#just watched a video on japanese paper spinning

[itrvahn]

Spinning fiber is so interesting to me. Theoretically, you could spin almost anything, right? And people sure do.

[sciencestyled]

Folding Dimensions: Origami, or How I Learned to Outsmart Paper (and You)

Ah, origami—the ancient Japanese art of folding paper into dainty little cranes, frogs, and, if you’re really ambitious, a representation of your dwindling sense of self-worth. But don’t be fooled by its delicate appearance or the fact that your kindergarten teacher once used it as a distraction while she quietly wondered why none of you could count past ten. No, no, origami isn’t just a fleeting hobby for those with too much paper and too few social obligations. It’s a mind-bending exercise in mathematical mastery, one that reveals more about geometry, symmetry, and even biology than your pea-sized brains could ever hope to comprehend.

Let me break it down for you, dear readers (and I use that term loosely, since I know half of you are just here because you accidentally clicked the wrong link). Origami is more than art. It’s a cosmic (rolls eyes) collision of precise mathematical principles with the delicate movements of my infinitely more sophisticated hands—okay, any hands. We’re talking angles, symmetry, and lines so sharp they could cut through the very last shred of your self-esteem. So buckle up, because we’re about to fold reality itself—metaphorically, of course. I doubt you could handle that.

But first, the basics. Origami is traditionally defined as the art of paper folding, usually starting with a square piece of paper—if you can't even find a square, I suggest returning to preschool, stat. The goal? Transform that bland, lifeless sheet into a three-dimensional masterpiece. No scissors. No glue. And definitely no tears. Unless you’re me, weeping over the intellectual chasm that separates us.

Now, let's get geometrical, because I know that’s why you’re all here. You see, every fold—every last crinkle of this poor, defenseless paper—follows strict geometric principles. In fact, paper folding is the perfect way to demonstrate things like angles, lines, and symmetry. Ever folded a crane? Of course not—you’ve got TikToks to watch. But if you had, you’d know that every fold of those wings forms a perfectly symmetrical pattern, proving that nature, mathematics, and my superior knowledge are all part of the same delicate balance. Kind of like how my patience and your ignorance precariously coexist.

Speaking of ignorance, did you know that mathematicians (yes, actual mathematicians, not that guy in your dorm who claims he “gets” calculus) have used origami to solve problems that would leave your heads spinning faster than trying to understand NFTs? One of the most famous conundrums? Folding a circle into a square. That’s right, nerds. While you’ve been scrolling through memes, some of the greatest minds of our time have been folding circles—CIRCLES!—into squares. It’s a real-life “cutting corners” situation, but with infinitely more math and infinitely fewer brain cells on your part.

But let’s not stop at geometry. Oh no. The rabbit hole goes much deeper than that. The principles behind origami aren’t just limited to creating paper cranes to decorate your sad little dorm rooms. No, my undereducated friends, this craft has applications far beyond your comprehension. Allow me to enlighten you. First up: protein folding in biology. Cue collective gasp from those who barely passed high school biology. Yes, the very same principles that govern how you fold a piece of paper are applied to understanding how proteins fold themselves into shapes. These tiny, crucial biological molecules fold in ways so complex, they make your origami crane look like a kindergarten craft project. Oh, wait, that was your kindergarten craft project. My bad.

Then there’s technology. Did you know that scientists have applied origami principles to design space telescopes? Of course you didn’t. I’m sure you’re much too busy watching science videos of exploding watermelons and people trying to explain why the moon landing was real (spoiler: it was). But in the real world, NASA engineers have used origami to design massive, foldable telescopes that can fit inside small spacecraft and then expand in space. Imagine that—origami not just for hobbyists and procrastinators, but for literal rocket scientists. Which, judging by your blank expressions, you are not.

And just when you thought origami couldn’t get any cooler (though, to be honest, you probably never thought it was cool in the first place), we’ve got medical applications too. Picture this: tiny, foldable stents designed to open up blocked arteries inside the human body. They fold up neatly like a piece of paper, and then, boom—they’re deployed inside your bloodstream, keeping you alive long enough to finish reading this masterpiece of an essay. Now, isn’t that a nice thought?

But hold on to your subpar IQs, because it gets even better. Origami isn’t just for scientists and doctors and all the other professions you’ll never enter; it’s for classrooms too! That’s right, we’ve now reached the part of the essay where I must gently pat you on the head and explain how even your rudimentary understanding of shapes and folds can be enhanced by this ancient art. Teachers around the world have been using origami to teach abstract mathematical and biological concepts to young, impressionable minds that are—dare I say it—marginally sharper than yours. Folding a piece of paper can teach students about angles, proportions, and symmetry in ways that staring at a textbook could never accomplish. And let’s be honest, you’ve spent most of your life staring at textbooks without absorbing anything anyway. This is what we call “active learning,” folks. Look it up if you can figure out how to use Google.

Now, I suppose it’s time for the grand conclusion, though I doubt half of you made it this far. The truth is, origami represents a fascinating fusion of art and science, a harmonious (ugh, did I just compliment something?) marriage of geometric precision and creative artistry. In one hand, you hold a delicate sheet of paper; in the other, the vast (I’m choking on this) potential of the universe itself. It’s both a simple and complex tool for understanding everything from mathematical dimensions to protein folding. You just have to be smart enough to see it—which, in this case, means not you.

So, in closing, I’ll leave you with this thought: while you’re out there wasting time on Netflix binge sessions, some of us are folding circles into squares, deploying space telescopes, and literally keeping hearts beating. But don’t worry. If folding a paper crane is still too much for you, there’s always that participation trophy waiting at the end of the semester.

[kpophours]

a very necessary guide to The Boyz

➥ basic information 

debuted on December 6, 2017 with Boy

currently consisting of 11 members (they used to be 12 members, but Hwall sadly departed from the group in October 2019 due to his ongoing ankle injury)

signed under Cre.ker Entertainment

their official fanclub name is “THEB” (aka deobi)

no official colors yet (we’re waiting, Cre.ker)

they have an official YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and vlive

they had their first win with Bloom Bloom in 2019

discography: four EPs (The First, The Start, The Only, Dreamlike), two Singles (The Sphere, Bloom Bloom), a special Single (White), one full album (Reveal), one Japanese release (Tattoo)

recently won mnet’s Road to Kingdom and should have participated in Kingdom this year, but sadly, the show has been postponed indefinitely

currently preparing for a comeback (September 2020)

... now onto the members!

➥ hyung line: Sangyeon, Jacob, Younghoon, Hyunjae 

▸ Lee Sangyeon - leader, main vocalist

born on November 4, 1996 (a Scorpio and the oldest member of tbz)

(not your typical) leader - he’s not really “the dad”, but truly more of an older brother to the others

often teases and pranks the other members and is one of the funniest members according to their “Who’s Who” video (see: video recs)

writes own songs - super talented and dedicated, a really hard worker

has a beautiful deep, soul filled voice (we’d LOVE to hear more of it @cre.ker) - check out his performance on King of Masked Singer

according to Eric, he’s the member with the best body - really likes to work out and is stacked™

he really, really loves mangos

says he’s not cute but is obviously very wrong about that

has a super cute smile and adorable laugh

looked too beautiful with pink hair (deobi will never recover)

super bad at literally any game - always, ALWAYS loses when it comes to rock-paper-scissors (would be hilarious if it weren’t so sad)

some fun facts: his mbti is ESFP-T (he doesn’t believe in those kind of tests though), he’s good at impersonating others (especially Eric), he has an older sister (who has two sons, Sangyeon is a super cute uncle to them which he recently showed in his BOYLOG - WARNING: extreme cuteness!)

▸ Jacob Bae - lead vocalist

born on May 30, 1997 (a Gemini, but he very rarely shows it)

his Korean name is Bae Joon Young

kinda the mom of the group, but his official title is the angel™ (he literally never gets angry, he doesn’t even curse! how does he do that even his older brother says they never fought while growing up)

is from Toronto and therefore ½ of Canadian and ⅓ of English line - so he’s obviously fluent in English!

really improved his dancing skills over the years and it shows (unofficial member of dance line, fight me cre.ker)

beautiful soft vocals, amazing high notes (see their Mirotic cover)

plays the guitar and composes/writes his own songs

an MC for Simply K-Pop together with Kevin

½ of the superior “MoonBae” ship (aka married to Kevin - they’re super cute together, truly just two halves of the same idiot)

used to play volleyball and basketball and is really good at both, has apparently been working out a lot recently (rip his stans)

some fun facts: his mbti is INFP-T, his family adopted a new dog and named him after him/gave him the nickname “Cobi” ("your family replaced you... with a canine” - Kevin Moon, 2020), has an older brother, is left-handed, used to be the biggest fan of cereal (literally stocked boxes of it inside his room)

▸ Kim Younghoon - vocalist, visual

born on August 8, 1997 (but the most untypical Leo ever - only shows he’s a Leo like, once a year)

tallest member and ⅓ of the so called “Bermuda line” (aka the visuals™)

an under appreciated vocalist - his performance on King of Masked Singer more than showed how amazing his voice actually is (LET HIM SING CRE.KER)

has a “cool/cold look” at first, but is actually the softest, shyest, most precious squish on this planet (and has super soft puppy eyes)

kinda bad at life - needs to be protected because he’s just so clumsy, pouts when he’s about to cry (me, immediately: *cries with him*)

sometimes just randomly zones out and dissociates for a bit

fell down the stairs and injured his collarbone (I TOLD YOU HE NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED) before their Europe Tour and the Reveal promotions and therefore didn’t participate in the choreography

loves loves loves LOVES dogs so much and (his family) has a poodle (we stan Bori in this household)

the softest™ when trying to speak English (I‘m not crying, I‘m just really allergic to his extreme cuteness)

was a model for the Seoul Fashion Week in 2017 (together with Juyeon)

some fun facts: his mbti is INFP-J (there are four (4) introverts in tbz and they all share the exact same mbti), has an older brother, appeared in I.O.I’s Whatta Man music video, was recently cast as the second lead for the drama Love Revolution (his first ever acting role! the world should look out for actor!Hoon), is a BTS fanboy (his bias is Taehyung/V)

▸ Lee Jaehyun (aka “Hyunjae”) - lead vocalist, lead dancer, visual

born on September 17, 1997 (a Virgo)

also one of the tall members and another third of the “Bermuda Line”

an amazing dancer and a great vocalist (had like, 98% of the lines in No Air, so he’s pretty much an undercover main vocal)

an allrounder

seems quiet and chill at first. DO NOT BE FOOLED!!!

he is: l o u d . a bit annoying but also very cute without trying (actually really dislikes doing aegyo). hear someone loud in the background (especially laughing)? yep. that’s him! you found him, congrats.

also very caring and soft, takes great care of the younger members (when he’s not behaving like one of the younger members himself, that is)

also nags them a lot though (at least according to Eric)

the biggest Iron Man fanboy (like, legit wrote a fan letter to Iron Man when he visited the Marvel studios in NYC he’s just so cute)

l o v e s, no, ADORES kids and dogs

also really loves fried chicken

the biggest IU fanboy! very recently covered her song When Love Passes By for their A to BOYZ cover series

MWOHASEYO (don’t ask, just watch)

some fun facts: his mbti is ENFJ-A, he has an older sister, he’s really close with Pentagon’s Kino (they had some very cute interactions during Road to Kingdom), he can spin literally any object (a very weird, random talent tbh), has very skinny legs (so... literally a skinny legend)

➥ middle aka ’98 line: Juyeon, Kevin, New, Q 

▸ Lee Juyeon - main dancer, vocalist

born on January 15, 1998 (a Capricorn)

the last third of the tall and “Bermuda line”

an amazing dancer - he trained very hard to be where he is now (went viral as “the bucket hat guy” from their Bad Guy dance practice with the 1MILLION dance studio)

has a very soft, beautiful voice needs more lines

has very sharp features and beautiful eyes - his personality is very different from his cold looks though, he’s actually very soft, caring and thoughtful

he’s very gullible and innocent (also needs to be protected), therefore often the victim of jokes - most people think he’s a bit dumb thanks to that, but he’s really not: he likes to read, watches a lot of documentaries, and is just more on the quiet side in general, he likes to think before he speaks (unlike Hyunjae for example, no shade)

also very clumsy (never leave him and Younghoon alone together, please)

booked and busy! had like, a trillion photo shoots just this year, and was also a model for the Seoul Fashion Week 2017 

very bad at taking selfies but he tries and we love him nevertheless

can speak Japanese and English, is also a really good cook

an MC for The Show (aka the “JuShow”)

some fun facts: his mbti is ENTP-T, is very flexible (especially for his height), he likes to work out, has a younger brother, was on the show Law of the Jungle (he really likes nature), biggest U-Know (TVXQ) fanboy (legit cried when he met him), likes to play basketball, has gigantic hands (20.5cm a bit excessive but okay)

▸ Kevin Moon - main vocalist

born on February 23, 1998 (a soft Pisces boy™)

his Korean name is Moon Hyung Seo

the other half of Canadian line aka MoonBae (therefore, married to Jacob)

is from Vancouver and fluent in English (⅓ of English line)

yes, he’s the living meme you probably know from all the “funny kpop videos” compilations, quotes vines on a daily basis

SO much more than just the meme-ber though, he’s extremely talented - BIG BRAIN ENERGY, his creativity legit knows NO LIMITS

has amazing drawing skills (that he often shares with deobi on Twitter) - actually designed the group’s logo tbz use for their official Twitter account

can play the piano and guitar (he’s truly just so talented and amazing - STAN KEVIN MOON Y’ALL)

HAS ONE OF THE BEST VOICES EVER AND WE’D ALL REALLY LOVE TO HEAR MORE OF IT ONE DAY, CRE.KER

can cook really well

also writes his own lyrics/songs 

an MC for Simply K-Pop together with Jacob

undercover visual (have you seen his cheekbones?! almost made me cry with his beauty when he had long wavy hair)

“I have no lips” - Kevin Moon, 2020

some fun facts: his mbti is INFP-T, has an older sister, his parents named him after watching “Home Alone” (iconic behavior right there), has a kinda embarrassing past (some of the pictures and videos… uh well, let’s just say he was born a meme legend), he participated in the show K-Pop Star before becoming a trainee 

▸ Choi Chanhee (aka “New”) - main vocalist

born on April 26, 1998 (a Taurus)

literally the prettiest human alive

legit looks like an angel (how is he not an official visual?!), but is a savage (and extremely funny, lowkey judges his members 24/7)

a bit of a drama queen but he’s so cute it’s okay

amazing vocal skills, does most of the ad-libs

looks too cute in a beret, that should be illegal

gets bullied by the other members, which is kinda fair but also a bit (too) much sometimes (#letChanheelive2020)

is a math genius, can calculate extremely big numbers inside his head and FASTER THAN AN ACTUAL CALCULATOR (this is SORCERY)

½ of the other iconic duo beside MoonBae aka “NyuKyu” (together with Changmin aka “Q”) - you heard of dumb and dumber, now get ready for New and Q!

takes the best selfies, holds the official title of Selfie King (according to the others, he takes the most selfies - according to himself, he doesn’t even take that many but just takes them in a very obvious way, so the others always notice him doing so) 

almost breaks his neck taking selfies

used to have a lot of half-time jobs before becoming a trainee

one of the members in charge of cooking (idk why, he managed to melt a spoon once)

doesn’t know how to swim (because - and I quote - ”he’s a CEO’s son”)

puts MILK FIRST, AND THEN CEREAL it’s over, he’s cancelled

some fun facts: his mbti is INFP-T, he really hates tomatoes, he has a tattoo (a cross on his left pinky), has an older brother, lowkey looks like a Volturi, dropped Younghoon’s new sunglasses TWICE which Hoon will never let him forget, he once accidentally ate a plastic fork (don’t ask)

▸ Ji Changmin (aka “Q”) - main dancer, vocalist

born on November 5, 1998 (yep, another Scorpio)

one of the best dancers in the industry (everyone can fight me on this) - went viral for his improvised dance to the Mario music

STAGE DEMON, has one of the best stage presences EVER, goes from 0 to 100 in literally no time

so cute it HURTS and takes the best boyfriend aesthetic pics (all moodboard makers thank him for this)

has dimples he likes to poke when saying “music cue (q)” (me: *cries*)

has a veeeeeeeeeeeeery long neck

can impersonate a giraffe and a pigeon

½ of NyuKyu aka dumb and dumber (WE LOVE BFFS) - they have some very iconic (cooking) vlives together

he’s very - and I say this with all my love - weird 

or, to say it more diplomatically, “unusual”: LOVES horror movies and has had Annabelle as his iPad background for the longest time now (according to himself, they apparently recently broke up though rip our favorite otp), says his favorite beverage at Starbucks are the napkins (???????), literally BEGGED Kevin to let him buy a stuffed pigeon plushie when they visited New York, says the creepy nun from The Conjuring is cute (again: ?????? *whispers* is he okay)

dolphin screams™ (you’ve been warned, turn down your volume)

got lost in New York City together with Kevin (never let them take the metro ever again, at least not... unsupervised)

has a poodle named Ghana and adores him (see this BOYLOG where he just hangs with his puppy, 10/10 recommend watching that)

some fun facts: his mbti is ESFP-T (same as Sangyeon, doesn’t believe in those kind of tests either), has two older sisters, is ambidextrous (but mostly uses his left hand), is really good at playing the piano (won a price in elementary school), his English name is James aka the most generic English name ever (no shade, no hate)

➥ maknae line: Haknyeon, Sunwoo, Eric 

▸ Ju Haknyeon - lead dancer, vocalist, rapper

born on March 12, 1999 (another Pisces!)

he is half Chinese, half Korean and lived in Hong Kong for a while

speaks some Mandarin, a bit of Cantonese and also some English

also one of the allrounders of the group (I SAID WHAT I SAID)

an AMAZING dancer! is really good at freestyling

taught himself how to b-boy

such a rich, amazing, stable voice (*bass boosted* more lines for Hak)

one of the funniest and most random members

very loud, randomly bursts into songs all the time even sings when sneezing

just generally really, really sweet and nice

before debut, he participated in the second season of mnet’s Produce 101 (was eliminated in Ep. 11 and ranked #19) - The Boyz were actually often referred to as “Juhaknyeon’s group” before/shortly after their debut

he’s a very good eater and eats A LOT (FINALLY A RELATABLE IDOL)

his family lives on Jeju Island and owns a pig farm - because of that (and because he eats a lot), one of his nicknames is “pig/piggie”

has a blindingly bright smile and is such an underrated visual

yes, you can probably drown in his beautiful, deep chocolate eyes

he and Hwall accidentally became thieves in NYC (they forgot to pay for their food, but went back later to do so so no jail time!)

some fun facts: his mbti is ENTJ-T, he’s really close with Seventeen’s Seungkwan, he has two sisters (one younger, one older), NOT a morning person AT all (relatable), really good at organizing stuff (as seen during the Battle Trip to Jakarta episodes with Hyunjae), really good and fast at peeling tangerines

▸ Kim Sunwoo - main rapper, vocalist

born on April 12, 2000 (an Aries and his fire sign nature shows)

a flawless rapper, just... truly superb. also an amazing dancer !

actually auditioned to be a vocalist (so he has amazing vocals, too), but became a rapper instead

tbz’ unofficial stuntman (as seen during Road to Kingdom), even though he’s actually really scared of heights

can play the guitar

on the other end of the “lip spectrum” - because unlike Kevin, Sunwoo has a lot of them (lemme just *smooch*)

literally one of the wittiest, most savage people on this planet (GOOGLE SEARCH: HOW TO BE SO FUNNY)

used to drink a lot of juice to keep himself healthy

is really good at soccer and used to play when he was younger

beautiful deep brown eyes that hold every star and galaxy in them 

Mr. Coconut Hair™ (really makes it work though - still, every deobi screams when we get to see his forehead (which is like, once a year if we’re lucky))

a real stage demon but in reality an actual baby™ + scaredy cat needs to be protected at all costs

had a mental breakdown when he had to eat a bug after losing rock-paper-scissors 

always yells “GO AWAY ANNA” whenever someone knocks on his door (especially if it’s New)

some fun facts: his mbti is ENTP-A, has a younger sister (who’s taller than him, he’s really salty about that), he’s really close to some of the other ‘00 liners in the industry, he understands English quite well but doesn’t really speak it, also contributes to a lot of tbz’ songs

▸ Eric Son - maknae, lead dancer, lead rapper, vocalist

born on December 22, 2000 (another Capricorn)

his Korean name is Son Young Jae 

he was born in South Korea, but grew up in Los Angeles and is therefore fluent in English (⅓ of English line)

a great dancer (knows soooo many choreographies, it’s insane)

an amazing rapper (deserves more lines!)

hyper 24/7 watching him makes me tired, where does he get all that energy from

talks fast and a lot. never shuts up. you can’t make him. he tries to tell you one (1) story, but ends up telling 10 different ones along the way.

really good a baseball and loves to watch games

super close to Juyeon and used to go to Ju’s place during holidays as his own family lives in the US (my JuRic heart)

really neat and tidy, loves to clean maybe almost a bit neurotic about it

just generally really, really cute ???

a huge GOT7 fanboy (RELATABLE)

a thot on stage, should not be left unsupervised

close friends with Stray Kids’ Felix (his best idol friend according to himself)

also close to GOT7’s Mark (they’re also really cute together)

performed CPR on a watermelon once (it sadly still died, Eric gets an A for effort though)

some fun facts: his mbti is ENFJ-A, he has an older sister (who lives in New York), does NOT look like the maknae which often confuses people, really good and fast at solving Rubix cubes

➥ former member: Hwall 

Heo Hyunjoon (aka “Hwall”) - lead dancer, lead rapper, vocalist

born March 9, 2000 (yet another Pisces!)

from Busan

such a good dancer, truly incredible

very soft rap tone 

looks a bit like a cat

is very acrobatic

has a “cool” persona, but is actually just a certified babie boy™

used to live in the Philippines for four years and can speak English

the official fashionista of tbz, some of his outfits are truly just iconic

his signature aegyo is to shoot an arrow at deobis’ hearts (Hwall actually means “bow” in Korean)

can get very clingy with some members

had to sit out during D.D.D promotions and decided to leave The Boyz in 2019 (he’s still in the music video though!)

in August 2020, it was announced that he left Cre.ker Entertainment and established his own label called Dia Note

the same month, he debuted as Hyunjun Hur with the song Baragi 

you can follow his official Instagram and YouTube

some fun facts: his mbti is ENFP, he’s still in contact with the other members (said he especially misses Juyeon and Hyunjae *sobs*), his role model is BTS’ Jimin and he actually went to the same dance academy (also knows pretty much all their choreographies/songs by heart)

➥ some videos to watch 

all their music videos of course

all their live stages/performances too

BuzzFeed’s Who’s Who

Metro UK’s Quick Questions

their Billboard interview

their Weekly Idol episode

their Idol Room episode

their Road to Kingdom performances: Sword of Victory, Danger, Reveal, Heroine, Quasi una Fantasia, Checkmate 

their dance covers: Girls Generation’s The Boys + GOT7′s Hard Carry’, TVXQ’s Mirotic, TWICE’s What is Love, EXO’s Love me Right, EXO’s Call me Baby, Super Junior’s Sorry Sorry

Q, Haknyeon and Jacob for the Idol dance cover challenge 

their Billie Eilish Bad Guy stage for KCON 2019 + the dance practice

their dance cover medley

drop the dance at KCON 2019

their performance on Immortal Songs

Q’s Mario dance

their Halloween dance practice for Bloom Bloom

their “Identity Film: Generation Z” videos which show a very different side of each member

my personal emotional support kpop video

The Boyz - The Play “Mafia game” (aka a mess™)

their A to BOYZ cover series (five members have been released so far): Jacob, Hyunjae, Sunwoo, Juyeon, Q

and if you have the time: their whole The Castle concert 

➥ their shows 

The Boyz - Summer Vacation

The Boyz in New York City

Come On! The Boyz

Come On! The Boyz School

The Boyz - Flower Snack (pre-debut)

The Boyz - The 100 (shortly after debut)

The Boyz - Otoseyo (Japanese show)

The Boyz  - The Mission

The Boyz - The Play

there are literally endless videos on YouTube - especially “The Boyz memes” / “funny The Boyz compilations” and so on, but I won’t include those here as you can easily find them on your own !

