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#got an art rejection I really wanted but I’ve got a TON of stuff to do and apply for and it’s just like
nuclearnyx · 1 year
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it’s been a weird couple of weeks lemme tell ya
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Adopt Drama
Have you ever been excited to get involved with the adopts? So excited you notice they are accepting staff, submit an application just because, and then they accept you? And after being a fair staff member, they remove you just because they don't like you? Yeah. That's me. (And this is the TLDR) Hello I'm under the guise of anon and I am here to tell a salty story. I'm tired of keeping it all to myself and beating myself up over it. Though given how long and detailed this is, I'm sure those involved will know who I am. I've already blocked those who I felt wronged me described in this post. What's the worst they can do now that I'm no longer apart of their cult?
PART ONE: New thing, lemme be apart of it! I've never been in an adopt thing before, or a closed species. I do not know the customs, etiquette, that sort of stuff. This one I saw on the forum caught my eye. Looking through and wowza, staff applications are open. Me being the power thirsty gremlin I am, went and applied. Might as well try, worst thing they're gonna do is reject. If that's the case, oh well, move on with day. But they ended up accepting me and as a result, I'm not just a member, but apart of the staff team. Glad about that too because the staff team is so much more active and catered towards than the members themselves half of the time.
Learned how the closed species thing worked (kinda), bases they use, traits to make things feel a bit more systematic, breeding... things? Didn't understand the raffling and when I asked if i could have a raffle child in a joint breeding I was met with hostility. Shook me for a few days but other than that there wasn't anything particular negative. (They did have to make a rule to get me to shut up as I would nonstop talk about a certain game, it just comes up naturally what can I say?)
It was nice, there were events, opportunities to help hone my pixel art skills, a sense of community. Though it was a heavily curated to be happy space, like a smile with too many teeth. I also met a ton of nice folks there, and SO many good artists, some of which I became more familiar and friendly with.
PART TWO: Trouble Brewing I wanted to do a cool breeding between two adopts. I'm a rare hunter, but not just a rare one: a cool rare hunter. If the adopts I have can look cool and rare, that's all I'm asking for. There's this one staff member in the community who does really, really cool adopt designs- And we on cool friend terms too. I go to them and ask them to do my breeding. They accept and we do business per usual. Then comes time to submit the adopts for archiving purposes. They get stopped by the admins because the adopt was "too big". When the artist asked what size it should be, the admins only respond with "smaller". Pixel art can't just be resized, but the real kicker was that there were other adopts in the archive that were just as big as this one. This one was only too big because it took up so much space with all it's cool features.
After a lot of back and forth, the adopt went through with the admins buckling down on more restrictions and my adopt having the traits that it should, but certain ones could not be passed. In the past, something like tentacles were not counted as tails but limbs. This made me wonder. I went to the archives to look up adopts made by this artist. The owner also commissioned this same artist to do a cool adopt for them. It had the same energy and traits, but they were all passable by breeding, along with tentacle features that did not count as tails. I could only assume that this inconstancy was because they were the owner. The recent event being a success, staff members were free to make their own adopt with any sort of traits they want. ANY. I took this as an opportunity to make the rarest thing possible and try to find the answers I was looking for. In a sense, I wanted to see some sort of justice for the artist that got shot down by my breeding request. And I also wanted answers. How do you not have a proper size limit? And even if you have a proper size limit, how does the total percentage of an adopt make it too big when the size is no different than something else- They even follow the same base. Somewhere in between the artist that took on my breeding got not banned, but removed from the team with no explanation, though it wasn't hard to guess why. Guess they didn't like someone who was just trying to understand what was going on. It felt like some sort of injustice and these were valid questions. I took this into my own hands (which may not have been the best idea at the time but these admins felt far too out of touch and out of the loop to talk to).
And so I asked questions in the dedicated questions channel. Lots of questions because I am confused. "It's too big, make it smaller." "I can't see your sketch." I accommodate and try to be as nice as possible. Just when things look like they have been approved, I'm close enough to the original base while traits can be identified- Admins say my piece (which I have worked hours on) isn't a valid thing and I need to start over again. At this point I am tired. For a few weeks I have been keeping quiet, popping in to interact with those I've befriended, but that's it. My interactions with the admins have been strained. One has been aggressive towards me, and other folks in the community also took notice. It made me feel very valid when someone came into my DMs asking me if I was okay because this one admin was being rougher with me than other people in the community.
I get it, I'll simmer down for a bit, let it blow over, do a few event things to maybe give some staff friends a smile, there was even a gift exchange thing going on too. PART THREE: Up in flames Out of the blue, one of the most non-involved mods on the server (but most certainly involved as they hold a high ranking due to the owner personally knowing in real life) sends me a message. This message in a nutshell said that I was removed from the staff and that any outstanding work I had should be submitted within a month. There was no prior warning, no strike system to let me know, no reasoning behind this removal. Faced with this sort of treatment, I professionally go something along the lines of "okay, but why" and after many messages of back and forth, this messenger responded with "learn to read boundaries. now stop pestering me."
I was completely in shambles for a few weeks. One of my close friends noticed and if it wasn't for their connections, I would NOT have been "granted an audience" with the owner.
We talked things out. Literally the only reason why they removed me was because my questions felt pressuring and I was associated with the previous artist they removed. Also that I was too intimidating and scary to talk to despite me just,,, not being that? Clearly they haven't interacted with me enough, or they always met me with hostility (coughcough that first interaction with the joint breeding) so I end up biting back.
Thinking back on this now, those were the only reasons why they removed me from the staff team. I also talked with a few of the staff I was acquainted with and they agreed that I didn't need something like this to happen to me. This was all a decision made by the admins. They hate me.
After the whole talk the owner offered me a position back as consolidation or something. There was still the gift exchange going on and I had one last breeding I wanted to see through myself, so I went back in just to do those. In the process I did see how they were planning to revamp and what not.
I personally thought it was a mess. I quickly finished my outstanding works, got to stick around to see people react to the gift exchange (Mine had to be done by a backup artist because the one that got me was the messenger, pretty sure they didn't want to do mine because of our only interaction and they didn't want to give me a lick of goodness from them), and then left.
Left the staff position, left the species after handing out all my cool rare things for free, and then separated. I still keep in touch with some folks though. PART FOUR: The aftermath. It's been some time since this. A few months I'd say. And I'm still salty.
I think it's because I never got the closure I wanted. Or maybe because the owner, despite having talked to me, is still doing what they have done before. The remaining artists were never held to the same standard me and the other artist were held to, owner is still getting all the funds and the staff don't get to see a portion of that, owner can pull things out of thin air whereas staff are still held to their standards and whatever- It's just infuriating. Not to mention they go back on their own word. They gonna close down the adopt because they tired? Okay. Not too long afterwards they open it back up with a slightly different name and not just on FR, but on another collection site as well. They are everywhere and it's so annoying.
I still see them around despite having blocked them because they are that active. And I never realized how much they have come to bother me until I ran into someone with the exact same profile picture as the owner. I felt bad blocking someone just for the icon- But it made me skiddish and upset- sorry person.
I hate how I'm still upset.
I just, want to be heard. To be validated. Sorry if this was all over the place, there was so much happening, so much to unpack, and it still upsetting to think back on. But at least it'll be read. Thanks for reading.
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Well it’s been a while since I’ve been here but here’s what going on with the fics.
MRaaG (Mate Reject and a Gamma) is update priority #1, Kakashi is just being a pain and keeps going mopey when I don’t want him to be. I also want some more art done before I post.
NHfME (No Hiding from Master Earthbenders) is on the back burner but it’ll be a Toph chapter, in this house we love her, and the next will be either Katara or Aang depending on how things go pacing wise.
UB (Useful Blades) remains an unpublished wip until I’m done updating MRaaG and NHfME. I was thinking about intersex Tobirama and did a crap ton of polls. (I think I posted the results?) but long story short things are mixed to hell and back. A lot of nonintersex readers seem to actually be interested in it, I think there’s a craving for real world things ya know? But the amount of intersex individuals was tiny in polling turn out. Like, five, of you. Which I’m grateful for any honestly. But I got 4 silent no don’ts and one really emphatic yes please. Number wise, it’s yes; numbers for the intersex community is a no (which holds a crap ton more weight), but it’s that yes and the talks I’ve had with writers and editors that have to weed through garbage that makes me keep going back to the idea. I want a sensitivity reader that would be interested in this but I have doubts I’ll find one.
I think the biggest issue is both my public stuff is omegaverse which is considered the reigning king of fanfic kink. Which honestly sucks. Cause like, copious fluids aside, the world concept is versatile. I like the ease of established concepts to carry a narrative I want to make. I like a good smut but it ain’t good unless there’s established feelings. Which MRaaG is aiming at, gentle romance with some steam (eventually). NhfME doesn’t have nor will it ever have smut, its about healing. UB is a healing story + romance. Sure I could make it omegaverse but it wouldn’t serve anything I don’t already have planned out.
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honklore · 3 years
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hello! i just found ur blog and omfg i’m in love with your writing style! may i pls have some soulmate au hc’s for a reader who’s an artist? (i’m indecisive so you can choose who the hcs are with!) so like (insert cc u write for here) has got paint stains on his hands and like assorted sketches and stuff on his skin all the time from his soulmate. ty so much!! :]
masterpiece | quackity
(gn reader, quackity is the loml, reader is so talented but v messy, chat teases q to no end, quackity is the biggest softie in the world but refuses to acknowledge it, plantain slander)
listen to: rainbow connection (cover) by sleeping at last
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sweet quackity :((
it starts when he’s eighteen, and it happens like almost immediately
he got these splotches of purple on his hands and his mom was like ?? are u getting into fights ?? are you okay???
and q rlly doesn’t mind aside from the weird questions when the colors are a little too close to red or purple
but!! nowadays mostly you just sketch w a pen
it’s during your classes usually,,, ur an art history major and you need something to occupy your hands (which is actually why you started drawing in the first place)
so during the day quackity will acquire lil sketches of famous paintings,,, or sometimes originals,,, but they’re always washed off before the day is done
sometimes random art facts/theories/studies but he has no idea why someone would write him about van gogh’s use of color
*cue u aggressively scrubbing your skin in the shower bc you always forget how permanent the ink is*
quackity is sort of... hesitant when it comes to writing on his skin. esp with streaming, he’s scared that fans will react badly ,, that negative thought keeps him at bay most days
but sometimes he writes lil notes on his legs,,, where chat won’t see anything ,,,, and they’re always either rlly sweet or rlly weird
(hope ur having a good day)
(hey bestie :P )
(soulmate my beloved)
(will u be the howie mandel to my dr. phil)
that last one made you genuinely worried for your future
badly drawn picture of a duck holding a briefcase (this is me)
which confuses you but as he draws more, you begin to associate him with ducks, and sometimes the duck wears a tie, and sometimes a beanie, and one time he had a giant blue axe which kind of concerned you
but you digress
when you get stressed u finger paint
and it’s just a way to create chaos and feel the cold paint on your skin like idk it’s relaxing yknow :)
quackity is streaming
and he doesn’t realize what’s happening. he’s reacting to attaway general,, and he’s kind of invested
it’s only when he pauses it to make a point that he notices
and he tries to hide it but chat notices right away
panicked!quackity
it’s not that he doesn’t trust chat he just knows things can get negative quickly and he wants his space to be free of that
but someone donates “artist q?”
and quackity lets the joke run
he stands up and pulls the mic super close to his mouth
“i’m in my artist arc chat! nihachu watch out >.>”
“CHAT WE’RE POPPIN OFF I AM A PAINTER NOW I PAINT”
it’s literally so silly bc q knows that chat knows but they’re letting him do his bit
and later that night he checks twitter and artist q is trending, but quackity’s soulmate is also trending
it’s all mostly supportive, and there’s already some rlly endearing fan art of quackity with paint all over his hands
quackity private tweet: ❤️❤️❤️
and he gets a lil confidence boost after that
answers questions abt u on his alt
tells the story of his mom thinking he was getting into fights
“guys paula is still my number one and my soulmate will just have to understand that”
“we already agreed we would both reject each other for taylor swift chat it’s fine”
answers donos and doodles on his hand
which he can do now bc chat knows!!!!
(you’re so talented your honor)
(have you ever seen attaway general?)
(charli d’amelio is in it)
(charli d’amelio is in it shit dixie sorry)
and you’re like !!! it’s on my hand !!!! it’s not hidden at all !!!
this image is so endearing to me like you’ve got paint stains all over your hands and quackity’s scrawl is filling in the empty spaces like he didn’t want to interrupt your work
duck with a beret, a mustache, and a paintbrush (this is me now)
ik he is going to share the most mundane things in a way of showing his love
(i listened to this song the other day)
(i bought a literal plantain today those things are big as shit)
(update: not good :/)
(i’m writing lore)
(i have an exam tomorrow)
just :(( sweet quackity wants u to know every little detail abt his life bc he wants u to know him
and you reply when u can
(added to my playlist!)
(i like plantain chips but i’ve never had the fruit alone)
(rip buddy :/)
(lore? like fnaf?)
quackity finds out you know extensive fnaf lore and the two of you stay up arguing about which is worse: the bite of ‘87 or the bite of ‘83
both of your legs look like newspapers that night and it takes a lot of scrubbing to get all of those off
one day you’re painting smth and quackity randomly gives you his discord
(add me and we can watch game theory together and see who is right)
the two of you end up watching it and getting in call with each other
when you hear his voice it’s like everything falls into place
he fills in all the empty spaces,,, answers all the questions you didn’t realize you had,,,, and he’s so wonderful that you find yourself missing him dearly whenever he’s not on call with you
you join him in calls on his streams sometimes like for jackbox or when he’s cooking
“CHAT MY SOULMATE IS A CHICA KINNIE”
you stop joining him on calls on his stream /s
but chat loves you and always takes ur side over q’s
you get tons of followers on your art account and you even get to sell some of your paintings!!
ur new favorite colors to use are blue and yellow i don’t make the rules
but everyone starts to catch on and they find it really sweet
you catch up on quackity lore solely for him and declare yourself a c!quackity apologist
you’ve definitely retweeted the meme that’s like “if villain bad why hot”
when u guys meet quackity kisses your forehead :((((
when you
a drawing of two ducks holding hands (this is us)
thank you for the kind words and for requesting !!!
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the-modernmary · 4 years
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when you gonna take me out? || derek morgan x GN!reader
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Summary: You and Derek have been flirting pretty heavily for the past few weeks. So when his first time asking you out doesn't go as well as planned, he's determined to get you to say yes.
Warnings: mentions of getting shot, allusions to smut
A/N: Chapter title taken from Aly & AJ's "Take Me Out". This was inspired by a scene from the show community, and also because derek morgan deserves more love
~~~~~~~
“No, no, you see, asking somebody out is an art,” Derek explained to a very frustrated Spencer Reid. “And I think with a little practice, pretty boy, you could become a bit of a player.”
Prentiss, who had been listening to Derek trying to convince Spencer to let him be his wingman for the better part of an hour, scoffed from her desk. “Using a cheesy pickup line is an art now?”
“There is nothing wrong with a line!” Derek argued, leaning back in his desk chair. “It’s a knock at the door. And once they let you in, that’s when you strike.”
Spencer scrunched up his nose at Derek’s phrasing. “I think I’m going to leave the whole player thing to you.”
“Come on, Reid, it’s easy.”
“If it’s so easy, then why don’t you show us?” Prentiss shot.
Right at that moment, Garcia and JJ walked back into the bullpen, coffees in hand. “Show us what?” JJ questioned.
“Derek is trying to teach Reid how to flirt,” Prentiss explained. “But I think he’s just all talk. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Morgan with a significant other.”
Derek rolled his eyes. “Hey, I don’t pry into your personal life?”
Garcia put a comforting hand on Derek’s shoulder. “Nobody can resist my chocolate thunder. I mean, look at him. He literally looks like he was sculpted by Michaelangelo.”
“I’m with Emily,” JJ chimed in. “I kind of want to see the Derek Morgan in action.”
Derek’s eyes scanned the bullpen until he landed on you, standing in the kitchen area and making yourself a cup of coffee. You were also a profiler, just on a different team that primarily focused on cold cases. It was no secret that you and Derek Morgan had been flirting pretty heavily the past few weeks — longing glances, pet names, and kisses on cheeks were just the start — and you both had a sneaking suspicion that there was an office pool betting on whether or not the two of you had already hooked up.
“Fine,” Derek said, standing up. “Watch and learn, Pretty Ricky.”
Derek sauntered over to the kitchen and leaned against the counter while reaching for a wooden stirrer. “Let me help you with that,” he offered.
You turned to look at him, a smile on your face. “Wow, what a gentleman,” you teased, but you handed your cup of coffee to him anyways. “I didn’t realize you knew how I take my coffee?”
“You learn a lot about somebody when you can’t take your eyes off them,” he pointed out. “Especially with the way you look right now. I mean, wow. Got a hot date tonight? Because he is one very lucky man.”
You arched an eyebrow in his direction. “Nope, no date.”
“Well, you do now, baby,” Derek grinned. “I’ll pick you up at 8:30.”
You stared at Derek, part amused and part incredulous. “Did you really think that would work?” you asked through a breathy chuckle.
Derek’s confident grin fell slightly as his eyes narrowed in confusion. “Wait, what?” he asked, unable to form any other words.
“Derek Morgan, I expected so much more from you,” you mused, snatching your coffee cup from his hand. “I know you can sweet talk better than that.”
It was Derek’s turn to raise his eyebrows, and he tried his best to ignore the barely-suppressed giggles from his teammates. “So is that a no?” he clarified, not used to the feeling of rejection. Although, it didn’t feel quite like a rejection, especially when you were smiling at him with just a hint of your tongue peaking out from between your teeth.
“It’s a… ‘better luck next time’,” you explained, taking a sip of your coffee.
Derek’s normal, confident grin returned to his face. “You’re saying I can ask you out again?” he clarified, because he did not want to be the guy who didn’t know how to take no for an answer.
You walked backwards to your desk, never taking your eyes off Derek. “Sure. It could be fun. But you’ll have to bring your A-game if you want me to say yes,” you told him, and oh, Derek Morgan loved a good challenge.
Derek walked back to his desk, feeling the stares of his teammates the whole way back.
“Like a knock on the door...” Prentiss quoted back to Derek. “So did you just get the door slammed in your face, or was nobody home?”
Derek scoffed and sat down in his chair, already coming up with all the new ways he could ask you out. He had been wanting to for a while, but the timing was always off. But now…
“Oh no, I’m in,” Derek promised, and his eyes were immediately drawn to you. He hadn’t been lying when he said that he couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. “But I’m playing the long game.”
~~~~~~~
Derek and the rest of his team got pulled into a case shortly after, so you didn’t hear from him for about a week except for the occasional “how is it going?” text. They got back to the BAU in the middle of the day, but instead of heading straight home like the rest of his team, Derek made a beeline to your desk.
“Good morning, gorgeous,” he greeted, dropping a quick kiss to your temple. “Hope you didn’t miss me too much.”
A soft blush rose to your cheeks as you shut the file you were looking at, spinning your chair so that you could face him. “I missed you tons, as always. But you knew that.”
Derek’s eyes trailed up and down your body, and there was a softness to his gaze that you rarely ever saw from him. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?”
“Sore eyes?” you questioned. “I don’t know about that. Wasn’t there a meteor shower where you guys were at?”
“Yeah, but no meteor shower can compare to how beautifully your eyes sparkle.”
You tried really, really hard to hold in your laughter. You pressed your lips into a thin line and you bit the insides of your cheeks, but you were only so strong, and even Derek looked like he realized how cheesy and awful that line was.
You broke down into a fit of laughter. “I’m sorry,” you giggled, covering your mouth as you did. “I just — Did you google a top ten best pickup lines list on the plane ride back?”
Derek winced, but nodded in agreement. “That’s fair. Not my best work.”
“No, it was not, Romeo,” you said, patting his cheek. “But we’ll chalk it up to post-case sleep deprivation.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” Derek grinned. “When the time comes, you won’t be able to say no.”
You laughed, throwing your head back as you did. “And I am eagerly awaiting that day.”
~~~~~~~
Two days later, Derek all but ambushed you at the elevator. As soon as you stepped out onto the 6th floor, Derek slung his arm around your shoulders, and used his free hand to carry your bag for you.
“Oh, this is exciting,” you mused. You reached your hand up to interlace your fingers with the hand that was draped over your shoulder. “What do you have for me today, baby?”
“I’ve been thinking,” Derek explained. “And you’re a modern, progressive, independent person. I think I’ve been going about this all wrong.”
You nodded in encouragement. He was so close, you just knew it. All he had to do was ask you.
“You don’t want to be dragged down by a bunch of strings. So how about you come over tonight, I’ll put on some mood music, light some candles, and you and I can have one perfect night of pure bliss.”
Or maybe he wasn’t as close as you thought.
“Nope,” you said, moving his arm off of your shoulders. You liked Derek Morgan, but you were not going to be another one of his one night stands. “Not gonna happen.”
“Better or worse than before?” Derek asked, already knowing the answer, and he handed your bag back to you.
“Worse. Much worse.” You paused and turned so that you were facing him. “But I like how forward you were. Keep that up.”
Derek smirked and leaned against the wall, his hands in his pockets. “Yeah? So should I keep those candles just in case?”
You pretended to think about it for a few seconds. “With your current track record, baby boy, the only place you’ll be using those candles is in your dreams.”
“You’re already in my dreams, hot stuff,” he promised you. “Every. Single. Night.”
Oh god, that was a very welcome image you would think about forever. You knew that Derek liked you, and you had had your fair share of fantasies involving him in some pretty explicit situations, but him fantasizing about you? It was almost enough to convince you to drag him into the nearest empty room.
Almost. Because if he wanted a chance with you, he was going to have to actually ask you on a date.
Instead, you blew him a kiss and left him with: “And I bet I’m even better than you can imagine.”
Needless to say, the both of you spent the rest of the day incredibly distracted.
~~~~~~~
By that point, pretty everybody on the 6th floor knew what was going on, and they were all invested. More betting pools sprouted up, and even some of the more reserved agents were putting in their two cents, albeit under the guise of disapproval.
That’s why, when a bouquet of flowers appeared on your desk one morning, it was all anybody could talk about as they waited for you to get to work. Even Rossi and Hotch had found an excuse to get themselves out of their offices and into the main part of the bullpen.
“They’re going to say yes today,” Penelope guessed. “They have to. Everybody likes flowers, and this shows the sweet side of my chocolate thunder.”
Prentiss scoffed. “I hope they don’t. I have twenty bucks on at least two more rejections.”
Rossi, who was sitting on the edge of a desk, shook his head. “These are your friends. Don’t you guys feel bad about betting on their love lives?”
“Says the guy who has fifty dollars on ‘they get drunk and leave the bar together’,” Hotch said, not even looking up at the file he was skimming through. Hotch was one of the only ones who hadn’t put money into this whole thing, but he was still very well informed. “You all should really hide the whiteboard the bets are on a little bit better.”
Rossi was about to defend himself when you walked through the glass doors of the BAU. A hush fell over the room and they watched as your smile melted into realization and then nervousness.
You walked over to the bouquet and gingerly took the card, but you didn’t even get to read it when the first sneeze came. Then the next and the next, and pretty soon your eyes were watery, your nose running, and your throat was so scratchy that you sounded like you smoked four packs a day.
You tried to focus on your work, but the constant sneezing and needing to get up to blow your nose was seriously disrupting your productivity. You could barely focus because it felt like a head cold that just wouldn’t go away. Your pollen allergy was something you’d had your whole life, and when they hit, they hit bad.
The flowers were gorgeous and such a sweet gesture, but you didn’t even have the chance to really appreciate them while you could barely breathe through your nose. You were sure you were just a distraction
A hand on your shoulder made you jump, and you whipped around to see Hotch looking down at you with concern. You sighed. “I’m sorry, Agent Hotchner,” you said, your voice nasally. “I usually keep allergy meds in my bag, but it’s not pollen season and I—”
“Go home, agent,” Hotch interrupted you gently. “Get some rest. You can come back tomorrow when you feel better.”
“No, m’fine I just need to—” You cut yourself off this time with another sneeze, and then all you could do was agree with Hotch. “Yeah, I’m gonna go home. Thank you.”
You took the bouquet and walked over to Penelope, handing the glass vase over to her. “Will you please tell Derek that these are beautiful and that I’m so sorry—” You sneezed three times in a row, and by then you were too exhausted to even try talking anymore, so you just groaned and waved goodbye to the rest of Derek’s friends before dragging yourself out of the bullpen.
The next thirty minutes went on as usual, until Derek walked into the bullpen. He had been gone all morning doing a profiling seminar for academy recruits, so he had missed your quick descent into your allergic reaction.
His face fell slightly when he saw your empty desk, and it fell even more when he saw the flowers he had bought sitting on the corner of Prentiss’s desk and his entire team talking amongst themselves.
Derek walked up to them, a frown etched on his face. “Did they not show up for work today?” he asked.
“I sent them home,” Hotch explained, and if Derek didn’t know any better, he could have sworn that he saw the hint of a smirk on the corner of Hotch’s mouth.
Spencer’s smirk, on the other hand, was not even close to being hidden. “Hey Morgan, did you know that pollen allergies affect up to 20 million adults? And sunflowers and flowers in the aster family are considered some of the worst flowers for people who suffer with pollen allergies, since the pollen is so easily dispersed by the wind.”
Realization set in Derek and he cursed under his breath. You had mentioned once in passing that you liked the look of sunflowers, so he had assumed that those were the best flowers to get you. Clearly, he was wrong.
Noticing his dejected look, Garcia quickly interjected. “But they said that they’re beautiful and they looked like they really loved them,” she comforted. “And they wanted me to tell you that they’re sorry.”
Derek shook his head. How did he not know that you were allergic? That seemed like a pretty big thing. “No, they have nothing to be sorry for. I’m going to go wipe down their desk, make sure that it’s clean for them tomorrow.”
The team watched as Derek went over to your desk, taking his time to make sure that there was no flower residue left. They all quickly went back to discussing the bet, changing up their predictions now that they had more evidence to go off of.
Surprisingly, instead of going back to his office, Hotch spoke up. “Morgan isn’t used to being told no. He’s going to break down and beg.”
The team looked at Hotch incredulously. “I’ve never seen Morgan beg for anything,” JJ pointed out, and Hotch just shrugged.
“Well, are you willing to put your money where your mouth is?” Prentiss pressed.
Hotch sighed and shut the file he was holding. “I try not to make a habit out of betting on my subordinates' love lives.”
Rossi rolled his eyes. “He knows he’s wrong, he just wants to be a contrarian,” he told the team, baiting Hotch.
Hotch narrowed his eyes slightly. If anybody else had said that, he would have been able to walk away, but this was Rossi. So Hotch reached into his pocket and pulled out a twenty from his wallet.
“None of this goes on any sort of record.”
~~~~~~~
“Derek Morgan, you got shot?”
You stood up from your desk as soon as you saw Derek and his team walk through the glass doors. It was way after hours, but the news of a shoot out at their last crime scene got back to you, and there was no way you were going to be able to go home knowing that Derek got hurt.
The rest of the team all shared a glance and quickly dispersed, giving you and Derek as much privacy as possible.
Derek made his way over to you, trying to look like he was in less pain than he actually was. “Don’t worry, hot stuff,” he told you, slumping down into his seat. “It just hit my vest.”
You stormed over to where he was sitting, worry evident on your face. “Yeah, I’ve been shot in the vest before!” you reminded him. “It still hurts like hell! What were you thinking?”
Derek forced a smile and held your hand in one of his own. “Baby, I’m okay. Really. I could even show you, if you wanted proof. Then you can stare at my abs without feeling guilty.” He took his free hand and started to lift up his shirt, and you quickly yanked your hand away from his.
“Oh my god,” you groaned, already in the process of storming away from him. “I cannot believe that you are seriously hitting on my right now. You just got shot and you’re asking me out? Agh!”
You started to walk away but Derek caught your hand just in time, laughing as he did. “Okay, don’t go, I’m sorry. I just…” he trailed off, suddenly getting serious. “I just really needed to see your smile.”
You mustered up the best smile you could. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
Derek let out a long, audible exhale. “So am I,” he admitted. “I’ve never been more glad to be here doing paperwork.”
You rubbed your hands on the tops of your thighs. “I have some leftover takeout that I had for lunch. How about I heat that up and we can share it while I help you with your work?”
“You don’t have to stay. I’ll be fine.”
You shook your head. “No, I’ll stay. I have nothing else to do.”
Derek grinned and kissed the top of your hand. “You’re too good to me.”
You smirked. “I know.”
Pretty soon, the two of you were hunched over his desk, sharing bites of dinner and chatting easily as you trudged through paperwork.
You quickly learned that he liked to read Kurt Vonnegut and that his eagle tattoo was because of a nickname he had gotten in college. You told him about your fear of the ocean and the time you accidentally set off your high school’s fire sprinkler system during chemistry.
It was nice to be able to just talk to him. It felt like you and him had been friends for years and years, not just the past two months. This Derek Morgan was different from any other version of him, and you loved it. If you didn’t already have the biggest crush on him, this just solidified it. You really, really liked him, and you really, really wanted him to just ask you on a date already.
