortunate enough to sit beside him tried to calm him down.

When the bus finally moved, all their conversations stopped, leaving nothing but silence in the vehicle.

The ride felt like an eternity, especially with how two-third of the class were heavily lacking in sleep. The shaking of the bus was like sweet temptation trying to lull them in, but the tension in their brains forced them to stay awake and alert.

Aizawa and All Might sitting at the very front pretended not to notice the class’s unusual silence. After all, there was nothing they could say or do that can ease the children’s mind. So after the first half-hour of quietness, someone finally couldn't stand it anymore and decided to talk about something.

That someone is Kaminari.

“That detective place that principal Nezu said…what do you guys think about it?”

“Isn’t it weird? Why is there a detective firm in a criminal city?” Sero pointed out.

“It couldn’t be a trap by those criminals, could it?!” Mineta shook in horror.

“Of course it won’t!” Iida fired back, offended that Mineta would even accuse of something so outrageous. “This field trip is organized by principal Nezu himself! I'm certain that this detective agency is a very righteous, crime-fighting organization within Yokohama!"

“Maybe it’s like The Last Heroes!” Ashido said excitedly—or at least, as excited as she could with those deep purple circles under her black eyes. "In the city of ruins, only one group of Heroes stand to fight against the invaders!"

“I love that movie!” Hagakure piped in.

“I wanted that movie three times!” Uraraka joined in.

Soon, the tension around them eased as they somehow began chatting about the most recent movies. Perhaps it was due to the tension finally easing. Exhaustion finally overwhelmed a lot of the students as they fell asleep in their seats.

The ones that were still awake kept quiet at the sight, allowing their classmates some well-deserved rest.

With Iida also nodding off beside him, Midoriya stared out the window as the bus entered the highway. The smile was lost on his face as he thought of their destination—Yokohama. No matter how much he wrecked his brain, he couldn’t understand the purpose behind this entire trip.

What exactly was it that All Might wanted him to see?

What did principal Nezu expect them to see?

What is in that city governed by bad guys?

Why aren’t they allowed to use Quirks?

With these thoughts plaguing his mind, Midoriya slowly dozed off...

An explosion in the distance. Black fumes rose towards the sky as huge vines were seen breaking through the ground and destroying the buildings around it. People’s cries could be heard as they escape from the vicinity, screaming for Heroes to come save the day.

The tour bus drove by as if it didn’t notice the chaos and danger. An eerie silence filled the interior of the bus. No one on the bus spoke up or reacted in any way. They sat in their seats, eyes tightly sealed and breathings even.

Soft greenish light particles gently drifted down, touching the tip of Midoriya’s nose before vanishing out of existence. Green aurora light created by countless small characters spread through the bus. The light flickered and the air that was clear just seconds ago was now covered by a thin layer of fog.

The two teachers sitting at the very front were fast asleep much like their students.

None of them were able to see how the driver's form completely changed during that flicker of light.

The forty years old man had turned into a youth with soft brownish-orange hair sticking out from beneath the black driver cap. The cap was pulled low over his eyes, covering the upper half of his face in shadow while the lower half of his face was concealed by a gas mask.

The bus drove into an underground tunnel as the green light shrouded its form.

It never came back to the surface.

Just like that, the bus of twenty students and two teachers from U.A. High School vanished from Musutafu without a trace.

◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥◤◢◣◥

When Aizawa woke to the darkness with weird grogginess in the back of his head, he instantly knew something was wrong.

In all his years as a Pro Hero working to capture villains, he had trained his body to act the instant something didn't feel right. Without his head fully clearing, he already up on his feet, hands fisting his Capturing Weapon as he forced his eyes to snap open and analyze the situation.

They were still on the bus, but Aizawa couldn’t see anything but darkness beyond the window. There was only the sound of engine, shaking of the bus and dim flickers of lights passing by that indicated that the vehicle was still moving. Although the windows were all tightly shut, he could still hear a faint echo from the outside.

So they were in an underground tunnel.

The children were all here, and so was All Might. They were all still asleep. The scent in the air was clean. He didn’t smell anything weird or out of place. The raven-haired teacher gritted his teeth, unable to believe how careless he had been. He had completely let off his guard just because the bus was organized by the school.

His eyes finally narrowed towards the extra passenger on the bus.

Sitting at the front row seat right next to the two teachers was a blond-haired man with glasses. Judging from his body proportion, Aizawa concluded that he must be around 190 centimeters. He wore a black long-sleeved dress shirt with a beige vest and matching pants.

