#anyway & i was like now some acting performances do not feel like ah so Raw Real Genuine lol but yknow. they didn't need to

[unproduciblesmackdown]

anytime there's production trivia for something i've actually seen like "& the director didn't tell any of the actors this was going to happen so as to get Not Acted Surprise, from the Actors" it's like that's so funny the way i didn't ever see that part as like wow that seemed so particularly genuine to me compared to other parts of this work or other works in general. but on the other hand there'll be scenes in something where a surprising event occurs around multiple characters and there'll be trivia like "wow the way nobody (else) knew this was going to happen beforehand, in so impactful a scene, that makes sense" and then someone involved will be like that's not true

[igglemouse]

It's Monday which is kind of the start of the week? It usually feels like it at least and I'm not exactly sure what might happen this Monday but I'll be starting it in the shower. Washing off the last of yesterday, you could say, because one must smell good in show business. Just imagine me showing up for my audition with a stench? 'Sorry, you're acting was impeccable but but you stink, no literally, you stink!'

By the by, I'm not much of a chef and so you'll see me munching on whatever I can get my hands on and this morning its a very plain sandwich. I hope it'll be good enough for breakfast because it is the best I can do right now.

OH! Some news that you might not expect but I've decided to join a book club! I'm not sure exactly why buuuuuut, I did? Look, I saw an opportunity and I took it and besides, acting includes a lot of reading. Imagine being an A-lister and having countless scripts sent your way? Exactly. So I plan on being an avid reader!

ANY WAYS! Off to my first audition! Wish me luck!

After a successful audition (I won the part!) I head out to the park to clear my mind and just enjoy the day. A good day. A happy day because my career is beginning. Sure, it's just a commercial but one, it adds to my currently blanke resume and two, I make simoleons. So, we all have to start somewhere and I look forward to shooting it.

ANYWAYS! So I'm at the park and feeling the vibes until the sound of a clearly practicing and amateur musician hits my ears. I'm not going to lie, most of it was horrible, but for whatever reason it catches my attention and interest.

I'm not new here. Like I've said, I'm DSV for life, born and raised, so I'm used to seeing people out in the street begging for the right pair of eyes or ears to give them their big chance so this is nothing new, but the man certainly has a unique sound to him...

It's his voice. That's what it was. It has a tenderness to it that grabs you, that makes you wonder about his story, but then you hear his fingers carelessly pluck at a guitar and it ruins whatever comes from his throat.

I stare at him for a moment and wonder what his game is. Does he realize that he can't play the guitar or is this some new genre I know nothing about? I'll be honest, if it's not a musical I don't vibe with it so it is entirely possible that maybe he this is what you kids listen to nowadays? Anyways, the man seems satisfied with himself.

He finishes and puts his guitar down, satisfied with himself for whatever reason and looking at me as if he expects some applause. "Ummm, congrats!" is all I can offer for lack of not knowing what else to say. I don't want to put him down because he's so very proud of his performance. Actually, he should be, at least half of it? don't know what else to say, he seems so proud of himself.

"Ah, thank you, thank you!" Yep, definitely proud of himself.

"Your voice is very unique, in a good way!" Always focus on the positive, right?!

"Thanks! I'm new to the guitar but it's like they say, practice makes perfect, right?"

"Umm, is it a good idea to practice in the public?" I ask the obvious question because why practice in front of others? It would be like me performing my script out here in front of others.

"I figure if people see my rawness and see the growth over time that they might connect with me more, y'know?"

"Oh, yeah..." hmm, that is an interesting outlook on it, I guess he's thinking long term? "So, whats your vibe, what's your style? What kind of music are you trying to create?"

"All I have is my voice and my word, so I kind of mix things up, you know? A little melodic singing over music is what I tend to do. I don't have a genre, I want to transcend genres."

"Hmm, yeah," Yep, definitely a musician. I know us artists get flack for being odd but that's not on us, not on us thespians I should clarify. It's mainly the painters and musicians that are out there. Maybe you can include writers, if you can find them, they like to hide under rocks after all. "I think you definitely have the talent, at least with your voice, so yeah I can see that!"

"Yep, now it's just about finding someone with simoleons to believe in me I guess."

"Well, you might not get it playing like that in this park!" I joke, but he does laugh with me and seems to understand my point.

"I'm persistent, I'll be here everyday until someone gets tired of it."

"I get it! I'm the same way, I guess we are both here chasing dreams," and this is the city of dreams, isn't it? A city of stars is probably more apt.

"Oh, you too huh!? Derrick, by the way," and he gives me that smile, maybe you know the one? The one that tells me he'd like to see me again but in a different setting. Right now, I'm not exactly opposed to that.

"Teresa! Maybe one day our names will be on the front page of a magazine!"

Derrick was well met especially because his story feels similar to mines. He's out there grinding with the hopes that someone, anyone, will give him a shot. That's how this whole thing works, doesn't it? You do all you can for that one shot, that one moment that will launch you into stardom and once you are there? Once you are there it's hard to get you down. For him, it's one song that can transform his career and for me it's one performance.

So I find myself back home in front of my mirror and the script firmly in hand. It's a commercial so my lines are few, two sentences, but I'll put my entire soul into those two lines.

But commercials are not my end goal of course as they are just a stepping stone to bigger and better things. I don't have any connections but I do have a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend that thinks she can get me into an upcoming sitcom that is specifically looking for someone that looks just like me but this is an opportunity for another day so let's not think too much on it right now.

Alright, I think I've done enough for the day. I cook some friend plantains, which I do alright with, and get ready for bed. I'll need a full day of rest for my performance tomorrow. Do they give awards for commercials, by the way?

Teresa Tejedor - Next Episode 1.3

[salute-the-dead]

A List of My OTPs

because it's 11 and I can't sleep.

Enjolras x Grantaire a.k.a. Enjoltaire a.k.a. ExR- Les Mis

How I fell into this I don't remember now. I vaguely remember reading a crackfic of this and then everything just went sideways.

This was also the fandom that helped me realize that I wasn't exactly straight and that it's okay to not be loud about my sexuality, that I can just be.

I think that explains my attachment to this ship, not to mention just the movie's Grantaire (played by George Blagden) also shipped the characters and played his character like how he thought it should be, Grantaire loving and pining after Enjolras without the revolutionary knowing it.

Except in the fan fics, Enjolras returns his feelings and they work it out, even though it's not easy because they're both stubborn as mules. Ah, ultimate fantasy I guess. And the number of great fics here, *whistle*

Also, the Les Amis? Is amazing? Especially in the modern AUs? Like they're great friends? I love this fandom so much! Permets-tu!

Shen Wei x Zhao Yunlan - Guardian / Zhen Hun

C'mon, Zhu Yilong & Bai Yu's performance and emotions? Plus just the fact the fanfic writers of this ship are absolutely amazing? Please, escape from this pairing is impossible!

Best opposites attract trope for me. An academic by day, superhero by night in love with a roguish police chief who has no powers but whose charisma, wit, and heart can get him to toe to toe with the legends.

Also, Professor Shen Wei constantly acting like an innocent civilian and lying badly? Gold!

Loki x Tony Stark a.k.a. FrostIron - Avengers

How did I honestly get to this ship? I really can't remember what started it all. I think it must have been a Loki redemption fic where Tony Stark and Pepper broke up and something something happened. Let me tell you, the writers of this ship have written sagas and ballads of epic and sometimes confusing proportions, and that is why I fell deeper into the pit. I mean, they gotta give justice to two brilliant but chaotic characters, right? Angst. This ship has sooooooooo much angst.

Eiji x Ash - Banana Fish

My god, if you want to keep your heart intact and not be reminded of all that's ugly in the world, DON'T WATCH OR READ BANANA FISH. YOUR HEART WILL NEVER HEAL!

If you're gonna watch/read it anyway, make sure to watch something fluffy and sweet after. There's a reason that people from this fandom go, "If you've seen Banana Fish's ending, then you can handle whatever angsty show you're watching now." ~ or something to that effect. Another thing we like to say in this fandom is, "Other fandoms: Let's write a Mafia AU! Banana Fish fandom: We are the Mafia AU." Yes, all of us in this fandom is dramatic af.

Yuuri x Viktor - Yuuri!!! on Ice

Uh, does this really need an explanation? Aside from the fact that you will surprisingly find a lot of Mafia AUs here because we all know that hiding behind that beautiful face of Viktor Nikiforov is a devil capable of... tearing down your self-confidence, like WTF Viktor, don't make Yuuri cry! Also, their dance together at the end, such beautiful love.

Magnus Bane x Alec Lightwood aka Malec - Shadowhunters

I never read the books and have no plans to in the near future. I just saw a video on Youtube about why Malec is life and now here I am, still reading some Malec fics from time to time.

Some stuff on the show were WTF but overall they were a really good couple who supported each other. Plus, they're a Power Couple.

Erwin x Levi aka Eruri - Attack on Titan / Shingeki no Kyojin

Not to be confused with Ereri, which is Eren x Levi, which I don't generally ship except for that one time when a writer wrote an epic fanfic series with Eren in his mid 20s and Levi in his late 20s/early 30s, reincarnation AU. Boy was that one a surprise. I did not expect that.

Anyway, I'm an Eruri fan through and through. Especially with that promise that Levi made to Erwin. And the reason he gave the serum to Armin. HE DIDN'T DO IT FOR THE KIDS YKNOW. HE DID IT FOR ERWIN. Plus, Levi, Erwin, and Hange are my special trio. Erwin's batch was really amazing.

Also, I really like the fact that the shorter and slighter person is the more badass fighter while the taller, bigger one is the more calculating and strategic one. Rocks the boat of stereotypes and all that. Bonus: how these two met. My god, what a meet-cute! 😂

Dani x Jamie aka The Au Pair and the Gardener - The Haunting of Bly Manor

It really is more of a love story than a ghost story. I dunno how to feel about this. I loved these two characters so much and I wished they had a better ending but I wasn't SO surprised because it was a horror series (Like, I was still hoping at the end that they'd be together forever but yknow...). In any case, Jamie was just awesome. And her nickname for Dani? Poppins?! God, what a lover and fighter. She was not afraid to cock a gun in a ghost's face.

... and now for my flexible BROTPs

Merlin x Arthur aka Merthur - BBC Merlin

Yeah, my brain is so chaotic multiple OTPs and BROTPs of the same pairing exist at the same time without clashing with one another or having major identity crises.

I actually really like BROTP Merlin and Arthur and also like reading OTP Merthur.

And when Merlin is paired with Morgana or Freya or sometimes even Gwaine, that's fine with me too. As long as his bromance with Arthur stays intact, because that's what drew me to the show in the first place. Personal preference. I see them as platonic soulmates.

*Shout-out to the Merthur writers though, you kept me sane during my "Post-Merlin Depression," which is actually a term thrown around in the fandom because of that horrid final season (not saying it's a good term but it's what it was called). A lot of amazing fics here, too, both Magic Reveal and Modern AU ones. Full of action and adventure too! I mean, there are boy-band-looking Knights and magic-wielding badasses!

Tim Drake x Conner Kent/Kon-El aka Red Robin x Super Boy - DC Comics

More like flexible otp. I dig Stephanie Brown and Tim Drake BUT I really really also dig Tim Drake and Conner Kent. When they're TimKon, it's like an entirely different entity from TimSteph. Ugh, hard to explain.

I mean, Kon telling Tim, "You'll always be my Robin" and Tim telling Kon, "And you'll always be my clone boy" is the shit. Also when Kon could pick out/recognize Tim's heartbeat. And when Tim nearly went mad scientist trying to bring his bestie back. Like, dudes, wtf. And at the same time, hell yeah.

Liu Kang x Kung Lao aka LiuLao - Mortal Kombat

- I see these two as more like ride or die best friends connected by fate/platonic soulmates. But also like their dynamic is so awesome, cute, sweet, badass, can't-live-without-you vibes.

Basically the same way I feel about Merthur. I like reading both romantic and platonic relationships between these two characters. Like, the LiuLao fan creators peeling off the layers of this relationship and exposing every raw nerve is beautiful.

They love diving into the characters' psyche, emotions, motivations, fears, and doubts and you get really amazed because... Aren't they just characters from a video game, you ask? Well yeah, but MK video game has several interesting storylines and the Mortal Kombat 2021 movie was just the perfect jumpstarter to this beautiful blaze.

I mean, "We swore that if we were to die, it would be together"? Hell no, you're not dropping that on us and not expecting us to create our very own spin-offs and 12-page essays on that shit. That's what we fans do, baby. And also, really, we need a shaolin monks/white lotus spin-off/prequel. We're starving here.

As this ship is the newest one on my list, it's the one I'm looking forward to the most. Not enough fan content, I tell you. Not enough. One of these days, I just might add my own.

But right now, it's past 1 and so I shall attempt to sleep.

***No images for TimKon and LiuLao coz apparently I've gone past my 10-images allowance 😤

[chalkrevelations]

Word of Honor, Episode 30. STILL A LOT. This one got long.

(Spoilers. Scroll away and come back later, if you need to.)

Yeah, so, A-Xiang and I are crying again. At least they’re good, cathartic tears, this time? Poor Cao Weining – he continues trying to make sense of all this (It’s all a misunderstanding, right? My good friend Wen Kexing was framed, right? He can’t possibly be the terrifying master of the Ghost Valley, and you can’t possibly be his henchwoman, right?), but nothing he knew is true anymore. Nothing except his faith in A-Xiang. I know you’re good, he tells her. I won’t fail you. And they do make this explicit here, with him saying, “I made a promise I will never fail you in my life, not even once.” I’m flailing on the couch, at this point. Come here, my little cinnamon roll, and let me squeeze the stuffing out of you. And oh. Oh. It just hit me that a girl who was raised by the Department of the Unfaithful (as well as WKX) has found a man who will vow this to her and mean it. Also, I don’t know if this is the closest we’re going to get to this theme made explicit with Zhou Zishu and Wen Kexing, but Cao Weining and Gu Xiang continue to act as proxy here for the m/m couple that has to be more circumspect. (Also, I would compare the way this promise, spoken out loud, bookends this ep – Cao Weining’s heart once again offered here, at the beginning, and the undertones of betrayal in Xie Wang’s words to Zhao Jing at the end, but we’ll get to Xie’er in a bit.)

Digging into our continuing parallels, I said a bit back - Ep 26? sometime before Wen Kexing’s identity had the ultimate reveal in the confrontation with Ye Baiyi, at least - that Zhou Zishu was beyond “you don’t fail me and I won’t fail you” into “even if you do fail me, I won’t fail you.” That’s where Cao Weining is now, knowing (finally) what A-Xiang’s been hiding from him, as ZZS knew about the Ghost Valley even before it was actually spoken out loud. Even if A-Xiang is there to infiltrate his sect, even if she’s helped cause all this death, Cao Weining will follow her into death and reincarnate with her to stay with her and protect her forever. (Ugh. My heart. Cao-dage, how are you like this?) Last ep, watching WKX’s frantic efforts to save Han Ying, I think there was some callback to the Four Sages of Anji, but I also pointed to what I saw as a callback to the paired conversations in Eps 22/23, when Cao Weining tells A-Xiang to be more careful because he knows she’ll feel bad if she kills an innocent accidentally, and ZZS tells WKX he’s trying to protect him from more sins on his hands. This ep, there’s a literal flashback to that Cao Weining/Gu Xiang conversation in Ep 22. I also want to go back to the interminable infodump in the Longyuan Cabinet cave in Eps 19/20, where - similar to Cao Weining finally learning and accepting who A-Xiang is in this ep - Zhou Zishu has finally put together all (well, most) of the pieces, and he makes it clear that he knows (at least part of) who WKX is by calling him “Zhen Yan” to his face. The color palettes for the two couples match in these scenes – slightly more saturated and intense for the older couple, but lavender for WKX and A-Xiang, blue for ZSS and Cao Weining; we also have an enthusiastic hug that’s met by a hesitant response. Although roles are reversed in the hug – A-Xiang hugging Cao Weining, ZZS hugging WKX - the way they shot Cao Weining’s response in this ep, hesitant hands finally going around A-Xiang’s back, is almost exactly the same framing and movements as WKX’s response to ZZS’s hug in Ep 20 (7:37 in Ep 20, 9:00 in Ep 30). I’m just sayin’.

Also, I might or might not have rewound three times to watch Cao Weining wipe the tears off A-Xiang’s face and her responding radiant smile. You can’t prove anything.

The other big parallel I see in this ep is a return to the ZZS/Prince Jin and Xie Wang/Zhao Jing relationships. Everyone is telling their creepy gaslighting mentor/parent figures to fuck off in this episode, apparently. (We even (kind of) get to see WKX do this, seeing the scene of him in the aftermath of killing the past master of Ghost Valley in flashback as A-Xiang tells her tale to Cao Weining). I have to think it’s not just coincidence that the ZZS/Prince Jin and Xie’er/Awful Yifu confrontations play out in the same ep. Not to mention the fact that both happen in the middle of a big fk’n mess, lit. and fig., that ZZS and Xie’er have made of not just their physical surroundings, but their Awful Prince’s/Yifu’s plans.

So, first off, we cut to Bad-Touch Prince Jin. I knew it, you creepster (and ZZS knew it too!). And yet, I still cannot believe you. You kidnap him, try to kill everyone in Four Seasons Manor for the second time around, burn his house, plan to get him drunk and take advantage of him, lit. and fig., and now you’re fondling his sword? Eurgh. There’s definitely an air of “bathe him, dress him, and bring him to my chambers” with ZZS at the beginning of this scene, even if we’re actually in the throne room and not any bedchamber (not that I don’t also enjoy the leather bracers-updo-evil collar look on ZZS, so I’ll give Prince Jin points for good taste, at least). Prince Jin pulls out the poor yifu prince card, because it’s lonely being in charge, you know. And now, we’re back to how could you leave me. Aaaaand then, he blows off Han Ying (Han Ying!), the last sort-of vestige of ZZS’s Four Seasons shidi, and oh, boy. You done fk’ed up now.

So, I love how clearly done with all this ZZS is, from the first minute we see him this ep. I keep hearing this role was a departure from Zhang Zhehan’s norm, and while I plan to check out some of his earlier work, I’m honestly glad I got to see him first in this. I hope it opens up some more doors for him. I keep being struck at various moments by his physicality as Zhou Zishu, which has a weight behind it that just … ah. I keep failing to put it into words, but it gives a substance to the character that makes ZZS feel real, and it’s not particularly in his big action fighting scenes that it keeps hitting me, like you might expect when it’s something about the way he moves and carries himself. I started turning this over in my head last week, when I talked about how I felt that shout at WKX in the wake of the fight with Ye Baiyi in Ep 27, moreso than any of the other various shouty characters we’ve met in the show, even when their yelling is louder and more sustained. There was something visceral about ZZH’s performance in that moment. It reminded me of an earlier scene when Wen Kexing’s been drunk under the table by Ye Baiyi but insists that he’s fine, just fine, and Zhou Zishu, who’s trying to make him go to bed, makes a feint at him and then hits him on the shoulder. (Hold on … I just went and found it, it’s at 37:19 in Ep 17.) Not just the hit, but particularly the feint preceding it struck me the same way Ep 27’s shout did. It’s something that maybe comes through strongest when ZZH is doing leashed anger, where the character’s raw emotion is simultaneously supposed to be controlled but leaking through – that contrast seems to showcase what I’m talking about. Or maybe not just anger, but any really strong emotion, because I got it in this ep, among other places, from the little lip tremble as ZZS drinks some of the wine before he pours one out for his dead homies, as well as from the way he works his jaw to get himself back under control after bringing up all his dead shidi. Also the tiny lip quirk and deliberate breathing while Prince Jin disparages Han Ying. (Not the snarl when he’s faced off with Prince Jin holding his sword blade right before the cheesy cut to close-up split-screen, though. That one didn’t hit right, unfortunately.) ANYWAY, this whole throne room scene with Prince Jin is basically porn for me, with ZZS simmering the entire time until he finally breaks and everything explodes. God, the only thing it’s missing is actual tears.