... and that’s it (for now), if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to send an ask - and please give their new comeback lots of love, they are so talented, funny, dedicated and hardworking, and truly just deserve the whole world 💞

[masterlist] | [requests] 

[r00en]

Still Good-Chapter 6

Some new decisions are made about class 1-A and the newest support hero's role on campus and spur of the moment decision put All Might in a rather comfortable position.

All Might / Reader - Slight Aizawa / Reader

The one were they almost kiss and I blue ball your heart for ANOTHER DAY! Maybe in chapter 6...

"Grandmother said it's in the schools best intrest if she still stays the face of the nursing staff here at UA. It's not like I'm a secret or anything, I'm officially employed as a school nurse but her and Mr. Principle decided it was for the best if I stick to taking care of the first years for now. They will need the most help after all but I can't help but think it's something more...something they arn't telling me." Toshi twitched in his seat as he listened to his young friend chatter on about today's meeting. She offered to spend time with him in the teachers office while he finished up some paperwork and put together scripts for the passing new students. Forty in total seemed like it was asking a lot but All Might was thrilled to help out in any way he could. But that keen mind of her's was starting to dip into secrets even he wasn't ready to divulge just yet and that thought worried him. Just as much as lying by omission did. It would be far easier to just tell her everything but just ask risky.

She was leaning back far in one of the chairs and spinning in a slow lazy circle. Bored, but she insisted on being with him and he wasn't about to argue. A pen was caught between her nose and upper lip as she pouted. "I really wanted to see the third years in action though! Be on the front lines with their recovery after training would give me all sorts of incite on their quirks and development. I feel like I'm being assigned to put band aids on toddlers...."

"That's not necessarily the case. With Recovery Girl getting older it's far harder for her to keep up with the younger less experienced students. They are often the one's getting hurt and badly since they don't have a full handle of their quirk or it's full capabilities. This is the first year they really push themselves and their powers so they are bound to get hurt more than the older students. Besides lots of third years spend time at work study so they won't be around as much. It's just as much to help Recovery Girl as it is to get you and your powers where we need them most." Toshi thought those were wise enough words and by the embarrassed look on her face they worked. She was grinning with both hands pressed to her puffy cheeks trying her best not to wiggling in her chair. "If that's the case then I'll be working non-stop this year on some of the biggest cases! Not that I want them to be hurt....Mmm maybe that came out wrong....I want to be useful here! I don't want to sit around filing papers all day. I'm a pro hero after all, if I'm working what else am I good for!?"

Lots of things, Toshi found himself muttering deep under his breath as he turned back around to check another script. Just being in a room with him was more than enough. She could spend the rest of her days just sending good morning texts to him and he would be content but that little spit fire spirit and her desperate need to help in any way she could was one of the reasons he fell for her after all. The thought had him blushing and thankfully she was too busy watching the replaying of the exam to pay him any mind. "Ah! Midoriya! I didn't get a chance to see his review myself....I can see now how he managed to get himself in such bad shape. That poor boy...." Her voice was so soft when ever she spoke about a tender subject like this. Watching someone get hurt wasn't her favorite activity and he worried about what this next year was going to bring. His young successor barely had a grasp on One for All, there was no way he could escape more injury. Toshi glanced down at the small holo pad with his students name on it, a feeling of pride swelling in his chest. It would be fine, she was looking after him now too. The both of them would keep Midoriya safe and healthy no doubt. If only he could tell her....maybe just a mild hint of some kind..."There was something I wanted to-"

 "Already over working yourself All Might? Figured they would have you do those acceptance videos...."

The both of them spun around at the sudden out burst. 

"Aizawa!" 

"Mr.Aizawa!"

He pale hand reached out and plop down right on her head the second he was within range. "Hey kid. Didn't think he would rope you into helping him so soon. Classes haven't even officially started yet." Kid. That was his nickname for her...something they shared together and Aizawa using it made his blood boil a bit forcing Toshi to turn back around in a mild huff.

"....I'm older than you...." 

Her voice sounded annoyed. What happened to liking 'kid' as a nickname? Didn't it make her feel younger? Was it something she only liked to hear from him? His boney fingers crumpled some of the paperwork he had picked up as a rush of joy flooded his chest. She only let him do that! It shouldn't have been the biggest deal but that little venom in her tone as Aizawa's hand fell away from her head had him grinning from ear to ear. "What are you doing here anyway Mr.Aizawa? Classes don't start for another two weeks." The dark man shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets with a bit of a grumble. "Wanted to finish up some final paperwork, I was meeting Mic here so it was just logical to get it all done at once. Even if it is a bother. I'm guessing All Might really did rope you into helping him with his acceptance videos after all then?"

There was a pause in conversation, as if she was trying to think of the correct thing Aizawa wanted to hear. She always seemed to struggle in talking to him and Toshi had to admit he was a hard person to get along with. "Not really. Grandmother and Mr.Principal had a few things to go over with me anyway and I offered to keep Toshinori company while he worked. Not like I have anything better to do. Plus he offered to take me out for something to eat after all this hard work...even if he's the only one doing it..."

"Did he now....." 

Toshi could feel that cold energy emanating from Aizawa as well as his eyes drilling holes into his poor back. That was gonna come back on him for sure. Spinning back around in his chair and trying his best not to sound defensive Toshi waved a hand at his fellow staff members. "It's no big deal really. We both take the same train home, and since she's so new to the area I'm trying to help her find places she enjoys close by. It's hard for foreigners after all." Frame it like a kind, friendly thing to do. Super normal. Not strange at all. He wasn’t pinning after a younger coworker and using this as a poor excuse to spend more time with her alone. Together. Like a day. Damn it that was creepy! Aizawa just gave a soft hum and kept his narrow eyes on his fellow teacher. Toshi prayed to any god at all that Aizawa would leave it at that and not ask to join them, he didn't need a repeat of the coffee shop and he was really looking forward to going to out eat with her alone...like a date. He was going on a date! Aizawa didn't need to be there.

Turning back to him she smiled happily waved her arms. "We are going to that ramen shop right? The one you talked about yesterday? All the photos you send me looked so good I can't wait to try them! Plus that really really cool ordering system makes me feel a lot better about trying to order something more complex. If I just need to circle what I want I don't need to pronounce anything and show off my horrible Japanese...." She was always so cute when she was semi self degrading. It always gave him a chance to compliment her and watch her get all warm and flustered. He would have done it here too if it wasn't for a certain looming shadow. "You should work on your Japanese more kid.” “H-hey!” “These kids won't go easy on you if you make formal mistakes you know." That earned him a little glare. "Older than you!" Aizawa shrugged and spun on his heels. "What ever. I need to meet up with Mic anyway. Don't over work the nurse All Might. If she's going to be working with first years she'll have her work cut out for her and she doesn't need you bothering her all the time."

All Might gave a mighty sigh as he watched the man lumber down the hallways and out of sight. He may have had a point, thought all her company and friendly assistance was given freely he still felt bad for taking up so much of her time. If either of them had work to do they often did so together in the teachers office. Taking twice as long as they would stop and just chat away until one of them noticed the time. Help with writing a hard word would suddenly turn into a full blown lesson which often left both of them chuckling and coming up with silly English phrases that made no sense in Japanese. She would ask him to tell her lesser known stories about his time in the states and he would want to hear about major areas and how they were doing since his last visit. A few times now they both got out far too late and had to share a taxi home. Sitting so close in the back seat of a car he could feel the warmth of her body against his. His long legs cramped up against the seat forcing him closer to her...Toshi sputtered a bit and cleared his throat trying to set his mind back to the work in front of him.

"I'm sorry....maybe Aizawa is right." His heart sank and Toshi found himself flipping around to try and correct her but the sad look on her face caught his voice in his chest which tightened with worry. "I must be taking up so much of your time....you're THE All Might and you keep going out of your way to try and help me with such silly things. It must be bothersome." He watched as she tucked some hair behind her ear and did everything she could not to look at him. Focused more on her hands that sat in her lap gripping lightly at her work skirt.

Not at all. She could never bother him! His hands moved before his mind had a chance to stop him and he found himself holding her's tightly in his own. "That couldn't be farther from the truth." They both stared, in a slightly stunned silence for a moment. Him for having been so bold as to reach for her, and her for having him act so suddenly. But she didn't pull away and he took that as his que to keep going. Be honest, even just a bit. "Ever since this all happened...my injury, coming to teach here at UA...no one has treated me the way you do. I'm not 'The All Might' to you...I'm Toshinori Yagi. I can talk to you in a way I haven't been able to talk to anyone in years. You don't look at me with sadness or pity. I never realized how much I needed that until I met you." His hands started to shake as if he was going to lose his nerve any second but her wide shining eyes pushing him to keep going. Hopeful at his confession. "I-I don't...this is strange. I've never found myself at a loss for words before, I guess that's the point...I don't need to be All Might around you and I'm learning how to be Toshinori Yagi all over again. It's not really something I was prepared to do coming to this school but I can't say I'm unhappy about it."

One of her hands slipped away from his and for a moment Toshi felt his heart drop in fear, but when it came to rest against his hollow cheek he feared it would start beating out of his chest. Carefully she forced his face up to meet her gaze. That damn smile returned and he couldn't help but smile back. They sat there for a few seconds and he swore they were inching closer, closer....closer until he could feel her breath against his face. If he did this it would change everything between them. Was he moving to fast? Did she want this too? Was this her accepting and returning his unsure feelings? He swallowed hard and tilted his head ever so slightly. He would do this here and now!

"A phone call is HERE! A phone call is HERE! A phone call is HERE!"

Both of them jumped apart so suddenly Toshi could feel the chair under him rock with the drastic movement. Glacing back at her he found she was at least ten different shades of red, steam visibly rising off her with the heat of her embarrassment as she tried to hid her cheeks under her palms. He wanted to toss his phone out the widow, take hold of her hands again and kiss her with all the passion he believed he would have just seconds ago. Instead he snatched his phone from his desk and glared daggers down at the ID. It was Young Miydoriya. Truth be told he hand't contacted the boy since after the exam. He wanted to see first hand how this new nurse would treat his student and he was not left wanting at her tender bedside manner if not stern words of wisdom. Toshi ran his fingers through his hair and let out a sigh. It would be better to just wait until he received his acceptance. Flashier that way. More All Might. Snapping the phone shut he found himself glued to the spot. What did he say now? How did one face someone they were so ready to kiss just seconds before? Her tiny, trembling voice broke though the otherwise quiet office and Toshi flinched at the tone of it.

"Um...it's getting kind of late..." It was. He hadn't noticed before but the sky was started to glow orange and cast long dark shadows through the widows. She wanted to leave. Run away from this awkward tension that was winding itself around the both of them. Not that he could blame her. Maybe this was all a mistake. Maybe it was a sudden delusion he forced upon himself and they were really feet apart and he looked like an idiot about to kiss thin air. Damn it he didn't even know HOW to kiss what was he thinking forcing something like that on a sweet, beautiful, talented YOUNG girl like her?!

"We should if we want to get there before they close right?" Toshi swung around in his seat starting wide eyed at her as she moved to start gathering her work together and collect her things. "Besides I'm starving! I didn't think we would be here so late so I didn't pack a heavy lunch. Stupid...we always end up staying later than we expect to. I was thinking of trying the more spicy bowl for my first time...do you have any flavors you like? Wonder if they would let me try more than one...." She was rambling, a sign she was nervous but she still wanted to go out to eat. Still wanted to be around him. This wasn't some kind of crazy mistake. Steeling her nerves he shot her his own nervous smile and stood up following her lead. "I hear the chicken is really good so I figured I would try that one this time around. Will be easier on my stomach after all." They both laughed before settling into a relaxed silence only meeting up again at the door as they turned off the lights to the office. He jumped a bit as he flet her fingers tug lightly at his yellow sleeve, flashing him a grin. "Come on, I'll treat you this time."

No. This wasn't a mistake. It was clumsy, awkward and nerve-wracking but this feeling that swelled in his chest and made him feel weightless, his heart clawing it's what up this throat, the nervous laughing and shy conversation, and that damn smile. This was right. No matter how long it took to get here and how many dark shadows lingered in the background this was one thing All Might would stumble and fight for. With a tight grip on his arm she tugged him forward with a cheery laugh, both of them settling back into their comfortable mood. There was no where Toshi wanted to be more than here in this very moment.

[bmoviedragonsreloaded]

Review: American Samurai (1992)

“Why couldn’t we just have been brothers?”

SOURCE

This review is based on the Region 1 DVD release of the film.

SPOILERS AHEAD

The Cannon Group was on its last legs in the early 90s and American Samurai was one of the last movies distributed during its lifetime. The first of several collaborations between director Sam Firstenberg and star David Bradley, this is a picture with a lot going for it that still manages to confound me. When I first saw it, I was shocked by many of the creative and technical decisions, but having recently seen it again, I think I can hang a lot of them on the old sin of studio overreach. Still, it shines in some important and gratifying ways and is worth a watch if this is your kind of thing.

The plot: An American reporter trained in the ways of the samurai (Bradley) and his photographer (Valarie Trapp) investigate a murder in Turkey, where he uncovers a deadly tournament championed by his vicious half-brother (Mark Dacascos).

Writer John Corcoran (RIP) was a well-known figure in the world of martial arts publication, but his sole movie script is basically Bloodsport with weapons. It starts off incredibly pulpy with the baby protagonist surviving a plane crash and being raised by a modern samurai (John Fujioka), but it almost immediately begins hitting recognizable beats of the Jean-Claude Van Damme vehicle, down to a blatant Donald Gibb knockoff character (Rex Ryon). Nevertheless, I think the film originally intended to distinguish itself by being a more dramatic and heartfelt story, with the crux being the conflict between the brothers. We get hints of an emotional undercurrent, with Bradley’s character conflicted about fighting the sibling who feels jealous of his parental favor. However, in the end, we only get a superficial and choppy representation of their feud, including a rushed prologue and a head-spinning psychedelic scene where the lead confronts his brother’s demonic form in a dream. (Shades of Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story?)

That’s a recurring trend: parts of the story and action giving the impression of having once been very different. It’s most apparent in two instances: (1) the breakneck romance between David Bradley and Valarie Trapp, with an abrupt sex scene entirely performed by body doubles, and (2) the final duel between the brothers, which I’m certain was initially a short and minimalistic fight before being expanded with footage obviously transplanted from previous scenes. I get the impression that the script was heavily edited to focus on exploitation, and then the movie saw substantial content changes during post-production. It complicates what probably a pretty simple film, to the point that I don’t feel like I can accurately critique the screenplay and the acting. I don’t assume it was ever a dramatic masterpiece, but I wonder whether even Mark Dacascos’ hamfisted acting didn’t seem more appropriate before his character’s motivations were screwed with after the fact.

Speaking of Dacascos, he’s retrospectively one of the main drawing points of the movie. This was his first substantial film role and he’s still in proto form. His presence and intensity are already apparent, his acting would improve, but the filmmakers don’t quite know how to get the most out of his fight scenes. Dacascos looks great with a katana, but if you’re hoping to find the equivalent of his fight scenes from Drive or even the following year’s Only the Strong, you’ll be disappointed at his comparatively restrained adrenaline pieces.

That said, the action is pretty good. I definitely appreciate it more than I did during my first viewing. Weapons are the name of the game, putting the film in the same subcategory as Ring of Steel and the Swordsman series. There’s some purely hand-to-hand stuff in the first half, with David Bradley demonstrating some cool throws, but for the most part, the action’s a variety of colorful opponents fighting each other with a plethora of bladed weapons. The quality of the fights isn’t static, with more than one marred by an overabundance of cutaway shots, but a lot of thought has been put into the choreography. The flashiest match is a rare onscreen appearance of Hong Kong choreographers Dion Lam and Anthony Szeto, but my personal favorite is a sword-versus-ax encounter between David Bradley and a viking-themed opponent (Mark Warren). I like how Bradley first uses only the hilt of his katana to fight, then only the dull side of the blade before he actually starts slicing. It’s not spectacular stuff, but definitely enjoyable.

“Definitely enjoyable” is a good summation of the movie, but only if you’re already into this genre, are a fan of some of the performers, and/or are prepared to find pleasure in the little details. I like Sam Firstenberg’s signature gore (even though the content is clumsily censored in the DVD release) – not just because of how it helps spice up the duels, but because I appreciate how he was one of the few karate filmmakers who utilized special effects in his action scenes. I get a kick out of Valarie Trapp, who’s nothing special as an actor but whose real-life story of being a struggling writer taking small movie roles to get by is genuinely inspiring. And, of course, I love the fact that two action heroes in different stages of their careers were able to do a film together, because even if this isn’t the best, it’s not so for lack of effort. If this sounds like your kind of picture, it’s worth spending a bit of money on…though you might be better off getting the VHS version in this case, which I don’t recall being quite as heavily censored.

SOURCE

American Samurai (1992) Directed by Sam Firstenberg (Revenge of the Ninja) Written by John Corcoran (editor of Inside Kung Fu magazine) Starring David Bradley (American Ninja 3 & 4), Valarie Trapp (Mr. Stitch), Mark Dacascos, Rex Ryan (The Man in the Iron Mask) Cool costars: The late, great John Fujioka plays another benevolent martial arts master, much like his role in American Ninja. The list of tournament fighters and other onscreen combatants include Hong Kong action masters Dion Lam (Black Mask) and Anthony Szeto (Wushu), karate staple Ron Vreeken (Under the Gun), and award-winning stunt pros Koby Azarly (Sector 4: Extraction) and Rocky McDonald (Mission Impossible II). Second unit director and action coordinator Guy Norris has since moved up the studio ladder, nowadays coordinating for major motion pictures like Mad Max: Fury Road and Suicide Squad. Video game fans may recognize composer Craig Stuart Garfinkle from his later work on the World of Warcraft and Fallout series. Content warning: Extreme violence, violence against women, kidnapping, police intimidation Title refers to David Bradley’s lead character, who plays an American trained in the art of the samurai. In a roundabout way, it could also refer to Mark Dacascos and John Fujioka, who are real-life Americans playing characters with samurai training. (If you want to be a pedantic nitpicker, the title’s a total misnomer since no character’s an actual member of the old Japanese military caste.) Cover accuracy: David Bradley and Mark Dacascos posing with swords, the latter seemingly wearing his outfit from the tournament, are certainly very true to the movie. That said, the Japanese syllabery and paper walls in the background don’t convey that hardly any of the story takes place in Japan. Number of full-length fight scenes: 10 Copyright Cannon Pictures / Global Pictures

[catgirlcourtjester]

Going off of the new Paper Mario trailer, I will be making a post about all we know about the battle mechanics! (and other game mechanics in general)

So in the trailer we get a small glimpse into the battle mechanics and it appears that the enemies will be on rings around Mario and he has to spin them around to line up enemies in certain patters to maximise the damage dealt using your moves (for instance, lining enemies up in a row will help your jump as you can jump on all of them in a row).