In his hand was a green notebook with the kanji characters ‘Ideal’ written on it. Before Aizawa was fully conscious, he had heard the sound of something scratching against paper. This man must have been writing something just before the underground Hero had jumped onto his feet.

“Who are you?” Aizawa demanded, his eyes flicking towards the bus driver, then back to the unknown man.

He wasn’t stupid enough to forget about the middle-aged man who must be the blond’s companion. He had no idea what they did. He hadn’t smelled anything wrong or noticed anything different before passing out.

Could it be a type of Quirk? And more importantly, who was this man? Aizawa had memorized all the names and appearances of major Villains and none of them matched this man before him.

Or perhaps he wasn't a Villain. If so, then there was only one thing Aizawa could think of...

The Port Mafia.

“Calm down, we merely put them to sleep.” The blond-haired man said as he gazed down to his wristwatch. "They should be waking up any time now.”

As if on cue, soft hums and groans traveled from behind the teacher.

The students were waking up one after the other.

All Might was the first to wake up. He blinked a couple of times before his instincts kicked in as well. Despite no longer having his power, he was still able to quickly access the situation as he too stood up to face the stranger occupying the other seat.

“Hmm…”

“Gero?”

“Are we there yet?”

“Ngh! That was a good nap!”

“Hey! Weird hairdo! GET UP!”

“Where are we?”

“Oh, we’re here?”

“Wha? Is it time to get off?”

In an instant, the entire bus was rowdy with life again.

However…

“Quiet!” One command from the Erasure Hero silenced them all. It was then that they noticed the tension swirling around their teachers and a man whom they’ve never seen before.

“Who’s that?” Ashido whispered to Hagakure who responded with a shrugging motion.

“A friend…?” Uraraka mumbled, but the moment she saw the cautious on the two teachers, she immediately knew that was wrong.

“Enemy!” Bakugou, Todoroki, and Midoriya said at the exact same time as Aizawa stepped forward.

“Port Mafia?” He questions, ready to activate his Quirk at any given time.

The moment he said those two words, the students immediately fell silent as their muscles tightened, looking as if they will jump into action the moment their teachers permit them.

The blond man closed the notebook in his hand and stood up, facing the teachers as well as giving the students a clear view of him.

“Do I look like someone from the Port Mafia?” He rebuked, seeming offended to be mistaken as them. “My name is Doppo Kunikida. I’ve been tasked by our President to bring you to our agency.”

“You’re from the Armed Detective Agency?” Toshinori asked, looking at the man before turning his gaze to the bus driver who hadn’t spoken a single word. These were the people that will be taking care of them in Yokohama?

“Correct.” Kunikida replied, adjusting his glasses. “I apologize for the way we brought you in, but we cannot allow you to know the entrance to Yokohama.”

“Yokohama?!” Ashido shouted.

“Then, you mean right now we’re…!” Yaoyorozu gasped as she along with few other students looked out the window, but all they saw was pitch blackness.

That darkness didn’t last long though.

The next moment, the bus emerged into the bright blinding light that forced all of them to shut their eyes.

“Welcome to Yokohama.” Kunikida’s voice spoke from somewhere in the distance as the beautiful landscape of the city matched with the bright blue sky that was revealed to them.

The students were dumbfounded as the bus drove down the curved slope and headed for the city below.

“We’re on a mountain?!” Kaminari shouted when he realized where they were.

“Wait, how did we already get to Yokohama?” Kirishima shouted, unable to wrap his head around how a nap had landed them within the mysterious city.

The first thing Midoriya noticed was how high up the sun was in the sky. Even before he fell asleep, the sun was just barely peeking out from the horizon. He wasn’t the only one who noticed. The two experienced Heroes also didn’t miss such obvious indication of how long they’ve been out for.

Aizawa slowly let go of his Capture Weapon. It wasn’t like he trusted this man, but if this really was Yokohama, then they were already in the enemy territory. Fighting at a place like this will only bring danger to all of them, especially when he has zero knowledge of Abilities.

What also made him wary was whether or not these people were Ability users. Nezu didn’t tell them how to spot Ability users, but just from the blond-haired man’s postures, Aizawa could tell this man knew how to fight. His partner (the bus driver) must be experienced in battle as well.

Seeing Aizawa no longer showing any signs of attacking, the man—Kunikida, sat back down. He pulled out a pen, flipped his notebook open and started jolting things down onto the page.