As the night went on, the two of you had moved closer and closer, until your shoulders bumped and your legs were pressed up against each other. If you both turned your faces to look at each other, your noses would brush. And from there, it would only be a few centimeters until your lips would be on each other…
“Thank you for helping me with this,” he said suddenly, breaking you out of your fantasy. He turned towards you, and you could feel his hot breath on your neck, sending shivers down your spine. “You didn’t have to stay, but… it meant a lot that you did.”
You smiled and tried to control your erratic heartbeat. “It was no problem. I’m happy to do it, anytime. Are you feeling any better?”
“A little,” he admitted. “But do you know what would make me feel even better?”
You finally turned to look at him, and his face was so much closer than you expected. “What is that?” you whispered, unable to force yourself to speak any louder.
Derek’s lips quirked up in a smile and he moved impossibly closer to you. His lips were brushing against yours, and all you had to do was lean in just a little bit. Then he met your eyes, and they really did sparkle, and for the first time in his adult life, Derek lost all of his nerve.
“You could kiss it better,” he suggested. “Because you are much hotter than any of the EMTs at the scene.” Derek grimaced internally, knowing that he came off sounding like an asshole. All he had to do was ask you on a date. It should have been easy. So why couldn’t he?
You closed your eyes and sighed exasperatedly, pulling away. “Wow, fumbled at the five yard line,” you teased, trying to hide your disappointment. You had thought that Derek and you were really having a moment, but maybe he really just didn’t want strings attached.
Derek frowned slightly, but tried to laugh it off. It was the first time that he thought he actually had a chance with you, and he blew it. “Yeah, I guess I did, huh?”
You fought a smile as you stood up out of your chair. “Mhm. But there’s always tomorrow. And since you’ve had such a rough past few days…”
You spun Derek’s chair around so that he was facing you, and you placed your hands on the arms of his chair, leaning over him. The two of you kept eye contact for what felt like ten years, and his cologne was making you dizzy. Slowly, you pressed a lingering kiss right on the corner of his lips. Derek’s breath got caught in his throat as you pulled yourself away, albeit on shaky legs.
“And that’s all the lovin’ you’re getting from me tonight,” you teased.
Derek leaned back in his chair, his hand over his heart in what looked to be a dramatic display of affection. In truth, he was trying to calm his rapid heartbeat however he could. “Oh, light of my life,” he cooed. “That’s more than enough. It’s the only win I’ve gotten all week.”
~~~~~~~
It had been a few days since your night in the office with Derek, and he hadn’t tried anything, which worried you. He wasn’t avoiding you, and the two of you still exchanged pleasantries throughout the day, but he wasn’t flirting with you anymore.
Part of you wondered if you were too harsh with him that night, if you should have just kissed him and gone home with him. But within the past few weeks, your infatuation with Derek Morgan had turned into a full blown crush, as juvenile as it sounded, and you did not want to be another notch in his bedpost. So you were willing to wait it out, to see if you would actually say the words: “Do you want to go out with me?”.
As if you had summoned him, Derek Morgan wheeled his chair over to your desk and put down a coffee cup from your favorite little cafe in front of you.
“Iced vanilla latte with oat milk?”
“You know both of my coffee orders?” you grinned. “I’m impressed.”
“Consider it a bribe,” Derek said, and you raised your eyebrow as a response.
“A bribe?”
“Please go out with me,” Derek asked, trying not to sound as desperate as he felt. “Pretty please. This was fun for a while, but now you are the only thing I think about. I can’t do my job, and I can barely sleep. I feel like I’m going crazy. You are so hot and so smart and so funny. Please let me take you on a date.”
The smile that grew on your face was so big that your cheeks started to hurt. “I’d love that.”
Derek seemed shocked that his attempt actually worked, and he blinked a few times just to make sure he heard you correctly. “Seriously? It’s a yes?”
“Mhm,” you nodded, taking a sip of the coffee Derek got you. “You finally asked me. Of course I said yes.”
“All I’ve been doing the past few weeks has been asking you,” he pointed out.
You hummed to yourself as you scrunched up your nose. “No. You told me that we were going on a date, asked me to have sex with you twice, and the rest of the times, you just used pick up lines. This is the first time you ever actually asked.”
Derek stared at your wordlessly, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to figure out what to say. Finally, he landed on: “That’s all it took?”
“Yup,” you replied, popping the ‘p’. “Although, I do want to hear more about my eyes and the meteor shower.”
Derek let out a breathy chuckle, shaking his head as he did. “I will be sure to tell you all about it. And more. I’ll pick you up at 8?”
You were practically beaming as you watched Derek stand back up. “That sounds perfect. Oh, and Derek? I hope you still have those candles out and ready to use.”
“Baby, I never put them away.” Derek winked at you before walking back to his desk. Prentiss was mumbling something about owing Hotch money, but Derek was so high up on cloud 9 that he couldn’t be bothered to care.
“See Reid,” Derek said as he took his seat at his desk. “That’s what we call ‘playing the long game’.”
“Finally,” Spencer grumbled, his nose buried in some book Derek didn’t recognize. “Took you long enough to realize.”
Derek’s eyebrows furrowed together. “You knew?”
Spencer scoffed, flipping the page of the book he was reading. “I knew from the first time they rejected you.”
Derek leaned forward, placing his elbows on his desk. “Man, why didn’t you tell me?”
Spencer finally looked up from his book, his eyebrow quirked up. “You were ‘playing the long game’,” he quoted in a bad impression of Derek’s voice. “And since I’m running it, I get a cut of the entire betting pool, no matter who won, so it was in my best interest to keep it going as long as possible.”
Derek shook his head in disbelief. “I see. That pretty face of yours is hiding an evil genius.”
Spencer hummed in agreement and went back to his book. There was a beat of silence before he spoke again. “They want you to take them to that Mediterranean place two blocks down.”
“Okay, there is no way you know that,” Derek groaned, rolling his eyes.
“You don’t have to take my advice, but you should. Clearly, you’re helpless,” Spencer shrugged, and Derek laughed as he threw a crumpled piece of paper at him.
When Derek picked you up that night, he made sure that the flowers he brought you were hypoallergenic, and the Mediterranean place ended up being the right choice, not that he would ever admit that to Spencer.
And he did, for the record, make sure to set out those candles he promised, but at the end of the night, the two of you were too busy tearing off each other’s clothes to even bother lighting them.
423 notes · View notes
lunabonita · 3 years
Text
My Webtoon Recommendations
These are webtoons that are all 10/10 for me. Of course it doesn’t have to be a 10/10 for you, so just a reminder, do not attack me for liking a webtoon that you do not. These are my opinions and we are not going to have the exact same taste. Please be respectful.
Your Throne
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Genre: Fantasy
Chapters: 75
Status: Ongoing
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“Tensions are brewing under the seemingly calm surface of the Vasilios Empire, a kingdom ruled by the Imperial Family and the Temple. Lady Medea Solon has lost her place next to Crown Prince Eros, but resolves to win back whats rightfully hers. Will she reclaim her throne?”
You know whats amazing about this webtoon? The summary leads you to think that what shes winning back is the prince. Wrong. Shes trying to win back the throne. I love how this webtoon doesn’t try to make it a girl focusing her goals on a man, but on power. Medea is such a strong and well written character that you can’t help but love her.
The second protagonist Pschye, who of which is the person who took Medeas place as Crown Princess, is the complete opposite of Medea. At the beginning you hate her, but as the webtoon goes on and Medea and her get a better understanding of eachother due to them switching bodies as a wish from God, you begin to root for them as they team up to take over the throne from the Crown Prince.
The art is so beautiful and I constantly found myself at awe from the amount of detail put into it.
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The Makeup Remover
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Genre: Romace
Chapters: 78
Status: Ongoing
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“After years of being told to focus on studying, Yeseul feels lost when she starts college and is suddenly expected to pay attention to makeup. When a chance encounter with brilliant makeup artist Yuseong leads to her taking part in a televised makeup competition, Yeseul begins to question the role that makeup and appearance play in society.”
This was created by one of my favorite webtoon creators Lee Yone. Their art is just so amazing and their stories always include such good topics.
For instance, The Makeup Remover’s theme is loving yourself for who you are. It shows how people treat you based on your looks and as someone whos struggled with that kind of thing for a while, this webtoon really touched me. The main character Yeseul is such a relatable character, even when trying to reject beauty standards, she still came subject to the pressures of living up to the people around her. She struggles with trying to love her own appearance and I really like that this webtoon didn’t try to be like, ‘fuck the beauty standard im better than that screw pretty people!!!’ it actually showed realistically how people struggle with self-image. I also love the main love interest because oh my god, we need more men like him please. He doesn’t care about Yeseul’s appearance and genuinely loves her for her personality.
Also, art is amazing. The author is so talented and you should support them by reading and liking the chapters.
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Surviving Romance
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Genre: Horror
Chapters: 14
Status: Ongoing
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“When Chaerin Eun becomes the protagonist of the romance novel she is reading, she expects a fairytale ending with the novel’s love interest, Jeha. But when a bizarre twist makes her realize the story is not playing out as it does in the book, she’ll need the help of an unlikely character from her class to defy the new storyline and find her happy ending - if only she can figure out who this ‘Unknown Extra’ is first!”
Hands down one of my favorite webtoons by a long shot. You ever see a webtoon and think, ‘oh yeah, thats going to be a good webtoon’? Thats how this webtoon was for me. It was so good that I spent hours searching for other chapters that hadn’t been uploaded to webtoon yet on other manhua websites. I discovered it because it was also by the author of ‘The Makeup Remover’.
If there is one thing you need to know about me, its that I am a huge horror fan. So when I saw that my favorite author on webtoon had a horror themed webtoon out? You bet your behind that I binged it. Let me tell you, best choice ever.
Think of it as if ‘Ino’s Law’ and ‘Quarantine’ were combined with amazing art and a badass MC.
The Remarried Empress
I love how it is set up to the point where she cannot ‘quit’ until she completes the novel. Creating scenarios where she must survive while meeting the standards in the book. It is such an amazingly written webtoon and I cannot wait for more chapters to be released.
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Genre: Fantasy
Chapters: 82
Status: Ongoing
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“Navier Ellie Trovi was an empress perfect in every way - intelligent, courageous, and socially adept. She was kind to her subjects and devoted to her husband. Navier was perfectly content to live the rest of her days as the wise empress of the Eastern Empire. That is, until her husband brought hone a mistress and demanded a divorce. ‘I accept this divorce… And i request an approval of my remarriage.’ In a shoking twist Navier remaarries another emperor and retains her title and childhood dream as empress. But just how did everything unfold? “
Am I in love with Navier? Yes.
I absolutely adore how this story was set up. The first chapter begins with the big divorce scene, followed by Navier saying that she was going to be remarrying someone else since he wants to divorce her. This sets up a picture that gets completely shattered as you read the chapters. How everything falls into place with the reason behind the divorce and the remarriage is just so well written. The art is so good and and everything is just so insanely well done.
I absolutely love Naviers character, from her regalness and devoted loyalty to her role as empress, all the way to her petty moments and times of sadness. She is truly a character that you want the best for, and I cannot image anyone not liking her. Also the story is just so capable of making you feel emotions. I’ve laughed, cried, and got angry during the course of reading this webtoon. I love how betrayed I felt when the emperor brought home his mistress. It felt like I was in Navier’s shoes!
This is such a well done webtoon and I'm so excited for Navier to get all of the good things she deserves in her new Kingdom and with her new husband.
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Witch Creek Road
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Genre: Horror
Chapters: 74
Status: Ongoing
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“A survival horror about love, acceptance, death, and revenge. And sexy flesh-eating demons. Yeah, it has those, too.”
This series seriously mind fucked me. The way that this story is set up, you don’t see the full picture until the later chapters. Season two literally blew my mind. It is also very gorey so keep that in mind if you don’t like that kind of stuff, but for me that makes it all the better. It is just so wild and crass that you can feel your heart pumping in anticipation.
They even have their own website that goes further into the lore because it’s just so wild. Also the art style is just so amazing, because it complements the story and horror theme so much. You hate most of the characters because they suck, and it is so satisfying when they are killed. Also it has it’s sad moments but I think it is a nice break from the horror so it isn’t so overwhelmingly scary.
I binged this series and I recommend reading only a few chapters a day so you don’t overload your brain.
Other then that, an amazing webtoon. Seriously, go read it, support the author, so much work goes into the story and art that it’s insane.
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Dating With A Tail
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Genre: Romance
Chapters: 36
Status: Ongoing
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“On the dawn of her 29th birthday, unlucky-in-love Yunha discovers a shocking family secret: she’s started growing a fox tail, the mark of an ancestral curse. She must find her fated love before her 30th birthday or she is destined to become a fox forever! Even with her new-found enchanting power to attract men using her scent, will one year be enough to break the curse before it’s too late?”
Oh my gosh this is just such a good webtoon. It has amazing art, story telling, and characters. The true love interest was there the whole time, the villain isn’t who you’d expect it to be, and the spirit who cursed her is just! Im not going to spoil it but go read this webtoon!! It is so good and deserves more love.
Also Yunha is just so relatable?? Like she put off finding the woodcutter (her fated love) for 29 years and waited last minute to find him. Homegirl is me trying to do a project for school. Also to get rid of the scent that makes men attracted to her, she just starts eating a ton of garlic and that is just so funny to me.
Also I would go to church for the priest anytime if you know what i mean ;)
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Omniscient Reader
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Genre: Action
Chapters: 53
Status: Ongoing
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“Dokja was an average office worker whose sole interest was reading his favorite web novel ‘Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse.’ But when the novel suddenly becomes reality, he is the only person who knows how the world will end. Armed with this realization, Dokja uses his understanding to change the course of the story, and the world, as he knows it.”
I cannot get over how high quality this story is. The world building is phenomenal, the art is fantastic, and the characters are very fleshed out. This deserved all the hype it has gotten so far and more.
I love the ‘mc thrown into a different reality’ trope so much. Just like with surviving romance, Dokja’s world became the story he was reading. Also a very cool aspect of the story is the level up and the fact that its like a game. Earth has turned into this show for god like creatures to watch and it follows Dokja trying to survive. I also really like that TWSA has a protagonist, but Omniscient Reader’s protagonist is not the protagonist that was in TWSA. There is just so much lore and I’ll say it again, the world building is just phenomenal.
The Ddokkaebi’s and Dokja’s interactions are also just some of my favorite moments from the story so far. And oh my goodness I would die for Lee Gilyoung. Thats it, thats the tweet. That little boy could probably kill me with his giant praying mantis and I would let him if it would make him happy.
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Not So Shoujo Love Story
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Genre: Comedy
Chapters: 45
Status: Ongoing
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“Romance super-fan Rei Chan is ready for her first boyfriend and she knows just who it’ll be: the most handsome boy in school, Hansum Ochinchin. But her plans for the perfect story are derailed when the most popular girl in class declares herself a rival… for Rei’s heart?! This is the year her not so shoujo love story begins!”
This is just such a cute webtoon. The style is very appealing and while the humor can be childish and weird sometimes, it still has made me laugh a lot. I know the humors not for everyone but just keep in mind that it does get better as the story progresses and gets more serious.
Also its a gl! I’m really unable to find good gls these days that don’t fetishize wlw relationships. Rei being painted as a mean trouble maker whos just misunderstood and Hana being the ‘perfect girl’ who only wants Rei’s attention is such a cute dynamic. They balance each other out and better each other. Also stan Rei for constantly sticking up for Hana even if she doesn’t necessarily like her in the beginning, she has very good morals and sticks to them.
Also the defying stereotypes in this webtoon? Just god-tier. Really makes you think twice when you judge someone just on first impressions alone.
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Odd Girl Out
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Genre: Drama
Chapters: 264
Status: Ongoing
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“After a successful winter break makeover, Nari is finally ready for her high school debut. But somehow, she ends up friends with the three prettiest girls in school! Follow Nari as she tries to navigate her brand new high school life surrounded by beauties.”
This story has made me cry multiple times. A lot, even. It is just such a beautiful tale of friendship and finding support in people who are unlike those around theme. It also tells a great story about how anybody can be the ‘odd girl out’. Be it the fat girl, the beautiful girl, the rich girl, or the laid back girl.
It goes so deep into its characters that you even feel bad for the minor antagonists. It really makes you feel for the characters and the reasons behind their actions. Also I know its long, believe me I binged all 260 chapters in the span of three days, but oh my god it is worth it. Also I know the art is kind of off-putting, in fact that’s kind of why I put off reading the story, but I’ve honestly grown to love it and the writing is so good that the art could be literal stick figures and it wouldn’t matter.
The story is amazing and also I just love Nari. She’s just the best.
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Gremoryland
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Genre: Horror
Chapters: 67
Status: Completed
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“Six old school friends are invited to be the first visitors of GremoryLand, a new horror theme park that promises an experience as unique as it is spooky. But once this experience starts there is no turning back, and they find themselves tested beyond what they imagines, facing their most desperate fears in order to survive.”
This is definitely one of those stories were you kind of need to turn of your brain and choose to ignore ‘plot holes’ while reading the early chapters because this story definitely gets crazy if you don’t know the ending. Believe me if you stick with it it will all make sense and the satisfaction you get from finding the ending is just so worth it.
The story is so good, and who Gremory is you would literally never suspect. When it was revealed who Gremory was and how he was able to create Gremoryland is so fucking mind boggling that you would never guess. I had to do a double take. It wasn’t like one of those random characters with a vendetta type of twists, but like one you can pick out from clues throughout the story.
Its so good and twisted and just so worth at least giving it a chance.
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These were some of my favorite webtoons on the app! Of course it’s not all of them because unfortunately there is a 10 image limit. I also made this because I’ve run out of new webtoons to read and would love if you guys commented some of your own recs. I can also do a part two with other ones I liked if y’all want more recommendations. You guys can even request specific categories like Drama or Sci-Fi and I can tell you my favorite ones from that genre.
Also a reminder - if you disagree with any of my praise of these webtoons be respectful about it. At the end of the day it’s my opinion and you don’t need to be rude when disagreeing with that opinion.
136 notes · View notes
ressyfaerie · 3 years
Note
Request: I saw this tattoo programme where 2 lesbian friends went on and they got to pick the other's tattoo and they can't look till it's done. One picked "you mean everything" for the friend and she was so worried about her seeing in case she hated it. Then hers (from her friend) was "I love you". This had them all emotional and got them both to confess & get together. Anywaaaay, a similar idea for Tyka?
Sorry for the late response! I’m working again and still recovering! This is the LAST FIC REQUEST of this askbox being open!
Soooo likkee. Once upon a time I talked to someone about a tattoo shop AU? This gave me some serious inspiration sooooooo here we gooooo
Halfway through I remembered! I (mentally?) based a lot of this idea on @ishkajules tattoo tyka shop AU!
Oh, disclaimer, I want a tattoo but know NOTHING about them aaaahhhahaha
“You’re a great artist, but you’re scaring away your clients.”
“Why do you care, Tala?”
“I don’t. They come to me after you reject them, or make them so uncomfortable they sit in the next chair over.”
“So then, why are you telling me this?”
Kai cleaned his equipment. It was nearing the end of the day, he figured he wouldn’t have any more walk-in customers.
“I just thought I’d let you know. You’re losing us money. If you don’t fix it, I’ll change your pay to commission only.”
Kai scowled. Who did he think he was? Threatening his pay like that?
“Like I said. You’re a phenomenal artist. But you're lucky I hired you. No one else will with your personality.”
Kai gave him a glare, “I’ll try to do better, boss.”
“Good. Keep that mouth in check.” Tala gave him a ‘I’m watching you’ gesture.
As soon as he turned away Kai rolled his eyes.
The bell in the shop rang.
“Hello! Welcome, how can we help you?” Tala welcomed the new customer with his regular fake friendly greeting.
“Hey... I’m Tyson.”
The kid seemed nervous. He didn’t have any art on his body.
Blank canvas.
“Um. Is Kai here?”
“Kai? Are you looking for him specifically?”
“Yeah! I follow his stuff on instagram and I really want my first tattoo to be done by him!”
The boy’s face brightened the whole shop. Kai’s lip curled.
“Of course! Let me get him for you!”
Tala made his way to Kai in the corner, he got up in his face.
“Listen, this kid’s a newbie—”
Kai rolled his eyes, “you know I don’t ink tattoo virgins—”
“Think of it as a blank canvas. As artists we all like a good canvas, look at him! He’s perfect!”
Kai took a look at this Tyson character. He hated to admit Tala was right. He was a good blank canvas. But Kai hated working with newbie clients; always so nervous, worried about the pain. He would just rather work with a regular.
Tala got angrier, “you will tattoo him. You’ll do exactly what he wants, and above all, you will be nice.”
“Or else what?”
Tala shrugged his shoulders and smiled, “or else you’re fired.”
Kai didn’t want to admit that Tala's threat got to him. He sighed, played off as if he was slightly annoyed but obedient, “fine.”
“Good. Now go do your job.” Tala pointed to the front desk where the new client was waiting.
Kai shot Tala a glare, as he made his way to the desk. He put on his biggest fakest smile.
“Hey, I’m Kai.”
Tyson held a backpack around his shoulder, he grasped it firmly, while giving Kai the widest grin.
“I’ve been following you for a long time! I um… decided when I had enough money I wanted my first tattoo to be done by you…”
Awkward silence.
“Uh, what do you have in mind?” Kai learned how much it hurt when you kept smiling.
“I know you specialize in birds… I would love to have a red phoenix. Eventually I want a dragon. But I’d love to start with your strongest area!”
“Okay. Sounds like a plan.”
Tyson watched Kai like he was a celebrity. He had a popular art account, but that was about it. Kai just stared back at him.
“Um... I think I want it on my back…” Tyson trailed off as he grew more nervous.
“That’s a good choice. Do any designs come to mind?”
Tyson bit his lip, he looked up to the ceiling in thought, “oh!” He pulled out his phone.
He passed it to Kai showing him an old post of his. It wasn’t his best work, but he understood why he liked it.
“I can do that design easily.” Kai wondered why he was so worried—”
“I just… Don’t want it exactly like this.”
Ah right. Newbies.
“So what do you have in mind then?” Kai’s eyebrow twitched.
“I um.” Tyson rubbed the back of his head as his cheeks turned a bit red.
Kai sighed, “kid, I can’t work on you if I don’t know what I’m doing.”
Tala called to Kai, “Hey Kai! Don’t forget about your happy little tattoo gun over here!”
Kai reluctantly put on his big smile, “yeah boss, I haven't forgotten!”
He turned back to Tyson. “So what are your ideas?”
Tyson bit his lip.
“Do you have a reference I can make a design off of? Anything?”
“I… do.”
“Then show it to me.”
Tyson exhaled, then slid his backpack off his shoulder. He opened it and pulled out a sketchbook. He had it turned away from Kai making sure he wouldn’t see. He flipped through a few pages, and turned it towards Kai.
Kai grabbed it, and placed it down on the counter. He saw the sketch of the phoenix that was clearly an imitation of his style… with a twist.
Kai found himself impressed. It was a good design.
“I’ve worked on this for a few months… I’m pretty confident this is what I want… What do you think of it?”
Kai was trying to be extra nice, but he couldn't deny it was good. “It’s well done.”
“Thanks!” Tyson grinned.
The more Kai inspected the drawing the more detailed it became, it gave him new inspiration, a kind he never had before.
“Do you..” Kai cleared his throat and prodded the page with his finger. “Do you want this exact design or a design done by me?”
Tyson looked ecstatic, “would you be willing to make me an original design!?”
Kai thought for a moment. His original designs were usually reserved for regulars or people willing to drop more cash. But something about this design called to him…
He convinced himself he was inspired by his jealousy. He couldn't let this poor imitation see the world.
“I can make you a design based on this one.”
“Really!? Wow, thanks!”
“Can I borrow this sketch book?” Kai asked, while flipping the book closed.
“Um…”
“I need the design.”
“Could you take a picture?”
“I’d prefer to work with the original.” Kai’s lips hurt from smiling.
“Okay… You can borrow it.” It seemed Tyson was an extremely shy guy. “Be careful with it, okay?”
“I will.”
Kai stayed late in the shop. He worked in the studio.
“I’m locking up. Kai, I’m surprised you're still here?” Tala twirled the keys around his finger.
Kai was hunched over the small desk. He had already drawn out a few sketches. Tala inspected his work over his shoulder.
“Can you not?” Kai spat back.
“It’s a good design. I’m surprised you're putting so much effort into this kid's request. It’s not like you.”
Kai shrugged.
“He’s not loaded, you know? You’re not going to make up for it in tips.”
“I know.”
Tala felt a strange proud emotion emerge. “Alright,” he dropped the keys on the desk. “You can lock up. Have fun with your drawings.”
Kai watched the keys as they fell in front of him. He heard the door open, and close.
He sighed, then scrunched up the paper he was working with into a ball, and tossed it into the bin with the rest of the failed projects.
The sketchbook laid in front of him. He wanted to take a look at the design again. But he had lost the bookmark.
Shit.
He had to look through the book to find the right page.
There better not be anything dirty in here…
He opened it to another design.
Oh, wow.
It was a dragon, scribbled with faint watercolour. Kai grew curious, what other masterpieces did this book hold?
He began to flip through, curiously studying each design.
There were tons of dragons. Kai was interested, as he had always wanted a dragon tattoo, but he hadn’t yet met an artist who could ink scales the way he wanted.
These designs were so close to what he wanted, until—
He turned to a page with a very detailed dragon design. It took up the whole page. The colours were perfect, mixes of blues and silver. He was immediately captivated by it. His mouth hung open slightly.
It had been a long time since an art piece caught his attention.
He ran his finger down the page, careful not to smudge the drawing.
“Wow.”
Two days later Tyson came back to the shop, eagerly awaiting his tattoo.
Tala gestures to Kai from across the shop, pointing to the front desk where Tyson had just entered. He mouthed the words ‘be nice!’. Kai looked to the ceiling to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
Kai got up from his station. The night before he had pulled an all-nighter. Until finally—he came out with the perfect piece. He knew Tyson would love it. He was upset with himself for putting so much thought into it, after all, he was just a newbie.
Kai tossed a black file folder on the desk.
Tyson jumped a bit, then settled back in with his backpack on his shoulder, “good morning, Kai!”
Kai put on a smile, “good morning.”
Tyson tilted his head, it was kind of cute, “did you manage to come up with anything? I know it hasn’t been long—”
“I did, I think you’ll enjoy it.” Kai opened the folder and revealed a paper, he placed it on the desk and flipped it around to show the blue-haired boy.
“Woah! Holy shit that’s so cool!” Tyson placed both his hands on the corners, admired it with an open mouth.
“Is it what you wanted?” Kai accidentally let his smile drop as he awaited the response.
“It’s perfect!” Tyson was so happy you could see his dimples.
It made Kai perform… maybe… a real smile.
“I have a test here, do you want to see what it would look like?”
“Can I? Oh man that’s so fucking cool…”
Kai gestured behind the desk, Tyson happily pushed himself through the gate. Kai pointed to his station “that’s my chair, put your stuff anywhere out of my way. Take your shirt off.”
Tyson suddenly stopped smiling and froze, Kai almost ran into him.
“Hey!” Kai started to lose his temper, but saw Tala’s red hair in the corner of his eye, he took a deep breath. “You said you wanted it on your back didn’t you?”
“Yeah…” Tyson answered back nervously.
Kai dropped the folder on his desk near the chair, “then take off your shirt and lay on your stomach.”
Tyson swallowed a hard lump in his throat.
Kai just stared at him.
Newbies. It’s just some skin. So annoying.
Tyson let his bag slide to the floor, he kicked it to the corner of the room, then he folded his arms.
Kai turned around, ready to place the stencil, then he frowned, “why do you still have your shirt on?”
Tyson went to say something, but stopped.
Kai sighed, “it’s just bare skin. I’ve worked on way more intimate body parts. You have nothing to worry about.”
Tyson shrugged, he acted confident but Kai could tell he was nervous. He grasped the ends of his shirt and rolled it over his head, throwing it on top of his bag.
“Now lay down.” Kai gestured to the chair that was horizontal from the last client.
Tyon nodded, and laid down in front of Kai, “is it going to hurt!?”
Kai closed his eyes for a moment, it took everything in him to not retort with sass, “it’s just a sticker, so we can determine the placement. It won’t hurt.”
Tyson nodded.
Kai flicked his arm, “you need to have your arms near your sides… like this.”
Kai had grabbed his closest arm and manipulated it like a rag doll, Tyson hid his face, hoping his idol didn’t see him blush.
“Okay, I’m applying it now.”
Kai expertly placed the test paper exactly where Tyson had described he wanted it. Along his right shoulder. Tyson barely moved, but Kai wasn’t sure how he would react when the actual inking started.
“Done. Take a look in the mirror.”
Tyson jumped up, nearly running to the full length mirror in the shop, twirling his body so he could see it better.
“Wow! It’s so cool!” His voice rang through the whole shop, even Tala’s client looked up from his chair.
“Thank you, Kai!”
“No problem.” Kai sat down in his chair, he picked up his tattoo gun and started to tinker with it, he looked at Tyson. “So are you ready?”
Tyson’s eyes grew wide, “r—right now!?”
Kai gave him a genuine grin, “no better time than the present.”
Tyson made his way back to Kai’s station. He looked down at the chair, “is it going to take a while?”
Kai nodded, “I’ll do the outline today. Then you can come back tomorrow and we will ink as much as we can.”
Tyson sat on the chair, still too nervous to lay down.
“Hey kid!”
Tyson looked around the shop for the echoing voice.
It came from the client on Tala’s chair. He was covered in different tattoos, “don’t be worried! But remember it's addicting! Once you get one you can’t stop!”
