#market america franchise

[weirdominate]

Big Luna. (Sailor Moon, by Naoko Takeuchi; less than reputable Mixx edition, 1998. Originally published in Nakayoshi, 1991.)

[sageistri]

Jimin had a solo era where he had 10 days of mostly local promo except for Jimmy Fallon for his 6 song EP (1 b-side + 1 title track) in Mar 2023 + 1 collab (with Kodak and Jvke) in the F&F movie franchise in May 2023 + 1 collab with Taeyang of Big Bang in Jan 2023 with accompanying mvs for both collabs + 1 fansong released on christmas week 2023 with 30 hours of notice and recycled footage for its mv + 1 documentary released on weverse in Oct 2023.

JK had a solo era where immediately after hiatus he released left & right in June 2022 with Charlie Puth who's pretty famous in his own right, a world cup song in Nov 2022 and performed solo in the opening ceremony which was watched by 1.5 billion viewers. He then proceeded to release Seven in July 2023 with latto who's also pretty damn famous in the west with Grammy winning producers and an accompanying mv with Han So Hee. Seven is perhaps the most payola'd kpop song of all time - I can't even list it all down without making this ask huge but suffice to say that with all the ads and playlisting on several platforms including tth from day 1 and some help from spotify to keep all his combined versions together instead of splitting them and probably a tiktok heating deal - seven managed to stay on top of global for weeks and netted a bunch of records.

However moving on, JK performs at good morning america, is supposed to perform at the mtv emas (gets cancelled) and announces his next single 3D with Jack Harlow at Global Citizen Fest at NY releasing in Sep 2023. He also has a collab too much with kid laroi and central cee in Oct 2023 with an accompanying mv. After that we're gearing up for his all English album release in Nov 2023 with a 11 track album. He has features from major lazer and dj snake and songs composed and produced by the likes of Diplo, Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes. He goes on to perform snty at Jimmy Fallon, Times Square and iHeartRadio live. While none of his songs post seven are as heavily payola'd, they're still very well promoted. In Dec 2023, he releases a remix of SNTY with usher with an accompanying mv. He also features in hots in single I wonder in March 2024. Finally he's released a fan song never let go for festa in June 2024 which is a fansong but has a bunch of benefits usually seen for digital singles but no MV.

Obviously I haven't mentioned everything like their ambassadorships, their single bad decisions with benny blanco (mostly because I forgot about it), smaller promo like suchwita, JK's radio interviews, his visualisers, Jimin's Korean shows, either of their mnet performances, their myriad of tiktoks, their dance performances on youtube, JK's week-long station head parties or accompanying Yoongi on the D-Day tour. Plus as I said I can't mention the full length and breadth of JK's promo compared to Jimin in smaller aspects like number of remixes / remix albums or cd stock because this'll go on forever. And of course this is only the status as of today. We know pjm2 is coming as is probably a documentary for JK and their travel show together. Though I've probably missed out some things for both, I think I've covered the main points of both the solo eras.

There's a bunch of stuff happening here. For one JK's solo era is spaced out very well regardless of who else among BTS is releasing. While other members are clustered in specific times to avoid overlap, JK manages to have the most well spaced out solo era sometimes to the detriment of a member whose promo he might be encroaching on (debatable but I think it's true). The world cup gig which undoubtedly went to BTS being co-opted as JK's solo has never sit right with me but whatever. People can delude themselves about how in demand JK is but the truth is Latto, Jack Harlow and others probably got very well paid for collabing with JK and were certainly approached by Hybe / SB projects rather than the other way around. Same goes for them putting the full force of their marketing department in netting all those performances in the US plus awards. The new jeans controversy gave some insight into how Hybe can use their leverage to net spons, awards and performances when they want to. The fact that most of the collaborators JK had are good buddies with 🛴 isnt lost on any of us. JK's almost exclusive focus on the western market with all English songs is also noteworthy. I haven't even mentioned Jimin's sabotages because I can see how it's debatable but certainly JK's team at Hybe / SB projects were at the least way more careful handling his releases than whoever the hell is running things for Jimin at Hybe even if you don't want to acknowledge the sabotage he went through or the sheer disrespect of having his album release cut off by another members. Also not going into the bs with the delay in Jimin's RIAA certification just so that JK could get that first kpop soloist title or the insanity of Jimin's billboard sales filtering versus JK's premptive itunes preorder for seven before the official announcement of the BB rules change and helpful midweek sales updates that seven had.

After all this, it's amazing that JK's main point of comparison is Jimin. The fact that jjks and armys still feel this compulsive need to compare JK with Jimin after he releases something inspite of JK's peers supposedly being Taylor Swift now (their words not mine) speaks to both how JK was unable to capitalize on his heavy marketing and records versus how much Jimin was able to achieve with Face and Like Crazy.

JK managing to get the most likes on tiktok, staying on charts after heavy playlisting, becoming the darling of kpop stans - notoriously known for being visual stans and extremely fickle, and getting a bunch of kpop awards at the end of 2023 and probably 2024, having the most name recognition among all the members, still needing most of his streams for SNTY to come from Thailand, having album retail sales equal almost the same as Jimin inspite of the huge difference in gross album sales - are these really worthy accomplishments after this extremely long list of moves he's made? Jungkook was very popular to start out with and has always been the darling of armys - to the extent that he managed to avoid getting boycotted inspite of being associated and working with a bunch of zionists for golden. Apart from his new kpop fans, did he manage to net new fans during his solo era though? Or are his main fans still the armys he started out with in the first place from his time in BTS? Is this what anons in your asks think we're supposed to believe is impact?

Impact is what happened after BTS released Dynamite and Butter. A breakout star or single is what Baby was once upon a time for Justin Bieber or Espresso is to Sabrina Carpenter today. You get gp fans when you release good music like Olivia Rodrigo or Billie Eilish. You get critical acclaim when your albums have overarching themes that were carefully constructed and thought out like Beyonces albums. Your solo fanbase becomes more dedicated when you share parts of yourself in your music like Taylor Swift does.

When you make an album with care and dedication, then even when your label doesn't give a damn about you or actively tries to suppress you, your song can still chart more than a year later with your solo fanbase working dedicatedly towards you. That might not be a PCA, but it's a damn sight more valuable imo.

Sorry for how long this got. I just kept remembering more and more stuff to include...

Wow... This is such a perfectly summarized version of the major points and opinions we've all had since jimin's debut... I love it, this is probably the best ask and best post related to this whole thing i have ever read.

It is good for pjms who still ask certain questions about stuff we already talked about and I can never find the exact post where we already talked about it so I'll pin it.

[spnscripthunt-inactive]

Eric Kripke had a Midas touch long before the Hollywood establishment gave him credit for it. In 2005, he created Supernatural — one of the 10 longest-running primetime dramas in history, only wrapping in 2020. But it was a cheap, genre show on an unsexy network, The CW, so even an ensuing string of doubles (Revolution, Timeless) did little to move his needle. Then, he sold an adaptation of Garth Ennis’ hard-R comic book The Boys to Amazon. In other hands, it might have been Diet Deadpool. But Kripke crafted a scathing satire of 21st century America where Homelander, the chiseled superhero in the American flag cape, is an authoritarian proxy for Donald Trump. Critics immediately took a shine, but its commercial success — the most recent season earned more eyeballs than The Rings of Power, with 106 billion minutes viewed in 2022 — made Kripke a priority at the streamer. There, he’s swiftly built out the franchise with a spinoff (Gen V), an animated anthology (Diabolical) and several more projects in development. So, as he prepares to launch season four of The Boys on June 13, Kripke, newly 50 and THR‘s TV Producer of the Year, talked about the bliss of alienating woke-phobic viewers, the TV industry’s great market correction and spoofing late-stage capitalism on the very platform that shares its name with the “everything store.”

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

every once in a while, i have an urge to sit down and write an entire essay about The Purge franchise, specifically through the frame of reactions from people who either have not watched the movies or watched them while pissing on the poor.

because oh my fucking god do those reactions send me into a violent tailspin of irrational anger.

"the purge doesn't make logistical sense"

okay so have you ever heard of fiction? the train in snowpiercer doesnt make logistical sense either. it doesnt have to because its a vehicle in which to tell a story.

"people wouldnt just commit violent crimes because its legal now."

no they wouldnt. do you know that the first movie takes place on the 6th purge? do you know that story about frogs and boiling water?

"no one would ever agree to this. politicians couldnt implement this."

yeah so the fourth movie - The First Purge - is actually a prequel that explains how and why it got implemented.

see as a result of a general economic crisis, a new political party called the NFFA (new founding fathers of america) came to power, and two years into their political term, they ran "an experiment" and that experiment was the purge. the first purge took place on staten island; residents were offered $5000 to participate which comprised staying on staten island and letting the government put a tracking chip in your arm. there was also the opportunity of making more money if they "participated further."

people didnt all agree with this. thats a whole ass thing in the movie and the protagonist literally leads protests against it. it is a controversial thing. the NFFA literally have a sociologist as the face of it, one who talks to news reporters and assures people she and the experiment are apolitical.

the experiment is also fucking rigged. the government really send in roves of neo-nazis to kill citizens as a way of showing how "successful" the experiment is. it was never an experiment.

"but why would people believe that the purge is a good policy?

have you ever heard of propaganda?

throughout the films, there are constant displays of the propaganda the NFFA use to keep the citizens believing in the purge.

the NFFA are constantly lying to the citizens about the actual truth about the country. they often talk about how the stock market is doing great as evidence of a stable economy. there are fake experts in white lab coats lying to you about the purge being a good idea.

these movies are not subtle. they tell you outright that the government is lying to the people.

jesus fucking christ, in the third movie, part of the plot is the fact that in response to corruption being revealed, people are turning against the purge and protesting. dante bishop is a goddamn anti-purge activist.

"crime rate year round wouldnt go down because of the purge, that doesnt make sense "

yeah no shit sherlock. thats literally a defining theme in the entireass franchise. the government is lying. they actually use the purge as population control because theyre fascists.

in the first movie, the NFFA claim the country is basically crime-free and that the unemployment rate is 1%. do you think james demonaco wrote that with the intention of you believing it to be true? have you considered that maybe you were meant to be like huh, thats suspicious?

the first movie is the least overtly political, but one of the defining themes is in regards to the performative nature of the purge and the way it is mythologised.

"all crime is legal. so what, can i commit tax fraud?"

the rules of the purge are made up of. the entire idea is performative. the NFFA are not beholden to these rules; if it benefits them (or if not doing so poses risk to them), they will arrest you for "crimes" you committed during the purge.

in the third movie, The Purge: Election Year, they change the rules because of the risk charlie roan poses to them. roan is a senator running for president on an explicitly anti-purge platform and there is a very good chance that she will win the election, so they revoke the immunity (its still illegal to murder them) granted to government officials during the purge because they plan to kill her.

the NFFA do not care what citizens do during the purge, as long as it is not threatening to them.

"how would they even know if you killed someone an hour after the purge ended?"

they wouldnt. they also wouldnt care.

see above.

"the purge is stupid. people arent inherently violent."

no. no theyre not. thats the fucking point of these films.

they are not subtle films. they come with a free portable toilet so you can watch them without pissing on the poor.

what did you think the plots of these movies were? if the movies were not directly engaging with the concept of the purge and what it actually means, what the fuck do you think the movies are about? do you think the movies are just 90 minutes of indiscriminate violence?

[arkus-rhapsode]

Are We Returning To 2000s Era Shonen Anime/Manga (A Discussion)

So this is going to be way more of a thinkpiece than I usually do for this blog, but recent trends in the space and niche that I devote a lot of time to, Anime/Manga, have been showing themselves that got me thinking. This is not meant to be a serious sociology case study taken as fact, it's going to be more a theory based on observations of the community that I, like many others, devote a lot of time into than a full on claim, but I do want to ask, is the anime and manga community is experiencing a resurgence in 2000s era shonen manga?

Background

Now let me get this out of the way, there is bias in these observations as I am a western anime fan, but also a North American anime fan. Meaning my gateway and gauges of pop culture are mostly determined by the history of my area of the world’s relationship with anime. From the OVAs of 80s hyper violent and hyper sexual sci fi that you had to purchase from the backs of video rental stores, to the Toonami era of 90s and early 00s programming block the centred around action anime and cartoons, the 4kids era of mass market japanese animated kids shows that were really just giant commercials with some of the earliest memetics in western sphere, and the explosion of shonen battle series in the western sphere in the mid to late 2000s marked by the rise of the colloquially named “Big 3” of shonen jump. I understand that continents like South America or Europe may have undergone a different exposure to the Japanese medium, but as I am going in with some bias in this observation, I would like to make it clear on where the formula is coming from. I also would like to lay down a certain clarification before making this, when discussing the topic of nostalgia I think a lot of people have forgotten what it actually means. If we go by the Cambridge dictionary definition, Nostalgia is “a feeling of pleasure and also slight sadness when you think about things that happened in the past.” This is often invoked when talking about pop culture because people from say 20 years ago don’t seem to enjoy or relate to the interests of today. The belief is that nostalgia is generational ergo if you grew up in the 80s you’re likely wishing to recapture the feelings of childhood that you associate with those trends from 20 years ago. In fact, most revaluation in media has often been catalyzed by a difference of those who grew up in an era rebuffing the opinions of those who didn’t. 

There is the well known “20 Year Rule” regarding pop culture nostalgia. That every decade it longs for what was popular 20 years ago. Probably no better example than “That 70s show” being popular in the late 90s, the return of many beloved 80s-90s franchises like “Ghostbusters” returning in the 2010s as well as series like “Stranger Things” that wrapped itself up in 80s aesthetics. DC's New 52 relaunch that seemed to bring back trends from 90s era comics.

Now it goes without saying that the 20 year rule isn’t a “real” rule, rather an observation that certain trends make a return to popularity because the ones who grew up with a certain media will be the ones who add to the discourse when they come of age and will be the ones having a chance to create consumable art for the masses and that may just be revivals of once popular IP. This isn’t necessarily wrong in regards to nostalgia, but I do believe that one doesn’t need to have been born in a certain era to be nostalgic for something when we discuss pop culture. Pop culture is really just trends and preferences that become en vogue and people can acquire a taste at any given time. Sometimes it can be due to those who grew up with something now having the chance to create and drawing upon their own childhoods, sometimes it's just due to not being exposed, other times it can be a certain feeling of disillusionment of the now, and seeking something that peaks your interest, and even sometimes it can be major corporations or networks looking for things with existing audiences to draw upon that actually expand the audience. In fact one of the most prominent Netflix adaptations of the 2020s has been live Action Avatar the Last Airbender and One Piece, both shows that got their start on American televisions in 2004 and 2005. One of the biggest animated shows right now is Invincible, based on a comic book from 2003

So I want to stress this is not necessarily about how if you grew up with the original Mobile Suit Gundam show you are being replaced by the kids who were watching GetBackers. And or if you are a fan of shows that came out in the 2000s you yourself were born in the 2000s.

But what was the landscape of the English speaking anime community like back in the 2000s? Well let me paint a portrait for you.

What was the 2000s like for anime fans?

The term I used, “shonen boom period”, is somewhat mythologized in the western anime sphere. There was a glut of high profile shonen anime running around the same time that most people identified with this time period and was arguably when we saw the most influx of people getting into the hobby. One Piece, Naruto, and Bleach served as big series known for their massively large casts, MCs with a level of attitude, some of the most hype centric power supernatural/extraordinary power systems, and certain brand of “Japanese-y” humor. We can’t deny that it wasn’t just these series however, as series like Fullmetal Alchemist became many people’s introduction to more narratively intricate series interspersed with a somewhat gothic action style. The gothic and somewhat edgy Death Note became many fans' first ever “battle series that’s not a battle series” that also incorporated many biblical and gothic horror elements into its presentation. And things like Code Geass also incorporated this combination of hyper stylized cat and mouse with ornate and gothic aesthetics and fighting robots. 

Series like Ouran Highschool Host Club and and Haruhi Suzumiya were basically gateways to the more hyper extraordinary slice of life series that didn’t shy away from fanservice and loud comedy. With ecchi like Rosario + Vampire taking it to an even greater extreme. For people willing to go even deeper, series like Fairy Tail began to pop up and share a distinct similar flavor to series like One Piece and Naruto which arguably started the popular conception of it coming from the same magazine as the latter. That’s not also discounting the amount of holdovers from the 90s like Dragon Ball z, Trigun, and Yu Yu Hakusho, which also had an edge towards fantastical combat and comedic oriented series.