Cut from the scene of ZZS literally striking back at Prince Jin to what’s going to be – at least it looks like – Xie Wang’s breaking point. Xie’er and his henchwomen seem genuinely surprised that Awful Yifu is the one who shows up as reinforcement for the Gentle Wind Sword Sect, and I’m still trying to untangle all the various strings of this web. I don’t know if I’ve missed some things, or not put something together properly – I feel like Cao Weining, all “Slow down, I can’t keep up!” Anyway, we get a very public repudiation of Xie’er by his Awful Yifu, which is interesting because nobody is supposed to know they’re connected in the first place, right? Yet, clearly Mo Huaiyang does, and no one in his sect – all of them standing around in the subsequent cave scene - seem to react with any kind of shock to the info that Zhao Jing is Xie’er’s yifu. Aren’t we supposed to be hiding this from everyone? So that not only the jianghu but Prince Jin doesn’t know it (yet)? Anyway, as well as getting slapped, Xie’er gets a couple of places with good little maniacal laughs in. Given the apparent surprise at Awful Yifu’s appearance, I’m assuming this was something Xie Wang really didn’t expect, and this public repudiation is the breaking point? Or that Awful Yifu hid this alliance from him? Not that this attack on the Gentle Wind Sword Sect was part of a deliberate long-game to fuck over his Awful Yifu by fucking up this alliance? Anyway, Xie’er has learned his lesson about his Awful Yifu – or at least he says he has - so maybe there will be some deliberate fuckery of Awful Yifu going forward from here? Have you learned your lesson, little gambler? Finally?

I do have to warn you, Xie Wang: Do not touch A-Xiang. This is a hard limit. You will be dead to me.

Scattered other things:

Duan Pengju, omg, this asshole. I love how he just gets dismissed from the throne room like a lackey once he’s delivered the guy Prince Jin actually wants. I love how ZZS says, out loud, with everyone in the throne room to hear it, why would I leave this loser in charge of anyone I cared about? I looooove how utterly dismissive of him ZZS is even as ZZS is literally being tortured by him. ZZS’s mockery and whole air of how he’s just ever so bored with all this torture is delightful. However, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU’RE ENDING THE EPISODE THERE, SHOW. I’m going to have to wait until at least Thursday to find out what happens??? (This is d/t work schedule, which is 12-hour shifts on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, leaving no time to watch as the next eps upload, if I want to sleep).

I don’t know if this is deliberate, but when we cut to sleeping Wen Kexing near the beginning of the ep … we’ve just seen him in his very red robes as Ghost Valley master in A-Xiang’s flashbacks, and I notice that what he’s wearing now – it’s not the pinkie pink of the robe he wore to match the winter plum blossom forest, but it’s not blood red, either. It’s muted, something in-between, kind of salmon colored.

Bwahaha, dying at our two little foodies in the cave being the first ones to say “Hey, somebody’s cooking something!” Also, A-Xiang, my clever girl. You know to avoid letting Xie Wang or Zhao Jing (or Liu Qianqiao?) see you. What are you putting together in your head and coming up with about this tangled web of alliances? Also, I see you call Cao-dage over to your hiding spot. Are the two of you still there to hear the conversation between Zhao Jing and Mo Huaiyang, and how Mo Huaiyang and Zhao Jing are working together with the Scorpions and the Ghost Valley?

Last but not least, no intention to leave Jin Palace alive, ZZS? I seem to recall you telling your boyfriend, the terrifying master of the Ghost Valley, that there would be time for him to rescue you once he woke up from his nap. Is it possible you were lying so he wouldn’t feel bad? Mn. Possible. But I also remember the way you yelled at WKX over his plan to get himself killed and leave you alone, and I remember the fact that you won’t fail him, and I have to wonder if your plan really was to die, or if you’re bluffing when you say that to Prince Jin.

[katierosefun]

well, here we are! june basically flew by and it was a little rough, but we’re back with some long recs on cool things i’ve read/listened to/watched, and i’m about to force everyone to sit down and listen to my sleepover-esque ted talk in which i give unwarranted and unasked for rec lists. so here we go!

kdrama:

while you were sleeping

okay, so i tried to watch this kdrama when it came out in like...2017, i think? but for some reason, i wasn’t able to get past the first episode. i don’t really know why? because it’s so beautifully shot, and i super love the premise, which is basically this girl and this guy are somehow able to see things that are going to happen in the future...but only in their dreams. this whole kdrama really handled the plot super well--each episode honestly felt like a movie in itself, and the filming was just stunning, and i think this has to be one of the most visual kdramas i’ve ever seen. each character is also super interesting and complex on their own, and i really loved seeing such a strong cast of characters interact with each other in this world. 

i think the only slight downside of this kdrama was that i couldn’t really get invested in the romance? i’m not quite sure why--i found both lead actors’ performances wonderful, and don’t get me wrong, i did think they were cute together as the drama went on, but i still couldn’t find myself buying into the romance until maybe relatively late in the drama (like...ep 11 or so? ep 16 was honestly when i realized that awww, wait, they’re actually super cute). but then again, i feel like the writers weren’t really prioritizing the romance either--i think they really wanted us to think about the beauty of dreams and redemption and how everyone can touch another person’s life in some significant way, so i can’t really be mad about it!

but anyways, overall i really enjoyed this kdrama and watched it all a lot faster than i thought i would! SOLID music, beautiful cinematography, good acting, mostly good writing, and some really memorable characters! def. a must-watch if you love suspense, aesthetics, and some wonderful characters.

the ghost detective

i’m someone who doesn’t like horror or scary things at all, but i was so intrigued by the plot and whatever material i saw on tumblr, and...of course, choi daniel, lee joo young, lee ji ah, and park eun bin. honestly, this is just a really wonderful and really underrated cast, and they really all brought out their a-game for this 32-episode supernatural / thriller / horror drama. basically, this kdrama follows the story of a young woman who’s trying to figure out who murdered her younger sister...and of course, there’s something supernatural going on. 

honestly, this kdrama was such a ride. i loved the crime-solving aspect of it, and i was really in love with the interactions between all the characters, esp. that of eun bin and daniel’s characters. (guys...they’re so ride and die for each other. there’s also so much yearning. so much yearning in this kdrama, it just about killed me--) 

the villain was absolutely, appropriately, elegantly creepy, and like...scary beyond belief. basically, the villain (lee ji ah’s character) feeds her victims these harmful thoughts and ultimately get them to kill themselves. it’s sad and haunting, especially when you see that the victims tell their victims “don’t listen to the bad things. try only to listen to the good things”. and...yeah. themes of how to handle all of these bad feelings inside of you really came through in this kdrama, and there were a lot of themes of suicide and the kind of rage and sadness that comes with that. (also! if you’re a fan of lots of angsty/whumpy situations....this kdrama definitely does not hold back with all of your fave whump/angst tropes! literally! every! episode! i! had! to! lie! down! because! too! powerful!)

school 2013 

(aww, look at this precious cast…as though they didn’t all make me ugly cry at least five times—)

yeah, yeah, yeah, i’ve talked about this kdrama ad nauseum, and i know i watched it last month, but as i was studying for the lsat, i really, really, really needed some comfort. most notably comfort re: studying life, academics, how difficult it is to study but also be uncertain of your dreams…and if you are certain of your dreams, how that sometimes requires studying but that just makes life all the more overwhelming…can you tell i’ve been thinking about this a lot

i’m not going to ramble more about this kdrama considering i already have done so multiple times, but i enjoyed this rewatch and honestly,,,my love for this show has just grown even more. there’s a good reason why people consider this a comfort kdrama, because. i consider myself deeply comforted. also, i’ve been listening to the ost for the whole month. it’s become a problem. but sometimes. sometimes you need to listen to songs that feel like someone’s patting you on the head and telling you don’t give up, set down your burdens, don’t think you’re alone and dream whatever you want to dream, go wherever you want to go. i’ll stop talking now, but god. when i say that i think everyone who has ever felt incredibly tired by work or school and just wished for someone to give them a big hug either then or now...god. this is just one of those kdramas that i think honestly touched so many people’s lives, and i’m very grateful for the cast and crew and writers for ever bringing this story to life. :’) (god, okay, now i’ll stop talking before i make myself cry i’m fine this is fine)

your honor

so, i watched this kdrama thinking that it would be light and funny given that yoon shi yoon is the main male lead, but boy was i wrong--don’t be fooled by these happy little faces, this kdrama is heavy. this kdrama is about a young man (with a criminal record) who winds up impersonating his twin brother, who happens to be a judge. we also have a trainee who, after seeing the legal system fail her older sister, is on the rise to dispense justice through the courts the best she can.

honestly, the first few episodes were rough, mostly because of the content. big trigger warning for rape, violence, and sexual harassment at work. this kdrama really didn’t hold back when it came to addressing how the very people who use the law can also be the very same people who manipulate and abuse it. because of that, i found this kdrama incredibly powerful. that said, it certainly had its lighthearted moments too. 

overall though, i liked this kdrama. the main characters were incredibly complex and genuinely the type to make me believe that for all the injustices in the world, there are still and always will be people fighting for the right thing. as someone who wants to enter the legal field, this kdrama was just uplifting. i was so blown away by the absolute rawness of the main two leads, esp. yoon shi yoon, who i’ve only ever seen in super lighthearted kdramas. so this was a really interesting change of pace, and i genuinely enjoyed watching this!

waiting for love

so this kdrama is just two episodes, and what’s better is that it’s available on youtube! it’s about two college students--a young woman who’s been hurt by falling in love with jerks now just wants to date, not really fall in love...and a young man who’s excellent at giving dating advice except he’s afraid that he’s never going to actually fall in love, so he just dates a girl for the sake of dating.

now, i kinda thought that this show was going to be kinda lighthearted, a little shallow--but it was weirdly...comforting? idk, i found myself liking it a lot more than i thought it would be. this is far from the perfect kdrama, and i kinda wished that we got more than 2 episodes because i think some of the plot points could have been better expanded, but...there were genuinely a lot of scenes that made me think a bit more about what it actually means to be in a loving relationship--like how it’s not enough to just put on a happy smile and eat meals together, but like...you know. there has to be trust and actual liking and also, yeah, maybe a bit of frustration in order to actually know whether a relationship is real or not. and given that the characters were all discussing the pressure on getting married and romance esp. when you’re in your twenties...idk. makes you think about are you dating someone for the sake of appearances? or do you genuinely...like them?

there was also quite a few tropes that i personally adore in this kdrama, which helped balance out the stuff i found more tiring. there was a lot of the “right person, wrong time” stuff going on (you really want the two main leads to get together after a certain point, and you just keep holding your breath whenever they walk past each other and beg please please please let it be this time...), and also that good old “two strangers fall in love with each other purely over writing to each other” (god. first the half of it, then me & au, then greenhouse podcast...something about this trope huh). that said, there were def. some parts that made me “:////” because some of the characters were kind of frustrating, but i’m gonna chalk that up to good writing since i think i was mostly mad about how i knew people like some of the characters lol. overall, i think this might be at least semi-enjoyable--it’s probably not something i’ll watch again, but it def. made me mull over what it means to actually be in a loving relationship, esp. if you’re in your twenties and everyone around you seems to be in happy romantic relationships/getting engaged and whatnot. 

movie: 

columbus 

i’m a firm believer that there are some movies that are meant to cheer you up, some movies meant to make you cry, and then there’s some movies that are just meant to...sit with you. and this movie is definitely one of them. this story follows casey, a high school graduate, and jin, the son of a famous architect. the two of them are both so incredibly exhausted with their lives (casey with her constant worry about her mother, who’s a recovering drug addict; jin with his surface-level lack of concern for his comatose father). in their small town of columbus, indiana, the two of them bond over architecture and just. being quietly there for each other.

this movie’s been compared a few times to lost in translation in the sense that there’s this not quite romance between the two leads, who have a bit of an age gap (john cho and haley lu richardson have about 20 between them!). to be honest, i didn’t really get the sense that there was supposed to be a romance. if anything, it just felt like...two really lonely people finding each other. definitely not a simple friendship--definitely not a familial kind of relationship, definitely intimate. 

idk. i think this movie might not be for everyone--i definitely agree with a lot of past reviewers that this movie is on the slower side. there’s some stuff here about complicated relationships with parents, a lot of cool architecture, really beautiful shots...and overall, it’s just...quiet. it’s lovely, and i can’t really stop thinking about it. it’s subtle, bittersweet, and oddly compelling. might not be the kind of thing you’d want to watch in the middle of the day, but if you’re a little sad and in the mood for something not to necessarily lift your spirits but...at least acknowledge them and sit with you, then...this is the movie to watch. idk. i felt kind of crummy the day i watched this movie, and i felt as though someone just sat next to me on a park bench until the sun went down. (mayhaps specific but hush, i’m writing this right after finishing this movie, so i’m...feeling a certain way.)

wish dragon 

i watched this movie right after watching columbus because a) decided i was in the mood for something lighter, and b) i learned that john cho?? voiced?? the dragon?? (caroline your crush on john cho’s jumping out this month...) 

but anyways! i loved this movie a lot. it was so satisfying? like, just narratively speaking? and the animation was wonderful and also weirdly smooth and satisfying, and there were a lot of funny and touching moments. this movie’s about this young man named din who stumbles upon a magical teapot that holds the wish dragon long--long has to grant din three wishes, and yes, i know, very aladdin, but that said, this movie has so many original twists that it feels weird to call it an aladdin retelling. it really did feel like a movie completely on its own, which i applaud the writer and director for! 

i don’t want to spoil too much of this movie, but something i really enjoyed was that din’s main wish is just to see his old childhood friend again. idk, i think we all have that one friend from when we were really little that we miss--and this movie really dug into that, as well as themes about parents wanting to do the best they can to provide for their kids, and!!! and long the dragon gets his own storyline and amazing character development too!!! i was honestly just amazed at how this movie fleshed out the characters so well and had so many wonderful themes that just made me tear up. guys. this movie’s great. highly recommend for its wonderful characters and the power of friendship. just a grand old time in general. :’))

searching 

yeah...yeah, i wasn’t kidding about my crush on john cho this month. yes, i watched three of his movies within 24 hours. this movie is about david kim who’s looking for his missing 16 year old daughter, margot. this film is honestly noteworthy for many reasons, one of them being that the entire movie is told through like...a laptop screen, as in we kind of follow david’s frantic search through facetime, facebook, tumblr...which i honestly didn’t think i’d be into, but whoo boy, i was wrong. it just added to the whole addictive quality of this movie, as it usually does when it comes to anything from the thriller genre. 

but besides this just being a straight up addictive thriller with absolutely mouth-dropping twists (but like...good twists, and smart twists, good god--), this movie was just...touching? there’s so many themes related to what grief does to a family (because we learn within the first 10 minutes that the mom died due to cancer), and there’s just...something really fragile about relationships between surviving family members. i was absolutely blown away by john cho’s performance as a tentative and grieving widower whose world just absolutely falls apart in his search for his daughter. this movie was just so...real because of that. like, yes, this movie has all of the suspense that you would expect this kind of movie to have, but there was also just...so many beautiful themes about grief and how far parents would go for their kids and godddd yeah no i started sobbing when the movie ended. god. 

also, my bias towards john cho aside, i...really loved his character. david kim is absolutely believable, and like? he’s not just the guy putting the pieces together--he’s also the guy who misses his wife and also the guy who wishes that he was there for his daughter. he’s also the guy who pauses and re-writes all his text messages because he’s trying to be a good dad. i feel like with a lot of these suspense / missing person movies, it’s really easy to have characters who are just the stoic alpha male types--and david kim definitely had his badass moments in this movie, but like...something i just loved was seeing the vulnerability that comes with...having a missing child. being a parent. god. this movie messed me up but in a good way. i can honestly say that this movie is now probably going to be one of my fave movies of all time. highly recommend, am literally obsessed with it.

book:

the seven husbands of evelyn hugo by taylor jenkins reid

ohohoho………where to begin with this book. this was one of those books where i was like “huh i kinda don’t understand why people are so obsessed with this book”, but then i hit like...page 20 or 30 and was like “oh god i Literally Cannot Put This Book Down Oh No” and wound up finishing it in like three days (mind you, i only read at like...midnight these days. i don’t understand why either). 

i finished this book at like 2 am and promptly burst into tears because this was just one of those books. it follows the story of evelyn hugo, a famous hollywood actress from the 60s or so and onwards. known for her intense beauty and her seven husbands, she’s now giving an exclusive interview to the young reporter monique grant, where she’s about to tell all about her life. this book had me dropping my mouth multiple times, and i think tjr can spin one hell of a story, with so many good twists and turns and intensely memorable characters. by the end of the book, i was actually mad that evelyn hugo wasn’t a real person, because i, too, fell a little in love with her and thought, i want to actually watch her movies. i want to learn even more about this remarkable woman. 

but alas! she’s not real, so i don’t get to see her accept an oscar or look up all the tabloids about her and her seven husbands or her speculated (and very, very, very real) relationship with celia st. john. basically...i just loved this book. the last line made me smile and laugh and cry a little bit (actually...cry a lot), and y’know...i’ll admit it’s not totally perfect, but i’m glad this book exists, and i’m glad that even though tjr isn’t bi herself, was very adamant in this book about bisexuality being real. just. like. god. once again. mad that evelyn hugo isn’t real. it’s fine, she’s real in my heart.

[jenomark]

Part 2

➔Pairing: Idol!Haechan x Reader (Female) ➔Other Members/ Characters: -.- ➔Genre: Smut ➔Warnings: Public sex + Vaginal penetration + Masturbation (F+ M) + Fingering ➔Word count: 4,170

➔Summary: He’s an idol, a friend, and you took his virginity. Beginning your friends-with-benefits relationship with Haechan wasn’t the best idea, but you just can’t help yourself when it comes to him.

↞ Part 1

  They all feel how you feel when you watch him on stage, like he belongs to you. His smile just for you. Not for the camera, or the thousands viewing clips on social media, but just for you. His song performed for you, the words containing messages only you can decipher. His hips moving across the stage, the thing in his pants pointing in your direction, everything moving towards you, the girl in the crowd, the girl watching backstage, the girl sitting on her bed. No matter where you are in the world, the lights burn across your retinas, the heat in the seat of your pants making it hard for you to stay still. You move just a little bit and feel the throb below, a Venus flytrap waiting for its prey. You pretend he makes eye contact with only you, acknowledging the very existence you try to hide from everyone else. He sees you, he really does.

 The song ends and the mirage vanishes. Six people go in different directions,  smiles wiped from their faces as easily as make-up. They forget the crowd, forget what it means to be themselves when others are watching. He veers towards you just a moment before remembering where he is and who he is, and then he passes you like you’re invisible. You wonder what he was going to do if he reached you. Kissing in public is too dangerous, even talking together arouses suspicion. You wait a second and follow him, each step playing around with your heart. As you round a corner, you walk into him, your body bouncing off of his. 

“I didn’t see you,” he said.  He did.  “I’m sorry.”  He’s not. 

  His fingers are on your arm, his eyes gawking at your cleavage, his tongue licking the middle of his chin. Staff pass by and he lets you go. He steps back and leans against a wall, his body pressing against its blank canvas like a work of art. People cut between you two, but neither of you notice, or care. He smiles, raises an eyebrow, and purses his lips with the pride of a million men. 

“Come with me.” he mouths. 

  As if you have a choice, you follow him through the people, past the place you had come from. A few staff turn to see the idol boy, his greetings charming, his stage outfit sticking out like a sore thumb. No one notices the girl trailing behind him, her eyes following him with determination, her legs clamped so tightly together, even as she walks. Haechan goes down a ramp until he’s underneath the stage. You hesitate a moment before following behind him. There is something about breaking the rules that has always scared you. Since you met Haechan, you had been doing a lot of that. Though you are terrified of being recognized, no one is paying attention to you.  He hides behind large black cases on wheels, their metal clasps shiny when the strobe lights from above the stage hit them. Stacked on top of each other, no one can see what’s going on behind them. To reach him, you step over wires and broken lights that have been replaced. The moment the space swallows you up, Haechan takes your shoulders and pushes you up against the cases. He unbuttons your jeans and slides his palm in until his fingers are cupping you. The rough way he rubs his hand against you makes your knees threaten to buckle. 

