#it's a bit... frustrating? i guess. to know that i could've said yes. that i could've had a solution.

[fuuyuko01]

It's fine

Ryan Ross x Reader

Slight hurt/comfort (mostly fluff)

TW: swearing, alcohol, very, very slight nsfw

[HII!!! THAT WAS MY FIRST EVER FANFIC, SO I'M SORRY IF IT'S NOT GOOD!! You can tell me what I should improve, and I'll work on it!!! Hope you'll have fun!! ;P

XO Lea ☆]

*Y/N's POV*

It was a rainy day and I was lying in my bed with my friend Ryan by my side. Yes, Ryan Ross, known as Ryan Ross from Panic! at the disco. Cool, I know. We were friends since 8th grade, when he and his parents moved to our town. Since then we were friends and blah blah blah... As you can guess, I might kinda have a littlest crush on him, but hey.... who wouldn't, right? Anyway, I know it might sound cringe, but I'm 100% sure he doesn't feel the same, cause he can get literally every girl he wants, so I see no point why would he choose me. Anyway! I was scrolling through Instagram, when Ryan sighed and tapped at my shoulder.

— Brendon invited us to some party this weekend. He said that it's a Halloween party, so we should wear some costumes, you down? - he looked at me with pleading eyes.

— Well, if you're going then why not? - I smiled to him and he returned it.

— Good! I'd rather not go to Brendon's alone. - he sighed dramatically and I chuckled.

— Uh-huh, so if we're going, should we have matching costumes? Maybe mummies? [Everybody scream it's almost Halloween!!]

— Dude, I was thinking about the same thing, we totally should! - Ryan said excited. I knew he loves mummies, that's why I picked them, cause.... be fucking for real, who would want to go to party as a mummy. I could've been some Frankenstein [Iero] or dead bride. But I knew it'd make him happy, so whatever.

— Great! Well, we don't have much time, let's go shopping for some paints and bandages! - I said, and we went to store, to buy everything we needed.

☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆

Rest of the week wasn't so entertaining, we were just basically going to school and completing our costumes.

I had the worst luck in the day of the party. First, I spilled my coffee all over myself in the morning, so I had to change my clothes, but then I didn't have anything clean, so I had to wear some of my old clothes, which were too small for me. Then, I slipped on the spilled coffee and not only did I cut my knee on the floor, but my bracelet from Ryan fell under the kitchen cabinet so far that I practically had to climb under it to get it out. And when I had it, I also got a huge, DISGUSTING spider out of it. Yeah, I hope that was everything for today.

Ryan came over to my house, so I could do our matching makeup and that was so far, the only good thing that happened this day.

I was sitting on Ryan's lap, doing his makeup and his hands slipped on my waist. I blushed as crazy, cause what the fuck was he doing... He just grinned with his eyes closed as I was doing his eyeliner. That bitch... My poor heart was about to blow up, so I just tried to ignore it, which was difficult, cause I HAD A CRUSH ON HIM, AND HE HAD HIS HANDS ON MY WAIST!!! WHAT THE HELL.

I calmed myself and focused on finishing his makeup, and when I was done, I stood up and he went to the mirror to see my work.

— Is it good? - I asked him, still feeling a bit of warmth on my cheeks.

— Bro, it's beautiful! Thank you, Y/N, you're so good at this, damn.... - I chuckled at him and blushed slightly.

— Jeez, stop, you're making me blush! - I said jokingly and he smirked.

— Well, I saw how you blushed when I put my hands on your waist, you liked it so much? - I turned away so he couldn't see my red face, so I could finally do my makeup.

As I was finishing my eyeliner, my hand slipped and I stared at my fucking relfection in the mirror trying not to cry, cause I was almost finished. I groaned loudly and frustrated. Ryan came to me and looked at my fucked up eyeliner.

— Ehh... don't worry, you look great anyway - he smiled warmly and put his hand on my shoulder - You can always say that it's a part of your costume, right? - he rubbed my shoulder and I smiled at him. He's so cute and good to me.... You get why I love him.

I sighed, and after a while of getting our things, we went to Brendon's house.

☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆

[Sorry if it's boring...]

When we got there, Brendon opened the door with some girl Sarah beside him and they greeted us.

— Dude, you know who's coming today? - Brendon said to Ryan - Juliet! - he said and grinned at Ryan. Who? I was so confused. I knew it couldn't possibly be Ryan's girlfriend, cause I'd know if he had one, but... I've never heard of anyone named Juliet from him. He side-eyed me and I shot him a confused look.

— That's um... great. - Ryan said embarrassed and Brendon just shook his head.

As the sun went down and everyone was tipsy or just drunk, I was talking to Frank and Andy, cause Ryan went to grab some drinks for us. I realised it was a while ago, but I thought that maybe he met Jon or Z on the way. But after some more time, I was getting worried.

— Uh, guys, I'll go check on Ryan, you wanna stay or go with me? - I asked them and they looked at each other.

— I'll go with you! - Andy shot me one of his stunning smiles. Don't get me wrong, I love Ryan, but Andy is so cute! And he's more like a brother to me anyway.

Frank said he'll stay and went to talk to Pete and Gee.

As we were going and talking with Andy, I spotted Brendon grinning and giggling, while looking at something in the kitchen. Andy said he's probably so drunk, that he's hallucinating, so I brushed this off and then we get there.

Ryan was kissing with some blond girl. She was almost fucking eating him alive and he held her so tightly... I was stunned and I could tell Andy was too. We were standing there for like 15 seconds, which felt like hours and then Andy grabbed my arm and started walking off to the doors. Last thing I saw, was Ryan's shocked face, when he caught a glimpse of us walking off.

☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆

I was crying into Andy's shoulder, when alcohol and the whole Ryan-situation caught up with me. I'm not really blaming him for kissing that girl. She was pretty and in his type. I knew I wasn't that pretty, but she looked nothing like me and this broke me even more. I was kinda angry that he didn't told me about having girlfriend or even a crush.... I thought we were friends.

I heard someone opening the door, and Andy turned around.

— Um...hey, could you leave us alone? Please... - great. Well, who would've thought that it was Ryan. I hung my head low as Andy backed off a little.

— Sure, but don't worsen her state, cause I swear to god... - Andy looked at him with his brows knitted. He was such a good friend. As he was leaving, I heard him whispering "She loved you, bro" to Ryan. Damn, could it get worse? I sniffed and Ryan came to me.

— I'm sorry, Y/N... - he said. I started to feel bad, was I a bad friend and person?

— No, Ryan, it's fine! I just... I thought you'd tell me if you had a girlfriend... But it's okay, really. - I tried to smile at him, but my words were just worsening my ability to speak and hold back tears, so my voice and smile were cracking as fuck. Ryan sighed.

— It's not okay, Y/N and... she's not my girlfriend, I 'd tell you. I'm sorry, fuck, she's just an old friend of mine and... God, I'm sorry, she kissed me and I wasn't really thinking straight after alcohol, so I just went with it. And... you were all over Frank tonight, I just couldn't take it. - my eyes widened at his words.

— What? Ryan, what are you talking about? Frank and I are just friends, besides, Frank have a girlfriend, don't you remember...? - I looked at him in disbelief. He met Jamia, I didn't know what he was thinking anymore... He looked me in the eyes and his cheeks went slightly red. He said a little "Oh..." and I smiled lightly.

— So... that girl isn't your girlfriend, right...? - I asked shyly, cause I still was confused about all of this.

— No, I... - he sighed - I love only you, I couldn't look at you being so close with Frank, I just... I don't even know what I was thinking. I'm sorry Y/N, I get it if you don't want to be with me or you need a break I..- he didn't get to finish the sentence, cause I bring him down and kissed him quickly. We both melted into the kiss and his hands went to my waist, while mine rested on his shoulder and at the back of his head. We broke off after some time and just smiled at ourselves and he kissed me again, this time much softer, without any hesitations and fears of rejection, just pure love and happiness. Soon I deepened the kiss and it got pretty heated. My back collided with the wall and Ryan's hands were roaming on my body. But then someone opened the door and we broke off again. We were panting heavily, and Jon walked through the door. He looked at us, panting and blushing and he started laughing.

— Having fun? Don't get too fucking freaky when everyone can walk on you and get flashed. - he said and we looked at each other and smiled.

☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆~*°`°*~☆

Soon, we got back to my bedroom and as the sun went up we ended up on a ground. I smiled into the kiss and felt Ryan smiling too. He then backed off a little and looked me in the eyes.

— I'm sorry for tonight. I never thought you'd like me like that... I really love you Y/N, really, you're my everything. - he said and kissed my cheek, I felt like crying again.

— I love you too, Ryan! I thought YOU wouldn't like me like that. I guess we're just two idiots. - we chuckled and I hugged Ryan tightly.

I guess that day wasn't so unlucky, after all...

☆

[crumb]

okay okay so re: this post about this gifset

tell me what you think--did Benson plan on killing everybody in the restaurant? did he plan on killing himself after? did he expect to spare Randy, or was he on the fence? was he gunning for Chris and Chris alone and anticipating having to improvise?

I just love the way this scene plays out and how, despite the horrific violence, there's still something undeniably human about Benson as he goes about it. I would LOVE to hear your take!!

Holy shit my response is so long and rambling I'm so so sorry but uhhhh here's my thoughts under a cut to save people's dashboards from my dumb brain 🙈

Omg so yes this is something I think about ALL the time. Chris is, of course, a definite 100%. He was basically dead the moment he grabbed Benson's shoulder and said "...I'll have no problem turning your peaceful redneck existence into a living hell..." Benson warned him, gave him a chance to back down from bullying Randy, but Chris doubled down so RIP lol. Which was the spark that lit the first fuse.

The rest I think may have been improvised a bit but not by much. I think he planned on killing everyone, except Randy, but wasn't sure how exactly it would all go down. There's a chance Hardy might not have heard Jess screaming and never come out of the back. Which that alone I find funny that it was Jess' shrieking and not the two shotgun blasts that managed to rip him away from his morning jerk off session. So Benson might have planned on getting Hardy in the office by surprise after doing in Chris and Jess.

Jess is interesting because Benson tries to quiet her first before getting frustrated and shooting her to shut her up. Like, was bro gonna give her some speech before offing her? I wouldn't be surprised. Something about not dating entitled dickheads? I get why some people think he might not have killed her if she stopped screaming, which is a fair theory! But I also think she's been clearly joining in on the bullying and egging on Chris with her little comments and giggling like she had been earlier that morning. So I think she was already firmly on his kill list by that point, plus she would have no use to him other than being another witness—and the whole thing wasn't about her, it was about Randy, so dragging her around with them, or leaving her behind, would be pointless and risky.

Randy Randy Randy. I don't think he ever intended on killing Randy at any point, except maybe there being the risk of it happening when he was shaken after the whole Sheppard situation. At that point, Benson was so out of his own body I think almost anything could've happened, though ultimately I don't think that would've ever been on purpose, only in a knee-jerk reaction. I do think it was a liiittle bit of a test. I think Benson, like he said in the diner (the first round lol) that seeing Randy just stand there doing nothing and waiting for Benson to kill him was the only thing he believed in. He, like Benson mentioned, had been watching Randy and knew he was smart, but also knew he wouldn't do anything to stop what was happening. But I think a small part of him was hoping he would be proved wrong, hoping Randy would do something and show some agency.

And then there's Benson. I've mentioned this before but yeah, I think throughout the film he kinda goes back and forth on having a deathwish. I think when he's having his smoke and probably semi-planning what he's gonna do he is also fully aware that this is the end of the road for him and Randy is his... I don't know, I guess one last chance at redemption before ending things. Pulling Randy back from the brink of dead-end small town small thinking monotony is his like... last hurrah. Ok well maybe killing Chris and everyone is really the last hurrah, but helping Randy figure his shit out is like his last good deed, helping Randy not end up like him. When they're driving to the diner after cleaning up BBB he's in high spirits. The relaxation and acceptance phase of his road to inevitable death/suicide. But then as things progress and he learns more about Randy and everything, once they reach the school, I think at that point he had stepped back from the ledge and was thinking, maybe wishfully thinking, that he could make it out of there. But then Sheppard had to show up and ruin everything. I think Benson had started to think that maybe things could be alright, if only he could get Randy to Ms. Beard's, get that checked off the to-do list, and then they could try escaping. But Sheppard appears and reminds Benson that no matter what he can never escape. He'll never escape what happened to him, the things he's tried to forget, or who he is. So at that point it's like trying to save a sandcastle from an incoming tide. There's no use. Benson didn't have the tools to deal with seeing Sheppard, especially not on a day like that day when he had already spilled blood three times. Chris and them, maybe they deserved it to an extent in Benson's eyes, but no one deserved it more than Sheppard. So after Sheppard he's given himself whiplash. He had accepted his death, then got hopeful, and then had the ceiling cave in on him causing him to have to re-accept his fate, though not as steadfast. There's a few points after Sheppard where it feels like Benson is mentally clawing at the oncoming events in panic. Ms. Beard getting that call and answering it before they could leave. Benson hearing the sirens after Randy calls the cops. Both times it looks like he's reliving some cosmic disappointment like even though he's had to re-accept his fate, he's still desperately looking for an off-ramp. I think that's maybe what Benson means at the end. "I was never in charge, Randy." His fate or inevitable end was in charge and was something he'd already considered set in stone. Though I think that's also due to some self-sabotage. Like Randy tried to tell him, he had the opportunity to just run and never look back but instead decided to go on some self-assigned white knight quest for Randy in circles around town. Following some perceived path to "fix" Randy in ways Benson could never fix himself. Benson is a walking self-fulfilling prophecy. So to answer your question about whether I think Benson planned on killing himself after killing Chris, Jess, and Hardy (and after "helping Randy")—in my opinion, yes, I believe so. But I also think it switches back and forth from yes to no like 15 times between them leaving BBB and watching the cops pull into the diner parking lot that night, lol.

[tornioduva]

A thought on Botw's items

So, first of all, if you were left dissatisfied and somewhat angry by Totk, go watch this wonderful video and enjoy your catharsis:

So, after watching this my mind started to fix upon this godforsaken series again and, a thought about how the wild saga handles things and why.

Now, i'm not a seasoned game designer, i don't know shit on how to deliver these massive projects, and i'll admit i haven't done proper research like in interviews, manuals, artbook, ecc., this is all very much a stream of consciousness.

What i reflected on is how many of us struggled to really bite deep with criticism into the structural exploration systems of this games, because it apparently "works", and in a somewhat elegant and cohesive way. It's much more difficult to critique the decision of adding shrines, of the dungeons, of the pad tools, of the rewards, because it easily justifies itself with the various "time limits, sacrifices needed to be made, streamlined exploration" and so on; it's much easier instead to go to the throat of the story, or characters, or the durability, because it's a much more direct frustration i think.

But then again, thinking about Botw: was giving the player all of their tools right away really the only right decision?

I honestly think that having the player roam around hyrule, letting them explore and find obstacles for which the tools are required, and then giving them said tools, would've been much better. You would accumulate small frustrations here and there, places to return to, for which you would use those pins in the map, and then you'd have the satisfaction of having finally found the solution to your troubles and a unique reward from wherever you might've taken them.

"Sure", you might say, "but then all the major dungeon and "story areas" should take into accoutn wether you have them or not". ....Yes. what's the problem in that? maybe a character, like one of the descendant could say something along the lines of "if only we had a way to freeze the water to resolve this issue that i feel might be present in the divina beast" or similar, that way the beasts would be centered around fleshing out one mechanic. i guess that might make them a bit more monotonous, but i think not; they are already kind short and boring, they might as well be a a dungeon designed around fleshing out just one of your tools in a satisfying way.

That to me would've resolved a good amount of issues i have with it with the game already, because part of the joy of exploring, at least in the first like 10 to 20 hours, would've been the anticipation of finding a tool and to finally use it! and i'd have something more memorable to remember while roaming around than just pretty sunsets.

Also, this would resolve the B I G issue i have with the intro of both of this game, of it being an unskippable slog. If you remove all of the tutorial aspect out of it, and outsource it to a later, further away area of the game, you can reduce all the time the plateau takes out of you to like, an introduction to combat, crafting, effects and that's it, you're free after that.

plus i always found stupid that the game won't let you have the paraglider before finishing it. like, just leave the tutorial there if someone wants it, but le me find the paraglider as an object and then let me go down, it's not an essential item, just a convenient one; plus, if players went around hyrule without the paraglider, you could just remind them in other ways later on that they might find one on the plateau, or let them find another one in other areas of the game. that could've been fun: "where did you find the glider? here? really? wow, these devs really thought of everything, i found it there instead, and mike down south".

i dunno, i just don't want to think about botw as the only correct way of doing this kind of game.

[td-frog]

thoughts on dcas e10 (yes i know it came out 2 weeks ago)

merge

i stand by what i said last week- i think it would have made more sense to have one more challenge first. merge now gave the villains such a clear advantage.

that said, my theory was one villain gets cut and the drama becomes "the heroes all have to work together to win" and that did happen, it was just "to tie" instead.

mainly feels weird because i know the writers control everything but in-universe the decision to merge seems hugely biased in favor of the villains.

aiden and jake

this conflict is really funny to me because it really makes no sense. or at least not originally. so at this point the beef is really just they've been beefing so long they can't fix it.

(ultimately this is why the whole thing is tom's fault. if they'd addressed it earlier it could've been fixed, but he literally waited until the last possible second to try)

absolutely makes sense for the villains to use this to vote out ashley, since it's the only way she was losing. tdi bridgette "voted out for being liked too much" move.

jake and ally

honestly, i'm not sure how i feel about this one. the beef feels a bit more manufactured somehow, and unlike the beef with aiden it doesn't feel like it's been building long enough for them to not be able to put aside their differences.

also i'm disappointed we didn't get much of anything about ally re: tess leaving. i was really expecting something big there, especially with the whole thing about her being more okay with hunter gone than she'd thought. instead they just brought up hunter again?

idk i think this part fell flat to me. i think them continuing to fight doesn't really feel natural. but maybe we'll get more ally next time.

yulgrett

y'know i've seen a lot of people complain about the jake vs. aiden plot being way too drawn out, but for me that's shitty boyfriend yul.

i get that leaving abusive relationships is hard. and i get that grett doesn't want to accept that the guy she thought loved her is an asshole. but also every other villain is on record saying "that guy's such a shitty boyfriend and we hate him for it" and nothing ever happens?

like i'm not mad from an in-universe standpoint, because it does make sense why they'd keep him around for alliance purposes. but it's really frustrating as a viewer to have the show keep going "look how awful this guy is! he sucks! everyone knows he sucks! no consequences tho :)"

like i'm sure it's gonna be really cathartic when grett finally sticks up to him or whatever, and i'm guessing this is gonna be the spark of internal conflict that blows up the villain team and makes the competition viable again but like. it's not fun to watch?

predictions

i mean so based on the trailer it looks like the eliminated contestants come back and everyone gets a buddy. in which case i do get why they merged at 10 instead of 9, but i still don't love it.

i thought emily getting caught might affect yul literally at all but it looks like instead that's just motivating trevek plot which. fine.

obviously the main conflict here is villains vs. others, which is now a 5v4. so unless something changes with immunity or voting or whatever, i think the villain team internal conflict needs to finally happen (please please please).

i'm so looking forward to alec and fiore. i don't care what else happens i love them.

other than that i am hoping to finally get that tess/ally thing i was hoping for. the fact that (i think?) they're working together over hunter and ally is promising.

idk what else to expect at this point. i think it'd be really funny if jake and aiden manage to be friends all of a sudden now that their beef has had consequences. also curious how ellie returning affects gabby's villain arc.

yeah most of my thoughts are based around the trailer. i think post-merge it's harder to predict. or maybe this episode was just Not For Me.

