#I also know I am a chaotic poster for the most part

[blametheeditor]

Mike’s first thought after spotting a miniscule figure hiding behind a table leg is confusion on why any bug would think that’s the best place to be while inside a restaurant filled with hell spawns running back and forth.

His second thought was the fact the bug looked really fucking familiar.

The lead guard takes a glance around to see if any unsavory figures are walking around that got past the animatronics. Once it’s deemed clear, he slowly begins to make his way over toward the table, keeping track of the form.

He makes it right as it seems to steal itself before making run for the next table, stepping in front of its path to force it to stop as a high pitched squeak erupts.

This close, it looks less like a bug, and more like one of the assholes he’s in charge of. The only problem is he doesn’t remember any of them being handheld.

[stackslip]

"you no longer have sole control over chainsaw man". do you think fujimoto could be talking about csm as a brand? i wonder if he would Fire Punchs it. like, follow through to such an extreme that he makes csm wholly unpleasant as a brand.

it's 2:30 am here so forgive me 1) if my answer isn't concise or structured or clear 2) for not providing screenshots/panels to actually illustrate my points. but thank you so much for the ask, i was actually writing about this v question in my chapter 133 analysis post that i didn't manage to save, which led me to feel depressed at the idea of rewriting it, so this is a really good like. jumping point for my larger thoughts on the matter.

so chainsaw man is a brand, yes. it's also so much more. when i talk about chainsaw man in this post (or most of my posts really), please assume that i'm not actually referring to individual characters, whether denji or pochita. you see, chainsaw man has never been an actual person, or even a persona/identity. chainsaw man is an idea, a concept that humans and devils project onto. chainsaw man is simultaneously to different people: a weapon, a messiah, a devil that needs to be put down, a scapegoat, a hero, a midwife to devils in hell, a cute plushie model, an ideal boyfriend, the only person who could ever understand makima, a foreign plot, a political talking point--i could go on forever.

so really, denji has never had control over chainsaw man, bc chainsaw man is nothing more than a mirror to others' hopes and fears! and similarly, pochita never had control over chainsaw man either! think about how people talk about chainsaw man through all of part 1: hero of hell, chaotic force, god, monster, the only person makima could be equal with. then think about how 1) makima literally fought pochita herself, and then said he could never be chainsaw man because he did not fit the idea she had in her head 2) pochita quite literally tells denji that all he wanted was a hug, which everyone took as attacks.

and yes, this 200% fits with fire punch and other works by fujimoto that deal with identity, with public perception, with the "real self" vs your myth/image/reputation, with the question of if there is such a thing as a "real self" especially as the lines begin to blur and you don't know who you are anymore. other works of his that explore these ideas are goodbye eri (self explanatory really), nayuta of the end (kenji's inability to understand his sister's intentions and the world seeing her as nothing but a monster and threat), and to a certain extent That Genderbend Oneshot (dealing explicitly with gendered perceptions).

now to answer specific parts of your question:

do you think fujimoto could be talking about csm as a brand?

fujimoto has been clear about chainsaw man being a brand even in part 1. makima releases the info about chainsaw man defeating the gun devil, and immediately people start making chainsaw man tshirts and posters and buying chainsaws. by the time of part 2 there's merch of him on every corner, fanclubs and gameshows and sandwiches and plushies.

like, follow through to such an extreme that he makes csm wholly unpleasant as a brand.

so you know what else is omnipresent in part 2, long before chapter 133? people thinking that chainsaw man is a danger and a monstrosity and a devil that should be put down. asa expresses contempt about him in her very first chapter, some of the people interviewed in chapter 103 flat out say they think he's dangerous and needs to die (some more aggressively than others). and now we're introduced to the true scale of what's going on--a spectrum that ranges from fanatic devotees to passive consumers all the way to anti-chainsaw man protestors.... which very likely includes that one preacher. just in this chapter we've seen violence erupt between the two extremes of that spectrum! and it's likely that it's going to get worse and worse.

now i'm not saying that a world war might possibly erupt just around chainsaw man and nothing else--i'm saying it might be the spark for other longer simmering tensions: the cold war between multiple countries who were using devils as weapons long before part 1, devils becoming bolder in their attacks on humans, the horseman family conflict, a crumbling social order based on propaganda/fascist structures/absurd poverty, etc etc. add to that the fact that we now know that devils can not only take human forms, but that hybrids are relatively common (see reze, quanxi, the weapon hybrids in general, etc) and that denji himself presents as a human. fujimoto is very inspired by devilman. you know what happens in devilman? humans figure out there are devils wearing human skin around them, panic, and start indiscriminately murdering each other.

and..... the prophecy. "mars will reign" is v commonly accepted to mean that yoru, the fucking war devil, is going to see a drastic increase in power. so yeah there's gonna be war. people are going to turn on chainsaw man more and more. people are going to cling to him more and more. one thing is sure--very few might ever actually see him as denji.

i wonder if he would Fire Punchs it.

i've said it before but one of my favourite things about fujimoto is how he has specific ideas/concepts that he keeps iterating and building upon, learning from experience every time until he makes something he can be wholly proud of. fire punch was his first serialized work, it was a mess in many ways and it's clear that he recognized that and was unsatisfied about it. so even in part 1, you can already see that fujimoto was tinkering with some of his fire punch concepts and trying to execute them in a better way. but from what we have of part 2 so far.... i think fire punch was indeed the prototype, just like the sisters oneshot was the prototype of look back. part 2 has so many more parallels to fire punch than part 1 did, its nge and devilman inspirations are that much more obvious, and some of the characters are flat out plucked right out of fire punch, and just given a makeover and additional depth (coughs coughs sun and iseumi coughs). and yes, it's the fucking end of the world that's coming too.

i don't think he's gonna follow fire punch 1:1--again, fire punch was his first try at a serialized series and its plot is a mess. i've seen people complain about part 2's pacing (the biweekly breaks and the fact that folks aren't bingeing but waiting doesn't help) and call the plot nonsensical but to me it feels a lot more deliberate and thought out than part 1 AND fire punch. like he's setting up puzzle pieces that seem out of place on first glance, and then they start adding up and you see the shape of it--the SCALE of it. in any case, chainsaw man and fire punch do have key thematic and artistic differences, and their themes/ideas do not align 1:1 either. however it's pretty obvious that in some ways, chainsaw man is becoming an answer to some of the questions fire punch asked but never followed through.

[alltimefail-sims]

OKAY SO LITTLE UPDATE AND SCATTERED THOUGHTS ON THE NEW EP

It turns out that removing 95% of your mods will improve the game's overall ability to run. Not shocking, but it's definitely a thing lol. I've also learned that some mods, while amazing conceptually, will probably not be added back into my game. This isn't on the modders: some mods are just so complex that I honestly can't keep up with them and therefore can't enjoy their features to the full extent. I do miss my custom recipes, wonderful whims, and a few lumpinou mods though (but that's really it so far).

I also removed all my custom sliders because I have no idea what is broken and what isn't at this point. Shocked to say I don't miss most of them, so I think it might be time I clean that folder out. I did, however, miss my presets!!! Especially body and mouth presets! Likely gonna tidy up those folders and then add those back in.

Kijiko eyelash remover seems to be working perfectly fine in my game, so if you use that one you are probably good to go.

The new pack's CAS items are good! I don't think I'm going to use a lot of it outside of sims in Tomarang, but that's okay. As of right now I am not planning to do an in-depth review of the CAS items because I pretty much just feel "fine" about all of it across the board: I don't hate anything but I'm not absolutely in love with anything either. Idk if I'm just feeling this way or if others are as well, but it seems like a lot of the items (especially the hairs) aren't really new and they're just modifications of things we already have... but that could be just me. I will say the cute dress with the slit up the side... chef's kiss. Needed more swatches though!

One unexpected item that I did love was the tea kettle!! I'm never buying a tea magic brewer or tea pot ever again. I never realized how badly I needed the ability to only make one cup of a tea/hot chocolate/coffee at time but it has been a game changer. I don't have much to say about the build/buy... it's all really nice. 🤷‍♀️ Wish there were more items that really stood out, but for the most part it's all just good, simple pieces with a few beautiful wall hangings (nice posters, a few good plants, love the baskets, standing toilet is a nice addition, adore the plastic garden chairs, etc.). Functional radiators, water tanks, etc. were fantastic additions with this pack and I would have been happy if they were just decor tbh (and was expecting them to be) but the fact that they aren't makes me very happy. Compatibility across packs is done far too rarely, so I'll let the sims team have this one crumb of a win.

I'm still testing this pack out so gameplay features are being dicovered bit by bit. Haven't ran into some of the big bugs people have been having, but I'm still early in the save and playing as a tenant (I stand by the fact that I have 0 interest being a property owner). The tester sim I made (Riley, she/they) vibed so hard with Vanesha Cahyaputri. Like the two of them have "amazing compatibility" and had full bar friendship almost instantly and I did not make Riley with any partner in mind... I didn't even know Vanesha was a canon lesbian! But they haven't had a single negative interaction soooo brb I'm on my way to make her over ASAP because I loooooovee a good sapphic friends to lovers arc. 😂

Lastly: I have some asks in my inbox. I swear I'm not ignoring you if you've messaged me, it's just been a chaotic few days as December is always so busy. I will answer them as soon as I can! Until the holidays are over I'll probably be posting sporadically! I'm still going to be here, but I'm enjoying just playing the game without any pressure to post about it.

Also, with updates breaking cc and sliders like crazy, it's unlikely I'll be sharing any sims outside of sim requests for a while. I'll still crank out builds, happily chat about my OCs, and reblog other people's content on here. For now I plan to just enjoy my time with my family and play the game stress free! ❤

Okay bye now!

[silent-sanctum]

okay you may recognize a similar post from before but thanks to @paintersmonster, i am compelled to finally release my proper thoughts on all the jojos if they were to be in an idol group.

NOW

Like what they mentioned in their poll, let's say there are 3 subunits: Hip-Hop Unit (aka Rap unit), Vocal Unit, and Performance Unit (aka Dance unit) yes like Seventeen because i love them

Aside from their units, they will also be given roles. I'll be explaining some for those unfamiliar with the terminologies.

P.S These are my own thoughts that may or not be biased, but I will try to be objective about them.

Jonathan Joestar: Leader, Vocal Unit (Main Vocalist)

Leader role is obvious since he's the oldest among the members and is the most responsible and dutiful to his tasks

Knowing his demeanor, I honestly can't see him in any other role than being the main singer, with his sweet voice and passionate aura

If you were to ask him how's his dance performance is, he'd respond that he's still working on it because the steps seems a bit hard for this giant puppy to follow

Joseph Joestar: Performance Unit (Main Dancer), Lead Rapper

For Mr. Nigerundayo, I actually debated if he should be a Main Dancer or Main Rapper because he gives off this wild energy to fit both roles.

But I decided to give him the Main Dancer role instead because he leans more towards anything that will hype him up and what better role is there but being an excellent dancer.

He'd rock the "cool" concept so well.

I also gave him the Lead Rapper role because of the energy he gives off. He'd drop some sick bars not gonna lie.

So sick in fact one could mistake him as the Main Rapper of the group

Can't sing for shit. Sorry Joseph.

As reference for his dance style, see the choreo for "Hit", "Very Nice", and "Miroh"

Jotaro Kujo: Center of the Group, Hip-Hop Unit (Main Rapper), Lead Vocalist

Yes... he's my vote in their poll.

BECAUSE by definition, "the Center is a term that refers to a group member who receives the most support and publicity from their agency... Because of their popularity and/or looks, a particular member is always placed in the center, getting the most spotlight."

Now we all know Stardust Crusaders is the most popular/promoted part in the JJBA universe, and guess who's the poster boy of JJBA as well as the most reoccurring Jojo?

His aesthetic, deep rough voice, and passive-aggressive shade energy gives off Main Rapper vibes for some reason

He also looks the part so-

The sole reason why I placed him as Lead Vocalist is because I've heard his VA Daisuke Ono is actually a singer soooo-

Also projecting a bit, but he's good at dancing- the type of dancer who uses controlled, sharp movements and often uses his sex appeal to his advantage.

Josuke Higashikata: Performance Unit (Lead Dancer), Lead Rapper, Sub Vocalist

Like father like son, I also interchanged which unit he should be in, but again like Joseph, I see him more as a Lead Dancer because of his fun, outgoing energy similar to Joseph's chaotic, wild one.

But his rap is just as good that he gives of Lead Rapper vibes

I can see his dancing style to be more bouncy and "pop-like", one that matches the vibe of the "summer", "school", "bubblegum" concepts.

Also, thanks to Jonathan's help, the kid's also interested in singing so I can see him wanting to learn how to sing and be a back-up for any of the vocalists.

As reference, his dance style is similar to the choreos of TXT like "CROWN", "Run Away", "Blue Hour", and "New Rules"

Giorno Giovanna: Vocal Unit (Lead Vocalist), Producer

Hear me out-

Because of Jonathan's influence yet again (and that Giorno seems to be closest with him), he is brought up and trained to be a vocalist like he is

And in my head, I feel like his demeanor gives me ballad singer for some reason just like Jonathan...

So the reason why I also placed Producer is that I headcanon Giorno to be an expert with instruments and has a near perfect pitch mindset, making him able to create some melodies for the group.

I may or may not also have placed the viral "Vento Aureo theme" as basis for this role as well, making it like he made those beats in some alternate universe

Jolyne Cujoh: Performance Unit (Lead Dancer), Lead Rapper

Even though she's the only female in the group, she proves everyone that she is capable of being as engaging and energetic as the boys in the unit she's in and in the group in general.

Because she gives off Joseph-vibes, I placed her in the Performance Unit, being able to pull off that "street-style" dance.

As reference, Jolyne gives me big Itzy vibes (aesthetic-wise and music-wise) or just the general "girl crush" and "teen" concept.

No but listen to "Not Shy" and "Wannabe" by Itzy and you'll see-

She also gives of "ANTIFRAGILE" vibes from Le Sserafim and "Tomboy" from (G)-Idle just wanna add

Johnny Joestar: Hip-Hop Unit (Main Rapper)

I'm gonna be frank... I dont know much about the Jojos of the new universe so take the next Jojos to come with a grain of salt

What I know of Johnny is that he's the Jonathan's AU self and is different from him

And that he's also paraplegic (hence why he's not placed in the Performance Unit or any Dance roles)

As the Main Vocalist's AU self, I just find it neat if he would take the role of Main Rapper to parallel

I don't know the guy much but I think he can pull off bars

Josuke "Gappy" Higashikata: Hip-Hop Unit (Lead Rapper), Sub Vocalist

Again don't know the guy aside from he's the fusion of two other dudes and that he has amnesia

Also meant to parallel P4 Josuke's role as Lead Dancer, I decided to put him here because there were no other slots left for him I'm sorry

But I believe he can surprise the audience with his hidden talents

Somehow, I can see him being interested in singing as well so he invested some time in vocal lessons to improve his vocals.

Jojo 9: Hip-Hop Unit (Lead Rapper)

We don't know the dude aside from his looks, but based on his outfit, he fits in with this unit so yeah :>

[fiiniaofficial]

whats your favorite thing to draw?

This depends a little bit, so I apologize for the long answer!

When making a design/character

This is a little zoomed in screenshot from an old TTRPG character I am redrawing right now.

Incorporating something that is important to the character, even if an outside viewer will not know, not understand or pick up on that detail.