Tyson laughed, “thanks man!”
The man gave Tyson a thumbs up, Tala smirked in Kai’s direction.
He must enjoy torturing me… asshole.
Tyson gave Kai a huge smile, “I’m ready!”
“Good.” Kai had reached over to his station, he placed a pair of glasses on his face.
“You wear glasses!?” Tyson was intrigued.
“Yeah? Why is that surprising?” Kai wondered why Tyson cared so much, they just met after all.
Tyson mumbled, “you just… never shared anything on your instagram I guess…”
“There’s more to me than my online persona. Get on your stomach.”
Tyson instantly obeyed. He curled in his fists.
Kai made the necessary procedures, he wiped his back with a sterile wipe, Tyson shivered.
Kai had to bite his tongue from sighing.
“Sorry… it was cold.” Tyson muttered.
“It’s fine, don’t worry.” Kai tried to reassure him but realized he had never really reassured anyone before.
Kai prepared the gun, Tyson turned his head to him, “how much… is it going to hurt?”
God damn it. Why do they always ask...
“Not as much as you’re going to love it.”
Kai impressed himself with his response.
Tyson nodded, and turned his head away from Kai.
“Alright, I’m starting.”
Kai had done it a million times before, but it was Tyson’s first. When the gun first ran along his skin he tensed up, he made a quiet high pitched noise. Kai kept going.
He kept tensing up, too much, it would ruin the work, and Kai’s concentration. Kai stopped for a moment, “you have to untense. It hurts now but it’ll go numb soon, then it won’t be so bad.”
Kai just saw the back of Tyson’s head as he nodded.
Kai grasped his shoulder, “good, now untense.”
Tyson tried to loosen up, but his muscles were still tight.
“Breathe.”
Kai wasn’t sure what to do, but he still had his hand on his shoulder, he gave Tyson a gentle rub with the edge of his thumb.
He heard Tyson exhale, and his whole body relaxed.
“Good job.” Kai readjusted his glasses, and continued. He was leaning over Tyson’s body.
Tyson was aware just how close his idol was, he could feel his breathing as he worked. His face turned red. Over the next hour he grew used to it. He was loving the closeness. He was excited to see what it looked like done.
Tala was surprised, usually Kai put his earbuds in and avoided talking to clients. But this time, Kai kept glancing at Tyson’s hair, as if he wanted to say something, but was stalling. At just over the hour mark, Kai made his move.
“I have to admit. I looked through your sketchbook.”
Tyson jumped, “what?”
“Don’t move—”
“Sorry, but why did you do that?”
“I lost the page the design was on. Then I just kept looking.”
Tyson went silent, clearly he was upset.
Kai stopped for a second, “they’re really good.” he immediately started again.
Tyson went stone cold.
Kai continued, “your dragons are insanely intricate. I’ve never seen scale work like yours. Are they all original?”
Tyson hesitated, “yes…”
“I’m quite fond of the silver-blue dragon, the one near the end.”
“I know which one you’re talking about. It’s one of my favourites too.”
“Mhm.” Kai trailed off, still not ready to ask the question he wanted to.
A few hours later, Kai stopped, “I think that’s good for today.”
Kai put his equipment down, and laid his glasses back on his desk.
Tyson went to get up, “ow…”
“Sore?”
“Yeah, I’ve been in this position too long…”
Tyson slowly rose to a sitting position. Kai admired his shoulder.
It’s great work. I did well.
“I want to see it!” Tyson jumped to his feet making his way to the mirror. He looked in the mirror and gasped in awe.
Tala had approached, he observed the design and raised an eyebrow, “it’s really good, Kai.”
Kai crossed his arms, “come back tomorrow. I’ll colour it. But it will be a bit of work.”
Tala agreed, “it might be best to split the coloring into two appointments. Since it’s his first… How was it, Tyson?”
Tyson was still admiring his tattoo, “the pain? It was fine once I got used to it, Kai really helped.”
“Really!?” Tala looked at Kai in disbelief.
Kai shot him a glare.
Tyson put his shirt back on while Tala described how to take care of it. They made their way to the front desk and finished off some paperwork.
Tala had gone back to his desk, still within earshot.
“Thanks so much. Kai! It’s going to be awesome!” Tyson grinned, “but um… can I have my sketchbook back?”
Kai nodded, then went back to his station, and came back with the book, he slid it across the table, but held on to it when Tyson tried to take it.
Kai didn’t let go of the book, he looked into Tyson’s eyes, with his first genuine expression, “I have a question. About your design.”
“Huh?” Tyson looked up to Kai. He was positive there was nothing he could ask that he wouldn’t know himself.
“I want to buy it.”
“What?” Tyson’s voice rang with disbelief.
“Well, I don’t want to buy the rights. Just the design, so I can have it tattooed.”
“You want my design!?”
“Yes, is that a problem?”
Tala’s ear twitched, the situation tickled his interest, and he made his way back to the counter.
“I uh—um.” Tyson was lost for words.
“How much?” Kai badgered him.
Tala intervened, “Kai leave the poor kid alone, let him think on it.”
Kai looked at Tyson, Tyson stared back.
Tyson let go of the book, “keep the book till tomorrow… I’ll think about what you said…”
Tyson backed up towards the door, “b—bye! See you tomorrow!”
He had left the shop faster than either of them could say bye.
Kai still held the sketchbook, he looked down at it. Tala was immediately furious.
“Kai Hiwatari, what the hell!? Are you an ass or head over heels? You’re going to bully some rookie artist into stealing his design? What is wrong with you—”
Kai had opened the book to his favourite page. Tala’s voice changed right away.
“Shit.”
Kai held the open book close to his chest, “I know. It’s well done.”
“You’re not kidding, here let me see—”
Kai handed him the book. Tala admired the drawing for a long time. Before flipping through the book. He let out a long high pitched whistle.
“Could you do it?” Kai asked.
“Do what?”
“Could you tattoo this for me? I want it on my right shoulder—”
Tala laughed, “no. My specialty lies in fangs and fur. I’ve never done a dragon, plus these scales… this could only be done by the original artist.”
Tala looked up from the book, “if you love this design, it has to be done by the original artist. Does he know how to use a gun?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Ah, shame.”
“How come?”
Tala went back to flipping through pages, “because I'd hire him on the spot.”
Kai was dumbfounded, “for real?”
“Absolutely.”
Dude I have so many more ideas for this AU it’s INSANE. AAAH but this is all I have time for now <3 if there’s a demand for more I might write more!
31 notes · View notes
chonkyycheol · 4 years
Text
Hey Buddy, Hey Lover
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Pairing: Minghao x you
Genre: friends to lovers , fluff
Never in your life would you have imagined that you can call someone like Minghao yours.
A/N: unedited, probably tons of errors >< do let me know what y’all think of this!!
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You met Minghao in an art exhibition. You were assigned to look after that particular exhibition as there weren’t enough manpower on ground floor which you agreed to happily. You were standing by the entrance when this tall, skinny but super good looking man came up to you. Honestly you were starstrucked by his visuals like woah.
“Hello do you work here?” His voice is so soft and soothing you almost forgot what he asked.
“Hello Sir, yes I do work here, how may I help?” You have a friendly smile reminding yourself that you’re working not here to ogle at this cute man.
“Yes actually erm, I have a few questions in regards to this exhibition and the artist can you help?” He gave a smile.
“Yes sure! I’ll walk you through the exhibition while answering your questions” you answered happily.
As the two of you walked through the exhibition, you learned that his name is Xu Minghao and was surprised at how well the you of you clicked and wondered if he felt the same. You would honestly love to have a friend like him, someone who would go to different art exhibitions with you and do other arts stuff together.
Soon, the ‘tour’ came to an end and it was time for him to go.
“I hope I was helpful and answered your questions fully!” You were sad tbh, knowing that you probably won’t see him again and you have no guts to ask to exchange numbers and was also afraid he would reject you and find you weird.
“You’ve been a GREAT help really! Thank you so much for all the information! Do you.. perhaps want to exchange phone numbers so we can keep in contact?” Your eyes widened and you didn’t know how to react, “ I mean as friends as we both have a lot in common and I thought we could be friends!” Minghao quickly explained.
“Sure, what’s your number?”
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That was the backstory of how the two of you met a year ago. You and Minghao became close friends who would hang out occasionally to go to different exhibitions or galleries and you would head over to his studio where the two of you would paint on canvasses and hang them around the studio.
You would be lying if you say you didn’t imagine Minghao as your boyfriend in multiple occasions, but you would always force yourself back to reality with the fact that he probably wouldn’t have feelings for someone like you.. well that was what you thought.
Minghao on the other hand has been observing you and by the time he realises, he was already falling for you and your imperfections. Albeit being an observant person, he could not read you fully. He knows what you like, what you don’t like, your angry face everything but your feelings towards him.
Do you like him as a man? Or strictly as a friend? It was killing him because he has made advances towards you such as opening the car door for you, fetching you home from wherever you are, going stargazing with you. He does not understand how you could be so dense or if you were pretending to be dense.
You would always fight to make payment because you didn’t want minghao to always pay for your meals or tickets to places and the two of you would sometimes have an argument over this, and today was another one of these days.
“Minghao please just let me pay you paid the last meal!!” You begged as you tried to catch up to him.
“Y/n i said it’s fine I want to do this, I want to treat you good food and bring you to nice places!” minghao sighed as he opened the car door for you.
“Money isn’t easy to earn how do you survive if you keep treating your friends?” You frowned, genuinely worried about him just spending his money like this on his friends.
Minghao paused, “friends? who said I treat you the same as how i treat my other friends?”
“Then what do you treat me as? BFF?” you gave a confused look.
oh my fucking god how is she so dense.. minghao thought as he got into the car.
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You stepped into Minghao’s place and placed the groceries on the dining table and helping him to put away the stuffs into the refrigerator. You had given up on trying to pay for this meal and made a silent promise to yourself that the next meal or ticket to an exhibition will be paid by you.
“What do you want to eat for dinner?” He asked as he paces around the kitchen.
“hmmmm i’m craving for rabokki (ramyeon + tteokbokki)”
“okay can you get the rice cakes in the refrigerator for me?”
“Okayy~”
You passed the bag of rice cakes to him and watched him silently from the back.
Why is he so attractive I don’t understand?!
“Y/n?”
“yes! why what happened?” you tried to act cool and as if you weren’t just daydreaming about him.
“Can you help me chop the chives and onions?” Minghao asked.
“sure,” you walked to the table counter and began cutting the chives beside Minghao while he focuses on the spicy rice cake sauce in the pot.
You were so focused on chopping that you didn’t notice Minghao moving behind you. He wrapped his arms around your waist pulling you into a back hug, head resting on your shoulders. Your eyes widened as you tensed up and dropped the knife you were holding.
“Hao..?” You whispered cautiously. He hummed in response sending goosebumps down your spine from the vibration.
“What are you doing..” you placed your hands on his in an attempt to remove his arms around you but to no avail. In fact, he only tightened his arms around your waist pulling you even closer to him if it was even possible.
Minghao buried his face into the crook of your neck and took a sniff, “you smell good.. makes me not want to let you go.”
You blushed furiously and quickly turned to pushed him away from you. He then placed his hands on the counter behind and trapped you between his arms. You dared not make eye contact with him, afraid that you might faint.
Minghao studied your face and stopped to stare at your lips. He bit his lips unconsciously as he slowly leaned in. Noticing his actions, you shut your eyes tightly and leaned as far back as you could. He cupped the side of your neck to prevent you from moving before placing his lips on yours gently.
Your heart felt like it was going to actually burst as you felt his soft lips moving against yours as you stood rigid. That was your first kiss and you had no idea what to do at that moment so you just let him do whatever.
He pulled back a little and gave you a cute smile, “do you know how long I’ve dreamt of this?”
“I- wha?” You blushed, again, making him giggle.
He gently brushed your hair behind your ear and caressed your cheek with his thumb.
“You’re so dense you know that?”
Offended, you retorted back, “hey I’m NOT dense!”
“Yeah? If so why don’t you know that I have feelings for you all these while?”
“Uh.. what?”
“Nevermind. You’re mine now~” Minghao sing-songed.
“I never agreed~” you teased back.
Seeing his face change to a sulky one, you can’t help but laugh and cupped his little face and give him a peck on his lips.
“I’m joking.. I love you~”
“I love you too 🥰”
61 notes · View notes
sassyduckqueen · 4 years
Text
Miraculous: Rise of Anatis 50
Ok so here is the Silencer inspired Chapter but obviously, I had to change directions with this in order to work with the story. I think this turned out really well. It took a bit of time and I struggled a little with some of it but thanks to my good friend, @naruwitch, I was able to get past that. I also may have taken a bit of inspiration from Avatar: The Last Airbender/Legend of Korra to help me visualize how to write certain parts. Anyway I hope you guys like it :D
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Chapter Fifty: Blackout
~The Grand Paris Hotel~
 "My good old friend, Bob! How wonderful to see you again," Mayor Bourgeois gasped, greeting the producer and shaking his hand as he walked to him with XY. The mayor smiled and turned to XY, pinching his cheeks a little. "And you brought little Xavier-Yves with you too!"
 "Uh my peeps call me XY, Mr Mayor," He declared, pushing his hand away and making a sign with his hands as he glanced to the side. "Xavier-Yves sounds way too-"
 "XY! Of course!" The mayor gasped, cutting him off as he excited moved his hands around. "Famous DJ XY!"
 He laughed, pushing them towards a table and chairs. The two took the hint and sat down before glancing up at the mayor.
 "It's such an honor for the Palace to receive such a fantastic artist and his father!" He declared, making Bob smirk. Of course, the mayor was sucking up to them. It's what he always did in order to make sure he had very powerful friends. Of course, he was dumb enough not to realize that Bob didn't see him as a friend. Not at all. Andre was just another way to the top for Bob and while he remained useful, Bob would keep him around but the moment he no longer had a use, Bob would drop him like a ton of bricks. He had no time for anyone he couldn't use. He smiled and turned his head to Andre.
 "Does that mean dinner's on the house then?" He asked, smirking. Almost instantly, Andre begins to stutter and panic as he didn't want to reject his friend but he didn't want to give them a free meal either. Seeing his expression, Bob began to laugh, causing him to relax a little. "I'm joking,"
 "You're too much, Bob," He laughed before pointing at him. "Always the comedian. Enjoy your meal. Bon appétit,"
 As soon as the mayor was out of earshot, Bob let out a sigh.
 "Eh, I tried," He muttered before looking at his son. "Ok, we need to talk about this special TV appearance you're gonna be making. We need to make sure it's a full success! After all, this is a major promotional event for us, especially since Jagged left the label and got the number one 1 spot again. We need to kick him off that throne and make him regret leaving. Now have you got any new material to premiere? New ideas?"
 "Course not, Dad. You know I never have any ideas," XY replied before the two of them laughed. "Besides, you don't need to worry about that has-been. He might be number one right now but I'll easily knock him back down once I release a new single,"
 "Excellent," Bob smirked. "So let's here what you've ripped- I mean come up so far,"
 XY took out his netbook and placed it on the table before turning to face his father and pressed play. The music that came out was repetitive and boring but Bob ignored them and listened it, moving his shoulders a little as he did before he noticed something. He held up his hand, causing XY to pause the song.
 "Isn't it a bit similar to what you were doing last year?" He asked, causing XY to blink at him before he turned the netbook around and pressed the icon for last year's song. He pressed play and listened to it, moving his shoulders slightly as he did before chuckling as he realized it was in fact similar to it.
 "Oh yeah," He grinned, glancing over at his father. "I guessed I ripped off my own music,"
 He laughed in an obnoxious way, causing Bob to join in with him.
 "Never mind. No one will know the difference anyway," He declared, not even fazed. Even if a couple of people noticed, there would be a hundred people who wouldn't and would lap up whatever they released. Fans were desperate in that way. "Image is king! What kind of visuals you got going? Any concepts?"
"Any what?" XY asked, looking confused. 
 "Ah, forget it. I'll use the same plan that's made me the rich man I am today," Bob declared, pointing his thumb at himself before moving his hand to the side of his mouth. He leaned in and moved his eyes around as if looking for people watching him. "If you're short on great ideas, 'borrow' someone else's,"
 The two of them burst into loud laughter, causing a number of people to glance at them with concern as well as disgust. It's not like the two were quiet about their plan to rip off other musicians.
 ~A Couple of Days Later~
 "Guys!" Marinette called out as she rushed down the steps, causing Luka and Ivan to look at her, along with Rose and Juleka. She stopped in front of them and held her legs a little as she caught her breathe before straightening up. "I have something I need to show you,"
 "What is it?" Rose asked, curious as Marinette took out her phone and brought up a video. Kitty Section surrounded her and looked at her phone as she pressed play on the video. Bob Roth appeared on the screen and began to talk about how his studio was looking for new talent and had created a competition to find it. The goal was to create a music video with great visual and musical skill within two weeks. The prize was getting to play live in KIDZ+ Studios on one of their shows. The video finished, causing Kitten Section to gasp in surprise. 
 "It's the perfect opportunity to showcase Kitty Section," She gasped, making Luka pull a thinking face. He could pull in favors with Jagged but he didn't want to use his dad in that way. Besides, this way they could prove their worth. It would also mean they could show off some of Marinette's designs as she had been planning to make some for them.
 "And the stage clothes you designed, Marinette," He added in, making her look at him as her cheeks turned pink. She giggled shyly before shaking her head.
 "If we all pitch in two weeks is more then enough time to make an awesome video!" She declared in an energetic way as she looked at them all. "Everyone in?"
 "Here we go!" Rose declared, holding up her arm before the five of them high fived together, shouting out their name before they pulled away.
 "Why don't we get started tonight?" Luka suggested, making Marinette look at him. "We have band practice planned anyway so Marinette, you can come over with your sketch pad and listen to us while we play. Hopefully, it will help give you inspiration,"
 "That's a great idea, Luka," She grinned, making him smile back as Juleka and Rose shared a look. "I'll just have to go and grab my stuff then we can head there,"
 "Hey, why don't we go ahead and Luka, you can go with Marinette to collect her stuff?" Juleka suggested, causing both of them to blush. She smirked a little at their reactions. "We can give Ma a head's up and start setting up the instruments,"
 "Um... sure? If Marinette doesn't mind?" He asked, causing her to grin and grab his hand, pulling him to the bakery as Rose shouted for him to pick up some snacks as well. Luka gave her a wave as an answer and walked with Marinette, keeping hold of her hand as he did. She glanced back at him and gave him a shy smile before they walked into the bakery. She let go of his hand and walked over to Sabine, gently kissing her cheek as she greeted her.
 "Hey, Mama," She smiled. "I'm going over to Luka's for a bit but I'll be home for dinner if that's ok?"
 "Of course, dear," She smiled before waving to Luka. "Hello, Luka. It's nice to see you again,"
 "You too, Mrs Ch- I mean Sabine," He replied, correcting himself as Marinette walked back over to him and pulled him into the apartment, waving to her father as they passed him in the back of the bakery. Tom waved back as the two of them climbed the stairs and headed up into Marinette's room. As soon as they entered, she went straight to emptying her bag and switching out her sketchpads from her practice one to her professional one. Luka rose an eyebrow as he watched her take out her pencil case and put in her bag as well. "How come you don't bring those ones to school?"
 "Lila and Chloe," She replied, making him frown. "Chloe use to laugh at my designs and even stole a design before. As for Lila, she had tried to get her hands on my work and destroy it. I managed to get it back before she did any real damage but since then I've left my professional sketchpad here. As for my pencils and pens, I've never brought them to school. They're pretty expensive so I'd rather not bring them to a place where people can easily get them. It's not like my locker is secure or anything,"
 "I'm sorry," He muttered, making her look to him before she shook his head.
 "Oh, it's not your fault, Luka," She smiled. "I'd actually trust you with those things. I know you would take care of them and you won't steal my work, even if you were into fashion,"
 "Of course, I wouldn't," He replied, making her smile a little. "I actually hate it when people steal art work regardless of what media it is. It's just wrong,"
 "Yeah, it is," She nodded, zipping up her bag and putting it on. "Well, I have everything I need so let's go get some snacks,"
 "Sounds good to me," He smiled, making her smile back. The two of them headed back downstairs and went to grab some pastries. Sabine came over and handed them a bag each, making Luka smile. "Thank you,"
 "There should be enough for everyone," She replied, making him smile a little more before Marinette thanked her and said goodbye. Luka waved as they left the bakery and walked towards the Seine in a comfortable silence. Marinette was happily humming a little bit, making him smile a little.
 "What?" She asked as she caught his glance. He chuckled and gently ruffled her hair, making her giggle.
 "You seem happy," He smiled, making her blush a little before she smiled shyly at him.
 "I am," She replied, playing with the straps of her bag. "I get to design awesome costumes for an awesome musician... I mean awesome musicians!"
 "I'm glad you're designing stuff for us, Marinette," He smiled, making her look at him. "I love your designs. They're always so authentic and original. You capture people's songs and turn them into beautiful designs,"
 "Luka," She gasped, blushing. "I-I'm glad you like them,"
 "Of course, I do," He smiled as they came to the liberty. Rose waved to them as Luka opened the gate on the plank and gestured for Marinette to step across. She smiled shyly at him and climbed onto the ship. He followed, closing the gate behind them as Juleka did a sound test on her bass. His guitar was leaning against the side, waiting for him to play it. "We bring snacks,"
 "Excellent!" Ivan grinned as Luka put down the bag of snacks and took off his own bag, placing it to the side. Marinette took a seat and took out her sketchpad and pencil case as Luka crossed over to his guitar and picked it up. He slid the strap over his shoulders and plugged it, testing the sound and making sure it was tuned. He tweaked it a little before playing again and smiling as he was satisfied with the sound. 
 "Ready?" He asked the others, getting a nod of Juleka.
 "Yeah!" Rose declared as Ivan picked up his drum sticks. He clicked them together, counting them in as Marinette opened her sketchpad to the sheets where she had started to work on some concepts for them already. She took out her pencil as they started to play, causing her to look up at them. "You know I love unicorns and nothing makes me feel better!"
 She smiled and began to outline one of the mask designs she had before glancing up a little. Luka looked over at her and gave her a soft smile as her eyes connected with him. She blushed a little and shyly looked back at her book before she continued to draw out the masks as an idea began to form in her head. She turned to a fresh page and began to draw out the idea, sketching out Rose first. Once she had done her base drawing for her, she moved on to Juleka then Ivan and finally Luka. With those done, she began to design outfit ideas and play around with different masks. She wanted Rose's to be a little bit different to the others as she was the lead singer but she didn't want it too different as they were still part of the same band. She also wanted to make Luka's and Juleka's similar to represent that they are siblings. She glanced up again and found herself slightly mesmerized as Luka played a bit of a solo before quickly glancing back down as a light blush came over her cheeks. Over the next two weeks, she spend as much as time with them as she could, causing her ideas to flow onto paper as she listened to them to play. Luka would come over to her during the breaks and take a look at the drawings. He helped her pick out which designs she would create and during school hours, they would meet for break and lunch to talk over the ideas they had. She drew final designs for each of them. With Rose, she went with a primarily pink mask with dark details and an aqua green horn. She picked out rounded shoulder pads that had stars on them and a pink chest plate, that was cropped, with the kitty section logo on it. With Juleka, she went with a primarily purple theme but she put in hints of pink to represent her relationship with Rose. She chose a star design for Juleka's mask. She painted it pink with a blue outline. The pink was for Rose but the blue for Luka. For her outfit, she created a triangular shaped collar that extended over her shoulders and chest in a light purple shade. She decided to go with something subtle for Juleka as she was a quiet person. With Ivan, she took a bit of inspiration from Leatherback. She wasn't sure why but he kind of reminded her of Ivan a little. She created a circular chest plate similar to Leatherback's costume but instead of been a turtle shell design and green, she made it red and gold with a similarly colored Kitty Section logo in the middle. The straps that connected to it were a dark scarlet with a gold trim and with gold studs going up it. His mask's base was white but she drew out a design similar to flames around the eyes, coloring it red. The horn was a dark scarlet red and she had also added some arm guards with spikes on them. In her sketch book, she posed him with his arms above his head as if he was gonna smash something. She drew out his name like a brick wall and even drew a little bit of debris as well. She had done something similar with Rose and Juleka as well. Juleka's name was done in a curled style with the star in the back ground. She was stood with her hands in front of her and a shy smile on her face. Behind her, Marinette had drawn a flag with the kitty section logo on it and her bass guitar to the side. With Rose, Marinette drew her jumping excitedly with her hands stretched out in a claw like pose. Her name was drawn in a style similar to Juleka's but she had swirls around it instead of a star. With Luka, she had drawn him as if he was walking forward with his arms out slightly. She put lines and little stars around him to emphasis the movement. His name was drawn out in bold letters with little stars around them too and she drawn several types of lightning bolts. She had settled with a simple one that would cover his right eye in the same place as Juleka's star. His mask's main color would be white but the lightening bolt was blue with a pink outline. The horn on his mask was a metallic teal blue and his outfit had curved shoulder pads with added spikes on the edges. They were glittery blue with little stars inside them and a white outline while the shoulder pads were a light blue. His chest plate was the same color as the shoulder pads and had a nine pointed star in the middle. It was a glittery blue with a pink outline and a kitty section logo in it. She had also created him a fanned collar with spikes that was teal blue in color. When the outfits were created, she took them straight to the liberty and helped them get into them. Luka gave her a thumbs up when she checked his before she handed him the mask she made as the others put on theirs. She took a step back and grinned as they posed, making her laugh. They couldn't complete the video that day as she still had to make some props but the hardest part was done for now. That night she began working on the props and even managed to get a good amount done before she had to go on patrol. Luckily, she didn't have to make much as the liberty had some flags already up. She created a large rainbow with the kitty section logo in the middle of it. She added pink stars and purple lightning bolts to it to make it stand out more and she even painted up Ivan's drums with the kitty section logo and a beautiful butterfly pattern in purple, orange, pink, red and green. When it came to filming, Luka helped her set up the props and they put a purple back drop around the area they were to film in. Once that was done, the band got into the position and Marinette began to film. While she had been designing their outfits, they had been practicing the song and coming up with a few dance moves as part of it. Rose made a clawing movement towards the camera before Luka and Juleka moved side to side as they played. Marinette couldn't help but feel proud as she filmed them. Luka moved over to Rose and the two of them made clawing movements towards the camera. Marinette smiled happily as the song came to a stop before stopping the recording. With the main parts done, all was left was to edit the video and submit it. Marinette took home the camera and uploaded to her computer, editing almost straight away. It took a couple of days in between school, akumas and patrols but once satisfied, she invited Kitty Section around to watch it. They were really happy with it and it needed no extra editing so they submitted it to the contest before pulling Marinette in for a group hug.
 ~Couple of Days after the Contest ended~
 "And nothing makes me feel better!" Rose sang as the song finished before she held up her fingers in a peace sign. 
 "Wow! This is so awesome," Luka gasped. He hadn't felt this energetic in a while but it was hard not to. Everyone was so excited about the contest and they had been practicing pretty much non stop for the last two weeks but it didn't feel like a chore. It was fun and exciting. "We're so in the moment! This song is fun and totally sincere!"
 He smiled before glancing over Marinette, who was sat on the sofa. She was looking at her phone but her expression was one of worry and sadness. Luka frowned a little before walking over to her.
 "Hey, Marinette," He stated, causing her to look up at him as he sat down. "Still no news about the contest?"
 "Maybe they didn't like our song," She replied, looking sad. Luka instantly placed his hand on her shoulder to reassure her.
 "They must have received a ton of videos," He explained. "They probably haven't made their pick yet,"
 She gave him a small smile and nodded a little as his words reassured her. Of course, lots of other musicians had entered. It was the chance of a life time after all.
 "Uh oh," Ivan gasped, making them both look to him as he stared out of the window before he looked back at them. "You better take a look at this, guys!"
 Marinette and Luka looked at each other before jumping up and moving over to one of the other portholes before glancing out as Rose and Juleka moved to the other one and did the same. The screen on the TVi studio was showing a performance by XY but to their horror, it looked stupidly similar to their video. Marinette quickly took out her phone and pulled up the live stream to play it, showing XY playing a really bad version of I love Unicorns.
 "Cause I love my unicorns and my fluffy blue bunnies too!" He sung while literally hitting the DJ deck he was using. Luka gritted his teeth as he glared at the video. The song ended with XY crossing his arms before it switched to Alec Cataldi.
 "Wow! Loving the new look, XY! You've really out done yourself this time," He declared, glancing at the camera as the so called musician came over to him. "How did you come up with a style that's so... original?"
 "It's all in here!" He replied, taking his head and making Luka let out a small growl. 
 "But that's our original style!" Ivan gasped as Marinette gripped the phone tightly.
 "Your unicorn and your mask," Luka gasped, looking at Marinette. He was annoyed on her behalf and judging by the look on her face, she was annoyed on his behalf as well.
 "That's your melody! It's your music! That's... That's not fair!" She declared as she looked at them. "That should be you guys up there on TV!"
 She frowned as she looked at them before turning around and glaring at the large screen, showing XY.
 "There better be a good explanation for this!" She declared, clutching her phone before she turned to the others. "We need to have it out with Bob Roth and XY! Let's head to the studio!"