“This is dangerous.” you shout.

  The sound from the music above drowns out your words. You’re afraid he can’t hear you, but then he leans in close to your ear and tells you that the danger is the best part. His tongue is on your neck for a second before his head is between your breasts. He’s greedy. His hands haven’t stopped rubbing you, your clit so sensitive and swollen that you can’t feel anything but a soft burn. When he pulls himself out from between your breasts, you can see that his make-up has worn off, and his lips are puffy from sucking and kissing your skin. The strobe lights from above the stage are peaking through the cracks, lighting up his face in brilliant hues of purple and blue.

“Hi,” Haechan says. “It’s been awhile since I last saw you.”

 He removes his hand. He doesn’t pause to tell you to taste yourself, like he normally would. Haechan’s weakness is knowing how wet he makes you, and your weakness is giving in to him every single time. He hooks his fingers on either side of your jeans and pulls them down your thighs. They’re so tight that they won’t budge past your knees without a fight. Feeling frustrated, Haechan spins you around and bends you over one of the cases. Trying to get out of his buckled stage outfit also proves difficult, but the boy is determined. His cock is in you before you look behind to see if he’s free. The feeling of him never fails to flip your whole world upside down. 

 You say his name, and you say it loudly. The music vibrates your whole body, the heavy bass perfectly timed with his every thrust. The thrill of getting caught makes you want to scream every syllable of his name, each letter like a bread crumb leading to your hiding place. You think of how the music has to stop some time, how the lights have to turn on to reveal what is bent over in the darkness, and you wonder what it will be like when it happens. 

Haechan: Are you thinking of me?

You:  You wish. 

Haechan: I’m hurt.  Ah, it’s night time back home. Are you getting ready for bed? What are you doing?

You: Not you.

Haechan: You’ve been hanging around my friends too much. Seriously, none of you are funny. 

You: Does the thought of me hanging out with your friends make you jealous?

Haechan: Yes. We both know I don’t share. I miss you. I’ve been away for too long. It feels like I’m going crazy. 

You: Donghyuck, It’s been four days. 

Haechan: That’s too long.😣 Do you miss me?

You: No. 

Haechan: I’M HURT. 

You: I have a hard time believing that. What are you doing? How was the performance?

Haechan: I think it went well. We almost dropped Mark during Cherry Bomb. Right now, I’m getting ready to eat. Taeil, Yuta and Johnny want local food. I’m really excited.

You: I hope you’re enjoying yourself. ☺️

Haechan: I am. I’ve been horny.

You: Is that all I’m good for?

  The sound of the video call made you jump out of your skin. Like always, your volume was turned all the way up. You looked at your phone and saw Haechan’s picture staring back at you. At the beginning of your relationship, he had snapped a photo of himself and set it as the wallpaper for when he calls. “Don’t show this to anyone,” he had said. “They’ll never stop making fun of me.” In the picture he was acting cute, his finger poking his cheek. The way he looked was so far removed from how you saw him most days : sexy, naked, his face screwed up in orgasm. The word Devil was still a part of his name only you had added a little red heart next to it. You stared at his face a little longer before accepting the video call. 

“What took you so long?” he asked. “I don’t have much time.”

  You could see he was sitting in a hotel bathroom, most likely on the toilet with the lid down. When he saw you looking, he held the phone up to give you a short tour of the bathroom. He showed you the tub where he said he’d like to fuck you in, the toilet he was sitting on, and the sink. You weren’t as interested in his surroundings as much as you were in seeing his face. 

“It’s nice.” you said. 

“It’s nice until Mark comes in here,” he said. “Speaking of, he went out to grab something from Jaehyun’s room, so I don’t have a lot of time before he comes back. Let me see them.”

“Them?” you asked. You were playing dumb. You knew exactly what he wanted to see.

“Ahhh,” he groaned. “Why do you do this to me?”

  In the darkness of your bedroom, you didn’t think he would be able to see you well. You lifted up your shirt, anyway, and showed him your breasts. Haechan was dramatic when you revealed them, his mouth hanging open, the sound from his throat sounding like a croak. You pulled your shirt down quickly, the disappointment showing clearly on his face.

“You can see more of them when you get back.” you told him.

“Six days,” he said. “I can wait six more days.”

  It was the first time you were separated for more than three days. It had been almost two months since you started fooling around, but he came to your apartment nearly every day to spend time with you. Haechan being a staple in your life made it harder for you when he was absent. 

  During your short period of being together, you had grown too comfortable with him. You had exerted your time, patience and body far beyond what you thought it was capable of. There were days when your emotions completely took over, your happiness cradled in the palm of his hands. You were disappointed when you couldn’t see him, his fist closing tightly around any motivation you had for anything. In the physical aspect, there were days when your muscle aches were so bad after you finished fucking that you had to use muscle relaxing patches to get through your next work day. Fucking three times a night-sometimes four- was just as time consuming as it seemed. You were losing sleep, losing interest in doing anything but thinking of new ways to make him come.

  You liked to wonder how it was from Haechan’s point of view. You didn’t know how he survived juggling his schedules, priorities, and you, all at the same time. He should have collapsed from exhaustion, or at least aroused suspicion from his members and the staff. 

  Even through all of the risks on both sides, neither of you wanted to stop when the reward felt so good. Stopping was never an option, not for you, or him. You were as addicted to him as he was to you, and you could not get enough of your drug. After you made him come, you wanted to get back on top of him, riding him until your pussy was raw, until your thighs hurt from being spread apart for so long. You didn’t know when each of you started wanting to break the other, but the obsession was seeping into every part of your life.

“Let me see your cock.” you said.

 “What?” he asked. “My cock?”

 The shyness in his voice made you smile. You tried to hide it off-camera, but he could see the way your cheeks were rising. Haechan smiled, too, his laughter directed towards the floor. In the camera, all you could see was his Balenciaga hat and the little tufts of hair curling around his ear. In between fucking, you would lay with him while he fell in and out of sleep, your fingers curling that very section of hair. In moments like that, you thought about how easy he was to love, and how hard it was to stop. He stood, turned around and placed his phone against what you thought might be the top of the sink.

“Are you sure you want to see it?” he asked. “You might not be able to control yourself.”

 Haechan lifted up his shirt and tucked the end of the fabric underneath his chin. The belt he wore around his waist barely kept his pants up. He was losing weight lately, his body being worked in every direction. He unbuckled his belt, unbuttoned his top button, brought his zipper all the way down until his briefs were revealed. When you saw his cock, it was soft. He rolled it around the tips of his fingers until it started growing to its full length. Your mouth watered at the sight of him. You sat up in bed, brought your knees to your chest and rested your phone against your thighs.

“How long do you think you have?” you asked.

“A few minutes.” he said.

 You didn’t have to tell him to touch himself. Haechan was already jerking himself off, looking down at his cock in his hands before looking into the phone camera. He turned to the side so you could have another angle of his body. Though it was probably wiser to keep quiet, Haechan did as he wanted. The moans filled the hotel bathroom, along with the sound of his palm around his cock. 

“Tell me you want me,” he said.  “Tell me you want your mouth around me.”

  You took your phone into your left hand. With your right hand, you dipped it into your pajama pants and started playing with your clit. Your eyes were on his cock, his fingers rhythmically moving to his deep sighs. There was something so torturous about seeing him and not being able to have him. You had to stop yourself from bringing the phone up to your face and trying to lick him through the screen.

“I want you,” you said. “I want my mouth around you.”

  You closed your eyes and imagined his cock sliding past your lips. You loved holding onto his hips and controlling how fast he fucked your face. You imagined what it would feel like to grab a handful of his ass as he did that. You tried to taste his imaginary cum, and how it would spill out all at once, like you had bitten into a delicious fruit and the juice was gushing into your mouth.

“Tell me…,” he began to say, his words breathless. “Tell me I’m the only one.”

“You’re the only one.”

  You were moaning with him, your voices rising in unison. Having sex via video call wasn’t what you had planned for the night, but you knew it was a vital part of your life. 

“Tell me-”

“-Tell you what? Anything. I will tell you anything.” you said.

“Tell me goodbye, Mom, I’ll talk to you later.” he said. 

  Your eyes snapped open as the video call ended. His selfie flashed for a second before disappearing. You were nearing climax, but the confusion made you stop touching yourself. You took your hands away from your pussy and read the text coming through.

Haechan: Fuck. Sorry. Mark. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. 

  You dropped your phone beside you and sunk back into your sheets, your pussy full of nothing but regret.

“Are you crazy?” you asked. “You shouldn’t be here.

“I wanted to see you.”

  He stood in front of your apartment at midnight, his hat low over his eyes, a face mask over his mouth. The way he looked reminded you so much of the night you realized you wanted him in very compromising positions. You had grabbed the first jacket from your entryway, which just so happened to be one of his that he left. You hugged it tightly around your body, the smell of him wafting into your nostrils.

“Just see me?” you asked.

He laughed. “Yes. Now that I’ve seen you, I can go.”

“You and I both know that you can never just go.”

“Perhaps I am crazy,” he said. “But I am also tired. Jet lag. I should be resting.”

“Don’t let me stop you then.” 

  You stood with a lot of distance between you. The way you were feeling as you looked at him felt foreign to you. Normally, you would barely talk before you stumbled into your apartment, tearing off each others clothes, pushing things onto the floor to fuck on the hallway table. With your whole relationship about the benefits rather than the friendship, it was easier to direct. You didn’t know how to handle moments when you were both forced to act like two non-feral people.

  You felt like you wanted to tell him everything you’d went through since he’d been gone. You wanted to grab a bite to eat where no one knew his name, sitting cross-legged on the floor, and watching him eat his fill. Wanting those things made you unsure about how you truly felt.

“Do you want to go for a walk?” he asked. “This is a one-time offer.”

“Okay.” you answered.

  You shut and locked the door to your apartment. When you turned back to him, his arm was extended. You looked down at his hand. Those hands had been all over your body. Sometimes you watched those hands touching other people and wondered what they would think if they knew they had been inside of you.

 Losing his nerve, Haechan pulled it back before you could take it. Without saying anything, you moved beside him and took his hand back. If he wanted to hold hands, you would give him what he wanted. You both walked half a block before you spoke.

“How was travelling?” you asked.

“Fun, “ he said. “I feel lucky. I’m so grateful for the opportunities. I like it. How was your time while I was gone?”

 You didn’t know how to answer truthfully so you just agreed that your time was equally as fun. Work days blended together when you had nothing to look forward to. You didn’t like to admit that you weren’t sure what day it was, or that so much of your life revolved around him. Luckily, he didn’t press you any further. It’s not that Haechan didn’t care what you were feeling inside, just that his outlook on life stayed blissfully positive, and you didn’t want to be the one to take that away from him.

“The clubs are still open,” Haechan pointed out. “I could use a drink right now.”

 You knew that holding hands in public was the worst thing you could do that wasn’t behind closed doors. You never knew who could be watching, their phones clicking away like the ringing of a cash register. The people stumbling out of the clubs could be people you worked for, or worked with. All it took was for one person to recognize Haechan and the fun would be over. You thought about letting go of his hand, but you didn’t want to. He sensed your fear and directed you away from the crowds exiting the club. 

“It will be okay,” he said. “As long as you’re with me, nothing will happen.” 

 You walked a few blocks before turning back to your apartment. The walking was aimless. After the club, you only came across a few people grabbing late night snacks at a convenience store. In the world the night had created, you both began to act more boldly. Haechan’s laugh was loud, his happiness contagious for people who passed you by. He brought you to him for back hugs, his arms squeezed tightly around you, his chin digging into your shoulder. Halfway back to your place, he got a message on his phone that stopped both of you in your tracks. You watched his face falter, his eyebrows furrowed together. 

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

“It will be okay,” he said, repeating his line from earlier. “Don’t worry about me. Let’s just be here together.”

 You walked the rest of the way in a weird silence. You kept looking over at him to figure out was wrong. Worst case scenario: everyone found out about what you two were doing. Best case scenario? You didn’t know, but you were hoping to find out one day.

“This is where I leave you, my princess.” he said. 

 You stood in front of your door. Hearing him call you his Princess made you want to giggle. In the beginning of your relationship, it was Haechan who reacted in such a way. Taking his virginity made him a little dependent on you. He often giggled when you suggested new positions, or told him how pretty you thought he was. Now that you were far into knowing each other in the most intimate ways, it was you who couldn’t stop becoming so giddy every time he opened his mouth. He could see his affect very well. You wore it hugged closely around your body, just like his jacket.

“Be careful walking home.” you said.

  Haechan took a step forward. His figure was sexy, his eyes mentally undressing you. You thought that he might stay a little longer and fuck you on your apartment steps. Instead, he kissed you, his lips petal soft. As he pulled away, you could barely open your eyes to look at him. He backed away from you, his trademark smirk faltering just a little.

  He stopped to look at you after making every move. For anyone else, you would have faked your enjoyment, but for Haechan, everything was honest. If he touched you, your body quaked in response. You couldn’t stop your eyelids from fluttering, your body from moving up the bed to get away from his persistence. If he made you feel good, you let him know with your shortness of breath, your knuckles clenched around the sheets.

“You make the funniest faces when you orgasm.” he observed.

  You resisted the urge to take the pillow from underneath your head and whack him with it. Haechan sat between your legs, your knees hooked over his thighs. Often, you sat like this when you both felt too lazy for much else. He would play with your pussy for what felt like hours, his fingers pushing into you to see how many you could take. He would trace your labia with his fingertips, draw love hearts on your clit. He loved the way you looked when you were wide open for him, loved you shaved and unshaven. 

“It’s a compliment,” he said when he sensed your hostility. “I love everything about you, especially how ugly you look when you’re on top .”

  You clamped your legs shut, trapping his arm. He laughed gleefully, pushing your legs back open before climbing up your body. He laid across you, his full body weight crushing yours. 

“You’re heavy.” you said.

  Haechan flopped his body around, like a fish, until you felt his weight even more. You wheezed dramatically. The way you both joked around always made your day better. Laughing with him eased a lot of stress from your daily life. You used your hands to squeeze his cheeks. When he made a fishy face, you kissed his lips. 

“I could stay like this all day.” you said.

“Not me,” he said. “I don’t want you lying on your back the whole time.”

 You rolled your eyes, and he jokingly got offended. You pulled his neck down so that you could kiss him again. You made out like that, your naked bodies on top of each other, for awhile. The concept of time didn’t matter when you were together. There were times when you were thankful that all you did was have sex with each other. There was no fighting, no expectations, and nothing that could be torn apart if it wasn’t together to begin with. When your phone lit up, both of you pulled away.

“Who is it?” he asked.

“How am I supposed to know?”

  Haechan took one look at your phone lit up on your night stand and pushed it off. It clattered onto the floor, your protective case splitting in two. You started to get up to check on it, but he pushed you back down. He got onto his knees and pushed your legs up so that your ass was lifted off the bed. His distraction tactics were good, you had to give him that.

“I’ll buy you a new phone.” he said. 

 Haechan took your hands and interlocked his fingers with yours. When he entered you, your mind forgot the phone altogether. The way he moved wasn’t his normal fast pace. Haechan liked to fuck you hard, each orgasm strong and earth shattering. Passionate was not a word you often used to describe what you and him did in the bedroom. As he moved inside of you, he lowered his body down over yours until he was hugging you. He kissed you as deeply as he was thrusting.

10:02 a.m.

Haechan: You’re not answering your phone

10:03 a.m.

Haechan: Call me back

10:46 a.m.

Haechan: I’m sorry I left so many voicemails I don’t know what to do 

11:00 a.m.

Haechan: Pick up your phone

11:16 a.m.

Haechan: Johnny knows. He’s on his way to your apartment. Don’t tell him anything.

[the-writer-nerd-ro]

Christmas Party Panic

Christmas/Holiday present and general OC fun for @brainyxbat and @spyrkle4 and @barely-nok read to find out which BH6 character or OC says the f-word.

Seth stretched, their back tingling and aching as they pulled a lush, soft Christmas sweater over their chest, where the scars of surgery had primarily healed, and their back, where the scars were still a little raw.

“Good morning my king,” Morgan mumbled, sleepily reaching for her tube of toothpaste and almost putting lotion on her toothbrush instead. Seth gently corrected her, far more used to being awake early in the morning than their drowsy girlfriend. 

“Morning, sugar,” Seth smirked, “Are you excited for the party?”

“For the… That’s today?” Morgan still didn’t understand how she’d been invited to this party. By all accounts, it didn’t make sense. Things between her and Hiro were tolerant, maybe even a tad protective, but not exactly warm. Wasabi and Fred kind of liked her, but all of them liked Seth and Seth loved Morgan, so Morgan made it to the guestlist for The Lucky Cat Cafe Christmas party.

The guestlist was actually getting pretty long. That was Ari’s fault. If it were up to Hiro, it would just be Big Hero 6, Ari, and Megan. Fred had insisted on inviting Seth which had landed Morgan on the guestlist as well, but Ari was the one throwing around invites to anyone who smiled at her. Which included all of the Ferns, Sienna, Rachel and her folks, and now some random coffee patron.

"You can't add strangers to the guestlist, Ariel.” 

“Doesn’t seem like she’s a stranger to me,” Ari smirked, jerking her head towards Wasabi, who was nervously stumbling over his words and rubbing his neck as he talked to a short girl with green streaks in her hair.

“Look at him,” Ari gigled, “he’s smitten. You’ve got to let him invite Venus. They’re so cute together. You got to invite Megan.” Hiro blushed at the mention of Megan. 

“That’s different. And isn’t he already inviting someone?” 

“No, that’s different, Khary is his brother. You’re inviting me.” 

“You’re not invited, you live here. Khary doesn’t live here. He’s cool though, and I know him, so it’s okay. I don’t know Venus. Too many people are coming to this party.” Hiro ran his fingers through his hair, seeming a little irritated and not very festive. Ari knew that this was difficult for him, his first Christmas without Tadashi. She’d hoped surrounding him with friends, old and new, would help him, but he just seemed uncomfortable. 

Ari placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, “What’s wrong?”

“Last year it was just different. I’m glad that you’re here, you’re the best change that ever could’ve happened. But last year… And Morgan…” 

Ari frowed. She hadn’t been around Morgan much but she liked her. Morgan was confusing and intriguing and always seemed like she was down for a good though slightly illegal time. Rachel had met her once and quietly commented that Morgan reminded her of Katie, if Katie was human and nice. 

“What about Morgan?” Hiro didn’t seem to like Morgan much, though Ari had never really understood why, until Hiro answered her.

“Morgan was Tadashi’s girlfriend. Now she’s what? Turned around and found somebody new?”

“Seth is really cool, you shouldn’t be upset at them.”

“I’m not upset at them! I don’t care about them. I’m upset that Morgan moved on so fast.” 

“I’m sure it wasn’t easy for her, Hiro. But maybe talking to her today will help.” 

Hiro was about to disagree when Wasabi came over, grinning like a fool.

“I got Venus's number! And she’s coming to the party.” Wasabi did a quick little happy dance. 

“Congrats,” Hiro muttered, disappearing upstairs. 

“Is he okay?” Wasabi asked. 

Ari bit her lip, wondering how much she should explain.

“He’s just nervous about the party,” she finally managed. 

“Ah. Well, me too, actually. I should, uh, I should go home and change…” The fact that this was kind of a date with the cute Botany Major had just occurred to Wasabi, and his face morphed into a panic.

“I’m looking forward to meeting your brother!” Ari called before Wasabi could run out of the cafe.

Wasabi hesitated, “What?”