Toshinori placed a hand onto Aizawa’s shoulder, hinting for him not to do anything. Aizawa huffed. He didn't like the feeling of being in someone else's palm, but there was nothing he could do about it. He sat back down, cautiously eyeing the man claiming to be from the detective agency, then to the driver.

The ride down the mountain took half an hour. When they entered the city, the students were all blown away. Even Aizawa was taken back as he gazed out the window from the corner of his eyes.

Toshinori had seen this view already, but even so, he couldn't help but stare.

“This…this is…it isn’t…” Iida stuttered over his words a couple of times, unable to come up with the correct one to describe what he was seeing.

“Definitely not what I imagined, right Bakugou?” A huge smile stretched apart on Kirishima’s face as he turned to his companion.

“AH?! I TOTALLY EXPECTED THIS!” Bakugou hollered defensively.

“Woah!” Kaminari gapped at the scenery in awe. “Everything is so retro!”

"Hmm~ They have refined taste!" Aoyama nodded approvingly, though he was still a bit pale from the initial fright of the blond stranger.

“I’ve only seen these kinds of buildings in history books!” Hagakura squealed to Ashido.

“These kinds of structures were very common hundreds of years ago around the era when Quirk began to appeared," Yaoyorozu explained to her classmates.

“Everyone, I think you should take a look at the people," Ojiro suddenly spoke out with a complicated look on his face. At that, the students stopped flaunting over the buildings and finally took noticed of the people on the street.

They were all blown away by the fact that they were all…well, similar. As in, they all got only four limbs, similar skin colour as well as body sizes…

There was no one with any extra limps...

No one with pink skin…

No one with engines in their legs, earphone jacks for ears or tape in their arms…

No one with any animal characteristic...

No one who is invisible…

…Or balls for head.

And this wasn’t just one or two people. It was a whole bunch of them.

These were the people of Yokohama.

“Old Humans…” Midoriya whispered, eyes shining as he remembered what their teachers had told them about the civilians here.

These were all Quirkless human beings.

No, to be precise, they were humans that retained the same genes as their ancestors.

“So these are Old Humans.” Shouji stared at all these people they passed by. Since the tour bus windows were tinted, none of the people outside were aware that they were being gawked by a bunch of high schoolers.

“I feel so out of place now,” Sero said jokingly.

“But isn’t this a city ruled by criminals?” Jiro pointed out the very important fact they were all conveniently forgetting.

When the class heard of a city ruled by criminals, the first thing that came to their mind was chaos and ruins. After all, that’s what Villains do, right?

"It looked just like any other places to me," Kirishima said, looking around as he tried to spot any Vill—no, criminals.

“Are you an idiot?” Bakugou grumbled, eyes narrowing as he looked over the city.

Todoroki’s mismatched eyes were also sweeping over the people outside. Though he didn’t say anything, there was a serious look on his face as his brows slowly furrowed.

“Hey…don’t you guys feel something different?” Uraraka suddenly asked, gaining the class’s attention.

“What do you mean?” Yaoyorozu questioned.

“Umm…I don’t know.” Uraraka thought hard, but she couldn't tell them what exactly was wrong. "Just something felt…off? Or maybe something's missing?"

“…I feel the same.” Tsuyu agreed.

“Excusez-moi?” Aoyama looked around.

“What are you guys talking about?” Ashido turned to Hagakure who was seemingly shaking her head and hands, indicating how she didn’t know either.

"I don't feel anything," Kaminari mumbled before turning to Mineta. “Hey, Mineta—”

“Just a bit more…just a bit more…!” Mineta’s face was smeared against the window, hot breaths coming out in puffs with his eyeballs nearing budging out as he gawked at a girl walking down the street. She was wearing a very short skirt that fluttered every time a car passed by…

“Just a bit more…!!”

So caught up in trying to see up the girl’s skirt, the petite pervert didn’t realize how his classmates (mostly the girls) were looking at him as if he was a pile of trash left in some forgotten alley to rot away.

At the very front of the bus, Kunikida’s eyebrow twitched as he jotted something onto his notebook.

Midoriya’s eyes swept through the city and the people. Yes, he had felt it too. The moment he looked outside, Midoriya already noticed something weird about everything, but he couldn’t put a finger on what exactly wasn’t right. He wasn’t given much time to dwell on that fact, as another half an hour later, they’ve arrived at their destination.