 As soon as she declared that, the band nodded and rushed out of the boat. Luka and Marinette were in front as the other three followed them but Luka wasn't sure if there was a good explanation. To him, it was clear what had happened. XY had stolen their style and music. He wasn't really surprised since he had seen the way XY had acted towards Jagged and this was obviously his attempt to get back on the number one spot. They came to a stop as they saw the TVi building. Outside of the doorway were two security guards. Marinette took a deep breathe and stormed over to them with the rest of the band.
 "Can we help you?" One of them asked, glancing at them.
 "We need to see XY and Bob Roth," Marinette replied, making the men frown.
 "They're not here right now," One of them replied, making Marinette click her tongue.
 "Seriously?" She gasped before pointing to the screen on top. "They're right there on live screen!"
 "You're not allowed in," He replied again, making them frown. "You're not invited and the show's already started,"
 "But it's our show!" Marinette argued, annoyed as Luka frowned.
 "Not our problem, Miss," The other one answered, making them frown a little more before Luka turned to Marinette, who gave him an identical look. The two of them smiled at each other before turning to the others.
 "Come on, guys... we'll work out something else," Luka sighed, leading them away from the doors with Rose muttering something about not giving up. They walked down the stairs to the Seine, taking them out of the line of sight of the security guards. Since they were hidden, Luka stopped the group from walking and turned to Marinette with a mischief glint in his eye. Rose, Juleka and Ivan rose an eyebrow as they noticed Marinette had the same look in her eyes. "You think what I'm thinking?"
 "Find a way to sneak in and confront Bob Roth and XY?" She asked, making him grin.
 "Exactly," He smirked before the two of them pulled identical expressions. "How to do it though?"
 "Well, we need to distract the security guards," Marinette replied, frowning as she tapped her finger against her chin. Luka glanced over the wall and looked over at the building. The guards were still stood there but they were talking to each other. Luka glanced over to his friends and smiled as his luck vision kicked in. Ivan got highlighted then Juleka and Rose before he looked back at the building. The two security guards got lit up then the doors before he looked back again. Finally, Marinette got lit up.
 "I've got a plan," He announced, smiling as he moved over to them, causing them to look at him in surprise. "Rose, Juleka, you're gonna pretend you're been chased by an akuma, who will be played by Ivan. That should be enough to get security guards' attention then Marinette, me and you will sneak past them,"
 "Ok but how am I gonna be an akuma?" Ivan asked as Luka thought before snapping his fingers together.
 "Your kitty section costume. We're close enough to the Liberty to go grab it," He replied, getting a nod of everyone. "I'll go grab it. You guys keep an eye on the guards and text me if the show ends,"
 "We will," Marinette replied, getting a nod of him before he ran off. Tikki poked her head out of his pocket as he got closer to the boathouse. 
 "Do you think Bob Roth and XY will admit what they've done?" She asked as he walked across the gangplank and went below decks.
 "I don't know but we have to find out why they did this," He replied, grabbing Ivan's costume and mask. "It's just wrong,"
 "Definitely," Tikki huffed, crossing her arms. "They should be ashamed of themselves,"
 "Yeah. Let's get back to the others," He replied, opening his jacket so she could fly into his inner pocket. He had asked Marinette to create an inner pocket in his jacket for Tikki. Of course, Marinette had no idea that it was for a kwami but she did it for him anyway. He ran back to the others and held out the costume to Ivan, who grinned before he took it and put it on. He fixed on his mask before turning to Luka.
 "You sure this will work?" He asked, making the guitarist nod.
 "It will work," He grinned, giving the drummer a thumbs up. Ivan grinned at him before roaring out loud. Rose and Juleka instantly screamed and ran up the stairs as Ivan chased them, shouting about how their friend had akumatized and to call Anatis and Lady Noir at once. Luka watched as the security guards kept their eyes on them. They told them it wasn't working but they also weren't aware of the full plan. Luka carefully took Marinette's hand and led her closer to the building, hiding against the edge closest to the door as they did. Rose screamed again, causing one of the guards to sigh in annoyance.
 "Stop messing around, kids," He declared as Luka and Marinette sneaked closer. "It's not going to work,"
 "We've got work to do," The other replied as the door opened and the two of them slipped inside. "So get out of here and go watch the show at home,"
 The door closed as Marinette and Luka looked around. The lobby was completely empty, making their plan a lot easier. They walked over to the lifts and pressed the call button, causing one of the doors to open. They got inside and pressed the button for the studio that XY was in. The door's closed and the lift began to move up. Marinette turned to Luka and gave him a smile.
 "That was a great plan, Luka," She grinned, making him smile.
 "Wouldn't have been able to pull it without you guys," He smiled as the lift pinged and the doors opened. He glanced around as he stepped out with Marinette. They weren't sure where the entrance to the studio would be. They stopped as a woman walked by, heading towards a door. Marinette tapped Luka's arm and pointed at her before she disappeared into the studio. Luka nodded and the two of them ran over to the door she had gone through. They carefully pushed it open and peered in. XY was stood next to Alec Cataldi.
 "So, tell me, where did you get this inspiration for all this new material?" He asked as XY looked at him. 
 "Oh, it's nothing really," He replied, moving his head to the side. "I came with the whole song in like five minutes,"
 "In five minutes?" Luka gasped, annoyed. "He couldn't even sing it the way it was suppose to be sung!"
 "And his mask isn't even a good rip off," Marinette replied, equally annoyed. She glanced over and noticed Bob Roth stood behind the camera line. She rushed inside the studio and over to him. "Mr Roth!"
 He turned to look at him with a blank face.
 "My name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng," She explained, making him frown. There was a hint of recognition in his eyes, causing her to realize he knew her but he couldn't place where from. "I'm the one who sent you the kitty section video!"
 "Video?" He asked in an aggressive manner. "What video? I don't know what you're talking about, Kid!"
 "Maybe I can jog your memory!" She declared, taking out her phone and holding it up to him as it played the video, causing him to look at it. "Look! The costumes, the masks, the music, the dance moves... they're all the same,"
 "There's no comparison!" Mr Roth declared, crossing his arms before he gestured to the phone as XY joined him, mimicking his father's pose as he looked at them with disgust. "This here is some amateur garage band. My son is a solo artist,"
 "Son?" Luka questioned as he put his arm around XY, who had started to smirk.
 "You guys play instruments, his music is all digital," He continued, pointing to XY. "Our unicorn is much more cooler and our masks are nothing like yours,"
 "That's not true!" Luka yelled, surprising Marinette as he glared at them. "You copied Marinette's costumes!"
 "And it's the exact same song!" Marinette added in, looking at the two thieves. "You stole Luka's music!"
 "Oh, come on! Let's not exaggerate now," XY stated as he looked at them. "We may have been just a little... inspired! That's all but I thought you would know that given that your father is a musician,"
 "Ah, that's right," Mr Roth smirked as he looked at Luka. "I thought I recognized you. You're Jagged's son,"
 "My father has nothing to do this with this!" Luka growled, making the two of them look at him in surprise. "And you weren't inspired! You flat out stole!"
 He walked up to XY and poked him in the chest as he looked at him in an angry manner.
 "You didn't design this mask!" He yelled as he grabbed the mask off XY and ripped it off him, causing the DJ to rub the side of his face in pain. "Marinette did!"
 "Look, it's not too late to do the right thing!" Marinette gasped, causing Luka to look at her in surprise. Even though he really shouldn't be. Of course, Marinette was gonna try and appeal to their better selves. She always saw the good everyone, even those who didn't deserve it. Luka was even sure that she probably still managed to see good in someone like Lila despite what she's done. "Just tell the truth and let Kitty Section appear on the show! That's all we're asking,"
 "Yeah," Mr Roth replied in a disbelieving tone before he pointed at them. "First, they'll want to be in the show then they'll be asking for a cut of the profits! No way! Never show or heard of Kitten Division!"
 Luka gritted his teeth as he felt his anger rising but Tikki gently pressed her paw to his chest, causing him to remember that he couldn't risk been akumatized. He took a deep breathe and turned to Marinette.
 "Forget it, Marinette," He gasped, gently grabbing her shoulder to lead her away. He didn't her to get akumatized over this either. "It's no big deal. Let's just go,"
 "No!" She gasped, pulling away from him. "It's not fair! I won't stand by and let my friends' work get stolen!"
 She stormed over to Mr Roth and XY as Luka looked at her in amazement. Despite the situation, he could feel himself falling for her harder then before. 
 "If you won't tell the truth then I will!" She threatened, surprising Luka again as she pointed to Bob Roth. "Right now! On the air! Live!"
 She stormed pass Mr Roth but suddenly grabbed her arm, making look at him and Luka to step forward as the urge to protect her kicked in.
 "If you do that, I'll tell them that you're the copy cats, not me!" He declared as she yanked her arm free from him. Luka gritted his teeth as his anger began to rise again. "I've got all of the music biz eating out of my hand! So who do you think they're gonna believe? Me or a group of nobodies?"
 He glanced over at Luka as he spoke, causing Luka to narrow his eyes and growl a little. He wasn't a nobody and neither was Marinette. None of Kitty Section were and how dare Bob Roth imply that they are. Mr Roth turned back to Marinette as he continued to threaten her.
 "You'll never have a future in this business! You'll never make another costume!" He declared, pointing his fat digit at Marinette, who stepped back. "And there will be no more music for your buddies! Because as far as everyone's concerned, you'll be the rip off artists!"
 He pointed at Marinette, making her flinch back as Luka flinched and glared at the man, getting angrier as he watched him. Not only was Bob Roth threatening Marinette but he had also stole their project and the way he was acting was reminding Luka of his step father. The way he towered over Marinette was mirrored how Issac would tower over Luka when he was younger. It was making him more angrier then he already was. How dare Mr Roth threatened the girl he loved?! How dare he steal her hard work and claim it as his own?! Sure, he was pissed that he had stole his work but he was more annoyed at that Marinette had been caught up with it. He growled as he gripped the mask in his hand, seething with anger.
 "I can destroy your future with a snap of my fingers!" Bob Roth laughed as Marinette looked up at him in horror. He laughed as she stepped away, causing Luka to growl again as he failed to notice the akuma that was fluttering towards him. "Not quite so cocky now, are we?!"
 The akuma entered his mask, opening the psychic link to Hawkmoth.
 "Silencer," The super villain stated, causing Luka's body to freeze up as he realized what was happening. "I am Hawkmoth. This man is the voice of evil and I'm giving you the power to silence him for good! All I ask in return is-"
 A buzzing noise interrupted Hawkmoth's speech, confusing both him and Luka as they heard it.
 "What?" Hawkmoth gasped as he wondered what it was. It resembled white noise but confused the hell out of Hawkmoth. He had never came across this before. Meanwhile, Luka gripped his head, groaning as white noise continued to filled his mind, causing him to drop the mask. He lifted his other hand to his head as it began to get louder and louder. He could hear Marinette yelling but it sounded so far away. "Silencer, I-"
 "Shut up!" He shouted, surprising everyone around him. It felt like his mind was going to explode. "G-Get out of my head!"
 "Luka!" Marinette gasped somewhere from in front of him but she still sounded really far away and the white noise was still around but he could hear something else within it. It was a voice saying something in a language he didn't understand. It seemed to be repeating something and it almost felt like it was trying to break through but he couldn't handle it. The sound was tearing his mind apart. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor as his body began to convulse violently. He heard Marinette's scream and he was afraid of what was happening but he couldn't stop his body as he fitted.
 ~Meanwhile~
 "Silencer! Answer me!" Hawkmoth shouted as he had no idea what was going on. He could feel extreme fear and panic coming from the boy and he could hear the white noise but it was dramatically reduced for him. "I demand an answer!"
 "You're not welcome here," A deep voice that definitely didn't belong to the boy replied, sending shivers down his spine before the connection was forcefully broken. He blinked in completely surprise as he hadn't called back the akuma nor had the boy rejected it and it wasn't purified. It had just been pushed out. He blinked in surprise before ordering his akuma to move around. He frowned as he used it's eyes to see what was going on but gasped in surprise. The boy who he had targeted was on the floor, violently fitting as Marinette Dupain-Cheng was trying to helping. Bob Roth was stood to the side, looking completely shocked while XY was backing away in fear. 
 "Go to XY!" He ordered, causing the akuma to flutter over to him and enter his head band. XY growled as the connection opened to Hawkmoth. "Blackout, I am Hawkmoth. These wannabe rock-stars are accusing you of stealing their original material. Well, I'm giving you the ability to take away something from them. All I ask in return is for you to get me Anatis' and Lady Noir' miraculous and find out what happened to that boy. Do we have a deal?"
 "Yes, Hawkmoth," XY replied, accepting the power.
 ~Back to Marinette~
 "Do you have any idea-" XY stated as Luka suddenly groaned, causing the three of them to look at him as he gripped his head, dropping the rip off mask as he did. Marinette gasped as she saw it had turned black. She rushed over to him as he stepped back and groaned. 
 "Luka!" She gasped, worried. "Luka! Listen to me, you don't need-"
 "Shut up!" He shouted, gripping his hair as his face screwed up in pain. She covered her mouth as she wasn't sure what to do. "Get out of my head!"
 "Luka!" She gasped, going to encourage him but his eyes suddenly rolled up into the back of his head and he collapsed to the floor, convulsing violent. She let out a scream and rushed to his side. She grabbed his head as tears filled her eyes before she looked up at Mr Roth and XY. "Phone an ambulance!"
 Bob stepped back in fear as Luka continued to fit. Marinette tried to calm herself as best as she could. Since Mr Roth and XY weren't helping, she grabbed her phone and dialed 112. The phone rang for a few seconds before it answered.
 "Hello! I need an ambulance!" She gasped in a panicked voice. The woman on the phone told her to take a deep breathe and explain the situation. Marinette took one. "It's my friend. He's having some kind of fit. He needs medical-"
 "Yes, Hawkmoth," XY suddenly declared, causing her to gasp and look over as he got consumed by the purple smog before some kind of shock wave exploded from him, knocking everyone back and plunging everyone in darkness as the purple smog disappeared. Marinette pushed herself up and looked at her phone, gasping as she saw it was now dead before she looked over at Luka. He had stopped fitting but his eyes were still rolled up and he didn't appear to be responsive. Marinette leaned over him and frowned as she wasn't sure what to do. She had to get him out of here. She thought about transforming but the sound of footsteps caught her attention, causing her to gasp as the akumatized XY walked over. He was one of the more scarier akumas she had seen. His hair was made of blue flames and his headband was black. He wore a black vest with spiked shoulder pads and a bright blue hem. Underneath it was a black fishnet top that covered some of his stomach. His pants were blue with yellow triangles and he had a black belt around around his waist with a lightning bolt shaped belt buckle. It was purple with a yellow line. The same lightening bolt was on his mask but the rest of it was purple. His eyes were light blue with purple scleras and he had black lips as well as fangs. His skin was light blue and he had black fingerless gloves on. His boots were black with blue flames on them and his fingers were skeletal. His ears were pixie like, had two black bands on his right arm and he had a bass guitar around his back that was back with a blue flame on it. Marinette gulped as he stood in front of her. "Hawkmoth wants to know what happened to your little boyfriend,"
 "Leave him alone!" She gasped as he leaned down and grabbed her, shoving her aside. "He needs medical help!"
 "I could crush him right now," He smirked, causing Marinette to get scramble and try to find something in the darkness. Her fingers found something, causing her to feel it. She smiled as she realized it was a fire extinguisher. She pulled it off and set it up as XY leaned over Luka. She aimed it at him and sprayed him with it, causing him to yell out as she managed to out his flames for now. She picked it up when it ran out and threw it at him, causing him to scream and dive out of the way as she rushed over to Luka. She slapped his cheeks, causing him to groan but he wasn't quite awake yet. She tried to pull him out of the studio as XY got back up. "You little- ahhh!"
 He dived out of the way as several rafters came crashing down as Marinette managed to reach the door. She tried to find the handle but it suddenly opened, allowing her to drag Luka out with difficulty. It wasn't that he was large or anything but he was a dead weight. She gasped as she saw to green eyes before letting out a sigh when she realized it was Plagg. She gasped and pulled Luka to the side before letting out a breathe. He groaned, causing Plagg to hide in her purse as he coughed.
 "M-Marinette..." He gasped, making her let out a sigh of relief. "W-why... dark..."
 "There was a blackout and we have an akuma who seems to want to know what happened to you," She explained, making him groan.
 "Need... Anatis..." He muttered, trying to move. Marinette helped him leaning against the wall as he groaned. "Feel.. sick..."
 "I'm not surprised," She mumbled, gently placing her hand on his head before her fear got the better off her. "Luka, you scared me. You started to fit and I didn't know what to do,"
 "I'm.. sorry...." He muttered, making her let out a small sigh.
 "It's not your fault," She replied as they heard a crash. She gulped as she realized it was probably Blackout. "Think you can walk?"
 "M-Maybe. Might... need help..." He admitted, making her nod. She moved over to him and helped him up, getting him to lean on her as they began to walk away from where they were, feeling the wall as they did. They turned the corner, just as Blackout burst through the door. Marinette's eyes began to adjust in the dark as she looked around, still feeling the wall as she did. She made felt a door and moved her hand over it, realizing it was a push door. She felt something on it and realized it was a metal sign. She moved her hand across it and gasped quietly as she realized it was the woman's toilets. She pushed open the door and helped Luka inside before helping him sit against the wall. 
 "Stay in here," She ordered, going to get up but Luka grabbed her hand.
 "D-Don't go," He muttered, making her frown. She had to leave him but part of her didn't want to.
 "I'm just gonna go on the roof and flag down Lady Noir or Anatis," She replied, gently placing her hand on his cheek. "You'll be safe in here as the akuma won't think to look in the women toilets for you,"
 "Me-Melody," He muttered before groaning. "B-Be careful,"
 "I'll try," She replied, biting her lip before she leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I'll get them to send paramedics as soon as they can for you and I'll be back as soon as I can too,"
 Before he could answer, she rushed outside and away from the bathroom. She hated leaving him, especially given how weak he was but she had to protect him. He was too important to her not to and she could keep the akuma away from him as Lady Noir. As soon as she was far enough, she transformed into Lady Noir and went looking for the akuma.
 ~Back to Luka~
 As soon as Marinette left the room, Tikki flew out of his pocket and pressed her hand to Luka's cheek. She gasped as she realized he was hotter then usual and his breathing was weak.
 "Luka, you need a doctor," She gasped as his breathing got swallow as if he was struggling with it. "Luka!"
 "I'm... ok..." He gasped, trying to get up but he fell back onto the floor. "I... need to... protect... her..."
 "Luka, you're in no fit state to transform let alone fight," She gasped, concerned. She had no idea what happened. She knew he was close to been akumatized but because of the seizure, he hadn't. Had his natural luck causes it? She wouldn't consider it lucky but in a backward way, it was.
 "I h-have to..." He gasped, pushing himself up again. "T-Tikki... spots o-on,"
 She got sucked into his earrings, transforming him in Anatis as he fell to the floor again. He pushed himself up and took a step forward, groaning as he felt dizzy. He felt the room shake, causing him to frown before he took a step forward and left the bathroom. He made his way through the building blindly, using the wall as a guide. He managed to make his way up where the shaking and crashes were coming from before he held a voice yell that he recognized as Lady Noir. She came flying through the doors of the studio and landed near him as the akuma stepped out.
 "Now you'll see why they call me Blackout!" He declared, taking out his bass guitar and strumming it. Anatis uses the last of his strength to rush in front of her and used his yoyo to block the attack as Lady Noir got up but he couldn't hold it back and was knocked into her, causing him to fall to the ground as he breathed in heavily as his head began to buzz again and feel like it was splitting. He could feel himself falling backwards into darkness as he began to lose consciousness. Lady Noir didn't notice as she jumped up and used her baton to redirect Blackout's attack. Blackout growled as she smirked at him.
 "Think you can get us a lucky charm, Annie," She grinned but frowned when he didn't reply. She redirected Blackout's attack before kicking him back and attacking him. "Annie! A little help here!"
 He didn't answer again, causing her to look behind her and gasp. He was slumped to the ground with his head bowed, causing her to gasp.
 "Annie!" She cried out, allowing Blackout to take advantage. He hit her with his sound wave, throwing her back into the wall but when she got back up, she gasped as she could no longer see properly in the dark. All she could see was Blackout's flaming hair. He laughed and began to walk over to her as she held out her baton but she couldn't fight Blackout and protect Luka while protecting Anatis. She had to get him out of there. She bit her lip and prayed that Luka would forgive her. "Cataclysm!"
 She slammed her hand onto the wall behind her, causing it to crumble as a hole appeared in, allowing sunlight into the building. Blackout cried out and jumped from it, allowing her to grab Anatis and lift him up before she jumped out of the building and to the next one. It wasn't easy but she managed to carry him as best as she could to Master Fu's. He was slipping in and out conscious, making her worry. She burst through the door, causing Master Fu to look up in surprise before he gasped and rushed over to them.
 "What happened to him?" He asked as he helped her get him to the massage mat, getting him to lie down. "Lady Noir?"
 "I d-don't know..." She gasped, tears in her eyes. She explained that she had been fighting Blackout and that he had tried to protect her from been hit by a sound wave. Master Fu frowned as he listened. "But it weaken him dramatically and I don't understand why! I mean I got hit by the wave but all it did was take away my night vision,"
 "This is most unusual," He replied, getting up and gesturing for her to come over to him as her ring beeped. He led her into a different room, just before her transformation dropped and turned to her as she handed some cheese to Plagg. Anatis may be semi-consciousness but that doesn't mean he wanted to risk their identities. He grabbed some equipment that made Marinette give him a strange look as Plagg ate his cheese. When he was done, Marinette transformed back into Lady Noir and followed Master Fu back into the main room. He placed the equipment down next to Anatis and got back up. Wayzz was sat with him as he breathed shallowly. His eyes were closed and he looked like he was pain. Master Fu walked over to the phonograph and took out the miracle box before bringing it over to her. "Lady Noir, you must chose an ally you can trust to fight alongside you on this mission. Once the mission is over, you must retrieve the miraculous and return them to me,"
 "What about Anatis?" She frowned as she looked over at him. "Don't we need him to fix everything and capture the akuma?"
 "I will see if I can restore his energies and heal him but you must try and capture the akuma," He replied, making her nod. "I will give you one of my enchanted jars in case,"
 "Alright," She nodded before glancing at the miraculous. "I don't know these as well as Annie does but I do know that Blackout didn't like it when I created a hole in the building and sunlight came in and I could also use someone who can sneak up on him,"
 "In that case, I recommend the Rooster and the Tiger," Master Fu recommended, making her look at him. "The Rooster can use Flare, which allows them to create a burst of bright light and the Tiger can use Veil, which makes it's user completely invisible until they either touch something or they run out of their time,"
 "Those two would be perfect!" Lady Noir gasped before frowning. "But can I even bring two out?"
 "Normally, I wouldn't advise it but with Anatis out of commission this time, I am suggesting it," Master Fu replied, causing Lady Noir to nod and grab the two miraculous. Master Fu got up and walked out of the room as she went to the draw and put the two miraculous in their boxes before placing them in her pocket. She moved over to Anatis and knelt down next to him, gently moving his hair as his eyelids fluttered a little.
 "Don't worry, Annie," She whispered. "I'll find a way to fix this,"
 Master Fu came back in and handed her a jar before she took off out of the window and jumped across the rooftops. For her allies, she needed people who have a strong sense of justice and who can handle tough situations. She also needed someone who is a quick thinker and logical and she knew exactly who was perfect for it. She landed on the school roof and jumped down, heading straight to the computer room. It was a bit of a shot in the dark as it was a Saturday but she knew a number of students did extra classes on a Saturday if they weren't hanging out with their friends.  As soon as she entered the room, she saw who she was looking for. Max was trying to get the computers and Marvok to work again.
 "Max Kante," She called, getting his attention. He gasped and jumped in surprise as she strolled over to him. "I need your help,"
 "Is there an akuma?" He asked, getting a nod of her. "Anatis sent you to get help?"
 "Anatis... is hurt..." She muttered, looking to the side. "I've got him to someone who can help but I can't just let this akuma continue to rampage,"
 "I understand but I'm not sure how I can help," Max replied, frowning as Lady Noir reached into her pocket and took out the box that contained the Rooster miraculous. Max blinked as he looked at it.
 "Max Kante, here is the miraculous of the Rooster which grants the power of Illumination," She explained, making him stare at it at surprise. "You will use it for the greater good,"
 Max gaped at her in surprise before slowly taking the box.
 "Once the mission is done, you must return the miraculous to me," She explained, making him nod. "Can I trust you?"
 "You can count on me one hundred percent, Lady Noir," He replied, opening it. A bright orange glow appeared out of it and circled around him, causing him to gasp before it manifested in a small creature that resembled a rooster, who stretched and looked at him.
 "Hello, I'm Orriko," It stated, making him know. "Who are you?"
 "Um... hello, my name's Max," He replied, making Orriko nod before they turned around and frowned as they looked around. "Is something wrong?"
 "Where's the young master?" Orriko asked, looking at Lady Noir. She glanced to the side sadly. "Is he ok?"
 "He's with Master Fu," She answered, making the rooster nod. "Orriko was it? We need to face Blackout but I don't know much about your power so I can't really explain it to Max,"
 "No need to worry, mistress," They replied, making her blush a little before turning back to Max. "To transform, all you need to say is Orriko, Sunrise and to detransform it's Orriko, Sunset. The power you will have is called Flare. Calling upon it will allow you to create a flash of bright light with your arrows,"
 "Ok," Max replied, nodding as he slipped on the thumb ring. "Orriko, Sunrise!"
 Orriko got sucked into the ring, charging it up. Max swiped his hand over his hand, changing it's color to red and orange before the golden energy spreaded across his body, creating his outfit. It was most orange that faded in yellow but his legs had dark teal green on them. He had red shoulder pads and a bright orange neck area that was triangle-shaped. His gloves were a dark teal green with red spikes and his boots were yellow. He moved his hand across his eyes, creating his mask which was most red but with a yellow nose area that was shaped like a beak. His quiver appeared on his side and his bow appeared on his back before a red belt appeared around his waist, completely the transformation. 
 "Whoa," He muttered, holding his hands up as he looked at him.
 "Not bad," Lady Noir smiled, making him nod. "You'll need a name though,"
 "Call me Apollo," He smiled, making her nod. "What's the plan?"
 "We just need to pick up one more person," She explained, making him nod. "Would you mind waiting for me on the rooftop?"
 "Of course, Lady Noir," He nodded, making her smile. "Would you like me to do anything while I'm waiting?"
 "Well, you could study your user's guide," She explained, making him nod. "Your bow will have a build in phone and manual,"
 "Interesting," He replied, jumping up to the roof as she rushed to the art room and looked around. There were but none of them called out to her for the tiger. She apologized to them and rushed back out  before looking around the other classrooms. She frowned to herself as she continued to do so. She needed to find someone and soon.
 "Lady Noir?" A voice called, making her turn around as Nino stared at her. "Is everything ok, dudette?"
 "Are you alone?" She asked, making him nod.
 "Yeah, I wanted to work on some lyrics," He replied, making her nod. "Where's Anatis?"
 "He's... um... he's hurt... the akuma did something to him. I got him to safety but I need help," She admitted sadly, making Nino gasp before clearing his throat and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I can't defeat Blackout on my own,"
 "I'll help you as best I can, dudette," He replied, making her nod. "Though not sure what use I'll be,"
 "Actually," She muttered, wiping her eyes a little before taking out the box with the tiger miraculous before holding up. "You can be more helpful then you realize,"
 "Is that what I think it is?" He asked, making her smile.
 "Nino Lahiffe, here is the miraculous of the tiger which grants the ability of invisibility," She declared, making him stare at it. "You will use it for the greater good, if you are willing?"
 "Definitely, dudette," He replied, taking the box.
 "Once the mission is done, you must return the miraculous to me," She explained, making him nod. "Can I trust you?"
 "I got your back, dudette," He reassured as he opened the box, causing a magenta colored ball of light to appear and fly around him before it manifested into a small tiger like creature. "Whoa, what are you? Are you like a genie or something?"
 "I'm a Kwami," It replied, crossing it's arm. "The name is Roarr and I can grant you powers,"
 "Um Roarr, would you mind explain your power to Nino?" Lady Noir asked, causing Roarr to look at her before they glanced around, frowning. "Anatis isn't here... I know you're more familiar with him but-"
 "No worries, Lady Noir," Roarr grinned, making her look at them in surprise. "The boss talks about you quite a bit and since he trusts you, we trust you. Besides, us cats gotta stick together,"
 Lady Noir smiled before nodding. Roarr turned to Nino.
 "So, Cub, the transformation words are Roarr, Leap out and to detransform, it's Roarr, Crouch Down," They explained, making the DJ nod. "And then there's your special power. My specialty is been sneaky. I grant the ability to turn invisible. Since you're a cub, it will only last five minutes then you'll transform back... but if you touch anything before that, you will be revealed. To activate it, just say Veil. Got it, Cub?"
 "I think so, Dude," Nino replied, taking out the Panjas Bracelet and putting it on his hand. He glanced at it as it turned into a simple silver bracelet connected to a simple silver ring before looking up at Roarr, who nodded. Nino held up his hand and grinned. "Roarr, Leap Out!"
 Roarr got sucked into the bracelet, charging it up before a magenta light moved up his arm as he moved around. It created a dark purple suit with magenta colored strips around it. His boots were black with dark purple strips on them and styled as combat styles. His gloves and mask matched his boots and he had a dark purple hood over his head with two tiger ears poking out. His eyes were catlike and brown in color. The light created a purple belt that was long enough to resemble a tail, finishing the transformation. 