It also appears you will be timed which makes sense. Now, looking at the arenas it appears that the audience from TTYD has made a comeback and all our battles will be watched, however we have yet to see if they will have any effect on the battle like in TTYD or if they are just there for aesthetics. You may also notice in that second picture that it says shiny boots, which may make some think the sticker/card mechanic is in this game as well however I don't believe that is the full picture. You see, on the Japanese website we get a video of the battle mechanics and although I can't read Japanese it appears that we will have infinite jumps and hammer moves just like the first 2 games.

Again, I can't read it (however if you can then it would be greatly apreciated if you could translate it!) but I see nothing that seems to indicate that there are limited uses of your moves as there is no number near them and that menu looks too small to have a ton of different stickers/cards/whatever to be housed in it. Now, I do think there is something like the stickers/cards in the game but they will be more like consumable items to power your attacks up instead of being your attacks themself. I'm not sure what the other tab in the battle menu says but I think that could be where you go to if you want to use one of these items, which is where that shiny boots pop up came from in the second pic. Personally, this seems like a good blend of the old mechanics with the new and I think it could be very good if done well, so I think the battle system seems to be pretty interesting from what we can see! The Japanese video also showed off how the rings will work and it appears you select the ring you want and either you move it with a limited number of moves (which the first pic implies) or it moves at a pace that is determined by the enemy/ies on the ring.

Another thing to note in this picture is that there seems to be buttons for different things. I'm going to assume the B button is possibly for running or canceling your current action to think more/select something different, there appears to be a prompt for the X button which seems to be the origami creature that will follow Mario on his adventure, and a prompt for the Y button which has a toad on it so that could be what the audience is for. I'm sure those prompts are very obvious if you actually know what the words mean however right now all I can do is guess. The last thing regarding the battle mechanics that I can see is that there's a 1-up mushroom that is sometimes up by the health counter which could possibly be an instant revive meaning we can only have 1 revive on us at a time which would make harder fights a bit more interesting. With the battle mechanics squared away, I also wanted to talk about some interesti g game mechanics that you use in the field. First is what appears to be Marios arms turning into origami which allows him to reach things he couldn't before and could possibly make him stronger as well.

If I had to guess, I'm thinking this powered is given to Mario by that origami partner he has. It seems to be activated by those weird hand circles on the ground and we can see one use of it being to rip that cardboard down, which between the sound it makes and the possible hd rumble integration will likely be very satisfying. The hand in the circle also makes me wonder if different symbols can appear in them which will transform Marios body in different ways, similar to the wooden panels in TTYD. So like, it could have a picture of a foot which will turn Marios legs springy and he can jump all over the place or something. It seems to be an ability that has lots of potential. There also appears to be mechanics based on land travel like riding around in a boat or car.

The boat also seems to have a prompt to return to a Town so it's very possible that this is how you travel to the new areas that have a path to the ribbons which seems very fun! That boat picture also appears to have an island that seems to not be important so it could very well open up for a lot of exploration and finding little secrets, which I am quite excited for! Lastly, it appears that there are also minigames which we can see two of, one being a possible fishing minigame and the other being a minigame where we travel downstream on a boat following the blue ribbon (kinda similar to the one level from kirby 64)

Who knows what more could be in store! That was pretty much all the battle and field mechanics I could find, personally I am very excited to see how the battles work in detail and the extent of the exploration in those traveling areas. I have also written an analysis on the story and will be writing another one on the environments so I recommend you check those out!

[borathae]

↳ The Index [#06 Mistake]

Genre: Heavy Angst, Smut, Fluff

Warnings: cheating, domish!Hoseok, fingering (f. recieving), body worshipping, praising, dirty talk, slow passionate sex that turns into rough sex, mentions of pain kink, mentions of public sex, smut that hits you right in the feels, regrets

a/n: it’s really angsty I mean it, I underestimated my ability to make my characters suffer i’M SORRY

Wordcount: 11.6k

Thankfully you didn’t have another encounter with Hoseok after the party, which made your week significantly easier to manage than last week. So after four days filled with nothing more than work, lunch dates with Yoongi and a coffee date with Taehyung and Jimin on Wednesday, Friday finally arrives.

“Where do you want to go for a coffee now?” Namjoon asks you once the two of you have officially ended your shift. You shrug your shoulders, taking your bag in your hands before walking out of the office with Namjoon following close by.

“I don’t know you can choose one”, you answer him.

“I have read of a café which is also a bookshop at the same time. It’s located just a few blocks down the road”, he tells you.

“Ooooh, that sounds great. Let’s go there”, you exclaim making him nod contently.

“Sure let’s go. I heard that the café previously was a paper factory, but someone bought the whole building and turned it into something completely new. A vet is located on the third floor and on the second floor is the book store which connects to the café on the first floor”, Namjoon explains to you.

You listen to him attentively, nodding your head to every word he says.

“That’s so cool, where did you hear that?”

“I bought a tour guide about Seoul a few days ago because I got bored and wanted to see if they actually write useful information in these books. Apparently they do, I learnt stuff I have never heard of before despite living in this city for more than eleven years now”, he says before stopping in front of his bicycle.

“And let me guess it was written in some foreign language because Japanese got too easy for you”, you tease making him chuckle.

“As a matter of fact it was written in English, but I didn’t purchase it because Japanese got too easy for me I am still studying the language. I just wanted to refresh my English as well”, he tells you walking next to you whilst pushing his bike.

“Honestly you should become some super genius language professor or something and not a simple graphic designer for a publishing company”, you say to which he laughs shyly.

“Ah, no I don’t think teaching is something I would like doing. I would get far too impatient with students, who wouldn’t get the things I am trying to explain”, he dismisses you before continuing, “Do you know that one video of that little boy screaming’aaaah waaah idiots’ in a very high-pitched voice? The one that does Sonic reviews?”

“Yeah I think so, why?”

“Because that would be me as a professor”, he says making you laugh out loud.

“That was literally the funniest thing you have ever said. I am imagining it right now”, you laugh, playfully hitting his arm.

“Yeah me too”, he says before breaking into laughter as well.

With having to laugh so hard, the walk to the café feels far shorter than it actually is and soon you arrive at the three-story brick building. You look up in awe taking in the outside exterior with big eyes. Namjoon watches you with a big grin before parking his bike at the bike stand.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” he asks and you nod.

“It looks so old” you gasp.

“That’s because it is. If I’m not mistaken it got build around 1888, but don’t quote me on that”, he tells you before pulling the glass door open.

“After you”, he says pointing into the café.

“Thank you Joon”, you smile stepping into the warm inside of the building.

“If you want you can already sit down on a table and I’ll get us some coffee”, he says to which you nod.

“Oh that’s nice of you. A caramel macchiato for me please and thank you”, you smile before turning around to look for an empty table.

Namjoon watches you run to an empty table next to a flower pot filled with sunflowers. He watches you struggle with taking off your coat before sitting down on the wooden chair and fixing your messy hair. A fond smile creeps up his face before it falls from his features again. He adjusts his glasses sighing loudly before finally looking away from you.

Once he has everything from his order he waddles to your table, trying his hardest not to spill anything. You smile when you notice him, jumping up to take your coffee from his hands.

“Thank you Joonie, I could have helped you if you would have called me”, you say to which he dismisses your with a shake of his head.

“It’s okay I managed”, he assures you sitting down on the chair opposite of you.

“By the way, how much do I owe you?” you ask pulling out your wallet.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it”, he dismisses you making you smile shyly.

“Thank you so much”, you mumble making him grin.

“Of course it’s the least I can do given the fact that I never have time for you.”

“I am saying it again w o r k a h o l i c”, you say pronouncing every letter.

“Stop calling me that. I just love to get my work to as perfect as possible does this really make me a workaholic?” he defends himself.

“I should probably stop teasing you before you start to hate me shouldn’t I?”

“Probably”, he says nodding.

“Sorry Joon, you just look so funny when you are fake mad”, you confess before taking a sip of your coffee.

“Don’t worry I’ll get my revenge soon enough”, he dismisses you before smirking.

“Now I’m scared”, you gasp sarcastically.

“Good. Be scared my revenge will be evil”, he tells you before laughing like a typical movie villain.

You roll your eyes before breaking into laughter.

“Cute”, you giggle making him stop to look at you with a bashful grin.

But he turns serious after that, looking worried.

“Y/N, can you still remember when you asked me if Hoseok and Yoongi know each other at Seokjins and Jungkooks party?” he asks making you nervous.

“I do”, you say swallowing the lump threatening to form in your throat, “Why?”

“Because I just couldn’t shake the way you asked that question ever since. You looked so unknowing and I just need to talk about it with you”, he tells you.

“Go on”, you urge him on.

“Okay so”, he takes a deep breath, “they do know each other, from high school”, your face turns pale when hearing the same words Hoseok had told you just weeks ago.

Namjoon sees your distressed expression, feeling nervous himself.

“But this doesn’t mean anything Y/N, don’t worry about it. They just kind of fought back then before Hoseok changed schools and they never made up afterwards. Please don’t worry about it too much, they will probably get over it real soon. I mean look at Yoongi and Seokjin, they are still talking with each other even after you and Seokjin made out this one time in late September last year.”

“Are you, are you sure that we are talking about the same Hoseok here?”

“Sure we do. From where do you think he knows me and Seokjin? From some random alleyway?” Namjoon scoffs.

“Why did Yoongi deny it then?” you mumble more to yourself than Namjoon, but he is still able to hear it.

“He-“, he swallows, “-he denied it?”

You nod, feeling yourself grow sick.

“Namjoon I need to go, I need to check something”, you babble before jumping up from your chair and running out of the café.

“Are you okay? Hey, Y/N what about the coffee?” Namjoon calls after you, but you don’t care. All you want to do is get answers from Yoongi. Fast.

You run out onto the street, waving the nearest taxi to you and jumping in. You tell the taxi driver the address of Yoongis workplace, telling him he needed to be as fast as possible. Your mind is racing with endless questions the whole drive, your eyes staring blankly out of the window. Is that why Yoongi tensed up when Hoseok had said his full name? But why did Yoongi deny it, when you asked him first? Is that why he wanted to leave so early? Was he scared that Hoseok might reveal his secret? So Hoseok was right. Damn it! You should have believed him!

You run, once the taxi had stopped, ignoring the pain slowly building up in your feet because of the high heels you are wearing. The staff, who are working at Yoongis company, already recognize you when you enter the small building. You dismiss their friendly attempts at small talk, telling them that your matter was far too urgent to wait any longer and continue running down the corridors to Yoongis studio.

His door is closed once you arrive at your destination. You stare at it for a moment trying to catch your breath. Your raise your shaking hand, your eyes practically staring holes into the alabaster glass door. You knock twice, not really expecting an answer. You hold your breath, trying your hardest to hear his voice call out for you to come in. But nothing comes. Yoongi is probably wearing his headphones. You press the buttons of his passcode-pad, his door springing open with a loud peep once you have finished the code.

Yoongi has his back turned to you, his shoulders hunched forward and his head supported by his left hand. He nods his head to the beat of the song he is listening to. All of a sudden he slams his finger onto one the keys, the cursor coming to a stop on the sound waves. He curses, mumbling something about this song not turning out alright.

You tap his shoulder, his whole body jerking up in shock and he rips his headphones from his head. He spins around in his chair looking at you with big eyes.

“Holy shit Y/N! Don’t sneak up on me like that, you nearly gave me a heart attack”, he yells, holding his racing heart.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to, I just needed to see you right now”, you apologize nervously biting your lip.

His features soften upon hearing your words, his arms instantly wrapping around your waist to pull you onto his lap. You sit down, your fingers automatically finding their way into his soft locks.

“I’m sorry for yelling at you princess, I was startled that is all”, he says pressing a loving kiss to your cheek.

“It’s okay”, you assure him, his kiss burning your skin. Don’t act all innocent right now Min Yoongi, I know your game!

“Aren’t you supposed to be drinking coffee with Namjoon right now?” he asks, his fingers caressing the small of your back.

You nod, nervously playing with his hair. His features turn serious, a worried look creeping up his face.

“Did something happen? Are you okay?” he asks worried.

“Yoongi do you know Hoseok?” you ask, not really in the mood to beat around the bush.

“Yeah, your ex. We met in the restaurant once and then later at Seokjins party. Why? Did he bother you again?” Yoongi says, studying your face.

“No he didn’t and I didn’t mean it like that”, you tell him before taking a deep breath. You are hoping, that both Namjoon and Hoseok are wrong, that Yoongi didn’t lie to you.

“How else could you have meant it?”

“You went to the same high school together didn’t you?”

“Are you starting with this bullshit again? I already told you that we didn’t. Did he visit you again? Don’t believe a word he is telling you”, Yoongi hisses frowning.

“I just wanted to check something and asked Namjoon about it. Guess what, he said the exact same thing Hoseok had told me a week ago”, you tell him, letting your fingers fall from his hair.

Yoongis eyes grow big, his cheeks turning red.

“Y/N-“

“Why did you deny it when I asked you? Why did you lie to me? Hoseok was right-”, you scoff, “-and I was so stupid as to not believe him when he told me.”

“What did he tell you? Please don’t believe a thing he told you”, Yoongi says sounding nervous.

“He said that you know him. I told him that he was lying. He insisted that he wasn’t. He told me, you just started dating me to get back at him for the way he broke your heart all those years ago.”

You wait for him to answer, your eyes racing between his.

“I said don’t believe him Y/N”, Yoongi growls sounding angry.

“Well what else should I believe? I had hoped that both Hoseok and Namjoon were wrong and that you could tell me that you didn’t keep secrets from me. But you did, even went as far as to deny them the first time I confronted you about them and now I don’t know who to believe”, you jump up from his lap, Yoongi soon following, standing close to you.

“Believe me Y/N! Me! Your fiancé! Please I would never use you to get back at Hoseok for some stupid shit he did as a child. Yeah, I denied it, but I did it because I was scared that you would get the wrong picture of me! I would never use you! I wanted you because you are beautiful and amazing and I fell in love with you! I love you Y/N, you have to believe me”, he insists, pointing at his heart.

“I don’t know. I just-“, you sigh, “I need time Yoongi, don’t contact me today I want to be alone.”

“Please don’t do this Y/N”, he begs trying to grab your hand, but you already storm out of his studio.

You don’t want to hear his voice anymore; it makes you sick to the stomach. He lied to you. The man, who promised to never lie to you, lied to you. You ignore the stares of the people you are passing by, throwing yourself against the glass door of the building and stumbling outside. He lied to you. Why would he lie to you? If he didn’t have any bad intentions with you, he would have told you right away. So he is using you to get back to Hoseok. But he just told you he isn’t.

You groan, brushing your hair out of your face rather forcefully. You hate it! Why did you have to get involved in such an emotional chaos like that? You had been a good person all your life, had helped people in need, had said ‘thank you’ and ‘please’, had never once done anything illegal. So why, why did the universe decide to throw you into emotional hell.

Your cheeks feel wet. You touch them. You are crying. When did you start crying?

“Ah fuck” you groan bending forward. Why does your chest ache like that? It feels like, like someone is trying to rip your heart from your ribcage.

Why did Yoongi lie to you? You trusted him.

You sob, hiding your face in your hands.

“Are you okay ma’am?” a deep voice makes you look up. A stranger is staring at you through a rear view mirror. You look around. When did you get into a taxi? And where are you driving to?

“Yes, I, I, where are we going to again?” you ask forcing your voice out. The man tells you Hoseoks address making your breath hitch.

What? Why?

“O-okay thank you”, you choke out and the man looks back onto the road.

This is going to end badly.

But you don’t want to be alone, you know that much. And maybe, maybe Hoseok can help. After all he knows best how to cheer you up. You sniffle, drying your tears with the sleeve of your coat.

Yes, you want to see Hoseok right now. You need to hear his soothing voice, you want to hear his voice; it makes you feel calm. At least he never lied to you. New tears shoot to your eyes, you blink trying to get rid of them, but still the run down your swollen cheeks.

Why did Yoongi lie to you?

“We are here ma’am good luck”, the man tells you. You hum, handing him his money before getting out of the car.

You look up the big yellow building, your eyes stopping at Hoseoks apartment window. It’s still far too bright outside for you to be able to tell if he has his light turned on or not. Guess you just have to see for yourself if he’s home.

You ring the bell once you are standing in front of his door. You hold your breath, trying to listen if he is walking around.

Today is a Friday, he had told that he was free on a Fridays. So he must be home, unless, he is in the gym at the moment. You play with the end of your coat sleeves, nervously biting your lip. That was a bad idea. What are you even doing here?

You are in the midst of turning around when you can hear the lock turn.

“Y/N hey, what are you doing here?” Hoseok asks his voice laced with surprise.

“You were right”, you say before a loud sobs stops you.

“Oh my god Y/N what happened? Hey, don’t cry. Let’s get you inside first”, Hoseok says wrapping an arm around your shoulder to lead you into his apartment.

He leads you into his living room never once letting go of you, safe for when you take your coat and shoes off and sits you onto his couch. You fall down onto the soft cushion, hiding your face in the palm of your face and letting the sobs fall freely from your lips. Hoseok just watches you, caressing your back and telling you to let everything out in a whispered voice ever so often.

“What happened?” he asks once your sobs had more or less stopped. He rests his hand on your thigh, gently massaging it to sooth you.

“I confronted Yoongi about the thing you told me. He, he denied it the first time, but then Namjoon told me the exact same thing you told me. And then I confronted Yoongi again and he just, just-“, you sob letting your head fall down again “-he lied to me.”

“Hey I’m here now, don’t cry”, Hoseok says gently caressing your thigh with his fingertips.

“I don’t know what to believe”, you manage to stutter out between sobs.

“I’m so sorry to hear that”, he gets interrupted by your continuous talking.

“I don’t know what to do Hobi”, you sob. Your use of his nickname makes his heart beat faster in his chest, it still sounds as sweet as always. “I’m so confused. I thought I know him but, but he lied to me, all this time he kept something from me”, you hiccup and Hoseok can feel you starting to shake.

He tightens the grip around your thigh, scooting closer so he can pull you against his chest. You rest your head on his shoulder, nuzzling your face in the soft material of his sweater. You are so close again, Hoseok has to fight the urge to press a longing kiss to the crown of your head.

“I hate you so much Hoseok. Why did you decide to come back into my life and mess with my emotions like that? I was so happy with the way everything was. I actually started to become better again”, you sob and something inside Hoseok flips. He shouldn’t have to listen to you throwing accusations at his head like that.

He pushes you off his body, a surprised squeal falling from your lips. You stare at him with big eyes, your lower lip trembling.

“No, now you listen to me for a change. Stop trying to turn me into the bad guy in this story. Mess with your emotions? You were the one who told me that you just needed to breathe for a bit and then you come back with a fiancé! I think you are the one who messed with my emotions, I waited for you. I came to see you once, yes just once, despite my desire to visit you every day for the last eleven months and six days.”

“Hoseok”, you start but he doesn’t even register your voice too caught up with finally being able to speak his mind.

“And I visited you with good intentions, all I wanted was to save you from marrying a lying bastard, you know literally nothing about, nothing more. I didn’t care if that would lead to you taking me back”, he says, his voice growing louder with every sentence.

You stare at him. Your tears had stopped for you were far too shocked right now.

“You were happy? Well guess what I wasn’t, especially when I found out that you agreed to marry a guy you had known for six months. Six months! Are you kidding me Y/N? We spent five years of our lives together, even lived together and when I asked you the question you run away? Why Y/N? What does he have that I didn’t?” he spits, yelling his last words too caught up with his suppressed emotions suddenly exploding out of him.

Oh, how he had wanted to tell you this.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. It just felt right”, you stutter shaking your head.

“Felt right?” his voice becomes unnaturally high, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, “I can’t believe you right now. We shared everything together. Our first kiss, our first time having sex, our first time saying ‘I love you’ to someone and our first apartment we could actually afford without the help of our parents. And you want to tell me that a six months old relationship felt right enough to say yes to marrying?” he spits, grabbing at his hair.

“I’m sorry Hobi, I really am”, you sob, your heart aching at seeing him in so much pain.

Maybe you really had been unfair to him. He doesn’t deserve this, he never did something wrong. You scoot closer to him, reaching out with shaking hands. Would it be a bad idea to touch him?

“Don’t call me like that. I’m not Hobi for you anymore, you made that very obvious”, he chokes out, hiding his face in the palm of his hands. He doesn’t want you to see the tears falling down his cheeks. You don’t need to know how much he suffers.

“You will always be Hobi for me. My Hobi”, you whisper, the sudden warmth of your hand on his thigh making his body tense up.

“Stop saying that Y/N. Please stop”, he whimpers, violently shaking his head. Your hand cupping his cheeks makes him stop, his tear-filled eyes snapping up to stare at you in shock.

“Hobi I-“, you start gently stroking the tears from his burning cheeks. Your touch sends sparks of electricity through his veins, his eyes closing.

“You should go Y/N. Please just go. I can’t trust myself right now. Go before I do something that makes you hate me for forever”, he croaks his eyes still pressed closed.

“I can’t trust myself either”, you whisper and Hoseok can feel your breath on his skin. He opens his eyes, you are so close; if he wanted he could just move his head and he would kiss you. His breath hitches in his throat. Why are you looking at him the same way you did when you were still with him? “I could never hate you”, you pause to look into his eyes, “Hobi”, you breathe before your lips come crushing down on his.

He wants to gasp, but your mouth swallows his voice, rendering him speechless. Your lips are still as soft as he remembers them to be. His eyes flutter shut, his whole body relaxing. He had missed this so much. New tears shoot to his eyes before running down his cheek. He can taste them between your kisses, mixing with the sweet taste of your honey chapstick. Your fingers find their way up his chest to his neck before tangling in his hair. You hum, scooting closer so the side of your thigh is touching his.

You pull back, sniffling. A new tear runs down your cheek when you open your eyes. He has his eyes closed, his lips slightly parted.

“You still taste like how I remembered”, you whisper and his eyebrows furrow together.