“Didn’t you invite Khary?” 

His eyes widened, “I forgot my whole brother.” Ari stifled a laugh. She knew as well as anyone that love could make you do boarderline stupid things. 

"Well, don't forget him before the party."

"I won't," Wasabi promised, heading out.

Unlike her brother, Ari was excited about having so many people around for Christmas. While she loved Aunt Cass and Hiro, she knew her family was much larger than just them. It included all the wonderful people who had come into her life this past year. She wished Juniper could be on the guestlist, and that Karmi could be more than an unanswered invitation. She missed her dear friends and hadn't stopped worrying about either since the mutations, which had hit everyone pretty hard. They deserved a nice Christmas after everything that had happened. She just hoped Hiro would be a little more in the Holiday spirit later.

Hiro wasn't the only reluctant party guest. Actually, it seemed like reluctance was infectious. Morgan hadn't started feeling merry and Wasabi's last minute invite couldn't even leave her bedroom, too nervous and indecisive. 

"Sweetheart," Malia Woods said, putting a hand on Venus' shoulder, "you look wonderful. This Wesley fellow will be lucky to be your date tonight."

"Are you sure?" Venus spun in her Santa dress, looking like a million bucks, and her mom laughed.

"Yes, Cath, he's going to swoon when he sees you."

"Jack was making fun of me earlier," Venus frowned. She really did hate her older brother and his cruel jokes.

"Jack has been reprimanded. And he's out with friends tonight anyway, you have nothing to worry about. Come on, honey. Let's get you to your party." 

Venus nodded, taking a deep breath, mustering her confidence, and putting on a Santa hat.

"Let's go."

"Come on, Morgan, let's go! We need to leave now if we want to run errands before the party." Seth was many things but late was rarely one of them.

"Hold onto your horses, babe. It's not easy looking this perfect."

"It's not that hard, I do it all the time," Seth retorted, setting down three tins of decorated cookies and crossing their arms.

Morgan laughed, "I can't argue with you there…" Finally she emerged, makeup flawless, wearing a sweater that matched  Seth's. Seth's was green and said "All I Want for Christmas is You," with an arrow pointing at Morgan. Morgan's was red and said the same, with an arrow pointing at Seth. As tempting as it had been to buy even dumber couple's sweaters, they'd settled on something sweet that would still nauseate their friends and family.

"We look great," Seth said, grabbing the cookie tins.

"We're missing something, hold on." Morgan produced two pairs of reindeer antler headbands and plopped one down on Seth's head, before putting on her own. 

"Perfect," Seth agreed, though they knew it was cheesy. 

They were not half as cheesy as Sadie’s boyfriends, who opened the door to their apartment donned in a two person Christmas sweater that declared that Bennet was the naughty one and Dalton was the nice one.

“Oh my gosh,” Morgan snickered.

“Are you guys okay? Dalton? Bennet? Is this a punishment? Blink twice if my sister is holding you hostage.”

Dalton jerked his head at his slightly shorter boyfriend, “It was his idea.” 

Seth’s mouth formed an O, “Bennet, I thought you were the sensible one.” 

Bennet smirked, “This is great. Dalton has to hug me the entire time we’re wearing this.” While Bennet tended to gravitate more toward giving gifts and Dalton was more centered around acts of service it was obvious that one of Bennet’s love languages was physical touch.

“I’m touching his butt,” Dalton said with a shrug and a sly smile. 

“Is Sadie here?” 

“Yeah, but she’s being a real Grinch,” Bennet said, loud enough for Sadie to overhear. 

“You guys left me out of the Christmas sweater,” Sadie said, coming over.

“Sorry,” Dalton said sheepishly.

Sadie smiled, “I’m not mad at you, goof. What’s up, Seth, Morgan? You guys look adorable.” 

“Thanks. We brought you cookies! We have one more delivery to make before we go to this Christmas party later, so we can’t stay, but I’m really glad we got to see you!” Morgan seemed a bit more cheerful, but she was still nervous about the party. 

“I’m glad I got to see this,” Seth said, gesturing at Dalton and Bennet.

“Have fun at your party, I’m sure these cookies will be great,” Sadie said, taking the tin.

“Did Morgan make them?” Bennet asked, a bit skeptical.

“No, don’t worry,” Seth laughed.

“Hey, I can bake!”

“Mm, sure you can, sugar.” Seth kissed Morgan’s cheek, having to tiptoe per usual, though not as much since the incident. 

“I know you have to leave but you’ll have to join us for hot chocolate and S’mores sometime after Christmas. Dalton makes the best,” Sadie said.

“We’ll hold you to it.” They had one more couple to visit before they headed to the party, which was already getting started. 

“Ari, this is my little brother Khary. Hiro, I guess you two probably remember each other?” 

“Yeah, what’s up, man?” Hiro and Khary exchanged a fist bump and Khary shook Ari’s hand. 

“Just vibing,” Khary laughed, “It’s nice to meet you, Ari.”

“Nice to meet you too. Wasabi talks about you all the time."

"Wasabi?"

"Oh that's their nickname for me. You can use it too, Khare."

"Cool. It's uh, it's nice to know you have friends who care enough to give you nicknames." Wasabi smiled a moment but it was clear he was distracted, watching the door, waiting for his crush. The door opened and Wasabi held his breath, but it was just Megan and Chief Cruz.

"Hey, I know you, you go to my school!" Megan said, coming over and striking up a conversation with Ari, Hiro, and Khary.

"Yeah? I think I might've seen you around… I'm Khary."

"Megan. You were in Mary Poppins, right? I wrote about your performance for the school paper."

"Oh, cool!" Wasabi was obviously overjoyed that his baby brother was getting along with the others, but he was more concerned about his date. What if she decided not to come? What if she thought all this was too much? But, sure enough, Catherine "Venus" Woods made her grand entrance, instantly taking Wasabi's breath away.

"You look amazing, Venus. I'm so glad you came."

Venus instantly blushed, "You look nice too, Wesley."

"Oh, uh, you can call me Wasabi, all my friends do."

She nodded and made a note of it, "I really like your sweater."”

“Oh, really? I made it.” 

“You made that? Whoa. You’re so talented.”

“You’re pretty talented yourself,” Wasabi commented, “I’ve seen the project that got you into SFIT. That’s crazy cool.” 

Venus instinctively pushed her hair in front of her face, nervous and blushing. 

“T-thank you.” Khary nudged Wasabi’s leg with his foot and Wasabi remembered that he and Venus weren’t the only two people in the universe. 

“Venus, this is my little brother Khary.” Wasabi affectionately grabbed the teen by his shoulders.

“Oh,” Venus smiled, “Nice to meet you!” 

“And these are my friends Ari, Hiro, and Megan. Ari and Hiro’s aunt owns the cafe”

“You work here sometimes, don’t you, Wasabi?” Venus asked, since he was the whole reason she’d become a regular here. 

“Yeah, it’s been my part time job since high school.” He frowned, momentarily, thinking about Tadashi who had gotten him this job and more importantly had gotten him to this point in his life. This Christmas would be hard. He glanced at Hiro, noticing for the first time that all these changes, all these new people that Tadashi hadn’t known were really shaking the kid. 

“We’re late,” Morgan said, her leg jittering in the passengers’ seat, “maybe we shouldn’t go. Maybe we should just drop off the cookies with Kei and skip the party.”

“We’re gonna drop off these cookies and at least make an appearance at the party. Fred asked me to come, and I’m sure everyone is going to be glad to see you.”

“Sure,” Morgan rolled her eyes.

“Hey, our friends love you.”

“Your friends,” Morgan reminded, “you’re the one everyone likes.”

“That’s not true. Hiro’s little sister likes you.”

“Oh, yeah, well she’s different. She’s cool. Have you seen what she can do with the…” Morgan mimicked water bending, and Seth laughed.

“Not sure if I have. Haven’t exactly been on the anti-hero scene as long as you, babe.” Seth kept Morgan talking, distracted from her concerns about the party until they pulled up at their second stop. 

“Kei’s gonna love these,” Morgan said cheerfully, still over the moon that she had met and befriended her favorite performer. 

“We did good,” Seth agreed. Seth loved that Morgan had gotten to meet her idol but DJ Parasite had become so much more than music they drank to, Kei had sort of become like a mom to Seth. A really weird, young, cool mom.

Morgan knocked on the door to Kei’s apartment.

“I’m coming, I’m coming, hold on!” Kei yelled across the apartment, and there was a crashing sound before the door was unlocked.

“Oh my gosh,” Kei said, eying the sweaters, “you two look adorable. I didn’t think I could ship this more but I do.” 

Seth laughed, “Thank you.”

“Mr. Claus won’t match with me, but, ugh, I’m loving this.” Kei drew Morgan and Seth into a hug without warning, pulling them slightly into the apartment.

“We made and decorated cookies,” Morgan said, holding up the tin.

“Oh! Thank you! I think I have your presents ready, hold on.” Morgan and Seth stood there, waiting, as Kei disappeared, yelling down the hallway, “BABE! DO YOU KNOW WHERE THE GIFTS FOR THE KIDS ARE?”

Seth couldn’t help chuckling at the response, “They’re under the Christmas tree, dumbass.” 

“Right, obviously.” Kei dashed over to the tree and came back with two matching gift bags.

“It’s simple but if you don’t like it tell me, or, well just I’ll probably end up getting you something else as well so that’s a placeholder for now.”

“Do you want us to open it now?” Seth asked, taking the bag addressed to them. 

“No, I don’t wanna see your faces if you’re disappointed in them.”

“I’m sure we’re going to love them, Kei,” Morgan assured.

“Hope so. Oh! Before you leave, look up!” Seth and Morgan looked up in unison, a blush tinting both of their faces when they saw the mistletoe over the door. Seth glanced at Morgan who nodded and leaned down for a quick but sweet kiss. 

"See? Moth uses the mistletoe!" Kei shouted down the hall to her husband. 

"I don't need a parasite plant to kiss my parasite wife!"

"Well, we'll let you get to kissing," Morgan snorted, "we have places to be anyway."

"So are you excited for the party now?" Seth asked as they walked back to the car, pulling out the bit of tissue paper in the bag and revealing a lovely little bird ornament with soft fake feathers, "Oh, this is cute! What did you get?"

Morgan opened her own bird ornament, which was made out of gears and other steampunk parts. Morgan giggled, "Kei is nutso. These are going on our tree immediately."

"Are you excited about the party?" Seth asked again, for the third time today, actually.

The rest of this story will be in the fucking reblog I guess

[hobidara]

boyfriend!seungyoun

summary: you visit seungyoun at a very late hour

words: 1,556

requests (for seungyoun) are open! 

a/n: i’m just missing seungyoun so badly so i decided to randomly write this

tugging your long padding coat closer to you, you wait for seungyoun to open the door. the door opens, a surprised and worried seungyoun comes into your view as he quickly yet gently pulls you inside.

“what are you doing here at this hour?!” he sternly asks, his voice laced with strictness while his hands say otherwise; cupping your face right after pulling you into a hug.

even though you’ve already expected this kind of reaction from seungyoun, a small pout still forms on your lips, “do i need a reason to be here?” 

“of course not!” he immediately answers, walking you to his room. “but it’s 1am, a girl shouldn’t be going out alone at this hour!”

“it’s not like i walked here.” you mutter, plopping down on the foot of his bed.

seungyoun sighs, sometimes you really are like a child.

“it doesn’t matter whether you walked here or hired a cab here. y/n, it’s still dangerous for you to be -- “

cutting him off, you groan, “okay, okay! i get it!”

quickly sensing the switch in your mood, seungyoun marches towards you with his signature smile on his face.

“did baby come here because you missed me?” he asks in an awfully sweetening tone, making you cringe. you side-eye him with a disgusted look on your face despite loving the way he calls you baby.

it’s just like that -- when you act a bit too sweet towards seungyoun, he will give you a suspicious look as well. the same goes for you. both of you just like to joke around each other by pretending to reject the other person’s way of expressing their love.

he continues talking in the same tone, “i was just scolding you because i was worried. next time, don’t do like that, okay? if you miss me, you can just text me and i will be right in front of your door anyways.”

“but i wanted to do something like that too. it doesn’t always have to be you.” you reply and he can’t help but aww and squish your cheeks because you are just that cute in his eyes.

“shh,” you shush him, “isn’t your mom asleep?”

“oh,” he pauses, “she’s not home. she went to jejudo with her friends.”

processing the information in your head, you repeat, “she’s not home?”

seungyoun nods, pursing his lips, probably knowing what you are thinking currently. usually, when you come over to his house or when he comes over to your house, one of your parents are always there; meaning that both of you were never alone together in a house before.

yes, it’s not that big of a deal. there’s not much difference since when his mom is here, she just minds her own business. sometimes, bringing you food and drinks but that’s it. but for some reason, you are lowkey nervous about this situation. you don’t know why though.

“do you want me to send you back? or we can go somewhere else if you are uncomfortable?” he asks softly, rubbing circles on your hand with his thumb.

you shake your head a no, “it’s fine. i don’t mind.”

ah, you love your soft, caring, beautiful, dorky and understanding boyfriend so much. he’s literally perfect.

and it makes you sad because he deserves so much better. more people should be seeing his talents and how perfect he is, he should be on stage right now, performing his songs. he should be hearing the cheers for him. you hate the company/agency he’s under as much as the fans hate it.

he’s been through so much just for that one dream of his, but despite all that, he always stay positive and that just makes you more heartbroken.

“i was working on a song. it’s like only half done yet, but do you want to try listeni--?”

you cut his question off, “do you even have to ask me that?”

bringing his laptop to the bed, he informs, “it’s just raw, okay? it’s not done yet.”

“i heard you the first time. raw or not, it would be good anyways,” you shrug.

“oh, you like it raw?” he asks, raising an eyebrow.

“wha--” you pause, finally knowing what he’s talking about by looking at his playful smirk. “shut up.”

it has been a little over a year since you guys started dating and nothing has gone down. the most you’ve done is just really long make out sessions but nothing else and you aren’t complaining because both of you like to take everything slow.

when the time comes, everything will just settle by itself.

but seungyoun still likes to make jokes like that out of nowhere -- only when you are alone though. he’s a total gentleman in front of others. he treats you like a goddess in front of everyone else. he does the same when you are alone too but of course, the actual playful, loud side of him comes out.

another thing about seungyoun is that, he really tries not to show it. he always appears confident in everyone’s eyes as if he already knows he’s the best but he really seeks out for compliments. he loves being praised.

for example, if he shows you something i.e an impersonation. you could only respond, ‘you are good’ and he will be smiling really widely, asking excitedly if you want to see more of it. 

“okay, i will play it.” he says, and you smile while nodding, knowing that he really wants you to think the song is good. 

his songs are always good. they are always a bop and the universe knows it. just unfortunate that not a lot of people have heard of them.

not even twenty seconds into the song and you already have your hand over your mouth, mindlessly because it’s just already too good.

i feel a little anxious

i can’t believe you are my girl

look at them, everyone is looking at you

hey, baby stay next to me

don’t look at her, she’s mine

the lyrics make your heart beat a tad faster but when it’s seungyoun, your boyfriend singing those lyrics, you can’t stop the small gasp to fall out of your lips.

a grin appears on seungyoun’s face, seeing your reaction and that grin continues to stay glued on his face until the last second the song suddenly stops playing.

the disappointment is evident on your face as you quickly whip your head to the left to look at your boyfriend’s face because you want to listen more. but suddenly, the room is filled with your high-pitched squeal.

“oh my god, i can’t believe i’m dating you. you are amazing!” you squeal louder, pulling him into a hug.

“so it’s good?” he asks, giggling. yes, giggling.

“words can’t describe this song. it’s so, oh my god.”

“that’s a relief.” he smiles, closing his laptop and putting it back in his place. side note, seungyoun is good at keeping his room neat and tidy as well. what is this guy not good at? literally nothing.

he energetically suggests, “should we watch netflix?”

“netflix and chill?” you joke, sending a seductive wink towards his direction. 

“oh hoho,” he laughs evilly, “do you want that?”

you gasp, backing away from him, “no no!”

“are you sure, my baby?” he continues on with his evil laughter while approaching you.

you explode into a fist of laughter when he finally reaches you and starts tickling the heck out of you. you can’t stand someone tickling you. you really can’t.

thrashing around under his hold, begging for him to stop, he finally listens to you and stops his torture. 

“ah, you are so cute.” he whispers, giving you a kiss on his lips.

his voice, cho seungyoun’s voice is out of this world. don’t even start about his singing voice but just his natural, speaking voice is already out of this world. it’s so soothing, it’s just like a lullaby and whenever he’s whispering this closely to you, while staring right deeply into your eyes, you feel yourself being lulled into him.

you break out into small giggles, cupping his face and pecking his lips multiple times. “you are so much cuter.”

his eyes soften and he suddenly rolls his body over and pulls you into a hug, chest to chest. 

“thank you, y/n.”

confused, you replied while tilting your head upwards a bit to look at his face, “hm?”

“you don’t know it but just having you beside me is helping me go through so many things.”

you love hearing stuffs like this from him but being the awkward person you are, in situations like these where the other person tells you how much they appreciate you, you really don’t know to react so you always end up --

“what is this? why are you saying these out of nowhere? weird.”

smiling at you lovingly, seungyoun places a kiss on the top of your head and sighing in content, he says, “i love you.”

you burst out into a fit of giggles again. only cho seungyoun can make you all bubbly and soft like this.

“i love you too,” you reply, pulling him closer to you.

[unibrowzz]

Mod (finally) reviews all 67 winners of the Eurovision Song Contest Part VII (FINALE)- The 2010s

And we’re on the home stretch! Just 10 songs left now.

The 2010s stands as the only decade I watched live and the only decade I haven’t yet rewatched, mainly because I have no interest to. I’ve already seen the contest anyway, if a song didn’t stick with me then, it probably won’t now.

Also prepare for some hotter than usual takes, mostly down to the 10s contests being the most well known due to recency bias. I can say whatever the Hell I want about older contests and what songs I despise from there, but one non-positive comment about Euphoria and suddenly about five butthurt anons appear in my inbox telling me why I’m wrong.

But without further ado, let’s finish these off!

2010: Satellite

Country: Germany

Artist: Lena Meyer-Landrut

Language: English

Thoughts: I used to defend this song a lot, for some reason. I used to get super defensive when people dismissed it as a cheap lazy pop song that shouldn’t have won over (insert song here, but let’s be real here, 99% of the time it’s Turkey's equally cheap lazy emo rock song) and that it robbed so many better entries, blah blah, you know the drill. And I think it’s because it was the first winner I saw as I started properly watching in 2010, so I didn’t want to shit all over the winner that introduced me to the contest. Or maybe it’s that it makes me really nostalgic, or something to that effect. But, dear God, why did I? It’s so… not worth it. I appreciate it for being a much less instrumental-heavy winner, with its skippy, snappy beat and bouncing vocals which sound closer to plain talking than actual singing, but… How many times were the lyrics ran through GoogleTranslate before they were finalised? What’s with the janky, overexaggerated fake-English accent? Why does the singer look embarrassed to be a part of this? Why was this written?  And how the FUCK did it win? It’s so weird and awkward to listen to. It’s the song equivalent of trying to make small talk with that one classmate you never talk to because they’re shy and boring. It’s like listening to an old person laugh half-heartedly at their not-that-funny old person joke. It’s canned laughter in a mediocre sitcom. It’s just an awkward, painful to listen to song that’s made all the more painful by the fact that Germany has sent much better songs that easily could have replaced this as their one post-reunification winner.

