#It’s also one of the best ways for getting merch for a like obscure or more niche digimon

[kideternity]

I dont talk about it because I haven’t actually played the game yet though I do want to one day (Main obstacle is having no one to play with) but I have started collecting pretty avidly the digimon card game cards if only for the artwork rn. A lot of the art for the dtcg is really gorgeous and if anyone wants I can share some of my favourites from what I got

[thankskenpenders]

Amy's fortune cards

The Sonic fandom has long been the kind of fandom that takes minor details very seriously, for better or worse. On the one hand, this means fans will really dig for the diamonds in the rough, latching onto fun character interactions, animations, bits of background worldbuilding, and more in pieces of Sonic media that many would write off as "the bad ones." But it also feels like every week another needlessly hostile debate over Sonic minutia erupts on Twitter, whether it's over individual lines of dialogue, fanart that makes Tails' shoes blue, or the ideal length and volume for Sonic's quills.

So it was probably inevitable that a fandom-wide debate would erupt upon seeing Amy's new gameplay style in the DLC for Sonic Frontiers, which takes the once-obscure fact that she enjoys reading tarot and shines a spotlight on it like never before.

I mean:

The thing is, while I basically always try to tune out Sonic fandom bickering... for once, I kind of sympathize with the detractors? Don't get me wrong, I like Amy's tarot stuff, and people on all sides of the discussion are being overly nasty about their opinions, as usual. (Sonic Twitter remains my personal hell.) But when I set aside the hyperbole and zoom out, I do think I understand why some fans are put off by the sudden shift in focus for the character, even if I think it's cool.

It's complicated. Let me attempt to present the cases for and against Amy's fortune cards

For years, I was always one of those fans who thought it could be fun if they played with Amy's tarot reading, or even leaned into some kind of magic with her. Part of that is my own biases showing, but there's just something that makes sense there, especially when you look at Sonic, Tails, and Amy as a trio. (I would argue that's the real "Team Sonic" these days, especially in the comics where Knuckles is more likely to be stuck on Angel Island or otherwise doing his own thing.)

You could argue that Tails is all about logic, relying on science and technology and deductive reasoning to solve problems. But Amy is all about emotion. She wears her heart on her sleeve, is extremely empathetic, and is very prone to magical thinking - both figuratively and sometimes literally. Her origin story has always been that her tarot cards told her it was her destiny to meet Sonic on Little Planet. She's claimed to be able to "sense" peoples' presences - particularly Sonic's. She's the type to believe that The Power of Love is a literal magical force. So, on some level, it makes sense to mirror Tails's science by having Sonic's other best friend believe in magic. And then Sonic is somewhere in the middle, primarily following his own gut instincts but taking advice from both of them as needed. This isn't totally accurate to how their dynamics actually function in canon stories, but I think it's a mode that could work for them.

Going off of that, it's fun to lean all the way into Amy being a magical girl, or even a witch, using her fortune telling as a foundation. Take, for example, this version of Amy from Diana Skelly's old Sonic cast redesigns from before she freelanced for Archie and IDW. This is one of MANY such redesigns for Amy.

Fast forward to the 2020s, and Amy's tarot cards are, in fact, finally getting brought up again in canon. Which is fun! I like seeing that. I like all of the individual stories involving Amy's fortune cards. This is a fun character trait for Amy, a fun nod to old lore, AND a fun storytelling device, all in one. It's really cool that the Sonic universe has its own thematically appropriate arcana, and that the cards are getting made as physical merch. And sure enough, the official card backs and borders were designed by none other than Diana Skelly, in yet another cool example of an ascendant fan leaving their mark on the series.

BUT... when you step back and look at the big picture, I get why some fans find this shift in focus jarring. At the moment, it's starting to feel like every new story about Amy involves her fortune cards to some degree.

The most recent mainline comic arc to feature Amy as the lead character, 2021's Trial by Fire arc, prominently features a sequence where she reads fortunes while camping with the girls. The Origins version of Sonic CD now bookends the game with scenes of Amy and her tarot cards. Sonic randomly mentioned it in a scene in Frontiers. And now, just this week, we got the (very cute, gorgeously illustrated) Amy's 30th Anniversary comic with a story revolving around Amy's tarot cards, followed the very next day by the Frontiers DLC in which she gets a brand new tarot-based moveset. Even her base melee attack now has her throwing tarot cards instead of swinging her hammer. Again, I like all of these individual things, but after years of it almost never coming up at all, it's VERY noticeable that Amy's tarot cards are suddenly everywhere.

To be fair, I'm looking at this from the perspective of a superfan who's actively following ALL Sonic media. Casual fans - especially kids - aren't necessarily going to be reading the comics every month, buying the thousandth rerelease of the Genesis games, or playing the ultra-hard new alternate ending DLC for a game that came out last year. Each of these stories is going to be someone's introduction to the idea that Amy can read tarot, and that's probably part of the idea behind this unified push.

But to play devil's advocate, for my fellow superfans, I understand why it feels like a very minor footnote of Amy's character is suddenly becoming the entire focus of her personality. While Amy has always been said to enjoy fortune telling, that wasn't really a character trait in and of itself, but rather an example of her being a typical girl who hopes she'll be able to find true love one day. It's less that Amy can literally predict the future and more like her using a cootie catcher or going "he loves me, he loves me not" while picking the petals off of a flower. So I get not vibing with this stuff, or feeling like it's being pushed very hard out of nowhere.

What I don't agree with are comparisons like "it's like if they made Knuckles' moveset revolve around him liking grapes." Like, I get it. Ian Flynn loves shoehorning in his little winking references for us nerds, and mentions of Amy's tarot cards were previously on the same level as other random bullet points from old Japanese manuals. But a multifaceted hobby like fortune telling that opens up so many narrative and aesthetic possibilities is obviously very different from having a favorite food. It's ALWAYS been a part of her story, not just a random fact, and there's no reason why the fortune telling can't be elevated to something more.

And, hell, even if it wasn't an established character trait, there's nothing inherently wrong with injecting new ideas into a character. One of the best Amy stories in recent years, the Free Comic Book Day special "Amy's New Hobby" written by Gale Galligan, came up with the idea that Amy's secretly been drawing little comics about her and her friends. Is this based on Lore? No. But it's cute, and helps tell the story of a younger Amy who's still coming out of her shell as both a hero and a friend.

Certain fans are also looking at Amy's Frontiers moveset and using it as evidence that once again the Vile American Contributors like Ian are CORRUPTING Sonic Team's perfect vision of Sonic with their misinterpretations. And like. Come on. Ian does not control the gameplay. He's a freelance writer. The tarot stuff is clearly something that Sonic Team likes if they made it the basis of Amy's new moveset - and, you know, if they keep approving comics and animations about Amy's fortune telling. None of this gets made without their blessing, and lord knows how much they can micromanage shit and shoot down ideas over the most minor of details.

Like, yeah, Amy's fortune telling was probably conceived less as a sign that she Knows Magic and more as a pretty mundane hobby for a lovesick young Japanese girl to have. But you're gonna sit there and tell me that using Amy's tarot cards for more than that could only be the result of a cultural misunderstanding? That nobody in Japan uses tarot card theming and aesthetics (or the general idea of magical cards) for the cool factor? Stardust Crusaders? Persona? The Astrologian class in FFXIV? Cardcaptor Sakura?? Hello??? Do you think Capcom put Gambit in Marvel vs. Capcom ironically because they thought using magic to throw cards at people was stupid? There's tons of precedent for this! It's nothing like Knuckles throwing grapes at people, be for real.

Giving Amy a very magical girl-esque moveset also just makes a lot of sense. For decades her hammer attacks have literally made sparkly heart shapes appear around her. Leaning into both that and her tarot cards in her new moveset makes a lot of sense to me.

But, admittedly... I do think it's very odd that her hammer is treated as a secondary element here, rather than having her primarily use her hammer and adding the cards for extra flair. If hitting the attack button made her swing her hammer instead of throwing cards, I'm not sure we'd even be having this discussion right now.

But the tarot-cycle and Amy riding her hammer like a witch's broom are fucking SICK and I will not concede on this point

The thing is, this whole fortune card discourse is but a small piece of a bigger problem. Amy's been a character who needed some work for ages, but there's basically nothing you can do with her without pissing SOMEONE off.

Years of stories where Amy's crush was her primary motivator and Sonic went "Ew, cooties!" have lead many casual fans to believe that being Sonic's obsessive fangirl is Amy's entire personality. At best people might call her Sonic's Minnie Mouse. This isn't just a matter of Amy having haters within the fandom - venture outside of that bubble and you'll realize that this is how MOST video game playing people seem to see her to this day. I don't feel like this is a fair assessment of the character, but this idea didn't come from nowhere. No matter how much good deeply entrenched Sonic fans may see in their old dynamic where Amy perpetually chases Sonic, this is a very real problem that Sonic Team has to contend with for their leading girl. Of course all those games where the way-past-cool protagonist thought Amy was annoyingly clingy and tried to get away from her made people think less of her.

If new stories were to go back to emphasizing Amy's crush on Sonic a little more, they'd probably be taken as confirmation that Amy's just the girl with a crush on Sonic and that this is her entire personality. Conversely, when the crush is played down, you piss off the hardcore SonAmy fans who don't seem to understand that they're Charlie Brown and Sega is Lucy holding the football. You can't win.

And so here we are. In the absence of what was once her defining trait, now reduced to an occasional blush or wink in Sonic's direction, new stories are trying to mine Amy's past for additional material to work with. Having been a thing fans wanted to see for years, right now we're getting a lot of tarot, but we're also getting reminders of her compassionate nature and her desire to go out of her way to help the little guy. This is an ongoing process. I continue to hope that her bubbly, exuberant demeanor can shine more in future stories. Now, I also hope that the tarot stuff gets balanced out a little better with other traits of hers. But I don't want it to go away. I think it's fun.

This course correcting is far from exclusive to Amy. Knuckles is getting stories that remind us that he's a competent fighter, an experienced treasure hunter, and even a self-taught archaeologist after years of him being perceived as either the dumb one or just the guy who stands in front of the Master Emerald all day. And Tails has been getting some stories reminding folks that he's a capable hero in his own right and not just Sonic's timid kid sidekick.

But no supporting character will ever compete with the sheer number of new ideas Sega has tried with Sonic himself. Like Amy, his Frontiers moveset has also given him half a dozen new superpowers that he never had before, from the Cyloop to air-slicing projectile attacks to his own take on Shadow Clone Jutsu and beyond. He's also been a hoverboarder, a swordsman, a time traveler, an Olympic athlete, a racecar driver, cursed with a Flame of Judgment, imbued with alien power, a fucking Werehog with stretchy powers, and on and on and on.

If Sonic can do all that, Amy can try out using a tarot-cycle.

Anyway TL;DR the REAL problem with Amy's current characterization... is where the FUCK is Amy's bestie, Honey the Cat???????

[strongbabe2907]

KBS Hall day 2 dir en grey who is hell for live review. Yes we’re doing two in one day haha.

Today was my last show😭i felt a little emotional all day. It started out with getting numbers for merch and the special sticker was Kyo!! Unfortunately no shiny for me.

After getting the stickers we went back to the hotel to get ready and chill for a while until the concert started. We did visit big boss!!