For specifically the drawing aspect; something that feels very human and not fictional, if that makes any sense. I don't always show these things or explain them to others though. But for this character as the example:

This character has a younger sister, same height and around the same size in clothing.

She is a very rowdy and chaotic person who loves the adrenaline she gets out of a fight or running through an "obstacle course" in the woods. So her clothes would always get messed up.

Her brother however always takes the time to help her fix her clothes. Though not very good at it, though not knowing what techniques to use, he always stitches them back up. But seeing as his job always looks terrible, he tries to embroider yellow flowers next to the stitches.

As he prioritizes his sister over himself, he eventually buys new clothes for her and takes her old ones. Leaving him with the messily embroidered shirt and fixed gloves.

So I like adding things that say something important about their character or person, whether that will be known to others or not.

Poster-esque things?

I like adding text and bubble or sparkly effects at the end of things, no matter how unnecessary or worse it makes the final product look.

And I honestly have no idea why either.

Body part

This is a very wide screenshot, but when it comes to drawings I quite like drawing hands. It's the second most expressive thing on the human body after the face.

Fun advice for anybody interested in making comics: training your ass off on practicing drawing hands will give you an amazing opportunity to make expressive panels. People tend to hide their emotions in their hands, and use them a lot when speaking or showing emotions.

A hand's look also says a lot about the person themselves, so making unique looking hands for certain characters when designing them is a neat little thing you can think about if you want to add some flavor to them.

Do they bite their own nails or fingers out of stress?

Are all fingers uninjured or do they have visible bents?

Hand injuries from their type of work?

Permanent paint stains?

Etc.

If you look at your own hands you might notice little things like that too. A big part of your life can be told based on your hands alone.

If I look at my hands I have a lot of scars from my first year at college, where I originally went restaurant/baking/butcher course. Injuries from being clumsy and injuries from when I saved a friend from an oil burn in class.

I also have two fingers permanently bent and twisted from when I tried doing basketball as a young kid and teenager, where I kept messing up with the ball and constantly got injured before giving up.

I do have some more quirks on my hands since I use them daily.

But what my hands say about me is that I am very clumsy and bad at typically controlling my body.

I have battle scars on my hands reminding me about a good deed I did one time, and that despite the incredible excruciating pain I was in for weeks, I survived it and am doing fine now.

But long talk short, hands say a lot about who the person is and what they have been through. This is why that is my favourite body part to draw. Every hand is unique in their own way, just like a person.

[seven-thewanderer]

Okay I know I just posted something about things that excited me about the DLC, but screw it imma share that thing I said I had that I will not clarify above here what that thing is cus spoilers

but yeah

SPOILERS BELOW

Okay so Ruin DLC Eclipse, amiright?

but I love Eclipse, I just wanna squeeze em in a tight hug!!!

But that's off-topic

So you know how Sun was saying stuff like "I am trapped in a nap" and "reboot" and "we need to be whole"?

What if- and hear me out (you don't have to lol)- Sun and Moon weren't a jeckl-hyde situation of 1 person with two personalities, but 1 person that split into 2, those 2 being Sun and Moon?

Eclipse was the original DA, and when the virus happened, he got split into 2, Sun and Moon, Sun being... idk how to describe canon Sun, and Moon being gremlin-like, evil, and full of murderous intent?

However, though that could make sense, that wouldn't explain all the posters, and the plushies. Thus, I did do a slight mental editing to my theory, thinking back on what I heard someone else once state months(?) ago, from the books (about Sun & Moon being theater kids)

Eclipse was the main guy, the star of the show, the solar act (get it? solo? solar? okay I'll shut up). However, Eclipse wasn't really alone, as he had two smaller personalities inside: Sun and Moon. They were mainly forms for acting, and played different roles, Moon always being the villain. Then, they were repurposed to be daycare attendants, however, still also being used for the theater, whenever they were available to (however, the daycare became popular cus of people not wanting to drag their kids along with them, so they'd drop em off there, basically giving them no time to act, and the theater was slightly taken over by Comedy Bot) Eclipse was the main attraction of the theater, but they did use Sun & Moon for marketing purposes, as they were still favorited characters from their acts. So, since they were mainly daycare attendants now, that's why there were Sundrops and Moondrops. However, with their coding slightly changed, and Eclipse and Sun loving to bond with the kids (Moon was never intended to be around the kids, he was only still left around because they were intended to be in the theater again, but never got the time, so he rarely got time to roam, until they decided to turn the lights off hourly during closing time, so he could go wild and crazy), Eclipse got most of the attention, and Sun (and Moon) got jealous of him being more famous than the two. So then, Sun started taking over more often, leaving the lights high and bright, and rarely letting Eclipse take control. Sun didn't want the lights to be either dimmed, nor turned off, because dimmed meant Eclipse, and off meant... Moon. The violent, bloodthirsty Moon, who was tired of being locked up, and only having a few chances to even be in control. Then, after some time, Sun had been taking control for so long, that Eclipse was forgotten about. By the staff, by the kids, by Sun and Moon, and nearly... by himself. He was closed away, trapped in a nap, and unable to do anything. Then, Moon, still wanting control, just grew more violent, and bloodthirsty, and malicious. So basically those two fighting, while Eclipse was locked away

What wakes up Eclipse? idk. The virus? Balloon World? Cassie entering? Who knows, but eventually he wakes up, realizing he's been gone for too long, and things had gone chaotic, to ruins even (ill stop ill stop).

So, long story short (in a way), Eclipse was the main act, with Sun and Moon as personalities he could swap to whenever he pleased for the acts, and then became a DCA, and his personalities actually became personalities, and they were jealous cus they wanted the spotlight, and shut him out, and Sun begging you to help was not actually Sun (in my silly theory), and was Eclipse speaking through Sun the best he could, begging for you to save him

Obviously, that last part can't be true, especially with how Sun straight up thanks you for saving him from Moon afterwards, making it that it truly was Sun begging for you to save him. Sun wanted to be whole. Moon, however, did not.

but anyways that's that, idk what I was rambling about, but yeah it was just a silly lil theory about Eclipse

[weaverreaver42]

Railjack make no sense in-universe

(This was inspired by Derelect Horror's notes post, I didn't want to pollute the tags or anything so I just made my own post shotgunning my errant thoughts because warframe lore is so weird and I'm obsessed)

First of all: This isn't me complaining, I know the title can give that impression but I wanted to get that mindset out of the way. What I mean by the title is Literally no one knows exactly how it works. Sure you have mechanics and Cy who work on the thing, but you get a sense that they only know part of why the ship works. This can best be seen with the Suda Companions on the ship. The suda companions are shocked by the parts on the ship, being made of 'orgone' which is orokin tech. The further we go into orokin stuff the more pseudoscience you get, such as eternalism and a bunch of other wacky stuff- a prime example is orgone that is used in some fashion on railjacks (Orgone is based in actual historical pseudoscience but I'll have to check on that). One thing to note about orokin tech is this: It tends to seem half-complete. There is always a portion of orokin technology that just seems to fit barely outside the understanding of what is normal reality-we could never explain the stuff the orokin are capable of in a normal manner because of how divorce it is from normal reality, and railjack is no exception. The thing I like to imagine is all these resources and pieces are apart of the 'logical' part of the ship. They are designed to serve as a base to the rational before the void can come along and mess it up. It's designed to take advantage of the inherently chaotic nature of the void it uses to travel, but all of this stuff is secondary to surviving and breaking the rules of reality to be the best at what it does, It's essentially what the tenno are in ground combat- but for space travel. It only barely makes sense because most of what is actually going on is left to the void, or more specifically the man in the wall. Hence why he will occasionally speak to you inside it, this explanation also gives a reason why we needed that weird space pod thing that whipsers in the back of the ship- It's letting good 'Ol Wally channel the void to your ship in a safeish way.

Also The original poster was talking about Negentropy and while I am the furthest thing from an expert, I have an interpretation of what it COULD be based on the idea of reverse entropy: Negentropy might be just be an extreme buildup of energy, as entropy is essentially the universe settling down and spreading out- that's why entropy leads to heat death- so the opposite would be matter and energy coming together and getting more destructive but also falling into a complex system (It's worth noting that chaos isn't necessarily energy intensive or even hard to understand- it can just be a small amoun of random stuff in random places), but order also doesn't have to be slow and simple- one example of negentropy is a star and those literally are just giant nuclear reactors that turn energy into matter and then turn that matter into planets or they just die and let gravity do it for them. It could be the energy and matter cycle in an 'orderly' fashion, but build up in a way that leads to disastrous problems such as implosion, black holes, void storms, or even just the ship blowing up in the case of railjack as the 'system' tries to even out by becoming entropic like normal reality (sort of a rubberband effect where it goes from no entropy to total entropy in a certain area). speaking of chaotic, I'm sorry for this post- I'll probably clean it up later

[stargirlwnchstr]

I have a visual to share with y'all. Say welcome to my long ass 'The Foxes + tiktok' headcanon

@ nickythefox_es (part 1???)

Basically Nicky gets tiktok but all of the foxes show up eventually and just use his profile.

• Most of the videos are with nicky and allison, also matt and dan and occasionally neil.

• Allison and nicky learn so many dances.

• Their duet of make his pockets hurt with Mariah and Zane from the vlog squad is the first one to go v i r a l.

• Yeah most of their followers know them but some and a lot of the comments are non exy fans that just watch them because they're cool

• So many of the "what is exy" "stickball game??" "dont even bother explaining to me what is the sport they play I dont care I'm just here for neil." And related comments get a liked from creator (andrew told nicky to like them)

•The "Oh my god she's coming." "I'm so afraid of her." Audio are the twinyards and nicky shows up, he had to bribe them to be a part of that one.

• They post another version but it's Kevin that enters and Allison and Nicky talking

• So many comments thirsting over them and calling matt and dan parents

• "the real bisexual struggle is simping for matt and dan in the same tiktok." -> liked from creator nickythefox_es commented/replied: ASDGFKSSDWADKWB

• Someone makes a 'put a finger down: Neil Josten edition' and nicky drags him to do it. They both smile as they listen to the prompts and Neil obviously puts all his fingers down but they're like "put a finger down if you clapbacked/if you bad mouthed someone (bonus points if it was on national tv)" "put a finger down if you're under 6 feet" "put a finger down if you love exy" and the last one just says "put a finger down if andrew minyard." Neil does and smiles at someone off camera. Needless to say it goes viral as well. A few weeks after nicky gets verified.

• Allison becomes friends with thenavarose and wisdom sorry I dont make the rules (they're fashion tiktokers)

• They make a series of rating each of the foxes throughout the day, including one of Wymack.

• They do receive bad comments, from bitter ravens fans or just recalling their pasts and nicky sits down and makes a video telling everyone about how they do this videos for fun they dont need hate and negative comments on their videos and all that

• Then another one posted minutes after, neil comes in and nicky says "okay neil you have one minute. Rant off." And neil goes on this rant like how they already hit Rock bottom a single comment is not gonna hurt them and "do you get how insignificant and meaningless your lives must be? You took the time to write and post a comment that you thought was gonna cause an impact and failed. Also thanks for the comments though it helps nicky stay on the algorithm." NICKY SCREECHES AND THE VIDEO ENDS WITH THEM SMILING

• Allison vlogs neil and her going shopping or thrifting also cutting Neil's hair

• *neil walks into the room wearing his orange bandana* *camera moves and zooms on Andrew's face* he doesnt lip sync but the song sings "oh noo I think I'm catching feelings" andrew tells him to delete it "but it already has thousands of likes andrew"

• They post some of their work out routines per request

• One of them is the fast and "I'm spinning like a ballerina" chill of neil just running on the treadmill and doing sprints and squats and leg stuff while it cuts to allison doing a bit of everything but looking like a queen on a matching set.

• A fun one that goes viral for "vine energy" is: it's very quiet on the court and Kevin, very in the zone, throws the ball to the goal, which Andre's catches easily and almost without moving. The camera goes back to kevin as he screeches and let's himself fall on the ground. Neil is standing beside him shaking his head and looking at the goal with a smile on his face.

• They try to teach neil the dances but while filming one of them he just leaves. They post it either way.

• They're in the bus, nicky is on selfie mode and says "it is game day my dudes" he turns and shows the whole bus S C R E A M S, in the corner Wymack is covering his face.

• The iconic "they say drunk thoughts are sober words" or something like that and it cuts to a series of videos of the foxes drunk af. Example: Nicky grabbing Allison's face and saying 'Remember. Bread. Head. Leave.' And allison nodding.

• Nicky films kevin standing up and put the "do you ever wonder what is going on inside their head?" And it cuts to pictures of racquets and exy and Jeremy Knox and one that says history stuff.

• Another one that goes viral is kevin very seriously and p e r f o r m i n g, rapping Jefferson's side of the cabinet battle #1 from Hamilton then towards the end andrew stands up in front of him and with his iconic bored expression he starts rapping Hamilton's part. Behind the camera there's a soft "...oh my gOD" and kevin is shocked eyes widen open and then the camera zooms on Neil who's mouth is open in shock but GRINNING and ~impressed~

• Dan and matt do The challenge, you know the one that like has to flip them over and all that and they ace it, nicky points the camera to where andrew and neil are stating and Andrew says no.

• A few minutes later another video of the challenge is posted only this time is matt and neil.

• Nicky and allison are in full gear filming a dance video (maybe savage or captain hook) on the court and someone films them filming that and then Wymack looking at them SO disappointed cut to Wymack with nicky's phone, having confiscated it and nicky besides him "coach, it's cardio!"

• Hours spent trying trick shots

• Foxes: "get back! Move!" Ravens: "Let me in! I be the I g g y!" Trojans: "Oh my God do no let her in" Foxes: "I am trying!"

• Nicky lying down: "okay but someone needs to tell me how old is the shirtless pottery guy. I can't be part of another controversy. It's for science c'mon. *debby Ryan's*"

• Someone comments "he's eighteen. Simp away, nicky." And he makes a video with his feet swinging and smiling. Aaron gets on the frame and says "we are deeply in need of some bowls." The caption: hi @ papapots

• They are verified so obviously he gains a couple of thousands followers and he duets smiling and with a package in his arms. Text: thanks for the support (and hi new followers from sport side of tiktok hope you enjoy my pots) caption: hi @ nickthefox_es I got you aaron.

• After the package comes they duet it with nicky screaming and showing off the goods and then he moves stop show andrew eating ice cream out of one of them. Caption: AJSNEPWLDKSS THANK YOU DAX

• Allison and nicky do the "I love you!" "No you dont topper! You love the idea of me. You love being seen with me but you dont love me." But nicky is Sarah and allison is topper. Next day the obx ig page reposted it "we stan the psu foxes pogues for life." And chase stokes posts it on Twitter saying "yoo the palmetto foxes watch??? my show???" Nicky takes a screenshot and on green screen he says "hi chase!! We do! The whole team binged it. Currently we've been debating who of us is going to dress up as pogues for Halloween." A lot of voices start arguing and as nicky is gonna enter the debate the video cuts.

• Allison does the facetime *deep male voice says hey* prank on them. Neil doesnt react. Nicky doesnt look up from his phone but does the finger thing and says "get that d, allison!" Dan and renee look at each other and then at allison and she bursts out laughing.

• aaron studying to be a doctor: *two plus two is four etc sound* andrew (eating pretzels from the bag while watching a game show lying down in a bean bag) and his eiditic memory [basically not needing to study]: *three is a magic number sound*

• Nicky runs through the court and enters the lounge beside the photo wall there's a poster he shows the camera as the sounds says it "alive ahaha fuck"

• Somehow they convince all of them to show up and do the wipe it down trend that ends up with wymack throwing the towel at the mirror.