All of this is to generally illustrate the media diet of what an average anime fan was expected to have some level of access to. As this was far before the eras of Funimation or Hulu having online services. Not a homogenized spread by any means, and im certain plenty of readers could name more underground or smaller series like Mushishi or Elphen Lied, but generally the popular mainstream you could tell that there was a consistent theme of long form media with a very loud, very flashy, and very action oriented type of series. Which I think is fair to say had skewed some people’s perception. And while I cannot claim with utter certainty that Japan was the same in this regard, you can look at magazines like Shonen Jump and notice a somewhat synchronistic trend. With series like Hitman Reborn, Gintama, D. Gray Man, Eyeshield 21, Bobobobo, etc.making a clear marcation of what was commercially successful at the time. Even series not inside the magazine but had smaller nicher, Tokyo-pop-esque series like Rave Master, Flame of Recca, Air Gear, History’s Strongest Disciple Kenichi, Soul Eater, etc all had a similarity to the shonen jump magazine. To the point it was not uncommon to see so many jump characters in a collage and one from shonen sunday or shonen magazine in there as if this was all coming from the same place.

Changing Landscape

Now with the advantages of the modern internet, we have the ability to actually keep up with the jump magazine in real time as opposed to the common practice of relying on scanlation site and fansubs that were often devoted to the most popular works. But with simultaneous publication and services like Crunchyroll, being able to access a wider variety of shows and series that we may or may not have access to. I believe that the 2010s in the english speaking fanbase was the decade we saw a somewhat expansionism of what people perceived as anime. Anime could be One Piece and Naruto, but it could also be Erased, it could be the Promised Neverland, Attack on Titan, K-On, Haikuu, and Durarara. With the representatives of the 90s no longer being holdovers in syndication like dragon ball but rather full on revivals of the likes of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure and Hunter x Hunter. 

All of these could be "shonen" but also other genres like Seinin, Josei, and Shojo all had their own varying layers of what they could be in their demographic

The mood of what was popular was also changing, not just in the fact that more flavors of anime and manga were becoming mainstream, but new works from shonen jump showed a rise in almost subversive series like My Hero Academia and Demon Slayer that seemed to consciously deviate or place new spins from traditional tropes of the 2000s characters, and we saw works that were derivative of previous serious like Black Clover drawing upon Naruto the same way it was known that Naruto had drawn upon Dragon Ball before them. Series like The Promised Neverland and Doctor Stone offered up more dramatic series that still infused a certain energy of the shonen genre. 

And of course the series like Attack Titan whose much more darker and gorey storytelling seemed to have become one of if not the biggest hit of the generation with a well regarded adaptation, but something that had felt so removed from what were once contemporaries like the then ending Bleach or Naruto. We can also note that the late 2010s saw the rise of series like Chainsaw Man and Jujutsu Kaisen that began a trend of popular urban fantasy stories. Where fantastical concepts were now in contemporary Japan and the stories that focused on concepts like self identity and the harshness of maturing were juxtaposed to the real world inhabited by monsters. 

It seemed many tropes of the previous decade were still alive in the rise of Isekai anime. Which was particularly the only popular outlet for fantasy stories with an action orientation. But these almost felt disconnected from the wider world of manga as things like heavy harem action series had actually decreased in mags like shonen jump. There was also new tropes being established in this subgenre that became unique popularizations of tropes all on their own, such as the overpowered protagonist whose power everyone believes is weak. But many of these were based on light novels, a form of media that only in the last few years western readers are having official access to and not simply scans found on the internet.

We in North America truly have gone from anime being a niche that was primarily accessible through dedicated TV blocks like Toonami, to a full blown cultural relevance shift.

We also need to talk about this era in its perception of the past also shifted. The 90s and the early 00s often blend together as classics of the anime community. Somewhat encased in amber. However, there is no denying that “feels like a 2000s series” had become a bit of a shorthand for very goofy, Very horny, very action heavy series. Series like Fire Force and and Undead Unluck had their show what more problematic elements be equated to the problematic trends of the past that people just accepted as “a part of the medium.” But lets keep in mind, this is not really describing a time, more a trend. Superficial elements that invoke similar feelings of the past. 

Speaking of anime fans…

Fan Culture

So while I wanted to paint a picture of creatively the landscape has changed, there’s no denying that in the age of internet accessibility, the anime fan community has also changed. It is much much easier now to get in contact with people who are anime fans now than it was to rely on word of mouth like it was back in the day. I can still distinctly remember my anime club which wasn’t even really a club devoted to anime but rather other geek stuff like D&D and TCGs. Our hobbies just happened to have similar overlap.

Now though, anime fan culture is much more relevant and thriving. Going from just posting weekly reviews, to long retrospectives, comedy videos, abridged series, clickbait articles, fan theories, and podcasts. However, I think a defining feature of fans of the 2000s era of anime that were at their most prominent was hype culture. 

Due to many of the biggest anime series at the time being released weekly and focusing on action, many many many discussion boards and videos were often about staying in this cycle of wanting to see what happens next and the action made people very excited to see just how characters were going to win fights or even if they’d have fights at all. 

I want to make it clear that this type of activity doesn’t belong to a certain era, but you can see it shaped by the 2000s era. Especially when discussing “what is the next big 3.” As if it were a true position and title, rather than a moment in time where there were just three very distinct shonen series in the fanbase.This doesn’t necessarily have a “negative” effect on the discussion of anime/manga but you can see that certain genres lend themselves to hyping fans up more and more. 

Someone isn’t reading the most recent chapter of a romance like Blue Box with the same level of anticipation of who will face who like it was One Piece. But there have certainly been series that try.

The Present

Now we reach the 2020s and this decade is still young, so it is hard to say what the future will hold for certainty, but we can look at the last four years and notice some significant waves being made recently in Shonen Jump alone. I already spoke of Undead Unluck, a series that almost wears it would now be considered retro inspirations on its sleeve. With an opening chapter that establishes an MC that seems motivated by a sexual joke, A power system follows a verbal naming gimmick, and a loose enough world that allows for characters of varying aesthetics and to be incorporated into groups. With groups of these powerful characters splitting up to face each other and use their ridiculous power to the extreme. Even in the series' own meta arc about creating manga, the in-universe analogy for Undead Unluck’s manga is commented on as feeling retro. There is no doubt the biggest viral hit of the decade so far has gone to Kagurabachi, a manga about sword fighting and magical crime lords that seems almost indulgent in its stylistic slicing and or dicing of baddies. Its memetic success was primarily due to a somewhat sincere and somewhat ironic belief that it would be the “next big thing” as it promised to be a stylized action series. Another surprise viral success has been the manga Nue’s Exorcist which sees another supernatural swordfighter boy harness the powers of his sexy spirit lady while getting into harem shenanigans that echo a particular form of ecchi of anime’s past that had actually been somewhat absent in the past decade in jump. Both of these series have a somewhat noticeable similarities to Bleach, a long running shonen action series that has seen its own revival in the last few years of writing this with the long awaited adaptation of the final arc of the bleach anime. 

While the other members of the “big 3” never truly went away and became almost inter-generational, Bleach truly did feel like a “come back” as it was absent for so long. And unlike Hunter x Hunter and Jojo which were never really popular in the west and even their older anime are more regarded as anime deep lore. Bleach was one of the most popular series in the west at the time to never receive a conclusion animated. 

Speaking of anime of the 2000s Trigun Stampede was a reimagining of the original late 90s show. This errs a bit similar to Hunter x Hunter’s style of revival, but also seems uniquely its own in actually trying to find a balance between the original series but adding in things cut from its original late 90s early 2000s counterpart. 

And now we must examine other shonen magazines. Series like Gachiakuta created by a former assistant of Okubo, the creator of Soul Eater, carries with it much of the similar energies of that series. Its also noticeable as being a truly dark fantasy series. Not an urban fantasy, but rather a completely new world that had a very grunge and dirty world building. And then there is Daemons of the Shadow Realm, a series by Fullmetal Alchemist creator Hiromu Arakawa. This series is also set in modern day japan with supernatural elements, however Arakawa’s style of writing is practically unchanged from her time on FMA. With an emphasis on action, intricate mysteries, and character building comedy with her trademark over exaggerated blocky style. There is of course Hiro Mashima who has started another new series, Dead Rock, and his style has also not changed that much. Then there is just flat out sequels to 2000s series like Gamaran Shura.

This to me shows that we are  seeing a bit of a combination of people who are now entering the workforce inspired by creators of the past, but also that creators of the past still exist 20 years later and are still making content that hasn’t really undergone significant change. 

Of course, we can’t also forget the implementation of the Manga Plus/J plus service which has opened up a very interesting ground for creators to have some of the most creatively out there series than what you may have expected from the shonen jump brand. I genuinely don’t think series like Make the Exorcist Fall in Love or Fire Punch would’ve ever been acceptable in the pages of a weekly shonen series. However one series in particular does feel like it could've and boy its been quite the success. Kaiju no 8.

Kaiju no 8 almost feels as though it is the AoT of a new generation with the amount of anticipation this one series has as well as the similarities between the series superficial elements. However, I'd say the key distinction between the two has been the tone. AoT took a dark and practically dour tone on its titan infested world. With an MC declaring war on all of his enemies. The pain was realistic, with human bodies being brittle and vulnerable. And the belief that just because you were a good person you weren't going to make it out alive. Kaiju no 8 instead opts for a more action oriented tone. Down playing the bleak realism for more "Hell yeah!" moments. With super science weapons that feel more akin to a tokusatsu show and fights and battles between humans an kanji the feel like the Dragon Ball style wrestling matches of old.

And of course, that’s not to say Jump hasn’t continued with series that feel more modern like the realistic and mellow romance of Blue Box or the dramatic coming of age story of Akane-Banashi. 

But the presence of these series has caused somewhat of a friction with the popular conception of the magazine. Its safe to say that while “shonen” tends to think of action male oriented series, it can really just mean works aimed more at adolescents. But I think many tend to associate this familiar feeling of “what is shonen” with their popular introduction of the magazine. With a saturation of action and brash comedy series. This is further complicated by the fact many action series in jump are actually ending over the last decade. With new ones not popping up to replace them as frequently and series like One Piece and MHA and Black Clover basically stretching out across an entire decade or longer. In fact, I don’t think it's unreasonable to believe that the hype for something like Kagurabachi was in part a belief that it signaled a return of a type of familiar series and genre that had been missing. Or at the very least, looked to fill an inevitable gap the magazine was obviously going to be facing. Followed by the other commercial success of Nue’s Exorcist, we are likely to see these series last for a long time. At the time of this writing, Tokyo Revenger’s author Ken Wakui has released Astro Royale, a series that feels very similar to his previous work yet infused with this almost GetBackers flavor.

So that leaves us with the question at the start, are we seeing a rise in 2000s nostalgia in anime and manga?

Conclusion

So I'm sorry if I disappoint, but the best I can say is, I’m not certain. I do believe that from my observation I think it is reasonable to say that we are seeing a rise in creators in the shonen space being ones inspired by series from 20 years ago. However, I think we are also seeing creators who are from that time period also returning to write how they have always written. 

On the consumer side, I think we can see that fans of anime and manga have changed in the sense their tastes can now be shaped by a much larger catalog of series at their disposal. But in the case of shonen, I think we are simply seeing those who likely got their start in anime at around the 2000s resonating with newer series drawing upon those series, but also with younger fans now likely to grow up with the tail end of what was popular in the 2010s now being influenced by the 2020s. I also believe that one of the defining features of the anime community in the last decade is hype culture. And currently we are seeing a rise in series that actually feel more catered to hype, be it a revival of a series they liked or predicting what will be the next success. 

All and all, this piece was trying to tunnel on the shonen demographic in general, which is more likely than not going to have similar traits relative to itself. I do see us as a community endorsing trends of the past and there’s an excitement for these things to “come back” even if they may or may not have left. If you liked this please drop a like or reblog because I may do more of these think pieces in the future.

[jacksprostate]

The truth is, after blowing my brains out and going to Heaven, the CIA used me to jumpstart the domestic anti-terrorism program and turn the country into an authoritarian petrostate. And as the little posterchild of their loving touch, Congress let me loose five years later, wobbling and feeble and a testament to their reformative powers. They're going worldwide now. Fixing and freedom for all.

Here, even the antichrist can be redeemed. Recycled.

I'm a dishwasher now. Everything I've aspired to be. There's an industrial sterilization between me and the public. When I get home, I'm pruned out like a geriatric population bomb.

After everything, I'm not left alone. I've got guys showing me tattoos on their hands of my lips. I've got invites to every fight club ever. I've got all these garish things. Selling out has a new explosive flavor these days.

My face was kept redacted, but not my birthmark. Men with red sharpies try to pick up girls with their own manufactured faux cancer. It's amazing, how deep this goes. They're coming up with names for me. I've had strangers tell me they've come up with something better.

Jack, like the ripper. It's in this season. I'm fashionable. Try Sebastian. It's biblical.

The many new Tyler Durdens, they've got it all. The fashion, the funding, the government approved fatalities. Terror cells born and bred to die.

It's amazing, what you think you're getting away with when you've not realized you have full cabinet support.

Reporters love me, too. They track me down. They want to make the next counter culture. Homemade soap is all the rage. The silhouette of Tyler at the murder mystery is a best selling shirt.

They're making a movie, and Brad Pitt is going to be Tyler. Attractive, dead, charismatic, useless. Hypocritical.

I was Tyler's prophet, and no one is listening. No one actually wants to know.

The most marketable aspect of my life, I've found, is my apathy and failure. It's all hopeless. We're all shit. We're all the crap and trash of the world.

I say no, you don't get it, and no one listens.

The reason I know I'm still useful, is I haven't shot myself in the head twice yet. Actually, that's the one thing they probably hope I don't try to do. Everything I say, it all helps.

Radicalizing, fragmenting, commercializing.

They're all fighting over me like wolves. I'm a t-bone steak raw and juiced with the full might of the american pharmaceutical industry. Ripe like a fig. Rotting inside.

It's a custody battle.

All my franchises have undergone imminent domain. The rare times I'm let out of the kitchen, I see children in purposefully weathered red jackets and makeup bruises. They love me. They understand me. They know me. They would hate me.

I might be the only man in America who can't buy a gun. Can't buy anything that'd let me off myself. The whole line has been told to watch me and make sure I can't use one of those soap-hidden knives to give myself a roman bath.

I've got those lipstick red Seconals. They're used to kill people. Maybe one day, that will be my exit, and everything I longed for will finally be allowed to kill me the way God intended.

Eventually, this cash cow will grow old and I will get to die, fenced in on all sides.

[the-desolated-quill]

The sad thing is there really should be more hype for the new Captain America film. Sam Wilson taking up the mantle should be a big deal. Except it isn’t. Because it’s been undermined at every turn by very stupid creative decisions. Not only is it near impossible for this film to stand out due to the tsunami of MCU content and the resulting franchise fatigue, it also doesn’t help that it’s been preceeded by Falcon And The Winter Soldier, which completely takes the wind out of its sails because this isn’t technically Sam Wilson’s debut as Captain America but rather his second outing. Also Peggy Carter is her own rival version called Captain Carter, which undermines him further. Then there’s the fact that this film feels less like a Captain America movie and more like a stealth Hulk sequel with Captain America shoved in for marketing purposes. Not to mention the reason Sam Wilson became Captain America in the first place wasn’t because of some noble sacrifice or passing the torch moment, but rather because Steve Rogers got bored of being a superhero and wanted to go back to WW2 for some British crumpet.