A japanese mutual messaged me in line for merch to say hi and gave me these amazing stickers she made🥹

I had number 979 but followed some guys into the push and actually ended up with quite a good spot in front of Kaoru where i could see everyone quite well🥰.

Kaoru wore the same outfit as Zepp and Kyo was in the same black get up again. Ngl i was a little disappointed we didnt get at least one dramatic look but it was also nice to see him comfy like this. (And the bobaaas!)

Godddss the Conceived sorrow, dozing green & IIId empire combo killed me in the best possible way. Also as a Vulgar lover it was nice to see everyone cheer for iiid empire hahaha. I was aorund some Kyo/Kaoru fanboys and it was good vibes. Even though there was a push at first, i could just move around later and wasnt too squished and we were all headbanging and having a good time. KBS hall was definitely a great vibe!!

The boys (i know they’re old men but) really came alive for iiid empire and later obscure too!!kyo danced during phenomenon again. His little waist, augh..

Vinushka was amazing as always. Diabolos definitely has a special place in my hearts after this tour! God i love it and i love Kaorus guitar playing in it.

Kaoru was really playing with the crowd and seemed in a good mood, they all switched places a few times. Kyo came over to our side and was hanging over the crowd in the rigging, but his mic chord didnt reach that far😂 so he was struggling to still sing in the mic and also letting us sing, it was cute.

Urokoooooo i love you. Eddie i love you.

After last song kyo threw his towel. I think at a younger kid? I couldn’t exactly see but people were describing it as an avalanche of ppl going for the towel. Kyo was laughing and making sure they were okay and he stayed on much longer than usual because of this. He was smiling SO big 😭 and laughing at the incident. After it was okay he thanked the crowd again with the biggest smile 😭 gah.

At the same time, Kaoru threw one pick and then… just left? He did kind of a double take and did like a clap/applause at the audience and then just walked off?? 🥺 i dont know what happened there. He later posted about the avalanche on his story but.. that happened with Kyo so im not sure what was doing on. He was so beautiful again though 😭 i’m always intimidated when they look in my direction and quickly look awayyy.

Toshiya ended up throwing some of Kaorus picks but unfortunately all near the front.

Afterwards I went for food with new and old (kind of) friends and it was so nice again🥰 honestly my heart feels so full. Thank you for your heart work Dir en grey and thank you to everyone i met on this tour, everyone has been so kind🥹

[front-facing-pokemon]

I just found this blog so I'm jumping aboard the plushie bandwagon.

First we got Absol. (i feel like maybe i should've taken a closer-up picture but it's the face sooo)

Then a Wooloo

And, saving best for last, this Leafeon plush I own... of which I swear on my life is official merch.

I also have some more eeveelutions (plus an eevee and a few more) but: 1. I didn't want to send too many. 2. Eeveelutions are more popular so I wanted to give some other people the chance to submit their own. 3. I don't know where my Pikachu and Snivy plushies are cuz I own too many stuffed animals.

Only reason I submitted Leafeon was so I could show off this ~masterpiece~ of a plushie I own. And it's face isn't the only thing wrong with it too lol. Also I just noticed I accidentally had one of the ears hanging back but I'm too lazy to go take another photo but i hope this amuses you nonetheless.

ALRIGHT THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF YOU AS I'VE BEEN OUT WITH MY FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS HUH

let's start with these guys. beautiful. wonderful. i do not believe that that leafeon is official merch. this statement is baffling to me. welcome to the front-facing pokémon family. i love the eyes on that absol and wooloo is one of my faves. i was rather obsessed with it when it first came out and have a whole wooloo tag on my main blog because of it. though i guess i cleared that whole thing out recently so i don't anymore

let's get the nose ratings out of the way:

↑ this is a lie. 10/10 chespin

it's very wide and also 10/10 you're being too harsh. merry day to you too

circular face indeed. did i already post this one? if i did you can have it again

clodsire be upon ye. clodsire fans this is your treat until gen 9

this is a trend now. i think tumblr just crunched this image to hell for some reason so here's what the text says:

"Felt like joining the others for front facing pokeplushies [images] I have more pokemon but its early morning and these are the plushies that are easy to access"

i have not but i imagine "a moment" has long passed by now. my apologies but apparently today was an important day or something? idk

YEAH it's super unbelievably fucked up. i think i kinda remember the circumstance being a bit dire so everyone else was more worried about either 1. protagonist getting stomped on brutally or 2. saving the world from kyurem / the bittercold. i was totally under the impression that he was dead in that moment but i guess the characters may have known that he would just come back? i seem to vaguely remember partner being surprised that he came back and being like "but we watched you die :OOO" but maybe i'm misremembering that. i do create a lot of pmd lore on my own time so i have a hard time telling the difference between canon and fanon sometimes

two a day makes the world go round! this blog started when i started college, paused for 80% of my college career and now has started back up and i just graduated college a week ago. i would say "how time flies" but it has been a very, very long year

i've said it before and i'll say it again: gen 6 is my favorite gen, so you'll be seeing lots of favor for this gen from me in the tags i'm sure. maybe gen 6 is my excuse to start doing other things here. like that stream i keep talking about

if they put meloetta as a little obscure puzzle thang in sv, i'm sure they'll do something for genesect. i hope. at least for keldeo probably. genesect i'm not sure is very popular, unfortunately, outside of the tumblr crowd. if the general public's opinion on genesect is favorable, then maybe

okay and then i tried to scroll down further in my screenshots for more asks and saw the wobbly will smith in a hospital bed Gimme a Hug, Man that i copied from the "i get a little bit genghis kanghis" post so that's it. to everyone who christmases: merry it. it is today. although it's basically over by now so! merry boxing day for tomorrow if i don't say anything tomorrow. but i probably will. now i'm gonna go queue up today's 'mons because i haven't done it yet today. see you all in a few weeks when those post

[casdeans-pie]

Hi! First off, love your fics. They brighten my day. and your latte art is cool too.

Secondly, I've seen that you've gone to a few cons and I was curious what tips you'd give a baby con-goer who's going to their first spn con in a month? Also, what should I bring to have signed for an auto?

This might be a weird ask but I don't know who else to ask for con tips lol.

Hi Anon! Thanks so much !! ❤️ happy you're enjoying the stories! I have like a bazillion wips buzzing around my brain at all times so there will be plenty more!

And I genuinely wish I could pass you all supernatural themed coffees through my phone honestly lmaooo

Oooh!! First spn con! That's exciting because my first one wasn't objectively 'the best' but to. this. day it remains my favourite. It's so special to me. It'll be so so good you'll love it. The vibe at these kinds of cons is unmatched because spn fans are literally the friendliest people out there

Nothing quite like the bonds spn fans forge in The Queues. One big tip I'd give is to strike up a conversation with the folks around you - ask what they're getting signed or what poses they're doing - boom! Queue Friends.

Get all of your QR codes or tickets ready in the order you're gonna need them, so there's no panicking when you go for autos or photos. And definitely get a hard folder to put your autographed prints/photo ops in.

Don't forget a bottle of water! And lots of snacks!! And a portable charger/battery pack for your phone!! Mine dies in like a few hours so the extra power is a must.

Enjoy the very special vibe - soak up the atmosphere! There's just, a crazy amount of joy and hype at these things and if I could find a way to bottle it I would

As for stuff to get signed - it depends if you want a print of a character or not, cause usually they have those available at the signing itself on a desk nearby. So you wouldn't have to worry about taking anything. And the character prints always look rad with the signature on. OR you could get a dvd signed? Some artwork? Spn book? Some obscure merch you found? (my favourite kind)

Anyway I've rambled long enough lmao sorry anon you asked me a simple question and I have shot off into the stratosphere of long winded replies

It's not a weird question at all! The funny thing is that when you've done more (because there's always more spn cons) you'll look back on your first like, ah I didn't know what I was letting myself in for..... Addiction is such a negative word, but I'm struggling to think of another.... lmaoooo

Have an amazing time!!!

[selfshipgushing]

[Leans into mic] c. custom f/o acrylic charm. ordered.

A byproduct of his media being obscure as SHIT, even in the main fandom space, is that there's no merch for him — official OR otherwise. Like I can at LEAST find fan stuff for me and my source (granted it's mostly art stoLEN FROM ONE OF MY FRIENDS AND I AM GOING TO ATTACK THOSE PEOPLE BARK BARK!!) and maybe it's just that the game isn't even a year old yet, or that hype around the base game is pretty much dead. But nothing? Nothing at all? Not even a pin?

So I. Have taken it upon myself to MAKE it. For myself and also the friend that designed the humanisation I used. Hehe. Everyone else can get the silly shimejis I put out, but the charm is friend EXCLUSIVE! All the commonfolk get to play with the shimeji I made — and I promise I'm working on the other one, dev that asked for another character to match it — but the silly little charm is bestie only. Secret club just for he. >:3

ANYWAY put in the order last night, turn around time says 7-15 days and I am SO FUCKING GIDDY ABOUT IT RAAAA GOD I CANNOT WAIT TO BE ABLE TO LIKE. PHYSICALLY HOLD SOMETHING OF HIM HEHEHEHE I KEEP STARING AT THE ORDER TRACKING LIKE THAT'S GOING TO SPEED UP THE PROCESS I need to do custom projects like this more, the price wasn't half bad honestly! :D (I customised the clasp to be a star but i forgot if i chose silver or gold, either way I am going to carry him around forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ev—

- LOVE MY SILLY BF SO MUCH THIS WAS THE BEST FINANCIAL DECISION I HAVE EVER MADE. 🍊⚙️

F/O MERCH PURCHASING REALLY DOES GOOD THINGS FOR THE SOUL because I JUST GOT MY GUY IN THE MAIL TODAU AND GUYS IF YOU CANT TELL IM SO HAPPY ABOUT THEI YAYAYAYAYYAYATAYAYAYATATTATATATATTYAYAYA I need to commission an to make an acrylic charm or something of him or really anything

[return-of-a-space-cowboy]

🧚‍♀️ Anon

I had some more ideas for Darling’s Stand

Darling’s Stand is a total menace to others and herself (It has a separate conscience from Darling)

I can see it be a long distance Stand and if attacked Darling won’t get hurt

Darling’s stand can be called either ‘Mortician’ or ‘Misfit’ (It’s based off Bands known for their music being inspired by Old Horror Movies)

Darling’s Stand might have 2-3 forms the 1st one is based off the phone charm you mentioned (The texting and charm idea I thought was really cute), the 2nd Form is that that of a Landline Telephone (Like the one Casey Becker had in the first Scream Movie) that can communicate and speak with others (Even in different voices, but mainly uses a guys’ voice and gets very threatening if more rules get broken) that even non Stand Users can see it (She’s unaware of this because she doesn’t know what a Stand is or the fact she even has one until later)

And the final form is that of a Masked Killer/Attacker that takes form if you break all of rules Darling’s Stand placed (This Stand is an absolute menace) mainly because you pissed it off bad enough after breaking all the rules it placed (It gets angry if you break its 3 simple rules, said rules are always Horror Movie Rules)

Maybe depending on the rules and who they’re given to it affects not just person’s surroundings in simple ways (Like your car suddenly stops working or the phones don’t have a signal, like in the movies) but also individuals, like you become invulnerable to pain and can’t die for 1 to 24 hours? Or you suddenly have the worst luck ever and you constantly trip over your own feet even if you’re one of the best athletes ever

I’m not really good at Stands so this is the best I could think of, tell me what you think?