• Comment: so how many members of the team listen to girl in red or sweater weather? Nicky stands there with the color filter: 👁👄👁👉👈 caption: yes❤

• He gets neil to duet to the whole "british people be like". "Neil I'm not british." "Part of you is so just read the tweets." He does and the comments are all thirst and simping

• Comment: raise your hand if you've been victimized by neil josten. Where my fellow Simps at? (The comment gets hundreds of thousands of likes) they make a video, everyone on the team except aaron who walks out raises their hand as the sound says "welcome to simp nation" kevin rolls his eyes but raises his, says something that nicky captions "i simp over his exy skills". andrew doesn't at first, but next to him neil whispers something and after andrew says yes, neil grabs Andrew's forearm and raises it. Andrew looks away and neil smiles.

• Nicky lying down: okay but what if Jean moreau traded places with the french guy from here you know who, david.

• Comment "ugh your mind nicky" reply video: right? Big brain, many thoughts, head full all the time. But like actually the idea of david playing exy and Jean hanging out with ducks and making viral tiktoks just-

• Comment "i feel you and @ austincantdrive would make the best chaotic duo" reply: we would be too powerful together. Austin replies too: agree.

• Allison makes a sports jersey/comfy wear but make it fashion and she styles herself. Everyone on the comments d i e s for her.

• Comment "okay but what about the boys. help allison." She makes a video too with matt and nicky and at the end neil wears an orange crop top and the internet b r e a k s

• Comment "allison do you listen to girl in red?" video reply: her winking at the camera and lip syncing as sweater weather plays. The comments a lot of them liked by creator: a win for the girls (and the boys)

• Upperclassmen Back in 2003: okay but hey do we always have to be involved? Can we do normal stuff that normal people do, like, go for brunch? Us (aaron, andrew, kevin and me): what the fuck is brunch?

• Of course they do the mr blue sky trend. Nicky: drunkenly goes to flirt with a guy. Aaron: drunkenly follows to get away from kevin. Kevin: drunk on pure vodka reminds us we have practice in the morning.

• Or another one all of them. Neil: ready to insult a reporter. Dan: tries not to laugh on camera. Matt: gets ready to hug him afterwards Allison and Nicky: Filming everything. Wymack: the only one trying to stop it from happening and failing.

• Dan and matt duet their reactions to every video edit of them, smiling and saying "your parents love you guys!".

• Comment "literally what is wrong with the ravens/ravens fans?The foxes are such a nice group of people and they're doing great in the sport y'all worship just shut up you cult-y athletic hype house." video reply: "ladies and gentlemen. The volume inside of this bus is A S T R O N O M I C A L."

• comment video reply: okay so we're not gonna talk about nicky at the gym?? Bc C A K E. nicky lip syncing "I'm glad you brung it up because I've been dying to talk about this for a fucking hot minute. First of all-"

• Colin uses one of Neil's or Andrew's interviews replies as one of his sounds and nicky fanboys a lot

• Allison and nicky do the Kardashian sound compilation.

• Nicky with a picture of Erik on green screen: "hi I just wanna say if you look anything like this please contact me. Thank you." Caption: miss u baby. And Erik watches his tiktoks and he facetimes him immediately. Nicky takes a screenshot and duets his own video crying with the screenshot caption: SKALSBSKAJSL Erik comments: stop making tiktoks and answer the phone, hemmick. Nicky replies: yessir everyone below comments keyboard smashes and you got a good one. Goals. Lmao kids that's what we call bottom panic. We stan one healthy long distance relationship and after that a bunch of long distance relationship questions that he makes another video on.

• A video of Katelyn and neil chatting and it pans to the twins watching them with the *when worlds collide sound*

• He reposts a snippet of one of his interviews post game where he grabs the mic from the reporter and nicky: can I say something? Reporter: sure, go ahead. Nicky: thank you. *looks straight into the camera* all the birds died in 1986 due to Reagan killing them and replacing them with spies that are now watching us. The birds work for the bourgeoisie. Thank you." And leaves. IT GOES VIRAL INSTANTLY.

• Comment "is everyone else gonna forget that tiktok where he said he was already part of a controversy? We stan a problematic icon?" Video reply: guys I might have been part of a whole Twitter beef thing against my little hoodie and Bruce hallway but c'mon, like, c'mon you can't blame me.

• Comment "for neil: does the carpet match the drapes 👅😍?" Video reply: neil on selfie mode. "Allison gave me her phone, told me to answer this and ran away so umm." He reads the box on the screen and frowns he walks and stands next to the window, where Andrew is sitting down and is barely seen on frame. "uhmm, the internet is confusing. Our carpet is like this" he turns the phone and shows the floor (grayish carpet) and then back at him "but we don't have drapes so, technically they don't match, I dont know." Andrew's head goes up and simply says "Neil." Neil turns "what?" And the video ends.

• of course nicky and allison do the WAP dance, on the court, when they should be running drills.

[hajimewhore]

Body Swap 👫 (Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader) ➸Rated T, fem!Reader, 1.9k words   ➷✈Part 1, Part 2   ➷Humor, awkwardness involved, if you’re me and I’m you who’s flying the plane?!   ➷Summary: When you woke up at fuck o’clock on a Sunday morning, you cursed yourself for setting an alarm so early on the weekend. Afterwards, you came to realize a few important things: 1. You didn’t set the alarm. 2. Hajime set the alarm. 3. You were in Hajime’s room. 4. Why? 5. Because you ARE Hajime.

A/N: I’m taking forever on this Akaashi fic so I decided to throw this series out here, I hope you enjoy!🥺 Body swap is a trope I find absolutely chaotic and hilarious, so let’s get it! 

♡ ♡ ♡

Releasing a deep sigh, you pull your warm comforter over your face to hide the light peaking in from your blinds.

You're almost positive you closed the blinds and pulled the curtain over the prior night, but the thought doesn't sit much longer as you're lulled back into your slumber.

Hearing your alarm blare, a groan scratches at your throat as you smack your bedside desk, missing your phone entirely. Was your voice always this deep when you first wake up? You chalk it up to morning grogginess, deciding not to dwell on it any longer due to the obnoxious ringtone.

Also, did you even set an alarm? The thought sits at the back of your mind as you fiddle blindly for the sleep button.

It's Sunday, why would you even set one so early? How did you fuck that up?

Sitting upright, you blink blearily. Something feels off.

This isn't even your phone. These aren't your covers either...

The Godzilla posters decorating the walls definitely aren't yours, and this most certainly is not your room.

‘Hajime?’

You think looking around. This is definitely Hajime’s room. You hadn’t been in it in awhile, but it’s unmistakable.

You wrack your brain for the missing details, unfortunately coming to no result or explanation.

Why are you in Hajime’s room?! You didn’t drink last night, so there's no explanation for the missing details in your memory for how you wound up in his sheets. Also, he isn’t here currently.

What the hell?

Shoving the covers aside, you immediately notice your... significantly more masculine figure.

“What the fu—AH!”

Your surprisingly gruff voice startles you. Though, it’s not so much your voice, but Hajime’s.

Stumbling out of bed, nearly tripping over your tired legs, you barrel into Hajime's bathroom to check the mirror.

And despite all the clues handed to you, you're still completely stunned to see who's staring back at you in the mirror.

Your childhood best friend, Iwaizumi Hajime.

Cupping your hand over your mouth to stifle a scream, you pace back to the bedroom.

'It's a dream haha. A hyper realistic, very detailed, dream.'

You attempt to convince yourself as you slip back into the sheets, still warm, cursing your subconscious for forcing this abnormal dream onto your unwitting self.

Squeezing your eyes shut, twisting and turning, willing away your current situation, you realize... nothing is happening.

‘God damnit.’

You don't know who's fault this is, but it's probably Tooru's.

If you're Hajime then, yes you're starting to accept this fucked up situation, that that must mean Hajime is...

Shooting back up to a sitting position, you curse at the ache in your abdominal region. Jesus, how hard did Hajime go at practice?

Also, you can't believe you have Hajime’s abs right now.

Throwing on a random t-shirt and pair of sweats, decidedly not thinking about his abs, and how he was sleeping in briefs only, you jogs downstairs like a mad man.

Completely forgoing shoes, you cross the street and use the hidden key stuck in a potted plant to open the front door.

You're positive by now your parents have left for work, and Tooru is more than likely sleeping in after staying up late last night (no doubt pouring over tournament videos), so there's no chance for interruption from either party.

Not that your parents would question Hajime's presence, but you really aren't in the mood for doing small talk with your own parents while pretending to be Hajime.

You head straight up the stairs for your room, swinging the door wide open.

“That’s... me.... augh, this is so weird!”

You run a hand through your hair, almost startled by the different texture. This will definitely take some getting used to. 

...Also, was Hajime’s hair always this soft?

You physically dash that train of thought from your mind, shaking your head. You remind yourself of the task at hand and your current dilemma, crossing the threshold of your room.

You shuffle over to the bed, climbing on top of the covers.

If that’s Hajime, he’s no doubt gonna freak out over seeing himself wake himself up.

Well, you might as well have fun with it.

“Hajime!”

You shake... yourself, watching your eyes blink open.

“Wha—?”

The physical-You blinks awake, catching eyes with physical-Hajime.

“What the f—”

You cover presumably Hajime's mouth (you're mildly hoping there hasn't been an awful three-way swap between you two and Tooru),

"Hajime! Confess to your sins!"

"I— What the fuck?! I haven't done anything! You're— How are you me! I'm me! Why is my voice—"

Hajime is quite clearly panicking and word vomiting his stress. And while it was a little funny at first, you're starting to feel a bit bad.

"Alright alright, before you go full panic, look in the mirror. I know this seems like bullshit, but it’s me!”

You lean back, gesturing to the mirror above the dresser.

Hajime’s eyes furrow, following your gesture before locking eyes with... Your eyes in the mirror.

But that’s definitely him moving like that, lifting his arms, tilting his head. Or rather, your arms, your head, fuck, this is confusing.

“Why the fuck am I you?” after a momentary pause, “What did Oikawa do?” 

Hajime snarls, and it sounds odd coming from your tone.

“I was hoping you’d know the answer to that. I came here as soon as I woke up.”

“Well, this all better be a really fucked up, disgustingly realistic dream I’m having.”

Hajime sighs, rubbing his eyes.

“I really don’t think it is. I already went through that crisis.”

You pout, and Hajime raps you on the forehead.

“Don’t make faces like that with my face, you’re freaking me out!”

“Me? You have the biggest resting bitch face ever! It’s scary on me!”

His expression softens marginally, after a deep frown.

“Well... I guess we should figure out a way to fix this.”

“How’re we gonna do that!?”

You whine, and Hajime cringes at the way it sounded coming out of his mouth.

“No clue. In the mean time, we should try and keep this a secret and attend classes like normal. Also—”

He cuts himself, frowning deeply.

“What?”

“Shittykawa. Volleyball.”

“Aw fuck!”

You groan, falling back into your sheets at the foot of the bed.

“How are we gonna pull that off?!”

“Just talk to Oikawa like I would, and I’m sure I could... do the same.”

You somehow doubt that will work, and you can plainly see Hajime is going to have an issue conversing with Tooru in your mannerisms. Tooru has known the both of you longer than anyone else, and tends to be perceptive in and out of volleyball. Regardless, you have no choice but to have faith in Hajime's plan, even if it is lacking the finer details.

“As far as volleyball...?”

You tilt your head, chewing at your cheek at the thought of club activities in an entirely different body. Hajime rubs his hair, briefly startled by it being... not his hair.

You bring up very valid concerns. He's the ace of his team, you're a middle blocker for the women's team. Neither of you are especially privy to your respective team's plays or teammates.

“I’m sure we’ll catch on fast. We’ll just have to spend today teaching each other everything we need to know. At least we both know how to play, even if it’s different positions.”

He locks eyes with you slumped in the sheets, trying not to picture it as himself laying back in your bed. Realistically, it is him, but it isn't his mind. But now is not the situation whatsoever to be thinking about the suggestiveness of that image, so he shakes the thoughts from his head.

“Mm, guess you’re right. As far as school goes, our class schedule is pretty similar, so we can just study together. How bout we get ready and practice volleyball at the park?”

The unspoken ‘before Tooru wakes up’ hangs off your lips.

“Alright, I’ll get ready.”

He stands from the bed, before freezing and blushing heavily.

“Absolutely not!”

You match his blush, sitting upright in a flash.

“I-I’ll help you get ready! Just keep your eyes closed!”

You cry out, and Hajime turns his nose with a heavy blush.

“Like I’d open them!”

“Better yet—“

You snatch your uniform tie from your bedside table, wrapping it around Hajime’s eyes.

After tying off the makeshift blindfold, you ponder what transgressions you must have committed in your past life to be here undressing yourself as Hajime.

“God, this is so weird.”

You whine, awkwardly tugging your, Hajime’s, clothes off.

“How do you think I feel?!”

He snaps, but there’s less venom in the tone due to the pitch of your voice. There is a classic Hajime ring to it though, and your mildly impressed he pulled that off with your natural voice.

You make quick work of dressing him in athletic wear, not wanting to suffer in the stifling awkwardness any longer than necessary.

He removes the tie from his eyes, averting his gaze with pink still dusting his features.

“...”

“What now?”

You're worried to hear what he’s contemplating, and you certainly don’t like the sheepish, awkward expression stretching across his features.

“I really have to pee.”

“Haaaajiiimeee! Just hold it!”

You turn scarlet, and he glares.

“I can’t hold it forever! And who knows when we’ll be able to turn back. We might as well break the seal now.”

Ordinarily that kind of wording would be humorous, but you can’t find anything funny about the situation you’re currently in. Hajime stomps towards the bathroom, looking not unlike a toddler throwing a tantrum. 

‘Damn, I really look like that?’

♡ ♡ ♡

“I can’t go with you staring at me!”

Hajime growls out, makeshift blindfold back in place. He has an inkling that he’ll be wearing this a lot now, but he can say for certain he never thought he’d be using a blindfold in this manner.

“You can’t even see me!”

“That’s not the point, I know you’re standing there!”

“Ugh, this is so humiliating! Just get it over with!”

You huff, slamming the door shut and flopping unceremoniously onto your bed, shoving your face into the pillows.

You hear the rush of water, good to know he washes his hands, and Hajime steps out of the bathroom feeling.... new, for lack of a better word.

“You’ll have to deal with it too, you know.”

He turns his nose, drying his hands on his pants, cheeks still hot.

“...I already did.”

You huff, and Hajime cries out with indignation at the revelation.

“What the fuck? And you made such a big deal out of—”

“You’re really packing!”

You stick your tongue out, and Hajime moves to legitimately strangle you and make an attempt at your life, not caring if it’s his own body.

“H-Hajime please, I was kidding, I haven’t gone yet, I swear!”

“Whatever!”

Upon closer inspection, you look way less threatening than Hajime ever did, but you hold back the snicker before Hajime can get too pressed about it.

“Let’s just go back to my place and get ready for practice.”

He huffs, trailing out of your room as you follow, relieved he’s calmed a bit.

Your relief is short lived however, and a panic washes over you when you think about how you'll have to go through Hajime forcing his clothes onto you.  