[kozachenko]

Ok managed to catch up on Cheating Detective Satori... surprisingly quickly! Was it as bad as I thought?

....I mean, not really but it's still not... the best. Full review under the keep reading tag. Huge spoilers for the manga, of course.

Ok so, for the first bit before Mizuchi's reveal was... honestly kinda bad, like, Satori could've just... solved the case at the mansion quicker if she just read Sakuya's mind and went "ah yes she had no motive but did it anyway she was possessed" because like, if Mizuchi had been pulling shit like that before in former Hell, shouldn't she have said something? That's kind of a problem in this manga, the characters who should be telling us something are just so "vaguey no explainey". And also, why the fuck wasn't she at the scene more often? Like, why wasn't she the one who interviewed Sakuya? Why Orin? Why does Satori barely show up in a manga called Cheating Detective Satori? I mean, I don't mind it as a narrative choice but with the title it just feels like false advertising at this point.

Overall, the first portion of the manga with the endless "but who's being possessed next?" is honesly kinda frustrating. Also, Reimu, you are literally a shrine maiden and you have experience with ghosts and the like, what's stopping you from using some kind of spiritual techniques to try and track Mizuchi down? Like, why?

And now for the somewhat controversial reveal of Mizuchi...and honestly? I'm fine with it not being Mima. Like, it would have contradicted with her character from the PC-98 games anyways, and also because MORE MIZUCHI PLEASE HOLY FUCKING SHIT HAVE I BEEN CONVERTED TO THE MIZUCHI ENJOYERS CLUB OH MY FUCKING GOD-

Yeah so Mizuchi is my diamond in the rough that is Cheating Detective Satori. I like her character a lot and the parts where she's in it are some of my favourite parts in the manga. However, I think her sudden escalations in power are... well a bit much to say the least? Like, in the Eientei arc they mention how "we don't really know how the jailbreak king posses people" and my first reaction was, "REIMU YOU HAVE SEEN NOT ONE, NOT TWO, BUT 4 PEOPLE GET PASS OUT AFTER DRINKING SOMETHING, MAYBE YOU COULD INFER THAT THIS JAILBREAK KING CAN ONLY GET TO YOU IF YOU DRINK SOMETHING AND SO YOU MAKE SURE NO ONE DRINKS ANYTHING EVEN IF YOU DON'T KNOW THE EXACT CAUSE OF IT-" which, I guess it was never really properly established but fine, it leads to a cool moment where Mokou gets possesed and all but still. Mizuchi doesn't really have any weaknesses and kinda gets more and more powerful as the manga goes on.

However, if ZUN plays his cards right this could turn into a good thing JUST HEAR ME OUT, PLEASE-

Ok so, before I read the manga I saw the idea that Okina had something to do with Mizuchi getting loose and I fucking love that idea. Mizuchi's rampage in Gensokyo being enabled by Okina (albeit unknowingly) could also help explain the sudden power ups she gets.

[EDIT]: Ok as I was still organizing my thoughts on the manga after this, I realized that the limitation of Mizuchi only being able to posses people who have a grudge on the Hakurei shrine is pretty smart and could be used for some good character conflicts. But I think this is something that's kind of underutilized in the actual manga, despite the fact that it maybe limits who Mizuchi can posses in Gensokyo.

Anyways, the manga is kind of just wallowing with the story, like, why did the protagonists just let Mizuchi get away into former Hell when they could've just... exterminated her then and there. Like, if you still wanted Mizuchi to get away somehow, you could just extend the fight to where Mizuchi swaps from body to body as she makes everyone fight each other for her, so that by the end, everyone is too exhausted to go after her. Other than that, I actually liked the Myouren Temple arc a lot. Like, it isn't perfect per say but I liked it the most. I also liked how in the most recent chapter, we (kind of) learn what Mizuchi's deal is, mainly that something about Gensokyo's creation royally screwed her over. I also think that the twist with her being a member of a family that served the Hakurei shrine was really cool too. I have always liked the idea of there being something darker going on behind Gensokyo's creation. I honest to god don't know how the fuck ZUN is gonna end the manga though. Like, I just wanna know how the hell things are gonna go now, especially with the sealing off of former Hell. Which, side note, but I love how pissed off Yuugi is in the most recent chapter, like, this is the second time now that someone who was meant to take care of the place just ended up ditching it. Of course she's gonna be mad. I'm not against the idea of Former Hell needing to be sealed up, it's just how it gets there that's kind of messy. Like, it's such a drastic decision that just feels to rash for Satori to make, especially considering the fact that Mizuchi was RIGHT FUCKING THERE I'M STILL PISSED OFF THAT THEY JUST LET HER GET AWAY LIKE THAT LIKE WHY?! I feel like that's where a lot of problems with this manga lie, a lot of really interesting plot points and events that are very messily connected.

[EDIT]: Ok so about that last point I missed something with the latest chapter and yeah, Satori planning on getting Reimu to confront Mizuchi personally is a good way narratively to recover from what would normally be something out of character for Satori (This whole post was made in a bit of a hurry after I finished the most recent chapter so the information still needs to set in my brain a little).

Now for my thoughts on the artstyle. I'll be honest, the early artstyle for the manga was really pretty, but didn't really work for a manga style story. It's really nice looking for illustrations, but other than that it's just kinda eh. The page layouts were kind of boring and I think that's what made the earlier chapters feel boring. It also somehow fucked up the way each character talked if that makes any sense??? Like, since there wasn't really much expression in the character's faces, they all kind of started to blend together, even with the dialogue they all felt like they thought and reacted in the exact same way. Not to mention Sakuya's STUPID RINKY DINK LITTLE MAID CROWN WHY IS IT VERTICAL- sorry had to go off on that tangent there, that's always bothered me.

However, the manga's new style is so much better oh my god. Like, everyone translated pretty well into the style, even if it is a teensy bit inconsistent. The page layouts were also really creative and made things a lot easier to read. It only got better as the manga went on too. Can I talk about how beautiful Yuugi looks? Ok so Yuugi looks fucking gorgeous in this manga, like, the artist clearly liked her the most because she just looks *muah* chef's kiss. Also, the fights in this manga are so well done, like, this is EXACTLY what I was missing in Lotus Eaters. Like, all the hits feel weighty and impactful, and not to mention how expressive the characters are. The newer style isn't afraid to give us some really fucking unhinged expressions and I LOVE THAT. It helped make the manga more tolerable.

I said in my review of Lotus Eaters that I would compare the two mangas in terms of writing styles so I'm gonna do that. Lotus Eaters represents a lot of ZUN's strengths in writing, i.e. shorter more character driven stories that wrap themselves up nicely in the end. I think this is probably because ZUN is more experienced with this style of writing, since from what I've gathered, a lot of the other mangas and literary works follow this similar principal. I feel like ZUN doesn't have trouble with writing good characters, but instead struggles with finding ways to make them act consistently throughout a longer narrative. Like, I feel like that's the best way to put it. I feel like a good way to rectify this issue for ZUN is if he tried writing more longer printed works (mainly just to get experience with the format) take what he learned from CDS and apply that.

IDK if I gave Lotus Eaters a rating but I'll do so for CDS. I'd say it's a 4.5/10 if we're being generous. It frustrated me to no end because of how many missed opportunities it had, and it had so much potential to be amazing, even though it has some good qualities that made the experience a bit less painful than what I was expecting. I mean, it's still ongoing so it could get better, but now I'm just more curious to see how it sticks the landing. My math question comparison that I made in my Lotus Eaters review still holds up tho lol.

I remember a post on here saying that JoJo Part 4 is basically just CDS but good. And honestly, now that I've actually read the manga I see what that person meant now lol.

[3rddimension]

Here's a long boy all about the twitch stream angry moment, yes she is really upset at him and he instantly felt bad and got quite. But "yelling at him for two minutes straight" makes it sound more intense but yeah tensions were high for a bit. It's the 07/14/2021 stream (smosh showoff, confessions and meme review) specifically 12 mins from the end so at around 1h44min, I def recommend watching the full clip, Dept of Weird Sounds on YouTube didn't include it in the part 30 compilation but I think it should've been there since they were def dating by that point and it shows that they ultimately know how to deescalate things pretty quickly, stop pushing when the other is hurt and how theyre soft w each other after bickering, otherwise this could've been really bad because they were both hurt lol been wanting to talk about this one for a while but got the feeling that people haven't seen it since no one brings it up lol

They're playing Confessions and she comes up with a confessions and they have to guess whether it's true or false. C's decides her confession is "i regret not realizing my value when I was younger / having low self esteem in the past" and S jokingly goes "oh, fuck off!" and the room busts out in laughter but you can see the rest of cast is unsure whether to laugh or not because C wasn't laughing, so yeah she's scary and they don't wanna upset her aw. She didn't make it a big deal though and only asked him "do you regret that response?" when she saw he was laughing quietly in the back because he realized she wasn't amused.

The tension arises though when they're all unsure what to answer and S goes "I'm gonna be mad if you're gonna say that you don't regret your past becasue that was your journey and stuff" because he feels like that's a copout answer. And she doesn't like his response and almost threateningly (lol) goes "how would you feel about that?" he jokingly replies "I'm gonna be mad" which she ofc sees as condescending, technically she can feel however she wants to about her past and just because its a cliche answer doesn't make it untrue.

She reveals her answer and it's exactly as he predicted, so they lose. She doesn't regret how she felt in the past because it got her here, she yells "fuck you, I regret nothing bitch!" to everyone in the room (S knows her frustration is mainly directed at him and you can see him get flustered and red) then she specifically turns to S and says "and fuck you shayne! I am allowed to believe that" because it hurt her feelings that they were making fun of her potential answer before she said it esp s (her actual bf). But the rest of the "yelling" was really her talking to the room about why she answered that way and laughing about it w Damien, also crew and cast are laughing throughout so it doesn't feel as intense but those two were fighting for sure for a sec there. She was upset so she ignored him for a min as they cooled down and he was upset that she called him out like that in front of everyone and the stream, but very soon after you can see her looking at s through the stream monitor up top (since he was sitting at the top of the set behind her) and when she sees he has a pout on his face, she immediately feels bad, turns and says to him: "are you mad?", also because probably people in the chat were pointing out S is mad/embarassed. Anyway i love how as soon as she extended an olive branch to make peace he immediately is okay and laughingly explains why he thought she would answer differently and she understands that he wasn't trying to make fun of her and all is resolved, they go back to making each other laugh and be adorable for the rest of this very fun stream. Made me realize that's probably how they are, they get quiet when upset even after blowing up and then slowly reach out to apologize and they don't seem to hold the grudge for the rest of the stream, in fact they go out of their way to make each other laugh almost as a hidden "I'm sorry, I hated what just happened" in a way and that's so soft of them

HOLY SMOKE this is the most describe one out of all. lmao Here's also another one that anon sent in:

Omg the Confessions stream, tensions were high for a bit, but I love how after the bickering and before they made up, when C wins the game S is still the first to clap for her ever though he's livid and pouty. And you can see her briefly glance behind to see if he's clapping to check how upset he is lol And then for the rest of the last 10 mins of stream it's just them geving each other attention and making one another laugh

Just finished watching that part and I think it's not that bad like what another anon said at all. There's some tension behind it but they masking it like a lot.

[quinloki]

Family Ties

Fem Reader x Donquixote Doflamingo

CW: Language, violence, blood, moral ambiguity, murder, sexual themes and situations 18+ only

Chapter 1 - Table of Consent -

Chapter 20: Picking Up the Pieces

Doflamingo had left shortly after. No matter what you asked he wouldn't answer what your promise had been, or what had gone wrong with the plan. Not being able to remember was on the verge of driving you batty, but you couldn't do anything about it while you were still healing.

The next three days were an exercise in exercising. Law helped you move limbs and slowly got you eating more and more food. You were frustrated, something itched inside you and you wanted to just run laps around the clinic, but your body wasn't up for it.

You had more visitors as the days went by too. You saw Doflamingo almost every day, even if it was just a brief visit. You didn't see Pops much, but you saw his "boys" a lot. Luffy, Sabo, Ace, Thatch and Marco visited as much as it seemed like they could get away with. Law was more and more irritated by them and eventually you asked Marco and Thatch to restrain them a little.

Robin, Sanji, Zoro and Kid visited you. Robin brought your favorite flowers, and Sanji brought your favorite tea. Zoro and Kid spent time telling you about all the trouble you'd gotten into when you were younger. The conversations sparked something in you, and when you prompted the next step in a story Kid hugged you so hard you think your spine cracked. It was the first thing you had remembered on your own, aside from knowing that you were missing the bracelet when you first woke.

Five days later you had remembered a decent amount of things on your own, and the tests Law ran had shown that the memory issue could've been trigged by physical and/or mental trauma. He couldn't test for things like personal stress, but while there had been brain damage it wasn't severe.

"Memory loss is a hard thing to nail down," Law admits. "Sometimes things come back in a few hours, sometimes a few days. Some people have started whole new lives after memory loss, only to have it all come back years later.

"Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer, (Y/N)-ya."

You stretch forward to try and reach your toes with your fingers. "S'aright, you've already done more for me than I could've hoped for."

"Don't say it that way, we are friends."

You smile, "We are, and I didn't mean it that way. I mean, I think I know how important I am to people after all that's been done for me. I'm looking forward to getting out of here and wandering around town. Maybe I can remember more once I start working again."

"I'm sure that decision went over well with Mr. Donquixote."

Your face goes red. "It... hasn't yet. I decided just a bit ago, so I haven't said anything to anyone else yet." You sigh and turn to Law. "Can I have my one brutal question for today?"

"Already? Sure, if you want." Law agrees. He had gotten into a habit of being brutally honest with you for one question per day. The only thing that was off-limits was The Plan. Through this you'd learned that yes, technically, you were a criminal, but you hadn't been caught. You learned that you had let yourself into his clinic repeatedly and tended to "strays" as the two of you referred to them, and that you'd met Doflamingo through that process. You learned that your mom died when you were little, and your biological father was a marine, and that he was deceased as well, but Law didn't say when he had died, and you didn't ask.

"Do you think I loved Mr. Donquixote?"

Law closes his eyes for a moment and sucks in a breath. "I'm not comfortable guessing at what was going on in your heart, (Y/N)-ya, but-." He looks over and smiles. "I do know you lost Kid $50 because you admitted you 'had it bad' for him. If I were going to put money on things, I think you did, or if you didn't, you were close.

"I'll give you a little freebie, when you're talking to him later about your decision, call him Doffy." Law's grin is practically evil. "I'm sure he'll become more malleable then."

.

.

.

.

Later on that day you had gotten dressed, and Doflamingo had arrived to pick you up. He was knelt down as you sat on the edge of the bed and was tying your shoes for you. You were almost fully healed, but he seemed to enjoy getting to pamper you when he could get away with it.

"And so, I decided I want to go back to work," you continue, having explained that you wanted to do things that would help you remember. "Walking around town will help, I'm sure, but I feel like if I could go back to my old routine then it'd really help."

"Do you intend to return to your apartment as well?"

You open your mouth to answer yes, but there was something in his tone that stops you. "I... maybe, no, I mean, yes." You couldn't stop the drop in your voice when you spoke again, "I can't really walk from your home to those jobs, I mean."

You could see him tense as you spoke, but when he looks up, he appears okay. You've quickly learned that he was in control of his emotions very well. You imagined his rage was terrifying.

"Your mind is made up then, young lady?" His face was straining neutrality, but his voice sounded defeated. Your stomach knots, and you do your best to keep looking at him. His hands were on either side of your thighs, holding onto the bed. He'd done his best to avoid looming over you while you recovered. You could often tell from his body language that he'd done his best to avoid touching you too much as well.

"As long as I'm not inadvertently giving you an answer to a promise I still don't remember, then, yes." You reach out and he lets you caress the side of his face. You could tell he closed his eyes at the touch, and you wanted to kiss him. You wanted to remember first.

"Just for a week," you say. "Give me a week to remember, and then..." you weren't sure what to say, "And then we can talk about different living arrangements-" you could feel the heat rise in your face, but you weren't sure why. You wanted to use the name Law had told you, and you forced your mouth to make the sound despite the growing need that was rising up in your stomach.

"-Doffy."

His grip on the bedding tightened so fast you heard the frame squeak. The gaze that pierces you almost stops your heart, and he holds your gaze as he stands. Having him over you, caged by his arms, was not the reaction you think Law expected. You didn't feel afraid of Donquixote, but there was a feeling of concern. It was like he was struggling to control himself, and it was your fault.

He lifts his glasses up to the top of his head, using the entire weight of his gaze. There's a passion and a desire in those eyes that is likely to simply set you on fire where you sit. His body shifts and he moves as though he means to kiss you, but his movements were slow enough for you to react. You didn't turn away, but you did put both your hands over his mouth.

"N-Not here." You break away from his gaze and shake your head. "I have nothing but a jumble of memories from this room, and... and I want to make memories outside of this place." You move your hands away. You can feel the red running down your face to your neck. "It's not 'no', it's just... o-out there, not here-WAH!"

He lifts you up into his arms like you weigh nothing and cradles you against his chest. He moves his glasses back over his eyes and you hold onto his jacket to steady yourself. You start to protest, but his voice brokers no dissent.

"I refuse to let you go, my dear. You will simply have to deal with it."

His voice was always pleasant to hear, even when he was busy, but his voice when he was demanding submission to his will was something else entirely. You bury your face in his chest, not wanting to light up the entire clinic with how bright red your face is. You manage a very tiny 'okay', and didn't give Law anything more than a thumbs up when you left.

You had only the briefest moment of sun against your skin before you're set inside the back of a limousine. Something about the smell of it, the feel of the leather, and the soft, almost unnoticeable purr of the engine, tickles at the back of your mind. Though you hadn't the chance to focus on any of these things for more than a second.

After Doflamingo seats himself next to you, his arms move you as he pleased. You find yourself straddling him, chest to chest, sitting in his lap with his arms around your waist and back. You gasp in surprise and the pleasure of being so close to him, the sound escaping you closer to the pleasure side of things. You bury your face into his shoulder, heat radiating from your cheeks and ears.

You could feel the smirk on his face as his fingers slip over your back and slide through your hair. Your body shivers at the tender and needy movements, and you try to suppress the moans escaping you.

"It's difficult to kiss you when you're like that," He muses, and you could feel his voice against your body more than you heard it through your ears. "Though, I don't dislike the noises you're making for me right now."

"Let me... let me kiss you." You manage between the involuntary sounds he was eliciting from you simply by running his fingers over your back. You had wanted to remember him first, you thought that was going to be the best thing for you to do. For both of you.

Right now, however, you wanted something different. Something deeper. You wanted a moment of control, you wanted to show the feelings you had right now, even if they could be different from whatever you had felt before. Not that you thought they would be, the way he controlled your body spoke to a level of intimacy beyond what you had assumed.

"As you wish, my dear," His hands move away and he has them hooked behind the headrests of the limo's seat.

Your face must be fire engine red, but you keep your gaze on his lips. You lick your lips lightly, tilting your head a little and closing the space between you. Your lips barely touch his, but you can't help the gasp that escapes you as a rush of pleasure hits you unexpectedly. You reach out with your hand to slide your fingers through his hair, your other hand is on his shoulder, helping you to keep your balance. You lean into the kiss a little more, but it's like you can't get air into your lungs. You suck in a breath, lips quivering against his and instead of leaning in, you lean back and meet his gaze.

He doesn't look disappointed, but there's an inquisitive glint in his eyes.

"It was a little different, wasn't it?" You murmur softly, your gaze returns to his lips and you don't notice his eyes widen.