Was this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what was? Spain- Daniel Diges- “Algo Pequeñito”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 60th

2011: Running Scared 

Country: Azerbaijan

Artist: Ell and Niki 

Language: English

Thoughts: Look, this one isn’t as bad as people make it out to be. Doesn’t mean it’s good, or that I find it particularly good, but the worst winner of all time? Goodness no, it doesn't even come remotely close. What we have here is a mildly pleasant ballad duet song with a distinctive sad-boyband vibe. Like you can definitely hear the “X-Factor winner’s first cover song” energy just radiating off it from the first few lines. I suppose you could argue that that does make it feel a bit clinical and like it’s trying too hard to be a big hit, but come on, it’s not like this is the first winner like that. The singing is alright; better than half the singing that won in the 2000s anyway, and the male singer especially has a nice voice. The lyrics aren’t exactly poetry, sure, but again, other winners have terrible lyrics as well and don’t receive nearly as much hate as this one does. And… that’s it. Why all the hate? No idea, but I can only assume the people who declare this song to be the worst winner ever haven’t heard anything that won before 2010.

Was this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what was? Denmark- A Friend in London- “New Tomorrow”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 42nd

2012: Euphoria

Country: Sweden

Artist: Loreen

Language: English

Thoughts: Ugh. Listen. This is not a bad song. It’s decent, middle of the table, listenable, marketable, well sung, well performed, well shot. I must stress, this is not a bad song. But the best Eurovision song of all time? Absolutely not. Euphoria is one of the few winners I would describe as “overrated”, and that isn’t a term I use lightly (since it’s overused as Hell), because frankly, I don’t see what people see in this song. Hell, I forgot it completely until the 2012 voting, and further still until mid 2013 when a friend said he liked it. This song left that little of an impression on me that I completely forgot everything about it for a solid year.  And considering how many fans regard this to be one of the best, if not the best song to ever come out of the contest... that baffles me, I just can’t wrap my head around why so many people hold this song up on a pedestal and worship it like it was dropped from the hands of God himself. And I'm not sure if it's because this just isn't a genre I care about, or if it's because this was WAY back when I was a casual fan who didn't follow any of the songs or artists so didn't know who'd be the favourite going in like I do now, and therefore didn’t know to keep an ear out for this one. Or maybe you have to be piss drunk and at a nightclub to really feel the impact of this song. This song triggers absolutely no response from me other than “Oh, a Eurovision song”. I feel no emotion towards it aside from complete indifference. I can’t deny that this song made an impact, it just… didn’t make an impact on me.

Is this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what is? Spain- Pastora Soler- “Quedate Conmigo”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 40th

2013: Only Teardrops

Country: Denmark

Artist: Emmelie de Forest

Language: English

Thoughts: Let me ask you a question: What do you get when you sandwich an otherwise decent pop song between two of the most iconic and recognizable winners of the decade? You get this. Only Teardrops is a weird, weird winner to me. On one hand, the fandom acts like it might as well not exist, you go straight from Euphoria to Rise Like a Phoenix, who cares about that filler song which came between them. On the other hand, I know a lot of people who really like it, yet all of them are either very casual fans or not fans at all. So this makes me feel like this song’s main weakness is that it’s too mainstream, at least for Eurovision fans. What are my thoughts? It depends. For one, I enjoy this song a LOT more than Euphoria; I always have done and I’m not ashamed or afraid to admit that. I find this song has a lot more personal appeal, particularly a much bigger finale in my opinion, and being surrounded by people who like this song has admittedly kept me fond of it. BUT, I still wouldn’t necessarily call it a favourite of mine. Maybe a favourite of the 2010s, but not overall. At the end of the day, it’s a little too generic, a little too normal, a little too like every other song you’d hear on the radio. It’s not really a song I find myself coming back to again and again and loving every time, it’s the song I stick on to shut my family up when they want to listen to Eurovision music and I’m too shy to show them the songs I actually really like. It's just a decent song that's unfortunate enough to be stuck in between two more iconic winners, doomed to be little more than the answer in a pub quiz question.  And even though I do prefer this one to some of those icons, and don’t really have anything else to say about it, it’s just enjoyable yet kind of bland.

Is this my personal winner for this year? This or Iceland

If no, what is? Iceland- Eyþór Gunnlaugsson- “Ég á Líf”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 16th

2014: Rise Like a Phoenix

Country: Austria

Artist: Conchita Wurst

Language: English

Thoughts: Ah yes, the man who made the entire continent of Europe collectively forget what a drag queen is. What a shitshow that night was. But I'm not here to talk about that, I'm here to rate/say some things about the song, and honestly? This is arguably the most vocally impressive winner from the 2010s. Seriously, there’s nothing I can fault here; this guy’s got some serious pipes. Every time I go back to it I just end up blown away by how powerful and raw this song is. And obviously good vocals alone can’t carry a song forever, otherwise I would’ve had nicer things to say about the early 70s and mid 90s, but with this song the vocals go hand-in-hand with the gimmick. Without the powerful vocals this would just be a knockoff Bond theme sung by a drag queen with a beard, like it’d just be another sensationalist gimmick song to throw onto the pile with all the other gimmick songs. But with the good singing, this has the distinction that it’s a gimmick entry that still had every right to win because the singer was actually competent. Also unlike the 70s winners this one actually has strong emotions tied to it rather than it just being a bunch of pretty French words, so there’s that.

Is this my personal winner for this year? This or the Netherlands tbh

If no, what is? N/A

Personal ranking (out of 67): 17th

2015: Heroes

Country: Sweden

Artist: Måns Zelmerlöw 

Language: English 

Thoughts: Fun fact: I was so bitter this won that I stormed off before the voting was done and cried in my room over it. I hated everything about this song: I hated how Sweden won just three years after their last win, I hated how the staging was just BEGGING people to vote for it, and I ESPECIALLY hated how it beat out the televote favourite because the juries were too busy wanking off to this one to care about anything else. I just despised everything about this song, and it turned me into an obnoxious jury-hater for a solid year.  And yes, I'm extremely embarrassed of all that because honestly this song is fantastic. I would go as far to say it's my favourite Swedish winner, maybe not one of my favourite Swedish entries but definitely my favourite winner of theirs. Everything about this is just so appealing to me, from the brooding intro and vocals, to the lyrics, to the staging, my GOD the staging! It’s one of the best performances of the contest to date; It's impressive without being tacky or try-hard, he interacts with his background, and that little doodle boy character he’s created is adorable. I just love this performance, it’s so mesmerising.

Was this my personal winner for this year? Not then, is now

If no, what was? Then? Serbia- Bojana Stamenov- “Beauty Never Lies”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 11th

2016: 1944

Country: Ukraine

Artist: Jamala

Language: English, some Crimean words

Thoughts: I mean… it’s good until she starts singing. Now I am by all means not an advocate for bringing back the old language rule, but songs like this sure as Hell make me one. This should have been left entirely in Crimean. Simple as that. The English lyrics are bloody awful, no way to sugarcoat it, and absolutely annihilate the potential this song is otherwise seething with, because the instrumental to this song is fantastic and the chorus and climax give me goosebumps. The performance at the contest was chilling as well; a perfect blend of both simple yet flashy staging to set up a really uneasy atmosphere that compliments the song perfectly but, God, the lyrics are bad, man, especially for such a serious song about a personal topic.  That said, it's still the only song in the 2016 top 3 that seemed winner-worthy, unlike Australia's obvious Jurybait and Russia's obvious Telebait. So… it has that. 

Was this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what was? France- Amir Haddad- “J’ai Cherché”

Personal ranking (out of 67): 57th

2017: Amar Pelos Dois 

Country: Portugal 

Artist: Salvador Sobral 

Language: Portuguese (Translation: “Both of us”)

Thoughts: I still question why it took Portugal until 20-fucking-17 to even reach the top five, but that's a rant for another day.  Not that this is a rant, far from it. Anybody who knows me knows that I love this song after all, and that it’s one of the few winners I remain rather defensive of, though that’s mostly down to the amount of hate this song and its singer receive.  I will defend Sal and his hot takes on pop music until I die. Now I’ll admit, this song surprised me in more ways than one. Namely by actually winning the televote; given how this song has split opinions clean down the board as to whether it’s spine-tinglingly beautiful or soul-crushingly boring, I was expecting it to come mid-table in the televote whilst some other country swiped first. Yet somehow it managed to stomp the televote just as hard as it stomped the jury vote. I guess I wasn’t the only person this struck a chord with after all. Also, I can’t be the only one who thinks this is a perfect dance song? Like it’s great for ballroom, or contemporary. It’s so dreamy and flowy, and I usually HATE dreamy flowy songs, yet this one just resonates with me for some reason and I’m not sure why.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Yes

If no, what is? N/A

Personal ranking (out of 67): 4th

2018: Toy

Country: Israel

Artist: Netta Barzilai

Language: English, some chicken noises, cringe

Thoughts: And here we have another case for bringing back the language rule, because if this song had a Hebrew version I would 100% listen to it more often. When I heard Israel was sending an, ahem, "feminist anthem" about the #MeToo trend on twitter, my first reaction was "ew". When I heard it was the favourite to win, my reaction was also "ew". And when I heard the song for the first time? "Hm, not as bad as I thought."  And also "ew". This song is just embarrassing. I’m embarrassed listening to it, I’m embarrassed watching it, and I’m embarrassed when someone mentions it when I’m trying to convince them Eurovision actually has good music. You can just tell from the first few lines that it was written by middle aged men trying to shill themselves out to gullible young women who think listening to a song by some Israeli DJ “empowers” them.  And let’s be honest here: “empowering” is just media speak for “shit”. The only thing stopping me from putting it at the VERY bottom is the instrumental and performance because without the cringy lyrics you’re left with a pretty good club song, and I swear to God Netta Barzilai could sell herself sneezing for 3 minutes. If “Toy” had been entirely in Hebrew I would’ve given it a pass, and maybe a cheeky vote or two.  But, alas, that was not to be.

Was this my personal winner for this year? No

If no, what was? Italy- Ermal Meta & Fabrizio Moro- “Non mi Avete fatto Niente”

Personal ranking (out of 67):  64th

2019: Arcade

Country: The Netherlands

Artist: Duncan Laurence

Language: English

Thoughts: You know, in my 9 or so years watching the contest, I don’t think I’ve ever felt genuinely ecstatic watching a song win. Most of the time I either feel neutral (most of them) or a more general, content kind of happy (2014 and 2017). Like I’ve never let out a shout of joy and slid on my knees across my living room floor in sheer, blind happiness. But that’s what I did with “Arcade”. I’m not really sure why that is because, I must confess, it wasn’t my personal winner of the night, and, looking back, I preferred other songs, but… God, I just can’t explain how overwhelmingly happy I was when this song won. I’m not sure if it’s because I was alone or if I was rooting for this deep down (or if it’s because it was between this song or fuckin’ Sweden again). But that’s by the by. How’s the song? Honestly? Really good. One of my favourites of this decade, if I’m honest. It’s the kind of song that’s grown on me a lot since the night of the contest; even though it wasn’t my favourite song from 2019, I’m not mad at all at it winning.

Is this my personal winner for this year? Honestly I had about 10

If no, what is? I could list them if you want

Personal ranking (out of 67):  6th

[pinktatertots99]

living in the shadow’s can be lonely - nnbk fic

y’know wha? ...tsu doesn’t get alot of love...or angst...so have both! also weirdly now i want honey and nico to bond over movies.

______________________________________________

“hey mama, where’re those kids going?” she looked over tsukumo’s shoulder through the window, seeing the yellow bus and children lined up to it. “oh, their going to school.”

“there’s a school outside here!?” he asked excitedly. “can i go?”

“but you have online school.” she stated, petting his head. “besides, don’t you wanna perform for mama?” he hummed, pouting as he nodded. “yeah, it is more fun.”

“good boy.”

_________________________

the party was filled with the celebrities as the young tween listened to the conversation of the other actors his age there. “finals are killing me.” he overheard, asking “you, go to school?” the young actor gave a raised brow. “yeah. we share the same online homeroom.” immediately his excitement was spiked, looking down embarrassed. “oh...i thought...do any of you go to outside school?”

some gave head shakes. “it’s not really that great.” an actress mumbled. “it’s so noisy and tiring.”

“and you get bombarded by paparazzi anyways.”

“i mean, online school’s aren’t much better but your safer there.” tsukumo’s eyes laid to the floor nodding lightly. “right...okay.” he mumbled, hearing his mother’s heels behind him clicking as he took a sip of his water.

_______________________________

zipping up his work in his backpack tsukumo moved to put his shoes on. “oi.” he turned, seeing that hanzou look at him crossing his arms. “does your mom know?”

the teen rolled his eyes and put his backpack on. “it’s the first day of the second semester. i just wanna attend one.”

“oh? school work all packed?” he gulped looking to his mother as she smiled, nodding lightly. “yeah.”

“splendid, cause i just got two weeks worth of clothes packed for you.” he raised a brow, looking at the two traveling bags by her side. “we’ll be late to our flight to the awards ceremony.” he sighed, watching her put her shoes on. “thank goodness your first day isn’t for another two weeks.”

“yeah...great.” he mumbled, watching her leave first as he glared at the blonde behind him, giving a defensive pose. “hey i wasn’t gonna say nothin.”

_______________________________

“woah, so cool!” he overheard, looking to nico as he sat with honey, looking at nanba-tube on his laptop. “right?” looming over lightly, ah, one of his films. “he’s pretty cool! i can’t wait for the anime to come out!”

“heh, anime, tell me if it keeps the raw nature of his real life acting.”

“i dunno what you mean ike-man-san but okay!” tsukumo sighed letting his mind wander again, it was weird, he’d felt alone before, but back then that loneliness was medicated thanks to his fans...so how was it so different now?

“ninja-san!” tsukumo gulped as he looked to nico with the laptop in hands. “this actor looks so much like you!” he exclaimed, showing him in the ninja outfit from one of the movies. “oh, uh i mean, yeah he does huh?”

“he’s so cool!” he exclaimed as all three looked to the screen. “too bad he’s missing though, do you think he’ll be found?”

“i don’t-”

“obviously.” honey stated. “anyone out in public whose that famous will definitely be found, even with the best disguise it’s only a matter of time.” immediately tsukumo could feel the dread from that statement as nico hummed. “so only way he’d be safe is if he were inside a place?”

“possibly.”

“wouldn’t that be lonely?” before honey could start he looked to the shinobi’s already downed demeanor. “...tsu...kumo right?” he looked up. “wanna give some input on this?”

“on?”

“being lonely!” nico stated as he hummed. “...probably. i mean, even with people someone like that could be lonely.”

“how?”

“well, i mean, from all i know uh, they seem to be unable to do alot of things, even make friends or go outside without some sort of bodyguards, right?”

“guess so.” nico mumbled. “i hope he’s not feeling lonely now.” tsukumo smiled lightly under his mask. “maybe somedays...but maybe not today.” he replied, giving a nod to honey who looked away excitedly from such a reaction.

[thebiasrekkers]

No Words - Interlude ii-

Pairing: Taehyung x OC

Type: Interlude [Flashback]

Genre: Idol, Poly, Interracial, Tall Female, Smut, Angst, Fluff [if you squint]

Warning: Mention of racism/ racist situation. 

A/N - It’s building up, please bear with this bit of backstory. I’m giving you a chance to refill your Namjesus juice. Cause the rest of the interlude is sex, pining, and just ...why are some folk so scared when it comes to love? An age-old question with no answer -.-

Words:  2073

----

1 year ago.

“I don’t know if I can keep this up.” Tasha moaned as they filed into the dorm. A scattered sound of backpacks, shoes, and coats filled a thick silence. They were one year into a grueling schedule of hands-on work along with a heavy course load. Tasha’s pillow-muffled grunts were an everyday occurrence. The same thing - every day. They went out for language study, then to shadow the technical crew, and then hours at cafes guzzling coffee.

She could tell there were bags under her eyes. Tasha flopped like a fish on the couch. Her brows rose as the other woman moaned her displeasure. “I can’t take it?! I want to go out! We should go out, damnit!”

Tasha already saw the reluctance forming on her face. “No, no! Listen here!” She bumbled off the couch at her recoil. “No, come on! Please, I’m dying! We haven’t done anything besides work. We have to take a breather.” Tasha grabbed her hands as she grimaced.

“Aish,” Tasha smirked. She dropped her head. “You’re not gonna let this go are you?” Tasha shook her head vigorously with a pout. “Tsk, fine.” The other woman shot up with a twirl.

“You loovvvee me.” A sing-song tease as Tasha twirled down the hall toward her room. “And now I’m not going to be a liar, either.”

“Wait, what?” She turned toward the hallway.

“Well, the gang is getting together for post-production celebration.” She narrowed her eyes as Tasha continued. “..you never seem to be interested. So I told them I’d get you to come out tonight.”

“Seriously?” The edge of irritation was impossible to hide.

“Woman, I get you want to be the best - but you need to take a moment to enjoy yourself. We’re building a blueprint here! It does no good to you, or anybody, if you burn the fuck out.” Tasha came half-stomping back to the front room. Her hands were tucked into her hips with a stern set to her face. “I mean it. We have this opportunity to get immersed in everything. If you drag me to another museum I’m going to riot.”

Maybe Tasha had a point. She had been mainly interested in the informational portion of their trip. Museums, lectures, visiting heritage sites - taking photos of seemingly mundane things. She wanted a simple experience, there was nothing wrong with that. But, even back in the states? She wasn’t much for nightlife. Even after BTS music show wrap gatherings? She could be found off to the side buried in a book. Sometimes pouring over note cards and notebooks. It was fascinating the cinematographic techniques were completely different from the states. It was more aesthetically pleasing, the quality of the music shows could bring some fresh air to videos in the states.

She came off as a bit of a lone wolf, and that wasn’t exactly her intention. Tasha would disturb her studies to drag her to tables full of meat, smoke, and laughter. She was happy to listen to horror stories and near misses. It was almost becoming tolerable to be near the boys on an almost constant basis.

Almost.

Tasha was eating it up, especially when they had the place to themselves. There would be peals of laughter as folk tumbled from chairs. Ah, the soju flow was heavy. She didn’t mind pouring for them or manning the grill when people got too far gone. There were always moments in karaoke, jokes, and games.

She decided to indulge a bit still trying to figure out the right soju combination. The regular soju was smooth, different brands tended to be harsher than others. It wasn’t until out with the full crew that Taehyung offered a fruity brand. She went through the whole range before landing on Peach. She always cut her alcohol with something and it just so happened that cider matched perfectly.

For her, anyway. It was a ‘carbonation thing’ - that was always her response. They were having a great time, honestly. You could even say she let her hair down a bit. And she kept it up, for a good moment, she blossomed socially. Tasha was an absolute extrovert to start - she had no problem suggesting risky and risque games to liven up the place.

There was a time when those games wound up a little too dangerous for her liking. Spin the bottle and Truth or Dare. Harmless, right? This combination with overworked, tipsy co-workers? Not so much. Liquor makes you honest, the saying goes.

There was a time when those games wound up a little too dangerous for her liking. Spin the bottle and Truth or Dare. Harmless, right? This combination with overworked, tipsy co-workers? Not so much. Liquor makes you honest, the saying goes.

Some people got extremely honest that night.

Now, it was no secret that they were apart of the handful of females that made the cut for the program. But they were the only African-American females. It was interesting the stares they received when they were seen backstage manning the boards, or even carrying equipment. It was something they were used to, and it didn’t bother them.

They considered themselves open to any and all questioning, again - in a new place? You learn things about yourself. And it’s only fair that you let others learn you as well. Right?

So, when a particularly soju soaked night of bullshitting turned into something a bit more raw and personal?

“Oh, come on! Is it really that big a deal?” One of her classmates quipped. There was an uncomfortable air surrounding the table. “I mean, it’s like kindergarten antics, you know?” Dean was your playbook styled …individual. She wouldn’t bother to call him a man because he didn’t act like one.

The Truth or Dare was stuttered when he asked a question that only the two women of color could answer. Tasha was actually settled on the lap of a TD she’d gotten close with, Minjae. They all received training on sensitive things while touring in the states. Current issues that plagued the US so they could stay aware of possible questions or situations the boys could find themselves in.