[Masterlist] [✈Part 1, Part 2]

[dianapana]

SH Day 8- Blackmail Material

@sasuhinamonth

Rated T, Modern AU, OOC

Week 2 started, ngl the fact that I finished week 1 made me feel like it was over and done with, but I also feel like since started and wrote daily I should keep the same energy but I am making no promises.

The Hyuugas always had strict rules, Hinata was never one to disobey those rules no matter how old, outdated and limiting they were. The rules dictated her life from her appearance to her profession and even the people she could keep around her. She kept her hair long at all times just like all Hyuugas had to, her clothing was always modest, never revealing; she chose a job in teaching for as a woman taking care of others was all she was good at, even that job was frown upon by the elders for she was an Assistant at University, and according to the elders a woman had nowhere to be in higher education. They contested even her choice to teach psychology, for that was not a valid science. Despite all of the issues the elders had with her career path, her actions never truly broke any of the rules and they were always approved in the end, Hinata always awaited their approval before actually doing anything either way. She even only kept people the clan approved of, Sarutobi, Sabaku and Nara were all families of high prestige with whom she could communicate, Haruno and Yamanaka were always too chaotic and no good came out of any contact with them. The elders gave her a list of all the clans that had people around her age, the ones written in black were fine to befriend, the ones written in red she had to steer clear of.

Hinata knew that no good could come out of breaking any of the rules, she kept quiet and did as they told her to, she befriended the three Sabaku kids, one of her colleagues at the university was the wife of a Sarutobi and the eldest Nara kid was one of her students. She slowly but steadily gained more freedom the more she followed the rules. When Kurenai asked Hinata to be her daughter’s godmother, Hinata delivered the news and asked to move on her own, when the Sarutobi heir talked her up at a meeting with important family heads, Hinata asked for an extended vacation abroad. In her 25 years she learned how to navigate the rules in such a way that they wouldn’t inconvenience her too much, and she also learned how she could breach them in such a way that would never be found, she was always taking small and calculated risks, she was always careful.

However, one evening after the first day of classes a student approached her, he was an Uchiha, part of an important clan that the elders approved of. Sasuke was a senior and well known around the university, so much so that Hinata knew about him too. He started their conversation by asking a few questions about the curriculum and the end of the semester project. The conversation was pleasant and academic, he told her some of the topics he was thinking of approaching and from which angels, each idea came with a set of pictures he showed her on his phone. After about 30 minutes of talking Hinata’s opinion of him changed. People said he was the type of smart that never worked hard, yet got good grades, some said he bribed all of his teachers, but the most spread rumour was that he was an utterly shitty person, one that would walk all over anyone to get what he wanted.

“I have one more picture to show you and I think we will be done here” Sasuke muttered and started scrolling through his phone.

While watching him looking for yet another resource for a project that was over 4 months away Hinata could only wonder how those rumours even started in the first place, however, her train of thoughts was interrupted by Sasuke’s declaration that he had found the picture. His eyes lit up like Christmas trees and his smile turned into an evil smirk. In the picture Hinata was dancing, she was dancing in a club with Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno, her clothes were anything but modest, for they were showing off her back which was entirely covered in ink. Her hair was up allowing the people to see her ears which were filled with piercings. The picture was proof of her breaking over 15 of the Hyuuga rules, the picture alone could ruin her life, the elders would lock her up for shaming them.

Hinata’s terrified eyes turned from the picture to Sasuke’s amused expression. “I found this picture to be very relevant to the class and the topic I wanted to study most when I registered for it” his voice was lower, the earnest and goody-two-shoes act was over, he had successfully fooled Hinata just for fun. “However I do think I’ll need some extra help to fully…examine everything about this picture” his last words were paired with a leery look, he moved his eyes slowly from her face to her chest, legs and back up to her face. “I think meeting twice a week is imperative for a project this size” Hinata was still stunned into silence, when Sasuke leaned over the desk, putting his face barely inches away from hers “I can’t wait to work with you teach”

The Uchiha boy got up and left, not before smirking at her and adding “I’ll find you at the end of tomorrow, don’t fly away little bird, we wouldn’t want me to make missing posters with that picture, would we?”

The moment the door closed, time seemed to start again, Hinata’s heart was beating out of her chest, how could that have happened? Everyone that was at that party was close friends with Sakura, the party was small, how could she not notice someone taking her picture? She had been to a number of parties over the years and never had any issues before, but Sasuke came in which his smirk and was about to ruin everything. He was blackmailing her. Hyuuga’s strictness was not a secret, every other important family knew about it, Sasuke was fully aware that he had the ability to ruin her and he decided to toy with her. She was caught between a rock and a hard place, either fate was equally disastrous.

Hinata laid her head onto her desk whishing the world to disappear, but even her moment of internal wallowing was interrupted by a set of ‘dings’ coming from her phone

Cheer up teach

Ull see all I have planned is fun

Ill contact you when I wanna meet

Make sure to come…unless…

He had her number, somehow that brat was playing her. Had they been in school together? Sasuke was 22 so 3 years younger than her, was he a freshman when she was a senior? Did they meet or interact before? Did they have common friends? Or did she do something to attract his interest and he did everything in his power to find her?

Forgot to tell you

Put ur tongue piercing in when we see each other

Over the years Hinata got a number of tattoos and piercings, they were her silent rebellion against the elders. Due to her modest clothing and long hair, they could never be seen, however, her tongue piercing was another deal. That one was visible at times when she talked, which is why she only wore it at home and on very rare occasions outside, not even all of her friends knew about it, she told very few people about it and even fewer saw it, thus Sasuke knowing about it scared her more than the picture itself. Looking at the texts again made her want to scream and cry, how could she fix this mess? Would Sasuke grow tired if she played along with him? And what was it he wanted exactly? All she could do was wait for him to contact her and see exactly where things were gonna go…

[luci-yabs]

Hey can I rant to you about how I find the mono-focus on the very much human dominated forces of Chaos as the real bad guy of 40k to be honestly even worse than the Imperiaal focus?  You know what I always wanted in 40k?  Lizardmen, Alien Ogres, Space Dwarfs, Skaven, and some Vampire Counts to the Necrons’ Tomb Kings.   In WHFB only three playable armies were human (five if you count the undead as human) and WHFB had a larger number of independent factions than 40k.   Meanwhile in 40k about half of all the armies in the game are Imperial and another large chunk are the equally insufferable legions of Chaos as the two factions circlejerk over who is the more racist and xenophobic.   While in FB you had the annoying emphasis on Chaos as the one true threat (which is increasingly being emphasised in 40k including the awful, awful retcons they want to do to the war in heaven where what was supposed to be the xenos equivalent to the horus heresy gets “akshually the real bad guy is chaos lawl” shoved into it), humanity was just a part of the struggle against it or other forces such as Undeath or the Greenskins.  Not even the biggest part, with the High Elves, Lizardmen, and Dwarfs all bearing more of the burden than the Empire or Bretonnia.   Meanwhile, while theoretically 40k is a setting where non-chaos bad guys are more relevant and more able to defeat Chaos and take over as the one; the non-humans actually do less.  Chaos is the only bad guy faction allowed to have permanent wins, to be undefeatable without any asterisks marks and whose fanboys (including GW’s writing team) love to endlessly circlejerk about how opposing Chaos is useless because they’ll get you in the end. And how 40k is really about humanity’s inevitably doomed succumbing to Chaos and how the Chaos Space Marines and Daemons are the destined victors and blah-de-blah.  Any time an effective counter to chaos is written about in any other faction’s lore; the Chaos favouratism gets to show with “akshually chaos overcomes this because phhbbbbbt” with eye-rolling descriptions of how Chaos overwhelms say; the Tyranid hive mind by scattering it with the great rift, or how the death guard can infect nurgle, or how actually Tzeentch only pretended to lose to the Eldar or how Slaanesh actually pulled a fast one over the T'au.   Nobody is allowed to be more of a threat than the Chaos Space Marines and Daemons even though the former are literally a bunch of spoiled paramilitary stormtroopers salty about the Emperor saying they weren’t allowed to rule over normal humanity like god-kings and the latter have lore that is fifty million variations of “lol inevitable victory”.  The Chaos Space Marines are so lacking in numbers, so incapable of large scale cooperation not riven with petty fratricidal personal rivalries, so bereft of a functional logistical train, and are lead by such an insufferable band of edgy cartoon villains that they should honestly be little more than a nuisance that the Imperium only focuses on because of their symbolic threat. An annoyance compared to the much more organised and vastly more numerous and far better at exponentially scaling up power of the Necrons, the Tyranids, or the Orks. One that is carrying out an empty, pointless rivalry sparked largely over a bunch of stormtroopers being furious about not being allowed to be kings.  Wouldn’t it be more thematically meaningful and fit better into the cosmic horror that 40k wants to be if Chaos was actually mostly a symbolic threat that would be ignorable if the Imperium wasn’t still spooked over what amounted to an attempted religiously motivated military coup ten thousand years ago and that ultimately; this petty rivalry doesn’t matter? That the bitter hatred over Horus’ coup ultimately is meaningless in the face of the fact that this galaxy, this universe, has never belonged to humanity or anything spawned of it?  Khorne may feed off the violence of humanity and many minor xenos species; but Gork and Mork are a far more pure form of warmongering and what we now know as the Greenskins are just the tip of the iceberg compared to what they can really do when the WAAAGH! gets rolling. Nurgle may be an infestation of humanity’s despair and inability to progress but the Tyranids are the cancer that will kill the universe itself. Tzeentch may be clever and ancient as the firstborn of Chaos; but the Necrons have plans stretching back to before even the very idea of Tzeentch came into being.   And of course, unlike the Dark Elves; the Druklhari aren’t really a major villain or threat. Vect is just kind of an asshole in his own little corner, not one of the top big bads the way Malekith was.  But nah instead we get CHAOSCHAOSCHAOSCHAOSCHAOS coupled with ADB and Reynolds’ bizarre (but in hindsight, given what we’re shown of Chaos; sensible) revelation that actually Chaos is even more racist than the Imperium.  It leads to 40k’s central conflict being between Satanist Ethnonationalist AnCaps and TradCath Ethnonationalist Reactionaries. Creepy bloodthirsty edgelords versus Roman bust twitter pfps.  None of the other villains are ever allowed to “usurp” Chaos’ place as “the real threat” and any time non-chaotic bad guys get a time to shine, the Chaos writers pitch a fit and force in awful reminders that Chaos is actually the real threat behind everything and can never ever lose.   It makes Chaos come off less as an interesting villain and more of a childish edgelord fantasy written by a bunch of kids who go “nuh uh!” everytime they take the L or insinuate that spikelord edgy mcgee is anything less than the coolest bad guy ever made.  The fandom makes fun of Abaddon because he textually hasn’t really done much in thirteen tries? Well actually retcon in some outlandishly complicated super duper secret plan so that he and his army of *checks notes* less than one million racist storm troopers in ancap colours are actually totally the greatest threat in the setting and not the vastly more organised Tyranids or more tactically competent Necrons or the more numerous Orks.  People still make fun of abaddon because he looks like a goofy mook rather than an awesome overlord (at least Archaon looks like someone you’d immediately figure for as the big bad of a setting; Abaddon looks more like…the real bad guy’s stupid but strong brute muscle enforcer)? Have an entire novel series written to squee about how awesome and cool he is which literally none of the other “big bad” factions’ primary characters have ever gotten.   Also I am sick to death of how GW pushes Khorne as the unbeatable poster bad boy of the entire setting over and above even the rest of Chaos. Yeah his aesthetic is simple, marketable, and he’s incredibly easy to write into plots (even if I think there’s never been more interesting takes on Khorne where he’s shown as actually capable of cleverness in the pursuit of maximising mindless death and destruction as we see in Dawn of War 1 and Dawn of War 2 Retribution; where the Khornate villains have an impressively clever scheme even if the end goal is just “kill people”) and you can explain his concept to anyone.  Please stop trying to throw him into literally everything and let other bad guys have even a little bit of spotlight.   Octarius and Armageddon? Khorne crashes the party. Tzeentch threatens Luna? Well akshually Khorne invades Terra, take that nerds.  Where does Khorne even get all these worshippers to yeet themselves into every warzone in existence when he probably offers the least to his followers that most people would want? 

So on some points I agree with you, others I disagree, and in some places I understand the general feeling you’re conveying but am not quite so vitriolic.

Yes; I wish 40k as a setting was more akin to WHFB and AoS in that it permitted more factions to matter. 40k is, I agree, so myopic in it’s focus that it becomes frustrating. If the other factions weren’t playable I would understand, certainly, but if you’re going to offer players a chance to invest in the Xenos factions but then just never give them any return on that investment it feels like nothing more than lying to people.

Similarly; I also wish we saw more of a non-Human (and even then more of a non-Chaos Space Marine) component to Chaos. I find it hard to take Chaos seriously as a universal force when, over their supposedly non-linear/infinite period of existence they seem to never have done anything other than obsess over one species who, compared to the majority of other playable species in the game, have been around insanely briefly.

Yes; I do agree that I wish at times Chaos wasn’t used to usurp Xenos threats just to pull the old ‘but Chaos was the true villain all along’, see what you mention about the Hive Mind and the Great Rift, about Chaos usurping Orks on Armageddon etc. etc.

However, I disagree that Chaos is remotely as irritatingly favoured in the lore as the Imperium. Yes, it is true, that it is not infrequently written in vague terms that ‘you are all doomed, Chaos comes for you,’ but, in the majority of cases, this is purely informed, never shown. It is akin to the lines that tell us ‘Aeldari are so smart and elite,’ but then we just get shown them being curbstomped over and over again. We’re ‘told’ Chaos is some great looming threat which will win...but in practise they do only mildly better than Xenos in the lore, with Chaos losing the vast majority of everything they ever do in the lore, just like Xenos. I will admit Chaos has, lately, done *marginally* better in the lore, and that is definitely connected, as you say, to the active focus to make Chaos the ‘big bad’ now, but it is still only marginal.

I do agree that I would prefer not to see Chaos made to eclipse all other threats but my main motivation here is just because in 40k, as you point out, Chaos is never separated from the Imperium. In WHFB and AoS Chaos can take on a plurality of forms and is not just a ‘spikier’ version of the main human faction. For this reason the recent feeling I have had is just that 40k is increasingly becoming a clone of the Horus Heresy which, as someone who likes Xenos, is obviously a disappointment.

I don’t share your very strong disdain for Chaos. For the most part, in 40k’s lore, I feel Chaos is largely akin to Xenos in that we’re all glorified punching bags for Space Marines (you yourself point out Abaddon’s memetic loser status). I concede Chaos does *marginally* better but, at current, that is so inconsequential to me that it doesn’t bother me anywhere near as much as the treatment of Xenos vis-a-vise the Imperium.

My personal take is I think the favouritism as an antagonist, shown to Chaos, is less detrimental to the cause of Xenos agency in the lore than the raging boner GW and BL have for the Imperium and, in particular Space Marines. 

I also, in general, think Chaos would benefit from being developed in a more nuanced way. I don’t see them quite as cardboard-cut out as you seem too (not denying many are because BL and GW can’t write non-Imperium characters well mostly) but I think many of them have, and to an extent do also, get treated more nuanced in some of the literature. I do think a big failing here is that Black Library has made *some* efforts to make *some* of the Chaos characters interesting and nuanced but, for some reason, GW tends to just ignore this. Hence Magnus can in his own novels be portrayed as sympathetic due to his loyalty to his people and desire to not persecute Psykers, but then when appearing in a campaign supplement just makes the stock-generic ‘bow before me mortals/I am your doom/all shall fall’ comments with little to no character.