You lick your lips lightly and swallow, before leaning forward to close the space between you. Running your lips over his so softly as to barely make contact, you reach out with your hand to slide your fingers through his hair at the nape of his neck, and then you lean in deeper with the kiss. Your eyes close as a moan rises up in your throat and shivers through your lips.

You lean back enough to break the kiss, but you don't go far, "I remember, I wanted to tease you more, but you took over. We'd just declined dessert?" Your brows furrow. "No, we were going to have it at your place... we..." Your eyes widen as more of the memory returns to you. "Oh."

You start smacking his chest as you talk, remembering more the more you said. "The day, that day, it was... what was it? It was a date, but not a date? You were - you'd made some excuse about wanting to pay me back." Your eyes light up, and you beam at him, "THE BRACELET! I made you buy me something at... at the place, the carnival? And then we, uh..." Your face is red, you're remembering, but the words aren't going to come out as easily as the memories are flooding in.

Doflamingo's expression is the softest smile you've ever seen on him, and when you finally falter for words, he embraces you. He buries his face in your shoulder, wrapping an arm around your waist, and cradling your head in his other hand. You feel his body shudder, and you wonder if he's crying.

Tears well up in your eyes and you try not to cry, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I forgot, and I'm sorry I don't remember everything yet." His embrace tightens, but he shakes his head soundlessly against your shoulder.

You could feel him breathing shakily, and you wondered if he had ever lost control of his emotions in this way before. You wondered if he even knew he could have emotions like this. You didn't think he was completely heartless, but you knew he had to be a certain level of ruthless to live the life he did. Something twists your heart, and you felt a deep sense of guilt, but you couldn't place exactly why.

"Don't," His voice is almost broken, and he was slowly evening out his breathing. "Don't apologize, my love."

My love. You gasped, the words wrenching your heart and causing tears to fall down your face. You lean your head against his, running a hand through his hair, and sinking into him. You could feel a wet warmth against your shoulder. You knew though, you knew from his actions, from his restraint, from his gaze, you already knew. But to hear those words - you couldn't write it off as simple kindness, you couldn't hold the weight of it at arm's length.

After you had both composed yourselves, you whisper into his ear, your gaze looking out the back window even though you weren't focused on anything.

"Help me remember," your arms tighten around him. "Please."

"Of course," He assures you, his fingers slipping through your hair. "I wouldn't want anything less."

You laugh, nearly on the verge of tears again. "That's a relief." You set your head on his shoulder.

"Mm? In what way, my dear?"

"If there was something you would benefit from me not remembering, I feel like you'd prefer it. Like, you'd mitigate the risks of letting me slip through your grasp." You admit. "But at the same time, I trust your words."

"You've said that of me before, do you remember?" He prompts, shifting you so you were looking into his eyes again.

"That I trust your words?" Your brow furrows, "No, you... uh... hm." You make a face, feeling conflicted.

Doflamingo chuckles, "I'm not sure how to take that, but you're not wrong. You've never said you trust my words before."

You think about it for a moment, "I have said that I trust you though, haven't you?" You see a flicker in his eyes, and you recognize the emotion, since you'd been feeling guilty yourself a lot the last week. "I said so before things went sideways."

Doflamingo lowers his eyes and nods slightly.

"I survived," you say, tilting his chin up and bringing his gaze back to yours. "I survived and I'll remember, so... so my trust wasn't misplaced. You're not a god, despite your ego, you can't protect everyone from everything and live the life you do."

"If you're trying to make me feel better, you're not exactly hitting the mark."

"I'm not exactly missing it, either," you quip. You place your forehead against his. "Sometimes you need to be reminded of your humanity, like it or not."

"(Y/N)," His voice and gaze are steady. "Let me kiss you."

You lean back, settling into his lap, and closed your eyes, tilting your face upward.

The gentle warmth of his hand sliding along your jaw causes you to nuzzle into his palm as it caresses your face. Fingers run along the line of your ear, sending small shivers down your neck, before disappearing into your hair. His large hand cradles the back of your head as his thumb from his other hand runs over your lips softly. The sensation causes you to gasp, parting your lips just as he closes the distance between you.

The first brush of your lips was swift, and hot air fills the space between you both. You feel his fingers flex in your hair, and his body tenses under you as he struggles to contain the need he'd been pushing aside for the last week. A tender kiss follows, as though he was trying not to shatter some wisp of a dream between his arms.

You lean into him a little, to reassure him you weren't made of glass – or to urge him on, or both - and the hand not tangled in your hair wraps around your waist. Hot lips push back into yours and you moan from the pleasurable pressure. The kiss breaks enough for a breath of air to enter your lungs, but he follows soon after. His kiss holds you in place more than his hands, and the passion he drives into you was enough to pull air and reason from you.

Your hands grab onto the collar of his jacket, and you pull yourself into him. There's no contest of dominance in this, you have only a need to be even closer to him than physical law allowed. Heat rushes into your face, adding to the dizzying euphoria of the long overdue kiss.

You lean back to breathe.

"Shit," you swear, gasping for air and turning your head away. You're red to your ears, and you could feel the heat in your thighs trying desperately to override the responsible parts of your mind. Your hands are pushing against his chest, and you could feel his heart trying to beat its way out of his rib cage. You couldn't wiggle out of his arms, and you didn't necessarily want to, so instead you hid your face against his shoulder.

"You're dangerous." You say, your voice breathier than you had expected. He chuckles, a mix of mischief and passion. "This is dangerous... It's dangerous but I'm not afraid." Your hands tightened their hold on the collar of his jacket again as you turn your head enough to be able to look across his chest, your head nuzzled just under his jaw.

"I don't know what to do," you murmur. "My body wants you, my head says I need to remember, and my heart says," you close your eyes and leaned into him. "that I had made up my mind before I forgot."

"I am not a mindless beast, my dear, and while I may not have boundless patience, I do have patience." He hugs you, running a hand over your hair and down your back. "I will do all that I can to help you remember. I can recount every moment if you so desire. I will have the Family find every record of your life if you want.

"Command me, my love."

[evwuniverse]

Interesting Encounter- Impromptu Story Time In Second Life During So Kawaii Sunday

For those of you who don't know, there are groups that you can join and get discounts on popular products within Second Life. Some of the most popular ones are So Kawaii Sundays for you cutie patooties out there. And the Saturday Sale. Of course, there are many others but that will be discussed in a future post. I needed to discuss this part to set the scene of what occurred. As everyone knows, everyone's Second Life experience is different. We encounter many people along our daily adventures. To be honest, me? not so much. I tend to keep to myself lately due to real-life burnout and overstimulation. However, when I do go out I'm always willing to chat and secretly crave it. But only you (the reader) and I need to know that.

Well, it's not every day someone hops into my DM's as for the most part everyone else is also keeping to themselves and just jumping shop to shop for the sale items. So when this happened I was a bit surprised but glad it did. I was at the landing point at the front of a store. Cool. A lot of the sale items were right there at the landing point so I didn't have to walk far to get what I needed. I hear the lovely message ping we all hear when someone DM's us. Because the person's profile in the upper right hand corner didn't look familiar I took a look. To keep this individual anonymous I will not be using their screen name for this story.

"Help, I can't take the part off."

"What part?"

"Take a guess?"

I couldn't help but laugh but at the same time my people-pleasing self is always willing to help people and the fact of the matter is out of all the people he could've messaged he chose me. I'm a firm believer that everything happens for a reason so I explained to him exactly how to remove the "part" he was referring to. I checked to be sure he had it all handled and I decided "You know what, dude's probably new, let me welcome him and help where I can." When I first started I didn't meet anyone that helped me until my Second or Third week into being on Second Life and it was the kindness of that one stranger that kept me around. Now I'm going on 13 years with my current account, with my past account which if I remember correctly I deleted or just forgot how to log into it but it was the account I had on the Teen Grid. I made a new account once the grids merged. That will also be another post in the future.

When I walked over, I said to him, "Did you get it all situated" he said yes, but I could tell in his typing tone that he was a bit frustrated. He was looking to add his chain to his character that he had and I told him how but he told me that he didn't know what it was called. I told him to search his inventory for "chain" to see if anything came up and provided him with a few inventory organization tips for moving forward. Apparently, his profile stated he was 5 months old but according to him he wasn't on that long he was on for about a week left and didn't come back and decided to try again. I'm telling you all it takes is one act of random kindness at a time, I asked him if he wanted to add me and I could help out and I didn't mind. He didn't add me but I did help him. Because of this encounter, he most likely will be back on.

It made me think though, IMVU has mentors on there why can't Second Life do the same? Gather a group of volunteers and either provide them for lindens for their time or provide them with a special profile tag or something and they live their Second Life but when there is someone who needs help or is new in an area they can come to you to ask questions, etc? I feel this would be extremely beneficial. I feel the tutorial island is a good start but what about when people are actually in the world and off of tutorial island? I feel there needs to be something put in place for new users to enjoy experiencing Second Life while being new. Thanks to the kindness of people that is why people stay on the Second Life platform is when they experience help to begin and then do their thing.

I felt this encounter was important to share and since I haven't been on Tumblr a lot because I keep forgetting to actually come on and write even though I'm on Second Life and IMVU it was time to post more content. I'm really surprised some of my followers have still stuck around with how spotty I am with my blogging haha.

Ahead of time, thank you for taking the time to read and support my blog it means a lot. I do this for fun and honestly just grateful that others are reading my content. I will be working on potentially making tutorial videos in Second Life to help others further. There are a lot on YouTube but after this interaction what's the harm in one more? Thank you for sticking around with me and I'll see you in the next post.

[romanadvora]

Galaxy 4

season 003 : story 018 : episodes 082-085

11 SEP - 02 NOV 1965 || 07 - 08 JUN 2023

This… really should’ve been a three parter.

While this has some interesting moments, funny lines, and the occasional unique narrative framing choice… It’s drawn out- the Chumblies just make me feel a bit lethargic.

Skipping straight to episode 2, because well... lethargy as I said… I like when the Drahvins take a hostage when the Doctor wants to go out again that Steven demands that it be him this time instead of Vicki; not only him in character offering her some personal freedom instead of being stuck in the Drahvin ship for a couple more hours, but meta-textually also allows Vicki to have more scenes acting opposite the Doctor. 

Steven has some good scenes trying to incite mutiny with the Drahvins, with Maaga’s behaviour… foreshadowing (is that foreshadowing or just characterising?) the reveal that she’s the real villain of the story. Although it is frustrating just how thoughtless the regular Drahvins are. Like yes that’s the point, I know, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t tedious to watch too. 

I like Vicki’s moments with the Doctor, especially with the retrospect that this is her last real interaction with Hartnell, other than [not even, really] saying goodbye at the end of The Myth Makers.

“That was no risk. I observed, noted, collated, concluded– then I threw the rock”.

The airlock scene with Steven is pretty good- he's escaped* the ship, and is now stuck between the threat of the Drahvins, and the perceived threat of the Chumbley. And Maaga’s decompressing the airlock compartment itself because she's a bit insane I guess lol. 

The Rills being revealed as peaceful is kinda cliche now, but could've been a good reveal back when it was made- after all cliches become cliches with overuse. Them avoiding showing their face is a decent narrative way to add false suspicion to them, and their justification of it being due to the potential of disturbing "typical humanoid" lifeforms is a fun comment on how a lot of the aliens are… coincidentally bipedal.

The Drahvin assault on the Rill ship is well shot and feels epic (as epic as it can be, being a 3 v 3) in the sense of pacing and camera angles.

The Rill's argument for why they'd let the Doctor leave the planet even if the refuelling effort was unsuccessful was a really great scene; Steven's suspicion is fairly justified after the encounters with the Drahvins.

And the explanation of how the Doctor stands for similar values to the Rills while being able to travel further and affect more people is quite a nice moment; the Rill's trust that even if they're unable to escape, the Doctor getting away would be for their agreed benefit of the universe. Steven’s (warranted) suspicion, after the whole debacle with the Drahvins, is also really appreciated.

Animation really did this favours in terms of the ship's size, and launch at the end of the story; the planet disintegrating and the ground hellishly cracking open is also really good.

As for the story in the real world… apparently all three of the main cast hated this script so much that their complaints resulted in Maureen's contract not being renewed, and Bill being threatened with firing. So that's… a thing that happened. 

At least I think it's got some good stuff. Like it's not incredible, just...

★★★☆☆

...fine

[karahalloway]

Their banter in this....I can't!

I have to admit, I do love the start of this - the fact that they're talking with their bodies and hands, while having a normal conversation... 🥰

But then you would bring trouble into this moment of theirs, you're so mean to them, lol!

Can't make things easy, can I? lol

Lol I love how you write Drake's thoughts!

And Harper, go girl!

Yes the fight scene was fun to write! It was supposed to be longer, but Drake had other ideas lol 😅 He is rather opinonated, bless his heart...

Ugh this is just frustrating! Drake has more sense than this whole 'so called' security team put together. They clearly saw how much trouble this mob was being, but still wanted to shove D&H in with them! Idiots!

Also, why are they treating them like this, it's clear who the real instigators are!

Then the one tryna take Drake's phone THEN put them in harms way. Do they have any training at all,, or even common sense?!

Haha you're not the first person to rage at the security guards! Admittedly, they could've handled the whole thing better, but I was told that in most situations, they woudn't care you started it, they'd just want the entire mess gone, so if you get caught up in it - even accidentally - they're going to haul you out. Because they deal with rowdy drunks night in, night out, so they're not going to have patience for stories, or he-said-she-said, unfortunately

Lol, oops! I was with Drake here, thought she was mad as him for practically frogmarching her down the street, lol

Lol yeah, I guess most people would have that thought! But my logic was that Harper understood why Drake decided to high-tail them out of there - he caused a bit of a 'situation', after all 😅 It was more the fact that if you've never seen someone go ninja on anyone, you're going to be a little bit scared - especially if you're not expecting it from the person

And darn, those are some high stilettos!

Yup - the downside of dressing up for a night out! I think every girl's fall foul of this unfortunately!

Protective, bossy Drake. Love it!

I know! Love writing that side of him! Because he cares so much, but he just can't quite bring himself to express it like a normal person lol

Haha, love how she knocks him for six all of the time!

Part of the reason why he falls for her

Thanks so much for taking the time to read and reblog! You really made my day! 🤗

Sleepless in New York: Chapter 6 - Let It Whip

Series: TRR

Pairing: Drake Walker x OC (Harper Gale)

Rights belong to Pixelberry, most characters and some dialogue belong to them.

Synopsis: This is a short-story series written from Drake’s POV that explores an AU where Drake meets Harper (my OC from (Un)Common Attraction) by himself before the boys come to the bar on the last night of Christian’s bachelor party.

Masterlist: Sleepless in New York

Chapter Summary: Things kick off at the club... and not in a good way!

Word Count: 5,600

Rating/Warnings: M (swearing, sexual tension, physical violence, aggravation)

Chapter theme song:

A/N: Sorry this took a bit longer than expected! I had the first half of the chapter already written from when I posted Chapter 5, but when I got to the second half, Drake decided that he did not like my original plan of events, and flat out refused to stay on script... which led to long-winded back-and-forths trying to figure out how to rework the rest of the chapter to our mutual satisfaction (that's fictional characters for ya - super opinionated!😅) But, I hope that the end result was worth the wait!

Also available on Wattpad

Chapter 6 - Let It Whip

But all thoughts of potential perdition evaporate instantly from my mind as I step back through the bi-folding doors and catch her 'round the waist.

"I got plenty of shirts," I murmur into her ear as I slide a palm over the curve of her bare hip.

She shivers under my touch. "Plaid doesn't count."

"Why not?" I counter, running the fingertips of my other hand down her arm. "It's smart casual."

"Spoken like a true redneck," she asserts, meeting my eye over her shoulder as her free hand settles over mine on waistband of her jeans.

"Y'know in Texas," I murmur, trailing her arm up to drop it around my neck, "that's a compliment."

She leans back against me as we start to sway. "Is that where you're from?"

"In pa—" I nearly bite my tongue as her ass brushes against my belt buckle.

Fuck. This girl was sure as hell determined to make me sweat...

Squeezing my eyes shut, I force myself to rejoin the conversation. "In-in part. My... dad's side of the family owns a ranch a couple of hours outside of Dallas."

"But you're also half... Cor-Cordinian?" she asks, jumbling the foreign combination vowels and consonants a bit... probably because my hand had just skimmed down the sensitive, exposed skin of her side.

"Cordonian," I correct thickly, finding her other hip to pull her flush against me as my lips brush against her neck. "My—"

"Hey, stronzo!"

My head snaps up surprise. What th—?

But I'm not able to finish that thought, because in the next instant, a meaty fist connects with my jaw, whipping my head 'round.

The loud music fades to background noise and the strobe lights careen in front of me as the right hook out of the blue momentarily scrambles my senses.

I stumble to the side, losing hold of Gale as I try to hang onto my balance.

Staggering to a stop, I give my head a shake to clear my mind.

But that brief second or two of lost focus is enough for someone to reach out and grab my shirt.

My vision is still skipping, so I can't quite focus in on the guy's features. But the sticky-sweet scent of his cologne drenches me like bucket of cold water.

It can't b—

All the air explodes out of my chest as the opportunistic fuck takes advantage of my disorientation to nail me in the gut.

"Nowt such a big hat now, huh, gaguzz'?" hisses an all-too-familiar voice in my ear as I double involuntarily over.

Gasping for breath, my eyes land on cross-bearing angel inked on the guy's arm as it becomes illuminated under the flashing lights... and my suspicions are instantly confirmed.

Tattoos.

How I'd managed to cross paths with the self-entitled piece of shit again, I had no idea. Especially in a city the size of New York, where clubs were a dime a dozen.

But it didn't matter. Because after what he did to Gale last night, there was only one way this was going to end — with him on the ground, eating dirt.

I scoff into the prick's face. "Dice il mezzo sega chì non pò mancu inizià a so propria rissa."

His self-satisfied smirk collapses into a glout of rage. "Shuddup!"

He swipes at me wildly, aiming at my head.

But my arm's already up, blocking the punch — and the next one as well — because the douchebag's got more steroids than brains and can't hide his telegraphing for shit.

And like hell was I gonna let him get the jump on me a third time.

I rap him in the armpit, taking advantage of the wide-ass opening he leaves as he gears up for another windmill.

You picked the wrong fight, buddy.

But he's either drunk, or high, or both, because he doesn't seem to feel it. Instead, he drops his head with an aggravated roar, and rams himself into me, trying to steamroll me to the ground.

My boots go skidding across the polished dancefloor as I'm shoved backwards. Shocked cries rise up around us as people try to dive out of the way, tripping over each other in the process.

Shit.

I needed to put him down before he hurt someone.

Raising my arm, I smash my elbow down into his spine.

He drops to his knees with a grunt, his arms falling from around me like stones. Because even if he was completely off his face, he wasn't gonna escape basic neurobiology.

Reaching forward, I grab him by the hair, but before I can neutralise the bastard, I'm barrelled over by two other idiots who collide into each other in their haste to join the fight.

We hit the crowd of onlookers behind us, taking them down like dominoes.

I roll quickly away, trying to maintain space, trying to get back on my feet, but in the next second, I'm tackled by a wild banshee hollering blue murder.

"You fucking piece of shit!" she shouts, swiping at me with her talon-like nails. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Dodging around the rabid onslaught as best I can, I bring my arms up, looking for an opening I can exploit to get her off me.

But just as I'm about to make a move to grab her wrists, she reels backwards with a cry.

My eyes widen. No fuckin' way.

"Argh!" shrieks the hellcat — the same one who'd cut me up at the bar earlier — clutching at her head. "Let go, you bitch!"