“Y/N we shouldn’t”, he murmurs opening his eyes to look at you.

“Please don’t send me away Hobi”, you choke out.

You look so sad, so heartbroken. Hoseok just wants to wrap you in his arms and hold you until you smile again. He reaches out, cupping your cheek. A small smile creeps up your face before it disappears again.

“I-“, he takes a deep breath. You lean into his touch fluttering your eyelids shut. He swallows. Shit, this is so wrong right now. But still, it’s the thing he wanted. He sighs, “-I won’t send you away”, he murmurs.

“Thank you”, your voice is barely above a whisper. He smiles leaning forward to kiss you again. Your lips taste saltier than before, but he doesn’t care wanting nothing more than to feel you again.

You hum, scooting even closer to his body so that you would be able to crawl on his lap. You never once break the kiss, the movement squeezing his nose against your cheek. He sighs, you still feel the same. Fuck, he shouldn’t be so into this right now. You are just confused, you don’t actually want him right now. No, he shouldn’t use you like that.

He pushes you away, earning a sound of complaint from you. You come resting on his thighs and your hands falls from his hair to touch his chest. They feel so warm, ah shit.

“What?” you ask looking at him confused.

“I don’t want to use your current emotional state to my own advantage”, he tells you trying his hardest to stop the blood shooting straight between his legs.

“Hoseok”, you breathe. You scoot closer to him, your core coming to rest on his crotch. Hoseoks hands clench into fist by his side. Fuck, fuck, fuck you feel so good fuck. “Don’t think so much, I’ll tell you if it gets too much”, you tell him leaning down to press a kiss to his neck.

He closes his eyes, breathing shakily.

“O-okay”, he stutters before letting his head fall back exposing the sensitive skin of his neck.

You smile against his skin, peppering kiss after kiss over his neck. He tastes like his aftershave. Oh how you have missed this taste. You gently bite down on his earlobe making him moan breathily, his fingers caressing the skin of your exposed thighs. Soon your hips start to move on his lap, earning a groan from both you and him.

“Babe fuck”, he chuckles breathlessly grabbing your hips with both of his hands to guide your movements. “That’s it don’t stop.”

He presses you down on his lap, the added pressure of his erection on your clit making you shutter. Your lips fall from his neck as it got far too hard to breath. You pant, leaning your forehead against his with your eyes pressed shut.

“You feel so good Hobi”, you whisper making him smirk. He bucks his hips up earning a breathy gasp from you.

“You are still so responsive”, he chuckles. You huff. He is getting cocky already. Another buck of his hips follows, letting you forget about your bratty response. Your fingers find their way into his locks, gently pulling on them. It makes his dick twitch, you can feel it on your core. You pull again, pressing your hips down and he groans.

“I want to touch you, can I touch you?” he asks and you nod.

“Yes please I want to feel your fingers”, you plead moving your hips to the rhythm he is guiding you to.

“Everything for you”, he whispers before hooking his hands underneath your legs.

He stands up without effort, jumping one time to make it easier for him to carry you. You squeak wrapping your arms around his neck to keep yourself from falling down. You had felt your skirt rip at the sudden stretch of wrapping your legs around his torso. Great, it was your favourite skirt.

He lays you down gently once he arrives at his bed, smiling down at you the whole time. He crawls over you, leaning his weight on his elbows.

“You are so beautiful Y/N”, he whispers making you blush. He leans down to kiss you, slower than before. He hums, gently biting down on you bottom lip. You whimper, wrapping your legs around his hips to pull him closer. His hand finds its way to your breast cupping it over your blouse. It feels hot through the thin material, your back arching against it in reflex. He hums starting to massage it gently, the feeling sending new arousal to your core.

It’s not like him, normally he would have thrown you on the mattress before crawling over you and ripping your clothes from your body. But today it seems as if he wanted to take his time with you. It surprises you, every touch of his hands sending shivers over your body.

You break the kiss, opening your eyes to look at him. His hands stop moving, laying heavily on your chest. He looks scared, probably thinking that he had overstepped his boundaries.

“Hobi please don’t tease”, you tell him to which his features soften again.

“I just want to take everything in”, he says, trailing his finger all over your upper body.

He stops once he is at the waistband of your skirt. He averts his gaze from your hips to your eyes, “Can I?” he asks playing with the waistband.

“Yes let’s get naked already”, you urge him on, your own hands playing the hem of his t-shirt.

“Someone’s eager”, he chuckles, sitting up between your legs to pull his shirt over his head.

Your eyes fixate on his torso instantly, your mouth falling open. He didn’t lie when he told you that he had gained some muscles. His abdominal muscles flex with every one of his movements, the sunlight falling into the room illuminating them perfectly. He had always been well-built, but you hadn’t expected that it would be possible for him to become even more addicting to look at. He throws the shirt on the wooden chair next to his bed once he is finished, averting his eyes to you afterwards.

“What?” he asks when he notices your stares, laughing shyly.

“You weren’t lying about gaining muscles”, you tell him before sitting up and reaching out to touch his stomach. It feels solid, his soft skin contrasting the feeling. Your touch makes goose bumps rise on his skin wherever your fingers travel over his torso. He chuckles again, caressing your face.

“It’s your turn now babygirl”, he says resting his hands on your shoulders and squeezing gently.

You tear your eyes away from his stomach to look into his eyes. They are glistening with eagerness, practically undressing you. Your fingers fall from his stomach to open the buttons of your blouse. He is watching you, his eyes following your every move. Soon your blouse is gone from your body, thrown next to his t-shirt. He smiles, cupping your breasts with both of his hands.

“I remember that bra”, he smiles caressing your nipple over the material. It hardens instantly, your body craving more. He leans down closer to your face, making you fall back onto the mattress again. “You wore it for the first time on our third anniversary when I ruined your pink blouse just so I could finally fuck you in the men’s bathroom of the restaurant. You looked so good”, he whispers into your ear, kissing it with every word.

You shiver letting your eyelids flutter shut.

“It was amazing sex wasn’t it babygirl?” he growls, grazing his teeth over your jaw.

You nod, humming quietly.

“It was”, you stutter out, pulling him closer by his hair.

He groans quietly at the slight pain of your touch, slipping his hands in your bra to finally touch your bare breast. He pinches your nipple, rolling it between his fingers afterwards. It makes your breath hitch in your throat, your mouth falling open. His touch is gentle, too gentle for Hoseoks nature, but all the more addicting.

“It annoys me right now though”, Hoseok mumbles more to himself than to you. His right hand reaches behind your back, unclasping your bra with one swift movement and pulling it off your chest afterwards.

It surprises you, your eyes opening wide. He smirks down at you all the while holding your bra in his hand triumphantly.

“I still got it”, he says smugly and you roll your eyes.

“Wow what a man”, you gasp sarcastically and he chuckles. He throws the piece of clothing onto his chair but misses, your bra falling onto the ground a few inches away. But neither of you care, the desire to feel each other far too strong.

“You really are the most beautiful woman on earth Y/N”, Hoseok whispers cupping your bare breasts and squeezing them gently. You blush avoiding his loving eyes to instead stare at his biceps flexing with every movement of his arms. “A goddess”, he adds before connecting his lips with the skin of your right breast.

You gasp, threading your fingers through his hair the instant his hot mouth latches onto your sensitive skin. He sucks gently, careful not to leave any hickeys behind but still enough to make you crave him more.

“I really missed these boobs”, he growls hovering his lips over your erect nipple.

His breath is tickling you making you arch your back into his touch. He catches on finally taking your hardened nub between his teeth to bite down gently. You hum longingly, tightening the grip around his hair. It stings but the soft feeling of his tongue soothing it afterwards makes up for the initial pain.

His left hand abandons your breast to travel down to the waistband of your skirt. He doesn’t waste any time this time around, hooking his fingers in the waistband and pulling your skirt down. You can feel it rip again and you groan. Great, now it’s definitely ruined.

He sits up, the cold air hitting your wet nipple making you shiver.

“Fuck babe I haven’t even touched you yet and you are already soaked”, Hoseok chuckles his eyes staring at your soaked through panties.

“You can feel it too and not just stare at it”, you urge him on, wiggling your hips on his sheets. You are impatient you want to feel him touch you already.

He swallows, his adam’s apple bobbing up and down, before a smirk creeps up his face. He touches the inside of your thighs first, massaging your flesh. You hold your breath, watching his hand travel closer and closer to where you want him most, your legs opening up even more with every inch his hands creep closer to your core.

“I would love to”, he whispers, breathing heavily. His tongue comes darting out, licking over his slightly parted lips. “So fucking wet for me”, he growls before finally slipping his hands into your panties.

He cups your core, the palm of his hand pressing against your clit. Your breath hitches in your throat, your hips bucking up in reflex.

“Did you miss me that much babygirl?” he chuckles stroking the pad of his middle finger through your wet folds.

“Yeah”, you choke out rubbing your core against his flattened palm. It feels hot against your sensitive skin only adding to the pleasure the friction it is giving you. “Want to fuck you”, he mumbles, stroking his finger up and down your entrance.

“Then fucking do it already”, you tell him and he smirks.

He inserts his middle finger into you, earning a choked out moan from you. It still feels the same than you remember it to, long and perfect for stretching you out. He starts moving in and out of you, curling his finger every time it grazes over your g-spot. It is slower than you want him to go, the panties an annoying restriction for both you.

“Let’s get rid of them”, he growls hooking his finger in the waistband of your panties and pulling hard. You gasp, pressing your eyes shut and clenching your core around his finger. It burns at first, the material digging painfully into the side of your hip before it finally rips.

“Ah fuck”, you moan digging your fingernails into the side of his forearm. He smirks caressing the aching spot of skin with the tips of his fingers.

“Sorry”, he apologizes sarcastically, adding another finger and curling them both inside of you to make you forget about the pain.

It works, your legs spreading even wider and your hips bucking up from the mattress into his touch.

“’s okay”, you choke out letting your hands fall from his arms to grab the sheets instead.

You need to steady yourself somehow or else you would start spiralling into oblivion already. The added finger stretches you out painfully well, sending wave after wave of hot pleasure through your core. He still knows what he has to do to make you lose your mind, something you find out when the pad of his fingers graze over your g-spot with so much expertise it feels like he had never left you. Your mouth falls open, a long-drawn-out moan erupting from you.

“Holy shit do that again”, you pant letting your head roll to your side.

“That?” Hoseok asks curling his fingers again and scissoring them afterwards. Hot pleasure shoots from your core straight to your stomach and you nod.

“Yeah, oh god yeah”, you moan furrowing your brows.

You need to concentrate. It feels so good, you can already feel your orgasm approaching. You don’t want to cum yet and risk him punishing you for it. But as it seems Hoseok has other plans, pressing the palm of his hand flat to your clit adding a new sensation.

“Oh my god Hobi I’m so-“, you stop to take a deep breath forcing your eyes open. He is smirking down at you studying your pleasure contorted face with hungry eyes, “-so close”, you manage to finish before your eyes roll back into your skull again.

He had curled his fingers again, grazing over your swollen g-spot even harder than before. You are so wet you can hear it, your pussy squelching with every move he makes. Normally you hate hearing these kind of sounds but today they were the sweetest melody to your ears.

“Then cum I’m not stopping you babygirl”, he tells you pressing his hand onto your clit and curling his fingers at the same time.

The building pressure in your stomach is nothing like you had ever felt before, leaving you gasping for air. You feel like you might burst any second now, your walls spasming around his long digits drawing him in even deeper.

“Show me babygirl, show me what only I can do to you”, he growls curling his fingers once again.

“Oh god, oh god, oh god”, you sob, pressing your hands against your teary eyes.

You feel the knot in your stomach unclenching; your high taking over you with so much intensity it renders you speechless for good three seconds. Curse after curse leaves your mouth followed by high-pitched moans and the sudden, spurting escape of clear fluid from your core, draining both Hoseoks sheets and sweatpants. The force of your high is so intense it makes you shake for nearly a minute, your stomach convulsing with every wave of pleasure shooting through your body and your legs twitching uncontrollably.

“Fuck, stop, no more”, you sob when Hoseok doesn’t stop bumping his fingers into you and the pleasure had turned into pain. He curls his finger once more earning a choked out sob from you before pulling out of you.

“That was so hot”, he tells you caressing the skin of your hips.

You chuckle tiredly, still wiggling your hips on his now wet sheets. You feel empty now that his fingers are gone from your core, your pussy clenching around nothing, screaming to be filled again, to be stretched out and ruined again.

“I want more please”, you groan spreading your legs so he would get a good look at your swollen folds. His eyes snap to your core racing over your glistening folds. He licks his lips biting them afterwards.

“You sure you can go again?” he asks pressing the pad of his thumb against your sensitive clit. It stings and you whimper, your left leg shaking without you having control over it.

“Ah shit”, you moan moving your hips against the rough pad of his thumb despite the pain it causes. Soon it turns into pleasure, your pain-contorted face relaxing and your ragged breathing returning to normal. If he doesn’t fuck you soon, you are going to explode you are sure of it, “yes fuck me”, you choke out and his gaze turns dark.

“It would be my honour babygirl”, he chuckles, pulling his hands back to rid himself of his ruined sweats. They fall right next to your bra with a low thump and soon his briefs follow after.

Your eyes travel over his muscular thigh up to his hard cock. He is holding it between his long fingers, stroking it lazily, precum already dripping down making your mouth water. You are only now remembering how addicting he had always tasted and your tongue darts out between your lips to lick hungrily over them.

“Can I taste you?” you ask with a sultry voice biting your lower lip and looking him deep into his eyes.

His chest heaves up and down because of the deep breath he takes, the grip around his cock visibly tightening. New precum drips on his fingers spreading all over his length with every jerk of his hand. He would love to feel your swollen lips wrap around his head, feel you swallow around his length and cum down your throat, but the desire to fuck you is higher and he shakes his head.

“Another time babygirl”, he tells you caressing your cheek with the back of his hand and smiling down at you, “because I honestly can’t wait any longer. I need to fuck you already”, he adds whilst stroking a fallen strand of hair out of your eyes.

“O-okay”, you stutter, taken aback by his refusal. Normally he would have never said no to your mouth, but apparently he is needier than he lets you on.

You prop yourself onto your elbows, ready to flip over and get on all fours just like you had always done but his hand squeezing your shoulder stops you. You look at him confused studying his face.

“What are you doing?” he asks confusing you even more.

“Getting into position like always”, you tell him making him smile softly at you.

He pushes you back down onto the mattress, lying down on top of you afterwards.

“I want to look at you today”, he says staring deeply into your eyes.

The two of you just look at each other for a moment, both of you getting lost in the other’s eyes. Your heart flutters in your chest, the familiar warm, fuzzy feeling spreading all through your body. You had forgotten how beautiful he was up-close.

“Is that okay for you?” he whispers caressing your cheek.

“More than okay”, you whisper back cupping his face.

He smiles scooting closer to kiss you but accidentally grazing his dick against your wet folds. He shutters, the grip around your cheek tightening momentarily. It sends a shivering wave of want through your body, reminding you just how much you desired him right now.

“I really need to you to fuck me right now Hobi”, you growl scratching your fingernails over his flushed chest.

“Condom?” he asks pointing at the bedside table. Your eyes follow his finger now staring at the closed drawer.

“He is clean”, you tell him averting your gaze back to Hoseoks face.

You can see him clench his jaw at the reminder of your fiancé, but soon it relaxes again. He smiles.

“That’s nice. So you want to fuck without one or?” he asks, reaching between your bodies to take his length into his hand. He aligns himself with your entrance, touching it ever so lightly. It makes you tense up, your legs slightly closing in on him. Just because you know that you are clean doesn’t mean that you are going to be reckless enough as to trust him blindly. You open your mouth to scold him but his lips pressing against yours stops you. His kiss is quick, but enough to calm you down again.

“I didn’t have someone else in the meantime if that’s what you are worried about”, he says, kissing you once again longer this time.

Your heart stops for a beat in your chest, your eyes snapping open. You could have sworn that he would go out and found someone to take his mind off of you.

“You didn’t?” you gasp and you can’t help but feel guilty.

“Why should I? We didn’t break up in my head, so why should I go out and break your trust like that?” he mumbles against your lips shrugging his shoulders.

“Oh, okay well then”, you murmur fluttering your eyes shut and trying your hardest to swallow down the guilt rising in your chest.

He kisses you with so much passion your worries are soon replaced by nothing than the blissful feeling of thousands of butterflies fluttering in your stomach. His kiss turns hot rather quickly, every gentle bite and lick leaving nothing but desire behind and soon you are squirming underneath his pelvis again, rubbing your folds over his dripping head ever so often.

It is you who breaks the kiss, panting hard and staring at him with pleading eyes.

“Please?” you beg stroking your hands over his chest and torso. He lets his eyes travel from your face to where your bodies meet. You can hear him take a deep breath, one he releases shakily before he looks up at you again. He smiles, cupping your cheek with his free hand.

“Ready?” he asks teasing your entrance with the tip of his cock.

“I was ready ten minutes ago”, you retort, bucking your hips up in an attempt to finally feel him inside of you. He laughs, the movement of his chest making it rub against your hardened nipples.

“Forgive me for wanting to savour this”, he laughs, leaning down to kiss the tip of your nose.

“I’ll forgive you if you finally fuck me”, you tell him wrapping your legs around his buttocks urging him closer.

“Okay, okay”, he chuckles pressing one final kiss to your cheek before propping himself on his elbows to gaze into your eyes.

Despite the urgency burning in his eyes, his hips move slow, burying his length inside of you inch by inch. His breath quickens with every inch he is getting buried deeper inside of you, his mouth falling open. You sigh, the stretch feels amazing, your walls welcoming him hungrily. It feels like something that had been missing from you had finally returned, you feel whole again, your body melting into his where they meet. You reach down to cup his butt cheeks in your hands and force him to slam his hips into yours for the last two inches, too impatient to wait any longer. You want to feel complete again. He groans, his eyes rolling into the back of his skull and his elbows giving out underneath him. He crashes down on you, the momentum forcing the air out of your lung with a low groan, his hot skin sticking against yours.

“Fuck babe, oh fuck, wait, fuck okay wait”, he pants and you feel him tensing his butt cheeks.

“You okay?” you ask, moving your hips ever so slightly. He whimpers nearly inaudibly with every slow movement of your hips and spasm of your warm walls, his hands griping the edge of the pillow on either side of your head.  

“Yeah, yeah I am it’s just, fuck, I forgot how good that feels”, he croaks once he has found his voice again, forcing himself onto his elbows. His whole face is flushed red, his hair sticking to his sweaty forehead. “I nearly came already”, he chuckles his cheeks turning red, “that would have been embarrassing”, he adds making you giggle.

“I wouldn’t have blamed you”, you giggle combing his messy hair out of his face. He joins your childlike giggling lowering his head in bashfulness.

“Thank god”, he murmurs before finally starting to move rendering both of you speechless for a moment.

His movements are slow and long-drawn, enabling you to feel every inch of his length stroking against your walls. It’s addicting, new arousal shooting to your core making it even easier for him to move, the wet squelching sounds echoing sinfully through the small room. Hoseoks eyelids flutter shut, breathy moans leaving his parted lips. You watch him with hungry eyes, his pleasure-contorted expression only adding to your own desire for him. He looks so beautiful, yet so sinful with his flushed cheeks and messy hair.

“It feels so good”, he breathes burying his dick even deeper inside of you with a slow, precise snap of his hips. You moan quietly threading your fingers through his soft locks. He shutters lowering his head to press his forehead against yours. “So addicting”, he adds quickening his movements ever so slightly.

You feel better than he had remembered making his head spin. The last sex before your break-up had been nothing more than a rushed quickie before having to go to work. Hoseok hadn’t expected you to leave him, thinking that he would have enough opportunities to fuck you slow and passionate. A mistake, he had regretted ever since, he should have savoured it, should have worshipped your body more. Now he wants nothing more than to make up for it, wants to relish in the feeling of your hot walls squeezing around his throbbing length.

He opens his eyes to look at you, drinking in every little inch of your features. The way your eyebrows furrow together every time the tip of his dick grazes over your g-spot, the way your lips glisten in the orange light of the setting sun shining through his window and the way your eyelashes flutter against your blushing cheeks. His heart flutters in his chest, the three little words are burning on the tip of his tongue, oh how he wants to say them to you right now.

“Y/N”, he moans, your name like honey on his tongue and you open your eyes slowly.

You smile sweetly, your lust filled eyes staring into his’ with dilated pupils.

“Hobi you feel so good”, you breathe never once breaking the eye contact. You pull on his locks gently, earning a low groan from him, “I need more please”, you plead squeezing your pelvic muscles, the feeling of his dick grazing your walls intensifying. Another groan falls from his lips, his movements faltering for a moment before picking up in speed.

“Whatever you want”, he stutters out between heavy breaths. He props himself onto his elbows, staring down at you with furrowed eyebrows before finally fucking into you like an animal in heat.

The sound of skin slapping against skin starts ringing through his room mixing with the sinful sounds of pleasure leaving both of your parted lips. The Hoseok you had known is back, drilling into your dripping pussy without mercy. You clutch onto his arms, the feeling of his muscles flexing making you crave more and you sink your fingernails into his soft skin. He groans in pleasure, letting you know how much he enjoyed your little manhandling by snapping his hips into yours with so much force you come bouncing off the mattress.

“Ah fuck”, you cry blinking away the tears which his rough movement had caused to form in the corner of your eyes.

“You are so good to me Y/N”, he pants reaching behind your back to hug you tightly against his body. His loving gesture confuses you at first, your eyes snapping open to glance at him sideways. But his movements never stop, the change of angel enabling him to go even deeper than before, the tip of his cock stroking over your g-spot whilst his pubic bone rubs over your clit with every thrust, sending wave after wave of hot pleasure through your body. You wrap your arms around his neck pulling him closer, resting your head on his shoulder and wrapping your legs around his buttocks to keep him close.