The whole thing is a joke. What should be a defining moment just comes off as cheap and tacky and purposeless. Seriously, what’s the point of this film? Why is it being made? There’s nothing going for it. It’s just yet another MCU film. Who cares? Is anybody even watching these films anymore? I assume they are because they keep making them. Maybe they shouldn’t. Maybe they should stop. Please. Just stop. 😞

[funishment-time]

long DR post of the day

everyone is free to have their own DR Opinions forever, but it hurts my heart a bit when people say Kodaka hates or favors X character because half the time it's...Patently Wrong. i mean objectively.

like, as an example per the DR1 art book, Hifumi's his (and Komatsuzaki's) absolute favorite, hands down. i don't expect everyone to go looking for the fan translations of the art books or anything but i also wouldn't seriously say something like "yeah so i know Hifumi's just there to be the Fat Comic Relief that no one likes" without doing a bit of research first. that is not a thesis that holds

Kodaka created all these characters with love by his own admission. these are His Blorbos and he is the main person directing all the writing on them. (seriously. go look up the DR credit rolls on the main franchise games. this isn't a team in a board room Doing Things For Marketing, this is him overseeing people teasing out his outline with his little guys.)

anyway. to him, they are all main characters: i'm not making shit up and assuming something about a Random Middle Aged Japanese Guy, this is fact. see his BlueSky stuff, see the fact that he does birthday Tweets in-character for almost every character still every year, or see his lecture from 10ish years ago on character creation. (it's online, and translated as it was done here in America. i'll have to find the link and add a reblog when i do)

now: this doesn't mean the characters' writing isn't XYZ Problematic Thing in execution, no pun intended. but in terms of intent, sometimes the fans' assumptions aren't right, esp if it's kind of a rude one.

another example: the one that makes me the most sad is when folks genuinely assume Kaede was there just to be a sexist girl death in service to Shuichi's character development and nothing more. in execution? we can debate all day 'n' night about it. that's fine, that's worthy of essays. as for intent? Kodaka STILL gets emotional when her birthday trends. her Japanese VA was his friend (source: V3 artbook), was Junko's stage show actress, and unfortunately committed suicide in 2021. let's not contribute to the attitudes of the folks that spam him demanding he apologize for murdering Shuichi's girlfriend for his Man Pain, huh?

i fall victim to making Serious Assumptions about creators too! no one's perfect! but i think we could all stand to see if our initial theses actually hold first

[colorful-white-ideas]

Wishing the next time FKA and Bill appear before the public , they keep defending their work on The crow movie. He did a fantastic job , same thing with Fka. I hope they don't let the haters win and later say they "regret doing the movie" no. Good things have come out of it: a new album for the singer , her role helped her to reconcile with herself and believe in love again ! and Bill is looking more confident and healthy than before ,he's not hiding away anymore. They seemed to have developed a beautiful friendship beetwen two talented and hard working people.

The movie has it's flaws, however is nowhere near to be a piece of gargabe as haters are trying to portrait. I personally have issues with the editing , I feel someone did last minute changes ,even so I give them credit for trying something new and putting their heart while on it.

The box office disaster is due to the poor promotion by lionsgate , same thing happened with BKW , a movie that was even withdrawn from cinemas less than 1 week after it release. The crow now had to compete with Deadpool and Alien , huge franchises, and the marketing team decided to start the promotion one week and a half prior. The trailer was misleading from the start , they initially promoted it as a remake and when they tried to correct it ... it was too late.

I dont think the numbers are due to some type of boycott from the "´94" fandom (let's be honest the first movie is a called a cult classic for a reason). its just that regular people don't even know there's a new Crow movie out and that is in the US , in latin america was worse , the only ones who took the job of promoting non stop and explaining the differences between this new movie, the '94 one and the comics were the distributors in Brazil. I think the movie is doing a bit better over there.

The thing is , Lionsgate should have never purchased the distribution rights if they didn't belive in BKW or The crow. Or at least they could have hired a much more competent marketing team for the promotion. It's sad to see two original stories going to waste like this.

[unholy-idiot]

What Punch Out characters think about Garfield.

I have to mix my fixations somehow I must, I just must.

goddd this is so stupid 😭

MINOR CIRCUIT

Glass Joe - Quite content with Garfield, probably has a few merch he simply saw on the selves of some store and got for the fun of it (One of his favorite mugs is a Garfield mug not the McDonald’s one.)

His favorite character is probably Arlene though (at least in the 80’s style not current Arlene)

Von Kaiser - Also quite content with Garfield, he actually finds the Garfield comics quite humorous >_> but…he probably has only one Garfield merch and it’s that one that’s just sitting. He has no memory of how he got this

His favorite character is Lyman. (Does he know?)

Disco Kid - ADORESS Garfield, he definitely grew up watching the Garfield and friends shorts constantly. Has a shit ton of Garfield merch in his mansion because of it, even the really stupid ones like The Garfield couch or that telephone.

His favorite is character Garfield. Sleeps with multiple Garfield plushies staring at him at night.

King Hippo - I don’t think the island Hippo is from had any acknowledge to Garfield. Definitely was a bit freaked out seeing this Orange cat everywhere he went when he first came to America

though I think the cat grew on him, it’s his favorite and only character he know.

MAJOR CIRCUIT!

Piston Honda - Garfield wasn’t as big as a hit in Japan compared to a lot of other countries, so Honda probably wasn’t even aware of his existence until he moved to America. He finds him quite adorable and was given a few merch from Great Tiger as gift.

with the little he has heard of Garfield I think his favorite would be Odie. Not for any reason, just because 🤷‍♀️

Bear Hugger - Didn’t quite get the hype of Garfield. Like, ever. He never understood it but he finds the gazillion merch quite funny.

His favorite character is pooky (you’re not going to believe why)

Great Tiger - Garfield also isn’t popular in India, but when he first saw the merch of him he thought he was some weirdly shaped Tiger that a lot of people just liked for some reason. Until he was told in great detail the garfield lore by a certain Irish. Needless to say, he now loves the cat for no valid reason.

favorite character is Liz.

Don Flamenco - Also doesn’t get the Garfield hype, but couldn’t escape it. Small bits of Garfield comes into his any time he’s in America, in the mall, in the restaurants, in his matches. He’d always see his face, to the point he started growing this humongous biased towards him.

If you ask who favorite character is, he’ll just go on a rant on how dumb for something as simple as Garfield to be so popular. then reluctantly say Jon.

WORLD CIRCUIT👅

Aran Ryan - Garfield was his SHIT as a kid. Ooo lord he loved that dumb cat. Unlike disco though, he didn’t have the money to get merch as kid and his only source of content was the Garfield and Friends show and the comic strips on the newspaper. Knows far too much about Garfield because of this, ask him anything about it he’ll go on a tangent of the whole lore.

His favorite character is odie. Burp

Soda Popinski - Likes the cat, that it. He only knew about him from bootleg toys he finds on the local market until coming to America.

his favorite character is Jon though.

Bald Bull - This is a Turkish man why would he not like a cat character. He doesn’t even know anything about Garfield and didn’t even know it was comic strip and had a show, he just simply thought it was just some marketable design that just…existed. He has a decent collection in his house but isn’t dedicated to it.

Favorite character is Garfield.

Super Macho Man - Doesn’t give a doo doo about Garfield, he has no reason too nor a way to even get into it😭

favorite character is Garfield cause he doesn’t know anyone else in the franchise

Mr Sandman - Loves Garfield a lot, and is quite knowledgeable on it in general. But…he is an AVID collector that man owns Every. Single. Limited edition merch, to ever exist. He basically has a whole separate lifestyle just dedicated to looking for Garfield merch.

favorite character is Garfield. Duh.

OTHERS

Little Mac - Was one of those kids that didn’t necessarily grow up with Garfield, but was a big part of his life in an unintentional way. Like, he will see an old picture of himself from when he was child or something holding a large Garfield plush, or finding old DvD’s of the Garfield shorts he has no memory of watching.

favorite character is Garfield.

Doc Louis - Probably didn’t give much mind to Garfield, similar to Little Mac it would be part of his life in an unintentional way. But more of him getting merch with the intent of actually using it not because it’s Garfield Y’know?

Favorite character is def Jon tho.

[tainbocuailnge]

the thing about witch on the holy night english release and it’s importance to type-moon fans and the international VN market is imagine if like, pokemon, imagine if pokemon international hit franchise pokemon had all its anime localised and all its spinoff games localised you got pokemon ranger you got pokemon mystery dungeon you got pokemon snap you got a billion anime episodes all available in the west but they never localised any of the mainline games. if you’re a western pokemon fan and you want to play the actual games that all these localised spinoffs are based on you have to pirate them and use a fan translation patch. they release idk pokemon pinball 3 localised worldwide but regular ass pokemon red or diamond or sword or whatever just never made it overseas.

and now they’re announcing that they’re remaking pokemon yellow from the ground up with a built in english language option and releasing it internationally, but nintendo of america is doing zero PR about it for no conceivable reason other than they seem to want it to flop so they don’t have to bother putting effort into internationally releasing the other games too. that’s what’s happening with aniplex and witch on the holy night right now.

[blueskittlesart]

I know live action Zelda is gonna suck but what would be your opinion on one like the new Mario movie that recently came out? I feel like something like that would do the game more justice than actual people having to play the different characters

i assume you mean the medium of animation vs live action? i think that 3d animation would probably have a better chance of doing the games justice than live action, yes, especially irt a mute character like link--it's much easier to rely on expression and body language to tell a story when you have complete control over the rigging of a character and aren't relying on an actor's personal choices. I also think it would have removed the recognizability paradox i was talking about earlier with link--the second he's recognizable as an actor, he ceases to be link, the silent protagonist, the universal self-insert. i think the worldbuilding, creatures, and setting of loz would also be significantly more likely to be consistent with the characters and not out-of-place if the full thing was animated instead of cgi vfx on top of live action actors, as we will likely be seeing with this live action movie.

that said, i think the fact that we're getting a live action movie instead of an animated one MAY be indicative of an attempt to capture a real meaningful storyline with this movie. As much as this sucks, it's undeniable that animation in the US is a medium that's usually reserved for children's movies or stories that are targeted at a younger audience, and thus animated features usually have less narrative depth. This was one of my personal problems with the mario movie--the story felt like a complete afterthought imo, with the priority clearly having been grand visuals and funny quips that would have made the movie attractive to a younger audience. basically, it was written like a low-substance kid's movie. This is something you can get away with with a franchise like mario, which is usually low-story or storyless and relies on visuals and gameplay. Zelda, on the other hand, is a narrative-based rpg. Its stories are (usually) very thoughtfully constructed, thematically cohesive, and quite frankly have a lot more depth and substance than you're going to get from your average animated feature in this day and age, especially if the company producing that feature is illumination. (note: this is not to say that all modern animation is for kids or lacks depth, but that's the PERCEPTION of animation among the general public these days, especially american 3d animation.) so i think that the fact that it's live action might at least indicate an ATTEMPT to capture some of the narrative depth that the games possess rather than defaulting to a mario-movie-style barrage of visuals loosely tied together by only vaguely coherent plot points.

truly, i think the ideal medium for a zelda film would have been 2d animation, a medium which addresses both the actor-recognizability and consistency problems inherent in a live action film AND the potential narrative disconnects inherent in a 3d animated one (both japanese and american 2d animation has a rich history of delivering deep, dark, impactful narratives suitable for children and adults alike.) unfortunately, since they insist on producing these movies in america, where 2d animation has been all but killed artificially by the moneymaking machines that run our creative market, it was probably never going to happen that way. like i said, i think both live action and 3d animation have some potential problems inherent to them, but i guess all we can do now is wait and see what we end up with. lol

[borbersk]

I want to try something here, so if you're an american, especially one who values irish culture, read this.

So, for those of you who aren't aware, there's a rap group here in Ireland called kneecap. They're pretty fucking good on their own, but they're probably best known for being easily the most authentic, skilled, and cheeky rappers usung the irish language. You may know them from the time they put stickers up in the British museum

They've done great things for the language and we should thank them as a nation, but that's not what we're here to talk about

Recently, kneecap got their own movie

This is extremely important. Ireland has a cinema industry, but none of our stuff ever competes in American markets, even when it's done undisputably well, and gets critical acclaim

This film is incredibly important to irish culture today, and I'm not just saying that. With all the American media we're force-fed and the erosion of our native language it means so much to have a movie about the irish language without it being a novelty, even one which is mostly in English. If you're an American reading this, I beg you to do whatever you can to spread this movie. Support it for the academy award it's been nominated for, tell your friends about it, watch it legally if you can find it to drive up engagement, watch it illegally if you can't, and perhaps the biggest one of all:

If you're up to it I want you to call your local cinema and ask them to play it. Franchises might not agree, but I know America still has independent cinemas, or even ones with a lot of freedom in local management, so please, if you can get them to show this film it could work wonders for the preservation and representation of irish culture, something that is desperately needed in a time when samboism is one of our biggest industries

Shit, even if you want to rewrite this post, I know I'm not the best communicator, go ahead, just make sure the word gets out. Send to all

Besides, it is genuinely a great film. I saw it the other day with my boyfriend and I already want to rewatch it

[kth1]

Welcome to Woodsboro [KTH]

⟶ Welcome to Woodsboro [Taehyung x Female Reader] ⟶ Genre: Thriller, Horror-themed, Some Fluff, Established Relationship, Smut, One Shot, 18+ ⟶ Warnings: mentions of the scream lore, mentions of killers (main characters are alive and well), references killings, references murders, references death, uses a fake knife, fingering, unprotected, slight choking, tiny roleplay, creampie, etc. ⟶ WC: 15.8k+ ⟶ Beta: wittle tiny hali @haliiimede​ ⟶ Summary: One generation's tragedy is the next one's joke as two horror enthusiasts set out to visit California's most infamous murder site, Woodsboro. Decorated like a festival throughout the town is none other than the haunting and creepy mask of Ghostface. As an area with a history of a gruesome and terrorizing past, there is nothing better for fanatics from all around to show up on the anniversary of the very first murder that set off decades of repetitive fear. ⟶ Author’s Note: Apart of Bangtan Cinema: Horror Night! I’m super stoked to dabble in an AU which I personally love so dearly! Scream is my favorite horror franchise and slasher story, so it was only time for me to step down into the spooky pits of this type of story! Fun feedback is greatly appreciated if you have the time! Side note: This story takes place right after the 2021 film! So for those who know Scream, you will understand a bit better! Also I know my banner is super misleading but it’s so sexy so I don’t care.

The two seater Chevrolet Spark, which you and Taehyung drive in, cruises down the highway at impeccable speed given its size and stature. Zipping through lanes and passing slower cars all while doing the acceptable speed limit to reach your destination of choice. Which is none other than the well-known town in California named Woodsboro; a once quiet area many moons ago, now laced with a looming darkness and a chilling past. A hot spot for all horror enthusiasts to visit with curiosity and eagerness due to the story of former resident, Sidney Prescott.

To this day, Woodsboro is one of California’s most marketed and commercial murder sites.

Taehyung, your boyfriend for some time now, and yourself set out on a road trip to visit several famous murder-magnet areas across state lines throughout North America. Having a strong knack and liking towards horror as a whole; both you and Taehyung run your own podcast and occasional YouTube streams about several types of horror-related thoughts and opinions. Digging deep into the topics on hand and investigating the stories behind the stories of each subject.

The two of you managed to find another through your similar interests. Both individually having your own livestreams and eventually merging together as one after several personal interactions later. Together, the two of you take on the world of horror whether it be nonfiction or not!

You’ve been on the road for nearly 4 hours as your vehicle inches closer to Woodsboro. Taehyung takes on the wheel with ease, opting to use cruise control when necessary while you two share fast food fries tucked into the center console. The GPS on the dashboard indicates the two of you should be arriving shortly and excitement inside sparks higher than ever.

Mindlessly, you watch on your phone a new interview on Kirby Reed, a survivor from one of Woodboro’s murder sprees back in 2011. You mentally take note of a few sentences she states, trying to compare things she is speaking about now versus from when she was first interviewed 9 years ago. How much she has grown and changed throughout the years of being a survivor and taking life on with a new perspective.

“You know,” Taehyung begins speaking, “I’m surprised they haven’t made another Stab movie after the last massacre.”

“Do you mean the one Kirby was a part of or do you mean the one that happened literally last year?”

“Honestly, both. Considering that every-so-often something happens in Woodsboro or in regard to Sidney. I’m curious why the franchise didn’t come up with another movie to continue. I’m feeling a little dry over here with my favorite classic.”

You laugh a little as you tap through your phone to Google about any updates in reference to any future Stab movies. Clicking your tongue, you ease further back into your seat as you read the letters on your device.

“Says here it doesn’t look like there are any production talks about another Stab. Probably because the last film, Stab 8, was utterly terrible and Hollywood realized that it’s a dead franchise without Sidney’s story or Gale Weathers’ books to keep it alive.”

Taehyung grabs a handful of fries to shove into his mouth as he monitors the road ahead of him. His eyes watch for the large signs above that’ll signal the upcoming exits and the distance he has to get to them. 

“Stab 5 was awful too,” he quips, “That shit even had time travel in it. But I still loved it!”

“I think you’re hooked on the idea of Ghostface more than anything now,” you laugh at him while admiring his side profile and honey blonde hair.

Taehyung cracks a small smile, knowing very well that you are correct. His love for the entire Sidney Prescott lore stuck with him ever since he first learned about it. Something about the story just appeals to him, even though it’s a corrupted story and not one you would read in a happy fairytale book.

“To be fair, you like it too.”

“I do,” you affirm with a smile. “And we have several podcasts and documentaries to thrive off of! I don’t think we need another Stab movie.”