The students and teachers stood at the corner of a crossway with their luggage. They gazed up at the red building in front of them. It was a nice building, but it was very simple and ordinary…not exactly what any of them had in mind when they heard the word agency. After all, every Hero agency, no matter how small, got their unique styles to their buildings. This, on the other hand, was just a plain office building.

“This is where we, the Armed Detective Agency, operate!” Kunikida declared, earning nothing but looks and silence from the group. The blond didn't seem to mind the lack of reaction as he continued. “The Armed Detective Agency focuses on solving crimes that are considered too violent or difficult for the police to handle. Often, these crimes are of a supernatural origin, therefore almost all of our members are Ability users.”

“Please wait!”

“What is it?” Kunikida asked, looking over to Iida who was the one that interrupted.

“You said the police just now!” Iida had a disbelieving look on his face, much like the rest of his classmates.

“Yeah, I did.”

“You have police here?”

“Of course, why wouldn’t we?” Kunikida deadpanned as if it was an extremely dumb question.

“Isn’t Yokohama run by criminals?” Midoriya pointed out.

“What does that have to do with having police?” Kunikida didn’t say that in any mocking way. It seemed like he was genuinely confused by Midoriya’s questions. It was as if he didn’t think anything was wrong with having police in a city ruled by criminals.

The entire Class1-A just stared at their guide in awkward silence. None of them knew how to proceed with their questions. This man obviously didn't get their point and they certainly don't get his.

“Oops, that was close!” Kunikida gazed down at his silver wristwatch. “Now come along, we have no more seconds to waste! Get inside before you make a scene.”

Scene? What scene? The students looked around, but they couldn't understand what the man was talking about. Despite speaking the same language, they're starting to wonder if their Japanese was different than Yokohama's Japanese. Otherwise, why was it so hard to communicate?

"Let’s go," Aizawa said in his usual indifferent tone as he and All Might followed the man. The students looked among each other before they grabbed their luggage and trailed after their teachers.

They stepped into the building which they will be staying at for the remainder of their trip here at Yokohama.

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#bsd fanfic #crossover fanfic #my hero academia #bungou stray dogs #bnha fanfic #double black

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secret-diary-of-an-fa · 5 years

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Secret-Diary Recommends Some Music

I’m not exactly a ‘music person’, in that I don’t know a lot about the mechanics that underpin it: I couldn’t look at sheet music and tell you what the tune is or describe the change in chords in a classical piece. I’m not even 100% sure what the difference between a Ukulele and a Banjo is, aside from the fact that one is played by coquettish islanders while I get shit-faced on Pina Colladas in the background and the other is played by Louisiana bootleggers from the 1920s with comedy accents. All that being said, I know enough to know that the overwhelming preponderance of music produced today is total crap. Every time I’m foolish enough to tune a radio to a musical station, there’s a new barely-pubescent twatwipe peeping about their feelings in a tupperware voice that strongly suggests they don’t actually have any. Either that or its some nominally grown-ass man or woman singing something that they imagine is sassy and empowering but actually just makes them sound like Gary from World’s End- only less charming, because immature, quasi-literate manbabies are infinitely more annoying when they’re real. The point is, it’s a fucking wasteland out there. Trying to find a band (from now or the past) who you’d actually want to listen to can be a chore. That’s why, as your gracious patron and benefactor, I’ve decided to share the fruits of my musical explorations with you and hit you with some recommendations. I’ve tried to be as eclectic as possible, since I want everyone who reads this to find something they’ll like, no matter how radically divergent their individual tastes are. Some of the entries on this list are famous, some are obscure and some were famous but have been made obscure by the passage of time. I’ve tried to limit myself to people whose music you might not be fully aware of, even if you’ve heard of them to some extent, but I’m not plugged into what is and isn’t popular with peeps nowadays, so don’t read too much into my choices if they seem either too obvious or too bizarre. Here goes.

1. The Orion Experience An ultra-camp synthesis of New Romantic music, bubble-gum pop and modern vocal stylings, The Orion Experience are unlike anything else you’ll have heard recently. They seem to borrow as much from the original Decadent tradition in art and literature as from later musical iterations, meaning that their lyrics are complex and sophisticated without being especially deep. They’re primarily concerned with building aesthetically-interesting and richly-evocative language-constructs rather than performing an emotion that no-one in the band is actually feeling. The deliberate artifice is deeply refreshing in a musical landscape of faked sincerity and forced emoting. I recommend starting with the songs The Cult of Dionysus and Sugar. If you like those, the rest of their stuff may also interest you.