"You first," counters Gale from behind her, giving the fistful of hair she was holding a sharp yank. "Bitch."

"Better do as she says," I prompt. "That girl doesn't mess around."

The Karen bares her teeth with a snarl.

"Ah...!" cautions Gale with a meaningful tug. "If you want to keep these fake extensions then—"

"Get off her, puttan'!" shrieks a petite brunette as she launches herself onto Gale's back from out of nowhere like a vicious macaque.

"Harper!" I yell, throwing myself forward as Gale topples backwards with a surprised cry, pulling the Karen on top of her in the process.

But before I can reach the messy dog pile, I feel a heavy forearm clamp itself across my chest.

"Back off, sir."

Twisting around, I find myself being stared down by a no-nonsense security guard sporting a shaved head and at least 110lbs of pure muscle.

And even though every instinct inside of me is urging me to twist free, to get to Gale, the rational part of me knows that this was a scrap I was not going to win. Not easily anyway.

And that wasn't gonna help Gale.

So I simply nod, consciously relaxing my posture to communicate that I wasn't going to put up a fight.

The guy grunts in approval. "All yours, Roy."

A heavy hand grabs my collar and begins hauling me away.

Craning my neck, I try to catch sight of Gale amongst the crowd, to see if the first bouncer had managed to break up the female scuffle.

I'm rewarded for my efforts by a sharp shove from behind.

"Keep moving," commands Roy in a pissed-off voice... which, to be fair to him, would be my attitude in this situation as well.

So I knew there was no point in arguing with him, trying to defend my case — that I was the victim, not the instigator, and Gale had just been trying to help. Because these guys didn't give two shits about the story. They were just the clean-up crew.

Not that that makes me feel any better. Especially since I was being dragged further and further away from the person who'd selflessly put her ass on the line for me, even thought she'd been under no obligation to step in. Because it wasn't — and never should've been — her fight.

I glance surreptitiously behind me once more. But all I see are unfamiliar silhouettes.

I feel my jaw tighten anxiously. God, I hope she was okay...

We arrive at a white-washed service lobby where two other security guards were watching Tattoos and his slightly worse for wear posse like hawks, waiting for the elevator to arrive.

Guess not everyone had the sense to come quietly.

Cross had a busted lip, Diamond Studs was nursing a bleeding nose and Tattoos was hunched over slightly, no doubt as a result of my earlier counterattack.

Versace, meanwhile, was busy having a one-man shouting match with the impassive guards.

"I'm telling ya, man!" he insists pointless, waving his arms about like an overzealous semaphore signaller. "We dinna start it! Rocco's girl got bitched by some buttagots at the bar who—"

I feel my hands fist by my side as I'm shoved unceremoniously in with the rest of the hoodlums.

That's the reason this whole thing kicked off? Because that Karen got her tail up? Un-fuckin'—

"Him!" cries Versace victoriously, pointing his finger at me. "That's the facciabrutt' that got all up in Ria's face! We just—"

"Started a fight?" I interject saltily. "On the word of your trash-talkin' girlfriend?"

"Hey!" warns Cross, taking a menacing step forward. "What you call my cousin?"

"Nothing she doesn't deserve," I mutter pointedly, crossing my arms.

"You fuckin'—!" roars Tattoos, lunging forward. "I'm gonna eat you!"

"Hey! Hey!" shouts Roy, intercepting the guy before he can get to me, and leaving me unattended in the process. "That's enough!"

"Don't you touch me, man!" spits Tattoos, slapping the guy's hand off his chest. "Don't you—!"

"Let me go, you fuck!"

"My man's gonna kick your ass!"

Snapping my gaze around, I see the jacked bouncer making an entrance with the Karen — Ria — under one arm, and her brunette girlfriend under the other, both of them kicking and screaming.

"Hey!" objects Tattoos, laying eyes on the spectacle as well. "What the fuck, man!

"That's fuckin' police harassment!" agrees Cross, trying to push his way to the girls as well. "Where's you's fuckin' respect, bro?"

Ignoring the rising noise as Roy and the others try to keep Tattoos and co. from mobbing their colleague, I zero in on the final bouncer. The one that had his hand around Gale's arm, shoving her roughly into the lobby before him, causing her to stumble in her heels.

I'm by her side in a heartbeat, steadying her. "Harper. You—?"

"Sir," interjects her guard, putting a hand out to stop me. "I'm gonna have to ask you t—"

"She's with me," I tell him flatly as I angle my body in front of Gale.

He opens his mouth. No doubt to argue.

I harden my gaze, giving him no corner.

His eyes flick to the growing commotion behind us. "Fine. Keep her under control."

"Yessir," I mutter sarcastically as he moves quickly off to help his buddies.

Gale lays a hand on my arm. "Hey. You didn't have t—"

"Yes. I did," I affirm, keeping my eye on the bouncer's back until I was sure he was fully occupied with the Jersey Shore lot. Turning back 'round to face Gale, I ask, more softly this time, "You okay?"

She nods shakily, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Yeah. You?"

"I'm good," I assure her, running my eyes over her to check for any obvious trauma. Thankfully, apart from her slightly smeared make-up, and a large lock of golden caramel that had been pulled out of her up-do, I don't see anything concerning.

Thank Christ. We didn't need any more injuries to add to the list this week.

"You sure?" she presses, reaching up to run her fingertips over my jaw. "That guy decked you pretty hard."

"I've had worse," I assure her stoically, laying a hand over hers to pull it away from my face... though our fingers remain entwined.

"Bar fights a popular pass-time in Cordonia?" she asks, glancing up at me cheekily from beneath her lashes.

I scoff wryly. "No. It's Southern Europe. Not the Wild West. We—"

I trail off as the bouncer that brought Gale through appears in front of us again.

"Get in," he prompts, giving me a shove.

Flicking my gaze over to the side, I see that the rest of the security guards had managed to corral Tattoos and his gang into the waiting lift.

A snort of derision escapes me. "Like hell."

The guy takes a domineering step forwards. "I'm not going t—"

"Our jackets are still checked into the cloakroom," Gale interjects quickly, stepping in front of me to hold up her metal token. "And we can't—"

"—leave without our keys," I finish with a nod. "Which are in my jacket."

It was a barefaced lie. I'd never make the rookie mistake of leaving any kind of key in a jacket pocket — the number one place to get pickpocketed on a crowded street or subway car.

But I needed a plausible excuse to avoid getting into the same confined space as that mob. Because that was a bloodbath just waiting to happen. And there was no way I was subjecting Gale to that shit. Period.

The guy's mouth thins into a line.

"Can't get home without our keys," Gale reminds the bouncer with an innocent shrug.

"Well... we could," I correct. "But that would involve some breaking and entering. And the resulting repair bill will be going straight to the club's manager." I fix the guy with a meaningful look.

"Not my problem," he grunts, crossing his arms.

"You sure your manager's gonna feel the same way?" I ask pointedly, crossing my arms. "Especially when said letter will be coming from our lawyer?"

Another lie. But I needed to keep the pressure on if we were to have a chance of pulling this off.

His Adam's apple bobs in indecision.

"What's the hold-up, Bruce?" calls one of his buddies from behind him.

I keep my gaze drilled into him.

"N-nothing," he calls back over his shoulder. "You guys go. We'll take the next one."

"You sure?" comes the sceptical reply. "Deke said—"

"They don't pay me enough to hump your leg, Roy," Bruce snaps back. "Which is what we'll be doing if we all try to squeeze into that steel box. Plus, we'd be over the safe weight limit."

"Fair point," concedes Roy, stepping back into the lift and letting the doors bang closed.

"Let's go," grunts Bruce, giving me another shove to get me in front of him. "And don't make me regret this."

I grit my teeth at the uncalled for roughness, but remain silent. Because the guy had swallowed our improvised BS. And we didn't need him changing his mind at the last second because I couldn't hold back the half-dozen snarky comebacks that were vying on the tip of my tongue.

I'll just have deal with my aggravations later. Probably in the company of the hotel gym's punching bag. Because the important thing right now was getting our jackets and gettin' gone... before my patience got pushed over the line.

Retracing our steps through the narrow service corridor, we arrive back in the main part of the club. Tightening my grasp on Gale's hand — which I was still holding — so we don't get separated in the press, I lead the way over to the reception area.

The girl manning the cloakroom looks up in surprise as Bruce shoulders his way in front of a group that were just about to check their coats.

"Get these two their shit," he instructs gruffly.

"Got their tokens?" she asks, recovering quickly.

"Here," I say, handing mine over. Gale follows suit.

The girl glances at the numbers briefly, before disappearing into the back.

I use the momentary interlude to pull my phone out of my pocket to shoot a quick text to the Guard who were — hopefully — still watching Chris. Because despite all the unanticipated shit that I'd been dragged into tonight, he was ultimately still my No. 1 responsibility. And I needed to let the rest of my team know that I'd gotten knocked out of the game, so they'd have to stay extra sharp.

"What are you doing?" demands Bruce suspiciously.

"Calling an Uber," I reply curtly, finishing off the message and hitting Send. Not that it was any of his business.

He makes a move for my phone. "Not until—"

"Here you go!" declares the girl, depositing our jackets on the counter.

"Thanks," I grit, snagging both and grabbing Gale's hand again to pull her towards the main elevator.

The guy was luckily I had good reflexes... and the coat-check girl arrived with our jackets when she did. Otherwise he'd be nursing a helluva lot more than an overbearing attitude.

Because my phone was off limits. To every-fuckin' body who was not Bast, or a security cleared member of the Cordonian Ministry of Defence. There was way too much sensitive shit on there to even risk the possibility of an accidental security breach.

"Hey!" objects Bruce, starting after us. "Where d'you think you're go—?"

"The fuck outta here," I hit back, jabbing the lift call button.

"You're supposed t—"

"Go down into the same unlit back alley as those roughnecks? So we can get jumped as soon as we step out of the elevator?" I ask with a baleful glare, stepping through the metal doors that had just opened in front of us. "Fuck and no."

Without waiting for a response, I stab the ground floor — and the forced door closure — button, and watch with more than a pinch of perverse satisfaction as the heavy metal barrier slams closed in Bruce's face.

Gale lays a hand on my arm. "You okay?"

I let out a forced exhale. "Yeah."

"Sorry I ruined your night..."

My gaze drops down to her, to find that she's looking up at me apologetically.

I shake my head. "Gale you—"

"Had I not goaded you into—"

"They'd've still found me," I say softly, brushing her hair behind her ear. "It ain't exactly a big club."

"I meant on the street. We only ended up in this place because—"

"—we were headed here anyway," I tell her. "The karaoke bar was just a detour."

"But—"

"Harper, stop," I cut in, cupping her face in my hands, making her look at me. "No matter which way you slice it, none of this is on you. I decided to intervene when that dick grabbed you during your shift last night. So I was already on his shit-list for showing him up, even before I got caught in the crosshairs of his bitter as gall girlfriend. And the fact that they were in the same club at the exact same time as us..." I shrug apathetically. "Well, that's just blind, dumb luck, girl."

She slides her palms over my chest. "Or seriously fucked up karma."

"Either way," I murmur, stroking my thumb across her cheek. "I ain't complainin'."

She quirks a wry brow at me. "Because you gave as good as you got?"

"Because I got another shot with you."

Her lips part with a surprised breath.

She's so close that I can literally taste her...

...and suddenly I can think of nothing else.

The elevator, the city, the entire goddamn world ceases to exist as her wildflower and honey scent subsumes me, drawing me in like a moth to a flame.

And I don't care if I get burnt.

Because all reason, all logic has gone out the fuckin' window, and the only thing that matters is capturing this moment that I'd been chasing since I'd first laid eyes on her in that grimy dive bar... because if I didn't, I'd regret it forever.

I lean in towards her.

Her face tilts up to mine, her eyes mirroring that same mix of raw need and reckless anticipation that was coursing through my veins as we approach the inevitable endpoint of our mutual trajectory.

Her eyes shudder closed.

I forget how to breathe.

But just as my lips are about to brush against hers, I feel a sudden, familiar lurch in my gut...

...and realise that the elevator'd arrived on the ground floor.

The sudden stop catches Gale unawares. She stumbles against me, eyes flying open to meet mine in surprise and confusion — like she'd just awoken from a dream.

My hands move automatically to her waist, helping steady her against me as her fingers latch instinctively onto the sense of security offered by the material of my shirt.

She stills.

Our eyes meet.

Time stops.

The doors ping open.

"I got 'em, Bruce..."

My head jerks up.

"...they're in the elevator."

Snapping my gaze towards the door, I feel my jaw clench as I lay eyes on the two security guards.

"Thought you could give us the slip, huh?" asks one as he steps into the lift.

Throwing my arm up, I bat his outstretched hand away. Because I've had enough of assholes grabbing at me — and Harper — to wrangle us like cattle.

So I was done playing nice.

"Hey!" objects the other bouncer, starting forwards as I block another attempt by his buddy to grab me. "Don't make me—"

"Break your partner's wrist?" I ask pointedly, using the momentum of the counterattack to bend the guy's hand around. "'Cause that's what's gonna happen if you don't back the fuck off."

The guard's eyes flick to his buddy's.

I give the guy's wrist a twist, making him hiss in pain. "Last warning."

"Okay, okay..." concedes the other guard, raising a hand in surrender as he takes a step back.

"Don't even think about it," I growl as I notice his other hand slide toward the radio on his belt. "Or I'm breaking your wrist next."

I pull his buddy's arm upwards in emphasis, making him to cry out.

"Yeah, go ahead!" taunts the other bouncer. "See how fast New York's finest throw your ass in jail for aggravated assault!"

"You mean your ass?" I counter. "Your buddy moved first. I was just defending against an unprovoked attack. And considering that I have no priors, an impartial witness, and access to some damn good lawyers, who d'you think the jury's gonna believe?"

The guard's thumb hovers uncertainly over his radio.

"Not you," I conclude for him. "So unless you want to find out the hard way just how fuckin' serious I am, I suggest you get smart, and get the hell out of my way."

"Jesus, Rick!" gasps his partner, sweat beading on his forehead from the strain I was putting on his arm. "Just do as he says!"

"God damn it..." huffs Rick, lifting his hand away from his belt.

I take advantage of the opening offered by the admission of defeat to shove the guy I was holding forward. He crashes into Rick, causing both of them to stumble backwards out of the lift.

"Let's go," I order, scooping our jackets off the floor from where I'd dropped them and grabbing Gale's hand to pull her after me.

Double-timing it down the polished marble of the lobby, I blaze through the revolving doors and out on the street without a backwards glance.

It's not that I was worried about the cops showing up. Clubs — especially exclusive ones that catered to the upper crust — wanted to avoid entanglements with law enforcement as much as possible. It was bad for business. So I'd known that the bouncer's threat about the NYPD had been a desperate bluff.

No. It was the fact that after everything I'd had to put up with today — Tariq's dilettante behaviour on the subway, Max's hyperactive bouncing around the Met, Leo's devil-may-care attitude to Chris's situation, not to mention getting jumped by Tattoos and his crew, and then being treated like a felon by the club's security when we were already on our way out — my nerves were fucking shot, and I was one wrong move away from punching a hole in the wall... or someone's face.

So I needed to make myself scarce before I lost my shit and people got hurt.

"...Drake!"

I frown. Did someone call my name?

"Drake, stop!"

The sound of Gale's voice pulls me up short. Turning around, I see that my hand is still holding hers and we were on the banks of the Hudson.

Shit.

I drop her hand like it was on fire.

She sags forward relievedly, gulping air to catch her breath. "Oh, thank God..."

Raking my hand through my hair, I turn away, feeling like a complete piece of crap.

Sweet fuckin' Jesus... I must've dragged her miles. How the hell could I have forgotten about her like that? I was no better than—

"Watch it, pal!"

I side-step the oncoming midnight dog-walker on reflex...

...and realise that I am suddenly halfway down the block.

Fuck.

Pulling myself up, I glance behind me. Gale is exactly where I'd left her, about fifty yards back, casting a solitary shadow beneath a street lamp.

I drop my gaze to the bundle of leather in my hand.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Goddammit.

Executing a one-eighty, I march myself back the way I'd come.

Because no matter how much of an ass I was for pulling her on a forced route-march 'cross town, and how much she probably wanted to see the last of me right now, I'd be an even more monumental dick if I left her stranded in the middle of Manhattan in the middle of the night while I fucked off with her jacket.

Because given what she was wearing, and the way she looked, and the general fact that she was a magnet for unwarranted attention, that was just trouble waiting to happen.

And like hell was I going to give anyone even the slightest whiff of an invitation to turn her into a crime statistic. Especially after the way she'd stuck her neck out for me back at the club.

"Harper," I sigh, arriving back at her side, "I am so s—"

"What the hell was that?" she demands, throwing her arm out accusatorially.

I heave a breath. "I got off base. I shouldn't have—"

"Got off base?" she cuts in acidly. "Is that what you call going Jason Bourne on those security guards?"

I frown. That's what she was pissed about? "I didn't—"

"We could've been arrested!" she cries. "We could still be arrested!"

"No one's getting arrested," I assure her, taking a step forward to try and drop her jacket around her shoulders.

She snorts derisively. "Because you'll beat the cops up as well? That your answer to everything?"

"No, I—"

She snatches her jacket from my grasp as she shoulders roughly past me. "Well, I'm not sticking around to find ou— Argh!"

I grab her as her knees buckle. "You... okay?"

Her face contorts in pain. "No..."

"What's wrong?" I ask guardedly, while silently praying that I hadn't inadvertently caused her to twist her ankle when I'd full throttled it out of the lobby...

"My foot... It..."

I let out a low breath. Goddammit.

Slinging an arm beneath her knees, I swing her up against my chest.

"What are you doing?" she gasps in disbelief.

"Damage control," I reply, carrying her over to the nearest bench.

"Dam— I'm not damaged!"

I fix her with a deadpan look. "Can you walk?"

"No," she huffs as I deposit her gently on the cool metal. "But—"

"My statement stands," I reply as I kneel down in front of her and reach for her ankle.

"No, it doesn't," she counters, twisting away. "And I don't need—"

"Dammit, girl!" I grit, the full force of the situation hitting me in the chest like a crowbar. "Will you just let me—?"

A black and gold Jimmy Choo gets thrust in my face."It's just a blister!"

Realigning myself after dodging reflexively around the unexpected high-kick, I wrap my fingers around her foot to bring it down to eye-level.

Sure enough, I see the tell-tale patch of raw skin peeping out from beneath the strap of her shoe that indicated a burst blister. And based on how angry the sore looked, I knew it was a painful one.

Lifting my gaze, I meet her eye plaintively. "Shit, Harper. I'm so sorry..."

...at least it wasn't something worse. But still... This was because of me. And that made me feel like an epic jackass.

Her shoulders drop with a sigh. "Don't be... I wore crazy heels on a night out. It's not your—"

"It is," I cut in, lowering her foot back down to the pavement. "I... I shouldn't've dragged you out like that. I just..." I run a palm down my face, looking out across the inky river.

"What?" she asks softly, laying a hand on my arm.

"When that bouncer stepped into the lift... It..." I shake my head, trying to find the right words. "I just reacted."

"Because he caught you off guard?"

"Because he made a grab for you," I correct tightly, turning to face her again. "And the thought of him laying his hands on you... of him hurting you... like that tattooed bastard did last night... I just... I couldn't let that happen."

"It wasn't the same situation," she reminds me gently.

"I didn't say I was thinkin' rationally," I reply ruefully.

Her mouth pulls into a sardonic smile. "Must be a full moon, or something."