Tasha tried to lighten the mood waving her hand, “Look, it’s just safe to ask, Dean. I don’t think you’d want some strange person coming to feel you up without your permission.” This softly as Minjae gently shook his head at her, as if to signal her to switch topics.

Dean sighed, turning to a couple of the other classmates, trying to find some validation. They sort of shrugged, but read the room and didn’t bother to indulge him. It wasn’t until he turned to her with that lopsided grin. “I mean, look at you! I always thought you had contacts in. Imagine when we found that was your real eye color!” He barked a laugh, a few of the ‘we’ laughed with him.

“I mean, you’re beautiful for a bl-” There was a female next to him named Allison. She watched with her mouth agape as he continued. Before he finished that statement? She elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t you fucking dare finish that statement, Dean!” He buckled with a sharp inhale. He looked confused as he measured the looks of disapproval.

Embarrassment.

Before she dared to open her mouth and let every obscenity fly, they all turned to their supervisors. The head PD crossed his arms across his chest, matching the red-faced anger of his colleagues. “This was a mistake.” She stood up hastily grabbing her bag and her notebook. Tasha tried to untangle herself from the bench seating but wasn’t fast enough. She escaped into the night gulping down the winter air. Ah, it was so mild. She was used to the painful cold Midwest winters, and she missed it.

Damn, she really missed it. She’d been doing so well! She managed to stave off the homesickness, determined to find a niche. But now? Now she craved a familiarity, a comfort that she hadn’t found? She wasn’t really looking for it, honestly. She’d heard the rumors, done the research, and seen all the YouTube videos. There was a deep groan bubbling in her chest; the heel of her palm digging into her eye sockets.

Deep breaths slowed her rapid heart, snow fell soft and slow on her face. She could almost picture something like home. But a voice interrupted her meditation.

“A-are you ok, Noona?” A deep voice quietly rumbled behind her.

Her brow furrowed as she turned around. “V-ssi, why are you here?” She managed to not cry, thankfully. Her hands tucked under her arms as the cold registered. “Don’t get sick on my behalf,” She managed a slight smile. His breath hitched a fraction before he lowered his gaze. “Ah, don’t worry about me.” That boxy smile plastered on his face as he looked at her again.

“You could come back in, you know?” He bit into his bottom lip. A subtle brow ticking upward as he extended his hand. She got ready to open her mouth. He could see the reasons forming behind her gaze. “Don’t worry about him, noona.”

“I think I should just go. I don’t want people worrying about me.” She stared at his hand before her eyes slid to the side. “You should ju-” He interrupted her again.

“You read a lot, don’t you, Noona?” She furrowed her brow at his question.

“Y-yea, but what does th-,” He didn’t give her time to ponder the reasoning as he answered her.

“I read too. There is a philosopher, Marcus Aurelius he was a Roman Emperor.” He seemed to ramble, his hand still extended, licking his lips. “He said, The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” She sighed tilting her head back. “He’s a coward. I don’t think you’re a coward.” She turned to the extended hand suddenly covered in snow.

“Tsk,” She moved the snow from his hand as she took it. “..fine.” That boxy smile lit up the night as he turned to tug her back inside. Jeongguk came barreling outside his expression lightened as he saw Taehyung dragging her back with him. “A-ah! Yes, we’re getting ready to play more games.”

She groaned as the maknae continued, “That asshole was sent home.” He turned Tae with a nod, as she titled her head.

“Oh, they sent him back to the dorm.”

“No, they sent him home.” Jeongguk continued as Tae slowed up. “As in he’s done here.” The veins in Jeongguk’s forearms seemed to pulsate as he crossed them.

“Oh, shit.” She gasped. “I didn’t want him to lose the opportunity.” She sounded remorseful, Tae and Gguk, on the other hand, were mystified by her response.

“You’re kidding right, noona?” Jeongguk tilted his head to Tae confused. Taehyung only sighed, “No, she’s not kidding, Gguk-ah.” They both made their irritation known.

“Look, people are - how they are? Ok. It’s something I’ve dealt with all my life. It’s just..”

“Wrong,” Taehyung spoke between clenched teeth. There was something slightly imposing when they stood together. “It’s wrong, and there’s no place for it around us. You know we have an international fan base. Our music crosses so many boundaries!” Taehyung threw up a hand as Jeongguk seemed to tap in and finish the statement.

“…races, religions, sex, all of it. We don’t care about that. We want people to feel like we aren’t just musicians. We are a family; a community even.” Jeongguk’s tone was firm and full of conviction. “If we can have people around the globe connect with us through our music? Why would we not connect to their issues if we could?”

She looked between the two of them, dumbfounded. Had she ever wondered? Pondered their stance on the world around them? She blinked rapidly unable to find anything wrong with their words.

She wasn’t a coward. This wasn’t the first time. It wouldn’t be the last. Taehyung and Jeongguk extended a hand to her. The boxy-bunny smile combination was dangerous, damnit.

“Oh my god, fine. Fine. You’re right. Let’s go.” She took both of their hands and they pulled her back into the restaurant. It seemed brighter somehow. New food was cooking. the staff was all seated around massive grilling tables.

The drinks and laughter flowed, they sat with their supervisors who quickly got tipsy so they could let loose.

[darknytemare]

No Words -interlude ii-

BTS - V Imagine - Tall Girl - Interracial - Interlude [Flashback]

TW: Mentions of racism/ racist situations.

1 year ago.

“I don’t know if I can keep this up.” Tasha moaned as they filed into the dorm. A scattered sound of backpacks, shoes, and coats filled a thick silence. They were one year into a grueling schedule of hands-on work along with a heavy course load. Tasha’s pillow-muffled grunts were an everyday occurrence. The same thing - every day. They went out for language study, then to shadow the technical crew, and then hours at cafes guzzling coffee. 

She could tell there were bags under her eyes. Tasha flopped like a fish on the couch. Her brows rose as the other woman moaned her displeasure. “I can’t take it?! I want to go out! We should go out, damnit!” 

Tasha already saw the reluctance forming on her face. “No, no! Listen here!” She bumbled off the couch at her recoil. “No, come on! Please, I’m dying! We haven’t done anything besides work. We have to take a breather.” Tasha grabbed her hands as she grimaced. 

“Aish,” Tasha smirked. She dropped her head. “You’re not gonna let this go are you?” Tasha shook her head vigorously with a pout. “Tsk, fine.” The other woman shot up with a twirl. 

“You loovvvee me.” A sing-song tease as Tasha twirled down the hall toward her room. “And now I’m not going to be a liar, either.” 

“Wait, what?” She turned toward the hallway.

“Well, the gang is getting together for post-production celebration.” She narrowed her eyes as Tasha continued. “..you never seem to be interested. So I told them I’d get you to come out tonight.”

“Seriously?” The edge of irritation was impossible to hide.

“Woman, I get you want to be the best - but you need to take a moment to enjoy yourself. We’re building a blueprint here! It does no good to you, or anybody, if you burn the fuck out.” Tasha came half-stomping back to the front room. Her hands were tucked into her hips with a stern set to her face. “I mean it. We have this opportunity to get immersed in everything. If you drag me to another museum I’m going to riot.”

Maybe Tasha had a point. She had been mainly interested in the informational portion of their trip. Museums, lectures, visiting heritage sites - taking photos of seemingly mundane things. She wanted a simple experience, there was nothing wrong with that. But, even back in the states? She wasn’t much for nightlife. Even after BTS music show wrap gatherings? She could be found off to the side buried in a book. Sometimes pouring over note cards and notebooks. It was fascinating the cinematographic techniques were completely different from the states. It was more aesthetically pleasing, the quality of the music shows could bring some fresh air to videos in the states. 

She came off as a bit of a lone wolf, and that wasn’t exactly her intention. Tasha would disturb her studies to drag her to tables full of meat, smoke, and laughter. She was happy to listen to horror stories and near misses. It was almost becoming tolerable to be near the boys on an almost constant basis.

Almost.

Tasha was eating it up, especially when they had the place to themselves. There would be peals of laughter as folk tumbled from chairs. Ah, the soju flow was heavy. She didn’t mind pouring for them or manning the grill when people got too far gone. There were always moments in karaoke, jokes, and games. 

She decided to indulge a bit still trying to figure out the right soju combination. The regular soju was smooth, different brands tended to be harsher than others. It wasn’t until out with the full crew that Taehyung offered a fruity brand. She went through the whole range before landing on Peach. She always cut her alcohol with something and it just so happened that cider matched perfectly.

For her, anyway. It was a ‘carbonation thing’ - that was always her response. They were having a great time, honestly. You could even say she let her hair down a bit. And she kept it up, for a good moment, she blossomed socially. Tasha was an absolute extrovert to start - she had no problem suggesting risky and risque games to liven up the place. 

There was a time when those games wound up a little too dangerous for her liking. Spin the bottle and Truth or Dare. Harmless, right? This combination with overworked, tipsy co-workers? Not so much. Liquor makes you honest, the saying goes. 

There was a time when those games wound up a little too dangerous for her liking. Spin the bottle and Truth or Dare. Harmless, right? This combination with overworked, tipsy co-workers? Not so much. Liquor makes you honest, the saying goes. 

Some people got extremely honest that night. 

Now, it was no secret that they were apart of the handful of females that made the cut for the program. But they were the only African-American females. It was interesting the stares they received when they were seen backstage manning the boards, or even carrying equipment. It was something they were used to, and it didn’t bother them. 

They considered themselves open to any and all questioning, again - in a new place? You learn things about yourself. And it’s only fair that you let others learn you as well. Right? 

So, when a particularly soju soaked night of bullshitting turned into something a bit more raw and personal? 

“Oh, come on! Is it really that big a deal?” One of her classmates quipped. There was an uncomfortable air surrounding the table. “I mean, it’s like kindergarten antics, you know?” Dean was your playbook styled ...individual. She wouldn’t bother to call him a man because he didn’t act like one. 

The Truth or Dare was stuttered when he asked a question that only the two women of color could answer. Tasha was actually settled on the lap of a TD she’d gotten close with, Minjae. They all received training on sensitive things while touring in the states. Current issues that plagued the US so they could stay aware of possible questions or situations the boys could find themselves in.

Tasha tried to lighten the mood waving her hand, “Look, it’s just safe to ask, Dean. I don’t think you’d want some strange person coming to feel you up without your permission.” This softly as Minjae gently shook his head at her, as if to signal her to switch topics.

Dean sighed, turning to a couple of the other classmates, trying to find some validation. They sort of shrugged, but read the room and didn’t bother to indulge him. It wasn’t until he turned to her with that lopsided grin. “I mean, look at you! I always thought you had contacts in. Imagine when we found that was your real eye color!” He barked a laugh, a few of the ‘we’ laughed with him.

“I mean, you’re beautiful for a bl-” There was a female next to him named Allison. She watched with her mouth agape as he continued. Before he finished that statement? She elbowed him in the ribs. “Don’t you fucking dare finish that statement, Dean!” He buckled with a sharp inhale. He looked confused as he measured the looks of disapproval. 

Embarrassment.

Before she dared to open her mouth and let every obscenity fly, they all turned to their supervisors. The head PD crossed his arms across his chest, matching the red-faced anger of his colleagues. “This was a mistake.” She stood up hastily grabbing her bag and her notebook. Tasha tried to untangle herself from the bench seating but wasn’t fast enough. She escaped into the night gulping down the winter air. Ah, it was so mild. She was used to the painful cold Midwest winters, and she missed it. 

Damn, she really missed it. She’d been doing so well! She managed to stave off the homesickness, determined to find a niche. But now? Now she craved a familiarity, a comfort that she hadn’t found? She wasn’t really looking for it, honestly. She’d heard the rumors, done the research, and seen all the YouTube videos. There was a deep groan bubbling in her chest; the heel of her palm digging into her eye sockets. 

Deep breaths slowed her rapid heart, snow fell soft and slow on her face. She could almost picture something like home. But a voice interrupted her meditation.

“A-are you ok, Noona?” A deep voice quietly rumbled behind her.

Her brow furrowed as she turned around. “V-ssi, why are you here?” She managed to not cry, thankfully. Her hands tucked under her arms as the cold registered. “Don’t get sick on my behalf,” She managed a slight smile. His breath hitched a fraction before he lowered his gaze. “Ah, don’t worry about me.” That boxy smile plastered on his face as he looked at her again.

“You could come back in, you know?” He bit into his bottom lip. A subtle brow ticking upward as he extended his hand. She got ready to open her mouth. He could see the reasons forming behind her gaze. “Don’t worry about him, noona.” 

“I think I should just go. I don’t want people worrying about me.” She stared at his hand before her eyes slid to the side. “You should ju-” He interrupted her again.

“You read a lot, don’t you, Noona?” She furrowed her brow at his question. 

“Y-yea, but what does th-,” He didn’t give her time to ponder the reasoning as he answered her.

“I read too. There is a philosopher, Marcus Aurelius he was a Roman Emperor.” He seemed to ramble, his hand still extended, licking his lips. “He said, The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.” She sighed tilting her head back. “He’s a coward. I don’t think you’re a coward.” She turned to the extended hand suddenly covered in snow. 

“Tsk,” She moved the snow from his hand as she took it. “..fine.” That boxy smile lit up the night as he turned to tug her back inside. Jeongguk came barreling outside his expression lightened as he saw Taehyung dragging her back with him. “A-ah! Yes, we’re getting ready to play more games.” 

She groaned as the maknae continued, “That asshole was sent home.” He turned Tae with a nod, as she titled her head. 

“Oh, they sent him back to the dorm.”

“No, they sent him home.” Jeongguk continued as Tae slowed up. “As in he’s done here.” The veins in Jeongguk’s forearms seemed to pulsate as he crossed them.

“Oh, shit.” She gasped. “I didn’t want him to lose the opportunity.” She sounded remorseful, Tae and Gguk, on the other hand, were mystified by her response.

“You’re kidding right, noona?” Jeongguk tilted his head to Tae confused. Taehyung only sighed, “No, she’s not kidding, Gguk-ah.” They both made their irritation known.

“Look, people are - how they are? Ok. It’s something I’ve dealt with all my life. It’s just..” 

“Wrong,” Taehyung spoke between clenched teeth. There was something slightly imposing when they stood together. “It’s wrong, and there’s no place for it around us. You know we have an international fan base. Our music crosses so many boundaries!” Taehyung threw up a hand as Jeongguk seemed to tap in and finish the statement.

“...races, religions, sex, all of it. We don’t care about that. We want people to feel like we aren’t just musicians. We are a family; a community even.” Jeongguk’s tone was firm and full of conviction. “If we can have people around the globe connect with us through our music? Why would we not connect to their issues if we could?” 

She looked between the two of them, dumbfounded. Had she ever wondered? Pondered their stance on the world around them? She blinked rapidly unable to find anything wrong with their words. 

She wasn’t a coward. This wasn’t the first time. It wouldn’t be the last. Taehyung and Jeongguk extended a hand to her. The boxy-bunny smile combination was dangerous, damnit. 

“Oh my god, fine. Fine. You’re right. Let’s go.” She took both of their hands and they pulled her back into the restaurant. It seemed brighter somehow. New food was cooking. the staff was all seated around massive grilling tables. 

The drinks and laughter flowed, they sat with their supervisors who quickly got tipsy so they could let loose.

[comicgeekscomicgeek]

Their Hero Academia – Chapter 41: A Mighty Internship Begins!

Presenting the next raw and unedited chapter of my on-going, next-gen, My Hero Academia fic, Their Hero Academia!

Earlier chapters can be found here

Might Tower!  Once home to All Might, now home to Deku and Lemillion, the Number One and Number Two Heroes (who often traded off positions in the charts).  It was also home to two of the most effective Underground Heroes, the Voice and Glamour. There were also countless Sidekicks and an in-house Support Studio headed by Melissa Togata.  

The bottom floor included a museum, devoted to All Might’s incredible career (including a gift shop, all proceeds from which went to charitable organizations and efforts). There were floors of phone banks, answering calls mundane and urgent, the staff well-trained to direct the calls to the correct people or bring Hero attention to it.  There were floors of offices, handling all the paperwork that came with such a huge organization.  There were multiple floors devoted entirely to a Support Studio.  And, of course, there was a floor each for Deku and Lemillion, and subterranean levels for the Underground Heroes.  

Countless people worked there.  It was, in fact, by percentage of employees, the largest employer of the Quirkless in all of Japan.  

And it was where Isamu was going to be spending the next week for his Internship.  With Deku.  The Number One Hero.  

A hand clasped on his shoulder.  “You have to go inside, Haimawari.”

“Yah!” he let out a gasp, returning to reality.  “Sorry, Midoriya.  Drifted away there for a second.  Just feeling overwhelmed.”

“Relax, man,” Midoriya said. He was interning with Lemillion, but he didn’t seem nervous in the least.  Small wonder, when he was the son of the Number One Hero, who had grown up with other Heroes around him like an extended clan of Uncles and Aunts.  Lemillion was even his godfather, for crying out loud! He’d probably practically grown up in Might Tower.  “You earned this.”

“For what it’s worth,” Kocho said, wings trailing behind her, “I can’t believe I’m here either.” She too was interning with Deku. Or, as she’d explained on the train ride over, “doing a ride along.”  The Voice—Shinso’s dad—was also going to be working with her.

The moth-winged General Studies student had been offered a spot in the Hero Course following her Sports Festival performance.  If she could get herself up to their level, she’d be able to join them for the Summer Training Camp and then formally join their class for the second semester.  It’d be nice, Isamu reflected, having someone else in the class who didn’t come from a Hero-pedigree.  

“Well,” Midoriya said, “you earned it too.”   He looked both of them over and hesitated only a moment before he spoke again. “Really, you guys can relax. Dad’s one of the easiest going guys around.  And Uncle Hitoshi acts kind of grumpy sometimes, but he’s really a softie. You’ll do great!”

Well, one of those statements was definitely true.  Isamu had seen Deku interviewed often enough to know that he could shift easily between giving an inspiring speech to suddenly geeking out over a new Hero or one of his friends or even the interviewer’s Quirk.  He saw some of that in Midoirya, but he must have gotten a decent dose of good sense from his mom.

“C’mon,” Midoriya said, waving a hand in the direction of the doors.  “Let’s go in.”

Isamu grabbed the handle of his rolling luggage and followed suit.

***

Having left Midoriya behind several floors below, Koharu stepped off the elevator with Haimawari and onto the top floor of Might Tower.  Passing through the lobby and other floors with Midoriya had been an experience; everyone there seemed to know him.  Small surprise, really, given who he was.

She’d been here a few times on school trips and during one special civilian tour (her uncle, who worked the night shift dispatch, had managed to get tickets for the family), but coming into it as a potential Hero was another thing entirely.  Maybe she’d walk these halls as a Sidekick someday? It was way too early to think about. She wasn’t even a Hero Course student yet, not really.   She’d signed the paperwork, the offer had been extended, but she needed to prove herself first.

A bespectacled secretary told them that Deku was in his office and directed them down the hall.  

“Here,” Haimawari said, pulling open the door to the office for her.  “Ah, Mister Deku, sir?” he asked.

“They told us you were insiiii….”  Koharu trailed off, struck speechless by the sight inside.

The whole office looked like it had been the scene of a terrible battle, the walls cracked and furniture turned over and broken.  How had anyone not heard this?

“D-d-d-Deku!” Haimawari shrieked, pointing a long arm.  “He’s… he’s… dead!”

She followed his finger and saw Deku on the ground, laying on his stomach in a pool of what looked like blood.  His arms and legs were splayed and… were those his intestines?  Perhaps it was unheroic of her, but Koharu let out a scream. They had to get someone, get someone to help, how could this have happened without anyone knowing?!

Suddenly, Deku sprang to his feet, somehow looking none the worse for wear.  “I’m alive!” he said, a big grin across his face.

This time, both she and Haimawari screamed.