2. Trace Adkins During an attempt to write a wild west/sci-fi fusion novel, I went on a musical odyssey, looking for apposite songs that would gel well with the world I was building (knowing a world’s soundtrack can help cement that world in your imagination- try it, if you’re a writer yourself). Anyway, I stumbled across Trace Adkins- a country singer with a palpable sense of humour about being a country singer and a knack for delivering a silly-but-well-turned phrase. Also, without getting technical, his tunes just flat-out rock. I have no idea how well known he in the Country and Western World, but since his existence came as news to me, I’m sticking him on this list. Start with the surprisingly sexy Honky Tonk Badonkadonk and graduate to Hot Momma and Whoop a Man’s Ass. You’ll know if it’s your sort of thing from the first minute of any of those songs.

3. Caravan Palace Have ye heard of a thing called Electric Swing? If you’re reading a blog post about music, you probably have, but just in case you haven’t, let me tell you it’s a fantastic genre. Imagine if The Great Gatsby owned a synth and took a fuckload of mind-squanching hallucinogens. Well, that’s Electric Swing. Few do it better than Caravan Palace, who also seem to borrow heavily from club music and other genres, adding these to their unique blend. For some pure Electric Swing, start with Susie. For something a little more modern, start with Lone Digger.

4. 11 Acorn Lane Speaking of Electric Swing, I can also recommend 11 Acorn Lane, whose lyrics can be a little more playful than those of Caravan Palace. They also have a somewhat more classic sound. Start with Let’s Face it I’m Cute for a great sample of their work.

5. The Fratellis Now, my UK readers have almost certainly heard of The Fratellis, since they actually got some traction on mainstream radio over here. I’m less sure about those of you reading along in America, so allow me to make an introduction. Their music is joyously and unapologetically grimy and proletarian, paring an unrivaled sense of fun and energy with a sly, low-key feeling of cynicism and detachment. The tunes and melodies evoke Rock, punk and New-Wave (think The Ramones by way of The Proclaimers) without wholly relying on any of them. Check out Chelsea Dagger or Henrietta to hear them at their most gleefully up-tempo-yet-jaded, or try Vince the Lovable Stoner for a more chill, tongue-in-cheek song.

5. Dionne Warwick You’ve probably heard of her in connection with There’s Always Something There to Remind Me, especially since it featured heavily in that one fantastic episode of Black Mirror. However, you might not have realised just how much she’s contributed to musical history: her soft-yet-powerful voice and classic Rock rhythms and tunes combine to create something archetypal yet unique. Leap right in with Do You Know the Way to San Jose and discover a fucking legend.

6. Rufus Rex Ever wanted to hear a freakishly talented man singing songs based on horror films and books (particularly the works of H.P. Lovecraft) in a style that evokes Goth music but defies genre on closer inspection? Then get your arse over to Rufus Rex and start plumbing the nightmarish depths of horror-music with the song World’s In Between.

7. Studio Killers Contemporary electronic music with surprisingly inventive and weird lyrics. That about sums up Studio Killers, really. Look, not everything on this list can be genre-transcendent or epoch-defining: some things are just very good examples of the type of music they belong to. If you haven’t heard of them, start with the song Eros and Apollo then check out Ode to the Bouncer, then compare and contrast: those two songs represent the two opposite edges of the musical spectrum they cover, so if you like either one, at least some of their songs will be for you. Also, treat yourself to the music videos on Youtube: they’re surreal and awsesome.

8. Fishbone A punky ska band from back in the day, Fishbone are on this list for one reason and one reason only: Party at Ground Zero. Party at Ground Zero is an upbeat, gloriously energetic song about nuclear war. It’s a total jam and you absolutely have to experience it for yourself.

9. Tomska Tomska... isn’t technically a professional musician. He’s a Youtube comedian, short-film maker and collaborative animator who became internet-famous for his ‘ASDF movies’. On the off-chance that you haven’t seen them, they’re short collections of animated skits and jokes rendered in a simple but immediately-compelling and recognisable style. Anyway, Tomska decided to create fast-paced, catchy songs about some of the recurring characters in his ASDF movies, and those songs turned out to be fucking amazing- being both laugh-out-loud funny and actually really musically ambitious and well put together. Check them out on his channel. I’m particularly fond of Mine Turtles, but you do you.