“Holy shit yes”, you moan clawing at his shoulders leaving red marks behind. “Feels so good”, you add nuzzling your face in the crook of his neck.

“You are so tight babygirl”, he pants tightening the grip around your body and speeding up his thrusts. It’s hot, your whole body burning underneath him and your head spinning endlessly. Your body feels like it is going to burst any second now, your legs already shaking uncontrollably and high-pitched screams of pleasure leaving your lips.

“That’s it babygirl clench around me, let go I’m here to catch you”, Hoseok urges you on intertwining his fingers with yours. He squeezes your hand kissing the crook of your neck. So close, you are so close, only a few more thrusts and you will fall over the edge.

“Tell me Y/N who do you belong to?” Hoseok growls into your ear, the urgency of his voice enough to finally bring you over the edge. Hot pleasure explodes from your core, spreading through the rest of your body in burning waves, your eyes rolling back into your skull.

“Ah, Hoseok!” you scream clawing at his back and you screaming his name is enough to bring him over the edge as well, his hips stuttering and his stomach clenching before hot spurts of his cum shoot into you, painting your walls.

“Ah shit, ah shit”, he moans, his voice high, burying his face in the crook of your neck and squeezing your hand rather painfully hard. His arms give up underneath him once he had been milked dry, his whole body collapsing onto yours.

It is hard to catch your breath with Hoseok lying on top of you, but you couldn’t care less, enjoying the feeling of his hot skin touching yours. He kisses your collarbone, breathing out loudly afterwards, his hot breath tickling the skin of your neck.

“That was the best sex I have ever had”, he whispers nuzzling the tip of his nose against your neck.

“It was”, you agree, playing with his messy hair.

He props himself up on his elbows before rolling from your body. You shiver, the loss of his body heat instantly making you feel cold. You wrap your arms around yourself, trying your hardest not to shake.

“Are you cold?” he asks with worry in his voice.

“Yeah, a lit-“, you start but he gives you no time to finish your sentence already wrapping his arms around your body to pull you into his chest.

“If you could raise your butt for only a second I could pull the blanket from underneath us”, Hoseok tells you. You follow trying your hardest to get as much body away from the mattress as possible. After some struggling and amused giggling the blanket is finally free now wrapped around both of your sweaty bodies.

“That’s better”, you breathe, snuggling your face into his chest.

“Much better”, he answers playing with your hair.

“I missed you Hobi”, you whisper and you can hear his heartbeat quicken in his chest.

“I-“, he takes a shaky breath, “I missed you too Y/N”, he murmurs pressing a longing kiss to the crown of your head.

You press a soft kiss to the skin of his chest before pushing yourself far enough away from his body to be able to prop yourself onto your elbows. He watches you with half-lidded eyes and a tired smile on his lips. You reach out to thread your fingers through his locks, his lips parting in response.

“You have grown your hair”, you say, brushing a strand of hair out of his face.

“Yeah I wanted to try something new”, he answers you letting his eyelids fall closed at the feeling of you playing with his hair.

“It really fits you, you look very handsome”, you tell him leaning down to press a gentle kiss to the tip of his nose.

He smiles, his cheeks puffing out and he opens his eyes, they are sparkling like a whole galaxy is shining behind them.

“Thank you”, he mumbles shyly, touching your hair afterwards, “but you changed your hairstyle too. Why did you dye it?”

“I wanted a change. I got bored of my natural hair colour”, you tell him shrugging your shoulders. Suddenly panic fills your stomach, “Do you not like it?” you gasp holding your breath.

His eyes grow big, a look of panic written on his features. He shakes his head furiously.

“What? No, of course I like it. You look very beautiful”, he assures you cupping your cheek and you smile.

“Thank you Hobi”, you giggle kissing the palm of his hand.

“You always look beautiful”, he whispers and your heart flutters in your chest. You lower your head giggling shyly.

“I-“, you begin before you decide that actions speak louder than words. You wrap your arms around his chest, resting your head on his shoulder and squeeze tightly afterwards, “thank you so much Hobi”, you whisper into his ear before pressing a gentle kiss to the shell. “for everything”, you add kissing his neck.

He hums painting mindless figures onto your back with the tips of his fingers.

“Don’t mention it”, he murmurs pulling you even closer to his body.

The both of you fall silent after that, the exhaustion finally overtaking your wasted bodies. You let your eyelids fall closed, listening to Hoseoks steady heartbeat in his chest. It calms you making you drift off to sleep further and further.

Hoseok soft voice calling out your name rips you back to the land of the awake and you hum quietly, speaking is far too exhausting right now. “Can you promise me that you won’t regret today when tomorrow comes?” he asks nervously and you hum again pressing a tired kiss to his skin.

“Promise”, you murmur with the last bit of strength your body could muster.

“Thank you”, he whispers squeezing you to his body and pressing a kiss to your head. You hum again and after that your mind goes blank, sleep finally taking over you.

Your bladder screaming at you to finally get emptied wakes you the next morning. You open your tired eyes before yawning loudly. It can still wait a few more minutes; it’s just too warm and comfortable right now. You sigh rolling onto your side to press your face into the soft pillow. Since when did your bed become this comfortable? You press your face even further into the pillow before breathing in. It doesn’t smell like you or like Yoongi. Still it smells familiar. Too familiar. You open your eyes to inspect the strange pillow, only to be greeted with a shirtless Hoseok standing in front of you and a tray of food in his hands.

“Good morning beautiful, I let you sleep in given the fact how exhausted you have been yesterday. I made you breakfast”, he greets you with a bright smile. You stare at the tray of food first, you can spot a cup of steaming coffee, a plate of scrambled eggs and two pieces of toast as well as a plate of apple wedges. Simple, but your favourite.

Normally you would have melted at the sweet gesture, but your stomach twists painfully at the realisation of where you are. Memories of yesterday come rushing in, the big fight with Yoongi, you rushing out of his studio with tears running down your cheeks, the heartache you had felt. You look up, inspecting Hoseoks face. You feel nauseous. So it wasn’t a weird dream you had, but reality. In your hurt clouded mind you had run to your ex only to end up sleeping with him. You sit up, but your head spins too much and you fall back down again.

“Are you okay?” Hoseok asks putting the tray of food onto the floor to touch your face. He studies your features for a few seconds looking worried. “You don’t seem hot. Do you want me to get something for you? ”, he mumbles caressing the skin of your cheek.

“Hoseok did we, did we sleep with each other?” your voice is barely above a whisper.

“Yeah, why?” he answers hesitantly.

You are sure that your heart had actually stopped for a good second.

“No, no, shit”, you say slapping his hand away and throwing the blanket off your body before jumping out of bed.

“No?” Hoseok asks sounding hurt. He steps back nearly knocking over the tray of food but stopping soon enough.

“I, I shouldn’t have done this. It wasn’t supposed to go like this”, you stutter searching for your clothes scattered on the couch.

“You don’t mean that right now. You promised me yesterday that you wouldn’t regret it”, he croaks his shoulder sagging.

“Well I do. That was a mistake, I never should have come here”, you spit, slipping into your blouse and buttoning it up with shaky fingers.

“Y/N”, Hoseok gasps the hurt obvious on his face. You stare at him, guilt instantly washing over you.

“I’m sorry Hoseok”, you dismiss him half-heartedly. You grab your skirt wanting to put it on, only to notice the big tear on the sides. You groan hiding your face in your hands, “Great. My skirt is all ruined because of you”, you spit throwing it at Hoseoks chest.

He catches it, clutching onto the material with all of his might. He studies your face for a moment before looking to the ground.

“Do you maybe want to borrow one of my sweats?” he asks with a tiny voice.

“That would be great actually”, you mumble avoiding his pained eyes.

“I’ll get them for you”, he whispers before turning around and rushing to his closet. He kneels down, rummaging through the bottommost drawer before pulling out some grey sweatpants. He stares at them the whole way back to you, his knuckles turning white from clutching them so tightly.

“Here they’ll fit you, they”, he sighs, “they always did”, he adds looking away.

It hurts you, seeing him in pain. But you need to stay strong right now, for Yoongis sake. It was a mistake coming here and you need to make Hoseok hate you so something like this will never happen again.

“Thank you”, you say with a cold voice ripping them out of his hands.

“Yeah, you don’t need to return them, you can throw them away if you want to I don’t care.”

“Sure I’ll do that”, it hurts forcing these words out of your mouth, especially when you see Hoseok tense up. His hands start shaking clasping the material of his pyjama bottoms.

You pull the sweats on, the feeling of the soft material hugging your legs all too familiar. You sigh, straightening up and fixing your messy hair afterwards.

“I’ll see myself out”, you tell him grabbing your purse from the couch.

Hoseok hums, his eyes still staring holes into the ground. You study him for a moment, contemplating if you should hug him and apologize for being so mean to him. But you decide against it, turning your back to him instead and walking out of the living room with regret in your heart.

He doesn’t follow you into the vestibule, nor does he answer you when you yell “goodbye”. You don’t blame him. You throw his front door closed, leaning against it afterwards.

Stupid. You are so stupid. Now you managed to make two men hate you. You groan, rubbing your aching temples. Why do you keep making mistake after mistake?

You run down the stairs, once your dizzy head allows you to. You need to get away from here before you decide to ring his bell and fall around his neck to tell him how sorry you were for saying these words to him. You had slept with Hoseok. Had cheated on Yoongi. You had promised him that you would never do that to him and you still broke that promise. And for that you deserve to hurt, deserve to have Hoseok hate you. You groan stopping at the corner of the pavement to look for an unoccupied taxi. You had promised him.

Soon a taxi stops at your side and you jump in, telling the driver your address afterwards.

But still the sex had been great, being with Hoseok felt great, being able to feel his touch again was great. You shake your head, trying to rid yourself of these thoughts. No you shouldn’t think positively of this, it was still wrong of you to do. However, it wouldn’t be cheating if Yoongi never finds out about it. You could maybe keep it a secret and act like nothing had happened. The thought scares you and you want to push it away, but no matter how hard you try it stays anchored in your mind. What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him. Right?

Soon the taxi stops at your apartment and you pay the driver with a friendly smile. You jump out of the car breathing in the fresh morning air. Yes, you will call Hoseok later and apologize for treating him so unfairly and then you keep yesterday night a secret from Yoongi. He doesn’t need to know about it and everything can continue as always. You nod, weirdly calm and happy about your plan. You trot up your stairs, only now noticing how sore your legs felt. You still need to find some excuse for that.

You open the door, sighing loudly once you are in the safety of your home. You throw your high heels onto the floor, not really caring where they would land and hang the coat on an empty hanger. You shuffle down the wooden floors to the bathroom, stopping in your steps when you see a shadow sitting on your couch. You reverse your steps peeking at the living room area. Your eyes grow big, Yoongi is sitting on the couch with his arms crossed and a big frown on his face.

“Wow you startled me baby. I didn’t even hear you come in, since when are you here?”, you laugh nervously, stepping into the living room. His eyes fall on Hoseoks sweatpants hanging lowly on your hips and wander up to your messy hair.

“You were with him weren’t you?” Yoongi asks coldly. Your heart stops in your chest, your stomach twisting. Shit, shit, shit he wasn’t supposed to find out about it! Your heart begins to race, your throat constriction making it hard to breathe.

“Yoongi I-“, you whisper folding your hands in front of your crotch.

“No don’t try to find excuses. I understand, it’s okay. I hurt you I deserve this”, he assures you with a calm voice.

Your head snaps up to stare at him in utter disbelieve.

“What? No! Don’t say stuff like that! You don’t deserve this”, you say shaking your head.

“So it’s true?” he asks rising from the couch to walk to you. He looks at you, his eyes sparkling with childish hopefulness that you would say no.

“Yoongi I-“

“Just answer my question Y/N”, he interrupts you, his voice calm.

“Yes, yes I was”, you blurt out and you can see his eyes turn lifeless.

“Okay”, he says, his voice cold. He leaves the living room making you run after him.

“Say something please”, you plead, watching him kneel down to put his shoes on. He stands up sighing before putting his leather jacket over his shoulder.

“There isn’t much to say here Y/N. I understand he was your boyfriend for five years. It was unavoidable that you would have a fall-back. I would have just preferred it, if you would have had it whilst not being with me”, he states, his voice calm the frown on his lips the only indicator that he was hurting. Tears shoot straight to your eyes, your heart shattering in your chest.

“Yoongi I’m so sorry”, you sob, taking his hand to squeeze it.

“Sure you are. Contact me again if you actually mean it”, he scoffs ripping his hand out of your grasp to open the front door.

“Yoongi don’t go please I’m so sorry”, you plead trying to grab for his arm. He jerks back, obviously not wanting to be touched right now. He sends you a glare so cold you feel yourself shiver.

“Bye Y/N”, he says, his back already turned to you before he closes the door behind him, leaving you and your sobs alone.

[engekihaikyuu]

The Tokyo Battle - Review

So after seeing the show three times, I have a lot of other moments I wanted to share with people whether they ask about it or not; things I remembered better, things that changed from night to night, things I realized on a second or third watch...

Check out the Read More if you’d like to see!

Bokuto and Akaashi on the sidelines When Bokuto and Akaashi are watching the Nekoma vs Nohebi match, they are usually next to Akane and Alisa and Bokuto chats with Akane a lot since she knows so much and is narrating the match for Alisa basically.  Akaashi is also making astute observations as he watches, making particular note of Kenma’s moves and decisions as a setter.  At one point, Akaashi describes Nohebi as a very difficult team to play against, but also more “clever” than he expected.  He says it in English クレバー, so Bokuto is sort of ??? about it, but then tries to use the word later, like a kid testing a new word he’s learned.  Later, as Kuroo is picking up the slack after Yaku’s injury, Bokuto describes Kuroo as a rather clever player himself, and then he turns to Akaashi to see if he’s used the word right, and Akaashi puts up a quiet thumbs up.  Later he uses it again but not quite the right way, so Akaashi makes a little X with his fingers.  Bokuto’s also usually trying to get Akaashi to cheer and dance and grabs his arms and waves them over his head and Akaashi just kind of limply goes along lol.  

Nyaa I don’t really think Nekoma’s ever said or used “nyaa” before this show, but they basically went 120% on the cat imagery this time, and there are now even songs with “nyaa” in them.  One of my favorite ‘nyaa’ moments was when Bokuto was aiming for a service ace and Kai picked it up no problem, so Bokuto was like, “Damn it!  That was supposed to be a service ace!!” And Kai just smiles his bright, kind smile, then takes a bow (the kind where one hand goes out to the side and the other hand goes to his heart) and just goes, “Nyaa~” 

Oops The first blooper/mistake I saw in three shows was (perhaps unsurprisingly) Shouri.  It was a little one, he’s definitely had worse bloopers that I’ve seen.  It was the part where Nekoma decided they would all work really hard to try and block Bokuto, so they were basically all doing these tumbling passes across the stage and then stopping at the edge of the spinning circle and shutting Bokuto in.  Shouri fumbles his tumbling pass at the end and ends up just kind of falling on his butt and sliding into place.  And since they go pretty quickly, boom boom boom, between the passes, the spotlight was off him fast enough. They’ll probably splice the footage for the DVD release so that that’s not in there (since they like to use predominantly footage from the final show).   

Russian? At one point when Lev gets depressed because of all his mistakes, Kenma offers him a water bottle and then speaks to him IN RUSSIAN telling him not to get depressed and to have more confidence.  They project the Japanese translation onto the back screen, and everyone else was just like, wait--what?? What is he saying??  But then FUKUNAGA steps forward and ALSO speaks Russian to Kenma basically being like, ‘That’s Kenma for you.’  Tora is then just like, “WHAT DID YOU SAY???!” and Kenma says that once their match is over, that Tora should ask Lev’s sister on a date.  Tora’s like, “What, in Russian?!  I can’t--I--wh--you--” and then when Lev comes over to bow and shout yoroshiku, Tora just screeches it in return lololol.   I feel like I read a fic once where Kenma can speak Russian to Lev and if that’s your headcanon, then Engeki delivered.  Also so can Fukunaga.   Shibayama closes out that bit by saying that they’ll definitely win, and then he pumps his little fist to the ceiling and goes, “да!” 

Chain-link fence One of the fun new props/set piece additions was something that looks like a chain link fence on the upper level in the back of the stage.  During the opening sequence, as the teams do their individual dances, Nohebi starts on the floor of the stage, Fukurodani starts at the upper level before they move to the floor, and Nekoma starts on the upper level, even further back, behind the chain-link fence.  They’re grabbing at the fence with the cat hands and chanting the “Connect, connect” before Kuroo and Kenma come out from behind the fence to both whip off their jackets and fling them over their backs in unison.  It’s very... music video aesthetic for that opening. 

Game Over The second act opens with this moment below.  The netting goes up, and Takato is standing there over the... bodies... of his Nekoma teammates.  

It’s not long before Kuroo, Bokuto, Akaashi, and Daishou walk onto the stage to take up those banners from around the stage, but I didn’t really realize it until my final showing that the only ones lying on the ground are Nekoma.  Since this is between the Fukurodani and Nohebi matches, I think it’s meant to be a sort of... “Game Over” imagery going on in Kenma’s head.  They’ve already lost once, and if they lose to Nohebi next, it’s game over for their team, they don’t get another chance.  It’s like Kenma’s imagining the worst case scenario in which they don’t make it through and it’s the end of this team.  

Favorite...? One of the gags that changed from show to show was in the third-years flashbacks.  So Yaku and Kuroo are arguing their opposite preferences.  Yaku likes short-haired girls, Kuroo likes long, Yaku likes meat, Kuroo likes fish, Yaku would go to the beach in the summer, Kuroo would go to the mountain, etc... and the last question that Kai asks them in the line-up is what changed every night.  I sort of missed it the first time I saw it; it must have been a regular question that was already in the manga so I didn’t take particular note of it.  The second time I watched it, Kai asked them for their favorite kind of ice.  I thought he meant ice cream flavor, but then Yaku took it a different way and said, “CUBED ICE!!” And Shouri got a little flustered and went, “The little ones!  Uhh... CRUSHED Ice!!!”  According to a friend; the afternoon show on the last day had Kai asking them for their favorite animal, and since Yaku screamed “CATS!” first, Kuroo replied with DEER.  But then during the final show in the evening, Kai asked the question again; favorite animal, and Kuroo jumped on it this time, going, “CATS!!!” And then Yaku got very obviously flustered and couldn’t come up with an answer right away, so then Kuroo starts taunting him and does a countdown going, “Answer?  Three!  Two!  One!  Dogs!!”  And Yaku was just like, damn it, I got stuck with dogs.  

Fukunaga’s kanji writing corner At one point during the Fukurodani match, Bishin used a vocabulary word that they didn’t think he was smart enough to know, and he quickly followed with, “I can’t write the kanji tho...” and Fukunaga raises his hand and says that he can.  Akane immediately rushes over with a paper and pen and asks him to write it and they take a little bit of time where that’s what Fukunaga does.  Usually Lev is the one who bends over and gets used as a table, but my friends also saw Kenma get used once, and in the final show they start with Lev but then switch to Kai lol.  The first time I saw it, Kenma goes toward the back of the stage (where Fukurodani are hiding out of sight behind the line of mirrors) and was just like, “I see you~” and during the final show, he stands close to everyone else and points at the live viewing camera toward center stage and went, “Oh look, there’s a camera.”  And they start breaking the fourth wall lol.  Tora always at one point goes, “WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A MATCH?!?!” but Fukunaga always has to finish writing the kanji before they move on lol.  

Connect During the regular shows, they always do the closing sequence of bows, we clap until the full cast comes out for a second bow, and then we continue to clap until Kuroo and Kenma come out by themselves for the last bow.  Every night that they did, they always closed it out by holding hands and bowing, then Takato raising up his arm so that Shouri can spin under it, then Takato kneels on the floor and waves his hands up to showcase Shouri as he takes his bow, and then he stands to take his own.  Watching Takato make everyone hold hands during the final show’s curtain call bow, it was only obvious to me THEN that the reason for holding hands was because of the “connect” theme that Nekoma has going on and before that I legit just accepted that, oh well, it’s Takato and Shouri, of course they’d hold hands and bow together.  

[alexswak]

From Castlevania to Boruto: Spencer Wan Interview

I myself had all sorts of questions after watching Castlevania, and seeing that Spencer Wan was so active on Twitter I thought I might try asking him, what resulted in a long interview. The scene he is best known for is the abstract black-lines-only part of the opening, but he had remarkable participations in many other known projects despite his young age. Other than Castlevania, where he animated, AD’ed and directed episodes even, he also worked on Boruto and Invader Zim among others. My notes are in bold. Conducted on behalf of AnimeTherapy and originally posted on their website.

 First tell me a bit about yourself and how you started with animation.

Spencer: You know, that might be the only question I wasn’t prepared to answer. I’m not great at talking about myself. Okay, I’m 25 years old and I’m from a small town in the Deep South. I got into animation after seeing Norio Matsumoto’s work on Naruto. I used to watch it with my friends in high school and I’d never seen anything like it before.  I’d intended to major in illustration when I got into college, but I ended up swapping to animation at the last second because I couldn’t get his work out of my head. I thought maybe I could learn how to make animation like that at school.

Where did you start your professional career and how?

Spencer: So after I dropped out of school I spent a year sort of just wandering around and doing very little with my life. I was having a hard time finding any sort of work, let alone artistic work. I ended up working in a tire shop for a while, actually. Dana Terrace was the one who dragged me out of that. She’s the creator of the show I’m working on now(The Owl House). I’d helped her with one of her student films when we were in school, and she was doing way better than me as a professional artist. She gave me a sort of a pep talk and told me about this animation studio called Animation Domination High Def that was looking for animators.