There was the sound of running feet in the hallway and another burst into the room, a young man, maybe in his early twenties, blond, muscular, and wearing a silver and black costume, lined with red, the majority of the chest taken up by a silver shield-shape. “What’s going on…?”  He took one look at the room, at Deku, and at Haimawari and her, then slapped a hand to his face.  “Dammit, Uncle Izuku, not again!”

No longer able to hold it, Deku let out a long laugh, nearly doubling over.  “Sorry, sorry,” he said, finally righting himself.  “But you should have seen the look on your faces…!”

Koharu exchanged a look with Haimawari.  What the hell was going on?

“Okay, okay,” Deku said, looking to a corner on the room.  “You can drop the illusion, Camie.”

There was a strange moment and then the world shifted, the destruction and blood and violence done to the office disappearing and leaving it in its normal state.   And there in the corner was blonde woman in a skintight catsuit, the zipper pulled down low to expose her cleavage, and a peaked cap.  She was leaning lazily against the wall, scrolling through her phone.

“’sup, fam,” the woman said, giving them a little wave.

“You’re… you’re the Shield!” Haimawari said, pointing at the blond man.  “And you’re Glamour!  I knew you both worked here, but I didn’t expect to see either of you on the first day!”

Koharu felt her heartrate slowly returning to normal.  Haimawari geeking out over the Heroes was relaxing, in its own way.  It was such a normal reaction.  One she’d have probably echoed if the sight of Deku, dead, wasn’t still trying to burn its way across her memory.  The Shield she recognized, one of Deku’s most well-known sidekicks. The woman seemed vaguely familiar, but didn’t strike any major memory chords.

“I’m sorry,” the Shield said.  “He does this to all the new Interns and Sidekicks.  He did it to me on my first day and I nearly jumped through the roof.”

“Hey!” Deku said. “It’s a time tested method for surprising Interns, passed down to me by Gran Torino himself!”

“You mean the guy whose idea of training was to beat the shit out of me?”

The Number One Hero smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head, pointedly ignoring his Sidekick’s question.  “Anyway, where are my manners?  Kids, this is Tamaki Togata, one of my Sidekicks, and Camie Shinso, one of the Underground Heroes who works here.   Tamaki, Camie, these are Isamu Haimawari and Koharu Kocho, my Interns for the week. Koharu here is Kaito down in dispatch’s niece.

“The First and Third Place finishers at the Sports Festival!” Deku finished excitedly.

Koharu felt a smile tug at her lips.  Deku’s enthusiasm was positively infectious and for a moment, at least, all her doubts about being here were banished.  “Your son finished Third too,” she said.

“Midoriya’s deserved it,” Haimawari agreed.  “He got all of us through the first leg with his plan.”

“He’s a good kid,” Deku agreed.  “Mirio will take good care of him, I’m sure.”

The Shield nodded.  “I saw the Sports Festival.  You did good work, both of you.  Wish my kid brother had done half as well, but he’s happy tinkering with his toys.  Nejire came in third place too, for the Third Years.  Hasn’t shut up about it.”

“Shota couldn’t stop talking about it,” Glamour agreed.  “Mad lit, kids.  And Kaito’s a total star.  Keeps the whole ship running at night.  Hubs likes him ‘cause he doesn’t get gabby.”

“Thank you,” Koharu said. Her uncle wasn’t the bragging type, but she knew his job was frequently demanding and stressful, so praise from the Heroes who relied on his support was nice to hear.

Deku grinned again. “Okay, Tamaki, you want to show the kids where they can stash their stuff, then show them to the locker rooms, and then meet me down in Training Room Alpha?  And Camie, if you’d like Hitoshi know they’re here?”

“Can do,” the Shield said, tossing off a small salute.  

“If he’s awake,” Glamour said.  “Might have to kick him a few times.”

“Careful,” Deku told her. “He just got a new sleeping bag with extra padding.”

“It’s that a little fast?” Koharu asked, a little surprised.  “I mean, I’m here to learn, I know, but I’m so far behind…”  Maybe Heroes just did things quickly.  She’d studied them plenty, but didn’t have any real idea how this was supposed to go.

There was still so much she had to catch up on.  What she’d done to teach herself had gotten her far, but she lacked the foundations and skills the Hero Course students had.  She thought she might observe or something first, but to just go for it like that?

“All the better reason to get started now!” Deku beamed.

***

“Oh, that was awesome!” Deku yelled, pumping a fist in the air.  

Isamu came to a stop, firing a small burst of power like a retro-rocket.   Next to him, Kocho touched down with a flutter of wings. Training Room Alpha turned out to be specifically reserved for Interns, Sidekicks, and Work Study participants, allowing them to hone their Quirks and skills in relatively lower stakes simulated environments, using the latest in holographic technologies.  Deku had started them off with a simple obstacle course, throwing various challenges their way (such as catching a falling civilian or avoiding simulated flames) as they made their way across a series of rooftops.  The nature of it meant he hadn’t been able to go full throttle, and Kocho had been able to keep up with him that way.

It had probably started as a competition, but it had quickly fallen into something more like cooperation. Which was probably Deku’s intention in the first place.  He hadn’t offered any instruction, just letting them go and seeing what they could do. Considering he had a notebook (Actual paper and pen!  In this day and age!) open in front of him and was still scribbling, he probably had lots of feedback pending.

He offered the purple and blue haired girl a handshake, which she took.  “Good work,” he said.  While he was wearing his costume, she wore a U.A. gym uniform, having explained that there hadn’t been time to fabricate a costume before the Internship began.

“Thanks,” she replied. “You too.”

“It was all right.”

The sudden voice snapped Haimawari’s head around, to a figure all dressed in black, a steel-grey cloth wound around his neck like a scarf.  “Mi—mi—Mister Aizawa!”

No, wait, that wasn’t right… In fact, he looked pretty much like an older version of Shota Shinso.  Right! The Voice!

He wasn’t the only one who recognized him, though.  Koharu practically lit up at the sight of him.   “You’re Shinso!” she yelled.  “You’re a legend!”

The tired looking man shrugged.  “That’s my name,” he said.  “But I’m no legend.”

“Oh, don’t be so modest, Hitoshi!” Deku said.

“But you, young lady,” Shinso continued, as though Deku hadn’t spoken, “you were very impressive.”

“He’s getting his license so he can take on Interns,” Deku volunteered.  “Which is something he’d said he’d never do.  Because then he’d have to deal with… extroverts.  I’d have asked you anyway, Kocho, but Shinso really wanted me to.”

“Just give it all away, why don’t you, Deku?”  Shinso asked, but he sounded more amused than annoyed.

“You’re, um, you’re nothing like your son, Sir,” Isamu said, then instantly slapped both hands over his mouth.  He hadn’t meant to say that out loud.  But it was true.  Shinso the younger was so talkative and energetic, and the Voice was so… not.  He was afraid he was going to fall asleep just standing there watching them.

“Heh.” The smallest possible smile he’d ever seen anyone make moved across Shinso’s lips.  “He certainly takes after his mother in that regard.”

Isamu decided not to dwell on how a guy like the Voice had managed to marry a woman like Glamour. Some things were best not thought about. Though he supposed you could say the same thing about his own parents, with his easy going, goofy dad, and high strung mother.

The purple-haired Hero’s eyes narrowed, highlighting the bags under them.  “Still… Izuku was able to remind me that I do have a lot of wisdom and experience to offer.  If somewhat unofficially.”

“Okay, so, before we move on to the next exercise,” Deku said, and Isamu could swear he saw a maniac energy in the man’s eyes, “I have so many questions about your Quirks!”

***

Shinso!  The Shiso!  The Voice! Only one of the most famous General Education students turned Hero ever!  There wasn’t a student in the General Education course who didn’t look up to him.  To think, Koharu wasn’t just following in his footsteps, but getting first-hand experience with him!

After giving her and Haimawari time to shower, Deku had taken the gawky boy off with him, leaving her and Shinso.  Technically, all they were supposed to be doing was getting breakfast in the cafeteria. But this wasn’t even reading between the lines.  The Number One Hero was certainly playing more fast and loose with the rules than she would have thought!

She’d been surprised by the number of food choices available, though, especially the liquid options!  She’d been a little worried about that and in fact had a few options packed away in her luggage.  The two of them occupied one table, while various Sidekicks and other employees occupied others and left them in peace.

Shinso, as it turned out, also enjoyed pouched food.  “So,” he said, “I don’t suppose I can interest you in being an Underground Hero?”

Koharu blinked her large eyes at that, slowly withdrawing her proboscis from the syrupy fruit pouch she was drinking.  “I think I’m a little too distinctive for that,” she said.  

His shoulder went up in the slightest of shrugs.  “Worth a shot,” he said.  “But you’re right.  The public will love you.  You’re flashy and distinctive.  Camie says you’re “trending” and “a hashtag.”  Whatever that means.”

Koharu decided educating a Pro-Hero on the intricacies of internet terminology was not something she was interested in doing.  “I’ve tried not looking too much at what the internet is saying about me,” she said. “But I haven’t been all that successful. A lot of people seem real excited about me.  The school, the public, even Deku.  Feels like a lot of people are making a big deal out of me.  Not sure if I feel like I deserve it.”

There was certainly a subset of the internet that seemed to feel the same, coming up with all kinds of preposterous claims and accusations, saying she was just taking attention away from up and coming Heroes.  And then there were the more vicious comments, from those who still held a lot of prejudice towards Mutant-Type Quirks.  The former were annoying and chiseled away at her self-confidence.  But the latter?  Those hurt.

“You don’t,” Shinso said, and Koharu felt her mouth open in shock.

“What?”

“Not because of the Sports Festival win, anyway,” Shinso amended hastily, as though sensing he’d been a bit too blunt.  “People make more out of the Sports Festival than it really is.  It’s a chance to show off, but it’s not the be-all or end-all of Hero-training.  And it’s still horrifically biased, if not quite so bad as the Entrance Exam still is. Though making a good impression is still important.”

He fixed her with an intense stare.  “The fact that you impressed Nezu and others in the faculty is what’s significant. You’re being fast-tracked.  I had to train for months to just have the chance to try out for the Hero Course and I didn’t get to join until the second year.  If they’re putting that out there, it means you have a real shot at doing something great.  Of course, I was young and stupid.  You’re young, but I don’t think you’re stupid.”

“…Thanks?” she tried.

“Besides,” he added, “you’ve got me in your corner.  I know how Aizawa thinks, and I know exactly what you’re going to need to get up to Hero Course standard.  And I’ll share it with you, on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“When you’re a famous Pro-hero, you pass the torch, same as I’m doing now.”

***

Isamu was honestly surprised by how approachable Deku was, even if he shouldn’t have been.   Between what he’d seen in interviews and how Midoriya had talked about him, it was obvious the Number One Hero was able to switch from “Hero Mode” when dealing with villains or disasters to some kind of “Civilian Mode” when doing practically anything else.  As they’d gotten their food and taken a seat in the cafeteria (And Deku was just… eating in the cafeteria.  Like he was some Sidekick or paper pusher, not the guy who literally owned the place!), it became rapidly clear that he knew the name of each and every person who worked for him, calling them by name and asking questions about their family or hobbies or other details that he wouldn’t have thought he’d have time or inclination to know.

Isamu took a bite of his breakfast sandwich (What could he say?  Convenience store style foods agreed with him.), then a long swig of coffee. Probably more sugar in it than he should have, but he wanted to make sure he was fully awake and alert for the day.

“So,” Deku said, in-between bites of his own breakfast, “can I ask you something, Haimawari?  You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Well, that was a loaded statement if ever he heard one.  Isamu felt his heartrate kick up a notch.  What could Deku possibly want to know?  “Ah, sure?” he said, wishing he felt more sure of himself, or that it sounded less like a question.

“Maybe I’m overthinking this,” Deku said, “because that’s kind of my thing, but after the Sports Festival, I couldn’t help but think that you reminded me of something I’d read about when I was a kid and for a little while when I was in U.A., and then I went digging into some old files and newspaper archives and everything and…”

Isamu knew, instantly, what Deku was planning on asking.  He wanted to run or use his Quirk to slide away, but he felt riveted to his seat, despite Deku’s rambling, unassuming nature.

“Are you connected to the Crawler, who used to be in Naruhata?”

Yep, there it was.

“Mister Deku, sir, I…” he began, tripping over his words.

“You can just call me Deku.”

Isamu swallowed hard, looking down.  Mobility-enhancing Quirks were quite common, even Quirks which allowed mobility over various surfaces.  The specifics, like his needing three points of contact, varied, but Quirks could easily be traced through family lines.  He was an only child of an only child, not exactly hard to figure out where it might have come from if anyone did any digging.

“The Crawler?” he asked instead, hoping to buy a few precious seconds to think.

“A Vigilante who used to operate in Naruhata, starting about twenty-eight years ago.  Mostly small scale stuff, just helping people on the street, though he and a couple other Vigilantes did get involved with some pretty big stuff on occasion too. But mostly he was kind of a local figure.  A “Nice Guy” who helped watch out for people and kept the neighborhood safe. Not many people even know about him, since the press didn’t like to give a lot of attention to that kind of thing, though a few U.A. teachers worked with them and even Captain Celebrity talked about them in his autobiography…”

U.A. teachers. Right.  Like Mister Aizawa and Vice-Principal Midnight.  Both of whom had to know about his parents.  Dad had mentioned them often enough, when recounting stories of his glory days.  Which was something he’d tried very hard not to think about since the start of school.

“And who disappeared about eighteen years ago.  Just a couple years before you were born, as a matter of fact.”  Deku finished, matter of factly.  “Took a while to find the archival footage, but what little bit there is of him in action pretty much lines up exactly with you at the Sports Festival.”

He shouldn’t have been surprised, he reflected for the second time.  Deku was well known for his knowledge of Heroes and his analysis of Quirks. And you couldn’t get to being the Number One Hero without being incredibly clever and intelligent on top of that.  It’s a wonder he thought it wouldn’t come up.

“That’s, that’s my dad,” he said, quietly.  He looked up, pleadingly.  “Please don’t tell anyone.”  There wasn’t a statute of limitations on Vigilantism charges.  If he got his dad in trouble by going to U.A…!

“Relax,” Deku said, holding up both hands in a placating gesture.  “I just wanted to know if my theory was right, and I wanted you to know that I know.  No judgements.  Everything I’ve pieced together says your dad helped a lot of people.”

Isamu let out a puff of breath.  “That’s, that’s good,” he said.  “Thank you.”

“So,” Deku continued, “tell me about why you want to be a Hero.”

Now that, that was a question he was more prepared to answer.  Especially with more cards on the table.  “I want the chance to do what Dad couldn’t,” he said.  “He spent, still spends, his life helping people.  Big ways and small.   But he missed his chance to be a Hero.  And I think part of him always regretted that.  He told me helping people was the best thing a person could do, no matter if they were a Hero or not.  But I just figured that if I did become one, I could help a lot of people. In a lot of big ways.”

At that, Deku nodded. “It’s a good reason,” he said.  “I’ve certainly heard worse.”

“I, ah,” Isamu began again, “I just want to really thank you, for this opportunity.  I didn’t think somebody like you would ever notice somebody like me.”

For the briefest second, he could have sworn he saw some faraway look pass over Deku’s face.  Then he remembered that Deku was, somehow, a very late bloomer, who hadn’t manifested his Quirk until he was a teenager. Who’d gone to school with Shoto and Ingenium and Creati, scions of various Hero legacies of their own. Maybe he did understand a bit.

Deku smiled.  “Just looking for someone who looked like they could use a shot.  You and Kocho both.”

The Number One Hero’s grin got bigger.  “So… how’d you like to go on patrol?”

[eggman-empire]

Dr. Eggman’s Good Deeds

by Dr. Mechano

Dr. Ivo "Eggman" Robotnik: Nemesis of Sonic the Hedgehog and would-be conqueror of the world. For almost thirty years, this man's turned animals into robots, unearthed ancient monsters, and threatened the planet with doomsday weapon after doomsday weapon. In short, he's a villain's villain. A true bad egg. 

But rather than celebrate his feats of villainy, I wanted to talk about the rare times across the franchise that Eggman has performed truly good acts. Eggman's capacity to care, to show kindness, to help others.

Now, I want to clarify what I mean here. For the sake of this list:

I will not be including Eggman teaming up with the heroes to save the world. These acts of "goodness" inherently carry an ulterior motive; That being to save himself and make sure there's still a world for him to conquer. Plus, half the time it's one of his own schemes going out of control anyway. So just saving the world in and of itself won't make the cut for the purpose of my post.

I will also not be including a mere lack of cruelty as "goodness." You don't get a cookie for feeding your prisoners or not torturing people. So while I do think the times where Eggman's lack of cruelty has been pointed out (such as in Unleashed) are important, they're not what I'm talking about either.

I'm specifically talking about times when Eggman does something kind, or helpful, or selfless toward others without some villainous ulterior motive. I will also be including spinoff material, since the majority of these examples come from those rather than the games. So! With that out of the way, let's begin!

Sonic Lost World - Eggman saves Tails

Now, I mentioned that merely teaming up with the heroes doesn't warrant a mention. But I think this goes beyond that.

Tails attaches Cubot's head to a Crabmeat, which causes Cubot to become very aggressive, attacking Tails. Eggman - without a moment to think or evaluate the situation - immediately leaps into harm's way and shoves Tails to safety, honoring his truce with his enemies by putting his own safety on the line to protect them.

Now, you could make the argument that Eggman is only keeping Tails around because he needs him for Sonic to take care of the Zeti (which could also be an argument for Eggman saving Sonic himself later in the same game), but consider: A.) How spur-of-the-moment this was; Eggman didn't have time to calculate how he could use this situation to his advantage, and just leaped as soon as Tails was in danger, and B.) He put himself at risk to save someone else.

Yes, by the end of the game - after the terms of their truce were met, with the Zeti defeated and the machine disabled - Eggman goes right back to fighting them. But during their time working together, Eggman is an honorable ally who ultimately saves Tails's and Sonic's lives. I feel like this goes beyond simply helping them out of necessity and warrants mentioning here.

As Eggman himself put it, he's "a complicated guy."

Sonic X - Eggman talks an enraged Sonic down, and has his crew save Chris and Cosmo from the Metarex

In Sonic X, the Metarex commander Black Narcissus attacked Chris and Cosmo, which nearly drove Sonic into an unstoppable rage.

Cue Eggman stepping in to provide Sonic with some perspective and remind him not to lose his cool. He manages to calm Sonic down, informing him that he sent Shadow to rescue Chris and Cosmo, and that they're fine. Eggman then proceeds to berate Black Narcissus for his cruelty, saying in no uncertain terms that hurting innocent people is wrong, and humiliates the commander by having Decoe, Bocoe, and Bokkun beat him to the curb.

Eggman didn't have to do any of this. Saving Sonic's friends or even calming Sonic down didn't really provide him any strategic advantage. But he did, and then explained why: Because Black Narcissus crossed Eggman's own personal moral code, and the Doc wasn't having it.

Sonic X Comics - El Gran Gordo

After initially becoming a luchador as part of a get-rich-quick scheme, where the Doctor won matches by cheating, Eggman eventually grew to love the spectacle and public adoration of being a hero. So for a time, he stuck with the wrestling gig, without any villainous intent this time.

This lands him in trouble when the hulking Andes the Ginormous challenges Gordo to a fight and completely mops the floor with him. Without his robots and gadgets to help him cheat, Eggman is no match for the might of Andes, and is just about to tap out to save himself any more pain or humiliation... when suddenly, from the stands he sees the tears of his number-one fan, Chris, and hears him say exactly what Eggman has perhaps always needed to hear: "I believe in you."

Despite the pain, despite his exhaustion, and despite being ridiculously out-matched, Gordo gets his second wind, and through pure raw determination, defeats Andes the Ginormous, claims the championship belt, and lives up to Chris's idealistic expectations. Chris's hero refused to let him down, and even in a moment of weakness, found the strength to win.

The El Gran Gordo arc is also my favorite story in the entire Sonic franchise, and I know that over the past decade I've gushed about it enough times already. It's just so good.