Josuke is the killer, I just think it would be cool for this Stand to be a Red Herring, like despite it being a menace it doesn’t wish harm on its User Darling (Especially because Darling understands the Rules it places) it just likes to mess with her (Like an annoying sibling that purposely messes with you but they actually do care about you)

Also, I’m really happy you like my ideas! I kinda went ham and maybe overboard with this so I wouldn’t be bothered if you wanted to change some stuff about this Stand around

Kudos!

Ok I've been thinking it. I think misfit would be great, especially with how it acts.

Yeah the act ideas great. I think the charm look would have chibi version of it's act 3 design (act 2 probably has a sticker with the same design and both 1 and two having a label with the stand name) others will just assume it's from some obscure mascot/merch line.

A quick mock up of act one I drew. (Not very good at stand designs but I tried)

The third form would look a lot more like a traditional humanoid stand. With more of a grotesque appearance.

Act 1 is it's dormant form. Always around unless it switches forms. Only affecting the user.

Act 2 would appear as the landline phone and will appear randomly around a nearby area to the user. As long as you don't answer the phone you'll be fine. Pick it up though and it'll give it's rules and a time limit. The victim can not get rid of the phone til time is up or they die.

act 3 is it's enraged form. If all three rules are broken it attacks the victim itself. It doesn't do much to help the user besides preventing them from dying for a certain amount of time, still can feel the pain though.

This would be really detrimental to darling, especially with trying to maintain her normal life and avoiding any connection to her father.

Unfortunately that means any murders of people that came to close to knowing the truth or harmed darling are immediately assumed to be the stand and not a potential stalker.

[lucabyte]

your stantler collection is really cool, i love funky little shrines to obscure characters. i always had some trouble finding arcanine and ninetales merch, since they're my favorites (always pikachus and starters and eeveelutions...) but it's nowhere near as bad as the Stantler Situation (tm)

thank you! I specifically chose stantler *because* i thought it would be harder (but not impossible) to find merch of, which is the joke to begin with. Like... I was thinking... what pokemon is early enough in the pokedex that the tail end of pokemania was *obligated* to include it.... but just is NOT an interesting enough pokemon (even in a bad way!) to like... foster any attention at all... and after looking at the gen 2 dex I settled on stantler. Brown. Normal type. Not even the best normal type odd-toed undulate of the pokedex... just so perfectly mediocre. full of missed potential. the perfect underdog.

Ninetales and Arcanine though are such good picks. There's some old japanese gen 1 era stuff i ran into that often would put all the pokemon of one type on the same like, sticker sheets and stuff... I wonder if any of those would be good to look for for those two...

My gen 1 picks are nidorino, meowth and exeggcute LMAO. So I at least get some repireve with meowth...

I get most of my stuff from just occasionally scouring 'newest' on ebay, and since I'm in europe it helps to look up the french and german names too. So that's a good tip I'd say if you're wanting to look further afield.

I've gotten one or two things from buyee since ON OCCASION it is cheaper to get things in bulk from yahoo! auctions japan even with the import fees.

As for import shops. Pokevault.com is genuinely reasonable AND gets all the cool stuff from japan. Big reccomend to them + they do give reasonably frequent discount codes if you sign up for an account?

but yeah I'm not a particularly seasoned collector but this was my lockdown hobby for a bit so I did sniff some stuff out. It also goes to show that you can never do something ironically for long before it becomes serious.

As a side note, all of my stantlers in game are named after various drinks, though with a specific 'ill advised' medicinal theme. Gin. Tonic Water. Quinine. Chloroquine. Gin & Milk. My Malaria Cure Animals.

also while i was digging for pokevaults name i found a nicer photo of the old collection pre-legends arceus before I had to rearrange my room and put my shelves elsewhere </3

[fizzingwizard]

Reason I was not here much of this week/last weekend was because I was in Tokyo for a few days. We did a bunch of stuff, one of which was Moominvalley Park!

I told bf he didn't have to come with (it's 3800yen a ticket) but he insisted, and helped out a lot by taking pictures I directed him to take x'D or holding my umbrella for me while I took them.

Because boy did it RAIN. Actually, it rained the entire trip. Did my best to plan in advance, but we had to book everything a month out and had no way of knowing it would rain right from the day we left to the day we came back. Literally just rain. On the upside, it kept things cool (it's now back to sauna level lol), and we were lucky with our timing most of the time. Although the weather was a constant stress, we hardly ever got rained out.

In fact, it was Moominvalley Park where the rain hurt the worst. Most everything is outside. The path to the Lonely Mountain was closed because slippery. The character actors were barely to be seen. And the park was like a ghost town. I felt like we were exploring an abandoned theme park lol.

Despite that, visiting was soooo much fun for me. I didn't get to do everything (there's a lot more than I expected, especially with the Metsa park next door! So I'm already mentally planning my trip back, sometime when the weather will actually be nice!

I took a ton of pictures and bought a ton of merch. Bf totally enabled both lol. There's terrible videos too which Tumblr will only let me upload one by one so. Sorry about those rofl. There are much better pictures/videos out there, but what can I say, I like my own memories the best.

First sightings of Moomins came long before the park. At Nakano broadway, there were these drawings, one of which is Little My saying "I'm not a naughty girl!" which I love. The other I found at Hanno station, which is part of the route to the park. It's a list of reasons to love Hanno, including Metsa and Moomins :)

When we got to the park, it was drizzling, which mixed with the fog machines gave the path a really eerie vibe. Actually, there had been a lot of fog the previous day, when we were at Fuji Q, that it even obscured the roller coasters. So at first I was tricked and thought "Wow that is some low lying fog!" But I figured out it was machines quick enough >_> At night there are even lights making the faces in the trees even more mysterious. You can see it a little in this last pic with the tiny woodland elf guys:

Also when you line up to get a ticket, these are the footprints you stand on. Not that there was a line in so much rain, LOL

[leolingo]

QSMP SHIPS AS VCT 2024 TEAMS according to ME

made this post for my own enjoyment 100% disclaimer: not everything fits

SPIDERBIT -> FNATIC (2024)

*2023 picture, but the roster didn’t change, so.

a LEGACY at this point. half of the lineup has been active in the scene for years, advancing in tournaments with scrappy fights but never winning. the other half came later, complemented the existing parts and immediately pushed them into powerhouse status. considered the best in the WORLD by many. some players look up to them, every player wants to take them down. they’re the active team with the highest number of international trophies. had a slow start this year, and are currently out of the spotlight — bumped off by newer talent. still, given that all 5 players are in the world’s-best conversation for their respective roles, it’s hard to count them out. definitely not a crowd favorite in brazil, a big sore loss in home-soil stands in the way, but the ones who do acknowledge them have great respect for their game. coincidentally my second favorite team overall.

PISSA -> LOUD (2024)

household name. consistently not only good, but often GREAT despite roster/staff changes, and still the overlookers persist. been in the scene forever, making it to big stages from their very first run. the name of the game is teamwork, despite also fostering some of the most consistent and individually talented players in the scene over the years. fairly reserved internationally, not as flashy as some of the others, but still EXTREMELY popular in their corner. brazil’s pride and joy — my #1!!!!!!!! + have made top 4 and are in contention to win the current tournament stage even though no one believed they’d do well, after losing their star player at the end of last year. they play tomorrow! any positive energy is welcome :P

FITPAC -> SENTINELS (2024)

used to be promising at the very beginning, then fell off into obscurity for years. this year, though, they’re BACK! in peak form like they never left, baby. some of the most beloved personalities in the community are here! slow and steady wins the race — a couple bumps in the form of SEVERAL roster/staff changes and several disappointing results never stopped anyone. the long-term fans, those who never stopped believing, are some of the most intense I’ve ever seen. very popular online and homecrowd buff is real for them no matter where in the globe they’re at. they have also made top 4 in the current tournament and are, by a good portion of viewers, expected to win! also somewhat beloved in brazil (we exported one the players, after all. they owe us SOME of the success) but mostly we just like to pick on them. it’s fun :)

ELQUACKBIT -> 100 THIEVES (2024)

ok these motherfuckers never win. most times they don’t even qualify. it’s so fun to root for them though. i heard they were decent maybe a billion years ago, when the game had just come out and no one was TRULY good. they have yet to go back to that. they lose so consistently it’s a community meme at this point, and viewers are PERPETUALLY clamoring for players to be dropped. their duelist has been on the internet’s chopping block for years and he’s still there! streets say THIS YEAR THOUGH! this might finally be when he gets booted and they bring in someone else! do i think it will happen? i’ll believe it when i see it. most believers lost hope a long time ago, and i truly believe the only reason the org is still afloat is because everyone in there is very clouted individually. they sell SO much merch. no game wins in sight, though. in the meantime, i wish them the very best :3

[bluepoodle7]

#CerealMascot #JohnDoeGame #Househuntedgame #CerealFlavors #MyQuestion

I wonder if John Doe and the other Realtors were cereal mascots. What flavor would be their cereals and what would be their catchphrase?

Housing Crisis Crunch would be a guess for the Realtors.

John Doe's Molar Munch and it's like crunchy sweet cereal similar to Honey Smacks and Golden crisp but shaped like teeth and is vanilla.

Still trying to figure out what Housing Crisis Crunch will taste like.

My guess is cookies and cream or smores maybe a mix of both.

Maybe rocky road flavored.

The cereal box is plastic while also house shaped that keeps the cereal inside.

You have to open the door of the cereal box to get the cereal out.

I got the commercial for the Housing Crisis Crunch Cereal.

Like it starts out as those kids cereal commercial where a Realtor is chasing a buyer road runner style then a voice appears like a narrator and says "Are you tired of the buyer rat race?"

Then the Realtor says "Yeah my lure is body aching me something fierce and I'm hungry."

Then narrator would say "Try Housing Crisis Crunch and you will be lured in by the flavor."

Then the Realtor eats by the mouth of the lure body but then the camera cuts to a Realtor eating it the natural way by the floor.

The Realtor says "This almost helped me curb my human craving." "Almost.." And stares down the camera with a hungry look.

Then it cuts to the Realtor successfully catching the buyer and eating them then the camera distorts.

Then the commercial ends with mini mystery Realtor figures that connects the plastic lure cord to the plastic house shaped cereal box.

The common one is the #1 Realtor and the rarer ones are the more obscure ones.

It's like the cereal commercial company was taking pictures of all the Realtors in the valley to make merch of them without them knowing and getting full profit.

I image the house shaped cereal boxes to be similar to the Puppets cereal that Disney had mixed with a dollhouse.

And the Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pets Electronic Toys.

----------------

The cereal opens from the house doors once the metallic foil cereal bag is opened.

Speaking of foil, who remembers corn pops in that foil bag? : r/nostalgia (reddit.com)

What it sounds like inside the commercial building.

Music not mine but link is there.

Thomas Clausen - Bio Rhythm No. 6 - YouTube

------------------------------

I was thinking about the Work District part of the Uncanny Valley and that the commercial and tv show half are like surveillance and keep up with everyone.