It's worth mentioning that there aren't very many studios in the United States that hire traditional(hand-drawn) animators anymore. We were even told in school not to pursue traditional animation as a career because those jobs didn't exist. Anyway, I applied the next day, they had me do an animation test, and few weeks later I moved across the country to work for them.

The work I did there was very different from the work people expect from me now. It was mostly parody cartoons, and we had to animate 2-3 scenes a day so it was hard to make anything look very good. It was a difficult job, and it wasn't what I wanted to be doing with animation, but it taught me how to draw very fast.

An interesting backstory, really. So you stuck with traditional animation because you wanted to create something like what Matsumoto makes?

Spencer: That's how I started anyway, but he was just my first exposure to this sort of animation. When I got older I came across the work of Yutaka Nakamura, Mitsuo Iso, Toshiyuki Inoue, etc. They're all incredible in different ways, but I could feel that they were also drawing on something similar. There's a sort of feeling I used to get looking at the work of a really talented Japanese animator, and I really wanted my work to illicit that same feeling.

It would've been a lot easier to change tracks to storyboarding or design. I had enough technical skill to do it, and there were many more opportunities available, but I stuck with traditional animation because I was chasing that feeling. I knew I couldn't be satisfied as an artist until I understood it.

Alright, now to more specific stuff. How did you get involved in Castlevania?

Spencer: Well after working at ADHD, I ended up moving away from LA because I couldn't find anyone who wanted to hire me for animation. I went back to my hometown and spent a year freelancing for scraps. I actually tried to go to Japan for work at one point, but my visa was rejected because I'm a college dropout. It was around this time that Sam(Samuel Deats), the future director of Castlevania, had been emailing me to try to get me to work for Powerhouse. Actually, I rejected him the first time and tried to get my visa through again…

Obviously that didn't work out, so I told Sam I'd changed my mind and I moved to Texas to work for Powerhouse. He'd been telling me the whole time about this awesome secret project the studio might acquire soon. I completely wrote him off because as a freelancer you hear that sort of thing all the time and it's never as good as it sounds. That project was Castlevania. It ended up getting greenlit after I'd been working at the studio for a couple months. Sam plucked me off the animation team to work on it and I started storyboarding on the first episode. It was actually my first time storyboarding, so naturally I was given the scene where the crowd gets attacked by an army of creatures in an elaborate gothic city.

I see. Then can you give me a quick overview of the workflow the staff followed while working on Castlevania? From finished storyboards to finished scenes. I'm interested in the workflow you followed since Castlevania is obviously not your run-of-the-mill project.

Spencer: *laughs* Well in season one it was a constantly changing process. Powerhouse had never handled a TV show before, and so we were sort of creating the process as the show went on. We didn't even manage to standardize our storyboarding process until episode 4. Our background team doubled as our incidental and prop design team, with one of the background artists serving as a part time storyboarder. Sam was the director, but he was also storyboarding and designing all the main characters. His brother Adam, who's meant to be supervising compositor, became our editor. It was all over the place, but it allowed for a lot of experimentation. That's how I came to animate on the show instead of just storyboarding.

I'm getting kind of off topic though- the way it would usually work is that we'd receive an approved script and we'd have a few weeks to storyboard it. We didn't have any revisionists working with us, so if there was a problem, we'd address it ourselves and then Adam would cut together an animatic and add sound. It's worth mentioning that we didn't have any voice acting to work with in season 1, so we sort of had to guess at how the actors would read their lines.

After the animatic was approved we would ship it along with the designs and key backgrounds to MUA Film, our outsourcing studio in Korea. And then in some specific instances we would leave a note telling them to exclude a sequence, because Sam or I had planned to animate it ourselves. After storyboarding was done I jumped right onto animation. We were working with a pencil and paper animation studio, so even though I work digitally, I would have to write x-sheets(equivalent to time sheets in anime) for my work as if I'd drawn it on paper. At some point in the process we decided we wanted to do a much more specific compositing job on the show, and so we had the studio ship us back their cleaned and colored animation, and our in house compositing team would polish it with a mountain of after effects work. A lot of why the show looks so cinematic is because of them.

So I take it this is how it went with the average scene. But your scene in the OP, that got a lot of attention, is clearly exceptional. Can you tell me more about how you came up with this style and scene? Personally I have to admit, it’s one of the best and most striking animation pieces I have seen in a while.

Spencer: Thanks! We really slaved over that opening. It actually wasn't meant to exist- there was no time or budget set aside for it. Sam had done the storyboards for it in his free time and pitched them to the producers. They said we could do it if we could somehow find time for it. I think Sam originally intended to handle the entire thing himself, but when the time came to animate it, I was the only one available. So Sam pulled me into his office and showed me the storyboards, specifically the part at the end. He said something to the effect of, "I know I want this to look like fire. You can do it in whatever style you come up with, as long as it's done quickly." Never in my career had someone put so much trust in me. A lot of people like to compare the sequence to the music video for Take On Me, but when I was trying to come up with the style, the first thing that came to mind was one of Yutaka Nakamura's animations. It's from an anime I watched in high school called Soul Eater where the character goes to draw his sword, and the entire scene turns into this abstract looking sort of river of pencil lines on a red background(this scene). I thought maybe I could do something similar to that. It took me about an hour to realize I couldn't do it the same way, and my imitation of it was coming out far too abstract to tell what was going on. I ended up doing another pass on it, but instead of trying to copy Nakamura's abstract linework, I tightened up the drawings focused on the shadows. I thought I could try to mimic the look of how light shifts around on an ember, and that's where I got the shadows that constantly roll across the characters. The finished result still bears a lot of his influence, but I think I managed to put my own spin on it.

I remember that Soul Eater scene! Now that you mention it, I can definitely see similarities. But the Take on Me? Not really. How much time did you spend on that scene, if I may ask?

Spencer: It was something like two weeks? I don't remember that well anymore. I worked entirely through the last four nights, so it felt longer than that. I remember losing an hour to daylight savings time, and that put me in a really foul mood.

I've never mentioned this before, but it's unfinished. I ran out of time in the end, and so the part with Trevor and Sypha is just my rough first pass. I was devastated when we shipped it that way. At the time I considered it to be my biggest failure as an artist. Ironically it's the piece of work I'm known best for now.

Sypha's scene in the 2nd season is also yours right? Glad to see the same style made it into the show.

Spencer: Adam had wanted to have it in the show for a while, and I really didn’t want to do it. I was so upset about the opening before it aired that I swore I would never draw in that style again. But then the opportunity presented itself and I thought, “Well I guess it would only be for a second or so”. I felt the second time I did it it was a lot less inspired though.

Can't complain myself, it was pretty cool.

Spencer: Well I had more experience the second time *laughs*. I didn’t have to feel around for what the style was.

So moving on. The problem with your Alucard fight scene, that you had problems translating your digital motion guides into paper, you said that also happened for the Cyclops sequences. How widespread was this problem then? Did it only affect your work or the work of other animators as well?

Spencer: It would only affect animations that had large camera movements, that we sent overseas for clean up. It was a problem born from the fact that we don’t really do paper animation in America anymore.

When the camera moves around a lot, the field has to get bigger. You have to use something called panning paper in order for the drawings to maintain a proper size for clean up. But there was no one that I could learn that from. I had to teach everything to myself, and so my first instinct was to make the drawings smaller to fit them on the page. The clean up artists overseas fixed this by scaling the drawings up, but then they had to recreate my spacing from scratch and they didn’t have enough time to do it the same way. The result was that drawings would pop anywhere from a few pixels to a few millimeters out of position all the time. Adam ended up respacing everything, but it wasn’t a perfect match to the original, so drawings tend to pop around. Most people don’t notice it though.

Actually I’ve had a similar issue with other productions where if my spacing gets too tight, there’s a chance a drawing could pop out of place too. I’m still learning how to solve some of those problems.

I see! Shame you found yourself in this situation, but this is a nice segue to another traditional project I want to ask you about, Boruto. You worked on Boruto a few months ago, episode #65 specifically. How did you get involved in this project? You were an interesting case because you are not affiliated with studio LAN like most of other foreign animators in that episode, as far as I know at least.

Spencer Wan: *laughs* I could see why it seemed a little out of nowhere. It's because Chengxi and I had already been talking on twitter for a while. I consider him a close friend. He asked me to animate for him and I agreed. It was as simple as that.

Looking at your original work and the final version in Boruto, I see that it went mostly uncorrected. Why is that? Were you just given a lot of freedom in that episode? Because of Chengxi and your aforementioned good relation with him?

Spencer: Oh, it was nothing like that. I was a lot more concerned with doing the work properly than trying to stand out or show off. Chengxi's storyboards and the model sheets for Boruto were very clear. I followed them to the best of my ability, and my work ended up going uncorrected aside from a light fill being added. I should've anticipated the need for that light fill, actually. I wasn't thinking about how it would look in color.

Boruto is more of a traditional animation(paper) show, right? Didn't you have problems with that this time?  I'm not too knowledgeable when it comes to Boruto specifically, so I don't know how much of its production is digitalized.

Spencer: The process was actually very similar to what I used on Castlevania, only this time there was no complicated camera movement to worry about, and I had Chengxi to help me with parts of the paper process that I didn't fully grasp yet. Some of the other foreign animators helped me out too- namely Guzzu. It was my first time not having to figure it all out on my own, and I was really grateful for that. I feel I learned a lot.

You are right, the nature of this scene is different. I thought maybe it was the Japanese industry being more used to this dual nature of digital and paper. So generally working on Boruto, although a Japanese show, wasn’t different from Castlevania and other shows you worked on before?

Spencer: There are differences in style when it comes to x-sheets. For example, the Korean x-sheets I've written list the layer order completely backward from the Japanese ones used on Boruto. Americans will write "truck out" when they want the camera to pull out, but the Japanese shorthand is apparently T.B for "track back" instead. It's a lot of differences like that, but the idea behind them is mostly the same. It was an adjustment, but not a very big one, and I was told I did an alright job writing them... I hope they weren't just being nice.

I was just watching Castlevania and now that you mentioned him, Chengxi did some animation! Also others such as Hero. Were you the one who invited them this time?

Spencer: I was the one who invited Chengxi. Sam invited the others after I’d left the production.

And you inviting Chengxi and working on #7 was after boruto, I suppose?

Spencer: Actually it was beforehand! He had to cut his work short to start working on Boruto. He did such a brilliant job regardless. That guy is a genius.

Aha, interesting. That was the last of my questions, I'm very grateful for the chance you gave me and for your amazing, detailed answers!

Spencer: No problem! I hope my answers weren’t too boring. That technical stuff can get dense.

[recentanimenews]

Comedy is a Crime in Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues

  As both the summer and another anime season come to a close, here at “Cruising the Crunchy-Catalog”, our minds turn from thoughts of play to thoughts of work. Of course, our work here is also watching anime, and we'd like to close out the “Summer 2018 Revival”—a look back at some of the titles that made last year's Summer anime season special—with a series that's brimming with professionalism.

  That's why this week, we're focusing our laser-like gaze on a series about doing your best even in the strangest of situations, regardless of little things like ethics, morals, or laws. Hurray, capitalism! Hurray, crimes! We're talking about Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues.

    What's Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues?

  Based on the manga written by Tensei Hagiwara and illustrated by Tomohiro Hashimoto and Tomoki Miyoshi, Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues is a Summer 2018 TV anime with direction by Keiichiro Kawaguchi and animation production by MADHOUSE. Crunchyroll describes the series as follows:

  An executive at the Teiai Group, Tonegawa Yukio, is ordered by the company president Hyodo Kazutaka to plan out death games for debtors. Awaiting Tonegawa at these planning meetings are ordeals, agony, and despair! The demonic spinoff about the anguish inflicted on Tonegawa by the president and the company suits is now getting an anime adaptation!

  Serving as both a prequel and a spin-off to Kaiji, the gambling manga and TV anime created by Nobuyuki Fukumoto, Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues plays fast and loose with the genre, swapping in situational office comedy in place of psychological suspense.

    The Elephant (Debtor) in the Room

  With such a drastic change in format, the million dollar question becomes: do I need to watch all of Kaiji in order to get the jokes in Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues? The answer, dear readers, is no. Much like its titular anti-hero, Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues stands on its own two feet in terms of bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan with regards to humor.

  If you are nominally familiar with Kaiji, Akagi, and the rest of Nobuyuki Fukumoto's gambling manga ouvre, the jokes in Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues take on a deeper, more satisfying texture, but it's not a requirement to enjoy the show. In fact, even though voice actor Masato Hagiwara reprises his role as Kaiji Ito for this series, he doesn't have any significant lines. This is a Tonegawa vehicle, through and through.

    Another Normal Day at the Office

  The central conceit in Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues is about the banality of evil, i.e. the idea that being a cartoon super-villain can be just as monotonous, bureaucratic, and soul-crushingly dull as any typical white collar job. For Kaiji and his fellow debtors, events such as Restricted Rock Paper Scissors and the Steel Beam Crossing of Despair are a harrowing, once-in-a-life time horror, but to the men in black of the Teiai Group, they're just another Tuesday.

  Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues spins comedy gold out of Tonegawa's attempts to motivate his team of faceless goons and to appease the increasingly insane demands of his tyrannical boss, Hyoudou Kazutaka. That the heinous misdeeds of a criminal syndicate are so funny and relatable is a testament to the talents of the show's creators.

    Hidden Humor

  Although it generally lets the audience in on the joke, Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues also has gags that are hidden in plain sight. For example, Jay Kabira does an outstanding job providing a counterpoint to the famously dramatic style of narration in Kaiji, with the joke being that his overwrought delivery is invariably referring to something extraordinarily ordinary, such as a Power Point presentation, a Twitter post, or a mid-day meal.

  One of the cleverest hidden gags involves involves the “Zawa Voices”. In Fukumoto's work, the sound effect “Zawa Zawa!” represents the sound of a human psyche straining under intense emotional pressure, a sort of anxiety made verbal. Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues employs nearly a dozen voice actors as “Zawa Voices” to recreate this iconic sound effect, including Kana Hanazawa, Shiori Izawa, Ari Ozawa, and Masako Nozawa.

  That's a pretty deep cut there, folks.

    Hang in There, Tonegawa

  Crunchyroll currently streams Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues in some 205 territories worldwide, and the series is available in the original Japanese language with subtitles in English, Spanish, Latin American Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Italian, German, and Russian. If you want more Tonegawa in your life, a Bluray release is coming from Sentai Filmworks on October 15, 2019, and the home video version also includes an English dub.

  Both deadpan and grotesquely exaggerated, Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues is sure to appeal to any anime fan that's ever had to put their nose to the 9-to-5 corporate grindstone. If you're in the mood for an office comedy about bad people trying their very best, and if the series is available in your area, then please consider giving Mr. TONEGAWA Middle Management Blues.

    Thank you for joining us for this final installment of the Summer 2018 Revival. Be sure to tune in next time when we kick off a look back at the autumn anime season of one year ago with the first episode of the Fall 2018 Review, in which we'll get into the Halloween spirit with a story of spooky, scary skeletons... working at a busy Japanese bookstore?

Is there a series in Crunchyroll's catalog that you think needs some more love and attention? Please send in your suggestions via e-mail to cruisingcrunchy@gmail.com or post a Tweet to @gooberzilla. Your pick could inspire the next installment of “Cruising the Crunchy-Catalog”!

    ---------

Paul Chapman is the host of The Greatest Movie EVER! Podcast and GME! Anime Fun Time.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[atleastputinsomeeffortinuroc]

Rant/Review: Ready Player One --aka-- Just Watch Wrinkle in Time Instead...

I don’t usually hate movies. 

I know that seems backwards considering that this blog is me complaining and ranting incoherently about movies I don’t like, but very few movies leave me seething. Even all of the Detective Conan movies, which are mostly terrible pieces of garbage, I don’t necessarily hate. Red Crimson Letters is a terrible waste of time and energy, but I wasn’t insulted or felt talked down to. It was just a really bad movie I wanted to talk about.

In my life, there have only been three movies who have truly enraged me. “Batman v Superman,” “Joy,” and “War for the Planet of the Apes.” 

Objectively, there are aspects that are genuinely good in all of them and are definitely better than I probably give them credit for...but I doubt it, but they just flare up an anger in me for one reason or another. They’re permanently on my “fuck that movie” list. And now…now there’s another entrant to that prestigious list.

Ready Player One.

My GOD. THIS was the book everyone’s been talking about? THIS is supposed to be the fucking bible of pop culture?! THIS MOVIE?! THE ONE THAT UNIRONICALLY HAS THE PHRASE SPOKEN BY HUMAN VOCAL CHORDS “FANBOYS ALWAYS KNOW A HATER?!!” ARE YOU GUYS--…ok. Ok, I need to calm down. 

There are several, several, SEVERAL parts about this movie that don’t work, and I could go into a lot of the problems, but instead I’m going to try to talk about three aspects of the film. And for the sake of me not swearing up and down, we’re not going to talk about that godawful dialogue. Just know that it sucks.)

1) The ham-fisted arc

2) The protagonist and his trophy waifu

3) References over content

There are spoilers ahead, and I’m going to write this with the assumption that you’ve already seen the movie. If you haven’t, you’ve been warned. Anywho, let’s get started. Put on some “a-ha,” break your nostalgia goggles and join me as we go down this road where I collectively shit over Spielberg’s attempt to adapt a supposed “beloved classic.” (CAN YOU TELL I’M MAD?!)

1)     The arc

Here’s the thing with arcs in narratives, and more specifically films. 

They need to feel earned. 

Your central character has gone through a life-altering change or point of view since the beginning of the film due to the adventures and trials had throughout the film. Good examples include “Mad Max: Fury Road” where Max finally lets others into his life and sees the value in not going through life alone as described by the part where he donates his own blood and tells Furiosa his name. Another good example is actually from the Oscar nominee Spielberg had LITERALLY LAST YEAR, “The Post.” In it, Kay Graham finally put her foot down and shows authority by stepping out of her comfort zone to release the Pentagon Papers—damn what the powers that be say. This is important to any narrative because it shows the flaws of your characters through their insecurities and hesitations to make them human rather than movie characters. Even if you have paragon characters like Superman, Wonder Woman, or Batman, they still have to overcome some kind of personal issue that is keeping them from achieving what they’ve wanted.

Now, if you look over to the main character, you can see that his arc was…what is it that was his arc? 

He’s…he’s the same at the beginning as he was at the end. 

“OH BUT HE HAS A PENTHOUSE AT THE END,” yeah that’s not a change. One could argue that the (even though the catalyst for change has no fucking relation to it) arc is about unplugging and enjoying the real world. The bits at the end with Easter Egg man where he starts going on and on and on about how he missed reality or something, and the VERY BRIEF bits at the beginning where you see people all over the VR systems, one of which is the mother neglecting a fire in the house and one where an Asian man almost commits suicide after losing all of his stuff in the game (it’s played for comedy, so THAT’S also pretty fun, because it’s not like Japanese suicide rates are a serious issue or anything OH WAIT.) So it’s about being close to reality and unplugging. Ok. Coolio.

But here’s the thing, similar to “War for the Planet of the Apes”…YOU HAVEN’T EARNED IT. There are brief moments where it kind of alludes to it (see the middle challenge with ‘oh yes, I should have kissed the girl during the Shining’ and the small bit at the middle where the main two are sitting there and the main dude has ONE HALF-ASSED LINE about how “it’s nice here. It’s slower,”) but that’s IT. It doesn’t actually give you a reason to think that staying in the Oasis and avoiding reality is a BAD thing. Sure you have abusive father obsessed with getting high scores but he’s just one dimensional asshole dad who dies and you don’t give a shit about it one second later after his parental figures are killed. 

There are no real CONSEQUENCES to spending too much time in the Oasis, it’s just because he’s good at the game. And if there are, they sure as hell aren’t focused on in favor of mindless spectacle (which looks REALLY BAD by the way. I know it’s supposed to look fake because video game, but do the main characters have to use the ugliest models in existence?!) As such, the ending and central arc of learning is lost.

So what’s the arc? Well…there is none. Nothing is really learned, nothing is really gained that MATTERS aside from the keys to Willy Wonka’s goddamn chocolate factory. 

Z or Perzival or Wade or generic-white-gamer-boy learns all of fucking NOTHING by the end. (As such, it makes the ending where he says “EVERYONE HAS TO BE OFF ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS” come off as BULLshit.)

But no, this is clearly the Spielberg classic. It’s not like Indiana Jones learned anything in the Last Crusade as a character only he totally fucking DID, HE LEARNED TO RESPECT AND LOVE HIS FATHER WHO HE PREVIOUSLY DESPISED AND THE IMPORTANCE OF—sorry. Sorry I’m getting a bit mad again.

Anywho, due to a lack of a real arc, it makes you think that the entire fucking plot was pointless. It was just inevitable that the good guy win because…well he’s the main character. He doesn’t say anything about anything but is instead dumb fluff, which would be fine…but here’s the thing. It also affects the main characters. And it affects them HARD.

2)     Tweedledee and Tweedledumbass

The two main characters have no personality or character due to this lack of an arc.

The main man, Wade, his personality is…what exactly? He’s just generic hero-boy who is obsessed with the 80s. “He’s like a regular Star-Lord!” I hear you say, only he totally fucking isn’t. Starlord has baggage, has character has points and instances that stretch BEYOND just quoting 80’s movie and saying the actual phrase that a screenwriter actually wrote down and didn’t immediately delete that went “FANBOYS ALWAYS KNOW A HATER” NO I AM NOT OVER IT.