“Unless…” Taehyung grins as his hands run across the steering wheel.

You blink at him, awaiting his next words.

“Unless they went back, like they normally do with the classics, and remake everything from the beginning! New cast, new views, new –”

“– The first 3, the original trilogy, are solely based off of Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers’ books! How are you going to remake something based on real events and get away with it? Besides, Sidney threatened to sue the companies if they continued with her story. That’s why we have all these extra movies that half the time don’t make any sense.”

You laugh at the sudden pout formed on Taehyung’s lips that match the turned down brows on his forehead. He tilts his head as he huffs quickly, giving off a disputed noise.

“Haven’t you read into all of the murder massacres?”

His tone sounds defensive but you find it cute. You’re not trying to rile him up, although you are here for it if he speaks up. Taehyung normally becomes very passionate over his opinions and almost always has the need to express them.

“Are you saying I’ve never done my homework on Woodsboro? I’m quite offended,” you feign hurt. “Of course I know what went on. We did have a variety of podcasts entirely on Woodsboro.”

“Then you do realize that nearly all the murders were trying to out-do the original?”

A ping alerts on the dashboard before you, warning that your exit is coming up on the right. Taehyung merges into the closer lane when the coast is clear, taking the car out of cruise control in the meantime.

You question him with a puzzled look, “Are you seriously using that to ground your argument for another Stab movie?”

“It’s pretty solid if you ask me.”

The car slows down to a lesser speed as Taehyung directs it through an exit. The road bends slightly, pulling off of the California freeway and approaching the first set of traffic lights you’ve seen in hours. A green sign posted in the ground on the other side of the street welcomes you with the words “Woodsboro: City Limit”.

You begin to fidget with giddiness in your seat, you can see Taehyung do the same as the two of you actively scan the area around you with your eyes. Finally, the two of you have officially entered the area you’ve always talked about. Always researched on.

It’s all coming to life right before you; thrilled is a complete understatement!

Fumbling with your phone, you quickly tap on your device to access the camera app. You select the video, making sure it’s at its highest quality, as you start to record the scene before you. Speaking into the microphone, you express with a shriek of excitement that “Scary-tales”, your podcast and YouTube name, has officially set foot in Woodsboro.

Taehyung drives down the street after the light turns green, marveling at the scenery around. The two of you aren't surprised once your vehicle comes to a slow stop behind a line of cars. They seem to be waiting to enter the small town as well.

“Looks like there’s going to be a lot of festivities,” Taehyung voices as he points over to the left shoulder of the road. From a far distance he can see black fabric hanging from a sign accompanied with a white mask. “The town probably is all decorated for the season.”

Astonished, you try to lean over and look out from his side of the car.

“Oh! That’s so cool!” It takes you a moment to register something of importance, like a thought lingering in the back of your mind which now jumps out from hiding. “You did make sure to pack the good camera this time, right?”

The car moves up in line, the flow becoming a steady 10 miles per hour instead of the occasional stops.

Taehyung quickly glances at you to reassure your suspicion on him, “Of course! I brought the one with the little attachable microphone!”

You shrug in your seat, giving Taehyung a scrunched up facial expression as you regret the low faith you had in him a second ago.

“Ah! Sorry, sorry!” you laugh. “I didn’t mean it like that! I just wanted you to be able to capture everything you wanted. This place is more for you than for me.”

“Nah, baby, this place is for us both.”

He grins from ear to ear with sparkles in his eyes. He’s serious and endearing.

“You like Ghostface too!” he adds with mirth.

You pan your phone over towards him, recording his face as he speaks with enthusiasm. You smile with joy, letting out a laugh when Taehyung begs you not to record him.

“He’s no Michael Myers, but what can I say? I like my men with a mask.”

Taehyung raises an eyebrow towards you, humor in the tone of his voice when he questions you next.

“So you’re saying I need to wear a mask?” He jokes with a giggle.

You shake your head at his nonsense, but he’s funny nonetheless. It manages to make you smile wider and that’s all he wants from you. To make you enjoy yourself all in all.

The deeper you enter Woodsboro, the more decorations the two of you notice. The entire town is covered with Ghostface decorations and painted blood spills. Street signs from as simple as “2 Hour Parking” to the tops of lamp posts all have a floating Ghostface mask with ripped up black fabric drifting in the wind of the chilly air. Giving the town even more character; making it feel even spookier.

You zoom in and out on all the decorations that you can catch in a passing car. Taehyung continues to travel by the GPS’s directions while you speak openly to your phone that’s recording the festivities and spooky decorations.

“Traffic remains busy as ever. It’s the exact day, September 28th, of the first original murder which set out decades of horrendous attacks and killings to the years that followed. Maureen Prescott, Sidney Prescott’s mother, was murdered in this very town 27 years ago. Here, I, Y/n, and my most trusted colleague and partner, Taehyung finally have entered California’s most infamous town. Woodsboro!”

Slowly the vehicling passes through the town square. It feels as if every street has a police car patrolling the area. A small park resides in the middle of the cross-pathed streets, vendors and food trucks line up from end to end. You can spot Ghostface merchandise everywhere you look before you turn to Taehyung with surprise.

“They really turned this place into a celebration. I wonder if there’s any movie viewings at an abandoned farm or the theaters,” Taehyung ponders out loud.

“We did not come all the way out here just to watch the movies,” you lightly hit his shoulder. “We want to experience the actual vibe of Woodsboro.”

Taehyung chuckles as his eyes light up. He sees a group of people following the lead of a female with a microphone and small speaker attached to her hip. She’s ushering the crowd through the park, pointing over at some local stores and holding out a map.

“We’ll be sure to take a lot of photos and videos,” Taehyung exclaims. “We’ll see as much as we can!”

Shortly after being directed through traffic, Taehyung drives past Woodsboro High School. Both of you ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ over the building. Large banners drape over the front of the building with Ghostface’s mask. Firefighters on ladders are trying to take them down, disapproval from the Mayor must be the reason.

“It must suck working for a town that mocks its law enforcement and first responders,” Taehyung murmurs under his breath. “The place turned into a whole attraction site for people like us.”

You pan your phone over to Taehyung with a wide grin on your face. Angling yourself to get to the High School in the background of Taehyung, you clear your throat to gain his attention.

In your deepest and creepiest way, you speak the classic quote.

“What’s your favorite scary movie, Taehyung?”

Your boyfriend rolls his eyes as he quickly looks into the camera. He squints as if he’s up to no good. The GPS speaks to you once again, telling you to take the next left turn and the destination will be a mile up on the right. Taehyung raises his eyebrow to flirt, giving you a suggestive glare.

“Bambi.”

The fork in your hand clinks against the plate below you as you stab into a clump of mashed potatoes. It’s salted and buttered exactly the way you like it. In your opinion it is a better choice compared to the diner fries. So, at least you say as you stare over at Taehyung’s plate of food with pieces of fries you pick off his plate whenever you feel like it.

His mouth opens wide to engulf a large portion of his triple stacked cheeseburger loaded with tomatoes, pickles, onions, ketchup, mayonnaise, and the diner’s special hot sauce. This man always surprises you with how he can practically inhale his food, making you question how he even digests it all before his next meal. Taehyung has just as strong of a love for food as he does for his murder stories.

You pick at your BLT sandwich piece by piece as you look around the diner. The layout is plain and simple, suits the busy crowd well with the variety of characters that linger throughout. Several people sit at a curved stool in front of the bar, snacking on their meals they ordered. Whereas you and Taehyung managed to snag a corner table right near the large display window that sits two of you comfortably. Even the menu and window decal supports Ghostface’s presence. Yellow seats cover the base of each booth tied with an off-white backing. The table before you is dressed in a clear-plastic, protecting the speckled aged wood.

“I still can’t believe you managed to find an available room at the hotel in this town. It wasn’t too expensive, was it?” You question Taehyung as you whip out a small notepad from your purse. “Like, it wasn’t a big price for here?”

Taehyung continues to munch on his burger while nodding his head, humming a “mmf” as he answers you back. Dressing drips off the side of his mouth and runs down his jaw as he searches for a napkin.

“It’s all good, I’ve handled it. I booked the room months ago so no need to stress about the cost. We’re covered, baby.” He reassures you. Taehyung swipes away the food on the corners of his lips. “Besides, we’re only here for two nights and you can’t put a price on this type of stuff.”

Your pen runs across the paper of your notebook as you jot down the beginnings of a list. Mapping out their path of where they want to visit and what they want to do during the small timeframe they have.

“Okay,” you hum. “I trust you.”

Taehyung reaches over to grab your hand, his thumb rubs softly over your knuckles. He knocks the pen out of your grip and laces his fingers with yours.

“Hey,” he speaks softly. “I know you have so many things going on in that brain of yours, but sit back and enjoy yourself right now. We have all the time.”

You sigh but give Taehyung a warm smile in response. Your hand squeezes him a little more as you nod your agreement.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to calm down. I just have all this excitement –”

“– And that’s okay. I appreciate and love how excited you get, baby!” Taehyung smiles and grabs a french fry off of his plate and feeds it to you directly. “I’m wired too.”

“Say, let’s hit up one of these merchandise stands after we finish up our lunch. I’m sure we can get a fun matching shirt or something.” Taehyung flashes his teeth before biting on his bottom lip.

“Tempting,” you bat your eyes at him quickly, “But let’s figure out all the places we can visit and hit up. I want to visit the Macher’s house – well technically it was last owned by the Freeman’s. But it was the place with the most attacks. The one on Turner Lane! I heard it was turned into a walk-through funhouse of some sort. Like a museum but not really.”

“That would be such a great place for an airbnb,” Taehyung adds. He continues finishing up the food on his plate while you start jotting down your list.

“Right?” You agree with him. “But the idea of being able to walk around it freely is also pretty cool.”

Your waitress steps over to your table suddenly, her black apron sitting comfortably tight across her waist. She checks in with the two of you, has a coffee pot in hand and offers some for your empty cups in which the two of you agree immediately. Traveling through the state of California to hit up all your favorite horror-related sites has proved to the two of you that coffee is your new best friend.

“Just let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to order,” the waitress with the name tag saying ‘Tatum’ waves as she walks away to check on the other tables she’s in charge of. 

You tap Taehyung on the arm frantically the moment she disappears from your area, “Tae, did you notice her name?”

Taehyung looks up at you through his sweet honey blonde curtain bangs with another mouth full of food. His eyes open wide like a confused puppy.

“No?” he tries to say without spitting out any food.

“Her name is Tatum! Like Tatum Riley! Sidney’s best friend during the first massacre!”

“Oh shit, no way! Maybe her parents are lowkey a fan?”

“I’m afraid to ask though, she probably gets questioned about it a lot.”

You take a long sip of your coffee as you jot down more ideas. The surrounding tables are beginning to fill up more with bodies, making the Woodsboro diner sound a bit louder. Even a group of rowdy teenagers come in with full apparel of Ghostface costumes but each mask is a different color.

Taehyung stops mid-bite when his face turns into realization about something. His whole body stills as he processes his thoughts.

You look up at him when he makes a disgruntled noise with his throat. His brows slowly knit together.

“What’s the matter, babe?”

“Something just hit me,” he says with skepticism. “What if we end up getting killed?”

You laugh out loud, motioning with your hand for Taehyung to relax.

“Tae, we’re fine. Everything here is focused on Sidney. There is absolutely no reason or any motive for a Ghostface to attack us,” you reason with him. “And before you ask, last year’s massacre was in-relation to the people who were tied to the original massacres. All the people involved with the lore of the first mastermind of it all.”

“Billy Loomis,” Taehyung utters under his breath. Even the name sends a shiver down your spine now that you’re in this town. “But also, horror enthusiasts… one who watches too many movies and shows, like us…”

“Like Amber Freeman and Richie Kirsch?”

Taehyung nods, “There could be more people like the murderers from last year who just want to continue the story.”

You squint your eyes at Taehyung from across the table. Your face twists with humor and confusion, unsure on how to respond to his words.

“Saying something like that makes it sound like you’d be the one to do that type of thing,” you state nonchalantly.

“Not at all!” He reclines back into his side of the booth. Taehyung brushes his hair out of his face with a hand, the other searching for his phone in the pocket of his jacket. “I’m saying other people could be motivated in such a way. Do you really think I'd be capable of something like that?”

“Most people don’t know who could be a killer until they’re caught…” You tap your pen on the table with a smile on your face. “So I wouldn’t know if that’s something you’re into,” you joke.

Taehyung browses through some of his notifications on his cell phone when he gives you a contemptuous face. He’s unsatisfied with your accusation, but you do have a point.

“Baby, I can say the same thing for you.” He raises his eyebrows with surprise, smiling to himself as his thumb taps away to send a message to someone. “I mean, you indulge yourself in plenty of scary movies too. Which franchise are you trying to keep alive?” He jests with a wink as he places his phone down and turns the screen for you to view. 

You see a banner posted to a Twitter post that is colorful and pops out to draw the creative eye. In large bold words it says “Annual Stab-a-thon!” with pictures of knives and pumpkins. Attached is a timeframe and location, one nearby, which makes Taehyung wiggle his brows at you.

“You’re funny,” you dryly say as you push the phone away from your side of the table. The sarcasm laced in your tone only makes Taehyung content with his actions. “You know I would never do something like that,” you say in reference to the hint of you being a killer. “Honestly, I don’t think I'd survive very long in a horror movie. I am the type to be at the wrong place at the wrong time,” you humor him with your confession.

Taehyung grabs your notepad from you swiftly to write down an idea. He tilts his head to the side, shaking it at you in disbelief.

“Ah, you need to give yourself more credit than that,” he scribbles down his chicken scratch while speaking to you. “I think you would make it to the final act!”

“Well with you as the killer, I think you’d give me some mercy to make it that far,” you tease as you bite back a smile.

Taehyung scrunches his face with anger and surprise. His mouth gapes open with a disappointed huff.

“I’m not a killer!” he protests with his whole chest. He uses his forefinger to press into the table with every syllable he speaks. “I’m an innocent person!”

The two of you break out in a fit of laughter. Taehyung looks at you with sadness while holding back his full smile as you roll your eyes at his ridiculousness. It’s conversations like these that end up with cute displays which makes you love the man even more.

“Tae,” you drawl as you recollect the conversation. “You’re cute when you get offended.”

“Thanks,” he responds laconically and with a pout.

Your waitress, Tatum, comes back over once again with a written out check for your table. She offers her service one last time to see if either of you need any more refreshments or food before handing the piece of paper over. Your boyfriend snatches the check from your view and fishes out his wallet from his back pocket.

“I got it covered,” he states as he counts through his money.

“Okay, but the next thing we have to pay for is on me!” you declare.

There’s always this weird complex with you that you feel the need to have equal contribution to spending expenses. If someone keeps pampering you too much, someone like a boyfriend you know so well, you tend to find ways to make it equal in return. 

Somehow.

“We’ll see,” he grins.

Before Taehyung can manage the tip for the waitress, you emphasize the importance of the notepad still sitting out on the tabletop. You read the last thing Taehyung wrote, which is the address “34 Elm Street.” Nodding your head, you raise your shoulders to show your indifference to it.

“The Prescott’s old house,” you acknowledge. “I’m down.”

Taehyung holds onto his cup of coffee while leaning in to look at the notepad. You reach for the pen once again to begin writing more.

“How about we finish our list before we leave here and check out some souvenir places. By then we’ll be able to check into our hotel room and start visiting some spots. I’ll have to fill up the tank as well.”

“Sounds like a plan!” You voice with keenness. 

Your pen traces letters into your notepad as you add stars next to your favorite and must visit sites. Tonight the two of you will be able to hit some of the areas up with no problems in your way. Enjoy some festivities and grab some merchandise. Have fun together and experience some irreplaceable memories.

And survive Woodsboro.

Taehyung and you both walk into room 312 with your bags in hand. Right before arriving at the hotel, you had stopped at a local grocery place to grab a few necessities and snacks to hold you over for the night. Thankfully the WoodSpring Suites comes with a complimentary breakfast in the morning along with a small snack area where you can purchase beverages and food that can appeal to a small appetite. But with Taehyung, you already know that the store was the better choice for the matter.

The entire left wall from beginning to end is colored in Aegean blue while the rest of the walls are a soft eggshell white color. The king size bed is covered in grayish-tan and rice paper colors, complemented with hickory wood furniture. The laminate flooring matches the wood as much as possible, giving the room a friendly and clean look to it. One single off-yellow couch sits in the corner of the room with a coffee table in front of it. 

“Finally!” Taehyung rejoices to himself as he plops his bags down on the edge of the bed.