 "Whoa, this is so cool," He gasped as he looked at himself. "This is legit,"
 "I'm glad you're impressed," She smiled, making him nod. "You're gonna need a name,"
 "Call me Sabertooth," He grinned, making her smile before the two of them left the room and jumped onto the roof, where Apollo was waiting. Lady Noir walked over to him and greeted him as Sabertooth walked behind her.
 "Sabertooth, this is Apollo," She introduced, causing the boys to shake hands before Apollo turned to her.
 "I have analysed the user's guide but I also discovered that there is an ongoing live stream with Blackout," He explained, showing her on his bow. "He is demanding that we hand him the miraculous as usual but he is also demanding that Luka Couffaine be handed over to him,"
 "What does he want with Lu... I mean Mr Couffaine?" Sabertooth asked, making her frown. 
 "The akuma Blackout is XY. He stole music from Mr Couffaine," She explained, making them frown. "And Mr Couffaine found out. I think Blackout wants to get rid of Mr Couffaine so he can't tell the truth. What's the threat this time?"
 "He's threatening to plunge the city into darkness," Apollo replied, making her nod. "But he hasn't left the TVi studio. Instead, he's been live streaming from there but I don't understand why he hasn't left,"
 "Because he can't," Lady Noir replied, making them look at her. "He can't go in light,"
 "Then my power will come in use," Apollo replied, making her nod. "What's the plan?"
 "We need to get into the studio and confront him," She replied, frowning. She wondered how Anatis did it. "Let's go!"
 ~Back to Master Fu's Place~
 Master Fu frowned as he crushed up some herbs in a bowl to create an incense that might help with Anatis' condition. He was really weak and kept slipping in and out of consciousness. He added the crushed herbs to another bowl that had a charcoal disc in it before picking up the bowl and knelt next to him, picking up a fan and using it to waft the smoke towards him. Anatis groaned and moved his head, making Master Fu frown.
 "Luka, if you can hear me, I need you to detransform," He explained, hoping he could. He needed to talk to Tikki and find out what had happened. He had a feeling that it wasn't to do with the akuma. Luka didn't reply at first, making him frown. However, Luka groaned, making Fu look at him.
 "T-Tikki..." He muttered, making him gasp. "S-Spots... off..."
 The red light appeared as his costume disappeared, causing Tikki to manifest. Luka's head flopped to the side as Master Fu caught her but she flew out of his hands and landed next to Luka's head, gently placing her paw on his cheek.
 "Luka," She muttered, frowning before looking up at Master Fu. "Can you heal him?"
 "I can try but I need to know what happened," He replied, making her nod. "Lady Noir told me he got hit by Blackout's power but the miraculous should have protected him from any physical effects,"
 "It wasn't Blackout," Tikki explained, making Master Fu looked at her as she looked worried before she let out a sigh. "Luka almost become an akuma today. He and Marinette were trying to deal with a man called Mr Roth and the DJ XY stealing their artwork. Luka was willing to let it go but then Mr Roth threatened Marinette and Luka got so angry that Hawkmoth sent an akuma to him. It technically possessed him but something happened to him. He started to grip his head and told it to shut up and get out of his head. I thought he was talking to Hawkmoth but then he collapsed to the floor and had a seizure. While he did, Hawkmoth recalled the akuma,"
 "Oh my," Master Fu replied, frowning. "I've never heard of an akuma causing someone to have a seizure. Of course, I imagine him getting hit by Blackout didn't help. I think I may be able to restore his energies to heal him,"
 "Please do, Master," Tikki gasped, looking at Luka. "I'm worried,"
 Master Fu nodded and went into over to the equipment he needed to heal Luka's chi. He began to work using his crystals and gongs but it seemed to taking longer then usual. Tikki bit her lip as she watched, hoping that Luka would be ok. She didn't understand what had happened but she knew that he needed to be ok. She would never forgive Hawkmoth if he wasn't. Master Fu tapped his gong again before holding his hands over Luka's chest, reading his energies. He gasped as he opened his eyes before doing the action again, causing Tikki to frown.
 "Master, what's wrong?" She asked, making him frown as he moved his hands. "Master?"
 "It is most strange," He replied, making her frown. "I can sense Luka's aura but I can also sense a second aura or present. Are you sure the akuma was called back?"
 "Yes," She replied, certain. "It went into XY's headband, turning him into the Blackout,"
 "That can't be right," Master Fu stated, making her frown. "When a butterfly user recalls an akuma, it is purified but if it is rejected by the host, it remains charged,"
 "That means Luka rejected it," She gasped, causing Master Fu to look at him as Luka's eyes lids flick. "Can't you get rid of the second aura?"
 "No, it could damage Luka's soul if I did," He replied, making her frown. "I don't know if this second present is just his subconscious manifesting itself or if it is something possessing him. Either way, it is too dangerous, especially if it causes his seizure,"
 "You think this other presence might possessing him?" She asked, frowning as she glanced over at him. She bit her lip again before glancing back at Fu. "Do you think it could be Hawkmoth himself?"
 "I don't know, Tikki," He replied, frowning. "I don't know,"
 ~Back to Luka~
 Silencer, I am Hawkmoth...
 Luka!!  Leave him alone!
 Luka, you need a doctor! Luka!!
 I could do with a little help here! Annie? Annie!!
 You're not welcome here... Luka groaned and gripped his head as images flashed through his mind, causing his headache to feel so much more worst then it already did. He didn't understand why he was seeing them but he knew that they weren't his memories or even times where he had been in them but at the same time, he did know them. They seemed very familiar to him but he couldn't explain why. He groaned and gripped his head even more before slipping farther into darkness before he jolted awake. He slowly sat up as he heard a strange humming and could smell herbs been cooked. It instantly reminded him of the special potions that Master Fu made for the kwamis. He rubbed his eyes as he still felt tired and his brain still hurt but he instantly went on edge when he heard someone moving around. Finally paying attention to his surroundings, he realized very quickly that he wasn't in Master Fu's apartment or in his room at the Liberty as he looked around. In fact, he didn't recognize the place he was in. He jumped up but instantly felt dizzy, causing him stumble back and grip his head as the buzzing came back. He slid down the wall to the ground as he gripped his head. He had no idea how he got where he was but he knew he had to get back. Marinette and Lady Noir needed him. There was an akuma and he had to save people but he felt so weak and tired. He wasn't sure what was wrong but he knew something was. He couldn't remember exactly what happened but he had heard Marinette screaming. He gripped his head as the buzzing noise continued to get louder and louder until it got to the point where he had to cover his ears. He flinched as someone touched his arm, making him look up in surprise at a man who was knelt in front of him. He was dressed in clothing that was definitely not modern. In fact, it reminded Luka of the kind of clothing he expected a farmer from ancient China would wear. The majority of the man's hair was short but the part that was long was tied into a low ponytail. He wore a simple gray hanfu with loose pants that were tied just below his knees. He had a short robe over his main clothing that was blue in color and had short sleeves and had flat black shoes on that resembled martial art shoes. He was taller then Luka and good few years older. If he had to guess, he would say this man was in his early twenties. He looked at Luka, taking him in with his silver eyes, causing Luka blinked and looked again. Yeah, this man's eyes were definitely silver. That wasn't natural but Luka found he wasn't afraid of him. In fact, Luka felt like he could trust him and that he wasn't a threat. Despite not knowing that he had never seen him before, Luka found that he somehow recognized the man. He was extremely familiar to him. He felt like an old friend who he hadn't seen in years. He couldn't explain it but he instantly felt calmer in the man's presence. The man smiled gently at him before gently placing his hand on his head, causing Luka to gasp in surprise as he felt his energy been restored. He tilted his head back as his eyes turned completely silver before he slumped into darkness. When he woke up, he found himself back in Master Fu's apartment. He groaned and slowly sat up, causing Tikki to flutter over
 "Luka?!" She gasped, making him blink and look at her but to her surprise, his eyes were silver instead of his usual blue. She frowned a little. "Are... are you ok?"
 "I'm fine, Tikki," He smiled, standing up causing her and Master Fu to look at him quite confused. He glanced around before noticing Master Fu and realized how he got here. Lady Noir must have brought him but she was no where to be seen, which mean she had gone back to fight Blackout. He transformed before saying goodbye to Master Fu and leaving the apartment. He swung across the buildings until he came to the TVi studio. He swung into the building through the hole in the side of it and landed down, frowning as he noticed the majority of the building was dark. He frowned to himself and decided to proceed with caution as he walked through the darkness. To his surprise, his eyes adjusted a lot quicker then usual and while it wasn't perfect, he could see better then he expected. He heard yelling and shouting coming from deeper in the building and broke into a run as he followed it. He stopped at the door and carefully opened it, slipping inside. Two heroes he didn't recognize were trying to take out Blackout and protect Lady Noir who was down on the ground. Blackout growled and used his guitar to knock both of them back, repeatedly hitting them with the sound wave before they felt on the floor. He stalked over to Lady Noir who was weakly trying to get up. She got to her feet and tried to attack Blackout, only for him to punch her before he lifted her up by the throat, causing a wave of panic and angry to flow through him as she struggled against him.
 "Now to take your miraculous, Pretty Kitty," Blackout smirked as she tried to grab at his hand. He lifted his other one but Anatis threw the yoyo, wrapping it around his arm and pulling him back, causing him to drop Lady Noir as he fell. She gasped for breathe as Blackout to get up and growl as he faced him. "Oh, you're back. I thought you had ran off with your tail between your legs, Anatis! Well, now I can claim your miraculous!"
 "Not on my watch, asshole," He growled, spinning his yoyo around as Blackout ran at him, swinging at him. Anatis blocked his fist and knocked him back as one of the other heroes managed to get up and rush over to Lady Noir, helping her up. Anatis spun around and kicked Blackout, sending him flying before he threw his yoyo and wrapped it around some of the rafters before pulling them down on Blackout, causing him to scream before he rushed over to the last hero and helped him up, following the other hero out with Lady Noir. Anatis led them to the area where the hole was. "Is everyone ok?"
 "Annie!" Lady Noir gasped, hugging him and catching him off guard before she pulled away and cupped his face, causing him to blush. "Are you ok?! I was so worried,"
 "I'm fine, Kitten," He smiled, making her frown a little as he pulled away from her. He seemed off to her and why were his eyes silver? Was it from Blackout's attack? She frowned a little.
 "Are you sure you're ok?"
 "I'm still weakened from Blackout's earlier attack but the cure should fix that," He replied, smiling before he looked other at the other two. "I see you made some friends.,"
 "Oh, this is Sabertooth and Apollo," She replied, smiling shyly. "I needed help,"
 "Blackout is tough," He replied, frowning. "But hasn't followed us out,"
 "It's probably because of the light," Lady Noir replied, making Anatis give her a puzzled look. "It seems that he can't go in it,"
 "I'm guess that's why you picked the Rooster," Anatis grinned, making Lady Noir smile before he glanced over at Sabertooth. He realized he was using the tiger miraclous but despite that, it seemed that they were struggling to fight Blackout. He frowned as he thought about it. "What's Blackout's power?"
 "He can create sound waves that are is more then just shock waves," She sighed, making him frown. "He has caused a literal black out but it seems he is able to take away abilities from people but not in a traditional way. When you were hurt earlier, he took advantage and hit me with his sound blast. It took away my ability to see in the dark,"
 "I'm sorry, Kitty" He muttered, making her frown. "I should have been more careful. As a result, you-"
 "No! It's not your fault, Annie," She gasped, holding up his hands. "I was reckless,"
 "Still," He muttered, looking to the side before shaking his head. "We need a plan to defeat Blackout. Do we know what where his akuma is?"
 "In his headband,"
 "Ok," He nodded before throwing up his yoyo. "Lucky charm,"
 A pair of glasses appeared out thin air, causing him to frown as he caught them. Just what was he suppose to do with these? He put one pair on, gasping before taking them back off. Lady Noir rose an eyebrow.
 "Night vision glasses," He smiled before glancing around in the luck vision. He frowned as he couldn't see the solution before sighing. "But I can't see how to use these so let's review what we know,"
 "Well, he's taken away your ability to work out how to use the lucky charm and my ability to see in the dark," Lady Noir sighed before Anatis gasped and clicked his fingers.
 "Of course, he may have taken away our sight in a way but what if we could restore yours?" He asked, making her blink at him before she gasped as she realized what he meant.
 "Night vision glasses!" She gasped, making him nod. "But won't he be able to switch them off?"
 "These aren't modern night vision goggles," He replied, making them look at him. "They have special lens that will help you see in the dark. Admittedly, not as well as your actual night vision but they'll work and it also means that they don't have a power source,"
 "Meaning Blackout can't switch them off," Lady Noir gasped, grinning. "So what's the plan?"
 "You wear these but we need to work out what else we know," Anatis replied, making the others nod. "Let's start with what did I miss?"
 "Well, he freaked out when I used my power to create this hole," Lady Noir replied, making Anatis give her a confused look. "That's why I grabbed the Rooster. It has Flare,"
 "The ability to create a blast of light," He muttered, nodding. "I think I'm forming a plan,"
 "Do tell,"
 "Ok, Lady Noir, me and you are going to distract him while Apollo fires his arrows from a distance. When he's distracted with us, Apollo can use Flare to blind him..." He muttered, frowning. The three other heroes gave him a confused look. "But even blinded he could still grab our miraculous and use his ability. How does he use his ability?"
 "He uses a guitar," Sabertooth replied, causing Anatis to look at him before nodding.
 "Ok, revised plan," He nodded, grinning as he did. "Me and Lady Noir will distract Blackout and disarm him while Sabertooth.. you uses Veil and sneak up on him. Apollo, you're gonna need to use Flare but don't use it straight away. Wait until my signal,"
 "Yes, Anatis," The Rooster nodded.
 "Also, Sabertooth, don't use Veil straight ok? Try and get behind him first as you'll only have five minutes of invisibility when you use it," He replied, making him nod. "Alright, let's go!"
 The four heroes rushed back into the darkness. Lady Noir put on the night vision glasses and gave Anatis a thumbs up before they burst through the door. Blackout growled and went to blast them with a sound wave as Sabertooth sneaked through the shadows. Blackout gasped as Lady Noir blocked it with her baton and attacked him as if she could see in the dark again.
 "No! I took your sight from you!!" He shouted, shocked before trying to block Anatis' attack and Apollo's arrows as they heard Sabertooth move.
 "Veil," He whispered, completely disappearing from everyone's sight. Lady Noir knocked out the guitar out of Blackout's hand and Anatis threw his yoyo, wrapping it around the guitar and putting it towards him. He smashed it on the floor, causing Blackout to gasp.
 "How dare you!" He shouted, charging at him and trying to hit him. Anatis blocked his attack and kicked him back, making him growl as he fell to the floor.
 "Apollo! Now!" He shouted as Blackout got up, saying something about ripping Anatis in half.
 "Flare!" Apollo crowed, causing his arrow to glow a little before he fired it at the ground. The moment it hit the floor, it exploded into a bright light, causing Blackout to scream and cover his eyes. Sabertooth suddenly appeared as he grabbed his headband.
 "Lady Noir, catch!" He shouted, throwing it to her.
 "Cataclysm!" She shouted as she caught it, turning it into dust. It crumbled onto the floor as the akuma escaped, allowing Anatis to take out his yoyo and capture the akuma as Blackout slumped down, now completely docile. He walked over to Lady Noir and took the night vision glasses she was holding out, smiling a little at her before he threw them up in the air.
 "Miraculous Ladybugs!" He called out, causing it to explode into the cure before it spreaded over Paris, fixing everything then came back to the Studio and swarmed around, fixing everything in the studio before wrapping around the heroes as the lights turned back on. Blackout turned black into XY and looked around confused as Bob Roth came out of his hiding place. 
 "Finally!" He declared. "It took you heroes long enough to fix everything! Where's that musician?! It's his fault my son got akumatized! I'm gonna sue him and his little girlfriend,"
 Lady Noir let out a growl and stormed over to Bob Roth, making him blink as Apollo and Sabertooth crossed their arms. Anatis glared at him before glancing around and smirked as the camera was lit up in his luck vision. He tapped Sabertooth's arm and nodded towards it. Sabertooth smiled and moved over, turning it on and pointing it towards Bob Roth and Lady Noir.
 "With all due respect, Mr Roth! None of this would have happened if you hadn't stole Kitty Sections' music and costumes!" She gasped, growling. "That akuma wasn't even intended for your son! It was intended for the musician who you ripped off and if you had told the truth in the first place, none of this would have happened... but you can still fix this. You can tell the truth, Mr Roth,"
 "Are you crazy?!" He growled, causing Lady Noir to make a hissing noise. "Do you really think that I'm gonna do that?  That I'm tell the world that I stole Kitty Section's songs and that kid's girlfriend's costumes for my useless son?! Ha! Not if I can help it!"
 Lady Noir gritted her teeth as Anatis walked over and gently put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to look at him.
 "Don't worry, Lady Noir," He smiled, making both Bob and Lady Noir look at him. "I think the truth will out,"
 "Oh and why's that, you overgrown beetle?!" Bob growled, making Anatis smirk before he pointed to the camera.
 "Because, Mr Roth," He smiled as Bob glanced over. "You're live on air,"
 "W-What?!" He gasped, shocked as Sabertooth waved at him. Anatis' miraculous beeped, causing him to move his hand to his earrings before he turned to the others.
 "Sorry guys. This bug has to get going," He smiled, getting a nod of them before Lady Noir turned to the other two.  He rushed outside and made his way into the bathroom where Marinette had originally hid Luka. The transformation dropped and he caught Tikki as his eyes turned back to blue. However, a sudden wave of nausea hit him, causing him to suddenly gag before he let go of Tikki and rushing to the toilet. He gasped as he threw up before slumping to the ground, causing Tikki to rush over to him. He groaned and curled up as his headache came back with a vengeance, closing his eyes as he did. It was too bright in there. Tikki gasped as she heard someone opening the door. She quickly dived into his jacket as Marinette rushed inside and over to him.
 "Luka!" She gasped, kneeling down in front of him. She gently placed her hand on his head as he groaned and slowly opened his eyes as she looked away. "He's in here!!"
 "M-Mari..." He muttered, making her look back at him. "Need... to..."
 "Ssh, it's ok, Luka," She whispered as two paramedics came in the bathroom. Luka felt his eyes getting heavily before he fell back into darkness. "Luka!"
 ~At the Hospital~
 Luka groaned as he opened his eyes and looked around. The room he was in was dimly lit but he recognized it as a hospital room. It was getting dark outside as the sun was setting. He let out a little sigh before glancing over to the side. Marinette was sat in a chair with a blanket wrapped around her. Her hair was messy and she was breathing lightly, making him smile a little as he looked at her. Next to her was Juleka and Rose. Like Marinette, they were also asleep but Rose was sat on Juleka's lap. A third seat was near the other side of his bed but didn't contain anyone. He frowned a little but the door to his room opened, causing him to look over as his mother walked in with a doctor.
 "The good news is his brain scans showed no damage and- oh," He replied, looking over at him before he smiled as he walked over. Anarka gasped and rushed over to him.
 "Luka! You're awake!" She shouted, hugging him. Her yells causes the three girls to jolt awake before they blinked over at him.
 "Luka!" Rose cried, joining in on the hug.
 "I'm ok," He mumbled, though his voice was a little horse. The doctor called them off and checked out him, shining a light in his eyes and asking him a number of questions. He answered them as best as he could before the Doctor declared that he was alright for now. He smiled at Anarka before walking out of the room. Luka sighed and looked at his friends and family. "S-Sorry for worrying you all,"
 "Luka, you don't have to apology," Marinette gasped before a dark look came into her eyes. "That piece of trash, Bob Roth, should be the one apologizing! If he had to the truth then you wouldn't have nearly been akumatized!"
 "I was nearly akumatized?" He asked, a little confused. As he thought about it, his memory was a little blurry even as Anatis. Anarka cleared her throat and gestured for Rose and Juleka to leave, joining them and promising to get some food for them and Marinette.
 "Yeah and you... you had a seizure, Luka," Marinette gasped, surprising him as she had tears in her eyes and a haunted look. "I was so scared and then XY got akumatized and he tried to go after you... I tried my best to protect you... Luckily, Lady Noir and Anatis turned up with some new friends and defeated him but we got separated and I was terrified you would..."
 A sob escaped her lips, causing Luka to reach out and take her hand.
 "I'm ok, Melody," He smiled, making her look at him and nod. "But what happened with Bob Roth? Is he still insisting that he didn't steal?"
 "N-No, actually Lady Noir and Anatis exposed him live on air," She gasped, making him blink. "And Jagged got involved. He's suing Bob on your behalf. He was here earlier with Penny and Adrien came by with Chloe and Kagami to see how you were. Ivan and Mylene were here yesterday and Marc came with Alix, Nathaniel and Aurore. Even Alya came by with Nino. Lila tried to get in but we blocked her,"
 "H-How long was I out for?"
 "A week," She explained, surprising him. "You were in and out of consciousness,"
 "I'm sorry," He muttered, making her shake her head. "Do they know why I had a seizure?"
 "They have no idea," She frowned. "You've had brain scans but they all came back normal. No damage was done either,"
 "That's good," He nodded as she linked her hand in his. "What else did I miss?"
 "Well, Mr Roth has offered Kitty Section a record deal and a place to play 'I love Unicorns' Live at the TVi studio as his attempt to deal with the damage to his reputation," She explained before telling him what he missed. Luka happily listened to her as she spoke before his mother came back in. She told him that the doctors wanted to keep him over night to make sure he was ok. He nodded and talked to them before having something small to eat. Gradually, Marinette and his family had to go home, leaving him alone. He let out a small sigh before closing his eyes.
 "Luka?" Tikki's voice caught his attention, causing him to open his eyes again and smile at her. She rushed over and hugged his cheek. "I was so worried,"
 "I'm ok," He reassured, gently stroking her head. She looked up at him.
 "Master Fu came by to see if you were ok," She explained, making him nod. 
 "Does he know what happened to me?" He asked, making her sigh. "Tikki?"
 "He has a theory," She explained, making frown. "He believes that the akuma made have clashed with your empathy and basically you got hit with a backlash of magic,"
 "Oh," He replied, making her nod as he began to feel sleepy again. Tikki gently placed her hand on his arm as he closed his eyes again.
 "Rest, Luka,"
 ~At the TVi Studio a Few Days after Luka got Released from Hospital~
 "And now please welcome the next big thing in town! Kitty Section!" Alec declared at the camera. Luka smiled and went to walk over with the others but Marinette gently grabbed his hand and said his name, causing him to turn to her. She had a light blush on her cheeks and was looking down shyly. He smiled a little and stepped closer to her.
 "Luka, did you really mean those things you said when you were recovering in hospital?" She asked, surprising him. He had talked to her a couple of times since waking up but she had explained that he had said some things to her during the week he was recovering from the akuma attack but he didn't remember what he said. He only remembered the day he probably woke up but the week before he had no memory of. Tikki explained that it was probably a side effect of the magical backlash he experienced but it disappointed him a little. He let a small sigh.
 "I'm sorry, Marinette," He muttered, frowning. "But I don't remember... what did I say?"
 "Oh, nothing," She gasped, blushing even more. "It was nothing at all. You were recovering from Hawkmoth's attack after all,"
 "I don't know what I could have possibly said. I just hope it wasn't anything mean," He sighed, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him with a blush on her cheeks. He felt Tikki gently tapped his side as if to tell him just to tell her. Sure, every time he had tried something had gone wrong but not this time. "Cause you're the most extraordinary girl, Marinette. As clear as a musical note and as sincere as a melody. You're the music that's been playing inside my head since the first day we met,"
 He gave her a soft smile as she blushed at his words before gently pulling away and walking over to the rest of Kitty Section as Marinette blushed. He had no idea but he had repeated the exact words he had muttered to her when she had visited him. She had been so worried about him and visited him every day she could after school. Sometimes he was conscious and sometimes he wasn't. When he was conscious, he was kind of out of it, like he was drunk but she figured it was a side effect of the seizure he had. Of course, it was during this time he told her those exact words. It had caused her to have a mini spiral of panic but by the end of it, she had come to a conclusion. She was in love with him and judging by the fact that he had repeated those words while he was lucid, he may feel the same way.
 "T-That was a declaration of love," She gasped, blushing before looking at Plagg. "Right, Plagg?"
 "Yeah and one of the most gross I've ever heard," He gagged, making her chuckle. "Tikki would love it though,"
 She shook her head and looked up as Kitty Section started to play.
 "You know I love Unicorns! And nothing makes me feel better!" Rose sang as Luka and Juleka leaned against each other as they played. Luka moved over to Rose and the two of them made the clawing movement with their hands before he moved away from her and glanced over at Marinette, causing her to smile gently as her eyes met his. Yep, she was well and truly in love with Luka Couffaine.
--------------------------------------------
Next Chapter: Chapter 51
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baegarrick · 4 years
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hi hello so i’m coming to you because you’re the only person in the zukka fandom that i’ve seen blogging about the old guard and i love that movie SO MUCH and i can’t stop thinking about immortal zukka..... aang as either nile or andy bc i can’t choose, andy wouldn’t lose her immortality, and no one would betray anyone bc i say so 😌 how do you think an atla/the old guard au would work?? (zukkababey)
ok i rly love the idea of immortal everyone but tbh!!! i really dont know enough about asian history to like... go into detail about this honestly and I really didn’t want to come off as racist by fudging some stuff, but here r some bulletpoints about Things
(also u can slide into my dms 2 talk about this if u want, or if u have a discord, sorry it too so long I literally cant stop writing when I get on Topics. I'm so sorry if this gets off topic)
Sokka & Katara
In this au they’re not biologically related, but are both Inuit
Sokka dies first in a skirmish with another group of indigenous people in northern Canada (Inuit Nunangat) sometime prior to 1800
He knows he died, his people saw him die, and he doesn’t understand what’s happening (I really don’t know enough about the Inuit people to say whether they would have rejected him or tried to help him understand what happened to him)
however, I’d like to think they’d at least tell him to talk to the angakkuq, the shaman, and would probably see this as a positive thing
Eventually his band of people would whittle down to just a dozen or so, after long winters and harsh climates, and they were forced to assimilate with other bands who didn’t have ancestors who were there when Sokka died in the first place, so he has to move on.
He travels around for a while, trading and learning and staying in bands for a few years before moving on to another group, until it’s the 1800s
Around this time, Katara is born (and dies)
She refuses to stand down against a white French hunter who wanted to take one of the young women in her village as a wife, and she’s killed, and the woman is taken anyway.
When she wakes up, she’s furious, and before she can understand what happened to her, she finds the man and kills him. She’s arrested and set to be killed when Sokka finds her.
They aren’t biological siblings, but they come from the same people, and the world is changing rapidly and they’re the only people they know who are like this. The idea of marrying Katara is the worst thing that Sokka can think of-- look at her, she’s just a baby!!-- so they call each other siblings and travel together.
Zuko
ok again i know literally 0 things about chinese history like i googled “female chinese warriors” for suki and got like 100 things for mulan
Zuko is old, probably one of the oldest of the (living) group, but younger than Aang
he was the first son of the second son of the emperor in a time of political conflict in China. His father, the prince, was at war with his own brother who Zuko considered a father figure.
zuko speaks out against his father and is killed for being a traitor, but, guess what, he doesn’t die!!! his father does it again for posterity and uhhhhhh still doesn’t die. (or rather, dies, and comes back)
here’s where my uhhhhhh lack of knowledge is Bad
would his father banish him for being cursed? for somehow being against the gods?
or would he force him to fight in his armies, against his uncle, because he can’t die?
I was going to go with “banished” but fighting for decades in a fight he doesn’t want to be in is so! much! worse!
his father wants to know the secrets of his immortality and when he can’t share it he’s tortured and tested for years, and eventually sent out to fight as an immortal soldier who can’t die.
eventually he escapes, and leaves china for a long time (he doesn’t return for centuries)
he is highly distrustful of anyone for years bc of his father!! he wanders around for years like he does in Zuko Alone (or like Quynh before Andy finds her) and while he sees small bits of humanity, he has little faith in it and their wars, because he is Not One Of Them
For money he joins bandit groups or warlords or mercenaries, because why does any of that matter to him? Everyone dies.
Eventually he meets Aang, who is Humanity Personified, and Aang asks him if he thinks they can be friends-- but they’re on opposite sides of this conflict and Zuko is too disillusioned to want that. (they part ways)
He meets a man, Iroh, who reminds him of his uncle. They travel together for far longer than Zuko normally would, because he likes having a father figure, and because Iroh lost a son about Zuko’s age. They travel for years and Zuko never ages, so eventually he has to leave. Iroh finds him a few years later, greyer and slower, but tells Zuko that he knows about Zuko.
Zuko reacts poorly to this, lashing out, but Iroh is calm. Zuko breaks down and tells him he can’t give Iroh what he wants. (what Zuko assumes he wants-- what they all want, immortality)
But Iroh’s like, why would I want that? it sounds like a curse, son. Why would I want to never see my son again?
He tells Zuko: we’re not meant to be alone
After Iroh passes a few years later, he tries to track down Aang but can’t find him. He, however, has dreams about the others.
alternatively///////// japanese zuko?????? RONIN ZUKO???? love it but im too tired to think of More Than That after typing all the chinese zuko stuff up, although im Sure a ton of it would cross over bc im vague as Hell
Aang
he’s the oldest of the group but you wouldn’t know it!!!!