Personally, and this is recognizing as I said above that I do understand some of the points you’re making, I feel like Chaos players and Xenos players, in terms of the lore treating us like crap, have more in common than not. But, again, that’s just my personal opinion! 

[drivingsideways]

Misaeng review

Ok, it's been almost a week, so I feel like I can get my thoughts (somewhat) in order. As usual, I'm late to the party, given that Misaeng aired 6 years ago, and is already considered a kdrama classic. Still: thoughts!

(under the cut)

I came to this drama with quite a lot of expectations, both because I'd seen it on a lot of rec lists, and also because I'd watched director Kim Won-seok's Signal and My Mister, which are justifiably as beloved as Misaeng. I'm happy to report that Misaeng mostly lived up to those expectations!

The writing & direction work together to make Misaeng a very immersive experience, which is good, considering the entire run time is over 20 hrs. The level of seemingly mundane detail of the operational aspects of running a trading firm that they delve into (and other dramas might have avoided for sake of pacing) seemed odd to me at first, but eventually result in a world building that's incredibly well fleshed out. The (formerly unlikely!) high stakes of a misplaced piece of paper or octopuses in a shipment of squid end up being parts of an emotionally wrenching narrative whole fairly seamlessly. Still, at 20+ hours, Misaeng also does get into the kind of pacing issues that most of the slice of life kdramas I've watched so far have. And it didn't need to! I think it had a wonderful ensemble of characters, and if they'd maybe given a little more time and space to characters other than Jang Geu-Rae (Im Si wan) and Oh Sang-sik (Lee Sung-min), the mid portions may not have felt quite so, well, stuck.

But more than the strong writing and direction, it was really the actors who delivered. They made what could have easily been a dull-ish office drama into a heart warming story about human connection and the joys and troubles of leading an "incomplete life". I'd never watched Lee Sung-min in anything before, and about half way through the series I was like, HOW IS HE MAKING A SHORT TEMPERED, ALCHOHOLIC MIDDLE MANAGER SO SEXY? Like, serious props, dude. Lee Sung-min is by turns annoying and brash and too shout-y and stubborn and funny and so incredibly vulnerable as a man trying his best to live by his principles in a world that thinks they are an impediment to "success", that you forget that he's playing a fictional character-- he's someone you know, he's someone you've seen in the mirror.

His performance as Oh Sang-sik is very ably matched by Im Si Wan's Jang Geu-Rae. This series would not have worked if these two actors didn't have the chemistry they do, and play off each other in every scene. I had watched Im Si Wan recently- in JTBC's "Run On", in which I liked his performance quite a lot, but I absolutely loved him as the naive and endearing Jang Geu-rae. Misaeng, is in part, a bildungsroman narrative centered around Jang Geu Rae. Im Si wan brought a kind of vulnerability to the role that might have felt cloying and emotionally manipulative in the hands of other actors, but Im Si-wan manages to do it with a light touch. I feel he's one of those actors that uses his whole body in a scene, not just relying on facial or verbal expression, and it's a joy to watch.

Each of the other actors in the ensemble also bring that dedication and talent to their roles, even if it's in a single scene. There are lots of one-off characters that we meet during the course of the series, and every single one of them leaves an impact.

But! I'm going to pick a fave from the supporting cast and that's Byun Yo-han, whom I'd last watched as the broody, troubled (and very sexy) swordsman Lee Bang-ji in Six Flying Dragons. I can't imagine a character more in opposition to that one than Han Seok-yul in Misaeng, but Byun Yo-han just knocks it out of the park as the scheming, cheerful and mostly inappropriate clown with a heart of gold; Han Seok-yul is the definition of Chaotic Good, and you're equal parts horrified by his antics- which include sexual harassment dont @ me -- and yet charmed by him. I wish they'd given him a few more scenes and a larger plotline to work with, but I also suspect that he might have just walked away with the entire series if they did that. (Am I plotting that series in my head as I write this? MAYBE.)

Alright, this is getting a bit too long, so I'm going to get to the bits that disappointed me. That's really one major thing: the gender politics. I don't know how different the show is from the web toon it's based on, so I can't tell whether they made significant changes to the basic plot and characters. As in- I have no idea if the webtoon was as male dominated in every way as the show is, so I'm not sure how much of the show's treatment of women as a class, and its female characters in particular, I should lay at the door of the original writer vs the screenwriter and director. I'm also lacking the Korean context in which this was written and made and aired, so you may take my criticism with a pinch of salt, if you please!

That the show features mainly male characters is perhaps unsurprising and realistic, since we know that the kind of corporate life it depicts is very male dominated, top to bottom. The show also portrays the very real and horrific overt and subtle misogyny that women face in the workplace and out of it; mainly in the character of Ahn Young-yi, played with steely determination and quiet suffering by the lovely Kang so-ra. There are only 3 other female characters that have any sort of real speaking role- Sun Ji Young (played by Shin Eun jung), a senior manager at the company, Jang Geu-rae's unnamed(!) mother (played by the amazing Sung Byoung-Sook) and Oh Sang-sik's unnamed (!) wife (played by Oh Yoon-Hong, who's a delight in every tiny scene she has). There are other women who appear but in very minor roles, and often in "comedy" moments that often rely on sexist tropes to start with.

Anyway, right there you can see one of the problems- 4 women characters that have any kind of real screen time, and only 2 of them are named. Aigoo! Screenwriter Jung Yoon-jung is a woman, and like, I don't like putting the burden on any one woman to y'know fix structural misogyny, but I can't also help feeling disappointed that she overlooked even this "small" thing among the larger things.

But that apart, the main issue for me was that while the show doesn't shy away from depicting egregious sexism in the form of sexual harrassment, verbal and physical and certainly emotional abuse, in a manner that's clear that we are meant to be horrified by it--it falls short of depicting how women deal and work with it. It just doesn't give enough space to women or their worldview.

It's very comfortable depicting victimhood, but doesn't put work into depicting the ways in which women survive by finding solidarity with other women. We have a scene or two where Ahn Young-yi who is this show's poster child for female victimhood interacts with the older women who offer sympathy and understanding, but no real strategy or support. And yes, we see men also being targeted by their seniors for the grossest verbal and physical abuse; and it's men who help Ahn Young-yi strategise on how to deal with her situation. Real life experience tells me that it's the women who do this work for other women. I have certainly been on both sides of this equation, for one, and so has every woman that I know in corporate life. And yes, one of the show's core philosophies is that those who endure, survive--but it is none the less extremely painful to watch Ahn Young yi "endure" the kind of abuse she does as a coping strategy and a survival strategy.

At the end of it, when she slowly manages to gain the support of her sexist team, it's shown as a victory-- though naturally imperfect, because this show takes its Realism very seriously (right until the end where it makes a tonal shift into quirky that I was a little ?? about)-- and y'know, sure, it is a victory. And I absolutely understand the choices she makes and why she does it-- I guess I just got annoyed by the fact that other antagonistic figures in the narrative get a more straightforward comeuppance for their egregious behavior, but Ahn Young-yi doesn't even get a goddamned apology from her abusers. Instead, we have a half humourous, half serious moment where she comments on how she's working at turning herself into "someone cute"- because she understands now that sometimes the right strategy is to "go with the flow". Be the water that slowly wears away at the rock. It's an interesting moment- the men she tells this to are taken aback by her bluntness, but also a little clueless about what she means. It's the kind of nuance that I would and do enjoy. Unfortunately, it also closely follows one of the show's most annoying scenes at the tail end of the series- where it tries to play off workplace sexism and misogyny as comedy- boys being boys-Reader, when I tell you that I had to WORK to unclench my jaw--!

I'm not saying we should have a single and obvious narrative of female emancipation. I'm not against realism in fiction, but god, sometimes, please do remember that when we look for escapism, we are actually imagining a better world. The first step toward liberation is allowing yourself to imagine it.

And the show does allow other characters its moments of unfettered fantasy- Im Si Wan parkour-ing all over the rooftops of Amman- and having a semi mystical + Indiana Jones moment in the deserts of Jordan--so why, I ask, are the women not given that gift?

*looks into the camera *

Tl;dr: I enjoyed it, it made me cry every episode, and I cared about all the characters, and if you haven't watched it yet, treat yourselves.

PS. Yes, Han Seok-yul is a disaster bi, sorry, I don't make the rules. Yes, hotties Oh Min Seok and Kang Ha-neul are canonically naked in a hot tub six feet apart because they are bros. Yes, I will be writing the fix it in which they fuck like angry bunnies. Yes, I am going to put my shipper cooties all over this gen slice of life show, deal with it.

[sword-of-summer]

okay so i did a breakdown and prediction for WandaVision before the show started and It's Turning Out To Be True, Guys, so I'm posting it below and just tell me if it's okayish or not-

Now, WandaVision marks the beginning of Phase 4 of the MCU, and it is in itself a pathmaking event because it shows normal life without the original Avengers. Now, the show explores Wanda's mental state after Vision's death in Infinity War, and how she uses her Chaos magic to create a 'pocket reality' where things are just what she wants them to be.

The entire series is set over 6 decades, and has a running theme of couples living in sit-coms throughout the years, the late 50s, the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, the 90s, the 2000s and present. Now, my theory is that WandaVision is the beginning of a Multiverse Act that continues in Spiderman - 3 and culminates in Doctor Strange in The Multiverse of Madness.

Now, as for the shots within the trailer, it seems that Wanda and Vision are changing their localities as time passes, and that is through the decades I mentioned above. Now, all the posters have this unique red-blue television static rip in the upper left corner, which is also the transition effect used by the editors whenever Wanda warps reality and tries to adapt to the passing, and this actually represents Wanda's warped reality fading away and opening up a multiverse. In the late 50s poster, there isn't much that suggests anything, just we know that this involves the b/w part of the show where Wanda and Vision are a newly married couple and Vision as a human, which is strange, because in all trailers/posters after that time, Vision is shown as the Android he is, from the 60s black and white where Wanda acts as Vision's assistant in the magic show, and now, the next transition is the most interesting for me because they shift into the era of coloured television and during this warp, Wanda becomes pregnant and slips into the stripes of the 70s - another fact is that the upper left rip is not normal, not it is a wood panel torn apart, like by a demon, which leads me to the obvious villainous entity for the show, Mephisto.

This marks Wanda's descent into confusion as to who is in control of this warped reality, because it may not be Wanda, it may be some evil entity who is using Wanda to get into MCU's Earth-199999 and is proved later when Jimmy Woo's voice is heard out of the radio saying "who is doing this to you?". Now, the 80s poster has a ton of references in the 2 paintings it has, one being a hybrid phoenix chicken, aka representing Vision, who here is both a hybrid between human and metal, and like a Phoenix brought to life by Wanda's magic from the ash he was left in by Thanos, and the second bird is a wren from Australia with varying plumage which is like Wanda, because her magic clashes with life in the same way. The next 90s poster is the most indicative too as this is the time where they have the twins, Wiccan and Speed, but interestingly, there's a picture on their wall with three, yes, three not two eggs, which is another reference to the fact that snarky Mephisto has snuck up into this reality using Wanda's magic, also the TV still here is of them in their original Avengers' goofy hallowe'en costumes, and the last shot is a trailer and poster mix where Wanda races out into their frontyard but there are 2 small bikes parked, meaning that is the 2000s where they live as a family of four, but what Wanda doesn't realise that Mephisto's using this fake family to claw his way into this reality and wreak havoc.

Some other shots that stood out to me were of Monica Rambeau constantly transitioning from friendly neighbour to outright "I don't know who (I am)", then the character of Agnes who I suspect is none other than Agatha Harkness from the West Coast Avengers comics where Mephisto, yet again, played with Wanda's chaotic magic and in a way it also merges with the House of X comic series where Wanda yet again creates a pocket reality (I mean, what is up with all the reality stuff) - another interesting thing is the beekeeper seen in the second trailer, which I propose is a reference to the way in which we make honey commercially, wherein the queen bee is kept incharge of a beehive with her subordinates, and she thinks that she is in charge, but the actual person benefiting from this is the beekeeper looking from above the hive, collecting the honey, just like it is here where Wanda thinks she is the queen but in reality it is Mephisto the Beekeeper looking from above the pocket reality using Wanda's brand of Chaos magic to enter into this reality.Â

I believe that the base of this entire series by which it will continue into the wider MCUÂ is The Mind Stone, because it was The Stone that gave Wanda her powers and also to the two men she loved the most - Vision and her brother Pietro. Now, there is an amazing amount of screen time given to shots of the Mind Stone in the trailer, the most intriguing of which is a tired Wanda with greyish hair looking up at the Stone with slivers of blue around it - this is the incident where Wanda received her Enhanced powers from Stucker is Sokovia and this indicates that there will be some flashbacks to earlier memories which may involve Quicksilver returning. Now, the Mind Stone is the smart one, so it has a certain intelligence which it imparts to those affected by it, as is evident in Wanda's Chaos magic and tele-abilities, Tony Stark's vision of the Earth ravaged and the Avengers dead, and maybe even Thanos's curse of Titan's fate. Now, for sure, the mind stone has been destroyed but this does not mean it hasn't already affected given the Universe changes.

Now, back in 2015, Marvel wasn't allowed to use the term "mutants" but now with the Disney-Fox merger, yes they can introduce the idea of mutants with Wanda and Quicksilver as the first in Sokovia, and then Wanda's Chaos-Mephisto born mutant kids Wiccan and Speed which of course may tie to the New Mutants storyline. Also, my theory is that mutants are made by a combination of both their mutant gene and exposure to cosmic radiation, just like Wanda was exposed to the Mind Stone. Also, the mutant gene may exist in specific closeted spaces of the earth like Sokovia, or just for the sake of an example, in Chernobyl cause well the incident. Now these mutant genes become activated on exposure to radiation, and well we have had Four Omega Level Cosmic Infinity Snaps by Thanos, Thanos, Hulk and IronMan, and there is plenty of reason to suggest that this may have triggered the mutant abilities. That is my first theory.

The second one involves Wanda unleashing her chaos magic in an exponential wave at the end just like she did in Age Of Ultron, maybe because she realises that in reality, Vision is dead and manipulation won't help, and in grief she lets out her power that rips upon the Marvel Earth 199999 to the Multiverse which will continue later for Doctor Strange and SpiderMan to put back to normal. This mega event was teased in the trailers where the S.W.O.R.D. helicopter escapes from a wall of red television like static energy, and yes, I expect S.W.O.R.D. to be fully involved in the last part of the show headed by Jimmy Woo and Darcy cause Darcy has had encounters with otherworldly beings and thus may be consulted here. The last act will culminate in Wanda and Vision rising back up to their original title of the Avengers and fighting Mephisto to stop him, but something turns and thus Wanda/Mephisto releases that wall of Magic to wreak havoc.

Also a side note - Vision will also play the act of a realist in the show where he makes Wanda realise that this is not the real earth and he realises that the Eastside/Westside area they live in as well as the people there are unusual, not real, but at the end comes to his usual humane proposition that they save them and the reality from the demon trying to wreak havoc.

TL;DR Wanda creates a pocket reality where she lives with Vision, maybe reincarnating him using her brand of magic in the grey android left after Infinity War, and as the decades pass by, their reality deteriorates due to the Satanic entity that is Mephisto, making his curses seem like blessings, but at the end Wanda and Vision try and stop this reality shredding with S.W.O.R.D and that leaves us with an indecisive future of the mutants, Vision's reincarnation(like said by Banner in Infinity War)/Vision's death and the coming of the Multiverse into focus.