"Or something..." I murmur, watching the amber of the streetlight's glow dance across her hair. Recollecting myself, I add, "But that's no excuse. I shouldn't've lost my cool with those guards. It was unprofessional and—"

"Unprofessional...?" she asks, frowning in confusion. "What do you—?"

I kick myself for the inadvertent slip of tongue. "Turn of phrase," I say quickly. "Point is, you are right that I could've handled it better. I didn't mean to drag you down in the mud with me. I... I just had to get out of there... to get you out of there. Before it escalated further. And I'm sorry that you ended up getting hurt in the process. That... that wasn't part of the plan."

She's silent for a long time. "Apology accepted."

I blink. "Just like that?"

"Just like that," she confirms. "I know you wouldn't intentionally hurt anyone. I just... I've never seen anyone move like that. It was... kind of unnerving. So I'm sorry I flipped out. It was just a lot to process."

"I know," I say softly. "And I'm sorry for putting you through that. It wasn't my intention to freak you out."

"Well, I kind of freaked you out when I flew at you on the street earlier, so I guess were even," she shrugs with a smile.

"I didn't freak out," I object with a scoff.

"You did look pretty terrified," she grins.

"You're imagining things, girl," I mutter with a roll of my eyes. But I can't seem to stop my mouth curving into a reciprocal smirk.

Though, as I catch sight of her reaching for her injured foot again, I am reminded why we were here… and what we needed to do.

Heaving a sigh, I say, "Anyway, we should get you home so you can get out of those shoes."

"You mean these shoes?" she asks, lifting them up by the heels to dangle them illustratively in the air.

My eyes widen as she pushes herself up from the bench. "The hell you goin', Gale?"

"Home." She says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world... and I was the idiot for asking such a stupid question.

Jumping to my feet, I grab her arm. "No. You're not."

Her brows shoot skywards. "Excuse me?"

"I meant like that." I nod towards her bare feet. "You can't walk across—"

"It's only a few blocks."

"A few blocks that are riddled with everything from piss to garbage."

"I'll make sure not to step in anything," she assures me with a roll of her eyes.

"Dammit, girl," I grit, stepping in front of her as she tries move off again. "Just... let me call you a cab."

She draws an exasperated breath. "What's with you and cabs over short distances, huh?"

I meet her eye pointedly. "They got you home last night, didn't they?"

She makes a frustrated sound. "Yeah, but—"

"No 'buts'," I cut in, reaching for my phone. "I'm calling that cab."

"By the time you do that, and it gets here, I'll could already be back home, soaking my feet in the tub," she groans. "So it'd be a massive waste of time and money."

"No. It wouldn't," I counter seriously. "Because if —and when — you step on a rusty nail or a piece of broken glass in the dark, you'll be paying a helluva lot more for the privilege of an ambulance ride and treatment at the local hospital than—"

"—the twenty bucks you didn't want to spend on the cab fare," she finishes surlily.

"Exactly," I affirm. Softening my gaze, I add, "And since your feet are shot because of my breakneck sight-seeing tour, it's only fair that I foot the fare."

She peeks up at me from beneath her lashes. "Oh, is that what that was?"

"Last night in the Big Apple," I grin wryly. "Had to make the most of it."

Her eyes search mine for a moment. "Okay, cowboy. You can call me a cab. On one condition."

I quirk a brow. "What's that?"

"You share the fare with me..."

I shake my head. "Gale, I’m not gonna let you—“

"...back to mine."

All the air gets knocked from my chest. "Wh-what?"

She winks up at me. "Can't have you skipping town without your jacket, Walker."

The story contines in Chapter 7 - Coming soon!

A/N: As usual, translations below:

- Stronzo = asshole

- Gaguzz' = moron

- Drake: "Dice il mezzo sega chì non pò mancu inizià a so propria rissa." = Says the pipsqueak* who can't even start his own (bar) fight.

*'Mezzo sega' means lit. 'half saw' but connotatively it means 'pipsqueak', i.e. an upstart or a person of no-account. And while it doesn't sound so bad in English, it is actually quite a serious insult in Italian because Drake is effectively calling the guy's manhood into question. Also, observant Italian speakers will notice that Drake is speaking with a Corsican accent again — as explained in Chapter 2: Sparks Fly, this is deliberate.

- Puttan' = skank / whore

- Buttagots = annoying idiot

- Facciabrutt' = ugly face

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Picture credits

Security - Nighscape - Dance - Harper - Hands - Tattoo - Drake - Fight

[mayonakano-archive]

you never realize how much exhaustion impacts you until every little thing feels agonizing and everyone is putting pressure on you to do more

[butterflies-and-yuta]

Everything I wanted

Quick disclaimer:

Hello everyone, this is my interpretation of @ryozaki21 story: "maid of honour - s.jn", and I kinda wanted to do a follow up after what happened but with a bit more angst to it and change the ending from before, except the one where they realised Mina was the mastermind behind everything, *spoiler alert*. but I hope you guys enjoy this one and hopefully I don't break you guys at the end of this, shoutout to @ryozaki21 for creating "maid of honour - s.jn".

Summary: After everything that had happened, you thought moving away from the past could help you move on with your life, but who says wanting to not kill yourself would be this easy, especially when you have someone who has always been there for you even behind their partner's back.

Trigger Warning: Full on angst, little bit of fluff then and there, Mature Themes, Suicide Attempt, Depression, Mental Health in a negative way, Mentions of Infidelity, Phsycial Assault, Violence, Johnny being very protective of you, Btw O/C is basically your character insert, so you can create your version of a father or a family member as well.

Don't forget to read Part 1 for context of this.

Part 1

"i'm sorry." all that you could say.

"right now, are you finally choosing yourself?" johnny had something in mind when he came here. and he has no plans on making it longer.

"i-- try to. i need to." you sobbed between your words.

"am i still your happiness?" johnny had a spark of hope you would say yes. this was his plan. now aware of what happened, he was sure he wanted to get to you.

all along he thought you were happy with someone else. heck, he even thought it was with ten. he didn't know you were hurting. if he did, he wouldn't even hesitate to leave everything behind. just to get to you.

"yes." you admitted.

"then--" before johnny could finish, you interrupted him.

"maybe we shouldn't just jump into this, john. give us time. we've been through so much. you need a break from all of this, and i need to focus on giving myself importance. and maybe-- maybe when we're good, when we're both doing great, we'll find each other again–"

"i've had enough of space away from you, y/n. a year, without you is already too much for me. if you want to focus on yourself, then i'd be there. i'll focus on you too. j-just.. just let me be by your side." johnny held your hands. you sobbed as you looked at him.

"mina's still-"

"i thought you wanted to think about yourself? don't think much about her. she's done enough damage to you." johnny explained. it almost angered him what mina had done, but then again, he doesn't want this situation to be bigger than it already is.

"As much as I'd love to, I just can't." As you said that to Johnny, you can tell he was getting frustrated.

"Come on, she's done enough, stop thinking about her–"

"It's not just about her, it's about everything, ever since what happened then and now, I can't help but wonder what my life could've been like if you hadn't come around" after you finished what you said, you immediately saw sadness and confusion in Johnny's face.

"What do you mean if I haven't came in your life"

You hesitated but decided to give up and tell him what you mean, "If you have never came into my life, I could've been happy, I could've been normal without having to worry about a man who's out there cheating on me and instead all I get is my best friend ruining the one thing I had that made me happy all because she was jealous, I don't wanna deal with that anymore, I wanna be by myself."

After you told him how you felt, you saw tears coming down his face and then you started to have tears down your face as well, this isn't how it's supposed to be.

"Y/n, I love you, I really do, I'm sick and tired of always having to see the woman I fall in love with hurt and lonely, do you really wanna experience that again after everything we've been through."

"I guess I have to then."

As you said that to him, you finished up with your shift and decided to leave one and for all, you exited the door first and let Johnny out.

"Johnny"

As you said his name, he turned his head to look at you near the door.

"I still love you Johnny, but I don't like you like before." After you said your last sentence to him, you walked away from the cafe you worked at, leaving Johnny alone by himself like before, but this time, probably forever.

Ever since you broke up with Johnny for the second time, you've tried to move on and forget about him. It hasn't taken you long to realize that he might try something to win you back, but you couldn't put him through that pain so you decided to move away from here and head back to your childhood home, hopefully your parents still live there.

After you packed up your stuff you needed to bring with you, you decided to sell most of it considering most of them won't matter to you in any way, so you sold your clothes that ended up with you having a couple of bucks and with that, you decided to quit your job considering you won't be living here anymore.

After all that, you called a close friend of yours that does moving for a daily basis and decided to help you move back to your childhood home.

You told her everything that happened that morning in the cafe and when it came to the last part, she seemed surprised to hear about what happened and was trying to cheer you up.

"Hey, don't worry about that. I believe things will turn out right for you, I promise. Now let's go."

You smiled to her as you gave her a tight hug and then followed her inside of her car.

After you two got everything into the car,

the two of you were heading out onto the highway as you finally said goodbye to the old and horrible past you onced lived in.

After a long drive, you two finally arrived at your childhood home when as soon as you arrived at the door to knock on it, it immediately opened showing your mother and her having a shocked reaction after seeing you.

After your mother saw you for the first time in a couple of years, she broke down in tears as she hugged you and tightly hold you in her arms and embraced you so warmly, "I can't believe your here, do you know how much we've missed you Y/N."

As she hugged you so tightly, you could see a peek of your father as well, you haven't seen him in a while since everything bad went down, but now that he saw you know, he couldn't help but go to you as well, As he was now hugging you and crying into you as well, you finally felt so happy in your life for once ever since college, but you wanna forget that past and embrace what you have now in the present.

"What are you doing here, we thought you were busy with with everything."

"I just thought it'd be nice to see you guys again, and I was right.", as you walked inside with your stuff, you were looking around your old home, a little bit has changed but as far as things go, it still looked the same no matter what.

While you were looking around, that's when your mother approached you and asked, "Did something happen?."

"what do you mean Mum"

"well, it's just, you haven't visited us for a while and now your here, it seemed as if something bad has happened." You didn't respond, looking at her instead. "Well...", after you put your stuff down and sat down on the couch with your mother, you decided to tell her everything that has happened to you.

Once you finished telling the whole story, you heard a sniffling from your mother's direction, you stood up and walked towards her, asking her what's wrong only to find that she was crying and wiping her tears.

"Mum...?"

"you must've feel like a fool...why didn't you tell us all this, we could've been there for you, the fact you were in silent for that ungrateful girl who doesn't deserve anything, why did you do that to yourself, you deserve everything."

she cried more as she continued talking.

"Mum, please calm down..." you grabbed her hand which had been holding a tissue and placed it on your chest, as she tried to take some breaths. After few moments she calmed herself down a bit as you wiped her tears away.

"I knew there was something wrong with her since the beginning...and the fact I fell for it is even worse, oh honey." As she held you tightly into her arms, you couldn't help but let some tears down your face as you finally felt recognised for how horrible you've been treated, even though you did sleep with an engaged man and that most of your friends knew how horrible she was towards you, your mother wouldn't judged you after you told her everything that has happened.

But little did you know, your father was listening to the entire conversation and couldn't help but cry as well after hearing the amount of shit his own daughter has been put through, he wanted to go to where Johnny was and punch him in the face for putting his daughter through hell, but he couldn't do that after seeing the state you were in and knowing exactly why you're back.

After calming his nerves he went to grab his phone and dialed Johnny's number.

'hello?' Johnny answered after taking the call. 'hi, uhm....", he couldn't speak, he was on the phone with the man that is the reason why his daughter is miserable, even though he's mad at Mina as well for treating his daughter like a piece of shit, he still thought that Johnny should've been a bigger man than this, but he couldn't help himself but to hand up the phone and just delete his number.

A little while later you were sitting there in silence with your mum comforting you. You knew that what you were feeling wasn't good, you felt awful because you didn't want to burden her anymore but at the same time, you felt happy knowing that she's still here supporting you, even if you're upset and broken, she still loves you as much as before no matter what.

After a few minutes passed you heard some movement inside of the house to see your father now sitting with you and your mother.

"I'll let you two have your moments together now." as your mother left the living room to help your friend with your stuff, you and your father finally had a moment with each other.

"Dad, I know you're probably upset with me but I promise I'll--", he cut you off by bringing you tightly into his embrace, "I don't care for any of that stuff, I don't even care that you slept with Johnny behind Mina's back, you really deserve better than what that miserable brat had put you through, what about your other friends, do they know about all of this."

You told him that they know the entire timeline of what happened, he was proud of your friends for trying to help you but also felt disappointed when they couldn't do anything about the whole Johnny Mina case but you told him not to worry about it anymore.

Even though he hated Johnny for what happened with everything, he couldn't fully want him to go to hell because of everything that Mina did to you and Johnny's relationship together and to him himself, he can tell that Johnny fully loved you and respected you truly, even though he hated the fact that he slept with you behind his "Finance's" back, but until then he couldn't hate him for truly making you happy before everything went downhill.

This was exactly what you needed, your parents understanding you and actually believing you over Mina, this is exactly why you are the way you are, your parents taught to be the best person you can be and yet people ended up using against your own self, but at least they're letting you back into their lifes even though you're technically their daughter.

After you're conversation with your father, your mother told you that they set your stuff up back in your old room, and as soon as you heard that, you immediately got up to see if your old room was still the same like before, and to expectations, it still remained the same with a little bit of maturity in it, with your old posters down and a little bit of a furniture move around here and there, but it still felt the same the day you moved out of here, but now you felt truly happy and felt way better than when you were living in the city and around people that really didn't care for you except Johnny's friends.

As soon as you layed in your bed, you couldn't help but to inhale the smell of your mother's laundry detergent and feel how soft and comfortable your bed still is after all this time.

You quickly fell asleep thinking about everything that has happened in the last couple months, as you started to drift off to sleep, that was when you suddenly felt someone tapping your shoulder softly and shaking it slightly.

"Oh dear God!" Your eyes suddenly shot open as you realized who was waking you up was none other than your father, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you, dinner's ready, it's good old spaghetti Bolognese, you always love that".

Your father was never wrong when it comes to that, you couldn't even remember when the last time you had it, as you got up out of your bed, you went to the kitchen and sat down in your spot with the three of you all together at once.

"It's nice to see this, you know Y/N, when you were gone, this was only me and your father eating together, we didn't really felt like us, and now we know why", you asked your mother why and then she ended up telling you that you're the reason why, and then they ending up telling you that they didn't feel the same after you left, even though they're a couple that have been married for a while, they still felt like something was missing and that they figured out it was your presence, and now that your back here, everything just felt better than ever, and you can actually agree with that, even though you were surrounded by good people, they were just something missing about it, and it even more than your previous relationship with Johnny.

But that doesn't matter now, you're finally away from all that, you've finally got rid of Mina out of your life, but of course your mind had to think other things to take you away from your happiness, everything started to come back, you sleeping with Johnny, Mina yelling at you calling you slut and whore, then remembering that you still need to pay her back all the money you used for your courses, how am I supposed to do all of that without a job.

"Hey Mum", as soon as you said that, your mother looked at you with curiosity written on her face, that went away after she asked what is it and then you replied with are there any open jobs around her, and lucky enough there's enough around here for you, even part time and casual jobs here, some that pays around 20$ an hour, which is exactly what you need, if you have 3 or 4 jobs and make money like that, you're able to pay Mina back your debt.

However when your parents found out why you're looking for a job, they didnt want you to pay her back after what she had did to you, but you didn't want Mina doing something horrible to your parents or people close to them so you told them why, but even till then, your parents said that you shouldn't have to do this and that you're not a burden to anyone no matter what, but you still couldn't get everything you done to her out of your head and because of that, you left the dinner table and went back into your room and locked the door so they wouldn't come in.

"O/C, please, let's leave her be, I think she's dealing with enough as it is, let's just leave her be to cool down until she feels better to talk to us."

"I understand that she's going through a lot of stuff but the fact that she's the one that has to do all this by herself is completely ridiculous, like first she found out that she has to pay someone she hates back, but also finding out that she is the reason why you're in this mess is even worse, I'm not gonna let my daughter go through that mess again because this selfish brat ruined her, sometimes I wish I could teach her a lesson to not mess with my daughter and show her the dark side of being poor, hopefully she learns her lesson from all of this."

"I know, but there's nothing we can do but at least let her do this either by herself or let us help her out by working some time"

"O/C, this is ten thousand dollars were talking about here okay, how on earth are we gonna get the money for that, even if we do get that much, it would at least takes us 10 years to get that much."

As you hear your parents argue about your debts with Mina, you started to feel woozy and felt numb, your parents are right, you can't pay Mina the amount of money you used for your school, even if then, it would take years for that to happen, and you don't have years, and all you remember is her screaming at you and suddenly you started getting headaches, stabbing your head as of someone's been punching you, you wanted to cry so badly but you heard nothing but her screams and Johnny talking to you, you can't get his voice out of your head, did you miss him, you can't, you can't miss him.

You couldn't take it anymore and decided to get a glass jar that had nothing in it and decided to smash it against your wardrobe door, letting the sound smooth the voices in your head out with letting the amount of glass shards fly across the room.

You fell to the floor and crawled towards the mess to see what you've caused, is this it, is this what your life has come to, a bunch of broken glass shards around the floor, is this your life in front of your eyes, as you picked up the glass shard that was large and sharp, you decided to leave this world once for all, you can't put your parents through that pain, and you can't go through that again after everything that has happened.

As you were holding it, you squeezed the sharp object against your hands, you didn't care, you just wanted your life to stop suffering for once and for all, but as you were shoving the tip into your neck, it started bleeding, this is it, you were finally gonna leave this world for once and for, but that stopped the moment your parents busted the door open to see you ending your life.

"NO!!", as your father yelled at you, he ran towards you to take away the shard and cradled you into his arms, while your mother slid onto the ground against your doorway after witnessing her own daughter commiting suicide, but then she crawl towards you to also comfort you as well after picking up all the glass that was on the floor.

All three of you started crying and breaking down as your parents were holding in both of their arms, as you still felt some bleeding coming out of your throat, you started to lose some vision and then passed out in their arms, and with that, that sends them into a crazy frenzy that resulted in the two of them taking you to the hospital after all that.

After you were taken to the hospital, your parents didn't leave your bedside throughout the whole time you were unconscious as they held onto your hand to assure themselves that you were safe and still alive. But as days passed and no news came yet, they became quite anxious and tired and even thought you had passed away due to the heart monitor dropping down, almost giving the doctors a heart attack.

But today was different. You'd woke up from being unconscious for 48 hours according to the doctor and immediately gotten tons of love from your family that were here to see you after what had happened to you. But while they were speaking, you saw a familiar figure at the door, and found out who it was, and it was none other than Johnny Suh himself, what is he doing here.

However you were not the only one being silent, as he entered into the room, most of them went quiet until your father said this, "How about we leave Y/N be, let her catch up with Johnny", and as soon as he finished saying that, the family members left the room except your mother who was waiting outside the room.

"Johnny what are you doing.", you asked with a voice that sounded so damaged that it even hurt Johnny himself just hearing your voice.

"Y/N, why did you do that, did you really felt this way about everything, why didn't you tell me."

You just remained silenced until he reminded you with what he had said.

"Was it Mina that made you do this."

You couldn't help but to break down due to how horribly your mental health has gotten due to her and what had happened, and as soon as Johnny saw what he had seen, he finally decided enough is enough.

"I'll tell her everything", you knew what he meant from that, and decided to leave but you stopped him, "Please Johnny, don't do this, I don't want her and her family ruining my life and the people around me because of me.", "This is exactly your problem, you need to stop letting Mina walk over as if your nothing.", "Oh right, coming from the same person that let her use you as your fucking picture perfect marriage as if she didn't ruin a FUCKING RELATIONSHIP TO GET WHAT SHE WANTED."