Sonic X Comics - Eggman the Hedgehog

In Sonic X issue 37, Sonic and Eggman swap bodies.

Blessed with Sonic's newfound speed and power, does Eggman attempt to use the hedgehog's body to take over the world? Nope. Just the opposite: Eggman loves being Sonic, and being seen as a hero to the world (which echoes his temporary stint as El Gran Gordo), and - upon hearing the president was kidnapped - attempts to rescue him. He actually seems content being the hero, and wants to use the fame and glory Sonic already has as a jump-start to his brand new heroic career.

Now, this begs the question: If X comic Eggman wants to be a beloved hero to the masses so badly, why doesn't he just reform? Why go through the middleman of luchador disguises or hijacking your arch-enemy's body to live out a life of heroism? He could just be Eggman and be a good guy, especially since this particular version of Eggman is so driven by wanting love and adoration, which heroism gives him in droves.

Ah well, he's a complicated guy.

Sonic Boom - Eggman chooses Amy's friendship over personal gain

In "Fuzzy Puppy Buddies," Eggman and Amy discover that they share a mutual interest in a collectible tabletop game about adorable dogs. They spend the episode bonding and actually striking up a genuine friendship over their newfound hobby, working out an arrangement to still be enemies on the battlefield, but friends in their off time.

At PuppyCon, Eggman steals a puppy figurine, and Amy demands he do the right thing and give it back. So she challenges him to a game, wins, and gives Eggman an ultimatum: He can either return the figurine, or their friendship is over. Eggman hesitates at first, but relents, ultimately choosing Amy's friendship over the rare figurine he wanted. The episode ends with the two of them happily playing another game of Fuzzy Puppies in Eggman's base.

I like this episode, because it really gets at who Boom Eggman is. He's a lonely guy who wants friends more than a serious conqueror or evildoer. And when actually given friendship and positive reinforcement, he become a slightly better person.

Sonic Boom - Eggman the Wingman

In "Tails' Crush," Tails has a crush on Zooey the fox, and keeps getting astoundingly bad romantic advice from his friends about how to ask her out. Tails ultimately makes a fool of himself and gets no closer to truly expressing his feelings.

Eggman witnesses this shameful display and, declaring that "the bro code trumps the enemy thing," gives Tails some solid romantic advice: Be confident in yourself and quit trying to copy others. He then immediately launches into an attack on the village - he is a villain, after all - and Tails, taking Eggman's advice, regains his confidence and saves the day. He gets a kiss from Zooey and ultimately ends up in a long-term relationship with her for the rest of the show; and we can thank Eggman for giving Tails the push he needed.

Sonic Boom - Eggman saves Beth the Shrew

In "Don't Make Me Angry," Eggman's experiments go awry and lead to him temporarily transforming into an adorable little creature every time he gets mad. In order for the effects to wear off, Eggman must avoid getting angry for an entire 48 hours.

When Sonic realizes Eggman's condition, he takes pleasure in mocking Eggman for it - hoping to goad him into getting angry. Eventually he succeeds, causing Eggman to become the purple creature as the village laughs at his transformed state. But the young scientist-in-training, Beth the Shrew, takes pity on Eggman and doesn't mock him along with the other villagers. She shows up at his base with cookies a couple of days later to try to make him feel better; a gesture Eggman is touched by, despite the cookies themselves being rather unappetizing (they were made with toothpaste).

While exploring Eggman's lab, Beth accidentally falls into the trash compactor, which is automated and set to go off soon. Eggman frantically tries to save Beth from being crushed, but is too large to fit into the compactor himself. So he does the only thing he can: He goes out of his way to become angry so that he can morph into the purple creature, fit into the trash compactor, and pull Beth to safety. Initially, he has trouble doing this, and can't find any way to get angry in time - the futility of which itself ends up making him angry, allowing him to transform and save Beth from being crushed just in the nick of time.

This entire episode revolves around Eggman going out of his way - seriously doing everything he could, including morphing into a form he hates - to save a child's life. I think that's great.

__________

So, these are some of the immediate off-hand examples I had of Eggman doing outright good things without any villainous undertones.

Share your opinions! Do you like stories that show some of Eggman's nicer side? Do you prefer takes on him that are just evil without any redeeming qualities? Maybe somewhere in the middle?

Or maybe you just feel like talking in-depth about any of these specific examples? Or you'd like to add some of your own that I didn't cover? There's a lot to talk about here, so feel free to chime in from whatever angle you want! Reblog and add your own thoughts, or just leave a comment!

As for me, I love this stuff. Eggman showing a nicer, more humane side to himself is something I pretty much always enjoy seeing. So it's no surprise that X and Boom are my favorite takes on the character overall; even if I do also enjoy his more sinister incarnations in their own way.  In the end, I love that Eggman's a character with as much range as he has. Some stories can make him borderline-monstrous, while others give the impression that he could make a great hero if he'd just give up on world domination. And those latter stories are among my favorites in the Sonic franchise.

This is Dr. Mechano, hoping to bring you more Eggman Editorials in the future!

[a-shakespearean-in-paris]

Feelings Friday!! HIII THEATRE FRIEND!! Out of curiosity, are you working on any theatre projects right now? If so, would you like to share something about them? If not, what's your favourite show that you've worked on? :)

Ah Idrelle....I just love that there’s another theatre person on here! I love hearing about your experiences! And thanks so much for asking about this, I feel like I can talk for hours about my time in the theatre! though I will give an abridged version, and it may be a little melancholy to be 100 percent honest.

*sips wine.*

To start, I’m currently not working on anything theatre related now, and for an entire year after I graduated college, I wasn’t sure if I would again, other than maybe try my hand at writing a longer play, crossing my fingers and sending it to theatres around the US, Canada and Britian. (I use a thing called Playsubmission Helper blog.) I still consider myself a theatre person even if I don’t actively (as of now) participate in my community’s theatre scene, but I did drama and acted all through my school career, and even received a BA in acting and directing. And hey, you can take the kid out of the theatre, but the drama within is just innate. Lol. 

So long story short I always wanted to act,did a lot of it in high school and won awards, but when I got to college I really didn’t get cast. It was always the same people in the director’s shows, and needless to say there was a little conspiracy going on that only people who were attractive got cast. In hindsight I see that maybe I wasn’t the best actor, (though I and my mom think I have stage presence :p) but there were also some indisputably talented people who weren’t in shows, and frankly deserved to be. That’s a whole other story. Anyway, when my school did the Winter’s Tale, I show I adore, I decided to use my talents as an English major (I double majored) to be the production’s dramaturg. (basically the researcher and one who tells the director if everything is going historically accurate or not. there’s more to the job but that’s the quick summary.)

While now I think I told myself I enjoyed dramaturgy more than I did, (I worked on three shows in this position, Winter, Julius Caesar, and The Heidi Chronicles. In addition I did a mock up for Uncle Vanya by chekhov. Also I love Chekhov in addition to Shakespeare. Come talk to me about my favorite Russian writer! :) ) I truly did love researching the historical periods the shows took place in, and I love, love, love helping actors develop their character. 

But my favorite experience in theatre? When I directed my ten minute play. 

So i wrote this thing because in class we had to direct a ten minute play for the end of the semester. I hated every play I read. So one day I was sitting in rehearsal and I got an idea for my own play. I loved my idea. Did I ever write a play before? No! But how hard could it be, thinks I, I loved to write and there was always a crap load of dialogue in my stories. So I wrote the play. I wrote it in two days and edited it the third. (by the way I don’t recommend this at all, lol, but hey, I think I just got lucky with my idea.) My teacher read it, said go. It was a two person drama between a man and a woman and my cast was stellar. I would go to rehearsal every week, help them find their character, and it was such a raw, powerful experience for all three of us. I cannot tell you how much I adored directing. And to see them bring my play to life? My words? 

Oh god. 

I especially bonded with my actor, who had this powerful, emotionally charged moment at the end of the play, where he says one of my favorite lines I’ve ever written.So simple, but the moment and buildup? I miss her everyday became so much more. My actor didn’t know how to do it at first, he was so young and this role was really for someone older, but he asked me, “should I fall to my hands and knees?” I said try it, and I loved the image, but he wasn’t really feeling it. So I told him, “this whole time, he’s kept his feelings bottled up. This is the moment where it breaks.” And then...he understood. As my friend said, that performance day, he knew. I saw it in his eyes. He was only twenty, but on that stage I swear he lived a thousand years. him and my actress, who was filled with such wonder and captivated the audience, they were wonderful. Beautiful. And after the show, and I heard the reaction from the audience..it brings tears to my eyes now. 

Miranda, my ten minute play. It’s probably the best thing I’ve written. It started with the idea of a man, a writer, talking to his muse, and became one of the most beautiful moments of my life. 

Oh jee, I need a drink now. 

Anyway, I could say more, lol, but to make a long story short, some of the most beautiful moments in my life were because of the stage. It will always call to me to act or direct. and as my beloved teacher once told me, it’s always something I can do, even if the stage was also a place that maybe took a piece of my soul and never gave it back. But I will always love it, and even now, as I get ready to begin my master’s to get a degree in English literature, I know I want to teach plays. And I really hope to see another staging of Miranda :) And hey maybe someday I’ll direct again and find one more beautiful moment.

thanks for the ask and allowing me to relive this :)

[anxiety-trademark]

The week in review:

Raw 10/26 NXT 10/28 NXT UK 10/29 Smackdown 10/30

Raw:

Wonder what 19/11 means.

...Arsenic??... What in the-- WHY IS SHE SO HAPPY ABOUT THIS.

Boy y’all really nailed home how agonizing his suffering was before he died. My head hurts, this show is demented.

My god there are legitimately 2 of these psychopaths now.

wwe production should give Alexa’s voice a reverb effect whenever she says “let him in”

Girl is actually laughing hysterically while Bray ruthlessly murders Rambling Rabbit. Goodbye.

This act works so much better as a duo, Alexa was right in requesting to work with Bray.

kekekek Shayna makes a list of women she wants on her Survivor Series team; Nia snags the list and sees she’s not on it. Whose idea was this tag team? Need to know who I’m sending a fruit basket to.

Appreciate Mandy clarifying that Otis and her are still close, but I don’t understand why wwe separated them.

What is with everyone wearing black??

Lmfao this man really tried giving his rose to Shayna SIR PLZ. He had a better chance giving it to Sonya lesbireal.

Dana actually having a decent speaking segment. Half point.

“I feel like this is a joke. Is this like punk’d? Are we-- are we getting punk’d?” Nia came to entertain tonight.

Why can’t wwe just implement GMs again? Love Adam Pearce but he’s literally just playing the role of GM. Just keep them in the background with the mere purpose of cohesion. Good example: Paige. Bad example: Corbin.

This actually makes sense. You have the tag champs automatically being added, cuz duh, and the tag team who are undefeated since forming and moving to Raw. So have the 5th team member fight for the spot. I don’t hate that at all. At least there’s logic being applied.

I will never not hate Peyton’s theme. Yikes.

WHAT THE FUCK IS NIKKI CROSS’ NEW THEME LMFAO why are we throwing some bland, midwest country rock track with such a slow tempo at her??!? oof rip. Sucks for Nikki that Alexa wanted something more for her career but one could not possibly blame her, so.

ahahahaha I just noticed Nia took Byron’s seat. She’s so fucking funny.

Look if y’all are gonna do the move where someone lifts you over the top rope to set you on the apron, FUCKING JUMP FOR THEM. They’re not supposed to dead lift you.

Nice kick to Nikki by Lana; sloppy vault over the top rope. It’s kay, she isn’t even the worst one in this match lesbihonest.

Lacey gets Nikki in position for a suplex off the top rope, and Peyton - as quick as can be - jumps in to throw Lacey in a German suplex. That was smooth with very minimal set up. Points.

So Lana steals the win by pinning Nikki and the camera pans to all 4 team members looking absolutely shook. I am dying.

Interesting to see them focus on Peyton’s disappointment.

aaaaand rip Lana for the 6th time.

Such a jarring remix of Alexa’s song.

I know y’all are super weird and choose to sexualize/fetishize everything that you don’t understand, but I appreciate Alexa’s new persona. It’s like Firefly Funhouse characters meets Disney themed characters (which is core to Alexa) meets Harley Quinn. It’s a fitting cosplay with fitting demeanors. So if y’all could quit talking about ageplay like a bunch of weirdos, that’d be great.

Alexa and I are the same age and tbh I’m kind of shook on her behalf to see her share these segments and storylines with Randy Orton. Like I was a kid watching his feud with triple h. We were mere preadolescent kids lol. Good for her.

I like that she’s immune to Fiend’s name now that she’s fully embraced him become brainwashed.

Omg she’s just sitting on the turnbuckle laughing at them.

So Fiend is just a looming threat to Orton rn? Just letting Orton know that eventually he’ll have to answer for the fire he started all those years ago? I wasn’t here for Bray’s run back then so I’m kind of trying to piece this all together. Anyway fine segment. I don’t much care about Drew vs Orton but I appreciate Orton selling the intensity of the Fiend. He’s a good worker.

Highlight: Completely split between Nia being hilarious & Alexa being creepy as hell

---

NXT:

Well at least they’re keeping Ember backstage for her promos. That’s an improvement.

True, Dakota as a babyface was awful. Not sorry. Her character consisted of “scared” and “sad”... That’s it.

Big fan of the set for nxt tonight.

It’s so rare to see someone handle Rhea, what a nice dynamic.

These 2 are best friends irl, aren’t they? Enjoyable to watch them go punch for punch back and forth. If nothing else, they’re definitely selling that they’re pretty evenly built.

True though, Rhea does have her athleticism going for her. Rhea’s kicks are a beautiful thing to see. Soccer player ftw.

Really like this match. It’s cool to see the range of different matches Rhea can have. It’s not often you see her in an underdog type of role, and you wouldn’t think she could thrive as one, but it works for her just the same as being a dominant powerhouse. Shouldn’t be surprised though, her vs Charlotte at wm was a banger, and Charlotte was definitely the dominant force in that match.

Commentators said Rhea’s inverted cloverleaf has tapped out “many” superstars in nxt, and I just wanna know who? Cuz I have zero recollection of such.

Good showing for Raquel. Gave zero shits about her prior to this. She’s always just been the Diesel to Dakota’s Shawn Michaels.

GREAT counter by Rhea from the one armed powerbomb into nearly a headscissors takedown.

This match is very well paced.

Oh yes, that’s the type of match that easily could’ve gone longer and left me wanting more, which is a hell of a compliment. I underestimated how good this would be.

Wow they’re having Poppy rob us of Io’s theme song? For shame.

So how does the wheel actually work? Do they really not get a chance to plan out their stip matches? That’s weird. I love it, but it’s weird. Is it rigged? It’s gotta be rigged, right?

Love the black and orange themed ladders.

lmao Candice’s reaction to the bag of body parts. Fantastic.

Did Candice hit Io in the face with a laptop?? Honestly, points.

Lol chalk outlines on the tables. The theme is great.

Oh man, a moonsault straight onto chairs. rip Io’s midsection.

Wicked suplex onto the sitting chair, oof. Looked like Io clipped that.

Meteora into a steel ladder, which then fell on Io. She taking a beating lol.

Commentators mentioning Johnny counter: 3

Kinda cool spot twisting Candice’s ankle in a chair. Of course, it’s not like Candice sold the damaged ankle anyway, so.

Swinging neckbreaker through the tables - a spot that would’ve been great if the commentators had actually sold it and there was a real crowd.

idk who the hell is helping Candice, but I think it’s just fantastic that Shotzi came in to stop them.

“LeRae can’t reach,” as if this match wouldn’t have been over if she would’ve just climbed up one single ring.

Welp Candice is dead now. Fell off the top of the ladder through another ladder. Nasty landing. rip. 

Brutal match, but it still wasn’t better than their first match. At least Candice did work and this wasn’t boring unlike their last takeover match. Points for the damage they caused to their bodies, eesh.

Highlight: Rhea vs Raquel

---

NXT UK:

Oh nice UK added some monitors. Good for them, even if the stream quality is kinda poor.

I like this match up. Dani Luna is an athletic powerhouse, and Valkyrie is an athletic technician. This is more the type of quality match that I’d expect on the MR - minus the storytelling/performance aspect, but that’s okay.

Really appreciate Luna’s strength for how small she seems.

Valkyrie is fun to watch. Her arm drag takedowns and counters are entertaining.

Damn Valkyrie can do a springboard cross body and a pele kick as well? What an intriguing skillset she has.

Holy shit that snap German suplex by Dani was effortlessly CLEAN.

I’m not big on Dani’s look tbh. I feel like she’d be more of a standout if her hair was a different color. I don’t think blue works for her, personally.

An interesting finisher by Valkyrie... I don’t hate it. I’m all for the result, though. Good show of respect between both competitors. Wouldn’t mind watching them again in the future.

Current day has KLR still as champion (#foreverchampion) but I’m guessing they’re really gonna have Piper be the one to inevitably end it. Should be Valkyrie as far as I’m concerned. Even if she’s trash on the mic - not saying she is cuz I have no idea - she’s super entertaining to watch.

Highlight: Dani Luna vs Valkyrie

---

Smackdown:

New year, same old Nattie trying to be the Survivor Series captain.

Billie Kay is entertaining but wbk.

Bianca, ma’am, you JUST started going here. Calm down.

“Bianca nobody really cares, or knows, what EST means, it’s totally irrelevant. I’m the boat.” lmao I genuinely love Nattie, not sorry.

SHE CLAPPED AT HER goodbye. Give me a Bianca vs Nattie match, entertain me plz.

Ah a triple threat? That’s fine I suppose, what the hell.

Why does wwe keep depriving me of Bianca’s entrance? I hate this company.

Billie Kay: *jumps in the ring to catch Bianca in a random pinfall; fails; proceeds to leave the ring once more*

Billie Kay really is a special level of awful, but at least she has character work going for her.

Good cover by Bianca to set up the basement dropkick by Nattie to break up the pin.

Boy Bianca sure did take her time breaking up that sharpshooter. You got both Nattie and Billie Kay screaming and she’s in lala land lmao.

I will genuinely cry if they ever change Bianca’s music, I stg. Good for her btw. Appropriate result.

What’s the purpose of the polaroid camera?

Soo did they basically give Carmella the layout of Sasha’s gimmick while turning Sasha babyface? Is that what’s going on? What rules is Carmella making? What shots is she calling? Why does this girl have champagne? You know who would rock the “fuck y’all I’m rich, look at my Gucci and diamonds” gimmick? The Ice Queen, Charlotte Flair.

What an adorably tiny cross.

Carmella you’re not really known for winning, but alright.

Hate this music btw.

Lol this fucking chair. Okay.

“Long time rivalry renewed” didn’t Asuka and Sasha have a minor feud a mere 5 months ago? That lasted one month?? Is that considered long time now???

Sasha’s makeup is off key ngl. I hate that outfit as well.

Yes, yes she was your best friend and that was really sad, but you’re not saying anything different than you have before. And you’re STILL not likeable. But hey, I’m happy for you all the same, now be as entertaining as Bayley plz.

“The whole world knows that you can win a championship, but even you know that you can’t hang onto one. Unlike me.” pppffffttttt she’s not wrong.

Who do I gotta pay to permanently separate you 2? hiac was great, let’s end the debacle now plz.

“You made me sign that hiac contract under duress,” THANK YOU BAYLEY see someone knows their legal jargon. 

Peep that gnarly bruise on Bayley’s arm. Whew.

She’s so annoying lmao.

“Backstabbing bitches never win,” hi, Sasha? Longest reigning Raw women’s champion, first ever wm main eventer, first ever women’s dual world champion, face of the company, cover of espn and 2k20 Becky Lynch just called; said that is absolutely not true.

Highlight: Bianca, Billie Kay & Natalya backstage segment

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*Raw shined the brightest this week, but I have to shout out NXT as well for their 2 matches, particularly Rhea vs Raquel.