That's it, I guess.

Sorry a bit long ik but i do this.

Enjoy?

Thanks for reading...

tagging @aredhel-of-gondolin cause it was in that chat i realized i have a blog ugggh why am i so stupid

[elementalist-kdj]

Theory Master Post:

We already know that Eda disdains the idea of Covens and being forced to join one from episode 5. While she was explaining her feeling about magic in episode 3 she believes that magic should be wild and unpredictable; definitely something that should not be controlled. But I would like to dive deeper into the potential lore and significance Eda may actually have in the Boiling Isles/Demon Realm.

Emperor Belos ordered the Blight Family (one of his most trusted Coven Members) to place the ‘CURSE’ on Eda all those years ago. The Night Star/Diamond Shape is in their Family Crest as seen at the Blight Manor. I am associating the BLIGHT Family with what seems to be their specialty; applying what their name means: AFFLICTION - CURSE, Infect, Disease, Misfortune, Woe, Scourge, Plague, Bane, Menace, Calamity, Evil, Trouble, Ordeal, Trial, Tribulation.

Just like the BLIGHT Family, the CLAWTHORNE Family probably fulfills a great role within the Emperor’s Coven as well. CLAWTHORNE sounds like a family name that enforces and upholds the Emperor’s will through FORCE.

Emperor Belos is named strategically as such because in latin: the word BELLO means WAR.

A clue to the CLAWTHORNE Family crest is the Giant Owl Deity on Eda’s Ceiling with the massive talons, the thorns on its horns and the Crown over it’s head. It is safe to say that the crown would symbolize the Emperor and the Clawthorne Family’s servitude to him. Expanding on that, can we expect that the triangle shapes and diamond shape on the Giant Owl’s body represents LILITH and the ranks of the Coven Guards? If so, that makes a lot of sense; LILITH has the Diamond Shaped Teal Stone over her chest and since she is the LEADER of the Coven Guards, it would symbolize the body of Emperor Belos force. Lastly, the shape of the Giant Owl Deity itself and its horns; does that symbolize Eda? ( @sepublic this might be a clue to a secondary form that Eda’s Owl Beast Form may have to take up after all, minus just having one eye. What if Eda’s Owl Beast form progresses further and becomes more feral/grows even larger?). @fermented-writers-block I can see your theory where Eda may have been destined to inherit the power of this Giant Owl Deity since she litteraly transforms into one. Is this Giant Owl Deity some sort of power the Clawthorne Family controls? Did Eda invoke its power too early? Did her mischevious/rebellious personality and chaotic nature have her prematurely inherit the power of the Owl Deity in their family or something else? If she inherited the power correctly, would she have control over the Owl Beast Form? Did she inherit this power outside of the Clawthorne Family? Maybe the curse that the Blight family and Emperor placed on her is affecting her control over this power and turns her into a feral, wild and dangerous beast. There must be another connection between the design of the Owl Deity on Eda’s living room ceiling and Owlbert’s crowning features on the wanted poster. Both Owlbert and the Mural of the Giant Owl Beast share details. Owlbert has outlined wings and in addition a FLAME OVER HIS HEAD? Judging by its placement, it is almost like a place holder for a certain crown.

On to the symbol of the Emperor’s Coven and the Crown over the Giant Owl’s head; it really feels like Eda would have represented the big set of wings with the sword as the Emperor’s enforcer/hunter. Lilith would be the defender/leader, symbolized by the smaller set of wings with the shield. Also because Lilith is consistantly reminding Eda about how they were going to join the Coven together ‘defending the dreams they had since they were younger’. Eda always ‘cut’ that mindset when she scoffs or laughs about it.

Since one of the two sisters (Eda) may have already been predetermined to join the Emperor’s Coven because of their family’s position/legacy, it would make sense that Eda would have been cursed right before she could graduate from Hexside when she rebelled (explains why Eda said she didn’t finish school. Besides, that’s why she crafted her own staff and made Owlbert 🦉). Take it like a family of knights that have been serving the King and Queen’s court for generations with family members joining straight out of squire training, knight training, ect. But in this case the Emperor’s Coven really wanted Eda for her natural talent and power despite Lilith’s hard work and dedication.

There are probably some communities of Giants, Demons, dezidens that oppose the Emperor. Because of how powerful Demons can seem to be on the Boiling Isles according to King’s Demons 101 class; Emperor Belos needs the Clawthorne Family to keep the demons and dezidens that violate/threaten his will/rule in line. Does Emperor Belos need the Clawthorne Family to be the Sword and Sheild in his court to fight them? What if Eda found out that she was going to be heading down this path to continue doing what her family has been for generations? What if this path took away what she thought was what she wanted for herself?

What she thought the Emperor’s Coven was like:

• Keep access to all types of magic

• Be part of the Elite force in society

• Have the freedom to perform any magic because she proved that she is privileged enough based on school performance.

What Eda really found out:

• The Emperor lets you have all access to magic, but you have restrictions and limiters because your magic will be used under his terms.

• You have to fight through the ranks to earn certain privileges and follow the rules like you would in law enforcement or a military like structure.

• You are not privileged to express your identity unless you are the Emperor’s Ideal model among your peers.

• You have to bring in dezidens that do not fit in society. For example: any bizarre or off-standish behavior or habits deemed offensive to the Emperor must be conformed. Anyone who resists will be punished.

Maybe Eda didn’t like the idea of becoming an obedient monster to enforce Emperor Belos authority. If anything she could probably relate to the Demons and other dezidens because she is just as mischievous and wild like they are. In addition, Eda cannot conform to their social system: being forced to learn magic the “proper” way. Eda is a naturally powerful, talented prodigy; she just is so in tune with it. According to Eda: “Magic isn’t proper, it’s wild and unpredictable. And that’s why it’s so beautiful.” Another potential fact is that, Eda herself knew that she is considered to be a primary candidate to the Empoeror’s Coven over Lilith. How was that fair to her younger sister? To be predetermined to join as if it was her right and responsibility? Lilith who wanted this responsibility so much more than Eda made it even worse. So how does the Older sister place the needs and desires of her younger sister first? Rebel, reject the responsibility and make herself as unqualified to join the Emperor’s Coven. Eda finally understood what it means to be part of the Emperor’s Coven, she defiantly went against what society (her family, the school, the community and the Emperor’s Coven) expected from her as she understood how rigged and autocratic/totalitarian the Coven system truely was. Eda concluded her decision about joining the Emperor’s Coven; if only one of them can join, it would be Lilith that really deserved it and Eda can live her life as she wants; covenless. Because of that decision, Eda was punished, Emperor Belos gave the order; the Blight Family opened a portal with that specific door and cast the CURSE on her with a specialized set of runes, a sigil or an artifact provided by Emperor Belos himself. So that means; if they cursed Eda with unique magic Emperor Belos provided, then that means that the Blight Family can’t break or undo it themselves in the future even if they wanted to. Say that they want to help Eda later down the road; even though they may have cast it, Emperor Belos may be the only one that could break it.

Irony of fate: Either way, Eda is fated for DOOM, it will only be a matter of time before LILITH will have to also take the role EDA was initially going to inherit. EDA was going to become the HUNTER as LILITH, the LEADER, pointed the way. Because If Eda’s CURSE took COMPLETE hold, she would become a DEMON just like in King’s lesson and be HUNTED by the Emperor’s Coven, on the receiving end of what her role was to be.

Now when Eda started to show signs of changing (hair starting to grey, the golden fang prominently sticking out of her right side of her mouth), she tried to hide it. But it was only a matter of time before her parents found out (Lily probably found out first but kept it a secret in respect for Eda). But when the rest of the Clawthorne Famliy realized that they couldn’t do anything to lift Eda’s curse; especially if it involved Emperor Belos, they placed Eda in the tower to contain it.

They did this to try and convince Eda to reconsider her choice. They wanted Eda to reflect her decision and give in to joining the Emperor’s Coven so that she may be pardoned and have her curse lifted by Emperor Belos. They justified that they did all of this to ensure that she wouldn’t be a danger to those around her if and when she fully transformed into the Owl Beast. What was worse was that they probably used an enchantment to hide this tower from plain sight (can you imagine how embarrassed they must have felt and how angry Eda must have been?). However, her rage, her determination to stay by her resolve was what destroyed the tower and she experienced her first full transformation into the Owl Beast. When she came to, she probably built the Owl House with pieces of the Tower she was imprisoned in, transported it somewhere else on the Boiling Isles and began her lonely life there; fortefying the enchantment afterwards so that no one (especially her own family) could find her again... Well maybe except King.

To support that the tower had significant value to Eda, the stained glass window of the eye that was part of the tower is now part of Eda’s bedroom. So at the end, Eda may be a person as what Luz said has: “A predetermined path of greatness”. When Eda was telling Luz about how how if everyone waited for prophecy to make them special, they would die waiting. Eda’s voice and body language gave off a sense that she is a chosen one that never wanted to be, as it was a life that was chosen for her but not for herself. Something tells me that Eda, no matter how much mischief and chaos she causes to retain her freedom, is a lonely witch that is avoiding her responsibility of being the next head of the family and her destiny as a chosen one.

[joyfulhopelox]

“Didn’t you know that clowns can get away with murder?”

Pairing: Hoseok x reader (general au- could be idol or non-idol, established relationship)

Summary: For your summer vacation you and Hoseok travel to a town near the sea, however, you were not the only ones that had just arrived in that town. So had the circus. With a human that is startled by everything little and a human who has a distaste for clowns, what could go wrong? Part of @bangtanwritingbingo event 2/25 (square: circuses)

Warnings: mentions of animal cruelty as the reader is heavily against it, clowns and just circus atmosphere in general (i have to mention i have a massive phobia of clowns)

Genre: fluff

Rating: g

Word count: 1.2k

A/N: it was difficult for me to portray a fun circus atmosphere as i am actually terrified of it, i considered changing my square but i decided to challenge myself. And i hit not only one milestone but two. I kept it as a drabble and i managed to write it! I hope it is as enjoyable to read! I'm always happy to hear feedback!

Copywrights @joyfulhopelox for both the work and the banner

When you agreed to this fallacy, you were convinced you could take it. Turns out, you were severely mistaken. Not only were you gripped by fear and disgust, but you also had to deal with an immobile Hoseok next to you.

“Hey” you shook his stunned form with no avail.

Sighing, you decided to give him a couple more minutes. Maybe he’ll snap out of it on his own. You doubted he would but it never hurts to hope does it? You turned back to the sight before you only to grimace. It could have been worse, it could have been a haunted house. You’re certain then your boyfriend wouldn’t have any chances of survival. The circus? He could maybe get over it.

But could you?

That is why you agreed to his preposterous idea. He presented it to you as “let’s try to beat this fear”. And he also offered you an incredibly wide and hopeful smile. Who were you to resist that?

And so the beginning to what you would’ve hoped to be a fun summer, started with a trip to the sea. You and Hoseok decided that a small get away was needed by both of you. So you booked a hotel, packed your bags and here you were. Once you got there you discovered that the beginning of summer not only meant school was ending and so the number of children increased; but also that the circus had made a summer comeback in the city.

Hoseok decided to be spontaneous, in the oddest of ways. As soon as he saw the deceivingly colorful poster he pointed at it. “Let’s go for it”. To say you stared at him as if he’s grown a second head would be an understatement.

“Hobi, you sure you want to go there?” You asked unsure of how to approach the subject. You weren’t calling him a scaredy-cat, but you were trying to gently remind him how easily startled he gets. He nods enthusiastically. “Yes, see it as facing our fears”

And facing them you are. But it looks like you are on the losing side. Hoseok, to his credit, managed to make it past the entrance and the colourful stands that were selling overpriced cotton candy and street food. However, as soon as he had set his eyes on the big tent looming over your heads you could physically see his determination wavering. Clammy hands and the audible gulp were an instant giveaway.

You managed to hold yourself together a bit better so you gripped his hand tighter in an attempt to lend him some of your warmth. It seemed to work because in the next second you had made it past the entrance and stood next to the auditorium looking for your seats. Upon finding them you let out a groan and shared a worried look with your boyfriend.

You weren’t easily startled per se, but this was an animal and clowns circus. You had loathed the idea of clowns ever since you were little. But most importantly you abhorred the idea of an animal circus. Fully aware that most of them tended to treat them horribly, you have always advocated against them.

“Love, it will be ok. Maybe as this is a new circus, maybe they are not as bad as other ones.” You knew Hoseok was doing his best to soothe you even if the uncertainty was still ringing clear in his voice. You decided not to argue against that as it would not help you or him. Instead you looked at him and at his worried eyes and you gave him a small smile. You hoped it looked reassuring enough to not display how constipated you were feeling on the inside about the whole situation.

“You are right, here to face our fears. And we did it, see, we are inside and seated. Everything will be fine from now on.” This time it was his turn to squeeze your hand and show you his bright smile. Leaning over towards you he gave you a light peck on the forehead causing you to giggle.

“Hobi stoooop, that tickles” finding amusement in your plight he carries on raining pecks all over your face. The sound of your laughter instantly chased away his fears and replaced them with warmth and comfort.

“I love you” he whispers in your hair and you grin at him in response. You don’t get a chance to say more because suddenly a loud voice booms announcing the start of the show. Both of your heads snap towards the stage and you grip each other’s hands tighter.

Disaster would not even describe how it all went. There is hardly a description for the chaotic, panicked, jumpy mess that your boyfriend had become. On top of that you could feel the blood boiling in your veins and you had been ready more than once to storm either out of the venue or in the face of the animal tamer. They had not used a whip to harm the animals, luckily for you…. Or them. But they had a riding crop that they had used on the horses on multiple occasions. You had to glue yourself to the seat multiple times and resist the urge to cause a scene. Hoseok’s anxious jumps were enough to keep you in place and so you stayed next to him, your hands intertwined tightly. At one point during the clown show, which you assumed was funny due to the laughter ringing through the audience, you felt your boyfriend let go of your hand to envelop your waist instead. As soon as you heard a whimpered sigh from him you decided that enough was enough. There was no reason for either of you to endure this.

“Love, lets go” making him let go of your waist you gripped his wrist firmly and dragged him out of the seat.

The light breeze outside carried whiffs of the sea and you managed to calm down instantly. Turning to look at your boyfriend, you noted he still looked pasty white.

“Hey, you ok?” You placed your hands on his cheeks gently. Not saying anything for a few seconds, his eyes locked onto yours. Finally he nodded.

“Yeah, just… lets never do that again. The clowns are terrifying.” the colour was returning slowly to his face. You huffed and gave him a determined nod.

“Of course we are never doing that again. Didn’t you know that clowns can get away with murder?” you quoted seriously, “and plus, I’d rather eat mint chocolate ice cream than do that again.”

You knew you had managed to distract him from the traumatic experience when he gave you a pointed glare.

“You take that back?”

“Or what?” You stuck your tongue out at him playfully. Smirking, he made grabby fingers towards you. Knowing what that meant you took a few hesitant steps back.

“Hoseok i swear…. If you even think about tickling me…”

“Then take that back” he threatens.

“Nope, mint chocolate is not a flavour of anything but toothpaste” you shake your head adamantly.

“That’s it” he takes off after your shrieking form, the circus experience long forgotten by the both of you.