You were gonna continue saying what you wanted to say until you started coughing from how you were straining your voice from yelling your voice at him, and from then you started crying again while saying this, "I wish I was dead, I wish I wasn't alive, I wish the people around me didn't have to suffer because of this."

Johnny started to cry and so did some of your family members as well because of this. He can't take this anymore, he needs Mina to see what she had done to you, so he decided to do something that either risks himself, or actually saves you from this emotional damage that Mina had put you through.

Before he left, he decided to have a talk with your father about something, "Make sure you get photos of her and enough evidence that shows who Mina truly is".

Your Father gave him a simple nod, even though he didn't want to do this, he wasn't gonna let them get away with this shit.

Flashback

After you had left, he couldn't help it, it wasn't right, you don't deserve to hide away in your shame while Mina gets to be high up in that castle of hers that is waiting to be knocked down, so after 2 months of giving you space, he decided to give you a visit to your apartment, which he later found out that you had moved out and that you haven't been here since 2 months ago, and because of that, he couldn't help but feel upset now that you're no longer here, but then it hit him, if he were in this position, where would he go if he's dealing with enough trouble and wanted a break from everything, obviously the home he grew up in, and luckily your childhood home was only a 3 hour drive away from here so luckily he didn't need to travel through plane. So after he arrived at your house, he couldn't find anyone here until the door was unlocked to see your cousin at the door. "Excuse me, have you seen Y/N and is she here." After he got told that this is the right address, he later found out that you were in the hospital due to an injury she did to herself, he couldn't help but feel horrible now after everything that has happened to you. And that's how he ended up finding you at the hospital, and how he decided to finally get revenge for you.

After Johnny arrived back in the city, he decided to drive to Mina's house to talk to her. After waiting for a bit, she unlocked the door to see it was none other than the man she took from you.

She was about to close the door, until Johnny out his foot in the way, and of course his strength couldn't stop Mina from closing the door either.

"Mina, we need to talk, Now."

"Why should I talk to the man that cheated on me with my best friend who happens to be none other than a whore."

Johnny slammed his hand into the table next to him that made Mina a bit scared of him.

"what the hell is your problem, who told you to act like the man of the house here"

"The same man who you lied to this whole time."

She already knew what he was talking about, but decided to play dumb instead.

"What do you mean, if anyone's the liar here is you for sleeping behind my back--." She was gonna say something else as well until Johnny called her out on her act, the act of innocence that ruined your health and your relationship with Johnny.

"ENOUGH WITH THE FUCKING LIES MINA, I know you told Y/N that we kissed and that I liked it, I know that you spread that rumour that she liked someone else even though he was gay, you made us break up with each other because of your lies, you even made me propose to you when I didn't even fucking love you and all you did was fucking beg me to do it. and the fact you still pretended not to know anything, and at the cost of what, the cost of ME AND THE LOVE OF MY LIFE RUINING OUR LIFE'S BECAUSE OF YOU."

Johnny voice was really loud and aggressive, she didn't even care, not until he got too close to Mina to the point where he was literally surrounding Mina with his body that she can't even get out.

"YEAH, AND SO WHAT, IT WORKED, YOU TWO BROKE UP, AND BESIDE IT WAS FUCKING WORTH, UP UNTIL YOU TWO SLEPT WITH EACH OTHER, I'D NEVER CARE ABOUT THAT SLUT BAG ANYWAY, She deserved to suffer while I get everything I want as always, and if it wasn't for her I would've had you as my husband and even have kids with you while I watch that failed reject suffer in silence."

He couldn't take it, he was never the one to threaten a woman, his mother taught him to never harm a woman no matter what, but he couldn't hold it in and punch a hole in the wall that was next to her face. She was basically regretting ever messing with you and his relationship, as she was basically crying and breaking down while begging for Johnny to not hurt her.

"OKAY, I'M SORRY, I'M SORRY FOR WHAT I DID, ILL ADMIT IT, I WAS A HORRIBLE FRIEND TO HER, I'M SORRY FOR WHAT I DID TO YOU TWO, I'M SORRY FOR SPREADING THE RUMOUR OF HER, IM SORRY FOR MAKING YOU TWO BREAK UP WITH EACH OTHER, PLEASE FORGIVE ME, I WILL NEVER HARM HER EVER AGAIN OKAY, ILL EVEN GET SOMEONE TO PAY HER DEBTS, PLEASE FORGIVE ME, ILL EVEN PAY EVERYTHING I OWN YOU, JUST PLEASE DONT HURT ME."

Johnny moved away from her, it was obvious he broke her, it was obvious she was weak with power that she knows she can't control, but what she didn't expect was that recorded the whole thing just to see how much of a horrible person Mina was to not only you, but also to him as well.

"Hope this makes the media see you and your family who you truly are."

He was about to leave until Mina stopped him by grabbing him by his leg. "PLEASE DON'T POST THIS, PLEASE, I LOVE MY FATHER AND I DON'T WANT HIM TO SEE HOW MUCH OF A DISAPPOINTMENT THAT I AM, AND I DONT WANT MY FATHER'S COMPANY GOING DOWN BECAUSE OF THIS, PLEASE, I BEG YOU DONT DO THIS TO ME, ESPECIALLY MY MOTHER, I CANT HAVE HER RISK HER JOB BECAUSE OF THIS, I NEED THIS, THIS IS ALL I HAVE, PLEASE DONT DO THIS TO ME."

Johnny was pleased with how Mina is now, she's basically showing who she is, a girl who's afraid of the outside world without having her parent's money with her, this was better than the day he left Mina and went to Y/N instead, but he wanted more, he wanted her to pay for what she had did to you and him. "Unless you get rid of Y/N's debt and tell everyone including my friends and Y/N why you did what you did, I will let the media destroy you and your families business, do you understand me."

After he told her that, she nod her head and decided to get her phone out to text someone. It wasn't until he heard a ding on her phone that she told him that all of Y/N's debts are now dealt with, but that's only one part of what he wanted, he wanted her to admit that she was a horrible person that made someone that truly cared about her suffer due to her inhumane of a personality, and what she did would truly change her for the worse of her life.

"Guys, have you seen the news, turn on the tv, turn it on", as your father was in a panic state, everyone changing the channel until it was on the news channel that was broadcasting it.

"Breaking news, good evening everyone, and welcome back to KBS news 9, I am KBS news 9 anchorwoman Lee Soo Young, and I am KBS news 9 Anchorman Nam Tae Hoon, and if you thought today would have been enough shocking for you, well have we got the news for you for today, daughter of Kwon Industries CEO Kwon In Hyuk and one of the executives of National Seoul University Kim Mi Yeon, had just gotten into one of the biggest controversies that the family had ever had, it was revealed that a victim that used to a close friend of Kwon Mina had posted on her social media account revealed that she had been suffering from poor mental health due to the amount of Cyberbullying and bullying that the victim had gotten from Kwon Mina and close friends, with acts ranging from making violent and death threats towards her, to making obscene and harrassing phone calls and texts as well, and after the news broke out about the alleged news, it was later confirmed about Kwon Mina posted a video about the situation and how she was a horrible person to the victim, and as if the scandal wasn't enough on its own, it was revealed that she had allegedly made her alleged fiance at the time even break up with his partner at the time to then make a move on him until she mentioned how her partner slept with his ex during the engagement course. During all of this, according to the media, it has been revealed the victim of Kwon Mina was allegedly in the hospital due to the amount of hate she was getting from her that apparently it had even made her attempt to kill herself allegedly, unfortunately the family of the victim refused to speak about it due to their privacy. However, after the news of the controversy came out and was later confirmed by the daughter herself, Kwon In Hyuk had decided to step down as the CEO as this had also revealed other scandals from the company, such as the employees getting unfair payment and mistreatments, which resulted in Min Jae Hyung, the Vice CEO of the company now becoming the new CEO of the Company, but Kim Mi Yeon had also been fired for allegedly letting her daughter and her friends get into National Seoul University without having to pay their debut while also working with people that had allegedly bribed their kids to get into Seoul National University. With all of the controversies surrounding the Kwon family, it seemed as if their downfall is already starting, with not only the father being negligent towards his company's employees, but also the mother being involved with bribing scandals, but now the child of the family now being involved with both bullying and Cyberbullying scandals as well. As of now, alleged reports from some news reports have stated that they are now in court and that the judge is now dealing as to whether or not the amount of evidence against the three of them are enought to legally sentence them based on the law, but until then, I am Lee Soo Young, and I am Nam Tae Hoon, and this KBS news 9, in other news."

As I finished watching all of it, it felt as if karma finally hit Mina and her family for what she did to me, I did hear about her father being bad towards his employees, but I didn't think it was this bad, even her mother got fired now due to all of this, and now she's basically hated on the internet now, I felt so blessed from that moment that I actually smiled so blissfully that even my family members noticed it.

"Y/N, you know what that means.", You shook your head at what your father asked you, and with that, he moved towards you to give you biggest hug as your now free from their hands and are now a free woman. And as if that wasn't enough, your mother even gave you the biggest hug as well while the rest of your family members celebrated your victory as well.

After a while, you noticed that Johnny was at the door and with that, your family noticed it and looked towards your directions to see Johnny there as well. Some of them decided to head out for a bit but not before your father took him out of the room to talk to him.

"Even though I am someone who does condone violence against woman, what you did seem to put her in her place, thank you for that son."

"Your welcome O/C, if this will make her happier again like before or even better, than I am willing to do anything for her."

"Your a good man Johnny, I still don't condone infidelity though." After he said that to Johnny, He understand that and has now accepted that. But that doesn't matter, what does matter is seeing you after hearing about the news.

"Johnny, where have you been, I've been wondering where you went." as you sounded worried about Johnny and where he was, it hitted him in a way that made him feel like how he felt when he was dating you in college, and that really made him feel so happy.

"I've just been wondering what to get you after I heard the news, how do you feel." You could tell he was the one who made Mina come out with the story, but you couldn't judge him for that, he's basically the reason why you're probably no longer in debt now.

"Actually, I have something for you as well." As you finished what you had said there, you pulled out something out of your bag that had stuff in it that you needed while you were here in the hospital.

As soon as he saw it, he opened it to see it was none other than the locket necklace he got for you for the first time when you two started dating each other, he couldn't believe it, he'd thought you had selled it after you two broken up with each other, but you told him that you kept it for a while and didn't have the nerve to get rid of it.

He couldn't help but cry after finding out that you still kept it for a while. "I really thought you had gotten rid of it, why did you still keep it." "I couldn't have the strength to get rid of it, and when I was packing up my stuff up, I found it and decided to keep it."

"I don't why though, I thought you made up your mind about me."

After I hear him say that, i couldn't help but get frustrated but then it got replaced with calmness. "I said I don't like you like before..... but I would like the new you." After you said that, that made him so happy that he made that smile that brought memories from the times when you two were young in love while in college.

"really, even after everything." He asked to make sure you're able to answer him without feeling pressured.

"Of course I do Johnny, like I said, I still love you Johnny Suh, and I am starting to like the new you than before, and if it wasn't for this to happen, I wouldn't know what to do."

"I know, but I know what's gonna happen next." As soon as he said that, he proceeded to lean torwards you to kiss your lips, Unlike before when it felt wrong to do due to him being engaged, this felt better now, it felt like the past, warm and embracing, it felt like the old Johnny you met has now come back, and he was thinking the exact same as well, this felt like the first kiss he had with you, warm and embracing.

And with that, you finally had him back, and he finally had you back as well, and this time you two didn't feel restricted, you two finally felt free and now you two can make your own choices as well, even though he knows that your mental health would never be the same after everything that has happened to you, he is willing to make you feel exactly how you felt when you were young walking through the seasons all the way to the moment when you had your first kiss with Johnny.

7 Months Later

After everything that has happened, you'd never been happier than, now that Mina and her family are in jail now after receiving their sentences, I heard that they lost a lot of money now because of it, even some of their friends left them now based on what's happening to them now. Meanwhile you were happier than ever now that you're free from that hell Mina had put you through, You and Johnny are better now, you had not only married the man that you're now happy with, but you have also announced to your family and his family that your pregnant with his baby, his family could've been more happier than they were with Mina and her family, when they met Mina, Johnny's mother hated her for basically going after her friends ex at the time and knew why you did what you did and never hated you because of it, she even gave her support to you when you were still in the hospital getting better after everything, ten eased up with the teasing and was now teasing Johnny for becoming a father soon.

Your family members were happy that you were now better than ever and now was about to become a mother. But the only person who was beyond excited was the man you married, Johnny was so excited that you were gonna have his baby and now we're finally with him after all the troubles that life out you two through. Now that you two were free and were no longer surrounded by the wrong crowd, you two could've been better than ever.

As you see everyone enjoying themselves, you look at Johnny one more time before leaning in to give him a kiss on the lips as you feel open now about your struggles, you have a better job now, you have better friends now that actually care about you, and now you have the man you've truly love ever since you've met, and now can smile from true happiness instead of fake happiness that was built up from depression and Mina herself.

I guess I got everything I wanted then.

[luna-loner]

Seo the Sweetheart

"Seo" and "sweetheart" in the same sentence? It sounds laughable, and let's be honest, it is beacuse it's Seo we're talking about! Rude, arrogent, annoying, and a surprisingly good friend.

I've already talked about how he and Araki seem close (Again, credits to @/fivesmartfackers-blog), but now I wanna talk about him, Koyama, and Gakushuu; two unexplored relationships with some interesting moments and details.

Let's start with Episode 16; Koyama's distressed about their exam results, so what does Seo do? He cheers Koyama up by reminding him that they still beat E Class on overall score.

Seo is cheering Koyama up.

Seo, the rude and insecure dude, is cheering up his friend, and it works! Koyama immediately perks up and changes the topic to Karma's less-than-stellar performance.

It's a small interaction that speaks volumes of Seo's relationship with his friends. He could've been his usual rude self to Koyama, telling him to shut up or there's no use crying about it. He could've even blamed Koyama for "not studying harder" but he didn't; he was like "look on the bright side, we beat them on overall score." Who knew Seo was such an optimist?

Course, Seo could also be looking on the bright side for his own ego. I mean, he brags about his English skills and got his ass kicked by an "E Class nobody" who, as far as we know, hasn't been abroad like Seo has. Pretty embarressing...

Or maybe it's a mix of wanting to cheer up his friends and himself up. I think this applies especially to when he's acting like losing the trip to Okinawa was no big deal. (And we all know how well that went...)

Next, Gakushuu. Look at this scene:

I'm especially interested in his choice of words. He's sick of Gakushuu losing. Yes, Gakushuu's loss is their loss as a group/class, but he could've said he was sick of seeing them, the Big Five/A Class, lose to E Class, but he didn't. He's sick of seeing Gakushuu lose. And it makes sense when we go back to the pole-toppling contest.

Look at them trying to cheer Shuu up <3

See now why Seo would say he's sick of Gakushuu losing? They're all sick of it, but it's Seo who voices that frustration.

Then there's his message to Gakushuu, advising him to rely on the virtuosos, as friends, more often. It's interesting that Seo was the one who wrote that, rather than Ren, who's arguably the closest to Gakushuu among the four. Then again, Ren isn't as vocal as Seo. Seo may fear and respect their leader (as we've seen in episode 15), but he's still capable of calling him out, like when Gakushuu almost called them minions, guess who wasn't afraid to point that out?

Honestly, these small Seo-Gakuahuu moments make me feel a bit guilty for hcing them as karaoke rivals.

But in all honesty, that's how I see Seo and his relationship with the B5. To me, Seo is insecure, hence why he brags about his English skills and the fact he's lived abroad. Take that away, and there's nothing special about him. Heck, compared to some of the Virtuosos, like the multilingual Gakushuu or the shrewd poet Ren, he's not special. Academically, he's almost always the lowest ranked among the five, so it's only natural he'd feel jealous.

But from these small interactions with Koyama and Gakushuu, it's clear that Seo values the friendships he has. This also makes sense since he's not exactly popular in A Class, but that's on Seo and his unpleasant personality.

Anyway, the whole point of this post is: Seo is a jerk with a heart of gold, mostly towards his friends.

[seyaryminamoto]

Why do you the majority of the atla fandom likes Zuko far more than Aang?

Eeeh... it's probably a mix of profound and shallow reasons all mixed into one very messy bag xD guess I'll start with the shallow reasons and then move on to the deeper ones:

Zuko seems to fit in the "tall, dark and handsome" archetype some people seem to automatically fall in love with when they see it in media. He amassed a lot of fans even early on with his angry ponytail, so I won't pretend that he exclusively had all the fangirls swooning over him when he grew out his hair xD but there's indeed a widespread consensus that he turned into the prettiest boy around when he grew out his hair (evidently I disagree but that's neither here nor there x'D). Meanwhile, Aang is a kid, and even when he grows out his hair he's not a "tall, dark and handsome" type. He's still just a kid, but now with hair xD and even if he's cute, the kind of people who fall in love with Zuko over his looks just aren't likely to feel the same way about Aang. There's also that a lot of the people who loved Zuko's looks were young teens when they watched the show and they weren't quite so likely to feel that way about Aang, who they could've perceived as simply a kid like them, rather than the handsome, tormented young man Zuko feels like.

Zuko comes from "the cool nation". A concept I cannot help but be swept by too because yes, sorry, I do love the Fire Nation even if I absolutely know and acknowledge it needs to be overhauled and changed from top to bottom in just about every possible way :'D but fire as a concept is popularly treated as much cooler than air, ergo, people like the Fire Nation characters quite a bit because of that perception. It doesn't particularly help that Aang's culture is the least relatable of them all, as they don't have family units, to say one thing, lived by being completely split by genders, and the one thing that could've made the internet crowds positively ADORE the Air Nomads was the LOK comic expansion that says they were 100% in on free love and accepted different sexualities when the other nations were squeamish about them or outlawing them... something that is nowhere to be seen in what few flashbacks we get from their culture in ATLA. Therefore, Aang's background as an Air Nomad and airbender can be interesting enough, but not so much as to overcome the "coolness" of Fire Nation aesthetics and worldbuilding -- doesn't help that people have this slightly inflated concept of the "equality between genders" in the Fire Nation based solely on a handful of examples of said equality while blatantly ignoring every example that suggests they're only a couple of steps ahead of other nations in that regard but that men and women are not genuinely equal in the Fire Nation, all around...? So, in short, people are more interested in Zuko the man who will reform the Fire Nation, which is cool as a concept already, than in Aang the Air Nomad whose culture was wiped out and we know very little of, and what we know of it is difficult to relate to, and whose future is just going to be to stop conflict all around the world in order to preserve balance and harmony rather than being a genuine reformer of societies, the way Zuko is perceived to be.

Zuko is a more brooding, tormented soul than Aang, who is often depicted as a fun-loving, cheerful kid. People find him a little more mysterious and intriguing than Aang, who seems to be exactly what we get from the start. Then we find out later that Aang does have his secrets and his darkness, but Zuko basically is the inverse of Aang: Zuko's worst side is constantly on display so the stuff he keeps hidden is actually his better side and that makes people feel they need to dig deeper to find Zuko's true worth as a person. Meanwhile, Aang's darkness, which he keeps hidden, is not so agreeable (his rage, his frustrations, his sadness, his grief). So, in these regards, it's basically that people have the perception that Zuko is a jerk with a heart of gold, whereas Aang can be interpreted as the opposite of that, gold with a heart of jerk? I don't even know how to word it in this case xD it's an unfair perception of Aang in my opinion, because the kid is burdened by soooo many awful things, but I've actually seen people with very stale takes declaring Aang is basically the blueprint of an abusive husband because he contains his rage and he'll explode eventually and hurt people (using accidents from the show like Aang burning Katara to justify this concept)... whereas Zuko apparently is just a pure sweetheart who needs love and cuddling, and all his violent antics and reactions are NOT evidence that he too could be an abusive husband, no, that's something else entirely and he would never treat anyone he cares about that way! -- Insert all his angry rants at Iroh, his not-so-stellar boyfriend behavior with Mai here and the two-faced argument just deflates in ten seconds.