You, however, walk yourself to the coffee table and neatly take out pieces of your electronics and begin to step up a small work desk for yourself.

“The place looks great,” you comment as you toss the remote controller over toward the bed for Taehyung. 

“Yeah, I like it too!” Taehyung shuffles through his bags and gathers articles of clothing for himself. He continues to unzip and pull apart his items all over the spread of the bed. “Did you want to do a nightly recording before bed?”

You nod as you focus on angeling your laptop and connecting it to an outlet in the wall beside you. “With some of the sites we managed to see today, like the Robert’s house and High School, I think we can talk about some things if you’re up for it. It is kind of late though.”

“My legs hurt from walking so much,” he laughs while he sits on the bed and kicks off his shoes. “Can we do a mini-one? I’m kind of beat. Going to jump in the shower before anything though. Do you want to join?”

Looking over at Taehyung, you see he has a satisfied face without giving you a glance. You’re well aware he has already determined his actions for the next 30 minutes and you are in no position to stop him.

“I’m ok, I can wait.” You smile. Typing in your password to the laptop, you smile to yourself. “I can start reheating those microwavable meals while you are in the shower so they’ll be ready by the time you come out.”

Taehyung makes his way over to you as he leans down. All his clothes and toiletries are stuffed in between his arms.

“Thank you,” he grins as he waits for you to connect his awaiting kiss. 

You bite on your bottom lip before giving him what he wants. It’s a sweet and simple kiss, nothing hidden behind its meaning besides pure adoration.

The two of you are cut off by the sound of your hotel’s phone ringing. You give Taehyung a muddled face but he looks just as perplexed as you do. He moves toward the phone and by the third ring he picks it up.

“Hello?”

You watch as Taehyung’s facial gestures change through a series of confusion and amusement. He holds back a cringe smile, probably trying not to laugh.

“Oh yeah?” he says back to the phone. “A game?”

You furrow your brows while watching him. Taehyung wears a lopsided grin as he shifts his weight on his feet.

“Not interested, but this was cool,” he comments before hanging up the phone.

“Was that the front desk?” You blink at him.

Taehyung shakes his head while shrugging his shoulders, “I don’t think so,” he huffed a laugh. “Someone trying to do the Ghostface voice.”

“What really?” You speak with astonishment, “No way!”

He departs towards the bathroom before the phone rings once again. Taehyung stops and turns on his heels, eyes glaring at the phone that flashes. Taehyung shares a curious glance with you and raises his eyebrows.

“Do you want to answer it?”

The phone continues to ring until you finally decide for yourself to head over toward it. You grip the device with no hesitation and lift it to your ear. On the other side of the line you hear nothing at first besides heavy breathing. It stands the hairs on the back of your neck.

You allow the silence to linger between you and the caller, just listening for the only noises you can hear. A deep chuckle emits in a raspy tone.

“Hey, we’re not finished yet,” the ominous, taunting threatening voice speaks.

“Who is this?” you question with the thrill knowing you’re asking the most silly question.

It’s most definitely some form of prank based on how active and inventive Woodsboro is. You wonder how often people play the part of acting as Ghostface for shits and giggles. But from an out of townie like yourself, something like this seems so cool to you. Not annoying whatsoever. 

Taehyung has already entered the bathroom, leaving the door open just in case you change your mind or not if you choose to join him, while you sit on the edge of the bed. The shower is running and one can only assume Taehyung has stripped down to his bare nakedness and submerged himself under the cascade of water by now.

“Who do you think this is?”

You entertain the person on the other line. “The most obvious answer for Woodsboro would be Ghostface. Am I right?”

“Yes,” the rugged voice replies. “Aren’t you so smart?”

“I’m a big fan,” you giggle.

“Do you like scary movies?”

“Of course I do. Why do you think I’m here?” you laugh at the classic phrase being spoken to you. Before you allow the other person to respond, you fake yawn out of boredom. “This is so unoriginal. You’ve lost my interest already.”

In a warning tone, the voice threatens, “Don’t hang up on me!”

“It’s late and I'm tired,” you claim before placing the phone down on its receiver. 

You sigh as you stare at the device on the bedside table. There’s plenty of spooks to go around all day tomorrow, you don’t need anymore right now.

A knock on the door alerts you, Taehyung can even hear it from inside the bathroom. Creeping up to the peephole, you see nobody on the other side of your door. Slowly, you back up making a disgruntled noise.

“Who is it, baby?” Your boyfriend shouts from the shower.

“It’s nobody,” you respond loud enough for him to hear. As you pass by the bathroom, you see Taehyung’s head poking out from behind the shower curtain – wet locks and everything. You give him a brief smile and shrug, raising your hands up. “I didn’t see anyone. Probably just a prank.”

“Huh,” Taehyung mulls over it for a second. He tilts his head with a wink, “You want to join me now?”

It’s hard to resist his innocent persuasion. His invitation of a nice hot, steamy shower is so inviting.

“Sure,” you smile.

You take one single step in the bathroom before your hotel room’s phone goes off again. You stare at Taehyung with confusion and alarm. 

“Just unplug it from the wall.”

“Yeah… yeah,” you laugh.

You’re sure to disconnect the phone by the wire as well as locking both locks on your hotel room door. You shimmy off your clothes on your way into the bathroom, placing the towels nearby for when you need to grab them. Taehyung hums a melodic tune to himself as he washes his face under the showerhead as you peel open the curtain.

Your eyes scan the expanse of his wet nude body with a warm smile. He feels the cool draft enter his vicinity and turns to glance at you after wiping his eyes clean from the water.

“You alright?”

“Mhm,” you swallow. “Just surprised how dedicated some fans get with this place.”

Walking hand-in-hand with your boyfriend, you stroll along with some pep to your step. Thrills and shrills send signals throughout your nerves and you can tell it’s affecting Taehyung the way it does to you. Excitement and adrenaline. Together, the both of you walk along the line of the road flooded with lingering sight-seers all prepared to enter in the biggest hot spot of the night.

261 Turner Lane.

The location with the record of most murders and attacks know to Woodsboro – in regard to Ghostface. Taehyung begged you to visit the Woodsboro Hospital earlier this morning after your first night at the hotel. A place where several people, like Jill Roberts, Sidney’s cousin, and Sheriff Dwight ‘Dewey’ Riley had died. You two even managed to visit the Reed’s residence where Kirby and her friends were attacked nearly 10 years ago! However, that place was more off limits to civilians and most definitely did not want horror-nerds, like yourself, sniffing around with nostalgia.

All the sites are small, but hold so much weight and horrific memories for many. You can sympathize with those who are haunted by the past and understand that their community has gone through so much. But the geekiness of your love for horror and minor obsession with understanding serial killers and motives can almost desensitize the world around you. 

Considering how it’s not just you, or Taehyung, who enjoy these types of things. But with how your eyes scan around every inch that Woodsboro has to offer, the exhilaration of it all continues to live because of the enthusiasts!

Merchandise, candy, confetti, bags, and balloons scattering around the town as if it’s a carnival for the one and only Ghostface. People of all ages dress up in the legendary costume and perform reenactments or shows. Even you, who is caught up in the mix of fun and games, walk around with a matching customized bracelet that you wear proudly with Taehyung. It sports a small trinket with your initials engraved into it right next to a hanging silver dagger that represents a buck knife.

For slicing and dicing… and also to constitute Ghostface's traditional weapon of use.

You cycle through your camera for all the photos and footage the two of you captured from your previous day excursions, making mental notes on what you should talk about on your next podcast after the two of you leave this town. Taehyung makes sure to point out everything he wants in the camera as well as he looks over your shoulder. With his fingers still intertwined with yours, he pulls your arm closer to his body so he can hold you closer to him.

“How much do you think we’ll be able to see? I tried to stay away from the internet so I didn’t get spoiled with anything,” He questions as his eyes look toward the front of the line you two stand in.

“I would hope for everything,” you speak softly. “It would be worth it to show off the entire house. It looks like they have hosts who direct you around,” you point over to a worker wearing a red tucked in button-up and dark dress pants.

The two of you admire the view of the side of the house, showing how the line you stand in extends with at least 50 bodies or more. But the home is dressed up nicely as if it was any other house you can see in Woodsboro. Beautiful flowers trail along the edgings of the road such as daffodils, red lilies, and purple agapanthus’. Tall brushes and thick weeds compliment the tan exterior of the house and deep green shingles. Shrubs and cobblestone walkways. Your mind paints a picture of all the gruesome and alarming actions that once took place here.

A little fountain in the middle of the entrance alley is drained of its water, showing off the rustic residue. Eerie music fills the air, played to entertain the ears of those who are visiting this walk-through house. Group by group, you see people filter into the front entrance of the notorious home. Eagerly, you and Taehyung step closer and closer and await your turn.

At the gate, a working crew at a small stand pulls out pieces of papers to fill out. Files to keep documented for those who enter and liability checks. Your signature is needed along with demographics and contact information. You hear screams up ahead, laughter soon to follow. Lights in the house flicker on and off, but the music ellipses over the brunt of the shrieks. 

You pay a fee, nothing too expensive, for the two of you before signing your agreement. Fearlessly, both you and Taehyung allow the workers to strap on a colored bracelet to your wrists. 

“Thank you,” you two express gratitude as you step along with the rest of the crowd.

The papers serve as a waiver, giving formal structure with risk involved sections, assumptions of risk sections, law provision, and respect to state laws. The owners of the house and those involved with the business have every right to hold your papers and pull you from the attraction site. Even though this is for fun and games, the seriousness of the property comes with its own stakes.

The Macher’s house, now rebranded into the name ‘Horror House’ for the attraction, stands at 5,500 square feet. To your knowledge, there are up to 4 bedrooms residing inside the establishment. Several bathrooms, a 3-car garage, rear and front foyers, and much more. With over 290 acres of land, creek frontage, and a span of eucalyptus groves, this amazing home survives decades of dreadful history.

You follow the path along the walkway with Taehyung by your side. Securing your purse around your body so it doesn’t snag on anything while you're inside, you turn to your boyfriend who’s snapping photos of the landscape and crowd.

“No flash photography!” You hear a worker shout at the entrance of the home. They hold up a flashlight directed toward Taehyung as they address him.

“Turn it off,” you whisper-yell at him as you pull his arm down. “Let’s not get thrown out before even getting inside.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it was on until I took the photo!”

“Have bags opened and ready to be checked! Pockets emptied!”

As you step up the porch stairs of the Macher’s house, you hear busy workers repeating rules verbatim. They make this as swift and nimble as possible. Taehyung passes through security first, being patted down from all sides before they allow you to step through. They search your bag and roughly touch over your arms and jacket pockets, looking for any unnecessary hidden items for the protection of the house, staff, and customers.

Inside the house, the lights flicker on a timer. Red and yellow glows illuminate the walls as some areas in the house remain dim with no light source. The two of you are guided through the main entrance of the house by your hostess. The moment you step through, a loud group of screams appear overhead on the stairs right above you. People tripping over another and laughing from being spooked by someone in a Ghostface costume who has jumped out from behind a door frame.

You grab onto Taehyung on instinct while chuckling at yourself for getting scared from the loud noise. He, too, is startled momentarily, but he flashes a smile that expresses the fever buzz his body is radiating. 

“Spooks and scares is the theme tonight!” Your hostess speaks in singsong. “Get ready to survive the fright!”

As corny as that rhyme sounds, it makes both you and your boyfriend giggle. You listen intently to the hostesses' words and fair warnings. How everything within the house is a reenactment of some sort and only serves to get your nerves jumping with fear. To be careful of your surroundings and not to stray too far away from your group. Playing in the funhouse is what you guys came here for anyways.

A loud dong resounds over the music, the clock striking an hour before midnight. Loud cheers and hollers are heard from inside and outside, everyone rejoicing with excitement.

“This shit’s so wild,” you comment with a bright look. You lean in towards Taehyung’s ear to whisper to him next, “Say, whenever we can… try recording some of the places in here without the staff seeing.”

“Already ahead of you,” he comments with a mischievous grin. His eyes flicker down to his pants pocket where his phone’s camera pops out just enough to show. In secret, he must have hit record and slid the device nonchalantly. “I’ve been recording after they yelled at me for the flash,” he laughs.

“I’m your hostess, Hallie. Please be advised that other parties are roaming around the building. So you most definitely will intermingle at some point. Please try your best to stick with me.” The petite, younger woman, adjusts her shirts’ sleeves along her wrists. Flashing the two of you the happiest of smiles.

“Can I ask,” you interject ever so slightly. “How long have you guys been running this?”

Hallie smiles with a nod, “About 4 months now. After the previous owners listed the house, it wasn’t very long for the current owner to snatch it off the market.”

“And no problems?” You quiz as you look around.

“Most furniture have been replaced with replicas just in case of damage. But it’s such a popular site, nobody has complained besides some locals.”

All three of you glance over towards a door frame in the back of the foyer. It’s hard to see but flashes of people running across the backend of the house come into view, followed by another person in a costume. 

“There’s been some renovations to the house to maintain multiple entrances and exits to allow the flow of parties to weave in and out. Ideally, throughout your walkthrough you will visit every section of the house and even the field out back. Just mind the parties around you. We usually have about 7 parties at once to keep the line moving at a decent pace.”

Taehyung wraps his arm around your shoulder and pulls you comfortably against him. He shifts on his feet but directs his attention to Hallie.

“I think what she’s trying to ask is if there’s been any murders because of this,” he emphazises with a gesture of his hand.

Hallie gives the two of you a cheerful smile, flashing her set of pearly whites. “None whatsoever.” She steps in closer towards the two of you, taking hold of the earpiece in her ear to muffle her next words for whoever is listening on the other end. “But between us, I think this town wants to keep the slasher story alive and well.”

You both blink at her dumbfounded, but she holds up a hushed finger before placing her earpiece back in. She clicks on her small handheld flashlight that shines a bright blue, waving it in the air towards the walls of the house.

“So let us begin our journey through the Horror House! Our group color is blue,” she references the flashlight’s light color., “So if you ever need to find me, look for my light.”

Quickly, and before Hallie leads you to the left side of the house, you whip out your phone to snap a photo of you and Taehyung. The lighting is absolutely terrible but you manage to get the quarter turned staircase and sparkling chandelier above. Taehyung presses his lips against your cheek as you grin ear to ear to show your utmost happiness.

“Happy Anniversary!” you cheer to yourself as you snap the photo.

“Phones away please,” Hallie demands as her light flashes at you. “First and final warning.”

“Sorry, sorry,” you meekly say. You shrug like how a child does when they’re in trouble.

You shove your phone back inside your purse and zip it up tight. You grimace when Hallie gives you a sharp look, but she tilts her head and opens up her arms to guide you into the next room.

The room is lit up with a dim light, covered with plenty of floorspace and loveseat couches. The fireplace displays a fake fire while smoke roams on the floor. It serves as a living space, but before you or Taehyung can geek out about it, Hallie declares that this is not the room where any murders took place.

“One of the most unused areas of the house happens to be right here!” She exclaims. The celinings are tall, giving the room a larger feeling to it. Over in the corner stands a mannequin of Ghostface in an attacking pose, decorations surround it while the large mirror behind it shows your reflection.

Another round of terrific screams come from another part of the house and you can’t help but grip Taehyung’s hand tighter in your hold. The spooky aura of the house, and knowing the history, fuels your brain into all the acts.

“Now if you follow me this way, we’ll be entering the one area where Sidney and Stu battled out a fight, resulting in Sidney breaking a potted plant over Stu’s head and dropping an entire television on him!”

Hallie walks through first, pointing out a replicated television set standing in the corner of the room in front of some more couches. A coffee table is littered with candy, snacks, and drinks – as if there was an active party going on. You and Taehyung walk in right after her, only to get your first fright of the night when an actor jumps out from the side of the doorframe and grunts at the two of you.

“Ah!” You yelp but immediately slap your hand over your chest from laughing. 

“Fuck!” Taehyung curses as his arm briefly comes up in defense.

The actor maintains character, hardly speaks but stays menacing enough. They hold up their false dagger, moving their arm in an attacking motion as both you and Taehyung maneuver around the floor without stumbling over another. The lights flicker with the beat of the sinister music, all to help create a fun horror-themed house.

“God this is so good!” You declare as you step around a few broken pieces of chairs as you get into the next room. 

Your eyes scan around every inch and every corner of the beautiful house, given what little lighting you have to work with. You wish you can take it all in at your own pace, record things you want when you want to. But you need to be crafty and careful. So any chance you get, when Hallie or any other floating bodies of people aren’t looking your way, you try to fish through your purse to pull out your phone and capture a photo.