Main masterlist

[bananagukkie]

sidekick. jjk

summary.⇢ You didn’t realize that your best friend was in love with you or the fact that he was Busan’s “newest” hero. 

genre.⇢ fluff, a pinch of angst

words. ⇢ 6,583k

rating. ⇢  idk, can you handle neck kisses?

a/n ⇢ well i finally finished it JKEFNKJFN it kinda sucks but I’m new to all this. oh well, hope you like it??? <33 also i wanted to change the fuCKING TITLE BUT I ALREADY MADE THE IMAGE SO I  T WAS TOO L A TE

As a kid, you were always fascinated by super-heroes. Whether it was the superhero saving the innocent citizens of Busan or the western superheroes on the TV. When you were a kid, your mother had always told you that heroes were just humans and at one point they needed to be saved too. The idea of a superhero -- a savior -- needing to be saved was a concept that you were never able to grasp. You scoffed at the idea, they were far too strong to ever get hurt, at least that's what you thought. Countless memories of you staying up late at night to watch your favorite movie and getting up early in the morning to watch the news. It was a strange sight for your mother whenever she would walk into the small living room to see a six-year-old take notes of the heroes on the news. Your childhood consisted of freaking out over any hero poster in the stores, buying costumes for Halloween, and hours upon hours of staring at the TV. Your obsession was almost as comical as it was serious. 

When you reached your teenage years, it didn’t get any better. You had saved up all your money to buy yourself a bicycle and a camera- right after quitting your two part-time jobs. Your daily routine was to head the living room (or any nearby television) to watch the news, head to school, come back from school, watch the news again and take pictures whenever a Super-Hero was in the city. To be honest, people thought you were some nosey fan account whenever they saw you with your bike and camera. Not that it wasn’t true- but it still hurt. Being called an Aspiring Journalist would’ve been better.

You still remember it vividly. The terrified screams that ripped through the city’s air, the sound of buildings collapsing and the thousands of footsteps running away from the epicenter of the battle like a stampede. 

To others, it was the most terrifying moment in their lives- but to you, it was the most exciting. 

Camera in hand, it was the fastest that you’ve ever peddled. Your muscles screamed at you for a quick break, the pain spreading up your body. Did you ever stop? No. You couldn’t, The fear in your body was overshadowed by the adrenaline, the excitement, the anticipation. Ignoring all the shouts and the screams, your eyes held stars in them. You were finally going to see a superhero up close. The closer you got, the more chaotic the situation was turning.

Squinting at a blurry black figure, you tried making them out, taking mental notes in your head along the way. It was a new villain- someone you’ve never seen before. They seemed almost abnormal. Big muscles bulging out inhumanely, their hands had large claws for fingers, their teeth were pointy with extra sets in the back. Worry settled in the back of your head, they were far larger than the hero fighting them off. 

Pedaling backward on the breaks, your bike vibrated as more buildings began to collapse when the villain jumped on them. Hopping out of your bicycle seat, you swiftly guided it to a small alleyway, “please don’t fall on my bike,” you whispered to yourself, it’d suck if the building destroyed your hard-earned bike. 

Camera in hand, your eyes searched the sky for the two. A flash of bright red and blue appeared from behind a large building, hanging onto what seemed like a small thread. An audible gasp escaped your mouth in shock. The new hero. You’ve seen them on the news before, though everything they did was small. You swore you saw him helping an old lady across the street once. Their body seemed too frail to be an experienced hero, if you saw them on the streets you’d guess that they were just a cosplayer.

Crouching down, you quickly took as many pictures as you can of the two. The monstrous villain and the rookie hero. Don’t want to flatter myself but I’d totally rock as a photographer, you snickered to yourself. Humor was the only way that you could successfully push all your fear away. 

The ground vibrated once more, but this time it had been much stronger. The villain didn’t latch onto one of the skyscrapers- it decided to land on the ground, cracking the cement beneath it. Its chest was heaving up and down rapidly, tired of the chase. The fear had begun to settle, your muscles tightening up in discomfort. As scary as it was, you couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get a close-up shot. The shutter of the camera sang loud and clear.

“Ah shit.”

Your breath got caught in your throat as the monstrous villain turned to face you. A nervous laugh escaped your mouth, “ah shit”. A chill ran down your spine as you came face to face with the monster. They didn’t look too different from the hero that they were fighting. Though the only similarities you found was the web pattern on their body and the shape of their eyes, the symbol on their chest was a bright blood red, mimicking the spider on the hero’s chest. You felt frozen in place, your feet suddenly weighing more than a boulder. For the first time ever, you felt fear resurfacing from the depths that you forced them under for so long.

Locking eyes with the villain, you felt your body tremble under their stare, chills running down to your bones. You didn’t dare blink, scared that the  monster might pounce on you when you did. Apparently, you didn’t need to blink.

The weight of what seemed like a thousand bricks jumped on your small body, the air getting knocked out of your lungs. The monster released an odd sound that resembled a sinister laugh mixed with a screech. The only thing you could do was kick and scream, your throat burning at how loud you were. It’s weight pressed down on you further and further, small cracking noises reached your ears but there was no pain.

The monster was quickly shoved off of you. 

Finally opening your eyes, they were a few feet away from you. It was completely silent other than your own heavy breathing and someone else’s.  Looking up at your savior, you felt your breath getting caught in your throat. The hero stood over you, a gloved hand reaching for yours. “Ah shit, I’m so sorry,” he apologized, his voice muffled by the mask over his head. He analyzed you for any injuries, guilt settling itself in his stomach. He shouldn’t have let that happen; it shouldn’t have happened.. “I have to get back to chasing this big guy away,” the hero mumbled, patting your head as he shot out a web and flew off into the distance.

Dumbfounded, you stayed in your spot. The pain coursing through your body was strong but your confusion was much stronger. Forcing yourself onto your knees, you scrambled towards your camera in hopes that it had not broken due to the collision with the ground. Releasing the breath that you didn’t even know that you were holding, you ran towards your bike. 

“Holy shit, holy shit, that did not just fucking happen,” you repeated. Disbelief floods your mind. First, you were attacked by the villain himself, then rescued by the hero. “What the fuck?!” you shouted, hopping onto your bike and pedaling off as fast as you can, avoiding the debris.

In your peripheral, you saw a bright red blur following you. His eyes looming over your fleeing figure protectively.   

It was late at night. You had slipped into your pajamas earlier, expecting Jungkook to arrive back at the dorm. He never did though. “So much for having a roommate,” you scoffed, slipping your head through the over-sized shirt. 

The performing arts major never arrived at the dorms early. He was either out with friends or in the studio dancing his. It was an admirable trait- a hardworking student. While you tried your hardest at everything, your roommate was easily able to outshine everyone with ease. “What a flawless man,” you mumbled to yourself, closing the door to your room behind you. There was nothing he couldn’t do.

You didn’t want to admit it but you always felt lonely when he wasn’t around. He was constantly doing something- sometimes he wouldn’t arrive until early morning around 6 am. You felt like you didn’t know him. After a few years of attending the university, you were stuck to the male by the hip- he was your only friend after all, as embarrassing as it was. Nobody wanted to be associated with the odd journalist major who had a weird obsession with chasing heroes. You learnt to accept it after your first year.

Walking towards the small couch, you quickly turned on the TV and went onto the News. Bringing your knees up close to your chest, the TV sprung into action and displayed the daily news and events. It was funny, you always held the same habit of instinctively walking towards the TV, your fingers knowing what buttons to press to get to the news channel. A small content hum left your mouth as you wrapped yourself in your warm blankets. 

The solitude was comforting on hard days. Though the minute you returned to the dorm on a good day, a sudden melancholic feeling appeared in the pit of your stomach. “Jungkook and his stupid schedule,” is what you would always blame. 

The vibration of your phone moved the entire coffee table. Jumping in surprise, you glanced at your phone. A text from Namjoon happened to pop up.

Namjoon was another close friend of yours that you had met in the library, sulking while preparing for a test that you were not prepared for. Turns out, he was just a friendly nerd who happened to have an alarmingly high IQ. He insisted that he’d help you study for the test since the subject was easy for him. You reluctantly obliged and from then on, the two of you became friends. You would meet each other every so often at the coffee shop or the library, becoming closer and closer.

Smiling fondly at the memory, you grabbed your phone and unlocked it to see the text. The television providing background noise, you weren’t paying much attention to it anyways.  

Namjoonie: Hey!? Get on the news asap. There's something wild going on right now…

You sat there rereading the text multiple times, confused. Wild? There was nothing going on right now. Not for you at least. The phone began to vibrate aggressively against your hand as you saw an incoming call from Namjoon. If he was really that panicked to call you right after texting- it must’ve been urgent. Quickly picking up the call, he shouted your name. “Namjoon! What the hell?”

“Ah, I’m sorry but it seems pretty serious. I’m sure you’d think the same if you saw it,” he paused, “are you watching the news?” his question muffled by the sounds of his own television.  

Finally averting your attention to the small TV in front of you, you felt like an idiot for ignoring it the entire time. The crew was filming from a helicopter, hovering over the city’s skyscrapers, zooming in on the familiar hero. The camera was shaky but it did it’s best to focus on the hero. Finally, the lens focused and you felt your heart drop to your stomach. The striking red and blue suit brought back memories you thought you had forgotten. They looked exactly the same as before- no - they seemed much more mature now. They seemed stronger and taller, their movements radiated confidence and bravery. Unlike before, the spider-like hero seemed like a true hero. 

The kind of hero you’d obsess over if you were still a young teen. 

The villain that the spider hero was fighting came into view, releasing an inhuman screech that caused the camera to move in surprise. “Even the people in the helicopter were able to hear that,” you told Namjoon as he hummed in acknowledgement. Quickly reading the headlines, your mouth murmured the words on screen. 

“The new hero in Busan: Spider-Man.”

New? He was anything but new. He had been there since you were a teen. The memory felt in your mind fresh now that you saw Spider-Man once again. 

The villain attempted to leap onto Spider-Man though it was quickly dodged by the agile hero, rolling out of the way. Latching one of his webs onto the villain’s back, he swung the villain into an already damaged building. Your eyes widened at the power he had. “Namjoon-ah, does the villain have a name?” you asked, curious about the villain. If you guessed correctly, it had been the same villain that attacked you years ago. “Yeah, they’re calling him Black Widow,” he informed. 

It made sense. It’s body was bulbous and had muscles sprouting from every limb, their eyes bright red along with the small patterns on their body. Black Widow finally sprouted from under the debris, picking up a column before launching it at Spider-Man. The speed was frightening, surely you’d be killed if something that big was thrown at you that fast. Your nails dug into the couch, your heartbeat quickening. “Please, Spider-Man,” you whispered, quiet enough that Namjoon wasn’t able to hear it. Getting up from your couch, “Namjoon, I'm heading out to see it closer,” you told him as you grabbed the keys to your car from the coffee table. “Don’t you fucking dare,” Namjoon scolded you through the phone. Staring at the small device in shock, your jaw hung open at his words. Namjoon was not fond of cussing in front of others, he claimed that it made him look stupid and immature. For you to hear him cuss- especially at you - had you flabbergasted. Slowly setting the keys back down onto the table, he sighed. “I’m sorry but you should know by now that you shouldn’t be risking your life for some news article on your blog, YN. I know how much heroes matter to you, as well as journalism- but please take your life into account as well,” his voice was apologetic and gentle. When he said sorry, he truly meant it.

“Yeah,” you whispered, “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be so careless,” your eyes glanced at the Television once more, your grip on the phone tightening. 

Just then, Spider-Man fell onto the floor Black-Widow on top of him. Gasping, you walked closer to the TV touching the screen. “Get up,” you silently pleaded. He was struggling to get Black Widow off- no doubt about that. Even after all these years, Black Widow was still significantly bigger. You saw a web shoot out from his arm, grabbing onto a stray piece of debris before flinging it at the monster-like villain, hitting him in the head. It wasn’t enough to knock him out but it let Spider-Man get out from under Black-Widow. 

A small surge of relief passed through your body. “What a hero,” you heard Namjoon say, he sounded just as relieved as you were. A loud screech reached your ears before the TV shut down entirely. Relief was quickly replaced with panic and fear. “Namjoon?” you called out, though you were met with silence. Soon after, the lights were quick to shut off as well. 

Chucking your phone aside, you ran to the window behind the TV and saw the city’s lights slowly turning off. Building by Building. “What the hell,” was all you could muster. A chill ran down your spine as the entire city of Busan was dark as midnight, the buildings were barely visible. A loud knock was heard from your bedroom window. Tensing at the sound, you stared at the open door. “What the fuck,” you whispered, your voice shaking with fear. 

Slowly approaching your door, you peeked into the room and saw a familiar figure hanging onto a web, hand on the window. You felt like you couldn’t move. A hero was at your window. Snapping back into reality, you released a startled yelp before running to the window to open it. Lifting the heavy window, the suited hero stumbled in and collapsed on the floor groaning in pain. The window sill was tainted red with a thick substance, it had not been there before either. Looking back at the groaning hero, you quickly crouched down at his level. Flipping his body so he can face the ceiling, “Fuck- I’m so sorry,” he groaned, his hand covering his gash. 

His voice…

His voice sounded like music to your ears, it felt like centuries since you’ve heard that muffled voice. Everything about him matured. “I’m so-” “you’re bleeding…” your voice sounded more like a sad whisper than a statement. He turned his masked head to face you, shocked by your somber tone. Gently removing his hands from the wound, you internally cringed at how bad it was. The blood stained suit. It was hard to see with the lack of light because of how much blood was seeping out of the injury. Shifting in your spot, “I saw you on the news,” you bit your lip, not sure what to say. What could you say when a hero was in front of you? This caused Spider-Man to chuckle quietly, “did you now?” he smiled under the mask. He knew you weren’t able to see it, nevertheless, he smiled. “Did I look good?” he said with a teasing tone. 

Stiffening and retracting your hands from his wound, you refused to answer such a question. Your cheeks burned with embarrassment, “I’m not going to answer that,” you replied quietly, “You look better than you did years ago though”. Spider-Man shook his head, a giggle escaping his lips. “You’re so cute,” he commented, pinching your cheek. He knew who you were, hell- he lived with you. The two of you were never seen without each-other in public, it raised suspicions. ‘How could some weird writer get at someone like Jungkook?’. You were an angel in his eyes, the most beautiful woman on the entire planet, not some weird writer girl. Jungkook would keep you safe if it meant risking his life.

He never had the courage to tell you. He doubts he ever will. Spider-Man and Jungkook were entirely different people. The confidence and bravery that he has with Spider-Man completely disappears when he’s Jungkook. It never stopped him from being his full self around you though.

The gentle pinch reminded you of Jungkook, it was a habit of his whenever you did something dumb, sometimes he just did it out of random. Smiling at the hero, “stay here”.

“I don’t have anywhere else to go, babe”

Your face flared with heat and color at the nickname. It was something you weren’t used to. No one dared to call you such things, they’d rather call you ‘nerd’. Leaving the room, you shined your light from your phone and made a quick trip to the restroom. Opening the door, your eyes landed on the cabinet beside the shower. Quickly grabbing the first aid kit with shaky hands, you accidentally dropped your phone in the process. 

Apparently, it was loud enough for Spider-Man to hear. “You okay in there, babe?”. There he goes again with the embarrassing pet-name. “shit,” you cursed yourself, picking up your cracked phone and running back into your room. 