Speaking of Mai, ships now :'D the canon relationships for Aang and Zuko aren't universally loved by the general fandom, though the people who do love them are veeeery passionate and adamant that they're perfect just as they are. But basically, Aang and Mai come off as the characters who are pining somewhat hopelessly over someone else, which produces a sensation of inequality in their relationships. Katara, in my opinion, shows plenty of appreciation and affection towards Aang especially in the first season, but it's completely possible to interpret it as platonic rather than romantic affection, and as Katara's very few instances of displaying romantic interest in Aang feel a little odd and aren't really developed and fleshed out, people can just assume (and they do) that Katara wasn't in love with Aang but Aang is openly, clearly, blatantly in love with Katara since day one. Same is true for Mai: Zuko never even TALKS about Mai until we see them on scenes together, whereas Mai's strongest motivation in joining Azula is seeing Zuko again. Next thing we know? Mai and Zuko are together and the lead-up for it is in a comic most people didn't even read. The glimpses we get of Mai and Zuko together are not at all displays of a perfect, beautiful relationship with no flaws... just as the glimpses we get of Aang and Katara advancing their relationship typically are more on Aang's side than Katara's, and feature Aang taking the initiative while Katara doesn't show that much interest. Again, it can be chalked down to a problem of writing, and their relationship could be so much better... but the fact of the matter is, people in the fandom seem to think Zuko would be better off with someone who awakens stronger passions in him than Mai seems to, ergo, they ship him with just about every character you can think of other than her... whereas Aang, instead, is the one in Mai's position: I, personally, find Aang's love for Katara is so deeply connected to his identity as a character that it would take a LOT of work in order to really convince me he could have feelings for anyone else. But it's really not that hard for me to fathom Katara could fall in love with anyone other than Aang (I mean... she outright has a huge crush on Jet back in Book 1, so canon outright proves she can), and Mai, like Aang, is difficult to imagine with someone else if you don't thoroughly work her out of her Zuko-dependency, which the writers weaved into her character to a point of excess while never giving Zuko an attachment to Mai remotely as strong as hers. Long story short... Zuko being the object of someone's pining, and Aang being a character who pines (and whose love can be interpreted as one-sided by someone who doesn't see him that way, for the most part), makes Zuko a little easier to work with as far as shipping outside the canon box is concerned, whereas the same is not true with Aang.

Still on that topic, Aang is so young that some people think Aang can't be or shouldn't be shipped with other characters. I've seen people outright citing their sole reason to ship Taang is "they're the same age" (not every Taang shipper is like that, of course, and I've seen good arguments for the ship, it's only that it has always weirded me out that this was the main reason people brought up to say why they shipped this ship back when I first entered the fandom). This means that some people find Aang to be too much of a child to be a compelling character to, for instance, write fanfiction about :'D whereas that's not at all the case with Zuko. So, starting from there, Zuko is a character people are far more willing to interact with on a fandom level, and it's not just because Aang is too young... it's because virtually every ship you want to write Zuko into requires a lot more work than the most popular Aang ships do. If you write Zuko in a relationship with Mai, unless you're actively trying to present them as a perfect match in a propagandistic sort of "Maiko supremacy" way, it means they'll clash and have problems, much as they did in canon. If you write Zuko in a relationship with Katara, you have to resolve a lot of issues and you have the whole "enemies to lovers, he proved himself and she forgave him!" vibe that people dig a lot with redeemed antagonists in relationships with protagonists. Same concept is true for people who ship him with Sokka, to the letter. Hell, shipping Zuko with Jet brings up a ton more issues than even those two ships do, since Jet wasn't even aware of Zuko being a prince, liked him fairly well when he thought he wasn't a firebender and then went off the rails because of that, and that sort of complicated set-up requires soooo much work to make it happen... and if you do make it happen? It can be more rewarding for the average fic writer than "Aang and Katara got together in canon, so have a sequel of how much they love each other!", I suspect (THOUGH I WILL SAY... writing stories about people in love with next to no internal conflict IS completely valid and rewarding, but fandom will be fandom and not everyone is ready for wholesome romance, apparently). It can also be more rewarding than "Aang and Toph are already great friends, worked out their lingering issues and got together eventually". I think the only ship with Aang I can think of that would require a ton of work is Aangzula (which tbh explains why it has some passionate supporters), and it might be the only one that really would put Aang's character to the test remotely as much as fanfics about Zuko growing into a better person through his relationship with *insert literally any character here* do. I'm not saying Zuko is OBJECTIVELY a more interesting character to write about than Aang, I have honestly had a surprisingly good time writing both of them over the past months/year, so I really think it's a matter of how you go about it... but I can absolutely see some people getting bored by writing Aang-centric stories and preferring Zuko-centric stories because they feel they have more content to flesh out than they do with Aang.

Iroh. :'D Iroh is another reason why people love Zuko better than Aang. I have a lot more issues with Iroh than I even do with Zuko but that's not really the point here: Iroh is generally loved by the general, casual fandom, he's loved by Zuko's passionate fans, and he can even be outright the most beloved character of the whole franchise. His relationship with Zuko is of course the very lifeforce of his character, and for some people, of the whole show. Aang has no such mentor figure actively by his side throughout his journey. The closest thing he has to that is Monk Gyatso, and as we all know, he's dead. The only few moments we saw of Aang and Gyatso together are flashbacks and while we can see how much Gyatso cared about Aang, we can't see remotely as much of their dynamic, of how Gyatso handled Aang when Aang was being rebellious or unruly, of how Gyatso took care of Aang and protected him as best he could, the way we can with Zuko and Iroh. Thus, Iroh pretty much ends up elevating Zuko's character and arc, and people will declare their very favorite bond in the show is the one between Iroh and Zuko, as it's so very wholesome... and you don't really have anything comparable with Aang.

It also doesn't help that Aang is often shown as having the right morals and ideology whereas Zuko has to give up on his previous set of beliefs and change his mind about the world (whether he did it effectively or not, that's my eternal matter of debate...). A lot of people perceive Aang as just being a goody-two-shoes who's never in the wrong, whereas Zuko is often in the wrong and had to reason with that wrong in order to get things right. It's not a fair perception in my opinion, Aang makes a TON of mistakes, the difference is that the show actually calls him out on most of them (see Bato, where Aang doesn't ever pretend he didn't fuck up with the map and he's ready to accept the consequences of carrying on alone for his mistake; see The Chase, where his outburst at Toph sees him losing his earthbending teacher within a very short time of finding her, and he's shown regretting it right afterwards, even if we don't get an outright scene of apology between them; see Bitter Work, where Aang's entire fighting ideology is put to the test very cruelly by Toph until he finally set aside his ways in order to adapt to hers, and the list goes on), whereas Zuko is typically given justifications (whether because his backstory is very sad or because everyone else is being comedic/stupid and he's the only one with sense) and virtually nobody calls him out on things that he deserves to be called out on (and if they do, the way Katara does in The Western Air Temple, she's being extreme, unreasonable and horrible, and poor Zuzu, he doesn't deserve this!). So it's really funny that the show actually puts Aang through more lessons than it does with Zuko, but they're not the flashiest lessons, they're not a full-blown redemption arc, so all of it is easily dismissed as "that kid who effortlessly does the right thing and is morally perfect just because" when he really isn't that person at all... while Zuko is "that tormented teenager who struggles to distinguish between right and wrong but HIS HEART IS IN THE RIGHT PLACE!!!", and somehow Zuko having such gray and muddled morality makes him more interesting than Aang, whose own morality was pretty questionable at several points in time but nobody seems to find him more interesting for that. Instead, he's hypocritical or just inconsistent whenever he's not being morally perfect, but Zuko's fine exactly as he is :')

Zuko has a tragic backstory that's personal. Aang's tragic backstory is not quite so personal and much harder for certain individuals to connect to it. You don't need to be part of any communities that were victims of genocide to empathize with Aang, but people take his tragedy for granted because we don't have strong ties with Aang's past before the Hundred Year War. Therefore, the weight of his tragedy is mostly implicit and the majority of the people who absolutely prefer Zuko over Aang seem to take Aang's circumstances for granted rather than for the genuine, horrifying tragedy it is. Meanwhile... Zuko's tragic backstory is extremely relatable for anyone who can see their own life story projected onscreen in Zuko. His mother is gone, his father is neglectful at his finest times and outright violent at his worst, his sister makes fun of him and is favored by their father... whatever my opinion of the character may be, his story is so much more relatable for the masses who may or may not have experienced at least one of Zuko's problems personally, be it an absent parent, or a violent one, or an unhealthy competition with their siblings... I, personally, experienced the last thing but the irony is I actually connect with Azula's side of it rather than Zuko's, for reasons well beyond the toxic parent favoring either sibling :'D but that's not the point of this ask anyway xD Aang doesn't have a family, outright. Aang has friends he lost because they lived out their lives without him and died a hundred years ago: who in our day and age has experienced ANYTHING like that? Nobody has. Therefore, Aang's story doesn't really speak of personal experiences the way Zuko's does. Which doesn't mean people cannot empathize with Aang's struggle, but I do think the show dropped the ball quite a bit by not truly featuring Aang grieving over everything he lost. His quickness to adapt to a world a hundred years more advanced than the one he knew may be easily explained outwardly with "there wasn't enough screentime for anything else", but the times when we do see Aang's suffering for what it is are not enough to outweigh the countless times he had no sorrows to show us upon being confronted with a world so different from the one he'd known, upon having lost everyone he used to love, everyone who built him into the person we meet him as in the very first episode.

Zuko has a redemption arc that I take a thousand issues with, but it's still an arc that resonates with a lot of people who are touched by the message that they can grow and change and that their circumstances and background and toxic influences in life don't define them. People have projected a LOT of different takes and understandings of Zuko's growth, which has practically made him into a thousand different characters from who he really is (especially "softboi Zuko" is a real headscratcher for me), and they're practically doing whatever they want in order to make Zuko the character they need him to be... all of which they don't do with Aang. Why? Because Aang doesn't resonate with people remotely as strongly due to his own growth process being a lot more complicated than Zuko's. Aang is a careless kid, he doesn't want to be the Avatar, he wants to live a life of freedom and fun. Aang is thrust into the role of the Avatar, and yes, he has a lot of fun in his journey, but he has to step up and be the person he wasn't sure he was ready to be, and he goes through a LOT of crazy stuff in the process. Aang goes from being a perfectly silly, happy kid to this stressed-out pre-teen who will lash out at people (Sozin's Comet Part 1, even that Lost Adventures comic where he gets angry at Katara) whether his opinions are right or wrong, who shows us he can be REALLY fiercely protective of his animal companion, to the point of not caring about how he hurts others in his journey to reunite with him (he lashes out at both Katara and Toph in different ways after Appa is taken away). Seeing someone nice showing these sides of himself is all-around unpleasant. Identifying with a character who's cute and wholesome is all good and easy until the darkness of that character manifests itself in a less than agreeable way, and it just... spooks out people, I'd say? While the show doesn't exactly call out Aang for being unfair in his behavior in these instances, it also doesn't justify him treating his friends the way he does. Zuko, instead, gets all the justifications under the sun whenever he acts out :') in short, Aang's journey made him grow into his own as the Avatar, once again a concept that isn't relatable for most people since nobody is really "the chosen one" IRL and in Aang's case that role is a burden that's hardly treated as one by the source material. His story doesn't bring as many "feel good" interpretations as Zuko's does for the general fandom. Aang may be a good kid all-around and he may be fun and cute, but while his story can have the potential to be interpreted as a reeeeally beautiful empowering story of a boy's growth into becoming a man in a very unconventional way (rejecting violence rather than embracing it, finding a new path in order to fulfill his role as the Avatar, changing the world and setting it free from the tyranny of a terrible man and his awful ideology), most people just seem to interpret him as "the kid who can't make the difficult choices that need to be made" (AKA killing Ozai :'D completey missing the point...), "the childish protagonist", "the protagonist with the infinitely more interesting side-characters", and so on and so forth. I do think Aang maaaaay be getting a little more credit these days than he used to, but the general understanding I got from the typical anti-Aang crowds was that they completely, willfully misunderstood his character to vilify him while completely, willfully misunderstanding Zuko's character in order to deify him :')

*sigh* there may be more reasons but that's more or less what I can think of atm. Personally, I think both characters have their good and bad things, and I don't particularly stan either one. I do believe BOTH could have benefited infinitely from better writing, but ultimately, Zuko holds an appeal to the fandom that Aang doesn't. Aang has a lot of passionate fans too, there's no denying that, and I would like to think a fair number of casual viewers love Aang better than Zuko, but casual viewers aren't the ones who generally interact and participate in fandoms. Zuko is widely acclaimed and beloved, he's the confessed favorite character of most the ATLA staff (really, if you haven't watched the documentaries on how ATLA was made, there's a scene where the only one who says he likes Aang best is Michael, everyone else says Zuko), he has the story people find most compelling and most relatable, and he happens to be handsome enough for them to swoon over him too. Thus... *shrug* it is what it is. I really don't love or hate either Zuko or Aang, neither one is or ever has been my favorite character. I admit I am bothered by the one-sided analysis a lot of people make to put down one over the other (and typically with arguments that crumble upon themselves because they both commit similar mistakes and yet it's bad when one does it but not when the other one does it...), and the fandom's general vibe of just taking Aang for granted doesn't particularly sit well with me, no matter if he's not my favorite character. But it is what it is, and I think these are the general reasons for why the fandom has such a different attitude with both characters.

[tedturneriscrazy]

Through the Looking Glass Ruins. No preamble. Let's do this.

Oh, hey, I finally figured out how to do the "keep reading" thing! Neat!

So that's how they're explaining Willow not being in this, huh? Pixies must be a nasty piece of work.

Incidentally, I really hope we get a Willow-centered episode this season.

"What's the point of being good at this if I can't do anything good with it?" Helluva line

Gus lying on the floor groaning in frustration is a mood

Fuck yeah Gus has a Bad Girl Coven shirt

I don't know how King was talked into recording that "leave a message" bit, but I'm into it.

Hi Willow. Bye Willow.

Loving Luz's permutations of "Gus"

Okay but the whole library card bit implies Luz does this all the damn time.

I'd ask why not get her own, but then I remember who she lives with.

I must admit, it's somewhat jarring to see Gus so filled with self-doubt.

Braxus! (Not worried about his fate so I can just enjoy his presence)

So Construction = earthbending. I knew it!

I also knew that Warden Wrath and Braxus were related! Turns out Wrath is a single dad.

Yes, Gus, those are their tracks.

Mattholomule (God, I hate writing his name) simping over Bria, aka how some people are about Felicia Day. (No problem with her, for the record, I'm just being a smartass)

Gus is actually invited to the adventure rather than offering to come along? That's a refreshing change of pace.

How long was Luz holding her breath?!

It seems the call to adventure won't take no for an answer, Gus.

I know Gus crushing on Bria puts a damper on the Ace Gus headcanon, but consider: Ace Biromantic Gus!

Eda making headlines with her human market, we love to see it

Planet of Humans "Too implausible" lmao

Ah, there's hair down Amity! So good!

"Finally! I can learn how to summon the Dark Lord!"

Luz is yearning

Do Ed and Em just...go around like that?

"Nah, looks like you've got that covered." So everyone just knows, cool cool.

Ooh, they/them date for Ed!

In this episode: blushing, and lots of it!

Also Luz is such a bi disaster it's great.

The twins definitely know what's up. Then again, Luz and Amity are not in the least bit subtle.

¡Más español!

Amity breaking the rules to help her gf? Now that's character development!

(Although it seems to me they could've just tried asking Malphas about that diary, but whatever)

"You have to do everything I say" I'm sure this won't come back to bite them.

Man, Matt really is quite little. Even Gus is taller than him now.

HADOKEN!

(Not sure if he figured out it was a fire glyph or if he was just guessing)

I say the buffing properties of illusion magic are underappreciated.

Ooh, what if the Galderstones were made by illusionists? That might help explain why illusions aren't boosted by them!

Forbidden Stacks really going hard, huh?

More blushing, always nice

So that's how Amity has her own secret room in the library.

Potential future date in the human realm is a powerful motivator, I see.

That "Don't tread on me" snake never said anything about poking.

Make the butterfly boi lookout, sure.

Beginning to think Bria is not as...nice as she puts on...

Grave robbing is a perfectly wholesome activity for teenagers, right?

Yup, I was right about Bria.

"Who's that Pokémon?!"

"Deadwardian Era" I love this show's wordplay

Y'know, considering all these ancient books have their own separate area, they are not kept in the best condition.

This is still cute as hell.

So much for the being quiet part...

Of course Malphas talks like an old hippie. Why did I expect any different?

That whole exchange...I just...😭

The "doing stupid things," the dawning comprehension on Amity's face, Luz vowing in Spanish to make things right...so much to unpack here!

Also, I'm still waiting for Amity's turn to have a proper cry this season. That doesn't count.

"It's a faaaaake!" Callback to the Pokémon bit and a Star Trek DS9 reference? I am a master wordsmith!

(Disclaimer: I haven't really watched any Star Trek. Everything I know about it is through osmosis)

Strange, Gus seems less than thrilled by being hugged by a frazzled old man.

Illusionists guarding the Galderstones makes perfect sense, but unfortunately it does require that that fact not be widely known.

Call me crazy, but I think Bria was bullshitting when talking about "changing things for the better."

Wait, are they making Matt less of a shithead? I think I'm okay with this.

Oh, Angmar, a shame you have to hang with such a crowd.

Regardless of that development, I maintain that Angmar>Alador in the contest of butterfly bois.

Come on, Gavin, you can't seriously be falling for this. (Everything about this is hilarious. Big mustaches, man)

"I'm not dumb enough to fall for these tricks!" Give it a moment.

ANCIENT SINS ANCIENT SINS

Yeah, it's an obvious reference, but it's a good one, dammit!

Damn, Gus, going ham with all that. And the whole graveyard, to boot!

That's the thing about illusions, you can get super fucked up with them. Look what they got away with for a TV-Y7 rating!

Welp, Gustholomule just got some fuel.

Aw, sibling bonding moment.

"Is that so bad? You weren't happy before."

New hair color!

Luz is into it!

Ed and Em are us.

Time for lore!

Ah, conveniently timed wind blowing through Luz's hair, I see.

"Don't worry. You have a way of sneaking into people's hearts." This is some Kingdom Hearts bullshit and I am here for it!

I think I spent all my freakout energy last night, so no all caps for the kiss.

Oh who am I kidding AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Luz's turn for dawning comprehension!

Amity's whole reaction to what she just did is 100000/10

The way Luz just sinks to the ground

So yeah, that was something, huh? Gus adventure and Lumity development! What more could you ask for?

(Maybe a few things, but we can talk about that elsewhere)

Anyway, I'll be doing this again next week! Probably sleep deprived as usual.

[sly-merlin]

KILLING ME - 12 |n.y

pairing : law student!reader + yuta

genre :    angst , mafia au/ arranged marriage au.

warnings of this chapter : mentions of blood and brutality. For future chapters, major character death(s).

words : 

summary : “life’s never fair y/n. realise it as soon as you can . it is the only secret for living a regretless life.”                                  

or              

“  curiousity got the cat hitched”

K.M masterlist

A/n : this was supposed to be a longer chapter. The Tumblr was bring problematic since three days. This is not how the chapter was supposed to end but i couldn't post anything longer than this so i had to make changes to end it on a surprise tone like other chapters. I hope you still enjoy it.