Taehyung on the other hand, is still rocking his secret pocket recording. You can tell he’s turning his body more often than so – probably to get as much footage as possible without being caught. 

“This is the main attraction here! The climatic kitchen!” Hallie walks forward and around a small island table, tapping her hands on the counter like beating on a drum. “Where chicken and vegetables aren’t the only things that got cut up in here.”

You give Hallie a pensive glare, nearly shaking your head the moment the words left her lips.

“Eh,” she shrugs. “You’re right. That punchline isn’t that funny.”

Taehyung admires the white countertops and ocean blue walls which match the tiles above the stove. The window by the kitchen sink has blood splatters across it, red liquid dripping down into the silver stainless steel. Popcorn pieces are littered everywhere, while an old-timey phone hangs off the hinge of its cable.

“This is so fucking cool,” he comments. “Everything! All right here.” He stands with his arms outstretched. “This whole house has so much history! I can practically feel it.” He’s astonished but shows all his gratitude through giddiness. “Can you even imagine all the thoughts and emotions of the people who have gone through here?”

You step close to him as you check out a calendar up on the wall. It’s from 1996, September, with dates circled and highlighted and has written notes over which days and approximate times people have been attacked here during the first massacre.

“Too bad it’s not the 28th anymore and it’s the 29th. We’d be here exactly 26 years from when the first reign of Ghostface came to an end.”

“Yeah, but,” Taehyung nudges you in the arm. “It is our anniversary. So it’s still special.”

A loud thud from upstairs causes all three of you to jump in your spots. You whip your head around to look at Hallie who is already making her move towards the front foyer again, waving the two of you on with her.

“Let’s head upstairs, shall we?”

You wrap around to the front once again to see a new party of people entering the house. Hallie steps besides the stairs and points upward, telling the two of you to walk up. Taehyung shows no hesitation, but for you, you notice how there’s fake blood smeared all over the carpet of each stair. With your naked eye, it looks fresh. It is not until the time you reach the top of the stairs do you notice that the red paint was still wet and now tracks from your footprints.

Before you can question anything, you pivot and are ushered up another set of small stairs. The second story of the home has plenty of space. There is a nice little balcony area over the foyer that you can look down in, peeping at the groups of people who roam around the floors. You spot another actor walking around in a costume creeping behind a straggler, waiting any second for them to scare the person.

“Baby, let’s go.”

Taehyung pats you on your back as he passes you, following the hostesses lead into the master bedroom. There’s more decor dressing the house even scarier, and this time, the entire room is flipped upside down. The bed sheets and comforter are ripped apart, feathers from the pillows fallen on the floor. 

It’s staged as if someone ransacked the entire room. It helps seeing a stuffed life-sized doll laying on the floor in a pile of blood. Both you and Taehyung express admiration over the scene, feeding into the question Hallie hits you with.

“Now, what might have happened here?”

“Looks like a murder,” Taehyung replies evidently. 

Suddenly, a mysterious Ghostface appears from the master bathroom with his knife wielded high into the air. They step towards Hallie quickly, bee-lining their way straight to her to attack her.

She screams, and you respond with the same noise back. Ghostface digs his knife into her backside as Hallie stares at you and your boyfriend with shock. Her flashlight drops to the ground as Ghostface stabs her again.

You immediately back up, walking over the display of horror in the center of the room and walking over to another exit of the master suit.

“Holy shit,” you mutter as you’re grabbing Taehyung by the jacket to yank him with you. “Hallie?” you question as you watch her and Ghostface interact.

Your hostess drops to her knees before finally landing on the ground, face first into the carpet. While Ghostface stands there, head tilting to look over at the two of you as they clean off their knife with their gloves.

“Tae, move,” you urge while pulling on him more. You continue to back up until you see the steps to the stairs. They lead right to the ones that come from the foyer.

Ghostface begins to stalk you, rushing over to attack. Taehyung follows you as you pull him along urgently, frantically.

“This isn’t right. No, no, no,” you scream. You attempt to turn to run downstairs, but you nearly slip from trying to stop yourself. A group of people are in the middle of walking up the stairs, preventing you from going down. Taehyung hoists you back up, making you run to the other side and searches for the nearest door to run through.

“Run!” He shouts to anyone who can hear. Taehyung looks over his shoulder to see if Ghostface is still chasing you, and for a fact – they very much are!

Taehyung nearly pushes you through the far end door, closing it tight behind him. He searches for the locks, even moves a piece of furniture in front of the door quickly out of pure instinct. Your heart races erratically, but you turn and look at Taehyung with surprise.

You begin to laugh out loud, holding your head with your hands. Looking around, you notice the two of you are barricaded in a storage area. Like an attic of some sorts.

“This is hilarious!” you chuckle. You move around some useless knick knacks storage on top of some boxes. “We just got chased by a Ghostface!”

Taehyung nervously goes along with your lighthearted giggles, until his nerves bubble down into full blown laughter. He notices he has scratched his hand during the mix of everything. A cut annoying enough to draw blood.

“Yeah! Ha –” he runs his other hand through his hair, “– That was really funny.”

A bang hits the door and the two of you jolt in your place. The door gets hit again with a louder thud. When you notice the handle jingling, both Taehyung and you back up slightly. More shrieks and hollars are made from outside the door but you stay staring at it, begging for the door not to open.

When the door bursts open, but is blocked by the furniture Taehyung placed in front of it, you see the mask of Ghostface sticking through with their arm. Swinging wildly with their knife in hand. It clinks and digs into the wood of the door.

You walk backwards, deeper into the storage area and run over to one of the windows to look outside. You begin hitting your hands on the glass, screaming for help as you look down at the line of people still waiting to get inside of the house. The music is blaring and screaming coming from this house is practically normal – so your cries for help go completely unnoticed.

Taehyung grabs you from your shoulder, pulling you back as he calls your name.

“Y/n, Y/n! Look,” Taehyung points out another door that was hidden from view. Maybe one of the many renovations Hallie had spoken about earlier. “Come, come!” He begs as he holds onto your hand and leads you towards it.

He pried the door open after pushing boxes away from it. Stairs that lead down below welcome you, and happily the two of you take them. The darkness makes it impossible to see, but once you hit the last step into the new room, you realize you’re just outside the kitchen nook area.

“This house is so confusing,” you comment. “All the rooms practically intertwine with another!”

“The garage!” Taehyung pulls you with him, leading you to the door that’s been cracked open. Together, you push it open and step down the three wooden stairs. You notice a party with their host, they turn to you in shock. “Ghostface is chasing us!” Taehyung shouts as he practically drags you to the one open garage door. 

You see the darkness of the night outside in the driveway. The sooner you’re out of the house the quicker you will feel safe. At least that’s what runs through your mind as you stumble over yourself as you rush out of the garage.

“Relax guys!” The host says. He flashes his green light at you as his hand comes up to halt your running spree. “It’s just a part of the show! What’s your color?”

Taehyung stops the two of you in the middle of the driveway. You’re now at the back of the house, away from the long line of horror enthusiasts, and can see golf carts set up for roaming the many acres of the backyard.

You grip onto his arm, holding tightly as your heartbeat races inside your chest. Wide eyed, you stare at the other host and the group they’re guiding.

“We’re blue,” Taehyung comments. He sounds slightly winded, but he hides it well when speaking back to the worker.

The host reaches for a walky-talky from his back pocket, pressing the button to speak into the voicebox.

“I have the blue party at the garage. Can the host of blue come here?”

Taehyung wraps his arm around you, pulling you tight against him as you two stand aimlessly. There’s an uproar inside the house, joyous laughters and shouts for help. It rounds every 30 seconds or so. But it begins to sound unnerving. Maybe the horror funhouse is really scaring you.

“Hey,” Taehyung whispers as he runs his hands along your arm. “Not to psych you out or anything… but look where we’re standing right now.”

You glance around, seeing a boat covered with a tarp. A concrete walkway leads to the back desk of the house to your right and a row of lights line up beside it. It doesn’t hit you until Taehyung speaks the words “doggy door” to you that you realize exactly what you should be looking at.

The middle garage door is the place where Tatum Riley was found crushed at the top. Stuck between the dog door and the top of the garage.

You move around Taehyung to sneak a quick photo of the area. With enough space, you back up and capture the scene – making sure to capture Taehyung in the frame.

From the roof, windows from above peer out of the building. Inside one of those windows stands a person with the mask on, staring down at you. It raises a knife to the glass, tapping on it. 

Taunting you. 

Teasing you.

Minutes have gone by before someone shows up. Thankfully that person is Hallie, your original hostess. She steps into the garage from the kitchen, like how Taehyung and you had just done before.

“Jesus, where have you guys gone to? You’re so fast!” She exclaims with a huff.

“Wha-what?” You reply. “You were attacked!”

“It was an act,” she reassures. “Only to scare you! I see that it worked.” She laughs. Hallie turns her body left and right to show you her well being, “See, I’m unharmed. It’s all good.”

“I mean, I guess it is a funhouse. We just got caught up in it,” Taehyung mumbles. “I even thought it was real for a second there.” His deep chuckle makes you feel a little at ease.

“So are we ready to continue the house tour? We have more bumps and scares ahead of us.”

You stare off into space as your mind continues to think about all the places and things you’ve seen. Ever since that small scare at the Macher’s house, you can’t help but shake the feeling of what it could have been like for all who were murdered by someone behind the terrorizing mask that haunts this town. It feels almost too real for a reenactment, even though your hostess was perfectly fine in the end. Taehyung managed to get scraped in the process of running throughout the house while your shirt, which you didn’t notice until you got back to the hotel, ended up having a small tear in it. But that’s what a horror themed funhouse could do to those who enter. Freak them out. Psych them up.

Your fingers fiddle with another while you listen haphazardly to Taehyung recording himself for the podcast in the corner of your hotel room. He goes on and on about how much he’s enjoyed himself and shows off a handful of his memorable trinkets he’s bought from a few item shops. His freshly washed hair is combed back and away from his face; one small piece of tissue paper stuck to the blood patch on his upper lip – he must have cut himself shaving.

Gripping the small dangling chain of your matching bracelet, you twist it around playfully. You love how it’s customized and you also love how it’s something you two share. This horror-road trip the two of you set out on for your anniversary week is such a lovely occasion. Taehyung surprisingly took most of the reins for planning, which secondhandly makes you feel a tad bit ashamed for not being able to contribute as much.

However, you and only you know how to make Taehyung feel the most special. Give him the happiness that he deserves. Even when he’s the one who spoils you the most. 

As you look over and watch him geek out over his favorite serial killer story, you can’t help but smile with awe. He has no idea how you’re watching him so intently. Applauding every boast and passionate joy he releases through his words. Taehyung has no clue what you have secretly planned for him for tonight.

And your entrance means everything.

Quietly, you gather a bag of goodies by your side – making sure not to draw Taehyung’s attention when you hushly pack a few extra items into it. You glance once, twice, just to make sure he’s staying indulged with his video editing.

You don’t need to announce that you’re heading to the shower. But you’re hoping Taehyung understands your need to lock the bathroom door behind you. With grace, you twist the nozzle for the shower on, waiting for the temperature of the water to blast the warmth you desire.

“In and out,” you mumble to yourself. “Don’t take forever.”

With the time ticking, you bath yourself faster than usual. Every inch of your skin is loathed up with your soapy washcloth and each stand of your hair touches shampoo and conditioner. When it comes to shaving, you choose to take your time. There’s no point of rushing in a haste and accidentally nipping yourself somewhere.

You prep and prime the rest of your body once you exit the shower. Running your mouth through with some fresh mouthwash, you multitask with lathering lotion all over your skin.

For the finale, you place some light make-up on your face. Highlighting your eyes and illuminating your cheeks with complimentary colors for you. 

A wicked smile stretches across your face once you pull out your black lingerie from your bag. It was perfectly hidden with the Ghostface mask you’ve stored along with a retractable plastic dagger. You slip on piece by piece, lace and fishnets covering over your body in a sinful and sinister kind of way. Your thong sits tight across your waist, and the garter belts from the corset piece you now wear clips onto the stockings on your thighs.

“Shit,” you look around the counter of the sink for your phone. You must have left it on the bed while you snuck away here. No time to take some sexy Ghostface mirror selfies without ruining the surprise first.

“Baby, are you ok in there?” Taehyung's concerned voice calls out from behind the door.

You’re quick to interrupt, cutting any further talk off as you sinch the last belt over your waist.

“I’m good! Just thought I dropped something down the sink, but I didn’t!”

This is the first time you’ve worn something this elegant and fancy for Taehyung, with a new twist to it. The mask you hold in your hand lifts over your face, covering the top of your head before it settles in place.

The sheer black material of the eye holes only dims your vision slightly; but other than that you can see most of everything clearly.

You turn off the bathroom light before you open the door to return to Taehyung. With the fake dagger in one hand and your other on the handle, you hold your breath until you finally are ready to step through.

Finding yourself on the wall, you slant against it in a saucy pose. Lowering yourself just enough to look like you’re nearly ready to continue slipping. Your boyfriend doesn’t hear you at first, not with his nose driven deep into his cell phone and thumbs tapping away on the screen.

“Hey babe,” you tap lightly against the wall with your knuckles. “I want to play a game.”

Your outfit is hiked shorter than usual, showing off more lower half and making you appear all the leggier as your fishnet stockings welcome Taehyung’s eyes. The black lingerie calls to him, even the added Ghostface mask to top it all off. Your breasts are held firm against your chest with how your corset fits. Shaping you in such a beautiful and complementarity way. You wiggle your fake weapon at him as you drag the tip of it down between your chest to your navel. Forcing his eyes to follow your every move.

And how could he focus on anything besides you right now? 

The buzzing of his phone in his hand doesn’t register to him. The noise on the television doesn’t distract him. The only thing his attention is on is how godly, how gorgeous, you look right here.

Right now.

“B-Baby?” His jaw drops. You’ve rendered him nearly speechless as his mind processes how completely stunning and mouthwatering you are. “Is this for me?” He smiles with amusement.

You nod your head slowly, using the knife to trail down your thigh and up between them. Lightly toying with the idea of it touching you in your naughty bits.

“Do you like it?” You lift yourself off the wall. Slowly you walk towards your dumbfounded boyfriend as sexy as you can, swaying your hips with each step. “I thought this could be a nice little treat for our anniversary, babe.”

“Oh, this is most definitely a nice little treat,” he comments as he licks his lips. Taehyung places his phone down on the coffee table in front of him. “Look at you!” He exclaims with a wide grin. “Look at this fucking outfit, I mean… fuck me, wow!”

He praises with excitement and wide eyes. Taehyung practically eats you up from head to toe.

“Thank you, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to woo you.”

“I’m howlin’ for you,” he jumps up from his chair. “Are you trying to kill me with that outfit?”

“Get the camera,” you flash him a smile.

Taehyung grabs hold of the recording device from the coffee table. Barely able to click it on, he covers the lens when he talks with you.

“This isn’t going on YouTube,” he murmurs with a nervous laugh.

You make your way over to your boyfriend, glide your hands up his chest and hook around his shoulders. The fake blade in your hand slowly draws lines up towards his neck. You attempt to be sexy and murderous at the same time.

“You wanna record me, babe?” You question rhetorically with seduction. As if you’re surprised he has the camera in his hand. Even though he cannot see your face behind the mask, he knows you’re giving him those sensual eyes he loves.

Taehyung focuses the camera on you, recording on play while he zooms in and out on your saucy attire. His eyes cannot leave you, mind racing with delicious thought after thought.

“Jesus, baby, you’re making me so hard. Best present ever!”

You pull his body close to yours, drag one of his hands to run up your thigh and around to the curve of your ass. Lifting your leg up, you allow Taehyung to hold you against him. His fingernails rake up your bare thighs, scratching and pulling at your skin and fabric.

His building erection becomes prominent through his shorts as you press yourself into him. To test him and to feel him.

“I can feel you,” you comment. With your might, you direct Taehyung to the edge of the bed before pushing him down to sit. His body flops enough for him to prop himself up by his elbows, looking up with you hungry and thirsty. His camera scans you from tip to toe, making sure to capture every single essence of your nightly Ghostface vibes. “I haven’t even gotten to play my game with you.”

Taehyung smiles, his teeth capturing his bottom lip. “You’re a fucking tease, you know that?”

“Oh, poo,” you mock lightheartedly. “Does Taehyung not want any of this?” you shimmy your chest just enough to emphasize your cleavage. For good measure, your hand comes up to squeeze the mound. Giving Taehyung a sight to see but also giving you a sensation you need.