Roku was his mentor, the first immortal that any of them know of. He’s thousands of years old when Aang meets him. (He’s also the first to die. He shows Aang that All Things Must Die)
Aang is Tibetan, a Buddhist monk, one of the earliest, maybe the 7th century?
He dies in a temple fire
here again my complete and utter lack of knowledge is Bad
according to Dzogchen, individuals can transform their body into an immortal rainbow light, so there’s some mention of immortality in certain parts of Tibetan Buddhist culture, but idk how widespread that is since wikipedia didnt even have a source for it
he becomes a missionary and travels around asia for decades before Roku finds him
Roku!!! he’s an Old Immortal, and probably wants to die a little bit at this point, and he eventually does!! but for awhile he and Aang travel around together, and butt heads a bit bc Aang’s pacifist nature, and Roku thinks Aang Will Change as he gets older
aang is absolutely devastated by the Mongol invasion of Tibet in the 13th century
roku dies about a hundred years after he meets aang, and aang travels around a little aimlessly for awhile, learning all kinds of things and befriending people he’ll outlive. it dampens his spirits a bit.
eventually he meets Zuko, who’s far more jaded than Roku was, even, and wants to be friends, but respects Zuko’s decision otherwise.
Eventually, aang travels with the Norse to Canada in the 15th century, but when they leave they don’t take him with them. Instead, he ends up frozen ala steve rogers. Katara and Sokka find him a few hundred years later.
alternatively////// Aang IS the newest kid. he’s the Nile of the group. He’s still a Tibetan monk, and views this as a teaching/learning opportunity. He would also probably like everyone to stop killing each other. Sokka rolls his eyes at him constantly.
Toph
toph is a struggle bc how do you deal with an IMMORTAL BLIND GIRL
I’m gonna stick w her show backstory: rich, blind daughter of a wealthy Chinese family
Is kidnapped and her throat is slit when she’s young (maybe an older teenager) and the kidnappers panic, leaving her body. She’s found, namely unharmed, and resumes life despite the fact she knows she died.
However, being a privileged young girl, she’s kept under watch and it quickly becomes known that she’s immortal.
She’s regarded as a living deity for centuries until she meets Suki, who rescues her from the place and teaches her to fight. (she becomes a myth, later, rather than a historical fact)
alternatively//////// she could have been first generation chinese-american, and therefore the youngest
Suki
Suki was a third generation female warrior of her family who guarded the boarder during the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), and trained from a young age in martial arts. (insp by the story of Mu Guiying)
She’s a war orphan, and leads an army of war widows and orphan women, but meets her untimely end with some of her sisters in a reign of arrows. She’s buried by some of her sisters before she wakes up again, and has to claw her way to the surface.
Her sisters don’t know how to react to her (a lot like Nile’s soldiers) so she eventually leaves them.
After her death, she hears rumors of a living goddess (Toph) and goes to see if there really is another person like her, and finds one of the people from her dreams (Toph)
She trains Toph to fight despite her being blind, and the pair become an unusual duo for a couple hundred years.
eventually, they start dreaming about a pair of siblings in the New World (not that new!! people live there!!) and book passage there in the 1800s with the first major wave of Chinese immigration
They dream about each other. it happens a lot at first, but it tapers out over the years. it grows stronger whenever a new one (katara) is born, but Katara and Sokka have NO desire to leave their homeland to go look for these strange people until they find Aang. (what languages might they have in common? russian??? the russians came to settle alaska, I know bc my stepmom is native alaskan and russian--- the Mongols invaded TIbet and Mongolia is right next to Russia, so Aang might know it??)
When they find Aang, Suki and Toph start dreaming of them again, and so does Zuko and they all start making their way to San Francisco. The Chinese wouldn’t arrive in Canada until around the 1850s (according to google) so Sokka probably wouldn’t speak any Chinese (mandarin???? i dont know things), but Zuko might speak some English or Russian. [really just gonna be a bunch of chinese, inuit, and tibetan people speaking russian to each other, isn’t it??]
Aang greets Zuko like an old friend, and Zuko Does Not know what to do with that. he’s skirtish and shy and hasn’t really been around a lot of friendly people. Sokka does NOT trust him. At all!! (he wants Katara to stay FAR AWAY from him. stick with the harmless monk we found at the bottom of a lake, katara.)
They find Suki and Toph in a bar. Toph hustling people for money, and Suki drinking at the bar. It’s very strange to have all of them around, and it’s like, 1830. they all decide they like each other, after they get some good old fashioned stabbing in-- Katara is the only woman Sokka has been around whos like him, and she’s like his little sister, and all he wants to do is Protect Her, so he doesn’t know what to do with women who known knives. (get his ass handed to him, thats what)
I want Zuko to be a broody mess but honestly he’d probably revert back to yelling at people/things in ancient Chinese (mandarin? I’m not really sure what period he’s from exactly). He’s still got that Good streak in him, esp since he’s like, a hundred years off his adopted uncle Iroh.
and you know what? 1830 america is NOT a cool place for anyone!! least of all asian immigrants, native americans, or women of either group
So the Gaang take to helping those people out any way they can. (Aang wants Peace, but you know white people, we don’t listen). They actively get involved in the underground railroad, eventually the civil war, and also helping out native americans, as well as chinese immigrants working on the railroads.
also so sorry I know the ask was about Zukka but I had to write a million words about their backstories first
Zuko + Sokka eventually come to a truce as the only dudes in this entire group who are willing to fight. Sokka is interested in both men and women, but he’s never really shared his life with anyone, and it’s the same for Zuko. Sokka, because he was regarded as an elder with his people, and after that he could only stay a few years. He had lovers, like Yue, but they all eventually died and Sokka couldn’t do anything about it!! Zuko, because while he also had lovers, he couldn’t really bear to be around humanity for a long time after what happened to him. (he’s vehemently opposed to slavery)
I think they get together at first just kind of because there isn’t really anyone else. Suki + Toph are kinda their own thing (are they lovers? sisters in arms? who knows), Katara is like Sokka’s sister (and if Zuko touches her Sokka will end his destiny permanently), and Aang is... aang.
It’s sorta a friends-with-benefits thing, except its an immortal warrior reluctant companions-with-benefits thing because can you really call this a friendship?? (its a family, eventually). Eventually it’s just kind of always been a thing. Sokka checking Zuko first when he comes back to life, counting down the second to make sure Zuko comes back at all. Zuko tells people he’s the only one allowed to kill Sokka, because lets be honest, the first couple of months with rowdy immortals meant killing each other a lot. When Sokka is killed violently in the Civil War, he wakes up half an hour later (slow, slow), to find a field of bodies and Zuko sitting next to him with his dao blades in the dirt, waiting for him. Sokka tries to make a joke, but it just makes Zuko mad, because what if that was the last time. (sokka jokes that he’s young, yet, not like Zuko)
They don’t really talk about it, partially because they don’t live in a world where it’s acceptable. What kind of title fits when you can only use it with 5 other people? But this time, when Zuko was afraid Sokka might not wake up, thirty years after they met, after lifetimes of being alone for both of them?? Sokka has to let Zuko know he loves him. Loves him!!! He’s not just here for the meantime.
thats all I have rn bc its 9pm and I’ve been writing this for like 3 hours. again if u wanna slide into my dms or if u have a discord and wanna talk about this/other stuff hmu. so sorry this got off topic.
also, the order I had them born in is:
roku --> aang --> Zuko --> suki --> toph --> sokka --> Katara
which may or may not be accurate to my timeline lol
Sokka probably speaks all of the Inuit languages, as well as French, English, and Russian, being alive for long enough to learn it all.
Katara refuses to learn French. Hates it. Never wants to learn.
She and Sokka personally keep Inuit traditions and languages alive as elders of their community, though it’s so much harder in modern times to stay connected to their culture bc they don’t age!!
disclaimer: bc the show was written as a complete mashup of several cultures I had to like..... pick where ppl were from. I picked china for Zuko/Suki/Toph bc they have a beautiful culture and a lot of dynasties I have heard a lot about recently while half watching the history channel. I really, really don’t know a lot about non-white culture as a white american from FLORIDA (so like, literally the farthest place you can get from the Inuit people and still be on the same continent). if you know more about these cultures than I do and I said something blatantly wrong pls let me know and I will change it.
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steve0discusses · 4 years
Text
Yugioh Ep 32 S4: Most Disturbing Kid’s Show Award Goes to This Episode
I often talk about how wonderfully effed up Yugioh is. What a freakin delight, how effed up this kid’s show is, somehow still remaining a Y7 kid’s show, despite everything it tries to do to get pulled off the air.
Y’all this was a filler season and it didn’t even have Bakura in it so...why did it go so edge? Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for how many levels of “OK THERE, KID’S SHOW” it was.
But what the hell was that, Yugioh?
Anyway we start off completely normal in this foggy ass graveyard--Halloweens in this season so I’m down for this. Halloween is also...cancelled...this year, so at least I can celebrate it somewhat in a Yugioh episode. Then again, can you imagine how many people would be dressed up as sexy Covid?
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So I don’t really talk about the card game mechanics on here, and (full disclosure to any new people) I don’t know how to play this game. But, considering that this card doesn’t usually send you to distant graveyard memories IRL, lets get into it.
We’ve clarified before that Card Graveyard is a place--like an actual place--but that it isn’t the same place that the cards vibe in within the Puzzle necklace. It’s a separate place, but ALSO not the same place as the Shadow Realm, either. Card Graveyard is just...some other third place we never talk about.
TBQH I think the people who make this show have kinda forgotten how many random pocket dimensions we’ve made that are basically the equivalent of hell (including California, PS), and are just like “no one will write a blog about it and list them all in one place, we’ll be fine.”
We’ve only seen Tristan bum out here once in like S1 and he spent most of his time running away from the Grim Reaper. But, if you remember correctly, the Grim Reaper is currently hanging out and living his best life haunting some park in Japan, so now instead of the Grim Reaper it has...this?
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So is this a memory stored within the card graveyard, or did Dartz literally take Raphael to the card graveyard and tell him this was a real ass graveyard?
We’ll never know! It gets very vague from here on out!
(read more under the cut)
First off, I’d like to welcome our new guest star--the Rain--there’s a lot of rain in this episode, and we animate it by just making all of our characters glow. This comes through fine in animation, but in caps I just want you to know that no one has gone super Saiyan, they’re just...wet.
PS get a gander at Raphael’s baby boy mutton chop mustache. They somehow got longer with time? And also, when soaked his hair is just as spiky. Everyone on this show has unparalleled hair gel. The real heart of the cards.
Anyway, Dartz shows Raphael a bunch of gravestones and is like “Get it???”
and me, the audience, was like “no???”
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The headstones, by the by, aren’t...normal, either, they have Orichalcos symbols on them instead of words. So like...it sort of infers that his family was taken by Orichalcos, too. I mentioned before that it sorta feels like Dartz caused the whole shipwreck to munch up a bunch of yummy souls, and maybe he did in the Japanese version--cuz like...
...why else do all these headstones have Orichalcos symbols on this graveyard that you can only access through a card god like Dartz or Yami?
Just throwing that deep lore out there, and the fact that Raphael can’t really see it or understand is either because that didn’t happen or...Dartz totally killed his family, right? And that makes this relationship between the two of them extremely effed up?
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This is a great show for kids with separation anxiety.
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Which is...somewhat convincing of a motive for Raphael. He gives Raphael a way to move on from his trauma in the past, and it’s not a GREAT way to move on--but it’s falls in line with things Dartz has done with his other card generals by offering false redemption.
Like Mai needed to move on from her insane jealousy, so Orichalcos was her way to prove she was better than Joey Wheeler (which, honestly, no one needed proof of). Alister needed to move on from his dead brother, so Orichalcos was his way to get revenge. Valon also had a backstory but a bunch of it got deleted in the English version apparently so...
And Rex and Weevil needed...cards? I guess? I think they just needed a ride, mostly. And Orichalcos can give you a ride. It’s not like we had Uber in 2003 and clearly they were not fit for Caltrain.
And like Gurimo.............existed...?
Anyways, they’re looking for justice that they can see. Justice for their pain. To make that pain worth something for more than just suffering. A system where this type of thing can’t happen anymore. But the thing about justice is that...eh...it’s probably not done through cards that kill people.
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OH OK, KID’S SHOW.
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Mmmmm take in that burying up your grave imagery. Again, this show is rated Y7 for 7 year olds, and I think that’s amazing.
Anyway, this is symbolism that is so heavy handed that it really needs no explanation, so he’s just gonna dig dig dig for...days I guess? Relive his trauma over and over again? Dig up that past like you’re a popular artist on twitter and you gotta make all of your followers relive that time you got called out because you offended a hell ton of people?
(Which is so many people on art twitter right now, ps, you don’t even know which one I’m talking about because It’s SO MANY of them. Art twitter during Quarantine is like watching the fall of Rome but it’s freakin Art Twitter. Everyone’s the freakin worst and just poopin all over themselves as they roll all the way down the steps.)
But I want to know. Who’s grave this is? It has a slightly different meaning if it were his family’s or his own. I guess I’ll have to save it for the fanfiction.
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And so to add another level of spook, Raphael’s card mom shows up and kinda just stands there with a sad face?
Raphael’s reaction to seeing his card just alive and hanging out was “I’ll get to you in a sec, I gotta do some unforgivable evil, first.“
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WHERE DID THEY GO?
These two shots are like nearly back to back. They’re just GONE. No explanation.
And yes I’m gonna talk about the outfit because it makes no freakin sense, even for a Yugioh card. Granted, this was a show made in Japan, for kids, with a budget that had a limit. A lot of people get involved with these productions, many aren’t artists or historians versed in American History, just basic ass business people. That be TV.
But her outfit looks waaay too modern. Like she’s gonna go to a musical festival, drop acid and climb on top of a statue and take a bunch of instagram selfies and regret all of them 4 years later. If these are Atlantean cards, this is not an Atlantis outfit to match with Dartz, who has been dressed vaguely medieval. So whyyyyy would this girl be dressed more like a vague old western costume bought at a discount so she could vogue in front of installation art at Burning Man in 2008?
Anyway, I won’t even get into the bird that is slowly devouring her face as a stand in for a headdress or wtv. Just a lot of stuff happening here and I just wanna say, Yugioh did it so you won’t need to. Just delete that desire. Yugioh already did it so you are now free from wanting to draw...anything like this problematic situation on your own OCs.
And then Yugioh predicts exactly how I’d feel about this outfit.
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And she then lights ON FIRE and falls dead into the grave he just buried for her.
And in case you were like “kinda on the nose there, Yugioh, that got DARK” she climbs out of his own grave with a spooky ass face and no more coconuts to share with her bros and he’s like...
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Rapheal’s reaction was like...Ya OK I can get used to this, and Yami is just pointing at the scene desperately trying to follow Raphael’s brain waves.
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And like, this is YAMI.
Yami just walked through Yugi Hell earlier today. He’s seen some stuff. He’s already undug his own grave this morning in a more poetic card sort of way. But Raphael’s memories of literally digging up his family’s graves with his bare hands because Dartz told him to was...stuff he didn’t want to see today. (especially since it’s super suggested Dartz was the one who...murdered them in the first place, like I know it’s a reach but...it just feels like we were supposed to reach that conclusion)
But whether or not Dartz put the bodies here or gave Raphael a bunch of phoney graves, Raphael is still essentially siding with the guy who ruined the only thing he has left of his family--this paper card mom--and turned it into an undead evil Mom. And it just had...no freakin impact on Raphael at all.
Like what?
He just murdered your card mom. This is fine?
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Card shenanigans continue and Raphael eventually realizes what he should have realized like 10 years ago when he was digging up graves and killing card Mom’s. That maybe it’s a bad idea. So Raphael decides to sacrifice his remaining monsters to “free” them from the graveyard and basically commits suicide. There’s no other way to say it, really. He kills himself.
But wait, right when you figure this episode will end like every other Orichalcos fight before it...They decide not to.
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Like an angel from heaven, our drunk ass looking music concert reject descends from the clouds, along with all of Raphael's dead family members!
Yeah.
I REALLY didn’t expect them to show up. This was so much content it’s like...an entire season of any other TV show. I say that a lot with Yugioh but these episodes really like to just jam-pack it in there.
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And here I thought I’d actually have to take them off the Death Count one day. Here I thought 4 kids would do something to like...prevent this many dead kids, but I was wrong.
Everyone’s HELLA DEAD.
it’s both vindicating to actually say that, despite 4kids, these kids absolutely died, but also disturbing because even Raphael is like “ah, the hallucinations today are really swell, right?”
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NO, GHOST CHILD.
DON’T TELL ME THAT.
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And I’ve been over before how “heart of the cards” is a catch-all phrase that can mean literally anything in this show, and it’s not the first time that cards have kept someone’s spirit around. No word on his family members if they are thrilled to be trapped in a Pharaoh situation, or whether they only occasionally drop from the heavens, or whether they have actually been the spirit that was within each of these cards the whole time. I don’t know.
And so the card family “cures” one of the most evil people on this show.
He’s fine now. This guy murdered the hell out of Yugi, our main character, but don’t think nor worry about it. This isn’t the show to worry about such things.
This show has Marik.
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Bro and I were talking Star Wars the other day, and mostly about the Kylo Ren arc and how a lot of people happened to dislike that particular ending. Mostly about how there is a difference between your character being redeemed and being forgiven. I think this children’s show wants to redeem Raphael, but honestly, much like Kylo Ren--he’s just forgiven. And that’s fine. You don’t need to have your characters redeemed. We can stop at forgiveness.
And also, Yami forgives him immediately because he knows he can’t throw a single damn stone, his house is made out of 2 mm of extremely problematic glass.
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Man, RIP Weevil, right?
Weevil who just pretended to rip up a card that could have been Yugi and got tossed off the freakin Caltrain? Raphael got off so freakin lucky and I am boggled he’s still alive. He freakin killed Yugi!
The injustice to Weevil right now, omg. Not like I enjoy Weevil. I super don’t enjoy that character. But DAMN. Yami murdered Weevil for even mentioning Yugi. Just feels like there’s a bit of a hypocritical line here in how the justice is dished out and...that tracks for a Pharaoh so I’ll just let it go.
And also, looking at that sunshine and I’m pretty sure they’ve been up over 48 straight hours. No one’s slept since Yugi died, right? I mean Yami is fine. We know from Bakura that puzzle people don’t need to sleep, or eat, or have blood in their body. But like Seto really needs to get Mokuba to bed.
(Although I am 85% positive that Mokuba is still part Noah Kaiba so it is...also unlikely that kid sleeps anymore, just leaving Mokuba’s future therapist so much to unpack.)
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The GALL of this show right now.
Of all the generals--they saved RAPHAEL? Arguably the worst one?
I would take even Alister. I would take even Weevil.
Raphael?
I mean if he ends up as the next Duke Devlin, just driving us around for the final season of this show I guess I’ll accept this but, damn.
Raphael?
Are you sure, Yugioh???????????????????????????????????
Can’t we just let that guy die? He’s basically dead already, Yugioh. This guy does NOT want to be alive anymore. Literally everyone he cares about is super dead and now he doesn’t even have Card mom because she sacrificed herself to save his soul. This GUY.
I can’t believe Mai is dead but we still have Raphael.
The same disappointment when I watch British Bake off, man, they just...sometimes they save people and I’m like...no man...that one can’t bake. Just because they pulled something off last second does not mean they get to the semifinals. Raphael can’t bake.
Anyway, the episode attempts to end on a cliffhanger but like.
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Just want to reiterate how common and boring Earthquakes usually are to a Californian. This was the most normal thing in this episode.
Man.
Freakin Raphael.
Anyway, if you just got here and is like “I don’t know who the hell Raphael even is,” Yeah, I know, I didn’t think twice about the dude until like just now, but if it’s because you’ve never seen my recaps before, I’ll direct you to the link to read these in Chrono order:
https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono
Anyway, stay safe and have a very happy and safe Halloween alone eating your own carmel dipped apple slices.
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cosplayinamerica · 4 years
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AUTHOR INTERVIEW : Ryan La Sala
The best thing about being in Artist Alley is the opportunity to meet people. You are sitting behind a table and basically the entire convention comes by you. Over three days you are chatting, laughing and sharing stories with the community. It was 2019 and I was sharing a table at Anime NYC 2019. It was my first time back to New York in a number of years and this is how I met author Ryan La Sala who just released his first book Reverie at that time. He mentioned he was working on a book related to cosplay. Fast forward to now Jan 2021 and his new book Be Dazzled is out!
But before we jump into the book, let’s talk to Ryan about his experience cosplaying. I mean I do run a cosplay blog!
EJEN: So Ryan, after digging around on Google I discovered you cosplayed at New York Comic Con previously. Take me back and let’s talk about how you discover cosplay, what do you love about it and take me through your experience cosplaying and convention going.
RYAN: I’ve always loved crafting costumes, and I’ve always loved cons and anime, but for some reason I didn’t cosplay myself until I started dating this guy who needed help on an iceman look. We dated for a few years and it was through him that I got really into the world of cosplay, even building us matching Hawkman cosplays for NYCC one year. I started writing a book about cosplay soon after, and fell deeper in love through the process of research. I love cosplay for so many reasons.
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Dressing up is such an effective way of outsmarting reality and inhabiting the body of someone powerful, or eccentric, or dramatic. It feels good and it looks cool. Plus, I have profound respect for the work that goes into building these looks. I love that cosplay is half armor, half art, and entirely fun.
The irony of writing a book about crafting and cosplay is that I rarely had time to work on my own cosplays. The result was that despite being super crafty, I was constantly the only one in my group of con friends not dressed up, which meant I got to hold their stuff and take photos of them while at cons. Which I actually love! It gave me the ability to absorb the atmosphere and appreciate everyone’s hard work, and observe. That’s what I needed while writing, but now that the book is done I’m super excited to get to work on all the things I couldn’t create these past few years. Soon, my friends will be forced to hold my things and take my photo!
EJEN; Cosplay is like any creative process faced with barriers and difficulties, some of them interior battles and along the way I think we find ourselves through this process.  Share with us how cosplay has informed you and your writing.
RYAN: There is nothing more humbling than that task of taking something imagined and attempting to make it material. Cosplays are like that. So are books. The mark of a job well done is often the lack of any signs of effort, but the truth is that effortless excellence comes at the steep price of a lot of rejection, failure, and determination. I learned this early on in my own crafting ventures, and it prepared me for the monumental task of taking the worlds in my head and trying, despite physics and reality, to put them into the heads of others.
If you’re me, you start every project with half the knowledge you need to finish it. Half if you’re lucky. The rest has to be figured out as you go.When I create something--a craft, a cosplay, or a book--it’s often an exercise in trust and vulnerability. I trust that if I just keep going, I’ll finish, and maybe it won’t suck. And that’s a vulnerable thing to do--to know perfectly well that you’re not nearly as skilled as you need to be to accomplish something, yet setting out to accomplish it anyways.
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EJEN: So your new book Be Dazzled has been tagged as Project Runway meets Comic Con. I’m sure your con experiences help create the characters Raffy and Luca, can you talk about how these two came into being as well as the genesis of your second novel?
RYAN: I was a mess at my first NYCC. I stayed up every night for like a month prior building matching cosplays for me and my boyfriend, who wasn’t very useful at crafting but was super hot, so we balanced each other out. Anyways, on the day of NYCC I was irritable and exhausted, but also elated and inspired. It was a strange, super-specific scenario, and immediately afterwards I called my agent to tell her I wanted to write a rom com based on it. 
That’s how I got Raffy and Luca, and their fraught relationship drama taking place during a cosplay competition. Raffy is this super determined artist that fights through perfectionism and anxiety to deliver amazing work, yet Luca, his ex-boyfriend, gets tons of recognition cosplaying because he’s hot. The book is fiction, and the story is made up, but it’s rooted in a real experience and a real relationship.
And for anyone wondering, me and that guy broke up. It wasn’t because of cosplay though, I promise! We’re still best friends, and the book is actually dedicated to him.
EJEN: How was the writing process with the second book? I mean with your first book there was definitely many, many years put into that book. This time I assume your writing time has shortened plus you definitely have more experience under your belt.
RYAN:  I’m careful about saying this because I don’t want the Novelist Mafia to put a hit out on me, but writing this book was a lovely, painless process. I think it’s because this book is made out of pure love and joy. Even though it starts with a breakup, the book itself is about all these things I love, and have loved forever.
Crafting, anime, costumes, cons, new love, second chances, teamwork -- it’s all readily available joy that I just had to write down. And it also helped that the emotional plot of the book was something I myself had gone through, so much of this felt like therapy.
And, of course, there’s the deadline. First books are hard because no one is asking for them, usually. You can just go on and on until you’re done. Second books, however, are often developed with a deadline looming. I’d like to think I’m a better writer the second time around, but it may just be that I’m a tad bit more….inspired.
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EJEN: I love your story how growing up you didn’t see queer people represented in the books you read so you were inspired in a way to make own path plus the way you found yourself a book deal makes it sounds like a dream. Though you know as well as I do there are many curves and many paths to reach your goal. What are some nuggets you would give creators out there hustling for their dreams?
RYAN: Take your dreams seriously. Afford your dreams the dignity of your best effort. There’s lots and lots of advice out there meant to ease off the pressure, to give you a break, to treat yourself, to take care, to take a break -- all of that is good advice. But I always tell creatives that it’s also okay to know exactly what you want to do, and to pursue it with unremitting resolve. I especially want queer creators to know this, because so often no one is asking after our art. We have to create it without any promises it’ll be recognized, and it’s so easy to give up as a result. So I’m here to tell you to take your work seriously, because it deserves it. And you deserve it.
EJEN: What would you hope readers would take away after finishing your book.
RYAN: My greatest dream is that someone will put down my book and be inspired to make something amazing for themselves. It doesn’t have to be a cosplay or a book. It could be a dragon made out of laffy taffy for all I care. I just want people to get in touch with their own ability to make cool stuff, and to take risks expressing themselves.
My second greatest dream is that readers realize that stories like this--that are joyful and queer--are too rare. I hope they put down my book and ask for another just like it.
EJEN: So how are you handling the pandemic ? Are you using the time for your next book?
RYAN: I certainly should be, but I’ve found instead that the pandemic has created an oddly perfect scenario for me to focus on all the arting and crafting I didn’t get to do while I was writing a book about arts and crafts. I’m writing more, but I’m also working on lots of mini-projects. I’ve started a crafting channel on YouTube, for instance, and separately a podcast in which me and another writer are reading a fantasy novel written by Tyra Banks as if it’s a IRL Bookclub. Stuff like that.
EJEN: Awesome, thank you Ryan and good luck with what comes next, I hope to see you in the future at Anime NYC or New York Comic Con!
Be Dazzled is available now. Read the first chapter here.
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leverage-ot3 · 4 years
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notable moments from The French Connection Job
leverage 5.04
Eliot: I know what you're gonna say, Nate, but I want to tell you something about Toby. He taught me how to use a knife.
Nate: Use a knife?
Eliot: No. Not like I use a knife. He taught me how to cook. I was out of the service, and I was working for my second PMC. And the jobs we were taking were way across the line - past extractions and security actions.
Nate: Wetwork.
Eliot: Yeah. Anyway, I met Toby. We were reconning this restaurant in Belgium. And I should have closed him out. I should have been in and out in under 90 seconds. But I ended up talking to him for three hours. He showed me that I could use my knife to create instead of destroy. I stuck around for a couple of months. He taught me everything there was about the art of food, and I... He's one of the guys that kept me from falling all the way down. So now, I'm asking the other guy to understand why I'm gonna help him
HES BABY PROTECT HIM PLEASE
- - - - -
Eliot (stops him): Whoa. (gestures toward delivery man)
Hardison: What?
Eliot: You got to tip the guy.
Hardison: For doing his job?
Eliot: Hardison, he rode all the way over here on a bike to deliver your...
Hardison: That ain't nothing special. He got some exercise.
Eliot:...Dungeons & Dragons crap you ordered.
Hardison: He didn't bring me no cupcakes, no flowers, cards - nothing. You want a tip, little Stanley Tucci-looking... (give man change) Boom, boom, boom. Two quarters, two pennies. Go buy your mama something
eliot makes sure hardison gives tips because he’s a genuinely good guy
- - - - -
Sophie: I know it's short notice, but our celebrity chef just dropped out, and the network think you're a perfect replacement for the U.S. launch. The show is called "From Pole to Plate: Cooking with Strippers." Hmm? - But we haven't sorted the accommodation yet, so you'd have to live with the strippers to start off with.
Chef: Hell, yeah.
LMFAO HE WAS G O N E
- - - - -
Eliot: Food is life. Learn it. You will take this class seriously. Because if you don't, I'll throw your ass out of here quicker than you -
Hardison: I get to fire a laser. Yeah. Geeking in the kitchen. Uh, make you want to dance.
Eliot: We're here to cook food, not play with lasers
eliot is 0.000000005 seconds away from flipping his shit
- - - - -
Nate: How, um - how do you like being in Portland?
Parker: It's fine. Hardison and I are fine, and everything with the new Leverage is fine.
Nate: Parker, what's going on?
Parker: I just - I don't have a thing.
Nate: What do you mean, "a thing"?
Parker: Eliot has a thing. He loves food. Sophie loves theater. You have a sicko love of controlling people.
Nate: I don't have a sicko love - Let's stay on you. Art. What do you - what do you see when you look at Michelangelo's David?