Kind of like ad companies trying to be hip and make memes to sell you stuff while taking information to use for later.

Themed Realtor's

----------

I wonder if there is a vampire realtor that is a gothic house body.

Do they still do the vampire rules when entering buildings or house?

@d4ff0d1l14 helped.

Images not mine but links are there.

Kellogg's Bigg Mixx cereal commercial (1990) - YouTube

Littlest Pet Shop Digital Pets Iguana Electronic Toy Hasbro Toys - ToyWiz

KAWASONY Best Quality Double Doll House With Furniture For Kids - Best Quality Double Doll House With Furniture For Kids . Buy Doll house toys in India. shop for KAWASONY products in India. | Flipkart.com

Disney’s Forgotten “Puppets Cereal” Commercial | (cartoonresearch.com)

[stupidusernamepolicy]

tv tag game

— list 8 shows for your followers to get to know you better. tagged by beloved mootie @michaelmandog

1.Good Omens

This is such a feel-good show for me and cleaning out my drafts made me remember how much I love it. Also a reminder that I need to finish Staged. The friendship between the authors and the ways it impacted the book and show is so important to me...

2. Breaking Bad / Better Call Saul

"oh watch it it's the best show ever" "yeah yeah sure" and then... Meth show for middle aged dads sent me on a *checks calendar* FIVE MONTH FIXATION? I need to be euthanized. Also Michael Mando. That's all.

3.Final Space

SHINED SO BRIGHT AND GONE TOO SOON. This was THE underdog adult animation and though I've separated myself from it a lot it's still one of the best out there. Space fantasy dramedy about a convict out in space that is a testament to all that adult animation can be, but often isn't. If you can stand a bit of exec-meddling awkward humor, this one is the hardest WATCH NOW on this list. Also, catboy above voiced by Steven Yeun and he goes so hard.

4.Invincible

Continuing on the thread of amazing adult animation with a much more popular entry, this is an adaptation that is so far so much better than the source material. I stayed up til 5 am binging this. It has 4 things I love: great animation, (comic) trope subversion, GORE, and Steven Yeun (again!)

5.Futurama

This show is older than me, and I never watched it growing up, yet it still feels like home whenever I watch it. If I need to cheer up and have my TV on, this is the clear choice. It's so nostalgic and has so much heart while also being really, really fucking funny.

7.Gravity Falls

Similar to Futurama: another comfort show!! It brings back so many memories, even though I watched it after its original run. One of the rare things I own official merch of (I loved it enough to pay for shipping from the US)

7.Mob Psycho 100

Obligatory singular Anime entry. This is the one anime I'd recommend to non anime watchers, as it subverts a lot of typically annoying anime tropes and is a rare entry where the adaptation is as good if not better than the source material, and yet it's AMAZING because it OOZES with love of the source material! I'm definitely biased because it's the kind of story my middle school self needed, and that my current young-adult self... also needed. It's about growing up, about how people need other people, and it rewired my brain.

8.Rise Of The TMNT

JUST LIKE FINAL SPACE, SHINED TOO BRIGHT AND GONE ENTIRELY TOO SOON!! I was a HUGE fan of 2003 series when I was a kid and this one completely reignited my love for TMNT. The animation is poppy and dynamic and tastefully stylized, the story goes from monster of the week to the absolute insanity that is the netflix movie, and it has the kind of personality that a reboot of such an old series needs and benefits from (partially also ended up being its undoing because people hate fun). Like Final Space, if you're not averse to a little cringe humor aimed at a younger generation, I have 2 words for you: MUST! WATCH!!

HONORABLE MENTIONS BECAUSE ITS HARD TO PICK

Arcane! because all that can be said about it has already been said about it. But it is fantastic and if you have not watched it yet because "its league of legends ew" and "its a cartoon" quit being a boob and go watch it.

Mrkomir Prvi! Because it's a really funny sitcom set in medieval Croatia, and it's only here because it's incredibly obscure on a global level, but it's really the kind of original TV I love to see and rarely do. They did a pandemic episode in which they called the diseased "influenzers", enough said.

Tagging! @its-me-ej, @djcranberry, @hellomingo, @lemonykleonella, @mediasploshion and @bamsara(long time no talk!! i hope this isnt a jumpscare)

No pressure, and happy reminiscing >:)

[tatsumi-rin]

Oh shit Guero by Beck... I never processed the fact that I was kind of obsessed with that album as a teenager. Totally should have held onto my copy for shits and giggles instead of donating it back to whence it came, but it's not irreplaceable if I want it back. Scouring the shelves for it and other albums in charity shops when a Spotify subscription wasn't viable and I wanted something tangible I could hold was pretty fun though.

I can't remember a lot of my more music tastes at the time being all that cool in 2012-2014. Some were popular, sure - just not something I would share too much of lest I open myself to more criticism from family and friends (still got some banger gorillaz merch for my 18th though). I was going through my "anything not immediately playing on music channels or the radio is infinitely more cool" phase, but also kind-of-an-emo-but-not-really phase along with my "I like the idea of 90s music but Nirvana is too mainstream" phase (💀💀💀💀), and most importantly what I like to term my Napstablook phase - aka; finding the most obscure music possible on random websites for indie releases and such in a manner not unlike the Undertale character. I like to think Toby Fox somehow had a vision of me at that time whilst I was listening to his contributions to the Homestuck soundtrack and made that character and Alphys based on me specifically (kidding).

Just a little weirdo teenager in an Adventure Time hoodie sat in the corner; talking to no one and either vent doodling or trying my best to cram A-level biology in its entirety into my foggy head whilst wrapped in often taped-up pound shop headsets. Ironically with how many I went through, there was no way I could convince my family to let me get anything more expensive when these things broke so much.

I honestly look and realize that this is uhhh probably when my music tastes solidified lmao...All of that music was weirdly important in that ways these things can be when you're 16.

[neonswitchhouse]

PCWT: Closet Crafting, Discreet Devotions, and Inconspicuous Altars

So while not necessarily in the full vein of Pop Culture Witchcraft and Pop Culture Paganism, I’ve had several requests regarding how to work one’s craft discreetly. And so I thought, why not put a little PCW spin on things while I’m at it at least?

Whether it’s a nervousness about being open as a witch, wanting to be more subtle, or in some cases harsh living situations, there’s several reasons to want to be perhaps more inconspicuous in one’s inner ways. Though in the case of the latter situation in particular, --please-- make sure to put your personal safety and well-being first before trying any of these tips. We cannot guarantee that you won’t get in any sort of trouble for these.

Starting off, we have

In-Game Ideas

Do you devote yourself to anyone in particular when it comes to Pop Culture Witchcraft or Pop Culture Paganism that stems from a game-based source? Do you enjoy playing games focused on decorating, building, or life simulators? Then why not try these tips!

Try making an altar or devotional space in games such as Animal Crossing, The Sims, Minecraft using in-game items or even modded items! Rooms and spaces can easily be made for general purposes such as elemental altars, nature-based altars, and depending on who you work with, even items that pertain to them in particular

Use games such as the aforementioned Animal Crossing or The Sims as a form of sympathetic magic! Want to focus on self-care and inner beauty? Why not give gifts to your favorite “Snooty” villager who represents those aspects? Want to perhaps make some misfortune come to someone? Make them into a Sim and get up to some mischief with their Sim-Poppet!

Don’t have space to do your own gardening but want to still do some sort of green witchery? Why not try farming sims such as Stardew Valley or Story of Seasons to scratch that botanical itch for the time being? You can even make digital spell jars in some cases by growing the plants that best represent your purpose and placing them in chests with other items that may also best represent that purpose?

These are just some possibilities in the way of In-Game methods of spellcrafting and the like, but what about those hidden little shows of devotion or love towards someone you work with outside of their mediums? 

Discreet Devotions and Obscured Offerings

Hear me out: Devotional Ita Bags. Collect charms, pins, stickers, etc. of who or whatever you work with! Work with a traditional pertaining to solar energies? Why not a brightly colored bag with sun-based imagery? Work with a pop culture deity/entity/spirtit/etc.? Places like Etsy and Redbubble just to name a few have plenty of options when it comes to fan-merch (of course make sure that the stuff from Redbubble is not stolen from other artists)

Playing an RPG game or something similar? Why not devote a playthrough for whomever you wish? Make your character a hunter-based class in honor of someone associated with hunting and the wild! Pop Culture Wise, if working with a game characters, why not play as them if applicable or even bring positive actions to your character of choice? Boost their stats, complete some quests, the whole nine-yards for them!

We’ve mentioned this before, but why not try making private moodboards, Pinterest collections, or even music playlists for whomever you work with? Energy and devotion is still energy and devotion no matter the medium, ancient and traditional or even modern and tech-focused. At the end of the day, it’s your safety and comfort that matters the most.

While this isn’t a complete list of ideas, here’s a few to get yourself started! But as we’ve said before,

Do not compromise your health, safety, and/or financial stability for the sake of your craft.

You. Come. First.

But as always,

Stay safe, have fun, stay spooky! 🦇💜

[moemoemammon]

Do you mind if request headcanons for the brothers where MC is just a lovable idiot and the brothers realize they’re moronsexual?

Lovable Idiot MC!

(Feat. GN!MC and the Demon Bros)

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

Lucifer

He saw your carefree airheaded-ness from a mile away, from the moment you popped through that portal and your reaction was.... well, it was definitely enough for him to get a rough estimate of your IQ.

And honestly? He didn’t expect you to last long, yet by some literal miracle you’ve survived. If anything he thought you'd have wandered into a demon's clutches by now, so maybe you've got extraordinary luck?

A moronsexual in denial, he'll be damned if he said you didn’t somehow...grow on him..... He REFUSES to acknowledge how he finds your clumsy but earnest attitude endearing as hell. The way your brain finds the most obscure ways to solve problems is adorable for sure, but kind of reminds him of Mammon.... ugh...

You're going to give him new grey hairs, you know that? The stress of being surrounded by seven idiots was enough, but EIGHT?? Lucifer needs a vacation. Of course, he'll happily invite you along, too (paired with a child leash).

Mammon

Eyyy same brain 🧠🤝🧠 With your two brain cells combined, it's a wonder the House of Lamentation hasn't burned down yet. You both seem to cause chaos wherever you go, like some kind of cursed dynamic duo.

But seriously, that numbskull of yours is gonna get you eaten some day! Guess the Great Mammon has to do his best to keep you out of the clutches of nasty demons! But his services don't come cheap, understand?

You thought Mammon was protective before, just wait till he realizes how scatterbrained you can be. Won’t let you out of his sight, INSISTS that you summon him to accompany you when you go somewhere, even if it means he's gotta wait outside the bathroom for you. And don't think of saying no!

He's never had to work this hard in his life! He swears keeping you alive is like trying to brush Cerberus's teeth! But... it's kinda nice having someone around that he can get along with so well! Seeing as he isn't the only dumbass (affectionate) around.

Levi

Was an ass when he first met you. There was no way he’d let a klutzy human like YOU anywhere NEAR his room, let alone his precious merch collection! Go put your normie brain to use and binge watch TSL! THEN he'll be willing to talk to you!