...Point is, the references don’t make Star-Lord who he is, it’s the character of Peter Quill himself. Cocky, brash, and in many ways, a child running from his past. 

As for Wade, he’s got nothing. I’ve looked over this sometimes, depending on the writing or the situation, so maybe it wouldn’t bother me so much, but the actor who plays him isn’t doing a good job. I know I don’t talk about acting a lot, but the man…the man is just whining through his lines. He comes off as insufferable with his needless 80’s knowledge that I was genuinely rooting for the one-dimensional villain to kill that fucking brat.

Then we have Artemis or Samantha or Sam or its-the-pixie-cut-rebel-chick.  

There are several scenes that are etched into my brain now (including a FUCKING NUT-SHOT AND A PASSWORD FOR A HUMAN ADULT THAT IS “B055MAN69.” IN A SPIELBERG MOVIE. THE MAN WHO MADE INDIANA JONES AND SCHINDLER’S LIST.), but one of the big ones is the final image of the film in which the main character in his 80’s man-boy cave spins around with his beautiful woman sitting in his lap as they suck face as the line “reality is pretty awesome anyway” or something like that. Aside from the main character not earning that statement as previously stated…fucking let’s look at it for what it is.

The man just won a real-life walking-talking waifu. A trophy wife that he wins at the end of the game.

She’s what probably made me see through the movie the most honestly. She makes this big fucking deal about “oh, but I’m not who you think I am on the outside, I’m not pretty” and then when you go outside to the real world, of course she’s the fucking gorgeous Hollywood white girl—she just has a goddamn birthmark on her eye to be her “blemish.”

“Oh but she’s insecure about it,” I hear you say--I’m sorry, but you mean to tell me NOBODY told her she’s fine and beautiful with the eye-mark BEFORE Wade? You mean to tell me she’s insecure, but not insecure enough to feel the need to buy fucking MAKE-UP!? I’m not saying that she needs it, I’m saying that the character’s central flaw is the WEAKEST FUCKIN FLAW I HAVE EVER SEEN. YOU WANNA CHANGE THE GAME, QUASIMODO THAT SHIT. 

THEN, and this part was just fucking HILARIOUS to me, she mentions about how the ioi company fucking KILLED HER FATHER in a workshop and she has to stop him for revenge…and then it’s totally dropped. Like it’s never mentioned by the end. At all. She chucks a grenade into Mechagodzilla to kill the bossman but fuck me if it ain’t satisfying and adds physically NOTHING to her character.

Her character exists for one purpose. She is the love interest who sets the main character off on his journey. Nothing more. And I say that, because SHE’S THE CATALYST FOR HIM FINDING THE FIRST KEY. She tells him something that reminds him of something that solves the puzzle. And what’s more, I am willing to bet that THAT’S the reason they kept her Hollywood pretty. Because you need to have an attractive romantic love interest to keep the audience pleased. 

Now apparently, she does more in the movie than she does in the book. And that’s great. That’s super. She’s the one breaking in to destroy the d20 of doom. Hell yeah I guess. But I also don’t care. You wanna know why? BECAUSE I AM NOT READING THE BOOK. Superficial changes that improve certain aspects doesn’t make the movie better than it is. It’s like polishing a fucking turd. Yeah, it’s nicer than what you had, but you are still making me hold this piece of dogshit.

They don’t have characters. They don’t have chemistry BECAUSE they don’t have characters. It’s a fucking wash.

3) Drowning in References

But now we talk about the big one. The big fucking thing that everyone and their mother is obsessing about this movie over. And the thing that has gotten me from not liking this movie to fucking DESPISING it.

The references.

To quote from people who will be seeing the movie in the theater *ahem*...

“OHMYGOD IS THAT TRACER?! OH AND IT’S HARLEY AND THE JOKER! OH! OH! OH! IRON GIANT! HALO! BORDERLANDS! BACK TO THE FUTURE! BATMAN—FUCKING IT’S THE BATMAN! THEY MENTIONED THRILLER! THAT’S PRINCE! STREET FIGHTER! MECHA-GODZILLA FIGHTING GUNDAM! MINECRAFT! NINJA TURTLES! FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH! STAR TREK! FIREFLY! THE SHINING! IT’S FUCKING CHUCKY!!!”

…Ok? So what?

Not to be a snob, but seriously—so what? Why does it matter?

Listen, I like crossovers too. I remember the Avengers and what a big goddamn deal it was, and how it made everyone’s jaw drop to the ground, and how in some ways, it still does. But whereas with those it felt organic, Ready Player One with its ninety thousand references felt…empty.

I’m going to bring out two comparisons to the table that do the same thing that Ready Player One did, “Who Framed Rodger Rabbit?” and “Wreck-It Ralph.” Both had pop-culture icons throughout them. One had all of the classic cartoons all spliced together—where you saw Daffy Duck and Donald Duck in the same shot having a dual piano-off. One of them had all of these video game characters that you loved and embraced since you were a kid, running around and hanging out ala “Toy Story.” These big names are all in the background, just like Ready Player One, but they’re clearly different in terms of execution. Why is that?

Well it’s because the movies weren’t reliant on them. Sure, Rodger Rabbit had fun moments with these big names, but if you took them out and animated totally new characters with similar personalities, what would you lose? Nothing. The plot is the same, the dynamics are the same, and it can still be seen as a salute to the classic animations from back in the day to also an allegory for the Jim Crowe era just as the book intentionally was. Same goes for Wreck-it Ralph, the character goes through a fundamental change that has him accepting who he is and how “there’s nobody else I’d rather be, than me” ALL THE WHILE paying respects to classic arcade video games.

The same can’t be said for Ready Player One. The instant you take away the pop-culture references, the movie loses its protective suit of armor to reveal it’s about…nothing. 

It is. 

Nothing. 

The generic quest, the generic corporate baddie, the generic love interest, the main character has nothing to say, and the conflict is revealed to be flat—nothing about it sticks out or makes an impression.

And if you fail to make an impression without a fucking suit pop-culture references then, well, if I may use a pop-culture quote myself...“If you’re nothing without the suit, then you shouldn’t have it.”

Plain and simple.

But then…there’s the one thing I can’t really debate. 

“It’s just fun though, right?”

Yeah sure. I’ll admit around that third act, even though it was long overdrawn, I had fun watching the violence and references I understood while they blasted “We’re Not Gonna Take It” in the background.

But y’know what? It was just about as enjoyable as seeing someone adapt a piece of shitty fanfiction, because both have one thing in common for everything that they do: It’s just there for fan service. If you make the statement “well the Oasis is cool,” then you’ve clearly missed the point because you don’t like the movie, you like it’s gimmick. And it’s gimmick exists—it’s called VR Chat.

Meanwhile, screenwriters of different backgrounds, ethnicities, genders and religions from everywhere across the world are actually putting EFFORT into their screenwriting and directing. And while their action scenes for their blockbuster idea may not be perfect, they at least tried and did something new with it.

I went to see “Wrinkle in Time” today after I’d seen Ready Player One yesterday, needing to see literally anything good. And yeah, it’s not perfect. It’s got some stilted dialogue and some questionable acting on nearly all fronts at points and the conflict can be about as cliched as you can imagine, but the visuals, the costume design—you could tell everyone cared and put a goddamn effort into everything put forth. It’s much more gorgeous than the downright UGLY CG that was in the Oasis world in Ready Player One, and I guarantee you nobody had the phrase “B055MAN69” anywhere. It didn’t pander to kids or guys who wanted to feel validated for knowing a couple references. It wanted to tell the story of fighting back evil and hatred by embracing love. It’s cheesy and sappy…but fuck me, if it didn’t try to say something while having fun.

But fuck that movie right? We have Iron Giant fighting Mechagodzilla. 

If you have that, then why bother putting in effort?

That’s what kills me. It’s lazy and people praise it because it just stuck pop-culture words in a fucking blender. Don’t call it innovative. Don’t call it original. Don’t call it anything than what it is.

80’s. Prepubescent. Fucking. Fanfiction.

You can love it and enjoy it if you want, I mean I don’t like not liking movies. It sucks. And in some aspects, I can see why you can if you turn your brain off but…I’m not gonna lie, to see this get away with murder insults me.

Listen, I love Spielberg. There is nobody I respect more in the business. His work in AI, and the reason why he did so to keep a dying friend’s vision alive will always keep him as one of my personal heroes but…sometimes you gotta call people out when they make shit. And I am.

I don’t care what anyone says, don’t see Ready Player One. Watch something worthwhile. Go to Netflix and watch “Stranger Things” if you’ve got that need for an 80′s kick, or hell--”Blade Runner 2049″ is a visual goddamn MARVEL. Go see “The Post” or “Jaws” if you want some good Spielberg. Just PLEASE! Go see something that isn’t just a bunch of references that almost feel as though it’s a remake of “ctrl+alt+del.” 

(Random aside, people have told me to read the original book...but if that fucking thing is ANYTHING like this movie, I’d rather BURN IT than let it get one inch into my house. So no, I’m not going to read the book even if there are claims that it’s “better.” (Even though I believe that it’s impossible to say a book is better than it’s adaptation or vice versa because it’s two different mediums and as such it’s hardly fair, but that’s a whole other thing.) Point is, I’ve never been more turned off to a book in my godddamned life and I ain’t gonna bother.)

[animatedaf]

It’s that time of year again, time to look over the last twelve months of creative productivity! This year was a very on-and-off one, with many months of next to nothing and a few months where I was super busy with animation work! Read on for full details on each month (with links to things in bold)!

January:

Started the year mainly keeping myself busy with gaming livestreams on my Twitch channel. Near the end of the month me and the rest of the Lucky Hit crew made the tough decision to retire the YouTube channel so we could focus on our individual Twitch channels. We did come back to the channel for the odd podcast and salt or hype stream throughout the year, along with some backups of gaming streams from Twitch. Lucky Hit was a massive part of my life for the last nine years but we all agreed it was time to move on.

Art wise I was commissioned by PCwrzd to make a set of emotes for his Dreamcastic Channel (7 made in Jan, with an extra 8th in Feb), one of which can even be bought on a t-shirt! I also started on a Dreamcast related experiment...

February:

Most of this month was gobbled up by a fan translation project for the game Bokomu no Tatsujin on the Dreamcast that I on a whim made a start on despite no real knowledge of Japanese! I mostly used translation sites and software to roughly figure how the text then put my own spin on the games quirky script. 

The game also has a lot of big cartoon font work so I decided to re-do these hand drawn! The first (and so far only) release on the project came out in March. This release has pretty much all the in-game text translated, only thing missing is subtitles for the cut scenes which tbh is a task far too big for lil’ ol’ me. Check out his article I wrote on the Dreamcast Junkyard about the process and I also talked about it on a YouTube video in October!

There were also more gaming streams throughout this month, with help from my newly acquired OSSC and GDEMU!

March:

I really got trapped in an artist block for most of this year up to this point. So after another month of mostly streaming games I decided to finally do another art stream and out popped this quick art based on early Fantasy Zone concept art! Soon after I finally did a full-colour illustration of Drillbot ViVi’s little sister ReV, an emote for my Spelunky streams and a Phantasy Star Online commission for PCwzrd!

April:

Despite that rebound into making art in the last week of March I almost immediately fell into another art block for most of this month! I made birthday card art for CherryT, doodled a new OC and did more game streams. That’s about it! Wheels were turning at the end of the month for something BIG, however!

May:

So May and June were quite possibly two of the busiest months in my working life! To start with I worked on an animated project called ‘Annabelle’s Journey’, with characters based on a child’s drawings with a simple scribbly style on top of photos of note paper. While only one out of eight chapters are available to watch publicly, this was the longest piece of animation I have ever worked on, clocking in at 7 minutes and 20 seconds, with only one month to work on it!

To make matters worse at the very same time lockdown ended and I returned to my cinema job with half of our staff quit, meaning I had to somehow juggle the animation and lots of shifts! It was a rough time with very little sleep, but the animated short was really fun and one of my proudest projects!

June:

Previously unseen concept art for the ‘Not on your telly’ intro.

With the money from the Annabelle project I finally upgraded from my old Wacom Intuos 4 to a XP-Pen 15.6″ Pro....a tablet with a screen on it! I was expecting a steep learning curve but I was surprised how quickly I got used to it, which is just as well as another animation project with a short deadline landed on my lap: an intro to a online variety show called Not On Your Telly! This was a mix of doodly drawn bodies and photo based heads lip synced to lyrics. It’s only 28 seconds but I also had about a week to make it! 

I also made a new animation showreel, because...well *points at the above two months*

July:

Boy did I need a break from drawing after all that! So outside of a Worms commission for PCwzrd I did exactly that and just did game livestreams throughout July!

August:

This month was very, very busy at work so most of my spare time was spent resting off. I made time for a couple game livestreams including a seven hour one about SAGExpo 2021.

September:

A pretty active month when it comes to drawing...for myself for a change! This included five character pieces celebrating the release of the new Wario Ware, a fan art of Amy Rose (been yonks!) and an illustration of ViVi and Rev together. I also spent an absurd amount of time making this page of my website organized.  I managed to hit 500 followers on Twitter, so I did an OC art raffle to celebrate! The winner was revealed in...

October:

Twas a good end of the year for YouTube stuff!

The result of the Twitter OC art raffle was this illustration of Farnoggin’s character Drex Apex. This was livestreamed and it gave me the idea to do a sped-up timelapse of the whole process, something I haven’t done for years! This made me wanna start uploading semi-regular videos on my AnimatedAF YouTube channel again, using moments from my art livestreams as a basis.

I celebrated my 1 year anniversary on Twitch with a silly doodle, cut together videos about me talking about the times I did work for SEGA and the BBC, and reuploaded some videos/streams from Lucky Hit that were not strictly gaming related. Speaking of Lucky Hit, more gaming streams were backed up there including this years Sonic Hacking Contest and 30 Years of Toejam and Earl.

Finally I did another commission for PCwzrd, this time for a parody trading card of Ryo Ha’nuk’i.

November:

A very quiet month for art, with only one fad-chasing illustration to speak of. I also did a bunch of doodling in the game ART SQOOL on stream which I then cut down into a let’s play for my Youtube channel.

December:

Literally the first day of December I came down with the you-know-what and was shut in for ten days. Once I started to recover from that I got back to work on more time-lapse videos of art streams from last year and a couple more reuploads from Lucky Hit, one of which I illustrated a new thumbnail for.

I also made birthday card art for my mum of her Wurlitzer jukebox and a new Christmas illustration featuring my OCs and an elf and toys. It hasn’t been released just yet as of writing but I also made an OC secret santa over on Newgrounds. Oh, and one of those Art vs Artist things if that counts for something.

Previous years: 2020 - 2019 - 2018 - 2017 - 2016

[larrue]

Interview with Translator Tom

Today, I spent some time digging into the mind of one of the neglected heroes of the jrpg community. I asked good guy Translator Tom some questions for your reading pleasure. I personally stumbled upon him via his youtube channel where I saw his videos showing off some obscure megaten games.

Translator Tom is responsible for a laundry list of games that are all great in their own way, here’s a list of the megaten ones: Last Bible 2 (2014), Megami Tensei Gaiden: Last Bible Special (2017), Digital Devil Monogatari: Megami Tensei (2018), Last Bible III (2018). For the sake of the interview I refer to myself as my handle, Larrue.

 Larrue: How did you get into the translation game?

Translator Tom: It's been so long (about twenty years) that I can't even remember the full situation, how I encountered any translation groups, or anything! I can't even remember the first game I attempted to translate! I suppose it was as soon as I discovered emulation. I'd started learning Japanese around that time. Back in those days, I didn't know half as much as I did now, but I learned as I went, paging through paper dictionaries.

 Larrue: Wow that's still impressive! Do you remember how you found megaten?

Translator Tom: Like most people these days, I found out about it through Persona. The first Megaten spin-off I played was Revelations: Persona on the PS1. I loved it, even though pretty much nobody knew anything about it at the time. I learned about the Snow Queen Quest, and after beating it, I ended up going to Japan and buying the Japanese version. I imported IS, EP, SMT 1, 2, if.... I remember buying the Famicom version of Megami Tensei on ebay for $20 and being so relieved nobody else bid on it. I was devastated that nobody knew about the series. I think the first one I attempted to translate was Last Bible II, but that project fell through until much later.

At one point, Gemini and I were even toying with the idea of a Persona 1 PS1 retranslation, at some point after we did Innocent Sin. I still sort of want to do that, even with the PSP release. But active PS1 hackers aren't exactly a dime a dozen.

My favorite Megaten game is Megami Tensei II on the Famicom. DDSTranslation already sort of finished that up with a different translator on the Super Famicom, but I love the aesthetics and sound of the Famicom, so that's another one that's on my wish list.

 Larrue: What is one thing you'd want all fans who use the translation patches to know?

Translator Tom: Some translators get really protective about "their" work, but I don't believe I have any claim over the patches. They don't belong to me. All of the translations I've worked on were (of course) done unofficially, so they don't really belong to anyone, and people can use them as they see fit. If people want to sell repros, they can go right ahead. I don't mind.

 Larrue: Do you have a dream translation project?

Translator Tom: My dream translation project right now is to translate all of the PC Engine Tengai Makyou games and add them all to the PSP Tengai Makyou Collection. That would be a MASSIVE undertaking, though. When it comes to Megaten, I'd love to do Last Bible 1 for the Game Gear and finish off the series completely. I'm also a huge Devil Children fan, and I want to translate Black, Red, and White Books for the Gameboy Color. (They blow all of the GBA entries out of the water.) (Earlier, I mentioned Megami Tensei II for the Famicom as well.) I doubt working in the game industry would be as fun as working as a fan translator. In the industry, I imagine you have your hands tied a bit, be it by deadlines or company standards and policies. Censorship and stylistic differences would be hard to deal with, too. I'd have to turn a blind eye to that, and it's possible I wouldn't enjoy it as much.

Case in point: My Dragon Quest Monsters Caravan Heart translation. That was done years ago, when I would play the Japanese game, translate the script, and then never play the English version. I used to leave the English version entirely in the hands of the hackers and their editors. I just passed over a rough translation of the script and then washed my hands of it. I later found out that one of the editors suggested changing the menus to the modern Dragon Quest translation conventions (which I can't stand). The patch was released in that state, and I was incredibly frustrated when I eventually found out. It is one of my biggest regrets as a fan translator, and from that point on, I always made sure to play through the English version of the rom before a release.

 Larrue: Would you want to do this work for any company in the industry?

Translator Tom: Which company would I want to work for? I can't imagine working for any of them. Maybe Spike Chunsoft? They said they want to become a leader in visual novels in the west. If I was translating anything professionally, I think visual novels would be the most entertaining, and the best opportunity for me to grow as a writer.

 Larrue: Last few questions for you: do you have a favorite demon and favorite protagonist?

Translator Tom: My favorite demon is probably Horus as seen in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. That golden gleam made him seem really unique! Megaten usually has silent protagonists, which I'm not really a fan of, but there a few that talk. That puts them ahead of the pack, in my opinion. I liked Masaki from SMT Devil Children: White Book and Naoki from Majin Tensei II Spiral Nemesis the best. If I had to pick a favorite, I guess I'd go with Naoki, because he's older, so I can relate to him more.

Be sure to follow Tom on twitter here: https://twitter.com/RetroTranslator

Watch his youtube uploads here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9Q6I1inXxSd6sSgXcOBOyA

[swordsandrayguns]

Science Fiction And Fantasy Fans Should Write Reviews

Writers, especially indie authors like yours truly, always ask for reviews. Why? Is it just to be annoying? Truth is, on ebook retailers, reviews = increased visibility. Even Google has indicated reviews affect search engine returns. So that is honestly a big part of why authors ask. Some of us also ask because we really want the feedback. I know I do, but I can’t pretend like that is why all authors ask. Because of that, I always feel kind of sleazy asking for them. It is like a waiter not so subtly reminding you to tip as they present the bill. However, I think there is a good reason we (all of us) should write reviews for books we read. I believe it helps the overall science fiction and fantasy community.

Hear me out; I know this sounds like me trying to justify asking for reviews but I really mean it is for the good of us all. See, I am old enough to remember the fan organized science fiction newsletters and fanzines, although I was too young to actually participate in that culture. I do, though, distinctly remember when conventions and other fan gatherings were the only time you could see obscure science fiction and fantasy shows/movies and find certain books, magazines, etc. Back when “anime” was “Japanimation,” for example, the 24 hour viewing room at the local convention was your best, maybe only, chance to see stuff like Vampire Hunter D, Fist of the North Star, Macross or Dirty Pair. If you were lucky, there was a club in your area that gathered monthly and crowded around a TV to watch untranslated VHS tapes traded with other clubs or laserdiscs purchased through friends in Tokyo. I was in one that met monthly at the Pantera’s in Webster Groves. Pizza and Captain Harlock in Japanese makes for a great Saturday afternoon!

Today, there are thousands of anime options out there… you don’t even have to buy them. They are on YouTube, Hulu, Netflix, etc… How do you decide? How do you cut through the madness? Same thing with books. Actually, it is even worse with books because you have all the independent authors and small presses available, too. Back in the day, if you were a science fiction and fantasy fan, you were a “science fiction and fantasy fan;” there were no distinctions and Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain books sat to Isaac Asimov’s Foundation titles and nobody even thought about putting them in separate sections! You read what was at the library or on the paperback rack at the bookseller of your choice because that was all there was! Hardback science fiction was pretty much just from the Science Fiction Book Club (if you had that kind of money/were old enough to enter a mail order contract). I don’t even remember if there was a dedicated fantasy book of the month club; you probably just had to hope the Science Fiction Book Club would throw you the odd bone. If you were lucky, you had maybe a dozen titles in that spinning paperback rack (because science fiction and fantasy probably shared the real estate with Louis L’Amour westerns, spy and detective thrillers and romance novels) and whatever you hadn’t already read at the library. That was it! That was all you could get unless you had spare cash for expensive mail order or could swap books with friends. If you were really lucky some selfless fan would donate a paper grocery sack of their paperback cast-offs to your library and keep you going for weeks! 