Parker: Mark two laser grid around it, infrared on the floor, need a harness rated for six tons attached to a chopper to lift it out through a skylight
she’s BABY alright she just wants to feel
- - - - -
Eliot: Nate, I already swept the kitchen twice. There's no drugs. (to Hardison) Did you find anything?
Hardison: I think I did, man. Check it out. (fires gun) What? Wha- what? What?! Hey. Think about it. Levitating food could replace waiters.
Eliot: I will stab you in the neck.
Hardison: Don't hate the barbecue. Hate the sides.
sometimes eliot doesn’t know how he puts up with hardison and it shows
- - - - -
(Eliot is working in the kitchen, talking to Parker who is sitting at the bar)
Eliot: I'm gonna turn this place from a microbrewery into a gastropub. What do you think about that?
Parker: Teach me to like stuff.
Eliot: Parker, I don't have time for this, all right? I got to get this stuff done. Then I got to get back to the school
her sad, rejected face KILLED me
- - - - -
(Eliot puts a plate of food in front of Parker)
Parker: It's just food.
Eliot: It's not just food, all right? Some people could look at it and see just food, but not me. I see art. When I'm in the kitchen, I'm - I'm creating something out of nothing. You know what I mean? And sometimes, I crush it. Sometimes, it's crap. But either way, it makes me feel something.
Parker: Feel what?
Eliot: Just... feel.
Parker: Feel. Okay.
Eliot: You know, I didn't feel anything for a long time, and Toby taught me how to cook, and after he did, I started to feel stuff again. That's why I share it through my food. This is my art. This is my art, Parker. It's like letting a stranger in your head just for a second. And you allow them to feel what you're feeling. (pushes plate closer to Parker) Look again
he put off going to the kitchen to cook for parker and have a honest talk with her
he cares, your honor
- - - - -
Eliot: Parker can do it.
Parker: No, I can't. I don't even like food.
Parker: Except for chocolate and doughnuts.
Eliot: Listen to me, Parker, you can do it, all right? Remember everything that we talked about.
Eliot: Nate, she can do it.
Nate: Yeah, okay. So, Parker, you're the food critic.
eliot believes in her so much my heart is s o f t
- - - - -
hardison was legit eating a wholeass baguette and I’ve never vibed with someone SO HARD in my LIFE
- - - - -
Sophie: Oh, is it organically grown, ethically sourced, organically local?
she looks and sounds like everyone in my college town it’s ridiculous
- - - - -
Sophie: Parker, let's give them some micro-expressions. When you take your first bite, just give a hint of a smile. Remember, the key is micro.
(Parker takes a bite and doesn’t enjoy it)
Sophie: Well that didn't work.
Nate: Okay, so, what's wrong?
Sophie: When someone really smiles, then their eyes wrinkle up. You know, you just can't help it. But if a smile's fake, then the muscles - they don't contract.
Nate: There isn't anything she likes or can connect with.
Sophie: Parker, this time, when you take a bite, think of the first time you stole something.
(Parker smiles and Lampard relaxes)
Nate: Yeah, listen - Lampard needs to see some anxiety in her, you know, just to have him stick around.
Sophie: Parker, take a bite, then blink, then think of... jazz.
(Parker takes a bite, then starts gagging, spitting out the food. Lampard scrambles to her table)
everyone trying to get parker to find something she likes makes me WEAK they all love and support her so much just the way she is
- - - - -
eliot casually beating up the goon in the kitchen is an aesthetic
- - - - -
Eliot: How's it taste, Parker? You feeling anything?
Parker: The salsa verde is a nice marriage with the spring rolls, but while totally yummy, I just feel like... I should be feeling more
...
Parker: I can taste garlic and mushrooms. And something else that makes me feel different.
Hardison: Wait - was that for me? 'Cause I-I don't get it.
Parker: No. It's the food. I get it. I feel something
nate and sophie smiling at parker saying she feels something ,,, eliot being proud of her
- - - - -
(As Hardison turns, Rampone grabs Hardison and begins choking him)
Hardison: I'll bite you. I'll bite you!
(Hardison bites Rampone's hand and pushes the man back before running for the door)
Hardison: Nate, coming in hot
honestly biting people works
- - - - -
Rampone (looking at Eliot): Spencer, right? I thought I recognized you.
Eliot: Everybody out - now! (to Hope) Good job tonight.
Hope: Thanks.
(Eliot grabs a small bottle and sprinkles the contents onto a plate of food)
Rampone: See, the whole hippie thing threw me off.
(Eliot puts a plate of food on the edge of the counter)
Eliot: I'm gonna eat that when I'm done with you.
Rampone: Yeah, you were a good operator, if I remember correctly.
Eliot: It's a different guy.
Rampone: Bad attitude.
Eliot: Same bad attitude, though. You hurt my friend, Rampone.
Rampone: I should have killed him.
(Rampone reaches behind his back as he sprinkles spices on the plate of food. Eliot moves aside the tail of his shirt to reveal a knife)
Rampone: Like I'm gonna do to you.
(They both pull knives and begin trading slashes, hitting each other's blade. Rampone picks up a plate cover to use as a sheild. Rampone slashes Eliot on the arm and kicks him back. Eliot looks at the wound, then gestures Rampone forward)
Eliot: Come on.
(Eliot kicks Rampone, knocking him onto a counter. Rampone knocks him back, they continue to trade blows, knocking each other back and forth)
eliot is a different, better guy now and he ain’t dealing with your bullshit
- - - - -
Eliot: Not only did you and Lampard ruin my friend Toby's life, but you ruined the lives of the kids he was trying to help.
Nate (walking up): Eliot - Not worth it. Give him to the cops.
Rampone: Call off your dog. He's crazy.
Eliot: Crazy? I'm gonna cut your freaking head off and serve it on a platter.
Rampone: Call him off.
Nate (slowly walks closer, says softly): That's enough, Eliot.
(Eliot slowly releases Rampone and steps back)
Rampone: Thanks.
(Rampone swings at Eliot, who catches his fist. Nate punches Rampone, knocking him out)
Nate: Serve his - his head on a platter, huh?
(They begin to walk away)
Eliot: Was it too much?
Nate: No, actually, I liked it.
Eliot: I felt like it was a lot. Like, right when I said it, I felt like I may have gone too far.
for a second I was scared eliot was lapsing but I should have known better
- - - - -
Messenger: Package for... Alec Hardison.
Hardison: Oh, yeah. Got myself a laser.
Eliot (returns): Absolutely not. Don't give - don't sign for that.
Hardison: Don't sign for...? Hey, do you know what we're gonna be able to put on the pub's menu? On the pub's edible menu?
Eliot: Nate, you know...
Nate: Yeah, I know. You want to stab him in the...
Hardison: Stab what?
eliot: fOoD iS mY tHiNG
hardison: but EXPERIMENTAL food
eliot: *is ready to throw down*
- - - - -
Eliot: Where is Parker?
Nate: Oh, uh, she's, um, on a little trip.
[Museum]
(Parker lowers herself on a rope into a darkened room to look at a small sculpture. She smiles)
HER S M I L E
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even more prompts catchup
April 5th: What was school like for you, or what is it currently like for you if you are still in school? Elementary, high school, post-secondary?
i Hate/d school lmfao......like i do Like To Learn and Know Shit, and of course Sometimes / on some occasions it was like, hey i'm having a good to pretty great time at school, but those were usually Special occasions or teachers going out of their way to give us you know, fun projects / go beyond the Standardized Testing curriculum, which natch they couldn't always do / did require sort of going Above & Beyond, rather than being the constant, guaranteed experience of like hooray for school......it's like, oh hooray re: the Play Scenes my fourth grade english class did that was like, an Extra thing, where we got to audition and i just had a great time like oh right, clearly Theatre in retrospect, or hooray re: the field trips, or projects we did In Class, since i hated homework.......i was always that accursed (i mean, not accursed for Me, but) combination of "really a terrible student but also gets great grades" lmao i forever do things Last Minute but like, when i was At school, in class, i'd just power through whatever work there was then & there usually, and in middle school would sometimes do hw on the bus, as i was the last on the bus route to be picked up in the morning or dropped off in the afternoon, but as soon as i got home i was in Home Mode and yknow. didn't just sit down and continue School Stuff asap. also hardly ever Studying unless it's the night / morning before a test lmfao but i had a great memory for that stuff, so studying that last minute was like "yep, i Do remember this from going over it 2 seconds ago" so yknow, despite hating school / no good Study Habits(tm) or anything, i did fine. i also read a ton, at home or at school and at any other point. so i was also like, quiet and generally ~well behaved~ or whatever lol (the like "how are kids (or anyone) supposed to stay focused and on task for 7+ hours a day..." thing), segue into next paragraph
i also remember like, 3 day a week preschool being the first time i was, you know, in some sort of School and also around other kids that much, i did have this sense that like, somehow there were Rules that i wasn't following, not re: Classroom Rules or something, but wrt socializing with peers, like that everyone else had something going on in how they interacted which i wasn't gonna get right, & i had this sense of like, not really being Allowed to interact lmao, even being 4 years old i have a few distinct memories re: this of like, a) choosing to play by myself in the classroom or when outside, and b) my "best friend" being the one person who just like, chose to hang out with me lmfao, but i was like oh cool Having A Friend lmao, like i didn't Not want to have friends, i was just already aware of like, i don't feel like i can just up and interact w/these people and i don't feel like they want me to, and c) re: that being aware of whatever Rules Of Interaction existing and that i wouldn't meet them / abide by them and thus there'd be some kind of repercussion for not meeting those rules, and not being allowed, i remember that like. there was this other indoor playspace in the lower level and there were toys i wanted to play with but Refrained from, and it was like, why did 4 yr old me get the idea i Wasn't Really Allowed, and most of what i can theorize is that it was like, well other kids might want to play with that, and the Normal / Better kids should get priority lmao, and/or being nervous that it just might otherwise lead to some sort of Interaction i wouldn't feel ready for.....and d) sitting at a table with like whatever 4 or 5 other kids or something and amongst ourselves someone was like "oh put your foot in the middle if you're [x]" and i tried to join in on a technicality lmfao and also just in, you know, active efforts to be Participating with these other kids on their terms, and it did not pay off, something that repeated uhhhhh, forever i guess lol. insert that post like can allistic people be normal for 5 seconds.....
like in elementary school i wasn't really making friends either, incredibly, i was Amicably Tolerated by many people then & like, again also at any point after at least lmao (and it helps that i was generally in teachers' good graces, not that i narced on anyone ever, but i had like, my Niche as the Academically Successful One, and also i was the kid who draws, another shoutout to some post and tweet about how being The Drawing Kid was like, some measure of respect but also disdain lmfao...) and sometimes people would again like. choose to interact with me repeatedly, and i'd sort of be nonplussed at best b/c it's like, okay thanks but in this situation i didn't Choose this any more than i choose [Trying to be in the group but being rejected/excluded], so it's kinda weird, i was friends with someone for a few years in elementary school but we just were Coincidentally in the same class for those years, when we were in different classes in 3rd or 4th grade and just weren't seeing each other it fizzled out, in middle school i made another couple friends where we were all being Funny lmao, but i didn't go to high school, so once again we weren't seeing each other, and [At School] was where i always had most Interactions with people, didn't see people much outside of school even if we were hanging out / being friends During school, for [a whole tangent] reasons, so. guess the good news is i'm still in touch / friendly acquaintances with some people from school from college, but even then, there was Some more social success or whatever, but not all That much, and i was still unhappy like, not having many friends, often being like "i'm going to the cafe a block away b/c i have no social occasions here and i want to get out of the dorm / be around people," that if i was with more than one other person i could end up the third wheel friend lmao or nobody is paying attention when you talk or oh no i put myself out there hanging with a friend group but maybe people thought you were a joke or something, thanks. smh
and that like, speaking of college, i went early but this was, for my part, truly primarily driven like "well i hate school so if i can Not go to high school, okay" and like, while i got in and everything it was still like "tf is college, i've never known what i Want To Do so i wonder if i'll figure this out, but i'm not expecting to last past the first semester / year b/c this is college and i'm a terrible student actually lol" but then turns out i kept doing well enough like A's & B's like oh woops i guess i'm still here, then, hope i can figure out what tf "credit hours" means (finally did lol).....then sophomore year was a bunch of just Agonizing over "what tf do i major in," something i never figured out, wherein i might bring something up & it got parentally shot down like "never heard you talk about that" like what tf Did you hear me talk about? are you thinking i had my life figured out by age 9, b/c i didn't think that, i'm only 15/16 even Now, even being the Regular college age it's like, nobody's figuring their life out then. also i didn't tell my parents things, so. and then i settle on something that sure, Might've been of interest, but also it was like, a) a program that barely existed and req'd taking classes at a like 30 min away campus and also the head of department had Just retired and the most heinous teacher in the related fields was now in charge, brilliant and b) the sort of thing you'd just wanna start taking prerequisites for like as soon as you set foot on campus, like, great. and c) i was like, hardly feeling all the Academic Ambition anyway b/c i never had, b/c i hate/d school, and b/c i still didn't Know what i wanted to major in, and i was stressed n depressed and also realizing oh right, i'm not cishet, and oh right, i'm never going to get along with my family b/c [long tangent] reasons and that's kind of concerning, here i am impending Being 18 and like, how do i get out of this b/c it's becoming clearer that i'm not just gonna start getting along with the 'rents now that i'm not an elementary schooler and also now that i'm realizing the Reasons being at home sucks. guess i learned stuff in college lol but also it was like, the experience of getting to be Away From Home and existing every day without parents literally / figuratively over my shoulder at some point every day, and getting to do shit on my own and figure things out while Not At Home.....i also had a lot of fun taking a couple classes from this one music prof lol. he was this weird really enthusiastic and really knowledgeable guy lmao like great, these evening classes where we go over to the arts building and he plays things on the piano off the cuff and tells a lot of tangential stories while we're learning about like, beethoven technically, or folk music. didn't need those classes but they were great, i've had these teachers who were totally into whatever they were teaching and had a great time with that
also acknowledgment to the fact i was a No Extracurriculars person all through school, k thru 6 and college alike really, although i took dance class for that k thru 6 period, just that was separate from school actually (and another fun "being away from home" thing and Theatresque performance thing i enjoyed) but besides that it was like, how do i figure out what i want to do without committing to joining this whole thing, i don't know How to sign up for stuff really either, and it'd probably entail "asking for stuff" and needing to coordinate more rides and etc and that's just a hassle, and i wanna go home from school asap anyways, and then like, when it came to college, i was again at first thinking like "well idk what i'm doing and i hate homework so i'll probably mess it up in this first year anyways" and figured that doing anything Extra outside classes was just gonna be too much, and also, it's like, i've never been in these kinds of groups before and why am i gonna start in college, where there'll probably be all these people who Have done this stuff before, and are also 18? e.g. even though it was like "hey you're away from home and don't have to ask/tell anyone else anything to do this club stuff or whatever!" supposed ideal environment for trying stuff out, it was like, maybe i'm theoretically interested in auditioning for the fall theatre production, but the last acting experience i had was like, "2 month drama class in middle school" or "that 4th grade [section of a] play" so like, not really Any education or experience or Training re: any of that stuff, and a bunch of 18 yr olds who might've, or [age peers] who were theatre people who had already done stuff so they weren't getting Lead Roles or anything but they were getting cast / taking classes / joining an a capella group while i'm like right on, i'm over here with some sort of Grade Honor Society (??) saying my gpa qualifies me to join and be able to experience some further academic rigor/requirements lmfao and i'm like absolutely not. get away lol. anyways so bit of a chaotique Post K12 Zone Education Experience there lmfao, all kinds of things i'd Like to Learn and even take classes on, but didn't like, right i love learning languages but never took classes, love math and shit but only got to a certain level of calc and even then seemed to miss some Lore, never did anything re: theatre, etc and so on. so you wonder if some advantages re: high school would be like, more chances for those extracurriculars (or regular curriculars) but, as though i wouldn't have the same qualms about getting in on any of it, and as if i wouldn't've still hated school but also still been at home, F. and i think people can be a lot more normal to each other when it's college and you're Not stuck in one building together 8 hours a day lmao, got some gentle "occasional Bullying style attention" in middle school, but had juuust enough like, [that Niche of good grades / kid who draws] and people who Were friendlier to me that it was you know, unpleasant, but didn't have to be that huge a deal, and then i was outta there soon enough. also, in college many people are 18 or older, as opposed to 11 to 13. anyways the rest of my school story was that in the end the problems were "i don't know what i want to major in and also now's a worse time than ever b/c i've realized my existence At Home is untenable, and naturally i am quite depressed & stressed about things, and i gotta say absolutely virtually every adult presence was either totally unhelpful to Counterproductive here lmao, like, not much anyone could do really but it's helpful when someone is like, i'll treat you like a person vs simply just going 'uh why are you not doing the academic stuff good enough'" lmfao like. the whole time Not having friends i'd wanna talk to through class and happening to get good grades in part b/c i somehow Could as easily as i did and also i was afraid of getting C's or worse b/c "tfw i wasn't even yet in a grade that gave you A thru F grades yet but my older sister caught shit for getting a C
like :/" and etc means adults are like My Student Is Fine, and also, what are you gonna do even if they aren't, i guess. i just had to figure out completely for myself Why and How i really wasn't Fine and that was quite difficult and also took a long time. then there was a mutual prank of "i drop out of college at the tail end of things" and "now i have to be at home with parent/s more resentful of your obvious Waywardness (insert: not being cishet, and the fact it occurs to me that my being autistic was always causing 'problem' behavior i was getting shit for like, the whole time lmfao, even if nobody knew / labeled it like oh this is for ND reasons, or if it was both true i tried to come out (smh, thought i Had to b/c that was part of Not Being Cishet) and it was simply ignored / unaddressed and yet it sure fueled further specific resentment of my not Performing Gender properly, or "worse," so that went well, in that i eventually abruptly left and did not maintain contact, in the interest of "the levels to which i was thriving was like, that if i bailed and like died 50 hrs later it'd still be what i want to do," true to that i did not / don't regret it. and what do you know, i was first able to bail to a relatively nearby friend from college's home, whose family also liked me lmao. shoutout to school still being where i made Any friends, except a friend i made who was a coworker of several years. and Online Friends, which, another school connection, that like, i can more readily Connect w/people via talking about interests, something that happened Sometimes at school in person lmao but not much, but also that i Talk About Interests in a way through Drawing, which, well shoutout to doodling in the margins of papers throughout school lmfao, it didn't hurt! that's my saga.
oh and that footnote, i also really enjoyed the "in middle school you either take language classes or 4 Electives you rotate through each year" and those electives sure featured some more varied and hands on activities i had a great time with. shoutout to like, cooking, and to shop class, my Car Designs were great apparently, idk how. shoutout to my Intuition re: engineering or something lmaoo.....very fun to just end the schoolday in that big garage space where you could actually open that garage door right to where all the buses were, beautiful. Oh, and that's another footnote, when my last class of the day in 8th grade was english, i'd sometimes finish work early and my teacher would let me go to our spacious library, with the v nice librarian who'd recommend books to me she thought should be checked out more often b/c she knew i liked to read that much, and also just generally had teachers / other adult staff kinda wandering in at the end of the day, talk about "i don't really relate to other ppl my age" where i did generally prefer to be around adults, so that was fun. oh and also shoutout to hating school lmao wherein during like, middle school when the schoolday started at like 7:30am or smthing disgusting and i just learned to like, view whatever time it was in a "at least it's almost [x]" like well okay, first period is math and that kinda sucks but at least once it's over this hardest part of the day will be over, then next class is kinda more chill at least, and then it'll be the last period before lunch, etc etc etc where i could sort of keep up that stamina like telling myself at any point it was Almost [a more encouraging time of day] lmao like. kinda fucked up to have to be dragging yourself through the weekdays like that, but
Oh! goddamn and i didn't even get into that if i ever got in ~trouble~ in elementary school it was stuff like Not Paying Attention, but where half the time that might be some other kid beside me messing around lmfao and i'm not gonna be like "uhhh follow the rules!!!" (and that even when i was In Trouble like go sit in the chair where you have to be quiet there for like 10 min i might say something to some other kid in that zone and they'd be like "um it's the quiet chair you have to be quiet!!" or "uh we're getting into the next lesson and you have to put that book back asap" like wow these other kids are dweebs about Rules lmfao) and there'd just be times like, it's 1st grade and i know how to read pretty well already but we're going over the alphabet like stoppp i know the Phonics already........or the ways ND people can kind of Intuit some stuff more successfully, like in third grade learning multiplication i neverrrrr studied but just broke it down like, okay i remember the Fives b/c of telling time, i know the 2x table and stuff, i know the commutative property, if we're all the way at the 8x and i haven't Memorized stuff, i can still like, break it down to say, [5 x 8] + [8 x 2] or something when i see 8 x 7, even if it takes a second lmfao.......and stuff like the tragedy of when i Did make a friend in like, 2nd grade, who i think we didn't even talk to each other ever?? i was playing legos or smthing by myself once during Indoor Recess and she just started playing agreeably along with me, aka someone socializing on My Terms apparently as our Introduction, and we just were friends past that but one time, not even during a Lesson Session, we were messing around quietly making each other laugh as the incredibly important process of "put papers in your folders" was going on, and since we were Not Paying Attention for some reason the teacher made a whole example of it where i had to carry my desk across the classroom for the Shaming Element of it and also so that i had to permanently sit way further from that friend, so that was kind of discouragement re: interacting at all. thank you to that teacher, who'd later once Gesticulate to me from across the gym that i should put my arms down at my sides rather than being crossed (we were rehearsing some class performance) & i had no idea what she was trying to convey, so afterwards she told me i had to have Reduced Recess Time or some shit because of Ignoring her instead of putting my arms down lmfao. and i was irritated at having been misinterpreted / my Intentions dictated to me and punished like that, but i was also used to it from adults lmfao and did not bother explaining myself lol like yeah god forbid i left my arms crossed on purpose and now i have to read some more during recess. tl;dr school has so much nonsense & i def had some Times re: being autistic & also just being someone who hated school forever lmao, think it was Also 2nd grade where one arbitrary sunday night i just cried out of frustration at having to go back for another normal school week. classic. oh and that also, while i wasn't like "oooo booksmart people who hate not having a Definitive Correct Answer to things &/or ohhh autistic ppl So Good at math, in a way everyone hates and disrespects, but they suck at Literature/Arts which requires you to reflect on humanity and shit," like, not only was i the drawing kid but i was also apparently ahead of the curve as it were at like, Literary Analysis lmfao where there was a few times in elementary school i'd be the kid providing the Interpretation like "what's this poem about / what's the theme or Symbolism in this story," but from elementary school to college it's like, for god's sake don't ask me to come up with a story / work with some really open ended prompt, i don't Invent in that way, and when i try to draw on Inspiration i'll get stuck on some specific source and be unable to do anything but just rip it off really lmao. but then again i was prolific in "it's 1st grade and you write and illustrate a little short story or smthing in these booklets
that we then have a simple little binding process for" like ohhh fancy, i got a tootsie roll lollipop at Awards Time for writing a shit ton of those lol. but that's like, when you're too young to have that much of a Creative Process anyways lmao. but then, my older sister, whose Thing was writing, has an incredible 2 Volume like, noir mystery saga from those elementary school times, it's a classic lmao. anyways once again so much to say about School lol closing the door after meandering on that one for this long lol
April 6th: Are you able to drive? If so, was it difficult to learn? What was difficult about it? If not, do you use any alternatives?
i did learn to drive, tbh just universally it's like, at any point you're driving there's A Lot to pay attention to at once, even if you think you're Good At That or whatever, which i sure don't think i always am lol, and it's pretty wild we just, you know, let everyone go around as fast as they want in machines that can kill you or someone else, and this is also Unnecessary b/c like, let's have accessible & reliable public transit so that everyone can travel without Needing to have a car / someone else who will drive them. i didn't think i had too much trouble learning to drive, but it had to help that i just took it very seriously from the start lmao like, well, i'm quite aware i could kill someone with this. the driving classes i took were alright, i remember the instructor being pretty chill and friendly lol. rip to the fact i could be tense when driving with parent/s, when driving a manual i'd always like screech the tires when accelerating out of a Stop, until all at once it was like "and i'm driving that manual car alone on a road trip & wouldn't you know it, only literally once did i have that issue of not getting out of a stop smoothly enough" lmao like the Anxiety......really like yeah i had an alright time learning and think i'm solid enough at driving / like doing it, theoretically, but Driving Is Wild just in general and let's have that public transit
April 7th: How are you with sarcasm and/or metaphors/figures of speech? Do you interpret things very literally?
i think i Usually get what people mean with these Devices but i can't really say lol, but anytime you know, someone is being more Implicit in what they say, plenty of times i can infer one implication and only later realize they probably meant a different one, or yknow, i make whatever initial inference i make and can be stuck like "???" and have to like, mentally run diagrams about the interaction lol......meanwhile i'm not always remembering that like, if i'm shifting context mentally that's necessarily able to be inferred by whoever i'm talking to lol, whether it's about getting into some adjacent topic or like, i don't think it tends to be very clear even in person when i've started being sarcastic lmao, like i know that can be true for anyone but it's like well, guess i gotta make it clearer i'm doing a bit......flipside of that or something lmao that people are more Obvious than they think they are sometimes about like, idk, when someone is sort of making some sarcastic remark to you but the sarcasm is also sort of only to themself, aka just like okay i know you mean this more dismissively / disparagingly than re: what you're saying just at face value lol like. just always fun >:/
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letswritebangtan · 5 years
Text
Jungkook x Reader [set you up]
A night like this was a night to remember. A night where everything was fine. Things were okay, the calmness of the weather brought a soothing touch to the gathering that night. People talked around you, and you listened to their mumbling conversations mindlessly as you looked into the dark. The blackness followed through and through because no matter how far you looked it was a dark and dense route forward. 
The clinking of bottles, the small fits of laughter and quiet giggles, it was just the kind of evening where nothing was amiss. 
“I heard you just started part timing” your best friend piped next to you. 
With a slow turn of your head towards him you cracked a small smile, “Yeah you know the coffee shop near campus.”
“It’s bound to be filled with our lecturers and students. Do they ever recognize you?” 
“I mean it’s not a huge deal. Sometimes they just nod in acknowledgement or they ask me about the course I’m doing. How come you never stop by?” you teased by poking at his shoulder. 
“I mean don’t I get to see enough of your stupid face every day?” he teased back. 
“Taehyung!” you exclaimed.
He let out his usual cheeky laughter and slung an arm around your shoulder. “I’m joking, y/n, you should know better.”
“So tell me then, why don’t you show up there?”
“It’s because Yun doesn’t like coffee.” he shrugs. 
“What a sweet boyfriend...” you cooed. “If only you were that sweet to your bestie.”
Taehyung raised his eyebrows in question, “I’m an amazing best friend and you know it.” 
“Not really no.” you pursed your lips comically. 
Taehyung rolled his eyes and then sat up in his plastic chair making it squeak slightly. 
“Actually, maybe I haven’t been such a great friend lately.”
Your eyes widened slightly, and then your eyebrows knit in confusion. 
“Tae, I was just kidding-”
“I haven’t set you up with anyone yet.”
There it was again. You’ve been best friends with Taehyung since elementary school, and ever since you rejected his confession in 2nd grade, for some reason he’s been trying to set you up with all the guy friends he could possibly have. You wanted a best friend, not a wingman. However he was pretty good at being both. 
“Seriously? Tae, you of all people should know I don’t need a boyfriend right now.”
“Well why not? No offense, y/n, but I can’t exactly make out with Yun when you’re third wheeling.”
You huffed and crossed your arms. Taehyung was right, you did third wheel with them a lot and you did feel bad about it but honestly you didn’t have anyone you knew well enough to hang out with. 
“I know tons of guys now! Our campus has a lot of potential mates.” he said grinning. 
“Potential mates? What am I? An elephant?” you laughed. “Don’t say it like that.”
Taehyung chuckled, “You know what I mean. So what do you say?”
“I don’t know, Tae. Relationships are complicated, why do you think I’m stuck with you? It’s because I have no idea how to form relationships with anyone else. You were the only person who liked being around my dumb ass.”
It’s true, you don’t know what you would have done without Taehyung by your side. He was your only true friend throughout your years of school together. Through Taehyung you met some of his other great friends like Namjoon and Hoseok, both of which were total sweethearts. But the two of them moved to different cities for University, so you couldn’t really fly all the way to America to hang out with your friends every single time. 
You did have your share of friends throughout high school and college but none of them shared a bond with you like the one you and Taehyung had. It’s still surprising how he’s let you hang onto him for so long, and how he’s not tired of you yet. 
“y/n, you’re freaking amazing okay? Anyone would be lucky to have you as a friend, and to have you as their girlfriend, that person would have had the luck of finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow.” Taehyung said seriously. 
“Maybe the pot of gold part is a little far fetched.” you giggled. 
“What I’m saying is, relationships form naturally and you shouldn’t force it. If you like the person and they like you it’s a win win. If not just wave them goodbye and move on. Pleasee, y/n, I already know the perfect guy for you. He’s at the top of my list.”
“You have a list?” you scoffed.
“Yes and I put a lot of thought and effort into it so you should maybe let me give it a shot.”
You sighed, “Alright fine, who’s this ‘perfect guy’?”
“Wait and see.” Taehyung smirked. 