Was he asking for too much?

His unsteady hand rose and fell, internal monologue stopping him from knocking on the door. Johnny wasn't sure how he even ended up outside taeyong's door. One second he was fighting with his thoughts and the next second he found himself jumping out of his car, almost ready to confront the person behind the door. 

He took a deep breath and was about to drum the wood when the door opened from inside, taeyong's sleepy figure greeting him instantly.

"John. Why are you here so late? Do you need something?"  from red pressed strikes on taeyong’s face, anyone would have guessed that he had been sleeping.

“Johnny! I’m talking to you.” he waved his hand in front of johnny’s distracted eyes.

“Huh” 

“Do you want something?”

“y/n.”

Your life was back on the wagon. Not truly but with a few exceptions here and there, it certainly felt like the old days. You were in chois on weekdays and took tuitions on the weekends. You met your friends while visiting the library and everything felt quite normal. Even with a few oddities, that being the five day training sessions with Jungwoo, some new people in your life, a residence that you felt happy coming back to, absence of someone that you’d never grown a liking for, everything was smooth. Just like before. The only thing you missed was some time. Time for yourself. Though you lived alone, which was a luxury nearing its end, you barely got a few minutes alone with your mind and that was something you craved more than the drink shoved in your hand at the moment. 

You loved your friends, without any doubt, but they lived with the bad habit of disregarding your feelings, feelings that said you would be anywhere but the restaurant you were sitting in. 

“y/n is going into hibernation again.” minjun’s voice broke your trance.

“What did you say?" You challenged him but he cowered in his seat and turned his focus on the soggy french fries instead. When he silenced, yugyeom spoke up, 

“Yo y/n. Don’t scare the child. Just drink away your sorrows. The wine is quite expensive here. If you are making me pay then at least make it worth it."

Suddenly, Jungkook's loud snorting caught everyone's attention as they all quietened, waiting for him to reveal the reasons for his action. Swirling his burgundy glass, he chugged the last bit of the drink before leaning backwards in his chair, relaxing himself.

"Now what's the drama with You" Yeong grumbled, clearly intoxicated. 

"She's already hammered" minjun giggled. 

"When are you going to invite us to your house y/n?" Jungkook chimed in, a smirk plastered on his blushed face. 

"Oh yes. Ms. Lawyer no more l-lives i-in the d-dorms." Yeong hiccupped, losing the grip on the bottle of soju. Yugyeom chuckled at her antics before snatching the bottle away to avoid any fuss.

"I also meant to ask you but you are never available for more than an hour or so. Are you doing alright" gyeom shifted his chair towards you while keeping a hand on his girlfriend's back.

You didn't know how to reply or what to trump up so they'd stop pestering you. However, you had no other choice than to continue with the streak you had started a few months ago.

"Of course i want to have you there but my roommate is very, how to explain, very bitchy. He got this corporate job and he-he works from home so I'm supposed to pretend like I do not exist and keep quiet. That includes no outsiders as well. It's gonna be like this for a few months i guess"

You mumbled the last part.

 You averted your eyes but didn't mean you could've escaped their intense judgemental gaze. You repeated the whole lie that you recited to arrange it in the box of deceit that you were filling since the commencement of these stories. Forgetting any of these would mean shattering their trust. And that was exactly what you were supposed to protect.

Once reiterated, you gathered how foolish the sentence was. Had it been said to you, there wasn't a chance of putting your belief in it. But your company was drunk enough to believe it; two of them were enough to carry the whole table.

"Wow. How horrible of him. We should take y/n with us yugy. She'd be happy and she can invite anyone." Yeong low-key let out a little drunk growl to press her point. 

Yugyeom cooed at her before replying,

"And where will you live? Our apartment has only two rooms and both are occupied. Where do you plan to settle down instead?"

His question made her think harder than she ever had in life as she picked at her jutted out lower lip. 

"Laundry room. You and me, will live in the laundry room because y/n needs a nice home."

"I already have a nice home yeongie." You took the opportunity, got up and reached out to pinch her cheeks, "but you won't know unless you are sober. Take her home, yugy. I'm also sleepy so I'll get going. See you on Tuesday." 

" It's already 11. Let me drop you home." Jungkook suggested, startling you.

"No It-

"Yeah you drop her. I'll take Yeong and minjun home but help me in carrying their asses to the car please." Yugyeom pleaded. He left the bills on the table and took Yeong in his arms. You expected jungkook to do the same but he passed minjun your shoulders instead,

"Wait for me outside. I have to call someone first." and he walked away, his lover grinning on your shoulder like it was the funniest thing in the world but you were fine as long as their drunken state saved you from some heavy confrontation. The only person left was jungkook and you had the perfect idea to dodge him as well. 

"So the same place or are you staying in the dorms this weekend?" He asked, driving out of the busy street.

"Just drop me at the nearest bus station. I'll ta-

"Nakamoto residence or the dorms y/n" you almost choked on the air as the word left his lips. Taking a bus home had seemed like the perfect plan but you had overvalued your common sense. Again.

"What are you talking about?" With hesitation evident in your voice, you muttered.

"Do you really think you'd go to a random house in front of me that I know nothing about and you'd be left alone without questions. I was there until the door was opened by someone. You really thought I'd have left you with a stranger. But i knew something was fishy when the receptionist told me that it's a home sweet home of Mr and Mrs nakamoto. Now spill before I get yugyeom to ask in his own way." He shifted the gears in frustration, your relaxed persona bothering him to no end. Getting jungkook wokred up wasn't a grunt work. He was like a matchstick, always ready to be ignited by any possible frictional surface. 

"It's not what you are thin-

"Don't lie please," he started, words dangerously polite, "If he's your boyfriend then there's no need to hide y/n. We would always be there to support you. When, how, why, i don't want you to feel pressured to answer me. Just because you go around with no commitment tag doesn't mean we'd judge you if you ever got in a relationship. We love you. Make us part of your life like we do. Can't we just expect that much." 

You gulped at how disappointed he sounded. He was right. You needed to include them in your life adventures but how were you supposed to explain him the riots you were dealing with. How were you supposed to spill everything without him getting his sword out. That would only lead to more troubles than you had the power to deal with. Trouble for you, him and for everyone who'd be passed that secrecy. 

So you begged, for some more time until you'd be more than comfortable to let all of them into your present life. 

Like every other word, this was also a lie that, in the first place,  you never chose to proceed with. 

He might have give in to you, but you knew eventually you'd have to muster up the courage to answer him and that day would decide another turn of your future. 

And you would make sure, inter alia, to shift the wheels in a more likeable direction.

“Use your fists!” 

Jungwoo’s grip was strong. His one arm was holding your waist and the other was around your neck. It was painful but you knew he wasn’t going to let go easily this time. This was the third consecutive scuffle or demo fight with him within the span of the last forty five minutes and having lost the last two, awfully at that, expectation of some mercy was not very demanding on your part. But only if he would grant that! You heard his chuckle as you wriggled in his hold. He was clearly having a lot more fun than you were. There was no way you could’ve applied renjun and hyuck’s advice but you still tried to follow their vague instructions.

“Bit his arm and turn.”

“No, don’t. Turn around and hit his torso with your knees.” 

Bit him?

Halting your movements, a low grunt left your lips as you lowered your body and pressed your teeth on his flesh. He screeched and immediately retracted his arm. Taking advantage of his loosened grip on your waist, you whirled around and raised your knee to strike at his upper body. In an instant, your hands fell on your knees and you inhaled a harsh breath, regaining your strength. Jungwoo, on the other hand, was curled up on the floor like a baby. You wanted to laugh at him but the more astonishing thing was the lack of any noise from your cheerleaders. Right from the start, they were rooting for you like you were earning them some hard cash and now that you had done exactly what they had wanted, they were silent. 

“Wha-

you opened your mouth to speak but their lack of attention held you back. Their eyes were fixed at Jungwoo,who still laid where he had landed. 

“What did you do?” renjun shrieked.

“Exactly what you told me to!” you replied with heavy breathing.

“We said torso!”

“Yes and i hi-

Mechanically your hand slapped your face as you noticed the position of jungwoo’s hands. You had, mistakenly, kicked him in the groin which only meant more trouble for you. 

“Save me.” you mouthed to hyuck and renjun while approaching jungwoo. 

“Sorry teacher.” you mumbled.

He remained quiet for a few seconds and didn’t make any movement. When he did, you took a few steps back, afraid of his wrath. Palms down on the mat, he sat up and with painfully quiet voice spoke up,

“Looks like you won. Good j-job. I think i need to visit the medical room. You can go and celebrate.”

“Does it pain too much” pointing to his crotch and averting your eyes, you asked.

“No. not at all but i might need to adopt your kids someday. You know if i can’t make my own.” 

“Sorry” you cried.

“Dismissed.” his civil tone, probably due to the ache, glued you in the position.

When you didn't move, donghyuck came, took you by your arm and guided you for the door.

"He's just being dramatic. Just chill. Another hit and he'd be good to go." He giggled and was soon joined by renjun as well, who was now crouching down in front of jungwoo. 

"You sure?"

"If he doesn't then you can always give him your baby. Ofcourse after asking your husband." Only after he rambled, he realised what he had actually said. His face screamed surprise. To save him from spiralling into deep shame, you eased him by cutting off his apology,

"Ew hyuck. Give him one of yours if you want. Don't come for mine!" And you exited the door.

You were halfway through the basement when you realised the lack of your device. Running back, you were about to shout when you overheard their gossip.

"No, I'm telling you she meant to injure me so i won't teach her anymore or this might be the revenge of all the weapon training. Her knee is stronger than jeno's punch. Don't laugh at me you shits."

Jungwoo was whining. 

"Haha. Yeah ok. But i told you renjun, she's physically stronger than her. Kind of totally opposite." Hyuck's voice quietened at the end but before he could speak further, you interrupted,

"Like who hyuck?"

Their faces went blank at your question and the reason of sudden heaviness in the air was beyond your contemplation. 

"You don't want to answer? Fine. Maybe it's not my place to question." You simply stated before circling the mat to pick up your phone from the chair.

"No. It's not li-

"It's fine hyuck. Chill." You shrugged and walked away, deciding against pestering them for information that they clearly felt too uncomfortable to share. 

"You need a fucking lock on your bloody mouth." was the last thing you heard before they were out of your hearing.

What was the need to ask something when you knew you won't ever get an answer out of them. Everyone was beyond friendly with you but still, there were some borders that nobody dared to cross. Maybe the mention of that woman was one of them. Fear of some unknown ghost of embarrassment was swallowing you whole when you heard grunts. Loud ones. You were still in the basement, the scuffle center being at the far end. The stairs were in front of you. The  snarls and growls were coming from the other end of the basement. The election wasn't hard and you didn't want to give in to your curiosity but you did. Your feet, not cooperating with the voice in the back of your head that told you to turn away, took you ahead in the direction of the noise. Though the residence consisted of only one plot but the basement covered two. Unknown to everyone, the house next to B.N was also their property and it was only utilised for the underground space. Hence the never ending lane and the countless closed metal doors.

The echo got louder with each step you took. It’s been more than a month since you were visiting the basement but those noises had never crossed through you until today. The end doors were forbidden for you, according to what you were told but now that you were exposed to it, there was no chance of ignoring. No prudent person would ever overlook such a thing. That was the justification you were repeating as you took baby steps.

All the doors were closed except one at the very far end. You thought about peaking inside then halted as if your conscious called you. The whimpers also stopped for a minute or so but your heart skipped a few beats when a collision following with painful shriek reverberated in the empty space. The door, slightly ajar, was just a few strides away but you were too startled to even back away from your position. Same pattern of hit and shouts continued again. Unaware of the happenings, you stood there as If you were waiting for someone to separate you from the concrete beneath your feet.

Adding to your distress, the metal door opened abruptly and you realised, you were again at a place where you weren't meant to be.

"What are you doing here?" Jaehyun's growl broke you out of the unconscious state you had fell into. Mechanically, you eyes roamed across him to notice a body lying on the table inside the room, strained cries escaping his lips. The limp body was enough to put two and two together to conclude that he was being tortured. He was a victim of jaehyun's wrath. 

"I asked what ar-

"Y/N!" he picked up his hand to touch your shoulders but you distanced yourself when you noticed the stains covering his clothing and hands, the blood red prominently visible even under the low light. 

His gaze caught yours in time and his eyes softened noticing the fear in your body. 

Very slowly, he reached out for you but immediately stopped, taking a note of your quivering lip.

"Hey. It-its not blood. I ca-can explai- Y/N!" 

The yells of your name covered the whole arena as you rushed away, leaving a dazed jaehyun behind.

"Who was it jae?" 

Jaehyun saw your trembling figure diminishing while you ran away from him as if you were disgusted by him. Not that he expected any other reaction, some good time has passed since someone innocent had came across their work. To say the least, it was never pleasant to have someone witness their harsh manners.

"JAE!"

"Y/n. She saw the body and also the blood."

He mumbled to ten whose visage, upon hearing, instantly mirrored jaehyun's.

"What about him?" Ten pointed to the man, "he's not speaking shit"

"Finish him off if you want. I need to handle something else now"

You raced as fast as you could have. You had never thought of yourself as a weak person but the sight was gruesome to just disregard and walk off. With shaking legs, you finally made it upstairs but the ringing, only became more earsplitting. Your hand harshly rubbed at your chest as you tried to defuse the tension bubbling in your whole body. After what felt like minutes, you covered your ears as if it would stop the ringing. It certainly did not but surprisingly it was muffled. You removed your hands and the blaring returned again. But this time, you laboured yourself to look into your surroundings. You saw chenle, jisung, jaemin running back and forth from the kitchen while doyoung seemed to be scolding jeno for something. Few others were also there, cleaning the couches and spraying some fragrance in the air. Everyone seemed to be their own turmoil, origin was which was yet to be known.

That's when it hit you. Maybe your ears weren't booming due to fright. 

"Chenle"you screamed at the passing boy, "do you hear this sound?" You pointed your fingers in the air to exaggerate your point. He merely nodded before he went past you and the very next second the noise was reduced to mere buzzing. You inhaled sharply to regulate your heartbeat but failed due to the ruckus  that enclosed you. Suddenly jaemin emerged, 

"Why are you so disheveled? Go and change from these workout clothes. Uncle is outside. Didn't you hear the alarm." Only Half of his words entered your head and before you could come to your senses, you were interrupted again.

"Y/n my girl!" Whipping your head, you saw a familiar figure entering the threshold. 

An old man that you surely had seen somewhere. 

His voice was a lot stronger than his aged body which he was dragging along with the help of a walking stick. 

Jaemin nudged you to greet him and you complied as soon as could have in your current state. Only when you got closer, you realised he was the same man you had met in the office celebration. You haven't seen him since then but he looked significantly weaker than before. Even with dark circles present, his face still was still shining with the smile he wore as he staggered inside. 

"How's life treating you my kid" he asked, patting the empty space on the couch. You took the seat and replied in a small voice,

"I'm good. Everything is nice." 

"Why am I smelling Jasmines this late in the evening?" He sniffed the air and galred at doyoung, " Do you take me for a fool? One thing! Cleaning. that is the only thing i ask of you. There are- how many of you are present since the morning. Answer me doyoung." 

The man barked and doyoung muttered a sheepish apology, his head dropping with shame. 

"Each one of you is nonsense. If you'd just clean up your stink once in a while, you'd save your money on the thousands of spray bottles you buy every month. But you thick heads only know how to shoot and punch. Now get me a glass of water before i die of this fake flowery smell"

He shouted like he owned the place and Maybe he did. Your mind and heart were not aligned up to comprehend the simple scenario that took place before you, the dizziness coming and going with intervals.

Then you were called again. 

Looking at your right, your saw jaehyun standing, his face ridden of any colour.

You noticed his new shirt. There was no blood on it. His hands were also cleaned and you were stunned at how quickly your eyes were running on his body to find any trace of what you saw in the basement a few minutes ago.

"y/n, i need to talk to you" 

For the first time, jaehyun's words were directed towards you without any poison in them. 

You still didn't wish to face him so you moved yourself to face the old man.

"Y/n ple-

"Now you don't even greet your own father jung jaehyun."

He spoke with a steadier and louder voice that felt like it was only meant for jaehyun. The contrast in his tone was striking. 

He was jaehyun's father.

"Sorry dad. I have something imp-

"I called you in the morning to inform yuta and taeil and yet i do not see anyone here. Do i need to die for you to respect me!"

You couldn't believe your ears when jaehyun answered in shuddering tone. 

"Yu-yuta is not here." 

He sounded like a child responding to his teacher, scared of some evaluation.

"Then call him."

"I mean he's away on business dad."

"Civil?"

It was like hearing Morse code.

"No."

"You sent him on a target place?"

"No. He's in Nice to collect information."

"Wow. Can you please clap your back for breaking the only sacred rule this family lives by?"

The silence in the extremely large living room was suffocating. This time, except you, everyone else was scared. And it still wasn't of any help.

"How dare you send a family man away on anything remotely dangerous. I thought you all were careful after taeil's incident but no. Nobody cares enough t-

Before he could complete, shaky coughs engulfed his body. Somehow, jaehyun grabbed him the moment he was about to fall from the couch. Doyoung ran for the kitchen while xiaojun, who was always too swift in his movements, came to the living room with a medical box.

You weren't sure what was happening with him or why he was being treated like some high mighty force or why he was so adamant on bringing yuta back but you could only pray that his wish won't be granted.

You weren't cruel but you were sure he'd be able to survive without that piece of shit roaming around.

You couldn't lose the few weeks you had without him.

Taeyong hands clutched yours like his life depended on you.

"Please please please y/n. It's been over a month since he's gone. I never withdraw from a deal. But this is an emergency. Uncle doesn't know you both were forced. He is a soft and weak hearted man. We cannot afford to tell him anything like this and clearly this would be seen as a betrayal to him. You both are nothing like what he's told but he doesn't need to need. He's the only father figure we have. Please just this time. I promise I won't ask anything from you after this. You do not need to live with him. he'd be here until two months are over. Please."

You lifted your brow at his last sentence and liberated your hands from his, feeling his trembling fingers. 

"I don't see the need to lie anymore, taeyong. You can tell him the truth and be over with it. If he has jaehyun as a son, he must be used to hearing blatant lies. This won't be the only one, I'm sure of that." Crossing your arms, you coldly said.

"I know you hate me but please y/n. You know how it is to lose the only family member you have. We have no one besides him. Never had anyone before him. The least we can do is keep him happy until it's too late. Please. Just this time."

Gobbling down each word, you merely nodded at him. If it weren't for his glossy eyes, you'd have threw up on him right after the first pleading but you weren't heartless like him. He was right. You knew how it felt to lose your loved ones, a fate you would never wish upon anyone. Not even the person you despised the most.

"Thank you. I owe you this one kiddo." He hugged you and you pushed him away. 

"Let me call him."

"Yuta!"

"Hmm"

"You need to come back immediately "

Taeyong spoke with urgency.

"Nope. I still have Three weeks and two days left." You heard his non-chalant words through the speaker.

"Yuta it's abou-

"Sorry I'm busy with my french girls. Call you later and please forget to take care of yourself."

And he hung up. 

A smirk formed on your face watching the grim expressions of taeyong.

"Good luck convincing him and while you are going to explain him the difference between the French girls and the French monkeys he has mistaken as women, why don't you explain me what exactly jaehyun does in that other end of the basement. I love some good stories, taeyong. So let's hear how good of a storyteller are you!"

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