But in 2021 Amazon alone dumps about 18 bajillion-million books in your lap (bajillion-million is really a word; they had to invent just to describe Amazon’s book catalog). There are physical books, ebooks, web only stuff and audiobooks. At the same time, the science fiction and fantasy meta-community is now fragmented into at least a thousand distinct fandoms. You do not have to be a science fiction and fantasy fan anymore; you can get very, very specific about your tastes. You only like martial arts stories framed with video game conventions? It’s a thing. Prefer historical novels told from an extraterrestrial point of view? It’s a thing. Female driven tales of magic set in the modern day as a metaphor for larger social problems? It’s a thing. Robots versus dinosaurs? Stories of Elvish warriors with a well defined and unique culture? Belgian post-apocalyptic comic books set in America? They already made that into a TV show. 

How do you cut through the noise and find what you really want? How do you figure it all out? You only have so much time you can read and you have to budget it as carefully as your money… maybe even more carefully. After all, even if you are not buying, most libraries participate in e-book lending systems that still dump thousands of titles in your lap for free. How do you choose between the 400 books with spaceships, lasers and/or dragons on the cover published since you started reading this article? Reviews are your answer. Scratch that; good reviews, written by other fans, are your answer! 

I used to shy away from writing reviews for two reasons: one, I always felt like I should write a dissertation on a book and two, I kind of didn’t want to admit to how many Star Trek books I end up reading because Simon and Schuster sells a new group of Star Trek ebooks every month for 99¢*! And even as I started to adjust my attitude and realize why book reviews are good for the science fiction and fantasy reader communities, it isn’t like anyone needs a review to discover Star Trek, right?

Let’s be real, that is probably fair. It is really, really hard to imagine someone stumbling across Star Trek, Star Wars or Game of Thrones in book form without any previous knowledge of the franchise… and I imagine things for a living! If you are pressed for time or nervous about writing reviews, it seems reasonable to not worry about the big franchises so much. On the flip side, if you are a serious Star Trek or Star Wars reader, for example, you could post reviews mentioning if a story felt true to the series, where the book would fall in the chronology of the overall series, which characters from the shows/movies appeared and the like. Some readers want to know these things and that is really what I think reader reviews should address!

Some of you are nervous about posting a review because you are nervous about sharing your thoughts and writing. I get that (for me it is that I feel obligated to write a dissertation as a matter of respect to the author and the work they put in). I suggest you just write a review as if you were telling a friend about the book. That is essentially what you are doing anyway; true, you probably haven’t met a single person who will read that review but just the fact they are considering reading that book with spaceships and lasers and dragons on the cover makes them part of the big science fiction and fantasy community, so they certainly could be a friend!

When it comes to writing a review, the only rule is no spoilers! You are not trying to re-tell the story, just help potential readers figure out if it is what they want in a story. I honestly suggest answering any questions you wanted answered when you were choosing the book. I think it is fair to mention other, possibly better known, properties the story brought to mind. Not necessarily compare, but more in terms of categorization. “The title suggests this book would be something like Doctor Who, but it made me think more of Blake’s 7 with a dash of Space: 1999,” or “This story reminded me of Fritz Leiber’s Lankhmar stories and Greek mythology.” Would you read either of those books? Would you not? That is what I am suggesting we try to do with reviews. 

I think it also might be a good idea to mention any content concerns. “This seemed kind of R-rated for the Star Wars universe,” “The author does not shy away from violence,” and a simple “Contains adult language” could all be tremendously helpful to other readers. This is the only time you might bend (not break) the no spoilers rule... If there is something in the story you believe could truly upset a reader (a racist character, sexual assault, the bad guy kills dogs), mention it if you must. Just try to respect the no spoilers rule to the best of your ability. 

Some people might not want to speak negatively of a book. Maybe you realize just because it was not your cup of tea this does not keep it from being the story that will change someone else’s life or maybe you just believe if you don’t have anything nice to say, be quiet. That is 100% okay. You could only review books you truly like. That is still going to help the community of readers. Or, you can stick to reviews that do not pass judgement. I am advocating reviewing books as a kind of crowd sourced categorization method for the overall and heavily segmented science fiction and fantasy community. With that in mind, I do not believe a “review” has to offer an opinion or judgement about a book, only information to help other readers decide if it is something that may be of interest to them. 

This leaves one big question: where do you post a review? That is a good question and I believe the answer is wherever you would look for information about what to read next. The logical place to start is wherever you got the book. Pretty much every book retailer, be they online or brick and mortar, has a web presence that will let readers post reviews. Some will even automatically ask you for one. That seems a perfectly logical place to post a review, but if you are reading library books there may not be an opportunity to review titles (although my library system does post reader reviews, yours might not). There are social media options, Goodreads springs to mind, but there is no reason you could not post your thoughts on books to Facebook, Twitter, whatever. There are also websites and blogs which take reader reviews. You can post on as many or as few as you want (but please post a review somewhere!)… Personally, I guess I would think about the level of privacy and anonymity I want. As a reader, I did not really think that way but as a writer I do. I will admit I am afraid some Goodreads members, for example, may permanently discount my own writing because I read comic books or assume because I posted reviews of the 1950s Tom Corbett, Space Cadet novels my books are going to be of that shiny silver rocket ship brand of science fiction. I have actually kind of abandoned Goodreads for review platforms were I am anonymous. I do not use my name on Amazon, for example, so I post reviews there. In setting up profiles in other platforms I am careful now to stay generic. Goodreads requires a name, so if that bothers you find another place to post reviews. 

I mentioned the fanzines and conventions earlier in this article. Sometimes I hear people kind of mourning those days, when the science fiction and fantasy community felt like more of a community because it was so much harder to get access to materials and merchandise. Maybe this is the complaining that all generations start as they decide the next generation has it so much easier, but I can say as someone in on the tail end of things, back in the day the science fiction and fantasy community did kind of feel more like a community. Whether you went all in and organized a club, convention or fanzine or just participated by attending or subscribing, fans had to go out of their way to participate and find the things they loved. Nobody was accidentally a science fiction and fantasy fan. Writing reviews, making that little commitment, means you are participating and contributing.

I hope I have convinced you to start reviewing books (or podcasts or movies or whatever part of science fiction and fantasy you love) because it is going to help us all find the next things we love. And also, despite our thousand fandoms today, I personally would love to see the science fiction and fantasy meta-community become a little more of a community again. 

Thanks for reading. It really does mean a great deal to me just to get some other people thinking about this… if you have enjoyed this little article, if you find yourself agreeing with me please take a couple minutes out of your day and review the next book you read. Let me thank you in advance for the person you are going to end up helping to find their next read!

* If you are unaware of Simon and Schuster’s monthly selection of 99¢ Star Trek ebooks, you can find them here, I don’t get a piece of this or anything, just sharing: https://www.simonandschuster.com/startrekbooks

[entergamingxp]

Ultimate Knockout Review — Don’t Get Eliminated!

August 6, 2020 2:30 PM EST

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout is a joy to play, fun for all levels of video game players, and will only get better from here.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout was always going to hold a special place in my heart. Around the time my late grandpa was diagnosed with cancer, the two of us got really into the Japanese version of Ninja Warrior and Ultimate Banzuke. I would come home from college and we’d spend all day watching marathons on G4. So, seeing someone make a video game partially based on my last good memories with my grandpa was pretty awesome. What makes it even better is that Fall Guys is really good.

If you haven’t seen Fall Guys in action, it’s a 60-player battle royale. Except, instead of trying to murder your fellow blob men, you’re hoping to outrace or outlast them in the most ridiculous virtual game show since Professor Genki’s Super Ethical Reality Climax.

The game currently has about 25 stages that range from races through falling, giant fruit to a four-team version of tag to several climatic last stages. My favorite of which will remind 90s kids of afternoons watching GUTs on Nick. It’s a smorgasbord of absurdity that is a joy to play.

Each round, a certain number of players are eliminated. As far as I can tell, that number changes based on which stage you’re on. I’ve made the final stage several times and almost always had a different number of new frienemies joining me. I assume there are maths involved, but who really has the time for that?

“Fall Guys takes minutes to learn and then gamers of all sorts can hop in for some good times.”

For most competitive games, tight controls are of utmost importance. You never want to feel like you don’t have control over an outcome in a game of Rainbow Six Siege. Sure, you might get outplayed, but you can understand why.

In comparison, Fall Guys is a floaty mess. The little jelly bean people flop all over the place. You point the stick in a direction, but the little dudes feel like they’re reluctantly meandering in the direction you’re pointing rather than you having full control. That left stick is more a suggestion to them.

On paper, that sounds terrible. But somehow, like magic, it works. Between the art, the premise, and just the general vibe Fall Guys gives off, this is a game where you can fail into success. If you had more control over your jelly bean, it just wouldn’t be as special.

Now, to be clear, there is involved. Good players will absolutely have a leg up in most instances. However, the floaty controls and randomness of the levels ensure that everyone has a chance. For me, that’s a big selling point. Fall Guys takes minutes to learn and then gamers of all sorts can hop in for some good times.

Of course, it’s not a perfect game. Fall Guys had some serious server issues on launch day.  At the time of this writing, they’re getting much better though aren’t completely ironed out. That said, when you’re a small indie studio whose game hits the #1 most-watched slot on Twitch your first day out of the gate, it’s to be expected. I’m not going to knock them for it because I fully expect them to work it out by the weekend. However, it’s worth mentioning.

My actual issues are, frankly, minuscule. The camera can be a little wonky at times. I think the way your jelly bean person falls down when they jump from too high makes See Saw more of a crapshoot than it should be. At least, I think that’s what’s happening. It’s not completely clear, but it is frustrating. And the game has microtransactions in addition to charging an upfront fee (if you don’t get it through PS Plus).

That last one is a bit of a personal sticking point for me. Sure, the things you can buy are purely cosmetic. However, charging an upfront fee and having MTX and utilizing a battle pass just seems like too much. So, while buying Kudos (the game’s currency) isn’t as scummy as something like buying packs in FIFA 20, it’s still something I don’t love. Though it does help the devs keep working on the game for the foreseeable future. Which leaves me a bit torn on how to feel about it. You and your wallet will have to make your own decision on that front.

“[Fall Guys] is just sublime.”

With those small things out of the way, there’s one more “problem” I want to bring up. Obviously, Mediatonic had to stop building out the game at some point to actually ship something. That said, this game is begging for a local multiplayer mode. The pure glee I would have sitting on the couch and playing with my friends is off the charts. You can join parties and play together online, but it’s just not the same. If Fall Guys were playable locally, it would finally be the game that supplants Gang Beasts in my group’s rotation.

In almost every other way, the game is just sublime. I mean, look at the levels on offer. Of the 20+ there is maybe one stinker (Hoopsie Daisy is just so meh). Other than that, they are all great.

Levels are broken into three basic categories: Race, Survival, or Team. Then, there are three others that can serve as the game’s end. As far as I can tell, you always start with one of the races. While the goal (making it to the end) is always the same, no two races feel anywhere close to similar.

One has you mastering spinning discs. Another is just a series of doors. Some of them open, others don’t. You have to make your way through as quickly as possible. Sadly, there’s no giant samurai man waiting to spook the pants off of you. Yet another is just a huge series of tiles. Seems easy, but most of them fall out from under you. You have to find the secret path to the end to make it.

From there, every other level is thrown into the hopper and one is randomly selected. In my early time, I feel like I’m seeing a good bit of variety, though some levels don’t seem to pop up until you make it to later rounds.

“Seriously, just take Fall Ball on its own and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing video games in 2020.”

Which is a shame. Games like Fall Ball would be a riot if you had huge teams. The game is basically Rocket League without cars. Technically, that’s just soccer. However, since you’re using your body as a homing missile to kick the ball around, Rocket League seems like the more apt comparison. Also, there are two balls on the field. And sometimes the ball is a football. It’s wonderful.

Seriously, just take Fall Ball on its own and it’s some of the most fun I’ve had playing video games in 2020. It might be the most exhilarating 90 seconds I’ve ever experienced. Which, maybe is an indictment on my thirst for adventure, but whatever. Heck, I nearly had a heart attack on a video we put up during the beta.

Then you add in 20 or so more games and you might as well forget about it. Fall Guys is absolutely the game fans of shows like Takeshi’s Castle, Ninja Warrior, and It’s a Knockout have been dreaming about.

It’s like the team at Mediatonic took those shows, added a wacky color palette, and then just mixed it all together until they could bake a cake made out of pure bliss. Even in defeat, I always have this doofy grin on my face. Sitting here typing out this review, all I can think about is playing more Fall Guys.

Truly, that’s what you should take from all this. Fall Guys is, by far, the most fun game that’s released this year. Maybe even this console generation. It’s also something that’s going to hold a special place in my heart for recapturing the pure joy I had sitting down with grandpa on a Saturday afternoon ready to see how Makoto Nagano and the Sasuke All-Stars would do in this year’s version of Ninja Warrior.

So, in a year full of big releases like The Last of Us Part 2 and games that are uniquely up my alley like Desperados 3, it’s hard to see anything beating out Fall Guys as my favorite game of 2020. And remember what we always say: “Don’t get eliminated!”

August 6, 2020 2:30 PM EST

from EnterGamingXP https://entergamingxp.com/2020/08/ultimate-knockout-review-dont-get-eliminated/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ultimate-knockout-review-dont-get-eliminated

[memoriesoffemmefatales]

Splitting Heaven

“They live among us. Separate beings destined to bring either peace or destruction to those around. They are the balance, the chaotic center that this world spins on. And me? I’m supposed to keep them in check.” Jughead Jones is supposed to keep the world in check, he has no time for love. Yet, he can’t seem to get Betty Cooper out of his head.

Found here at:  Fanfiction.net

_

Jughead Jones

“Damnit Jughead,” Archie Andrews hissed from behind, his hands swatting at the vast amount of bugs that circled his crimson head. “I thought you said it was only three miles out.”

“I said,” I growled, my fist tightening around the flashlight. “It was probably three miles out. Do you know what ‘probably’ means Archie?”

“Don’t think I wouldn’t be opposed to letting this stupid witch eat you.” Archie snapped back.

But he wouldn’t do that. Actually, he couldn’t do that. It was in his nature to be good. He’d jump in front of a bullet and get himself killed rather than watching anyone die. After all, he’s half angel.

Yes, half-angel. As in, one of his parents was a being normally clad in white with a stupid golden glow around them. Which is just as annoying as it sounds.

And no, it isn’t his father. Fred Andrews is probably the most middle-ground man I know. Just enough good to keep himself out of serious trouble but just enough bad to have fun.

Perhaps that’s how he scored an angel.

“Next time, we are turning down the witch cases. They always live in these gross swamps.” As if the universe heard him, Archie’s foot sunk deep into the mud causing the ginger to groan with defeat.

“You said that the last time too.”

“Well, I mean it this time.”

“No, you don’t. We both know you love dealing with supernatural beings as the next fella.”

Archie snorted. “Well some of us can’t afford to–”

“Shh,” I snapped as we pushed into the clearing. There, in the middle, was a clean looking house. With a bright red roof and pristine white walls. There were even an iconic little sidewalk and a picket fence that surround the yard. It looked like the American-dream, just like Audrey would love.

If it weren’t for the fact that we were in the middle of swampy ground in the deep South or the fact that 20 kids ranging from 8-16 have gone missing in the last thirty days it would have looked normal.

“This isn’t creepy at all,” Archie rolled his eyes as we crouched in the bushes, eyeing the witch’s home.”This is just like Hansel and Gretel all over again.”

“Without the fun candy house.”

Archie nodded as he pulled out his sig p220.

“So what are we planning? Because I think we should break down the damn door and get the hell out of here.”

“And risk getting hit with a curse? I know you think you’re immortal thanks to that goody-two-shoes blood in you but I hate to tell you that a curse will fuck you up too.”

Archie shoved me, eyes narrowed.

“Okay genius,” he snapped. “What do you suggest?”

I smirked. “Operation Cinderella.”

“I fucking hate you.”

—–

The next fifteen minutes were spent convincing the stubborn half-blooded ginger that Operation Cinderella was the best option, Archie took off his gear, rolled around on the muddy ground and ripped his (apparently) favorite shirt. Which, now I am obligated to buy several as well as a milkshake. He then made his way to the door, stumbling and moaning as if he was lost. The door opened to reveal a slender woman with almond eyes and her lips the color of Japanese cherry blossoms. She was stunning which meant only one thing: she had eaten recently.

I couldn’t hear what was happening but I could see Archie leaning up against the wall as he played up his young face. I, on the other hand, was creepy around the woods to the back of the house. Moving as swiftly as I could in order to creep in the back.

Hopping the fence was easy. Opening the window and slipping in was easy. But the sight inside was anything but.

The back room was littered with bleached white bones. Small and slender, like the way a woman would sculpt her letters. It smelled like a hospital but looked like a graveyard. Grimacing, I crept towards the house where I could hear Archie’s low tone.

“Miss Chang, I really thank you for letting me use your phone.” Archie was always the better Cinderella. He was the best example of the stock-type of the golden boy. The boy scout. The one you’d leave your kids with or call when you need help. He’s the guy you’d see walking the grandma across the street and rescuing kittens from trees.

I was not that boy. And I wasn’t about to complain about it.

Gun raised, I slowly crept around the corner to see Archie bent over an old fashion phone. You know, the heavy ones with the spin dial that take so much longer to dial. And the witch. Her body was hunching and her nails were growing long. I could hear the beginnings of her alto voice murmuring and Archie pretending he didn’t hear.

Just as I was ready to pull the trigger–the floorboard gave beneath me.

The woman, going by the name Miss Chang,  whipped around giving me the perfect view of her demonic state. The eyes are what got me first. Bright like jades and narrowed. Her teeth were lined like that of a shark’s. Too many shoved into such a space. Her face was pulled, nose jutting out like it didn’t belong. She was unholy to look at, a reminder of what people like Archie and I did to protect the innocent.

“A member of the order,” her voice hissed as she pointed a shaking finger at me. An incantation, in what sounded like (based on my somewhat limited knowledge) Korean. Blue light shot out, slamming into my body and launching me into the wall.

I felt my gun leave my hand and disappear in the furnishings of the living room.

“Stupid order members getting in the way of–”

And that’s when Archie took the ancient telephone and cracked it against the old hag’s head.

She screeched, whipping around as Archie looked like a full-blown moron holding this bright yellow phone in his hands.

She swung her hands up, blue light ripping away from the floorboards and flooding over Archie as the red-headed genius tossed the phone at the witch’s head before being slammed onto the ground. The phone missed and collided a mere few inches from where I was, still dazed from being thrown against the wall as if I was no more than a damn bug.

“Anytime now, Jug,” Archie snapped as the witch loomed over him, his body twitching in the blue bonds that held him captive on the floor. “This bitch is an 8.”

The witch turned around, ready to cast the same spell as me only to find me, holding the telephone in my grip with a big, stupid grin on my face.

“Ding dong,” I snapped, cracking the telephone as hard as I could against her skull, reeling back for another hit. “The witch is dead.”

—-

HQ was not impressed.

“Jones, Andrews we’ve gone over the fact that ‘Operation Cinderella’,” Director Finley glared at us over his desk. “Isn’t an Order-approved operation.”

Director Finley isn’t a large man. He’s a short man from Kenya whose family left to Britain when he was young in order to have a better life. It’s a shame that his family was attacked by a rabid dog. Ripped to shreds…or that’s what the papers had said. The reality was his neighbor was a fae and killed his family in front of him. “Blessed” him with the sight to see the supernatural in order to show him her true form. Too bad she didn’t expect him to fight back. He stabbed her, as the story goes, 13 times. He was found by a member of the British branch of the Order and was trained from there.

After all, finding someone with sight is hard.

“But Director Finley–” Archie started as I snorted.

“The witch is dead. Why the hell do you care how we do it?”

“Because Jones,” Director Finley snapped. “Your stupid plans are  the fastest way to get one of you killed.”

“We haven’t died yet.” I snapped.

“You beat a witch’s head in with a damn telephone and Archie shot her twice. Sloppily, I might add.”

“Sorry, Director,” I rolled my eyes. “I was too busy dealing with the fact that my head was still spinning thanks to the kiss I shared with the wall and that my partner was about to be eaten by a fucking witch.”

“Which you wouldn’t have done if you just followed fucking procedure.”

I opened my mouth to snap but Archie smacked my knee.

“You’re right Director,” Archie flashed the bright white as he put on his best apologetic face. “It won’t happen again.”

They held each other’s gaze for several moments before the Director snorted.

“That’s what you always say.” He sighed as he reached for a file in his drawer and tossed it on his desk. “I’ve got another case for you. A long-term sort of case.”

I was uninterested. Long cases meant Archie and I were stuck in some shack of a safe house for several weeks passing the days looking through binocular and playing video games until we finally found what we were looking for.

“From the Higher Ups,” Director Finley gestured to the ceiling as if to remind us of that damn Angel Council.

My eyebrows lifted in surprise.

“What’s the case?”

“You need to protect a girl…An angel.”

“Oh yeah? Who is she?”

“…We actually aren’t sure.”

My eyebrows were in my hairline by now.

“What?” Archie asked, his hands grabbing the folder and flicking through.

“We have an idea. And we are almost positive it’s her.”

Her?

“Who is she? Where is she?”

“She’s in a little town called Riverdale. And her name–”

“Elizabeth Cooper.” I finished. My eyes landing on the photo of a blonde teenager with big eyes and a sweet smile.