Your boyfriend leans up and goes to grab at your chest, but you stop him with the dagger pointed at him. 

“Ah-ah!” You taunt, “My game.”

Taehyung laughs as he sits back and admits defeat, for now. He gives you a passive gaze but gestures for you to continue onward. He’s interested in what you want to do.

“Let’s have some trivia,” you start as you tilt your head. “But first, a couple of small rules.”

“I’m listening,” Taehyung nods obediently. 

“One, don’t interrupt,” you hold out a finger. You wiggle it at the camera that’s still on you as Taehyung raises his eyebrows at your asserting behavior. “Two, no touching!”

Taehyung deeply chuckles to himself. A challenge for him of course.

“And three,” you continue, “and this is the most important rule of them all…”

Your boyfriend shuffles himself up the bed slightly, legs spreading a smidgen wider for his growing bulge. It’s very evident through the fabric of his shorts, but you pay it no attention.

“I’m listening, baby. Tell me what it is,” he urges you on as he angles the camera.

Your knee bends into the end of the bed, pressing into the mattress where Taehyung is leaning back on. Stretching your legs open a little wider, you tease the idea of your prettiness and smooth thighs to him. The knife in your hand points towards the camera as your other hand presses into Taehyung’s chest to push him down.

“All eyes on me,” you speak beneath the mask you wear.

“God you’re so sexy…” Taehyung murmurs. His chest rises and falls with anticipation, and you already know you have him locked and loaded. “How did I get so luc –”

“– Let’s begin!” You twist the blade in your hand. “Get each question right and I'll touch myself for you. Get them wrong and well… let’s just say you won’t have a happy ending tonight.”

Taehyung’s smile never leaves his face while his eyes cannot focus on any specific part of your body. He wants to drink you all up, savior every single second of this sexy foreplay you have going on.

You hold up a single finger as you trail an invisible line above your cleavage area. It dances over each of your collar bones and up the length of your neck. A snicker escapes your throat, but the tone is more promiscuous than evil.

“I’ll give you an easy one. In the first Stab movies, which actress plays the part of the Woodsboro native, Sidney Prescott?”

Taehyung rolls his eyes, “Tori Spelling.”

“Yes! Very good,” you announce. Your palm grasps the mound of your tit as you feel yourself up in front of your boyfriend. Slowly, you slide your hand down the expanse of your torso down toward your hip. Making sure to outline all your curves and edges. You toy with the hemline of your panties through the sheer fabric that hangs down from your bust. “Ready for question number two?”

You watch the way Taehyung stares, rattling his brain about all the things he wants to do with you. To tease him further, your hand lands on his thigh as you guide it up toward the junction of his hips. With purpose, you avoid touching him where he’ll enjoy it the most. Letting him know you’re only centimeters away from pleasuring his cock.

“Yeah, hit me with the next one,” he murmurs. You can tell his voice is going softer as he stays focused.

“What was the name of the first book Gale Weathers wrote?”

You turn the dagger in your hand to drag the handle across your thigh. Bringing it up towards your clothed cunt that you keep spread open as your knee continues to bend into the mattress. Tilting your head, you let out a sweet “hmm?” noise towards Taehyung who is gawking at the way you decide to use your prop.

“Uh, uhm…”

“C’mon, babe. I know reading isn’t your forte… but a Ghostface fanatic should know this as well!”

“Isn’t it the Woodsboro Murders?” he looks up to you briefly for affirmation. There’s a sweet innocence to his eyes, clouded within the lust that pools in there.

“Ah? Is that your final answer?” you chuckle as you place your other knee onto the bed to now tower your boyfriend. With force, you make sure he’s pinned flat on his back.

“Why do you make it sound like it’s wrong?” he quizzes you as he places the camera to the side.

“Oh, because it is,” you interject quickly. With nothing else said, you take Taehyung’s answer and discipline him. “It’s Wrongly Accused. Based on the Maureen Prescoutt murder.” You unwrap a piece of black fabric off of your outfit, long enough to wrap around Taehyung’s head to cover his eyes. You’ve chosen to blind him from seeing you for now, since his answer was incorrect. He needs to be penalized somehow.

“Baby,” he whines. “I want to see you!”

“Get the questions right and maybe you will,” you threaten.

You grab ahold of his hand and drag it close to your warm body. Giving Taehyung something to visualize, you guide his palm across your fishnet leggings and up the side of your hip. He hums satisfaction, it matches the lopsided grin plastered to his face.

“Next question. Which college did Sidney and her friends get attacked at back in 1998?”

You shuffle your body forward, placing both of your legs around Taehyung’s frame as you sit on his lap. His hard-on pains with lack of touch beneath you, but your added warmth and friction helps the slightest. Taehyung’s free hand taps on his chest as he ponders the question while the one you escort up your body touches and feels you.

“Windsor College.”

“Correct!” You praise as you sit further down onto his bulge. With excitement, you bring Taehyung’s hand up to have access to your breasts. You moan softly when he takes the lead and gropes you across your chest. Making sure to feel and fondle both of them equally and with full appreciation.

“I like this game,” he comments with a gruffier voice.

“I bet you do, babe.” You lean down toward your boyfriend's face, smiling under the mask at how pretty and complacent he is under your ministrations. You allow him to continue to tug and toy with your tits, plucking at your nipples through the material when he can. But you take a fist full of his hair with your hand and hold him to the mattress. A little roughness wouldn’t hurt him. “Here’s another for you,” you hold up your fake knife against his throat. “In Stab 6, what images did the Facebook stalker use to catfish Trudy?”

Taehyung chuckles once again, tilting his head to the side as you place more pressure with the grip on his hair.

“Channing Tatum’s Abercrombie photos. I’m sure you’d enjoy those too.”

“Not as much as I enjoy you,” you smile. 

Your grip releases from him as you settle back on your heels. His hand chases you, but you’re fast to move it down lower. Between the apex of your thighs. Taehyung hums at the contact and from how damp you already feel. He skillfully pets along your folds from the outside of your thong, tracing patterns across your lady-bits.

You take a moment to relish in the feeling. It nearly distracts you from your game because of how much you want him to sink his fingers inside of you.

The two of you share a warm giggle with another, noticing how your hips start to move with the pace of his fingers.

“I thought you were supposed to touch yourself?” Taehyung teases.

“Well,” you breathe. “I changed my… mind.”

Taehyung grins, “I wonder why…” he acts coy. His knuckles graze across your clit through your panties and it forces you to hold yourself by placing a hand on his chest. “Do I get another question?”

Your breath hitches, it’s becoming unbearable to breathe under your mask. You clear your throat, gripping a fist full of his shirt, “Yes. Last year, what was the name of Sheriff Judy’s son who was murdered mere minutes after her at their residence here in Woodsboro?”

A fingertip trails on the outside of your thong, tickling you in the process. Taehyung slips his digit underneath, touching your slippery pussy. It glides smoothly, easy for him to slide further to touch you deeper.

“Fuck. Tae,” you softly groan.

He reaches around with his other hand, testing how far he can go while you still hold the dominant position. His palm grips your bare ass, weaving through the pieces of fishnet leggings before ripping a piece of it apart. 

“Y-Your answer?” you breathe.

“Kiss me,” he demands.

“That’s not an answer,” you laugh. You release a moan when you feel his finger twist and dip into the entrance of your pussy, slotting knuckle deep. “Tae –”

“Wes,” he whispers as he leans up. With a growl, he snakes his arm around your hips and pulls you closer to him. Taehyung nudges his face in the nook of your neck, breathing heat against your skin while he deeply chuckles. “Fuck this game,” he speaks against your neck, leaving a sensual kiss against it. The whine that escapes your lips from feeling his teeth lightly dragging along your sweet spot fills the empty room. It’s louder than anything playing on the television behind you.

Taehyung pulls you in a humping-motion against his hand that’s lodged between your thighs. He flicks against the walls of the inside of your pussy, searching for your sensitive areas.

You drop your prop as you frantically pull up Taehyung’s t-shirt, hauling it over his head to undress him as fast as possible. You curl your fingernails against his shoulders as Taehyung nibbles your skin, causing goosebumps to rise and fall.

Despite every rational part of your brain reminding you that your game is at stake, you couldn’t care less with the result anymore. You and Taehyung had your fun, even though it was brief, and now you’re ready to get down to business.

His skin is warm against yours as you push him down with you following. You rip off your mask, tossing the pathetic item to the side and appreciate a nice cool breeze of fresh air hitting your face. Sweat dampens around your hairline as your lips connect to his. You rush to remove the fabric around his eyes, using your fingers to rake along the roots of his hair.

You rock back and forth on his finger, begging for him to enter another one. Taehyung follows your lead in the make-out, tongue chasing yours as you dive deeper inside of his mouth. You groan in unison, smiling as your teeth clink with how eager the two of you are.

“You’re so hot,” he comments in between breathless kisses.

Between the sensations of his deft finger, how hungrily he eats at your mouth, and how smooth and naked he feels against you already, you feel like you’ve entered heaven.

“Oh, Tae,” you hum. Your breath comes out labored, electrified.

Briskly, you reach down between your bodies and slip your hand around the elastic of his night shorts. Your movements are quick and frenzied as you grip onto his length, feeling the heavy girth bare. Taehyung voices a choked moan, surprised with the sudden touch. Your wrist flicks as much as it can in your compromising position, enough to run your palm up and down his cock.

You feel the heat racing to your face as Taehyung slides a second finger inside of you, rubbing in a come-hither gesture. Your head nearly falls down against his shoulder as you attempt to not lose control of your body, but the feeling is so toe-curling good!

With desire, you look up through half-lidded eyes. Lust fuels your entire body, you can tell it affects Taehyung too.

“I want you in me,” you speak with kiss ridden lips. “Fuck me like this, babe.”

Taehyung wastes no time shimmying his shorts down far enough to release his cock between the two of you. His chest heaves with each shallow breath he takes. A hand comes around to playfully slap and hungrily massage at the flesh of your ass as he hoists you higher and angles himself below you.

“Move up for me, baby.” He turns his head toward you, a smile laced on his lips. Without another word, he leans forward and captures your lips in a bruising kiss while his hand rips at the thin thong that you wear. You can hear the tear audibly, but somehow it turns you on knowing how the desire within Taehyung is taking over. “Let me fuck you in this pretty little Ghostface outfit.”

You lean up for him, biting down on your lower lip as you look at Taehyung clumsily shuffling himself under you. His eyes stare at your bare, dripping pussy. Likes the way it shines with your wetness.

“That’s right, come sit on me,” he beckons as his dick taps against your pelvis. “See how sharp my weapon is,” he jokes in a sexy manner.

Cracking up with laughter, you lift enough to feel him at your entrance. His bulbous mushroom head feels so nice and smooth, ready to glide right in.

Your hand comes out to grip around Taehyung’s throat, a surprise for both you and him. Yet something in the back of your mind tells you that this is good. Something he may enjoy with your power-play move tonight. Slowly, and only lightly, do you squeeze around the column of his neck, raising your eyebrows as you anticipate his sign of protest.

You take him in with one movement, hissing at the sensation the moment you sit flat on his lap. He fills you full, your cunt thanks you with vibrating pulses around him. Allowing a few moments and testing thrusts to go by, you adjust accordingly. Until you’re ready to go faster.

Harder.

Every bounce has his dick reaching deeper inside of you, opening you wider and dragging against every inch of your velvety walls. You search for his eyes when you tighten your grip around his neck, but you see nothing but pure enjoyment on his face. Taehyung moans as his hands help lead you with each swivel of your hips. His mouth is parted, eyes fluttering shut with exhilaration shooting through his nerves.

“Shit,” he seethes through his teeth. “Baby slow down, I'm going to cum.”

But you don’t listen to his plea. You want him to cum. Bust his nut and lose control because of you. So you set yourself, pushing harder down onto his cock and riding your boyfriend for all he’s worth. Even selfishly rutting your clit into his pelvic bone to get yourself off.

You notice the way Taehyung’s eyebrows downturn with a spike of fury. “Baby,” he warns as his voice gets cut off from you moving the hand on his neck to his mouth. You cover his lips, hushing him from putting up a fight.

Though, Taehyung does not take a liking to that.

Within a snap of a finger, Taehyung hoists his body up enough to gain an advantage on you. He twists around fast, pushing you to the side as he slips out of your grasp. Taehyung’s hands move you around, holding you with your chest against the mattress as your ass stays up.

“Tae, wait!” you laugh and beg. You try to wiggle out of the position, but he pins you down by your arms. “I want to make you cum!”

“Oh, trust me,” he huffs. “You and only you will make me cum.”

Taehyung takes a handful of your ass before spreading your cheeks open. He stands behind you before inserting himself, sliding his cock in from a brand new angle.

You groan out loud, pulling your legs together. The mattress’s sheets ball in your fists as Taehyung thrusts inside of you at a steady pace. Your body shifts up on the bed, but keeps getting dragged back down against Taehyung’s lap. He’s amazed how fast you fall apart with your whole body tensing against him.

The small moans you try to hide are highly cherished by him. Fuels Taehyung to keep pressing forward and pile-drive his cock into you.

“Oh fuck, fuck!” You curse with your face pressed down. You purposely muffle your noises to not disturb the neighboring guests in the other rooms. The phone is still unplugged so at least you won’t be receiving any noise complaints through there.

You encourage Taehyung with the higher moans. It tells him to fill you up, go harder and faster all at once. His cock starts to twitch as he draws near to his release, ready to burst his entire load all because of you.

“Do it with me,” he demands as his cock dives deeper into you. His pelvis slaps hard against your backside, hoping to force you to your orgasm. “I can feel you tightening up, baby. Cum for me. Show me how this slutty Ghostface cums.”

You turn your head to the side to gasp for fresh air. Through your lashes it’s not hard to tell that the camera is still on the two of you, now performing a surprise sex-tape. The thought crosses your mind and it makes you curious if Taehyung has noticed as well.

“Babe,” you whine with the pressure of his dick inside of you, “Babe the camera?”

You can hear the smile in his chuckle when he reaches for the recording device. Taehyung still maintains his pace while now capturing a new view. From the back, the screen records your entire backside and how his lengthy cock slithers in and out of your folds. Your black lingerie compliments you so beautifully, Taehyung never wants to forget about it.

The slapping from skin on skin resounds so loudly, almost covering the noise from the television. It only quickens when Taehyung sets into another drive.

He calls you by your pet name, grinning as you mewl over the size and speed of his cock. He compliments you through the camera while one hand holds you tight by the hip.

“Touch yourself,” he commands. “Reach down there and play with yourself.”

You obey, slithering your fingers between your legs and begin rubbing circles against your swollen clit. Your teeth bite a mouthful of the sheets below you as Taehyung fastens his pace, matching the eagerness of your digits.

“Mmf!” you groan as a build up inside you finally shatters. Cracking like a whip against your nerves and shooting sparks of pleasure throughout you. Your back arches harshly, almost knocking Taehyung off his balance as you press back into him. Cunt so eager to get fucked.

The camera drops to the side of the bed as your boyfriend firmly places his other hand around your thigh, anchoring himself to your body as you ride out your orgasm. He holds you against him, dick submerged as deep as he can go as he stills. Shifting his hips ever so slightly as his cock quivers as cum spurts out the tip, dressing your cervix and inner walls.

“Mm, yeah,” he voices with a slack jaw. His hips continue to roll into you slowly, pushing every ounce of cum into your pussy. “I wasn’t risking dirtying the outfit,” he huffs.

You continue to wiggle with the aftermath vibrations throughout your body, but you giggle nonetheless. Craning your head enough to look back at your handsome boyfriend you smile brightly.

“How kind of you,” you speak in sarcasm. “I’m sure that wasn’t the only reason why you want to cum inside of me.” You clench down on his lodged cock to tease him again, watching the way his face suddenly contorts to a painful, sensitive reaction.

“I thank you for taking birth control, for not just sexy time, but…” he anxiously confesses. “Actually, no. Right now, I really thank you for taking it.”

“I know what you were trying to say,” you comment lightheartedly. “It helps with more than just ‘sexy time’.”

“I love you,” he states to clear the air. “I really do,” he playfully pulls at a garter belt connected to your stocking and corset. It snaps back in place against your skin, “You’re my favorite person in the world.”

“I love you too,” you smile as you prop yourself up by your elbows. “And Happy Anniversary!”

Taehyung lifts the disposed Ghostface mask off the floor after he detaches himself from you. He inspects the item, flipping it back and forth. He smiles, giving you a quick eyebrow raise and sparkling look.

“My turn?” He questions as he pulls the mask over his head and allows it to sit on his face. “Let’s play some more games, baby.”