10. Paul Anka Big band and jazz musician Paul Anka once set out on a quest to create 1920s-sounding versions of famous rock ‘n’ roll songs and the results can only be described as ‘eargasmically epic’. His versions of Jump and Eye of the Tiger are, frankly, better than the originals.

Right, that’s everything I can thing of for now. I’m going to go make myself a big sandwich. By the time your read this, I’ll be settling down with two-slices of bread, some cheese and an unreasonably large amount of cranberry sauce. All the songs and bands in today’s entry are on Youtube, so go have a nosy. Until next time, peace out and fuck off!

#Secret Diary of a Fat Admirer #music #music recommendations #electro-swing #punk #big band #rock and roll #electronic #ska #songs #song recommendation

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hellevator-mp3 · 6 years

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you’re my wish (maybe it came true) || Part 7 (End)

Pairing(s): Changlix, Woochan, Seungjin, Minsung, Jeongdam

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 2,700+

Warnings: None

Author Note: and so...it ends ㅠㅠ uhhh this has been a fun ride, and i am so thankful for the support i got?? it may not seem like a lot to others but it was a lot to me so yeah thank you?? i’m starting another series soon, for monsta x this time so please be on the lookout for that!!

felix has made many wishes in his lifetime. the one that he least expected to come true is the one that stands out the most when it comes true, and he can’t find anything to be more thankful for.

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felix’s week with changbin flew by quickly. chan had gone to stay with woojin, to allow the two to get to know one another better, leaving changbin and felix alone in the apartment. they - changbin and felix, that is - grew more and more domestic as the days went by. every morning, changbin would be up and out of bed before felix would even consider it, and the elder would make breakfast for the two of them. the smell of cooking food would rouse felix, who would make his way into the kitchen to find his soulmate hunched over the stove, flipping pancakes or bacon or whatever he had fancied that morning. felix would either a: sit quietly at the dining table and wait patiently for food, or b: walk up behind changbin, wrapping his arms around the other and startling him out of his quiet trance.

more often than not, felix chose the latter.

today, however, was not part of the more often than not. he fixed himself a mug of hot chocolate to combat the cold outside that seemed to filter in through the windows, sipping on it thoughtfully as he watched changbin cook. within a few minutes, breakfast was served and they were eating across from each other. when they got done, felix took their plates and washed them, before sliding back to his seat on sock covered feet, leaning towards changbin excitedly. “so, when are we decorating for christmas?” he chirped, and changbin wanted to say no, say never, but he couldn't say no to the twinkle in felix's eye. he sighed and replied with a small 'today, i guess’ which had felix jumping from his seat and near sprinting to their - changbin's - room to change. the room's owner followed at a slower pace, digging through his closet to find warmer clothes.

truth be told, changbin had no decorations, meaning that they would spend the whole day shopping and setting up for one day, and by the time the holiday was over in about 3 days, felix would be headed back to australia on a plane, alongside chan, so that he could finish his last semester of classes, and so could chan. however, the group had the rest of his stay planned out - they would meet up at the mall to find decorations, and would split up into their respective couples to go home and decorate. then, the next day, they would be going to lotte world together as a group, and then christmas eve was going to be spent at their respective apartments, to get prepared for christmas. they were all gathering at changbin's place, since he had the most free space out of all of them.

once the couple was dressed, they headed out the door into the bitter cold to embark on their decorating mission. changbin was less than enthusiastic as felix filled their arms with bags full of ornaments, tinsel, lights, a wreath, and even fairy lights just because, amongst many other things. their tree was set to be delivered later in the day, giving them an opportunity to get home and set up for it. after hours upon hours of shopping and emptying his wallet for his soulmate, changbin finally put his foot down and said that it was time to get home.

upon arrival, felix was quick to begin stringing up fairy lights all over the place, a string finding themselves nestled behind where the tree was going to go, and another string over changbin's bed. the wreath was hung on the outside of the bedroom door, and wobbled dangerously every time someone so much as glanced at the door. but it was fine, at lwast in changbin's opinion. seeing the other flitting around the room with hands full of decorations was endearing, especially as he began to belt out christmas carols at the top of his lungs, deep voice resonating around the apartment as he sang along to the radio that changbin had set up.