But then he realized that you were kind of m-moe, in an annoying way.... You might not have understood anything when he suddenly dumped mountains of TSL trivia on you, but you were happy to listen anyway! It was like your smile was giving him the strength to keep info-dumping... 👉👈

He’s watched enough anime to know someone in need of protection when he sees them! And you’re definitely the 'lovable, airheaded sidekick/fan favorite’ character trope! If he's not careful, you'll fall into the evil clutches of someone horrible when he's not looking-!

Levi’s not usually into those types because of the cliches, but there’s no way he can resist the goofy smile on your face when you agree to play video games with him....

Satan

Satan would’ve ignored you in the beginning had it not been for how... spacey you could be. And being the bastard man he was, his first idea was to see what kind of trouble he could get you into. You seemed the easy type, anyway.

And yet as time went on and he started actually caring about you, he realized that you were just... a little.... uneducated. Luckily for you, Satan has enough knowledge in his nog for the both of you! He wouldn't mind teaching you a few things?

Aaaand that's a bust. He can't seem to get anything to stick in that thick skull of yours, but he can't be annoyed when you seem to be giving it your all. You're really determined, and that face you're making while you study is...

Ehem. Maybe that's enough book work for the day? He'd much rather learn the wonderful things about you, and enjoy the things you like to do. Teach him carefully, okay?

Asmo

You’re Asmo’s favorite kind of person! To manipulate- So soft and innocent, and he finds you absolutely ADORABLE! He can’t get enough of your cute, dazed looks! Ah, the way you stare blankly at people when you don’t know what’s going on... So cute! ❤️

Having a thing for corruption means you’re the apple of Asmo’s eye. But as he starts liking you more, he realizes that you... get into trouble a lot. You're way too gullible for your own good! You should realize how dangerous it is to be that cute!

At this rate, ANYONE could gobble you up and Asmo would die! He's got to make sure his cute little MC stays safe and sound, so he spends lots of time making sure to leave his mark on you one way or another, be it the lingering smell of his perfume, or other more.. physical marks. That seems to keep the nasties away!

He doesn't mind being a moronsexual. If anything, he's an everyonesexual. Now come to his room! He's been missing your terribly, so why don't you tell him about your day?

Beel

Beel isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer to begin with, so it takes him a long while to realize that you aren't either. What makes it obvious is how much of a knack for trouble you seem to have. It's almost like you're doing it on purpose... but at least you're nice..?

You only seemed like an easy snack to him at first, but now he finds himself saving you constantly from getting yourself into dangerous situations. Like when he caught you standing at the top of the stairs, probably contemplating whether or not you could jump to the last step.

Get used to Beel just picking you up all the time. He'll carry you away from danger and keep you close like the overactive toddler you are. He'll offer to do little tasks for you, too.

He's not saying he's worried that you're somehow hurt yourself using the microwave, but…he's worried that you're somehow hurt yourself using the microwave-

Belphie

He can only think that your personality is exactly what made you such an easy target. Who in their right mind would trust a shady guy in the attic anyway, let alone set him free? YOU, that's who. You were so naive, it was hilarious!

But now it's not so hilarious unless he's e one teasing you. You seem to fall for ANY prank, and while he thinks that's cute, it's also worrisome... He knows there are demons that'd love to eat you, so what if they tricked you into going with them?

Guess he's gotta go to school to protect you.... Jk. He'll just keep you from going! You're much safer if you just nap all day with him, right? Ah, he and Beel were gonna play video games together. Wanna join?

Oh yeah, and don't think you're safe from still being harassed. It's all harmless fun but he can't get enough of how easy it is to trick you. The kind of bastard to tell you to go into the auto-shop and ask for blinker fluid. He loves you though! ❤️

[dojunie]

ITWD [CH4]; New Bloom

[★]; TWO BOYS. TWO UNIVERSITIES. TWO RIVALING TEAMS. And then there’s you, stuck weightlessly in the middle of it. The time left on the clock is running out— and soon, you’re going to have to pick a side.

[itwd masterlist] [previous part] [next part]

sneak peek; “Seriously, Y/N, there’s not at least one guy? I mean, I totally understand writing off all of those sweaty weirdos—” Guyeon gestures towards the locker room doors, which you assume means she’s referring to Jaemin and the rest of the basketball team, and the mildly disgusted look on her face makes you laugh. “—But I stalked the photos on the GDSC Timberwolves roster last night after we called and there is not a chance you don’t think any of those dudes aren’t stupidly attractive.” “Okay, first of all, creepy,” you respond, grimacing, “And second of all, I never said they weren’t attractive. Just… y’know. I’m not ‘wired for romance’ like you are, Gu— they just look like dudes to me.”

wc; 8.2k

warnings; none!

a/n: so... its been a minute 👀... as compensation for waiting 100 years for the next installment, uh... have 8 thousand words of pre-yonsei x gdsc build up with absolutely no immediate pay-off :-D

taglist; @aedreamzy @grassbutneo @sweetlyocs @bffbangtan @huskyhunny @luvenshitiiti

.

.

.

IT'S ONLY BEEN A WEEK SINCE SCHOOL STARTED; a week since you’d been fully enveloped into the red and black world of the Gamdogja Timberwolves, and in that time Your easy friendship with the DDeumi’s crew has solidified into something surprisingly familiar in the short five days you’ve known one another.

(Practice every day will do that, you suppose, but even if you excluded the hours you were mandatorily tied together—the amount of time you spent with them this past week would still be slightly concerning.) Donghyuck had a way of making you feel like you’d known them for years instead of days, Jisung and Renjun insisted on tugging you along to every hangout and every random outing, and watching them all bicker and make up and crack jokes has quickly become one of your favorite activities. (And that's without even mentioning how addicting the little night time routine you’d fallen into with Lee Jeno was becoming.)

In the grand scheme of things your future at GDSC was looking brighter than it did over the summer, and that's all you could really ask for.

But enough about them. You'd spent every waking hour with the boys over at GD and now you were reminiscing about them too? Oh, the tantrum Chenle would throw if he knew you were focusing on any other team on a day like this; smiling to yourself over some other dudes on arguably the most anticipated night of the YSU’s basketball season until preliminaries.

You pull into the familiar parking lot and blue and white is everywhere the eye can see, Yonsei banners, crested insignias, sky-colored jerseys and t-shirts and school-pride merch, the baby blue you’d grown so fond of over the years.

There are students peppered throughout every grassy inch of the university's main quad, also dressed pretty much head to toe in YSU colors. Most are just hanging with their friends and milling about as students do in the hours before the stadium opens for seating, some are playing little games of soccer and badminton to pass the time, loud laughs carrying in the cool air. You even recognize a few of them when you get out of your car but you don’t stop to talk. 

As a matter of fact, you avoid the faces you do know like the plague. 

Why are you suddenly acting like a B-Rate Bond spy, sneaking across the pavement and pulling your hood tight around your face in some attempt at obscurity?

The short reason is that tonight you’re going to surprise your best friend.

(And the long reason is that last night you’d had an… idea. A plan, if you will— a prank, if you wanted to get technical with it. The premise had come from a few hours of exhaustion scrolling after practice with the Wolves last night. You were too amped up about the weekend to sleep but still too tired from running after the team (ie; Donghyuck and Yeonjun) to do anything but glue your eyes to your phone screen and aimlessly scroll in bed. But then you saw it.

‘Surprising My Boyfriend On His Birthday! Spoiler: He Totally Cries!’

What a title, right? And it was the first post on the screen. The video itself wasn’t anything revolutionary in the world of birthday pranks as all the girl had done was ignore him all day after canceling their date and then show up in his apartment with all his friends that night, but it was the idea of a surprise that intrigued you, not the specificities. 

Especially not the specificities. Because there were actually quite a few differences. Like the fact that Jaemin was your best friend, not your boyfriend. And you weren’t going to sneak into his apartment and pop out of a giant gift box— your original thought was to hide behind a door or something and just leap out at him like some sort of spectre. Maybe you’d make a sign. You weren’t quite sure. What you were sure of was that he’d probably quicker laugh in your face than scream out of fear, but whatever. The vibe was there. And that was all you needed for the wheels to start turning.)

You’d told Chenle of the plan early this morning and handed the reins to him once he bullied you into insisted he help ‘set things up’. 

He texted you three context-less instructions thirty minutes later: make up a lie to shill to Jaemin about why you wouldn’t be able to make it to tonight's game, get to YSU half an hour before toss up, and to not let anyone see you when you got here.

Now half a day later here you were. Waddling into the campus athletic building like some sort of baby blue criminal. 

[You, 6:37PM] im here!!!!! where u at [You, 6:37PM] eagle 1 is in the nest… or whatever you said this morning :3 [CHENLELE, 6:39PM] Eagle 1 is nesting is what I said [CHENLELE, 6:39PM] Oh wait you’re Here here [CHENLELE, 6:39PM] Go to the practice gym [CHENLELE, 6:39PM] If you still remember where it is [You, 6:39PM] Har Har 

Convenient. You’re already outside of the practice gym, having wandered towards the basketball wing subconsciously as you awaited Chenle’s reply, and don’t bother pulling out your phone again when you feel a few more notifications.

Whatever he just sent he could relay you in a few moments when you meet up with him, right?

Or… maybe not. Because when you push through the gym's double doors expecting maybe two or three people, Chenle obviously among them as he’d been the only one you told— you apparently walk into an athletic conference instead.

“Y/N?” you manage to hear. But which one of the thousands of people in here is calling you, you’re not sure. “Y/N!”

You slow to a complete stop as all activity ceases, obviously startled. Maybe you’re exaggerating a little; it’s not thousands. It’s not even a dozen. But there’s much more activity than you’re expecting, Dejun and Guangheng, Seonghwa and Jungwoo, others scattered about in the middle of their own little tasks— all members of the team, you realize, already in their uniforms.

Even as they all rush you, you’re not quite sure what the hell is going on.

“Noona!” someone in the pile-up wails. 

That has to be Jongin; he’s the only one young enough to call you that besides Chenle and the last time Chenle used an honorific with you was the day you met him. 

Hands pat your head and ruffle your hair, arms wrap around you in spine-crushing like vices, and when Jungwoo finally gets his hands on you he thrashes you around like a puppy with a brand chew toy.  “Little Ace!” he coos. “How long has it been? Months? Years? You haven’t misplaced us while fraternizing with those awful GD boys, right?” 

He abruptly sets you down and in the same breath squishes your cheeks between his palms, frowning and glancing between you and his grinning teammates. “What do you guys think? You think she forgot us? Doesn’t she look kind of… frazzled?”

“I look frazzled because you all just jumped me,” you attempt, “And as vice captain, aren’t you supposed to be unbiased? They’re not awful. What are you all even doing here?”

(“I reserve my right to judge,” Jungwoo says petulantly.)

“Chenle asked us to help you with your thing,” Sunwoo answers. 

“Help me with what thing? All of you? What help could I possibly need with just popping out from behind a door and scaring the shit out of him?”

A few of them look at each other. Jungwoo grins. Sunwoo has the decency to look at least a little apologetic, though you have a sinking feeling whatever he’s about to explain to you is definitely Chenle’s doing.

You sigh. “Where is he, anyway?”

“Getting the cake from the staff fridge upstairs.”

“The cake?”

“Yeah,” Sunwoo sighs. “Seems like there’s a lot we need to catch you up on. I’ll fill you in while we finish glittering the poster boards, but… Actually, you wouldn’t happen to be any good with a hot glue gun, would you?”