_________________________________________
The sound of your fingers drumming against the table was only making you more anxious. Taehyung refused to tell you who this guy was and you only hoped that things wouldn’t be awkward. You didn’t even know his name for god’s sake. What were you supposed to say to him when you meet? Just “Hi”? It would sound like you weren’t trying. Or maybe you could introduce yourself? But wouldn’t that be too formal considering that the two of you were students?
Whatever, like Taehyung said, if it works, it works. You exhaled and checked the time on your phone. This guy was five minutes late but it was no big deal, he was probably on his way. Looking around you, there weren’t many people at the cafeteria. Just students minding their own business, heads buried in their textbooks and craning their necks to focus on laptop screens. The longer you waited, the longer it made you feel like you didn’t want to do this. 
Soon, the place was getting a little crowded since it was around lunchtime. You had no idea why Taehyung would set you up on a date in a god damn cafeteria but it’s not like you cared enough to want to go someplace more romantic or anything. The guy was twenty minutes late now and it started to get on your nerves. Countless number of people have been eyeing the spot in which your bag sat comfortably. You really didn’t want to seem rude by hogging all the space but you had a date and he couldn’t exactly sit on the floor next to you. 
Another twenty minutes passed and you decided that this wasn’t happening. As you unlocked your phone to text Taehyung you saw from the corner of your eye someone standing in front of you. You looked up immediately and you were met with the kindest pair of doe eyes. He smiled awkwardly, yet it was cute. His index finger tapped nervously on the tray of food he was holding and his bag slung on one shoulder was on the verge of slipping off onto the seat in front of you. 
“Sorry, I don’t mean to bother you but is this seat taken?” he asked politely. 
“U-Uh, no it’s um, no it’s not.” you stammered. You got up and fumbled with your stuff on the opposite seat, moving it to your side. 
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hog the place it’s just I was expecting someone but he didn’t show up so.” you explained. “Yeah, I was just about to leave anyway so you can have the table.”
You saw his eyes widen as he set the tray down on the table. 
“I’m sorry to hear that, but you don’t need to leave we can share the table if you’d like.” he insisted. 
You shook your head and smiled softly, “It’s alright.” 
He sent you a shy smile back and stood while you gathered your things. 
“Um, could I ask you something?” he said suddenly. 
You looked at him surprised and nodded. “Sure.”
“Would you happen to know someone called Taehyung?” he asked. 
You relaxed slightly and let out a small laugh. “Yeah, he’s my best friend. How do you know him?”
The really cute guy in front of you looked excited to hear your answer. 
“We’re in the same art class. He talks about you a lot, and I’ve seen you on his lock screen. You must be y/n, then.” 
“I am.” you replied, feeling touched that Taehyung mentioned you a lot. 
“Oh, shit I’m sorry. Where are my manners? I’m Jungkook.” he said extending his arm towards you. 
You smiled and shook his hand lightly. His hands were big and soft as they enveloped yours nicely. 
“Well it’s nice to meet you, Jungkook.” you said. 
“The pleasure’s mine.” he said so formally, you almost let out a chuckle.
You could see clearly the embarrassment through his features. He was so adorable you just wanted to kiss him. Wait what?
“I-I should go.” you said snapping back into reality. 
Jungkook nodded and handed you your bottle that was on the table as you shrugged on your bag. 
“Thanks.” you said and he let out another sweet smile you began to adore. 
“I’ll see you around.” he said waving you off. 
____________________________________________
You had just gotten stood up. So why does it feel like you have butterflies in your stomach? The moment you stepped foot into your dorm, Taehyung bombarded you with questions. 
“So did you like him?”
“What about his number, did you get his number?”
“Did you think he was hot? I tried to get someone with that kind of hair because I know that’s what you like.”
“Holy shit, wait, did you kiss? Hold hands? Flirt?”
“Dammit woman, why aren’t you saying anything?”
You chucked a pillow at Taehyung’s direction to which he exclaimed in protest.
“The stupid ‘perfect guy’ you sent didn’t even show up.” you said. 
You saw his expression fall, and in a second he was next to you and pulling you to his chest so tight you couldn’t breathe. 
“Oh shit, y/n, I’m so sorry I had no idea. But why the hell would he do that? What an asshole, god, I’m gonna kick his ass the next time I see him. Don’t think too much about it, y/n, he’s an insensitive prick and he’s missing out. Just remember that you’re beautiful and smart and kind and you’re the whole freaking package okay? I’ll make sure I find a guy who makes you see that.”
“Tae-” you gasped.
“Yes, I know those were very touching words but there’s no need to get sentimental-”
“You idiot you’re crushing me.”
“Oh, oops.” he mumbled as he released you from his grasp. 
You heaved and lay back against the sofa while Taehyung looked at you in concern. 
“y/n, I really am sorry, I didn’t mean for it to turn out this way.”
“It’s okay, Tae. You were just trying to help. I’m not too shaken up about it anyway.” you shrugged.
“Really?” he questioned. “How long did he make you wait for?”
“Nearly an hour.” you replied casually.
“He’s in for it.” Taehyung grumbled. 
Taehyung noticed you weren’t yourself, you were distracted by something as you kept playing with a strand of hair and staring straight ahead of you. 
“y/n, you sure you’re okay?” he asked again. 
“Who’s Jungkook?” you asked suddenly. 
Taehyung frowned in confusion at the sudden change of topic. 
“Jungkook? Like Jeon Jungkook?” he repeated. 
“His last name’s Jeon?” you inquired. 
“What-but why? I mean how did you-” Taehyung stuttered trying to figure out why you were asking about one of his good friends. 
“Jeon Jungkook, tell me more about him.” you said facing Taehyung now. 
“Well he’s in my art class and we’re pretty good friends. He’s the same age as me, which means he’s a year older than you. He’s studying performing arts and music. He’s on the track and field team. He’s pretty much an all rounder. He sings for the choir as well. And he- y/n why the hell are your eyes sparkling?”
You frowned, “They’re not.”
“Do you have a crush on Jeon Jungkook?” Taehyung smirked. 
“I don’t!” you refused. 
“Then what are you asking about him for?”
“Well I met him today and I was just curious that’s all.”
“Oh you did?” Taehyung asked surprised. 
“Yeah, I was about to leave the cafeteria when he approached me. He asked if I knew you, and apparently you talk about me a lot.” you smirked. 
Taehyung rolled his eyes, “Yeah, I love you, so? Is that a problem?”
“Aww,” you cooed and gave him a hug. Taehyung sighed and patted your back lightly, “Don’t get used to it.” he mumbled. 
“I just thought that he’s cute.” you said softly. 
“You wouldn’t be the first though, y/n. He’s got a long waiting list filled with all kinds of girls around campus.” Taehyung said. 
You frowned and sighed, “Yeah well, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
“But lucky for you, he’s good friends with your best friend. So I could totally paint the perfect picture of you for him.” he said proudly. 
“You’d really do that?” you asked. 
“This is the first guy you’ve liked in years. And he’s a great guy too! I totally approve.” Taehyung nodded. 
“Okay, dad.” you mocked. 
“Ooh, I could let him know you have a daddy kink.” he mused.
“No!”
___________________________________________________
“Over here!” you heard a familiar voice yell.
Customers sent glares at the direction of your best friend for being obnoxiously loud and you giggled as you walked over to the table. Taehyung and Jungkook were sitting together and they looked at you as you sat down. Taehyung had purposely nudged you hard to sit next to Jungkook almost making you fall over but Jungkook’s hands instinctively caught yours. 
“Careful.” Jungkook warned softly, the two of you staring at each other with red cheeks. 
Taehyung only smirked, enjoying the situation. You sat next to Jungkook while shooting a glare at your best friend. 
“So how was your day, y/n?” Taehyung asked as a conversation starter. 
“Pretty good, I had classes only in the afternoon so I woke up a little later.” you replied. 
“Yeah, y/n sleeps like a log. I literally have to whack her with a pillow to get her to get up in the morning.” Taehyung teased. 
Jungkook laughed softly next to you, and at this moment you wished your best friend would disappear. 
“I’m a heavy sleeper too. My roommate had to flip my mattress over to get me out of bed.” Jungkook said making you and Taehyung laugh. 
Jungkook’s shoulders were so broad, that when you sat next to him, his sides were brushing against yours the entire time. 
“I’ll go get us drinks. Are you guys getting your usuals?” Taehyung asked standing up. 
You nodded along with Jungkook, and as soon as Taehyung disappeared you regretted wishing that earlier. The situation was pretty tense, sexually tense.
“It’s crazy how he knows us so well.” Jungkook said to break the ice. 
“Yeah, he’s always been a people person.” you replied smiling. 
“I heard you guys go way back.” Jungkook asked as he shifted his body to face you. You could make out his defined chest from underneath his black shirt. You pulled your gaze away from there as quickly as you could to his face. Bigger mistake. All you could do was focus on his lips, how kissable they looked. 
“Y-yeah, elementary school.” you said quickly looking away. The table was your friend as you shifted your gaze there. 
“Wow, that’s pretty cool. You’re lucky you came into University with such a close friend. When I first started out here, I was clueless. I literally had no one to turn to. Taehyung was the only one who offered to help.”
“Really? I’m pretty sure someone would have offered to help you.”
Jungkook raised an eyebrow, “I sat through an entire class on Advanced Functions, because I was too much of a pussy to tell the teacher I was in the wrong class.”
That made you laugh heartily, and Jungkook smiled fondly at your reaction. 
“You could have just walked out you know.” you said still laughing.
“I didn’t wanna be rude. Plus the teacher complimented my outfit.” he said laughing along with you. 
“She complimented your outfit? Wow, even the teachers are crushing on you.”
“What?” Jungkook asked cringing slightly. 
“Well literally everyone likes you, I couldn’t believe why you found it tough around here.”
“You think everyone likes me?” he asked surprised. 
“You’re good looking, smart, polite, and you do sports. What’s not to like?”
You said that all too soon. The moment you ended your sentence you were too afraid to look at Jungkook’s face. 
“You think I’m good looking?” he asked, a hint of a smirk playing on his lips. 
“I said other things too.” you mumbled.
Jungkook chuckled, turning his gaze away from you to the table. 
“Thanks, I-I um....I think you’re-”
“Drinks!” Taehyung chimed in before Jungkook could finish his sentence.
Jungkook sighed and tilted his head to the side in a quick move and returned to it’s original position, a habit of his that you’ve noticed. 
“Here you go.” Jungkook said handing you your latte and then reaching out for his overly-sweet looking frappucino.
“Never took you for the kind of guy who digs sugar, Jeon.” Taehyung said. 
Jungkook shrugged and took a sip. “I need the calories. Plus it tastes so freaking good, wanna try?” Jungkook offered to Taehyung. 
“Sure why not.” Taehyung said as he took the cup and had a sip. 
You saw Taehyung’s eyes light up like christmas tree lights, and you weren’t sure if it was because of the wonderful taste or the sugar rush.
“It’s good!” he said. 
Jungkook smiled, “Told ya.”
And then the moment after that was awkward as hell. Jungkook didn’t know if it was too much to offer you his drink, considering that he (and Taehyung) but he drank from it. He would love to share a drink with you, considering he has a big fat crush towards you but he didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.
“Would you uh...you wanna...? I-I mean do you wanna sip a try? I mean-fuck.” he stuttered.
That made you and Taehyung laugh out loud. It also made you find Jungkook then times cuter. 
“Would you wanna try a sip?” Jungkook said finally, his cheeks pink. 
“If you don’t mind, yeah.” you answered shyly. 
He smiled and held the drink towards you. You held the cup, but Jungkook didn’t let go. Instead he pushed the drink closer to your face and held the cup for you as you took a drink. Taehyung was having a parade on the inside because he was so happy that the two of you were getting along and he melted at how cute you guys were. 
“Oh you’re right, it is good. But wayyy to sweet for me.” you said as Jungkook retracted his hand.
“I don’t think anything could be sweeter than you, though.” Jungkook said so softly, yet you and Taehyung heard it. 
You froze, not knowing how to react. You felt a tingling sensation rush through your veins and your heart swelling. 
“I’m gonna go make a call.” Taehyung cleared his throat and excused himself. 
When Taehyung left, Jungkook had a look of guilt on his face. 
“I-I didn’t mean to make things awkward.” he said apologetically. 
“You didn’t.” you reassured. “And I think flirty Jungkook is cute.” you laughed. 
He smiled, “Cute, huh? I’ll take it.”
______________________________________________
The keys clattered against one another as you shoved the master key into your apartment door. It was really hot outside and all you wanted was some cold air. Shutting the door with a thud, you walked to your room to get changed into some comfy clothes. Taehyung wasn’t home yet because he was out with his girlfriend Yun on a date. So without closing your room door, you slipped your shirt off and began rummaging through your closet. When you turned around to place the clothes onto your bed, you met with a figure standing at your door. 
You shrieked and immediately grabbed a shirt to cover your upper half. Let’s just thank the heavens you still had pants on. 
“Jungkook?!” you exclaimed. 
“S-Sorry, sorry! Taehyung gave me keys and asked me to let myself in because I needed to use his laptop and I didn’t know-”
“J-Just close the door!” you huffed. 
He nodded and immediately shut the door. You sighed in relief and quickly changed into a t-shirt and sweats before opening the door again. Jungkook was on the couch talking to himself softly, and stopped to look at you when you emerged from the room. 
“Hey, listen I’m really sorry-” he started. 
“It’s okay, I should have closed the door anyway.” you said embarrassed. 
“I didn’t mean to stare.” he said sheepishly. 
“You stared?” you asked in disbelief. 
“I-I mean, it was only for a little bit. I-I couldn’t take my eyes off you- wait no! I mean it was rude of me to stare but I couldn’t help- I’m really bad at this.” he huffed. 
You giggled, “It’s...fine.” 
“Just so you know, I don’t do this often.” he clarified. 
“I would be afraid if you did, Jeon.” you teased. 
He smiled and patted the space next to him. “I got some snacks and dvds. I was planning to do some work but I’m lazy right now.”
He had a pillow over his lap, and you didn’t want to believe that it was what you thought it was but, at the same time you were ecstatic to know that Jeon Jungkook had a boner because of you. 
Lazy, huh? More like he didn’t wanna get up because you’d spot something obvious. 
“Oh, cool. What do you wanna watch?” you asked.
“Well, I have Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3-” 
You giggled, “Big Tony fan I see.”
He smiled proudly, “Of course. Tony’s the best.”
“My favourite Avenger is Spiderman.” you said. 
“Is it because-”
“Tom Holland, yes.”
Jungkook rolled his eyes playfully, “Literally every girl I know is head over heels for that guy.”
“He’s cute!” you defended. 
“Spiderman is not cute, he’s cool.” Jungkook retorted. 
“He’s both.” you finalised. 
Jungkook pursed his lips and then sighed, “Fine. But he is cooler than he is cute.”
“No way!” you exclaimed making Jungkook laugh. 
“You know y/n, I really like you.” he said suddenly, his eyes looking into yours. 
You were taken by surprise at that. “I really like you too.” you replied smiling. 
“You do?” he said breathlessly. 
“Yeah,” you said shyly. 
“Great because uh...I need your help.” he mumbled, slowly removing the pillow from over his lap. 
Your eyes widened at the sight, making your cheeks flush. Jungkook was also blushing and waiting for your response. 
“So what do you say-mmph-” you cut him off by pressing your lips onto his. 
His hands circled your waist and his lips moved slowly but passionately against yours. The wet sounds formed by the pressing of your lips made you squirm. Jungkook slowly pushed you back onto the sofa, letting his tongue take dominance over yours. You moaned softly when his hips applied pressure onto yours. You bucked your hips up, making Jungkook let out a strangled groan. He pulled away, breathing heavily. 
“I’ve been waiting so long for this.” he whispered. 
“Then what are you waiting for.” you whined. 
He smirked and then leaned forward to press hot kisses onto your neck. From then on, he had his way with you. 
_____________________________________________
“He drove me today.” you said, and Yun looked at you with dreamy eyes. 
“He’s perfect, y/n. Taehyung makes me walk 10 miles everyday saying that I need some vitamin D.” she complained.
“Hey, it’s good for you!” Taehyung defended. 
“He made me cycle once, and it was raining. Can you believe that?” Yun whispered to you. 
“Wow, great going, Tae. You know, Yun, I heard our senior Park Jimin is single.” you joked. 
“He is pretty hot.” Yun agreed. 
“Are you kidding me? I am not losing you to stupid that stupid Park guy. Yuuuun, come on.” Taehyung whined. 
“He has a pretty cool car too, he’d drive you any day.” you added. 
“Oh my~” Yun gasped as she played along. 
“y/n, get out of here! Stop giving her ideas.” Taehyung grumbled. 
Taehyung’s sulky face got you and Yun laughing hard. 
“What’s so funny?” you heard a familiar voice say. 
Jungkook wrapped an arm around your waist and leaned down to give you a kiss on your lips. 
“Hi Kook” you smiled. 
“Hey, baby.” he replied smiling back. 
“Dammit, Tae! Why can’t we be cute like that?” Yun huffed. 
“Of course we can! Watch.” Taehyung said and pulled Yun into his arms. 
“Hey baby.” he said with his sexy, made-up accent. 
“Ew okay, gross. y/n, where can I find Jimin?” Yun joked. 
Everyone laughed except Taehyung. “Baaaaaaaaabe” he groaned. 
“Oh shut up, Tae. Of course I love you, you goof.” Yun giggled. 
“So when are we gonna tell him?” Jungkook whispered into your ear. 
You blushed and smacked his chest lightly. “Like, never.” you said. 
“Why baby? Are we not going to let him know we had amazing sex on his favourite couch?” Jungkook teased. 
“Jungkook!” you gasped. “Cut it out.”
“So what did you guys do yesterday?” Taehyung asked you and Jungkook. 
Jungkook only smirked and you had to clap a hand over his mouth. He poked out his tongue to lick your hands and you cringed, wiping it on him. 
“Don’t be disgusted, y/n. We all know my tongue has been in places far more-”
“Oh my god, shut up!”
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This was a bit rushed but, overall I hope you guys liked it! 
Like and reblog pretty please <3
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kidchameleon92 · 5 years
Text
“life story” 1
i’m not going to edit this at all going along. typos, bad grammar, mistakes. doesn’t matter. this is spontaneous thought.
disclaimer: i changed the word to “spontaneous” from “spurious” which means something completely different, so the first paragraph is already a lie.
anyway, it’s been a really weird and sort of bad couple months for me. mostly in my state of mind. i feel very stuck and very immobile when it comes to my art and career. and that is having a very negative effect on my brain. even though i’m putting out my favorite songs i’ve ever written. i’ve been meaning to write for awhile. i used to post when i lived in los angeles several years ago, just journaling my day to day life. but i haven’t for awhile. i guess i also used to write in a notebook while on different tours. but i think i’ve since thrown that away or hidden it somewhere.
point is: i just want to write to get things off my mind. and hopefully, maybe, it’ll help you (if you care to) get to know me a little more and on a more personal level. even if we haven’t met. and maybe it’ll make what i make (if you care about it) mean more to you. either way, mostly, i just want to rant a bit. so, this is my life’s story. i guess.
chapter 1: kid
i was born in a suburb of the twin cities in minnesota. my parents both grew up in minnesota and lived there their whole lives (until my mom recently moved to tennessee). my mom was a mortician, and my dad was an accountant. also an alcoholic. he cheated on her and left her and i when i was one year old. i remember growing up going to stay with him on weekends, except it was with him and his girlfriend at the time. except he was drunk a lot. and would drive drunk with me (a baby) in the car. so, that’s cool. anyway, my mom was really depressed, and that was not a good time (or so i’ve heard, because i was a baby, so idk).
i stayed with my grandparents a lot, because my mom worked full time. my maternal grandparents lived on a ton of land. my grandpa and i would ride motorcycles and four wheelers and sleep in a treehouse and all that. my other grandparents lived in the same town but in a small house. i used to go up to their cabin during the summer and go fishing and swimming and boating and all that. different g-parent vibes, but loved both a lot.
anyway, when i was three, my mom married my step-dad. he is from india and has had a lot of unique and challenging experiences, so that certainly brought a lot of particular lessons and outlooks into my life. i went there once when i was about 14. it was wild. but so, yeah. that kinda solidified my family unit. my dad got remarried later on as well. but the older i got, i saw him less and less.
so ... i loved video games. i played them all the time. a big part of my childhood. mostly nintendo. explains a lot. as a kid in school (4 years public, 3 years private, 1 year home, 3 years private, 1 year PSEO [look it up]), i was never popular whatsoever. i always wanted to gain some sort of acclaim or attention from my classmates, but was pretty much always looked down on for one reason or another. i remember in elementary school, i was the kid who was literally terrified of storms. probably because i had been in a tornado when i was six. but the moment it would thunder, all the kids would look at me to see if i was gonna cry. usually, i did. and the school nurse would take me outside and we’d walk around as a sort of therapy. i guess it helped sorta. i still get nervous in storms. but i don’t cry.
i also remember a time specifically that i got made fun of for wearing a denver broncos t-shirt. this kid just railed on me because it wasn’t a minnesota vikings shirt. so, one: i don’t even give a fuck about sports. but two: it stuck with me for some reason that someone would be a massive jerk over a t-shirt of a sports team. i guess that’s just because we as humans are messed up things.
anyway, in middle school, i started becoming semi-interested in music. i listened to the radio every night, listening to the top 10 countdown of big songs from that week. kanye, weezer, the click five, black eyes peas, green day. those were some anyway. besides that, i was just listening to like kelly clarkson and relient k or something. my mom had a steven curtis chapman cd in her van i thought went hard. but i started getting into popular music around then. i also started to write my own music. i used to take piano lessons from when i was like six or seven until i was 14 or so. but after i started writing my own songs, i hated practicing assigned pieces. i didn’t care. i wanted to play my own. so, the teacher said if i quit, i couldn’t be her student again. so i did. that’s fine. she said i was her most talented student. but i didn’t work that hard. so, that goes to show that natural talent and hard work have different roles, i suppose. 
chapter 2: girls and high school and such
in high school, i started LiKiNg gIrLs and stuff. i also was still not very popular. i also had started a band (with jack). i wasn’t very good, but i was just as obsessed with it as i am now. anyway, i liked this one girl from my church, and we talked all the time. but because we grew up in a pretty fundamental church culture, we weren’t allowed to date. which honestly, i fine, because looking back, no one knows what they are doing at 16 really. i definitely didn’t. i still don’t know what i’m doing. anyway ...
so, this girl and i half-dated for a couple years, and i was really clingy and annoying. but that’s just how i be. and i thought i was gonna marry her and stuff, because in a fundamental church context, you over spiritualize everything.
[[disclaimer: i am a christian, and i still go to church, but my theology and ideology on a lot of things has just evolved and changed a lot since i was young and since leaving the ultra-americanized/ultra-fundamental “christian” realm. main point being: we all are effed up bro and need saving. i’m an idiot always!]]
but now we’re back. girl “dumped” me and started dating another guy named “patrick” right after, even though she technically wasn’t allowed to date until she was 18. but apparently, she just wasn’t allowed to date me. so, that was cool. anyway, i was angsty, but then i got over it. because i was 17, so life big time goes on.
then i met another girl from canada while i was finishing school and going hard at my band stuff. we hit it off, and i started visiting her up there. and she visited me and all that. it was cool. and then all of a sudden, she really started hating me. and to be fair, i was weird and clingy and sort of a lot to deal with. but we kept dating. all the while, i was sort of leaving behind music to try to get into nursing school. yep, nursing school. but i got rejected, which is great. and so, i decided to go to audio engineering school in canada. and she was gonna go to college in the same city. this is great! so i thought. she dumped me (well, i sort of broke up with myself for her) about a month after we were living in the same city. wack. but it made me buckle down and work my ass off in school. i was top of my class one semester. yeah, i’m not that dumb. sometimes.
towards the spring of the next year, i happened to meet a girl who was at my church with one of my friends. she seemed chill. just talked a little. nothing crazy. happened to hit her up on twitter just to say hi. no intention. we talked a bit. nothing after that. then all of a sudden, a couple months later, i was tweeting about reading harry potter for the first time (note: fundamental upbringing). she happened to tweet me back about it. and long story short, we went out on a date. a sort-of-date. and what was supposed to be a lunch turned into an all day and half the night date. anyway, we got married a year later. after a lot of immigration paperwork and expenses. that’s a whole other post. that sucked. it’s a lot. and it’s why i feel bad for people who have nothing who are trying to come here to flee danger in their own countries. again, another post.
chapter 3: married, and other hard things
so, i forgot to say that before we got married, i lived in los angeles for a year after school. i was doing more sound for film work. on set stuff, post-production. got to do work with like ... james franco, matt damon, emma roberts, william shatner. some cool stuff. but jack’s old band came through on tour, and i saw two shows. and i was like ... bruh. i gotta do music, what am i doing? so, i literally moved back to minnesota within like two weeks, worked as a nursing assistant for a little bit and got married. then moved to nashville like two weeks later. i guess i could’ve stayed in los angeles. but nashville felt like the move at the time. everything happens with a purpose.
so, we moved here, and she couldn’t work for three months because of immigration stuff. so, i was like, well, guess i need a job. so, i got a job managing a home for a couple people with intellectual disabilities. it was super hard. mostly because the company was really, really bad. so, i got another job working as a staffing coordinator in an office for a home health care agency. that was a little better. still tough. but less overwhelming. a couple months after i got that job, i got an offer to go on a country tour playing bass for someone. and i was like ... well, this is why i moved here. so, i quit and went on tour. and shawna actually took my old job. interesting.
i was gone for three weeks, and it sucked and the pay was bad, but at least i was doing what i wanted. but then i got an offer from my friend to do some tech work on a much bigger country gig. i hadn’t done it before, but it was better pay and a better position. and on a bus and nice things and all that. so, i went for it. i pissed the other girl i was playing for off. but that’s show biz, baby. but like, i found a replacement for myself and paid to fly him out to her shows and stuff. so, really she won.
anyway, i toured with this other artist for four years. and i learned a lot. it was very, very challenging, both mentally and physically. and some people are just hard to work with. but i still gained so much valuable experience and insight into touring from that. i also started playing guitar for another artist who was small at the time, but has now had a couple number one hits. but his label fired me because i didn’t look country enough. we’re still homies though, so it’s literally fine. because i do indeed not look country enough.
at the same time, i was doing my own solo music and also producing and writing with and for other people. i’ve had the opportunity to write and produce for everything from independent artists to major label to billboard charting albums to whatever. songs on major television networks. i’m still very un-rich though, if that tells you anything. 
but really, i just wanted to do my own music. and i literally couldn’t get it to go anywhere. i had no idea what the “secret” was. what was i missing? money? connection? power? actually probably all of that, to be honest. this industry is wacko. i was pretty close to giving up.
chapter 4: milkk
i read a satirical article on vice.com about “how to start a trendy band” or something. i thought it was funny. so, i called jack. he had just been kicked out of his old band for no reason. i was like, “bruh, let’s do this article.” and he was like, ok. so, we sort of did. and i’m not gonna go into all the early details, because i’ve done a million press interviews about how our band started. and i don’t wanna say it again. google it.
this was the first time that i actually saw people care about my music. it was a high. it was like a dream. and we hadn’t even had any big song or anything. just the fact that people were listening and engaging was mind blowing to me. but just like with anything, the more things went, the less i found satisfying. the more “likes” or “follows” on socials didn’t feel like enough anymore. the streams didn’t seem good enough. the chart positions on the debut album didn’t seem that great. the hype wore off a little after the debut album hype. and that made me insane. probably because we as humans are not built to be satisfied by the things in our life. “Vanity of vanities!” it’s in ecclesiastes. like the bible one.
chapter 5: now
anyway, that’s bad. i had (and have) let my mind convince me that i have to achieve something in order to be happy or fulfilled, when i know that that stuff will never fulfill me. i could play the biggest stadium and have the biggest song in history, but after a burst of dopamine and excitement, it would be empty. and i know that nothing here will do that. at least, that’s what i believe. my hope is outside of myself.
but that’s hard to internalize when you are so passionate about something, and have been for so long, and all you want to do is create things for other people that they can appreciate and be influenced by. but it’s probably also selfish. like i openly admit i like the idea of fame and presence. and it probably ties all the way back to wanting acknowledgement and attention as a kid, from being unpopular and ridiculed and, honestly, left by my dad. maybe i just therapied myself.
but regardless, i know i can’t put my identity in all this stuff. it’s hard, and it’s harder when you create stuff. because it’s so deeply tied to you. but it’s still not “who i am.” i know who i am and what i believe, but i’m still a mess, so i can’t enact that in my brain perfectly. in fact, far from it.
anyway. it’s late, and i’m going to post this and attempt to not worry about how it does on social media. stupid!!! i just want this out in the world for you to read. hopefully it’s helpful for you in some way. but mostly, it was just cool to write this out, for my own sake.
i’ve been blessed in some amazing ways. my family. oh, yeah i forgot that i have two kids. i love them a lot. i don’t talk about them on social media much. but they are very special to me. and we’ve always been taken care of, even when times were tight or i didn’t know when the next paycheck was coming in or i thought my wife was about to die or whatever. the Lord provided for us every time. and i am grateful to have what career i have. it may be “small” and nothing to look at by the big industry standards, but i believe in what i make so much, and i’m just grateful that anyone cares about it at all. and i will continue to do so until the day i die. because i have to. 
it’s what i was born to do, for better or worse. and no one can tell me otherwise.
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