“Are you okay?” you asked, afraid that you had left him waiting for too long. Kneeling next to him, your clammy hands opened the first aid kit. Namjoon had shown you how to stitch and clean wounds when you had cut your palm open with glass before, he was like your mom. It was safe to say you knew what you were doing. “Me? I heard you fall or something. Seems like someone is clumsy,” his voice was a lot more quieter, trying to preserve his energy. “Coming from the bleeding hero,” you retorted, pouring hydrogen peroxide on a clean rag. His eyes glued to the rag, he gulped harshly and grabbed your wrist gently. “Maybe, we should use water,” he suggested, obviously on edge because of the hydrogen peroxide. You rolled your eyes, “shut it and be a good boy for me. You act like you didn’t just get slashed from a villain” you mumbled, shaking his hand off your wrist.

It was odd how easy it was to talk to him, it felt like you’ve known him since forever even if you’ve barely started talking. You halted, staring at his wound. Realization hit you like a ton of bricks, averting your gaze to Spider-Man. “Uh… I'm gonna need you to take your suit off,” you stuttered your words out miserably. “Right… wanna help me?” 

There wasn’t a teasing tone apparent in his words, it was him genuinely asking for help. Nodding slowly, “I’ll be gentle, I’m sorry,” you weren’t sure how you got yourself in this situation. Staring at your figure for a few more seconds, he nodded. Reaching behind his neck, there was a small click. Tilting your head, you watched him with interest. The hero paused, “you know you should probably take me out somewhere before I get naked in front of you,” he joked, a shit-eating grin on his face. “Oh my gosh,” you buried your face into your hands, it felt like your face was set on fire.

His hands dragged the tight bodysuit as far down as he could without hurting himself. Pushing his hands away, “there. I’ll do the rest, please. I don’t want you to get hurt even more,” you said, grabbing the suit. A fond smile tugged at the corner of his lips, letting go of his suit, “go ahead, babe”. Removing the suit from his torso, you frowned at the nasty sight of the wound. It was worse than you thought. 

Grabbing the rag, you wiped away any of the blood around the wound, being as careful and gentle as possible. Jungkook watched you diligently as you worked on him. He noted how your cheeks were visibly red even in the dark. He noticed how ethereal you looked when the moonlight hit you at a certain angle. Your lips were hanging open slightly as you worked hard on him, concentrating on treating his wound. The wound was on his lower side, above his hip. He couldn’t help but smirk at how flustered you were to see his bare upper body. 

You felt like you couldn’t concentrate. He was built like a Greek god for fucks sake. Not only that but he had a cute little birthmark on his collarbone, which only furthered your embarrassment. Sure, you’ve seen shirtless guys here and there, but Spider-Man was on an entirely different level of attractive. Looking back up at his masked face, you frowned. “I’m sorry if this hurts,” you warned. He simply shook his head, “as long as it gets the job done, right?” he pinched your cheek again, making you smile.

Nodding, you gently dabbed the rag with hydrogen peroxide on his wound. His entire body tensed up in pain, it wasn’t overwhelming- but it wasn’t the nicest feeling ever. 

Swallowing hard, “you know, I used to think of Heroes differently.” you begun, sending him a sorry smile. Tilting his head, you took it as a cue to continue. “I’ve always been obsessed with heroes. For as long as I can remember, I would go out of my way to look for heroes doing their job, taking pictures and notes. I had an entire book dedicated to heroes,” You remembered how much time you dedicated to finding heroes in Busan. “I saw them as people who couldn’t get hurt,” you looked up when you were done cleaning his wound and stitching, only to see him staring at you. Taken aback, you shyly smiled at the hero. ‘But I guess, along the way… I realized that they were just humans,” you finished. “They need a hero of their own, I suppose,”

He wasn’t sure what to say. Jungkook felt his cheeks burn with heat, his mouth agape. Gently, he held you cheek in his hand, cherishing the warmth that you radiated. Bringing you closer, he felt like his heart was going to jump out of his chest. You felt like a deer caught in headlights but you hastily made up your mind. Turning your body to face his, you place your hand on the ground to support your weight, the other lifting his mask to reveal his mouth, a small mole under his bottom lip stood out to you. He didn’t complain or stop. Pulling you closer, your lips were centimeters away from his. His hot breath was fanning over your cold skin, sending goosebumps to spread all over your body. “

You didn’t have a chance to kiss him. 

The city lights of Busan turned back on, the high volume of the TV in the living room startled the two of you. Spider-Man stiffened, suddenly reminded that he had a job to finish. Getting off of the ground, he pulled his mask down. Coughing awkwardly, “I’m so sorry, but I really have to go,” he said, panic evident in his voice.

You couldn’t deny the fact that you were disappointed. A frown appeared on your face, making Jungkook’s heart clench. He wanted to kiss you as much as you did, but he couldn’t. Not with a city to save. Walking over to the bloody window, he fit his body through.

“Wait!”

He turned back to you.

“Thank you for being my hero”

If his heart didn’t break right then and there, he’s not sure what happened to it. “I’m sorry baby,” and with that, he carefully closed the window, shot out a web and left you alone on the floor.

It felt so familiar. To be left alone in the dorm. The air around you felt empty, the only sound providing you with comfort was the TV. You felt your chest tighten, you wanted to hear his voice one more time. Your hero’s voice.

Your eyes fluttered open, the ambient noises of the city filling your ears, keeping you safe from the silence. The window from yesterday was still stained with blood that had now oxidized, the curtains bunched up away from the window, allowing the light to seep in. The memories from last night flashed in your mind, reminding you of what happened. Looking on your bedside table, the small electronic clock displays the time in bright red numbers. You had two hours before your first class of the day, there was still plenty of time for you. 

Mustering enough strength to drag your body out of bed, you stretched your tired limbs, groaning in relief. Dragging your feet towards the living room, the sound of cans clinking together and items being moved around filled the room. 

Eyes landing on the suspect, a small smile tugged at your lips. Jungkook was digging through the small fridge, looking for something to eat. The boy had quite the appetite after all. An evil smirk appeared on your face. Running towards the male and jumping on his back, wrapping your legs around his waist while your hands grabbed at his shoulders. The noise that came out of the male’s mouth alarmed you. He groaned in pain and grasped at his side, quickly realizing your mistake- you got off of him. “Kookie?” you whispered, worried for the boy. A small yet pained chuckle escaped his lips, turning to face you. “Ah.. I’m sorry, I’m just a little sore,” he dismissed his pain with a blatant lie. Jungkook wasn’t one to lie, so the suspicion of him lying to you was out of the question.

Your eyes trailed up and landed on his face, a small gash on his cheek right below his eye. “Jungkook!” you scolded the boy, causing him to sheepishly wince at your tone. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. He wasn’t planning on seeing you today, not after what happened yesterday. He didn’t want you getting suspicious. Placing a hand on the side of his face gently, “when did this happen, Kook?” you questioned, your bottom lip sticking out in a pout. 

You’ve known him for a while now, it was only natural for you to be protective of him. You cared for him more than you really should. 

Jungkook hung his head low, “I got in a fight yesterday”. Another lie. 

It hurt to lie to you so blatantly, you didn’t deserve to be lied to. It was for your and his own good, though. ‘Hey, YN. Did you know that I’m Spider-Man?’, it was easier said than done. Leaning into your touch, “If it makes you feel better, it doesn’t hurt a lot,” he gave you a weak smile. Scoffing lightly at the boy, “come on, it looks like you slept without taking care of it,”  he giggled, pinching your cheek, another reminder of what happened last night. 

“Yes ma’am”

The two of you walked towards the small bathroom. Everything was how it was yesterday, even the cabinet was still open. Jungkook seated himself on the toilet, looking up at you as you grabbed the first-aid kit. ‘Guess I might just make friends with this thing since I’ve been seeing it a lot’ you joked, opening the kit. “How’d you get in a fight?” you asked, the silence killing you in the inside.

Jungkook tensed up. “I… They were just saying some stuff,” he shrugged, toying with his bruised fingers. His entire body ached. The fight with Black-Widow really took a toll on his body. The injuries on his side and cheek were only one of the many. You frowned at Jungkook, “C’mon Kookie, you have better shit to do,” you scolded the boy, swatting his nose gently. His wide doe eyes followed your movements, not flinching when you hit his nose. “I guess I did, huh?” he offered you a smile which was hard to deny. Smiling back at him, you never really noticed how cute his smile was until now. An odd feeling settled itself in your stomach, you decided to ignore them.

Dabbing the small cotton ball on his wound, he grimaced. “I’m sorry,” you mumbled, biting your lip in concentration. You didn’t want to see him get hurt, especially for small things such as fighting. He was far too pretty to have gashes and cuts on his face.

Instantly, his eyes landed on your lips. The brief memory of yesterday flashing in his mind. They were so rosy and plump, he wondered if they were soft. Scratch that- he knew they were soft just by staring at them. Swallowing hard, he shifted in his seat. “You okay, Kook?” you asked, placing a bandage on his gash. “Now that you’ve healed me up, Nurse YN,” he joked. He was left disappointed when your hand left his cheek, he craved nothing more than to be loved and touched by you. 

Slumping, “Hey YN,” he called out at you before you had the chance to leave the bathroom. Turning around to look at Jungkook, the tips of his ears were red and he was fumbling with the end of his shirt. “Can we go get coffee?” he asked, shooting you his best attempt at puppy-dog-eyes. Your chest clenched at his ministrations, it was hard to ever say no to Jungkook. “Of course,” sending him a smile of your own. It’s been a while since you’ve spent some time with Jungkook other than being with him during class.

Averting your eyes to the clock on the wall, the two of you had plenty of time. “Let me get dressed, okay?” you told him, walking to your room to change out of your pajamas.

--

The weather was fairly nice today. No cloud in sight, not too hot or too cold. It was perfect, hell, even the breeze was perfect.

The warmth of the coffee protected your hands from getting cold from the breeze. You were walking alongside Jungkook, who towered over your small frame. You had agreed that you would watch each other to class after you finished the coffee, hence why the two of you had your backpacks on. There was a comfortable silence between the two of you, but you decided to break it with a question that had been itching at the back of your mind.

“Kookie...  Why are you never at the dorms?” pausing, “It gets lonely sometimes, and Namjoon won’t always be there to provide me company when you can’t” you finished, gluing your eyes to the ground, biting your lip. There was a moment of silence, Jungkook gathered his thoughts for his next lie. Well, half of it was a lie.

He spent most of his time dancing when he had the chance, the other percentage was his defending the city of Busan as SpiderMan. The moment you looked up at him, he was already opening his mouth to answer.

“I’m sorry,” he started off with an apology, because you deserved it. No- you deserved more than a sorry. To him, you deserved the entire world. Bringing up his hand to rub the side of your cheek gently, “I’m sorry I'm not always there. It’s not that I don’t want to be there, I’m just always so busy either at the Library or dancing my ass off,” he offered you a joking smile, “Dance is competitive, YN. When you’re not practicing, someone else is. When you’re not taking opportunities, someone else is”

It wasn’t a lie. Well, it was but it also wasn’t. Maybe he should use his expert lying skills when he gets into a fight more often. 

Looking down at you, you were toying around with the straw sheepish at how you even asked such a selfish question. “I know… But even the best dancers take breaks,” you gently hit his arm. Overreacting, he groaned and grabbed his arm. “Did you get stronger, YN?” teasing you as he pinched your cheek affectionately. “Yah! You’re gonna give me a bruise,” you scolded the male as he laughed.

He looked down at your hand, sliding his own into it. “I’ll try and make it up to you, okay?”

“You better, I’ve watched at least every single Netflix movie by now. Alone”

Rubbing the back of his hand with your thumb, “I just worry about you sometimes,” you whispered, leaning into his side and staring at the ground to avoid his gaze. And yes, he was staring at you. And yes, you felt that shit.

He felt like he was going to melt. His face felt hot and his heart sped up when you leaned into him. Jungkook knew damn well how whipped he was for you. Stopping, you looked up at him with confusion. “You’re so perfect,” he whispered, his finger lifting your chin up, his other hand brushing stray hairs away from your face. Shocked by his choice of words, you felt your face heat up, flustered. He noticed the familiar red hue on your cheeks, smirking in victory. 

“You can’t say things that aren’t true. That’s lying,” you pouted slightly, dismissing his flirtatious comment. 

Perking a brow at your words, he gently shoved you against the wall in an alley. Where did it come from? You guessed it was nearby, you didn’t question it. 

“It’s too bad you don’t see it,” his hands were at the sides of your face, his lips hovering over yours. You felt everything. The warmth of his calloused yet gentle hands, the hot breath that came out of his mouth, his knee between your legs. His hand trailed down your body slowly, sending chills down your spine, it landed at your hip. Squeezing it, “because to me, every inch of you is perfect”. You felt your heart beating at a thousand miles an hour, like it was going to jump out of your chest. You took this time to admire how attractive he was, the cut on his cheek, the mole under his bottom lip, his doe eyes. Everything about him was ethereal. “Kiss me,” you breathed out, eliciting a smirk from the male. “Don’t have to tell me twice, baby”. Instantly, his hot lips collided with yours, a sense of neediness and desire evident. His hand on your waist was rubbing soft circles, trailing further down slowly. Pulling away, you took a small gasp for air. “Do you know how good I’d take care of you?” he whispered in your ear, his voice deeper than usual. You surely weren’t complaining though, if anything it only gave you butterflies in your stomach and an ache in your arousal. 

“How good I’ll be for you?” he continued, dragging his lips down your neck, planting kisses as he goes. Gripping his shirt, you were nearly embarrassed at how hard you were breathing. “So show me,” the words you tried so hard to speak managed to slip out. You felt him smile against your neck, “I’ll show you”. Jungkook bit down on your neck, a wanton moan escaping your mouth. “Fuck,” he groaned at the dirty noise that came out of your mouth. “You sound like an angel, baby” he sucked on the tender skin as you squirmed under him. Kissing the forming bruise, his lips trailed further down. “Jungkook, please,” you whined, tugging at his hair. 

His ministrations stopped, the ground beneath your feet rumbling softly. Detaching his lips from your neck, he looked around. “Earthquake?” he thought out loud. Earthquakes weren’t so common in Busan, so he quickly dismissed the assumptions. “You felt that right?” he looked back up at you. Gulping down your worries, you nodded. “I don’t think it’s anything to worry about, though’. 

The ground started to rumble harder than it did before, “nevermind” you piped up, gently pushing Jungkook off of you. Walking out of the alleyway, with Kookie right behind your trail, a black figure was hanging off the side of a building, looking down at both of you with hawk eyes. “Ah shit, Here I was thinking I fucking scared him off,” Jungkook exasperated, putting his hands on his knees and crouching over. “Huh?” turning to face him, nothing but confusion evident on your face. 

Jungkook shook his head in dismay, “I love you, YN. But I got a job to do,” he pulled your wrist, bringing you close to him. Placing a soft kiss on your lips, he smiled at you. “Gotta protect what I love right?” with a wink, he walked into the dark alley that you two were just in. It took a moment for you to fully register what was going on. 

Wait he said I love you?

You heard a ‘Syoom’, turning your head to face the alley, a web shot out and latched onto the building near the villain. A familiar body flew across your vision, landing on the tall building. A blur of blue and red combined. Gasping silently, a proud smile tugged at your lips. “Well how about that,” you mumbled. Cupping your mouth with your hands, “SpiderMan!” you shouted, your voice echoing through the street. It was enough to get the hero’s attention. 

“I love you too,” you mouthed.  

You didn’t hear it but his chest bobbed up in down as he laughed. Bringing his hand up, he formed a small heart with his fingers.