Up until the actual ‘surprise’ part, things are going pretty well. 

By the time Chenle returns, there’s no time to ask him the details of the fifty-part plan he’s trying to pull off. He comes into the gym practically running, heaving something about Mark and Jaemin leaving early, that they’re three minutes out— which sparked chaos among the rest of the team— and in the ensuing shuffle of poster boards and party poppers, you lost him.

You’d ended up in the moth-ball smelling equipment closet somehow. Shoved in by somebody, you barely remember who. Through the gap in the door you lamented your life’s choices and watched as the team scattered and attempted to hide, some rolling under bleachers, some behind ball carts, (and you think you saw Jongin jump into a rolled up gymnastics stunt mat) before the gym descended into the type of charged silence only loud-people-trying-to-be-quiet could incur.

And seemingly not a second too soon. Because the sound of the double doors on the other side of the room swinging open is next; and you cut your commiserating short.

“I’dunno, J, Coach Hyo said she wanted to talk to you in here.”

Mark? Mark! 

“I don’t know what about. She’s in the office, I think. You want me to wait for you?”

“Nah,” Jaemin replies. It’s quiet, muffled from all the distance, but at the sound of his voice live in stereo you still grow a little giddy. You must have missed him more than you thought… your heart is thudding. “With my luck today I’m about to get scolded or something, so I’m sure it’ll be quick. If you want to do me a favor you can find me the other half of our team, yeah?”

“They’re at the sauna. You didn’t see the group chat? Chen posted about it like half an hour ago.”

“...Ah.”

Mark laughs at this, but you don’t know why. “Your phone has been glued to your hand for the last week and you’re choosing today to ignore your messages? …You know, you’ve been in a bad mood all day too. It wouldn’t happen to be because of—”

“Like I’m not already aware,” Jaemin interrupts, sighing. “So are you gonna go and get them or what? Call time isn’t getting any father—”

The lights shut off.

You don’t know if Mark is in on it or not but you can only assume from the way he doesn’t respond to Jaemin’s immediate, ‘What the hell— Mark?’ that he must be as complacent as Chenle and the others. 

A few seconds pass. There’s shuffling, the obvious sounds of people moving about in the darkness, and, “Mark, please tell me you’ve just grown fifty legs and that's you running around in here,” before the lights flip back on and the sounds of the entire team’s shouts instantly fill the gymnasium. 

Typical Jaemin— still joking even in the face of what you would have probably thought was a scene from Freddy Krueger— but there’s no time to snicker at his predictability. That’s your cue.

“Not quite!” you hear someone shout. “Happy birthday, Little J!”

More cheers. There’s a beat of silence and then he laughs, disbelief thick in his voice when he reads aloud a second later, stunned, from the glitter-splattered cardboard each boy is proudly holding to their chests. “...Nana… rocks?” 

Then, “This is what you boneheads have been doing for the last half hour? Planning this?”

“Of course not,” Jungwoo sing-songs. “We don’t like you enough for that.”

You wish you could see his face, but from the other side of the gym you’ll just have to settle with seeing his blue backside; hoodie pulled up over his head, little twig legs sticking out of his basketball shorts.

“Yeah, right— No way you came up with this yourselves. Who then? Chen put you up to this?”

Nope! Right behind you, Jaem.

You pick up the speed once again in fear he’ll turn on a whim, face about to split from your smile, and you’re almost there. You can see the finish line. The fraying threads on the hem of his lucky sweatshirt. 

All there’s left is to leap and shout, something cheesy and cute and very very loud in an attempt to startle him and complete this overcomplicated plan, then everyone will laugh and cheer and you’ll go beat some Dulim University ass.

(…But of course it doesn’t go that smoothly.)

Your phone rings. Half a blip. Just that. A misdial maybe because it ends as soon as it’s started, but your stupid ringtones are about as recognizable as you are and Jaemin flinches and whips around like a bomb had gone off instead. Fuck.

In the millisecond you have to make a choice, you decide that you’re going to jump on him anyway. You're already right there. Too much has gone into this. And there's no way you’re going to let some damn spam call ruin what you’ve been waiting all week for—

But the force Jaemin spins around with has his hood flying off of his head,

—And, suddenly, going so fast is the worst idea you’ve ever had. The smile slips off your face and you lose the rhythm, the image of an angel suddenly burned into your retinas as you stumble and flail: only it’s not an angel. It’s not an incredibly beautiful disciple beckoning you into heaven with a growing grin that could rival the sun in terms of pure radiance.

 It’s… Jaemin. 

And the person you’re hurling towards continues to be Jaemin as you smash your face into his stomach at possibly a hundred miles an hour and the two of you crash into the court like a couple of car-accident test dummies.

He doesn’t stop being any less blonde as you come to your senses a moment later. His groaning laughter is physically felt through the hands you’ve got on his chest to leverage yourself out of the pile-up— but the embarrassing position you’re in right now doesn’t even track.

“Way to go, Humpty Dumpty.” 

You look up. Chenle is staring at you with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face when you finally tear your eyes from Jaemin’s scalp, arms folded and phone— that you now remember he’s recording with— still trained on you. “Show him how much you love him by knocking his brain loose. I totally get it.”

As a matter of fact all the guys are watching you with various looks of amusement: Jungwoo and Guangheng cackling loudly and openly at your misfortune, Shotoro trying to hide his laugh behind a closed fist, the others just smiling and looking at one another as you clear your throat and scramble off of your temporary cushion like a bullet out of a gun. 

“That last part was not supposed to happen.”

“I figured,” Jaemin says breathlessly.

Despite the haphazard entrance he’s still smiling ear to ear when you hoist him to his feet, a little dazed like he’s still not sure if you’re really here. 

You get a good look at him again as the rest of the team fills in around you and damn. Damn. The last time you’d seen his eyebrows this clearly had to be from back in middle school when his mom got a little too trigger happy with the scissors the night before picture day. Now they’re here in high definition, all golden brown and perfect to match the new pale blonde, arched as he shakes his head in disbelief at the sight of you. 

Good lord. Has he always looked like this?

“Ah, I should’ve known better,” he whines. “Seriously— you? Putting schoolwork over me? On my birthday? The earth would quicker fall into the sun.”

“Way to make me sound like a slacker,” you laugh, but it comes out a little dry. "But, yeah, um. Yeah. You… What’s up with the, uh…?”

He lets you go. He looks confused for quite a few seconds, obviously trying to figure out what you’re so tongue-tied about as he stares down at you— and has he always been this tall, too?— before he follows your gaze up to the white strands drifting over his eyes and it clicks.

“Oh. This?” He runs a hand through it absentmindedly and God, it doesn’t even look damaged. “You know Vivian, right?”

“Ningning,” Chenle supplies from somewhere beside you. You don’t actually know anyone named Vivian or ‘Ningning’, but you’re so preoccupied with Chenle’s sudden involvement that you don’t think to question it. The phone is gone now but he’s still watching your conversation with apt interest, arms folded casually like he’s not just standing there staring at the both of you. 

You give him a questioning look and the boy only winks.

“Yeah,” Jaemin confirms. “Ningning. We have the same Econ class this semester and a few days ago she said she was ‘searching for heads’ to do some cosmetology projects on. Like styling and cutting and stuff. And you’re always getting on me about cutting my hair, so…”

He shrugs casually, like he’d only let Vivian borrow a few class notes.

“So you just let this person have a field day on your head?”

“Yep! And I’m not bald, so I think she did a pretty good job.”

Understatement of the century. Vivian did better than a good job; the girl performed magic. With the power of a good pair of scissors and 40 volume developer, she’d managed to turn Jaemin into someone you didn’t immediately recognize. Like… you thought you’d seen an angel. An ethereal being. Not your best friend, but some handsome (and apparently stumble-worthy) guy inhabiting his body. 

And the more you think about it the more the feeling confuses you, but before you can fully dive into why that is, someone clears their throat very loudly from the outskirts of the group— and all of you turn to an awkward looking Mark Lee.

“Sorry,” he says quickly, “I don’t mean to interrupt the festivities, but, uh… Call time is seven minutes out, Jaem.”

Oh. Right. Right. And just like that, the atmosphere shifts. The first game of the season. That's what you're here for, isn't it. Temporary captain duties on Jaemin’s end, no less; with the reminder he, along with a few others, suddenly look a little ill.

An entire school’s worth of Yonsei students are probably streaming into the other gym right as you all stand around here and chatter about hair dye. 

“Right,” Jaemin exhales slowly.

“Come on, what’s with all the long faces?” you gripe. There’s a few smiles at your blase tone. “You’re not nervous, right? You guys? Seoul’s reigning Central Conference Champions?”

They pretty much all see through your intentions to loosen them up a little bit. Coach habits die hard, you guess. “You’re going to go out there and show me what I drove all the way back here for, right?”

There’s a few cheers. Mostly nods and smiles. But from the back, after the world's longest, fakest cough, Jungwoo doesn’t miss his chance. “Jaemin is already right in front of you,” he stage-whispers.

…You should have seen that coming.

Still, you can’t be upset that everyone is now laughing too hard to focus on being anxious. Jaemin is smiling too, proudly, smugly, like he has no qualms with their joke at all, because of course he doesn’t— so you let Jungwoo’s joke go. Mostly.

“Yeah, laugh it up, Kim. Because God knows if I came to see you make a basket, I’d be here ‘till graduation.”

Jungwoo only puts a hand over his heart, feigning the recoil of an arrow to the chest, before the ever-punctual Mark starts to herd him and then all the others out of the practice gym.

You missed this. With the series of hair ruffles and hugs you receive as they leave, you can only assume they missed you too.

Once the cat is out of the proverbial bag about your arrival, not a second goes by before the game starts that you’re not hugging, waving, or catching up with people you haven’t seen all summer. After your welcome tour (which you say lovingly, but the sheer amount of people who try to flag you down is still astounding; like you’ve been gone for a few weeks, not a hundred years, but you’re not complaining), you finally manage to make it to courtside with a few of your old teammates.

The cheerleaders are doing something fun on the court, the stands are filling up, the atmosphere is electric and Twice’s ‘Ooh-Ah’ is practically deafening; your friend Guyeon has to shout at you to be heard over the music. 

“You can’t seriously tell me that out of all those GDSC boys you’re surrounded by, that you’re not interested in any of them. You’re aware that lying is a sin, right?”

“I usually don’t condone her pestering,” your other friend Jihara adds, nudging you with one of her jersey clad shoulders, “But even I have to admit that Cupid has a point this time. That Instagram story you posted yesterday with the brown haired guy; that kid was holding onto you like he’s known you since birth. Even I know that's suspicious.”

This topic again. This topic again. It only took Guyeon ten seconds after you sat down to start the interrogation this time— her new personal record.

If only you could ‘forget’ to respond, like you’ve been doing for the past week every time they tried to interrogate you about the Timberwolves through text.

“Donghyuck is just like that,” you say defensively. “The first day we met he tried to bench press me inside of a BBQ restaurant to prove a point. It seriously doesn’t mean anything. Shouldn’t we be paying attention to the game?”

“The game doesn’t start for at least another five minutes if the cheerleaders are still on court. I know that. You know that.”