You slip on a nice early fall dress that pairs with your brown booties. The jean jacket you want to wear lounges on the back of the chair beside you, waiting to be picked up once you finish tightening a belt around your waist.

A small lingering ache rests between your legs from the previous night. Taehyung surely had fun with you. You wince when he comes out of the bathroom from his shower, noticing the bruise on the side of his forehead that has formed a small grotesque spot.

“I’m sorry again,” you inspect lightly. Stopping him in his tracks, your finger touches the bump. “It doesn’t look as bad as I thought it would though.”

“It’s alright, it’s my fault for having my head too close to yours when I tried to… you know.”

You shrug, “Yeah. Might need to give a girl a warning before touching her asshole.”

Your lips softly peck the swollen spot on his head before you allow him to continue to his clothes. Mentally, you check off all the items you have already packed back up in your bags in preparation of departure.

The television plays the local news aimlessly in the background as you scroll through your phone. You can barely hear from how low the volume is, but an alert blurts on the screen in bold red lettering.

“Breaking News! –”

“Baby, can you pull up the directions for Fairvale? The Bates Motel shouldn’t be too far from here,” your gruff voiced boyfriend askes.

You blink, trying to listen to both the conversations. “Sure. Did you gather everything from the bathroom?”

Taehyung slips his pants up his legs as a toothbrush is lodged in his mouth. Multitasking at its finest. He brushes his teeth as he dresses himself, pulling over his shirt section by section. He grunts a noise, one you know well that means he already finished putting everything together.

“Murdered! Several bodies have been found! Adding to the Woodsboro mystery of horrors. This once peaceful, now suffering community, continues to be terrorized and haunted by masked killings. Like out of some plot of a horror movie.”

Both you and Taehyung freeze at the commentary coming from the television in the corner of the hotel room. Stunned, you watch the news reporter stand in front of what seems to be the Macher’s house. Which is now turned into a funhouse for visiting horror-enthusiasts.

“No fuckin’ way…” Taehyung murmurs as he watches ideally as the images begin to show. Caution tape, police cars, and ambulances surround the reporter who holds their microphone to their mouth. “No way this shit is real.”

“We… we were there last night…” you trail off.

“Just after midnight, a masked killer wreaked havoc through an attraction site for –”

“Do you think…” Taehyung begins to speak.

“... I don’t want to think,” you stand up abruptly. “I just… Can we go?”

You glance at Taehyung nervously, but you’re already gripping your jacket and sliding it on your arms. Something spikes deep inside of you, something that shocks you. Maybe Woodsboro isn’t the best place for you to be, even though you once thought everything would be fine. Searching for your purse, you lift all of your bags in one heave.

“Hey, hey!” Taehyung tries to calm you down with a softer tone. “Hey, listen. Just wait for a second!” 

His hand grips you by your elbow, pulling you gently back toward him.

Taehyung’s hands find their way around your body, touching your face in a caressing kind of way. His thumb runs over the curve of your cheek while he looks into your frantic eyes.

“It’s ok to feel freaked out. This is freaking me out as well,” he comments. “Don’t go running so fast. Stay with me, baby.” He tries to sooth your speeding thoughts. “We’ll leave together.”

Moodboard themed credited to: @/kth1 (me)

© All rights reserved under @kth1​ - do not copy, repost, modify, edit, or translate any of my work without my direct consent. This TUMBLR and AO3 the ONLY places my fics are posted.

[teecupangel]

So this is pertaining to my story Meta Assassins on AO3. Summary to follow so you can have context:

The very franchise we know exists as games within the games themselves and Desmond Miles isn't sure how to feel about this. He owns the first five games and soon Black Flag drops along with a new never-released game. It is there that Desmond meets Altair, Malik, Kadar, Ezio, and Federico. Desmond finds solace in the games given he now works at a gas station and has a crappy boss. While working one day he unknowingly meets Giovanni Auditore who gives him his contact information because he thinks Desmond is hard working and dedicated. Assassin’s Creed: Quadrivium, a MMORPG, drops and that's when he starts to figure things out. He eventually wants to go to Italy to visit Ezio and Federico during the winter holiday, which he does. Currently he is hanging out with Claudia Auditore at the local market.

Eventually I will have Desmond get hurt on the job at the gas station. A wet floor he didn't see, and there was no wet floor sign. He was carrying some heavy product that landed on his chest and left leg pinning him to the ground. His friends find it odd that he doesn't join them that night, but eventually a week goes by before they decide to go to New York to find Desmond. Which is how they discover the poor conditions Desmond has been living in. I am just stuck on how to write the accident scene and the twist of Desmond being fired for having the accident. Typically I have Kadar be the one that kicks them in the pants, cause I like to think he would have studied people's behaviors which would be useful as an assassin, but considering that I now have him dating Claudia, I could have her bugging Federico and Ezio about it since it's very uncharacteristic for Desmond to not answer her for more than a day (he did that once, called her to explain he was exhausted and apologized, he was yawning the entire time which made her realize he works himself to the bone.

Anyway, take your time and get to this when you can. Though I look forward to it, cause honestly I forget what I have asked so it's a nice surprise treat when you answer, like "Oh my Goth I asked that?" Thank you for all these lovely ask and answers. Safety and Peace upon you my friend.

Thank you and upon you as well, friend! Here's the link to the fanfic for those curious: Meta Assassins, please give it a try if you're interested and leave some love :)

If you want to keep it a suspense, one way would be to not write the accident scene at first. Shift the narration to Claudia or Federico or even Ezio and how they haven’t heard about Desmond for a while. Create a mini-mystery of some kind perhaps?

Then when they decided to fly to New York, that’s when the narration shifts back to Desmond. If you’re having problem writing the accident itself, you can set the narration to the same day that they set off to check Desmond and make it something that Desmond internally muses about. Focus the narration on what has happened after he was fired and how he’s holding up. Depending on how long it took for them to decide to fly to America, maybe the timeline was long enough that he needed to sell some things to pay the bills which included his computer and phone. Maybe he had to give up on paying his internet provider to pay the other bills using what he had saved up. Those would be valid reasons why he couldn’t say anything more to his friends.

Now, if you truly want the accident to be a central scene…

Well…

I’ve been clumsy since I was a kid (hence why I had to get a tetanus shot this month) so I can tell you that it might seemed ridiculous but one can do a lot of damage thanks to flailing limbs while ‘sliding’. He doesn’t have to be carrying the heavy product. He could be on his break and leaving the gas station when he skids across the floor and grabbed the first thing he could, which turned out to be the nozzle attached to a nearby car. The nozzle goes flying off the car and still dispensing gas and Desmond smacks his head hard against the car and his head bleeds.

Head bleeding tend to be heavy so they had to call 911 because they freaked out from seeing all the blood.

Of course, Desmond has no health insurance so now he has medical bills to pay for a head injury that he could have probably (probably) treated himself and, when he returned to his work, his boss fires him and tells him he has to pay for the wasted gas. And, because he was on his ‘break’ when it happened, his accident wasn’t covered by his ‘previous’ job (to be fair, Desmond is pretty sure that was just an excuse to not pay him squat).

Hope this helps and, even if you don’t use this, this gives you an idea of how to write this scene :)

(Also, instead of the gas, gas stations usually have convenient stores and you can make Desmond have his accident there where he grabs a shelf to stop his fall, breaks his ankle and crashes lots of merchandises that he has to pay for)

[absolutebl]

BL Streaming - Which Service is Worth Your Money?

I’m bored and I have a little extra time this morning so it’s time for ABL to play with the spreadsheet of doom. 

Occasionally I get the question: 

If I were to subscribe to only one platform for BL which should I pick? 

This post is dated May 2023. 

First things first. I am going to be (somewhat) objective about this and not judge on quality of content. Because if KinnPorsche is all you love in life, obvs you need iQIYI, but if you are a HIStory franchise stan, than it’s all about Viki. Those are your life choices, I’m just here to play numbers games, okay? 

Secondly, some shows air on multiple platforms, particularly Viki & Gaga, but sometimes it’s Gaga & YouTube, occasionally it’s even iQIYI + others. This has only started happening in the last few years. Bed Friend was on 3 different platforms (GaGa, iQIYI, YT) - even though it was originally announced for Viki! I honestly don’t know how to track this, so I tend to log the spreadsheet with my preferred watching platform for that language, this will throw the numbers off for those platforms. 

Since I join everything my platform preference choice is based on:  

the quality of the subs/captions   

the quality of the user experience  

My subs experience tends to be: 

YT = best for Thai

Viki = best for Korean and sometimes Japanese, okay for Thai

Gaga = best for Chinese and sometimes Japanese but very weak Thai subs

My user interface preference is: 

YT, Viki, Gaga in that order then everyone else with iQIYI at the bottom. This is because I watch on mobile devices. 

ASplay, WeTV, former Line, Amarin TV, Netflix and the other smaller suppliers (and apps) will all be grouped together for this assessment. Since they have so few offerings, by default I would not recommend subbing those platforms unless you are a hard stan of all BL with disposable income. 

Super bad BLs that I watched back in the day on grey sites or YT (pre 2020 crack down) because there were no other options and I am a completest are still listed as grey. I would never suggest anyone watch these shows anyway, so I don’t care if they have now shown up on legitimate sites. If they are somewhere, it’s likely Gaga. Which means Gaga’s percentage of the market share is probably UNDER reported by my numbers. 

Movies and cinema-only releases that never got international distribution fall into the “grey” category. If I got it off an indie subber, since that too is technically illegal, it falls into the grey category as well. 

Final note: This is from a USA based IP, I don’t use a VPN, so platforms assessments are from that perspective. 

Spring 2023, current state of the spreadsheet. AKA 

Our BL Data Set 

Total # of BLs = 564

# of BLs ongoing (so finished runtime is best guess) = 18 

Just Answer the Damn Question 

Round Number of Actual BLs - % of market share

YouTube = 218 - 38.6%

Gaga = 148 - 26.2% 

Viki = 77 - 13.7% 

Grey = 53 - 9.4% 

BLs I’ve never been able to find on any platform (including grey): 36 - 6.4% 

iQIYI = 14 - 2.5% 

Other platforms = 12 - 2.2% 

Margin of error: +- 1% (look I’m just not driven to be that accurate here)

Subscription Platforms Breakdown  - % of market share

Eliminating YouTube, Grey, and missing BLs. Viki is included because I do not know which of theirs are behind the paywall and which are not. 

Total subscribe-only BLs: 257 

Gaga = 59%

Viki = 30%

iQIYI = 6%

Sml sites/apps = 5%

(rounded) 

Okay but how about actual runtime? 

Gaga = 360 hrs - 44% 

Viki = 311 hrs - 38% 

iQIYI = 98 hrs - 12% 

Sml sites = 50 hrs - 6%

Anyway you cut it... on pure BL standards...

GAGAOOLALA WINS 

Other consideration? In most places Gaga is ALSO the cheapest per month option. 

Final Thoughts

YouTube (America’s Alphabet) 

YT has the most pieces of content and longest overall runtime because of all the Thai stuff. ALSO bootlegs show up there, especially the early Chinese and Japanese stuff. They will often get taken down and you have to hunt for it again. YT takedowns come in waves, every 6 months or so.

However, GMMTV, some Star Hunter, some Studio Wabi Sabi, all the Vietnamese & Pinoy stuff (until now), and a few choice bits of Strongberry are YT content.

YT’s app is the best UX of a poor set (for me), but the web based YT at Premium level doesn’t work with Firefox. I use YT for work A LOT, so the fee for Premium ($13.99) and lack of ads + downloads (travel) is worth it for me, but I think it probubly isn’t if you’re on a budget. 

GaGaOOLaLa (Taiwan’s Portico Media) 

Of the pay to play platforms, GaGa dominates with the most BLs by all metrics. If you’re intersted in darker BL, GL and other queer content, very high heat, the history of the genre, or Japanese stuff - most of that is on GaGa. Also all of Strongberry and some of the newer queerer series (like My Ride).  

At $6.99 a month it’s ALSO one of the cheapest options. 

Gaga is based out of Taiwan, the only Asian country with marriage equality (as of 2022) AND it specializes in exclusively queer content so they need our support. If you can afford them, you should support them. GaGa is the only platform that will always have more BL, guaranteed (so long as Taiwan is autonomous). Ironically, you can follow their YT channel for previews and teasers to their latest series, short content, and acquisitions. 

Their app isn’t great, but their web-based interface is fine. That said: there’s no categories (way to organize), and the way they roll out new episodes is unintuitive. Their mobile app ALWAYS pauses not mater what you actually want it to do and the lack of the quick skip ahead is frustrating. 

Viki (Japan’s Rakutan)

Viki specializes in longer series, mostly Thai, Taiwanese, and a few of the Chinese bromances. It also now has a lot of KBLs. But in general only more recent stuff (2018 is as far back as they go).

At $4.99-$11.99 depending, it’s low to average cost. I’m not sure which one (if any) you actually need for BL. Most of my favorite new shows tend to air on Viki, and I like Rakutan as a parent company, so I don’t mind supporting them. 

They happen to have 5 of my top ten BLs, which is A LOT (since I hand out 10/10 so rarely). So for me they host the objective best BL content. 

They have the second best app (after YT, it’s kinda a combo of YT + Netflix) but the lack of a speed-up option is frustrating for many. Also the desktop version is super buggy. But they DO have categories you can name and control, which I love.

Other Platforms 

iQIYI - is Mainland China based (hello Baidu, you ugly fucker), so the platform getting/pimping BL for an international audience only is… how do I put this?… oh yeah: shitty. I will often rename it Icky, for this reason. It clearly wants to break the market, but… do we want it in the market at all? How long will they host BLs? When will they be shut down and censored? I would say it’s only worth it if you really also like Chinese dramas. And even so, Viki also has A LOT of those. Unfortunately for us, Wabi Sabi seems to have cut a distribution deal with Icky. And, of course, there is the KinnPorsche situation (so ironic that Icky hosts the highest heat). The interface is a nightmare. They have the WORST app, even when you pay, it serves ads, some of which alpha crash the platform. 

Netflix - here in the states it almost never has new BL content. Sometimes some old stuff. They tested the waters with SOTUS and Love Sick. I have a feeling they aren’t particularly intersted in this market. So if BL is what you watch, don’t bother. At last check they still had Gameboys and Your Name Engraved Herein and Wish You. 

WeTV - acts like LineTV used to, has Manner of Death and We Best Love and a few of the more obscure Thai pulps. But probably not worth it for anyone but a completest. 

Grey - Unknown or No Distributor 

Indie subbers: there’s some BLs that you can watch by supporting indie subbers who supply private links to their personal versions. This is not legal, but it is a slightly nicer way to get stuff you can’t find anywhere else. I’ve done this for some Thai and Japanese stuff.

I find the leads for these sources here on Tumblr. If someone is giffing and talking about a show and I don’t know how they are getting hold of it, I simply ask.

DramaCool (USA) & Dailymotion (France) & Bilibili (China) and others - AKA the grey space. You SHOULD feel guilty using these sites, you’re stealing, but it’s where many of us go for BL we can’t find anywhere else (in defiance of what few morals we have left). These are BLs that originally sold to very odd platforms or never got international distribution. Unfortunately, some of my favorites are in this category like Great Men Academy or Seven Days. It’s a nightmare. The ads are terrible and the virus/bug risk is high. They get taken down all the time. Or the leads are faked. I use an old computer to access and suggest you take all necessary precautions yourself.

P’ABL SOAP BOX TIME

Look I work tangential to the entertainment industry, so if you thought I wasn’t going to learn you a little on this subject, you got another think coming. 

HERE’S THE THING: 

You watch a show on one of the grey platforms, ESPECIALLY if it actually has distribution on Gaga or Viki - you better review that shit. You spread the word and advocate for that content here, on MDL, on social media, with fan art, I don’t care. You steal it, you find a way to pay back in your time and/or creativity. 

I get it if you’re poor, but don’t be a goddamn scab. Find a way to reward content creators with non-monetary support. If you had the time to watch the thing you stole, you have time to pay it forward in some substantial way. Do this even if you didn’t steal it but got it for free. Do this if you read fanfic. Do this with articles, blogs, books. Do this with podcasts. 

It isn’t hard to be a decent human and support creators. Don’t you dare just TAKE. If you’re that kind of person stop reading this blog immediately. I don’t want anything to do with you and you don’t deserve my words or my spreadsheet of Doom. 

/rant 

MORE ON THIS TOPIC WITH FOLLOW UP QUESTIONS

Original post on this subject that I adapted for this post. 

(source)