changbin swayed lightly to the music, until he was abruptly pulled to his feet by felix and they began to sway in sync to the slow beat of a song. felix hummed softly, eyes closed and a content smile on his lips as they swayed. soon enough, it turned into a proper slow dance, and felix laid a kiss on his cheek when the younger dipped him. that's when changbin finally tried to pull away, not managing to get far before felix was pulling him back in - for a proper kiss, this time.

neither of them with describe it as fireworks exploding or sparks flying, not like their first meeting. it was soft, gentle, sweet. it was the relief of coming home after a long time away. it was the happiness of seeing an old friend. it was the content of coming home to a warm bed and a nice meal.

it was, most of all, theirs.

the moment was ever so rudely interrupted by the delivery man knocking on the door, both of them breaking apart and racing to the door to let him in. it wasn't long before they had the tree where it was meant to be, covered in ornaments and tinsel and lights shining softly in the corner. they ate a quick meal that changbin had ordered while felix decorated, a movie playing in the background as they drifted off to sleep on one another.

when they awoke the next morning, neither of them got up to cook, instead opting to get dressed and go on a hunt for a good meal.

after they ate, they began the journey to lotte world, where half of the group was already waiting. felix waved in greeting when they saw the rest, jisung immediately sprinting over to his other ‘00 liner friend, complaining that hyunjin and seungmin were teasing him. felix was instantly in defense mode, especially when the aforementioned couple came over and continued teasing jisung over something that had clearly happened before changbin and felix arrived. changbin watched in silence as his soulmate argued with his friends, taking in the delighted looks on all of their faces when somebody said something particularly witty or amusing. changbin couldn’t make out exactly what was said, all he knew was that suddenly felix was calling out ‘right, binnie?’ and changbin (obviously) had no choice but to agree. the others cooed, and it turned into a barrage of dumb puns on the nickname, but he simply glared at them (jokingly, of course) before striding over to join chan and woojin. the two were talking quietly, welcoming changbin into their little circle soon enough, and passing over the tickets that they got for him and felix. he thanked them, stuffing the papers into his back pocket that was soon invaded by a certain aussie’s hand. he swatted at felix, cheeks burning a bright red as the other came up next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist, his hand buried in changbin’s back pocket. after a minute of the younger not relenting, changbin finally wrapped his arm around the boy’s waist and allowed him to silently join their conversation on whether or not wasps had necks - courtesy of chan.

finally, with all the group gathered, they walked into the gates of the amusement park together and almost immediately split up as quickly as they had gathered. first was jeongin and yedam, who were on the hunt for cotton candy. then, as they passed by the highest roller coaster in the park, minho dragged jisung away, “for shits and giggles”, he had said. the sounds of their screams that followed the remaining six’s retreating forms told of their fate. then, hyunjin and seungmin split off to ride the carousel, or so seungmin could take pictures of hyunjin and vice versa. that left just changbin, chris, felix, and woojin. when jisung and minho finally hunted them down, minho dragged woojin off, claiming that it was for some super secret plan, leaving jisung to latch onto felix, telling of the horrors he had seen on the roller coaster.

changbin mostly tuned them out, until he couldn’t anymore - aka, when felix began to chant ‘tea cups’ over and over, until the words lost all meaning and he was just slurring out nonsense. the elder two led the way to the tea cups, where they got in one and jisung and felix in another. their tea cup was going at a relaxing pace, occasionally twisting as one of them gave the wheel a turn. however...felix and jisung flew past them more than once, whooping and hollering as they worked in tandem to spin the wheel as fast as possible.

that was the end of that, changbin had decided as he drug a dizzy felix off the ride, chan supporting a nearly sick jisung who suffered from the same fate.

they spent a few more hours wandering around the park, occasionally splitting off to do their own thing and occasionally finding other members of the group. they watched yedam, jeongin, felix, and hyunjin get onto the gyro swing - changbin and seungmin made jokes that they may never see their soulmates again. the whole group went onto the swinging pirate ship at once, screaming their heads off as it got higher and higher. changbin wouldn’t admit that he stumbled getting off that ride, even though the laughter behind him proved that he did. they saw minho stubbornly trying to win jisung a stuffed bear at one of the shooting booths, and watched jisung utterly annihilate him and win the bear for himself. changbin got dragged into one of the dual bumper cars, facing off against woojin and chan, laughing every time felix steered them the wrong way.

all in all, the two of them said it was a good day, and an even better night, as they fell into bed and passed out without even changing from their clothes.