Damn. “It was worth a try.”

“Seriously, Y/N, there’s not at least one? I mean, I totally understand writing off all of those sweaty weirdos—” Guyeon gestures towards the locker room doors, which you assume means she’s referring to the men's basketball team, and the mildly disgusted look on her face makes you laugh. “—But I stalked the photos on the GDSC Timberwolves roster last night after we called and there is not a chance you don’t think any of those dudes aren’t stupidly attractive.”

“First of all, creepy,” you respond, grimacing, “And second of all, I never said they weren’t attractive. Just… y’know. I’m not ‘wired for romance’ like you are, Gu— they just look like dudes to me.”

Guyeon opens her mouth quickly, presumably to talk at you some more about repressed feelings and ‘healthy sexual urges’, but a rising chatter from the other Yonsei students filling the stands behind you catches all of your attention. When you look up you realize the cheerleaders are leaving, doing that cute little jog-skip-run thing they do and waving at everyone before they disappear into the home tunnel. The stadium lights fully brighten once they’ve all left and the energy of the stands grows tenfold— the game is about to start. 

“This conversation is not over,” Guyeon says quickly.

An echoing shout bursts from the direction of the home team tunnel and you forgo responding to Gu’s threat just in time to see Jaemin’s jog out of the entrance, to the cheers of what sounds like everyone in a five mile radius. The rest of the team is right behind him as well, whooping and jumping and passing their hands along the students close enough to the tunnel to high-five like the excitable, powered up athletes they are— but you have a feeling it wasn’t any of them that the freshman girls behind you just gasped about.

The team finish their introduction and crowd around their bench, which just so happens to be in front of you, Jiara and Guyeon.

‘Oh my God, Chaer, do you see that one,’ one of them whispers. ‘Ow! What? Who? Number 13? Jesus, Okay, I see him! Stop hitting me!’

If you didn’t know any better you’d think that Jaemin heard them, because right as it leaves the girls mouth he perks up like he’s just remembered something. 

You watch as his eyes flit around the student section, water bottle forgotten halfway to his mouth, and for a moment you’re seriously thinking he somehow grew superhuman hearing when you weren’t around when he looks right behind you— but then his gaze finds yours.

“Holy shit,” Guyeon whispers.

He winks, like he always does when your eyes meet.

Then he blows you a sleazy kiss when you pretend to gag. When he finally gets a laugh out of you he grins like he’s won the lottery, a wild and unruly thing that stretches across his face in the teasing way it does whenever he’s trying to piss you off and knows he’s succeeding. It absolutely isn’t anything new… but something about it makes your insides squirm this time. 

Suddenly feeling off, you can only think to wave; then the whistle is blown for the starters to make their way to half court and he’s gone. 

(“Oof,” one of the freshmen from earlier snickers behind you. “Sorry, Lia. You seriously thought a guy like that wouldn’t already be with somebody? Looks like he’s spoken for.”)

“Holy shit,” Guyeon says again, and this time you do look at her, still a little unsettled. “Are you sure you’re not a lesbian, Ace?”

“What?”

“Guyeon,” Jiara hisses.

Gu immediately puts two hands up in surrender but the glint in her eyes is anything but. You can see it written all over face; your later interrogation is going to be severe.

At the very least, Jiara’s scolding finally puts an end to the pregame chatter. The two of them like basketball as much as you do and quickly get absorbed into the game once the referee makes his appearance. They both cheer when Yonsei wins the toss up (though your voice kind of outweighs theirs when the first basket of the night just so happens to be Chenle’s easy three-pointer) and they sigh when the Dulim Rovers manage to get a free throw on a traveling technicality a few minutes later. 

Yonsei games are always pretty electric but tonight is something different and by the time the Dulim calls their first time out halfway into the second quarter, you’re already hoarse from cheering. 

“I’m going to go and get something from concessions before the half-time crowd hits. Any orders?”

It’s like they barely hear you. Guyeon grunts something that sounds like ‘lemonade’ and Jiara doesn’t say a word, practically glaring holes into the scoreboard as the numbers blink in red cacophony: 14-14. 

Not phased by the very common occurrence of their jock brains taking full effect, you just nudge Jiara out of the way to get to the sidelines, jogging towards the exit so as to not block any other students from seeing the game. The score may not be favorable yet, yeah. But you’re not worried. If Jaemin is on the court, you don’t have to be.

You take your time once you get out of the gym. 

All hot food at the concessions bar is always made in bulk in the ten minutes before halftime so you’re already aware that you’re going to be waiting for a little while as they prepare, but you didn’t mind. If anything, you enjoyed the quiet of the desolate lobby. It was a welcome change from the ever-present noise of the gym, and your night was going to be long— you might as well stock up on quiet moments now while you have the ability, right? And it’s not like you had anything else to do. So you close your eyes and let your mind wander, leaning against the booth wall.

You think about everything and anything. The art history assignment you have due on Sunday night, is one. Unwelcome of course but present regardless. You wonder how Sunghoon is doing after rolling his ankle during practice this morning and in the same vein, the pulled shoulder Dejun was posting about a few weeks ago. (You’d have to remember to tell him not to push himself too hard when you saw him again later.) 

Halfway through pondering about just how many drunk people you’re going to have to babysit tonight, you hear it. 

“Where did she go?”

The voice is vaguely familiar but also quite distant, so you don't rouse. They could be talking about anyone, right?

“Damn it, Hyuck! I thought we said we weren't going to—”

“There! Mini!”

This, however, is jarring enough for your eyes to shoot open. 

“I told you that was her!” Donghyuck whines.

And lo and behold. Possibly the last people you’d be expecting to see in the lobby of Yonsei University; number 03 and 06 respectively, practically bouncing across the linoleum to get to you faster.

The forward reaches the concessions booth first, easily sliding under the que dividers to reach where you are, and Renjun comes chasing after him with his face already torn into an apologetic grimace.

“Donghyuck?” you say belatedly. “Why— What the hell are you two doing all the way over here?”

“We know a few guys from Dulim,” Renjun explains hastily, elbowing Donghyuck hard when he’s close enough to reach. The taller boy barely even flinches, too busy making smiling-eyes at you. 

“I knew you’d be here,” Donghyuck says smugly. “Jun and the others didn’t believe me though, but I knew.” 

“Hey! We never said we didn’t…” Seemingly remembering all at once that arguing with Donghyuck is always a losing battle, Renjun sighs and forgoes that train of thought altogether. He turns to you with a ‘Can you believe this guy?’ kind of look and you laugh at their antics.

“We had a feeling you’d be here but this is the first time you’re seeing your friends again in a while, right? We didn’t want you worrying about us so we said we’d leave you alone if we saw you, but this one,” Hyuck smiles sweetly even though Renjun’s tone is anything but pleasant, “Just couldn’t help himself when we saw you come out here. Sorry. I tried to use force, but he’s like an eel.”

“A cute eel,” he butts in. “The cutest eel, and it’s not like you mind, right? You love me. And I missed you. A whole lot.”

“You saw me this morning,” you respond, still a little surprised. “And you didn’t like me then because I was making you do sit-ups. How many of you are here?”

“I forgive easily,” Hyuck says amicably at the same time Renjun actually answers your question, “Just No-Jam and Ji. The Dulim guys are more Jeno’s friends than ours, but it’s not like we were doing anything else tonight.”

You guess it’s not that big of a coincidence…?  It wasn’t like you were the only person who could visit other schools. They’re here for Dulim but aren’t dressed head to toe in yellow like the rest of the visiting crowd is, Hyuck in all black besides his gray bomber jacket and Renjun the complete opposite, cream hood of his hoodie pulled up over his head. You wonder how you hadn’t already noticed them in this state. 

The concessions worker calls your order while you’re talking with the two, residual shock giving away quickly to amusement as they clamber on about how big Yonsei’s campus is and how ridiculous traffic was on the way, and after you collect your food they even walk you back to the gym entrance. It splits off into two doors, visitors side and home, and you slow in front of your stop.

“Bet you’re probably tired of seeing us at this point,” Renjun says, laughing, but he still sounds apologetic. “Go back with your friends. Maybe we can see you after the game?”

“You say that like we’re not also friends.” You feign a pout and try not to break when Renjun’s eyes go wide.

“Great job, stick in the mud,” Donghyuck chides.

“What? No! I just meant— We’ve kind of been dragging you around lately, I thought—”

Renjun stutters and you laugh, his frown immediately turning into a scowl when he realizes you’re just screwing with him. You’d stay out here and talk more if Guyeon’s lemonade wasn’t freezing your hand, and he had a point. It wasn't like they were going to disappear at the buzzer.

With a promise to meet them out in the lobby after the final whistle, you part ways.

Unlike when you’d left, Guyeon and Jiara’s eyes are all on you when you return. Maybe it’s because the score is much better, 15-24, and they don’t have to have their gaze as sharp on the court. Or maybe it’s because—

“Did you get lost?” Jiara asks. “Gone for a week and already forgetting the hallways, huh? We thought you’d been kidnapped.”

Yep. Or maybe it’s because they want to terrorize you further. You hand Gu her demonic drink and shake the feeling back into your fingers. “Didn’t know I was being timed.”

“Birthday Boy sank a three while you were gone,” Guyeon shrugs. “He looked over all proud before he saw that you weren’t here and then his frown was like, almost comically adorable. I think it even shifted my heart a little. Made me want to stab you for not being here to receive it.”

“Where’d he make it from? And I saw a few friends in the lobby. Got caught up.”

Jiara snatches a nacho from your tray. “A little behind half court I think, and what do you mean friends? What friends do you have besides us and those blockheads on the court? The woman at concessions doesn’t count.”

You scowl at her. Should you even tell them? Guyeon might blow a gasket if she finds out that there are Timberwolves in the building after her earlier tangent, and you’re really not sure you can survive another round of interrogation so soon after the last. Your phone vibrating in your pocket gives you at least a little reprieve in answering… but not for long.

[Hyuck, 7:32PM] we see you ;) [Hyuck, 7:32PM] middle section, third row [Hyuck, 7:32PM] jisungie is waving

Foolishly, you look up.

Park Jisung’s lanky arm swinging around (paired with the puffy cheeks full of popcorn) is pretty easy to pick out now that you know what you’re looking for. Hyuck and Renjun sit to his right and perk up when you meet their eyes, grinning and waving like you didn’t just see them thirty seconds ago, and to Jisung’s left sits Lee Jeno who simply nods when your gaze runs across his.

You’re preparing to wave back when Guyeon grabs your arm. 

“No fucking way,” she hisses, and you tear your eyes from them before you can do anything but yelp. She’s looking at you like you’ve just called her a bad word. Shit. “They’re here? You brought them here?”

Gasket, blown. The only thing that saves you is a whistle blaring and when Chenle, wet and sweaty like he’s been dipped into the campus pool, comes crashing down between you and Guyeon not even a second later. You startle and look back to the court and see the rest of the Eagles coming towards the bench in similar disarray, panting and grinning and saying things that you can’t quite make out over the sudden chattering and movement of the crowd behind you. 

Half time. Thank God. Guyeon’s eyes focus on Chenle and you know you’re free.

“It's too hot in here,” he says, grabbing for her lemonade, whining, “Let me have this. C’mon, please, you know I’ll pay you back!”

“I— Yeah, whatever, take it,” Guyeon says quickly. “I didn’t want it that much, anyway.”

He grins and tosses half of it back while Guyeon tries not to look like she’s staring, even though she is totally staring, and you turn back to where Donghyuck and the others are but they’re not looking at you anymore. Damn. 

“If you’re thirsty you need to hydrate properly,” you tell your younger friend blithely when you spin back to them, squinting, “Sugar isn’t hydration. What if you get a cramp?”

“Then you’d massage it for me like you always do.”

“Watch it,” another voice says for you. “You get a cramp, you go to the infirmary like a big boy, yeah? And she’s right— lose the lemonade.” You don’t have to turn to know who’s just slumped down into the other half of your seat.

Guyeon, more wary of Captain-Mode Jaemin than she is heart-eyes for Chen, quietly takes her drink back. “You always say she’s right,” Chenle mutters.

“Because I am always right.” 

“What is it you always say about rice?” you ask aloud, turning to the man of the hour behind you, “Bowls of rice?”

Jaemin laughs. He’s got his arms crossed over his jersey and he looks properly exhausted— sweat rolling down his temples, cheeks pink with exertion, still breathing a little ragged— but when he looks at you, he smiles like he’s not tired at all. 

“You’ve eaten more bowls of rice than he has.”

“That’s the one! Exactly. Which means my word is as good as gospel. Go get your water before I pinch you.”

Chenle grumbles, but he goes. Coach Hyo calls Jaemin back to the bench not too soon after this but he makes sure to steal another nacho from you and mess up your hair before he goes. So much for proper game diet, right? Brat.

The minutes of half time tick by until the game begins again, stands refilled with viewers and their concessions raid, and it’s not too surprising to say that Yonsei cleans house. 

You knew they would. They played too well, practiced too hard, and simply worked too well together to not send North Dulim scrambling for points in the second half. Jaemin’s effortless two-pointer is what signifies the end of the game, buzzer ringing in tandem with his white sneakers hitting the ground: 37-29. When you relay the score to your dad later he’s definitely going to have some things to say, ‘Not a big enough gap. What, are they slacking now that we’re not there?’ but you can’t really pretend you’re not pleased. 

When the game is over you usually just wait in the stands for the rest of the crowd to clear out (because fighting with traffic to get into the lobby is a little dumb when you know you still have to wait for Jaemin and the others to shower anyway) but with Donghyuck and the others waiting outside, it seems like tonight you’re going to have to brave the masses. 

But… before that. You’re going to have to deal with the bouncing ball of black-haired energy on your right.  “Guyeon,” you sigh.

“What? You don’t even know what I was about to ask!”

“So the holes you’re burning into the side of my head don’t have anything to do with the fact that you want to come with me?”

Silence. 

“Come where?” Jiara chimes in. “I want to go. Where are we going?”

“To meet the Timberwolves Y/N tried to sneak in here,” Guyeon whispers. She dodges when you try to jab her and Jiara’s eyes narrow when you don’t immediately shut your other friend down.

“I didn’t sneak anybody anywhere, you little conspirator!"

Your phone vibrates again. 

[Hyuck, 8:05PM] we’re by the big eagle statue thing outside, by the main doors!!! come out!!! didn’t i say i missed you????!?!

“If you’re coming you better behave,” you hiss. “Seriously, I coach these guys Gu. None of your matchmaker shit.”

“You don’t coach them officially. So even if…” She shrinks immediately when you stare at her. “Fine! Fine, gosh. Lead the way.”

With your two new shadows, you maneuver through the traffic of moving Yonsei students and parents and staff, both beelining for Lucky Eagle and dragging your feet at the same time as you pass through the gym doors. (And you didn’t even think about it until now, but God, Donghyuck and Guyeon in the same group? At the same time? Maybe it’s not too late to call this off— the thought of dealing with them both at once almost gives you hives.) 

You see Jisung’s head of dirty blonde peeping over the smattering of students before you can really mentally prepare and when he sees you his eyes go wide. He says something you can't quite make out to someone beside him, and then, “Mini!”

Your trio rounds upon Lucky Eagle. 

“Mini… and friends?” Donghyuck corrects, raising an eyebrow, but grinning all the same.

“And friends,” you confirm, sighing. “Timberwolves, meet… Well, you’ve got tongues. Go ahead, you two.” 

You can practically hear Guyeon vibrating with questions, things to say, thoughts flying through her head in the midst of these guys she admitted to cyberstalking not even an hour prior, but thankfully she heeds your earlier threat and actually acts like a normal human being.

“Kwon Guyeon,” she says with a small bow, smiling sweetly. “Third year point guard for the Yonsei Warriors. Nice to meet you!”

“Son Jiara,” Jiara nods. “Power forward I guess, if we’re doing that.”

Donghyuck laughs. “I’ve always said that knowing what position someone plays is almost better than knowing their blood type,” he says. “Donghyuck, also power forward. I’m sure you’ve already heard of me, since I’m Mini’s favorite over at—”

“Okay,” Renjun cuts in. “Anyway. Park Jisung, Lee Jeno,” he points at each respective boy as he names them, completely ignoring Donghyuck’s scandalized noise. “Huang Renjun. All starters at Gamdogja, under Y/N’s watchful eye.”

“Like you need the introduction,” Guyeon laughs. “Any basketball team in the central conference knows GDSC.”

…Okay. This is going pretty smoothly so far, you think. Good. That’s good. Seeing your old friends and your new friends interacting so easily is a little weird, but soon enough they’re talking like old-buddies without your input at all; Guyeon mentions something about Baekhyun when an EXO song comes over the speakers and Donghyuck practically leaps at her, Jisung asks when the first women’s game is being held and both him and Renjun end up wandering behind Jiara as she shows them the season schedule board on the other side of the lobby.

Somehow it’s only Jeno that’s been left converationless, looking around with his hands trenched in his pockets when you come over, lost.

“Why is it always you that gets left behind, Lee?” 

“It’s a talent,” Jeno shrugs easily. “Your friends are pretty cool.”

Guyeon is too busy laughing over something on her phone with Donghyuck to feel your eyes on her back, and you only shrug. “Don’t think too much of it. I threatened them before we came out here, so they’re on their best behavior.”

“Big threat or small threat?”

“Huh?”

“Big threat, like when your eyes get big and your mouth gets really small? Or small threat like how you yelled at me this morning during FT drills?”

What? “I didn’t—” 

‘Unlock those knees, 01, before I unlock them for you!’

Oh. You hesitate, and this gets him to crack a smile. “If you thought that was intimidating, you’ll cry the next time I have to tell you to stop tensing up when you shoot. Seriously, you’re going to pull something one of these days.”

“It’s been working for me this far.”

“Yeah ‘cause you don’t know any better, rookie. Staying loose is stuff they teach in, like, elementary school.”

Jeno spares you a glance, raising one dark eyebrow like he’s unsure of what he’s just heard. “Rookie?” he echoes. “Have I been playing with a different L/N Y/N? Because from what I remember it was definitely you who airballed twice a few nights ago—”

“I tripped!”

“Twice?”

Yes, twice, and you do not take kindly to being reminded of how hard Jeno laughed at the look on your face the second time you completely missed the basket. You scowl at him while he looks away, obviously attempting not to grin and set you off again, and cross your arms with a huff. There isn’t even anything you can defend with either. Both he and you know you didn’t trip. Ugh.

“You want to talk about threats? Just you wait until the next time I catch you with your knees locked, Lee. I’ll bounce a ball off the back of your head.”

“I’m not worried. You might airball that too.”

He’s only saved from your elbow by Donghyuck who chooses this time to return, flinging a heavy arm around your shoulders. “God. This is the conversation I’m coming back to? Do you guys ever talk about anything besides basketball?”

“Do you ever do anything besides talk?” Jeno barks back.

You hadn’t even noticed him approaching. Guyeon is right behind him, a giant smile on her face. She gives you a look when your eyes meet, an approving glance towards the boy draped across your side when you only squint, and you can only assume this means he’s passed whatever silent vetting process she’d no doubt set upon him. 

You’re not surprised. Donghyuck could probably make a pile of rocks fall in love with him. 

“Don’t be like that. Why are you cranky? Are you tired? Is it time for bed? A nap, perhaps? Does cranky Baby Jeno need—”

Jeno turns to look at Donghyuck with an intensity you’ve only seen once or twice in the short week you’ve known them, but you know what’s coming and swiftly remove yourself. You’ve only just realized your phone is ringing again anyway, Honne whispering through the recesses of your hoodie pocket.

“I’m going to take this,” you attempt, but the pair are already fighting. Oh well. At least Guyeon hears you. 

“Tell him to hurry up, yeah?”

“Will do.”

“Why aren’t you in the gym?” Jaemin whines. You step swiftly away from the others, picking a random direction to wander as you wince and notch the volume down on your phone. “I can’t leave yet because Coach Hyo wants me and Mark to talk to some dude from University Daily. My shoulders hurt. And I’m lonely.”

“Mark and I. And your shoulders always hurt. What dude? And where is Chenle?

“Still showering. You know how he is with that. And a reporter, I think, because Coach said something about scheduling an interview, but I wasn’t really listening because I was looking for you.”

“Why are you so nosy? You know I wouldn’t have left the building.”

You’re chastising him, but still smile a little at the idea of him looking for you. “I’m in the lobby with Gu and Jiara, by Lucky Eagle if you have to know. And listen, I’m only telling you this now because I don’t want you to be weird about it, but a few of the Timberwolves are here. And no, before you ask I did not invite them. ”

A beat of silence. There’s shuffling on the line, and then, “Sounds like something someone who definitely invited them would say. But if you’re telling me that because you’re worried I’m going to like, bark at them or something, then I’m thoroughly hurt.”

“Just this morning you called Yangyang a fedora-hobbit. You said he looks like he bites people.”

“Because he does and until that little troll apologizes to you, I'll stand by that. Tell me he’s not in our lobby.”

“He’s not. It’s the cool ones I told you about, from DDeumi’s.”

“Good! Then there won’t be any problems. Looks like Coach is coming with the guy now, so Lele and I will probably be there in a minute or two. Don’t miss me too much. Later!"

He hangs up before you can get a word out. Annoying. 

Either way you heed his timing and head back to the statue, of which your blended group has now returned to mingling around.

Conversation drifts— from how you like GDSC so far, to the boys majors, from their favorite NBA teams to eventually spilling scary injury stories like every athlete pretty much ends up doing in the presence of other athletes. 

Donghyuck is in the middle of describing (in terrible detail) the time he tried to juke a rival in middle school and broke both of his wrists (“And sprained an ankle!” he cries, “Like, how unlucky can you get?!”) when you hear it. A soft rising noise. Chatter, and then as more people join it becomes a straight up cheer; you turn just in time to see the first familiar wet head pop out of the basketball wing corridor. Then another. Then all the rest, Dejun and Shotoro and Seonghwa, everyone, grinning from ear to ear as the lobby shout their congratulations. When you finally see Chenle emerge, floating out of the hallway like a man who’s just won the lottery with his arm around Jaemin’s neck… you sigh.

“Incoming,” Jiara snickers.

Incoming indeed, because it seems like your night is about to get a lot— “Ace!”

...Louder.

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