(changbin rushed into the bathroom to shower as soon as he woke up, claiming that he smelled of cheap fried foods and the other smells that filled the park)

they spent christmas with their friends, and video chatting with their family back home. it was a very quiet occasion, spending most of their time curled up in the nest of blankets and pillows that accumulated in changbin’s living room, christmas movies playing in front of blind eyes as they slept.

the next day passed in a blur, and soon enough, felix was packing his things to leave. every few clothing items, he had to stop and kiss changbin gently, promising that he would be back, that they would be together soon enough, and they’d spend the summer together and felix would work so changbin could meet his family. he didn’t want to use all of his soulmate fund just yet, instead wanting to put it towards rent and things when he finally moved in with changbin. soon enough, he was boarding the plane, after having shared a few tear stained kisses with changbin. soon enough, he was landing in his home country, running into the arms of his mom who murmured sweet reassurances into his hair.

summer arrived in a hurry, classes finishing quickly and felix’s mother video calling changbin so he could see his soulmate walk across the stage to retrieve his diploma. the second they got home that day, before his graduation party commenced, felix pulled down his suitcase once more and began to throw his belongings into it, having already booked his flight back to korea that morning. he and chan would be flying back separately, since chan also had to put in his two weeks notice, letting his school know that he would be giving up his coach position and moving out of the country. the two of them had already gone through the necessary visa procedures, and chan even got certified to teach - miracuously - english in the same school that woojin worked at.

after a ten hour flight, felix was nearly dead on his feet - but the thought of seeing his soulmate for the first time in a whole semester had all his energy buzzing. he waited until the plane was nearly clear before getting off, figuring that it would be easier to get his bag without the crowd around him, and also getting through the terminal would be quicker. he went through customs quickly, anxious to get to the arrival area and see changbin. soon enough, he was striding through the electric doors and scanning the area for changbin, seeing neither hide nor hair of him. his shoulders slumped slightly as he pulled out his phone to check and make sure that he had actually showed up, seeing a text to come to the baggage claim, that changbin already had his bag. a bright smile blessed his lips as he jogged to the baggage claim, looking for changbin. standing just a few feet away from the belt was changbin, holding a gigantic sign, a bouquet of roses and a bunch of balloons. the sign had been decorated brightly, green glittery letters spelling out ‘welcome home, felix’ and felix could feel the tears welling up behind his eyes. changbin had told him not to switch for the whole week before he arrived, and now he knew why. changbin passed the balloons and sign off to someone else - who felix realized was seungmin - before catching the smaller boy in his arms, twirling the two of them around in their excitement.

seungmin loudly gagged when felix pressed his hands to changbin’s cheeks, pulling him in for a kiss, and then another, and then one more before finally getting down. and then pulling him back for yet another kiss.

changbin could only watch in awe over the next few months as his apartment morphed into theirs. it was felix’s sweater draped over the arm of the couch, it was felix’s albums and cd’s taking up space on his shelves, it was felix’s clothing filling half of his closet, it was felix’s favorite cereals sitting next to his on top of the fridge, it was felix lying next to him in bed, wearing changbin’s clothes and smelling of changbin’s body wash, but it was both of them that made up the love that filled the space, the two of them that slowly but surely made a life for themselves.

over the following years, felix became a fairly esteemed producer who taught dance classes at minho’s studio occasionally. chan stopped coaching soccer in australia and instead taught english in korea, sneaking kisses from woojin in the break room when they thought no one was looking, before woojin had to rush back to his vocal students. jisung often joined felix and changbin in changbin’s tattoo parlor, and quietly sat in the back room humming a tune and jotting down lyrics. they were often joined by minho, as well, who liked to sit next to his fiance - after finally working up the nerve and proposing - and critiquing lines of his work. changbin and felix joined the newly married hyunjin and seungmin for dinner one night, and the next day, found themselves exploring the depths of the animal shelter with yedam and jeongin, each of them sporting promise rings. both couples came away with a new pet - yedam and jeongin with a small dog that they couldn’t decide on a name for, and changbin and felix with a furry cat named ash. the two were joined by the others on the summer night that changbin finally proposed, dropping to one knee in front of felix and popping open the velvet box. felix burst out laughing, mirroring changbin’s position on the ground as he pulled out his own velvet ring box and showed changbin. the two of them nearly cried as they realized how in sync they really were.

felix has made many wishes in his lifetime. the one that he least expected to come true is the one that stands out the most when it comes true, and he can’t find anything to be more thankful for.

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